Grocery Matchups thru 7/28

Kroger Mega Deal is still the best around... Ritz for $1.88 at Safeway (with in ad q) will yield you ritz + Free wheat thins. And there's a printable out there for chiquita bites (if it's not reached it's limit). Wacky Mac at Safeway is free this week too!

Week 2 Recap!

Well, we made it again! It's actually more than we usually spend because I'm buying things I normally wouldn't buy but we're on the challenge. But it will all get used. If it's within my maximum price to pay, it's worth it.

With the All You challenge (with the twist of no stockpile usage), we came in at $91.67 for food. With the "theory" buys so as not to include previous stockpile, I spent $98.63 on food :)

But the fire totals aren't as impressive. I stockpiled lotion, razors, vitamins, rubber gloves, wipes and diapers this week too. Scott's Proactiv was $10 "theoretical" but worth it. It's the only thing that works for his skin and he was annoyed with not "having" it. The propane refill cost a bit but it's something we'd probably have to do in the event of losing everything and grilling is so wonderful and healthy in the summer. I broiled the BBQ chicken last week but real BBQ was better. Killer diaper deal at Rite Aid too. I'll try to hit a couple tomorrow. So worth that price. And we stocked our "treasure box" so the kids can earn rewards at the end of the day. It's really motivating Hunter to take steps and Ryanne to stay accident free (she has a tendency not to stop what she's doing and potty).

We have $116 to spend for the next two weeks on the fire challenge so this week will have to pare down on the spending in general. But we should be fine. I might buy another pack of beef but we have pork, chicken and shrimp to use this week and a Pizza mystery shop tomorrow, wedding rehearsal dinner Thursday and wedding Saturday. Here's the total sheets!

Sunday 7/26 Recap

Woo hoo! Caught up in recaps!! Quick trip to King Soopers today (Kroger). Hit 3 more mega deal groups of 10, many with overages. Playtex gloves are the best one right now. And I bought more Sunny D smoothies. Don't love the artificial stuff but hopefully I can bring them to work to share and the kids can have them now and then. I have to go back with my Kashi coupons, I guess they didn't make it out of my pocket!! Got some of the Bushnell weather monitors too, Scott is very excited and I'm excited to have gifts in reserve when we need them! Now just to wait for the rebate to come...

Menus:

Breakfast: Kids had Kashi waffles. We've been giving them the yucky HFCS syrup but I try not to put too much on there. Scott fed them so I don't think they had anything more than that and milk. He had a breakfast sandwich with the last english muffin. I just had a yogurt and what was left of Hunter's waffle.

Snacks: Granola bars and juice.

Lunch: Requested Mac-N-Cheese (the last of the cups I bought). I made them eat a yobaby first. And they each had a piece of bacon. If they weren't so active I'd think heart attack on a plate! No one would touch the green beans (rare for my crew). Scott and I were naughty too and just had some chips and salsa. Although we were good on the portion control.

Snacks: Buttered pasta, cheese sticks (cut from block), boost drinks. They got bananas at the store.

Dinner: I had planned on meatloaf but didn't have time. Made up this raspberry-walnut chicken instead! Served with rice, green beans and milk. (last of the green beans).

Raspberry Walnut Chicken

2 slices of bread, toasted

2 oz. walnuts

1 oz feta cheese + 0.5 oz feta cheese

2T Lite Raspberry vinaigrette + 1T Lite Raspberry vinaigrette

1 # chicken (I only used ~ 1/2 pound but there was enough topping for 1#, use 1 more slice bread if it's not enough for you)

It'd be best to cuisinart the topping (bread, walnuts and 1 oz. feta). But if you don't have one (like me under the fire challenge), then crush walnuts with a heavy something (olive oil bottles work great, as do oil spray bottles), crumble the bread and feta and fork mash. Marinade the chicken in 2T lite raspberry vinaigrette. Spray bottom of pan and place chicken in. Top with topping. Bake until juices run clear and meat is no longer pink. (~30-45 minutes for 1#). Drizzle with 1T more dressing and crumble 0.5 oz more feta on top and serve.

Saturday 7/25 Recap

It was a busy day shopping. Scott didn't feel spectacular so I took the kids. They were good for the "most" part ;-) Freebies and cheapies at Walmart (check lists I'll post in next post). Target had $1.68 2 packs of sippie cups and Ryanne found her very first bargain! She saved her money to buy something and was insistant on a Barbie. I got wind of a clearance at Target and we went. None of the clearance ones but she was insistant. We worked out a deal where she would work off the rest of the barbie with 10 chores at $0.25 a pop. She had $3.50 and I spotted her the $2.50. Well, it rings up $1.32!! Here she is in all her glory. Ryanne could not be happier. I also got a bunch of things from the dollar spot to put in our "treasure chest". She gets an item at night if she has no accidents and listens well. Hunter gets an item for 3 steps "unassisted".






















Oh and a score in the mail!! My Huggies "Enjoy the Ride Rewards" gift cards came!! $50 on Mastercard prepaid cards!! SCORE!!.

Menus:

Breakfast: Pancakes, what else?? Never fails on a weekend they want them. Served with barely touched yogurt and the last orange. I had a fried egg and a piece of toast and a yogurt. Scott had a yogurt when he got up but didn't much feel like anything else.

Snacks: Everyone was asking for cereal. So cereal they got (miniwheats). I snuck some pudding in Hunter's milk (Bwaaaahaaahahahaha). They also got cheese sticks before bathtime.

Lunch: PB&J sandwiches, the last plum. MESSY!!! And "Dora Drinks" (Yoplait kids drinks). They are little addicts with these. I have to ration them!! I had a meat/cheese sandwich and finished off 1/8 of a sandwich from Hunter's plate. Scott had a Marie Callendar's.

Snacks: 2 Boosts, sample crackers in Walmart, bananas in Walmart and boxes of raisins found in my purse. Yeah, I scrounged at the end...

Dinner: SO not in the mood to cook. I wanted nachos so badly. So I made chicken quesadillas instead. I used 2% cheese on the adult ones. It doesn't melt quite as well but still tastes fine. I sauteed the chicken and onions and put them in them and melted in the oven. I served green pepper sticks and a salad with it. Kids got ranch dressing, the adults stuck with salsa.

