Monthly Update! (or bimonthly)

So I thought I would do a quick update on us, the parents. Nate finished up his semester and was very busy. He had some big papers to write, finals to study for, and grading to do for his job. I helped out a little with some of the grading. He was also feeling a little jealous that the people he started law school with were graduating. Nate still has some summer classes and fall classes since he is doing his MBA as well.

Nate has also been very busy applying for internships for the summer. In the beginning, he was getting some interviews, but we've had a dry spell which has put some stress on us. So I have applied for some part-time jobs. (Just retail jobs. I want a job that I wouldn't feel bad about quitting in just a few months.) If Nate doesn't get an internship by the end of May, he's going to start applying for basically anything. I also decided that we needed to cut down on our spending. Now, we are really cheap in general and hardly ever buy things so there really isn't much to cut out. However, I decided that one thing I could cut down on is the grocery bill. I decided to budget $40 a week since that is how much I make teaching piano lessons every week. Now, I normally spend anywhere from $55-$70 so I would have to cut out as much as $30 a week. I know that there are extreme couponers out there who get tons of stuff for way cheap so I decided that I would get into that. My goal is to get something for free, but so far, I haven't been able to find the right coupons to do that. But I have been doing this for the past 2 weeks and have stayed under our budget so far and have gotten some good deals! Like a 4 pk of toilet paper for 0.50! We set up a spreadsheet where I keep the list and how much those things cost. Then the day before I grocery shop, I check out a blog where they ad match stores with coupons. I might add a couple of things on the list from that and find some coupons that go with what I was already planning on buying. It's worked out so far! The real test will be when I have to do the food for Logan's birthday party and keep all that under $40!

Other things I've been doing: I finished up volunteering so I am trying find an administrator to sign my license renewal application and then I will be able to send it in! I did a piano recital where my kids joined up with another lady in the ward who teaches. That way my kids didn't have to do a family recital but actually had more experience and a chance to get really nervous! For a Relief Society activity, I went to a Baroque musical concert at a Christian church in Akron and it was great! I love that kind of music. We all went to the service project that the BYU Alumni put on (that I did all the advertising for). It was a random cold day, and we were out at the Cuyahoga National Park picking up trash and big sticks (out of the way of the lawn mowers). But it still turned out good and I think people had a fun time.