Hi! Yes, I am still alive here, I'm just busily working on a new blog that will be set to launch in the next month or 2. I am still checking out/commenting on my favourite blogs daily in the meantime. That being said, today I will take a break from working on my new blog and participate in the "Ten Things About Me" posted over at Canadian Home. I will keep with the childhood theme so here we go!1) My parents are both from New Brunswick and came to live in Ontario after they got married (apparently...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
West Jet Sale!
West Jet is having an awesome seat sale with many flights as low as $72! We just booked our trip to New Brunswick for the summer and I'm super excited!!! Check out the seat sale here but hurray the sale ends April 14...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Peanut Butter Chocolate Easter Cookies
I love Cadbury Mini Eggs, they are so delicious! Here's my favourite cookie recipe with Mini Eggs substituted for chocolate chips:Peanut Butter Chocolate Easter CookiesIngredients:1 cup all purpose flour3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda1/4 tsp. salt1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup packed brown sugar1/2 cup butter, melted3/4 cup creamy peanut butter1 egg1 tsp. vanilla1 cup Cadbury Mini EggsDirections:Preheat...
Thursday, March 25, 2010
I Heart IKEA (until they discontinue furniture)...
IKEA furniture is my crack. Good thing the closest IKEA is 2 1/2 hours away from me or I would probably spend all my money there or worse yet get a job there and allow them to pay me in furniture. My whole house is IKEA right down to my utensils. Two reasons why I love IKEA is the style and the price. My stuff is modern and nice to look at and if one of my kids wreak something it's not the end of...
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Dear Monica
I've decided to participate in writing a letter to myself to read 10 years from now, an idea posted on Punch Debt In the Face blog you can check out here. Dear Monica,You are now 38 years old. At 28 now, you are commonly mistaken for 19 or 20 so I hope that you are still blessed with youthful looks as it will REALLY benefit you now! Your 3 kids are 16, 15 & 13 so I hope you can still stay sane through all the raging hormones...At this point on your life you should be well past debt free - including...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wrapping Up Home Renos
My apologies for the lack of posting lately. First of all we had a great March Break and enjoyed every second of beautiful weather outside. Too bad it didn't last. So we *thought* we would be able to wrap up the home renovations soon and we could call for our second audit. We met up with Blake's friend who is a contractor this weekend and paid him for the basement windows. Hopefully they will be in...
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
TV Series I Love
So I am very happy that now many of the shows I watch are back on however I hate it that they seem to conflict with each other. Blake and I are huge LOST fans and he's gonna be mad that I forgot to record last night's episode! I hate that The Biggest Loser is on at the same time because I like watching that show too. I usually watch The Biggest Loser and then record LOST at a later time to watch on...
Monday, March 15, 2010
To-Do List Success
I ended up missing the Frumpy vs. Fashionable challenge this week over at Mommy Quit Her Job so hopefully I can participate this week. Check it out yourself here. This weekend was very productive for us and we got a lot of those "nagging" tasks crossed off our To-Do list. As many of you know I am a big fan of The Happiness Project By: Gretchen Rubin and one of her first resolutions is to "Tackle A Nagging Task". Inspired by this I wrote out a master list of all our uncompleted tasks and it's shrinking...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Planning Grocery Shopping with Coupons
Here's a little glimpse of how I get ready to go grocery shopping. The fun begins on Thursdays when most of the weekly flyers are posted online at either www.smartcanucks.ca or www.flyerscoupons.ca. First I check to see what food I have at home already and make a menu plan for the upcoming week. I also check to see what I am low on so if an item comes on sale I can stock up. After making my shopping...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Z-Day Event March 13 - Worldwide!
Imagine living in a world without money, where the BEST of everything was FREE. Sound, crazy? Impossible? Well, what if I told you it was possible, very possible. We (as the Earth) have enough renewable resources like solar power, wind power, etc. to completely eliminate the need to burn fossil fuels. We have the science and technology available to do almost any type of work - even major things like...
Monday, March 8, 2010
Food Inc. Review
A few weeks ago I read the book Food Inc. and was quite shocked about what was told about the food industry. I decided to check out the DVD from the library and watched it this weekend with Blake. I think we will both be looking at our food choices differently now. I found this movie and book both to be rather disturbing and informative. I think if ALL people knew what was REALLY going on with our...
