The Twins Mama

Rain Rain please Stay!

2009-06-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Its beautiful here today. Its raining on and off. I LOVE the rain. Its warm outside and since we live in the dry hot desert theres really no humdity so its a nice warm weather. Ahhhh, I really dont want it to stop. Ive got the windows open and the smell of rain is drifting through the house.

Whats the weather like where you all are?

Look what I got Yesterday! Wiiiiiiii

2009-05-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ive been so busy lately that I havent been posting. But I got something yesterday that I wanted to share. Im so excited.

I kept putting off buying it because I felt I shouldnt be spending the money but with a gift card I was able to purchase it 1/2 off :)

Yesterday I workout for 20 min and today Im alittle sore. I cant believe how out of shape Im in.

I love how it weighs you, keeps track of your workouts and your minutes. Fun! I'll let you know how it goes.

Any of you work out with the wii fit and if so how do you like it??

Current WeightLoss

2009-05-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

Currently on my weightloss journey I have lost 4 lbs! Thats almost a 5 lb bag of taters :)

Im doing this challange right along with Mom of One.

Well, I got a new cell phone not to long ago. I always opt for the free phone except this time I bought a razr. Got an awesome price on it so I went for it. Well, I decided since my cell phone is always with me I would put it to work. It has alerts that you can set for meetings or everyday events. So my small servent girl, I mean my cell phone, is now programmed to go off every 2-3 hrs. reminding me to eat. It goes off at 8, 10, 12, 3, 6 I used to skip breakfast then I would scarf at lunch and dinner but now when it rings my first thought is "AGAIN? ALREADY?" but its been paying off since Ive lost 4 lbs. Im never hungry because Im eatting all the time. Their small meals or healthy snacks.

breakfast is healthy cereal and vanilla soy milk (small lactose problems)

snack is one of the following: fruit like orange, apple, alittle peanut butter on celery, almonds

lunch is wheat bread, alittle mayo, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, tomato, smoked turkey, maybe alittle avoc.

snack again (same as above)

dinner is whatever I make for the family but I eat alot less because IM NOT HUNGRY LOL

Ive also programmed it to remind me to drink water everyday, do the laundry on wed. (wash day), thurs. (thirsty thursday=water plants), etc.

Gotta love technology

The Electric Bill

2009-05-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

I know I said I wasent going to share this months electric bill since after doing the calculations on how to save even more on my electric bill found HERE and since I've only been really putting into effect these other energy saving tips for a couple of weeks now , I got the bill and I couldnt resist!

Last month was $106.14
This months bill $69.14 YIPPIE!!!

Because we used less it threw us into a different tier level with a lower price :)

I couldnt believe it. Pick me up off the floor!! I guess all the unplugging, switches off doing, and turning pc's off, it paid off. At first I thought it was because of Southern CA. Edisons summer discount plan Im on during the 4 months of the summer. We receive a $40-$50 a month discount for having the unit put on our a/c unit so they can turn the a/c unit off remotely at any time if they need to conserve. We never use the a/c unit since we have a swamp cooler so it works out perfect :) giggle

Oh happy day! Im $40 richer :)

Awarded The Attitude of Gratitude

2009-05-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

I was honored with the award of The Attitude of Gratitude by mimi charmante Her pictures on her blog are just beautiful. They make you want to pack your suitcase and jump on a plane to a far off place that is full of history and art. Thank you so much Kim. :)

The rules of accepting and sharing this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an attitude of gratitude.

3. Link to your nominees within your post.

4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they have received this award.

5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for the award. Tell us how you've come to have an attitude of gratitude.

As far as my "attitude of gratitude", I am thankful everyday for the people in my life, my family & my friends. I know, thats what everyone says, but its true. If you really think about it in the big sceme of things, what really matters? If a fire blazed through your house and took everything you owned would you fall to pieces or say, Ya know, its only things and we can rebuild again but my family I can never replace. Its amazing how as you start to look at life through different eyes when life throws you a curve ball things start to come into focus in a different light. You see what really matters and what doesnt.

Im nominating the following bloggers :

1. Marva @ blessedfrugalness times two with twins
2. Christy @ Mabel + Lola
3. Kaye @ Kayes Kreative Korner
4. AnNicole @ Our Suburban Cottage
5. Jane @ Work that Wardrobe
6. Donna @ Never So Simple (shes going through alot right now, she needs big hugs)
7. Terrie @ Terries lil piece of serenity (my blog sista)
8. Rebecca @ Its 5 oclock somewhere
9. Everyday mom of one
10. A Mayberry state of mind (fellow homeschooling mom)

Yippie, I Won

2009-04-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much Everyday Mom of One. I received my prize and I LOVE it. Its exactly what I wanted and I was so excited to get it in the mail. I think I forgot to mention what I liked in the email but this is what I wanted. So when I opened the box to my surprise there was the items! Yippie!

Heres a pictures of my prize and the link to this Eco Friendly company that is commitment to the environment. SeaSide Naturals

Look what I found

2009-04-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday the twins came running in saying something was wrong with our outside cat. Shes our mouser. We have a really big problem out here with rats the size of cats and field mice. They wreck havic on our garage and everything else. But since mouser has been here... no mice ! It looked like something had attacked (same coyote that hurt Elmo the duck??) and she needed to mend so I cared for her and put her in the garage in a dog kennel.

Sunday night as we were getting ready to close the garage door I heard something. Like a kitten crying in the distance. I listened and didnt hear it again. I thought maybe it was the echo of the puppies our dog just had. I had the twins come out and listen but they didnt hear it either. So the next morning one of the twin and I went to investigate over near our pigs where I thought the sound was coming from. nothing. humm... I decided since I was so close to our big horse trailer I'll just go into the living quarters and grab some thing out of it and as I closed the door I heard the crying again! Sure enough in the middle section of the trailer where there are built in dog kennels there they were ......

This one......

and this one.....

Arent they cute~!

They were very weak and wobbly. The poor things hadnt eatten in two days. She was so happy to see her kittens. Happy to say mama cat and kittens are doing great. :)

Yippie, now we have more cats to help with the mice population!

The Electric Bill

2009-04-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

Im totally agree that if you save alittle here and alittle there, its starts to add up and you'll be saving alot. So Im starting to work alittle on the electric bill. Something we can control.

I started posting my electric bill awhile back when I plugged in all those power surgers. Well, so far my bill has gone back up.This month its was $106.xx. When I call the electric company they just say that for the size of my house (2700 sq ft) that is an excellent price. Well, Im not happy with that price. I worked really hard turning off those power surgers. Makin sure they were all off when the appliance wasent being used, driving my family crazy to turn those lights off!

So yesterday I spent about 3 hrs researching what everything costs in my house. I wanted to know what was using the most. My moms electric bill is in the $30's. (1800 sq ft) I thought I have almost exactly what she has so why is mine so much higher? Well, after comparing my moms, and our electric bill I figured it out.

I found a website that helped me work the numbers. I didnt want an exact number, just a very close number and this website matched what I came up with. Link

Also here in Southern California they charge you in Tiers. So the more you use they move you up a tier and you pay more and more.

I couldnt believe how little electricity somethings in the house used compared to others. Did you know that my coffee maker that runs 2 hrs a day (auto shut off) cost more a month to run than my fridge or my freezer that runs 24 hrs, 7 days a week. Heres the approx break down so you can see how things add up. These are approx. but their close. Theres a few items not listed like the oven digital clock and plugging in the cellphones to charge.

_My house_____
55" big screen tv $15.73 (15 hrs daily)
Coffee maker $7.28 (2 hrs daily auto shutoff)
Laptop $2.17 (12 hrs daily)
Hubbys pc $14.56 (24/7)
My pc $7.28 (12 hrs)
Twins bedroom tv $0.60 (1hr daily)
Twins bedroom tv $4.03 (8 hrs daily)
Dryer $13.78 (4 days month 4 hrs each day)
Washer $2.24 (4 days month 4 hrs each day)
Fridge $5.46 (24/7)
Freezer $5.46 (24/7)
DVR $2.86 (24/7)
Lightbulbs (11)$3.96 (energy savers 5 hrs daily)
Microwave $2.86 (30 min daily)
Dishwasher $9.36 (20 days mo. 1hr each day)
PS2 $.85 (8 hrs daily)
Wii $.25 (2 hrs daily)
Fax/copier $5.40 (24/7)
Electric blanket $4.03 (10 hrs daily, auto shutoff)
Total $101.34 not including taxes and fees

It amazes me how things add up. Now that I know what is using the most Ive decided to cut down on the use of those appliances to see if I can save.Less tv, Less dishwasher, less dryer, hubbys pc will be turned off unless in use, and so will mine when were not doing school. And that COFFEE MAKER, Im setting the timer for 1 hrs and I'll manually turn it off. Their reading our meter in 2 weeks so I might not post the next bill but I'll post the following bill since we'll be starting this money saving goal starting today. OH and yes I'll still be turning off those surgers :)

If you have a money saving tip, please post it. I would love to hear them. :)

Happy Easter Everyone :)

2009-04-12T10:11:00.001-07:00

ahhh pottery barn does it again :)

Cutest Idea for Easter for your Kids!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-10T15:54:00.001-07:00

The Easter Bunny was HERE???

