Grocery matchups through 9/1

SAFEWAY

KING SOOPERS MEGA DEAL



KING SOOPERS REGULAR DEALS



ALBERTSON'S

All You Winner to be announced today!!

The top 10 does not include me but they are a well comprised list of savings professionals!! Check out the All You Blog to catch the winner today! Any of the finalists is well deserving of the honor. I feel privileged to have competed in your presence!!

Oh and I have to sadly add, our High Fructose Corn Syrup official challenge is on hold. Hubby is not ready for another challenge yet but that doesn't mean I can't start bringing home better choices for us all. So stay tuned, hopefully another challenge will emerge (and be agreed to) in October. I have also toyed with doing a month of only home-prepared food. Zero packaged food. We'll see ;-)

Safeway/Albertson's this week

Albertson's:


Safeway:

Melissa's Kroger giveaway!

Melissa, a good friend from Babycenter Coupon Deals for Bargain Hunters, is giving away a $30 Kroger gift card courtesy of Pepsico, General Mills and MyBlogSpark. Visit her blog for details on how she's saving at this week's Kroger Mega Sale and how you can enter to win the gift card!

Here's my little schpeil on Melissa. She has the best blog for Target matchups and meal plans complete with recipes. She shops for her family on $40 a week and she finds amazing deals! Even if you don't want the gift card, check her out for her amazing shopping tips and budget planning!!! I have followed her blog for over a year now and can't live without her tips!!!

Here's the matchup's for Kroger/King Soopers this week too, Mega Deals:
Just found this coupon over the weekend, save $1 on Naked Juices PDF. Thank you SlickDeals!! GREAT for Hunter since they sell a fantastic juice with Flax Seed Oil in it to boost calories and fat in his diet!!


Regular deals:

On to the next challenge!

I have hardly shopped at all since the Knorr/All You challenge ended but I got my coupons together and got out yesterday (between therapy appointments and a sick little girl). I started looking more in earnest at what has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. I knew it was in a lot of things, but it wasn't actually as bad as I had prepared myself for!!

Marshmallows: Kraft has corn syrup in it but not HFCS!! Still waiting to see if the Rice Krispies do (Yay for vocalpoint coupons, hoping we can still eat them!!)

Bread: Yep, it's in most store brands and cheaper versions. I used the Earth Grains coupon (R 7/26) to get loaves for $1.50 each at Kroger. I got Oat and Wheat Berry. They're really soft and not too "grainy". Looking forward to a sandwich :) Got some Orowheat english muffins too. Pricey, but less so than Thomas' (although Thomas' don't have HFCS either)

Snacks: This one will be tough. Candy is a huge bribe for my kids. We use it in therapy all the time for Hunter. THANKFULLY, his favorite, Sour Patch Kids, just have sugar. And in moderation, I have a hard time minding. They don't get candy that much but I'm glad it's just pure sugar than a modified version. I think fruit snacks and other processed goods are out though.

Condiments: Here's a tough one. My kids eat a lot of ketchup. I pulled out the 2nd meatloaf out of the freezer last night (I made it during the All You challenge and froze one). Ketchup on the top for the kids... well most have HFCS in them and from what I hear, most without aren't all that palatable. So we will be on the search for one that is. BBQ sauce too. My mom has a wicked good BBQ sauce recipe that I'm going to have her send me and I'll make some. No better way to know what's in your food than to make it yourself, right?!?

Yogurt: Again, need to get back to making our own. Some brands are good about not using HFCS but others aren't. Labels labels labels!!

Cereal: Another big challenge. The fam eats a lot of cereals. It will be hard to substitute non-HFCS cereals, especially since many of them don't use "kid enticing" characters and both my kids are to the age that the flashy, cartoon-y boxes grab their attention.

Drinks: Wow, it either has HFCS or artificial sweetner these days!! The Santa Cruz organic lemonades are a good deal for this one, they use cane sugar. But organic doesn't mean "healthy". They're only 15% juice. I'll dilute with water, as I usually do. Healthier than artificial colorings and HFCS I guess. I have started sending Hunter to school with his own juices. They drink juice twice a day there and I've seen the options sometimes... I'm not a huge fan. I don't know how I'll mitigate the kids' school food. I don't want to send them with everything so I will have to let some things go, like the bread the school serves, but I will send some snacks and drinks to substitute. Yep, I'm going to be "THAT" parent LOL

So we'll make our push towards the goal of HFCS free for September. We'll read more labels and make smarter choices. The meal planning has been important to me and I'll keep that up. If I get things done a little bit ahead of time, meal times are more enjoyable and not so rushed.

OH, and on a completely NON challenge related topic. Ryanne has almost earned her SECOND Barbie!! We set up a chart where she marks off the quarters she earns and then colors in each dollar level she reaches. She has to get to $6 to get the beach Barbie. She sets the table each night for a quarter and if she puts the clean silverware away out of the dishwasher, that's another quarter. She has been very diligent and now she's almost there. I can't wait to take her with her own money to buy it. I think she's really getting the concept and I am excited to see how she cherishes that toy she EARNED. She has talked about it for two weeks and now that we're near the end, she's getting more excited.

Late Matchups, good through tonight only (sorry so late!!)

And just so you can get to know us better, here we are in all our glory!

This was at the wedding on 8/1. It was such a good time! (oh, and yes, it looks like I tacky put Hunter in white socks... those are his braces and they don't fit in his shoes if I put socks... ie: black socks... over them). He was so handsome, no one noticed!!

And the final tallies on all the challenges!

I can't believe this is the last tally!! We did great in my opinion and still got to have some fun and everyone got their very favorite meal at least once! Congrats to all the participants, I learned a lot and really enjoyed sharing :)

For the All You challenge, family of 4, using no stockpile, no spices, nada:
Week 1: $98.07
Week 2: $91.67
Week 3: $74.32
Week 4: $37.89 = $303.93

Including food items I theoretically “bought” from my stockpile (at “going rates”) because we all need things like sugar, spices and those little things we take for granted that we just "have":
Week 1: $119.52
Week 2: $109.44
Week 3: $74.32
Week 4: $40.90 = $344.18
Absolutely everything we put in our mouths that wasn't from a different location (like my desk drawer at work or eating with the inlaws) is included in this total.

For our challenge of starting our life from scratch for 4 weeks- includes HBA & other life items like clothes and kitchen items (some theoretically bought from our stockpile at the “going rate”):
Week 1: $179.46
Week 2: $204.74
Week 3: $122.38
Week 4: -$75.68 (yard sale!) = $430.90 Which is under our $500 goal!!!

