Frugal Friday! Saving at the grocery store part 2

Frugal Friday!
Saving at the grocery store pt 2

I was challenged when I read this and a few other blogs and I wanted to see how cheaply (and still healthy) my family could eat for 2 weeks.  So I wrote it all down.  Keep in mind that I have 2 young children who don't eat a whole lot and since I stay at home, I have a little more time to make things while the kids nap or watch a short video.

Here are my 2 weeks worth of groceries:

Aldi:
Honey Nut O's cereal $1.59
Pineapple $1.99
Mac and Cheese $.39 x 2
Freezer bags $1.99
Chocolate chips $1.79
canned green beans $.59 x 2
Oregano $.99
Parmesan cheese $2.39
pretzels $1.29
brown rice $1.16  (I'm trying "normal" rice instead of minute rice... hoping I'm not regretting this decision later, but the price was about 3xs more for minute rice!)
bag $.06  I forgot to bring mine :(
Total:  $15.49


Walmart:
5 bananas $1.02   (these went bad in 3 days :(  So I made banana bread)
organic whole milk $3.46 x 2
skim milk $2.48 x 2
eggs $1.88
1 lb. organic ground turkey $3.78
organic carrots $.98
butter $.88
whole organic chicken $7.19
4 frozen tilapia  $3.59
frozen shredded potatoes $2
frozen diced onions $1.38
frozen broccoli $.98
frozen peas $.98
flour tortillas $1.88
block of mozzarella cheese $4.23
block of cheddar cheese $4.23
head of lettuce $.97
green pepper $.74
wheat spaghetti noodles $1.08
sour cream $1.48
spaghetti sauce $1 x 2
enchilada sauce $1.25
generic fruit loops $1
peanut butter chips $2.38
Total $53.78

2 week grand total:  $73.86

Meals:

dinners:
Mexican grilled chicken... thanks Matt!!!
crockpot potato soup, carrots, and pretzels (I know it's 102 degrees out, but this soup is that good!)  
zucchini pizza (friday pizza & movie night!)  This is my grandma's recipe and it's so good!
tilapia, peas, and brown rice
chicken spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread
turkey mini meatloafs and broccoli
chicken enchiladas
zucchini lasagna
beef stir fry (have some pot roast leftover in freezer)
tuna noodle casserole
hamburgers, salad, and mac & cheese
church x 2 (we eat a meal at church together on saturday nights)
cheeseburger pizza (friday pizza & movie night!)

lunches:
pb & j sandwiches with pretzels
grilled cheese with fruit
mac & cheese with peas
egg or tuna salad sandwiches with carrots
dinner leftovers
salad

breakfasts:
pancakes
waffles
fruit
banana bread
cereal
homemade granola

snacks:
popcorn
fish crackers
fruit
cheese slices
pretzels with peanut butter
And I made these cookies for church (but of course doubled the recipe so I could keep some at home)


In my pantry I already had tuna, refried beans, goldfish crackers, creams of mushroom and chicken, a large zucchini, pepperoni, and lots of flour to make bread, pancakes, waffles, and cookies  :) 

In my freezer I already had 3 chicken breasts and hamburger patties.  Having stocked up on things on sale in the past saved me a ton!  In the weeks to come, I'm sure my bill will be more since I'll have to get more meat than I did this time.

I made the whole chicken when I got home from the store in order to shred the chicken and freeze for 2 meals (chicken spaghetti and chicken enchiladas) and chicken broth.  


I will most likely have to buy more milk and fruit at some point, but I thought I did pretty good for 2 weeks of meal planning!  



My blog can't be complete without some pictures, so here you go:

I saw this great idea on pinterest to put cookie dough in 1T balls in ice cube trays so they are ready to go whenever you want them... cheaper than buying the break apart cookies in the store.  

Last week, I got this HUGE zucchini at the farmer's market for $1.50!  I made zucchini bread, zucchini pizza,  and zucchini lasagna with it.  I think it was a $1.50 well spent!  :)  

 

Tynnley helping me prepare carrots for dinner  

 

snack necklace we made for family movie night

What are some frugal meals that you make? 

Don't say Don't!

Don't say Don't!

When I was 13, my mom made me take a babysitters class through the Red Cross.  The only thing I remember from that class was the instructor telling us never say "Don't..." to a child.  Her reasoning was because the child will always do what you ask them not to.  We were taught to never say "Dont hit your sister!" but say "Instead of hitting your sister, why don't we play a game."   

