Fun Cheap or Free // Grocery Shopping

I recently learned about a gal named Jordyn Page who calls the fun, cheap or free queen.  I don't really remember how I learned about her, but I was instantly hooked!  She's bubbly, fun, normal and relatable.  She also isn't afraid to show the crazy insane side of rising a family.  She's a breath of fresh air in the Instagram, blogging and YouTube world.

After watching several of her videos and read her blog posts I decided to buy her Budget Bootcamp.  It was great and I've gone back to watch the videos again and again.  She offers a wealth of information!  One of her principals that I've applied and loved so so much is her approach to grocery shopping.

I've always been a grocery list maker and generally am a good menu maker, but in the last few months I found myself in a cooking slump.  Instead of making a solid weekly menu, I would get a few ideas together in my head and fly by the seat of my pants.  There were weeks where I ended up at the grocery store 4-5 times!  Which obviously came with a hefty price tag.

Jordyn's approach is to spend $100 per person per month, so $600 for my family.  She also says to make a solid menu for the week and most importantly shop once a week and do not return at all!

I started trying this at the end of February and fell in love with the idea!  I think I've shaved at least $300 off of my monthly grocery bill!  I love that this pushes me to make a menu, I no longer buy a $50 gallon of milk (walk into the store and try to leave with just a gallon of milk; it rarely happens!), and it gets my kids involved in the shopping (they do the calculating).

I've also adapted a menu making system that works just great for us.  I print a blank weekly calendar, fill it in day by day, shop accordingly and then I save every single menu- which gives me ideas for upcoming weeks.

For March, I stuck to a $600 dollar grocery budget but for April I upped it to $175.  That $25 makes a huge difference!  I'm not trying to crawl out of mounds of debt and I can afford it so I feel justified.

This morning Lucy and I made our weekly trip to the store and spent $174.  We were able to pick up some king size candy bars I owed the girls, a present for Lacey and some other items I wouldn't typically buy but that will make our week a little more fun.  I also stocked up on a few things like butter, canned tomatoes, lunch snacks for the girls, etc.

So far, I'm smitten with this way of shopping and don't see myself going back to shopping the way I did before.  This is a huge time, money and overall life saver!

Thanks

As part of completing my Personal Progress I have to thank someone or give a genuine compliment everyday for 14 days.  So far I've thanked many family members, a few friends and Heavenly Father. Today I want to thank all the people who it may not be appropriate or convenient to thank but are good people whom I am thankful for.

The girl who works at the deli at Bashas.  I have no clue what her name is but I am always so thankful when she is working.  The other ladies aren't very friendly or helpful.  This gal is so kind and cheerful!

Kelly at the Post Office.  Man, this lady has a hard shell!  But over the years we've become friends, Jared has even done a few small remodels for them and I always look forward to chatting with her.  She is your typical Postal Worker: not terribly friendly, strict, not warm, homely (but seriously, why does it seem like they all are?) and not a woman of many words.  But when I get to the counter we are always able to have  a friendly conversation, she is extremely helpful to me and even smiles.

LaDawn.  She lives a street over in a little trailer.  She is the most friendly lady!  After years of waving to her as we pass her house and she is sitting outside smoking, one day I loaded my kids up and took them on a ride to her house so we could formally meet.  She knows Jared's family very well and was full of stories.  There is just something about the way that lady waves that makes me so happy.  She fully extends her arm and waves her hand as if she is painting the sky.  It's wonderful!  One time she was picking weeds in her year and when we passed by and waved, she threw the weeds to side and gave one of her awesome paint-the-sky-waves.

Bobby Hall.  I've known Bobby since I moved her and just adore the lady!  She is the most helpful and down to earth person I know.  Just today i was in Walmart and told her I was shopping for a DVD for my niece.  She stopped everything she was doing and had her kids help me find a movie.  That's just one of ten thousand ways she has helped me through the years.  Some are big and some are small, like today, but no matter what I am always so grateful to know her.

Colleen Hatch.  Oh, how I love Mama Colleen.  She is always happy and laughing, includes us as part of her family and always always has righteous desires.

photo booth

We have a program on our computer called Photo Booth that has both a video and still camera.  My kids love it and I just love to find their little "treasures."  Here are a few

A little happier

I mentioned in my last post that one of my current favorite podcasts is called Happier with Gretchen Rubin.  Periodically, she shares short podcasts, called Littles, with a little tip on how we can make life happier.  I've listened to several of them and have implemented her advice.  This is one of my favorite Littles.

• "If all else fails, we can try minding our own business."
  
  
  In this episode she summarizes the story of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."  She tells about the children not believing their sister, Lucy, when she tells them that she visited another world.  They go on and on about how it's not possible  After some discussion, the professor says this:  
“My dear young lady,” said the Professor, suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them, “there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying.”
“What’s that?” said Susan.
“We might all try minding our own business,” said he. And that was the end of that conversation.
After this things were a good deal better for Lucy.

There are a few people dealing with situations that I just can't understand.  People make weird choices and I just can't seem to figure them out.  When I heard this bit of advice I decided to give it a try.  And suddenly, I didn't care about trying to figure their craziness out!

I'm {trying to be} baaaaaack!

I've fallen off the wagon but I'd like to get back to writing and updating you on our life.  Instead of trying to backtrack, i'm just going to start today.

Today, I want to list a few of my current favorite things.  As I go throughout daily life, I realize that there are somethings that make it more enjoyable, easier, a fun challenge, etc.  

