This week has tested me and shown me that I do have some creativity once in a while! Rob calls me “crafty”, but I am not sure what he means by that except that he thinks I can do anything once I put my mind to it.

Paige lost her cell phone battery. She has my old phone and the end button does not work which means one has to pop out the battery to end the phone call or shut off the phone. She is certain she lost it in my van, but the battery has not shown itself yet. I found a battery from an old phone that fits in hers to make her phone work again. Yeah for not having to buy a battery or a new-to-her phone!

I fixed Dane’s backpack. The latch broke in half. I put the two pieces together and covered it up with some Batman duct tape, making sure to wrap above and below the latch too. He thought it was rather cool!

I have been working in Shali’s room as of lately getting it decluttered and reorganized a bit. I will have to change to Jordan’s room very soon so I can get my Christmas decorations out on the closet in her room. I am making room in one of Shali’s closets (she has two!) to make room for Jordan’s prom dress which is taking up a lot of room in her room right now and is in my way. That all makes sense, right?

In cleaning Shali’s room, she was going to throw out a lot of old school notebooks and folders. I have been going through them and saving the notebooks, notebook paper, plastic folders that can reused again, and some scratch paper for printing recipes from the internet. I have also been saving her backpacks that can be used in a pinch for the other kids when their backpacks may break. I hate throwing out things that I will have an obvious use for again!

On Tuesday, I took advantage of a Cyber Monday deal at the Aeropostale website and got Paige two pairs of jeans for $11.85 each. I can handle that price for new jeans! I went through the Ebates website to get some cash back on my purchase. I also purchased a new hoodie for her, but they ran out of stock on that. Oh well.

I did some Christmas shopping on Thursday and got the kids just about done. I still need to get some more things for Paige for her birthday and Christmas, but she supplied me with a well done wish list! I went to Des Moines for the state dance competition that Jordan and her teammates were participating in. On my way home, I stopped in Ankeny at Kohl’s, Michaels, and Target. At Kohl’s, I spent $104 for things for all four kids, saved $163 with sales and a 25% off code, and got $20 in Kohl’s cash. The Kohl’s cash will be good on the 10th which I will combine with a 15% off code and get something online to get another present for Paige. At Michaels, I got Dane a present, some stocking stuffers, and one thing I need to finish one of Paige’s gifts. I had a 50% off one item coupon and saved $11. At Target, I got a few presents and a lot of stocking stuffers. My saving there was not as good. I had some mobile coupons, but nothing that applied to what I purchased.

I have been watching our energy use much, much more closely. With the furnace being on emergency heat (no air pump) because of the frigid temperatures outside, I have been trying to decrease the use in the rest of the house. One of the things I have been doing is unplugging the microwave. I have a stove in the kitchen that keeps track of the time so there is no reason to keep the microwave plugged in. Microwaves can take a fair amount of energy just plugged in. I also find that our microwave unplugged may not get plugged in for 2-3 days at a time. We just don’t use it much!

The other thing I have been doing is keeping the lights off in rooms not in use. My kids need to do this more often too!

No eating out this week except once on the weekend for Rob and I while we were at the cities. If you ever go there, I highly recommend Psycho Suzie’s! Love their pizza!

We got some freebies in the mail including a small bag of coffee. We also got a lot of good store coupons in the mail which at least one of my daughters has latched onto! They love a good deal too!

A frugal tip: If you want to keep your laundry room warmer, keep the door shut on the clothes dryer. With a direct vent outside, it is letting the cold air in! Better yet, hang a few loads of laundry a week in the house and not use the clothes dryer at all! The house is dry this time of year and could benefit from the moisture in the clothes.

(I am going back to having my goals posted again. I need the accountability!)

My goals for the week include:
1. Get Paige’s birthday present made.
2. Wrap presents.
3. Spend no money unless it is gas for vehicles.
4. Make bread and some Christmas goodies.
5. Finish Shali’s one closet and Jordan’s closet to get to the Christmas stuff.
6. Write two blog posts.
7. List more things on Ebay.
8. Get Christmas tree up and decorated.
9. Scrub kitchen floor.
10. Clean up laundry room.

Thanks for reading!
Erica

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