Friday, March 5, 2010
March 5 - Fashionable or Frumpy?
So I've decided to take part in the Fashionable vs. Frumpy challenge at Mommy Quit Her Day Job so here we go!OUTFIT #1My thoughts on this outfit:Pros:It is probably one of my most favourite outfits to wear when the weather is very cold. I can layer a thin t-shirt underneath it for extra warmth as I tend to ALWAYS be colder than everyone else! I like that this outfit is somewhat versatile and can be...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Awesome New Website!
If you know me you know how much I love coupons, freebies and deals. One of my brand new favourite sites is www.flyerscoupons.ca. This site is very user friendly and lets you search the best deals at any store you will be shopping at. For example say you are going to No Frills. Search for No Frills and you will find not only the flyer but also coupons to use on sale products and coupons to use on items for FREE! This new site will not only save you money but time searching for the best deals. Also...
Monday, March 1, 2010
Yeah, it's March!!!
Nah, I'm not really that excited that's it is now March, however, it means we are getting closer to warmer weather and that's fantastic! The Olympics are now officially over and wow what a great hockey game last night!!! I was on the edge of my seat and I'm so proud that our Men's team pulled it off. It was a great day to be Canadian! I actually ended up watching WAY more of the Olympics than I originally planned but I am also glad to see it done and over with. Now we can resume with regular TV...
Friday, February 26, 2010
Things About Me
Okay so here are some fun facts about Monica! Enjoy!Getting the mail excites me. Sometimes it's the highlight of my day...I know that sounds kinda sad but I do get lots of goodies and freebies in the mail (many of which I forget I signed up for) so it's like Christmas in my mailbox everyday!I've never eaten a Big Mac. They look gross to me. And I love hamburgers. Mmmm....I HATE spending money. HATE it. That's probably why I love coupons so much. And yes if I am waiting in line I snoop other people's...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Life Wheel Part One - Family
I chose FAMILY as my first area of my life wheel to focus on improving. We already do have an amazing family life but there is always room for improvement. First my objective: To have a happy, healthy family and provide a memorable childhood for each of our children. To be active in the development of our children through education and show examples of our core beliefs and family values. To incorporate the importance of extended family. To exercise tradition in respect to holidays and celebrations....
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Breakfast Battles
How does your day start?Mine always starts with a battle over breakfast. My oldest son Zachary who was ALWAYS a great eater has decided to become picky over every meal served at breakfast. Zachary goes to school every other day and 2-3 days of the week I babysit Lisa so if either event falls on that morning we are time pressed. I have tried making different things for breakfast and its still the same fight. One morning I even tried giving him a sugary toaster strudel and he complained before he...
Monday, February 22, 2010
This & That
Since implementing our new budget strategy in February 2010 things have changed around here quite a bit. Let me say first its been great! Blake and I are FINALLY on the same page and I think he is starting to look at money differently - the way I've been trying to get him to see money for quite awhile. It's much harder to spend cash than it is to whip out the credit card so purchases are now more thought out and planned. I'm so proud of us. Because of our new budget we have a new found love with...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Ever Had an Ah-Ha Moment? I Did!
