Propping up my eyelids with toothpicks...

I’m pooped. I should be in bed but tonight is our weekly watering night (thank you, city of San Antonio and your restrictions) and only from 8 to 10pm. So I have to stay up and move the sprinkler around. Avery is at an off-duty job until 10 anyway, so I’m going to try to stay awake until he gets home.

We’re getting our windows replaced in two weeks!!! You have no idea how thrilled I am about this. We have old, single-pane casement windows on our home. Half of them are painted shut, two are cracked, and several don’t have screens. But in two weeks we will have double-pane windows with screens that we can open…and just in time for the nice fall weather!

Today was my grocery shopping day plus coffee at my in-laws. I really enjoy getting out of the house but boy am I exhausted by the end of the day! Or, by 5-o-clock, I should say. The kids watched two VeggieTales videos this evening just so I could pick up the house in peace and get them straight to bed afterwards. Yes, I know I’m a bad mother.

Grocery shopping was successful though. I’ve been gradually trying to incorporate healthier food into our diets while still staying under budget. Things like cutting out high fructose corn syrup, buying more organic produce, and cutting out processed foods. This week I went to three stores and came home with this:

Target: $18 for lunch meat, Coke, Annie's mac n cheese, and ice for the cooler.
Sprouts: $20 for eggs, produce (minus bananas and lettuce), and trail mix.
H.E.B.: $47 for the rest of the produce and everything else pictured.

I haven’t even been couponing much recently because I don’t really have time for it. Plus the coupons for produce and organics are few and far between. Still, I used four coupons for this trip (guac, napkins, mayo, and Oxiclean) plus a $5 off total purchase at Sprouts. I mostly focused on shopping the sales. Aside from the wipes, trail mix, cheese, Triscuits, bread, tortillas, and C-Boost, everything I bought was on sale or I had a coupon for. The mac n cheese, oranges, apples, green onions, milk, and eggs are organic.

Tomorrow we’re having homemade fish sticks for dinner with the cubed potato/sweet potatoes that Jess recommended on Facebook and leftover broccoli. I have to remember to start dinner by 4 though because AWANA starts at 6-o-clock and we’ve been having a hard time getting out the door on time.

Well, that’s all the time we have for today, kids. Remember, God made you special and He loves you very much. Goodbye!

(See? I told you we watch too much VeggieTales!)

Finance Poll

So today was pretty much awesome. It was exhausting (my son woke up at 7 this morning crying, both kids are still sick AND teething, and Kirk woke up from his afternoon nap absolutely miserable) but it had enough good parts to make it a wonderful day. My mother-in-law (love her!) graciously agreed to bring my 9-year-old sister-in-law over and hang out with the munchkins for a little while so I could finally tackle some chores around the house. Once she got here, she insisted on doing my dishes, so I was free to get laundry and other stuff done. It was sooooo nice!!

Anyhoo, the reason for my post was to do a quick poll on something my husband and I are trying to decide on. In short, we have about $3K of credit card debt that we've been slowly chipping away at for about a year. (It was accrued mostly from Kirk's birth and when Avery was in the Academy and took a huge pay cut for 7 months.) I had hoped to have it all paid off in a year's time, but that hasn't happened at all. (In fact, we've really only brought it down by about $1K in a whole year.) We got a nice big tax refund this year, but stuck it all in savings to put towards the bigger vehicle we will need when Baby #3 comes in June/July. So right now we have $3K in debt and $5K in savings. My question is, should we keep splitting our extra money between the credit card debt and savings or just bite the bullet and pay off all the debt right now? My gut instinct is to wipe the debt clear and then work towards rebuilding the savings account...it really irks me to be paying about $40 a month in interest fees. BUT we may not have much car money to work with by the time July rolls around if we did that.

So what do YOU think? If this was your financial situation how would you handle it?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Right now my brave hubby is out on the roof in the cold putting Christmas lights on the house. Poor guy...he spends every morning taking care of me and the kids, so even on his days off he can't get much done around the house. So inevitably he ends up working on his projects well into the night. He's amazing, that husband of mine; God has blessed me soooooo much!!

We ordered Papa John's pizza for dinner again tonight. I say "again" because we got it delivered last Thursday night too. Our budget is getting tight with all the eating out (usually twice a week) but there are so few things I can stomach. I get so tired of bean and cheese burritos and hot dogs and peanut butter and jelly all the time. 11 weeks along tomorrow, only 29 left to go!

