Food Waste Wednesday, 7/1/09

I read somewhere that the average family wastes 25% of the food they purchase.

We are not that bad, but I long for the empty table I had a few weeks ago with no food waste.

This week we wasted a block of tofu that I put in the baby's food for several days. Then I forgot to change the water for several days and it was in the refrigerator for over a week, so, I decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

I needed avocado last week, but I could only find them in bags of four. We used one for the Guacamole Salad. We love avocado, so why I didn't just slice them up to eat with our other meals, I don't know. This was just dumb waste.

July Challenge

For my June challenge, I had a no spending month and challenged myself to only spend $500 for the month for groceries, gas, entertainment, birthdays, Father’s Day, and a trip out of town, etc. I did end up going over my $500, but I still consider the month a success because on a normal month we spend at least $1000 a month, plus we probably would have spent another $150 for my son’s birthday and Father’s Day. By having a no spending month in place, we saved ourselves the additional $500 we would have spent. In addition, we learned quite a bit about ourselves and our spending habits. (See my post on that here.)

Because this was such a great learning experience, we have decided as a family to pose a challenge every month. For July, the challenge will focus on me.

Like almost every mom, I tend to push taking care of myself to the back burner. That was okay when I was younger, but now that I am closer to 40 than 35, it is starting to affect my health. I still have 6 pounds of baby weight to lose (and the baby is 8 months old now). I wasn’t at an ideal weight before the baby, so after I lose those 6 pounds, I still have more to lose. Ideally, I would like to lose 50 pounds.

I know that won’t happen in one month. (How I wish it would!!) But I am going to take the month of July to begin to put myself first. My goal is to exercise at least 120 minutes a week and to eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. In addition, I will be following the Weight Watchers Core Program at home. (I know this isn't Weight Watchers current plan, but I had great success when I followed it before and I love that it focuses on natural eating and avoiding processed foods, so that is what I will follow.) Anyone care to join me?

I Am Guest Posting Today

Check out my guest post at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures about one of my family's new favorite recipes, Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza.

If you are here for Lynn's site, welcome. We are glad to have you!

Menu Planning Monday, 6/29/09

I am trying to become healthier and lose weight. These recipes reflect that.

Monday--Couscous with Chicken & Chickpeas
Tuesday--Bubbling Pizza Casserole
Wednesday--Pork Chops with Cider Vinegar Glaze & Black Bean & Corn Salad
Thursday-- Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Carrots, Potatoes & Peas
Friday--Chicken Chili
Saturday--Spaghetti & Roasted Green Beans
Sunday--Southwestern Chicken Skillet

And to appeal to my sweet tooth, I have planned the following desserts:
Yogurt Jello
Banana Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
Quickest Chocolate Pie

No Spending Month--Final Update & Lessons Learned

Now that June is almost over, I thought I would share what I learned about myself and my family during these 4 weeks when I tried to spend less than $500.

--I like to spend money. There is no denying that. I don’t go out and buy large items like a flat screen tv, but every day, I like to go out and pitter away a little money for a snack, or a coffee, etc. It is just a bad habit that needs to be broken.

--I like to go out to eat, especially when it is really hot or I am stressed. We only went out to eat once this month (spending $11 at Subway), and I am seriously missing it. Because I am missing it so much, I think we must typically go out to eat much more than I realize. Going to a nice restaurant or eating at Subway, either way, it adds up over time.

--My family consumes way too much pop and chocolate (okay, mostly it's me).

--I feel like I have to rush to the store and get every deal. Like the Breyer’s ice cream deal. Was it a good deal? Yes. Was it a smart purchase during a no spending month? Not at all. I can now see that many of the grocery store deals are for junky food that I shouldn’t be buying anyway.

--I am a bit of a hoarder. I really didn’t realize this until this challenge. Because I knew we had only a limited amount of money, I found myself continually stocking up on the staples in case we ran out of money by the end of the month (which we did, in part because I was continually stocking up on staples!).

--My husband is very supportive, but he does have his favorite brands that he wants to buy. He was none too happy when I made him buy the Kraft BBQ sauce that we could get for .50 after coupons instead of the Famous Dave’s BBQ sauce we love. Considering he is not very fussy generally, I think I can buy him the few brands he likes.

When I was about 17 and in between jobs, I had $10 left to spend until I got a new job and my first paycheck. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, could part me with that $10. Sadly, I am not that person anymore. I need to learn that skill again.

This month, while not a total success, was certainly an eye-opener, which is its own kind of reward. Did you have a no spending month? If so, how did you do?

By the way, if you are interested, here is how the last 4 days of our spending challenge looked:
6/25--0
6/26--$11 Subway
6/27--0
6/28--23.72 CVS (diapers)

Total for the last 4 days--44.72
Total for the month--635.51

No Spending Challenge--4th 6 Days Update

6/19--$35.00 (gas), $15.20 Jewel (groceries), $22.68 Tony’s (groceries), $10.42 beer for husband (for Father's Day)
6/20—0
6/21—0
6/22—0
6/23—5.75 Starbuck’s
6/24—36.74 Dominick’s (groceries)

4th 6 Days = 125.79
Total for 24 days = 590.79

Well, as you can see, we didn’t quite make it at only $500 for the month. However, I think I have learned some important things about myself during this challenge. (I will share them with you when I do the post for the last 6 days.)

We are reaching the home stretch. I am sooo glad.

Monthly Goals Update for June

I have two months left for my leave of absence. It is time to check in and see how I am doing on the goals I have set for myself to achieve by the end of August.

Only use up 50% of our savings while on leave. So far, we have only spent 9%, thanks in large part to our No Spending Month. I still have roughly 7 more weeks to go before I get my first paycheck.

Get grocery bill down to at least $300/month. I am still spending roughly $350 for groceries. I must learn not to stock up whenever there is a sale. It is okay to miss some sales, especially for junk food.

Create a list of 50-90 meals we enjoy and organize the recipes for them. I have 50 recipes in a binder, organized by category with an index, so technically this goal is complete. However, I want to aim for 90 instead of 50, so I will mark this goal 55% completed.

Grow my eBay business to 2700-2800 items. I started the month at 2560 items; I am now at 2586, so I have completed 43% of my goal to have at least 2700 items.

