Extra money for your snowball....

I heard about ChaCha from a friend. It is an online question answering service. The best part? They pay "guides" to answer questions. My friend said she makes between $150-200 a month for a few hours of work when she has the extra time. If you are interested in signing up I would appreciate you using my info. Just leave a comment and I will send you the info. $200 would really get our snowball rolling.......

Valentine's treats

I thought I would share my treats we are making for Peyton's class. I'm glad I decided to do these because they are economical, cute and easy. And since I got a note last week saying to bring 35, they better be all of those things.

We, Peyton & I, are making rice krispie treats. My store had peelies for $1 off marshmallows on the rice krispies, FYI. After they are made, we will be forming them into a funnel and wrapping them in foil. They look like a giant Hershey's kiss. You can use Valentine's curling ribbon for the tail, or I will be cutting thin strips of paper with "Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Peyton" printed on them. Total cost: less than $10

Do you have any homemade ideas for classes? Please share!!

Sunday Shopping

I clipped my coupons, made my lists, & made sure I had all the neccesary elements for a successful shopping afternoon. Unfortunately, when I went to Walgreens to collect my gift card I was told my doctor had not sent in the refill. Urg. This messed up my zero-out-of-pocket plan, seriously. I was going to wait and go back tomorrow until I remembered that I had $10 in RR that expired today. So I spent $7 oop to save $10. Urg, again. I'm going to post my Walgreens and grocery store list for the week and then explain how it goes with my menu plan for the week tomorrow. I am also going to * the items that were impulse purchases in order to show you, and myself, how much those things add up.

Walgreens
Transaction 1
4 Skippy p.b.= 7.98
4 Ragu= 7.98
dz. eggs= 1.59
- 1.20 in Skippy q's
- 1.00 in Ragu q's
- 10 rr (Frito Lay rr)
total 6.67, savings 20.28, get 10 rr from Unilever

I had to have an extra item in order to use the rr because I had a coupon for each of the p.b. and Ragu. I could have bought something cheaper, like a pencil or candy, but I needed eggs anyway. And when I made my plan I was using a gift card. The rr is considered a manufacturer coupon and you have to have as many items as coupons.

Transaction 2
8 bags Doritos= $20
- 10 rr (Unilever deal)
total 10, get 10 rr from Frito Lay

This is important. You can't use a rr from one deal to do the same deal again. It will not print. Since I used a Frito Lay rr in trans 1, I got another one from Unilever. Now, I used the Unilever rr on another Frito Lay deal, so I will receive another 10 rr from Frito Lay.

Transaction 3
Deerfield Farms cheese x2= $4
Kraft Mac n' cheese x3= $2
Tuf trashbags= 3.99
Extra gum x3= .99
- 10 rr
total .98
Since I already did transaction 1 I will have $14 left on my gift card.

Grocery store

BC cookie mix x3= 4.50*
Mini Pretzels x2= 2.50*
SCO Lays 2.00
Gallon Milk 2.74
Cheetos 1.67
Italian bread 1.99
Cinnamon rolls 1.88
Lays Stax x2 1.98
bread 1.97
ketchup .98
ritz 2.50*
BBQ sauce 1.50
bell pepper .99
cucumber x2 1.00
shrimp 4.47*
grapes 3.02
olives 1.09*
olives 1.29*
carrots 1.50
ground beef 3.01
popcorn chicken 1.69*
- $1 off milk when you buy Sara Lee bread
total 47.77

Most of these "impulse" buys were snacks hubby wanted to take to work. This will cut down on his lunch or snack machine spending so it all works out. The shrimp has been on my list the last couple of weeks but I always seem to go when the meat counter is closed. I will be making a meal with it but 7.99/pd. for protein is RIDICULOUS! This will have to be a special treat meal. It better be good! Come back tomorrow for my meal plan for the week.

Weekly Round-up- Food Envelope

Since my much more than usual grocery spending last week, I am glad to say I spent $10 this week on food. Unfortunately, it was also money I could have not spent. The goal for this coming week will be to buy a few things to complete this weeks menu plan, including breakfasts and lunches, AND NOTHING MORE! I plan on hitting Walgreens this week to stock up on peanut butter and spaghetti sauce but I will be using a gift card that I got for transferring a prescription, and $10 in register rewards. I will post my trip, with money spent, and savings. Wish me luck!

