Wordless Wednesday

Good thing we didn't choose the higher toilets when we were building the house.

My NON new years resolution update

Remember this post and this post?

My total coupon saving for January was 89.65!

Although I'm still cutting coupons from the Sunday newspaper most of my coupons are printed from these websites:

Red Plum

Coupons.com

Smart Source

use zip codes 92111 and 97068 for the most coupons

Chore Chart

Several weeks ago while reading Boundaries with Kids (for guidance support REASSURANCE) I realized Jayden was probably ready to start earning an allowance. Todd and I talked it over and decided he would have 5 jobs and earn $3 a week.

My goal was not for perfection (every job/chore, every day) but to begin increasing his responsibility in the family. We had several ideas as jobs but wanted him to be an active participant.

Together we came up with:

1. Letting the dogs out when we get home in the afternoon.
2. Feeding the dogs.
3. Bringing in the recycling bins on Saturday.
4. Cleaning off the table after dinner.
5. Getting ready (shoes, teeth, potty) in the morning and before bed.

He picked out the pictures he wanted and I made a chart on Excel:

A dollar of his earnings goes toward saving (he says he wants to save up for a motor home), a dollar goes to church for his offering, and a dollar is for spending.

The other week we went to the dollar store with his "spending dollars" and he was so proud to be buying things with his money.

Bunk Bed

We got the boys an upper loft/bunk bed. (We already had the lower bed).

The bed was delivered Saturday morning and they have had a blast! Building forts, going up & down the ladder, and fishing from the top bunk.

Look at my sweet angels


It took all of 36 hours before those sweet angels jumped from the top bunk to the bottom bed.

Have you...

checked the options for your monthly bills lately? Cable? Satellite? Cell phones? Land lines?

Are you getting the best plan for your needs?

I try to remember to do this periodically and I think every financial plan recommends doing it every 6 months.

I noticed that we were paying for 30 code speed calling, personalized ring, and repeat dialing on our land line. That's $19 dollars a month that we were wasting.

If I'm going to cut $0.55 coupons out; I better not be wasting my money!

Super WOman

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. Superman? No, it's Mommy-O to the rescue!

(sad, sad little picture)

Just because. Just to give me a little "me time" and maybe even Todd and I a little "us time". Thanks mom for coming down this week/weekend!

A follow up...

Thank you to everyone who is giving me the support (that I desperately need) at this time!

The follow up to this is that Todd (& crew - sometimes 5 of them) finished the project by the Jan 9th deadline with no major mishaps. The client gave a "job well done and maybe I took some of my frustration out on out on you" compliment to Todd.

In fact Sunday was Todd's first "day off" since Dec 31st.

The next big push is to meet a Jan 16th deadline.

Although Todd felt relieved at their semi-praise, he still feels like their future projects are not a guarantee for IMW.

To help with Todd's work load I have taken over the family finances and IMW's bookeeeping. (Added to my full time job that I'm not enjoying and single mom duties, I'm just plain ole tuckered out!)