The 10 minute rule-
I learned this trick from The Fly Lady.  Set the timer for 10 minutes and clean as fast as you can!  When 10 minutes is over, you stop- whether or not it's finished.  But guess what, 99% of the time, the job is done.  I've even done this with my kids when their room is trashed and since their is an end in sight, everyone seems to work together much better.

Urban Decay Naked Palet-

Making a homemade version-
I love solving challenges!  One way I do that is to make my own homemade substitute for things I run out of.  I've made hamburger buns, laundry soap, dishwasher rinse aid, cream of chicken soup (which I can't run out of since I don't actually buy!), wrinkle releaser, hand lotion, dryer sheets (well, if crumpling up a ball of foil counts), and so much more.  Part of it stems from the fact that I like the challenge of solving a problem, but the other part is that I know I can do it cheaper on my own!  I've been making my own laundry soap for years!  I've concocted a version that seems to work great and I only have to make two batches a year!  I generally spend about $22 a year on laundry soap.  How many people can say that!

Here is the version I use:

three bars of fels naphtha soap
one box of borax
one box of washing soda

I let the bars dry out for  few days, throw them in the blender and grind them to a fine powder.  Put them in a bowl with the borax and washing soda, give it a good mix and voila!  I use 2 tbs. per load and I generally do about 8-10 loads per week.

Finish dishwasher booster-
One of my favorite products!  I love what it does to my dishes!  They sparkle and my dishwasher and dishes don't have one single hard water stain.

The flashlight game-
This is a favorite for me and my kids. Everyone assumes a position and we turn off all the lights so it's pitch black.  One the count of three we turn on a flashlight and laugh at the new position everyone is in.  We do it over and over again and have a great time.

Wintergreen Lifesaver Mints-

Podcasts-
I love listening to something good while I work.  A few of my current favorite podcasts are:
Happier with Gretchen Rubin (my current #1)
Tell me something I don't know
Something you should know
How i built this
Grammar Girl
Awesome with Allison

Fluoride-
I found myself obsessed with Crest Pro Health Mouthwash recently but after a caution from my dentist, I dialed back my use to one per day.  In the morning I brush for two minutes and do not rinse, then I immediately use mouthwash.  After that apply I Crest White Strips (another current fav!).  In the evening I brush for another two minutes and again do not rinse, then I immediately rinse with Act Fluoride then go straight to bed.

Pure Protein and Larabars-

Would I be so humble?

On Monday morning I sat on a friend's couch who was looking for some advice.  She had just had her fifth baby (making it five kids ages 8 and under) and was recovering from an emergency c-section.  The advice she wanted was everything from how to know if she should be done having kids, to birth control, to coping with life after a cesarean.  We talked about everything and I did my best to give advice as directed by the spirit, but one thing kept coming back to me: she is overwhelmed and needs help around the house.  In my mind I thought about rallying a few of the girls from our Learning Circle to have them help but when I returned home and the busyness set back in, I forgot about it.

Yesterday I got a call from the compassionate services leader asking if i could help Andrea out a little.  I was so ashamed that I let it get that far...I forgot about the prompting and someone else had to bring it back to my attention.  I told her I could definitely help out.  I sent a text to six other girls and all but one immediately said they would be there to help!  I just love these girls!

When we showed up, one had brought two of her teenage daughters and the other brought her son to help.  Loaded with vacuums, mops and cleaning supplies Andrea opened the door in shock!  I had told her we were coming but I think the sight of NINE of us was a little surprising.  She cried as we offered our help and asked where to start.  All she wanted help with was the laundry.  The nine of us divided up and went to work!  There was laughter and chitchat coming from every room!  Isn't that what service does to people?

We worked hard for almost two solid hours.  There was only one room that went untouched, and that was her sewing room.  Everything else got cleaned and vacuumed.  Jennifer Brimhall took all of the sheets home to wash, myself, Mindy Hatch, Wylie Johnson and Jennifer Contreras each took home one or two more loads of laundry to wash and the house looked and smelled beautiful!  I'm estimating that between all of the laundry that was folded and washed while we were there and what we took home, there was about 20 loads!

I went back a short while ago to take lunch and while I was there Bobby showed up to get dinner going in the crockpot.  Isn't she so great?

By nature Andrea isn't a very tidy person, but what a leg up!  What took nine of us two hours, would have taken her eighteen hours of nonstop work....which we all know is IMPOSSIBLE!

I know it will likely be clean only temporarily, but the opportunity to serve was worth it all!

Now, the whole point of this is: surely it was very hard for Andrea to accept our help.  It's embarrassing to let someone see you at your worst.  And your home is such a personal thing, exposing it to others is very hard!  But the awesome thing is, she let us!  Yes, maybe we were a little intrusive to all show up at her door and push our way in, but she didn't have to accept our help.  Instead, she just sat in the rocker and cared for the baby, which is exactly what we told her to do.

I couldn't help but wonder how I would respond to such a situation.  I hope I never have to worry about it, but what would I do?  It's so easy to give the service, but receiving it can be so humbling and really make you rethink your level of humility.

Should I ever be in her shoes, I will think of her.  She taught me something great today and I hope to never forget it.

Family Day // Woodruff Dam and Cemetery // We spent too much family time in cemeteries :)

A few weeks ago we loaded the kids up and took a ride to the Woodruff Dam.  It's a neat sight with a lot of pioneer history.

Then we made our way to the cemetery.  What would a Hatch family outing be without a trip to the cemetery?

Here are the kids with Jared's great great grandmother, Alice Hanson Hatch.

Please don't every bury me in this ugly and arid cemetery!