Menu Plan Monday

While it feels like a short week in every way, there are still meals to plan for this week! We cooked two turkeys this past weekend, and I'm looking forward to months of casseroles and soups made from those turkeys! What are your favorite leftover turkey recipes?

Breakfasts- cereal, oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, bananas, milk

Lunches- PB&J, pretzels/crackers, carrots/celery/apples, milk

Dinners-

Monday- Venison Steaks, baked potatoes, broccoli, cheese sauce

Tuesday- Hot Dogs, fried potatoes, carrots and celery

Wednesday- Fried Rice

Thursday- THANKSGIVING (pop, wine, green bean casserole and/or sweet potatoes)

Friday- Turkey and Rice Soup

Saturday- Pizza Night

Sunday- Eat What You Want (i.e. leftovers)

See what others are planning this week over at orgjunkie.com

Works-for-Me Wednesday

Ahh, once a month cooking. It seems like such a good idea every time I think about it. It exhausts me every time I think about it! I have used some of the methods from the once a month cooking and made it quite a bit easier on myself. Here are some ideas to consider incorporating into your own meal plan if you're not quite ready to fill your freezer with 20 prepared meals in one day.

1. Pre-cook your meat. A lot of people buy 10 lbs of hamburger when it's on sale and portion it out. Why not cook it first? If you want to, you could just brown half for use in sauces and soups, and turn half into taco meat all in less than an hour! One pan to clean for that 10 lbs.

2. Plan for leftovers. By the same token, if I'm going to make a whole chicken, I make two (or three) and debone the second for later use in recipes that call for cooked chicken. Then I throw those chicken bones in my pasta pot make some homemade broth. (I use my pasta pot so I can lift the bones out of there!) A similar method works for roasts and hams.

3. Double your meal. If you're going to all the trouble to make one casserole, it's just as easy to make a second at the same time and freeze it before cooking. I like putting my extra meals in freezer bags. I freeze them flat, than organize them like records in my chest freezer. Don't forget to label- everything looks different when frozen!

When just the mention of once a month cooking makes me break out in a cold sweat, I pull out one of these ideas and get a little bit going. It works for me! Find out what others are trying at Works for me Wednesday.

Everybody Needs an Alice

Remember the Brady Bunch? Did Carol Brady work outside the home? I can't remember. Sometimes I think every stay-at-home mom needs a housekeeper. And Alice sure was a great one! If someone just did my laundry and shopping, I could get so much other stuff done!

Last night I signed up for and used a brand-new alice.com account. I'm pretty excited for this new and useful tool. It's a website where you can purchase groceries online and have the shipped to your house. They even have several items discounted with coupons!

I purchased a $5 gift card from swagbucks to try this out. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of use and great prices. I bought Crest toothpaste for $1.22 among other things. They even offer reminders for frequent purchases, track your spending, show you their best deals, and have free shipping!

I have since discovered that there are $10 sign-up bonuses, and my understanding is that this cannot be combined with the swagbucks offer. So, if you want to give alice a try, here's a link for you!

Update: The $10 bonus is credited to your account after having made $50 worth of purchases. So, I think the Swagbucks offer AND the $10 offer could work in conjunction with each other. I'll let you know when I hit $50 how it turned out!

Free Finds

Signing up for free samples really helps stretch my budget. Whether I'm using these things for myself, gifts, Operation Christmas Child boxes, or stocking stuffers, it's money that's staying in my pocket! Free stuff can be found on many company's websites and you are just a couple of clicks away from a mailbox full of goodies.

I must admit that getting free stuff is pretty addictive. I've spent more time on the computer in the last couple of days than I'd like to admit. Here are my free finds:

Lipton Green Tea (free sample)

Gavalia Coffee (I did the 3 boxes of coffee for $3 offer)

Kohl's ($5 for newsletter signup)

Vista Print (bunches of free samples, including 140 return address labels, 100 postcards, and more for shipping costs)

Beauty Herbal Spa (free candle)

Crest w/Scope (free sample)

Taste of Home (cookbooks for $5 each)

In the mail today, I received my free sample of Dunkin Donuts coffee. they have this offer up again, if you missed out last time around. I also received a Kashi granola bar. Kashi has become my new favorite! I don't see any samples on their site right now, but will be coming my eye on them!

