7 days without power

I have experienced many power outages over the years. I live in Massachusetts and we get snowstorms every winter, and at least one of them knock out the power for a few hours to a day. On average we probably lost power for 1-2 days at most a winter, and that wasn't consecutive days either.
Then this year happened.
Last winter we had many, many snowstorms. We lost power only once for a few hours, completely normal and expected.
Then June came and brought along my first ever (and hopefully last ever) tornado. We were lucky and the damage was about a mile from our house. Madeline's preschool was ruined, as well as my mom's high school, among the many other neighborhoods that were damaged or demolished. From that we lost power for about 2 days. That felt like a long time. And I was grateful for our generator (that Jon insisted we buy 6 years ago.)
Then we had what my friend has nicknamed "Snotober." On October 29 we got over a foot of snow. The amount of snow wasn't the problem, the timing if it was. The leaves were still on the trees. And when you add heavy snow on top of trees that still have their leaves you have disaster. We lost power, most of our city was out. My parents town was 100% out. My grandparent's town was 100% out. The town Jon teaches in was over 75% out.
7 days later we got our power back. 7 LONG days.
7 days where our generator saved us. We had heat, hot water and our fridge and freezer worked. Heck, we even had television and a dvd player that worked.
For the most part our week continued as normal. We were able to stay warm. We kept the kids busy as I normally do. There were two extra people around during the weekday (Jon and Madeline had no school) but otherwise things were normal. We got creative with cooking- the crockpot was very useful, as well as the grill. We even were able to use our microwave a few times. Our generator won't power our stove and oven so we were not able to use them. but with the other appliances we ate more than just cereal and sandwiches.
What we almost ran out of was the gas to run the generator. Jon and I drove around for an hour on Sunday looking for gas. We didn't find any. On Monday Jon went out and found gas an hour later. After that, anytime we left the house we brought an empty gas can and filled it up if we could. As the week went on gas was easier to find as more people got their power back and more gas stations were able to open. But it was scary that day where we wondered if we could power our generator.
And I learned that I need to be more prepared for things like this.
I am working on what I need to keep in the house for times of no power again. Space is an issue so I am trying to think of ways to creatively keep emergency items on hand without losing valuable storage space. I am also trying to decide what things I need that we don't already have. But that is my project between now and the official start of winter.
And the next time the weatherman says that their is a large storm coming, you can bet I will be in line at the gas station filling up every gas can we have in the house. I won't be making fun of people who over-react to these things anymore. I learned my lesson!

Green Eyed Monster

Let me start out by stating that I love my life. It isn't perfect and that is okay. Perfect is kind of boring. Jon and I work hard to make our life the way we want it to be. We choose for me to be a stay at home mom. And that choice involves making choices about where and how we spend our money a little more carefully. And I am okay with that.


Most of the time.


Now and again I get bit by that green eyed monster. I get the "gimmees" as I call them when my kids ask for things. I want more than I have. I don't like that part of myself, but it is there.


I have been hearing about the upcoming vacations of friends. This past summer I was emailed about going on a Disney Cruise with some friends next September,a family trip. We had to say no. Last week when I was reading Facebook an acquaintance posted about planning her upcoming trip to Disney. Than this week a good friend wrote about planning her spring trip to Disney World.


I started to get jealous. I want to go to Disney World. I want my kids to have fun there and meet Mickey Mouse and the other characters. I want Jon and I to have a fun vacation with the kids. But we can't afford it. And right now that is bothering me.


But at the same time how can I complain? We CHOOSE for me to stay at home. We CHOOSE to live on one income. We CHOOSE to save rather than spend so we can stay out of debt. And we CHOOSE not to go on vacations so we can save money.


Jon and I could make different choices. I could go back to work full time. We could spend money and use credit cards and go into debt. We could decide not to move or buy a minivan and use that money to go on a vacation with the kids.


I don't like those choices. We want to move to a bigger house in a nicer town. We want to continue to manage our money well and stay out of debt. We want me to be at home with our kids. If forgoing a Disney (or other large) vacation is the choice we need to make for that to happen, then that is the way it will be. Yes I wish I could have both. But I also want a happy husband, and he is happy teaching his eighth graders about science. And we are both happy with me being at home with the kids. So we live on a teacher's salary. And we make choices that allow us to continue to do that.





