Mixed Feelings.

Saturday is a day that I've been looking forward to for a long time.  Marty and I have sold our house and are finally moving back to E-town.  We got an offer on our house about a month ago, found a home in E-town to move into, been overwhelmed with inspections and appraisals and painting and packing.  I'm finally getting to move back home.  I'm getting to move back to my family.  I don't have to drive the Bluegrass Parkway twice a day.  I've spent the last few weeks stressing over moving and packing everything in our home.  I should be thrilled.  But I'm sitting on my couch, looking at the bare walls and boxes piled up to be moved and I'm.....sad.  I can't help but look around the house and think about all the memories we have here.  This is our first home.  The house that Marty and I picked out together when we were engaged and dreaming of a fantastic life together.  It's the home that we came back to after our honeymoon....and brought a dog with us.  It's the house whose laundry room baseboards were destroyed by said dog.  It's the house that we brought Avery home to.  It's the only home she knows.  It's the home I've put thought and love into.  It's where we've fought, loved, laughed, cried and lived.  I don't know that I'm ready to leave. 

Weakness Points

Recently, I made the commitment to pinch my pennies, go on a budget and start a shopping ban once again.  I thought the first step I should take is to identify all of those places that I fall prey to spending more money (I'm nervous this is going to be a long list....) so I know which places (and areas) I need to steer clear of when out in town.

1.  Wal-Mart

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I touched on this yesterday, but I'm terrible about making a grocery run and buying a bunch of crap I don't need.  I'm the poster child for effective advertising.  If it promises to make my life easier, more organized, simpler or just looks pretty in the package, I'm probably going to be tempted to buy it.  Thanks to some really great readers, I've gotten some great suggestions on where to shop for groceries once we move back to Etown.  Now, I need a lesson in couponing.  I don't want to be an extreme couponer, by any means, but I always seem to find the coupons that are "Buy 6, get 1 free."  Well, I don't need 6.  I'll barely use the one that I have to buy.  I need to know where to find good, worthwhile coupons that are going to save me money on the things I need without making me buy 80 of them to get a discount. 

2.  Target

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Oh Target.  How I could talk for hours about your Clearance section and clean stores and Bullseye logo that suck me in.  Your accessories, your clothing, your shoes, your home section.  I love it all.  And that's why I won't be seeing you for 90 days.  At all.  I just can't.  I don't have that much willpower.  But please know that I will miss you very much....even though my bank account won't.

3.  Organizational aisles

I'm an organized nerd.  I love planners, binders, bins, shelves, containers, anything that makes my life even halfway organized. I will buy planners just because I like the way they're laid out....even though I already have a planner for 2013.  I'll buy stackable containers to store office supplies...even though I already have an organizational system in place in my home office.  Therefore, I must stay away from Office Depot, Staples, Michaels and all organizational and home supply aisles in any store I go in.

4.  Pier One, Kirklands, TJ Maxx, etc.

We're moving.  We're getting a new home.  A blank canvas.  That's just begging to be decorated exactly how I want it to be.  That I'm dying to make look exactly like all the pins I've been faithfully pinning on Pinterest.  But I can't.  That would be EXPENSIVE.  Instead, I'm not going to unpack all of the old stuff that I didn't like about our current house.  I'm going to work on my house a tiny little bit at a time.  It may take 5  years, but it would finally be how I wanted it.  I'm horrible about buying little knickknacky clearance things if I think it looks cute.  As a result, my house looks.....jumbled.  Not pulled together.  Not how I want it.  Stay away from all home goods stores, Devan.

5.  Avery clothing

Ugh.  Little girl's clothing.  I buy it like crazy...even when my child doesn't need it.  I buy the cutest dress, the cutest shoes, the cutest shirt.  As a result, she has a pair of shoes that only match two shirts in her entire wardrobe, shirts that don't match any pants and dresses for the wrong season.  I'm going to plan ahead when it comes to shopping for Avery.  Before buying that adorable shirt, make sure it's practical and that she can wear it more than just once.  I'm going to allow myself to buy Avery clothes during my shopping ban, but only on a limited basis and only if she truly needs it.

6.  Clearance sections

Do I need to say more?  Totally off-limits.


That's it.  It's easier for me to spend less when I can identify my weaknesses and know exactly what I need to stay away from.

What's your shopping weakness??

Acting My Wage.

This past summer, I embarked on a personal finance journey that was really successful for me and for my bank account.  I think it's time to dredge it out of the archives....with some slight changes.
Introducing:  Penny Pinching Summer LIVING!

