Day 76

Saturday

Lizzy - Well I hate to say its Halloween because to the rest of the world its not but to everyone here in Utah it is. So HAPPY HALLOWEEN....to.....us.

We spent the morning playing a round of tennis which was fun. Have to get our last few games in before the weather turns south. Then we took the kids grocery shopping at a local market. They had trick or treating through each department, gave away free soda, the kids got to decorate cookies and each got a balloon. It was the first day shopping that was pleasant for the whole family:) Then we came home and cleaned the house before we bundled up and dressed up and took our kids out in the pouring rain and freezing temp to fill our bags with candy. Jack only lasted 30 min then it got too cold and I came home to pass out the candy, but Gracie did alright. The problem we ran into is that we didn't have enough candy for all the kids so we ended up using all of Gracies candy out of her bucket to give away. Now we are left  with 0 pieces of candy. WHO DOES THAT?????  

Very strange but we kept our goal of no extra spending. So normally we would have gone and bought another bag, especially because the kids are coming around tomorrow tonight on the "real" Halloween and we have nothing for them:( oh well. Its just one year and our kids are small and Gracie doesnt know the difference and my waist size sure doesn't need the extra candy! So I have to count the money saved for extra candy would be $10.00. And again I will post their costumes later when I get my moms camera back.

 Despite their faces, they did have a good time lol:)

Ryan - Not to cause controversy, but I'm wondering if even buying candy for Halloween is breaking our rules of not spending. Of course I'm open to any reasoning that will justify it.

TODAY'S WANTED ITEM: More Candy
COST: $10

TOTAL $ SAVED YTD: $3163.56

Day 75

Ryan - I called my dad and he has a phone he can give us. So that's been resolved. It may be nice to find another one. The nice thing about the cordless though is we had three phones and could keep one on each level and with the internet connection, we could have the main one connected to the modem on our computer and not get the bad reception if we were on the internet and the phone at the same time. Oh well. It's not a big thing, just a minor inconvenience. But I'm sure we will save ourselves about 30-50 by not having to buy a new phone.

Lizzy - Well that's exactly it. The battery would have cost us $40 for two of our current phones so right there is $40 saved. Tonight we have lots of things planned so eating out would be easy for tonight. We do have another coupon for a free sandwhich at this new sub place. I am sure that instead of just getting the one free med sub we would have gotten 2 plus drinks and chips which would have been another $12 or so.

(Which is their plan when sending you this coupon in the mail) However we broke the mold and went the cheap route again:) We also went to a friends Halloween party which was fun!
TODAY'S WANTED ITEM:Take out
COST: $12

TOTAL $ SAVED YTD: $3153.56

DAY 74

Lizzy - OK so I feel terrible that today was Gracie's Halloween party at preschool and I forgot the video/camera. I can't believe it!! It was the CUTEST thing ever and I missed it. So I am hoping to get some copies from friends and see if I can get the pictures posted of her class. They were all so darling and did a little song and dance and read stories and decorated cookies. It was so fun. I even put Jack in the old Chicken outfit that Gracie had her first year. The funny thing was that she has been wanting to be a princess this whole time so we pulled out a play dress and have the crown and gloves then she wakes up and decided a pumpkin is what she wants to be. This is her 3rd year being that pumpkin but I wont complain because I think she so darling in it and don't want her growing out of it:( So I get my little pumpkin for one more year:).
So our next financial challenge we are dealing with right now is our home phone. We pulled out the old thing when we switched over and I must say things are going fine. I am receiving my calls and not relying on my cell which I have had no problem. The only problem is that the batteries to these phones are all dead. They cost $40 for the new battery and we are down to one that's not working so great. So I am going to look around and see if anyone is giving away an old phone or I may stop at the DI and get a cheap one for $5 or so. That would save us some cash on buying a new one which we would have done a week ago. So we will see how long this one lasts then go from there. I will update when and if we get another phone and see what the savings actually  come to.


Ryan - I will call my father and see if he has a plug in phone. It's very old school, but it's free.

