Random Tuesday Thoughts

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Sheila

Matt has been working on cleaning out the building and I ordered a new stand up freezer today. I went ahead and purchased the largest one available. It is suppose to be delivered next Thursday which gives us a week before the chicken arrives. We are also planning on getting some wireless thermostats to use to monitor the temperature in the building and both freezers.
I received my first Disney gift card today. I need to earn another $150 not from our budget in order to book our next trip.
The kids have 2 and half weeks of school left. Thankfully I was able to take a couple of days off in order to attend most of the special events at the end of the year.
We have a swim team meeting on Thursday and Zach is planning to swim. I am so excited!!! I LOVE watching swim team meets!
Amanda is hosting a yard sale on Saturday and I am hoping to make $100. I have already made $45 this weekend on furniture. This is a much needed boost in income to help cover summer expenses like swim team.
We have now not used heat or air for 6 weeks with only 2 days used in the four weeks before that. Our electric bill was $161 for last month! This is the lowest it has been in around 18 months! Huge win!
I have started a new diet/ work out program this week so I am hopefully for good results even by the end of the month.
We have been able to harvest basil and dill. Yesterday I got a squash that is small but it is a start!

5 Things Friday- A Day Late

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Sheila

We decided to go strawberry picking with the kids this morning. The local nursery offered BOGO on pick your own strawberries. We picked 4 gallons of strawberries for $18. I did share some of these with both my mom and Amanda.
After getting home and trying to decide where to put the strawberries, we discovered that our stand up freezer had stopped working. I was able to save milk and about a fourth of what was in the freezer.
I found 3 gallons of half thawed strawberries so I decided to cook with these instead of the fresh one. I did end up flash freezing at least 2 gallons for future use.
I made strawberry lemonade muffins, strawberry cream cheese coffee cake, and a double batch of strawberry jam. They all turned out awesome but my favorite is the strawberry jam.
We will be having a yard sale hopefully next Saturday so this coming week is incredibly busy.

Gift Cards- Spending Money The Fun Way!

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Sheila

I had some extra time on my hands as I waited in a doctor’s office today so I decided to clean out my purse. I was so excited to find a five dollar bill and a Walmart gift card that I had totally forgotten about. I knew we needed a bag of frozen veggies to go in the chicken pie I was planning for Friday night, so after the appointment I headed to Walmart. I was able to grab 2 bags of frozen vegetables, a bag of Twizzlers for Matt and a pack of Kool-Aid drinks for the kids. I still have 57 cent left on my gift card.

My other use of gift cards today is a little bit confusing but even more exciting. During the past month I have been using an app called “Swagbucks” I can be use for shopping but I am using it to watch videos, random and not so random search of the internet and answering survey questions. So far in two months I have gained enough point and cashed in for 2-$25 gift cards to Target. This afternoon, I decided to place an order at Target. I had already linked by Red Debit card to my account. This gives me 5% off and free shipping. I placed in my cart a $50 Disney card and a box of baking soda. Total cost was $49.43 which I enter both gift cards as payment. I have 53 cent left on one.

Total spent today ZERO and I was able to grab a couple of grocery items we are out of. I call that success!

5 Things Friday-5/13/2016

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Sheila

The garden is doing the best EVER! We have corn growing, cucumber and squash with huge blooms and we are already picking dill and basil to use! I am hoping this continues and we get to enjoy the benefits for the entire year.
In checking the freezers, I realized that we were out of beef stock. Between yesterday and today, we have made and frozen 3 gallon that should last for a while.
The air conditioning in the house is still off. I am so excited as this is definitely the longest time in May we have been able to keep it off. I have already checked the forecast for the next week and with temperatures in the 60s till Wednesday, May 20th is now my goal date!
I am going to head out tomorrow night with some friend from work to Dinner and a Movie. I am excited as this is the first time in years, I have been able to do something like this.
I am planning to add a goal to my financial side to earn a $25 gift card each month from Swagbucks. This will help to boost my saving significantly.

Grocery Shopping- My Way

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Sheila

I have been getting a couple of questions about the way I shop, so I am going to try and explain it along with the example of my shopping today.

Meat- My first choice is Zaycon food. Typically we buy chicken breast once every six months and other items usually about once a year. We currently have pork roast and pork chops in the freezer. The purchases of the other foods depend heavily on our need and ability to pick up when things are offered. My second choice which is also more convenient is the “meat store” which is in the next town. Over the past three years we typically go and purchase meat about once every 5-6 months. We always buy ground beef in bulk and process by making several items but a lot of packages of pre-cooked meat. Other meat is typically purchased at Costco on an as needed bases. Today I purchased 5 bags of shrimp at Harris Teeter, this should last a minimum of 6 months if not longer.

Health and Beauty Items, including toilet paper, I purchase on sale cycles at CVS or Harris Teeter. CVS is my only “weekly” trip because it is in town. I try and spent $1 or less on most items. Toothpaste is always free and I currently have around 20 tubes in the stockpile. I always watch sales and try to keep things pretty well stocked up. For the first couple month of the year, we were able to reduce spending significantly and just use what we had. My goal is to try this again this summer.

