Where to Buy: Seeds!

We just moved into a cute basement apartment that has a yard and a place to plant a garden. I am so excited to have my first yard to take care of! I needed some seeds for the garden and some flower seed to make the grounds look pretty but did not want to spend a fortune. Here are the results of my quest: At Dollar Tree they had no seeds at all and at Big Lots they just had bulbs. Finally, I went to Family Dollar and found every seed I could want!

I ended up buying:

Zinnia
Wildflower Mix
Bachelor Button
Shasta Daisy
Delphinium
Nasturtium
Cosmos

Cantaloupe
Squash
Cucumber
Cabbage
Spinach
Carrot
Zucchini
Pepper
Lettuce
Cherry Tomato
Garden Bean
Sweet Corn


Parsley
Chives
Sweet Basil

Here is the best part: The Zinnia's and Wildflower Mix were in big boxes for 1$ each and the seed packets were 4 for 1$ plus they are having a buy one get one 50% off sale on all seeds and bulbs! I got 21 packets of seeds and 2 boxes of seeds for about $7.00. Now that is eating economically!! Can you tell I am excited? I will post some pictures of my garden once it starts growing!

Week 2: Shopping List and Recipes

Week 2: Shopping List
 
Meat
(1, 3) 2 lb ground beef

(2,6) 1.5 lb chicken breast

(5) 8 oz deli turkey

(5,7) 1 pkg turkey bacon


Refrigerated

(2, 3, 5,7) 16 oz colby jack cheese

(3,7) 8 oz sour cream

(6) 8 oz fat free cream cheese


Fresh Produce

(2) 2 avocados

(4,5) 1 bunch romaine lettuce

(3) 1 head iceburg lettuce (or small bag shredded)

(3,4,5) 6 roma tomatos

(7) 8 russet potatoes or small bag

(7) 1 bundle green onions

(4) 1 bundle fresh basil

(1,) small bag baby carrots

*desired fruit to use as sides


Canned/Packaged

(1) pkg sloppy joe seasoning

(3) 1 pkg taco seasoning
(6) 1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

(1) 6 oz can tomato paste

(1) 1 package hamburger buns

(2) 1 can Hunts Pasta Sauce

(3,5) 10 count flour tortillas (2 pkg. for a family of 5 or more)

(3) 1 bag corn tortillas

(4) 20 oz bowtie pasta

(4) 16 oz jar Alfredo sauce (Light or Sun-dried Tomato Basil)(6) 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies

(6) 1 can black beans

(6) 1 can corn

(6) 1 can reduced fat evaporated milk

Staples
eggs, rice, milk, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, flour, oil, parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, chili powder, onion powder

　
Meal 1: Sloppy Joes
1 lb ground Beef
1 sloppy joe seasoning packet
1-6 oz can tomato paste
4-6 hamburger buns

　
Brown ground beef; drain excess fat. Add tomato paste, 1 1/4 cups water and seasoning packet. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve on hamburger buns and with carrot sticks
　

Meal 2: Chicken Parmesan with Avocado
Adapted from Cuisine Paradise

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthways
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup pasta sauce
2 avocados
1/2 cup cheese
romaine lettuce
　

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 1 piece of chicken breast in flour(shaking off excess), dip in egg mixture then coat in breadcrumbs. Place on prepared baking sheet. Lightly spray or brush the prepared chicken with oil, bake for 10 minutes (turning after 5 minutes). Spread 1 heaping tablespoon pasta sauce over each chicken breast. Arrange avocado slices over sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 5 - 7 minutes or until golden and chicken is cooked through.

Chop up romaine lettuce and serve with desired dressing and chicken.

　

Meal 3: Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme
Adapted from Culinary Couture Blog

6 large flour tortillas
6 small corn tortillas
1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
sour cream
cheese
shredded lettuce or iceburg lettuce chopped
2 roma tomatos, diced

　
Brown ground beef in a skillet, then add taco seasoning (according to package directions). Set aside. Bake the corn tortillas in the oven at 400 degrees for a couple of minutes, until they are golden and crunchy. Microwave the flour tortillas, one at a time (because they cool off quickly), for about 10 seconds to warm them up; this will make wrapping easier. Lay out the flour tortilla. Spoon some of the seasoned beef into the center of the tortilla. Top with shredded cheese. Place the crunchy corn tortilla on top of the cheese/beef; spread a dollop of sour cream on top of it, then toss on some diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce.

Starting with the bottom of the tortilla, fold the edge up to the center. Continue doing this in a clockwise or counter-clockwise movement until all of the tortilla is folded over, and the filling is entirely enclosed.

　
Spray a frying pan with cooking spray. Carefully place the Crunchwrap, seam-side down, in the pan. Press with a spatula and cook on medium-low heat, for about 3 minutes, until the bottom is nice and brown. Flip it over and cook for another 3 minutes. Serve.

　

Meal 4: Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream
20 oz. package bowtie pasta
1 (16-oz.) jar sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce or regular light Alfredo sauce
2 roma tomatos, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Garnish: fresh basil strips

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, pour Alfredo sauce into a medium saucepan. Stir in chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped basil, and cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss with pasta and serve with fruit.


Meal 5: Chicken Club Wraps
4-6 tortillas
8 ounces deli turkey
shredded cheese
8-10 slices cooked turkey bacon
4-6 tablespoons ranch dressing
2 roma tomatos, sliced
Romaine lettuce

　
Spread ranch dressing over the center of wrap. Add turkey, cheese, bacon, tomato, and romaine.
Fold sides in and then roll up.

　

Meal 6: Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
Adapted from: Rita's Recipes

2 chicken breasts, still frozen
1 can tomatoes with green chilies
1 can corn kernels, undrained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 t chili powder
1 t onion powder
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese
cooked rice

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Top with the tomatoes, corn, beans, ranch dressing, onion and chili powders, stir to combine then top with the cream cheese. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring one or twice to blend in the cheese. Shred the chicken into large pieces and serve over rice.

