Spending Sucess for 2013

How did your year go?  Did you track your spending?  Is it one of your goals to do that this year?

I started tracking my expenses when I decided that I needed to set a budget on how much we spent.  There are tons of deals out there to get and I wanted to make sure that I was making the things that we needed a priority and skipping the other deals.  Keeping all my receipts helps me to do that.  I track all of my receipts every month and keep them in a folded paper with the front side listing the spending and the back listing the savings.  During the month, I also list the spending in a notebook just in case the receipt folder goes missing because it happens.  The yearly totals are in the front so I can see how many months were under my $160 budget and how many were over.  It does happen!!

Here is how we did for 2013:


Month                   Spending            Savings

January                 $133.58              $571.93
February               $248.59              $710.49
March                   $135.06              $61.08
April                      $102.31              $435.51
May                      $124.08              $498.60
June                      $105.47              $637.09
July                       $80.87                $110.98
August                  $158.74              $452.27
September            $150.31              $440.34
October                $71.50                $515.54
November            $194.29              $701.60
December            $73.44                $323.73

Totals                   $1577.74             $5459.16

Average Monthly Spending $131.48

I am super excited to only have two months of spending over budget (one where I stocked up on chicken and ground beef at the beginning of the year and one at the end where I had to buy a certain amount to get a deal on a turkey).  I still ended up have a monthly way under budget at $131.48 so I think that I did a great job overall.

I would love to hear how you did so leave a note and let me know.  What are your goals for 2014?  We are keeping the same budget this year and hoping that we will have equally good results.  I wish you all the best in the new year.

Thrifty Thursday: Kid's Birthday Parties and how to make cupcake picks

We have had a few years of going to more and more birthday parties as my son gets older.  The parties are more and more extravagant including bouncy houses, puppet shows, and more.  I was feeling the pressure this year to do something big.  Then I stepped back and thought about my son's past birthdays and what were his favorite parts.

His first birthday he didn't really do anything but hang out and get attention from everyone at the party.  He wasn't interested in the cake or any food but did love showing off for all of the adults.  Is that all he needs??

On his second, third, and fourth birthday, I sent some treats into school for him to share with his school friends on his birthday.  They gave him a special crown and fawned over him all day.  He came home on cloud nine and excited that it was his birthday.  One of those years, we had a birthday party at the house over the weekend with his friends and adults and he kept saying that his "real" party was already at school .  I put thought and energy into doing the party at the house and he was super happy about the fun at school.

What did all of these parties have?  People making him feel special on his special day.  I don't know about you, but that doesn't cost any money.

We are starting to plan his fifth birthday party and I decided to go with a snow theme.  I have a snowflake tablecloth and cloth napkins which we have used for a few years so I will put that on the table.

We have some paper plates and napkins with snowflakes (I actually looked in the drawer with all our paper goods and there are four different kinds of napkins with snowflakes and one with snowman).

I also had some extra silver ones that I got half off after Christmas a few years ago.  I can't tell you how many holidays here have been silver and we still have a pile of them left.

so we will use those to go with the blue and silver snowflake theme.  I only have one set of the big ones and one of the small ones but it brings together the idea of the snow and winter so I am going with it.

We cut paper snowflakes to hang around for decorations.  My son and I had fun making the decorations (and my husband joined in a for a few).  I am sure my son will show everyone who comes all the ones that were his.  I folded a few extra scrap papers so that all of the friends (kids and parents alike) can make their own snowflakes.  I also have out tissue paper in case it is easier for the kids to cut but I am not sure if we are going to use those.

I dug into my winter decoration box in the basement to see what else I already have.  I found some lanterns that we didn't use for Christmas.  There were a few other things in there like candles and candle holders but I don't think that I am going to pull them out.  I did put them on top, just in case.

This year I also bought winter window clings after Christmas because we had so much fun decorating the door for Halloween and it turns out that I had nothing for Christmas.  Good thing that most of them were snowman (or maybe I planned it that way).

I went searching for where I stashed them and it took a little bit to find them in my 6 Christmas bins!!  I think that we have gone over the top crazy with the amount of Christmas stuff that we have already so I don't think that adding any more was necessary but I pulled them out when he was getting ready to go to school and we decorated the door.  Sorry it is a little deary and rainy here but no snow.

