And then there were 5

We have a Kster. We like him. We've decided to keep him. :)

What's going to happen with 3 kids?

Mster: Lster's going to poke something into my nose and I don't want him to.
Me: Don't poke anything into Mster's nose Lster.
Lster. Okay.

Waiting

Right now we are playing the waiting game. Some days I have this ridiculous burst of energy and desire to get everything done and other days I can barely make it from the shower to the bed. Today is a desire to get everything done day. I've already:

• done 3 loads of laundry
• washed children
• washed myself
• cleaned the kitchen
• cleaned the front hall
• cleaned the living room
• cleaned the fridge
• cleaned a bathroom
• washed the baby's car seat
• written a grocery list

And I'm still going. But yesterday I couldn't move. I'm very interested to see what the doctor says today.

Spending more than 20$

I was a little shocked at my bill tonight when I went grocery shopping. I didn't do a full trip and was only getting some items that were on sale or we really needed. My bill came to 45$ and then I sat and thought about it and realized I didn't do too bad.

18 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 lbs of strawberries
8 bananas
1 cantaloupe
6 cans of black beans
6 small containers of Haagen Daas
5 bottles of Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade
6 quarts of ice cream
2 boxes of ice cream treats (2o fudge bars, 20 something else)

Lster and his snacks

Lster does not like lunch or dinner. He likes snacks. If you call his meal a snack he is way more likely to eat it than if you announce it as a meal.

Me: Hey Lster...its lunchtime. Lets have peanut butter sandwiches.
Lster: No I don't want lunch, I want a snack.
Me: Okay. Lets have a snack. How about peanut butter sandwiches?
Lster: Okay

Mster Musings

I deemed the last few days cleaning days for Mster and Lster. Lster is pretty good at cleaning (for the most part) but Mster hears "clean", "tidy", "put away" and immediately curls up in a ball and shakes and puts up her "cleaning is the hardest thing in the world" front. As you can imagine this made the last few days a joy.

It ended yesterday morning when I told Lster and Mster that they had to clean the basement (their toy area) by lunch or they couldn't go to a BBQ at the park later that day.

Mster would randomnly come upstairs and share special musings...

Mster: Mom I can't clean anymore. It makes me so sad.
Me: Oh really?
Mster: Yes. Cleaning makes me think of my cousins and they moved away and it makes me so sad so I can't clean anymore.
Me: How exactly does that make you think of your cousins?
Mster: Well...they LOVE to clean.

And if any of you believe that a family of kids ranging from 9-16 LOVES to clean you would probably be wrong. :)

How I get my deals?

There are a lot of ways that I get good deals.

One is that I live in the US and we have way more coupons than up in Canada. Then, I am very aware of the different grocery stores in my area and what deals they have every week. I, for the most part, buy the produce that is on sale that week. We still get a variety because every week is usually different and my family eats a ton of fruit and vegetables. I then match the deals of the store to what coupons I have and voila...free stuff or cheap stuff.

For example:

A toothbrush is normally 1.99$ each (on average). But...routinely one of the local grocery stores will put them on sale for .99$ each. And then I will have a coupon for .50$ or .75$ off a toothbrush. Most of the grocery stores in my area double coupons up to a dollar. So a .25$ coupon is really .50$. A .50$ is really a $1 and a .75$ is really a $1. So that coupon that you think is only worth .50$ is really worth a dollar and I use it at the grocery store when the toothbrush is a dollar and that is how I get free stuff.

I am part of a coupon group which I never thought I would ever do and we meet once a week the day after the grocery deals come out. We go through the ads and figure out what is the best deals and what we have coupons for. Then we trade coupons. For ex: Some people are brand specific for toothpaste so they trade all their crest coupons to somebody who doesn't want colgate toothpaste. You end up getting more coupons for the same item. So instead of 1 toothpaste you might get 2 or 3 free ones.

I've been getting a bunch of stuff lately at Target. I'm not sure Canada even has Target yet let alone SuperTargets but Target allows you to match a Target coupon with a manufacturers coupon. (There a bunch of grocery stores here that allow you to do that). Here is an example of something I did at Target last week. A few weeks ago I was shopping at Target and with my receipt the cashier gave me a Target coupon for a buy 1 get 1 free Smuckers Ice Cream topping. I knew that I had some Smuckers coupons. So...the next time I went to Target I checked out how much their syrops were. I got the biggest kind and they were 2.26$ each. I grabbed a caramel and chocolate. At the register it came to 4.52$. I handed over my Target coupon which took off 2.26$. I then handed over 2 manufacturers coupons for $1 each. That makes my bill for caramel and chocolate syrop .26$ or 13 cents each.

It helps that I have friends that are into saving too. There is a new store that I just haven't had a chance to get to. A good friend is going today and is going to get me a box of peaches (.39/pound) and a box of pears (.33/pound) and grapes (.59/pound).

And that is how you get deals.

Years Supply - Toothbrushes

Toothbrushes
We have 26 adult toothbrushes. (way more than a years supply for 2 adults)
They were all free.
The kids bathroom has become my storage for all things bathroom supply related.

My Years Supply - Paper Towels

I've decided that for now I'm going to do a post per item. I'll tell you how many we have and how I got them and where I've put them. I think those are the main questions with regards to food/supply storage.

How much do I need?
Where do you get (insert product here)?
Where do you put it?

Paper Towels
I got 20 paper towel rolls at Target. They are Bounty Basic rolls. I figure that's just under 2 rolls a month and last year I bought a big package from Costco and we still have some of those left so this might even last us more. The paper towels cost me between free and .25$ each. Target has single rolls of paper towels on sale for $1. I used a 25 cent manufacturers coupon and a 50 cent Target coupon. The free ones are too complicated to try and write out but its the same concept of matching coupons. I've put the majority in my garage and a bunch in each bathroom closet so that I can be lazy and don't have to go hunting for a roll when I decide to wash mirrors. Oh and there is always a roll under the kitchen sink.

Deals of the Week!

Its been awhile since I've posted some good deals lately. I've been dealing with school starting and supplies and uniforms summer reading lists and being 9 months and a house that is never clean and kids who want to play outside (as they should) and lots and lots of pain.

But I have gotten some good deals.

12 pencils .01$
free shampoo
Kleenex - I bought 13 boxes of tissue which I consider a years supply over the past 2 weeks. I got the good kind with lotion added for around .50$ or less a box.
5 tubes of toothpaste - free
6 bottles of Santa Cruz Organic Lemonades - free
more ice cream - free

Anniversaries

I can't remember if we've ever actually gone out for our anniversaries.

For the most part Cster cooks. And here is why.

We ate:

bbq'd Sirloin Steaks
Sourdough bread Salad
bbq'd Prosciutto wrapped peach slices
homemade peach sorbet with fresh raspberries

and this meal cost us under $45 (not that it really matters) and was more delicious than anything we could have ordered at a restaurant.

"Because I don't want to"

Lster's response everytime he says "no" and I ask "why?"