Coupons.com

If you don't get the Sunday paper another great way to get coupons is from online. Coupons.com is one of my favorite sites to visit. They usually offer high dollar coupons on food that we use. They reset the coupons at the beginning of every month. Here are a few tips for using coupons.com

Always make sure you print the ones you want right away because they might be gone if you wait.
You can print them two times by hitting the back button
They reset the coupons at the beginning of every month

Right now they have a bunch of Kellogg's cereal coupons and various other coupons. Check it out!

Kmart Doubles Coupons Again!

Kmart is offering double coupons up to $.75 starting May 3.
Mount Vernon is participating again. You can go to Kmart's website and check out their ad for next week.

Giving Your Children Responsibility

I think that sometimes we underestimate what our children can do. My oldest is only ten years old but he has been able to completely run our household.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 I was determined to make sure my children could take care of themselves if they had too. My son was only six at the time but I taught him how to load the dishwasher, do laundry, and help care for his younger sisters. Once I had recovered and no longer had to worry about cancer we found out that my heart had been severely damaged by the chemotherapy. The first summer after chemo I could barely get off the couch because I couldn't breathe. My son had no choice but to run our household. This time he learned how to change diapers, make breakfast, lunch, and put dinner in the crock pot. He could completely do a load of laundry and run the dishwasher. At the time my children were 7,5,3, and six months old ( I was pregnant during my cancer experience!!).

Many people were amazed that my son at age 7 could take care of our home. I wasn't. IF we train them young enough they can do anything. Now, I'm on medication for my heart failure and I am able to take care of our home. However, during the summer there are still a few days when I can't do much and my oldest two children are able to step up and help run our home.

Teaching my children responsibility works for me! For more works for me ideas check out we are that family

The Oh Poop Bar

As my daughters and I were heading to Goodwill on Saturday I overheard this argument between my 5 and 7 year olds.
"you know why this bar is called the oh poop bar?" says the five year old and here is her reply-
"because you hold onto it while you poop" and my seven year old's reply-
" No- it's so when mommy goes around a corner too fast you can grab it and yell - Oh POOP!!

Priceless. Yeah, we're homeschoolers and proud!!

Kitchen Day

Today I woke up with a slight sore throat and since my 3 year old has been sick for over a week, I decided to get some baking done just in case I come down with the cold!!

Here is what we have done so far:

*24 mini chocolate chip muffins ( most are gone!!)
* 12 large banana muffins
* 9 super power muffins

To do:

* 2 loaves of bread--currently rising
* batch of brownies--done
* make banana muffin mix (3)
* make pancake mix (3)
* chop 4 onions to freeze
* freeze leftover bananas---done
*finish May meal plan
* inventory freezers ( again!!)
* inventory pantries ( again!!)
* make monthly grocery list
* mop the kitchen floor---done

Are you doing anything exciting in your kitchen today?

Menu Plan Monday

Here is our menu plan for the week.

Breakfast
* banana muffins
* chocolate chip muffins
* hashbrowns/bacon
* homemade doughnuts
* pancakes
* waffles
* cereal

I'm struggling with lunch ideas so I'm going to list some and hope I get more ideas from the others!!
Lunch
* leftovers
* peanut butter/yogurt/fruit
* hotdogs/ fruit
* snack plate- popcorn/fruit/crackers( gluten free)
* chicken wraps

Dinner
*taco/spanish rice
*oven fried chicken/mashed potato/rolls
* homemade fast food
* crockpot pork tenderloin/roasted potatoes/vegetable
* homemade pizza
* should be illegal ribs/fries/ coleslaw
* marinated flank steak/twice baked potatoes/salad

For more menu plans check out I'm an organizing junkie

Weekly Wrap-up

It's Friday, time for the weekly wrap-up where we list the frugal things we did this week.
Here is how our frugal week went-
* hung laundry 4 times
* stayed home 3 days
*stayed under $50 for groceries
* ate out once due to an unexpected dr. visit $7
* stuck to menu plan
*sorted clothes for summer

How was your week?
Check out Jennifer's blog for more weekly wrap ups

Annual Clothing Swap

It appears that Spring might have finally sprung!! Today is the day we sort through all the hand-me-downs. We go through tubs of clothes tossing the stained and trying them on to find the right sizes. This year I'm trying to reduce the amount of stuff we have so I'm setting limits on how many pieces of clothing we have.

