Saturday Six: Things I Love.

A Tribute to Saving Money... And Spending Money.

I figure we save about $15 per mommy-done haircut...

...so I feel pretty ok when it costs $10 in Auntie Anne's pretzel's to recover.

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More tributes here.

Manic Monday... Snippets.

Wednesday! I hit Kohl's and got these ridiculously cute Sesame Street pajamas for the boys. Regular price? $32.00. My price? $6.00. Maybe I've mentioned that I'm cheap. And a rabid bargain hunter. This purchase was a sale and coupon combo. It made me very happy. I also earned a $5 gift card to Amazon.com courtesy of SwagBucks. I love free money. Love it. I have a girlfriend who insists I could get a rock to bleed cash. Hah. I don't know about that, but I do fancy a good reward site.

Thursday! Dad came in town, but was running a little late and didn't get to see the boys before bed. He picked me up and we went to Target so I could get a baby shower gift for my pregnant (yay!) sister. I knew it would be a good shower when we got to the store and the only thing left on her registry was a car seat my mom had purchased elsewhere. Needless to say, she ended up with a whole lot of diapers from me. And a baby hat. Can't go wrong with diapers, right? Right???

Friday! Wes took the morning off and we all went to Sea World. It was fun, but apparently Casey is still traumatized from the Shamu splashing incident, because he completely lost his mind when we tried to watch the Dolphin and Bird Show. Such is life with toddlers. No worries though, the nice usher-lady let him watch in the safety of his stroller, from the sidelines.

Saturday! My pregnant (yay!) sister's shower in the morning. As suspected, she got a lot of great loot. And a really sweet letter from babydaddy that she read out loud. It made her cry. Like the sobbing ugly cry that you hope never gets caught on video (it didn't). But, then, it made us all cry, so who am I to talk. In the evening we went to Nick's surprise 31st birthday party. The party was a surprise, not the birthday. At least I'm pretty sure he was expecting it. The birthday, I mean.

Sunday! An early lunch at Flats before our company departed, kindly leaving us with two overtired cranky children. One of which has been running a fever ever since. Woot.

I May Have an Addiction to Craigslist.

...and I may have (grossly) overestimated the size of our family room in making this purchase.

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p.s. More tributes here!
p.p.s. Today is the last day to enter my Father's Day Giveaway!!!

There's a Rumbling in My Tummy...

I really want Ikea breakfast. Because it's yummy and cheap. Except when you factor in forty minutes of driving and toll roads. Then it's not cheap at all. In fact, it's quite over-priced. Come on, Ikea, work with me here.

Sorry Kiddo, Blame the Economy.

My tribute to being cheap thrifty.

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More tributes.

The Coupon Game.

I thought I would finally outdo myself today, but the checker gal wouldn't honor my expired coupons. *sigh* Regardless, it was still noteworthy. One day... one day I will beat my own record!


p.s. Tonight's whole dinner only cost about $1.00 per person! Check it out here.

Ace in the Hole

Normally I would not share these secrets... but since we are such very close friends... here are my tricks to getting a healthy family meal on the table seven five four days a week.

Chicken Noodle Soup

FROZEN:

- I buy frozen fruits and veggies. These come in ever so handy. I do try to get fresh fruits and vegetables, but because we only grocery shop once a week, and I am not so great at the whole menu planning thing, the frozen subs are a must. At any given time I will always usually have in my freezer: chopped onion, chopped green pepper, peas, green beans, carrots, corn, mushrooms, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.

- I buy meat in bulk and then freeze it in smaller portions. This is also super helpful because it saves money (buying in bulk) and keeps me from having to run out and grab various meats when I feel inspired to cook. At any given time I try to have the following meats in my freezer: chicken thighs, turkey thighs, ground beef, meatballs (beef or turkey), fish (usually an inexpensive whitefish), chicken fingers, and often a whole roasting chicken.

Blueberry Applesauce Pancakes

CANNED & JARRED:

I keep an assortment of canned or jarred goods on hand too. Specifically, black beans, green beans, peas, corn, garlic, diced tomatoes, chicken and rice soup, cream of mushroom soup, water chestnuts, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spaghetti sauce refried beans, coconut milk, applesauce, peanut butter, olive oil, mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, jelly, soy sauce and salsa.

Spicy Vegetable Curry

DRY GOODS:

Every meal needs its starch, so I keep these around because they don't go bad quickly: pasta, rice, dry potatoes, Bisquick (or similar pancake type mix), couscous. Seasoning is also SO important and I use these: italian dressing seasoning packets, curry powder, beef bouillon cubes, chicken bouillon cubes, Aunt Cora's Soulful Seasoning, salt and pepper.

STAPLES:

The more perishable goods (not including fruit and veggies) I religiously keep around are: milk, eggs, sour cream, vanilla yogurt, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, an onion and bread (often times I'll keep a loaf in the freezer so I know I won't run out).

Chicken & Rice Soup Casserole

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If you keep the above items on hand (most of which do not spoil quickly, and many of which will keep in excess of six months), you will always be able to whip up a meal to suit nearly anyone's tastes! Also, these are all foods that take little or no preparation and go well in crock pot or casserole dishes.

So, there. You have my secrets.

This post was written for consideration in the Ore-Ida Blog Blast Posts: Taking Shortcuts contest, hosted lovingly by: http://www.ilovemashedpotatoes.com/ and http://blog.parentbloggers.com.

The Coupon Game

Ok, I'm obsessed with coupons. Each week I try to outdo myself in savings. I think it will be a long time before I can top this week, though!!!