September Middle of the Month Budget Update

I have a monthly budget of $160 to feed my family of 3 each month.  I work my hardest to use coupons and shop sales to make the money stretch as far as it can.  I don't break it down by week or for certain items but I include all of my household goods.  In order to be healthy and make my budget stretch as far as possible, I make many things from scratch and buy more ingredients then food.  Often getting creative with the items that I do get like free salad dressing turns into chicken marinate and free sandwiches are disassembled to make grilled cheese and crispy pepperoni for a chopped salad.  This month I have made rolls, bread and banana bread!! 

Here are the shopping trips that I have made so far this month and how I am doing with my budget.

Harris Teeter $6.22

I got a bunch of things at the store including the free Oikos yogurt and Hormel Natural Choice Snacks.  The Ken's salad dressing was on sale for Buy 2, Get 3 free so it was $2.99 shelf price.  I used coupons and got all of the salad dressing for free!!  The Sweetarts were $0.09 each.  The Barilla Pasta was $0.17 after sale and coupon and it was pretty tasty so I am glad that we got it.  The Natural Deli meat was $1.83 after sale and coupon so not the best price but seemed like an okay deal.  The only thing that I bought without a coupon was the lasagna noodles because I need to use up the sausage and ricotta that I already bought and I don't have any noodles so I bought them for $1.50.

Harris Teeter $0.46

I got the Hormel Natural Snacks, Okios yogurt and Oreo candy bar for free.  The Sweetart ropes were $0.09 each so they were my big spending item.  I got two Suddenly Salads for free after sale and coupon and I should get another $0.50 from Saving Star when it is processed.

Harris Teeter $7.28

I knew that there were going to be some deals this week so I decided to go get things before coupons expired and I got free Chloe's popsicles and ramen after sale and coupon.  I got the Sweetart candies for $0.09 after coupon.  The Bistro Pizza dough was $0.09 each after sale and coupon.  I grabbed the Crunchmaster crackers which were on sale buy one, get one and used $1 coupon to pay $1.24 per bag.I turned this in for $1.50 rebate off two bags of Crunchmaster crackers on Ibotta and $1.00 rebate for Crunchmaster crackers on Checkout 51 so they are free.  My huge spend was the Alexia tater tots which are my husband's favorite treat and they were on sale for $3 a bag with $1 coupon so they were $2 each.  I normally don't buy them until I get them for $1 or under but everything else was such a great deal that I couldn't pass them up.

Harris Teeter $0.20

I went to use up the last of my coupons.  I got two Chloe's Pops and the pizza crust in different transactions and got these yummy treats for change out of my change purse.

Harris Teeter $21.44

I got an Evic special for $1.77 for my son's favorite granola bars and I went to the store and they had exactly 10 so after coupons they were $1.47 per box.  I grabbed the clearance Vitamints and used a coupon for $0.99.  I got two more of the Spree candy for $0.09 each.  The Kool Aid was $0.10 per package and will hold my husband over until I find the next sale on Ocean Spray.  The Hormel Natural Choice was free after sale and coupon (and bonus that I ate them for lunch with my free crackers from earlier in the month).  I splurged and bought the roast beef to make hot roast beef sandwiches with melted cheese over the weekend which was $1.50 after sale and coupon each. 

Harris Teeter $18.06

I went to the store to get the free soup, milk and Old El Paso taco boats and I will get back $1 for the milk from Ibotta and $1 for the taco shells from Old El Paso so they will both be money makers.  I got the two boxes of Fruit Roll Ups mixed package for $0.74 each after sale, coupon and evic coupon and I will get another $0.50 back from Saving Star.  I found some clearance Freezer to Plate meals for $1.49 and I used a coupon for $1 so it was $0.49 and there was a $1 back from Saving Star so it will be a money maker.   There was a deal on the Hamburger Helper which was $1 each and then there was $0.75/3 coupon and $0.75/3 evic coupon so they were $0.25 each and I will get back $0.75 from Saving Star so they will be free.  The Yoplait Mix-in was $0.15 after sale, coupon and evic and I get $0.25 back from Saving Star so another money maker.  The Crunchmaster deals were back in my Checkout 51 and Ibotta so I bought them again for $1.24 each and turned in the $1.50 and $1.00 rebate so I made $0.06 on them.  I bought the Land O Frost Turkey which was $2.49 after sale and coupon.  The Centrum Men's Vitamins were $2.79 after sale and coupon and I will get $1 rebate from Saving Star.  The Advil was the biggest expense at $6.99 after sale and coupon and I turned it in for $2 rebate from Ibotta and $1 from Saving Star but we were totally out so it was a need.  I turned in for $11.25 in rebates so this worked out to a pretty good trip once the money comes back.

