Tightwads With Triplets

Blog Moving Time! Oh, And Happy New Year...

2011-12-31T19:14:00.000-08:00

At the start of 2012 I have decided to consolidate all my blogging into one site.

Happy New Year to you and please consider joining me at my new site:

Dorinda Writes

I will still be couponing and meal planning but it will be taking a back burner to writing. Over the past three years I have enjoyed sharing how I coupon and save money but find that its taking away from my real passion: writing Christian suspense fiction and I want to get back to it.

I hope that you keep saving money and I plan to do the same.

Thank you for hanging out with me over the years and seeing how our family has grown financially!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:23:00.001-08:00

Here's wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!!

We are celebrating with family and will be back in the New Year with some fun new things so please stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy a picture of my brand new niece, Aubree Noelle who was born on December 23rd weighing 6 lbs 13 ounces and 18 inches long. I'm so excited to be an aunt and think she's just adorable :)

$10 Dinners: Chicken Pinwheel Pot Pie

2011-12-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a LOOONG while and I have finally gotten around to doing it.

This recipe came from my mom and was originally meant as a hot tuna dish but my dad doesn't like hot tuna so we substituted chicken for tuna and I have been modifing it from there.

My ingredients as I use them:

6 Tablespoons Crisco
2 1/2 cups Bisquick (divided)
3 cups milk
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Veg-Al
1 cup or more of Chicken (cut-up into bite-size pieces)
1/2 cup (4 oz) of shredded cheese: Mexican or Cheddar will do
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 425

Step 1: Melt Crisco in Large Pan

Step 2: Add 1/2 cup Bisquick and mix well

Step 3: Slowly pour milk, stirring as you pour - stir occasionally till it boils - the more you stir the thicker it will get so it will be up to you how thick you want your mixture to be - I like mine a little thinner so I don't stir as much - you can also add less milk if you like it thicker - more if you like it thinner - play with it to see how you like it

Step 4: Add 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup and stir - you could also use 1 large family can if that's easier

Step 5: Add can of drained Veg-Al and chicken - you can use a few chicken breasts cooked and cut-up or dark chicken that you picked off the bone - this is a recipe that you can make cheaper by adding less chicken - so add however much or little meat you want!

This is your base mixture - keep it warm on the stove while you move on to the topping.

This is the fun part!

Step 6: Mix 2 cups of Bisquick with a 1/2 cup of water to form a dough

Step 7: Flour your counter or a large cutting board

Step 8: Roll out your dough so it's as flat as you can make it

Step 9: Add cheese to the center of the dough

Step 10: Roll dough carefully around the cheese to make a tube

Step 11: Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan

Step 12: Slice your dough into pinwheels

Step 13: Place on chicken mixture in rows

Bake at 425 for 20 to 22 minutes or until pinwheels are golden brown and the cheese bubbles.

Serve and enjoy!

With just a few ingredients you can see how inexpensive this dinner can be. Most of them I usually have on hand so it's often a meal that costs me a few dollars for the chicken.

Menu Planning Monday

2011-12-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

We're already a few days into December and I don't know about you but I bet you're busy like me! The good news is that I'm under budget for this month and due to the holidays I'd like to keep it that way so I'm focusing this week's menu on what I have on hand. Currently, meat wise that means a lot of chicken. Fortunately I can change it up in a number of different ways to keep us from getting "bored" with the same meat day after day.

I've also included a meatless recipe (the ziti) so that I don't have to run out and buy a given meat at full price. One more way to save a little cash!

Monday: Chicken Salad and Appetizer Meatballs - I had a nail party today and we just ate what was left for dinner

Tuesday: Chicken Taco Bake

Wednesday: Sante Fe Chicken Casserole

Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie (my recipe)

Friday: Date Night and Kids Pizza Night

Saturday: Creamy Baked Ziti

Sunday: Burgers N Fries Pot Pie

Just one more week of menu planning for me to go this year! Since we are spending time with the family over Christmas it will be more of a combined effort hopefully this will save me some time and money! Of course, the holidays are rarely about being cheap so we'll see...

Month End Money Recap

2011-11-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

You know that feeling when you are this close to starting over yet you have to keep going with where you are? I'm so there. I am so ready for a new set of resolutions because I'm a bit tired of this years and I can't say I've done all that well.

For the last time this year (thankfully) - here are my resolutions for 2011:

1. Organization. Overall this year not as good as I had hoped. I have gone through box after box and closet after closet but it feels like my stuff re-grows on its own.

2. Decorating. I had high hopes to get so much decorating done this year but between budget and time so little got done.

At least I did get a "new" living room - we went from this:

To this thanks to my dad and $200 in accessories - I like that cheap decorating.

Got to say though - I'd like to try the decorating thing again next year. I love to decorate and I love how it changes the house into more of a home.

3. Spending less and saving more. We are staying on budget a little more each month. Who knew budgeting would be such a process? Maybe that's the lesson - it's more of a long-term goal; a lifestyle change that you have to aspire to. Saying you'll only spend $200 a month on going out to eat is a LOT easier said than done and it's taken me a while to find the right amount that works with reality. It's amazing how much "extra" things we need each month that aren't in specific budgeted categories (think printer ink and field trip fees). Keeping track of every penny isn't fun but it is worth it and every month I'm perfecting my ability to stay on track.

4. Do a little more deal hunting. I am and have been but I'll never believe I've learned everything and I'm hoping to learn more in 2012! And save more of course. There's always room for improvement.

5. Monthly meal planning. I have fallen behind on my this one. Maybe next year my goal should just be to try new foods every month though I do really love the months that I have the whole meal planned.

What about you? Have you thought about next year's goals? Did you do better than me this year?

Here's hoping 2012 is great!

Blogging for Books: The Crossing Book Review

2011-11-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

It took me a while to get going in this new book by Serita Jakes called The Crossing. I had read great reviews on Amazon and was excited to get it as my next book installment for review but once I began to read I got bogged down in a lot of back story and useless information about the characters. The basic plot is that 10 years ago a cheerleading coach was gun downed and then bled out in front of some of her students. Now they are dealing with what happened that night and trying to find closure when the case is re-opened. Because the book bounces between a number of different characters it was also hard to pinpoint who the book was ultimately about.

Once the story got going the plot was interesting enough to hold my attention and want to know who did what in the ending. The ending didn't surprise me but I was disappointed as to how fast it was thrown together. Instead of showing us the ending in what could have been an exciting conclusion the author told us the ending in an epilogue.

As for the characters, I didn't like any of them except maybe Victor and I didn't care for how most of the ending turned out for anyone but Claudia and Victor. I'm sure it is true to life but I think Casio's character could have been written and finished so much better. The author sets up a lot of suspense but delivers on very little. Of course, I say this as a reader who prefers more action and suspense and a few times saw opportunities built into the plot that weren't explored.

I would recommend this book to readers for the plot alone - I enjoyed it once it got moving and was interested as to how it all played out but I can only give the book three stars due to the very slow start, the overkill on every character's background story (childhood included) and the fact that the ending could have been so much better and more dramatic than it was.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review.

My Favorite Black Friday Shopping Place: GYMBOREE

2011-11-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

My absolute favorite place to shop on Black Friday is: GYMBOREE

This is the time of year I get the kids winter jackets and fleece outfits. Jackets are currently marked down to $22.73 - add a 20% off coupon and a $65 jacket is just $18.18 which is almost a 75% discount!!

But hurry because the jackets are going fast. I ordered last night and they are already sold out of a few styles.

Fleece and puffer vests are also on sale:

Puffer vests: $12.93
Fleece Jackets $11.53 (before coupon)
Fleece Pants: $8.73
Fleece Skirts: $7.68

What's your favorite Black Friday spot? Are you going out all night or shopping online? Last year I went out, this year I'm staying in. Hopefully the deals will be just as great.

Cheap Party Fun

2011-11-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

My trio turned 5 last week and to celebrate we did it Arts & Crafts Style!

With my limited time and budget we only managed to pull together a few craft projects but the favorite by far was the colored rice.

Over the summer I found this idea on my friend's blog Magille and I have been wanting to do it ever since. In my head I make things harder than they are so it sat there as just an idea until this weekend for the girl's party.

How we did it:

1. Purchased HUGE 15 lb bag of rice from BJ's - cost $12
2. Using gallon ziploc bags (hefty bags really) I measured out 4 cups of rice into each.
3. Added food coloring to each bag - the amount depended on what color I wanted and how bright - the more I added the more the color (food coloring cost: $0 - used what I had on hand)
4. Added squirts of hand sanitizer (you could use rubbing alcohol but the hand sanitizer was soooo easy) - it spread the food coloring and dried quick. (cost: $0 - had it on hand)

We didn't get our lines quite straight but you can see how pretty it is poured out of the bag.

Of course you know it's not going to stay that way!

The girls are itching to play but we made them wait till all their party guests arrived.

Took seconds to mix:

And draw a crowd:

Seems like it didn't matter the age of the kids they all wanted to play!

If you're wondering, yes, it did make a mess but it cleaned up really easily - unlike sand which gets everywhere the rice cleans up quick and we can use it all over again when we want a fun activity.

All that for about $10! The other $2 worth of rice I still have to use for cooking :)

Menu Planning Again

2011-11-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

Maybe I've said this before but you know it's been a busy week for me when the only posts I get to are menu planning! Last week Caleb turned 8, this week the triplets turn 5. All these birthdays are making my weeks crazy.

But still we need to eat so I continue to menu plan or maybe just because I love to do it :)

Monday: Chicken Spaghetti

Tuesday: Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas - I had chicken to these and they are soo good

Wednesday: Triplets birthday - out to dinner!

Thursday: Pasta Skillet Dinner - didn't get to this on Sunday

Friday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Saturday: Celebrating the girls birthday with friends - dinner is yet to be determined

Sunday: Spaghetti Casserole

Monday: Leftovers - cleaning out the fridge before we see Grandma

Grandma is cooking from here on out so I don't have to worry about next week's menu planning - even for Thanksgiving. Sounds good to me!

Back To Menu Planning

2011-11-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

Last week my parents were in town and we had a great time with them but while they were here menu planning pretty much went out the window and grocery shopping along with it so I feel a little behind coming in to this week. "Forcing" myself to make a menu plans means I have to look at the week ahead and think about it otherwise I'll find myself going out to dinner every night. Granted I should have menu planned for the whole month but this month I just didn't get to it and with Thanksgiving so close I doubt I will again until December. Where does the time go?

After considering what I have on hand, this is the plan I came up with for the week:

Monday: Out to Chili's with a gift card and a coupon code - dinner was $14 out-to-eat for 7 people!!

Tuesday: Easy Pleasing Meatloaf with baked potatoes and green beans

Wednesday: Chicken, noodles and broccoli

Thursday: Spider-Man Spaghetti Pie - it's Caleb's 8th birthday and he's going with a Spider-Man theme

Friday: Layered Enchilada Bake

Saturday: Birthday party then baby shower - dinner will be quick at home or easy drive-thru

Sunday: Pasta Skillet Dinner

Dollar Doubler At Harris Teeter

2011-11-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Super Doubles are back at Harris Teeter this week (where Harris Teeter doubles coupons up to $1.98 - limit is 20 per day and 3 per like item). I didn't find a ton of exciting items but the few things that were deals I am happy about and find worth going back for.

A few things I've picked up:

Chex Cereal

Regular Price: $3.99
Sale Price: 2/$5.00
Additional Sale: buy 2 get 1 free
Used $1.00/2 coupon from S 9/25
Also used: eVic Coupon on my card $1.00/2
Final Price for 3 boxes: $2.00 or $.67/each

Grande Chips (our favorite!)

Regular Price: $2.99
Sale Price: 2/$5.00
Used $1.00/1 coupon from S 9/11
Final price: $0.50/each

Duracell Batteries

Regular Price: $4.99/each
Sale Price: $2.99/each
Used $1.00/1 from PG 10/16 and/or PG 10/30
Also used: $0.75/1 eVic Coupon
Final Price: $0.24/1; $0.99 for all others

Chiquita Fruit

Regular Price: $3.99
Sale Price: None
Used: $1.50/1 from S 10/23
Final Price: $0.99/each

Cheez-Its (not the best deal but still worth stocking up on)

Regular Price: $3.99
Sale Price: 2/$5.00
Used: $1.00/2 from RP 9/18
Final Price: $1.50/each

There are a few other deals to be had but these were my favorite and the ones I'm going back to stock up on. For other match-ups check out Southern Savers - she has three full lists up so you're bound to find something good!

Saving Up For Christmas

2011-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

It doesn't seem possible but Christmas is right around the corner. In just two months we will be celebrating my favorite holiday once again! But before we can celebrate we have a lot of shopping to do.

The big question? Where does all the money come from? The majority for us comes from our regular budget that we set aside for Christmas.

A few places I earn a few extra dollars:

1. I don't shop online too incredibly often and a few of the stores I do shop at (such as Gymboree) are not linked to cash back sites like ebates but when I do shop on line I make sure I first go through ebates or shopathome. I am saving the money I earn through my cash back for some Christmas gifts. So far I have earned enough to at least off set one family members whole Christmas. Yeah!!

These are my referral links to these sites - if you care to link through them, great, if not just go to the website yourself - thanks!

Shop-at-Home

Ebates

2. Swagbucks. I know, I know, I mention this one often but thanks to Swagbucks I have saved up over $90 in Amazon gift cards towards Christmas already and earning towards more every day. Since gift cards post to my account within a few days of my redeeming my Swagbucks I'm sure to earn quite a few more before Christmas (also my referral link).

3. Saving Star - it isn't much but every few dollarrs helps! Since I can redeem the money in my account for Amazon gift cards it's money I can add to my gift cards that I already have from Swagbucks.

4. Credit card rewards. I've been saving up from my rewards for a few months and holding on to cash in at Christmas. My card links to Amazon so more money for me at Amazon. Looks like my kids Christmas will be coming from Amazon! Thankfully they have everything and free shipping on most items.

5. Selling unused items on Craigslist, at consignment sales or eBay. Of course, this is all provided you aren't like me and spend the money you make at the consignment sale :) But I do have some larger items laying around that if I sell them I would make enough to offset a few more people on my list.

I love stretching my budget as far as it can go. Since Christmas isn't all about gifts (truly it's about celebrating the birth of my Savior), I don't want to make it all about spending money either. Finding ways to get people a little something they want without putting myself in the hole is just one way I can ensure that I will be able to enjoy Christmas and not dread it!

What about you? How are you saving up for Christmas? Any ideas that I missed?

Consignment Sale Success

2011-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last week was a very crazy and very busy week for me. I worked long hours at the consignment sale, shopped a lot and sold a lot.

This week I've been trying to recover :)

So, I know you've been dying to know what I picked up! Here is a portion of my "loot":

The kids were given their "gifts" before I got a chance to take a picture - which includes a bike for Caleb that I picked up for just $20.

My total spent for the week was right around $463. Which, I have to admit was more than I wanted to spend. However, between what I made selling and what I earned working I can subtract $300 from my total bringing my out-of-pocket down to just $163 and since a large number of my purchases were made for my son's birthday next month I used money from his birthday fund to buy them. So, I can subtract another $90 off of my total since that was a previously budgeted amount and that brings me down to $73 - $10 of my purchases were for the school; a little under another $10 were for my church and now I'm down to just over $50 for everything I brought home.

Again, I would have preferred to have spent less than I made but I got a lot of things that I needed including most of Kaitlyn and Caleb's winter wardrobe.

I know in a previous post I had tips about shopping at a consignment sale. I wanted to add a few for shoppers from a worker's point of view.

1. Bring your patience! There may be long lines but I PROMISE you we can see them and we are working as hard and as fast as we can to get you out of there. I highly suggest you plan your day around shopping if you come at a busy time. The other option is to come at a slower time such as the end of the day.

2. Along with bringing your patience, bring your happiest face. While I do love volunteering at the consignment sale it's not the only thing going on in my life either. I will be as pleasant to you as you are to me. If you need help, I will go out of my way to help you no matter how you are to me, however, I would be a lot happier as a worker if you are pleasant to me.

3. Follow directions. To the best of your ability anyway. Know in advance the kind of payments a given sale takes. For example, Classy Kids takes cash, Visa and Mastercard but only with an ID. Knowing these things will speed the check out process for everyone. Want to speed it up even more? Bring cash - there's no waiting for the credit card machine to run! If you need to remove your hangers, do so. If children aren't supposed to be playing with toys or aren't supposed to be present, keep them with you or leave them at home. You get the idea :)

4. If you take it out, put it back - if you don't know where it goes, ask. If you don't want an item, not a problem but please don't drop it anywhere, let someone know so it can be easily put back. Unlike a store that is open all the time, consignors have a limited amount of time for their items to be sold and if it's not where it's supposed to be they could potentially lose a sale.

Just some thoughts I figured I'd share after a long week of working behind the counter ringing up sales :)

Menu Planning: Light Fare

2011-10-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

With me working every night this week it's up to Kirk to take care of the kids and the food. On weeks like these I find the best thing to do is to make a menu plan full of very easy meals

Monday: Banana Pancakes

Tuesday: Spaghetti

Wednesday: Chicken Alfredo (this is actually Chicken Helper - I'm going to cook chicken in the crock pot all day on Tuesday leaving Kirk with meat for the rest of the week)

Thursday: Chicken Nugget Casserole

Friday: Chicken Soft Tacos w/ rice

Saturday: Spaghetti Pie

Sunday: Raviolis - yes, it's a lot of pasta this week but it's the end of my month so I'm using what I have to feed us!

At least it looks like an easy meal week this week. That will be one easy thing :)

Fall Consignment Sales: Shopping Tips

2011-10-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, consignment sale time! Last month my multiples club held their sale and I was able to get rid of a number of items that I no longer needed as well as pick up a few that I did.

Next week I'm working almost every night at the area's biggest consignment sale. It's a week I look forward to because I usually have a pretty good list of items that I need and can always find it there. This year/season especially I have a list.

The best way to get everything on my list? Shop as early as possible! And that's why I volunteer. I don't want to see what's left behind, I want to be first :)

Other tips for shopping at consignment sales? I've compiled a few links with some great tips for shopping sales.

How to Prepare to Shop At Classy Kids Consignment Sale

10 Consignment Sale Tips (and from a mom of triplets too!)

7 Tips for Shopping Consignment Sales

To be honest, I naturally do most of these (like volunteer to shop early) but other things I just don't get to and I still do fine.

I don't make a specific list. Mostly because I like to search for stuff I love - if I don't love it, I don't buy it unless it's really, really cheap or it's a basic that I know I need.

I don't limit myself to 10 outfits or whatever - the fun for me is wondering what I'll find so I leave the lists at home. That's just me but the consignment sale is the ONE place that I get to go and shop for fun. At the grocery store I have lists and coupons, same with any regularly priced store but at the sale I like to have fun. I shop for fun and I like to keep my eye out for clothes and toys that I want.

Does this mean I'll go over budget? Sometimes. I do keep somewhat of a limit in my head but I'm just fine if I go over budget. Why? This sale only comes around 3 times a year so there's no going back to grab the beautiful dress/outfit that I left behind.

The one new piece of advice I liked from all these lists was to have my smart phone (in my case, Galaxy Tab) with me to check prices of items online while shopping. I did this a few times at the last sale to see if what I was getting was worth it. Really comes in handy and I'll be doing it again this time!

Check back next week to see what items I picked up and how much I spent. You can see if my strategies even work :)

Menu Planning: Week Two With Kristy

2011-10-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Week One went pretty well. I had to make a few adjustments and move some things around on her menu both for last week and this week in order to cover the meals as well as keep me from overspending and/or traveling to the story every day of the week!

