Filed under: How was my day today?
I guess the groundhog was right for us folks out West. We were only supposed to get < 1 inch of snow today, but instead we got about 3 to 4 inches, gusty COLD wind and 30 degree temperatures. The roads were slick, slushy and icey this morning. I did not go into work, but instead stayed home. Now I have to work tomorrow, which I would rather have off, but the weather dictated my schedule this week.
We are set to receive another hit of cold weather Wed and Fri – Sat. Hopefully, it won’t be like today.
I’m the last person to be a saint when it comes to cleaning. I’m not the best housewife. I dust, vacuum, etc maybe once a month if we’re lucky. It’s easy to say, well ask your husband to help you, but when we are all pulled in different directions all week and the weekends come, the last thing we want to do is clean.
So, Grandma & Papaw are coming for a visit. My part of cleaning is routine, it needs to be done anyway, so it’s just doing it that takes time. I procrastinate and I can admit that. I was going to clean the spare room weeks ago, but did I get around to it, NO, so now I have to do it this weekend and if it doesn’t get done, then I’m spending my day Tuesday and Friday to get it all done!
My son, Scoober is the worst in cleaning his room. He has SO much stuff, mostly it just needs organizing which I’ve done for him numerous times, but he gets sidetracked very easily and starts playing. I told him that I am not raising him to be a pig and that he needed to get his room and closet straightened up. His problem is that he doesn’t want to part with ANYTHING!!! Of course, he has some influences which shall remain nameless, that make him think it’s okay to keep EVERY SINGLE THING ANYONE GETS HIM!!!
If I did that, this entire house would be full of stuff from my 35 years on this planet, and I simply will not live like that, or raise my children to live like that. My rule, if I haven’t worn it or used it in over a year or longer, then I must not need it that badly. If I ever need it again, I’ll just buy it.
So, I really don’t want to take things away from Scoober, since it doesn’t work anyway to get my point across, but I did tell him that he will get no priveleges; like watching TV, playing outside, dessert, etc. We let him pick a reward at the end of the week if he had a good week at school and in the mornings getting ready. So, that will cease, too, if he cannot get his room cleaned.
I helped him today and showed him what I meant about clutter and how when you straightened up something how neat it looked. Still there is a lot of stuff, but if it’s arranged neatly, then it doesn’t look so bad. He got distracted of course and ended up playing most of the day.
I’m just at a loss here. I told him that if it’s too overwhelming that maybe he needs to get rid of some things, that way he doesn’t have as much to clean up.
Any ideas? We’ve bought him tubs to store things, an organizer station to put in his closet. I’m going to clean out his dresser that we put his out of season clothes in, and let him use a couple drawers to put puzzles, games, etc. in.
Filed under: Financial Help!
So, every year you can order your credit report for free through the annualcreditreport.com website. So, this year I decided to also order my credit score just to see where I’m at. I was disappointed to still see it at 641, which is higher than 22% of American’s right now, but it’s still not good.
I also saw no discrepancies on my credit report that I was able to view. I’ve got to send off for 2 of the others. We had to file bankruptcy 7 years ago, and 5 of the accounts associated with it will fall off this coming December. The bankruptcy will remain until 2013, but when it falls off, that will be such a relief. You never plan to file bankruptcy and when it happens you spend the next 10 years rebuilding.
We do have new debt, but it’s not as out of control as it was back then, and is very manageable. I’m working steadily and slowly to pay down the lowest balances first and get those monthly payments in the savings account so we an build up a fund to pay off something else by the end of the year.
What I hope happens is after I’ve paid on my debt, my credit score will go up as my balances go down. I am going to close some of my accounts, but I’m going to wait until I get everything paid off before I do that.
For those of you using the Slimfast system, I applaud you, actually, I envy you. I love the taste of their shakes, I love the meal replacement bars, but what I don’t love is the gas and bloating I am experiencing while using the products! OMG! I have never been bloated and had such terrible gas as long as I’ve had it using this system.
