No Spend Month 1

So one of my 101 goals is to have 3 no spend months. March is going to be the 1st no spend month.

It needs to happen, and this next month just makes perfect sense! We've been doing a pretty good spending fast for the past week. Yeah, I know, a week is nothing compared to a whole month!

I stumbled upon this blog thru another blog... It's called And Then We Saved. It talks about saving money and a spending fast and diet. :) 

What we need to spend money on :

Mortgage

Utilities

Cell Phone

Food (meal plan!!)

Gym membership (it's cheap and it's the only way I work out!)

Doctor bills

Car payment

Gas

Credit Card

Diapers

Insurance

There you have it. That's what we're going to be spending money on this month. And that's it.

No craft stuff (I have a gift card!)

No restaurants.

No clothes.

No spending out.

We plan a date each month, and we've been trying to keep them cheap We watched The Oscars this year and Shark wants to see a lot of the nominated movies. So I signed up for Inside Redbox. So hopefully we'll be getting free movie rentals. Plus, we didn't really go to the movies last year. So we need to catch up. We also have a few movie gift cards. So free dates it is! 

We are only using cash and we have cards just for gas. I already have gas budgeted so it will make purchased easier, the gas cards are ONLY for gas and no other spending is allowed. The reason for the gas cards is cuz Shark drives pretty far to work and needs to fill up often. It'll also help us keep track of the gas we spend. :)

So here's goes with our no spend month.

I'm always glad to try something new, especially if it'll help us out. 

Wish us luck!

one of those days

So last week, I had one of "those days".......

It was just a bleak and very rough day for me.

Money has been sooo tight lately. And to add salt to the huge wound we have some text books we paid for. 

Oh, and we pretty much break even with taxes this year. We owe what we get back....

it sucks.

Friday was a very rough day for me. 

It just all hit me at once. and it was so hard.

I didn't want to do anything. No cooking dinner. No cleaning. No playing. Nothing.

It was one of those days where I put on TV for Danger and I just sat on the couch all day,

and I cried,

Honestly, I pushed him away most of the day. 

Part of me just didn't want to help him, hold him, hug him or deal with him at all. It hurts to say that, but it happened. I don't have days like that often, but when I do, it sucks so much.

Everything just happened at once, and I didn't want to deal with any of it.

For me, when days like that happen, I start to feel very insecure, and very frustrated. I feel like I don't contribute to our financial situation at all. And that hurts too! For the first 2 years of our marriage, I was the major bread winner.

On those few days, my self-esteem goes down and my insecurities go up. And the depression sinks in.

BUT

Thank goodness it only lasted for a day.  It usually just lasts for the day and then it's gone. :)

Saturday it snowed a freaking TON - and Danger and I went out to shovel snow and we played in it. He kept falling face first and LOVING it!! 

Bandit loves the snow, which makes it a pain to shovel, but Danger just laughed and laughed. He was throwing snow and jumping in it. Falling in it, kicking it. He loved it.

His cheeks were pink, when I took the gloves off, his hands were pink. When I took off his soaked pants, his legs from the knee down were pink. His skin was cold but he didn't act cold. He just smiled!

Then we went up to hang out with friends at their cabin. He fussed and cried but eventually calmed down and played and played!

He sure has been awful cute. 

We love that little guy.

I'm very glad "those days" don't happen very often, and when they do they don't last long.   

Well - here is what cheers me up : my family.  Enjoy some pictures! :) 

 playing in the jump pit

 this is my cracker

 smirk

 look mom!

 chilling watching movies

 yayay! Reese's Pieces!

 i am unimpressed, mom

 totally zoned into The Incredibles

 my big guy weighs 23lbs and is 33" tall!

 waiting for the dr

 playing in my hot tub of toys

cool dude

 look mom, SNOW!

 playing in the snow

 taking the sword out of the stone

Love - this happy mama

this is how it goes

So, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of couponing. It just doesn't seem to work for me. I clip all the coupons, I search the sites to match up the deals - and I still am not seeing the benefits.

I know, the books and sites said it would take a while to see the return on couponing. But I seriously don't think I need 48 individual sets of Febreeze air freshener plug ins! I don't use those, I don't need them. I have a wax melter. Our house smells pretty dang good.

