Monthly Archives: April 2013

April In Review

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Financial goals: April was a month of catch up that didn’t have us catching up as I had hoped. One of the reason was I actually was shorted a full day on a check. Hopefully things will start to improve in May

  • Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged. Payment made of $175
  • Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June–  No progress this month
  • Emergency fund to $2000–  This fund has actually decreased again this month. My focus for May will be to return it to the $500 mark.  I would like to have it up to $500 ASAP and $2000 by the end of the year.
  • Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system – Still working well!
  • Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month Goal met, and we are on track for meeting our projection for the year as well. , We spent a $564.00 this month. We have decided not to participate in the food co-op this year but instead use of the money for fresh fruits and veggies.

Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month This is my 14th post of the month . Still have not met this goal for the year but will continue to keep working toward it. I am actually pleased this month because I feel I have achieved a good balance with pictures and information.

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week   Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month. Exercising has not been as consistent as I want it to be and I have realized that I really need to focus on my water intake as well. This continues to be a daily struggle for me.

Stretching Your Dollar and Ground Beef

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I wanted to share today how we have managed to stretch our ground beef over the past several days.  These are simple and fast, but because my family  really does not like left overs this is a way to stretch the ground beef.

Start with 3-4 pounds of ground beef and simply brown.
Tacos are first, add the seasoning and water. Enjoy!
Sloppy joes are next add one can of rotel and enough ketchup to make the remaining meat look “soupy”. Let this mixture simmer for about 30 minutes or so. Add bread and cheese.
The remaining mixture can be used in several different ways; chili(or sloppy joe) cheese fries, hot dog chili, spaghetti sauce.

We actually have practiced this for the past couple of days. We have actively been raising money for Haley’s summer youth trip to the National Youth Conference. Our first meal was pintos, I brought home leftovers and made refried beans. The next meal was a “Mexican Meal” we used the refried beans and add Taco meat. I definitely over purchased the meat, so we frozen the remaining 10 or so pounds. This past Sunday was our “Soup and Sandwich” Meal. I used the above recipe to change the taco meat into sloppy joes. Because the meat had been frozen one time, the remaining meat was sent home with several families. Matt has enjoyed several meal of Sloppy Joes but the kids really did not like this idea so the other idea became part of the plan. Tonight Matt was able to use up the remaining meat mixture in a baked spaghetti which was really good!

 

 

Crazy Busy Weekend

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100_5908This has been one of the busiest weekend so far. Friday night and Saturday, Haley and I spent time at our District Bible Quizzing Meet. We were joined by people from Georgia, Raleigh and  South Carolina.  Haley left around 1:30pm to start preparing for the prom.  Above is one of the many pictures I plan to share from pre-prom. Matt is playing around in Lightroom to see what he can come up with. I was planning to do it myself but he has much better eye and a lot more patience with it than I do. One of the things that we realize is that our camera which is now close to 8 years old or more, needs to be updated. I think* this time I am going to save up some money and purchase a real camera instead of a point and shoot.   I have considered it in the past but I really do like pictures and with the prices of pictures continuing to rise not counting the time it takes to get the professional pictures taken. I think now may be the time to invest in something along these lines.   I was able to catch a nap, and talked Haley home after prom. On Sunday, we had a fundraiser for Haley’s Life trip this summer.   Enjoy the picture!

My 2 Cents

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photo (13)This is what I was able to purchase with my 2 cents yesterday at CVS!  I always say that couponing is a game but it is a long game like monopoly. I used 10 ECB to pay for the above items. All the items I purchased were on this current weeks sale,including the toothpaste which was BOGO Free!  But you really can’t look at this purchase in isolation. It really started in January, when I grab a rain check for 24  12 packs of coke products. The rain check was 4 for $10 and 10 ECB when you purchased $30. Last week I went by CVS to pre-order 24 cases of Diet Coke.  Thursday morning, I was able to purchase the 24 packs in two separate transactions. I used 2 free 12 pack coupons to bring the actual cost down to $1.80 per 12 pack including tax.  I chose not to spend my remaining 10 ECB from the second transaction in hopes of a awesome sale that might start on Sunday. I did check Thursday night and discover I really had no interest in going to CVS for the next sale so decide to go ahead and so see what I could use from this weeks sale.

What have you purchased for 2 cent lately?

Matt’s Birthday Celebration

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photo (12)I started to included this in another post but decided Matt deserved his own post! So here you go hon..something all about you!

Because of prior commitments, we ended up celebrating Matt’s 41st birthday over the weekend in two separate days. First on Saturday morning, I went to Biscuit King and got him breakfast, it was not breakfast in bed but it will count. Also on Saturday evening we went to Outback and finished up with desert at Krispy Kreme. Both Lily and Kendall made some really nice cards that will be kept for years to come. On Sunday, Matt picked Subway for lunch and I made his favorite cold Shrimp Cocktail for dinner. We actually enjoyed a quiet dinner just the two of us after the kids had gone to bed.

