Plans

As pastor said on Sunday, we are all exiles ... living in a place that is not our home.  Our home is in heaven.  But while we are here, in these circumstances, we are commanded to live!  So, let's live, and live life abundantly!!  Have a blessed weekend and enjoy your families!

Thoughts on Thursday

This week has been so full of re-organizing and planning that not much else has happened!

Dawson and Kyndal had finals this week, put off because of the ice storm the end of December. I think things went well.  Grades looked pretty good .. although I'm not convinced that a full effort was given.  We'll be working on that this semester, since we don't have so much extra curricular activity to deal with.

Dawson had his second Court of Honor on Monday.  He received his Composite Materials badge, Reptile/Amphibian badge and Hale Swimming pin.

I've just been getting caught up on housework that I have been needing to do FOREVER !!  I'm talking cleaning out refrigerators, freezers, closets, dressers, toy buckets, etc.  Those things have been much overdo and I feel a great sense of accomplishment at getting it done.  And did you know that if you clean out fridges and freezers that you can find many full meals that you didn't know you had?  That's what I did .. about 7 or 8, to be exact.  I'll be using those next week since I'm wanting to really tighten up so as not to go over the $62 I have left for this half of the month. Couple that with starting back on my early-morning exercise routine, I'm kind of tired and looking forward to a day of mostly rest tomorrow.

Rick's been gone out of state the last couple of days.  And Kyndal has cheered at some games a couple of nights.  Eli's just had to get back into his schedule.  He is annoyed, however, that at pre-k they are now referring to the kids by their last names so they can learn them and spell them.  He said, "I don't want to be a last name .. I need to be E-L-I Eli."  Little Miss Brynne got back to preschool, as well, where the highlight of their day, now, is walking over to the adjoining house to feed Harry the Horse.  She brought celery to feed him today.

This weekend we have NOTHING planned and next week looks pretty much the same as this week.  Oh, how I love January!  But, then I need to start getting organized for our trip to Las Vegas on the 21st.  I haven't really even started planning that, but then again I pretty much plan to just lay around the hotel room most of the time while Rick's at his class.

What I Got For the Money Wednesday

I follow, closely, a blog called Grocery Cart Challenge.  Gayle is awesome and so inspiring!  She makes every attempt to feed her family for $60 a week, without coupons.  She also allows other women to post their shopping successes and failures on her site and I have learned some awesome tips from looking at those.  She encourages us to take a photo of what we bought, thus the photo.  This picture does not include the 4 gallons of milk and 2 loaves of bread I bought later in the day.  At first I felt kindof dorky, but it does put my money spent into perspective for me.  Check out Gayle's site if you are serious about this budgeting thing!

One thing that posting this picture did was take me back about 6 or 7 years ago when I quit work. Groceries were SO much cheaper then!  I remember taking Rick with me once.  We ran into a friend of ours at Walmart and she had a full cart and spent around $250.  We also had an overflowing cart (and I mean overflowing) and only spent $107.  I will never forget it because Rick was so impressed with my frugal shopping.  After I spent my budgeted amount yesterday (plus some ...), I looked in my cart and it was about 1/3 full.  That really puts into perspective the high cost of groceries!!

It also showed me, when comparing it other women's pictures, is that we still buy a lot of convenience foods!  I am trying to improve on this.  I do cook the majority of our evening meals from scratch, but the rest is more convenient, I have to admit.  And, we like what we like ... we are spoiled with our snacks!  Change takes time, however, and I don't want to overly stress out my family!! :)  I mean, really, taking away Eli's iced honey buns or Brynne's doritos might do them in!!  And to decrease our milk intake ... whoa!  And we are picky about our milk brand!

