March 14, 2013

I Answered, Now It's Your Turn

Thanks to everyone who asked me a little something, something last week! I love hearing from my readers and what you are dying to know more about {insert sarcasm font because, let's face it, I'm not that entertaining}.  Let's just get right to it and for those of you that think this is just going to be a boring answers post, scroll to the bottom because now I have some questions for YOU!

1.  Amanda asked: "I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to have kids, when did you know that it was the right time? Did you plan to have kids sooner rather than later?"

I don't think there is ever a "right" time to have kids. If you are of the mindset that "we need to pay off this, buy this place to live, go here on vacation, etc" first I feel like there will always be something "next".  Does that make sense?  With that being said, I think that you'll know when you are ready to take on the responsibility of another life.  If you are still on the fence, I'd say you probably aren't ready.  At the same time, I never think you are fully prepared for all that comes with being a parent.

For us, I knew I wanted kids as soon as we said "I Do".  Jimmy was OK with waiting, enjoying some husband/wife time first but, as luck had it, we were pregnant one month after our wedding.  Looking back, my husband was probably right about enjoying some more husband/wife time but I wouldn't change our lives for anything.

2.  Jennifer asked:  "Are you guys still planning your annual summer trip?"

YES!  We have it all planned and I'll be 32ish weeks pregnant at the time.  As long as my doctor OKs it, we're going!

3. Michelle asked: "When I first started reading your blog you were team one and done. I would like to hear more about how/why you changed your mind (if you're willing to share)."

Girl, you know I'll share just about anything!  I was very much a one and done-r for a long time and then, I don't know, just one day I changed.  I started thinking about how much I love big families {mine isn't but Jimmy's is} and then a lot of my friends started having 2nd and 3rd kids and seeing the interaction between their siblings was so sweet and I knew I wanted that for Kendall.  Jimmy is one of four and his dad told him, "the best gift you can give your child is a brother or sister" and I thought about that a lot.  I think it was just a matter of timing.  A lot of women are all "I've got the fever" before their even healed from the first baby and that was just not me.  I had always said that IF we had another I'd want to be a SAHM and I'd want Kendall to be older.  Well, both of those things happened and here we are!

4.  Advocarerunner asked: "How do you manage pajama days with your two year old? If we stay home longer than 4 hours, my 2 year old is climbing the walls. We are constantly on the go. Teach me your ways."

Oh boy.  Well...it's not easy.  I wish I cold say we do awesome indoor activities like you see on Pinterest but that'd be a lie. We do paint, make crafts, color daddy pictures, bake cookies, Kendall can "help" with some chores and oh, yeah, there's lots of movie days.  I don't prefer these days, at all, but the daggone snow makes me not want to do a whole lot of anything.  I miss the summer days when we were constantly on the go.  

5.  Nicole asked:  "What names did you have picked out if baby Dew #2 was a girl??"

I'm glad someone asked because I was dying to share!  The little part of me that had hoped for a girl slightly more than a boy was because of the name we had chosen, we both loved it.  Her name would have been Josie Mae.  Completely country but I was in love with it. 

Now it's my turn!  I have some burning questions for you!

1.  What is your grocery budget like?  I am always looking for ways to cut ours because I feel like it's SO much.

2. What are your favorite types of blog posts to read?  Fashion/style posts?  Product reviews?  Celebrity gossip?  Parenting advice?  Not just on this blog, on blogs in general.  

3. What's your least favorite household chore?

4.  What's your favorite recipe?  

5. If you are a parent, how many date nights do you and your husband {or wife, if there's any male readers} get a month?

I'm always curious about all of these things so answer one, answer them all!  I can't wait to hear!

37 comments:

  1. For grocery budget I have $400 for a month for 5 people (3 toddlers). I basically pull money and go to the store with cash. My goal is 100 a week and when the money is gone it is gone. I sacrifice a ton, no hips no ice cream frozen veggies instead of fresh. But it holds me accountable. I was so good for so long that when my husband received nhis annual raise I got one too!

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  2. 1. I just have the girls and I right now, and honestly my parent's pay the majority, but when I was still married to Chris it was $150 for 2 weeks, of course there was money aside for extra milk and what not, but honestly I don't buy a lot of junk or I just get 1 junk snack. I also don't eat much more than chicken, so I don't buy a lot of meat.

