Saving on Saturday-11/12/16

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Sheila

This has been a day of beginning and ending for savings around my house. First I will share the beginning. We are planting fruit trees as part of our landscape. I ordered a set of six fruit trees of dwarf size to plant in the back yard. I specifically picked the dwarf size in order to use them as a bounder. They don’t look like much now but hopefully in five year we will be able to harvest and enjoy some fresh fruit. In case you are wondering we chose two apples up front, followed by two pear, a cherry and peach tree. The big debate is now do we add one or two more to complete the border.

So now we are at the ending, the weather has really started to feel fall like here. During the past week we have several nights that have gotten cold enough for a frost. Tonight, Saturday, the forecast is for a hard freeze. The girls and I went ahead and harvested all the remaining green peppers and tomatoes from our garden and pulled up most of the plants for the compost pile. I am hoping that the tomato will ripen in our window sill over the next week or so. The green pepper were chopped with some being frozen for soup and other left to use during the week.

I have been doing some shopping over the last week and will plan to share all my deals in the next couple of days.

Thursday Thoughts

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Sheila

Many things are going on around here, so are money saving and some are just fun so I thought I would share some .

Matt is working on digging holes for our new trees that are scheduled to arrive today. I purchased 6 fruit trees last month. I realize that these may take several (3-5) years to produce but I am so excited to be able to do some eatable landscaping. We are getting 2 apples and 2 pear trees, so they will cross pollinate, 1 cherry and 1 peach tree. They are going in our backyard along the property line to create a natural boundary.
My goal for the weekend is to get my snow village up and in place. I am so excited to have time to spend on this project this year without feeling rushed. I will refrain from placing other Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving but the snow village can go up now and stay til at least January.
We picked up our Zaycon steak order this morning! Both boxes were less than one pound off the promised weight so we have a $15 credit to use on our next order. The steak look amazing! Can’t wait to try them tomorrow night.
Menu planning has definitely not gone as planned this week. Last weekend we spent trying to finish up left-overs and made some head way but not enough. We are not eating out just not eating what is scheduled. Today, I am making broccoli-cheese soup and steak will be on Friday. I am betting that Saturday will be left-overs again.
No grocery spending this week!
The temperature has finally turned to fall and we ended up turning on our heat on Sunday. Our first hard freeze is expected this weekend which means the end of tomatoes and green peppers. I did plant some lettuce and we are getting a small amount from that so I hope that will continue for a few more weeks.

Saving on Saturday-11/05/2016

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Sheila

The weather is continuing to cooperate. We have not used heat or air in 45 days! This may one of the longest streaks ever! I am very hopefully to make it till the 15th of November.
I washed and hung out to dry 4 loads of sheets today. That saved at least 4 hours of dryer time. Matt was able to wash and hang out a load of my uniforms earlier in the week as well.
Eating left-overs, I am in charge of cooking on the weekend and I usually enjoy cooking at least 3 meals in a two day period. This weekend, beginning on Friday, we are eating out of the fridge. I will make a pot of soup for lunch tomorrow before our pictures but otherwise this is food that will go to waste if we don’t eat so at least four or meals it is. I did make one change to our rules this time. You can only eat breakfast foods for breakfast.
Trimmed and polished our nails at home instead of getting manicures before our family pictures on Sunday. This step alone saved at least $75.
Found a local photographer who is willing to travel to my brother’s house. None of my family does well in a crowd but we all LOVE pictures. Over the past several years, we have discovered it is much easier for all of us to hire someone to come take family pictures. I also think in the end it saves money and allows a less stressful time.
Combining online deals. Zachary’s sheet have a mysterious hole in them. They are unfortunately the only set of “boy” twin sheet we have. I was able to combine a doorbuster deal at JCPenny’s along with a coupon they set to me. I was able to purchase 2 sets of sheets for his bed, a set of flannel sheets for Lily’s bed, a hoodie for Kendall and 4 shirts for me all for $113. I will receive back $10 in JCPenny Rewards in addition to $7 in Swagbucks. Sheets are normally expensive so I counting all the clothes as free!
Meal planning- we have spent $100 at Costco so far this month and I hope that will be the extend of our grocery spending. In order for this to happen, meal planning is a must. We currently have enough meals planned for the entire month of November!
Matt and I both are continuing to make an effort to earn money via apps. Our current goal is to make between $150 and $200 a month. We are on track already for November with $50 this first week.

