Menu Plan Monday 1/9

Monday- Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken with homemade french fries
Tuesday- Pasta (son) and Leftovers (us)
Wednesday- Barber Chicken and white rice
Thursday- Meatball Sliders
Friday- Leftovers/Birthday Party
Saturday- Herb Roasted Chicken
Sunday- Pasta

I thought that this was posted but something happened and it didn't go up as most of the posts for this week.  I switched Wednesday and Thursday because the nights ended up being way different then I thought they were going to be.  Wednesday night homework is always the bad night because we have to do a writing assignment and that is the toughest for my son and longest to complete.  Here is hoping for a good week for the rest of the week.

Year End Grocery Spending

I haven't been tracking our year to date spending on an ongoing basis but I have a notebook with all my numbers recorded.  This year seems to be missing a lot of savings amounts like last year because I was too busy to track all that I saved.  I am hoping to be better next year tracking my savings but it is less important then just making sure that the spending is under control.

My goal is to spend under $160 on all of our household expenses for groceries, paper supplies, cleaning supplies, and medicine (except prescriptions) per month.  This gives me a total for $1920.00 for the year to spend on our family of three.  Below is the monthly totals that I spent on those items:

                                                            January                     $155.93
                                                            February                   $101.57
                                                            March                       $154.63
                                                            April                         $139.69
                                                            May                          $89.17
                                                            June                          $277.59
                                                            July                          $105.85
                                                            August                     $128.65
                                                            September               $92.32
                                                            October                   $259.92
                                                            November               $130.46
                                                            December               $156.56

                                                            Total OOP              $1792.34

I spent more then I have in the last four years but I think that I got a lot of things to take care of my family and still stay under budget.  It has been very hard to maintain the spending that low while working two part time jobs this year because there is very little time to put into following blogs and planning shopping trips.  I normally throw together trips at the last minute and possibly in the store to be honest.  I have had trouble keeping up the coupon cutting but mostly maintained the best that I could!!

                                                           Monthly Average     $149.36

I am happy to start a new year and try my best to do it again.  With my son getting bigger and eating more, we might have an increase in the budget to maintain that but the $160 monthly budget has been working for over 4 years and I know that the method is going to work to come up with the new budget.  Hope you have a great year and look forward to sharing for another year to come!!!

December Reading Review

I didn't know how long the first book of the month was going to take but it was very interesting and took a little longer then a quick read fiction book.  I was excited to put it into effect and read the daily goals in the back of the book to learn to be more kind.  I went on to read some fun Christmas books that were in my pile that were also due fairly quickly because I had reserved books at the library and they all came in at the same time.  I should have spent some time reading those but I have a hard time taking a break in the middle of a book.

Trying to keep the books straight in order when they were due at the library was difficult and I got myself into another jam later in the month because I read a book that was due later in the month first before the one that was due in a few days which left me two days to read the next book.  Here is hoping that I stop reserving so many books at the same time and actually pay attention to the things that I have to read.  I was hoping to get in some good reading time over the Christmas holiday but then I ended up working my second job so this month had less reading then I expected to end the year.

How did you do this month and this year??  Here is a list of all of the books that I read this month and if you click on the title of the book, it will take you to the original post with the description of the book and my review.  I hope that you add a few of these books to your reading list for the cold months we have ahead!!

 Kindness Challenge

by Shauti Feldhahn

The Mistletoe Secret

by Richard Paul Evans

Twelve Days of Christmas

by Debbie Macomber

Precious and Grace

by Alexander McCall Smith

The Bookshop on the Corner

by Jenny Colgan

The Life She Wants
by Robyn Carr

The Mistletoe Promise
by Richard Paul Evans

Reading for 2016

January           13

February          11

March              9

April                 8
May                 9
June                 9
July                   16
August               18
September           9
October            10
November      8
December       7

Total Books        127

Currently Reading:

Kids Wednesday: Planning a Pokemon Party

My son declared that he wanted a Pokemon party for his birthday so I drove right into Pinterest and found way too many ideas. It was overwhelming to say the least so I decided on a plan on what we had time for during the birthday party.

