Homekeeping on Hazel Ave

October Homekeeping

Well here we are in a brand new month.  We finished up the month of September with a good ole fashioned stomach virus.  Bluck!  Our poor home reflects the fact that Momma has not been well.  Sooooo I made the executive decision to postpone school today until this house is in order.  DH also asked me to take my van in to see the brake man.  Its making a horrible noise.  So our morning will be very full scrambling to get this house in shape and then getting us out the door to see the Meineke man.  I made myself a list this morning.  I like being able to mark things off my list.  So lists are a good, fun thing for me. 

I hope you all have a productive day in the Lord. 

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again, Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Phillipians 4: 4..that may be verse 5 too...not sure. 

September bills are paid

And I already have the money to pay the grocery part of our CC bill. 

DH desperately needs new tires.  He's been researching brands and pricing them online for a couple of days.  I thought at first that he had his heart set on a certain brand but he seems to be finding better deals with another brand.  Yay DH!  Its amazing what the Lord does on all on His own without MY help.....snicker. 

October's bills will be rolling in the next couple of weeks so I will have a good look at how much we can pay on our debt.  The Lord seems to keep the reigns juuuuust tight enough that we don't feel that we can just "go shopping" for the heck of it.  We WANT to be OUT OF DEBT and have enough saved for things that come up....ie. new tires, brake jobs, doctor visits, dental work.  It will happen.  We're on the right track.

Can we have a DO OVER?! lol

The baby's turn

Yep, she's sick

Just cost us $20 to hear that...lol  And $10 for her meds.  I am thanking God for His provision.  That lil visit a year ago would have cost us no less than $150. 

I bought things I didn't NEED at walmart...well and walgreens too for that matter.  I'm tellin' ya....just staying OUT of stores is the key.  LOL

envelopes and doctor's appt

ugh ugh UGH...my dd has developed a high fever.  She has an appt with the doc at 9.  I'm so thankful we have a good doctor to take her to and for medical insurance with a good co-pay.  I know she'll be feeling better in a day or two with some antibiotics in her.

As for the envelopes.  I'm going to start my "private stash" envelope on Thursday. 

We are runninng low on milk and we'll need diapers by about Thursday probably.  Hmmm might just keep these BORROWED cloth diapers a bit longer...hehe .  My friend M loaned me some of all sorts to TRY.  She is so wise.  She advised me to try them out before I jumped off and bought my own.  I gotta say....I LIKE my huggies supreme...lol  We've been using Parent's Choice the walmart brand but at the moment ds is between sizes.  The huggies supreme are just the right fit.  He doesn't mind the spoiling...lol 

DH is headed to bed so I better follow suit. 

$ envelope update

Well.  If more cold medicine doesn't have to come out of my grocery money....I have $7.41 left.  If it DOES need to come out of that....then I'm in the hole $4.01.  I knew the dust ruffle was going to be a need.  I had cash for that.  DH is at the dentist right now....that will have to be charged on our cc.  sigh. 

I guess I should let you know that I generally get $20 for my wallet each week.  It is rarely spent on ME.  It usually gets sucked up in groceries or icees and the like.  BUT ...now that I have $25 for extra grocery money I'm getting to use my $20 for other things.  I think maybe a private cash envelope is in order.  The grocery envelope is working pretty good. 

Out of my 20 this week I bought a package of tshirts for my baby and a pj pattern for him. 

Proverbs 31: 10-31

 10 ^[c] A wife of noble character who can find?
       She is worth far more than rubies.

 11 Her husband has full confidence in her
       and lacks nothing of value.

 12 She brings him good, not harm,
       all the days of her life.

 13 She selects wool and flax
       and works with eager hands.

 14 She is like the merchant ships,
       bringing her food from afar.

 15 She gets up while it is still dark;
       she provides food for her family
       and portions for her servant girls.

 16 She considers a field and buys it;
       out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

 17 She sets about her work vigorously;
       her arms are strong for her tasks.

 18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
       and her lamp does not go out at night.

 19 In her hand she holds the distaff
       and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

 20 She opens her arms to the poor
       and extends her hands to the needy.

 21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
       for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

 22 She makes coverings for her bed;
       she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
       where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

 24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
       and supplies the merchants with sashes.

 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
       she can laugh at the days to come.

 26 She speaks with wisdom,
       and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

 27 She watches over the affairs of her household
       and does not eat the bread of idleness.

 28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
       her husband also, and he praises her:

 29 "Many women do noble things,
       but you surpass them all."

 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
       but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

 31 Give her the reward she has earned,
       and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

This is such a great passage. 

Can I have a shout Hallelujah?!!!

Good people but OUCH!

The folks that own the Meineke shop here are VERY nice people.  The kind you can REALLY trust.  We weren't prepared though for the cost of repairing dh's brakes.  DH is working a little overtime this weekend so I will do my BEST to keep that money aside to pay the CC bill for the brake job.