So, here is her plan for the week:

Monday: out to eat

Tuesday: white chicken chili (6 ingredient simple version)

Wednesday: pancakes and fruit

Thursday: spaghetti (or maybe sloppy joes)

Friday: potato-cheese soup and bread

Saturday: at a wedding

(She didn't give me Sunday but she did give me enough to work with)

How I translate her plan to mine:

Monday: Angel Chicken with broccoli - Monday's are her husband's day off so they often go out whereas we more often stay in!

Tuesday: Kristy's chili - both Tuesday and Wednesday this week I will be using Kristy's recipes from last week - I was able to grab the sausage but the rest of the ingredients were not in my budget last week so I will make these this week instead. Last week I substituted Burgers and Fries Pot Pie for the chili since I already had all those ingredients - we served it with extra fries and ketchup - just like burgers and french fries for dinner :)

Wednesday: Kristy's breakfast casserole that I didn't make last week - instead I substituted Mac 'N Cheese Pie

Thursday: Spaghetti Casserole - this was shared with me and I have really been wanting to try it out so we'll have this instead of just "plain" spaghetti

Friday: Potato-Cheese Soup w/ Bread - I don't have Kristy's recipe so I decided to make Cheddar Ham soup which is probably very similar - also calls for potatoes and cheese and sounds really yummy right now in this cooler weather!

Saturday: I'm not going to the wedding so I'll be making Taco Bake instead

Sunday: now we'll have Kristy's White Chicken Chili - I just wanted to spread out my chicken recipes a bit - and my chili recipes :)

Next week is consignment sale week and I am working just about every night so I won't be meal planning next week except to leave Kirk with some really simple recipes like spaghetti and tacos but I've had a lot of fun using someone else's meal plan and making it my own. I hope you can do the same with what I post or any other meal plan you find. Looking at what someone else does gets my juices going as to what I have and what I can make. Also means it's a little easier to plan since I don't have to with what I'm in the mood for!

Blogging for Books: Shadows on the Sand Book Review

2011-10-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Slow Start, Okay Ending

It took a while but I finally finished Gayle Roper's Shadows on the Sand. I must say before I write my review that I have read books by Gayle Roper before and have enjoyed them so I was really looking forward to her newest mystery.

However, the start to this book was quite slow and confusing. Rather than start with any action we start with our main character, Carrie, working in her cafe talking with her employees and regulars including her "favorite" regular, Greg Barnes. During this time we learn a LOT about everybody including Carrie. A few chapters in we learn that Carrie's dishwasher (as in the employee, not the appliance) is missing. At this point I would assume the action of the book would go into high gear but the fact that her employee is missing seems like just more back story. Something else going on in Carrie's busy life.

The main story line seems to be Carrie's "love" for Greg. She does a "snoopy dance" every time she sees him but he has a traumatic past, having lost his wife and children to a bomb, and doesn't seem to notice Carrie. Since this is a romance, we know that he has noticed Carrie from the second the author switches to Greg's point of view. Their romance seemed to be the most realistic part of the book and the only part I liked. There is less romantic angst of typical books making the characters seem real and I enjoyed that.

The characters seemed realistic and well-rounded it was the plot that was lacking and the mystery part of the book that I didn't like. For one, the mystery seemed to have very little to do with the main character so it felt odd. The author adds a few chapters from the killer's point of view which I'm assuming were meant to frighten but only served to confuse me. It seemed our bad guy was a serial killer but then the bad guy seemed to come from a cult or own a cult. When the dishwasher's body is discovered it seems like a story footnote. "Oh yeah, there's that body/kid we were looking for." The main character ended up in the action at the end but for most of the book she had very little to do with it.

I'm giving the book 3 out of 5 stars because the author did a good job of wrapping everything up at the end and I enjoyed the romance. I can't give more than that because most of the book felt like backstory and kind of all over the place making it hard to keep my interest and want to know what happens.

If you want a light-hearted romance/mystery you would enjoy this book but if you enjoy real suspense as I do this won't be one of your favorites.

The book was provided for me by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program. All opinions are my own.

Menu Planning: Can I Actually Use Someone Else's?

2011-09-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

I menu plan on here almost every week and it got me thinking - does it help you at all? I have had quite a few people say they've found some great recipes on this site and when they're in a bind they've checked it to see what I'm making. But it got me to thinking, could I use a week's menu from someone else and make it my own?

So, I asked my good friend Kristy to send me her menu plan for the week to see what I could do with it (next week I've asked for her menu plan along with a few family recipes to see how that works for me)

Her week's meal plan:

Monday: out to eat (giftcard)

Tuesday: leftover pot roast and mashed potatoes

Wednesday: chicken spaghetti and broccoli

Thursday: grilled cheese and tomato soup

Friday: breakfast casserole and applesauce

Saturday: leftover buffet

Sunday: chili and cornbread

What I can do with her meal plan:

Monday: Layered Enchilada Bake (unfortunately, I did not have a gift card to go out to dinner - would have liked that but had to make dinner at home)

Tuesday: Pasta Skillet Dinner with garlic bread and a salad (since I don't have leftover pot roast and mashed potatoes I am adding my own meal for Tuesday night and since I don't see any pasta on her week's menu I decided to add some pasta for us here)

Wednesday: Chicken Spaghetti and Broccoli

Thursday: Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas (my kids don't like grilled cheese - weird right? - so instead we'll have quesadillas - similar concept though)

Friday: Breakfast Casserole and Applesauce - this will be new for us but I'm going to give it a try!

Saturday: Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet (or leftovers - I'm always a little scared to schedule leftovers because sometimes we have them and sometimes we don't)

Sunday: Chili and Cornbread (don't have the recipe on this but I know Kirk will be thrilled to have some chili so we will certainly be going with Kristy's recipe here!)

I am looking forward to changing up our meal plan a little bit. I couldn't follow her plan completely how I would have liked but it gave me some ideas and a jumping point for the week. We'll see how this week goes and what I can do with her plan next week. Thanks Kristy for the contribution to my experiment!

Time To Shop At BJ's

2011-09-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

I finally got there (and everywhere else) yesterday and managed to get most of my monthly shopping done :) Of course, I leave some in my budget for weekly trips to Harris Teeter for sales and a few necessities but most of my money for the month finds it way to BJ's!

And this is what I "hauled" home for just over $200 (I splurged on Kirk's favorite coffee and that was $20 of my haul so really I just spent $190)

(Not pictured: 4 gallons of milk and the sour cream I forgot to put in the picture)

Because it's getting close to the end of the month I will just post my best deals and coupon match-ups and in October I will do the booklet. Each month you should receive a coupon booklet from BJ's in the mail - if not you can always ask for one at the Customer Service desk when you go in to BJ's. I always like to have mine in advance so I can plan so I'm pretty excited when it comes in the mail. I'm weird, I know.

Do note that the coupons have start and end dates. For example the one I have now began 8/25/11 and is good until 10/2/11 though some coupons expired on 9/13/11. Often the coupons that expire early are diaper coupons and paper products but it can be anything so be sure to check your dates carefully. A select few coupons didn't "begin" until 9/12/11 and expire on 10/2/11. Like any store they want you to come back multiples times :)

I will say for this particular month I didn't have a large number of coupon match-ups like I did last month.

Coupon match-ups I used:

Betty Crocker Potatoes
- regular price: $7.49 for 6 pack
- bonus coupon: buy potatoes get 3 pack progresso chicken broth FREE ($5.99 value)
- also used 2 $0.50/2 coupons (could have used 3)
- final price: $6.49 for 6 packs potatoes and 3 pack chicken broth or $0.72 each item which is a pretty awesome deal!

Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot (28 ct)
- regular price: $7.59
- BJ's coupon: $5.00 off 2 boxes
- also used $0.50/2 coupon (does NOT double)
- final price: $4.84/each which is about the equivalent to $1.00 per 6 ct box at the store which is pretty good deal even though it sounds a little high. I'd prefer $0.50 a box but that doesn't happen often so $1.00 a box isn't bad)

Wellsley Farms Apples (8-lb bag) AND 1 Pillsbury Pie Crust, 2 pk
- regular price: $7.99 for apples ($1.00/pd) and $4.59 for pie crust
- BJ's coupon: $3.00 off both
- also used printable $1.00/2 pie crusts from Pillsbury
- final price: $8.58 for both - in essence it was like getting the pie crusts free

I also got 4 boxes of cereal. I don't normally get cereal from BJ's because it almost never comes out a better deal than Harris Teeter.

For example:

2 Boxes General Mills Kids Cereal
- Lucky Charms: $7.29
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch $6.29
- BJ's coupon: $5.00/2
- I didn't have a GM coupon for cereal for just 2 boxes and I wasn't buying a third to save $1.00!!
- final price for 2 boxes: $8.58 - since there are 2 bags of cereal in each box it's like getting 4 boxes of cereal at the store making the final price equal to $2.15 a box which is more than I'd like to spend but we needed cereal and the kids were happy to get it.
- also notice that there are 2 bags in each box and they do NOT have their own UPC codes so if I had a $1.00/2 coupon I would have only been able to use 1 on both boxes

Kellogg's Cereal
- Frosted Miniwheates: $7.99
- Frosted Flakes: $6.89
- BJ's coupon: $4.00/2
- also used $1.00/2 coupon I found at a blinkie at Harris Teeter (still a manufacturer's coupon so it still worked at BJ's)
- final price for 2 boxes: $9.88 - again each box had 2 bags so the price per bag was $2.47

In this trip I did buy a few more necessities because we were low on a lot of items. I love to buy Goldfish at BJ's because it's $7.29 for 3 LARGE bags of Goldfish and I can't find a better deal anywhere. Another good deal at BJ's is their milk and shredded cheese so even though I may occasionaly find cheese cheaper at Harris Teeter or other grocery store I find it easier just to buy the huge bag at BJ's. This goes for their salsa and syrup.

When my next coupon book comes in I will be sure to post coupon match-ups early so you too can get in on the great deals!

Menu Planning: Comfort Food

2011-09-19T13:10:00.001-07:00

I apologize that I didn't get to BJ's over the weekend. I am planning a trip there tomorrow and will do my coupon match-ups and details then. This weekend got extremely busy with our moms of multiples yard sale on Saturday and since that is the best way for me to make money to pay for my kids clothes it's something I have to put effort into!

For this weeks meals I was thinking about comfort foods. When the weather turns a little cooler I love the idea of cooking warm meals inside and one of our favorites is mini-meatloaves so that's what we started our week with :)

Monday: Mini-Meatloaves with green beans

Tuesday: Kirk's Banana Pancakes (just feel like having breakfast for dinner)

Wednesday: Ground Beef and Twice-Baked Potato Pie

Thursday: Easy Italian Pasta Bake

Friday: Roast Chicken w/ Potatoes and Broccoli

Saturday: Wedding - a good friend is getting married and we're very happy for him!

Sunday: Chicken Taco Bake

Next week I'm going to try using a friend's menu as my own. Considering how often I menu plan and post what we eat on the blog I am curious how easy it is to take another person's menu and use it as my own. We shall see how it goes!

Harris Teeter: Triple Coupons And A Great Box Top Deal

2011-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Have you been to Harris Teeter yet?

I've already been twice! Mostly because I forgot a few coupons the first time around and then found a few special ones that I had. You know the weird ones that come on a package and you don't know where to file them? Or is that just me? Anyway, I found some for muffin mix and I just HAD to go back!

Here's what I picked up on trip #1:

I spent: $31.45
And saved: $46.80

And trip #2:

I spent: $7.34
And saved: $24.53

It's not the best ever but I really needed yogurt and a few other things so I went ahead and picked them up.

While I'm excited about my purchases I was even more excited to get almost $20 back in Box Tops certificates for my kids school! That's about half what I paid today going directly back to their school. On top of which each General Mills item I purchased has another one to two box top on it. What a great way for me to give to the school without the money coming out of my pocket!

My best deals today:

Betty Crocker Potatoes:

- regular price: $2.29
- sale price: 4/$5.00 ($1.25/each)
- used 2 $0.50/2 coupons which tripled to $1.50/each
- final price: $2.00 for 4 boxes (also, on each of the boxes there was a $0.50/2 coupon - these coupons don't generally triple so I plan to use them at BJ's this weekend because I have a BJ's coupon for Betty Crocker Potatoes that I can stack these with)

Chex Mix:

- regular price: $2.95/each
- sale price: 2/$4.00 ($2.00/each)
- used 2 $0.50/1 coupon (mine were previously printed from Swagbucks but you can find more at SS 7/10
- final price: $0.50/each

Betty Crocker Cake Mix/Frosting

- regular price: $1.89/$1.99 each (respectively)
- sale price: $0.99/3/$5.00 ($1.67)
- used 2 $0.75 off both from SS 08/07 which tripled to $2.25
- final price: $0.41 for both or $1.22 for 3 boxes of cake mix and 3 tubs of frosting!!

For more coupon match-ups check out Southern Savers

(Please note: the Swagbucks link is my own referral code and I will get credit if you are new to signing up. This costs you nothing and I greatly appreciate it but if you would rather sign up for yourself please go directly to their homepage rather than using my link - thanks!)

Shopping At BJ's

2011-09-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

Our area is preparing for something very exciting: a brand new BJ's!! I am thrilled since currently I travel almost 30 minutes each way to shop at one. I find shopping at BJ's to be worth the trouble but am greatly looking forward to having one closer if just to run in and get cheaper milk.

How does one go about shopping at BJ's? Aren't all wholesale clubs alike? And are they a good deal or a bad one?

For starters - not all wholesale clubs are alike. BJ's accepts manufacturers coupons while all other warehouse clubs do not. What's more - they will accept a coupon per barcode. Meaning if you have 12 cans of beans and each can has its own barcode you can use 12 coupons (not to exceed the value of the item and coupons do NOT double). However, if you have say a box of cereal which has two bags inside it and can not be sold individually then you can only use one coupon.

Pretty much everything that is packaged as if you took five or so of them off the shelf and wrapped them together in a big package - you can use a coupon on each of them :)

Warehouse clubs can be a great deal - they have cheaper milk and cheese and other basic products (not always meats) - but they can also be a poor deal. You pick up one *extra* item and instead of spending a few dollars you could spend $5, $10, $20 or more.

BUT if you go in with a plan and stick to it you will be on your way to a budget friendly way to stock up.

How is that?

1. Make a budget before you go - as my friends say I have a *thing* for numbers so almost to the dollar I can guess the cost of each item on my list so before I go I already have a general idea of exactly how much it will cost me. If I find I'm off by a lot and the item is not a good deal, I pass. I also have a pretty good idea of what I spend on any given item at the grocery store and I'm not paying more for it at BJ's (or any other wholesale club). I will add I'm not perfect and I do find extra items in my cart often (we really love those darn Veggie Straws!!)

2. Collect your BJ's coupons - each month I get a coupon booklet in the mail and a few times a year I get the BJ's Journal which contains a large number of coupons. These coupons are the basis for my monthly plan as to what I'm stocking up on - I only buy the crackers or snacks that I have a coupon for and I enjoy seeing each month what new items I get to add to my pantry. I also plan meals around the items I am able to purchase in bulk.

3. For me the items in the booklet are essentially "on sale" and we all know the rule: using coupons on sales saves you money! Once I have the booklet I use a coupon database site to match my manufacturers coupons to the BJ's coupons.

4. With both sets of coupons and a monthly shopping list in hand I head out to BJ's. As I shop I calculate my total cost so that I'm not overspending. In my last trip I saved over $50 in coupons alone.

BJ's really is a great and easy way to stock your pantry. It's also much faster than grocery shopping for sales alone since a sale item at BJ's is much larger than a sale item at the grocery store.

For BJ's official coupon policy go HERE

Since I am planning a BJ's shopping trip this weekend be sure and check in as I will do some coupon match-ups for the items I'm purchasing.

And don't forget that triple coupons starts at Harris Teeter on Wednesday and Southern Savers already has 2 lists out with coupons. I'm looking forward to that trip too!

Meal Plan Monday: Happy Labor Day

2011-09-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great Labor Day. For many of you I'm sure it was the last day of summer. For us, I was so grateful for a 3-day weekend after a crazy start to school and especially grateful to spend the day with some very good friends of ours. They grilled us some fabulous chicken which certainly helped my meal planning this week :)

Monday: Chicken grilled by friends (yum!)

Tuesday: Pork Chops with rice, broccoli, applesauce and biscuits (didn't get to these on Sunday)

Wednesday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Thursday: Wahoo! Chili with Beans per my husband's request to have soon :)

Friday: Baked Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday: Kirk's company picnic at Six Flags - we look forward to this all year and we certainly can't wait to go this year!

Sunday: Chicken and Potato Skillet Dinner

Sorry for the posting delay. The holiday put me a little behind :)

Month End Money Recap

2011-08-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

You know how it sometimes feels like you can't get ahead and when you look at your goals you realize how far behind you really are? The good news is that you can start over whenever you want and I have to say the start of a new school year is like starting over again for me!

My kids are back in school which means I have a **little** more freetime than I used to which means I can focus more on my home. It also means no more vacations so we will spend less money. It also means lots of consignment sale prep which will hopefully lead to more money so all around a bit of a money plus :)

1. Organization. I did a little. I have a lot of clothes hung and ready to tag for my upcoming consignment sales - this weekend my plan is to go through buckets of toys to see what I have there to sell. Hoping for a lot so I can pay myself back for clothes that I have had to buy for the kids for school!

2. Decorating. Did not get to this again this month. When I originally set this goal I was really hoping for more free weekends to work on the house but it hasn't happened. I'm very much hoping it will happen soon but as I look ahead I know it definitely won't happen in September. The whole month is already full and it hasn't even started!

3. Spending less and saving more. No. Unfortunately, this whole summer has been crazy with one thing after another and the month of August meant school supplies. Oh, I used coupons and shopped sales but no matter what none of it was free so I had to account for that somewhere. Plus, there was school uniforms and fall clothes so that was yet another extra expense. The good news is that I am paying in full for all my purchases and not going in to debt which is really the most important thing right? I am certainly going to work on saving more in the coming months though because I'm tired of my savings account not being bigger than it is!!

4. Do a little more deal hunting. I did some with school supplies - using rebates, coupons and sales wherever I could. I've spent some time on Swagbucks earning extra bucks wherever I could. Right now I have a growing stash of Amazon gift cards that I am saving to use at Christmas. I've also been earning Barnes and Noble gift cards now through Swagbucks and that has been fun to get even more books free! I love books :)

5. Monthly meal planning. I didn't get to this in August. I made good weekly plans and with September starting I feel like I'm in the same boat. I have been busy and haven't had a chance to set out a full months meal plan. However, each week I have been looking at what I have to see what I can make and my "needs" list to purchase from the store has been very small - somewhere around $15 a week which I am very happy with. Note: that doesn't include milk which is always on my needs list! I also increased my food budget from $450 a month to $500 - milk has gone up along with some other items and I'm stocking up a little more at BJ's so I just feel like my budget is a little more roomier than it was and I'm happy about that! All the time I realize that budgets aren't set in stone but guidelines to see where I fall and rather than struggle and become frustrated about going over every month I'd rather see myself come under budget or meet it :)

How about you? Have you even though about your New Year's Goals since January? It's hard to believe that there is only 4 months left in the year and we will soon be thinking about Christmas. Having goals to keep up with helps us financially and mentally to stay on track rather than have life pass us by.

Here's to a great school year for you and yours!

Menu Plan Monday: School's In!

