Thursday, December 31, 2009

Other blog's to get stuff!

Here is a few sites that I have come across lately that you can find some deals, steals, and freebies from.

The Freebie Blogger 

 Hey it's free!

My Savings .com


Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Menu for a month!

I promised last week that I was going to put together a menu and post it for you all. Well, I finally finished it so now I am going to post it. I have only listed the day's main meal, we will find whatever for the rest of the day and fill in the sides as needed.
Today; Mac-n-cheese with sliced hot dogs.
Wednesday; Stir fry w/ pork chop meat, broccoli, carrots, onions and ramen noodle instead of rice.
Thursday; Pancake puffs & smokies
Friday; Cheeseburger Pie, recipe from cookbook
Saturday; Chicken casserole
Sunday; Chili
Monday; Italian Sausage sliced with spaghetti
Tuesday; Turkey sliced lunch-meat in gravy w/ stuffing
Wednesday; Meatloaf
Thursday; Salmon Patties
Friday; Mom & Dad- Filet Mignon, kids- Corn Dogs, everyone- Stuffed Potatoes (Christmas gift of steak and potatoes)
Saturday; Stuffed shells in the slow cooker
Sunday; Pork ribs
Monday; Stroganoff in slow cooker
Tuesday; Breakfast pie
Wednesday; shredded potatoes casserole
Thursday; sliced Ham
Friday; Deep Dish Taco's, casserole recipe from cookbook
Saturday; Bomber's
Sunday; Chili
Monday; Chicken soft taco's
Tuesday; Spaghetti made with leftover Bombers
Wednesday; Tater-tot casserole
Thursday; Breakfast with link sausage
Friday; Meatloaf
Saturday; Ham
This list is a total of 4 weeks with only Sunday and Monday of this week not included. I did make Ham with pineapple in Teriyaki sauce on Sunday. Monday we had soft taco's.
You'll notice alot of Ground Beef meals as I got so much on sale recently. I will be trying to get more chicken in the next few weeks and may rearrange the menu to accommodate but for now the list is based on foods currently in the house. At this time the only items I will need to purchase this whole month is buns for the Bombers, bread, milk, and eggs. I will probably get a few more things for lunches but right now we maybe eating sandwiches for every lunch since I have plenty of lunch meat and peanut butter. I am going to make some egg salad for sandwiches sometime this month as well. I am going to try to only spend $100.00 on food stuff this month and save the rest for a food processor. Of course I am also trying to find one through Freecycle as well. I hope this list gives you some new idea's and ask if you need a recipe.

Over 500 words on bread!

I want to talk about breads! Yes, I have a few thoughts about bread and buns. I have been trying to find breads that my family will eat and enjoy without spending too much for them. I have found that some stores have ok buns but their breads are either dry or have a yeast flavor. Albertson’s bread and buns are good but Safeway, (Randall’s, Tom Thumb) buns are slightly dry and their bread is awful. Kroger (King Soopers) has very good buns but you have to get the home-style bread since the sandwich slices can be either coarse or yeast flavored. I really like buying the Sara Lee Soft and Smooth white wheat but it can be very costly at $2.00 a loaf. I find it at Costco for around $3.50 for 2 loaves and that helps. I do try to go to the bread outlet stores. I can save the most money there. While a loaf might cost $1.70, you can get a stamp card and earn free breads. Also, when you take in your own bag, you get a free loaf, as well as most have a free loaf with a certain $ amount purchased. I check out the “free” rack as I enter the store and plan my purchased items accordingly. Hostess has some outlet stores but they are few and far between, so you have to search them out. Here is the link for their stores with a search option; http://www.bakeryoutlets.com/
I like Mrs. Baird’s stores the best. I have the Sara Lee bread in their stores a lot. Here is that link; http://www.mrsbairds.com/company/outlet_stores.php
In some states Mrs. Baird’s has bought out Bimbo breads but you still have to search through the Bimbo site to find the outlet stores. http://www.bimbobakeriesusa.com/our_brands/outlet_stores.html

