Money Saving Tuesday- 50% off diapers at Amazon.com

You can get diapers for 50% off at Amazon.com right now.
One thing I love about amazon.com is that they let you use multiple discounts on one order. Last week I realized I needed diapers. We use disposables at night and we go through a case every few months. I try to buy them on sale only and BJ's did not have a sale on the brand we use (luvs) right now. I opened my Parents magazine only to find a discount code for 20% off of diapers at Amazon so I went online to check it out.
If you subscribe to amazon.com/mom you save 15% on select items. Added to that if you subscribe to subscribe and save you save another 15%. Add the 20% discount code and you save 50%. I got a case of 150 diapers for $17.99!

Money Saving Tuesday- why small houses are awesome!

I love my house, all 1000 square feet of it. Well, since we turned the garage into a playroom I guess it is more like 1100 square feet.
We have a smaller house. Jon and I bought it when I was working at a Catholic school (they don't pay much) and he was a teacher's aide. Clearly we did not have a lot of income, and being 23 and 24 at the time we did not have a lot of money saved either. We did have good credit which is probably the only reason we were able to buy a house at all! We bought a fixer upper. Luckily Jon is something of a handyman (love him!) and we...err I mean he...was able to do a lot of the work without hiring anyone to come in. We re did the kitchen and bathroom, built a deck, turned the garage into a playroom and have repainted pretty much every room of the house. It may not be big but it is ours!
Here are my top ten reasons why a smaller house is better (for us at least)

10. Less to clean ('nuff said)

9. we can afford the mortgage on Jon's teacher's salary

8. because of #8 I can be a stay at home mom!

7. less to heat=cheaper to heat

6. less storage= less clutter because we force ourselves to get rid of things

5. less place for the kids to hide when I am trying to find them

4. we need less furniture (which is good because we can't afford more!)

3. less to clean (sorry it deserved two places!) this makes me happy because cleaning is my least favorite part of being a stay at home mom

2. I can always hear or see my kids no matter where in the house I am (this does have its downside on occasion)

1. when you look into buying carpet to replace the old stuff it costs less becuase you need less!

About a year ago we were thinking about moving (before we were thinking about baby #3). We looked at a few foreclosure that were much bigger than our house. Jon loved them. I wondered who was going to clean them and how on earth I would find my kids in them. Jon laughed.

Obviously we did not move. Our house wasn't selling and then thoughts of baby #3 became a pregnancy and I didn't need to try moving on top of two kids and being pregnant. So we stayed.

I love our house. Some people ask me how I can have three kids in here. Actually I was once told I could not have three kids here. Well, it is three bedrooms and kids can share rooms. So that problem is solved. (now I am told that I cannot have four kids here. I don't know if that is a challenge though...)

We felt a little overcrowded when we gave up the playroom/office so we could have a third bedroom again. To remedy that Jon finished the garage and now it is our playroom/office. We would re-do the basement but we don't have one.

If we lived in a different town I would never move, I would add on. However our town does not have the greatest schools after about 5th grade. So at some point we will move. It is cheaper to buy a house in another town than it is to send my kids to Catholic schools (although we did look at that option).

In a few years I will need to give up my little home, but until then I love my house!

Money Saving Tuesday- the stockpile

I have not written a money saving Tuesday post in so long it is almost embarassing. To tell you the truth, I couldn't even remember all of the topics I have written about and had to go back and reread them. I am telling myself this is normal and not a sign that I am losing my mind!

One of the many ways I work to save money in our house is through stockpiling. Stockpiling is different from bulk buying. When i bulk buy I buy a lot at one time, and I add it to my stockpile. But stockpiling is simply having a large amount of one product. I stockpile several products. I add to the stockpile whenever I see a good sale, or we head to BJ's. By doing this I know that I won't have to pay full price for many items in my pantry.

One item I stockpile the most is pasta. We eat pasta at least once a week, sometimes twice (once as a main dish and once as a side). I never pay full price for a box of pasta. The most I pay is $1 and lately I haven't even paid that much. I also stockpile items like:
toothpaste
peanut butter
juice boxes
cereal
poptarts
granola bars
cheese (in the freezer)
chicken
ground turkey
ice cream
soda (my vice)
hot chocolate
fluff
mayonnaise
apple juice (Owen's favorite)
salad dressing
macaroni and cheese
fruit snacks
oats
flour (I recently bought bags for 99 cents each, I have five bags in my pantry)
sugar
canned soup
bread (this freezes well!)
milk (if it is on sale I freeze it)
shampoo
soap
deoderant
toilet paper
paper towels

Most of the items are non perishable. The rest are frozen.

I save a lot of money by stockpiling and have more freedom in my meal planning. If I want a chicken dish, but chicken is not on sale, I simply "shop" in my freezer. Stockpiling also allows me to shop the sales. If pasta is on sale I buy it, even if we don't need it. This past week pasta was 69 cents a box. That is super cheap where I live. I bought five boxes. I would have bought more, but it was on sale for 77 cents three weeks ago and I bought ten boxes then. I am running out of room for pasta! Now I will not need to pay full price for pasta and can use the money in my weekly budget for groceries to buy other items that are on sale.

I love love love soda. But I cannot pay $4 for a 12 pack. It just is not in my budget So when it is on sale for $2.50 a 12 pack, or less, Jon and I stock up. We might spend $20 on soda one week, but we won't buy it again for about two monhts. Yes that is still high for our budget, but it is one of the last areas I will cut from when cutting my food budget. I'll cut chocolate and ice cream and otehr fun snacks before I'll cut soda! Luckily, because I work to keep my grocery bill down, I can afford to purchase the soda.

I never understood stockpiling until I became a stay at home mom working with a budget based on one income. I want my family to eat healthy, and I also want freedom in my meal planning. by stockpiling I can have both!

Changes are coming

This summer and fall are full of changes for us, and they are all good!

Jon has a new job- hurray! He has been teaching 8th grade science for five years now at an inner city school. He has been wanting to get out of this school system, he was getting a little burnt out from the student's attitude towards learning. He started job searching a the end of the 2008-09 school year but was not able to find anything then. This year he was able to find another job in a nicer town. He will continue to teach 8th grade science, which is something he loves doing, but he will be doing it in a (hopefully) more rewarding setting.

Madeline is starting preschool in a month. My oldest baby will be going to school two days a week. We bought her uniforms, backpack and lunchbox. I am excited and sad at the same time. I think she will really love school and meeting new friends and it will be good for her since kindergarten is five full days the following year.

