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Archive for May, 2014

One year in the little house!

June 1st, 2014 at 05:50 am

Today was a productive, busy day.

DD1 asked if I could watch her kiddos (and 'grandpa')this morning while she did photography at a wedding. DD1 lives in my house in town- with the kitchen I love...so I happily agreed. I took advantage of the time there to make a big batch of ronza's. My parents used to make these years ago, and I LOVE them. I just don't have the kitchen to make them here in the little house. The kiddos were great..as was grandpa. I spent about $21 for the supplies to make a batch of 36. Ronzas are little bread pockets filled with seasoned meat, onion and I use sauerkraut, but many recipes call for cabbage. We eat these hot with mustard...yum.

Then, I had to go by work and get some work done on a project that is due tomorrow afternoon. I didn't finish, so I will have to work again tomorrow. I am really thankful that vacation starts next weekend. These deadlines are wearing me out.

Tomorrow, I will get up early and head off to work- hopefully finish by noon and then get groceries and head home to clean and do laundry. I am exempt, so I don't get overtime, but I also wont have to take time out of my PTO for last Tuesday when I was sick, since I have made the 8 hours back up this week with all this overtime.

I have now been in the little house for a full year. In some ways that's hard to believe, in others it feels much longer. I am still up in the air about what to do. When a decision impacts others, it is harder to make. I guess indecision is, in a way, in a decision in itself.

WE DID IT! CC DEBT FREE!!!!

May 31st, 2014 at 03:24 am

Todays balance is ZERO!!!!!

Years in the making- a lifetime of bad decisions, over indulgences, 1 step forward 2-3 steps back...

But today, 5-30-14...we are officially credit card debt FREE.



We have paid off 401k loans, car and truck loans, and now this.

We still owe two mortgages and have a loan for our 5th wheel...but that's it!!!

WOOOT.

I actually worked 12 hours today and didn't really get a chance to happy dance until now- but what better place to do so than here with my frugal friends!

Crockpot artichokes and 3rd no spender in a row!

May 27th, 2014 at 10:48 pm

I woke up not feeling so good this morning. I have been tired for a few days now and sleeping a lot. I don't know if I am trying to come down with something or what..but I felt just off enough to take the day off and then I slept in for a few more hours.

I am feeling better this afternoon, so hopefully, I will have more energy tomorrow as I cant afford to take more time off work. I have vacation in a week and a half...and a lot of work to get done before that!

I didn't go grocery shopping this weekend, so I have slim pickens. Yesterday I had some leftover frozen taquitoes and left over soup. Today I made oatmeal and am cooking artichokes and potatoes in the slow cooker for dinner- with leftovers for tomorrow.

Today is my third no-spender in row!

This is the first time Ive cooked artichokes this way- but I looked at a few recipes and they should do just fine. I love artichokes with garlic/lemon butter.

My little house is starting to clutter up again...so this coming weekend will be a declutter, summer cleaning weekend. Also, I am going to try mowing our land. With my asthma, that should be interesting. I will definitely have to wear a mask- but I know the hub will appreciate having the lawns mowed when he gets home.

Last week I gave a co-worker a ride home because her car was in the shop. She lived pretty far out in the country, but I didn't mind- I actually enjoyed the conversation on the drive. when I dropped her off at home, she brought out a dish from her freezer- frozen chicken enchiladas as a thank you. They were really good, and much appreciated. I have her dish, but I don't want to return it empty- however, I need to go shopping first!! Any yummy suggestions?

I am reading one of my library books - Breakfast at Sally's. It is written by a guy who found himself homeless and is about his experiences and the people he met during his homelessness. Sally's is a nickname for the Salvation Army. So far its pretty interesting- and enlightening.

Im grateful for PTO days at work- I just would rather use them for fun. However, every once in a while using one for a mental catch up day is needed. Today was definitely one of those kinda days!

A day at the lake with the grandkids- gramma heaven!

May 26th, 2014 at 04:38 am

What a wonderful day! This morning DD2 and I headed down to the lake where DS, DD1 and their families were camping for the weekend. It is about a 2 hour drive. I spent a very HOT day under a shade cover welcoming on my lap whatever grandchild needed a place to dry off and warm back up after a cold dip in the lake. Since I don't see my sons kids as often as I do the others, they were the two that stayed on my lap most of the day. GS is 4 and GD is 6. I loved every second. My son celebrated his 30th today. Then this afternoon DD2 and I drove back home and I am now enjoying my nice cool house. A wonderful day for sure.

