Author Archives: Sheila

Budget

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One of the biggest focus of the past couple of months for both Matt and myself has been our budget. I can say that as long as I can remember,I knew what a budget was and usually had a budget either in my head or written on paper. Only one problem, I have always in the past viewed a budget as a guide. I plan to spend my money this way but if something else pops up or if I over spend in this area then I just juggle things. As you can probably imagine,this has lead to alot of difficulty. Over the past several month, I have really taken to heart Dave Ramsey statement “Every dollar has a name and a place.” We have made adjustments to out grocery budget based on the actual amount we have been spending. And I have been really trying to keep an accurate record of where are money is going. Things are starting to come easier and make more sense and in September the plan is that we will actual have enough money to do a major home improvement and still meet all the requirements we have. Another awesome change is that Matt and I are talking not only about the budget but actual spending. So this week, I realized that we need to focus and adjust our gas budget. This has actually been an ongoing thing. Originally I budgeted $400 a month, for the past 2 months I have changed this amount to $100 a week. I have begun to notice that most weeks both of the autos need gas so I tend to go over this $100. Matt and I talked about it made a change to monitor this. Yesterday, both the car and the van needed gas. We were driving the car so we ended up filling it up, which only left $42 for use in the van. We put that amount in last night and I hope to see that we could stick to the $100 a week if we adjust our thinking just a little bit. My thought is we alternate completing filling one car one week and the the second the next. This way we should be able to stick to the $100 budget.

In other exciting budget related news- I realized last night and verified today that I actually was below budget last month for groceries because I had included a $50 gas card from Walmart in my amounts! Watching each dollar is actually helping!

Coupons- A Day in the Life of

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One of the many things that I seem to have been behind in recently is organizing and managing my coupons. So I decided that I would spend today getting myself better organized and throwing away coupons that were expired and/or loading all the diaper coupons and a couple of others in a package to my niece in Alaska. One of the things that I didn’t count on was that Matt was needed at church to work on a backdrop for the kid’s program at church on Wednesday so I had the three little kids to help me! I am excited to say that not only did I get through all the coupon blessing coupons from church the last 3 weeks as well as all the printed coupons I have been snagging this week but I also have cleared out my storage case of expired insert through June of this year! I was also able to include the little ones in the process. Lily practiced her cutting by cutting out printables. Kendall and Zach were in charge of trash. I probably spent about 4 hours total today with coupons. I also plan out trips to CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. In addition, I made a trip to Walgreens and Walmart.

I had not planned on Walgreens but a friend called to let me know about a couple of great deals and after researching I spent around $12 on 12lbs of sugar, 4 medium size bags of M&Ms, a box of tampons and 4 large Tic Tacs.

In addition, I had an easy and 50% saving trip to Walmart. Matt and I ventured out after the little ones were in bed. I priced matched a raincheck for 0.69 Diet Cokes and used coupons for Orange Juice, free dishwasher tabs, Limeade and Lemonade, juice boxes as well as purchasing spreadable cream cheese. The cashier tonight was awesome and even explained to me how they had to “honor” competitor coupons. So I was able to get 2 free packs of gum using coupons from the Red box at CVS. This is probably one of the best trips I have even had to Walmart. My only disappointment was that they were out of the single serving bottles of Lemonade.

Tomorrow, we plan to make a trip to Costco. This will be a massive trip to stock up on supplies for lunches and other essentials that we are going to run short on in the next month. Hopefully, after this and the trips I made today. We can cut back on grocery shopping unless it is free or a really really good deal!

Zach is 2!

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Zach started to blow out the candles as soon as the cake was set in front of him. He walked around all day saying “My cake.” I guess he just wanted to taste it!




We ended up refurbishing this motorcycle and he LOVES it! In fact, Kendall loves it too and she is learning to steer it!

The cake was “Rocket” from Little Einsteins. Matt is becoming an awesome cake maker/decorator!

August In Review

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Day late but hey at least I am trying here! Interesting pictures and Birthday info to follow tommorow!



BLOGGING: I had 11 post in August which is the same for July so I am pleased that I have stayed the course! Hopefully I will hit my goal at least once this year! Goal: 15 per month



Devotions: I am getting better, averaging 2 a week. Goal is 3 a week.

Couponing/Grocery Budgeting: My initial goal for this area was to cut the general budget in half and stay at around $400, however I forgot that school supplies would be included in this area this month. Another major dent in this area was all the supplies for Zach’s birthday dinner. I am very pleased to report that we are at $816.00 for the month! I count this as a succes. Our Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.