It’s Official

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I have now completed all the activities need to be considered an “Extreme Couponer.”

One of the students at work asked me if I was one and I said “I don’t think so.” So then she proceed to ask me question to clarify my answer, “Do you have a stockpile?” ” Do you specifically go to a store just to buy something with a coupon?”  After answer yes to these and several other questions, I came up with the one reason I could not be considered an extreme couponer. I have NEVER pre-ordered an item because it was such a great deal and the store would not normally stock this quantity of an item. Today, I crossed over and pre-ordered. In January, CVS had an awesome deal on 12 pack cans, after ECB less than $2 each. I was able to stock up on 20-something of these 12 packs and also got a rain check for an additional 24 packs.  I knew at the time that it would be near impossible to just walk in the store and purchase all 24 of these 12 packs.  So today, I spoke to the cashier and assistant manager, who will order the 24 12 packs of Diet Coke from the Coke man when he comes back to the store.

In addition to pre-ordering the soda, I was able to use the 20% coupon on the front of the circular to stock up on toilet paper, and supply my husband with both coffee and body wash.  After I actually purchase the Diet Cokes I will  up date the numbers but at this point, I have spent $30.07 and saved 23.69 or 56%.

So now you understand how I officially became an Extreme Couponer”

Sunday Night Chit Chat 4/14/2013

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Been waiting all day to participate! So I joined over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily

Zach and his friend really like the dirt! Not from today but I wanted to share~

Zach and his friend really like the dirt! Not from today but I wanted to share~

  • Reading? Plan to catch up with reading chapter 7 and 8 of The Story, before next Sunday.
  • Watching? Matt and I watched the first two episodes of The Bible  I have to say I was really disappointed at the level of violence and the number of differences we found.
  • Listening to? NOTHING!!! actually my tub is heating up for me!
  • Cooking/baking? I spent all day cooking yesterday so nothing today!
  • Happy you accomplished this week? 15 meals prepared yesterday, and the Winter coats put away along with Easter things!
  • Looking forward to next week? A regular week with some extra time for me!
  • Thankful for today? Weather and friends
  • *Bonus Question* What is your *ideal* wake up time and what time do you *usually* wake up?  I would love to go to bed around 11pm and wake up at 8ish everyday!  But reality is kids are awake by 6:30 and I have to get to bed by 10 or I don’t function well.

 

Day of Cooking 4/13/2013

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One of the things that I have not done in over a year is spend a day preparing food that then is easy to heat up and serve as meals. I have done this several times a year in the past. With our focus this month on reducing all expenses, I decided to spend my day in the kitchen. I purchased a total of 12# of ground beef from Costco on Thursday and Matt had picked up an order of Chicken from Zaycon Foods on Tuesday so I knew we probably had everything I need to cook most of these items. I spent a total of 8 hours in the kitchen today including clean up time and I took several breaks. I was able to assemble 15 different meals. I have a list of these meals along with all the different other meats we have on the fridge. We will mostly like have one or two a week and then wait a week before having the same item again. I find it much easier to prepare a larger quantity at once. I first heard of freezer cooking several years ago, most of the recipes I use are from 30 day Gourmet, I have not purchased any of their books but printed out a ton of recipes from their site.   Here is a list of what we have, most have recipes with them.

1 pack of cooked ground beef this will be great for chili or another dish
2 meals of Chicken Fried Rice this is Haley favorite meal of all time.
2 Cheeseburger Pies
4 Packs of Salisbury Patties
4 packs of Taco Rice – one of these is actually to take with us to the Beach in August. It was a favorite last year.
2 meatloaf This is a recipe from my mother, I will place at the end if you are interested. I have taken one of Matt’s sisters idea (cheese) and add to make it even better!
1 Baked Ziti For our lunch tomorrow

We had one of the meatloaf for dinner tonight along with Pineapple casserole and Paula Deen Mac and Cheese

I plan to finish the night by making a Baked Oatmeal that I will set for the oven to bake first thing in the morning!

I started by making a huge batch of Rice since I planned to make several items that called for it. I also browned up 6 lbs of ground beef at once and spread between several dishes. I like to clean up as I go. So I was able to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for several things after a quick clean. I will say that it made especially the Salisbury patties much easier. Currently I am just under $200 left in the grocery budget for the month. I have a list of 35 main meal items on the fridge so maybe I can keep our budget way down and transfer the money to other needs!

Do you have any good recipes to share along these lines if so leave a comment!

Meatloaf
1 ½ Lb ground Beef
¾ cup Bread crumbs
1 T prepared Mustard
2 T Ketchup
1 cup Milk
1 sm onion 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
Blend onion and milk in blender. Mix together all above. Place half in loaf pan. Cover with layer of Cheddar Cheese. Place remaining meat mixture on top be sure to round the ends so that the cheese is sealed. Top with the following, after mixing together
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups Ketchup
1 ¼ tsp prepared mustard
¼ tsp nutmeg