Day 70-73

Sunday

Monday
Ryan - Well, last night we had a strong windstorm. So strong that it blew off some siding on our house. Luckily, we have a handyman. I was able to use some siding nails from a job I just did and used them to secure the siding. It only took a half an hour. I figure it saved us about $50 in labor.

Lizzy - I had the whole day off and had to start putting the house back together after the storm outside and inside. 

Tuesday
Ryan - We didn't do anything exciting. I worked on CAD drawings for most of the night. I had to make some PBJ's for lunch today. I was actually tempted to go out and get something to eat.

Lizzy- Nothing exciting ryan? Well sorry for you. The kids and I made oatmeal cookies today. Then we packed them up and took them over to Grandma Mullen's and Grandpa Johnsons. We also played games and cleaned the house a bit.






Wednesday
Ryan - This has not been a very eventful day (or week for the matter) financially. Lizzy and I did review and rejoiced over the amount of school debt we've paid off since we started this. Lizzy is considering opening up a daycare to keep busy and bring in some extra income. She'll elaborate more on this I'm sure.

Lizzy - Well its not official yet. I have lots of things to read over and people to talk to first. Its something I have been interested in doing for years and finally feel up to starting it up. But until I get more information I don't want to say its a matter of fact yet. But a highly likely situation. I may get things ready and start next year. I want  to be able to stay home and still have an income (and better one) and still let my kids have their social time as well. So when I officially decide I will obviously let you know.  But for today it was our first snowfall. Quite a lot for the first day. Had to break out the shovel and boots. Hopefully it clears by Sat for Halloween. But it was still fun to let Gracie play.

66-69

Wednesday 66
Lizzy - It was back to work today. and laundry and cleaning. Nothing exciting.

Ryan -  "Nothing exciting?" It was my Birthday. Thanks. Obviously, Lizzy forgot she threw me a B-day dinner with our parents. It was really nice. and I enjoyed being with the family and visit over dinner.

Lizzy - woops...I forgot....sorry ryan..it was your birthday and it was VERY EXCITING!!

Thursday 67
Lizzy - Today I felt that life was getting back to normal. Another day of work and another day of Ryan's side jobs. I admit I have a refreshed outlook on my children. I actually wanted to just sit and play with them all day. Where before my trip I would get burned out by 3-o-clock and then the rest of the day seemed to drag with Ryan working at night. But we made it. Gracie had fun at school and went on a field trip to the barn to see horses. Then a friend came over and we visited for a while. Her little boy and Gracie are the same age and love playing together. Fun day and no money spent. I did borrow this white noise sleep machine. I would have just gone out and bought my own which would be around $20 but I think I will borrow this for a little bit and see how this goes then just put it on my wish list for next year.

Ryan - Nothing exciting to report

TODAY'S WANTED ITEM:Sleep Machine
COST: $20

TOTAL $ SAVED YTD: $3141.56

Friday 68

Lizzy - Today was great. After work I had the kids both lay down at the same time which meant I was able to take a short little nap. that was before I heard these footsteps in my room and a mans voice. I JUMPED out of bed and freaked out!!! No one comes in my house in the afternoon and especially in my room. Luckily is was only Ryan getting home from work early. He had problems with his computer and came home. It was a great surprise and helpful to have him there getting the kids ready and help cleaning before we went to LAGOON. Now don't be shocked. My mother took my whole family out tonight to Frightmares. It was such a blast to have everyone there and ride the rides. Gracie was great with the people dressed up walking around trying to scare everyone. At one point she even wanted to stay and watch the screen that had all this scary stuff on it. The weather was nice and we ate before we left so we didn't have to pay for anything. I think that will be on our list next year. Its always a good time to go in October when its not so crowded

Ryan - It was nice to go to Lagoon and spend time with the family. We packed snacks to avoid spending money at the park.Events like these help us with the lack of "$fun$" events we usually miss out on.

Saturday 69
Lizzy - This morning it was our turn to be the head family for cleaning our church building. I was not that thrilled about it since we got home late and were so tired. However once we all got up and over there it wasn't bad at all. Gracie was a great helper with the garbage and washing windows. I thought it would be a pain to have the kids there but they were great. Then later today we did our shopping for the week and went to the library for some books and movies. Then we headed over to our ward Barn Party. Gracie got to Ride a horse and play games and swing at the pinata. I didn't last long only because I am very allergic to horses so I left ryan and the kids there and went to get some socks and pants for Jack. We have waited long enough to get bigger and warmer clothes for the kids. And I am glad I did it last night because today is so windy, rainy and cold. I did shop the sales and only bought the items that were 30% or more off.

