The Never Ending List

Being a home owner has its perks.

Building equity
Having a detached living area from others
More room
Freedom to paint and decorate as you like
A yard
More storage
A garage


But with these perks comes so much responsibility. There is no such thing as a landlord to come and fix whatever is broken.

So we have started a home list. Things that we need to save up for and get or purchase in the near future. And I thought I would share it with you. Also the list includes just things that we need to check off our to do list.

Finish the backyard

• gravel
• block wall on the back and right side
• add trees
• add a garden
• plants
• flowers
• garden lights
• walkway
• extend the porch cover 
• cut down tree on the side of our house
• get a new gate
• patio furniture However we do need new cushions for our chairs
• finish border around the grass

Outside Projects

• Finish landscaping the front yard. Or revamp it entirely.
• paint the house
• get a new roof for the front of the house

Rest of the to-do list

• Twin mattress for Nathan
• Bed Frame for Nathan (we are borrowing one until the one we want goes on sale)
• drip system timer Just found out today that we cut through our front yard drip system when we replaced some pipes so this is done. :)
• light bulbs for outside garden lights in our front yard
• cut down our front yard tree that's half dead
• get new breaks in Donna's car
• couches and new living room furniture
• new car seats
• a new microwave hanging above our stove
• a border around our kitchen window
• plate holder decor for the wall in the kitchen
• nightstand in our room
• TV for our room
• wood flooring
• new floor boards
• new door frames around some doors
• get popcorn removed from ceiling
• fix ceiling in  master bedroom from leak
• back splash tiles in kitchen
• take stuff to the dump
• move gravel from back yard to fill in gaps in the front yard
• get a new toaster oven
• paint master bathroom
• redo guest bathroom
• new ceiling light/fan for kitchen
• dining room light
• new windows and sliding door
• new front door and screen
• new inside doors
• paint inside the garage
• get evap cooler and AC serviced
• decor for above the TV
• more shelving for garage
• new keyboard
• wiper blades
• windshield wiper fluid
• get fluid sprayer fixed
• get blinker handle fixed
• plantation shutters???
• get new door handles and locks
• get new curtains/blinds for sliding door
• get new flooring in master closet 
• finish painting boys room
• get new curtains for boys room

 As you can see we have a long never ending list (because I keep adding to it) of things to do. Plus, the kitchen, even though we have put a lot of hard labor into, may just get gutted and redone as well. Lots to do and lots of money to save to get it done. Thankfully we are making a plan and timeline in hopes of getting most of it done in the next couple of years. Its always fun to cross something off!

Couponing to Christmas 2012

Well its another update on my Christmas budget. My next post about this will have my cash out on all my survey sites. But I don't know what I want to cash my points out on so I decided not to do it this post. Its about my half way point to when I start my Christmas shopping. I can't believe it. I love to Christmas shop during the Christmas season. I refuse to be one of those people that shop year round. If I buy gifts and toys on clearance during the year, I will give those as birthday gifts. I just LOVE the Christmas season. And that includes shopping when its super crowded and busy!

Ok, so here is the update from the last 3 weeks or so.

I received an Ebates check, 2 Target gift cards and a ton of spare change.

So let's do the run down.

Ebates check: $13.88
Target gift cards: $15.00
Spare change: $6.61

Total: $35.49

Grand Total Since Jan.1, 2012:  $248.05 (41% of my goal) my goal is $600.00

Now I bet you are wondering what I am going to do with all that spare change. I could roll them. I don't mind and take them to the bank. But the easier way is to take them to a Coin Star machine. But I don't cash out for money. I get a gift card to one of the many stores they have. Because they don't take a percentage out of you total when you do that. Then if its to a store I shop at I just replace the total from my regular budget. I usually get the Lowes gift card because I love home improvement stuff!!!! Thanks for reading. Next post will be my cash out rewards and total!

Christmas Fund Update

So its been another month or so since I have update what I have to add to my fund. Its been a good month. It first started with us selling our bassinet. Let's face it, I give birth to huge babies and have no need for a bassinet. So we got $30 for it and I added that to our fund. Then I got a $10 Red Robin gift card by cashing in my Pampers diapers points. I also had a $5 gift card for buying something at Target. Then as a HUGE surprise Joel and I both received $25 Target gift cards for completing our health survey thing for our discount on our heath insurance through Target. So that's another $50 to our fund! And then the spare change just kept building up. It came to $8.13.  And you are thinking that I buy everything at Target for Christmas. Well I tend to but I would rather use my Target debit to receive an extra 5% discount along with my employee discount. So what I did was take all those gift cards and traded cash for them and used the gift cards to buy diapers  (which got me another gift card but for another post).

So let's add this all up.

 spare change: $8.13
Gift cards: $65.00
Bassinet: $30.00

Total: $103.13 added to my fund.

Total fund to date: $212.56 (35% of my goal) My goal is $600!!!!

