Money Saving Tips I Adhere To.

1. Make a budget (depending on how many times you get paid per month) for each pay period, and stick to it.

2. Save ALL receipts and go over ones from previous months seeing where you did any unnecessary spending.

3. Keep a spending log/journal/spreadsheet.

4. Cook meals at home- Eat out less often.

5. Do you really need that cell phone?

6. Scale down your cable/satellite dish package, or go without it.

7. Learn how to coupon, and combine coupons with sales.

8. Make your own household cleaners. (Less toxic, and better for the environment too!)

9. Recycle.

10. Buy things used.

11. Pay cash for items- Don’t use credit.

12. ALWAYS make sure to have an emergency savings account.

13. Turn off/unplug any appliances when not in use.

14. Wash laundry on cold.

15. Line dry your laundry.

16. Bake your own bread (This one saves us a lot of money).

17. Trade old clothes with friends; You get “new” clothes as do they, without paying anything!

18. Make a menu for all meals. Buy only what you need, after taking an inventory of your pantry/fridge/freezer.

19. Make homemade presents for family members during Christmastime and other Holidays.

20. Do more activities at home with the family rather than going out and spending money. Making a homemade pizza, watching movies, and playing board games is always a hit.

21. Make lunch at home.

22. Make coffee at home and take it with you in a travel mug.

23. Don’t purchase processed foods. Buy fresh, and prepare at home.

24. Invest in a good water filtration system (reverse-osmosis is ideal).

25. Join a babysitting co-op.

26. Join a SCA co-op for in-season fruits and veggies.

27. Search for freebies and samples of items you would like.

28. Work from home.

To be continued…

Weightloss- Week 1 Recap

Okay, a little over a week ago, I said I would make a post about my weightloss progress. Well, I lost a pound and I have lost about 8 inches off my body- total. It will continue to be a slow and on-going process, but it is awesome to see the progress. My husband is noticing it too. I guess it will only be a matter of time before I make my goal.

My stomach has “shrank” a little as well. Meaning, I am not needing to eat as much before I start to feel full. It is also helping to eat small meals throughout the day; my body seems to be responding to this fairly well.

All in all, I would say it has been a successful week and I am off to a great start. Here’s to staying positive and thinking thin!

Starting an Herb Garden (w/transplanted Living Herbs).

So, today I decided to do a mini-garden project. I bought some herbs at the store the other day, and they are the complete plant- roots and all for added freshness. I thought I would give transplanting them a try and see how they fare. It was relatively easy, and I only needed a few supplies. I only had 3 of the plants: Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme. My plan is to transplant more, depending on the outcome.

The following supplies are what I used:

Organic potting soil, plastic pots with the openings in the bottom, gardening tools, the plastic bins to catch excess water, and of course the herbs.

Start out with the pot over one of the plastic bins (to catch excess soil) and keep the mess down:

Add just enough potting soil 1/2-2/3 full, and then add the plant:

Place in the pot and add enough soil to cover the roots and also afford support to the plant.

Repeat with the other plants.

The plants will take awhile to adjust since the leaves were folded/directed in one direction while in the plastic casing it came in.

Then, you can label the plants so you know which plant is which. Place outside or in a window area.

And you’re done. It’s simple, and I pray it takes. I have been wanting to grow my own herbs for a long time.

I need/want/have to lose weight!!!

I have way too much going on with my life right now.

My husband is getting out of the Marine Corps soon, we are moving back home, I am trying to get into University to finish the last year and a half for my Bachelors in History, looking for temporary work here to help ease the transition financially when we move, taking care of the home and everything it entails, being mommy, being a wife, and now trying to lose weight. Talk about stress!!!

I have been wanting to lose weight since I gave birth to my son almost two years ago. I put on about 45 lbs. while pregnant (thanks gestational diabetes) and had lost over half when I married my husband. The move to Camp Pendleton depressed me so much- I knew no one, that food became my crutch and my coping mechanism. Not good.