Friday 7/24 Recap

Well, we're doing great on the week! I will probably shop this weekend but mostly stockpiling, which is what I was hoping to do on this challenge. Stopped by Rite Aid on the way home and got 4 packs of Pampers Easy Ups, size 5 (girls) clearance for $2.87 each. And 2 packs of RA brand refill wipes (240 ct) clearance for $1.74 each. 2x$2 coupons from P&G Year of Savings book and 2x$1 coupons from P&G insert for a total of $10 and change on a gift card!! I was going to try to do the Huggies deal with SCR's but it was too much work with only 1 day to go on the deal. Still, 4 packs of diapers and the equivalent of 6 packs of wipes (each pack had 3 packs in it) for $10? I'll take it :)

Menus:
Breakfast: C'mon, you know what I ate already... Scott had one of his now famous breakfast sandwiches (I need to buy more english muffins!). The kids shared the last of the canteloupe and had the last of the Fruit2day mixed with Sunny D.
Lunch: We both had another Marie Callendar's Pasta Al Dente. I LOVED the tortellini but it had more calories than the shrimp dish I had last time. Scott was still lukewarm on his but I thought they were great.
Dinner: Ryanne had been begging for stroganoff (her favorite) so I bought two cans of cream of mushroom soup and "bought" a can of Albertson's mushrooms (we have so many, didn't want to actually spend on that right now, would rather wait for a sale). They scarfed it down with a couple of green beans, but the stroganoff was the desired part ;-)

Theresa's world famous stroganoff
1# beef, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cans condensed mushroom soup (use low sodium if you can find it)
1 can Beef Consomme (or 1.5 cups beef broth of some sort: ie: boullion, or I used the broth from our crockpot from Wednesday)
1 can mushrooms
1 bag pasta (we use Wacky Mac- a bit of veggies in them and they're cheap on sale + coupon!)
Sour cream optional

Sautee beef and onions in large skillet. You can use butter, I choose to use a cooking spray. If you use butter, when the meat and onions are done you'll want to add a Tbs. of flour to soak it up. Add mushroom soup, beef broth and mushrooms to pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. For the higher fat version I add sour cream at the end. It's very rich and delicious but it's just as good without it. Serve over pasta :)

Hmmm, missing the picture. I'll try to find it :)

Thursday 7/23 Recap

Thursday was a busy day. Ryanne ended up going home with Nana after dinner so they could go to a fire station presentation in the morning. She walked out with her backpack like she was leaving for college "Bye Mom!" She yelled without turning around LOL. Hunter was not pleased in the morning that Ryanne was not going to school. His routine is to go to her room and get a kiss. Well Taylor was in the seat Ryanne was in, with her blonde hair, wearing nearly IDENTICALLY what Ryanne wore the day before. Hunter went up for a kiss and she looked at him like he had 3 heads!! I was hoping we'd go in and he'd see that she wasn't there, we'd wave at the teachers and be alright. HA, silly mommy. He melted down. Finally realized he'd be okay and we were off. I had a PT Thursday for my hip so Scott was lovely enough to make dinner :) No shopping as it was a busy work day and having PT...

Menus:

Breakfast: Hunter had canteloupe before going to school. He won't drink much juice without Ryanne's example. We're watching his weight though to see if he still needs supplement at school. He's doing great so far though, up 0.3 pounds! Scott had cereal and I had my regular cereal and yogurt.

Lunch: One of my "D'OH" days. Forgot my lunch. So I had to see what I had stashed in the freezer here at work. I have a Red Baron pizza and a lean pocket left. Someone decided a Hot Pocket pack with the big KPK on it "DO NOT EAT" didn't mean it wasn't theirs. I had the lean pocket quesadilla and I was still hungry but didn't eat any more. Scott picked Ryanne up and had Spaghetti with his parents.

Snack: It was too late to take Ryanne to school, the other kids were napping. So she got a yogurt and daddy let her have some pudding!! She had a piece of toast and a piece of cheese too.

Dinner: Scott BBQ'd the other 2 chicken quarters. The kids scarf these down so it keeps our portions reasonable. I made baked yam fries with a little butter and brown sugar. Those go over so well!! And we had salads. Everyone is loving salads this summer! The kids got Yoplait kids drinks too, they were so excited!! The kids had pudding for dessert and the adults splurged and shared a bag of popcorn (the lowfat variety though, yay us!!)

Baked Yam Fries

Pre-Bake yam in microwave or oven.

Cut into slices and place on cooking sheet.

Melt Butter (light preferred) in microwave and stir in 1T brown sugar

Bake in oven until browning on top.

Wednesday 7/22 Recap

Sorry I haven't kept up on the recaps. Seems I can do tips or recaps :P I get caught up eventually though!! Wednesday was fairly uneventful. Worked, went home, Scott made dinner!! I didn't do any shopping and that was nice. It's nice when you can just know you have enough of whatever you need at home :) My thought for the day is how much I miss good pots and pans though. After the sandwiches last night, I realized how much we use ours and how bad they've gotten since the wedding (we got them off our registry). I think Christmas will be a good time to ask for some new ones from the hubby. I'll give him a 20% discount to Bed Bath and Beyond and give him a gift card I've earned from mypoints, or my work's reward programs or something and we'll get some new ones. I love the teflon non-stick. I find I use much less oil or butter with them. Anyway, that's the thought for the day :)


Menus:
Breakfast: I had my yogurt and cereal at work. Scott has become quite adept at making breakfast sandwiches for himself with the bacon, cheese, eggs and english muffin's we've had! 3 minutes, all microwave he says. And far less preservatives than those store bought ones. Way to go honey! The kids had the fruit2day juice and some canteloupe. I made them some little hashbrowns from the leftover potato from the stuffed night but no go. They're fruit eaters in the AM.
Lunch: We both had the Marie Callendar's Pasta al Dente meals for lunch. I absolutely loved the shrimp one I had and Scott said the rigatoni was decent. I seemed more excited about mine :)
Dinner: I knew I would be running late so I set a crockpot!! Scott's mom graciously has been taking Hunter to his e-stem PT appointment every week and she stayed for dinner again. It was a beef roast, potatoes, onions, celery and the rest of the peppercorn McCormick pack. 3 cups of water and went all day. The meat was a little dissapointingly tough but not bad. Usually I'll add a 1/2 tsp. of meat tenderizer but didn't "have" it ;-) Served it with sour cream (for kids) and light sour cream (for adults), milk and a salad with a little feta cheese on it.


22. Tip of the day: Let the broth from your crockpot cool, skim off the top fat and save it from your crockpot for next time. It's more flavorful than water, you'll save on spices or you can even use it as beef broth in other recipes too!!

Deals O' The Day!

Not originally mine, but too good not to share.





















Blockbuster Kiosk - FREE DVD Rentals
Have you spotted Blockbuster's new DVD kiosks yet? Well, according to their kiosk locator they are only in select cities right now (not even Phoenix!)... BUT, for you lucky ducks that have a Blockbuster kiosk near you, you can get FREE movies with these codes:
One FREE rental - use CKVPX9A7 (valid 7/20 - 7/27)
Rent One, Get One FREE - use CKVPX987 (valid 7/27 - 8/10)
Rent One, Get One FREE - use CKVPX9C7 (valid 8/10 - 8/24)

(taken from good deal gal blog and j_essica on BBC :) )

FREE BUSHNELL Weather forecaster
Walmart sells the Bushnell Weather Forecaster Radios for $50, down from $99. Find one at your store (you may have to ask for it, but look in the hardware area, sporting goods, or near the fans & thermometers) and will get it FREE after this $50 mail-in rebate. The best part is that the limit on the rebate is three! Can you say holiday gift for the special men in your life? Yeah! Thanks Money Saving Madness and Kristen at BBC!