We did it! Congrats to my family for being so flexible and daring enough to try this. To wear the same clothes every day, to give up the luxuries we'd become accustomed to... everything. Especially to my dear Husband for putting up with my crazy ideas and agreeing to play nice :) Thank you :)

So here's the final tally sheets. I hope you can join us for a less in depth but hopefully just as interesting month of getting rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup starting Sept 1 (and hopefully for a long time thereafter)!!

Yardsale Tallies!

Well, like I said, I did great on the sale overall. Traffic in our area isn't exceptional so I make less than most, but here's the tally for this challenge of items I bought during the challenge, what we used of it, what we gave away (I took 5 toothpaste, 5 toothbrushes, 5 maxipads and 5 deoderants to Children's when we had our appointment for Hunter's Botox). We sold what we could and I am actually shocked at the profit and what we can deduct from our tally totals. $87.79 in profit (what we made vs. what I paid for it), and $137.75 cash that we made on the sale from those items that I can deduct from our final totals. I don't know how that will work for the All You challenge being as it was all from items purchased in weeks 1-3 and I sold them in week 4. But for the fire challenge, it will bring us back under our $500 goal and we'll make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very excited to have made this challenge a success for us!!!!

Here's the tally:



Some notes on the Asterisks:
*Yes, I took a hit on the Koolaid, but really, I didn't. I bought the Koolaid to get the free sugar so ($1.40 for sugar and Koolaid was better than $1.88 for sugar, right?). So we don't drink that so selling it was just a bonus to getting a discount on my sugar.

**Crest Prohealth. Yes, took a hit there too. But again, not really. I used a coupon and I'm getting 100% back on Single Check Rebate from Rite Aid, so still a money maker, just takes a little longer.

***Glade Plugins. Seems like very little profit for the effort, but also remember I made an extra $1 each on the warmers by catalina for OYNO purchases. They usually sell better and the Sense-N-Sprays always rush out the door at $3 here!!! I'll save them for next time. We don't use much of them in our house.

Pampers were the best money maker. Yes, I have put my son in the Dora training pants in the spirit of the challenge. I have looooooots of pictures to prove it LOL (and for blackmail). But they don't fit great and ergonomically, it's easier to use Huggies on him because they have re-attachable sides.

Deoderant, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste never fail to sell out. Cereal and Crackers do well for me too. Sauces are alright, but they have bad days too. Usually Razors fetch a better price too. But I've always had Gillette in the past. People prefer Gillette apparently!! Spice packs don't sell well. I have so many. So I'm trying to cook with them LOL I do donate a lot of items that just don't sell well. They're great food and if we can't eat them and people are hesitant, someone needs them out there :)

I highly recommend doing the yardsale. It's not all that much work, mostly just getting tables up and prices up. I keep the printed signs from each one and the signs that go on the corners too attract people I borrow from my realtor neigbor (Thanks Kel!!).

I keep things that I buy that we're going to use on my stockpile shelves. The stuff I know is for sale I sort into boxes according to what price I will sell them at then just bring them out and set them up on sale day onto tables by price. I constantly re-evaluate too. If it's not selling, I move it to a lower priced table or switch the signs. I sell about 40% of my stock for $1 a piece, just because people like that price. I try to do a 4-5 hour yard sale once a quarter but I can do more if stock or monetary needs dictate!

Mystery Shop outcome for the day

I had 3 shops and each reimburses $14. You're required to buy $9 but anything more is your payment. I bought some cards and some salmon lox. Some things I normally wouldn't buy but when it's paid for, I try to get things I wouldn't budget in all the time. You do have to buy a deli item and one clerk gave me heavy, overpriced cheese, but what are you going to do?? The Tide was a good deal at $3.71 each and I got Scott some more Old Spice deoderant, which is all he'll use... And some more diapers and milk and eggs. Not bad. Overall, I spent $32.39 OOP and I'll get back $42 so net net, I made $9.61 :) So I won't be counting that in the All You total, plus or minus because (1) we budget it differently and (2) it's a net income in the end and they usually pay out in about 2-3 weeks so I'll see the money before the end of our budget cycle in August. I'll probably sub total it both ways for the All You challenge because I'm not sure how they'd count it actually, but I don't think it counts to me personally...



Wanted to add Grocery matchups for today and tomorrow... Not a comprehensive list by any means, but what I could get together tonight!

Sunday 8/9 Recap

Last Day of the Challenge!!! What a ride. I've learned a lot about how to value and run my stockpile and what we really need in life vs. what we don't. I'm excited to stop wearing pink (and so is Ryanne surprisingly). I'm excited to have a selection of shoes to choose from, although I reconfirmed I don't need an extensive selection, just well selected. Scott is excited to eat the snacks I have in stock but little does he know that this fresh food, healthier cooking and eating is continuing. I'd like to stay away from packaged snacks and also continue to reduce high fructose corn syrup in our diets. I know I see a change in the kids when they've eaten it. I think that will be our next challenge... Sept 1- Oct 1 we will eat no HFCS. So... if you're into the challenge mode now, join us (if you don't already do it) or follow our progress here, we'd love to have you!! Thanks everyone for reading and/or participating in the All You challenge and our modified fire version. I look forward to further challenges :)

Today I have 3 mystery shops at the local groceries. Not at the stores I usually shop but I got 3 in a close proximity so it makes it worthwhile. They reimburse $14 but you have to spend at least $9 after coupons. I use a mix of coupon shopping and get things we "need" but don't have coupons for. That way we can offset higher cost or no coupon items with the mystery shop. I have to buy a deli item (I usually buy a slice of cheese or meat) and an item that goes under the cart (I usually buy a gallon of milk). But we've got a lot of milk so I'll only get one more gallon and figure out something else to buy. Probably paper towels (we've been without them all week on the challenge) or something to donate. I'll post the mystery totals separate from the All You since I don't count mystery amounts above the reimbursement because like I've mentioned before, we count them separately when budgeting because they're reimbursed.

