School Time Savings

Are you tired of going broke paying for all the school supplies, clothes and shoes? Well so was I. So I stopped the school games and started saving money. Whether you have one child or four like myself you can use these tips and save money. 

Inventory check
I go through all my girls clothes and shoes.  My oldest hands down out grown clothes to my middle daughter. If she fits anything it goes into her closet.  If its too big it goes into a box for later. Same goes with my middle daughter. Everything out grown goes to my twins.  Into the closet or into the box.  Anything not wanted gets donated to a friend or person in need.  This clears their closet for new things for school.
This is a great time to check their school lunch bags, containers and water bottles. Add any of this to the list if you need it. 
I then write down each child's name with their size of tops, jeans and shoes.  I keep this note in my purse for when I am shopping.  Check off what we get along the way.  This way I don't buy things too big or small. 

Put the word out!
Let your friends and family know your on the hunt for clothes for your children.  My sister sometimes gives my twins things that my niece has out grown.  You can post on your Facebook that you need stuff.  Also tell your friends you will take anything they want to throw your way.  But keep in mind to do the same! Let friends/family know when you have stuff to give away.  This is the best tip ever for getting things for free and no money out of your pocket. 

Shopping time!
Instead of going to the store to buy new items I go garage sale shopping. It's another form of recycling! Clothes are already worn in and are 90% less than new clothes.  Shoe's are also a great price! I also keep an eye out for lunch boxes, backpacks and food storage containers that are not plastic.  I try my best to find what I can at great prices.
Another way to save is shop at Goodwill Outlet's.  They sell everything by the pound but you have to dig to find anything.  Nothing is sorted and its best to bring a friend/family member who knows your kids sizes.  Dig like crazy and meet up ever so often to trade clothes you found for each other.  The more you buy the better the price.  And be prepared to stay for a few hours. Trust me its worth it. And don't forget to bring your own bags to bring them home!

Thrift Stores
When I'm having a hard time finding something and there are only a few weeks till school then and only then I will go to a thrift store. They have used clothes with no holes or stains and are sorted in sizes.  But they will be a bit more money but still not as much as retail. 

Retail Stores
Only after I have tried all the above tips will I actually step foot into a retail store. If my girls need under garments I will buy them. But only if they have out grown theirs and need a larger size.  Why buy more when they have them already? School time doesn't mean new clothes people.

Online
I resort to buying online only if I cannot find it local at a good price.  If your not worried about buying local then online is the way to go.  Lots of sales and clearance.  Keep in mind that you still have to pay shipping so take advantage of free shipping if you can. Don't forget you can find things free online too.  freecycle,  craigslist and sometimes even Facebook have free forums for just about everything.

These rules can apply to school supplies too!

School Supplies
Each school will have a list on their website of what each grade needs to bring to school.  Most are shared items for kids in lower grades and will not only be used by your child.  My kids get to bring home stuff at the end of the school year and we just stash those until the first day of school.  I go through all those items with my list of stuff they need.  I then make a list of what they need.  I have yet to have a teacher return any supplies we already had.  Why let those supplies go to waste? Why spend money when you don't have to?

My mother is obsessed with buying school supplies. She has been my whole life. Yep even when I was older and moved out. Now that I have children she likes to buy them things.  So I usually send her a list of what we didn't have at home and still need.  She gets to buy school supplies and we save money. Its a win win situation for me. Thank you mom!

For those who don't have an obsessed mom I would keep an eye out for sale flyer's.  Remember the closer to the first day of sale the better the sales.  Some stores drop their sales on the week before school hoping to cash in so keep that in mind. 

Last but not least don't forget to keep the earth in mind. I keep an eye out for plastic free package, things made with recycled materials, and sturdy items that we can use year after year.  If you invest a little in well made products you will be able to use them for a long time.  Cheaper doesn't mean better! The cheaper items are usually made of some sort of plastic, poorly constructed, or just plain junk! Also remember to buy from local companies (to you) if you can.  Keep your money in your own state is supporting a local family.