Drinks- I am addicted to Diet Coke and I fully admit it. I usually purchase most of my drinks both can and bottles at CVS. I try always to combine an ECB deal with free 12 pack coupons from Coke. Today however was the exception, we purchased 10 cases of soda at Harris Teeter on a Buy 2 Get 3 free sale. I also currently have 3 rain checks for cokes. Typically price for 2L is less than $1 and cans- 25cent each or less.

I purchase the majority of the rest of my groceries at Costco. Just like regular grocery stores they run sales and I tended to stock up on good deals. Today we purchased 3 boxes of Cheez-its and 2 boxes of gummies. These should last through the summer. I do also keep a watch on sales. I typically go to Harris Teeter every other month depending on when Super Doubles or great sales occur like today. Food Lion is the only grocery store beside Walmart in my town so I will shop there for great deals and for their annual sale which is typically an additional 25 cent off house brand purchases. Aldi is also local and we grab our vegetables, canned foods and snack items there. I usually go to Aldi every two weeks.

Our Costco trip today ended up totaling close to $500 but this was a stock up trip because I honestly don’t plan or want to go back till at least the first of August if not the week before the kids return to school. I enjoying shopping at Costco but tend to spend more than I should. Today’s trip included 8 gallons of milk, 7 dozen eggs and 4 packs of shells.

How different are your shopping trips than mine?

Saving on Saturday 04/23/2016

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Sheila

I actually have 3 ways I have been saving this week to share with you today. First is a very common one, CVS. I have actually not been to CVS in three weeks but this was definitely a week that I needed and wanted to go. I consider a good trip saving over 60%. This weeks’ trips met the criteria as I spent $26 and saved $38 or 60%. I am more pleased that most of the items purchased were on my list of things we needed including deodorant for Lily, body wash for Matt and bathroom cleaner. As you probably already know Diet Cokes are always on my list. The second way, I saved this week is by purchasing chicken breast from Zaycon (my referral link). They sent me a coupon good for 20 cent off a pound which saved me 11% or $25. I also had a credit from a previous pick up where I was short some pounds of pork tenderloin and a referral credit. I was able to purchase 120# of chicken breast for $198.04! Finally I did not save money but earned free money from Swagbucks. I have been completing less than an hour a day answering survey question and or watching videos, letting them run on my screen for the past month. I cashed out Swagbucks for a $25 Target gift card and discovered a $5 Amazon card in my account! Free money is better than saving money!

How did you save this week?

Saving on Saturday-04/09/2016

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Sheila

Today has definitely been a day about saving, really more about saving time than money but they both are pretty important around here. First a little of the background, one of the ways that I have been trying to control our budget and spending this year is with grocery purchases. We have only spent $1250 for the first three months of the year, I focused on using the items that we had on hand and we were able to clean out and reorganize a lot of our freezer space. In March, we used up all of our ground beef, so we need to start replenishing our supplies. On Thursday, Matt and I managed to make a huge grocery trip which included our local “meat market”. Now back to today, we need to “process” the thirty pounds of ground beef we have purchased. I decided that since the weather outside was cold and windy, I would prefer to spend the day in the kitchen. I am very pleased with the results. Total time spent was approximately 7 hours, but this includes lunch and snacks for the kids as well as clean up and a couple of breaks. We were able to make the following:

3- cheeseburger pies (This are a quick and easy dinner to reheat)
4- Baked Ziti- We are sharing one with our friends for lunch tomorrow and another is already on our summer beach list. The other two will be easy Sunday lunches for this summer.
4 sets of Salisbury steaks- (a little bit more work than the cheeseburger pies but can turn out a dinner in 30 minutes).
20 one pound bags of pre-cooked ground beef. This is one of the easy ways to plan ahead and can be used in everything from spaghetti to Hamburger Helper.
Breakfast casserole for Sunday morning
Mexican rice and sausage dip for snacks and dinner today.

We will need to purchase chicken for delivery in June but otherwise we should be stocked up for the summer.

Did you save today?

Custom – Kitchen

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Sheila

The factor that started our kitchen remodel was seating for our growing family. At Christmas, I was disappointed that not only could we not all eat in the same room but I was limited in what I could actually prepare because I simply did not have the counter space.

When we made the decision to replace all the cabinets, I knew that we would not be able to afford high end cabinets with all the cool features. I am very pleased to say that we have achieved some really cool features and I honestly feel that we are utilizing every each of space in the kitchen currently.

Today, I want to share the special touches that make our kitchen one of a kind. First is the custom tile work.

This area is behind our stove and I forgot to get a picture after the gout was placed but just look at how cool it looks. Matt and I talked and we really did not want to place full tiles behind the stove. We did go ahead and place the sticky mat until we decided what to do. Zach was watching us work and the idea came to me that he could finish this section of tile using the pieces that we had cut off of other tiles. Zach completed about 3/4 of the area before Lily decided he needed help. The only guidance I gave him was not to place two of the same tile together. This is an awesome custom feature that I am assured will not be repeated anywhere else in the world.

I have already shared about my favorite cabinet. Which is also very custom, here is a reminder picture.

