Saturday's Super Savings

Today I bought groceries for the week, a few stock pile items, completed restocked my laundry room and bought my daughter a brand new winter coat for only $106.00!!! For some of you that may be a lot of money and for some of you that might be not enough!

My first deal of the day came from JCPenney. Children's Outwear was 60% off. Which took a $99.99 jacket down to $39.99. I also had a take $10 of $10 purchase coupon which brought the price to $29.99. I had broughten my youngest daughter's fleece back because it was too big and had a $26.00 credit. When the total rang up it was just over $6.00 out of pocket. It was so exciting! It's a really great heavy duty winter jacket too. It's a 4 - in -1 jacket system and she absolutely loves it!

When it comes to grocery shopping. If I have the time I always go to Aldi first and then whatever I can't find at Aldi I buy at the Walmart SuperCenter. These are two of the more affordable places to grocery shop in my area. Sometimes making two stops just isn't in the cards and depending on my list I shop at one or the other. This week I was able to shop at both places and I'm glad I did.

My total at Aldi was $31.90. Some of the great buys I had there were: 24 pack Spring Water $2.99 ( I always buy this everytime I go. You can't beat it! And if I have cold bottle water in the fridge at all time my family is more likely to grab for it then a sugary juice or soda). Premade Frozen Meatballs for $2.19. (Enough for two meals and they were made of lean turkey). Cresent Rolls $1.49. (These can be really expensive depending on where you shop. They are so versatile I try to pick up a roll every time I go just to keep them on hand. Large White Eggs $1.39. (Don't know about your area but in Northern New York Eggs are easily well over $2.00 a dozen now. So this was definately a great buy!

My total at Walmart was $70.65 and I saved $16.30 from coupons. Some of my great buys from Walmart were children's Sauve shampoo. I had a buy one get one free coupon. Sauve styling products which were also buy one get one. I bought Purex Scent Softeners for $3.97 which was really good. I'm not sure if you have heard of Downy Unstoppables but they are a must have in our home. My boyfriend loves it when we add extra scent to each load of laundry. I had a coupon for Downy Unstoppables but the Purex was so much cheaper-- so I went with it. I'll let you know how it goes!
The rest of my purchases at Walmart were based on my coupons and I bought a lot of Great Value Brand products. Coupons are great but if they make you spend more money to save--- then what good does it do you? I always weight out cost and value before each purchase and I feel all consumers should. We work really hard for our money!

Come back Monday for Menu Planning Monday to see how I created a menu with the items I bought today.

Menu Planning Monday

Happy Menu Planning Monday! Super busy week ahead!! We've got Missionettes/Bible Study, Family Reading Night, work Halloween Party and the girls go to their fathers for the weekend. On top of all of this I haven't been feeling very good and so the easier the better!

Sunday: Rotisserie Chicken, Mashed Potatoes (or as my 3 year old calls them matatoes), Corn and Fresh French Bread.

Monday: Pizza Leftovers from our Halloween Party Friday.

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Soup (using the rotisserie chicken leftovers and other chicken breasts from the freezer), Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches using leftover French Bread. * To make this soup I boil down the chicken bones with celery, carrots and onion. After several hours I remove the bones and skim off any fat. Add my rice/pasta, veggies and 2 cups of chopped cooked chicken. Let simmer for a 1/2 hour and voila!)

Wednesday: Loaded Baked Potatoes with Homemade Applesauce. Potato toppings include bacon, cheese, sour cream, sausage, broccoli and chives.

Thursday: Children's Halloween Party at work so we'll be eating there.

Friday: Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese and Carrots Sticks. ( We eat something quick and junkie every other Friday; I have to bring my girls to their fathers which is over 2 hours away)

Saturday: Kids are gone, Justin is working. Just me...so cereal?

The neat thing about this week is that I didn't have to go grocery shopping. On Sunday I went to the store and bought a rotisserie chicken, 5lbs of potatoes, and deli item for lunches. I decided that the family would have to make due this week, so we are living out of our pantry. It's so important to have a well stocked pantry, I'll write about that some time soon! I will definately have to go grocery shopping next Sunday.