We had a bit of a disappointment today with hubby's paycheck too. He gets paid every two weeks and his first paycheck of the month is usually bigger. This time though, for whatever reason it was several hundred dollars smaller than usual. We don't live paycheck to paycheck, so it doesn't hurt us any...it just makes it harder to pay down our credit card debt and save for the car we need to buy next year. (Three carseats just won't fit in my little Toyota Echo!) Oh, and one of our credit cards just accrued a late fee...even though we've never had late fees before, OR even a minimum balance due! If I had been paying closer attention I might have been able to catch it, but I was used to just paying it down as I could because it had a $0 minimum payment for at least three years. Plus we've been focusing on paying off our higher interest credit card first, so I hadn't paid anything on this one in over two months. *Sigh* Having back-to-back babies on crappy insurance policies certainly puts a dent in one's wallet! Thankfully now we have awesome insurance and it'll cost us much less to have babies from now on.

It is kind of annoying to see so much of hubby's hard-earned money get deducted from every paycheck. And I don't even mean income taxes or anything. He has deductions of about $800 a month just for his retirement pension and his retirement supplemental health insurance. It's rather ridiculous. I mean, having a pension when you retire is cool, but we won't need the money when we're old and gray...we need it now, when we have kids to feed! Plus he doesn't plan on retiring until he's practically dying, so it'll be kind of pointless to have all that money then. I wish those things were optional instead of mandatory. We could soooo use an extra $800 a month! It's crazy to think that he "earns" a salary of about $45K a year but only sees about $30K of that after everything is said and done. Oh well, maybe I can convince him to retire when he's only 55.

Okay, that was a long rant. Sorry about that. Well, hubby is off the roof, so maybe he'll be coming in soon. Have a good night, everyone!

(This is for you, Traci! Sorry I never let you know the hats got here! We love them!! )

Cutting Costs 101: The Grocery Budget

In a day and age where the cost of living is rising and companies are making cuts in personnel and salaries, saving money is essential.

So you've dropped your cable subscription, sold one car, refinanced your house, sold some old clothes on eBay, and now might be thinking, "what else can I do? Everything else is a necessity!"

Have you looked at your grocery spending lately? Yes, it's vital to feed your family and that's definitely not discretionary spending, but do you really need to spend that much? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2006 the average American family (2.5 people) spent $3,417 per year on food prepared at home. This averages to $285 per month or $66 a week. That may not seem like much at first glance but remember, that is $66 per week on food items: fresh produce, meat, dairy, etc. Don't include your household products or dining out when figuring your average spending.

Once you know how much you spend, analyze your shopping habits and see what can be changed. Depending on how much you spend, you can save up to 50% of your weekly grocery spending just by following some simple guidelines.

1. Never shop hungry! This may seem like a strange tip, but research shows that individuals will inevitably purchase more than they need when shopping on an empty stomach.


2. Make a list. Again, seems basic, but this simple step will save tens of dollars in unneeded food products.


3. Shop the deals. Take the time to peruse your local grocery ads before heading to the store. Find out what's on sale and see if you can't match those deals with coupons to save even more money. As a basic rule, see if you can't avoid buying anything unless it's on sale or you have a coupon (other than your basic items such as milk, eggs, bread, etc.).


4. Shop at multiple stores. Obviously this needs to be done within reason. If you're spending more on gas than you're saving, cut back on unnecessary trips. However, oftentimes by comparing prices and specials at several different stores, you can save even more. For instance, CVS Pharmacy regularly has milk on sale for $2.69 a gallon, which is much cheaper than you'll get at H.E.B.


5. Stock up. When you find a really good deal on something, buy as much as you can! Like I mentioned in my previous article, Stocking the Freezer 101, pretty much anything can be frozen and most foods can be frozen indefinitely. Steaks on sale for $2.88 a pound? Buy four, keep one in the fridge to use that week and freeze the rest.


6. Plan your menu after you shop. Planning a menu in general can help you save money, but believe it or not, you can save even more money by planning your menu after you go grocery shopping. If it helps to have an idea beforehand, check the grocery ads, make a list, and then plan a tentative menu based on the list and what you already have at home.


7. Avoid over-processed, pre-packaged foods. Sometimes you can find good deals on easy-prep foods, but for the most part you'll save more if you focus on fresh produce, raw meats, basic dairy, bread products, etc. Typically, the fewer the ingredients, the cheaper the product, and it's much healthier as well.


8. Don't buy what you don't need. Again, this seems simple enough, but even the most seasoned shoppers fall into the trap of buying something extra just because it appears to be a great deal. Remember, if you don't need it you're not saving money by buying it.


