Trimming The Fat

Ever hear the statement "Everything good to you is not always good for you"?
Or what about "All things are lawful for me; but not all things are advantageous"?

With the economy in it's current condition many households are finding themselves cutting back, and if they haven't done it yet, they will. My husband and I have been in the process of cutting back for about a year now, but I'll have to admit I don't think we've done a good job of it. Why? Well for the very fact that the proof is in the pudding.

We started out OK but fell back into the comfort of some bad habits. I came to the conclusion that I just have to TRIM THE FAT. That is the reality of things. No matter how much I think I deserve that pair of shoes, that dinner at a swanky restaurant or that delightful, almost sinful pick me up at Starbucks...uh, well , hmm, scratch that last one. A girl's gotta hold on to her sanity somehow. OK, I digress. But you get the point. I gotta get on a budget, better yet, make good use of the program I already own (YNAB).

I got out my steak knives & I about to start trimmin'! Doesn't mean I'm going to get rid of everything, & stop having fun. It just means that everything is getting a true evaluation of what is really necessary. I.e., how many cable channels do I really need? Do I have to use these many cell phone minutes when I currently have a land line? Can I make better choices when it comes to driving around town considering the cost of gas? Eating out should be a nice treat, not a necessity because of my lack of planning. And don't forget about the coupons. Basically, I'm asking myself and my husband "is it really that serious?"

I firmly believe that more money is not always the answer to financial woes. So many times it is just more discipline. With the proper planning for the use of our money we can still achieve our goals along with receiving some of our wants. Needless to say, I will definitely be making use of the information from the experts I find on the Internet for better ways to be fabulously frugal, via some of the networks I'm apart of. As I begin this journey (again) I will be sure to post my fabulously frugal finds for you to try out as well. So that's whats on my mind today. What about you? Do you need to trim the fat too?....

Winning Scrabble Words Wednsday's

Are you a scrabble game lover? I am, although I'm not always the winner. I just love the challenge of trying to come up with words to help me win the game. So I decided to help myself become a better player by searching for words to help me start winning or at the very least make myself look pretty darn smart. If you want to look pretty darn smart with your scrabble game partners feel free to use the words that I post here. At let me know if your words helped you close the game.

Wednesday May 27

Lege (to allege, to assert)

Arcate (bow shaped)

Xare (a sport)

Aik (small island lake or river)

Puy (small volcanic cone)

*Happy gaming*

Tough Love?...nah, not really.

Yesterday I asked my 10 yr old to go outside to walk the dog. We were in the middle of doing our school work so I told him to make it quick and get right back inside. Well, I noticed he had been gone with his 7 yr old sister longer than a normal "make it quick" dog walking. But honestly, I didn't fret too much. I used it as an opportunity to get on my laptop and check a few things. Not long after I got on, here he comes running through the front door in the style of Napoleon Dynamite and screaming like a wild critter with his tail on fire! I try to remain calm and get him to tell me what happened. Well, he decided while walking the dog that it would be cool to ride on his ripstick as the dog ran beside him. Not only that but he wanted his sister to Run ahead of him as fast as she could so that our dog would chase her, thus pulling him on the ripstick....NOT a smart idea.

He had fallen and gotten a scrape about 2 inches wide and 2 inches long, just about down to the "white meat." Eeeeewwwww it looked bad! I went on to treat the wound. However, I was torn between completely overlooking his disobedience, focusing on the fact that he was safe and giving him a lecture about the fact that he was outside doing what he ought not to have been doing in the first place. The latter of which would lead me into very little sympathy. So what did I do? Okay, I couldn't help myself. I chose the latter. But I did it with love. I promise I did. I told him I was not going to cater to him just because he hurt himself (doing what he ought not).

Well, that should of been the end of that right? I mean I said what I had to say, I cleaned him up with fresh bandages, time to move on. WRONG! For the rest of the day, into the night and all today I've been catering to him. He can't walk, the pain is too bad. He can't sleep, the pain is too bad. He can't focus on school because of the pain and the itchy bandage. On and on and on it has been. I've tried all day to give him tough love...ya know, make him see the error of his ways. *wink*wink* but it looks to me like he's getting a whole lot of the love with very little tough.

Oh well, I tried. I guess I'm not the tough mommy I like to believe I am after all. You think he noticed? LOL!

To blog or not to blog...that is the obbsession.

So, I think I have a new obsession. My mom calls it an addiction. My husband doesn't understand it. It's not a drug, although I do derive a nice feeling every time I do it. I even get excited to see how others do it. I don't think I have a "problem", in fact I can stop anytime I want to.

What is this new obsession? *Giggle*giggle*... it's blogging! I started off with just chronicling my experiences as a new home school mom. But after a year and a half of doing it, I simply want more. I want another arena to express my thoughts and my own comical way of viewing things. So, here I am.

How did I come up with this title? Simple. My children and husband are always making slick-mouthed comments about how much I'm on my laptop....My reply?

I'm the mommy, I'll blog if I want to!