Declutter the house!! I cleaned and decluttered the kitchen, bathroom and kids’ room. The dining room/living room is next. (No progress was made on this goal this month.)

Sell $300 to $500 worth of household items on eBay that we no longer use. Thus far I have sold $166, so I am almost 56% of the way to this goal.

Lose 25 to 30 pounds. I have lost four pounds. I am, therefore, 16% of the way to completing this goal. (No progress was made on this goal this month. This will be the topic of my July challenge, which I will post soon.)

Get a dishwasher. Done.

Get a full night’s sleep. Getting closer to this one. A few nights a week we get to sleep from 10 pm to 5 am. The baby is 8 months old, so hopefully it will continue to get better.

NEW: Have 15 to 30 meals made & in the freezer. This will help me during the first 8 weeks when my work load will be heaviest, I will be readjusting to being back to work and I will be more likely to want to go out to eat.

If I can accomplish these goals before August, it should help our lives run more smoothly when I am back at work. I tend to blow money more easily when working because I don’t have time and I am stressed. If I can keep that impulse under control with careful planning now, hopefully I can fulfill my goal of being a stay at home mom in 2010.

Guacamole Salad (Frugal Makeover Version)

Looking for a tasty dish to take to a BBQ or a potluck picnic? This may just be the dish for you! I originally got the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. I altered it a bit to fit our tastes.

I brought this salad to the potluck party I went to last week, and a few people asked me for the recipe. It is cool and refreshing on hot summer days, and, since it doesn’t have mayonnaise, it is not quite as finicky as other summer salads.

Guacamole Salad
2-3 tomatoes, diced (.99)
1 red pepper, diced (1.29)
1 green pepper, diced (.79)
1 c. dried black beans, cooked (.30)
3 green onions, diced (.07)
1/4 c. lime juice (fresh from limes is best) (.33)
1/4 c. olive oil (.25)
1 tsp. salt (.01)
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper (.01)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic (.02)
2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled and 1/2 inch diced (1.98)

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, and green onion in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper and garlic and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you are ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Serve at room temperature.

This serves 6 and costs $6.04 or $1.00 per serving. If you need to stretch the recipe a bit, try adding more green and/or red pepper. They add a delicious crunch to the salad. Enjoy!

I shared this post at Life As Mom, The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Food Waste Wednesday, 6/24/09

This is what our food waste looked like before I started blogging about it. Unfortunately, this is waste from this week.

Up front are absolutely delicious peanut butter oatmeal bars. I made a 9 x 13 pan a few weeks ago and we devoured them. Then I made them just a few days later, and after one serving, my husband and son left the rest for me. I ate them for 4 days, but then not for 2. By the time I got back to them, I didn't trust eating them as it had been a week.

I bought the dairy product to add to my hot chocolate at CHRISTMAS! It was way in the back of the fridge.

There is a bun from last week that we never got to eat and a leftover smoothie that I didn't really like and my husband never finished up.

Rounding it out, there is 1/4 jar left of baby food that got pushed to the back and forgotten about and 2 sad, sad carrots.

I can't believe this is even there because I have an enormous sweet tooth, but there are also the remains of my son's birthday cake and cupcakes.

That is our terrible food waste week. I am aiming for one more no waste week next week to redeem myself.

Interview with a Frugal Mom--Part One

I have mentioned before that one of my favorite discussion boards is FrugalMom.net. I have been involved in a dialogue with Mandi, and some of her tips were so good, I decided to share some of her knowledge on this blog.

Mandi is a 27 year old mom of 3, (6, 4 and 3 months) and has her own blog, Earthly Living. She describes herself as a modern hippie who loves homeschooling her kids. She also sells items on Etsy at Stitchin Mama.

This first installment focuses on changes newcomers to the frugal way of life can adapt.

Q. Have you been frugal all your life, or is it a habit you acquired recently?
A. I grew up frugal but never realized just how frugal until I had my own family.

My husband and I never really considered ourselves any different than most in the way we did things. We figured you just do what is natural, and for us it included baking our own breads and growing our own vegetables and even sharing our bed with our children. It wasn't until we began to talk with other parents that we realized how we live as a family isn't so popular but very sadly looked upon. It was about three years ago that our life slowly changed into a more frugal, simple & green living way.

Our smallest yet biggest adjustment was getting rid of paper items. We began with napkins and paper towels. Once those were replaced with cloth everything else seemed to follow.

We have been making our laundry detergent for 3 years now and we don't use any fabric softener, instead we use our homemade wool dryer balls. We started making homemade cleaners after we started making our own laundry detergent.

My husband’s current hobby is candle-making. My hobby used to be writing, but now they have expanded to gardening, sewing, crafting & re-crafting. It's funny how things change over the years.

Q. What motivated you to become so frugal and sustain that way of living?
A. For me it was about exploring. My first attempts at removing paper items and replacing them with cloth and making all our own cleaners and detergents was all because of curiosity. We didn't financially NEED to change, but I felt the eager curiosity to try it. And here we are today, proudly living frugally.

Sustaining this lifestyle isn't easy at first because when you get overly tired or sick it's so easy to fall back into old spendthrift ways. I just remind myself that I simply can't afford to fall back that way and when I do hiccup a few times it hits the budget belt a lot harder. Keep a pattern, schedule and find support! If you begin a frugal lifestyle without a pattern, schedule, support and motivation it won't last long!

Q. What can someone who is just attempting to conserve money do to improve their family's financial situation? What is the first thing they should do?
A. First and foremost, budget. You need to evaluate where your money goes. We all have to budget our money otherwise we don't know when or where it's safe to cut back financially, and we tend to go into a panic. If you have it written down in front of you, you can go to it and see what's not needed in the budget and conserve the money more efficiently. Manicures/Pedicures and Sunday ice cream outings aren't a NEED, just for example. Purchase the manicure products and spend time together as a family having a spa day and make your own ice cream in a bag instead of spending more money and less time with your family.

Q. What is an easy thing one can do to make a difference in their family's budget?
A. SCRATCH baking & cooking! It will cut back SO much on the grocery bill, which besides basic living bills is where we spend most of our income.

Q. What has been the biggest benefit of your more frugal lifestyle?
A. Spending less money & having more time with those that really matter. There is a learning curve to living frugally, but the knowledge you gain can easily be adapted to many situations and that is inspiring. That's helped me continue to live frugally. I love nothing more than researching out information of how life used to be as opposed to how it is now. The information is overwhelming!