I'm bringing it back y'all!  It's time to start, as Dave Ramsey would say, "acting my wage."  Marty and I have had a pretty significant life change happen to us in the last couple months.  I eluded to it a couple of posts ago, but I think it's finally safe to say:  we're moving!  We're finally moving back home to Etown!  I'll go into more detail later, but we're leaving our little starter home for a bigger  home, more suited for our family and closer to the ones we love.  But with a new, bigger home comes new, bigger expenses.  Bigger utility bills.  Bigger problems.  Bigger upgrades and work I want done to make the house the one of my dreams.  And Marty and I can afford all this (obviously, or we wouldn't be moving in the first place), but I don't want to get to the point where we're scraping together our pennies and dimes because we've strapped ourselves down with a bigger mortgage.  So I'm taking the first step to discipline myself.  I don't have to.  I WANT to.  I'm the world's worst about buying crap I don't need.  I go to the grocery and I end up with probably $30 of stuff that wasn't on the list, I just felt like I needed it.  I go into a store and end up buying myself two shirts off the clearance rack because I felt like it was a deal I couldn't pass up.  I don't spend money with my head.  I don't logically think about what I should or shouldn't be buying.  I shop with my emotions...the worst kind.  I impulsively buy things, get them home and then later feel guilty about not saving the money for something more important.  I'm HORRIBLE about going out to eat.  Getting a Coke in the mornings.  Grabbing myself some breakfast.  Hitting the drive through for lunch because I was too lazy to get up early and make myself a lunch.  Well, no more.  Not only am I resurrecting the "Penny Pinching" idea, I'm going to put myself back on a shopping ban.  I did it a couple of years ago, and I was successful.  But I limited myself to not buying anything for myself--meaning new clothing, shoes, a pair of earrings.  I'm taking that a step further.  I buy NOTHING.  For 90 days.  Unless it's a necessity.  I spend absolutely no money except on groceries, necessities for the new house and necessities for Avery.  That's it.  No more little knickknacks at Kirklands or cute little home items at Target.  No more shoes from the clearance rack or craft items that I don't need.  I am going to start crafting and selling again when we get moved into our new house to make myself a little extra "cushion" money (a.k.a. I'm saving to treat myself to a new couch!), but if it's not a necessity for the specific craft I'm making, I won't buy it.  Now, here's where you come in.  Hold me accountable.  Ask how my shopping ban is going (and then be a shoulder to cry on when I tell you about an adorable purse I had to pass up).  Tell me about great deals and how to save money at the grocery (where I fail miserably at saving money).  Tell me where I can get good discounted clothing or deals on Avery things.  Let's make this a group thingy!  You share deals and penny pinching tips with me, and I'll do the same for you (here's my first--start by making  your own laundry detergent!).  And hopefully later, we'll both be in excellent financial shape and be able to brag about being debt free (hey, I dream big, okay?).
I'll leave you with a couple of Dave Ramsey quotes that are going to be my motivation for the next 90 days.

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No, shoes.  I don't need you.  No, unnecessary Walmart crap.  I don't need you.  No, Marty.  We don't need to go out to eat tonight. Let me make dinner tonight.

Printing this off and putting it in my wallet.  Right by my debit card.

Goodbye Michaels and Target.  I'll see you in 90 days.

It All Comes Out in the Wash (Detergent Update!)

The blog post I get the most questions about in real life, hands down, is the question about my homemade laundry detergent.  Do you remember that?  Let me refresh your memory (a.k.a. click here. It'll take you to the original post).  I thought I would talk a little bit about it in case you were curious!

I made my laundry detergent back in JUNE.  I just ran out last month.  That's SIX MONTHS of not buying laundry detergent.  Absolutely reedonkulous.  It was time to make some more, so I thought I would do a little tweaking to the original recipe. 

I'll start by saying that Marty didn't love the homemade detergent.  Almost from the moment I made it, he turned his nose up.  I guess because it's not a trusted brand or well-renowned for it's cleaning ability...I don't know.  Whatever the reason, he wasn't really wanting to give the 1950s detergent a chance at all ( but that didn't stop me from using it *cheesy grin*).  I figured out later that Marty likes really fresh clothes that have a distinct "just washed" smell.  That's probably one of the few negatives about this detergent.  It doesn't have much of a smell--which doesn't bother me.  I don't have to walk around every day smelling like a fabric softener sheet, but apparently my husband does, so I wanted to fix that with this round of detergent.

Recap:  here's the "recipe" to make your own homemade laundry detergent:

1 box (76 oz) 20 Mule Team Borax

1 box (55 oz) Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 bars of soap**

**In my original round of making detergent, I used plain, ole Ivory soap.  This time, I went for the actual laundry soap...Fels Naptha (you can also pick up Zote--another laundry soap brand).  Heads up, if you go this route?  This stuff is strooooong scented.  Like make your house smell like this soap for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT strong.  

