Strategic Shopping My other Job

A friend of mine asked to take lessons when she read my status on Facebook last week about only paying $17 for $71 for groceries. That made me laugh because I just follow several deal blogs & do what they tell me! 

Here is my routine!

1.  I buy two St. Louis Post papers & one local paper every Sunday on the way home from church.  (My kids love this because they get to read the comics—family tradition here)  This costs me about $5.  If I use just 5 coupons I will break even.

2.  If I get the time on Sunday, I flip through the coupons & take out & clip any I KNOW that I will use.  If not, I will do it while watching a movie one night that week.

3.  I combine the coupon inserts.  That way I have the same coupons together.  Notice I am not clipping at this time.  I also throw away all the non coupon(ads) pages from the inserts to reduce the bulk.

4.  What is left of the inserts gets put in my coupon binder.  I mark on the front of the inserts the dates so I can easily find a coupon I need(based on the date).  Helps my poor eyes not have to read the fine print later.

5.  Locally, there is a free paper that is delivered on Wednesday evening.  When that arrives in my drive way I look through the ads for items that I feel are good deals.  I frequent several stores—Schnucks, Gerbes, Mosers, Hy-vee, & Aldis.  I also go to Target & Wal-mart on less frequent occasions.  I also keep a price book to help me with knowing if a price is a good deal.

6.  When I find a good deal I circle it in black sharpie so it really jumps off the page at me.

7.  Thursday morning I make a weekly deals round up page from the black circles(idea from Life..Your Way) so I can see easily what I am shopping for when I go.  I also mark down any coupons I know about that match up on this page.  I check The Savings Jungle to see if she’s found a few more good deals & mark those down on my page.

8.  I check my Menu Plan to see what I am going to needfor the the next 7 days and add any ingredients that are needed.  Fresh fruit, vegies, bread, & milk get added here too.

9.  Lastly I really looks to see what stores have the most deals.  I might go to just one or two.  Gas prices factor in to this decision. 

We have piano lessons on Thursday so I hit the stores that are on the way & closest to that.  I shop while the kids are at their lesson so I am using my time wisely.  We are also out on Tuesdays so I can go to the other stores then if I decide it is really necessary.

10.  After my round up page is created I gather the coupons that I need from my binder or my clipped coupon stash(this travels with me).  I don’t take my big binder with me to the store.  I also print a lot of coupons off the internet and I store those in my traveling stash.

11.  Now I am ready to shop.  I take along my list & my coupon stash every time I go in to town because you never know when you might have time to swing in a store.

All these steps have evolved and are still evolving today.  I am sure a year from now I will have found something new or better to use.  So take what works for you and leave the rest!  But I hope this helps you save money & find a little more wiggle room in your budget!

Mom Adventure

Okay I am going to be a bit self centered here for a minute. 

Being a mom is a 24/7 job & everyone is going to recognize that tomorrow.  Even Steve said last night—hey you want to go get flowers for your Mother’s day gift this weekend? (He knows what I like!)

But on Monday when no one is paying attention that is when being a Mom is hard.  Every moment has the opportunity for chaos, crisis & battle.

Right now I have one in the bathroom avoiding the dishes, one asking to use the pile of books I am sorting for towers for his army guys, one who is playing rag time music with all her soul & the oldest is across town somewhere at the University.  I’ve been sorting books today because the shelves are overflowing.  It is a bit of a walk down memory lane.  So many favorite books!

How many times did I read Go Dog Go or Goodnight Moon when they were little?

Now they read to themselves.  Occasionally we still will read aloud(need to get back to that!)—whoop rambling there.

I think the hardest part of being a mom is the day to day battles.

Toys on the floor, bed, stairs, etc

Selfish attitudes need correcting

Everyone needs help at the same moment

Kids are constantly hungry

I am okay with that.  It makes me weary by the time bed time rolls around but it is a good weary.  20 years ago when I signed up for this adventure I really had no clue what I was getting myself in to but the joy that has come along with the battles has been worth it.

Snuggles, hugs, sloppy kisses

Giggles, sharing hearts, jokes & family sillies

Moments when time seems to stand still when we walk, talk, work & play together

Sometimes I lock eyes with a child & it gives me chills because I know what they are thinking.  We are a close family and I love that.

I wouldn’t trade a minute of time that I have been blessed to spend with my children.  They have taught me more than I knew was possible.

This journey isn’t done and I am anticipating the the next adventure around the bend.

Brotherly Love

This hug came at a moment where there was no one else who could quite cheer Megan up.  I just stood there and smiled through the tears that Michael walked in at just the right moment. 

We had no idea that he was in KC yet.  He wasn’t supposed to be there for another 4 hours.  I am so thankful that he was there.  Sometimes brother’s give the best hugs & encouragement just when you need them.

 

Little Pizzas

One of Steve’s favorite meals as a kid was having little pizzas.  They would take a can of biscuits and roll them out.  Spread a spoonful of tomato sauce on & top with cheese or other toppings.

I don’t really like biscuits from a can so we don’t do this now but have come up with our own version!  The kids love to add their toppings to “their” pizza!  We also use the recipe below for breadsticks!

Pizza/Breadstick Dough

1 2/3 cup HOT water

2 cups flour

2 T sugar

2 T oil

1 clove garlic

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

3 tsp yeast

Put the ingredients in a bread machine  on the dough cycle.  (Another way to do this is to mix using a Kitchen Aid mixer with the bread hook for about 7-10 minutes then remove from the hook & let rise for about an hour) 

When the cycle is complete remove the dough from the pan and shape in to 2 inch balls of dough.  Flatten the dough & roll it out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

At this point you could freeze the dough & get it out to bake when you need a really fast meal.  Freeze it on waxed paper & then when they are frozen stack them in a zip lock bag.

To bake you need to mix 1 can of tomato sauce with 1 tsp of Italian seasoning(or whatever herbs you like) & spread it over the top of the dough.  Top with your favorite toppings & bake on 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

So grab a kid at meal time & make some pizza together!  They will love it!

Clean & Shiny Stove

Some chores just get put off, forgotten and procrastinated until they are horrible.

This spring has been a time of spring cleaning for our family.  I had surgery in January so MANY things around the house just had to wait.

One of them was my stove.  It had gotten BAD. 

One of the things I have resolved this year is to use more natural cleaners and less chemicals.  So far using vinegar to get rid of hard water stains & get rid of a musty smell in my washer are the only changes I have made.

One thing that has built up in my kitchen is the grease on the back where the knobs are located.  It is a hard thing to take a photo but here is my best try.

I tried wiping it off with vinegar but that didn’t take off the stickiness of the grease.  This was going to need a stronger scratchier cleaner.  I decided to pull out good old baking soda. 

I wet my rag down, made a bit of a paste & just went to work.  I love it when something so simple works so well.  The sticky grease was gone and things were shiny once again.

The stove top wasn’t greasy but there were several places that had food that was cooked on.  One of our favorite foods is rice and it regularly boils over.  More baking soda here & worked up the paste right on the stove top.  I did let it set for several minutes before I went to work but again the baking soda went right to work.

 

The last thing that desperately needed to be done was to clean out the oven.  As you can see it has been a LONG while.

 

I could have run the self-cleaning cycle but with that much in the bottom it would have stunk up the house so I just used a little whisk broom to sweep it all out.  I will still run the cleaning cycle but on a day where I can open the windows up to air out the smell.