Why do we need to be frugal?

I know if I was reading this blog I would be kind of confused as to WHY my family needs to be frugal.  We have great health insurance and Early Intervention pays for his therapy.  So here is a little breakdown.

Bear had a fever in January for 4 days.  When it started we went to the pediatrician.  $20
Then he had his checkup with 3 different specialists. $105
Over the weekend it spiked to 104+ so we went to the Emergency Room.  $100
January meds for the month: $30

In February Bear spiked another fever while we were out of state so we went to a local doctor.  (The one my parents used) $20
His fever, again, spiked to 104+ on a Friday evening so we went to the Emergency Room and they drew blood, did a urinalysis and a chest x-ray.  $100 co-pay and $62 coinsurance for the labs.
Sunday his fever climbed to 106+ so we headed to a different Emergency Room at a renowned Children’s Hospital. $100
When we returned home his fever returned at 103.5 so we headed back to the pediatrician. $20
February meds for the month: $30

In March we all caught the plague.  We all headed to the doctors office  $60
March meds for the month: $42 (including antibiotics for all of us)

In April Bear had his appointments with 3 specialists: $105 and we were sent home with another medication
He spikes a fever, so back to the pediatrician.  They think they see an ear infection so we’re sent on our way with antibiotics.  $20
All the doctors are on vacation and we can’t get back in with the pedi for a follow up, so we head to an Ear Nose Throat Specialist (ENT).  $35
ENT says his ear looks great, but they find fluid in the other one, the tympanogram is flat.  So we return in a week to make sure his ear is clear. $35
April meds for the month: $50

In May we have a 6 month follow-up with another specialist.  $35
May meds for the month: $30

In June we have our specialist appointment that we had to cancel in March because of the plague.  Our insurance only covers the doctor visit and not the counseling half.  $35 for the co-pay and $120 for the counseling portion. 
We also have to pay for the testing that this appointment sent out.  The cost of the test is $5500 and we may have to pay up to 40% of that.
June meds for the month: $30

Bear has a follow up with his physiatrist.  He prescribes us AFO’s and a gait trainer.  $35
Early in July we go get Bear fitted for AFO’s.  We still haven’t seen that bill yet, but I’ll post about them below.
Late July he spikes another fever and we head to the pediatrician.  He sort of has a minor rash so they say to wait and see.  $20 
July meds for the month: $30

August 11 Bear spikes another fever.  We choose not to head to the pediatrician.  His fever disappears after 2 days.  We head to a 6 month follow up with a specialist. $35
August 22 we have another 6 month follow up with a specialist $35
August 28 Bear spikes ANOTHER fever.  We head to the pediatrician. $20
Over the weekend it spikes to 105+ and he is constantly screaming, they draw blood and do a urinalysis and administer Motrin. $100 + coinsurance for the labs.
He is still screaming after his fever breaks (4 days) and we take him back to the pediatrician. $20 (this is technically September) 
August meds for the month: $30

Now we’re scheduled to meet with the immunologist on Wednesday.  That will be another $35.  Add to this the amount we pay in gas.  Each specialist is about a 40 mile drive each way.  We used to be able to schedule them all on the same day, however, they’re all assigning different wait times between appointments.  Each time Bear has a fever we go through about 2 bottles of Motrin and 1 bottle of Tylenol.  He is intolerant to corn syrup so we have to buy the expensive brands.

Now onto the AFO’s.  AFO is an acronym for an ankle-foot-orthotic.  Basically they’re ankle braces.  Some children with low-tone need them to stabilize the ankle.  Bear needs them because of his high tone.  His toes are always pointed downwards and his heel cord is in danger of shortening.  These make it so he cannot point his toes downward.  He must wear them all waking hours.  The fun thing, you get to pick cool patterns.  His are cars, planes and trucks.  However, because his are so little there are very few whole pictures.

His AFO’s are custom made.  We went in once and they casted his feet and then they formed the material around them.  The second time they check the fit and send you on your way.

I didn’t realize how expensive they are.  $1740. 

Thank goodness for insurance.  Our coinsurance is $293.

So there you have an estimate of our extra medical costs in 2011 alone.  Don’t forget, there are still well-visits, immunizations, Hubs’ and I’s physicals, and other things that are trivial.   These are only the amounts that we have to pay.  The amount insurance has had to pay is astronomical.

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You Guys!!!

I've got so much to share and of course my computer is dieing.  I thought it had officially needed a death certificate the other night, but alas, it's back up and slowly working.  I've managed to get all my pictures and files off of it at least. 

I've even been super crafty lately but I'm too scared to overload the computer by trying to put pictures up, they will have to wait.

But for another shopping trip!
Hubs put $50 in the joint account for me to go grocery shopping with.  This is one way that we watch our spending.  If that's all I have to spend, that's it.  We blocked our overdrafting services, so if I go over, the card is declined.
I bought a few convenience foods this week because it's supposed to be beautiful out.  I don't want to waste too much time chopping, cutting, etc., when we could be outside playing.

