I "Pink Puffy Heart" Target

Have you SEEN the toy clearance at Target this week?  It's fantas-mic!  Yesterday while Daphne (my car) was getting fixed (sensor was shorting out...thank God for warranties) the Mama came and picked up the Princess and I and we went to Target.  I went for a Cookie Monster for the Princess...and came out with a huge chunk of Christmas shopping done.  Have yet to meet a person who goes to Target and ONLY gets what they came for.  However I'm SO proud of myself.  I bought 9 presents (Christmas and birthdays), 4 greeting cards, a DVD for the Princess and I, AND her Cookie Monster.  And do you want to know how much this great adventure cost me?  $91!  That was fantastic!!!!  I'm so proud that I can't even believe I scored so well.  We only have a couple of birthdays left for the year that I didn't get presents for yet but one of them is going to be a pinterest idea.  Two things I'd be lost without...Target and Pinterest.  As I tell my Sister-in-law, "If you're not pinning, you're not cool."  :)  I'd love to know what you do to meet your budget for Christmas.

Working From Home

I think I must have 5 books on my Kindle about being a SAHM and bringing in money.  I am mildly obsessed with it.  When I got pregnant with our Princess we knew we'd need a smidge of extra income with me staying at home...THEN the bomb dropped on us.  The church where DH was a youth pastor had a bit of a shake up and let him go.  BOOM! (bomb dropping).  We were in the hole a lot more than a smidge.  I'm already a "coupon queen" (my extended family jokes that if there is a discount to be found, I can find it) and we live pretty frugally, so where were we going to make this up?  We pray, of course, that God will provide.  He always has. However, we believe that God also gives us the opportunity to better our situations; He doesn't just drop money into our laps.  So what are we doing?
I have made it even more of a priority to shop for only what we need and what we are going to use right now.  I use more and more coupons, I shop second hand for as much as possible (babies don't use clothes and toys for very long so I can often find virtually brand new items second hand), and I recently took on tutoring clients again.  Before the Princess arrived I was working at a tutoring center that was great and I have just started back with them this week but can I just tell you how tough it is to be away from the Princess for just that short time?  I'd much rather have students here at my home.  Soooo I posted on Facebook about my tutoring services and my FB is blowing up!  Woo Hoo!  I'm so excited!  We also decided to open our own little computer repair business through our home.  We had very little investment to start it up and we have years of experience so hopefully that will help us make ends meet too.  Yikes!  When I put it all down it sounds like a lot but it's all worth it for our little Princess to be with Mommy.  What do you to make ends meet when they just don't connect?