Lunch time!
You can easily find fabric snack bags but be ready to pay the price for them.  You can save money by either finding a great sale on them or google instructions on making them yourself.  Keep an eye out for fabric sales! Let's not forget organic fabric!  I also use small mason jars for things like fruit.  Only use those with kids that can be careful when opening them and not drop them.  I will be replacing them with metal ones as soon as I find a good sale on them.  You can pack your own silverware and fabric napkin.  Don't buy paper/plastic disposables! The kids can empty their lunches when they get home and everything can be washed and reused the next day.  We use stainless steel water bottles and fill them with water.  If you pack anything else there is a high possibility of them not getting to the sink and juice/milk will go bad.  I usually pack a sandwich, fruit, crackers/pretzels and then a water bottle. 

One last note
You don't have to buy everything before school.  Let's not forget the after school sales. Retail stores are wanting to get rid of school items and moving onto Thanksgiving/Holiday items.  This is the perfect time to find metal soup containers, fabric sandwich bags, and water bottles.  Maybe you need that important graph calculator? Keep an eye out for that. You can replace things as you go as well.  Out with the plastic containers when you find a metal/glass one.   Just because something says its BPA free doesn't mean it is.  Trust your gut and go with the good stuff.  Maybe try getting one thing out of each check.  This way your not going broke trying to buy everything.  Eventually you will get everything done. 

Oh yeah and don't forget to not stress.  It's not worth it. Really.

Did I forget anything?
Have a tip you want to share?
Leave a comment, share this with your friends/family and lets help each other out.

Go Green, Get Fit Challenge Week 5 with a side of kindness

Week 5 of the Go Green Get Fit Challenge I decided to spend some time in nature while getting some exercise.  My oldest daughter had soccer practice at Commonwealth Park so this was the perfect time to get out in the air with the kids. She could have practice and I can go walk around the pond with my other 3 girls. It was a perfect 75 degree night so I packed a blanket and good old tried and true UNO. Woot!

There are so many things to do here but we always like to sit and look at the pond for a few minutes first.  This lake is so peaceful that you literally could take a nap easily here. From people fishing, kids playing soccer, kids on the play structure, people walking, people jogging, and then the people having a picnic. Its still nice and quiet.

The girls favorite part of the pond is all the underwater life.  I love that all my girls are so curious about nature.

We started our walk as soon as my daughters team mates showed up.  This park has a great path circles around the pond and is only about .8 miles long.  Enough to keep my girls busy and not bored. That's an A+ in my book. 

The twins lead the way hand in hand.  This rarely happens so I had to get proof for my husband. I just love sisterly love :)

Look what I found mama!

 For you mama!

And this is why we love this park so much. BABY DUCKS!!!! I mean come on?

POOF!!  Just like that they are gone. There were about 3 tiny baby ducks doing this over and over again.  Who needs TV when you have this? All we needed was popcorn. And then I would throw it out for the ducks instead of eating it. Hoping no one would catch me. No feeding ducks allowed here :( Then I am sad.

And then we were of again. There are several post with doggy bags along the path.  One of my girls found this little card. What a lovely gift someone left us.

I just love this.  Someone took time out of their life to write this card for others to enjoy.  I wonder how many people have read this already and how many will read it. Inspiring for sure!

My personal favorite part of this day was all the trees. My girls run up to them and hug them.  I love my little tree hugger girls!

 Well I love trees and this. My walking hand in hand with the girls is becoming limited.  They are older and don't need me to hold them up very often anymore.  I snuck in this picture so don't tell them!  What a wonderful night it was.  We came back to our blanket and had a hour long UNO game which a 7 year old beat the pants off of me. My days are crazy filled with chores, grocery shopping, being a taxi, and lots of other things all with 4 kids running circles around me. Tonight was so relaxing and it was just what I needed.

It's not too late to join the challenge!

We still have 7 weeks to go!

Join for free and share with me your goals.

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Go Green, Get Fit Challenge Week 4 Hard Labor

 Last week my husband built our deck and I saved all the left over lumber because I knew I could make some small garden beds from it. Look how pretty they turned out.  I nailed them together and slapped some linseed oil all over them. Now where to put them.....

