more money! :)

first of all i will do this for Karen :)

Four things about me:
A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Door to Door insurance sales rep (no shit! it sucked!)
2. Supermarket Butchery shelf filler upper!
3. Receptionist
4. Accounts Payable

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Grease
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Forest Gump
4. Number 2

C) Four places I have lived:
1. Auckland
2. Ruakaka
3. Ruawai
4. Edgecumbe

D) Four favourite TV shows:
1. Shortland St
2. ALL the CSIs (and bones etc LOVE forensics!)
3. Ugly Betty (i love it! she reminds me of ME!)
4. The Amazing Race

E) Four of my favourite foods:
1. Sushi
2. Crayfish
3. Fresh Summer fruit
4. Chicken

F) Four places I would rather be right now:
1.
2.
3.
4. Nowhere, i like it just where i am right now :)

ok, back to MONEY! ive had a quick looksie at the website Lil provided yesterday, pretty cool! i havent had time to have a good browse, but will do very soon.

i have purchased a new car today.... $800! bargain! bit scary for me, going from a flash (well i think so!) expensive (well... was when i brought it! haha) car, to a older putty bomb do up, we havent picked it up yet, and it does need a few things done to it, but Darryl knows these cars (Nissans) like the back of his hands, he loves them, so wont take much at all to do up. its pretty funky actually i think! i will show you a pic when i get it, we are hoping to pick it up tomorrow (and REALLY hoping that my car does actually sell on Saturday! you never know with people!)

Yesterday i changed power providers, i went to this website
http://www.consumer.org.nz/powerswitch/default.asp?bhcp=1
and worked out that im paying a lot more than what i need to be, so i changed! the saving is pretty substantial, over $500 a year, thats a lot of money!

i dont know if i have mentioned it or now, but this year i am doing pak n save Christmas club vouchers, $10 a time, will eventually add up and at the end of the year will definitely help at what is for most people a very hard time.

its been a hard slog getting my food bill down to under $100 a week, sure sometimes i will go less, sometimes a bit more, depends on what we NEED at the time (and if i have Darryl with me!) what i do is work out a food plan for the week, write down every ingrediant needed for those meals, delete out what i already have in the cupboard/fridge/freezer, and add in any cleaning products, toothpaste, soap, toiletpaper etc that we may need. then what i do is put it all into www.woolworths.co.nz just like im doing online shopping (sure the specials between the supermarkets change, but it gives you a fair idea) i put in everything that we want/need, then look at the total, keeping in mind that i still need around $30 for my fruit and veggies, from there i take out any non essentials (sorry Darryl, coke is no longer essential!) and how we can replace some ingrediants with other cheaper ingrediants (still keeping in mind nutritional value) takes a bit of fiddling, but really does make you think as to what is essential and what isnt, also gets you back to eating basic, easy, healthy meals, and makes you get a bit more creative in the kitchen! then i print out the list that i have created, and go to Pak N Save, which is of course cheaper than wollies, and ALWAYS take a calculator! do however keep in mind that we dont smoke (so that adds on a heap to your foodbill!) we hardly drink, and at the moment its just Darryl, myself and Kaylee who eat food, Olivia is fully breastfed and probably will stay that way for at least the next few months.

in the next few days im giving up my beloved broadband and going back to dialup... ok not so much a big deal, and definitely not a necessity (imo if you are on the bones of your arse and its either non essential bills or food, then the internet must go, $16 a month for dialup may seem a small amount, but when you think you can get 16 loaves of bread for that.... when it comes to feeding your family that is a lot!)

thats all from me today, whats the bet im boring the pants off ya! :)

Money

First of all i have to have a mini ARGH moment... ive just hung out a washing line full of clothing... and it is raining... DUH me for not checking out the weather forcast!

Thanks for your comments on the pics, no they arent wearing the same outfit, but i do love my gorgeous girls, Kaylee this morning has been amazing, before she left with Darryl this morning she was just so lovely and sweet (lets hope she comes home from Kindy like this!) she come out to me while i was hanging out the washing and i bent down to her, she held my cheeks and gave me a kiss, said byebye mummy, i love you! gave a little wave and off she went, ahhhhhhhh *gush* such the stuff memories are made of!

