A bug and credit reports

Hey All, 

I wish this sweet little praying mantis is the bug I'm talking about in my title.... but it's not.  What I'm talking about is a bug that we all just love and hold dear to our hearts....

The Stomach Bug. 

Blahhhhh.  Love and hold dear to our hearts?  More like hide from and hope it doesn't find it's way to us.... but it did. 

Via my son's school.... lovely.

He came down with it suddenly last Wednesday night. Luckily, it was pretty much over after the first 24 hours.... but we kept him home from school Thursday and Friday to be sure he was good to go. 
I quickly followed suit on Friday night.  I'll spare you all the gory details, but I'm pretty sure there was a demon laughing at me from the bottom of the porcelain bowl my sixth go round.  I too was lucky enough to be pretty much back to normal by Sunday.  Hubby started last night and while the worst is over (you know, the whole camping by the toilet all night part) he still needs to gain his strength and hopefully will be better by tomorrow. 

So what do you say we move on to something more fun and delightful!?  OK!

Let's talk credit reports people! 

What? Isn't that fun and delightful?  Well, in my penny pinching world it is, so get used to it!

Your credit report is important to go over to make sure that nobody is walking around spending cash in your good name.  It's so important that you can get a free copy of your credit report yearly through the website www.annualcreditreport.com just to make sure there's nobody spending money in your good name!   I've known that this was available for quite awhile and I did it.... a few years back..... like, when my son was still in pull ups, but that's not the point! 

Luckily, I've been watching a YouTube channel that I really enjoy.... I highly recommend the family on the debtisdum channel.  (I know dumb is spelled wrong, but that's all they could get I imagine) They are on their journey to become debt free through Dave Ramsey's Money Makeover Plan.  The last video I watched was about credit reports and how to get one free every single year.  It got me off my booty and took all of about 5 minutes to fill out the info on the site, pass some security questions and print it out.

What a sense of relief when I reviewed everything and all was correct.  Keep in mind this free report won't give you your credit score.  It lists all the places that have requested a credit report on you, all the accounts you have open and all the accounts that are closed. 

I am proud to say that I owe exactly 0 dollars and 0 cents to anyone.  No. One. 

Now, my hubby..... well, he has the mortgage in his name...... aren't I a sneaky little bugger?  ;)

Until Next Time Friends..... Check your Credit Report! 

372 days, Sitting room re-do and 9 cents.

Hello All,

I realized this morning as I was vacuuming the store that it has been a year since I quit my part time job to join hubby on our adventure in being self employed. My last day at my previous employer was on February 12th 2012.   It has been (almost to the day) a year since I received a paycheck from someone else.  I have to say, I am proud. 

But enough of me and my rambling on how much my awesome-ness is off the scale today, let's get to the real reason why you stopped by! 

My sitting room BEFORE:

My sitting room AFTER:

I like it!  The only thing I want to do next is change out the color from maroon to blue.  But the budget is sayin' (in a pirate-y kind of voice) Arrrgghh Kim, but ye budget is not allowin' for those luxuries as of yet.... ye better get to savin' ye booty!  

That was bad.  Fun, but bad..... no more pirate voice OK?  'mkay!

I've painted the hall way where the laundry closet is as well.... and I'm embarrassed to say it has taken 9 1/2 years... but hey better late than never! 

After picture to come.... teehee!

Ready for some cheap fun stories!?  Hey now, let's keep it G rated!  Here's the riveting tale of a girl who is plain out cheap.... and did I mention broke?  Yea, broke is a motivator here as well... 

So I took Ashton out on a "date night" while hubby attended a meeting the other night.  We had a good 3 hours to kill and we had a great night for what??  9 cents.  I'm not kidding!  Well, Ashton spent some of his money on a thrift shop item, but me.... a mere 9 cents.   Here's how....

1. Window shop at thrift store while son looks around and manages to find a metal detector for $20.... he's been wanting one for ages, but have you seen the prices of those things new??  Good Find Son, Good Find.
2.  Take son to have dessert at Cracker Barrel to use up last $9.18 that was left on a gift card your mom gave you..... have delicious cake like this.....

Also, look up in surprise as you notice that your son is practically finished his cake before you are 4 bites in.... he gobbles his up and helps you finish yours!  My my, quite the empty leg he has!

Walk out of Cracker Barrel having not spent a dime... using the last $1.39 for a tip... hey, she came to our table once! 

3.  Go to local bookstore to look at magazines and discuss how over priced "MineCraft" items are with son.  Let son get on soapbox about how unfair that is..... glow with pride that you are raising a cheapskate   wise, frugal person! 
4.  With still 0 dollars coming out of your pocket and only one hour left until hubby's meeting is over, head over to Kohl's to spend that last $8.91 on a gift card you have.  Look around and around for the perfect items.... and then find it...... (angels start singing here)

A perfect mix of gift card use and something that will be used, but not take up precious space. 

On Sale.  Equaling $9.00 at the register

You owe 9 cents.  So you counted out your nickel and 4 pennies.... took your kitty cat shopping bag with your new treats in it and walked out..... high fiving yourself all the way to the car.

That my friends, is a night out! 

Until next time friends!

On the little busy homestead!

Hi All,

I realized I haven't really given you an update on all the goings on in my little homemaker world recently. 

