Saving on Saturday

sosI have mentioned before that this is really a “choice/lifestyle” more than just here is what I saved at x store today. To illustrate, I want to blog about my weekend. I ended up with a ton of pictures, and don’t want to distract at all from the cuteness of the kids so I will limit pictures and post links to the pictures.

The weather over the past week has been predicting the possibility of a “freeze/frost” which turns out happened Saturday  night. Many of the activities this weekend directly or indirectly related to this. Friday evening, Matt and I decided to go ahead and harvest all the green peppers and basil that were of any size. I ended up freezing 4 bags (1 cup ) of these and chopping up the remained for salads and cooking this coming week.

For breakfast, Saturday morning, we decided on BLT. I have been making our own bread for the past 18 months, only buying hot dog or hamburger buns. I wanted to use up the loaf so I could make fresh this weekend. We used both fresh lettuce and tomato from the garden.  Most of the morning was spent digging sweet potatoes. Around lunch we decided to venture out to a fall festival at my best friend’s church. They provided chicken stew, hot dogs, homemade ice cream and kettle corn in addition to candy that was given as prizes. We ended up enjoying this so much that we spent 4 hours. After getting home, we fixed an easy dinner of grilled tenderloin and baked sweet potatoes. Kendall said that this was an AWESOME day,  one of the best ever! Total spent $0.  I was concerned a little about the drop in temperature so we chose to clean the oven last night in addition to completing several loads of laundry. The temperature in the house did drop to 67* but this is only a degree below where we set the heat so not a big deal. Unfortunately, I did not move the rising bread dough from the top of the stove and it actually cooked during the oven cleaning. We used old milk containers to cover our lettuce and cabbage plants from the freeze and picked all the tomatoes that were eatable prior to the temperature drop which turned out to be our first freeze. This is what our kitchen window looks like currently.

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Sunday morning, we made biscuits and gravy for breakfast, I did freeze half of the gravy to use one morning when we don’t have the time to make it. For lunch, we had bacon cheeseburger pizza,  This afternoon, I am going to head to CVS to pick up Diet Coke, Matt is taking Zach to registers for indoor soccer and Kendall has a friend over to play. We are choosing to eat at home in order to keep our spending down for the month. I realized this morning that all three of the little kids are in need of winter clothes. This afternoon I have made a list and contact a friend from whom I have previously bought clothes for Zach from. I should be able to purchase enough from her to set him for the winter at about 1/4 the regular cost, I am going to check out ebay and a couple of other sites to purchase the girls clothes before we head out to Winston in a couple of weeks. I may even check out a couple of consignment store, I just have not had much luck finding clothes for Lily at these before.  As you can tell, we are doing a lot to try and stay within our budget no matter to surprises/changes that happen.

 

 

5 Things Friday- 10/16

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1. We are predicted to have our first heavy freeze/frost this weekend. I am rather sad about this. This evening after dinner, we harvested and frozen any green peppers and basil that could be picked. Tomorrow, the kids are looking forward to harvesting the sweet potatoes. I am also planning to bring in as many tomatoes as can be saved.

2.We have currently gone 5 weeks without using our heat or air. This should bring our October and November Electric bills down to around $200. With temperatures to dip below freezing the next couple of nights. I am not sure how much longer we can enjoy this break.

3.I am so excited and proud to say that both the older girls are  gainful and legally employed.

4. All three of the “little” kids had dentist appointment yesterday. Both Kendall and Zach came away with no cavities and Lily has two small cavities but since they are both on baby teeth, the dentist suggested that we just wait. Zach has already started getting his permanent teeth and they have enamel.  The lack of enamel on most of his baby teeth resulted in $5000 of dental surgery at the age of 2 and we have been anxiously waiting to find out if the permanent teeth would be the same. Zach has the same over crowding issues that both Lily and Kendall have so braces at least once per kid if not twice per kid are in our future.

5.Budget wise for the month we are running fairly close. I  have already over spent the grocery budget. Gas prices in our area, during the past week have ranged from $2.09 to $1.99 with no rhyme or reason for the sudden increases or decreases, because of these sudden changes, our gas budget is going to be a close call and may even involve less driving the final week of October.

Menu Planning and other Rambling Thoughts

We have really implemented menu planning into our regular routine, Saturday morning after breakfast. This is one of the few times Matt and I can actually sit down and discuss what we want to cook, look in the pantry and cabinets without being in a rush. This morning we also talked about trying to “clean out the freezers as much as possible” prior to our Disney Trip. I don’t usually worry about the freezers in the building as I do about something happening to the smaller freezers in the house.  The plan/goal currently is to eat and use as much as possible in the next 54 days and only pay small amounts of food if needed with no big stock ups.  I honestly don’t thing this is very hard as I was really deliberate about buying and completely restocking our pantry and freezers this past week. We also have already order 80# of chicken, which will be picked up the first week of November. Honestly at this point I don’t even have room to place this chicken anywhere. I am also considering placing a ground beef order for December but this will depend heavily and freezer space as well.

