Update On $2500 Savings For Christmas and Grocery/Household Update

 

It is the end of another 2 week pay period for my husband.  I had $17 left over from our miscellaneous cash spending.  That brings my total up to $239.   The kids reimbursed me for a few items that they bought, I had some egg money to add to my total (we have chickens and sell the eggs).  Money is moving in the right direction!!  I haven’t been tempted to take any out.  I’m trying to be disciplined.  Day-to-day is okay it, is when I have a mini-crisis about money (which I do from time to time because I’m unorganized) that I am tempted to pull money out to avert the crisis, but then I’m not very disciplined about getting the money back into the account.  To resist this problem, I am trying to be more organized than I ever have been.  I’m tracking my spending and checking my account balances more frequently than I used to check them.

On another positive note, I did keep track of my spending for the third week in a row.  My total was 362.76.  I seem to be going higher and higher.  Oh well, right now I am just tracking.  I think at the end of the month I will get the grand total and try to get February to be less than January.  Baby steps.

How about you?  How is your spending going?  Is it me or does January seem to be never-ending?

Ann

Another Snow Day

Yeah and Ugh.  It has been a crazy winter and we are only one month into it.  This is the last of our 5 days that our school district allows for.  Some years we don’t use any.  Well, this year, we have used them up already!

The kids love getting the days off.  Sometimes I like them, sometimes I want to get back onto a normal schedule.

That is how I’m feeling today.  I want a schedule!   I’m off kilter from L having the chicken pox (she has been sleeping much later and is back on her normal sleeping schedule now.  Yeah!)  I have been sitting around a lot holding her and comforting her.  We spent the weekend cleaning the kids bedrooms and cleaning the basement.  Nothing better than some good, deep cleaning on a cold winter day 🙂  I’m doubt the kids would agree.  I’m ready to get back to normal now.

How about you?  Do you love snow days?

A Sleepless Weekend

Three of my big boys went on a Boy Scout campout.  The annual Klondike Derby is a really fun campout that the boys enjoy.  A team of boys pull sleds to different stations, do boy scout skills like starting a fire, and race on to a new station and a different skill.  They compete by age.

With 3 kids away, I thought it would be a more relaxed weekend.

It wasn’t meant to be.  L’s chicken pox haven’t bothered her too much during the day.  That’s a good thing.

Nights are a different.  She has been hard to get to sleep at night and then woke yesterday morning at 4:30, and this morning at 5:15. (Of course I was up late because I knew I wasn’t running because of the  district spelling bee for S). L seemed to be hungry and ate about half of her normal breakfast and fell asleep in my lap.  She has been very restless while napping on me.

Overall, the chicken pox haven’t been bad for her.  I’m glad!  They were much harder for A, who still is itching with some of the scabs.

There is hope for one extra night to catch up on my sleep.  The kiddos and hubby are off tomorrow for MLK day.  I will try to sleep past 5:15.  Now all I need is for one cute  baby with the chicken pox to get the message 😉

Ann

Making Kids More Independent

My husband and I have been changing the responsibilities of our children.  He thinks I am too easy on them.  I do what I have pretty much always done.  I cook, I clean, I do laundry, I grocery shop.  I do all of the mom stuff.  Since I don’t work outside of the home, I feel like it is my job to keep things looking good around the house.

My husband feels entirely differently.  He feels that our big boys 17, 16, almost 15, and 12 are very capable of doing chores etc. around the house.

I know that they are capable.  I know that they can do chores and they have several that they are each responsible for taking care of.  They don’t always do the job to my expectations, of course, they are kids.  We are working on it.  My husband thinks that they grow more and more capable by making them step up and handle more responsibilities.  He is right.  I know down deep that these kids have to be able to take care of their laundry, be able to cook, and clean a dorm room or apartment, etc.

The hard thing for me is letting go of the stuff that I have always done.  I always did the cooking.  Now one child does the cooking each night.

I’ve always done the laundry.  Now the kids are taking turns.  They must wash, dry, fold, and have each child put their things away.

I’ve always cleaned the kitchen and started the dishwasher.  Now the children do it.

It is a big relief to me mentally to know that I am teaching my kids how to manage on their own, but who is with me that it is hard to follow through with it.  It is hard to see them running low on clean laundry (they don’t seem to mind), it is hard to stand there in the kitchen pointing out all of the stuff that needs to be cleaned up after dinner and not do it yourself.  It is hard to see them struggle with something that I could do quickly and easily.

I have to keep my eye on the big picture.  They will be moving on soon enough.  I have to prepare them to the best of my ability to be successful with all things.  Boys need to know these skills.