I have four daughters ,7,5,3, and 1 so I have lots of clothes in many sizes. As I sort this year I'm keeping five items per girl, for example if I have 20 t-shirts in size 6 I'll keep 15 shirts and get rid of five. I'm also writing down if I need anything in a certain size.

My son is also going to declutter his closet. Who needs 25 t-shirts?? My goal is 5-7 t-shirts, 3 church shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, and 3 pairs of workout shorts for basketball and soccer.

This will save me time and money by knowing exactly where everything is and by knowing what we need!

For more frugal Friday posts check out lifeasmom

Are you in need of encouragement?

Are you a homeschooling mom in need of encouragement? If so TEACH magazine has a wonderful deal for you!! Right now they are offering a years subscription to both TEACH magazine and Homeschool Enrichment for $12.97- this a great deal. If you have never read TEACH magazine, I highly recommend it, they encourage large families and a Christian home. Don't worry even if you have a small family you'll still enjoy this magazine.

Homeschool Enrichment is also a great magazine. Check out teachmagazine.com
for all the details!!

Yes, Mom

Yeah mom. Okay. Whatever.
Those used to heard at our house everyday- but not anymore. I didn't grow up using Yes ma'am or any other respectful way to answer my parents or other grown ups. However after four of my five children started answering me with "yeah" or "alright ( hear the whining in the answers!) I decided it was time to do something.

I held a family meeting and told the kids we were starting something new. Every time I asked them to do something they are supposed to answer "Yes, Mom" with a cheerful attitude and do whatever asked right away. Every time they do that I add a check mark under their name on our memo board. On Sunday I count up the check marks and pay a penny a check mark. Sometimes there are a lot of check marks and other weeks you can see they've struggled and we talk about respectful obedience. It's also helping my oldest understand that if he says Yes mom I know that he heard me and I don't keep asking!!

That's what works for me. For more ideas check out we are that family

My Kroger Run

Tonight my shopping helpers and I made a quick trip to Krogers. Here's what we bought

*3lb strawberries
* 2 English cucumbers
* 10lb bag potatoes
*5 lbs of organic lean beef on managers special
*4 lunchables ( shopping helper wanted to get treats for the others left with daddy!)
* 4 packs of Angel Soft Toilet paper

Total $14.85

They were out of capri sun and the seasonings so I'll make another trip before church on Sunday

What's Free At Kroger

This week there are some great freebies at Kroger.
Angel Soft toilet paper 10/10 use $.50 RP 4/19 makes it FREE
McCormic Grill Mates 10/10 use $1 in RP 3/15( I think!!)
Suave Deodorant 10/10 use $.50 off in RP 3/29 ( I think!!)
Quakes 10/10 use $1 off coupon in recent insert


Other good deals
Gallon milk $1.99
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers 10/10
T-bone or porterhouse steaks $4.99lb
Kroger Private Selection Bacon $1.88
Strawberries $1.50
English Cucumbers 10/10
Mangoes 10/10
mini peeled carrots 10/10
Organic gala apples and other varieties $2.99 for 3lb
Capri Sun $1.79 use $1 off coupon in SS 4/19 makes them $.79

Did you find any deals I missed?

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's cookin' this week at our house!

Breakfast-
*muffins/fruit
*hashbrowns/bacon
*pancakes
* cereal/fruit
* waffles
* hashbrowns/ bacon
* overnight coffee cake

Dinner-
* chicken parmesan/salad/garlic bread
* meatloaf/mashed potato/rolls
* chili
* bbq chicken in crockpot/fries
* homemade pizza
* grilled pork tenderloin/ potatoes/salad
* grilled hamburgers/fries

Need more menu ideas? Check out I'm an organizing junkie

Great Coupons Today!

I hope you all bought lots of papers today! If you use a dishwasher there is a $2.50 off Finish tabs. Meijer has these on sale this week for $3 - you can price match this at Walmart- and pay $.50 a box! This is an awesome stock up price. The last time I saw this coupon was in December ( I think) so make sure you get a three month supply if you can!

