Year of No Yarn Update....and overall update.

No, I have not fallen into a pile of yarn and cannot get up. I'm here! Alive! Busy as a bee, but alive!

I'm doing very well on my no buying yarn diet. We took a summer trip to Nashville, Tn and I did find one beautiful yarn store and bought two beautiful skeins of yarn....that turned out to be VERY tangly and horrid to work with. So now they're pretty decorations to remind me to stick to things!

I did cave and purchase some Knit Pick Felici because they released it again. I bought just enough to have someone knit me some socks (because I hate knitting socks!).She did and they're beautiful! 

The beautiful Crochetnanigans knit them for me!! :) I love them! Totally worth breaking the fast!

Other than a skein here or there for a custom order request, I haven't bought any else. The really scary part.....

It didn't even make a dent in my yarn stash. Now life has been busy and I've not been creating daily like I used to, but still, I have SO MUCH YARN. I could go ANOTHER year without yarn and be fine! (But I won't. I'm not insane.)

So what else is new? Well we are still homeschooling! I'm woefully behind blogging updates for myself and a couple of other bloggers, I'm sorry ladies!! One of these days!

The kids are doing great and we are having fun. There are plenty of days where I wish to curl up and hide, but doesn't every mom? (They do, and if they say they don't they're lying to themselves and you should probably buy them a box of chocolate or wine, hug them and affirm its okay!)

So here's a smidge of what's been up lately!



We enjoyed Star Wars day back in May at the Audubon Aquarium. Divers donned costumes and had a light saber battle in the tunnel! Albeit a slow motion battle, but it was fun!!

We visited Nashville, TN after a quick trip to Huntsville, AL to meet up with a the great Steph of The Eli Monster! We've been online buds for years and our two Eli's finally got to meet :) 

We enjoyed a day in downtown Nashville checking out the awesome globe you can push with your hands, The Parthenon and much more!

We also fostered three kittens over the summer and ended up adopting one, this ol guy, Thor. His siblings Loki and Natasha got adopted shortly after we returned them from fostering but he hung around. Guess he needed us as his FurEver home! :)

I've crocheted and knitted a good big as well, this big project was for Eli. Yes, I made the giant shark blanket. No, I will not make it again. Word of advice...be careful with shaping of the top fin....and placement. Trust me.

So we're fully into Autumn according to the calendar, though the temps say different in good ol' Louisiana. But I'm falling it up anyway. I love fall, it's my favorite season. We've actually been able to open windows and get outside! I made this playdough sensory art area for the boys (okay, and me...). We've even done some schoolwork laying on a blanket outside that I took a super adorable pic of, but Eli doesn't want me to share it. Sigh....my babies are growing up.

Will I blog again before the end of the year? Hopefully! I come off my Yarn diet on Black Friday! WATCH OUT WORLD!

Until then loves, may your yarn not tangle, your coffee be strong and your pants be loose!
~~Amy

Year Without Wal-Mart Update

Well, here we are, almost May 1st. I am happy to say I have stepped foot in Wal-Mart only ONE TIME thus far this year!! In case you missed it, I decided at the start of the year to do a "Year Without Wal-Mart". Not because I had some personal beef with the company, but just to see if I could and how it would affect my spending.

Thus far, I can't see a difference spending wise. My husband says I'm spending more, but that's not what I see upon checkout. My Walmart purchases were usually in the 115-150 range every time I did weekly shopping, usually with a supplemental trip there (or elsewhere) for 40-50. I seem to be doing the same, just elsewhere.

I honestly haven't felt a difference other than I do enjoy going to the actual grocery stores more. We have a local chain of stores only in the Louisiana area, and they are locally founded with local produce and other items. It's very clean, neat, and the employees are all very pleasant and nice.

So overall, it's going well. I feel like I"m being more careful with my purchases because some things ARE more costly at regular grocery stores, but I also feel like I buy more healthy foods and less quickie foods. And I'm putting money into the local economy more so than a huge chain.  I really have no issue with Wal-Mart, I just wanted to see did shopping there REALLY save me more money. I honestly don't think so. Because often I was lured into the non food sections and buying all sorts of things I didn't REALLY need.

Now if I could curb my Target obsession...

A Year of Living Frugally--Update

Time for an update gang!

Well my Adventures in Couponing is 2 months in. I can't really say whether it's totally paid off yet, although I do obviously see the savings at the register. For instance my bill yesterday at Walmart went from 318 to 272 with coupons! Mind you, this was a BIG shop but included hardly no meat...it was the "coupons are expiring shop". :) I now have a plentiful supply of bath and body/cleaning/personal products. Our teeth shall always be clean in our house!!

But that is one of the points from CouponMom, you should NEVER run out of stuff like toothpaste, tissues, toilet paper, etc, if you shop with coupons and when it's on sale. Those are also items to combine savings at drugstores on and save them for easy donations. For example, a .97 Secret deodorant with a .50 coupon means for .47c you can donate that deodorant to your nearest women's shelter for a woman who has quite possibly escaped with only the clothes on her back. Will you save her life? No, not literally, but you could provide her with a little comfort and nicety in a difficult time for her.

Also, please don't forget the military. Military families on bases can use coupons past their expiration date. So NEVER throw out those coupons! You can find info on the Military program here. PLEASE follow the rules and do not waste time sending coupons that are over 6 mos expired. Remember you also don't have to wait til their expired. As you go through your coupons, if you will not EVER use the product, put it in your folder for military ones!

I will say, I have not hardly bought any meat since the first of November! I went then and purchased boneless, skinless chicken breasts, ground meat, bacon and lunchmeat from Sam's Club. I also snagged 3 turkeys when they were on sale for Thanksgiving, and 2 Roasts when they were on sale in November. Since then I have only had to buy 2 ground meats (and really only because they were on deep sale, I didn't "need" them.) and 1 bag of chicken leq quarters (which at 6 bucks a bag, makes 5-6 meals in my house, so that's a good price!).

So only time will tell if all this stockpiling is really going to save me money. I suspect that I will not actually SPEND less but I will get FAR more. I have an extra stock pile of non perishables in the garage, and have been able to splurge on some sodas and a few things for the boys that I don't normally because I saved money in the food dept. I'll be reevaluating my spending in January as that will be the 3 mo mark of starting my adventure, and we'll tally it up and see if I REALLY got more for my money :)

The main lesson I've learned is, if you'll REALLY use it, and the coupon makes it cheaper than the store brand...go for it!!

~~Amy