Countrymomtosnh's Blog

Stress sucks

countrymomtosnh — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:19:07 +0000

When my daughter was born 4 and a half years ago, my boss agreed to let me bring her to work with me. It was a great situation, I had my own office (actually a small building) so she didn’t bother anyone. It was win-win for everyone. They kept a happy employee, and I got to be with my daughter. 15 months was the age limit for keeping her there, so she started daycare at 15 months. Fast-forward until she was 27 months, her little brother was born. The arrangement was the same. At about 13 months, I asked if I could keep him with me longer. I was told yes, and for as long as I saw it fit. Well, here we are, my son is 2 years and 2 months old. I had a chat with my boss today. It started out being about the company reimbursing me for fuel that I’ve had to pay for to go to a different town to work, about 5 days a month, 30 miles away. He got mad at me and started telling me that because of him, I had saved a lot of money on daycare, and that I need to remember that and take it into consideration. I have saved a lot of money. I won’t deny that. I’ve always been very grateful that I’ve been able to have my kids with me at work. He agreed to the arrangement, and now I’m just supposed to do whatever he wants because he thinks I “owe” him?! Sending me to a different town is very out of the norm, in the 9 years I’ve worked for this company, I’ve spent maybe 2 days in a different town. If it were something normal, I wouldn’t have wondered about someone else paying for my fuel, but since it was just sprung on me last month, I was thinking maybe they could help me out a bit by paying fuel, mileage, something. Now my boss has decided that I need to send my son to daycare. Coincidence? I think not. I pissed him off, so now he’s trying to hurt me. Mission complete. I’m hurt. I’ve spent the last hour sobbing. I don’t know what to do. I wouldn’t have stayed at this job this long if it weren’t for having my kid(s) there. It doesn’t pay enough to support two kids in fulltime daycare. I knew there was a reason I hated this job. Now I know what it is.

Making money online

countrymomtosnh — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:06:04 +0000

Years ago I discovered the online world of GPT (Get Paid To) sites. I was really gung-ho about them for a few months and made some decent money. Then, I got behind and forgot sites, usernames, and passwords. Things got more messy when I changed my email address, so I can’t even have my info emailed to me. Well, there were a few sites that I really liked and kept up to date on. Here are a few of them:

Quizpoints – Referral link – With this site, you can complete quizzes, sign up for trials and services, etc. You get points for completing offers, then when you reach a certain number of points, 500, 1200, or 2300, you choose a reward – either a gift card or paypal. 500 points gets you $10, 1200 gets $25, and 2300 gets $50. I have been with this site for over 2 years and have been paid by paypal and gift cards numerous times.

Hits4Pay – Referral link – On this site, you choose interest categories and read ads in those areas. When you reach $25 you can cash out. I have been paid by this site.

InboxDollars – Referral link - This site is also one where you complete offers, trials, and surveys. You also get paid to read emails. This is one of my favorite sites, and have been paid many times in the 3+ years that I have been a member. There is a minimum balance of $30 to cash out, and you are paid by check.

DonkeyMails – Referral link – This site sends you emails to click on and read. The payout amount is small – $1.00, and can be paid by a number of sites like paypal. I have also been a member for a few years, and have been paid by paypal. It is also very quick payment.

I’m now checking into a few new sites, but don’t want to post about them until I know more about them.

Homemade Dishwasher detergent

countrymomtosnh — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:52:22 +0000

I’m loving the internet right now. Where else could I cram myself so full of new ideas in such a short time? I’ve now discovered homemade dishwasher detergent. Click here. Just need to get the kosher salt and citric acid. Good timing, too. My box of detergent is almost empty. I haven’t run my dishwasher in a couple of weeks, though. I’ve started washing the dishes after meals to keep them from piling up and overflowing the sink. I’m sure I’ll fall off the washing by hand bandwagon at some point, so I’ll have a cheap mixture for when I need it.

Has anyone made homemade rootbeer?

countrymomtosnh — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:35:06 +0000

I’m considering trying this. I first read about it in a book by Wanda E. Brunstetter (great books!), and have been intrigued since then. I bought some root beer extract the other day while grocery shopping and just found what looks to be a fairly simple recipe for it. Here’s the link, if anyone’s interested: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/ROOTBEER_Jn0.htm. If you’ve tried it, let me know how it went! If I make a batch, I’ll update about it and tell about my experience.

