Frugal Finds

Last January Jewel had a great sale on diapers. I don't think this is the great sale yet, but they did have a fairly good deal, so I stocked up.

All total I bought:

3 boxes of diapers for my daughter (260 diapers total),

2 packs for the new baby (80 diapers total),

8 boxes of Crest toothpaste,

1 bag of chips,

1 pack of Mentos gum

for a total of $58.63, and I have a $10 off your next order coupon for making these purchases.

Speaking of the baby that will be here in 3.5 short months, we have nearly everything we need except a double stroller. I found one on eBay for $50. We picked it up today, and I was quite pleased. The seller included the double stroller, the infant car seat and base, and a mat to go underneath the car seat to store toys and keep messes off the bucket seat.

Here is the stroller:

and my daughter checking out her new ride:

Grocery Shopping, 12/30/09

We just returned from our out of town vacation, and we needed the basics. I didn't buy a lot because I am planning on participating in the eating from the pantry challenge. I'll also be shopping again on Saturday or Sunday.

Dominick's:

2 boxes Lipton Onion soup mix = 2.67
3--8 oz. bags of cheese = 2.97
1 loaf of bread = 1.99
1 bag of hamburger buns = 2.50
2 pkgs. lunch meat = 3.18
1 lb. bacon = .99
1 tortilla crusted tilipia fillet = 2.37
3 oranges = .93
2 lb. bag carrots = 1.79

Total = 19.85

Aldi:

2 gallons milk = 3.98
1 carton cottage cheese = 1.89
1 bunch broccoli = 1.89
1 lb. salmon fillets = 3.99
bunch bananas = .84
2 cartons eggs = 1.78
1 loaf bread = 1.89

Total = 17.37

Grand Total = 37.22

Joining the Pantry Challenge

I was excited to see that for January, Crystal at Money Saving Mom and Jessica at Life as Mom are having a pantry challenge. I defrosted my freezer a week ago in preparation for the ¼ cow that we are purchasing, and I discovered several freezer meals that I had prepared back in August before I went back to work. I also discovered that we had much more meat on hand that I remembered. So, this Pantry Challenge comes at a perfect time. Paired with my January wants vs. needs challenge, I am hoping we can save quite a bit of money.

We normally spend about $300 a month on groceries. My goal for this month will be to spend no more than $175. We will still be purchasing milk, eggs, cheese, and produce.

Last January there was a massive sale on diapers at Jewel; if that happens again this year, I anticipate spending quite a bit of our $175 on stocking up on diapers for our daughter and our new daughter who will be born in April.

As going out to eat is definitely a want and not a need, I anticipate all of our meals will be eaten at home.

January Challenge--Needs Vs. Wants

In the week before Christmas, Suze Orman was talking about rationalizing spending money and justifying purchases. A mom works hard at her job, comes home with little energy and thinks, “I’ve worked hard all day; I deserve to go out to eat.” (You could insert me here; going out to eat is my weakness.)

She then was urging viewers to seriously ask themselves before each purchase, “Is this a want or a need?”

My husband and I are not big spenders. We don’t buy many large purchases. I think our last big expenditure was the dishwasher we purchased last April. What we do though, is fritter away our money little by little. He thinks of eating out as a treat, so he likes to spend big when he does go out. I like to go out to eat frequently, but I am willing to purchase a cheaper menu item. When you merge our eating out pattern, you can see that we go out to eat frequently, and we spend a lot of money doing so.

I wanted to have two no spending months before the end of April, but for January, instead of a no spending month, I am going to ask myself before every purchase, “Is this a need or a want?” If it is a want, I am going to try not to make the purchase. My guess is that this line of thought will be just as effective, if not more so, than a no spending month.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas

I would like to take a moment to wish you a very merry Christmas. I will be spending the next few days taking a mini blogging break and spending time with my family. I'll be back in a few days. I thank you all for visiting here regualarly and wish you a happy holiday.

