Money Savings

So if you havn't heard i am quitting my job (again, i know why did i go back right?). John continues to think it's a bad idea because despite me showing him the many many many places we waste money and could save, he just doesn't think we (i should say he doesn't think I) can do it.
I had already implemented a few changes like using cloth napkins, wipes etc instead of paper towels. I sewed up a bunch of fabric i had on hand into "Unpaper towels", basically they are just a 10-12" square of cotton woven fabric backed w/ terry cloth, some with flannel. I have a basket on my counter stacked full of them and anytime i would grab a paper towel i grab one of these instead. I have a cloth bag that hangs on my stove so they go in there when they are done. About once a week i throw them all in the wash with my other towels. Works great and when you consider the cost of paper towels, it really is quite a savings.
I also have really made a concentrated effort to not purchase items without thinking first if it's something we really "need" vs. something i just want or "think" we "need". Faith has way more than enough clothes so i have forced myself to stop buying her more stuff just because it's cute or a good deal. Same goes for me, no more clothes for me, especially given that I am going to be staying home, i dont' need a "wardrobe" of stuff, knowing me i'll still wear the same 3 outfits anyway LOL.
I am trying to cook from our pantry more, and stop making trips to the store for certain items just because i want to make something. I'm doing my best to plan my meals around what we already have here on hand.
I have just started being more concious of the electricity usage as well. We are terrible about leaving lights on when we don't really need them on. I've also started using the timer on my dishwasher to run during the night when electricity is cheaper instead of during the day. I'd like to wait and do more laundry later at night but first i gotta get myself in more of a groove of staying up later instead of heading to bed shortly after Faith.
I've also set a goal of not purchasing any fabric unless i need it for a specific project that i am working on and will use it right away. I'd like to only purchase fabric and sewing items with money i make from sewing. So if i get busy and sew up items from my huge stash of fabric and get them listed in my store i can self fund my sewing addiction.
I would like to start making an organized meal plan for the month and shopping ahead more but first i want to clean out and organize our pantry/fridge/freezer and start fresh.
Stay tuned as I will try and update this blog occassional with tips and savings ideas i have come up with :-)

I'm so enjoying Christmas this year...

Faith is WAY fun this year. She totally into all the "magic" of Christmas. She is just making the holiday so joyous this year, it's the first time in a long time i can say i'm really excited about Christmas.

Your most proud moment?

A question was posed on a message board i belong to the other day. The question was "what was your most proud moment." It only took a split second for me to answer the question.
It was definately the first time i held Faith. I was proud of her of course, but also proud of myself & John for being able to persevere that long difficult journey to parenthood. I was proud of myself for doing all the things i had to do to get pregnant, stay pregnant and have a 100% healthy baby. Though i'd love to show you the picture of the first time i held her, it's not exactly appropriate for publication online for anyone and their brother to view, but here's the picture after we were all ready to take her home. Isn't she beautiful?



What was your most proud moment, share it here or on your blog.

WOW it's been a while...

Well let's see Faith bug turned 3, i can't believe it. Where in the world did the time go?


We have done a TON of camping too. We went to Wescott's beach on Faith's birthday for a long weekend. Not a lot of swimming, it was really windy and a bit chilly for that, but they have an awesome playground that she loved and we did play in the sand some too.

Last weekend we camped at Nick's Lake in Old Forge and went to "water far-e" LOL she had fun with that.

Next weekend we go for a big 5 day trip to Fish Creek Pond with our friends the Marino's and Turner's. Should be a fantastic time.
Faith just got all signed up to take dance classes and gymnastics classes this year. She will have tap/ballet on Tuesdays and gymnastics on Thursdays, so that will keep us busy too.
I have gotten down to working about 3 days each week which works out pretty well. There is another per diem biller now so that makes it easier. It's still just a job, i mean i like the work but well work is work right? I am working on slowly cleaning out Faith's baby stuff. It's not looking all that promising that we will need any of it again so first I got rid of a bunch of clothes. Yesterday I sold the high chair and exersaucer to a girl at work. Next we'll get rid of the pack n' play, the car seats and maybe even the crib. Did i mention we moved Faith up to the high back booster seats? She's so tall that the other seats where really pinching her shoulders and legs, so we found a great deal on boosters and got them for all the cars (ours and mom's). *sigh* It makes me sad in a way not to have a "baby" anymore but she's SO MUCH fun now and such an incredible joy that the "sad" part only lasts a minute or two. She does remind me regularly that she is "mama's baby". LOL

Gabby said...