How about you, did you prepare your kids to be out in the real world?  What are the critical skills that they should know?

Ann

Chicken Pox–round 2

L now has the chicken pox.  It’s a good/bad situation.

I’m glad that I don’t have a choice.

It’s good that she is so little and it’s good that it will be over with.  It’s good that she won’t even remember it and how bad it is.

It’s bad that she is miserable.  She has been hard to get to sleep.  She is sleeping well so far, but who knows from here.  It’s bad that she can’t talk and tell us what is bothering her etc.

This is it for me.  All 7 have had the chicken pox!  I really wanted the girls to get it before puberty, when it is much rougher.  I don’t really know how A ended up with it.  So many are immunized now that it isn’t as prevalent as it used to be.  No one at school has had it that I know of.  Weird.

Anyway, I am thankful that we are surviving and that this will be behind me in a week or so!

How about you, what are your challenges this week?

Ann

Week 2 Grocery/Household Expenses

I did it!  I recorded my spending for 2 weeks in a row.  A miracle to be sure!!

My spending for the week totaled $356.25  Last week I spent $281.51.  This week was $74.74 more.  Off of the top of my head I remember that we bought CDs and CD cases.  That was about $40, right there.  Also we made a trip to Jungle Jim’s International Market.  It is about a 45 minute drive from here, but my 2nd son, M, needs the time driving.  I normally wouldn’t count a trip like this because it is more like a field trip/fun time, but I did buy some actual groceries and food for our dinner that night, so I counted it.  That was $76.47.  Ouch.  It’s a good thing we don’t do that trip very often 🙂

Mostly it was just a normal week of spending.  Nothing glamorous.

Here’s to another week of keeping track of my expenses.

How about you.  What did you do to save money this week?

Ann

Christmas Saving Update

Here is an update on how I plan to save $2500 for Christmas 2014.  At the end of the 2 week period (my husband gets paid every 2 weeks)  I had $35 left over.  I now have $115 in my envelope!  I had a couple of snowflakes that I added in as well.  I am starting off the year well.  Now, not to touch it until next Christmas season.  That is the hardest part for me!

 

How about you, are you planning ahead for next Christmas?

 

Ann

New 2 Rep Deadlift Max

We did a 2 rep max deadlift in CrossFit Tuesday. A deadlift look like this.  My previous 1 rep max was 205. Tuesday I did a 2 rep max of 215. It was awesome. It was super hard. I felt like I might actually drop the bar because it was so heavy and I felt like I didn’t have a good grip. I didn’t drop it and I lifted 215!!!

After that we did the WOD (work out of the day). 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 kettle bell swings and then burpees. Over and over, down the ramp and then back up. I thought I might die, but I didn’t. That was 87 burpees.  Killer. If you don’t know what a burpee is, look here or kettle bell swings, look here.

Today 2 days later I am super sore.  My back is sore, my shoulders are sore, my hamstrings are sore.  I told you it was a good workout.

How about you, did you work out today?

I Made It A Whole Week (tracking my spending)

I made it through the first week tracking my spending!  It’s a minor miracle.  I spent $281.51 on groceries and household purchases and I know it.  No guessing, no wondering.  I actually know where the money went.

What I don’t know is if that was good or bad, or maybe even normal.  Time and sticking with the plan will let me know.

Yay me!

I’ll be trying again this week.  How about you, what did you spend your money on this week?

Chicken Pox

The worst day.  She looks pathetic.

It looks like it hurts.

A our almost 7-year-old daughter came down with the chicken pox on New Year’s Eve.  All of our other children have had it except the 1-year-old (we are waiting with great excitement…NOT!)

I have to say that A has been a real trooper.  She had one really bad night where she slept in bed with me (my husband chose to sleep on the couch) and I rubbed her back gently, she took Benadryl faithfully every 4 hours and took warm oatmeal baths all night long.  It wasn’t so bad really.

When I try to remember how it was with the rest, I soon realized why this time didn’t seem so bad. Oh yeah, the last time I did this I had 4 children who were sick over a month.  It was February 2006.  M, R, T, and S all had it over a months time.  They were miserable and so was I.

It is amazing to me how time changes us…little by little.  I know realize this sickness is short and sweet, it was only one night that was really bad, I am glad to get this over for her and won’t have to worry about it again.  Also, L is the only other child who could get it.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.

L (the baby) has been feverish and grumpy for about 3 or 4 days now, so we anticipate that she will be getting it any time, but who knows.

How was your day?

Ann