Going Cheap Friday

First, I am so sorry by the lack of posts, but bear with me.. I will come back more... right now just dealing with stuff and I have had a monster headache/migraine/whatever for like 4 straight days now. So bad poor J is getting up during the night to put a purse over the alarm clock because HOLY CRAP COULD THAT LIKE BE ANY BRIGHTER!!! PHOENIX, QUIT LICKING YOUR FEET, THE NOISE IS KILLING ME! I would blog when the kiddos sleep, but I have been napping too.

Back to the reason for today... saving money!

Ok, so J has been working hard at quitting smoking... and guess what people, he is doing great... he hasn't had a cigarette in days. So proud. Now, he wasn't a big smoker, but he was one.. about 1/2 a pack a day.. about 10 cigarettes a day for those who don't know.

Now he smoked Marlboro Lights. We were buying them at $34.55 a carton.
Here's the breakdown, 10 packs per carton, 20 cigarettes in a pack... $0.17 per cigarette.

Therefore, not smoking, J will save us $620.50 per year. Let's check that, $0.17 per cigarette, 10 cigarettes per day, 365 days per year.
(0.17)*(10)*(365) = $620.50 per year.

Running total: $160.20 for milk, $219.00 for yogurt, $121.68 for bread, $738.40 for diapers, $408.80 for lunchmeat, $620.50 for J cigs = $2,268.58

So so very proud of you J. Keep up the good work babe... tons of people rooting for you.

Going Cheap Friday

Sorry I missed last Friday... :( I am a bad bad blogger.
I hope you all are reading the comments... there are some great ideas in there too!

Ok.. lets talk lunchmeat.
We use on average about 4oz of lunchmeat of any sort a day. I am going to zero in on ham. But what I am going to talk about can work for Turkey, bologna or whatever.

Carl Budding brand - $0.79 for 2oz package = $0.40 an ounce (rounded up)
Schnucks brand think sliced (common sale) - 3, 9oz packs for $7.95, so = $0.29 an ounce.
Schnucks/Oscar Mayer (sale this week) - $3.29 for 16oz pack = $0.21 an ounce.
Kroger brand (common sale) - $2.19 for 10oz pack = $0.22 an ounce

find that large chuncks of ham and have the deli slice it.. they do it for free...
Schnucks/Maple River = 6.52 lbs for 12.97 = $0.12 an ounce. (approx. 1.99 a lb).

there are often times I see stuff on sale for $1.69 a lb, so keep your eyes out.
Lunchmeat can freeze.. just thaw it out with a couple of paper towels and a ziploc bag or tuperware.
So our family would eat a total of 1460 ounces a year.. Carl Budding versus purchasing the large ham and having it sliced is a difference of $408.80.


Running total: $160.20 for milk, $219.00 for yogurt, $121.68 for bread, $738.40 for diapers, 408.80 for lunchmeat = $1648.08

It has been

a little bit since I have blogged... It is because I am draggin' bad. My mood, emotions and physically, I am draggin' so don't expect much. I am dealing with something right now and some resentment that keeps creeping up on me and once I get past it then I will post more I swear.. and sorry I missed last Friday, I promise to have one up for this Friday....

So random stuff...

What happens when your favorite toy gets... *yawn* boring???

You ride it backwards...



We had a blast with all of our weekend guests.. Saturday my brother and friend Trac brought her kiddos over to swim... we had a blast... then on Sunday we had a homegroup hotdog cookout and as always, G and D had a blast with Ry and Julie... G caters to Julie... it is so cute to watch. I do think she will be the first girl my boys fight over.. I mean, she is D's age (a month off) but G just makes sure she has everything and anything she needs. He is crazy about her.


I found this picture of D and Julie about 14 months ago.. how cute..

And here they are today... gettin' big.

Shell's wedding

I finally got pictures of Shell's wedding...
Here are the pics..







CHEERS!

18 months old

So Sunday my widdle bity buddy turned 18 months old and today he has his well baby visit. I figured, what better time to take his 18 month pics... and snap some of G for his "2 1/2 month old" pics.. of course, that don't officially come until next month, but what the heck.

But then my camera was out of batteries... OH THE HORROR.

Oh well, I grabbed our cheap little digital....
G was hammin' it up and even posing a few times..
D was so not into it..

Here are my favorites.. enjoy.

