Two Weeks

It's been a full two weeks since I've written anything and for once, I don't care :)

I got back from Portugal in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and was up 3.5 hours later looking after my kiddos (who had the day off of school) and my nephews. I was tired!

I did pretty well, if I do say so myself and made it through until the weekend when I slept in and finally got around to cleaning up the house. It wasn't too bad when I came home but three days of survival mode sure made it that way.

Now the weekend is over and we're back to our usual schedule. Portugal was amazing and even though I was only there for five days, I felt like it was more than enough time away. I missed my guys like crazy and was getting a little too used to the city (having the same cab driver two separate nights kinda tells ya something)!

My pictures are all on another computer so Ill have to find some time to transfer those and post a review of my trip this week. Until then, Ill be writing about the flop that was February (in terms of budgeting) and whatever else comes to mind.

Tchau!

Another week without progress

Oh, how I hate reporting bad weeks! It's probably the reason why I stayed away from challenges and link ups for the past couple of years.

Anyway, this week was a dud. I spent a whopper of an amount at the grocery store, but did end up earning a little more than 140 air miles and coupons for 10 cents off each litre at the gas station. Those combined will save me about $28 ($23 in grocery certificates from air miles and $5 in gas).

I also redeemed 450 swagbucks for $5 at amazon.ca. I earned all of these in the past month which is much faster than the year it took me to earn the last 450. Being in Canada, most things on swagbucks aren't available for me so I earn most of my bucks from playing tournament games. It works for mindless entertainment when the kids go to bed! I plan to keep earning swagbucks until I have about $30 at amazon.ca so that I can order a couple of books and get free shipping. One of the books will be for my mom's mother's day gift, so I've got to get playing. :)

The kids had two birthday parties this week to attend and I spent a total of $16.13 on gifts. One gift was from our stash and we re-used a gift bag with some tissue I had. I attached one of the 'cards' that I bought last year at the dollar store. They are probably more for teachers as they're just printed card stock with the name of the child and their birth date, but when I can buy a stack of 30 for $1, I really don't care! The other gift was a gift card for the local movie theatre worth $15 and a card to put it in. The girl was turning 10 and had a dance party so I thought this was more appropriate than something from our stash.

I leave tomorrow for a week in Portugal and Im doing everything I can to make it CHEAP! The travel and hotel are covered by my work and I received a $500 advance to cover meals and taxis. I spent a good portion of this on groceries for the kids while Im gone and meals at school. The lunches alone are costing $40 and that's only for 4 days! Im so glad I don't have to deal with those prices normally.

Anyway, I plan to visit a grocer when I get to Portugal to stock up on bottles of water and munchies. Breakfasts are covered at the hotel and lunches will just be quick snacks, if I can find them. I'll probably have to spend dinners as social gatherings with my co-workers so those are the meals I plan to eat out for. Our hotel is within walking distance of the conference and only about 5km from the airport. I will definitely be taking public transportation downtown to see the tourist stuff but hopefully Ill be sharing with a co-worker or be able to figure out the buses. All together, Im hoping to not go over the $500 for all of my expenses relating to this trip. Wish me luck!

Songs for each Baby

Source

Im a singer. Not a terribly good one, but in the eyes of my boys, Im a singer. Ever since they were small I've been singing to them pretty much daily.

Sometimes the songs are made up and silly and sometimes they're heartfelt and soulful. I guess it just depends on my mood.

What's neat is that with each boy, I had a favorite song that I sang to them from birth. Now along with their first year scrap books and little hair clippings, they have a "uniquely theirs" song.

For Micah it was a song we sang in church a lot while I was pregnant with him and then in the month after he was born. The week after he was dedicated we moved to our current province and I haven't heard the song since. I can't even find it online! Anyway, it was "Who is like Thee?" and I think I chose it for him because it reminded me of his name:

Micah \m(i)-c ah\ as a boy's name (also used as girl's name Micah), is pronounced MYE-cah. It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Micah is "who resembles God?". Variant of Michael. Biblical: a prophet and writer of the Book of Micah.

For Noah, it was the ABCs. I have no idea why, but isn't it ironic that he didn't learn his letters until 6.5? He also had a few others, but maybe since his dad had him most often, we didn't get into anything deeper?

For James it was "You are my sunshine." How fitting, since he was 6 months old when Chris moved out. I still sing this one to him, and he loves it.

Owen's is "Twinkle Star," as he calls it. Whenever he is hurt or feeling sooky he asks me to sing it to him. Occasionally he'll allow me to sing something else, but this is pretty much THE ONLY song he likes. Silly guy. He wouldn't let me sing anything to him his first year or so and then he fell in love with this song.

The saved quarter challenge:laundry

Penny is talking about ways to save money on laundry over at The Saved Quarter this week and I have to admit, there are a few things that I could improve on.

I already use only cold water, use less detergent than recommended, wear my clothes 2-3 times before washing them and do all of my laundry back to back.

