Brooke Blogs This

Halloween is fast approaching, and it is stressing me out. For one thing, the town where I live has decided to do trick or treating the day before Halloween, but we don't normally trick or treat in our community. Does this mean I have to buy candy (which I haven't budgeted for) since we may actually be home on Halloween? Possibly MORE pressing is the fact that I haven't bought my daughters costume yet. Costumes are so expensive these days, for something a child only wears once (maybe, MAYBE, twice). Last year I bought her costume from CostumeSuperCenter.com and I was very pleased. I managed to find the costume at a reduced price, and was very pleased with their customer service and return policy, even though I did not need it. They have a clearance link on their website, with TONS of costumes at really low prices, including the exact costume my daughter wore for only $10! If you actually spend over $60 on their site, you can get free shipping through Sunday with cou...

Last night, I did our grocery shopping and spent just over $100 on two weeks worth of groceries!!! Yeah, I am a little proud. =) So to stroke my own ego, I am going to post my top 10 grocery buying tips. I really do hope you find some of them useful. 1. Try the store brand at least once, on everything. We have found that most store brand canned vegetables are great, except green beans. Store brand green beans suck. But, try the store brand atleast once, on every product that you buy. Most of the time we are pleasantly suprised (some are even better than the national brand!) 2. Pay attention to how much things cost, otherwise how will you know when it is *really* on sale. I have found more than one store that advertises some thing "on sale" and it really hasn't been marked down at all. 3. Pay attention to how much you actually use/need/eat. If our family will only eat half of a dish, then we have the leftovers for lunch the next day. If your family despises lefto...

It has been a while since my last frugal Friday. We survived summer and found out just how much carpooling could save us! We used the saved money to take the kids to the Knoxville Zoo, Space and Air Museum and The Adventure Science Center. We actually bought a family pass for $90 to the Adventure Science Center so we can take the kids back during the fall, winter and spring. They change exhibits often and truthfully, their “Adventure Tower” is better than any indoor play ground I’ve seen, so it is a good investment in our world. I have also jumped on the “a deal a day” bandwagon. Most people have head about Groupon , where every day they have a deal for a local business. It is usually about 50% off, for food, drinks or service. It seems that *most* of their deals seem to be for food/drinks and salon services, but earlier this year they did have a family membership to the Adventure Science Center for $45 (and yes, I missed it.) Today’s deal is 3 Laser Hair-Removal Treatments for $...

Last night I was reading an article in one of my parenting forums. The article itself was innocent enough, dispelling the myth that caffine stunts growth. The comments however, annoyed the crap out of me. “I don't see the point of giving child soda…..They are pretty horrible for you. So why give it to my daughter? There are plenty of other options out there than soda. Caffeine free or not, they don't need all that sugar. The sugar alternatives are just as bad. Their little bodies are developing so fast, why not give them beverages that encourage a healthy mind and body.” “What amazes me, in reading some of these community answers is how much artificial sugar parents are giving their children. Diet soda is no more healthy than regular soda, it doesn't contain sugar but it does contain chemically made ingredients such as aspartame or Nutra Sweet which the FDA says to consume in moderation because long term side effects need to be evaluated. Its unfortunate that even Pedia...

I am well aware that I now have not posted in over a month. I was going to write about the flood and post some pictures of all the water, but I just didn't feel like it. I was going to write about volunteering at a Red Cross shelter, and the amazing people who were living there, but I just didn't feel like it. I was going to gripe about our lawyer, but I just didn't feel like it. I was going to give you the low down on some awesome sales and money saving ideas, but I just didn't feel like it. I seem to go in spurts, I write, I don't, I write, I don't, I write, I don't. I am not going to appologize for it anymore. Until I get back to writing on a regular basis... We are all doing very well. Zachary is getting much better at fielding and his grades have been awesome. Shiloh sings constantly and usually two or three songs at once. Jeremy having weekends off has been awesome, I will be sad to see them go. I am still here, looking at piles of papers and finding r...

First of all, a BIG shout out to the hubby for THP Dispatcher of the year!!! And he is a celebrity now, check out the News Channel 2 Video He also was on channels 5 and 17! I am so proud of him!!!! Now that my shout out is out of the way, what about some retail therapy...on a budget ofcourse. Use the code N1G7ZDK2WQ2T at Old Navy and save 15% on any Adult purchases. Also if you spend over $75,which I WILL NOT BE, you get free shipping. Needing something for the kids? The Childrens Place has graphic T's for $5. Might as well stock up now, you know your kids will be wearing them, well forever. Happy Frugal Friday!

