Mistakes in Motherhood

If you have a loan (credit card, auto loan, mortgage) call them and see if it would be worth it to refinance or lower your interest rate. About once a year for credit cards, you can call and tell them that you have been an excellent customer, with a strong history of paying on time, and you may even want to mention you are looking for a lower rate even if it means taking your business elsewhere. Especially now, with so many companies hurting for money, lower interest rates, and wanting to keep the customers they have, you may find it much easier to lower those rates.

I just realized today the power of credit unions, vs. banks. I currently have my minivan financed at a credit union for 8.75% for a vehicle I purchased 18 months ago. I decided today that I do not like that rate, and so I looked at the lowest rates my bank of 10 years had to offer… 5.25%, not bad. I called my credit union that hold my loan to see if they would negotiate refinance and they said they could offer me 4.99%, fantastic! With the numbers crunched, if I went to a 60 month loan (I have 66 months in my current loan), I would still manage to lower my monthly payments by $150 a month and pay it off 6 months earlier than I would now. They took my application over the phone and I should have an answer in a few hours.

In the past, I would do this same thing about once a year with my credit cards, and usually while I was on the phone I would have my answer. I could usually lower my interest rates by between 1-5% with a 15 minute phone call.

Other things worth trying… I have successfully had my satellite bill lowered by a customer service rep, I have had my DSL provider give me a “new customers only” rate by calling and asking. I have had credits given to me by my cell phone company, and my residential phone company. Calling your insurance company is a great way to see if they can find ways to lower your automobile or your homeowners insurance. I have had my electric company give me ways to lower my energy consumption, or tell me of improvements I can make to earn an energy rebate (I got $250 for sending in the receipt to my dryer).

Haggling is hard, but especially in mom & pop businesses, it is easier to get a discount. Yesterday I bought a new (better) tank for my carpet cleaner to replace mine that was cracked. I was told the tank would be $50 and I said “wow, those are $35 on amazon.com!” And the sales person said “well, if you order it online you will pay shipping, but I can sell it to you for $35″. You don’t see that at big corporate chains. I also got a few dollars off my purchase of cloth diapers yesterday… not because I asked, but because I was dealing with the owner of a small business and she felt like giving me a discount. Sometimes it pays to avoid the national “rollback” business and support your neighbors.

Once, I went into a toy & hobby store with my brood, and just because I told my children not to touch the models that someone worked very hard on making, the sales person gave me a “15% good mother discount”.

Deals are to be had in all economies, but right now is probably the very best time to find discounts and sales. Don’t be afraid to ask, the worst they can say is no. And remember, they best way to get something for 100% off, is not to but something you don’t need just because “it was on sale”.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap!, This is how I roll | tags: A lot about nothing, Finances, Public Service Announcements. | #

When Bobby went to Iraq, he had to put his degree on hold. That also means student loans that were on deferral until graduation, will soon be activated and moved into our debt snowball. I was so excited to be at 15% repaid, and now that I have added in this other debt, we are not only 10% repaid. This is very sad news to me. I was really hoping to pay off everything but the van before he returned from Iraq, but now it looks like we will still have the van and student loan debt.

Oh well, this only strengthens my resolve. What is another couple years of working hard to get debt free when the end result is the same. I am really hoping that when we sell the house we are able to make enough of a profit on it to pay down more debt, or at the very least not need to use the money we are saving for any shortcomings we will have at the time of sale.

We can do this. We will do this. We ARE doing this!!

1 Comment | In: Frugal, not cheap!, This is how I roll | tags: Bobby, Finances, School. | #

Tomorrow I graduate from Financial Peace University. It is going to be a big yummy potluck with an Italian theme. I am bringing broccoli salad, which is not very “Itialian-y” but it is a great potluck dish. I am thinking of making it tonight instead of trying to do it tomorrow after church, that way it gets to marinate a bit.

Of course this means I *have* to go grocery shopping today. Austin commented our fridge looked so empty this morning, I think it is time…. I think I have procrastinated it long enough.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap!, This is how I roll | tags: Family, Finances, Ramblings. | #

Today was payday, so it was a busy day. I had to go to the bank to get my two weeks worth of cash for groceries, pet food, & a little spending money and to pay my car payment. I also needed to notarize a contest waiver for a Denver Bronco’s football I won back in December… oops!

