Who needs money?

I've had my eye on a rice cooker for awhile. It is definitely a want, not a need. I can easily make rice on the stove. With a price tag of at LEAST $40, it looked like one of those items that would stay on my want list for a long time. 

After cleaning out my grandma's storage shed and listing a bunch of stuff online, a lady contacted me she was interested in a figurine that I had listed for $10 and if I was willing to trade for it. I took a look at her album(online Facebook sale group) and found this:

She wanted $10 for it. 

Squeee!

So I traded. And I've used it twice already. 

It's also a steamer for veggies. Double squeee! 

When I was looking online for the manual, I found out this particular cooker costs almost $60.

I have to  admit, it is nice not to have to stand over the rice in order to make sure it burns or cooks correctly.

Would I have paid the $60 for it? Prob not. 

Don't be afraid to trade.

This is posted to Works for Me Wednesday, Frugal Fridays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Honey Bunches of Oats review and a giveaway!

We love cereal around here. 

Especially if it doesn't have milk on it.

Weird, right?

Well, since Baby Girl is picky with a capital "P", I'll take her eating anything, anyway she wants it(if I knew before she was born, I would have bought stock in Ranch dressing....)

Now, we are no strangers to Honey Bunches of Oats. It makes our cereal rotation quite frequently.  As a member of Purex Insiders, they recently sent me a box to review.

Yes, please!

Baby Girl eats this stuff by the handfuls. With 10 grams of whole grains, 9 essential vitamins and minerals, and only 6 grams of sugar, I have no problem letting her eat the crispy flakes and crunchy granola bunches(cookies as she calls them). 

What's even better, with 10 different combinations, you will never get tired of them! Our #1 favorite is the Honey Roasted. Throw some in a to go bowl for a crunchy snack or even sprinkle on top of some yogurt. 

Yum-o

Try it with almonds, or pecan, or my second fave, Cinnamon Bunches. 

I think I heard my stomach growl.

Before I go grab me a bowl of cereal, Purex Insiders has provided me with a coupon for one lucky person good for 1 free box of any Honey Bunches of Oats. 

To enter, simply tell me in a comment, tell me which variety of Honey Bunches of Oats you would like to try. 

For additional entries

"Like" Honey Bunches of Oats on Facebook

Subscribe to to my blog(button on the left)

Leave separate comments for each to increase your chances!

This contest runs until June 8, 2012.

Happy eating!

Disclaimer: Post provided me with a free sample of Honey Bunches of Oats-Honey Roasted so I could review them. My participation was voluntary and my opinions, as always, are my own.

Remember the Fallen

Menu Plan Monday

With the kids out of town most of the week, I honestly don't have much of a plan on dinners.

Bad, I know. 

I plan to clean out the refrigerator and freezer to keep shopping to a minimum.

Here's some of the ideas

Leftovers- we have spaghetti and pork roast left

Veggie stir fry with rice(a good chance to try out my new rice cooker!)

Grilled steaks, potatoes on the grill

Cheeseburgers and fries

 

When the hooligans get back:

Country fried steaks, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans

 

Smoked sausage and rice, carrots

Weekly goals

Ahhh, the hooligans are at my mother in law's until Friday(brave lady!) so I have the entire week to play catch up. I thought about cleaning the Thing's room so we could get ready for a set of bunk beds but quickly decided against that(after all, they are out of school)

So, I plan on tackling things that are begging to be done(like cleaning out my bedroom closet) or that I'm behind on(cutting out coupons). Today is sort of a goof off day since Joseph is still home but starting tomorrow, I'll get down to business.

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Go to the Y to workout

Weekly

Cut and organize coupons

Work on my closet

Make veggie stock

Organize DVDs

Clean living room from top to bottom

Put laundry away

Continue to list things for sale

Take Baby Girl to go get a pair of sandals when she gets back

Take Thing 1 swimsuit shopping when she gets back

Menu Plan Monday

Almost to the end of May!

The Things have their last half week of school and then they are out to torture me for the summer, lol.

Here's the plan

Breakfasts

Cold cereal

Oatmeal

Eggs

all served with fruit

Dinners

Country fried steaks, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn

Onion soup with cheese and bread

Beef fajitas, rice, green beans

Turkey pot pie

Spaghetti with meatballs, cheesy bread, salad

Leftovers

Weekly goals

So much to get done this week! I managed to get everything done last week, except organizing the DVDs. 

Ongoing

Stay caught up with library books

Declutter

Make it to the Y to workout

Weekly

Organize DVDs

Clean Kitchen

Sort Barbies and price, list for sale

Put laundry away

Eat lunch with Thing 2

Go to Sam's, Library, Walmart, Aldi's

Cut out coupons and organize

Work on desk area

Menu Plan Monday

Monday's keep sneaking up on me, lol. 

Here's the plan for this week

Breakfasts

Oatmeal

Poptarts

Cold cereal

all served with fruit

Dinners

Ham and beans, cornbread

Lasagna, salad

Grilled turkey and vegetables

Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Fried rice with chicken, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms

Nachos with tomatoes, fruit salad

Leftovers

Weekly goals

One big goal crossed off my list: after 2 1/2 weeks, we finally got my grandmother's storage unit cleaned out! Yippee! Thousands of dollars of stuff got donated to our favorite thrift store, my mom got a few keepsakes, we gave some stuff to friends, I kept a few of the bigger items to sell, and a few momentos. It has definitely made me more determined to get rid of stuff here. I told my mom she needs to do the same so me and my brother aren't stuck going through this again!

Not to mention, it takes off $35 I have to pay out every month. 

