Menu Planning, 1/31/10

Our month of eating from the pantry was successful in that we made enough room (just enough room) to finally get our 1/4 side of beef. (I'll be posting about that in the next few weeks.)

Now, however, our freezer is stuffed to the gills again thanks to the beef and the freezer meals I have been cooking this week, so February will be another eating from the pantry month for us. Here is the plan:

Monday--Stuffed Shells (at least 1/2 of this will go in the freezer as my last freezer meal to make this week)
Tuesday--Slow Cooker Beef & Mushrooms, veggie
Wednesday--Lighter Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggie
Thursday--Split Pea Soup & Homemade Bread
Friday--Grammy's Tuna Noodle Casserole
Saturday--Asian Salmon, rice & snow peas
Sunday--Standing Rib Roast, potatoes & veggie

Lunches will be leftovers & sandwiches.

Breakfasts will be pumpkin bread, oatmeal mueseli, omelets, pancakes, and cereal.

Cheesy Salsa Dip

Are you looking for an appetizer for an upcoming party or a Super Bowl party? This cheese dips is yummy and super simple. My aunt's sister-in-law used to bring it to every party and we would all inhale it. It is so good!

Cheesy Salsa Dip

1 - 32 oz. box of Velveeta cheese, cut in large cubes
1 jar salsa
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir. Let it cook on low until the cheese is all melted. Keep this in the slow cooker when serving so it stays warm. Enjoy.

I shared this post at the Grocery Cart Challenge, $5 Dinners, Life as Mom & Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

Grocery Shopping

I usually post this on Mondays, but because we bought the majority of our groceries in Michigan this week, I seem to have misplaced the receipt. I have been waiting to post this until I found the receipt, but, uuuhhhmmm, I haven't found it yet. So, here goes:

Meijer:

The total for this trip was $69 and included everything I needed to make our freezer meals for the week.

Dominick's:

I am a bit embarrassed to post this junk food edition of shopping, but here it goes:
3 small bags Cheetos - 1.00
3 boxes Nutri Grain bars - 6.00
4 cans cat food - 2.40
2 gallons milk - 3.98
1 DiGiorno pizza - 3.99
1 box Twinkies - 2.50
1 loaf bread - 1.79
1 pkg. lunch meat - 2.99
Total = 25.33

Total for the week = 94.33
Total for the month = 210.01

To see the freezer meals we are making for the week, go here.

Super Couponing - Jill Cataldo

Last summer, my local library advertised a workshop for “super couponing.” I always struggle with my grocery bill, so I eagerly signed up.

I will just say now I am obviously a big nerd because that workshop was one of the most enjoyable evenings I had last summer. A woman named Jill Cataldo conducted the workshop, and I learned so much from her!

Since that workshop, she has come out with a DVD of her super couponing workshops. In addition, she has her own blog—Jill Cataldo-- where she lists all of the great deals for the week at Jewel, Dominick’s, Meijers, etc. She is based in Chicago and many of her deals cover stores in the Midwest, but she also covers national stores such as CVS, Walgreens, and Target. What is even better is that she takes the time to develop scenarios of what you could buy on sale matched with current coupons to get the best deal.

I visit her site every week, and many of the great deals I have gotten at Jewel have been directly attributed to her blog. Check it out!

Food Waste

The last of the freezer waste came out today. In the sandwich bag are 4 white chocolate cookies that I put in the freezer this summer. They are freezer burnt and taste funky. If I am going to eat something sweet, at least I want it to taste good and not be a chore to eat.

The other is about a third of a bag of hashbrowns. I bought these several months ago and never checked the ingredients. The second ingredient after potatoes is salt, and boy, are these salty! We tried to make them in a breakfast casserole that got wasted because between the ham and the hashbrowns, the salt was overwhelming. Then we tried to eat them as hash browns the other morning, and again the salt was overwhelming. I am just giving up and throwing them away. Lesson learned--always check the bag to see if the hashbrowns I am buying contain added salt.

Great Consignment Deals!

We went away to Michigan this weekend to visit my mom. While there, I stopped by my favorite consignment shop looking for clothes for the kids. Instead, I stumbled upon these great deals for my husband:

1 pr. of Chaps by Ralph Lauren dress pants, new with tags,
1 pr. of Dockers dress pants, new with tags
1 orange checked dress shirt

The total price for all three items--three dollars! They were on clearance for a dollar each! I brought them home for my husband, and they all fit perfectly. I love finds like this!