There was also $1 off Capri Sun's new breakfast juice and it's on sale at Kroger for $1.79 use this coupon and pay $.79

Always make sure your coupons will save you more than the paper costs. I would suggest to buy them with your CVS ecbs but their papers always seem to be missing the coupons!

What coupon were you most excited to see?

Kmart Super Double Deals

My daughters and I made a trip to our local Kmart today to look for some deals. My stockpile is completely full of cleaning supplies and air fresheners to last a lifetime so I passed on many of those items.

Here is what I bought today-
* Reddi Whip $2.49- $1 coupon from the new All You magazine= $.49
* Peter Pan Peanut Butter $2.49- $1 coupon from the new All You magazine = $.49
* 3 2liters of Pepsi $3- $1 off 3 hang tag I found ( I thought this would double to $2 but it didn't)=$2
*2 pack Marcal Paper towels $2.79-$1 coupon in SS 3/22 =$.79
* Quacker snacks $2.50-$1 coupon in recent insert = $.50

For a huge list of coupon match ups check out Commonsensewithmoney.com
Did you find a deal not mentioned? Leave a comment and let me know!!

My CVS Run

I finally found some deals at CVS this week. Here's what I bought
*4 bottles of Purex laundry soap
* 1 bottle of Soft Soap Body wash
* 6 pack of VIVA paper towels

Coupons used
Purex buy one get one free coupon (had two of these combined with CVS sale buy one get one free)
$1 off Soft Soap
$10 ecb

Total Out Of Pocket
$2.55

ECBs earned $4.99 for Soft Soap and $2 for VIVA

How did you do?

Know Your Prices

Shopping used can save you tons of money on toys, clothes, books, and household items but are you really sure you're getting a bargain?

If you are new to shopping used it is very easy to get carried away buying all the bargains. I have found that yard sale prices vary a lot. You might find Old Navy clothes at one yard sale for $2 for a pair of jeans and then at the next sale up the road find an entire table of "brand new" clothes for $.50 each. After spending way too much at yard sales I decided I would create a price book for the items I typically bought at them. Here is an example
* we are a home school family and books are important to us but I aim to spend $.50 or under for books unless it is curriculum or a very valuable book
* having five children I also am on the hunt for clothes. I have found that I need to raise my clothing budget for my son ( he's 10) because it's harder to find use clothes for boys in his size. For my girls my goal is no clothes over $.50 unless it's a jacket- under $3, shoes $1, or a fancy dress $3. For my son I'm willing to pay $2 for jeans and $3 for sweatshirts.
* Again since I have five children we are also shopping for toys. I try to buy toys that have a decent resale value like Fisher Price or Little Tykes. I stay away from stuffed animals and barbies. The most I will pay for a toy is $1 unless it's in really nice shape.
* household items I will only spend $5

Sometimes no matter how many yard sales you visit you still can't find what you're looking for. Don't go to Walmart yet...check out your local thrift stores. Visit each one to see how their prices compare and the quality of the items they stock. You might be surprised at what you find. In my small town we have four thrift stores. My favorite is a Goodwill that is like shopping at a department store, it's huge and has a large selection, however they also have higher prices. I love my ACTS thrift store, I don't think anything is more than $2 and they have an amazing selection of name brand clothes. I shop there for my son because I'm guaranteed to find his sizes.

If you can't find what you need at those two places check your local consignment shops. They typically have the highest prices but the best quality and most variety. However, I find if I shop the days of their sales it is just about as cheap as a thrift store. I shop consignment when I'm looking for birthday gifts before yard sale season begins.

For more Frugal Friday ideas check out life as mom

Kmart Super Double Coupons 4-19

Starting Sunday Mount Vernon Kmart will be having Super Double Coupons up to $2. This would be an awesome time to get your stockpile going!! You can go to Kmarts web site here and check out next weeks ad so you can start preparing for your trip. I will post some deals later today.

Free Purex Laundry Detergent!!

CVS has Purex laundry detergent on sale this week Buy one Get one free... a coupon has been released here for buy one get one free...you can print two coupons and get FOUR free bottles of Purex.
Make sure you get a raincheck if CVS is out of them.