I usually dont get too excited over holiday decorating but this one is just the cutest idea Ive heard in a long time.

Not only is it super cute but its a tradition that Kaye remembers from Childhood. I love that. This is what makes those lasting childhood memories. Head on over to Kayes blog to check out the instructions!

Its just too cute!!!!!!

Meet Elmo !

2009-04-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

Heres some photos of my sweet duck Elmo. Shes been living in our laundry room in a large dog crate for several days now. She was attacked by some wild animal and her left leg was hurt. Shes usually pure white and fluffy but now the poor thing looks like she went to war. I gave her a bath to get most of the dirt off but her face still needs alittle work. Shes very animated and really cracks us up. Or maybe that should be "Quacks us up"!! hee I wanted to practice using the new camera so I took her outside and snapped these photos :)

Tagged ... alittle bit about me

2009-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by the Jane over at one of my favorite blogs called Workthatwardrobe.

The guidelines are as follows:1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.

2. Tag several un-tagged people.

What is your current obsession? Hum.. blogging and playing with my new fancy dancy camera. (Big thanks to Kim over at Mimi Charmante for helping me)

Good fika place? (That would be coffee to us non-Swedes) Starbucks of course!

Do you nap a lot? Hardly ever. Only when Im sick.

Who was the last person you hugged? My hubby

What’s for dinner? Beef Barley Soup with garlic bread (made with my dads recipe)

If you could be any rock/pop icon for a day who would it be and why? (Janes question) I can only think of a actor. I like music just not into the rockstars so I have no idea. So since Im a hippy at heart I would be Goldie Hawn. I love her kick back, let things roll off her back, easy going attitude.

If you could go anywhere in the world for a fully paid for vacation where would you go? (my question) Before I die I want to go to England, Scotland and Ireland. My hubby is irish/scottish and his gggrandfather (Might need more greats added) was a mason and built castles. I would love to find some of those. Another goal is to find the spookiest, grandest old castle and stay in it. My mothernlaw and I want to do some research for our ancestry work we've been workin on so that would be fun to do. I know I have a family member that owns a pub somewhere in London or right outside of London so that would be fun to find him.

What are you listening to right now? My hubby talking to a customer on the phone.

What is your favourite weather? WARM!!! Im always cold, my bones feel cold all the time so warm weather is my favorite. Not hot, just warm. Even though my favorite time of the year is Fall.

What’s on your bedside table? Lamp, plant, my bible, cell phone, favorite lotion, Stephanie plum series (book 14) by Janet Evanovich. Totally hiliarious series.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you. I love reading your blog. I just love seeing how your putting your outfits together and how you work them and reuse items of clothing to get a totally different look. Ive learned so much. Ive found my favorite jeans because of your blog (thank you ). I also feel a connection since since most of my mothers side of the family is from England so seeing the scenery is fun for me.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? Hum... this one is hard. I live where its dry, brown and theres a ton of dirt so I want to live where its GREEN. Where grass grows on its own without a million dollar water bill every month to keep it alive. hee Anywhere its green!

Favourite vacation spot? Sequoia National Park where you find those huge huge huge redwood trees. They are so grand they take your breathe away.

Name the things you can’t live without. My family and my computer.

What would you like to have in your hands right now? Enough money to pay off my house.

What is your favourite tea flavour? Hum.. I really dont drink tea cause I like coffee better but when I do I like Peach flavored.

What would you like to get rid of? All the junk in the garage. Ive cleaned that darn garage 6 times now in the 2 years we've lived here and it keeps getting cluttered again. LOL

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Somewhere green and warm! Probably Hawaii. My favorite island is the big island and I like the town Kona. I got pregnant in Hawaii so watch out for the black sand and jelly fish.!!! Im warning you from experience! hee

What do you miss? (This is Belette Rouge's question) Warm weather and my grandfather. I was very close to him and I miss his humor.

What are you reading right now? Havent read in weeks since Ive been so busy. Stepheanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich "Fearless Fourteen".

What do you fear the most? (Andrea’s question) Losing my family

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)? LOL Im fashion challanged so I have no idea! Im not really into designer clothing. Im a Gap, Old Navy, Jeffery Beane kind of gal.

Admit one thing you feel awful about. Once you have written it down, you are no longer allowed to feel bad. (Mervat's question) That I dont always spend time playing video games with the twins. They always ask me but I really dont like playing video games so I tell them later. Well, sometimes later never happens. I think today I'll spend alittle time playing with them :)

Heres the people I tagged:

Our Suburban Cottage

My kids Momma

Blessed Frugalness times two with twins

Kayes Kreative Korner

Mabel + Lola

Terries lil piece of Serenity

Mimi Charmante

Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

Mom of one

Ducks in a Row

PS: If anything doesnt make sense Im blaming it on the cold medicine. LOL

New Challange

2009-04-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ive decided to join a weightloss challange! GULP.

I do not have an addictive personality so for me to stay on track is sometimes hard. I go gungho for a week or so then it peters off to something else that has my attention... something like decorating.... or food.... or couponing..... or decorating.....or organizing...... or weightloss? Weightloss??... what weightloss????

So heres the deal, Ive joined Everyday mom of one. Hopefully I can stay on track and I can lose alittle weight that Ive gained. If you want to join us just click on her link and head over to see the details. Its very simply and easy. Nothing hard or confusing. Which is perfect for lil' ole me!

Let me know if you join us on this journey :)

Start Date: Monday April 6th

Current Weight =158 (fully clothed, and just ate breakfast)

1st Goal = 153

Date to Reach 1st Goal = April 20th

Goal for this week = Walk 10,000 steps each day with pedometer. whether its steps from walking, riding exercise bike or whatever as long as it reads 10,000 for that day.

Drink min. two water bottles daily. I really dont like water. I hardly ever drink it. But when I do drink water I lose weight. So 2 water bottles daily min. is a great feat for me. :)

My mom gave me her ab lounger so I'll be doing 80 crunches daily also.

I LOVE this pedometer. Works great. Bought it from Costco online awhile ago. I just dug it out and its battery is dead so I'll be buying one today.

My super duper fancy camera should be delievered today. OHHHH, I hope so, so I'll be taking pictures. I might even take a picture of myself. Gulp again. I really dont like my picture taken but it might be a good incentive to stay on track :)

2009-04-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ive been sitting here searching blogs and websites looking for the perfect blog background. Im still feeling alittle sick. So between coughing and blog searches I got to laughing at myself.

I cant leave well enough alone. I go to others websites and get ideas then the computer geek in me starts thinking, "I could do this", "I could do that"! UGH I serously need to go to a "Learn to stop changing your blog background every other day AA meeting".

Meeting would go like this....'

Councelor: Ellie, you really should be happy with what background you have at this moment.

Me: I am but have you seen all the totally cute backgrounds out there?

Councelor: yes, but you need to at least live with your new background for a few days to see if its what you really want.

Me: Are you kidding me? I might miss a new background or find something Way better. Gotta go look now!

Councelor: I think your hopeless.

Me: (nodding in agreement) I think your right.

Im blaming this on the cold medicine. Its making me search new background! Thats my story and Im sticking to it!

A big thank you to my good friend Linda who was very sweet to offer to pick up pig food for me so I wouldnt have to drive anyway today :)

Im tired of being Sick!

2009-04-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

I havent posted lastely because I have just felt icky. I got a really bad cold and now Im coughing like crazy. All that nasty stuff is in my chest and I feel so tired. Im on the upwards hill through. Im feeling alot better today. Twins arent too happy since that means no more slacking on homeschool.

On an upnote Im getting a new camera! Im so excited I get goosebumps when ever I think about it. Well, technically its for the business. We need pictures for my hubbies website and our old digital camera is dying a slow death. He walked over to my desk the other day with money in his hand that we got unexpectedly and said "Go order that camera you've been wanting". YIPPIE! So I emailed Kim over at Mimi Charmante asking for advice since I know she loves cameras and I love her pictures she posted. She was kind enough to call me with all the information. Between my coughing and hacking I got so much information and I felt that I knew what camera I wanted. So off to Costcos website to buy one. Now Im waiting. .......... I feel like a little kid at Christmas..... waiting.... waiting.... is it here yet?..... wait..... I know I just ordered yesterday but is it here yet???.....

Tic toc.....

Tic toc.....

Hum... maybe if I move the hands on the clock time will go faster??

Disneyland Birthday Trip

2009-03-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E !!!

Yesterday was the Twins 12th Birthday. I cant believe their 12!!! We got to disneyland around 9:30 and first thing we did was head to over to Town Hall to get their money and their birthday buttons. They also gave me 9 buttons for everyone in our party to wear that said "We are celebrating a birthday"!. If your wearing a 'Happy Birthday button" with your name on it the workers at disneyland will say "Happy Birthday to you"! So all day the Twins heard "Happy Birthday", Or "Hey, are you guys twins?" as their looking back and forth between the two. That always makes me laugh. I asked Mikey at the end of the day after another worker said loudly "Happy Birthday" , are you tired of that now, and he said "No, I think its cool"!

