The Coffey House

Budget Shopping...

2012-10-30T11:37:00.002-07:00

It has recently come to my attention that I... perhaps suck at budgeting.

Simple concept really, spend less than what you make. How easy is that? Not very apparently.

We have had some very tight times in our marriage. Yet somehow I was able to navigate those without much trouble. Some freak outs, fits and tantrums but I still made it work. We have even survived unemployment with and without benefits.

Now however, I seem to be creating a mess.

Because of my desperate need to get back on track and save we have begun working with a financial planner.

(Free through my husband's work.)

I'm not sure what I think of this process. Actually, I do know... I find it completely annoying. I wanted him to be able to look at our finances and come up with some ideas. Instead he kind of shrugged and didn't seem to have much for answers other than saying we need to beef up life insurance and estate plan. Thank you Captain Obvious, that however takes money.

So like I have many times in the past I began scouring blogs, the finance sections of papers and magazines and trying hard to use common sense.

Our fixed expenses are just that... pretty fixed. There is not much room for change. Well... there are going to be changes but they take a little time (refi's, changes in insurance, and discontinuing a few services that are not 100% necessary and whatever else I may find).

But something I can try and control is our grocery and personal care expenses.

So I began tracking what I was spending in these two areas with my nifty Quicken software.

Wow. That was a little bit of a shock.

I mean I know we eat well and all but I didn't realize that we were spending that much.

We had completely eliminated eating out when my husband lost his job at the beginning of the year. With taking that expense out I didn't pay much attention to the grocery spending because with eliminating that expense I was obviously saving. And I was... but I was also having to spend a bit more on the grocery budget to make up for all of those take out nights.

So in my efforts to become more fiscally responsible I began to try to shop with lists. Okay, that was a total flop and didn't work. I can not look through my house and come up with a list. I don't know why, I just can't. It apparently takes too much effort.

So I decided to make backwards lists... if that makes any sense. I sat down and thought of the stores that I shop and how the stores are laid out, what departments are where and what products are in each area.

From there... I got this...

A checklist of things I use... further broken down by store.

This is a copy of our personal care/household supplies that we use. These are items I purchase at the Dollar General.

This list also helped me learn to use coupons. I had tried in the past to use coupons but always gave up because when you are only buying store brand... well why would you need coupons. But! This list helped me figure it out and make it work for me and showed me I am a little bit of a brand snob on some things.

Each Monday morning at work I get dropped off the inserts of the weekend papers. I sit down at lunch and clip all of the coupons in there. From there I sort the coupons into two categories... food and personal care items. Next I sort the coupons further down into more piles. The personal care coupons for example are sorted into three piles.

First, the brands that we do use. These are the items that I am a brand snob on such as toothpaste, the dogs food or my shampoo and conditioner. These coupons go in one envelope and are set aside.

The next pile is the items that I am not a brand snob on. My husband's shave cream or body wash. These are items that price will be the determining factor on what brand I purchase. They go into their marked envelope.

The final pile is first aide and medicine cabinet items. These are items that I am not going to buy unless someone is coming down with something... so it's best to hold onto these just in case. I used to keep a stocked medicine cabinets but found after cleaning it out one day that the majority of the items were going into the trash rather than used so it really is only necessary for me to keep minimal supplies on hand.

Okay, so... now... how the two work together. Finally... I know.

I print out a copy of my list and look through the house. I check off what we are low on or out of and sit down with the envelopes of coupons. I first look through the envelope that contains the brands we use. If we need toothpaste, I pull out the coupon for Colgate... and so on. Once I have completed this envelope I attach all of the corresponding coupons to the list. I then move on to the next envelope of the items that brand is not as important. If we need toilet paper, I pull all of the coupons I have for toilet paper and put them into another envelope. When I'm done I may have 5 coupons for toilet paper, what one I use, if any, will be determined once I get to the store. No one is sick so no need to look at the first-aide coupons. Perfect.

Finally, off to the store with my coupons clipped to the list and my envelope full of coupons!

This method has kept me from over and under purchasing items that lead to stockpiles or shortages that cause additional trips to pick up one thing... that leads to 10 items by the time I check out.

Junk

2012-09-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

I am a junk fanatic. I'm horrible about dragging junk into our house. I am constantly filling our garage, basement and front porch with junk.

The amazing thing is my husband keeps the complaining about this to a minimum. As long as he is not hitting his shins off of something, he's okay with this. In our 10 years of marriage we have purchased about five items from a furniture store new; two sofas, an ottoman and three mattress and box spring sets if you'd like to know. So I think this helps to influence his acceptance of my junk collecting.

I get junk from all over.

My work is one great place to score good junk. While my children were very small they destroyed the first furniture store purchased sofa during nap time by falling asleep and wetting through diapers. After having to throw away that sofa (it was a clearance sofa sleeper - complete score for only $200) I became frustrated and decided I would just bring ugly old couches home from work until we were out of this stage before I would buy new again. We went through 4 of them.

Goodwill is always a great place to score great items but I just don't make it there all that much anymore.

Auctions are fabulous and so is Craigslist. Even better is that I can get my husband to make the trips and do all of the dirty work for me.

I am also not afraid to pull something out of someones trash. Ummm... okay, I'm not afraid to ask my mom to go pull something out of someones trash.

But I think my favorite place to go is flea markets.