I just remember that saying, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Christmas Shopping

I admit it, I make great plans for my Christmas shopping every year. But every year I find myself buying at least one gift (more often I am looking for 5 or 6) about three days before Christmas. And every year it is stressful finding that last gift or gifts.
I want this year to be different. And after reading Amy's Finer Things this week I am ready to get started. I don't shop all year round for Christmas. I see the value in it, and I wish I could. But we simply don't have the storage space for it. But I can still shop smarter than I have in the past and that is my goal this year.
Already I have one large gift done, it was started in January at the Christmas sales and finished this summer. Since I don't shop year round that was very unusual but it is an special gift for Jon's parents. After we give it to them I will post pictures of it.
After reading Amy's post I found 101 Deals of Christmas. I have never seen this before and I am hooked. I found it yesterday and already bought my youngest niece her Christmas gift, the Lillian Vernon foam blocks were $4.99 with shipping. My niece will love these blocks and I can check one person off my list. I will be checking with 101 Days of Christmas as I do my shopping.
One of my other favorite places for Christmas gifts is Snapfish. They have great deals around the holidays and my parents love their yearly calendars. I always wait for their sale, but this year I am going to be a little smarter. I am starting my calendars now and saving them. Then when the sales start I will order the saved project instead of rushing around and staying up late the night the sale ends in order to get the project done.
I have emailed my sisters in law to find out what my nephews and niece want. Once I have a list I will start watching the sales and storing things away. I have also started asking my kids what they want Santa to bring them. As I find their wanted items on sale I will buy them and store them away.
One area that I do well with is sticking to a budget. Jon and I choose an amount to spend on different family members and we stick to it. It works well, and we work hard not to go over the set amount. 1 or 2 dollars over budget may not seem like much for one gift, but if we do that for every person it adds up quickly. So I work hard to find good deals in order to get the gifts we want to get and stay on budget.
The other great thing about starting my shopping early this year is that I will not have all the bills coming in after Christmas. I am excited to be more organized this year. I know I said at the beginning I make great plans every year and fail to stick to them. But that is why I am writing about them. This makes me accountable to what I say I am going to do. Hopefully I will be able to stick to my plans!

Another reason I love meal planning

I love meal planning.

It helps me with my grocery shopping and it is easier for me to keep my grocery bill down. I am able to keep my shopping down to once a week and this prevents me from making as many last minute or spur of the moment purchases. I can also use the sales for the week to plan my meals.

But there is another reason I like meal planning. On Monday I was going to make a simple chicken and rice dinner. It would not have taken long and everyone would have enjoyed it. But I forgot to defrost the chicken. Without meal planning I might have been tempted to either go to the store for something quick and easy or I might have gone the quick and easy route of take out dinners. Both are hurtful to my budget. Because I meal plan I was able to look at my menu for the week. I looked for another easy dinner that did not need any of the ingredients defrosted. It was an easy swap. We stayed on budget. I didn't need to make any last minute trips to the grocery store. And everyone was happy.

Why I don't Extreme Coupon

Have you watched the show Extreme Couponing on TLC? I have, several times. Jon and I watched it and we were both amazed at the amount of money someone could save on groceries. But I still won't extreme coupon.

The first reason is the space issue- we don't have the room for the type of stockpiles some of theses families have. Seriously, their stockpiles take up space equal to half (or more) of the square footage of my house (I have no basement, a crawl space attic and my garage is now our playroom/office). So if I got rid of my furniture and confined us all to two bedrooms and the bathroom, maybe I could stockpile...not worth it.

Another reason I don't extreme coupon is because of overages. Have you noticed that on this show often the coupons' worth will total more than the actual cost of the item? And that extra money is then applied to the other groceries in the cart. Well, not all grocery stores offer that bonus. The two I use won't give overages. If your coupon's value is more than the cost of the item then the item is free, nothing more. I am not complaining about free, I love free. But the idea of buying things I may not need (or have space for) simply to have extra money towards other groceries isn't realistic for me.

A third reason is time. Yup, time. I don't have a lot of it. What little extra I have I try to put into this blog (and you can see how well that is going lately.) So if I were to put 30+ hours a week into couponing I would need to give up sleep. It doesn't make sense for me. The only way it would make sense for me to put 30+ hours a week into couponing is if I could quit my job. But I can't, plus my current job requires 10 hours a week of my time.


For some extreme couponing works. I use a simpler approach. I buy the weekly Sunday paper and clip my coupons. I use couponbug.com and swagbucks to print off other coupons. I stack my coupons against sale items. Doing just that I am able to save at least 30% off of my bill each week, often I save more. If I go to a store that offers their own coupons (like Target and BJ's) I am able to stack the manufacturers coupon with theirs and save even more.