Tip O'the day!

21. Participate in research studies. Here's one for the mommies out there. https://www.lenababy.com/secure/languageresearch/Default.aspx Lena Language studies is looking for children ages 2-48 months for research in language development. You would record three sessions and they give you free clothing that the recorder fits in. My daughter did a study last summer that made us $680!! And now we got one for $100 :) They send you a recorder and you record them for a day. Then fill out a development questionnaire and send it all back in a prepaid envelope. Last time we had to do a session in Boulder, CO but I believe this new one does not require that. They're looking for typical children as well as children with development or speech delays.

There are other sites out there like mypoints and Ipsos that will pay you to take surveys. There's also Arquest which sends out diapers to be sampled and pays you $10 for doing so!! I'll let you know if I hear of another opening with them. But there are lots of places out there that will pay you for your time and opinion! Give it to them!

Tips catchup!!

I said I'd post tips and I've been a'slackin'!! Keeping up with work, blog and kids has been a bit of a challenge so far. But I'm getting back to it. Next step is to post to AY more... But here's my tips catchup post...

10. Estee Lauder Freebie day! Visit your local Estee Lauder counter tomorrow (Thursday July 23, 2009) for a free 10 day supply of their new Advanced Night Repair! I can't see any restrictions but I assume supplies will be limited.

11. Free Hefty One Zip Bags at Walmart! They have the small boxes for $1 and there were $1/1 coupons in the 5/17 Red Plum insert.

12. Make your own "Happy Meal" Got this one back in the day from miserlymoms.com (I think). A reader suggested making your own meal, wrapping it up, getting little ketchup packets and a toy and having your own happy meal at home. My kids think this is just as much fun and then they can go out back and play on our play set. And it's healthier for them!!

13. Split and Save. Meat that is. Meat has gotten to be one of the most expensive grocery items out there. And the way it's produced and sold is wholly unsustainable in our current food economy. It's also one of the largest contributors to saturated fat in American's diets. For all those reasons and more. Split your meat. I used to toss in the whole pound of ground meat into my meatloaf. But I found that by adding a little more bread or another egg or a vegetable puree, half was plenty and our fat and calorie totals for the day decreased. Add veggies, bread, rice, potatoes or other grains for bulk. You won't miss it. My meaty family and I promise :)

14. Huggies Wipes. I never realized how wonderful these are. I know many people recommend cutting them in half, but that's not worked for me and my poopers ;-) However, use a huggies wipe next time you're out and your kid spills on themself. I got a slushie food coloring stain nearly out of my daughter's white shirt when we were at the zoo. And cleaning! If you have a flat top range, they clean the water burns etc. amazingly. Shower? Soap scum came right off!! Who knew!! They're fairly inexpensive and strong so one wipe will do a whole job too ;-)

15. Coupon organization. Ahhh, this could be a long one. There's so many ways. I dumpster dive (my husband will be mortified I told you that). So I have a lot of inserts. I keep them organized by date of insert. Then I cut out the high dollar q's and the ones for products we prefer. I keep those organized alphabetically because organizing by genre (meat, condiment, shampoo, etc.) was too hard for me to keep up with. It works for some people to organize that way though. I keep my coupons in a box and I have a shoulder bag to take it with me. That way if I'm in the store and I see something on sale I can just find the q and snap it up. I also use websites like taylortownpreview, pinchingyourpennies and hotcouponworld if I need to look up when a coupon came out. Sometimes I keep a printed list with me so I can find them as well, but lately I haven't. When I only had 1-2 inserts from a week I used to cut them all out and go off the list, but now that I have more to cut and I get older inserts from the dives, it just wasn't feasible to cut everything.

16. Keep your veggies fresh. Many of us have used a papertowel in the sack to keep lettuce and other veggies dry. Next time try a coffee filter! Lillyun (whom I met through PYP) told me about this and it works surprisingly better than a papertowel. No idea why, but it does. And you can get 100 basket filters for $1 on sale, so it's more economical than a towel too!!

17. Grow and keep your own spices. Ours were all just destroyed by hail on Monday night but usually this is a great saver. Plant from seed or get a small plant to start. Never let them go bad on the plant, just pick and save. Spices can be frozen in an ice cube tray with water or olive oil or dehydrated. Garlic too. Don't let heads go to sprout, they'll taste bitter. Chop and freeze in oil or water and just drop one in next time you're ready to cook!!

18. Set up a swap! We're all bored with our wardrobes, books we've already read and wrapping paper we used last year. Have your friends bring what they are looking to swap and just trade. It's amazing how some "new to me" clothes, books or household items will make you feel. For Free!!

19. My Soap Saver. You can use soap bits to make foamy soap if you use those dispensers. Boil in 1 cup of water and allow to cool. Or we prefer to pull out a new bar when the old one is down to the bendy-stick level. Use both bars in the shower and then stick them together. They won't come apart and you'll get each and every drop out of each and every bar, it just rolls onto the next bar.

20. Christmas saver. This one isn't as good as it used to be since more and more people send out the photo cards. But save your cards from the year and then next year when it's time to go through the cards, sit down for some family fun and look at all the ones from last year. Then cut out the card part or the decoration and use them as tags on this year's gifts. Good walk down memory lane and about how everyone has changed over the year and then free gift tags to boot.

I think that gets me caught up for tips! I'll keep posting the "equivalent" of one a day, even if I don't get to it every day ;-)

Tuesday 7/21 Recap

GREAT trips to Kroger and Albertson's today. $45 at Kroger but that's split between HBA and Grocery. I got 7 of my very favorite Johnson's lotions for $1 each and I couldn't be happier. Well worth $1. Not $2, but $1 I'm excited about ;-) Wish I had more of those coupons. I bought a ton of Kraft salad dressing because I had "save off meat WYB dressing" and some for produce as well. So I am sure a lot of that will go into yard sale but that's fine, saved me a bunch to get 0.19 dressing and $2 off meat, $1 off produce. At Albertson's I got all the yogurt we'll need 12x4 packs) through this challenge anyway and some bisquick for pancakes (4 boxes) because I had mailer coupons, and 2 Dora yogurt drinks for the kids and 7 free Propel waters (although I found out they would have been overage at Kroger!! GRRR!). All told at Albertson's I spent $10.99 on all that and got 6 coupons for free milk through 8/4 (up to $4.50! If they won't give overage I'll buy organic). Very good deal.