Thanks moneysaving mom!!

In Five Minutes

My three year olds first haircut...by her five year old sister

Cook Book Clutter

I love cook books. I love buying them and dreaming of making exotic meals but I hate the clutter that comes with them. In reality there is usually only a few recipes in each cookbook that my family will eat or that doesn't take 50 different ingredients. So, what's a girl to do with all her beloved cookbooks?

Here's what works for me, I only keep cookbooks that have at least 10 recipes that I use repeatedly. If the book has less than that I write down the recipe and put it in my homemade cookbook- I keep a 3 ring binder that has our favorite recipes in it- and get rid of the cookbook!

I like to hand write my recipes that are going into the homemade cookbook, it makes it more personal. I'd like to think that someday my girls will look at this cookbook and have memories of us in the kitchen and remember all their favorite homemade goodies. You could even turn your own cookbook into a scrapbook of family favorites!

I write down many recipes off the Internet and not all of them are winners, it's very easy to end up with recipe clutter in your book if you're not careful. I go through my cookbook every couple weeks and purge the recipes that looked yummy but tasted awful, this way I know that every recipe in my blue book is a winner.

For more works for me Wednesday ideas check out we are that family

Kroger Close Out Alert

Kroger has the Private Selection Organic Waffles on close out for $1.89- these are in the frozen breakfast aisle. There are also Eggo Waffles on close out, Farm Rich French Toast sticks, and many others.

There are also still close outs in Nature's Market for organic chips.

Free Issue of Homeschool Digest

Homeschool Digest is offering a sample issue of their magazine. Use promo code GLEAN and click on submit code other wise it asks for a credit card number. Here is the link www.HomeSchoolDigest.com/hsdsample.htm

Enjoy!

Our Eating Out Challenge

We gave up eating out for Lent this year and except for a handful of times we stuck to it. We haven't eaten out for six weeks. As the end of this challenge comes we have decided we don't really miss eating out. We can fix better meals at home and as long as I have back up meals for nights when things get really crazy ( like chicken fingers/fries or hot dogs) we don't even want to eat out.

This was really a challenge at first, we were used to eating out at least once during the weekend. I really enjoyed having a night off of cooking. I have become even better at making sure all the leftovers get eaten. I also have enjoyed the challenge of making six full weeks of menu plans. It has helped us save money, I couldn't believe how much money we wasted every month eating out. We easily could spend $80 a weekend!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's cooking this week at our house!

Breakfast:
Muffins
Pancakes
Waffles
Hashbrowns/bacon (2 times)
overnight coffee cake
Cereal (Thursday early morning class)

Dinners:
Crispy Ranch Chicken/mashed potatoes/rolls
Potato Soup
Chicken Patty Sandwich/fries
Crockpot stuffed peppers
Homemade pizza
Grill- marinated flank steak
Grill- chicken

For more menu plans check out I'm an organizing junkie

He Is Risen!

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. John 20:1

*Mary did not meet the risen Christ until she discovered the empty tomb. We cannot meet Christ until we discover that he is indeed alive, that his tomb is empty. Are you filled with joy by this good news, and do you share it with others?*

He is risen!!

Kroger Deals April 13-19

Kroger is running a four day Shocker Sale from Thursday-Sunday-
*bananas $.29lb
*Kroger Singles $.99
*24 pack Kroger water $2.99
*Dole classic salad/fresh express salad $.97
*T-bone or Porterhouse steaks $4.99lb
*Kroger Pasta Sauce $.88
* Kroger canned vegetables $.49 each
* Chicken of the sea chunk light tuna $.49 each

Other deals-
*grapes $.87lb
*Texas Broil or English roast buy one get one free
*Fresh value pack ground chuck 5lb or more $1.79lb
*Quaker Quakes $1 use $1 coupon from Red Plum 3/29 ( I think) Free!!
* Birds eye or green giant frozen vegetable 10/10 use birds eye $.35 off coupon pay $.30 each
* rice a roni 10/10 use $1/3 coupon

More Kroger Triple Deals

Kroger has Fiber One bars and Nature Valley granola bars on sale for $2 a box. Use the $.50 off coupon in recent insert and pay just $.50 a box

Fiber One yogurt and Yo-Plus yogurt are also free to $.50 a box.