9. Freeze leftovers. If you cook too much in a meal, don't throw it out or give it to the dog, freeze it in single portions and save it for a "leftovers" night. This works especially well if you wait a couple of weeks to serve the leftovers because then it feels like a brand new meal (as opposed to serving it two nights later).


10. Drink water. Flavored drinks such as soda, juice, and alcoholic beverages are terribly expensive. Drink more water during the day and your grocery bill is sure to drop.

And that's just a few ways to lower your grocery spending. Find out what works for your family and put it into practice!

Number Crunching and Kid Question

Well, Avery's two days off didn't go quite like he planned it. For one thing, our toilet is becoming quite the project. We think now (after spending a chunk of change of cleaning chemicals and solvents and other random tools) that there's a clog or some kind of hard water buildup further down the sewer line. Avery spent hours trying to clean out the toilet with several different nasty-smelling chemicals and all he got for his labor was a clean toilet bowl (i.e. it still doesn't flush well). So by Thursday afternoon he was frustrated and overwhelmed. Poor guy can't ever seem to get caught up on things he wants to do around the house.

Okay, first for the Kid Question. Kirk is thisclose to outgrowing his bassinet. He's rolling and pushing up all the time and I keep worrying that one of these days he's going to push himself out of the bassinet. He also squirms and wiggles and wedges himself in weird positions that can't be comfortable. So why not just transfer him to his full-size crib? Problem #1: we live in a 2-bedroom house. Shiphrah lives in the other bedroom. Problem #2: Kirk isn't even close to sleeping through the night. In fact, most nights he's up and nursing every 3 hours. Problem #3: Shiphrah is the lightest sleeper in the world. So if she and Kirk were to share a room at this point he would wake her up constantly during the night. Problem #4: I would be fine with keeping Kirk in bed with us, but he hates being constricted and kicks me all the time (nighttime nursing is no longer very fun). Problem #5: we could put the full-size crib in our room...if our room was big enough. I honestly don't think we could fit in there without rendering one of the closets unreachable. So what do we do? I wasn't planning on having these problems because I honestly thought Kirk would be sleeping through the night at this point. Families with several kids lived in tiny houses for decades...the Duggars did it with 6 kids for goodness' sake...why is this so difficult??

Finances are beginning to be a bit of an issue again. Avery's salary has increased considerably since graduating from the Academy, but so have his expenses. The city deducts about $500 a month for his pension, plus all the other fees for the union and his retirement health insurance. Altogether it adds up to about $700 a month, which basically wipes out all but $100 of his raise. We desperately need to be saving towards the purchase of a new-to-us car, but we're finding that difficult since we're also trying to pay off our accumulated debt from having a baby and equipment expenses from Avery's change in career. We've also had a lot of unexpected expenses in the past few months like trying to fix the toilet and random gifts (wedding, birthdays, etc.) that have kept us from both saving and paying off the debt.

Ugh, I just got a call from one of those travel agencies wanting to give us "free gifts" in exchange for listening to their presentation. Thankfully we're not within their income requirements, but the guy actually told me to just lie on the application. What?!? And then AFTER they go through everything they say, "oh and by the way, NO KIDS ALLOWED." Gah, stupid call centers!

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, money. :) On a positive note, we've been doing awesome with our grocery and eating out budgeting. I'm actually under budget by about $50 this month for groceries and right on budget for eating out. I know I've mentioned this before, but we budget $60 a week for groceries and $40 a week for eating out (this is because Avery eats out every night during work...he tries to at least find places that offer a uniformed officers discount, but it's still at least $15-$20 a week) for a total of about $400 a month on food (and household supplies like toilet paper and such, not including diapers). In fact, I only had about $25 worth of groceries to buy this week so I stocked up on a few things like napkins and toilet paper. If only I could stick to a budget this well in other areas! :)

Well, gotta go. As soon as Shiphrah's favorite movie is over ("MEENO!") it's bath time and then to bed for the babies. Then a 20-minute cleaning spree, dinner, laundry, and another 20-minute cleaning spree for Mama. Then if there's still time left I'll try to fit a 30-minute work out before Avery gets home.

(Ooooh I just sold 6 coupons on eBay for $3!! Yay!!!)

Dinner on a Budget: Steak and Potatoes

This is the first installment of a new blog series about planning meals on a budget. I’ll try to post one of these dinner ideas weekly, but no promises, I do have two kiddos under the age of two to look after as well. :)

Serving delicious, yet inexpensive meals for your family isn’t difficult. It just takes time and a little extra planning. However, sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in a rut with meal-planning. I know from time-to-time I like to serve slightly nicer meals, but don’t want to break the bank.

