A New Year

I have thoroughly (!!!!!) enjoyed being home for 3 weeks. I forgot how much I missed being at home, having clean floors, fresh baked goodies (everyday), a stocked refrigerator, dusted furniture, laundered & ironed clothes, & a truly happy family. Tomorrow I return to craziness. Rushed lives, thawing meat at 4:30 p.m. (then nuking it and half cooking it because it's not ready for the recipe), driving here, there and everywhere, nagging kids to do homework ASAP as we have somewhere to be. This is not what I want to return to. What I want is to stay home and keep my kids home with me. Yes. Homeschool. Can I do this? Probably. Do I have the support of those around me? I don't know yet. I haven't proposed the idea to them. I know of two who will definitely be against it. Oh well, I can dream, can't I? And...I need the $ my job brings in, as meager as it is.

I investigated Dave Ramsay's class after reading about it on April Shower's blog (aka as The Country Dr.'s Wife's Sister's Blog). I saw it was being held at a local church and thought, "cool - it must be either free or close to it." Not so. You have to purchase a kit before the class starts and it's over a $100. If I had an extra $100 laying around...there are other things I need to spend it on. So...I will not be signing up for Dave's class (no matter how extraordinary it sounds). I know the claim is in the first 90 days, 75% of attendees are able to save over $2000 or so...but I just can't part with that $100 right now to take his class. Maybe later.

On a happier note I have decided to start using coupons hardcore (I realize I have to ease into it - but I have resolved to really start using them). I have been reading some coupon sites and am amazed how some families are able to save a lot of $ and only spend $60 for a month of groceries (& these are large families: 8-10 people). I use coupons, but generally only save a dollar or two at a time. This "couponing" is a science. I am spending my free time reading about how to use the coupons (now that I am finally finished with the Twilight series and can focus again) and all the math involved. It's like a game and I want to try and save as much as we can. Stay tuned!