When we first got to the park we headed to City Hall and got their Gift Cards. If you go to disneyland on your birthday you get in free or if you already have season tickets you get to chose I think 3 different choices of what you want. Cant remember what they were becauset he twins wanted the gift card. They each got a gift card loaded with $69 to spend in the park!!! They were so excited.

Our family also has season tickets so both sets of grandparents, my husbands youngest sister Lori and her family joined us. I took some picture with my cell phone but because Im sick and on meds. (this is my excuse on top of Im blonde) I forgot the camera at home and I forgot to save each picture after taking them (Im not used to taking pics. with my cellphone) so I have NO pictures! Whhaaaa. Im hoping Lori knows how to send pictures from her Cellphone to me so I'll have some pictures to post.

What the twins bought with their money. Theres a Star Wars store right at the exit of Space Mountain so they each made their own Light Saber. How cool is that!!!! They got to pick the colors, the pieces to make it with and whether to have a single or double saber. Then after riding the Tower of Terror (we got papa on this one) and after waiting 75 MINUTES IN LINE theres a store at the exit of that ride too and they each bought a T-shirt that says "I survived the Tower of Terror". They have been wanting that shirt for awhile so I was excited for them.

We had ice cream towards the end of the night. I brought candles and matches and we stick the candles in their ice cream and sang "Happy Birthday".

What a fun and exciting day!!

Now this sick mama is going back to bed. Im tired, sick and exhausted but so happy the twins had such an awesome and fun birthday spent with their family. :)

Fun Craft Project

2009-03-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

I was surfing the internet looking for idea for one of the twins rooms and I found a great blog called Design Dazzle. She has a collection of great pictures of kids rooms with some great ideas!

She just posted a fun craft made out of magazine pages (Design Dazzle). This really intrigued me since I have magazines galore! Im thinking I might try this. Might be fun for a craft for the twins and I do to together :)

Not Me Mondays

2009-03-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It wasent me who kept walking by the sink full of dirty dishes all day today, trying to wiggling her nose like Samatha, hoping that the dishes would magically wash themselves and put themselves away. Their still there. Maybe my nose is broke.

It wasent me who ate some left over birthday cake & ate a hand full of sugar candies for breakfast instead of riding the exercise. I would never do that! Nope, no siree! It wasent me!

It wasent me who secretly didnt want the twins to stop showing me how to play their new wii game Mario cart so we didnt have to finish Homeschool. Seriously, what mother would do that!

It wasent me who took a very long hot shower tonight just to keep from cleaning and straightening up the kitchen and washing those dishes that for some reason arent washed and dried yet. Darn nose!

I did however make my sweet sick boys their favorite soup for dinner :) Yeap, that I did do !

SprAy PainTing CHallenGe

2009-03-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Yippie!! This is one challange I can do. I love to spray paint. Easy Peazy! My friend Sarah over at Thrifty decor chick is having a spray painting challange. Shes spray painting her treasures and wants us to join in and show her our projects. Head on over to her blog, sign up on Mr Linky so others can connect to your blog and see what wonderful projects your creating :) I cant wait to see them too!

Twins Birthday

2009-03-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

I really need a new digital camera. If anyone moves just a little bit they appear blurred in the photo. But then again, like I always say, maybe its the photographer! LOL

New Giveaway

2009-03-21T00:47:00.000-07:00

Marva over @ Blessed Frugalness Times Two With Twins is having a Giveaway!

The Giveaway
I am looking for your BEST money saving/frugal minded tip. Leave me a comment for a chance to win the prize. Link me to your blog for another chance as well. Anyone that you send over, needs to leave your name or blog name in their comment for you to get more chances to win.This contest is open from now through next Monday the 23rd. Now for the goods. You will win 7 items. There is a book, a journal, something crocheted (bought from Gooseberry Patch), among others. It will be kept under wraps until the winner is announced.

So head on over to Marvas site and leave a great saving tip. OH and dont forget to mention that you heard it from little ole me :D

Finally fixed the blog!

2009-03-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I confess, as a computer geek I cant leave well enough alone and I started messing with the blog and I wiped it out. I love working with HTML code and messing around with things and trying new things and before I knew it. BAM! GONE! Sigh! But some how, thank goodness, some of the widgets are back and intacted! YIPPIE! So I'll leave it alone for awhile. At least for a week or so. Theres just too many fun things for this computer junky to mess with or maybe mess up.

The twins are turning 12 next week. Ahhhhh, time is flying! We're having a small party with some of their buddies tomorrow then we'll celebrate it with family @ Disneyland next week on their actual Birthday.

Have a great weekend everyone! I know we will.

This Weeks Coupon Deals

2009-03-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Went shopping today and heres how I did ......

First stop Walgreens

Total without sales/coupons $57.52

I paid $27.13

Used remaining balance on rechargable Walgreens gc $14.30

Paid OOP $12.83

Getting $10 rebate back from rechargable battery unit and extra batteries (middle of pic) for the twins Wii controllers so everything cost $2.83!! SCORE!

Walgreens

Second stop CVS

Total without sales/coupons $63.16

I paid $13.76 OOP

Minus the listerine, floss, and toothbrush. I accidently put these in the cvs loot. I got those in the above photo from Walgreens. Im tired. I gotta go find my ginormous hershey bar. That will help me wake up :) Big grin!

CVS

Third stop Riteaid

Total without coupons/sales $31.94

I spent $16.86

Getting back $13.99

So basically everything cost me $2.87 :)

Riteaid

4th stop Staples

Total without coupons/sale $70.46

I paid OOP $50.59

Getting $32.95 back in rebates

So everything cost $17.64 Score!

Staples

Have a great week everyone :)

Need your help

2009-03-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

The twins are turning 12 at the end of the month!

We're going to disneyland with the family on their birthday so they can get the gift card Disneyland gives out to each season ticket holder on their birthday! Im thinking they will get around $60 each. Yippie!

A week before Im thinking we'll have a sleep over. The twins can invite several friends. I would love your suggestions on what to do. My friend Debbie suggested I have a movie night and just let the kids play. Which sounds awesome to me.

If you have any fun ideas that we can do I would appreciate your help. I want to keep it simple.

Thanks everyone :)

Good Morning

2009-03-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry I havent posted in awhile. Been busy helping hubby get his business going.

Ive been working on exercising more. Trying to lose alittle weight that Ive gained over the winter.

Been riding my exercise bike several times a day. It adds up to about an hour a day. 80 crunches a day on the old ab lounger. Watching what I eat and trying to stay around 1200 calories a day. And Im drinking water which I never do.

Hey, look at this beauty.. I could actually get two things done at once if I owned this! Lose weight and mow the grass. That is if I had grass. Genious!

Picture from Flikr.

Coupon Deals Today

2009-03-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

Went coupon shopping with my friend Linda and heres how I did!

First stop Walgreens:

Total $114.37

After coupons & sale prices $35.49

Put it all on my rebate rechargeable Walgreens Giftcard so ZERO out of pocket!

Second stop CVS. Did 6 seperate transactions . Total of those came to:

Total $109.97

After coupons & Sale prices $19.83

Plus I have a $5 ecb to use next Monday when we go :)

Im thinking I need to invest in a new digital camera. Seems like my pictures keep getting worse. Or maybe its the photographer! LOLOL

Have a great week everyone :)

Dreaded Taxes!!!

2009-03-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

Finally, its OVER! The dreaded Tax appointment. Not my favorite time of the year. Of course it wouldnt have been so bad if I had kept the books up to date like Im suppose to, and if I had been watching the calendar and realized that I had a tax appointment like in 2 days!!

I only had 6 hours of sleep in two days but I gotter done!

We went to our appt. and its over with till next year. Thank goodness!

Clothes shopping! Gulp

2009-03-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I hardly ever buy myself something new to wear. I always feel that I shouldnt and I end up buying the twins or my DH clothes instead. Since Ive gained weight Ive havent wanted to buy anything either for that very reason. :( But lately Ive felt so lumpy and dumpy. I need a change. So Im getting ready to cut my hair, maybe cut some bangs, and change my wardrobe alittle.

I just found a new blog that I just love. Its Workthatwardrobe. Jane has made a challange of not buying any new clothes for a YEAR and only using what she has. Shes put some cute outfits together. Ive gotton some great ideas so far.

Well, today I bought my first pair jeans in a long time. I usually get them from a yard sale or hand me downs. I got the idea from Janes blog. Their Gap Curvy jeans ( and man do I have Curves!!) and after researching the web I found that soooo many people say these are the greatest jeans. So for two days Ive been trying to find a great deal on Ebay. These jeans are $70 new at Gap!!! YIKES. but I found them on ebay for $32.50 shipped. Hopefully they fit. I got a size 10, low rise, flared legs, Rhinestone on the back pockets (SCORE! I love rhinestones) and their dark wash to make me look thinner! Yippie. This picture is probably a size zero because they look so thin in the legs compared to all the others ones Ive seen. LOL

Oh and shes got some Mary Janes from Clarks that I WANT!!!!!!!! (Lissa if you read this go check them out!) They are sparkly! Too die for!

