Grocery shopping for dummies (for example, me)

My sister is one of those extreme couponer types.  Seriously.  She clips those suckers, peruses the weekly grocery circulars, and saves like a madwoman.  I wouldn't say she's at TLC show status just yet, but give her time.

I, unfortunately, did not get this gene.  Even MORE unfortunate is the fact that my husband didn't either.  If you show my beloved two items that are exactly the same in every way except price, he will instinctively choose the more expensive thing.  Always.

So when the two of us went grocery shopping today with the goal of spending as little as possible (while still buying healthy-ish things), we didn't exactly rock it.  I counted up what we were spending in my head, and came within a few dollars at the actual check-out, but other than that, we didn't have any rules in mind.  Still, I think we did a pretty good job. 

Money spent: $61.10 (cash!)

Which means I have $14 left for the week.  Which means that when Natalie and I go out for drinks on Thursday, it's going to be more like going out for drink.  ;)  But that's ok.

In the meantime, it may be time to go take a few couponing lessons from my financially intelligent sister.   

Commencing Operation Pay Off Credit Cards

Money Spent Today:

$5.00- Optometrist co-pay
$1.20- Redbox rental

Total Spent:

$6.20

Pretty darn good for my first day of watching what I spend, huh?

What I Did Instead Of Buying Crap I Didn't Need:

-Knitted.  I found this Martha Stewart magazine at the doctor's office, and it had directions for fingerless gloves (easy enough that I could figure it out at home without the instructions... yay me!)
-Cleaned.  While watching HGTV, because nothing motivates me to clean like a bunch of perfect houses.
-Played Yahtzee with the kids.  I won.  ;)

Going Lean

Credit cards are bad.

It should probably go without saying that spending money you don't actually have is never a good idea, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing it since I got my first card one my first day in college either.  (What?  I got a free t-shirt in the deal... you can't go wrong with a free t-shirt, right?) 

So now, here I sit, two husbands later (I've had a longer relationship with my Discover card than I have with any man), with many thousands in debt, and it's time to correct that.

Last night, hubby and I went over our finances, and realized that we have $20,000 in credit card debt.  Granted, that includes a MAJOR house renovation, but still... 20 THOUSAND dollars?  It stresses me out like you wouldn't believe.  And so, we decided to do something about it, starting with NO MORE CREDIT CARDS.  Well, ok, I don't think we'll actually go cold turkey.  I actually get a discount for using my Visa card when I get gas (that's the only thing I use my Visa card for, and I pay it off every month), but other than that, I'm tired of being dependent on my credit cards, so I'm ready to try leaving them at home.  My little experiment: If You Don't Have Cash For It, Don't Buy It.

Sounds pretty simple, actually.  I just wish I had thought of it a little sooner.

And speaking of not having cash, the second part of our plan is to try to spend as little as possible.  No more impulsive buying.  No more going out shopping for clothes/jewelry/purses I don't need.  I sat at our dining room table last night and looked around our large, open downstairs and thoughts, "We don't just have everything we need... we have far MORE than we need."  We have a basement full of things that need to be gone through (and for the most part, donated), kids who have everything they could possibly want, a close and a bureau full of clothes that fit and look nice, enough food to live on for weeks.  I have two large baskets filled to the brim with yarn, and yet every time I get a coupon from Joann Fabrics in the mail, I go buy more.  Why?  Because it's cheap, that's why.  But I don't NEED it.

So, I'm attempting to keep myself motivated by updating this blog with what I spend each day, to see if I can spend as little as possible, and get rid of that credit card debt once and for all (yes, I am aware that I sound like a tv commercial.  I'm ok with that.)

Renovations...

Before:



After:



Our kitchen.  Obviously, it's not completely done.  There's still some door/window trim missing, and the baseboard trim as well.  However, it's a HUMONGOUS improvement, no?

This room started out completely disgusting, and was walled off from the rest of the house.  We started out by taking down the ceiling tiles, knocking out the walls, and making the whole downstairs open-concept.  The first photo is just of the kitchen, and the second photo shows the view from the end of the dining area, looking in to the new kitchen.

Just like in every other room in the house, we took it down the the studs (bye bye horrible paneling, nasty linoleum floors, and non-working windows.  Hello, brand new vinyl windows that open, actual insulation, hickory floors, and grey paint.

More to come... I'm off to pick the little girl up from Girl Scouts!

Oh my woooooooord.