Hello all.. Sorry about a day without post yesterday... we were recooping from the weekend which was great. The boys had a blast. I was exhausted yesterday nursing a headache.
The wedding is beautiful and as soon as I see some pics, I will be sure to include a couple. The bride and groom looked great. The boys had a blast and looked so handsome in their ties. G found some balloons that he carried around with him EVERYWHERE... he was going to take a carriage ride until he couldn't take his balloons... priorities you know. D slow danced with me and when a rockin' song came on, he thought about dancing,.. but too many girls were looking at him, so he got embrassed.

THIS is the boys favorite part of morning Disney shows. They both stop, listen and dance. So funny.

My little bitty baby boy, D, is going to have his 18 month check today. :( I can't believe his next appointment sets him for only going once a year... this is a good thing for D, because he is growing up, but sucks for me... I am losing my babies... they are turning into little boys.:(

Keep looking, I am hoping to put up D's 18month pics up sometime this week. Hopefully will get them taken today.

Hugs to all.

Going Cheap Friday

Diapers...

Now most everyone knows we use cloth diapers.. these to be specific. Now, I bought and have a total of 24 of these. I bought 2 of the 12 packs. That is a total of $385.80.

Now, when we did use disposable, all we ever used (besides what was given to us) were these. Now, lets just take what we would use right now, size 5. That is 160 diapers for $35.99, or $0.22 a diaper. If you use other brands, you will just have to determine your own cost savings.

Ok, I counted, between both boys, I go through on average, 14 diapers a day. (Give or take depending on what they ate the day before). So if I bought disposables and used them everyday, then I am spending $1,124.20 a year on diapers.

So if I use the cloth for just one year alone, I am saving $738.40.

Running total: $160.20 for milk, $219.00 for yogurt, $121.68 for bread, $738.40 for diapers = $1,239.28.

2nd post of the day, but this one deserves its own

Imagine being 26 years old, having already fought breast cancer at 20 years old and beating it after a double mastectomy, chemo and reconstructive surgery. The at 25 getting the awful news that the cancer had returned and metastasized to your lungs, liver and bones. And after a year of recieving that news, you are diagnosed stage IV and the doctors say you had almost another year to live.
26 years old people.. your entire 20's you have been battling cancer.

My friend Shelley has a very close friend, Amy Piazza.


She is the little sister of a girl Shelley and I played softball with in college. Amy is 26 years old and is busy fighting cancer. Shelley is joining in to help fight breast cancer.
Go HERE.
And help out.

Amy, you don't know me, but fight sweetie! We are rooting for you. I know you are fighting hard, and we are going to pray that you overcome this awful disease yet again.

GO HERE! NOW.

this is why

we don't eat momma's world famous (ok, so not WORLD FAMOUS, but they are to the boys..) blueberry smoothie popsicles in the house. and what do we do when we are excited that dada is back in town??

A few more things are going on in our lives... my bro quit his job... doesn't have one lined up. He seems ok with it... and my mom is about 99% sure she will have to have surgery.. that is what the technicians told her, but she won't see the doc until Monday. Depending on what the bloodwork says. Apparently she has extreme carpal tunnel with muscle athropy(shrinkage) in like 1 or 2 fingers. She will find out more next week.
We are heading to Nashvegas for a wedding this weekend. J's cousin is gettin' hitched. It will be fun... I am a little scared though about how the boys are going to act.. I have a feeling it will be like church, we will spend a majority of the time in the hall outside with our loud mouth babies.

I will probably jinx it, BUT

Most everyone knows G eating habits... he has none.. he eats fruit and yogurt... that is it. For months now, there have been times when he will have a plate of food in front of him for dinner and say "Dune".. and take his plate to the sink... not a drop of food... he has been living on the handful of Cheerios, handful of fruit and a yogurt popsicle or 2oz of yogurt for months now.

J has a hard time with this... sometimes I think J's life is scheduled around meals.. if he doesn't eat, he gets headaches and it is like his body starts to go into shock.
I on the otherhand, eat mostly when hungry... and if I ain't hungry all day, I won't eat all day... for me, food is fuel, and my body will tell me when to add it. Of course there are those times when I will eat because "everyone else is"... because who wants to be asked 100 million times "why are you not eating"... So back to G...

We have had the mindset with G, "He won't starve himself.. he will eat when he gets hungry"... I think J actually barters with G for dinner when I am not here, but I don't.. you eat what is in front of you, or you don't eat. You don't have to eat it all, or any if you don't want... And I am sure not going to beg you to eat... don't want to start allowing him to use it as a tool against me years to come...

But but but.. last night, he sat and ate almost all of his food. Me and my parents were blown away... but didn't make a big deal of it. Tonight, ate a whole bowl of food and came and asked for seconds... he didn't eat all, but most of that.