 My son decided that he needed to put one thing a little different so now our door is find what is wrong.  In case you can't see it up above, here is the close up.  He put the ice skating polar bear on his back so he wasn't skating on the ground anymore.  He found this entirely entertaining and laughed and laughed....what a five year old finds amusing but I am sure he is going to show everyone that comes through the door.

It is hard to have a winter birthday because everyone is stuck inside if the weather is bad so I need to come up with a lot of different things to entertain the kids. I bought foam snowflakes and penguins at Target when they were 70% off so they were $0.30 for a package of 10.  I decided to buy two packs of each!  That way if we don't use them all, we will have some to decorate for next year.

They can decorate them with puffy foam stickers (also purchased at Target for $2.50).  I bought two buckets of these because we had no other winter stickers so why not!

I also have some eye stickers and bought glitter glue (with my Kmart credit).  They will have two fun things to bring home with them to decorate their house for the winter and I can put them right into the gift bags when they are dry.

My son has also requested to make a paper plate craft so I think that we are going to make the snowman head like we have already made.  If I get a lot of energy, we might also make the melted snowman that I saw with the bowl but I still have to prep a few more things to get this done.

I don't know how to settle on anything with a preschooler but I have trouble every year because my son declares what he wants and changes his mind with in a few days (whether it be his birthday cupcakes, Christmas presents, or Halloween costumes).  I try to be flexible but there are limits to my creativity and time.  My son decided this year that he wanted Thomas cupcakes for school because that was what he wanted last year. We went with McQueen last year because I refused his day before pleading.

I was so ready this year to go with Thomas but he asked for Lego at the last minute so I told him that would be next years theme (at least I get a head start).  I made confetti cupcakes with blue cotton candy icing with Thomas cupcake picks in silver muffin papers (I got all of the cake stuff at Harris Teeter free after coupons instead of making them from scratch).

It is easy to make the cupcakes decorated just like your kids want them by adding a pick on top.  I got the circles cut at the office at school instead of buying a punch at the store which I was just about to do so they saved me some money there.  It never hurts to ask because they have the tools and it cost them no money to let me make a few circles.  After doing one, I quickly figured out that I should decorate the one side and flip them over.

The key is to put down the glue, stick in the toothpick and put the sticker over it so that it all stays together without having to hold them until they dry.  I put the toothpick where I wanted it and then picked it up and did the line of glue. If you don't have toothpicks, you can also cut up wooden skewers or use lollipop sticks. 

I added the sticker over top which held everything.  After I did all ten, I went back and pushed the sticker down a little to make sure that it was touching the glue while it was drying.  Then, I added the little stickers around the edge to dress it up.

Here were my final picks which are going to be great stuck on top of the cupcakes with blue cotton candy icing.

The final cupcakes looked like this so I was pretty happy and my son was super excited to share them with his friends at school on Wacky Wednesday which also happens to be his birthday so we made the cupcakes with all different toppings.  I used five marshmallows since he turned five.  I thought they were pretty cute, what do you think?

We are going to do snowflake cake and snowman cupcakes at home.  I got a snowflake pan at Target 50% off  after Christmas this year which I am going to use for a yummy pound cake.

I am going to make chocolate cupcakes with white icing (unless the birthday boy has a last minute change but I have food coloring and flavor packets in case he does).  I tried to make snowflake muffin picks but the first batch folded up with the glue drying and I am almost out of toothpicks. I gave up because I have to get some more and try another glue but then I came up with another plan.  I am going to use snowman muffin papers and then make a snowman face with either mini chocolate chips or chocolate covered pomegranate seeds with a candy corn nose just like our Cracker Snowman Sweet Snack.

I made a three tier cupcake holder last year so I guess I better get searching to wrap one in snowflake paper soon!!  I have the paper and need to work on making that while he is in school. 

I decided that it would be a good idea to make a game that would also double as decoration so I am trying to figure out the best thing to do but I think that I am going with pin the nose on the snowman.  I was thinking about a snow ball game but I don't know how much throwing to encourage with a group of 5 year old boys.  Since the movie Frozen just came out, I looked all over online to find something that I could print out and use and Pinterest to the rescue but it just linked to picture here.  I am not sure if it came from a blog or straight from Disney but that is where I found it if you want it.  My husband printed on a plotter at work and then laminated it (which is not necessary but that is what he did with the one last year too so it will probably go into my son's room).

