How Long Should You Store Hand Me Downs?

This question is on my mind again this week.  With the girls, it’s not really an issue.  Colleena is petite, and Lily is average, so even though there are three years between the girls, there is only one size in between them.  Shirts generally go straight from one to the other, and I have one diaper box of pants in their closet. ( Have I mentioned how much I LOVE diaper boxes for storage?!)

Now… the boys… There are 7 years in between my boys, and although Bremen is bigger at weigh ins than Baden was at the same age, and even though I just broke out the size 24 month t shirts for an 8 month old, he isn’t likely to make up THAT much ground! ( yes, seriously.. he is almost 25 pounds, so while he isn’t tall enough to need the 24 months/size 2 stuff, he needs them for width. hahah!  He could probably make due with 18 months stuff, but I don’t have much left, and I do have a lot of that next size, so I figured I’d move him up a bit early and things could be a tad bit big)  When we weren’t sure if we wanted to have more than two kids, I pared down the baby clothes, figuring there was no sense in keeping boxes and boxes of clothes, not to mention the fact that there weren’t that many clothes to hand down from Baden, he wrecked most of them.  I had to buy new ( used) boy clothes after Bremen was born, since I hadn’t kept enough to avoid having to buy more.

And then, we had two more kids, hahah!  Right now, girls clothes can go as soon as Lily out grows them.  Baby toys, seats, swings and the like are leaving as soon as Bremen is too big for them ( he weighted out of these types of items!). I have been keeping, boxing and labeling boys clothes in each size as my oldest, Baden out grew them.  I tried to keep mostly things that are timeless, selling or giving away items with “in” characters or styles that were likely to be dated too soon.

Besides my own in house generated hand me downs, I recently got several huge rubbermaid containers full from a mom with two boys and way better taste in clothes than me.  I know her mom and she just wanted them out of her house, so she boxed them all up and her mom brought them over.  Everything two kids could wear in sizes 18 months to 5.  Gorgeous, really cool clothes.  I keep them in that crawl space behind my wall over the stairs where we have our tv mounted.  Today, as we were emptying that space to do some work up there, the kids were playing in there having a great time, and I started wondering… should I really be keeping all these clothes?

Big items seem like a no brainer to me.  Snow suits, winter boots, shoes… all have large bins in my garage and are worth saving.  What do you think about the hand me downs?  How much is worth storing in boxes for up to seven years? How much work re-sorting, re-organizing and moving around these boxes is worth it? What will still be good?  I have noticed that some of Baden’s old outfits that I pulled out of bins smelled old even after I washed them for Bremen.  Sometimes shirts with that plasticy printing are all stuck together and gummy after sitting in a bin.  Elastics in socks seem to be brittle.  Should I put a time limit on it, as in I will keep what he could wear in the next two years?  I could sell or give away the rest.  Are boys jeans that manage to make it through without holes in the knees worth keeping for seven years?  Five?  Two?  The cheap ,ahem, frugal, part of me wants to keep them all, since it’s such a good way to save, make due with what I’ve got and a great feeling of being prepared for years to come, but is it really worth it?  How long would you store hand me downs?

New Year, New Budget

As this year drew to a close, my husband and I sat down to evaluate our finances and see what needs adjusting.  We’ve come to see that our budgets have been like a pendulum, swinging back and forth with equal energy between spending and extra debt payments. 

We always seemed to manage one or maybe two really strict low spending months, but then a catch up month would follow.  We can eat out of the cupboards and freezer for a month, keeping the groceries under $400, but inevitably the next month we’d be out of paper towels, toilet paper, flour, sugar, rice , potatoes, diapers and just about every other imaginable household item.  Other budget categories had the same problem.  We had no regular line for clothes, which is ok until Shawn needs new winter work boots, which come in over $200, or someone needs snow-pants or socks or whatever.  We can wear out or entire wardrobe but the stock up at the end of it is a big bill!

Shawn received a raise late this fall, so our income has changed slightly.  We sat down to work out a new basic budget, the one that we start out with each month then plan any new items we know are coming up.  We start with the same basic amounts, and then adjust for each month’s unique needs.  We wanted to make a budget that was a bit more balanced, creating a more even pace.

Our first major goal this year is to increase our donation to the church and reach a full tithe by the end of the year.  Since I blogged all about it already (Read about that here)  I won’t do more than mention it today, except to say that I will be tracking more closely the portion of Shawn’s income that is variable and working on a system to make sure I am tithing on things like overtime and bonuses.

We added planned amounts for home maintenance, vehicle maintenance and clothes.  Instead of these things being added as an “ other expense we know of” in a month when a need popped up, we will now have a planned amount.  Unused portions will be transferred into savings, still ear marked for that category and used when bigger-than-this-month’s-allotment expenses come up.

We’ve decided to save a small amount each month, instead of using all extra funds as debt payment.  We will still be paying about 10% of our income onto debt payments each month.  We have decided that the “Dave Ramsey” method of an insane pace sprinting until the finish line isn’t working for us.  We are opting instead for a marginally smaller speed, which will leave us with different options.  The small savings number will help when we want to take a summer camping trip, or pay for something like soccer or ballet.  We can spread these items out over the year instead of the month or two before they are due.

We’ll continue our renovations at a slow pace.  Saving ahead and paying for each stage will set the speed.

It is still our main debt related goal to pay off our Master Card by October when our mortgage will be up for renewal.  After that, we attack our credit line.  Recently, when regular interest rates where changed at the bank, the fees on our credit line doubled.  This will make it harder to pay off extra principal, and we are even more determined to pay off this giant mistake from our past!!

We will start paying our children allowances again.  We have tried different ideas off and on without much success this year and are still looking for a system that is the right fit for our family.  We’ve decided that it’s purpose will be to let our children practice making decisions about how to save and spend money.  They won’t be “earning” it per se with chores, but there will, in the future, be a list of extras they could do if they would like to earn more money for a goal they have.

I have gotten really slack about planning and tracking each month, and I want to make a new excel sheet to get us back on track in this area.

That about sums up my financial resolutions for the up coming year.  What are your goals this year?

Tithe

Tithe… on it’s own it’s an old word meaning a tenth, but the fuller meaning is to give back the tenth to God.  Do you tithe?

When Shawn and I started attending church, we’d toss the occasional “offering” into the plate.  Oh, we’d feel all good and generous about tossing in the odd $20.  But really, compared to the amount we were earning/spending/wasting, it was nothing.  Unlike the widow Jesus praises in the temple, it didn’t really cost us anything.

As our faith and commitment to Christ grew, so too did my conviction that this was not enough.  We began hearing a lot about this word, tithe, and it floored me.  “ What? People give that much to a church?!”.  I spoke to a lot of Christians that I knew and began exploring this idea.  Really, it’s a recognition that God gives you everything you have, including your salary, and that He asks you to return the “first fruits”, 10 %, back to Him. 

I began to question… 10 % of what though?  We talked to a lot of people about what they would consider income to tithe on.  Your pay? Definitely.  Child tax? Some say yes, others no.  That birthday check your parents gave you?  Probably not.  If you received a gift instead, you wouldn’t calculate the value and pay 10 % of that to a church.  Some do, though. Tax refund?  Again divided… if you’ve tithed only on your take home pay, this is income you haven’t yet tithed on, but if you tithe based on your gross pay, you have. That leads to my biggest question… tithe on your net pay, or gross??

