February 2012 Budget Challenge

[Valiant]

This month I'm really watching my spending, now that I've topped up the stockpile during January's sales. Must take a weekend to do my OAMC&B, because I have quite a bit of room in the freezer again.
I'm making steady progress on my rug-strips preps for rugmaking, yesterday I finished sewing the last set on my ironing board, and also rolled up many rolls of wide rug-bindings. So last night I delved into that big bag of rumpled rug-strips and sorted them out on my ironing board, and also ironed a set. Looks like about 12-15 more sets to do from this bag, and then I can start cutting up some more that are stacked on my stairs railing. Found another big box to hold them, so I now have a box for woven rug strips, and one for rug-strip rolls. It's time-consuming, but what a relief to know that all of this material is now usable, instead of uselessly stuffed into my closets.
I really want to clear off my ironing board of this 2nd set of rug-strips, and get to work finishing off those 2 rugs that need borders. Sometimes I need to see the finished product to give myself added incentive, instead of just working away on more preps.

This weekend, I also fixed up a pair of winter boots for myself, by lifting out the insole and removing that extra instep foam (it was agony to walk on), and just adding another pair of full-length insoles to the original set. By wearing an extra pair of socks, they fit right and will do for winter, spring and fall, though they don't grip ice well.

It was so mild yesterday that I opened both doors to let in the fresh air and air the house for a few minutes; there's nothing like the promise of spring in the middle of winter to lift your spirits.

"Pussywillows, Cattails, Soft Winds and Roses" -- Gordon Lightfoot

[LaineyB]

goals for today get old fridge clean and ready to sell tomorrow, clean and vaccuum kids roons, it was going to be a no spend day but i forgot i have practice tonight so little spent. oh and i want to start loading the truck with recycling and get it out of here

[sweetproserpina]

Today was a day for making appointments. We are exchanging our old oil furnace for a high-efficiency propane furnace (thank you landlord) so had to make arrangements for all the workers to come in on thursday- hopefully we can get the propane hookup on that day too, and won't be without heat all night! Should save quite a bit on the heating bill from now on, yay! Heating oil is just epically expensive for a 30 year old furnace.
Booked DH a dentist appt. He's not too happy about it, but it'll be a savings in the long run, and his head won't hurt so much.. men!

Headed out to the early years centre tomorrow with DD- should be a morning full of fun at no cost. i think I'll pack snacks and a thermos of something, so we can have a little picnic too.

We've been enjoying the sunshine too! It almost seems like spring is on the way!

[Valiant]

Ironed rag-strips until I could no longer stand up. Sewed 3 more fabric rolls. Refilled bobbins with black thread from 1 cone; I have 3 cones in all, so can use the empty cones someday for drawing through wide, coarse fabrics (blue jeans), to crochet into rugs. Yeah! (Waste not, want not)

Did 3 loads laundry; meals, cold cereal for supper; swollen, sore knee.
Have lost a few pounds lately, so could wear a different outfit for work; nice to be able to fit into some of these tops again. I keep a variety of sizes for work wardrobe, just in case my weight changes from one year to the next. What I'm not currently using goes into the spare closet. It's strange that my habits don't change, but my weight does from year to year; I can lose or gain 25 lbs. without any effort, so it's good to be prepared wardrobe-wise.

Work went well; put the clock beside student, to limit talking.
I've noticed in the past 10 years or so, that kids seem to need someone to talk to more than they used to; lots of moms working outside the home now, and kids don't see them for breakfast or lunch, sometimes not until bedtime. Maybe I should have a 'drop-in center', for kids. I love kids; they're so beautiful and special, and such a lot of fun, always interesting.

[bobbiegirl2010]

bobbiegirl2010-I just noticed that you need a free or cheap display for kids art,presumably for the home daycare.Got an old yardstick or something similar,and some wooden clothes pins?There's a site called ana-white.com that has tons of free easy woodworking plans,and she's got a simple plan for using those items to create a holder for kids art.Here's a link:http://ana-white.com/2010/11/ruler-clip-art-rails.html
It's one of my favorite sites-the plans are geared towards your average handyperson,and easy to follow.She has a lot of kid oriented stuff because she has a preschooler

I'll have to check it out. Thanks

[Valiant]

Lots to do today; will check back later on. Have a good day, all!

[lovelikewinter3]

Having a productive week so far, lets keep on trucking!

We did some extra grocery shopping last week to top up on stuff we needed, and bought a bunch of meat for the freezer. Should be good for another week or so.