Five Things Friday-10/28/2016

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Sheila

This week has been a really hard week for me. I am think that the stress of the last several months in addition to our crazy busy schedule caught up with me. I have been struggling to just keep my head above water and even lost it several times this week. However, I do see light at the end of the tunnel and God continues to provide blessing big and small on a regular basis. I have decide that I am going to stop “trying to catch up” and enjoy the moment. What this did mean for me was that I shredded all the receipts on my desk that I want to write about. This weekend is not full and should give us all some time to slow down and catch up.
Lily is loving charter school. Even on the days that regular school is out. I am continuing to see progress and hear her working to finish assignments. This is officially the end of the first quarter and I am 100% confident that we made the right decision with NC K-12.
Zach’s last baseball game was Monday of this week. He LOVES baseball which is a huge surprise to me. He is already talking about the spring. He is also growing and will need new cleats and a new uniform. I hope he continue to try different sports, but if baseball is what he loves than guess we will spend more time on the baseball field.
The three little kids all had Dentist appointments on Thursday. We are excited that no one had any cavities. But the even better news is that it was discovered that Kendall had several wires that were continuing to rub against her cheek. She thought this was normal and therefore had not complained. Our orthodontist office was closed and will be closed to Monday morning but the dentist cut the wires. Kendall already is acting much happier and is back to eating regular food.\
The weather here is strange but enjoyable. We were able to turn off the air in mid September and are still not using the heat. Our electric bill for Oct is below $200 and I am hopeful for an even lower bill in November. The other benefit to the weather is that we are still harvesting a few tomatoes and peppers. In fact this is by far the best harvest of pepper that we have ever had. I am so excited to be able to flash freeze and may be able to use for the entire winter! Our first frost is still at least 2 weeks away according to the weather, so I am watering and growing!

5 Positive Things Friday-10/21/2016

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Sheila

Our family has received several blessing and/or positive things are happening this week but instead of me shouting from the rooftop, I am still sitting in the pile of life is not fair. So I am going to be very intentional in being positive and thankful this week.

My mother’s health is continuing to improve. She received good news this week and has started taking small steps on her temporary new leg. She probably has another 8-10 weeks before things are “normal” again but definitely improvements this week.
Kendall has been tolerating her new braces for the past three days without needing medicine. In fact tonight she is eating chips which is a huge step for her.
Matt and I both received a small increase in wages this week. I have to keep reminding myself any increase is a good thing.
Matt and I have both been earning extra money with several apps. So far this month we have received an additional $110 this month so far! In addition to a box of food items and a box of dog items.
A very sweet friend offered to stay at cheerleading last night so that I could “experience” an entire baseball game in person. I got to watch Zach get a hit and score a run with this team WINNING!

Wordless Tuesday- Sweet Potatoes

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Sheila

We still don’t have our first frost in the forecast but at least one of the sweet potato vines has started turning brown. We decided it would be best to go ahead and dig up the potatoes while they are still healthy. This is always fun!

We feed the vines to our neighbor’s goats and bull.

The potatoes were HUGE! Now to enjoy the fruits of our labor! The best part is these potatoes were completely free because I started from potatoes from last year!

Saving on Saturday-10/08/2016

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Sheila

I did not have a chance to share my Food Lion trip from last week, it was a needed trip but not a fun and exciting trip. It also ended up being my large trip during this sale. I spent a total of $104 and saved $43 or 30%. What I did accomplish on this trip was to grab soups for cooking, such as Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom, in addition to canned beans and fruits. I also grab Kendall’s favorite tomato soup as it was on sale.

Now on to more fun savings. I did return to CVS this week to grab deodorant and Diet Coke. A nice surprise to start my trip was 2 ECB from quarterly savings. I was able to grab 4 deodorants for Matt and 3 12 packs of Diet Coke for a total of $10.34 saving 74%.

A final trip to Food Lion happened on Thursday night as well. A friend told us about the frozen burritos that are part of the quarter back sale. The original price on the burritos is 2 for$1. I did not go to my normal store but instead left Lily at cheerleading and went to the store in Welcome. I was only able to find 15 burrito but I grabbed all of these. To get my total up to 40 items, I grabbed 2L sodas, cans of beans and corn. I honestly did not have any of this transaction planned but am certain we are stocked up for in our pantry now. The second transaction was much more fun, the reason why it was FREE!