Ben is obviously a new addition to the house! We are all adjusting well to life as a family of five. It takes a lot longer to get anywhere when we are working with the non-existant schedule of a newborn, so some days we just stay at home and take it easy.

I am planning to start tot school with Owen at home on the days that Madeline is at school. I will continue to do some preschool work with Madeline on the three days she is home and will do some tot school with Owen during that time as well.

I am trying to be healthier. I have started walking in the evening, by myself! I take the dog and we go for about 40 minutes. Walking is free (my favorite price) and helps clear my mind. I want to start running but am not sure where to begin with that. Any suggestions where I can find a good running plan? I have NEVER run before but I feel like it would help me get into better shape much quicker than walking will (I just need to find a REALLY good sports bra). I don't want to get frusterated (which I have a tendancy to do) so I am taking it slow with a good, long walk each day to start with. I am also watching what I eat more. I can't diet too much due to nursing Ben, but I can be careful about what I eat and make healthier choices. I am trying to do that, although I cannot live without pepsi (and I really don't like diet pepsi).

And if that wasn't enough change I may be changing jobs. I love my tutoring job but it is about a 40 minute drive to get there. I only work 10 hours a week and I create my schedule each semester with a lot of flexibility, but with the drive I need to get those ten hours into two days. I need to leave before Jon gets home so we rely on my parents to help us, which they do, but it will be a lot harder with three children. So I applied to teach at a local community college. It is less hours (and possibly more pay) and it starts later in the evening (if I teach a night class). Because it is closer it makes work easier. I don't know if the new job will work out, and there are some negatives (correcting and planning to do at home, less flexibility in the job, possibly working during the day), but it is a possibility I am open to.

Our financial situation is not changing (even if I get the new job I only have a slight pay increase) but that is okay because we are doing fine. I continue to juggle our budget trying to find the best balance between earning money and spending money. I would really like to increase our savings and since Madeline's tuition is payed (from our tax returns) I do not need to factor that into our monthly budget. Our medical bills will be less than last year since I no longer have diabetic supplies to purchase. Our insurance is changing which means higher co-pays but, except for Ben, most of us only go to the doctor once a year so that doesn't effect us too much. It is a balancing act living on one income, but it is still working for us even with all of the recent changes.

Money Saving Tuesday

One of the most expensive things about having a kid is clothes. Or at least it can be. but in the beginning when they are growing and going through clothes quickly, the purchases can add up. If you have more than one boy or girl you can often pass down many of the items (unless you have a child like my Owen and then you toss about 50% of the clothes sadly). But that first child still needs clothes. And I don't know how to sew (learning is on my to do list, but that list is about 6 miles long at the moment) So how do I do it without spending a fortune and still have my kids in cute clothes?

The best is through hand me downs. These are free and free is my favorite price. The only downfall to hand me downs is sometimes they are not the style of clothes that I like, but free is free!

The second best way to find inexpensive clothes is through tag sales. I LOVE tag sales when I have time to go to them. With three kids, and one of them only 6 weeks old and nursing every three hours or so, I don't often get out of the house early on a Saturday morning, especially not by myself. But when I can get to a tag sale I am always on the lookout for clothes for my kids. In season or not, the right size or a size or two bigger, I will buy it. I can usually get items for $1 or for 50 cents. I did spend $4 on an LL Bean vest for Madeline and one for Owen and normally I would not pay this much but they are in like new condition so it was still a steal.

The third way to buy clothes inexpensively is through a cosignment shop. We often shop at Once Upon a Child. One thing I like about this store is that they inspect clothes before buying them so I don't need to (like I would at a tag sale) . I often get things from Baby Gap, Lands End, and other expensive name brands very inexpensively because they are second hand. but they are in perfect condition! I do't buy things based on name brands, but I ahve found that some of the mmore expensive clothes last longer. So when I can get them second hand I do try and buy them. I bought Owen's winter coat there last year for $8 and it was like new.

The last way I buy kids clothes is to shop sales. I buy new clothes, but I never pay full price. I either shop with a coupon, shop on a sale day or buy from the clearance rack. I often buy off season when I buy from the clearance rack but most of the time I can guess the size my child will be in the following year. Last year I bought Owen two bathing suits and one swim shirt for a total of $7 at the end of the summer. He was wearing 12 months at the time so I bought 2T and they fit prefectly this summer. If I had to buy the items new it would have cost me at least $25 if not more. I buy new outfits at Christmas each year, it is my one clothing splurge for the kids but I still never pay full price. Last year I bought the outfits at Macy's- they were marked down 75% and I opened a Macy's credit card for more savings. I got a dress for Madeline (originally $85) and an outfit for Owen (originally $50) for a total of $25.

I have found success with buying clothes on craigslist but this often involves driving to someone's house and usually costs more than a tag sale. Often people sell bags of clothes so I end up buying things I don't want or need. I bought a bag of girls clothes for Madeline a few years ago, and I liked about 85% of the items. This way can work, but you need to be selective.

Freecycle sometimes has clothes as well. I scored a bag of shirts and pajamas for Owen at the end of winter. But you have to act quick with freecycle, becuase good kids clothes go quickly.

How do you find your kids clothes without breaking the bank?

Money Saving Tip

If you like to do crafts at home NOW is the time to stock up on supplies. The stores have started their back to school sales and there are some great prices. I bought elmers glue for 20 cents each, glue sticks for 20 cents for a 2 pack, new markers for 50 cents, a new dry erase board for handwriting for $2 all today, just to name a few. I spent a grand total of $8 and should not need to buy these items for the rest of the year.

Crayons, folders, pencils, pens, etc are all super cheap right now. So if you use any of these items during the year now is the time to stockpile (kind of like stockpiling grocery items ). One year when I was teaching I decided to buy Christmas gifts for my students in August and bought boxes of crayons for the entire class for less than $7.

Some of my favorite stores to shop at right now are Staples, Target and Walmart.

Don't forget to enter my YoBaby giveaway!

Money Saving Tuesday- Meal Planning

One way I save money is to meal plan. I use three steps to make my meal plan each week. They are:
1. read the sale flyers
2. check my freezer and cabinets
3. ask Jon if he has any requests and look at the calendar to see what is going on that week.

With step 1 I look to see what fruits and vegetables are on sale as well as any stock up items that I keep on hand. I don't watch sales for meats because I buy my meat at a local meat store every 4 to 6 weeks. No matter what the price of meat at the grocery store I rarely find better pries than at Arnolds. Occasionally a whole chicken or ribs will be a better price but not chicken breasts or ground turkey.
I also look to see what deli meats are on sale, for lunches, and snack items for the kids. I try to keep one or two types of snakc items (aside from fruit) on hand for Madeline and Owen to ahve during the day. I also have an ice cream addiction to go along with my soda addiction so those are on the lise as well, but I stockpile when there are sales and NEVER pay full price for either.