Menu Planning--Freezer Meals

I had planned to prepare meals from the pantry for the entire month of January. However, I would like to participate in Crystal from Money Saving Mom and Jessica from Life as Mom's freezer meal weekend next weekend. Because I have a guest coming next weekend, namely my mom so we can go get a 3D ultrasound of the baby and see what she looks like!, I'll be doubling meals during the week. We will eat one serving and freeze another two or three. That will help me when I start to get busy at work in the next few weeks and I start to get more tired as I continue through the third trimester.


The good news is that after this week of cooking, I plan to go back to eating from the pantry for February because we are still VERY WELL stocked.


Monday--Pizza Loaves OAMC
Tuesday--Creamed Chicken Pie--Not the Same Old Way
Wednesday--Chicken Burritos
Thursday--Cheese Dip, nachos & tacos
Friday--Tamali Pie
Saturday--grilled cheese & soup
Sunday--Beef Tenderloin, Oven Potato Wedges, Veggie

Breakfasts will be apple pumpkin muffins, oatmeal, omelettes or cereal.
Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

Apple Pumpkin Muffins

Since I am trying to clear out the pantry this month, and I have four large cans of pumpkin in the cupboards, I decided to try a new recipe. We modified it a bit from the way I found it on recipezaar to try to make it a bit healthier. Here is our version:

1 c. pumpkin
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
¼ c. oil
1.5 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1.5 c. chopped apple

-Mix together pumpkin, sugar, eggs and oil
-Add flours, soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice
-Mix until blended
-Add apples
-Spoon into muffin tins
-Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes

My batter was very thick, which is why the muffins look a little strange in the picture. I was able to make 20 muffins with this recipe.

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

Food Waste, 1/22/10

It was not a good food waste week for us. I would call it a stupid food waste week.

We had every intention of eating the broccoli, but we never made the meal it was intended for because our other meals stretched further than we thought they would. Then we went out of town for three days, and when we went to cook it on Tuesday, well, it wasn't good any more.

The muffin was one I left out to eat; the rest went in the freezer. Somehow it was pushed to the back of the refrigerator, and it wasn't found until yesterday.

The spaghetti sauce was open over 2 months ago for pizza. We should have used it for spaghetti before it went bad.

Quite an unsuccessful food waste week. Hopefully next week will be better.

My Son's Generosity

My husband and I like to watch Good Morning America before going to work in the morning, and the devastation in Haiti is a frequent topic of the news. We have been frequently talking about the situation there and how much to donate and to what organization. We have also been talking about Money Saving Mom and other bloggers’ generous offer to match donations. Last week our church took up a collection, so we decided to donate there.

Yesterday, while we were watching the news and learning more about the dire situation, my 5.5 year old son suddenly spoke up and asked if he could send all of the money in the donate section of his piggy bank to Haiti. (He has a piggy bank that has four compartments—one to save, one to donate, one to spend and one to invest.) Both my husband and I were surprised at his spontaneous generosity. While he has been earning a small allowance and distributing money evenly to each of the four compartments, we have never actually had him donate the money or talked much about it.

We counted the money tonight, and he has $9.00 to donate. The donation section is now empty. I am proud of his gesture and reminded once again that kids are sponges who learn from our example.

Grocery Shopping

Well, unfortunately this is the edition without pictures. My camera needed to be charged the day I went shopping, so no pictures.

By the way, the day I went shopping, my husband said something insensitive before I left. My pregnancy hormones are raging, and I cried for awhile. Then I went shopping. Not a good idea. Notice the Starbuck's ice cream and Pirate's Booty. Definitely wants and not needs.

Meijer:
bananas = 1.53
mangos = 1.00
cucumber = 1.00
bread = 1.99
2 - 3 lb. bags of apples = 4.00
Total = 9.52

Jewel:
1 pack diapers = 3.99
1 pack 104 diapers = 9.99
2 gallons milk = 4.58
5# clementines = 4.99
prune baby food = 1.39
Pirate's Booty = 2.00
prune juice = .75
cottage cheese = 2.99
Starbuck's ice cream = 3.29
Total = 33.97 - $10 OYO coupon = 23.97

Total for week = 33.59
Total for January = 115.68

Martin Luther King Day Reading for Preschoolers

When my son was about two, we began getting this book from the library. It was a simple way to introduce him to Martin Luther King Jr, and he loved reading it. We read it for a few years every January.

If you have preschoolers, they may like this book. In addition, other sites have activities and crafts that revolve around Martin Luther King Day such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Preschool Activities and Crafts and Martin Luther King Jr. Day Preschool Activities.

