End of March Review

Phew! I'm glad March is over. That was an expensive month and we did not go anywhere. The roller coaster weather cost us a small fortune. Spring break brought lots of rain and the newly unfrozen ground soaked it in and deposited it in basements, mostly ours I think, lol. Everything was floating in our basement. The water drowned out our furnace and hot water heater. After a couple days, we were able to get our water heater relit but the circuit board was fried in our furnace. We called around and finally found a place that would apply the repairs toward a new furnace if we decided to replace it. There went $600. We started the slow clean up of the basement. The furnace kept acting stupid so we decided to just replace it. There went another $2800(we get $250 back from our utility company in a rebate). Ugh. Then my washer quit. Another $600 shot to heck.

I only finished $99.60 under my grocery budget this month. I blame that on Easter. We shelled out about $40 just on groceries for dinner, then the majority of everyone that was supposed to be here, had the flu. At least we ate ham all last week. Blech. I should not want ham for at least another year now.

This month might be a little lighter on the grocery bill, hubby is going home to Tampa for a bit to check on his dad and do some work there while we are stuck in a rainy spell here. Me and the kids can make a whole chicken last a week, none of us really care for meat(well, except hubby). I see easy dinners of soup, sandwiches, and salad in my future, lol.

My household goods spending barely made it under budget with only $7 to spare. I do have $32.96 in rebates to send in for Walgreens, $10 in RR, and a cushy $31.91 in ECB for CVS. We have a ton of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, and an assortment of cleaners and air sprays. Unless I can get these for free, I won't purchase any of these things. I am hoping when I go to CVS tomorrow, I'm hoping they have the Soft Soap Body Washes in stock. I also need to make my monthly run to Sam's tomorrow to pick up cat food and litter.

Didn't get the car sold yet. Hoping when the stimulus checks starts going out we will get rid of it then.

The sewing machine is now piled up with Easter stuff still. Maybe in April....

I hope everyone else had a good month! I'll work on my goals for April later.

Have a happy and frugal week!

Coupon rantings

Fed up with the lack of coupons in your paper? Check out this post http://lorduseme.blogspot.com/2008/03/to-coupon-people-valassis-smartsource.html . Pretty much how I feel this week.

Menu for March 31- April 6

Last week, we had more ham leftover than we thought so we ended up not making alot of the ham free dishes I had planned, so if anyone notices repeats from last week, it didn't get fixed. We also have a busy week during the day so we are going to eat a lot of leftovers for lunch.



Monday
Oatmeal, Bananas
Leftover beans, cornbread
pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, corn, homemade bread



Tuesday
boiled eggs, grapes
leftovers, bananas
Cheeseburgers, homemade fries, spinach



Wednesday
Cereal, apples
Sandwiches, chips, grapes
Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread



Thursday
Scrambled eggs, toast, bananas
Leftover spaghetti
chicken and vegetables stir fry with fried rice



Friday
cereal, apples
leftover stirfry and rice, grapes
pizza, salad



Saturday
Scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, toast
soup and sandwiches, chips, fruit
Grilled hot dogs, mac and cheese, green beans



Sunday
homemade waffles, sausage, fruit
ramen noodles with shrimp
Roast, potatoes, carrots, biscuits



Desserts for the week

Cheesecake(still haven't fixed one)
Cookies
Pumpkin pie

I won another book!

I entered a book contest over at http://sidetrackd.com/ and I won! Yippee! I love books(our house looks like Barnes and Noble)

I wish I could be lucky when it comes to repairs around the house. Thanks to the nice water level in our basement from all of the rain last week, the belt broke on my washer and now it won't spin. ~sigh~ And our furnace is getting replaced Monday at the tune of almost $3000. GRRRRRRRR!

If you want a chance at a book, check out http://sidetrackd.com/ next month, she is planning to do another give away sometime!

They do exist!!

I finally found some Venus Razors at Walgreens. I had a few minutes to kill before I needed to pick up the older 2(and I needed a loaf of bread) so I ran by the razor section to check. Yippee! There were 4, and even though had 4 $4 of coupons(and it wasn't busy so i could pay for them separately) I only purchased 2 to get the rebates(I send 1 form in under my mom's name) So I spent $5.99, plus got $5 each in RR, and then I can send in for the rebates.

This is what my mom had waiting for me. A local church came to the apartments handing out food and personal items to everyone. She said the man asked her if she had children and she said only 3 grandchildren. He then handed her 2 boxes with 12 tubes of this toothpaste!

Frugal Fridays

I love tea, especially iced tea. I can put away a gallon a day(or more in the summer). Everyone in my family knows I like tea and for gifts I receive some really expensive teas. The problem with expensive teas(besides the expensive factor) is they come very few to a box. I found I can stretch the tea by blending it with inexpensive bags(usually great value black tea). It takes a couple trial and error times to figure out what works best for your taste buds. Right now, I'm using 3 GV tea bags and 3 Hedley Black Tea bags for a gallon. Sometimes with more fruity flavors, I have to reduce the GV bags down to 2 and use 3-4 of the other. Not only does this stretch my GV bags from 16 gallons(using 6 bags) to 33 gallons(using 3 bags), but it also stretches the more expensive teas that usually come in boxes of less than 50 bags.

