God blesses in unexpected ways!

I have been having a really hard time maintaining a "company ready" home these past few days. Well, a lot longer than that, but the past few days I have stood at my front door and looked in, actually pleased with what I saw. Not every single thing was in order, there were some dishes in the dish drainer that needed to be put away, but for the post part, my house was presentable.

Yesteray I had just pulled out the vacuum cleaner when I heard a knock at the door. It was the Kirby guy! Some of you just cringed. I, however, didn't....I had never had a Kirby person come to my door. So of course, when he said he would clean my carpets for free, I was sure God sent him. After all, my home was clean and I had just pulled out my vacuum cleaner. God is good. After all my hard work keeping the house presentable, he sent the Kirby guy to clean my carpets!

Well, after 1 1/2 hours later and 3 different prices for the vacuum cleaner, a 5ft by 5ft area of my carpet was vacuumed and shampooed.

What could I expect, with them offering to clean my carpets for free? I never asked them if they meant the whole carpet! Or all the carpet in one room! Apparently, when they tell you they are just doing "word of mouth" advertising and that is why they are cleaning your carpets, they are lying! They are trying to sell you something.

After spending 1 1/2, almost 2 hours with the Kirby people, trying to calm my hungry 8 month old and chase my 2 year old, I was not totally dissapointed. I was pleased that after that much wasted time, I didn't have that nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach telling my I had a messy house to clean. Usually, when it gets close to the time my husband should be heading home from work, I run around like a mad women, picking up whatever I could.

So, even though the Kirby guy was not actually sent by God to clean my carpets, I feel blessed that I was able to comfortably let them into my home without needing to pick up first. I was also able to share with them a little bit about Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, since that is the reason I was adamant to them that I would not buy the vacuum. They didn't understand why I would want to save and pay cash for something, when they offered simple financing!

Have you had any unexpected blessings recently?

I've moved!

Happy Mom has now become The Unlikely Homemaker!

It's still my goal to stay a Happy Mom, while trying to figure out this whole homemaking thing! Please join me.

Get your budget written, groceries first!

We are going to start writing a budget.

First I recommend that you take a look at your spending history via online banking to see how much you spend in certain categories (groceries, household items, entertainment); I don’t recommend you write those numbers down as your monthly budget. If you want to start saving money, you need to spend how you haven’t been spending before.

Here are my recommended steps to start setting up your written budget. You will need a blank sheet of paper, a pen, and a calculator.

1. Write down all of your ATM purchases for 2 months. This includes gas, restaurants, groceries, household goods, entertainment,  and ATM withdrawals.
2. Next to each dollar amount, write the category that the transaction belongs in.
3. Total up the dollar amount for each category.
4. Review the dollar amounts, and notice they are high! You really don’t need to spend that much!

Now that you know how much you are used to spending on groceries, eating out, and random purchases, here is what you need to do:

• First, pick your favorite restaurant. Just one. The dollar amount for one dinner out, including tip, will be what you are starting with as your monthly restaurant budget.  You can make adjustments later.
• Go to Google, and type in a question like “Average monthly grocery bill in <insert county>”. This will give you a vague idea of what sort of grocery budget is realistic in your area.
• Write a grocery list of items you regularly purchase. Milk, bread, eggs, butter, chicken…include realistic dollar amounts for each item (not on sale/coupons). This is the start of your grocery budget. These are your staple items. No matter how much or how little money you have, these are always at the top of your shopping list. Now slash the dollar amount by 30%
• Look in your cupboards. Do you buy lots of snacks? You probably don’t need all of them. Decide what you might buy on a weekly basis (again, not on sale). Write that down, too, along with the estimated prices.
• Total up the weekly cost of your staple items and your snacks.
• Next, look at your cleaning supplies. Are you brand-loyal? Do you break down cost by ounces? How often do you need to buy your cleaning supplies? If you know the dollar amount you usually spend, lower it to at least 70% of what you are used to. If you don’t know how much you spend, figure $1.50 for all purpose cleaner, $5 for laundry detergent, $3 for dishwashing products, and $7 for paper products. These are estimated weekly figures.
• Add your grocery budget as of now (using above steps) to your cleaning supplies budget. Add $10/week to this, and if you have kids in diapers, add another $5. This total is your weekly grocery/household budget.

