July 30, 2011

Grocery Shopping for this past week = $49.01

This week was pretty good! I was very excited about County Market's Penny Pincher coupons! There were so many in that booklet that we could use! If you have any extras, please send them my way. Here's what we came home with...

Schnucks = $6.67

County Market: $26.85
I used lots of Penny Pincher coupons!


Our Garden and Grandma's Garden: Free!!


Big Lots = $15.49

Total spent on groceries this week was $49.01, out of a $50/week budget. Did you score any good deals this week?

July 23, 2011

Grocery Shopping for the week = $48.32


I wanted to explain that I haven't been using coupons on grocery shopping lately, because our computer that I had been using to print coupons has since died. So therefore, I have not been hitting up the stores for great deals anymore. I've mostly stuck to Aldi's and the sale items.

If you are from the Champaign area, I highly recommend checking out The Frugal Family's Blog. She has a wealth of information on her blog and she's local!

This week wasn't too exciting. Here's what I bought at County Market for $15.56. The M&Ms were a splurge. I had been craving chocolate!

I also stopped at Aldi's because we needed a few staple items in our home. Total spent for below items: $32.66.

Total spent this week on groceries was: $48.32. This is according to our $50/week grocery budget.

July 11, 2011

Garden Update & Surprise Squash Plant

Our garden is taking off at full speed! Here are our raised beds:

Our tomatoes are doing well. They need better staking, but here's one of our Big Tom's!

And here are a couple of our surprise squash that we have no idea what it's going to be. It's exciting to find out!

We think it might be watermelon. Possible a seed that was thrown into the compost has now taken over most of the garden walk-ways.


And I'm so proud of our broccoli for forming this past week! I had my doubts as to whether or not it would produce anything.

And our beans are also taking off and climbing over everything around it:


Now all we need is some good rain to fill up our rain barrel!

July 10, 2011

Grocery shopping for 2 weeks = $62.66

Okay, folks, I know I haven't posted a photo of our groceries in awhile, so here's one of our latest. I couldn't (for the life of me) find out how to rotate this photo, so I'm posting it sideways. Sorry about that.

This photo is from Aldi's and we spent $58.03:


Then we stopped at Schnucks to get some items they didn't have at Aldi's. We also stopped by their clearance isle to find a box of cereal for $1.56. Our boys love that cereal, so I picked that one up as well. Total spent here - $4.63.

Total spent: $62.66. Not too bad for 2 weeks of groceries. How did you do this week?

June 27, 2011

Aldi's Ad Online!

I'm super excited that Aldi's website now has their local ad's online. Where as before I was just basing their prices from Coupon STL's blog. And most of the time, those prices didn't match our store in town. So, hooray! Aldi's ad prices start on Wednesday's. And for those of you who've never shopped at Aldi's, bring a quarter for their carts! For more details on how to shop at Aldi's check out Chambana Mom's blog.

Ahh, sweet relief....

Ahh, sweet relief with this McDonald's coupon, Buy One Get One Free! If you haven't tried McDonalds Frappe's, they are SOOOO GOOD!!! So if you're looking for some summer relief, print one out and put it in your car, just in case.

June 23, 2011

I loved Iced Coffee!


I love Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee (especially the carmel mocha one). So last night I decided that I would try to find a recipe on how to make it. A lot of the recipes online say to brew the coffee and then store it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Today, I check my home page (www.moneysavingmom.com) and there's a post on how to make your own Iced Coffee! How weird is that? Suzanne's blog, Pie Birds, Buttons, and Muddy Puddles, has a step by step guide to making DD's Iced Coffee. Check it out!

June 22, 2011

Meet the Carter Family

I was surfing the internet today and stumbled upon this video about a family who is going to become more frugal. It is about a writer named W. Hodding Carter, who writes for the Gourmet Magazine. His writes a column on Gourmet's website. I wanted to share this video with you to inspire you like he did for me:

June 21, 2011

$1 Kid Movies this Summer


$1 kid movies at Savoy 16 theater in Savoy, IL! Check it out here.

June 16, 2011

Garbage Find!


I was on my way to work early this morning, and look what I found!

It was garbage pick-up today, so there were lots of cans out. I always keep my eyes peeled whenever this day comes along. This stereo system was sitting on top of someone's garbage can! The thing that made me stop, was the fact that the remote control was taped to the top. This made me think that it could possibly work!

So, I couldn't wait to get home to see if it worked. I didn't have high hopes, but once I plugged it in, the screen came on! Once I hooked up the speakers, I found out that it's in pretty good shape!

