the wheels on the bus...

in my efforts to simplify and save,

i signed the boys up for the school bus.

while this may not sound like a big deal...

it is.

 to me.

it's one more step I take toward letting go...

baby-steps.

up until this point the boys have been spoiled,

having a personal driver to and from school.

i'm afraid now they think they're "slummin' it"!

if the loud cluncky noises weren't enough for my little worrier kade...

seeing the body fluid clean-up kit about sent him over the edge.

i can't stop laughing about that one!!

but if i survived the bus,

i know kade will too.

*******

to give you an update on this post...

with much effort jaxon has an A in math,

and kade thinks he just might like school;

it helped that he received the leadership award and got to eat pizza with the principle.

of course it didn't help when a fellow classmate told him to

"suck it".

that's what he gets for being bossy i guess...

all business that one!

sophia's finally loving preschool,

it seems she's crazy about a few boys there...

i fear what's to come. :)

big pappa got me this {my kids rock} tee for v-day,

thanks paperlili,

now sophia and i are twinsies...she loves it!

sorry to my facebook friends,

but i'm taking a break...

again with the simplifying.

-happy weekend-

Couponing 101...{The Story of a Newbie}

Spring has sprung here in Arizona, so it's time for some spring cleaning {in all areas of our life} as I wrote about HERE and to get back to the Dave Ramsey way of life.

Saturday I cleaned out the spare garage and dejunked a few areas in the house. I'm a nut when it comes to clutter...it makes me want to pull my hair out and I'm not kidding!! I also hate feeling like I'm being wasteful so it's time to tighten up the budget again so we can really crack down and save for THIS. We've been in a rental since May, and while we've been able to save money and pay down some debt, we could be doing a lot better.

Last month at Blissdom, I met a sweet and adorable friend named Ruth (on the left). She not only looks like a super model, but she's smart, domestic and SO much fun!! Ruth blogs over at Living Well Spending Less where she inspires women to use coupons and live a fabulous but frugal lifestyle. Her motto is save money on things you have to buy so you have more money for the things you want to buy.

Take a look at her blog and see for yourself the loads of money she saves each week!! If you are interested in starting to coupon but it seems overwhelming and you don't know where to start, go HERE.

In the past I've used the excuse that I don't have time or that it's a pain in the tush, but the reality is, I'm not homeschooling anymore and the stores/internet have made it pretty simple once you get the system down. It also helps that I've got Ruth on speed dial! :)

I did my Couponing 101 homework this weekend and ordered 3 Sunday papers, printed a few coupons online and organized my small accordian envelope (to fit in my purse) and a hanging file system to stick the weekly paper inserts in. Here's how I did so far this week...

On my first run to Fry's Marketplace, I bought $135.oo worth of groceries and with coupons and VIP card saved $50.15, bringing the total to $84.27 a 37% savings!!!

I had to rush home to take the kids to school, but went back on my way home and got all my laundry & freezer/dairy items. I bought $166.00ish worth of groceries and with coupons & VIP card saved $78.81 bring the total to $88.76 a 48% savings!!!

I was pretty excited but I have to say, I know I can do better so it frustrated me a little, baby steps I guess! It will help once I learn what  the rock bottom prices are so I only buy sale items that are REALLY low, and once I learn how to stack coupons and get a stock pile of them. As the "house manager" though, it was nice to feel like I'm saving money for once rather than just spending it.

I am also working on using what I have on hand BEFORE it goes bad...especially w/ veggies. Don't you judge me, I know you do it too!!  The ultimate goal is to get a one year supply of food and necessities.

Thanks Ruth for all your help and inspiration!

Customizing a track home...part 1 { Kitchen & Laundry}

I realized last week that I never posted the makeover we did on our last house. I didn't start blogging for a year and a half later...guess that's why. Still though, it's quite the transformation and something you may enjoy seeing and hopefully get some ideas and tips from.

We'll start with the kitchen today...

The only bummer is that I didn't do before photo's...again, with the "not a blogger mindset back then", so you'll just have to imagine white walls, your very basic lenolium flooring and builder basic oak cabinets and lighting.

Because our builder didn't offer any custom work, we decided to pick the cheapest flooring, etc. and then put in higher grade products on our own. As for the kitchen cabinets, they didn't offer white or off white so I chose the cheapest basic cabinets and then changed them up...

This was a big kitchen with a lot of cabinets so I hired it out.

Here's how they did it....

