August in Review

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August was an extremely busy month filled with both fun and tears. We started the month off by pulling a Uhaul trailer to Florida with most of Lily’s furniture to get her settled in her new apartment. Then E, Braxton and I spent almost two weeks at Disney. Matt flew in and out but did get to spend a good week at Disney. Next up was Haley’s pinning ceremony that had most of the crew together! I started back to work full time, Kendall and Zach started college.  We have not struggled as much as I anticipated with all the changes in routine! I have even caught up with most of my list for before school starts. This fall we have lots of football games to enjoy, several birthdays to celebrate as well!   I hope to get things back on track with regular post on the blog as well as some serious debt repayment and of course a new budget to start next year.  I typically do a budget review/revise in June but this year is different. So I am honestly looking ahead and trying to really set our sights on starting 2027 off strong with both a realistic budget and debt reduction plan. This means that I am going to be making more post about budget and money over the next few months as I focus on planning!

Groceries- Goal $800 per month.  We spent $536  for the month of August. My goal for the next two months is to significantly reduce our spending to less than $300 a month.  I am hopeful to reduce this overall budget to $500 starting in January however I am not quite sure this is realistic. We have a significant amount of food in our freezers and pantry so I am hopeful to really stretch us this fall.

Gas- Goal is $400.  Total spent was $690 for gas  this month. This amount does not include the trip to Florida.  I am not sure what the gas spending will be as I am adding about 30 miles or more a day with after school care for E. The price of gas continues to jump so this may be an area to reconsider in January as well.

Blogging-The goal will be 15 posts per month.  This is post 10 for me. Considering that I was out of town for half the month this is a significant improvement and win for me!

Debit-   The goal for 2026 will be to pay off the Home Depot Credit card without interest. Finances are always a difficult subject to be completely open and honest about. At this point, I don’t see us making the big second payment on the Home Depot card. Which means we will be hit with a significant amount of interest to tackle. God can provide so I have been praying. But regardless of his answer, we have to re adjust the budget. I am hopeful to use the remaining months of 2026 to get us on a solid financial track with planning for saving and debt repayment at the front! On the positive side a increase in income is coming and we should pay off the Tahoe in January!

No Spend Days- Goal for 10 no spend days a month. Time to make this a focus as well as get some accountability.

Health/Exercise-I am currently down an additional 10 pounds over the summer. I guess walking an average of 5 miles a day at Disney does count as exercise. We have purchased a walking pad for the house so I have no excuse to not try and exercise at least 1 time a week for now.
Foster Care-  Our next court date is set for October 20th. We were notified that the official permanency plan is guardianship/reunification. This is a huge first step!  We were also told that the official reason for this was to encourage both parents to begin working on their plan.  I am going to try and keep my feelings and thoughts out of this section. As I want it to be a place I can find date and official things easily.

Very little progress has been made on my Summer goal list since I started back to work so this is a final update.

1. Make and order 8 photo books. We have received 2 books. I did print out 25 pictures to make E a Disney book.
2.  Read a total of 8 books. I have finished five books this summer!
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s- Goal Met! July 2026
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies  Goal met! August 
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas. Goal met 6/19/2026.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. This goal was not met but I lost 10 lbs so something moved!
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas.   goal met 6/19/2026
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles. 6/19/2026
9. Make at least 50 meatballs and freeze.  I did not get around to the meatball however I currently have 78 prepared meals in the freezer or canning pantry in addition to the 10 jars of spaghetti sauce that is canned!

Overall I was able to achieve the summer goals related to food but not my personal self care goals.  Who is surprised?

I wanted to add something that E and I are doing in the mornings and I was not sure where to add so this is the spot. We have 30 verse that have been laminated. We are going to read a verse each morning! We are hoping to follow this with a prayer. So far this does help us change our moods and I want to keep this habit up!

Menu Plan

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I am posting this a day early because tomorrow is the end of the month and it is my intention to post the month in review. This week brings more changes but we should start to settle into a routine for the school year. E has a doctor’s appointment on Monday, starts Camp Manna after school on Tuesday and has a visit on Friday.   Both Zach and Kendall are settling in to school as well. The pool is open for one more week but I am not even sure if we will get to enjoy it again this year. I am trying to get in a routine of using the crockpot at least one time a week as well. I don’t like hot food in the summer but it does make my life easier. I am also planning to make another batch of spaghetti sauce so that is always on the menu as well.