Yo-Baby Yogurt - $2.49 (I have everything needed to make yogurt, I just keep forgetting to do it)
Corn Chex - $2.67  (This is one of the only Gluten-Free cereals and it's normally $4.25/box)
Hefty Fresh Extend Ziplock Bags - $2.32 (I've been buying so much produce and some of the lettuce just isn't making it a week.  I was going to try to the Tupperware but they were so expensive.  I figured I would try the ziplock backs and just keep washing them out if they work well)
2-1.75 qt Ruggles Ice Cream (Black Raspberry Chip and Moose Tracks Yogurt)- $4.00 (These were 2/$5 and if you bought 2 then you got an extra $1 off, so they ended up being 2/$4)
Smith's Sour Cream - $1.34 (This was on sale, I prefer it to store brand, it seems creamier and lasts longer)
2 Sunbelt Granola Bar Boxes (Oatmeal Raisin and Honey Oat) - $1.79/ea (These are for Hubs.  He loves them and I can't make them much cheaper than that, especially if I had to buy raisins)
2 All Natural Chorizo Sausage- $0.99/ea (These are meat department specials.  They're close to their freeze by dates.  I love them in Black Eyed Pea Stew in the crockpot).
Hickory Farms Turkey Sausage Link- $2.99  (Again, a meat department special)
4-Softsoap Hand Soaps- $1.00/ea  (I'm picky on my hand soap, these are also great for gifts)
V05 Shampoo and Conditioner- $0.99/ea  (I'm trying to find cheap shampoo and conditioner that work.  I'm almost out of the Suave so I figured I would try this one)
2 lb Baby Carrots - $1.99 (I said convenience food.  But let's face it, when I want a healthy snack and Bear is awake, I know I won't peel carrots and eat them)
2.79 lb Red Cabbage - $2.20
3 ears of bi color sweet corn - $1.00
3 cucumbers - $0.99
1.19lb Green leaf lettuce (I did myself in, I wasn't paying attention.  This should have been Boston lettuce at 2/$1.00) - $1.54 (I'm annoyed that I wasn't paying attention.  Being careless costs money. Thankfully it was only $0.54 as I had 2 heads of lettuce).
.83 lb Red Leaf Lettuce - $1.07
.27 lb Radicchio - $1.62 (Don't be daunted by the price/lb.  Radicchio is $5.99/lb, but a head of it is only about .25lb.  It's got great nutrients and I love the taste.  I think it adds so much when we have it with grilled chicken in a salad)
2 Bunches Radish - $1.00
2.51 lb Baby Red Potatoes -  $1.73 (I wasn't paying attention here either, but it worked in my favor.  These are sold in a container by weight.  I though the sticker was the sale price, it said $2.54.  Which is great.  I buy these as a treat every once in a while.  They're so sweet.  Then when I checked my receipt, I realized they were even cheaper, only $0.39/lb)
1 bunch Spinach - $1.29 (I don't usually buy spinach because for some reason I only think it comes in that bag pre-cut which is really expensive.  So when I saw the bunch for this price (it's a large amount) I was super excited!)
.89lb Roma Tomatoes - $1.15
Grand Total = $44.47 and I only had one coupon for $0.15 off my ziplock bags.
According to my receipt, I saved $14.34.  You don't need to be an Extreme Couponer to save great.  Besides, who needs 57 bottles of yellow mustard, or 34 containers of Instant Noodles. Now I have enough left to go to the other grocery store and get chicken breast if I feel like it.
I do not use a list to grocery shop.  I am really good at mental math and I'm able to keep track of prices in my head really well.  I also don't KNOW what I want. It all depends on the quality and price of produce.  Also what is on sale.  I managed to take Bear with me on this trip and it still only took us about 45 minutes. 

The one plus about our grocery store? They bag the groceries and put them on a conveyor belt with takes them outside.  You then drive up and they put them in the car for you.   A HUGE help when you're trying to wrangle a stroller into the trunk and a baby into the carseat

And this is our local grocery store (a small chain).  Remember this post?  Well I can't say I've officially stayed away from Wal-Mart 100% but I've only been there maybe 2 or 3 times in a few months now.  It feels great.

Well that was frustrating...

Blogger deleted all posts made after Wednesday!!!

So my frugal instincts have been having a detrimental effect on my wallet.

Bear is chronically "irritated".  His muscle tone is so tight that he kind of exists on his last nerve for much of the time.  And while he is on medicine to combat it, it's not 100% effective.  Add this irritation to teething and we're in a fussy nightmare. 

So I've been looking into amber teething necklaces and THANKFULLY!!! Bear is only getting his FIRST tooth now so I've had time.

BabyHalfOff had InspiredbyFinn Amber Teething Necklaces on sale for, yep you guessed it, 50% off!
So we're now on the bandwagon.

Tomorrow we have a baby sitter coming (who so graciously volunteered last month) so that Hubs and I can get some work done on the house, for Bear's 1st birthday, in the yard, and run some errands. 

This means I'm on with my own Clean Up Smackdown!

Okay last time I emptied the dishwasher while Bear played on the floor.  Can I empty the dishwasher and dish rack this time?!  And go!!!