So I stopped my newspaper order. For now at least.

I know canceling the subscription isn't going to get us out of debt single handed but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Right now, every little bit helps and every little bit feels like we're moving in the right direction. Even if it's just whittling away at the debt instead of chopping it up....

Shark and I are also working on getting healthy. (We feel Danger is healthy - he runs laps around us!!) I have been going to the gym and drinking lots of water. I have also been making dinner every night, with sides! We don't go out to eat near as much. (Yeah we went out for Valentine's Day, but that was planned and we had a gift card!) So I feel like we've been getting healthier, at least working our way towards it.

Yeah - we're just keeping on. Just chilling really.

Shark starts his new job next week, and we're so excited! Hopefully he'll be switching to days for the rest of the semester. Then, he'll be able to sleep when I sleep! You have NO idea how awesome that is going to be.  (Unless you or someone in your house has every worked graveyards....)

Danger has been so stinking cute lately. He just jabbers to himself and just chats away. He giggles uncontrolably, sometimes at nothing at all.... I love being able to just chill with him.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to. (also some videos....)

See you all later!

comes to money

So, it seems like it always comes back to money....

I hate it... I hate bills, I hate surprise bills, I hate budgets, I hate never having enough money...

I am willing to do anything {ANYTHING!!!} to save money and get out of debt!

But it is so hard.

It is so hard to follow thru (apparently I have no willpower.....) I have such a hard time sticking to a budget. Something always comes up. Some disaster always happens.

One thing that really sucks for us : when we do the debt snowball (Dave Ramsey's plan) we "throw" money at our debt and it feels like nothing! We don't have small debt, we have all big debt. {Not HUGE debt, but big enough to feel like the monthly payments aren't doing a thing...}

It hurts. It hurts the ambition when you're doing all you can and it feels like nothing.

Every paycheck, Shark and I tell each other : NO EXTRA SPENDING! And we shake on it. but it doesn't seem to matter.

So what I have been trying to start :
 - menu plan.
 - make a list
 - stick to the list
 - only buy NEEDS

So far... Yeah... Um.... Like I said, something always comes up. And it sucks.

I found a blog thru a blog... It's called And Then We Saved....on her blog, she does a Spending Fast. She also does a Spending Diet, it's like the step before you're ready for the Fast. It sounds like something I could to start.

It's all so hard.

I think my current plan (menu, list, stick to it, NEEDS) will work. I just need to stick to it. Avoid the clothing racks, and the craft section...

Well....mo' money, mo' problems... right?!

menu and week plan

**UPDATE : I forgot a day in my menu plan.... So I added my meal and added the day... **

Ok, so I get it, it's Wednesday.

You're probably asking yourself, "What's this chick doing planning meals and making a week plan on Hump Day?!"

Well, Shark's schedule is backwards of most normal people's. He works nights. His work week starts on Wednesday nights. SO, me being his loving amazing wonderful awesome wife, I have changed my schedule around to fit his.

Also, Thursday is my day off from babysitting and it is also the day we get paid!

Do you know how much easier/faster it is to go shopping on a Thursday than a Saturday?!?

MENU :
2-7 : Frozen Pizza
2-8 : Crock Pot Dump Meal (One day I got ambitious and made these crock pot freezer meals.)
2-9 : Crock Pot Chicken with rolls and corn
2-10 :  Stuffed French Toast with fruit
2-11 : Bacon & Pea Mac & Cheese
2-12 :  - Our Valentine's Day -
2-13 : Soy Sauce & Brown Sugar Salmon with Garlic Asparagus
2-14: Chicken Taco Chili with chips and rolls
2-15 : Bacon Ranch Slowcooker Chicken over potatoes
2-16 : Spaghetti with garlic bread
2-17 : leftovers and veggie night
2-18 : Slowcooker Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with celery
2-19 : Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
2-20 : Chicken strips with corn
2-21 : Crock pot Honey Seasame Chicken with eggrolls

So there you have my meals planned out for the next 2 weeks.

I'm planning on taking Danger shopping with me on Friday this week. I have an appointment (more headache stuff....) on Friday and I need him to be awake long enough to fall asleep right before my appointment. That way Shark can watch him while he gets ready for work....