Menus:
Breakfasts: I had dry special K cereal because I didn't have any more yogurt. Scott had a bacon, egg & cheese muffin sandwich and the kids had melon before they went to school.
Lunch: I had the leftover eggplant stuffing from the night before. Not as good reheated honestly. I haven't verified Scott's meal yet but he said he's not been cheating on the challenge so I'll trust him.
Dinner: Chicken salad sandwiches, leftover cheesy mashed potatoes, steamed green beans. Adults had water, kids had milk/oj. Kids actually didn't like this one and ended up scarfing down 2.5 PB&J sandwiches and Ryanne had a salad too. Normally I don't let them have something different but Ryanne was asking so nicely, I had to. Scott had Popcorn for dessert. I went and had more bargains for dessert :) (dinner picture will be uploaded tonight)

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

8 oz chicken, diced
1.5 tsp italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic
3 strips bacon, chopped
3 T miracle whip
slices of Monterrey jack cheese or other personal favorite
(slices of tomato would have been perfect but I hadn't bought them yet)
Lettuce &/or spinach leaves
Whole wheat pitas &/or tortilla

Precook bacon in the microwave on 2 papertowels for 2.5 minutes to pull off some of the grease. Sautee chicken, bacon bits and garlic until chicken is thoroughly cooked and no longer pink. Remove from heat and add miracle whip and italian seasoning. We were using up the pita's from last week's meal and only had two so the adults ate the pitas and the kids had theirs in a rolled up tortilla instead. Melt cheese on tortilla or in pita and top with chicken salad, tomato and lettuce/spinach.

Monday July 20 Recap

Another busy day with Hunter's stuff and the Screamin' Weeman. We started at 8 and finished at 5. I did get a 1.5 hour nap today though (thanks Scott!! I needed that!!). His therapy days can often be like our weekend days with lots of daytime grazing. And usually a really horrid breakfast (today was no exception).


Menus
Breakfast: Yobaby (ate all), cheesy english muffin (ate none), plums, lemonade (ate and drank very little), for Hunter. Ryanne had some grapes before going to school. I took a quick 1/2 hour nap so missed breakfast but got an early snack. Scott had cereal.

Snack: Early snack between AM therapies for Hunter. Tortilla with cream cheese, deli slices of meat and fresh spinach leaves. Less cream cheese on my side and more on his. He scarfed them down!! And he had some grapes and green peas. Much better than the breakfast foray. And he had a whole orange by himself after his second therapy!!


Lunch: Scott had a sandwich for lunch and Hunter and I used my free baked chicken meal coupon at KFC (Thanks Oprah!!). He actually ate a lot of it which kept me from eating too much. Perfect!!




Appetizer: Hunter couldn't wait until Ryanne got home from gymnastics and the stuffers weren't ready so I gave him the rest of the green peas and melted butter on them.

Dinner: This was an experimentation and it went over well. Had to improvise because of not having everything "in stock"... Stuffed potatoes/eggplant. We had veggies from last week and I wanted to get them used up. Scott won't touch eggplant usually so I ate the stuffed eggplant shell and he and the kids had stuffed potatoes. I saved the innards of the potatoes for hash brown starters for the kids in the AM. We had water and milk for dinner. Popcorn for dessert because we have the calorie room and it was a rough day :)



Stuffed Potatoes/Eggplant (what I used, substitutions very easy)

1/3 of an Eggplant
2 Medium potatoes, baked just to tender (use all eggplants if your family won't whine like mine!!)
3 small zucchini/yellow squash (I steamed in the microwave in a Hefty One Zip bag, open 2" with ~ 1/4 C. Water)
12 fresh spinach leaves, washed and chopped
1/3 C. chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 packet McCormick Peppercorn Steak Grillmates
1 T Olive Oil
3/4 C. rice, cooked per directions
8 oz. chicken breast, cooked until not pink, but not overdone (I microwaved it).
3 T. Sour cream (I used lowfat for adults, regular for kids)
3 cheese slices (I used cheddar, but a strong swiss or goulda would be great)


Bake whole eggplant on a baking sheet at 425*F for 40 minutes. If only using a part, put the innard side down when baking, hollow out the innards when done and save for filling. Bake Potatoes to just barely cooked, hollow them out and save the innards for another dish.


Sautee Onions and garlic on stove with Olive Oil until onions are near translucent and reduce to medium heat. Finely chop chicken, squash and innards from eggplant and add to pot. Add Rice, spinach leaves and seasoning mix to pot. Mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and stir in Sour cream. Fill shells and top with cheese slices as desired. Bake at 425 until cheese is melted and filling is warm and bubbly.

Alternately, in my former, high metabolism, plenty of kitchen tools life... Cuisinart all the filling ingredients with 3/4 block lowfat cream cheese instead of sour cream. Wow, rich and delicious!!




And even my husband, so vehemently opposed to eggplant said, "that's a good one Hun!!" I then told him there was eggplant in it and he about keeled over ;-)

Sunday 7/19 Recap

Another nice day. Hot but some cloud cover. I worked on my SIL's Bridal Brunch stuff and we cleaned in the AM. Just a heads up... cleaning on your hands and knees with a sponge, 1 bottle of multi purpose cleaner and some rags is not all that fun. Kids thought it was, but they got to stop when they got bored!! But it does the job. And the house is clean, so there. Then we went on a mystery shop to an entertainment site. The kids had fun and got to come home with a "toy". Shop pays $45 and we spent $37 on mini golf and tokens. So money making family entertainment! Can't beat that!!

Menus

Breakfast: Pancakes w/ syrup, Yobaby, cherries and lemonade for the kids (we're out of milk until tomorrow because we didn't start with a full gallon). Scott ate the rest of the pancakes and had coffee. I had a dry slice of toast, cherries and coffee and ate the few bites of pancake left on the kids' plates.

Snack: Pudding, apples, cherries. Kids had the last of the raisins on the way home.

Lunch: Lean pocket, plums, lemonade & Fruit2day drink, cheese sticks (cut from the block). I had a sandwich and Ryanne ate a bunch of it. I finished her pocket. Scott ate what was left on Hunter's plate and ate the last granola bar (that was diaper bag fare)

Dinner: London Broils, seasoned with olive oil, McCormick's seasoning (Montreal flavor) and water. Put them in a bag and beat them with the butt end of the olive oil bottle to tenderize. Cheddar mashed potatoes and the last of the canned peas. We had skim milk and we mixed the kids' milk with the second to last Boost drink from the diaper bag stash.

Saturday 7/18 Recap

Nice day. Took the kids for a hike (Hunter in the Backpack) in the morning and then ran errands all day. Meals aren't wonderful when we run errands, they're more like a consistent graze throughout the day so their "snack" category may look huge. Then we had dinner at our neighbor's BBQ. I brought some cream cheese that I owed her but she didn't ask me to bring anything else. I should have brought a green salad in hindsight!! She let me borrow the 1/2 cup of milk I'd need for Sunday and 1/4 cup of syrup for Sunday breakfast.

Menus
Breakfast: Toast with Smart Balance Butter, yobaby yogurt, apples, milk & Sunny D for the kids. I ate a slice of dry toast and some cherries. Scott had an english muffin breakfast sandwich (cheese, egg, bacon, muffin). And we had coffee (forgot to add coffee to all breakfast menus, but we drink it pretty much every day).
Snacks: Grapes, Fruit2Day juice, water, lemonade, cheese "sticks", meat/cheese/ranch sandwich, raisins (from diaperbag stash), pudding. I had a joint juice I brought from work.
Lunch: Kraft Easy Mac, Green Peas (canned), vienna sausage, lemonade. I had leftover taco salad and I think Scott had a sandwich (I'll have to double check, but he ate off the "proper" shelves)
Dinner: Hot Dogs, Pasta Salad, Black Olives, Milk, Veggie Tray, Chips (all from neighbor's BBQ).

