1st Anniversary Giveaway

I know I've not been around here much.  It truly is on my want to do list!  I have been focused on my business blog, I'm THRIVing, but even that has been more neglected this year than I want it to be.  All of it is primarily due to our preparing our house to sell this Spring.  I keep thinking life will slow down but so far it hasn't, or maybe I'm just moving slower so things are taking longer to finish.

In the meantime, I'm inviting everyone to help me celebrate my 1st Anniversary as a Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant by entering my Giveaway.  One winner, next week, will win 3 of my favorite THRIVE Foods!  You can see more information on the business blog here, but you can enter the giveaway from here - just follow the directions in the widget below.   I'd love to have  TON of entries so share with your family and friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just a drop

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Sacrament (your church may call it communion) is passed weekly (except for Conference weekends) during our Sacrament Meeting (similar to a Worship Service).  The Sacrament has two parts - pieces of bread and small cups of water.  The bread represents the body of Christ and the water represents his blood which was shed for us as part of the Atonement.  When we partake of the bread and water, we are renewing our baptismal covenants to keep His commandments and to take upon ourselves His name.

The temporal pieces of the Sacrament include that the Young Men who prepare the Sacrament fill the cups with water, and not all end up with the same amount of water.  Sometimes you get a cup that is full to the brim and you spill some as you pick it up.  Other weeks you'll get a cup that is only half full.  Another temporal piece is how refreshing that water can be when you drink it so getting a partially filled cup can be a little disappointing.

The Sacrament represents the Atonement and it seems that each year I gain a little more insight into the Sacrament.  Two weeks ago I realized something as I drank my cup of water.  I hadn't looked at the cup before I drank other than to pull it out of the tray.  As I drank, it felt like it was just a drop of water and I was disappointed.  But that was the temporal me.  That was immediately followed by a reminder of the Atonement, a whisper of a thought - "but you only need a drop".  The 3rd Article of Faith says "We believe that through the ^aAtonement of Christ, all ^bmankind may be ^csaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."   Note that ALL mankind may be saved.  It's not just me that needs "just one drop".  It's each of us.  As we repent of our sins and strive to live more like Him, it just takes one drop of His blood to redeem us.

Lasagna Casserole

When I moved out on my own, my Mom passed along her lasagna recipe that I grew up with - and then I revised it just a little bit (almost doubling the cottage cheese).  And she's revised her version so our lasagnas, although similar, are not the same.  But sometimes when I go to make lasagna, I'm short on time or I'm out of lasagna noodles.  So I've come up with Lasagna Casserole - I switch out the lasagna noodles for either rotini, penne rigata  or bowtie pasta and do the layers just like lasagna.

My family loves it!  And I love that it's simple.

Lasagna Casserole

Printable Recipe

24 oz can/jar of Garlic and Herb Spaghetti Sauce (my preferred flavor)
16-24 oz cottage cheese  (I love to use the 24 oz but I use the size on sale)
1/4 c parmessan cheese
2 c. mozzarella and cheddar cheese  (I go heavy on mozzarella with a bit of cheddar)
1 box Rotini, Penne Rigata, or Bowtie pasta

Cook noodles according to package directions.

In 2 qt casserole dish, lightly cover bottom with spaghetti sauce. In a bowl, combine cottage cheese and parmessan cheese.

Then layer in the following order:
1/3 of noodles
1/2 of cheese mixture
1/3 of sauce
2/3 cup mozzarella and cheddar cheeses
1/3 of noodles
1/2 of cheese mixture
1/3 of sauce
2/3 cup mozzarella and cheddar cheeses
1/3 of noodles

remaining sauce - make sure all visible noodles have sauce on them to prevent them from getting hard
sprinkle with mozarella, cheddar and parmessan

Asian Pork Ribs

Inspired by this recipe from Pampered Chef, I have tweeked it just a little for my family.

Asian Pork Ribs

4 - 4 1/2 lbs pork country-style ribs
3/4 c apricot or peach preserves
3/4 c barbecue sauce
1/4 c light soy sauce
3/8 t garlic powder or granules
3/4 t ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Trim excess fat from ribs.  Place bone side down in 9x13 pan.  Cover with water.  Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Drain water.