For step two I go through the freezer and cabinets to see what I have on hand. I really, really, REALLY hate to pay full price for most ingredients and try not to plan meals that require me to do so. If there is something I want or need that is not on sale I do my best to find a coupon to use. I also do my best to try and match coupons with sales when I can. We eat a lot of the same types of foods so many ingredients I will have on hand and have been slwoly building my stockpile of seasonings and spices as well in order to cook from scratch more often.

For step three, well I feel bad if I am in total control of the menu so I ask for Jon's input. Often he tells me he doesn't care. Luckily he is not a picky eater. But I don't eat red meat (other than hamburgers on the grill) so if he wants it he has to ask. He does sit down with the grocery flyer and will tell me if anything that is on sale is something he wants. I fit it into our budget as often as I can. I also look at the calendar to make sure I am not planning meals that need more time when we don't have it.

By taking these three steps I am able to avoid going to the store more than once (most of the time at least) and also being able to stockpile items when they are on sale. Meal planning also helps me to avoid having so much food spoil. I was finding some fruits nad vegetables spoiling too often. By focusing on my meal plan better and buying less produce I have been cutting back on the spoilage.

My bill has been growing lately and I am not happy about it. We are still well withing an acceptable budget for a family of four (one of them pregnant) but I want to cut back more. I am playing around with ways to do that. I hope that once I am off this special diet it will help. I won't have to buy extra food for myself (because my family does not enjoy the low carb lifestyle!). Our garden will also hopefully help cut back our vegetable bill. I am really watching where our money is going and will find either that I need to accept the fact that we are eating more (with two growing children it shouldn't be a shock!) or that I have been spending money on food that is not necessary. I should know in a few weeks! But I do know that, until recently, since following a meal plan my grocery budget has gotten much much much better!

Money Saving Tuesday

This week I don't have any suggestions on how to save money. We are having to tighten our belts a little around here due to rising property taxes, the addition of a preschool tuition, added expenses due to a new baby and water/sewer fees as well. My water/sewer bill is going to increase by$46 a year and my taxes have gone up over $400 this year as well. Spread out over a year this doesn't seem like much, but when your budget is so tight you have about $4 extra on a monthly basis it does end up like feeling like a lot of money.

I won't be working again until September and just got my last paycheck from this past semester. Jon does get his paychecks over the whole summer and will be teaching summer school as well for additional income. However his summer school paychecks won't start until mid-July. So we will be living off of only his paycheck for the next month.

We will be cutting back in some areas to offset the additional expenses. In addition Jon has been offered the opportunity to take a PDP (professional development points) course in early July that he will get paid for. This is good news except for the fact that it comes two weeks after my due date. Jon will be teaching summer school during the day and then going immediatly over to this course for the evening. He wanted to know how I would feel about this. I think the extra funds would be nice but I am concerned about it being so close to my due date- especially since we try to plan to have our kids close to the summer when Jon is home more often. The other issue is that Jon will be taking a summer course and doens't know what days or when it will start. If it overlaps with the PDP course he can't do it. So we will see what happens.

I will be cutting back where I can. I have been buying less snacks and making more at home to help with the grocery bill. I am working on our garden and hopefully will be paying less for vegetables when it begins producing more. I am driving less since I am not working which cuts back on gas bills. Also with me not working we have no babysitter bill for the moment. So although we are short a paycheck for a few weeks we are also short a few expenses as well.

How do you cut back when your bills go up?

Money Saving Tuesday- Summer activities

I cannot believe May is almost over. Jon is almost done with another school year, summer is almost here and I am finally only 5 weeks away from not being pregnant anymore!
Since no one has started school in the house yet summer schedules are much like winter, spring and fall schedules. With the exception that it is much hotter. And Jon gets home from work around 1:30 instead of 4, he teaches summer school and it is 8-12 so a much, much shorter day for him. I can't wait for the time when he doesn't need to work during the summer, but that is the future.
Although it is hot during the summer it is much easier to find free and low cost activities to do that the winter. Because we can be outside we spend a lot of time at parks and playgrounds. There are several within a 15 minute drive of my house. To keep the kids from getting bored with a park we rotate which park we go to. We visit the park at least 2 times a week. Although my kids love our backyard, going to a playground is different, gets us out of the house and is fun for them. They have their favorites and sometimes will request a specific park. Most of the time they are happy to just go to the park, it doesn't matter which one. And I love the cost: FREE.
We also purchase a season pass to a local zoo each year (I know I have mentioned this before) as well as a parking pass to the park the zoo is located in. We go there almost every week. Once inside the park we visit the zoo, play at the playground, run around the sprinkler park and sometimes feed to ducks as well. Often I will pack a picnic lunch which always is a hit with the kids. I can feed them the same food as I do at home, but since it is a picnic in the park it is that much better.
One local park has a beach (on a pond since we are a few hours away from the ocean but still a sandy beach) that we go to a few times in the summer. We pack a picnic lunch (again making my kids very happy), our swimsuits, sunblock and sandtoys and head out for the morning. For a parking fee of $5 it is a very inexpensive way for a family of four (almost five) to spend a day!
Another thing we love to do is pick your own berries. Around here June and July are great for berry picking. And although this is not a free activity, we come home with fresh fruit! I also love that I don't have to pack a snack for these outings since what you eat while you are there is free. Last year we went strawberry picking once and blueberry picking twice. We froze a lot of our blueberries and they lastes for several months. Our strawberries were eaten too quickly to be frozen. I am hoping to go berry picking at least one time before baby #3 arrives, and possibly afterwards as well. The kids love it, Jon loves it and I love it too. And I can roll the cost into my weekly grocery budget.
We also still take advantage of our library during the summer. Although they do not have a weekly storytime the libraries around here run a summer reading program. It is for kids of all ages (from a read-to-me age to reading alone) and they run special programs during the summer as well. We will be at our library almost every week picking out new books just like in the winter. Another free activity (and one with air conditioning).
And for those rainy days we spend time at the local musuems. In our city, if you are a resident you have a free pass to the local museums. There are four of them and my kids love the Science Museum. We go there a few times in the summer, and each week the museum has a theme that they center different activities around. Kids can play dress up, make craft projects, sometimes listen to a story, all based around the week's theme. We also have our pass (thanks to my brother) to a children's museum and will be there a couple of times a month (more often if it rains a lot!) to play. I love it because my children have fun, but there is also a learning aspect involved. As much as I want them to play I also love that they are learning something (even if it is just how to wait their turn for a toy). The city museums are free and thanks to my brother our children's museum trips are free to us as well. Again, they also have the bonus of being air conditioned for those really hot, muggy or rainy days.
Summer is not my favorite season, I am not a fan of muggy weather. However I know my kids love to be outdoors and summer is great for them. We fill up our water table and the kiddie pool in the backyard and they are content for entire mornings! A few toys, a bathing suit and a freeze pop added to the mix and my kids are in heaven.
This summer will be different since we are adding another baby in late June. However having a summer baby is nice (so everyone tells me) because it is easier to take them out and about. I know with Owen it was easy to take him out in the warmer weather so I do believe it. I am wondering how I will do with three kids four and under at the park and zoo! This could be a stay at home kind of summer, we will see.