Yes I could possibly save more if I put more time into the process. But for now this works for me.

Hand me downs

Today I was playing with Ben in our playroom (our converted garage) and he was sitting on an Elmo car. This Elmo car was purchased by Jon and I for Madeline for her first birthday. She is now five, so this car has seen a lot of love. It is a little dirty and doesn't work as well as it did when it was first purchased. But does Ben care? Not a bit.
In our house we love our hand me downs. I learned the value of these was Madeline was born and the girl clothes that my older niece had outgrown came flooding in, along with the outgrown clothes of the little girl I babysat for a time. We were new to one income and adjusting to my new part time income, as well as the cost associated with a new baby. The clothes were amazing. I did purchase clothes for Madeline, some I wanted for her and others I needed for her, but even then many of those clothes were second hand.
My kids don't care if they have hand me downs. They don't notice that a toy has been loved before. In fact some of Madeline's favorite dolls are the ones I played with as a child. Ben loves playing with Owen's toys. And Owen doesn't care that his last two winter coats have come from tag sales and second hand stores.
We know the difference between wants and needs in this house, to live on one income we have to. A need is winter coats and boots, in Massachusetts you can't make it through winter without these supplies. However, brand new coats and boots are a want. The coats we bought last year at our favorite second hand store looked brand new. And if we are find enough of our needed clothes at tag sales, and utilize hand me downs, there is more room in the budget for the wanted items (a second pair of boots for when the first is wet).
No one looks at my kids and knows off hand what is new and what is second hand. And even if they did, I honestly don't care. I brag about my tag sale finds. When I got Owen's fall coat for $2 at a tag sale, it was Gap corduroy and in almost new condition, I told everyone about it! I was excited and proud. New that coat would have cost...well I don't know what it would have cost because I don't buy Gap clothes new, they are not in our budget. Kids outgrow things very quickly. And I won't even mention how quickly my kids can ruin perfectly good clothes without meaning to. There is not a need to pay exorbitant prices for clothes simply for the name brand.
Living on one income means budgeting. My kids need clothes and they get them. Then there are clothes that they want and we try to find things they will like. But this can still be done without buying everything new. Owen loves toy story and I found a buzz lightyear shirt for $1, he was thrilled! Madeline's new obsession is Hello Kitty. Every time we head into Target she asks to look at the Hello Kitty clothes. Each time I check the prices, but $10 for a shirt is way too much. I found one for $3 second hand. Madeline told me I was the best mom ever. Ben can't talk, but he kept stealing his brother's and sister's Nalgene bottles so we bought him one using reward points that Jon earned through REI (this was not a second hand product, don't worry!).
All three kids have used the same stroller and the same car seat. (Ben will be the last to use the car seat as it will be too old if we have a fourth baby.) All three kids used the same baby saucer and baby swing. Our double jogger stroller, purchased when Owen was 1 for $25, is more popular with both Jon and I as well as with the kids than our sit and stand purchased brand new when Owen was a baby. There is nothing wrong with these items. There isn't a need for new items for each child. We chose gender neutral things because we knew we would use them for more than one child. And we planned ahead and saved the items we would need for other children.
Living on one income with three kids is not impossible. You don't need to go into debt to do it. It just takes creativity and planning. And storage space in your house (or the basement of a friendly relative) is helpful as well.

Changes and more changes

There have been a lot of changes around here in just the past 7 days.



Last week at this time I was working on accepting that Madeline will be in school in less than a month. I was working to keep the house clean and hoping and working towards finding a buyer so that we could purchase a bigger house in a nicer town for our family. I was working on letting go of things I can't control.



And then this past week happened.



In the past seven days homeschooling is once again on the table. We are now looking into becoming landlords and renting out our house. And the price of the house went want dropped another $12,000.



I'll start with the biggest change- becoming a landlord. This is nothing I ever planned to do, but our house is not selling. And getting mortgages is becoming more difficult. Our realtor feels that, based on these facts, if we want this particular house (and we REALLY do) we should consider renting out our house. He tells us that there is a need for rental properties, especially houses, right now. We have enough for a down payment without selling (with the new house price) so we are looking into the ins and outs of being landlords and getting qualified for a mortgage while still owning our current house. It is a scary prospect, but also exciting.