Groceries......

I have noticed since I have been serious about couponing that I have a lot of random groceries. While I get them either free or close to free, they take up space. And it looks like I have LOTS of stuff. Which I do, just nothing I can make a meal out of. So tonight I went to three different stores. Instead of holding myself to a tight budget, I bought things we needed and some things we wanted. It does me no good to save money on things that no one really wants, like Bagelfuls. I got 2 boxes for free a few months back, and still they sit. Taking up space in my freezer. Valuable space. The point is, if we have a house full of groceries that no one will eat, I am not accomplishing anything. I have given myself such a mental block that it made me sick to pay full price for peanut butter. But we love peanut butter. I got so much for soooooooo cheap last summer that I didn't want to BUY it. I think what I am trying to say is, from this point forward, I will only buy things that we will use. Or that I can get for free. But I must have a place to store it, in order to sell it at my next garage sale.
I spent $110 on groceries today. I couldn't tell you the last time I spent more than $50 in one week. I feel like I'm confessing!! I'm okay with it because it will save us in the long run. Everyone has some of their favorite things so no one will be whining about wanting to go out to dinner. Sometimes it's better to spend a little more and keep the peace.

Happy 2009!

As you can tell from last post, over 2 months ago, the last couple of months have been long, busy and stressful. This was the first holiday season without my mom. That makes me sad every time I think about it. I also have a 4 year old and an 11 year old, which is stressful any time of year! Those of you who have lots of kids, hats off. I don't think I could do it, unless I had a bigger house, more money, and no job! On top of all that, my "job" is catering. Obviously from Thanksgiving to Christmas is my busiest time of year with work. I forget every year how busy the year before was and don't prepare very well. I'm thinking of writing my Christmas cards in August this year. Seriously. So, I haven't been blogging. Or really checking my e-mail (I have 7,550, at last pop up). I only jump online to check a couple of good deal sites and rush out the door.

My resolution for 2009, to be more organized and more calm. Those 2 things will help me to stay focused on our budget, which will in turn help us to get out of debt, buy a new-to-us car, and start working on our savings.

I won't make any "I promise to blog everyday" promises but I do hope to use this blog as a platform to keep me accountable to our goals as a family. HAPPY 2009!

Pardon the pause....

Sorry I haven't been posting much this week. Blame it on Stephenie Meyer. She is the author of the "Twilight" saga. I am completely engrossed in book 3 of 4 right now. It doesn't take me long to read her books so hopefully after book 4 I will be able to focus on the blog again! If I see or hear of any a-mazing deals, I will be sure to post them. It seems they have been few and far between recently- unless you live in those really cool parts of the country with good grocery stores. Ah, a girl can dream....

New template....

I changed my blog template! I think this one is easier to navigate and more user friendly. Please take the poll on the right and tell me what you think!

Farmers Market

Peyton and I hit our local farmers market yesterday. I have to say I enjoy the idea of walking around and buying home grown fruits and veggies but people are definitely proud of their work. And, no, nothing was organic. I got to thinking as I was wondering around in the warm, breezy morning, aren't the fruits and veggies at the grocery store home grown SOMEWHERE? There aren't any cucumber molds that I don't know about is there? I did pick up a few things; blueberries, squash, zucchini, fresh corn, and cucumbers. I spent around $15 and I can chop up the squash and zucchini for side dishes. However, I think I will plant my own garden next spring and enjoy the morning in my PJ's.

* OMG! We had some of the fresh corn tonight with our BBQ sandwiches and baked beans. It was the most amazing corn I have ever eaten. It was so sweet and crisp. My step-dad joined us for dinner and he asked me what I put on the corn to make it so sweet. Uh, just butter, salt and pepper. Peyton ate an entire gigantic ear! I paid about .62 an ear but it is SOOO worth it! I can't wait to try the squash and zucchini!

I'm baaaack.....