Yes I know, I have a sitter coming, so I can clean.  But, I want it to seem like I'm I've got this whole Stay At Home Mom thing down not near as messy as I really am.

I'm just one of those people that falls in the category of last minute inspired procrastinator.  I'm trying to change my ways.  I have cleaning schedules, and home organization guides, etc and for some reason I always choose Bear over schedules.

My home is not DIRTY.  I never let it get that far, but there is usually a pile of clean laundry folded in the living room, dirty bottes on the table waiting to get rinsed for the dishwasher, an unmade bed, and some cat food spilled over the bowl.

What usually happens is it stays this way for a few days week, until I finally get so sick of it that I make Hubs watch Bear for an hour while I do my Clean Up Smackdown.

Today it was supposed to happen during naptime (which is going on currently), however, I forgot to turn on his sound machine.  So I can't clean up much without making noise and waking my baby.

Or I'm just using this as an excuse to sit on my butt and blog and watch terrible afternoon TV.

Or both.......

Cloth Wipes Begets...

Family cloth.

I made a bunch more 8"x8" flannel squares to use.  Initially I was just planning to use them for myself because I doubted Hubs would ever be sold on the idea.

But much to my surprise he was!  So now we use cloth wipes instead of toilet paper, any extra dirty ones we use the diaper sprayer to clean off and throw them in the diaper pail.  Come wash day they go in with the diapers and get nice and clean.

This was less about the Eco-Friendly aspect and more about the cost savings aspect.  I used more of the flannel I had left over (I told you I had a LOT of it, I probably still have 2 yards left) so it was only a matter of using some time to zig-zag the edges.

So far it's been an adjustment, but our toilet paper with a small amount left on it is still hanging on.

Oh, and don't worry, we don't expect guests to join in with the family cloth. 

I've been neglecting my blog for something so much bigger...

THE SUN!!! It has made it's appearance for the past 3 days....

I took time to mow half the lawn last night, put Bear in the swing yesterday and today, we went for a walk in the park yesterday and my laundry smells like sunshine!

And back to the rain we go with a thunderstorm tonight and rain everyday in the rest of the weeklong forecast.

For your viewing pleasure...
My cute cats, Hubs and Bear (well they're technically in the photo)

Cloth Diapers Begets

Cloth Wipes.

Thankfully, 90% of our diapers and wipes have been gifts.  My mother is extremely generous and has bought us boxes upon boxes of diapers and wipes.  However, we're down to our last few packs and I've decided to start making our wipes.

I have yards of flannel left over from a project.  Embarrassingly enough, that project was 3 years ago.  Since I haven't used it up, or used it again for that matter I figured I couldn't screw it up.

I cut out 8x8 squares of flannel and used my zigzag stitch around the edges.  This is time when a serger could really come in handy.

I then rocked a soak with Rockin Green or Eco Friendly Family cloth diaper detergent.  This is cheap flannel from Joann's and it repels water like crazy.  So in order to get the chemicals and soften it up I soaked them for about 4-6 hours and some overnight (uhmm overnight MAY have been accidental because I forgot about them).  Then I just washed them with my next load of diapers.

I used an empty wipes box and folded them so they would pop up using this tutorial. 

I do not pour my wipes solution into the case.  I just put it in a spray bottle and spritz as needed.  I usually spray half the wipe, wash Bear's rear and then use the dry half the dry him off well.

Wipe solution:
I'm currently using wipes cubes I got for free as part of the promotion at the Great Cloth Diaper Change.  I love the way it smells, you simply add one cube to 2 cups of water.

But I'm way too cheap to keep buying them. So once it runs out I'll have to investigate.  Probably just water, baby soap and some olive oil.

Saying Farewell to Wal-Mart

One week ago, I stopped in at Wal-Mart with Bear, to pick up two things, while on our way to refilling his prescription.

It took me about 45 minutes to find a garbage can because they're in the process of reorganizing the store and all the workers are too busy to be bothered by a customer.

When I asked for help I was either completely ignored, given a rude "I have no idea", "Ask someone else" or given directions to the frozen food area.  I'm pretty sure no store would put their garbage cans in the frozen food section, and they weren't there.

After a long and arduous search, I found them, in a random aisle with the Tupperware.  There was a whole stack of them and they said they were marked down to $6.  There was no barcode on the price tag, so I read the whole title and it matched up.  When I got to the cashier with my garbage can and swiss chees,; it rang up $14.24.  I told the cashier that was incorrect and her answer was "It has to be that.".  No asking for someone to check it, no listening to what I was saying.  I told her to cancel my order, removed Bear from the cart, and for emphasis, walked away.

Of course I then struggled with guilt that some poor undeserving soul had to put my cart and groceries away, but it needed to be done.  This was not the first time I have been disappointed in their customer service. They're return policy is awful, and I've always felt like I'm disturbing them by being a customer.  Half the time the stores are dirty and disorganized, their pricing is disorganized, and they, as of late have a horrible inventory.

Wal-Mart and I have broken up. 

The next day I proceeded to buy my trash can from Target.  I know, still an evil conglomerate, however I have never heard the awful horror stories about Target as I have from Wal-Mart.