Jon and our realtor went and looked at the house we really want. After the extreme price decrease we were becoming concerned that there were more problems than we had originally seen or that the mold had taken over more of the house. The mold is still there but has not progressed much. It still looks contained to the basement which means we can demolish the finished walls, clean it and be done. Obviously inspections need to be done to ensure that there is nothing else wrong, but we are cautiously optimistic.



As for the homeschooling, that change a large shock to me as Jon was the one who suggested it. There is a reason for this. In our current city if we were to hold Madeline out this year (for homeschool or preschool) she would be required to enter first grade based solely on her age. Because of this fact Jon was pushing for kindergarten this year even though we are not convinced she is ready. He didn't want to keep her home and then be required to send her to first grade, whether she was ready or not. The other option, of keeping her out for two years, is not something he sees as ideal. In discussing our possible move the idea of holding Madeline out a year came up again (I was talking about a mom I know who held her son out for an extra year in the new town). Jon didn't realize that if we move to the new town and we choose to keep Madeline home another year we can still enroll her in kindergarten next school year if we choose, regardless of the fact that she will be 6 at the time. Because of this he would prefer to keep her home this coming year and homeschool her with the kindergarten curriculum. This way the following year we can decide, based on Madeline herself and not her age, whether she is ready for first grade or needs another year of kindergarten. Needless to say, I am ecstatic at the prospect.





I never expected so many changes in 1 week. At this time last week I was struggling so much. But now everything is falling into place. I know nothing is definite, there are still so many things to figure out, but I am so much more optimistic. I am very scared at the prospect of becoming a landlord, but all of the positive things that can come because of it are slowly helping me to realize that this is a risk that will help my family. I am a believer that we control much of what happens to us through our choices. This past week has shown me that although I can control many things I still need to open my eyes and look at options that are not familiar to me and be open to these changes.

Trying to move on 1 income...

I like my house. I like my neighborhood. I love many things my city has to offer.
I don't love the school system in this city.

Because of that factor, the school system, we are looking to move. Madeline is starting kindergarten in a month. We listed our house back in the beginning of June and we optimistic that we could be in a new house before school started, or soon after. It seemed perfect, Jon had the summer off and could help with cleaning and packing. We were too optimistic.

If you have watched the news lately you know the economy is not great. You also know that banks are not giving mortgages out very easily. I am reminded of this both by the news and my realtor. And the for sale sign that won't budge from my front yard is a daily reminder as well. Now is not a good time to move if you have a house to sell, or not great credit. Because we have worked hard over the years to live within our means we have excellent credit. But we also have a house to sell.


Keeping our credit score also means knowing what we are comfortable affording for a mortgage. We went to get pre-approved yesterday. I was amazed at how much they would give us. It is almost double what we want and feel comfortable paying. If we took the amount they are willing to give us, the options of where to buy a house would grow hugely. But we won't. Because we know what our other bills are. And we know what we spend and how much we feel comfortable spending on our house. And the bank doesn't know that, all they know is how much we can afford based on our income. They don't know that we choose to have money to put into savings for the just in case. They don't know that we may need to buy another vehicle in a few months. we know this and we choose to buy a house based on all of those factors, not simply what the bank says we can afford.

Living comfortable within our income means that if we want a nicer town, and a slightly bigger house, then we buy a fixer upper. That is okay, it is part of the choice that we made. Even with our price requirements we found a house we want. We love this house. It needs help, quite a bit of it actually. But the help it needs is cosmetic which means that we can move in and work while living their. It has three bedrooms, one and a half baths, a living room, kitchen, dining room, bonus room and finished basement. It has a two car garage and 7/10 of an acre. It is in a great town. It is perfect for our family.

So now I continue to keep my house extra clean and hope the phone rings and a realtor wants to show our house. Or even better, that someone has made an offer on our house. It will happen, eventually. I just need a reminder lesson in patience.

Some things don't change

We were away in Maine last week for our vacation. While up there I ran out of books to read (with no Internet I did a TON of reading). Jon, trying to be helpful, rummaged around the camp his parents are fixing up and found some old magazines. It actually hurts to call them old because they are from 1996 and 1997. And to call these magazines old means that I am getting old. But never mind that...