Anyway, Im on a mission to find some nice tops and some new tennis to go with my new jeans. Ive always wanted Converse tennis and when I saw Janes I knew I had to get some. So maybe thats my new ebay hunt.

LaSt Monthly Spending Challange Post.

2009-02-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

This will be my last post on the spending challange. Im proud of myself for keeping track for this long. Thanks Marva for the encouragement to keep going. I appreciate it.

Okay, this is going to be alittle confusing. I put several bills on CC that reward me for doing that. It also makes it much easy since I dont have to worry about late fees and I can pay one bill (the Creditcard) instead of 5 or 6 seperate ones. So I wont actually spend money out of pocket for these charges till next month so Im not going to count them. So here is run down for the Actual out of pocket spending for the month of Feb. So heres goes ... (totals are rounded)

House $1790.00 (includes equityline)

CC $400.00 (health insurance and a little more to help pay it down)

Discover card $586.00 (Only gasloine and food are on this card to keep track)

Phone $ 21.00

Alarm Co. $ 60.00

American Express $ 810.00 (Several bills on this one like Internet service, Directv, Cell phones, propane, horse feed, dog food etc)

Magazine $10.00 ( I LOVE THIS MAGAINZE!!! Simple & Delicious magazine sub. They send me a 1/2 off deal and I couldnt resist. YIppie!)

Tithe $ 45.00

vet supply 10.00 (rat and gecko food)

Elec $91

vet supply $2

Disneyland $40

Grand total $3865

$250 Target GC Giveaway from Barking Mad

2009-02-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

Over at my friend Elizabeths blog she posted a contest that is going on right now hosted by Barking Mads blog. Their having a giveaway for a $250 Target Giftcard. Man could I use that right now !! Holy smokes! The twins birthday is coming up!! OHHH Pick me Auds, Pick me!! (hand raised waving in the air!!!)

All you have to do is post the button she has on her site and also tell her your favorite blog you've written. Show her your most proud and favorite blog. I havent been posting too long but I have one that stands out to me.

My favorite blog post would be about my Crockpot and the recipes I shared. I know not very glamorous but hey, anything that keeps me sain and helps me spend more time either with the family or doing fun stuff is worth posting :) Everyone should have a crockpot. Im thinking maybe it should be a law.

My entry is: Do you Love Your Crockpot??

Free Personal signatures - cool!

2009-02-24T11:31:00.001-08:00

Yippie, it only took me over an hour. I wanted a personal signature on my posts but just couldnt figure it out. I went surfing the web and found this link. Thought I would share incase you all want to fancy up your blog posts too :) OH, and best of all its FREE !

Click here

The dreaded Spending Accountablity Challange

2009-02-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

LOL Okay its not too dreadful but Im really tired of keeping track.

But I tell you, I cant remember from a week ago what I spent so it goes to show you, writing it down and seeing it on paper really does help!

Okay, heres the run down.

Starting total $1151.84

Feb 17 None

Feb 18 None

Feb 19 $19.31 (We drove almost an hour to a field trip so I rewarded the twins with lunch)

$ 150.84 Cell phone bill

Feb 20 $86.09 DH going on a huntin trip.

$62.00 Gasoline

Feb 21 $73.27 Target food

Feb 22 None (yippie)

Feb 23 $24.42 (but getting $26.98 back in rebates SCORE!)

New spending Total for month $1567.77

Coupon DEALS!!

2009-02-23T15:06:00.003-08:00

Please forgive the squishy website layout. Im still working on it. :)

I went coupon shopping today!! I love coupon shopping. Its a total game to me and of course I get to spend it with my good friend Linda who I have nicknamed Eagle eyes because the woman can see deals from a mile away. You go girl!

We first went to Walgreens and here is my Loot!

Spend almost nothing out of pocket (OOP) since I used my rechargeable Walgreens REBATE card (you get 10% more back if you do this method instead a rebate checked mailed to you)

Theres 3 bags of gummy bears (hard to see) just waiting for me to open them. Now im drooling! Ahhh, they must wait for disneyland. But the minute I hit the gates watch out! Hey, look at my cute Hershey shirt that Eagle eyes found for me :) Score!

Original Total $68.00

My total with coupons $25.05 (used giftcard)

Had to spent $0.32 cents out of pocket. IM such a big spender :) LOL

And I'll be Getting back $14.00 back in rebates :)

Second store was CVS. gotta love CVS!

Did 3 transactions. This is the combined totals:

Original Total $57.42

I paid out of pocket $11.83

Got some things for Valentines next year :)

Third Store was Riteaid

Original total $37.30

I paid oop $12.27

Getting back $12.98

Made $0.71

SCORE!

This includes another gift for someone :)

Do you see it?

Might not make it though.

Might come up missing.

It wasent me I swear! (As choclote is smeared all over me face)

Fourth and last stop with COSTCO!!

Used my rebate check.

Gotta love free food!!

Got $211 worth of food and stockup items and I have enough left to pay my costco membership $100, money for the twins birthday and alittle left over for Disneyland. We have 2 trips planned within a month :)

So all together we had a pretty good day!

How I made the sign.

2009-02-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

Rebecca,

Theres probably alot easier way to make it but this is how I did it.

I bought the wood from Lowes. My sign is smaller than the Ethan Allen sign. I made it
33" x 27 1/2". I used 5 1/2 x 1" pieces of wood. I used 5 of them cut to 33". Because I didnt want to spend the money on a biscuit joiner machine thingy and I didnt want to jimyrig something, the guy at Lowes suggested just getting some smaller boards and nailing them down the back of the art work. So theres (2) approx 1" x 3" boards running down the back and the 5 boards are nailed onto those boards. (so 10 nails will be needed) I like this because the art looks like its standing off the wall. Very cool. You can also use wood glue if you want to make it more secure but Im too impatient so I didnt use it.

1. Cut the wood to the desired lengths, sand the wood alittle.
2. Paint the wood black (I already had black matte spray paint so I used that)
3. After they have dried, sand the wood alittle, especially around the edges to make it look worn.
4. Nail the pieces together
5.Draw the roundish circle in the center
5.Once you have the circle where you want it, draw your letters and numbers
6. Paint the circle and your numbers. I just used my acrylic art paint. I did two layer. Painted then let it dry then did another
7. I printed the Ethan Allen picture from online, scanned it, and used my photo editor to blow it up as big as I could get it. You probably could take it to an office store and have them blow it up even more but I was on a budget so I did it myself
8. After the paint is dry I used graphite/copier paper to trace on the horse
9. Paint the horse black, two coats also
10. After paint is dry, I used a power sander to sand the top and edges to give it an aged look.
11. I nailed some picture hangers on the back. Ta Da!

If you need me to explain alittle more on certain steps let me know. I'll be happy to explain them.

My new Sign

2009-02-21T13:00:00.001-08:00

As you all know money is tight right now. While searching blogs I saw on MySweetSavannahs blog that she had made wall art copied from Ethan Allen. The original is $329. yikes. I thought maybe I can do this too. So this is the result. Of course its not even close to Melanies version. Shes a pro. But Im happy with the results even though my letters are too fat, part of the letters are too close together and the horse is too small. Its unique and I like it. LOL Oh and I spent $12 to make it :)

What makes your house special to you?

2009-02-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

About a year or so ago I posted my house on HGTV rate my space and I had people asking me to please post more pictures of my home. I was too embarrassed at the time because I honestly dont feel Im all that great at decorating. A designer I am NOT. There are sooo many more lovely houses that are just so amazing and stunning. My house is alot different than most houses I see, at least I think so, and Ive noticed most people like the lighter colors of white, pink and blues. I on the other hand love dark browns, beige, golds, burgandy, leopard print and African masks . If you put me in an old Victorian home, in the library, walls covered with bookshelves floor to ceiling, tons of wood work everywhere, leather chairs, smell of pipe smoke and antiques everywhere I would never leave that room.

It got me thinking.. What in my house makes it special to ME. . So I thought I would share with you some things that I find are special.

I would love to hear from you and see pictures of your homes too. What makes it special to you. What makes you smile? What are the things in your home that are TOTALLY YOU?

Mine are....

This HUGE mirror was a Mothers Day gift from my sweet DH Its hanging in the dining room.

The leopard rug that greets you when you walk in our front door.

An African mask brought back from Africa by one of our customers.

Another African mask from a different customer. We have the best customers Im telling you !!!

The wall clock my DH bought for me when we moved in the house. He has name it our "Jack the Ripper clock" since it looks like something that would be on a London street.

Heres our kitchen fan. While the "fans" are spining the whole unit also rotates.

The other three fans in our house have leaves for blades. Their all different. Here the one in our family room

I collect old suitcases and I use them in my decorating. I find them mostly at yard sales for $1 each. When I look at them I wonder where they have traveled to.

More suitecases. My DH stuck his great grandfathers walking cane up there so thats what your seeing crossing the front of one of them.

More african masks. The wall looks white in the picture. How funny. Its actually all the same beige color.

I LOVE black and white photography. Heres one of the pairs of large pictures I have hanging in the family room. I bought the frames and pictures at World Market.

