weekly budget.

***disclaimer***my husband, who doesn't get offended, just told me that this blog entry could be offensive. so...i re-read it for like the 4th time, and i certainly don't mean to be offensive to anyone. so sorry if i offended you. i really try to be honest with my thoughts and emotions here, and that's all i was after, not meaning to be mean or step on anyone's toes. soooooo...all that to say, didn't mean to offend anyone, or sound like i have it all together, but be more of an encouragement to those out there who are interested in saving money. if i can do it, anyone can do it mentality. from the sounds of things, i am not saving near enough money, so i have nothing to be encouraging people about. :)

can anyone tell me what i am "supposed" to spend at the grocery store a week?

let's say to feed a family of 5+?

(6 would be great, but i know ya'll don't have big families) ;)

an average weekly budget.

what does that look like?

my bill was $21.90 today at CVS.

10 items.

do you wanna know how much i paid?

$0.02.

yep. that's all. made me smile.

but back to the grocery question.

so i have been couponing for real for the past 2 months now,

and while i am noticing that my credit card bills are slowly creeping down,

my grocery averages are really not as much as i thought they might.

 i am getting WAY, WAY more food for my money,

which i need to take into account,

and saving large amounts of money, in doing this,

( anywhere from $20-$60 savings)

 but i am also trying things i wouldn't normally try if i couldn't buy them for a mere buck...

 also noting that if i keep up the average that i am "saving"

per say, that i could "save"

almost $3000.00/year on groceries.

hello. did you hear me?

that might mean paying off the farm before i am 60, or maybe even 58.

ha.ha.ha. ;)

or bring my bay house idea to fruition.

i haven't given up...yet.

but, still...curious to know how much everyone spends on groceries a week.

please tell.

maybe someone knows what all the money authors tell you...

since i want you to tell me, i guess i need to tell you. :)

my average was more like $200. before this coupon experiment.

now, it has ranged from $155 - $190.
and let me tell you, that some weeks i spend $30.
but then it's "catch up" other weeks.
and i never just go to one store.
so, some weeks at the amish store i stock up on a lot of things,
which skews my "weekly" average a lot, because then i don't buy those
things for months.
so...i save all my receipts, and then average them out,
but, it still doesn't really work out right.
like, now...i have a TON of cereal, and drinks...sodas and juice boxes
because they were a really good deal.

granted i do entertain a lot, which i think does make a difference,

and pull ups, etc.
soooo...

( i think the money people tell you to track toiletries seperately,

which i haven't done, and don't really know whey they tell ya that...

but it seems like a big headache, and quite frankly i don't wanna take the time to figure that out)

however, i also ~rarely~ buy meat

because we have our own beef, chicken, and eggs here.

(i can't wait to try to do this grocery thing without having some sort

of diapers or baby stuff on my bill.

talk about jacking it up...)

 

and milk.

milk is so expensive.

i know you dairy farmers have supposedly not been making any money

but do you know i pay sometimes over $4 a gallon for milk.

do you know how much milk we use here?

:)

okay. enough of my ranting.

i have got to get some work done.

see ya.

happy memorial day

happy memorial day 2011.

sometimes i think farming really stinks.

other times it's really great.

my father-in-law reminded me that's why i can afford to have 5 kids.

we live on a big beautiful farm with lots of room for the kids to ~run~.

i do realize that is important.

however...

 while most of the american working world gets ~today~ off

to have cook outs and relax,

my husband does not.

he has been mowing or baling hay since 8 a.m. this morning.
mostly for the community.

the kids and i get to pack up and take him drinks and meals.

he still has a smile on his face.
this is good. ;)
nothing has broken today.
and no rain. finally. good hay making days.

when you have several community farmers counting on you to bale,
there is no time for equipment to break or malfunction.
or for the rain.

this also means i need to get my billing book ready. :)

for those of you non-farmers out there (jane) ;)
this is hundreds of thousands of dollars of hay equipment.

these bales weigh between 600-700 lbs. each.
the baler spits them out,
and then in our case...
matt will gather them up on the tractor, one by one,
with a special attachment,
and come load them on a trailer,
(about 8 to a load)
the trailer, pulled by our truck,
driven by me and the kids.
yikes.

that's another part i hate.
but i look like a tough farmer's wife.
sometimes that's all that matters. ;)

it provides us with a great life.
we are thankful and blessed.
but would have loved to see daddy today or tomorrow or the next day even.
it is a very busy time here.
we will not see him a lot over the next few days.