I wanted to make a sign that said Happy Birthday with pokeballs and there are tons of ideas.  I decided to take the easy way out and just do the printed one here.  All you have to do is download and print and I will put holes in them and thread on curling ribbon to hang on the wall.

We looked high and low and found a Pin the Tail on the Pikachu. There is one that is already separated so that it can be printed on papers and put together but my husband has acess to a large format printer so I actually wanted to get one that was one image and enlarge it so I was little sad but I figure that this is probably better for 99% of the people which you can find here.  I actually downloaded the image and made my own!!!  Loved the picture so super happy to find it and use it.

I also thought that it would be really fun to make our own Pokemon cards.  I found this awesome card template here.

We decided that we were going to make pokeballs but had to figure out a plan to make them that won't get them thrown around at the party but that they would still like to use.  I found these and thought that they would be fun but they needs the special plastic ornament which I couldn't find so they were out but still super cool.  You can check out these here.

We decided that it would be fun to use duct tape and frisbees to make them so that the kids would have to use them outside to get the distance but can hold them like a shield which is totally fine by me!!

I found an awesome popcorn container and since we were planning on having popcorn, it seemed like a good idea even though it would take a lot of work on my part (as most of the things would).  They were super colorful and I thought the kids would enjoy them.  Check them out here.

Another fun one is the poke ball designer page because this can be a great station for creativity or copying the basic balls that they know.  If we do some ahead of time then we also have some fun decorations so I think that I am going to have some coloring fun!!  Check out this site to get your own copy.

There is a really cute box that the kids can cut and fold themselves.  It is super easy to print and if we don't do it at the party, I will put it in their bags to bring home to make at home.  If you want to make your own, download it here.

There is another great site with a pokeball and lots of pokemon to put inside it here.  This looks like something that my son would love to have and play with all the time.  I could print it and laminate it to have hours of fun with!!!

 I found a memory game that would also be fun to print and laminate to play with for awhile to come.

There is a interesting maze that you can download here.  I looked every where for coloring pages and dot to dot pictures.  There are lots out there but none that made me really happy.  There are a ton of different downloads and this was a great site for some great resources.

There is another great activity that I wanted to do but wasn't sure if we had time to do it but it seemed like a lot of fun.  It was Pokemon eggs which I would make ahead of time with my son and then each group of kids would have the chance to hatch their own.  Here is the site that made them so if I don't get time to do it at the party, my son and I are totally going to make them!!

I thought that I would get a few activities that got their wiggles out including a little follow the leader with what the Pokemon would do. Super easy to print out and pull out of a hat and we will have it ready if we need.  You can print your own here.

There is this blowing activity where the kids blow through a straw to make the Poke Ball move from the start to the end.  There is an example here but I have also seen it with a ping pong ball so we might try to do this activity.

I hope that you enjoy some of these ideas to have your cheap Pokemon party.  We got clearance cups, plates and napkins in red from Christmas so we had tons of paper goods.  I grabbed a bag of red and white balloons at the Dollar Tree for the decorations and games.  With a little work, we have entertainment and goodies for everyone to do at the party and bring home with them.  I know that I have enjoyed searching around for the best ideas that work on a tight budget!!  I hope that my work has saved you some time!!!  Hope that you have a great time with these ideas for your own children or birthday party.

December Month End Shopping Update

I wasn't sure exactly what had gone on this month so I went back to see what I spent for the month.  It seems that I failed at keeping track but did pretty well at the budget.  It was good that I spent money on the credit card because I was hunting for receipts because I hadn't even taken them out of my bag or what I bought.  Luckily, I found the receipts and the pictures of the items.  I used the last day of the month to go to a few stores and spend the rest of the budget for the month and get things that we needed for the upcoming month...even though I haven't finished a menu plan for January.