Gymboree's After Christmas Sale

If you love Gymboree clothing, they are set to start a great sale the day after Christmas. All clothing will be marked down to .99, 3.99, 6.99 and 9.99. I love this kind of sale; I usually stock up and buy my kids' clothing for the next year. The online sale usually starts earlier, so keep an eye out online. In addition, you can register at gymboree.com to receive e-mail notifications of upcoming sales. Remember, this is also Gymbucks earning time, so you could potentially save quite a bit of money!

My Nearly Free Appetizer

Last week my son's school had a potluck Christmas party. Besides the peanut butter fudge I brought, I also brought pigs in a blanket.

These were nearly free. I got the croissants as part of the great deals I got at Jewel last week, and at Dominick's, if I bought $20 worth of groceries, I received a free package of little smokies. I am guesstimating that these cost me 50 cents total, and they were good!

Menu Planning, 12/20/09

We are planning on purchasing 1/4 side of beef in the next few weeks, so we are eating freezer meals this week to clear out some room in our freezer. Here is the plan:

Monday--Anita's Slow Cooker Chili
Tuesday--Chicken, Broccoli, Cheese & Rice Bake
Wednesday--Lighter Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes & Veggie
Thursday--My mom's scalloped potatoes
Friday--Merry Christmas!! Ham croissants and fruit salad
Saturday--Dinner Out
Sunday--Iranian Kebob

Peanut Butter Fudge

One of my favorite holiday goodies is homemade fudge. I love it! In fact, when I was about 7 years old, I lost one of my baby front teeth when biting into a piece.

However, those of you who read this blog regularly may recall that I gave up all chocolate in July. I was eating WAY too much of it, and it was making my body feel strange. I don’t miss it too much, but I was looking for a replacement for the homemade fudge I love.

I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge II, and I knew I had to try it. And oh, is it good. It is like biting into peanut butter silk. It is soooo good that I gave the rest of the pan away to my son’s school so I wouldn’t gain ten pounds eating it all by myself.

If you have a weakness for fudge or peanut butter, try this. You’ll love it. As will anyone else who eats it.

I shared this post at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Life as Mom and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

Food Waste, 12/17/09

This week we wasted about 1/4 a pan of a breakfast casserole we like to eat. This is usually so good that we don't waste it, but this time it was VERY salty. I thought maybe it was the ham I bought, which probably contributed to the problem, but then later I cooked some of the frozen hashbrowns all by themselves and found that they were salty. Seriously, some companies salt frozen hash browns? Between the salty hashbrowns and ham, well, we just couldn't finish this casserole.

The other waste is a container of cheese spread found way, way back in the refrigerator. I don't know how old this is. I seem to recall eating some of it when I was pregnant for my daughter, and she is almost 14 months now. Oops.

Great Deals at Jewel!

I made several "trips" (actually going to my car to put the groceries I just purchased in there and then going back into the store) to Jewel today and stocked up on these items:

13 cans Progresso Soup
5 pkgs. Crescent rolls
21 boxes Green Giant steamer veggies
1 jar marshmellow creme
1 can evaporated milk
2 International Delights coffee drink
1 box of cheese garlic bread (not pictured)

I bought all of the above for $26.20, and I have a $5 off my next order coupon.

My total would have only been $18.02 if I had been able to resist the coffee drink, but as I used to be a Starbucks fiend and I am trying to avoid wasting my money there, I don't mind paying the $8 for the two cans. I will get 20 to 30 drinks out of those two tins for the same price I would pay for just 2 coffee drinks at Starbucks.

Grocery Shopping, 12/15/09

I have been experimenting with our grocery budget lately, and I think a good number for us is $70 to $75 a week. That is for two adults, two kids and two cats. I could manage a lower amount weekly if I didn't have to pay for cat food and litter or diapers, but with that included in the budget no more than an average of $75 a week is what I am shooting for.

