DIY Projects Are A GO

This is definitely a slow-moving process, but several blessings have stewed and some hoped-for.  Dave's been able to bring in extra money, which should eliminate one credit card completely and put a good dent in the waterproofing debt!  The hoped-for aspect is that those funds can actually be used for that purpose and not on owed taxes.  We have yet to file but are hoping for a sizeable return...Okay - ANY return vs. owing.  =D

Last shopping trip, I was actually able to stay within budget!  There were 2 contributing factors. 1) Having a plan for 8 meal-ideas (since I concluded at least 50% of the time, we have leftovers as the next day's dinner), and this would definitley cover 2 weeks worth of dinners and my lunches.  2) Making baby wipes.

My goal in making our own basic household items now is to, of course, prepare for the future goal of staying home and living on a modified budget.  I am so grateful for our dual-income and the ability to play with these ideas while the funds permit.  So, here we go...

Not having to buy baby wipes helped with staying within budget last time since I only lacked one ingredient needed to make them myself (baby oil, which was like $3).  I've been making them but had to modify the recipe.  I realized the original solution doesn't get the wipes as wet as I'd like, so I found another one and asked Dave to try it out today with Katie to assist so she can have some fun with it. 

• Combine and shake up in a closed container the following:
• 2 cups water, 2 Tbsp baby shampoo, 1 Tbsp baby oil (which I bought the one with Vitamin E and aloe [I think]), and 1 tsp of alcohol - which I like the thought of antiseptic-wise, and I think it being such a small amount that it won't be painful on rash-occassions. We shall see.
• Original recipe: 1 cup water, 1 Tbsp baby shampoo, 1 Tbsp baby oil (and ended up pouring a little water on the inside of the roll.
• Cut 1 roll of Viva paper towels in half
• Remove the cardboard
• Dust off the lint from cutting it
• Smoosh the roll into the solution (flipping it over, etc.)
• Place the roll in a plastic container with the cut-side facing down so the smooth side is what you see.  
• Pull the sheets from the center of the roll (as you would your Lysol wipes, etc.)
• Store in a closed container (which should be easily accessible during emergency diaper-changes!)

I didn't think it would work putting them into the regular wipes container, but the 2nd attempt after trial/error totally worked.  I molded the roll and smooshed it into the container, and the wipes pull out from the center perfectly.  The roll is snug enough so the sheets come up and can be torn on the perforated lines, but loose enough to not be pulling off ripped bits as you're trying to get them out. 

I also plan on making our laundry detergent and dishwasher soap.  We will need laundy detergent with the next shopping trip, so I'll be buying the ingredients instead.  We can hold off on the dishwasher soap, but I'll already have the primary ingredients (as they are the same as the laundry detergent!).  The most useful ones I found are below.  If anyone has input, let me know.  I opted for powder because it seems the fastest/easiest!

Laundry Detergent (powder)

• Grate 2 cups of bar soap (will likely be Ivory)
• 1 cup 20 Mule Borax
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
• (use 2 Tbsp per load)

Dishwasher Detergent (powder)

• 1 cup 20 Mule Borax
• 1 cup A&H washing soda
• 1 pack of unsweetened powdered lemonade
• (use 1 Tbsp per load)
• (and put vinegar in as a rinse agent once a week, which I should be doing anyway!)

I love the idea of getting Katie involved in making the wipes.  If I can get her to keep gloves on (and maybe a mask =D), I'll see how she does with the detergents. 

I'm feeling more frugal every pay-period. =D

Research & Resources

Skipping listing expenses for now and getting into more task-oriented things...

I have started compiling a list of meals for the month and used that to look up recipes to put together a shopping list for each 2-week grocery trip.  I love figuring out the logistics of everything, so it's been fun.  I'll let you know how my potato-bread attempt works out. =D

Not sure how this will pan-out, but I got a call from The Washington Post.  I cancelled my subscription last year when I got out of the couponing craze.  But I decided to sign up for the Sunday paper for $0.59/week for 26 weeks ($15.34).  I'm really hoping the cost-savings ends up offsetting that. 

