School Shopping

Today we started the long and sometimes tedious process of school shopping. A tradition that my children look forward to every year. A tradition, I also look forward to, but can dread because of the financial strain that it can pose on our checkbook. This year, I thought a head though and found myself prepared as we headed to the mall for the first of what will be many trips to the mall to prepare for the upcoming school year.

Our first stop was Macy's. We left the store with $140.00 in merchandise, but paid $0.00. That's right not a dime was spent from my checkbook. One might ask how did I accomplish such a feat? Well, last year when going over the terms of my credit card and rewards program, I noticed a great benefit. Accumulating 20,000 rewards points results in a $250 gift card. It took me a full year to build up enough points, but I did it. I knew last September that this particular card would be used for school clothes. I also have a Kohl's gift card, accumulated the same way. It is only $25.00 and will be used for the running shoes my son will need for cross country in the fall. One word of caution about credit card reward programs. They are worth nothing if you don't pay the bill off every month. The interest charges will exceed the rewards in a matter of a couple of months.

Our next stop was The Gap. There was a great sale there today. Buy one pair of jeans, get the 2nd for $10.00. I bought my son his jeans for the fall at a deep discount. Sadly, I did not have a gift card for The Gap, but I guess I can't expect to get all of their school clothes for free.

We did not finish our school shopping today. I want to take advantage of as many sales and coupons as possible. One advantage to working at the mall is that I always see the deals and specials. I can't complain about that.

I took advantage of a couple of specials this summer that resulted in free stuff for the family. Barnes and Noble has a reading program for the kids. If your child reads 8 books and records those books on a chart from the store, they can earn a free book from the store. All 3 of my children participated in that summer program. We were able to claim approximately $15.00 worth of free merchandise. Not bad for doing something that they love doing, reading.

The miniature golf course close to our house gives the kids at their school coupons for a free game. We used those coupons and had a fun afternoon of golf, all for free. I will be the first to admit that none of us have the foggiest idea of how to actually play and score miniature golf. We don't let that get in the way of our fun.

Every quarter Godiva Chocolate sends a coupon for a free product at the store. Recently we received a coupon for a free milk shake. The milk shakes are huge! More than enough for 3 people (I pass on that calorie laden, future heart attack!). The kids order a shake and the woman who works there splits it between 3 cups. Dessert while shopping for free! I bought a truffle for myself, I don't want to come across as a free loader.

As the weeks go on, I will continue to update on our school shopping. We have a lot to do still.

When Driving

My daughter and I saw a terrible car accident today. Well, really, it shouldn't be called an accident, let's call it an avoidable crash. Which is what it was. My daughter and I were at a red light, it turned green and the cars proceeded to move. It was after all our right, the light was green. Then, some bonehead moving from the opposite direction, decided that was the perfect time to accelerate instead of stop. So, while the traffic started moving, he sped through. Hitting a car. Unfortunately for him, he flipped his car several times being ejected from the window. No seat belt either. My 10 year old had to see a man laying motionless at an intersection. She seems to be handling it okay, I can't get the image out of my head.

The moral of my story, or rant as some may call it, is this. Yellow means slow down and prepare to stop. Red means stop. Not, accelerate and hope that the other direction does not notice they have the right a way. It means Stop, plain and simple. So easy, that even 3 year old children can figure it out while coloring in the safety coloring pages they get at preschool during safety week.

Why am I so mad? Because my daughter was on the passenger side of my car, the direction that man was coming from. If I would have been at that light 1 to 2 seconds earlier, we could have been hit. She could have been a victim today in one man's mad dash to where ever he was headed. My guess, there is not a destination so important that endangering the lives of innocent victims is okay.

This story has some sad news and some happy news. The sad news, the man who set this tragedy in motion was taken to a hospital via Flight for Life. I don't know his status, the news sources say he has life threatening injuries. The happy news, the person he hit is okay. Thank goodness that the person who carries no fault in this accident will be home with her family this evening. She deserves no less. However, I am betting that today's event will linger with her for awhile, especially if the man who caused does not survive. The rest of us who saw this accident occur with our children at our sides get to play the what if game for the next few days, wondering what could have happened.

**Update to this story. I refrain from profanity when I blog out of respect. However, on this particular day I am going to choose to set that rule aside. I gave my statement to the police, I was told that after reviewing the tape, my car was much closer to being hit than I thought. So, bonehead is not sufficient. Selfish asshole is! I know he is in critical condition, but my child's life was endanger, hence, the name asshole. I make no apologies.

Garden

Here is a picture of one of our 6 garden beds. My husband has proven yet again to have a green thumb. This year's harvest should yield potatoes, corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, squash, kohlrabi, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I am sure that I missed something. Thanks Eric for helping to contribute to my frugal cause. Come September, we should have a lot of free and organic food.

Swiss Chard

I made Swiss Chard edible tonight. I cut it up, added it to some homemade marinara sauce. I boiled it to the point that I am sure all nutrients were lost. I then poured the sauce over polenta and baked it for 20 minutes with Parmesan on top. It tasted great!

What a great week!!

Tonight will be the last night of having one child. Tomorrow we make the 2 hour trip to Green Bay to pick up her siblings and resume with life as usual.

