So…I suck and life has been busy

Posted on May 6, 2013 by hipposmom

Its been way way too long since I last posted a blog entry. And I have to say I’m very sorry but life has been crazy busy here in S GA. Happily the house has been bought, and we’ve moved in and turned the rental back to the property manager (although on a side note we’re fighting with said property manager over our deposit since we touched up the homeowner’s nicks and scuffs on the walls and he has decided because of that we now need to pay to have it repainted, yay for doing the right thing). Unfortunately for my budget as with moving into any new place there are so many unforseen odds and ends that need to get picked up (new house? did you remember to get window treatments for all your windows so the neighbors don’t have to see you walking around neeked?) so my budget has been a little worse for the wear. But its a new month and while my budget is already blown for this first pay check I can say that I can see that we’re moving closer and closer to being back on track. Whew it stresses me out to be over budget.

In between buying a house and moving I’ve gotten to do 2 Scentsy booths and have a new booth buddy to do them with. And am learning new tricks each and every time we do it! Like we really don’t need to stock pile large amounts of warmers right now since there are lots of people who don’t know what Scentsy is (are you one of them? If so hop on over to Scent Girl and check it out!) so we’re doing a lot of explaining/educating and not much selling. But my booth buddy and I are having tons of fun! I’m also finishing up a leadership training course (learned lots and lots of fun stuff there) and working towards moving my family out of the grocery store.

On the grocery store front other then having to go to the dreaded Walmart for lots of random things I have mostly managed to get my family out of the grocery store. We still do a once a week trip for milk (Hippo has to have her moo juice) and will probably be doing a once a month trip for incidentals (which I will do my best to coupon for), not going has saved us money (yay for that)!

I also took dragged the family to pick strawberries and there will be a post about that, and how to make jam, coming soon! Along with a post about how to freeze your own carrots! I got giant carrots from my father-in-law (some of his neighbors grow giant ones) and froze them so my family would have homemade (FREE) frozen carrots this year. Expect lots and lots of posts about canning, freezing, gardening and money saving this upcoming summer, along with (hopefully) some fun Scentsy booth/Costal Empire Festivals & Fairs postings.

Well thats all from me for today have fun, stay out of the grocery store and eat local!

So you want to go on vacay, and other money saving tips/tricks/hints that work for our family.

Posted on April 4, 2013 by hipposmom

So as I’ve mention numerous times I’m doing what I can to help my family save money, spend less, and live on a reasonable budget. But when some very good friends (Hi Annie, Hi Jellison, Hi Kim) told us they were going to be in Jacksonville FL (like 2 hours away) in June, we decided we NEEDED to go down for the day. So with us buying a house (well before we intended or had financially prepared to) the traditional way to save for a trip didn’t seem like it would be very effective. So I’m trying to save for our trip with pocket change! Its amazing how that stuff really starts to add up! I am truly going to try to pay for this whole trip (from gas to food to “extras”) with the saved pocket change! To help me plan for this I am using a cool website called costtodrive.com it takes your start location and destination (and any stops in between) and information such as how many passengers, and what year, make and model of car you’ll be driving to tell you about how much it’ll cost you in gas (as well as where to fill up and what to expect for gas prices). So from the Hippo Hideout (in Hinesville GA) to St Augustine FL its gonna cost us about $30 one way! How awesome is this site? And I am happy to report we have currently saved enough for gas round trip and some food!