    2. I don't read a lot of Fashion/Style or sponsored posts. Sponsored post make me delete you. Ha! I don't like anything too deep I guess, I like the fun, shopping and light hearted post.

    3. Bathrooms. Hate cleaning them. I do, but it's very dreaded.

    4. Right now, its the baked tacos floating around. Yum, especially with guacamole on them.

    5. If you are a parent, how many date nights do you and your husband {or wife, if there's any male readers} get a month? I am a single parent, but at least twice a month on a Sat or Sun my mom will watch the girls for a couple of hours so I can get a hair cut or just do the errands that require a lot of in and out of stores. Hadley didn't get the shopping gene. Boo.

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  3. 1. We must be big fat fatties because for me, Husband, and a toddler I spend $150 a week. That includes all diapers/toiletries/cleaning products/etc...maybe that makes a difference?
    2. Tons of review posts or sponsored posts will get blogs deleted in 2 seconds - sorry I just don't care about the free shit that comes in the mail and thus gets the automatic thumbs up. **end rant** Sorry:-P What I DO love is any kind of Day in the Life post, fashion posts of stuff moms actually wear, weight loss/work out posts, and DIY posts that aren't just flung up to get repinned. I love knowing what other moms of toddlers or toddlers and newborns (omg only 10 weeks left...) do all day!
    3. I hate cleaning floors. HATE IT.
    4. I love to cook. I made some stuffed poblano peppers recently that were fab but my fave thing is this cheese/bacon/chive dip. I dream about it. I want to plan parties just so I can make it and eat it.
    5. We go out to eat every weekend but we bring Rowan with us. Less than once a month we go out by ourselves...our family will always live far away (Husband is Army) and any date night we have to tack on $9/hour for a sitter.

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  4. Thanks for answering my question, that helps me a lot and I totally get what you mean!

    As for groceries, I've found going to two, sometimes three stores, gets me the best savings. I do Meijer, Aldi and sometimes CVS/Target for a few items they have cheap. I cut coupons, do Mperks at Meijer, watch the ads and make a list and menu every week. I can spend between $100-$140 a week on groceries. I also have a deep freeze and freeze a good deal of food in the summer/buy frozen food when it is on sale really cheap and then eat on that for a few months. Its easy to do with veggies, fries, pizza's stuff like that!

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  5. COUPON shannon. Get a sunday paper and go online and get the printables you will save A LOT of money that way.....I dont know your local grocery chain but if you have a kroger go to the website iheartkroger and she will help you....

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  6. I am a new blogger, and just love coming on over and reading yours! Thank you for being so wonderful and honest. I am on "team one and done," right now and a lot of people have been trying to convince me otherwise. I may be starting to swing the other way!!

    I love to read product reviews,those are probably my favorite blogs because i just LOVE new exciting products. Depending on the price I love the try them also!! I also like to read mommy blogs. I love different kinds of input on parenting (although I don't take much of it to heart)

    As for date nights, my daughter is two and I have to admit my husband and I rarely go out. Maybe once every couple months, we should really try harder!! I find it hard to find the time and a babysitter! :)

    Good luck with everything, can not wait to see pictures of baby #2!

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  7. Loved reading this. I went to Myrtle Beach, SC when I was 35 weeks pregnant with Connor (it's 8ish hours from here) and my doctor was fine with it - so I'd say you'll be good to go as long as you haven't had any complications! :)

    1. Our grocery budget is $500 per month (2 adults, 1 toddler) - we buy all of our food AND toiletries/household supplies with that - basically, anything we buy at WalMart/Kroger/Sams fits into that $500 - even things like oil and oil filters for our vehicles...we change it ourselves because it saves so much money! Occasionally we go over, but if you plan well it works out. I also try to buy 1 BIG thing every time I'm at WalMart so it kind of balances out week to week. Meaning, we might not be low on paper towels yet, but if there is nothing else 'big' we need, I'll go ahead and buy some (we buy the biggest pack possible) so it doesn't throw a wrench in our budget down the road. I definitely use coupons when possible.
    2. My favorite blogs to read are probably those about parenting.
    3. I HATE cleaning bathrooms.
    4. My favorite go-to recipe is from Pinterest. In a 9x13 pan you put one pound of chicken (cut into strips), 1 large can of green beans, and red potatoes (I quarter them). Pour 1 package of Italian Dressing Mix over it, then pour 1 stick of melted butter over it. Cover with foil, cook at 350 for 1 hour!
    5. Since our families live far away and we don't have a steady babysitter (Connor goes to daycare), we've had 3 date nights in a little over 2.5 years! I know, it's a bit pathetic, but we honestly don't mind. We take Connor everywhere we go and he is always well-behaved, which I think is a result of always being out with us...even when he was super little! :)