Usually these will be sample sizes, but there are a few places where you can sign up to receive full-szied free items, too! My favorite two are Vocalpoint and Kraft First Taste. I've been a member with each of these companies for a few months and have been very pleased with the free product offers. And they usually come with high dollar coupons, too!

Have you found any free samples or other great deals? Let me know! I'm always on the lookout!

Menu Plan Monday

Next week is Thanksgiving. I tried buying one of the .40/lb turkeys from Wal-Mart last night, and they were all out! I'll try again tomorrow. I'm hoping to cook and debone a couple of turkeys for my freezer. That's such a great price!

I also need to make some room in my freezer for (hopefully) another deer this season. And get some freezer meals in there ready to go for January (baby coming end of Dec). Plus, I still have two pumpkins that need taking care of, and a basket of tomatoes that actually turned red! There's a lot on my cooking to do list in the next couple of weeks!

Breakfasts- oatmeal, muffins, cereal, milk

Lunches- PB&J, pretzels, apples/carrots, milk

Dinners

Monday- Pasta

Pasta, Sauce, Hamburger, Bread

Tuesday- hot dogs

Hot dogs

Fried Potatoes

Veggies

(+cook venison for tomorrow)

Wednesday- Venison stew (in crock pot)

Venison, Potatoes, Carrots, Onion

Thursday- Chicken and Rice

Chicken breasts

Brown rice and broccoli

Friday- Pizza Night

dough recipe:

2 c warm water

1 c oil (vegetable is good, olive is better)

2.5 tsp yeast

2 tsp sugar

3 tsp salt

5-6 c bread flour (can sub 1/2 whole wheat)

optional- add italian seasonings (basil, oregano, garlic) to the crust or make breadsticks!

Let dough rise for one hour, punch down, rolls out 2-3 crusts (depends on thickness) top with favorite ingredients. (If making bread or breadsticks, let rise for 30-45 min after shaping)

Bake at 425 for about 20 min

Saturday- Eat What You Want (ie Leftovers)

Sunday- (Thanksgiving at church) Sweet Potatoes

sweet potatoes, butter/margarine, marshmallows

Do you have a good sweet potato recipe? I need to make a lot of these and my normal way may not be the best suited for the crockpot. Any suggestions?

That's the plan! If you'd like to take a peak at what some others are planning head over to Menu Plan Monday.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." ~1 Samuel 16:7

There are many things that I have learned from having a limited budget: the importance of prayer, humbly accepting help, how to get a great deal. But most of the things I have learned have been heart-related issues. Understanding that God owns everything and is in complete control of all the things that we receive, learning how to be content with what we currently have and to stay content no matter what the future may hold, and realizing that my value to the Lord is not wrapped up in my husband's occupation.

God loves me just as I am. He loves me with an infinite amount of unconditional love. There’s nothing I can do to make Him love me more than He already does. And there’s certainly nothing I can do to make Him love me any less. It became a status issue for me. Where my husband works, what position he holds, or how much he makes is not what should be defining my life. My life needs to built upon the Truth of God's love and mercy and my desire to follow and obey Him. I need to value my husband for his character, not his position or salary. I am married to a wonderfully faithful man who works hard and puts forth his best effort into everything he does. He provides financially for our family and takes good care of us. Those are the things that are important.

Realizing that I was thinking wrongly about this was a huge step for me. God was able to change my view of our situation and begin to value the things that are of eternal importance. Character, heart, and obedience. Your financial life should be a reflection of the things that truly matter to God. He does not look at the curb appeal of your home or the size of your paycheck. He's looking at your heart.

Dining Out for Less

I love eating out. Mostly I love the not having to cook part. But I really dislike how expensive it can get. Especially with four kids. I'm sitting there calculating our bill and how much it would have cost me to prepare the same meal at home. Kind of ruins the enjoyment. Here are a few tips for eating out for less that we have been utilizing to help our budget. And it usually keeps me focused on having a good time with friends and family!