So, yesterday Hubs, Bear, and I went to our local grocery store/Ace Hardware (they're all in one now) and did our shopping.  We did some investigating and found we can refill our 5 gallon water jugs for just $0.31/gal, 4 cents cheaper than Wal-Mart.

So I've decided to only buy from our two local grocery stores (they're both small chains, but one is still family owned).  I'm still struggling with where to buy my other necessities, so I'm going to stick with Target and try to minimize those purchases.

Sometimes special needs

bites your wallet in the butt!

I posted recently about my new diapers.  Well I've had to sell them all. The Thirsties diaper covers fit very well over the hips, too well for Bear.  He is so stiff that the pressure from the diaper makes him unable to move his hips.  I tried BumGenius and all was well. 

Bear has thwarted my plans, however I did manage to sell all 3 Duo Wraps and 2 Duo Diapers.  I'm also selling my Beco because we can't use that either.

This week is an off week.  We had therapy and 9 month vaccines today (over 2 months late) so I planned an easy rest of the week.  It's hard to do therapy when his thighs are sore so these were the last appointments for us until the 10th.

Speaking of 9 month vaccines I have Bear's stats.
He's 11 months old and weighs 19lb 1oz.  He is 28 in long.  So he's in about 25-30% for height and weight.  Which is so funny, because everyone including his doctors always remark about how big he is, "He's huge!!!' is a common remark. But he really isn't.  I think it's because we struggled so much when he was little that all of a sudden he seems to be growing well.

I think the poor medical assistant feels bad telling me how small his head is though. She always measures Bears head circumference and NEVER tells me how big it is or if it's on the growth chart, but she gets all vocal and animated about his height and weight.

Last month his head was in the 2-5% category which is holding steady.  According to the geneticist in the NICU this isn't worrisome.  He felt his head was small from molding at birth and as long as it grew on the curve it was fine.

Bear is rocking up on all fours and reaching for toys with intensity that I have never seen.  We still struggle with solids on a daily basis and moving his limbs independently.  He is the toughest little guy I have ever seen, you should see him in his walker at therapy!

Going Green!

Hubs and I have slowly been going greener.  We are not extremely green, but I'm of the mindset that every little bit helps.

1) We downsized from an SUV that got about 18 mpg at best to a small car rated for 35 mpg on the highway.

2) We try to combine trips for errands into one day.  Unfortunately with therapy once a week and doctors appointments this is the most difficult to do.

3) We switched to cloth diapers.

4) We have a HE Front Loading Washing Machine, and a HE dishwasher.  All of our appliances are energy star.

5) We dry our clothes outside from spring to fall.  This year is an exception.  THE RAIN!!! It started raining last night and is expected to rain through Thursday.  I tried drying my diapers on a rack in the kitchen and it's just too humid.

6) We are starting to compost and we recycle everything.  Actually we live in a county where you send all your trash to one place and the pull the recycling out.  It's nice.

7) We try to buy very little to reduce waste.  We avoid things that are overpackaged and we try to use reusable containers for our leftovers.

8) I am trying to make my own detergent, but with a front loading washing machine and extremely hard water, this is proving difficult.

If anyone has another going green tips, I'd love to hear them!

What's cookin Wednesday-Gluten-Free

Tonight is my "Famous" (in the eyes of my husband) Barbecue Chicken. We are possibly having 5 adults and 2 children at dinner tonight so I went with boneless chicken for convenience.  It was on sale for $1.88/lb.  Also, this recipe freezes great if there are any leftovers.  What makes so different than the rest?  Marinating and RED onion.

-boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used about 5lbs because that's how much was in my package and Hubs will bring the rest for lunch tomorrow)
-1 large red onion (mine was .68lb)
-1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's because it's gluten-free)

Slice onion into rings.  Take a container that will fit all your chicken and has a lid.  I used a Rubbermaid container like this.  Spread some barbecue sauce in the bottom and put half your chicken in.  Lay half your onion slices and spread barbecue sauce over chicken and onions.  Repeat with rest of chicken and onions so you have two layers.

Put lid on and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours,  I usually let mine sit for about 4-6 hours,

When ready to cook, preheat grill (don't forget to oil your grates) and cook chicken for about 15-20 minutes, or until no longer pink (this time varies greatly by how large and thick your chicken is).  I usually cook the onions for about 10 minutes until they're soft and serve over the chicken.

We will be having this with frozen corn (I froze this last year) and salad.  This meal cost me $14.98 (not including salad dressing).  Here is my cost broken down. I do prorate it for times I buy an item and use half for one dinner and half for another. 

Chicken @ 1.88/lb -$8.48
BBQ Sauce - $1.82
Bag of salad 2/3.28-$1.64
Cucumber-$0.98
Tomatoes-$1.25
Red Onion-$1.01

Total=$14.98

Or just $2.14/person.  This is assuming there are no leftovers, but I'm sure there will be at least one serving.

April Accountability #5

Cloth Diapering.

While I was pregnant I had all these grand ideas to cloth diaper my baby.  I stocked up on newborn prefolds and covers, a few one size pockets, and 4 Thirsties All In One's (AIO).  Then Bear was born.

