The week always seems to change so much than I what I plan. I ended up spending a whole day going through the girls’ cold-weather clothing, which I hadn’t planned. They won’t need it for a couple more weeks, but now we’re ready.
I ended up with no time to sew or prune, but I did manage to get out and plant a few seeds in the garden.
The baby decided that it would be lovely to be awake between 4:20 and 5:20 every day. This changed my plans a lot!
Last Week’s Goals
1. Work on Green dress for Winter (maybe? Hopefully!)
2. Finish skirt for Winter
3. Continue to embroider handkerchief at night
4. Plant more seeds in the garden
5. Cut out new dress for Winter I also cut out a pair of shoes that I will sew for her.
6. Take pictures for tutorial
7. Spend some time organizing the pantry I did some, but there is still more to do.
8. Prune trees for Thursday’s trash (have trash cans full). It poured here! That is very unusual. I stayed indoors and worked on other things.
9. Organize part of the library I started, but the children needed me and I ended up helping them to organize their rooms instead.
10. Sew bibs
11. Praise each child each day I liked having this goal. I wasn’t perfect at it, but I will continue to work at it.
I still need to work on many things, so my list will look pretty similar this week.
This Week’s Goals
1. Work on Green dress for Winter
2. Finish skirt for Winter
3. Continue to embroider handkerchief at night
4. Plant more seeds in the garden
5. Put together items for speaking this week (I’m speaking on Tuesday and Saturday)
6. Take pictures for tutorial
7. Spend some time organizing the pantry
8. Organize part of the library
9. Sew bibs
11. Praise each child each day
I love the goal of praising each child each day. It seems so obvious, but I bet many of us don’t do it every single day. I am going to start doing this.
I try and spend time alone with each of my children every day. It is quite difficult, since neither of them nap. WHY LORD? 🙂 Anyhow, I find my two year old is much calmer if he is not sharing me.
Once you get your pantry organized, I’d love to see pictures and I’m sure others would as well!
Hi Brandy. I really like your sites & I need advice. I’m long-term unemployed, no $ coming in. I have over 10K in credit card debt—all of it from paying basic bills like electric, insurance, etc. What can I do to get out of this mess?Nicole
Well I hope your speaking engagement goes well. I live in Georgia, so I will not be able to attend! Isn’t it fun when the babies decide to wake up at those hours?:) This week I am going to try and finish up getting things ready for our new baby, I still have to pack my overnight bag for the hospital, wash some more baby clothes/blankets/bibs, and finish getting a few things we need, like baby shampoo and nipples for the bottles. This week will be very busy, my oldest son is finishing up soccer, I have a dr appt, our 3 yr old is having his b-day party this weekend, and I also have a teacher-parent conference at the school to attend! I would also like to see pictures of your pantry once you get it completed. I have been working very hard to fill our pantry before this baby arrives, I would like to be able to make it the first couple of months without having to run to the store for anything other than sending my husband for milk/eggs. Another reason is that my husband is wonderful, but he is not as likely to stay on budget as I am:) I am also trying to praise each child and spend some quiet time with both of them each day.
Nicole, I understand oh so well your situtation.Obviously, employment is going to have to come first before you can get out of debt. I would apply for seasonal employment now so that you have something coming in.Figure out how to lower you basic bills. Keep the house a little colder in winter. Be diligent about turning off lights and finding ways to use less electricity, water, etc.Insurance–make calls to see if you can get a better rate somewhere else.If there are ANY bills that are not absolute needs that you still have, get rid of them. If you still have cable, call waiting/caller id, long distance, etc. get rid of those.Get your grocery bill lower. Look for opportunities for free food. Ask around for gleaning groups. Look on Craig’s list for opportunities to glean fruits and vegetables (and nuts!)Do you have family that can help you in any way?Know that you CAN pay off that debt, even if you are on a small income. I know; we’ve done it too after times of long-term no income. YOu need to have an income first, though.Please email me if you want to talk more. brandy (at) theprudenthomemaker (dot) com
My goals for this week started out somewhat differently. The car our youngest daughter drives at college turned off unexpectedly 3 times on the freeway while she was driving home 2 weeks ago. I made her take my car back, & we put it in the shop. 1 1/2 weeks later, after a new fuel pump & filter, the diagnosis is: we can’t find the electrical problem. They only charged us for the parts & $5.77 for labor; they are good people. Monday the water pump went out on the car my husband drives, so we had no transportation. A friend drove me to the car place & I picked up the “bad” car. 1) So that made my first goal for this week to find a replacement car. Started online & printed off a few possibles. Started with the 2 closest to us, & since my husband was ill, I brought them home on test drives so he could look at them. The 3rd one was a keeper, & I was able to see it & “test drive” it home from the home of the dealer in Springville, instead of the office in Orem, so saved gas $ & driving “bad” car stress. We bought a used Malibu yesterday that meets the need & under budget by $1,500. Paid for it with Discover, so we will get slightly over $100 back in cashback bonus, & the credit bill will be paid with $ from the emergency fund. Good news is that it won’t wipe out the fund! We pick it up today, but the price included plates,& registration/stickers, so all we need to do today is insurance.2) Continue to work on organizing & expanding the pantry.3) Finish digging the carrots & parsnips out of the garden.4) Buy more apples at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday. Usually I can glean apples, but this year there have been none offered. – Marivene
Hi!I organized the pantry and the freezers waiting for turkey sales at WalMarts.I took my daughter’s car to a neighborhood car garage for repairs instead of taking it to a Ford dealership.I bought my chldren coloring books at a discount store and we colored together. Pat
Hey Brandi,curious what type of shoes you are making for your daughter? Making shoes is a hobby of mine but I only make soft shoes would love to make some more grown up ones for my daughters now that they are growing up a little.