So this week, I get to stay home for the most part, and work on my own house :)

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Go to the Y to workout 3 times

Weekly

Thing 2 to the Orthodontist

Cheer meeting(Thursday night)

Continue to list stuff for sale

Go sell aluminum cans

Go eat lunch with the Things

Work on bedroom

Put laundry completely away

Get pictures hanged

Organize DVDs

Make vegetable stock

Booking It-April

 Finally! A decent month for reading! I had to force myself some days, but others(like when I read the Hunger Games trilogy in one weekend),  came easy.  The end results is a long list of books knocked out of the pile :)

Here's what I made it through:

Sabotaged

Glass

A Stolen Life

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

Bloodlines

Bossypants

The Outlaw Album

Lover Unleashed

As always, I've added the books to my Amazon store to the right if you would like to check them out for yourself!

Disclaimer, it does contain affiliate links so I will receive a small compensation for your purchase!

Weekly goals

Thankfully, I got most of last week's goals accomplished. Granted, I didn't set too many!

Here's the plan for this week:

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Make it to the Y to work out

Weekly

Work on storage unit

Take 3 bags of trash out of the basement

Work on bedroom

Go to Thing 2's band concert

get pictures hung up

do grocery shopping

Continue to list stuff for sale

Start on plans for a yard sale

Make some more Strawberry Jam and HoneySuckle jelly

Take stack of books back to library

Menu Plan Monday

That week went fast! Grocery shopping this week so hopefully I can satisfy the crew with some requested things :)

Here's the plan

Breakfasts

Cold cereal

Oatmeal

Eggs

all served with fruit

Dinners

Steaks on the grill, grilled veggies

Chicken wings, fries

Enchiladas, rice, green beans

Lasagna, salad

Cashew chicken, rice, corn

Pizza night with salad

leftovers

4 Weeks to fill your freezer

I didn't plan on doing any freezer cooking, but I think a few things will be made :)

Yesterday, I did 2 batches of jelly, strawberry and honeysuckle. 

All I can say is yum!

I've never made homemade before and now I'm kicking myself for not! 

Wow! I would have made some more, but I ran out of pectin and jars. 

Here's what I made

Strawberry Jam

Honeysuckle Jelly

I have plans for more strawberry, honeysuckle, and some blueberry for Joseph. That should give us plenty of jelly for a long time unless one of the Things just eat a jar with a spoon, lol.

April Decluttering update

I honestly don't have a clue how many things left my house in April.  It was a lot! 

Unfortunately, since I'm a pack rat, it doesn't look like it!

But I'm still trucking along. I'm trying to keep up motivation because I'm also working on my grandma's last storage unit with my mom so that means my house gets neglected(I have to use my spare time when Baby Girl is at school to work on it)

Money Saving Mom hosted a 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home in April(which included getting rid of 7 items a day) and although it's far from completely organized, a bunch of stuff made their way out of the house. Some days I didn't blog about it, but here's what I did:

The Oven

Living room and Kitchen Drawer

Light fixtures

Bedroom drawers

The Truck

Some of the back room

countless magazines were dropped off at the laundry

2 Walmart size bags of coupons take to a place that sends them overseas

bags and bags of garbage....

I really need to keep better track :)

2012 Goals update

Hard to believe we are already 1/3 of the way through 2012.

Wow. 

Still plugging away at my goals for 2012 also. Some were/are easier than others. 

Here's the recap so far;

1. Continue working on blogging. Still working on this, some days it's easier than others. 

2. Explore income possibilities for myself. I'm not wanting to make a fortune, just some fun money. I started selling items I've uncovered in the house on Facebook Buy/Sell groups. I average about $10 for minimal work. It is a slow process. I'm planning a yard sale soon also. I continue to do surveys. I actually have $21 check from Panel Polls on my desk ready to deposit and $2.99 rebate check.

3. Continue decluttering. Ongoing also. I cleared a ton out last month but there's years and years of accumulation and habits to overcome. It's kind of slowed down in the house because right now I'm trying wo clean out the last of my grandmother's storage units in order to save $35 a month.

 

4. Continue to learn new things: this is the year I take that cake decorating class. And learn to sew.  And dive into gardening. Ongoing also...all the cake decorating classes seem to be held either on Thursday evening(which is the main night for sports and school programs) or Tuesday afternoons when I don't have a sitter. Hopefully this summer I can get this class done!

5. Read for 1 hour every day. This means a book, not blogs, magazines or newspapers. I get so far behind! Working on it! Did better in April.

6. Work with Thing 1 on driving. I can't believe I just typed that! My first born turns 15 in March and can get the coveted learner's permit.She's had her permit for almost 2 months now :)

7. Work on my weight and health. We've already discussed it and we will be purchasing a membership to the local Y for the family. We got the pass to the Y but getting there is a problem. I usually make it only twice a week and missed almost 2 weeks due to a twisted knee.

8. Save for an actual vacation. I don't know if we will take it this year, but I want us to start working towards that goal. Still haven't done this!

9. Purchase Silver Dollar City and White Water season passes. The crew are old enough to enjoy both of these places and we live close enough for weekend jaunts. Done and have been to SDC 5 times :)

10. Become more 'homemade" on things(laundry soap, soap, cleaners, food, gifts, etc) Still making homemade laundry soap. Only messed up once and ran out. Bought a teeny bottle of laundry soap, back to homemade. Today I'm making homemade freezer jam

11. Reduce unnecessary spending, save more, and pay down debts Ongoing...every time I start to do good, some big expense comes up and I have to start over

12. Get more involved with the kids at school. It's easy to slide by on the bigger 2, but Baby Girl will start Kindergarten in the Fall and I want to support her(I worked full time with both of the Things :() Ongoing, school is wrapping up so there's not much left beside a band and orchestra concert left. I went and ate lunch with Baby Girl yesterday and need to get to the Things before the 23rd.