Breakfast- Saturday-BLTs   Sunday-Banana bread   Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday   and Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts ,cereal bars, pancakes and eggs). My goal is to make at least one breakfast a week that we all can share. Last Thursday, I made mini muffins which everyone enjoyed. I have a plan to make sausage cresant rolls this week.

Lunch- Saturday- Sandwiches of your choice,  Sunday-TBD    Monday,   Tuesday   Wednesday, Thursday, Friday- I am on a regular schedule this week which means I will be taking a lunch most days except Fridays.

Dinner- Saturday- Steak and baked potato    Sunday-Sushi buffet for Zach’s birthday,   Monday- spaghetti.  Tuesday Chicken Nachos  Wednesday-New Crockpot meal with green beans, potatoes and lil smokies  Thursday-  cheeseburger pie   Friday- chicken nuggets.

Saving on Food

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This post is a little long and different than the usual things I post about saving but hang on for the story and I promise to get to the saving part at the end. Saving money is not always about finding the best deal or using the coupons but in reality it is about being a good steward of your money!

Fostering a child is a huge commitment of both time and money.  But the hardest part of the entire process is that you are expected to treat the child like your own but in reality you don’t any control. DSS is in control of his schedule and they decide when visits are without any regards for our schedule or what would work easier for the foster parents. I also have to get permission to get a hair cut but if it is not a hair cut they (either DSS or the parents) like I also get questioned about that decision.  One of the reason we decided to pursue becoming licensed foster parents was the stipend that is provided. Let me say up front it is not a huge amount nor is it the only reason we are licensed. E is a huge picky eater so groceries are expensive.  One of the huge benefits is that he is given free lunch and breakfast at school. This makes mornings easier for everyone. I should also mention that he eats breakfast every single day before we head to school as well.  While we were traveling, I read that all foster kids in NC received $120 in food stamps for the summer. This amount would definitely not cover even a month of food but it is something.  I called and asked about E’s, I was told it was mailed to the DSS office. So I called the office and was initial told “We are missing a bunch of those.” At that point I said well I have a case number and they confirmed it was mailed. After a week of back and forth, I was provided the original card which according to the date stamped on the front was received June 1st. Oh but wait, we called and reported it lost just this morning so now it will take another week or so to get another card. Finally this week I received and activated the card.
Now back to the saving part, I try to watch the Dollar General sales on soda as they have consistently been significantly cheaper.  This week, I purchased 3 12 packs of Diet Coke, and 3 12 packs of Dr. Pepper.  The Dr. Peppers work out to 33 cent each and Diet cokes are 44 cent each.  I also picked up cereal and candy on clearance as well. My receipt shows a total of $33.37 with  a savings of $32.73!  But I was able to use the sun bucks card and paid fourteen cent!  Using what God has provided is always the best option!

I made up two batches of banana bread today with the second batch canned in jars for future meals! I also made a double batch of brownies to be used a snacks and desert this week as well. Small things add up!

5 Things Friday – Family Update

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  1. We have officially survived the first week of school!  And in bigger news we managed an entire first week without eating out for dinner!  The kids have all started new things so this is the perfect way to do an update!
  2. Zach (turns 17 next week) has been struggling all week to get his class situation straighten out. He is currently a dual enrollment student. He is taking a welding class at Davidson Davie Community College. He attends this from 8am to 11 am daily. When his schedule first came out he was not placed in any high school classes. This required several phone calls to be added to classes. He was told he was not allowed to take any online classes which meant he would not be placed in honor class due to scheduling. In addition, he was placed in a 3rd period class which gave him exactly 10 minutes to get from the college to school.  Obviously this would not work.  He ended up talking to the principal and finally on Thursday, things worked out. He is currently enrolled in two honors online classes. This will allow him to come home shower and eat lunch prior to doing his school work.
  3. Kendall (18)  is absolutely loving her classes at Catawba!  She is officially considered a junior but has to take one additional class that is required for all student during the first year. She is doing an observation every Friday at Cooleemee Elementary and is excited to even participate in a trip to California next Spring. She is working diligently to pay off her car by adding two mornings a week at the YMCA.
  4. Lily (20) is settling in her apartment in Florida. She has been offered and accepted a entry level position at a law firm!  She plans to continue working at Disney part time because that is her dream but is super excited to be able to actually start a job in her field to determine if she wants to go to law school.
  5. I am going to combine the final updates because I want to stick to five and with six kids that is hard to do!  Amanda has moved to a house closer to Braxton school and they have started decorating it!  She is super excited to be switching to a first shift job that will allow her to be at all of Braxton’s events and be home every evening.  Haley just graduated from nursing school, has been offered a position in a local to her hospital and will be taking her licensure exam next week!