Mix preserves, bbq sauce, and soy sauce.  Add garlic and giner.

Generously brush ribs with 1/2 of sauce.  Continue baking, uncovered for 30-45 minutes.  Brush with reminaing sauce after 15 minutes.

New Adventure - Shelf Reliance

Yes, two posts in one day!  I'm not going to promise regular posting to this blog but I'm going to try to do better.  But here's one reason that I've been absent lately (doesn't excuse 2011 but this is my excuse for 2012).... I have become a Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant.  I fell in love with Shelf Reliance's THRIVE Foods products last Fall and after a few months, decided to take that love and become an Independent Consultant.

As part of my business, I have launched a new blog that is highlighting how I am using Shelf Reliance in our home, particularly the freeze-dried foods.  I'd love to have you join me at the I'm THRIVing! blog as well as here.  This will continue to be where I post how I'm striving to be a Mother Who Knows and then there's the family blog which is almost as neglected as this one.  The I'm THRIVing blog will be my go to blog for recipes as I try to utilize my food storage in everyday ways.

For the month of May, I am hosting a Dreaming Big Giveaway on the I'm THRIVing blog to celebrate it's launch.  So head over and enter today!

If you're not familiar at all with Shelf Reliance, here's some basic information.  To help achieve their mission to help others become more self-reliant, Shelf Reliance has three main product lines:  

•  THRIVE Foods.  These are quality freeze dried and dehydrated foods, including meats and cheese.  Many of these products have a 1-2 yr shelf life once opened, and 25 year shelf life unopened - and yet they taste amazing!  My family has found many of the products to be delicious as a snack - and how can you complain when your kids are eating fruits, vegetables, and yogurt with no preservatives as their snack?  In addition to the products, Shelf Reliance offers a Food Storage Planner to let you identify what foods and how much you would need to store for anywhere from 3 months to 24 months.  You can place small individual orders, sign up for monthly shipments, or purchase everything you need/want in one large order.
• Food Rotation Systems.  This includes the Cansolidator Cupboard which is the prize for my Giveaway.  These systems help you by organzing the foods in your cupboard, pantry shelves or as standalone units.  They work on a first-in, first-out basis, allowing you to see what you have in your shelves.  This prevents you from buying food that you already have, and using up the oldest first before it expires.
• Emergency Kits and Supplies.  I live in tornado country and we often have to take shelter when the storms are on their way.  How nice it would be to grab a fully-stocked 72 hr kit and be able to provide for my family's needs during these disasters.  Whether you need a pre-assembled 72 hr kit, supplies to update your personal kit, or alternate heat and cooking sources, Shelf Reliance can help!  Like the Food Storage Planner, Shelf Reliance also offers an Emergency Kit Planner to help you identify what you need in your kit and you can specify the types of disasters you are wanting to be prepared for.

I have so many things I love about Shelf Reliance - their products, their mission, how they treat their Independent Consultants, and many more.  But the last thing I want to share with you that is a great help to me is the Q Club option.  My family set a goal to build up a home store in our home to help us be better prepared for the future (you can read our unemployment story here).  We had great intent but it was very sporadic and we didn't make much progress.  And then I discovered the Q program.  First you use the Food Storage Planner to identify what you want in your home store.  Second you sign up for the Q, which are monthly shipments of the items in your plan, and YOU set the budget.  The shipments can be automatic or you can adjust them each month to take advantage of what's on special.  In addition by being a Platinum Q Club member (free if you sign up for a $100+ monthly Q), you also can take advantage of a special Q-Pon.  May's special is Black Beans.

How Shall We Know Him?

Wow!  It's been almost a year since I posted to this blog.  It's not that I don't think about it - it just hasn't made it to the top of the To Do list.  Well this morning, during my scripture study, I read something that I felt I had to share.