Money Saving Tuesday- cloth diapers

Some think I am crazy for using cloth diapers. Others expect that I am a tree hugger. I can assure you I am neither of those! I do care about the environment of course and while it factors into why I chose cloth diapers it was not my initial reason for choosing cloth diapers.

And yes some may agree that I am a teeny tiny bit crazy, and maybe I am, but again it is not the reason I chose cloth diapers.

I simply chose them at the time because they are cheaper!

After doing a lot of reading about them I realized how much better they are for the environment. I also realized how many chemicals are used when making disposable diapers (and I know they are safe but honeslty it is creepy how much pee those things can hold without feeling wet!) and I don't love the idea of having my kids sit in them day after day. I also thought of the convenience of never ever having to run out in the middle of the night because I had run out of diapers.

So I did a lot of research. And I talked to Jon. Surprisingly he was very easy to convince. He liked the idea of cheaper (with me leaving my job to stay at home expenses were a concern) and he also liked the idea of less to throw away. I think he also figured that since I would be at home I would take on most o the washing that might pile up. In the end the washing wasn't that bad (we did invest in a few extra diapers when I was tired of washing every other day!) and he helped a lot by throwing them in the wash before leaving for work so I could line dry them when I woke up. It became a team effort and really worked out well.

My friends and family were very skeptical at first. That might be the reason I didn't receive any that I registered for. However after seeing my use them for 4 years now they are used to me. My mom even changes cloth diapers (initially she bought disposables to have on hand when she was watching the kids) and sees how easy it is!

I chose the brand Kushies initially because of the price. I did not want prefolds (although they were the cheapest way to go), the idea of folding and pinning every time I diapered my newborn (and let's admit that is a LOT) was not appealing. I did research and found Kushies to be the only brand that a local store carried and in the idea of adding them to my registry I chose them. No one bought them for me in the end and Jon and I bought a stash of 25, at a start up cost of $250. Not cheap my any means as a start up. but when you realize these are pretty much the only diapers I used on Madeline for almost 18 months, that really isn't a bad price! I will say that some were worried that my water and electric bill would sky rocket. They honestly did not! I was doing more laundry overall since I had a newborn and we all know how many clothes they go through, added to the fact that everytime she spit up on me I needed a new outfit as well (Madeline never seemed to just spit up on my shoulder, it was always my entire outfit) so when my water and electric bill increased a little I can't pinpoint the exact reason.

I continue to cloth diaper my children. We do use disposable when we are traveling and on vacation. And I do use one disposable at night because my kids are super soakers at night and I HATE cleaning sheets in the morning! That super absorbant power of disposables that creeps me out? It is my savings grace at night. I am planning on looking into different brands of diapers for cloth at night for this baby, I just haven't done the research yet.

The brand I chose has two sizes. Of the intial purchase of 25 diapers we have replaced 15 of them. Madeline wore them for 18 months and Owen wore them for 12 months. This new baby will wear them for at lest 12 months. With the larger size Madeline wore them for 15 months and Owen has been wearing them for 12 months and is looking like he will wear them for at least another 6-10 months. So far I have spent a total of $600 (maybe $700 if I need to replace a few more diapers) to diaper three children for almost three years each. If I use disposable diapers every day, at 5 diapers a day (at least), I would pay about $328 a year per child. You can see the savings!

So if you are looking for a way to save some money, and do some good for the environment as well, cloth diapers are worth looking into. They aren't that scary I promise!

I was not paid to write this post and I received no compensation for it. I just like cloth diapers and the brand that I chose and wanted to share my experience.

Money Saving Tuesday

I am so excited to go to the Farmers Market this week. We have a very local farmers market in my city that begins in early May and continues to the fall. They have fresh everything for very decent prices. Yes I can sometimes find things cheaper at my local produce store, or even on sale at the grocery store. But nothing this fresh. And for the fact that these items are trucked in that day the prices are awesome. I can't afford to feed my family only organic, it just isn't in our budget as much as I would like it to be. But some of these farms are organic and since they are selling direct it will be much much cheaper. Even if they aren't organic, they are fresh which is the next best thing for me.

We did not go very often last year, it just didn't work out. And I missed it very much. When Jon and I first found the farmers market the second summer after we were married we went almost every week. I would buy just enough produce for the week (a few carrots, three potatos, a couple of peppers and onions) and enjoy looking at all the flowers and bakery items that I would also somtimes splurge on.

Then Madeline was born. And it got a lot harder to go. I don't know why, I look back and think that one child was soooooooooooo amazingly easy. Why didn't I take advantage of it more? But I didn't and we didn't eat as much fresh produce.

Then they started opening the famers market after lunch when my kids nap. And with Jon not home it just became very difficult to go. I guess I didn't have enough motivation.

But this summer I am motivated. In the last year I have learned a lot more about what they do to our food and I think a lot more about what foods I buy and what I cook. I can still be a LOT better about my shopping and meal planning but I have also come a long way from last year. I am hoping to use the farmer's market on a weekly basis to supplement my garden. And also to teach my kids that food doesn't just come from the grocery store. They can meet people who work on farms as well. I am hoping that by going to the market and getting excited about it they will be willing to try more vegetables (they are pretty good about their vegetables, but I would like them to try a few more fresh items).

This week is our first trip and I can't wait to see what fresh produce they have.

Money Saving Tuesday- Tag Sales

I love tag sales. I love them, love them, love them.

I never really understood the value of a tag sale until Madeline was born. I went to one with a friend who was looking for baby stuff for her child. And the finds! Oh my. Adorable clothes for 50 cents or $1. Puzzles that looked almost new for $1. A mirror for my house for $5 (now the dressup mirror). Another time we stumbled upon a carseat base that perfectly matched our carseat. It was $2. We had been talking about getting one for my parents to have in case they needed to take the baby (I was pregnant with Owen at the time) anywhere for us. But at $50 it was not in our budget. Well at $2 if fit right in! When Madeline was older and obsessed with Clifford we found a tag sale where the son had also been a Clifford fan and for less than $4 walked away with about 10 Clifford books. And the list goes on.