Food Lion has an additional promotion this week, where if you buy 5 items on there list you automatically receive $5 off. Kelloggs Poptart 12 count boxes are on the list. I purchased 5 boxes for zero.

This has again been a bigger than normal shopping week so I hope the rest of October goes smoothly.

5 Things Friday 10/07/2016-

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Sheila

Most if not all this weeks event are financial!

Several of our monthly bills are lower than expected this month including cable (refund on over tax), water and electric bill.
I purchased an Orchard In A Box. We will be planting when it arrives in November. I am super excited! We should be harvesting fruit in 3-5 years. This is long range planning for sure but in 5 years we will have 3 teenagers including a boy so I am fairly certain that our food bill will go up instead of down! I did take this expense out of our normal grocery fund.
Zach is growing! I really this morning that we are going to NEED to purchase at least 5 new pair of pants for him. He and I will be heading to the local goodwill tomorrow. If we are not able to find things there it will be a major trip to Winston on Sunday.
I have finished the majority of my Christmas shopping! I still need to buy my nieces gifts and we will be purchasing pictures for my parents. I am so excited to have this expense out of the way.
In addition to the orchard, we are going to add pavers around the square foot garden in order to make it easier to maintain! We are using gift cards earned from Lowes and Swagbucks to cover this expense.

Saving on Saturday-10/01/2016

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Sheila

This has been a fun week for saving. I am planning to do a separate post about my Food Lion trip, so look for it on Monday or Tuesday.

National coffee day was on Thursday. Coffee is Matt’s absolute favorite thing in the world! He and Lily celebrated big. First they headed to Sheetz to claim a free Iced coffee, and the next stop was Krispy Kreme. They grabbed 26 donuts and 2 coffee for $9. The only sad occurrence of the day is they used the last sticker on our BOGO card. Krispy Kreme is no longer printing these cards. We do still have our calendar which has a deal of donuts at least very other month.

I have enjoyed using the McDonald’s app. I have always since downloading had a free large drink with purchase. It is awesome and for less than $3 I can purchase breakfast on the run.

The weather has finally decided to cooperate, the temperatures have been low 80 during the day with 60s at night. We have been without air condition for almost 2 weeks which I estimate to be around $50 of savings. The other good news is we finally received some rain. Our water bill dropped again this month to where I hope it stays around $27 a month.

September in Review

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Sheila

Personal-
1. Blogging– Post 20 per month. Fail. This is post number 18. This number is slowly but surely going up. We are currently in an extremely busy season with work till 6 most nights for me and multiple practices and games every night.

2.Weight Loss– 175#. No comment.

3. Spiritual– Spend at least 5 days a week, reading and studying The Bible. This continues to be a challenge for me. I need to find a time to set for this but so far not happening.

Personal goals are a failure for the fourth month straight. But on a positive note, things are improving. I know that once things settle down and I get my school groove back it will get better.

Financial-

1. Set aside money each month in every budget category. Fail. We have been able to meet all expenses but this is a huge struggle.

2. Establish and maintain Emergency Fund- Fail.
3. Groceries: Goal is for $550. I knew once Food Lion started their sale that I would be way over for the month. I currently have spent $920 which is close to two months. The good news is that I am going to order fruit trees in October and may make one more trip for sale items at Food Lion but otherwise the month of October I don’t plan on a trip until the end of the month if at all!

4. Gas: Spend $300 a month- Fail! We spent $313 this month including an oil change for the van. In October, the truck needs an inspection and tags so it will continue to be a expensive time.

5. Pay off all Credit Card debit by December 2016- Fail. I am meeting bare minimal payments on everything but really was hoping to begin to get control and reduce this number.

6. Money Making Apps- I am adding this for monthly reporting. Matt and I both are trying to see how much we can earn doing small things. This month has been very successful. Matt cashed out for 2 $25 gift cards from Swag Bucks and 2 $5 gift cards from MPLACES. I have cashed out for a total of $75 in gift cards from Swag Bucks and $20 in gift cards from MPLACES. Total of $145 for the month. Extra money is awesome and helping to work our way back to a budget.

Teens Tots and Everything In Between

Life, Love and Coupons

Category Archives: Saving Money