3 Nephi 20:39  Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak.

When I read this I was immediately struck with the question "How shall they know who it is?" and with the answer "They'll recognize my voice."  Do I recognize the voice of someone I don't know?  Can I pick their voice out of a crowd or over other distractions?  No, I can't.  But if my husband is talking in a crowd, I can often pick out his voice and tune in to what he is saying. 

This is how we need to be with Heavenly Father and the Savior, through the Spirit.  If we are in regular communication with Him through prayer, then we will come to recognize His voice.  This means pausing our "talking" during prayer to listen to His response and direction.  It can't be a one way communication, only hearing our own voice.  If we want to recognize his voice, we need to listen for it.  If we seek out and act upon the whisperings of the Spirit, we also come to recognize His voice. 

By practicing now, tuning our hearts to His voice, when "that day" comes, we'll have that experience to KNOW this is the Holy Spirit's voice, that this is the LORD speaking, I need to pay attention and follow Him.

Ben and Ashley

Our friends, Ben and Ashley, are wanting to adopt to grow their family.  Check out their profile here.

Enchilada Sauce and Spanish Rice

I've had some requests for the homemade enchilada sauce I make.   I found the recipe and instructions here.  But to make it easy for everyone, here is what I have in my recipe box...

Enchilada Sauce
2 T vegetable oil
2 T flour
2 T chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 c water
1 t salt
1/4 t garlic pwd or granules

Heat oil in 2 qt saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder.  Cook for 1 minute.
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 min.

Makes 3 cups sauce.


Here's a bonus recipe for you from one of my neighbors (he has been a chef for years).  And a special bonus - it's SUPER easy.

Spanish Rice - Ernie's version

For 2 cups of rice....

2 cups of water/enchilada sauce
1 cup rice

Put some enchilada sauce into your 2 cup measuring cup (amt depends on how strong a flavor you want in your rice).  Finish filling the measuring cup with water to 2 cups total liquid.  Pour into saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add 1 cup rice.  Stir rice.  Put on lid.  Lower temperature to simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir rice and let sit for 5 minutes.  Serve.  Yum!

Monday Meditation - Ephesians 2:20 - Cornerstone

I'm working my way through the Institute Manual for the first half of the Old Testament.  Currently, I'm reading a section on Symbolism of Christ.  I decided to go through each symbol and record in my journal how I see Christ as that symbol.  This morning, I pondered Cornerstone.  Once I got a definition of cornerstone, it was very clear and simple.

Cornerstone:  A cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation; all other stones will be set in reference to this stone thus determining the position of the entire structure.

The Church/Gospel uses Christ as its Cornerstone - all doctrines/teachings/practices use Christ as a reference.  We also should do this in our lives - build our lives/decisions in reference to Him and His teachings, and the Gospel.

Monday Meditation - Exodus 5 - What Pharaoh taught me

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the Israelites go sacrifice unto the Lord.  Pharaoh's response is no.  And then he tells the taskmasters to make the Israelites gather their own straw because, obviously, the Israelites must be idle since they feel they have enough time to go worship.

As I read this chapter, my first reaction was that people need time to worship and also to relax so they can rejuvenate.  Then I had an immediate weight of conviction put on me - how often do I do this with my family?  Thinking "Oh, you have time to play on your iPod?"  "How do you have time to play?"  "How can you get to do something fun while I'm always working?"  And then I normally ask/assign a family member to do a chore.  To be honest, it does seem like I'm doing all the work while everyone else is always relaxing/playing (except for the time that they are at work/school).  After seeing how I was being like Pharaoh.  I am now more conscious of the need for downtime for each member of our family, including me.  When I push for someone to do a chore, I'm striving to limit what I'm asking.  I'm also seeking to show by example that we work for a time and then relax for a time.  My girls will yell at me when I ask them to clean their room "but you're on the laptop" or "you're reading a book!".  Rather than simply telling them I'm their mother, I am pointing out to them all that I just accomplished.  Yes, they need to not talk back to me but they also need to learn that we get to relax/play after we work and they won't learn that if I don't explain it (again, and again, and again).

