Mistakes in Motherhood

I just got my first AMAZING score at King Soopers today (Kroger), the first time I have ever saved above 34%, I saved 72%!

I got

3 gallons of milk
2 boxes of cereal
2 onions
1 4 pack of cottonelle bath tissue
2 packs of bologna
1 bag of spring mix salad
1 jar grape jelly

Shelf Price – $23.17
I paid $6.57!!

Milk was $1.97 a gallon, -.91*3 or -2.73
Bologna was BOGO, -1.89
Salad was 2/$5, +.75 coupon (dbl +.45) for -1.99
TP was .99, -.50q (dbl -.49) for FREE!
Then I had two $2.00 off q’s on anything in the store (I got these my last trip for buying Glade plug in air fresheners)
AND a $5 gc from The Denver Post for subscribing

Woohoo! I saved $16.60!! Plus I got .10 a gallon off my gas to boot!

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

You may have noticed a theme lately of grocery shopping on the cheap, to other ways to save. I have been turned on to Dave Ramsey by some of the girls on one of my message boards I go to. I have started listening to him on the radio and DVRing him on TV and I have reserved some of his books at the library… unfortunately he is in high demand and the books have around 80 people in line for them, so I purchased one from eBay and I am going to go through my books to see what I have to sell to local used bookstores and then look to see if they sell any used copies of his books.

So one of the main teachings of Dave Ramsey is his “baby steps” which are found here, but they include:

1. $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth and give!
   Invest in mutual funds and real estate

I have reevaluated my thinking and realized even though we have enough to live on, we were not putting enough in savings or towards debt. I have found *simple* expenses to cut and made it a priority to save more on groceries, and eat at home instead of eating out. I found if I look at the sales ads and use that to make my menu, I can get great deals at the store, keep my menu interesting by not making the same 7 things each week. This last trip I got enough meals to last us almost a full month, and I only spent around $150! This includes meat and veggies at every dinner, so I am not skimping on nutrition. I saved almost $100 last week just by shopping from the sales adds and using coupons; since they have the sales flier online at my local stores it is easy to make my list Sunday, organize my coupons, and shop on Monday or Tuesday. I also buy a lot of the sales items and freeze what I don’t need for later use, this goes beyond just meat, I also freeze bell peppers, bread, cheese, etc. If I keep this up, I can save 50% of our average grocery bill, and 75% of our food budget, all while improving the foods we eat. The savings can then be passed to my savings account, then we can start snowballing debt to pay off credit cards, and my car loan.

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

In several ways:

Earlier this week I told you how I joined the Grocery Game… well, I found a couple similar sources of the same information…. except it is FREE!

Coupon Mom

Pinching Your Pennies

A Full Cup

Here are just a few to get you started.

Christopher…. that boy is driving me bonkers!! Started today when he came home and told me he had detention for three “refocuses”, or reminders to do better. He got his refocuses because he failed to take his science journal to science class… something that would be easy enough to do had he just paid-a-freaking-attention to the teacher, his classmates, etc. Ended when he was told to get ready for bed without finishing his homework because he still was not done at 7:30 pm. He started at 3 pm and had no more homework than normal, he just played around instead of doing his work.

Outsourcing…. Our Xbox is being held for ransom by the shipping company because the person who made the work order did not understand our last name (not a difficult name… think Smith or Jones or Brown). The name he put on the work order does not rhyme with our name, or start with the same letters. He also got our phone number wrong by two digits. So when the delivery company tried to leave the XBox with Austin, he did not feel right leaving it because the names do not match. Bobby spent close to an hour on the phone with the company trying to straighten it out, without any resolution.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: A lot about nothing, Bobby, Christopher, Family, Finances, Lame-o, Parenting, Ranting, Reviews, Something Worth Mentioning. | #

Still no referral for Sophie for her skin issues, but her face is starting to lighten. My friend is a MA and has been asking around and one of the MDs she works with said it looks (from what he can see) like cradle cap that has spread onto the face. So we used some Selsun Blue (since she already had it on her head) and after one treatment she is looking better, we will do another treatment tonight and see if it improves it some more.

Bobby is almost finished with his first week of school at his new school, and it seems to be going well. I am exploring low cost textbook solutions and playing around with a new program called “The Grocery Game”, so far I am saving around 31% off my grocery bill. Had we paid the shelf prices, we would have spent $185.52, instead we spent $128.80 for a savings of $56.72. Not bad for my first week. Now I just have to work on cooking more meals at home and more careful meal planning. I am going to pay closer attention to my frugal living message boards on Diaper Swappers and the Grocery Game board.

No Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap!, People, Places & Things | tags: Cloth Diapers, Domestic Diva, Family, Finances, Health, Sophia. | #

Getting up early in the morning to get the kids up and out the door totally contradicts my belief that mornings are for sleeping. Well the newest issue is that when I am ready to get out the door, no one else is. Despite having 75-90 minutes in the morning to get up, get showered, get chores done, get your stuff and go I feel like I am nagging more than normal.

I am thinking maybe the kids need to be getting up earlier and that it is time for them to try their own alarm clock again. I also think maybe they need more visual reminders of when things need to get done….feeding the dogs at 7:15 when we need to leave at 7:20 and the dogs need to be outside when we leave for instance, just does not seem to be working well.

I have visions of my home looking similar to a home for someone with mild memory loss… notes on the inside of the door saying: Did you brush your teeth? and on the outside a reminder to lock the door on your way out. Oooh, I think it’s time to break in the new label maker!!

On the toilet I will put a label that says Flush me! and on the bathroom door reminders to pick their underwear off the floor, wipe the puddle off the floor and hang up their towels. I can label their cereal container To be eaten by 7:10. Oh, and across my forehead I can put one that says Does not sign Friday folders on Monday morning! Ok, so maybe not that far, but I think some labels are in order.

Speaking of signs… I deal with a lot of solicitors and I just don’t like answering the door when I have not had 10 minutes to myself to shower, am on the phone with the bank with a crying 2 yr old hanging on my leg, and oatmeal in my hair. Especially when it is to tell someone that I do NOT have time to read the paper, don’t believe in paying $200 to get my carpets cleaned when they will look just as dirty in 2 days, and that there is no cleaner in the world designed to clean after 3 boys. So I put a big old sign on my screen door that reads:

NO SOLICITING

NO TRESPASSING

NO SOLICITING MEANS:
• We DO NOT want what you have to sell, give, or offer (no matter how good of a deal you say it is).
• We DO NOT want a newspaper, magazines, or our carpet cleaned.
• We DO NOT want your fliers, ads, coupons, or literature on God.
• We will NOT buy your products; if we need a service, we will come to you (if it is not sold in any store, I don’t need it).

Leaving your ad, or trying to sell me your product, GUARENTEES we will NOT do business with your company, as we DO NOT deal with solicitors.

I don’t care how much you think I need it, how sad your story is, or if my neighbor loved it. You are wasting your time on this house, MOVE ON!!

Unless you are invited, or an officer of the law, a mail carrier, a friend, a neighbor, or family; DO NOT LEAVE YOUR FLIER, DO NOT RING OUR BELL, AND DO NOT BOTHER US!!!

There are GUARD DOGS in this house.

There is a PISSED OFF mother in this house who is tired of the doorbell or door waking the napping baby!!

IS THIS CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU????

Ok, Elmo is on the TV so I may have 5 minutes to sneak off and shower sometime before the noon nap! YAY!

6 Comments | In: A lot about nothing, Frugal, not cheap! | tags: A lot about nothing, Austin, Christopher, Insanity, Ramblings, Ranting. | #

Today on the Science Channel I watched the coolest show called Eco-Tech, which is all about reducing our strain on the environment. This episode was about building homes that reduce your carbon footprint and save the planet. Since I tuned into the show a little late I have only been able to tour three different homes/concepts. The first was a wooden home with a house within a house that allowed the sun to heat the main wall and release the heat through the day to keep it hot in the winter, and in the summer it causes the heat to circulate through the attic and pull up the cool basement air. The homebuilder brags an 80% reduction in utility costs.

Even cooler were these biotectures called Earthships. These unique homes are made of earth and tires and bottles to make fully self sufficient homes that use about $100 a year in utility costs. These homes are completely independent and use no city utilities. It makes it’s own power, recycles rainwater, takes care of sewage and heats/cools itself.

The next thing they showed was paint that could last for 1,000 years, resists graffiti, mold, and breaks down carbon monoxide emitted from cars. They also showed windows that could control how much sunlight would be allowed through them and green rooftops on skyscrapers (rooftop gardens) which would reduce wastewater put into the sewage system, as well as lower the temperature on the roof and make the air conditioner work more efficient, as well as reducing pollutants in the air.

