New houseplants

I went a little crazy over the last few weeks and bought new houseplants.  I found two at Walmart that were the healthiest.  Every other plant at Walmart was dead, droopy or just looked like they were going to die.  The two that I found happened to be ones that I really wanted.  One of them I had before but sadly had to get rid of.  I now have Pothos Marble Queen and Philodendron Brasil.

I also bought two different types of spider plants on ebay.  I bought a curly spider plant, which I had before but had to get rid off.  I also bought miniature spider plants.  I was sent 3 babies! 

I now have two plants at work with me.  I keep my Pothos Marble Queen and one of my miniature spider plants on my desk! 

One day for errands

Shannon is still working non-stop and today is his only day off this week.  Thankfully, it was just in time for us to pick up some things I ordered online through Walmart.  I chose the “site to store” option which means shipping was free!  I bought a Rachael Ray tea kettle in red (to match my red Rachael Ray casserole dish).  

I also bought a welcome mat!  Shannon liked the personalized mat.  We decided on the one below:

We chose the black color design.  Ours has the letter “F” for our last name and also represents what apartment number we’re in.  Instead of our last name, we choose the word FAMILY.  It worked out perfectly.  The letter stands for our last name and the word family!  It is a very basic welcome mat, but it will do.

 

While we were at Walmart, Shannon also received a call from his boss.  He now works every day except Monday!  So, he’s working six days next week! 

Grocery shopping and new clothes

We went grocery shopping today!  It had been way too long since the last time we went and I was running out of food!  I was missing eating healthy. 

We bought new pants, shirts and shoes for Kyle.  I bought "big boy" pants from Dickies.  They have reinforced knees which will help since Kyle likes to play hard!  Unfortunately, they are really long on him, so I may have to fold them up.  The waist is adjustable too.  I bought two pairs in size 7 and one in size 8 (on accident).  I guess he can always grow into them!  I bought them in khaki, black and navy blue.  Kyle likes certain types of clothes and to stray from them is very difficult and he does not adjust to it.  I bought him three polo shirts (just like his other shirts).  I also found him a pair of shoes. 

So much done!

It isn't even noon and I have done so much today!  I am doing my last load of laundry (I did two loads earlier).  This morning, right after I put Kyle on the bus, I threw away all of the boxes that were taking up our kitchen.  As a blogger, I get a lot of packages.  I also cleaned our floors and washed our mats.  Our sheets have been changed and our towels are being washed. 

In between all of that, I wrote two product reviews.

This weekend, I received a frame and my two salt lamps that I purchased from Walmart.  My poster is now in a frame and it looks gorgeous! 

Since we are moving in May, I am saving every big box we receive.  So far, I have three boxes from Walmart orders that I am saving. 

Shannon called to let me know that he will be working until 8:30pm or so tonight.  There was a call off so he's going to cover another site after he finishes his 8 hour shift. 

Valentine's Day Cards

Today, I went to Walgreens to pick up a few things for Kyle's Valentine's Day "party" at school.  They asked for Valentine's Day cards, snacks and two bags of candy.  Last year, I didn't get Valentine's Day cards for Kyle's class.  This year, I realized that the kids deserve to receive a card!  Kyle's class only has 8 students (including him).  Since Valentine's Day cards comes in packs of 32, I made a card for each of the students, plus his three teachers!  I will be saving the rest of the cards for next year. 

I wanted to get more goodies for the kids, but with such short notice, I decided to stick with what I already bought at Walgreens.

Shannon and I went to Walmart this afternoon for groceries.  Kyle also needed new socks, I just hope they aren't too big for him.  The medium size looked too small for his feet, so I bought the large size. 

Shannon got called in to work tonight!  He has to work from 10pm until 6am.  The extra hours are needed!

Grocery shopping continued

Shannon works this evening from 4:30pm until 10pm.  We had time to go to Walmart for the rest of the grocery shopping.  I bought food for the next week or so for Kyle and I.

Wells Fargo disappoints again!

I am so irritated with Wells Fargo.  They charged us another service fee of $7 and took another $5 out of our savings.  I have no idea why, since we had plenty in our checking.  We get charged a service fee when we have less than $300 in the savings and with them taking $5 out of our savings, they were able to charge us the service fee.  I can't wait until we can close our accounts with them.  I am so tired of them charging us fees!  