Here is a breakdown of what I bought:

ALDI 

tater tots    $1.59

frozen broccoli    .99

frozen multi-grain waffles    1.29

cake mix    .79

cream of mushroom soup    .49

3 lbs granny smith apples   1.99

Total    $7.75

WALMART

96 oz apple juice    $2.27

pizza sauce    1.00

grape jelly    .88

cheddar cheese soup    1.42

spaghettios    .88

(2) mac and cheese    1.48

bulk rice    .88

brownie mix    .86

2 cups shredded mozzarella    2.16

2 cups shredded cheddar    2.16

baby wipes    1.44

6 rolls toilet paper    1.27

paper towels    1.00

Lil Critter Immune C gummies    5.49

pint blueberries    2.98

(3) roma tomatoes    .73

6 pk breakfast drinks    5.47

4 pk lightbulbs    .96

(2) cereal    4.42 (coupon)

frozen mozz sticks    .75 (coupon)

2% velveeta block    3.84 (coupon)

(2) french loaves    3.72 (coupon)

64 oz fabric softener    2.00 (ad match)

junior lunchable    1.48 (ad match)

peanut butter    .90 (ad match)

(2) avocados    1.18 (ad match)

2.25 lbs. 80% lean ground beef    4.93 (ad match)

Total    $61.63

BRAUM'S

(4) gallons 2% milk    $14.76

Total    $16.02

WONDER BREAD STORE

loaf whole grain bread    $1.39

8 pk hamburger buns    .69

Total    $2.26

Grand Total Spent:    $87.66    ...    that's $12.66 over goal.  But, that's better than last week, even if only by $1.00!

To see where these items will be used in my weekly meal planning, look here.

One last thing.  It occurred to me in the last couple of days, that there are actually 5 weeks in January, not 4.  My goal is $75 a week times 5 this month.  That's $375 if I stick to my goal, which I haven't met yet since I started all this.  I have a budget of $500 per month available (although my goal is $300). When I looked in my expandable yesterday, after I had done my shopping, I had $62 left for shopping next Tuesday for that following week. We don't get paid until Thursday the 15th, so that's all that's left.  So, I have two choices:  I can only shop for a couple of days and go back on Thursday to finish; or, I can really tighten my belt and shop for a whole week with only $62.  The competitive side of me is choosing the second option.  But, I am going to go through our freezers and pantry to inventory what we already have, and cook from that.  I know we have tons of food that can be used, so I am confident we will stay under our goal amount.

The Magnificant Calendar !!!

It all started a couple of months ago when I started a search for a "workable" wall calendar for our family. I have kept a wall calendar as long as I can remember. I've tried planners, things to carry in my purse, etc., but nothing works for me like a wall calender. I've seen several different kinds, most of which contained most of what I needed, but not all. On my calendar I put our dinners, appointments, activities, trips, and any important notes for the kids. It gets MESSY!

Probably the closest calendar I found to what I wanted was the one made by MomAgenda. But even it wasn't the right size and didn't have a designated spot for my meal planning.

SO ... it's the moment you've all been waiting for ....

HERE is the calendar my brilliant, darling husband created for me:


We had to take a picture of it because Rick didn't get it saved to the right file. But, I couldn't wait for the reveal, so I took a closeup so you can see details:



Do you see how amazing it is? It has the month (obviously) and he even added a little inspiration at the top based on my personal motto, "Peace is mine in 2009" (Sweet.) It has room to calendar activities, and five spaces. The top one is for our dinner plan and the other four are for each kid. This is for notes about special things they might need at school that day, or money that might be due for something, or if they were sick and didn't go to school, things that like.

I'm sure you think I'm a dork ... but I am so excited!!!

You too can have one of these calendars for a nominal fee!! :) Or you can just live in a perpetual state of jealousy!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook for this week

If you know me at all, you probably see this posting once a week and think, "What in the world is Nicole Taulman doing calling herself a 'simple woman'?"  A moment of explanation.  I happened upon this blog one day and it felt so peaceful to just take a few minutes and express how I was feeling on these topics.  I am not a simple woman, by any means, but for just a short period of time once a week, I am able to sit and let the simple side of me come out.  Besides, out of this blog I have met a wonderful friend from Georgia (shout out to you, April ... )!  I believe, without a doubt, that God brought us together for many specific purposes.  So, bear with me when you read these posts every week ... or join in if you think it might be fun !!!  Until then, here is ...