This weekend will include a trip to BJ's Wholesale where we tend to get diapers, paper towels, and other bulky stuff.  I'd love anyone's take on this.  Without having to write down prices everywhere I go to compare, has anyone else done this and determined that it IS worth it for $50/year to renew my membership?  Their gigantic box of generic diapers for $25 seems very reasonable to me.  Either way, I think I'll budget it in this time and renew for this year. 

As of tomorrow (aka: payday), I'll shop around for our cloth-diapering supplies.  I'd also love advice on this venture.  I bought the liners for "catching" poop that are flushable.  We also have the standard Gerber cloth diapers (which we've used as burp cloths :).  But I'm looking for answers to the following: how many external covers should I buy; how many cloth diapers should I keep on-hand (since we tend to change Naomi after 1-2 pee cycles, I figure it would be more often with cloth?); are there general rules-of-thumb for using diaper rash cream (do certain ones stain, etc?); do I need pins to close the cloth diapers, or does the external cover secure it; and what kind of hamper should I use for storing the wet diapers between washes?  All of these things, I have no clue.

I was actually wondering about cloth-diapering running up our water bill, but I just read an article about doing dishes by hand vs. running the dishwasher and am wondering if I can correlate the cost of diapers vs. maching washing cloth ones.  I won't even attempt to do the actual analysis, but here's the one for dishes: 

Dishwashers Save Time & Money

Don't hand-wash dishes. Here's some priceless news for busy moms: It actually costs less money to run full loads in the dishwasher than to scrub dishes yourself. The savings increase if you own an Energy Star model.  Read more: Save More Money - Easy Ways to Save Money - Good Housekeeping
Reference: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/syndication/save-more-money-synd#slide-1

(Side-Note: I receive regular emails from Good Housekeeping titled "Good Advice".  I don't always browse, but some tips come in handy :)

Starting last shopping trip, I decided to venture to the $1 store for some basics.  I loved getting a box of freezer bags for $1, but I didn't like seeing that the hand soap I bought was made in China.  They don't carry the free and clear dryer sheets, laundry soap, or dish soap that I prefer for us, but I haven't ruled the store out completely.  We shall see.  I have been getting that kind of stuff when I go to Shoppers, but is Walmart cheaper?  It might take me going to 3 different stores, but I think I'll need to do it. I know our toilet paper is actually a few bucks cheaper at Shoppers than BJ's (I think because it's not a bulk pack - just the 12-roll one).  I actually just had an epiphony, but will post it later if actually works out. =D

Aside from groceries, I called my credit card company, and they won't reduce my APR from 13.24% but will re-evaluate it in 4-6 months... lovely. 

Just went through Verizon to change our plan to reduce that bill by about $10.  And I want to send back a non-HD box we haven't used in about a year.  That'll knock a few bucks off too.  At first I went online to reduce our plan, but then I called an agent and was able to get our same package but for the online price of the package that had fewer channels.  Works for me!

Already changed the cell phone plan with T-Mobile.  We've been with them forever, so any other carrier will just not do with the perks we get now.  Once I make it home, I won't need a data plan, so that'll take a little bit off down the road.

Added the Taurus to our Geico insurance,which made it jump by $40, but we'll be taking the van off soon, so hopefully that will help a little.  Still have inspections and registrations to make this month though... Another pay period will come and go, but my endeavors will keep on. :)

Let's Get to Packing

So, as with any trip, I have resources in mind that will play a role in this journey: people and information.  My sister was one of my primary consultants for this endeavor, though her situation is slightly different with the cost of living being less in Missouri, but she's an encourager nonetheless and makes it work with her family of five. Her easy solution for me to stay at home was to pack up and move there, which I did give serious consideration to... until Dave weighed in with his thoughts. =D  It was worth a shot.

The other person that will play an obvious role is Dave.  He's a stickler over wanting to get debt payed off in general, so I'll know he'll work to ensure we get these hindering monthly payments knocked out.  Part of that will involve not using our credit cards except for emergencies. Unfortunately, we have one around the corner; our dog is sick and needs a $500 surgery.  Such is life... 