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  8. My all time fave blog posts, are the random ones. I love when people don't stick to a routine. Our grocery budget for a family of 3 is $300 per month. We shop only at Publix because of their BOGO free offers, and it's always on name brand products, no cheapo stuff. We buy all of our meats from Walmart, because the quality is good and it's inexpensive. My least favorite chore is the laundry! Luckily the hubby does that I balance it off with the dishes {dishwasher :)} As for date nights, as many as we are offered by both of our parents, or our siblings who have kids in the same range, but usually twice per month, sometimes only once, but no more than three. As for recipes...cupcakes out of the box!

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  9. I personally think couponing sounds much easier than it is! Having said that, our grocery budget is about $100/week for my husband and I. I don't buy a ton of junk or "expensive" stuff and stick to store/generic brands for a lot of stuff, but other things like fresh fruit and veggies and meat are expensive, yo! I am trying to be better at meal planning, and I have noticed that our grocery budget has gone down since I am meal planning and shopping once a week instead of multiple times when I forget something, decide on a whim what to make for dinner, etc.

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  10. I love posts like this! You should have made it a link up :) Love reading random tid bits about people.

    1. I suck and don't really follow a grocery budget. I seem to get the "what the eff did you buy" rant by my husband for how much I've spent between Giant Eagle, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods in a given month. I'd estimate around $100-$150 a week. In my defense, we eat tons of fruit and veggies and I buy most produce, meat and dairy organic. This does not include the Target purchases. It is a goal of mine to become more budget aware. It's so hard to meal plan with just me and the Toddler most weeknights but I still like to cook for us and not just eat on the fly. If that makes sense.

    2.I tend to skip over lots of sponsored posts or product reviews. I'm more interested in daily life posts and random things that make up peoples lives. Right now I'm all about pregnancy and toddler related posts :)

    3. I love to clean but hate emptying the dishwasher. Luckily my husband does it without me nagging. It pisses me off when things are still wet. lol. Elena likes to help now, so that makes the task less daunting.

    4.My favorite recipe right now is the same one that Rachel mentioned above. It's easy and my husband loves it. And it's toddler friendly. I use less butter though.

    5. We don't get out much. Or ever really. Especially now that we've moved so far from home and have no family or ties here. We have been here a year and have only had a night out when we've gone back to NJ. Haven't experienced Ohio night life just yet ;) I did get to a movie with some girls from my Mom's group which was nice. We are homebodies though, so it's no big thing. Even before Elena we could usually be found at home.

    This was fun :) PS...Love your girl name. Josephine (Josie) is one of our two contenders. Even though it's Elena's middle name. Just love it.

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  11. Our grocery budget can be anywhere from $70 to $150 a week. If I'm buying meat it's definitely more expensive. I menu plan, occasional use coupons, and only go to the store once a week. This is for three people.

    I love reading mom blogs right now since my baby is 8 months old now. My least favorite chore is washing the dishes! My favorite recipe is anything with chicken..I have a food blog so anything on there I love. As for date nights, usually once a month, if we're lucky!

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  12. Our grocery budget is insane. I don't even want to discuss it.

    I despise sponsored posts and parenting advice isn't for me either. Actually anything that involves deep reflection isn't for me either. LOL.

    Dates? We never go on dates! We are so darn busy!!!

    Ramblings of a Suburban Mom

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  13. My grocery budget is $100 a week. But sometimes I'm under and sometimes a little over. I don't coupon because I found I was buying things that I don't normally buy just to be able to use a coupon and that was typically more processed foods. I have found that the best money saver is to plan all our meals and grocery shop only once a week so that I'm not going in multiple times and ending up buying more than I need. Any trip to pick up that "one thing" means leaving with a bill of $20-$30.
    I love to read posts that are a mix of different topics.
    I hate doing the dishes the most. Probably because as a SAHM I end up doing them multiple times a day.
    My favorite recipe is Skinny Taste's Black Bean Burgers with Chipolte Mayo. They save us money because there's no meat and they taste amazing (and I'm not normally a vegetarian meal lover). And my toddler loves them as well (minus the spicy mayo).
    We hardly ever go on date nights and half the time when we do go out, we bring Owen with us. We have moved a lot in our marriage and it is hard finding people willing to babysit that we have gotten to know well enough that we trust them. Though at some point everywhere we have lived we have found a nice older (our parents' age) couple who volunteers to keep Owen for free and we would use them once every two or three months. Our most recent babysitters moved though. :(

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  14. Josie Mae is so cute!!