I am a WOH! (Work Outside the Home) Mom. I don’t have a choice. My Husband and I both have to work to afford a 1200 sq. ft. house in a small town 45 minutes out of Nashville. We both have to work to afford two older vehicles (2002 and 2003). We both have to work to pay the electric bill, water bill and car insurance. We don’t have cable or satellite, we don’t have internet and we don’t spend money eating out. Most months we barely get by. If one of us decided to stay home and we got rid of one vehicle, we could only afford to pay $200.00 in rent. We would still make too much to qualify for any kind of state or federal assistance. So we both work. But, if I had the choice, I would still be a WOH! Mom. Don’t get me wrong, I would LOVE to not HAVE to work, but I would still work. I would still send my daughter to preschool five days a week. For me, Preschool is a God-send. The group of teachers at her preschool are brave. They let the one year olds finger paint!! Preschool has taught my d...

The night the Easter Bunny was to visit our house, Zachary asked me: “Don’t you think the Easter Bunny is with Santa Clause and has Santa give him a ride on Easter?” Well you know, I don’t know. I remember asking Santa how he made it to all those houses in one night. I don’t think I’ve ever asked the Easter Bunny….anything! Now that Easter has come and gone, the Easter Bunny agreed to answer some essential questions. Me: “Do you live at the North Pole with Santa? EB: “No No, it is much too cold there for a bunny. I live in a hole in the ground.” Me: “Is this hole in the ground on Easter Island?” EB: “The location of my home is classified. Santa can give out his location since it is hard to travel to the North Pole, and the weather is frightful. My home is actually much more accessible and the weather is pretty nice.” Me: “Are you and Santa friends?” EB: “Oh yes! I am friends with the Tooth Fairy too!” Me: “How do you get all the candy for Easter?” EB: “Well, I started out making all t...

My current obsession is coupons, therefor I will probably blog about them regularly. This post will be more of a list of where to get coupons (besides the Sunday paper) and where to not waste your time and energy. Great Places to pick up printable coupons! Coupons.com is possibly the best known place to pick up printable coupons. They have coupons for everything, and from what I can tell, the coupons are very similar to the ones you find in your Sunday paper. However, to print the coupons you have to download some kind of software. Since I do not have a printer at home and have to use public ones, I can't and therefor cannot print these. Check out Purity Lovers for great coupons on Purity products. They change their coupons monthly, but currently you can get coupons for $1 off a gallon of milk and $1 off sour cream and more. Their coupons are in adobe, so no software to download (assuming you already have the reader) At Wish Bone you can print a $.50 coupon off salad dressing. I...

I have been meaning to write for a while. I have planned posts, but never got around to actually writing them. I had planned to write a post about coupons. I have become a bit of a coupon nut. I had planned to write about my first bike ride since I was twelve, and how sore and out of shape I have apparently become. I had planned to write about how my sweet, innocent two year old is now throwing tantrums about everything, including that Mommy isn't holding the sippy cup exactly right! I had planned to write how suddenly my toddler refuses to sleep, especially in her own bed. And about my hours of research and theories, just incase there are any other parents out there who are experiencing a similar situation. However, after about three hours of sleep (since that is all my sweet and innocent toddler thinks she needs these days), realizing that I am way behind at work and I just CANNOT catch up, and just finding out the me and my hubby will each be loosing part of our life insurance,...

I am a bad mommy because... ....I let my daughter eat M&M's before dinner because she was good at the store. ....I've told my toddler that something was her's so she would quit saying "mine" when in reality it was mine...or her brothers...or some other childs...or etc. ....I have answered yes to a question when I was not paying attention and have no idea what I answered yes to. I am really hoping I haven't promised to buy my step son a motorcycle when he turns 14. ....I have let my daughter fall asleep and stay on the couch with me because I did not want to miss any of NCIS Los Angeles. ....I sneak snack food behind my kids back...constantly. Yep folks, I am a bad mommy. If you have ever thought about telling your son that the boogey man lives under your bed to keep him from snooping for Christmas presents, you just might be a bad mommy (or brilliant) too!

Yes, I know this post is three weeks late, but... Christmas is a time for tradition. Growing up our tradition included me waking up the WHOLE house on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought and “Last gift of the night” where we had one last gift Christmas night when we went to bed. This year I decided I wanted to start my own family tradition for Christmas. The Husband and I decided our Christmas tradition would be to give each of the kids something that WE had to put work into, not just buy at the store. Of course we decided this in December so we had to scramble. For my daughter, I gave her all the stuff to make a cute scrap book/picture album that is all her own. She is about to turn two and loves pictures, but frequently gets in trouble for trying to handle mine. I gave her all the stuff, but we still haven’t actually made it yet. But we will…as soon as I get pictures developed!!! (uploading now) For big man, he got his Daddy’s hunting rifle (No I have no idea what kind it is...