Even with the class, I was pretty much the worst babysitter ever.  I remember turning all the clocks ahead to trick the kids into going to bed earlier, eating people's food, being on their phone (do you remember landlines?) for hours talking to friends and boys.  And the people always asked me back... really???  I look back at my VERY VERY immature 13 year old self and would never in a million years hire me to watch my children.  

But now as a parent, I hear that babysitting instructor's voice saying "don't say don't".  I start many sentences with "don't" around here and I always wander if I phrased it differently, my kids might actually listen and obey.  But usually when I'm in the heat of the moment, I can't think of a phrase that would suffice... so I almost always start with "don't!"  

Here are some phrases in parenting that I thought I would never say, and some ways I could prase it better.  Thank you Red Cross :)

I hope this brings laughter to your day:

"Don't lick your sister!" vs. "Instead of licking your sister, you should lick the floor clean so I don't have to mop it later."

"Don't touch your poop!" vs.  "Instead of  touching your poop, you should go next door and rid the neighbor's yard of dog poop"

"Don't put your fingers in the fan"  vs. "Instead of putting your fingers near the fan, lets use your hands to give mom a back massage"

"Don't throw the DVD... it's not a frisbee" vs. "Instead of throwing the DVD, throw the ball outside   so I can have some quiet time"

"Don't jump off of the couch... chair... bed... pew... dresser...cart..."  vs.  "Instead of jumping off of dangerous objects, lets use your legs to run around the block to release all your energy"

Have a great Tuesday :)

Frugal Friday!

Frugal Entertainment and Treats!

1.  Starbucks!  

This one makes me laugh every time.  I have a friends who LOVES starbucks, but she is too frugal to spend almost $5 on a fancy drink.  She once got a $10 gift card and it lasted forever!  She fills her to-go mug with warm milk from home and orders a shot of espresso ($0.50) through the drive-thru to add to the warm milk.  genius!  It doesn't get more frugal than this people!

2.  Children's Museum!  
The first Thursday of every month from 4pm-8pm the Indy Children's museum is free admission!  Matt and I always try to take the kids.  It's so much fun and they love it.  It would cost us $47.50 to get into the museum and so I am thankful to target for sponsoring it... another reason to love target :)

3.  Cow Appreciation Day!  
This past friday, if you dressed like a cow, Chick-fil-A rewarded you with a free meal.  So we had to take advantage of such a great deal!  I have also heard that every Wednesday kids eat for free, but haven't checked into this.  Usually in October, Chipotle does something similar if you dress in foil.

My little cows:

  

mmm!

4.  Redbox!
We either borrow movies from the library or rent from Redbox.  The library has a pretty good selection, but if you don't find something you like, rent from Redbox for $1 per night.  If you sign up for the text alerts, once a month they send you a promo code for a free 1 night rental.  I have also seen promo codes that are always good.  They are:  REDBOX, DVDONME, and BREAKROOM.  


5.  Research, Research, Research!  
Recently, Warrick wanted to go to Pinheads to bowl.  He had never been before so we decided that was a great idea.  We told the cashier that we would need 3 pairs of shoes and 1 game of bowling with 3 players.  The total was $24 for one game of bowling.  We were floored.  After Warrick's third frame of bowling, he was ready to go.  But we just spent a small fortune for bowling, so there was no way he was getting out of it!  After we were done bowling, Warrick wanted to play in the arcade.  We gave him 8 quarters and he spent more time in the arcade than bowling and had a lot more fun.  Later I found out the kids bowl free, there are certain nights that are half-price, etc.  I should have looked into it more... hindsight's 20/20, right?  

How do you save on entertainment and treats?  

Weekly Goal Setting

In trying to develop more of a disciplined lifestyle, I've started to set weekly goals.  My hope in sharing these with you is that you all can keep me accountable and share some of your goals with me too!  

Here are my goals for this week:  (not in any particular order)

*Finish Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

*Read 2 chapters per day in "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" to Warrick

*Save $50 towards a minivan
After taking Financial Peace University 4ish years ago, Matt and I paid off both of our cars and have committed to never having a car payment again.  We know Proverbs 22:7 to be true "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender" and since we're already slaves to the mortgage company and Sallie Mae, we don't want to add to the list!  
Our goal is to buy a minivan next year.  We plan to do this using our tax refund, saving weekly, any extra money (Christmas money, trombone lesson money etc.), and selling one of our cars... most likely the jeep.  With all of these combined, we should have a little under $10,000 for a used minivan.  