Since we’re talking about money, another great money website to check out is a blog about The 7 bank accounts every family should have. Its by blogging maven The Fun Cheap or Free Queen. I know you’re all prolly thinking I’m crazy but yes we do have 8 bank accounts (I know the nice people at our mortgage company can’t believe it)! We use a modified version of the Fun Cheap or Free Queen’s method. Where we have our joint checking account where we pay bills from, then Hippo’s Dad has an account for his monthly expenses (like hair cuts, beer, etc) and I have one for my monthly expenses (household expenses like TP, groceries, etc). We also have both a regular savings account, and an emergency savings account the goal here is to have 3 months cost of living in the regular savings account and 6 months income in the emergency savings accounts (we’re slowly saving toward this with bi-montly deposits). We also have a savings account for Hippo that we use to keep her in clothes since she grows so fast, and a Christmas account so we’re not scrambling or using credit cards and our savings to buy Christmas gifts. And we have a health savings account, I know being a military family this may seems weird but as great as military health insurance can be there are some things we need to pay out of pocket. For example we include our pup’s health care (including heart worm preventative), as well as out of pocket dental care and glasses and contacts for me. So while it sounds like a lot it basically works the same as the old fashioned “Envelope Method” that a lot of people are familiar with. It means that we only see (and therefore use) the money in our individual checking accounts while the money we’re trying to save stays safe (mostly except when we buy a house and have to buy lots of little, but expensive, things like blinds and curtain rods) making it easier to save. Also we contribute to Josh’s Army Thrift Savings Plan (think 401K/IRA, one day I’ll learn the difference) every month with an automatic deduction from his paycheck.

So money wise that’s what works for us. I strongly recommend that if you’re trying to develop some financial stability, independence or just become more responsible with your money you sit down, watch the above mentioned video about bank accounts, do some budgeting research (start at your bank, most offer cool online tools to help with this) and remember, its the baby steps that can truly add up to big savings especially if you keep at it. And when you budget be sure to leave your self some “fun” money or else you’ll feel deprived and be more likely to go on a big spending spree that will derail your savings plans! Good luck and good savings! Its fun to be thrifty!

Why I need to stop going to the grocery store, and need new kitchen toys.

Posted on April 3, 2013 by hipposmom

So as I’ve previously blogged, I’m trying to save my family money by staying out of the grocery store. Well my new “staying out the grocery store” philosophy was definitely proven to be a winner when on Sunday morning my family went to the grocery store for milk. We needed just a couple of things, specifically milk and sudafed (its spring in South East Georgia). But we ended up leaving with much more then that, like $35 more then what we needed. We ended up leaving with pop tarts, ramen noodles, vienna sausage, gatorade, oyster sauce, ground pork (I’m gonna make homemade wontons YUM! I’ll post the recipe and pictures as soon as I try it), and fruit snacks! This is why going to the grocery store is dangerous. I can only imagine what I would have walked out with if we had gone to Wally-World! You could prolly add a new T.V. to the list had we gone there!

So we went to the farmer’s market last week and its so nice to see that Spring is really upon us. There are more types of produce available from my produce guy Blake, but unfortunately he’s still the only produce vender currently at the farmer’s market so his line is getting longer every week! But I did get some great sour dough bread and cinnamon swirl breakfast bread from a Sylvania, and I’m hoping they’ll be there next week so I can get more it was so good!

If you’re still shopping in the grocery store I strongly recommend that this farmer’s market season you get out of the supermarket and try some locally sourced foods from a farmer’s market, food co-op, or produce delivery service near you.

I really need to go for a run.

Posted on April 2, 2013 by hipposmom

So as you all know I’ve managed to hurt my knee…again! And since we’re in the process of buying a house (which means moving…oh joy), I’m building my Scentsy business, we’re trying to save money, I’m blogging, and I had been trying to lose weight (before my injury) I’m stressed to the max! And while I normally would turn to food I have been finding myself wanting to do the one thing I’m not supposed to or am truly able to do right now…run. Yep I admit it I’ve become addicted to running and want to comfort run!

Now for those of you who’ve know me forever you can stop laughing now. People can change, I can become addicted to running. Seriously. Now I’m not saying I run fast, or very far, but I do run. And each time I do it I find I’m running faster and farther. And after I’m done I have found that I’m feeling more centered and grounded (much like when I do yoga) which helps me cope with life and all its ups, downs, speed ups, and dead stops. But don’t worry I’m not going to become a health nut, and eat twigs and berries. I like my meat, and my processed carbs and sugar. But I am actually (spoiler alert: this is going to be shocking) going to do the physical therapy for my knee injury so that I can get back into the gym as soon as I can without hurting myself again or anymore. Again…you can all stop laughing. Well I’m off to keep up with life and call for my physical therapy appointment so I can keep running! Have a great run everyone!