For the next 2 months, I want you to go to the bank once a week, and pull out cash to cover your budget. Start using the cash envolpe budgeting system. Pull out enough cash for each of your categories on the same day every week. It might be challenging to not borrow from the next week, but try your best not too. You may be amazed by how well you are able to hold on to your money.

 If you think this budget is not doable, keep checking in on my posts, I am going to show you how you are going to cut your spending!

I use cash envelopes as my budgeting system. I write checks for rent, use my bank account for bills, and cash for literally everything else. Here are my envelope categories:

• Grocery/Household
• Birthdays
• Entertainment
• My money (treats)
• Tithe
• Clothing
• Gas

Here is the simple way I created my budget. I did write out all my spending for 2 months, just to see how much extra money I could have each month. I then picked a dollar amount ($40) that I wanted to spend every week on grocery and household items. This is for groceries, snacks, household items, diapers for 2 kids, and wipes. Some months it includes pet food for 3 dogs and 3 cats.

Yes, that’s right; I live in California, and I spend $40/week on groceries and household goods for 2 adults and 2 little ones. Some might say that the only reason I am able to keep my budget that low is because I have 2 very young children who eat almost nothing. While that is partially true, I also have 2 young children who require diapers and wipes. Those are not cheap to buy!

Next week I am going to review how I came up with my spending categories, and how to pick the dollar amount you can stick to.

Have you ever had a written budget? Was it hard to stick to?

Monday already...Time to deep clean!

Time seems to go by so much faster now that I'm not going to work. I thought it'd be the other way around. I expected my days to go by so slow, since I am home all day, every day, with the kids.

Anyway, after a long rainy weekend, it's time to steam clean the carpets again. With 3 dogs running around indoors, it is very easy to get these carpets nice and dirty in just 2 days! Since I've tried to severely cut my budget, especially when it comes to cleaning products, I have been putting off buying a refill for my steam cleaner. Even the cheapest brand of carpet shampoo costs me about $15.00, and I can never find a coupon for it!

After much research (I love research!) I came up with my own concoction. Here it is:

1/4 cup free and clear Purex laundry detergent
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
a few drops of essential oil, if desired

Add mixture to soap dispenser in steam cleaner, and top off with water (to fill line on the dispenser).

This seems to get the dirt out of the carpet much better than the shampoo I was buying. Also, adding the vinegar helps rinse the carpet to get out soap residue.

I have a toddler and an infant, so keeping the carpet clean is an absolute must! Here are a few steps that I take to make sure the carpets are not only clean, but free of chemicals:

1. Rinse carpet with hot water prior to using "shampoo" setting on cleaner.
2. Use shampoo setting so that it uses the least amount of shampoo as possible. It will still clean the carpets!
3. After cleaning the whole carpet on shampoo setting, change the setting back to "rinse" and use only water, to help eliminate residue that may be left on the carpets.

I realize that this will take more time, and literally more energy, but I hate the idea of my daughter crawling around on a dirty floor, or on a carpet filled with chemicals!
Oh, and for the laundry detergent, I recently bought a 110-load bottle of Purex Free and Clear for just $4.99!

More than Mom

I've been having a really hard time trying to figure out what I want to do. I quit my job in order to be home for my husband and children, and was planning on getting back into real estate. Once we figured out that my husband was making enough overtime to cover my pay for a few months, I decided to "think" a little more on what I really want.

I have been having bad hair days like you wouldn't believe. Litterally, bad hair days! I feel like a frumpy house wife because my hair isn't nice. I haven't had a hair cut in a year, the length is starting to really bother me, and now I keep noticing that my eyebrows are a darker color than my hair! And I don't even dye my hair! I found a box of hair dye under my cabinet that I may just use today.