While I don’t know them all, you can do a Google search and find one in almost any place in the US. Go in and check them out, you might be surprised at what you find. Also ask the folks working if you can’t find something. I asked once about the Bimbo pie’s that we used to get at another location and was told that this particular location they didn’t sell well but I could get them at another location and where that was. I also have found Southeastern Mills gravy mixes in most bread stores. I love buying these as they make 2-3 cups of gravy per packet and only cost $1-1.50 a packet. Also I buy their Cheddar Cheese sauce mix for casseroles and veggies. Be careful in buying the non-bakery items in these stores though. They can be more costly than you can find in the regular grocery store.
Now that I have told you how to save money on breads I am going to tell you that I will buy the really expensive bread 2-4 times a year at Great Harvest. http://greatharvest.findlocation.com/search.aspx
I love some of their fruit breads and the kids enjoy them as well. I don’t go in often since they are not very cost effective, but sometimes you just need a treat. Also the kids love going in and getting a free sample!
There you go, over 500 words about my take on breads!

What a week of Emergency Expenses!!

I don't know what has happened lately, but my week, well week and a half, has been plagued with unexpected expenses. First it was me hubby's phone, still haven't replaced that! Then came my crown, $214.00 there, then came my computer monitor, $107.00 there, and yesterday the car battery, $75.00 there! If I get hubby a new phone they first want $150.00 then mail in rebate for the $100.00, but it will take 10-14 weeks to get the rebate back! On top of that, we would have to change our plan from the $95 we pay now to the $130 plan. Yes we would get more minutes but right now if we are careful and don't go over our minutes, we don't need those extra minutes and the extra $35 expense.
The problem with all these "extra expense's" is not the fact that I had to spend the money, or that they were not items that would need replacing soon anyways. It's the time line, coming so close together right after some really great days of saving. So I went form a personal "High" from saving to a personal "low" of having to spend that money I just saved! It's enough to make a person feel defeated! I am going to change that feeling into a positive though. I am going to take it all as a challenge to build our savings account up higher! I am going to save, scrap, and pinch those penny's and listen to them scream!!!!
Today I am going to be filling this blog with all the things I can think of regarding pinching those penny's. I hope you all find some great idea's that can be helpful to you!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Why do I do that?

Ok, so I'm eating lunch with the kids and it pops into my head, "Why do I limit some foods but not others?" You see, we were eating Mac-n-cheese, I make 2 boxes for the boys and me. But just yesterday we had sandwiches on mini pita bread and I limited them to only 1 pita each. Why? The only thing I can say is that I know 1 box is not enough, and as for the pita's, well, it was a package of 6 and by only letting them have 1, I had 2 and then we would have another meal worth. Still, that was so wrong of me, the kids should have been able to have a 2nd one if they wanted. I also have found that lately I plan meals around limiting some foods so we can have another meal. Is that wrong? Am I being too frugal??? I hadn't stopped to think about it before but now I think I am being down right stingy! I hope my family will forgive me, yea they will. What about you folks? Do you find yourself doing that? Do you think someone in your family or friends do that? Let me know, I really wonder if I am being too cheap!

Monday, December 21, 2009

What happened with my day???

Well, got to the dentist office, had to take the kids with, they behaved, then I got the bill; Did not want to spend $214.00 for a "fix" but gotta do what I gotta do. The good thing is that the insurance had to pick up the rest of the total, $705.00!!! We then went and visited with friends. Had to stop and get gas on the way home after picking up Marty from work. Then made Quesadilla 's for dinner with left over roasted chicken with little salsa added and cheese. Sour cream for dipping and everyone enjoyed it. Now, gonna just sit down and watch some TV before heading to bed. Hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow.

Not what I planned to do today!!

