Guess How Much…

I paid for these items?

DSC_8957

First let me say that since June I’ve been doing a lot more couponing than ever.  I’ve always clipped coupons and looked at the weekly ads, but now I do a lot more.  I read blogs and get great deal ideas as well as info about free and discounted items.

As much as I like to save, I have to admit that this takes time.  Some weeks, a lot of time.  But it’s well worth it.  We have saved a lot of money over the past few months.  With me not working I feel like, right now, this is my way of contributing to the family’s bottom line in a positive way.

With all that said, everything in this photo cost me a whopping $2.17.  You read that correctly, it was only two dollars and seventeen cents.  I got all of it at Target.  This is probably my biggest savings since I started doing this and I am thrilled. The original price of everything was just over $37.00.  I’d say my time was well spent.

Tomorrow is another big shopping day as our local Kmarts are doubling coupons up to $2.00.  Last night I spend two hours getting my list and coupons together.  Tomorrow Rylee and I will be there when the doors open as the good deals seem to go quickly.

Stay tuned because I may just have another post like this one as a result.

SAHM

Those four letters bring about all kinds of feelings for women everywhere.  Some run from them while others dream about using them.

For those who don’t know what they stand for:  Stay At Home Mom.

That’s my new job title.  It’s funny because it hit me, when I was in the hospital and filling out paperwork, that my job title has changed.  Due to my company letting my entire group go in February I do not have a job to return to when my maternity leave is up in a few weeks.  So I looked at Bill and said that for the first time in my life I didn’t know what to write in the Job Title field of the form.  I decided that SAHM probably wasn’t the best thing to put so I put Homemaker.  It made me laugh because I feel this is such an archaic term, but I was in labor and really couldn’t think of another one to use.

I have a few friends and two sisters in law who are SAHMs.  They all love it, maybe not every day, but overall they love being at home with their children.  I feel the same and almost feel like I should thank my company for giving me such a gift.  Without being laid off I would be preparing to go back to work in May.  Instead I’m more excited than usual for Spring to arrive.  I want to be able to go to the park every day.  I want to walk the trail and let Rylee play on the playground.

Had I known my career would be so tumultuous I maybe would have reconsidered my decisions. A career is something you have to think about very deeply, even if for those that think they know what they want from the get go. I wasn’t one of them though. After careful consideration I narrowed it down to two options. You know what I ended up deciding on, but not the other one that I was seriously considering: getting a Nursing Degree GA. It would have difficult, it would have taken a long time, and there would be long nights. I have always been a light and irregular sleeper, and at the same time I have always felt off whenever I didn’t sleep enough. That was one of the big reasons why I decided against it. I probably should have weighed my options differently. I mean, hindsight is 20/20 of course, but looking at things now although I would have had some long nights I would have had job security. Not to mention many many options of places to work all over the country. I always hated the long commute to my job, which I guess I no longer had to worry about. I like helping, I think I would have made a good nurse. Who knows, maybe it still isn’t too late.

We decided to keep Rylee in daycare full time for the first few weeks after Brynn arrived.  I needed to get into a groove with Brynn before adding Rylee to the mix.  Now I know some people will say that SAHMs don’t have this option when baby two arrives.  My response is that they already have a routine with the first child so working a newborn into the mix isn’t as tough as all of a sudden having a newborn and a one year old to care for.

This is the end of week two of Rylee being home Mon, Wed, and Fri.  We call these days “Girl’s Day” and the other days are school days.  I think it’s a good mix for Rylee as she enjoys both.  So far things are going well here at home, and we’re getting into a groove.

Do I plan to go back to work full time?  Eventually yes.  As of now the job market just isn’t allowing me to do so.  So I’m enjoying this time with a new job title.