After the bank I met my friends & their babies for lunch, Sophie, as usual pigged out. She also blew out of her diaper, right after my friend’s baby spilled soup on herself, and both of us forgot to bring a change of clothes. Thankfully, one of our friends had two changes of clothes for her son, and so Sophie and winter had clean clothes. What a mess! I am so glad she’s in cloth, as I remember this happening all. the. time. in paper diapers.

In her stylish new duds (the shirt read “Dude, your girlfriend keeps checking me out” LOL), we then split up and I headed to the Mac store to get an estimate on my Mac once I get my tax refund and pay bills, and then on to Best Buy. My GPS I got last week went on sale and the price dropped by $40 PLUS came with a free $25 leather case, so I got the case and stood in line with customer service for around 30 minutes, it was crazy!

While we were waiting I got to watch a mom royally screw up her children. I try not to be judgmental, but seriously, supervision and structure (and a 2 second trip to the bathroom to wash faces) go far! The thing that struck me is this woman appeared to be well educated, was well into her 30′s and well groomed herself. The children, who were under 4, had speech delays (the younger one, who was 2-3) still had a pacifier. They were out of her sight for about 10-15 minutes while she talked on the phone, and were encouraged to play with the queue stands and got hurt as a result. I was never so happy to take my own child, who up until then, I thought was majorly acting out.

I was so impressed with my own little guy, I took him to get a fruit & yogurt parfait at McDonald’s as a treat for waiting so patiently at customer service.

1 Comment | In: Frugal, not cheap!, This is how I roll | tags: Family, Finances, Lame-o, Matthew, Parenting, Photography. | #

Blah, I hate this time of year… it never fails someone gets a bug and is nice enough to share it with the rest of the bunch. I was the lucky one who got sick first, it was horrible, two days in the bathroom wishing I could just puke and feel better. Finally about 24 hours later, my fever broke and I almost felt human again. Last night, we pulled up to FPU (Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University classes, taught through a local church) and Matthew throws up multiple times in the parking lot. So Bobby tells me to go on into class, take the baby and Austin to the daycare, and he heads home with Matthew and Christopher. Matthew is crying, he wants to go play with his 28 new friends at the church daycare, Christopher has forgotten how to listen in the confusion, and I am trying to juggle my workbooks, a baby and comfort Matthew. Thankfully he seems to bounce back quickly, about 30-40 minutes after he throws up, Bobby reports he is bouncing off the walls.

Last night, after only about 3 hours of sleep, Bobby wakes up feeling puny. Matthew has since joined us in our bed, and Sophie seems to think the offer of nursing on demand means she should demand it at 4:05, 4:15, 4:30 and again at 4:45… you get my drift. Matthew also seems to think that he is the cover king… he rules the heat level in the bed… first he wanted all the covers, and I got none… then he decided he was hot, laid on the covers and again, I got none. So now 4 of us are in the bed, Matthew is the only one actually sleeping. Sophie finally drifts back off, and Bobby gives up trying to sleep and gets up to shower… he has an interview today for a local job, more pay, ok benefits, but there is not a lot of room to move up in the company. The job he interviews for next week in D.C. is within his same company, awesome benefits, awesome pay, tons of opportunity, and did I mention is in our nations capitol??

So Bobby is now up, and dressed, he’s looking spiffy in his new sport coat, & wearing a tie, he comes in to hug me goodbye, even though he has no plans on leaving for another 30 minutes, because he is hoping I can go back to sleep with the kids. Well, right before he has to leave, he comes back in and goes to the bathroom to throw up. He later told me he had to hold his tie to keep it clean. Poor Bobby, we have been married for 11 years, together for 12 and in that time he has only thrown up three times, once after bad pizza, once after another stomach bug we all shared as a family, and today. Thankfully he is the type to get the 24 hour flu for 4 hours, and he said once he threw up, he felt so much better. I just hope he continues to feel fine and has a good interview. I also hope Austin and Christopher are spared, as they were not exposed to me as much as Matthew & Bobby, and I REALLY hope Sophie does not get it, but my experience, my nurslings tend to not catch whatever I get.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap!, People, Places & Things | tags: Bobby, Family, Health, Me, Ramblings, Sleep Deprivation. | #

We finished baby step one! For those of you who are not Dave Ramsey nuts, baby step one is $1,000 in a savings account as a baby emergency fund. Well, the same day we set up the emergency fund, our $33 oil change morphed into a $400 brake (and fluid) emergency, one we were able to authorize without much thought, because we had our Murphy Repellent in place. No credit card necessary!