Holy Guacamole, obviously I am totally awesome at follow-through.  This blog doesn't rock so much, does it?  At the very least, I figured I could update my last post, and let you (and by you, I am referring to my future self, because I'm pretty sure no one has seen this blog in years, and I'm the only one who ever reads it, if only to remind myself of things that happened in the past) know that we are now actually living in that house featured in the last post.  The good news: It is no longer hideous.  In fact, it's kind of WickedAwesome, thanks to my former-builder husband, who did almost everything himself (all while starting a brand-new engineering job).  We're not even close to done-done, but I don't mind living with the things that still need finishing (ie. window and door trim on the first floor).  The house does have a somewhat unfinished look about it, but it's ours, and I adore it.  Also, we have a great big backyard that I still have to figure out how to adorn, and lots of future projects planned.  My father-in-law keeps telling me that we'll never be done.  I have a feeling he's right.

Now, at some point (and I'm going to take a wild guess here, and tell you (again, you being me) it will be months, if not years from now) I'm going to post pictures of the befores and afters.  For now, I'll just tell you there are some HUGE changes.  Like, we gutted this place down to the studs.  And like, we knocked down every single interior wall in the downstairs so that we could have an awesome open living area.  And like, there are bathrooms that don't make me want to shudder when I step into them. 

My house makes me happy.  And I have a feeling it will continue to do so for a long, long time.

Home Buying 101

Dear Blog,

I have decided to renew my on-again, off-again relationship with you. I'm quite the fair-weather friend, in case you haven't noticed, and I really only update you when something good/big is happening in my life and I feel the need to share it with the whole world (ie. the one or two people who might actually read this at some point).

Now, in the last 9 months or so since we last spoke, things have changed a bit. For one, I'm married now. (No, Bloggy, don't feel guilty about not showing up for the celebration. First of all, it was fairly small, and secondly, *I* wasn't even there for most of it. You see, my lovely younger sister decided that my wedding day would be the PERFECT opportunity to give birth to the baby that still had another 3 1/2 weeks of marinating to do. So, instead of drinking it up with my brand-new husband, I ended up dropping everything to run off to the hospital to help welcome my very first nephew into the world. Hey, at least middle sis will never forget my anniversary).

Wow, Blog. That was a very long aside. This is why I should be keeping you up-to-date on what I'm up to. That way, I wouldn't need to fill my posts with parentheses that could have been their own entries. Aaaaanyway, I digress.

Somehow, in the last 9 months, my children have become involved in some after school activity almost every night of the week, and have busier lives than I do, which means that most weekday nights, I'm carting them all over creation so they can take part in basketball/gymnastics/girl scouts. And baseball is right around the corner. Blogster, it's gotten to the point where I DREAM of snowstorms that will close down whatever venue where said after-school activities are being held, but no such luck. We have had almost no snow. Two winters ago, we had record breaking snowfall, and this winter? Nothin'. What the heck is up with THAT?

What else, Blog-eriffic? Oh, yes. My cousin and my youngest sister are now also pregnant with little boy people, and are due in late March and late May respectively. I'm going to be an auntie times 2, and a... first cousin once removed? Something akin to that anyway. I'm not so great at figuring that kind of thing out. I could Google it, but eh. I'm too lazy.

So, Blog-my-friend, I've come to the reason for my renewed interest in you (oh, stop making me feel guilty. I haven't heard much from YOU lately either you know). The (still new, but not BRAND new any more) hubby and I have put an offer on a house, had it accepted, and are now just waiting to hear back from the bank. A HOUSE, Bloggy! Like real, actual adult people! With a huge half-acre backyard in downtown, and 2000 square feet and everything. The only downside, (and this is a fairly ginormous downside) is that this lovely house isn't actually SO lovely. It's actually kind of icky. Let me show you:



And also,



And oh yes, let's not forget my very favorite room in the entire house:



So basically, dear Blog, if we get this house, we're going to be extremely busy for a very, very long time. The good news is, I figure if we can renovate a house during our first year of marriage, and still love each other, then this union just might work out.

Thanks for not giving up on me Bloggy.

Sincerely,
Jamiegull

Day off? What's that?

So I haven't made soap yet. Those of you who know me well probably aren't too surprised by this. My life tends to be beyond busy, ESPECIALLY in the nice weather. And with last week being Mother's Day/my birthday, there was even more to do.

Also, I've decided that the yard is a higher priority. Seriously, I'll show you... if I can figure out how to post pictures again (it's been awhile since I've tried).






Here's the thing: I keep driving by houses of everyone else in the neighborhood (ok, ok, trailer park... you say tomato, I say to-mah-toe), and I'm having lawn envy. I want flowers. I want pretty green plants. I want cedar chips and some pretty little planter thingy. And I want it now. (Also, I'd really like it if Bill mowed the lawn). Sadly, I'm not one of those people who sits around planning something for weeks before I actually start working on it. No, last night I was sitting on the couch watching (what else) HGTV, and I thought, "Hey! I have the day off tomorrow! I'm gonna fix the yard!" And while I know I'm not going to perform any miracles, I think I might have a few ideas.

Wish me luck!