I also went searching for other games to have for backups.  I found a snowman dice rolling game.  Even if we don't do it for the party, it is super fun for us to play. I am going to print out a bunch of them and I will either send them in the gift bags if we don't play.  I hope that you print it out and do it for yourselves to have a little winter party!!

I made gift bags with bouncy balls (on sale half off after Halloween), angry bird tattoos (on sale half off after Halloween), playdough (on sale half off after Christmas) and lots of other things that I have collected through the year (also clearanced) to make sure that I would have interesting gift bags to send home with the kids including their crafts and other stuff too!!  I pulled out winter bags from the pile of bags that I have and I will use those to put everything in for the friends to take home.

I am still looking for a little winter inspiration for decoration and games but here is hoping that I can keep the kids happy and entertained for the length of the party. Any ideas you can share that would make this winter wonderland into a great and thrifty party??

Kids Math: Subtraction Action book and Lego activties

Subtraction Action by Loreen Leedy was another great find from the library.  It was written a little like a comic book but very easy to follow with a conversational tone.  This was a funny "chapter" book with each section discussing a different part of the school fair and how they use subtraction. 

The chapters are:

What's the Difference

Fair Is Fair

Less Is Less

Take Some Time Off

Minus Magic

Going, Going, Gone

Nothing to Lose

Answers

In What's the Difference, Miss Prime are using subtraction to solve problems at the school fair.  They solve how many tickets are left after the class gets into the fair.  It shows the format of an equation and labels the minus sign, equals sign, and the answer is the difference. Perfect introduction.

In Fair Is Fair, they solve waiting in line to get their faces painted by subtracting all the people that went before them. Each time a person leaves, they subtract them from the number left in line until they are next which sounds like an interesting way to distract kids from the long lines that we sometimes get stuck in.

In Less Is Less, they take away cookies until they end up at Grandma's house with no cookies.  There is a subtract when some are taken, lost and eaten.  Great introduction to zero and multiple numbers in the equation.

Take Some Time Off used regrouping (also knows as borrowing) to subtract two digit numbers during the obstacle course to figure out how much they beat the school record and how much they beat the time of the other person.  This was a little hard for my little guy to understand but a nice introduction.

Minus Magic has balloon animals that are subtracted with magic tricks until they get to the one which Mrs. Prime can't get rid of so Ginger solves the problem by popping the balloon.  Then, there are none left!  It was a funny story because the teacher magician covered the balloons and some went away but she tried to get rid of the last one and couldn't make it work.

Going, Going, Gone is a competition between Tally and Otto when they are selling popcorn and candy apples.  One of them is not selling as quickly as the other so they reduce their price from $1.00 to $0.75 which subtracts $0.25.  They reduce there prices until they get to zero in order to sell more than the other booth.  It was a great introduction to money and subtracting with decimal points.

Nothing to Lose was about knocking down 10 ducks to win a fuzzy stuffed bear.  She knocked down some and there were still two left which she had to throw a curve to get them all.  She subtracted all of the ducks and got it down to zero to win the fuzzy stuffed bear.

It was nice that it was broken down into chapters because if you wanted to, you could take each chapter to learn what you wanted.  We read a few chapters and then we had to take a break because he was going to school.  We picked up the book when he got out of school and read it at the library.  He really enjoyed it and we had some scrap paper to write the subtraction problems and solve them on our own.  It was nice practice and great that it was integrated right into the book.

After were done reading the book, we did a Lego subtraction activity.  I had a bunch of different ideas to work on subtraction but this seemed interesting because it was something that he was really interested in so make sure you pick something that your kids are going to enjoy.  I found these sheets which were great for us because I could quickly print them out in black and white and they covered a bunch of different numbers.  We have been working on practicing our numbers because my son practices his letters all the time but the numbers seem to be something that don't get used as much daily.  Here is his paper with the Lego math and his practice writing with a little silly writing when he got a little punchy at the end.

On another day, we also pulled out the Duplos to do some fun color, sorting, and fine motor activity.  For my guy, it is also good to have him work on some quiet activities sometimes because he likes more activity.  I took out a big piece of paper that we have from our IKEA furniture....yup, I keep everything.  I drew the lines based on the colors of the Duplo blocks that we had.