Money, ohhhh yes, the stuff you either love, or hate, hate to love or love to hate, but you gotta have it, you need it to survive in todays modern world.

for those of you who dont know, we are taking an increase in bills and a decrease in income... which basically means unless i get drastic NOW we are going to be in the shit bigtime, BUT its completely for the best, and we WILL get there! i have cut down SO much, im very amazed at myself, so far i have got my food bill down to $100 a week (thats $30 on meat, $30 on vege and fruit - its amazing how much $30 for fruit and vege actually is, i got 2 full bags the other day for $15! - and $40 on misc grocery items, and its actually really easy to do, buy on special, buy in bulk, think about your meals, buy in season, now before you say "well duh, it is pretty easy to do" this is coming from a household who used to quite happily spend $200-$300 Per WEEK on groceries.... we spend $15 every 3 weeks on nappies for Kaylee and use cloth on Olivia, so no probs there with cost apart from the washing liquid we use which costs about $8 and lasts us 3-4 months. incase your wondering, im putting all of this on here so i have something to look back on. ive pretty much sold my car (dammit! im gunna miss my baby!) for $11,000 so that is $11,000 worth of debt that will be very soon gone, we have our eye on a car which is just under $2000, so we will own that outright, no more car payments coming out of our account, (but dammit im gunna miss my baby!)

its amazing how you get used to a certain lifestyle, and it does take a while to adjust to change, just like when you start a new diet really, you get used to doing things a certain way, but situations change and so you have to aswell, but i think for me its a huge learning curve, and over the last couple of months i have grown a lot and learnt so much. and i hope that maybe others can learn from me.

we are consolidating all our debt today, which means paying off the visas and the little loan we have, and paying it back in lump sums sooner with less interest, (why didnt we do it sooner? i really dont know!) we got used to living good, and when it come to a stage where we couldnt afford to still live extravagently, we still did, but its a bit of a culture shock when the money runs out. makes you really stretch that last wee cent. ive discovered at our local fruit and vege shop, they have 2 x 2L milks for $5 (instead of about $4 each at the supermarket) they also have $1 loaves of bread (instead of nearly $3) and $4 trays of eggs (instead of $4 for a dozen) the other day when i went F&V shopping, i got 500g of plums, 500g of nectarines, 500g of tomatos, a cucumber, 2 lettuces, 2 x milk, bread, carrots, potatos, onions, for about $16... i thought that was pretty good! they have 10c pumpkins at the moment, unfortunatly i dont eat pumpkin (ick) but im going to get a few to make a whole heap of baby food up for the freezer for when Olivia starts solids in a few months (man thats scary to think about!) that saves $1 a jar!

Browsing the internet for free samples helps too, lately i have had washing powder, toothpaste, dishwashing powder, shampoos and conditioners, moisterisers, sanitary pads, all for free, all delivered to me. its great!

im just watching out my window an aeroplane going over dropping out parachutists (we live near the airforce so get to see them do heaps of neat things) looks like heaps of fun!!

its like my new mini project, going around, seeing what else i can cut down on, what bills we no longer need, ive cut down our Telecom bill $50 a month so far, just by ringing them and talking to them about the plans we are on, i have just worked out a way to save another $50 off it (free broadband... watch this space!) i even have a few other people around me seeing the money im saving thinking, well hey, we can do this too, and its great bouncing ideas around the place.

i'll be back :)

just cos :)

here is a photo of Olivia at 12 weeks and a photo of Kaylee at apprx 12 weeks

Kaylee has a cold.... so we are just keeping it quiet today, she had a great time yesterday though with Daycare in the morning and then we went to a friends for the afternoon, where we got the baby baths out filled them with bubbles and coloured water, put shaving foam and food colouring on a plastic table and let them go for it, so much fun (and mess!) she is now meant to be eating her lunch, but she is doing "tippee toes" ballet to Barney... i love watching her little mind tick over and her wee thought process happen, cracks me up!

im pretty tired right now, not getting too much sleep as its either Kaylee or Olivia up and down all night, im hoping to eventually get a few nights in a row of good sleeps, would help! but hey, it all comes with being a parent doesnt it, cant really complain too much, just have to be careful.

just had a wee 4 week old come and visit, only 6pds born, so still very little and gorgeous! scary that Olivia used to be that small!