Before I got pregnant, I was a size 5/6 and weighed around 150 lbs. I worked out and was active often. Here is a pic of me back then:

I can only wish to get back down to that thin. I know that pregnancy and childbirth have changed my body permanently, and I would be totally elated to be a size 8. Now for the nitty gritty. Here is a recent picture of me on my trip to Disneyland with my family less than a month ago:

Ya, the transformation is not a pretty one. I am currently a 12/14. I am well aware that I am over-weight. It is something that eats away at me every time I look into the mirror, so in turn, I try to eat it away. Haha. I am done now. No more excuses, no more laziness. Full motivation. I want to be able to keep up with my son more, restore my dwindling fertility (that’s for another post all together), and be more healthy. Diabetes runs in my family, and with me having had gestational diabetes, I am that much more at risk for it when I am older. Time to kick it into gear.

I already made the changes in what I eat, but now comes portion sizing and how much of it I do eat. I need to keep a food journal or something. My only concern is I don’t want to become obsessed with food in a negative way. I like to eat, and enjoy food. I just need to eat less of it. Counting calories is out. Measuring portion size is in.

As for my working out, I will start out gradually. Walking for 30 mins. daily, and throwing in some Pilates and Yoga a few times a week. Then, I will add some strength training with my hand weights. I plan on starting on Monday… I will post my summary at the end of every week. I am looking forward to some awesome and visible results.

Pre-preschool Homeschooling- A work in progress.

I am one of THOSE parents. My kid eats healthy and natural foods, doesn’t watch too much TV, actually plays outside daily, and will be homeschooled.

My son is turning two in a few days. I am already putting together a homeschool pre-preschool curriculum to start him on. I believe in starting early, and preparing him to have the best education possible and helping him reach his full potential. While doing more research on this, I have found a plethora of free homeschooling sites. They all have such valuable information about planning, organization, activities, etc. I am going to have a structured daily routine laid out for him complete with daily learning games, activities and play. I am so excited!!! I know he is just going to thrive with this. It will leave me less time during the day to do things I would like to, but I can get things done later and the sacrifice would ultimately be worth it.

I plan on him getting some supervised computer time (he knows how to use it already) and letting him go to sites like www.starfall.com to learn his letters/sounds.

Ya, I have a lot more planning to do, and I will post a sample schedule when I finish making one, along with links to more information.

I will also add that I am not the kind of parent to push more upon him than he can handle. He will go at his own pace, as any learning toddler does. I will just be there along the way to guide and help him.

I’m going green… Starting with food.

I am a woman on a mission. My mission is to try and “Green” my lifestyle as much as possible; starting with my food. I never really believed the hype of the organic food craze. I just thought it was a way in which farmers and companies could drive up the prices of their products.  I was content with the majority of processed foods that I had been consuming along with the few waxy-looking vegetables I bought. But, something just didn’t settle quite right with me- Literally. For years I have/had been plagued with stomach troubles. I finally decided to do more research into what it was I was truly consuming. I mean, looking back now and remembering the labels of the foods I consumed, I didn’t even know how to pronounce the names of the majority of the ingredients in the food, muchless what they were. That is where the change came.

The internet is a wonderful place for researching relatively any subject. I became a researching machine (I love and crave knowledge, so it was fun for me) and discovered the years upon years of toxins I have put into my body- MY BODY. I was disgusted, and started learning a new way of approaching food and eating. I am nowhere near where I would like to ideally be when it comes to being greener and healthier, but I am on my way there.

I began with just a few simple changes:

1. I threw out anything that was not the color nature intended it for me- foods with various dyes, etc.

2. I started to boycott foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup as one of the ingredients.

3. I began reading food labels religiously. Anything with ingredients I can’t pronounce, or that aren’t natural, go bye-bye.

4. I sought out organic alternatives to my favorite foods.

5. I stopped eating fast foods and drinking sodas.

6. I opted to making homemade versions of processed foods. You would be amazed at how much more flavor foods made from scratch have as well.

Again, it is a lifestyle change, and changes do take time to become habits. But, I think I am off to a fairly good start. My body is already thanking me. Eventually, I have plans to:

1. Grow my own herb garden.

2. Plant my own vegetable garden.

3. Maintain my own compost bin.

4. Join a local CSA when we move home.

5. Learn more organic cooking and baking methods.

6. Make my own pastas and breads at home.

7. I don’t see myself becoming a vegetarian or a vegan, but I would like to buy more free-range eggs and meats.

I am sure this list will grow as time goes on, but it is what it is for now.

Just a Test.

Test.