Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely this week:
- We continued tracking our Kellogg's Rewards, Pampers Points, and Swagbucks.
- We finished our FREE fall photoshoot as Mark and I played photographers instead of hiring one. We estimate this saved at least $200.
- We shopped a sale at Gymboree and were able to find this year's Christmas pjs, the end of Annabeth's Christmas gift, and next year's Halloween costume and shirts. The whole store was 30% off PLUS a kind lady shared a coupon that saved us an additional 20% off that price! Saved: $75!
- We enjoyed a free day at the Children's Museum thanks to friends who shared the +2 on their membership with Annabeth and me. Saved: $32
- Mark's parents gave us 3 free bottles of apple juice. Saved: $3
- We at some creative dinners
- As we are still eating venison from our deep freeze from last season's hunt, Mark took some to work to share with a family who has eaten all of theirs already. We feel so blessed to have enough for ourselves AND enough to share!
- I did my own haircut and color. I spent just $6.49 on the color. Saved: $83.51
- I homemade two hairbows for Annabeth using clips and ribbon we already had on hand.
Total Saved: $393.51
What have you been doing to save money?
Happy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference"
Friday, November 8, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
One of "those" dinners...
Monday we took a "quick" trip to Wal-Mart, it took 15 minutes to find everything we needed on our short list and more than 1 hour to check-out! Ugh!
I got home and browned the meat for lasagna - I had noticed on Sunday that our cottage cheese was set to expire so we needed to eat lasagna ASAP! I had the meat browned and all the ingredients out only to realize that we had just 2 lasagna noodles in the pantry. Two. I thought about going back to the store but worried the lines would still be too long to make it worth the wait. Oh well, people can enjoy lasagna with just two noodles right? So I went to get our small, square Pyrex pan out to put it all together. All of our square pans were in use, storing freezer meals. So, I assembled our two noodle lasagna in a round cake pan. It wasn't pretty but it was together so I put it in the oven.
Then I remember that in the midst of solving the lasagna issues I had not gotten the rolls out of the freezer to thaw. Short on time, I got them out, put them in a pan - now I only had a heart shaped pan left to bake in - and put the pan in our guest bath, the warmest room in the house to thaw. 1 hour later they were thawed and I put them in to bake.
Also please note that Annabeth would not nap on Monday so she was awake and screaming at me the entire process. I called my sister-in-law for our weekly phone date and prayed for sanity. She was able to witness to our crazy over the phone and even got me to laugh about it all. Desperate for quiet, I put jackets and shoes on and we went out to the backyard to run off our 'angries' before Mark came home. Then she decided that she did not want to come inside to eat dinner. Thankfully the weather was warm enough to bundle up and eat at her picnic table outside.
In the end, dinner was edible and we enjoyed a November Evening Outside. I also tried to make up for our crazy dinner by baking our favorite chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
I got home and browned the meat for lasagna - I had noticed on Sunday that our cottage cheese was set to expire so we needed to eat lasagna ASAP! I had the meat browned and all the ingredients out only to realize that we had just 2 lasagna noodles in the pantry. Two. I thought about going back to the store but worried the lines would still be too long to make it worth the wait. Oh well, people can enjoy lasagna with just two noodles right? So I went to get our small, square Pyrex pan out to put it all together. All of our square pans were in use, storing freezer meals. So, I assembled our two noodle lasagna in a round cake pan. It wasn't pretty but it was together so I put it in the oven.
Then I remember that in the midst of solving the lasagna issues I had not gotten the rolls out of the freezer to thaw. Short on time, I got them out, put them in a pan - now I only had a heart shaped pan left to bake in - and put the pan in our guest bath, the warmest room in the house to thaw. 1 hour later they were thawed and I put them in to bake.
Also please note that Annabeth would not nap on Monday so she was awake and screaming at me the entire process. I called my sister-in-law for our weekly phone date and prayed for sanity. She was able to witness to our crazy over the phone and even got me to laugh about it all. Desperate for quiet, I put jackets and shoes on and we went out to the backyard to run off our 'angries' before Mark came home. Then she decided that she did not want to come inside to eat dinner. Thankfully the weather was warm enough to bundle up and eat at her picnic table outside.
In the end, dinner was edible and we enjoyed a November Evening Outside. I also tried to make up for our crazy dinner by baking our favorite chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
Eating their cookies, still outside even in the dark!