And this weekend, that is where I was. My mother-in-law loaded up early and were off to a giant bi-annual flea market near my home. It was a fabulous day spent with great company doing something that both of us love.

My morning had been going a little slow until I found my dream booth. A friendly, fun fella named Dave who was willing to deal on everything he had. Dave had great junk and I found several large pieces I wanted but the best one I found was a large, mustard yellow, jelly cupboard. When I saw it I immediately had a million ideas for this cabinet. It would be awesome in a bathroom for towels or the upstairs hallway for extra bed linens and blankets or... my kitchen!

Yes, my kitchen, my ity bitty kitchen with very little cabinet or counter space and bags of groceries sitting next to the fridge because there is no room left in the cabinets.

At the end of our galley kitchen there is a small eat-in area that is the only wall without windows or doors.

It was the only logical place for the cabinet to go.

I'm still unsure if my window chalkboard will be staying or going.

But I do believe I have the perfect space for my junk cabinet.

DIY Floor Refinishing

2012-09-14T09:24:00.001-07:00

I had mentioned that our dining room floor was a nightmare.

After removing this icky carpet...

I found this...

And quickly went into a panic.

It is typical in my house for me to announce I am going to do something and for my husband to tell me what a horrible idea he thinks it is. This happens to be one of those such things.

However, I did have reasonable expectations that this would go okay. I had removed all of the rest of the carpeting from the house and the wood was fine. Not perfect but certainly better than someone else's dirty old carpet.

I tried everything to remove this black padding that was glued to the floor.

I scrubbed.

I Googled.

And scrubbed.

And Googled.

I tried to remove it with a putty knife.

Nothing worked and my Google searches were coming up empty!

And finally after two days of sitting in the middle of this stinky filth... it dawned on me.

Stripper!

How had I not thought of this sooner?!

So I loaded up and headed to the hardware store.

(Admittedly, this should have been my first stop.)

While I was there looking for furniture stripper, I found this...

Perfect!

And rented this...

Really, why didn't I come here first?!

When I got home I liberally applied the adhesive remover to the entire floor. The black padding and adhesive started to bubble immediately and was all removed within a half hour.

Really... I sat there for two days, and this was all it took.

After letting the floor dry I began sanding and within a few hours was finished.

I had thought ~~long and hard~~ about 15 min. while I was in the store about how I wanted to finish the floor.

The floor is the original to the home, small planked, oak wood floor. Normally, you do not see these types of floors stained. But... I really do not care for oak all that much. So I decided I was going to stain my floor.

I chose a dark redish color and began applying with old rags.

After the first coat I decided I needed to go a little darker so I applied a second.

After the second coat of stain it was time to begin sealing the floor.

I applied 4 coats of floor polyurethane over several days to the floor, gently sanding the floor in between coats with steal wool and cleaning with a tac cloth to remove any debris.

(Each coat of polyurethane must dry for 8 hours before the next coat can be applied.)

The final result... a beautiful restored wood floor.

My Dining Room

2012-09-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

Do you ever roam aimlessly from one room to the next in your house starting projects and leaving a wake of half completed rooms in the process?

This is my problem. I constantly do this. But, in a house that needs EVERYTHING one thing flows to the next and the next and nothing ever seems to get completed.

Recently I started working in my dining room (again), that then lead me to the living room, swapping bedrooms around and now a home office. Funny how painting one little room created such havoc.

This is how our dining room looked when we first moved in.

I painted over this color right away and removed the carpet expecting to find a matching hardwood floor to the living room.

WRONG!

Well, sorta wrong. The floor was under there but first I needed to remove the very old and smelly black padding that was glued to the floor to get to it.

Anyway, the floor is a whole 'nother post.

My first paint color choice for this room was an epic fail. It took me several months to find what direction I wanted to go in there. I kept trying for blues and grays but realized, they do not work for me. I love them, just not in this house.

So the dining room sat.

And sat.

For a year.

Empty.

All the while I had been collecting things here or there when I spotted a good deal or saw something I liked.

I found these chairs along the way.

And this buffet.

So after a year of the dining room being nothing more than a great room to practice your Ninja moves without worry of bumping into anything... I got started.

I painted, I cleaned, I got rid of crap I dropped in the room because I just didn't know what to do with it, but... then I found something I can't just get rid of... my husband!

We have a very large computer armoire that sits in the dining room that he spends hours at working or doing homework for his Master's Degree.

That's a dilemma.

I needed to find somewhere else to stick him.

So, that is how we come to swapping bedrooms and working on a home office.

All of that because I wanted to paint the dining room and make it into a useful space.

So, I still can't complete the dining room until I evict my tenant in the corner. But, today the dining room is looking something like this...

Summer Fun

2012-07-25T12:32:00.001-07:00

This summer has passed so quickly!

I'm not sure where to start to explaining my compete absence.

Our time has been spent running from one activity to the next. Primarily baseball and swimming. Big time killers. Three kids in three leagues, and three classes... you get the picture.

Next, I decided to buy the kids one of those horrible ugly blue pools that you see in yards. I cannot believe how many hours I spend working on, cleaning or occasionally laying in this pool!

My garden... okay, I lie, that consumes none of my time. It is a horrible overgrown, full of weeds mess that I never would have planted had I known how much time the pool would consume.

Reading, I have spent hours reading this summer. I've read some very good books, some hyped up okay books and some that I just could not wait to reach the end.

