First Unemployment Check

Well, dh received his first unemployment check today. We had it direct deposited into our bank account. Supposedly the extra $25 will be in there tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about all of this. I wish dh's work would call him back. It's nice to have the money to help us survive but I am already wishing he was still working. People when they are unemployed get a little depressed and even dh has been feeling it. He is mostly over it now and wants to get his resume done up and start looking around for something. He is still not in a rush to get another job, because he would rather go back to his old one. He is willing to wait a while, but at the same time he is keeping a look out for any really great jobs that he may be qualified for.

The biggest thing that I miss now that he isn't working, is the time to myself. I used to have three days a week where, after the kids were in bed, I could do my class work, watch tv or do whatever I wanted to. Now, it seems the only time I have on my own is when I go up to the college for my classes, and that isn't really 'me' time. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but we all need time for ourselves and our creative outlets.

I am hoping now that the weather is starting to get nicer, that he will be spending more time on our land and getting the garden in. Or maybe playing baseball with our older son. There really is a ton of things around here that need to be done (spring cleaning, basement organized) and I'm hoping he will start doing some of those things soon.

Planted Tomato and Pepper Seeds

Since we aren't able to get our house put on our land, we decided that we could still use some of our land to plant a garden. We have bought quite a few seeds, along with onion root and strawberry root. We are hoping that the veggies will do well and we will have tons of food to can and freeze. Of course, I will need to learn how to freeze fresh veggies and get some type of canner.

Yesterday, my husband and two year old daughter planted a bunch of tomatoes and peppers in containers. We will be keeping them inside until it's warm enough to put them in the ground. My daughter had a lot of fun helping daddy. We are going to be getting the area ready for planting just as soon as the weather is nice again.

New Phones for our Family

We had phones through Verizon Wireless which were costing us about $76 a month for 400 shared minutes. We knew this was an area where we could cut our costs quickly. We really don't use our cell phones all too much, so we were wasting minutes a month because we didn't have a rollover plan.

I researched online for several hours and had it narrowed down to either TracPhone or Net10 (which are actually owned by the same company). We went to several different places and found that WalMart had both types of phones. We stood at WalMart comparing prices and phones for about an hour. Even with the double minutes for life you get with TracPhone, we decided that it would be cheaper for us to go with Net10 phones.

We bought dh a $40 phone that came with 300 minutes (so the phone was actually about $10). We took it home, went online to have the phone number transferred, and charged it. By the next day the number had transferred and we were ready to finish setup. I went over to Family Dollar the next week and bought myself a different flip phone for $40 with 300 minutes. I went online and my number was transferred that night! So, this change will save us about $45 a month!! Plus our minutes roll over!