Budgeting Groceries

In review of our budget I decided I still spend to much on groceries. So in an effort to bring our weekly total down I've really decided to try and make sure I buy nothing I don't really need or I don't have a coupon for. Last Friday I decided to give CVS a try and see what the ECB's are all about. I went in with my coupon folder and as stated above would buy nothing I didn't need or usually buy. I ended up with a shampoo and conditioner and one box of excedrin I spent $3.89 and ended up with $3.00 in ECB's to spend on my next visit. I thought I did pretty good and starting small to get the hang of CVS is smart it's much easier to figure out.

Next I figured I might as well contact two of my neighbors I know don't cut coupons and ask if I can have their's every week. They both were more than happy to give them to me I felt a bit weird asking but hey I've already used some of the coupons they gave me and saved money so for a little bit of awkwardness it was well worth it.

I organized all my coupons yesterday and made up a whole new system for them. I have bunches of them now triple of many so I can get some really good deals. Plus with the coupons you can print online many good deals are to be had.

Last night was my first test I dropped the boys off at guitar lessons and ran to the store a store I normally don't shop at much because of it's high prices. This week they had some really good deals on Quaker products. Armed with my arsenal of coupons in I went here is what I bought.

5 boxes of cereal
2 canisters of old fashioned quaker oats
2 bottles of syrup
4 packages of dole fruit cups for a total of 16 individual cups for the boys.
1 box of pancake mix

I spent $14.41 total and had the cash register beep at me because my coupon discount was more than I was spending...WOOHOO!! I was so pumped I had to do two different transactions but it was worth it. I have enough breakfast food for at least a month probably longer. We eat eggs mostly for breakfast with cereal or oatmeal maybe 3 days a week. I have Meijer to go to yet this week and if I can use all the coupons I have I should spend less than $20.00 their also. I do have meat in my freezer that should last awhile so I won't buy that this week. But I'm way under what I normally spend a week so far.

I really hope I can continue to find good deals like this. I've decided that I buy things sometimes just because they are a good deal but we don't really need at that time. I'm not going to do that anymore I'm really trying to rein in my grocery spending. I want to be a wise steward of my hubby's hard earned money and this is one area I can definitely do better so wish me luck.

My Little helper..

As Roman gets older he loves to help his mama more and more. Following his big brothers footsteps isn't always easy but he loves to feel big like them. Here he is helping me dry dishes the other night I thought he was just so cute he was having a blast. He even put all the plastic stuff away and did it right.

Here is is prized possession his "sheepy" as he calls him. I bought it when I was pregnant with him and thought it was so soft. Was is the key word after weekly washings sheepy is starting to show wear and tear. He sleeps with him every night and carries him all over the house. All my kids have treasure stuffed animals and I always thought they were so cute with them.

Field trip to our local press

Yesterday we went on a Field trip to our local paper which is quite large. The building, the press and the land total costed 88 million. It was quite a sight to see. Only fifth grade on up could go so I just took Lucas. It was nice to just spend the time with him after the trip we went out for lunch with one of my good friends and her son who Lucas is friends with. We had a good time and came home with a list of things to research that Lucas wanted to know more about. This picture below is how they used to print this was heavy steel.
Here is Lucas learning how they look and go through each paper to find things wrong before the final printing.
Here is the massive printing press it costs 27 million and was built in Germany.
If you look close you can see the papers on rollers this is the final step.

Do you see a theme here?

I'm craving Coffee and Chocolate









Apple Pie and Ice Cream









Pizza and Bread







Anything that's carb and sugar loaded!! Yes today is the last day of detox ...WOOHOO!!

Observations after day one detox..

Well I made it through day one..WOOHOO...doin a happy dance! That was the hardest day today I get to eat, two eggs never tasted sooo good. What I realized number one is that I must eat a lot and eat out of boredom. I know a lot of times I plop on the couch to watch tv and then eat in the process. Since I wasn't eating I had all this free time so needless to say my house is spotless and I got caught up on my laundry finally. I've never made it a whole day without food before so I was quite impressed with my determination to. Number two I survived without coffee I guess I don't need to drink four cups a day. Number three I feel so good today not eating any sugar I defiantly eat to much. Of course I always feel so good after these detoxes and fall right back into my old eating habits. I will say that it seems like I eat a little bit healthier after every detox so some good comes of it I guess. I am craving that coffee today maybe a cup of tea will do the trick I wish coffee just didn't taste so good:)

Detoxing..

This is what I'm doing this week. I found this three day liver cleanse/detox that I'm doing. So far so good of course I'm only a few hours into it. I'm such a wimp when it comes to these things I whine and complain like you wouldn't believe I just love food way to much. Why do I do it then? When I'm done with the diet I always feel so much better it's fantastic. I've never done this three day diet before at least I like most of the food/juice you drink. Today I have to drink this juice concoction and water basically you fast for a day. I had to add flax seed to the morning drink and evening drink. The next two days you add in cruciferous veggies, blueberries, strawberries, two eggs a day and a couple other things that I can't remember. I did a detox diet two years ago that lasted for 10 days I was so ornery and didn't think I'd make it to the end. Thankfully hubby did it with me otherwise I would've quit it most of the food on that plan I didn't like so I basically didn't eat for the three worst days of the diet. Anyway wish me luck that my liver is detoxed and I'm hoping my body flushes out the "ickies" floating around in it:)

Happy New Year

Here is my only New Years "resolution". For our family to read the entire Bible in one year. I have a calendar that lists the chapters you have to read each day. As we read the chapters we can cross them off for that day. Today we are reading Genesis chapters 1-3. I hope and pray that we all grow closer to the Lord as a family as we do this.