And finally, I have not had Internet for over 2 months! Okay, sort of. I have not had wireless for over two months, and I only use wireless. We are very territorial over electronics in my home, my husband and I refuse to share. So... over two months.... possibly longer now that I think about it... without checking blogs, Facebook or general dinking around. Since he had access on his desktop, this was not a priority to him and this drug out forever.

But! With all of that time I had on my hands without Internet access... I was able to start into some much needed projects!

Dresser Repourpose

2012-05-09T17:55:00.001-07:00

My oldest son has been in desperate need of a new dresser for some time now. When we lived in our old house and he moved into his 'big boy' room I had bought him a dresser online from Kohls. Do NOT purchase furniture online. Even though it had a rather hefty price tag attached, it was a complete disappointment. I should have returned it but instead decided it would do.

Mistake.

It was far too small and poorly made. But it served its purpose for a few years.

Now that he is nearly 9, his clothes are far to big to fit in the tiny dresser so there has grown to be piles in his room of clean laundry because of this.

Craigslist... shall I consider you my favorite furniture store?

I think I will.

Enter this little gem.

Pardon my lack of before photos. My little helpers were faster than I and quickly had the drawers taken out and drug into the yard for me to begin.

But, you sort of get the picture.

When I began my hunt for a dresser I was looking for something with minimal scalloping and detail since this would be going into a boys room. This one pretty much fit the bill.

But after several days of work. The dresser went from this...

To this...

This was a rather easy process. Just time consuming but well worth the effort.

First, the dresser had to sit for several days on our covered front porch to 'air out' since it came from a heavily smoked in home. I filled it with Pier 1 fragrance packs to help with the smell. It did the trick. If airing the piece out does not work, try painting the drawers if you end up in this predicament after sending your husband to pick something up and him lacking the common sense to call you first and see if this would be okay.

The next step was to give the entire dresser a good sanding. Followed by a coat of primer and three coats of black paint. I used Rust-Oleum American Accents, Canyon Black. It's my go to black for almost any project requiring black paint.

(There is also a lack of 'in progress' pictures of this project since I had the help of a 7 and 5 year old.)

I don't generally like painting with a roller as most people will recommend when painting furniture. Most people will recommend this to avoid brush strokes, I however prefer to paint with a brush because the tiny little marks a roller makes... drives me more nuts. The trick to a good paint job with a brush is the brush itself. Buy a GREAT brush. I like Purdy brushes. Stolen from my husband's paint supplies... it results in some grumbling but they do great and don't leave marks that a cheaper brush would.

After the three coats of black paint had dried and were cured I did a light sanding to all of the edges. This is going in a boys room... ultimately, it will be damaged in some ways so it is best for me to opt for distressing prior to make any damages it sustains later not seem so obvious.

After sanding, I then applied stain to the distressed areas and then began coating the entire dresser in two coats of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax. I opted to use the Finishing Wax on the dresser rather than poly to buff away any imperfections and reach my achieved finish.

The last thing needed was hardware. After a failed trip to Menards to look for hardware... I began to search online. The hardware at Menards was roughly eight dollars a handle. Far too much for my $40 Craigslist dresser. That would be silly to spend more on the hardware than the dresser itself.

After some looking I found handles that would work perfectly at www.knobsandhardware.com

The handles that were $8ish at Menards were $1.20 online with free shipping. Score!

Total cost for the entire project...

Roughly $70.

Beautiful isn't it?

Linking to...

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2012/05/whatever-goes-wednesday-115_09.html

What I've Learned

2012-05-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows the saying... God doesn't give you any more than you can handle.

Well... God needs to back off because I do believe I am at my breaking point.

Last week we lost our baby.

Crushing.

Absolutely Crushing.

Our baby number four that we were so looking forward to is gone. We were at 16 weeks gestation and are the minority of people who have a second trimester miscarriage.

I have learned some crazy things during this process.

First, people who have never experienced such a loss... who try to tell you they 'understand' or 'know what your feeling' are well intentioned IDIOTS. I am sorry, no, you do not 'understand' or 'know' because until you have experienced such a loss or delivered your tiny tiny baby at home with only you and your husband, you will never know.

Second, even if, prior to loosing a pregnancy, you ever felt that it was for the better if nature took it's course if there would be problems later... you were WRONG. So wrong. Because such a loss makes you realize that no matter what, you would have fought to the end for your child.

Third, those people who really unfortunately do understand and know... you are now part of their club. Not in a bad way, but it effects them so strongly, they will cry with you and cry for you.

Fourth, everything else suddenly seems so stupid. Completely stupid. And because of this, biting your tongue becomes incredibly difficult. Especially when your first day back to work you are flooded with phone calls within the first hour... from adults... fighting over trash bags.... yes, trash bags.

Fifth, nothing in your life can make you challenge God like something happening to one of your babies. It's been a hard year for us. A very hard year. When my dad died, I did not waiver, when the word cancer came back up, I had faith, my husband looses his job, God will make sure we are okay. This however... makes me angry. Very angry.

Sixth, MORONS HAVE CHILDREN! You really begin to notice just how many stupid asses have babies after something like this happens. I mean really really stupid people have these beautiful babies that they barely take care of, treat horribly or don't deserve. And this... is unfair.

Seventh, nothing can make you appreciate your beautiful family more than something like this.

Where Have I Been???

