New Year Reflection

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are prepared for a brand new year. I cannot believe how fast the past year went by but I will say I am glad it is over. 2008 was a rather busy year for our household and I am hoping that 2009 will bring in a season of rest and re-organizing of our time.

This past year brought with it alot of remodeling, work, school, new church, new family member in our home and not enough time in the day to fit it all in. I am ashamed to admit that I was not the best steward of my time this past year and it left me rather frazzled at times. I have learned alot about myself this past year some were hard lessons, some were painful and some were eye opening. One thing I have been noticing for years but have put aside due to my own stubbornness is my inability to say no or when enough is enough. I am so much like my mother in this area bless her heart. I will say that this past year has really brought this "issue" to the top of my list of things to "fix" this year.

I think sometimes as a woman I have this unrealistic expectation of what the perfect wife, employee, Christian, sister and friend should be. Always having a made from scratch meal, perfectly clean home, involved in numerous ministries at church, always being at every jewelry party are just some of the constant nags in the back of my mind. I must say it is so great to have a husband who balances me out in this area. He is very laid back and generally trust my judgement but there are times when he says enough already. I know alot of women don't like that but I LOVE it because then I can blame him, hahaha just kidding. No seriously sometimes I don't realize how stressed I am until he points it out. I must say I am truly blessed in having a husband who helps out a ton around the home and cooking. We both work together to help each other with work, school and the home. We both feel it is a joint venture to make our house run and we both live in it so we both contribute to the work. I think this area of perfectionism is something alot of women struggle with and probably will for the rest of our lives.

I have decided to actually write down my goals for 2009 to make myself more accountable and here are a couple of them:


1. Weight Loss: GRRR this seems like a yearly goal but I am determined to get it right this time. I have been really praying about this for a while and I have better understanding of my issues with this (one of the painful lessons mentioned above) so I am confident this year will be successful. I believe this will help in the pregnancy area so we can finally start a family.

2. Debt Loss: I have been working thru the Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom book and what a motivation it is to be a good steward of your money.

3. Time Management: I want to make the best of my time and not spend it working or doing useless activities.


These are just a couple of them that I thought I would share and ask for your prayers. I look forward to a very full and less stressful 2009.

Kmart....Again!!

Kmart is at it again with their double coupons which means Jennifer is at it again as well....haha! Unfortunately I do not have a picture because by the time we got home last night it was late and I was too tired to worry about it. I will say this is the best Kmart trip I have had to date and the first time my husband accompanied me on one of these double coupon trips.

Anyway....here is what I purchased:

Honey Nut Cheerios (2)
Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cereal (2)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch (2)
Cocoa Puffs (2)
Crest Toothpaste (2)
Resolve Carpet Cleaner (3)
Pedigree Dog Treats (1)
Ziploc Containers (2)
Palmolive Clear Dishsoap (2)
Palmolive Dishsoap (4)
Kleenex Lotion Tissue (1)
Gain Fabric Softner (1)
Febreze Air Spray (1)
Pledge (4)
Glade Fabric Spray (1)
Scotch Sponges (2)
Whiskas Treats (2)
Chew Lotta Dog Treat (1)
Lifesavers Bagged Candy (1)
Aquafina Water Bottle 20 oz (1)
Betty Crocker Fruit Gushers (3)
Betty Crocker Warm Delights (2)
Betty Crocker Potatoes (2)
Betty Crocker Cookie Mix (2)
Betty Crocker Frosting (2)
Sue Bee Honey (1)
Nestle Baking Chips (3)
Progresso Chicken Broth (1)
French Worcheshire Sauce (1)
Jello Pudding Singles (1)
Healthy Choice Soup (3)
Healthy Choice Single Serve Pasta (1)
Smuckers Apple Butter (1)
Smuckers Grape Jelly (1)
Starkist Creations Tuna (1)
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (3)
Pillsbury Frozen Bag Dinner Rolls (1)
Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough (2)
Country Crock Light Butter (2)
Nestle Refrigerated Cookie Dough (2)

Total Items Purchased: 72

Total Before Coupons: $163.96

Total After Coupons: $69.61

Coupon Total: $94.35

My husband just stood there with his mouth open like you did not just save almost a hundred dollars....it was funny. If you break it down I paid under a dollar for each item although there were several items that were free after coupons. I did go over my weekly budget but with the double coupons I am willing to go a little over.

