Shopping this Week

I must say that this week's shopping trip was discouraging. I spent way more than I expected and haven't yet sat down with the budget to determine how this will effect the rest of the month. I did shop the sales, but didn't use many coupons. I started with a bare freezer and zero meat, so I knew that I wouldn't get out cheap. And I was feeling like I had been ran over by a train as I am really feeling the symptoms of allergies! DH reminded me that I am doing my best and I will become more efficient as time goes on.

I ended up going to 5 stores (way more than I had planned). I will not post everything I bought, just enough to give you an idea.

Sam's- I really still think this is the best overall place to get meat and milk. Sometimes I can find meat cheaper on sale, but I am never as happy with the quality. My Sam's total was $93.78 and I got 2 gallons skim milk, 2 half-gallons 2% organic milk, huge box of baby wipes (should last through the summer and into when we start needed them for Dawson), bread, clementines, frozen broccoli, ground turkey, veggie burgers, meatballs, pork chops and chicken. The meat will last us more than a month and hopefully, I can replenish the supply slowly and not run out all at once! Although I gasped at the total, I really got a lot!

Kroger- Didn't get any great deals here, just lots little things. Total was $44.74.

Cville Market- My favorite place for produce. Total was $15.23. Included a 5 pound bag of potatoes and our favorite treat, Voortman cookies!

Asian food market- Just some sesame oil and fish sauce for various recipes, total $3.60.

Food Lion- There were a few things I missed at Kroger...total was $15.66.

Overall:
Grocery Total: $159.51 (yikes, over half our budget for the month, let's see how we make it till May 15)
Ella Total (just wipes, we have a different budget line for this): $13.50

Menu Plan Monday

Hopefully, by posting my menu plan every Monday I will be more motivated to create a menu and follow it. I am still working to get to the point that I shop the sales and then create a menu based on what I have in the pantry, freezer and fridge. This is definitely going to be a slow transition!

This week is a bit different as we are leaving on Wednesday morning to chaperon a field trip to New York for the ninth graders at my DH's school. Hard work, right! My mom will be coming to stay with Ella and she was very nice to say that she would take care of meals for her and Ella!

Here is what I have....

Breakfasts- all with fruit
Cheerios and milk
Eggs and toast
Waffles

Lunches- (for kids, I will find something if I don't eat what they are having)
Leftover meatballs, green beans and scalloped potatoes
Baked beans
Tuna Salad

Dinners-
Monday- Southwestern Chicken Wraps, Fruit, Chips
Tuesday- Lasagna, Salad and Bread (homemade from bread machine)
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday- out of town
Saturday- Honey Mustard Chicken, Potato salad, Fruit
Sunday- Pork Chops, Mashed potatoes, green beans

To find more ideas for menus, check out http://orgjunkie.com/

This Week at CVS

This was a good week at CVS, however, I am struggling a bit in this process because it seems I have to purchase things I wouldn't typically in order to keep my Extra Care Bucks balance up. This week it was make-up! Now, I enjoy make-up but I don't wear it all that often and I tend to go for a powder foundation, especially during the summer. But, purchasing the make-up gave me $2.50 (after cost of purchase). So, now I am looking to determine how to best use these products that I don't need. I know some folks hold on to them for yard sales, however, I would prefer to donate them as I didn't really pay anything for them. So, I plan to put everything in a box to go through every few months and then determine where I can bless others with them. For the make-up, I was thinking of a women's shelter. Granted, they have much bigger needs, but maybe I can meet a want!

So, here is a break-down of yesterday's trip. Sorry that I don't have a picture. Our camera is almost dead, so I am holding off on pictures until we have enough reward points on our Mastercard to "purchase" a new one!

2 Packs of Huggies Pull-Ups for $8.99
Used 2 $2/1 coupons

1 Pack of Huggies Diapers for $8.99
Used 1 $1.50/1 coupon

From above, I generated $10 in ECB for the Baby Spend $25 get $10 ECB

2 Covergirl True Blend Whipped Makeup for $9.49
Used B1G1 coupon
Generated $12 in ECB, $6 for each

1 Pepsid Easy Chew 25 Count for $7.99
Used $2/1 coupon
Generated $5 ECB
I will be sending off for a rebate of $5.50

What I paid:
Used $16.99 in manufacturer coupons
Use CVS generated coupon that I got at the bottom of last week's receipt for $10 off $50 purchase.
Used $22.97 in ECB.
I paid $5.33 out of pocket (which will be covered completely after I receive the Pepsid rebate).

I currently have $27 in ECB (all from the above).

We are having a...

Our ultrasound was yesterday and we are excited to share the exciting news. The tradition in our Friday playgroup continues...all of the moms of a little girl have (or are having) a boy!!! We are joining the club as Dawson Henry will be making his way into the world in August. We are excited to join the Whites, Lovelaces, Fergusons, and Browns in the land of parenting boys and I'm sure all of the big sisters will educate Ella on how to best handle a little brother!

Update

Once again, I was out of the blog world. Although I like to blog, I just can't make it a priority. So, no stress here, how freeing! I guess I will get to it when I can, which just happens to be today.

We have had a very crazy couple of weeks. On Good Friday we were traveling to Michigan and ran into a snow storm. Chris is wonderful at driving in the snow and was doing everything right when we were cut off by a car that was driving aggressively. Our car began to fish tail and on the fifth or sixth time we hit the rumble strips and rolled into the median. It was so scary! We were protected by God's angels as he promises in Psalm 91:11, "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."

There are so many things I am thankful for concerning this accident...I would like to address a few.
~Moments before the accident I sat up straight and adjusted my seat belt under my belly so the baby would be safe if anything were to happen.
~We landed on all four wheels, not on a side or upside down.
~We didn't hit any other cars, AMAZING!
~We left the dogs in Roanoke with my parents.
~We were all incredibly okay!
~God placed a van from the towing company right beside of us at a stoplight when we were looking for the lot so we could follow. Please note, it was snowing and we were in a strange town and had terrible directions.
~Our insurance settlement was much better than we expected so we were able to purchase a van that I can't imagine we would ever have been able to buy.
~Chris spent 2 days with his dad looking for a vehicle and felt extremely supported.
~We returned home to wonderful friends (Thanks Melissa, Jennifer, Dana, Amy, Laurie and Alison) who made dinner for us for a week while we got everything back together, did insurance paperwork and dealt with unexpected emotions.

We are happy to be home and getting back to normal life. We saw God at work through this entire situation and although we would never want to re-live it, we wouldn't change the past!