*Read 2 chapters in the Bible per day

*Daily devotions with Warrick each night

*Continue with potty training.... I think this is the hardest goal!

*Make 1 new recipe

What are the goals you'd like to accomplish?

frugal friday!

Homemade yogurt!

I have heard of some of my friends making homemade yogurt so when I saw a super easy recipe on pinterest, I was excited!  There are only 2 ingredients... 1/2 gallon of milk and a single serving of yogurt.

Pour the 1/2 gallon of milk into the crockpot.  

Turn crockpot on high for 2 hours (or 180 degrees)

After 2 hours, turn the crockpot off.  Take the lid off and let it cool for an hr or when you can stick your finger in and leave it for 10 seconds.  

Then stir in the yogurt from the store.  Some people also add 1/2 c of powdered milk to thicken the yogurt up, but I did not.  

Put the lid back on and wrap the crockpot with a towel and set away for 8-12 hours.  The yogurt needs to cool down slowly.  I read that putting it in the oven is a good idea so it keeps away from drafts and retains some heat longer.  (just make sure no one turns on the oven!)  I did this before bed so that in the morning it was ready to eat.  

Stir it and put it in containers... it makes sooo much!!!

It filled these three containers!  

I made around 2 1/2 quarts of organic yogurt for $5 and I think that's pretty frugal!

The recipe I used said to freeze 1 cup of the yogurt you made for your next batch so you won't have to buy it at the store.  

I added some homemade granola to mine and it was great!

Warrick and I picked the only ripe strawberry in our garden for his yogurt

Taste test... approved with a thumbs-up!

Frugal Friday!

10 ways to save at the grocery store

I'm always trying to find ways to save at the grocery store because I feel like it's the only place in the budget that can fluctuate.  Here are some ways I've learned to save money grocery shopping, they are pretty basic, but always a good reminder:

1) NEVER NEVER NEVER go to the store hungry.  Any time I've gone to the store hungry, I come home with much more than I would have otherwise.

2) Always shop with a list.  Meal plan and go through the pantry and fridge/freezer to see what is needed.

3) Look high and low.  Name-brands pay money for stores to put them on eye-level, don't let them win :)

4) Keep track of how much you're spending and only take cash so you won't go over the budget you've set.

5) If possible, go alone.  Kids are distracting (at least mine are).  Warrick usually asks to buy things when I take him and Tynnley gets grumpy after a while so towards the end I'm rushing and less worried about price checking.    

6) Grocery shop as less often as possible.  This cuts down on impulse buying.

7) Shop quickly!  According to "Cut Your Bills in Half" by the Editors of Rodale Press, "market surveys indicate that shoppers spend an extra 50 cents for every minute over 30 in a supermarket."  

8) Watch the scanner!  Cashiers are human and make mistakes. 

9) Buy generic if possible.  Name-brands add up to 40% more to your grocery bill.  "Cut Your Bills in Half" says "As for generics, try these items, which have the same chemical makeup no matter what the label:  baking soda, cooking oils (except olive), cornstarch, dried fruits, extracts and flavorings, herbs, honey, lemon and lime juice, molasses, nonfat powdered milk, orange juice, peanuts, salt, spices, sugar, unbleached flour, vinegar, walnuts."   

10) Eat vegetarian at least 1 night per week.  Meat is usually the most expensive thing on my grocery list.

Hope this was informative.  Stay tuned for part 2 :)

Training a child

I've seen this quote floating around facebook lately...
"Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made."  Francis Chan

What a great reminder!!

It made me reflect on raising my kids.  We pray before meals and before bed, do devotions and about once a month memorize scripture with Warrick.  But I still think we could be doing more... there is always room for improvement, right?

Matt and I pray BIG things for Warrick.  We just know that God is going to use him to do amazing things for His kingdom.  We believe Proverbs 22:6 when it says "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

So we are going to start memorizing a scripture per week with him.  This week is Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and courageous."  I know that kids minds are sponges at this age, so I'm excited to see him memorize LOTS of scripture!

  (sorry, I don't know how to rotate it)

As our craft today, we made a prayer jar.  We put names of people in our family, friends, and church in the jar.  3 times a day, we pull out a stick and pray for whoever/whatever is on the stick.  I'm really excited about this :)  

 (he's more excited than he looks)