Ryan -  It's tough to go shopping for kid clothes, but it's a necessity. We were running out of kid socks and normally, it wouldn't matter, but with it getting colder now, we need to bundle them up.

Day 65

Tuesday
Ryan - Well it's been over 2 months now and I feel good about our progress with our goal. I feel we are still learning. The biggest challenge at this point has been trying to come up with creative activities that satisfy my appetite for entertainment. I love going to movies, eating out and just being out there socially. This is similar to serving a mission. at the beginning you're trying to see the end and it seems so far away. The first week and month seem are very long, but then you start to ease into a pattern and focusing on the task at hand. Then about two to three months into the mission, you stop looking at the end and you start making goals to accomplish before the time is up. At the end you think about how fast the time went by and you worry about getting back into the "real" world. You try to find to find balance in the spiritual life you've lived to the new life ahead that doesn't call for such extremities. I hope I can draw upon that experience and find balance in our spending on wants when this is all over and tame my appetite for entertainment.
Lizzy - I'M HOME!!

We had some pretty bumpy flights there and back. It made me sick and think I was going to die but overall had a great time. It was nice to see my dads side of he family and some friends and old neighbors. We went into Boston and Vermont and New Hampshire and New York. It was peak season so all the leaves were changing and falling. It was beautiful. I will have to upload some pictures soon. I got in late last night and the kids were asleep. I waited till Jack started crying and went right in. Its weird being away from the family for so long. I am glad to hear Ryan survived being Mr Mom. He said the kids were perfect and he kept the house spotless. I could have been offended that he may be trying to put it all in my face of house easy it is and why I EVER complain but instead I took it to mean "Why don't you just go and take yourself on another vacation. I can handle this no problem"  That is what I am sure he meant:). So I can't really go on about how I saved money on this trip because it just wasn't possible and like I we stated in the beginning I had his trip [;anned and money put aside before we started this blog so spending was allowed...and I sure enjoyed it:)!!! However I did walk through many places and couldn't get myself to buy anything extra. I just feel guilty pulling out the wallet. But  by the last day I was panicking that it was my last day to spend before coming home and locking the money away again. The GOOD news is that the money I had put aside I used and NOTHING more. That was huge. I had a budget and stuck to it.

Day 62-64

Saturday
Ryan - Well I'm still alive and sane watching the kids. They have been great. We actually had some grocery shopping to do so I spent $29 to get some essentials for Jack, but over all we are making do with what we have in the kitchen. Gave the kids a bath so we didn't have to do it in the morning before church.
I guess the biggest thing that's been weird is not talking to Lizzy during her trip to NY. Normally we talk each night when one of us is out of town, but since she has no cell phone, she's been using her sister's phone to text message me. So you don't get much detail and I can't be too mushy in my replies. I don't want Ginny to think I'm making any passes at her. But I suppose this is the adjustment we have made. It just feels so prehistoric, with what we have available. But it's sort of refreshing too. When I grew up, you made your plans over the phone before you left the house, because there were no cell phones. My parents still function that way. They don't even have internet and I suspect they never will. As we partake of the new advancements in technology our expectations change and we change our mindset too and make it a necessity, when in reality it may or may not be. It's true that technology is a necessity financially, if it makes you more money and/or more efficient (i.e. time = money), but during this "cleansing" process we are going through, I'm learning to distinguish between wants and needs in this regard. I love technology and the new gadgets, so it's sometimes a temptation when I see everyone with an IPhone or Droid and want to get one, but mostly it's out of curiosity.