 

Total Retail $241.29
Total Savings $187.63
Total OOP $53.66

I am happy with how the month is going so far and I picked up a lot of deals through the beginning of the month and only missed a few things that I wanted to get.  We are almost totally out of soda (with a few root beers and sprites hanging on) and Ocean Spray Cran-Grape so there is a little sadness in our house.  My husband has started to get into the Kool Aid which is go to back up drink.  I am going to work on finding a deal on that soon!!  Other than that we seemed to be stocked up on a lot and I look forward to stocking up on some soup for the cold weather.  I am still hanging on with the rebates and have already gotten $6.25 from Ibotta, $2.00 from Checkout 51, and $6.00 from Saving Star so total of $14.25.

 

Eating Out

We try very hard to maintain a eating out/take out budget of $40 per month.  It adds in nicely to our grocery budget to make a total of $200 for both.  We ate out at the beginning of the month with a really neat Customer Appreciation that we heard about from Paisano's which is a local pizza chain where we normally get cheese steak subs.  They had a large one topping pizza for $4.99 plus tax so it was $5.29 for us to have this yummy dinner.  We went with half pepperoni and half cheese just in case the pepperoni was too spicy but it was great to have both!!  My parents came and took the boys out to lunch at one of my husband's favorite places to get fried chicken so again a special treat with no money out of pocket. Happy to be well under our halfway mark for the month and leaves us something for a special meal later in the month.

Stardance Summer Book Review

I was excited when I was searching around and found out that there was a new book in the Eternity Springs series so I went straight to the library system and put it on hold.  I guess I need to check frequently to see if there are new books in all the series that I love so that I don't miss anything.  A Stardance Summer: An Eternity Springs Novel by Emily March is the newest installment of the Eternity Springs series that I enjoyed this summer.

Return to the beloved small town of Eternity Springs in the newest installment of Emily March’s New York Times bestselling series with A Stardance Summer.  Sometimes the end of one road:  Brick Callahan enjoys every minute of chaos at his campground, Stardance Ranch, especially after the Tornado Alleycats arrive for an extended summer stay. The members of the all-female glamorous camping club are primarily seniors―active and adventurous, friendly and fun. But when he discovers Liliana Howe frolicking with the glamping grannies in a late night skinny-dipping session, he fears he's in for a summer of trouble. Because his best friend's kid sister has grown up to be drop-dead gorgeous.. . .is the start of another: Betrayed by those she trusted, Lili decides she's put her career first for too long. She sells her practical sedan, buys a travel trailer, and heads to Eternity Springs for a summer of rest, relaxation, and reassessment as the newest member of the Alleycats. The last person she expects to find running an RV resort is her high school crush. Their undeniable mutual attraction is a reminder that life is full of surprises. But when the past comes calling, will their summer romance stand the test of time?

I picked up this after reading a really heavy paper back book and I decided to go for a literal lighter read.  All of the great characters and writing were still there and I was super glad to read about them again.  This book finally follows Brick who we have seen in many books and still haven't gotten to know.  This book was a great getting to know you book to learn about his past and his family.  It was a sad past but still such a happy ending that it was hard to find it sad.  There was also a new character with Liliana who comes to visit the town and realizes that she knows Brick as her childhood crush who was a friend of her brothers.  There are so many twists and turns and other characters in this book that it is amazing to see what happens when the story ends.  I hope that you check out this book and the rest of the books in the great Eternity Springs series. I know that you will enjoy them as much as I have!!

