Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Groceries week of 5/27

I'm trying not to go grocery shopping till next week so I can use up what I've got and start fresh next week to keep better track. I had to run out to Food Lion to get a 1/2 gallon of whole milk for Little Dude so I've only spent $2.37 (after tax). We just ran out of eggs today and cereal yesterday so breakfast will be something like oatmeal or toast for the next few days. Lunches have been leftovers or sandwiches. Tonight we're having spaghetti (yum!). I have everything I need in my pantry. It's one of those meals I try to always have the ingredients on hand for. I haven't figured out dinners for the rest of the week yet. I'm going to try and get a better post for next weeks menu and grocery shopping before the week is half through, promise!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

What's the point of my grocery budget?

I have a budget of $300 a month to cover all food, animal food/litter, baby diapers/wipes, and household stuff (cleaners, garbage bags, etc). I actually thought I was doing a fantastic job keeping within my budget until I started tracking all our expenses on www.mint.com. As I watched over the first few months I realized I was actually doing horrible! Starting May 27th I'm going to start keeping a written record here of what I spent and what meals I made for each week for the next month. I'm hoping this will show me where I'm failing at so I can fix the gap. Since my budget is supposed to cover all household stuff, 2 adults, a baby (who eats like a toddler), 2 cats, and 1 German Shepherd I have considered if I needed to raise it to $350, but I really really really don't want to.I know I can do this! (In my mind I'm thinking of the Little Engine that could "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can")

One of my favorite blogs is www.moneysavingmom.com. This lady is awesome and inspiring to me! She posted this deal: here and after printing my coupons Little Dude and I went shopping today. Regularly $8.99 a package * 2=$17.98. Minus sale price, store coupon ($2.00 each) and MQ coupon ($2.00 each) they come to $2.99 each * 2= $5.98(before tax). That's a huge savings!!

After tax I spent $6.68 cents. The cheapest the commissary had was $6.00 when I bought a package last week and used my $1.50 coupon from a Sunday paper (I didn't keep track of which one). That package is going back and I'll put my returning $4.50 back in my budget. Yes, you read the picture correctly and saw that I purchased a medium and large package. I don't know how often I'll actually get to a pool or beach this year so I got a package for next year. I figure is all else fails I can return the large for another medium for this year.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Shutterfly is awesome!

Father's Day Damask Father's Day Card
Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.
I made this as a surprise for Big Dude for his very first Father's Day. I used Card4U and got it for free!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I'm still here

     I know it seemed like I fell off my blog wagon with no posts in a while, but I just took a short break. My grandmother is very sick. I wanted her to see Little Dude before she got much worse. Big Dude couldn't get time off work (someone has to make money!) so Little Dude and I took off in my car for a 20 hour drive. Traveling with a nearly 9 month old infant by yourself is no joke! Luckily he is a good travel baby and slept most the trip. He was teething tooth #5 and #6 so the nights were very hard as he kept waking every few hours even with the pain meds. But we made it there in one piece, had a good visit with my family, and made it back safe. I took some time off after I got back to rest and clean my house because Big Dude totally lived as a bachelor while we were gone. He also told me I wasn't allowed to leave again because he missed us so much (how sweet to hear!).
     So I'm getting back in the swing of things now. Today is Free Apparel Day from Sears Outlet! http://www.facebook.com/Sears.Outlet.Stores. Last week I got Little Dude some winter p.j.'s for this coming winter. Free rocks!!!! Wonder what I'll get today?
     Big Dude fixed my ac in my car yesterday! It went out right before my trip (86 degrees and no ac, ugh). We took it to the auto shop last week and they did some shop magic and said the relay was broken and we needed a new one.

                                  It's the black rectangle near the purple thing. I'm so technical 

After hearing that Big Dude knew he could fix it. We went to an auto store and he looked for the relay we needed. They didn't have it in stock, but could order it for us. The cost of the relay was around $50.00.    WHAT?? It amazed me how one tiny part can cost so much. Big Dude thought that was a little high so we went home and he looked it up on the internet and found one for a big ole whopping $5.00. Biiiiiig difference! Even with the $9.00 shipping (I find it ironic shipping was more than the item), we still came out ahead. The part arrived yesterday so now my car blows nice cold air. And just in time for summer. Yay!
   Not done being Super Big Dude yet, we went to the hardware store and bought a ceiling fan for our bedroom as ours quit working (I'm seeing a trend here). Now we have a nice, quiet, ceiling fan that works helping keep us cool upstairs. Yay!

 My daylillies in the front yard are looking awesome right now so I cut a few to put in a vase inside to enjoy.

 
                                                                       So pretty!