Here is my Tweet to Wells Fargo via Twitter (they also responded):

Shannon both jobs right at the end of the pay periods.  He's been working at both jobs for over 2 weeks and he gets paid this Friday from one of the jobs.  We're anxiously waiting for Friday to get here!  I hope we can close the Wells Fargo accounts and open up accounts with a credit union. 

After Shannon gets paid on Friday, I was going to order him some pants for his Best Buy job but he said I could wait until next Friday which is Black Friday.  His pants will go on sale on Black Friday and they will only be $10!  I plan on ordering him at least 3 pairs of pants for Best Buy and additional pairs in different colors to wear at home.  He needs pants so bad! 

Today, Shannon and I went to Walmart while Kyle was still in school.  We had to pick up a few more things to hold us over until Shannon has another day off. 

Backpack Program

Happy Halloween!  Last week, Kyle's teachers sent home a note asking parents to send two bags of candy and little toys.  They were going to make treat bags on Halloween to take home.  Kyle came home with a huge bag of candy! 

The school also sent a note home letting us know that he qualifies for the Backpack Program.  Once a month, they will send him home with a backpack full of non-perishable food for him to eat on the weekends.  The backpack is to be returned to school the following Tuesday.  I filled out the form and will send it back to school with him tomorrow.  I am glad we will be receiving free food from the school!

Shannon will be working the rest of the week.  He has to work both jobs on Saturday.  He will be working Friday night from 11pm until 7am and then he has to work the college football game [on Saturday] from 10am until the end of the game.  He is going to see if he can get off early that day.  Then he has to work Saturday night from 11pm until 7am!  Wow!  What a schedule!  He will get only a few hours of sleep on Saturday morning before he has to go to work at the football game. He will be getting full time hours this week which will really help us.  Hopefully by next month, we won't have to use my EE Bonds to pay the rent and bills! 

He also starts at Best Buy next week and they are going to work around his security supervisor job.  

Since Shannon has to work the rest of the week, we went to Walmart tonight for a small trip.  We bought enough food to last us a week or two. 

Groceries

We went to Walmart today for groceries.  At checkout, our bank card was denied for insufficient funds.  Luckily, Shannon had a credit card from his other bank. 

I just hate having to use my EE Bonds for most of this year to help support the family.  Although, I am glad that this past summer, Shannon finally realized he needs to look for work. 

We're just waiting for him to start at Best Buy.  He was hired yesterday and took the drug test.  We're hoping they will have him start soon! 

His other job called offering him another position for full time, but the pay was low.  They wanted to offer him this full time job because the supervisor job won't start for another week or so!    He had to turn down the full time job because he was just hired at Best Buy. 

32nd Birthday

I had a good day.  I did laundry and realized we are almost out of homemade laundry soap.  We ended up going to Walmart for a few things, including the ingredients to make the laundry soap.  I ended up getting a new houseplant, called Pink Arrowhead Plant. I bought the smallest, most compact plant on the shelf.  I love the pink color on the leaves. 

We also bought a Snickers ice cream cake and another dessert. 

Tonight, I made a big batch of homemade laundry soap, so we should be good for several months. 

Our beloved Dyson Vacuum

We bought our Dyson vacuum in 2005.  Back then, they didn't have the smaller versions like they do now and ones that use the ball technology that make it easier to steer around furniture.  Our Dyson is big and bulky, especially now that we live in a small apartment. 

Our Dyson is close to dying.  The hose is ripped pretty badly and it's not picking up as good as it did before.  It has been through the ringer with moving, years of use and Kyle!  Kyle likes to play with the vacuum!

I went searching online for vacuums.  In the past, I noticed the Shark vacuum.  Their commercials say they offer "no loss of suction" just like the Dyson but they cost much less.  Since we don't have $380 or more to spend on a vacuum, I looked at the Shark vacuums.  I know Shannon is a little against the Shark because when we went shopping for his Mom's Christmas present a few years ago, he wanted to get her a Dyson, NOT a Shark.  I read the reviews on QVC and Walmart regarding Shark and a few reviews were from Dyson owners.

