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.).