I like to take advantage of every square inch of my garden area.  I picked up some seed's for my winter garden and finally decided where to put my beds.  2 on either side of my garden gate will be perfect.  I had a small rectangle garden box with flowers here and I would much rather have some edibles here instead.  I planted beans on the right and chard on the left. 

On the left side of the gate I have come cement blocks I re purposed into planters.  My are doing very well here so I decided to leave them as is.  I simply put the beds in the front of them.  Radishes on the right and carrots on the left.  Ive never grown radishes or really ever liked them but I'm determined to start liking them.  I also want my girls to experience every single vegetable so there's no time like the present!

 I then moved some wooden garden box beds so I could make room for 2 more garden beds.  Here I planted romaine lettuce on the right and broccoli on the left. 

Instead of buying organic dirt I just used our compost dirt.  Since I don't turn it often this is dirt 3 years in the making. Yeah I'm kinda lazy.  Its beautiful dirt and the seeds should thrive off this stuff. 

 Last week I put straw around all my cucumber and pumpkin plants.  Its been in the 80's all week and I have had to water 2x a day.  Now when I water the straw should keep the water from evaporating so quickly and now I only have to water once a day. Woot!  My tomatoes are coming along good and I even have some flowers!

 We moved our bench away from our fireplace and leveled it.  I will be planting my jasmine plants on either side to grow up the side of the bench. Can't wait! Jasmine is just so beautiful and smells wonderful.  On the right side of this bench I had to dig up a huge mound of grass.  Since the dirt was so hard it took me forever and I felt like I was having a heat stroke. Tomorrow should be cloudy so jasmine can wait till then. 

 We had a 2 story play structure in that big dirt area you see here. My husband demolished the first story and then his friends helped him move the top story up in that back corner behind the bushes and tree's.  This is our girls private play area now. Now we have a big area to decide what to do next with.

Can you see the playhouse? We want our girls to have their own space to play as they want and this turned out perfect.  Our willow tree will be getting bigger and should help out with the privacy.  There is also a apple tree (cut down before we bought this house) that has started to grow and another tree which I have yet to determine what it is.  Once this has filled in it should look better.

 While we were doing yard work the twins washed their barbie clothes and hung them to dry.  Also hung are stuffed animals and anything else they could get their dirty little fingers on. It kept them busy so I can't complain!

Lulu had decided that the brooder isn't good enough so she lays her eggs in this corner. Nope no cedar shavings just poop and straw is what she likes. Darn chicken!

So as you can see I didn't have time to run at all.  I literally have not ran since my race on the 4th of July.  But as you can see I did do some hard labor! I'm just happy I got my winter garden in and going finally.  I will also be planting things as I take things out.  Its a unorganized organized garden. Make sense?  

So did you get out and get fit? Or did you get sidetracked like I did?

Are you joining the Go Green Get Fit Challenge?
If so did you complete any of your goals?
Share with me!

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Can you say yummy?

The garden is finally getting going.  The worst time for me is the waiting period.  You know, when stuff is growing but nothing is ready to eat. This is when I start talking to the plants and threatening them.  "Grow me some produce or your out!"  Of course they never listen to me. But then again neither do my children....I'm beginning to see a pattern here....

 I totally forgot what this flower is.  Its just beautiful right now and the bees are loving it.

 This month I have been able to go to the garden and have raspberries for breakfast.  The chickens are loving this because if I find any bug infested raspberries I toss them into the coop. They love raspberries. Heck they love anything you toss their way.

 Soon I will have some blackberries.  This is a thorn less blackberry I bought last year but am too afraid to plant it into the ground.  I just don't want a over growth of them.  I might plant them next to my raspberries in the retaining wall.  Not sure just yet so for now they stay in a large pot. 

 Its been in the upper 80's here in Portland Oregon.  Today I put some hay down hoping that the water will not evaporate and keep my plants nice and healthy.  I have been having to water them 2 times a day and my water bill is high enough. 

 My tomato plants are finally getting bigger. My tomatillos have flowers on them so that's good.  Its my first year growing them and I hope I can harvest lots of them.  I planted about a dozen different tomato plants this year. My goal is to can as much as I can so I will never have to buy tomato sauce.  We will see....

