Good deals and the list.

So I am into this whole couponing thing more than I care to admit. I love getting good deals and can't help but share some of them! I made a few trips the other day to different stores and these are some of the deals I got.

Walgreens -
I bought 2 -1 liter bottles of Listerine. They were on sale for $4 each. I had two $2 coupons so my out of pocket was $4 total for both which is a good deal alone but I also got $4 register rewards (which is a coupon you use like cash for your next purchase).
I got a 90 pack of GUM flossers which were on sale for $2 for free because I had a $2 coupon.
I got two cans of tomato soup for $0.09 each after coupons.
I got two bottles of Ecotrin aspirin for free after coupons and got $2 in register rewards also!
I got three rolls of Scotch's packing tape for $0.50 each after coupons. That is a good deal!
I got two 6 oz tubes of Crest pro health toothpaste for free because I had register reward coupons for them from a previous transaction.

Target-
I got two bottles of Clearasil face wash for $0.96 each. They were on clearance for $2.96 each and I had two $2 coupons. That is a steal!
I got two boxes of Teddy Grahams for $0.50 each! They were on sale for $2 a box. I had a $1/2 manufacturer coupon and 2 $1/1 Target coupons.
I got two cups of Easy Mac for free after coupons.
I got a box of Quaker fiber bars for $0.50 after coupons. I had a $1/1 mfr and $1/1 Target coupon for this.
I got two 1 oz bottles of Purell hand sanitizer for free. I had a $2/2 manufacturer coupon that didn't specify size.

I also found a red 12x12 scrapbook album at Michael's on clearance for $6.99. I also bought some plain cardstock and went to check out and they took the 40% off of the album which was more expensive!! Normally they use the 40% coupon for the full price item only. I might return the cardstock that rang up at full price so I can then get it on sale in the future. What a deal for an album though!

So here is my rediculous list of what I need to go to the store for. I just went on Tuesday and I need to go again tomorrow since I forgot some stuff!

Ketchup
Vegetable Oil
Maple Syrup
Printer Cartridge - black ink
Healthy Choice Meals
Lint rollers

Hopefully that short list will make for an easy trip!

I am also planning on going back to Walgreens to get some more good deals since there is a limit on some of the items you can buy in one trip. I want to use the $6 register rewards to get free Kleenex since it is on sale and will be free!

Happy shopping!

Pictures

So, thanks to my sister-in-law Jen, I have downloaded Picasa for pictures and have started messing around with pictures of Xander. I like the idea of editing them with special effects. So I am going to post a couple that I have done. My last post has a picture of Xander that I cropped, changed to black and white, touched up a blemish on and removed red eye with. I think the picture is darling and can't wait to do this with a bunch more pictures!

My baby

Just a picture of my sweet baby boy! He seems to love showing his tongue when he smiles!

100 Things

So, I recently started blogging more often and switched from Wordpress to Blogger. I have stumbled upon a few blogs that I really enjoy and this is one of them:

http://remembermoments0823.blogspot.com/


I thought this was fun. 100 things about me. Though 100 is a lot, I think it makes you think and remember things that have happened in your past and also makes you realize certain things about yourself. I did a very similar thing to this on facebook, but that was 25 things. Now I am going to try to come up with 100! Here goes!

1. My middle name, Katherine, is after my mom's grandma's middle name.

2. I have been married a little over 4 1/2 years and love my husband more than he knows!

3. I have one baby who just turned 5 months. I am not sure I want another baby though.

4. I am a stay at home mom which has ALWAYS been my dream job.

5. We are kinda poor so I may not be a full time stay at home mom anymore. A PT job may be in my future.

6. We had three dogs. We recently got rid of two. Don't think we are bad people - this was so hard for us to do and many tears were shed over it.

