Currently, we have been "snowed in" (I use that term loosely because that means I'm 8 months pregnant, the roads are icy, & I refuse to drive on them). Ryder(my 5 year old) has iron man pj's on with Halloween socks. I've taken a shower, but decided to put pj's back on...lol. Kailyn(my 11 year old) has spent more time looking at her ipod than her family. To top everything off, we've snacked on Doritos and hot chocolate. Families have times in their lives when its ok(in my book) to be lazy, spend time together, and eat what everyone wants. If everyday was a "to do" list, life just wouldn't be fun. Now, my "to do" list is increasing, a baby is on its way, and there are 3 rooms still left to be painted...ugh!
To be continued...

Made two huge mistakes with our grocery shopping yesterday. One was I went without a well thought out plan, and two was that I decided to do two weeks worth of shopping. I thought I was doing so well, until I realized I had to "pull" from another envelope. Remember, we use Dave Ramsey's theory on the envelope system. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that another part of my budget would suffer for a couple weeks.
But, I'm trying to look at the "bright" side of things and that would be that I learned a lesson. No matter how well you think you've got this "grocery thing" down, you don't. Well thought out plans as well as meal planning are the only way our family will save money and stay within budget.
What does your family do to stay in budget?
Do you have a budget?
Did your parents have a budget and talk to you about it?

Tonight I worked on our new budget. I know, I know, BORING! But, in order to be debt free (at least of credit cards in 2011), I HAD to. So what I found was we are not in the negative, but we have NO room for error. That is scary! I know this much is true: If we work hard for awhile, we can enjoy life to the absolute fullest(financially speaking) later. So, for the next month I'm going to REALLY look at need versus want. Are there "tweaks" in our budget(cable, phone, etc.) that I can make for this process to not only move faster, but actually see progress? I have made so many "cuts" now, I'm not sure where else I can, but there has to be a way. With the baby on way in 8-10 weeks, time for change is NOW....to be continued.

A New Year Bring on 2011

We have just finished up 2010 and it has me thinking of what I want out of 2011. Besides having a healthy baby boy we're adding to our family, I also want to be at least credit card debt free this year. Therefore, we have completely redone our budget, started our Dave Ramsey envelope system http://www.daveramsey.com/home/, and cut back on ALOT of unnecessary buying. Can you believe that in the last two months I have been able to feed my family of four (remember, I am also pregnant...lol) on $60.00 a week? I think we've actually eaten better than we EVER have. I think the main reason is I have HAD to cook. Lets see, tonight we ate slow cook chili, yesterday we ate "dump" chicken (honey, soy sauce, & butter) with veggies, and sweet potatoes, and we had turkey breast and stuffing for a few days last week. Reading the posts of moms who are on a budget and have the same goals have really helped my outlook. I have even recently started making my own yeast breast to have with our dinner. Yes, it takes just a bit longer than buying some yeast rolls, but honestly, it kind of tastes better because I made it myself. I also made homemade liquid laundry detergent (five gallons worth) for around $1.50! The detergent has worked great and even has a really clean smell. I am so determined to have our family debt free, I will try just about ANYTHING!

So, just to prove my grocery shopping, here is what I got today (with my kids in tow) at Bilo and Aldi

One of the "jobs" of a mom is to come up with new, cheap, & exciting things to do when your lucking enough to be around your children. Your off work, sort of relaxed, and ready to do something, right? Most of the time. But sometimes, good grief, your so tired from the work week and daily tasks that its hard to find any ounce of energy left to give. Would I really like to take a nap? Yes. Would I really(deep down) want to have a massage? Yes. Would I change it for the world that I can't? No.
It's hard to find things that both my kids want to do. Well, one is four and one is ten, you do the math. One wants to go go go, while the other is perfectlty content on watching cartoons for twenty four hours if I let him. One could eat mac and cheese every day all day,while the other wants chicken tenders 24-7. So,finding something that both of them "want" to do, is damn near impossible. What happend to the days when you could say "go outside and play" without fearing someone would kidnap your kids. Good grief, I can remember leaving on my bike for hours. Not anymore. So we put our kids in dance, soccer, baseball, drama, etc. etc. Hopeing their getting enough "play" time.
The last time we signed my son up for soccer, he took one look at the field then back at his ball and said "I'm not putting my ball down, the grass is wet." Well, ok then.
That was that. So instead we focussed on reading and learing letters. We'll try organized sports next year. HaHa

It's a bright, but cold, Saturday morning. I'm at the kitchen table with my hot cup of coffee. I look over at my son who has a haslenut covered bagel covering his mouth. My daughter looks at him and giggles and looks back at me. I start laughing. Very good start to a day. Then the fighting begins...
"sissy, stop looking at me" my son says. "Mom, he touched me" my daughter cries.
Yep, I knew that moment wouldn't last very long.
But, I'll remember those precious moments, even if they are far and few between them.

Okay, so I was looking at my coffee table when I got home and this is what I found:
Dirty socks
Small square Thomas the train pillow
Three channel changers
Bop it game
GI Joe Tank
Box of Tissues
Unplugged heating pad
Unplayed Leapster
Etch-A-Sketch
Chuck E Cheese Plastic Cup
Child's book
I pod
Empty plastic Easter egg
Plastic fish
Squishy Lizard
Yellow Highlighter
Sticky note pad
Transformer toy
DS Game Holder
Plain white piece of paper
Empty santa peez container &
Pair of earings
And I wonder why my mind feel caiotic? It could be because my house is caos. Then I think about when my kids will be gone. How empty and "put together" my house will be...how lonely that will feel. So instead of "freaking out" about how dirty, messy, or non-organized the house is, I will first take a moment to enjoy that it is not.