I have a dream!

Cheesy, predictable title, I know, but I couldn't resist.  I do have a dream.  I have a dream of being debt free.  I have a dream of not having to wonder if there is enough money to fix an appliance (an oven, perhaps?) when it starts to die.  I have a dream of being able to send my children off to college without a mountain of debt pressing down on them (or us!).  And this spending fast is just the first step in fulfilling these dreams.  I think we often lose sight of these long-term dreams in the day to day living.  Instead I see the short-term goals.  Get dinner on the table in a timely fashion without losing my mind.  Solution-take out or frozen meal.  I have been really stressed and deserve a reward for all my hard work.  Solution-cookies, candy, ice cream, or any other sugar laden, expensive treat that happens to jump into my shopping cart.  But the problem with these solutions is that they are only temporary solutions to the problem, which is really not a solution at all.  These solutions actually compound the problems.  Not only does it not help us to get debt free, but it is unhealthy for me and my family.  I want to strive to (in the words of my blogger idol) Live Well, AND Spend Less.  Living well does not mean having to spend a lot.  That is one thing that this spending fast has taught me.  Much of the food that I have prepared from scratch for us ahead of time, has been much tastier than whatever frozen thing I would have picked up.  And I have learned that with just a little prep work (especially if I am by myself in the kitchen) makes things so much easier come dinner time.  When hubby starts his new schedule, he is going to be gone for dinner and bedtimes four nights of the week.  My goal is to have some alone time in the kitchen once a week (when he is home) and get the prep work done for the meals when he is not going to be there.  It can be really hard to get a meal on the table with two toddlers clinging to your legs and grabbing things off the counters and I don't want to fall back into the rut of take out and convenience foods.  Wish me luck!  And as for using food to reward myself or make myself feel better, that's bad on so many levels.  I mentioned in another post that I was going to start an online devotional based on the book Made to Crave.  The study started yesterday and I am really optimistic about it.  Hopefully that will help me fix this problem.

As for what has been going on the last few days.  I had to get gas in my car on Friday.  It was awesome because I had not gotten gas in 10 days and it only took me $24 to fill my car up!!!  At this rate, a months worth of gas for my Prius is going to equal what I was spending each week in the RAV4.  Awesome!  Plus I got a code for a free movie rental from Redbox so the family and I ate popcorn and watched Monsters University.  On Sunday we celebrated 3 family birthdays at my mom's house with pie!  We each brought a pie.  Usually I would go on Pinterest and find the most delectable looking pie I could and go buy all the ingredients to make it, but I didn't want to do that this time.  So I went into my pantry and started looking around to see what I had.  I ended up coming up with what I have named S'mores Pie.  I had a graham cracker crust and chocolate pudding.  So I put a layer of melted chocolate chips in the bottom of the crust and then filled it with the chocolate pudding.  I have a recipe for a fantastic frosting that tastes just like marshmallow fluff and I put that on top of the pudding.  Voila!  S'more Pie!  Delicious!  It was a little messy to cut and serve, but it tasted good and that's what's important, right? 

We also went grocery shopping this weekend.  I don't have the receipt with me right now, so I don't remember the exact amount that we spent, but other than a few perishables, this trip should get us through the end of the month.  If I remember correctly, we spent somewhere aroud $80.  Not too bad, if I do say so myself. 

This morning I also made the last payment for my son's daycare.  Friday will be his last day.  With daddy's change in schedule he just doesn't need to go anymore.  The kids will stay with daddy three days a week and with my father-in-law the other two days.  Not only will this be better for the kids, but it saves us $80 a week.  Score!

Sorry for such a long post.  I guess I had a lot to say about this weekend.  I feel like there is something that I missed... Oh, well, I guess I will remember it later.  Have a great week!