Last week I hit a great boneless chicken breast sale and purchased seven packages of chicken for $18 bucks. We eat chicken at least once a week so we should be good for nearly two months! My goal is to live off of our stockpile this winter and not to have to go grocery shopping except for staple items like Milk and bread. I have asked for a bread maker for Christmas so maybe I will get it and I can start making my own bread which will be even more savings.

I don't know how everyone else is doing but working in the building/development industry is really slow right now so I need the comfort of knowing if work gets cut back we are okay for a few months on groceries. I would love to hear ways you guys are cutting back or your coupon savings deals. Good luck and happy bargain hunting!!!!

Sad....not surprised! (Warning my opinion only)

I will be the first to say that I do not typically discuss politics due to one I do not know very much about them and two it causes too many arguments....now on to my point. I must forewarn you I have expressed some very touchy points and please note these are my opinions and not to start an argument.

I think we all are not really surprised that Obama won this election due to the current state of the economy and the entire blame being placed on the Republican party. As expected Americans believe that having a new party in office will put this country in the right direction. I myself must admit that even on election night I was very upset placing the direction of my future in one person's hands. Following prayer and some soul searching why are we holding out hope for anyone to change this country? It is clear that as a nation we have turned our backs on God and we are trying to put band aids on these huge wounds by having the "right person" come in and change the world. We will accomplish nothing if we as a nation do not turn our hearts towards God.

I am blown away by the complete ignorance displayed by Americans when it comes to their reasons for voting. I have heard everything from legalizing pot, color of skin and "because I am tired of being poor"!!! Seriously people are you kidding me?? They all upset me greatly but the one that surprised me the most was the tired of being poor comment. Obama's entire campaign was directed around the lower class citizens in American because when you make a promise of sharing the wealth you will definitely get attention.

I for one am not opposed to helping those that are truly in need, those who know me know I support this all of the time, but what I am against is people who constantly have their hand out. We have all heard the sob stories of how they ended up where they are but it never cease to amaze me that most of the "broke" people where nicer clothes and drive better cars than I do and I am not broke!! I am tired of my hard earned money going to LAZY people. Obama's big plan to come and raise taxes on the people who have worked hard to take care of people who do not want to work hard is nothing but a ploy to get votes. Hello people everyone has the same opportunity in American to better themselves it is a choice not to do so for most. I am tired of the attitude of "what is in it for me" and I pray very hard for the future of this country.

I will not place the blame on any one person it is all of our faults for sitting back and letting this country fall apart. We have a generation of children that are growing up with absolutely no direction, no respect, and no work ethics. I hate to see who will be running for president or heading up the armed forces, if there is one, when I am my grandmother's age. We have raised a generation of men who are wimps who do not know what to stand for just follow whatever moron is in front of them. Shame on the parents for doing such a horrible job with this generation. I am so thankful for the families that protect their children from this and are teaching their kids to follow God, be hard workers, respect others and servant hood because when I am old I want to know that there will some glimpse of hope in this messed up world.

On a side note....I am not a parent but to all of my friends and family that are working hard every day to raise your children to follow God I thank you. You all are a great example to me and I pray when we are blessed with children that we will be the same example that you have been to us. God bless and I love you all dearly!

Okay what is the deal???

Okay can anyone tell me why it will not save my blog with the spaces between the paragraphs? I keep editing it and it will not seperate the paragraph....HELP!!