    Our grocery budget is usually around $100 a week. Sometimes we have weeks where I'm there everydaye picking up things for dinner because I feel like it saves us money, because I'm only buying specific items.

    Least favorite household chore?Laundry!! I hate the folding and putting away process the most.
    I wish I could hire someone to just do that chore, I swear I would be the happiest woman in the world.

    My husband and I usually get a date night twice a month. My Mom and his parents LOVE babysitting.


    thewaynes3.blogspot.com

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  15. Grocery budget, what's that? lol...I need to start meal planning, but right now we're about $150 a week, depending on what we buy.

    I like a lot of different blogs. I love reading makeup reviews/how-to's. I enjoy looking at fashion blogs, but they stress me out because I can never afford the clothes/jewelry/shoes/handbags. I really enjoy humor, such as Jason Good's blog. And of course, I love reading family and everyday lifestyle blogs of non-famous people, like myself. I find comfort in them.

    TOILETS. I hate cleaning toilets. I would rather buy another house than to clean a toilet. Have I mentioned I hate cleaning toilets?

    My favorite recipe is one for the weight watchers taco soup, which is chili. It's really yummy.

    We typically get a date night every Thursday from my mother-in-law, but it's really just her way of hanging out with our son. When my parents are able to, they will keep him overnight on the weekend. So, I'd say maybe 6/month. We are very fortunate to have that time together!

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  16. I've decided to go with the love part of Peace.Love.Food for this blog. More specifically having alone time/date nights. We have 3 kids, 16, 13, 11 and get along very well. They are old enough to hang out at home alone and know not to answer the door, play with fire, or make homemade bombs so we are pretty comfortable leaving them for several hours. Is it our favorite thing to do, no not really. We are also blessed enough to have family close who can help stay with them if we need.

    Now for the meat of this blog. We maybe, MAYBE, have a date night once a month. If we do it's probably for a special event like a work party or a close friends birthday. That doesn't seem like much of a date since we are out with others but we often joke that grocery shopping is our dates. If you consider the "grocery dates" than it's more like 3 days a week. I'm not kidding, between food allergies and the amount of fresh fruits and veggies we go through we are at the store at least 3 days a week, and two teenage boys who don't stop eating doesn't help that either. I guess that's another reason for lack of dates, our astronomical grocery bills. That is actually fine with us because we love our choice of food. Now we have narrowed our "dates" to 3 days a week and if you add in our trips to the gym that would be 2 dates a day 3 days a week. I'd like to see someone beat that :-). Lets do the math; 2+2=cow, take away the mop, multiply by work and divide the homework, yep so that's at least 24 dates a month.

    OK, fine, so we don't get 24 dates a month but it isn't about how often we leave the house dressed up for no other purpose than to be alone as adults it's about us and the love we enjoy and living in the here and now. In our daily dinner cooking, homeworking, cleaning, grocery shopping we flirt. We send glances, passing kisses and soft touches to the point that we don't need the dates. We enjoy being together in whatever we are doing and we make it fun because we are in love and we know the chances of being able to get out is few and far between. We also go to bed at the same time and take 100% advantage of this by snuggling and well snuggling after the extreme snuggling. My job also has me away 2-3 days a week so we take make the most out of every moment together.

    As a little background, this marriage is both of our second one. We were both unfortunate to have loveless, anger filled first marriages that we never should have gone through with. I had a lot of alone time and so called dates with my ex. I've learned that it isn't about getting dates it's about the love. The deep soul binding love that makes any time together a date. I guarantee some of you are calling bullshit on this but life is way to short not to live our lives in the here and now. Make the most of it, you don't need date nights often if you enjoy every night. And it's fun making the kids nauseated with all the mushiness, the dog even gets annoyed, I suppose that is part of a parents job.

    I love my wife and can't wait for her to get home from work. Unfortunately I'm going stag to the grocery but we may be able to work in a gym date today ;-).

