Family Photos

So, this is obviously not a tightwads thing (this is actually more of a splurge thing) but I'm going to share here anyway! Because sometimes you pay for things without a coupon :) All photos taken by Kate Headley.

The new family photo.



My kids. Love them :) And, of course, I think they're totally adorable.



I think this is my favorite picture ever of the girls together.



2nd favorite.



I have no idea what Rachel was laughing about but I just love this shot.



They absolutely loved their glasses!



My favorite of the girls in outfit #2.



My girls.



My boys.



Kaitlyn.



Such a beauty.



Daddy's girl.



Me and my son.



Caleb.



So handsome.



Do you think she looks like me?



Me and Kirk - aaaawww...



My favorite one of Julianna.







This one captures Julianna's personality so well - she is so vibrant and full of life - I love it!



Rachel.



Now this is the definition of cool.



This is so Rachel's personality - mischevious and always into something. It was either this or the clinging to mom photo - I opted for this one.



Alyssa's flying high.



I just love that her glasses are slightly off and she's just cheesin' away.



Super sweet.



Group shots.



Can you see Julianna's little face down the line? Thank God there was a dog jumping in the water right in front of us - kept the girls fascinated :)



This is mama's bunch!



We took the pictures in front of a lighthouse in Alexandria. Beautiful location!



Funny faces.

So Julianna wasn't much into the silly faces.







Kirk.



Me.



And Alyssa saying "bye" and thanks for viewing our new great pictures from Kate!

Consignment Sale Time Again

I apologize for not posting yesterday - consignment sale week is here again which means I am working at home all day and working there at night. It's worth it though to be able to shop early today.

Here's my take:




Spent $193.73.

More then I wanted to spend but still got so many great deals it was hard to pass up. The dinosaur will be a b-day present for Caleb in November and it was just $20 - over Christmas they were somewhere over $100 brand new.

Some of the other new things I'll be putting away for the girls for their birthday as well so I guess I did pretty well.

Favorite find - 3 animal flashlights for the girls - they are going to be soo excited when they see them (they're napping now).

For the big kids I got a good start on their fall wardrobe:



and for the babies I picked up 15 pairs of pajamas. They were all in great condition - sadly this won't even get us from one laundry day to the next!! But it's a great start for those cold nights that are sure to come. Eventually... (with the heat we have now I have doubts but I'm hoping!!)



(sorry - I cannot turn the picture)

I didn't go in with a list though I had a general idea of what I needed and the budget that I had hoped for was shot out of the water but still I thought I got a number of deals.

Wondering how I feel about yard sales in comparison? While I agree they are cheaper the finding of things is much harder. In my area we have one community that I feel is worth it but still you have no idea what you may find. I'd rather pay the slightly higher prices of a consignment sale and know what I'm getting.

CVS Week of 7/26

Finally got back to CVS. Again not on Saturday. Our Saturday's just seem to fill up and I don't get there. I did, however, clip all my coupons yesterday which made for an easy trip this evening.

Here's what I picked up:



Not pictured: 3 12 packs of soda

I spent: $9.29
And saved: $45.76
And earned: $10 in extra care bucks.

What I bought:

4 12 packs of soda for $13.00 (earning $3.00 in ECB's - $2.50 each)

8 packs of Mentos gum - on sale for $1.00 - used 8 $0.55 off 1 coupons from S 6/21

6 candy bars - on sale 3/$2.00 - used 3 $1.00/2 coupons from RP 7/26

2 Hershey's chocolate bars on sale 2/$3.00 - used 1 $1.00/2 coupon from S 6/28

I spent exactly $15 on candy to earn $5.00 ECB's back - with coupons my actual out of pocket was $6.60 to earn $5.00 back (candy deal can be done 5 times so I may very well go back for more - just another reason why it's a good idea to have duplicate coupon packets).

I also bought a Shick razor - on sale for $8.99 but earns $2.00 ECB's back - used 1 $4.00 off coupon from S 7.26 - final cost $2.99

On top of my coupons I used my $16.00 in ECB's from previous purchases. At this rate I'll be able to give out full sized candy bars on Halloween :) I'll be the talk of the neighborhood! Of course, this is provided we don't eat all this chocolate first...

Free Chocolate!

On the off-chance that you've missed the fact that Friday is free chocolate Friday I figured I'd post it here as well. Between 9 this morning and 11:59 PM tonight you can be among 250,000 people getting a coupon for free chocolate. This is happening every Friday for, I believe, the rest of the summer - limit 4 coupons per household. You will receive a coupon in the mail in a few weeks.

Go HERE to order yours today!

Super Double Coupons at Harris Teeter!

They're doing it again! Doubling your coupons up to $1.98!

Check out:

The Coupon Mom

Or



Or

NovaThrifty

for some early match-up deals.

$10 Dinners: Chicken Pot Pie

This is my own recipe and version adapted from another recipe that was supposed to be Tuna Swirl Casserole and since my dad never liked hot tuna my mom changed it to chicken and I've been modifying it ever since.