1. Sign up for birthday clubs, VIP clubs, etc. Most places offer something for your birthday- an appetizer, dessert, or even a full entree! They may even send you other coupons to use throughout the year. The coupons are usually good from the week before your birthday to the week after. The only hard part is deciding which one(s) to use!

2. Get a dining club card or coupon book. Here in Lincoln, the POGO card is our favorite. It has a variety of restaurants offering free items with a purchase. Buying this card benefits a local organization, too. I saw a copy of the Entertainment Book at Menard's last week, and have heard that at many stores they are on sale.

3. Use a store punch card. These are most often found at coffee shops or ice cream places. Although some others have a card that offers a discount on your food purchases. If you tend to choose the same restaurant over and over again, this is a great option.

4. Kids eat free night. There are a lot of places that offer a free kids meal with an adult purchase on certain nights of the week. I do recommend calling your location, even if the website says "free meal." Recently, we visited a restaurant for kids' night and they didn't get a free meal, just a balloon. Highly disappointing.

5. Try restaurants.com I first looked at this site a couple of years ago and there weren't any restaurants in Lincoln participating. Now there are quite a few. You can purchase $25 gift cards for only $10. I finally took advantage of this last month when I had a coupon code and bought a 1-year dinner of the month club for just $24. Yes, that's right, we'll get a $25 gift card each month that I paid just $2 for! Plus, we got a $50 certificate just for signing up! You do need to watch the fine print as some places have minimum purchase amounts. We may even use some of these over the course of the year as gifts.

6. Sign up to be a mystery shopper. This is by far my favorite way to eat out for less. It feels like I'm spending someone else's money! Check out last week's post for a list of some of the companies I've had good experience with.

That's what helps me save money on eating out. Check out Works for me Wednesday for other tips across a variety of topics. What tips do you have for dining out for less?

Deals of the Day

Deals, deals, everywhere there's a deal! I'm overwhelmed trying to keep track of all the great deals that I'm reading about today. And we haven't even hit the height of our seasonal shopping! Here's what I'm taking advantage of today.

Family Fun magazine for $2.99 Sign up at Tanga and get your subscription for just $2.99/year when you enter the code 98c7 at checkout! If you already have a subscription, it will add to what you've already got. I think you can get up to three years at this price. I ordered mine this morning!

Sign up at See Here and get 50 free photo cards (no shipping, even!) with the code freebies4mom-1109 all month long. Apparently new customers can also get 100 free photos! See Freebies 4 Mom for more details. We'll be taking our Christmas photo this week and taking advantage of this great deal.

At 1-800-flowers you can sign up for their Fresh Rewards program and earn points from every purchase. For the month of November you get points for events you add to your reminder calendar. Up to 400 points- which is $40. Plus as a member, you'll get 15% off your order! I've got one November birthday gift taken care of!

I've spent a little more time than usual sifting through all the deals that are being posted on blogs and e-mailed to me. But I'm pretty excited for what I've accomplished. A little bit of time and a few dollars and I've got a bunch of great stuff coming my way! Do you have any exceptional deals you're taking advantage of this week?

Menu Plan Monday

I've been in a menu planning slump the last several weeks. Nothing sounds good, everything is too much work, we eat the same things over and over...sound familiar? I'm sure we've all been in this position at one point or another. Well, I'm taking the advice of a friend and am in the process of creating my "master menu." (Check out her blog post here.) This will be a compiled list of all the recipes we use consistently. Mine's almost completed. I have a huge list of about fifty items, now I just need to figure out what makes sense for organization- by meat type? by carb type? by meal "genre"? I may just set my husband loose to build me an excel spreadsheet. I could type the info into various columns and print lists according to all those methods. I could easily add and reprint as we find new family favorites. Then I can look at my list when I'm in a slump and remember the meals that we like and haven't had for awhile. This should enable me to put some variety back into our menu and maybe even have enough time and energy to pull out my cookbooks and try some new recipes! What do you do when you're in a menu slump? Do you have old favorites you go back to? Do you pour over the cookbooks?

