To the highest bidder! After several long months with minimal activity, our house seemingly became the hottest house on the market. In the last week we had 5 showings. Last night we had two competing offers and had only until midnight to make a decision. The first offer was already very good but got better when they found out they had competition. Their final offer was "$500 over the highest offer"! So after all was said and done, the house sold for a bit more than it's current asking price!
Oh, yeah...just one thing...they want us out of here by March 28th and we don't have another house...yet! Jer is taking off Friday and we're going to go look at a few houses. That house we really liked several months ago is still on the market so if we don't see something we like better we'll be making an offer on that one Friday. Keep the last weekend in March open to help the Shown family move!
If you want to see the houses we'll be looking at go to Coldwell Homes and put in the following MLS numbers in the search box. I'm not putting direct links since that didn't work the last time. The listings are also on Realtor.com but the CH site has more pictures.
Trotter house MLS# 10800796
Horseshoe-ranch MLS# 10713845
Horseshoe-two story MLS# 10800366
Whistling Swan MLS# 10711686
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Weekly Report 2/17-2/23
Weekly budget for groceries and household: $170
Amount spent: $158.15
Coupons used: $66.97 (not including ECBs or RRs)
I would say that is pretty good. I did better than last week. Spent less and used more coupons. This is including diapers for now. I normally use cloth but while the house is up for sale I am giving myself a break to lighten the laundry load. Once we get settled in a new house I'll get back on track with that. With the deals I've been getting at CVS lately though I might have to re-d0 the math on that...especially since I only have 2 in diapers. (The twins still wear something at night though.)
Amount spent: $158.15
Coupons used: $66.97 (not including ECBs or RRs)
I would say that is pretty good. I did better than last week. Spent less and used more coupons. This is including diapers for now. I normally use cloth but while the house is up for sale I am giving myself a break to lighten the laundry load. Once we get settled in a new house I'll get back on track with that. With the deals I've been getting at CVS lately though I might have to re-d0 the math on that...especially since I only have 2 in diapers. (The twins still wear something at night though.)
I'm a Stockpiler...
I have been thinking about this idea a lot lately and then I came across this blog post that I found interesting. Thought you might want to read this too. I have been following the "pantry principle" for about 10 years now (since I first read about it in the Tightwad Gazette) and I think it has saved us a lot of money. If you have been in my basement "pantry" or looked in my upright freezer you know it's true I have a lot of food stockpiled. But that food was bought at the LOWEST price I could find.
When my four "biggies" go on sale I really stock up and those are: peanut butter, cheese, boneless skinless chicken breasts, and ground beef. I only buy peanut butter when it is $1 or less. I buy a case or sometimes 2 to get us through until the next sale. So I spend $12 on peanut butter at once instead of buying each one individually for $1.50 saving myself $6 maybe more (not including coupons) that I know I'm going to spend anyway. Chicken breasts aren't a good deal to me if they aren't about $1.66 per pound but sometimes I have to settle for anything under $2 per pound. If it's more than that I just don't get them. I used to be able to get ground beef for $.99 per pound but that hasn't happened for a LONG time. Now anything at about $1.5o or less per pound is a good deal in my opinion. (Found some at Woodman's two weeks ago for $1.25 per pound!) Cheese also used to go on sale for $1 (8 oz. packages) but the lowest I've gotten it lately is $1.25. The cashier always gives me a strange look when I buy 20 packages of cheese. Once a lady at Piggly Wiggly even asked me what I was going to do with it all. I told her the expiration date for cheese is usually a long way off so as long as you keep it in the fridge it will be fine. (I used to freeze it but then it crumbles and I hate that.) I stack it on the bottom shelf in the way back of the fridge. But it doesn't last long in this house of cheese lovers...we go through a lot of cheese. Since it is perishable and takes up fridge space sometimes I do pay more for cheese since I just cannot buy enough to last me until the next sale.
Just think of all the things you buy on a regular basis. Even if you didn't use coupons, if you only bought that item when it was on sale, buying enough to last you until it is on sale again, you would save a good sum of money. Don't have enough space in your cupboards or linen closet to stash bargain food and toilet paper? Think of other places to store it. Keep a few items handy in the kitchen (or bathroom) and put the rest in the basement on shelves. I very rarely run out of anything. I don't ever use the last bit of ketchup and say "oh, we're out of ketchup I better get some when I go to the store". I open the next bottle that I had stored in the "pantry" and add it to my list to get when I see a good sale or find a coupon. It has gotten to the point that when we get down to 40 rolls of toilet paper or 10 jars of peanut butter Jerry will say to me: "Hey, did you know we're getting low?"
Aldi has lessened my need to stockpile some. Lots of items are the lowest price there all the time, so I don't feel like I have to stockpile things that I know I can get there on a regular basis. But sometimes with a sale and a coupon I can beat an Aldi price so I try and stock up when I can. Sometimes I don't have enough coupons to really stockpile. Sometimes it is too perishable to stockpile...can't stock up on lettuce! Some things never have a coupon or rarely go on sale. That's when I think Aldi saves us money. This summer when I was taking it easy and Jer was in charge of shopping we cut back to shopping at mostly just Aldi with an occasional run to the Pig or Cub for items Aldi didn't have or a great sale. We were able to get most of our groceries there for around $100 per week. Not back for a family of (then) seven!