One was a Good Housekeeping and one was Parents magazine. These are magazines I read now so it was interesting to see what they wrote about 15 years ago. And it surprised me to see so many of the same issues. The article that interested me the most was the article about cutting back and being more frugal during that time. The ideas were the same and one of the women they featured is someone I read even today, Jonni McCoy of Miserly Moms. When I was first staying at home and looking for ways to cut back I ran many Internet searches on Google. Jonni's site was one of the first I found and one I read countless times. To read about her from 15 years ago was fun, especially since it talked about her newsletter. Remember those? I had to keep reminding myself this article was 15 years old, blogs were not a way of life then.

The article featured four moms, including Jonni, who were cutting back. They had many suggestions that still ring true. Use coupons (or don't, the women had different views on this), use tag sales to find clothes and other needed items, splurge on things that you will use for a long time as they hold their value, learn how to grocery shop using sales and many other ideas you see written about in today's magazines.

I was interesting, and it made me happy to read this article. When you listen to the news today they talk about cutting back as if it is this brand new phenomenon. But this 15 year old article shows that no, this is not a brand new idea. Many people have been doing this for years. And the ideas are still the same. Technology may have changed, items we want have changed, our ways of accessing information have changed, but in the end the idea of wanting to live within our means is not a new idea. And it is one that will, hopefully, continue to stick around.

Now, I am going back to feeling old...

Garden Update

If you are visiting from Feeding Four's Friendly Wednesday welcome! Please leave a comment and so I can visit your blog as well!





Jon and I have started a garden every year since we got married. Some years starting it was as far as we got and nothing came of the plants we used. Some years we were able to get a ton of tomatoes and nothing else. One year we only got green tomatoes because it was a cooler summer, unlike this year. But last year was a good year. We had our first really successful year. We harvested tons of zucchinis, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, beans and tomatoes. We gave some to friends and family because we had so much. The idea of canning and freezing didn't really occur to me until I started reading how other bloggers were doing that. So this year we doubled the size of the garden. We planted seeds and started our tomatoes and peppers indoors. The rest of the seeds we planted outside. Everything we planted outside did really well. My tomatoes and peppers failed miserably. So we bought tomato and pepper plants and they are now thriving. Our corn is as tall as me currently. We have lots of lettuces (Jon made a salad from it the other night), the zucchinis and cucumbers are flowering. I have several green tomatoes growing and even a few peppers. Our beans are doing great as well and I hope I can pull some for our dinner tomorrow night.

It took several years to learn from my mistakes in gardening. We made some important changes to our approach to gardening and things have improved. The real reason our garden is doing better is that we moved the location from the side of our house, where we never go, to the back of our house, where we spend most of our time. Because the garden is in a place where we spend time it helps me to remember to water and weed it. It is amazing what 30 minutes a week of time spent in the garden can do.

I am planning on canning my tomatoes this year, something I have never tried before. Jon hates when I buy diced tomatoes, he says he can taste the can they came in. We rarely buy canned vegetables for that reason. But I have never found frozen diced tomatoes, so when a recipe calls for diced tomatoes I often buy a can. I want to can my own this year to avoid the taste issue. And by the way, why is it called canning when they are in jars?

Our garden cost very little to start, less than $20. This is a great way to help your vegetable budget. My garden is not large, and I will still be able to reduce my grocery budget because of it. And this year I am getting smarter about canning and freezing so that my garden will be helpful not only in the summer, but in the fall, winter and spring as well.

If you have any advice about canning or freezing my vegetables please tell me! This is our first year canning and we will take all the help and advice we can get!

Menu Plan Monday

There is nothing exciting going on here this week which made it easy to plan the meals. I have jury duty on Wednesday which makes Jon in charge of cooking. It is going to be a slightly painful day since Ben is still nursing twice a day and I highly doubt they will let me pump, but I may bring it and see what happens. I really think there should be a clause for breast feeding moms, or at least a rule that states they must provide adequate breaks for pumping, the same that most employers are required to do I believe (correct me if I am wrong, I haven't worked full time since Madeline was born). Anyway, they also don't seem to care that as a stay at home mom I need to find childcare and pay for it. There is no way out, I must go. The only blessing was that I could postpone for when Jon was home during the summer to ease the burden of finding someone to watch all three kids all day.

Wow, talk about getting off topic. Okay, back to the real reason I am writing- this week's menu. It is simple but we are trying a new meal from my $5 Mom cookbook. So far we have liked everything I have made from her cookbook and I expect this to be another success. I haven't planned the vegetables out past Monday as I don't know what we will get from our CSA share until Monday evening.

