Leave a Message at the Beep.

Wow have I been preoccupied. You should see my answering machine messages- 24 blinking messages. Don't worry though, I scanned to see if anything was important.

I'm at a crossroads here and something has gotta change soon. My youngest will be in Kindergarten in the fall and it has me realigning my whole perspective on what my role is/should be now.
And I'm torn with thoughts of wondering whether it has been worth it to be out of the work force for ten years so my kids wouldn't be in day care. I'm nervous at the idea of trying to find another job with a serious time lapse in my resume. Who am I and what am I good for? Should I go back to school? Should I stay home because we can afford it? How come I'm really starting to hate my house and want to move?


When I went away to college at 18 I thought I was going to be a poet. I don't remember the last poem I wrote. I don't even know if I like poetry anymore. It seems frivolous when I'm thinking about the load of laundry in the dryer, the weeds in the garden, the stains on the carpet, when I have to pick up kids from school, and when our next dentist appointment will be. Nothing in my life seems poetic anymore. Who wants to read a poem about matching socks together or scrubbing out the sticky stuff from the sink?

I am blessed beyond measure and reason and yet when I think of that hopeful, shiny faced teenager that I was, I wonder how proud I would be of whom I've become.
This is a small part of the inner turmoil that's been going on in there.

Couponicus Says-

I've been watching snippets of TLC's Extreme Couponing show. It has certainly helped reignite an interest in my coupon usage. Plus, my Mom has a little habit of trolling the local recycling bins looking for unused inserts which is nice since I don't subscribe to the paper anymore.

Other than a few coupons for free items I've gotten for "liking" things on facebook, I don't have any major savings victories to share. My take on couponing will never be what you call extreme or coupon queen. I like to get things we'll actually use for as cheaply as possible without straining myself to do so. When I am a casual coupon user I typically save between $4-8 with coupons.
I think that's because I also tend to buy generics and dent and ding items that do not have coupons.

The Extreme Couponers on the TLC show sometimes have mountains of the same item that they've gotten for pennies on the dollar. But, I don't see victory there. I see waste, compulsion and hoarding. If your family can't use up an item before it expires then please donate your extras to a local charity. It's so much better than having all that stuff end up in the land fill because it expired.

Our family is not large so I see no need to have a basement filled with items that will expire before we can use them. I like to have a back up of two or three extra items. Of course, that's not always been the case. I still have multiple cans of frosting and beans in the basement that are nearing the end of their lives. We've been baking a lot of cake and eating a lot of beans lately. I don't really want to stockpile like that again unless food scarcity (or price) becomes a big issue.

I also really don't want to pay for coupons anymore. If I can't find them free or print them I really don't want to mess with them. Thus, I will never be a reigning coupon queen.

Happy Birthday To My Husband!

This woman knows she's blessed with an excellent life partner. I couldn't ask for a better husband or father for my children.

We've got a nice pile of presents for him to unwrap. I don't think he'll mind that my daughter chose an Aldi advertisement and an old scrap of wedding paper for wrapping paper.

Hopefully the "sausage" gravy I have to make with powdered milk and tvp will be palatable too.
This is my first year attempting to make my own coconut pecan frosting too. Can you really mess up homemade frosting though? Fat and sugar, so what's not to like?
I've got groupon coupons set aside for lunch/dinner too.

Happy Birthday, Sugar! I see Monty Python and video games in your future.

More Unfrugal Confessions.

I paid $27 yesterday for a pedicure. Now I have pretty, shiny, red nails. Who needs a cherry red Ferrari when they can have shiny red toenails?

I'm taking Abby to the groomer today because she reeks. Yes, I'm going to pay someone $25 to wash my giant dog and trim her nails because I don't want to wrestle 70 pounds of mad wet dog in our bathtub.

Also, Little Guy and I will probably eat lunch out. Our fridge and freezer are on the fritz and I trust none of the food in there not to poison us.

Hmm, perhaps I'll think of more later.

So? What now?

I might be at the nadir of my blogging life right now. There's just nothing new going on.
After four straight years of blogging about my life and frugal struggles, I am mostly at a loss to write about anything new.
I'm finding more and more that the ideas floating around my brain aren't necessarily what the normal frugal stay at home mom wants to read. I don't know if there is a normal frugal stay at home mom, though. I'm certainly not her.

Perhaps I should turn this into a daily confessional instead of a blog about frugality. My confessions for today would be that I spent too much time watching shows on the wii Netflix and I used a brownie mix instead of baking from scratch.

What's Frugal in My Life Right Now

I feel a bit more refreshed lately and am starting to dip my feet back into the frugal pool.
This is what's going on around here.

I've been gathering my coupons and making a list for a shopping trip tomorrow. I recently cleaned out the fridge and freezer and have a good idea of what I should buy and what I need to use up.
Dierbergs is having a good sale tomorrow and I've printed off some coupons for my trip. I no longer subscribe to the big Sunday paper so finding coupon has been more challenging.

I've been using Swagbucks as my search engine and have been able to pick up a few things with my swag bucks to put in Easter baskets- Thomas the Train stickers, a photo album, plastic figurines, and a pair of mini scissors. Probably my favorite thing about swagbucks is that the rewards arrive so quickly.

I'm going through the pile of my daughter's clothes to sort out what I can sell to the consignment store. I've got a bag for Goodwill, a tote for consignment, a lint roller and a pair of scissors to snip stray threads waiting for me right now. I also need to get into the garage and clean up some of the good toys for another consignment tote.

For dinner tonight, we're having a frozen pizza that I'm going to add toppings too. I bought it on sale with coupon of course.

Too Tired To Blog- No, Really

My Dr. recently changed my prescription to a new pill with an annoying little side effect- sleepiness. As a result, I would be more than happy to spend 20 hours snoozing away in my bed and still want a nap when I woke up. The only other time I've been this tired is when I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and couldn't keep my eyes open past 8 pm.

This is my favorite season, and normally by this time I'd be knee deep in dirt and seeds trying to grow flowers and veggies.
This nagging little side effect is supposed to go away once you get used to the pill. I'm waiting patiently. Yawn.