Conversations

This is how a conversation went with my husband tonight. All I can say is that I'm extremely thankful that apparently these are the toughest decisions that we must make. Really, I'm not complaining, only laughing:)
Pre-conversation: We have a friend who's mom enters contests all the time. She wins a lot of items-- at one time we were given about 30 malt-o-meal coupons (cereal) that she had won. Recently she won a 50" plasma tv that retails about $1200 or so. Our friend mentioned that she didn't need this tv and she was going to sell it.
Tonight......
Husband: Hey dear, remember the t.v we talked about?
Wife: Yes
Husband: Well, she's willing to sell tv for $550 if we want it.
Wife: Do we want it?
Husband: yes!!!
Wife: Ok, what are you willing to give up temporarily to get it?
Husband: I don't understand what you mean.
Wife: The money has to come from somewhere
Husband: I could work some extra jobs
Wife: Out of question. Gone too much already.
Wife: How about no cable for a couple of months (about 4)
Husband: No way!
Wife: Do you have any ideas?
Husband:Uh....not really
Wife: You could save up your play money that you currently get
Husband: What? But it's money for my bike! (HARLEY!)
Wife: Where do you suppose I get it from then?
Husband (whining slightly): But I really like getting things for my bike
Wife: it's only a couple of months. But if not, we don't have to get the t.v., doesn't really matter to me.
Husband: I really want the tv.
Wife: You have to make the decision.
Husband: (dejectedly) Ok, I'll use my play money for the tv.

LOL, these are the major conversations that make our life interesting. BTW, yes, I'm still trying to be frugal, in spite of these silly major purchases!!!

In Bed

Hello all!
Got home from the Bahamas and got sick:( Been in bed since Monday afternoon, just now starting to feel better. My next job is to find the floor of the house, LOL. Talk to you soon!

Yo Mon!

Good morning from the Bahamas'! We are somewhere out in the Atlantic close to one of Bahamas 2200 island and cays (a cay is an island less than a mile long and less than 3/4 mile wide). Today we are heading to Cocoa Cay for some swimming and more eating. Of course, it's a beautiful sunny morning here. We spent yesterday in Nassau at Atlantis. We toured the aquarium that was in Atlantis for several hours before coming back to the boat. Overall, a very pleasant day, but my dogs sure hurt at the end of the night:)
We have eaten our way thru the entire boat several times over. We did miss the midnight buffet last night, but we just can't seem to stay up past midnite, LOL.
Home tomorrow, back to little land. I wonder, are they missing us yet? They do have Gma and papa!?!

BooBoo

Ok, I probably would have had enough to put in my first savings, BUT, I screwed up. Royally. As the saying goes, don't count your chickens before they hatch....I counted, and guess what, they didn't all hatch! Oh well, I'm not gonna cry over it, I will do as Philippians 4:4 says: rejoice, rejoice, and again I say rejoice!
Besides, I'm going to the Bahama's tomorrow! For 3 days I can pretend I don't have a checkbook-well, not really but at least I know the boat will cut me off before I do something stupid! Oh, yeah, and I don't have to plan menus or cook or laundry or.....!!!! I will miss my little people. Hopefully we can go as a family when the little one gets bigger.
I do hope it will be much warmer than here, though. We have ran our heat every nite (unusual) and the weather lady said that if there had been precipitation last night, we would have had snow. I'm being very optimistic and packing my swimsuit. However, if it is too cool to swim, there's always the beach blanket and Bahama Mama's to sip!

Eureka!

I have found the camera! It's been missing since before Christmas. Here are a couple of pics from our trip to Gainesville for our family Christmas party. The kids (and adults) are making reindeer cookies---Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the finished project, they were really cute!

1st day results:)