7. I love to do laundry and dishes, but hate cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming.

8. I want a tattoo really bad but am not sure I will ever have the guts to get one.

9. I used to have my belly button pierced and hid it from my mom for about a year.

10. I have never 'officially' broken a bone, but think I may have broken my toe. Never went to the doctor for it though.

11. I graduated high school but never went to the ceremony.

12. I took piano lessons for 10 years and wish I had a piano to play these days.

13. I was a swimmer off and on for about 8 years.

14. I have an unusual obsession with popcorn.

15. I love diet coke but gave it up - at least buying cases to have in my house.

16. I have my ears pierced but barely ever wear earrings.

17. I used to work at a jewelry store and obtained a large diamond in the process.

18. I own more purses than I could ever carry - I should sell some.

19. I love watching Husker football and feel mad and sad when they lose.

20. I have only been out of the country once - on my honeymoon.

21. I have only flown in an airplane 4 times. That's right, 4!!!

22. I love Chicago and am certain I could live there.

23. The three places in the US I want to visit the most are New York, Florida and SoCal.

24. The only place outside the US I REALLY want to visit is France/Europe.

25. I would love to sky diving but again, am not sure I will ever do it or have the guts to do it.

26. I am paranoid when water skiing that a fish is going to bite my rear, so I always clack my skis together a ton while I am waiting before the boat gets going.

27. I eat string cheese by taking bites out of it, but not by 'stringing' it.

28. I have a red car. I only like red, white, black and silver cars. I would take another color if I had to but other colors would never be my first choice.

29. I buy the Sunday newspaper mostly for the coupons. I do read some of it though.

30. I secretly hope my son says 'mama' first instead of 'dada'. :)

31. I don't wear socks much during the winter - only when I am leaving the house.

32. My favorite movie is Legally Blond. I wish I looked like Reese Witherspoon.

33. I admit that since staying at home, I have become a closet addict of Days of Our Lives.

34. I had my son by c-section and I never want to have another one. Ouch.

35. There are about 950 new diapers in my son's closet right now. I am obsessed.

36. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 23. One of the worst days of my life.

37. If there is also a regular door to enter, I will always choose it over a revolving door.

38. I want invisalign for my teeth more than I can say. I hate my teeth.

39. I am always curious what people are doing with their lives. Some might call me nosy, but I think of myself as interested or curious, possibly bored.

40. I hate going to the post office particularly because of one mean nasty lady who works there.

41. I hate to shower, though I do it daily. I love the clean feeling but I think a shower is like work.

42. I have an obsession with clean hands. I'm not worried about germs so much, but I like them to feel clean. Because of this, I don't put lotion on my hands very often.

43. I have always been blond. I am not sure if I will ever be anything other than blond.

44. I can always get a decent tan, but I always burn a few times each summer first.

45. I want to be a great scrapbooker! I just started and am terrible so far. I hope to keep doing it and getting better.

46. I like to see myself as crafty, but don't get a lot of chances to show that off. I used to do more creative stuff as a kid but don't have much time for it anymore.

47. I love getting the mail! I always hope there will be something great in it, but usually it is mostly junk mail.

48. I like rap music. I don't like the words they use sometimes, but love the beats.

49. I actually like Walmart unlike some people. I love how I can buy most everything in one store. I also like Target, but they are more expensive on most things.

50. I love drinking coffee. I don't have it much since being pregnant and now nursing my son.

51. I was good at English and Math in school. Those two don't usually go together.

52. I love washing and folding baby clothes. It makes me happy to see such tiny things.

53. Even though the American dream is to have a big house, nice cars and lots of extra money, I am actually looking forward to downsizing slightly. Too much stuff is chaos for me.

54. I am not interested in gardening and the like. I don't like bugs or spiders and don't like dirt much either.

55. I hate summer. I guess I hate humidity more than summer itself. Give me 60 any day.

56. I could spend all day every day on the internet. A baby prevents this, but that is good.

57. I think every single day goes faster than the last. I am pretty sure this is because I don't work anymore. When I did, the days lasted sooooo long! Also because I have a kid now.

58. I was on a diving team for one summer when I was in junior high. I was just ok.

59. I used to work out 2 hours a day when my husband and I were dating. Gone are those days.

60. I love to watch hockey and know much more about it than most guys would believe.

61. I am a little bit of a bottled water snob. I can do tap but much prefer bottled.

62. I don't think I am a pack rat but tend to stockpile stuff when it goes on sale.

63. My fingernails always grow pretty long before they break or are cut. I have good nails.

64. I have a lot of books, but none of them are classics except The Hobbit.

65. I love the Harry Potter series and am not afraid to admit it. I think the movies were disappointing though because each one had to leave so much out for times' sake.