There was the stress of the NICU, the first few weeks home, the doctor's appointments, and the constant screaming.  I couldn't add one more thing to my plate, I just couldn't.

Then Bear has chronic constipation because of his muscle issues, so between MiraLax, Lactulose, Suppositories, Diaper Cream and play doh poop I just didn't feel ready and put it out of my mind.

Fast forward to last week.  Obviously the Newborn prefolds and covers and 2 of the Thirsties AIO (size small) weren't going to fit.  But I have about 6 one size pocket diapers and 1 medium and 1 large Thirsties.  So I figured, these diapers are wasting space in my closet and I'm almost out of Target daytime diapers.  So let's try them out. 

I figured I'd just use them for pee for now and when Bear got the "poop face" that I could change him.  All went well for the first day, however Bear decided to break me in fast.  The next morning he pooped before I even knew it.  I almost panicked.  I wasn't prepared for poopy diapers.  So I just went in the laundry room, pulled the insert out of the pocket and threw it in the laundry bag.  I went to the bathroom, swished the dirty diaper in the toilet.  It was shockingly easy.  The poop came right off, and I just flushed the toilet.

I did my first load of cloth diapers last night and it was so easy!  I'm hooked.  Bear, I and my Mom are even going to a cloth diaper event this coming weekend.

We are going to need more, I believe I have 8 diapers and that is just not enough to even make washing them worth it.  Thankfully the ones I love are on sale because they're being discontinued, so I believe we will be adding to our stock soon.

Currently, I still use disposables at night (Bear is a heavy wetter) and if we go out.  I don't have a wet bag or any extra inserts to up the absorbency.  So if we're out and I have to change him, I'm stuck.  I hope to remedy that soon.

April Accountability #4

My diet.

About 6 months before getting pregnant I went gluten-free.  I was tired, I had gained about 60 lbs effortlessly and extremely uninterested in anything but laying on the couch.  It was suggested that I could have Celiac Sprue disease by my Gastroenterologist so I did a gluten elimination challenge.  I felt amazing about two weeks later and decided to have the blood work to check for the antibodies of Celiac.  My test came back negative, however, I tainted the results by eliminating gluten for over two weeks.  Since I felt amazing, and the only cure to Celiac is to be gluten-free, I decided to forgo repeat testing while eating gluten or a small bowel biopsy.

Then I got pregnant and remained gluten-free until about the 2nd trimester.  At this point my stomach was not a happy camper.  I sailed through the 1st trimester with no morning sickness or food aversion.  Then Thanksgiving hit.  While I was nausea free, ever single food made my stomach do somersaults.  The only thing my body really seemed to respond to was, yep you guessed it, gluten-filled foods.  Bread, pasta, and crackers were staples in my diet.  I didn't seem to have a very negative response to it so I kept a gluten diet.

Then Bear was born and there was the stress of the NICU.  I ate the free nursing-mother meals, which were gluten filled comfort foods.  I lost 15lbs of the baby weight easily (then again Bear weighed 9lb at birth) and the rest have been stuck. 

I've lost and regained the same 5lbs for 6 months now. I just figured it was the stress of special needs, and the hospitalizations, the fast food, the comfort eating.  However, once things started to calm down I decided to clean up Hubs and my diet.  I made homemade wheat bread and we ate salads and sandwiches.  And I didn't lose a pound.

In the past two months I've been becoming increasingly more exhausted no matter how much sleep I have.  And **TMI WARNING** my monthly period has been coming less and less.  Last time was 90 days and I'm already up to 45 days this cycle.  I'm guessing as my immune system is regulating it's becoming more and more sensitive to gluten.

Wednesday I had enough.  I said farewell to some of my favorite friends and embraced my gluten-free lifestyle.
(all images from google search)

I know there are many gluten-free alternatives but the specialty flours are extremely expensive and most recipes are highly disappointing.  Although, I do recommend the Betty Crocker Baking Mixes. I really liked the Chocolate Chip Cookies, however with a stick of butter they are probably pretty unhealthy.

I do think I will invest in some gluten free oats to try to convert a few recipes I have.

So on top of budgeting, driving less, cooking at home and working on my marriage.  I have to frugally cook gluten-free.

I do this by
1) Buying very few gluten-free alternatives.  My one allowance is pasta.  I buy corn past from The Christmas Tree Shoppes for $1.29/bag.  I haven't bought it in a while so the price may have changed.

2) I cook like a meat and potatoes kind of girl.  I usually make some sort of protein, and a vegetable and starch. 

3) I replace pasta with brown rice.  Except for tomato sauce (yuck).  We have turkey and gravy over rice, chicken and wild rice soup, you get the picture.

4) I do not buy seasonings or instant anything.  There is LOTS of hidden gluten so the easiest way to avoid this is to cook at home.

In the past 2 days, I have more energy and am feeling "lighter".  We'll see if this lasts.

Friday Debt Beatdown #2

Mortgage Debt.

Ugh.  I got a punch to the stomach today.  I was delving through our credit report (which you should check at least once a year by the way, it's free at annualcreditreport.com) and saw that we owe 99% of our mortgage. 

