Sunday, January 27, 2013

Book 4 - Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery is the second book in the Anne of Green Gables series.  Sixteen year old Anne Shirley has chosen to stay at Green Gables to help Marilla and teach at the school of Avonlea rather than attend college.  Although more grown up and responsible than when she first arrived at Green Gables, Anne remains imaginative and idealistic with a continued knack for finding herself in trouble.  Along the course of the year, she befriends a cantankerous neighbor, assists Marilla in raising a pair of orphaned twins, initiates an improvement society with Gilbert, and befriends the solitary Miss Lavendar of Echo Lodge.

As with the first book in this series, I found myself with a slightly different perspective of the story than when I initially read it.  I shook my head at some of Anne's idealism, cringed in sympathy to the antics of six year old Davy, and yet still found the book to be as delightful and engrossing as ever.  Definitely a must read series for girls.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Organized Home Challenge - Week 2

This was an easy week for me since my kitchen drawers and cabinets are in pretty good shape.  For cabinets, I just straightened the plastic containers a bit.  For drawers, I cleaned out the silverware drawer and threw out the twist ties that had collected in there.  That was all.  It only required about twenty minutes.

This week's challenge will be kitchen pantries, spices, and food storage.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Book 3 - Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery is the delightful classic tale of a red-haired, imaginative orphan by the name of Anne Shirley.  Anne is mistakenly brought to Green Gables when the Cuthberts request for an orphan boy was incorrectly relayed.  Matthew Cuthbert is immediately and surprisingly taken by the young girl even though he generally avoids most females with the greatest dread.  Marilla, his no nonsense sister, insists that Anne must be sent back, but then doesn't have the heart to have another woman take her in order to care for her children.  Anne spends a delightful summer getting to know every inch of her new home.  Despite Marilla's constant attempts to curb Anne's runaway imagination and tongue, she finds herself in trouble after trouble over the course of the book.

I hadn't read this book in ages, so it was fun to pull it out for a reread.  While I still enjoyed Anne's antics, I confess to sympathizing far more with Marilla than I ever did when I was younger.   I'd recommend this one for girls ages 8 and up.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Spending Recap 1/19

Grocery

Kroger - $26.71, Saved $14.41
Walmart - $10.58, Saved $6.56
Harris Teeter - $2.89, Saved $1.72
Household

WalMart - $15.32 for Ziploc bags and carpet cleaner
Staples - $60.88 for ink cartridges (I also turned in 5 used ones for $30 in rewards next month)

Other
Gas station - $3.81 for breakfast and Dr. Pepper

Total Spent - $120.19
Total Saved - $22.69

Monday, January 14, 2013

Organized Home Challenge - Week 1

I decided to join the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home challenge for the year as well.  I printed off the January list on Friday.  The challenge for last week was to clean off the counter tops.  I took about an hour on Saturday after dinner.  Most of it was simply items that needed to be put away (fryer, empty canning jars, etc.)  I did decide to move the coffee maker to the right of the sink since I do most of my food prep in the corner. 

  For the upcoming week, the challenge covers kitchen drawers and cabinets.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Book 2 - Talking Money

Talking Money by Jean Chatzky is an excellent introduction to personal finance.  It covers not only the basics of making goals, saving, and spending; but also explains more complex areas such as retirement, insurance, and estate planning.  The book was published in 2001, so obviously some portions like the contribution limits to an IRA are out of date, but the general principles that are introduced are excellent and still applicable today.  I particularly like the retirement and insurance worksheets.  Both are easy to understand without being overly simplified.  While the broad scope of the book limits to a certain extent the amount of specifics that can be presented, she always provides suggestions for where to look for or who to ask for additional assistance and advice.  I would recommend as a starting point for anyone trying to get a better handle on their personal finances.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Spending Recap 1/13

This has certainly not been the best week spending wise, but here are the results.