On this week's menu:

Monday- pasta and meatsauce with broccoli

Tuesday-Mexican chicken skillet (from $5 Mom)

Wednesday- hot dogs and hamburgers (weekly staple during the summer)

Thursday- meatball grinders (using hot dog rolls!)

Friday- leftovers

Saturday- homemade calzones

Sunday- grilled chicken thighs

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Another Freebie

Going to the movies is becoming more and more expensive. In order to take my kids to the movies it would entail buying three tickets, four if Jon comes with us. I don't even want to calculate how much it would cost. And I won't buy snacks at the theater, we would bring in our own (shh!) but even without that extra cost it is expensive. So we don't go to the movies very often. In fact the last movie I saw was with Madeline when she was 3 (she is 5 now) and we went to see the Princess and the Frog for her first movie experience. It was a lot of fun and thankfully we had gift cards so it was also free!
But since then we haven't gone. Even Jon and I don't go alone, I figure we get so little time together the last thing I want to do is sit in a dark room where we cannot talk. So we wait for things to come to DVD and rent them from Redbox for $1. It is great!
But sometimes going to the movies is fun. And this summer we can go for free! And you can too if you live near a participating Rave theater. Rave theaters is back with their free summer movies. You can find more information at Rave Motion Pictures.
The movies are not new and they are shown early in the morning. But if you are simply looking for a cool place to sit with your kids and get that movie theater experience this is for you! the movies range between G and PG so make sure you look at it before taking your little ones. I am planning to take Madeline to see Beezus and Ramona if we are not in Maine that week (of course there may be a movie theater up there, who knows!). I figure if she doesn't like it (and she might not since it isn't a cartoon) we can leave and nothing is lost but the drive out there.
If you go which movie will you see?

Fun Free Fridays

I love to expose my kids to new places and new activities. But when we are working with a one income budget we can't visit as many places as I would like to. That is a choice we make (not a sacrifice, a choice) which means I try harder to find deals and coupons when I can. And I love anything that is free and fun. Today I learned about Fun Free Fridays this summer in Massachusetts. Apparently this is a normal thing and I do NOT know how I missed it for the past five years, but I found it this year!

I was at the library today (I have mentioned how much I LOVE libraries) and I saw a flyer that was titled Admission is Free. Of course I had to pick it up. At first I figured it was for smaller attractions in the area, but when it says free it is worth at least a few seconds glance. I am glad I picked up the flyer because I was wrong about it. On this paper there is a list of many, many attractions in Massachussets that are free on Fridays during the summer. There are three or four places listed for each Friday and everyone gets in free. If you live near Massachusetts, or will be visiting here at some point this summer, check out the website. There may be something fun to do when you are here.

My favorites (that we hope to try) are the Boston Children's Museum(tons of fun but not cheap), the Basketball Hall of Fame (I live about five miles from it but haven't been since they opened the new one) and Old Sturbridge Village (I love this place but it isn't wallet friendly). These are jsut a few of the places that are on the list, there are many more to choose from. And there are links so you can learn about the different places. While I expect them to be a tad more crowded that normal on these free days, I think it will be worth it.

Go visit Highland Street Foundation's website to learn more about this.

Grocery Bill Week #8

This week I came in under budget! I shopped the sales again. This week was a good chip sale week (because of the holiday) so I stocked up. We don't normally buy 5 bags of chips in one week! But these will last us a month, or more. I was also able to feed my addiction to Pepsi and grabbed 2 20 packs that were on sale. In addition I did buy a lot of healthy food, so don't worry my shelves are stocked to keep my family growing and healthy!

Store #1:
3 pints of blueberries (I cannot wait to go blueberry picking in a few weeks)
1.5 lbs of nectarines
2.2 lbs of bananas
1 lb of baby carrots
1/3 lb pastrami
1/3 lb Lorraine cheese
1/2 lb American cheese
1/2 lb honey ham
3 packages of cheddar cheese
potato rolls
2 bags of bagels
2 20 packs of Pepsi
2 bags of utz cheese curls
3 cans of fruit
1 box of cake mix
1 package of muffin paper liners
1/2 gallon of organic milk
cream cheese

total before savings: $91.36
total after savings: $57.32
I saved 37% today

Store #2
3 bags of tostito chips
1 24 ounce jar of salsa
3 avocados
1 bag of bear naked granola (free with coupon from stonyfield rewards)
2 1/2 gallons of organic milk

Total before savings:$35.53
total after savings: $17.53

My total between both stores was: $74.85
Under budget by $10.15

How was your grocery shopping week?