I'm not missing

No one has asked, but I wonder if anyone has been wondering what happened to this blog.  My family blog has also been neglected.

Throughout 2010, many of the blogs that I regularly follow have been focusing on minimizing - their homes and their lives.  This has also been one of my focuses.  I kept finding myself distracted by the computer/internet throughout the day and at times, neglecting my home, other duties, and sometimes my children.  With the start of the school year, I put myself on a schedule hoping to be able to get more things done and spend some time with my daughters.  Princess Naked Toes started Preschool for 4 half days each week.  About this same time, many other changes happened in my life.  One being I received a new calling at church (I'm now the secretary for the Relief Society in our ward).  Our Relief Society President gave a lesson on priorities and distractions based on a talk by Sis. Julie B. Beck.

All of this combined to tell me I needed to keep the computer turned off more - limiting my browsing time and even my "working" time on the computer.  I'm trying to keep the computer turned off throughout the morning, striving to only be on the computer while both girls are at school and after they've gone to bed, and even then limiting it to only 1/2 hr of browsing (facebook, blog reading and writing) during the afternoon and maybe an hour in the evening.  But this has not enough time to keep up the blogs - will try to improve upon that.  But I will say that I am liking the schedule I've established so far - as long as I stay to it.  I'm getting more things done that I need to get done - as long as I remember to look at my To Do list and prioritize it each day.

New Recipes

I think I have a nice arsenal of great recipes.  And then, I find something I really want to try.  And since I subscribe to several food blogs, I keep finding more.  Many of them are dessert recipes and I already have a recipes I'm looking at trying soon!

Caramel Apple Muffins

One-Bowl Pumpkin Bread (made with honey)

Baked Potato Soup

Lite Pasta

What recipes are you trying?

Monday Meditation - Who sold Joseph into Egypt?

Last week, if you had asked me to tell the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt, I probably would have said...  Joseph's had 11 brothers.  Many of them (probably not Benjamin) didn't like that he was their father's favorite.  So one day, when he came to visit them while they were tending the flocks, they desired to be rid of him and threw him into a pit.  While they were eating, the decided that instead of leaving him there to die, they would sell him to a group of Ishmeelites who were passing by.  They took him out of the pit and sold him and the Ishmeelites then took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar.

Friday, as I was reading in Genesis, I discovered a major difference in the facts of this story.  Joseph's brothers came up with the plan to sell him but when they went to get him out of the pit, he wasn't there.  While they had been eating, a group of Midianites came along and found him in the pit.  They had the same idea as Joseph's brothers and sold him to the Ishmeelites.

Yesterday, I was still pondering this and thinking of how many times I've read that verse (Genesis 37:28) and yet never caught that piece of information.  Then I had the reminder pop into my head that the intent to sin is a sin.  We've been taught that you commit the sin in your heart before you commit it in action.  Joseph's brothers did not commit the sin in action but they had in their hearts (and would have committed it in action if given the opportunity).  And yet, probably most people would tell the story similar to the way I would have last week.  Joseph's brothers have the reputation of having committed this sin thousands of years later!

What does that teach us?  Not only do we need to be careful of our actions, we need to be careful of our thoughts and intents to do evil.  When new in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we tend to focus on our actions, not committing sins.  As we progress in our testimonies, we are taught to control our thoughts.  This story has reminded me that as much as Satan can tell us that no one will know our sins, others not only can not our sins, but they can know our intent to sin.  It is so important to give a wide berth to that cliff!  Or we may gain a reputation that we do not desire.

Update:  A friend just let me know that her version of the Bible (waiting to hear which one) says that the brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit when the Midianites passed by.  Maybe later today, I'll try to find the different versions and see how they compare, including some translating from the original Hebrew.

WFMW - Coupon Organization Part 1

I love coupons!  With a little effort, I'm able to save quite a bit... well I don't save any money, I get more food than I would with my food budget otherwise.  With that thought, maybe I need to stop couponing so we have less food in the house so I eat less.  Hmm, have to think on that one.

Thinking is done.  Nope!  Going to keep on couponing!

