coupons?

I have been diligently working away at couponing, meal planning and grocery lists this past week.
All of which are not exactly something I would choose to do willingly. I really have a hard time with each of these. But I have been challenged lately to work harder at these things because they are some thing I not only need to do but must do. They are my responsibility.
My job, given by God, is to run the home. To be the home maker. Not lead the home- that is my husband's God given gift, but to organize and efficiently keep it in order. It's something I think some women shy away from, or procrastinate or somehow justify not doing for the sake of so many excuses. I fit right in there.
It's easy to put other things ahead of these tasks that, well are not exactly my favorite. I have laundry to finish, a little boy to teach, emails to respond to, bathrooms to clean, meals to cook...and on goes my list.
Yes these items need to be done too, but along with the ones that I well, dislike.
But I know that I am more than capable, and God is willing to help with each task He has expected me to do.
I'm not a failure. In fact I can be pretty determined when I set my mind to doing something. Firm even.
So I jumped in this past week. I knew the road before me would be long and frustrating as I planned out meals, researched sales and coupons and wrote my grocery list.
And guess what? I finished it. (meal plan here if you'd like to look)
I was determined to finish no matter how long it took. And I did. Thank you God for helping.
I prayed over the time I invested as I headed to the store and I feel God blessed the efforts I put in.
Will it get easier? I am hoping so. I'm starting to see a reason to all the madness.
Meal plans= less stress each day, less money on store trips, and more time for other things. So it does make sense. I think I forget that planning always equals more time in the long run.
And the coupons.
I struggled using coupons for the fact that I try hard to keep our foods more whole food based, or with as little processed foods as possible. It's tough to do this on a small budget but also with coupons as so many of them are for boxed, canned, packaged processed junk that really shouldn't even be on the shelves, because of the unhealthy things that are in them. (thinking of sugary cereals, microwave meals...etc.)
But I was again challenging myself to find the best deals, whole food or organic, without stocking up on things that were unhealthy.
The first thing I did when I was researching coupon deals was to look for all the free things. By free I mean the things that you end up getting free when you use the coupons combined with sales. Now these items can often be junk items if they are food, but not always. Free things were also toiletries or paper products such as toothpaste, kleenex, cough drops, soaps etc. When I saw those as free I knew that even if we didn't use some of them, I could still pick them up and donate them to others. Now that is awesome! Also, some of the freebies actually make you a little money when you have coupons that pay for it, with overage. So even if you don't use the items, buy them to make the little overage and donate them.
After I found all the free items and made sure I had the coupons necessary (that's key), I then looked at sales for things we could use.
After shopping between Kroger and Publix (they are minutes from each other where I live) I was able to stock up on some great items including: organic soup, organic broths, organic granola, annie's mac and cheese, natural eggs, salsa for cheap! I also picked up some other basic groceries including produce, which I could spend a little more on with the savings. I picked up a turkey for a great deal at .79 lb for Thanksgiving. Overall between the two stores I spent roughly $58 or so. $19 at Publix (saving over $19) and $38 at Kroger (saving $25 or so).
Also for the free things I headed out to Kroger on a special trip just for those. My total from that trip? I was paid over $7 back. That was pretty awesome. I think that was what encouraged me to try a little harder at coupons. A word of encouragement- you can coupon, save and still buy healthy good food for your family.
Shop sales, in season, and stock up when you have coupons combined with sales on good foods. I thought it was kind of like hoarding to stock, but you want to buy a bunch when it's at it's lowest price so that you are well stocked until the next sale. And I don't greedily buy things we don't use. If something is free, I'll pick it up to donate if we don't use it.
It's a lot of fun to chip away at our budget and get things as low as I can. We don't have wiggle room when it comes to going over so I have to shop smart, there isn't an option here!
Here are the groceries from my two grocery trips:

Also I stick to one site for all this- www.southernsavers.com
I think this helps me tremendously, otherwise I'd be all over the internet searching for sales.
I also shop at Aldi for things, and CVS- but that's another story for another day.
Be encouraged women, you were made for the calling God has on your life- being a home maker, managing all the tasks at home, training up your children, what a huge blessing and honor it is! You are capable of doing all this too, with God's help, don't give up.
Psalm 128:2 
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
I also like the translation in the ESV that says:
You shall eat of the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