Many years ago now, Shawn and I both felt that God was telling us to tithe and watch how he would bless us.  We worked up to tithing on his take home pay, my child tax and our tax refunds.  This was our personal decision and goal, and I am by no means telling you what to do, but I would also have to say that this is a very direct Biblical standard. I think this is something that each of us has to take to God, and not set our standards based on others or what they tell us.  If you feel an inkling that you should take this area of your life to God, pray about it and see what He tells you.

So, for several years, we have loved the fact that our church will direct withdraw the same amount from our account each month.  I figured out what an average month’s take home pay with everything included is and set an amount.  I don’t even have to remember to write a check!  I have, however, realized that when Shawn earns overtime, we are not great at calculating what more we should be tithing.  Slowly, an idea has been settling in my heart that we are not quite being faithful to this principle.    When I looked at the total gross income to this house, and looked at our total amount given to the church, I realized that it was under 5%, not the 10% we thought we were doing. 

Recently God has used several things to get my attention about this. Some excellent sermons at church, as well as that inner voice.  Next was a book I read called “ The Generosity Ladder”.  The author makes this point:  It’s called first fruits for a reason.  You are supposed to give this 10% first, before anything or anyone else is paid from what you make. Tithing on your take home pay is technically giving the first part of your income to the government, and giving God 10% of the left overs.  It’s not the first portion. 

As often happens when it’s a “God thing”, Shawn’s been thinking and feeling the same things.  We’ve talked it over and are in agreement.  It is our goal to work up to tithing a full 10%. 

I admit, this feels a little scary.  In a time where there is not a lot of wiggle room in our budget, working up to double what we are currently doing seems impossible. Part of me, the selfish and doubty part, would rather use this amount to pay down debt, or save or increase our monthly budgeted amounts for certain categories. However, I can look back and see how God has blessed our first efforts at this, and how I have never regretted it.  Not even once.  I can trust that He will also bless us as we seek to follow his command to give the full 10% back to Him.  This isn’t money just laying around looking for a budget column though, so we didn’t feel able to get there instantly, we need to change a lot of numbers to accomplish this.  We’ll be increasing once right away in the New Year, and then making it our goal to increase again, reaching the 10% mid way through this year.

Instead of focusing on how scary this feels, I am going to trust in God and look forward to seeing what He is going to do in my life this year.

Switch Gears or Stay the Course?

What do I know about choosing curriculum for my kids?  Apparently, not much!  As we are approaching Christmas, I have been evaluating what is working, what isn’t, what the kids like, and what they don’t.

One thing is unanimous, they love Apologia science, right now we’re using the Astronomy book with Junior notebooking journals.  I can’t say enough good things about it. Love it! Fun!

So far, mixed reviews on Learning Language Arts Through Literature.  I like the concept of this set.  I like that it’s all in one big book, but in reality, it’s not working that well for us.  The big book is hard to work in, directions are sometimes unclear.  There isn’t the right continuity for us.  Spelling words are given at the beginning of the week, and not reviewed.  Then, they suddenly pop up a week later, as in “ which of last week’s vocabulary words fill in this blank?”.  It’s frustratingly slow for Colleena’s age level, and I find myself skipping most of the activities. We already bumped her from the kindergarten set to the grade one set based on her ability. Yes, that is the beauty of home schooling, but if I am skipping all of it, what is the point?  I find myself admitting that I won’t use that level again unless I happened to have a child who was still really struggling with what sounds the letters make by grade one.  Time required is very inconsistent.  Some days they need an hour, some days 10 minutes! 

And, mixed reviews on the ABeka math.  Baden finds it distracting that the pages are colourful.  They tend to put questions where they can fit them on a page, and it’s not always linear or consistent. Baden keeps missing questions because he just didn’t see where they were.  He doesn’t feel there is enough teaching sections.  Colleena loves her math book and is flying through it, but doesn’t seem to retain enough of it.  She is able to kind of float along and answer the questions without really understanding enough of the concepts. That could just be her fear of being "put on the spot" though.  She tends to freeze when she is afraid you're testing her and she might be wring.  I  add extra activities to make sure she really is getting the concepts.

They love the Bible course from Alpha Omega, but I am frustrated at the use of the King James Version.  It’s just not functional for us, so we have to reference a more familiar version.  Not a huge problem, and they are really learning some neat stuff that they retain well.

So, I am now asking myself… switch gears or stay the course with what I’ve got?   Baden has requested a plain math text with more questions and less pictures. Seriously buddy?  So, he looked at Saxon Math and loved the samples.  I tested him with their placement test, and he flew through grade 3 and into grade 4.  Do I make him finish the grade 2 that we have now?  I also looked into “Christian Light” math.  It appeals to me, especially with the smaller books, but it may be distracting to him still.

I also like the look of the Bible, Reading and Language Arts programs from “Christian Light”.  I am torn about just what my kids should study for “English”.  Do they need grammar rules already?  Spelling lists and practice?  Comprehension activities?  Read alouds?  All of the above? 

French is still the most difficult issue.  The Easy French Junior level is good for Colleena, but far too easy for Baden who does already speak French well.  I did find today the set the school uses to teach in Kindergarten and grade one at the Carrefour Fransaskois and I am able to borrow it for the year.  I think I'll begin using that on top of what we have.  They also had awesome games, books and cd's to borrow.  love the local French library.  I also want to find some activities and work sheets that would be the equivalent of Language Arts in French.  Still looking into a few recommendations I got.  It's hard to know what should be taught in which order.  Anyone know what they should be learning in grade 2 for French?  Is it still just vocabulary building?

I know this is my first year, and I knew that I would have a lot to learn as we went this year, but I really thought I knew my kids and their learning styles better!  Have any of you had to switch gears mid year?  Was it a positive change, or did you regret it?  Have you used Saxon or Christian Light programs?

Cost Breakdown: Home-Made Coffee Creamers

I stumbled upon this site a few days ago and have been sooo excited to try her recipes.  The writer wanted to come up with home made creamers because she is trying to cut out everything that isn’t natural or organic from her diet and she couldn’t stand knowing what is really in those flavoured creamers in the bottle.  I can’t blame her, I don’t like what they are made of either, buuuuut they are so yummy!  I however, am not worried about the complete absence of any real food item in bottled creamer, I’m just cheap!

She uses lots of fancier ingredients, which I freely and guiltlessly substituted for what I have on hand.  The first recipe I tried is for Pumpkin Spice.  Many of my friends are loving this flavour right now, and there is something about fall that makes me crave pumpkin… plus I had some left over pureed pumpkin in the fridge…

1 cup whole milk ( ahem,  2% worked just fine for my purpose here)

1 cup heavy cream ( table cream)
3 Tblsp pureed pumpkin ( I had about 1/2 of a cup left over, so I just chucked it all in)
1 tsp pumpkin spice ( I don’t buy the blend, so I threw in some cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger)
4 Tblsp maple syrup ( I don’t buy the real thing, I use the NN fake stuff because it’s super cheap, but I figured this is how she is adding sweetness and a bit of thickening.  I used corn syrup and it worked perfectly!)
1 tsp vanilla extract ( for this I did use my real vanilla)

Wisk ingredients in a med pan over med heat.  Cook until milk starts steaming then pour into a glass jar and refrigerate.  You don’t want to actually boil the milk or you’ll scold it, just get it so its starts steaming lots.

