March in Review

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Sheila

Financial goals: March has been a drain on us financially. We have had to complete minor repair work on both the vehicles, additional medical expenses for Zach and yesterday our lawn mower decided to smoke us out. We did purchase a new lawnmower on a special finance deal which means that if we pay off the purchase within 12 months, we will not be charged interested. I am adding this as a goal to keep us accountable.

Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged.
Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June– No progress this month
Emergency fund to $2000– With all the additional expenses we had this month, I was able to only add $50 to this. I would like to have it up to $500 ASAP and $2000 by the end of the year.
Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system – DONE! I love the app and the “freedom/expense” accounts that are making tracking so much easier for me to keep track of the money. I also realize just how much we are spending on gas, clothing and gifts. I decided to increase the clothing and gifts to $100 a month to see if that will even us out.
Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month Goal met, We spent a $582.00 this month including an order for 40 pounds of chicken breast. We have not broken even for the year yet, sitting at negative $8. We are continuing to clean out the freezers and I have actually started to notice a difference in the stuff upstairs. I am going to plan to continue to buy only as needed stuff in April to get us back on track. I am thinking that our summer produce co-op will be due this month as well as by May, we will need another trip to the meat market. I hope to include both of these items in our $600 a month budget.

Blogging: Goal: 15 per month This is my 13th post of the month . Still have not met this goal for the year but will continue to keep working toward it.

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month. Exercising has not been as consistent as it was during February but I have managed to loss 2 more pounds this month. I have officially lost 10 pounds this years so I am making progress! I have not met the pound goal but I am consistently losing weight and that is the most important thing!

Zach’s Surgery

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Sheila

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww! That my friends is a sigh of relief. Zach had his dental surgery yesterday and after a long day of recovery, he is back to his normal self today! I am going to write out the details so that 15 years from now I can remember.

We arrived at the surgery center exactly at 6am. Granny and Pawpaw came over really early to pick up Lily and Kendall. We were the first ones at the surgery center so the first part of waiting was quick, by 6:20 we had been taken back into the pre-surgery waiting rooms. Zach refused to have his weight checked, so I ended up standing on the scales with him, more good news I had lost 2 pounds! Zach was not at all cooperative with anything that need to happen. He didn’t like the socks, didn’t want to change shirts, and he didn’t want to take any medicine. We ended up waiting close to 45 minute in this room and by the end he had adjust to everything and I got about half of the medicine in him which started making him sleepy so he was not horrible leaving with the nurse for surgery. The dentist spoke with us and talked about really trying to save all his teeth. Zach left crying with the nurse and we went to the waiting room. We did receive a call about 5 minutes later that he was asleep and didn’t cry long. I am guess this was about 7:30. Around 9 the dental assistant came out to tell us that they were not able to save the front two teeth. Matt and I were both disappointment but we decided to be positive with Zach so he would not think it was a bad thing. At 9:30 the dental assistant return to give us discharge instructions.

Less than 10 minutes later, we were escorted back to the recovery area, Zach was upset because he had pee and wanted his mom. After changing him and calming him down we headed home around 10:40am.

Zach was very medicated when we brought him home, he was seeing neat things in the car, had trouble holding his head up and was very very slow eating his ice cream. The effects lasted the rest of the day. Zach attempted to stand up out of the car seat and “fell on his but and could not get up.” We had to carry him around for at least 2 hours. Zach would stand up and you could see his body leaning and falling. Around noon, Lily and Kendall came home and we all took naps. After the nap, Zach could walk around but still was tired and laid around most of the day.

Today, he is going full steam ahead with two missing teeth!

Wordless Wednesday March 27

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Sheila

Yesterday Lily’s school held a 2nd grade wax museum. The kids have been working on this project for over a month. All the second graders were in the gym in costume. Each parent was given 5 chips to use and you could always go back for more. If you wanted to hear about the person you placed the chip in the bowl and then a short speech happen. Lily chose Mia Hamn, who is a gold medal soccer player. Brooke, my niece, who is 9 months older choose Queen Elizabeth. I learned that Queen Elizabeth was a horse lover!

Would you guess she has never played soccer?

Awesome Food Lion Deal

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Sheila

I know those words usually don’t appear together! But Free or pennies per item is always Awesome especially at my house. Check this out

I purchased all 30 of these yogurt for $1.18! For a 96% saving! Currently Food Lion is running a sale on Yoplait for $0.60 each, combine with their Big Deal Promotion which gives you $5 in instant saving for each 10 items you buy. It is possible to purchase these for $.10 with no coupon involved, however in the SS 2/24 insert you will find 2 different coupons and you can also print (2)$1 off 10 cups from Target.com. I used both printable and the newspaper coupons. The normal cost of one is $0.76, with my ending cost being$0.03 each. This sale actually runs until Tuesday of this week so if you are near a Food Lion grab some to share!

Easter Egg Hunt

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Sheila

Looks like they had lots of fun!