Remember that Kroger usually has a higher price than Walmart or Aldi but if you are just starting your stockpile this would be a great time to get some deals. Especially on granola bars, pasta sauce, pasta, croutons, and small containers of sour cream. Be sure to check your price book to make sure you are getting a good deal. I have never gotten granola bars free so $.50 is a great stock up price. Free pasta does come around but I haven't seen it for a couple months. Ragu pasta sauce is $.69 which is a great price but Aldi as their brand for $.99 all the time.

Donating

Today my son and I took three full grocery bags of clothes and books and toys to Goodwill. I was feeling really great about that until we decided to just look around. My son has wanted a specific type of shirt for a long time and I refuse to pay $30 and up for a tshirt. Today at Goodwill he found an Under Armor shirt for $1.99 - Wow!! I ended up spending $10. I wasn't planning on spending any money but sometimes the deals are too good to pass up.

Have you done any thrift store shopping lately? Did you find any good deals?

Cheap Lunch Meat

Does your family love lunch meat but you hate to pay $6 or more a pound? Ham is at it's best price right now and here's how you can stock up on some cheap lunch meat. At our local Kroger they have boneless ham on sale for $.87 lb. ask at the meat counter for them to slice it (free) for you. If your store will slice it any way you want it have them slice it thin like lunch meat. Our local store will slice it as thin as 1/2in.

For more frugal Friday ideas check out life as mom

Baked French Toast

Help!! I have a huge favor to ask you all. I keep trying to make baked french toast and mine always ends up really soggy...even after baking for 40-45 minutes. If you have a fool proof recipe would you let me know? Or if you have any advice about what I might be doing wrong please let me know! Thank you so much!

The Simple Life

I am on a mission to recreate a simple life for us, part of my mission today was to clean out our master closet. I found three bags full of clothes, shoes, and other treasures to give away. I am amazed at how fast we accumulate our "treasures". It is even more depressing to think about the money wasted on those "treasures" and the hours it has cost me in cleaning them, moving them, and being angry at them.

Our local store is having a special coupon deal right now and instead of rushing over there and buying all the good deals I looked at what we really needed. I won't be giving up my stockpile but I will become more picky about what I'm putting in it. I think for now I'll be concentrating on the free items and meat and letting the rest of the deals roll by.

We are wrapping up our eating out fast and we haven't really missed it. I missed having nights off but I've really enjoyed watching our savings grow. Right now we are on a spending freeze for April, I'm hoping this will bring my need to spend back under control.

No Coupon Inserts

Don't forget that there will be no coupons this weekend! Time to get caught up on organizing your binders or inserts!!

Mount Vernon Kroger is Tripling Coupons!

Now, before you get all excited they are only tripling up to $.50 and internet coupons will not triple. Here are some deals I see:
Barilla Pasta $1.50- $.50 coupon in SS 3/29 ( I think) FREE
Frenchs Mustard Brown and Yellow $1- $.30 for yellow (.10) and .50 for brown = free-.10 buy 2 get $1 catalina
New York brand croutons $1.79- .50 tripled= .19 each

I haven't gone in today so I don't know what other deals there might be. Remember Kroger usually has higher prices so be sure you're getting the best deal.

Financial Goals

I am constantly trying to find more ways to reduce our spending. We have lived on very little income before and yet we always had enough, we might not have saved anything but the bills were paid and I wasn't always worried about buying things we wanted or needed. I was content with less. We didn't eat out because we did not have the money for it. We didn't buy new clothes or books because there wasn't any extra in the budget. I cooked simple from scratch meals and checked out books from the library. We had four or five outfits per person. I only "had" to do laundry every few days and I always hung it on the clothesline.

Fast forward four years...
Our life now is so much different than before. Looking at our income we should be saving so much more money and living so much better. We have no car payment, our rent is the same, our grocery budget is the same, so why aren't we living better and saving more? Why do I feel like I deserve so much more now than I did then? I was content to have a few outfits per person and now I buy clothes every time I go to a yard sale or a thrift store!! In our leanest times our two (then) children had just a few toys and they were from yard sales or hand-me-downs. Why do we need rooms full of toys now?
Why was I content to be at home and now I run around somewhere every single day??