Have a great week!

Spirit Week

It was Red Ribbon week at my daughter's school this week. For those of you who don't know, Red Ribbon week is the largest drug prevention campaign in the country. ( http://www.imdrugfree.com/). During this week children and adults across the country pledge or promise to stay drug-free. At the Primary School in my area children participated in this campaign through Spirit Week.

• Monday all children wore the color red .
• Tuesday was Team Shirt Day to "Team Up Against Drugs".
• Wednesday was Crazy Sock Day to "Sock-It to Drugs"
• Thursday was Hat Day to "Put a Cap On Drugs".
• Friday there was no school because it was Superintendents Day.

Helping your child participate in school events is easy. It helps children connect better to their peers, teachers and have a better sense of community within their school . Don't be discouraged if you don't have the specified items or resources that the school requests. Improvise!

 

For instance if you are child doesn't have a red shirt for wear red day, find another way to tie the color into their attire, i.e. hair ties, shoe laces, socks etc. If you don't have a team shirt. Create your own with fabric paint/ markers and an old t shirt. For crazy socks take a pair of socks, a glue gun and any craft supplies you may have on hand such a ribbon, pom poms, googly eyes etc. My daughter and I were going to create our own socks but we found a perfect pair at the dollar store! Never forget the dollar store-- they have everything and it's only a dollar!

 

Your child will probably have Hat Day every single solitary year. This year my daughter and I started a tradition. We went to the dollar store and bought a pink baseball cap. We brought the cap home and ironed on butterfly appliques. Next year we'll take that same cap and glue on something new and continue this pattern every Hat Day. By the time she graduates she'll have a one of a kind cap that she created over the years. A simple, fun and memorable keepsake.

 

Always encourage your children to be involved. It takes very little and it means so much.

Back to School

Tomorrow is my oldest daughters first day of school, she will be entering Kindergarten. It's a very exciting time for the whole family but it also brings to light how scattered our weekly routine is. I thought I had dinner, bath time and the morning routine pretty mastered. Now I realize with new school start times, bus schedules, packing lunches etc, we will have to come up with a new schedule and new organization. Does this sound like you? I've compiled a handful of tips I plan to use for our new school year.

1. Have a designated place for backpacks, coats and shoes.
2. Layout clothes the night before.
3. Meal plan
4. Have designated bath nights
5. Set the child's bed time back by a half an hour.
6. Communicate.
7. Share tasks with your spouse or partner.
8. Have a back up plan.
9. Check your child's back pack every night.
10. Have fun with it.

Menu Planning Monday

I went away from the blogging world for a while but now I am back! And what a better way to return than to make my first post Menu Planning Monday!

Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs w/ Parmesan Cheese and Applesauce
Tuesday: Angel Hair Alfredo with Grilled Chicken, Garlic Bread & Green Salad
Wednesday: Beef Hotdogs, Baked Beans and Cottage Cheese
Thursday: Tacos and Spanish Rice
Friday: Beef Hot Dogs, Tater Tots and Veggies with Dip
Saturday: Dinner with Grammy and Poppa
Sunday: Roast Chicken, Mashed Potato, Stuffing, Gravy and Veggies


**There are two days with hot dogs as a meal because my girls and I are alone certain nights of the week. I like to use up any food by the end of the week-- plus they love hot dogs and if it were their choice they would eat them everyday!**

I thought it would be important to get back on the menu planning wagon with the start of September and school season. My oldest daughter is starting Kindergarten on Wednesday, eeek! Next week I'll be implementing breakfast and lunch menus as well.

I work an 8am-5pm job. Because of this schedule I have to drop my daughters off to their babysitters before I leave for work. I'm currently researching quick and easy, and on-the-go breakfasts as well as yummy and healthy lunches for school. Hannah will be packing her lunch most days, plus I make lunch for my darling Justin every morning and I am sensing he may be sick of the peanut butter and jelly standard-- time to raise the bar!

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping in!

God Bless,

Stacey