Trying to REMODEL on a budget!

I feel like I've been away far too long! Things have been hectic for Mr. Man and I.  We are currently remodeling our home.  We had decided to sell it a few months ago and we were house hunting. Everything was on go but then came the realization that all the homes on the market did not meet our needs. We wanted a larger room for Kiddo2 but everything was actually the same size or smaller. And lets not get into how Kiddo1's room was bigger than anything we saw. We came to the conclusion that we would have to try to make it work where we are. Now, our dilemma was....How do we remodel our existing home without breaking the bank.  It would be crazy to put a ridiculous amount of money into a house whose value will never go beyond a certain point.  We priced roofers, chimney guys, floor people and general contractors. It was kind of a hit or miss kind of thing because people basically charge whatever they want. Mr. Man asked coworkers for recommendations and I asked my family. What we saved was amazing! Roofer guy price difference $1300! Flooring installer difference $1650! Our decisions were not made hastily. We shopped around and had several quotes. We wanted to be sure the people we hired were knowledgeable and dependable. Yesterday was the first day of remodeling! Chimney brick/wall was removed. I'm excited for the changes to come :)

Budget ideas, tips and advice with teens?

(pic from cuculinary.com)

I love reading blogs, watching Youtube videos and scouring Pinterest for budget ideas but I never seem to find anything that really relates to me. I love all the helpful hints but if I'm to be honest, not a whole lot is very realistic in my world. I'm not a single parent, empty nester, homeschooler or Mom of preschoolers which seems to be the majority of information I find. I try to piece together what works best for our family but sometimes it would be nice to see a family who has two ravenous teens who eat their weight in food a week! LOL! To be honest, our food budget alone is totally on the opposite spectrum of a family with a baby and a two year old. Let's not mention clothing, school expenses, doctor visits (did I mention Austim is in the mix as well), spending time with friends and impending graduation/college costs. It's a whole lotta cash flying out the door. Teens will not be entertained with peekaboo or toilet roll crafts (okay maybe some of the times!). I can hear my own frustration here! I guess my post is sounding like a rant but there's a sea of Moms who are in the same boat...I'm just not really sure where they are?

Making money and spending money

Summer has ended...the kiddos are back in school...and I've been trying to ramp up my listings on Ebay. Summer sales were rather dismal but I didn't give up.....I listed and listed and listed....I kept hearing other sellers say to stock your store and prepare for sales to ramp up in September. Thankfully August was a huge month for me. I sold about 35 items and made a little over $800! I was very proud of myself. The money came in very handy for school clothes and supply shopping. I'm going to try to keep the momentum going and hopefully save enough in September to pay off one of our credit cards which has a balance of  $433. I've been listing everything under the sun. No item too big or too small. To my surprise, clothes have been a big seller. One item that always surprises me is old glasses and sunglasses. They are always guaranteed to sell so its worth digging around to see if they are worth anything. I will be updating my debt totals tonight so I'm hoping to get back under 150,000 but I'm not sure. Hope y'all have a great week!

Getting back on the Ebay horse....

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! It's Monday so its a "blah" kind of morning to start but trying to turn it around and make it a YAY kind of day! I'm trying to get back on the Ebay horse as my listings have been dwinding a bit so I really need to ramp up my listing and make some $$$. I have lots of inventory so I'm going to scale back on Dad visits since my sister is off for the summer and pass the torch to her for a while. I find that a bit difficult but letting go for a bit is good for my sanity. LOL!

Summer is expensive because we try to keep on the go and naturally our food costs go up with 3 instead of 1 (sometimes 2 if I'm counting Dad) at home during the day. Add to that, electric/water costs go up and there you have it...summer money is needed. I'm also considering sending Kiddo2 to Math Camp next week. I wish I was the parent who is on top of things and had this all lined up already but I'm not. I should be...but I am not. I'm going to talk to Kiddo2 and get their thoughts on it. 

Something new that I will do with every post is give a tip on Ebaying. Do I consider myself an expert...no... but after 13 years of Ebaying, I do believe I know a thing or two...lol! I'll start with one item to keep an eye out for....camping lanterns. Just about everyone has one in their garage or has a parent/grandparent who has one in theirs so its an easily accessible item.  Some vintage lanterns can bring in hundreds of dollars while the ultra rare types bring in thousands of dollars. If you have one, a quick search of Ebay completed items will help gauge what your item is worth. 