Week 1: By the hair of our chinny chin chin!

I still need to post updates for Saturday and Sunday but the first week total for just the All You grocery challenge is.... $98.07!!! Woo hoo! Under by almost $2!! Unfortunately that included having to return one of my beloved great deal on Olive Oil because of $11 at Starbucks, but hey, a win is a win.

This was pretty much starting from NOTHING, all scratch, no cheating (that I'm aware of). There were a few things that I had to use from our previous stores like milk and fruit and bread that I wasn't going to let go bad, so it would have been over $100 for the week in terms of the Fire challenge (including "theory" items, it was $119.52). But we've got a good stock going now and we have a lot of meat and sides so we'll do some more household items and stockpile building this week. Oh, and Kroger (King Soopers) trips!! Love that sale ;-) But really, we're a monthly budget family so we're doing alright. We expected to have to spend more initially to start rebuilding the staple goods.

And as for the full "fire challenge", we've spent $180/500. Higher than desired but you have to spend up front for these things. I'd like to be able to "buy" more clothes for the kids and another pair of jeans for me for work but we'll see how that pans out. I don't want to overspend just yet.

One great thing this week was that we found out we don't have to keep thickening Hunter's liquids! This is a HUGE savings. The thickener he used was a minimum of $25 for a big jug of it. We had to buy him little cocktail straws to drink from, but to go from Honey Thick liquids back to "Thins" (no thickening) is downright awesome. Way to go Wee Man!!

Other observations...
* Scott may not last. He is already unhappy with sandwiches and was sad he couldn't do an aus jus with the meat tonight. But he's managing and appreciating the lesson in minimalism as much as we all are. We're 1/4 of the way there!
* Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee is AWFUL!! Not even close to a substitution for New Mexico Pinon coffee, but I guess why it's so much cheaper, eh?
* Clearance diapers... great if they're Huggies or your kid doesn't have a sensitive bum... Hunter's butt looked like one of those monkey's in the zoo after using those Albertson's diapers for 2 days. They took both packages back but we're now out of diaper-bag-Desitin so hopefully it doesn't come back now that they're out of the house!
* Purex 3-in-1, good for cold washes, not so good for hots. The dryer part melts off before it ever gets to the dryer. Not recommended.
* Covergirl Outlast Lipstain, from my Bzz Campaign!! First of all, FREE (can't beat it), and decent makeup for second! I swear it wasn't just the color, it actually tasted like berries to me. And it actually did last for close to 4 hours, including eating a meal with oils in it. Their previous version was a bit cakey, this lipstain goes on as a color and you can put anything you want over it: gloss, chapstick, another color... but the key was that it lasted without the cakey feeling most long lasting lipcolors get. And my lips actually even felt a little more moisturized. I'd give it 4/5 stars (the color was actually a little too intense for my pasty-whiteness, but it blended nicely after about 2-3 hours).
* Mystery Shop! Got to do one today. The scheduler was a bit of a snot, but it was fun in the end and not too hard. Good free (actually money making) fun for the family.
* Cleaning, UGH, not fun with one bottle of cleaner, a sponge and some rags! But the house is clean... for now...
* Lots of "Borrowing" from friends and family, not ideal, but in a pinch, which one of us wouldn't go beg their mother in law for her Melanine Christmas dishes for a month?? I "borrowed" a 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup syrup, 1/2 cup milk (for Hunter's Sunday bottle), a vaccuum for the morning and an iron for an hour.

Friday 7/17 Recap

I'll start this and edit as things change. Not as busy today, so that is fantastic! Put the final numbers in the grocery column and will return 2-3 items to hit the $100 mark. We have a lot of food though and next week will be more about buying sale items and regular stock items for a normal kitchen.

And wanted to be sure I added that Hunter gets an 8 ounce bottle at night still for the extra calories. I'm not putting it in every day but it's 6-8 ounces of milk usage (sometimes he doesn't finish his milk at dinner and we put it in the bottle and top off).

Menus
Breakfast: Kids had grapes and Sunny D (I don't love Sunny D, but the price was right and it's okay on occasion). I had my yogurt and special K (yogurts all gone now!!), Scott had the second breakfast lean pocket.
Snack: Well, for me anyway, 6 Rolo's from the boss' drawer. I will have to add to the candy drawer at some point too!!
Lunch: Lean pocket and an orange for me. Scott hasn't chimed in yet. Kids are at school.
Dinner: Taco Salads. Tortilla chips with lettuce/spinach, onions, cheese and ground turkey. Topped with salsa for the adults, ranch or sour cream for the kids. I will serve with milk/lemonade, raw carrots and steamed green beans. The kids can have pudding for dessert. If the adults can manage to not spend any more, they can have popcorn (bought out of theory so doesn't contribute to the AY challenge budget)

















Here's the grocery matchups for my area... Safeway didn't have much but I'll be getting the Schick Quattro razors for $0.98 after q.

King Soopers Buy 10 get $5 off deal:

Other King Soopers Matchups:

Albertson's this week:

Friday 7/17 part 1

Well phooey. Hubby just informs me that he spent about $10 at Starbucks whilst waiting for the car. That will put us over our All You $100/week total grocery/food by about $6. Not a problem in the grand $500 scheme, but in need of fixing for contest purposes. Looking at things we could return to make the number... I wish I could return that coffee from Albertson's. It's horrible. It's worse than the stuff they serve here at work!! I will probably be resigned to relinquishing one of my Olive Oil's at Albertson's :( And I was going to return the rice to Walmart anyway because I got a better price on the Bulk at Sunflower market. That will be $2.49 (or $4.49, depending if they refund the coupon or not) and $1.50. That should get us there but I'm sad to sacrifice the great price on the Olive Oil for starbucks!!

Here's the grocery/food tally for the week, before returns:

Thursday 7/16 Recap

Got to go to King Soopers (Kroger) on a break. I love the save $5 WYB 10 item sale ;) Got lots of staples like cream cheese, mouthwash, salad dressing. My favorite is Johnson's Lotion!! My ALL TIME favorite lotion. If I can figure out what I did with my $2/1 coupons from S 4/19, I will be stocking up on those. There will have to be room in the budget!! After the sale the big bottles are only $1!! And remember to check your catalinas that print out at the store. There have been some really good ones lately, like the $2/1 Listerine I used or $1/1 Yobaby.

And I was able to use my $2 off meat WYB Kraft dressings. Got 2# of london broil, 1.5 # chicken tenders, and $1 off produce WYB Kraft dressings for $0.13 cantaloupe. I had to go to customer service though because it didn't ring all the items I thought were on the sale. It was a hassle but I got more dressing and some more meat out of it. I was in too much of a hurry to plan anything else. LOVE the Smart Balance butter on sale for 50 cents too. This is a nicer, healthier option to the oil sprays or margerine that we had. I'll be getting a couple more of those. It's really easy as a calorie additive to Hunter's foods.