Now on to the planning

Breakfast–  Homemade Breakfast bowls, Pancakes, toast with  jelly, yogurt,  cereal, poptarts, and grits will be out breakfast for the week. Saturday morning- tenderloin, eggs, grits and gravy. Sunday morning- Baked oatmeal( need to decide what kind in the near future.”

Lunch- .The kids were all excited that we bought “uncrustables” this week at Costco, along with grab lunches. I am going to be taking left-overs every day.

Dinner- During the week, things are fairly busy with an activity every night but Friday but we are keeping with the plan!

Saturday- Lunch: BBQ chicken plates              Dinner- Oyster stew or leftovers.

Sunday- Lunch- Baked potatoes, cream corn, Paula Deen mac and cheese.    Dinner-Leftovers or cowboy beans depending on how full the fridge is.

Monday- Salisbury steak, rice, green beans and fruit.
Tuesday- Pizza bites or eating at school even.
Wednesday-Spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday-  Chicken fried rice
Friday- Chicken nuggets and French fries.

 

I am attending a ladies conference next Friday night and Saturday so Matt and the kids will be figuring something out for these days.

5 Things Friday

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1. I was so excited and surprised to get an email today that told me, we owe $300 less on our Disney trip than I had originally planned! This is HUGE! We have been planning and paying on this trip since February and our final payment is due mid-month.

2  I was able to sell 2 toys today and that gave me $50 to put in the budget this month.

3. We are experiencing a “rainy season” We have received rain every day for the past week and are predicted to receive an additional 4-12 inches of rain over the weekend. My plans include staying inside and long hot baths. The temperature is also a bit cool for North Carolina in October.

4. We currently are on week 4 without heating or cooling out house!  This should help reduce our electric bill to under $200 for the month of October and hopefully November!

5. We made several huge grocery store trips yesterday and have already spent all but $16 of our grocery budget for the month. I am so disappointed in this but am already facing the fact that I seriously need to increase the budget to a more achievable amount.  I need to do some research and figure out what a reasonable amount would be, any suggestions on where to find this information?

September in Review

Blogging:  Goal: 14 per month This is actually post 18, I may actually have to up the goal next year!   Goal MET!

Weight: Goal:  Met and maintain weight of 175. This goal will be considered met each month that weight loss is achieved and once this weight is achieved, each month maintained is considered achieved.  Struggling still.. I have been able to exercise at least 1 day a week in September but am hoping to get that up to 3 or more for the month of October and November. I have read that you can walk 10 miles a day at Disney and I don’t want to be tired and miss anything.

Spiritual-  Goal. I want to spend time reading and or studying the Bible at least 5 days a week for the year.  Goal MET! This is making a huge difference in my days and I am planning to stay on track with this!

Financial Goals-
1.  Full Fund the budget each month.   Goal MET!

2. Emergency Fund to $2000.  Met. Added $100!  Goal met 4 months in a row!

3. Groceries: Reduce Grocery spending to $300 for the month. I am going to consider this goal met. We actually spent $335 for the month!  This is huge for us and actually helped to fund the budget as well!

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month . Goal Met! We have actually spent $404 for the month but this includes $200 of preventive work  on Matt’s van and a quick repair to the car. I am so excited because the plan for October is to use any extra to pay on our trip and this should actually allow us to use the regular budget in November to cover our gas cost.

5. Eating out- tracking purposes only 217.52. A HUGE ($200) decease from previous months.  I am excited to see we can control this amount!

Disney- GOAL MET!

September turned out to be the most successful month for us in a long  time. I am so excited to post this update but am also looking at the month of October. We will not be able to keep the grocery budget as low as we did in September and we have to finish paying on our Disney trip.  I have already worked out a plan to cover everything that is required for the month but it will dip in savings and leave a huge chunk of things unfunded for the month.  I am really struggling not to let October put a damper on the huge success September was, so I am going to end on that note.

5 Things Friday

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1. Just because I like to be a rule breaker, I am going to post my saving on Saturday, in today’s list!  Amazon was running an awesome deal on Amazon Prime- $67 for a year’s membership. Matt helped us to join today. This will save us $4 a month starting in January because of the kid’s Kindle subscription. So we are going to enjoy free shipping, movies, music and books for $31 or $2.58 a month.

2. Our Menu plan this week was side track by a couple of things. First, a person at church is growing some awesome peppers and was generous enough to share these. We ended up having Pepper Steak on Sunday afternoon and Chicken Fajitas on Thursday. The second change was due to me locating a container of grilled chicken on Wednesday. Because I did not want for this to get wasted we had chicken fajitas on Thursday instead of shrimp and a awesome chicken pot pie on Friday.

3. This coming week will be the most challenging for our budget. So far for the month of October we are less than $10 over gas and groceries(which I cut to $300).  We already have a menu plan in place so my goal is to stay the course and celebrate an awesome successful month!

4.I have absolutely no plans for tomorrow. My goal is to not leave the house all day!

5.The kids had an early release day today and were picked up from school at 12 noon. I am very proud to say that so far this year, no one has missed a day of school or received a tardy. FIRST TIME EVER!