Spent money for 2 gallons of milk and a thing of bake at home cinnamon rolls ( a treat).  I have $17.26 left.  Looks like I DO need more lunch meat for next week AND some more meds for dh and me.  I should have plenty of money though.  :o)

Hitching a ride with the Meineke man

DH has my van again today.  He decided last night after tearing into his brakes that he wasn't quite confident enough to do the job so he left it at the Meineke place.  DH said M would call when it was finished and they'd come pick me up so I could pay them and get the truck.  Sooooo I'll be headed to town later.  I plan to buy 2 gallons of milk and a can of wax beans (bluck, but DH requested them)  I will probably make some pudding or a cream pie with our leftover milk that expires today.  DH LOVES my brown sugar pudding in his lunch.  A cold chocolate creme pie is already on the menu for today.  My dd is thrilled that tonight is HER meal (she planned it).  Tacos and chocolate creme pie.

While in town I also plan to run by Target to buy the baby two new pacifiers and a dust ruffle for dd's bed.  We've been making do with an OLD dust ruffle for several years.  It finally gave out early last week. 

OH!  Today is payday.  I deducted $100 from my balance with a note (-$100 for groceries on the CC).  The last bill of the month will be paid out of next week's check. (hoping to pay $250 on the baby's medical bill)   Then we'll have the 21st and 28th to save for next month's bills.  I've decided that whatever cash is left from my weekly $25 will go into a stash for NEXT month's stock up.

One more thing.  As soon as my cool whip container is empty I'm going to turn it into my soup container.  I'm planning to keep it in the freezer and throw in any leftover vegetables and ground meat.  At the end of the month we might have a tasty soup meal!

Gonna go make myself  a Grocery $ envelope so I can keep it separate.

Have a great day!

My $25 thing

well seeing as how this is week one of the challenge and I start my weeks on Thursday to coincide with payday I'm  not sure I actually GOT a $25 allowance for the week.  We had to buy two kinds of cold medicine this week due to 4 of us being sick.  So IF I had a $25 allowance I spent right at $10 of it on medicine.  Other than that...I haven't spent any.  DH spent some at Lowe's this weekend to help with the bench making....sand paper and paint.  When I got ready to paint though the Lord laid my hand on an unopened quart of white paint.  Exactly what I needed for the bench!!!  So while I was in town yesterday my son returned it to Lowe's for me.  So that new bench for my friend only cost a few dollars.   I love to        re-purpose stuff. DH also had to spend more last night.  His brakes are making a horrible noise!  He got the stuff to repair them last night.  He took my van to work today ....noooo temptation for me to go spending while I'm afoot...hehehe  He'll fix his brakes tonight after work. 

I need to look at my menu / supply but I think with the exception of milk and MAYBE lunch meat...we're pretty set.

Summer cold woes

Well 4 of the 5 of us have come down with another summer cold.  We are just having a tough time staying well.  We had to buy 2 different kinds of medicine.  I guess that counts as part of our $25 for the week. 

She loved the bench! 

Baby is fussing..must go.

Labor Day

well true to its name...I've been laboring allll day and NO, I don't mean laboring with a baby..lol  Been workin!  My dh made a bench for my friend's dining table.  She asked me last week if I knew where to get a good bench as one of her chairs was broken and with the addition of a son to the family they'd need more seating anyway.  She remembered that I am married to a carpenter ....fast forward a bit....I went to her house and noticed she had a handmade bookshelf throw in her trash.  It was huge!  Her girls used to have it over the head of their bed.  Well I can't pass up good TRASH! So I asked if she minded.  She didn't.  So dh and I went the next day to bring it home.  Fast forward...it struck me that he could make a bench out of this bookshelf!!!  He was tickled with the idea of surprising her with a new bench out of the girls' old shelf so he got busy and made it.  We finished it this morning and we'll surprise her with it tonight when we go to their house for dinner.  We love to make things out of reclaimed lumber.  I hope she'll be tickled with it.  Even if she only wants to use it for a little while it'll be worth the surprise. 

All is going well with the no buying.  I made blueberry buckle to take tonight.  I have sugar cookie dough chilling  to make birthday cookies for our boys' 1st birthday party tomorrow.  Her son was born 5 days before mine....they're almost twins...hehe

Best laid plans gone bad

Well I went grocery shopping today.  We shopped for the WHOLE month.  Let me just say it was a JOB.  It took us nearly 2 hours!!!!?  And sorry to say....we charged 2/3 of it.  $346.47 I believe was the total.  I paid $100 cash.  I HAD 60 more but we had spent it earlier at Sam's club. (all stuff on our list)  I know we'll need a few more things along the way but we're pretty set.  So for the next three weeks we'll be writing a check to our charge card so that we won't be paying any interest.  If you are gasping then just click the X and be on your way.  lol.  Life is too short. 

I will be doing my best to make the most of what God has provided for us.  Its going to be fun at the end of the month.  I can't wait to see if I've stretched things so far that we have several DAYS of meals leftover by then.  We'll see !

Sorry Master Card....

To charge or Not to charge...THAT is the question.

A little background.

