Today was my 3rd ns day of the week. Of course the day I did spend, I spent $181.08. That was for the storm door for the kitchen door, which I am hoping will pay for itself within one year of cooling and heating saved.

I babysat today (or nannied as the mom calls it) so $50 in-or will be in when she pays me on Friday.

I will probably spend money this weekend however. A dear lady from church, whom I have known since I was born passed away this morning. Most likely I will get a ham to take to the house the day before the funeral. The arrangements have not been announced yet, so I won't buy it until then. She could play the piano like no other, and she could yodle. I loved to hear her yodle.

One of my goals to use my babysitting money was to spend it in such a way that it would be an investment or to save us money.

Today we got another storm door. This will go on a south door and will save on cooling costs this summer and heating costs in the winter. Its a nice door, and insulated. It is made with a double glass, and the glass slides down into the door and the screen when not used rolls up inside the door like a shade. I like that feature because when not in use, the screen is inside the door where no animal can claw at it, and no itty bitty bugs can fly into it.

I also bought some horse radish root. DH eats it like crazy, so I am going to grow it. It will take over the garden if you let it (as well garlic), but I have that figured out already. We have a couple of metal barrels that we can not get the tops off of. I am going to have DH cut them in half. Then I will bury them. I will put the garlic in one and the horse radish in the other. They won't be able to escape. Now I just have to decide if I want the barrels cut lengthwise or just in half. I could have a little bigger crop if they were cut lengthwise. I will have to devise some sort of cover until it takes off, so that the chickens won't scratch and dig it up.

I planned to work outside in the garden today but it has been way to windy. We have had gusts up to 50+ mph. Orginally I planned to take some dirt up and fill in my strawberry bed I made last week, and also to fill in the tractor tire that holds our weather station so I could put some bulbs in it. So, that will have to wait until a less windy day.

There is a possibility it may snow this weekend. Ugh. I knew that groundhog was right! Plus, our horses have not shed their winter coats yet....

We had 2 families help us butcher "Hamburger", our steer. The butcher shop here charges a $250 butcher fee plus 64 cents a pound. He weighed 1200 lbs after he was skinned and gutted. So, needless to say, even after splitting him with others, we still have a freezer full of meat. And, we had fun doing it.

Our costs were under $100. We paid for the ammuniation to shoot him, and freezer bags. Our friends had a meat grinder that we used for what we ground into hamburger (about 203 lbs worth). I have listed the hide for sale to try and recoup some of our feed and such.

I got my second check for my part time babysitting/nanny gig. I had decided the money I earn will be used to save money.

So far, I have bought:

hog hut (to raise our own ham)& pigs
storm door

And this one, is going to buy a barn. It is a demo barn, left at Lowes from last season. I bought it directly from the shed company (not Lowes) for $300. Orginal price $1200. We leave to pick it up in about 15 minutes. Lowes will load it for us.

Not sure what to do with it...it will either be another chicken coop, or we may put it inside the barn to lock all of DH tools in.

It is wood, double doors, has a skylight and vents. It is 8 x 6 x 9, so even the mower will fit in it. Can't even buy the materials to make it for that price.

So far I think I am doing pretty good with my spending.

Today the girls and I went and picked up a used hog hut. I paid $125. New ones are $800. This one is in very good condition.

DH uncle gave us some hog and combination panels as he is once again retiring from farming (he's 'retired' several times.) DH already had a feeder, so I am set to go. I only need warmer weather and pigs!

I had one farmer tell me it would take me $1000-$2000 to set for pigs. But, he didn't know me very well.

Bacon in the freezer!

Due to some of the advice on this site, I have applied for the last year to be on some focus groups. Finally, I got accepted to one and last night was our first meeting. It is with our rural electric coop. The meeting started off with the coop feeding us dinner. At the end of the meeting they handed us each a check for $50. After each meeting we will get a check. Yee haw.

During the meeting they discussed an energy savings program and I learned that my new washer entitled me to a $100 rebate. So, last night I did the paperwork for it, copied my receipt and it went in todays mail.

So far this focus group is worth $150 and a dinner for one meeting. And there are still 3-4 more meetings to go.

I am taking my $150 and Friday morning I am buying a used hog hut for $125. We have ordered some pigs due to arrive in March for our deepfreeze. We will raise them, keep 2 to butcher and the rest will be sold at market to recoup our feed and butchering costs.

