Quickly Running Out of Stockpile

I find that I stock up on a lot of things and then I think that it will last forever.  Do you feel this way with things because I find that it is that way with everything for us like clothes, shoes, cars and food?  I just bought that shouldn't it last forever!!!

I got so much flour and with the construction at the new house and the selling of the old house, I didn't use as much as I thought so we did move a ton of flour and other baking supplies to the new house.  However, I have ramped up my baking at the new house to meet our food needs and I am almost totally out of the 25 five pound bags we moved (125 lbs!!).  I poured the second to the last bag of flour and the last bag of sugar in my Tupperware tubs.  My flour one is in the bright orange because my mom found a Halloween tub on sale years ago when my other flour container cracked (it was my grandmothers so it was old). The container on the left is my sugar (still my grandmothers but newer so only 20 years old).  I realized that I am going to have to go back to stock up mode.

I grabbed 8 bags of sugar when they were under $1 and I am going to have to get my Wegman's flour because it is on sale for under $1 for the unbleached all purpose that I use regularly.  I am almost out of vital wheat gluten which I used to get in Amish country for cheaper but my parents haven't been there in ages so I know that I am going to have to bite the bullet and get the box at the store.

My husband is down to the last four containers of cranberry juice from my crazy stock up deal so I will have to add a few more to the budget to make sure that he isn't out by the end of the month but I am super thankful that they lasted this long.

I just moved things around in the pantry and I realized that we are down to the last 3 potato soups and 5 chicken noodle soup.  We have plenty of canned tomatoes but the rest of the pantry is sort of bare.  I know that I will be making lots of soup from scratch with the homemade chicken broth that I have in the freezer but having some quick cans on hand is way easier.

We are almost out of our incredible stock pile of Saffron rice.  We used up all the regular flavor and I only have 6-8 left of the spicy flavor.  They are really great mixed up with taco meat to make enchiladas to stretch the meat.  It is a great filler but even better because I got tons of them free with a sale and coupon awhile ago but we are at the bottom so we will be sad to not have them to fall back on.

I used my last bag of popcorn from the freezer from Aldi that I stocked up on last "season" because popcorn is seasonal.  I grabbed four bags at Harris Teeter when they were on sale to hold us over but I only have two left of those.  My son eats popcorn every day for snack at school and I love a little snack of fresh popped popcorn too.  For a special treat at night my husband and I used to enjoy kettle corn that I made but I haven't done it in an age!!  We are going to need a lot more popcorn!

I just used up the rest of the blueberries in my yummy blueberry strudel muffins.  I made some with the the oatmeal yogurt topping that I had left in the cupboard from one that I didn't use.  I love having frozen blueberries to use all year round but they were super little this year so I didn't buy any to save for winter....we will be really sad when there aren't blueberry muffins in the cold months.

I just used the rest of the crunchy peanut butter that I only buy to make cookies.  I love peanut butter cookies and I rarely make them.  My son doesn't eat them so it seems a little weird to make things that only my husband and I enjoy but I got some crunchy peanut butter on sale and with coupon for free or nearly free.  This was my last batch of cookies!!

I am working on using up everything in the house to reduce the amount of money out of pocket this month because I am already part way through my budget.  Trying to be a little more creative to stretch the grocery money.  I used my free day to make a bunch of food to last through the long weekend but now I am wiped out!!  Double batch of peanut butter cookies, blueberry strudel muffins, homemade brown sugar, whole wheat pitas, and chopped hash browns for the weekend.

Do you have certain things that you always keep on hand at your house??  Do you stock up on things seasonally??

Menu Plan Monday 10/10

Monday- Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken and homemade fries
Tuesday- Pasta with garlic bread and sausage
Wednesday- Lasagna with garlic knots and chopped salad
Thursday- Herb Butter Roasted Chicken with stuffing and sweet potatoes
Friday- Salsa Sloppy Joes on homemade rolls
Saturday- Paninis and soup
Sunday- Leftovers

So last week went totally off the rails and I really don't know why except I was exhausted and totally overbooked.  I have been working one job on Mondays and the other job Tuesday through Friday all half days so I am usually home by 1:30 or 2:30 most days so there is an hour or more before I have to walk to school and get my son which gives me a little time to clean dishes and get ready for dinner.

