Why do we procrastinate?

Why do we procrastinate? The work project I've been putting off? Took me an hour to finish. One hour! I bet I've been thinking about doing it for two or three hours total! Just goes to show that if you can make yourself get started it usually doesn't take long to complete what you are dreading!

Today, the task I set for myself was cleaning off the bookcase in my office. I got thru half of it and it looks great - made a big difference. I'll finish it up tomorrow. Then Friday hit the rest of the piles. My goal for the week is to make my office a clean, functional place to work!

Getting ready to take off for our fun Daddy's Birthday Adventure! My DD and I made a football and a baseball cake for him today - those were her ideas. They actually turned out pretty cute, and I didn't have a chocolate cake mix, so instead of running to the store, I opened a cook book (Barefoot Contessa at Home) and made the most wonderful chocolate cake!!! It didn't take much longer than the mix and man is it rich and moist.

Frugal Birthday Plans

Tomorrow is DH's birthday. He states he doesn't want anything - don't you hate that??? So, we are going to have a fun family night without breaking the bank.

First, my DD and I are going to make him a cake - she has big plans on what it's going to look like (she's 4), so I'll let her take the lead. Then she has swim class - it's been a year since she's done this, so we'll all go to watch. Afterwards, it's off to Red Robin for dinner. Since her birthday was a few weeks ago and DH's is tomorrow, we have coupons for a free burger and a free kids meal. All we'll need to add is drinks and we'll have plenty of food - don't worry, we'll leave a nice tip - even when we spend less than the norm, we make sure our tips is what is should be based upon what the cost would have been. Next, across the street to Coldstone Creamery for his free ice cream - that will be plenty for all four of us, but we may end up buying my DD her own kids size - we'll see. Finally, DH and I will pick up our free coffees from Starbucks - we got these great little cards from USA Today when we were traveling last week that gave us a free tall coffee every Wednesday through May 28th. Whew! It will be a great night! Tomorrow I'll post our actual cost.

Today for anti procrastinating week I'm going to finish the work project I'm dreading - I started it yesterday but today I will finish!

Back to Normal!

Well, Spring Break is over and we had a great time - my DH proved to me you don't have to go far to have fun! To recap, we did some of my top ten list and some other things too!

1. The kids spent a few days at Grandmas and DH and I drove up to a big nearby city for some shopping, relaxing, etc. We used hotel points so the stay didn't cost us a dime - even included breakfast! We did go out to eat, but split meals, took home leftovers and stayed at $40 or under a day. We shopped, but only bought things we truly needed and left a lot of stuff in the stores. We even went to a few casinos - signed up for their clubs, gambled our free sign up money and put in $5 more each just for fun.

2. Took the kids to a local children's museum. We have an annual pass, so didn't cost anything, packed snacks and drinks.

3. Did a few mystery shops for lunches and even groceries.

4. Had a movie and popcorn night - with hot chocolate, my DD's favorite.

5. Lots of playing with the kids!!!!

6. Baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with DD.

7. Spent a little bit of time playing outside early in the week - then it got too cold - hence all the outside activities (zoo, park, etc.) were cancelled.

So, overall a great time. Now, back to the normal workweek - and although I wasn't off most of the week, I did spend more time playing and less time working, so I have a lot to do.

I'm going to make today my catch up day and take care of all the paperwork as well as a big work project I've been procrastinating on!

My list of 10

Here is my list of ten fun things to do over Spring Break:

1. Take the kids to the park for a picnic
2. Visit the zoo - we haven't been there since Fall because it's been cold
3. Kids are off to Grandmas for a few nights and DH and I are going to use some hotel points to visit a nearby city.
4. Go to the library for new books and movies
5. Go out for breakfast as a family - this is something we NEVER do!
6. Do a craft project with my DD
7. Plan a "free" day - magazines to sell at the half price bookstore, use a GC for lunch, utilize any "free" coupons, etc.
8. Have a game night with popcorn and board games
9. Visit a local park that is having a kids program one afternoon (bringing in animals)
10. Do some baking with my DD - she loves this!

Spring Break at home

I love, love, love to travel, and I was really hoping to go somewhere for Spring Break. However, as it's now Thursday and nothing has come up on our RCI search, it doesn't look good. I am trying not to be disappointed and instead to come up with a lot of fun things we can do here in town, but so far I haven't been able to pull myself out of the dumps!

Today's goal is to make a list of ten fun things we can do next week and to start counting my blessings instead of feeling sorry for myself.

Date Night

I think it is so important to spend quality time with your spouse. However, a weekly date night can get pretty expensive! My DH and I have commited to one night a week with just the two of us and we do a pretty good job of keeping the cost down.

For example, instead of a traditional Friday or Saturday night out, we almost always go out on Monday or Tuesday. Reason? We are blessed enough to have our moms come up every other week for a few days to watch our kids while we work. So, on Monday and Tuesday we have a free "babysitter."

Another thing we often do was what last night's date night consisted of - a mystery shop. We went out to a nice restaurant for a full meal (appetizer, entrees and dessert) and won't pay a dime for it. I've been doing mystery shops for years so I'm pretty efficient and it only took me about 1/2 when we got home last night to type in the report.

So, this week our date night was a nice dinner out, just the two of us, completely free!

CVS Trip

Made a quick trip to CVS last night (along with another one Sunday night). I did very well:

Sunday:
2 Spa Softsoaps 4.99 (used $1 and $1.50 coupons)
10 digital prints 2.90 (used 2.90 CVS coupon for free prints)
Newspaper 1.75

Paid .30 out of pocket after coupons and some ECB
Received $9.98 in ECB

Monday:
1 Spa Softsoap 4.99 (used $1.50 coupon)
2 Speedstick 24/7 5.00 (used 2 - $1.00 coupons and 1 - $1.00 CVS coupon)
2 Egg coloring kits (.49 and .89)

Paid $1.02 out of pocket after coupons and 5.97 ECB
Received $7.99 in ECB

I need some moisturizer and eye cream, so I plan on making one more trip this week to take advantage of one of the April monthly deals on that and get a little back - I should be able to pay for what I need with ECB and then get more ECB for next week's deals.

Inbox is clean! Send out a ton of rebates from Menards. Today I plan on cleaning out my coupons since March is over.