66. I love pictures and frames. I have way too many all over my house.

67. My husband and I play Scrabble and Chess together. I taught him Chess and he now kicks my tail every time we play. I do win at Scrabble though.

68. I could eat cereal for any meal of the day.

69. I hate spiders. I don't just dislike them, I hate them with a passion. They scare me and can make me nauseous.

70. I love to play guitar hero. I am not that good but love it anyway.

71. I have a ton of candles in my cupboard. I love candles but forget to burn them much.

72. My favorite color is pink. I love most pink things but a pink car might be pushing it.

73. I love to take pictures. I wish I could be a photographer.

74. I regret not having more pictures from my honeymoon. I don't know why we didn't take that many.

75. I didn't like high school. It was ok for the first 2 years but the second 2 years, I hung out with older people not in high school anymore, mostly my sister and our mutual friends.

76, I got 2 speeding tickets within 2 months of each other and I haven't had one since. I have been driving for 10 years.

77. I won a coloring contest when I was little. The prize was a huge stuffed bunny.

78. Shhh, don't tell my mom - I used to find my hidden Christmas presents almost every year.

79. We had a pool and tore it out. We have a hot tub and it doesn't work.

80. I lived at home with my parents until I got married.

81. I need at least 9 hours of sleep a night or I am not a happy camper the next day.

82. When a telemarketer calls, I pick up then hang up. I am mean I guess.

83. I haven't been camping since I was a kid. My husband and I agree that a hotel is better.

84. Siddhartha was THE most boring book ever. Ever.

85. I use google for everything.

86. Pregnancy was the longest 8 months of my life. I wanted to meet the baby so bad!

87. I was only pregnant for 8 months. Lucky me. Xander was born at 37 weeks!

88. My husband and I broke up a few times while we were dating. Before we got back together for good we were broken up for almost 3 months!

89. I own a ton of nail polish but never do my nails!

90. I am convinced that the medical profession is somewhat evil and that they don't want to find cures for diseases because of how much money would they would lose out on.

91. Regarding #90, I am somewhat of a conspiracy theorist.

92. I get really nervous speaking in front of crowds even though I am outgoing.

93. I am double jointed in my hands, fingers and elbows.

94. I hate the Wizard of Oz. It creeps me out. Kinda like some people with clowns.

95. I speed at least a little bit most of the time. I have toned it down since having a baby.

96. I only have one grandparent left. My husband doesn't have any left.

97. I don't see my mom as old enough to be a grandparent. She will always be young to me.

98. I don't see myself as 26! I still feel like I am 21.

99. Until the market crashed, it was a game to me to play around with stocks. Fun stuff.

100. I am not interesting at all! I have a boring, simple life, but that is ok with me! :)

The good and the bad

So Xander slept for 12 hours last night for the first time! The closest he has gotten before is about 11 1/2 hours but that has been a few weeks. He usually sleeps about 10-11 hours most nights and I have been trying to get him to go to bed earlier so he can sleep 12 hours most nights. Last night he went to bed before 10 but the night before he didn't get to bed until about 11 which is not how I want things to go. One slip and we are back on track!

So today while clipping Xander's nails, I accidentally clipped his skin a little and he started crying! It broke my heart to see him cry from being in pain that I caused! That was the first time I have hurt him that I am aware of. He actually started bleeding a little too. I felt so, so bad. I held him close to comfort him and he stopped crying within about 30 seconds. I still felt so bad, but I am sure there will be many times in my life where I will feel bad about something like this. I just have to cuddle with my little guy, make sure he is ok and move on.

Blah, blah, blah.

I swiped this from someone else's blog.

Three things in my fridge that define life right now: (1) Yogurt - a healthy snack that both my husband and I enjoy. (2) Buffalo sauce - we have been obsessed with buffalo chicken recently. (3) Vitamin water - I got awesome coupons that made these free - otherwise I would not have bought them.

Three recent acquisitions: (1) My son. Does that count as recent? (2) An obsession with couponing (shout out to all the amazing women out there who have blogs dedicated to saving money). (3) Bike for Todd. We cancelled our gym memberships but have a treadmill, weight set and now a bike for Todd. He wanted a fun way to do cardio.