Finally, I'm depending on others' experiences of cost-cutting and money-saving.  So... be prepared, folks, for random questions I may have in the near future. :)

I tend to go on information-overload, but for this task, I'm not sure that will be a bad thing.  My first stop was online to an article of a SAHM who cut their grocery budget down to $250/month for a family of four.  That definitely piqued my interest, and I'm looking forward to doing the simple hands-on things, such as baking our own bread, making our own granola treats, etc. instead of wasting money (and calories!) on processed stuff.  The other tip was creating a 30-day menu that includes storing leftovers and having a "restaurant night" of letting the fam pick which meal they want that night. Not sure that would work for me - needing to be in control of everything - but it was a good idea. :)  The other part is storing leftovers as "TV dinners" to use in the future. Being that I tend to buy a few of those every month (in case I don't have leftovers to take for lunch :), this would be practical for me.  Looking back, leftovers tend to stay in the fridge for a couple days before they go bad, so why not just freeze what I'm not going to use the next day?!  I'm learning... So, I started going through that person's monthly menu and making modifications based on foods I know Dave likes having every month (butter chicken, sausage and potatoes, etc.).  The other ideas prompted me to create inserts I'll be using as quick-recipe-references in a little binder I'll be starting.  I'm a stickler for 30-minute meals with our crazy schedules, so this will be fun for me.  The other tip was to buy bulks of meat on sale and have a butcher slice it all up and freeze it. I found a local butcher, but I think it has to be his meat that he'll slice.  I think we might still check it out as I get better at pricing meats. 

One of my other initial investigations was into cloth-diapering.  I have yet to make the actual purchase of everything needed, but I'm actually looking forward to the challenge. Since Katie's birth, we stocked up on cloth diapers because they make great burp cloths, so now we'll get to put them to actual use for Naomi. :)  I also read up on liners that go on top of the cloth diaper to catch poop but are washable for pee.  At $8 for a box of 100, I managed to get those with the last grocery trip.  I figure with cost-savings this coming paycheck for groceries, I'll be able to squeeze in the purchase of the actual reusable diaper covers, pins, etc.

My main purchase thus far is the book There's No Place Like Home - Steps to Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom, which is recommended by Family Life and actually written by a mom who worked. Looking back, she would have liked to have stayed home, so she lays out stories and strategies of how other people made it work. The memorable quotes so far:

• "This book is not about condemning moms who are currently working outside the home...This book was written specifically for the mom who is...longing within her heart to leave the workforce (or not enter it)..."
• An excerpt from one of Larry Burkett's books: "The truth is that working a full-time job should not be classified as a sin; nor should stay-at-home moms be viewed as drop-outs."
• "'A goal without a deadline is only a dream."'
• "Stress hormone levels in working mothers rise each morning and stay high until bedtime, putting them at higher risk than other working women for health problems such as heart attack, according to a study by Duke University Medical Center researchers."  

 I can definitely imagine the truth of that last quote. I don't know about other moms, but I am totally a TYPE A.  Because I'm the one that actually reads up on everything-baby, I obviously know how everything should be orchestrated throughout the day [even though I am completely out of control once I drop them off at the babysitter at 7:30am... or leave them with daddy :)  until I get home at 5:30pm].  So even though I don't have the stress of actually coordinating everything with the girls all day, the stress to make sure as much as possible is ready for EACH caretaker, finding out what each of them has done/not done, that there's enough of everything we need, that there's something in mind for me to make for dinner at 6pm so they girls get to bed at a decent time (while also trying to spend that limited amount of time with them in a quality way once I'm actually done cooking), can take its toll, especially when I was more hormonal pregnant and postpartum.  =D  You might be getting tired just thinking about it... But we make it work because that's what we need to do to keep everything moving along right now.

I know saying home will have its stresses, but at least going here and there and everywhere will be optional... until the girls are in school, sports, and other activities anyway.  We'll burn... I mean, cross that bridge when we get there.

So,... Bible, check!  SAHM book, check!  Family and Facebook friends, check!  Pending: completed recipe book and grocery list, cloth diapering essentials, and COUPONS.  I expect to be a better friend with Couponmom.com and the BJ's Wholesale coupon-mailer very soon. :)

Next up, I'll lay out our current expenses and our projected, post-debt expenses (along with expected cuts in cable, cell phone, etc.).  