He pulled all of the blocks from the bin and even sorted the reject colors into another bin because we have some Cars and Bob the Builder colors in the bin.  Do you see the pile of the colors that aren't in the rainbow?  They are off to his left (also known as the right of the picture).

After we finished putting all of the blocks in the rainbow, he counted them and we put them on the dry erase board.  We talked about which one had the most and how many more the one color had than another.

It was a great activity for him to do and incorporate math without him even really knowing.  I hope that you try this book and some of these fun activities.  I know that we will do them again soon!!

Shared at Gift of Curiosity 
and Mom's Library at Life with Moore Babies 
and Fun Learning Kids at No Time for Flashcards

Books I Want to Read in 2014

I have been putting a lot of thought into what I want to read in 2014.  Since I read so much last year, I know that I will be adding to the list as I go but here are some of the books that are already on my list (already above 150).  I guess we will see what new things I find this year through my different publishers that send things and the library.  I am also going to read some of the books in the Robert Parker series that were published with different authors.  I am going to have my work cut out for me!!!

I hope that I can get some of the books off this shelf and down to the bottom when they are read (without just refilling it)!!

Let me know if you have any other ideas to add to the list.

Owned

Bread Alone by Judi Hendricks
The Cukoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
In The Woods by Tina French
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards
Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger
The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith
Pearl Jinx by Sandra Hill
Tender Triumph by Judith McNaught
Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux
Dry Creek Sweethearts by Janet Tronstad
Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
The Faraday Girls by Monica McInerney
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Beverly Lewis

The Postcard
The  Crossroads
The Redemption of Sarah Cain
Sanctuary (with David Lewis)
The Sunroom

Home to Hickory Hallow
The Fiddler
The Bridesmaid
The Guardian
The Secret Keeper

The Rose Trilogy
The Thorn
The Judgement
The Mercy

Seasons of Grace
The Secret
The Missing
The Telling

Abram's Daughters Series

The Covenant

The Betrayal

The Sacrifice

The Prodigal

The Revelation 

Janet Evanovich

One for the Money- January

Two For the Dough- January

Three to Get Deadly- January

Four to Score- February

High Five- February

Hot Six- February

Seven Up- February

Hard Eight- February

To the Nines

Ten Big Ones

Eleven on Top

Twelve Sharp

Lean Mean Thirteen

Fearless Fourteen

Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Sizzling Sixteen

Plum Lucky (own)

James Patterson

Standalone Books
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas- January
Sunday at Tiffany's (own)- January
The Christmas Wedding 
First Love
Midnight Club (own)

Women's Murder Club

1st to Die
2nd Chance 
3rd Degree
4th of July
The 5th Horseman 
The 6th Target 
7th Heaven 
The 8th Confession
The 9th Judgment 
10th Anniversary
11th Hour 
12th of Never
Unlucky 13

Alex Cross (listed backwards)

Cross My Heart 
Alex Cross, Run 
Kill Alex Cross 
Cross Fire
I, Alex Cross
Cross Country
 Double Cross
Alex Cross (Also published as Cross)
Mary, Mary
London Bridges 
The Big Bad Wolf 
Four Blind Mice 
Violets Are Blue
Roses Are Red
Pop Goes the Weasel 
Cat & Mouse
Jack & Jill 
Kiss the Girls (own)
Along Came a Spider

Others (Not part of the main series)

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross 
Alex Cross's Trial
Debbie Macomber

Rose Harbor
When First They Met
Lost and Found in Cedar Cove
The Inn at Rose Harbor
Rose Harbor in Bloom

Robyn Carr

Cheynne
The Blue Falcon
The Bellerose Bargain
The Braeswood Tapestry
The Troubadour's Romance
By Right of Arms
The Everlasting Covenant
Rogue's Lady
Tempted
Women's Own
Mind Tryst
The Wedding Party
Blue Skies- January
Runaway Mistress
Never Too Late- January
A Summer in Sonoma- January

Sheryl Woods

Amazing Gracie (own)
Flamingo Diner
Mending Fences

Chesapeake Shores
The Inn At Eagle Point
Flowers on Main
Harbor Lights
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas
Driftwood Cottage
Moonlight Cove
Beach Lane
An O’Brien Family Christmas
The Summer Garden
A Seaside Christmas