Monday
Ryan - Last full day of having the kids to myself. We had a lot of fun. I've really enjoyed this time and I love my kids even more and understand them even more. Gracie is just beautiful and full of life. Jack is so mellow and easy going. I love it when he smiles and headbutts to tell you he loves you. It will be weird to go back to work and have life go back to the way it was. It was nice to work from home so I didn't have to take so much vacation time. It did come at a little expense. During parts of the day, I did have to put Gracie off, to do some work. I tried working while Jack was asleep, but Gracie only took one nap one day this week, so she was always wanting me to play with her. So in that regard I felt bad, but I didn't have much choice.  Overall she did well when I was working on the computer.

Day 61

Ryan - Well, it's day two of being Mr. Mom. I see the challenge Lizzy has watching the kids all day. You get somewhat bored watching the kids with the inability to spend money. It would be nice to take them to the aquiarium, but Lizzy has that membership. I tried walking to most of my destinations. Tomorrow is our shopping day for groceries, but I'm considering not shopping and using what we have now. We spent the day going to the park, walks, playing games and feeding the kids.

Day 58-60

Monday
Ryan - Well with being so busy with side jobs, getting Lizzy ready for her NY trip, we've neglected our blog. We'll I'm going to help us get caught up. I drove the car to work, since Becky had my truck loaded with branches to take to school. It's not a savings really since she's taking to her school tomorrow. Wait it is a savings, because, I"m going to car pool with Steve so I won't be driving to work.
Lizzy - Im back tracking so I don't remember this day....sorry:(


Tuesday
Ryan - Lizzy and I have been debating if buying Jet Dry for dishwasher would be compromising our goal. It ran out about two weeks ago and our dishes have gotten really bad. So the debate is spending 3-4 for a little bottle of Jet Dry that does 80 washes out weighs the 80+ times I have to do dishes. Washing dishes by hand take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day. Putting dishes in the dishwasher takes 5-10 minutes. That's a difference of 5-10 minutes. Multiply that by 80 that's a minimum 400 minutes (almost 7 hours) or a maximum 800 minutes (14 hours) that little bottle saves me. Of course, I'm describing this in biased terms. I'm still going to think about this and do dishes by hand a few times and see how accurate my estimations are.
Lizzy - I did not know that the dishes would such a big issue with you ryan:) However I won't complain since your the one doing them the most. I went to work and spent another day planning on getting things ready for my trip

Wednesday
Ryan - Well I did dishes by hand today, because the dishwasher and the Cascade were leaving a horrible residue on all the dishes. I like how the box specifically says that it "rinses away residue, leave dishes sparkling." Without Jet Dry that is completely false. At least in Utah and considering our hard water issues. Anyways it really took me 20 minutes, and because I didn't have enough drying towels, I had to leaves some dishes for another day, because I had work to do.
Lizzy - I have had mixed emotions about leaving for this trip. Gracie has been really sad and clingy today. She keeps asking me not to go and it makes me sick in my stomach hoping nothing will happen to anyone or myself while I'm gone. All those aweful thoughts come into your mind of what would happen if you died. So today I got myself packed and just sat and played with my kids all day. I will miss them!  I am happy to say that I have not spent any money in getting things for this. My sister and I both planned on what we would need and what we each had already. So tomorrow I go:) And because of the trip I wont be writing for the days I am gone. 

Thursday
Ryan - After doing three more sessions of washing dishes by hand (almost an hour), I broke down and bought a $3.70 Jet Dry bottle. I only had to spend 5 minutes loading and pushing "Start." Debate over.

This has been my first full day watching the kids by myself. No big issues yet, but I did have Becky watch them for 1.5 hours while I finished up my roof job. I'm glad to have it done and I'm sure the owners are too. I'm also working from home so, I'm trying to get my hours in while the kids are sleeping or watching TV.