Started doing some simple batch cooking every now and then to help out. This Sunday we had waffles for breakfast, we made a double batch so there would be lots left-over for breakfast during the week. So far, my daughter has LOVED having waffles for breakfast instead of boring old cereal/oatmeal/toast options.

Did a good chunk of writing yesterday too, planning on doing another big chunk today. Hoping to add at least one more article to my Helium account, and possibly start up a new blog post.

Also started making my mom a crocheted hat for next winter, since apparently she doesn't have a hat! She requested it, since she sees me wearing mine all the time. I should post a picture of my hat, it's pretty awesome :D

Got a bit spendy yesterday, ended up buying lunch even though I had food at my desk... sucks to get that urge to buy for no good reason. Especially sucks since I'm trying to cut down on the junk I eat in hopes of improving my overall health and fitness level... Today is a new day!

[carebearhamm]

Got a bit spendy yesterday, ended up buying lunch even though I had food at my desk... sucks to get that urge to buy for no good reason. Especially sucks since I'm trying to cut down on the junk I eat in hopes of improving my overall health and fitness level... Today is a new day!

Mine is Tim Hortins - I can make coffee at home but when i'm out i just can't help my self!!

[lovelikewinter3]

SO! Update on today:

-did not do any writing *bad!* might do some at home tonight
-didn't buy any food *yay!* but I bought myself a coffee to justify taking some sugar packets for my work stash
-called Rogers to negotiate my internet cost, will be saving 12$ per month including taxes *yay!*

Plans for tonight:
-consider writing
-modify one piece of DD's clothing for summer (silly child donated ALL of her summer clothes... thankfully some of her current winter gear is getting too short, so some modifications are in order)
-organize and sort new coupons

Go team!

[Valiant]

It was a long, hard day from start to finish, with many people problems which were not of my making. There are some days when I just want to be all alone in the middle of a wilderness, away from the meaness and treachery of nasty people.
So glad this day will soon be over, because I've been in a lot of pain for days, and my knee is swollen, sore & bruised just from using it. What an ordeal today to make my rounds...I need to stay put for awhile now.

But I pushed myself & got quite a lot done anyway: on-line survey to MP regarding Seniors Pensions, 2 hours of more sewing completed, finished errands and got water from downtown, mailed DS's & GK's gifts, cooked supper/enough left for tomorrow, dishes washed, garbage out, office tidied.

Now for some peace and rest; good-night everyone!

[Valiant]

Today's To-Do's:
- housework
- laundry (a few loads)
- work preps/work
- physio exercises at home (hope that helps with the pain)
- iron the rest of the rug-strips sitting down, good thing my ironing board is adjustable
- if time permits, finish sewing these rug-strips
- make dessert
- check lettuce and prepare salad
- collect all Christmas cards and line them up on LR curtain rod till after Easter

[lighthousejen]

Oh Valiant!

I'm sorry to hear your knee is acting up. But I must say that I love this post and you do truly inspire me to keep plugging along when things get tough

[sotsuguyou]

Today's To-Do's:
- housework
- laundry (a few loads)
- work preps/work
- physio exercises at home (hope that helps with the pain)
- iron the rest of the rug-strips sitting down, good thing my ironing board is adjustable
- if time permits, finish sewing these rug-strips
- make dessert
- check lettuce and prepare salad
- collect all Christmas cards and line them up on LR curtain rod till after Easter

Oh man..knee pain is the worst! When I used to do a lot of running I found that putting on a knee brace during the worst pain helped a bit by adding some support. Beyond that all you can really do is RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). You also work so hard. You never cease to amaze me with the amount of stuff you get done. Think of it as a taking a day off and do some lounging.

Hope you get better. *huggles*

[bobbiegirl2010]

We did our grocery shopping today. Got some good deals but missed out on some price-matchiing because we did not get all of our flyers this week...

I have to do a lot of running around to do tomorrow so I will be making Swiss Chicken Casserole in the crockpot so I won't have to cook dinner. Will prep tonight so I can start it first thing in the morning.

We are having DH's family over for dinner on Saturday for FIL's b-day. I will be making rotisserie chickens and banana cream pie for dessert. I got the chickens today for 30% off and used $1.00 off coupon on the tenderflake pie crust. I spent less than $20 buying ingredients (plus using stuff I already have in my stockpile). At least $50 cheaper than taking everyone out for supper at a restaurant

[sweetproserpina]

To get done while the DD is napping: (nevermind, she just woke up!)

Menu plan for the rest of the month
Plan the grocery shops this month
Prep crockpot beef stew for tomorrow (done!)
Sort and organize new coupons (really have to do this, have been slacking off lately..)
Fold and put away laundry
Start outlining ebook