Three classics I reach for every day:(1) Deodorant. (2) Lotion. (3) My son! I don't know if he is considered a classic, but this is my blog! :)

My kids right now, in three words or less: One, sweet, adorable!

My sweetie right now, in three words or less: Not home, work. :(

What's on my to-do list: Laundry, scrapbooking, showering.

What I do often that relates to the season right now: Nothing really. I guess opening the blinds and windows.

What I'm listening to right now: The TV. I haven't been listening to much music recently but should more.

What I'm worried about right now: Money, money, money.

Which news stories I'm following right now: None, I am not too interested in the news as most of it is about the economy and it depresses me.

What I'm reading right now: Babywise, Babywise 2 and Toddlerwise. Need to read the 6th Harry Potter book again before the movie comes out in July!

What I'm looking forward to right now: Moving! Not that I don't like Omaha, but moving will start us on a road to financial recovery because that will mean Todd got his own store!

One small thing that's making me happy right now: My baby boy Xander who is sitting next to me on the couch right now. :)

Low, low, low.

So, I am feeling low, as the title states.

My dream job has always been and will continue to be a stay at home mom. And that is what I am....for the time being at least. I feel like we are getting to a point financially where I can no longer stay home. I guess I always had this image in my head of the happy little stay at home mom/wife, cleaning, cooking and raising her child(ren) all the while her husband works hard all day, comes home to a clean house, a happy wife and child(ren) and dinner on the table. I learned pretty quick that this is not reality. But I also thought that as a stay at home mom I would rest in the the knowledge that my husband would take care of the money and I would take care of the house. It's not that Todd doesn't do everything he can to provide - he goes to work everyday, works hard, and will probably get him promotion pretty soon. The problem is we didn't prepare.

Xander was a surprise for us! We knew I could get pregnant at any time but we weren't planning on having a baby when we did. I was surprised and excited when I found out I was pregnant with Xander. Todd always knew that all I ever wanted was to stay at home once I had a baby. We knew that the time was coming, but I don't think we did what we needed to do to prepare for the huge financial shift that was about to take place. It is so cliche to say that hindsight is 20/20 - but there is a reason that saying exists!!! We have made so many mistakes in the past and while we learned from each one, it seems we still make them more than we should.

Looking over our "budget" tonight made me realize that after every single one of our fixed expenses - ones that there is NO wiggle room on, we have about $70 left every month for EVERYTHING else!! $70!!!! Who lives on $70 a month for gas, groceries, entertainment and unexpected expenses? No one, that's who! Not us that is for sure. So I realize month by month as I stay home, we are sinking further and further. Wow - if that is not a bummer - I don't know what is!

We talked about me getting a part time job, but I have more than one reservation regarding this. I know at this point it doesn't seem like much of an option, but here is why I don't want to work part time or at all.

1. I am still nursing Xander. Though I originally thought that I wouldn't nurse him much past 8 or 9 months anyway, I feel like if I had a part time job, I would have to either stop nursing all together or start pumping a lot more (which is not very fun). I guess I could find a way to make this work, but I wish I didn't have to.

2. Xander is growing and changing so fast that I can barely keep up now. I feel like even if I work part time, I am going to start missing a lot more. If I go back to work, I will work hours that are opposite of Todd so we never have to have a babysitter or daycare, but that means I will work evenings and weekends. It will break my heart to not get to put my baby to bed every night. I know if I work evenings that Todd will have to give Xander his last feeding of the day and put him down.

3. I am not sure that working part time will really help us much at all financially so I am hesitant to do it. I guess if it gave us even $100 more a month, then that would help, but I am still stuck with the idea that if I am a stay at home mom, I shouldn't have to work at all, not even part time. I guess to me it feels like if I have to work part time, I might as well work full time. I know that is silly, but I am an all or nothing type of person with most things.

4. I think it will be a bit insulting to have to take minimum wage for a part time job. I have a feeling that most of the jobs I would be "qualified" for would pay minimum or barely more. Having left a job where I made almost $19/hour before I had Xander and going down to minimum wage is like a slap in the face. I know it is part time, but I also know that I would be capable of doing a highly skilled job, if only a company would offer part time work for that type of job.

