look at this deal....

After seeing Kathy Spencer on the news a couple of weeks ago, she got me thinking. We are a single income family of 4 who struggles and can totally take advantage of the savings and ideas here to help us keep our heads above water.

So I put it to the test….with my bonus from work (I am a fast food manager) we decided to stock up on some paper and some other office supplies at Staples:

on 8/4 we bought a new printer (since it was cheaper to buy new than to buy ink) This one had a fax, scanner and printer all in one for 69.98, this was a lot, but the ink is a lot cheaper and in the long run this will be a savings for our family. (also this one has 4 cartridges and the old one had two, that means that we will get back and extra $2. for the extra two cartridges when they need to be replaced!)
So in this weeks ad, they had the exact same printer in there for 10 dollar less. I called the store and asked them about thier policy, they said to bring back in my receipt and they'd refund the difference.

While we were there we took advantage of some of the other savings in the ad and a clearance item:

computer desk 16.50 (clearance from 69.98) – 1.38 for using my card = 15.12
2 lolly pops (kids were really good in the store) 1.98 – .16 = 1.82
2 calculators (one for shopping one for the house) 7.98 – .66 = 7.32
2 reams of paper (1.00 ea after mir) 9.98 – 7.98 rewards – .84 card = 1.16
2 supreme matt photopaper (1.00 ea w/q) 29.98 – 27.98 – .17 card = 1.83
5 filler papers .01 each = .05
2gb thumb drive (1.00 after mir) 9.99 – .84 – 8.99 = .16
post-it notes (I'm a huge fan!!! HUGE FAN!!!) – 5.29 (free after mir) – .44 -5.29 = .44 profit
ink pins 1.99 – .08 – .99 q from ad = .91
highlighters free after mir = 4.99 – .43 – 4.99 = .43 profit
so basically besides the big purchase of the desk, lolly pops and calculators the biggest total is the tax of 3.83.
They also had a wonderful coupon for $5.00 off if you spent $50 or more….sooo my grand total after I get my rewards back is: 26.33!!!!! And I got a new desk!!!!
Thanks to all of you, you have opened my eyes a bit more!
Frugal mom of 2…..Katy

Can you imagine how excited this makes me! I must admit though, it is hard to do when you don't have the liquid funds. I know that we are going to use the rewards

exciting day.....

So today we bought a new printer, it also has a fax ability as well. Why is this so exciting you ask??? Well now I can print off coupons online, then I can get the points for the coupons and then I can get free gift cards with the points. So now I'm gonna look up some coupons and work on getting some stuff for free. I can't wait to to post my savings.....I want to totally save a ton of money and support my family!

Oh my!

So it has been a long day for being so short! Sunshine cried out in his sleep I bet every half hour or so. I finally woke him up and asked him if he was okay, he said, I fine mommy and went back to sleep only to keep it up. He had a breathing treatment before bed and did fine for most of today, he needs to take another one.

Today it was 61 deg in the main part of the house...burrrrrr. I turned on both space heaters and the dryer this morning, it quickly got up to 70 and I shut the all off. We are going to get K1 tomorrow incase we need it later this week. We also drained the water heater to see if it had crud in it. I'm fustrated that we didn't use the water instead of letting it run down the drain, but with how our hook up is, we had no pressure to make it go upstairs...therefore no choice. While it was slowly draining we went into the hardware store to pick up the shower surrond we saw on sale. While it wasn't what we wanted, it was the right price and only needs to last 2 years. We are going to put an actual shower in when Smiley gets older. I really want the one with the seat, but we can always buy a seat if we need to. I enjoy sitting while trying to shave my legs...when I actually get the privacy and time to shave. While there we did pick up a watt meter, plumbing for the sink that is leaking, a chop saw for the energy project wiring for the electric stove. We were looking at a convection oven, but it just didn't make sense, the oven will be up this week. I couldn't believe how much wire was, it is stupid. We also bought a motion sensor switch for the boys room, so tomorrow we will be rearranging again. I think that when Duck goes to school I will work on the boys room.

We are pretty sure that there is no money unemployment for Duck therefore we will be living off my wages alone. Time to get back up to 40. We have worked out some things to help us including the food aspect of growing our own, possibly buying a pig when we save or half a cow. For those who are sitting there with a puzzled, bewildered look on their face, we would buy them from the butcher already taken care of. We just need another deep freezer and have no budget for it. Something else that we will have to save for.

Today's reading is 8334-8280 = 2250! Wow that's still really high, but it can't be worse than having the gas heater on. We didn't get the solar heaters done this season, I'm hope to add those to our list for this summer...the list is getting so long. Duck will more than likely not be able to be finished with school this winter, more than likely next spring.