Menus:
Breakfast: Pancakes and homemade syrup. We ran out of syrup so we made some by melting 2T of butter and folding in brown sugar until syrup consistency. About the same calories as syrup but no HFCS and the kids ate it up!! Served with Raspberries and a strawberry/banana smoothie.
Snacks: Pineapples and raspberries. Granola bar and milk.
Lunch: Leftover Greek dinner (meat, salad and sauce). Made some toast with butter for the kids so they'd get a few carbs.
Snack: leftover pasta/veggie salad from last Sunday. Last of it. Served with Milk. Ryanne had the last of the raw broccoli with ranch too.
Dinner: Porkchops marinated in lite Zesty Italian dressing, then a crust of bread crumbs and mozzarella and italian seasoning (thank you Marcia for the Cuisinart!!!). Served with Mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed zucchini (in olive oil and garlic). One note, the porkchop looks huge but I didn't trim the fat first to keep in the moisture when I froze it. Two porkchops fed all 4 of us more than adequately but they're not as big as they looked after having the fat trimmed!!

Saturday 8/9 Recap

What a busy day! Started bringing up stock at 5am and were pretty much ready for customers at 8:00 and they came promptly at 8!! I made $318 total but I have to separate out what of that was part of the Fire challenge and not. I gave 5 toothpaste, 5 toothbrushes, 3 razors, 3 maxipads and 1 box of tampons to Children's but put the rest up for sale. I sold out of toothbrushes and toothpaste, all but 2 packs of the pullups and only sold a few of the maxipads. The Glade airfreshener didn't sell as well as I'd hoped but I sold about half of them. I sucked it up and put the Johnson's lotion up for sale. People had issue with $2 a bottle so I only sold 3. Which didn't bother me, more for me to keep and use :) I put a lot of other stock up that isn't included in this so it doesn't all count. Lotion and pasta sauce and cereal always sell well. As does shampoo and conditioner. Oh, and I sold all but one of the razors but they went for a lot less than Gillette razors so that was a bummer. Kraft dressing and BBQ sauce was quick to go at $1 and $0.75 respectively. Once I can compare to the "how much I spent" totals, I'll let you know how much I made on the sale that qulifies for the challenge :) Here's the money though LOL




Menus

Breakfast: I had a granola bar and a Propel water. I was busy from 8-9 and didn't get to pause until then. Scott and the kids just had cereal because I was too occupied to help :( The kids love cereal morning though so I can only feel so bad.
Snacks: Cheese and crackers with pineapples. I had a peach. YUM!
Lunch: Peanut Butter and jelly tortilla roll ups. Zucchini strips and ranch. Milk.
Snacks: Grapes and crackers. Chocolate milk :)
Dinner: I haven't made this dish for over a year and it is seriously my favorite. The kids loved it and Scott tolerated it. Chicken Spaghetti!! Scott had a salad too and the kids and I had some canned green beans. The kids got the leftover ice cream pie for dessert and Scott had a beer and some popcorn. I treated myself to a beer after my hard day's work :)


Chicken Spaghetti

1 pint can tomatoes

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 C. chopped green pepper

1 C. celery, chopped
8 oz mushrooms (pre-sauteed or canned)

1 small jar pimientos

8 oz green olives, sliced

1/2 - 1 # cheese (I used 1/2 regular, 1/2 2% and it separated a little but tasted great!!)

1.5 # spaghetti (I only had bought 1 # and you could tell, I wish I'd used more), cooked al dente

1/2-1# chicken, cooked and cubed (I broil but you can microwave ~ 6 minutes/#)


Sautee onion in a large pan (use a little spray oil if you need), when nearing translucent, add celery, mushrooms, peppers, pimientos, tomatoes and chicken. Sautee until warmed. Fold
chicken mixture into pasta and fold in cheese and olives. Bake at 350*F for 30 minutes.

Friday 8/7 recap

Again, went in at 5:00 again so that I could leave early and take the kids to the pool before SIL/BIL and the cousins left. They had a BLAST!!! Then tried to get the kids to take a nap so I could get ready to have dinner guests. Busy day but every minute of it was so worth it. Spent a little too much on the stuff I served but it was well loved.

Menus:
Breakfast: I accidentally skipped breakfast. I didn't want to eat at 5:00 yet but got so busy it was time to leave before I got to eat. Scott and the kids had Kashi waffles and peaches and milk.
Snacks: Ritz crackers and cream cheese. And Raspberries and apple juice.
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches and crackers. SIL brought watermelon and juice for the kids.
Snacks: Raspberries, grapes, milk, monterrey jack cheese and crackers and I made a cream cheese dip with cream cheese and McCormick lemon spice marinade (really actually quite good!). Our friends brought spanikopitas from Costco too :)
Dinner: Our friends brought pork souvlaki for skewers and yogurt tahiki sauce. The pork was marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper. The yogurt sauce was cucumber, greek Oikos yogurt and dill and lemon. My recipes for salad and greek rice pilaf are below. I used a coupon for a free Coldstone pie that I'd had FOREVER. We got the Smores flavor... sooooo good!!

GREEK TOMATO PILAF from COOKS.COM
2 med. tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. chopped onion
2 tbsp. butter
2 c. water (I used 2 C. of the broth from my crockpot meal and no boullion)
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant beef bouillon
1 c. uncooked rice
Cook tomatoes and onion in butter for 2 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, simmer with cover on for 14 minutes. Do not lift cover or stir. Remove from heat, fluff rice with fork. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese (I didn't, it was fine). Makes 8 servings.

GREEK SALAD from MEDITERRASIAN.COM
Greek salad, or horiatiki, is a rough country salad of juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, sliced red onion, green pepper, crumbly feta cheese and plump kalamata olives. Serve this delightful combination as a side dish or as a light meal with some crusty bread.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic—minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and extra for garnish
3 tomatoes—cut into wedges
¼ red onion—sliced into rings
½ cucumber—sliced into thick half-moons
½ green pepper (capsicum)—julienned
4 oz (120g) feta cheese—cut into small cubes
16 kalamata olives
PLACE the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine. PLACE the salad ingredients in a large bowl. POUR the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving. Garnish the Greek salad with a little freshly ground black pepper. (FYI, I used a balsalmic Greek dressing from Kraft, just out of laziness and lack of Oregano but this dressing would be wonderful).