2012-04-25T14:18:00.001-07:00

I haven't completely fallen off of the face of the planet or decided to give up my blog. Instead... I have yet another life changing event that I was unsure how to share.

We are getting ready to welcome baby number 4 to the family!

While this is completely exciting because... well... babies are FANTASTIC!

It came as a bit of a surprise.

Well, should it have? No. But... it still did.

And there's that whole... my husband has no job but hey, we're adding another mouth to feed thing that was a little though to choke down.

But...

After my procedure in December I was told that having another baby might be rather difficult due to scaring. Thankfully, this was not the case for us.

However, due to conception being so close to the surgery, this raised fears of miscarriage.

I am happy to say, we are officially out of the first trimester and so far, everything looks fabulous.

On the whole 'my husband doesn't have a job' thing... he has taken a job. However, this is not a dream job by any means and his job search continues while he looks for something that better suits him and works better for the whole family.

I suppose that's all for now. I have been working on several things and have lots to share!

Fitness!

2012-02-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

In efforts to sick to my 2012 "List" in midst of the chaos that is currently our life... I began to work out a few weeks ago.

I needed to take baby steps, begin small and set short term goals for myself. For some reason FOREVER is just way too difficult of a concept for me to wrap my head around. Instead, I am taking it 30 days at a time. 30 days, you can do anything for 30 days right? Forever though, that is a whole 'nother deal.

I am happy to say, my first 30 days will officially be over in just 3 days.

5 days a week I spend 35 min. on my treadmill running and following Cool Running's Couch to 5k program, followed up with either Fluidity or The Firm for another 45 min to an hour.

So far the scales are not tipping in my favor. {sigh} I am however regaining my endurance and am pleased with myself for my accomplishments these past 27 days.

Time to plan for my next 30 days!

How to REALLY Save $5,000 a Year

2012-01-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

Often times I find myself scouring money and financial articles online to find those places 'to save $5,000 a year without pain'. I have done this for years. Even prior to our current financial dilemma. I have discovered over the past several years of reading... the people who write these articles, apparently live much more pampered lives than I.

Purchase Dryelle rather than taking your clothes to your favorite cleaners... Really? Because I don't even spend the money on Dryelle. It goes in the washer and I hope for the best.

Make your coffee at home rather than hitting your local Starbucks in the morning. Okay, please.... would I ever think to spend $6.00 on a designer coffee? Hardly. It's made at home and put in a to-go mug daily.

Limit your spa, manicure, pedicure... whatnot's to one trip a month rather than weekly. Huh, I thought everyone soaked their feet in the tub with their kids before painting their own piggies... and the piggies of three boys that are hidden from their father as soon as we're finished.

Cut your gym membership or eliminate it all together - instead work out at home. HA! Who can afford a gym membership??????? And if you have one, who has time?

There are more items to these lists of nonsense but nothing ever very helpful. Often when I read these lists I am disgusted that the authors of these lists are never giving helpful advise on where to trim the money from. The lists they write are not conducive to working, middle class households with children. Instead I feel they are more geared towards people who are living a much more pampered lifestyle than I do, because even in our financially best years, spa treatments and dry cleaning still seemed to be luxuries to me.

Instead I thought I would share some good tips for saving a few bucks. $5,000 a year, probably not. But any savings is helpful.

1. Review your insurance policies!

This is a great starting point to look for some savings. Auto and home insurance are a monthly killer in our household. Just when our car insurance rates had finally fallen, my husband was in a car accident to the tune of a 50% increase! And home insurance has doubled for us this past year with the addition of a second house to insure as we had tried to sell our old home. Search around online. Almost every large carrier will give you an online quote. All it takes is a little time and effort. A $150 a month auto policy can be purchased with another carrier for $101! Bundle home and auto together for additional savings.

Who may have had the best rate a year ago, does not necessarily have the best rate now.

Our annual household savings... $700 a year.

2. Meal Plan!

This may seem like a silly way to find some extra savings but at our house, lack of meal planning is a horrible drain. After a long day of work, deciding last minute what is for dinner is only a short jump away from taking the family out to eat rather than put the effort into finding and cooking a meal.

Our annual household savings for a family of 5.... approximately $2,600. Obviously, we will still eat out on occasion - this is based on our normal one night a week of not knowing 'what's for dinner'. On average, that is how many nights we were skipping out for dinner.

3. Stock the freezer!

This also may seem a little silly but it ties in with #2. If there is a healthy supply of food in the freezer you are less likely to decide to eat out. Not only are there savings in not eating out, but if you check with your local grocer, there are savings to be had buying a case of chicken or a box of beef.

I purchase cases of chicken for $.69 a pound vs $1.29 out of the case. A box of beef or pork that will last us several months is a savings of about $25 - $40 per box that will last us about 3 months each.

Average savings for my family... Approximately $260 a year by buying in bulk and the above mentioned money we were spending eating out by not having the food right in our house.

4. Look over your un-necessary utilities and all of the statements. Check for errors and see what you can do without.

Our cell phone bill still carried my dad's phone that I had called and requested be disconnected months ago.

Our Netflix movies have been sitting on top of the DVD player for months. Actually, I believe we moved them with us 8 months ago. We stream everything so there is really no need for us to have the DVD plan.

We currently have a bundle for our home phone, internet and cable that prevents any changes to these because of our contract.

