for those who celebrate.....Happy Easter

Well the bunny arrived. He was a more frugal bunny this year which is only fitting with growing older boys. It's 9AM here and I am curled up on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee and watching a FRIENDS rerun. It's a glorious partly sunny morning here in SK and when I let the cat out this morning, I heard the first bird chirping of springtime. I love that sound. I truly do.

No one else is awake right now. The boys are both still sleeping, as is their father, who has a variety pack of cats sharing the bed with him. hmmm we need more cats LOL

As I gained full consciousness I realized that with having Easter supper on Friday, I didn't plan for today when everyone was home. The grocery stores are all closed today so I will need to prepare something from whatever I have in the freezers. A good money saving day anyways.

I am anticipating the mail this week...hoping for the arrival of the second part of that insurance cheque, which should come.....and perhaps, just perhaps, later in the week, the income tax cheque, which MAY come.

I have to go this week to pay the package policy on my vehicle. This is the first full year I've paid on it. It will cost me $317. I have  a replacement policy since it's a brand new vehicle. This is above and beyond the basid insurance/plates for the vehicle.

I also need to figure out the boys' summer camp stuff this week. That will be another cheque or two. DS1 would like to go. He's been asked to go as a Leader in Training, but that is a 3 week committment and I am not sure we have three full weeks in a row between developmental soccer and hockey camps. We will have to play it by ear, but I hate trying to 'guess' what time we will have free. It causes me stress.

I need to be a good lil teacher and get some schoolwork done this week off as well. There is a ton of prep work to do and the time until the end of the year just fliesssssssss.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and Happy Sunday, to those who don't.

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UPDATE

My oldest sister (the one who was diagnosed with MS last year) just called and invited us over for supper. She is serving up BBQ Prime Rib. mmmm mmmmm mmmmmmm

Best of us, she doesn't want us to bring a darn thing but ourselves. She dearly loves to hostess and to prepare meals and is verrrry good at it.

This 'n' That - the Saturday Edition

While it's not the 28C that some of southern Ontario is getting, it's still lovely weather for this Easter weekend. It's a very breezy 13C here and I am very appreciative for it. So often on our long weekends, we get bizarre weather. I once went camping on a May long weekend where it went from about 15C to a tornado, then snow and then pouring rain. Thank god for Baileys!!

It's still just me and DS2 here. DS1 is doing very well at his hockey camp and they won't be home until late tonight. I am glad he's doing well but if he does 'very' well it could mean he lives elsewhere this coming school year while he plays. Not sure mama can handle the separation :-)

We had a fantastic supper at my mom and dad's last night. Turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, baked ham, marinated salad, caesar salad, homemade buns and homemade pies for dessert. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bloating :-)  I went over and picked up some leftovers today and DS2 and I feasted again. There were 13 of us for supper which may seem like a lot, but with 8 missing, it did feel a bit odd. I'm grateful for those I got to see, particulary my niece, who is expecting her first. ahhhhh the sweet ignorance of a first timer lol

I forgot about getting Easter candy, or adding that to the budget. I slipped off this morning to pick up a few things. At 15 and 13, my children are a little over the Easter Bunny, but I still like to get them a lil something. It had to come out of the grocery budget so I will have to watch spending this week.

I have to smile. Our next door neighbour is a bit of an.................outdoor decorator you might say. Always has tons of flowers in the summer, decorates to the max at XMAS etc. Makes our lil wee house look sad in comparison. She has a massive inflatable Easter Bunny and Egg outside. I can't tell you how many folks have stopped....who walk by with their kids so they can see it. Right now there is an older gentleman out on the street taking a picture. It may seem a bit corny or cheesy to have a 15 foot inflatable bunny out there, and it scares the crap out of my cats.....but it sure gives people of all ages a little smile.

Time to figure out what DS2 wants for supper.  It's nice to prepare things that he likes that perhaps brother and father do not.

Top Referrers and a thank you

I just wanted to give a week shout out of thanks to those who come, visit, read, linklove and comment. I started this blog as a different way for me to try to keep track of things and express my thoughts, but I have to admit, knowing others read is it's own wee rush. Thank you so much.

1) Saving4Later
2) AlwaysthePlanner
3) FrugalDreamer 
4) Jessie'sMoney
5) AnOstrichNamedSam

There was another cluster of five great blogs not far below this list. While the blogosphere is a small world sometimes, perhaps one of these is new to you. Feel free to check these blogs out, or any of the links on my bloglist for great reads.

A great first week back on 'official magic jars'

It's been a long while since I have worked the jar system in it's truest form. I started again last week complete with jars and a little black book budget binder to mark things in. I am hoping to stay on this until the end of summer, just to re-experience what jars can do for me.

My budget will be changing as of June 25, when I tinker with it and settle in, to what I hope, is a relatively firm budget for a couple years.

I have to admit that it was with childish glee that I dug them out of my drawer and lined them up. I hit the ATM and withdrew my money and dutifully slotted it all into the appropriate jars. I created a leger for each of my jar categories and entered the Week 1 deposit into them.

• I am keeping some of my transportation money in my vehicle as a just in case, so that it is there if I need it. I have stuck a sticky note in my binder so I don't forget to include it in the balance and deduct it when it is time
• having the debit card was needed twice this week, but I immediately came home and withdrew that amount from the appropriate jar, tucked it in the 'next week' jar and wrote that in my budget binder
• I HATE writing things down  and seeing that balance grow smaller LOL It really makes me think about what I buy because I know it is going to be in my face in black and white when I check the budget binder
• I often would stop and say 'nooooo! to myself. do you think that if you buy that is better than the amount that would be left in the jar if you did NOT buy it?
• it is borderline aphrodesiacal (is that even a word???) to see money left over in the jars and carried over to the next week.
• when you pay in cash, you get a lot of change. Particularly in Canada with toonies and loonies. I could put them in their jar again or I could write them off as 'snowflake' and toss them in my coin jar to roll and pay down debt in July. Will be interesting to see how I work this.

So after one week on jars, I have 22% of my money left. There is some in the food/household jar. There is a bit in my personal 'allowance' jar. There is quite a bit left in the transportation jar. There is zippity doo dah left in the entertainment jar. I used it for ordering pizza one night and boy does that money go fast. It is definitely the 'jar to watch'.

So today I will slip down and get my money for the next week. Let the games begin.

Ahhhh Holidays

Well after a crazy busy week it's finally over. Now we get a lovely week off and it's a great feeling. The staff needed it. The students needed it. My kids needed it.

I came home to see DS1 off to a hockey camp with his father so it's just DS2 and I for a few days. Still running on a bit of a high, I have been puttering and moving. I stripped DS1's bed before he was out of the drive. No better time to get his sheets washed and changed. I started DS2 on a few of his drawers. Easter is one of our traditional times to go through the clothes and weed out what is too small. We give those away to a family in need who lives near my sister. It gives us a better idea too of what we need to see the boys through the upcoming spring and summer.

As I continue to putter about, I think I shall pour a nice glass of wine, which I rarely allow myself, and curl up during shows (and putter during commercials) and watch a bit of Survivor, The Mentalist, CSI etc

Happy 'kinda' Friday night everyone