FOR TODAY ~ JANUARY 6, 2009

Outside my window... it's really cold, but the most beautiful red cardinals are frolicking.

I am thinking ... how excited I am about the changes my family has experienced of late.

I am thankful for... a healthy and happy family and a God that continues to move and change us.

From the kitchen... my coffee pot beckons.

I am wearing... a pink, long-sleeved hoodie shirt, jeans and my potato shoes.

I am creating... a frugal lifestyle.

I am going... to the grocery store today.

I am reading... Sister's Choice by Emilie Richards.

I am hoping... I stay under $60 on my grocery trip today.

I am hearing... the heater in the living room, "Max and Ruby" on the television and Eli playing with his Star Wars toys.

Around the house... it is dark and dreary.

One of my favorite things... is working on the organization of my home so I can have more time to enjoy it and my family.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... Rick will be out of town on a business trip, so we will be laying as low as possible. But tonight we'll all curl up on the couch and watch The Biggest Loser together.

Here is picture thought I am sharing ...

This is my baby boy, Eli, and my baby brother, Tim, on a nature walk at my parents' home in Missouri over Christmas break.  Tim and Shawna, his wife, life a simple life and take it to heart ... in ways, I admire them for that.  To see my two baby boys together really warmed my heart ... (the girls were out there too, they had just already hit the swingset by this point !!)

To be inspired by other Simple Women, visit here.

We Do Have a Life, other than grocery shopping!!

I realized, last night, that I haven't blogged lately about the other things we do in our lives besides grocery shopping ... like live.

Let's see. The day after Christmas we headed to Missouri, bright and early, to stay with mom and dad for a few days. The older two kids immediately went with their dad, and the rest of us launched into the annual Extended Family Christmas Dinner Marathon. One year we counted all of the different people who had been in and our of my parents' house in a three-day period. I believe it was 101.

We started on Saturday with a trip out of town to visit my Grandma Joan and other family. Here are most of the grandkids and great-grandkids with Grandma. We're missing a few, but this is a lot at one time.

Jordan, Eli, me, Grandma, Chandler, Hayden, Rylee, Kristen, Brynne, Ryan

Then on Saturday night we had the Armstrong dinner. It's always alot of fun, because they are a WILD family! Our Cousin Charla, aka "Sarge", is in charge of the festivities. She likes to think she is grooming me to take over someday. In all seriousness, I probably do take after her quite a bit in my personality. If that's the case, then I also take after her mom, Mildred, who is the classiest mid-80's woman I know!!

Here is a picture of many of my favorite women. The three ladies in the front are all in their mid-80's. The other two are Charla and my favorite aunt, Rhonda.

Aunt Louise, Aunt Mildred, Charla, Rhonda, my Grandma Alice

Here we are at the Armstrong dinner playing "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" and "Scattergories". Cousin Charla always has an enthralling game planned for us. You are ordered to play!!!

On Sunday we had the O'Neal family dinner. By the end of this day, Brynne and I were just tired!!

Seriously, we were asleep here!!

One of the highlights of our trip home, especially the kids', was to get to see my brother, Tim, and his wife, Shawna. We don't get to see them very often because they live in Portland, Oregon, and even when they are here they have to spread themselves between lots of family and friends. It's always so great to "catch up" though.


On Monday we just did some serious vegging to get ready for our return trip to Oklahoma on Tuesday. We did go bowling as a family on Monday night, which has now become a family tradition. My goal was to beat Rylee .. it didn't happen. She beat me two games to one .. however, technically, I beat her in total score !!! I'll give her the win, though!!