　

Meal 7: Baked Potato Casserol
Adapted from: Very Best Baking

8 medium potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups shredded cheese
6 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
Sliced green onions


Place potatoes in large saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender; drain. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 2 1/2- to 3-quart casserole dish. Return potatoes to saucepan; add evaporated milk, sour cream, salt and pepper. Beat with hand-held mixer until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese and half of bacon. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, remaining bacon and green onions. Bake for an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Tip: This casserole can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated. Cover with foil and bake at 350° F for 40 to 45 minutes or until heated. Uncover; top with cheese, bacon and green onions; bake for an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

　
Serve with fruit

　




　

　

　

　

Week 1: Shopping List and Recipes

I have some exciting news to announce-- I will now be posting all of my weekly meal plans, complete with shopping lists and delicious, healthy, and affordable recipes! The cost of the meals ranges from $5.00-$7.00 each and will feed a family of 4-6 people! Bear with me though, I wish I could provide you with nicely formatted lists and recipes that you could download but I just have Wordpad right now so I will be posting them directly on the blog. As soon as I am able to get Microsoft Word I will supply them in a nicer, downloadable, format :) Feel free to copy, paste, reformat, and print, for your personal use. My goal is to help you keep your grocery costs down! Enjoy!

Shopping List: Week 1

*Numbers in parentheses represent the corresponding meal

Meat/ Deli

(1,4) 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

(4,5) 1 pkg. turkey bacon

(7) 8 oz sliced roast beef

Fresh Produce

(4,5) 1 bundle green onions

(5) 2.5 pounds russet potatoes

(5) 1 small yellow onion

(6) 2 avocados

(6) 2 roma tomatoes

Canned/Packaged
(1) 10 oz pineapple (crushed or chunks)

(1,4) 1 bottle BBQ Sauce

(2) 2- 8.5 oz boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix

(2) 2 cans chili

(3) 1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce (four cheese)

(4) 1-14 oz. can tomatoes with green chilies added

(5) 32 ounces (4 cups) chicken stock or broth

(6) 1 can (16 oz.) refried pinto beans

(6) 1 taco seasoning packet

(6) 1 can black olives

(6) 6-8 flour tortillas

(7) 1 packet Ajus sauce mix


Refrigerated

(2,4,5,6) 4 cups Colby cheese

(2,5,6) 16 oz light sour cream

(5) 8 oz fat-free cream cheese, softened

(7) 1 package sliced provolone/swiss cheese

Frozen
(1) 1 small bag mixed veggies
(3) 1 pkg. pre-made cheesy ravioli

 
Bakery
(3,7) 2 loaves french bread

 
Optional
Strawberries, grapes, or other fruit to use as sides.

　

Staples
Eggs, milk, minced garlic, rice, salt, pepper


(My total for all of the ingredients listed here including the optional fruit was about $48.00. That comes out to be about $6.86 per meal.)

Recipes: Week 1

Meal 1: Barbecue Pineapple Chicken (Slow Cooker)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
10 oz pineapple, drained
1 cup BBQ Sauce
*1/2 tsp of Crushed Red Pepper (optional - see tip below)
3 cups cooked rice
2 cups mixed veggies

Directions
Spray crock-pot with non stick cooking spray. Place chicken breast on bottom of crock-pot. Mix BBQ sauce, pineapple and crushed red pepper together, pour over chicken. Cook on high for approximately 5 hours or until tender. Shred the chicken. Enjoy over rice with steamed veggies.

*Tips: The crushed red pepper makes it a little spicy/hot. If you don't care for spicy, reduce the amount of red pepper to 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon, or just skip the red pepper.

Meal 2: Cornbread Chili Waffles

2- 8.5 oz boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese 2 large eggs 2/3 cup milk cooking spray 2 cans chili Additional cheese, sour cream, green onion, ect. for toppings

Directions
Blend together cornbread mix, eggs, and milk. Stir in cheese. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray. Spoon batter onto preheated waffle iron. Cook 3-5 minutes or until crisp and done. Repeat with remaining batter. Transfer waffles to a baking sheet, and keep warm, uncovered, in the oven at 200° until ready to serve. Waffles can be frozen in zip-top freezer bags and reheated in oven or toaster oven.　

Serve with fruit or other desired side

Meal 3: Tomato-Ravioli

1 pkg. pre-made cheesy ravioli (great value)
1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce (four cheese)
1 loaf french bread

　
Directions
Cook the ravioli according to package directions. Drain, return to pan, add sauce, and heat to warm. Serve with french bread.　

Meal 4: Monterey Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. BBQ sauce
1/4 c. bacon bits (I use cut up turkey bacon)
1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded
1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (canned with green chilies added)
sliced green onions
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink (we used our George Foreman grill) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with one tablespoon bar-b-que sauce, 1/4 c. cheese, 1/4 c. tomatoes, green onions and one tablespoon of bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

Serve with fruit or other desired side.　

Meal 5:Baked Potato Soup (Slow Cooker)

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small yellow onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
32 ounces (4 cups) chicken stock or broth
8 oz fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

Directions
Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning, and chicken stock to slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours. Add the softened cream cheese and stir to incorporate.
Top with green onions, bacon bits, sour cream etc.

Meal 6: Seven-Layer Tostadas

1 can (16 oz.) refried pinto beans
1 1/2 cups mashed avocado (seasoned as desired)
1 cup light sour cream
1/2 tsp. taco seasoning 1 cup finely grated cheese 1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup sliced black olives
6-8 tortillas
olive oil for greasing baking sheet, about 1 tsp.

Directions
Place a baking sheet inside the oven and let it get hot while you preheat oven to 450 degrees, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove baking sheet, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on it and spread around with a paper towel, and put flour tortillas on the baking sheet. Toast tortillas in the oven until they're crisp and barely starting to brown, turning several times. This will take less than 5 minutes so watch them carefully.

While tortillas are crisping, put the refried beans in a bowl, stir to break them apart, and microwave 2-3 minutes, or until they're hot. Stir the Taco Seasoning Mix into the sour cream. Chop the onions, slice green onions, and slice the olives.

Put crisped tortilla shell on a plate and top with:
--a thin layer of refried beans (1-2 tablespoons)
--a thin layer of guacamole (1-2 tablespoons)
--a thin layer of seasoned sour cream (1-2 tablespoons)
--several generous pinches of finely grated low-fat cheese
--chopped tomatoes
--thinly sliced green onions
--sliced olives

Serve right away, with salsa or hot sauce if desired. You can keep the topping ingredients in the fridge and crisp more tortillas later to use any leftovers.

　
Meal 7: French Dip Sandwiches with French Fries

1 loaf french bread
16 oz sliced roast beef
sliced swiss/provolone cheese
1 packet Ajus' sauce mix
4-6 potatoes

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice potatoes into long strips. In large zip-lock, mix together 2 tbsp oil and desired seasonings (I use garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.) Toss fries to coat. Place on greased baking sheet or line with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Slice french bread in half lengthwise. Layer roast beef and sliced cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 7 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Prepared Ajus according to package directions for dipping and serve with fries.