5. I feel like I don't see my husband that much as it is! If I get a part time job, I will probably see him all of 1/2 hour most weekdays and a few hours on the weekends. The idea makes me sick to my stomach. How are we ever going to have time for us or time to relax together? We won't.

So, all of that being said, I don't think it is an option at this point. I have also been thinking about how bad it would really be to go back to work full time. The LAST thing I want is to put my son in daycare, but so many people do it everyday. Is it really that bad? I think for me the answer is yes. Not because I am opposed to daycare in and of itself, but because I am stuck mentally thinking that I would never have to put my child(ren) in daycare EVER. I think that is part of my problem - the ideals and ideas I have about how life should be get in the way of reality all too often.

So what's a mother to do? The overall financial well being of our family is important and at this point, I will do what I have to do. Todd has talked about getting a part time job, but that is so unfair and I would never ask him or want him to do that. As it is, he only sees his son for a few hours each day....he would be down to maybe 5 hours a week if he took a part time job!

I seem to think that if Todd gets his own store (which I thought he would have by now) all of our problems will go away. That is certainly not the case, but I am sure that it would help in a few areas. First, we are stuck with this house until we move. We could sell the house now and rent for a while to reduce our housing cost, but we don't want to have to do that not knowing when Todd will get his own store. We don't want to get into a lease somewhere and have to break it after a month or two and don't want to pay a large security deposit and lose that because we moved so soon. Once we move and sell this house, this will be one of the biggest fixed expense items we can change. Though it is not ideal to rent in my book, we can do that for a while until we can find a house in our price range and until we feel better financially. The second way him getting his own store will help is the obvious - he will make more money. And the third way it would help is with our cars. We also feel stuck with our cars and their payments now and don't want to make any changes on these until we know where we are going and when. This all ties into our credit score and trying to get a house. We want to make sure we make the right financial decisions at the right time to avoid paying higher interest rates on a house and cars (if our credit is bad then they will charge higher interest - or worse, we could get denied a loan at all).

We have already cut back on as many things as we can think of - no gym membership, no home phone, no internet and we are about to cut the cable. We need at least one phone - Todd has to have it for work and we have to pay a large fee if we get out of our cell phone contract early, so that is something we can't get rid of. We can't get rid of our insurance, our cars (we owe more than they are worth), electricity, water or heat. We have though of just about everything it seems and it is still not enough.

Sometimes I wonder why I am not rich, why my parents aren't rich or why I didn't get a great job right out of college (I guess you have to graduate college first). Why are some people rich? I know that some people had to work for their money, but there are some people out there that basically inherited a rich life. Though they work, their parents are always able to help them out with everything and since everything in their life was paid for up until they graduated college, they never had a single penny of debt and already had a bunch of things they may have gone out and bought themselves. So what do they do with that extra money that they didn't have to spend? They can save it, buy a bigger house, a nicer car, a fancier watch, go on nicer vacations. Basically they can breathe. Don't get me wrong. I do not want to be rich. Sure it would be nice, but that has never been my goal in life. In fact, if I could do, see or have many things, being rich overall would be low on the list. I think all I ever wanted was just to feel secure financially. To me that means being able to pay every bill every month and not having to worry about if there will be enough left to get groceries or gas or a gift for your nephew's first birthday.

So, the only way to get where I want to be is to change. Change is easier said than done. We have made changes, but they aren't enough. What will be enough? What can we do? Those are the questions that are stuck in my head. Until I figure them out, life will be tough and I will be feeling low.

Habit nearly formed...

So they say if you want to make a habit of doing something, you need to do it for 21 days for it to stick. Well, I think I am getting closer to making it a habit to work out regularly. I have walked I think 9 of the last 13 days or something like that. I was thrown off a little when I got that nasty cold but am back on track and am doing more challenging workouts everyday. I am only walking on the treadmill at this point, but each day I go a little faster and do a steeper incline. My incline was up to an 8 today! It gave me a good burn. I am eventually going to add in weights and crunches for toning, but thought I just needed to get started and get in the habit first before I challenged myself too much to the point where I would want to quit. I am feeling good about exercising. Now if I can only conquer the eating! I am so bad about going on a "diet". I am going to give the weight watchers points thing a whirl, but haven't gotten ready mentally for that yet.