Thanks – for your advice!

No Spending Challenge Update--The 3rd 6 Days

For this challenge, I specifically did not stock up on necessities before the month began because I wanted this month to be the same as any other month. It just so happened that we ran out of a lot of thing this month. That has been a challenge, as has my son’s birthday, his school birthday lunch and the two potluck parties we attended within 1 week of each other.

6/13—$55.00 Tony’s Finer Foods (groceries & son’s party food), 5.84 Jewel (groceries), 7.49 (6 pack of beer for husband), 12.46 recharged long distance phone card
6/14—10.40 CVS (groceries), 12.73 Target (groceries)
6/15—0
6/16—30.13 Jewel (groceries)
6/17—14.06 Whole Foods (groceries)
6/18—13.71 Dominick’s (groceries)
3rd 6 Days = 161.82
Total for 18 days = 465.00

Menu Planning Monday, 6/22/09

Well, we are on the home stretch of our No Spending Month and we already overspent our $500 budget for the month, so we are trying to redeem ourselves by spending as little as possible for the rest of the month. All of these meals come from the pantry.

Monday— Slow Cooker Roast with Carrots, Potatoes & Onions
Tuesday—Crab Stuffed Flounder & Broccoli
Wednesday— Beef Vegetable Soup in Slow Cooker
Thursday—Beef Burritos
Friday— Pork Fried Rice
Saturday—Peking Shrimp (this is a carry over from last week)
Sunday—Omelet for Two

Lunches will be leftovers, sandwiches, Weight Watchers frozen meal or freezer burritos.

Breakfast will be oatmeal, fruit & yogurt or cereal.

To see the groceries we bought for the week, go here.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 6/21/09

Jewel:

8 cartons of Breyers = 1.67 each
4 bags Bertolli meals = 1.67 each
Total = 30.13
(Received 2 catalinas, 1 for $10 off and 1 for $2 off)


20 cans diced tomatoes = 1.00/ea
1 bag powdered sugar = 1.99
1 bag chocolate chips = 1.99
1 grill plank .99 (for DH for Father's Day)
3 onions = 1.63
Total = 27.20, used 12.00 in Catalinas
Total = 15.20
Received a $10 catalina for next purchase

Tony's Finer Foods:


1 bottle cider vinegar = 1.39
1 bottle vegetable oil = 1.79
1 box graham crackers = 1.99
1 box pop-tarts = 2.75
3 zucchini = 1.30
bananas = 1.34
2 pkgs. strawberries = 3.00
1 pkg. raspberries = .99
apples = 1.47
watermelon section = .90
broccoli = 1.32
nectarines = 1.11
peaches = 1.07
green beans = .44
eggs = .99
Total = 22.68

Dominick's:

1 can cooking spray = 2.79
cupcake wrappers = 1.69 (for DS's birthday lunch at school)
cupcake sprinkles = 2.99 (DS's birthday)
2 gallons milk = 3.98
1 cantaloupe = 1.49
1 tomato= .36
Total = 13.71

Whole Foods:

(all for baby food)
sweet potatoes = 2.91
carrots = .61
apples = 1.64
pears = 2.25
green beans = 2.32
3 cans baby food = 2.97
bananas = .62
Total =14.06

Target:

2 Skippy peanut butter = 3.58

2 Welch's jelly = 3.54

2 bread = FREE

4 pkgs lunch meat = 5.48

2 pkgs cheese = 5.58
-3.00 Qs & 5.00 Gift card

Total = 12.73

Grand Total = 108.51

Total for the Month = 324.70

To see the recipes we will make for the week, go here.

I shared this post at The Grocery Cart Challenge.

CVS 6/21/09

I loved CVS this week!

Transaction 1:

1 Freestyle meter = 9.99 - 9.99 Q = FREE

1 pkg Huggies = 8.99 - 1.50 Q =7.49

12 Soy Joy Bars = 12.00 - 2.00 Q, - 1.29 Q

1 M&M = .89 - .89 Q = FREE

- 5.00/30.00 order Q from CVS

-10.00 ECBS

Total OOP = 1.49

Saved 102.37 or 98.5%

Used 10 ECBs, earned 12 ECBs

Transaction 2:

1 pkg CVS baby wipes = 2.00

8 Soy Joy bars = 8.00 - 1.00 Q

1 Thermacare = 2.49 - 1.00 Q = 1.49

1 CVS panty shields = .99

- 9.00 ECBs

Total OOP = 2.68

Saved 14.11 or 85%

Used 9 ECBs, earned 10.49 ECBs

What a great trip! I only paid $4.17 OOP for merchandise worth $160.65. I went in there with 19 ECBs and earned 22.49 ECBs. I like CVS ads like this week's!

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom & Saving Cents with Sense.

Freezer Burritos (Frugal Recipe Makeover)

We love Freezer Burritos. I make up a batch of these and we eat some for dinner and freeze the rest. During the week I eat one for a quick lunch with a salad on the side. When I return to work, I plan to take these as my lunch a couple of times a month.

Recently when I made these, I tried to make them as cheaply as possible. Here is what I came up with:

1 lb. lean g. beef (3.00)
¼ c. finely chopped onion (.10)
1-1/4 c. salsa (.89)
2 tbsp. taco seasoning (homemade—2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. sugar, ½ tsp. salt) (.15)
1-1/3 c. dry pinto beans, cooked (.50)
½ c. water
1 c. shredded cheese (.50)
8 burrito tortillas (1.29)

These make approximately 8 burritos, at a grand total cost of $6.43 or .80 each. What a deal for a great lunch!

I estimate that the original recipe, which you can find here, would cost $8.95, or $1.12 per serving. I would make it the original way if I was pressed for time because it is still much better than eating out. However, right now I have more time than money, so we are happy with the frugal makeover.

I shared this recipe at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays , $5 Dinners and Life as Mom.

Great Deals at the Gymboree Red Balloon Sale!

I went to two different Gymboree stores and found terrific deals. I bought a few more items for my daughter this winter, in a smaller size than I have been buying because she doesn't seem to be growing as fast as I thought she would.

From the Lots of Dots line, I found this turtleneck that retails for $16.50 on sale for $1.89!! That is 88% OFF retail.



