half-win

ok so 6:58. Not quite my target time but not bad. I even went to bed by 10! Or at least I tried. Little Monkey was up jabbering away until midnight. And Diva was up and down out of her bed a thousand times. But I still got up early! So let's count this as a half-win. Now off for that morning coffee before my cleaning rotation starts :)

why I coupon...

Why do I coupon? I get that question all the time. Along with weird looks, semi-derogatory remarks, etc. I coupon for lots of little reasons, but all those little reasons add up to 1 big reason-- my family. This is how my household breaks down-- there are now 4 adults, 3 kids, and 3 animals in our mini-mansion. "Papa" (my dad) has now come to stay with us, long/short term is yet to be determined. Now, Mechanic, Papa and the Big B are all employed full time. I'm the only one who is not formally "employed". Why? One word, DAYCARE. 

Now I could go get a job, a "real" one, and I could make $300-500/week doing so. (I know, I've done the working mom thing). But in our area, daycare runs $115+/week/child. Now lets say I could get all 3 of my kids in daycare at $115/wk/child. That's $345/week for me to throw them in daycare for 40 hrs a week so I can contribute monetarily to our family. Even if I got a job that payed $500/wk, after gas and daycare, I'd make NOTHING. So wait, I have to DRIVE my kids to daycare, to DRIVE to work, to DRIVE BACK to pick them up (or hubby, whoever) to MAKE ZERO MONEY!?!? Hahahahaha. Yeah, I don't think so. Bam, every week I save upwards of $345 just in daycare. 

Now, with the fact that we have chosen to have a large family, there obviously has to be a little give and take, especially when it comes to money. There are certain bills that are non-negotiable, or have limited wiggle room- electricity, house payment, etc. So in order to afford bills, and any luxuries we want for ourselves or our children, I coupon. For  instance, our food bill... To feed our family of 7, plus our 3 furry family members and not coupon, would be ASTRONOMICAL. I know we could scrape by if need be, but really, who wants to just scrape by if they don't need to. When budgeting I try to follow the $100/person/month. Now that there are 7 of us, that's $700/month. The hubby and I try to foot as much of the grocery bill as possible during the month. Even though Big B and Papa work full time, there are plenty of bills and expenditures to go around. But I digress. 

I should say "food" bill loosely. Usually that $700 includes everything from food, to diapers, light bulbs, cleaning products, etc. I try to keep my shopping down to 1 day a week as much as possible, in order to cut another cost- gas. Every time I step out of the store, I've usually saved at least 50%. Yes, you heard me, FIFTY PERCENT. Mechanic, Papa and Big B were some of my biggest doubters when I started, but they figured, it was a simple hobby, if it made me happy, do it. And if I could save money doing it, bonus. The first time I walked out of a store "making money" instead of just spending it, Mechanic told everyone we saw. Literally. His enthusiasm is why I love him :) 

Now, the perks. Because I coupon I can afford... To stay home with our children without putting us further in debt... To put my kids in activities. Diva Princess and Superhero are both enrolled in gymnastics as of this last month. If I didn't coupon, we couldn't afford to put 1, much less BOTH preschoolers in gymnastics. (bonus, our gymnastics programs offers discounts for multiple children, yay!) The hubby also indulges me and I have a tanning membership. Being of irish/european descent, I am one pale mama. $12 a month isn't a daunting bill, but it's certainly $12 more than I'd be comfortable spending on myself  if I didn't coupon. Couponing is also allowing us to take our first family vacation together. On top of the resort offering a discount, I've found plenty of other places that offer discounts on their services. Whew! Such a long post! There are lots of other little perks and reasons why I coupon, what are some of yours? Or what are your reasons for not?

how I, as a procrastinator, have settled on a cleaning routine... that works! (for me)