#1 Took off doors
#2 Applied a really good primer
#3 Painted on two coats of off white paint
#4 Used a brown glaze, applying about 8" at a time then wiping off with a rag

It really would have been simple to do myself, but there was a lot of cabinets!! Including the laundry and downstairs bath.

Actually the VERY first step was to add a chunky moulding to the top of cabinets...then the painting began.
It really added a nicer look.

After the paint/glaze, I ordered some bronze knobs Online. They were a great addition and seriously a must with white cabinets!!

We also added 5 or 6" baseboards.

For the first year or so, I went without anything on my back windows (after spending loads of money on plantation shutters for the front), but my dad came into town and took me to Home Depot. I had no idea they'd custom cut wood blinds right there for you. How awesome...plus paid for them & hung them all for me! :) Such a great dad...oh and the baseboards? He painted them when I was out of town. So great!

The valance was from Linens n' Things...obviously before I discovered the Nester and her "mistreatments".

To add a little something to the cabinets, I ordered two glass display doors from Lowe's and had the painter include them when painting.

We ripped up the linoleum flooring and installed hand scraped maple wood. They were gorgeous but dark floors show everything! It only took about an hour before I regretted them. I got tons of compliments on them but I'm not gonna lie...they were a pain in the tush!

Dear Kimball switched out all the lighting (in the entire house)! I didn't go w/ any super expensive lights but we got the look we wanted without spending a fortune by upgrading through the builder.

Of course the walls were originally white, so we had them painted and went with a two toned...darker color on the walls (a dark tan, almost looked kahki at times) Benjamin Moore Paints, but I don't remember the color. We had the ceilings a lighter color "Garden Herb" by Benjamin Moore.

We added this beautiful chiseled edge French country tile. I LOVED it.

That's it for this post! Hopefully you got some ideas for ways to spruce up your place. The great thing about it is you can do baby steps...no need to do it all at once and all of this can be done without hiring help. If I'd have it to do all over again, we would have done more of the work ourselves. Even though we saved a lot by contracting it out (rather than pay our home builder), we could have saved even more by going slow and practicing patience.

Here's a recap of the master bathroom makeover.

Have a fabulous week!!

Bathroom Makeover & Home Goals {Dave Ramsey Style}

Back in 2008 I did a makeover on our bathroom, I blogged about it,
 but accidentally deleted it when I combined my two blogs.
So here's the repost. 

It started out w/ your basic oak colored cabinets.

1. I first took off the doors
2. Lightly sanded the cabinets
3. Wiped off dust with slightly damp cloth 
4. Applied one coat of primer
5. Then two coats of black paint
6. Added knobs and handles

The knobs and handles are from Lowe's.

Cute little lamp from Hobby Lobby.

Paint color = "herb garden" by Benjamin Moore.

I got a TON of compliments on the paint color, only thing I did wrong was have the painter do my WHOLE HOUSE IN IT! I won't tell you how much that cost, and I slowly started changing the colors any way.

Word to the wise...when you first get into a new home, take time to really think it through. Don't feel like you need to pull a 'Martha' and decorate it from top to bottom all in the first month.

I also got this clock and scripture plaque from Hobby Lobby which is where I got the color scheme idea.

Roman shades above, from JCPenny's...obviously before I found the Nester or I'd have "mistreated" my own! :)

I jazzed up this photo board by adding crystal buttons and black fringe...made a huge difference.

Crazy thing is, I discovered it also works as a necklace hanger, (boo yeah)!

I printed pictures of places I want to travel...believe and acheive people!!!

Chunky mirror below was originally brown so I taped it off and painted it too.

 We had the builder put in linolium flooring (since they wouldn't do custom requests), since we own a masonry business we just pulled it up and added tile and wood throughout the house. This tyle is a french country chiseled edge style...can't remember the name of it but I loved it. I'll get back to you on that one (I'm sure Kimball can tell me).

We sold this home last May, I had forgotten how many beautiful renovations we did
and now I totally miss it! 

We're in a rental for now...not much freedom in that, and if there was I still don't want to
spend money on someone else's house,
that I may or may not want to move out of soon.

 So my "home goals" this year are to keep a clean and organized house,

that's a safe haven for my family,

while sticking to a budget so we can build this.

Now excuse me while I go cry my eyes out! :)

Oh and I'm linking up with Censational Girl for "bathroom's on a budget"
 & Nester for "Home Goals"

spring cleaning...dave ramsey style

Disclaimer: As always I'm speaking to myself here...a pep talk if you will.

i conquered the garage

the 'junk drawers'

a kitchen cabinet

made a few trips to goodwill

caught up on the laundry

devoured books from my 'current read' shelf

saw dear john with a friend

i'll likely see it again-and again-and again  

played in the rain

paid bills

now for the budget!