Stockpiling also saves money in other little ways. Saves on gas, fewer quick trips to the store to get one or two items. Cub scouts knocking on the door for the food drive...no problem, just pull out a few cans and boxes. It's also a bit of "insurance" in case we have a bad snowstorm and can't leave the house. We could eat from the stockpile and would really only need milk and produce for at least a month or maybe even two!
When my four "biggies" go on sale I really stock up and those are: peanut butter, cheese, boneless skinless chicken breasts, and ground beef. I only buy peanut butter when it is $1 or less. I buy a case or sometimes 2 to get us through until the next sale. So I spend $12 on peanut butter at once instead of buying each one individually for $1.50 saving myself $6 maybe more (not including coupons) that I know I'm going to spend anyway. Chicken breasts aren't a good deal to me if they aren't about $1.66 per pound but sometimes I have to settle for anything under $2 per pound. If it's more than that I just don't get them. I used to be able to get ground beef for $.99 per pound but that hasn't happened for a LONG time. Now anything at about $1.5o or less per pound is a good deal in my opinion. (Found some at Woodman's two weeks ago for $1.25 per pound!) Cheese also used to go on sale for $1 (8 oz. packages) but the lowest I've gotten it lately is $1.25. The cashier always gives me a strange look when I buy 20 packages of cheese. Once a lady at Piggly Wiggly even asked me what I was going to do with it all. I told her the expiration date for cheese is usually a long way off so as long as you keep it in the fridge it will be fine. (I used to freeze it but then it crumbles and I hate that.) I stack it on the bottom shelf in the way back of the fridge. But it doesn't last long in this house of cheese lovers...we go through a lot of cheese. Since it is perishable and takes up fridge space sometimes I do pay more for cheese since I just cannot buy enough to last me until the next sale.
Just think of all the things you buy on a regular basis. Even if you didn't use coupons, if you only bought that item when it was on sale, buying enough to last you until it is on sale again, you would save a good sum of money. Don't have enough space in your cupboards or linen closet to stash bargain food and toilet paper? Think of other places to store it. Keep a few items handy in the kitchen (or bathroom) and put the rest in the basement on shelves. I very rarely run out of anything. I don't ever use the last bit of ketchup and say "oh, we're out of ketchup I better get some when I go to the store". I open the next bottle that I had stored in the "pantry" and add it to my list to get when I see a good sale or find a coupon. It has gotten to the point that when we get down to 40 rolls of toilet paper or 10 jars of peanut butter Jerry will say to me: "Hey, did you know we're getting low?"
Aldi has lessened my need to stockpile some. Lots of items are the lowest price there all the time, so I don't feel like I have to stockpile things that I know I can get there on a regular basis. But sometimes with a sale and a coupon I can beat an Aldi price so I try and stock up when I can. Sometimes I don't have enough coupons to really stockpile. Sometimes it is too perishable to stockpile...can't stock up on lettuce! Some things never have a coupon or rarely go on sale. That's when I think Aldi saves us money. This summer when I was taking it easy and Jer was in charge of shopping we cut back to shopping at mostly just Aldi with an occasional run to the Pig or Cub for items Aldi didn't have or a great sale. We were able to get most of our groceries there for around $100 per week. Not back for a family of (then) seven!
Stockpiling also saves money in other little ways. Saves on gas, fewer quick trips to the store to get one or two items. Cub scouts knocking on the door for the food drive...no problem, just pull out a few cans and boxes. It's also a bit of "insurance" in case we have a bad snowstorm and can't leave the house. We could eat from the stockpile and would really only need milk and produce for at least a month or maybe even two!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Video: Wesley Wins!
Here is the short video of Wesley's first run at the AWANA race on Tuesday. It was a "double elimination" race and the very first race Wesley's car had to race against his very good friend Erin's car. He won. The next race he lost. He didn't lose again until he won third place.
AWANA Car Video
Here is another short video. This is the second run when Wesley's car lost, although not by much! I thought this would give you a better view of the track and how the race looks from the other end. The beginning is a bit long sorry about that...didn't have time to edit. If you look off to the left you can see Jerry standing there holding JD (just under the screen on the wall).
AWANA Grand Prix
Tuesday night was the big Grand Prix Race at AWANA. Jerry helped paint (then repaint) Wesley's car. [Eli put an extra coat of paint on while we weren't looking so it had to be repainted.] Wesley was so excited and shocked us all by winning 3rd place! He was awarded a trophy and also a certificate for "Best Block of Wood" in the beauty portion of the contest. Considering lots of people put more time in on the modifications of their cars we were pretty surprised at how well Wesley's car did. I'll post some video next. Here are some photos:
Wesley and his 3rd place trophy
The "Best Block of Wood Car" in all its glory!
Getting cars in place for the first run, Wesley vs. Erin
One proud Wesley with his car (and trophy!)
Wesley and his 3rd place trophy
The "Best Block of Wood Car" in all its glory!
Getting cars in place for the first run, Wesley vs. Erin
One proud Wesley with his car (and trophy!)
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