Ok confession time: I'm a procrastinator. Now, for anyone that knows me, this is not a confession. It's just a known fact haha. But I'm on a quest to find order in my life. Since I HAVE to clean this mini mansion-- ok so it's just a really large old farmhouse from the late 1800's, but with the amount of cleaning it needs, it FEELS like a mini mansion!-- I've been trying to find a cleaning routine that keeps me from burning out too quick, AND gets the job done. So like any good housewife... to pinterest I trolled ;). And to no surprise of my own, there is a plethora of cleaning schedules various women have shared and found success in. Well, there were lots I liked, but the scenarios in my head were a lot different than the real-life scenarios that played out... Like "Mechanic" coming home from work and I'm crying, the kids are screaming, and the house looks worse than when he left... Ya know, the stuff that a hubby's nightmares are made out of. Well imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon one that WORKED. It worked so well that I felt comfortable starting to tweak it according to my needs, and pondering what I could do with all the "free" time I was going to have... *insert bon bon eating, soap watching, daydream here* This is the cleaning schedule I found from Steph at somewhatsimple.com. And to give credit where credit is due, SHE got it from flylady.net :)

Now, her schedule says 10 mins in each room, now for my needs, and my house, I use 20 minute increments. And this is the routine I'm starting to follow : 

• MONDAY-- start laundry. 20 min each-- kitchen, bathroom, living room. switch laundry. 20 min break. repeat 20 min rotation. fold laundry on 20 min break #2... repeat as necessary.
• TUESDAY-- start laundry. 20 min each-- "master" bdrm, bathroom #2, office. repeat steps. after 2nd/3rd rotation, I switch to Monday's roster to make sure I get some daily maintenance in the main rooms. (I do this every day that k/b/lr is not my main focus)
• WEDNESDAY-- laundry. 20 min each-- laundry/mud room, "dining" room, "spare" bdrm. repeat.
• THURSDAY-- laundry. 20 min each-- "spare" bdrm #2, storage room, side room. repeat.
• FRIDAY-- laundry.  20 min-- kitchen, bathroom, living room.
• SATURDAY--laundry. gymnastics. errands. ONE ROUND of kitchen, bathroom, living room.
• SUNDAY-- this is my catch up day. I get Mechanic to help do projects around the house, this is the day I reserve to help get the kids' room/play room back in working order (during the week Diva Princess and Superhero, are responsible for putting their room back together after playing. Little Monkey will be learning as he grows)

Now right now, for our family, I need to keep a pretty steady pace in order to get things to where they need to be. So I try to use the time when the other adults go to work, but the kids are still in bed to my advantage. A shower, coffee, emails, phone calls, and starting my rotation. It's a lot of work, and a lot of effort on my part. Especially with 3 kids running around all day! But in the end it's worth it. Especially when I can get my house is order enough to scale my routine to 10 minutes/room! Until we get the TO-DO list whittled down though, it's gonna be a rough(ish) ride. The only difference is, now I have a routine that works. If anyone's reading this, what works for you, and your family?

but... I want a fossil watch!

So I'm super pumped. I was given a mission by my director to get 2 ladies that I admire to listen to how we make $$ in Mary Kay. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and invited 2 friends to just help me with my goal. While on the phone last night with one of the ladies and my director, I realized somehow I missed the fact that there's a contest going on! And the girl in the lead has 6 ladies scheduled. Oh, and the winner of the sharing contest? A fossil watch. Yeah, a fossil watch, much like this very watch right here. So now I'm going all middle-school, "oh no you didn't!" and now, IT'S ON. I was going to splurge this summer and go to the FOSSIL store in Myrtle Beach on vacation... But really, I'm a cheapskate. If I can get it free, or cheap I'll pretty much do it. I'm the couponer in my family, so I'm all about the bargain. Except now instead of a coupon, I'm going to phone-a-friend, or phone-5-friends to be exact... Or maybe I'll ask the receptionist at Diva and Superhero's gymnastics tomorrow... She seems nice... Oh, what's a girl to do?? 

first post. big jitters.

This is my first blog post. EVER. My goals for this blog are: 
1. to journal my progress as a wife, mother, and hopefully, a successful business entrepreneur. 
2. hold myself accountable for the goals I have in my life. I tend to get so wrapped up in EVERYTHING I have going on, that my goals get blurry or forgotten. NO MORE!

that's it for now.

love,
Me <3