I don't post enough here....okay after the birthday party today i'm sure i'll have a nice big post for you, K.
In the mean time enjoy a few photos of the girly!

Camping at Jacques Cartier

Here are some pictures i took while we were camping this last week. It was a very relaxing time. Faith had a lot of fun playing. She has decided she does not like fishing. I caught a large mouth bass and she cried and cried when daddy was taking the hook out. She kept saying "daddy put him back". Poor thing.



The shipping channel goes right by the campground, it's so cool to watch the ships, we saw many!





FISHING -









There were tons of baby waterfowl. 3 different duck families and probably 3 different goose families. Faith loved going down to the water to talk to the babies :)


Faith rode her "bike" all around the campground. She also rode in her wagon and her car a lot.





How can you possibly beat this view?

Garage sales...

Today is day #1 of our vacation. John will be home shortly and then we officially do not have to return to work until June 15th.
I am going to pick up some stuff I "pre purchased" from a yard sale yesterday, a Barbie Jeep and a 12" Dora bicycle for Faith bug. I'm super excited to get her more outdoor play stuff, she loves riding her tricycle and i just know she's gonna love her bike too (it has training wheels). It's also community wide garage sales in Carthage, so i hope I can hit a few of those between today and tomorrow and maybe find her some play clothes and other new toys, she's getting bored with her current toys so more would be good. Not to mention more stuff for our camper, garage sales are great places to find that kind of stuff. And besides being thrifty is in my blood, i can't help it. Thanks to my Dad I very early found a love of garage sales, one of my first memories is holding my dad's hand walking up a driveway to a sale :-) Not to mention the memories i have of going with my Grandparents too, Grandma used to let me sit on the "hump" in their old Dodge conversion van, she would feed me cheese crackers and zingers (the ones with the coconut on them), what an awesome Grandma. To this day when i eat zingers i think of her. I didn't know it at the time but my Grandparents used to buy us gifts from garage sales, i guess we didn't know the difference LOL However, one time Grandma bought me a "dress" that was really a maternity top LOL
I'll be sure to post my finds :-)

Dad...

Missing him badly today. His long time friend Larry passed away, we didn't learn of it until yesterday. I guess that death just brought all the emotions flooding back, that and the fact that his burial is monday. Sometimes I just wish I could pick up the phone and call him, i miss talking to him so much. I so wish the last 2 years held better memories than hospitals and all the junk. But i do remember all the really good times and I just wish so badly he could share in them now. I thought of him a lot this weekend camping, silly but what made me think of him most was lugging around wood for our campfire. As a kid we had a wood stove and we always had to bring in wood. My dad had a joke that the until he was 10 he thought his name was "bring wood" LMAO.
Faith is so funny and always doing something so cute, it pains me sometimes that Dad isn't here to enjoy her, when i put her hair in pigtails i think of him. When i was pregnant (before we found out she was a girl) he had a dream of a blond haired girl in pigtails, he was so in love with her, as he was all the kids, it breaks my heart he doesn't get to see them grow up. Oh i know he "sees" them, but i guess the truth is it breaks my heart to not have him here on earth to share with.
Well i need to pull myself together, as much as i'd like to i can't sit in front of the computer crying my eyes out all day.

Camping weekend #1

Was great...even in spite of the rain and wind we had a great time.
I actually didn't take many pictures, i always seemed to forget to grab the camera, duh on my part, but i know our friends did so i'll have to ask them to share. We are leaving Saturday for our next weekend adventure, this time to Cranberry Lake. We are taking Cheyanne with us and are expecting to have a great time!

Tomorrow is the big day...

Our first camping trip begins tomorrow!!
We have been spending a lot of time getting ready. Today I will be packing up the camper stuff. Preparing food. And trying to keep a very excited toddler busy :-)
I'm sure i'll have lots of pictures, oh yeah gotta pack the camera :-)