Woohoo!

My oldest is spending the night tomorrow with her best friend and my son is going to my mom's. 2 out of 3 gone! Whatever shall I do???(still have Baby Girl and hubby, though)

Walgreen's

I gave in and stopped into Walgreen's after I dropped my oldest off at dance. Mainly in search of the elusive Venus Razor(which they were out of) Here's my loot

2 Lysol Wipes
on sale 2/$3.49
used $1/2

2 Lysol Toilet bowl cleaner
on sale 2/$2.79
used 2 $0.50/1

3 Xcel air freshners(use these by the litterbox)
on sale for $0.39 each

2 Excedrin
on sale $1.99 each
used 2 $2/1

2 Oral B Indicator toothbrushes
on sale for 2/ $2.99
used $2/2

1 package peanut M and M's(had son with me, he was starving)
$0.69

OOP $9.73

savings $23.17

Works for me Wednesday

I have a terrible time of losing socks, or should I say, everyone in this family has a terrible time at losing socks. I try to buy the older 2 kids each the same brand of sock, but my oldest daughter loves the cutesy ones, especially if they have frogs or something to do with dance on them.

Anyways, when Baby Girl was born almost 15 months ago, her socks were so tiny I bought a mesh bag to wash them in so they wouldn't get lost in the black hole of the laundry pile. When they are clean I keep them in a small plastic box then as soon as I(or she) pulls them off I put them in the bag. They can go from washer to dryer all together.

Then a couple months ago I had a revelation, if it works for Baby Girl, why wouldn't work on the older 2, who at 8 and 11, couldn't seem to keep track of their socks. I went and bought 4 more bags, they each place their dirty socks in one(they hang the bag on the end of their beds). Then when I do laundry, all I have to do is grab the bags and toss them in the wash. I replace the bags with empty ones so their are no excuses. After the socks run through the wash and dry, I just put the whole bag in their drawers. The cycle repeats. If I could find bigger bags, I would do the same for my husband.

Wordless Wednesday

So upset...

I don't watch a lot of TV, so the few shows I do watch, I really enjoy. I usually set the DVR to record it, then I can sit back in my pj's after the monsters are in bed with a glass of tea and a snack I don't have to share and enjoy the show. Well, CBS has ruffled my feathers, they are canceling my husband and I favorite show, Jericho. Tonight is the last episode. ~sigh~ The networks are over run with 30 minute sitcoms that most of the time are not funny. I'm so mad. Its one of 2 that me and my husband watch together(Stargate Atlantis is the other, we watched SG-1 too until they ended it). I know he will never watch Lost and The Unit does nothing for me. We do have the John Adams series we are recording off of HBO, but that's only 5 or 6 episodes.

So if there is somewhere out there in Bloggie Land that works for the Sci Fi channel, tell the big wigs to take over Jericho! (oh and bring back SG-1!)

Mommy Math

1 sick 8 year old + 1 teething 14 month old = 1 Mommy with a Migraine

Oyster Awareness

What did one oyster say to the other?

Shell you later! (Can you tell I have children?)


Since my husband was born and raised in Tampa, I have to be on my toes on how to prepare him his beloved seafood (safely!)in a landlocked state. Oysters are low calorie, provide a protein punch, and contain zinc, vitamin B-12, plus omega-3 fatty acids. These little mollusks can be prepared a variety of ways from steamed to grilled, to yes, even raw.

Most people are aware that undercooked or raw foods can pose health risks. Our environment is composed of many different types of microbes, most harmless to healthy individuals but some can pose serious risks to people with compromised systems.

Over at http://beoysteraware.com/index.html there is some handy information on Gulf oysters, including the post harvesting process, symptoms and treatment for the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, signs that you might be an at risk consumer, educational materials, and some even yummy looking recipes!

A treasure found

Since I didn't have my usual coupons to cut out tonight, I decided to clean out my wallet. Aside from old receipts, I found a handful of gift cards. Curiosity got the better of me(or just plain boredom) so I went online to check the balances. I have a total of $27.82 for Walmart(plus a $15 Walmart card that is my son's), a $25 card to Bed Bath and Beyond plus 2 cards to Target, 2 to Build a Bear, and 1 to Toys R Us I need to call and check on tomorrow! I like it when I discover money! And then in the very back in a bank envelope, was $11. I know it's been in there since at least November because it's from the bank my former employer used(must have been my lunch money). I'm going to keep it in there for an emergency.

My lesson learned

The lesson I learned today was to never suggest to my husband we run by Big Lots after a holiday that is based on candy. Why, you ask? Because he bought A CASE of marshmallow peeps!

That's 24 packages of those ooey, gooey little chickens

For less than $8

I didn't even look in the bag that I know contains more candy.

All I spent was $2.40 on 2 4 packs of Nature Sips for Baby Girl

Spring cleaning

After the flooding disaster and laptop incident last week(plus 2 kids being out of school for Spring Break), the mess in my house kind of blew up everywhere. Now, I'm no Martha Stewart. I try to keep up with 3 kids, a husband, 4 cats, and 2 dogs but alas, it doesn't always work. To top it off, all of us are crammed into a 900 square feet house that seriously lacks storage. My husband informed me his Dad will be coming in a couple weeks to help put on a new roof, so I figured it was time to get motivated.