I am guilty though of forgetting about a stray load in the washing machine and having to re-wash it later and I have never used a clothes line. It's too cold here now to get much dried outside, but I think I may actually use one come spring. I have one in the back yard and I have clothespins, I've just never bothered.

I also plan to look into the dryer ball that Penny recommended. Owen has extremely sensitive skin and unless I can find some alternative to sheets or bars, my clothes will continue to be static.

But for what I AM doing and have been doing for awhile, that wasn't mentioned? I buy up detergent when it's on a deep sale. Last month I bought four bottles of the detergent that we use at $2.99 each. Given my son's sensitive skin, I have to buy a brand that is a bit more expensive than the others and so this was a great deal! Each bottle lasts about a month and that's for my family of 5, plus my brother's laundry. Four months of expensive detergent for $12 is my way to save a little on laundry. What's yours?

Student of the Week

So close....!

A couple weekends ago, while watching me fold laundry Owen told me he wanted to wear underwear. So on they went!

He did fairly well in the days following but by the next weekend we had gone back to diapers, mostly because of poor planning from Mom. I didn't pack a bag with enough underwear and pants for Owen's night with his dad so there wasn't much that could be done. Then with Jamie being so sick, I just left it.

During, the last couple of days, Owen has again initiated the training on his own. While wearing a diaper, he came running to me and told me he needed to go to the toilet, then insisted on underwear! He is at the point now where he usually stops the pee as soon as he feels the wetness in his underwear, and comes to tell me. It's enough pee that he needs to be changed, but not enough that I'd consider it peeing in his pants. He's doing well, and all I've had to do is be willing to take him to the bathroom and wash all those clothes :)

Maybe I've actually learned a thing or two after training those three other boys!

Snow Days

What is there to do on days when it looks like this outside?

Four silly preschoolers make their own fun!

Dollar Store Fun

A few months ago while browsing the craft aisle at Dollarama, I noticed these felt boards:

You might notice that both the snowman and person are wearing summer clothing in a winter scene and that there is a rather strangely dressed person labelled "zoo." To explain, I bought three sets, a winter one, a camping one and a zoo one. Then I dumped all the little felt pieces into a large ziploc together and let the kids go with whatever they come up with.

The first one here was done by my 4 year old nephew and the second was done by 6 year old Noah (who also took the photo). He thought it was hilarious that the person was in a zoo with 3 suns (notice how he used fire?). My nephew got a kick out of using a scarf to look like a giant mushroom on top of a mountain and dressing a snowman in overalls.

So much fun for $6, which satisfies my desire to live a frugal life this year and gives the kids something to do when winter boredom hits.

Is it giving up...

...if I cut the pantry challenge short to take advantage of a special offer at a local grocery store?



I was going to shave off a few days anyway because Ill be leaving for Portugal the day the pantry challenge was to end, but I think I've given up already. A local store is offering 100 airmiles if I spend $400 before February 17. I received the email weeks ago and at the time, didn't think I'd actually do it, but given that I've spent $100 there so far, maybe I should just go for it.



For reference, 120 airmiles is good for a $20 gift certificate at the same store. I'd be collecting the usual 20 airmiles for that $400 spent, plus the bonus $100, so in essence I'd be getting $20 to do this.



Now obviously, I don't plan on just spending the money to get the discount, regardless of the cost of the items Im buying. THAT would be silly. The $100 that I've already spent was only on sale items and given that there are two separate sale weeks left, I could probably stock up pretty well on the sales offered this week and next.



To make it easier, I stumbled across Life As Mom's free budget staples check list this morning. I guess I didn't really stumble, as I subscribe to her via google reader, but whatevs. Now I can go though the store's flier, look up relevant coupons and check things off the list as I go. If all goes right, I can stock the house for the week that Ill be in Portugal and build my pantry staples, lowering my grocery bill for March and April.

Whatd'ya think?

Je m'appelle James

Friday was Jamie's first day of Kinderstart. He was sick so it was a little tough for him to get excited but we had been talking about it for weeks and he woke up knowing what day it was.



I had my cousin come over to watch the little ones and headed out just Jamie and I for some big school fun. He didn't stop talking the entire drive! When we got in the school, we found name tags on all the lockers, so it was easy to locate his new classroom.



I had him find his name and stand in front for a picture. Poor guy was really not in the best of health, but you can see the excitement in his little face :)



When the teacher opened the door, we all went in and greeted her, then found a seat to read some books that were spread out on the tables. It's so neat to see who's going to be in his class next year! At our table we had Owen and Isaac and it'll be interesting to see if they become friends down the road.



Madame introduced herself and asked all the kids to join her at the front of the class. I was happy to see that James didn't hesitate. As is usual, he talked almost non-stop while she was talking and was very active in participating. Owen and Isaac were also very active and Im sure they'll be a tough little bunch!