 

Finding the Best Price

When it comes to online shopping, my favorite tool to use is Google Shopping. You enter what it is you are shopping for in the search bar and it will bring up every online store (and some local stores) that carries that item along with the price and shipping cost.

I do not shop online without first consulting Google Shopping because it has saved us hundreds of dollars! Just last night, we were dreaming about buying a nice canvas tent. We found the same one that my mother-in-law has. She paid $500 and this one was listed at $350 with free shipping!

Saving on Gas

 My husband drives a lot both for his job and for his work. Unfortunately, gas is a major chunk of our budget every month. We like to save every penny when it comes to filling up our cars. That is why we shop and fill up at Smith's. Each time we shop there, we swipe our rewards card (provided for
free) and we usually will save up 10-20 cents per gallon once or twice a month. It saves just a few dollars per month but hey we will take it!

For our next car purchase, we are considering buying a Certified Natural Gas vehicle. You can buy a car that takes only CNG or they also have bi-fuel options that take regular gas as well. There are natural gas stations all over Utah and all over the rest of the states as well. Right now in Utah, natural gas is only $1.49 per gallon! The car would almost pay for itself in savings at that price! Not to mention, this year you can get $0.50 per gallon in tax credits so if you decide to go CNG be sure to keep track of your gas receipts! A great place to find CNG vehicles in Utah is cngutah.com. To see if there is a CNG fill-up station near you, go here.

Never ask the question, "What should we have for dinner?" again!

Meal planning takes a lot of work and a lot of time. My life has recently become more busy and our budget still does not allow us to eat out very often. This is why I decided to subscribe to "Emeals" yesterday. When you subscribe, they give you a meal plan each week that has recipes and the entire grocery list. They create the meals around sales at your local grocery stores and have over 40 different plans to choose from. The meal plan I have chosen is the "low-carb" one. I liked how all of the recipes are healthy and they use a lot of fresh ingredients but are simple at the same time.

The subscription for 3 months costs $21.00. I found a coupon code that saved me over $3.00. ( I figured $17.00 was a small price to pay for all the work it is going to save me!)

Has anyone else used emeals before? What has been your experience?

I can't wait to try it out! I am going shopping today!

Buying Bread

So lately I have been going against everything I have been teaching on this blog.

I have been buying bread.

This is mostly because I have gotten lazy, but it is also because I have found the way to buy healthy-- relatively homemade bread. . . for cheap!

I have discovered the grocery store's secret-- instead of buying bread in the bread isle, buy it straight from your favorite grocery store's bakery! Everytime I have gone to buy it, it is always the same price: 3 loaves for $5 or $1.67 each!! And it is delicious and healthy! How can you not decide to be lazy when you discover something as great as this?

It is the same with buns and hoagies too! In the normal grocery isle the cheapest hoagie buns I could find were $3.65 for 6. I went to the bakery and got 12 large buns for $2.50. Not bad!

Homemade Pancake Mix

I was really craving pancakes but realized I was out of my homemade pancake mix. I decided to make another big batch to store in the fridge. I love making the mix. It is so simple to make, and it saves so much time because I just add water to mine! The actual recipe suggests adding 2 eggs and 2 tbsp. oil but I think it tastes fine without.

HOMEMADE PANCAKE MIX (makes about 5 batches)
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour (NOTE: you can substitute for all-purpose flour)
2 cups powdered milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
1 tablespoon salt

Mix mix mix! I just throw it all in a ziplock and shake :) When you are ready to make pancakes, add desired amount of mix with desired amount of water. So easy!

A Home Phone for $20 a Year!

I still love Page Plus Cellular and am keeping my cell phone to use when I go out but I knew there had to be a cheaper option out there for as much time as I spend on the phone at home. That is when my mother-in-law and brother told me about Magic Jack! The name makes it sound kind of phony and I was skeptical at first but after talking to my family about it, I realized that people have had really great experiences with it. The initial cost of the Magic Jack device was $45.00 on Amazon and then I also purchased a basic cord phone for $10.00.



All you have to do is plug the usb part of Magic Jack into your computer and plug the regular phone into the other side. It works through the internet signal on your computer and the first year of the service is free and then it only costs $20.00 per year!

It is still in-transit right now but I will post an update on how it works as soon as it gets here!

Free Household Products!

Lately I have been working on a project to earn free household products! I no longer have to pay for laundry detergent, body wash, deodorant, dish soap, face wash ect. ect. I know I have posted in the past about where to buy these items cheaper, but free is much cheaper! It has done wonders for our budget! I also found out my hero Dave Ramsey does the same thing! If you would like to know more about the program, email me at renaehall675@gmail.com

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe

Tonight we had homemade chili cheese fries for dinner and I was really craving some hot chocolate. We didn't have any mix left so I used this recipe:

3 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Just mix it up and store in an airtight container! Use 1/4 cup mix to 1 cup water. (We use milk for a richer hot chocolate) It tastes just like the stuff from the store and is much more economical!

Healthy Monterey Chicken

I made this slightly healthier version of the Pinterest recipe tonight. My husband said it was the best chicken he has ever tasted! It came out so moist and there were so many flavors bursting in our mouths. MmMm good!

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup bbq sauce.
1/4 cup turkey bacon bits
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 14 oz can tomatoes with green chilies
sliced green onions
pepper

3-4 sweet potatoes
spray butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut chicken breasts in half and season with pepper. Grill chicken till no longer pink (I put them on my George Foreman) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with 1 tbsp bbq sauce, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup tomatoes, green onions and 1 tbsp bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 10 minutes)

Beforehand, bake sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until done (while preparing and cooking chicken.) While hot, cut in half and spray with butter and top with brown sugar. DELICIOUS!

Swim Diaper Savings

My good friend, Melissa told me this cool tip over the weekend:
All of us with babies know how expensive swim diapers are. Last time I bought them I think they were $10.00 for the small package and I about croaked. This tip I learned could save you money this summer!



 Swim diapers are reusable! You just carefully take the diaper off, rinse it off, and hang it out to dry! (As long as there are no surprises in them of course!) We figure that the chlorine does a good enough job killing the germs and yes, the diaper will have chlorine in it when you reuse it but the baby is just going to be swimming in it agan anyway.

