Austerity Measures

Stats!
How far along? 22 w 1 d
How much weight gained?  TWENTY POUNDS.
Wedding ring? On -- I think it might stay on for the duration. Hope so!
Maternity or regular clothes?  Almost exclusively maternity now
Belly button?  Still a solid innie. No signs of flattening.
Have you felt the baby yet?  YES!  Often. From the inside and out.
Do you have a name yet?  We think so!
Symptoms?  Back pain, hip pain, difficulty getting up from sitting, shortness of breath doing anything -- basically all the 'I'm as big as a house' symptoms

First things first about the austerity measures -- there will be no photos in this post, basically because we haven't taken any. So, that's pretty austere.  Sorry, guys.  I'm just not thrilled about having my photo snapped these days.  And while my weight continues to rise, my bump doesn't seem to be getting any bigger.  Then again, neither do any of my other parts, so I'm not really sure where the extra weight is going.  I _am_ getting a bit of a double chin now.  Boooo.

I have two big items of news this week, the first of which is about the austerity measures that Dean and I have decided to implement.  We want to start saving money now, as well as get used to life on the cheap when the baby comes and I don't have income.

Here's what we're doing:
1) Eat out only 1x per week (dinner).
2) Don't order alcohol when eating out.  If we want to have a few drinks (for Dean now, for me after the baby, obviously), we can buy something at the store and drink at home.  Alcohol has crazy markups in restaurants, adds up fast, and you have to pay tips on it.
3) Keep lunch under $10 every day.  I have to eat out at lunch or else not get a lunch (students will bother me constantly if I'm in the building), so I'm just trying to avoid sit down places with waitresses and tips. Dean plans to mostly have microwave meals at lunch.
4) Cancel non-essentials or things we don't use - No more Netflix, X-Box live, gym membership, or charitable giving.
5) Go generic when possible, shop smart (go for the cheapest per unit/ounce items) and use coupons when grocery shopping.  Stop buying foods we're unlikely to eat.

We looked at our bank statements, did the math, and all of this should save us about $1000 per month (conservatively), leaving us with a savings of at least $5000 when the baby comes!  We also found that we can live within Dean's income alone, after the baby is born, if we make these cuts.   That's if we need to.  I'm thinking I will try to work if I can find a decent job (that earns me enough money to make financial sense with daycare).  

So I am feeling pretty jazzed about it.  Eating out less will help with the weight issue, too, I think.  We've already cut our weekly grocery bill by $30 and cancelled some of the non-essentials.  We're going to try to group our car insurances together, too and do other things like that for further savings.

The other big news is .... I think we have a name!  I don't want to blab it yet, since I haven't talked to Dean about 1) whether we really are 1000% sure about it, and 2) whether he wants to / is ready to spill.  But I am excited about it, and we've been calling her by her name at home.  Yay!!

Okay, I should get back to it.  Work has been crazy and I am behind.  Bye for now!