Average savings for my family for a year... $215

5. Share weekend baby sitting duties with a friend.

My husband and I don't often venture out for nights alone but when we do, a baby sitter for an evening is an added expense. Rather than pay a sitter for the evening, we try and trade off with some people we know. Keep in mind... not many people are crazy enough to agree to take your three children and you will have to agree to take their 3 or more at a later date... even when you really don't feel like it.

Average savings for my family for the year.... $300

6. Stay out of big box stores!

This again seems silly but for my family, if we so much as walk in the door I should have lit a hundred dollar bill on fire with the nonsense that will be brought home. I instead opt to only buy local. You might think this is more expensive, but in fact I find this to be the most cost effective way for my family to shop. Without additional toys that no one needs, yet another pack of socks for my husband or who knows what else ending up in my cart; spending more on some items actually ends up to be a savings in the long run.

Average savings for my family for a year... $1,200 - based on one trip a month with approximately $100 in excess crap (1 toy for each child - $60 and $40 in nonsense between my husband and myself.)

7. Look at any memberships you might have and see what you can do without.

Okay, we don't have gym memberships. Instead we have a home gym of items purchased off of Craigslist or Ebay. But... we did have a membership for Samm's Club like so many others. It was something my husband got all excited about and had to have when his work put the enrollement out. While shopping in such bulk might work for some people, spending $300 and coming out with 5 things makes me want to puke. It doesn't work for me. I am not a good bulk shopper to this degree. The upfront expense it too much for me to take, because no matter how many thousands of granola bars there are in that box, I still see one box... that happens to be full of more granola bars than we would ever eat in a year no less. Not to mention, I have never walked in the door enough to constitute the $40 a year memebership. (Odd that I agreed to this with my severe distain of Wal-Mart)

One cancelled Samm's Club membership... $40 annual savings and the bonus of realligning of my moral compas.

8. Find savings in your nessesary monthly utilities.

Okay, when I say nessesary monthly utilities I am referring to electric, gas and water. The things you really need in your house. Not the cable bill.

This may not be appealing to everyone because it takes some adjustment and some serious work.

See if you can lower the thermostat just one more degree. Because if your like me, it's already only 65 in your home in the winter. But, 64 vs 65... it's not that much lower right? Your already freezing your family out on a regular basis so the chance of them noticing one more degree... not high.

Hang out your laundry. This is teadious and takes a lot of work but for about 8 months out of the year my dryer is only ran once a week for a load of socks. This is a drastic savings on my electric bill that is noticiable imediately.

Shut off the lights! Okay, this is obvious but to a house with many small children... this is a feat. I try to run upstairs every hour to follow behind my children and shut off every light in the upstairs. Becuase they seriously turn on every light in the entire upstairs at night... EVERY light.

Average savings for my family on utility bills... $360 per year.

Huh, look at that... I did come up with $5,000 in saving tips.

Budgeting 101

2012-01-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

The past week I have been ~~stewing over~~ reviewing our finances and creating a plan.

I have some serious changes to make in order to be able to control this situation better. To be honest, I have not kept a check register in the past few years. Nor have I even opened a bank statement other than to do a quick balance check every now and then. I didn't need to. I always knew there was plenty of money to pay the bills and take care of our wants.

So this past week I have gathered together the past several months of bank statements and sat down to take a look. There is really no good starting point to this project when this has been neglected for so long now.

In order to get this together I thought it best to have the right tools for the job.

Ahhh, yes, Quicken, that has sat idly on my computer for well over a year will now be utilized.

Pathetic, I know. How could someone be so flippant with their fiances? Much less someone who in the past has scrutinized every family transaction down to the penny?

But I was.

And now I have a mess to straighten out.

My first step...

My husband and I have turned our checkbooks in and agreed that there will be one book of checks only going at a time. Yes, we still write checks. I have always avoided debit cards because of the lack of control it gave me and it seems I have lost control anyway.

The second step...

Creating the Budget!

To do this, I need to see where the money is going. Quicken will help me do this.

After reviewing the statements I have decided to go back the past two statements and make this my starting point. This should be enough history to catch up and see any outstanding checks but also give me an idea of where the money goes in order to help create a budget.

New Year!

2012-01-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

I was very excited for 2011 to be behind us and was looking forward to 2012 with great anticipation.

In 2011 my father passed away and my life then went into a horrible tailspin where I felt I could not keep my head above water and continued on that way for several months. They year then ended with a routine exam turning into a cancer scare and surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells from my body. I have spent the past 6 months grasping trying to maintain some sort of control over every situation.

With everything that went on I was ready for 2012 and had began to make my 'To-Do' list for the following year. I was taking control back.

Eat better

Exercise more

Organize my house

Plan a budget

Become debt free

...

A very ambitious list with probably 75 items on it. And I was ready to tackle it. I started early while recovering from my surgery. Some simple things. I took the time to read a good book. I cleaned out my purse. I stopped my nasty habits.

And then... just a few short days after the New Year... everything, again, has fallen into a tailspin.

My husband has been downsized. I'm not sure why that word is supposed to make this feel better. It surely doesn't. I still consider it fired. Although, not for work performance but 'simply for cost saving measures as they try to realign the company in efforts to maximize savings'... ya know... FIRED!

I could vomit.

I am in a panic.

I despise this lack of control I have over this situation.

Now, more than ever... I am determined to take control of this chaotic life we lead.

I am taking back over.

First and foremost I will be addressing our financial situation to minimize expenses while maximizing savings while my husband finds new employment.