So tonight is the THIRD night I got Xander to bed before 10! I wrote in a previous note that I wanted to keep backing up his bedtime until it is 8 or earlier. Tonight was about 9:40, last night about 9:15 and the night before that about 9:30. The only downside is that he wakes up earlier, but I think this will be better for him in the long run.

I got our two converter boxes tonight so I think in a week or less we will be giving up our beloved cable! I am not too sad to see it go since it costs us over $90 a month! Makes me sick to think about how much money we have wasted on it!

Here is a new pic of my little cutie!

Bed Time

So last night was the first time since Xander was born that he went to bed before 10! I should note that this is since he has been sleeping through the night which has been since about 7 weeks. Anyway, he usually is not in bed until about 11. When he was younger, I didn't put him in his crib for bed until almost 1 every night! I am trying to slowly back up his bedtime so he is in bed by about 8 within a month. He needs to be getting 12 hours of sleep a night and he is at about 10 hours most nights. I think backing up his bedtime will help him get all the sleep he needs. Hopefully I can make this 'plan' work and get my little man to bed early from now on!

Some random things

- I have had a cold for 3 days now. I haven't had one in a while and I always forget how much it sucks to not be able to breathe!

- Xander is turning 5 months in 8 days!!!!! I cannot believe how fast he is growing and changing. He can hold his head up so well now, sit with support, pass a rattle back and forth between his hands, pull his pacifier out of his mouth and put it back in, giggle, bear weight on his legs and he seems to get cuter every day (I know, I am soooo biased)!

- I started walking on our treadmill last week and walked 5 days out of 7. I took 2 days off since I have this cold and though I still have it, I am going to walk today anyway. I have GOT to lose some weight before summer. I am not expecting to drop 50 lbs or anything, but even 20 would make me feel so much better. Once I get started, it is always easier to stick with it. On the same subject, I ordered the weight watchers point book on ebay and got it today. I am not going to "diet" but rather try to count points and still have some of the foods I want but count the points so I can lost some weight. I hate the word diet and it makes me feel deprived which in turn makes me want to cheat.

- I can't wait to go see my new nephew! I think Todd and I are going to try and go at the end of the month. I hope it works out and even though the drive is almost 8 hours each way and we will only stay 1 day, I still want to go so bad!

- I read this ebook about how to make money on ebay as a stay at home mom. I think I am going to try a few of the ideas and see how I do. I would like to make some extra money since I am staying at home and have already sold some stuff on ebay. I know how to do it, but I would like to get into it a bit more seriously and regularly. I don't expect to make a lot of money right away but I might eventually figure out how to make a reasonable amount on it.

- I really want to work on a budget for our family. I have read articles and blogs on how to do it and get started. Now I just need to sit down and do it one of these days. I think the biggest changes we are going to make are getting rid of cable all together and changing to a cash only system for groceries. Every time I go to the store, I spend whatever I want more or less on groceries. I will probably start bringing a set amount of cash (say $50 - $60 a week) with me so that I have to really consider what I am buying and come in under budget. I think using a debit card makes me feel like I have more than I do and I end up spending too much every time! This will probably take a lot of planning on my part, but it is something I need to do to save money.

- I am still debating whether or not I want another child. Some people might say it is too early to decide if I want another one or not since Xander is not even 5 months yet, but I just cannot decide. I am sure in a year or so I will have made up my mind, but a huge consideration for me is money. I had a c-section and Xander was in the hospital for 1 day after he came home which racked up some big medical bills for us. I don't even want to consider having another child until we have paid off the hospital for our first one, which will be almost a year! I don't want to have to go back to work full time and I feel like if we had another child, we wouldn't be able to afford much of anything. Todd's job and what happens with it also plays a major roll. The sooner he gets his own store and we move, the sooner we will be on the road to a better financial situation.

