cheap thrills

1. Whack-o-lantern:
Inspired by this fun idea from Wondertime, Moo and I went to down whacking golf tees into a pumpkin to make this twist on the typical jack-o-lantern. I would suggest using something with a larger circumference than a golf tee, like a large Phillips screwdriver. The golf tee holes were too small to see any light through even with 3 candles inside. Moo also lost interest after about 3 golf tees, however was really impressed by the pumpkin seeds and the FIRE. Like father, like son.


2. Rub My Tummy?
Moo's new way of complementing my cooking is to say "Rub my tummy." when he approves. This chili must not have been worthy of tummy rubbin' since it got creatively places in a toy car. Thanks. At least it was much easier to clean than Thomas and Friends and their creative conquest through the bagels and cream cheese. And yes, I am a slow learner, and yes... I should watch my kid while he eats.


3. Helping Hands
Occasionally, Moo wants to "help" with the laundry. His help usually consists of jumping through newly folded stacks of clothes while showing me the lone washcloth he has folded. This day I managed to convince him that sitting in the laundry basket would be a great help. Ellie has been sitting in one since she is far from mastering her new sitting up skills.

week in review

Our week in a few photos:


Someone is FINALLY potty trained! Too bad it's a plastic cucumber and the potty is actually a bumbo seat.... Moo is convinced the bumbo is a potty... this could be very BAD come potty training time.


Ella Bella picked up some sweet new tricks from her cousin Booger Bear this past week. She is now drolling up a storm and rocking out in her jumparoo. I nearly had a nervous breakdown when my little 2 month old baby was too big for the lowest settings on her jumparoo and excersaucer. She is growing up WAY to fast for my liking.



I love Craigslist! I got a sweet deal on a Phil and Ted e3 stroller from the same awesome stroller girl would I bought a Maclaren Volo from a few months ago. I am in stroller love....


Just when I thought we had dodged the new sibling blues, Moo has decided that he is very jealous of Ella Bella. He tries and throw the boppy on the floor while I am feeding her and is constantly telling me that Ella Bella should be put down for a nap. He is also going through a mama boy phase and is inconsolable when I leave. Oye. He can often be found attached to my legs or hollering for MOOOOOOOOOM in a not so pleasant preteen way. Thanks to his cousins for teaching him that! :) Along with the jealousy, he wants to do whatever mommy is doing. From cooking, to going to the bathroom, to sewing, to photography... he is right there.




The Ikea fiasco has reignited his love of trains and we have had trains all over the floor since we got back from the coast. "Play trains mama?" "MOOOOOOOOOOM, MOOOOOOOOOM, play trains, ok?"

Jack and Jill Nursery

Tickled Pink Housewife had a post on her blog the other day about her nursery on a budget. It reminded me and inspired me to post about the newly finished boy and girl nursery in my own home. I love to decorate and I am frugal, so naturally their nursery was done on the cheap. It was a lot of fun to take a boy nursery and add some girly into it. I think it turned out cute without being over the top babyish.

View from the hallway.

Our house is TINY and their door is literally 3" from our door and from the door to our lone bathroom. Call it charm, call it efficient, it makes for some tight living space. I definitely don't want to live in this house when Moo discovers rock music! The towel over the door is too keep Moo from shutting himself in his room.

Moo's crib. He loves it and it hasn't occurred to him to climb out.

Moo's crib is a freebie off Craigs list from a couple months ago. It's really sturdy, hasn't been recalled, and matches Ella Bella's crib. We did have to replace some hardware and we painted it with high quality chip resistant spray paint. That came to about $50. His bedding is a hodge podge of Amy Coe from target, pottery barn thrift store finds, and homemade items. $50 for Amy Coe, $5 for the PB kids bumper, $20ish for the crib skirt, ribbon blankie and pillows. The airplanes above his bed were .20 a piece 90% off at Hobby lobby after Christmas. $1.60. The train artwork was about $10. His mattress is a gently used hand me down. Total: $136.60

Ella Bella's crib. Oops, her name is on the wall..... :)

