**Yikes!! We had a super crazy big storm last night. It was hard to get a good night sleep. The thunder was shaking the house. I don't believe I have ever seen such a big storm in California.

**I am glad dh is on the ball because I totally spaced on Easter. The kids seemed so excited about it, and I wasn't entirely sure why. I even teased them and said, "Looking forward to 4 hours in the car??" Because lord knows I am not. I am happy to go see family, eat some good food, and get out of my environment (work work work). But, not thrilled to be in the car 4 hours round trip. Dh's cousin used to host locally, but no longer does. Easter before April 15th is a little brutal. If it wasn't Easter, I would absolutely be working today. (I admit I enjoy the excuse for a break though).

Anyway, so it finally hits me that the kids are excited about their Easter baskets. We never did that when I Was a child, and kids figured out Santa/Easter/yadda yadda MANY years ago. So the thought didn't even cross my mind. It's totally dh's thing anyway. But told him I was glad that someone was paying attention. (HE also tends to spend insane sums and drives me nuts, but it probably fell under my radar this year because I didn't notice. He might have spent a large sum, but it fit in the grocery budget and I never saw the receipt. Or maybe he scaled it back a bit).

**WE did DIY pizza lunchables yesterday and they turned out well (see last post). No pre-planning, but most of the stuff was on sale. Dh just happened to do a grocery run yesterday and so picked up some english muffins, pizza sauce, and pepperoni. I determined the cost was about 1/3 of the lunchable price, per serving (they were on sale - so just compared to sale price, as not sure what full price is). & these costs could be brought down considerably by stocking up on sale, making tomato sauce and/or dough from scratch or with canned tomato sauce, or hitting the discount bread store (where I often get english muffins for much less; free even). To be fair, I didn't count the cost of adding spices, garlic, onions, cheese, etc., because these items are always bought in bulk and are abundant in our home.

Anyway, we made them in the toaster oven and was success!! This would also be a good way to use up leftovers (for pizza toppings).

**The kids' dentist stopped giving cash discount on credit card payments. LM had to go back for some sealants, so had dh just take a check. (I'd hesitate, but it was the last weekday of the month, and was going to pay it off next week anyway, and actually had some cash in the checking account). Glad we did that on a small amount, because they lowered the cash discount to 8%. Credit card discount is 5%. I get 2% back on my credit card. So only losing about 1.1% by paying on credit card. (IF we charge 95% of the full price and get 2% of that back, versus just paying 92% of full price).

We decided we won't bother to pay by cash or check again.

The loss of discount is a bummer, but our new local dentist is dirt cheap (for dh and I), and so we are saving several hundred dollars on our dental bills. & eventually we will switch the kids over which will save us TONS.

**Expecting some OT money in April. Our plan is to 100% save for potential China trip. Regardless, 100% to savings. Unfortunately, I haven't found international travel to be very motivating. (Just not my thing). I think I need a more exciting goal (for me) next year. It's more like an opportunity I feel we shouldn't pass up than anything I am actually that enthused about. In fact, there has been talk of NOT going, and I like that. So many other things I would much rather do with $10k-ish dollars than blow it all on a one-week trip. !! So, will see.

Anyway, I am thinking through purchases I want to do with our cash infusion (also got $300 for doing Grandma's taxes, which will allow 100% savings for the rest). I went ahead and ordered the "wearable sleeping bag" for BM. I Was clear with him that this is an advance on his birthday present. Between this and his Europe trip and college classes, not to expect anything else. I just wanted him to have the sleeping bag before camp in June. We had decided to get it a while ago, but just never got around to it. & if they both really like it, we will buy a second one for LM. It's just that BM literally lives in his sleeping bag, so when I saw this I knew it was perfect. !! We want to check out the size and functionality before we commit to a second purchase. They both could use sleeping bag upgrades anyway, so helps me to stomach the cost.

I am also thinking of investing $25-ish in some tupperware for them - like lunchable style. So, I think those are my big splurges. We pretty much had a prosperous year last year and caught up on some long pent-up purchases. I don't really have anything retail on my horizon. (Last year we finally got LM a bed, got some furniture, upgraded to smart phones, and replaced some appliances and stuff around the house).

Er, I lied. I would like to buy a side table for the other side of our couch. I need to peruse Craigslist heavily. I might set aside $20-ish for that too. Nothing fancy - just need something functional as it won't be very visible. I'd buy a matching table but can't find the one I bought last year, again. Bummer!

I am finding habits still hard to implement. I wrote that note that said "coupons/used" and put it in my wallet. The problem was that I didn't grab my wallet until I Was practically done with my online purchase of this sleeping bag. (& when I buy things on Amazon I don't look at my wallet since my credit card info is stored). TO be fair, I researched like crazy a couple of months ago, and so felt ready to just purchase. But when I was checking out it asked for a coupon code, so I dug furiously for one. Never found one. I Didn't see my note until I Was ready to pay, so I perused ebay and Craigslist when I saw my note. IT still bugs me that I could make any purchase for $100+ without taking those obvious steps first. & somewhat ironic since there are so many things I would never think to buy full price or "new." Maybe the note will get it through my brain. !! This thinking really should apply to *everything.*

**I still have mixed feelings if we are ready for a new pet, but might peruse the shelter this week. Cat adoptions (age 1+; which is our target anyway) are $5 on Fridays. I threw that in there to say I don't think I need to set any money aside for cat adoption. I paid $80 to adopt my last cat and that still seems to be the going rate (to cover all the vet stuff that the shelters take care of). Of course, I will probably be a sucker and donate some money to the shelter anyway. But, I can do that at the end of the year, versus now when I just spent a pile on vet bills and am taking on a completely unknown cat.