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  17. i'm so bad about budgeting for us at home. i honestly have no idea what we spend on food. i can tell you how much it costs to send 18 high schoolers across the country and care for them for 10 days- and break it down by meal/event. but i can't tell you how much i spend on food at my own house!
    i really like reading celeb gossip posts, fashion posts, random ones about peoples days, snarky/sarcastic posts, i'm kind of all over the place on what i like.
    i hate folding & putting away laundry. i don't mind washing it. but when it comes to getting put away- that's a whole nother deal.
    i don't think i have one fav recipe that stands out above the rest. for an app/starter i like bacon blue cheese dip or jalapeno poppers with cresent rolls, for main dishes i like burgers- any kind, mix in dry ranch or taco seasoning, top it with blue cheese, or bbq sauce. i can't wait for summer. i really want to grill again.
    no babies yet, so the mr & i hang out together all the time.

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  18. 1. Our grocery budget is between $100-150 a week. I've been trying to keep it as low as possible but we buy a lot of meat and that gets pricey. I don't do coupons because I rarely find them for stuff we eat and I don't want to buy 3 of something to save 50 cents. I've found meal planning does help.

    2. What are your favorite types of blog posts to read? I hate blogs with too many reviews/giveaways. Every now and then fine but if that's 90% of what you post I don't care. I like mommy blogs and humor blogs like Suri's Burn Book.

    3. What's your least favorite household chore? We have a cleaning lady come once a month to do the really gross deep cleaning stuff. For everyday type chores I hate putting away laundry.

    4. What's your favorite recipe?
    Right now I'm obsessed with taco soup and the other night I made a homemade mac n cheese that was TDF.

    5. If you are a parent, how many date nights do you and your husband {or wife, if there's any male readers} get a month? I wish we got at least one a month but lately we've been bad about this and it's been the cause of frustration for me so we're trying to be better about it.


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  19. Love Josie Mae...we have a Josephine Faye :)

    1. Our grocery/household necessities budget is about $300/month.
    2. I tend to gravitate towards parenting and lifestyle type blogs (fashion, home design).
    3. Bathrooms...yuck!
    4. I am actually feeling pretty burnt out on all our go-to recipes lately...excited to see what everyone else is making!
    5. With a 4 month old we aren't getting out much these days...we have gone out maybe twice since our daughter was born.


    erinmareemoo.blogspot.com

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  20. I hate putting away laundry...I would rather clean 1000 toilets than do it.

    Skip and I haven't had a legit date night since maybe May, of LAST YEAR. Not good

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  21. Oh my! I feel like a failure looking at everyone else's grocery bills. Ours Is about $100-$150 a week PLUS a monthly SAMs trip for about $200-$300! Seriously?! Food is expensive! ESP fresh fruits and veggies- which my toddle girl could consume her weight in, in a day! We are a 3 adult and 1 toddler family, for now. (Long story)
    Chore?! Laundry! I don't mind folding it at all. Picking it up and hanging what needs to be hung?! HATE IT

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  22. 1. My household spends about $400 per month on groceries. (We're a family of 3). We shop at our local Publix & they usually have awesome BOGO promotions in which is how we save most of our money & have the ability to stick within our budget.

    3. I strongly dislike doing the dishes. They ruin my nails lol

    4. My favorite recipe is "Pesto Chicken". You simply take a packet of Pesto seasoning, mix it with 1/3 cup of olive oil to make into a marinade. Marinate the chicken for at least 3-4 hours. Then bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes covered & then an additional 5-10 minutes uncovered. IT'S AMAZING! Definitely try it :)

    5. My hubby & I get 3-4 date nights each month. Every Tuesday our daughter stays the night with her grandma since thats her only day off each week. It's great bonding time for them & allows down time for Hubby & I.

    I enjoy reading all your posts. Hope you're having a wonderful week!
    ~Osh
    SunKissed Peony

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  23. 1. It's just my husband and I, but I think our grocery cost is too high too! We spend about $350-$400 per month. Granted, I am on a gluten free, lactose free diet, and we prefer fresh veggies to frozen, and I rarely buy any frozen foods(we don't have a microwave because we never used it), I usually buy 80%/10% ground beef. We just eat a lot of fresh and healthier foods, which is how I try to rationalize spending $350 per month on groceries. That does include toiletries, makeup, ect though..