I know I said I would be checking in but we had a terrible internet connection while we were gone. And we were super busy. And I actually slept past 9am. WooHoo! We had such a great time. We did go out to eat one time but it was after we had to leave the theme park b/c of rain. Every ride was shut down, not to mention it was cold and wet. So we saved the ticket money, and went to lunch and to ride go-carts and play mini-golf.

My vacation tips for anyone planning a frugal vacation
1. Go somewhere close enough to drive in one day. Duh.

2. Stay somewhere with a full kitchen. I know, it costs more. But not that much more. And trust me, it is worth having enough space for everyone to spread out and you can COOK!
3. Prepare your meal plan before you leave home. Prepare and freeze meals, like lasagna. You can pack it in an ice chest. If you have a good ice chest, it will still be frozen, even 8 hours later. Make sure you plan breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. If you don't bring enough food you may as well not bring any at all.
4. If you must eat out, go get ice cream! This saved us every night. Most tourists towns have a mom and pop ice cream shop. The nostalgia of an old time soda fountain is not lost on children. We went to a different one each night and only spent around $10 each time. MUCH cheaper than feeding a family of four, 3 meals a day.
5. Look and ASK for coupons. I incorporated our back to school shopping into this trip since the town had an outlet mall. We had gotten a travel guide at the gas station, free. Inside there was a coupon for a free coupon book, regularly $5, to the outlet mall. When I got Peyton's clothes, I asked the cashier if they had any coupons in the book. They didn't. So I asked if she had any coupons laying around. She said "Well, I have a 15% off. Would that be okay?" OKAY? That would be so awesome!! Just by asking, I saved over $20. With the coupon book I saved $10 off $50 when I bought Madison's clothes, 10% off hubby's clothes. Just by paying attention to the free travel guide I saved almost $50 on stuff I was going to buy anyway.
Then when we went to play mini-golf, in small type at the bottom of the score card was a coupon for free ice cream to the winner of the round. Savings: $4.75!

That's all the tips I have for now. I hope it helps some of you. I know it is late in the season for summer vacations but these are good tips for any season of travel. What tips do you have for a frugal vacation?

Fun with Friends-on the cheap!

Whenever we are feeling the pinch of our budget, I sometimes feel like "Whoa is me, I get to have no fun". Then I have a game night. I've only done this a couple of times but it really is a lot of fun. There are a few of us that get together at one house (we try to alternate) and eat dinner and play games. This would be perfect for couples but we usually just have ladies. It's great to sit around with friends and relax and chat. It's also great because we don't have to hire a sitter (the kids come and play together or stay home with Daddy), we don't have an expensive food tab (the host cooks dinner, something cheap and easy), and it is lots of fun!
I read over at www.moneysavingmom.com about a cooking club. I think this is a great idea! Basically, a group a friends get together once a month and trade frozen dishes. You would make enough dishes for everyone to take one (i.e. 8 friends, 8 dishes). This would really fun if you incorporated themes, like Mexican food in May, pie in November, cookies in December, etc. I will definitely be working on my friends to start a cooking club.
What ways do you have "grown-up" fun on the cheap? We are always talking about how to entertain our kids for less but us parents need some fun too! Post your comments so we can all learn from your ideas!

School Supplies.....for pre-school?!?

So, Miss Peyton is enrolled in pre-school for the fall. 2 days a week for half a day. Today in the mail I get her school supply list. Seriously? I should have been hitting up the 1 cent sales everyone has been running the past few weeks. I have had to take snacks and baby wipes in the past for Mother's Day Out, but this list looks like it's for elementary school. Tell me if I'm over reacting.

1 box wide washable markers
1 bottle white glue
2 large glue sticks
1 pair child size scissors
1 3-ring binder (1 1/2 inch with view front)
2 pkgs page protectors (approx 30)
2 boxes baby wipes
1 roll paper towels
1 box kleenex
1 pkg party favors for treasure chest
1 backpack
1 box band aids (GIRLS)
1 can white shaving cream (BOYS)

I don't even want to know why they need shaving cream. Does that seem like a lot for a 3 year old class, 2 days a week. Not to mention that the price is not exactly cheap, and I already paid a $35 enrollment fee + a $25 enrollment fee for MDO. What are those fees used for? Preschool teachers, enlighten me please!!