I don't know the answers to these questions....or maybe I do and I just don't want to admit them. I'm becoming more like the world and as I do I become less happy and less content with what I have. I have hundreds of books in my house yet I have a list a mile long of more books I want to buy. I have furniture but it doesn't match so I want new chairs. I complain about the clutter but yet I keep buying junk! I long for a simple life.

How have you been able to simplify your life? Join me as I find my way back to a simple life.

Rumors of Triple Coupons at Kroger

I read at another blog that Kroger will be offering triple coupons for coupons $.50 and under. I have called our local Kroger ( Mount Vernon) twice and have been told that they are NOT participating. I will call again tonight and tomorrow to be 100% sure. This deal would run from Thursday-Sunday only. If you have other information about the Mount Vernon Kroger doing triples Please leave a comment and let us know!!

Creating a Homeschool Scrapbook

I tried to be a scrap booking momma but homeschooling three blessings and chasing two more doesn't leave much extra time to create beautiful scrapbooks. I always wanted to create scrapbooks for each of my children and was disappointed that I could never find the time or energy to make one.

As homeschoolers we are required to keep a portfolio to show our accomplishments from the school year and I found a way to finally accomplish my dream of creating scrapbooks for each of my children. Instead of just putting samples of my children's work in a binder I scrapbook their year.

Here are some of the items I include each year-
* our goals for the year
* favorite color, friend, hero, Bible verse, subject, book
* a quote and Bible verse that shows a quality I see in each child
* current photo
* lists/pictures of hobbies
* lists/pictures of field trips and other home school activities

I include many other items as well, samples of artwork, science, math, handwriting, creative writing, and history. I also include any current events that affect our lives. This year was also the first year I had my oldest create his own list of goals to include in his book.

Creating these books used to take me days to complete, so I tried to think of other ways to cut back the time it takes. This year I have kept separate files for each of my children and as we complete our Science notebook page or history page we add them to the file. Now I have everybody's papers separated and in one place. I also add their artwork, stories, and any other loose paper that is awesome.

Each year my children receive a scrapbook/yearbook of their very own. My children love to look through their previous years and see how much they've changed. I make a scrapbook for my preschooler, kindergartner, second grader, and fifth grader.

For more works for me Wednesday tips check out wearethatfamily

It's Free!

Here's what is free this week...

Walmart
Vitamin water $1 use $1 coupon in Smart Source 4/5

CVS
Skintimate moisturizing cream $3.49 earn $3.49 Free after ecb's

Meijer
Bounty 1 roll paper towel $1 use $1 coupon from Pampers home mailer

Did you find any freebies this week? If so, please leave a comment and let me know!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's cooking this week!

Monday- Meatloaf/mashed potatoes/vegetable
Tuesday- Homemade chicken noodle soup/bread
Wednesday- Hamburgers
Thursday- Spicy Lime Chicken/rice
Friday- homemade pizza
Saturday- Grill
Sunday- ham

For more menu plans check out orgjunkie

My goal for the week

My goal for this week is to stay under $50 for our groceries. I have a bad habit of buying items because they are such a great deal. Currently, I have more meat and other frozen goodies in my two freezers that they barely shut! My shelves are full and I really don't need anything. My only exception for this is if I run across any markdowns on my organic meat or gluten free goodies for my daughter.

Do you have any goals for the week?

Marley and Me

At our house Friday night is family movie night, we make this extra frugal by purchasing a movie rental discount card so all movies are 1/2 off. This past Friday we rented Marley and Me, we were advised by other parents that this wasn't a child friendly movie. Here is what we thought of the movie.

Marley and Me was extremely well done. It did an excellent job of showing a family struggling with troubles that everybody faces. The wife goes from being a major reporter to a stay at home mom and it touches on her struggles. It portrayed a family that was determined to stay together even when things got rough. Mom and Dad treat each other with respect (for the most part).

Marley goes from being an adorable puppy to a wonderful family dog. He is an important part of this family.