Anita Shreve

Eden Close
Strange Fits of Passion
Where or When
Resistance
The Pilot's Wife (might have already read)
Fortune's Rocks
The Last Time They Met
Sea Glass
All He Ever Wanted (own)
A Wedding in December
Body Surfing
Testimony
A Change in Attitude
Rescue
Stella Bain

Other Books from the Library

Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea by Catherine Goldhammer
The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Caf​e by Mary Simses

Menu Plan Monday 1/13

Monday- Omaha Steak and Potatoes
Tuesday- Chicken Marsala (using McCormick seasoning recipe)
Wednesday- My son's birthday- maybe Waffles or Little Caesar's Pizza
Thursday- Little Caesar's Pizza or Waffles
Friday- Raspberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken with angel hair pasta
Saturday- Cheese Tortelloni Soup, Chicken Nuggets, and Smiles with cupcakes and/or cake (Party food)
                Whole Chicken with ranch potatoes
Sunday- Leftovers/Homemade Pizza

This week is my son's birthday and I want to make him a special meal for his birthday but he is super picky so I am not sure exactly what we are going to do.  I was thinking that we might get Little Caesars (his favorite) but Grandma and Grandpa are coming the next day so he might want to include them in his celebration so might switch meals either way to have a celebration on the day of his birthday and the next night with the grandparents.  We have a few different celebrations through the week and his birthday party on Saturday so I am sure he will have his fill of special meals and celebrations.

Weekly Goals 1/12

How did your week go?  Super excited that school and a regular schedule was supposed to be back and then we had a "snow" day for the severe cold here so we didn't have school on Tuesday.  I wasn't happy to have the cancellation throwing a wrench in my first day having a break but we made it work.  He was so happy to be back to school and get to have lots of fun with his friends starting late on Wednesday. Thankfully a full day on Thursday and then another late start on Friday.  Looking forward to a full week next week!

I was also excited to have a little bit of break to have quiet time in the house.  I should have cut chicken and got laundry done but I sat down and read my book and tried to rest my aching face/teeth.  I put the chicken off and did one package (out of four) on Wednesday night which gave me two packages for the freezer and enough cut for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday.  I can't tell you the last time that I cut chicken that I needed to cook that night since I usually do a big prep job of chicken so that they are all bagged up for different meals in the freezer.  I didn't get the chicken cut up this week so I am putting it on my to do list for first things Sunday :)

Last week:

Family Goals

• Spend time with family - We got a good week together with my husband taking Thursday to take me to the dentist after taking my son to school.  I am not sure why he didn't trust me to do it but I got new meds and two naps during the day so I was super glad to have help around the house and with the little man while I was trying to feel better.
• Playdate with friends at the house- We had friends over to visit and my little man had a blast!
• Lego Vehicles at the library- On our way there, he fell asleep in the car so I turned around and drove home.  When we got home, he woke up and was ready to play.  UGH!  I don't have good luck but it was super cold and I think that it woke him up when I opened the door.
• Lakeshore Learning for craft or Legos in the library- I had a dentist appointment in the morning and then went to the grocery store for a few things and then I took my son to an indoor play thing at his school.  He had a blast and then we got to Lakeshore learning to make bongos and play in the store for a little bit.  It is nice to be able to take my little guy out for some entertainment and get him out of the house on a rainy day.  We opted for the indoor playdate at school instead of legos this week since it was something special to do.

Personal Goals

• Cut coupons- I still didn't get anything from the library and didn't know what to look for after that but I just took care of my printed coupons for the week and there wasn't anything else to do.
• Get coupons on Friday- My husband grabbed the papers from the local Giant so I have a pile of coupons to cut which I hope to get this done this week before my family comes to town and the birthday excitement starts.
• Dentist for cleaning- I got fit in for my root canal and ended up cancelling my cleaning because I was still in pain after it was all over.  I spent two days in horrible pain and then called the dentist who fit me in the schedule.  I got three new medicines and started feeling a little better after taking them.  I am excited to be on the road to recovery and might be able to make it into the dentist for a cleaning sometime this month.  I got to go back again for a check up on Saturday but waiting to go back next week to see if I am totally recovered for a cleaning.
• Shut off computer 6 nights to save energy- I shut off the computer every night but there were a few days that I left the house where I didn't shut it off because I was just trying to make it through the day and get things done.
• Go to Jazzercise (if some of the pain passes)- I was hoping for a miracle that I would be better after the root canal but I was the very small percentage of people that have residual pain so the dentist put me on new meds and it took me to Friday to start feeling better so I put off exercising until I felt up to 100% again which I hope it next week.
• Start reading James Patterson book from library- Ummm, I started and finished quickly because I didn't get a lot of sleep with my mouth pain but review is posted.  Started and finished the Robyn Carr book and on to the next one!  Started a James Patterson book that I own.

