Finances

I just need to say that being smart with money does not come easily for me. I wasn't one of those who was born to save money or who never liked parting with money. I know I shop according to my mood swings and whole-heartedly believe in "retail therapy". I remember the first time I made a significant amount of money (somewhere between $70 and $80) when I was in junior high and how I took that money to Wal-Mart (after tithing 10%, of course) and spent the whole thing. I know I bought some blank tapes (to record favorite songs off the radio) and I remember a sweet pink purse but that is about it. Where did it all go?



The funny thing is that Josh was the complete opposite as a child. His mom told me that he and his sister, Jennifer, were both really good at saving money and always putting money in their bank accounts. She said that sometimes one of the kids would ask about going out to eat and sometimes they were told there wasn't enough money. According to her, Jennifer would occasionally offer to pay but Josh never did. That does not surprise me. :) He has loosened up now (it took about 10 years) and is really generous but he still would rather put money in the bank than spend it. And I know that is a big reason why I am able to stay home with our kids so I do appreciate and respect his attitude about money.



We are much the same today as we were back then. I can walk through Target and easily fill a cart with things that I want to buy. He will walk through and not be tempted by a single item. But then when I need new shoes, I hem and haw about spending $60 because it's so much money but he can buy them without even blinking because he hasn't wasted $100 on trivial items. Those little things can really add up.



I look back and see where mistakes were made. I can see where smarter choices way back then would have led to easier choices today. And I don't want to make the same mistake twice. Okay, I've already made the same mistake way more than twice. But I don't want to quit. I can see big improvements already in my way of thinking and my attitude about money. I'm learning to say "no" to little things because I know that will allow me to say "yes" to bigger things in the future.

Menu plan update

So far, Monday is the only meal that has gone according to plan. Josh did opt to have sloppy joes on Tuesday and then today I realized I hadn't taken out pork chops to thaw, making it difficult to brown them and put them in the crock pot. So tonight was steak, mashed potatoes, cheese-garlic biscuits and broccoli and cauliflower fresh from the garden! It was a good meal but it felt more like a Friday meal than a Wednesday one. I'm strange like that. :) Now I'm trying to decide if I want pork chops tomorrow. I should probably take them out of the freezer so I at least have the option. I think next time I'll just list meals and not assign them to days at all.

By the way, here's a really good way to fix broccoli and cauliflower:
Cut broccoli and cauliflower in bite size pieces. Put a small amount of water in a 2-qt saucepan with salt. Bring to a boil; add broccoli and cauliflower. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and put in a bowl. Pour some olive oil over and sprinkle sea salt on. It was so tasty!

Update on house

After much discussion (not kidding about that), we decided to stop trying to sell the house on our own and list it with our realtor. I felt like a huge burden has been lifted. Not that selling our house on our own was that hard - there were just a lot of decisions to make. Should we have an open house? How much do we spend on advertising? Should we buy a MLS #? What do we do next? It also seemed like we were spending money and not getting any results.


So now the sale of our house is in the hands of a very capable realtor. We haven't seen much action yet. I'm okay with that because I haven't found a house that I really wanted either. I'm just praying still for direction and wisdom. I don't feel like we've outgrown this house yet but the time could be close. I'm tentatively planning to start potty-training Owen and Rachel next month (although I can see myself using any excuse to put that off longer) and also get them out of their cribs. I was hoping to sell our house before potty-training (where do I put those if we have a showing?) but I don't think that will happen. Life goes on and we just try and go with the flow.

Setting precedents

Brendan and Tori will each be participating in two different camps this summer. Brendan attended a baseball camp two weeks ago and Tori is attending a ballet camp in a few weeks and then both of them will attend a basketball camp.

I often worry about setting a precedent. I worry that they will think this is the norm or that they can do this every year. I am trying to think more short-term: we can do it this year so why not? It's not difficult to get out of the house, our schedule is flexible, it fits in our budget and these are things the kids are interested in.

Next summer it might be a whole different situation and they might be disappointed but that's no reason to tell them "no" now. The last two years I've tried to stay home as much as possible in the summer because with two little ones taking at least two naps, I didn't like to be away from home during nap time. Now we have more freedom again and I want to take advantage of it.

Menu plan

This is one of those things that I know makes things a lot easier but I still resist doing. I'm not sure why. When I do have a meal plan for the week, I tend to make sure I have the ingredients I need and I spend less on other things at the store that might sound good but then don't end up using. This week I'm doing things a little backwards. I went to the store already but now am going to try to come up with meals for this week based on what I already bought. I had some ideas in mind while I was there so that helped.

Monday - chicken fajitas, spanish rice

Tuesday - hot dogs, mac-n-cheese

Wednesday - pork chops and rice, salad, bread

Thursday - tacos

Friday - steak, potatoes, salad

Saturday - sloppy joes, fresh veggies, chips

I'm very flexible about my meal plans and switch it up if I feel like having something else on any given day. Tuesday I'll be going out to dinner with some friends so Josh may decide he'd rather have sloppy joes with the kids and we'd just switch Tuesday and Saturday.

I didn't get this posted so now it's two days late. We did switch Saturday and Tuesday. I also joined a CSA program through a local farm and received my first box today. There are lots of interesting greens and I will plan to use some of those for a yummy salad tomorrow night with our pork chops.