First of all let me apologize for the lack of posting the past few days. Have you ever felt that a change was coming in your life? I've been feeling that way for a few months now, just never knew what the change would be (good or bad). Naturally, I thought about possible changes but all seemed to revolve around bad changes (like someone close to me dying or getting sick) and very few good changes seemed possible (like getting a windfall). I soon got tired of wasting my time imagining worst case...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Stockpile Pictures
Today I'm going to show you my stockpile pictures. Most of the stuff obtained is these pictures were FREE or deeply discounted with a coupon or my SPC VIP card. A lot of stuff even made me money by purchasing with a coupon and getting a full refund by a mail-in-rebate. *NOTE* This stockpile is a result of 2-3 years worth of shopping. No shelves were cleared to obtain these products unless it was the...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Book Review : The Smart Cookies' Guide To Making More Dough Chapters 4-6
Check out last week's post for Chapters 1-3. I will continue with the questions at the end of each Chapter.Chapter Four: If The Shoe Fits, You Don’t Have To Buy It: How To Be A Smart Spender1) How often do you use cash and why?It is very rare for me to use cash because we charge everything to our credit card that earns us cash back and the balance is paid in full each month so we are charged no interest. The credit card company PAYS US to use their card. Why wouldn't I use it?2) Have you ever gotten...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Weekend Recap, Deals and Weekly Goals
It was a busy weekend after all, not like we had planned. Friday was pretty calm we discussed our budget and progress in detail and cleared up some disagreements we were having in regards to spending. Saturday we did our shopping and some friends came over that evening for dinner and drinks and they brought their niece and nephew who are close to our kids ages. On Sunday I went shopping with my mom...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Mail Bag Goodies & Weekend Plans
Here's all the goodies I've received in the mail over the past week:- FREE Club Lego magazine with 3D Glasses for Zack- FREE Maxim magazine through SONY promo for Blake- FREE Today's Parent magazine for me through Airmiles- FREE Elle magazine for me through Egg Creations promo- FREE Danone DanActive Bzzkit through Bzz Agent including FREE coupon for DanActive, several $1.00 off coupons, promo cards...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Chapman's Kids Club
One of the greatest Canadian freebie sites I know is Chapman's Kids Club. My four year old Zack loves to play computer games so this is a great website for him. At Chapman's Kids Club you play games and earn points and when you collect enough points you can order different prizes to be sent right to your doorstep! There are two different sections - one for little kids which has games like memory, jigsaw puzzles and word searches and a section for bigger kids that have more interactive games or your...
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Home Maintenance Painting Kit
If you have small children (or a messy husband) like me you are probably used to scratches, nicks or doodles on the walls of your house. I was forever frustrated by having to go down into the depths of our basement to search for the matching paint can to do touch-ups. After all that nonsense of prying the can open, painting, cleaning the brush, putting it all away, I would soon find that I missed...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Book Review : The Smart Cookies' Guide To Making More Dough Chapters 1-3
The book I have chosen to review is:The Smart Cookies' Guide To Making More Dough : How Five Young Women Got Smart, Formed A Money Group, and Took Control of their Finances By: Jennifer BarrettI first saw the Smart Cookies on Oprah awhile back during the airing of her Debt Diet Series. I was instantly drawn to their story because they were close to my age and Canadian! They were a big hit and even started their own TV show helping others with their finances. I have watched several episodes when...
Monday, January 11, 2010
Weekend Recap, Deals & Weekly Goals
Hope you had a great weekend! We were able to get everything accomplished and more. Friday Blake and I both got our haircuts and shopping done, Saturday we completed all our shopping in record time and took Zack to skating lessons and Sunday Blake took Jenna and Zack to public skating before dropping her off. As promised here are some of my coupon deals. I will start will last week's deals I forgot...
Friday, January 8, 2010
TGIF
Well, its Friday which means Blake is officially off. It was nice the past two weeks he was off on Thursdays due to Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve but now its back to 5 day weeks. Unfortunately due to weather conditions he had to work late this morning so he didn't get in until almost 11:00am (usually it's 8:30-9:00am). Our plans were to leave here at 1:30pm, go get haircuts, do some shopping, pick up Jenna and be back for supper. Now the official plan is to wake him up at 3:30pm, eat an early...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
January Projects
Last night we went and got our library cards (yeah!). The con is that our library sucks and has next to no books but the pro is I can have books sent there from other libraries usually within a week! With that being said I requested a few books be sent to me so I can start a new project.I plan to read and review at least one book per month mostly on the topic of money and personal finance but occasionally other topics as well. The books I have requested are:-The Smart Cookies' Guide To Making More...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Back To Routine
Well, today we are officially back to routine. Zack is in school all day today (yeah!) and Lisa is here today too. It was a great break while it lasted. I feel refreshed from vacation and glad that all the Christmas stress is over and done with. Today's To Do List includes:-Clean bathroom and storage room while Lisa naps-Chicken Alfredo for supper-Laundry-Dishes-Work on Household Binder-*Possibly* go to Library after supperI am looking to borrow a few personal finance books to read from the library...
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy 2010!
I hope you had a wonderful New Years. Ours was very low-key in fact we feel asleep before midnight! Also, we managed to come in at $13.05 under budget for our New Year's allowance which is a good start, however, I gave $10.00 of this overage to Blake to replace the headphones I broke accidentally. Oops! The rest went onto the credit line.I am super pumped as we are finally starting our new budget. Blake however is having difficulty adjusting. Before I would give him $10.00 cash/week which he would...
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