So don't give up! It will be worth it.

juice for Oliver

Today's shopping trip was a little simpler than last weekends. I picked up a few toiletries and some other foods we ran out of like yogurt and milk. I still had to split my trip between a few stores, CVS being one of them. I have been taking advantage of their Extra Care Bucks by only buying things that offer them, and that I can also match a coupon with. This is the best way to save a lot at pharmacy. Their normal prices are never usually worth it as they seem to price things a lot higher than any other store. But using their reward system can be like getting some things for free.
Actually I did get some things for free today! They have a machine in CVS that lets you scan your card (you have to have this little Extra Care Bucks reward card to scan and use at every purchase) and it prints out coupons for you. This time it printed out two free items, one a pack of CVS brand bandaids, and one candy bar- Caramello. As it turned out they didn't carry that kind of candybar, so I was able to pick any Hershey brand bar and use the coupon. Since I rarely buy candybars, or candy for that matter, it was nice to have my pick. Literally like a kid in a candy store! I chose a dark chocolate bar. Yum. I'll be sharing it with Jonah....well maybe :)
I know that it can be overwhelming when you start out, to try to figure out the saving, coupon and CVS thing, but it was worth it to us when I can save on things like deodorant, feminine products, shampoos and mascara. Who really wants to pay full price for those anyways? We use them so often it's worth the effort on my part.
But my trips today were Oliver free as Jonah was home with him for me. It was an easier trip because of this, not having to tote Oliver in and out of the cart and into the blazing hot heat we've been having today. (thankfully it's raining now and will hopefully cool things down!)
My bargain deal today was at Kroger. I was walking down the natural food section and I saw a discount label on organic juices for kids. I looked closer and realized they were clearancing it out for good. The regular price was around $5 per bottle and they were marked at $1.57!
I haven't really given Oliver juice, just water and milk, and every now and then some really watered down orange juice. I wasn't crazy about giving him sugar. But these were made to be first juices and the ingredients were purely fruits and vegetables. (carrots, bananas, and apples) What a great deal! I bought all four that were left on the shelf.

Plus when I went to check out they rang up at regular price- so I asked if I could go double check the tag to be sure I was correct on the discount and item. The checkout lady didn't believe that they were discounted, but I checked and they were- even after they had another worker come check too. I've really learned to be bolder when it comes to sales. I'm not afraid to check and double check if I don't get the discount I had planned for, and I'm not afraid (usually, still learning) to put the item BACK if I was wrong.
That's the tough part.
In fact I did the exact opposite the other day in the thrift store. I really shouldn't have even gone in. But I did, it was hot out, and I was killing a little time before we headed to meet Jonah for lunch. My buy? A portable charcoal grill by Charbroil. I payed around $16 for it, only because when I put it in the cart I thought a certain color was half price- including the grill. When I got to the checkout I realized I had been told the wrong color by a sales associate in the store. Darn. So I payed full price, even after I had talked with Jonah about it- we agreed we wouldn't spend more than $10. So there you go. I'm still weak when it comes to making the best decision all the time. And now, I'm going to see if I can sell it on Craigslist, because when I opened the box at home, I realized it was brand new in it's original packaging. Wow, pretty nice.
But in the long run we really try to stretch our dollars as far as they can go since we don't have many of them!
God knows my heart, and He knows I desire to be wise with our budget and groceries and purchases, and He knows how hard I'm trying and that I still fail. For that I am thankful, because I know He owns everything that goes through our hands and I don't have to fear anything resting in His provision. Even if we don't have a grill if we sell this one, He'll provide a way for us to grill those steaks we have in our freezer (from our 1/8 cow share).

Meal planning and chalks

precious kisses from Oliver!

