I am feeling slightly overwhelmed. Okay, a lot overwhelmed. I have spent most of this week nesting (and making hubs crazy). The more I do, the more I see that I need to do, and the more overwhelmed I feel.
Today I sat in the empty room that will be his nursery and cried. Mostly because my cup runneth over with joy, partly because I feel so inadequate.
I am so excited for this baby to arrive, but terrified at the same time. It is amazing to think that in about a month we'll go to Korea, meet our son, fly home, and instantly become the parents of a ten month old baby.
Is all this anxiety normal?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Making My Home a Haven Challenge
I am a first time participant in Biblical Womanhood's Making Your Home a Haven Challenge. This challenge was just what I needed to dive into my week.
I try to do a thirty minute quick clean every morning. I didn't get that done Saturday or Sunday so I had to spend a little more time today.
Dining area before. Our garage connects directly to the kitchen so the table always becomes a dumping ground. I spent five minutes organizing and putting items in their proper home.
Kitchen before. I needed to empty the dishwasher so I could reload. I spent twenty minutes in here because I swept the floor and did a quick mop with a Swiffer wet. I also wanted to find a new way to store my Shark vacuum so it wasn't so noticeable.
The living room before. Stuff everywhere. I spent five minutes putting things away and re-tucking the slip covers.
The clean kitchen. I am not a huge fan of my floor, so no picture of that.
The clean dining area.
The clean living room.
I try to do a thirty minute quick clean every morning. I didn't get that done Saturday or Sunday so I had to spend a little more time today.
Dining area before. Our garage connects directly to the kitchen so the table always becomes a dumping ground. I spent five minutes organizing and putting items in their proper home.
Kitchen before. I needed to empty the dishwasher so I could reload. I spent twenty minutes in here because I swept the floor and did a quick mop with a Swiffer wet. I also wanted to find a new way to store my Shark vacuum so it wasn't so noticeable.
The living room before. Stuff everywhere. I spent five minutes putting things away and re-tucking the slip covers.
The clean kitchen. I am not a huge fan of my floor, so no picture of that.
The clean dining area.
The clean living room.
Items checked off my to do list:
1) Go to the post office. It's two blocks from my house so I walked.
2) Schedule doctor's appointment
3) Change sheets
4) Do four hours of work. I work from home in the summer.
5) Organize computer desktop
6) Send my friend a card
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
My Journey to Good Bargains
I started on this journey to reduce our monthly expenses about three months ago. I stumbled upon frugal hacks and later found money saving mom. It was like a whole new world. I can't believe the difference in our budget.
One of the first lessons I learned was that there are tons of coupons available online. I printed so many coupons. I then spent all those coupons - not really the best use of said coupons. I am not proud of the grand total. I remember my DH saying, "You spent how MUCH?" And I said, "But, I saved $$$$ :) ."
The second lesson I learned is that is critically important to organize coupons. Many frugal bloggers were raving about their coupon binders, but I was reluctant. I couldn't really see myself carrying around a zippered three ring binder full of coupons. My solution was to purchase two 4x6 photo albums. One for food. One for cleaning, personal care, and laundry. They work for me. They fit in my purse. They are easy to use. They are discreet.
The third lesson I learned is to combine coupons with sales. I've been doing well with this. I enjoy saving lots of money on my groceries. I really enjoy the cashiers' reaction.
I want to share one of my best bargains yet.
Let me preface this by saying I don't do CVS or WalMart. I don't want to go into my reasons, so let's just leave it at that. Let me also say that I know it is probably cheaper to make my own laundry and cleaning supplies, but I simply don't have time for that.
My main stops are HyVee and Target. I work full-time and I want to spend as much time at home with my DH and soon to be here LO (little one). So HyVee and Target it is.
On Sundays I scour the store ads. In the Target ad I discovered that Pledge products were on sale for $3.25 and Cascade was on sale for $3.50. I knew I had filed coupons for those products. I checked it out and I had so many Pledge coupons.
One of the first lessons I learned was that there are tons of coupons available online. I printed so many coupons. I then spent all those coupons - not really the best use of said coupons. I am not proud of the grand total. I remember my DH saying, "You spent how MUCH?" And I said, "But, I saved $$$$ :) ."
The second lesson I learned is that is critically important to organize coupons. Many frugal bloggers were raving about their coupon binders, but I was reluctant. I couldn't really see myself carrying around a zippered three ring binder full of coupons. My solution was to purchase two 4x6 photo albums. One for food. One for cleaning, personal care, and laundry. They work for me. They fit in my purse. They are easy to use. They are discreet.
The third lesson I learned is to combine coupons with sales. I've been doing well with this. I enjoy saving lots of money on my groceries. I really enjoy the cashiers' reaction.
I want to share one of my best bargains yet.
Let me preface this by saying I don't do CVS or WalMart. I don't want to go into my reasons, so let's just leave it at that. Let me also say that I know it is probably cheaper to make my own laundry and cleaning supplies, but I simply don't have time for that.
My main stops are HyVee and Target. I work full-time and I want to spend as much time at home with my DH and soon to be here LO (little one). So HyVee and Target it is.
On Sundays I scour the store ads. In the Target ad I discovered that Pledge products were on sale for $3.25 and Cascade was on sale for $3.50. I knew I had filed coupons for those products. I checked it out and I had so many Pledge coupons.
I was so excited to use those Pledge coupons.
So, here's the breakdown...
I purchased five Pledge products at $3.25 (I can't remember the original price). We use the wipes in the car. They are awesome!
Original cost
5 x 3.25 = $16.25
I used one BOGO coupon -3.25
I used two$3 off two -6.00
I used two$3 off two -6.00
Total coupon savings = $9.25
Final cost = $7.00
Price per product = $1.40
The Cascade was on sale for $3.50 and I had one $2.00 off coupon. So it cost $1.50. We usually buy the Sam's Club dishwasher detergent and it works well. But, when I compared cost/load the on sale Cascade was as good a deal as the non-sale Sam's.
Ah, I feel like I finally know what I'm doing when it comes to this coupon thing and boy is it satisfying.
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