Meaning, we have 1% equity.

Blech.  However our credit card debt is dwindling.  I cannot wait to pay it off.  CANNOT!!! I get all giddy inside thinking of no more credit card bills coming in, no more paying interest for using money we don't have.

We are still in Stage 1 of our Debt Beatdown.  Getting rid of credit card bills.  We have about $1000 left, the one credit card balance we had, hadn't cleared our propane bill and it was about $500 more than we anticipated.  So we'll just keep knocking it down.

Do you have debt?  If so, what is your debt beatdown plan?  I'd love to hear how others are doing it!

Cooking Success and Failure Week 2

Let's see how we did this week!
Saturday April 9
Lunch: we had a fun visit down to Amish country and picked up some lunch meat at a bulk food store.  We had a picnic on the front porch of a furniture store (don't worry we stopped in to buy something first) with some homemade bread from home and snacks.
Dinner:  I wasn't very hungry so Hubs had leftovers from salisbury steak night.
Sunday April 10
Lunch:  Sandwiches

Dinner:  hot dogs, macaroni salad

Monday April 11
Lunch:  Sandwiches

Dinner:  Pizza Hut.  We got home so late from the hospital and were wiped.  Bear was melting down and by the time we got him settled and in bed it was so late and we were so hungry.

Tuesday April 12
Lunch:  Sandwiches or Pizza
Dinner:  Applebee's.  I made a chicken crockpot dish.  It smelled revolting and looked even worse.  So we decided to go out (Yes twice in one week, but I felt it was warranted)

Wednesday April 13
Lunch:  I picked up salad for lunch because I started Gluten Free (GF).  Hubs had sandwiches
Dinner:  Caesar salad, hot dogs (I had mine without a roll), frozen canteloupe and canned peaches

Thursday April 14
Lunch:  Leftover salad or sandwiches

Dinner:  Pancakes (I found a box of GF mix someone gave me) and turkey breakfast sausage.

Friday April 15
Lunch:  Au Bon Pain for me, it was the only thing at the hospital and I was unable to bring anything from home, Hubs had Wendy's, he was on the road for work

Dinner:  Jimmy John's, I had Cornish Hens out but Hubs said he really wanted sandwiches.  I know you're all thinking, but didn't she just go GF?  Jimmy John's offers an Unwich.  It's they're sandwich (same amount of meat and condiments, etc) all wrapped up in very large lettuce leaves.  It was fantastic, and the Beach Club (Turkey and Avocado) was only 200 calories. We also had potato chips.


I know it seems like we went out an awful lot, and we did.  However, this has been one of THOSE weeks so the fact that we even made it through is success.  I wish I could have cooked more, but days like yesterday (driving 40 minutes by myself with Bear at naptime, walking the 20 minute walk to the doctor's office, then back to the car, then back to the doctor's office, then back to the car, and then the 40 min drive home in traffic which became an hour) it took all my energy just to survive.  So tough luck.  Next week is a little calmer, however it ends in Easter.  Although in our house holidays=leftovers!!! and less cooking afterwards.
I ended up having to purchase romaine lettuce and 2 packs hot dog rolls and macaroni salad and potato chips.
And as a follow up, that GF pancake/waffle mix was absolutely HORRID.  Ruined the whole pancake experience. I thought with enough syrup it would mask the flavor.  I was wrong, very wrong.

The biggest deal I ever got was....

We have guests visiting so my blogging time is limited!

So today I will share the biggest deal I ever got.  And, I wasn't even paying for it!

I found out I was pregnant with Bear in September 2009.  Hubs and I planned to wait to buy a crib till the Spring so I wasn't even really seriously looking around.  I had just started price comparing and deciding what color/style/options I wanted.

Then Babies R Us had their New Year Sale.  Yes, I was like 16 weeks pregnant and looking at cribs. 

They offered the Babi Italia Pinehurst collection as part of their promotion.  If you bought the low dresser (in the back of the picture) they gave you the crib for free.  The only catch was that it was in the Natural wood.  Exactly what I wanted.  My parents had told us they wanted to buy us the crib and dresser so we figured this would be a great option, quality for low cost.  My mom went to her local Babies R Us and they put together the total price and we were all shocked, because they gave her an ADDITIONAL 30% off because it was on sale.   They even agreed to deliver it to MY local store (450 miles away).  The total came to $337.


 A week later Babies R Us called my mom and let her know they didn't have any dressers in stock, only the cribs. But, they would offer her a replacement.  They read her the name of Baby Cache Uptown collection.  We both figured it would be a cheaper crib and dresser, but we were wrong.

The crib costs $499 and the dresser $599.  We managed to get both the crib and the low dresser for $337.

I would have to say that to this day, this is the best deal I have ever come across.

April Accountability #2

To drive less.

Generally Bear and I go out almost every day Monday through Friday.  Then on Saturday we do something as a family, and on Sunday we go to church.  Church is about 30 miles away.  

That's a lot of driving.

We did however recently downsize from an all time four wheel drive SUV to a small car that gets 30mpg or better.  So that was step 1 in reducing our fuel costs.