Then on Tuesday we headed home .. back to life.

We arrived to a home with no signs of Christmas (which is always so nice of Rick to do when we head to Missouri after Christmas!!) The decorations were away and life was "back to normal". Well, not quite yet. We still had another week home for Christmas break.

For the life of me I can't think of a thing we did this whole past week! Isn't that a change???

We did go bowling with the kids on New Year's Eve, with our church youth group. Then the older two continued their party, and Rick and I went to the Breese's for their annual party. This year, however, we had the kids. We got there at 9:00 ... Eli was ready to go home by 9:15 ... and we left, maybe, around 9:45. Rick stayed so that he could pick Dawson up from his party. I went to bed by about 10:30 ... Happy New Year!!!

Of course I took tons of pictures on New Year's Eve, but not one really represented the whole night. I did think this one was kindof funny, and typical!!

One of Brynne's many ways of watching to see if her ball managed
to knock down even one pin!

On New Year's Day we cleaned up the house a bit and then spent a quiet day with the Thomasons eating chili and cookies. The adults SAT on the couch and watched football and talked while the kids enjoyed the nice day outside. It was a great way to start the new year!

On this past Friday night we all sat together, as a family, and watched one of the Star Wars movies. We never all sit together to watch anything ... we're just so diverse in our ages and tastes. But, it was really nice to be getting to a place in our lives where we can do that. I look forward to more nights like that, even game nights, etc.

On Saturday night Rick and I took off for a while and went to Brookside for dinner on the patio at The Garlic Rose. We were hopping Tommy Trippelhorn would be playing his piano, but no such luck. But, the dinner was nice and it's a neat place with lots of atmosphere. It was nice to be able to sit and talk and eat with no interruptions or noise! The kids begged us to stay gone longer, although we didn't have anything to do, so we browsed through Target and Kirkland's. We were still home by 8 p.m. ... LAME, I know. But, that's what you do when you're on a strict budget!!

And, it all comes full circle ... back to the budget ....

Menu Plan Monday

It's that day of the week again ... the day you jump up at the crack of dawn to see what enthralling meals the Taulmans will be eating this week !!!  Even if you really don't care, here they are:

Monday ~ Turkey tetrazzini (from last week's posting)

Tuesday ~ Taco salad

Wednesday ~ "Fend for Yourself", or "FFY" ~ I don't cook on Wednesdays.  

I also don't care what you eat as long as I don't have to fix it!!!  

With church, there's just no time for anything organized.

Thursday ~ Soupburgers and tater tots

Friday ~ Cheesy broccoli, rice and turkey (with leftover Christmas turkey)

Saturday ~ Chicken strips and homemade mac and cheese

Sunday ~ Pizza bread

Recipe for Soupburgers, due to popular request:  Just brown as much ground beef as you want, stir in a can of cheddar cheese soup, ketchup and onion powder to taste.  It's kindof like sloppy joes, but cheesy.  Enjoy!

For other great meal plans, visit here.

If you find you would like a recipe (for something that actually requires one), then comment and I'll get it to you.

There is something else I do, again that you may totally not care about, but I thought I would throw it out.  It has absolutely nothing to do with food, and I may have mentioned it before.  But, I hate to clean house .. HATE IT!!  So, I have a "plan" to do a little everyday so it doesn't overwhelm me:

Monday ~ Mounds of Laundry and Mop It Monday

Tuesday ~ Toilets Tuesday

Wednesday ~ Wipe it and Water Plants Wednesday (this is cleaning any surface)

Thursday ~ Tidy Up Thursday (or catch up, more like it)

Friday ~ Finish Laundry and Floors Friday

What I Got .. cont.