Getting out of Walmart

Posted on March 26, 2013 by hipposmom

So in my quest to get my family out of the grocery store (and yes this includes Walmart) I have started to look towards locally sourced produce and meat. But what about other household needs, like toilet paper, diapers, lotion, and body wash?

Well I have a solution for you! Or really a couple, I use Amazon’s subscribe and save to get toilet paper (I prefer Cottonelle) and diapers (the Hippo uses Huggies) and I get them cheaper then I would at Walmart with coupons! For lotion and body wash I’m converting my family over to Layers by Scentsy. This way I don’t have to go to Wally-World and get sucked in to buying more and more stuff I don’t need.

Layers by Scentsy is a body products line by Scentsy Fragrance that includes sun screen, lip gloss, bath tablets, shower cream, shower gel, body lotion, body butter, body spray, solid perfume, washer whiffs, dryer disks, hand sanitizers, hand soap, and hand cream. These are all available in a variety of fragrances. I am slowly transitioning myself to the French Lavender shower cream and body lotion. At first I didn’t think that this would save me money. Then I realized that for the same price ($7.50 each when you buy a pack of 6) I was buying Aveeno (which I love) and walking out of Wally-World or CVS with a couple of extras each and every time. And the bonus is I don’t have to leave my house! I can shop online and therefore at any time of day and in what ever I want (or neeked if I choose)!

Oh but it gets better!!! I make my own laundry soap so its basically unscented (well it actually smells like Ivory which is really mild) and I’ve been using Layers by Scentsy Washer Whiffs! This gives my laundry a yummy fresh scent of my choosing. They can be added to the laundry soap or directly to the load of laundry being washed (which means your sheets could smell like relaxing French Lavender and your towels could smell like tropical Sunkissed Citrus!).

While talking to a good friend of mine (affectionately termed water family, as opposed to blood family) she was telling me that instead of going to Wally-World and the Mall for her Christmas and birthday presents she was buying only from home based businesses. I was shocked, did you know there is a home based business for virtually every product you could need?!?! Well my water family sister did but I didn’t (although I don’t know all of them I’m learning)! I thought her plan was genius (avoid crowds, and rude people? Yes please!) but she told me it wasn’t just to avoid the crowds and rude people. She was doing it to support stay at home moms, like ourselves, and because home based business (and direct selling companies) don’t spend money on marketing and advertising they tend have a better product (often at the same price as Wally-World or the like) as the money that could be spend on advertising gets spent on product development.

So I’m leaving the crazies at Wally-World (unless I’m bored or my self-esteem needs a boost) and getting my body products from Layers by Scentsy! How about you? Click here to check it out!

My kid loves her dad the most

Posted on March 24, 2013 by hipposmom

For all the moms out there I’m sure you’re familiar with your child showing preference for some one else over you. Well my daughter just got picked up today from a 2 night stay at her grandparent’s house. And as we pulled in she was hollering “My Dad, My Dad, My Dad” once the truck stopped she ran towards us, said “Hi Mom” (I was getting out on the side she was running from) and then proceeded to continue yelling “Dad, dad, dad” as she ran around the truck to try to find him. When she got to him she gave him a big kiss and hug and said “I miss”.

I know I should be grateful that my kid and her dad are so well bonded, but as an Army wife I was there while he was deployed and so was a single mom for a year while working my booty off to keep her and her dad connected. While yay I did a good job, poop now I feel like I don’t matter. All I can say is life is so not fair sometimes. While I love that my kid and her dad have an amazing bond and connection I’m there day in and day out and feel like I get passed over as “just mom” while he’s “fun dad”. I’m not saying he doesn’t tell her no or discipline her, he definitely does, but not only do they play more then I do (washing dishes, doing laundry, vacuuming and generally maintaining the household keeps me from playing all day everyday) but they both seem to have more fun playing. And this is new for me, heck my sister used to introduce me as “The Fun One”, and I have a great imagination but I just feel so busy all the time.