My dad just got some 3 week old pigs for $5 a peice from a farmer at auction, and is raising some for their deep freeze as well.

I am wondering what to do with my money from my part time childcare I am doing. It will very each week, from $45 to $250, depending on the number of hours.

What I would like to do, is to spend it in a way as to save money--I want a return back. I already have cfl's in all the lights, and only have 1 shower needing a new water saving shower head.

I think I am going to get a new insulated screen/glass door for the dining room door, as there is not one there and it is on the north side of the house. Another idea I had was to run a waterline from the well to the orchard or feed lot to save on the rural water bill during times we water plants or livestock (extreme heat for the orchard and extreme cold for the livestock when the ponds are froze).

The house already has energy efficent windows and is well insulated as we have the 10 inch walls.

I already drive a fuel effience car (37mpg).

I don't want to invest it or bank it. I guess that is because I am sick at how much we have already lost the past couple of years in our savings, investments, stocks, bonds....Everything has gone down.
We live off my DH income and this is "my money" to do with...

Any ideas???

DH had to work all of Christmas week. Basically he had to work his own vacation & another guys sick leave & another guy who took some personal days for a baby that had severe medical issues. So, he worked most of December, when usually he has the majority of the month off. So, the HR department gave him a $100 prepaid VISA. Last night he took the girls shopping and bought a Wii. The family is having a lot of fun with it.

I worked today (if you want to call it work) at my part time nanny job. So, he had the girls all day. They finished their school work in record time, since he didn't allow the Wii until all their work was done. Tomorrow he works overtime so I will take them with me tomorrow, Thurs and Friday. They will take there books and we will homeschool there. Basically I play with the kids from 9-11:15. Then fix lunch. We eat a few minutes before 12, then down for naps from 12:30-2:30. Of course there is diapers to change and then kitchen clean up afterwards. I get them up at 2:30, change diapers and get them a drink, then their mom wakes up and takes over at 3 and I leave. So, from 12:30 I can work with my kids on their school work and before then they can work on their own.

Last week I worked 1 day, this week 5 days and next week 1 day again. Normally it will be between 1 and 3 days (M-F no weekends)but this week they had some dr appts and work meetings.

My last visit to Aldi, I noticed some changes.

Used to be, most people I saw bought aldi bags (at 5 cents each). I rarely saw others who like myself, took their own bags or, like I do, laundry basket....
Last visit, most people walking in were carrying cloth reusable bags.

The parking lot acutally had a couple of caddys, bmws, a corvet and a hummer in it, in addition to other nice cars. Used to be years ago, older cars.

The store had a lot of people in it--it was packed. Most were nicely dressed working type of people. In the past I have seen more along the lines of retired persons or younger starting out families. Now I see the working in there more than before.

Used to see a lot of food stamp cards--last few visits I have only seen one being used--

I think Alid is starting to collect a different sort of customer now.

On a different note, I am supposed to be sleeping. I stayed awake till 4 am so I could sleep today, as tonight we have an all night non sleeping girl scout even. Yet, I am wide awake by 10:30 this morning...

I'll never make it tonight...

What can I use??

My husbands first wife died before this house was finished....Needless to say, little things were not done and I have been slowly doing them.

One of those little things is that none of the bathrooms had towel holders/racks or TP holders.

I have installed some in two of the bathrooms (the kidsm or else the towels would be on the floor and the TP wet).

But, I am looking for something more unique looking to use in the last two bathrooms. Both are painted sage green. Our house is full of antiques. I'd like to stick with something antique looking or repurpose something to use as she suggested in one of her posts....Both bathrooms have honey oak trim and cabinets.

One idea I had was to use a floor standing quilt rack as a towel holder. Any of you creative people have any frugal repurposing ideas I could use? (I looked thru magazines at the library, but they were of little help).

Today was my first day at my "new job". I am sitting/nanny to 2 little ones. Some weeks I will be there 1 day, and next week I will be there 5 days. But, on the average it will be for 3 days a week. I must say, they are cute! I think this job will work out very well.

I sold 2 identical pairs of boots. One brings $18.75 and the other $8.50. Why such a difference?? Same boots, same condition....Same shipping fee....

I just don't get it.