Kmart Shopping Trip

I have decided to start blogging my grocery savings because it is so much fun and exciting. I am learning so much from other bloggers and especially from moneysavingmom.com. I have lowered our weekly grocery and toiletry budget to $50 per week and so far we are doing great. I will say this shopping trip was an exception due to some left over funds from last week's grocery envelope that I did not use.

Okay to the point our Super Kmart is doing a double coupon days and will match the value of a coupon all the way up to $2.00!! You can use up to four of the same coupon and up to 75 per visit. Here is what I purchased today:

Cover Girl Foundation

Clean & Clear Face Cleanser

Meaty Bone Dog Biscuits (3 Boxes)

Glade Carpet Fresh (3)

Glade Scented Oil Refills (2)

Meaty Bone Chewy Treats

Heinz 57 Sauce

1lb Box Elbow Macaroni (2)

Betty Crocker Skillet Potatoes (2)

Betty Crocker Brownies (4)

Quaker Breakfast Bars

Dole Canned Fruit (3)

Ragu Sauce (4)

Peanut Butter

Worcestershire Sauce

Tortellini Barilla Pasta

Frozen Bag of Tyson Chicken Fillets

Bob Evans Breakfast Sandwiches

Sargento Salad Finishers (4)

Bag of Lettuce

Total Items: 38

Total Prior to Coupons: $113.07

Total Paid out of Pocket: $64.39

Coupon Savings this Trip: $48.68 Woohoo!!

Total Savings this month: $69.72

Spent this month: $132.25

Funds remaining for the month: $83.75

Share what your family budget is and how it is going. My goal is to get my whole budget down to $35 per week but I am sure I need to get up my stock pile before that will happen. I will get better at it as I go...this is my first month really tracking my success. More to come.....

Flooding

Our back yard has a lake around our pool now!!! LOL
View from the our front porch looking down the street. Both of our neighbors woke up to their cars under water.

We are currently trapped in our home due to the excessive amounts of rain in the last two days. We have not discovered three feet of water in our crawl space!!! I am trying to be positive and not get too worried! :)

I am back.....this is a long update!!

Well I am finally getting around to posting again. It has been an extremely busy summer and posting was the last thing on my list to do.

We have had a wonderful fun stress filled summer, haha. We had company in our home the entire month of July and it was a great. Steven's dad and his wife came to visit for a few days which was nice because we have not really been able to spend alot of time with them since we were married. Steven's sister came for the 4th as she does every year and we spent the week relaxing, shopping and blowing up stuff!!

We were also very happy to have Christopher the entire month and man is he growing into a great young man. I met Steven right after Christopher's fifth birthday and it just amazes me that he will be fifteen in a few months...time goes by so quickly. I know I have said it a million times but he has been a huge blessing in my life. He is an outstanding kid. He does not have that teenage attitude you see all of the time. He is respectful, helpful and just so fun to be around. We both miss him so much but we are excited to see him and Steven's family at Christmas this year.

Steven is back at the school thing and he and I both cannot wait until he is done. It has been a long, expensive and tiring road but we can see the finish line quickly approaching. I am so proud of him for sticking it out and getting it done now he just hast to decide where he wants to work but I think that is so much easier than school itself. I must say my husband is very smart...not that I thought he was dumb but he has been on the deans list several times for his good grades. I am excited for our future together and ask prayer for him as he makes decisions for his career in the next few months.

Lastly, I finally bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers three weeks ago. I am proud to say I have lost 12.4lbs in those three weeks!!! I have made a promise to myself, God and my husband to get healthy and stay that way. This is the first time I have ever done a weight loss program without a friend but I will say I find I am more excited and motivated knowing that I am doing this on my own. I find it is easier to excuse poor eating habits when you have a buddy who is having a hard time as well. I have discovered alot about my eating habits in the last year that I never recognized before and it was when I finally acknowledged my issues then I was able to deal with it and move forward. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Well I promise to keep this more updated. Oh yeah we were given a digital camera by my sister in law so I can start posting pictures....woohoo. Now I just have to figure out how to do that.