And so it begins ...

I can not believe that 2011 is almost over .. wow. Any idea where it went??? It was defiantly a crazy, but good, year. My little family of three growing to a not so little family of six was wonderful ... the whole losing my job the day before Thanksgiving?  Yea, that wasn't so great. But, such is life and I always say that God closes one door to open another. I now have the chance to spend time with my kids, return to school and do what I truly love, and learn a few new things along the way. Hence, the reason for starting this blog. Mainly for me to look back and see the things that I want to do, what I have learned and accomplished and see where I need to improve. Back to the Bare Bones of Life is my motto for 2012. I hope to learn to garden, can, make my own compost, become more crafty, learn to sew, make candles/soap/salt and sugar scrubs to use as gifts through the year and to cut down on my own cost of these things. I would love to be able to do a few craft shows at some point and sell my canned goods, candles and such. I also plan to do gift baskets to earn a little extra money as I go along. I plan to become VERY frugal and really focus a lot on my coupon's to get us the most bang for our buck. Hopefully the gardening and canning will really help us in this area too. One of my extreme goals for the year is to utilize Swagbucks, online surveys etc to stock up points and cash through the year and HOPEFULLY be out of pocket ZERO dollars next Christmas. Big goals for a year I know, but I really intend on accomplishing every single one of them. I think what ever basics I can teach my kids will only help them along in life, and teach them that money truly is not everything. Show them that the rewards of hardwork can be even better. I have no idea what the year 2012 will have in store for us. I don't try to look that far into the future anymore, because it is better to focus on the here and now. I just know that whatever it takes, I will make 2012 a great year for us all! So, I hope you enjoy following along with us on this bare bones journey ... I am truly excited!!