3/21- A Day to Remember

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Sheila

Today has been one of those day, where we have been constantly on the run! I had a long list of things to accomplish and I can proudly say that I finished them all. Zach had his pre-op appointment this morning. It was really a joke, he does weigh 30 pounds and is officially 3 feet tall. The remark that sums up the entire visit was when the CNA asked “Do you think you can get him to pee in a cup?” My response “Seriously?” So without the aforement test Zach was cleared for the surgery. We celebrated by visiting Burger King…..

Next I was able to head to the Beauty Salon and get my hair colored. No picture of that of course. So to end the day, Haley and I headed to the DMV. Haley discovered last week that her permit would expire on Saturday, her birthday. If she chose to wait till after that to attempt to get her license then she would be required to retake the written test. Today, she only had to pass the driving test.

Yes I passed!

The part I don’t understand in North Carolina is that she is now allowed to drive “unsupervised” between the hours of 5am and 9pm, in addition she is required to complete an additional 12 hours of supervised driving of which 6 must be at night. In 6 months, if she has not had any tickets and these requirements are met she will become eligible for a full fledge license.

CVS Groove

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Sheila

I have mention several times recently that CVS just is not the same. The sales seem less useful and then add to the fact that recently, I can’t find many things in stock, I have lost my CVS groove. But today, that changed!

I decide to make a trip to CVS because Diet Coke are on sale! Prior to going to CVS, I have been drinking my cans for work for the past two weeks, because I refuse to pay more than $1.00 for 2L. The sale price was $0.99 each for up to 5 at a time, the ad also promised a $0.25 off one from the redbox. The final cost ends up around $0.80 a bottle! Overall I purchased 10 bottle, 2 bags of candy, 3 sticks of deodorant, 2 packs of gum an 4 disposable razors for $16.19, saving $42.34 or 72%

My plan is to return to CVS mostly likely 2 more times this week to stock up! I know that I will be receiving 5 ECB from the Beauty Club so that will greatly reduce my out-of-pocket! I hope to have 30 plus bottle stocked before the end of the week! Welcome Back CVS groove!

Money Update- God Provides

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Sheila

Gensis 22:14 “Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

I can say that I know how it feels when God provides for our every need. One of the hardships associated with Zach’s scheduled surgery for the end of the month was the financial aspect of it. I used all of our Medi Flex for the year to cover the dentist portion of the bill. I was told up front that we would in addition receive an anesthesiologist bill in addition to the bill from the medical center for the facility use. On Wednesday, I was greeted by the anethesiology bill and it was one that took my breath away. My medical insurance would cover half after meeting a separate $600 co-pay, all total $881 is the expected amount to be paid prior to March 21st in order for the surgery to occur on time.

Today I sat down to pay our regular bills and then started looking at just how and where this money would be coming from. I did have to pull most of it from our Emergency Fund but it was not the end of the Emergency Fund, it still has 1/4 of our first amount or $250 left. I have paid this bill and feel really at peace with the whole process now.

I am so excited because God has again provided abundantly!

Stretch our money- Chicken

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Sheila

As I was digging in our chest freezer last week, I found a 5 lb bag of chicken legs. I have learned in the past year that Matt does not like barbecue chicken legs so I was on a mission to use these legs so that we all could enjoy. I found a simple recipe for the crock pot so I thaw the legs, seasoned with Paula Deen seasoning. They cooked for about 8 hours on Sunday while we were at the cheerleading competition. For dinner, I made homemade bread, green beans and corn and the chicken legs. Everyone ate at least one legs but I still had about 10 left. I decided to make a chicken and broccoli casserole after de boning these. In addition I was able to cook a pot of chicken broth to be frozen for later use. I made the casserole ahead on Sunday and it was our dinner on Monday, as well as my lunch on Tuesday! So out of my $5 bag of chicken I was able to serve 2 meals as well as the broth.

Things I am Thankful for!

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Sheila

This week the line “I will praise you in the storm.” has come to my mind several times. Things have gotten a little crazy over here with my work and the kids activities but I honestly don’t think our family is in the middle of a storm. But still the need to be thankful is a good things so today, I am going to be thankful!

I am thankful for 3 children happily playing together outside on the trampoline!
I am thankful for the bright sunny almost warm weather that we have today that is allowing Matt to work on my car.
I am thankful for Matt, he is my friend, lover and partner in crime. He also is an awesome cook and not to bad at fixin things either
I am thankful for God supplying not only a job that I enjoy but also the extra income we need through Matt’s website business.
I am thankful for a church family that is encouraging and support but also very unique and different!
I am thankful for being able to go shopping at Walmart and not have to count each penny as we spend it! I am still sticking to my budget but know that by choosing to pick up Oreo cookies and Cheese Doodles we still have money to cover our expense is a blessing.
I am thankful for my parents, who continue to support and encourage me even as an adult.
I am thankful for several freezers and a pantry full of food that is available to eat.

Care to join me?

Teens Tots and Everything In Between

Life, Love and Coupons

Monthly Archives: March 2013