Financially: August was an another odd month. Honestly, Matt and I are still working to figure out however to achieve our goals. I can say that we actually came out even for the month which is great. Debt reduction is a major focus for us and that means now that our budget seems to be working. I am going to take a look at where we can trim even $5 to go toward medical debts taht will assist us in the overall goals. As I was typing I did realize a major accomplishment in this area, Amanda’s college was paid in cash and we caught all taxes up to date for the year. Goals in this area: Emergency fund of $1000, car fund equal to a payment of $300 each month and by January- debt free except for mortgage.

Weight– A huge wake up call was my mid year wellness check at work. I know I have got to get back on track with walking or something and these 6 pounds I gained since February have got to go. Now for a plan for this to happen!

Weekend at Church

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Seriously this has been one of the most fun and exciting but at the same time tiring weekends that we have had in a long long time. Here are the highlights:

Saturday 6:15am- Leave to pick up Angel food
7Am- Arrive back home for breakfast and to unload/put away our purchases. At this point, I realized I had purchased the wrong box and 2 of our fruit items were damaged.
8:30-Arrive at church for Angel Food distribution
10:00- Help with set up of Kid’s Carnival- I was asked to be the administrative assistant. So I really enjoyed organizing and getting things together.
2:00pm-Kid’s Carnival starts. The kids had an awesome time, the carnival included a bouncing house, a huge slide and about a dozen games that each gave a prize. My kids think it was a holiday, we are still enjoying eating candy and playing with the small toys from this event! My plan is to post some pictures for Wordless Wednesday!
4:00pm- I brought Lily, Kendall, Zach, Haley and 2 friends home. We had decided that our little ones could not make it through a concert. I managed to get everyone fed and bath prior to Matt getting home around 6.
6:30 Matt and I attend the Second Chance Bluegrass concert. Haley and her friend babysat so this was our date night.I really really really enjoyed it. And I will be the first to say I am not a fan of bluegrass
Sunday 9:30-Arrived at church for our open house. We had a Continental Breakfast and a time of meet and greet.
10:15- Worship service. Matt and I had preschool aged Children’s Church today. The only down side was Haley performed with the Mime team and I missed it.
12:00pm- Lunch. Each church family brought a desert and then the meal was catered. It was really good. We are extremely blessed as we were offered and brought home enough of the leftovers to serve our family an entire meal and use some of the extra for several meals or portions of meal during this coming week. I can’t say how awesome and helpful this is!
1:30pm- Dedication service
3:45-Arrived home to get ready for the week!
Wow we have been busy! But our church has a new home and it was exciting to be a part of this weekend!

$10 on Groceries this week

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How? Did I hear you ask that? In one word consistency. I have been using coupons for over a year now and I have to say that sticking to it will let you have a $10 week every couple of months. Now on to a better explaination and the numbers.

CVS has not been having all that great of deals lately and I just have not been making it to the store on Sunday like I did before the summer. Because of this combination, I have been gathering rainchecks. Last week, I received another 10 off 50 and after scoping out the store realized I could cash in on some of the deals I missed. I made 2 seperate trips to CVS and spent around 25 each time. My reward was 12 ECB on Amanda’s card. This week I noticed that we only had enough patches for Tuesday so I stopped by CVS. I had printed 2 coupons for Starburst 1 off 1 and heard the Red box was scanning an BOGO as well. My nice suprise was that the eye patches rang up BO get 50% off the second. This is the first time ever I have see the eye patches on sale. So I was able to purchase 4 boxes of patches, 2 bags of skittles and 2 packs of gum for $4.33 including tax. I should add that a box of patches usually cost $4.99 at CVS which is the cheapest we have found.

Thursday, we headed to Winston to get Zach pictures made. Harris Teeter is an easy stop when we are at the mall. During the last Super Doubles event I had made one pick up using the Express Lane. These coupons carry over so I had approximately $20.00 in coupon credit waiting. I was amazed to find that both the Milk and Apple Juice we needed were on sale. I purchased 2 gallons of milk and 6 gallons of Apple juice, 2 jars of Peanut Butter and a jar of Apple Butter for $3.23! I debated on the Peanutt butter but actually turned in 2 coupons which will carry to my next order.

CVS= 4.33

Harris Teeter= 3.23

Total spent on Groceries this week $7.56. This should help my grocery budget stay on track this month!