My husband and I committed to getting OUT Of debt last year. (We could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel so that encouraged our making the commitment) We got the credit card paid off, the truck note and the van note.  Then along came little blessing (our soon to be One year old).  My husband's job at the time didn't offer medical insurance so we had to pay cash for the c-section etc.  Short version...we still owe $3500.  New job...with insurance now  but it takes a HUGE bite out of our check each week.  So our plan to repay the 3500 hasn't worked out quite the way we thought it might.  We have a little CC debt right now too due to my husband dental work.  The weather has had an effect on dh's hours as well...Not as many as we need to stay ahead.   Our "cushion" has gotten used up so we are living check to check again.  So with the grocery challenge (my name for it) I plan to buy for a whole month.  I took another look at my list and realized...we won't have enough money to buy it all at once this month.  So I wondered......hmmm, should I charge it OR do the challenge week by week buying ONLY what we need for the week.  IF I charge it I can save the money out of the paycheck each week to pay the CC bill when it arrives. That's not a problem.  Although as I'm typing this a little voice is whispering "but you are opening a door for satan to keep you in bondage (debt)"....hmmm.  He COULD tempt us to use the money for something else then we'd be stuck with that grocery bill PLUS interest...hmmmmm.  Its not looking too good for ya Master Card.  Still not 100% sure what we'll do. I'd rather NOT charge another THING. 

So I leave this post with the same question...lol.....to charge or not to charge.

Clearing out to stock up

I am trying to use up what I have to eat around here BEFORE I do the big stock up for September.  DH informed me he would be home for 4 days this holiday weekend to which I replied...."are they trying to put us in the POOR house?!"  We're already THERE btw at present.  No really by our own doing this time.  THIS time...LOL  DH is in industrial construction therefore when it rains....he generally has to come home.  We've had alot of rain in the last month and a half and not enough overtime to make up the difference plus medical and dental bills we weren't really planning to have lately.  BUT God is good and He hasn't let us starve yet.  snicker.  I will admit my response to DH was NOT honoring to the Lord.  I am ashamed that I reacted this way and will speak to DH tonight, asking his forgiveness.  I can only imagine how he felt when I blurted out what I did.   ANYWAY..back to why I actually started this post.  Although I'm trying to clear out the Lord brought a great deal before me yesterday so I took it.  With the store coupons our local store prints out with their receipt I bought a can of green beans, sack of flour, bag of sugar and a 2L pepsi for $2.30.  Pretty cool huh!  I can make ALOT with that flour and sugar!

oops...gotta run for now  Chore time. 

Ok, I'm back from chore time and also have the baby down for a nap so I can get back to why I posted about DH being off this weekend.  With him HOME...that means, Lord willing, I can do my shopping without the kids in tow.   What a treat!  Don't get me wrong.  I love my kids and on most days like em pretty good but getting to shop without them will be sooo nice. (well until I have to load all my stuff onto the conveyor and shlep it to the car....ok, so maybe I'll take the strongest one with me...lol)  While the baby is napping I'll take an inventory of "What's Left" and see what I can make with it.  I'll be counting my $2.30 items as part of the stock up..not the leftovers.

Ok, I'm off to KEEP My Home! 

The Great Grocery Challenge

I heard about a challenge a friend of mine is taking to not shop for a month.  Maybe I should rephrase that.  She's going to shop once a month for the big bill of groceries then try not to spend more than $30 a week on fresh stuff.  I'm not generally the challenge type of gal as I like to do things in my own way...and what pioneering woman doesn't...but I thought I would give this a shot.  It will at least keep me from waging my soon to be 1 year lil surprise blessing shopping with me every week.  Its been suggested that my weekly spending should be kept to $25 since I have 5 members in this family.  I suppose I'll go with that.   I live on the Texas Gulf coast so evacuations can be part of our lives around here.  I hope I don't buy a month's worth of food and have to leave it this year.  I had just bought a huge bill of groceries the week we had to evacuate for Rita......and no, we hadn't had enough experience to know to clean out the refrigerator!  We had never had to stay away from home so long in the past.  But oh well, lesson learned.  Anyway.  I'm working on my grocery list.  I asked my family to help with the meal planning.  They each got to list 7 meals and 2 desserts that sounded good to them.  It was a GREAT idea I must say.   Even my dh got into it.  I'll go shopping this weekend and let ya know how it goes.  Its tough to try to think of EVERYTHING ya might need in a month. 

Its kinda fun though

Tractors and barns and gardens oh my!

 I just thought I should clarify that I do not have a tractor OR a garden or a red barn for that matter but I really really really liked this background.  I'd LIKE to have a red barn...especially one that had a shower on the outside.  Maybe one day I'll have a garden but for now water is WAY too expensive and the tractor...well living on less than an acre...we don't have much use for one but they sure are neat

I'm a country girl at heart.  I like wide open space...room to romp around but for now God has me here.  I'm enjoying making this our home and honoring the Lord through it all. (well, doing my best to honor Him...it doesn't always come out right...hehe)

ps...I don't have sheep either...lol