More african masks that hang over the one of many archways we have in the house. Found the masks at a yard sale for $1 ea and the picture in the background that says Africa I bought at another yard sale for $5

A New Award

2009-02-20T08:16:00.000-08:00

Marty39 has honored me with an Award. The Best Blog Daily Thinker. Im so honored! Thank you Marty for thinking of me :)

The rules are to post it on your blog and pass it on to 10 other deserving bloggers.

Here goes:

1. My Kids Momma

2. My Suburban Cottage

3. Beautiful Orchids

4. Chantilly Charm

5. Sweet Southern Roots

6. It's 5 o'clock some where

7. Christopher and Olivia

8. Cents to Save

9. Blessed Frugalness

10. Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

I think you all are great bloggers and deserve an award!

Where I blog

2009-02-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by my friend AnNicole from Our Suburban Cottage .The idea is to show everyone the place where you blog. I also have a laptop so I blog in many places like the kitchen, family room, or bedroom. Here are a few picture of where I blog :)

This is where the twins play games and I blog or research recipes. Oops, I usually dont have the placemat under the laptop. I just sat the laptop there to quickly take picture.

Heres where I snuggle after a long day with my glass of wine. My DH calls these chairs the fatman chairs.

or Im sitting here blogging while the twins are doing their homeschooling :)

Now I'm supposed to tag five others. Once you are tagged, post a picture of where you blog. Feel free to tell us a little about your space, or explain certain items in more detail. Or not. Tag five other bloggers to show them their blogs. Im actually only going to pick four so here they are:

Marva: Another mother of twins and amazing budget dinner maker!

Elizabeth: Extremely in the know of all things. My smart friend!

Sarah: My friend from the Cafe that is extremely talented @ decorating!

Marty39: Check out her living room. The small changes are Beautiful!

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 15 & 16

2009-02-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

No spending these two days.

Monthly spending total still @ $1121.51

(edit: messed up on gasoline total need to add another $30.33 so total is actually $1151.84)

How Low Can You Go??? Menu Challange SATURDAY

2009-02-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

Since Ive worked hard all week long on the "How low can you go Menu Challange" I dont feel so bad about the last two days of spending for dinners. Pizza on Friday and Valentines dinner with DH on Saturday.

Thanks you so much everyone who joined in the challange.

Lets do it again soon :)

Have a Great Sunday everyone :)

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 14

2009-02-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

We had a fun valentines day. My parents took the twins to Calico Ghost Town for the day to see a reinactment of civil war battles and they heard Lincoln give a speech.

My DH took me to lunch at one of our favorite steak houses $48.00

Theres a big storm coming in and Im like a squirrel and have to stock up on my nuts so off to Super Target to load up on some groceries. $158.00 Hopefully this will last us for one and half weeks.

New monthly spending total is $ 1121.51

HApPY Valentines Day Everyone !!

2009-02-14T08:25:00.001-08:00

Hope you all have a LOVELY day ! XOXO

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 13

2009-02-13T21:43:00.001-08:00

Welp, had to pay some bills today and Dh surprised us with pizza and breadsticks for dinner :) Yippie.

Gas for F350 diesel $50 (edit: its $80.33 not $50)
Propane $130
Gas for explorer $10.24
Pizza $26
Elec. $90.63

New Monthy spending total $945.84

I LOVE MY CROCKPOT!!! Do you love yours?

2009-02-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

Im in love with my Crockpot.

Okay, that does sound alittle funny but its true. I call all my electronic devices that help me out my servant girls. My washer, dryer, dishwasher, bread maker and my crockpot! Sometimes I think my crockpot is a gift from Heaven! After a long hard day, your feet are aching, your body hurts, and maybe you have a headache from all the bustle of the day and you come home, walk in the door to the smell of a roast cooking or a soup simmering. Ahhhhhhhh The aroma comes at you and your body starts to relax because you know that dinner is more than 3/4 the way done and its one less thing to think about. Time to switch to relaxation mode, put on your fuzzy slippers, your warm cozy robe, grab a glass of wine, and get ready to spend more time with your family.

I wanted to share with you 5 recipes that are tried and true. I want you to be able to love your crockpot as much as I love mine.

My daddys garlic bread is awesome and compliments any of these recipes. His recipe is near the bottom of this page.

1st recipe:

Italian Sausage and Vegetable stew

(my twins ask for this all the time)

1 lb. Italian sausage (cut into pieces)

1 package (16oz) frozen vegetables of onions, green, red, yellow bell peppers (I use the stirfry vegs. from Costco)

1 can dice Italian style tomatoes undrained (Again I use the Italian stewed tomatoes from Costco)

2 medium zucchini sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Italian-style tomato paste

I usually double/triple this recipe.

Cook sausage till browned, drain

Combine sausage, frozen veggies, tomatoes, zucchini, and garlic to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 4 to 4 1/2 hrs or until zucchini is tender. Stir in tomato paste. Cover and cook 30 min until juices have thickened.

Recipe 2:

Good N Easy Stew

3 lbs stewing beef

1 can condensed cream mushroom or cream of celery soup

1 can sliced mushrooms drained (I normally dont add this)

1/2 cup beef broth

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

I usually double/tripe this recipe

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hrs. If you want you can thicken gravy with flour. But I never do. We like it just as it is.

Recipe 3:

Pizza Soup

1 jar (14 oz) of pizza sauce

3 empty jars full of water

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

2 cooked Italian sausage cut into small pieces

1 cup sliced pepperoni sliced in quarters

1/2 T dried Basil

1 T dried oregano

1/2 cup of dried pasta

shredded mozzarella cheese

Add all ingredients (except pasta & cheese) cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

30 min before serving add the pasta and turn the crockpot on high.

When serving you can top the soup with mozzarella cheese! Yummy!

Recipe 4:

Beef Barley Soup

2 lbs ground beef, cooked and drained

1 c. celery, chopped

16 oz. can stewed tomatoes , undrained

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 c. barley

2 tsp. garlic powder (I use jarred minced garlic instead)

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 large potatoes, cut into cubes

7 cups water

salt & pepper to taste

Brown meat, drain.

Add all ingredients to crockpot. simmer on Low for 7-9 hrs.

Serve with garlic bread :)

Recipe 5:

Ground beef Stroganoff

2 lbs ground beef

1-2 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup beef bouillon

3 tbsp tomato sauce

1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 tbsp flour (add this mixture 1 hr before serving)

rice or noodles

I usually double this recipe too.

Brown meat, drain.

Put first 7 ingredients into crockpot. Cook on low for 7-9 hours. (3-4 hrs on high)

Stir in sour cream with flour 1 hour before serving. Serve over hot buttered noodles or rice :)

My Daddys Awesome Garlic Bread Recipe:

1 large loaf of french bread.

1/2 -1 stick of butter, (yeap, I said one whole stick) melted alittle to help it spread easier

minced garlic to taste (I use 1-2 tbsp) No vampires here

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (man I love this cheese)

Heat oven to 350. Cut loaf of bread long ways in half. Place pieces on cookie sheet. Mix butter and garlic together and spread onto bread. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Sprinkle loaves with alittle paprika for color. Cook in heated oven for 10-15 min. This garlic bread is to die for. Yummy!

If you have any question regarding these recipes please dont hesitate to ask. Its been a long day and Ive already ate my crockpot chicken breast with salas tacos (man they were good) and had a glass of wine. Ahhhh. My brain is now in relaxation mode. Life is good!

How Low Can You Go??? Menu Challange THURSDAY

2009-02-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

Hows everyone doing on the challange?

No grocery shopping trips today either.

Today was great. I love my crockpot. Im going to post some of my tried and true recipes in the next post. I put chicken breasts in the crockpot topped with salas and cooked on high for 4 hours. Fried some mission yellow tortillas for shells. Topped taco with lettuce, cheese, and sour cream. And used those Famous Del Taco hot sauce packets! YUMMERS!

Chicken tacos

Chicken breasts used 4 large $ 3.92
Salas used 3/4 jar $1.35
Mission tortillas (16) $1.98
oil to fry tortillas $0.50 (gosh I dont know)
lettuce $0.50
cheddar cheese $0.50 (paid $2 for 8oz bag and I used 1/4 of the bag)
sour cream $.0.49

Dinner total $9.24

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 12

2009-02-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

No spending again today!!!

Yee Haw! Okay, confession time. I did try again. To spend some money. Still been looking for those jeans for the twins. Im on a mission to find the right ones at the right price.

Monthly spending total still @ $608.74

How Low Can You Go??? Menu Challange WEDNESDAY

2009-02-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

NO Grocery store trips for me today but it was really tempting!!

I didnt plan well yesterday (Wednesday).

I went riding in the morning, then worked on homeschool, then I started making phone calls for Life insurance and an appt to get our taxes done and before I knew it late and I forgot to put something in the crockpot for dinner. Sigh.

Since the twins love soup and can eat it every night I made them homemade vegetable soup. Just used what I had so it was easy.8 cups water, beef stock, tomato sauce, can italian stewed tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, & onion. I added some noodles 10 min before it was done. The twins are eatting machines right now and they ate the entire pot of soup!