Breakfasts- cereal, bagels, oatmeal, muffins, fruit, milk

Lunches- pb&j, pretzels/popcorn, apples/carrots, cheese, milk

Dinners-

Monday- Grilled Chicken, Fried potatoes, broccoli

Tuesday- Fish and rice

Wednesday- Bread and dip, cupcakes

(appetizers and desserts with friends)

Thursday- Venison Stew

Friday- Pizza Night

Saturday- Birthday meal (still planning)

For more great menu ideas, head over to Menu Plan Monday and see what other folks are cooking up this week.

Deals to Start Your Holidays

We're coming up on the holiday season. And that means that the stores will all be vying for your attention, or your dollar! They're not even waiting until the day after Thanksgiving this year. With all the great deals, it's sometimes hard to control myself! One thing we've found helpful is to set a budget for our holiday spending. Usually we set aside money each month so it's not such a shock come Nov/Dec. Have both an overall budget and a budget per person. Make a list of everyone you're planning to buy for early on, including teachers, work exchanges, etc. Don't let anything sneak up on you! Here are a few deals to get you started this holiday season.

Wal-Mart

Thanksgiving for Less turkeys for .40/lb and more

Free Samples updates every couple of weeks

Nov 7th In-Store Savings lots of electronics posted, not sure what else will be on sale

Younkers

Community Day Sale donate $5 to a local organization and get a coupon booklet- a $10 off plus many % off coupons

(I'm selling these for my local MOPS group, e-mail me if you want some coupons!)

Home Depot

Christmas light trade in $3 off LED lights

Power Drill trade in 15% off a new drill

Photo Cards 50 free photo cards

Most stores will offer free shipping from their online sites. See if your favorite store has a facebook fan page, or an e-mail newsletter. These are great places to get extra coupons or free products. Do you know of any other deals coming up in the next week or two?

Check out Frugal Fridays for more great tips this week!

Get Paid to Eat Out

Date night is an important part of a marriage. Time out of the house, away from the kids and other distractions. Whether it's a time to go out and just have fun, or a time to revamp the family budget, time alone with my husband helps bond us together and unites us as one.

For the most part, we eat dinner out where we usually talk about something half-way serious. That can certainly be a budget killer! We have found a way to eat at nicer restaurants without spending $40 a meal. Usually, it's about $10 (with tip) and I have leftovers for lunch. You're wondering how, aren't you?

It's called mystery shopping. There are a number of reputable companies that enlist the services of private contractors (that's me) to evaluate their clients for quality service. We got into this a couple of years ago, and have never looked back! Here's a list of the companies I do most of my shopping for. These companies have lots of restaurants in our area, which is what we like, and some also do other things- retail, grocery, theater, phone calls, etc. There are a number of other companies that focus specifically on those types, as well.

Bestmark

Service Research Corporation

Game Film Consultants

I-Spy Mystery Shoppers

A Closer Look

Market Force
National Shopping Service

None of these companies asked me to pay a sign-up fee or promised great wealth. They are reputable companies that will help you get started in your own mystery shopping experience. Some of these companies pay a flat fee while others will reimburse to a certain amount. Either way, it generally works out the same for us- two dinners, drinks, and an appetizer/dessert and we pay around $10 out of pocket for a casual dining experience. I try to get two per month on our scheduled date night. Sometimes we'll do a different night of the week and take the kids with us. One time we had three in one week- yes it is possible to eat out too much!

I've done a few phone call evaluations. That ends up being about $8 for twenty minutes of my time. I've done one retail- that was a lot of work for the $10 they paid me. It was also my first shop, so maybe it would be a little easier now. I'm also working on a special project right now where I'll be interviewing for three jobs and will get paid a nice sum. Just in time for Christmas!

Do you have any experience with mystery shopping? I love to hear about other companies and see what they have in my area. If you decide to check out mystery shopping, let me know how it goes! For other great tips across a variety of topics, check out Works for Me Wednesday! This week is even themed, and many posters have some great tips for preparing for the holidays.