Menu Planning, 1/17/10

Well, last week I did not plan any meals for the weekend because there was a chance we would be out of town. We did go out of town, and we were a perfect example of the old saying, "Fail to plan, plan to fail."

We went out to eat three times when we were gone and spent more money than we should have. Having learned my lesson, this week, we are planning out every meal.

Monday--Grilled Salmon, Mashed Potatoes & Veggies
Tuesday--Pulled Pork sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks
Wednesday--spaghetti & garlic bread
Thursday--Bar-B-Q Chuck Roast, Rice & Veggie
Friday--Bar-B-Q Chuck Roast sandwiches, chips & veggie
Saturday--Pioneer Woman's Macaroni & Cheese & veggie
Sunday--Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Lunches will be leftovers, sandwiches or canned soup.

Breakfasts will be oatmeal mueseli, eggs, oatmeal, apple pumpkin muffins (w/o chocolate chips), fruit smoothies

Beef Roast & Stew--Two Meals

The other afternoon I put 5 large potatoes and 3 chopped carrots plus baby carrots in the slow cooker. On top I put about a 3 lb. roast still on the bone. I mixed up a pack of onion dry soup mix and 1 cup water and poured it over everything.

Even though the meat went into the slow cooker frozen, 5 hours later, our very speedy slow cooker produced our meal; the meat was falling off the bone.


The next night, I simply took the juice from the slow cooker and mixed it with some flour and milk to make a sort of gravy. I put the leftovers in there, and we had a tasty beef stew.

I am noticing as we do this pantry challenge, if I do challenge myself, we find many creative ways to use leftovers. Last week, I stretched pork loin from the slow cooker into four meals!

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

Food Waste, 1/14/10

I thought that having the pantry challenge would mean less food waste. Instead, it seems to have produced more because I am digging through the freezer and finding less than appetizing items.

Take for instance the hot dog buns. Truth be told, they were nasty when we put them in the freezer; they were at their expiration date and were stale. Why did we freeze them back in June? I have no idea. Now there are pieces flaking off and huge chunks of freezer burn on them.

I also tossed some cubes of yogurt I was going to use for starter that are well over a year old and the cookie dough that has been in our refrigerator for 4 weeks.

Business Goals, 2010, Part II

This is part 2 in a two part series of my business goals for the year. (You can read part 1 here.)

In addition to eBay, my plan is to create other streams of income from home.

Begin to freelance write articles.
I first need to find avenues for publications; then I can begin writing.

Continue to grow my blog
I love writing on this blog. In the 10 months since I have started it, I have 39 followers and have written almost 300 posts. I would like to double my followers and write more in detail posts.

Business Goals, 2010, Part I

Now that my husband and I have made the decision that I should quit work after baby #3 is born even though he does not yet have his Ph.D., I must ramp up my side line income possibilities. Here are my goals for 2009.

eBayPay Down Business Credit Card Debt
I have been running an eBay store since 2006. Unfortunately, when I started, I didn’t take it slowly; I wanted to build up my inventory overnight. I did, but I also built up quite a bit of credit card debt. That debt is keeping me from drawing an income from the business. My first financial goal is to pay off 50% of the debt sometime between April and June of this year. Then, I would like to have the debt entirely paid off by December, 2011.

List Inventory
I have a lot of inventory sitting around my study that has not been listed on eBay yet. I would like to have it all listed by the time the baby comes in April; I am not sure yet if that is possible. I will have to see how busy I am at my day job in the next few months. Certainly I want it all listed by December.

Curb Spending
I have trouble resisting a good sale. I must seriously curb spending this year both to pay off debt and get my inventory all listed. I am going to set a goal of no more than $4000 purchased for reinvestment in the business this year.

Keep Up with the Accounting & Learn to Do More of It Myself
I am lucky that my cousin is an accountant and is willing to do my books pro-bono. The problem is that she lives 3 hours away. We always seem to scramble to get everything done by tax time. This year, I would like to do more of the accounting myself and try to keep up with it on a month by month basis.

Set & Maintain a Schedule
When I returned back to work in August, things were crazy and I let many of my business responsibilities slide (such as keeping up with the books). In the end, this makes more work, so I plan to implement a schedule to keep things on track.

By the summer, draw an income from the business

Tomorrow I will list the rest of my business goals (not related to eBay).