This movie was also an incredibly sad movie. I cried buckets before the end even happened. My husband and I were extremely grateful that we were told that this wasn't for kids. It is a wonderful date night movie for mom and dad and older kids ( over 14) but only if they are truly prepared for the ending. I would totally give this movie 5 stars.

Weekly Wrap Up

It's time again for the Weekly Wrap Up over at Jennifer's gettingaheadblog Here is a list of what we did this week to stay frugal.

* planted our lettuce seeds in containers we already had
* received left over seeds from neighbor
* started our seeds inside this weekend
* bought 20lb of organic hamburger marked down, browned half of it, made 3 meatloaves, and froze the rest
*washed all laundry in cold water
* began our month long spending freeze
* sorted through clothes to sell for consignment
* my parents gave us some leftover onion sets
* Found recovery disk and fixed our broken laptop
* turned off our heat two days

How was your week?

Reuse Your Junk!

This year I have really been bitten by the backyard homestead bug and since we rent there is only so much we can do. I wanted to really expand my garden and we were planning on my husband building two square foot garden boxes that we will keep on the patio when I decided to look around for some free material.

After doing some Spring cleaning I two under the bed storage containers minus the lids laying around. I was going to take them to goodwill when it hit me...I could plant in those. Yesterday we planted our lettuce in one tub and this weekend we're going to plant onions in the other.

Yesterday we had a beautiful day so the kids and I were cleaning out our garden/flowerbed when I realized we had a spot at the end of our bed where there is always weeds and we have a lot of bricks in our backyard so we decided to move the bricks to the front and extend our garden/flowerbed by building a square foot box out of bricks right there!! Now we can still have two more square foot boxes and have even more produce!!

For more frugal Friday ideas check out life as mom

Spending for April

I am going on another spending freeze and today my daughter informed me that her shoes were too tight. Off to Walmart we went, and after 30 long minutes in the shoe isle we finally found a pair for $11. While in Walmart my other daughter informed me that she needed new shoes because hers were too tight, I might not agree with that but her shoes have a really bad stench coming from them so we found a nice pair of summer tennis shoes for $10. My son also managed to convince me he needed a belt which he actually did since his shorts do not have the adjustable waisteband.
Total spent: $38.00 ( also included fingernail clippers and socks)

On a totally different note our spending freeze couldn't have started at a better time, as my husband is starting hearing rumors of lay offs. Grrr!!!

Busy Day

Today was a beautiful day in Ohio, so we wrapped our school day up early and spent some time out in the garden. I can't believe how many weeds have grown already! Here is what we accomplished today for our garden:
* planted our lettuce seeds
* weeded the garden
* started building a square foot garden box
* our neighbor gave us some of her leftover seeds so we're planning on starting all our seeds this weekend.

Other highlights of our busy day
* browned 10lbs hamburger
* made three meals of meatloaf
* froze 6lb of organic hamburger for future meals
* cleaned our van from top to bottom ( as the kids say...it looks brand new!)
* put our go to soccer kit in the van ( contains first aid kit, gloves, granola bars, diapers for baby, and blankets
* washed 3 and dried 3 loads of laundry
* went to Walmart for our produce run.

How was your day?

More Kroger Deals

I went to Krogers last night and found many mark downs in the Nature's Market. Here are the ones I noticed...

* Annie's Mac and Cheese is 10/10!! They were out last night but the tag said the sale is until 4/12
* Almond crackers ( I think Blue Diamond brand) is 2/$5 ...there were $1 off printables out there, I'm not sure where I found them.
* EnviroKids cereal is $3.50 a box
* Many different chips are on mark down for under $1 a bag, I found the last pack of gluten free pretzels for $.94!!

I also wanted to share a tip for great prices on meat. Our local butcher at Kroger starts marking down meat after 6pm. Last night I bought many pounds of organic hamburger for under $2.99 lb!! Granted, today I have to fry up about 20lb of hamburger but at least I'm stocked up for a long time!! My mom said that the meat department said she doesn't usually get to ground meat until 8 or so, always look for meat that have the sell by date of the next day. If it's not marked down yet, ask!!

If you are just starting to eat a more organic diet, now would be a good time to stock up on mac and cheese and chips like doritos. ( my kids were so excited to see the organic version come in the house last night!)