2011-08-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't intend to go a whole week without posting nor did I intend to only post about menu planning. I suspect this may continue to happen over the next few weeks as we adjust to being back at school and inch closer and closer to my moms of multiples yard sale which is just 3 weeks away! This is what happens when life gets busy whether I like it or not.

Today was the kids official school start date so I can already look forward to a crazy week. One thing that keeps me calm, on track and organized is my Menu Plan!

Here's my plan for this crazy and busy week:

Monday: Chicken and Peppers Pasta Skillet

Tuesday: Layered Enchilada Bake

Wednesday: Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Thursday: Moms of Multiples Meeting (I'm not cooking!)

Friday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Saturday: White Bean Chicken Chili

Sunday: Pork Chops (saving some of the pork for a recipe next week)

I hope you and your family have a very blessed and productive school year!

Menu Planning: Lots of Meat

2011-08-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

This week Harris Teeter had a great sale on meat so I'm excited to have a bunch of new recipes this week or at least ones that we don't normally have because meat is well, expensive and I normally stick to my chicken and ground beef.

Sunday: Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas - I added shredded chicken and these came out really well!

Monday: Aloha Pork Chop Skillet

Tuesday: Creamy Baked Ziti

Wednesday: Seriously Simple Beef Stew - I know it's not fall yet but the Kraft Food & Family came in with all their fall recipes and this one just looked good!

Thursday: Kung Pao Chicken - another recipe from the magazine that just looked really good!

Friday through Sunday: gone to a church retreat - all meals covered - except Sunday night which is my birthday so I assume we'll head out to eat that night to celebrate - hint, hint for my husband :)

Organization Friday: Art Corner

2011-08-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

While it's been a while since I did an organizational post it doesn't mean it's been that long since I was organizing! Honestly, I feel like I do it every day - there's always clutter somewhere that could be tackled.

My first instinct is to get overwhelmed and walk away because the house will never be ***perfect***. You know what? That's true! In this life nothing is perfect. Our lives are full of chaos from the inside out not to mention the fact that I have 5 little ones who have ideas and goals of their own to clutter my house.

But rather than walk away completely and find myself one day at that show Hoarders: Buried Alive or any other number of reality shows with a similar day I take a deep breath and find a spot to dig in. I can't say ever really want to get moving on the project but I am always pleased with the result and thankful the Lord gives us our homes for a respite from the chaos of this world!

This week I tackled a corner of the dining room. I'm working on the whole room slowly (it's almost done) and I have to post about the living room redo. Baby steps. Right now we're knee deep in swapping kids rooms - talk about an organizational nightmare!!

That being said, this week I just worked on the corner. Why? Well, it looked like this:

For some reason this one corner had become the dumping ground for all things art and all things school. You know the little projects at school that you want to keep but aren't exactly sure where to store?

I'll insert here that I am not a hugely emotional person who needs to hang on to every little thing but some things I want to keep and remember and pull out to look at some day and to be honest a digital photo just won't do. I know a lot of people like this idea but I have pictures (tons of them!), I'd rather see and hold what they did not just look at another picture of it - no offense to those who do but this is how I "work". Mind you I don't keep everything - I DON'T need one million worksheets from Kindergarten but I do keep a few of the nicer things.

What to do with them?

The best solution I've found is to get the Priority Mail boxes from the post office (or some other similar box) - write the child's name on it and the year and start packing some things away. If it fits, it stays otherwise it goes and I'll always have a record of those handprints or famous drawings, stories or poems.

Once the papers were sorted it was a pretty easy to task to put the corner back together:

I did also remove school supplies from the original pile and place them in a basket all their own. Since I have a ton more to buy I had to find a good place to store them before it got out of control :)

I hope you had a chance to organize this week! And don't forget to visit OrgJunkie for more tips and trips to organizing.

Super Doubles Box Top Deal

2011-08-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

I can't say I found a ton of deals at Harris Teeter today during Super Doubles - a few things were already gone and I went in on the first day (I really hate that) but I was able to pick up enough to save 50% on my total bill and since most of my items were necessary items for meals for this week and next I'm not complaining. (Spent $53.83 and saved $53.07 which included a $7.00 - on sale mind you - splurge on nectarines - my favorite!)

But my favorite deal was more of a deal for the school then for me. I picked up 8 General Mills items:

Total spent on all these items: $6.97
Total earned for the school: $5.80!!

How did I do it?

Harris Teeter is running a special promotion that when you buy 8 participating General Mills items you earn a $5.00 Catalina Box Tops coupon.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch/Honey Nut Chex

- regular price: $4.29/$3.85 each
- sale price: 2/$5.00
- used printable coupons (printed through Swagbucks to earn an additional 10 Swagbucks per redeemed coupon)
- final price: $1.50/$1.00 each

Honey Nut Chex Mix

- regular price: $2.95/each
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used $0.50/1 coupon from SS 7/10
- final price: $0.47

Old El Paso Stuffers

- regular price: $3.69/each
- sale price: 2/$5.00
- used 3 $1.00/1 coupons from GM insert 08/07 which doubled this week
- final price: $0.50/each

Some great deals for me equals an awesome deal for my kids school!

For tons more coupon match-ups for this week at Harris Teeter be sure to check out Southern Savers

Menu Planning: Still Stretching That Dollar

2011-08-08T07:50:00.001-07:00

With just $75 left in my grocery budget for the next 11 days (I'd be freaking out more if Wednesday wasn't the start of Super Doubles at Harris Teeter) I have been doing a lot to use what I have on meals rather than buy anything new. Of course, next week will be a different story but I think if I plan carefully enough I'll be just fine :) And, hey, we can have spaghetti once a month right?

Thanks to a few leftover nights I still have some planned meals from weeks past for this week - I'd say leftovers are another great way to stretch my dollar.

Monday: Mac Chicken Cacciatore

Tuesday: Cheeseburgers with corn and beans - we are having guests and Kirk is grilling - easy night for me!

Wednesday: Chicken Taco Bake - this I already have frozen so all I have to do is thaw and bake! Soo easy and cheap.

Thursday: Velveeta Baked Spaghetti Squares - this is a meatless dish that is very easy to make if I already have Velveeta on hand (which I do) - since all the other ingredients are cheap throwing this together is a breeze and this is so tasty - one of my favorite meals!

Friday: Easy Chicken and Biscuits - since I have chicken in the freezer and some Campbell's soup in the pantry I found a recipe that would put the two together :) Reading the recipes on the packages of the products you have is a great way to pick up new recipes and use what I've already purchased

Saturday: Sasuage Hoagies - this is my only real purchase this week - I'll need to pick up a pound of sausage and the hoagie rolls but I with that and some green peppers I can make a great meal that we all enjoy

Sunday: Chicken and Brocoli Alfredo - I may use this recipe or make up my own since I already have Alfredo sauce but either way I already have all the ingredients and I'll just use the remainder of the frozen chicken that I will thaw out and cook for Friday.

Now I just have a few more days to plan for before my budget resets :) Man, I am SO ready for the 19th of August!!

Blogging For Books: Desiring God by John Piper (DVD)

2011-08-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have read a number of books by John Piper and I always enjoy his insights into the Bible so I was very interested to review this DVD. While I often find John Piper's writing style more complex and hard to follow I had no such confusion with the DVD. John Piper's teaching style was very clear and he used a lot of biblical evidence to back up his conclusions.

The overall theme of the book and the DVD is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. John Piper proposes that in each one of us is a God given desire for joy and happiness and the only way to truly achieve either is to find our joy and happiness in Christ. Piper proposes that while the Christian life is full of sacrifices all that we do is to earn reward for ourselves in heaven. He states that this is not selfishness but finding in God what He has for us.

Early on he uses a verse from Psams:

"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence is fullness of joy;
at your right hand is pleasure forevermore."
Psalm 16:11

God has fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore in store for us in Him and nothing on this earth can compare. Piper points the viewers repeatedly to scripture and to the hope we have in Christ.

I enjoyed watching the videos and learned a tremendous amount. For the most part I watched them on my own but I was able to use parts of his teachings to teach my 11-year-old daughter about finding joy in Christ above all else and I believe that I will continue to use these videos to teach my children and share with friends.

I would definitely recommend these videos to anyone. They are challenging and yet uplifting. I watched them alone and learned a lot but they would also be useful for families and church small groups just so that you would have someone to talk with and discuss what you are learning.

For more information on John Piper and his ministry check out: Desiring God

To order books by Piper or this DVD head HERE on Amazon.

Disclaimer: This DVD was provided to me free of charge by Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. All reviews are my own.

Menu Plan Monday: New Month

2011-08-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not starting August off very well. I don't have a monthly meal plan! I just haven't sat down and planned out a full month of meals like I usually do. It's probably because my month actually ends on the 19th and not the 30th/31st because of the way we've started doing our bills so even though today is the 1st I'm already halfway through my month. Because of that I'm trying to spend as little as possible and one way I do that is to use what I have on hand and add as little as possible.

With the meals I planned out for this week I was able to do just that making my needs list about 6 items long most of which was produce: potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers. These are items that I can't purchase long in advance anyway so I feel pretty good that for the most part my list consisted of a can of refried beans for Tuesday's meal :)

Here's what I'm making with pretty much what I had on hand:

Monday: Chicken Parmesan

Tuesday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole - this is quickly becoming a family favorite!

Wednesday: Mini Meatloaves with mashed potatoes and green beans

Thursday: Moms of Multiples meeting - dad and kids will have homemade Chinese

Friday: Shepherd's Pie using the remainder of the mashed potatoes from Wednesday - it's often a pain to make homemade mashed potatoes but the payoff is huge when I make a second meal with them making this a very simple family meal

Saturday: Mac Chicken Caciatore

Sunday: Ravioli Lasagna Recipe

This week was pretty easy - the hard part will be planning for the last two weeks of my month when the funds are low. I know it will be time for some creativity on my part!

Making A Few Extra Dollars

2011-07-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't say that I'm raking in the cash but I am always on the look out for ways to make a few extra dollars or save a few extra dollars. And even though it's July I'm already thinking about ways to save for Christmas. I know every year my list seems longer (this year I get to add a new neice to the list! Soo excited about that).

Some of these are strategies I've mentioned before and some are new.

My favorite of all: Swagbucks

This one I've mentioned a few times but I want to say it again because I feel like people are signing up and not doing it! I'm often asked how to make money using Swagbucks and while searching is the most simple answer there are a few other things I do.

I search every day. For the most part it's something I'm going to do anyway but sometimes I do search for things I already know the address to just to see if I can earn a few more bucks :)

I answer the daily poll every day. It's only 1 Swagbuck but 1 adds up to 30 a month and 365 a year so it's worth my few seconds of time.

I check out the trusted surveys every day. This also earns me one Swagbuck but it's also to see if there's a survey that I might qualify for. For the most part I don't click on the survey unless it's a short amount of time and I have an 80 or 90% chance of qualifying. Otherwise it seems to be a waste and I don't make the cut.

I print almost all of my coupons from Swagbucks. Since I get 10 Swagbucks for every redeemed coupon it adds up quickly. And since they were coupons I would print and use anyway why not get paid to do it?

I scan the front page often to see if there are other small ways to earn more Swagbucks - lately they have had ads in the form of videos that you can watch and earn Swagbucks. Simple thing that doesn't take me much time at all.

I check out the Daily Deals on a semi-regular basis. I'm not a huge fan of paying out money to earn Swagbucks but there are times when the deal is so good that it's worth it and earning extra Swagbucks is a bonus.

Referrals! I love Swagbucks and I love it even more when I see other people figuring out how to use it and earning for themselves. If someone signs up under you then you will earn Swagbucks from that person (by searching alone - other ways are not passed on) up to 1000 Swagbucks. Please note - the link above is my referral code and I would earn Swagbucks from you when you searched - I would add that while I do enjoy the extra Swagbucks from referrals the little I earn isn't enough to have me lie to you about the huge help that Swagbucks is to my budget!

Recyclebank

This is one I haven't mentioned before but earning through Recyclebank is really easy. While it does take a lot of points to earn a gift card it doesn't take much to earn some pretty cool coupons such as:

$10 off $50 at Harris Teeter
$10 off $30 at Bed, Bath and Beyond

as well as coupons to restaurants and other places. Answer a few questions or enter points from Ziploc boxes and you are on your way to some rewards that will save you some serious money!

Ebates

This would be the one I use the least often since believe it or not I don't shop online that often. I buy more groceries than anything else and only order a few clothing items online. However, when I do order online Ebates is the best way to earn a little extra cash back and it's super simple to do. Before you shop anywhere online log on to Ebates and search wherever you wish to shop. Then click "Shop Now" and that's it. Your purchases will be recorded and within a day or so you'll have a percentage of your total in your account. You can still use coupon codes at whatever site you are shopping at so it's just an additional win all around!

If you sign up now there is a $10 gift card bonus as if you needed another reason to sign up!

Of course all these sites work on referrals so if you click any of the above links they are my own referral links but again I'm sharing the information because I enjoy passing on how I save and make money.

For other ideas check out Moneywise Moms - I know I enjoy reading her posts on how she makes and saves money too :)

Back To Menu Planning And Going Cheap

2011-07-25T15:40:00.001-07:00

Technically it's the end of the month (if you check the calendar there is just one more week left in July), however since we recently changed up how we pay our bills and have switched to paying everything by credit card (and paying it off every month - all of it, no exceptions - just in case you were wondering) our beginning of the month is the 19th.

So, for me it's the quite close to the beginning of the month but that doesn't mean I have a desire to rush out and spend money. Due to some recent billing errors we went over budget last month so this month I have every desire to actually come in under budget wherever possible.

The best way to stay under budget on my groceries is to:

1. Have a plan for meals

2. Stock up when things are on sale

3. Use what you have in the pantry to cut down on your needs items

Monday: Enchilada Bake

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup with Salad and Panera Bread (love that stuff!)

Wednesday: New-Look Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Thursday: Baked Ziti

Friday: Beefy Hash Brown Potato Casserole

Saturday: Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet

Sunday: Chicken Taco Bake

Since the majority of the ingredients in all of these meals were in my pantry already it helped my grocery budget quite a bit and allowed me to stock up on a few sale items at Harris Teeter this week - gotta love that!

What A Consignment Sale

2011-07-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

I certainly meant to do this post days ago. I also meant to finish reorganizing the dining room, post about the living room re-do and maybe a recipe or two. Instead, all I have to share before another crazy week is the spoils of last week's craziness.

After working 24 hours last week and shopping twice - here's what I picked up:

Included in the photo: my 5 highly impatient children, one toting his new guitar. Oh yes, I'm in trouble but not financially - it was only $5!

The best part? Because of all my work, the loot above cost me just over $38. Sweet :) But of course it's not all I spent. I went back on half price day and spent another $65. The kids got in on that one too picking out some little things for themselves. I spent most of that on books and clothes for Kaitlyn - that and not passing up on a princess vanity mirror for $11 :) Big spender here!!

I'm certainly glad to have last week behind me but my photo is more proof of how consignment sales are quite worth it and can save you a LOT of money. For example: those panda PJ's on top of my pile were just $2 - they are in excellent condition and contain 3 pieces - pants, top and shorts - can't beat that.

My next consignment step: tag all the fall clothes I have hanging up for our moms of multiples sale in the fall. Now that I brought new things in I have to get some other things out :)

Book Review: Indelible

2011-07-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Interesting Storyline: Not What I Expected

I was very excited to get the opportunity to read Kristen Heitzmann’s Indelible. Because this is actually book 2 I went ahead and ordered Kristen’s first book, Indivisible. Some of the reviews stated it was a little violent but I didn’t find it to be so. There was some violence against animals but I didn’t find it to be done in poor taste and when the book is wrapped up everything makes sense. The writing was dark but so very well written that you wanted to keep reading.

After enjoying the first book I was very ready to read the second. While the main characters are different in book 2 many of the characters from book 1 are in book 2 as well so I highly recommend reading Indivisible first.

Natalie Reeve has a special ability – an eidetic memory for faces and the only way she can get them “out of her head” is to sculpt them which she does amazingly well, so well that she makes a living doing it. Natalie has set up shop in a small town in Colorado right next to door to Trevor MacDaniel and his outdoor survival business. The two characters are introduced when Trevor saves Natalie’s nephew from the jaws of a mountain lion.

From the beginning Trevor is being stalked by an unknown individual who begins to send Trevor disturbing photos. It’s a great set-up for a story yet every time the writing is in the stalker’s point of view the writing is strange and vague. I’m sure this is intentional but I found it to be annoying, confusing and unhelpful in moving the story along.

Other than the stalker’s point of view the story was very well written. The descriptions and characters were great though I wished to see more of Piper and Miles who are my favorite characters in the series.

As the story moves along Trevor and Natalie become closer and want to be together but Trevor feels haunted by his past; a dead brother that he feels is his fault and a spoiled skiing career, but when Natalie’s life is threatened Trevor realizes what he stands to lose.

The ending isn’t what I expected and I was disappointed by that but the writing is so good that it is worth the read. I am giving the book 4 out of 5 stars because the stalker really bugged me all through the book and I just feel that could have been written better and ended better. I also found Trevor's relationship with his business partner Whit and Whit's wife to be odd and confusing and maybe just a little bit disturbing.

If you enjoy character driven stories that have a twinge of suspense this book is for you. This series is full of highly unique characters in interesting situations that will keep you reading well into the night. I know I am certainly looking forward to another installment by Kristen Heitzmann.

To purchase Indivisible go HERE ; to purchase Indelible go HERE

Disclaimer: I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program. All reviews are my own.

Another Kellogg's and Free Milk Deal

2011-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the deal Harris Teeter did with Kellogg's and free milk back in March and so I am excited to hear that Giant is running pretty much the same deal this week until Thursday.

Here is what I picked up in 3 transactions:

I spent: $24.63 on everything which is just okay for 12 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk - that averages out to around $1.75/each - a little high for cereal but great for milk :) Plus I have a coupon for another free gallon of milk.

At Giant the deal is:

- get $6.00 off automatically when you purchase 4 boxes of select Kellogg's Cereal (I have to say it seemed to be all of the Kellogg's cereal)
- get a Catalina (coupon printed at the register) for $4.00 towards a gallon of milk - sadly a Giant brand gallon of milk is $3.99 - OUCH!!
- use Kellogg's coupons you have on hand - I had some from inside other boxes of Kellogg's cereal (these are my favorite because it's usually $1.00/2 instead of a $1.00/3 from RP 6/5) as well as from Kelloggs.com

What makes this an even better deal is that most of Kellogg's cereals have Cars 2 codes inside them and every 4 codes earns you a $5 gas gift card or $5 at the concession stand at the theater. There are other options but those are my favorite :)

And to top that off 5 of the boxes I purchased are Crispix cereal and when I have 10 UPC codes I can redeem them for another $10 gas gift card from Kellogg's AARP Rewards program. Since I already have 5 UPC's saved up I can cut off my UPC's and send them in right away and have my gas card back in a few weeks. While it does say gas card you can use it anywhere as a credit card - if I had to guess I'd say it would be the same through the Cars rewards program.

So with all my codes and rebates I should get about $20 back leaving my total for 12 boxes of cereal and 3 gallons of milk at just $4! And that's a price I can afford :) I think I'll be going back for more!

Hope you all can get stocked up on some cereal and milk :) Unfortunately we can never get too stocked up on milk because we drink it SO fast!

July Meal Planning and A Happy 4th

2011-07-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! I hope that you all have a very safe and happy holiday planned. We always enjoy the fireworks at a huge outdoor event by us and I'm excited to go again this year. The girls absolutely love fireworks and get very excited whenever they seem so I'm really looking forward to them seeing the big fireworks this year.