I only planted one type of runner this year.  Scarlet beans I do enjoy eating but I REALLY enjoy watching them grow. What a beautiful plant this is. Just look at those red flowers! Love love this!

I planted a few echinacea last year but they never blossomed.  This year they are blossomed and just beautiful.  I LOVE them! After they bloom I will transplant a few in my back yard for more color.  So far my back yard consist of calla Lillie's and green trees only.  They should add a nice touch of color.

 I'm happy to report we are finally getting beans producing in our garden.  We call these magic beans because it was a way to get our girls to eat beans.  They love watching these beans change from purple to green when cooked.  They are called Burgundy beans and are a nice addition to any parents garden. 

 Although yellow wax beans are not really flavorful they are beautiful. So I grow them each year just to add another color into our meals.

 I didn't plant these but they are a welcomed addition to the garden.  Our front yard was a bit drabby so this makes it all the more pretty. 

 Hens and chicks are starting to bloom as well.  These were my gram's and when I was able to get her birdbath I kept the hens n chicks in it just as she would of wanted it. 

 I have 2 varieties of blueberries in my front yard.  Right now were getting a smaller blueberry but soon we will be getting large berries from this plant. The blueberries growing in my garden are for the girls to eat at will.  All U Picked ones go into the freezer for treats all year long.

This weekend my husband built a new deck in our back yard.  Our last patio was concrete and not level at all.  Most of it was sunk into the yard and anytime it rained it would flood a bit.  Then the kids would drag dirt into the house. We built our own deck for about $1,400.  If we had someone built ours it would of cost well over $3,000.  We just love building things ourselves. 

My next project is to harvest all my mint and lemon balm.  I will be cutting it and dehydrating it for tea.  I need to do this soon because it will start blooming in a few weeks.  The bees LOVE these when they bloom and I can't get anywhere near them.  Must do this soon!

Go Green, Get Fit Challenge Week 3 Foot Traffic Flat

3 weeks ago I signed up for the Go Green Get Fit Challenge along with about 30 other bloggers. My number one goal was to run 5K in the Foot Traffic Flat.  Ive done many races over the last few years so I knew what I was getting into.
  This year I think my body has decided to feel old. I have never had any physical issues with running and its been as easy as breathing for me. In December of 2011 I started having hip pain and went to my doctor about it. After a x-ray they found that I had a chip off my hip joint which they think happened when I gave birth to my twins in 2004. Well ever since then I have had serious hip pain whenever I run. 

And now every time I think of running or training for a race I literally cringe.  I knew if I do run I will have days of pain because of it. Ugh. I told myself I wasn't going to do the race and actually gave excuses to myself for it. The shuttle buses were sold out and I had not picked up my race packet with my number in it. Then 2 days before the race my friend Tessie called me and offered to pick my bib number up and wanted to carpool with me. Uh oh. You know what this meant? I couldn't give any excuses anymore! That's right Nancy suck it up and get your ass out on the pavement!

So 5am I woke up and drove out to my friends house.  She was running the 12.5 mile half marathon and I was running the 3.5 mile 5K.  I was running this race with absolutely no training what so ever.

 Here I am half way through the race. I started in the very front but quickly was passed up by the faster runners. I has to stop and walk a few times because I just couldn't catch my breath.  This was a first for me so I knew I was wrong by not training.  I had this self confidence because of running so many races before. Yep I was cocky. Reality check!

And here I am running at the half way point.  I was still hanging in there pretty good. I kept at it and didn't give up.  When my side hurt I would walk. REALLY FAST! When my side cramp went away I was running again.  And then I crossed the finish line.  It was then that I was thankful for not giving up.  I was thankful for Tessie calling me and dragging me out there. And I was thankful for the free strawberry shortcake promised to all runners. I'm not gonna lie. It was damn good.  I then waited in the grass for my friend to cross the finish line.  I was her cheering squad!