Affirming My Priorities

I woke up with a to do list a mile long. How about you? I took a few quiet moments and sifted through some blogs I follow. I read a great article and my day has been re-focused. If you, too, need a little mommy lift, take a look here. It's a little long, so I didn't want to copy the whole post over! Have a great Tuesday!

Menu Plan Monday

Do you ever get tired of cooking? Do you get tired of planning menus? Tired of making the same things over and over? Do you have a desire to try new things, but no time to find recipes that fit your family and budget? That's me right now... So, here's my un-inspired menu for the week. These are all easy meals for me, and my goal is to go through some of my dusty cookbooks and mark a few recipes for later this month. My goal for the month is to try a new recipe each week. I also need to keep my dinners under $5/meal. Do you have any fun, frugal recipes I could try?

Breakfasts- cereal, oatmeal, muffins, fruit, milk

Lunches- pb&j, popcorn/pretzels, fruit, milk

Dinners-

Monday- Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Tuesday- Venison Roast, Potatoes, Carrots

Wednesday- Fried Rice

Thursday- Waffles or Pancakes

Friday- Pizza Night

Saturday- New Recipe Night (Will update with recipe!)

Sunday- Eat What You Want Night (leftovers)

That's my plan! Head over to Menu Plan Monday to check out some other weekly meal plans.

Appliances pt 2

I'm learning more and more about saving money on all sorts of things. Here are some tips we've picked up over the last few years about getting good deals on larger purchases. For part one of getting great deals on major purchases, click here.

First of all, do your research. Know what you want and why you want it. Pick out your model and get familiar with the costs associated with each of the features. Know about the models above and below that one, and which features you're willing to let go of to get a different model at a bargain price.

I think everyone knows about price comparing. Visit different retailers- in person and online. Check out the major stores, as well as the discount stores. Sometimes there will be a special in store that they're not running online, or vice versa. Get an idea of how much your item is selling for and which places have the best prices. What kinds of sales do they have? Are there any other promotions you can take advantage of?

Consider purchasing second hand. Sites like e-bay and craigslist are the favorites in our home. Make sure you really know what you're getting before you make any bids or phone calls. This is where knowing how much it costs new can really help you out. Generally, you should be able to find something used for at 10% off, but could get it for as low as 50% off depending on the product and the demand for that item.

Most of my second-hand purchases are for kids' items. Garage sales, consignment sales, and thrift stores are great places to find baragains. Sales like Neat Repeatz and Take 2 here in Lincoln are where I get most of my shopping done for the year. I haven't been brave enough to take all my kids to a garage sale in quite a while, but I believe that's where some of the best deals can be found, and you can have fun bargaining, as well!

Recently, I was looking for an infant swing. New, they're anywhere in the $60-$200 price range. I figured out which brands should get me a $20 swing and kept my eye on craigslist for several weeks. Nothing was coming to my price point, and I began considering the need to spend more than that. But wait! Here comes Take 2, and not only did they have a swing for $20, but there were two to choose from!

Look for the clearance, returns, scratches, and overstocks. These are usually found in a back corner somewhere. If the store is big enough, there will be an outlet store or something like it "nearby." Last summer, we needed a new dishwasher. We just happened to get a $75 rebate off our particular brand because of some problem with a feature we didn't even use. Within the time frame of using that coupon, ours actually broke- it's a lot nicer to run a dishwasher if the dishes get cleaned and the water stays inside! So, we went to a store that was doing some appliance promotional, as well. We found our dishwasher on clearance because the new year's model came out the week before! I can't remember what we spent, but after clearance price, sale, and rebate, we paid less than half the original cost of the dishwasher. At that point, even the most basic model they had would have cost us more money!

Have a budget and stick to it. This is a lot easier if you're planning to pay with cash. It's amazing what will happen when you say something like, "we'll just write a check" when they go into their store credit card speech. It makes me wonder how much time they spend on those that just get turned down. We were at a furniture overstock-like store to purchase some couches. They were a "special buy" and with the 10% off weekend, we thought we were getting a great deal. I was wandering around again while Greg waited for a salesman. I found a beautiful dining room table. Originally priced around $1800, it was marked under $300! The salesman even went to see if it would qualify for the 10% off! Anyways, he was moving kind of slowly with our purchases until we said we'd write a check. Boy, did he move fast then! The same thing happens on the car lot. They don't seem to know what to do with you if you pull out a checkbook! Dave Ramsey says to bring cash in, but we haven't tried that, yet.