So peppered through out this blog will be posts about this very topic, me learning to be okay that my kid favors her dad (unless she’s sick or hurt), and how to continue to deepen my bond with her and how to play with her so we’re both giggling and breathless. Now because I can’t dedicate a whole post to my cute hungry hungry Hippo without posting a picture…here is one of her in a tutu skirt watching tv with her dad.

Yep, I’ve got a brace…AGAIN.

Posted on March 23, 2013 by hipposmom

So if you’ve read the About section of this blog you know I’m a self proclaimed klutz. Keeping this in mind I’d like to show off my newest brace heehee.

Unfortunately this is only the last in a long list of random injuries. So here we go I’ve fallen on two different days in the same week and managed to bruise both of my knees, I’ve accidentally touched a pressure canner (have I mentioned I can?) while it was hot and burned myself, I’ve routinely dislocated my right knee before I finally agreed to knee surgery, and I got prenatal carpal tunnel while perggers, I may or may not have dislocated my left knee at some point oh and managed to sprain my ankle.

Keep in mind all of those lovely things have happened within the last oh…6 years and those are only the more major ones. But my loved ones, think its funny and enjoy threatening putting me in a bubble or wrapping me in bubble wrap. Gotta love family! So for those who like me like pictures of other people’s misery here are pictures of my various braces and injuries.

I honestly love this one. It was prolly about a week after my knee surgery and its a happy face scar!! How awesome is that!?!?

The Piglet tattoo still (almost 1 year later) has a bruise that just won’t go away! Because I’m an Army wife I have Army health care and am still trying to navigate my way to a specialist to decide why my bruise has lasted so long even thought all my blood tests are fine.

Getting a way from the grocery store…while still not being a hippy.

Posted on March 22, 2013 by hipposmom

So as I try to move my family out of the grocery store and into more locally sourced (read fresh) foods, I am doing it in a quest to spend less money as well as incorporate more healthy options into our diets. It seems to be paying off too! Last week I spent a whooping $11 and got all this!

This week I spent $9, made my own bread and ended up with this!

So when you add in milk I spent about $30 for my last 2 weeks groceries! If you’re wondering about my protein, and other things I have a well stocked pantry to pull from and well stocked freezers. So I’m definitely doing stuffed bell peppers and sweet potato, green beans, and deer shepherd’s pie this week! YUM YUM YUM!! I’ll post my recipes when I make dinner (since I’ll add pictures to tease you all with).

Interested in getting some or all of your produce from somewhere that isn’t Walmart, Mejiers or a grocery store? Check out my heterolife partner’s blog! She’s a proud hippy and can be found over at realfoodinarealworld.com go check her out and eat local!!

I’m not a hippy…I swear!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by hipposmom

I promise I’m not a hippy. Although some of my oldest, nearest, and dearest friends are, and maybe over the years some of it has rubbed off on me but still I Am Not A Hippy! I’ve slowly been moving my family out of the grocery store and into locally sourced products and more and more homemade stuff. I started this in an attempt to save money and for my family to be healthier, but I’m not a hippy. Among my homemade projects (instructional posts to come) include homemade laundry soap, homemade fabric softener, homemade dryer sheets, homemade detangler (my Hippo has curly hair that she likes to “brush” but not let anyone else brush so we use a lot of this one), we also use homemade fabric napkins, fabric coasters, and fabric “paper” towels. You’re prolly wondering how this all saves us money and I’ll explain using the homemade fabric softener and dryer sheets for an example.

First, I coupon. Not in an extreme (get it all for free and get money back from the store) type of way but in a “hey, I use that. Its on sale and I have a coupon so it’s darn cheap, I should buy like 4 of them” sort of way. This is just one way I try to save my family money. My fabric softener is very easy to make and only has 3 ingredients (Conditioner, White Vinegar, and Water). I try to use Suave conditioner because its cheap to begin with (and usually comes in yummy smelling flavors), for example on target.com it is currently $1.84 for 14.5 oz and there is currently a $1 off Target coupon, and a $0.50 off 2 manufacturers coupon so if you buy 2 its $0.59 a bottle and you’ll need 2 bottles for 1 batch of fabric softener.