Menu
Breakfast: The kids had apples and milk again, then ate at school. Scott had a lean pocket breakfast pocket. I had yogurt at work with the Special K in it. Only one yogurt left here!!
Lunch: I had the leftover porkchop and rice and 2 plums. Scott went out to lunch with a friend who owed him lunch. He had chicken wings or something to that effect.
Dinner: BBQ chicken (leg quarters), corn (canned) and baked potatoes with sour cream and milk to drink. I normally like to add a green veggie, but the kids love corn. I miss the days when corn on the cob was 10 cents apiece too!! Maybe at the farmer's market next weekend!! The kids ate most my piece of chicken but that's okay, better for the waistline. Light Sour cream for the adults, regular for the kids. Butter on the kids' potatoes and corn.

















Dessert: "Holy Crap That's Good Pudding". WARNING: You will gain a pound just reading this recipe!! This is not for the faint of calorie... seriously, should only be given to kids who need to gain weight or up their calorie/fat content. Don't count this against me as unhealthy, it's just what Hunter needs (and Ryanne burns so many calories, she's welcome to have it too). Oh, and I add a stick of butter at the end (or 1/2 cup butter from a tub). I use Omega 3 Smart balance butter. It's the right kind of fat for Hunter to go with all the animal fat.

• Holy Crap That's Good Pudding

3/4 C. sugar
4 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. flour
2 C. whole milk or use 1C whole milk, 1C cream
1 tsp. vanilla (or 1 T cocoa powder)

Stir sugar, yolks, flour and milk together in pot over medium heat until boiling.
Continue to boil for 5 min. (for thicker pudding allow to boil while stirring for another few minutes, you will feel it thicken and it will thicken more when it sits). Add butter and stir until mided in.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and let sit for a few minutes. If using cocoa, stir in with the butter.
Options: Eat plain or top with cinnamon or nutmeg. Or chill it and top it off with fresh berries! Freeze right away for an ice-cream like treat!
Told ya it was simple ;)
For Banana Pudding - Layer dish with vanilla wafers, top with sliced banana and pour pudding over top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr.

Wednesday 7/15 Recap

Far less stressful than Monday or Tuesday, but still busy and jam packed! Mostly busy with work. Really annoyed with blogging right now as that formatting and text content are hard to modify and keep track of!!

Menu

Breakfasts: Kids got grapes before they went to school. Scott had a lean pocket breakfast sandwich and said it was pretty good!! I had a yogurt that I had in the fridge at work (2 Dannon Activia's left) and Special K red berries mixed.

Lunch: I had the leftover 1/2 pita with gouda, sausage, and veggie filling. I also had 2 plums. Scott had another type of lean pocket (yes, heaven forbid someone cook for him... he's not THAT inept in the kitchen!!).

Dinner: Italian pork chops, rice, green beans, spinach/iceberg lettuce, milk/water.

• Italian pork chops
  
  2-3 large pork chops
  3 T italian dressing
  3 slices of bread (a good way to use the heels of your loaves!!)- toasted and crumbled
  
  In baking dish, spray to prevent sticking. Place pork chops, rub in ~ 1/2 to 1 TBS. Italian dressing to each one. Toast bread and either cut up or hand rip to make crust. Cuisinart is great for this if you have one!! Sprinkle toasted bread on dressing-chops. Bake at 425*F for 20-30" depending on thickness of meat.
  

Tuesday 7/14 Recap

Not quite as busy as Monday, I had to work. Went to Sunflower Market aftwerwards to pick up the right cheese and veggies because my Mother in Law, Theresa, was staying for dinner after taking Hunter to his 2nd PT. I planned sausage and veggie pitas with gouda and fries. Of course, it's 95 degrees, I finish at Sunflower and the car won't start!! It took like 20 minutes. Then, (OF COURSE) right after I call Scott, it starts! The starting issue comes and goes so how much do you pay someone to fix something when they don't even know what it is and can't get it to happen on command?!?!

So... Menus
Breakfast~ Apples and whole milk for the kids getting up. Scott had toast and eggs again and I hit the ground running at work and did a naughty thing and skipped breakfast. By the time I looked up at work, it was 11:45 AM and time for lunch! The kids had their meals at school.
Snack: Okay, only me... candy in the boss' drawer. I don't like chocolate really but if you put caramel or something in it... I'm all on that train!
Lunch- I had the leftover pasta from Monday with some Ragu sauce and 2 plums. Scott had another sandwich with meat/cheese/mustard. He also had a large salad with leftover veggies and dressing, which were accounted for or "borrowed"
Dinner: Sausage & Veggie Pitas, fries, milk, and water.

• Sausage and Veggie Pitas

1 # sausage, mild or hot

1 zucchini, sliced/diced

1 squash, sliced/diced

1/2 eggplant, sliced/diced

1T olive oil or several spritz's of oil spray to cook veggies

several thin slices of tomato

several thin slices of gouda cheese

italian seasoning to taste

Pita pockets, sliced in half

Sautee sausage in a pan and either sautee veggies in the drippings or use a cooking spray or olive oil to cook veggies to tenderness (you can use onions, peppers, squash, eggplant, broccoli, beans, whatever suits your family's tastes or whatever you have available). Melt ~ 1/2 ounce Gouda in each pita half and then transfer sausage, veggies and tomato slices to pita. Serve warm.

I so wish I had a picture of this one. It will be the priciest meal of the week but it went over so well!! The Gouda makes this one though, beware.... another strong cheese could be substituted, like Edam or Blue, but Gouda is usually the cheapest and the easiest flavor to mix. Squash and eggplant were on sale here but I loooooove mushrooms in this one. Find them if you can!! Broccoli and any other veggie du sale is perfect.

As far as the fries. I do normally keep oil in my fridge for frying occasions such as these where I'm in a hurry, better than having to start with fresh oil every time!! But pan frying potatoes with a little oil is better, especially olive oil,vs. deep frying. And baking with a light spray of butter flavor oil spray plus some garlic salt or italian seasoning yields the healthiest, tasty option.

• Homemade french fries

Peel and slice potatoes to meet size and content you like.

Bake potatoes in oven, microwave or deep fry.

Spray microwave and oven potatoes with cooking spray and sprinkle with italian seasoning for flavor.

Bake at 425*F for ~20-30 minutes.

My mother in law stayed to help put the kids to bed (she's a saint) so that I could get the grocery shopping done. I managed to get to Albertson's, Safeway and King Soopers (Kroger) before 9:30.

One notable item was at Albertson's. Filippio Berio Olive oil. A $2/1 printable online plus $4.49 sale price made this item too good not to get 2. And I had 2 $4 OYNO catalinas from the Kraft cheese deal 2 weeks ago so I got some coffee too (which is actually horrible by the way!!). I got some diapers for Hunter off the clearance rack but Ryanne will still need some by Thursday.