From the Holiday Friends line, I found this cute burgundy, ribbed sweater for $3.79. It retails for $24.50, a savings of 84%.

This cute outfit is from the Prep School line. It retails for $49.50, but I paid $9.48. That is 80% off.

Finally, at a sale a few weeks ago I found the pink dot leggings from the Wild One line on sale for $1.99. At this week's sale, I found a matching top and socks. The total outfit retails for $39.00, but I got it all for $5.30!! (86% off retail).

The best part is that I will be able to resell all of these items on eBay after my daughter outgrows them and most likely make a profit. I not only get to dress my daughter for free, but I can make money from it. I love when that happens.

If you need to buy your kids clothes for the winter, head to Gymboree now. Clothes this cheap also make nice baby shower gifts. Plus, you will be earning Gymbucks.

I shared this at Life As Mom and Money Saving Mom.

Food Waste Wednesday, 6/17/09 (Late Edition)

It pains me to write this because I had a great no-waste week last week. This week was just the opposite!

My most annoying waste was this container of tomatoes. I bought them at the store on Friday, and Sunday, two days later, I pulled them out to make this delicious Guacamole Salad for a potluck I was going to, and the tomatoes looked like this:

I was so mad! I should have taken them back to the store to complain, but I didn't have time. My husband had to run to the store to get fresh tomatoes, and we were 20 minutes late to the party.

I also wasted these mushrooms.

I meant to use them for a mushroom/broccoli/chicken pasta dish, but it was a time-consuming dish and this week turned out to be hectic, so I didn't get to make it. My husband was able to use a few, but when I pulled them out on Wednesday to use in a different dish, they looked like this.

Homemade Baby Food--Part Two

It is so easy to make homemade baby food! For instance, I bought two apples and peeled, cored and cut them into 6 pieces. I put these in a microwave safe bowl with a lid and 2 tbsp of water. I microwaved them for 4 minutes, let them cool and then pureed them in my trusty garage sale blender (I wrote about it here.)

I made sure to make the texture smooth like jar baby food so my daughter would eat them and then I poured it into ice cube trays. (Four ice cubes size blocks of food make the equivalent of one jar of stage 2 baby food. This can vary though, based on the size of your ice cube trays.)


For the peas, all I did was steam a baby serving size for 8 minutes, put them in the blender with some water and pureed them in until they were smooth. (Since I had to buy these frozens, Yaron does not recommend refreezing them in ice cube trays.)

This doesn’t have to take a lot of time. I make my daughter's baby food while I am already in the kitchen making a meal or doing dishes. Every evening after she eats dinner, I wash her divided bowl, put a freezer cube of a fruit or two and veggie or two in the bowl, cover it with the lid and let it sit overnight. In the morning, the cubes are unthawed and ready to use.

Do you see how easy this is! It doesn’t have to be expensive either. By making your own baby food, you will immediately save money over jar baby food. (See my previous post on the cost difference here.) For supplies, I just bought 4 ice cube trays at a garage sale. They only cost me .50 total. I already have the blender. Those are really the only supplies you need.

I did purchase Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and found it a worthwhile investment. (You can click on the Amazon carousel on my side bar and scroll down until you see it. They have it as low as $2.99 used or $12.37 new.) You could also get a copy from the library, but I found it useful to own (here is my tattered copy):

because there is a month-by-month schedule of when to introduce your child to every food and how to cook and store every food. In addition, she has lots of money saving ideas, crafts, and food recipes for toddlers. This is a book that you can use as your child grows. As you can see, mine has seen a lot of wear!

If you have a baby, have you tried to make baby food? It is so much easier than you think, and it is a true money saver!

Next week I will have part three of this installment--grains.

Homemade Baby Food--Part One

When my son was born, we were pinching pennies, so it seemed natural that we make his baby food. It was a bit more work than opening a jar, but I felt good about what I was feeding him.

When my daughter was born, she was sick all the time, thanks to a big brother in preschool, so we fell into the easier route of feeding her baby food from the jar. Plus, unlike my son, who eats anything, my daughter is fickle. I tried a few times to make her food, and she just gagged.

We like to feed our babies organic food (I wish we all could eat that way, but it is definitely not in the budget right now!). Stage 2 organic baby food is .72 a jar, and that is after I shopped around to find the lowest price. I have fed my daughter jar baby food for two months now, and I am annoyed at the cost. Now that we are having the No Spending Month, baby food in the jar is not a feasible option.

So, this weekend, I pulled out my tattered copy of Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, which I used when making my son’s food when he was a baby (See the Amazon carousel on my side bar for more information about this book.) After a quick trip to the local Whole Foods, I made my daughter apples, nectarines, pears and carrots. A few days later I made peas and beans.


I only bought a little bit of each food to experiment and make sure she could handle the texture. I added extra water to the blender and made it as smooth as jar baby food. Yesterday, I gave it to her and she ate it right up. Yeah! Frugal Victory! I will be making a lot more baby food now.

Price Comparison

(based on a jar at .72 and 4 ice cubes of food = 1 jar)
Homemade Carrots = .58

Jar Equivalent = 2.16

Homemade Pears = 1.05
Jar Equivalent = 1.44

Homemade Nectarines = 2.31

Jar Equivalent = 1.08 (more expensive than the jar, but I haven’t been able to find jar nectarines)

Homemade Apples = 1.64

Jar Equivalent = 2.16

Homemade Green Beans = 2.19

Jar Equivalent = 4.68 (note—don’t buy frozen veggies & refreeze them in trays per the author. Instead, make them fresh as baby eats them.)

Homemade Peas = 2.19

Jar Equivalent = 4.68

Homemade Baby Food for 9 Days = 9.96

Jar Equivalent = 16.20

I saved 6.24 by making it fresh. That may not seem like a lot, but over the course of a month, that equals $25. Over the course of the remaining months when she will be eating baby food, that equals at least $100. (And that is not figuring how much more she will eat in the upcoming months than she is eating now.)

Your costs could be even lower if you don't buy organic food or if you have your own garden.

Coming Up--Tomorrow's post will be about the steps I take to make the baby food.

Gymboree Is Having Their Red Balloon Sale!

