Three Things Thursday ...

Preview - Over the past week, I've had a lot of kid time. Between Dizzle having Strep, J traveling and school closings due to snow, I haven't had any kid free time since last Friday (when I abandoned Dizzle in the clinic for two hours because I didn't run with my phone). And as much as I love my children, it gave me a little dose of reality when it comes to Summer vacation and training for Rev3 Cedar Point, where I hope to cement my standing in the Rev3 Age Group Series.

It's going to be hard. Like epically hard.

When it comes down to it, I really strive to keep my family time and my training time separate. I will wake up early or stay up late. I will use every second of my kid-free time (school, play dates, etc) to train. I hate to make the girls or J feel like I am neglecting them because I have decided to take on a 140.6. This is my dream and while I need their love, support and help, I don't think they should have to suffer for it.

So, I do what I have to do. I train early. I train late. I train during school and play dates and practice. I try my best to keep everyone happy. Sometimes, it all goes perfectly. And sometimes, like this morning, it's a complete disaster.

Dizzle and Doodle had a two hour delay today (Dilly doesn't go to school on Thursdays). Knowing we had some flexibility, I fed the girls breakfast and had them ready to walk out the door before 8 a.m. Perfect. That gave me an hour and twenty minutes to run 45 minutes on the treadmill. I told the girls my plan and asked them to stay in the living room while I ran. They said OK, so I reminded them to behave, not fight and come get me if they needed anything.

The peace and quiet lasted for 11 minutes. At that point, Dilly had already come into the room I was in crying. I paused the treadmill and told them to come watch TV in the room with me so that I could watch them. All that did was move the fighting closer to me. Within minutes, Doodle was sent to her room. By the time I finished, there was complete chaos and I was left thinking, how the heck am I going to do this all Summer?

Snow Day - This morning's dramatic episode aside, our little snow vacation from school was pretty awesome. The girls and I had a blast hanging out with each other and after the three hours it took for us to put on all our winter gear, we spent our morning in the snow.

it was kind of bright out there ...

It's the moments like this that make me appreciate that I get to stay at home with these little buggers. Even if they drive me batty ...

my snow babies ...

Cutting the cord - J and I are seriously considering cutting our cable service. We pay a fortune, have a zillion channels we NEVER watch and we know there are better options out there. Currently, we have DirecTV and have for nearly a decade. Our current home does not have cable jacks, so if we go with a non-satellite option, we would have to have them installed (even if we went with FIOS, which we have for internet and phone). Oh, and we don't have a HD TV, meaning that Apple TV is not an option for us.

Anyway, I (since I am the one doing the research) am leaning towards a Roku box and getting Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime subscriptions. If I am calculating this correctly, aside from the purchase price of the boxes, it's going to cost us $271 a year for streaming video ($8/mo each for Netflix and Hulu Plus and $79/year for Amazon Prime) or $367 a year if we also decide to add the DVD rental option to Netflix. That's a $900-$1000 a year savings. Seems crazy to me to keep what we currently have.

So, I want to know, have you cut the cable cord? What do you miss? Do you have any recommendations on boxes or subscription services?

we eat a lot of food ...

Over the past few weeks, I have received several emails asking about how we stay on budget when it comes to grocery shopping. And while I would like to say that I am super amazing and spend a minuscule amount of money each week, that would probably be a lie. I'm sure lots of people spend far less. Just as I am sure that lots of people spend much more.

Either way, I have decided to share what works for our family. Maybe someone will get something out of it. Or maybe you will all get a peek at the ENORMOUS amount of food my family consumes. Who knows.

1. Track your current spending habits. J and I use Quicken to track all of our expenses. By creating a report, we were able to determine how much we had spent on groceries and household goods over the last year. For us, this number was around $1,000 a month.

2. Based on your current spending habits, budget a number that is REALISTIC for your family. I knew that cutting our spending to $500 a month wasn't going to happen. Instead, we cut our budget to $800 and with smart spending, almost always have cash left over.

3. Know what is in your pantry and freezer. Having a good idea of what you already have on hand will help keep you from buying things you don't need. I have found that I can "fill the holes" when I go shopping and have very well rounded meals. Also, knowing what you have and then using it in a timely fashion helps to minimize food waste and saves money. Here's how I keep track of what we have on hand:

4. Join a wholesale club. J and I do much of our shopping at a wholesale club, which is especially good for items that your family uses in high frequency. We have found that the biggest money savers at stores like this (except if there are HUGE sales at your grocery store) are cereal, hummus, tortillas, diapers, wipes, assorted household goods, lunch meat, cheese, yogurt and proteins. (Note: buying in bulk only works if you do your research and if you use the products. Just because it comes in a big box doesn't mean it's any cheaper than buying a bunch of little boxes. And if you throw half of it away, well, that's just wasted money.)

5. Use coupons. And shop somewhere that doubles them. Some people are coupon crazy and that's cool. It's just not my thing. We clip coupons for the items we use from the Sunday paper and try to match them to sales at our grocery store. The only time I use a coupon on an item that is not already on sale is if we really NEED it or if we will eventually use the item and the coupon is about to expire.

6. Shop the per ounce price. Most stores label their shelves with the per ounce or per 100 price. When there are packages of varying prices/brands, I almost always go with the one that is cheapest per ounce.

7. Make a list and stick to it. A well-planned shopping trip can keep you from spending money on items you don't need. I have the rule that if it's not on the list before we enter the store, it can't be bought until the next shopping trip. (J is more lenient with this rule.)

8. Shop once a week. J gets paid twice a month, so we look at our food budget as $400 for 15 days and we break apart our shopping as follows.

Week One: Stock up on items to last the full two weeks. Purchase more costly items like diapers and meats.

Week Two: Restock perishables (milk, fruits, veggies) and "fill the holes" in our pantry.

9. Shop the sales. 10 for $10 sales are awesome. Especially if you can match them up with a coupon. When the items we consistently use are on sale, we stock up (as long as we don't already have a bunch on hand).

10. Eat like a vegetarian. I've switched to a pescatarian diet and J and the girls only eat meat (usually turkey or chicken) about twice a week.

How do you save money on food?