And instead of buying large amounts of laundry items, I used a $2/1 coupon to try the Purex 3-in-1. You put the sheet in the washer and it washes and softens and then just transfer it to the dryer as the dryer sheet. Not a huge fan to be honest. Doesn't eliminate static here in dry Colorado and I question if it will get a whole large load clean or if you'd always have to use 2 sheets. We'll see... I'll keep using them because that's what we have, right?

Monday 7/13 Recap, day 1!!

What a wild start. I slept 7 hours between Friday morning and Monday night. That's total people. I did take 2 hours of that time Friday to myself but the rest was to accomplish various things on my to do list, take care of the kids, and work. Have to prove Scott was wrong though, just a rough start ;-) Got 8 hours Monday night though, a record in my world!!

So worked all night with a 45 minute nap at about 2:30. PT at 8am, AWESOME!! Hunter got some new sticks to try to learn to walk with to prepare him for crutches in the next month or so. Then set him up with Barney and off to my MFR/PT for my hips. Hit Rite Aid on the way home (returning most of it... long boring story), and thought about going to King Soopers (Kroger). But had to get Hunter for his Swallow Study. He ROCKED it. One of the only kids to ever go from Honey thick to no thickness. Just has to stop chugging like a frat boy :) Then to Walmart to complete the day. We "bought" in theory from our stockpile and "borrowed" from neighbors to make it through until I could shop for the challenge.

Menu:
Breakfast: Kids had boost drinks when getting up (from diaper bag). Ryanne ate at school and Hunter had toast with cheese and eggs with cheese and ketchup. And they both had some grapes. Scott and I had fried eggs and toast and coffee. [bought: bread, cheese, ketchup. borrowed: coffee, eggs from neighbor across the street, as well as a frying pan, baked toast in oven on rack, coffee pot "appliance" provided at non-fire-diggs).
Snack: Hunter attempted to re-eat his breakfast. And had some more grapes and the rest of his boost.
Lunch: Scott ate a leftover porkchop so I accounted for it under theory. He also had an apple the neighbors gave us. I "purchased" a Maruchan yakisoba and tried to share it with Hunter. Stinker won't eat!! I had some of the grapes we "purchased" and so did he. He had a box of raisins from the diaper bag. I'm not a horrible mom people, he always eats this crappy for me LOL
Snack: Hunter had some grapes at Children's Hospital as we waited for our results and sipped on the remainder of his juice box from the study. He was awarded a lollipop from the diaper bag as well.
Dinner: well, afer finally shopping Scott and I had shrimp and tomato pasta and the kids just had pasta with sauce (although they ate a lot of the shrimps!!). And we had iceburg lettuce salads with tomatoes and dressing and milk. I thought about taking a picture of dinner every night but didn't think of it until Wednesday so I'll start then :)

• Shrimp recipe:
  1 package Wacky Mac (or is really great with Spaghetti or Angelhair, if price works!!)
  2 cans tomatoes, seasoned if possible, (will save $$), drained
  1/2 medium onion, chopped
  5-6 cloves garlic, minced
  1/2 # shrimp (or more, just rationing)
  1 T fresh parseley (from neighbor's garden)
  1 T italian seasoning

Sautee shrimp, onions and garlic in some oil spray or 1T olive oil. When the onions are translucent and shrimp are done add tomatoes (and I love to add mushrooms or broccoli when I can). Add spices to taste and sautee for 5-10 more minutes, draining excess liquid if needed. Cook Pasta Al Dente and serve shrimp and tomato mixture over pasta. Sprinkle Parmesean cheese if available.

Monday's thoughts with the Fire Challenge:

• You have to cook in pots and presumably cut on cutting boards. We theoretically got 2 pots, 1 frying pan and a cutting board from my MIL. Hopefully tomorrow I'll add pictures of the utensil packs we would "buy" from the thrift store if given the real situation.
  Toothbrush/toothpaste. Ask your dentist for a sample in a pinch, they're always happy to help!
• Free household furnishing items are available to those really in need through various charities in major cities. If you needed a couch or something and really couldn't afford one, that's what they're there for. They're often called Furniture banks and here's a link to find one near you if you need something or have something to give!!! http://www.furniturebanks.org/
• Jammies. Have you ever tried to get kids by on one pair?? Geeeez!! And try telling them, no, you have one clean outfit, wear it!! If you lose everything, be prepared for a fight from the tots.
• Ask your friends and family. Most your older family have several older sets of dishes or that old set of pots and pans they haven't gotten rid of. Hey, for the price at the time, good way to get you off your feet.
• While budgeting weekly may be necessary for some, per the All You Challenge, consider monthly and stockpile budgeting. Things go on sale in cycles. For instance BBQ sauce will be on sale through July only most likely, or just into August. If you like BBQ year round, wouldn't it save you money to buy a bunch at 0.08 a bottle or FREE or BETTER THAN FREE?!?! With coupons, you can and I am of the mind you should. So I am budgeting food weekly and the rest of our items monthly because I think that's a more long-term mindset.
• Rushed? Make a sandwich. You'll save a lot vs. just running to McDonald's or wherever. Really, how hard is it to put bread, meat, cheese, condiments or veggies as you have available and can tolerate.... your waist and your wallet will thank you later.
  

Okay, I am sure there's more, but I can edit ;-) That's the meat of Monday!!

What we're leaving behind

And before we really start... I promised stockpile pictures. I am so sad to leave this behind. It has become a comfort to know that you can just "go downstairs". Scott got me this shelving for Mother's Day (don't laugh, I secretly think it was the best present EVER!!). And we have TP in massive bulk in all the bathrooms, which is why even this much had to go to the basement. I promise not to use anything without "buying" it though :) Oh, and PLEASE don't laugh at my lack of organization in my cabinets... it's "on my list" LOL But all those bankers boxes on the sides are filled with things too. Spaghetti Sauce, meat marinade, deoderant, lotion, etc...

Here's my locker and drawer at work. Yes, I'm a fruitcake, laugh if you will. Those special K red berries are tasting GREAT so thank you to ME!! LOL

Cars: coupons, 2 strollers, 2 bags w/ 1 change of clothes each. Diaper bag, walker, shoes and clothes for Monday AM (including makeup). Yes, my car is often that messy. I live out of it, I swear!! Scott will kill me when he sees I posted these!

What a first 4 days!!