I am not sure if that methodology is proven science but hey-- I will do whatever it takes to save a little more money : )

Budgeting for Gas

It is always hard to know how much to budget for gas. Then, whenever my husband gets a new job or a new school schedule and consequently changes his route, we are forced to change our gas budget allowance. We love using the website: Cost 2 Drive.

You enter the year, make, and model of your car and then your start and end location. It will figure the cost to drive based on current gas prices in your area. We will then take that amount and multiply it by the number of days in the month that my husband will be driving to that particular destination. Then we add them all together and add $20 or so (for miscellaneous errands) to give us our monthly gas budget. This is also great if you are trying to budget for a family road trip!

Chicken Roll-Ups

This recipe is so yummy and really fun to make! You can serve it hot or cold. I made my own crescent roll dough to save money but you could also buy cans of it on sale.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken (shredded or cubed)
8 oz cream cheese (I used fat-free)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup broth

Mix all ingredients together well. Spoon onto rolled crescent rolls, roll up, and dip into melted butter and roll in bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 375. (I rolled my dough out into a big rectangle, spooned all of the filling onto the dough and rolled it up into a big log. After it was cooked, we just sliced pieces off.)

Chicken Cabbage Salad

This recipe is also from my friend Dixie. It is super easy,inexpensive, and it makes a huge bowl full. The cabbage just magically expands. This is my husbands favorite salad!

Ingredients:
1 large cabbage
7-9 green onions chopped
4-6 chicken breasts (cooked--shredded or cubed)
1/3 c. butter
2 pkg. Chicken flavor Top Ramen Noodles

Dressing: 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 tbsp. soy sauce

Melt butter in pan. Stir in noodles and fry until golden brown. Add flavor packet. Take off heat. Mix with cabbage and dressing just before serving.

$5 Veggie Pasta Pie

I saw this recipe on Dr. Oz and knew I had to try it. It is both inexpensive and extremely healthy. It was so yummy! It tasted like a cross between veggie lasagna and an omelet. This is a must for your recipe collection. *Note make sure you have enough egg to hold your "pancakes" together.

Ingredients
Serves 4 (I doubled the recipe)

3 oz whole-wheat macaroni
6 large eggs
2-3 carrots, finely grated
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 14.5-oz can low-salt diced tomatoes
10 oz frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 oz reduced fat cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain the pasta and set aside.

Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl and add 1/3 of the grated carrot and 1/3 of the cooked macaroni. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a non-stick skillet, add the egg mixture and cook over medium low heat until the eggs are set but not dry. Slide this noodle “pancake” onto a greased cookie sheet and keep warm. Repeat this process two more times to create a total of 3 noodle layers.

Add 1 teaspoon oil to the skillet and sauté 1 clove garlic until soft. Add the canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until the juice has evaporated and the tomatoes are almost dry. Set aside and repeat the process with an additional teaspoon of oil, the remaining clove of garlic and the spinach.

Add the first noodle pancake, browned side down, to a greased pie plate. Top with the cooked spinach and add 1 ounce of the shredded cheese. Add a second noodle pancake and top with the tomatoes and 1 ounce shredded cheese. Top with the final noodle pancake, browned side up, and remaining shredded cheese.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.

An App that Pays you to Work Out!

So I just discovered this app that rewards you for working out. It is called Gympact. Apparently you set a goal for yourself and put up a bet against yourself like $10. If you meet your goal, you get paid. If not, you lose your stakes.

This might give me an incentive to work out more often and meet my goals I have set for myself. I think it really would work on me because I hate losing money so much! This is a super cool concept. I will have to try it out and let you know how it is!

Frosting-- Double for your Money

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. I just started a business and I am glad to say it is really taking off but it is also occupying a lot of my spare time.

This is a secret that my sister-in-law taught me: When you don't have time to make your own frosting, buy a can at the store and then scoop it into a bowl and with the mixer, mix it on high. This technique will allow you to double your frosting amount and will also make it nice and light. Who knew? So easy! This makes me wonder though-- when we buy the whipped frosting in the store, are we really getting half the amount for our money?

Where to Buy: Prescription Glasses

So my darling little Eli was playing with my glasses yesterday. You know when they are playing with something and think: "I really shouldn't let them have that but I need to get this done so I guess it's alright". . . yeah he snapped the arm off.



It looks like I am going to have to order some from Zenni Optical. They have prescription glasses for as cheap as $6.95! They are cute ones too! My good friend Amber told me about Zenni and I am absolutely in love.

I think I want to get these for $9.95 --->

Going to Dinner--$50 a Month

So even on a tight budget, it is healthy to go on dates. My husband and I do fun activites and/or go out to dinner 4 times a month for less than $50.

This is how we do it:

CityDeals.com


City Deals is awesome because they have gift certificates available to buy for like 50% (give or take) off. So at the beginning of each month, I will order a few for dinner/activites that we can do for our dates.

For example, last week we went to Pizza Factory. Our bill with the gift certificate was only $8.

They have all sorts of rockin deals on their site. It is worth a peek for sure and their deals change all of the time.

Breakfast Casserole

I bet you are all wondering what we usually do for breakfast if we do not usually buy cold cereal. This recipe is one that I make often. It is cheap, so easy, extremely versatile, and you usually have everything already on hand. This recipe was given to me from my friend and wonderful cook, Dixie.

Breakfast Casserole

4-6 pieces of bread
2 cups cheese
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper

Tear bread into pieces and place in a greased 13X9 casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese on top of bread. Beat the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper together and pour over bread and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

*You can also add sausage, peppers, bacon, whatever you want to mix it up. (Sprinkle on with the cheese before adding the egg mixture.)

How to get More for your Money-- Everytime you Shop!

One day a couple years ago, I was looking at a price label on the shelf in a store. Then I saw a magical magical thing-- "price per ounce." When you compare the price per ounce, you can truly find the best value for almost every product. In some cases you may even notice that the off-brand is not the best deal, or maybe a different off-brand is a better deal. I use this trick for almost everything. For example. When I buy cereal (which is not very often), I do not choose any that are over $0.12 an ounce.

Using this trick will get you a lot more for your money. Does anyone else use this trick?

Turn the Spender Into a Saver!

Typically in a marriage there will be one spouse who saves and one spouse who spends. There is some truth to the theory, "opposites attract." In my marriage, (obviously since I have this blog) I am the nerdy saver who is very practical, frugal, and will save every penny I have. My husband is just the opposite-- He is the fun, relaxed, care-free one in the relationship who likes to spend.