Today I went back to my scheduling. This makes it what day 3?  Well thats a record for me.
Just kidding... kind of.
I had it in my mind today that I was going to do the one thing that I am horrible at- meal planning.
Some women are so wonderful at this. They love love love getting into charts and lists and little details.
Me on the other hand, well I would rather have a book of images to browse through and choose what we'll eat that way (hence, go to the store and buy for the week by what I see then make meals at home, which equals another trip to the store to pick up a couple things I missed....and so on).
I'm such a visual person. I guess thats why I loved Pinterest almost immediately, it's so inspiring and feeds into my way of learning and thinking.
But thats another post to come.
So, for meal planning, I have figured out that I love to buy what is in season first- which means half of our groceries each week are produce. I like to make meals that are nutritious, whole foods based which means not using processed and refined foods.
Now I am not 100% unprocessed. We still buy condiments, salad dressings, pastas and breads, and a variety of other things. But I have learned to be conscientious about what the ingredient list is, and this helps me narrow down our choices even further, because I opt for things that don't have heaps of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, lots of soy product and weird chemicals. We are not all organic. Hardly. If I could swing more organic items into our weekly groceries I would in a heartbeat, but I am okay with buying seasonally for our foods because it has the most nutritional value anyways. Yes maybe some pesticides too, but I have realized I have to compromise somewhere and right now in this season in our lives it's going to be there.
I have realized how quickly you can be obsessed with food choices when you switch to more wholefood all natural items. The more you learn about food, where it comes from, how it's made can completely consume you. I have to take baby steps in this area, pray for wisdom in the decisions I do make, and guard my eyes, and time in the matter.
With that being said, I sat down and made a point of finishing this huge chore! I prayed my way through it too, knowing I have a tendency to get discouraged and overwhelmed at the task before me.
Soooo, what did I end up doing?
My first item was to organize my menu binder I keep in my kitchen. It's a 3 ring binder that holds printed recipes that I know we like and I know I'll make again. I got this idea from a friend of mine that keeps one in her kitchen for her 2 week rotating meal plans. I liked that idea and saved it for later- and later was today!

my little tabs- I plan to make real tabs, these are just tape

I took some time to type up recipes I had written here and there on scrap sheets, and then decided that my best approach for recipes keeping was to provide seasonal ones. Right now we are in summer so I have an organized book filled with ones I have really liked this summer. I then organized them further to be in categories: chicken, beef, veggies, side dishes, snacks, dessert etc.
My plan is to switch it out with fall recipes as we enter that season, and as the foods change in the store. So, once I had that to my liking I then started on my meal plan. Yes the dreaded meal plan.
Instead of doing a full 2 weeks, I kind of cheated and only did one full week, and plan on doubling the recipes to freeze and eat the next week. Because it took so much time just for one week, I'm glad I did this.
I found a handy dandy little sheet to write out our breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can find that here: money saving mom
I used the seven day meal planner that has a square for each category. So handy, and not something I would have come up with myself.
I used my menu book to choose my recipes, and also loved that there was a place for snacks on my list so that I can include this in my grocery shopping. I have a tendency to be a snacker, and Oliver gets one snack a day too, so this was great to think of.
Once my menu was done I then decided to make an itemized grocery list. Are we feeling like we are in home ec class now?

But once I had that done, I was glad to have made it. NOW I can compare what I need to what is on sale in my grocery stores and what coupons I can use to match up to them. Useful sight for that: southern savers. Sorry to all you northerners, I don't think you have the stores listed on this sight. I wish there was something like this for all those that shop in different parts of the country.
Is it all worth it? I am hoping yes. I plan to keep this finished menu and list for future use, when I can rotate it back into our meals. I would like to make another 2 week menu and just swap them back and forth.
I did all this while Oliver was napping. I was also able to get some dusting, vacuuming and mopping done. It's an amazing thing this scheduling stuff.

our beautiful masterpiece

Oliver and I had some creative play with sidewalk chalks! He wasn't so sure about them, but enjoyed being outside, and would occasionally try to eat the chalk. But it was a lot of fun. I haven't used chalks in a very long time! I found a great site that offers little printout sheet for 'tot school' which I am eager to try out. I am trying to be more intentional with our play time together, but without going overboard. He has plenty of time to just play and learn alone too.
I have really been enjoying being home with this little guy. It's challenging, thats for sure. We are working on NO quite often, and it can be tiring when you again have to say no to something that you JUST said no to a minute before. I am praying over each day, and as the weariness sets in and I feel a little undone, I pray again. Truly God is helping me as I train up this little man. And then Jonah comes home. Yah!! It's wonderful when he walks through the door and Oliver smiles adoringly up at him and says, "da da". Precious are these days.
Our little baby is no longer, he's now a boy, a toddler and I am loving this stage. He is so smart and learns so quickly I am amazed to watch it all. No walking yet, for which I am kind of glad. I know that once he gets up on those rolly thighs, the baby-ness will be gone. Savoring these days!