Well I've gotta go back to work....
toodles

So far...so good!

Today I was very happy to go into service this morning. I was a good day. When I came home Duck was doing his homework the boys were playing so I started the dishes, started the laundry and then started on the netty pots. I used the yogrut containers from work that they toss and a soldering iron. I hope that this will work, I have a few more pots to do so I can put them in the tote. Tonight I will mix the nutrient solution and let it set overnight.

I transplanted most of the beans and sunflowers into bigger pots. Tonight I will plant some more beans and tomoatoes. I'm thinking about starting them out in bigger pots, I know for certain that next year I will be starting earlier and in bigger pots. I think that I'm going to be behind.

I went ahead and planted a few more tomatoes and broccoli. Tomorrow after work I will create an inventory of what I need and what I have. I will go ahead and plan as if I have the lettuce in the garden, if the hydroponics system is functioning (the one outside) by then, I will replace with tomatoes since it is best to grow cabbage and tomatoes together to cut down on cabbage worm.

I got a LOT of laundry done tonight, I will put it away and head to bed. I have to be up early so I need to hop to!

Night!
Katy

By the way, the one in the 2 liter is an experiement, I started it out on the 8th as a tomato plant, it has grown really really well!

Here is another pic of the lot of them. I am very excited at the beauty that Jehovah allows us the pleasure of witnessing.

Planting spurt..

The first planting took place on 1/25 or 26th I can't remember but I have it written down on the popsickle sticks that I used to label each plant, the second was on 2/8 and then the third today. I have some pics that I'm downloading right now. I'm trying to get my hyrdo system up, hopefully we will get one up this weekend. I'm lacking the following...netty pots, gravel and fertilizer. Miracle grow is the cloest thing that I can find right now at 20-20-21. I'm going to have to try it atleast. If it doesn't work then I will use that mixture to water the rest of my plants, clean the items and then order some from the internet. I really rather not do that, but I will. I have found a system that I really want to try, it seems the best for my needs for inside the house. So I would like to let everyone know right now and finally, my hydroponics system if for vegatables ONLY nothing illegal which I've been asked if that is what I'm doing. Hello! If I were doing something illegal would I post it? Would I spread info about it? Nothing is further from the possible truth. We are very excited at the possibility that we will be able to eat fresh lettuce year around. Here is one of the systems that I'm going to be trying..I'm really looking forward to seeing the results: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHiKKuAanyE&feature=related

Okay...so I really enjoy planting. I've read that Farmer's Almanac in parts that pertained to our area. I've leared a lot of useful info and we will be getting material for the cold frame which I hope to have pics of this weekend. (my work weekend) if we get them done that is!

Next it is locating a tiller...hopefully my neighbbor comes home soon :) If not we will have to either pay someone to come out and do it or rent one.

On a funny note I hurt myself really bad last night...in my sleep. The funny part is doing something that I hate to do...yoga. I was dreaming that I was doing yoga, which is really odd, then I felt a HUGE sharp pain and quickly woke up in a yoga pose. I pulled the muscle in my sternum and I would like to say, it hurts REALLY BAD.

Okay, I hope that you enjoy the pics, the youtube video and if you get bored...go to youtube and type in hydroponics. On a side note, it would be good to stay away from those referring to marijuana. There is some wonderful info and check out the verticle gardening ones too, they are really cool!

Night, Kate

Seedlings....

Since we are staging our garden we are happy to report that the first set of seedling have germinated. They were planted on 1/25 and have sprouted really well. I was also shocked at how fast sunflowers grow. Sunshine, after watching Walle had one of his overstimulated excitement skits of how happy he was to see the plant...of course now all our shoes are at risk..he keeps wanting to put the seedlings in a shoe. We will start round two on Monday, I will transplant the seedlings to a green pot and then start over. I want to get more seed trays, they are a bit costly right now, but if they are heavy duty it is something that I will enjoy using years to come. We think that we've found somewhere to get the fertilizer for free...and they will even load it. I will of course give them money, it takes gas to run a tractor and time, that time and cost should be compensated. If they refuse, I will take fresh veggies to them this summer. I am so happy to have found someone..we need approx 5 loads in the trailer and maybe one for the neighbor. We will also be doing a potatoe experiement this summer. While the potatoes worked just fine in the tire idea..it was a pain in the neck to dig them up and there is a lot of chemicals on tires. So I'm going to use old dogfood backs that are turned inside out. Since they have good drainage and they are made of a tarp material they will work well for my sack and I don't even have to spend that much money on them since the dog eats the food and we just throw them away. We are also going to cut his pen in half, since he is the only dog left out there, he doesn't need all that room. We will bury a cattle fence around it so he can roam free. We will also consider the double gate idea as well. I would like to pour a concrete run for him for at least part of it. We will use the other side for corn and beans and loofah. We will be working on the apple trees again this year...but the biggest project thus far will be they hydroponic system for the lettuce and tomatoes.