Y'all have a great day :) 

Some days.....

So its been FOREVER since I posted! Frankly, I didn't know what to write.  School is over for the kiddos and summer has begun.  We took a trip to Las Vegas for a family wedding. It was FUN but so tiring.

The trip cost us a pretty penny. We did use a bit of credit but paid a big chunk of it the day after we arrived back home. We tried to be pretty cost aware whenever we did anything. We ate breakfast off the strip which saved us a ton of money. We did a lot of free things like visit the Las Vegas sign, take a scenic drive to take pictures near the mountains and watched a few free shows at/around the casinos.  The kids LOVED visiting Circus Circus. Yes, its dated, chaotic and WAY smoky but once they saw the arcade...they were in heaven.  The circus acts every twenty minutes were so fun to watch too. We also really enjoyed our trip to the Wynn casino.  It is absolutely beautiful. Kiddo2 wanted to visit because they had seen it in the Paul Blart 2 movie.  LOL! I was so glad we went because the surroundings were lush, gorgeous and just plain amazing. I would gladly save my pennies to stay there! We stayed at the MGM Resort and Casino.  It was very nice with lots to see and do. We had dinner at the FIAMMA Italian restaurant and it was excellent! The kids loved the Lazy River at the pool. And we all were amazed by the KA by Cirque du Soleil show. It felt like a real vacation!

So now we are back at home...its been hard readjusting back to reality but all good things must come to an end. Although we had a family friend visit our cat every other day, he was still not happy.  He decided to poop on our leather couch. To say I was thoroughly disgusted is an understatement. Then, a day after we got home he did it again. I'm currently washing, scrubbing and spraying every surface possible to get the stink out. If not, we are going to need a new couch. That is not helpful to our budget. Also our garage door broke the day before we left so I need to call the repairman. I'm hoping the cost is minimal on that. But I can't complain, life can always be worse and so I have to be thankful for our blessings as much as I may want to scream in frustration, I have to tell myself that things can be replaced/fixed!

Today, I'll be working on clearing out more space and clutter. I'm seriously downsizing my Ebay stock because I need to concentrate on a small section of my items. Gathering items to take to Dad. I'm hoping everyone has a great weekend and I look forward to posting more this summer!

Performer at Circus Circus

Scenic drive

The Wynn

Every detail was so beautiful

Amazing outdoor waterfall

Fresh flower creations!

The Mirage volacano eruption

Boxing ring at the MGM

Cirque du Soleil theater at the MGM

We splurged on room service desserts while Mr. Man was a the casino

Trying to hold it all together....

For the past couple of months, I have started to write a new post only to go back and delete it. I am being pulled in so many different directions that I didn't know what exactly I should write of. Our financial position is not a whole lot different. Mr. Man did get a new vehicle so our debt total did go up some for the time being. Thankfully we are in a good place at the current moment and need to focus on that. I've also been sick, the kiddos have been sick and finally on Easter Sunday, Dad had a minor medical emergency. He's 86 years old and although very active, he's still EIGHTY SIX years old.  Now, I'm left to decide what is our plan moving forward.  Should we find a bigger home and tell Dad to move in or allow him his independence while dividing time between our home and his. And also why am I the only one seriously considering this option. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. Some days I want to live carefree and just enjoy my kids and husband but life isn't allowing that.  Then, guilt creeps in and I feel terrible for just wanting a "normal" life even though I know nothing is ever "normal" for anyone. In the end, I know that I won't be content unless I know Dad is okay and at the moment it seems like I'm the only one who can provide that for him or for that matter WANTS to provide that for him. It's tough, no one tells you these parts of life. It's not always fun but in the end I know its the right thing to do.

How We Save Money...

I always enjoy reading about how others save money in their daily lives so I thought I'd share the little ways we save....

1. Skip the soda/cookie/chip aisle at the grocery store.  I find it amazing how many people load down their carts with cases of soda, chips and cookies.  Hey, I love me some junk food but I also know that I cannot have it in the house because it will all be gone within the day! Plus all that money adds up and I'd rather get a few extra fruits and vegetables instead. 