Home Management Goals

• Clean dishes, counters and floors at least 5 days of the week- I washed a lot of dishes this week but there was so much pain in my mouth that it took me longer to do things and it was painful to bend over.  Try loading your dishwasher without bending over!  I got a look of good bending at the knees...who knew you could work out while loading the dishwasher.  Now it is way easier to get everything done because the pain has gotten a lot less since the second set of meds so the kitchen is even more clean at the end of the week.
• Clean dishes one night and not wait until the morning- I think that I did something at the beginning of the week but I really can't remember that far back.  My husband and I got all of the dishes cleaned before and after dinner on Thursday night and again on Friday night.  Here is to having a better chance to get things done next week!!

Blog Goals

• Post one post everyday (schedule 7 posts so that can spend more time with family) - I got lots of reviews posted this week and had more then 7 scheduled for the week with a few new ones that I threw up a little at the last minute.
• Write End of the month reviews of budget, reading and cooking- I got all my month end reviews up and the year end reviews for budget and reading.
• Review book reviews completed during the week (if done)- I got my book reviews up after finishing the books.
• Work on a few posts to work ahead for the coming week- The month outline looked a lot better towards the middle of the week and I got a bunch of things up that were only in draft form and other drafts started.
• Post Sunday Weekly Goals, Menu Plan Monday, Kid Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday Tip- Done, I did the Books from 2013 on Thursday instead of my Thrifty tip so that I could get all of my end of the year posts up since there were lots more to be done and not a lot of extra days in the month.

This week:

Family Goals

• Spend time with family (and grandparents)
• Birthday party at school
• Birthday party at home

Personal Goals

• Cut coupons
• Get coupons on Friday 
• Shut off computer 6 nights to save energy
• Go to Jazzercise (if not subbing at preschool)
• Finish reading Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson
• Start on next book in the pile from the library from Robyn Carr or Janet Evanovich

Home Management Goals

• Clean dishes, counters and floors at least 5 days of the week
• Clean dishes one night and not wait until the morning
• Make lots of food and decorate the house for the party 

Blog Goals

• Post one post everyday (schedule 7 posts so that can spend more time with family) 
• Review book reviews completed during the week (if done)
• Work on a few posts to work ahead for the coming week
• Post Sunday Weekly Goals, Menu Plan Monday, Kid Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday Tip 

Almost Middle of the Month Budget Update

I am doing my almost middle of the month budget update because I know that if I don't do it now, it won't get done because my son's birthday is in the middle of the month.  There are a lot of things going on around his birthday so I am working on trying to get ready as soon as possible.

$3.18 Harris Teeter

I went to the store with my son at a store that wasn't our normal store.  There was an issue with the Hormel labels and what was ringing up so I had to run back to the fridge section and grab some more in an attempt to get four of the sale items.  The cashier was nicely going to scan the sale ones and give me whatever I wanted but I wanted to make sure that I had the right ones.  There was an evic coupon on the Quaker oatmeal so my son picked out his oatmeal.  My son also picked out this box of juice for his birthday party at school. I did also get some of the BIC pens but they wouldn't override the coupon not doubling so I didn't get them.

$31.25 Aldi

I went to Aldi because we needed milk and eggs but I did check online and there was chicken on sale for $1.49 so I waited until that sale started.  I also grabbed a butter because we were down to the bottom of the spreadable butter.  My son determined that we also needed to get pepperoni so I let him get that.

$15.83 + $0.08 Harris Teeter

I had all of the things in the cart and my son decided that he needed to get some of the tea too in his own check out.  Often times he decides this at the beginning of the trip that he needs to pick out a few but I think that he was distracted by cookies for awhile. These seasonal teas were in the freezer section so he picked up three of them.  He puts them on the shelf, gives them "his" Harris Teeter card, then his coupons and then he gives them cash.  I used to just let him do it on a credit card but I think that if we are teaching money, we should use the actual cash so that he learns to give them the right amount.  Sadly, this is usually spur of the moment so I didn't have a ton of change for him to pay his $0.08.