DAY 56

 Saturday
Lizzy - Wow...we are all still sick. I am hoping this goes away before my trip this week. I am heading to NY for my grandmothers funeral. My sister and I are the only ones going and I am really looking forward to having some "alone time" Ryan will be left alone with the kids and I dare say I am interested to see how this goes:) But for today because we are still ill we stayed home and watched movies again. Later in the afternoon we got out to visit Ryan's parents and Gracie spent the evening playing Candyland at my mothers. We have been putting the kids to bed at 7 which has been VERY nice. We watched a movie (Fun with Dick and Jane) It was kind of funny to see how that movie is a forecast of what the economy is like today. They were spoofing it off Enron however its sad that within a few years the whole country is going through what they are making fun of. It was still funny to watch. Well so I hope once we feel better we will have more chances to go out and enjoy the weather before it snows. Winter I can see will be a challenge for not spending money. We love our 7-11 runs for hot chocolate and going out to eat or the movies would be a life savor when we get cabin fever. However...most of the "snow" related activities are free and outside so our house may have lots of different snowmen and our sleds may be worn out but we will make it work:):)
Again..no money spent today:) OOOOOOOHhhhhh and I almost forgot this big day. This is the LAST day I have a cell phone....yikes!! So here we go......

Ryan - Well this is topic to debate. I did some work for a neighbor and so I decided to to it as tradeout. I wanted to take Lizzy out on a date. So I told our neighbor that I would accept for payment a $50 gift card and two weekend nights of babysitting so Melissa and I can go to the temple. I think it's semantics  but I'm technically not breaking any rules. This also saves our neighbor money. So I don't think it violates our rules.
Thoughts?

DAY 55

Lizzy - Well it was another resistance day. I have been wanting a juicer for so long and lately we are into making lots of different smoothies. Most of them are fruit but there are some ones we  make where you have to blend carrots and spinach and stuff but our old blender leaves everything in clumps. So its been a challenge to not get one to solve the problem. I found Jack laLane power juicers that are only $100  online.
It will just go on my christmas list for next year:) The good news is I just stopped to fill up on gas tonight usually its $24 but today it was only $6. I guess I didn't drive anywhere this week. The only places I went were a few miles away. I have NEVER spent less than $20 a week for gas but this was a pleasant surprise!

Ryan - Worked on the roof job tonight to get it done before Lizzy leaves for New York. It will be great to have a break from side jobs and just spend time with the kids this weekend. I'm going to try not have my parents or Becky watch them. This will be a great opportunity for them to get to know me better.


TODAY'S WANTED ITEM:Juicer 
COST: $100

TOTAL $ SAVED YTD: $3121.56

DAY 53 + 54

Wednesday
Lizzy - This morning was another typical day at work. I did come home a little early and went to an interview at Deseret Book. They are needing help for the Holidays so it would only be a few months of extra work but that's all I am looking for. I should know by next week hopefully sooner. My only challenge would be finding a babysitter. It's only a 12-15 hour a week job so its not going to be too much. The one thing I laughed about when I left and that probably wont get me the job is that they asked me what book I read last and who my favorite author was. LOL my mind went blank and I realized I am trying to apply for a bookstore and I don't even read books. However in my defense, with the age of my kids right now I read a lot of books for 3 year olds :):) So I would not be shocked if I didn't get it lol! So the rest of the day I visited with Ray and also a friend who stopped by with some yummy treats! Then my sister and mom came over that evening with books for Gracie and just to hang out. So if was a full day. My downfall was that I really wanted to just go get some take out for dinner tonight. I forgot to get the crock pot started this afternoon so we didn't have much to eat for dinner. We pulled out odds and ends some tuna fish and crackers with grapes and pasta...just a mix of whatever. So I am very sure with how I was feeling we would have just gone out to eat tonight. $24 saved today

Ryan - Can't shake this illness. Worked on a roof tonight. It will be nice to get this roof done. It gets dark by 7:20 and I feel like I'm just getting started.

TODAY'S WANTED ITEM:Take out
COST: $24

TOTAL $ SAVED YTD: $3021.56

Thursday
~Lizzy - Oh this was a rough day. Mostly just because I  have no energy to entertain my kids. Does it make me a bad mother if we just stay downstairs and watch movies all day???? ok so I did walk gracie to school and then we did go for a walk to my moms tonight and visited with a neighbor. So it wasn't all day but I felt like it was the longest day! Trying to play make believe wears me out after an hour. No money spent!

Ryan - Got some new work from NovaSource. They have kept me busy for about 7-10 hours for the last few months. It will be nice if this keeps up. Especially during the winter months. I also got an e-mail from a past customer that wants me to do some work on his house. I'm trying to tone things down a bit, so I can spend some time with the family. I think after this roof job I'll take a whole week off. Wait a minute, I'll have to do that anyways, because Lizzy is going to New York.