2. We do not have cable.  Some people may cringe at this thought but we cut the cord about 2-3 years ago.  And that was with a teenager and elementary aged kid.  The kids watch the shows they like online and we stream movies and tv shows through Netflix and Amazon.  Plus Youtube has so many helpful and funny videos.  We use an HDTV anntenna on our TV to catch local stations and ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the CW. We do not miss paying the extra $100 a month at all!

3. We have a budget.  Now, sometimes we go over our allotted amounts but it keeps us accountable and helps guide us in order to save money.  Our budget lists all fixed bills as well as food, gas, lunch money and other "soft" expenses.  If ever we have a tight month we can immediately see where we can trim spending. 

4.  I coupon.  I'm not an extreme crazy couponer (sometimes I wish I was..lol) .  I just search and clip coupons on items we use normally.  I also use rewards cards and keep a stockpile of items we use daily. 

5. The last way we save money is we enjoy the little things! Although I would love to spend a day at the mall every weekend shopping away...I always stop myself and ask " Is that where my time is best spent?" Making memories with my kids and giving them experiences rather than things has played a huge part in getting our finances back on track.  They remember days at the park, shows we've seen together and fun trips we've taken over things we have bought for them. 

I'm hoping ya'll have a great weekend and as always I look forward to reading how ya'll save :) 

Tortillas on a cold day!

Its been really cold for here in South Texas.  The other day, I was too cozy at home to venture out so I made due with what we had here. I made some tortillas. I don't make them very often because Kiddo2 is gluten sensitive but we all did enjoy this rare treat.

I didn't have a griddle to cook them on so I just used a piece of tin foil on the flat ceramic stovetop. Worked like a charm!

I was in the mood for some zucchini so I put some in the oven...

I heated up some refried beans, added shredded mozzarella and the roasted zucchini and well I couldn't wait...

It was so yummy!

The joys of winter break homework...

Dad has the sniffles today and told me to stay home and take care of Mr. Man who has been also under the weather. Thankfully, Mr. Man is better than he was the past couple of days so not much for me to do there. In fact, he took Kiddo2 fishing and I get to help Kiddo1 with an English essay.  The joy! I pride myself in being a smarty pants (don't we all?!)  and well I was appalled at Kiddo1's paper.  Poor kiddo didn't stand a chance luckily Mom is here to make them see the light of day....lol...I kid..I kid.  We are reworking Kiddo1's paper and slowly I see the light bulb getting brighter and brighter as they get what they are actually suppose to be writing about. When I entered this whole mommy business no one told me that at least 18 years of additional learning/relearning was required. Either way I don't think it would make a difference...I'd learn rocket science if it meant helping my kiddos with their homework..LOL!

Aside from homework, I am uber excited to get to using my KitchenAid Mixer that Mr. Man gifted me for Christmas :)  I've baked a few things but today I am craving tortillas so see how that works out.

Hopefully I can work in some reading time because I need a big dose of motivation for my budget planning!

Have a SUPER SUNDAY!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Happy New Year!  I have been out of the loop lately but 2015 is here and I'm ready for it.  Or I at least hope I am..lol.  The holiday season was great we enjoyed lots of family and no drama.  I guess we are all growing up :) So on to the NEW YEAR, Mr. Man is a lot under the weather but trying to get better. I am thinking of all the things I want to accomplish this year.  Every year I make resolutions that I cannot at all keep. I'm trying to be reasonable and realistic.

My first resolution is to lose 20 pounds. I've been slowly working on a weight goal and know these 20 pounds are doable. It will be challenging because I have a huge sweet tooth but I'm committed to doing it and know I CAN do it.

My second resolution is to eliminate 4 of my credit card debts by the end of 2015. Reducing our debt total is a huge priority this year.

My third resolution is to pay cash for our trip to Las Vegas for a family wedding. This is a big trip for us which will equal a big expense.

My last resolution is relax more and just enjoy family time.  I tend to always have housework/organizing to do so I want to be able to put "work" on the backburner when the weekend comes around.

I'm hoping this new year brings each one of you HAPPINESS, HEALTH and PROSPERITY!