Know what else the 4th of July means? Grilling! Summer! All the great stuff in the menu planning :) Though it's my husband who grills. And he made some GREAT burgers for us and some friends last night at a cook out.

Because next week is incredibly busy since it is once again time for Classy Kids and I will be working all week I have gone ahead and menu planned into the next weekend. The week after that we will be gone with some friends for a few days so that is a totally seperate menu plan. It's a good thing I enjoy menu planning and couponing :)

Saturday: Burgers grilled by Kirk

Sunday: Easy Herb-Baked Chicken

Monday: Chicken Enchilada Pie

Tuesday: Velveeta Baked Spaghetti Squares

Wednesday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie (my recipe)

Friday: Chicken N Peppers Pasta Skillet

Saturday: Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup - I know it's a little warm for soup but it still sounds good :)

Sunday: Angel Chicken

Monday: I'm working so the kids and dad get mac and cheese

Tuesday: Tator Tot Casserole - this is one the kids actually like and it will be easy for Kirk to make it for them while I'm at work

Wednesday: Spaghetti (another dad and kids night)

Thursday: Beef Tacos (last night for dad and the kids)

Friday: Creamy Baked Ziti

Saturday: Chicken Divan

Sunday: Leftovers - cleaning out the fridge before we leave

I'm definitely hoping to do some more grilling and salads with my next meal plan because I really enjoyed Kirk's burgers yesterday - I just need some new recipes - anyone have any good ones?

Month End Money Recap

2011-07-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's technically the first of the month but June was so incredibly busy and I just didn't get many chances to update. BUT since the beginning of July marks the years halfway point I thought I should update.

Soooo... how am I doing?

Honest answer - not as great as I hoped. We have a lot of unexpected this year and that always stinks. On a positive note, the Lord has faithfully provided and we have avoided much debt!

1. Organization. I wasn't home in June so not much got done however, I have been making very steady progress on this front through the year and plan to continue in July and the rest of summer. My big goal this month is the dining room which has recently become my dumping ground for all other rooms. Unless I get completely bogged down in cosignment sale prep I should be able to get it done next week.

2. Decorating. YES! Finally :) My dad drove myself and the kids home from Florida and due to a minor incident he didn't have enough time to renovate the kids bathroom so instead we re-did our living room and for under $200 the whole room is re-made. I'll share in a later post when it's all put together but I am SUPER excited with the results - even more excited about the price!

3. Spending less and saving more. Ummm, June is THE worst month for this. We're on vacation and Kirk is in VA and I'm in FL with the kids. On the plus side, my parents had stocked up a LOT on groceries so we are way ahead in that area :) For July as well so that will help a lot but I'm still hoping to be more on track come August.

4. Do a little more deal hunting. I was able to do this in Florida and stocked up on a few grocery items which was fun. It also helped my stockpile here in VA (yes, I brought groceries home!) so that I can continue to do it through July and August proving that the better stockpile you have the less you have to spend because you just don't need as much. You've also seen that I've done more at CVS trying to roll my ECB's into more deals and a larger stockpile. I was also able to save money on clothes by using sales and coupons at Gymboree as well as getting a great deal on used clothes from some other multiples moms.

5. Monthly meal planning. Didn't have to for June since we were at my parents but I'm back at it for July and still loving it :)

Writing out my goals and successes helps! Instead of feeling like I've accomplished nothing I see what I have done and look forward to the second half of the year to get even more done. Looking forward to doing even better in July!

CVS'ing in Florida

2011-06-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

While in Florida I am without Harris Teeter (bummer) but I do get to pick up a few things from Publix. My parents already bought most of the groceries so I haven't had to do much in the way of buying actual groceries but I just can't not go to CVS :)

And this week has been a good one at CVS. In case you haven't already started there maybe this will help you along!

This is what I picked up this week for $25.59:

My total saved was: $66.72!
Plus I still have $10 in ECB's for next week.
Oh, and I have to add that $3.92 was on tax (sorry, FL tax is higher than VA tax so I just have to add that in :) ).

So, after ECB's and tax I got it all for just over $10!! Seriously, you can't beat that. I mean did you see all that I got?!

How did I do it? I did in 4 transactions (and I might add that if you want less out of pocket you could do more transactions but I did a few "larger" ones where I paid a little more out of pocket at once allowing me to do a larger transaction the next time around - I think it all evens out in the wash but I'm just saying you could do more transactions if you wanted):

Transaction #1:

2 Boxes of Cheez-Its:
- regular price: $3.29/each
- sale price 2/$4.00
- earn back: $1.00 in ECB's

2 Canisters of Peanuts (Canisters? I don't know):
- regular price: $3.79/each
- sale price: 2/$5.00
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

La Looks Sport Gel:
- regular price: $3.99
- sale price: $2.99
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

I had no coupons on this transaction but I did have $9.00 in ECB's from last week

Total OOP: $3.20
Total Saved: $15.16
And earned: $5.00 in ECB's

Transaction #2:

2 Revlon Nail Polish:
- regular price: $5.89
- sale price: $4.99
- earn back: $3.00 in ECB's
- used 2 $1.00 off coupons from SS 4/10

Irish Spring Deodorant:
- regular price: $3.89
- sale price: $2.99
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

PowerBar Protein Bites:
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: $2.49
- earn back: $2.49 in ECB's (free)
- used B1G1 free coupon from SS 5/1 (note that the max value is not equal to the product price so I actually spent about $0.50 on 2 bags)

Total OOP: $9.87
Total saved: $12.69
And earned: $10.49 in ECB's (this was a small splurge - if I had rolled each nail polish into a different transaction it would have been cheaper but my girls were having fun picking out colors and seriously how many transactions can I do??!)

Transaction #3:

Crest Pro Health Kids Toothpaste:
- regular price: $3.39
- sale price: none
- used 2 $1.00/1 coupons from PG 6/5

1 OB Kids Pro Health Toothbrush:
- regular price: $5.49
- sale price: none
- used $1.00/1 coupon from PG 6/5
- this was in combo with above and earned me back $5.00 in ECB's - also seems like I can do this deal again and since my total was over $10 I have already earned $2.27 towards another reward if I go back and do it again this week

Colgate Max Toothpaste:
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: $2.79
- used $0.75/1 coupon from S 6/5
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

Bliss Chocolate:
- regular price: $5.99
- sale price: none
- used $1.00/1 coupon from S 5/1
- earn back: $5.99 in ECB's (free plus profit)

Total OOP: $7.28
Total saved: $15.44
And earned: $12.99 in ECB's plus another $1.00 for using my Green Tag on my CVS bag for a total of $13.99

Transaction #4:

Windex/Fantastik Spray (2 different bottles):
- regular price: $4.89/each
- sale price: 2/$6.00

Shout Liquid
- regular price: $3.89
- sale price: 2/$6.00
- used 2 $0.55/1 coupon from S 5/15

2 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Kit
- regular price: $4.89
- sale price: $4.00
- used 1 $1.00/1 printable coupon

Total OOP: $5.24
Total saved: $23.43
And earned: $10 in ECB's

Do remember that I am using the ECB's in the previous transaction to lower my OOP cost in the next transaction in case you didn't figure that out :)

Most match-ups courtesty of Southern Savers (the Crest deal was my own - it's not even advertised in their ad - weird - I just saw it on the shelf and knew I had coupons and knew Kaitlyn could use the toothpaste because she's beyond the baby toothpaste but doesn't quite like mine yet :) ).

It's a lot of shopping but these quick trips are really worth it and again they could all be done on the same day if you plan carefully and bring all your coupons. I had to do it over a few days partly because of coupons and partly because they were out of the Hershey's chocolate on Sunday!! And didn't get any more in till today - that's okay, it worked out.

Shopping Off Season At Gymboree

2011-06-16T16:28:00.001-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that I hate shopping off season for clothes. I know it's the best way to get a lot of clothes at the best price but I still don't like to do it. There's just something not fun about buying clothes that my kids won't wear for months but when the budget is tight this is just what I do.

Because I have the "luxury" of living in the north and visiting the south every summer I find it to be the perfect time to head in to Gymboree for some winter clothes. Since Florida never gets as cold as Virginia I have less competition for the thick jeans and sweaters.

With 20% off coupon in hand I went to Gymboree and pick up 2 bag fulls of clothes for just over $75 - I also received a $25 Gymbuck which is redeemable in July (a perfect time to buy summer clothes if I'm buying off season).

This is what I picked up:

It's hard to tell what the full retail value is of the items but it's well over $300! That's not including the socks or underwear :) The average price of each piece (again, subtracting the socks and underwear) is just over $5.75 a piece!! I got great jeans for right around $5 and they are BRAND NEW! I found 2 matching dresses for the girls for next winter (I'll find the third on eBay in the coming months), 3 beautiful sweaters for them and a great dress for my oldest daughter that she actually likes :)

Their save over 70% sale is still going on so if you happen to have a current Family Fun magazine then you happen to have a 20% off coupon which you can use on your entire purchase. And don't forget you'll also be earning Gymbucks if you spend more than $50 in one transaction. Just another perk of my recent shopping trip!

Hope you get some great finds too!

Summer Kellogg's Deal

2011-06-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Seems like the time of year for Kellogg's to have another great deal. I'll admit I like last year's better but that's only because it was FREE movie tickets and since I love the movies and I love FREE - well, it only stands to reason that I'd love that. Because of Kellogg's I was able to take my family of 7 to see Tangled in the theaters in 3D for just about $30!! Without coupons that same trip would have been $80!!

As a triplet mom I have to multiply everything times 3 - add 2 more kids and it's times 5 - as you can imagine expenses add up very quickly - thus the reason I am constantly searching out deals.

But I'm still excited about this year's deal :)

Once again you can find Kellogg's codes on Kellogg's products such as cereal and eggo waffles.

Create an account at www.kelloggs.com/cars2

Enter your codes: the limit is 8 codes per day and 30 codes maximum for the program per person.

And then redeem for prizes. There are 6 prizes to choose but my favorite are the $5 gas card and the $5 concession cash both for just 4 points. I've already earned one reward by buying 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereals (for the price of 2 of course!) - I didn't mind spending $8 on 4 boxes when I knew I would be getting $5 of it back.

Also, if you sign up you may just get a free code in your e-mail to get you started if you haven't already.

So excited for another Kellogg's deal!

Where Do You Get Your Coupons? (Repost)

2011-06-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm currently on vacation so I thought I would re-post an old "how-to" posts to cover some basics again.

Originally posted April 2009

This is probably the #1 question I get asked. I often end up with multiple copies of the same coupon which of course, I love! But how do I do it?

1. I subscribe to the Washington Post - which is our major newspaper - for $12.00 every six months it's a bargain. I only get the paper on Sunday (the inserts come on Saturdays) so it doesn't clutter up my house with newspapers. It's worth the savings to subscribe to a major newspaper.

2. I subscribe to a local newspaper. This is kind of a fluke but I signed up for it on a whim at a grocery store (no longer under my budget!) but it has paid off in dividends - I get a second copy of the coupons on Sundays.

3. My local paper - I get a free paper every week and it has at least one of the coupons inserts in it (Smartsoucre and/or Red Plum).

4. Papers or flyers that come in the mail - I check them all and I often come up with another copy of the coupons.

5. Ask friends and family to save coupons they don't need. I have 2 friends and my mom save coupons for me so I have another copy of the good coupons.

6. Ebay. Weird, huh? Paying for coupons. Well, legally you are not paying for the coupons you are paying for the person's time to collect them and/or cut them out but I just ordered 6 copies of the Unilever insert that did not come in my paper for $3.00. Since my savings will far outweigh the small cost I find it a great deal. And I was a little annoyed that these great coupons were not in any of my papers.

7. Websites - here are the ones I use most frequently - for more go HERE.

www.coupons.com
www.RedPlum.com
www.SmartSource.com

8. Manufacturers sites. Check out manufacturers sites and see if they have any special offers. Generally by signing up you can get a coupon or two from them.

Let me know if you have other thoughts or get your coupons from other places.

SavingStar: A Fun, New Way To Coupon

2011-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have recently found a fun, new way to coupon - or at least a way to save some additional money on the things I already buy.

The link has been on a few coupons on Southern Savers but I never paid much attention until a friend pointed it out to me and I thought I would check it out.

It's called SavingStar and here's how it works:

1. Create an Account and link all your loyalty cards to your account: CVS, Harris Teeter, Giant, etc.

2. Select the ecoupons you like and SavingStar will automatically link them to your loyalty cards.

3. Shop using your loyalty cards - the money will NOT come off at the checkout so don't ask the cashier about it - they will not know what you're talking about :)

4. Your money will automatically be added to your account - by automatically they don't mean immediately - it can take up to 30 days - when I first did it it took almost 2 weeks for what I had used to show up.

5. Once you've accumulated at least $5 you can turn that into an Amazon gift card or have the money deposited in your bank!

These "coupons" can be stacked with other coupons you use. For example if you have a $1.00 off coupon that you cut out of your paper insert you can use that and still get your $1.00 back from SavingStar - in combination it can make some items free. Hey if someone else wants to give me money for things I'm already going to buy that sounds good to me!

How cool is that? I highly recommend signing up today HERE because lots of new coupons were added and they do actually "sell out".

CVS This Week

2011-05-26T19:09:00.001-07:00

I've got to admit I've been having a little fun at CVS this week. I've been able to stretch $6 quite a long way :)

From last week I had $8 in Extra Care Bucks that I brought into this week.

Trip #1:

6 Jars of Ragu Pasta Sauce
- regular price: $2.67/each
- sale price: 3/$5.00
- used 2 $1.25 coupons from RP 5/22
- earned $3.00 in ECB's

Revlon Nail Polish
- regular price: $5.79
- sale price: $4.99
- used $2.00/1 coupon from S 5/8
- earned $4.00 in ECB's

Total OOP for trip #1: $2.84
Used: $8.00 in ECB's
Total saved: $19.31
And earned: $7.00 in ECB's

Trip #2

Revlon Nail Polish
- regular price: $5.79
- sale price: $4.99
- used $1.00/1 coupon from S 4/10
- earned $4.00 in ECB's

Stride Gum
- regular price: $1.67
- sale price: $0.99
- bought two and used $1.00/2 coupon from S 4/3
- earned $0.99 in ECB's

Total OOP for trip #2: $2.27
Used: $3.00 in ECB's
Total saved: $7.16
And earned: $4.99 in ECB's

(I will say I wanted to buy more nail polish in this trip and use all my ECB's from the previous trip along with 3 $2.00 off coupons as I did in my previous trip but the cashier said the computer wouldn't take them so I used the $1.00 off coupon instead but I only had 1 on me - of course, the computer beeped on that one too but she overrode it - go figure...)

Trip #3

Irish Spring Body Wash/Deodarant
- regular price: $4.19 to $4.99
- sale price: $3.50
- no coupon
- earned: $5.00 in ECB's

Hello Kitty Band-Aids
- regular price: $3.99
- sale price: $2.99
- no coupon
- earned: $1.00 in ECB's

Total OOP: $1.50
Used: $8.99 in ECB's
Total saved: $12.17
And earned: $6.00 in ECB's

My total OOP for the week: $6.61 for 6 jars of pasta sauce, 2 bottles of nail polish, 2 packs of gum, 1 body wash, 1 deodarant and 1 pack of band-aids
My total saved: $38.64!!
And I still have $6.00 in ECB's so ultimately it all cost me $0.61 :) You just can't beat that!

With the deal on nail polish I do plan to return again tomorrow - hard to pass up good free nail polish :) Plus there's a sale on some Suave products that the kids could use.

Menu Planning: Trip Planning

2011-05-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

We're going camping this weekend. I'm using the term loosely since we're not going alone but with almost 30 other people so there's a huge amount of food coordination going on right now. That being said my lists and plans are a little off right now which is driving my brain crazy!

My menu plan for this week is small so I'm going to plan from now till the end of next week when we leave for another trip - I've got to plan to use the food I have in my freezer/pantry before I go - thanks for bearing with me today!

Monday: Chicken ‘n Peppers Pasta Skillet

Tuesday: Easy Pleasing Meatloaf with mashed potatoes (we're having the company we didn't have last week)

Wednesday: Burgers ‘N Fries Pot Pie

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Noodles Alfredo

Friday through Monday: Camping

Tuesday: Easy Chicken Bake

Wednesday: Skillet Chicken Nachos

Thursday: Ham & Pasta Skillet

Friday: Turkey and Brocoli Casserole (using chicken)

Triple Coupons At Harris Teeter!!

2011-05-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

It has been well over a year since Harris Teeter last ran triple coupons but this week they have brought them back! Triple coupons means that instead of your $0.50 coupon doubling to a dollar it actually triples to $1.50.

I did a quick run this morning and picked up a few things:

I spent: $15.95
And saved: $42.92

I have to admit I was hoping for a little better but even with coupons that triple some of the items were around $1.00 (such as the Goldfish - hard to believe those tiny bags which my kids can consume in about 30 seconds would sell for well over $2!! I paid $1.10 per bag and that was after a sale AND a triple coupon - yikes!)

I also had a raincheck for the broccoli as well as a coupon but didn't find out until I got to the register that even though the raincheck was for buy 1 get 1 free they ring up differently than normal. Instead of ringing them in half price they ring one up full price and one free so I had to buy 4 so instead of $0.70/each for 3 I paid $0.88/each for 4. Not huge but about $1.40 than I had hoped to pay.

Anyway, my best deals:

Mahatma Rice
- regular price: $1.59
- sale price: none
- used 6 $0.50/1 coupon from RP 5/1
- final price: $0.09 each!!

McCormick Seasoning/Grillmates
- regular price: $2.50/$2.99
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $0.75/1 coupon from RP 4/10
- final price: FREE

Betty Crocker Brownie Mix
- regular price: $2.79 each
- sale price: 2/$4.00
- used 2 $0.50/1 coupon from SS 5/1
- final price: $0.50/each

Egglands Best Eggs
- regular price: $3.29
- sale price: $2.50
- used $0.55/1 coupon from SS 5/1
- final price: $0.85

That's what I found on my first trip. Any good deals you found? For more coupon match-ups check out Southern Savers and have fun shopping!

Menu Planning: 5/16

2011-05-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

The month is only half over yet I've hardly had any time to cook - with Mother's Day and our anniversary we've been out often. We've had some really good chicken recipes like Chicken Parmesan and Crispy Chicken Burrito Bundles but I haven't had much need for my monthly meal plan. So, since this week is a little less crazy than the past few I figured I'd share what we have planned though I can already see a few meetings putting hiccups in our plans.

But here it is nonetheless:

Monday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Tuesday: Gram’s Chicken Pot Pie Updated

Wednesday: Tater Tot Casserole

Thursday: Ravioli Lasagna (this may turn into something else since we're supposed to have company as well as a school function but this is the plan...)

Friday: Leftovers or fast food - I'll be gone all day on a kids field trip to a theme park so I KNOW I will be in no mood for cooking - see what I mean about being crazy busy this month and with just 3 weeks left of school and a ton to do before then I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed!

Saturday: Chicken 'N Peppers Pasta Skillet - a super easy recipe for me to make for the kids since Kirk will be speaking that night to the school seniors at their class banquet (kind of like prom but it's a Christian school so there's no dancing)

Sunday: We have a birthday party and we'll be having dinner there

Organization 2011: Anniversary Gift

2011-05-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Kirk's gift to me was to take me for 2 days to Hershey, PA - out to dinner, a movie and Hershey Park theme park - it was great! But the best part was that he planned all the money in advance so I didn't have to stress over what it cost or what we were spending - how awesome is he?