    2. I like some product reviews, especially if they aren't "forced" and I love posts where bloggers share places they've been, even if it's just the zoo or shopping.

    3. Umm..I actually really like household chores. I get like a certain joy out of laundry and cleaning. OH! I HATE scrubbing the shower. Hate it.

    4. I love steaming broccoli and tossing it into rice and chicken. Super easy but tastes delicious. And if healthy haha!

    5. I'm not a parent, but with my husband a full time student, right now, it's usually two or three dates a month. We set aside a weeknight to go to the movies or go out to dinner, and the rule is we have to put our phones away for the night :)

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  24. Grocery budget? Eh....I try to stay around $100 a week. Sometimes I go over, sometimes I'm under. But since I started meal planning, it's been a lot easier! I usually buy about 2-3 recipes at a time. Least favorite chore? Dishes! Yuck! Date night is rare....barely ever happens. But I'm hoping that changes now that hubs is finished with school! My fave recipes are anything with chicken, or anything mexican!

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  25. I love these type of posts!
    My husband always insisted on two kids and that was it! He's the one that suggested #3 and was thrilled when we found out about #4!

    1. Grocery budget is $500/month but that usually includes diapers, wipes, pet food, cleaning products, and toiletries.
    2. I prefer family-style blog posts. I love to see what everybody is up to!
    3. Scrubbing the tub. Enough said.
    4. Swiss chicken. Layer in crockpot: boneless chicken breasts, stuffing mix, 1/4 cup melted butter, and a can of cream of chicken soup. Cook on high for 4 hours.
    5. 1. At most! However, we put the kids to bed by 8 every weeknight, and hang out until 11. No work, no cleaning, just together time!

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  26. Pregnancy brain...forgot one vital ingredient. Swiss cheese slices!

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  27. 1. Last month I added it up after the fact and spent $600. This is for two adults and our 13 yr old daughter. I would LOVE to spend less, but cannot seem to figure it out. I meal plan for the week and then make a grocery list based off of that. It is what it is... Im not willing to serve canned ravioli each night to cut down our grocery budget.

    2. Favorites - recipes, crafts, basic life things, and some of the link ups.

    3. Loading the dishwasher and putting away folded laundry.

    4. Erin & Earl's Rustic Bread - make it ASAP - it is the easiest and tastiest bread ever!! Search "Erin loves earl rustic bread".

    5. Usually once a month if our daughter is at a friends house.

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  28. We get a date night about once per month...sometimes more. We often have my brother and his girlfriend over after the kids go to bed and enjoy some breskies and play cards.

    I try to keep our grocery budget around $100 per week but that doesn't include diapers, TP, and other household items. That's strictly food. As long as we stay away from the store we can make that happen. Lately I've been buying more oragnic foods and that's more costly. I was on maternity leave for 8 months and not making any money so then I was just doing things on the cheap...Hamburger Helper. Now that I'm working we can afford to spend a little more and I find myself going 2-3 times per week and I'm sure I'm spending close to $200 a week. Way too much.

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  29. OK we don't keep a budget, ridiculous, I know, but I do know that we spend way too much. I'm trying to get better about meal planning because that totally helps but it seems like we can never stick to it anyway!

    I like blogs about every day life, I hate the sponsored posts and reviews!

    I despise scrubbing floors, HATE it! And showers too!

    My go-to recipe is tator tot casserole!

    We hardly ever get date nights. I'm embarassed to say that in the 9.5 months Hayden has been on this Earth, we have gone out TWICE just the two of us!

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  30. Check out my answers to yor questions here: http://theuglytruthmom.blogspot.ca/2013/03/q-a.html

    I also linked back to your post.

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  31. For our family of three I usually spend $80-$100 a week including household items. I buy my produce and some other items at Aldi and the rest is usually from Kroger. I coupon sporadically and it does save some money but not always enough to make it worth the time. I buy meats when they are on sale and store them in the freezer (the bigger packages are usually cheapest so I split it up into smaller portions when I get home and freeze in glad press n seal). I also meal plan so I know what I need and try very hard to stick to my list.
    I like to read about people's every day lives.
    My least favorite chore is laundry. It never ends and my son rarely leaves it in the drawers.
    My go-to recipe for the moment is chicken and stuffing in the crockpot. Put about a pound of chicken in the bottom of the crockpot, pour in a box of stovetop stuffing, and cover in a mixture of one can cream of chicken soup, 1 cup sour cream, and about 1 can of water. Cover and cook on low for about 7 hours. I just steam some veggies when I get home and dinner is served.
    We rarely go on date nights just the two of us since our families all live at least two hours away. We do spend evenings together after Jackson's in bed.