6 Tablespoons of Crisco $0.45
2 1/2 cups Bisquick (divided) $0.75
1 large can cream of chicken soup $2.49
2 1/2 to 3 cups milk $0.75
1 pd chicken breast - cooked and diced $1.45
1 can Veg-all $1.50
1/2 cup water
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese $1.00

Total cost: $8.39 (some things I didn't purchase on sale or it could've been cheaper)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Melt Crisco in large saucepan or stockpot

3. Add in 1/2 cup Bisquick - stir

4. Add cream of chicken soup

5. Slowly pour in milk (2 1/2 to 3 cups depending on how thin you like your sauce).

6. Stir until just boiling - boil and stir 1 minute.

7. Add in Veg-Al and cooked chicken - keep mixture warm on low.

8. In a seperate bowl mix 2 cups Bisquick and 1/2 cup water till moistened and in the shape of a ball.

9. Flour a cutting board or large counter surface - with a rolling pin roll the ball flat to about the size of the cutting board.

10. Sprinkle shredded cheese down the middle of the dough mixture.

11. Roll up - it will look like this:



12. Pour the mixture (from the saucepan) into a large rectangular baking dish.

13. Using a bread knife cut the rolled up dough into small spirals and place them on top of the mixture (see above picture).

14. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until biscuits are a golden brown.

No Coupons, No Lists

Well, almost - I had one $10 coupon off $40 at Harris Teeter (used to be $20 off $50 but they have gone cheap on me!) and a few Sure coupons but I only used those last minute because they actually had some deodarant there.

So, this is what I bought:



I spent: $48.68
And saved: $43.74

Not too bad considering I didn't really have any coupons. This will serve us for the week for the most part until Friday and Kaitlyn's birthday party but since I'm quite under budget it's not a bad thing.

This week's meals (not much of a Meal Plan Monday but close enough):

Monday - Easy Bake Pasta
Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie
Wednesday - Meat Loaf
Thursday - Enchiladas of some sort (probably chicken)
Friday - Kaitlyn's b-day party
Saturday - recover :)

And I should clarify that I did check the Grocery Game but there weren't many sales and the few that there were I had already used the coupons for (like the Pop-Tarts). Some weeks are just like that and I still have cereal for the week!

Exhaustion

I am exhausted. It has been a crazy few weeks. My computer died so I had to dig into savings to buy a new one (rather owe myself then someone else - I charge cheap interest), then we went out of town to a mountainhouse for a few days with friends, yesterday we had pictures taken and today we celebrated Kaitlyn's 9th birthday.

So, to say I've gone off budget a little would be an understatement and I just don't have it in me to grocery shop this weekend! It's all fine since I have some food stored away.

But I will post more this week and I apologize but sometimes with 5 kids life just gets in the way!

Will Post Soon

Sorry! We have been at a mountain house for a few days - splitting with friends and paying in cash :)

Will post again soon. Enjoy your weekend!

Local Harvest

Today we have more from Amy :)

Amy e-mailed and introduced me to the idea of Community Supported Agriculture. This is something I haven't tried.

Amy said, "It's a great way to get organic, farm fresh produce and it's WAAAAY more economical than retail. We pay about $30/wk and it's probably at least 1/3 to 1/2 of our weekly menu since we plan around what's in the box each week :) It's definitely helped out grocery budget plus we're eating healthier and trying new things!"

How do you find one near you?

CSA's or Community Supported Agriculture are all over the country - to find one near you go to: Local Harvest and type in your zip code.

Where Amy lives there are a few farms all over the state but each of them deliver and then each week Amy goes and picks up her box of of produce. The farm gives her a list each week of what is in the box and usually a recipe to go along with it. Using what she receives she plans her meals - pickups are on Thursdays which is why Amy's meal plan wasn't the same as the rest of ours.

Check out Amy's site for some great recipes with fresh produce!

Menu Plan Monday - July 13th

This week's meal planner comes from Amy at 3 Peas Photography (she is quite good by the way!). Amy has triplets, likes to cook and take pictures :)

Her menu is slightly different then our usual ones but I want to share it anyway. Tomorrow I will share why her menu is different and where she gets her produce.

Thursday
Grilled Hot Dogs
Chips
Fresh veggies+dip (snap peas,
carrots, cukes, broccoli)

Friday
Grilled Chicken+Swiss Brats
Potato Salad
Fresh veggies + dip (snap peas, carrots, cukes)

Saturday
Grilled Pork Chops
Creamy Fennel (recipe HERE )
Grilled summer squash (slice the long way and brush with a little
olive oil, salt+pepper and grill)

Sunday
Grilled Beef Brisket
Sweet potato fries
Coleslaw (bag mix and added thinly sliced Radicchio)
Corn on the cob
Watermelon

Monday
Oriental Grilled Chicken Salad (lettuce, radicchio, green
onions, snap peas, carrots, almonds, and asian dressing- we like
Litehouse Sesame Ginger or Paul Newman's Light Sesame Ginger)

Tuesday
Rotisserie Chicken (our grill has a rotisserie on it)
Mashed turnips (cause I have some turnips from last week)
Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Green

Wednesday
Shrimp Tacos (recipe HERE )

Check out Amy's site - she has a lot of great recipes on there! Yum! I love fresh and new ideas for food from multiples moms. Even though her menu doesn't start on Monday I know you all will get some great ideas. Stay tuned tomorrow as I will post some more tips from Amy.

If you'd like to post your own meal plan please link to OrgJunkie