Yesterday, I took two $10 off any item cards that I received from Kohl's, and got two candles for future friend gifts. Normally they were $19.99, but were on sale 50% off, so the candles were free. Cant beat FREE!! Thank you Kohls!

Tomorrow I am going to get laundry and food planning done for the week ahead. I love having an extra day off on the weekend- just that one extra day makes so much difference.



One more week!

May 24th, 2014 at 04:18 am

Anyone else excited about a three day weekend? I sure am!

If all goes as planned...in ONE WEEK, I will get to post that we are CC debt free! We have stayed uber focused since the first of the year on paying off the last of a massive debt that we'd accumulated over many years. About 2.5 years ago, we got really serious about facing the numbers and paying things off. We had several credit cards, 401k loans, and a car payment. We have paid off the 401k, car and all but the largest cc by the first of this year. We started the year with a $25,000 balance and we are down to $2499. To say I am excited is a real understatement. It is an incredible feeling when you think something is insurmountable...but then conquer it after lots of hard work!

This weekend my son turns 30. I will get to see all the kids and grandkids on Sunday- we haven't all been together since Christmas, so I am looking forward to it! The kids are all going camping. I am opting just to visit the campground for a day- which will be just perfect for gramma!

And in two weeks, I have a week off! Ive had a day or two here and there this year, but not a full week since last November, so I am really ready for the time off. Vacation plans are working on the country house and then heading over to the coast for 4 days with the 5th wheel.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Life is good!


Low key weekend and Hawaii in my future!!

May 19th, 2014 at 02:54 am

This weekend was a NICE low key weekend, mostly spent at home catching up. Laundry, cleaning, reading, budget, and planning. I did go to town yesterday for a little while to go to the library and then stop for lunch $8.25. That is my only expense this weekend.

I got a couple of books on disc for the commute to and from work and checked out a few books. I sure love the library.

I got my laundry caught up- and hung most of it on the line to dry. My last load is still drying in a cool breeze tonight. I am not sure if it will dry before dark or not. But I am giving it my best shot.

We (the hub and I and a couple of friends) have decided to plan a trip to Oahu next May. we have all always wanted to go to Hawaii- and we decided planning a year in advance would give us time to save, look for deals and prepare. Since the hub flies so often, we can probably pay for our flight in miles. We are taking small camping vacations this year, so a nice 'big' vacation next year will be something to really look forward to. We chose Oahu because everyone wants to see Pearl Harbor. Im pretty excited!

I made a nice big pot of soup for this week using some leftover chicken that I bbq'd a few nights ago. I have enough soup to make 3-4 meals.

DD3s friend stopped by to pay her rent and mentioned that she is looking for a new place to live. I am sad to see her having to find something for her and her two little ones on her budget; the neighborhoods that she is considering are known for having a higher crime rate- I sure hope she keeps looking until she finds something safer. But I know rent is expensive, especially for a single mom. She is looking for subsidized options or low income housing, but there are many people on the wait lists.

The week ahead is busy one, so I am glad there was down time this weekend!

Blog name disappeared too!

May 15th, 2014 at 05:49 am

Jeff and Nate- for some reason my blog name and author info wont update. :/

My author info disappeared!

May 15th, 2014 at 05:15 am

I am not sure what I did, but I tried to update my sidebar, and the Author info disappeared, and now I cant get it to save my update.

Hmm.

If I could update it...I would add that we are now at $4999 on that last cc. We have paid $19,000 so far this year!! WOW. We will have the last of this drasted debt paid in full by July!!

We took our 5th wheel out on our first camping trip this past weekend. We stayed at a beautiful campground about an hour from home- it is my happy place, right on the river surrounded by tall pines. There were only a couple of other campers in the campsite, none anywhere near us. It was so fun to have the place basically to ourselves. And at $20 a night it was really inexpensive.

The hub headed back to Alaska today. He will be home in three weeks.

After much debate, we decided that we will fix the country house and live out here. DD3 will move into the little house and her friend will be looking for a different place to live. Looking Forward made a suggestion that we hadn't thought of, which was to have the friend live in the little house, but with baby #2 coming, she didn't want to...so that sealed the decision, and she is going to move back home with her parents. DD3 is actually excited about simple living in the little house. She thinks it will be perfect. And I am REALLY ready to have a normal size bath room, a spacious kitchen and my washer and dryer in the same house where I live.

Now that the decision is made, I am eager to get started on the repairs!