Era to Embark

WELCOME TO MY JOURNEY! 

Over the next several months, I will document my journey from being a working wife and mother to a stay-at-home mom (SAHM).   Living in the DC area with 2 kids (while wanting more),  owning a home, and having a pet, it will definitely be a challenge, but I'm up for it! 

I will share money-saving and other tips I learn along the way to encourage those who may even continue their calling in the workforce and just want to manage time, resources, or whatever else...

Some background before I begin: 

    Before I had children (and even after my first daughter was born), I had it made up in my mind that I would be a working mom.  Part of it was for financial reasons... My husband and I had survived on two incomes the first five years of our marriage and had struggles even then.  We had a budget but would still get into credit card debt.  We would pay off one car loan just have another expense come up.  We started our marriage in a one-bedroom condo and decided once we were going to expand our family that we also needed to expand our living quarters, which in-turn, expanded our debt.  We bought a complete dump and with a hard-working hubby, lots of awesome friends, and the Lord, we turned it into what has been more than suitable for our family.  There are continuous expenses with owning a home (and our condo), which are sometimes in conjunction with owning a pet, such as needing a fence for our yard and replacing the carpet in the condo that Chai started to destroy before we moved out.

    With our current spending trends, especially on those that are baby and nursing-working-mother-related, my outlook on our budget and me being able to stay home was always grim.  We moved in July 4, 2009 with our first daughter.  And in 2011, we finally finished our basement... until Tropical Storm Lee rolled into town and flooded it.  After incurring additional debt to complete the indoor waterproofing and fix the drywall and flooring damage, there was still no end in sight to our expenses.  We're still in the midst of our goal of paying off the $10,000 bill for the waterproofing within one year while the payments are still interest-free (you do the math :). So far, we're on a positive track of accomplishing it!  Shortly after Lee, we discovered that our family vehicle needed major repair.  While it was nice we had decided years prior to take an equity line of credit out on our condo so had funds available in case of a need, we weren't thrilled with needing to actually use it - incurring another monthly payment.  Our debt seems to have leveled, so we have set the goal: PAY OFF OUR CURRENT DEBT (eliminating several monthly payments), and we can have a more manageable budget to get on the path of me staying at home, or at least working part-time at home to supplement the hubby's income so we can start putting money into savings again.  

    The other part of me continuing to work was for professional reasons.  A cousin in Newark, NJ was a firearms instructor with the Newark Police Department. Ever since my first time on the range as a teenager, I wanted to work in law enforcement.  That was my ultimate professional goal, though numerous open doors closed on me at some point in each application process...even to the very last step in one particular case.  I had worked since high school - first, as a cashier at a REC Center, then a front desk agent-turned supervisor at a Marriott hotel, to an armed ATM Technician-turned Vault Manager of an armored car company, then I took a pay decrease for various reasons and became a receptionist-turned Executive Assistant to the CEO of a government contracting company.  I started my educational path by going to community college right after high school, graduating in 2002, it wasn't until a few years after we got married in 2004 that I decided I needed a Bachelor's to further my career.  My husband worked endlessly to provide the resources for me to get my degree online without us going into debt, which the Lord provided for.  Even now, though (2 1/2 years after graduating), I haven't actually had to opportunity to go into that field and put the degree to use.

    Over the years, especially after my husband started working for a local police department, I realized my ultimate police-goal wasn't going to jive with our family situation.  Having one of us with an unpredictable schedule had enough of a toll on our household that having two of us in the same situation would be more stressful.  Anywho, I've continued to work, and it wasn't until recently that my heart has really been set on being able to stay at home, despite my desires to advance professionally in the government-world.  Being in the DC area, of course, having a role in a government-related field is quite attainable. 

    Nonetheless, my mind is made up.  Being a recent convert to the SAHM ideology ;)  I have a lot to learn, but I have decided to document this journey to show God's faithfulness in honoring his promise from Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."  I am confident that although we may encounter more struggles (as His Word also gives us a heads-up on), He will bring us through as we stay committed to Him.  So... this is more than a blog; it is a window into our faith-journey.