Buying in multiples. This is the way stores like Sam's Club operate, but it can work on other things, as well. We love the Slumberland clearance section and often use part of a date night to wander around in there. One time we found three of the chairs for our dining room in the return section. Of course, we asked for a deal if we bought all three. Of course, we got it!

Be willing to walk away. This is especially important when shopping for something that you will actually bargain for- cars, furniture, etc. We were looking trade our car in for a van and had a certain amount of money to spend above that- and it wasn't very much. We didn't need the van, yet, so were able to walk away when the dealership wasn't willing to come down on the model we were looking at or show us anything in our price range. Just two days later, the dealership called and offered us the van for what we had! We got an exceptional deal because we knew our budget before going in and were willing to walk away. This is a lot easier to do this if you're paying in cash and the item isn't an urgent need.

Have we missed out on other deal opportunities? How do you get the best bang for you buck when you make a larger purchase? I'd love to hear some of your ideas for getting a great deal. We'll try them out when we make our next large purchase!

If you're looking for other ways to save some money, check out some other links at Frugal Fridays.

How Cheap Can You Be?

I've recently entered the world of couponing. A few weeks ago I posted about my first "deal trip" and I thought it was amazing. Last week I had another trip, that I thought was pretty great, too. But this is absolutely amazing! She feeds a family of six for $4 a week! The principles that she uses are the same ones that I've started applying. Maybe I'll get there, too! If only we had the room to store all of our deals...

I love the chicksdigdeals website. Here in Nebraska, they compile a list of all the coupons in the Sunday paper and match them each week with store sales. I started visiting their site last spring, just for the convenience of checking all the store ads in one location. Now I'm hooked on couponing!

You may notice that there's a link on their site to get the Lincoln paper- Sun and Wed for $1/week. That's a great way to get coupons and the store flyers, especially if you decide to do some price matching. Here are some other website for coupon printing that I've found. So far, I've been able to get all of my deals solely from online and in-store coupons.

coupons.com

coupons.smartsource.com

redplum.com

coolsavings.com

afullcup.com

valpak.com

couponcabin.com

pgeverydaysolutions.com

Most grocery stores have a few coupons on their websites. And of course, check out the manufacturer websites for coupons, as well. Some people find it helpful to set up another e-mail account just for all their coupons and newsletters.

What's the best way to get a great deal? Match a coupon with a store sale. Even better is to put a store coupon on top of that! And if another store has that prouduct on sale, price match! For example, last week the Keebler cookies were on sale 2/$4 at one store. But I had a $1 off 2 store coupon at another store. Plus a manufacturer's coupon for $1.50 off 2. So, if I took my ad to that second store and used both my coupons I could get two packages of Keebler cookies for $1.50. It turns out that the second store had dropped their in-store price to match the competitor, so I didn't need to price match, but I was going to!

And because I can't contain myself any longer, here's the picture from my trip last week. I spent $6.80 on all the food you see in the photo! 2 boxes Kashi cereal, 2 boxes of whole wheat pasta, 2 packages Keebler cookies, 6 jars of Ragu sauce, 1 box Fiber one pastries, and 2 pounds of bananas. I used somewhere around $13 in coupons. I think I need to start framing my receipts!

My goal for the month of November is to buy only deals. That may not work perfectly- I'm out of potatoes, but I'm going to try!

What kinds of deals can you find? How cheap can you be?

Appliances pt 1

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." Psalm 50:3

Much of my time and energy is spent in getting great deals on the things that we need for daily life- food, diapers, toilet paper... But everyone needs to make a larger purchase at some time or another. Whether it's a necessity or something more fun, there are lots of ways to get great deals on those larger purchases. Not the least of which, is asking the Lord for a great deal- pray for those appliances

.