It worked!!

countrymomtosnh — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:26:31 +0000

The trial load with the homemade laundry detergent went great! I put in a pair of my husbands work pants, along with some other random clothes. The pants came out clean and everything smelled great, not purfumey like some detergents, just a nice clean smell. I’m impressed and will definitely keep using this!

Made the laundry detergent

countrymomtosnh — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:20:37 +0000

It wasn’t bad at all! It was really quite easy. I just sat myself in the bathroom with a grater and a bar of Fels Naptha soap and went to town while the kids were in the bathtub. I was about 1/2 way through grating when I grated my first knuckle. It didn’t even hurt that bad, but did bleed a bit. The trial load of laundry is in the washer right now. The soap did seem to be dissolving well while the washer was filling. This little experiment has the ability to save us a ton of money on detergent, so here’s hoping it works well!

Homemade laundry soap

countrymomtosnh — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:28 +0000

My next domestic endeavor is going to be making homemade laundry detergent. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but didn’t know what to do with a big bucket of liquid soap. Today I found a recipe for powdered detergent. So compact and easy to make. I already have the ingredients on hand since they’re the same as used in the liquid version. From what I’ve read, it is extremely cheap compared to normal store bought detergent, and works great. My next issue will be convincing my Tide addict husband that my homemade stuff is just as good, if not better! I think I’ll make some and start using it and let the results speak for themselves.

Here are the links to the recipes for the homemade laundry soap.

Powdered: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf223623.tip.html

Liquid: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

Homemade applesauce

countrymomtosnh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:04:49 +0000

I’ve been gravitating towards making more things at home lately, and I’ve found that I really enjoy it. This weekend I taught myself how to make homemade applesauce. Ok, there really wasn’t that much to learn, but nonetheless, I was impressed with myself! I had a few Red Delicious apples in the fridge and found a good deal on a 5lb bag of them at Walmart. My 4 year old daughter loves applesauce, but those little single serve containers are pricey, and we don’t eat enough to buy a big jar. So, I decided to give it a try myself. I peeled all the apples and let them sit in the sink full of water. Then I used my handy-dandy apple corer/slicer and we were in business. It seemed like a ton of apple slices, so I put them in two smaller saucepans and a bit pot with a little bit of water in each and put the heat on high. It took about 15 minutes for them to soften. Then I stuck them in the food processor and processed until it looked like applesauce. I had dd do the official taste test, and it passed with flying colors. I was extremely proud of myself! I only got 4 pints total out of all of my hard work, but I really like knowing there is nothing but apples in my applesauce now. I canned 4 half pint jars and 2 pint jars. I think we’ll waste a lot less this way, so we are saving a bit of money, too. I like looking at my jars of applesauce in the pantry, next to the salsa and pasta sauce that my sister and I made and canned. That’s for another blog, though!

Interests

countrymomtosnh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:35:03 +0000

In case anyone cares to read my blog, I figured I should let you know a bit about my interests. I’m sure I’ll post more about most of them in the future, so maybe this is more of a reminder to myself about blogging ideas. I am very passionate about car seat safety. I love NASCAR, my favorite driver is Jimmie Johnson. I’m a huge fan of the Minnesota Vikings. I’ve recently discovered that I enjoy making things like applesauce, salsa, and pasta sauce and canning them. I also like baking, and like to try my hand at cooking new meals. I love Dave Ramsey and am currently following his Total Money Makeover plan. I have two kids who mean the world to me, I’m sure you’ll read quite a bit about them. I’m a country girl, born and raised on a cattle and grain farm in Iowa, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere but in the country. I guess that’s it for now, I’m excited to get this blog on the web and let my thoughts out!

Hello world!

countrymomtosnh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:14:33 +0000

My name is Lisa. I’m a 28 year old mom to two beautiful kids. S is 4 years old and started preschool this year. She loves it, which I am thankful for, but also a little sad that she doesn’t need me as much anymore! H is 2 and goes to work with me during the day. He loves anything with an engine, especially tractors, trains, and semi’s!