Grocery Shopping, 1/11/10

I spent a little more than I wanted to this week. I was out of many baking supplies, so that added up. Here is what we bought for the week:

Tony's:

1-5 lb. bag sugar = 1.98
1-5 lb. bag flour = 1.99
cinnamon = .99
1 bag marshmallows = .99
bananas = .87
tomatoes = .40
avocado = .79
pears = 2.44
broccoli = .32
apples = 3.13
green pepper = .33
red pepper = 1.35
carrots = .50
8 lb. bag potatoes = .79
mushrooms = 1.50
pineapple = 1.49
granny smith apple = .39
1 loaf bread = 2.00
eggs = .89
1 lb. sliced mozarrella cheese = 3.20
coffee drink mix = 3.99
Total = 36.06

Dominick's:

Uhhmm, I cannot find the receipt for this one, but I do remember the total was $12.64

Total including my CVS trip = 50.67
Total for the month = 82.09

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

Menu Planning, 1/10/10

Well, it is the second full week of eating from the pantry, and we definitely are not suffering. We still have several cuts of meat we purchased last year that we need to eat up before we get our new side of beef.

This past week I made a 3 lb. pork loin in the slow cooker with potatoes and carrots. We ate that on Wednesday night. Thursday night we shredded some of the pork and had pulled pork sandwiches. Friday night we took more shredded pork and mixed it with frozen carrots and peas to create quesadillas. Today we finished up the shredded pork and mixed veggies by putting them on top of pita pizzas. I never would have guessed that first meal would have stretched so far!

Here is the plan for this week:

Monday--Mushroom Barley Soup & Steak
Tuesday--Slow Cooker Pork & Potato Dinner (if this turns out good, I will post the recipe on Friday)
Wednesday--Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast with Carrots & Potatoes
Thursday--Stuffed Pork Chops
Friday--Chicken Breast, Broccoli & Packaged Alfredo Pasta
Saturday & Sunday--we may be out of town, so we will have to make plans for this as the week goes on.

Breakfast will be pancakes, yogurt, zucchini nut muffins, banana-blueberry oatmeal muffins, sausage, omelets (not all at once!)

Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

CVS, 1/10/10

I went to CVS with $17 in ECBs today and bought the following:

3 boxes Soy Joy = 18.00, earn $18 ECBs

1 small refill wipes = 1.99

1 bigger refill wipes = 2.99

Used $5/20 coupon and $17 ECBs.

Paid $1.97 OOP and saved $26.47. I left the store with $1 more ECB than when I went in with and saved 93%. Free food and nearly free wipes!

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom.

Banana-Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Banana-Blueberry Oat Muffins

I found this yummy recipe on recipezaar and made some changes. We have had these muffins now a few times, and they are yummy!

1-1/4 c. quick cooking oats
1 c. all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt1 large egg
2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (I use 2 to 3 large size bananas)
1/3 c. melted butter
½ c. to 1 c. blueberries (I use frozen)
½ c. chopped walnuts

--Combine first 6 dry ingredient in large bowl.
--Mix well.
--Beat egg, banana and melted butter together in small bowl until smooth.
--Add banana mixture to dry ingredients.
--Stir just until moistened.
--Stir in nuts, if desired.
--Fill greased muffin cups almost full.
--Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched.

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

Food Waste, 1/8/10

Apparently, our pantry challenge is working. The only food waste we had was a large cup of orange juice that we didn't drink before it was much too old. Yeah!

I do have a large roll of peanut butter cookie dough that I bought in mid-December. I baked two batches of cookies, and since then, for the last 3 to 4 weeks, the dough has sat in the refrigerator sealed in a plastic bag. I should have thrown it in the freezer but didn't. Does anyone know if it is still good? I don't want to cook it and get sick, but I don't want to waste it if it is still good.

There will be a picture of next week's waste, but hopefully there won't be any!

Monthly Financial Goals Update

I have always dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom, and now, with our third child due in April and our decision that I will quit my job even though my husband won’t graduate this year, we are trying to get “gazelle intense” as Dave Ramsey says and make the most of my income. Here are our goals for the remaining few months until the baby is born and our progress:

Save 5 months’ of living expenses. After I quit and my husband takes over as the breadwinner, our income will drop by about 1/3. However, before that happens, we would first have to live off of his assistantship & part time work. I would like a cushion to help us deal with that. Thus far we have saved 49%, which is approximately 2.5 months of living expenses. (I am afraid that we may need to dip into this a bit at the end of the month; I just found out we will owe more for his fees for the semester than I had anticipated.)

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 have had a grocery spending limit one month and this month we are having a needs only month and a pantry challenge.