be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming.
see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop
and how patient he is for the autumn adn spring rains.
                                                 ~james 5:7~



free giveaway you should know about.

so...here is another one of my favorite blogs, and she is having a fabulous give-away you should know about. if i added "her button" to my blog, i got another entry...so check it out. hope one of us wins. ;) total cuteness.

 on another note.i am doing laundry, cleaning and mulching today.i didn't go yard saling on purpose. it was kinda hard.i was in the mood.and had my first braxton hicks today.yay me.i was wondering what was taking so long.now, i am back on track.keep it comin' baby five. ;)




newest headbands.

i am *tickled* with how these new headbands turned out.  turns out my guests are going to be later than they first anticipated, so you know what that means. that means instead of a) folding the laundry in the dryer, b) cleaning the bathrooms or c) doing the bills and deskwork, that i d) worked on these new flowers and headbands...inbetween sitting calli on the potty.  what a grand morning. i even made some hairclips. i cannot *wait* to see my new little darling wearing this *cuteness*.

we will see how organized i get later in the day.

i may post some pics later.

if only ang could come back and get some cute

pictures of my kids wearing them.

you saw how that worked out yesterday.

they get all cheesy and posey when i try to take their pics.

anyway...

also. i am not very creative.

i copy.

all the time.

from magazines, or nate berkus, or creative blogs.

my most favorite blog, right now, where i am getting all these ideas,

is here:

you must check it out.

click on the tutorial page, and you are set!

however, if you would rather buy things from me,

instead of make them yourself.

feel free. ha.ha.

the new headbands are $10.

they take a wee bit more time, and i anticipate fabric to be

more expensive then the felt and tights i use in my other headbands.

however, if you order right now, i only have the gray color in stock...

but you will not be disappointed.

adorable.

i am wearing a hairclip right now.

so cute.

here's to folding the laundry later.

before matt gets home. ;)

overly sensitive.

okay. so i am starting to get a little bit worried here. i am normally a person who has a pretty high pain tolerance, but i am wondering if i am wimping out or what?

a couple weeks ago i was ~sure~ i had strep throat...had the worst sore throat that i can remember, well...i didn't have strep, i did have a really bad sinus infection, but that's besides the point. :)

this morning, i went to a 7 am dentist appointment because i was sure i needed another root canal (i had to have a root canal during the end of calli's pregnancy) and this felt like the same thing, all to find out there is nothing wrong with my teeth. hmmmm. he said that i grind my teeth when i sleep (which is odd that matt has never "heard" me do that), but i have ground my teeth down to some nerve endings, and so there are now 2 teeth that are driving me crazy...feels like a burning cavity, if you ask me...so...i get to have sensitive teeth at 33 years old and need to start using sensodyne toothpaste. i thought that was for 60 year old people, not me. ;) the sensodyne toothpaste should take effect around the time i have a baby, what's a few months of a pain in my mouth, anyway? :) boy, i am full of good humor today, eigh?

so...now i am thinking i am this over-reactive 33 year old pregnant lady who is all the sudden going to flip out during this labor. i really think i do pretty well during my labors. i am an all natural kind of girl. no epidurals here. i like to think if my mom and grandma could do it, well...than so can i.  :)  although, i do love.love.love to have my babies in the water, but that may be another whole different post. :) i am not a yeller. i do not cuss or get mean. i get quiet. focused and quiet. granted my labors are usually only 2-4 hours long, from start to finish, but what if this time i turn into someone i don't recognize? have to get myself back 'in check' here. ;)

on another note, had a headband order to fill, so my house looks like a little craft store of some sort at the moment. i just heard there will be some visitors here tomorrow, so i must get off of here and clean up a bit...

tried a new kind of flower, which I kind of like, but needs to be perfected a bit more. campbell is modeling the new headband, and then i added another flower to it, and calli's modeling the newly revised edition. :)

 

and the girls favorite thing to do right now is to play school. i am talking for ~hours~ a day. kaycee would like to be a teacher when she grows up, and is putting it to good use now, bossing her sisters around in learning. it is very funny. campbell is very, very tolerant, which is kind of unusual (in other areas of life), but with school, she is very into pleasing "her teacher", not to mention her backpack is ready and waiting for the first day of preschool to arrive in late September. :)



do you all know that i love potty training?

this morning i told calli to go sit on the potty, and she looked me right

in the face and told me she didn't have to go.

i kid you not. a minute and a half later, i hear this

~waterfall~

right in front of me.

on my kitchen floor.