A couple blogs, Crystal over at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm host Make Your Home a Haven Mondays and another I found http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/, Monica is hosting a Spring Clean Challenge.

My first job to tackle was my desk and shelf in the office. Normally, it doesn't get this bad but since my laptop broke, I had to move back to my old trusty desktop full time, that I use mainly for my pictures and crafts. Here's a before picture:

Yes, there is a desk under there somewhere, lol. In my house, if you want something to be safe, it has to be out of Baby Girl's reach, so we end with a lot of piles. I found 3 VHS tapes, a shoe, several CD's, a couple confiscated toys, my coupon binder, notebook, and of course, my Walgreen's ad. After a few minutes, here is what it ended up looking like:

Told you there was a desk under there, lol. I also found the mouse pad.

After I tackled the desk, I went to the other bad catch all, some built in shelves in the corner. These used to look worse than the before pictures. I had every paper, bill, receipt, and invoice from my husband business piled on here. I invested $10 in some plastic file boxes for him and now all that is left is my junk. Here's the before:

Horrendous, I know. I have an out of control book collection and I have to put them up high or my little sticky fingers likes to play with them. This area tends to collect craft items, cd's, papers, and various odds and ends. Here is the after:

Not as gorgeous as some of yours in Bloggie Land, but a start. I also found a ton of my samples I have been receiving through the mail and I put them in my nifty sample Rubbermaid box in the closet.

So check out these blogs, http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm and http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/ to get some motivation and ideas!

Menu for March 24-30

The flu seem to strike the extended family that was supposed to come over for Easter dinner so now I'm stuck with 25 pounds of ham to try to eat. Something tells me I'm going to be really tired of looking at it before the week is over.

Monday
Biscuits and gravy, bananas

salad, grapes

Leftover ham, potatoes and veggies

Tuesday

Boiled eggs, toast, grapes

ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, oranges

Manwiches, mac and cheese, corn

Wednesday

Cantaloupe, toast

pbj sandwiches, carrots, bananas

ham and beans, cornbread(salad and cornbread for me)

Thursday(hopefully, our first ham free day, lol)

scrambled eggs, toast, pears

baked potatoes with cheese, grapes

spaghetti, garlic bread

Friday

yogurt with fruit, toast

leftover spaghetti, bananas

pizza, salad

Saturday

Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns

leftover pizza, whatever fruit is in the fridge

Cheeseburgers, homemade fries

Sunday

Homemade waffles, sausage

ramen noodles/leftovers

Roast, potatoes, carrots, homemade bread

Desserts for the week:
Cheesecake(didn't make on Sunday due to Baby girl not feeling well and up half the night)
Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers
Rice Krispy Treats

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No coupons this week! What will I do??????? I guess this is the coupon world way of saying to finish cutting out all the ones I won't use in order to send them off to a military base. And to clean out my binder. ~sigh~ I think I'm going to have withdrawals, lol.

Why I chose Pay Per Post

Back in December 2007, me and my husband came to a mutual decision that I would start staying home full time due to a lack of affordable childcare for our then 11 month old. After using the Internet to try to brush up on cutting expenses be couponing and bargain shopping, I stumbled across the lovely world of blogs. Being a newbie in Blogger Land, I kept seeing posts on how people were making money. Curiosity got the better of me and I checked out Pay Per Post myself. Wow! I can earn money without getting out of my jammies, in between chasing an active toddler and taking care of a house! The best part is, I make the decisions. I can decide how much I want to earn and what I want to write about. It fits into my schedule and my lifestyle.

Do I need to earn extra money? Seriously, who doesn't. Earn some mad money for those pair of shoes you have been eyeballing in the mall or online. Save it for Christmas. Put it in an emergency fund. Use it to pay down debt so you don't have to get a second or third job. Use it for just yourself or like me, will probably be spent on my three munchkins. Or my husband, or the cats and dogs. Granted, it will more than likely be there to support my craft habit whenever I run out of ribbon or need some pictures printed, but it's nice to know that even though I am stying home, I help contribute to the household financially.

Check out the link at the right side of my blog for yourself to start posting yourself to become debt free(or to those really cool pair Manolo's!)

blog reviews

Weekly Recap

The older 2 were on Spring Break this week and to quote my son "This spring break isn't very springy" lol

I hope everyone had a better week than I did. First, the screen on my laptop broke(on a laptop that is less than 3 months old). Toshiba said it was covered under the warranty, so we sent it in. Then they called us a couple days ago and left a message on the answering machine that it will cost almost $500 to fix!!!!! What happened to being covered under the warranty?????

My husband has been working so he hasn't had time to call them and let them know they are out of their minds!

Then it rained and rained and oh, rained some more. Our basement flooded. Laundry was floating(my laundry room is down there) and it snuffed out our hot water heater and the furnace. Thankfully, the hot water tank dried out and we got it relit but the circuit board in our furnace was fried and cost almost $600 to fix(and we had to because it's still chilly here at night). To top it off, the repair man was quick to point out about another $1000 in more repairs that need to be done. We are looking to replace it, so we are getting bids on that.