However, I am now doing physical therapy on my feet hoping it will take away the yucky pain but that messed up Monday by pushing work later and I just made it home to get my son and I got the planned meal on the table.  Tuesday is soccer practice night so we have to race home after school to make it there on time but I had a little time and got dinner on the the table as planned.  On Wednesday, I did the second PT and got home just in time to get my son and I don't think that I could hold it together anymore because I ate lunch after 2 pm so I decided to skip dinner and make something for my son and husband that they both liked so I made my son chicken fries (his all-time favorite meal) and my husband got buffalo chicken rice.  Thursday was a nice day so we stayed on the playground for way too long and I was hoping my husband would be able to stick the lasagna in the oven but he was late at work too so we ate a little later then planned.  Then Friday I watched my friends son all day while she was at work and then hospital with her parents and the fathers went out and got us pizza so that the boys could eat together making it the longest playdate and 11 hours by the time that they left asking if they could spend more time together.  The weekend was busy too even though we didn't have soccer on Saturday.  I finally made the chicken tacos and spicy rice I was planning for on Thursday.  I am also working on Sunday nights for the next few weeks but I threw a chicken in the oven before heading off to work so it was nice and done when I got home so thanks for the great deal on chickens at Harris Teeter or we wouldn't have had anything because I knew that I couldn't get it on the table before leaving but no school on Monday for Columbus Day holiday so we are sort of on summer schedule so dinner at 7:30 pm worked well. 

Here is hoping that this week goes better and that my work on Monday to get everything prepped and ready to go makes it an easy week even though we have company coming in town.  My mother in law is rolling into town on Wednesday in her RV and she told my husband that she was only going to stay a few days.  I don't know what that means but I have cooked up a lasagna for Wednesday night when she is supposed to arrive and have a Roast Chicken with all the fixings planned for Thursday.  Plans are subject to change so I guess we will see how things goes but I have tons of food at the ready depending on how many people are going to be eating at our house that night!!   Hope you have a tasty week!!!

Treasured Book Review

I was excited to get to the third book in the series Treasured (Perfect Destinies) by Sherryl Woods.  The first two were so great that I knew that the third one was going to follow the third brother who we knew very little about.  I couldn't wait to find out what else Destiny had up her sleeve!!

Despite the wealth and power of his remarkable family, Ben Carlton stayed hidden away in rural Virginia with only his artistic talent and his troubled memories for company. But when he met beautiful gallery owner Kathleen Dugan at the urging of his matchmaking aunt Destiny, his wounded heart began to open—yet he couldn't completely forget the tragedies of his past.
Vivacious, driven Kathleen was intrigued not only by Ben's paintings, but also by the handsome, mysterious man who created them. Were Ben's wounds too deep for Kathleen to mend…or did Destiny create another perfect match?

I loved it as much as the other books and it was fun to see where the third brother would end up with the girl.  The family was covered a lot in this book and you got to see the other brothers that you had already grown to love.  Ben Carlton was an interesting character because he was trying to get over the loss of his parents and the loss of his girlfriend which he felt responsible.  Because of these losses, he locked himself away in his house doing his art but not interacting with the world.  It wasn't a full life until he met Kathleen.  She brought out all of the hope and opened him up to having a life again.  They were an interesting match from the start and both tested each other to grow.  Together they learned how to overcome their past but will they make it together, you have to pick up the book to find out.  I hope that you check out this book and all the rest of the books in the series.  I really enjoyed all of them!!!  I know that you will too!!!

Our Eating Out and Take Out Review

I track my grocery spending in a notebook and I have never tracked my take out and eating out budget!!!  LIKE EVER!!!  I decided to go back and figure out how the numbers looked for eating out this year after realizing that we went a little overboard in August!  I was worried that it was going to upset me but I was looking to find out anyway...better to know and get a handle on it.