The rest of the items were mine.  I splurged on the chicken noodle soup because we are totally out and my husband loves them when he starts to feel a cold coming on.  I also grabbed some of the Pagoda egg rolls and pot stickers which we love for convenience freezer food.  They are super easy to throw in for dinner with a little green beans or fried rice to make a complete meal and were a bargain at $1.75 per box (way cheaper then take out).  I added a oatmeal which had the evic zvr coupon and was on sale.  I used a rain check on the burritos which saved an additional $1.16 and got them for free.  The soy sauce was free for the big bottle and so were the teas and BIC pens.  The batteries we were in super need and they were $0.99 per package and there is a rebate that I will figure out soon.  I added the Bayer Low Dose Aspirin for my Dad and the Tums for my husband.  It was a little bit more then I was thinking that I was going to spend but they were out of all of the items that I went to the store for so there were lots of other things I added instead!

$0.18 Harris Teeter

We had a family trip to Harris Teeter with my son and husband which I can't tell you the last time that we were all at the store.  I grabbed some of the items for me and some for my husband.  We even went to the same check out because the lines were sort of long.  This was my check out.

$0.18 Harris Teeter

This was my husband's check out and my son helped him because he thought that he was an expert.  He showed Daddy where to put the stuff and where to stand.  It was kind of funny because he wouldn't let my husband do anything by himself.

$3.23 Harris Teeter

I remembered that I also needed to the Quaker Perfect Portions Oatmeal which is on clearance half off.  It is my husband's favorite breakfast and he eats it 5 days a week so it won't go to waste but I am a little worried that they aren't going to carry it anymore.  He is really picky with his oatmeal and he doesn't like the plain oatmeal with added flavor nor the flavored packages so this is the only one that he will eat.  If they discontinue, he will be miserable.

$0.05 Harris Teeter

My son decided that he wanted to get these teas because he liked the bears and thought that candy cane sounded fun.  He checked out and paid with a $5 bill because I still didn't have any change (have I not learned anything?).  Of course, he said that he wanted to put all the change in his piggy bank and I told him that it was the money to pay for my check out.  He wasn't happy with that answer but got over it quickly.

$13.98 Harris Teeter

The shelf was stocked again and I grabbed 6 more of the Cinnamon Perfect Portions Oatmeal and two lunch meat because we were close to out.  Although all of the items were on sale, I only used one coupon and didn't save a ton of money but at least I got a bunch of things that we need for the rest of the month.

$0.04 CVS

 My husband took me to the dentist and then to CVS to get my medicine.  While we were waiting for it to be ready, we picked out our candy bar (one on each of our cards).  My husband picked out Twix and you might be looking at the picture wondering if I am confused.  Nope, we bought twix and my husband came home and opened one.  It was mostly broken with hard carmel and it was disgusting.  I put it in a plastic bag and didn't open the other one.  I took them back to the store and they let me trade it for good candy.  Most of the Twix boxes had dust in them and grossed me out even more so I went with the milky ways so we got these two for $0.04 (actually $0.05 because my husband decided to keep putting in the same penny and it took it and didn't count it off his total).

Total Retail $288.56

Total Savings $220.56

Total OOP $68.00

I thought that I was much lower then I was for the month but I still have a $10 Giant credit, $5 CVS ECB, and a free milk coupon at Harris Teeter.  I think that those different credits will get me through a lot of the other month's expenses so that I stay under my $160 monthly budget.  We still have a few things on the list but most are probably going to be for February:

Windex (or Glass Plus)

Tide Free HE

Toilet Paper

Spaghetti

Cheddar Cheese

Butter/Margarine

Cranberry Grape Juice

Lettuce 

Cheese Its

Mac and Cheese (from Wegman's)

Ground Beef (from Wegman's)

Dry Milk Powder

Paper Towels (but we still have 4 left so we should be good for 4 months)

Here is hoping that I can do all of this with the $92 and credits left for the month.  I think lots are going to be put on February list but I am hoping for a great end of the month.  Cross your fingers and hope for the best!