~sigh~

So I have laundry that I need to wash(and oh my god, there is A LOT of it) and we shot all my grocery and household frugalness on one repair call.

I hope everyone else had a better week!

Easy, cheap diaper rash treatment

Check out Crystal's Blog over at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm for more great tips.

This suggestion came from my grandmother when my oldest(now 11) was born. At the time, I thought grandma had lost her mind, but I learned quick that she hadn't. My oldest was born in March, so about the time she got to moving around, it was getting hot out. And what to friction and heat usually produce? One heck of a diaper rash. I tried every gooey(and expensive!) cream out there. One day, we were over at her house and I was in the process of cleaning off her fire engine red behind and my grandma said not to put anything on just yet, she had something. About 10 minutes later. she came in with her cast iron skillet full of brown flour. She sprinkled some on her bottom and closed up her diaper. When I went to change her next, the redness was already going away.

So my frugal tip is take your skillet(preferably cast iron according to grandma) turn the stove on medium, get it warm before you put anything in it. Once it's warm, put about a cup of all purpose(gives new meaning to that name, lol) flour in and keep stirring. You want a nice even, brown coloring. When the color is reached, take a Ziploc sandwich baggie(I divide it up in 2, one for the house, one for the diaper bag), place your flour in it. Seal it up and you are ready to combat diaper rashes!

I have learned this works best when first applied to a clean, dry butt. If it is already gooped up with diaper cream, it won't worked so well.

What would you do if you had to become radically frugal?

Crystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ posted a question that made me think. What would I do?



First and foremost, I would look for a way to make some extra income without having to spend money for childcare for Baby Girl. The easiest would be to care for a couple more kids during the day. I could possibly clean some houses and have a yard sale or 2 to help out.



I would reexamine the grocery bill. We would cut down to bare minimum. No soda, no snacks, no steak(more of a tragedy for my husband). Just the necessities.



Eating out would be cut down to only once a month(or less)



Look for ways to reduce our utilities. We already have the compact light bulbs, wash clothes in cold water, and a few other things, but our house is older and we are in the process of remodeling it.



We paid off our house but we still place that money in an account to be used this summer for remodeling. If came down to it, we could only repair things(like the roof) and fore go adding another bedroom.



Plant a garden to help with the grocery bill.



We currently have prepaid cell phones. 300 minutes cost $30 and they last both of us along time(me more than my husband since I stay at home now). The plan we have, the 300 minutes are good for 3 months(and it takes us that long to use them!) If you refill before they expire, they do carry over.



Cut down even more on driving. My husband is self employed and this is a necessity with his job(brick mason). He would have to do more bids over the phone instead of in person. I would possibly give up my beloved truck for a more fuel efficient car.



I have a grocery store about a half a mile from our house. The only problem is it is not the cheapest store in town. I usually only go there if I need 1 or 2 things and can't justify driving to across town(even though I drive to this store). Any trips would be made on foot(or send the oldest on her bike).



Stay on top of the household spending on clothes. It's not so bad with Baby Girl because the grandparents buy a lot for her but the older 2 are left to me now.



Cut back on spending on toys, electronics, and other entertainment goods. We have about 20 board games that we don' t play with very much anymore because everyone is on the computer, DS, Xbox, PSP, or plugged into a MP3 player(even me as I write this) This would also cut back on the utilities.



We have cut down on present spending for everyone besides our children. Relatives usually receive a homemade gift(which they love) and a bunch of pictures. This Christmas I am planning on making everyone DVDs with pictures, videos, and music of the kids.



I don't think I could pull the older 2 out of their activities. I'd rather do without Dr. Pepper, Oreo cookies, and the latest Stephen King or James Patterson book first.



I'm sure I could make some more changes if I had too. These were just off the top of my head

CVS

I haven't gone to CVS all month, nothing has been screaming "Buy Me!" or offering good ECBs. I had some ECB expiring in a couple days so I had to suck it up and go. They were out of the toothpaste, Venus Razor, and Crest Mouth rinse that I mainly went after, so I had to juggle around my transactions I had planned.

Trans #1
2 Glade Sprays
$1.99 each
used BOGO coupon

5 Lypsyl lip moisturizer
$2.99
Total $16.93

used $15 ecb
OOP $1.07 earned $15.95 ECB

Trans #2
2 Listerine Smart Rinse
$2.99 each

Total $6.39
used $5 ECB

OOP $1.39 earned $5.98 ECB

Trans #3
2 Oral B Cross action toothbrushes
$4.99 each
used $2 off 2 coupon

Total $7.98
used $6 ECB

OOP $1.98 earned $9.98 ECB


I spent $4.44 OOP and earned $31.91 in ECB, plus I had several catalinas printed off(I haven't looked at them yet to see what they are)

Walgreens week of 3-16-08

All my RR expire the 19th, so I had to do some stocking up





1st trip


3 rolls Bounty Paper towels(I picked up more weekly ads so these can be my fillers!)


on sale for $0.79 each


used 3 $0.25 off/1 coupons





1 box Ziploc sandwich bags


$3.29


used $1/1 coupon





1 3 pack of scotch tape(had planned on 3 but they were all gone!)


