March Update March 30, 2010

March update!

Great news for the debt payoff WE PAID OFF NUMBER TWO!!   I know it was only the second small loan of really 4 loans including the MORTGAGE but STILL I am excited, now moving on to Vacation Savings (VS).  We won’t be going to payoff Loan #3 until after we save for the VS since I really want to take this vacation that is once in a lifetime for us!!  I hope that I can work as fast on the Vacation Savings as the Loan #2 went but there was some extra money that came in for March that isn’t going to be there for the remainder of the year. 

So here are the numbers for March:

Consumer #1                100% as of January 31, 2010

Consumer #2                100% as of March 12, 2010

Consumer #3                17%

Vacation Savings          44%

The weekly budget for Grocery went down the drain on the first week just because of the Birthday party.  I did save money having a homemade cake.  But for the rest of the month I was determined to stay with the budget. Did well for week number 2 and 3 = $10.  Just for milk and bread.  We were so busy during weeks 2 and 3, we didn’t eat at home much.  We didn’t eat “out” either.  Most of the time a meal was included in the activity that we had planned.

I also have been couponing at Rite Aid pretty heavy and already have a “free” after rebates Christmas gift for 2010.  Luckily it is something that doesn’t go bad.  J  And I am planning a Kroger trip this weekend.  I have several coupons to get some almost free stuff.  Gotta love scrappin!   I love getting free food and almost free food.  Even though I am taking a trip to Kroger, I am still working on the couponing at the grocery stores but are mostly relying on sales and shopping the circulars for savings. 

I feel really good about the non-mortgage debt we have now it is really low in comparison to what we started with in January 2010.  Now I am very careful of what I spend.  In fact I am not spending anything extra besides what we need!   I couldn’t believe what we were “throwing” away with nothing to show for it before. 

Remember for now: Sometimes to save money you have to spend no money at all.

XO,

Becky

Meal Plan March 29 March 28, 2010

I am looking forward to a short work week this week.  I am not sure what will be going on this weekend except visiting family.

Monday  Chicken pasta dish (if it turns out I will post recipe)

Tuesday Potato Onion Frittata-made with Farm FRESH eggs and almost FREE cheese at Kroger last week.  What is better than an almost free supper!! Hubby did some post hole digging for a neighbor of ours and they gave him some eggs. YUMMM!!

Wednesday Hamburgers and FF

Thursday Leftovers if any!

Friday TBD

More on our Monthly update later this week. We are coming along REALLY well and I am so excited. 

XO,

Becky

Yet Another Meal Plan March 23, 2010

Well not really.  I haven’t even thought about one.  This week is running us crazy!  Not to mention I was gone all weekend until later Sunday evening.  Back to work on Monday just to start the week by getting home after dark.  I really don’t like having weeks where I am not able to do anything at home.  It really puts a damper on the happiness factor and the cleanliness of our home!

Monday Meeting at work; Boys on own

Tuesday Dentist appt and tax appt.

Wednesday Appt to refinance the house (more on that later)

Thursday Beef Pot Pie (or something similar)

Friday  Homemade Pizza

I haven’t even thought about going to my “scrap room”.  I really need to do a very special project for a dear family BEFORE Easter…

XO,

Becky

Meal Plan March 16, 2010

Wow! What a weekend.  We had a baby shower on Saturday, and a busy day overall.  It just seemed to fly by.  But it was a really wet weekend.  We had lots of flooding around us.  Lucky for us we do live on a hill from the creek but the water rushing down the mountain behind us did get in our basement.  I am thankful that we have a drain that we opened and the water just flowed out.  Then we had to dehumidify the rest of the water out.  Yucky mess!!

I haven’t given this week’s meal plan much thought because of how busy we are going to be.  But I will jot down a thing or two.

Monday  Pork Tenderloin, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans, and Beer Bread.  The Beer Bread would have been good but you see I took it out of the freezer and toasted it and YES Mother of the Year left it in the oven.  Mind you I did turn the oven off I just didn’t get it out.  I remembered some time in the middle of night and said forget it; it was no good at that point anyways. 

Tuesday  Spaghetti with Meat sauce and toast

Wednesday Leftovers from Fridge

Thursday  Pizza

Friday Farmer on his own. 

I will be out of town at the Farm Bureau Women’s Conference.  What do you do in your life that influences someone else?  How much does the new generation really know about where our food comes from?  These women are passionate to get the word out that MILK doesn’t come from the grocery store it comes from a cow!  More later in a post from the conference.  Email me if you would like information. 

XO,

Becky

Barn Cake March 9, 2010

So I would say you all are wondering how the birthday party went! WELL it went GREAT in my opinion.  Everyone had a blast.  Little Farmer got to play with cousins he hadn’t had much playtime with and everyone was well feed and the fellowship was just dandy!  I went the easy route with the cake.  I cut out a barn with my Cricut Cutting Machine and laid it down and with a tooth pick drew the outline.  Then I colored it in.  I was really impressed with the job that I did considering this was my first cake.

So it isn’t perfect!  Neither am I!

So I was getting flustered trying to ice the cake with the white icing.  I was messing the cake up tearing it apart for what ever reason.  I looked at Little Farmer and told him one of these days he would have a good mommy that could bake, cook, clean house, and make sure everything was just perfect; he looks at me without missing a beat and says well mom you don’t have to be perfect; you don’t have to be like Mem and Poppy (my mom and dad).  Yes I guess all children think that their grandparents are perfect; I remember thinking my was. 

I hope you enjoy this week.  It seems already that it is going to fly by.   Last week I didn’t have a meal plan and it sure was crazy in the afternoons here.  This week I have one I just haven’t put it together on paper yet.  Tonight we had beef and broccoli stir fry.  YUM!!  It will include lots of fresh veggies because we had several left from the party.  Tomorrow we will have a salad possibly with chicken. Oh by the way, I know she’ll read this; I got one of my aunts up here for the first time in 8 YEARS!!!!  LOVE YOU, MB, J, and A!  I hope you enjoyed yourselves and didn’t get lost on the way.

 XO,

Becky

Baby Tile March 3, 2010

I made this tile for a cousin of mine.  A little girl is due in late Spring! 

The nursey is going to be a jungle theme. 

I am just in love with this tile!

I hope her mommy and daddy will love it too.

XO,

Becky