OK, my first day was mediocre. I went out (my first mistake) by myself. I had to get wet wipes and milk from CVS. Of course, I didn't just go there. Most all my purchases were in the budget, EXCEPT for lunch. I love Sonny's. Eating out is probably my worst habit of all. However, as I'm eating my lunch in the parking lot (I didn't feel like getting out of the car), I realized that my pulled pork is just as good! So I got to figurin' just what a meal identical to Sonny's would cost if I had been smart and made it at home. Eating out w/family---$45 w/tip. Cooking at home---about $15 for entire family. Not to mention, less stress around the "Little Diner" table which my kids love to visit. While still an expensive meal for home, a considerable difference to eating out. And except for pulling the pork, the meal is very easy to fix (Yeah, crockpot!)
I'm currently working on my food budget. I did decent this last time( I shopped for 2 1/2 weeks for 240 which included $40 in diapers), and probably would have had enough to last all thru this week, but I made some errors, mostly due to not freezing some of my meats immediately. If I had, then the chicken and the remainder of pot roast would have been good for this week to eat off of. So my goal is to use my shopping money that I set aside for this week and use it for the next several weeks. If I have any left that will go to our newly formed savings fund.
Can't we all use a little help with our budget? Check out http://www.angelfoodministries.com/. For any of you that are not familiar with this there is enough food in each box to feed a family of 4 for about a week, all for $30, there are no restrictions based on your income. Each month's menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60. Keep checking back as I put together a couple of menu ideas to help stretch our food budget with the help of Febuary's Angel Food box.

How Frugal can I be?

My mom was in town this weekend and she asked me if I was interested in trying a 6 month frugal challenge. I agreed, and we are going to be putting any spare cash in a savings fund. Why do this? Well, we, like most Americans spend wayyy too much on food and other "necessities". No, this doesn't mean we can't do anything anymore, it just means we are going to try and do it a little more imaginatively. So, the challenge begins. The ticker to the right will show how we are doing. Hey mom, I think I want to start saving up for our property:)
Let the savings begin!

Welcome, Big Gary!

Big Gary has come back to see us...ok, well not really us, more like the Shot Show. However, being that we are in the great city of Orlando where lots of fun stuff happens, we get company. My kids love company! Be prepared if you ever come to visit us for lots of climbing & hanging (did I mention you, the guest would be the tree?!). My middle son Bryce is usually the most vocal about it. Last night, we left Big Gary here to relax in peace while the kids and I went to church. On the way home there was some talk if Big Gary would still be there. I did answer yes every time the question was brought up, however, I guess the kids didn't believe me. Bryce came running in first from the garage and I could hear him yelling from the living room "he's here, he's here, he didn't weave!" I love their sweet spirit and love for others. By the way, for all of you that pass my house on the way to whereever, and don't stop, you are missin' the love:)

Another post

All is quiet, at least for the moment, on the homefront. Kids are unloading dishwasher, baby's sleeping, and husband is still in bed (prima donna). The kids and will be starting a new unit study this afternoon on the galaxies. Hopefully I can keep up on this. I'm a good starter and a lousy finisher....
The squash muffins went over well. My hubby, who says he doesn't like squash (I don't think he's ever tried it), enjoyed several of them. The kids scarfed them down, although I've not found much they won't eat. The real test for their tastebuds will be when I make Leftover Oatmeal muffins. Ok, I know it doesn't sound great, maybe I'll come up with a new name for it! I typed leftover oatmeal recipes on my handy dandy computer and of course a recipe for oatmeal popped up. Gotta love the web. Whatever I'm looking for is right at my fingertips:)
So, I have no camera (if you've seen it would you let me know?) Until then, I guess I can't post any pictures. I do have a camcorder now, so when (or if) I figure out how to load them on here, maybe I'll put up a video or two. Cross your fingrs for me!

Squash Muffins

OK, with the money we spend on groceries (and most of our children are little), I am really trying hard not to throw anything away. Unfortunately I usually don't remember to eat the leftovers in the fridge. So, I try to recycle my food-wait---it's not as bad as you think!
Tonight we had butternut squash. Not my favorite, mind you, but I know it's healthier than that pizza I really wanted to order:) My family doesn't quite finish one large squash, usually I have about a 1/4 of the squash left over. Publix's winter magazine had several recipes for squash. So I tried one of their recipes and made Squash muffins. They really aren't too bad--- although I probably will add a little more brown sugar and spices next time. Breakfast is served!!!
Try it for yourself:

2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
(I added 1/4 c. brown sugar as well, next time I will add about 1/3 c. brown)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ginger (more next time)
1/2 t. ground cinnamon (more next time)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. soymilk (I don't keep soymilk, so I used reg milk)
1 c. mashed cooked squash (butternut or acorn)
1/4. c canola oil
1/2 c. cranberries (I love cranberries, will probably add more next time)

Lightly coat muffin pans or use liners.
Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices.
In separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients except for cranberries. Add wet mixture & cranberries to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.
Bake @400 degrees about 15 min or until golden brown.