What a great find through "dumpster diving!"

June 15, 2011

Frugal Tip #578


Frugal tip #578:

Always ask your friends who are moving if you can shop in their fridge/pantry before they move!

My dear friend, Beth, is moving far far away and I don't like to think about it, but alas, the time is coming...

She let me come over to her home and "shop" in her kitchen! Here's what I came home with:

I was especially excited about all the flour that she let me have! She gave me 3 full bags! One of them was all-purpose, one was whole wheat, and the other was bread flour. It's especially handy when I had flour on the shopping list already.

Also, since the moving people can't technically pack cleaning items, it's fun to see what people leave behind. We'll be well stocked on tampons and cold medicine for awhile now.

Thanks, Beth, for all the groceries and fun memories! You will be missed.

June 9, 2011

Living Social: 2 Movie Tickets for only $9!


Here's a great deal that you don't want to miss...Living Social is having a sweet deal through Fandango where you can get two movie tickets for only $9! That is a great deal, especially since there are some great movies out now (X-Men and Super 8, in my opinion).


Click on the link here to sign up for Living Social and then you will get an email confirming that you ordered your tickets, and within 48 hours, they will send you a code for Fandango's website. That is where you will order your movie tickets. To find out if you have a movie theater near you that is participating, click here.

This deal expires on June 10th, so hurry on over and order your tickets today!

June 8, 2011

B&N BOGO Smoothie Coupon


Just wanted to share a great coupon with you all. At Barnes & Noble, use this coupon to buy one smoothie and get one free! Just the sound of a free smoothie will send me straight over there!

Enjoy! This coupon expires on June 13th.

May 30, 2011

Galena



If you've never made it up to Galena, IL, I highly recommend it. This has been (I think) my fourth visit up here, and it's still very enjoyable. We came up here this Memorial weekend for a family wedding, and stayed in a hotel with a water park indoors. The Country Inn and Suites is a very nice hotel, especially if you have kids. Our boys loved every minute of it!




The trip took us about 4 1/2 hours, but it went by very smoothly with our two boys. We were prepared and brough a couple electronics, and lots of books! We also stopped for lunch with the rest of our family.


There were lots of things to do in Galena, we went out to eat on Saturday night to Vinny Vanucchi's and had some great Italian food. Here's a couple photos before we ate. It was also nice hearing an accordion playing as we window-shopped.


Since we were in Galena for a family wedding, there was a complimentary bus/trolley ride to the farm where they were being wed. The boys loved riding the Charter bus and the trolley!



They even had apple cider for the kids in champagne glasses.

Also, the bride was brought down the farm in a horse drawn carriage. How romantic! We got a photo of it in the background of my sister-in-law and her fiance!


In between swimming at the hotel, and hanging out with family, we tried to get a nap in here or there.


Of course, we always try to stay at hotels with a continental breakfast, and I'm so proud of our family for staying green while everyone is using styrofoam. We use our picnic set we got from our wedding and use that when we go down for breakfast, and just wash them when we get back to our room. We sometimes get funny stares, but other than that I think we're making a difference.


And don't forget the plethora of snacks that we always bring with on trips outside the home! This time we hid them in the hotel dresser drawer.


And before we check out this morning, we had to make one last pit-stop at the pool before we left.


How did you spend your Memorial day weekend?

May 27, 2011

Garden Update - 5 /27/11

Our garden has gone through some tough weather lately. They've been through some wild winds from a possible tornado, they've gone through super hot weather to really cold weather. And I have to keep reminding myself that they will be stronger through all of it.

Our backyard is growing very well. Check it out:


(pictured above: Peas!)

(pictured above: Corn that something is eating)

(pictured above: side garden - bottom to top - Tomatoes, Zucchini, Green Beans)

(pictured above: Fresh Greens - Kale, Spinach, Lettuce,
Red Leaf Lettuce, Brussel Sprouts)

(pictured above left to right: Broccoli, Peppers, Tomatoes)

(pictured above left to right: Broccoli, Peppers, Peppers)
There is a line of salad greens, and green beans in the top section.

(pictured above left to right: Daisies, Parsley, Rainbow Collard Greens, Peas)

(pictured above: Basil)

(pictured above left to right: Empty pot, Tomato and cilantro,
Jalapeno Peppers, Tomatoes, Rainbow Collard Greens, Chives, and another empty pot.)


That's all for now. What's growing in your garden?