Break down:

Noodles .25
Celery .25
carrots .50
beef stock .10
stewed tomatoes .75
jar tomato sauce 1.00
potatoes .20
1/2 onion .15

total $3.20

For the hubby and me , I made mash taters, that I topped with groundbeef, onion and gravy, and for side dish I heated a bag of green giant vegetables with sauce. It was really good :)

8 mash taters 1.60 (theres leftovers)
ground beef 2.00
gravy .25
gg veggies .50 ( theres leftovers)
onion .15

total $4.50

Total for dinner $7.70 :)

I think I did pretty good for just throwing dinner together on the fly! :)

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 11

2009-02-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Another NO spending day!! Yeah!!!

Still at $608.74

But its not like I didnt try. I was trying really hard to spend some hard earned cash but no can do. hee hee Been looking for some jeans for the twins that they want. Im only willing to pay a certain price. I got these jeans a year and half ago, 2 pair shipped to the house for $10 using free shipping codes and a discount code. Awesome price I know! So now Im spoiled.

Early Valentines Treat

2009-02-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ive been wanting to make chocolate covered strawberries. I decided to go ahead and make them early this week since company is coming this weekend and I wont have time. I think they turned out pretty good. And their really Yummy!! :)

Served my family these today on this plate because they are special to me :)

Couldnt waste the extra chocolate so I dipped some apples wedges and topped with sprinkles:)

Picture of our Ride today :)

2009-02-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

My good friend Linda and I are trying to ride every Wednesday morning. We had a great ride today and the horses got some good exercise.

We rode by the Extreme Makeover house again and got a couple more pictures

Learning center

Sign on corner

House

Crockett and me

How Low Can You Go??? Menu Challange TUESDAY

2009-02-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

Did really well today on the challange. NO GROCERY TRIPS! Yippie! LOL

We had cereal & toast for breakfast

Turkey sandwiches for lunch

Bean burritos with sour cream, del taco hot sauce, and cheese
and I made spanish rice for Dinner. Yummers

Juice for drinks

Inexpensive meals all day :)

Last night for a snack I popped popcorn on the stove, drizzled it with real butter and sprinkled cinnamon on the top. We were watching "Monk" and they mentioned that so we thought we would try it. Verdict is still out on this one.

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 10

2009-02-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day. :) Been freezing outside but we got alot of school work done. :)

The only spending I did today was a birthday present for one of the twins. I sent a limit and they get to pick what they want. One of them found a game on Amazon so I bought it. Im not going to count it in my spending since Im getting alittle over $400 back from our Costco/american express card this month.

Im taking out money for the twins birthday, stockup items I'll be buying from Costco, and the rest will be for Disneyland trips (we have season tickets) and to help with groceries for the rest of the month :) Gotta love Costco :) Getting paid to pay your bills and items you buy is a wonderful thing :)

Monthly total $608.74

How Low Can You Go??? Menu Challange MONDAY

2009-02-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

I went coupon shopping today. (stockup items. I dont count this as grocery shopping:) I did really well, except while out my family wanted me to pick up some drinks. So I ran to Super Target and got frozen juice , my DH some pepsi, and I got some fresh strawberries that I was going to buy later in the week then decided Im just going to buy them now and make them tomorrow. I want to make choc. covered strawberries for Valentines(yummers)

So I spent $15.12 Geesh, the first day and I already fell off the wagon. LOL I knew I would have to go to the store later on in the week for drinks so hopefully this does the trick and we wont have to go till next Sunday :)

Oops forgot to list dinner and the break down:

We had Pepper steak over rice , salad, and lemonade

This is the first time I made this recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Pepper-Steak/Detail.aspx

It was good but not sure I'll make it again. There wasent enough for 2nds or left overs which we like to eat the next day for lunch and this meal was on more of the expensive side. I broke it down and Im going to say the recipe, salad, and lemonade cost around $11.00= $2.75 a person

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 9

2009-02-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mondays are normally my coupon shopping day. I was all excited to go to town get some deals, and go to lowes and get some wood for a project. Looked outside and it was SNOWING!!!! UGHUGH. It slowed down and stopped for alittle bit so my DH said "Hurry and go now". So I jumped in the car and ran to town.

I feel I did really well at CVS. I scanned my card twice at the scanner machine. First time it gave me a free $2 ecb. Yippie, free money!, The second time it gave me a $1.50 coupon for cvs female personal care item and and coupon for free 3 pk. CVS Antacids and $2 off tums.

I did two transactions. I spent out of pocket $20.84. I forgot to use the free $2 ECB. dUH. Oh well, next week. I used a $10 ecb I already had on the first transaction.

Heres what I got for $20.84 includes tax (reg. price would have been & $86.52+tax)

8 pk Bounty papertowels

8 ct. Duracell batteries

120 ct. Bounce dryer sheets

3 bottles Dawn dishsoap

3 heart boxes of chocolates (small ones for valentines)

2 valentines candies for the twins

Gillette power razor

60 ct. tums

2 pk. energy pack

22 ct. cvs pantyliners

cvs brand chewable asprins

3 pk cvs antacids

madagascar 2 movie (valentines present for the twins) !!!! Im so excited about this. They have been wanting this movie. I had a bunch of valentines candy in my cart, and decided to put it all back except for $5 worth and used the money to buy the items that helped me get the movie for $4.99 :)

Went to riteaid and got:

Finesse Conditioner

MortonSalt

Fructis hairspray

Durex lubricant (given to DH for valentines hee hee)

Total came to $11.66 with coupons

Getting back in rebates $10.98

So total was actually $0.68 Yippie!

Went to Walgreens and got:

2 bags 40ct Halls cough drops

1 roll Bounty basics

Zucol cold care 18 lozengers

Fructis shampoo

Revlon Age defying spa foundation

Revlon Creme lip gloss

3 cans of ajax

Total came to $33.18 out of pocket

Getting back in Rebates $32.26

So total was really $0.92 Yahoo!

Went to Lowes for my wood project. $21.33. Used GC so new total out of pocket was $10.31

Went to Target for juice and drinks. I also bought some strawberries. I want to make choc. covered strawberries and Im thinking of making them tomorrow and not wait till Sat. :)

Spent $15.12

Todays spending $91.11

Minus Rebates $43.24

Todays spending $47.87

$560.87 Starting
$47.87 spend today

$608.74 New running Total

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 8

2009-02-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

No money spent this day either. :) (doing backflips)

Still at $560.87 for the month. Not for long though. When the bills start to be due thats when this bliss of no spending will end :(

How Low Can You Go??? Menu Challange Starts Today!!

2009-02-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

BANG! (thats the starting gun to start running. So run Forrest run! Oops, couldnt help myself )

We're off to a good start this morning. I have my menu planned for at least 4-5 days. Ive been really busy this weekend so I havent had a chance to dig deep in my deep freeze.

So far the dinners I have come up with are:

1. PepperSteak (crockpot), mashtaters, veg

2. Salsa Chicken burritos (crockpot), homemade spanish rice

3. Strog. over rice (crockpot)

4. Faitas (crockpot)

5. Beef Barley soup (crockpot), garlic bread

6. ? mystery

7 ? mystery

We have a ton of rice, lots of boxed items like hamburger helper and theres stuff in the freezer I cant get to until DH moves the stuff on top so Im confident that I can come up with some concoction.

For Breakfast choice of : cereal, cream of wheat, toast, homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs/bacon

For Lunch choice of : turkey sandwiches, top ramen, soup, leftovers, tuna sand.

Drinks choice of : frozen juice, water, ice tea

For Snacks choice of: homemade popcorn, rice krispytreats, soyjoy bars, fruit

I would love to see your menus and hear from you your tips for this week and how you plan to make this challange work for you :)

How low can you go??

Good luck everyone!

Monthly saving Challange ~ Feb. 7th

2009-02-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

YaHoo! Didnt spend money today!

Menu Planning Challange Starts Monday Feb 9th

2009-02-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

Starting February 9th we're starting a Week of Menu planning on a budget.

How much money can you save by using what you already have in the pantry, freezer, & fridge.

How long can you go without going to the grocery store?

Im planning on using the Sale flyer, Sunday insert coupons and what I already have on hand to do this challange.

If I can do it, you can do it. I would love it if you all joined in.

How low can you go??

Sign Mr. Linky below so we can go to your blog and see how your making this challange work for you :)

Monthly Saving Challange ~ February 6

2009-02-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

YIPPIE!!!!! No money spent this day!

Stayed home with the rain. I love the rain.

Fire blazing in the wood stove. AAhhhhh Life is good :)

Im working on the Weekly Grocery Saving challange for next week.

I think I'll start on Monday. I'll be using food I already have, using the coupons from the Sunday paper and the Sale ads.

Few money saving tips for the kitchen

2009-02-06T21:35:00.000-08:00

Well, since Im doing this money saving challange I thought I would share a few tips Im doing this month to save money.