$2.99


on sale this week for $0.99





20 oz Dr. pepper $1.39


1 Reese's egg $0.50


(had more coupons than products so needed the fillers)





used $4 RR


total before $10.51





OOP w/tax $2.91





2nd trip
3 Walgreens are out of the double rolls of Angel Soft so I just purchased the regular rolls to use my RR

1 12 pack Angel Soft regular rolls
$4.29

used $4 RR

OOP $0.31

1 12 pack Angel Soft Regular rolls
$4.29

used $4 RR

OOP $0.31

1 Jumbo pack Pampers
$11.79
used $1.50/1
$4 RR

had to buy a small candy $0.59

OOP $7.59

3 rolls of Bounty Basic
on sale for $0.79 each

3 packs of Scotch Tape
on sale for $0.99 each

used $4 RR

OOP $0.04

I purchased $39.04 worth of products for $11.16 OOP using coupons, sales, and RR! Why I didn't shop like this before, I do not know. To quote my oldest after this last trip to Walgreens "Coupon collecting is cool!"

Menu March 17th-23rd

The older 2 are out on Spring Break, so I have to plan on tweaking breakfast and lunch. If you noticed a lot of cereal and sandwiches, that's why!



Monday

Oatmeal, bananas

Grilled Cheese sandwich, tomato soup, apples

Oven baked pork chops, broccoli with cheese, biscuits



Tuesday

Cereal, grapes

Ramen noodles with shrimp, bananas

grilled chicken, baked potatoes, salad



Wednesday

scrambled eggs, bacon, apples

chicken and cheese burritos, salad, grapes

beef and noodles, peas and carrots



Thursday

Cereal,bananas

pizza rolls, salad, apples

leftovers



Friday

boiled eggs, toast, grapes

pierogies,carrots, bananas

pizza, salad



Saturday

scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon or sausage, toast

leftover pizza

tacos



Sunday

pancakes, bacon or sausage

leftovers

Ham, potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans, baked beans, deviled eggs, rolls(family Easter dinner)



Desserts for the week

Birthday cake didn't last so I can't include that, lol. I'll make cookies(oatmeal chocolate chip requested), pineapple upside down cake, and maybe a cheesecake for Sunday.



Also,



I have several coupons for makeup, cleaning products, and other various things that I will not use(most expire at end of the month) If someone would like these, send me an email ( hntersmom@yahoo.com put coupons in the subject line) and I will get these shipped out to you. No charge! Just want to pass these on to someone who might use them! First email gets them!

A big thanks

I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to Heather over at http://freebies4mom.com/ for having a great week of craft giveways and ideas!

I can't wait till my book, Top Titles and Tips, Too, gets here!

If you like crafts, check out her site for some great ideas and links!

Walgreens 3-15-08

I've been busy all week with birthday stuff and almost forgot to go to Walgreens to pick up a few things on sale. I don't think the Assistant Manager likes me too much after one of my products ranged up wrong and I wanted the $1.06 difference.

Here's what I got

1 Scrubbing bubbles wipes
on sale for $2.50
used $0.75/1 coupon

1 Oust spray
on sale for $2.50(rang up as $3.49, see above to Asst. Manager frustration)
used $2/1 coupon

4 Renuzit Air Fresheners
on sale $1.79 for 2

2 Glade Glass Scents
$3.29 each
used 2 $1/1 coupons

3 12 packs of Plastic Easter eggs
on sale for $0.59 each

total before coupons $22.88

also used $4 RR

After coupons(and price adjustment) $8.74
plus earned $4 in rebates

Tomorrow I'm going to CVS to try to get some of their jelly beans that are free after ECB plus a few of the monthly ECB deals.

Birthday, Christmas, and Random Ramblings

If this post makes absolutely no sense to you, kindly disregard. This is just ramblings that I needed to get out of my head.

My oldest turned 11 on the 13th. Usually we spend a ton on her party but this year she wanted it real simple(she usually invites around 30 kids!) She has 4 friends meeting us at the roller skating rink, so between them and our 3, it'll cost us $28 for them to skate for 2 hours. Now. if I would've rented one of their party rooms, it would've been over $100. After skating, we are coming back to our house for cake and ice cream with her friends and relatives will be joining us. I'm making the cake(not nervous about the cake part, I'm making homemade butter cream frosting and decorating it myself) so for the cake(including the price of the pan I got off Ebay, a Wilton frog shape), frosting(have all ingredients already) and of course the ice cream, it will be less than $15. (if it doesn't look hideous, I'll try to post pictures). Add the $28 for skating and her present(a new bike, $75) , her birthday is running about $120. Treat bags are from an eclectic mix of bags, trinkets, and candy(purchased at Walgreens with RR) that we already have on hand. I love having an artsy child, the less things match, the happier she is. Plus, I have several of the small photo albums(that you usually get with prints from Walmart) that after the festivities I'm going to get pics printed off(cheaply, of course) and hand out to the guests later. So, if I add that on her party may total $125.

Ok, I know many moms can do a party cheaper, but believe me, this is cheap for us. We can easily spend that much alone for 1 present. Last year I spent $68 just on swimming. That didn't include the party room, decorations, presents, or food. Baby girl is sort of lucky. I can get her more presents for really cheap because her birthday is 8 days after Christmas. Yes, she had a few plates and cups with snowflakes and trees on them but we spent less than $50 for her entire party and presents. My son will prob get a new bike only for his birthday too.