In "return" I decided to use what small amount of organizational talent I have to rearrange his office.

Here's the before - his desk doesn't seem so bad

But the other side of his office tells a different story - somehow it's become our dumping ground for way too many things!!

And the sweet,sweet after - new chair and all:

(sorry it's not a better picture we're having a few camera issues...)

I actually organized the office on our anniversary (which was Tuesday) but have had to work the rest of the week sorting all the papers. I just didn't have enough time on Tuesday to get it all together. But that's the thing about organizing/cleaning - it doesn't all HAVE to be done in one day - by putting like with like to clean his office I was able to move everything out that didn't belong there and sort it later.

So, if you're wondering where to begin organizing pick a place you can do quickly and when done just looks good. Moving unwanted items out of Kirk's office made the space feel bigger and the house feel cleaner AND got me motivated to keep going. Of course doing it as a gift and buying a piece of new furniture helped too :)

Happy 15th anniversary to me! Oh, I mean my awesome husband, Kirk...

Happy Mother's Day!!

2011-05-08T18:50:00.001-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating your Mother's or celebrating with your children and enjoying your own motherhood.

I got to spend the weekend away with my husband at Hershey Park, PA - lots of rides and lots of chocolate but no kids :) It was a nice break. I'd say that covers Mother's Day even though it was more for our 15th anniversary.

Now for Mother's Day I got a different sort of gift - my favorite kind:

Photos of my family!

My beautiful kiddos :)

The whole family - I think this is such a cool shot:

More of the family - seems like Rachel was not cooperating! Stinker...

My handsome boys...

And my beautiful girls...

I think these are my favorite - the individual shots of the kids - how cute are they?

And no photo shoot is complete without some good photos of me and my favorite guy!

A big thanks to Megan Keys from Keys Photography for the great shots! And of course, Happy Mother's Day to me :) I hope I can actually get some of these on my wall soon...

Menu Planning: New Month

2011-05-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

Once again it's been a very busy week/weekend and another week has begun and I didn't get everything done I had hoped. Does this happen to everybody? To top it off Mother's Day is days away and my 15th anniversary is just days after that. Holidays and celebrations always mess up my menu plan as well as throw a curve in the list of things I need to get done on any given day.

Monday: Mac 'N Cheese Pie

Tuesday: Sassy Sloppy Joes

Wednesday: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Thursday: Moms of multiples meeting - I'm speaking on couponing so I have to be there but at least my meal will be covered :)

Friday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Saturday: Weeknight Lasagna Toss (or leftovers - I have a baby shower to go to so this one is up to Kirk!)

Sunday: Mother's Day - plans unknown!

Blogging for Books: When God Created My Toes Book Review

2011-04-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

After a few fiction books I had the pleasure of reviewing a children's book or should I say my girls had the pleasure of reviewing it?

I thought the book was cute. It kept my 4-year-old triplets entertained and they very much enjoyed the graphics and the silliness of the girl in the story.

As for me I thought some of the rhymes were forced and a few didn't make sense. I don't know what ABC's have to do with knees other than that they rhyme. I also didn't like that the girl misbehaved - while it is natural it reminded me of the book "No David!" and while my girls do love that book I'm not a huge fan. In a Christian book I would rather see the misbehavior represented avoided or addressed as in forgiveness or discipline and since neither is the topic of the book avoidance would seem the better choice.

That being said we were able to focus on the fact that God created each part of our bodies and that He is the creator.

Bottom line: my 4-year-old girls enjoyed the book but I found it to just be okay and wouldn't highly recommend it to other moms.

To purchase the book head to Amazon

Disclaimer: I received this book as part of Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program - the views are my own.

Menu Planning: End of the Month

2011-04-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We had a great time worshiping at church and then enjoying a HUGE dinner with our church family at our pastor's house. With lots of activities for the kids I actually had time to sit down and chat :)

I don't know about you but I have a LOT of ham now. Not a bad thing - I love ham and it makes a lot of different recipes that we don't get to eat very often - due to a very low grocery budget for the week most of the recipes will have to wait until May but I am planning to stick at least one in this week!

Monday: Ham and mashed potatoes leftovers (no this isn't the recipe but we have so much it affords me a night off from cooking)

Tuesday: Pronto Pasta & Sausage Skillet (a Pampered Chef recipe - no ham)

Wednesday: Sloppy Joe Biscuit Casserole (didn't have it last week)

Thursday: New-Look Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

Friday: Dinner on the go - we have a few different activities planned for Friday night so we'll have to fit dinner in somewhere

Saturday: Pizza Calzone Bake or some other sort of homemade pizza - I had a few different pizza ideas on my monthly menu plan this month but I didn't get to most of them

I have to say that when I budget I'm thrilled when the month is over :) It's a fresh start again soon! This is also my week of menu planning for next month. I already have a file going on my computer so my first stop is that file followed by my April folder to find any recipes that I didn't end up using. After that I look at our family favorites and if that doesn't fill up my calendar I check my favorite websites and cookbooks.

It's kind of like a treasure hunt to find the best tasting recipes for the month - my favorite is when I can find something new that we all love that becomes a family favorite for months to come - yum!!

Spring Break Organizing Day 4

2011-04-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

This may looks like cheating but really it's not - really it's a visual of the end of a LOOOONG organizational project - my entire basement in fact. Before all the yard sales a few weeks ago I sorted bucket after bucket, toy after toy and this is what I had left:

This is the before though it's not like my family room normally looks like this (stop laughing...) - these are just the last of the buckets I had to sort and I've kept them in my family room to motivate myself to go through them.

Did it work?

Eventually...

But it's done. Save a few little follow-ups everything has been sorted and all small, annoying pieces have been thrown away!! I am praying that this means no more tedious toy sorting but I'm afraid as long as I have so many small children that just won't be the case.

I don't have plans to organize over Easter weekend as I will be spending lots of time with my family taking pictures and celebrating our risen Lord.

I hope you all have a very blessed holiday weekend.

Spring Break Organizing Day 3

2011-04-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

So today wasn't exactly a closet but it was close :) I'm branching out! Today was Caleb's turn. I have to just say that he's a boy and having a neat and tidy room is VERY low on his priority list no matter how much I suggest that he pick things up - even if he just picks up enough so that firefighters would have a clear path to his bed in case of an emergency!

Boys...

Here's the before - this is more of a shelving unit then a dresser but it serves to hold Caleb's clothes for now. He always wants to rearrange his room and this is the current situation - at some point he probably needs a big boy dresser :)

And the after - notice the imperfections - I could only get so far! But at least all the clothes that are too small for him are removed and the mound of clothes is OFF the floor.

This is Caleb's closet - I have to say I hate the kids rooms in our house - for whatever reason we can't seem to arrange them well and the closets are all basically worthless - dressers don't fit well with their beds, the windows and the closets - hard to explain but all the closets have become either makeshift dressers (like the triplets) or almost unusable like Caleb's. But I did manage to get some things hung up in his closet and it's working for that :) The chair was his idea...

The after - just a bit more cleaned up.

Tomorrow will be a non-closet day...

Spring Break Organizing Day 2

2011-04-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

I wasn't trying for the closet theme and I DO have PLENTY of other areas to organize but having clothes in order is such a stress relief for me. And nothing is more stressful than 3 little girls standing around me begging to tell them what to wear - which is kind of a joke because they NEVER want what I pick out anyway. So, in order to keep my sanity today I tacked the triplet's closet.

The dreaded before shot (I think it's worse than mine was!):

And after:

The girl's room doesn't have the space for a dresser and I am NOT the hanging-up type so instead we have buckets - each one with it's own theme: PJ's - one for winter, one for summer; winter clothes non-matching, winter clothes matching; summer clothes non-matching, summer clothes matching; dresses - you get the idea. By matching I mean triplet matching outfits - sometimes they dress alike, sometimes they don't. So, there's a bucket for that.

That's as organized as their clothes get :) Mine can be neatly folded but for them, that's a waste of my time - remember the outfit searching?

The other side of the closet is now empty and we'll use those shelves for all the girl's Pet Shops houses and a few other toys - should make the room cleaner in general and that's always a good thing!

Spring Break Organizing Day 1

2011-04-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, technically today is day 2 of Spring Break but yesterday I had to menu plan and you know how important that is!

My goal at the beginning of the year was to try and post weekly on organization. Since the organizational blog I like OrgJunkie was hosting her 52 weeks of organizing I figured I would participate. But life is never that simple and waaay too many Fridays have come and gone without my posts (specifically 15 Fridays!). So, I decided I would do a little organizing this week while the kids were home. Seems odd but somehow I seem more motivated to work while they're here plus I can't come and go as easily since any errand requires me to take all 5 kids with me so I find myself home more.

Anyway, here's what I did today:

Before - honestly I was surprised it had gotten to this point - it was organized then life happened and it wasn't anymore but a little bit of clothes shopping (with sales and coupons of course) got me in the mood to clean out all the stuff I no longer loved in my closet.

And after:

I have to say I found a LOT of stuff I didn't love - over 35 pieces of clothing! That's a lot of tops and bottoms that I just didn't feel I could wear any longer and I'm excited for them to find new homes :)

Interestingly enough week #15 in OrgJunkie's 52 weeks was closet organizing - I swear I had NO idea!

Looking forward to tackling another space tomorrow...

Menu Planning: Spring Break

2011-04-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

This week is the kids Spring Break from school meaning they are home, all day, all of them. Of course they look forward to this - honestly I often wonder why - they're basically bored with a few minutes. Sure we have some things planned but sometimes they have to fend for themselves and they get bored. Go figure.

Because they are home all day it leaves me with the task of not only planning dinner but also planning lunch. Lunch is simpler, of course, but it's still good to have a plan because I'm quite certain I hear Chick-fil-A calling my name and right now that's just not in my budget!!

Lunch:

Monday: Hot dogs, stick cheese and grapes
Tuesday: Pizza with friends
Wednesday: Spaghetti (this pretty much means noodles for the kids - they don't like sauce - not sure why)
Thursday: Mac N Cheese
Friday: Sandwiches for a picnic lunch at Frying Pan Park - it's a field trip with the moms of multiples - can't wait!

Dinner:

Monday: Mini Meatloaves with mashed potatoes and green beans

Tuesday: Creamy Baked Ziti (x2 for a friend who recently had a baby)

Wednesday: Chicken Taco Bake

Thursday: Sloppy Joe Biscuit Casserole

Friday: Deluxe Pizza Goulash

Saturday: Santa Fe Chicken Casserole - this is another Philadelphia Cooking Creme Recipe and I'm excited to try it!

Sunday: Easter :) We are looking forward to a day to celebrate our risen Lord with friends and hopefully family.

Chicken Sale At Harris Teeter

2011-04-16T19:09:00.001-07:00

Normally I wouldn't do a whole post about one sale or about meat but I wanted to take a minute and point out a good deal on healthy meat.

While our family isn't trying to "go" organic with our food I do like to find healthy food for our kids to eat and we always eat lots of fruit and vegetables. I also find that the biggest complaint against couponing is that there is a lack of coupons for "good" food. For the most part this seems to be true though I do see a LOT of changes towards coupons for better foods.

This week is a great example - there's actually a coupon for meat in the paper!

At Harris Teeter till Tuesday Perdue Fit & Easy Chicken Breasts are on sale for $2.99/lb - add that to the $0.75/1 coupon from RP 4/10 and you get another $1.50 off your pack. For one pound that would be just $1.49.

I picked up 2 packs - one of which normally sells for $8.45 and I paid just $3.10 - that's a significant savings on quality meat.

If you're new to couponing do stick around - there's a deal to be had on just about everything one day or another - you just have to know when and where to look :)

Check out Moneywise Moms for her deal on chicken as well as some links to healthy coupons.

The Corruptible Book Review

2011-04-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

I know I've already shared my love of blogging for books but I'll just say it again: I love it!

I love it especially when I get to read a great book! Once again I received a free copy from Waterbrook Multnomah's Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program that was a second book in the series. So once again I turned to Amazon and using gift cards from Swagbucks I ordered the first book in the series.

Mark Mynheir is an author I'm familiar with having read his previous series so I was quite excited to read his new books and I wasn't disappointed. Mark is an author with a LOT of law enforcement experience so his writing is extremely real which I thought was great!

Take a look at my review:

Mark Mynheir’s The Corruptible is a fascinating, cynical and realistic read. If you ever wanted to know what life is like as a cop this would be the way to do it. I almost felt this book could be research for an aspiring writer of mysteries! Not in a bad way but the detail was amazing – I felt as though I were there.

The Corruptible is Book #2 in the Ray Quinn Mystery Series. In Book #1, The Night Watchman, we’re introduced to Ray Quinn a disabled, retired detective who is an alcoholic and seems to be waiting to die. But life and God have other plans and when he discovers 2 dead bodies in one of the condos where he works as a security guard he’s asked to look into the case. At first he has no desire to be back in detective work but ultimately he agrees and begins to find a bit of his former self. With help from his friends Crevis and Pam, Ray solves the case and clears a good name.

In The Corruptible, Ray has just opened his new private investigation service when he is called in by a very wealthy client to recover some stolen merchandise. But the case is more than it first appears and once again Ray is looking for a murderer and using his police contacts to solve a case.

Despite Ray’s disability caused by a gunshot and requiring the use of a cane Ray is a very strong character. As the book is written in first person Ray is the only point of view that we get. He’s not a Christian and he is an alcoholic so the perspective is often negative and very gritty. He has friends but I spent most of the book wondering why and waiting for him to screw up the relationships. Ray is humorous (I laughed in quite a few parts at Ray’s comments and thoughts) and real, yet not the most likeable of characters.

The plot was fast paced and engaging. I enjoyed both books a great deal though both endings were a tad odd. The first book seemed to come out of nowhere (not in a good way) and the second book seemed to throw a lot of red herrings in for the sake of making the book longer.

I recommend reading book #1 first if only to get a better sense of who Crevis is because he’s a great character and I liked him a lot.

I give the book 4 stars because the middle of the book lagged a little and went in directions it didn’t really need to go resulting in some plot confusion. I also think Ray is a very dark character and the book contained a LOT of alcohol references for a Christian novel. I know that it’s something Ray struggles with making the character real but I’m just giving fair warning for those who don’t wish to read extensively about alcohol.

I enjoyed both books and recommend both books (with a few reservations for some). Mark Mynheir is an excellent writer and he proves himself again in The Corruptible. I’ll be looking forward to the next one!

For more information check out the author's website: www.markmynheir.com or place your order at Amazon.

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group’s Blogging for Books program. All opinions are my own.

Menu Planning

2011-04-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, it was a busy weekend. The MOPS sale went really well. I guess I should preface that with saying I'm not sure how much I sold but I certainly got a lot of great deals on the kids summer wardrobe! And with very minor exceptions (namely church dresses for the girls) their wardrobes are complete! Of course, they need to be since there won't be another consignment sale until July. Will I make it?...

Kidding, I'll be fine :)

Sunday: Angel Chicken

Monday: Savory Salisbury Steaks (this is a Pampered Chef recipe - something new I've never tried so we'll see how it goes!)

Tuesday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Wednesday: Velveeta Baked Spaghetti Squares

Thursday: Ground Beef and Twice Baked Potato Pie

Friday: Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday: Pizza Casserole (without the olives - sorry, just don't like them!)

Gymbucks Redemption Starts Tomorrow!

2011-04-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

A very important and easy way for me to save money on kid's clothes besides consignment sales is Gymboree. I know it seems crazy but combining coupons with sales means a lot of great clothes on the cheap.

Add Gymbucks to the picture and you're saving even more!

If you aren't sure what a Gymbuck is it's a coupon you receive during earning months for $25 off a future purchase of $50. The coupon can only be used during a redemption period which is now (for those who are Gymboree Rewards members) or tomorrow (for those who aren't) through April 17th.

Gymbucks can be applied on any item in the store regardless of whether they are on sale or clearance.

And now is a great time to redeem since all their Easter items are on sale.

Head over to Gymboree and check out all the great stuff!

(photo from Gymboree's website)

Menu Planning Monday: A New Month

2011-04-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'm trying hard to leave March way behind. We haven't had the fridge repair guy out yet so I don't yet know how much that will cost us but I'm praying that it won't be much.

This is certainly where a menu plan comes in handy. When something's not working on home or stress sets in my biggest temptation is to give up and just go spend money. After all it is a HUGE pain to transfer all our cold food to the garage fridge and to go out to the garage every single time we need something cold. And right now we have no ice because our freezer made ice for us (aren't we so spoiled?!) so drinks aren't as good. All this adds up to me throwing up my hands and calling for take-out or heading out the door to eat out.

If it weren't for the plan I've already put in place I would give in EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Seriously.

But the plan keeps me on track!

Here's my plan for this week:

Sunday: Simple Hamburger Hot Dish

Monday: Rush Hour Chicken Fajitas (a Pampered Chef Recipe)

Tuesday; Hamburger Stroganoff Casserole

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

Thursday: Moms of Multiples Meeting - dad covers dinner

Friday: MOPS Sale - I have to be there all evening so this is a fast food night for us - you have to have a few every now and then :)

Saturday: Layered Enchilada Bake - this one is a family favorite that we repeat often. I do have to say on a day that I know I'm going to be tired and not really want to cook (since I will be spending all day at the MOPS Sale as well) it's a good idea to have a familiar recipe to look forward to - I already know I like it and I already know how to make it so there's no stress of something new to keep me from cooking!

Month End Money Recap: When It Rains It Pours

2011-03-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

Oh how I wish life were simple. In ideal worlds emergencies don't happen and we have all the money needed to pay for everything. Unfortunately this month we didn't. We haven't charged anything but still it's been a very heavy month for us putting out over $2000 in unexpected expenses and then this evening our fridge broke so I have no idea how much that will be.

Fortunately the Lord is good and He will provide but I'll just preface my list of goals with the fact that some months are harder than others and life often doesn't go as planned no matter how much we coupon!

1. Organization. This is the one goal that's going very, very well. Because of the moms of multiples sale this month I cleared out my entire basement and sorted just about every toy. I have 3 buckets left that will be finished before my next sale in a little over a week but I am quite pleased with the progress I made this past month. At least in the organizational department :)

2. Decorating. This is not going as I hoped. Mostly due to the unexpected expenses - I can't justify even a small amount of money being spent decorating when so many other things are going on. I'm guessing April will be out too for the same reason. Here's hoping I can do something before the year ends!

3. Spending less and saving more. Yea, not so much in March.

4. Do a little more deal hunting. I did a little bit. I'm still doing well with Swagbucks - which is something I highly recommend. Just a bit of searching goes a long way! Referrals help quite a bit so once you've signed up make sure to tell your friends so they can sign up under you :) The above link is my referral - just FYI. By doing deals through Swagbucks I not only earned Swagbucks but I got a number of good deals that translate to a lot of savings overall. However, in the month of April I'm already planning on shopping at a few different stores to take advantage of some deals they have as well as some gas rewards - finding every way to stretch my grocery budget and stock my pantry.

5. Monthly meal planning. Yes! I did it in March again though I'm wondering if part of the reason I went over budget on groceries in March was because I didn't buy all I needed for meals at the beginning of the month. That does seem to help me quite a bit because what's left is for produce, milk and really good deals rather than stuff for dinner.

How are you doing? Are you keeping your goals now that we're 1/4 of the way through the year? How's your budget? Even the worst budget can be turned around with baby steps.

Being good stewards of our money takes work but has a much better pay off than credit cards. I'm learning the hard way so I'm spending a lot of my time teaching my children how to put God first with their money and then to save as well so that they can live on less.

Here's hoping and praying that April won't cost nearly what March did!

