This past weekend, Amanda brought her pop up camper and set up in the front yard. Haley came and spent one night with all the kids sleeping outside, everyone else spent 2 nights. Looks like they had fun!
Wordless Wednesday- Camping
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Saving on Saturday 5/16/2015
I am really excited to share this! If you know me you realize that I am not really a craft person. For example in 4th grade it took me 3 months to learn to cross stitch and that was not even to complete a project. I like the idea of being craft but honestly who has the time?
Well this time I did. I spent around 5 hours and $3.00 to create this awesome wreath for the front of my house.
front laying on floor
Back side I think it is neat too!
I purchased a bunch of tulle on sale for 10 cent a roll several weeks ago at Walmart. For the wreath, I ended up using about 3/4 of 3 different rolls.
Step one: Make the wreath pattern out of cardboard. I found a pot lid that was the size I wanted for beside the door and then drew and cut it out and then cut our the center.
Step Two: Cut the rolls of tulle into the approximate same size piece and decide a pattern.
Step Three: Tie each of the tulle piece on the wreath, I was careful to stick to the same pattern! I am so excited to show off this project!
Saving on Saturday -5/9/2015
First check out the cute header my husband made for today!
Today’s saving is actually even bigger than I had originally thought or planned. We are all enjoying the square foot garden this year and hopefully will be reaping the benefit in just a few short weeks. One of the first things that I have been reading about is that we needed to start a compost pile to help supplement the dirt each year. I have been think and looking into different options for about six months. So today, I decided we needed to act on the idea or at least get good plan in place to get this started in the next several weeks. After some discussion and thought, we were actually able to build our compost box using wood that we already had around! That is right we spent absolute no money on the construction or materials! I am actually over the moon that it turned out so well. Even Matt got on board and helped dig in the back for the last couple of boards we needed. I am so pleased with this project that I have to share the pictures.
Side view!
This is a view from the deck. I am hoping because we can just dump that it will be easy to keep things going in it!
Standing straight in front of the new compost bin at the end of the deck!
Water Fun!
One of the reason that we chose to stay at this particular hotel is because of the cool water areas that it has. These include several both indoor and outdoor hot tubes, a really cool water slide, several pools that range from 1.5 to 2 ft of water with buckets and sprinklers galore, a lazy river and of course several regular pools. Zach has even decided that he likes playing in the water. Check out the fun the kids have been having…..
Playing in Dirt
That is how we spent most of this beautiful Saturday! Playing in the dirt! The temperature was around 65 degrees and it was sunny! I would call it a perfect Spring day in North Carolina!!
I started the day with a long list of small projects that needed to completed to make our yard at least presentable.
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Mix new dirt into square foot garden.(See above). Weed all three flower beds and place new mulch.Fix square foot garden where it was hit this winter.Drill holes in large planter and re-plant.- Move and straighten playhouse.
Place lime over wet area of yard.Mow and trim yard.Fix Matt’s van, (small leak).Fix cup holder in white van and add cup holder for Lily.Wash and hang to dry all sheets.-
Apply mulch to playgroundand then Preen It (this will prevent weed growth). Wash dog and all his bedding.
As you can tell we did accomplish a lot. The ground is simply too wet right now to get the playhouse adjusted, so hopefully in the next couple of week we can get this marked off the list. Applying the weed preventer, need to happen just prior to it raining so I am going to do this on Sunday in anticipation of rain late Sunday night or Monday.
This is one area that I will admit that I usually forget to budget for however this year, I did not. I had budgeted $100 for the yard, after using this I ended up pulling $25 from the yard sale profits to keep us even for this project. I am so excited to have this behind me and to not have to borrow money to complete. One of the ways that I ended up saving money was buying plants off the “clearance” shelves at Lowes. I ended up purchasing all but 2 of the plants from this area this year. I had great success with these last year as most of the time the plants are simply not blooming or missed getting water prior to being placed in this area.
Lily is a bit of a prissy girl and does not like playing in the dirt but because we were all outside, she was required to at least sit outside as well.