Monday Menu Plan

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This week is definitely back to normal for us!  Zach and Easton start back to school and we are all in the school routine. I am hoping that we can start to trim in the budget and eat from the freezer. At least this week we are going to start strong!

Breakfast- Saturday-breakfast bowls  Sunday-cottage cheese for me  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday   and Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts ,cereal bars, pancakes and eggs).

Lunch- Saturday- Sandwiches of your choice,  Sunday-Gregg’s   Monday,   Tuesday   Wednesday, Thursday, Friday- I have work days which means that most day we will be eating out!

Dinner- Saturday- Blackstone chicken sausage, tortellini and zucchini.   Sunday- Sandwiches,   Monday-Million dollar spaghetti.  Tuesday Hot dogs and French Fires, Wednesday- Pork Fried Rice    Thursday-  Gyros   Friday- chicken tacos

Saving on Saturday

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This summer has been very different for me. I have been super busy with multiple trips that lasted several weeks. I have been struggling especially since returning to work because I don’t feel I am as prepared for the school year as I want to be. Today, I was actually able to catch up and finish my cooking plans for the summer.
Several things have worked against me this summer for gardening. The weather has been very hot and we continued under a drought.  I have been able to make a couple of batches of spaghetti sauce but I knew it was not enough.  Yesterday, (Friday) I picked up two boxes of tomatoes to use. Total spent $30.
The weather actually helped me last night, because Zach’s football game was delayed by an hour, I was able to get a roaster oven full of sauce started. This morning I started a canner with one batch.  While this was processing, I went ahead and pulled out my recipe for Million Dollar Spaghetti Pie. I decided to go ahead and make four of these.  One for dinner next week and the rest for the freezer.   This was quite a process which ended up taking most of the day.
I am pleased to say that I was able to finish both projects!  The spaghetti shelf is full at least 26 quarts which is one every other week. And we have three more meals in the freezer.
Matt spent some time outside pulling weeds from our playground area, he was able to finish this task, spray with weed killer and apply a weed prohibitor.  We also repositioned the old freezer to use as a storage unit for the chickens.
Matt also was able to reconnect lights in Easton room and fixed the outside lights as well!
Lots of little things add up!

Monday Menu Post

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This week we are back to reality and without a plan things will go bad really quickly! I am back at work full-time, Easton has day camp at the YMCA, and both Zach and Kendall started college classes this week.

Breakfast- Saturday-full breakfast, toast, bacon, sausage and eggs. Sunday-I had grits  Monday-bagels from freezer.   Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday   and Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts ,cereal bars, pancakes and eggs).

Lunch- Saturday- Snack spread for guest  Sunday-Gregg’s   Monday,   Tuesday   Wednesday, Thursday, Friday- I have work days which means that most day we will be eating out!

Dinner- Saturday- E ate hot dogs again, we had more of the snack spread or left-overs  Sunday- Everyone had left-overs  Monday-Dr. Pepper pork chops, scallop potatoes and Madrian orange salad. Tuesday Salsa chicken and Mexican rice.   Wednesday- Fish sticks and French fries,   Thursday-  Steak ums on Blackstone   Friday- not sure, may be spaghetti or breakfast at this point.

Saving on Saturday

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I knew from the beginning of summer that I would not be able to participate in the “Every Bit Counts Challenge” due to being in Florida for the first two weeks. However I am so excited to report that after arriving back home on Wednesday, I have been able to make and can 10 quarts and 2 pints of spaghetti sauce as well as we enjoy a meal with the sauce.
On Friday, I purchased a case of canning tomatoes from the local farm stand.  Saturday, I spent about 6 hours along with some help from Matt making salsa. I successfully canned 36 pints and 1 quart of salsa. I also have 2 quarts of salsa in the fridge as well. I am hopefully that this is going to be a years supply.   Depending on how busy I get I may try to do at least the same amount again but I need to get my years supply of spaghetti sauce first!
I am so excited for the small steps that I have been able to make this week!