Kellogg's Deal At Harris Teeter: FREE Milk!!

2011-03-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

I don't think there could be a better time to stock up on cereal and milk - two things my family goes through FAST! We go through around 6 gallons of milk a week - sometimes even 7. And cereal we can go through just as quickly - a box in a morning if we all eat the same kind (not that anyone ever does because that would mean all of us agreeing on something and well, that doesn't happen very often).

It's usually hard coming off Super Doubles week but this certainly makes up for it! After 3 trips today - here's what I picked up:

Here's what I did:

My first time through I did my regular grocery shopping picking up what I needed along with 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal:

Kellogg's cereal: Pops, Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks and Rice Krispies
- regular price: $3.29 to $3.98/each
- sale price: $1.99
- used 2 $1.00/2 coupons from RP 3/6
- final price per box: $1.50/each
- BUT I earned a printed Catalina for a free gallon of milk on my next purchase

After my first transaction I went and bought 4 more boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk - I used 2 more coupons and my free milk and for 4 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk I paid just $6.24!! PLUS I earned a coupon for another free gallon of milk.

And if all of that weren't enough I can get a $10 pre-paid Mastercard back after I purchase 10 boxes of Rice Krispies (other cereals also qualify but none of the rest are kinds we eat except Crispix which wasn't on sale this week) - the way my mind thinks I would have just bought all Rice Krispies today but my kids would NOT have been thrilled with that decision and since we were (literally) completely out of cereal I had to get a variety :)

For the link to the printable rebate go HERE - even better - you can do this rebate up to 5 times!! I see a lot of Rice Krispies in my future... Of course, I could save them for Easter and make some really cool Rice Krispy treats :) Mmmm...

Menu Plan Monday: Month's End

2011-03-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is a harder week to meal plan. Since the month ends on Thursday and I haven't yet built April's menu it's harder to come up with a whole plan for this week but I'm giving it a try based on what meat I have left in the freezer. Fortunately it's not as bad as it could be since Saturday night is actually date night and the kids will have their meal provided for them so I only have to come up with something for Friday - sweet!

Sunday: Easy Pleasing Meatloaf with rice and broccoli

Monday: Easy Baked Manicotti

Tuesday: Updated Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday: Alea's One Pot Chicken Dinner

Thursday: Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole (this will be using my FREE Philadelphia Original Cooking Creme - yum!)

Friday: Chicken Spaghetti

Saturday: Date Night!!

Harris Teeter Super Doubles: Felt Like Bare Bones

2011-03-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

I very much love Harris Teeter and I certainly love Super Doubles (when Harris Teeter doubles coupons up to $1.99 rather than their normal $0.99) but I hate when I go on the 2nd day of a one-week sale and the store already feels completely cleaned out - ditto for the 2nd Harris Teeter by me. So sad. Teaches me to not go first thing in the morning the day the sale starts - I just wasn't ready and thought going today would be good enough. Apparantly not.

Fortunately, I didn't lose out completely - I was able to pick up some things in 2 seperate trips (I was trying my 2nd Harris Teeter for the free Philadelphia Cooking Creme but no, they were out too - boo) - here's what I got:

Total Spent: $63.53
Total Saved: $90.61

My free items:

Philadelphia Cooking Creme (yes, I managed to get 1 but I wanted 2 more...)
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: $2.99
- used $1.50/1 coupon from S 3/6
- final price: FREE

Dannon Kids Yogurt
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: 2/$4.00
- used $1.00/1 coupon from S 2/27
- final price: FREE

My other best deals:

Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetables (would have prefered brocolli but I was happy to actually find green beans at store #2)
- regular price: $2.65/each
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used $1.00/3 coupon from RP 3/6
- final price: $0.66/each

Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner (who doesn't love buying that?!)
- regular price: $2.99/each
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $1.00/2 coupons from S 3/6
- final price: $0.49/each

Kahiki Egg Rolls and Chicken Nuggets
- regular price: $4.25/each
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used $1.00/1 printable
- final price: $0.12/each

Kraft Cheese with Philadelphia Cream Cheese
- regular price: $3.59
- sale price: $2.00/each
- used $1.00/2 printable
- final price: $1.00/each

Printables can be found through Southern Savers along with more coupon match-ups. If you are looking to shop at Harris Teeter I would get out there in a hurry before there's really nothing left!

Is It Really Time To Meal Plan Again?

2011-03-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

You can tell when I've had a hard and busy week when I only post my meal plans on Monday :) I had every intention of posting in between but my week was so busy preparing for this past weekends multiples consignment sale and then running the consignment sale and then being exhausted because of the consignment sale. Notice a theme?

The good news? I sold quite a bit of stuff and I am thrilled to have it out of my house! What's left is already tagged for the next sale in a few weeks.

As always to get myself back into the swing of things it's best to meal plan. Somehow that and couponing make me feel more organized.

You'll notice a bunch of repeats from last week - my husband felt sorry for me a few times and took me out to dinner instead of cooking :) So sweet! I know, I know the budget didn't love it but sometimes frugal goes out the window. Yes, it does happen.

Monday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday: Italian Sausage Pasta

Wednesday: Turkey Tettrazini (Pampered Chef Recipe)

Thursday: Wahoo! Chili

Friday: Pork Chops with Salad, Veggies and Potatoes

Saturday: Taco Night since I will be out at a women's church event

Sunday: Easy Baked Manicotti (this just sounds too good to pass up this week!)

Menu Planning Monday: A Busy Week Ahead

2011-03-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

I know I've repeated myself saying that menu planning is important but on weeks like the one I'm looking forward to, make it even more so. This week is going to be nothing short of non-stop activity and I'm already feeling the stress, so to have meals figured out in advance takes a little of the stress and strain off of my shoulders day-to-day.

I know I haven't done an organizational post but the truth is I've been too busy organizing to do a post! Right now my family room doesn't look like I'm any more organized, with buckets and toys everywhere but I really am making progress. I have thrown out lots of broken toys and sorted into bags numerous like items to sell this weekend at the moms of multiples yard sale. Hopefully I won't come home with much :)

I just haven't had time to take pictures and do any posts but hopefully soon when individual places are more organized and put back together as opposed to the "big sort" I'm under going right now. This is probably the 3rd time I've done this and it does (fortunately) get easier each time but I'm praying that now that the girls are 4 and quite capable of helping with the cleaning that this will be my LAST time!!

My meal plan for this crazy week:

Monday: Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Tuesday: Easy Chicekn Enchiladas - I'm excited to try these - through Kraft First Taste I was able to get a free sample of the new Philadelphia Cooking Creme and I've been anxious to try these enchiladas ever since I saw a video for it on Swagbucks - hoping they come out great!

Wednesday: Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Thursday: Sweet and Sour Chicken - didn't get to this last week

Friday: Fast food: set-up night for the multiples yard sale

Saturday: Wahoo! Chili (I figure if I make a favorite of my husband's he'll be happy to help me with meal prep when I'm utterly exhausted from working all day)

Sunday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Deadly Ties Book Review

2011-03-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, in the midst of all my crazy life I have been able to find some time to read some Christian fiction books which are my absolute favorite books to read - better yet if they are mystery/suspense books. So, of course, I was very excited when the book I got to review this time was right up my alley :)

This was an author I'd never read before but am excited to read more from her because I really enjoyed her books. I received Deadly Ties free to review from Waterbrook Multonmah Press Blogging for Books but I ordered the first book in the series for myself so that I could read the books in order. Very, very good.

I did find a short trailer for the book on YouTube - a tad cheesy but fun :)

My review of the book:

I really enjoyed Vicki Hinze’s book Deadly Ties. Deadly Ties is the second book in the Crossroads Crisis Center novels. Since I had not read the first book in the series, Forget Me Not, I went ahead and ordered it and read it first. All I can say is I’m surprised I had not read this author sooner. Her books are everything I enjoy about reading fiction – suspense, mystery and a little bit of romance.

The suspense in both books was very well done. Forget Me Not focused on Kelly Walker and Ben Brandt while book 2 focused on Lisa Harper and Mark Taylor. Both stories were interwoven well and I would recommend reading Forget Me Not first, however, if you don’t you won’t be lost in Deadly Ties at all.

Vicki Hinze did an excellent job of keeping me reading and wanting to know what happened next and how the characters got out of their situations. I enjoyed the characters and found them to be real people reacting to real situations. Both Lisa and Mark were strong characters which I enjoyed. While Lisa often found herself in distress she was resourceful and brave rather than a coward and I liked that about her.

I loved how the author wove together the past and the present. At first I wasn’t sure how she was going to tie the same criminal organization that threatened Lisa to Kelly Walker’s case from the previous book but the writing was believable and tied together very well.

Vicki is truly a gifted author and knows how to write modern Christian fiction suspense. From the very first page of the first book I was hooked and Vicki did not let me down through all of book 1 or book 2. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the spring of 2012 and will be buying it as soon as it comes out! I highly recommend Vicki Hinze and her books – a must-read!

The book can be purchased from Amazon: HERE

And be sure to check out more about this author at her website: Vicki Hinze

Catching Up And Getting Ahead

2011-03-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

Last week was an extremely busy week. Every day seemed overwhelming and I'm honestly just glad it's over.

It wasn't all bad. After all I got to do a lot of shopping :)

Here was my first haul (the girls are anxiously awaiting their new pajamas - I think I have created "pajama" monsters - they were even sleeping with their PJ's! Heck I think they are happier about new pajamas than new toys! - so they had to be in the picture just so they could get their hands on their new PJ's :) )

This is just the clothes - I usually pick up a small toy for the kids which is something they look forward to.

My total spent this time around was somewhere around $175 - I spent $15 on items for the kids school so $160 was for me. Of course, I did earn $84 merchandise credit for working 14 hours but I think I did pretty well. I went a long way towards outfitting Kaitlyn for summmer with a number of outfits for just $7! And, of course, the pajamas which were all about $3.00 each - I picked up a total of 9 pairs so that each girl got 3 new sets and believe me they know which pairs are theirs and they tell me about it every day :) On half-price day I picked up 3 coordinating outfits for the girls for under $10 total - good deals!

And now back to "regular" life - at least for 2 weeks until the moms of multiples sale on the 19th. I need to be even more ready for that sale and I have 2 weeks to tag everything. Great.

As for organizing - I've gotten some done - little things here and there - Kaitlyn organized her dresser and cleaned up her room quite well - this week I have to tackle the triplets room. They seem excited about it so hopefully that will go well.

In order to be ahead of the week I'm posting my meal plan early :) Having a meal plan ready is the best way I can feel on top of my day and week - it means I have the ingredients in hand and I know when I have to start making dinner and what will be on the table - when I don't have a meal plan I have no idea what to make and I'm missing ingredients to make any meal that I would hope to have. So, to repeat myself - meal plans are great :)

Sunday: Layered Enchilada Bake

Monday: Angel Chicken

Tuesday: Burger 'N Fries Pot Pie

Wednesday: Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet

Thursday: Creamy Baked Ziti

Friday: Gram's Chicken Pot Pie Updated

Saturday: Sweet and Sour Chicken

The Most For Your Money At CVS

2011-02-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

If you're not shopping at CVS you aren't getting the most for your money. I know I've mentioned before that I get all sorts of things free at CVS and Rite Aid but I wanted to share the best way to stretch your dollar at drugstores.

I've said before the best way to begin shopping at CVS is to start with free items and this is by far the best strategy whether you're beginning or have been at it for a while but I also think the best way to get a "big" deal is to start with a few small ones and then roll those ECB's into the "big" deal.

For example - this week you can get $10 ECB's (Extra Care Bucks) if you buy $30 worth of P&G products. This is already a great deal and the perfect time for me to stock up on paper towels and toilet paper - 2 things I desperately need right now but I'd rather stretch my dollar even further. I mean heck if I'm going to spend $25 anyway I might as well get the most that I can for it!

So, yesterday I went and purchased this:

I spent: $12.05
And saved: $14.67
And earned: $15.28 in ECB's

Today I went back to pick up:

I spent: $13.30
And saved: $39.01
And earned: $10 in ECB's

The best news? Most of the coupons for this weeks deals can be found in this past Sunday's P&G coupon insert. If you didn't pick up the paper this weekend it's highly likely that you still can. I know my Harris Teeter even had 2 papers together for sale at a discounted rate.

Focusing on one deal makes it easier to begin shopping at CVS. Using ECB's plus coupons and then rolling those ECB's to earn more gets you the most for your money. Ultimately I ended up spending the same $25 I would have spent (after coupons) to get the paper towels I needed but doing it this way I got SO much more for my money!

Need more help getting started at CVS? Check out this video from Jenny at Southern Savers by following this link HERE

I know it's the end of the month and I have gotten things done this month (not as much as I hoped) but I couldn't pass up on the CVS deal for boring end-of-the-month stuff :) Plus, I'll be working at my favorite consignment sale for the rest of the week. Looking forward to shopping for great stuff tomorrow!

Menu Plan Monday: End of February

2011-02-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

It's the end of the month so this is usually about the time I do my pantry challenge and try my very best to make meals out of what I already have. I usually end of having to buy a few ingredients here and there but for the most part I use what I have. Of course, if I had my act together and done a monthly meal plan I wouldn't have to worry so much but alas this month I did not. Oh well, I'm already working on March's plan in the hopes that next month will be better :)

Here's my plan for this month (and yes, I realize there's a LOT of Mexican but that's what I have!):

Monday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday: Chicken Taco Bake

Wednesday: White Bean Chicken Chili and Mac and Cheese for the kids - they won't eat the chili

Thursday: Easy Pasta Bake - I need some Italian in here! This is a simple recipe that I can throw together and almost always have all the ingredients

Friday: Chicken with noodles and vegetables - again, no real recipe just baking chicken breasts with some sides

Saturday: Leftovers - have a women's event at church so dad and the kids will have to eat what we have leftover :)

Sunday: Beef Tacos - a few weeks ago I picked up a number of taco kits for very cheap - this week seems like the perfect time to use them!!

Monday: Chicken 'n Dumplings (from the Rival Crock Pot Best Loved Recipe Book)

Pricing for Consignment Sales

2011-02-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

I know it may seem early in the year to be discussing pricing for consignment sales but one of the biggest in our area (and the one I work three times a year) starts up again in 2 weeks! You may have noticed my lack of organizational post yesterday and that's because I didn't get to it. Figures. Two weeks left to be ready for a huge sale and I'm behind.

Anyway, back to pricing.

At the beginning of the month I was asked to speak to my moms of multiples group on pricing for yard sales and as I was also asked to pass along a copy of the highlights of my speech to the club I figured why not share what I know here as well :) So, want it or not here it is.

What I consider before pricing my items for sales:

1. The condition of the item: how new is it? are there any stains? tears? how used does the item look?

- obviously the better the item looks the more you can price it for - old items that are broken should be thrown out - if they still have some use in them then a highly reduced price would be appropriate - if they look almost new and have only been gently used then buyers are willing to pay more especially if you still have the original packaging - something about that box draws people in. But remember clothes (and all other items) DO go out of style so you may not want to waste your time on items that are 10 years old or older unless that item still holds real value (but then you may want to consider selling elsewhere). If it's a toy - does it work? does it have new batteries? does it have all the pieces? The better the condition the higher the price!!

2. How much did you pay for it? did you buy it on the clearance rack? was it a gift? did you pay full price for a brand name outfit?

- the more you pay for an item the more you're going to want to get out of it - sometimes we get gifts and they are things we don't like so we're willing to price them lower to get rid of them but other times we've put money and effort into obtaining the right dress or the right outfit and we want back a good portion of what we put into it - to an extent we price items emotionally.

3. Can you sell it anywhere else? can you Craigslist it? eBay?
another sale?

- the more chances you have to sell an item the better chance you have to sell it - makes sense of course but no sale could reach everybody and it's quite possible that there is someone out there who is willing to pay you what you want for your item BUT this does mean your item may not sell as quickly. Getting a higher price requires patience and a little more work but it can be worth it. When pricing for a consignment sale for an item that you know will sell for more on Craigslist or eBay you can feel more comfortable pricing your item higher as you know you have a fallback plan if you take it home with you.

4. How badly do you want to get rid of the item?

- while you may have a fall back plan like Craigslist or eBay you may not want to go that route. Maybe you hate taking pictures and shipping or meeting people at your house to buy items so instead you just want the thing out of your house. This is the best reason to price an item below what it's worth. But be careful about going to low - there is a point where your time isn't worth the money. You may price 100 items for $0.50 and they may all sell but if you are making just 65% of that you've only made $32.50. May sound good but only if it took you two hours or less to sort, hang and tag all those items - 100 items in that time is doubtful (unless they are 100 of the same item and you are amazingly efficient).

5. Will I be utterly disappointed if this item comes home with me?

- this goes along with #3 and #4 - if I have a fall back plan I'm happy with then I don't mind if I bring the item back or if it's something may kids may still want to play with but I'm not sure then I may price the item higher to see if it sells - if it does I get the extra money - if not my kids get their toy back (believe me I've used this approach quite often). If I really want to get rid of an item then I am going to be very disappointed of something comes home with me - these are usually the biggest items - just because hauling them back and forth is a huge pain!!

6. What would I be willing to pay for the same item if I were to buy it? more? less?

- try to think without emotions about your stuff - no one is buying your memories they are only buying the item you are selling so think truthfully about what you would pay for it. Would you be willing to pay $30 for a Gymboree outfit just because it says Gymboree? Probably not and neither would most people (unless it's a VERY popular line but that would best left to eBay). Remember, just because it has a brand name doesn't mean it's new. Gymboree has been around a LONG time and anyone who knows the brand knows how new or old an outfit is - you're not fooling people so think realistically.

7. Do some research.

- what is it selling for on eBay? are people selling similar items on Craigslist? if so, what are they asking? Again, you may think your Gymboree outfit is cute but there may be very few people who agree with you so you'll need to price your item lower. Or maybe Craigslist is flooded with kids kitchens and you'll want to price that lower. OR it could be that everyone is clamoring for a Wii at any discount and they are willing to pay almost full price for a used one to save themselves a few dollars. It pays to find out from other sources.

8. Consider allowing your items to go for half price if you're unsure of what your item is worth.

- say you have a dress or an outfit that you think is worth $10 but you're not sure if everyone else would agree. You could give it a try and then allow it to go for half price (if your sale has a half price portion) and let the buyer decide. Someone may agree with you and pay your first price but if no one does at least you still have a chance at $5.00 - you've let the buyer decide the price. Another option when you're really unsure is to price the item a dollar or two higher than what you think it's worth and let it go for half price if the need arises. If it sells for more you win but if it goes for half price you haven't completely lost because you didn't start out at your lowest price. I do this a lot on smaller items or older outfits. Start out at $3 or $4 but I'm perfectly happy to get half of that just to have it gone!

9. Throw all this advice in the toilet and just go with your gut :)

- or follow a pricing guide. Once you start you'll get the hang of it and you'll consider all of the above without even consciously thinking. Don't make pricing harder than it is but if you want to get the most you possibly can do consider the above.

Other things to consider:

- can I make an outfit out of what I have? I'd much rather buy an outfit even if from 2 different brands than a separate top or bottom - this takes the thinking out of it for me and is SO much easier - outfits will sell faster - and a plus for you you can price it higher!

- make sure your items are clean - get a wipe and wipe it down - get the dust and dirt off - wash the outfit again so it smells and looks newer - no one wants to see your animals on their clothes or smell any cigarette (or other) smells - the nicer the better - CONDITION, CONDITION, CONDITION!!

- if you're trying to give your stuff away then just donate it - don't waste your item pricing too cheap - either group like items together and price them higher or donate it - don't frustrate yourself.