Well, today is Monday and I now have to go to the dentist. I have a crown, well had a crown, for one of the my front, top teeth. It broke yesterday, so now I have a hole. This of course was not in my plans or budget for the week. I have called a few friends about watching the boys since Marty is at work, but no one is available. I also had to find a dentist, that's done and appointment set for 2:45 today. At least I am not in pain, yet! I have no idea what they are going to have to do to fix it. Until I have to leave for this appointment I have a few things to take care of. First I need to make a menu plan for all the food I bought. I read a tip on another blog that said she was more likely to remember to take foods out of the freezer ahead of time if she had a menu posted on the fridge to see all day. Sounds like good advice to me, now I have to sit down and do it! I need to call the insurance folks to straighten up why I don't have a local Drivers License. I can't see switching my DL every 3-6 months when we move!! Need to return some library books, work on the written budget, break down boxes for the recycle pile, go through the paper and clip coupons, and of course feed the boys and myself while keeping the kitchen clean. A few things, most are never ending or a "rinse and repeat" type item. If I get some time this week, I will make a post on how and why I changed my insurance. Also, if I ever get one done, I'll share my menu plan. Warning, we don't do fancy, not gonna be anything but the basics but I will add any recipes or tricks I do. Well, I think I had better get to work on things and stop blogging, for now!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

What we did Saturday.

OK, we picked up food ordered through SHARE, and free building class at Lowes. We watched an ice skate show, free and the skate for free for 1 hour!!! Then lunch at Qdoba, free kids meals, home and watched 2 movies while cuddling together on the couch. During the 2nd movie, we made frozen Lasagna (from the SHARE food). Total cost for the day together; 2 adult meals at Qdoba.

Great deals

I went to a local grocery store, purchased 20lbs of potatoes, 2.39lbs onions, 1.52lbs of apples, and 2 12ct pkgs of tortillas. Total spent... $4.82 just some great deals!

Dollar Tree: Hair Dye, Shampoo, Salt, Mustard, Storage containers= $5.82

Kroger: 48 brats, 10lbs Gr. Beef, 4lbs boneless Ham, 1 Bread, 1 mini pita, 12 hamburger buns= $44.29

Safeway: 6 12pks soda= $12.96

Albertsons: 2 whole pineapples, 3.17lbs Broccoli, 2 cupcake paper..., 1 chili powder= $7.34

Today's total= $76.23

Number of meals= 21 worth of meat alone!!

FREE finds

 I got some coupons together, $1 off batteries and $5 off Kodak camera, went to Target and bought; 4pkgs of AA batteries in 4ct each, 1 Kodak Fun-saver disposable camera. Used 3 battery coupons and the $5 off one. Total paid for all...... $0.23 just had to pay the tax.

Free Hair cuts

Got back from getting FREE haircuts for the boys and me! Found out that all Super Cuts have a training facility in almost every city. All you have to do is call the nearest store and ask for the number or location of the training facility. Then call them and ask when their free days are. The hours can be limiting, but heck, FREE Haircuts for the whole family!

Welcome

All my friends and everyone seems to have a blog these days. I thought about our lives and how everyone says we must have such fascinating lives, that I finally decided to go ahead and start a blog. We'll see how well I do with it.
I am Beth. I am a mom to Andy (7) and Ryan (6), as well as a wife to Marty (44). I am 36, and we travel around the country moving every 3-6 months. Marty is a Registered Nurse and takes contracts at hospitals for 13 weeks at a time. He does work for one company, they pay for the apartments and utilities as well as renting us furniture. We bring our clothing, toys, bedding, towels, and kitchen wares with us. We have been able to do this by renting a small U-haul trailer when we are moving to a new city. So far our travels have taken us to 3 cities in Texas, Phoenix, Denver, and to the D.C. area. During our travels we have made friends, sisters and brothers, and a new set of grandparents. We visit as many tourist sites as we can, visit all the zoo's we are close to, and take advantage of free or low cost adventures. I home school the boys, have library cards from every city, and have store shopper cards from just about every store there is. One last thing you might like to know, Andy is considered a "special needs" child, he has Spina Bifida. He has surpassed most expectations and has almost no limitations.
I plan on trying to cover different subjects from Spina Bifida, steals and deals, sites to see, things to do, and what it's like to travel so much. If there is something more you want to know, ask and I'll try to answer. For now, Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to ask questions.
Beth