Over the next few weeks I will begin posting about what our family is doing to cut expenses and how to determine needs over wants. What things will have to be set by the wayside and what things we will make room for.

I hope you'll join me for Coffey Economics!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

Each year for Christmas I gather my little children together for an afternoon of torture to get the perfect image to give to all of the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and such as part of their Christmas presents.

This years picture, they are exceptionally proud of.

So if I am not back before the holiday is over ~

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

And may you all have a peaceful and joyous season!

Crockpot Breakfast... ICK!

2011-12-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

I love cooking with my crock pot. I only mention this... all the time.

Crockpot Applesauce, Crockpot Applebutter, Crockpot Lasagna, Crockpot Chicken, Crockpot Steak...

But let me take this time to tell you... Crockpot Breakfast... EPIC FAIL!

One of my favorite breakfast ideas is a sausage and potato breakfast casserole that I make. I'm not sure if there is a recipe for this anywhere but it's those cheesy potatoes that everyone brings to a pot luck with sausage in them - sort of my creation but maybe not - someone else may have thought of this also. But whatever.

This weekend while I was in the midst of a crockpot explosion with three crockpots on my counter going, I had an idea. I would make the breakfast casserole and put it in the crockpot to cook for the night rather than getting up making it on Sunday morning.

Brilliant.

Genius.

Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?

Because it was a REALLY BAD IDEA! That's why!

The next morning when I ran into the kitchen to open the crockpot for a wonderful breakfast... I was disgusted to find a bunt, icky mess that made me gag to even think of taking a bite. I never even tried it, just simply dumped it in the trash and tried to avoid smelling it. It was so gross.

I should have known that breakfast casserole in a crockpot was probably not as smart as I thought it was. I have made crockpot oatmeal and other random breakfast dishes over the years that have always been... disgusting. Why should this be any different?

Of course this too would be far too over cooked!

So... lesson learned. Not everything that is super awesome in the oven will be super awesome in the crockpot.

Snowman Shirt

2011-12-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

Do you ever read Megan at Brassy Apple?

I love her! She has the most fantastic ideas for re-purposing clothing, sewing patterns or just randomly awesome ideas. And lets not forget... her style!

A couple of weeks ago she posted her snowman shirt.

I fell in love. I needed to make one for my youngest. I showed him and he was so excited to help make it. So we bought a long sleeve white tee, found some fabric and buttons and got to work.

This is such a super easy and quick project!

Cut your fabric into the shape of the nose and adhere it to the shirt with fusible web. I then zig-zag stitched around the nose for a cleaner look and added the buttons for the eyes and mouth.

So quick! So easy!

We did the shirt last night in about an hour. I had never used the fusible web before so I had to read the instructions 50 times to make sure I was doing it properly... and besides wrecking a bath towel because I was too lazy to pull out the ironing board... super easy!

The buttons were a little tricky. They kind of floated off a little further than I would have liked. My middle son would like one too so I think I may try taping the buttons in place and then sewing them on his so that they don't seem to get away from me again.

My youngest was so excited to wear his new snowman shirt to school today and was so proud to tell everyone that he helped make it!

For Megan's full tutorial click here.

Fabulous Find!

2011-12-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

What did I find out on my venture today????

Six Brand NEW Flexsteel dining room chairs.

Price... $300 for the set of 6!

My First Day Off!

2011-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is my first day off in months!

I mean I've had days off but normally my days off are; favors for other people, photo shoots, babysitting, helping with random things I'm asked, house cleaning, laundry doing, kid running, husband packing, lawyer appointment, estate settling, never doing what I want days off.

Tomorrow I am spending the day going places I want and doing things I enjoy and I just might let my husband come along for the company. If he can be good. Well... I guess he's coming since the day ends with a doctors appointment and I will need him for a ride home because I might not feel particularly great. But he better be up to be a girlfriend for the first half of the day and a husband for the second!

But! Other than the visit to the doctor, it will be a day of thrift and craft stores for me! I can't wait. It has been months since this girl who shopped thrift stores back when they were tabu has walked into a Goodwill. I have shopped Goodwill for over 20 years. My dad found this particularly entertaining when I was in high school and was voted 'Best Dressed' and often teased he would let the secret out, that I was sneaking off to Goodwill for clothes while everyone else was going to the mall.

So, tomorrow is MY day!

Wish me luck on finding lots of treasures!

Decorating ADD

2011-11-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to find my style in this house. I'm not sure what happened but somehow... I've lost it.

In the past month I have painted my hallway upstairs twice and have completely hated it both times.

I started to work on my oldest son's bedroom but can't seem to find bedding and have reached a standstill.

My kitchen is half completed.

My dining room sits empty.

I am just in a funk.

I keep moving from one room to another never really completing anything. I have decorating ADD. It's horrible and it's suffocating.

I need to complete something.

So... welcome to my living room. My latest turn on this decorating roller coaster.

When we moved in I painted the living room the same color as the living room in our prior home thinking that it worked well with everything we had and looked amazing in our old house. I was often complimented on how cute and homey that room was. Ahhhh... my old house with it's pretty flat walls and crown molding.

The color is okay here. But even with all of these windows in this room it just always seems dark. Not helped at all by not having any overhead lighting that can be turned on at night.

This is my free Craigslist piano by the way. It's pretty cool and fits perfectly into this goofy little nook. It has also, as you can tell, become the place to put things that I don't know what to do with.