Finding the coupons I need to match up with a sale could be quite difficult with my coupon stash if they weren't organized.  There are several options for organizing coupons.  One is to immediately cut out the ones you will use and discard the rest.  Another filing system using baseball card organizers in a binder - you cut out ALL the coupons and put them in the binder and take it with you shopping.  Neither of those work for me.  So here's my system.

First, I sort my coupons.  Since I usually have 5-6 sets of each insert (coupon insert sources is another topic), I take each insert and put all identical pages together and staple it.  I go through each stapled group and cut out the coupons I know I'll use and set them aside to put in my coupon pouch that goes to the store with me.

The stapled groups are then filed in a file folder with the date on the tab (in pencil because I reuse the folders over and over).  The file folder is then put in a hanging file with all the other coupon insert files.

Why do I do these steps?

So many of the blogs that I follow will give coupon match ups for items on sale, listing the coupons by date and insert.  For example $1/2 Peter Pan Peanut Butter 8/1 SS (Smart Source).  If I like the final price, I then go to my coupon file and pull out that date. I flip through the stapled groups until I find the peanut butter coupon.  Sometimes, though, that coupon wasn't put in my paper (it's done by regions).  Fortunately, by having them organized by date, I'm not looking through the entire 3 inch stack.  (Yes it's probably that big but no, I haven't measured it.  Okay, okay, now you've got me curious.  I'm getting the ruler....  Well, what do you know?  It was 2 1/2 inches.)

If I'm looking for a coupon on a specific product, there are several free coupon databases out there.  I've used Coupon Mom and I believe Stretching a Buck now has one too.

Hope that gives you an idea for how to organize your coupon stash.  This method definitely works for me!  For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out We Are THAT Family.

Piano Lessons

Here's information about Piano Lessons....

Availability

Tuesdays at 4, 4:30, 5, and 5:30 pm
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 1 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:00 pm.


Piano Lesson Policies


1. Tuition is $40 for a 4 week session. Tuition is due the 1st scheduled lesson of each month unless other arrangements are made. Late tuition may be subject to a late charge or the time slot may be re-assigned to another student.

2. Makeup lessons may be available on a limited, infrequent basis. Students will not receive a discount for lessons they miss. Makeup lessons or a discount will be offered when the teacher is unavailable for a scheduled lesson.

3. Students are expected to practice regularly between lessons. Parents are highly encouraged to participate in practice times.

4. Students may discontinue lessons with a 2 week notice.

5. Students are expected to purchase their own music and additional supplies. The cost of books is not included in the monthly tuition. In order to obtain the correct music, students may request the teacher to obtain the music and the costs will be added to tuition for the month.

6. The preferred method is the Hal Leonard series. But other methods are acceptable.

7. Be sure to notify teacher prior to a missed lesson, as soon as you know you will not be attending your lesson.

8. If a check bounces, students will be required to pay for future tuition in cash.

9. A Spring Recital will be scheduled and all students will be asked to participate. If students are interested in participating in various festivals, we will make all efforts to make this possible.

Calendar

Session dates are as follows:

Sept 1 – 30
Oct 1 – 31
Nov 1 – 27
Nov 28 – Dec 23
Session Break Dec 24 through Jan 2
Jan 3 – 31
Feb 1 – 28
Mar 1 – 31 (no lessons 3/20-27)
Apr 1 – 30
May 1 – 27

Work from Home decision

For about a year, I have not been working (for income).  Before that I have done several part-time work from home jobs and each has ended when it was supposed to.  The last one had had a lot of work which then basically ceased at the same time that we paid off our last debt.  It then trickled along and I ended up earning two small paychecks in 6 months.  6 months later, I decided it was time to officially resign.  Now we are just over 6 months after that and we are feeling a crunch in our budget.  Princess Naked Toes is starting Preschool so that is being added to our budget.  Her gymnastics also went up starting this month.  If you missed the hints from my last post, my husband just had a kidney stone zapped so now we have a large (to us) medical bill to pay out of our savings (Thank you Emergency Fund!) which means we need to rebuild our emergency fund.  Finally, through all our outings and activities this summer, many involving water, we have lost Princess Smiles-A-Lot's hearing aid and we must replace it ASAP.  If you are not aware, an inexpensive hearing aid will cost $1300.  With her hearing loss, we will not be getting the "cheap" hearing aid and hopefully will be able to get her an FM receiver so she can hear the teacher's voice directly in the hearing aid.  And this isn't factoring in that my husband's car needs some repair work equal to its value or a new-to-us vehicle.