Thursday and Friday this past week we stayed home.  And ya know?  Bear napped great.  He slept pretty well at night too, however I noticed he gets bored.  Probably because when I'm home I'm rushing around trying to clean up, do laundry, eat, go to the bathroom and he wants to be entertained.

So now I have to work on a schedule for allotting clean up time and play time.  And I need to make a weekly rotation so that my cleaning is effective.  I generally feel like I'm chasing our mess around the house.

So I decided to break down my day by what we already do that works. 
8:00 AM - Bear usually wakes up about now so I change his diaper and put him on the floor to play.  I immediately get his medicine ready and give it to him.  He needs to take his reflux medicine on an empty stomach so it's easiest to do it now.
8:30 AM - I usually sit down and have a cup of coffee while he is playing and watch the news to try to wake up.  Bear is DONE playing (and loudly letting me know) so I sit him in the high chair and attempt to feed him breakfast (he has a feeding aversion from all the medicine so it's a hit or miss game, mostly miss)
9:00 AM - After a lot of fighting, game playing, electronic toys making noise, I give up trying to get him to eat.  Sometimes I get a whole container of yogurt in him, some days it's a half a spoonful.  I then allow him to have a bottle and he chugs it right down.
9:30 AM- I rush around throwing laundry in and trying to tidy up dishes or unload the dishwasher, do a quick tidy of things, throw last nights bottles in the sink, etc.
10:00 AM - I look around at the state of our house and I just want to go out.  Usually about now is when I start getting packed up, I get him dressed, diaper bag ready and we head out.  Usually it's to Target, or Walmart or the small mall in the next town over.
12:30 PM/1:00 PM- Somewhere in here, Bear is ready for a nap.  Depending on what time we get out of the house and we get home this is when chaos ensues.
4:00 PM - Bear wakes up and depending on what we've done for the day I usually rush around trying to get dinner made and him fed and I'm just worn out.

The days that we've stayed home I've pretty much cleaned from 10-12 and this makes Bear frustrated because he wants to play with me.

In the next few weeks I'm going to work on creating a schedule.  It will be a very loose schedule, mostly just things I need to get checked off within basic time constraints.

My goal is to drive less.  Gas is over $3.50/gal here and depending on where you live, it could be astronomically higher.  Driving also emits carbon monoxide which is slowly killing our planet.  I'm a Stay At Home Mom who doesn't stay at home.  So for now, we're going to work on concentrating our efforts to stay home more and make a more productive use of our time out of the house.

Free, Frugal Fun!

Now that Bear is 10 months old I've been trying to find new things for us to do.  Generally, we just run errands either walking around Target or the grocery store. 

However, when you're trying to stay on a budget and avoiding unneccesary purchases, this isn't the smartest thing to do.  So I decided to do some research on things we can do.

There is a local Mom's group at a church however, it runs until May and it costs $20.  So, it seems really expensive to pay $20 for 2 months.  There is another Mom's group for the area and again, it costs $20 but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to something I have to PAY for.  I was looking for things to do that were free, in case Bear has a total meltdown or just can't handle it. 

I looked up things at our local library however they generally don't start until 2 years old.   We live in a "township" of a town.  Our mailing address is for the town, however we have a different school system and library.  Then I realized that the town, which is about 8 miles away is the county seat so their library is MUCH larger than our little one.  They have a 5 week story time for children 24 months and under.  2 of the weeks are already over, and we're going to miss one of the 3 left, but it's free and they had plenty of spots available.  So in a few minutes, Bear and I will be heading out to the library for a fun story time.

The worst part of it all, he's been sleeping great and we've all even been sleeping in.  Some days he's not even up till 8:30.  I'm forseeing that I will be prepping things the night before.

Why do babies grow up so fast??
I've been looking through pictures for his 1st Birthday and it makes me cry everytime that he's not a little baby anymore.  Where did this little baby go?

April Accountability #1

My first accountability goal for April is to cook at home 6 days a week.  Sundays is a day for the Lord and for our Christian community.

To us this includes fellowship with our friends and generally after church we either go to lunch as a family or with another family.  Sometimes we have carry-ins after church.

Lately church has poorly coincided with Bear's naps.  However, he has recently dropped from 2 to 1 nap a day.  He seems to sleep better with 1 long nap versus 2 shorter naps.  So while we may not be there very long we do make an effort to go.

Also, Hubs parents will be out helping with some landscaping renovations and I know we will go out to eat at least once with them.

And then, we are so grateful, a woman from church has so graciously offered to babysit Bear for us.  So Hubs and I will probably have an afternoon date one weekend and I'm sure that will include a lunch (because I don't see it warming up enough for a picnic) out.

On top of that, the end of April is Easter and my family will be visiting.  So I've made a realistic goal and included 4 days of eating out.

I started Thursday night with making a slow cooker pot roast.  It was one of those last minute lucky meals.  The roast was still frozen, I had 3 potatoes left, and a bag of onions.  I threw it together, added some seasoning and prayed it would be edible.  It actually turned out great and Hubs and I both have lunch for April 1.

