20K on Combat Pay~the Intro

Here it is already, April. The Man is gearing up for his third deployment to the Middle East (only a year later than Big Army told him he was going to, thanks DA!) and it is time for a goal. With the full support of The Man, I have decided that I am setting a goal of saving $20,000 while he is gone. I know, I know what you all are saying in your heads-"But you're supposed to SPEND money while The Man is gone!!" Not me. I'm a saver bee. So far, I've saved $145, which is the amount that I usually spend at the gym per month on child care. The Army has this wonderful thing called the Covenant Card that gives you free child care at the gym, 16 hours of free hourly care at the regular day care per month, a reduced rate on any other child care you might use, Spouse's Day Out and Spouse's Night Out, and up to $300 worth of extracurricular activities for your children (gymnastics, dance classes, etc.,) when your spouse is deployed. Another big Thanks, DA! Just as an addendum, if the goverment shuts down and The Man doesn't get paid, I won't be able to save $20K. I'll just have to make another goal for myself. Like teaching myself how to run a household on $475 per month plus whatever we have in our savings account. Big shout out to emergency funds!!

Happy February!

It is February already, and where did January go (along with most of The Man's paycheck)? As some of you will recall, one of my 2 resolutions for January was to keep track of every single purchase. Aside from a terrible, no-good, very bad week where the QWERTY was at the store getting fixed, I did remarkably well at documenting every time I spent some money. However, when it is all there in black and white (or pink and green, as in our case), some rather disturbing things emerge. Firstly, I spend way too much money at the post office. I love baking and sending off care packages, and people love receiving them. But I have got to cut back to maybe one or two packages a week. Secondly, I spend way too much on groceries. If anyone has some suggestions on how to cut back on grocery spending, please send them my way! And thirdly, I need a better system for gym day care.
This month, the gym day care issue was resolved. I bought 2 punch cards for the girls. Bella's was $75 and Lily's was $68.75 (2nd child discount). For this rather large layout of money, I will get 54 hours of gym daycare. In addition to not having to wait around at the front desk for someone to figure out how to take my money, it works out to paying $2.66/hour for day care, as opposed to $3.50 for Bella and $3.15 for Lily. Not bad!
All right, on to my February resolutions. Since writing down where I spent money worked out so well in January, this month I am going to document what I eat. With color coordination! I love spreadsheets. :) Yesterday, though, I was pretty bad, what with being out of the house all morning. I didn't eat anything until after noon. The Man says that is not a good thing.
Second February resolution: craft more. When I was growing up, there was a lady that went to our church that had kids around the same age as me. Her house was a smorgasbord of crafting things. It looked like a Hobby Lobby had exploded (but in an organized way) in her craft room. More to the point, she did crafts with her kids, and me when I came over. Sure, Lily may be a little too young, but Bella loves crafts. I already bought her some 'sewing cards' for little kids, and she thinks it's awesome. And it goes without saying that I need to finish up the projects that I am working on.

Improvements: Document every caloric intake.
Do crafts with the girls.
Spend less at the post office.

Sustainments: Continue going to the gym 3 days per week.
Write down every penny that gets spent.

Just buy an ice-scraper!

As many of you are aware, the Southern States (and the Midwest, and the Northern States, and Airstrip One, etc.) are in the grip of a rather cold front. I think it's because of all the global warming. But being from a Cold Weather State, I fancy myself somewhat of an expert on the do's and do not do's of surviving and driving in the cold. Top of the do's list: buy an ice scraper. They are about $2 for a decent one at Wal-mart, one that will not crack apart at the first meeting of ice and windshield. Wonder why it is at the top of the do's list? Wonder no more, gentle reader~

This morning on my way to the gym, I was driving behind a Georgian (according to the license plate). He had a LOT of space in between him and the car in front of him, and this is coming from a state where most drivers consider "2 car lengths" as approximately 19 and 1/2 inches. Figuring him for a most rare cautious driver, I thought nothing more of it. Until it took him 10 minutes to take the turn onto the interstate and merge into traffic. I was following him fairly closely at this point, and could see his head bobbing from side to side as he drove. As I passed him, I took a glance in the rear view mirror. His windshield was completely covered with ice, except for a tiny spot where the defroster was toiling with all its defroster might. I cannot conceive of a situation where I would just rely on my defroster to provide adequate visibility through my windshield. I was considering it this morning, but wisely decided against. I mean, I've got my kids in the car; you can never have too much visibility.

Oh, yes, I eventually got to the gym, worked out, and got a shower. I had to pay for 2 hours for this, even though it only takes me an hour and 10 minutes. I should ask if I can get credit for those 50 minutes of day care that I didn't use. The day care charges only in hour-long increments. I had no idea it could get so busy, though. When I came to pick up the girls from the day care, there was a line 12 children long to get into day care. I guess going early is the thing to do. Tomorrow~Mall Walking!

Improvements: Put some better music on the MP3 player. Go Mall-walking with the girls tomorrow (and leave the credit cards at home). Ask gym manager if I can "roll over" time with day care.

Sustainments: Continue leaving the house early to get to the gym. Drive cautiously, there are crazy people out there.

January resolutions (and one busy day)

While reading my sister-in-law's blog, it occured to me that it is January and she convicted me to make some resolutions of my own. However, I can't do ten of them at a time. SO I decided that I would have 2 per month for the whole year. So for January, I am going to go to the gym at least 3 times per week and also keep track of where all of my money is going. (By the way, I am going to continue these good habits, God willing, and add 2 more good habits in February. In case I was unclear.) Daniel is helping me with both. He wrote out a workout plan for me and put up a spreadsheet on the QWERTY for me to have a place to document what I spend.

Unfortunately, I did not get to the gym this morning, as I had planned to. Monday is grocery shopping day, and I also needed to go to the post office and hit the Class VI store. So I said to myself, "Listen, tubby, you are just going to have to suck it up and go to the gym on Thursday or Saturday." Going to the gym means putting the girls in the gym day care for an hour or so. Which reminded me that Lillian still needed her 'day care' check-up. I called the appointment line to see if I could get one. Lady on the phone said, "Can you bring her in at 1030?" And we were off!

To the post office to mail a package to our friend Cliff! To hit the VI before the doctor's appointment! And whilst checking in at the doctor's office, I get a phone call. It's my wonderful hubby. He has locked himself out of his truck, and am I on post, and do I have his spare truck keys, and could I possibly get them out to him as soon as possible? The answer to all those questions was "yes". After the last time The Man locked his keys in his truck, it's just easier for me to have the spare with me at all times.

So after the doctor's appointment, I sped over to The Man to get him into his truck. Then it was off to the commissary for some grocery shopping. We didn't even get home until after noon. Poor girls were exhausted.

Improvements: Get to the gym, tubby!
Use more coupons.
Go to the post office on a different day.

Sustainments: Continue to carry a spare truck key at all times.
Keep writing down where I spend money, and how much is spent.

Hoo-ray for Thursdays!

It is Thursday, one of my most favorite days of the week. Why is it one of my most favorite days of the week, you ask? Actually, I am assuming you asked, since I cannot hear you. If you did not ask and do not want to know why Thursday is one of my most favorite days of the week, you may stop reading now.

Still here?

Okay. Thursday is one of my most favorite days of the week, not just because it is almost Friday, but because I scrub the living room and dining room floors on Thursday. Scrub, mind you, as in 'on hands and knees' scrubbing with Murphy's Oil Soap.
I'm sure if any feminists knew this particular fact about me, they would hate me.