This sale happens a couple times a year and is one of Gymboree's best sales, in my opinion. They pull out everything in the back of the store from older lines and set the price points at .99, 3.99, 6.99, 9.99, etc. Shoes are often on sale for $4.99, pants for $6.99, shirts for 3.99 and hats and accessories for .99.

You can shop online and get free shipping if you order over $100, but you'll get the best deals if you go into the stores instead.

And best of all, it is still Gymbucks earning time! And, if you have one of the 20% off coupons (easily found on eBay), you can also use that.

Menu Planning Monday, 6/15/09

This week’s menu comes largely from items that we have in the pantry. This month is a no spending month (no more than $500 dollars to be spent on food, gas, entertainment, my son’s birthday food and presents, Father’s Day, etc.)

Monday—Mexi-Mac Skillet
Tuesday—Chicken Quesadillas
Wednesday—Slow Cooker Beef Sizzler Concoction (Husband is creating this. If it is good, I will post the recipe.)
Thursday—Peking Shrimp with Rice
Friday—Chicken Salad with romaine lettuce, peppers, carrots & cheese
Saturday—Wonton Soup, Baby Bok Choy (you can see my previous post about this dish here)
Sunday—Pork Fried Rice (lunch) Grilled Beef Tenderloin & polish sausage (dinner) Happy Father’s Day!

For lunches, my husband and son will have leftovers or sandwiches. I will have leftovers, or Weight Watcher meals or freezer burritos.

For breakfasts we will have oatmeal, or waffles, or omelets, or yogurt & fruit.

To see the groceries we bought for the week, go here.

(Just in case you have been following this blog and wonder why I always have beef but it never shows up in my grocery picture, we bought 1/2 of a side of beef from my cousin's husband in late December and still have more than half of it left. )

CVS 6/14/09

We got items we needed this time at CVS, which is important, since we are on the No Spending Month (and the chocolate should last us quite awhile!).

3 Skor Bars = 2.00 - 2 B1G1 coupons (I found these on a blinkie at Dominick's)

3 Whatchamacalits = 2.00 - 1 B1G1 coupon

2 M & M's king size (to put on DS's birthday cupcakes) = 2.00

2 bags Dove candy = 7.00

1 Trident gum = 2.50 - 1.00 coupon

2 Puffs = 1.74

2 Right Guard deodorant, B1G1 - 1.00 coupon

1 CVS panty shield = .99

1 Dean's milk = 2.59 - 2.59 Q (printed off when I scanned my card) = Free

-5.00 ECBs

Total OOP = 10.40

Total Saved = 26.58 or 72%

Used 5 ECBs, earned 5 ECBs

Pampers Update: The woman at CVS that I talked to last week said my 10 ECBs for the Pampers should appear when I swiped my CVS card. They didn't, so I will be calling the CVS help line again tomorrow.

I shared this post at Saving Cents with Sense and Money Saving Mom.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 6/14 (Early Edition)

Jewel:

$10.22 (lost the reciept for this one, but it includes everything in the first picture )



Green onions 1.28
2 pks. eggs @ .99/ea = 1.98
2 loaves bread @ 1.67 = 3.34
Total = 5.84

Tony's Finer Foods:

These are the groceries bought for the household:

3 avocados @ .99/ea = 2.97
2 heads romaine lettuce @ .50 /ea = .99
2 red bell pepper = 1.24
3 nectarines = .71
1 orange pepper = 1.29
3 green peppers = 1.92
2 heads broccoli = .92
2 pkgs strawberries @ 1.50 /ea = 3.00
1 pkg tomatoes = 2.00
3 lbs. polish sausage = 3.99
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese = 1.53
1/2 lb. deli turkey = 1.56
1/2 lb deli pastrami = 1.76
1 pkg. hamburger buns = 1.29


Groceries for son's birthday party at school (30+ kids, but the teacher asked us to buy all beef hotdogs and bring 60, so that made this meal pricier than we expected).

8 pkgs hot dog buns @ .99/ea = 7.93
8 pkgs beef hot dogs @ 2.50/ea = 20.00
2 cake mixes @ .99 /ea = 1.98
Total = 55.41

Whole Foods:

These are all ingredients for making my daughter's baby food. (We like to give the baby organic until she gets bigger.)
Barley = .10
Millet = .17
Green Beans = 2.19
Nectarines = 2.31
Pears = 1.05
Carrots = .58
Apples = 1.64
Potatoes = .52
Total = 11.16


Dominick's:



2 gallons milk @ 1.99/ea = 3.98
1 bag pasta = .99
6 candy bars = .99 (on sale B1G1 and had a B1G1 coupon & a coupon for one free)
Total = 6.27

Target (no picture):
2--35 lb containers cat litter @ 11.97 /ea = 23.98 (received a $5 Target gift card)
12 cans soft food = 4.24 -1.00 Q = 3.24
1--7 lb bag cat food - 3.50 Q = 7.49
Total = 34.35

CVS (no picture):
1 pkg Pampers = 8.99 - 1.50 Q - 5.00 ECBs = 3.24

Grand Total for the Week = 116.24
Total for the Month = 216.19

To see the meals we will make for the week, go here.

I shared this post at The Grocery Cart Challenge.

No Spending Challenge Update--The 2nd 6 Days

Toward the end of the second six days, this challenge started getting very difficult. Our cats just so happened to run out of their cat litter, soft cat food and hard cat food at the same time, hence the $30+ dollars spent at Target. I am out of some pantry staples like cooking spray, apple cider vinegar, cocoa, black pepper, and others. I don’t know if I will have the money to replace them this month.

My son’s birthday is coming up, and it is common at his preschool for the birthday child to serve a special lunch to all the kids (30+). We picked the cheapest choice, hot dogs, but the hot dogs have to be all beef and we need to supply 60, plus buns and a fruit. Yikes! In addition, I wanted to make him cupcakes to take.

I am starting to think that doing this challenge in June, when there is my son’s birthday, Father’s Day, and two out of town trips planned was not one of my brightest moves. But really, when is it ever a good month?

In April, we had $965 set aside for all of the categories we are covering this month with $500. It is going to be painful and challenging. But, if I want to be a stay-at-home mom and live off my husband’s salary, we will take a significant pay cut (about 1/3 less in income). Most of the time we will probably struggle as we are this month. It is good to find out if we can do it now, while I still have my job.

