Zach and Nathana

For Valentine's day, even though it was NSM, we did still get each other gifts.  Below is Zach's present:  A funny card, water flavoring, and a new water bottle for him to take to school! When I came home on Wednesday evening I found these beautiful roses and a card.  I saved the card for Valentine's morning and it was so sweet! Here we are in all our "worked/at school all day glory." Cute, huh?   I also had a very sweet Valentine's day at school.  In the picture above, it's a little blurry, but the little boy I tutor got be a UK necklace! : )  So sweet.  I also received MANY valentines and candies.  I was so touched, because without having a homeroom, you don't usually get thought of.  My kids are super sweet, though!  Bless their hearts.  On Valentine's Day night, Zach's night class teacher was so sweet and canceled their Lab, so they could spend time with their Valentines!  : ) I was very happy about this, b...

My oh my, this NSM is almost half over. I can say that we have been doing great! We have stuck to all our meal plans except for Saturday night. Zach had entered the Papa Johns coin toss pizza thing, and he won! (this never happens!) so, on Saturday we got an entirely free large pizza! : ) No spending there! Then on Sunday, Zach's parents took us to QDoba. But like I said, all out other meals have gone as planned. This weeks menu is: Monday- Chicken enchiladas Tuesday- Stuffed green peppers Wednesday- Parmesean chicken sandwiches Thursday- Honey chicken with rice pilaf Friday- Sloppy Joes Saturday- Deery Mac It is so nice to not have to think about going out for supper or obsessing over ads for all the stuff I want. The only problem is I have to not LOOK at them! Which, I haven't been great about. It doesn't help that I get all kinds of e-mails that are so tempting! We also get to spend so much time together in the evening because we aren't running around from...

The first five days of our no spend month (from here on out= NSM, much easier to type!) have gone pretty smooth. Thoughts so far: Well, I passed the mall the other day and the following all ran through my head at the same time- Hmm, a cinnamon pretzel from Auntie Anne's sounds delicious.  I should get one, I can practically taste it! Crap, I can't. NSM. If I went to the mall I could JUST walk around.  Just look, maybe make a list of things I need.   I need nothing.  Get a grip on it. New York & Company closed, which makes my life a little less awesome.  I should go find a "replacement" store, you know, for when I can spend money again.  Except then I would look, want to buy, and then just be sad.  I'm happy to say, after all these thoughts went through- We have cookie dough at home, I can pop some of those in the oven when I get home.  I should look through my clothes when I get home and pull some things I haven't worn in ...

I have always been a "saver" of money, practically since I started receiving it for birthdays and especially since earning it.  I nearly cried when I paid $211 dollars cash for my iPod nano when I was 16. True fact!  So a long time ago I heard of a "Dave Ramsey" type idea of a no-spend month where in your household you pay your bills and buy groceries, and no extras for one month.  Then see how much you save.  Before the new year Zach and I were thinking about plans for this next year and things we're planning on saving for, so this idea appealed to the both of us!  Next came the decision of what month to pick for our month.  We knew December was out, for obvious reasons and we felt we needed more time to prepare than January, so February it was... also, who else would admit we're smart for doing this during the shortest month of the year? ; )  Yes, we thought of that as well. We did decide our own guidelines that fit our family. 1. Pay our bills....