They grow up so fast, cherish every day :)

Kia Ora!

im still around! still doing alright! :)

just pretty busy busy, which is good, but tiring but great! Im loving all the social engagements that i have on. and ive been a little ill too, but something very minor, nothing to write home about at all.

ive come to the conclusion that im addicted to sugar, chocolate, lollies, icecreams, BAD refined sugar. so today is day 1 (apart from a hot choc this morning) of no refined sugar.... we shall see how long it lasts, i know that i will have huge withdrawls tonight, but one day at a time, other than the bad sugar though, im eating really well, lots of salads, steamed veggies, grilled meats (love bbq weather!) lots of fruits, yoghurts, smoothies (home made of course), just have to get the sugar under control.

i havent done any scrapbooking in yonks... just not in the mood for it at the moment, when im not in the mood i make mistakes, mistakes cost too much money, we have no money, no room for mistakes :)

ive been sewing a wee bit, but my machine has to go back to Spotlight for them to have a look at it, its skipping stiches and i have tried everything to get it working properly, nothing works, therefor its not me, but the machine. im loving sewing though, especially sewing my own nappies for Olivia, costs around $6 per nappy, rather than $20-$30 per nappy to buy one new.

Kaylee is great, toilet training sux, shes back in nappies for a bit, just not ready i think, we WILL get there! she loves Kindy (daycare) just adores it.

Olivia is great, she sleeps sometimes through the night, usually wakes once a night though, i can handle that, she went through a stage of staying awake, which meant i wasnt sleeping... so hence why im watching what i eat so much more, what i eat affects her, so i have to be careful.

being a mum is cool, being Carla is cool, being a wife is cool, life in general is good.

my car is for sale :( i love my car so much, but right now, we cant afford to keep it, so if you know of anyone wanting a 99 Caldina GTT wagon, send them my way would ya? bargain! haha

im scheming, i have plans... one day at a time, watch this space

i have no idea what i weigh, and i like that... i know im big, but right now that doesnt matter, what matters is me keeping healthy, eating healthy and maintaining my milk supply for Olivia. Every time i "diet" i get depressed, i feel crap, i look crap, i just get blah. im determined not to feel that way this year.

Enjoy the pics, (yes that is Kaylee with foundation on... no it hasnt come out of that top yet...) dont forget to wear your sunscreen lotion.... its burny out there.

xxx

Birthday!

Yesterday i turned the ripe ol age of 25! yep im only 25! im sure i act a lot older sometimes, i have to remember that 25 is not that old at all! infact its still ALMOST teenage years (PMSL!)

i got completely spoilt, starting on Tuesday night when Darryl came home with a live Crayfish for me to devour for my dinner, ohhhh it was heaven!!! (my yearly birthday treat is my cray!) then yesterday morning Darryls sister came over for the day with hot chocolates and muffins and some beautiful shampoo, conditioner and hairspray (if you dont know this already i am such the hair product FREAK!), then i got a parcel in the mail from my mother with a little sewing kit in it, which is JUST what i was after for my newfound craft, and when Darryl got home i got a beautiful card (brought wee tears to my eyes it did!) from him, a card from the girls and a voucher for Rodney Wayne (my hairsalon) to get a cut and colour done! YAY! ive been holding out to get my hair coloured for MONTHS! then Darryls parents came over with Kebabs for dinner and they gave me a nice necklace. so i got absolutly spoilt rotten! had a million phone calls, emails and texts and just had a wonderful birthday! usually im passed by a wee bit, but this year i just felt great to be one year older!

Im having a BBQ on the weekend to celebrate too, im REALLY looking forward to kicking back and having a few drinks (have my breastpump back now, so i can enjoy a wine or 2!) we have lots of our close friends coming over and some new friends too, HEAPS of kids, so it should be fun!

the weather is meant to be crap today... i have a washing line full of clothing in the bright sun... just thought id mention that! lol

oh, also, the neighbours with the backpack? if you remember! lol they moved (not sure if im repeating myself or not, oh well!) so the pack finally came off the line, all the neighbours trees have been cut down, which means a huge amount of light is now coming into our kitchen and living area, its great! we also have new neighbours, but i havent met them yet.

Christmas eve/Christmas day/Boxing day pics

our beautiful bubbalu

had to wear all her new things all at once!

Kaylee LOVES her trampoline!

Our beautiful Kaylee

Olivia and myself

Family shot

Olivia with her Aunty Adele (my sister)

should be doing dishes.....

lol but im sitting on here instead! hell! why not!