Let me just say YUMMY!!!!!  Because you are cooking the milk, it will store well for a bit in the fridge.  With this one, I got about 750 ml of creamer once all the ingredients were added and they thickened that bit on the stove.  I don’t know what you pay for creamers that size?  Anyone help me out on that one?

The great thing is, this creamer took maybe 5 minutes to make, and from stuff I often have on hand.  If you’re making pies with pumpkin, keep out 3 tablespoons and make a batch! 

So, wanna know what it costs?  $1.30. Yup, that’s it!!!  I’m totally guessing the cost of the spices and pumpkin, since those are things I had on hand.  The cream cost 82 cents and the milk cost 28 cents.  That’s $1.10, so I’ll generously round up to $1.30 to account for the spices.  It’s nice to have the cream in it, but if you didn’t care that your creamer wouldn’t be as thick, you could always make it with all milk, and the total cost would be a measly 56 cents plus spices, so maybe 75 cents.

The next one I made was Peppermint Mocha, and it was just as delicious!!  Most of the creamers on the website will work out to the same price.  If you, like me, already have most of these ingredients on hand, it’s incredibly fast and super cheap to whip up a batch!  And hey, throw it in a pretty jar, it would make a great present for any coffee drinkers on your list this year…

Tomorrow I am making the caramel one Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Here’s the link to her page so you can copy all the nummy recipes(Deliciously Organic)

Cloth Diapers Again??

Every time I have had to buy diapers lately, I’ve set off on a huge rant.  The rapidly rising cost has got me thinking… is it time to consider going back to cloth?

When I was pregnant with my first child, I did all kinds of reading about how to choose between cloth and disposable.  I know, I know, but I have warned you all before that I am a nerd!  Plus, I had tons more time then, and the decision seemed so important.  We chose cloth, despite taking a lot of teasing about it and hearing lots of predictions of our future failure at it.

My mom sewed me several sets in different sizes.  They look just like disposable ones, except they have velcro at the waist.  I found great breathable diaper covers and a really cool “diaper pail” bag.  Instead of a big pail, there are these neat bags in various sizes.  You literally just dump the whole thing into the washer and toss the bag in too.  I loved it. 

You know, I really liked cloth diapers.  I packed them with us and took them when we went on trips.  I used the flushable liners to make clean up easier.  I used small baby cloths to wash instead of wipes.  I hung them on our clothes line and enjoyed the look of them in the breeze while the sun naturally bleached out all the stains.

I eventually topped up the pile my mom had made me with some store bought ones.  When our second child was born, I decided to use disposables through the new born period.  We then switched to cloth, and continued with cloth diapers for both kids.  But then, we started going out and about more often.  Workers in the playroom during church or play groups didn’t really know how to deal with them, or really want to change cloth.  It became easier to put them in disposables if we were leaving the house.  When I was having trouble with my kids waking up a lot at night, another cloth diapering friend of mine was surprised that I was using cloth through the night.  She used disposables at night, she said, because then they weren’t being woken up by a cold wet diaper.

Then, my oldest was mostly potty trained and we were home so little.  Our daughter might only use three or four cloth ones over two days.  You couldn’t leave the diapers longer than that, and we had to run a full laundry cycle for just those few diapers.  The conviction that cloth was better softened and before we knew it, we were using disposables exclusively.

With our third child, we never even got them out of the bin.  I have to be honest, I didn’t plan to use them now with our fourth either, I just left the bin in the storage room.  But rising cost has got me thinking about this again.  A year ago, the regular cost of a box of 140 sz4 huggies (our fav brand) was $29.  They were $32 when the store pumped up the prices for a busy check weekend, however there were sales on a regular basis where you could snag a limit of four boxes at $20 each.  I would just wait patiently for a sale and stock up.  In the last few months, the price has risen steadily and the sales are no more.  Regular price is now $39, and today was the first time I have seen them marked down in about six months.  I was O-U-T of diapers and had to buy them no matter what they cost. $32 is the sale price now.

I did muse about going back to cloth a few months ago and Shawn just laughed.  He can’t see going back to the extra washing and the small changes in planning for outings etc.  However, my disgust at the cost of a box of diapers, as well as what I see was highway robbery for a box of wipes makes me want to consider it.

Here is what I personally see as the pros and cons of each.

Cloth Pros:

Better for the environment.
   It just is.  No manufacturing, no untreated waste in the landfill. 



Free… almost.  I already own them, so now there is no real cost.  Washing a load of diapers might add up to about 70 cents in cost, which is less than buying three diapers.  As long as I am washing more than that, it’s cheaper.

Can never really be out of diapers. No realizing that you are out of diapers and the stores close in ten minutes.  You always have them there.

Some say it helps potty train earlier.  First, let me say, this was not the case for me at all!  But some say that the feeling of being wet will encourage kids to train earlier.  It also helps with the recognition that poop belongs in the potty as they will see you emptying it out of their diaper and into the toilet.

Disposable Pros:

EASY.  Change bum, throw out diaper, forget about it.  Easy to take in diaper bag, easier to dispose of while out and about.  Others that may care for your child are comfortable with them. 

Everyone else has them too. If you run out while at a friend’s house, they probably have one you can borrow.  For a long time, a lot of our friends all had kids wearing the same size diaper, it was like an awesome safety net, someone always had a size 4!

 

Cloth Cons:

Can be more work.  You do have to wash them, which is adding another thing to the to do list. Changing #2 diapers can be more work to clean out before you toss the diaper in the wash pail. 

Not always easy to use in public places.  You can’t just chuck them in the nearest garbage pail, so you need a plan for changing in public spaces, like a bag within your diaper bag.  Others who care for your child, in the church nursery or at a play group for example, may not want to deal with cloth diapers. 

Baby feels wet. Even if baby only has a little tinkle, they are going to feel the wet against themselves and will need to be changed sooner.  If you use disposables, you can delay changing baby until they have filled the diaper more.  This, however, could also be a pro as older children may want to potty train sooner.

Clothes don’t fit. Ok, it’s silly, but it is something to consider.  Because cloth diapers are bulkier, not all clothes fit your baby as well.  I did have to search out clothes that were cut wider to fit my little man, who was quite a moose even without diapers!

Disposable Cons:

Expensive.  You are literally throwing away money each time you change your baby.

Can be used up.  Last night was not the first time we were running around the house saying “ check the diaper bag, there must be two or three in there!!”.  I find it easy to forget that I have opened the last clip in a box and be completely out of diapers at the worst times.  But don’t worry, I always have those cloth ones I can grab in an emergency!

Sooooo?
I know that there are many more things that could be added to this list, but I think this gives a pretty balanced idea of what is in my head.  While I am not quite ready to go back full time to cloth, I’m not certain I won’t either.   Paying $26 for a box of wipes that last us around a month is the most galling to me right now.  I may have to make a point of using the little baby cloths and warm water when we are at home. In the mean time, I will just continue to rant and rave about the cost of disposables !

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…

…Everywhere you go!  Just kidding, I’m sure the snow is not that far off but I don’t want to think about that yet!!!  It is, however, the time of year that I start planning for my favourite holiday, which just also happens to have the potential to be a real budget wrecker!