If it sounds like work it is. But so is your everyday job. For the most part very little comes free - if you want to make money you have to work and put in the effort - if you don't then give your stuff away and move on with your life. However, I do highly recommend consignment sales - without them clothing my kids for less would be impossible - so if you can please take the time and effort to sell a little bit of your stuff to benefit you but also to benefit the buyer because honestly I'd rather my money go to another mom who is trying to sell to benefit her children then a corporation.

Please note I think corporations do a lot of good for people but I'm also aware that some of them price their items quite high making those that shop there unable to find good deals - consignment sales are usually much cheaper so remember that the poor and needy shop them too!

Harris Teeter: Dollar Doubler

2011-02-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

It's that time again! Harris Teeter is doubling coupons up to $1.99. I'm not sure why they haven't done triple coupons in ages but I guess I will take what I can get :) Dollar doubler will be going on from 2/16 to 2/22

There are a few good deals to be had though not as many as I had hoped for when I was matching my coupons using Southern Savers - a few of her deals aren't really deals at all.

Here's what I picked up tonight:

Total spent: $21.61
Total saved: $54.59

The cats seem to be the big winners this week with Cat Litter for $0.19 and dry cat food for less than $1.00 (combined with a great deal on wet food at Rite Aid and I am feeling more stocked up on cat items than ever before! Good for me since I have 2 cats and I absolutely hate paying for their items but bad for anyone else if they don't have cats...)

My best deals:

Purina Cat Chow
- regular price: $5.55 each
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $1.00 off from S 2/06
- final price: $0.78 each
(note: HT's policy is not to take 2 coupons on buy 1 get 1 free items but it seems when I purchase different flavors of an item they do allow it so I did not have a problem using 2 coupons for this deal)

Sargento Cheese
- regular price: $3.39
- sale price: $1.89
- used 4 $1.00/2 coupons from S 1/30
- final price: $0.89
(I believe these were on clearance because the sale did not apply to all the cheese - just a few selected ones)

Tidy Cat Litter
- regular price: $3.19/each
- sale price: none
- used 2 $1.50/1 coupons from R 1/30
- final price: $0.19/each

Ken's Salad Dressing
- regular price: $3.25
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used $1.00/2 coupon from S 1/9
- final price: $0.63/each

GM Cereal Bars
- regular price: $3.45/each
- sale price: 2/$4.00
- used 4 $0.50/1 coupons from S 1/30
- final price: $1.00/each
(since these are just $0.50 off coupons they double every day but I still liked the deal for my kids lunches)

There is also a General Mills promotion going on but it wasn't clear on the Southern Savers site so I wasn't able to do it today. I'm going to try tomorrow but who knows if the shelves will already be cleared out! I hope you give it a try and find yourself some good deals!

Organization 2011: Week Six

2011-02-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

Although I didn't end up doing much organizing until this evening I still feel pretty good about my progress. I have been meaning to do the dining room buffet and I really need to get started on the kids toys and clothes before all the consignment sales next month but I seem to keep ending up in the kitchen!

Fortunately my kitchen cabinets need a ton of organizing :)

A few weeks ago I hosted a Pampered Chef party and got quite a good number of new kitchen utensils and pans free (a great way to stock your kitchen for cheap is to host a show - especially in January when you get extra things free :) My kitchen is full of great Pampered Chef tools that I have paid very little for and they are items I use every day!).

I started with a single cabinet:

Before:

After (it's dark I know but I did get rid of a number of glass pans that I haven't used in ages):

And ended up organizing all my drawers. Getting organized can be contagious :) I threw away a number of very old measuring cups and sorted all of my kitchen gadgets and utensils. While it wasn't what I intended to organize I'm very excited about the prospect of a cleaner and more organized kitchen!

Here's to hoping I get on an even better track next week :)

Menu Planning and Catching Up

2011-02-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, this past week has been a whirlwind. We had a great though busy time with my brother and his wife. We always enjoy having family around but of course it throws our normal routines off. Clearly my official organizing didn't happen though I did organize my sock basket :) May not sound like much and it's not really picture worthy but it helped me out a lot. I am looking forward to getting some "extra" organizing done this week though for the most part I have to get started on tagging for consignment sales. Hard to believe but they are coming up again.

I'm also getting back into menu planning though am so behind for the month having not yet planned out my entire month of meals. Oh how this puts me behind.

At least I have this week and I'll have to work on the rest for the coming week:

Monday: Weeknight Ravioli Bake (this is a recipe I found on Org Junkie's favorite dinners list - can't wait to try it!)

Tuesday: Parmesan Dijon Chicken with broccoli and potatoes (or rice - I have plenty of sides in the cupboard and freezer)

Wednesday: Mexican Chicken Lasagna - this is a fabulous Pampered Chef recipe that I will try and share this week because it's so worth sharing!

Thursday: Tater-Tot Casserole - not sure which one but this family favorite is up for the dinner rotation again!

Friday: Birthday party dinner for a friend's daughter

Saturday: Date night courtesy of the kid's school and Parent's Night Out - can't wait!

Just writing this out makes me feel a little more organized!

Another Amazing Swagbucks Deal

2011-02-03T19:25:00.001-08:00

Hopefully you didn't miss out on the Amazon deal last week but if you did don't fret there's another great deal going on Swagbucks now.

Head on over to Swagbucks:

And you will be able to pick up a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card for just $10!! PLUS you can earn 315 Swagbucks at the same time. If you are using your Swagbucks towards Amazon gift cards that's like another $3.15 in the bank. With all these deals my Amazon gift cards are adding up and I'm getting lots of free items. I have Valentine's covered for (almost) free due to the Amazon gift cards and the ones I had already earned.

With this deal I am looking forward to some "free" books for my nook :)

Month End Money Recap

2011-01-30T18:49:00.001-08:00

As it always seems to do time marches on and we are now at the end of January which is the first chance I get this year to analyze my New Year's Resolutions. How are you doing? Given up already or going strong? I guess I fall somewhere in the middle since I missed a few weeks of organization.

Here's how I'm doing so far:

1. Organization. Pretty good though I did miss a few weeks - oops. May miss this week too due to company but here out I have high hopes for getting some things done. I'm certainly happy with what I've accomplished thus far.

2. Decorating. I did not get to this at all this month. I'm hoping we can at least re-do a bathroom in February.

3. Spending less and saving more. Um, not sure on this one. Hoping we did but I'm not totally sure. The way our budget is working February will be a better budgeted month.

4. Do a little more deal hunting. This I did. I picked up a few deals through Swagbucks like a $20 Amazon gift card for $10 and quite a few more gift cards through Swagbucks which will allow me to get some free stuff in the weeks to come - huge budget help!

5. Monthly meal planning. Did it for January and am working on February now.

Like I said, I did okay but I'm very much hoping to do better in the months to come.

The Miracle of Mercy Land Book Review

2011-01-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

I have been so excited to be involved in Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. I love blogging and I love books and as a Tightwad I certainly love getting books for free so this program is literally MADE for me!

I recently received my second book to review. The book is "The Miracle of Mercy Land" by River Jordan. The book was received as a gift but the opinions are all mine.

Here are my thoughts on my most recent book:

I wanted to read this book because the premise seemed fascinating. The writing in the book was excellent. The description was great and feeling like you were right there with the main character, Mercy was very well done.

That being said I thought the book started slowly and it was very hard to get into. While the character was great and her situation was believable the action was slow to begin. The "book" that came to Doc Philips happened early in the book but then just sort of sat there. I had expected more interaction or more story of what happened while they were “in the book”. The foreshadowing was excellent, the wondering what was going on kept me reading the book.

Once the character, John Quincy was introduced, the book took on a new level of wondering who he was and what would happen. I very much enjoyed the building up of this character and the relationship between John and Mercy. All of the characters questioned if the book they had could change the past and how their choices affected one another.

Since I often like suspense novels I enjoyed the overarching sense of something evil or that something bad was going to happen. The author is very good at portraying that eerie feeling that something isn’t right, that something awful has happened or will happen. However, the “evil” didn’t seem fully realized. The premise was so good but not fully drawn out. I kept waiting for something awful to happen based on what I had been presented with but nothing really did.

Having completed the book I still have questions. There are things I still don’t understand and would have liked to. I believe the book is very character driven which is good but leaves the plot wanting. It is written well meaning it has “pretty prose” and a great Southern charm but my overall impression of the book was confusion.

If you enjoy character-driven books you will like this book because you will love Mercy and her relationship with Doc and her Aunt Ida but if you prefer plot-driven action this wouldn’t be the book you would enjoy. Because of that I have to give this book just 3 stars.

Book (and above image) can be found at Amazon.com

Menu Planning Monday: The End of January

2011-01-23T21:09:00.000-08:00

I know this is a broken record but really is January about over? Seems like another year will be over and it hasn't even started! Of course my girls are already counting down to their 5th birthday which is 10 months away - I guess they have already figured out that time does fly.

So to end our month this is what we will eat :)

Sunday: Chicken and Broccoli Fettucine

Monday: White Bean Chicken Chili

Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas

Wednesday: Chicken 'N Peppers Pasta Skillet

Thursday: Taco Bake

Friday: Leftovers/eating out/spaghetti - not sure because we're expecting family for a week and they may be in town or they may not so it makes it hard to plan so I'd rather avoid cooking if I can :)

Saturday: Mini Meatloaves

Sunday: Alea's One Pot Chicken Dinner

Monday: Layered Enchilada Bake - this is actually a repeat from earlier this month but because we are feeding company again, it's a family favorite and I already have the meat for it for this month I'm going with it again :)

Organizing 2011: Week Two (er, Three)

2011-01-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

I know I'm behind. Not only did I miss posting organizational pictures last week but I am also late on getting them up this week! What can I say? Fridays are usually hectic around here - read: date night or family night so blogging gets pushed aside. Maybe it counts that I did double organizing the first week :)

This week's project: The Hall Closet (yes, I had hoped for the dining room but right now I'll take what I can get)

I'd say it needed it!

The hall closet has been our place to throw shoes and obviously coats but then eventually stuff gets lost in there and we just end up jamming it in.

Now I'd say it looks better:

Time spent: maybe 45 minutes - really it was quite quick - I did it pretty fast this evening - what in the world was I waiting for?!

Cost: Zero though eventually a few dollars for a shoe rack at the bottom of the closet - for now I have to deal with stacking them...

Made: Right now zero but I did find a few things for an upcoming consignment sale - I also found my CVS "green tag" that has been missing for quite a while so that will earn me $1.00 for every 4 visits so that's something! I've hated shopping without out (now I just have to remember to bring it and the bag it's attached to with me!)

Cleaning out the closet meant about 6 jackets to donate (plus another 3 to give to a friend) plus at least 10 pairs of shoes to donate - also found the "mate" to some shoes that I had been missing so I guess that saves me the cost of buying more shoes. All kinds of good from organizing!

Again, I'm not fully participating in Org Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing but I still recommend you check out her site - I have ordered her book "Clutter Rehab" for my Nook and am enjoying that plus she has a great giveaway going on right now for a Monthly Menu Planning Board - awesome!

Today Only Amazon Deal

2011-01-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

There is an awesome deal going on at Living Social for today only. You can order a $20 gift card for just $10!! That's $10 of free money and who doesn't need free money??

In case you don't already know you can order just about anything from Amazon and whenver you spend $25 you get free shipping - so combine this gift card with a $5 free one you earned from Swagbucks and you're talking a lot of FREE.

You are on Swagbucks right?

If not, follow the link below and once you sign up be sure and set Swagbucks as your home page so you can earn Swagbucks every day when you search. Once you reach 450 Swagbucks you can "buy" a $5.00 Amazon gift card. Essentially this means you are earning just slightly more than a penny for every swagbuck you get. Most of the time when I search I earn 9, 10 or more Swagbucks so just for typing in "Gymboree" in the search line rather than my tool bar I'm winning "money".

If you love Swagbucks be sure and tell your friends. When you get referrals you earn every time they earn from searching. This means your Swagbucks can add up incredibly fast.

I think this year I may just start my Christmas shopping this month - see what I can get for free :) Of course, I have to get through Valentine's Day first...

Rite Aid Videos

2011-01-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

I feel very behind this week, this month, heck, it's January this year! Yikes, not a promising way to start. I have my spots to organize but last week had way too many late nights to get things finished and posted and this week has started off with snow days meaning the kids have been home from school. I'm hoping tomorrow gets me off to a better start!

However, I haven't missed watching videos at Rite Aid . Talk about a money maker! Watching the videos means earning money to spend at Rite Aid. Coupons sure but also $4 off of $20 and a few $1.00 off any product coupons. Along with some +Up Rewards that's a long way to free products at Rite Aid!

The best way to use these coupons is to purchase items at Rite Aid that earn you more +Up Rewards as well as on offers that you can combine with Manufacturers coupons. If you haven't started shopping at Rite Aid I highly recommend it! It's a great way to stretch your dollar - even on food.

I'm slowly getting back on track and part of that is to make sure you all are heading to Rite Aid for come coupons :)

Menu Plan Monday

2011-01-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Being flexible this week! I have my whole months menus printed out and taped to my calendar, however, from one day to the next I change my mind about what sounds good so I make changes. But that's just another thing I love about monthly planning - it sounds like you have no flexibility but the reality you have lots. Not in the mood for spaghetti tonight? Try making Mexican, after all you already have all the ingredients for that meal too.

This is another month we expected company for a week and once again we had to make changes and push off the visit so I had planned for a large number of *big* meals so instead of having a ton to eat next week and lots of leftovers I'm moving some bigger meals around the calendar and inviting friends and family over for different meals :)

Our menu this week:

Sunday: Ravioli Lasagne

Monday: Quick Chicken and Dumplings

Tuesday: Mac Chicken Caccitore (left over from last week - didn't get to it)

Wednesday: Burgers 'N Fries Pot Pie

Thursday: Layered Enchilada Bake with rice(shared with company)

Friday: Broccoli Chicken Casserole Recipe

Saturday: Pizza Sloppy Joes (shared with LOTS of company because these feed a crowd)

Organization 2011: Week One

2011-01-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting serious about organizing my house. I know I say it often that it needs to be done but usually life gets so busy I put it to the wayside. But not this year. Using the blog kept me honest about my grocery spending - I plan to do the same with my organizing.

My goal is to concentrate on a room a month but this week I did a few small projects just to help me feel better and get started!

One was my bedroom - got it all cleaned up and with new bed sheets (soo luxurious) and a new bed set - it's a room I now look forward to going into. GREAT place to start a home makeover! Though this isn't my decorating for the month :) Look at those three cuties - I think they like it too.

My real accomplishment for the week: my tupperware cupboard. Darn thing has been a mess forever.

Before:

During:

And after:

So much nicer :) Of course, my oldest is complaining that it's harder for her to put the clean tupperware away now because she can't just throw it in!

Time spent: less than 2 hours (hard to tell because I had a lot of interuptions)

Cost: Zero

Made: Zero

Unmatchables and just old stuff went in the trash - anything salvageable but unwanted went to donation.

I didn't really intend for this to go along with Organizing Junkie's 52-weeks of Organizing - I had made this goal before she posted it but hey, since it's there I'll play along :)

Next week: the dining room buffet/dining room even though the room I have to actually work on this month is the guest room in the basement but I'll leave that under my decorating goal instead of my organizing ones.

Harris Teeter: Dollar Doubler Time Again!

2011-01-05T20:08:00.001-08:00

I don't plan to post grocery pictures quite as much this year but whenever the deals are this good I just have to share :)

Harris Teeter is once again doubling dollar coupons - this means that they will double $1.00 to $1.98 coupons - meaning your $1.00 coupon will be $2.00 off - your $1.50 coupon will be $3.00 off! HT's same restrictions apply - you can only double 20 coupons per VIC card per day.

In two trips here's what I picked up:

My total spent: $24.45
Total saved: $91.51

I know it's not "Extreme Coupon" worthy but I thought I did pretty well and picked up a number of good deals and I'm happy about the variety.

My best deals (match-ups are from Southern Savers)

Finish Dish Detergent
- regular price: $5.49
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 5 $2.25/1 coupons from S 1/2
- final price: $0.50 each (these are NOT free despite what it states on Southern Savers - her math was a little off)
- total for all 5: $2.50 which is 100 Tabs - to put this in contrast BJ's sells an 80 count of Finish for $11.99! When I was there the other day I had a coupon for buy 1 get 1 free so I got 160 tabs for $11.99 which is obviously better but still not as good as $2.50 for 100. However, I will note that BJ's does allow manufacturer coupons on top of their store coupons.

Kellogg's Special K Cereal Bars
- regular price: $3.49
- sale price: 2/$5.00 plus when you buy 4 you get 1 free
- used 2 $1.00/2 coupon from RP 1/2 which doubled
- final price for 5: $6.00 (or $1.20 each pack of 6)
- to put this in perspective I picked up a 36 pack of the same cereal bars from BJ's last week for $7.49 after using a $3.00 off coupon from BJ's which is pretty close in price per bar.

For the Tabs it's clearly more cost effective to purchase from Harris Teeter because it was a high dollar coupon with a good sale, however, the Kellogg's bars were pretty close and I was only able to get a deal this good because it's dollar doubler week. So I can get a better price at Harris Teeter most of the time but it will require more work and patience than picking it up at BJ's.

Other good deals:

Ziploc Containers
- regular price: $3.55/each
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $1.50/2 coupon which doubled to $3.00
- final price: $0.55 for 2 or $0.27/each

My free items were 2000 Flushes Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner and the Yo Crunch Yogurt using printable coupons - links can be found at Southern Savers.

On a side note - I also used Mueller printable coupons which are $1.00 off of 1 which doubles. The only thing is that the pasta itself was $1.00 and my Harris Teeter does not allow overage so in order not to waste my coupon I purchased the larger box for $0.50. If anyone else's store works differently I'd love to know!

Menu Plan Monday: First One This Year

2011-01-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

For quite a while I've been unofficially playing along with Laura's Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie and I've certainly found the more I plan the better my week/month goes.

If you, like me, have the goal to get more organized in 2011 then Menu Planning is certainly the place to start. Since I plan a month ahead I find it easier to just plan to eat what I want rather than what's on sale each week. I may spend a few more dollars but to know in advance what we're having and to actually want to eat it - that makes up for the money spent :)

For the first week of the year this is what we're eating:

Saturday (1/1): Ravioli Skillet

Sunday (1/2): Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet

Monday (1/3): Tater-Topped Casserole

Tuesday (1/4): Ground Beef and Twice Baked Potato Pie

Wednesday (1/5): Angel Chicken

Thursday (1/6): Monthly Moms of Multiples Meeting

Friday (1/7): Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Saturday (1/8): Mac Chicken Caccitore

I don't have a theme this month just picking out foods that I think we'll enjoy. Of course the fact that the triplets don't actually ever eat dinner means there is a low chance of all of us enjoying it but it's worth a try and at least I will be enjoying it!

Do you have any menu planning tips?

A Few Freebies

2011-01-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

If you are out and about the next few days you may want to consider picking up a few Freebies (plus overage):

Walgreens:

Electrasol Finish Tabs:

Sale Price: $3.49
Register Reward: $1.50
Coupon in today's Smartsource: $2.25 off 1
Final price: FREE plus overage

- I don't know if this is every Walgreens but my Walgreens does NOT allow coupon stacking so I will use my RR immediately because they're not worth holding on to. However, they do allow you to use 2 coupons when you are buying 2 products so I could purchase 2 bottles of Pantene:

Sale Price: 2/$7.00
I can use $3/2 coupon from PG 12/26 AND my RR for $1.50 off (2 coupons on 2 products)
Register Reward: $2.00 (earned after purchase)
Final price: $0.50 for 2 or $0.25 each

Another Freebie is at Safeway!