 

5 Things Friday

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1. Our September bills are starting to arrive. The good news is that the water bill is $8 less than last month and the electric bill is $30 less than last month. I am going to attribute both of the deceases to the week we were on vacation. We decided to turn the air up to 85 degree and did not use any water that week along with getting all our laundry taken care off while at the beach.

2. We are once again have a very unusual weather pattern. This summer has been hot with the majority of day reaching above 90*. However last Saturday, the temperature dropped to daytime highs in the 70s so we were able to turn off our air and open up the windows. So far, we have been 6 days without the use of heat or air. I have been researching the weather and we should be able to continue without heat or air for the next week or so. I fully expect to need to turn back on the air at least once more but in the meantime, our finances are enjoying the break.

3. I have remained under budget in both gas and groceries for the month.

4. Yesterday, Matt and I spent most of the day shopping for a desk to fit and complete our bedroom. This will be my primary “workspace” so I am trying to be both practical and frugal with this purchase. In the past I have been using a kitchen table and then the small computer desk. Kendall requested a desk and was able to clear out a huge space in her room, so that desk will be moving in her room.  We decided on purchasing both a new chair and desk at IKEA. Matt has worked really hard at getting everything assembled and I am going to hopefully find some time this weekend to organize this area.

5.  I am planning a “sleepover’ yard sale with my best friend tomorrow.  This should be fun and hopefully profitable.

September Goal Update

1.  Full Fund the budget each month.  I was able to complete this by using $400 of our grocery budget.!

2. Emergency Fund to $2000.   Added $100 this week.

. 3. Groceries: Reduce Grocery spending to $300 for the month. Currently, I have spent $274 for the month. I have the remaining $26 plus a $5 refund from Target in cash. I am excited because I have purchased 80# of chicken, 90 rolls of toilet paper and this list, all this month!  I will admit that the last 2.5 weeks of the month will be challenging but I am setting myself up to succeed.

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month .  Total spent this  month is $304.11. We decided to go ahead and complete some preventive work on Matt’s van this month, our goal is to extend the life of the van till my current van is paid off. I was able to find gas for $1.99 a gallon so I am very hopefully that we are able to stay within the budget for the month.

5. Eating out- Reduce/Eliminate Eating out for the month of September. $80 for the month including the purchase of 2 meals during my recent trip.

Disney- Pay at least $375 toward our Disney trip to maximize Disney points prior to November. This week I paid an additional $100 toward our Disney trip so total for the month so far is $200!  I do have a yard sale planned for next Saturday, all proceeds will go toward meeting this goal!

Extra Goals:
1.  Plan to purchase both Lily and Amanda birthday cards.  Completed! 

As you can see, for the month I am really on track financially. I want to make sure that I stay accountable for the next two and half weeks, they will be the most difficulty. I am also very excited that we have been able to turn off the air conditioning for the last 24 hours. My goal is to get at least 7 days of no heat or air this month to reduce our electric bill to under $250.

5 Things Friday

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1. I am staying in a hotel room tonight, as I attended a continuing education class from 8-5:30 today and will be in class again from 8 till 1:30 tommorow as well. This is the first time since I think Zach was born that I have been away from the kids an entire night.  We are very fortunate to have FaceTime so they are not so far away.

2. I was so very excited to be able to fund all our budget catogeries this month. We are focusing on keeping our expenses low and making any extra payment we can toward our Disney trip.

3. I am going to have another yard sale next Saturday, I am hoping to sell $100 worth of stuff and that money will also go into the Disney fund.

4. Yesterday online I found an awesome coupon for $25 off a $50 purchase at Advance Auto. We decide to go ahead and purchase some items to complete some maintence on Matt’s van. None of the items were emergencies but the goal is to keep his van in the best shape so we can drive for the next 5 years.

5. Zach is having a really good year so far at school with his behavior being some of the best in the class! Kendall also had a great day today with achieve “Gold” status after getting in trouble on Wednesday. I am praying this is the postive up swing she needs!

Labor Day Project

The project for today was to finishing “reclaiming” the old deck wood at the edge of our yard, check out more of the story here.

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Our square foot garden did not produce the corn we had hoped for this year and one of the reasons that we think may have been part of the problem was the amount of “shade” our bed was getting. So a perfect use of this wood was to make a separate “corn” bed in direct sunlight with no shade. Next up I really wanted to add a second layer to the beds we had previously built and ran out of wood. Matt and I spent all morning working on building the box, then after yet another trip to Lowes, it is finished. I am really pleased with the results and officially declare the square foot garden finished!

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You can see how the shade is covering parts of the garden in the above pictures.
I did go ahead and purchase an additional 8 bags of dirt that I will use once we have harvested all the pepper, lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes to make sure we have a good soil base. The dirt was on sale for half price at Lowes so I wanted to make sure I had enough. I also decided to purchase some mums to help with my fall flowers as well.  I hope they will live a nice long time as it does not appear to be “fall” anywhere in the near future according to our weather forecast.

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