6/7—1.73 snacks, 39.63 Tony’s Finer Foods (groceries), 12.26 CVS (diapers and others)
6/8—3.04 CVS (diapers), 10.22 Jewel
6/9—34.35 Target (groceries—all for cats!), $6.27 Dominick’s (groceries)
6/10—10.22 Whole Foods (groceries for baby)
6/11—0
6/12—0
2nd 6 days = 117.72

Total for 12 days = 303.18
40% of challenge completed, 60% of money spent

Feed a Family of 4 for $4--Barbecued Smoked Sausage & Lima Beans

One of our favorite meals is Barbecued Smoked Sausage & Lima Beans. We found this recipe in Light & Tasty (now Healthy Cooking) Magazine. If you can find all of the ingredients on sale, this makes for a tasty dish. It is one of our go to pantry dishes.

We have tinkered with the ingredients a bit to suit our tastes.

1 c. chopped onion (.35)
1 c. chopped green pepper (.50)
2 garlic cloves minced (.10)
2 tsp. olive oil (.05)
16 oz. polish sausage, quartered and diced (1.33 –we found polish sausage on sale 3 lbs./ 3.99!)
1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes (1.25)
¼ c. brown sugar (.20)
¼ cup cider vinegar (.05)
1-1/2 tsp. mustard (.03)
1 tsp. chili powder (.02)
½ tsp. ginger (.05)
¼ tsp. pepper
16 oz. bag frozen lima beans (1.00 on sale!)
Hot, cooked brown rice (.60)

In a large nonstick skillet, sauté the onion, green pepper and garlic in oil for 1 minute. Add sausage; cook and stir 5 minutes longer or until sausage is lightly browned. Stir in the tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, chili powder, ginger, sale and pepper. Bring to a boil. Stir in lima beans. Return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice.

Makes 6--1-1/3 c. servings.

Total cost = 5.53 or .92 per serving ($3.68 to serve 4)


We all had substantial servings last night before I remembered to take a picuture of this dish. What is in the pan is leftover from our meal, (enough for another meal!) so the serving size in generous.

I shared this recipe at the Grocery Cart Challenge, Life as Mom and $5 Dinners.

My Garage Sale Find

I didn't grow up going to garage sales. A friend introduced me to the concept when I was about 24. I remember being slightly embarrassed going to other people's houses rummaging through their things. However, when I got ready to go to grad school a few years later and I needed to furnish my apartment, I realized how much I could save. I found a blender for $3 that still is working for me today.

Now I love garage sales! A few weeks ago, I found these sheet sets (one for my son and one for me and my husband) for $5 each. Honestly, this is the only way I buy sheets now. I just can't part with all the money required to buy them new. My son's other sheets are a fighter plane print I bought at a garage sale when he was just a baby. We each only had only one set of sheets, but now, thanks to this recent purchase, we have two. We will throw them in the laundry on hot, dry them, and voila! we have a second set of sheets.

Food Waste Wednesday, 6/10/09

Do you see that? It is a picture of an empty table. For the first time in 10 weeks since I have been tracking (confessing) my food waste, I have no waste this week!! Yeah!

A large thanks goes to my husband who used the extra ground beef (that wasn't seasoned) from our Bacon Cheeseburger pizza in spaghetti he made for his and my son's lunch. He also used up spinach on its last legs in a weird, but tasty, noodle concoctin he made. He called it noodle dump because it used up all of our leftover vegetables.

Because of his creativity, ta da, no waste.

Just Ask

As I mentioned earlier, we are living off of savings right now, and one of my guilty pleasures is our very limited cable (consisting of E!, Food Network, Animal Planet, and the Weather Channel, yeah, we live large here!). However, I feel guilty for the extra expense.

So, I called our local cable provider a few weeks ago and asked if they could give me a discount. The agent first tried to talk me into getting my local phone service through them (this is what they say every time I call). However, after further probing on my part, the service agent agreed to lower my bill by $20 every month for the next 6 months. This more than covers the extra cost of cable and saves us $120.

Have you tried to make a call like this? If not, try it. You will be pleasantly surprised. I tried this once a few years ago when my husband was not going to have any income for a semester. I wasn’t trying to get a discount; I just asked to disconnect my service. The customer service agent wanted to keep me as a customer, so she offered me a significant discount for 6 months. She then told me that once the discount expires, the cable company asks that I pay full price for 3 to 6 more months before I ask for a discount again. Don’t feel guilty about asking for a discount. They are used to doing this. That is why they have a clearly stated policy.

You might want to expand further if you carry credit card balances and see if they would be willing to lower your interest rate. Nicely stating that you may switch to another card with a lower interest rate helps the negotiations. Try it. You’ll like the results!

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom.

Strawberries! Strawberries!

You may have noticed that even though we are having a No Spending Month, we still spent $18 this weekend to pick strawberries.

It was a fun trip to the farm that my son enjoyed (my daughter slept through it). We picked 3 quarts of strawberries and froze 14 sandwich baggies full (which we put in 3 large Ziploc baggies) and made 4 cups of strawberry jam. Most of it will go in our freezer for the winter months when strawberries are so expensive. We love strawberry-banana-blueberry smoothies, so it is nice to stock up. If the baby hadn't woke up, we probably would have picked a few more. Yum!

Menu Planning Monday, 6/8/09

Monday--Chicken Broccoli Fettuccine
Tuesday--Southwestern Goulash
Wednesday--Slow Cooked Pork Roast Dinner*
Thursday--Hash Browns, Eggs & Fruit
Friday--Chicken, Makeover Favorite Corn Bake*, & Veggies
Saturday--Freezer Burritos*
Sunday--Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Potatoes, Carrots & Peas

*All the recipes with a * are available on http://www.tasteofhome.com/ to subscribers of one of their magazines. (I subscribe to Healthy Cooking.)

Breakfasts will be cereal, oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, fruit
Lunches will be leftovers or Smart Ones for me or sandwiches or leftovers for my husband.

To see the groceries we bought this week, go here.

CVS 6/7/09

Finally CVS has some good deals again!