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

Regular Club Price: $1.99
Sale Price: $0.99 if you buy 4 or more
Earn: Catalina of $2.00 if you buy 4; $3.00 if you buy 5
Use: 2 coupons for $0.50/2 - I highly recommend printing them from Swagbucks so in 8 to 12 weeks you can earn another 10 Swagbucks just for redeeming your coupon - follow the link below to sign up and then click on "Coupons" on the left hand side:

Purchase 5, use 2 coupons - you will owe $3.00 and you will get back $3.00 in a Catalina (printed at the register) good for your next shopping trip.

Final price for 5: FREE

Since Safeway is also having a sale on yogurt I used my Catalina to purchase yogurt at a greatly reduced price - by pairing my Catalina with another printed coupon (use link above) for $0.75/2 I was able to get yogurt almost free as well. Plus I will earn Swagbucks for using my coupons plus all GM products have Box Tops on them so that's another $0.10 each product for the school.

Sounds like a reason to go shopping to me!

Thanks to Southern Savers for the Walgreens match-up!

Happy New Year 2011: Resolution Time Again!

2011-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

Another year has come and gone. Heck, another decade has come and gone.

And now it's resolution time again.

I know some people hate them but I like them. I don't think of them as hard and fast rules and don't hate myself when I fail but it's something to aspire to and gives me something to focus on throughout the year. And since I come back just about every month to see where I am it does keep me on track :)

For the most part I kept last year's resolutions. Some of the money stuff fell apart in December around Christmas but truly so much better than in years past. It was like losing 50 pounds and gaining back 5 - overall you feel great but know you can do even better!

As for spending $100 a week for the most part I did. As I take the whole year and divide it comes out to right about $100/week. Every month I went over $400 but that makes sense for the full year.

This year I'm making a few changes - I'm less worried about my grocery bill - I think I'm good with couponing (though if you saw TLC's show Extreme Couponing I have a long way to go - although to be honest I have NO desire to be like that - I love my family too much and apparantly no one heard that time is money also) - anyway, off my soap box - for myself I am content with how I'm doing - I pay try to do a little better this year but I'm not hugely worried about it and have increased my budget to $450 a month to give myself a little wiggle room.

I've also renewed my membership to BJ's - mostly just to be more convenient. My plan is to go there the beginning of each month to get what I need in bulk for the month and the money I have leftover in my budget I'll use to pick up milk, produce and all the best deals for the month. My plans are always changing so we'll see how it works.

As for this year's resolutions:

1. Organization. This is topping my goals this year - I really want all the toys gone or organized. I started in 2010 but rather than focus on couponing I'll be focusing on organizing.

2. Decorating. There are parts of my house that I truly want to look better and this year I want to actually get it done - on a budget of course. My goal is $100 per room (probably per month) and a little bit of work to make some much needed updates. Again this is a priority over couponing.

3. Spending less and saving more. This is always a goal and after re-doing my budget for 2011 I'm excited to be doing both. Still paying down debt and not accruing new debt - still budgeting!

4. Do a little more deal hunting. I still want to coupon but I plan to look for even better deals rather than stock up on everything - so pretty much just stocking up on the free or almost free items each week and buying the rest at BJ's or my one big Harris Teeter run each month. But adding to groceries is deal hunting at the store and stocking up on clearance items hoping to donate to the school or whomever needs it. I started yesterday at the Christian Bookstore for clearance Christmas items - got some REALLY good deals!!

5. Monthly meal planning. I'm loving this and plan to continue.

For now those are my thoughts for the new year. The fun part is changing things as I go along and each time seeing how I can do better.

I hope you'll stay and see how I make changes to my house, my budget and my life. The Lord gives us each and every day that we have to enjoy and to live for Him. Being a good steward of my finances and my belongings are the best way I can show Christ to my family and those around me.

May your 2011 be blessed!

This Is Why I Read Christian Fiction

2010-12-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

I recently had the privilege of reading and reviewing Sigmund Brouwer's book Flight of Shadows. I honestly haven't had much time to read fiction lately and what I have managed to pick up I have found poorly written but this book was excellent.

From the beginning it was fast paced and drew me in. I didn't know when I began reading that the book was a sequel so I wasn't fully sure of what was happening but the author did a fabulous job of describing the surroundings and getting me engaged in the story.

The book made me think about the future and what could happen while caring about the characters in the book and how they would survive. My favorite character was Razor - he was quite fascinating and gave the reader hope in a dark world.

It was fast-paced and gritty. It's not for the faint of heart but if you are even remotely interested in sci-fi, thrillers or suspense novels you will enjoy this book.

I had not read the prequel (Broken Angel) before this but have already downloaded it to my Nook in order to catch up - yes I liked Flight of Shadows that much!

Disclaimer: I have recently joined Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program and this is the first book I received free to review - all the opinions are mine.

My Review of Fisher-Price iXL Learning System - Blue

2010-12-27T08:48:00.001-08:00

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

Fisher-Price iXL Learning System. iXL is the ultimate and coolest handheld learning system designed for kids. The iXL Learning System is as a child's Digital Book Reader, Game Player, Digital Art Book, MP3 Music Player, Notepad and Photo Viewer. The base device comes with pre-loaded software fo...

Awesome toy but HUGE battery user.

By Mom to triplets. from Gainesville, VA on 12/27/2010

Pros: Interactive, Educational, Engaging, Lots of Fun

Cons: Huge battery eater

Best Uses: Young Children, Entertainment

Describe Yourself: Stay At Home Parent, Parent Of Two Or More Children, Parent Of Multiples (Twins etc)

Was this a gift?: Yes

I bought three iXLs for my triplets for Christmas and they love them. Other than running into high traffic on Christmas we didn't have a problem downloading the software or setting the systems. I did purchase 4 games and was disappointed to find that the system could only hold 3 due to lack of space but we got a full 3 games on and my girls were happy.

My biggest disappointment is how fast the system goes through batteries. It's AWFUL!! With 3 systems I had already used 12 batteries on Christmas but just hours after they started using them they all died and we had to replace them. Two days later I have already gone through 28 batteries and one of them has just died again and that one was 2 hours after we put new batteries in!!

I thought this would be good for car trips and playing at home but now unless I want to invest a fortune in batteries - whether buying new or reusable - my girls can't use them often.

Very frustrated.

(legalese)

Merry Christmas To All!

2010-12-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Forgive my absence I have been busy celebrating Christmas with my family. I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well as a blessed new year.

I will return to blogging in the New Year. For the next few days I will be spending time with my family!

CVS Trip - My Slight Glade Candle Addiction

2010-12-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Sad, but true. If there's a sale on Glade candles I'm there. The French Vanilla just smells so good :) And then there's the two scents in one: creamy custard and apple - LOVE it! Plus, our church is sponsoring a missionary family and they have given us a list of items that they do not have readily available in the country they are going to. Candles are on their list so even though I do have a huge addiction I'm donating at least half of the candles I've picked up in the last few weeks to this family.

Here's what I got:

I spent: $36.07
And saved: $57.54 (including a $5.00 ECB that I had)
And earned: $17.00 in ECB's!!

What I got:

Duracell Batteries
- regular price: $5.48
- sale price: $2.99
- used 6 $1.50 off coupons from RP 11/14 and RP 12/12
- after spending $15 I earned a $5.00 ECB
- so my total after sales, coupons and ECB's is $3.94 or $0.66/each!!

Oral-B Satin Floss
- regular price: $4.39
- sale price: $2.99
- used $1.00 off coupon from PG 11/28
- earned $2.00 back in ECB's
- final price: FREE

And my Glade candles :) I got diffusers as well.
- regular price: $10.99 for the diffusers; $4.29 for the candles
- sale price: $6.00 for the diffusers; $2.50 for the candles
- used Buy 1 Get 1 free diffusers from SS 11/17
- used $1.00/2 Glade candles from Coupons.com - for this one I recommend going through Swagbucks and printing a coupon that way - then you will earn another 10 Swagbucks just for using your coupon!
- I earned $3.00 for every $10.00 spent on Glade - for the diffusers I spent $3.00 for 2 after coupons and ECB's; and for the candles I spent $6.00 for 4 after coupons - certainly makes it easy to donate them!

Batteries are a must for our Christmas Day and the candles make every holiday celebration smell better so I was thrilled to get such a great deal this week!!

Coupon match-ups are from Southern Savers and the Swagbucks link does take you to Swagbucks but if you sign up it will be under my account. I earn Swagbucks for that - just so everyone knows!!

Menu Planning Monday

2010-12-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

I certainly didn't mean to go a whole week without posting but life gets so incredibly crazy this time of year. I will be sure and update soon about shopping adventures but for now here's my weekly menu plan!

Monday: Chicken Taco Bake

Tuesday: Turkey-Biscuit Pot Pie - will have to use chicken but I still think it will be good

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup - it's certainly cold enough for good soup!

Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs - have a kids Christmas performance that night - dinner must be simple!!

Friday: Easy Pleasing Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Saturday: Ground Beef and Twice-Baked Potato Pie - calls for different mashed potatoes but I think I will just use the leftovers from Tuesday

Sunday: Barbecue Chili with Corn

Menu Planning Monday

2010-12-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks I haven't made up much of a menu plan. I did use the recipes that I had planned for the month but nothing stayed where it was and everything changed :) Plus we ate out a time or two more than I had expected. But now it's the first of the month and I'm back on track once again. At least till next week...

Monday: Christmas Chicken Burrito Bundles with Rice

Tuesday: Angel Chicken

Wednesday: Creamy Baked Ziti

Thursday: Easy Slow-Cooker Beef Stew

Friday: Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

Saturday: Burger 'N Fries Pot Pie - This just sounds too interesting to pass up :) I think I will add some veggies to the mix to give it just a little something more! We'll see if the kids eat it...

Sunday: Church Women's Christmas Tea (yummy dinner out for me!!)

Christmas, Only Cheaper

2010-12-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a ton of time to read and catch-up on blogs but I did get a chance to check out one of my favorites: Moneywise Moms and she had a post on Making Holiday Money so while I wasn't looking to make money per se it did get me thinking about how I could get christmas gifts cheaper or even free.

Before the Christmas season begins we already set a budget for ourselves - how much we will spend on each child and ourselves and I'm pretty strict about it. But I love Christmas and I love having lots of wrapped gifts under the tree :) Even if it's a small stocking stuffer I'll wrap it. Hey, Christmas comes just once a year and it's a day for fun!! So I do like to get what I can for the kids without going over budget.

How do I save?

Get items FREE! Yep, FREE!

2 Ways I do this:

1. Swagbucks. I know I mentioned this recently but this has really helped my holiday shopping. Most recently I was able to get free books for my kids from Amazon for a multiples holiday party that we had this evening. Every year at the party Santa gives each kid a wrapped book (purchased by mom and dad of course). By combining a sale at Amazon (buy 3 get 1 free) and my Swagbucks I got the kids books FREE!!

2. Paper Back Swap. I love Paper Back Swap! You set up an account and then list books in your home that you wish to get rid of. When people ask for your books you ship them - simple as that. You pay for postage going out but when the person receives the book they indicate that they have and you receive a credit. Every credit is a free book for you. I was just able to order 3 books FREE for my daughter for Christmas. All three were on her list and I didn't have to pay a penny for them!! And I have 8 credits left from books I mailed months ago - gives me 8 more free books to come!

Other ways to save:

3. Shop places that give gift cards back for what you spend. We all know this works with CVS and Rite Aid but other places are giving gift cards when you spend. On Black Friday I spent money at Target earning me a $10 gift card allowing me to pick up a gift for my daughter for free. When you're price checking look for places that give you rewards :)

4. If you're already shopping Rite Aid consider picking up a few toy items for the kids in your life (or other items) at great prices - some even earn +Up Rewards but better yet Rite Aid is giving you money back when you spend money in their store! Go HERE for details.

5. Use coupons! I'm sure you all know this already :) Whenever I possibly can I use a money off coupon even if it's just a coupon for free shipping. Every dollar counts.

I may be a tightwad but I love to give. I love to celebrate. Hey, I love getting gifts too! I just don't want to spend a fortune to do it.

What ways are you saving this Christmas season?

Restaurant.com

2010-11-30T08:46:00.001-08:00

When I first started this blog almost 2 years ago I shared about my love for Restaurant.com - a great place to get gift certificates quite cheap to eat at a local restaurant. Today I have new reason to share it again! Besides the 80% offer (which they do have quite often) there's a new local restaurant that we actually want to eat at. Love it!

How it works: you purchase a $25 gift certificate (or gift certificate of another amount) for a reduced price. Today you can purcahse a $25 gift certificate for just $2 by going to Restaurant.com and entering the code DEAL in the promo code box at checkout.

You do get to choose the restaurant you want to eat at before you check out and each restaurant has it's own set of rules. When I did this last year the only restaurant I liked was quite a ways away from me but now I'm so excited to say that there's a great restaurant (Eggspectation) that recently opened near me that participates with Restaurant.com!!

This would be a restaurant we'd like to go to anyway so I was thrilled to see that I could get a $25 gift certificate today for just $2!!

We actually went last night with a Gift Certificate from Restaurant.com and had a great time. We fed 7 people dining out for just $22 including tip!! Our total bill before tip was $15 :) And since Eggspectation serves breakfast all day the kids ate every last bite of their food.

There are a few restrictions:
- at Eggspectation you have to spend $35 minimum to redeem your $25 gift certificate and 18% gratuity is automatically added to your bill - not a big deal - our server was great and we actually tipped a bit more because she did well and we liked her :)

- you can only redeem one gift certificate per month per restaurant so we can't go back to Eggspectation till next month - I am assuming this is calendar month and not 30 days from yesterday but the website doesn't make that clear

- valid for dine-in only

- can't be combined with any other coupon or offer

Other than that it's super easy to buy and use! Such a great way to save on eating out! And with the holiday season upon us we often get too busy to cook at home and eating out becomes more enticing. At least this way I can do it on a budget :)

Black Friday Shopping

2010-11-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

Have you done it?

I have never gone shopping on Black Friday before. Well, maybe during the day but I've never gotten up early to shop but this year I took the plunge.

I would have photos if my camera had flash but unfortunately it's still broken so I can only share my experience in writing :)

I am NOT a morning person so it was easier to stay out all night then to get up really early. My good friend, Kristy, myself and her mom made up our plan and headed out at 10:30 PM. A little late since Toys R Us opened at 10 PM with their deals. By the time we got to Toys R Us there was a line to get in the door (because the store was too full) so we waited to get in and didn't find that many deals worth waiting in a 2-hour line for so we left pretty quickly.

Lesson learned: if you want to get in and not wait in the check-out line you MUST wait in the initial line to get in. You get a line no matter what.

Lesson 2: have someone wait in the crazy line while someone else in your party keeps shopping :) (Is this a Black Friday no-no? I have no idea if there are rules? We were discussing this in one line - how many places can one person hold? I mean can 1 person hold the places of their 10 friends? Is that too many? Seems like there should be rules!)

After leaving Toys R Us we headed to Old Navy. This time we made it in time to wait in the first line so we got in at midnight. Some quick shopping got us in line at 12:30 and out the door at 1. I can't say the deals were that great. A few doorbusters were fun but nothing necessary. I did get a pair of free socks for being in the original line - I think people further up got a better deal but I'm not sure. I think I spent more on items at the checkout area then I did in the store :) Not quite, but almost - hey, they were great stocking stuffers! Sadly, pretty much everyone was buying them (not sad for the store of course) - way too much time in line.

After getting a quick post-midnight snack we got in line at Kohl's. We only stood there for about 30 or 40 minutes - not bad for us - there were quite a few in front of us but not as bad as Best Buy (maybe that's the lesson - wait there instead?!). I think we did pretty good at Kohls. Got quite a few things - everything on my list and then some - Kristy and I combined our things to use a coupon I had - together we spent $355 and saved $570!!

Even better we earned $60 in Kohl's cash and I still have $65 to get back in rebates so really I spent $290 and saved $635!! Plus, my Kohl's cash for more free merchandise next week :) I'd say it wasn't bad. Still debating as to whether or not I love everything I got but shopping at Kohl's was fun at least and I can return anything I decide I don't want right?

We thought we'd head home after Kohl's but ended up stopping at Target for a few more things. Since we were "late" getting there we didn't have any lines to wait in. And even though I thought I had missed one doorbuster they had re-stocked them before I left.

I crawled into bed at 6:30 - not too bad I guess - I did get a little sleep :)

Lesson 3: stay in bed :) Okay, maybe not for the biggest, bestest deal but I've seen the deals I got on the internet so I probably could have just stayed home and ordered online. I certainly did for my Gymboree order. That I placed on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving at about 1 in the morning. That's how I get the kids jackets for just $14!!

While I enjoyed very much hanging out with my friend and her mom I'm pretty sure I could have gotten just as good deals at any other time. I must say, I've never felt I overspent too much in years past when I haven't gone Black Friday shopping. If I were to repeat it next year it would only be to enjoy the night with friends and not for the deals.

What about you? Do you shop on Black Friday? Think it's worth it?

Pre-Thanksgiving Menu Planning

2010-11-21T13:55:00.000-08:00

For some reason it seems weird to menu plan before Thanksgiving :) I mean we still have to eat and we don't want to eat turkey for weeks on end but it seems odd to eat "normal" food right now :) Fortunately, I'd already planned for the week in advance so we are eating normal food along with Thanksgiving at school, a women's night at church, the triplets birthday party and bringing a meal to someone who needed it - it's been a busy food week!!

Here's what we had and plan to have till Thanksgiving which is more of an obvious meal :)

Last Wednesday: Quick Chicken and Dumplings

Last Thursday: Easy Chicken & Rice Divan

Last Friday: Taco Bake

Saturday: Chicken-Broccoli-Tortellini Soup - this was for the women's night at church so I doubled the recipe and it was a big hit - very yummy!

Sunday: Leftovers - this is actually the 2nd time we've had leftovers this month - I have had SOO much food from all I've made that we just have to clean out the fridge :) Plus, we ordered pizza for the party yesterday and we had a few pizzas leftover making a perfect Sunday lunch. Leftovers are a great budget stretcher :)

Monday: Slow Cooker Lasagna

Tuesday: Chicken and Sweet Pepper Stir-Fry

Wednesday: Mozzarella Pasta Bake

And then it's Thanksgiving followed by some strategic leftovers :) I know Turkey Tetrazzini is already on my list of post-Thanksgiving recipes!

Swagbucks Has Just Become Even More Awesome!

2010-11-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

You're on Swagbucks aren't you?

If not, you absolutely must be!! Swagbucks is SOO easy! I have it set as my home page. Every day I take the Daily Poll, check out the Trusted Survey and search to win - I earn quite a few Swagbucks every day and even the little ones add up. This month I already have $15 in Amazon Gift Cards thanks to Swagbucks and I'm on my way to even more before Christmas!

Click the link (the photo) below to sign yourself up if you are not already on:

Want another reason to sign up for Swagbucks??

COUPONS!!

That's right! You can now print coupons from the Swagbucks home page - for every coupon you redeem you earn 10 Swagbucks!! Since I use coupons ALL the time this sounds like a WIN for me. How easy could that be? Now I'm earning Swagbucks while saving money and earning Swagbucks gets me MORE money.

It's a good day when a website can save me money and make me money all at the same time!!

What are you waiting for?? Sign up TODAY!!

Check out the Swagbucks BLOG for more details.