(It was only 6 pm - the time change makes it dark far too early here!)
Linked Up To: Teach Me Tuesdays @ Growing Home Blog
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
Last night I baked our favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies!
McCormick Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cookies
- from McCormick & Co. Inc
Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp. McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (we like the mini ones best for these cookies)
MIX flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
BEAT butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
ADD in eggs and vanilla, mix well.
GRADUALLY ADD the flour mixture.
STIR in chocolate chips.
DROP by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.
BAKE in preheated 375 degree oven 8-10 minutes or until brown.
Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute, then cool completely on wire racks.
ENJOY!!
ENJOY!!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Fall Photoshoot - 2013
As I mentioned in my last Frugal Fridays post we spent a few Sundays at the park doing fall pictures. I love pictures, keeping detailed journals and photobooks, as well as scrapbooking and was really looking forward to a fall photoshoot of our little family. Here are some favorites:
Annabeth on "her" playground at our favorite park in town
Daddy and Anna - Best Friends
Blowing dandelions
Mama and Nanners in our matching outfits
They may not be "perfect" or "professional" pictures but they are ours. They are how either Mark or I saw the day through the lens.
This is the fall, just the three of us.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Frugal Fridays 11
Happy Frugal Friday!
Here is what we did to save money/spend money wisely this week:
- Last weekend we went out to dinner - Ruby Tuesday's - and our sweet waitress gave us a free dessert AND after asking if they sold their amazing croutons separately brought me a huge takeout container full of them! We may have spent money by eating out but we had a dinner we truly enjoyed and crouton breakfast for the next morning! :)
- Last Sunday we headed to the big park in town to take fall pictures of Annabeth as well as Annabeth with Mark. There were at least 5 professional photographers there working with families and they took pictures in most of the places that we chose. Our pictures turned out very nicely and they were FREE! We estimate we saved at least $200 by not paying a photographer.
- I had 17 free prints on my Sam's Club online photo account so I printed pictures for friends and family. Saved: $2.21
- We got a sample of "Clear" shampoo for colored hair in the mail. It was a 1.7 oz travel size so I will be able to get a few extra washes from that. It also came with a $4 off my next purchase coupon so if we like it we can buy our next set for a discounted price.
- I bought groceries at Kroger and my receipt came with a survey code. I spent about 5 minutes giving our store feedback and got 50 fuel points for my time! I then was able to save $.10 off each gallon at the pump this week.
- Annabeth had Five Fun and Frugal Halloween Outfits
- One of our General Mills food items had a code for outnumberhunger.org. I went to the website and with the code, store purchased at, and our zip code I was able to donate 5 meals to our Gleaner's Food Bank.
- We made Halloween dinner for Mark's parents who came down. I made a simple Crockpot soup as well as some pumpkin crumble muffins. We had lots of muffins left over so we sent some with his parents and then this morning Mark took the rest to work for other's to enjoy.
Confession Time: I find that in being frugal as an adult, I have often been reluctant to give to others. I worry that if I spend too much on a birthday gift or Christmas gift that it will break our budget. I also worry and fret over any impulse buy at the store. However, I love that General Mills made it easy this week to make that purchase be something that fed our family and provided meals to others. I also loved that the Lord gave us an abundance of food this week so we were able to share. I am working to remember daily that:
What have you been doing to save money this week? Did you dress up for Halloween?
Happy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference"
Here is what we did to save money/spend money wisely this week:
- Last weekend we went out to dinner - Ruby Tuesday's - and our sweet waitress gave us a free dessert AND after asking if they sold their amazing croutons separately brought me a huge takeout container full of them! We may have spent money by eating out but we had a dinner we truly enjoyed and crouton breakfast for the next morning! :)
- Last Sunday we headed to the big park in town to take fall pictures of Annabeth as well as Annabeth with Mark. There were at least 5 professional photographers there working with families and they took pictures in most of the places that we chose. Our pictures turned out very nicely and they were FREE! We estimate we saved at least $200 by not paying a photographer.
- I had 17 free prints on my Sam's Club online photo account so I printed pictures for friends and family. Saved: $2.21
- We got a sample of "Clear" shampoo for colored hair in the mail. It was a 1.7 oz travel size so I will be able to get a few extra washes from that. It also came with a $4 off my next purchase coupon so if we like it we can buy our next set for a discounted price.