Wonderland Book Review

I was glad to get back to this series because the characters and writing were always entertaining.  Robert B. Parker's Wonderland (Spenser) by Ace Atkins is the second book of the series written by the new author and the 41st book of the whole series.  I love these nice long series which I enjoyed reading for a good long time and then thought I was going to loose the change when Robert Parker passed away.  The great news is that the new author picked up the series and has kept to the same great writing and characters before.

Old friends. Small favors. Bitter rivals. Stirred together, it all makes for one explosive cocktail. Spenser can feel the heat stretching from Boston to Vegas—and people are about to get burned.
Henry Cimoli and Spenser have been friends for years, yet the old boxing trainer has never asked the private eye for a favor. Until now. A developer is trying to buy up Henry's condo on Revere Beach—with a push from local thugs. Soon Spenser and his apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, are on the trail of a mysterious woman, a megalomaniacal Las Vegas kingpin, and a shady plan to turn a chunk of land north of Boston into a sprawling casino. As alliances shift and twisted dreams surface, the Boston political machine looks to end Spenser's investigation one way or another—and once and for all.

Other then the heavy weight of the actual hard covered book, I had trouble putting it down.  This was a great book from beginning to end.   These books are like little movies or great television episodes that have you riveted from beginning to end.  In this one, Spenser is helping Henry Cimoli, his long time friend and boxing trainer, who needs help dealing with some thugs who are roughing up the old people in his building to try to get them to sell.  Spenser discovers that the people need the building to build a casino which has just become legal in Massachusetts.  It was amazing to watch the horrible truths unfold and figure out who needs to be trusted.  There are lots of surprises in this book but you have to pick it up to find out what happens.  I hope that you check out this book and all the others in the series to see for yourself.

Robert B Parker's Lullaby Book Review

I got a bunch of books at the beginning of the summer with probably very little idea of what I was going to actually have time to read but I made great progress on them but there are still a few on my stack which is sad because summer is officially over!!  Robert B. Parker's Lullaby (Spenser) by Ace Atkins is the first book written in the series by the new author.  I still enjoyed the same humor and character from before so there was little difference for me.

When fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother’s murder, he’s not convinced by her claim that the wrong man was convicted. Mattie is street-smart, wise beyond her years, and now left to care for her younger siblings and an alcoholic grandmother in a dilapidated apartment in South Boston. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hits Spenser where he lives.  As Spenser becomes more involved, he thinks that Mattie may be onto something after all. And he’s going to need the help of his friend Hawk to find peace for Mattie—a job that’s more dangerous than he ever thought.

This book was very similar to the other books in the series because Spenser takes a case of a young girl who is unable to pay him so he agrees to find her mother's killer for a dozen doughnuts.  Although this is sort of amusing, he is quickly in the middle of trouble with lots of bad guys and still trying to take care of the girl and her two younger sisters.  This book really could have been a movie with the amount of action in it.  I think that with so many books in the series, at least a few seasons of a television series are already plotted out.  You have to pick up the book to find out all the characters that end up coming out of the wood work but I know that you will enjoy this book just as much as all the other in the series.  If you haven't picked up the series yet, this is a great place to start or go back and check out some of the other earlier books in the series.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have!

Menu Plan Monday 9/11

Monday- Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken with homemade fries
Tuesday- Pasta
Wednesday- Tacos
Thursday- Grilled Chicken with rice
Friday- Leftovers
Saturday- ?
Sunday-?

Last weeks menu was totally crazy but we got it done, I moved my son's favorite dinner to Sunday night because we had enough time to have it and that turned out being a great thing because my mom and dad called and said that they were coming to visit on Monday.  We did a bunch of activities and things on Monday including mini-golf and Air and Space museum before dinner.  We went with pasta dinner on Tuesday instead of Wednesday and I added a pizza crust with garlic powder and cheese for garlic bread and zucchini.  On Tuesday, we had Thursday's meal of grilled chicken and white rice which was supposed to be Thursday meal.  I did Philly Cheese Steak pasta on Wednesday before back to school night.  I was left with no meal plan for Thursday night but it ended up being a crazy with soccer practice, uniform pick up and my teaching a couponing class that we ended up with leftovers and my husband made my son pasta.  Knowing that we already had leftovers, I decided on spicy honey mustard chicken nuggets and mac and cheese for Friday night taking it out to thaw with just enough time.  I was glad that I could move everything around and still get everything in the meal plan made and then the weekend came.  We were scrambling this weekend and I was not feeling great so it was hard weekend. 