I really enjoy giving hand made gifts at Christmas time.  I have always enjoyed planning them out and working on them.  I get the kids involved, which requires a lot of prep time on my part.  So this fall, I’ve been dreaming about this neat little sewing project.  I had planned to take the one idea and make basically the same item for all the kids on my list.  I began to plan out the pattern and was setting out to acquire the material when it dawned on me:  I don’t have time for this!

Who am I kidding?!?  When on earth am I going to sew, make hand made ornaments, and make a pile of gifts?  Our fall has felt so busy with activities, schooling, appointments and life in general.  How can I squeeze more in?  The answer is, I can’t.  Not without being a frazzled mess and getting frustrated while trying to work on the things with the kids.

So, I am facing the reality this year that I cannot make presents as I usually do.  Another change this year has been that I wasn’t out garage sale-ing this summer.  Most years I stock up on small, neat gifts at garage sales.  I’ve used these as stocking stuffers and gifts for the kid’s friends etc.    This year, though, because of Bremen being so new and little, and Shawn working so much, I wasn’t able to get out there.  I may have to plan a bit more budget for stocking items this year.  I have managed to accumulate a pile of presents from the consignment sale the mom’s group had and from a few good catalogue toy sales.  I’ve been ordering the odd thing here and there to put away.  I have a pretty good start on the presents this year, but I still have a few biggies left to plan for.

I think for the annual grand-parent gift of ornaments from the kids, I will buy a kit.  I still want the kids to make something, but I can’t put the time in to find an ornament idea and prep and pre cut all the steps.  I’m going to make it easier on myself and head to the craft store to choose a simple kit.  A brand new Michael's just opened in our city…which might just be the biggest budget busting temptation of all!!

Warning…Renos Ahead!

  This is the first in a new series of posts that I plan on using to chronicle our attempts to renovate on a budget.  I am at the same time excited and dreading starting this process.

I’m no stranger to renovating, we’ve done this before.  In our last house, we spent the entire six years we owned it slowly renovating.  Now, I don’t regret doing it, we made a lot of money off our house when we sold, since we had done all the labour ourselves.  Buuuut this means I am not ignorant of how annoying and challenging it can be to live in an on-going construction zone.  I had no fronts on my kitchen cupboards for over a year ( yep, a whole year, really) last time.  And, I had a nine month old when we started, so you can imagine the mess!  Baden loved to pull everything out of the cupboards, and there was really no way to stop him.  So, to save my own sanity, I stopped trying.  I left all the dishes and pans where he last played with them, walked around them, and just washed them again as I needed to use them. 

When we moved, this house we moved to was finished.  I wanted it that way, it was our deal, see.  I made Shawn promise me that we would have a finished house, even if I hated every colour in the house, for five years.  After we moved in, we painted only the bedrooms and decided to ignore the green everywhere else.  And I mean literally EVERYWHERE else.  This house was painted the same shade of hideous green in every single room, except the guest room.  Every piece of trim, every window frame, even the doors are painted the same green.  I think they bought one giant can, then mixed it with white in some places so they could have three different shades of the same green.  They painted everything that would hold paint.  The door bell cover, the thermostat, the towel rails in the bathroom… all GREEN!  You know that shade of green that went with peach in the ‘80s… kind of a “dusty” green… well that’s the one!  I used to like green, and maybe it’s not the worst shade ever ( could be lime green afterall) but the overwhelming reality of the same green everywhere is what makes me hate this colour. 

And the lino! What was she thinking??  I know for a fact they had three kids when they chose to install it.  Every lino in the house is the same… WHITE!  No pattern, no squares, just all white, in the kitchen, in the PORCH and even both bathrooms.  I seriously hate this floor, I have cursed it since we moved in.  Not only does it show every single speck of anything, the finish is all worn off so it always looks gross.  Their grandson, over for a visit one day, decided to attack the floor by pounding a butter knife into it… so there are tiny stab marks all over which collect dirt.  Where Shawn had to peel back a bit to install the dishwasher, it cracked… another spot collecting dirt!  Recently, Shawn set down an oven rack he believed to be cool on it… but it was hot and melted into it.

Despite our agreement, the reality is that after three years of living in this house with (now) four kids and the dog ( up until this month, she’s gone now), the house is showing signs of wear.  We took out two built in bookshelves to wall mount a tv and never finished the drywall.  A piece of baseboard was under a leaky window and needed to be removed.  The wiring for said tv is draped across the curtain rods ( yes Shawn does work for the cable company but the last thing he wants to do when he gets home is more wiring!).  I cracked the moulding when I took it off to paint our room.  We ripped out the carpet because of the dog ( a whole other post about that here ).  We scabbed together the railing after Lily fell through it.  Water leaked into the downstairs bathroom ceiling and made a paint bubble.  The upstairs bathroom needs a total overhaul. The porch addition wasn’t done properly and doesn’t have heat, so it freezes in the winter. This is only a partial list, but you get the idea.  It’s just time to stop ignoring the list.

So, as much as there are difficulties to living in a reno, we’ve decided it’s time to start.  It means that we may not be making as much progress on paying down the debt, because some funds will have to be allocated to the renos.  We’ll have to do it slowly, piece by piece to avoid going into any more debt.  The good thing about having done this before is that I know the end result will be worth it.

We’re starting in our kitchen.  It’s the room that annoys us the most, and now that we are homeschooling we are in it even more.  It’s not large, so we have to make the best use of space that we can.  So far, here is our plan:

#1: REPLACE LINO!!!! : Because it will make me so much happier, I placed this at the top priority.  Funds are going to this first.

#2: Build banquette seating around table.  We only own five chairs.  We bought the kids some really cool adjustable chairs from Stokke, but they are expensive and we don’t want to invest in another one.  However, we now have 6 people in our family… and Bremen needs to start eating soon.  The Stokke chairs can be made into a high chair, but that would leave someone without one.  For the same cost as one chair, Shawn can build the entire bench.  We decided on the bench, and it will include storage for things like our hot tub towels ( door to hot tub is beside table area) and homeschool supplies.  I am already gathering materials for this project and plan a post on it by itself when we reach that stage.

#3: Install pocket door at the end of the hallway where it meets the kitchen.  This will cut down on noise when kids are sleeping, and let us visit with company in the kitchen more often.  The downside is, we need to remove all the drywall off one wall to install it.  We’ll have to repaint almost the whole house to finish the work.  We were originally going to attempt this project on it’s own but realized we couldn’t until we were ready to start a full out reno.

#4: Repaint.

#5: Refinish kitchen hutch and cupboards.  This project scares me the most, since I remember all too well living without cupboard fronts last time.  I can’t afford to replace them though, so we are just going to have to fix them up.  At least they are oak and so a great starting point!

#6: New Countertops ( new sink and taps at this stage).  The counter was peeling and separating when we moved in.  The previous owners apparently did not know what a cutting board was for, and the entire counter top is marked with years of knife cuts.  It’s lifting at both corners ( it’s a U-shaped counter) where they seamed the top.  Very gross.  Then, I added my own mark to it when I accidentally set a mini torch on top of it.  I thought it had an automatic off , but it didn’t and it burned a hole through the back.   That is a whole other story though…

That about sums up my plan for the kitchen.  Right now, I have money set aside for the floor and the bench.  We already have the supplies for the door, bought when we first started thinking about that project.  Hopefully I will be able to squeeze enough out of my money for paint too.  That way the kitchen will feel mostly finished as we save for the counter tops!