Steak dinners at most mid-range restaurants will run you anywhere from $10 to $20 a person. Serving a meal like that at home can seem daunting, especially when you check out the prices of steak at your local grocery store. However, if you plan ahead, you can serve a similar meal for a quarter of the cost. For example, Chili’s Grill and Bar has an 8-ounce top sirloin steak on their menu for $12.99. The steak comes with two sides and a piece of garlic toast. I will show you how you can serve a similar meal for around $3 a person.

First of all, scan your store circulars for deals on steak. If you have a Sun Harvest in your area, they regularly (about once a month) have top sirloin steak on sale for $2.99 a pound. I went last month and bought three steaks, each just under two pounds. (HEB Grocery also runs similar sales, but theirs are a bit less often.) If you do the math on price per ounce, an 8-ounce piece comes out to $1.50.

For my side dishes, I chose baked potatoes, sautéed peas and mushrooms, and dinner rolls. Instead of buying expensive baker’s potatoes, I opt to buy 5-pound bags of russet potatoes and specifically choose bags with several large potatoes in them. Russet potatoes vary in price from week to week (I’ve gotten them for as low as 99 cents), but for our purposes we’ll set the price at $2.49 for the bag. That’s about 25 cents per potato, give or take. The sautéed peas with mushrooms is one of my all-time favorite “gourmet” side dishes. Each serving of frozen peas is roughly 22 cents and a 4-ounce can of mushroom pieces is 59 cents, or about 30 cents a serving. Sauté the mushrooms in a little butter, boil the peas until they’re tender, combine, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally, I chose dinner rolls because we had previously bought a bag of Rhodes dinner rolls for $2.99 (roughly 10 cents a roll). These are basically just balls of dough, so they’d be easy enough to make on your own, but for me the convenience is definitely worth the added cost.

Then add about 40 cents a person for baked potato toppings (butter, shredded cheese, and sour cream) and about 25 cents a person for charcoal. And there you have it:

8-oz top sirloin steak = $1.50
Baked potato with toppings = $0.65
Peas ‘n’ mushrooms = $0.52
Dinner roll = $0.10
Charcoal = $0.25

Total cost = $3.02 a plate.

(And if you prefer T-bone over top sirloin, Sun Harvest and HEB occasionally have sales on T-bone steaks for $3.99 or $4.99 a pound, bringing the cost of your meal up a bit.)

And as an added bonus, if you grill extra steak you can use the leftovers to make a delicious beef stroganoff dinner. I found a recipe I loved here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Campbells-Kitchen-Beef-Stroganoff/Detail.aspx. Just slice the leftover steak and add it to the sauce at the end. Delicious!

Weekly Savings - Target - 5/13

If you haven't spent all of your grocery budget for the month, go HERE and then click on the links to print some super-duper coupons and then run to Target to stock up on some goodies! (For a list of the best deals, click HERE.) Target has a bunch of store coupons that you can match with manufacturer's coupons for some really great steals. (You can find all of the current Target coupons HERE.)

I headed out this afternoon with Kirk after Shiphrah went down for her afternoon nap. The shopping itself took me about 45 minutes, but it took the poor cashier 20 minutes to finish ringing me up. (I had at least one coupon per item.) In my defense, the cashier was extremely particular about checking and rechecking every single coupon. She'd look at each coupon carefully, check to make sure I had the correct items, scroll back up on the computer to make sure the coupons weren't worth more than the items, and then scan each coupon. So I had to tell about half a dozen people or so that they might want to try another line because I was going to be slow. Still, it was worth it to get the great deals!

Total spent = $36.75
Total saved = $80.53

I won't break down each item and price, but to sum it up I purchased a total of 42 items which comes out to about 87 cents a piece. That's INCREDIBLE considering the high value of a lot of the items (four 12-packs of soda, a family pack of chicken thighs, etc.). I did have two $5 gift cards from last week's deals, so that helped bring down the total too. (And I know I promised Avery I wouldn't buy any more cereal, but after a coupon the Rice Krispies were only 99 cents a box! So I told him I'd make Rice Krispie treats with them. )

And now my pantry...

...and my freezer...

...are completely STUFFED. So for the next two weeks or so I'm going to do my best to avoid buying things that must fit in either of those two places. It's become addicting though...saving money is so much fun!!! (Avery asked me the other night if I was actually saving money by doing all this coupon-shopping. I checked our budget and I'm still staying well under the allotted amount. Yay!)

Oh, and Shiphrah wanted to help me sort my coupons today. I think we have another couponer in the making!