So, this room just isn't doing it for me... at all.

But this one is...

And so is this one...

Pottery Barn... my love...

My goal is to turn my 'frumpy caught in limbo of my previous house' living room into something beautiful.

I need to let go of the house I had and work with what I HAVE and hopefully this will help bring on some good changes in this house.

My inability to let go of what I had and embrace what we now have has made the most menial of tasks a challenge. Something as small as replacing the throw pillows in the living room after the dog destroyed all but one, has left me indecisive and stuck... with one throw pillow it so seems.

So moving forward, I will embrace what I have.

Free Printables

2011-11-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

After looking further into the Accountable Kids program and some other behavior and chore systems that are out there I decided that I am far too picky to hang three little pine peg racks with ugly little cards on my walls. I just will never be able to bring myself to do such a thing. Even if I hung it in the ugly bathroom, I would still have to see it and I would ultimately hate it and take it down. Making the whole plan worthless.

So I have decided that I am going to create my own system for our house.

Okay, first let me say that my kids heads do not spin around, they do not spew green vomit or float to the ceiling while attacking anyone who dares to enter their room. They are good kids. They are actually GREAT kids. Right now we are all just going through a bit of a tough transition since my father's death a couple of months ago and I think it's bringing some trouble out. Hopefully this system will start to get the little bit of anger and aggression that we are seeing under control. Unfortunately, this aggression and inability to listen is not taking place at home but rather at school where it is out of my control.

The system that I will be using for my kids is for behavior, routine and chores. Each item completed will be assigned points and x amount of points will translate to tickets. Tickets can then be turned in for privileges or prizes. Privileges and prizes are assigned ticket values. Easy. Lots of work to put together. But easy.

My kids are pretty excited about the idea of this program. This week we are practicing while we wait for mom to finish getting things together. Hopefully it only takes a week to compile everything I need. They went to their rooms last night and turned in all of their video games and controllers and did so willingly! Apparently the grand prize of a weekend at a water park is a great motivation. (We are actually planning this but they don't need to know that.)

I thought I would share my program as I put it together. I made the tickets that the kids will use to turn in for video game time, movie rentals, sleepovers with friends, water park weekend (they are allowed to pool tickets for big items such as this) and whatever else I think of. I was surprised when I was looking for tickets to ~~steal~~ borrow for my kids that this was hard to find something I could just print out and go.

Enter my tickets...

My tickets are standard business card size. I have sent my tickets into my printers to be printed on actual business cards so that they will last longer. Plus, 300 business cards costs about $30 compared to the price of the ink in the printer... no brainer for me.

I am attaching the tickets in two ways, the single ticket form that you can copy and download to Vista Printing or another online printer if you choose or a full sheet of tickets that can be printed and cut out individually.

Download Here

What to do...

2011-11-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Each day I think more and more about giving up my job to become a stay at home mom. Giving up is probably not a proper term. It's not like I have a complete passion for my job by any means. Quit! That's better.

Each day I try and decide if what I am doing is best for my kids. Is it best for them that we race through the morning and scramble out the door in a mad dash as I am trying to get 4 people ready for their day in less than an hour. Is it best for them that when I get home at 5:30 I am in another scramble to make dinner, clean up the house, homework, baths, dishes, laundry and whatever else might be done before finally getting them to bed, late, every night.

I am torn. I don't know what is best for us to do. I have worked since I was 14. Legally since 14 anyway. I grew up in the family business, there was a nursery in the office and our parents would tote us along to work. As we got bigger we were sent to baby sitters but still, in the summer a few days a week we would be brought out to work to price groceries (way back in the days before scanners). So my job is a big security blanket for me. The idea of not working when you have done it for almost 20 years is just scary and even thinking about it causes me anxiety.

But now, more than ever, I think I need to make some decisions. My middle son is a struggle. A constant struggle. He is a wonderful, affectionate, loving little boy, who also happens to be bull headed, strong willed and can bring me to my breaking point daily. I think I need to make some serious changes for his sake. I really do not know what to do.

So for the past few weeks I have been researching different behavior systems to try before I go to the extreme of walking away from my paycheck. We have done chore charts in the past but both the kids and I quickly loose interest making it a complete waste. I think what will work best for us is a pre-planned system that all we need to do is 'insert family here' and go.

In looking for different products that I could achieve this with I found the Accountable Kids program. I had heard of this program before from a friend who was using it with fairly good success with her children. (She also has a difficult #2 child.) With this system the kids are awarded points for good behavior, chores, homework, cooperation and penalized by loosing points with bad behavior, not completing chores or homework. At the end of the week you tally up the points and award tickets to the kids based upon points earned. They then can turn their tickets in for special privileges such as playing video games, going out to eat, having a friend over, whatever is determined to be special privileges in your house. And the best part is, everything is planned out for you.

My husband doesn't know if he loves the idea of this program. So I will continue to look for some more. If anyone has any suggestions of good behavior/chore programs I'd love to hear from you.

Photography

2011-10-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend I did this little dolls pictures.

We saw a snake.

I screamed.

He laughed.

Martha...

2011-10-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

I want to be Martha Stewart.

Even prison Martha Stewart seemed to have it all together arranging knitting circles and craft times while keeping up with her daily Prison chores. Making herself productive and doing the best with a bad situation. I'm sure Martha had the best decorated and cleanest cell in the prison.