So, let's make the detergent.  Dump the Borax and Washing Soda into your chosen container.  I've been using a cute red beverage tub I found on clearance at Target.  

Then, grate all three bars of soap into the mix with a cheese grater.  Looks just like grated cheese.  A little weird.

Now, one more change from the original batch I made.  To make the detergent and the laundry smell cleaner, I added a bottle of Purex Crystals.  

I picked the Fresh Spring Waters scent, just because I didn't think the hubs would appreciate the Lavender smelling clothing.   

So far, I like this version detergent better.  It smells clean and I think the Purex Crystals add to the cleaning power.  And....hubs hasn't complained.  Score. 

Last time, I compared my savings in making my own detergent vs buying a bottle of Tide or other brand name.  Since I added the Purex Crystals and spent a little more on the Fels Naptha, I would say I spent around $13 on this batch.  Since there are more ingredients, there's more detergent to go around (175. oz worth)  Here's the math: 

Cost of detergent/amount of detergent (tbsp)=Cost per load of laundry

There are 175.5 oz in this batch.  1 oz=2 tbsp.  So, 351 tbsp. of laundry.

$13/351 tbsp= 4 cents a load

I use 2 tbsp in each load of laundry, so it costs me 8 cents a load.

Yep.  Totally still worth it. 

What kind of products do you make yourself and save money?  Share!! 

I'm Promise I'm Back.

I'm back guys.  I know I've said it before (like this is the third time)...but I'm really back.  Back to attempting to be my normal Super Messy Supermommy self and blogging about it.  I've missed you peoples!  So let's get to it!  We've got a lot of ground to cover since I've been gone.

I've been a terrible Hot Mama.  Basically, I've been all Hot Mess and no Hot Mama.  I haven't attempted to eat healthy, I've stopped making dinner and I've stopped watching my calories.  I haven't stepped on my scale in weeks because I'm scared to death of the number that's going to show up.  NO MORE!  I'm taking back control over my weight and my body.  I've been awful lately.  It's embarrassing.  And I've been doing it for the wrong reasons.  I've been dieting and watching my weight so I can look good for other people.  So others can look at me and say "Wow!  Devan looks great and has lost so much weight!"  It's been more for other's view of me instead of for myself and for God.  Because God says "So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you--you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. (1 Corinthians 10:31 MSG)"  Basically, don't starve yourself because you're afraid what someone will say when you eat that Big Mac, but at the same time, you're eating to God's glory.  Do you think that He's going to be happy if I'm not taking care of the body He gave me?  It's all about moderation.  Enjoying the things that He offers in life, but not to excess.  So I'm going to get rid of the "d" word.  Diet.  I'm going to start dieting eating right and taking care of myself. 

To start, I found a great semi-healthy recipe that I want to share with you guys.  Last night, my church had a chili cook-off.  Being a Supermommy wannabe, I attempted my hand at a Sweet Chili recipe--modified from this recipe.  It. Was. Fantastic.  But I still didn't win. Oh well.  The chili is fantastic.  And I want to share the recipe with you guys.

"Stop and Go Sweet Chili"

1 lb hamburger

1/2 onion, chopped

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

2 (~15 oz) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans diced tomatoes

3 (6 oz) cans of tomato paste

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 packet chili seasoning

1 1/2 cup water

Salt to taste (optional) 

Cooked spaghetti noodles (optional)

1. Brown hamburger and onions in a large pot.

2.  Add peppers and cook until soft.

So colorful!

 3.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until hot. Makes approximately 15 cups.

I added spaghetti noodles to my chili because, let's be honest, chili isn't real chili unless it has spaghetti noodles in it.

But the secret to this chili being so good?  The brown sugar.  It definitely makes it a sweeter chili than a normal recipe, so warn people that they're eating a "sweet chili" or they'll be put off by the flavor.  Here's how I know it was successful:  my husband said it was good.....AND he asked if I would make it again.  That never happens folks.

I'm drooling right now, just thinking about it.  And you know what stinks?  I didn't win, but my chili was completely gone by the end of the night.  So I have no blue ribbon AND no leftovers to enjoy!  Harrumph. 

Alright, so I'm getting back on the healthy wagon.  You do it too.  And go make some sweet chili. :) 

P.S.  Since I'm recently obsessed with "Kid President," have watched all his YouTube videos and stalk follow him on Twitter, here's your "Kid President Pump You Up Thought of The Day!"

Get to it.