1. We dont eat out alot but when we do we go to a fast food place called Del Taco. YUMMERS! They always give several napkins so Ive been saving them. Storing them up like a squirrel. I put some of these in the glove box and the rest go into the house in the kitchen drawer. I was buying the cute napkins from the grocery store to put in my cute napkin holder on the counter but this month instead I'll be using up those FREE Del Taco napkins :)

2. And when we make bean burritos (My DH thinks if we dont have refried beans and tortillas in the house the earth will stop spinning and all will perish.!!) we'll use those yummy hot sauce packets Ive gathered up from Del Taco to spice up our burritos :)

3. I bought a bread maker recently with money I got from my parent for Christmas. Ive been baking away. Im learning so its been a trial and error but the twins are my biggest fans :) Every loaf no matter how lopsided, or flat, they always give me the thumbs up :) What sweet hearts. I love the smell of the bread baking on these cold raining days and since the twins are eatting machines right now it sure helps keep them satisfied till dinner :)

4. We do drink some soda but Im slowing not buying as much. Ive been buying frozen lemonade from super target instead. Its only $ .77 a can and makes a huge container. It says add 4 1/3 cans of water but I add 6 and it still tastes great :)

5. I do use those little dishwasher tabs. Only if I get them really cheap using coupons. The reason being is my good friend Lissa explained it to me that when you use those tabs you are using exactly the right amount and when you use the powder or liquid soap you might be pouring too much which is wasting soap and money :)

Save money at Dinner Time

2009-02-06T19:27:00.001-08:00

Lord have mercy! I visited a website that I think is going to be just awesome. Its called $5 dinners As I was reading down I was thinking... My family would eat that and my family would eat that!! I just love when I find a website that talks to me and gives such great ideas.

I found this site while visiting Amys blog regarding the Monthly spending Challange.

You all have to check this site out and let me know what you think. Gotta go read more about these awesome cheap meals!

Monthly Savings Challange ~ February

2009-02-06T16:55:00.001-08:00

I just realized I accidently deleted the post regarding how much I saved on the electric bill (slap myself) So here it is again. Was $111 now its $90. Been more diligent this month turning off those surge protectors and Dh computer :)

Edit: Marva,I found her blog. I think I kept trying the wrong one. Everyone I tried wouldnt open up :(

Thanks Amy for starting this challange! You go girl!

On Marvas blog she is having a month saving challange where shes listing all her spending everyday for the month. So I thought I would join in and also list some of the ways I save money while Im at it. Gulp, this means Im really going to have to stay accountable.

Im starting 5 days late so heres what I have so far....

Feb 1st Renew DH business website $108.12 Gulp

Renewed AAA $119

Feb 2 Food for geckos $2.16

Internet service $31.00

Disneyland $40

Feb 3 horse feed $114.03

Gasoline for my car $40.16

Feb.4 CANCELLED a SUBSCRIPTION saved $15 Yippie

Feb 5 Super Target $105.41 Weekly grocery shop. (this includes all food only. Im stocked up on all paper products and toiletries)

Total spend so far $560.87

My goal for groceries was $75 for the week. But I went over as you can see. Im really trying. Ive done it before but my family wasent on board. Just yesterday my DH said to me "we should see how cheap we can eat for a week". I almost fell off my chair. Been waiting for this for a long time. So I think I'll try this challange next week :)

Just got back from our Ride :)

2009-02-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Heres some pictures of the construction site for the extreme makeover. We were able to ride the horses right up to the tents. I decided to ride my DH tenn. Walker "Crocket". I felt he would do better around all the noise of the tractors and trucks and I was right, he did great :) Only thing they didnt really like was the big bad scary water truck!

The learning center their building them.

The house is on the left. Learning center on the right.

Learning center

Linda Scored us some t-shirts :) Go Linda, Go Linda

Extreme Makeover is in my Neighborhood

2009-02-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

YIPPIE!! Extreme makeover is in town. Too fun!! There are cops blocking roads, and people driving all over the place.

My friend Linda and I are going to saddle up and ride over this morning to go peek at it. I'll take my camera and take pictures :) Thats if my horse doesnt dump me on the ground from all the cars and trucks. Hes a sweet horse but I havent ridden him alot lately so hes alittle skiddish!

Im off to put my boots on. Yee Haw!

HAPPY SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!!

2009-02-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a great Superbowl Sunday. We're heading down to my BIL and SIL friends house from church to watch the game. Its going to be alot of fun. My BIL asked me to face paint on everyone so we're going to be all decked out. Of course my family will all be in "Charger" gear. Go Bolts! But we'll be cheering for my BIL's team the Cardinals.

Have a great "Football Day" everyone!! :)

WHAT A MENU!!

2009-01-31T13:41:00.000-08:00

You all have to head over and see Marva's month menu. Im soooo impressed! Dinner is the one thing I have to have organized otherwise I get so flustered. She has some yummy looking meals on there that I think Im going to have to try :) She even has desserts!!

Got the containers filled and Labeled

2009-01-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

Yippie! I finally got all the containers filled and labeled. :)

Disks no more!

2009-01-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Im on a roll organizing. Yesterday I decided to try and condense some of the many disks I had burned throughout the years. Alot of data, alot of photos, ancestry stuff. At first it really did seem daunting but I was determined. I made a folder on the laptop, and started loading all 19 disks info into that folder. A year ago I bought a bundle of DVD disks to use to make a backup cd for the laptop. Wow, these disks hold alot of data!! I was able to burn all 19 disks onto this one disk!!! Im still in awe. OHHH DVD disk how I love thee!

Valentines Craft

2009-01-29T10:11:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I finally was able to sit down and do a Valentines Craft last night :)

I saw these and I just had to make them. Their super easy. I found them at Heathers blog. I had fun sewing the "be mine" onto felt. I used regular needle and thread. I used what I had on hand. Construction paper, scrapbooking paper, glue stick, white felt, green thread and beads. Oh and I used a cutter I completely forgot I even had. I think I got it from a yard sale for around 25 cents. :) It made cutting the circles SOOOO easy.

Love this cutter!!!

FOUND THEM!!!

2009-01-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

As you know Ive been on this quest to find some plastic containers that will help me organize my pantry but I didnt want to spend any money. I know, what a wonderful dream . I had those little bugs that come with flour and boxed items before, Ewwwww, and I dont want them again and since Ive been coupon shopping like a made women I want the food Ive worked so hard to get a deal on, to last. So Im considering it a good investment.

I had a gift card that I wanted to use but everything I found was expensive and I would have only been able to get a few containers. I went to Target yesterday and they were having a sale on their containers. I got (4) 6qt., (4) 4qt. and a cake tote. The cake tote is the exact one I wanted :) (Look Linda I found it :) And the best thing is I got to the register with groceries, containers, and coupons of course, and the cashier saw I had a $10 off coupon if you spent $50 on home goods. I said "I dont think I spent $50" and she said it will work anyway so let's use it. YIPPIE! So instead of 9 containers costing ab. $33 they only cost $23. I have money left on my gift card!!! whhhahhhahhh.

Happy dance Happy dance !

Here they are.... I'll post an after photo as soon as Im done fillem up!

School Room Mission complete !

2009-01-26T08:06:00.000-08:00

Yippie! I finally finished the school room. Command central. Feels great to not sit around all the papers, books and junk. This is our formal living room that I turned into the school room/office. We have an open floor plan and this room is divided from the other rooms by large archways so its visable at all times so everytime someone would walk in I would be embarrassed.

I started by sorting everything into groups. Coupons, schoolbooks, bills/mail, yard sale stuff and a pile of things that just didnt go into this room and needed to be put somewhere else. I threw away as much as possible.

I cut more shelves using wood I had out in the garage :) Now Im able to put things on the desk instead of having it laying out and about.

One side of the lower desk is all hanging file folders holding paperwork and the other side is school related stuff.

Im looking for baskets or something to hold items that didnt have a spot before so they landed on the floor next to the desk. Items like coupons, bills, mail, coupon binder, school boxes. If these items have a specific spot the room will not get cluttered.

Teacher deserves an apple!! :)

Look!!! Nothing on the ground :)

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

2009-01-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to make a fun Valentine decoration today that I learned from another blogger but instead I think Im going to try and tackle this jungle today. Im alittle nervous because it seems alittle daunting. But Ive collected alot of tips and I think it can be done. Im also alittle embarrassed that I let my desk get this way. I have blinders on. Thats my excuse. lol You cant organize junk so most of this is going to have to go or it needs a specific spot. These spots also need to be easy access. If I cant get to the spot I usually do the "dump and run" technique which as you can see is working great! Sigh

Keys, Keys, and MORE Keys

2009-01-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

I decided I should start organizing all our keys. We have keys to the 5th wheel, both parents house, horse trailer, mailbox (2 miles down road), 10 locks for gates, all 3 cars spare keys, and our ulility trailer. Im thinking this is a good one because if theres a fire or emerency I can quickly find the keys. I sat down and thought No I should start organizing the desk, Im surrounded by books, papers, and coupons everywhere, total chaos, but instead I got up and saw something Ive been painting , took it out in the garage, painted alittle and came back and made lunch. Remembered I was working on the keys, started looking all over the house for spare keys. Actually these arent all of them. Yikes! Most of these I have no idea.

While looking for the keys I thought, hey I have two drawers that are junk drawers I should clean these out. They were full to the brim with tools, KEYS, and just junk. So at least I accomplished some kind of organizing today. Hour later thought to myself as Im grinning down at one empty drawer and one organized drawer, hey, wasent I organizing keys?? sigh.