love this boy. please excuse the window that NEEDS to be cleaned!

baby food

It was a busy day. I ran out to get groceries while Jonah was home with Oliver. I tried hard to stick to our budget, as it's getting towards the end of the month, I always struggle to stay in our budget with groceries. Truly this is the biggest challenge in home-making (is that the right word?).
But I did okay...still have to return a couple things for a couple reasons. One I forgot to use a coupon I had for one item, and two, I went over budget and will be returning something I can get next month. Yes- it's that important to stay on our budget that we planned for.
I was able to pick up lots of produce for Oliver.
I have been making most of his food for him, with the exception of a couple jars of babyfood. I do have babyfood jars stocked in my pantry though. I actually bought these while I was pregnant. What a nerd right? I had coupons and there was a sale, and it was worth it. I bought several Earths Best organic. I also bought some Beechnut....which I will be donating to someone that would like them. Any takers?
I don't say this to sound like an organic snob. I am not all organic....actually more like a couple things organic if they are on sale, and if they fit our budget.
Well, this is kind of off track for my original post, but I opened a jar of mango's for Oliver. Added some oat cereal to it and gave him his usual two meal today using that. Later I picked it up and read what the ingredient list was and it had several ingredients, one being white grapejuice. I know it's all made for babies, but I didn't like the fact that I didn't even realize there were other things added in (rice flour as well) and I was completely unaware, until I read it. I assumed 'mangos' meant just that, period.
It would be nice to give Oliver all organic, but budgetwise, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to do that. What I can do is make food for him. He hasn't progressed to a very elaborate diet yet, just simple one item foods (with the exception of avocado + banana) with cereal mixed in twice a day. So making food was not rocket science.
Well maybe a little. I did struggle with picking the perfect individual items. I wanted them to be nutritional and offer as much as possible, even if they weren't organic. I read somewhere that babies stomachs are small, and should be filled with as much nutrients as possible. This is so true! What they eat, even if it's tiny little portions, should be brimming with what they need.
So my research led me to some online sites for baby foods. I found a site I like and will be going back to when Oliver is a little older: www.wholesomebabyfoods.com
I also checked a book out of the library (twice actually, the first time it ran overdue and I owe money... I am terrible at remembering the due date and shouldn't be allowed to check out books with my record, I'm sorry to say. I will change this!) called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.
I have liked a lot about it, and some of it I just ignore all together. It's kind of a take what you want out of it book. But I like that she breaks down the age, and what's appropriate for that age. This helps me in knowing if it's too soon to introduce beans or meats etc.
I like her porridge recipes too, but was skeptical about making one out of brown rice. Is this okay for Oliver to eat? Is it healthy, and not just a filling starch that his stomach will work extra hard to digest? I read that starches are hard for babies to digest due to them not having adequate enzymyes to break them down. (Que the screaming gassy baby after trying baby cereals for the first time) Now this may only be true for younger ones. I started Oliver at 5.5 months, and his first food was actually roasted butternut squash. But later I gave him cereal,  and now I mix it in with foods to get the iron from it.
Back to the rice. I received a book for Christmas (yes I really wanted this!) called 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. I'm loving it. It tells me the nutritional value for all 150 foods. So I flipped to brown rice and learned about the health benefits of it. White rice is actually stripped brown rice. It doesn't have the bran that brown rice does. Plus brown rice is a great source of fiber, and a great preventer of several cancers. I loved being able to learn more about this grain, and now I feel better about giving this to Oliver. So I'll be making that for him to eat in his morning meal. Eventually I'd like to move him into her 'super porridge' she writes about that has legumes in it, but he will have to be around 9 months for that.
So I picked up my produce spent a couple hours in the kitchen and now my freezer and fridge are cooling peas, spinach, cantaloupe, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, nectarines, pears and I previously made broccoli, carrots and butternut squash. No it wasn't hard to make these. No they aren't all organic. Some are, and I'm grateful for that. But they are fresh, and simple foods. One ingredient foods in which I know what's in them, and I know what will go in him.
Exciting? Yes indeed, it is to me!