Really Stinkin' Hot Summer cleaning...

So I'm guessing by the 100 degree weather that I missed Spring cleaning. Today I cleaned out both of my refrigerators. What an exciting life I lead. However, it was nice to see what I had lurking in the back of the freezer. I found 6 bags of those Dino Bites that everyone got for free a few months ago. Woo Hoo! I knew they were there but I wasn't sure how many were left. I spent the morning cooking and organizing so hopefully it will help on next week's grocery list. When I went to the store yesterday there were quite a few things that I buy regularly that had gone up significantly. (Tortillas up .67, salsa up .44, swiss cheese slices up .50. Again the excitement is unbearable.) Guess this means I will be shopping Aldi even more. Unfortunately, my family can't live on Powerade alone, or electrasol.......

Dave Ramsey style date......

Only someone who has "blow" money can truly appreciate this. Hubby called last night and asked if I wanted to go see 'Sex & the City'. My first thought, "Movie theater? Expensive. Not to mention that we have to get a sitter..." So instead of ruining my husband's sweet gesture of an adult evening out, I say "Oh yes, that sounds like fun! It will be a lot of blow money though." In true FPU form he says, "Well, we can split it. We'll go dutch!" Keep in mind that we split our blow money so hence the splitting the movie. It's so funny how our thinking has changed. Back in the day we would have paid the sitter, gone to a nice dinner, gotten pizza for the kids, bought popcorn and candy and soda, and easily dropped $200, just to see a movie. We still spent a ridiculous amount of money last night, $44, including a bean burrito for Peyton, sitter, and popcorn and a coke but that's our big night out for the month.

Garage Sale

Yesterday and today I had my first garage sale w/o my mom. She was seriously THE garage sale queen. When her and my step dad moved from the house I grew up in she had a week long, entire house "garage" sale. She made almost $5000!! Off of a bunch of J-U-N-K. She must have been smiling down on me b/c everytime I would say "5 more minutes" another group of people would come and buy more. I made enough to get a new kitchen table! And still have some to put towards our snowball. I know, I should have put it ALL to the snowball but our table was falling apart and if I have to stick to a menu plan, we need a place to eat. It was a super deal, as far as tables go. I spent $199 for the table and 4 chairs. Solid wood, with a dark cherry finish. I am in love! I also got a protection plan for when my children scratch, ding, dent, burn, marker, crayon, and stab my new table they will bring me a shiny new one for 5 years. tThey just don't know how destructive my kids can be!

Gas Prices!?!

I know I haven't posted since everything with my mom. I came and just haven't been inspired to share anything. I feel like we have strayed from Dave's teaching a bit. No credit card usage and our emergency fund is still in tact but we could have put much more in savings this month. Instead we have been sort of careless. Hopefully May will be the month to get our focus back.
I was over at one of my fave blogs, www.thriftyfloridamama.net, and was inspired to write a post. (thanks angie!) I noticed that she only spent $304 on gas last month. Then I realized that I said "only". How depressing. Our gas budget was $360 but it was stretching too tight by the end of our month (10th-10th). So we bumped it last month to $400. That seemed to be the magic number.
We have 2 cars, a small mini van and a 4 door sedan. We used to have a Tahoe and the price of gas was more than our payment. That was last summer. I can only imagine how much it would be now!
Gas prices here are 3.50-ish/per gallon. I can just about fill up my van on $40. That lasts almost a week. I drive about 20 min to work, not sure how many miles. Plus all the household errands. I do try to plan my route so I'm not driving in circles.
How are gas prices in your area and what is everyone's monthly gas budget? FYI- when I started writing this post on Saturday morning, gas was around 3.40. What a difference 3 days make!

In Loving Memory......

