Celebration List – It’s a Printable!

I am the world’s worst person when it comes to remembering birthdays or anniversaries.

My entire family and group of friends are all nodding their head in agreement right now.

I have two friends who I have known since birth and I only know that their birthdays are at the beginning of November. The 6th? The 12th? The 14th?

I don’t even know my sister-in-laws anniversary. I know it was sometime in the summer since I was wearing a sleeveless dress at the ceremony –  July? August?

Sad. I know.

Well friends, I’m going to remedy that situation in 2012.

I created a celebrations page which allows me to write down everyone’s birthday and have them all in one place. Yes, this is something that could be on a computer but I wanted a hard copy to keep by the fridge. After all, I go by the fridge 16 – 20 times a day, I’m bound to see it.

For those of you who have a birthday on the 29th, 30th, or 31st let’s just get your feelings out there. Yes, I had to combine some dates in order for all 365 days to appear. That’s just the way it is. Would you have preferred I take them off completely :)?

If you’d like a copy of this 2 sided document, click here.

Please consider becoming a follower of Big D & Me if you decide to download

Now to friends & family – EMAIL ME YOUR BIRTHDAY & ANNIVERSARY INFO NOW!

Tuesday To Do Party Todays Creative Blog

Father’s Day Printable

Father’s Day printables are flying around blogland but I decided to create my own.

Alex and Andrew filled out their “All About My Dad” forms and will give them to Derek on Father’s Day along with a story they are writing.

I wrote down Andrew’s answers for him.

If you’d like a copy of the Father’s Day printable please visit my etsy shop.

Thank you.

How are you celebrating those special dads in your life?

Todays Creative Blog  http://www.thethriftyhome.com Katie's Nesting Spot The Shabby Nest

HELLO!

Everyone has that person.

It may be your neighbor, your in-law, or your boss.

For me, it’s Carl.

I mean, IT’S CARL!

Carl works at our local post office behind the check out desk.

When the need arises to mail a package or buy stamps a slight shudder runs through my body.

Since our post office is quite small and only two employees are on duty at a time, there’s always a 50% chance I will have an encounter with Carl. The time of day doesn’t seem to change those odds – believe me, I’ve tried.

While standing in line, usually five or six persons deep, I try and compute how long each person’s transaction will take.

Please let me miss him, please let the old lady get him.

I typically have no chance of avoiding Carl if the person in front of me has an international package. The necessary paperwork will have been filed out incorrectly, Carl will tell them to step to the side, and motion me forward.

Damn it people! Why can’t you get the form right?

I’ve been through this ritual before so I try and be proactive with my information.

“HELLO!!!

Hi. I need to mail this package. It’s 2 books and I’d like to send it the cheapest way possible. I don’t need anything else today.

“DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING LIQUID, PERISHABLE, OR FRAGILE IN THE PACKAGE?”

No.

“DO YOU WANT TO SEND IT PRIORITY MAIL?

No.

“IF YOU DECIDE TO SEND IT PRIORITY IT WILL TAKE 2-3 DAYS”

No. The cheapest way please.

“OK. IF YOU SEND IT POSTAL MAIL IT WILL TAKE 7-10 DAYS.”

Okay.

“SO YOU ARE OK WITH IT GETTING THERE IN 7-10 DAYS?”

Yes, regular mail will be fine.

“DO YOU NEED A BOOK OF STAMPS? A BOOK OF 100? A BOOK OF 200? A BOOK OF 400?” (followed by huge burst of laughter)

No.

“DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEW ELVIS STAMPS WE HAVE?”

No.

“DO YOU NEED ANY ENVELOPES TODAY?

No.

DO YOU NEED ANY TAPE OR BOXES TODAY?”

No.

“CAN I BE OF ANY OTHER ASSISTANCE TO YOU TODAY?”

No. Thank you.

Once I finish playing 20 questions with Carl I grab my receipt and breathe a little easier.

That is, until my next adventure with CARL!

Protocol?

Today in the mail I received a letter from the hospital.

While I have many ideas on how a situation like mine could be handled better in my doctor’s office, I’ll save that for another time. (I know, I know, another upbeat post from me).

Here’s the letter:

Thank you for choosing The Medical Center of Plano. We hope you were very satisfied and are having a smooth recovery. If there is anything we can help you with during this time, please call us.

In addition to the above statement, there were 3 handwritten messages.  I truly appreciate the nurses’ notes which were added by 2 of the 3 nurses who helped me. Apparently protocol states you must have 3 signatures per card since I had an additional note from someone named Darlene. A nurse? A patient? A janitor? Who knows.

I understand the thought behind the card but maybe they should think about investing in a couple of different cards, each with their own message. Can you really walk away from this experience “very satisfied?”

Financial Goals Updated

As I mentioned in a previous post, Derek and I have made some financial goals for our family this year. One of the ways I was going to directly help was keeping an eye on the food budget.

January’s goal was to spend $125 less on groceries/eating out a month (compared to 2010 monthly average).

Before I give you the results, here are a few “happennings” concerning eating during the month:

Derek’s birthday dinner, cookie cake for $24.95 (yes, I could have made one, no it would not have been as good), ladies night out for me, kids eat free night at BBQ place, Ben & Jerry’s dessert trip, Double Dip trip for dessert, coffee and breakfast for a friend, several meatless nights, bought diapers and wipes (yes, that’s included in this budget for us), several impromptu visits to CVS for gatorade due to the flu, and we ate out on several occasions.

So…how did we do……..(drum roll here people, work with me)

January 2011 food groceries / eating out budget was $328.35 less than our 2010 monthly average! Yeah for us!

What was the key to our success you might ask? Well, let me tell you. I ignored looks from my husband when I knew he wanted to go out to eat. No, seriously, I think it was our meal planning and cooking some meals ahead of time. It’s always easy to go out to eat when nothing is prepared at home. But if there is a casserole already sitting in the fridge, we’re more likely to go home and eat it.

I used this little form to keep track of all the food purchases. The form actually has 2 months on it. I cut off the top section to keep in my wallet for January and will use the bottom section for February.

It helped me keep a constant watch on what we were spending.

Here’s a peek at our January form filled out.

Thank goodness my birthday is today, February 1st. Just in time for our food budget to be huge. We are going to eat like kings tonight. Who cares if we have beans and toast the rest of the month. OK, maybe not but it’s fun to dream.

Now onto our February goals.

1) February’s goal is to spend $175 less on groceries/eating out a month (compared to 2010 monthly average).

Yes, we were very successful in January, but anything can happen and I’d still like to consider $175 a big achievement in the end.

2) February house goal: anything we buy for the house (decorations or furniture) has to come from money we earned by selling items on craigslist or ebay.

We have several items in our house which I’ve wanted to get rid of and replace for a long time. Sometimes it’s hard to justify getting a new lamp when the one you have works just fine. This goal could be a total disaster but I think it’s worth a shot. Don’t worry, I bought a gallon of paint last weekend so we would at least have a project to work on while we figure out this whole craigslist game.

So that’s what’s new with us in the goals department.

How are you doing with your 2011 goals?