Second I comparison shop. So the vinegar I get is from Sam’s Club and I get 2 gal for $3.58. Its not a name brand, its the Sam’s Club “off” brand (I think its called Bakers and Chefs) but its vinegar. Its not like I’m going to eat it or drink it so I don’t care that its the “off” brand. Which means for the 3 cups you’ll need for this recipe its like $0.86. That means our homemade fabric softener is $2.04 and its enough to last me for at least 4 months! And since we only use it for dryer sheets, at approximately 10 loads a week thats $0.01 per load! Thats CHEAP!!! I mean before this I was buying the Bounce unscented sheets and it was like $9 with a coupon for 180 sheets (or $0.05 per sheet, which isn’t bad except I guarantee 1 sheet won’t last for 5 loads).

So I guess while I’m not a hippy I am thrify and I’m okay with that. Who else wants to be thrifty?

As promised here is my fabric softener recipe with instructions on how to use it for dryer sheets.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Conditioner (pick one that smells good to you)

3 Cups Distilled White Vinegar

6 Cups Boiling Water

Mix the conditioner and vinegar in a bowl with a whisk. Mix into the boiling water until well combined. Allow to cool and pour into a spray bottle for use and a regular bottle for storage. To use for dryer sheets, spray on white wash cloths until damp and toss into the dryer.

So this was a spendy batch because I had Pantene Conditioner on hand so thats what I used

I also used up the last of my spendy vinegar.

After filling up my spray bottle this is how I stored the rest.

Hi, nice shoes. Wanna go Wickless?

Posted on March 19, 2013 by hipposmom

You’re prolly wondering what I mean when I ask this. I’m asking if you would like to try Scentsy. For those who don’t know what Scentsy is…Scentsy is an amazing company that is committed to increasing value in the world. Scentsy products provide an amazing fragrance and safety to your home. But Scentsy also provides their consultants with the tools and opportunities to increase their personal value. When I first started my business I knew I was missing something in my life but I didn’t know what. I was looking for value in myself and with Scentsy I have found that. I don’t “do” sales, I feel weird and kind of slimy when I try to talk or “sell” Scentsy. I instead am more comfortable simply making connections with people and hearing their stories and sharing with them how Scentsy could help them, in turn the Scentsy product sells its self. I whole heartedly believe in owning my own business, selling a wonderful product, and helping to provide for my family. Scentsy has changed my life by giving me the tools to grow and become comfortable in my own skin again. After years of being a homemaker, stay-at-home-mom, and having to give up my career to follow my husband around the country I had lost a large portion of who I was and was in an insecure, unhappy place. But with Scentsy I feel like I have a purpose again, like I am a successful, contributing member of my family and my community. And thanks to Scentsy’s Consultant Wellness Program I get to work on my outer me! Scentsy Fragrance is a home fragrance that uses a lightbulb to melt scented paraffin wax to make your home smell amazing. The light bulb only heats the wax to just above body temperature so the wax won’t burn you if you’re a curious 2.5 year old who has to touch EVERYTHING, or a furry walking stomach that has to try to eat EVERYTHING. Velata uses the same lightbulb method to melt chocolate (10% off this month only) and soon cheese (coming April 1). Grace Adele is purses, and accessories.

Yes I’m shamelessly advertising my home-based business and here come the links! https://scentgirl.scentsy.us https://scentgirl.velata.us https://scentgirl.graceadele.us If you are interested in hearing more about my Scentsy Story, joining my team (I will annoy, oops I mean train, you myself), or just want to get your hands on some of this good stuff. Visit any of the links and click on email me or feel free to use the listed phone number to send me creepy anonymous text messages!

A Girl Named Fred

Confessions From The Fun One