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  32. I LOVE that girl name! :)

    Oh, and we don't have a grocery budget. REALLY REALLY should, but we don't. Ugh.

    My least favorite household chore is laundry. Actually just the folding of it. Worst.

    And can my favorite recipe be dessert?? Ha! If so it's these nutella bites: http://itsahero.com/2012/10/getting-crafty-nutella-mascarpone-cheese-bites.html

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  33. Grocery budget is non existent. When I think about the month, I usually do one big trip to Cosco, a couple big trips to Kroger and GE and a few random trips to Trader Joe's and Target sprinkled in. I'll bet when it's all said and done, we spend at least $800-900 per month. I buy a lot of organic dairy and we don't eat a lot of processed food, but still. I really wanna get back into couponing because I noticed a HUGE difference. But honestly, I don't have the time and when I do, I'd rather do something more fun.

    Least fave household chore is laundry. Despise.

    Go to recipe is crock pot chicken tacos. So dang good and easy.

    We go on date nights pretty regularly, considering we have two young kids. I'd say 3 a month, sometimes 4. That was an agreement we made before we even had kids. They are really important to us and we make them a priority. We reconnect and have fun. Plus I love getting somewhat dressed up and looking forward to going somewhere other than work, the gym, or the grocery store.

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  34. 1. I honestly don't keep a grocery budget. I do my best to only buy organic dairy, produce and meats that do not have any hormones added. We have a household of 3, 2 adults and 1 almost one year old. I would say just on groceries we probably average between $400-500 a month.

    2. I love reading all types of blogs but tend to gravitate to mommy blogs.

    3. Despise cleaning bath tubs. So much that I just don't do it and have the man in the house do it.

    4. I love to cook so narrowing down to one is difficult. Probably my taco salad. It's super easy and great as leftovers the next day.

    5. Date nights, maybe 2 or 3 a month, maybe. Now that our son is almost one it's a little easier but it used to be none because I refused to leave him with anyone else. Typical first time mommy here.

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  35. Re: Grocery budget...
    For our family of 3 (2 1/2 year old boy), we try to spend around $150 every 2 weeks (food only, not including alcohol). We made it a goal in the fall of 2013 that we would only grocery shop every 2 weeks (or longer if we could make it) so we would be forced to be creative and actually use the food we have. We found we would throw spoiled food out each grocery trip and never get to certain canned items or frozen foods. It's hard to manage with the fresh foods only going every 2 weeks, but when they are gone, they are gone! For some things, like vegetables (carrots, zucchini, spinach), we steam them and add them to spaghetti sauce so that lasts longer. The $150 goal has been harder to achieve. We still only shop 2 weeks or more after the previous trip (except for milk - we have an exception there), and we have always spent above $150. But, if it is within $10, I feel good about it.

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  36. 1. Our grocery budget is about $100-150/a week. I don't know if that's good or bad since it's only me and B but that includes all our toiletries and random house stuff.

    2. I like reading more of the life part of blogs, sharing tid bits about their day and what's going on. Product reviews and sponsored posts are probably my least favorite. I always end up skipping over most of them.

    3. I hate cleaning the bathroom, but also putting away laundry. Don't mind doing and folding them but I'm done after that.

    4. I don't cook much so I really don't have no go to recipes. I make a killer lasagna tho.

    5. No kiddos here, but we average 2-4 date nights a months where we actually go out, either with another couple or ourselves.

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  37. Excited to answer your questions today...
    1. Our grocery budget is about R800/week - I shop weekly so that everything is fresh and I feed myself, my husband, our little girl and our domestic worker. This includes all groceries, toiletries and household cleaners. We don;t have big coupons in South Africa.
    2. I love reading fashion posts, DIY posts and basic random lifestyle posts that fit each blogger.
    3. I absolutely HATE washing dishes, ironing and cleaning toilets.
    4. My go to recipe is spaghetti bolognaise - yummy! (we had it last night for dinner!)
    5. We go on a date night once a week - every Tuesday. We enjoy a dinner out or movies or something fun like bowling.
    x

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