Fun in the Snow

Oh the weather outside is frightful. We're under a blizzard warning and a lot of the beautiful white stuff is coming from the sky. My city has 4 inches so far and more to come throughout the day.

So far my plan is to spend as much time as I can inside avoiding the cold- but when I can't do that any longer here are some ways to have fun in the snow!

(I wouldn't advise eating yellow snow though!)

Use a spray bottle of water and food coloring and add some color to the snow :)

If going outside seems too cold for you right now, here are a couple ways to have some (warm) snow fun:

Bring a tub of the snow inside to play with. You can use different spoons and kitchen gadgets to explore it (or paint some more of it, watch what happens to the colors when it melts together!).

Scoop a bowl of freshly fallen snow and mix with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Once again, I'd avoid the yellow snow and would not do this if it hadn't just fallen. Otherwise I'd use a snowcone maker to make it :)

I didn't forget those of you who are lucky enough to be in a warmer climate, if you want some fake snow fun make some Cloud Dough

Breaking a sweat, without breaking the bank.

I have hit the post-pregnancy stage where I am no longer able to justify my constant eating. At first it was the hunger of nursing a newborn, but now it seems to be more like boredom eating. I'm still nursing my 5.5 month old, but I no longer think I need to be constantly eating to keep up with him. It just has become a habit. This time of year I tend to put on hibernation pounds anyway. It's cold outside, fresh food is so expensive, and holiday food is so good.

I think the biggest change I need is to get moving. I feel like the more I walk, work out, and get up off the couch- the fewer chances I'll have to constantly graze and the more I will want to eat good things to fuel even more activity. This is really difficult with a clingy baby who does not like infant carriers, at least not the ones I have tried, but it is possible. I need to work around his needs.

I wanted to wait until warmer weather, but it is the first week of March now and my MIL just informed me that it is snowing outside. Again. At this rate I will be hibernating until June. So, instead of waiting for the sun, I am going to get moving as much as I can to help get the extra weight off of me and get to feeling good again.

My plans are:

• Bundling up on clear days and walking the kids to school, then an extra loop around the block (to and from school is about half a mile)
• Just Dance 2 (from my House Party this fall) has a "Just Sweat" option that logs "sweat points" and tracks your progress. I can easily do this in my living room in about 40 minutes/day, so weather isn't a factor. I also entertain the kids with my skill.
• Spring Cleaning. My house is maintained, but I could be a more organized housekeeper. I think if I keep up with the house, it'll keep my heartrate up too. I have a radio in my kitchen that can help me stay motivated while I clean.

What gets you moving?  Do you have any weight-loss goals?

Gas Prices- how are you holding up?

Two nights ago I ran to Kroger to get a few things since we have been stuck home with the sickies. While the store was pretty empty, there were lines of cars at the gas pumps. I heard gas was going up, but didn't realize how quickly it was moving! My van's tank was full (thanks to being home all week) so I didn't get in line for $3.23 a gallon. When I walked out of the store the lines were gone and gas was suddenly $3.55 a gallon! A pretty hefty spike in only 30 or so minutes.

It is hitting our heating bill as well. Though my chart online points out that we used less energy this cycle, our bill was $66 more! When I saw that I had the urge to turn the thermostat down and put on more pairs of socks. I am also even more annoyed at the ever changing Indiana weather which brought us ice storms that shut the city down for a week and had people walking around in t-shirts the next. I am even more ready for nice spring days to stay if it means our heating bill will go down.

The more I read, the more it seems like this is just the beginning so I am thinking of ways to cut our gas usage. Thankfully we moved to a place that is within walking distance to the schools, our church, the library, and a small park. I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of walking this spring and summer! I think we may also set money back each cycle that our gas bill drops to prepare for when we need to use it again. We are also going to replace our roof this year, and I hope that helps keeps our heating prices down.

Have gas prices hit your budget? What are you paying per gallon? Are you doing anything to cut back on using gas?

Sales on Hold

Blogging has been difficult since the birth of my son. He will be 2 months on the 16th and in the whirlwind of having not only a long pregnancy but a difficult delivery and recovery, I haven't been able to focus on sales as much as I used to! I have also learned that you can't do everything. Pick what works for your family and in the end if you're saving money and able to have a life, then you're winning. Even if others save more- what matters is how you make it work for your family.

I miss it, but in some ways my life is a little more simple when I make a list, make a menu, and just go with the flow in that way rather than match sales to coupons, organize multiple trips, and walk out with a lot of stuff but not enough to make 2 weeks of meals with unless you have other stuff stocked up already. That doesn't mean that I don't feel a twinge of jealousy when I see friends posting about their coupon freebies!

I still plan to keep this blog going because there is more to life than coupons and even using them wisely can really help in the long run. I still don't have to buy pasta at full price and enjoy a bagel with free cream cheese each morning ;)

Some things that I hope to bring up on the blog in the future are:

Winter Entertainment
Christmas Activities
Frugal Gift Ideas
Menu Planning
Freezer Cooking


I do have to say that stocking up on diapers while I could watch the sales was a great idea. We went through them and I was left trying to find good deals as we needed more, which is more difficult. I did join Amazon Mom which gives 15% off of many diapers and by using that, the subscribe and save option (another 15% off), AND coupons found in magazines I was able to get Pampers for 10 cents a diaper. Add in the fact that I used my Swagbucks, not bank account, to pay for them and you've got cheap AND free diapers :D

So stick around to see more of how I make one income work with 3 kids :)