Dominicks:

3- 8 oz. bags cheese = 2.97
2 gallons milk = 3.98
32 oz. frozen corn = 2.50
32 oz. frozen peas = 2.50
12 pack yogurt = 4.99
Little Smokies = 3.50
stew meat = 4.29
bananas = 1.09
apples = 2.83
5 lbs. clementines = 3.99
1 lb. carrots = .99
1 bag spinach = 2.49
1 lb. baby carrots = .99
4 lbs. organic oranges = 4.99
Total = 43.57

Jewel:

Ricotta cheese = 3.69
2 onions = 1.39
3 lbs. chicken breast = 6.17
Pirate's booty = 2.99
eggs = 1.29
Total = 15.23

The grand total for the week including my trip to CVS and to Walgreens = 67.89

Walgreens, 12/13/09

I tend not to take advantage of the Register Rewards at Walgreens. Because they have only a two week turnaround time, I inevitably forget about them or let them go to waste. I have done this more times than I can count. But a few weeks ago, I had to take advantage of the toy deal and contact solution. I netted $13 in RR, and they were set to expire today.

First I used the $5 RR to buy a 7.99 bottle of contact solution and earn $8 RR. I paid 3.26 OOP.

Then, I did two more transactions, each for a pack of Huggies. For each transaction, I used one $8 RR and paid $1.80 OOP.

Total for all transactions = 6.86 OOP, and I earned $4 RR.

CVS, 12/13/09

Once again, my trip was about turning around ECBs. But all of the free Christmas items don't hurt! Thanks, CVS!

2 Merry Brite packages of tissue wrap = 3.98, earned 3.98 ECBs
2 Merry Brite name tags = 3.98, earned 3.98 ECBs
2 Merry Brite bags bows = 5.98, earned 5.98 ECBs
1 panty liners = .99

I used 13.97 in ECBs and earned 13.94 in ECBs.
OOP I paid $2.23.

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Butterscotch Treats--A Quick, Easy Dessert

Are you being bombarded with holiday invitations and potlucks? I recently tried this recipe for Butterscotch Treats.

They were so easy to make and frugal too! I estimate it cost me roughly 2.25 to make 16 cookies or roughly 14 cents a cookie. The hands on preparation time was only about 10 minutes, and then I had to wait about 1 hour for them to harden. It doesn’t get any easier than this during the holidays, and these cookies are GOOD!

Food Waste, 12/9/09

Our food waste this week was not too bad. We had about 1 cup of brown rice and about 4 to 5 bites of fruit salad. I am still striving for a no waste week.

To post your own food waste or see other's, follow The Frugal Girl on Fridays.

A Quick, Simple Tip

Thanks to all of the recent drugstore offers of virtually free contact solution (buy one for $9.99, get 9.99 ECBs, etc.) I have plenty of contact solution to last me until the next great sale.

I was arranging my toiletries storage area, and I wanted to make sure none of the contact solution expired before I got to use it. I simply used a permanent marker to mark the expiration date of each bottle on the front of the box and then I placed them in order of expiration on the shelf. Now I can be sure none of it goes to waste!

Grocery Shopping, 12/7/09

ALDI:

2 gallons milk= 3.58
1 loaf bread = 1.69
1 bag spinach = 1.99
1 carton eggs = .89
3 stuffed chicken entrees = 2.97
bananas = .99
2 grapefruit = 1.18
1 carton cottage cheese = 1.89
1 pineapple = 1.49
10 lb. potatoes = 1.99
Total = 19.38

Jewel:

3 Quaker Oats = 7.50
1.85 lb. apples = 4.61 (she rang these up as $2.49 lb/ they were advertised as .77/lb. Grrrrrr.)
1 broccoli crown = .68
3# tangerines = 2.99
pears = 2.60
carrots = .68
5# grapefruit = 2.99
Lean Cuisine meal = 1.99
Pirates Booty = 2.79
Total = 30.38

Dominick's:

