May 1, 2009
About Me
I'm 35, I've been married to my wonderful husband, for 12 years and counting, and we have four fun, loud, energetic children--ages 11, 8 (the only boy!), 6 , and 3. I attended Franciscan University and have a degree in education, but I'm now a stay-at-home Mom. I love being home for all the "little moments" of daily life--the first words, kissing the boo-boos, watching their little imaginations hard at work making elaborate forts out of blankets and pillow and stuffed animals and LEGOS...
My husband has always worked for a non-profit employer, so for me to be able to stay home, we have had to learn to make EVERY penny count and cut our budget to the bare-bones. I've learned that it's possible to save money in almost every area: grocery and household costs, utilities, medical costs, gift-giving, cooking, travel and entertainment. I thought I was frugal 12 years ago when we had 2 incomes and no children. Ha!! We've come a long way since then. Over the years as we've added to our family, bought a house, gone through a job loss and consequently tightened up our budget even more, we've had to learn more and more strategies for stretching our dollars as far as they would go--spending less and getting more.
Saving money (and not SPENDING the money we have) is an ongoing quest for us. Since I enjoy searching for deals, coupons, freebies, frugal recipes and all, I figure I might as well share that info here on my blog and hopefully help others live well on smaller budgets, too (and save you the research time). Saving a few dollars here and a few dollars there adds up to saving a LOT of dollars that you can use somewhere else!
In January 2010, we began a new adventure--we pulled our son our of school to begin homeschooling. You'll read a little about that from time to time, and I'll be posting educational links as I come across them.
Random tidbits about me:
-I love to cook. I'm a Foodie--I admit it. I love reading cookbooks and gourmet cooking magazines, planning menus, watching the Food Network, trying new recipes and trying to duplicate recipes I've tried somewhere else.
-I hate to clean! I 'm not fond of washing dishes by hand (but I will happily load, empty and re-load the dishwasher all day long. Go figure.). I utterly dislike mopping. And vacuuming. I actually like doing laundry, though. :)
-We live in a teeny tiny house--the one I grew up in, actually. All six of us are squashed together in 993 square feet with one bathroom and no garage! For the most part, it works, but some days--it doesn't... If you have any tips for squeezing three girls and all their clothes and stuff into one tiny bedroom, please let me know!! I would LOVE to buy a big old house one day with a big farm kitchen and lots of land for a big garden and for the kids to run around.
-My favorite movies are the sappy, girly ones like The Sound of Music and Pride and Prejudice.
-We have our very own petting zoo. Currently, we have a dog (Kipper), two cats (Reisling and Frascati--both named after wines), and various hamsters, gerbils, and pet rats. Hopefully there aren't any rodents around here that I DON'T know about... :)
-I started this blog as a hobby I can do while at home with the kids. My brain was turning to mush so I wanted to try something new. I've learned a LOT in 18 months!
-I love music. In high school I played 4 instruments (Trumpet, Mellophone, Flute, Piccolo). I need to start practicing again.
Send me an email anytime! I'd love to hear your questions, feedback, ideas, tips...
Email me at: frugalcatholicmommy@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by to visit!