So sorry I haven't been able to update, what a whirlwind!!
Monday: 8AM Hunter PT, 10AM my PT, 2PM Swallow Study, had to shop and theoretically "shop" since we were starting with "nothing". Hunter ROCKED his swallow study!! No more thickening, just cocktail straws, totally cool :)
Tuesday: made it through the first day!! Still no menu plan in place but I have a good idea of the sales. BUT they all end today, so MIL was nice enough to help the kids to bed while I got the shopping done. She came over in the early afternoon to take Hunter to his second PT and stayed because I was in Boulder and the *$%^$ car wouldn't start. It's either the starter or the protection mechanism of the key or the fuel line. They can't friggin diagnose it. Anyway, it finally started 10 minutes later.
Wednesday: Okay, meal plans falling into place, realizing how hard it is to be minimalistic already!! But it feels good not to have to worry about Mt. Olympus of Laundry ;-) work kicked my behind. I was slammed from the time I walked through the door. Tuesday wasn't much better but Wednesday was ridiculous. I hate being in process sometimes. Scott took care of Hunter's OT.
Thursday: Crappy but again busy day at work. SOOOOO excited for the Kroger $5/10 item sale. It's usually good stuff. Not encompassing a lot of items but some good ones. Hunter had a ST this afternoon. Good excuse to get out of work early since nothing was going right anyway. But already worried that Scott will slip by the end of this. He hates it, constantly asking what he's "allowed" to eat LOL And edited... he took the car in. Went to Starbucks!! Ugh, we'll have to return some things maybe, we'll see how that budgets out.

Whew!! I have to figure out how to post my excel spreadsheet that has the detailed amounts... As of Thursday we're at $82.11 out of the $100 for week 1 grocery and $140 out of the $500 total for the "fire challenge". I'll get to posting individual days and catch up tips next :)

Wow, 2.5 hours and it starts!!

I have been soooooo busy this week! Work, family, and a sister in law's wedding to try to help with, I haven't posted any more tips!! So here you go, some catch up :)

3. Coupons. Ohhhh, the dread of every Walgreen's and Target cashier in North America. The biggest thing I hope to convey by doing this is that you can live well and save a LOT of money by using coupons to your advantage. It's all about matching the deal with the coupon to get the most bang for your buck. Then stockpiling things when they're on a really good sale or free so you don't have to buy them out of necessity. I started out using www.grocerygame.com (use my email pirnq@yahoo.com as a referral if you want to try their 1 month trial for only $1). Eventually I just learned to do it myself and use my other online references, referrals and friends to help me out. Some other great sites are www.hotcouponworld.com, www.slickdeals.net, www.pinchingyourpennies.com, www.afullcup.com, www.couponmom.com, www.taylortownpreview.com and my personal favorite: http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7465/coupon_deals_for_bargain_hunters . All these sites have helped me track my coupons and find the sales to use them. Hopefully I can slowly impart some strategies to anyone choosing to read this blog :)

4. Never pay full price. My husband recently said to me as we used a $10 off when you buy $50 at Lowe's coupon at Home Depot: "I can't believe we ever pay full price for anything!" Yesssssss honey, NOW you're getting it!! You can use competitor's coupons at some stores. Joann Fabrics and Michael's take each other's coupons. Lowe's and Home Depot will accept each other's too. You can print off coupons online. www.retailmenot.com has the best selection of codes to use when you shop online. I too am angered whenever we go to a store and just "buy" now. Why pay full price??

5. Water usage. Now, Colorado has this ridiculous law that they don't want you to save rainwater or the water going down the drain because it's supposed to go downstream as part of an asinine water rights thing they signed way back when. Well guess what, you charge me for what comes out of my tap. I pay, it's mine. And rain is not your right to govern. So there. Anyway, we all know the "water your flowers and plants with collected water". But you can also use it to help fill your washer when you wash your clothes. Soap it up and wash the car. Fill the kiddie pool. Give the dog/cat water. Fish would much prefer rain water to chlorinated city water. Rinse your hair with rain water if you want cleaner hair. Fill your sink and wash your dishes. Boil pasta in collected water (use a clean pot). Water the dead/dry spots on your lawn. There's a lot you can do with it. Be creative, you paid for it if it came from your tap and if it came from the sky? I seriously don't think imminent domain applies...

6. Thrift Stores. Now, I'm hesitant to put this one down. Lately the stores around here have been trying to charge $8 for a pair of used jeans. I DON'T THINK SO!! But if you can hit them when certain tags are half off or search for the better deals on the rack, there's still plenty to be found. That's where I'll fill a large part of my $100 household budget.

7. Free Days. You have to have a bit of patience for these because lots of people like the word free. It will not be you and one other person at these free events, be ready for crowds. This summer you can get free movies on weekdays or free bowling in your area (links to come I hope). The Zoo, the Natural History Museum, even sporting teams put out coupons (we have one for the Rockies this summer) for free admission days. Look on the websites and see what they say. As long as you aren't people claustrophobic like I am, then it's a good way to get free entertainment.

8. Cut dryer sheets in half. Really, a little goes a long way. Half a sheet will reduce your static level the same and you'll still get the same fresh smell.

9. Check your Grocery Receipt. Guess what, it's a computer, it screws up. A lot. Several stores have a policy that if it doesn't ring up right then it's free. Or at least they'll refund you the difference. Unfortunately, nearly 80% of my receipts have this affliction. It saves me a lot by month's end just to be vigilent about it.

I think that gets me caught up to now!! I'll have the first installment of the All You challenge very soon. I've already screwed up and worn the wrong shoes to work tonight and didn't put an extra set of workout clothes in the car. But, I guess it's all part of the challenge :) I have pictures of the stockpile I'll be leaving behind and I'll post them tomorrow. Hopefully I can figure out how to post an excel spreadsheet too so people can follow our totals. Tomorrow's a busy day too so we might end up eating 0.69 Hot/Lean pockets for dinner. But maybe not because I'm pretty sure we'll be eating them for lunch at least!! The health aspect won't kick in until I can get to the grocery store in earnest. There will be a few "theoretical" buys for tomorrow and maybe on real trip. We'll see what I can accomplish on no sleep and a 1.5 hour window to do it all in!

Money Saving Tips of the Day Tuesday 7/7

I rarely make it on the computer on Mondays! So here's two tips, thought I'd get in the swing a little early for the challenge :)

1. You'll notice my first new addition to the blog... SWAGBUCKS! I've been using this search engine for a few months now. They reward you with "Swagbucks" for searching the internet like you normally do. You can redeem these for prizes and best of all it's FREE. I have been accumulating Amazon gift certificates because they seemed like the best value but they have all sorts of prizes. They even added a PAYPAL prize, $5 deposited right into your paypal account!! I got some workout DVD's for free with my Amazon gift certificates and my next purchase will be a Steam Mop for our house. Click on the banner to the left and join in. It doesn't cost you a thing and it can help you save up for some things you want that aren't necessarily "in your budget". Happy Swagging :)

2. I'm pretty bad about this one but it really is a time/money saver.... PREPLAN YOUR WEEKLY MENUS. Hopefully this challenge will get me back on track with this one. One night a week (whatever is good for you, I usually do Tue/Wed because that's when the new grocery circulars come out and I can plan to incorporate sales), take inventory of your shelves, fridge and freezer. See what you need to use up and incorporate those items into your menu for the week. Next, write down what you don't have but that you need for those dishes and that's your shopping list!

• You won't be as stressed coming home, not knowing what's for dinner
• You won't let as many boxed items, produce items or leftovers go bad because you're taking constant inventory
• You won't overbuy at the store because you'll know what you do and don't need
• You can plan to incorporate sale items into that week's menu!

Really, this is a super saver on so many levels!