My husband asked why the change. I said because we have too much stuff. I think the older I get, the less I want cluttering up my life. (I seriously have way too much time to think here lately, lol) Our kids don't mind if they only get 1 or 2 things for Christmas(and there have been several like that). I just decided to make a point to get something they really want. My new way of thinking is something they really want, a couple more small things off their list, and then I always get them a book, an outfit and a new pair of pj's. My oldest already told me what she wants, an American Girl Doll. I can now plan for it and a couple outfits, plus if any relatives ask, I can let them know about the clothes, books, and accessories that go with it.

My favorite gifts for them lately is when relatives just give them gift cards. These are so nice. My older 2 currently(baby girl just has a Walmart card and a McDs) have ones for Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Barnes and Noble, and McDonald's from Christmas and on Valentine's Day they received ones(with just $5 each) for Sonic, Starbucks(they like the hot chocolate) and more McDonald's.(I requested they do gift cards or money for Easter). I keep them in my wallet and we are out and they say, "Hey mom can I get more paint" or "can I get some fries", I pull out that little piece of plastic and let them get what they want. We were at Walmart yesterday and my oldest asked if she could buy some conditioner(it's not like we don't have a dozen bottles at home, just that none were LAVENDER scented). She had her card(I even had a coupon!) and paid $0.73 for her conditioner. A couple weeks ago, she bought all the materials she needed for her science project(I would've been more than happy to buy what she needed for her experiment, but she wanted to decorate her board really nice) She purchased her seeds, soil, and pots plus material to cover her board($1 a yard) and flowers for accents. My son is a video game nut, so he tends to save all his gift cards to purchase a game he wants(or a candy bar when mom won't pay for it).

Some relatives think the gift card and/or cash seem impersonal and still insist on buying the present. You win some, you lose some, lol.

Mid month goal check in

It's been a crazy week here at my house and next week being spring break, I doubt if it'll get any better, lol. Ok here's what's been accomplished:





Dryer switch fixed, cost $5. Hubby was able to replace the switch himself. Woohoo! Now the dryer shuts off when it is supposed to.





Haven't got to the kids room yet. I'm sort of a klutz and ended breaking my little toe the other day and don't think it's a good idea to tackle the disaster in the older 2 kids room. I have been trying to weed out the too small clothes as they make their way through the laundry. I will get to the mega disaster sometime before the end of the month.





Slowly working on the decluttering. At night when I watch tv(after the monsters are in bed), I grab a walmart bag and a drawer. I dump it out, throw away the garbage, and organize as I put it back in. I have found almost $10 and I've only done 4 drawers! I keep this up and might use my new found loot to treat myself to a pedicure.





Haven't got the car sold, yet.





Found a few ways to make some money. Signed up for Pay Per Post(waiting on approval) I have made almost $15 doing surveys so far. Not much but a start. Also organizing stuff for a garage sale and for Ebay.





Haven't touched the sewing machine yet. Right now, it's piled up with birthday decorations for tomorrow.

I didn't do much shopping this week(aside from birthday stuff). The "Easter bunny" needs to make a stop at Walgreens to pick up a few things with RR for the big day. I did find some class Valentine card's at Dollar General for $0.20 a box. Made my son pick out his ones for next year. (the $0.49 a box I paid this year was just way too much, lol)

Have a happy and frugal weekend!

Menu plan Monday March 10-16

My menu is a little light this week, my oldest daughter has an orchestra concert Monday night, Thursday is her birthday, Saturday is her party, and Sunday we are going to the circus!

Monday
Breakfast Cereal, grapes
Lunch Meatball sandwiches on toast, leftover salad
Dinner sandwiches and soup or salad

Tuesday
Breakfast Scrambled eggs, toast
Lunch Ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, apples
Dinner salad, baked potatoes

Wednesday
Breakfast Oatmeal, bananas
Lunch Baked potatoes with cheese and bacon, grapes
Dinner Oven baked chicken parmesan, salad, garlic bread


Thursday Happy 11th birthday, Hunter!
Breakfast Cinnamon toast, apples
Lunch Taking Taco Bell to Hunter for lunch
Dinner Eating out, birthday girl's choice


Friday
Breakfast Boiled eggs, bananas
Lunch Fried rice, spring rolls
Dinner Pizza, salad

Saturday
Breakfast Scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon
Lunch Ramen noodles or sandwiches
Dinner Not sure, Hunter's party is today and depends on how tired everyone is

Sunday
Breakfast Pancakes, bacon, fruit
Lunch Homemade Beef Stew, biscuits(going to circus this afternoon, want the kids full before we go!)
Supper More Beef Stew


Desserts for the week
Rice Krispie treats, pumpkin pie(froze 1 I made last week), homemade cookies, and of course homemade birthday cake

fun with koolaid and shaving cream,cheap fun for kids

Join Crystal over at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm for some great frugal tips. I had my own daycare in home for several years and then worked in a couple centers and I was always trying to come up with easy and cheap things for a classroom of kids to do. These are a couple favorites and seemed to be enjoyed by from toddlers all the way up to age 12.