Pay off 50% of my business debt. Yes, I opened my business 4 years ago before I had every heard of Dave Ramsey. In the first two years, I accumulated quite a bit of debt. I want to pay off 50% (or more, if I can) of that debt. Then when I quit my job, we can use some of my eBay income to live off of instead of to repaying 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 just got them all back up. Without the bulk of my inventory listed, I made very little money. Unfortunately, I have actually lost progress and am now at only 5% paid off. Hopefully sales will start to increase in the coming month.

Sell at least $500 worth of extra household items on eBay. In December I sold $108,(in addition to the $202 I sold in September - November) so I have sold a total of $310, making this goal 62% complete.

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

Deciding to Stay Home, Part II

In part I of this post, I outlined the long path through my husband's educational career and my full-time career. You can read that post here.

We have two choices—I can keep working and he can keep taking care of the kids. He probably won’t be able to graduate for another two years. Neither of us is satisfied with this option. Or, we can take a huge leap of faith, and I can quit my job to take care of the kids while he finishes his degree and graduates no later than December, 2010.

We have thought long and hard about this. We have prayed about it.

I am not good with leaps of faith. When I was 17, I worked at a dry cleaners. I went to school with the boss’ granddaughter. The hours were perfect for school—3 to 7 p.m., and the pay was decent. However, the granddaughter and another girl who worked there regularly stole anything—money, sometimes drugs—anything customers left in the pockets. They made fun of me endlessly for not doing the same. I was miserable, but I was also loathe to give up my job security. The final straw came when a woman left her diamond ring in her skirt pocket and the granddaughter and her boyfriend took it to be appraised. I couldn’t stand to be in that environment anymore, so I finally quit. After I had done it, I regretted not quitting earlier.

I have held my job for nearly 10 years. I have enjoyed it, but as our family grows and I watch our children growing, I wish I was able to stay at home as I would like. Kids grow so fast! I am thankful for the security my job has brought us and for the fact that we have not had to incur any student loan debt during my husband’s education. However, both my husband and I feel if I continue to work full-time while we have three children, his education will continue to take a back seat to the rest of our lives. It is time for the leap of faith.

We are trying to save 5 months’ living expenses before the baby is born in April. We may need to take out student loans. At this point, we both feel okay about doing so because we have avoided it so far and it may be a necessary evil to final propel my husband to graduation. My husband can get an assistantship in the fall, and I could always work part-time. I also want to grow my eBay business more before the baby comes. I would also like to pursue freelance writing from home.

If we get VERY desperate, I have a nice retirement we could tap into, but I would NEVER do that unless we were literally about to become homeless. Still, it is a nice comfort.

You may notice my money saving kicking into high gear. We only have a few months left with a steady income. Next week I will outline my business goals for the year with the idea of quitting my job in mind.

Deciding to Stay at Home, Part I

I had always assumed that when my husband received his Ph.D., I would quit my job. He is in a joint Master’s/Ph.D program that he started in 2001, shortly after we married. I don’t know if I ever really thought about how long it would take him to graduate; I know I thought he would have graduated and we would have moved closer to family by the time my son was five. (Just for perspective, my son is going to be 6 this upcoming summer and graduation is still not a possibility.)

Beyond the typical problems with his advisor, conducting research and writing his dissertation, my husband has had to make quite a few sacrifices because of our family. When my son was born, my husband took a year off to take care of the baby while I worked full-time (I had to return to work when my son was 10 weeks old). Because I had a leave of absence when my daughter was born, my husband didn’t have to put his education on hold until I returned to work when she was 9 months old. But since August, he has had to once again enroll for zero credit hours and spend the bulk of his time taking care of the baby while I work.

There are several problems with this scenario. I want, and have wanted since I was a young girl, to be a stay-at-home mom. My husband wants to graduate and finally begin his career. Now, baby number 3 is coming in about 3.5 months. To put all the kids in childcare is not an option; my entire salary would be devoured by the cost.

We have two choices—I can keep working and he can keep taking care of the kids. He probably won’t be able to graduate for another two years. Neither of us is satisfied with this option. Or, we can take a huge leap of faith, and I can quit my job to take care of the kids while he finishes his degree and graduates no later than December, 2010.

To be continued tomorrow. . .

Grocery Shopping, 1/04/10

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have two goals for this months--1.) to spend money only for what is needed, not wanted (DH and I each have $20 to spend on "wants" for the month, but no more than that), 2.) spend under $175 for groceries this month as we take part in the pantry challenge and try to eat up some of our stocked up food.