I went to get milk and bread today for this:

BRAUM'S

(2) gallon 2 % milk  7.38

16 slices american cheese  2.09

Total      $10.28

WONDER/HOSTESS BREAD STORE

1 loaf white bread    .89

1 loaf whole grain  1.39

Total     $  2.47

Grand total with Grocery Trip $ 88.76

Not exactly what I was shooting for ... but not bad for a first attempt.  I was officially $13.76 over budget.  Even if I was able to accomplish this every week, though, I would still save about $1400 a year ... that's about $115 a month.  Not bad, but I plan to improve on this!!!

Motto

"Peace is mine ... in 2009"

Don't know if the family will adopt this as our official motto .. I'm sure they prefer "Living Fine in 2009".  But, for me, peace may be what "living fine" is all about.

What I Got For the Money Wednesday (but it's Thursday)

I did my first grocery trip under the new budget yesterday.  I have always done my grocery shopping every two weeks (which was really a daunting task).  I thought it helped to keep me out of the store as much as possible.  But what I began to find is that I started to buy extra "just in case" and would get off my list.  

Many of the bloggers I have been following do their shopping once per week, so I decided to give it a try.  I planned my meals for a week, included all household items I need for this week, let each of the kids pick one snack for just them for that week, included "staples" of goldfish, apples, the norm.  I had first gone through the sales circulars for Reasor's, Warehouse Market, Walgreens and Aldi.  Next week I need to remember to include Target.  I tried to plan some meals around them.  Then I went back through them after my list was done to look for sales on other things I had added to my list.  I didn't use any coupons this time, because I didn't have any and had forgotten to get a Sunday paper.  I'm not a big coupon-user, though, so that's something I'll have to work on more.  My experience, so far, is that women tend to buy things just because they can get them cheap, even if they don't appear to need them.  My budget is so tight that I can't do that.

Over the past couple of years I have had a grocery budget of $250, twice a month.  I am now attempting $75 a week.  If I am successful I will be able to save about $200 a month.  As of now I am still giving myself the full $250 in cash twice a month, but am shopping with a $75 per week limit.  It's going to take some refining and I don't want to overly stress myself out.

Most of the bloggers that I follow that do this come back from the store and take a picture of all they bought, then break it down.  I do think I will start doing that next week because it's interesting to me to actually see it.  But yesterday I ran in the door and needed to unload groceries, eat and get everybody ready to get out the door for our New Year's Eve plans.  I just didn't have the time.

But here is the breakdown.  I didn't do too bad, but I really wanted to stay at $60 so I could still get milk bought under the $75 limit.  I didn't accomplish that.

ALDI

Chocolate frosting 1.09

Artificial sweetner 1.19

Devil's food cake mix   .79

Tortilla chips   .99

Chili season mix   .33

Pizza rolls 2.49

(2) Tomato sauce   .50

Spaghettios   .79

Stewed tomatoes   .49

Bran cereal 1.49

Syrup 1.39

Cream mushroom   .49

Total     $13.09

WAL-MART

Bulk goldfish 5.98

Bag cereal 2.56

Chips Deluxe cookies  2.50 (Dawson's snack)

12 ct Doritos 3.50 (Brynne's snack)

Tomato soup   .60

Ranch beans   .68

Diced tomatoes   .48

Sugar free koolaid 1.76

Apple juice 2.27

(2) frozen pizzas 2.00

Waffles 1.25

Junior lunchables 1.94 

Bulk spaghetti   .92

Oatmeal cream pies 1.26  (Eli's snack)

Fruit snacks 3.88 (Kyndal's snack)

Hamburger helper 2.00

Hamburger (5lbs) 7.50

2-pk deoderant 2.94

bell pepper   .50

(3) Lean Cuisine 5.00

18 lb Cat Chow 8.49

Total     $62.96

Grand Total Spent  $76.01

This does not include milk or cheese (we are spoiled with Brahm's), so I think I will probably spend another $10 to get us through the next week.  That would have me spending $86-90 instead of $125 which is still a $35-40 savings.  If I just did that every week I would save $140-$160 a month.  Awesome!!