As a couple, we have the same goals, but we have still have a hard time finding the balance between spending and saving. I want to save every dime, (almost to a fault) and he wants to save a little, and have fun too. We decided we would budget $25 each for our own personal fun money. As he did not check our mint.com budget very regularly, we were finding he would go over his $25 very quickly. We tried to envelope system (where you put cash in evelopes for each category of your budget) but when the cash was gone the debit card would get pulled out. I kept trying to think of ideas to help him stay within our budget.

Finally, I was talking to my friend and she told me about a method that she and her husband use to keep their budget. In their marriage, she is the spender and he is the saver. They have 3 bank accounts. They have their joint bank account, and then each have their own personal bank accounts. Usually I am not a fan of married people having separate bank accounts but they only use it for their "fun money." They each have an allotted amount that is automatically transferred at the beginning of each month into their separate accounts. She spends her "allowance" each month until the card won't work anymore (kind of like a monthly gift card to herself) and he, being the saver, has a card that is loaded due to his lack of spending.

I thought this idea was absolutely BRILLIANT! We just need to get to the bank and get our accounts set up so we can try it out.

What do you think? Could this work in your marriage?

Homemade Onion Soup Mix

This mix is so much cheaper to make than it is to buy. This recipe makes 1 packet. I bulked up the recipe and separated it into little baggies.

2 1/2 tbsp dried minced onion
4 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
1 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper

Apricot Chicken

My friends aunt used to make this Apricot Chicken recipe all of the time. It is so delicious, so simple, and affordable.

Ingredients:
4-6 cooked Chicken Breasts
8 oz Catalina Dressing
16 oz Apricot Jam
1 packet Dry Onion Soup Mix (for homemade recipe, click here)

Mix up the sauce and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until bubbly.

Where to Buy: Kids Clothes

1. Gordman's: This place has awesome clearance prices. We found my 14-month-old pajamas for $3 and an outfit for $5. If you get on their text list, they will send you 20-%30 additionally. Killer deal.

To see if they have a location in your area, click here.

2. Target: Sometimes Target will have pretty good clearance prices on their kids stuff. It is hit and miss though. When you do find a good deal on their clothes it is awesome because they are all super cute.

3. Kid-to-Kid: If you do not mind used clothes, Kid-to-Kid and other childrens thrift stores have some great finds. I believe most of these stores will also give you in-store credit for bringing in clothes your kids have outgrown.

4. thredUP.com: I haven't shopped with this company yet but it looks like a great idea if you are on your last child. You order a free bag from them, you fill it with clothes and send them back (free shipping), they pay you 20-40% for the clothes you send in. You also shop at their store for a discounted price.

5 Dollar Remedies from Dr. Oz

I have to apologize. I know I have not blogged for a few days. Somehow I caught the flu over the weekend and have been stuck in bed. I have never had it before but man is it nasty. I am seriously considering getting a flu shot after this.

So I was watching Dr. Oz today (not a big fan but there was nothing else on) and he had a Dr. from Harvard Medical School come and share her home remedies for under $5. As I currently have illness on the brain, and this sounded budget friendly, I ran and grabbed a pencil and paper.

Here are the remedies:

Back Pain
Mix a few drops of peppermint oil with water in a small paper cup and freeze. Peel off the paper cup and apply to back. Massage.

Cold
Mix 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Drink. The apple cider vinegar with boost your immune system, the honey will coat your throat, and the cayenne pepper will break down the mucus.

Toothache
Apply ground cloves to the affected area

Bad Breath
Chew on some fresh parsely

Chapped Lips
Brush your lips with a soft toothbrush. Spread mixture of 1 tsp each of lemon juice, sugar, and honey onto lips. Wash or lick off and apply additional honey to seal in moisture. Who needs Burt's Bees? ;)

As soon as I purchase some honey, I am going to try the cold and chapped lip remedies.

Perkstreet: A debit card with cash back

I am sure you Dave Ramsey fans out there have heard about Perkstreet. We opened our account a couple years ago and we have really enjoyed earning free money. We used our Perkstreet debit card for almost everything and earn 1 to 2% cash back. This account, combined with our Ally Bank account, has given us a 2% raise.



The great thing about Perkstreet is that it is not a credit card. There is no interest and no fees (as long as you are making purchases with it each month.) And who doesn't like free money? We love Perkstreet.

Night 5 Dinner (1/26-2/2)

Pizza Pizza

Night 5 was a pizza night. It was not what I had planned but I needed something quick and easy. I did not have tomato sauce so I decided to make some alfredo sauce. We topped my favorite pizza crust (recipe here) with alfredo sauce, cheddar jack cheese, pepperoni, and pizza seasoning. I think it was my favorite pizza I have ever made. You will have to try it out!

Here's the recipe for the easy Alfredo Sauce:

Alfredo Sauce
4 Tbsp. butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp Parmesan Cheese
dried parsley

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir flour into butter until you have a nice paste. Slowly stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Stir in garlic and salt and cook mone more minute. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese.

Night 4 Dinner (1/26-2/2)

Breakfast Burritos

Tortillas: 0.99
10 Eggs, scrambled: 0.83
Turkey Bacon 6 pieces: 0.65
French Fries: 1.12
Ketchup: 0.30
Salt, pepper

Total
3.89

We keep it really simple at our house. Just cook everything and roll it up in a tortilla. I know it is not very fancy but it is real life! Sometimes you need a quick and easy meal. (We used french fries because that is what we had in the freezer :) ) It was pretty good too.

A Word on Gift-Giving

I love to give gifts. I love to find the perfect gift for someone for their Birthday, Christmas, Wedding, you name it. However, I am learning quick that with a limited budget, I cannot afford to do all of the wonderful things I would like to for all of the people that I know and love.

We budget $35 a month for gifts. Some months we do not need to buy gifts and so the money is  saved for big Birthday months (ours are April, June, and July) and Christmas. This gives us a total of $420 we can spend throughout the year.

This does not sound like very much because it's not. I have learned to give homemade gifts from the heart so that they will still fit in the budget, and hopefully they will still be meaningful to the recipient.

Siblings' Birthdays: One of the gifts that I started giving to our brothers and sisters for their Birthdays is a loaf of homemade Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Bread from lilluna.com. This bread is as good as it sounds. I like it even better than the kind from Great Harvest. I wrap it up in Saran Wrap and stick it in a paper bag with a bow. You can smell the bread even through the paper and it is delightful. You can find the recipe here.