Got my coupons organized, that is. The only downside is that my new system won't fit into my purse....Oh well. I am still looking for a better system, but this is the best I have had so far.

The pocket coupon organiziners seem to only have 12-16 pockets. I need about 40. I don't like to have all my HBA in one pocket--I like it further divided down into a pocket for shampoo, one for dental, one for deoderant.... I am not brand loyal, so when I see deoderant on sale, I don't want to look through 50 coupons to see if I have one for that brand, I rather just look through my deoderant coupons.

So, I designed my own. I used photo refill pages that fill a 3 ring binder. I can add more sheets if need be. The are clear so I can see through it. The pockets I am using are 4x6, so they are big enough. So, I will try this for awhile.

We never left the house today, so it was a NSD. Yesterday we went to church, but other than buying the Sunday paper, it too was a NSD, although I will make back the $1.50 I spent on the paper in coupon savings and promotions at Walgreen and CVS. Tomorrow will also be a NSD-in fact, all week probably until I do my shopping run.

I went today and met my future kiddos to watch. They are cute. She showed me around the house some, and then gave me the hours she knows of for sure.

Next week I don't have any (it is their last week of the 2 week notice she gave to their daycare center). The next week I work 1 day, and the following week I work M-F. The agreement was for 3 days a week, unless she had overtime, and that when needed, I can take my kids with me, or she can bring hers to my house. She has some days off the first week, and the reason I have 2 extra days the following week is because she has a doctors appt one day, and a work meeting the other. But, those 2 extra days will be short ones-just for about 3 hours. It will help balance out the first week where I just have 1 day.

And, their house is clean! Yeah! Yes, I worried about that because one time years ago I watched a little one that lived in a very very filty home. I did keep the babies room clean though, so she had one clean spot to play. The mom was a single mom who had some major issues, one of which was depression. Needless to say, she eventually lost custody which turned out to be a good thing, because then the mom finally got help. Last time I was in her home it was clean and she had her child back, and had remarried and had 2 more. So, it was a happy ending.

Today has been a NSD, except for a payment I made to the electric coop. Currently we are at the library, and when we leave we will be stopping at CVS, but I will use by bonus bucks so that item will be free.

We are at the library now. When the kids are done with their computer time I let them have after their class, we are going to hit the new CVS they built here. I am going to use the bonus bucks I got yesterday, and earn more, plus my coupons, so I hope to walk out with little money spent. However, this store is very small compared to the one we went to yesterday while in the city, so I am not sure if they will have everything I want to hit again. We will see.

While they were in class, a reporter from the Kansas City paper took pictures of the homeschoolers at the library. He asked me a lot of info on DD4 and said it may appear in the paper this week or next week. He said he had 2 real good photos, she is in one. The editor has the say as to which photo to print or to print both or neither, so we will just have to wait and see....

I still need to go to Dollar General and Target (will do that on Thursday when we go to the city library).
I saved around $27 and got several free items, several rain checks and bonus bucks.

Since CVS scans your card each time, can I get bonus bucks twice on the same item??
For example, today I bought shampoo and got bonus bucks of $2. If I go back tomorrow and buy more of it, will I get another $2??? The girl at the counter was new and didnt know, and the store was swamped, so I didn't want to tie up the line while she ran down the manager...

I met with the craigslist contact this morning. I felt it went well. Basically I would be watching a 6 month old and 2 yr old 3 days a week for 6 hours each time while she sleeps (she works nights). There is a possibility that some weeks she may have an overtime day, and on those days the kids could come to my house.

I can take my kids with me on days my DH works, and on days we have coop or library, her kids can go with us.
She seemed very nice, but has to talk with the Mr, and then will get back to me.

Her schedule is easy-she gives them breakfast when she gets home and before I get there, then she goes to bed, and I would do an activity with the kids and play. 12 is lunch, then they nap after lunch till 2, and she gets up between 2 and 3. I like it because the play time is in the morning before the heat hits, and because they nap after lunch at the same time, my girls can do their school work then if they are with me.

She seemed sensible and had common sense. (I say that because about 18 months ago I talked to someone about a similar set up and basically she was a dingbat. She offered it but I turned it down. She had 3 kids on 3 different schedules and couldn't understand why I couldn't be outside with a 4 year olda t the same time I was to feed the baby and pick up the kindergardener....had too much crammed into one day and no nap times!)