I'm not kidding. God has given you a responsibility over the money you have. Of course, He wants you to get a good deal. Every major item in our home was purchased at an incredible deal (and most minor things, too). We have a budget in mind when we walk into the store and ask God to give us something great. This is the same God who fed 5000 people from what basically amounted to one boy's lunch box.

The first time I experienced was when we purchased our home. We were now in need of some appliances. We thought we could hold off on the washer and dryer, but a refrigerator was necessary. In order to save money, we first looked at second hand appliance stores. Any of you who have done this may know that they are not the best options. We decided that this was a purchase that would be worth the cost of buying new. So, we headed off to do some comparison shopping.

When we got to one particular store, I was tired and slightly frustrated. Even the most basic models were out of the price range we had thought to spend. So, as we walk across the parking lot, I say, "Dear God, please give us a good refrigerator for under $500. In Jesus' name, Amen." It was a simple prayer, and not said very reverently, but it was one that the Lord decided to answer! We found one we like that was $550. We were pretty excited! It wasn't quite as low as we had hoped, but better than anything else we had seen. As Greg waited for a salesman, I was wandering around. Back in the corner, I found what looked like the same one, for over $100 less. It was marked as a return and it turned out that the only thing wrong was a scuff mark on the side- that would be covered by the counters in our new house! With taxes and all, our total was $505. Go God!

I have story after story of other large purchases that we have made- cars, dishwashers, cameras, and more. Do you have any tips that have helped you walk away with great deals?

How Do You Do It?

I have four children- 6, 5, 3, and 16 mos. Oh yeah, there's a new one coming in December, too! I often get comments about my children- how many we have, how close they are together, the fact that we homeschool. The comment I hear most often is "how do you do it?" Usually followed by "I wouldn't have the patience." Well, quite honestly, I don't have the patience, either!

What I do have is a loving Lord who grants the strength I need each and every day- usually each and every moment! I have my days of yelling at the kids and not discipling them with the proper mind-frame. I also have the grace that comes from the Lord to know that I can ask Him and my kids for forgiveness and we can all move on. I know that I am not the one who determines how my kids turn out. It is in the Lord's hands. I have to do my part, but how they turn out is not in my control.

So, how do I do it? Time with the Lord. Time with Him at His feet listening to his heartbeat. He loves me. He loves my kids. When I listen to the Lord's heartbeat, I know exactly where my focus should be each day- teaching my kids about our awesome God, and training them in Godly character, molding their hearts to love the Lord. The dishes, the worksheets, the laundry, all are put in their proper perspective when I'm listening to the Lord's heartbeat for my family.

When I'm not listening to the Lord's heart, everyone around me can tell. I'm frantic, racing from one project to another, not paying attention to my kids's spiritual growth. I'm focused on a clean house, gourmet meals, and how many worksheets we've done. All of these things need to be done, but within the framework of loving and training my children.

I'm not perfect. I spend way to much time on the latter than the former. It's hard to find time with the Lord when there are all these kids always around me. But quite honestly, it doesn't need to take that much time. Some worship music while making breakfast, a read through a psalm or two during a school break, some prayer time while folding laundry. I've even found that the children's Bibles are a great resource for speaking to me, while reading to them!

So, here's my question to you. Whether you have one child or twenty, it's draining to be responsible for them 24/7. How do you do it? What gives you strength and encouragement in your day? How do you carry on? I can't wait to hear from you!

Menu Plan Monday

Having been sick for several weeks, it takes a lot out of me to plan a meal and cook it. I'm so thankful for a system in which I plan my menu for the week and for having stocked up on sale items so I don't need to hit the grocery store this week. Another great idea for a sick mommy is children who are capable of preparing a simple meal. Mine help out often enough, but only once has my oldest made dinner mostly by himself. I think it's time to make sure they can measure things for themselves, and read a recipe properly! Next time I'm sick, I'll make sure we're stocked up with the ingredients for some basic meals, and have them do it all!