But, I don't now if dying my hair is going to make me feel any better. I think I'm going through an identity crisis. My husband and I had an argument the other day, and then he told me that he loved me. When he listed the reasons, one of them was that I was the mother of his kids. I didn't hear anything else he said after that. All I heard was: Mother. Is that all I am now? I don't have a job anymore, I haven't seen friends in a very, very long time because I've been busy working and being mom for the past 2 years. I don't go to all of my family's parties and events, because my family is huge and I hate to pick and choose who I see. My husband works a lot, and I don't have anyone who can watch my kids in a moment's notice if I want to go on a date with my husband.

So, for now, I guess "Mom" will have to do. It's not that I don't love being a mom. I do love it, and it's the best job I've ever had. It's the hardest, most unappreciated, challenging job that I've ever had. It is also the most rewarding job I've ever had.

Anyone else having, or had, an identity crisis after having kids? I would love to know that I'm not alone!

Weekly Finance Update-No grocery shopping!

Well, my success story this week is...I still have $30 out of my $40 weekly grocery budget!



The bad news is, I'm going insane :0) I will post about that later!



We did an impromptu "eat from the pantry" challenge this week, and let me tell you, it was a challenge! I did go buy a loaf of bread on Monday, because I couldn't be bothered with making a loaf as I had planned. Other than that, we have survived on whatever I could find!



My husband worked a lot of overtime last pay period, so we had some more cash to move over to savings. So far, it doesn't look like we are going to be missing my extra income this month. I know it's only been a week, but we have saved more than what I made in 2 months. Things are looking good.



Current financial goals:

• Dave Ramsey's Baby Step 1 DONE
• Dave Ramsey's Baby Step 2 in progress
• Cut $40 a month out of our budget by using Swagbucks and Survey site redemptions for pet food.
• Find a new home to rent so we can start a home buying fund.

I am not sure how long we will be in Baby Step 2, since we will need to accumulate over time from my husband's job for that. Unless of course he gets the job he is hoping for. It pays well, and we will be able to put more money towards savings every month.

Any success stories you want to share?

What's a happy mom?

The Today show had a segment this morning on happy moms. They interviewed the author of "10 Habits of Happy Mothers". This got me thinking, what makes me a happy mom?

I am certainly not happy all the time. Lately, I've been in the 43% (as the segment reported) of mothers that are unhappy. Leaving my job as helped tremendously, but I'm not quite there yet! Here's my list so far on what makes me a happy mom:

1. Coffee. Coffee makes me a happier mom, without question! I need my 1 cup a day. I try really hard to finish a cup in the morning, because that caffeine does give me some energy throughout the day. Lately, since I haven't been able to sit and drink a cup of coffee, I have been using my Magic Bullet to make myself frappuccinos. I can drink those down in 2 seconds flat! I've been blessed with being immune to brain freeze

2. Sleep. Well, it would make me happy if I got any. I find that I am way too grumpy for my kids when I don't get enough, or any, sleep. Unfortunately this has been my #1 problem right now. I just cant sleep!

3. Baking. If I actually get a chance to get in the kitchen and bake, I feel like I've accomplished something great!

4. Seeing my kids smile. I think our kids are a reflection of us, so if I see them smiling, I must be doing something right! This makes me happier.

5. A clean kitchen. I think I spend more time in the kitchen than in any other room, so when I walk in to my clean kitchen, it's a very relaxing feeling.

6. Drinking a cup of tea and taking my vitamins. I know I don't always eat healthy; some times, I don't eat enough. I drink my tea and take my vitamins, I feel like I'm making an effort to take care of myself.

7. Grocery shopping alone, with a latte. I don't do this often, but sometimes, I'll leave the kids at home with my husband while I grocery shop. I will pick up a coffee on the way, so that I can slowly browse the grocery store and sip my drink. My husband wonders why it takes me so long to grocer shop :0) I don't buy extra things, I still stick to my budget, but this is the only "me" time I get.

What makes YOU a happy mom?