It is so easy to buy kids clothes at a tag sale. Kids outgrow stuff, people want to get rid of it and cheaply. I want to buy it cheaply. It is win-win right?

Last year I didn't make it to many tag sales and I missed them. So this year I started off early. A mothers of twins group was having a tag sale this weekend. I got there early (very important) and spent a total of $18. I got the following- 2 new board puzzles ($2 each), two puffy Lands End vests- one girl, one boy- ($3 each), four long sleeved shirts- 3T boys- (50 cents each), 1 button down boy shirt-3T-($1), a new pair of boys winter boots- size 9- ($1), two pairs of boys pants- 3T- (50 cents each), 1 girls tinkerbell shirt-5T- (50 cents), 2 sets of plastic baby silverware with travel containers (50 cents each). If you are doing math you know that this only totals $16.50. I spend $1.50 at the bake sale table. See I was supposed to go by myself but Jon had a science fair that he forgot to tell me about (oops) so I had to take the kids and rewards are great things when you want to shop. It was well worth the $1.50 at the snack table to get 30 minutes of good behavior while I shopped! Plus the money went to a good cause.

I bought 3T for Owen because he is currently in 2T. This winter he will msot likely start in 2T but I am betting with the rate he is growing he will need 3T by the end. So we will roll the pants in the beginning. The clothes are in awesome condition. And 5 shirts and 2 pairs of pants for $4, you just can't go wrong.

I won't be able to go every weekend. It isn't really advisable since I don't need that many clothes for my kids. I try to stay away from the knick-knack table. I can get easily sidetracked by them and buy things I do not need for myself. What helps me is to go with a plan- yesterday it was winter and fall clothes, with the allowance for a few new puzzles and board books. I didn't find any board books worth buying (although in the past I have had great luck with these as well as fabric books) but the puzzles were great. I did not get much for Madeline but we recieve lots of girl hand me downs for her and don't need as much. The puffy vest was adorable so I bought it and she loves tinkerbell so for 50 cents I "splurged." Buying at tag sales is also great because you can ask the mom how she liked the product. For instance, we bought boots at a consignment store this winter for Owen. They looked like a great deal, tags still on them and a good price (half off the rtail price). Well I didn't have Owen with me so I didn't try them on him. They were horrible to get on. We rarely used them because it took so long to get them on his feet. So when I found a pair of boots I asked the mom "how hard are they to get on?" She showed me how they opened right up and even said she had loved them so much she bought a pair in the next size up as well. It was a relief to hear that and know I won't fight with boots all winter this year!

Some of my favorite items to look for at a tag sale are:
books- any kind
puzzles
games
kids clothes
baby items
dishes for me (ones that match my pattern)


I probably won't go to a tag sale next weekend, but I may if I have time. We have a little extra spending money right now and if I can build up the winter wardrobes now I won't have to find the money in the fall. Sometimes you can buy years ahead (think 4T, 5T). If I find an amazing deal (like a winter coat, brand new for $5) then I do this. but since storage is at a prime in my house (1100 square feet, no basement and limited closets, difficult attic access), I try not to plan too far ahead.


Do you have a tag sale strategy or favorite find?

Money Saving Tuesday- fun times on a shoestring

There are so many things to do with kids these days. Gymnastics, swim lessons, mommy and me yoga, gym classes, dancing, museums, toddler time at roller skating rinks, music for little ones, etc. And all of these things cost money. As much as I would love to try some of them we just don't have the extra money that enables us to do this. But I also don't want to just stay at home all the time either.

So what do you do if you are like me and on a budget?

You find things that are free, cheap or ways to reduce prices on things that cost money.

For instance we have a local children's museum that runs weekly playgroups. I love my kids to participate but I do not have the $7 each week to take them plus a $30 a year membership fee. That is $28 a month and it adds up. To some $28 really isn't much. But to me it is a lot. Plus that is just one activity. I still want to go so what do I do? The museum needs volunteers. so I design and put up the bulletin boards each month. In return I get to take my kids each week for free, all I pay is the $30 a year. My kids have a great time, I like to do the bulletin boards and I save money. It is a win-win-win.



Another local museum has great things for kids but with an entrance fee of $6 per person per visit we wouldn't be able to go even monthly. I looked into it and they have memberships. A yearly membership is $75 for a family of four. Not exactly cheap but when the alternative is $24 each time our family goes it comes out to be a great deal. Even better? My brother wanted to get us a family gift for Christmas. Perfect for his budget and perfect for my family. Now we get to go to the museum whenever we want, and we go often!

The local zoo that we love is small but really nice. It is $6 for an adult and $4 for a kid each time you go in. Or you can pay $65 for a year's membership for a family of five and go as many times as you like. The zoo that the park is located in costs $2 to park each time, or if you live in the city you can buy a permit for the year for $10. So for $75 we have tons of things to do- the zoo and everything else in the park. They have a sprinkler park, duck ponds, several trails in the woods, two playgrounds, fields to run around in and a pool as well. It is right down the street and we go there often.

Then there are free things to do. Most parks with playgrounds are free. Just the cost of gas to get there and we have a change from our backyard and maybe even some new friends to play with. Feeding the ducks is a great way to get rid of stale bread and have (free) fun for a little while. We can take a walk down the street and go on a nature hike through the woods. Or we can go to the library and there are tons of things to do there for free. Storytime is a favorite. And they often have crafts for the kids or special events around different holidays. Owen is hooked on making puzzles everytime we go lately. And Madeline is in love with borrowing puppets (I love this too since it is great way to have a "new" stuffed animal for a short period of time!) Not to mention all the books and dvds you can borrow for free each week.

It isn't always easy to find things to do with kids that are free and are not in your own house. I do love arts and crafts and playing in our backyard. But we all need to get out of the house and see other people sometimes. You just need to look around, use coupons and be a little creative and there are plenty of things to do!

Money Saving Tuesday

Budget, budget, budget.

For Jon and I having a budget is one of the most important things when it comes to saving money and living within our means. Sometimes the budget feels restrictive becuase it tells us the things we cannot afford. But most of the time I feel like my budget is freeing.

Does that sound wierd? Well it is freeing because without my budget I wouldn't know if I could afford to go out to dinner an extra time this month. I wouldn't know what bills were due, how much I usually pay on them, what I needed money for, etc. But because I have a budget I can see that yes I planned to spend $xxx on electric this month but hey it was a warm month and that means my electric bill is going to be lower. That means I have extra money. And that can either go into savings or we can do something fun with it.