2 pkgs Pampers @ 8.99 - 2.00 Q & 1.00 Q = 14.98
1 candy bar = .67 (not in picture)
1 Bayer Contour meter = 14.99 - 30.00 Q rounded to exact value = FREE
1 Gillette razor = 7.99 - 4.00 Q = 3.99
1 Chicago Tribune = 1.99 (we weren't here this morning to get it, so mine was stolen, AGAIN!)
1 CVS panty liners = .99

Used $11.99 ECBs and earned $9.00 ECBs. The Pampers were supposed to generate 5 ECBs as Crystal wrote about here, but they didn't. The manager told me to call CVS tomorrow. Hopefully I will get the 5 to 10 ECBs. (The web doesn't say if there is a limit on the deal.)

Total OOP = 12.26
Total Saved = 109.20, or 90%

UPDATE: I called CVS this morning, 6/8, and they loaded 10 ECBs on my card for the purchase of two packs of Pampers. They said there is a limit of 3, so I can go back and buy one more pack! If you do the Pampers deal and have trouble, just call the CVS customer service line: 1-888-607-4287. Thanks Crystal!

This post was shared at Money Saving Mom and Saving Cents with Sense.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 6/7/09

Actually, this felt like grocery shopping week as I tried to learn how to successfully navigate the sales while using coupons so I can stretch our $500 we are alloted this month as part of our No Spending Challenge. I wasn't as successful as I would have liked. Let's just say grocery savings for me is a work in progress.

Target: (Sorry, no picture for this one. My camera battery was dead.)

Johnson's Soap Buddies $3.06 - 3.00 Q = .06

Baby food = 6.53 (I usually try to make my own, but we went out of town this weekend.)

Kraft BBQ sauce = .99 - 1.00 Q = FREE

Kraft Miracle Whip = 1.54 - 1.00 Q = .54

Hot Dog Buns = 1.19

Strawberries = 2.49 - 1.00 Q = 1.49

10 Weight Watchers meals = 18.80 total - 2.00 Q = 16.80

Total = 27.44

Tony's Finer Foods:

Linguine = .99

2-28 oz. cans tomatoes @ 1.25 /ea = 2.50

1 bottle ketchup = .99 - .20 Q = .79

1 pkg pectin = 3.00

1 pineapple = .98

3 nectarines = .77 (.99 / lb)

2-1 lb bag carrots = .50 /ea = 1.00

1 bag fuji apples = 3.49 (the sign said $2.50. I didn't catch this error.)

6 pints raspberries @ .99 /ea = 5.93

2 onions = .60 (.69/lb.)

2 broccoli heads = 1.14 (.99/lb)

Mushrooms = 1.50

2 pkgs strawberries @ 1.50 /ea = 3.00

Romaine lettuce = .58 (.59/lb)

1 plum tomato = .21 (.79/lb)

1 loaf bread = 1.50

3 cannoli = 1.98

32 oz. frozen hashbrowns = 1.49

3 pkgs. cheese @ .99/ ea = 2.97

1/2 lb deli chicken = 1.77

1/2 lb deli ham = 1.56

Total = 39.63

Ed's Way:

2 Pepsi 2 liters @ 1.00 /ea = 2.00

2 pkgs cheese @ .99/ea = 1.98

1 lb. deli ham = 2.99

1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese =2.03

1 bag cheetos = 1.29
Total = 10.29

CVS (6/1)

Milk = 1.99 /ea - 1.00 ECB = .99 /ea = 1.98

Huggies = 8.99 - 2.00 Q = 6.99

Total = 10.30

Grand Total = 87.66 + 12.26 CVS = 99.92

To see the recipes we will make this week, go here.

No Spending Challenge Update--The First 6 Days

As I wrote about here, my family is taking a no spending challenge for June. It is a challenge!!! Here is what we have spent in the first six days (I know, right now it looks like the spending challenge):

6/1
10.29 Tony’s Finer Foods (groceries)

6/2
3.21 Starbuck’s hot cocoa
15.00 son’s bike for birthday
10.30 CVS (milk & diapers)

6/3—0

6/4
$9.61 Jewel (groceries)

6/5
$29.33 gas
$5.69 ice cream
$35.33 Target (27.33 groceries & 8.00 training wheels)

6/6
$18.00 strawberries
$44.51 gas
4.19 snacks

Total—185.46
Amount Left for the Month--314.54

Although we have spent nearly 40% of our money for the month, I would consider these first 6 days a success.

My husband really wanted to get my son a bike for his upcoming birthday. He looked at Target and priced them at $60--something we couldn't afford this month. So I looked on Craig's list and found a Power Rangers bike for $15.00. The people selling it only lived 5 minutes from our house. That was a $45.00 savings. We bought training wheels for him for $8 at Target, but I am planning on returning them if I can borrow some from my cousin.

Also, we drove 3 hours to visit my mom this weekend. Usually I buy a magazine to read on the drive (I tend to be a backseat driver in the city. The ride is smoother if I am distracted.) I really couldn't justify buying a magazine, so instead of reading, I bought my stack of coupons and clipped all of them during the ride. (Yes, I did feel a bit like a coupon geek.)

When we are at my mom's, we tend to eat out alot, but instead we brought leftovers from home to have for Friday's dinner and cooked Saturday afternoon and night. We are definitely becoming more conscious of our spending.

Homemade Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

Last night I was supposed to make a Cheeseburger Calzone. However, I did not have enough yeast to make both a top and a bottom for the calzone, so I decided to create my own cheeseburger pizza, inspired by Lynn’s Cheeseburger Calzone recipe.

The bacon cheeseburger pizza was a huge hit in our house! We will definitely be making it again. Best of all, it can serve 4 for $4.79 assuming the four aren’t big eaters. (My son and I each had ¼ of the pizza and were more than satisfied, but my husband ate ½ of the pizza!) Here is a picture of our serving size:

Homemade Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

1 pizza dough (I follow Sara Moulton’s Food Processor pizza dough recipe found here.)--$1.20
2/3 c. ground beef—2.00
¼ c. ketchup--.10
1 tbsp. mustard--.05
1 garlic clove--.05
1-2 green onions--.05
1/3 c. shredded cheddar cheese--.16 (I found 8 oz. on sale for $1.00.)
4 slices bacon--.50
¼ c. shredded mozzarella cheese--.13
Shredded lettuce--.30
Diced tomato--.25

--Prepare dough.
--While the dough is rising, brown 2/3 lb. of beef in a skillet. When it is done, drain and rinse the beef. (We do this to lower the fat content.) Let the beef cool.
--Meanwhile, cook the bacon.
--When the dough is ready, spread it out on a greased pizza pan and pierce it with a fork.
--Cook the dough at 450 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the bottom turns light golden brown.
--Mix the cooled beef with the ketchup, mustard, diced garlic, diced green onion and shredded cheddar cheese in a bowl. Stir well.
--When the crust is nicely browned on the bottom, remove from oven and spread the beef mixture over it.
--Bake at 350 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese.
--Remove from oven and sprinkle on crumbled, cooked bacon and shredded mozzarella cheese.
--Cook 2 to 3 more minutes until the mozzarella cheese melts.
--Garnish cooked pizza with shredded lettuce and tomatoes.
--Enjoy!