I had a great time with my daughter this week. One on one time with her has been priceless. Monday I had to work, so Maeghan spent the day with a friend. Tuesday we played mini golf together, went to the park, went to vet (she loved it) and had lunch together. Wednesday was spent at home. We played in the pool together, decorated the patio with sidewalk chalk and played several games of SORRY. Thursday, she accompanied me to meet a friend for coffee, she helped me deliver Meals on Wheels, we had lunch with her dad and went to the Milwaukee Public Museum. Tomorrow we are going to leave early for Green Bay and spend the day at Bay Beach. Bay Beach is an amusement park that has kiddie rides for .25 cents per ride. The place is a frugal moms heaven! Whew! What a week. We did not go to a movie as planned, for 3 reasons. One, the day we had planned on going was beautiful, nobody should have been allowed to sit inside all day on that particular day. Two, my other kids want to go to both movies that were being considered. Finally, going to a movie is not very frugal, especially when you consider that I had no interest in the movies that were in the running.

A couple of updates. We received a postcard from Germany today. Our total is now 75. I hope we get some more next week. We had started out so strong this summer, things have really slowed down in recent weeks.

I tried my household chore schedule this week. If I can stick to it, my life will be easier. One load of laundry a day took very little time to fold and put away. I didn't feel helpless while cleaning in my designated areas (I even had time to do yard work because I was organized). I went to the grocery store on Wednesday with a list and coupons and only had to spend $50.00 because I had a meal plan. I am not going to get to excited about all this though, it is not like this is the first time I have tried to do something like this. The difference this time is I have a written schedule. That could make all the difference.

One final thought. Please keep a very special child in your thoughts. For those of you who pray, your prayers. I recently found out that a childhood friend of mine has a daughter with a rare cancer. Her mother told me that she feels comfort knowing that people all over the world are praying for her. I keep her in my thoughts often.

Very grateful

My blog this evening is going to be brief. I just want to take a moment to say how truly grateful I am to have 3 healthy, happy and wonderful children. Recent events have forced me to take a close look at how lucky I really am. First of all, 2 of my kids being gone, has made me realize how much I love my crazy, loud and unpredictable life. I wouldn't have things any other way.

Second, in recent months I have had several friends and acquaintances being forced to deal with the untimely illness of a child. It has made me appreciate my own children more and the fact that we have been so lucky for so many years. I am truly grateful.

Time to organize my household chores!

I have a confession to make. I am unable to get my household chores organized. This is a life long inadequacy of mine. I try to get it together, but something always distracts me and I inevitably leave a chore 50% done only to start another one. I have been trying to come up with a way to get organized before my kids go back to school. I am choosing September 1st as my New Year because the start of the school year has always felt like a better time to start resolutions.

Because laundry is forever piling up in my house, this is the first thing I am going to tackle. Instead of trying to do all the laundry once or twice a week, I am going to do one load a day.

Monday - Whites

Tuesday-Lights

Wednesday - Darks

Thursday - Towels

Friday - Sheets

Saturday and Sunday- No Laundry Days!!

Next thing to tackle, cleaning the house. I have a 2000 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath house. I think it is time that I deep clean one room a day, while doing a quick clean up of the other rooms everyday. Three of the bedrooms belong to the kids. These rooms are not my responsibility, my kids need to keep their rooms clean. I like them to keep them presentable. I try not to expect perfection, after all, these rooms are their personal space. I do insist they make the beds every day, I can't stand an unmade bed. One of the bathrooms also belong to them. It is their responsibility to clean their bathroom. So, that leaves me with 4 rooms in the house that I do not have to worry about.

Monday - Master Bedroom and Bath

Tuesday - Kitchen and Laundry Room

Wednesday - Living Room and Dining Room

Thursday - Family Room and Half Bath

Friday - Quick Clean Up of Entire House

Saturday and Sunday - Maintain

Bill payment will take place on the 15th and last day of each month. These are the days that my husband gets paid. It makes sense that I pay bills only twice a month with his pay schedule. This is a routine that I have been consistent with for many years.

Grocery shopping. Oh, this is a problem for me. I really hate grocery shopping. I don't exactly have a problem with going to the store and picking out the food. It is the unloading of the groceries that gets to me. I have a tendency to put off this errand for days, even weeks to avoid the inevitable unloading that I loath. Which of course only means that I have more to unload when I finally give in. My plan with this resolution of mine is to go to the store once a week, Wednesdays. I am choosing Wednesday because that day is double coupons at our local grocery store. Since Wednesday will be grocery day, Tuesday will become my meal planning day.

I will not have a specific errand day. I usually have errands to run daily, to try to set a day aside for that is unrealistic. It would be nice if that was possible of course, better for environment and better for our wallet. Maybe, next year.

Finally, I am going to plan on not doing chores on Sunday. I am not a religious person, so I am not setting Sunday aside for religious reasons. But, I do like the religious concept of a day of rest, it is a great idea which has been forgotten about in this fast paced society that we live in. Is it really so bad to have one day set aside for family, a big meal and relaxation? I don't think so and I think my family will be stronger for it.