I've considered several work at home jobs.  My dream job would be working with numbers (I'm a spreadsheet/paperwork addict - I know I'm strange) but haven't figured out how to find this kind of job from home or an office for the limited time I would have available.  I really don't want to spend the whole of the 2 hrs I have with both girls at school 4 days a week working.  Those two hours are already going quickly to errands, cleaning out projects and visiting teaching - maybe even some sewing projects that are waiting my attention.

So my husband and I have decided that I will start teaching piano lessons.  See this post for details on lessons.  I'm hoping to make just a couple hundred a month to ease the crunch, pay medical bills, and build back up our emergency fund.  I am so done with debt that I'm not comfortable with our emergency fund being as low as it's going to be very soon without a plan to build it back up.

Choosing a Health Insurance Plan

Except for the past 12 months, for most of our marriage, one or both of us have been employed by a large health system that provided decent HMO insurance.  We had a set copay for a visit to our Primary Care Physician and a slightly higher copay for specialists (and it required a referral).  We also had a set copay for an Urgent Care Visit and a copay for Emergency Room Visits.  Lab and radiology work was generally covered 100% (I can't recall ever paying anything for any lab work or radiology).

Then last June, my husband was "laid off" (it was termed laid off but there was no plan to have him return so really it was terminated).  We were blessed with a specified term of severance and we chose a COBRA option of that termination.

Then one year ago this week, my husband started a new job and we had to totally switch gears with our health insurance, including switching our care to the major competitor for his previous employer.  This has been a hard switch and we delayed switching physicians as long as we could.  We still miss our previous physicians, espeically our pediatrician and ENT/audiologists.  When we selected our healthplan, we selected the more expensive plan because it was closest to what we were used to AND was cheaper than what we'd been paying.  The hardest adjustment has been switching from an HMO mindset (all those set co-pays) to a PPO setting (with the benefit of being able to see a specialist without a referral - we don't even have to select a specific Primary Care Physician; we can change who we see at anytime without notifying anyone).

Just a 2 months later, we were having to re-select our insurance plan for the 2010 year as our new employer was adding a 3rd option for Healthcare.  The Premium PPO would be $236/month for our family.  The Value PPO was set at $95/month.  And then the new Consumer PPO plan would be FREE!  Oh how wonderful to think that we could not pay a monthly premium for health insurance!!

Fortunately, I LOVE LOVE LOVE spreadsheets and math.  I sat down and came up with a couple likely scenarios.  Love gets kidney stones every few years and it had been several years so odds were it could happen in 2010.  Princess Naked Toes is very adventurous so it was extremely likely in 2010 that she would end up in the ER or Urgent Care for some incident during an adventure.  My personal experience with my former PCP (who I had a love/hate relationship with) was that if I was sick or had a problem needing to be seen fairly quickly, he would be completely booked for a month out so I'd have to go to Urgent Care.  I estimated costs for those 3 likelihoods and then plugged in how much it would cost us under each of those three PPO plans.  Based on those numbers (our tendency to choose the Better over the Good and not buying the most expensive items), we selected the Value PPO.

In mid-July (2010), my husband started experiencing some severe pains which he self-diagnosed as a kidney stone.  After several weeks of painful days/nights followed by okay days, he was in enough pain that I was able to convince him to see a Urologist and we were blessed to find someone to see him in the office that day rather than an ER visit.  Under the Value PPO, we have a copay for office visits verses 80% after deductible for ER services.