"sorry mommy"

off to clean . happy day. ;)

the girls and i.

my favorites.

there are so many more.

sometimes having a friend who can get good pictures of your kids is kind of a headache.

now i can't decide.

i guess that's a good problem to have. ;)

and here ya go.

a belly shot at 30 weeks with child number 5.

from the mouth of campbell.

"mom...you don't really exercise very much, and you need to get your body moving because you have a baby in your belly."                    ~campbell, age 4.

and no...we are not having twins, i am ~really~ just this big...enough said. ;)

feeling better.

so in the midst of ~my~ sickness

we took a quick break for a photo shoot on monday night.

(hmmm. a quick break means i actually took a shower, put on some

make-up, and cleaned up the kitchen...)

my good friend, ang, is so talented with a camera,

and always catches 'the spirit' of my kids-

their personalities always come shining thru...

the purpose: mainly for calli's 2 year and campbell's 4 year,

but we snuck a few others in there as well.

she has some posted on her blog,

so i stole this one. :)

(don't ya love friends like that? i didn't even ask...i just did it)

p.s. kaden and matt were at kaden's baseball game...

thanks ang.

for missing scott's games and loading your troops up to come down here.

i know it's not next door, and it is certainly not easy to get pics

when your girls are running around you...

you are gifted

that is  ~quite~  obvious

and i really treasure our friendship...

have so much fun at the beach, grabbing some rest and relaxation...

will be sure to post some more when i get them...



sick and tired.

so...it is nice to go to my "real" doctor

and get medicine without having to beg...

because she knew i was spent, totally tired

and ready to cry because i didn't feel good.

she said, "i know you don't come to the doctor unless you are

really, really not feeling good."

thank you very much.

so...no strep. but antibiotics to deal with a sore throat that's

been hanging on for a week,
and a sinus infection like i have ~never~ had before.

and hopefully my voice will slowly return too.

not to mention the rib or two i broke last night coughing.

i am such a whiner...one last thing.

it hurts when i breathe.

keep praying for us.

matt said his throat hurts. ;(

here's to feeling better by the busy weekend we have.

no voice.

did you ever try to run your household

with little to no voice?

like it's gone.

non-existant.

i am finding it is nearly impossible.

let alone get anyone's attention

by whispering. :)

sold out.

i have the best family and friends around.

i am sold out of geraniums.

ALL OUT.

that's 60.

~gone~

in a little over 24 hours.

thanks so much for helping a girl out. ;)

p.s.
i do  ~not~  have strep throat.
just a very sore throat from a sinus infection,
which they will not treat because i am pregnant.

~joys~

geraniums anyone?

matt and i went to a new produce auction today

~operated by our friends~

to buy some geraniums to hand out on Mother's Day

at our church, Maple Grove.

i have a love, hate relationship with auctions.

today was no different.

i honestly thought i bid on a lot of 90 geraniums...

but it was only 60.

and i needed 90.

so...

this means that i have a few extra to get rid of. :)

(as i bought the next lot i could,

which was 90...no 30 lots, and i had to get home to get kaycee

off the bus, so i couldn't wait around for another lot of 60

to come around.)

so...

if anyone would like to buy some geraniums
to help a girl out...

~perhaps to plant for your mommas for Mother's Day~

or your own use

at $2.50 a pop...

let me know.

they really are beautiful.

Amish raised

hearty looking geraniums.

red, light pink, fushia, some varigated pink, and white.

guess i am off to plant some of my own.

pretty sure i am not going to sell 60. :)



songs.

so i normally like to have worship music on my blog.

it usually inspires and encourages me.

but. i changed my mind today.

i have been sitting at my desk doing paperwork..

paying bills,

organizing,

and getting things in order,

~ALL~ morning long,

and i just needed something different.

so...i picked out some of my favorite country songs to share with you.

hope they are not offensive to anyone. :)

i am a people pleaser you know.

and besides. i don't feel good.

i woke up yesterday feeling like i got run over by a MAC truck,

and i am tired

and have a very sore throat.

i may just take ~another~ nap today.

like yesterday. :)

no fever though...so no strep...yay for that.

i was supposed to make it to the store today,

but i didn't feel like taking my 2 and 4 year old in the rain.

so...maybe it won't be raining in the morning. :)

and my throat will feel better.

on a better note.

my 2 oldest daughters have been upstairs for an hour working on my

~mothers day craft~

eeekkk. i can't wait. :) so kaycee in charge. love it.

here's to the sun popping out

and brighter, warmer days on the horizon.

any ideas for what to make for dinner?

seriously...

i feel like i always make the same things.

p.s. it has to have meat in it somewhere. :)