Thursday 8/6 Recap

I got into work at 5:00 to make up time. I really hate not seeing the kids in the morning. But I had a lot to do and I really wanted to be able to make it to Cousin Molly's birthday at Casa Bonita (HORRIBLE food but SO much fun for kids). Forgot my camera again :( In a nice turn of events we brought B1G1 coupons and Scott's sister and brother-in-law bought dinner!! So we bought tokens for gaming and gave them one of our Bushnell weather monitors that will be free after Rebate from Walmart :) It really was fun, even though the food really really hurt my stomach LOL

Menus:
Breakfast: I had yogurt/cereal, Scott had a breakfast sandwich but had to use lunchmeat on it so he scrambled it into the eggs. The kids had bananas and milk.
Snack: The kids got to go to the county fair and the in-laws got them funnel cakes YUMMY! They got bananas too, just for balance.
Lunch: I had a Marie callendar meal and the kids had black bean and chicken burritos with ranch. Scott had a chicken burrito with salsa (he doesn't care for black beans). They had canned green beans too.
Snack: Ritz crackers and cream cheese. Grapes.
Dinner: The most gas inducing Mexican food ever... And chocolate cake for birthday cake (not my favorite, but ate it). The kids had chicken nuggets and oranges. The kids had a great time though!! I hope I get some pictures from SIL :)

Wednesday 8/5 Recap

Had to leave early for my PT so busy day. Nice feeling like I have everything we need and not needing to shop.

Menu

Breakfast: More of the same. Scott had cereal, I had my yogurt/cereal (although not until 10:30!!) and the kids had pineapple and toast and milk.

Snack: Scott and I had granola bars, exciting, right?

Lunch: I had leftover shrimp pasta and Scott had leftover pasta salad from Sunday and a sandwich.

Dinner: Chicken fried rice and oriental salads.

Chicken fried rice

Pre-cooked rice. Day old works great if you make it with another meal to save time.

You can use oil. Sesame and coconut give good flavor. To reduce fat (even though you can add good fats here by picking the right oil), you can use olive oil spray.

I pre-sauteed mushrooms and scrambled some eggs to add and prebroiled 1# chicken and added 1/2 # chopped and saved the other 1/2# for later.

Spray pan or preheat oil and add rice. Allow to sit without turning for a few minutes about 3 minutes at a time. Push rice back, add a little more oil or spray again and put the rice down again. 3 minutes at a time, 3-5 times with the same process. Then add frozen vegetables or fresh vegetables. When they're warmed add the pre-sauteed items and soy sauce and serve!

Tuesday 8/4 Recap

Got to take Ryanne to gymnastics, that was fun. Then we got to shop a little together. She helped me pick out produce and carry the bags. We got $4.50 off for each of our free milk catalinas which meant we got to get everything we needed for my favorite dish on Saturday: Chicken Spaghetti!! Great day, enjoyed spending more time with the kids :)



Menu

Breakfast: My usual, Scott had cereal and the kids had toast and pineapple.

Lunch: I had two sandwiches because I was starving (AND they had cheese, yum!!) and Scott had a sandwich and a strawberry smoothie.

Snacks: I had a granola bar and Scott had sunflower seeds and a granola bar.

Dinner: Shrimp and tomato pasta again. We had the shrimp in week 1 and this has been going over so well and it's so easy and fast so we had it again! Has veggies in it, so we had side salads.



Shrimp and Tomato Pasta

1/2 # Shrimp, sauteed (I use a few sprays of olive oil, not much is needed)

2 cans tomatoes

broccoli, garlic, onion, mushrooms (sautee with shrimp), use any veggies you like!

sautee everything except tomatoes and stir in tomatoes at end. Serve over pasta (we have wacky mac on hand).

Monday 8/3 Recap

Time to get caught up with daily updates! Monday was another busy day with appointments and errands. Not much notable though. We went over to the in-laws for dinner again with the last of the extended family. We brought everyone snacks for the road the next day (granola bars and lemonade) and we brought the makings for homemade ice crem (YUM!). Hunter had great therapies and Ryanne thought it was fun to get to see cousin Molly more :)

Meals
Breakfast: English muffin breakfast sandwiches for the boys. Ryanne got some frosted mini wheats and fruit and I had my usual, even at home.
Snacks: Hunter had a tortilla wrapped up with ham, lettuce and cream cheese. He didn't eat much so I ate the rest. Then he had grapes, granola bar and a boost drink.
Lunch: I took Hunter to KFC for another free grilled chicken meal. He did great, about 350 calories. Although that left 650 for me :( Scott had the last of the chef salad (which he said was soggy- boo!) and a BBQ chicken sandwich leftover.
Snack: Pineapple bites, crackers and milk
Dinner: Lasagna, salad, bread and homemade ice cream.

Tip catchup!

30. Furniture Banks. I posted this down below but I didn't put it in tips and I think it's worthy... http://www.furniturebanks.org/ You can find one near you. Now, this is only if you really CAN'T afford furnishings for your house. This is an amazing service and I'd hate to see it abused. They provide free home furnishings for those in need. So check it out if you have no other resources or if you have something to give, I know they'd appreciate it!!

31. Practice the art of Giving! I know, this doesn't seem like a tip, but it is. By giving to charity and giving to others, we ourselves learn the value of what we have. Start by getting whatever you can "free" and giving it away (like toothpaste or laundry soap) and then, as money allows, start to give things requested specifically by charities or even monetary donations.

My personal favorite place to give is Children's Hospital. I never go to TCH with my son without bringing some toys and some toiletries. They gave me toiletries when I needed them when I was afraid to leave his bedside and they always offer my son a toy when he's had a difficult procedure. And what those things meant/mean to me is more than you'll know. I want every parent and child to have those things.
And the Special Olympics was always one of my favorites, even moreso now that my child is eligible for them. But I know their fundraising has gone awry lately and not all money goes to the kids so I like to find quality sports equipment to give them: balls, nets, pads, shoes, etc.
And finally animal shelters. It is not the animals' faults that humans brought them here with no plan by not spaying or neutering their pets, or properly caring for a pet that they gave away. I love the shelters that try to give every animal a chance.

Those are my favorites, but find something near to your heart. If giving of items isn't a possibility for you, try to find some time to give. Clean up a park, shop for someone who can't get out and shop for themselves, walk a Humane Society dog... anything. It not only benefits those who receive it, but you will benefit as well, I promise.

32. Make your own entertainment. My children have had no more fun than making their own "dollhouse". It's just a box to you and I. But to them, they've decorated the walls, made their own wall paper, their own couch, a flag out of a pencil and castle tops out of toilet paper rolls. Maybe this won't be the talking Barbie house that they'll love some day but right now they're so excited to add something new to it every weekend and it's the very first thing they show off when people come over. And you wouldn't believe how well both of them treat it. It is THEIRS, they OWN that and treat it with so much respect and love. It's not fancy but they are proud of it and I'm proud of them!