I ended up purchasing the following Shark vacuum:

Although, I saw the one below and really liked it, but chose the one above instead because of the price:

The professional model comes with an attachment that would have been nice, but not a necessity! 

I also compared the prices between Walmart and QVC.  QVC may have cost less but their shipping was almost $20 while Walmart was free shipping!

My new Shark vacuum should arrive by the end of next week!  I can't wait to try it out!  I paid for the vacuum out of my paypal account and it's almost already paid for from my blog earnings! 

Feeling better

I woke up this morning feeling much better. I still have a cough but I'm feeling better than this weekend. This morning, I had the urge to do yoga since I wasn't able to workout all weekend. I did 20 minutes of yoga!

Kyle woke up soon after I did. I ended up taking him for a walk to Walgreens.

We went to Walmart this evening because we were out of food! Our shelves and refrigerator were pretty much empty.

This evening, I did 20 minutes of Pilates!

Grocery Shopping

Yesterday, we went to Walmart while Kyle was at school.  It's easier for us to shop without Kyle there since he likes to pull things from the shelves that he wants such as cookies and other sweets!  It is really easy to buy too much when he's around.

This time around, I noticed that both Shannon and I were being frugal with the brands and products we were buying.  I chose the store brand eggs, rather than the eggs I normally buy that are a healthier option.  I also try not to buy too many snack foods and stick with foods for meals.  Shannon usually buys Starbucks coffee, but this time he bought Folgers.  When we walked by the Starbucks display I asked him why he didn't get that brand and he said, "well, look at how expensive it is."  So, we're both working on being conscious about about the money we spend at the grocery store. 

I have even thought about buying cow's milk instead of almond milk, but I'm unsure if I can stand the taste of it.  

 

Walmart was busy!

We went grocery shopping at Walmart this afternoon.  We thought it was odd that it was busy around 3pm - 4pm.  We didn't expect the afternoon to be busy.  On the way home, we realized it was Friday and then I remembered that the Super Bowl is this weekend (I think?).

Anyway, we bought our usual groceries but also tried to be frugal about what food we bought. 

Paying it forward with food

We went grocery shopping on Monday and bought all of our groceries and other necessities.  On Tuesday evening, I realized I bought some pasta that is stuffed with herb chicken!  I accidentally grabbed the wrong pasta.  Since I don't eat chicken, I didn't want to just throw it away or hassle with trying to return/exchange it at the store.  Instead, I decided to give it to our neighbors across the street.  In the past, they have given us food from their dinner parties and he even brought over a loaf of bread and 2 grapefruits.  They have even invited us to their dinner parties but we always end up not going.  I don't know what kind of food they are serving and trying to take Kyle to someone else's house would be too much! 

I ended up giving our neighbors the pasta and an extra loaf of cinnamon swirl with raisins bread!  I bought 2 loaves but I realized I am not going to eat that much! 

The neighbor said that his daughter ended up eating 3 slices of bread and he said his son likes the bread too!  I'm glad to hear that. 

I wish Kyle liked to eat more food and not be so picky!  If the food isn't the right texture that he wants, he'll spit it out. 

Walmart after Black Friday

We ended up going to Walmart today.  We wanted to go yesterday but Kyle was still feeling sick, coughing and throwing up.  Today he's a little better.  I hope he'll be ready for school on Monday, either way, I hope to send him! 

We bought the usually groceries.  I plan on making a green bean casserole and banana nut muffins this week.  We also bought 2 pumpkin pies!  I also decided we should buy a small bag of potatoes to have baked potatoes and any leftovers can be re-heated the next day or I can add them to soups or as a side for dinner. 

Walmart wasn't as busy in the grocery section.  Shannon and I figured that everyone has plenty of leftovers, so they don't need to be shopping for food. 

I also bought a few cleaning supplies: sponges, dishwasher tabs, baking soda (to clean), and zote laundry bar (to make homemade laundry soap).

Kyle behaved at the store.  I think he was so distracted looking all around the store and he never got bored.  If he gets bored, he'll start to whine.  I think there was too much going on for him to get bored. 

Let's see if this works!

I have heard that adding epsom salts to your bath helps relax and relieve sore muscles and wanted to try it.  Since I started Turbo Fire, I am sore the following day and even several days after my workout.  My workout schedule is normally 6 days a week of workouts and one day of rest but I've been taking every other day off, if not more because of muscle soreness! 