I’m scared and excited all at the same time!!

Sometimes It Really Sucks Having Only One Vehicle...

Sharing one vehicle is a decision Shawn and I completely agree on, and for the most part we are really happy with it.  Whenever we have considered owning a second one, the added cost far outweighs what little benefits we would experience.  Partly this is because he drives his work vehicle home because he is permanently "on call" and so I almost always have unhindered use of our own stylin' van!

But there are times when sharing our vehicle really sucks!

One of the worst was right after I had our third child. Shawn's boss decided that he didn't have to be permanently on call, and so he would not need to drive his van home for two weeks out of three, while others were on call.  During this period of time, I had to pack up three kids, including a newborn, at 8 in the morning in order to drop Shawn off at work, and race back to the school to drop off our son, who could not be here for bus pick up times without making his dad late. And yes, some mornings, I was driving in my PJs...and feeling thankful that no other coworkers park at the same location he needed to! Then, I had to pick up Baden after school, come home, start supper and pack everyone up again at 5 to pick Shawn up at work.  Just soak that in for a sec, I'm sure you can imagine that was fu-un! 

As much as I enjoyed the fact that Shawn wasn't on call as much, I really hated all that extra driving!  It wasn't long, however, before Shawn was once again on call at all times, freeing me from the daily driving.

The other thing that causes havoc with my hogging of our vehicle is... hunting season, and alas it is upon us again!  I am glad Shawn hunts for several reasons, super healthy meat at a very low cost is the biggest one. ( Curious what it costs? Check it our here:Cost of Our Family's Wild Meat   ) The other is that it is Shawn's major stress relief.  I've been known to tell people that Shawn is just not much fun unless he has killed something recently, whether it be fish, foul or game.  However, it does make it hard to share our vehicle!

If Shawn needs to take the van to go on a hunting trip, I cannot use it that same day.  If he is going on a longer trip I may be home with the kids without a vehicle for a weekend, or the better part of a week.  I do not live within walking distance of a grocery store, so this requires some real planning! If I had something planned and he can somehow get a day off, I need to cancel my plans where possible.  It's been so hard for him to get days off lately that he has to take whatever opportunities come up!

And so, this is what I find myself thinking on this week: How to share the van over the next few months.  This week, our mom's group is having a consignment sale.  I need to drop clothes off Thursday or Friday, work at the sale Friday night and pick up left over items on Saturday.  Then, I would like to be in Church on Sunday.  Oh, and I have a hair appointment on Thursday. Shawn was going to take Thursday through Sunday off to hunt.  Maybe it's actually good news, then, that work is so busy he can't get away?  It doesn't really feel that way, and it's only putting off the schedule juggling for a few more days.

I'm sure we'll figure it out, just like we have in past years.  Do you and your spouse share a vehicle?  What are some ways you've found to make it all work?  What challenges do you face?

Missing Out On School Photos

When I decided to home school, I knew there was going to be some things we'd miss out on, and one of them was school pictures.  Like most parents, I have relied on the annual school photos to have up to date portraits to send to friends and family.  I have been considering what I would like to do instead this year. 

I looked into taking the kids to a local Wal-mart photostudio to take advantage of those back to school special packages.  But, I can't order four separate packages at the sale price, and I want each kid to have their own portraits.

Now, those of you who know me, know that I am an amateur photographer, and my favorite subject to capture is my kids!  I decided that when the mood struck me, I would attempt to take some pictures myself.  This way, I can order only the exact prints I actually want ( instead of those school pre-set packages).

Today we realized that the public schools started back to class.  Shawn had the day off, so we decided to have a NOT back to school celebration.  We headed out to Little Red River Park to run around and enjoy the nice weather... with camera in tow of course!  The light was perfect, and I was able to get some nice pictures of each of the kids.

So, this is a sneak peak at what the grand parents will be receiving this year for annual photos...

Baden

Grade 2

Colleena

Kindergarten

Lilyanne

Age 2

Bremen

2 months

So what do you think?  Will anyone miss the school style portraits?  I've already ordered prints, which means they will also be in the mail a lot earlier than usual too!  Not only do I like my portraits better  (I'm allowed to be biased) than what I had gotten from the school, but they are cheaper!  Because I was able to order only what I wanted, portraits for all four kids cost me only a little bit more than what I paid for Baden's alone last year.  Besides what I ordered for each set of grandparents, they can always have printed what ever sizes they want!

Maybe we're not missing out after all?

The Thank You Loaf

I am a huge fan of the good old fashioned art of writing a thank you note.  Don't get me wrong, I still fail to keep up on writing my own, but I am going to ask for mercy because I have four young kids at home.  I try to keep up, I honestly do! I think it's a little courtesy that has been going out of style and that's a real shame.  It's always good to take a moment and thank those who have done something nice for us.  I have a stack of postcards that I ordered from VistaPrint ( 250 of them for FREE) that have "Thank You" printed across them and this has helped me for sure!  But the title is not a typo, it says loaf, not note...so here's my story.

We've recently adopted ( or been adopted by?) our neighbors.  They're about the right age to be "grand parents" to our kids and they are very sweet.  Last week, they gave our kids the most beautiful child sized garden bench I have ever seen!  Within minutes of seeing it, the kids decided it was a train station bench and played "waiting for the train" all morning.  I wanted to find a way to thank "Nannie" and "Poppa" for their thoughtful gift, and a post card just didn't seem like enough.

I had baked some banana bread that day, and decided to send a loaf over with the post card.  I realized, though, that I didn't know what to wrap the loaf in.  I didn't really want to just put it in tin foil, and I didn't have a ziplock bag the right size.  Then, this idea struck me.

I got a piece of the flour sack tea towel material and fabric markers and had the kids write "thank you" all over it.  Then, Baden and Colleena each wrote their names, Lily scribbled across it and I added Bremen's name as well.  We wrapped the loaf in the towel and carried it over next door. 


It turns out that "Nannie" used to embroider and decorate tea towels as well, so she appreciated the flour sack material.  I think it turned out to be a bit more personal and a nice way to show our gratitude.

It didn't cost me anything to make (because I am the strange sort of person who has flour sack material on hand), but it turned out to be a priceless gift idea I'll probably use again in the future.

Empty the Pantry Challenge

In the last couple of months, my brother and his family, my brother-in-law and his family, and our close family friends have moved away.  It has left us with a big hole in our lives, and and overflow of "pantry" items.  You know, those things that you might have used once or twice? Those big and bulky, unusual items? The ones you wouldn't want to pack up and take with you if you were to move?  We've all got 'em somewhere, whether it's a half empty bag of egg noodles you've forgotten about at the back of the cupboard, or that wheat bran you bought for something or other a year ago.

When they moved we inherited a motley assortment of interesting items from each of them.  While I was wondering why on earth they even had such items ( easy blend flour...what will I use that for?), it got me wondering just what was buried in my own pantry??  Turns out, I have just as many unusual things!  Most of the time, these items represent a waste of money.  Either I didn't know they were there, so I bought it again, or I used only a small amount of a large item, or I just didn't think of using them, leaving them to sit in the pantry and go to waste anyway.

So, I decided that it would be fun to challenge myself to use these items.  Some were easy. Baking items like icing sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and food coloring will all get used up with no extraordinary effort on my part.  Extra bag of egg noodles?  Just have a pasta dish for supper.