2 cans pumpkin = 5.18
2 gallons milk = 3.98
2 Weight Watchers meals = 5.00
1 lb. ground turkey = 1.79
4.5 # chicken breasts = 7.52
navel oranges = 2.42
Total = 26.47

Total for the week = 76.29

Menu Planning, 12/6/09

Monday--Omelet, Fried Potatoes, Strawberry-Banana Smoothies
Tuesday--Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Wednesday--Turkey Dinner Casserole & Broccoli
Thursday--Noodles & Miso Soup
Friday--Red Lobster like Crab Alfredo & Cheese-Garlic Biscuits
Saturday--Kielbasa Bean Slow Cooker Soup
Sunday--Chicken & Rice Cheese Bake

Breakfasts will be Breakfast Mueseli, oatmeal, cereal, eggs, fruit, toast, muffins, etc.

Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

CVS, 12/06/09

Today's trip was simply to turn around ECBs. Plus, I can always use free contact solution, and we will use the ornaments on our little tree that is up high so my daughter can't pull everything off. My son loved the Santa hat.

Contact solution = 9.99, earned 9.99 ECBs
Santa hat = 3.99, earned 3.99 ECBs
2 pkgs. ornaments = 3.98, earned 3.98 ECBs
Mentos = 1.69

I used 18.99 in ECBs and earned 17.96 in ECBs.

I paid $1.75 OOP and saved $18.99 for a savings of 91.5%.

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

My Grandma's Macaroni & Cheese

My grandma used to make this for her family of 9 kids every Friday. Growing up, we ate it quite a bit, and it is now one of my son's favorite meals.

My Grandma's Macaroni & Cheese

1 lb. elbow macaroni

1.5 lbs. colby longhorn cheese

28 oz. can tomatoes

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. salt

Cook macaroni until slightly undercooked. Drain.

Meanwhile, process tomatoes in a food processor to make fairly smooth.

Place the butter in a pan on the stove (I use the same one the macaroni cooked in) and add the blended tomatoes and salt. Stir until the butter is melted, then add the drained macaroni. Stir all together.

Place the tomato/macaroni mix in a 9 x 13 pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

Cut the cheese into slices about 1/8 inch thick. Put some pieces into the center of the macaroni (about 4 to 5 pieces) just use your finger to shove it into the middle layer of the macaroni, then put the rest of the cheese slices on top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. My mom likes the top to turn brown and get a little bit crunchy; we like it a little less cooked than that so the cheese is melted but still gooey. Enjoy!

(P.S., this may gross some people out, but this meal is very good with cottage cheese on the side, or in my case, cottage cheese stirred right into the cooked macaroni & cheese.)

I shared this post at The Grocery Cart Challenge, $5 Dinners & Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

Monthly Financial Goals Update

I have always dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom, and now, with our third child due in April, we are trying to get “gazelle intense” as Dave Ramsey says and make the most of my income. Hopefully, if my husband finishes his Ph.D. this next semester, I will be able to realize my dream.

Here are our goals for the remaining few months until the baby is born and our progress:

Save 5 months’ of living expenses. Thus far we have saved 18%, which is approximately 3.5 weeks of living expenses.

Have 2 no spending months. Just based on my salary and our expenses, I do not have enough extra income to save 5 months’ of living expenses. One of the ways we plan to get around this problem is by having several no spending months and putting the difference away. This not happened yet. However, we are having a grocery challenge this month, which is helping to curb our spending (and use up some of our grocery stockpile!)

Pay off 50% of my business debt. Unfortunately we made very little progress on this this month. E-bay pulled all of my listings because I didn’t have a return policy, and I am still working on getting them all back up. Without the bulk of my inventory listed, I made very little money. Thus far I have paid off 9.4%.

Sell at least $500 worth of extra household items on eBay. In November I sold $36,(in addition to the $166 I sold in September and October) so I have sold a total of $202, making this goal 40% complete.

I’ll report back every month and let you know how we are doing!