During the majority of the year Jon and I have salaries so we know how much we will make each month. Neither of us is payed hourly so our paychecks are always the same. During the summer Jon gets a little more in his paycheck becuase they only take out insurance during the school year, and his summer teaching job is hourly. However his hours are garunteed so we know exactly how much he will make each week for the whole summer. Becuase of this it is easy then to sit down and figure out how much we can spend each month.

I use Quicken to manage my bills which I love. I keep a seperate file for our checking and savings accounts as well as for each of our credit cards (I have one, Jon has one and we have a few store cards that we use to get extra savings). Paying off credit cards is extremly important to us and we never carry a balance. so having the file that says how much I owe on each card is also important. We use the cards to buy things that are in our budget, and by using the cards we build credit as well as earn freebies (for me it is points on Amazon and for Jon it is money to use at REI).

When I first started staying at home, and even before that, we did not have a budget. We were not huge spenders and never spent more than we could afford but we also never seemed to really get ahead at all. Once we sat down, okay once I sat down and figured out a budget we were better able to save. Sometimes it feels wierd that Jon earns the bigger paycheck and I technically spend it all. BUT it is not like that at all. I am better with organization and so managing our accounts and paying bills is something that I do well. Jon on the other hand is not as organized and while he could do a competent job of paying the bills on time it woudn't be as smooth sailing as it is when I do it. Plus since he works all day this is something that I can do to help our family.

There are some non-negotiables in the budget- mortgage (tried to get it lower and failed), insurance (I do shop around each year for the best rate but it is a must have) for cars and home, heat/electricity, water are all things we must have. Groceries are a must but this is the area that I try to watch the most. I also budget for gas for the cars, car repair, home repair (usually this goes into savings since we don't repair something every month), clothes for all of us, babysitting the night I work and Jon has class, entertainment money (so we can go out at least once a month), mad money for Jon and I, gifts that need to be bought, money to go to savings, etc. Just this year we had to begin budgeting for college courses again after not needing that money since I graduated. Jon started his masters (I am so happy for him!) and we are going to be paying for that each semester for the next five years. And in the fall I need to readjust to make room for Madeline's preschool tuition (its there just not sure where yet). This means that some areas need to be cut back, but that is okay. Right now my plan is that we will not hire a babysitter in the evening, rather I will work on days that Jon does not have class. That will save us about $50 a week which is almost exactly what I need for preschool tuition. The other option is for me to work more hours and for Jon to take on another job. So far we have avioded that and hopefully with careful planning will continue to avoid doing so.

For Jon and I knowing where our money is supposed to go and comparing it to where it actually goes is important for us if we want to continue to live on one income. It has been trial and error each year and we adjust the budget as it needs to be adjusted. Taking from one area to make sure another is paid for. But doing so ensures us that we can build a healthy savings account and continue to live debt free.

Do you have a budget? How does it work for you?

Money Saving Tuesday- how do we do it?

Jon gets this question a lot, and I get asked it as well but more infrequently. Often people look at us- a family of four with one more on the way, a house, two cars paid off, a healthy savings account- and try to figure out how we do it on Jon's teacher salary and my paltry 10 hour a week job. Honestly, sometimes I just don't know! I am VERY happy with my life and I do know where the money goes and how it gets spent but when I look at Jon's salary and mine put together and the things we are still able to do- with no debt- it does amaze me. Especially when I see others who can't make it work on basically one income.

I think the biggest thing is that our house mortgage is very small by comparison to many. I prefer not to go into details, but it is comparable to renting an apartment in the city we live in. And we own the house. The main reason for this is that when we got married we wanted a fier upper house. Something that was structurally sound but needed updates and paints and comsetics that we could make our own and eventually make money on. Even with today's economy if we were to sell our house we would make money. Jon is very good at doing things himself as well. So the things we did to our house we actually did ourselves (or at least Jon did) with help from friends. We never hired out anything- laying floors, knocking down walls, installing cabinets, electric, plumbing. This helped a LOT especially when we were both starting out and working at Catholic Schools. So since the beginning our mortgage has been smaller than most people we know.

Another reason is that when I got pregnant with Madeline Jon switched jobs. He went from making one salary to almost doubling it just by going to public schools. So when I stopped working we honestly were not making much less than before Madeline was born. As long I or, or Jon, continue to work part time in some way, the income will stay what it always was.

We never spend what we don't have. If we buy something large we talk about it and yes we do use credit cards but we also pay them off every month. The only time we have carried a balance was on a 0% interest card when we bought our couches and tv. We planned to pay them off in two years and budgeted for it. We did it just before Owen was born.

I have to say the meal planning and shopping the grocery sales is huge for me as well. Every time I read an article about how to save money this is one of the big ones. I have been doing this since just after Madeline was born, not just to save money, but also because it makes my life so much easier. I go to the store once (well 95% of the time I go once a week) and have what I need for all my meals for the week. I look at the flyers before I go and comparison shop. I split my purchases between four major stores- Big Y, Stop and Shop, Arnolds and BJ's. I buy what is on sale that I need/want at Big Y and Stop and Shop each week. I keep tract of which store has better prices for certain items I need when they are not on sale as well. And BJ's is where I buy many of my bulk items as well as milk. Arnolds is where I buy my meat about every 6-8 weeks. They always have great prices so I buy bulk, break it up into freezer bags and freeze until I need it.

Jon and I talk about it every so often. And sometimes we are amazed at how well we are doing. We never have a reason to worry. Jon is happy that he can work at a job he enjoys and still be able to provide enough for the family. One sacrifice is that he works summer school. Being a teacher, one thing that you look forward to is summer vacation. Well for now it means Jon gets to work part time. But he's okay with that. Because the pay off is that we are raising our family the way we want to. And he also knows it isn't forever, one day when the kids are older and I am back to work we will both have the summers off with our kids. And that will be great as well. No we don't go on big fancy vacations each year like some of our friends. And yes we have to sit down before making a big purchase, and extras need to be budgeted for. But we are happy. And we don't feel like we are losing out in life.

So I guess the answer to the question "how do we do it?" is "we just do!"

Money Saving Tuesday- crafts

I love crafts. Luckily so do my kids. Sometimes Madeline will ask "what are we making today mommy?" I love that!

Crafts can be expensive if you let them. Buying all those little kits adds up. So I try not to (even though I am tempted by the pretty illustrations on the boxes...) But where to get the ideas and supplies?