33. Go to the company websites of your favorites. Many companies are now offering special offers or coupons through their websites. And if you contact companies and tell them about a positive or negative experience, they'll usually send you some coupons as well. A dear friend from Babycenter "V- pastachic" put together this list of companies emails/websites that you can start from. I miss her presence on our board dearly but I hope her hard work and compilation can help out some others!! http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dfk9rdxc_5fbhm6wfr

34. Make your own yogurt!! We eat a lot of yogurt at our house and it's so good for you. There are many recipes out there but the one I've been following when yogurt is too pricey is crockpot yogurt from Stephanie at crockpot365: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html I like to add strawberry puree or other berries to ours. I'd like to get better about using her recipe all the time though. It's not too hard and you'll be surprised how much better fresh, homemade tastes!! I just got lazy with all the Yoplait deals this last month. AND it's great for little one's who need the extra calories because it's so hard to find cost effective whole milk yogurt without a bunch of additives in the stores!! Wow, that reminds me about that fact and I'm definitely making some this weekend :)

Gracious, that makes 1 tip per day since July 7 through Aug 9, which is the official end of the All You challenge. That was my goal and I can mark it off! I hope everyone got a little something out of them, maybe 1 or 2 that you hadn't seen somewhere :) I've loved seeing the tips from others as well so thank you also!! I hope to keep posting tips but I may not be able to keep up the one per day pace, we'll see ;-)

Week's menu and a few ending thoughts

Okay, why do I ever think the weeks will get easier? I have been telling myself that for months!! This week is no exception with lots of appointments and family still in town! I planned menus in my head but we have a lot extra so who knows if I'll need to shop or not!!

Monday: Lasagna Dinner at in-laws. We brought the fixin's for homemade ice cream for dessert!!
Tuesday: Tomato/shrimp pasta. WOW, my kids have shown a new interest in seafood!!
Wednesday: Chicken fried rice, oriental salad.
Thursday: Taking Neice to Casa Bonita for her birthday (yikes $$, will use a gift card to pay for some of it!!). If you live in Denver or have seen Southpark, you know Casa Bonita. People don't go there for the food... only the Sopapillas and the entertainment... but you're required to buy food.
Friday: We're having more friends over. They're bringing pork souvlaki with yogurt sauce and I'll make Salad and side dish and we'll get our free Cold Stone pie for dessert :)
Saturday: Chicken Spaghetti! My personal all time favorite! Been waiting forever to get to eat this one LOL Scott tolerates it because it is my favorite
Sunday: Porkchops with italian breading. Mashed potatoes.

And some closing thoughts as the challenge winds down:
Yes, people have finally noticed that I've been wearing the same clothes EVERY day. Unfortunately, my backup outfits all had pink shirts. And I had on a gray shirt the night we started. So I have worn a ridiculous amount of pink this month. No one even noticed that I wore the same jeans every single day or that I wore tennis shoes instead of more attractive footwear. I'd put on my work steel toe tennis shoes at work and no one mentioned anything about my wardrobe until this week when someone said "you haven't worn white in a long time" (I wore the button down shirt my SIL handed down to me for the bridal brunch) and I explained the challenge :)

If my daughter never wears her pink shirt again, she'll probably be thankful. She expressed her desire to wear something different this past week as well. It's good rehearsal for her because she's starting 4K in 2.5 weeks and they wear uniforms!! She'll get used to wearing the same thing again and again so it's good practice ;-)

Laundry. Oh dear lord. Laundry. I've had to do a load every day. To keep fresh socks and underwear and keep up with Hunter, the newly crowned messiest eater on the planet!! Tip 29. Keep clothes looking newer, longer. Thank ALL THAT IS GOOD for Oxiclean and Oxiclean knockoffs and stain sprays. First I spray stains, then sprinkle oxiclean on it and spray again to make a paste. Let sit for 24 hours. NO LESS OR IT DOESN'T FULLY WORK!!! Then launder. Hunter has had spaghetti sauce, chocolate ice cream, fruit stains, etc. on his clothes. I've been pretty successful at keeping them close to wearable but it's close... I'll be looking forward to putting him in some new diggs too. He's so handsome, he should have variety too :)

My husband. My dear dear husband. And his impulse buying and McDonalds fixation... He did very well this month. I know he went out and that's okay. We don't live in a vacuum and he deserves to reward himself too. So I have decided that from now on I'll just build it in our budget. $20 a month that he can eat wherever he pleases whenever he pleases. We can live without it and it keeps him sane. I will however start giving him cash and he will continue to use coupons (I'm teaching him well LOL) so he can make it last. How funny to give him an "allowance". But I give myself one too so I don't feel bad!!!

And our yard sale... I will have to make a pre-tally of what I'm selling off the fire list and back calculate the profit. I have a lot of toothpaste, vitamins, toothbrushes, glade air fresheners, deoderant, and maxi pads that we don't need so hopefully that will bring us back under our $500 goal for the month. Cross your fingers!!

It's hard to believe it's been 4 weeks already!! Sometimes it seemed long but in hindsight it was the blink of an eye. But isn't that how life usually goes? Try to soak some of it in each day between blinks. I have learned amazing amounts about what we need, what we value and what we used to think was important but is just frivolity. This yard sale is going to be massive. I'm getting rid of our huge stockpile and everything we found we could do without!! So if you're in the Denver area, come on by, I'll have something for you :)

28. My tip for the day on cheap entertainment. Scale up that board game! You'll need:
1. Kids who understand taking turns and moving spaces games,
2. chalk,
3. dice and
4. a sidewalk (or squares drawn on a large cement area).
Write instructions on some of the sidewalk squares like "move 3 spaces", "lose a turn", "go back one space", "do 5 jumping jacks", "turn in 4 circles" etc.
Roll the dice and let the fun begin!
Whoever gets around the block or to the end of the block first wins!!

It's nice to get them outside and moving while the weather is cooperative :)
Stole this one from the "Heart of the City" comic strip!!

Tip O'the day!