So 1 meal down, only 54 to go (not including breakfast, I generally don't eat anything and Hubs has oatmeal until it runs out).

Friday Debt Beatdown

Debt is a very serious issue in America.  And unfortunately Hubs and I contribute to it.  We bought a house and a car well within our means.  However our house needed quite a bit of fixing up and then we were pregnant and the baby needed a tub and a room to sleep in. 

We have credit card debt.  We have multiple credit cards with debt.  We decided to throw things up a little and do our own debt beatdown.

1) Never use the grace period on a mortgage or car loan.  Or you will be trying to make 2 payments in the same month.

2) Pay off the credit card with the highest APR and pay minimums on all others and the mortgage and car payment.

3) Balance transfer all other credit cards onto the one that now has a balance of $0.  We did this because we had a 0% balance transfer for 12 months offer.  After that it will be 25.99% but we're confident we can pay it off within a year.  Our other credit cards have interest of 26.99% and 17.99%.  The balance transfer had a fee of 3% so the fee was much less than paying interest for another year.  We now have one credit card with a balance and 0% interest.  Our tax return will pay this credit card off (this balance includes our last tank of propane because we didn't plan on winter lasting so long and needing another fill).

4) We have medical debt.  Bear spent 9 days in the NICU, I had an epidural, Hubs and I had surgery in December, Bear has been to the ER 3 times this year.  Also our insurance switched in January (we had hit our out of pocket max last year with the NICU stay) so we now have to pay all our copays and coinsurance again.  Bear sees at minimum 3 specialists (3*35=$105) every 3 months.  Add to that the plague and winter illnesses (our PCP has a $20 copay), and the ER copays (3*100=$300) and medical bills add up quickly.  The good thing about medical bills is that they don't accrue interest, they're not on your credit, and,as long as you make an honest attempt to pay, they cannot send you to collections.  However, it's still debt so that is our step after credit cards.

5) We have a car loan and a mortgage left.  We owe more on our house than it is currently worth.  Not much about $6000 but that it still the wrong way to have debt.  Also, our car is not very new and since we still have a loan on it we have to keep a low deductible and extra insurance on it.  It costs us more every month in insurance and we estimated that over the time of the loan this will be more than the vehicle is worth in the end.  We also only have 1 months of expenses in savings.
             a) contribute to our savings accounts to add an additional 5 months of expenses.  
             b) try to cut our food budget and send the increased savings to our car loan
             c) after step a is complete send extra money to the car loan and put food savings towards mortgage.
             d) once we have no loan we plan to send our extra money towards our mortgage and to put $100
                 a month in a rainy day fund.  We want to take a family vacation.

Paying off debt takes a lot of effort and self control.  We have been working on this for the past 3 years.  We have payed off about $30000 worth of debt and I get so angry at ourselves for all the money we've wasted in interest, fees, time and effort. 

Our goal is to be debt free and to own our house.  Once our house is paid off we will work on college funds.  With Bear being as "needy" as he is we have decided to put off making plans for expanding our family until he is 5.  So we have 4 years to perfect our spending before we even discuss our next move. 

Maybe now that it's April we'll finally have nice weather and I can do my favorite activity!!!

We have an electric dryer so having an outdoor clothesline is the easiest way to cut our budget.  We see a savings of about $4-$8/month in our electric bill when we are able to hang the laundry outside.  I do at least one load of laundry a day (Bear is a refluxer/spitter upper/vomiter and a drool bucket) and it really adds up quick!

In like a Lion...

Whoever wrote that old saying of "March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb" really needs to get a new animal picture book.

March is going out like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  We got snow.  The road and driveway were COVERED last night but I guess they plowed and salted.  The lighting is horrible because it's that dreary and overcast outside.  And yes, our garbage can is still there from yesterday.

Hubs, Bear, and I all got the Plague this past week.  I'm still coughing (my chest feels like a baby rattle) but Hubs and Bear seem to be on the mend. 

I'm still working on my knitting WIP.  Slow and steady win the race.  Right? Right?!  Slow and steady.  The tutorial has already bound off their 8" long washcloth and started a new one using the Purl stitch.  Mine knit is about 3" long (and that's being generous).  I just don't seem to have the rhythm down.

April is going to be a month of accountability.  With the Plague there was lots of whining and moaning and "I'm too tired to cook" (with a huge draw on the oo of cook).  There was lots of restaurant meals totally blowing our food budget.  We even went out for pancakes.  Seriously??!!! Pancakes cost like $1 to make for both of us and we blew about $11 going out to the local grocery store.  Our one grocery store chain has restaurants in it.  Sit down, full service restaurants.  Does anyone else have these?

I'm still working on our "How our home runs" Binders.  I managed to get the section pages started and a few labels put on.  But the insides are mostly blank.  Our bills have run amok for right the moment.  We forgot about the electric bill.   But thanks to some quick consigning of outgrown baby clothes and hand me down gear we didn't use, we paid it in plenty of time.  Our taxes are complete and we're awaiting an ample tax refund to help us be credit card debt free.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Hopefully a few more days and I'll finally be back to me.