Let's be clear here...

I don't want to be Prison Martha. I'd prefer to be Free Martha. But either way, I want to be Martha.

I want to have it all together.

I want to have a sparkling clean house that is so organized when someone asks where their shoes are we don't spend 20 minutes looking under furniture in every room. Because if I was Martha I'd know where the shoes are. They are in their proper location, you know that space we took the time to organize and designate for shoes? And my family, so dutiful and always cooperative, of course put their shoes right in that perfect little space, so they wouldn't have even ever asked . They would have known where to look because Martha's family would always listen.

I want to come home from work at night and glide into my kitchen to open my fridge and know exactly what will be for dinner. Because if I was Martha I'd have a meal plan of course! I'd be a whiz in the kitchen who doesn't make a mess, and that several course meal would be whipped up in a breeze. My family would sit down for dinner together and no one would complain. The food would be fantastic and the table manners would be perfect.

After dinner, clean up would be a breeze. Because if I was Martha my family would get up from the table and take their dishes to the sink. I wouldn't need to tell my boys to go do their homework, no, this would have been completed hours ago and neatly tucked back into their bags ready for the following day. There would be no fights, there would be no arguing, there would simply be peace because Martha would not have anything less.

I would quickly make up batches of homemade cookies for that PTO bake sale the next day, no store bought for Martha. They would be light and fluffy, not burnt and crunchy and all of the mom's would want my recipe. I'd be the envy of the mom's with my fantastic baking and great ideas.

I would sit and knit or make a quilt with all of my spare time. Because if I was Martha my beautiful, pristine, organized home would run so efficiently I would have plenty of spare time to do the things I love. Not only would I do what I enjoy, every project would turn out perfectly or better than planned.

The weekends would come with dinner parties and lots of friends. People would flock to our home and be honored to be invited. They would marvel at the beauty of my well decorated home, ask for tips to be so productive and tell me I am so creative; secretly wishing that they were me. Because if I were Martha I'd have it all under control.

I am not Martha.

Shopping!

2011-10-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

Shopping for boy's bedding is difficult. Actually, shopping for anything for a boy is a bit on the difficult side. If you have girls you have unlimited options for clothes, toys and anything you could think of to decorate a bedroom from a baby to a teen. Boys on the other hand, that is much more difficult. The options are so limited.

While I hold the final decorating say-so of my oldest son's bedroom, I don't want it to look like a 20 year old's room. I've know people who do this and it makes me batty. He's 8. His room should be a creative space that encourages his imagination and he feels comfortable. It should not be void of him and his personality. This really shouldn't be that difficult. Oh, but it is.

He's at that kind of awkward stage being 8. He's not yet a big boy but certainly isn't going to want his room covered in things he perceives as baby things (even if he still likes them himself).

I have looked all over for new bedding for his room and I think we may finally have some options we can both agree upon.

The first has the orange he would like to keep because of the school colors. I think we could do something a little fun and funky with this. I think we can come up with a nice combination of vintage and modern that we will both like.

The second option I can see a million ideas for in my head already, khaki walls, vintage pennants, maybe a couple of vintage footballs for fun. I am also a little partial to the Tommy Hilfiger bedding. Not because of the brand name but because of the durability of the bedding and boys are destructive.

Decisions, decisions.

Boys Bedroom Decorating

2011-10-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

I hate this room. I actually hate how all 4 bedrooms in my house look. They are all terrible. But this room drives me crazy. I hate the uneven stripes and the misshapen Indian head. (I figured the room is so ugly making the bed wasn't really going to improve the pictures.)

My oldest son's bedroom was adorable at the old house with the perfect shade of blue, skateboards hanging on the walls and a giant skateboard mural on one of the walls.

Since we have lived here for 6 months now and we finally have our legal deed filed (crazy long story) it is about time that I get to work on the bedrooms. Our plan is that the bedrooms will be taken down to the studs and fresh new drywall hung but that may be a while off because of the long list of other more pressing issues that need to be addressed.

In the interim...

I don't think we are going to continue on the skateboard theme this time. I'm looking for more of a Pottery Barn look for his room. (My son doesn't get too much of a vote here - he is actually fond of the Indian and stripes since this is the school mascot.)

I am in a search for new bedding as a starting point and hope to be able to select paint colors and start working this weekend.

Hot Beef Sandwiches

2011-10-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to make in the crock pot for dinner is Hot Beef Sandwiches. They are quick to put together and make for an easy dinner. I'm all about ease. Who doesn't love little to no prep work and even better... no clean up!

There are two recipes that I use for this and they couldn't be more simple. I don't have a preferred type of roast for either recipe. I actually just grab what is on sale and looks to be the leanest cut.

Recipe #1

1 2 - 3 lb Roast

1 can of beer

1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Place roast in the crock pot, cover with packet of soup mix and can of beer. Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat falls apart for sandwiches.

Recipe #2

1 2 -3 lb Roast

1 16 oz. jar of Pepperchinies

Place roast in the crock pot and cover with pepperchinies. Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat falls apart for sandwiches.

Both are great on hamburger or hoagie buns (preferably toasted) and topped with your favorite slices of cheese. We use American cheese with Recipe #1 and Provolone with Recipe #2.

Getting pictures of food is not my strong suit. Everyone in my house hits the door starving and grabs the plates out of my hands quicker than I can dish things up.