I shared this recipe at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Life as Mom, and $5 Dinners.

Completing a Gymboree Outfit Found on Clearance

I try to only buy my kids Gymboree clothing when the price is already reduced, when there is a sale, and when I have a coupon. (If I can meet all three conditions, the price of clothing is usually very affordable!) I also buy my kids' clothes off-season. In May, it is not unusual for me to buy clothes I think they will wear in December, as I did when I wrote about it here.

However, buying off season does have its difficulties. Frequently there are not matching pieces to an outfit. For instance, I bought the two dresses in the above picture during one shopping trip and the corduroy pants during another. There were no matching tops available, but by themselves, the dresses and the pants have no resale value. (One of the ways I justify purchasing my kids Gymboree clothing while on a budget is to later resell it on eBay. If you haven’t already done so, you can read how I do it here.) However, I still purchased the items.

Then, I went home and checked out eBay. Frequently, during good sales, eBay sellers will run out and buy what they can on clearance and then try to sell it immediately. Usually these items sell fairly cheaply because not very many people want to buy winter clothes in May. The dresses and pants came from a line called Sweeter Than Chocolate. Over about a two week period, I kept checking eBay for matching tops, and slowly but surely I found what I needed.

The two plain bodysuits (pink and white) are used and sold for $3.25 total plus $1.00 shipping. The bon bon bodysuit is new and sold for $5.49 and had a shipping price of $3.00. The pink striped top is also new and sold for $6.49 and had a shipping fee of $3.49. (I always include the price of shipping when calculating my total cost.) Add that to the $8.57 I paid for one dress, $7.89 for the other and $9.11 for the corduroy pants at Gymboree, and my grand total is $48.65. The retail value for all of these items is $156.00. I ended up paying 31% of retail and have enough clothes from this line to make 12 different outfit combinations for my daughter this winter. Plus, because I have so many matching pieces, I should be able to sell this set after my daughter has outgrown it for about the price I paid for it.

I keep the tags on everything until my children actually wear the clothing. That way, if I go overboard when buying great deals (hey, it has been known to happen!), I can just sell some clothes they never wear on eBay and make more than I paid when buying it at a great sale price.

So, next time you are at Gymboree and see a good bargain, go ahead and get it. You can always find the matching pieces later.

This article was shared at Life As a Mom and Money Saving Mom.

Coupons--How Do You Organize Them?

My mom never clipped coupons because she hated the hassle. I must admit, up until about one year ago, I didn't clip coupons either. Now I realize the tremendous savings they can provide when combined with the sale, but I find it very difficult to organize them and keep up with them.

I organize my coupons following Crystal's technique at MoneySavingMom. (Her post is here.) The trouble with this is that I try to get at least two papers a week, and I find it takes me alot of time to clip all of the coupons and put them in the correct envelope. What I love about this method is that once they are organized, I can just grab an envelope, flip through it and see if I have the coupon I need.

I have heard others say that they don't clip the coupons; they keep the inserts together whole and just clip them as they need them. If a person is following a blog that tells her what coupon to use and where to find it for a particular sale, this is a great time saver. (I am all for that!) What I don't like is that if I shop at a store like Tony's or Dominick's that doesn't typically have bloggers blogging about deals and identifying the proper coupon, I have to sort through every insert I have collected to see if I have a coupon for a good sale.

What technique do you use? If you do clip coupons and file them as I do, how do you stay on top of them without it taking alot of time?

Food Waste Wednesday, 6/3/09

I found both of these in the very back of the refrigerator. My husband and I couldn't even remember when they were used, but our best bet is about 3 weeks ago. Time for them to go, even though I was really hoping this week would be our first no food waste week.

A Fun New Way to Save Money

I was watching the news the other night, and I heard about a service called BillShrink. You go to the site, put in your generic information, and they tell you ways to cut your bills without sacrificing quality.

For instance, under the gas section, I just typed in the make, model and year of my car, my home address and my work address, and how much I typically put in the tank when I stop at a gas station. Then billshrink calculated the closest gas station to go to and save the most money.

If you have credit cards, you can enter in generic information such as if you pay the balance every month or not, how much you charge, etc. If you pay off the balance every month it calculates the best card with rewards; if you don’t it calculates the one with the best interest rate for you.

There is also a section for cell phones.

BillShrink offers a way for consumers to save money without sacrificing quality. I had fun playing with it, and I did find a cheaper gas station.

Gymboree Is Having a Stuff The Bag Sale

Good through June 5th, Gymboree is offering a new sale. Buy one of their reusable cloth bags for $5, and then every thing you can stuff in there is 30% off. (This includes new lines of clothing.) This sale is also available online (prices already reflect the 30% off discount), and shipping is free if you purchase over $100. Remember, this is also Gymbucks earning time.

Gymboree just keeps rolling out the sales!

June Budget

Rent: 1000
Cable & Internet: 75
Public Transportation: 72 (my husband no longer has his card for free public transportation)
Life Insurance: 77.44
DS Preschool 290 (this month they use the $500 deposit we paid last year, so tuition is much cheaper)
Student Loan 192.61
Electricity 80
Phone 27
Laundry 50
Food, Gas, Miscellaneous, Blow, Restaurant: 500 (This is our budget for the No Spend Month we started 6/1/09)
TOTAL: 2364.05

Great Kraft, Yoplait, General Mills & Betty Crocker Coupons

Coupons.com has reset their coupons and now they have great, high value coupons for Kraft, Yoplait, General Mills & Betty Crocker. They also have a $2.00 Dry Idea coupon and a $2.00 off 2 coffee coupon. Click on my sidebar to print them out now.