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!

A look back one last time...

 

This year has brought great joy. Spending most of the year in a really hard pregnancy and wondering why doctors kept telling me my baby was small and we need to keep pushing your due date back, to having doctors tell me that I wouldn't make it to July. But for some crazy reason Zachary did not want to come out. So we forced him out. I am not sure why some people say being induced is awful. I would so take that over how my labor was with Nathan. But after 9 hours of labor and delivery Zachary was here 2 weeks before his due date weighing over 9lbs. Small baby, yeah right.

Nathan was an amazing little boy most of the time! He is the greatest big brother any sibling could ask for. My favorite is when Zachary wakes up from his nap Nathan is the first in there to stick his arm through the crib and rub Zachary's head and say "hey there little buddy." LOVE IT! He is a learner and loves to try to do new things. But he is also a perfectionist. I thought he had my personality more but I am learning more and more that he is like his daddy more. A content boy with a perfectionist attitude. But what he does have in my personality is the dramatic side. So as you can see with the first two qualities we are dealing with a very expressive boy!

Joel complete a full year at Target. 2 different bosses and a lot of a new learning experiences. It also seems that his boss is really impressed with how he is doing and his willingness to work hard at his job.

I am so thankful for subbing. Jobs have come. Teachers have requested and having a wonderful friend to watch my boys when Joel can't has helped so much with our finances. I am truly thankful for how the Lord continues to provide.

We know more is to come and we can't wait. We love seeing how God moves in and changes our lives. He is faithful and loving and we are blessed!

New Year's Resolution

So last year I started doing more online surveys. I always did a couple here or there. But this year I did my research and picked up 3 more sites that I know to be legit. Ever since Nathan was born I made it a point to make nap times my rest time as well. Even if I don't sleep, I don't clean or any thing like that. It makes the rest of the day go smoothly. And now with two kids I really rest at nap time (well only when both kids are napping). I don't take naps well so I decided this would be my "taking surveys" time. I spend about an hour at nap time and an hour at bed time to do this. I started in late April last year and I did pretty well. My goal this year is to saved up enough money to pay for all my Christmas shopping this way. Below is a break down of how I did last year (remember I started late April) and my goal for this year. I cashed out as much as I can before then end of this year so I can have a clean slate and show you how I do. Wish me luck! Happy New Year!!! May 2012 be a joyous year for all of you. And may the Lord guide and direct every day.

$380 in surveys and Ebates
over $20 in spare change approx.
Recycle cans $12 approx.
rebates $12
gift card rewards from buying multiples of house hold things (like diapers) $55 approx.
Most of this was started last April
Total last year: $479
Goal for 2012: $600