The recipe makes 5 loafs so I usually scale it down to two (giving one loaf away and keeping one for ourselves. Shhh!)

Kids' Birthdays: For my little Eli's Birthday, I like to stick to the rule: something they WANT; something they NEED; something to WEAR; something to READ. I personally think that we can get too carried away with kids' Birthdays. I know that we all love our kids and want to give them everything in the world to show them our love. But the thing is, they do not need EVERYTHING they want. If they get everything they want every Birthday or Christmas they will learn to expect everything they want and be dissapointed if one year they do not get it all instead of being grateful for what they did get. That was probably a major run-on sentence but you get what I mean.

Kids' Christmas: For Christmas, I follow the rule above but just double or triple it, depending on the budget that year.

Parents' Birthdays: For both sets of parents, we do something a little more special than bread because they do so much for us. We still do not spend a lot because we can't, but we try to do a little something extra to make their day a special one. The same goes for Christmas.

Spouse Birthdays, Christmas, and Anniversary: For each others' Birthdays and Christmas, we try to keep it at $50 each. For our Anniversary, we usually just go on a nicer-than-usual date.

Whatever it is that you spend on gifts, follow these steps

1. Name an amount that you will spend on each child, parent, grandparent, sibling, ect. for each event. For example: Kids Christmas: $70 each X each child, Kids Birthday: $50 each X each child, Parents' Birthday: $35 X each parent, and so on.

2. Add them all together and that is your total gift money for the year.

3. Divide that amount by 12 and that is what you budget for each month so that when the big day of Christmas rolls around, you will already have the money set aside.

Night 3 Dinner (1/26-2/2)

Beef Stew

Stew Beef 2.98
1 packet Beef Onion Soup Mix 0.50
2/3 bag baby carrots 0.75
4 Russet Potatoes (had already)
1 can petite diced tomatoes (already had)
Frozen Green Beans (1/2 bag) 0.50
Water
12 Homemade Rolls (35 cents)

Total
$5.08

Heat up 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add stew beef and cook just intil browned on outside. In a large pot, add soup mix and 4 cups of water. Add vegetables and meat, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Serve with homemade rolls.

When in Doubt, Check Online

We decided to get rid of our huge entertainment center (refinsihed from the D.I.) because we move a lot and didn't want to be hauling all around the country. I started shopping for a wall mount for our tv to save some space and to protect our tv from our little toddler.

I checked the selection at Wal-mart in the store and their wall mounts were priced at $95-$189. I was thinking, "Are you kidding me? It is just a piece of metal and some screws!"

$95 was definitely not in the budget so I decided to check online. I am not kidding you I found one on the Wal-mart website that looked just as good for $17.  I ordered it and it has been working great.

I have had many other similar experiences just like this.

So moral of the story is, when in doubt, check online!

Food Storage: List to build it at $10 per week

This is a very economical way to build your food storage slowly. My mom wanted this list so I thought I would share it with all of you too!

This list will build you a years worth of basic food storage for one person or a 3 month supply for a family of 4.

Week 1     2-48oz bottles of oil
Week 2     50 lb wheat (or 25 lb flour)
Week 3     4 lb macaroni and 4 lbs spaghetti
Week 4     6 cans meat or fish
Week 5     1-28 oz bottle peanut butter
Week 6     5 lbs honey
Week 7     25 lbs of sugar
Week 8     15 lbs dry milk
Week 9     8 cans fruit, vegetables, beans or soup
Week 10    6 cans meat or fish
Week 11    25 lbs Rice
Week 12    1 lb yeast
Week 13    10 lbs dry beans
Week 14    6 cans evaporated milk
Week 15    1-28 oz bottle of peanut butter
Week 16    8 cans fruit, vegetables, beans or soup
Week 17    25 lbs flour
Week 18    4 lbs macaroni and 4 lbs spaghetti
Week 19    8 cans fruit, vegetables, beans or soups
Week 20    1 lb baking powder, 1 lb baking soda, 5 lbs salt
Week 21    2 lb yeast
Week 22    2-48 oz bottles of oil
Week 23    15 lbs oats  
Week 24    2-3 lb shortening (cans)
Week 25    25 lbs flour
Week 26    8 cans fruit, vegetables, beans or soup
Week 27    25 lbs Rice
Week 28    1 gallon vinegar
Week 29    10 lbs dry p beans
Week 30    5 cans cream of chicken soup and  5 cans cream of mushroom soup
Week 31    5 lbs brown sugar
Week 32    10 lbs oats
Week 33    6 cans meat or fish
Week 34    25 lbs sugar
Week 35    50 lbs wheat (or flour)
Week 36    6 cans meat or fish
Week 37    1 lb yeast
Week 38    5 cans cream of chicken soup and 5 cans cream of mushroom soup
Week 39    2-48 oz bottles oil
Week 40    50 lb wheat (or flour)
Week 41    8 cans fruit, vegetables, beans or soup
Week 42    1 lb yeast
Week 43    8 cans fruit, vegetables, beans or soup
Week 44    2-3 lb shortening (cans)
Week 45    1-28 oz bottle peanut butter
Week 46    15 lbs dry milk
Week 47    15 gallons of water
Week 48    10 lbs dry beans
Week 49    2-48 oz bottles of oil
Week 50    1-28 oz bottle peanut butter
Week 51    6 cans evaporated milk
Week 52    5 cans cream of chicken soup and 5 cans cream of mushroom soup

Some weeks you will not have spent as much money, so set aside the extra for those items that will cost a little more. For every person in your family double or triple the amount of the item you are buying that week. Or if you are like me, you may just buy half of the amount listed and build food storage for several years. Do whatever fits your budget.

     

Night 2 Dinner (1/26-2/2)

Last night we had Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches from Chef-in-Training

Ingredients:

Chicken 1 lb, cooked and shredded 1.79
Kroger Light Caesar Dressing (partial bottle) 0.50
Iceburg Lettuce 0.99
Parmesan Cheese (already had it)
pepper, parsley
Homemade Hamburger Buns 0.35 for 12

Total
$3.63

This was seriously mouth-watering-ly good! I have made this chicken recipe from Chef-In-Training before and love it every time. I was in a pinch for time so I just threw them on the stovetop and they turned out great. You can find her recipe here

This was my first tine making homemade hamburger buns and I was a little nervous to try it out but they turned out so fluffy, they cut in half easily, they were super fast, and they were so yummy that I will probably use them as a roll recipe too.