That was a Monday.  He ended up having a CT Scan that afternoon, confirming a kidney stone that still had a LONG way to go to work it's way out.  Based on the stone's position and size, it was decided to do a lithotripsy that Friday.  Let me just say that I WAY under-estimated the costs for a kidney stone.

So today, I sat down with all of our claims information for 2010 and created a wonderful spreadsheet comparing how much we've paid this year to how much we would have had to pay with both the Premium plan and the Consumer Plan.  Now, I went ahead and calculated all 2010 monthly premiums into our costs so basically it's assuming, we have no more medical expenses.  So far, there is only a difference of $800 between the 3 plans with the Value Plan (the one we chose) having the lowest costs to us!! 

I've decided to keep the spreadsheet up to date with any future 2010 claims so that as we get to select for 2011, we'll be very educated on potential healthcare expenses in 2011 for each plan.  Of course, monthly premiums and coverages may change so I'll have to change the spreadsheet accordingly, but I already have the base numbers ready to go.

As you prepare to select your own insurance plan coverage, I strongly encourage you to come up with what is reasonable for your family to experience during that coverage period.  Include annual well-child exams, immunizations, glasses, a replacement hearing aid for the one that your family loses over the summer (oops - forgot to put that in our spreadsheet but I'll use the excuse that we haven't purchased the replacement yet), an ER visit for your own adventurous child, and maybe even an urgent care visit for the potential bike accident of your bike-riding spouse.  The hardest part is estimating costs and a call to the local hospital may not be helpful because they'll won't know the specifics.  So estimate HIGH.

Good luck!

Making up for Saturday

So to make up for Saturday, I've been posting things we don't need on Craigslist this morning.  I still need to post my old dishes since that's what we actually replaced.  My goal is to make at least as much as we spent on the new dishes (since I did get such a great deal on them... more below on that).  So far, I've posted a pack that attaches to a bike frame, our collection of Disney movies on VHS (our VCR died this spring so we haven't been able to watch them; plus whenever anyone wants to watch a movie, they always go to the DVDs first anyway), a spiderman costume (which I bought on clearance to use as a gift or for when friends come over to play but it's just sat in the closet for almost a year), a toddler swing (Princess Naked Toes likes a big girl swing now), and a snowsuit.  I still have a few more items to go add.

As I took the stickers off our new plates and put them in the dishwasher, I discovered that regular price on those plates is $9.99!  So I got really nice plates for about 1/3rd of their regular cost.  I had forgotten too that those purchases came with the Kohl's dollars which I'll be heading back to Kohl's to use at the end of this week.  Maybe I'll look for serving dishes to go with my new dishes... or a little something for me.

And an update on using the new plates, Saturday's dinner was definitely smaller because I used the smaller plates.  But Sunday night, my husband opted for paper plates because he had filled the dishwasher with bowls when making chocolate chip cookies.  Kind of defeats the fewer calories from dinner the night before though.

Utility bills

I was chatting with my brother's mother-in-law the other day.  (Is there a term for what that makes her to me?  No idea.  But we get along so the only term I can think of for her is friend.)  Her house is a little smaller than mine (I just looked it up online and it's 200 sq ft smaller).  But her total utility bills (gas, electric, water and sewer) are less than half of mine!  One advantage she has is large trees all around her home providing lots of shade (meaning she doesn't need as much air conditioning to cool it down).  But more than half!  So now I'm on a mission to figure out why our gas, electric, water and sewer are so much.  I'm getting together with some friends who are willing to share the intimate details of their utilities so that maybe we can figure some things out.  Maybe MeeMaw (what my nephews call their grandmother) likes it hot in the summer and cold in the winter (I like it cold in the winter though).  Maybe she sits in the dark.  I'm also curious to see if I can find the bills from before I was a SAHM.  Is it because I'm home all day, using lights, more a/c, etc?

We've been talking for a few years about investing in more insulation in the attic, and adding it to the crawlspace.  Maybe this is the difference?

If you're interested in participating in our "research", feel free to chime in.  If you don't live in the same area, we won't be able to compare cost but we can compare usage (comparing therms or kilowatts, or gallons of water).  I'll share the results and our efforts as we go.