One of the inherited items I found most entertaining was sunflower seeds. You know, the ones you use for baking that are already shelled? From one household, we got three separate containers of them (clearly I am not the only one who does that haha!).  From the other household, I got a bulk bag the size of a four liter milk jug of them.  What's up with all the sunflower seeds?  I did find a neat sunflower seed bread recipe.  Shawn and I liked it, but the kids gave it mixed reviews.  Besides, using the one cup that the recipe calls for, I'd still be ages using them all up.

I was POSITIVE that I had seen three bags of poppy seeds in there, I must have thought I was out and bought them on some occasion.  I remembered a wonderful poppy seed cake that a friend of mine made recently, and called her for the recipe.  When I got out the ingredients to bake it, I realized they were sesame seeds! Haha!  When I told the friend about my mistake so we could share a good laugh, she suggested a recipe she has for granola bars that calls for both sesame seeds and sunflower seeds.. two for one!

I also inherited a bulk bag of slivered almonds that must weigh five pounds.  I can think of a few good ways to use them up, like putting them in beans,  baking them in cookies, and candying them.  I'm always open to new recipes, though, so if you have a neat one for almonds, let me know!

In my pantry, from a previous try at homemade granola bars, I had a bag of wheat bran.  I have no idea what I am going to do with it ( the old recipe was a bust, and it's not called for in the new one)!  Coupled with the wheat germ I inherited, and the wheat berries I always have in there, I have a lot of wheat parts!  Any good ideas out there?  Bread or something?

The partial bags of chocolate chips, raisins and dried cranberries will probably get tossed into the granola bars.  I might even toss in some of the random sprinkles and decorating sugars I have left over from previous baking projects.  The duplicate bags of cinnamon will get used up easily, but what about that bag of cinnamon sticks? Any suggestions?  The saskatoon jelly will get used up, but what about that jar of sauerkraut?  I must admit I have never ever tried the stuff, and didn't think I was missing out.  But, I'm willing to be adventurous if someone can tell me what I am supposed to do with it?

It turns out, easy blend flour is for things like cheese sauces and gravies, helps keep them from getting too lumpy. Huh! Cool, who knew?  So far, my empty the pantry challenge has been fun.  I'm thinking it might also be fun ( and just plain 'ol a good idea) to do an empty the freezer challenge, or an empty the cold storage room challenge!  I'm sure there are lots of items going to waste, and creating clutter in those areas too!

So, what would you do with these items? What's the most unusual thing buried back there in your pantry?  Dare you to try this challenge too!

Duvets: Dry Clean Only??

Yesterday, while Baden, Colleena and I were sitting at the table, enjoying some coloring time, Lily decided to curl up on Baden's bed.  She looked at some books, wrapped herself in Baden's blankets and fell asleep.  It was so sweet!  The only downside to Lily putting herself to bed for a nap was that she was not wearing a diaper... Yup, you might be able to guess where this is going!  She peed all over Baden's bed.  Now, I am no fool, and one thing I have learned for sure as a parent of young children is that every bed in the house, even ours, should have a waterproof covering.  The bed was fine.  The problem is that Baden's blanket is a queen size, white, duvet.

It used to be on our bed, before we bought a king sized bed, and I used to have it dry-cleaned on a regular(ish) basis.  A few months ago, Baden discovered it on the linen shelf and claimed it as his very own "marshmallow blanket".  But, I don't have the money to dry clean it this week, and I had to wash the pee out..soooo I headed to google to see what I could find.

I found several sites that say it's possible, though not advisable, to wash your duvet at home in the machine.  Basically they all said to check the tag, and wash it ONLY if the tag did not read "dry clean only".  Ok, I have to admit here that I have always been skeptical of dry clean only.  I mean, why is a garment dry clean only?  Is it so poorly constructed that it will fall apart in my machine?  Will it shrink? Whats up with that?  I generally avoid clothes marked dry clean only, or if I do have them, I have always washed them anyway. Gasp! I'm such a rebel! Well, I decided I would check the label, out of curiosity to see what it would say, only to see that I had already ripped it off at some point.  Oh well!

I decided to give it a try anyway.  After all, it's not like I could leave it unwashed, and I had nothing to lose.  I don't care that much about the duvet ( which is probably obvious given the fact that I gave a white duvet to my seven year old son!), and if it got wrecked, I could live with that fact.

So, after the necessary warnings, the next step in the instructions is to make sure you do not use regular laundry soap, but to use a gentle, no suds variety.  Haha! My homemade stuff will fit the bill nicely!

Next, make sure your washing machine will be able to handle the sheer bulk of a duvet.  Well, I have a ginormous machine I bought because we have a large family.  The queen sized puff fits very nicely, still with room to spare!

Then, wash on gentle and run an extra rinse if possible.  Check and check.

Now, according to numerous internet sites, drying is actually the main reason it's difficult to wash a duvet at home.  You have to make sure you dry it thoroughly so the feathers don't moulder, but you can't use too high a heat either.  Line drying is not advisable since the feathers can clump together and leave the blanket lumpy and hard.  "They" say you should put a tennis ball, or some such object, in the dryer to help fluff the duvet and dry it evenly.  Well, since we can't use dryer sheets at our house, I have always used those little spiky dryer balls anyway... suits the bill I'd say!

Ok, yes, I had to dry it for a loooooong time, and I had to keep taking it out and fluffing it, bunching it back into the dryer in different ways so that there wouldn't be any still wet spots in the middle of the blanket.  But you know what?  It worked.  There are no feathers flying around my laundry room, no terrible thing happened to the blanket, and it didn't cost me anything to wash it at home.  Just a nice clean, fluffy white blanket I can hand back to my son :)

Flooring Dilemma Update

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!
In the end, we decided to live with the subfloor.  We ripped out the carpet one Saturday afternoon, and were pleasantly surprised to find the chip board underneath in great shape.  We decided to stain it to even out the multiple colors, and used a gift card we had at the home improvement store to buy the one small can we needed.  Shawn had a can of Verathane in the shop, which he used to seal the floor.  It actually looks pretty nice, I have to admit.  Several people have commented that it looks like flooring!  So for an actual out of pocket cost of nothing,  we are really happy with the floors.  I'm sure we'll be living with them for quite some time.
Before the clear coat was dried, I went into labor.  Good thing we got the floors done when we did!  While I was in the hospital, Shawn finished the floor and got the furniture out of the kitchen and back where it belongs! 
The above photo is of our newest little one, Bremen, with the rapscallion dog that caused the whole thing in the living room.


Wondering what dilemma I'm talking about?  Read the original post here (Does This Justify Raiding the Emergency Fund? ) 

New Uses for Homemade Laundry Soap

While reading another's blog about living frugally, I came across an idea that I loved.  Use laundry soap as general purpose cleaner, she said, it's cheaper then the specialty bathroom cleaners you buy, and does a great job.

Hmmm? But why not?  Now, she was talking about a store bought variety that she uses, and was also pondering attempting to make her own laundry detergent, but I immediately thought of my giant pail of laundry soap and decided to give it a try.

I only just finished up the first batch of laundry soap that I had made.  The couple of dollars I spent making 10 gallons of soap has lasted my family almost a year!  We're still loving it, and I was excited...have I discovered another use for it too??  I asked myself if it could work.  Why not? It's three ingredients are a water softener, washing soda and pure soap.  Why wouldn't that clean?  I normally use vinegar and water to clean my house, and it does a great job, but I'm always open to trying a new idea. 