Let us not forget our finances in the process of purging, simplifying...spring cleaning. Our goals are always lofty, we claim to be Dave Ramsey's biggest fan and yet in time, we digress. This economy bites (I'll just say it). I'm frustrated that our debts seem to be at a stand still or even climbing at times, but that's all the more reason we need to 'clean house'. 

Keeping track of everything that comes in and everything that goes out, not turning a blind eye to what we may not want to see. We can't fix what we don't acknowledge, so even though it can be painful when we finally decide to 'check in' and be proactive with our money, just remember...by making a few changes, we lighten our load and sleep more sound.

If you've been hiding under the covers for the past few years, and this all sounds too scary...

Click here for Dave's 7 Baby Steps.

It all comes down to

{Discipline and Purpose}

 the two words I chose last month to describe

my 2010 resolutions.

Tabloids, Hair Removal, Cash Budgets And Science Projects

Oh, I've been a bad, bad, girl. It went something like this....

I pull into Walgreen's and get out of my car, walking toward the building I try to remember the purpose of my mission. I get side-tracked when the thought pops in my head "I'm so glad I'm no longer addicted to tabloids...there will be no temptation whatsoever." (BTW, I use the term 'addicted' loosely.)

I'm now about 15 steps through the front doors and something catches my eye. It's the cover of this weeks OK magazine. Without any hesitation at all (or recollection of my last thought) I stop dead in my tracks. I start flipping through the pages. A good 5 minutes go by and I realize what's just happened. I shamefully scurry away.

Once again, I begin racking my brain for what it is I'm supposed to get, when this little lady grabs my attention.

The Smooth Away.

Now all my fellow hairy, insomniacs know exactly what I'm talking about. The infomercial claims to remove hair instantly and pain free. It also claims to be safe for the upper lip, sensitive areas...anywhere! I say aloud, "That's it I'm sold!"

Behind me are the office supplies. I'm smitten yet again, this time with a 8x10 dry erase board. Ironically the purpose of said board is to keep a running shopping list on my refrigerator.

Do you see where this is going?

Smooth Away $9.99
dry erase board $4.19
eye liner $3.79
lip gloss x 2 $9.00
eye shadow $7.49
The Office calendar $5.00
mascara $8.49
nail polish $1.99
gum $1.29
Mentos x2 $.80

Total damage with tax, - $56.73

Luckily, after 20 minutes or so of wandering around aimlessly, I notice my teeth feel a little gunky. I head over to the gum aisle and as I'm taking my good, sweet, time trying to decide what flavor I'm in the mood for... VIOLA!! As Oprah would say, I have a 'lightbulb moment'.

What is so significant about Mentos? Well you see, they are the reason for my trip...tomorrow's science project.

Moral of the story: When you're a graduate of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, you should never ever, under any circumstances walk into a store without a list OR with plastic!

Lesson learned. It won't happen again. I think. I hope. I mean I'll try my best. Seriously though, if you haven't read his book you should. I promise you won't regret it. I believe it's a must read and should be a high school requirement. Mindless spending is easy to do, I'm glad to say we've been on a cash envelope type budget for the last 2 1/2 years and I know it's helped us keep our masonry business afloat during a super slow economy.

Sure I still give into the urge now and then but when I start getting out of line, I reread Total Money Makeover and get back on track.

Side-note: When I got home, Jaxon had the nerve to say "Mom, I also need a pack of balloons."

Seriously???

For more randomeness go to

Gazelle Mode

As you know I'm a big Dave Ramsey fan. Well it's been hard to make progress with paying down our debt lately...people not paying us, high gas, bad economy etc. I am not completely innocent, I could spend a little less and I have a pretty hefty car payment (which I hope to get rid of). Anyway I am back in gazelle mode as Dave calls it. I saw this on another persons blog the other day and thought it was a good idea to let you all know when you get a card instead of a nice birthday or Christmas gift, you'll know why!

Great Math/Money Game For Kids

My boys favorite math game is called Allowance. We bought this many years ago when Jaxon was only 4 or so but he loved it even then. It teaches them about money, spending, saving, earning, counting etc. I highly recommend it. Our family has gotten a lot of use out of it and the best part is they're "doing school" and they don't even realize it. ;) You can find it at learning stores for around $20.