Grocery:
Walgreens - Spent $6.15, Saved $1.96
Kroger - Spent $28.96, Saved $33.56
Produce Store - Spent $16.95, Saved $3.37
Sam's Club - Spent 17.28, Saved $0

Total Grocery - Spent $69.34, Savings - $38.89

Household:
Laundymat - $11.00 (because the washer was broken)
Washer repair - $134.00
PetSmart - $23.17 (saved $6.80)

Total Household - Spent $207.06, Savings $6.80

Homeschool:

Classifieds - $60 for BJU biology books
Amazon - $16.31 for History of the Ancient World

Other:
Amazon - $14.79 for a case for my Kindle

Total for the Week:  $367.50

All I can say is ouch.  Hopefully next week will go better.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Book 1 - Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is recounts the events in the life of Elizabeth Bennet and her family in Georgian England.  When the wealthy Mr. Bingley moves into the Netherfield estate, the Bennet family with five unmarried daughters is quick to make his acquaintance.  While delighted with the manners of Mr. Bingley, their view of his friend Mr. Darcy is much less favorable.  Too proud to dance with Elizabeth, she quickly takes a dislike to him and refuses to believe anything but the worst about him.  Darcy, on the other hand, soon reconsiders his initial impression of her and falls in love, but his pride takes a severe blow when she turns down his initial marriage proposal due to his ungentlemanly behavior.  Soon afterwards Elizabeth herself is humbled as she begins to realize her own prejudice and misconceptions about the character of Darcy and falls in love with him.  With a bit of help from the interference Darcy's aunt, they eventually sort it out, and she accepts his proposal of marriage.

This is the first time I have read the book since high school and was also my first book (available for free) to be read on the Kindle I bought myself for Christmas.  It remains a delightful, witty, and thought provoking tale that I would recommend for ages 13 and up.  Definitely a must read classic and terrific way to start the new year.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Spending Recap: 1/6

My favorite deal of the week was purchasing 4 one inch binders at Staples for the cost of sales tax since I will receive back 100% in rewards.  I don't technically need the binders right now, but I know that come summer when I will likely need them the prices will be much higher.  The 2 boxes of 59 cent Special K, 2 cartons of 67 cent Almond Breeze, and 2 49 cent bottles of toilet bowl cleaner at Harris Teeter where I matched up E-vic specials with coupons were also fun.

Groceries

Kroger - Total Spent 11.10, Total Saved $3.23
Target - Total Spent $11.33, Total Saved $7.15
Harris Teeter - Total Spent $5.44, Total Saved $15.36
Sam's Club - Total Spent $17.28, Total Saved $0

TOTAL SPENT:  $45.15
TOTAL SAVED:  $25.74, 36%

Non-groceries

Staples - Total Spent $30.41, Rewards Earned $28.96

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The First Monkey Wrench

So my goal for the week as far as the house is concerned was twofold:  get all of the Christmas items put away and catch up on some cleaning and laundry.  The former is nearly complete.  I just need DH to move the coffee table back to the living room.  The latter is partially on hold since my washing machine decided to malfunction and refused to finish the load of towels I had started.  Now I'll have to wait until Monday for the repairman and pray it can be fixed quickly.  What I'll do with the pile of sopping wet clothes is another issue, but at least on the bright side I now have an immediate incentive to clean up a portion of my basement.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Challenges for a New Year

Most of the challenges I set for myself will be either monthly or weekly or keep from being overwhelmed, but I am going to try a couple of year long challenges both related to reading.

Challenge 1:  Read through the entire Bible.  Since I have had little success reading chronologically over the past two years from getting bogged down early on in Job or Leviticus, I decided to dig into my shelves and unearth The One Year Bible in ESV which contains daily readings from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.  I'm hopeful that the added variety will make the endeavor both more enjoyable and more successful.

Challenge 2:  52 books in 52 weeks  I have tried this challenge for the past two year unsuccessfully, but it has been a great way to slowly increase the amount of reading that I do.  I'm hopeful that this year I can at least improve on my total and finish more than 26 books.