In my own home, I feel like I could be doing so much more to reduce my carbon footprints, yes I use CFL bulbs in almost all my light fixtures. We recycle and we have replaced all our old appliances with new energy star appliances. We use a HE washer and dryer to reduce the water I use, and we use cloth diapers on the baby. I am in the process of switching to all natural cleaning products and laundry soap to reduce the amounts of pollutants I put in the sewer. I know I could do SO MUCH MORE. I have all the supplies to build a clothesline, yet I still don’t have one because my backyard is so smelly from the lack of grass and overabundance of dog pee. I also don’t have a garden because again the dogs make the back yard unpleasant. I also could not justify the cost of a new tankless water heater, so we did go for a more efficient one than the old one, however I think the only way we will ever have higher efficient home is to start fresh and build our own home where we can recycle rainwater for landscaping, incorporate solar panels into the design, have a tankless water heater, use CFL, all energy star appliances, and possibly geothermal heating, cooling.

I think with a little more planning we all could take baby steps to reduce our carbon footprint and all live a little greener with tiny little changes that make less of an impact on our day to day living, but a great impact on the amount of strain on the planet.

2 Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap!, Geek Speak, This is how I roll | tags: House Stuff, Public Service Announcements, Ramblings, Something Worth Mentioning, Technology. | #

So, Saturday I was complaining about how my favorite shoes are wearing out and probably died about 2 years ago. I remembered how my friend Tracy just got some darling Birkenstock’s on eBay and decided to test my own luck. I found the most darling slip on tennis shoes, much like my beloved, but dead shoes. The price was right, so I bid and waited. This morning I got the dreaded email from eBay, I was outbid on my auction ending in 3 hours… Wahhh!! So I bid again, and again, and again! When the price of the shoes, plus shipping and handling was within $5 of the retail price, I gave up and went to the manufacturer itself.

This is where it gets fun. When I got there, I saw SO MANY SHOES that I loved!! My one pair of shoes turned into two, then three, then four, and FIVE! Soon my total was almost $250!! I did remove one pair of shoes that were cute, but I could not see myself wearing often. Then I did something I should have done in the first place. I googled “skechers.com coupons” and found an amazing 25% off coupon plus free shipping on dealnews.com. Check out my screen shot below!!

[Click to Enlarge]

I am so stoked! In about 10 days I will have my brand new shoes without the hassle of eBay if the shoes do not fit right. However I have loved all my Skechers and have always been impressed with the consistent fit, so I am sure I will love them!

2 Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Finances, Me, Ramblings, Shameless Plugs. | #

Finding the best credit cards can be a daunting task, especially when you have bad credit, or no credit. It is also easy to abuse credit cards by maxing them out, owning too many, or carrying high interest rates. It can be tempting to accept offers for 0% balance transfers, however, unless you can pay off the balance in the allotted amount of time, you may be stuck with a higher interest rate than you started out with.

If you do decide to take the plunge and apply for credit, it is important to compare credit cards; this way you ensure you are getting the very best deal. For instance, it may be tempting to apply for cash back credit cards, but a few dollars back in cash each month is not worth hundreds of dollars more each year in interest charges.

*This is a sponsored post.

3 Comments | In: Frugal, not cheap! | tags: Finances, Sponsored. | #

I love using coupon codes for snagging great deals at places I normally shop, or even using it to find new places to shop. When I first ordered from Buy.com it was because of an amazing deal I got on speakers for Bobby’s MP3 player. Same with Amazon.com; I found a great deal on nearly free sheets and I was addicted… in fact, most of my online shopping is at Amazon.com. Bobby just ordered a new Nintendo DS Lite from them after Matthew tossed his last new one on the sink and broke the on switch.

I recognize some of these stores from shopping online, or even spotting them locally in town, like Kohl’s, where I found these online Kohl’s coupon codes. Saving money always makes me happy, but only if it is on something I already need.
Happy shopping!

*This is a sponsored post.

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

With Valentines day in 2 weeks, it is time to start shopping for your loved one, especially if you will be shopping online and need to wait for shipping. Before you shop, don’t forget to check out online coupons first.

I found a great 25% off coupon for Weight Watchers to help if you made a resolution to lose weight for the new year.

Valentines Day Ideas:

For her, check out Diamond.com coupons, most women love jewelry, and don’t forget the chocolate.

For him, electronics and gadgets at Circuit City are always a good gift, and since a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, check out Hickory Farms coupons.

*This is a sponsored post.

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