- I bought groceries at Kroger and my receipt came with a survey code. I spent about 5 minutes giving our store feedback and got 50 fuel points for my time! I then was able to save $.10 off each gallon at the pump this week.
- Annabeth had Five Fun and Frugal Halloween Outfits
- One of our General Mills food items had a code for outnumberhunger.org. I went to the website and with the code, store purchased at, and our zip code I was able to donate 5 meals to our Gleaner's Food Bank.
- We made Halloween dinner for Mark's parents who came down. I made a simple Crockpot soup as well as some pumpkin crumble muffins. We had lots of muffins left over so we sent some with his parents and then this morning Mark took the rest to work for other's to enjoy.
Confession Time: I find that in being frugal as an adult, I have often been reluctant to give to others. I worry that if I spend too much on a birthday gift or Christmas gift that it will break our budget. I also worry and fret over any impulse buy at the store. However, I love that General Mills made it easy this week to make that purchase be something that fed our family and provided meals to others. I also loved that the Lord gave us an abundance of food this week so we were able to share. I am working to remember daily that:
"...Jesus said, "It is truly more blessed to give than to receive."
- Acts 20:35
What have you been doing to save money this week? Did you dress up for Halloween?
Happy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference"
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Five Fun and Frugal Halloween Outfits!
Have I mentioned that I LOVE holiday and themed outfits?!
Here are Annabeth's fun and frugal Halloween 2013 outfits!
#1
Here are Annabeth's fun and frugal Halloween 2013 outfits!
#1
Black "Trick or Treat" Shirt - Found at a garage sale by Rose for us - FREE
(a great deal because it's gender neutral so we can send it back for SJ for next year)
(a great deal because it's gender neutral so we can send it back for SJ for next year)
Orange Leggings - Gymboree Clearance more than a year ago for around $2
(another great deal because she has worn them for 14 months!)
(another great deal because she has worn them for 14 months!)
Halloween Hairbow - Claire's Clearance 2 for $2.50 - worn last Halloween and this year
Total Cost: $4.50
#2
Orange Dog and Pumpkin Shirt - Children's Place Clearance - $.99
Black and Silver Tutu - Hand-me-down from Kati and Elli - FREE
Halloween Hairbow - The same one from yesterday
Total Cost: $.99
#3
#4
#5
Total Out of Pocket Cost: $11.58
However, the leotard will be worn for the rest of this tumble season and hopefully some of next year's! Also, the leggings and red bow are worn year round. So on Halloween specific items I spent just: $3.59!!!
Happy Halloween!!!
Halloween Themed Turtleneck - A garage sale find - $.10
Jean Jumper and Tights - Carter's birthday gift from her Nana and PawPaw - FREE
Same Halloween Hairbow as the past two days
Total Cost: $.10
#4
Hello Kitty Halloween Shirt - Old Navy a gift from Grandmama Mimi - FREE
Hello Kitty Black and Silver Tutu - A birthday gift from Auntie Rose - FREE
Still that same bow!
Total Cost: FREE!
#5
Her Halloween Outfit since we have tumbling during Trick-or-Treat Time!
Leotard - Found at Growing Sprouts consignment store - $4.50
Red and White Bow - Gymboree Clearance - $1.49
Total Cost: $5.99
However, the leotard will be worn for the rest of this tumble season and hopefully some of next year's! Also, the leggings and red bow are worn year round. So on Halloween specific items I spent just: $3.59!!!
Happy Halloween!!!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Our Homeschool Preschool - Year One
As Annabeth turned 2 this month, we have "really" begun to "formally" homeschool.
Why homeschool for our family?
*Please note: I grew up in public schools and public university. Mark grew up in Lutheran Schools and public university. We each had very positive experiences and are thankful for the lessons and opportunities that we had*
Right now, for the beginning preschool and pre-k years, after months and months of prayer and seeking God's wisdom for our family, we feel that the Lord has laid this upon our hearts. As you read above, neither of us were homeschooled nor did we grow up with any close homeschooled friends, and I feel like that really means this is God working in our hearts. We have many family members and friends who are teachers (both in private and public schools) and we are completely supportive of family and friends who choose to send their children to brick and mortar schools BUT we feel that this is right for US.
Will we homeschool all the way through?
Only the Lord knows. Although I can envision homeschooling through high school that does not mean that it is God's plan for our family. We plan to take it year by year and to really pray and seek His answer for each season of our lives.