There were some freebies at Harris Teeter through the month and I got a few other great deals.  My sister in law brought me a bunch of eggs that she wasn't going to use before going on vacation and it worked out to around 3 dozen eggs which I quickly used.  My mom did buy some stuff at the store when she went to get some things for herself including my husband's special treat of Coke so that was a nice Christmas present and no money out of our pocket.  My parents also bought me a 25 lb bag of bread flour and tweleve 5 lb bags of Wegman's flour for my Christmas present.  My parents also left three bananas when they left so that I could make banana bread out of them.  I brought some apple slices home from our school party so that they didn't go bad and I put them in the blender with the rest of the applesauce in the pantry to make some applesauce bread and freeze the extras.  I got 4 single batch and one double batch of applesauce measured in the freezer to use for future loaves of applesauce bread.  I used the turkey to make turkey stock from the bones and some frozen veggies which made soup for the family and the rest went into containers in the freezer.  Great freebies that helped us stock up on things in the freezer!!

Here is what I got for the month of December and the amount that I spent at each store.  The bottom of the

Harris Teeter $25.09 + $12.19 - $6.44= $30.84

I did two check outs and then there was an issue with the price on the popcorn so I got one free and bunch of money credited back.  Amazing prices but a splurge on the New Years Eve steak treat!!!

Harris Teeter $12.28

I got some freebies on the sprinkles, trios, rev wraps and batteries.  Lots of other great deals lead to a really low out of pocket total.

Aldi $18.59- $8.19= $10.40

I got the popcorn as a gift for my father because I would never spend that much money on popcorn for myself although the flavors sounded great.  I went back and returned it because my dad said that he couldn't eat it because of dental work. 

Giant $3.06

We were totally out of ketchup and I priced it out at three stores before getting this one but super expensive when they aren't on sale and it seems that I need to get more of it because my son eats it at least once a week!!  UGH!

Harris Teeter $30.75

The tea was a gift for my mother and the rest was to stock up on supplies.  It was amazing pricing and let me get bread flour for cheaper then regular flour.

Aldi $5.71

I was out of crackers and celery and we needed lemons for making pies for the holidays so this was a little bit of a splurge because we certainly didn't need lemon pie but it is my favorite.

Aldi $10.52

I went for baking powder because we were totally out and powdered sugar to make Christmas icing.  I got the two bags of chicken because I thought we could use them.  Super glad that I did because we are already into both of them...although I found an already open bag of popcorn chicken when I was cleaning out of the freezer.  Ooops!!!

Harris Teeter $5.89

$0.27 Jiffy corn bread, $0.99 lettuce, $0.87 margarine, and $0.50 Puffs were the bargains that I got.  I also got a free yogurt and free goodness bar (not pictured because I might have eaten it right away...those are amazing and free is a great price).

Aldi $20.33 

We were out of white rice and spreadable butter so I grabbed those first.  I decided to stock up with the remaining money left in the year on our chicken so that should last us awhile.  I always say so that I don't have to go back to Aldi for awhile but that never works out for me!!

Harris Teeter $26.78

I went to the store without the right coupons this morning!!! UGH!!  I went home and bought three coupons for the Cheez-Its from Kelloggs Family Rewards.  I went to the other Harris Teeter and then the sale on the Cheez-Its actually got better!!  They were buy two and get three free so I used three coupons and ended up paying $1.40 per box (one of my coupons that I thought expired today was already expired...boo!)  The Cranberry Grape was on sale half off for $2.89.  Angel Soft was $3.07 after coupons and sale for 9 rolls ($0.34 each).  The Bounty Paper Towel was $9.97 for 12 rolls ($0.83 each) which should last us over the next two years.  The Can't Believe It's Not Butter was on sale and there were coupons for I got them for $0.60 each.  The soup was $0.30 each.  I got the Coke Life for free so that we can try them.