26. Carry your coupons with you and check out your store's clearance section(s). Our Kroger often puts Tribe Hummus on clearance near the deli and with the 0.75/1 coupons on http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.smartsource.com/ I can often get free Hummus. And I got our Pur water pitcher for $2.50 as well which has caused DH to drink more water at home! It's amazing the unadvertised deals you can find. Now, I know this doesn't play into the "stick to the list" idea but I have found that for stockpiling purposes I can get many items for pennies or free by shopping this way. The other night I was on my late night Tuesday trip and saw Ester C vitamins for $4.26 and the sale ended that night. With the $5/1 coupon that was out the week before, they were free or better! So it didn't add to my total at all and we can use the vitamins or sell them at the garage sale. And diapers were on a deep discount 2 weeks ago too with the old style packaging of Huggies for only $4. After coupons, 30 diapers for $2!! I have so many examples. I tend to only buy items off the list if they're on this deep discount or free but it's really helped build the stockpile up.

27. Make your own Laundry soap!!
Here's my recipe for homemade detergent:
2 cups Water (boiling) + 2 gallons hot water
0.5-1 Bar soap (grated- I like FelsNaptha but Ivory or Dove works fine if it's on sale)
1 cups Borax
1 cups Washing Soda
1 Cup Oxiclean or equivalent (keeps clothes from looking dingy, especially with hard water)

Into a large pot, grate the bar of soap into already boiling water and stir until soap is melted. Reduce heat to low and add the Borax, Washing Soda and Oxiclean. Stir well until all is dissolved. Add 1 gallon of hot water, stir until well mixed and allow to cool.
Cover for storage and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. It will gel so you'll have to stir it or shake it each time.

I like to let it cool and then store in old laundry bottles, then I can shake it and pour it like regular. LET IT COOL if you do this though or it will expand and explode out the top (messy, trust me LOL).

And I usually buy 1 bottle of Tide on sale and mix in 1/2 a bottle with this recipe too. That way my laundry smells like my Tide that I love but costs sooooo much less ;-) You can also double this recipe if you have a big container like a big 5 gallon bucket to store it all in (covered).

Two more tips!

24. I have been meaning to post this tip too but just haven't... Farmer's markets! Really, they're hands down better prices than the stores. Many cities will have them at least on Saturday/Sunday and you can buy your produce for about a third of the price of retailers in many cases. To save even more, go toward the end of the day and sellers give deep deep discounts to get rid of their merchandise. The selection isn't what it was at the beginning but you may surprise yourself with what you can find to make with Kale, Arugala or turnips. And the fruits and veggies you love are probably still as good or better quality than the stores!

25. Also, check with your local grocery. When produce isn't "pretty" anymore, many of them just throw it out!! See what you can work in the way of a discount for this produce. Sometimes stores will sell at a deep discount to a "salvage store" that will sell at a deep discount from another location. Check here for a salvage store near you: http://www.andersonsmarket.info/directory . No longer "pretty" doesn't mean it's not still healthy and nutritious!!

Week 3 recap and month to date

All you total only $73, even with a bum Mystery shop pizza and McDonalds!! Our newly built stockpile is already starting to really save us money :) But for the fire challenge, we're at $505!! $5 over our goal. Now.... I could be concerned, but like I said before, we're going to have our yard sale on Saturday so some of that money will come back. Toothpaste will go for $0.50-$1, deoderants too, Glade plugin + refill will be $3, maxi pads $2, razors $3-4. And although I got many of them free or better, the total will offset other purchases like clothing, propane refills, and other necessities. I am still hopeful that we'll come in under our $500 goal.

I am still waiting on the exact total for McD's to post up that final copy, but all in all, I thought it was a fantastic week.

And here's the totals!

Sunday 8/2 Recap

WOW! Caught up finally!! A day to get caught back up. We had a birthday party in the afternoon and our neigbors over for dinner (they brought buns for the sandwiches) but it still seemed slow in comparison to the last few days. Got the cars unloaded and adequate naps due to the HORRIBLE night's sleep obtained by the kids. They got to play with their toys and watch some TV. It was much needed down time!! And on to week 4 of the challenge too!!!!

Menus
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, english muffins with cheese or butter/jam, grapes, milk and juice (and some muuuuuuuch needed coffee LOL). I had my eggs with spinach instead to get rid of some of the FAT still on my lips from the reception. Most Hors d'ourves are not low fat items...
Snacks: Ritz crackers with cream cheese, pineapples, juice. Crackers and cheddar cheese and grapes for Hunter.
Lunch: Kids: PB&J baby. Edible high calorie goodness LOL The kids also had buttered noodles with peas (wacky mac, buttered and stirred with frozen peas). The adults had turkey sandwiches instead.
Snack for Ryanne and mom: Ice cream at the party. Okay, still on fat overload but who can resist a sundae bar?!?! I just stuck with ice cream, lite Hershey syrup and a couple of marshmallows. Ryanne went all out of course AND had a cupcake.
Dinner: Crockpot BBQ chicken sandwiches, Wacky Mac pasta salad, green salad and milk, lemonade and 1 beer per adult (except me who had to go to work!!).

Crockpot BBQ chicken:
2 # chicken breast or chicken breast strips
2 bottles BBQ sauce

I pre-broiled the chicken so I could shred it before putting it in the crock pot. You can put it in whole, even frozen if you like and cook in the sauce and shred after cooking, it was just easier for me to do it ahead of time and cook for less time. I broiled until cooked through and then fork shredded. Put in both bottles of BBQ sauce and rinsed with about 1/4 cup of water per bottle to get it all out. Served on buns with optional cheddar cheese slices.

Green salad:
Used the Sargento Salad finisher I have a rebate coming for. Added a package of Healthy One's ham (sliced), 3/4 cucumber (chunked), some extra Kraft cheddar cheese shreds and Marie Callendar's croutons to a bag of lettuce. Choice of dressing for everyone.

Wacky Mac salad:
Really, just add any veggie you can to an al dente cooked package and toss with italian dressing or Ranch. I used:
4 slices of bacon, pre-cooked in microwave and towelled off, then chopped.
1 zucchini, some cooking spray and 3 cloves of garlic. Added the bacon pieces and sauteed lightly.
1/4 cucumber, chunked
The only 3 tiny tomatoes to survive the hail, damaged areas chopped off & tomato chunked
5 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces chopped baby carrots
6T Lowfat italian dressing

Saturday 8/1 Recap

The big wedding day!! Crazy food day though. Trying to get everyone enough calories and adequate sleep to make it somewhat into the 7:30PM starting reception (when that's normally bed time!!!). There was no meal at the wedding but it was appetizers so we had to supplement the kids' meals. The adults just managed. Father in law was gracious enough to get us all a hamburger and fries to share before the ceremony too :) Beautiful ceremony and the bride and groom had the best time :) My kids wouldn't leave the dance floor until 11PM!!!!!! Horrible night's sleep but we'll even that out next week.