Not a good example today

Just had to share, I was not the best example today of being a frugal shopper.  Well, in some ways I was.  We got some great deals.  But my best advice, to myself and others, for being frugal - don't go shopping.  And today, we went shopping.  My next best advice, and it may not apply to you but it definitely applies to me - shop without your husband.  Whenever my husband is with me, we tend to spend more, including if that means going over budget.

This weekend is Tax Free weekend for back to school.  Our city is not participating so it's cutting out the state taxes, which is about half the tax bill.  Now for me, this generally does not impact us because we don't buy a lot at one time.  And even on a $100 bill, what's the difference between 7% and 3.5% - a whole $3.50!  Is that enough to make me spend this weekend rather than next?  What if next weekend, the items I want are 10% cheaper than this weekend?  So I generally don't plan around the tax break.

But today I wanted to go get the girls a back to school outfit.  Kohl's was generous enough to send me a 15% off your entire purchase coupon (good through the whole weekend so you can use it multiple times).  If you spend $100 or more, it's 20% of.  Combining my coupon with the tax break, and a back to school budget, a canceled vacation due to a sick Princess Naked Toes (she's better now), and I couldn't resist a trip.

While we were trying on a million outfits (a slight exaggeration but it didn't feel like it), my husband called.  He got off work early for an x-ray (a follow-up on a kidney stone) and the x-ray was right next door to Kohl's.  So he came over and joined us.  He approved the outfits we had picked out for the girls (one each plus a few shirts for Princess Smiles-A-Lot).  Then we started our way over to shoes.  We made a brief pit stop at the dorm room decor stuff.  We picked up two clip on lamps that the girls have been needing for their beds so that one can read when the other wants the light out. 

We detoured through the housewares, looking at dishes.  We've been talking about getting new plates - smaller ones, to help us with our portion control.  So we browsed through (I had no intention of actually purchasing but just getting a feel for what he would be okay with and what he wouldn't - normally what I like, he doesn't).  As we browsed, he held up a salad plate.  I liked it.  He liked it.  It was on clearance.

They only had 2 of that one.  They had 3 of another one that coordinated.  We took a plate to the kiosk to see if they had more of the one we really liked online.  Nothing.  We ended up with the 5 plates.

The plates took us above the $100 mark so we saved a few extra dollars by going from 15% off to 20% off.  That's a great excuse right?

Then we headed home.  And I wondered if Kohl's.com would actually have the plates since the kiosk didn't.  Guess what?!  They did!  Here's one thing I discovered about this set - you don't get to pick the pattern.  There are 4 patterns in it, and you just tell them how many you want.  Since we'd already spent so much (I know some of you are laughing but I don't normally spend that much at one time unless it's my stock up buying at Sam's Club or Christmas), we decided to go for it.  We ordered 7 more plates so we have 12, plus we ordered 8 bowls.

My coupon worked online too.  Kohl's will let you use up to 2 promo codes at the same time. So I did an internet search and found a code for free shipping over $50.  I added a eco-friendly shopping bag for 78 cents to my shopping cart to hit $50.  After several attempts, I discovered that I could only use both if my after 15% off cost was above $50.  So I did some browsing, thinking about things we've been saying we need, and discovered a pair of Chaps pillows for $9.  I added that, deleted the shopping bag (not needed).  And voila, I got the 15% off and the free shipping so I basically paid $1 to free for the pillows.

Or to justify purchasing dishes that weren't truly a NEED, maybe I should apply those savings to the dishes and say I bought pillows for $9 and my dishes were less?

Curious about our new dishes?  Here's the one that first caught our eye.

I really like square plates but my husband informed me today he doesn't.  Guess it's a good thing he was there.  This pattern is on the other 3 plates we bought today.

I don't know what will come in our package from Kohl's.  But here are the other two patterns.

And in case you want some too, here they are at Kohl's.

I promise to go back to my normally frugal, penny-pinching ways tomorrow.  I guess my back-to-school shopping is done.  Dishes are back to school, right?