Please please please tell me we are getting past the finicky stage of eating.. please... J could use the stress off his heart that his oldest son is going to waste away to nothing.

Connections and other things...

Well, it looks like there is a possibility of some of my work on my family tree is paying off. I came across a website today, and it looks like he may be my 5th cousin once removed.. or his kids are my 6th cousins. What is so great, is it is through my mom's paternal side. We didn't have a lot of contact with them over the years because of certain family situations, but I found a connection.


This is a picture of my great grandfather as a baby (C.S. in the picture) and his family. How cool is that? Ok, maybe it just excites me. lol
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My dad can't swim and he ain't too fond of water... what can make a man who can't swim and hates water get in a swimming pool? Not his wife, nor his children.. but those grandbabies can... The boys have no idea of the power they possess.


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My mom asked me yesterday if G was really undoing the footrest of the sofa....

Yes... yes he is.

Bare with it

I don't talk much about Mercy and Grace on here. I made that mistake with a previous blog. But with would have been their 4th birthday coming up, I think about them a lot. We usually do a picnic and balloon release for them on the weekend that is closest to their birthdays, but this year, we will be at a wedding in Nashvegas instead. I guess we will just have to do it the following weekend.

I see 2 very close friends that have a 5 and 4 year old and I see the friends those two have become. I often have a hard time watching them and not wonder if, just if, Mercy and Grace would have been close to them too.

It is hard, for me, not to think of them in everyday life. It is hard for me not to correct people when they comment about G being my first born... but why fight it.

They have seem to become easy to forget about in most people's life, but mine I guess. I don't know what to say, but I know that I miss them. I know they are in a better place. I don't know why what happened, happened.. but it is really not for me to know. I also know that what I have in my life, being D and G, I adore and can't imagine giving up for the world.

But even in your life, as wonderful and you know it is, some people won't talk about death. Why is that? Am I missing something? Is it taboo? Why if I bring them up, do people shy away?

So I will say it now and not again until next year..

Happy Early Birthday's Mercy and Grace
We love you dearly, and we miss you tremendously.
And since I didn't have a chance here to sit you on my lap and tell you about Jesus, I hope he has you on his lap telling you about me.

Boys have a ding-a-ling, girls.. well, don't...

While I was changing G's diaper today, he grabbed himself and started jabbering..

G: me, ding ling?
me: yep, that is your ding-a-ling
G: D, ding ling?
me: yep, D has a ding-a-ling
G: Dada, ding ling?
me: yep, Dada has a ding-a-ling
G: Mama, ding ling?
me: Nope.. Mama doesn't have a ding-a-ling.. she is a girl, and girls don't have ding-a-lings.
G: Nana, ding ling?
me: Nope, nana doesn't have a ding-a-ling, she's a girl, and girls don't have ding-a-lings.
G: andaddy, ding-a-ling?
me: Yep, Granddaddy has a ding-a-ling... and this conversation has officially gone too far.
G: NASSY, shooo, poopy.. D poop, me poop, ding ling
me: yep, you got poop on your ding-a-ling.. and we are just getting grosser.
G: shoo, snink.
me: yeah, it stinks.
G: me, ding ling... owy... bunns
me: Baby, I know your ding-a-ling burns.. I will fix it.. but I am telling you now, if you come to me when you are teenager and tell me that.. I might not have the same reaction.

*I have officially figured it out.. to get out of a conversation that is totally gross and I don't want to be in, say something that he doesn't understand.. hehehehe.
See.. Even Phoenix found the conversation too much.

Going Cheap Friday

Let's discuss bread.
First, don't buy bread at the grocery store!! You will see why in my explaination of prices. And if you have the room and are comfortable with it, freeze loaves for the future.

Ok, down to the nitty gritty. We eat about a loaf a week in this house. So, about 52 loaves a year.
Wonderbread, Kroger = $2.59
Kroger brand, at Kroger on a typical sale = $1.00
Shnucks brand, at Schnucks on a typical sale = $1.00
Sunbeam bread store, average price = $0.75
Sunbeam bread store, sale price = 4 loaves, for $1.00, so $0.25
*You have to watch them to find the sale.

So if we switched from the Wonderbread at Kroger to the sale priced Sunbeam store, then we are saving a total of $121.68.

Keep your eye on bread stores! More than likely, grocery stores are buying from them in some form or fashion, makes sense they would be more expensive.

Running total: $160.20 for milk, $219.00 for yogurt, $121.68 for bread = $500.88

Give me some ideas before the weekend, and I will research it for next Friday.