With little kids construction paper is cheap and easy. A bottle of glue, some paper, scissors and crayons (or paints if you are feeling brave)and you can make tons of things! This week in honor of Easter we are making baby chicks (I will post pics of them later), sponge painting bunnies (Ramblings of a Crazy Woman) and making an Angle Rolled Away the stone craft (www.dltk-kids.com). All are being made with things I have in my house and all will be enjoyed by kids and mama alike.

I get a lot of questions about where I get my ideas. People have told me how creative I am. HAH! I am not super creative, but I like to have fun and do creative things. So I find ideas. I used to buy books of ideas when I was teaching and had the money to do so. Now my main goal is to do things without spending money if I don't need to. So where do I go? Books at the library (my favorite place), other blogs (love you all!) and websites are a wonderful source for ideas. And when I see an idea I like but do not have the supplies for I don't run out and buy them (okay, well sometimes I do), I try to modify them. If something calls for foam and I don't have it, paper will suffice.

Another place I get ideas is Oriental trading. I LOVE their products, who can resist things that come with each project separately wrapped with all pieces included (no cutting or sorting by mom needed). But the cost adds up, plus do I honestly need 12 projects for my 2 kids? So I look through the catalogue, get ideas and often make the items myself. Or I substitute and make something similar. I saw a cute hand print butterfly idea that I simply cannot justify buying BUT I can make with things I have at home. I also saw a whale flowerpot craft that I cannot justify buying either, but can modify with a yogurt cup (tons of those lying around and free), paper I precut, googly eyes that we always have and some paint. Cute craft for a fraction of the price. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Oriental Trading, but if I were to buy their crafts I would blow my craft budget in a month instead of a year.

Some of my favorite blogs and websites are:
Kaboose
Dltk-kids
Totally Tots
The Crafty Crow
Preschool Express

And when I am looking for a craft for a specific season or holiday or letter I google it. There are so many ideas out there it is amazing!


Doing crafts with kids can be expensive and messy. But it doesn't have to be...well I can't promise anything about the messy part, that is all up to your kids but daddy's old t-shirts make GREAT free smocks! Look at some of the sites I mentioned, look around your house and see what you can do. HAVE FUN!

Money Saving Tuesday- The Library

I love my library. I have always loved the library starting from when I was a little kid. My mom started me off by taking me to storytime when I was a kid. This was back when you pretty much could only take books out of the library and had to use an actual card catologue! I never got out of the habit of going, whether to the town library or the local library. In college the library was a great resource for papers to write and for lessons tp prepare for my student teaching. And when I was teaching the library saved me LOTS of money on books to use in my classroom. I loved taking my students to our school library once a week as well and they loved being allowed to choose their own book to borrow for the week.

I am trying to pass that love on to my children. We go weekly for storytime, but there are so many other things there now as well. In addition to a love and appreciation for the library that I am hopefully building in my kids I save so much money just by going to the library.

*For one I almost never buy a book anymore. The only ones I have bought in the past few years have been with gift cards. I get all my books from the library. And if my library doesn't have the books I want or need I can request it from another library in the system. When I was curious about vaccines I requested about five different books and got a lot of information. When a new book comes out that I want to read I may have to wait for it but I don't have to buy it! *My kids have access to new books all the time since we go back weekly. We do have a home librarby of books for them, but I can't buy all the books I would love to read to them. So the library is the answer!
*I never pay for movies to rent for my kids. The library has tons of dvds. And again, if there is one I want that the library I visit doesn't carry, I then request it. They are free for the first week. If overdue they charge me $1 so I make sure to return them on time!
*Storytime is a great activity and it is free! We go weekly and Madeline is at a stage where she can go into storytime alone. This is great for her and I. Even if it is only 40 minutes, it still gets her started on listening to a "teacher" when mom isn't in the room. I will start Owen in storytime with me in the fall.
*Free magazines if you don't want to pay for a subscription. I do buy some subscriptions because I like to rip pages out for ideas. But for things I want to read once in awhile the library copies are great. I just have to hid them from my kids so they don't acidentally rip them!
*Puzzles, games, activities and other things as well are free to be borrowed. Madeline and Owen have taken to borrowing puppets and stuffed animals from the library. This si great because we don't add to our personal collection and the kids feel like they are getting a treat! It teaches them what borrowing is and they learn responsibility by taking care of something that belongs to others.
*Passes to local museums at reduced prices, or sometimes even for free! My MOMs club was able to get over 12 people into our local children's museum for free by borrowing passes from local libraries. Jon and I are trying to take the kids to the butterfly museum, but at $10 an adult and $7 a kid it is an expensive outing. A local library has a pass that gets two people in for free so we are waiting for it to become available.

I love going to the library. I love that my kids love going to the library. And I love that it saves me money as well!

Money Saving Tuesday- Spring Fever Edition

I have spring fever. It happens every year when we get a hint of warm weather. I live in Massachusetts so any glimmer of warmth in March is wonderful! But it is also usually a tease. We have been known to have snow on Easter. And in 2002 when I graduated college in May it snowed. Even though it is March and yesterday the weather kissed 50 degrees today it snowed.

So spring fever is dangerous.

But now that I have it I have begun dreaming of my garden. I try to garden every year with varying degrees of success. One year all I managed to grow were tomatos. And we had so many I was giving them to everyone and anyone who would take them. Last year I got tons of beans and cucumbers galore. But not a single tomato ripened. Carrots and I do not get along. The best I have managed was one year I grew three as big as my pinky.

So as you can see I do not have a green thumb.

But I can dream. And for the minimal cost of a garden startup I am willing to try it every year. Last year was my most successful. We managed a lot of cucumbers, a few peppers, lots of grean beans and two SMALL cantaloupes. We at least know that the placement in the yard works. And we fenced it in so no squirrels or rabbits would eat my vegetables. So I am going to try AGAIN. Even with the startup money I still managed to save on my vegetable bills in the summertime. Although my goal is to freeze or can my vegetables and be able use them through the winter as well, which will save more money, if I can simply grow enough for the summer I will be happy.

This year Jon is going to double the size of the garden. He wants to attempt corn and knows it will take up a lot of space. Last year our garden was about 4 by 6 feet. Not big, but it was a start. This year we will have two 4 by 6 gardens. We also ran into the problem of the tomatos taking over the garden. I only had three plants but they took over the pepper plans which were then not able to grow. For those reasons we will have the second garden.