 

Total Retail $380.69
Total Savings $224.13
Total OOP $156.56

Non-Grocery Shopping Trips

Kohls $3.58 + $9.00= $12.58

I got a Christmas present, birthday gift and a Christmas gift for next year for my sister in law (not pictured). 

Target $14.10 (got another gift card back for a return about $9)

Between my husband and I, we got $160 of Target gift cards from work.  We bought this load of stuff before the holidays and went back after the holidays to get a few clearance items that will be gifts for next year.  We also bought the plates, napkins, and cups for my son's birthday party half off because they were red!!!  I stocked up on some cranberry juice with an awesome cartwheel.  My mother got us a pan which we returned and bought a less expensive one so there was a little more money to spent.  My husband volunteered the remaining money to be a clearance toy for my son so we aren't counting this into groceries because it was so many other things like gifts and toys but I don't have pictures of everything that we got!

Menu Plan Monday 1/2

Monday- Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken with homemade fries
Tuesday- Pasta with meatball sliders
Wednesday-Chicken and Rice Casserole
Thursday- Salsa Sloppy Joes
Friday- Leftover Night: Paninis and leftovers
Saturday- Herb Roasted Chicken
Sunday- Take Out Pizza lunch/Chinese Take Out

While we were still on vacation, I decided to try out my awesome new Kitchen Aid Pasta Maker (best Christmas present by far...shhh, don't tell).  I have wanted to make my own pasta for years but it took me a little bit to be sure that I would try it so I added the pasta roller to the Christmas list last year.  This year I found the pasta press so I wanted to try that too!!!  Well, I got it for Christmas so I am excited to say that we are going to making our own pasta now.

Last week was a little busy with lots of nights changing to leftovers but we were quickly running out of leftovers so Sunday was pasta night! We did a turkey and rice soup from leftovers recreated on Monday.  Tuesday we were out at the stores very late and had Wendy's and my husband had turkey and potatoes when we got home. Wednesday was Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken and homemade french fries which is normal Monday night dinner and my son's favorite meal.  We all had different leftovers on Thursday to use up everything in the fridge.  No one seems to remember eating on Friday night so it certainly wasn't anything impressive.  Saturday brought our New Years Eve brought steak and grilled baked potatoes for my husband and I and my son got his Book It Pizza Hut Pizza. Sunday was my first attempt at homemade pasta.

I had a hard time settling on the menu for this week because it will be the first week back to school/work for all of us and we have been living on summer schedule of going to bed late and getting up when we wanted (or my son just living on less sleep) so I knew that things would be a little different because we would all be exhausted and we have to get back to normal life with basketball practice, company coming into town and my son's birthday party next weekend.  I am going to try my best to get these meals on the table but I certainly don't know how it is going to go!!

Mistletoe Promise Book Review

I finished the last book from Richard Paul Evans that I reserved from the new releases in the library and realized that there was another book that I hadn't read yet.  I reserved it immediately and it came in pretty quickly since there wasn't a high demand.  I had to set it aside while I finished up some other books that were due back to the library but The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans was worth the wait.  I finally got a chance to read it and I couldn't put it down.

Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.

Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks—until the evening of December 24—he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:

1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day

The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.

I started this book when I was going to sleep and I couldn't put it down.  I read through the whole thing start to finish.  It was a great book and an amazing twists and turns that I didn't see coming.  This was a heart warming story where the Elise Dutton has lead a hard life which is all unfolding to the reader during the extra tough time of the holiday season.  Elise gets approached to make a Mistletoe Promise with Nicholas where they spend some of the holiday season together so that they don't have to go to parties alone.  I loved watching the relationship between these two people unfold because there were still mysteries that were left covered until the very end of the book.  I hope that you pick up this and other books in this authors wonderful Christmas series.  I can't wait to look up other books by this author because I have loved everything that I have read so far and I hope that you do to!