Off to try to stay on track.

Finished Pantry!!! Well, almost....

2009-01-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

Worked on the pantry this morning putting everything back in and this is what I have so far.

This is a shoe rack organizier . Got from my friend Linda for free. Im using it until I can get one of those fancy dancy costco can organiziers :)

I went through and purged about 1/2 my cookbooks I never use. I got the magazine holder that is holding food mazagines that I use all the time from Target in their clearance section. It was all scratched up so I painted it. Im going to need one more of these for some more magazines that I need to go through and see if I want to keep. That metal box is a Martha Stewart recipe box from my mom :)

Since Im using what I have I decided to go ahead and paint some cardboard boxes and label them. Im on the look out for some good deals on basket or bins to replace them. Im also still looking for some plastic or glass containers to replace all the plastic you see in this picture. Then all the brown sugar, cereal etc will all have matching organized containers :) Cant wait.

The basket on top is holding pasta and the basket on the bottom is holding all those side dishes packets that are really slippery and slide all over the place.

I cant believe how much duplicate spices I had. Because I was so unorganized I just kept buying them. grrrrr I tossed out the bad and consolidated all the new :)

Edit: I forgot to add this picture. I hung my aprons on a removable hook for easy access :)

I have one of those motion detector lights in the pantry. Its really nice. Saves electricity. You should have seen me painting. I would paint alittle and have to wave my arms to get it to come back on. Then I realized it has a perm. on button, off button and auto button. DUH! At least my arms got a work out LOL :)

2009-01-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

Heres alittle peak at my progress. I painted today and heres the boxes I painted yesterday and labeled. :) Im actually looking at a website for plastic containers that will not be expensive. I just need to figure how many and what sizes I need. I also need to check out a few more sites. Just not sure I want to spend my gift card on these but Im thinking it probably will be a good investment. :)

Clear your space & clear your mind!! Amen

2009-01-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Im already working on another project. I know, getting ahead of myself, but I wanted to start thinking of this one. I can think while the paint dries :D
ORGANIZING KEYS. I really want to get my loads of misc. keys labeled and hung in a specific spot. Part of me says why go to all that work so if someone breaks in you make it so nice and convenient for them LOL But the other part of me, the part that has had GREAT panic in trying to find the spare key to the car because your husband took your keys while you were sleeping and didnt want to wake you up to tell you (how sweet) because he couldnt find his own! That part of me says, go through every drawer, every nook, and find and label those keys!

Im still working on the pantry. Im thinking of painting the back wall now to make it look pretty. Since Im not buying anything new I thought I can make it pretty with some paint I already have. I have a gift card that keeps talking to me telling me to buy some pretty clear containers that all match. LOL

Working on Pantry

2009-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

UGH the before....

Ive been busy working on our pantry. Its giving me heartburn.

Ive been encouraged by people posting their organizing photos on thriftydecorchecks organizing & decluttering challange so I decided I would bite the bullet and try to do the pantry too. Im working with what I already have in the house. Im not buying anything new. I have some baskets, some extra tupperware/rubbermaid items, cardboard boxes and paint. I'll post an after photo as soon as Im done. Thats if I can tame this jungle.

You painted leopard spots on WHAT?

2009-01-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

As you all know I LOVE leopard anything but when I saw this photo I started to laugh. I love leopard but Im not sure I would paint my house in leopard. But it is a conversation starter thats for sure and very creative :)

Dreaming of Pottery Barn

2009-01-15T09:42:00.001-08:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE PotteryBarn. Its one of my ultimate favorite stores. I love everything Except the price! LOL Heres a few items I would love for storage. Thought they would look great in my (Indiana Jones) home :) lol

I TOO have Been Tagged!!

2009-01-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

I just got tagged for a photo meme by my friend Elizabeth @ Thoughts from an evil Overlord.

The rules are:

.1. Go to the the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.

2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.

3. Explain the photo.

4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers to join in the fun!

LOL Okay this photo isent as interesting as Elizabeths 4th photo she posted on her website site. The 4th picture is of organizing. Im gathering photos for inspiration so I can organize and post photos for a decluttering & organizing challange from Thriftydecorchicks blog. She asked us to take pictures and post them for others to see. So here is my dream linen closet by none other but Martha Stewart.

Now here are the four bloggers to whom I am passing on this tag. Be sure to visit their blogs to meet these wonderful bloggers :)

1. Terrie @ Terrie's Lil" Piece of Serenity Shes an AMAZING gardner!! She really needs to start her own magazine.

2. Stephanie @ sweetsouthernroots She has some really cute decorating ideas on her site.

3. Marva @ Blessed Frugalness Times Two With Twins She has twins boys like me so of course I would chose her. LOL

4. Laurel @ Ducks in a row found her blog by searching around and she had a cute blackboard I think I might want to try and make. :)

Organized Makeup Drawer

2009-01-13T16:05:00.001-08:00

Heres another organizing idea. I use a kitchen utensil organizer to organize my makeup drawer. I lined the drawer with leopard drawer liner (of course) to dress it up alittle. :)

Weigh IN day.

2009-01-13T15:33:00.001-08:00

I weighed in this morning and Im still down 3 lbs!!! YIPPie! My goal is 1 lb a week so 3 lbs is awesome!

My goal for this week is to drink water. I really dont like water and only drink it if I really have too but Ive noticed if I drink my 8 cups a day the weight starts to fall off. I need to make water my friend.

Gulp!

Coat Rack

2009-01-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

When we built our house we had the option to have a coat closet but we have an old phone booth that we wanted to put that in the place of the closet so hence no place for coats. I found a cute coat rack at a yard sale for $2 and hung this in our entry way. I also hung a wrought iron coat rack in the laundry when people come in from the garage.

More organizing

2009-01-12T17:09:00.001-08:00

Ive been trying to think of something to post for organizing. I ask my husband and he laughed!! He said "well you used to be super organized". Sigh. Hes right. I need to get busy.

Heres a cabinet I bought at a yard sale for $10. As you can see its near the front door. I placed all our photo albums in here so that incase of an emergency like a fire etc we can grab them easily.

Control Journal

2009-01-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

On Sarahs blog Thrifty decor chick she encourged us to post some tips for organizing. I hope this counts. I use a control journal (flylady style) to keep my day organized. If I dont use the journal my day seems to fall apart. When I do use it I have more time in my day to organize, blog, spend time with my family etc. It really frees up my mind to think of other things. I keep it on the kitchen counter at all times so I see it when I walk by. :)

The Bucket List

2009-01-10T21:11:00.000-08:00

We were watching the movie the Bucket List. Talk about a tear jerker. I turned to Larry with tears streaming down my face and said "we have to start a bucket list"!! He thought I was nuts but I was serious. Why wait till were sick and dying to do the things we dream of doing. So Im starting a list. One of the things on the list is to visit Ireland, Scotland, and England. Larrys is Irish/Scottish and his gggrandfather used to build castles so I thought we need to go stay in the most scariest, biggest, spookiest Castle we can find. Tonight Mikey and I were looking online trying to find the right castle. We're going by looks of course. LOL

5th day on Weightloss Journey~ sniff sniff

2009-01-10T18:25:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel most days!!!

Its the 5th day into my weightloss journey and everyone in the house is sick. UGH Nasty sinus colds so I actually havent been very hungry but Im eatting alittle every 3 hrs. Made homemade beef barely soup. One of the twins Favorites. Fresh warm bread would have been awesome if I had only remembered to use the new bread maker I bought! Sigh.

Yippie, lost 3 lbs so far!!!

2009-01-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

OKAY, its only been 4 days but HEY, 3 lbs is 3 lbs even if its water weight right??

Been exercising everyday, drinking my water, and staying in calorie range. So far so good :)

Here we go..

2009-01-08T20:57:00.001-08:00

My friend Dee encouraged me to start a blog after her and I were posting about saving money. My mother has taught me how to save and I have a ton of tips. I consider my mom the Coupon Queen! The woman is amazing. No car payments, house paid off, pantry stuffed, no late charges, no finances charges and low utility bills. I havent always followed my moms lessons and if I had I would be sitting pretty right now. Sigh. 20/20 But Im putting all those lessons into effect right now. Hopefully it will be enough.

Right now its tough with the economy. Even for us. My husband put his dog training business into full time when he was recently laid off from a 17 year old job. UGH. Talk about having the rug pulled out from under you. My security blanket is gone :(

I started coupon shopping again and I am stocked up on 90% of tolietries so now my grocery bills are all food. My goal is to get down to $200 a month for groceries. Right now Im at $400. (Use to be $800-$1000 monthly)

I have a few websites I use to help with couponing. I'll post those later too.

I'll start blogging my moms tips and tricks soon.

3rd day into weightloss journey

2009-01-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

Well, its my 3rd day into my weightloss journey and so far so good. Been working out, drinking water (feat in itself) and staying in calorie range. My starting weight is 155 Goal is 127

I get alot of help and support from http://www.sparkpeople.com/ They have a great support system and you can keep track of your calorie intake and calories burned during the day. Best of all its all FREE!! yippie