Thinking about signing up to Mystery Shopping..... could be fun... could be dull..... wont know until i try i guess! i did it a few years ago, with a different company, and it sucked, but this company profiles different companies, so can only but try!

Darryl is away today Drag Racing, i hope he had fun, the girls and i just stayed home and im getting Olivia into a lovely routine now, i like knowing where i stand and for me, routine is good.

Kaylee is obsessed with undressing her Strawberry Shortcake doll then getting mummy to put the clothes back on, she comes up saying "Help you Mummy" meaning 'help me' lol still hasnt got it yet, but every day her speech becomes clearer.

still no luck with Toilet training, Kaylee gets so upset when her knickers get wet that she is now getting upset when i try to put knickers on her because she knows they will get wet (if that makes sense) and of course i want to make TT as easy on her as possible and i dont think this is the way, we wil get there i am sure!

im loving my sewing machine, have sewn up some wipes and a nappy booster today, i like loosing myself in something, whether it be scrapbooking, sewing, reading, sudoku, it helps clear my mind, i like that.

Its my birthday next week, usually i just let it go by... this year im celebrating, why the hell not i say! so we are having a bbq on Saturday night, lots of people are coming (or meant to be... i dont have the best track record for people turning up!) and im determined to enjoy my birthday and my bbq. 25 i will be, for some seems so young, for some seems so old, for me, seems just right :)

this year is the year dedicated to me, being a mother, wife, sister, aunty, daughter, granddaughter, neice, friend (drinking buddy! haha), and just being able to be me. im determined to get my stress levels back down, my fashion sense back up, and just be free to be myself.

Amen :)

Hello Lovelies!!

and a Happy New Years to you all!

things have been trucking along quite nicely here, and i really dont know where to start to be honest! lol but i guess i will start at Christmas day :)

Christmas day was lovely, Kaylee wasnt interested too much in opening presents, she just wanted to play on her new Trampoline (we showed it to her the previous night) but of course her and Olivia were spoilt rotten and ive been trying so hard ever since to find space for the new stuff! lol we only have a little house with no storage! :) it was a lovely day, we opened presents in the morning (my Mum, her partner and my sister were up) and then had a lovely breakfast of pancakes and fruit, then we pottered around home making salads etc and went up to Darryls parents for late lunch/early dinner, HEAPS of food, salads, cold meats, hot veggies, hot meats, and desserts to be proud of! :) was a cool day with the kids having a great time and the adults eating way too much! (we went back on Boxing day and at the leftovers!) Then on Boxing day Mum, Terry and Adele went home taking Kaylee with them and i stayed on up here for a couple more nights, then Olivia and I went down the Thursday before New Years and Darryl joined us on the Saturday, we came back home yesterday after having a lovely time away, shopping and blobbing! very nice indeed.

I was lucky enough to get a new Sewing Machine for Christmas and last night i sewed up my first creation, a skirt for Kaylee, its pretty cute :) i havent used a sewing machine since college, so i had to find my way around it again! like jumping back on a horse really :) so i cant wait to get creating, making my own nappies, wipes, a quilt each for the girls, clothing for the girls and ME! :) heaps of fun!!

i havent made any New Years resolutions as such, i never bloody stick to them, so didnt see a point getting into that! all i want for this year is to stay healthy, raise my beautiful children well, and keep happy, because i think im pretty damn happy right now, its nice, its not until you really are happy that you realise that you really werent happy, im meeting HEAPS of new people whom i am lucky to call friends, every week i meet someone new almost, and its GREAT! im not self conscious anymore about what people think, i let them see ME for who i am, and they like ME and appreciate ME and thats pretty cool i think!

im loving this Summer too, its just great for Kaylee to get out in the sunshine, tomorrow we will set up the paddling pool and the sprinkler for her, so im hoping she will enjoy that!

Kaylee is just great, very determined and stubborn, but we are working through that, she is talking clearer every day and learning more every day too, its great to see her little mind ticking over! we just have to start toilet training her i think, may give it a go tomorrow, i will stay home all day with her and see what happens!

Olivia is great as well, she started sleeping right through the night at mums, but last night being our first night at home she was incredibly unsettled (the car ride does it i think) hopefully tonight she will be back into sleeping right through again. she is growing so fast, 10 weeks old tomorrow! we get amazing grins from her and she coos and gaas away, its so sweet!