Today I washed my kitchen floors using the laundry soap in a pail of hot water.  It did a really great job!  Tackled all the sticky food spills easily and left no residue!  I'm going to try the super dried on toothpaste spill on the bathroom counter next, but I'd say it makes a great, cheap cleaner!

There you have it, another cool use for homemade laundry soap!  And hey, even if you don't make your own, if you run out of cleaner, now you know, you could use laundry detergent instead!

Does This Justify Raiding the Emergency Fund?

What makes an emergency worthy of a raid on our hard earned savings fund?

This is the question on my mind today, let me tell you why.  So, our dog is getting old and has been peeing on the floor more and more frequently.  We do own a carpet cleaner, and have been able to clean it time and time again.  I won't bother to go into how much I hate this, because you've all probably heard me rant about it already, and it's totally beside the point of this post.  The second last time Jinx peed on the floor, I followed my usual routine of cleaning it up immediately with our Bisell Little Green Machine, treating the carpet with pet stain and odor remover and then shampooing it again with the full size cleaner.  (ok, technically, Shawn does all of this, I played the sensitive pregnant nose card and got out of it).

The problem is, this time it didn't work.  I shampooed several more times, and still the whole house smelled like a combination of wet dog and dog pee. Niii-iiice huh?  I kept apologizing to the kids' piano teacher, since she had to be just feet from the odor that week.  A week of nice weather so I could keep windows open and air out the house, and a whole box of baking soda later, it finally smelled ... a bit less gross.


One week later, the morning of the next piano lesson, the dog peed again.  Now, I don't think the dog just has it in for the piano teacher, but I did feel bad for her again!  It had dried completely before we saw it in the morning, so Shawn poured a bit of cleaner and water on it before starting to suck it up.  The smell was so horrid, I almost threw up and had to run out of the room.  We followed our usual procedure again, and it did not work at all.  I covered the spot with an upside down bin so the kids wouldn't walk in it ( it was conveniently right in the middle of the main living area, thanks Jinx).  I cleaned again and again.  I dumped baking soda in it, and left it over night.  I tried odor removing sprays, desperate to at least cover it up.  Nothing has helped at all.  Over a week later, it still smells so strongly like ammonia that I don't even want to sit in my living room.  And there is no way any of us can sit on the floor to play!


Now, this carpet is not in the best shape anyway.  It's original to the house (1986) and a torturous shade of off-white.  It's sculptured-textured beauty has long faded, but at least I could always get it clean, if not completely stain free.  Having carpet bothers my allergies, but it was nice to have been able to sit on the floor to play with the kids. 

Shawn's theory is that the poor carpet is just too saturated to salvage anymore.  We suspect that the dog is getting old enough that she may not be around forever.  But we can't keep living with it until she is gone.  It's now so gross, that I wouldn't be able to let baby lay or sit on the floor.

So this is why, with only about 10 days until my due date, we are having to rip out our carpet.  But then what?  I have lived with bare floor boards before.  For many years, while we renovated our previous house, we had bare floors in one room or another..or all of them.  If we're going to have exposed floor boards, though, we will have to seal them with something, so that any future accidents aren't just going right into the floor itself.  If we're going to buy cheap paint, stain or sealer, would that be money well spent, or should we just suck it up and buy flooring?  If we buy flooring, what do we get?  Do I want to settle for just whatever I can find cheap enough by this weekend, Shawn's only day off before baby's arrival? How long will it take us to replenish the emergency fund if we do?  Do I want to spend more than that and look for something I like? Do I have time for that?  Should I just seal the floor and save for what I'd like? 

Of all the reno projects on my dream list, I really didn't want to deal with living room flooring first.  But, now that I don't have a choice, what should I do?  I feel so frustrated, because there are so many other things I'd rather have paid for first, like the bench we need in the kitchen, the activities the kids want to do next fall and at least one fishing trip this summer, to name a few!

So, to answer my own question, I don't think this is an emergency worthy of breaking open my piggy bank.  I may be living with bare floors for a while, but at least they won't smell like dog pee!

What would you do?

Here's how it turned out... (Flooring Dilemma Update)

Beating the Budget Busters: Spring

If the amount I spend on gardening every year was any indication, one would be sure I lived on an acreage.  I don’t know what size my imaginary acreage is, but it must be huge because boy is it costly to maintain!  Ok, all joking aside, every year I seem to manage to spend a small fortune on my postage stamp sized yard.  Something about spring makes me want to run out and buy a zillion plants. 

I head to a local garden center, or three or four, and load up on annuals, seeds, perennials and the odd bag of peat moss or compost.  Somehow I always manage to pick up enough to supply a hobby farm.  Last year I gave the extra annuals to neighbourhood kids to plant in their flower beds.  Even when I have enough plants for the few spaces I can plant them in, I inevitably find some beautiful little flower that I would love to have, which leads to me having to buy more pots.  Then, I can always squeeze another plant or two in…  You get the idea!

This year I determined to be more realistic about how much space and money I have.  I should have written this post a week ago, before I went to three local greenhouses…  Ok, yes, I went, and yes I bought a couple more things than I planned, but mostly I am on track for the year.

I decided to plan how many plants I could fit in the pots I already have, and only buy those.  This way, I know too that I will have the time to maintain them.  Besides spending too much, the problem with buying extra plants is that I always manage to kill most of them because I don’t have the time to water and maintain them all.  The girls want two hanging baskets on their playhouse, Baden wants two tomato plants, beans, peas, carrots and parsley in our children’s garden, and then I have three little window-box like containers that are hung on our fence.  That’s all, and this year I mean it! 

Buuuuuut, the previous owner of this house was an amazing gardener with no young children and therefore more time on her hands.  Front and back, this house has lots of perennial beds.  Over the last three years, I have changed and reduced them to a more manageable level for me, but every year, there is always more I’d like to do.  Just a few boards to make edging here… the odd plant to fill in where one died… and all those doggy spots on the lawn.  You get the idea.  I never seem to be able to leave well enough alone!

In this too, I resolved to do better this year!  I am 9 months pregnant, and cannot do a lot of the yard chores anyway.  Once I have the baby, the yard will be lucky if I remember to turn on the under ground sprinklers once a week!  Well, that determination lasted until my wonderful husband offered me a day of his labour.  All I had to do was sit in a lawn chair, and he would do whatever chores I asked him to.  Shawn got a lot done, and I got a nasty sunburn.  “ Hey hunney, you know, a few boards along here and this flower bed would look nice and tidy, it would really finish it well” he says… on his way to the garden center.  “ This old shrub is over grown and not too nice anymore, I’ll rip it out for you” was quickly followed by “ Hmmm, what should we buy to plant in it’s spot? Maybe some cedars?”  “ Would be nice to buy some boards and finish the walking path this year” had to be quashed, though.  “ You know, that edging in the back looks great, maybe I should grab some for the front yard too” is still in the negotiating phase.  I’d love to rip out the dead bushes in the front, change the shape of that bed and edge it, but I don’t really want to spend the money either.  I can’t decide, which is worse: the dead bush, or a huge bare hole?