So, I guess now I wait and see.

Today would have been a no spend day, but we have a wedding to go to tomorrow so we will be heading to the city shortly to go shopping for a gift. The bride (and the groom) is a homeschool grad that was in one of my classes last year. She graduated in Dec of 07 from high school. The groom already has bought a home. He takes college classes part time and works with his dad in his family business. The bride is also taking college classes, but hers are online and she works with her family business. They each have a car paid for, and as for the house, I think they said they still will owe about $25,000 on it. Not a bad way for a young couple to start out. Their classes have been paid for with scholarships, so no student loans as of yet either. They already have their furniture (off craigslist and garage sales) and are big fans of Dave Ramsey. I am excited to see how the wedding goes as it has been in the planning for a very long time.

I used to have a free virus checker and then for free it would clean up anything it found--spy wear or bugs.....
I lost it, (accidently deleted it and then even emptyed the recycle bin) and I can't remember the name of it.

On line I can find free scanners, but haven't come across one yet that will repair for free. I have windows XP. Any suggestions??

Today was a NS day. Never even left the house. Tomorrow I will get a gallon of milk when I go in for my interview. Then, later in the day I will take the girls shopping for a wedding gift for a wedding we are attending on Saturday afternoon.

I have 4 watchers on my ebay auction. I am selling some boots the twins outgrew. I should be selling 2 pair, but DD4 lost one of hers--it is somewhere in her bedroom, so it should hopefully resurface soon and then I can get the other pair listed as well. I am going to start small, and try to list one thing a month on ebay.

The next thing I would like to do is join a coupon train, but I can't find one ready to take passengers, but will keep looking.

My other blog (about homeschooling and farm life) has over 500 hits on it now, so I am thinking of adding some things to it. I haven't decided what yet.

I have an interview Friday morning. It is in answer to an ad on Craigslist.

I would be watching an infant and a toddler at their home 3 days a week while one of the parents is there, but sleeping. Both parents work night shifts as nurses, but one is 7-7 and the other is 10-10. The job would be from 9-3 during 3 weekdays, varying each week. They work opposite days so childcare is not an issue of an evening.

The plus is, on days my husband is working, I can take my 3 girls with me to their home (they are 10,10 and 12). We homeschool and they can just do their work there. The mom was very excited that on Tuesdays we go to the library and on Fridays to homeschool coop. Her kids can go along with us and have some socialization--the library has classes/storytime for babies thru high school that all meet at the same time. And, the coop is very open to parents bringing in visiting children, as many of the homeschool families do some daycare or are foster parents. In fact, our coop even has a nursery that is staffed by the same parents all semester, or I can take the little one with me in a stroller.

The mom is also open to the fact that once in awhile it would be best to watch her kids here at my house--such as when we are expecting a load of hay, grain or a cow is calving.....

They don't live in our town, but in the one where the coop and library are located, about 17 miles away. (This is also where there is now a CVS store) and we do part of our grocery shopping (except for Aldi's) and buy our feed.

The down side, is it is only $7.50 an hour, but that is the going rate around here for everything from grocery store clerk to working at city hall. (Before I married and moved here I was up close to $25 an hour, several years ago). But if you factor in I will not have to pay any child care, that makes it more appealing, as does the fact we will not be missing our regular weekly activities.

OK, I missed getting Sundays paper, so that was a bummer - no coupons. So, I am checking trying to find coupons online for the items I am interested in. We are already planning a trip to the library tomorrow, and go by the new CVS store on our way there.

I still am not sure exactly how the bonus bucks thing works. I already have one of the red cards.

Another thing I don' undertand...I bought some stuff at a CVS store several months ago and on line, it says I will be issued a reward for $10.81 on Jan 1. What does that mean? Does it take 3 months for the bonus bucks to catch up??

Our water company (rural water) was investigated by the state, and is lowering their rates next month. YES! I also got our new bill today, for $35.48. Last month I had a credit because it seems they had been estimating the water bill compared to last years water use. However, early this summer we got our
new front loading washer, so they were over estimating it (hence a credit last month). So for a basic month, I expect it to be in the $30 range from now on out. A year ago it was around $75-$100 depending on the month, so we have slashed it at least in half with the new washer. (It only uses 8 gallons of water, even for a large load, and its large load is almost twice as large as my old washers large, and it used 66 gallons for a large load and 44 for a small one). So, I am washing twice as much laundry in 1/8 of the water. The energy tag that came with it gave the figures for electric use, and we estimated around $7-$13 a year for the electric. So, it is saving us money all around.