Menus
Breakfast: Pancakes and grapes. Cereal and yogurt. Apple Juice
Brunch: Bridal brunch for Ryanne and I. Just light brunch fare: mini quiches, pumpkin bread with chicken salad and mini scones. She got plenty for her dietary requirements though. And we had a lovely tea (she called me "Me Lady" like 4 times LOL too cute).
Late lunch between naps: PB&J, Chef boyardee raviolis, pineapple, canned green beans, vienna sausages, milk and Sunny D. Ritz crackers with cream cheese for Hunter. In the car on the way we had granola bars and Boost drinks and then shared the hamburger and fries when we got there.
Appetizer dinner: Various shrimp appetizers, bruchetta bites, ham/cream cheese rolls, ice tea & lemonade, soda and 2 glasses each of beer/wine.

Friday 7/31 Recap

One more day until wedding day! I took the bride to the spa in the morning and then had to work in the afternoon. We met back over at the inlaws for dinner. Scott met his brother in law and our niece at McDonalds with the kids for lunch. Like I eluded to before... what a rip off. To feed 3 kids and one adult for $12?? For crappy food??? Not the deal it used to be. I had another lunch meeting so yay for me LOL

Menus
Breakfast: Kashi waffles (for me and kids), pineapples for kids, strawberry/banana smoothies (made in the cuisinart- added peanut butter to the kids' one). Scott had cereal and we both had smoothies too.
Snacks (AM/PM): Crackers, cream cheese, ham, cheddar cheese sliced, pineapples, boost drinks and Apple Juice.
Lunch: McDonald's for Scott and the kids. He got them milk, apples and chicken nuggets so not horrible. But he had to share his fries :) I had a roast beef sandwich, baked cheetoes and a diet coke at my meeting.
Dinner: Ham sandwiches and leftover steaks. Corn on the cob and salad. The kids got Starbucks Ice cream again and I had the most decadent slice of carrot cake ever! Dad got to have another beer :)

Thursday 7/30 Recap

Rehearsal dinner day! Hunter had AM PT and I had PT for my hips so I just took the day off work. I had to finish the programs before the rehearsal so I needed the time for that too. Dinner was great, I brought some salad toppings, salad dressings and the Starbuck's ice cream as my contribution. We also brought two 6 packs of beer for the incoming relatives. Nice rehearsal although it was raining. The kids had fun playing in it :)

Menus
Breakfast: Kashi waffles, Scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, bananas. Apple juice to drink.
Snack: Ritz crackers with cream cheese, Pineapples, and milk.
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches (you're going to see a lot of those for the next few days, fast, high calorie and the kids will eat them!!). Mom and dad had the leftovers. Pineapple and Sunny D.
Snack: Granola bars, Sunny D (sad I bought this stuff, great price but I don't like them drinking it!!!). Grapes.
Dinner: At the in-laws. They served steak and salad for the adults. My kids wouldn't eat the hamburgers or hot dogs they had and ended up eating much of my steak LOL Veggies with ranch on the side. (oh, and 2 glasses too many of wine for the tired mama). A beer for dad. And the starbuck's ice cream for dessert.

Wednesday 7/29 Recap

The month is nearing an end!! I was up at 5 to get Hunter to his botox appointment. I packed a wonderful breakfast/lunch bag and forgot it at home!!! GRRRRR!! So forgive the lack of nutrition in our morning LOL But no late night shopping, nowhere to be in the evening... ahhhh..... Last night before wedding chaos sets in!!

Menus
Breakfast: Scott had a breakfast sandwich and I had my usual. Ryanne had fruit and milk and an oatmeal raisin granola bar when she got up. When we found out Hunter didn't have to undergo anesthesia he was excited and hungry!! (He has to fast for anesthesia). I had some granola bars in the car that I was going to take to work and we both had those. The nurses got him a juice box and he had two granola bars. I had four LOL
Snack: When Hunter went back to school (botox isn't that bad, he took it so well), they were having snack. I got him a Boost drink and added some butter to his crackers (we keep butter at the school to augment his snacks).
Lunch: I forgot my lunch (it was in the packed bag) and had to eat my remaining meal in the freezer at work. Turns out it wasn't mine but I could have sworn it was. Caused quite a rift and I was horribly unaware that it would. Anyway, I'll buy the person a new freezer burned flatbread melt. Scott had leftover meatloaf on bread as a sandwich. He had ritz crackers and a few almonds for snacks.
Dinner: I broke down and borrowed my neigbor's cuisinart. Just can't live without it. I got some discount salmon and made a wonderful nut crust with raspberry dressing and a "cream sauce". Scarfed down by the whole family!! Even the kids!! Got some frozen peas and made a rice/pea side dish and served side salad and milk to drink.

Almond crusted raspberry salmon
Nut crust, blend until uniform consistency in cuisinart:
2 oz. almonds
2 slices toasted wheat bread
1 T sour cream
1/2 T reduced fat raspberry salad dressing
1 tsp italian seasoning

Spray cooking pan with cooking spray and place salmon in skin down. Top with almond crust and drizzle with an additional 1 T raspberry dressing. Bake at 400*F for ~20 minutes until salmon is consistently non-opaque. Topped with cream sauce and additional 1/2 T raspberry dressing.

"Cream" sauce
2 T. reduced fat butter (I use Smart Balance)
2 T flour
3/4 C. skim milk
3/4 C. whole milk (or alternatively to splitting the milk, use 1/5 cups of 2% milk- you can use skim milk exclusively too, the sauce is lower fat and just a little thinner).

Preheat milk in saucepan or microwave (sauce pan works best) and set aside. Melt butter and fork stir in flour until it makes a paste. Slowly add the warmed milk, whisking constantly. Simmer on medium-low until sauce thickens. Whisk constantly for best consistency. Serve warm.

Veggie Rice
1.5 C rice
2 cups water
1 cup broth (I use crockpot leftover juice)
Frozen veggie of your choice (mushrooms are nice too), 3/4 - 1 cup.

Pre-braise rice in pan with a little cooking spray. It will turn a slightly whiter color. Add water and cook on medium-low heat until almost all evaporated. Add broth and veggie and cook until rice is done.

