Loving Home

Ok,  as I said in my last post Feb. has been a hard month for us.  I have decided that I need to set goals for March so I can get the bills paid. ~smile~ 1.  Groceries and eating out - we eat out way too much.  We need to limit eating out to pay days only. We look at this as our date night but truthfully we eat a lot of our meals with just the two of us now.  Ian is working nights and Rachel is still away at school.  Maybe we need to eliminate this until Rachel gets home at least.  Groceries is another issue.  I have a lot of food in the house and if I would take the time I could make it work.  I only have $146 budget for food for March.  That is for both categories.  I have to work hard to make it work better. 2.  Utilities - these were double what I was expecting except for water.  We need to do better with  wasteful use of our electric and gas.  Water stays about the same when Rachel is not home.  When she is home it increases about $10 a month.  I need to go around shutting off lig...

ok,  I can't believe that it is Feb. 28th already.  Where is the year going already.  I can't wait for the weather to make up its mind.  We have freezing ice on day and then by the weekend it is almost 70.  My trees are starting to bud and tonight we have a winter weather advisory.  See what I mean.  This month has been stressful financially.  We purchased a new car as ours was about to start costing us alot for a used car that was never right very soon after we bought it.  So we purchased a 2008 Kia Rondo.  I like it and it sits higher so it is easier for me to get in and out of.  Between that and our parent loan starting its payments this month it has been a juggling act.  Hopefully March will be better.

I was just reading on one of my favorite sites:  $5 dinners and she is having a fantastic giveaway right now.  She has been blessed with Wal-Mart gift cards that she won in a contest.  Wal-Mart has blessed her with a year's free groceries.  She has decided to share her wealth.  Go to $5 dinners and enter telling her tips for shopping at Wal-Mart (if you do shop there) and how you would use $25 dollars there.  Giveaway ends on February 22.  Go Luck.

Today my bff and I drove into Nashville and took a needlepoint class.  We also joined ANG, American Needlepoint Guild.  Needlepoint is a dying art and I love working on it.  It is my release, what I do to unwind.  Some people veg in front of the television -- I stitch.  My bff, Susan and I can stitch with each other for hours and stitch without saying much at all.  Just a "look at this color" or "what do you think of this stitch".  Drives my daughter nuts.  LOL  The design being offered is one that uses up little bits and this fiber and that fiber.  I love stuff like that.  I hate little bits that you can't do much with most of the time. So now I have three projects going on.  ~smile~  I don't get bored this way.  Two of them are for me finally.  My dh complains that everything I stitch is for others.  Now I can say "no this is for us".  I have one at the framers also.  I will try to post a pic when it gets back.

Well here it is Feb 11 and this is my first post of the month.  Shame on me !!  I have been busy stitching.  Also I had a couple of days with the crud going around.  Dh is a middle school teacher so he brings home every germ.  That's for sharing honey !! LOL Well last Friday I had seventy dollars for two weeks and it is gone.  I wont have any money for groceries until Feb. 20.  So, I am challenging myself to see how long I can go without going to the store for food.  I just picked up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread.  I am going to start baking my bakery goods again.  I just got lazy  LOL.  A gallon of milk will last us until it expires which is the 22nd of Feb since I only use it on my cereal.  The soda is gone so I will be making ice tea and lemonade that I picked up for 28 cents a container for Country Time powdered mix. I have a lot of meat and frozen veggies.  I will use leftovers for dh's lunch.  I am down to one can of tuna.  Not good.  I am long in pasta and homemad...