40-minute Hamburger Buns
(like large sliders so you may want to double recipe)

2 tbsp yeast
1 cup plus 2 tbsp warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/3 cupe vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt, and enough flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface (I just knead my dough inside the bowl for less mess); knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets.

Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425 for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Where to Stash Your Savings

We love our Credit Union, America First. They have been great to work with and we have never had any problems with them. However, their interest on their savings account stinks! It is only 0.10% right now. We made pennies a month is all when we had our money in their savings account. I knew there had to be something better out there.



That was when we discovered Ally Bank. We opened up a High Interest Savings Account at an interet rate of .90% That is 9 times more than America First!

I chose Ally Bank because there was no minimum balance to open, there are no monthly maintenance fees, it is compounded daily to maximize profits, and it is FDIC insured.

There is no risk with this type of savings account. There are accounts with higher interest rate returns but usually those accounts are more of an investment type. I just wanted a place to store our emergency fund where there would be no risk, our money could still be put to work, and a place where it would be easily accessible if we ever needed it.

It works out great-- we just deposit into America First and transfer to Ally online.

If you would like to open up a savings account or explore Ally, click here.

Where to Buy: Laundry Detergent

Sooo I am sure you have seen lots of homemade laundry detergents floating around. I have tried the one with Fels Naptha, Washing Soda, Borax, and hot water. It works pretty well. I will probably keep the ingredients for it in my food storage. However, I noticed that it does not keep my whites as white as I like them, even with bleach.




So along with baby wipes, I like to buy my laundry detergent at Big Lots. It is only 3.80 for a bottle of All which does 38 loads. It does a great job and one bottle lasts me about a month. I have bought other brands as cheap as 2.50 there that work just as well.

Night 1 Dinner (1/26-2/2)

Night 1 (1/26-2/2)

BLT's
Turkey Bacon 1.99
Lettuce 0.50
Tomato 0.50
Homemade Bread 0.40

Total: 3.40

Pretty straight forward, just slap them together!

**A little trick I learned from Pinterest: Line a cookie sheet with foil and bake the bacon on that at 375 until it looks done. So much easier than cooking a little bit at a time in a frying pan!

Grocery Receipt 1/26 to 2/2

Saturday was grocery shopping day and I thought I would share my receipt and recipes for this week with you can see how we eat cheap.

Smith's Marketplace
Beef Roast ~3 lbs 8.07
Kroger Italian Dressing Mix 0.50
Kroger Ceasar Dressing 1.50
Dry Beef Onion Soup Mix 1.00
KVLU Mac and Cheese 0.58
Stew Beef 1.2 lbs 2.98
Chicken Breasts 1 lb 1.79
5 Bananas 0.85
4 Gala Apples 2.75
Kroger Whipped Topping 1.00
Kroger Whipped Topping 1.00
Kroger Frozen Green Beans 1.00
Kroger Frozen Mixed Vegetables 1.00
Kroger Turkey Bacon 1.99
Dozen Eggs 0.99
Tortillas 8 count 0.99
Carrots 0.99
3 Roma tomatos 0.67
Iceburg Lettuce 0.99
1 Cucumber 0.79
1 Yellow Onion 0.44

Total 31.92

*If I post a recipe with an ingredient not listed here it probably means that I had already
stocked up on that item and didn't need to buy it.

Chicken Spinach Enchiladas

I made these enchiladas for the first time a few weeks ago for one of my $5 dinners and they were seriously the best enchiladas I have ever put in my mouth! Even my 14 month old could not get enough of them. No lie, I think that every single person on the earth needs to make and taste these suckers.

 (Photo from tasteofhome.com)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
4 oz sour cream
8 oz cream cheese
10 oz frozen spinach, cooked and drained
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
Salt and pepper
9-10 flour tortillas
10 oz can green chile enchilada sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. LIghtly grease a 9X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the shredded chicken. sour cream, spinach. 1/2 cup of the pepper jack cheese, minced onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Spoon the mixture into each of the tortillas. Roll, and place the tortillas seam side down in the baking dish.

Pour the green enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining pepper jack cheese.

Bake in ovenn for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.

Easiest and Best Pizza Crust Ever!

We love pizza at our house! It is sooo much easier on our pocketbook when we make it ourselves. Usually pizza crust takes a long time with all the kneading and rising . . . this crust takes only 10-15 minutes and it turns out soft and chewy! I make it so much I have the recipe memorized. This is a great and inexpensive dinner. I can make 3 pizzas for less than $5!



Easy Pizza Dough
(I like to triple the recipe and make 2 pizzas for a thicker crust.)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp yeast                                                  2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)                  2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp. sugar                                                      1 tsp salt

1. Let yeast, water, and sugar sit for about 10 min

2. Mix in the remaining ingredients

3. Roll out onto pizza pan and top with desired toppings.

4. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

Where to Buy Baby Supplies

Diapers: We have tried lots of  brands of diapers. We do not like the Wal-mart off-brand. They leak and gave our little baby lots of rashes. We like Pampers and used them for a while until we  discovered. . . . Up and Up by Target. These diapers are so affordable and we have not had any  problems with them. Our little one is in a size 4 and they come out to be only $0.16 per diaper! The smaller sizes would be even cheaper! If you check their website they will sometimes even have coupons for the Up and Up diapers for extra savings.



Wipes: The best place I have found to buy wipes is Big Lots. Their wipes are only $.70 to $1.00 for a package of 80. I will usually go there to stock up, buying 5-10 packages at a time. Look at this ad! You could get your wipes even cheaper if you go out and buy them Saturday 1/25/13 The Rewards card is not a credit card. It is just free little card that they scan at purchase.


If you do not have a Big Lots where you live try this trick I discovered:

If you buy wipes in the baby section with all of the diapers you are probably paying too much. If you go to the section of the store where they stock the health and beauty products, (shampoo, body wash, hygiene stuff) there will be a section where they stock baby shampoo. Usually somewhere near the bottom shelf there will be wipes. There will be canisters of wipes or packages of wipes and they will a lot cheaper there.  I have found they work just as well as the name brand wipes. This method has been specifically tested at Wal-mart but I would assume it would be the same for other stores.

Grocery Buying Tips

We live on a $130 per month budget for groceries. How do we do it? Here are some things I do that help cut down the grocery expenses.