Tuesday 7/28 Recap

A better day. I felt better after some sleep although I stayed up a little late doing wedding programs. I had my last great shopping trips to King Soopers (Kroger) and Safeway. Big scores on Kleenex, toothpaste, crackers and Apple Juice. One run in at Safeway where the Super coupon on the Ritz crackers didn't ring through. Totally my fault since I was at a self check lane but I went to Customer service to have it fixed. The guy was quite rude (par for the course in Boulder, my local SW is much nicer). Anyway, he proceeds to tell me I didn't spend $20 so the coupon didn't go through (without noticing that the Motts coupon did and I did spend $20 before coupons, which is the requirement). So he refunds the whole $3.49 plus tax!! Okay, if you're going to lecture me instead of just refunding my $1.50, fine with me, lecture away!! And I got my P&G Esaver money back on the Pur pitcher as well from Kroger :) And the glade warmers didn't print the OYNO catalinas so they refunded me that in cash as well. That again, was my fault because I tried to "roll" my previous OYNO catalinas without thinking but the new manager at my King Soopers is FANTASTIC and had no problems just giving me cash. I tell you, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Kroger/King Soopers and won't shop another one unless mine is out of something. They're the most friendly, well stocked, coupon friendly location out there. HUGE PROPS!! Same goes to my Safeway, they are a close second. No comment on my Albertson's though LOL Only one day cashier that I like there and I usually have to shop at night :(

Menus
Breakfast: You know what I ate LOL, kids had juice, dry cereal and grapes before school. Scott had cereal again too.
Lunch: I had a lunch meeting (YAY! Roast beef sandwich, orzo pasta salad and diet coke). Scott had a sandwich for lunch and leftover pizza and sunflower seeds as snacks. He also had some chips and salsa.
Snacks: Ryanne had gymnastics so a boost drink and a granola bar for her. Scott had a granola bar as well.
Dinner: Meatloaf. Veggies built into this one so we just had salads on the side. Served with milk. The kids got to have some Starbuck's Hot Chocolate ice cream for dessert (they were very excited, this is the one flavor of Starbuck's that doesn't have caffeine in it by the way).

Meatloaf
This is as I made it this time, traditionally meatloaf can have anything added to it. It's meant to use up what you have available. I highly recommend using up veggies about to go bad (zucchini, green beans, carrots, etc.) but I used what we had. I found some clearance baby food that I used to add veggies this time.

1 # ground beef (turkey works quite well for meat loaf too)
2 jars of baby food- green beans
1/3 C. ketchup
2 eggs
4 slices wheat bread
1/4 cup parsley (dried- although I much prefer fresh!!)
1 tsp garlic powder
Remaining spinach leaves I had in the drawer

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix to the point that they'll hold together, don't over mix. Place in baking dish and top with ketchup. Bake at 375*F for 50-60 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. Drain off any oil if any separates. Ground turkey will not have this problem.







TIP FOR THE DAY
23. Puree and save. When your fruits or veggies are about to go bad, steam and puree them and freeze them in ice cube trays (when frozen, store in a quality freezer bag or better yet, double bag to prevent freezer burn). You can thaw them out to add nutrition to many meals without your family even noticing. Use in sauces, meat loaf, dips and anywhere else you have a large item list in cooking!!

Monday 7/27 Recap

Busy day, as always. Scott's in the midst of earnings season and that leaves me more duties around the house and with the kids. I got a STUNNING night's sleep Saturday which carried me through Monday nicely. I took a 1/2 hour nap before Hunter's OT and that was all I needed. I got to have an hour long dumpster dive and we had 3 great therapy sessions. And Ryanne had a horrible gymnastics class but they let us attend a class on Tuesdays which will be her new permanent class and it was a much better fit. I had my Mystery Shop fiasco Monday. I preassigned to do this shop once a month through September. I have no record of an email from the company but they say they emailed to let shoppers know they were all cancelled. Anyway, I ordered the pizza as we left the library (our books were due and we got some new ones) and when I went to enter the data the shop wasn't on my template. SUCH a waste of $15 :( And there's not much I can do to get it reimbursed either. But when they called me for a special favor to do a shop for them on Wednesday I was not very inclined to help them out either, so it goes two ways. Anyway... here's the menu recap :)

Menus
Breakfast: My typical yogurt/cereal. The kids had grapes and leftover pancake sticks from the weekend (I put syrup on them and microwave until just warm and then cut into sticks, easy handheld breakfast!). Scott had cereal with milk and a yogurt.
Snacks (AM/PM): Ham pinwheels (cream cheese, ham slices and tortilla wrapped up), PB&J, carrots and ranch. Juice.
Lunch: The rest of the ham pinwheels for Hunter, a Boost drink and an apple. Scott and I split an apple and had Marie Callendar's meals.
Dinner: Pepperoni Pizza, green beans, milk.

WOW, WHAT A WEEK!

I know I have been absent. It has been a whirlwind week for my sister in law's wedding. Family events to attend, programs to make, brunch to help organize and outfit... I haven't been able to find a moment to get on the blog!! While I always have a lot to do, this week was beyond exception! Hunter had his latest round of botox as well and 2 extra therapies this week to boot. I haven't slept and I'm glad to be somewhat returning to normalcy this week! I think we were under budget last week but I haven't tallied to be sure. I had a mystery shop on Monday (or so I thought), I pre-assigned these shops monthly and I ordered my pizza and went to do my paperwork and the shops were gone. Apparently they were cancelled by the client and I don't have a record of an email so there's $15 of eating out that won't be reimbursed and we didn't need! Second we met our Brother in Law and Niece at McDonald's for a play date and that was $12 down the tubes. The playlands are great but has anyone else noticed that fast food is no longer the cheap alternative???

Most my shopping trips were under $10 and I spent a large majority of the money on Kroger's mega deal restocking our Kleenex and buying some items for garage sale. I'll have our quarterly garage sale this weekend and hopefully many of the toiletry items will fetch us a net positive on our expenditures for the challenge :) I'll update more on that as the week goes on. And we had our neighbors over for dinner Sunday night!! Everyone was pleased with the meal and we did it all for under $15, including beer for the adults (except me who has to work) and lemonade for the kids :) I will get my tallies for the week and post them up soon!! It takes me awhile to enter the receipts because it's so hard to figure out tax around here. There's a base tax and then the second tax is based on a post-coupon amount and it's important to match them up and figure out what coupons (if any and how many) were missed. Anyway... the rest of the updates coming soon with some great recipes from the week!!