And finally a picture of the mulched beds and planter…
January in Review
Blogging: Goal: 15 per month Goal Met! I know that this will be at least post number 15 for the month but I also have a couple of other post in my head that I am going to try and get out but no matter what I am good for the month!
Weight: Goal: Met and maintain weight of 175. This goal will be considered met each month that weight loss is achieved and once this weight is achieved, each month maintained is considered achieved. I am very excited to say that I have been able to lose 4 pounds this month. I honestly think it is having the treadmill sitting in my room. I have gone from a maximum of 3 nights a week working out to a minimum of 6 nights a week walking on the treadmill. I have struggled a lot this month with my eating but success is awesome. The down side is that I am not yet back down to the weight I was prior to Thanksgiving. Goal Met!
Spiritual- Goal. I want to spend time reading and or studying the Bible at least 5 days a week for the year. I am trying to spend more time in the Word, but I don’t honestly think I have met this goal for the month. Room for improvement.
Personal Goals: Achieved 2 of 3
Financial Goals: Achieved 1 of 4
1. Pay off all debit by December 2015, except for mortgage.
a. JC Penny- 79.32– . DONE
b. Home Depot- $210 a month Payment. Goal met!
c. American Express – pay $12OO a month – paid $700 due to windshield
d. Personal Loan (used to purchase van) .The current scheduled payment is $217 a month with this scheduled to be paid off in December 2015. Goal Met!
2. Emergency Fund to $2000. Did not happen this month due to purchase of new to us van and the windshield replacement.
. 3. Groceries: Spend $600 a month . Currently at $680 for the month. My excuse this does included the junk food for Super Bowl Sunday.
4. Gas: Spend $400 a month with any remaining to be move to Auto fund for repairs. We did end up purchasing the new to us van and had to do some repairs to it to get it the way I feel safe in it. I am not counting the tax,title and tag fee of $126 in this cost, it was covered with the sale of my car. Nor am I counting the $217 windshield because that was a true Emergency. Even eliminating those 2 expenses that I can account for else where I am way over budget for the month at $514. The price of gas has finally dropped to below $2 a gallon so I am hopeful that next month this expense will go way down!
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Menu Planning
Even before all the fun and expense of the white van this week, I was trying to tighten up our budget for at least the next 4 months. When we start adding in the additional expenses, then I know I need to put on the brakes of spending. One of the largest expenses for us is groceries and especially eating out. We have decreased our eating out significantly in the last year but I find it very easy to grab a deal especially when we get busy. By Menu planning and doing a lot of prep work on Sunday, I am hoping to not eat out at all for the next two weeks. We have a cheerleading completion on the 24th so that means we have to eat on the road but otherwise my goal is to not eat out any other time this month.
Breakfast- Choice of grits, cereal, pop-tarts, French toast (left-overs), Banana French toast (left-over from Sunday morning), Baked Oatmeal (left-over from Friday), Banana Muffins (Saturday morning) or Egg/Sausage Burrito (made on Sunday). As you can see all these are quick and simple heat up. I am so thankful for these as mornings are not my favorite time.
Lunch- The girls have decided on and I have already packed 4 out of the 5 days this week. They both wanted sandwiches one day, so I can easily do these Thursday morning. I also have packed my salad for Monday and have cans of soup for the rest of the week unless I choice left-overs. Matt and Zach have a choice of what ever we have since they are home during the day.
Dinner- The kids have an activity every evening this week so we are going for simple/convenient in order to make sure we don’t eat out.
Monday- Crockpot Rio Chicken with rice. The rice is already cooked and can be heated. We also have bananas and oranges for a fruit this day.
Tuesday- Grilled Pork chops with potato salad, cranberry sauce and pineapple.
Wednesday- Chicken Enchilada- kit we purchased last week. We have all the extra stuff for these and will add applesauce or a can of fruit.
Thursday- I have to cook or if I get busy this will be a left over day. Since I don’t work on Thursdays I usually see what I feel like for dinner that morning. This gives us a little wiggle room as well if we decide to change plans mid stream.
Friday- Salisbury steak, rice, green beans and fruit.