Looking Forward to Change

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Change is usually a bad word around here ask any of the kids and when we say that things are changing that usually results in a sense of panic and dread. But not this time at least not for me.

Summer is coming to an end..school starts in 4 days, which means huge changes for Lily and the rest of us. I am excited and proud for Lily to start First grade but as her mother it does worry me about what if she is not social ready, what if she does not make friends in her class, what if she stands out as an awkward child that really just does not fit in. I don’t regret going ahead with our “home school” Kindergarten last year, Lily was ready to read and learn math. I seriously doubt that either Zach or Kendall will be in the same place and in a way that is a relief. I have tried to buy book bags, lunchboxes and clothes that will help her fit in and now I will start to pray that she find/makes good friends quickly.

None of this sounds like good change so far but… I like routine, in fact it makes my life so much easier. Over the summer, we have been really slack with bedtime, bedtime routines and morning routines. With Lily and Haley starting back to school this will focus us to get into a routine which in reality will make my life easier. Currently, the plan is for me to drop off Haley first and then Lily. Matt will do the reverse for picking them up. We will have to get dinner, homework and bedtime down pat between cheerleading and Kid’s club. So yes, it will be crazy busy but it will be a crazy busy that I like!

Other changes that I am really starting to enjoy, Haley understand that she is expected to do certain things and even if she disagrees, she usually does them. Haley is also beginning to realize the influence of music, words and actions on the younger kids. Matt and I have settled into a routine, as he is becoming more involved at church, he is also becoming more of a leader at home. Finances seem to be easier. Change a good thing at this point!

How Time Flys

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It has been a couple of weeks maybe even a month or so since I did a random list to catch everyone up on our life so now is the time.

-For the past week I have been working full-time plus between the two jobs. I am exhausted but we are not losing our minds so it must be getting easier on all of us.

-I am determined to keep a whole day off each week. I was unable to do that for the past 2 weeks and after yesterday, that will not happen again. I can handle the long hours if I know I get a day to spend with the kids.

-I managed to sprain/ jam my ring and little fingers on my left hand yesterday and they hurt especially trying to type.

-Lily is super excited about starting First Grade next week, on Tuesday we get to meet the teacher and Thursday is the first day of school. Both events will include me-YAY! YAY!

-Matt is starting to get heavily involved at the church again. Currently he is working on updating and managing the church website and working on building a pirate ship for our kids group. He played the drums this past Sunday. Along with Angel Food, he is actually doing more than I am currently!

-Haley and I took the little kids shopping alone on Thursday after hair cuts. Both Zach and Kendall feel asleep after less than 2 hours. We have finished most of the back to school stuff but need to make a “underwear” trip for a couple of folks who will remain nameless.

-Kendall is officially potty trained and only wears pull-ups at night. The majority of the time she even wakes up dry.

-Zach is starting to work on potty training. He is usually successful about 75% of the time. His birthday is coming up quick! He has such a little personality and makes sure we understand what he wants, even if it means taking a hand and showing us what it is.

-I am finding time to organize and display ALOT of my pictures of the kids over the year. Currently I am working on the large wall in our bedroom and then it will be on to the hall of shame.

Fast and Fun Weekend

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We woke up to a rain storm on Saturday morning..wish that meant we could sleep in and enjoy the rain, but not around here. I spent most of the morning cleaning, Matt’s brother and his family came by for a short visit on their way to Florida so I wanted to make sure we enjoyed the short amount of time we would have to visit. On Friday, our printer stopped working and I decided last minute that I wanted a 3 part crock pot so off to Walmart Matt and I went. Amanda and Haley watched the little ones for a bit so this was an adult only trip. Saturday afternoon while I prepared food, Zach, Kendall and Matt attended a birthday party. Saturday evening Haley spent the night with the Pierces to watch a movie and hang out. We really enjoyed the vist from Matt’s family and my kids think there was a special event on Saturday because we ended up with 2 bags of toys, one from the Pierce’s and one from the Abbotts. All three of the little kids are still playing with new toys it is awesome to watch them share and play.

Sunday was another busy day, church, lunch, pool, dinner, playing outside and then home to bed.

Today is Monday, I worked. The girls are gone to Cheerleading and Zach is asleep. The rest of the week should be just as fun. Tuesday, Haley is off to Carowinds and Lily has a friend over to play. Wednesday tutoring and house cleaning, Thursday is Angel Food and hair cuts. And with just one week left to school starts we have to get clothes and our selves ready.