- We got rid of Charlie this week. We are now down to one dog! It is so weird having gone from 3 dogs to 1 in less than 2 months. It's not that we didn't love our other two dogs, but we just didn't have as much time for them as we used to. We kept our Siberian Husky and we love her so much. We won't ever get rid of her if we can help it. I still love dogs, and would possibly own more than one again in the future, but we will be smarter about what dog we choose if we get another.

- I am really doing bad at keeping up with Xander's scrapbook. I really need to work on it this week. I am only two months behind, but that is bad since he is not even 5 months yet. The problem is, I have two scrapbooks also! I have a smaller one and a big one. The big one is much harder to keep up with and I am just not very good at the layouts yet. I am trying to gather ideas and inspiration from every layout I see, but it is hard to store all the images in my mind to pull from later. I need to just keep trying!

- Lastly, here is a cute picture of Xander that I just love!

Lazy day

I haven't done much at all today. I seem to have come down with a cold or severe allergies. I have a sore throat, stuffy and runny nose, and drainage big time. To top it off, I didn't get much sleep last night since we went to bed late and I had to get up early today. I had to take my dog to Lincoln so my parents could take him to Arkansas since we are giving him to my sister's friends. We had three dogs and are now down to one. I am sad but know Charlie is going to a good home.

Nicole had her baby last night - Eli Benjamin. He was born at 12:47 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 21". I know they weren't too excited about having a boy, but I am sure they feel different now. I know I love my little boy so much even though I always thought I wanted a girl.

Tomorrow is Easter and we are headed to Schuyler for dinner. I am sure it will be very nice. I just hope I can get more sleep tonight so hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.

I am excited for tomorrow's paper for more coupons and to see what deals I can get this coming week on groceries! I guess saving money has become my newest pass time!

What A Deal!!!

So, ever since I have been staying home with Xander, I have been trying to come up with new ways to save money.

We lost about 40% of our income with me staying home and after giving up our home phone, internet, gym membership and giving up cable soon, I am still struggling with the budget.

I have decided to get more serious about our budget and saving money at the grocery store. Thanks to all of the awesome blogs dedicated to money savings and coupons (see my blog list) I have been able to save a lot of money.

To give you an example of my recent savings, I am going to give you the info about my most recent trip to Target. I was AMAZED at how much stuff I walked away with for such a small amount of money. Here are the details:

My total when I walked out of the store was $36.16. The receipt said I saved $100.00!!! And I know that is true because I saw my total before the cashier started scanning all of the coupons I had.

I received many items for free or for just pennies. I won't list everything but just the cheapest stuff and the free stuff.

-3 packs of Johnson's safety swabs for babies (I use these for Xander's ears) - $1.29/ea. I had a $3/3 coupon from Johnson's and used 1 $1.00/1 Target coupon to get these free and I got a small overage (which applies to your total bill)

-1 Johnson's buddies bar of soap (for when Xander is older) - $0.97/ea. I used a $1/1 Johnson's coupon to get this item free!

-1 jar of Earth's best organic baby food - apples - $0.54. I had a $0.50/1 Target coupon and got this food for $0.04!

-1 jar of Gerber oatmeal cereal with DHA - $2.99. I had a $3/1 off coupon from Gerber and got this cereal free!

-1 Glade sense and spray air freshener - $6.50 on sale. I had a $4/1 off Target coupon and a $4/1 off Glade coupon and got this for free with an overage of $1.50!

-2 Glade scented oil candle holders - $2.50/ea on sale. I had a Target coupon for $3/1 and a Glade coupon for buy one get one free. I got 2 candle holders (each with 2 candles) for free plus an overage!

-1 Glade lasting impressions starter kit - $6.50 on sale. I had a $3/1 off Target coupon and $4/1 Glade coupon. The item was free plus an overage!

- 1 Pledge multi surface cleaner - $3.89. I had a $1/1 Target coupon and a $2/1 Pledge coupon and got the bottle for $0.89! Not free but a heck of a deal still!

-2 All Small and Mighty laundry detergents 32 load - $4.54/ea. I had 2 - $1/1 Target coupons and 2 $2/1 All coupons. This made each bottle $1.54!! Again, not free but the cheapest I have ever gotten this detergent and it happens to be our favorite detergent!

