Our day to save

One of my biggest concerns when I quit my job was, "How in the world are we going to be able to save enough money to make ends meet without putting too much stress on Ben to work a million hours?" Well the Lord definitely answers prayers. Through a little nudging from Julie and a lot of research online, I've really been able to help us save money on our groceries. This was an awesome day at the stores. I don't think I'd be able to do it without all the hard work from the lady who manages the site southersavers.com. Check it out if you want help in saving money. I get the Yes paper every Saturday that the Tennessean distributes free if you ask for it and it has weekly coupons. Then I also signed up for the deal the Tennessean is doing to do the Sunday paper for $1 a week. That is better than buying it for $1.75 at the newsstand. So with coupons and the store's weekly deals...here is how we did.

Kroger had the best deals this week for us.

Total cost before savings: $134.92
Total Savings: $82.41
My final cost: $52.51 61.1% savings
We were able to get frozen veg.x6, potatoes x3, frozen meals x2, eggs, milk, ice cream, chili x9 (at $0.13 each WOW!), fruit chillers x2, cake frosting x2, brownie mixes x3, cheez it, juice x2, cocoa x3, toothebrush x2, tuna x2, etc....total 46 items.... Good day

Publix has their weekly B1G1 sales..It was ok at Publix.

Total cost before savings: $55.16
Total savings: $23.16
Total final cost: $32 a 42% savings

But what brought this savings down is the fact that we got a couple higher dollar items like the dish washer tabs and laundry detergent.

So total savings for the day between both stores $105.57 a 55.5%

The best savings of the day though had nothing to do with groceries. Ben called to make a payment on the hospital bill from his surgery. They told us we owe NOTHING! Once the hospital received the insurance payment, the hospital wrote off the final $656 that we had to pay!!! Awesome awesome awesome! We're so excited.

One final note...Julie told me I should go sign up for the Publix baby club...you can do it online. All mothers to be should do it. Publix sends you a book for taking care of your infant from newborn to 5yrs old. They will send you coupons for baby items for the first 2 yrs of their life. Then you can sign them up in Publix preschool pals after that. They are cool programs and free stuff...check it out! We also recently got our first free book from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library...Free books every month until 5 yrs old...again Awesome!

Still don't know

We still haven't heard anything about the driver position yet. They were supposed to fill the positions before a training class for the new tower truck that was coming in this week. Well that training was postponed because the truck wasn't ready yet. Today capt. and his sidekick lieutenant went around to all the stations passing out packets to all current ladder drivers for the training on this truck. They were teasing Ben and asked him, "So are you going to be a ladder driver or what?" Ben says, "I don't know...you tell me. You guys know." Of course they denied knowing anything but we're pretty sure they do. Ben asked them if they were taking the packets over the station 1 where there are 2 guys who applied that Ben feels are shoe ins. They asked why they would take them over there and Ben says, "Because those guys got the positions." Capt. and Lt. laughed and said, "Ben do you know something we don't? They haven't been promoted yet." Then Josh, the lieutenant, starts asking Ben a lot of questions about his previous driving experience like what he drove and where. Ben really feels like they know but all the information they would give up is that they will probably tell everyone this coming week. They want the promotions finalized before the new guys start on the 2nd. We're really praying he gets this promotion even though its a long shot because they have decided not to do any further promotions for quite a while due to budget strains. So here's praying.

Ok...so we have taken up a new trade...not by choice but by need....Dog Grooming! Mitzi really needs to be groomed every couple weeks and it was costing us $45. That's more than I really want to spend every 2 months. So for what it would cost us to get her groomed about 2 times, Ben bought a set of dog clippers and we tried it out. She really doesn't look half bad. She was not amused with us trying to clip her but she gave in after a while and let us do our thing. Here's the best I could get as far as pictures go...she's very frisky and won't hold still for a picture.

We gave her the traditional cocker cut. She's been all one length through the summer to keep her cooler. But now she will be sporting the short on top and long on sides look! She's so cute.

Ok, so Ben's birthday is coming up. He doesn't ever check this blog so I'm safe posting this here. His cousin gave me this idea and I wanted to see if you guys think its a cute idea or if its just a silly nicknak.

Her idea was to put a picture of Alli on one and maybe a picture of me and Ben on another. What do you guys think?

Possible Promotion and Another Surgery

We have been waiting to hear how Ben did on his ladder driver test. Today we got the news we hoped for. He was called in for an interview. Ben thought you had to pass the test to even get to interview. His captain said that you do not have to pass the test to get an interview because they realize that not everyone is a good test taker and likewise not everyone is a good interviewer. So Ben then got discouraged and thought he didn't pass his test but his captain saw his frustration and told him that he passed his test with at least a 70. This is all Ben had hoped for knowing he hadn't been to the academy. So he went into the interview and answered the best that he could. There were two lieutenants (one of them being training officer) and the assistant chief. Ben felt that he answered their questions to the best of his ability while trying to look humble, teachable, confident but not cocky. The assistant chief's questions can sometimes be a loose cannon. Ben thinks your answers are never right for him and feels that chief does this to try to frustrate you. So Ben feels that overall it really was a decent interview. He talked to the other two guys on his shift who interviewed and they also felt that chief railed them. We hope to know by next week if Ben got the promotion. I think he has a decent chance. He still thinks its a long shot.