Sounds simple…… Let’s hope so!
Year In Review
As promised here is where I stand for the year on each of the goals I set. I am also going to include an update goal for 2015. My current plan is to add to these and put some numbers with them at the end of the week. One quick recap, just after establishing these goals. we decided to take a last minute trip to Michigan which cause everything to start at a much slower pace than I had planned.
Long Term Goals: These were last addressed in July.
1. $2000 to repair our septic system- I have no clue of the cost for this but this is a save range. I will be counting our Emergency Fund in this amount for the time being because if it cost less than anything left will stay in this fund. No progress. The new and improved goal for 2015 will remain the same with the exception of planned saving on a monthly basis. However it will not cover the entire amount so I will need to “find” extra money along the way..
2. $1000 to replace the floor in our Living room. Goal Met.
I will be adding several long term (meaning year long goals to this).
Monthly goals
Blogging: Goal: 15 per month Met 8 of 12 months with only this month exceeding the goal. This will continue as it at least keeps me accountable.
Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 175 by December 2014. This goal was met 7/12 for 2014 but I have not reached my overall goal of 175. I am going to change this goal just a bit for 2015. New goal is Met and maintain weight of 175. This goal will be considered met each month that weight loss is achieved and once this weight is achieved, each month maintained is considered achieved. We have decided to cancel our YMCA membership due to the significant increase in amount and decease in our use over the previous year. Instead, we are in the process of purchasing a treadmill to use at home. I am honestly thinking that by having the equipment at home, I will be using it more often.
Spiritual- After eliminating this goal for 2014, I am going to add it back. I want to spend time reading and or studying the Bible at least 5 days a week for the year. Matt and I have signed up for a college class on the Old Testament, which should spur me on to make steady progress.
Financial Goals:
1. Pay off all debit by July 2015, except for mortgage. This goal was achieved 10 of 12 months. I plan to continue this goal but will be providing specific numbers to go along with this. Slight changes may including total payoff in September of 2015 instead of July.
2. Emergency Fund to $2000. I was able to achieve this goal only 4 of 12 months. I hope to make significant improvements in this year as indicated above with a planned saving each month.
. 3. Groceries: Spend $600 a month . Achieved 10 of 12 months. Our overall average is $650 for the year. I am going to continue this goal for 2015.
4. Gas: Spend $400 a month with any remaining to be move to Auto fund for repairs. Goal achieved 7 of 7 months that I tracked, however I currently do not have any money in the Auto Fund. The current plan is to continue this goal as is. We are currently purchasing a new to us van to replace my car so I am unsure if this will affect our overall gas use and may increase in June 2015 if needed.
Overall this has been a good year for the goals I established and I hope to continue improvements in 2015.What goals are you establishing?
Wordless Wednesday
We received the awesome cd of picture this week from our family picture shoot and I wanted to share a couple more. These are group pics….
Random Tuesday Thoughts
- We survived family photos with 13 people including 7 “kids”. I will post some of the sneak peak that the photographer has posted for Wordless Wednesday tomorrow. So far I have been very pleased with the ones I have seen so I am hoping that we will have lots of awesome pictures to use for Christmas presents and such.
- My work schedule has gotten very very lean in November, so far I am enjoying the extra time off because it is allowing me to catch up on things and also prepare for our trip. This week I have 2 half days off in addition to my normal Thursday.
- We are planning to leave for Michigan in 13 days, before leaving I have to get a new schedule up for Children’s church and I would like to get my snow village up as well
- Matt and I have a huge date night planned to go to “Garth Brooks” concert in Greensboro. This will be our first true date night in over a year, only down side is this is exactly 2 days before we are leaving.
- Kendall is one determined child, she has managed to pull her 2 front teeth in the last 6 hours. I guess I should be glad that she waited to after family pictures to accomplish this.
- I have finished all my Christmas shopping except for the couple that involve family pictures that are mentioned above. And I already have Christmas cards purchased!
- I like to have seven random thoughts in a random thoughts post just because it makes it seem right. Therefore I will plan a huge budget update for Thursday or Friday of this week.