What if Annabeth doesn't care for this? What if she wants to go to school?
Again, we will seek God's wisdom on this matter. If she is really old enough to begin making her own decisions we will ask that she pray on her own as well as with us and we will work as a family to hear God's answer.
What does our homeschool day look like this year?
This is a rough outline of our days. Our goal is to accomplish this day at least 3 days a week:
We generally have one playdate a week and one library day a week. On those days we will always have Bible and Prayer time but for this preschool year the other school things may wait until the next day. I will not cancel outings or fun opportunities for "school" as she is just 2.
Also, there is ALWAYS learning happening these are just formal things we set out to accomplish each day. We do colors and shapes as we read and play. We practice adding, subtracting, and fractions while we bake and cook. We play learning games on her vtech laptop or online. We do animal and color flashcards. We play games. We do puzzles. We play with children in a wide range of ages. We go outside and have nature lessons hiking with Daddy.
Overall what is our goal?
Our goal is to establish a lifelong love of our precious Lord and of learning.
By learning in the home we hope that Annabeth will become as creative as she desires. We hope that she will enjoy learning underneath our "lesson tree" in the backyard or sitting on the floor or in the bathtub and not just sitting at a desk. We hope that this freedom will give her the opportunity to study, in depth, things that truly interest her. We hope that it allows us time as a family to do community outreach and service. We hope that it allows us to have flexible vacation time and lessons that can take place on the road as much of our family lives far away. We pray that it glorifies the Lord and prepares Annabeth for a lifetime of service to the One from whom all blessings come.
I am sharing this today because people have begun asking some of the above questions, in hopes that you will understand a bit more of our hearts, and to pray for our family as well as our little school: Annabeth's Academy.
Linked Up To: Teach Me Tuesdays @ Growing Home
Why homeschool for our family?
*Please note: I grew up in public schools and public university. Mark grew up in Lutheran Schools and public university. We each had very positive experiences and are thankful for the lessons and opportunities that we had*
Right now, for the beginning preschool and pre-k years, after months and months of prayer and seeking God's wisdom for our family, we feel that the Lord has laid this upon our hearts. As you read above, neither of us were homeschooled nor did we grow up with any close homeschooled friends, and I feel like that really means this is God working in our hearts. We have many family members and friends who are teachers (both in private and public schools) and we are completely supportive of family and friends who choose to send their children to brick and mortar schools BUT we feel that this is right for US.
Will we homeschool all the way through?
Only the Lord knows. Although I can envision homeschooling through high school that does not mean that it is God's plan for our family. We plan to take it year by year and to really pray and seek His answer for each season of our lives.
What if Annabeth doesn't care for this? What if she wants to go to school?
Again, we will seek God's wisdom on this matter. If she is really old enough to begin making her own decisions we will ask that she pray on her own as well as with us and we will work as a family to hear God's answer.
What does our homeschool day look like this year?
This is a rough outline of our days. Our goal is to accomplish this day at least 3 days a week:
We generally have one playdate a week and one library day a week. On those days we will always have Bible and Prayer time but for this preschool year the other school things may wait until the next day. I will not cancel outings or fun opportunities for "school" as she is just 2.
Also, there is ALWAYS learning happening these are just formal things we set out to accomplish each day. We do colors and shapes as we read and play. We practice adding, subtracting, and fractions while we bake and cook. We play learning games on her vtech laptop or online. We do animal and color flashcards. We play games. We do puzzles. We play with children in a wide range of ages. We go outside and have nature lessons hiking with Daddy.
Overall what is our goal?
Our goal is to establish a lifelong love of our precious Lord and of learning.
By learning in the home we hope that Annabeth will become as creative as she desires. We hope that she will enjoy learning underneath our "lesson tree" in the backyard or sitting on the floor or in the bathtub and not just sitting at a desk. We hope that this freedom will give her the opportunity to study, in depth, things that truly interest her. We hope that it allows us time as a family to do community outreach and service. We hope that it allows us to have flexible vacation time and lessons that can take place on the road as much of our family lives far away. We pray that it glorifies the Lord and prepares Annabeth for a lifetime of service to the One from whom all blessings come.
I am sharing this today because people have begun asking some of the above questions, in hopes that you will understand a bit more of our hearts, and to pray for our family as well as our little school: Annabeth's Academy.
Linked Up To: Teach Me Tuesdays @ Growing Home
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