Tails of a Working Mom: Money Matters

You definitely know you are a mom when you are excited to go grocery shopping by yourself. I try to coupon shop as a way to help us save money, but lately I haven't been able to since Goober and Frog Face seem to think that sleep is unimportant. I was finally able to get away on Saturday for a guilt free coupon shopping trip. I planned and clipped for days to try and save as much money as possible. I did end up doing pretty well and saved quite a bit of money, but I did spend quite a bit also. I stocked up on lots of items (diapers, cereal, pop tarts, wipes, frozen pizza, etc.) so we are set for a bit. That's one of the secrets to coupon shopping: stock up when they are on sale, so that you have plenty to last until the next time they go on sale.

And speaking of money, we got our tax return back! It was much more than we expected so we were super excited. I know technically it was our money to begin with, but I am always a bit paranoid when we get a large amount back because I think I filed something wrong. I did double check everything so I am pretty sure it is right. But anyways, one of the first things we did was pay off one of our credit cards (we have two). It felt so good to pay it off completely! If we stay on task and keep budgeting, then we will be completely debt free (except for the house) by the end of this year. We just have one more credit card and then the car to pay off. We are so close! Once we are out of debt, we will have an extra $700 every month. We have worked really hard for this though, and once we get to the extra $700 a month, we might splurge a bit for a month or two, but then it is back to the grind. We are following (mostly) the Dave Ramsey plan and the first is to get out of debt and then (if I remember right) is to save up 3-6 months worth of living expenses. It really won't take too long to save that up if we are putting $700 a month toward it. We will probably have to purchase a gently used minivan before too long, so we will try and save up for that as well so we won't have to take out another loan.

Anyways, back to the taxes. We did splurge and buy ourselves an Ipad. We have both wanted one for awhile now but just never had the money. The Weatherman gets to use an Ipad from his school, but there are lots of restrictions on it. Goober is a pro with the Ipad and works it like the techie that she is growing up to be. We have only had a week, but I am kinda addicted to it. Especially since I get to take it to work and watch Anime while I am pumping. Pumping is much more fun now. I used to just read a magazine (I had a back-pile of Better Homes and Gardens and Parent magazines, but they were getting a bit boring). I am actually kind of a anime geek and LOVE to watch them, but haven't had time lately (gee, I wonder why?) so the fact that I can watch anime now while pumping is awesome.

Other tax money plans include getting new tires for the car, replacing the muffler on the other car, switching our cell phone plan from Verizon to StraightTalk (gonna try it out for a month or two and see if we like it). We want to have a data plan too but I just can't see us spending $150 or more a month on one, so with StraightTalk we would only pay $90 a month. And if we don't like it, there is no contract so we are not tied down. Also we plan on setting some money aside for a family photo shoot. I am trying to put together a color scheme and clothing options in the back of my mind.

And in other news, tomorrow is President's Day! Because I am technically a City employee, I get the day off. The Weatherman took a personal day (since school's are still open) and he is going to stay home with us. We are going to keep the kids home with us in the morning and then put them in daycare for the afternoon and go on a date! We didn't really do anything for Valentines day so tomorrow we are going out to eat (Chinese food since the Weatherman won the superbowl bet and got to pick the restaurant) and then we will watch Ender's Game at home together. I LOVE the book Ender's Game and have wanted to see the movie for a long time. And the Weatherman and I could really use some kid free time.

So that's enough rambling for now. And now of course, the pictures for your viewing pleasure.