Well I need to get to work.

Vaccine...

So after talking to one of the people at work, she was contact multiple times by the school in regards to getting her 6 yr old girl vaccinated with the H1N1 shot. I found it interesting that the schools are harrassing parents to get this shots for their children, I would not have put up with it at all..thank goodness I kept Sunshine home this year. I read at a local new station that they have recalled 800,000 doses of the vaccine for children. Siting that they believe they aren't even potent enough to protect children from the virus. SO let's look at they cycle here...child unwillingly gets stuck with a needle, full of a concoxation that is not believe won't prevent them from getting sick, they still run the risk of getting sick due to the vaccine, get stuck again since most kids need two shots and still wind up sick with the flu. HUM...where is the logic here? None the fact that it hasn't been tested enough. The most alarming fact of this virus is the range of people that it is attacking, and most that it is very deadly for pregnant woman. All the same...I'm really glad that I don't have to worry about my children who are being presurred into getting this vaccine.

I'm off to rearrange my upstairs. I want to get the boys new special beds made tonight and on top of what happened yesterday I'm ready to get my home clean and NOT leave. We got stranded in the local town about 25 minutes away. We were stuck in our cold car with only blankets and waiting for 30 min for a wonderful brother from the Hall to come and rescue us. He spent most of the evening with us, we had to stop 2 times to charge the car battery enough to just get us home. The alternater is going out....and the worst part is that a remanufactured one is 125.00 OUCH. We will pull one off the parts car and replace it at tax time. We are going to be putting 15-20 fuel cells in it and try to run it soley off of water...I wanted to get it hooked up for solar/electric but Duck wants to try the cells first since we'll have to pull parts off for the electic anyhow.

The semester ended today, we'll get him set up for classes for next semester today. He'll be set up for 12-15 hrs this time. He should graduate next summer. I'm not sure if he is going to transfer his credits over but I can't wait for him to get a job. I long for the time when I can aux pioneer and pioneer fulltime. I've been going out a lot more recently and the joy it brings me is amazing. Well I need to get working on the boys room, I'm working a lot tomorrow and won't be able to do anything else.

Katy

How to get rid of the cat pee smell...

So the cat peed on Sunshine's jacket and of all places...inside the dryer..AHHH. Okay, it's an animal...should be thrilled it is alive, but it's an animal. I racked my brain all day as to what to try and I found some ideas on the net..one mentioned, febreeze. Okay, so I'm thinking that febreeze, vinegar and soap is going to do the trick...guess what it worked so incredibly well. Not a hint of the smell is left and the cat is saying it's prayers.

Well I've gotta be up at the crack of dawn...oh wait, it won't crack dawn until I'm at work for a few hours...anyhow gotta take a shower and go to bed.
Night
Me.

I'm just trying to see if that worked, that is my Sunshine. He's bigger now, but still looks the same.

I made out a menu for this month. This will hopefully help us eat the food we have and spend less money on eating out. This is in prep to losing and income that helps a lot. Yesterday we spent $15.90 eating out.

Today I've found were the stupid fleas are coming from....time to eliminate the problem. I'm going to steam clean the carpets on Wed, today and tomorrow I'll pepper the area and vacuum a few times. I found out some really gross stats on fleas. They can live for sever weeks or a few months. everday a female flea can lay 50-60 and between 500-600 roughly in her lifetime. They hatch within a week or two depending upon conditions they are in. In my cleaning rage today I found 3 bags of clothes to pass on to others, two to a lady at work and one to a single mom who asked. I also found another bag of clothes for my baby. He's got far too many clothes and I need to make sure I'm pulling out the ones that don't fit. I have been working on laundry and hope to have it all done and put away by Wed. This way we can see what we have and what we need to get rid of. For a family of 4 to have this many clothes is crazy and selfish. Okay gotta run, I need to get some wood cutting done and get some wood done.

Toodles

Eating out costs: 15.90
Grocery costs:$0

New experiment...

We have decided to move all of the food out of the pantry. This means that we had to move the huge ugly metal shelf into the kitchen....this is a good thing, I don't like how open the kitchen and dining room is. Problem solved. We found two interesting facts....we certainly aren't in any short supply of food and we have food that expired in 2003 which we still haven't eaten! This will put the food on the forefront of view, we can see what we have and hopefully it will prevent us from running to the local drive thrus. We are trying to save money so we can afford the new heating system. Now I need to figure out what to do with the back room.

Well I have to run, I need to wash my uniform, and I need to go to bed.
Katy