I do some writing for thriftyfun.com, and have made some writing money from that site. The founder and editor, Susan, passed away on Dec 21. I found out yesterday. She was a real nice lady and I have some very nice emails from her. She was only 60.

We have been having weird weather here in Missouri. One day it will be in the 20's with snow and when you wake up the next morning it will be in the 60's. Then it snows again the next day and repeats. This past week we have had 2 ice storms, each followed by a day in the 60's. The entire farm is a muddy mess.

Tonight is the childrens Christmas Program at church. I have helped with it some, and it should be very good. We stayed after church to help set up for it and we go back in about 2 hours. So, we are home just long enough to do the chores, eat, and bake cookies to take back with us tonight.

I plan on taping the program tonight, and for once (and I do mean for once) I actually planned ahead and bought a two pack of blank tape. (I am a big one at going to record something with out charging my batteries or getting tape). I even got some that were marked down at Walgreens--They are maxwell, so should be ok, after all, how can 8mm tape go out of date???

Right now DD4 is mixing up the chocolate chip cookies. She is trippling her recipe. I will count this as a math lesson (trippling fractions isn't easy when you are 10) and also as home ec.

If I remember, I need to get some soap ingredents after the Christmas program. I meant to pick them up when I was in the store getting the tape, but totally forgot. (I make my own laundry and dish soap, its much much cheaper and easier on the septic and our skin, as it is all natural.)
If you want my recipe for soap, it is on my homeschool site. http://countrysidechristianacademy.blogspot.com/

Its cold, real cold, real real cold and it is windy. We had very little firewood ready to go, (like less than a 6 hour burn). So, I hunted on craigslist and found some very close by for less than 1/2 of what some others wanted. Their price included it being split, unloaded and stacked.
Normally we can cut our own wood, but DH has been working overtime, has to work his own vacation and is finishing up taking night classes. In addition he is also studying for a national board test he has to take in January, so, I felt it was worth it to buy the wood. Not to mention that Murphy likes to hang around here, and if I didn't, he would show up and the power would go out, hence no heat...
Got a possible lead on a job today. It is part time working in a home where there is 2 infants. Nice part is, on days my husband works I could take my 3 with me.
My blog on blogspot now has over 300 hits, and some more ads have appeared on it. So, hopefully it will generate some income also. DD#4 put some earrings she made on it to sell. She took a jewerly class last semester at homeschool coop.

She chewed through another outdoor heavy duty extension cord. Chewed clear through it-put it into peices. Why she did'nt get killed I don't know, as it was plugged in at the time. So, tonight in the snow we had to get the big boy (4x4) out of the barn and go 20 some miles to get another cord-else the chickens would freeze tonight when it gets below 0. I paid $20 for the one she chewed at Lowes, and of course the farm store was higher, so around $30 for this one.....

DH buried this one--apprently it runs under the barn wall and through conduit into the coop and is now there for life. My daughter said no way the dog can get to it now and it will never come out of there.

Why do I keep the dog?? Because she is a beagle and has been very good at barking all night keeping the coons away from the poultry. Without a beagle, we loose chickens. Our biggest loss was 43 slaughtered in a 48 hour period. No other breed seems to work for us, but the beagles, how they carry on when the see a coon, then they chase them off. So, I guess it was worth a new cord.

It is windy. Too windy to do what I planned to do outside. We could do what I planned to do tomorrow today, but that would be a trip to the city, and I am "too cheap" to drive and pay for the fuel for a 63 mile round trip. So, as a result I am bored.
We did run out of milk, so I guess I will run to the little town and get a gallon. That will kill some time. So, I guess I will do that, then come home and possibly read.
Isn't it funny how we complain our lives are too busy and we want a quiet day. Then we get one and complain as well.....It doesn't help that it is dark, dreary, windy, cold and damp outside either...

