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?

Start REALLY Saving Money

I was going to be doing a series on managing a home and business in one (WAHM-ing it!) but I changed my mind. I will put that on hold for a few months, as I just quit my job and need time to get myself organized in that area.

I will now be doing a Moneysaving series. This will include some very basic ways to save money, and some ways that are a little more work, but definitely worth the effort.

First and foremost, let’s clarify the definition of “save”. Webster states that this is: to put aside as a store or reserve: Accumulate. Maintain, Preserve. To make unnecessary.

I know that seems formal to include this definition, but I’ve read lots of books, blogs and articles that have very simple ways of “saving money” by skipping that Starbucks latte, or that candy bar at the gas station. They emphasize that you can do these things to save money, and not have to have a written budget. You can save without really thinking about it. While this may work for some people, I think for the general population, this is wrong.

Given that the word “save” literally means, “to make unnecessary” a budget is required, even if you save $5 by not purchasing your morning latte. Why? A few years ago my husband and I realized that we were spending $10 a day (combined) at the coffee shop below our apartment. We converted that to a yearly cost of $2,600 (when buying 5 days a week, which we did), and quit the coffee shop altogether. You want to know how much money we ended up saving? Zero! We didn’t have a budget, so when we stopped buying the coffee, we simply spent the money on something else. We didn’t make that money become “unnecessary”. None of our money was allocated to a certain category; it just sat in the checking account waiting to be spent. It didn’t sit for long J

I challenge you to write a budget. Without a written budget, when you “save” $5 on a latte, or $100 on eating out, you may simply up your spending somewhere else, because the money is still there to be spent. Look at your bank statements and see how much extra money you spent over the last 2 months. Look at the restaurants you’ve gone to, add up the small gas station purchases. Once you see how much extra money you could have every month, writing a budget becomes much easier. You will feel such a relief when you realize that in that budget, you can pay yourself! Not money for groceries, or gas, or clothes (I have envelopes for these also) but for a coffee when you feel like it, or a manicure! I haven’t decided what I want, so even though I’ve been paying myself every week, I have only spend $7 of it in the last month, and that was to take my son out to pizza.

My husband and I wrote our budget, stuck to it, and opened up a savings account at a different bank. All of the “extra” money goes into that account. It is a savings account, so it has no debit card. We cannot do impulse purchases with the intentions of quickly transferring money into our checking account (we’ve done this many times!).

Next week: Get your budget started

un Happy Mom

Today, I’m not a happy mom! It’s Sunday, and my husband has been at work all day. He will be leaving again tomorrow morning for a job and will return Thursday or Friday. He has been working 75 hours a week, and he was supposed to be off today so that we could go and use our Elephant Bar gift card before he left for the week. The kids were both up until 1 am last night (or this morning!), my daughter doesn’t want to take a nap, and my son is extremely fussy because he does want to take a nap. I never finished my coffee this morning. The dogs are outside barking because it’s cold, but I won’t let them in because it rained this morning, and I don’t want muddy prints all over the carpet. I also have not made it out of the house today, I missed my first Financial Peace University class, and I have not been able to go and buy the Sunday paper. This does not make for a very happy mom!

Despite all that, I’m going to put a smile on my face and make myself be a happy mom! Fake it ‘til you mean it, right? My son finally cleaned up his legos, because he wanted a yogurt, and my daughter is now happy in her jumper. I may be able to finish my morning cup of coffee after all! Yes, I will re-heat that coffee at 6pm and I will finish that cup!

My Basic Preschool Plan

Basic Pre-school Lesson Plan

Letters of the day: A and C

Color: Red

Sign: Help


Shape: Circle

Activities:

· Morning Prayer
· 30 minutes of “Baby Signs” every morning after breakfast.
· Coloring letters A and C with corresponding animals or characters.
· Read Toy Story to point out A, C and the color Red.
· “Treasure Hunt” for red items, circles, and magazines with A’s or C’s.
· Books: Alphabet and Shapes book.

Blog Plans

I have been blogging sort of haphazardly, but I am now going to try something new...structure! Here is my outling so far for this blog, which includes upcoming series and a weekly schedule:

Monday: Children's learning plan. As I will not be able to send my son to preschool, I thought I would get an early start on home preschool. I will be posting my weekly lesson plan on Mondays, as well as re-capping our accomplishments for the previous week.

Tuesday: My local grocery store coupon match ups. This will most likely only consist of Savemart and FoodMaxx, since I have found great sources for every other store that is in my town.

Wednesday: Monthly Topic. Since this will be my first month as a WAHM, my first series will be "Managing a home and business in one!"

Thursday: Random Thoughts

Friday: Frugal ideas (could be shopping, cooking, outings...) and Financial Update

I may or may not post on the weekends (most likely not, unless there is something that just cannot wait).

My decision to stay home

We have been on a written budget for one month now, and so far, it has been very easy to stick to. My husband has been very good at holding onto his cash for much longer than he used to, and has limited his debit card use. I have only been using the envelope system. I have even under-spent in some categories!

In addition to adhering to our written budget, we have managed to put $1,000 in our emergency fund!

I have been praying about my decision to leave my job, because even though I don’t make much, it’s something. I have been worried about what it’s going to do to our finances. I found these scriptures, which I think support my decision:

• 
  “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.” Proverbs 21:20
• 
  “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5

These stuck out to me because I have been trying to come up with ways to save money, or at least stick to our budget, when it comes to groceries. I have been thinking about meal planning, and possibly Once-a-Month cooking. These scriptures may not have been talking literally about food choices, or meal planning, but I think it fits perfectly. If I can make a plan and stick to it, not just with meals, but with schedules and budgeting, then we will succeed in whatever we decide to do.

I am confident that the Lord will help me stretch our dollars further when I leave my job, because I’m not where I’m supposed to be right now.

Life Happens

Well, it looks like we are putting our written budget to the test...a BIG test! I will be turning in my notice at work within the next few days. I have thought about it, and prayed about it a lot, and I think this is the best decision for my family. Maybe not financially, but emotionally.

My husband and I work opposite shifts at work because if we had to pay daycare, it litterally would not be worth it for me to work. I get home at 10 or 10:30 pm, nurse a hungry 6 month old, do some tidying up, and I am in bed by maybe midnight. And, since I've spent the whole day chasing kids and working, I can't sleep because I remember everything I meant to do...I also do not get more than 5 minutes to spend with my husband. We have Sunday's off together, but that day is filled with church, bible study, church basketball, and some grocery shopping. Not much extra time there!

So, I will be resigning from my job. My hope is that since I will no longer be working until 10 pm, I can get my kids on a better nighttime schedule. That will help me get to bed earlier, and hopefully get up earlier. If I actually got to sleep by 10, I'm sure I can be up at 5 or 5:30, atleast an hour before either kid wakes up. I plan on using this time to do some of my work for the consulting business I am planning on starting, earning some extra date night cash by taking Paid Surveys at Opinion Outpost , and re-reading and having a quiet time. I have a few bible study books that I plan to go through, and I am not sure which one I want to do first. I will be posting portions of the study online.

Of course, this all sounds good in theory, lets pray that it works!