Well actually still not even close. However, thanks to Twitter Moms I was able to help a freelance writer, Melissa Schorr, with an article she was writing for MSNBC.com.
It was about how the bad economy was making couples put having babies on hold. We sent a couple emails back and forth about a month ago and her article is featured on the main page of MSNBC.com today.
It’s the end of the year and I’m so excited. I started looking at what kind of tax refund we’re going to be getting back, and Tony is going to be able to start getting parts for his car. He is excited because he loves working on cars, I’m excited because we have had the car for 2 yrs and it hasn’t run yet (no engine). So every time we move we have to push it on to the tow dolly, that has been a pain in the rump. He’s been collecting lots of stuff for a long time, but mostly for the engine and such. It still needs a lot of things like brakes and coilovers. He wants this car to handle nicely, too, so that when we move someplace with real roads that aren’t all flat and straight, it does what it’s supposed to do.
Yup that’s right, I haven’t done my Christmas shopping yet. I just dread the crowds, I don’t want to have to go out and shop. Especially with two lil ones. Bubby is a handful and still manages to throw tantrums in public. Bel is ok but gets bored. Now since Boo is home for her holiday break so going out shopping may be difficult.
I think I am going to have to resort to online shopping. Now normally had I given myself more time that may not have been a problem but now I am going to have to have my items sent overnight shipping and I will be spending a lot of money. Well even though I missed Cyber Monday, there are still some online retailers that have some amazing prices. All the savings I will make on all those great deals will help when I am spending a boat load of money on shipping.
Maybe next year will be better, financially. I think I am going to shop in July. LOL! Ok, maybe not July but at least a whole lot sooner than 4 days before Christmas.
We currently live in an apartment half the size of the house we lived in in NV and pay the same price. Grocery items like milk are $1 more here than NV.
We are trying to be able to save money so we can move out of FL and buy our own home. Every time I think we are getting ahead something else happens. First, I find out we can have At&t internet without needing to have a home phone line…..that saved us about $30 a month, we were happy. That same week we got a note on the door that our water/trash will go up $25 a month so that voids that savings.
Next we lowered our rate plan on our cell phone and that would save us $40 a month, same week we got our renewal policy on our car insurance and it went up $50 a month which voided that savings.
I am hoping our newest savings will not be countered by an increase in some other bill. I called this morning and made some changes to our car insurance policy so we will save $70 a month there.
I just feel we are on a roller coaster, we are in the green and then the red. Just can’t seem to get to a point that there will be an abundance of extra a month so we can save. I know the economy is bad everywhere and maybe we will just have to wait it out, I just hope sooner rather than later we can catch our break.
We have a happy, loving family and we just want the best for our kids…..we want a home in a safe environment to raise our family.
Some good has to come sooner or later, right?
A few months ago when our family really started to feel the affects by the downfall in the economy I started trying to figure out ways to save money. For starters I used to buy a lot of name brand items, now I buy a lot more generic stuff. I also clip coupons. There is a website called http://couponmom.com and it lets you download and print coupons. I also get the Sunday paper. So, I went to the grocery store today with all my coupons, and with the store sales and my coupons I saved $35. It felt so great!
I was watching Oprah one day a couple weeks ago and it was an episode about smart shopping and the woman, who I believe started the couponmom website, was showing how she can cut her shopping bill in half. I was amazed, after store sales and coupons, she would get some items for free. Before the coupons were entered and sales taken off her total was about $130 and the final total was just over $30. I was really impressed.
I used to think bulk shopping was the way to go, like at Sam’s Club or Costco, but since they don’t take coupons I am starting to think for some items grocery stores are better.
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