I know a lot of you have been praying for my mom and I haven't been updating. My mom went to be with her Lord and Savior on April 13th. After 16 days in ICU we made the decision as her family to let her go be with my grandparents in heaven. Her services were last Thursday and they were just what she would have wanted. Actually, she wouldn't have wanted that much attention focused on her. There were so many flowers we lost count around 40 arrangements, not including the family flowers. The chapel held 200 people and they were setting up chairs in the room just outside the chapel because the chapel was full 20 minutes before the service was to start. Such a testament to the amazing woman she was!

I am beyond sad but I know her struggle is over and that she is in her perfect place. And I know she is watching over us, especially Peyton.

I am in the process of getting back to my frugal ways. I went to CVS this morning and saved 167.00, spent .11 OOP, so I haven't lost my touch! I am hoping to share the secret with my sister, if she doesn't get frustrated with it. We all know it takes a couple of weeks to get into the groove of saving. I did a lot of cooking and freezing today so hopefully I will start cooking again instead of blowing our food budget. We actually stayed really well within our budget considering everything going on. We even had the money to contribute to flowers, the soloist, and the lady who did a slideshow for us. That, in itself, was an amazing feeling. I couldn't have handled any more stress after spending 16 days at the hospital with a 3 yr old most of the days.

I know my mom was proud of my money saving and new budgeting so I will continue to do those things so she can watch me with a joyful heart and not a worried heart. Thanks to all of you who were praying for her recovery, but instead she got the ultimate reward. I just wish it had come later for us.

Mom update 4/2

There has been no news to report. Nothing has changed. The doctor said today that it is a "grave outcome". Nice choice of words, huh? Please continue to pray for a miracle. Her seizures that were supposed to last 4 days are still happening (we're on day 6) and there is no projected time line of when they will stop.

Mom update

Here's a picture of my mom (Phyllis), Lee and Peyton from last summer.

Today seemed to be more promising but when the neurologist did an EEG it showed her brain to be seizing. We couldn't see the seizure they were only happening in her brain. This is just more sign of brain injury due to lack of oxygen. They put her under heavy sedation and 2 other seizure medicines to stop the seizures so we are back to waiting for another EEG to see if her brain continues to do this when not under sedation. The neurologist said that it is "bad and not what we want to see". I am trying to get this out to as many people as I can so she can be lifted up in prayer. A miracle is all we can hope for at this point. I will update again ASAP.

Thanks to Angie at http://www.thriftyfloridamama.net/ for the link on her blog. I hope it will reach more people through her as well. Thank you, too, to all the kind posts I received yesterday. I sincerely appreciate it.
Krissy

Please pray for my mom....

This has NOTHING to do with frugal living. It is a purely selfish post. I posted a while back that my mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer. FFwd- she had a masectomy (sp?) a month ago and she has had to have 2 more surgeries since, both times to clear the drain tube. She is 67 and 3 times of anestesia (again sp?) in a month has taken it's toll. She was in the hospital 2 weeks ago with pneumonia and was released. This morning she was having trouble breathing but sent my step-dad to work as normal. About 30 min. after he left she called him and told him she couldn't breathe. He told her he was on his way. At 8:12am she called 911. The fire dept were first on the scene at 8:17am, and she was in cardiac arrest and not breathing. We know that she had gotten to the front door to unlock it but we think when she went back to her room she collapsed on the floor b/c that's where they found her. She is in ICU now but not responding, and not breathing on her own. Her lungs "look really bad" and are filled with fluid. To make matters worse, she was at the cardiologist yesterday and my step-dad asked him to listen to her lungs and he told him he didn't hear anything abnormal. HELLO?? Even the ER doctor said, the fluid couldn't build up like it is overnight. It had to have been like that for days. The neurologist said that she is showing signs of serious brain damage to her brain stem, which is the worst kind. Basically, IF she wakes up she isn't going to be the same person that we know. I am praying for a miracle but she wouldn't want to live like she is now. If God decides for her to be like she is now I just want him to take her. I don't want my step-dad to have to make any decisions regarding keeping her as incapacitated. I'm hoping she will wake up tomorrow and be okay but I am preparing myself for the worst. Please just keep her in your prayers, as well as my step-dad. He is beside himself and blaming himself for not being there. He loves her so much. If anyone else has been through this and has any encouraging words I would really appreciate hearing the story. Thanks if you got this far..........