First I planned out my grocery trip using my list from my 2 week meal plan. I then figured out how much I thought we'd spend overall. This was after I had researched what was on sale at the stores I would shop at, and what coupons I would be able to use for items on my list. Normally I would not want to spend time shopping at various stores, but because we live sooo close to 2, and because Jonah was home with Oliver, it was worth the travel to different stores. I also recently discovered the joy of Aldis. If you have an Aldi near you I would encourage you to go see what they sell. We've found some great items there with good quality (and few) ingredients on their labels. And the price was great, lower than our other grocery stores. Some great items I picked up included olive oil, cinnamon, fish (wild caught and frozen) and juice for great deals, which is their everyday price. It saved us a lot overall by adding that store into our regular shopping trips. We don't go there as often though since it's a little more of a drive.
But my estimate was around $100 for the two weeks of groceries, and guess what? I came in under that. Around $96. Amazing to me!
Really knowing where you can find things at the best price and not being willing to compromise, or by being flexible enough to rework some items in your meal plan is helpful.
I also was able to use some items we already had at home, so I didn't have to buy absolutely everything.
I may not have had a ton of coupons either, but by shopping smart I was able to get some good deals. And by deals I mean in season, or on sale items. Aldi's doesn't take coupons since all their items are their own brand, but the prices there are so low it's still worth it to add it into your trip.
After my outing, I came home to help Jonah with our washing machine. The day before it seemed to just stop after a cycle and wouldn't drain out and finish. So after some searches online for our model, my handy husband figured out how to take it apart and what pieces to search for the problem. I am amazed at how much we learned by doing this, and how relatively simple it turned out to be.
Thinking it was a clogged drain, or possibly a broken pump, we were prepared to pay for something new. After finding out the drains were not clogged (and several soaking towels later) Jonah popped out the pump to discover a wire was stuck in it. You know what that wire was?
My underwire.
Yah, I never really thought about that happening.
After a little 'ping' noise, the wire popped out and we thought that surely that wasn't the reason the whole machine wasn't working. Surely the pump must have quit, right?
After thinking this through we decided we'd at least try to put it all back together and see if it would run now. This decision was made while we were in the process of almost ordering a new pump.
I had been praying it would be a relatively simple fix and nothing too costly.
Guess what? It worked! It really was just a little wire stuck in the pump system in such a way that it couldn't turn and push the water out.
I am so grateful for how God took care of us in this situation! It's a small thing to some, but when you are living on little (in means of money) every little thing matters, and God reassured us of His provision.
I am seeing this more and more, and when I want to waver and doubt I give it up to Him again, asking for that assurance of His provision, and He answers.
I've started a list of ways He's provided and I can't wait to look back on it in a year. It's so encouraging and continually reassures me of our decison for me to stay home with Oliver.
Speaking of Oliver, today I found him sleeping in such a sweet pose during his nap. I snapped a picture of him, so that I wouldn't forget. Ahh sweet boy, how much we love this little guy!
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| both of his hands are up by his face, so sweet |
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