Doesn't that look beautiful? I'm splitting it with a friend so for less than $13 a week, I'll get half of what you see here. And during peak season, I'll get more. I'll take a picture tomorrow after we split it up. Some things might be tricky to halve. I'm looking forward to fresh produce weekly without the work of a garden and trying new things and supporting a local farm. Win-win-win situation!

Just like Daddy

We spent last week at my uncle's vacation resort up north. He bought it last fall and has been working on fixing it up. Our family has been taking a vacation every year together and this year it was a "working vacation", with more work than vacation, thanks in part to the weather. That was okay, we knew we were working for better vacations in the future and still enjoyed being together. I say "we" but I didn't do much besides chase a couple toddlers around and check in on the older two every so often.

One of the projects Josh worked on was clearing a trail down to the lake. Owen was his little helper and loved carrying big sticks up the trail, just like daddy.

"I got it, dad."

Off to get more sticks.

Taking a break to throw some stones in the lake.

If you're looking for a great place in northern Michigan to vacation for the summer, you should check out Pines of Paradise!

Tide vs. Homemade laundry soap

I have never used expensive laundry soap. We used to have a Sam's Club membership and I would buy the cheapest one there. Then last August, I started using coupons and shopping at CVS and Walgreens and decided to see if a membership was really necessary or if I could find deals on the things I normally bought there. I have successfully avoided Sam's Club for almost a year and spent a lot less on groceries and household items. The downside is that there has been more running around and more time spent on looking for deals. I'm not ready to give it up entirely but I'm thinking about seeing if I can continue a cash budget and have a membership at Sam's to simplify life a little.

But I digress - this is about laundry soap. Recently I found a blog about homemade laundry soap. The author said that she had 3 boys who were very dirty and it worked great. I looked at the store the next time I was there and found the 3 products needed (bar of Fels Naptha soap, washing soda, Borax) and it would be less than $10 total. Those 3 would make at least 3 batches of 3 gallons so it really appealed to me.

I made the soap two weeks ago and it was really easy to do. Then I tried it out on a regular load of clothes and was very disappointed. There were a few clothes with dirt on them and after the wash cycle, they looked exactly the same except wet. So disappointing.

Then we went on vacation and I knew I'd have to do laundry once while we were gone. I had gotten some samples of Tide in the mail so I took those. When I got to the laundromat with our very filthy clothes, I realized I had no stain remover. I wondered how they would turn out but decided they'd at least smell better. I couldn't believe it when I pulled them out and saw that almost everything was completely clean! The only thing that wasn't were some of Brendan's socks.

When we got home yesterday, I had lots of laundry to do so decided to try a couple things. I did one load with All and used the homemade as a stain remover. Everything came out pretty clean. I did one load with the homemade and also used the homemade as a stain remover and nothing came out clean. I did a load of whites with All and bleach - Brendan's socks looked just the same as they did after using Tide.

I am seriously thinking about switching to Tide but not sure if I can really pay so much after paying so little all year. I keep reminding myself that I'll save time and money by not having to use stain removers, too. Maybe I'll buy a little bottle of Tide and do some more experiements first. I'd love comments about your favorite laundry soap!

Rachel and goggles

Are these things supposed to help you see better?

If I turn my head to the side and look a certain way, that's a little better.

My beautiful, silly, fun-loving children. (and no, Rachel is not wearing pants. I'm not sure why.)

You've got to make the moment last

For those of you who aren't Simon and Garfunkel fans, the title of this post comes from their song "Feelin' Groovy", formally known as "The 59th Street Bridge Song". Life seems to be moving very fast lately and I'm trying to capture moments before they are gone. Owen and Rachel are growing up so quickly and I love watching their personalities unfold. I love that sometimes they still seem like a baby - wanting to be held, sucking their thumb and holding their blankie - and then other times they seem more like a big kid.

I walked through the living room today and saw Owen laying on the floor looking through his new Elmo coloring book. He had set up his little keyboard so he could listen to music while he was laying there. I could just imagine him doing something similar 10 years from now and I had to stop and record the moment. I just wanted this moment to last.

Bangs and bumps

Rachel had a rough day yesterday. We were getting into the van to go shopping and she was climbing into her seat while I buckled Owen. I saw her falter and then fall sideways out of her car seat onto the garage floor. I rushed over and picked her up and calmed her down. Her fingers were scraped up but I didn't notice anything else and she was settling down so I buckled her in, admonishing her to be careful. Then, as I looked in the rear view mirror while driving, I noticed a red mark on her forehead through her bangs. It looked like a pretty nasty bump. I looked when we got to the store and sure enough, there was a big goose egg on her forehead (which she keeps calling her "neck" for some reason). She didn't seem upset about it so we continued with our shopping trip and she got some tylenol when we got home.

Rachel's goose egg

Today at breakfast I noticed that her bangs, which have always been on the long side, were down to her mouth. I thought that was a little extreme so I trimmed them up a little. She liked shaking her head around and not having to worry about her hair in her eyes!

Rachel's new haircut!

Owen has had a fairly uneventful week so far. But here are some pictures so he doesn't feel left out.

He wouldn't really bite her toes, would he? Maybe just a nibble. And in his defense, he did tell her to move her feet.

Smiling for the camera!