I didn't even get to write about last week before I published this because I went to bed early on Sunday with a headache and was trying my best to function.  We had the busiest weekend with soccer, last weekend open at the pool and a local festival.  I also worked for 4 hours on Sunday which was a big chunk of the day.  I am hoping for a yummy week and a better plan for the weekend before it gets there.  I hope that you have a great week and enjoy some yummy meals.

August Reading Review

This month I was determined to get through the pile of summer reading books that I got from the library.  I already renewed a pile of them and had to return two because of holds before I got to them.  This was the month that ends the summer so there is lots of reading that needs to happen.  I got the list up on my August review and I did a draft for each book so that I could write the review faster when the time came.  Sadly, the first two books of August were both finished by the 3rd of the month so I was behind in my write ups but I think that the drafts really helped me catch up quickly and get back to the fun summer activities.

I hope that you get a chance to check out a few of these books for yourself and add them to your reading list.  If you missed the summary and review of the book, please click on the title of the book and it will take you back to the original post.  I hope that you enjoy!!

Miracle Road

by Emily March

Dreamweaver Trail

by Emily March

Teardrop Lane

by Emily March

Heartsong Cottage

by Emily March

Reunion Pass

by Emily March

Amish Cooking Class The Blessing
by Wanda E. Brunstetter

84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff

Christmas in Eternity Springs
by Emily March

Courting Emily
by Amy Lillard

Lorie's Heart
by Amy Lillard

Just Plain Sadie
by Amy Lillard

Starting Over On Blackberry Lane
by  Shelia Roberts

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
by Helene Hanff

Any Dream Will Do
by Debbie Macomber

Don't Panic More Dinner's in the Freezer
by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell, and Bonnie Garcia

Sixkill
by Robert B Parker

Serenity Harbor
by RaeAnne Thayne

Total Books Read for 2017

January    8

February  15
March     17
April      13
May        10
June         10
July          15
August       17

Total Books Read    105

Currently Reading:

Serenity Harbor Book Review

I was excited to reserve a new book in the Haven Point series at the library.  I was shocked to find out that it was not even the newest one when I went on Amazon to get the summary.  Serenity Harbor: A Heartwarming Small Town Romance (Haven Point) by RaeAnne Thayne is the sixth book in the series and I couldn't wait to read this book!

In the town of Haven Point, love can be just a wish—and one magical kiss—away… 
Computer-tech millionaire Bowie Callahan is about the last person that schoolteacher Katrina Bailey wants to work for. As far as she can see, he's arrogant, entitled and not up to the task of caring for his young half brother, Milo. But Kat is, especially if it brings her closer to her goal of adopting an orphaned little girl. And as her kindness and patience work wonders with Milo, she realizes there's more to sexy, wary Bo than she'd ever realized.  Bo never imagined he'd be tasked with caring for a sibling he didn't know existed. Then again, he never pictured himself impulsively kissing vibrant, compassionate Katrina in the moonlight. Now he's ready to make her dream of family come true…and hoping there's room in it for him, too…

The beautiful cover was only the start to this wonderful book.  I was so glad to get back into the series but it took a little bit before I could remember who was who.  I loved the characters before and couldn't wait to meet more of them.  This book followed Bowie who was new to town and his autistic brother, Milo.  They were trying to build a new life after their mother died and Bowie got custody of his much younger half brother.  Kat was a back in town for her sister's wedding and met Milo in the grocery store while he was having a fit.  Kat helped to distract Milo so that he didn't get so upset.  Shortly after Bowie offered Kat a job helping him by caring for Milo between nannies.  Kat helped Milo make connects to her brother and the rest of the small town.  Bowie pays Kat a lot of money so that she can adopt her daughter in Columbia.  I couldn't put this one down when I started so it was super good with a few tears at the end.  I hope that you check out this book and others in this great series and enjoy them as much as I have!