Grocery bill- week #6

This week was way over budget. I spent about $12 more than I wanted to. I was under budget last week and hopefully will be under budget next week as well to make up for the over spending this week.
For my money this week I got:

Store #1:
4 12 packs of pepsi (on sale 4 for $10)
organic bananas
grapes
3 1/2 gallon containers of organic milk
apple juice
organic baby carrots
dish soap
dishwasher detergent
borax (for our ant issue)

Total before savings: $63.06
Total after savings: $45.12

Store $2:
5 lbs of hamburgers
1/2 lb deli sliced turkey
3/4 lb of american cheese
2 32 ounce containers of stonyfield yogurt
1 gallon of 1% milk
3 1/2 gallon containers of newman's own lemonade
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
pectin (for jam making)
1 box of 1/2 pint jars (for making jam)
4 cans of tuna
2 boxes of salmon burgers (buy 1 get 1 free)

Total before savings: $71.89
Total after savings: $51.93

My total spent was: $97.05

I know that the jars, pectin and soaps were what put me over. I needed them and I should have cut other things to make up the difference but I didn't. It helps to write it here though, it makes me more accountable. Next week I will work harder to stay on, or under, budget.

This is the Year for Canning and Freezing?

I have been a stay at home mom for over five years now. In those five years I have learned a lot about ways to save money while still eating healthy, and without feeling like a penny pincher. I like to be called frugal, I don't want to be a tight wad! But even after five years I am still finding new ways to save money.

This year we bought a CSA share as a way to eat more organic products as well as support a local farm. It was more expensive that if we were to buy our vegetables in the store, but that is because we are getting more vegetables then if we were to buy them in a store and all of them are organic. But I need to constantly remind myself that I don't NEED to eat all of these vegetables fresh. Instead I need to learn how to can and freeze them for the winter. If I manage to freeze some of the food we get then I will also pay less on my grocery store bill in the winter. In addition to buying less fresh produce, I will also buy less frozen produce.

This year we are trying our hands at gardening again. Last year was my most successful year, but it can still be much improved. We doubled the size of our garden this year and it still only cost about $20 to start up. It should have cost less but I cannot manage to grow tomato or pepper plants from seed. At the farmers market this week we bought 4 tomato plants and 6 pepper plants for $12.50. The other $7.50 was spent on seeds. In my garden we are growing lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, watermelons, zucchini, cucumbers, beans and peas. If I am lucky I will get a good harvest from it.

While our garden and CSA share will cut the weekly budget at the store down during the summer, this year my goal is to use it to cut down my winter budget as well. To do this I need to learn to can and freeze. In the past I have not taken advantage of canning or freezing vegetables like I should. Last year was my first real attempt. I made several containers of (not so great) spaghetti sauce and I froze several bags of peppers. That was it. Clearly I can do much better! To do this right Jon and I decided we should looking into canning kits and see how much they cost. We know we will be buying many jars this year, but we also know that everything we buy this year we will be able to use again and again. So last night I spent time looking online at canning sets and we found one that we like. It has good ratings and several people say it is perfect for beginners (which is what we are!). The price is right as well at $30. This is an amount we are willing to risk in case we are abysmal failures at this canning process. But before I buy it, does anyone have any recommendations for a good, inexpensive canning kit?

I am interested to see if I am able to can and freeze vegetables and fruit (something I never thought I would be doing) and how it effects both my summer and my winter grocery bill. If you have an helpful hints, links, or great spaghetti recipes, PLEASE share them with me!

This week's groceries

I came in under budget again! I will be going to BJ's later this week which will eat up the extra money from last week and this week though. So technically I did not come in under budget, but I will not be going OVER budget either.

Store 1:
1 gallon of 1% milk
3 bags of frozen vegetables, 32 ounces each
2 half gallons of ice cream
2 boxes of ice cream treats
cheez its
2 boxes of pasta
3 jars of ragu pasta sauce (on sale for 88 cents each combined with a coupon for $1.25 off of three)
3 cans of fruit
1 watermelon
1 beefsteak tomato
1 lb of strawberries

Total before savings:$58.57
Total after store savings and coupons: $32.76

Store 2:
4 bags of tostitos (big sale!)
organic bananas
1 organic apple
cherries
lime
3 boxes of store brand fruit and grain bars
3 cans of diced tomatoes
3 loaves of bread
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 package of cream cheese
napkins
heinz ketchup

Total before savings: $54.67
Total after savings: $36.16

Total between 2 stores: $68.92
Under budget by: $16.08

Meun Plan Monday

It is a shortened work week! Jon and I both have today off. We were planning on having a picnic lunch with the kids but the weather has other plans. Ah well, if you have three kids flexibility is a must! I'm not sure what plan B is, but we will thing of something.