Two weeks ago we noticed Pepper trip going upstairs. She looked like she had injured her leg. We knew when she had surgery a year ago that there was a 50% chance that she would injure her other leg within the next year or two....so exactly 1 year to the month, Pepper was confirmed as having injured her other leg. We knew what we had to do and today she came home from surgery. She is now our bionic dog! She also has gained 10 lbs. Pepper is on a strict food diet to lose 20 lbs. Otherwise, we will be looking at years off her life because of poor health. We want her as healthy as possible to be our pet, friend, family member for as long as possible. She is such a loving and loyal dog. Dr said she did very well in surgery. Her knee had already shown signs of chronic problems...meaning she had already developed arthritis. So she's probably been partially torn for a while and we just didn't notice the slight limp. So she has some arthritis but the surgery will keep her from getting worse. She'll be as good as possible from here on out as long as we keep that dern weight off. She looks so pitiful with her shaved leg! So we have a long 10 weeks of recovery ahead of us. So for 10 weeks she is confined again to the kitchen. We are praying that her leg heals as it did last time without rejecting the plate and needing another surgery to take it out!

I love saving money!!!

Ok well I'm on this couponing kick (thanks to wonderful Julie!). I spend a lot of time on southernsavers.com if any of you are interested. I went to publix today and got some great deals. Every week Publix has B1G1 offers. I shop mainly for these items and couple them with coupons to make the savings that much more. Publix also double any coupons less than $0.50. They take manufacturers, competitors and in store coupons on the same item. You can really save some money if you are able to find coupons in all those ways. My savings would have been much more today if I didn't get a few splurge items that were not on sale or B1G1. Here is how it breaks down:
Splurge items - Avacado, seasoning, Toilet Paper (was on sale but didn't have a coupon with me to make it much better in $)
Total price before sale items and coupons: $88.98
*In store advertised savings: $28.94
*Store Coupon: $5.14
*Vendor Coupon: $8.50
Total Savings: $42.58 making my Total Cost: $46.40 - - Almost 50% in savings!!!!

So for $46.40 I was able to get 32 items. Not bad! The great thing is that they are really every day items. The thing that frustrated me when I got started was that most sales fell on items that I wouldn't use every day. But this shopping trip worked perfectly! This gives me hope that I will be able to cut our food budget in half!

Pumpkin Patch

I knew that every year Shannon would go with Caitlin to pick out pumpkins for their house. This year I thought it would be fun for us to take Alli. She was in a great mood considering we woke her 30 mins early from her nap and didn't feed her till AFTER pictures because the sun was setting! Shannon got some adorable pictures.

Shafted Frustration

I've been getting really frustrated lately with work. We decided I would be PRN with work after Alli was born. Once she was born, we figured I would be able to work one night a week and take my paycheck and use it to pay off a few things we wanted to take care of and then be able to save up from some home improvements. I turned in my availability over a month ago. I am available either a monday or tuesday of every week. I had a pretty good chance of getting my one shift a week. Lately though....this hasn't been the case. There is a recently hired PRN who has been getting worked 3 nights a week which = full time hours. But she has been working both A shift and B shift. She isn't being given a full time position, but is getting a LOT of hours.

I recently found out that all of my scheduled once a night shifts are only "standby." I have no guaranteed hours this month. Every night that I'm on "standby" they have this other PRN girl working who has only been at the facility for a month or so. I'm frustrated that after working there two years I'm not getting work compared to a girl who is there for only a month. I confronted my boss on it and this was his response.

Heather,

I’m not sure if you are aware, but I do have a tech out on medical leave. I have been using Jenny primarily because she is the only prn tech that can give me 3 straight nights to fill the void. Obviously, this enables a better flow for the sleep center on a day-to-day basis with scheduling patients, etc. Otherwise, I would find myself trying to piece two to three prn techs together on various nights to yield the same result. With that being said, I think you are a fantastic tech; one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. I will try and get you some more time- please understand that it is not personal.

Regards,

Paul

Basically this emails says this to me: 1. Its easier on Paul to schedule one person than being fair and sharing PRN hours. 2. Skills and attitude means NOTHING

I go to work, do my job, don't stir the crap and come home. That's why he responded with the "you're a fantastic tech." I really don't think it would take THAT much effort to say ok Heather you work every Monday and give Jenny 2 more days in that week. I don't understand why it has to be "so hard." So I've really contemplated whether its worth me staying there or not. I have a 401k sitting there that I can't have unless I'm no longer an employee. I know it would be "wise" to roll it over to another investment but we could REALLY use that money to pay off some debts if they aren't going to work me. Sigh....anyway we've been praying about it. We'll see what happens.

Another interesting thing...Ben (as a long shot) applied for the ladder driver position. Ben isn't even a driver yet...so getting the ladder driver position would be...well... wonderful. Ben met the qualifications because of his time in volunteer service. There are 6 positions and 9 people applied. Ben took his test today and said it was really hard. He studied the best he could but since he isn't a "Driver" yet, he hasn't gone through pump school. So many of the questions were over things he hasn't officially been taught. So we're hoping he did well enough to pass and make it to the interview. If he didn't pass the test then he won't get to interview. If he gets this position...it would be an awesome $7k pay raise!!! Ben would also get to go through a bunch of fire academy schooling. He's really been wanting to get back to the academy. Here's praying!

11 Weeks

Alli is 11 weeks. This week she found her hand. She loves sucking on her hands! Forget the pacifier.

Thought this picture was funny where she is sticking out her tongue.

As mentioned before, Mitzi LOVES Alli!

It got a little too cold in the house for Alli. We didn't turn the heat on during the nights it got down to the 40s. So Alli was sporting this beanie.

Thought this was funny too...Her hand is in the pocket...and NO I didn't put it there. haha