Day 51 & 52

Monday
Ryan - Woke up early to feed Jack and I couldn't fall back asleep, so I cleared out my work e-mail so I could leave early from work to do my side job. I guess this is an indirect way to earn more money, because if I get this side job done sooner, then I can start a new one sooner. Not a big deal though, because I'm trying to wrap up the side jobs for the year and spend more time with the family.

Lizzy - I am still feeling ill and its almost been a week. But still had energy to make it to work. I came home and was a little tired of staying home today so after naps I got the kids up and took them over to the Aquarium. We have the year long pass that was purchased before we started this so its a free activity for the year. It will come in handy during the winter months. I tried taking pictures but my camera ran out of batteries. I have a package of them at home but realized once they run out its not a necessity to buy more. SO I better make sure I only take pictures when they mean something otherwise it could be a year without pictures and batteries...yikes!!!! Well really only 10 months or so we are just about over with 2 months. So I don't think I will open the new pack until holidays and my trip next week. But it was a fun day with the fish. We had the

whole place to ourselves which NEVER happens when I go there. It was quiet and calm. Really nice. Jack had a riot with the penguins. One of them came right up to the window and would just star at him. Its like they had some sort of bond lol! Then Gracie loves ending the tour with the movie they play in the little theater. Its one of those boring documentary films of the sea you would watch late at night on pbs or something. But she loves it and I love that it keeps her entertained:)So we had a good day.

Tuesday
Ryan - Took the day off from my day job and took Gracie to her preschool field trip to the fire station. Gracie had a lot of fun. It was nice "spending" time with my daughter and let her know I support her and love her.

Lizzy - It was great that Ryan was home to take Gracie to her field-trip I think its important that they spend time together especially since Ryan works so much and there's not a lot of time at night to go places or do things together. Hopefully with winter coming the side work will slow down and we can spend more time with him. However its always a catch 22. If there's less side work there is less money and that doesn't seem good either. But still family should always come first and Summer will come sooner than we think and off he will go again. Its like we have a winter Ryan and a Summer Ryan:)  So when they came back he went off to work on a roof and I took the kids over to the South Jordan Historical Museum and the Gail Center. They

have quite the set up over there. Theres a little shop and house and fishing and school that the kids can play pretend.

Again we had the whole place to ourselves which makes for two days in a row that have been enjoyable. Gracie just loved the place and the ladies working the center were so kind to my kids. We spent this evening going for a walk and then making home-made ghosts out of white garbage sacks. Gracie and Jack each loved playing with them before they were hung outside.

Day 49 & 50

Ryan - Saturday was a fun-filled day. I woke up an took our car in to get fixed (oil, rotars, and gaskets). I had Mike work on our car and he's always been so generous of his time when it comes to working on our car. He gave a price when he was done and it was a ridiculously low price, so I gave him double what he told me. I know this seems to go against what we are trying to do, but this really supports our mission. I went to Mike to get an honest evaluation and help save money, but not at the expense of him working for or at a loss of his time. We needed this work done as a preventative measure to spending more money down the road, but I don't want to short change friends who do work for us.
Sunday - President Eyring spoke about debt and getting completely out of it. Once my schooling is paid off, I'd like to start putting extra money towards our mortgage. I think of the baby-boomer generation and how they dealt with post WWII and the economic depression they experienced as children and how it has affected them and their mindset. Credit cards weren't available to them.They had to pay cash for everything, which meant saving first. Many like my parents, mine focused on paying their homes off first and at a below average age (my father when he was 50). My dad said, if your pay your home off, you'll always have a roof over your head. Very wise advice and simple. I feel this "experiment" that our family is doing will get us back to these true and sound financial principles. My father was always telling and showing  me how to save. It was by not spending. Pretty simple when you think about it. He has a what I feel is a comfortable retirement and he still worries that he's one disaster way from being broke. There's a lot to learn from that mentality. Some positive and negatives but I respect that he erred on the safe side and made sure his family was provided for.
I remember the exact point in my life when I got away from these principles. It was a year after my mission and I was attending the U of U and I saw a pamphlet from Citibank offer a $500 line of credit for students. I applied with the intent to pay it off each month (sound familiar?). Well six months later, I had a card that was maxed out and I needed to get a second job to pay it off. And that was for only $500. By today standards, that's nothing. But by sound financial principle standards it's a valuable amount. Unfortunately,  my mindset didn't change (i.e. I didn't learn my lesson).  I didn't value my money and my time earning it and I spent a lot of time earning it. Last night Melissa and spoke about our goal and some of the things we are learning. I told her we can't go back to the way we were. I want our money to work for us. We realize we are saving a lot of money, but we agreed that we cannot go back to how we were living (paycheck-to-paycheck). Yes we won't be as extreme as now, but when it comes to spending, we need to keep our same mindset that we spend our money to worthwhile things and place more value on our money and our time earning it. We need to make sure we prioritize the order in which we save and spend.