1. Kool aid painting

Need

White Paper

spray bottle with water

assorted colored drink mixes(koolaid or any similar brand)

newspaper or magazine

Place newspaper down on flat surface(stops any bleed through). Place your white paper down on top. If using several different types of koolaid, separate them in bowls(doesn't take a whole lot per child) Let your child(or assist) in sprinkling the koolaid in different patterns on the paper. Be careful not to bump(can tape down newspaper and white paper). Once finish, lightly spray the paper with water until the colors start to magically appear. Leave laying flat to dry. Once dry it will have a fruity scent. Hang your creation in your favorite display area.

2. Shaving cream painting(this activity works better for the 3+ crowd)

Need

shaving cream(white foamy ones work the best)

white paper

food coloring

toothpicks(for drawing)

plastic place mat

book(for pressing)

Start with a clean, dry surface. Take some shaving cream and thinly spread it out on the surface(this is a good activity to use a plastic place mat to avoid staining) Once the shaving is spread out to the same amount of surface as the paper, start dropping food color on it. Use the toothpick to make designs. Once finish, take the paper and place it on top of the design. Place a book on top of the paper to use as a press. Gently press the book down. You can check sporadically to see if the design is transferring to the paper. When finished, gently lift the paper up. Lay the paper someplace flat to dry. Just a note, if you make the shaving cream real thick, most of the color will flake off when its dry. You might have to do a little trial and error to see what works best.

Shaving cream is great for toddlers, preschoolers and even school age children to play with. Squirt a bit on a table and let them rub it, squish it in their fingers and draw and write in it. Moms, join in too! It's fun!

Another note, shaving cream is great at removing crayon and marker marks off tables. Let your kids play with some on a table that's marked up. If they miss any, just squirt some on there yourself, rub it in and let set for a few minutes. It should clean it off! No need for the expensive magic erasers!

What I scored this week

I'm so excited, I never win anything(my oldest usually wins it all), I got an email today that I one a 4 pack admission to the circus(was a contest sponsored through our local paper). The kids are always covered for admission, you can't step into a store in town that doesn't have free passes for the kids. The adults, on the other hand, have to pay $17 A PIECE(this years price) to get in. That's $34 just for 2 of us to get into the door! We usually end up paying(it is always here around my oldest's birthday), never mind the second mortgage you have to take out for snacks, dumb light up toys, and god forbid if they want an elephant ride. Ok, I'm done with my rant, lol.



Walgreen's

I'm ashamed to say, I milked Walgreen's for all I could this week. Well, I had coupons! I hit a new one everyday.



Day 1

3 herbal essence conditioners

used b2g1 and $2/1

1 aussie shampoo, 1 conditioner

used $2/2

1 old spice red zone body wash

used $1/1

total before tax...$11.67 earned $12 rr



2 packages ivory soap

used 2 $0.35/1

price rang up as $2.39 and still earned $4 rr (I was in a hurry and didn't ask why)



Day 2

2 packages zest soap

used 2 $0.25/1

$3.65 earned $4 RR



Day 3

2 packages olay soap(which I believe are the last 2 in town)

used $2/1 coupon



2 bottles 11 ounce dawn dish soap

on sale for $0.99 each

used 2 $0.25/1 coupons



2 bottles febreeze air effects

on sale 2/$5

used 2 $2/1 coupon



2 boxes candy

$1 each



total before coupons $12.98



used $5 rr(was about to expire)



OOP $3.70(lady behind me said "Holy crap") earned $4 rr

It would've been cheaper but had my older 2 with me and I had to have a bribe for dragging them through another Walgreens. Hubby just rolled his eyes when I walked in with yet another bag of stuff.

Day 4
2 packages Olay soap
used $1/2 coupon
oop $3.38 earned $4 rr

I plan on using my RR to stuff the Easter baskets and buy some deals later on in the month

Me and hubby went to the Goodwill store to find him some work pants(he's a brick mason, so they get ruined) We didn't find any in his size but for my 8 year old son I found 2 new pair of jeans and 1 pair of dress pants(just in time for Easter!) for $7(all of them still had the tags attached)
Found a nice jean jacket(practically new) for baby girl for only $1

One of our local Dillons(Kroger) stores had an overstock on half a gallon whole milk. Bought 6 for $6.34

I didn't even make it to CVS this week. The only things I'm really interested in from there is the monthly ECB deals(toothpaste, toothbrushes) so I might go there Sunday.

Hope everyone else had a frugal and fullfilling week!

Backwards Works For Me Wednesday

Shannon over at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/ is having a BACKWARDS WFMW this week. So my question is, what are legit work at home ideas, that don't involve selling a product(already do Jordan Essentials, www.jordanessentials.com/10733) or opening my computer up for viruses. I currently can't babysit, we are remodeling. I know I see several moms that do Pay Per Post and surveys, but was just wondering if there was something else. I don't want to make a fortune, I'd be happy with $300 a month(to cover children's extra curricular activites), any extra will be used to fuel my photography and craft addiction. Thanks in advance!