I am using a vitamin supplement that helps with energy, endurance, and recovery but they are a little costly compared to a bag of epsom salts!  Plus the supplement isn't helping with the recovery part.

We went to Walmart today for a quick trip.  I ended up getting a 4 lb bag of epsom salts for less than $4 or so.  They also had a 6 lb bag, but I opted for the 4 lb instead.  I also bought a thermometer to use when I attempt to make soy candles (I should receive my package tomorrow).  I already have a thermometer but it doesn't go lower than 120 degrees.  I also bought some socks since I needed some.  Shannon and I stocked up on more food as well!

This time, we went to a different Walmart than the one we normally go to.  The one we usually go to is less than 6 miles away but the one we went to today is only a mile further, so it's about 7 miles away from where we live.  We dislike/hate/despise the Walmart we've been going to because every time we went to check out, we've had issues.  One time that stood out is some bitch of a customer just cut in front of us...  Every other time at check out, we've had to wait 15 minutes or more just to check out!!!  It's just insane.  By that time, our frozen food is half thawed!  They only have 4 registers open and the lines are 5 or 6 [full] carts deep!  They never request for additional cashiers to help and I noticed that the majority of their registers go unused because they don't work!!!  They always have the "self checkout" lanes open but when you have a full cart, you can't use that option. 

The Walmart we went to today was much nicer looking and newer looking.  It looked cleaned and was a little less crowded!  And guess what?  We didn't have to wait longer than a minute to get helped because there were no lines!  They had much more registers open!

Groceries is what we now have!

After we picked Kyle up from school, we stopped at home and then we ended up going to the post office, the bank, and then to Walmart!  I don't think we had that much fun at the store in a long time.  It's fun shopping for food when you have food stamps.  We bought a lot of extra food just because they are nice to have on hand.  We also bought food that Kyle needs for school (snacks and drinks).  We ended up spending over $225! 

I ended up returning some spices I bought the last time we went to the store because we used our own money.  Just 4 spices cost over $24, so it's nice to have that money back in our pocket.  I also brought a pair of Kyle's pants back with the receipt because they were marked at $8 but I was charged $8.92.  I bought 4 pairs.  Only one of the pairs was marked at $8 and the guy gave me back my 92 cents for all 4 pairs!  LOL  I should have said something, but we're both unemployed and I am not going to speak up when someone is giving me too much money back!

Pop Rocks and Boy Socks

Kyle had Pop Rocks for the first time yesterday.  Shannon bought them at the "corner store" and brought them out for Kyle to see.  Kyle was curious and he was even eager to eat them, even though he had no idea what they were.  We're never sure how he will react to new things.  He could either like it, hate it, and/or freak out.  When Kyle wanted more Pop Rocks, we gave him a little plate with more Pop Rocks to eat and he loved them. 

I picked up the Sunday paper and found 2 coupon inserts (I normally only receive one insert), so I was very happy about that!  Unfortunately my Sunday paper didn't have the Walgreens ad, but luckily I can access it online.  We stopped at Walgreens and picked up the ad (I like to have a copy in my possession so I can scour the ad and compare them with the coupons that I have) and a few things we needed.  After Walgreens, we went to Walmart for a few groceries.  Shannon also needed computer ink and printer paper.  I also picked up some boy socks for Kyle.  His "toddler" socks were getting old and he needed a bigger size.  Luckily I found the "smallest" size I could find in the boys section.  I also looked at pants for him but the smallest size (4/5) looked too big for him.  He will eventually need more clothes for school. 

Just a few things

I am always looking forward to Sunday -- to get the Sunday paper for the coupons.  I found a few in the Walgreens ad that I wanted to get.  I took Kyle with me and thankfully it was cool outside!   I used coupons for every item I bought and ended up saving over $19! 

We went to Walmart today for a few groceries. 

I applied for food stamps last week and we received a letter asking us to come in to "interview" so that they can determine our eligibility.  I guess they require all applicants to come in (unlike the former county we lived in where we did everything via mail).  The letter also stated that we may qualify for "expedited services" so hopefully we can get our food stamps as soon as possible!