Ok, there are some ways I’ve been frugal about my yard wish list.  Almost all of my perennials have needed dividing over the last few years.  I’ve used a lot of these cuttings to fill in spaces when needed.  I’ve also given away enough daylilies, irises,  and hostas to stock several friends’ yards.  This year, I’m mooching a few things from a friend who is cleaning up her yard.  There always seems to be someone dividing and cleaning out plants if you are looking around.  Also, because Shawn is always at construction sites as part of his job, he often finds odd scraps of sod.  Contractors order in enough for the project and then toss aside the one or two lengths that are inevitably left over.  He’ll grab them and use them to fix up the doggy spots in the lawn.

We’ve Frankenstein-ed together the sections of our fence that are the worst with scrap boards we had laying around, and determined to ignore how ugly it looked until we could afford to fix it.  But, in order to keep the neighbourhood kids out and the 70lb dog in, we really need to address the fence, or at least portions of it, and soon!  Several spans of the thing are rotted to pieces.  I am constantly hollering at the kids next door “ Get off the fence! You’re gonna get hurt!” and “ Don’t hit the fence, the boards are falling off!”  We had some wind this week, and the fence flaps like wind-chimes!  The back section is supported because our boat is behind it… classy, I know!  Several sections have been tied up with rope.  I don’t know how much longer we can ignore it!  I think we may have to pick the worst parts of it this year, and plan on replacing it section by section.  I remember from the last fence we built, fencing is a lot of work, and it’s expensive!

Alright, so if I was going to make myself a score card of how I’ve done so far this spring? I’d have to give myself koodos for improving, and tsk a little at how we did too.  Next on our plate this year is the job of finishing the playhouses.  Shawn built them the year Lily was born, two years ago, and has put time and money into them every year.  This year, we plan to finish the few details that remain, and stay on budget too!  Stay tuned!!

Books : To Buy or to Borrow?

For those of you who don’t know it already. I’m a bookworm.  A first class, library card carrying, piles of books all over the house bookworm.  So is Shawn.  As you can now probably imagine, there are books all over our house.  In fact, at the moment, I cannot think of a single room in our house that is NOT stocked with some books.

Over the years, we have spent more money on books than I could possibly imagine or estimate anymore.  I buy them both used and new.  I know that there are now so many ways to have e-versions of books, but it’s just not the same.  I like the feel of a book, the smell of the paper and the look of them on shelves.  We used to have a monthly budget for books ( yes, seriously) but that is something that has been cut out.

One of my favourite places to buy books was Value Village.  Often kid’s books are on sale as low as $0.25 each, and normally they are around $1.00 to $2.00 each. Buy four, and you get a fifth one free!  We used to go, and dig through the bins, finding “treasures” like old “Little Critter” books to add to their collections.  I would wander through the adult books and pick up a novel by a favourite author, or find neat reference books on topics that interested us.  It wasn’t unusual to come home with 20 books for the kids, and two or three for me. 

Another favourite of mine was online shopping.  I found great books, used and new alike on Amazon.  I also love Christian Book( www.christianbook.com).  They sell at wholesale prices, and even with exchange and shipping, their prices are great!

I have frequented the library over the years, often looking up topics I was interested in or authors I liked.  But, I was always returning things late because I wanted to re-read that chapter that had some great bit of information I wanted to remember. Since cutting out money for books, I  have completely fallen in love with my local library all over again.  I can look up any topic or book on the search engine, and they will order it in for me from wherever it may happen to be in the province ( a great new feature since the whole province joined into one giant group).  Our kids own mountains of books, but they still love library time, wandering along the shelves choosing whatever jumps out at them, or searching for a specific interest.  I love that we can still read mountains of books without spending a dime.  And now we’re there so often, I don’t usually forget to bring the books back on time.

I still like actually owning books though.  Sometimes, I just know that it’s something I’ll enjoy rereading again in the future.  Sometimes, it’s because we are studying it with our Sunday School group, or as part of a Bible Study and I know I am going to write in it.  Sometimes, it’s just an awesome reference book that I think we’ll use.

So for now, books are not a regular part of our budget.  There are special exceptions when we’re going to be studying one, or when I choose to use gift money on one.  I’ve started reviewing books, so I get some for free.  And, I’m making full use of what is already available to me for free : My Library!

One Cell Phone Or Two?

This month, our cell phone contract is up, and we have been deciding what we’d like to do with it.  Right now, Shawn carries a Blackberry for work, which is not for personal use.  He also carries a personal phone, and the kids and I phone him throughout the day to include him in milestones that are going on at home.  Lily likes to phone him and keep him up to date : “ Daddy, I pee potty!!”.  Daddy always cheers for her like a good sport.  I’m sure every once in a while, someone near him thinks he’s nuts when he proclaims “ Potty!? YAY!!”. Hee hee hee!  I have a cell phone too…it’s around here somewhere…what’s my number? Uh, Hold on, I’m not too sure.  I must have it written down somewhere…

Ok, you get the idea, I never use that phone anyway.  When Shawn’s phone got run over/dropped/smashed one too many times, we swapped the numbers so he got my nice, still-shiny-new three year old phone.

Over the last couple months, we’ve been discussing what we should do with the cell phones.  While in theory, it seems reasonable that I have one, the reality is, I just don’t need one.  I’m at home most of the time.  If I were going to drive somewhere, say to Saskatoon to go shopping ( which never happens anyway!), I could just take his with me for peace of mind. 

We’ve all become so used to having cell phones that we think they are a necessity, but you what?  Most of the time, they aren’t. Ok, some people need them for work, to be reached when on call or during an emergency ( Shawn included) but realistically, not all of us need that phone. 

I don’t even feel obligated to answer my home phone just because it’s ringing.  If I’m reading to the kids, that’s important and they appreciate my full attention.  I don’t feel bad if I am not reachable 24 hours a day.  I have message manager, that’s what it’s for.  On weeks when Shawn is off, our family has a little ceremony where he makes a big production of powering off the phone, and the rest of us do a little dance and cheer.  It’s so nice to be set free from the slavery of having that phone constantly within arm’s reach.  His ring tone sounds like a submarine’s diving warning, and we all cringe when it rings and interrupts family time.  We know that it means either he will be on the phone discussing some problem, or helping someone fix something, or that he will have to go back to work to fix something.

So, besides being a rant about how much I hate the cell phone, this post does have a point!  I’ve been wondering, if I hate the thing so much, why am I paying for it?  Why do we pay for caller ID, the second line or any of those other features we’ve never used anyway?  We’ve decided to keep just one personal phone, because we do value being in contact with Shawn throughout the day.  He doesn’t miss out on the fun stuff going on at home, and the kids like that Daddy is still part of their day, even when he’s away.  We have one for peace of mind when we travel, or when Shawn’s hunting or fishing. We’re putting that phone on a bare basics plan, and saving $40 a month. We’re using the phone we already have, because we don’t want a long contract, and we don’t want to pay for a new one when we don’t need to. 

Getting rid of my phone will help accomplish two of our family goals : 1) simplify life to make room for what really matters; and 2) save money.

Shower Stall Balloon Pit

Sometimes, I have to work really hard to come up with enough neat things to entertain my kids during these long stuck-in-the-house winter days.  And, then sometimes, they invent the funniest things themselves!

Last week, my kids took all the balloons that had been blown up and were still bouncing around the play room and piled them all in the shower stall.  They invented their own “balloon pit” and jumped around in there, squealing with delight!  I couldn’t resist snapping a picture!