1. I plan my meals for the week before I go shopping. I am only allowed 32.50 per week for all of our groceries. I usually plan and buy for 5 dinners per week. The other two days we just eat leftovers. All of the dinner recipes I will be posting on this blog will cost around $5 dollars or less to prepare. We do not eat a whole lot of fresh produce unless it is on a way good sale. I will usually buy frozen veggies and canned fruit. Before I go shopping, I check grocerysmarts.com.



Grocerysmarts.com is an amazing tool for checking out weekly grocery deals. I mostly use this to check on produce and meat deals for the week. I will mostly only buy the items that I need which has the word "Extreme" next to it. It is way nice too because it lists the grocery deals by store.

2. We do not buy processed food like cereal, crackers, chips, pre-made chicken nuggets, corn dogs, Hot Pockets  ect. These items will really rack up your grocery bill fast. I stick to the basics when I go shopping and basically everything we eat is homemade. Because we do not have cereal for breakfast, I make inexpensive breakfast cassroles, my own pancake mix, and fruit-oatmeal bakes (recipes to come soon.)

3. I try to go shopping by myself and will not buy anything that is not on my list. When I bring other people with me, I tend to get sucked into buying items that I did not originally intend to buy. I go by myself and stick to my list.

4. I know where to shop. The majority of my shopping is done at Smiths because they tend to have great sales and I like the rewards points earned from being a fresh values customer. There are some items though that can be purchased cheaper elsewhere. Yeast, flour, sugar, and sometimes cheese are cheapest at Costco or Sam's Club. You can buy a 25 lb bag of flour at Sam's for just $7.67. The yeast and sugar are also great deals.

5. We stock up on staples at good prices. When you have mass amounts of everything, you don't need to go to the store as often and when you don't go to the store, you don't spend money. We stock up on yeast, flour, sugar, cheese (at Sam's), canned spaghetti sauce, canned vegetables, and canned fruit. I buy about 4 gallons of milk at a time, freeze them, and bring a gallon out as we need it. Because we have this food stored up, we can sometimes go even 2 weeks without going to the store if needed. You may have to build your storage up slowly to make it fit in your budget (flour one month, tomato sauce the next ect.)

Amish White Bread

Our grocery budget is only $130.00 per month to feed our family of 3. Really it is like we are feeding a family of 5 because my husband is 6"4' and eats 3X as much as me :) Anyway, because our grocery budget is so small we make our own bread. I figure it costs about 40 cents a loaf homemade vs. $3 a loaf in the store.

This Amish White Bread recipe is a gem that I just discovered from allrecipes.com. It bakes up nice and high and the crust is soft and thin so it cuts just like store bought bread does. It does have a slightly sweet taste but it works great for pb & j's, garlic bread, cheese sandwiches, dipping in soup, ect. We like it with everything basically.

I make the dough in my bread machine by adding the wet ingredients first, and then the dry, making a well for the yeast and put the machine on the dough setting. Then I place it in the pans and let it rise in a warm place covered with saran wrap coated with cooking spray for 30 minutes (I set my oven for 200 degrees and then turn the oven off.) Then it bakes for 30 minutes and you get 2 beautiful loaves of yummy bread for less than $1. This recipe is so easy, anyone can do it!

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110 degrees)                           2/3 cup white sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 cup vegetable oil 6 cups bread flour

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2.	Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3.	Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Mint.com: A Great Budgeting Tool

Soo I cannot take all of the credit for our ability to keep a budget. Mint.com is a FANTASTIC resource. There you can link up all of your bank accounts and it will track everything you spend. You can create a cutsomized budget on the website easily. Every couple days I will log into Mint and categorize our purchases and see how we are doing on our budget. It also lets you set financial goals and creates different graphs and pie charts showing different elements of your finances. I would not be able to budget without mint.com!

Save on the Cell

A month ago I had to switch cell phone providers. After a lot of research, I found that Page Plus Cellular had the best deal. I was a little nervous that I would not have very good coverage but it has turned out to be better than when I was with Verizon. And the best part is. . .  I only pay $12 per month for 250 min, 250 texts, and 10 mb of data. The other best part is there is NO CONTRACT or overage charges! I use my phone very minimally so this plan works for me but there are other affordable plans available too.

Auto Insurance

It is so important to shop around for the best rate when it comes to auto insurance. I know this will only apply to Utahns, but the best deal I have found for auto insurance in Utah is with Bear River Mutual. I have called many different auto insurance companies and none of them can even compete with Bear River Mutual. The other companies were about 20-30 dollars per month higher than what we pay Bear River for the same coverage. LOVE Bear River Mutual!

How do you do it?

We have had many people ask us how our family survives on our small income. My husband is currently going to school and works full-time as a CNA. I stay at home with our son full-time so his income is our only income. People wonder how we manage to survive AND are still able to put money away in the bank. I am always getting asked for tips on how to save money. This is how we do it:

1. We keep a budget: This is the most important part of being financially fit. You have to know exactly how much you are bringing in and how much you are spending. You have to give every dollar a name and follow your budget religiously.

2. We have to have self-control: For example, we each get 25 dollars a month for our personal money. This is for my clothes, make-up, crafts, ect. and his fast food, Dr. Pepper, ect. If we spend our money for that month, it is gone.

3. We have no credit cards: There is no reason to have one. We get by just fine with our debit card and we never go into debt to buy something. Everything we buy is cash-flowed. We even plan to pay 100%  down for a car next year. The only loan we will probably ever get is for our home someday.

4. I research deals like crazy: I usually will not buy something unless I am sure I have found the best value. Many of these deals will be posted on the blog,

5. We donate money to our church: I am a big Dave Ramsey fan and he made a good point about charitable donations. He believes God will not place money into the hands of those who He knows will not do anything good with it. I also believe this. I also know that our family is blessed when we give back.

6. We have an emergency fund: We currently have emergency savings that we build on every month (about 4 months worth.) If my husband were to lose his job, (not that we plan on it because he rocks at it) we could survive for 4 months while he was looking for another. OR if we were to have some sort of medical emergency, it would also help out with that. You never know what life is going to throw at you so it is best to be prepared.

7. We spend less than we earn: Sometimes it can be hard to do this on our tight budget, but usually we are able to add to our savings each month. We know that we will never accumulate any wealth (our goal is to have 1 million saved for retirement) if we are spending everything that comes in, no matter how large or small our income is.