I love my meal plan. It makes life so much easier. I don't sit and wonder each day what to make for dinner or hope I have the ingredients I need for dinner that night. we do drift from the plan sometimes (like last night) but that is where my stockpile comes in. However, I do know that my meal plan helps to keep me on a budget for the groceries and it keeps me from going back to the store several times a week!

We did a good job with sticking to our meal plans up until last night. It was too hot for me to deal with cooking so we had an extra night of hot dogs and hamburgers. We ate outside on the deck, enjoyed the beautiful weather and no one complained!

Here is this week's plan:

Monday- chicken and vegetable nachos

Tuesday- Pizza dinner at my parents. We are celebrating my grandmother's 81st birthday. I am in charge of dessert and I am making a cheesecake with a graham cracker crust.

Wednesday- leftovers. I work until 5 and we have Madeline's kindergarten open house (my baby girl is going to kindergarten in the fall!) so it needs to be quick and easy!

Thursday- honey lime chicken and green beans

Friday- hot dogs and hamburgers with corn on the cob

Saturday- breakfast for dinner with fruit cocktail

Sunday- pasta and meatballs with mixed vegetables

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie and Marvelous Menu Meme Linky

Making Choices

I was having a not so great day this week. I was tired. I wanted some time just to myself but could not find a spare minute. I was grumpy.
Owen came up, gave me a hug and said "I wuff you mommy!" And my day got better.
I was reminded how lucky I am to be at home with my children all day. A choice that Jon and I made was for me to stop working full time in order to be at home with our children. We made the choice that we would build our life on 1 income and that Jon would hold down the full time job. We made a choice that we would make our life with less in general.
We made the choice that we would not have large vacations, that we would not buy new vehicles.
Madeline will be leaving the catholic school where she attended preschool and will be going to public school in the fall. I love the idea of a Catholic education, but the tuition is not in our budget.
We made a choice that we would live in a smaller house (which has it's benefits!). Some see these things as sacrifices. And they are. But they are also choices. And when you view them as choices they seem much more positive.
Sometimes it is hard. When friends are planning vacations, or buying pools, or moving into larger houses. When family wants us to move to a nicer town. When friends invite us out for dinner. The green-eyed monster can rear his ugly head at times like these.
But when I think about the choices that Jon and I have made, the choices we have been able to make (because not everyone can have one parent stay at home) I remember how lucky I am. When I am able to drop my daughter off at school and then go home and spend the day with the boys I am reminded how lucky that I am not to be running to drop the other two kids at daycare. When I work less than 10 hours a week, and don't leave until Jon gets home, I am reminded how lucky I am.
We all make choices. If I am not happy I need to look around and see what choices I need to change. It sounds simple, and often it can be.

Grocery Shopping

I did well with my budget this week. I actually came in under my $85 limit! It was a really good coupon week. One of the stores I shop at was doubling $1 off coupons. They did this for 3 coupons. I love when my grocery stores do this and I am able to combine coupons with store sales and get some great deals.
In this week's carts:

Store 1:
1/2 gallon of OJ
1% milk
yobaby yogurt
10 stonyfield yogurts
2 helluva good cheese blocks
2 packages of klondikes (on sale for $1.68 each!)
1 box of pasta
1 jar of pasta sauce
olive oil
2 packs of jr dippers snacks
goldfish graham crackers
1 packages of oscar mayer hot dogs (on sale buy 1 get 1, combined with a $1 coupon which was doubled)
5 ears of corn on the cob

Total before savings and coupons: $63.90
Total after savings and coupons: $33.85

Store 2:
organic pears
organic apples
organic bananas
1 tomato
1 pepper
4-12 packs of pepsi
hamburger rolls
3 half gallons of stonyfield organic milk (I had $1 off coupons from the store for each one)
edy's strawberry fruit bars (on sale for $3 combined with a $1.50 off coupon)
1/2 lb sliced turkey from the deli
1/4 beef bologna from the deli

Total before savings: $56.12
Total after coupons and savings: $35.86

Total spent between the two stores:$69.71
Under budget by $15.29!!!

This week was a great success at the store!