- 1 bag of Hershey's bliss candy - $2.99 on sale. I had a $1/1 Target coupon and a $1/1 Hershey's coupon. The candy was $0.99! Not free but cheap for a sweet treat!

- 2 bags of Cheetos (small bags) - $1.29/ea. I had 2 Target coupons for $1/1. Each bag was $0.29! Cheap quick snack!

- 1 Campbell's tomato soup - $0.55. I had 1 Target coupon for $0.50/1. $0.05 for soup - just about free!

- 1 Archer Farms Artisan mini bread loaf - $0.84. I had 1 Target coupon for $1/1 making this item free!

- 1 can of Del Monte corn - $0.66. I had a Target coupon for $0.75/1 making this item also free plus an overage!

-1 20 oz bottle of Vitamin water - $1.00. I had a $1/1 Vitamin water coupon making this free!

-1 dozen large grade A eggs - $0.99 on sale. I had 1 Target coupon for $0.50/1 making the eggs $0.49! Super cheat for eggs!

1- 2 oz Johnson's Soft Lotion - $0.97. I had a $1/1 Johnson's coupon making this lotion free!

1- Dry Idea roll on deodorant - $2.00 on sale. I had a $2/1 Dry Idea coupon making this free! Even though I don't normally use this deodorant, it won't hurt for a backup if I run out of my usual deodorant!

3- Greeting cards - 2 @ $0.50/ea and 1 @ $0.99/ea. I had a Target coupon for $1/3 making the total for 3 cards $0.99! Can't beat that!

I also had a coupon Target sent me in the mail for $5 off any grocery purchase of $50 or more. I had them scan that coupon first so it would go through since my total after all coupons was less than the required $50. I cannot believe how much stuff I came away with! I didn't even list several of the things I got. It just goes to show that coupons do work and really can save you money if you take some to use them.

Happy shopping!!!

Snow in April!!

We got snow today here in Omaha as did most of the state of Nebraska. After waking up, looking outside and seeing snow on the ground, I decided to put Xander in this adorable and warm fleece outfit that our neighbor gave us as a baby gift when he was born. Also, the onesie I put under the outfit is one my best friend made for Xander for my baby shower. It has an 'X' on it for Xander obviously. He seems comfy in the outfit today and it was fun to dress him up.

I took a picture of the last little bit of snow on the ground from today, or in this case, our deck. Almost all of the snow was gone off of the grass, sidewalks and driveways. It did suck to have the snow but it was gone so fast that it barely affected us.

Today is the second day that Todd and I have worked out in a row. We plan on working out 5 days a week but only time will tell if we keep this up. It feels good to work out. I thought my legs would be sore from walking on the treadmill, but it is actually my hips that are sore! Weird.

Saturday

Today was a good day. Todd and I both worked out this morning for the first time in a long time! We then went out and dropped off donations at the Goodwill, went to Lowe's to get some screws, went to Target to fill my prescription and then to Walmart for groceries. It was a productive day - better than sitting around like we normally do.

When Todd and I first met, he worked out all the time and even though I didn't, I was much thinner than I am now. I started working out a lot more when we started dating. We both used to work out 5-6 days a week most weeks. Looking back now, it does seem excessive, but it was a lifestyle then. We were both in great shape and working out was a regular part of our day. Now, we are lucky if we get a workout in at all. Todd recently bought some weight equipment to use in place of going to a gym. We already have a treadmill, some free weights, an exercise ball and some bands so we added the weight set to our home gym. We both want to start working out again on a regular basis. Even after one workout I already feel better. Immediately I had more energy and though I have a long ways to go until I am in shape, I feel good and that I am on the right track (if only I can keep it up).

Xander was a good boy today when we were out. He was fussy a little bit this morning but ended up having a good day. He has been consistently sleeping well for us. He sleeps a minimum of 10 hours most nights, usually 11 or more. On Thursday night, Xander woke up around 4:30 and was crying for a while which is unusual for him. We though maybe something was wrong with him, but he ended up going back to sleep after about 20 minutes.

I can't believe Xander is 4 1/2 months already. I am almost sad how fast he is growing but am trying to enjoy every day that I have with him. I am thankful I get to stay at home with him because I feel like if I worked, I would miss so much of his life! He is an amazing little boy.