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?

BlogHop 2010

Hi!  Welcome Bloghoppers to Mothers Who Know!

Today, I'm participating in Pensieve's Blog Hop '10 in honor of BlogHer.

I started Mothers Who Know as a place to share ideas (and hopefully gain some ideas from others) on how to live providently.  Provident living is using our resources, including time, money, and our stuff, wisely.  I participate in Works for Me Wednesday often (but not every week) sharing things that are working for our family, including ways that we teach our daughters about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

You will also find recipes that my family loves.  One of my goals with the recipes is to identify recipes that are naturally gluten-free that my family will eat.  This means recipes that don't require special ingredients to be gluten-free.

I am a stay at home mom.  After many years in the workplace, I started staying home shortly before our oldest daughter was born.  Since then, I take the approach that stretching my husband's income is my "job".  With that approach, we've been able to make it on one income (with some part-time work at home assistance periodically) and survived a summer-long unemployment in 2009.

So look around and hope to see you around again soon!

Taco Dip

We attended a BYU Send-Off party tonight for two young friends who are heading off to BYU in a few weeks.  Each family was asked to bring a treat to share.  One of the families (the host family) have two members with Celiac's disease (they can't eat wheat/gluten) and I wanted to bring treats that everyone could eat and that I didn't have to go buy specialty flours.  After browsing the internet, I finally came up with two recipes from my recipe box that we've made tons of times.  The first recipe was fudge which my husband makes.  Tonight I'm sharing the second recipe - Taco Dip.  This recipe came from a co-worked when I worked in Florida.  She brought it to work one day and I had to get her recipe.  I've made it many times over the years and it's always a hit.

Taco Dip

12 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 c. sour cream
2 t. chili powder
1 1/2 t. cumin
1 1/28 t. red pepper
1/2 c. salsa

Combine ingredients and place in serving dish (I use a glass pie plate).

Toppings:
Cheddar Cheese
Monterey Jack
Diced tomatoes
green onion
black and green olives

Sprinkle toppings over dip.  Serve with tortilla chips.


Tonight's seemed a little spicier than normal and as I typed this out I realized why - when I read the recipe I saw 1 1/2 t red pepper instead of 1 1/8 teaspoon.  But I was out of chili powder so it probably really wasn't any spicier.

Another change for tonight was that I used the "Mexican" blend of shredded cheese rather than the cheddar and monterey.  I also didn't have green onions or olives to put on (we don't normally do the olives since no one in my family eats them).  In the past, I have put some green or orange peppers on it for more color.

WFMW - Ice Cream Novelties

I LOVE ice cream!  That's probably an understatement, actually.  I have only had a few instances in my life where I have turned down ice cream (the majority of those times being when the only flavor was coffee/mocha which I won't eat - yuck!).

But I try not to buy ice cream.  Do you know what happens when I have ice cream in my house?  Even if it's not my favorite kind?  I eat it.  Every day.  And I'm not good at following serving sizes - have you ever measured out your ice cream?

This Spring, we discovered boxes of Good Humor ice cream treats at Sam's Club.  And they are working for our family!  I love the ice cream bars and the cones are good too.  My family also loves the ice cream sandwiches and fudge bars.  But what I love even more is that it is proportioned out for me.   No offense to Good Humor, but I'm also able to resist having it every day.  It satisfies my ice cream desire without HAVING to have some.  (Kind of like my love for cheese curls - I just can't resist but I can resist Doritoes - so which do you think I buy?)

Buying ice cream novelties Works for Me.  For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out We Are THAT Family!

WFMW - Credit Card Motivation

Years ago, we paid off all our credit cards and our car (this took years to do).  But we failed to cancel our credit cards, in case we needed them in an emergency.  Then we decided to purchase a van, believing we could afford the payments.  We could but it stretched our budget and we made a few poor decisions that we ended up putting some charges on our credit cards.  A few thousand dollars later, we were feeling the weight that comes with being a slave to the lender.  We got serious about paying off that debt, again.

If you have been trying to pay off credit card debt, you've probably heard about Dave Ramsey's Debt Snowball method.  If you haven't, here's a very quick summary - list your debts from smallest to largest, then tackle the smallest one first (paying minimums on all the rest).  The reason you pay off smallest to largest is for the excitement you feel paying something off - it motivates you to keep going.  If you worked on the largest debt first, it would take longer to get that "reward" so you might lose your momentum.

But what do you do if you have a huge amount you're trying to pay or you are still losing your momentum?  We needed a reality check that second go around of paying off consumer debt.  Do you notice I bolded consumer?  That's because so much of what we, as a country, use our credit cards for is consumed.  Here's what we did...

In addition to smallest to largest, I made a LONG list of all the charges that made up the debt.  So if there was a $1000 balance, I made a list of all the charges on that credit card, working backwards in time so I could see what made up the $1000 (I made interest charges their own item).  Then as we made a payment of $50, I looked at the oldest charge and if the $50 covered it, I marked it off or as many items as the payment covered.  Sometimes that charge was an interest payment.  Sometimes it was an oil change that a vehicle needed.  And sometimes it was a trip to McDonald's 18 months ago!!!!  Isn't that ridiculous?!  We were paying for something we ATE 18 MONTHS AGO!

That was a big reality check for us!  It was also a great motivator.  At that time, I was working part-time from home.  We lived off of my husband's salary and used my variable income to pay off the debt.   If I saw that the next oldest month of charges was $125, I would work really hard to make at least that much of a payment from my next paycheck.  I was paid every two weeks and everything from my checks (after tithing) went to decreasing debt or emergencies.

So check out what you're actually paying when you pay your next credit card payment.  It will probably surprise you what you're paying for - and hopefully motivate you to move forward in getting rid of that credit card and not use it again.

This method definitely Worked for Me for motivation and reality.  For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out We Are THAT Family.

Time Out for Women - Kansas City Survey

I just received an email from DeseretBook's Time Out for Women manager, Chrislyn Woolston.  They are looking at coming back to Kansas City in 2011 (not St. Louis) on November 4-5 to the Overland Park Convention Center.  Chrislyn has asked me to ask you the following questions.  You can email your answers or leave them as a comment and I'll forward them too DeseretBook.  I was disappointed that we didn't have a Time Out close to us this year so I'm excited that they are looking at next year (but I was hoping for St. Louis).  To give you some ideas but hopefully not influence your comments (other than to encourage you to send in your comments), I'm putting my answers below too.

1. What stake are you in and how far of a drive is it to Kansas City?

Springfield Missouri South Stake - 3-4 hour drive

2. Do you see any conflicts with this date?

Not at this time but our Stake calendar hasn't come out yet.

3. Would you attend the event in Kansas City in 2011? Why or why not?

I probably would attend but I'd prefer one in St. Louis because when if I'm going to travel, I'd like to combine it with a Temple trip.  If the Kansas City event waited until 2012, the KC Temple will be opening and I'd be able to combine a Temple and Time Out trip in KC.

4. Do you think women from your area would be willing to travel there?
Kansas City tends to be less popular with our area because it is a little further and not as convenient as St. Louis.  Downtown KC is not an easy location but with the change to Overland Park it may increase interest  (Love the change to Overland Park!).

5. Would you be willing to be on a team for this event?
Willing to be on the Team again - but if others are interested, willing to let them participate instead.
6. Do you see any obstacles in having the event in Kansas City in 2011?
Same comments as question #3 - wait until 2012 when the Kansas City Temple will be open (whether for the open house time frame or after it's open - but not during the dedication times).