Another feature that is very unique is the electric outlets that are part of the counter top. These were Matt’s suggestion and after a bit of rewiring that we still need to complete, we will be able to plug up and use ALL of my crockpots at that same time as my Kitchen-Aid mixer.

The final custom cabinet is probably the one that took the most time and effort to figure out. It also ended up costing around $50 to complete. But in reality is saves a ton of space and actually allows me to have all the utensils I need within reach. This cabinet is directly beside the stove and is actually a double sided pegboard.

Currently we still need to do some touch up painting and add quarter round to both the back splash and floor. But we are very close to being at a finishing point with this project.

Here is the progress we have made.

Saving on Saturday 3/19/2016

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Sheila

The weather has been warm and sunny the last week. This has made Saving a little bit easier for us. We decided to turn off the heat and air around 2 weeks ago and managed a solid 10 days without the use of either until today. I am hopefully that we can again turn it off next weekend. My goal is always to go an entire month without use either which will reduce our electric bill by approximately $100 for the month.

The warmer weather has also got me thinking about our garden. I purchased some new netting and some lawn fabric to use. The netting is specific to square foot garden but is also much cheaper than wire so I am hoping that it will last for several years. I am also trying something new this year. We still have sweet potatoes from our harvest in the fall, so I am trying to start a new crop from the ones we have. The kids enjoying helping with this project. I am not sure if this will give us enough but I am thinking that once I see it working I may start a second batch as well to equal the amount we planted last year.

I read last month that you could grow romaine lettuce using a similar water method. The red cup you see is out second head we have attempted. Last week, Zach and I planted the first one in the garden.

I realize that we may not be able to have a continual harvest and most like will only get a few extra leaves from this but as I have said before, every little bit helps.

Other areas of saving is our grocery budget, so far we have managed to spend $125 out of pocket for the month of March in addition to less than $1000 for the entire year so far. This has been the best and most controlled my grocery budget has ever been. I will admit that monthly meal planning helps but we also are buying on a rotating schedule. Our March spending should remain well below $200 however I will need to purchase meat in April so the budget will again be higher.

Finally, I am attempting to save money by using Swagbucks. My goal for each month is to earn one $25 gift card.

What are your saving secrets?

Kitchen Project Update

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Sheila

Matt has continued to work on the kitchen this past week and I managed to help a couple of times. One of the huge visible changes this week was us re-framing the window.

Before

During

Finished…. which I LOVE!

Matt also painted all the walls in the current kitchen white. We were given antique white but after looking at it, we decided it was not bright and clean looking enough so we decided on “high vee white” I actually like it. Matt also added trim around the top of the ceiling to replace the crown molding.

Today was a huge day for us. We decided to make it a shopping day. I wanted to check out several different stores to see if we could find/decided on cabinets and countertops. Our overall decision is to go with a “farm/ simple” kitchen feel. My one standing rule was that it either had to be on an awesome sale or both of us had to agree this is what we wanted.

Our first stop was Home Depot. They did have a sale but we could not get things to work out. I did make a list of the items we found and prices so we would be able to compare with the other stores.

Next kitchen stop was IKEA. I did a little research last night but was not anticipating the additional choices offered in the store. Our first decision was that we definitely would not be purchasing cabinet from here as they only have “plastic” cabinets. Yes, the have a wood grain appearance but still are plastic. We did find the “perfect” sink and pick out a counter top for the new sink area that we both agreed on. Of course, we picked up several other items that will be used in the kitchen but the kids and Matt are most excited that we purchased reading lights for each of the kids and one for Matt’s art desk.

Our final physical stop was the local Lowes store. We found our great sale here. Cabinets were an additional 20% off after purchasing $400. I was also able to find a “drawer” cabinet that I really wanted. So we ended up purchasing new bottom cabinets including ones for the new sink area. We also purchased a new faucet that fit both of our “wants”. I am still not certain if it is the right one but it at least is a place holder until I find a better one. I was disappointed when we discovered that the tile, I had chosen several weeks ago was no longer available in our local store. So after arrive home, Matt went on-line and order us enough tile for the back splash as I am afraid this is being discontinued.

I joked and posted on Facebook that we had enough supplies to keep us busy several week but in actually I think these purchases today will keep us busy a month or more.

Goals for the week are :
1. Patch and paint the walls in the new dining/ play room.
2. Build 2 shelves one is for the microwave and the second for Keurig. I want a third for holding bottles but this is low on the list so I may save for another week.
3. Finish staining and hang up remaining trim around door and window in the kitchen.

Items we have supplies to work on
1. new sink cabinet- assembled, painted and new plumbing ran. When this is complete we will need to purchase the new dishwasher.
2. installing of new dishwasher along with moving of instant hot
3. Cutting countertop and cabinets and installing stove in it’s permanent home.
4. Removing old cabinets, painting and installing new cabinets.
5. Stripping and repainting old top cabinets
6. Installing new tile backsplash.

I know progress is slow but it is progress and we should not need to spend a great deal in the next month except for purchasing the new dishwasher.

Teens Tots and Everything In Between

Life, Love and Coupons

Category Archives: Saving Money