April In Review

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Sheila

To be honestly this has seemed like an extremely long month. We are struggling in many areas so that may explain some of the reason, it feels like a long long month. But May is coming along with warm weather and sunshine! So bring it home. I did also find and start using Swagbucks this month. My current goal is to earn enough money via this site and a couple of other to book our next Disney vacation. So here is the rest of the update.

Personal-
1. Blogging– Post 20 per month. Fail. This is post number 18, which is at least an improvement over the past two months so I am moving in the right direction.

2.Weight Loss– 175#. Struggling with time for this.

3. Spiritual– Spend at least 5 days a week, reading and studying The Bible. Goal Met. So proud to say that I am continuing with this goal and it is becoming more and more important each day.

1/3 personal goals met. With improvements made so I am going to move forward on a positive note.

Financial-

1. Set aside money each month in every budget category. Fail

2. Establish and maintain Emergency Fund- Fail.
3. Groceries: Goal is for $700. Fail – Total spending for the month is $966.47 However looking at the year so far I have spent $530 a month which is still way less than my $700. We ended up purchasing both chicken and meat this month for the summer. I would anticipate that the next couple months will again be under budget.

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month- Goal Met! I am excited to start making a dent in the car debit we have accumulated this year.

5. Pay off all Credit Card debit by December 2016- Fail. I am meeting bare minimal payments on everything but really was hoping to begin to get control and reduce this number.

As you can tell financially this was a rough month but I am seeing God provide in ways we would not expect so I am going to stand firm and trust!

5 Things Friday- 4/29/2016

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Sheila

I have spent 3 afternoons at school this week. Monday and Tuesday, Matt and I both attended Field Day. Today, I went at lunch to watch Kendall’s presentation at the wax museum on Pocahontas .
After planting ALOT of seeds last week in the garden, we were all EXCITED to discover that we have corn and beans both growing along with some cherry tomatoes and jalapeno peppers!
Zach has a soccer game tomorrow at noon. This is his next to last game. I hope he continues to enjoy soccer. I am almost certain he will want to play again in the fall.
On Sunday, both Lily and Kendall will participate in the final cheerleading competition of the season. The sad news is that the weather is suppose to be wet and the competition is held at a theme park. We have already purchased tickets so I am praying for a couple of hours of sunshine on Sunday.
I was able to cash out for a $25 gift card this week with Swagbucks. I currently am think I will hold on to this and use to book our next Disney trip. This is one of the few ways I can find money!

Lily’s Art

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Sheila

Several weeks ago, Lily mention one evening that her art was chosen for use at a “art show”. She also said, “I have a paper about it.” I was interested but assumed it was a school thing where they try to get you to “buy” your child’s framed art work. Typically price is around $30 each. We have discussed this in the past so Lily already knew we would not be purchasing. Several days later, she brought me this.

Not at all what I expected, so we made plans to attend the reception. Lily also found out that she was one of two students chosen from her school for this. Tonight, Matt and Zach went with Lily to the reception. Kendall and I were at cheerleading. They found out that Lily was not only one of two chosen from her elementary school but one of 6 elementary school students chosen overall. Her picture will be on display for the next year at the “Civic Center.” The title of her picture was “Glitter soup.”

It is the top picture. She also received a very nice certificate.

So this is not at all what I expected but I am very proud of her.

Monday Menu Plan

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Sheila

Things in our world are starting to get a little bit slower. We have another week for cheer and two weeks of soccer. Then we should get about a 3 week break prior to swim team. The other exciting news is six weeks till school is out. We do have 3 days of extra activities at school this week during the day so the plan is simple.

Breakfast– Saturday- Gravy Biscuits, Sunday- Bagels( Originally purchased for Matt’s birthday. Choices will include toast, grits, leftovers French toast, cereal, breakfast bars, eggs or baked oatmeal. We have several left-overs that need to be eaten this week and I hope to add some muffins as well.

Lunch- Kids have 3 days of chicken nuggets, a grab and go day and a veggie dipping day. I will be eating in the car 3 of 5 days this week travelling to the school so it should get interesting.