Christmas Fund 2012

So its been almost 2 months since I have last posted about my New Year's Resolution. And so far, I think its going pretty well. I haven't cashed in any points yet since my last post on my online surveys so there is nothing there yet to report but its been building up and that's nice. I am excited for the big huge deposit into my fund towards the end of the year because of those sites.

So for now here is what I have to deposit into my fund.
11.66 in spare change
15.00 in Target Gift cards for buying diapers and other goods in bulk
25.00 Mastercard gift card for taking my car in to the dealer to have an update on something that was recalled.

Total : $51.66
Goal: $600
Total earned from Jan. 1, 2012: $109.43 (that's 18% of my goal)

Zehring Vacation 2012!!!

We finally got to go on a vacation for longer than a couple of days. We had the money, the vacation time and we were so ready. California is usually our destination because we both have family there and let's face it Disneyland is there! Along with that our plan was to see a whole bunch of friends.

 

We got to my brother's house right on time and had two of the easiest travelers ever! Zachary slept, Nathan watched TV and Joel kept of a good constant chatter since I was driving. We stayed with my brother the first night because we were headed to a baby shower in the same area the following day. Plus my brother's daughter and Nathan would love to play together. My brother, Fred, made dinner which turned out to be their pig Buttercup. Yes, you read right. My brother raises animals to eat and names them.

Saturday, was pouring! My sister stopped by to say hi and see the kids. Which is always a fun time. And then we were headed to a baby shower in the pouring rain. Love seeing my friend Kelly pregnant and enjoying her time. It was a family shower but her husband was super sick so the men ended up watching the kids while the women watched Kelly open gifts and chat.

After the shower we headed to stay with my mom for the remaining of our stay. She cooked and cleaned for us which was so nice. And food is always better when you don't have to make it. Sunday was church at my old stomping ground and catching up with lots of people I haven't seen in years. And bingo with my mom that night. Mixed in with a lot of Pete's Place (my favorite hamburger place). We were suppose to spend the afternoon with friends but they were super sick.

Monday was our anniversary. We went to the Santa Ana Zoo, aka the Monkey Zoo, and hung out all morning. Picked up more Pete's Place (Nathan's suggestion) and then had nap time and hanging out until that evening. My mom hung out with the boys as Joel and I went to my favorite Mongolian BBQ Place for dinner for our anniversary and then to IKEA which was cut short because we raced over to my friend Robin's place to hang out for a little bit (which turned out to be a little longer than planned and we all paid for it the next day).

Tuesday was the day we were all waiting for. DISNEYLAND!!! Nathan's big gift for being potty trained. It was the best day. we took our time, let Nathan lead on what rides to go on and we got free parking and an awesome parking spot!!! We were chosen Guest of the Day!

 

Wednesday was suppose to be a day of hanging out with friends but everyone was still sick and we didn't want to catch it so we just hung out at my mom's.

 

Thursday was visiting Joel's grandmothers. We had to do lunch with one because she is the busiest 97 year old ever! So she took us to McDonalds and let Nathan run around and play while we chatted. Then we headed over Joel's other grandmother and had dinner with her and we were surprised that she invited Joel's aunt and uncle and cousins over to join us. It was a great way to end our trip. Except for the fact that Nathan got a fever and was in bed the whole time.

Friday was a slow trip home. Big regret there. We stopped and saw my friend Kelly. Went to the Dino Museum (lame) and lunch, then we drove home. 11 hours after we left. So glad to be home and so thankful for the trip!!!!

Deposit into Christmas Fund

So its been a month and a half since I have started my New Year's resolution to save all the money I spend on Christmas by using online surveys, rebates, gift cards, spare change, etc. I wanted to see if I can stick to a goal and fulfill it. Plus, it would be nice to have all the money earned without having to dig into our monthly budget. So though I am still collecting points on all my survey sites, I have cashed in one site so far.

So here is the break down so far.

Online survey: $20
Ebates: $8.55
Spare Change: $5.19
Gift cards either left over or from buying in bulk: $24.03

Deposit: 57.77
Goal; $600
Left to earn: $542.23

This means I have almost 10% of my goal reached!!! And I haven't even counted the points I have earned and I didn't cash in yet. Woo Hoo!

Trying new recipes

For Christmas I got a cook book called the $5 Dinner Mom or something like that. And every meal that she has a recipe for also has the amount it cost (all under $5) to feed a family of 4. So lately I have been trying out some of her recipes. Well I have done two so far. And here are my reviews.

The first one was Bacon Wrapped BBQ Apple Chicken.

Sounds amazing right? Well, I think it could be. The sauce didn't penetrate the chicken enough so there was no flavor inside the chicken. If I make it again I will slice the chicken in half to make thinner pieces. And I think instead of putting the bacon in the crock pot I will fry it and add it later. The bacon got soggy and lost all flavor. Now Joel liked it but he tends to like bland food anyways. I wasn't thrilled with the taste.

My next one was Italian Meatball Subs

Turned out really good! Joel was thrilled! Its a favorite of his. It was my first time every making or eating a meatball sub. I was happy with the out come and so was Joel. So its a keeper for sure!

Can't wait to share more with you!