Breakfasts- oatmeal, muffins, fruit, milk ($4)

Lunches- PB&J, pretzels/popcorn, fruit, milk ($3)

Dinners-

Monday- Venison steaks, rice and broccoli, Peach Cobbler ($2)

Tuesday- (Date Night) kids- bean and cheese burritos, juice ($1)

Wednesday- red beans and rice ($2)

Thursday- Lasagna ($2)

Friday- Pizza Night ($2-3)

Saturday- Chili and Cornbread ($3-4)

Sunday- eat what you want night (leftovers)

For more great ideas to help you plan your menu, visit Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday

I typically write my menu out for one month at a time. Typically, it's about this time of the month that I look at the calendar and wonder why I wrote those meals down. I'm not a slave to my calendar, though, and I re-wrote the meals for this week! Most of these items are in my pantry already, too, having been purchased at a discount from regular store prices. If you haven't seen my previous post about learning about coupons, check it out here!

Breakfasts: Muffins, Cereal, Bagels, Milk (appx $3)

Lunches: PB&J Sandwiches, Apples, Pretzels/Popcorn, Milk (appx $3)

Dinners:

Monday- Hot Dogs

Hot dogs, Buns, Fried Potatoes ($2)

Tuesday- Breakfast Night

Waffles or Panacakes ($1-2)

Wednesday- Taco Casserole

Taco Meat, Refried Beans, Tortillas, Salsa, Sour Cream ($2-3)

Thursday- Chicken Bake

Chicken Breasts, Brown Rice, Broccoli ($3)

Friday- Pizza Night

Frozen pizza ($3)

Saturday- Grilled Cheese

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese ($2-3)

Sunday- Eat what you want night

i.e. leftovers

My estimated cost for these meals is $20-25. That should feed two adults and four kids. That's my plan for the week! Check out with others are planning this week at Organized Junkie.

Good Deal vs Great Deal

Last week, we had one of the ladies from the "Chicks Dig Deals" blog speak at our MOPS group. It was great to hear from a "couponing" mom who's been doing it for awhile. Being good stewards of the money the Lord has given us is a great motivation for getting the best deals. It's kind of fun, too! I've been following their blog for several months. It was nice to see where the best deals on different products was at, so I could choose which store to shop at each week. But I think it's time to go ahead and start the process of clipping coupons and not just getting a good deal, but getting a great deal.

This week, for the first time, I took the plunge and went to the store with the express purpose of getting some deals. Last night I spent some time going through each store's ad (made vastly easier by the fact that the "Chicks" had already done so!) to figure out which store had the best deals on the things that I wanted to buy and had coupons for.

So, here's my haul!

1 Betty Crocker potatoes pouch (Reg .99, Sale .69, -.40 MQ)

2 pkgs Keebler chocolate chip cookies (Reg 3.89 each, Sale 2/$4, -1.50 MQ)

9 pack of Charmin big rolls (Reg 5.75, Sale 4.39, -1.00 MQ)

4.3 lbs Braeburn apples (Reg 7.69, Sale 2.92, -.30 sticky coupon)

16 oz Bird's Eye frozen broccoli (Reg 1.99, Sale .77, -.35 MQ)

2 Coffee-Mate flavored creamers (Reg 2.58 each, Sale 2/$3, -1.50 MQ)

My total was $11.03

My savings from sales $13.61

My savings from coupons $5.05

My total savings was $18.66

I thought I was getting great deals before, but this is amazing! Granted, the cookies and the creamer wouldn't have been on my list without them being such a great deal. But come on, they were a great deal! Actually, that reminds me of one of the points she made last week. "The goal is not to "save" money. The goal is to spend less." (I think I'm going to write this on my coupon folder!) If I'm spending money on items I wouldn't have bought because I'm "saving" money, it's not helpful to me or my budget. Some things are nice to have on hand, though, and it's okay to spend the money on instant mashed potatoes for that night that I don't want to cook because then I won't be spending it in the drive-thru!

So, if you've seen any of my weekly meal plans and accompanying cost estimates, you may have wondered how I can feed my family of six for under $30 every week. One reason is because I tend to buy things I use a lot when they're on sale rather than waiting until I need them and paying full price. I'm excited to learn more about coupons and seeing how little I can spend!

You can see how others live frugally over at Life As Mom.