Dinner- Saturday- Lunch- Sandwiches. Dinner- Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza
Sunday- Lunch- Veggie plates (tomatoes, mac n cheese, cream corn, green beans. Dinner- Grilled Chicken
Monday- Cheeseburger pie with slaw or cucumber relish
Tuesday-Leftovers
Wednesday- Pork chops with carrots and fruit
Thursday- ?? not sure but may be leftover or sandwiches or breakfast casserole
Friday- Baked ziti

How is your menu looking this week?

Square Foot Garden

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Sheila

The focus this week has been on getting our garden in the ground and growing. I am proud to say that we actually got most of it accomplished.

First is the map I worked on Monday and Tuesday night

I have 100 corn seeds planted in addition to the 100 squares above. The blank box will be sweet potatoes. I am trying something new this year and growing our own slips for planting. Currently they are sitting on the kitchen cabinet and look like this.

We have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, green beans, snow peas, red and yellow onions, lettuce, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers and banana peppers, watermelon and cantaloupe. If you look closely you can see where we attempted to use seed pods to start some of the plants. I have spent right at $100 between seeds and plants so far this year which is less than last year with almost double the amount of items.

Today we used the sprinkler to water everything. I hope to get a good harvest this year and also do some steady pictures over the next two months so I can see what worked and what did not.

Saving on Saturday 04/23/2016

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Sheila

I actually have 3 ways I have been saving this week to share with you today. First is a very common one, CVS. I have actually not been to CVS in three weeks but this was definitely a week that I needed and wanted to go. I consider a good trip saving over 60%. This weeks’ trips met the criteria as I spent $26 and saved $38 or 60%. I am more pleased that most of the items purchased were on my list of things we needed including deodorant for Lily, body wash for Matt and bathroom cleaner. As you probably already know Diet Cokes are always on my list. The second way, I saved this week is by purchasing chicken breast from Zaycon (my referral link). They sent me a coupon good for 20 cent off a pound which saved me 11% or $25. I also had a credit from a previous pick up where I was short some pounds of pork tenderloin and a referral credit. I was able to purchase 120# of chicken breast for $198.04! Finally I did not save money but earned free money from Swagbucks. I have been completing less than an hour a day answering survey question and or watching videos, letting them run on my screen for the past month. I cashed out Swagbucks for a $25 Target gift card and discovered a $5 Amazon card in my account! Free money is better than saving money!

How did you save this week?

5 things Friday- 4/22/2016

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Sheila

Usually I am really tired by the end of the week and I can blame it on my crazy work schedule. This week that is not the case, we have been work outside trying to get the yard and garden in shape.
The goal is to plant the 100 squares of corn in addition to the 90 remaining squares by lunch on Saturday.
The kids have a lot of activities in the next two weeks including school field days, a wax museum, art show and Dare Graduation. I am fortunate to have known in advance about most of these days. But it will be a juggling act to balance work and kids this next week
We have already blasted past our grocery budget for the month.
I love sleeping in the rain and tonight should be the perfect night to do this.

Wordless Wednesday- Playing in the Sand

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Sheila

Tuesday Garden Thoughts 4/19/2016

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Sheila

I have been able to finish up fairly early at work the last two days, which has given me the chance to spend some time outside working on the square foot garden and other needed yard activites.
Yesterday, I spent the majority of the time working on moving hostas from the spot where we have plans to place an rain barrel. Next I needed to plant flowers purchased two weeks ago. I am very hopeful that our last frost has pasted. The official date is April 30th.
Today, we mowed the yard and spent the majority of our time working on our square foot garden.
Matt has help me to develop a drawing of the garden that will be reuseable for the next several year. I need to sit tonight and figure out just what plants are going where and what will need to be purchased. I will be using a spreadsheet to get a fair count on what all we need. The goal is to plant everything but sweet potatoes this weekend.
The sweet potatoes have started to spourt and I am excited to see if this experiment is going to work. Not spending even $7 on new sweet potato plants is a savings.
We are expecting to plant around 100 stalks of corn. In addition I have 100 other square to plant.