We made snowman pictures and the kids sang songs and listened to a story read by Madame. Then we got to bring home a bag FULL of goodies (books, paint, modelling clay, crayons, pencil, construction paper, journal, scissors, glue stick).



Then, being one who normally feels guilty about not spending enough time with each child, thought I'd take advantage of the alone time with my 3rd and bring him to McDonalds.

It was a good day and one I hope to repeat with the other four kinderstart sessions this year.

The Saved Quarter Challenge, January Recap

Oh how I don't want to write this post!

I've done terribly this month and as much as I want to blame it on a stomach bug that had me on the couch for a week or the actual FLU that has gone through three children, making going out very difficult, I can't. Im definitely not blameless in my utter failure this month, seeing as how I went out with friends twice and had non-budgeted takeout three times.

So the numbers: (forgive me, I've forgotten all of my HTML)

____________Budgeted__________ Actual __________Difference
Rent ........................1400 ..............................1400 .................................0
Renter’s Insurance .26................................. 25.67............................. -0.33
Vehicle Insurance ..317................................. 317.................................. 0
Power .....................250................................ 200................................ -50
Communications ...150................................. 100 ................................-50
Food/Household ...300 ..............................424.62........................... +124.62
Gas ..........................120.............................. 156.50............................ +36.50
Kids’ Allowances.....67..................................... 0................................... -67
School...................... 40................................. 34.45............................. -5.55
Birth/Holidays......100................................ 10.37............................. -89.63*
Giving.......................88.................................. 109................................. +21*
Micah’s Cell.............22.................................... 18................................... -4
My Spending...........25.............................. 169.85.............................. +144.85
Bank Fees................10................................ 22.06.............................. +12.06

Totals.................... 2915..................... 2987.5................. +72.52

Total Income 3469

Total Debt payment 480 (pretty much all of this went to family members that I owed money to)

Discussion

• Power/Communications, I reduced these to cover other costs during the month. Yes this is a slippery slope as now I have to come up with the short fall next month. I realize how crappy this is.


• Food/Household, Given my friend's post last week where she did a little experiment and found that Canadians pay more than double for the same grocery items as Americans, Im a little happier about this number. There was about $50 spent in take out this month that I'd like to avoid next month and I know I could have done better with sales. There's still two weeks of the pantry challenge left so maybe that will help.


• Gas, public transportation has been on strike since November so I've been driving a little over 50km each day to drive my brother to and from his university. Thankfully the drivers went back to work yesterday so my gas costs should decrease. To be fair, he did pay a large amount towards his gas usage, but it didn't quite cover it.


• Kids' Allowances, The kids and I discussed how we'd have to look at their allowances and how much we were spending on school things (thanks to Penny's suggestion) to rethink their amount. For now they understand that they're in transition and so I haven't paid anything in allowances. Micah ordered a chess game for his phone and thanks to a $30 start-up credit he had some money left over. He decided to put this towards his allowance as well as a book order. There have been a couple trips to the store in which I gave them a bit of change as well. That money was added to the household budget.


• School, See above


• Birthdays/Holidays, this category was supposed to grow each month with whatever wasn't spent on birthdays so that by the end of the year, I had some to put towards Christmas. Instead I had to take the money from here to cover other costs discussed below. We did have three family birthdays this month, a schoolmate's birthday and I bought my nephew's gift early. All of that for a little over 10 dollars is pretty good if you ask me! I did it by cooking/baking things for my family members on their birthdays and using our gift stockpile for the schoolmate's birthday. All I really had to buy were a few ingredients and my nephews gift which was on clearance for $5.


• Giving, This category is a little muddled as I discovered that I haven't been paying anything to The Mercy House. I need to look at what happened and send 5 months worth in February which would mean 125. I gave a little more at church and sent some money for my sponsored child's birthday this month though, so that's why this is higher than budgeted.


• Micah's cell, Due to the start up credit, I only had to purchase a smaller prepaid card this month so that his credit wouldn't expire. Ill be doing this until the credit is used.


• My spending, Oh this is where I hate to give details! Im going to Portugal this month and so I decided that shoes without large holes were a bit of a priority, since Ill be doing a lot of walking. I was able to buy some for $25 as well as a winter jacket for $39 because mine has been worn out for years. Without Jason to shovel the driveway, I realised that Ill be spending a lot more time outside in the cold this year, which made the jacket a necessity. Then there were the books I picked up for my trip and the two girls nights which involved restaurants/movie/coffee shop. For all of this, I think I still did fairly well at keeping the costs down. Plus I have a free admission to the theatres that I bought at a reduced rate with my meal. I can use this for a future girls night or a gift!


• Bank fees, I never have to pay extra fees! This month though due to poor planning I had a bunch! Totally have to fix this in February.

I'll be posting a revised budget for February tomorrow and you can be sure it'll include some of the lessons I've learned in January.