Crunchy

So I'm going green... or at least TRYING to anyway. And I don't just mean that I'm taking my own bags to the grocery store (although I AM doing that). Nope, I'm also recycling, trying to use less electricity (I've always been an electricity hog. You should see our power bill... yikes!), the boyfriend installed CFL's througout the house, and I've switched our cleaning and personal hygeine products to more environmentally friendly options. Also, they don't have as many of those nasty carcinogens, etc. that are supposed to be so bad for your body.

But the point of this blog is actually to tell you that I've decided to take things one step farther and actually try to MAKE some of this healthy stuff. (This coming from the girl who can barely cook a meal).

I started with lip balm. And, after a few tries, I actually figured out a recipe that works (although I'd love to add more ingredients and make it even better. I'm experimenting with coconut oil at the moment). Now I hardly ever use the store-bought stuff any more (and if I do, it's Burt's Bees all the way, baby).

My next adventure is soap. Now, I don't know if you guys are aware, but in order to make soap, you have to use this highly caustic (which I'm pretty sure means omg-so-dangerous-you-have-to-wear-gloves-and-goggles-and-a-face-mask) stuff called lye. I looked and looked for soap recipes that don't use lye, but unfortunately, I'm out of luck. So I've gone ahead and bought gloves, safety glasses, and one of those Michael Jackson masks, and now I'm just waiting for a weekend when the kiddos won't be here, because there's no WAY I'm letting them get anywhere near something that dangerous (until all the nasty alkilinity is out of it, that is). Until then, I'll be buying my soap at the Sunflower Natural Foods store (which is completely awesome, but the way).

I'll let you know how it goes... if I still have eyeballs and fingers.

P.S. The other night, we had linguini alfredo with meatballs and spinach for dinner. Gavin, being one of my two vegetable haters (Bill is the other), left his spinach sitting on the plate until the end of his meal. "Look, Mommy," he said. "I saved my spinach for last!" "That's great, bud," I told him. Then he said, "I'm gonna eat all of it." Now, this is big news, because Gavin NEVER eats all of his veggies. Never ever ever. So I said, "That would be awesome!" He looked up at me with those huge baby blues of his and said, "So you want to help me out with that?" Ohhh, he's slick. I didn't, of course, mostly because by then his spinach was ice cold, but believe me, I was tempted. That boy is a charmer, let me tell you.

Buzzed

I overheard this from a dude in his early 20's while I was working at the front desk the other day.

"Man, this place SUCKS for a buzz."

Now, assuming he meant what I THINK he meant... no duh, moron. It's a library, for goodness sake.

*Sigh*

P.S. I REALLY need to update this thing.

Resolution!

Hmmm. Apparently NaBloPoMo pooped me out, blogging-wise, because I'm pretty sure I've only posted once since the end of it.

Darn holidays getting in the way of things. ;o)

Aaaaaaanyway.

New-Year's-Resolution-Which-I'm-Planning-On-Sticking-To-But-I-Guess-We'll-See-If-That-Actually-Happens:

Eat Better! As in, more healthy foods, better use of the food pyramid in meal preparation, etc., etc. I have pretty much the worst diet ever, and even though my body isn't showing it just yet, I'm afraid as I get closer (and closer... yikes!) to 30, it's going to start. So there you have it. I'm also hoping to try to exercise a bit more. Bill and I were talking about getting Dance Dance Revolution 2 for the Wii, because I've tried it and it's a pretty good work-out. The other night, we played Wii tennis, and that got our blood pumping too. Who knew a video game could be so good for you??

Completely unrelated, but WAY more exciting: A trip to Florida may be on the horizon. I've got all kinds of vcacation time, and Bill is working for himself, so now would be the time to do it. The only teensy set-back? We're not rolling in dough. So we're actually talking about driving. To Florida (that's approximately 1500 miles). With two kids. (Yes, we're either brave or stupid... I'm not sure which). This is all up-in-the-air until Bill figures out his work schedule, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Because it's fricking cold here right now, and I think a few days in the warm Florida sun could be just what I need.

Winter weather

Fact: I have the day off tomorrow.

Fact: Natalie and I have plans to do the last of our Christmas shopping.

Fact: It's supposed to snow like crazy tomorrow.

*Sigh*

I've lived in New England my entire life, and I STILL don't know that I should never count on the weather to be nice when making plans.

So maybe I'll spend tomorrow wrapping the gifts I've already bought/made instead. Either way... a Friday off? Totally awesome.

Working with the public can be hazardous to my health

I have good news and bad news.

Bad news first:
I am so, so, SO tired of dealing with PEOPLE this week. Working in a public library, one is pretty much guaranteed with facing crazy people, angry people, and just plain annoying people on a daily basis. And today is my sixth day in a row of this. I'm at the point where if one more person comes to the desk and mumbles, "Computer," instead of the infinitely more polite, "May I use the computer, please?" I just might say something that will feel good in that moment, but that I'll eventually come to regret.