I got Ella Bella's crib brand spanking new (still in the box) at a garage sale when I was pregnant with Moo. A steal at $20. We did buy a brand new mattress for it, which was $70. We also spray painted her crib, $10. Her bedding is also Amy Coe from Target and it matches Moo's bedding. I bought the entire girl's set and the entire boy's set long before I ever got pregnant because it was 75% off and I loved it. Not very frugal! I also made some blankets and a crib skirt for her bed, $20. Amy Coe bedding, $50. I lucked out and most of the sheets match both the boys and girls crib sets. The mobile was actually part of a huge nursery set I bought and then hated. I actually sold the set at a $40 profit, so we will just the mobile was free! I repainted it and changed out the ornaments to match the crib sets. The wall hanging was $9 for the letters and another $3 for the stars and ribbon. The branch is from my backyard sprayed with leftover spray paint. The frames are from the dollar store and were repurposed with scrapbook paper to match the room. $9 The hanging flowers are from a friends baby shower, FREE. $191 for her crib, Total: $327.60

The reading chair, Hubs only values comfort and always messes up the pillows. Sigh.

The reading corner. The chair is a remnant form my bachelorette days living with Tickled Pink Housewife and Wood Squared. Good times. I think we got the chair, a couch, and an old tv all for $15. So, $5? More dollar tree frames and scrapbook paper, $9. Blue diaper caddy, $10. Dresser, $10.... gift wrap to cover drawers of dresser, $3. Planes hanging from the ceiling, $3. The pillows and blankets are more Amy Coe and were included in the prices above. So, $37
Total: $364.60

I forced my husband to build the shelf, materials came to $50. The baskets and the lamp were my mom's contribution, I think I may have just taken the lampshade from her house :) Anyways, free to me! She also gave me the little boots, the globe, the piggy bank, and the frames. Free! The firetruck was a gift from a dear woman at our church. It was her now twenty something son's and she insisted Moo have it. I painted the baby word art, $5 for both.
The cool metal bins were a Target steal, $10 for all 4! $59 for the shelf and decorative pieces.
Total: $423.60

Cramped quarters. Their room is 11 by 11, so it really is ALL crib!

Ikea Rocker, $3o. Their curtains are cheap twin sheets cut in half, $7.50 for all 3 windows. $10 for 3 curtain rods. Star hanger on closet door, $1. Blackout shades for 3 windows, $15. $62.50 for the windows and the rocker. Total: $486.10

The closet! It's so tiny! It is also, sadly, the biggest of the the 3 closets in our entire house!

Pocket organizers hanging on the door, 75% off from the a Target one spot. $1.25 for both. Adjustable clothing rod, $10. PB kids laundry basket, $3 at a garage sale. We added in shelves on either side of the clothes to hold diapers and wipes using scrap wood, free. Closet total: $14.25, Room Total: $500.35

Just over $500 to do a whole nursery! I am honestly thinking, oops, I spent more than I realized I did! I guess that should remind me that costs add up! I know some of you have done spectacular thrifty nursery's. Send me a link to them and I will add them here! Let's give Tickled Pink's friend some great, thrifty ideas!

Moo's memory box with sweet baby clothes and what not in there.

Ella Bella's mobile. Moo used the same one, just with western themed ornaments.

SAHM

Stay at Home Mom. Yep. It's what I do, and happily so. When other women find out that I stay at home with my kiddos, they generally have one of three responses.

1. I am wasting my intellect and skills.

2. Sweet, so am I! Let's meetup for a playdate.

3. I wish I could stay home with my kids, but there is no way we could live off one income.

I think it's completely a woman's choice to choose to work inside or outside of the home. I am not going to argue that one is superior to the other or that one solution works for every family. Google SAHM and I am sure you can find some very strong opinions for either side.

When the third response comes up, it always makes me a little sad for that mom. I ran into a friend tonight at Target (big surprise) and her eyes sparkled as she pointed out to her husband that I was a stay at home mom and wouldn't it be great if she could stay home with her infant son. She is happy with the care arrangement they have while she works and is happy with her job, but she still yearns to be with her baby. Her husband agreed it would be great for her to be home but financially they just couldn't swing it. They want to buy a house and pay off some bills and there would just be no way to have it all. I challenged them to really look at how they spend their money and what the true costs of working are. Gas, dry cleaning, day care, eating out... it really adds up! Plus, the more you earn the more taxes you pay in higher income brackets.