The next day we started Financial Peace University and I got to share with the class how excited we were to have found Dave. What a fun class, I urge EVERYONE who can to attend at your local church. Common sense information that is not so common anymore in an entertaining setting.

In other news, all of our referrals came through today, so hopefully we will have answers soon. Sophie goes to the cardiologist next week, the rheumotologist next month, and the dermotologist the month after. I go to the rheumotologist in January, MUCH sooner than the next available appointment in JUNE! Someone canceled right before they called me, what luck! Now I don’t have to wait so long to get answers about my irregular blood work and spend less time hoping I do not have Lupus before I get answers.

Lots of other positives in the financial and career world for Bobby, but I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, so just send some positive vibes my way that those chickens start popping out of their shells so I can share with you!

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Family, Finances, Health, Me, Sophia. | #

Another fun day at the market, I got some killer deals at King Soopers (Kroger owned chain) today to include $39.70 in manufacturer coupons, $7.40 in coupons they doubled, $69.13 in Sooper Card Savings for a total of $116.23 saved…. this on $141.44 worth of groceries, a savings of 45%!! I got 103 items total from almost every single isle. I got quite a few freebies too, some Hefty Onezip freezer bags, a toothbrush, and 2 cans of Carnation evaporated milk for cooking. I also got 4 bottles of Tylenol for 50 cents each, a bottle of Dial handsoap for 40 cents, a tube of Colgate toothpaste for 50 cents, you get the point. Oh, and General Mills Cereals were $1.17 a box, we use this as snacks after school and stuff, for breakfast my kids don’t eat sweet cereals. I wish I had discovered how much fun couponing is years ago! What a blast to budget $200 for groceries…have it total $257.67, swipe your card and watch it drop to $188.44. Then he started to swipe my coupons and I kept having to put $20′s back into the envelope until he finally finished. All the while, Matthew was taking 1c rides on the mechanical horse ride. He took 3 rides on the horse in the time it took them to fill my 6 cloth bags (and some plastic bags for the meat & cleaners) with my groceries.

Today was our introduction class to Financial Peace University, it was a lot of fun. We start next Sunday evening and they watch our kiddos for free, wahoo! The classes are two hours long and run for 13 weeks. Best $99 we ever spent for a lifetime membership w/ unlimited classes (plus a work book, CDs, envelope system, & textbook). We will probably go back through with the kids when they are 16 or 17.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Family, Finances. | #

When I was laboring with Sophie, my mom made me a Thai peanut chicken dish which has become my comfort meal. It is not cheap to make per se, but can be made with many staples, much variation and just a couple ingredients you may not have on hand, but can easily get on sale and store (I had a coupon for the coconut milk a few weeks ago, score!) and the few ingredients you need are pretty inexpensive. I use rice instead of noodles and buy whatever I can with generic ingredients and use frozen pepper (see yesterday’s bell pepper money saving tip).

This is the recipe that is on the back of “A Taste of Thai” peanut sauce mix, I just added my own little notes, variations, and elaborations; the original recipe is in bold. My changes also make the recipe stretch farther without taking away any flavor.

Peanut Chicken & Vegetables with Noodles
The way I make it, it serves my family of rugrats with enough left over for the next day when it is even yummier

INGREDIENTS
1/2 – 16 oz box (8 oz) Rice Noodles
I use rice instead, I use Jasmine Rice and use 2 cups uncooked rice prepared by package directions in my rice maker)
1 tablespoon oil
If I have sesame oil I use 1/2 T olive or canola oil and 1/2 T sesame oil
1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
not sure how much I use, about 3 large breasts
3 cups favorite chopped vegetables
I know I use more, I usually use 1 large onion thinly sliced, 1/2 red/yellow/orange/green bell pepper and 1/2 a second color bell pepper (for color and taste), 3-4 boiled diced potatoes, and whatever else I have on hand, tonight I added one bunch of diced fresh spinach added in the last 3 minutes
1 tablespoon Fish Sauce, or 1 teaspoon salt
I use fish sauce
1-13.5 oz can Coconut Milk
1 packet “A Taste of Thai” Peanut Sauce Mix, both inner envelopes This is the one ingredient that I use name brand, all else I buy the cheapest available

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak Noodles according to directions for stir-fry. OR prepare rice according to directions
2. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Add chicken (I cook the chicken fully before adding veggies), vegetables and Fish Sauce (don’t be alarmed when you add fish sauce, it stinks like sweaty gym socks… tastes much better than it smells). Sauté 3 minutes.
3. Add Coconut Milk and Peanut Sauce Mix. Bring to boil while stirring and boil 3 minutes, if you use spinach, add it now. Add drained noodles and combine. Stirring, cook until noodles are firm but tender, if using rice, just serve over rice.