I had some gift cards from my students and my husband had a few from his so we did enjoy some that cost us nothing out of pocket but that still doesn't mean that money wasn't spent.  I try to keep our eating out spending under $40 per month.  The take out budget I thought it was going well but check out my review below:

September:

$5.30 Little Caesars 

$9.54 Little Caesars

$4.23 Dominos Pizza

$5.30 Little Caesars

$9.53 Paisanos Steak and Cheese

Total $33.90

August:

$2.00 Red Robin (above gift card)

$3.58 Wendy's 

$10.59 Little Caesars

$14.85 Tony's Pizza

$13.50 Dairy Barn Ice Cream

$10.98 Chuck E Cheese

$12.16 Cheesecake Factory (above gift card)

$46.48 Chinese food

$15.68 Wendy's

Total $129.82

July:

$19.78 Grottos

$7.50 Thrashers fries

$5.00 Kohr's Ice Cream 

$6.91 Wendy's

 

Total $38.94

June:

$5.30 Little Caesars

$9.53 Paisano's Steak and Cheese

$5.30 Little Caesars

$8.54 Wendy's

$9.00 Little Caesars

$23.97 Green Turtle

Total $61.64

 

May:

$9.53 Paisanos Steak and Cheese

$5.30 Little Caesars

$2.00 Delia's tip (my mom paid rest)

$9.35 Wendy's

$5.30 Little Caesars

Total $31.48

April:

$42.55 Chinese

$5.30 Little Caesars

Total $47.85

March:

 $5.30 Little Caesars

$2.11 Wendy's

Total $7.41

February:

$5.30 Little Caesars

$5.30 Little Caesars

 

Total $10.60

January:

$4.01 Wendy's

$24.37 Little Caesars

$4.00 Mike's (above gift card)

 

Total $ 32.38

Total Take Out for the Year $394.02

Monthly Average $43.78

Only a little over in April with Chinese food for the family but either my mother or mother in law was visiting so we were hosting a special meal.  June and July included our vacation so I think that I did really well with eating out only being $22 over budget  in June because it was just one meal that we had on the beach.  We were also crossing over into July so it was nice to have it spread over two months and make so many great memories even though not the greatest sand castle because they spent so much time in the water instead.

August was a mess and I don't have any reason except we were trying to fit in everything at the end of summer.  We promised my son a trip to Chuck E. Cheese buffet which didn't happen until August. We had fun and he used tokens that we already have to play all summer and this was the only expense for that enjoyment.

We ended up picking up the tab for everyone to get ice cream since they picked us up before.  We love this place and got to enjoy it and make lots of memories this summer.

We went a little crazy at Cheesecake Factory after using the gift card because we eat a great meal and then got cheese cake!!!  Umm, it was great and my son's first cheese cake which he shared with us....lots of chocolate.  Another great memory!!

Then we bought Chinese food again when my mom was visiting and picked up the tab which is one of her favorites.  I know that we went a little crazy in August but we had a great end to the summer.  

After going over everything, I was so excited that the monthly total was only a few dollars over what I wanted to spend.  I am sure that we can figure out a way to even it over for the year!!  The best part is that I am sure that I am under on my grocery budget normally in a year about that much so it might even itself out to a total food budget being good.  The worst part is when the money is going out and you don't know where it is going so I am happy that I got this all tracked and I am going to continue for the year.

Do you tracking your take out and eating out spending??

September Reading Review

I read a ton of books over the summer and was interested in seeing how many books I would get read when I was trying to also get everything else done in our schedule.  It wasn't as much as I normally read but I still got lots of reading done this month.  I am still hoping to read 150 books for the year but I don't know if I am going to get to that goal but I did pass my 100 book mark this month which is my main goal every year.

Below are a list of all of the books that I read this month.  If you missed the review of the book, please click on the title and it will take you back to the original summary and review of the books that I enjoyed this month.  I hope that you add a few of these books to your reading list!!

The Heist

by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Chase

by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Job

by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club
by Wanda E. Brunstetter

The Scam
by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Fraying at the Edge
by Cindy Woodsmall

The Tattered Quilt
by Wanda E Brunstetter

Isn't It Rich
by Sherryl Woods

Priceless
by Sherryl Woods

Reading for 2016

January           13

February          11

March              9

April                 8
May                 9
June                 9
July                   16
August               18
September           9

Total Books        102

Currently Reading:

Treasured
by Sherryl Woods

Mind in the Making
by Ellen Galinsky

Sadly I started it and didn't pick it up again because it is a very serious book.  Hoping to finish because I have to return it to the library soon. It has a lot of interesting information!!