Lizzy - Because it was conference weekend our plans were already made for us. We spent time with our family and friends and as Ryan stated also got the car fixed and the house cleaned. Because Karl is from Ireland and has no access to Root Beer my mom gathered 15 different kinds of root beer from specialty stores around town and we had a big taste testing experiment. It was fun and interesting. I never knew how much of a preference I had. When it all came down to it Mug out did all the specialty ones (in my opinion of course.) No money spent nor any desire today. 

DAY 47 + 48

Lizzy -
Thursday was such a busy day. First thing was getting Gracie up and ready for school. Then we had Comcast come and set up our new line (yay) everything works and we should see our bills drop starting next month. Then I went to pick her up and she was very excited to tell me all about "Fall Time" She makes such cute things at school. So after the run down and some lunch we headed up to Ryan's work to visit then off to Red Butte Gardens. A friend invited us to go but the one mistake I made was not taking my cell. We were going to meet up at 1 but I missed all her calls saying she needed to come later. So in the end we didn't make it around to see the gardens:( But that's OK. The one reason we were going is that she had free tickets to get in.

Otherwise it would have been $8. I did hesitate for a min thinking maybe she wasn't coming so I might just take the kids in but couldn't justify the $. Its funny that we actually passed each other. She was coming in while I was leaving but I didn't have my cell so I didn't get the message till we got home. I think that will be my challenge. When I leave the house I am just expecting everything to work out but, that will not always be the case. As a society we rely so much on cells that every minute we get an update. Oh well....I actually don't mind:) On the way home both kids fell asleep and I started feeling sick. So when I came home we all crashed. Last night I was supposed to go to my CERT class (community emergency response team) I am taking this 8 week course on Emergency Preparedness at the fire department. Its very interesting. We get to put out real fires and perform drills.

But of course due to my illness I could not get myself out of bed. Ryan was nice enough to take the kids over to his parents and let me have the evening home alone to relax.

Today, I did all my grocery shopping. Since conference is this weekend I wanted to relax and enjoy the two days.
I stayed home from work just feeling ill again. I think I caught some cold/bug or something. So this morning was bad but by mid afternoon I was feeling much better. Tonight I am picking up a friend of my cousins from Ireland. He came in to see conference and meet my cousin again. Its going to be fun chatting with him about his homeland and my favorite place on earth:)

Since this is his first time to America I wanted to go get some fun items for his big welcome at the airport. But of course I need to stay true to this $ thing so instead he will get a homemade sign that Gracie helped decorate....its a bit sloppy but I don't think he will be too picky...in fact he shouldn't be considering I am giving him a ride lol.

Because its the 1st we put out all the Halloween decorations today, lit the
candles and made some cider. Love
 this time of year!!!

Ryan - 

Thursday - Lizzy was sick so we had a repeat of Wednesday.

Friday - Today forgot lunch so I ate crackers. Suprisingly, I wasn't too hungry. I guess the oatmeal I ate this morning did the trick. If I keep this up, I'll be able to fit into those size 4's that have been in my dresser for the last year. I'm so excited :).

TODAY'S WANTED ITEM:Red Butte Ticket / Irish Signs

COST: $8 / $5

TOTAL $ SAVED YTD: $2997.56