On my list of plants to grow are:
tomatos
peppers
string beans
corn
carrots (yup, trying it again!)
cucumbers (but only two plants this year, not three!)
pumpkins
watermelon
lettuce (never tried it before)

I do start my garden from seeds. I will start the indoor process in the next month. The startup usually runs less than $30. That includes an indoor greenhouse setup, seeds and soil. I watch the sales for the indoor greenhouse containers and grab them for $5 a piece, I can start about 18 plants in each one and will probably buy 3. I found seeds at my dollar store, 4 packets for $1. After about 6 weeks inside they will be ready to transfer outside.
Even if you start a garden from plants bought at your local garden store it is still cheaper in the long run than buying all vegetables at the store.

I am very excited to get started at my garden. I will share pictures of my kids helping this year and hopefully we will be more succesful in the past!

Money Saving Tuesday

One thing I have wanted to do for awhile now is OAMC. The idea of cooking one day each month and having everything in my freezer sounds amazing. I have read about it several times. I have bookmarked pages on how to do it. I even planned to do it one month. If you are going to try it you should visit Once A Month Mom. She does plan for breakfasts and dinners as well. We eat a lot of cereal for breakfast and my kids eat simple lunches so I am only interested in dinners.
But I haven't tried yet.
Why? Honestly it overwhelms me. The idea of buying all the food I need for an entire month at one time and making it all in one day. It jsut scare me.
Plus I am not even sure I have enough room in my freezers to hold an entire months worth of food.
The last reason is that I do not have enough glassware to freeze everything which leaves me with two options. Buy a LOT of pans at once and buy enough disposable pans for an entire month. I don't like either of those ideas and have yet to come up with a solution.
The idea of not having to really cook during the week, that appeals to me. And reading about how others do it amazes me. But I haven't yet.
So instead I batch cook. For me it is the happy medium. I don't worry about having room in my freezer or buying enough food for a month and cooking in one day. I don't even need to find an entire day to cook, which with my schedule is difficult.

Batch cooking for me is to make two or three dinners at once and freeze the extras. It doesn't take more than 10 minutes extra of cooking time and I am left with one or two dinners to put in the freezer. I always know if I have room for one or two dinners in the freezer. One reason I started doing this is because of my first trimester with this pregnancy. I was exhausted and I had all day sickness. There were many many nights where I did not want to cook and we ended up eating a lot of chicken nuggets or fish sticks or grilled cheeses.
It finally occured to me that if I cookes extra when I felt up to it then I would have actual meals to feed my family when I wasn't feeling well.

Some meals I have found batch cooking works well for are:
baked ziti
chicken pot pit
stuffed shells
baked macaroni and cheese
waffles (for breakfast or dinner)
lasagna
taco meat
meatballs

The following are meals I want to try:
enchiladas
chicken parmesian
meatloaf
chicken or vegetable quesadillas

I am also looking for other recipes to try so if you have any please let me know!

This is something I have been doing for only the past two months but it is working out wonderfully. And a few weeks ago I was shopping and found 8x8" aluminum foil pans on sale. If you bought a 3 pack you got 2 free. So I stocked up on pans and now have enough for the next 5 months! When I freeze my meals I double wrap them in foil. The first time I only single wrapped them and there were some tears in the top. The food was fine but after that I always double wrap the pans now.

Batch cooking saves me money and time. Now when I am not feeling well, or am just simply exhausted I am not as tempted to go out for dinner. I can open the freezer and choose from three or four meals that I have in there. No more eating chicken nuggets for three nights in one week (although my kids never once complained about that!). I plan to have a small stockpile for when baby #3 arrives because planning menus, looking for sales, grocery shopping and cooking with a newborn in the house is not an easy task!

Money Saving Tuesday

One way we save money is by making things ourselves. I rarely by frozen meals, instead choosing to make things as much from scratch as I can. Does that mean I don't ever by prepacked food? Heck no! I have two kids, another on the way, a house to keep up, a part time job and a husband. I admire those who can make time to make everything from scratch (and there are plenty out there) but that just isn't me!

That said I admit that I do hate to buy completed meals, fresh or frozen. I have done the math many times and it just isn't worth it. And then there is all the lovely preservatives and additives in frozen and prepackaged meals that just make me crazy.

My go to meal, when I have no ideas for dinner is a simple stir fry. And honestly it doesn't take me much longer to make a stir fry from scratch than it does to dump it from a bag out of the freezer. I should know, I spend the first two years of my marraige using those things at least twice a week! But a simple stir fry? Easy:
1.Cook your rice. I choose to make real rice, not minute rice. But either will do. I make enough for 4 servings becuase leftover rice is awesome (seriously!) I always start the rice first because it takes about 20 minutes to cook and I can get ecerything else done while it cooks.
2. Cut up whatever leftover meat you have around and set aside. Don't have any? Cook up some new or just make a simple veggie stir fry. You need about 2-3 cups. sometimes I defrost frozen shrimp but my kids aren't fans of it so they eat fish sticks.
3. Look in your freezer and fridge and use whatever veggies you want. We usually end up with garlic, onions, peppers, carrots and broccoli. Sometimes I have other things lying around in the freezer as well like green beans. I don't buy squash or zuchinni but I bet they would be great in there as well.
4. Put your veggies in the skillet. cook on medium about 10 minutes. Add precooked meat. Add lemon juice for flavor and any additional seasonings you want.
5. Dish out rice and top with veggine mixture. Serve with a dressing or marinade that you like and enjoy.
It takes me 20 minutes from start to finish to get this meal on the table. It helps get rid of leftovers and we all like it (well my daughter doesn't like the rice but she eats the rest).



Another easy and quick meal? Pasta and meat sauce. I do use jarred sauce. I want want want to try making my own but I have not been brave enough yet. This is on my to-do list for the end of summer if I get enough of my own tomatoes this year (Jon has expressed a STRONG dislike for canned tomatos so I am trying not to use them as much).

1. Boil pasta

2. Brown ground beef or ground turkey in the skillet. Add sauce and simmer 5-10 minutes.

3. Cook a vegetable or make a salad.

4. Pour meat sauce over pasta and serve with veggies.

Again this meal is done in 20 minutes or less.

There are many easy meals out there. These are just two of my favorites and that I almost always have the ingredients on hand to make.

If you are looking to cut back, and find yourself eating prepackaged meals or take a lot then try making your own meals. Pick a couple of meals that you like and seem easy. Pick a few nights a week and start there. Don't try to go all out and cook every night if you aren't used to it. You will get overwhelmed quickly. For me it was a progression that started when I began staying home with Madeline. I started making more things because I was home. Then I started making things healthier when she started eating with us. Now I cook 5-6 nights out of 7 with one for leftovers. I also started freezing meals for nights that I don't feel like cooking.

Have a great week!