And now for the good news:
We are deep into the holiday season, and I am absolutely loving it this year. The kids have been a bit better behaved (after weeks of my 7 year old acting like she's 15, and my 5 year old forgetting that he knows how to hear, this is actually GREAT news), I've spent tons of time with my sisters, AND I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. Plus, all that goodness is not even counting the fact that I have a boyfriend who listens to me complain and nag, and who still tells me that he loves me no matter what. Sometimes I'm not sure what I did to deserve this life.

So I'll suck it up and be nice to the library patrons for the rest of the day. Because I could be a whole heck of a lot worse off.

Laaaaaame

A poem:

It's the last day,
And I've got nothing to say.

Except, we totally put up the Christmas tree today.
Hooray!

Hehe.

Owwwww

Do you guys know how much it hurts when a cat scratches your eyelid?

A whole freaking lot, that's how much.

Ouch.

Iiiiiiit's a small world aaaaafter all.

Oh. My. Word.

Usually, I enjoy living in a place where everyone seems to know everyone else. I have never been, and will never BE a city girl. I love my small-town, quiet existence. And I adore running into people I know all over the place.

Except, sometimes it bites me right in the butt.

Yesterday was so much fun. I spent the day chatting/eating/laughing with Bill and some of his closest friends. They accepted me immediately, and everyone was incredibly nice and cool. Even if I did make a complete fool of myself.

I had known there would be a possibility that a guy I dated briefly (and who I told I wasn't ready for a relationship) would be at Thanksgiving dinner, but I didn't think he would be the first person we saw when we walked in the door. But he was. Suffice it to say he was a bit surprised. And, embarassingly enough, he had to relay the fact that we had been on a couple of dates to his family. Niiiice. Then, talking to my seatmate at dinner, I realized that he had worked with the stupid ex for quite a while. And instead of keeping my big mouth shut, I mentioned that to him. THEN, when I was talking to seatmate's wife, we discovered that she graduated high school with my ex-husband. *Sigh*

If I don't quit this, it's going to start sounding like I've dated every available guy in a 20 mile radius.

Anyway, dinner was great. The people were awesome. And I got home relatively unscathed. Plus, I got to play with a 9 week-old pug. Score!

Today, the fam and I went Christmas shopping, and I'd like to say that I am much closer to being finished with my purchases, but sadly, I'm really not.

But instead of thinking about that, I'm off to Jenni's, to spend some quality time with my sisters. Jenni's going to cook for us, we're going to play Harry Potter "Scene It" (which Jenni will totally kick our butts at), and we're going to laugh our sisterly butts off. Yay!

T-giving

I wish I knew how to do pretty pictures of tukeys and stuff, but as I don't... I'll just post a picture of MY lovely family having Thanksgiving dinner instead.

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

I'm a little bit trepidatious about spending Thanksgiving day with a bunch of people I've never met before. Thanksgiving, for me, has always been a family holiday, and if I'm not spending it with MY family, I'm spending it with the family of a significant other.

This year, things are different. As we had my family dinner on Saturday (and we're STILL eating the leftovers. Oh my goodness, it is SO possible to get tired of turkey), I will be spending tomorrow with Bill. And his friends. And THEIR friends. I might know a total of 5 people there. And Bill has mentioned that there may be around 60. Since I don't generally thrive in large groups of people, this could be really, really interesting. And... it could be really, really fun.

So here's to a little bit of change.

Happy Thanksgiving!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Favorite things about my early Thanksgiving celebration with the family:

-Playing Twister!

-Introducing Bill to the parentals, and knowing without a doubt that they genuinely like him. (Although, seriously... what's not to like?)

-Not having to cook a gosh-darn thing (other than a chocolate cream pie the previous night).

-Gin & Tonic, made by my dad... and this conversation:

Emilee: "Can I have someone's lime?"
Me: "Sure, Em. You can have mine."
Jenni: (AFTER, Emilee has put the lime into her mouth, of course) "You DO realize that lime has been soaking in alcohol, right?"

-Winning Trivial Pursuit with Jenni (and Bill)... against our far more knowledgeable parents.

-Being in a room filled to the brim with people I love.

Oh no you didn't.

I think Bill lets me get away with WAY too much, because apparently I've gotten a little too big for my britches...

Me: I can't wait to go shopping on Friday.

Dad: Yeah, I'll be doing my shopping at Home Depot while you guys are at the other stores.

Me: Oh no. You'll be staying with us.

Dad: Well I guess you'll be doing your shopping at Home Depot then.

Sometimes it takes a dad to snap you right up.

Busy

I am just way too busy enjoying my loved ones to blog today. =P

More tomorrow, I promise.