Here is my first shopping trip with those goals in mind:

Dominick's:
1 jar grape jelly = 2.49
2 cans cat food = 1.05
18 ct. eggs = 1.89 - .90 Q = .99
1 pkg. cheese = 2.99
1 gallon milk = 1.99 - 1.00 Q = .99
1 gallon milk = 1.99
1 box garlic/cheese bread = 2.50
1 lb. pkg turkey lunch meat = 3.99 - 1.00 Q = 2.99
1 lb. pkg chicken lunch meat = 3.99 - 1.00 Q = 2.99
4 lbs. fuji apples = 3.77
8 lb. bag oranges = 4.99
2 lb. bag baby carrots = 2.00

Total = 30.47

I spent .95 at CVS

Total for groceries for the week = 31.42

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

Menu Planning, 1/03/10

We started eating from the pantry on January 1st, and I am excited to clear out some of the old as I have had to wait to buy our 1/4 beef side until I have some more room in the freezer. Here is the plan for this week:

Monday--Cheeseburgers, potato chips & carrot sticks
Tuesday--Cheesy Chicken Biscuit Bake
Wednesday--Italian Mixed Bean Soup
Thursday--Slow Cooked Pork Roast with potatoes & carrots
Friday--Pulled Pork Sandwiches & broccoli
Saturday--Quiche in a Bag
Sunday--Quick & Easy Beef & Rice & snow peas

Lunches will be leftovers, sandwiches and/or canned soup.

Breakfasts will be oatmeal, pancakes, omelets and yummy blueberry banana muffins (I will post the recipe for these on Friday!)

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

CVS, 1/03/10

Two weeks ago, I earned $4 ECBs for having an order over $20. When I went to CVS today, I also earned $2 ECBs for my fall spending. So, I used these "extra" ECBs to stock up on some things we needed.

Transaction 1
1 box Soy Joy = 6.09
Used $6 ECBs, earned $6 ECBs, paid $.09 OOP

Transaction 2:
1 roll wrapping paper (not pictured) $1.49

5 Palmolive dish detergents = 4.80
Total = 6.86, used $6 ECBs from transaction 1 and paid $.86 OOP

I bought all of the above for $.95 OOP and I haven't touched my regular ECBs. (I have $17.49 ECBs left.) That was a 96% savings!

Personal Goals for 2010

I am not big on New Year’s resolutions. In my experience, they seem to be broken by January 31st. However, the new year does offer a good time to look back and reflect on the areas of my life that still need improvement.

I believe 2010 will be a year of great change for our family. We will soon be welcoming our third child (in April), I will probably be quitting my job to finally become a stay at home mom, and God willing, my husband will finally graduate after nine long years in graduate school. We are excited about these changes, but I also want to implement some changes to make our lives run more smoothly during these times full of major life changes.

Write EVERYTHING I have to do down in a daily planner and consult it frequently. I am a list person, but when I went back to work in August and was suffering from morning sickness, I found myself too busy or sick to make any lists. As a result, I forgot many things and quite a few balls were dropped.

Clip coupons EVERY week. I was very good about keeping up my coupon box and realizing quite a few savings from them until I went back to work. I am just now weeding through the coupons I have stacked up since August. I wish I was the type of person who could just label the coupon stack with a date, but I like to have them clipped so I can take the box to the store and use it if I find any good unadvertised goals.

Give my husband enough time to work on his dissertation. Unfortunately, when my job gets busy, his work gets pushed aside. I want to make a concerted effort to give him enough time to work on his dissertation so the majority of it can be finished BEFORE the baby comes in April. Knowing that I will need a c-section and that we also will have an 18 month old who is dependent on us when the new little one comes, he will need to give up a lot of working time to help after the baby is born.

Exercise regularly. I plan to begin exercising for at least 20 minutes 4 to 5 times a week.

Have 20 meals in the freezer before the baby is born.

Take some “me” time by doing something I enjoy such as reading or crafting instead of just plopping down in front of the tv in the evening.

Declutter the house and try to simplify our lives. I feel like we are drowning in "stuff." After Christmas, my husband was trying to put away the kids' clothes, and there was simply no room. My daughter, who is only 14 months old, has 25 outfits!! (Hence the survey I have at the sidebar of my blog.) My son's clothes are also overflowing. We are living in a two bedroom apartment and probably will continue to for at least another 18 months. With three kids, we need to weed out and simplify before the stuff overruns us!

These are some of my personal goals for 2010. Next week I will share some of my business goals. These are all in addition to our regularly monthly goals we have set through the time the baby is born. (See, I told you I was a list person!)