Am I doing something wrong? I’m using the Optima system, which has less sugar, which I felt was good. I’m trying to drink water, which sometimes I fall short on. I drink coffee in the mornings, and I eat a sensible lunch and dinner. Husband is experiencing the same things, so I think it has to be the system.
So, now I’m back to wanting to following the Weight Watcher point system and make Husband do that one, too. That’s how I lost my first 22 lbs, so maybe I should stick with what works.
Filed under: Financial Help!
There aren’t great sales, but there are a couple meat sales. I went online to put my list together and my total bill will be roughly $130, which should take care of this coming weeks meals and get us into the next week by only replenishing a couple of things.
I will be buying ground beef, 93% lean, and Jennie O ground turkey. All this will be 50% off regular price. So, I’m saving a bundle right there. They also have rib roast on sale for $3.99/lb but I’m going to need to see it before I decide.
Instead of shopping for 2 weeks, I’m going to shop for 1 week at a time. I was finding that I was buying too much, and not using up what I already had. Planning out my meals, I can see what I have already and then just fill in what I need.
If I can spend $300/month out of our $400/month grocery budget, then that’s a huge savings. We shall see.
Mon – Fried chicken (in 1/4 cup oil), mac & cheese (FF milk, 1/2 the butter), and green beans
Tues – Pinto beans with ham leftover from Sunday and cornbread (made with FF milk)
Wed – Spaghetti & salad
Thurs – Pizza dough night for Scoobers school. Mistakenly thought it was last night. Oops!
Fri – Kielbasa (on sale last week), oven fried potatoes, some sort of vegetable.
Sat - Hamburgers (93% lean beef), potato salad (will cook more potatoes on Thurs for this)
Sun – Tilapia Lemon Pepper (was on sale last week), rice and peas
Some of these meals sound like high fat, but I cook with very little oil and butter and I only use salt sparingly.
So, Husband and I are both losing weight. Not as fast as we would want, but we are trying. Husband really has limited time for eating at work, so I’m challenged to find him different things he can eat while working.
We’ve decided to start using SlimFast Optima. We bought some and used it last week, and really like the taste of the shakes and the bars. Now, I’ve just got to make sure I can make us our lunch and snacks according to the plan guidelines.
WW was okay for me, but there is no way that Husband could eat within the specified point range he would be in, and that’s why the change. I thought it was better that we both do the same thing, that way we can support each other.
Anyway, my weigh in today is 175 lbs. Still kind of stuck, but I’m going to start doing some leg exercises to strength up. As soon as the daylight sticks around later in the evenings, we can go on our family walks again.
Filed under: Financial Help!
Last payday I was able to pay off one credit card, and put $100 on another card. This payday, I’ll be able to put $250 on the 2nd card, and next payday it will be paid off.
Snowballing payments are going to be my challenge. I’m keeping a running notebook of the snowball payments, so I know what time of month to take the money out, and when to start it. First snowball payment of $10 starts coming out the 1st of April and will go into savings. This payment alone, we will have $90 by December to rollover onto whichever card I’m paying on then.
So, I’ve decided to start up my weekly meal plans again. Now that I’m working part-time and I can go shopping on the weekends, I’m looking at the sale papers and shopping by the sales and making meal plans for 7 days, but trying to stretch it to 10 – 12, if I can.
Here is the meal plan, which runs me through this coming Sunday ( I will include what we did starting with Sat):
Saturday – Ate out
Sunday – Salmon (King Sooper had frozen Teriayki crusted Salmon for $5.99, 2 in the package), rice, green beans and salad
Monday – Chicken enchiladas (had a stockpile of frozen chicken), rice, corn, and salad
Tuesday – Spaghetti and salad
Wednesday – Leftovers (chicken enchiladas or spaghetti)
Thursday – Ordering pizza for school fundraiser $23.00
Friday – Baked chicken, rice and green beans
Saturday – Blue & Gold banquet for Scouts, prepaid tickets ($19)
Sunday – Crockpot ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and rolls
I’ll be shopping tomorrow or Friday, so I’ll post that menu plan for next week by the weekend.