Complain and you will be rewarded

I made a cake that I had stashed in the cabinet. Well, of course I was out of frosting. I had to go purchase my Sunday paper so I grabbed a tub of frosting(using a coupon of course) and headed home. After dinner I went to frost the cake, I was searching for my favorite frosting spreader and my dear husband put his finger in the frosting to taste it. He made a terrible face and told me to taste it. BLAH! It was nasty, tasted like plastic. We got our 8 year old son(the resident sugar expert) and he nearly turned green. I got the idea to file a complaint with the manufacturer online. My hubby took it back to the store, complained enough they gave him the $1.37 back and bought a different brand(tasted fine). I got an email today, they are refunding my money(the full price!) and sending me some coupons. Not bad for about 5 minutes of work, plus my husband paid me a compliment, he said he likes me being stingy now.

Goals for March

1. Get my dryer fixed. The shut off switch doesn't work so as the Energizer Bunny commercial says, "It keeps going, and going, and going......" I get caught up in cleaning(okay, watching "How Clean is Your House") and forget it's running down in the basement. I could seriously cut back on the electric bill if it would shut off in a reasonable amount of time(not 2 hours later when I remember) Of course, I could save even more if I turned off the tv, but seeing how it is 25 degrees outside, that might have to be a summertime goal.

2. Do a massive clean out of the kid's room. Clothes, toys, and other things have got to go. My oldest changed her shirt 3 times this morning because her first 2 choices were too small. Thankfully, we have several children's resale shops here and I could hopefully make enough in exchange for warm weather clothes(if it ever does warm up here!).

3.Do some serious decluttering of everything. I have been gradually cleaning room by room, but they can all stand at least one more run through. I need to make my trashman earn his $13 a month! I'm sure I'm his least favorite stop after a week of cleaning, my roll away is always packed and there's several lawn and leaf bags stuffed to the tops sitting beside it.

4. Get our car sold. We are lucky that we haven't paid for the 3 vehicles we own but we only have 2 drivers and 3 car insurance payments a month(plus taxes and tags). We decided it was less costly to keep the trucks and sell the car.

5.Get a plan worked out so we can grow some more veggies this summer. Last year we did tomatoes, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and bell peppers and exchanged some of them for zuchinni from a friend of my mother in law. This year, we are going to try more tomatoes, zuchinni, peas, green beans, peppers(spicy and bell), sweet corn, lettuce, watermelon, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and onions. Plus this year, I am adding herbs. Phew! Plus my hubby bought a peach tree to plant. (we had a bad ice storm last year and resulted in 4 trees dying in backyard, so we have more room now!) I guess by the end of summer I need to learn the fine art of canning to maximize our produce.

6. Learn to sew using my sewing machine. My mother in law gave it to me 3 years ago and it just sits there. The bad thing is, I don't think I can even thread the thing(embarrassing) I yearn to learn(lol) how to quilt and make matching outfits for my 2 girls(they are almost 11 and 14 months so I can't really find anything off the rack that matches)

7. Learn how to make some money while at home. I would really like to cover dance and martial arts(around $300 a month total) and possibly my photography and craft habits, but I wouldn't complain for a little more.

Not much, right? Hopefully, I can accomplish it all with what little of my sanity that I have left, lol.

Menu for March 3-9

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie at http://orgjunkie.com/ for more menus!


Monday

Cinnamon toast, bananas
leftover grilled chicken and pasta salad
pork chops, baked potatoes, corn on the cob


Tuesday

boiled eggs, toast, grapes
grilled cheese, chips, strawberries
homemade chicken and rice soup, homemade bread


Wednesday
oatmeal, bananas
leftover soup, bread
hamburgers, homemade fries, green beans


Thursday
cereal, apples
pbj's using leftover hamburger buns, leftover green beans
tuna and noodle casserole, corn, biscuits


Friday
cinnamon toast, grapes
leftover casserole and biscuits
clean out frig/sandwich/ ramen noodles


Saturday
scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast
ramen noodles with added shrimp, whatever fruit is in frig
pizza, salad


Sunday
homemade waffles, sausage
sandwiches/leftover pizza
spaghetti, garlic bread, salad


My menu's aren't set in stone on what day we eat, life happens and sometimes we have less time.
During the weekday, it's just me, baby girl and sometimes hubby(depends on what time he has to work) for breakfast. The older two like to eat at school, but in case we overslept or someone has a case of the poke alongs, I keep pop tarts and cereal bars in the cabinet.
Snacks are a must, the older 2 always come home starving, and the last week or 2, it seems they are even hungrier(my luck ,it's a growth spurt, and I just bought them 4 pairs of jeans each on clearance at Target) Baby Girl is a grazer and my son has been coming home and eating a sandwich and a bowl of oatmeal, then dinner, and then dessert. I bought/was given alot of yogurt, fruit roll ups, peanuts, oatmeal, ramen noodles, 2 boxes of cereal for $0.24 each, and cheese hoping this will curb their afternoon munchies.
I did some cabinet cleaning and found several cans of pumpkin and evaporated milk(and 2 pie crusts in the freezer) so I'm making 2 pumpkin pies for the week. I'm also going to make some chocolate chip cookies(3 dozen) and I'm going to attempt to make a pineapple upside down cake from scratch. Popcorn is also a dessert staple at our house(usually made into Kettle Corn, yummy). My mom gave us a box of Rice Krispies so next shopping trip I'll have to pick up some marshmallows to make rice krispie treats for next week