I can happily cross off one goal and will think up another goal to add to my list.  After this challenge I think I will just keep adding goals and finishing goals. Not only is this a great thing to keep myself healthy but its also a great ego boost.  Keeping me on track and hopefully keeping me busy and my hip pain will go away. 

So are you up for a challenge? We still have 9 weeks in the challenge and who doesn't love company during these? I know I need them.  Here are some easy ways to get involved

You can follow my progress
Go Green Get Fit Challenge
Go Green Get Fit Challenge Week 2 Sore Buns

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Just toss it in .....dinner.

 This is what we had for dinner.  I call it my "Just toss it in" dinner. lol. When I need to use up some produce I usually make a soup.  To start off I had some chicken broth I made.  I had baked a whole chicken for dinner one night and boiled the bones to make broth. I tossed the broth in a pot and on the burner it went.

 Here we have some cabbage, carrots, kale, celery, and asparagus.  All in bite size pieces so it would cook faster.

 I had 3 sweet potatoes my friend Theresa (thanks!) gave me so I throw those in.  I like a mixture of salty and sweet in my soup. 

Then I headed out to the garden and pulled one onion, some chard, some bok chou, 2 burgandy beans, 2 snap pea's and some kale.  My garden is just going so I literally only had a few beans or peas. Can't wait till they give me more. Yummy!  Then I let the food simmer for about 20 minutes. I didn't add any meat becase I forgot to bring some out of the freezer. Instead I tossed in a jar of my already cooked organic white navy beans. Love those beans in soups. All it needed was some salt but I added some herbs in for good measure. Pretty much everything I had on hand.

So there ya go.  My just toss it in dinner. It was good. Damn good if I must say so myself.

Go Green, Get Fit Challenge Week 2 Sore Buns

On Thursday instead of driving up to the store we rode our bikes. When I say we I mean me and the 4 girls in tow. There are many lights, a highway, a under pass and lots of hills involved in this trip.  I packed water and home made dehydrated banana chips for energy and pit stops along  the way. We recently invested in a small bike trailer that I tow behind my bike. And yes that is my bike you see there.  A vintage 1950's with a new paint job but original seat and everything else. Old school brakes, old school single speed and old school hard as hell seat.   In total our trip was about 4 miles.  I'm feeling all 4 miles on my butt today. Can you say sore? But we rocked it and it feels good knowing we had exercise and didn't need a car to get where we wanted. We will do this often!

 This week we will be eating snap pea's.  I just love how they climb up anything you put out or them.

 Bok Choy is starting to bloom so I will be making soup tonight and tossing that in. Should be super yummy!

 I have lots of kale up and growing. Maybe I will dehydrate them into kale chips. Mmmm kale chips!

 I think we will be eating green, yellow wax and burgandy beans later this week. I didn't plant as many this year so we will be eating them fresh and not freezing them.  My kids kinda got sick of them last year. I didn't know there was such a thing as too many beans. Who knew!

 Last year I planted echinacea but it didn't bloom. This year they are twice the size and ready to bloom. Can't wait! I will need to research how to harvest them so I don't have to buy anymore.  We use it often when we are sick.

 One of my blueberry plants is finally giving me some blueberries. And when I say some I really mean about three of them. My girls love eating out of the garden and these are their favorite snacks. I will be heading out to U Pick them very soon. This year I plan to make blueberry jelly and freeze lots of them so we can eat them all year long. My raspberries are full of fruit this week and what the slugs are not eating we are. Slug eaten ones are tossed into the chicken coop for a treat. The chickens love rasperries and strawberries. Heck they love anything!

Last but not least my geraniums are finally blooming. I love the beautiful red color and the sweet smell they give me. It's been a good week and I am happy to report this Go Green Get Fit Challenge has me getting off my butt and up and motivated.

My fitness this week

Taking a 4 mile bike ride with the kids.

Playing Wii 3 Just Dance with my girls. Seriously you can get a good work out with that game.

Turning off the tv and just enjoying the silence.

Opening up all the windows and enjoying this lovely wind blowing through and into our home.

Tonight we are doing our yoga DVD

So have you joined the Go Green Get Fit Challenge yet?

What are you waiting for? Go sign up and start getting your ass on  the move!

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