On the homestead, it is cold cold!  We have had a couple days in the 50's which make me yearn for spring even more.  We've been pretty lucky so far with not too much snow fall.  We've had snows, but nothing more than a few inches.  We're hoping to get through the winter without needing a kerosene heater. We'd like to have one in an emergency, but we have yet again put off getting one.
Fingers Crossed!  I will be pruning back the blackberry bush soon and start prepping the garden for peas and lettuce in March!  Woohoo!  I can't wait to get in the garden.  Now more than ever I want to grow as much food as we can.  I've been air drying the majority of our clothing (hubby still likes to dry his clothes in the dryer) and I'm excited to see the electric bill so I can see how much of a difference it makes.  I will compare last year at this time to this year.  We've also been turning back the heat to 63 degrees F when we are away and 62 degrees F when we are sleeping, so I'm hoping that will cut some cost as well.  Now, how will we do this in the summer when I want to keep the windows open at night and hubby wants to switch on the air?  Hmmmmm.

Financially we are doing well and making some head way.  We had the week of repairs earlier this month when Eric's car needed a repair, a pipe got clogged to the point of needing to call a plumber and our vacuum at work just up and quit.  We got through it though and thankfully we had our baby emergency fund in place to take care of the repairs.  Business is good and we are finally feeling the benefits of lots of hard work. 

Our kitty cats are good (as if you were just dying to know)  our older kitty DiDi has graduated to her own little play area. It is basically a fenced in area in the kitchen with her bed, food/water and puppy pad close by.  She can easily find her way to what she needs with out too much trouble (she's pretty much blind at this point) It is safer for her and safer/easier for us in case she has an accident.  All the other kids are good and the little boys are so curious about outside. 

Nope, I promised a final picture of my sitting room in the next post.... it will come soon, but not this time.... until then this adorable picture will have to suffice. 

Until Next Time Friends!

Sitting room re-do

Hey All,

 OK, so I've gotten all my downstairs de-cluttering and organizing finished!  Yeah!  Now it's on to more fun stuff.... like painting.  Painting.... yea, painting and I are like those friends you see and you really don't want to hang out, but you do and then you're soooo glad when its over....but yet you were happy to see them-- anyone else like that?  No?  Hmpf....

So... Here's what our sitting room looked like BEFORE:

I like this room ok, but the dark wall really makes the room look smaller and darker.  The only thing keeping this picture bright is the sunshine we luckily had that day.  First things first ... going to need to prime the doo-dads out of this wall! 

First coat done!  Phew!  But it is soooo obvious that it needs to have another coat of primer.... here goes!

 

 

Now we're set!  Of course my helpers had to be right there in case I needed any *help*

 



Here's one last shot.... getting started on the painting... I'm liking how much brighter and roomier it feels already!

Finished room in my next post..... what?  You didn't really think you'd get to see it already did you?  Sheesh! 

Until Next Time Friends!

Pet Peeve

Hi guys, 

I'm here at work with a little break in activities, so I thought I'd tell you what's irritating me today.... I know, not anything to do with being a homemaker.... well, I guess homemaker's complain sometimes... at least this one does.  Anyhoooo, here goes....

I'm sad when the author of a blog that I really enjoy says that they are tired of blogging and they are taking a break or stopping the blog all together.  But, I can understand.  They explain that they are real people, with real lives, real kids and real chores.  So I get that.  I appreciate the wrapping up and saying good bye. ( or until we meet again) 

Here's what I don't get.  I don't get being lucky enough to actually have people other than family members read your blog and just stop blogging without notice.  I don't get being lucky enough to have people comment and subscribe to your blog just for you to fall off the face of the earth.  I know people get busy and life happens.... but can you post a quick post and say something like....

I won't be posting on this blog any longer.  Thanks.

Give me at least that!

Stick it out or wrap it up.  That's all I'm sayin'.

Here's the blogs that I wish would just wrap it up....

Adventures of Voluntary Simplicity. 
Ramblings of a Happy Homemaker
and
Minimalist Packrat.  (Hasn't totally dropped off the earth, but only shows up every 6 months or so... in or out I say.)

That is my rant.  I assure you if I decide to drop off the face of the earth, you will be notified.

happy homemaking stuff to follow!  :)

Experiments gone bad and envelopes.

Hey All,

The organization/decluttering moves on which I will show you soon.  I've even started some painting!  But that is for another day.... today, I'm sharing an experiment I read on one of the blogs I enjoy reading. 

It said using a paste made of baking soda and water would clean a stubborn dirty oven door.  Yes. My oven door were both dirty and stubborn.  So, while I was doing some cleaning I decided to give this a try. 

So first you make the thick paste, but not too thick.... thick enough that it will stick, but still be easy to smear.  Which I did.....

Next you were suppose to let it sit for at least 30 minutes.... longer if necessary.... everything including the window are suppose to sparkle after you wipe away the baking soda.

I let mine sit...... 45 minutes in I did a test and saw that it needed to sit longer.

I let it sit.

For 3 hours.

And after all that plus some pretty arm aching elbow grease.... I got......

THIS.

At best, the window was slightly cleaner.....  so yeah, skip this piece of advice.... save the paste for your bathtub or something.....

Now on to more fun things..... envelopes.  What?  Envelopes aren't exciting for you?  What if I said they are money envelopes?  See.... I got your attention.... anyway, as you know I am on the Dave Ramsey Money Plan.... and in that plan you use envelopes to keep your money separated into different categories.... for us, we use the grocery envelope the most.  And this is my old one.... you can see why I said OK, time for you to go..... thanks dear friend....

Good Times we had.  Good times.

I have since replaced this envelope with a new crisp money envelope from our bank.  I know you can buy or make more permanent envelopes, but you forget who you're talking to..... I get bank envelopes for free and absolutely no work.... yea, that's how I roll.

Until next time friends!