Off to a Fast Start for October Shopping

I had a bunch of things that I needed to get at the store but I didn't make it at the end of September so here is what I got so far this month:

Aldi $49.49

I went a little crazy at Aldi but hoping that I stocked up on a lot of things and won't have to go back again a million times.  I grabbed two packages of lunch meat ($3.49), two bags of chicken fries ($4.29), two bags of popcorn chicken ($3.99), four cheddar blocks ($1.89), three boxes of margarine ($0.59) and three 3 lb bags of gold potatoes ($0.99).  I grabbed milk because we needed it.  I was making lasagna so I needed more Parmesan because I never have enough.  My husband wanted bananas for breakfast/snack even though they weren't on sale!!!  Added one container of tub margarine and one monterey jack cheese just in case so I don't have to go back.  I also grabbed chips, chips and pretzels per my husband that would be nice to have.  We needed and will use most of the items but that is a super high Aldi total for me.

Harris Teeter $9.83

I went to grab lasagna noodles because Aldi still didn't have any.  They were shelf price of $2.99 and they were on sale for $2.50 but I still wasn't sure.  I ended up using a rain check for the lasagna noodles which was 3 for $5 and then a $1/3 coupon so I got three boxes for $4 which was $1.33 each.  I had planned on doing the same thing during super doubles but the coupon expired in a few days so it seemed like a good deal.  The Flesichman's Yeast packages are shelf price $1.59 and I have a coupon that doubles and makes them $0.09 each which seemed like a great time to stock up.  I also grabbed 4 boxes of Kleenex which were free after coupons and we really needed them.  There was also a great coupon for the Challenge butter to get free after coupon.  I got two ramen soup for my husband since he is sick!!  YUCK!!

Harris Teeter $0.66 + $0.42= $1.08

I went to one Harris Teeter close to work to grab three boxes of tissues and three packages of yeast and Kraft Parmesan Cheese.  The tissues were free after coupons.  The cheese was on sale for $3.50 and I had a coupon which was $1.50 off so that made it cheaper then Aldi.  The yeast had a shelf price of $1.49 but it rang up $1.59.  I went to customer service to ask and they gave me $1.79 plus tax back which was $1.59 for one and the $0.10 for each of the other ones.  Woot Woot!!  Then I left the store and went to the other Harris Teeter to get 3 more tissues and 3 yeast.  Love that all this cost me a little over a $1!!

Total Retail $125.04

Total Savings $64.64

Total OOP $60.40

I have a little under $100 for the rest of the month and I am sure that I can do lots with it but amazing how quickly this month started when I didn't get enough shopping done last month.  I was tempted to count this towards last month at least the first two trips but it doesn't really matter what month is is counted towards and I normally just do it on the date purchased and these were done on the 2nd and 4th of October.

Thanks to a reminder from Nathalie, I put in the potatoes for a rebate at Checkout 51 and got $0.25 and put in two rebates for MobiSave for $0.10 each for the bananas, pretzels and chips from Aldi and $0.10 for the pasta from Harris Teeter.  I am hopeful that all of those will come through and save a little more money even though it is only $0.65.  I took the time that I had to unlock all the new saving star deals that there were and save a few more on Ibotta but who knows if those are things that I am getting this month.  WooHoo...found three more things on Ibotta for $0.25 each for tissues, potatoes and challenge butter!!!  It is good to be reminded to check these things when getting home from the store to see if there is anything else that will apply to get deals!!!  Here is hoping that I find a few more too :)

Priceless Book Review

I was excited to get to the second book in the series and the best news is that I had gotten this book when I got the first book so I got to start it right after finishing the last one!!  Priceless (Perfect Destinies) by Sherryl Woods was the second book and I was ready to find out what was going to happen in this great chapter of the series.

Charismatic playboy Mack Carlton lit up a room—even a hospital room—like no one else. Dr. Beth Browning had to admit Mack's visits were a tonic for her young patient, but her own reaction was much more confusing… Although Beth didn't ask for a second opinion on her future with Mack, his aunt Destiny offered her prognosis: marriage. Given Mack's romantic history and her own wariness due to past losses, Beth hesitated to agree—but her symptoms were undeniably love!

This book was even better than the first book.  It was great to follow one of the other Carlton brothers and learn even more about the wonderful family.  Mack, the ex-football player and playboy, was sent to the hospital to lift the spirits of a sick boy by his aunt.  We quickly learned that there was another reason because there was an attractive doctor taking care of this wonderful little boy.  It was great to watch the twists and turns in this book but make sure you have your tissues.  It was a tear jerker with the doctor dealing with many life and death situations.  I hope that you enjoy this book and the rest of the series.  I know that I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to check out the next book in the series.