We are not wealthy. My husband does not make oodles of cash allowing me to stay home. We live comfortably, but not extravagantly. We are considered "low income" by the government. We have made a choice to live frugally and that has certainly enabled me to stay home. I don't feel that we have sacrificed living well though.

We drive older cars that we paid cash for. Yes, they are less cool and yes, sometimes they need to be repaired. But they are paid for, we have no monthly car payment and lower insurance rates. Our insurance company also gives us a sizable discount for me being a stay at home mom and having inspected car seats.

We live in an older and smaller home. What it lacks in size, modern amenities, and bathrooms it makes up for with lots of charm and a low mortgage payment.

Hush. Keep this one on the DL. My kids rarely have new clothes. I love garage sales and have gotten them some sweet clothes for .25 a piece. We are blessed to have many friends who are done adding to their families and bring hand me down clothes over by the car load. They are thrilled to get it out of their houses and I am thrilled to take it. I do buy them clothes, just stuff I really love that they really need.

We don't eat out too often. Although, we got really bad during my pregnancy and ate out way more than we usually would. The flip side is, now we are too chicken to go out to eat with 2 kids at any place that doesn't have a slide in it. I don't really like to cook very much either, so when I do I double or triple the recipe and freeze the extras.

So, I guess we have made sacrifices for me to be home with the kids, but they don't feel like sacrifices.

What do you think?

Summer

Creative. Cheap. Close. Connection. Community.

That's the criteria for our summer fun. Got any ideas?


I am excited about this summer. It's the first summer in years that both me and my husband are both up for some social interaction. He has been studying or traveling for job interviews the last 3 summers and last summer I was just a mess emotionally. So glad that is over! My hubby is still testing and interviewing with fire departments but just locally right now. So....

We need some plans!

Grocery Game

When I became a full time stay at home mom six weeks ago, we knew we would have to come up with some creative ways to live well on less. We are still living on the same income that we were 5 years ago when we got married as college students. And our family size has doubled :)

I happened across this really cool frugal living blog a couple months ago called Like Merchant Ships and she got me rethinking how we spend our money. I have always been a big bargain shopper and love clearance racks and getting up early to head out to garage sales. I had never thought about our groceries and consumables being a place where we could save money. After all, we shopped at Wal-mart and used the generic brand of everything. I started doing more research on being frugal and found a book called "The Coupon Mom" at our local Jesus superstore for $.99! I decided I would try shopping the way she outlined and see if we could beat our Wal-mart prices.

I have been blown away by how much money we aren't spending! And how much more I have been able to buy! One of the best parts is that items are often free or more than free so I have been able to pass on lots of goods to a local mission our church supports. It's so cool!

The basic premise of the grocery game is that you match coupons with sales and store incentives to maximize your savings.

Just for an example, yesterday I went shopping and bought:
7 bags of Hershey's easter candy
1 venus embrace razor for her
2 3 pack Mach 3 razors for the hubby
2 Colgate toothpastes
2 Kit Kat Candy Bars
all for $.96!!

We don't need more toothpaste or most of the candy, so they got donated to a local mission and to my niece and nephews easter box :)

At another store,
I bought 4- 3 packs of Zest soap and 2 pillows for M's crib (he is old enough) for $5.36 with $12 in credit for my next trip to the store. Not to bad!

Groceries are a little trickier to get a good deal on, but we have switched to using name brands and are paying 30% less than we were spending on the generic version sold at Wal-mart. We also switched to name brand diapers which have turned out to be as little as $2 a pack!

One caveat is that playing the "grocery game" is time consuming. The first couple weeks I spent hours planning and organizing for trips to the store. Now that I have done it for 6 weeks, it's getting easier and we are spending less.

By the way, any coupons you don't want will be happily received at our house. I may even squel with glee... especially if its for diapers!

Just in case you are curious, the above photos are from a great couple shopping trips. Everything in the photo was free after coupons, rebate, or store credit except the cereal, hamburger helper, and paper towels. My total out of pocket expenses were under $30!!! I would have previously spent that on the 3 packs of diapers alone!