OK. I think the blog is up and running. I can see it, so I am assuming others can too. Tonight I figured out how to put pictures on it. Ideally I would like to get to the point that it maybe generates some revenue...eventually..... So far I have over 40 hits on it and one follower.

I took the kids to the library for their last homeschooling class until January. Todays topic was on Christmas around the world. They learned some history, social studies and fun facts about several countries regarding Christmas. They also made some Christmas ornaments. For example, did you know that Christmas was not legal in Russia for over 70 years? It just became legal again about 20 some years ago. It was due to the government not wanting religious holidays.

My 12 year old also now has her "internship" for homeschooling. She is going to start shadowing at the library and helping with the discovery club classes for younger children. One of her 10 year old sisters is working at a vet clinic one day a month (owned by my cousin, so its 'safe'). Now we are looking for an intership for the other 10 year old.

I have had numerous people tell me I should start a site or blog about homeschooling and farming/homesteading. So I am trying to set one up. I have no clue what I am doing. I had 2 people recommend blogger.com, so that is what I am using. I have also been told I may generate a small amount of income from ads, but have no clue on that yet--one thing at a time.

Eventually I'd like it to be a place where people could order used books, my daughters jewerly crafts and such as well. But, that is down the road aways.

Added::: http://countrysidechristianacademy.blogspot.com/

Yesterday one of my 11 year olds did an 8 hour "internship" with a vet. She loves it. She wants to be a vet when she is older, and also picked vet science in 4H. So for now, she is going to "work" at a vets office at least 8 hours a month. Probably more in the spring when she can get outside and do larger animals as well.

It helps that I have 2 cousins who are vets. I can take her and drop her off, with her sack lunch and know I don't have to worry about her safety, the language she may be hearing and such.

Yesterday she got to "help" in surgery. Her main duty seemed to be cleaning off puppies after a c section, holding dogs while IV's were put in, and helping to shave cats and dogs for surgery. She can in great detail explain to you a cats hysterectomy, a dogs c section, removing foreign objects from a dogs stomach, immunizations, cleaning out ears, canine dental care and more.

Her first comment after we got in the car was when can I go back?

After we dropped her off, the other 2 girls and I went to a bookstore, McDonalds and saw the movie Fireproof with Kirk Cameron. I highly recommend the movie.

Right now I am trying to get some bottle calves. Around here they sell for several hundred each. I found a guy in Nebraska who has them for $85 each, first come first serve. Trouble is DH won't be home for several hours. I can't commit till he sees and ok's. He has been farming for years, me for 24 months. They are cute in the picture, little black and white steers.

I am at the library with the kids for the Tues morning homeschool class. Topics vary each week in all subjects.

Todays is great--they are playing the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover game for kids. Works well for me, because DD3 just took the Dave for Kids class at homeschool coop.

The woman is driving me nuts.

When we first got married, my new husband forgot my daughters birthdays. I said something to his mom and her reply to me was "well, they are not his real children, so I don't see that he is required to get them anything at all. they have a real dad for that." (never mind the fact that their "real dad" wasnt in their life at that time)...

Issue #2, every time I planned a family event at my home she has either called everyone behind my back and moved it to her home, or changed the location--this includes a birthday dinner I tried to plan for my husband and my step-daughters college graduation party.

Issue #3. Last week.
Her 70th birthday happens to be on Thanksgiving. So does my dads #78. She is in good health. My father is not. She had a birthday party on Saturday, which we all attended. We spend last Thanksgiving AND Christmas at her house. This Thanksgiving was the year to have it at my parents and she has known that since last years. But, I was told by her that I ruined her birthday by not allowing my husband to come to her home to celebrate her birthday. Hello? She already had her party, how many celebrations does she need? She further told me I was a nonsupportive wife to not let my husband come to holidays at her home. Since we have been married, we have spent 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas with my family. All others have been at her house (she would not let me have it at my house), and also she has had Easter.

She was yelling at me on the phone. So I said it sounds like you are saying my family doesn't matter. She screamed back at me "they don't".

I also explained that my girls were spending (court ordered) 4 hours with their father that day, and it was a 2 hour drive there and back. Their father lives in the same area as my family, so besides it being their turn, my dads birthday, was also the fact we couldn't be 2 places at one time. She told me she didn't care about my kids or my family.

I hung up on her. That was Saturday, and I have not heard from her since.

Thanks. I feel better now!