Yeah... So for these 6 weeks I'm seriously planning on making dinner every night. It needs to happen. I have been far too lazy lately.

So Danger has been watching his dad too much! He just dropped some food and smashed it deeper into the sofa... JUST like his dad!

My weekly plan is to go shopping on Friday, then my appointment. Saturday we're just chilling. It's a long week for Shark so it's me and little man. Sunday we chill. Monday we've got nothing planned. Shark is done with his class this semester! Tuesday is our Valentine's Day cuz Shark works on Thursday. So we have coupons to a BBQ place. (I have told him there is NOTHING wrong with using coupons on dates, if we can get something free, I'm all for it!) After that, we're pretty open. We haven't really had anything planned.

Maybe I'll continue taking Danger to the library on Mondays. They have a free kids discovery zone thing. They read, the kids sing and dance and shake maracas....

Also, I'm hoping to make and Ikea run...

We've got plans to go to the children's museum.

My SIL wants to get together more and craft some.

We went to IHOP's Free Pancake night.

We'll see what we can get done in these 6 weeks. Yeah.... Little man has been pretty darn cute. We might go for a walk today. He's just rolling around on the floor. He handed me his boots and his shoes. And when I balanced them on his head instead of putting them on his feet, he decided he'd try to put them on himself.

My handsome do-it-yourselfer! I sure do love that guy!

what should I do

So, I usually babysit a neighbor girl. But her mom just gave birth to another one yesterday! So technically I'm "off work" for the next 6 weeks while her mom is on maternity leave.

So that means I have to find something to do for 6 weeks.

I could, you know, watch my child....Lately he'll just get a few boxes of snacks down and he'll spend the morning mixing them.

I could.... Start watching Downton Abbey like the rest of the world. Although, I didn't read Twilight until the last one had come out...

I could... continue couponing, keep trying and hopefully it'll work!!

I could... Clean my house. We all know my house needs it.

Or whatever.

Danger has started to peel oranges on his own... Or just putting them in his mouth and trying to eat them. Apparently he doesn't mind the taste of the rind. Well, at least he's not picky, right?!

I also have quite a few projects on my list... I could get a few of those things done. We could put up some shelves. Make that height ruler I want. Maybe finish the bathroom upstairs : I need to put the border on the mirror.

Plus we have some bills and stuff to figure out. Things that have taken forever to figure out - Shark's schedule doesn't mesh with mine, so it is very hard to get places.

And there are all these shows I have to watch....

SO yeah....  now for photos from the week...

Ta da!

I confess...

So the Friday Confessional moved... but I enjoyed doing it and I think I am going to continue confessing on Friday to the vast open-ness that is the internet.

I confess....

Some days I have NO freaking clue how moms with more than 1 kid do it! Seriously! How do you do it?! I scramble, chase, wrestle, fight, tickle, wrangle, and run after my 1 year old ALL day!! And it all seems for naught! He's not naughty or a bad guy, but he is a crazy little dude! He's all over the place, like all over the whole house!

I confess....

Sometimes I just sit around the house and do nothing. We "lock" Danger in the living room with me, with the option to go upstairs to the play room. I either play on my phone, or make lists, or plan meals, or crochet....

I confess....

I've started couponing. But it's hard and it kinda sucks. I can never get the big payouts the ladies get on TV or from the books.... So I'm feeling a little discouraged, which is sad cuz I was SOOO excited to start!

I confess....

We've been trying all kinds of things and ideas to save money. Cutting things back or out, meal planning, budgeting.... It's hard to save money when I love to spend it! One thing I've been working on is cutting out the "Dollar Section" - that's where I get sucked in and end up spending like $20.....

I confess....

My house is always dirty.... I go over to other ladies houses (and they have kids!) and their houses are usually pretty clean. Mine always looks like a tornado came thru and demolished everything. I don't want to chase after my kids all day, cleaning up after them. Therefore, my house will probably always be messy...

I confess....

I want to know where Angela (from Bones) shops! Cuz all of her dresses are dang cute, and I want them! (See, I just love spending money...)


So these are my confessions.....