If you want to add a little more spice, you can add Sriracha Sauce either a couple small squirts when you add the coconut milk and peanut sauce mix, or have it on the table and allow the individual to season it themselves. This stuff packs a punch, so less is more.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Domestic Diva. | #

I have been on a quest to live a better life, part of that was to bring Dave Ramsey’s teachings into the family and the other part is to learn to be happy with what I have instead of wanting bigger and better. Living frugally is living smart, not living poor. Why live on steak and lobster and have debt when you can live on rice and beans and pay a few hundred more dollars on the credit card balance.

Today I had a light bulb moment when I realized that with small changes, I would appreciate my house a little bit more. When I was at the library I found two books that caught my eyes, one was by “The Queen of Clean”, Linda Cobb, called The Queen of Clean Conquers Clutter and the other was Mary Ellen’s Guide to Good Enough Housekeeping. I recognized that part of my problem was lack of organization making my house feel smaller than it is and seem difficult to clean because it is cluttered.

When Bobby came home today, he came upstairs and found me in the bathroom with 100% of its contents in baskets in the bedroom and I was washing the light bulbs, he looked at my boys and said “uh-oh, mama has gone off the deep end again!” and he rescued Sophie and went to another room to play with her so I could finish my task.

I think I got rid of 3 bags full of junk, from magazines to expired products to the makeup I rarely wear, but Matthew frequently uses to “paint” my bathroom door with. I also got all the products off my counters (like mouthwash and detangler) and they now have new homes in my clean medicine cabinet or under the sink. I also hung a couple tiles that I have had for years that I planned on hanging after I painted, but we never got around to painting. My bathroom feels SO BIG now, I love it!

I am so impressed with how well Bobby is doing on our new “cash diet”, he decided he wanted a Coke, but we have been soda free for a few weeks now, so he got into his change jar and pulled out some silver to run to 7-11 to get a coke, I asked him if I chipped in some quarters if he would get me one too. He calls me from Safeway and says “wow, it is so expensive there, I decided to go to Safeway to get a better deal”. This is something I have been nagging at him forever, but Dave is right, it is a LOT harder to spend a dollar than it is just to swipe your debit card. I cannot believe how on board he has been with all this.

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Finally, a rice & bean recipe for you all.

Dad’s Red Beans & Rice (this is a recipe I grew up, my dad made this a lot)

1 cup of long/medium grain rice
2 cans of red beans (undrained)
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 kielbasa (cut into 1/4 inch disks)
1 T minced garlic

Prepare rice according to package, either in a rice cooker (my way) or on the stove top (my dad’s way). Saute together onion, bell pepper, kielbasa, and garlic over medium heat. Combine cooked rice, undrained red beans, and kielbasa & veggie mix in a 2 quart casserole dish and bake until heated through on 350 (about 30 minutes).

I like to serve this with cornbread since all of the ingredients for those are staples.

*Money saving tip… get your green peppers when they are on sale and freeze them, that way you always have green pepper on hand. I wait for them to go on sale at King Sooper (our local Kroger chain) and I buy red, yellow, orange and green peppers and then slice them lengthwise and freeze on wax paper on a cookie sheet for an hour, then I put them into sandwich baggies and put in the freezer (1 pepper per baggie). Then I dice about 2 or three green peppers and do the same, again one pepper per baggie. The pre-freezing keeps them from sticking together, so you can use half a baggie in this recipe without having to thaw.

1 Comment | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Bobby, Domestic Diva, Family, Finances, House Stuff, Marriage, Me, Ramblings, Tackle It Tuesday. | #

Woohoo! We are going to attend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University in November at a local church. Woohoo!! I am so excited!

1 Comment | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Finances. | #