savings saturday

I finally found one of the elusive Brita Water pitchers that were only $7.94. Minus $5/1 Brita product and I paid $2.94
More walmart deals
2 A-1 steak sauces for $0.46 each
2 Smuckers ice cream toppings for $0.64 each
1 KY jelly for $0.52
4 boxes Kashi waffles for $1.04 each
3 Philly cream cheese $0.64 each
3 boxes Luzianne tea bags $0.90 each
1 canister of Pringles $0.50
1 box Fiber 1 poptarts $0.98
1 box Sun Crystals sweetner $1.47
1 bounty Papertowel $0.96
1 Pam Spray $1.48
3 4 packs of White Cloud TP $1 each
1 Kashi entree FREE
　
　
dillons
I took this opportunity to stock up on Manwich sauce and more
8 Manwich $0.70 each(when buy 10 products, had 30 mixed and match stuff) used 4 $0.40/2, $0.30 each after coupons and promotion
4 jars Ragu sauce $1.36 each used 2 $0.75/2 coupons=$0.86 each
6 cans Ravioli $0.58each, used 2 $0.35/3 coupons=$0.46 each
9 boxes brown and serve sausage links(no coupons) $0.99 each
2 Breyers ice creams $2.69 each, used 2 $1/1= $1.69 each
1 Kraft BBQ sauce $0.69 each used 1 $0.50/1= overage!
　
not part of promotion
4 Mentos gums, $1.04 each, used 4 $0.55/1= $0.04 each
1 sara lee bread $1.99, used $1/1=$0.99
2 packs Kraft American cheese $1.47 each used $1/2 coupon=$0.97 each
I bought some produce and everything came to about $35(can't find receipt, saved $48!

adding to premade foods

We love spaghetti. We could prob eat it once a week and never get tired. Joseph loves to make the sauce from scratc, but I added up the cost once and it was $20 for all the stuff he uses! Yikes! Jar sauces just don't taste fresh, event he chunky varieties come up a little short. So what I started doing was getting the plain sauce on sale(currently, $0.86 a jar) and adding to it.

A tomato that was gave to use, onions(always around) and some celery left over from another meal.I usually add mushrooms also, but we were all out.

First, I cut up the onion and sauteed it, then I added the celerly and cooked both until tender-crisp. Then I browned some Italian Sausage(fresh ground from a local store, $2 for 1 pound)

I placed everything in the pain with the sauce, then cut up the tomatoes and added them. I cooked until heated through and Voila! Our own Chunky Spaghetti sauce, that's cheap, but still better for you.

Check out Frugal Friday and The Recipe Swap for more great ideas!

June review

June review
　
It's been a fairly uneventful month, partly because we didn't have any money to do anything! I did set up a new spreadsheet to break expenses down more, with work so slim, I need to account for every penny better.
　
　
Groceries $519($19 over) Yikes! my food bill has been so high lately. The last couple months we have been trying to steer away from so many processed stuff and it's really getting expensive. I did spend $45 for Joe's birthday dinner(2 racks of ribs, corn on the cob, and a really chocolate cake that I could have made instead of spending $15 on) I guess I need to get back into the groove of better planning!
　
　
Household $89.52(budget $150) not bad, that's including adding to the stockpile, extra medicines(for Thing 2's allergies and Acid Reflux)
　
Utilities $116(that includes gas, electricity, sewer, and water) Not bad for 5 people. Unplugging everything has really helped.
　
Gas $45(budget $100). Only summer school to deal with this month. Thing 2 could walk to his but Thing 1's was way across town. We didn't go anywhere else so it all balanced out.
　
NEW-Entertainment $30.05(budget $65) this includes Netflix, Joe's online Eve game, and anything else(movies, park admissions, etc) when school starts, I will lower this budgeted amount.
NEW-Gifts $1.98(budget $20) I spent that amount on 2 video games for Thing 1's Christmas.
Categories where we didn't spend any money in this month: Clothing($25 budget) I had planned on getting underwear and socks for the Things to have for back to school, but my mom picked them up instead. Dining out:again, no money to spare so we didn't eat out. School supplies: I had planned on $10 but haven't found any lists online yet for the kids so I'll just hang on to that money.
　
totals for the month $1107.55
　
Income made
$50 on a car payment
$12.50 from Jordan Essentials
　
　

No bake cheesecake

Who loves cheesecake? Me!Me! Who loves having to bake one in the oven for an hour or more during the summer? Not I!

Here's my recipe for Easy No Bake Cheesecake. This is just the basic, plain recipe. I love this because it can be used with a variety of toppings and mix ins.

3 packages cream cheese, softened(If I'm doing a fruit topping, I only use 2)
powder sugar 1/4-1/3 of a cup(enough to take the bitter taste of the cream cheese away)
graham cracker crust or a cookie crust

Mix the softened cream cheese and powder sugar together until creamy. Pour into a graham cracker crust(premade or homemade). Press in gently. Place in the refrigerator until firm.
That's it!

Get creative with your cheesecake...we have done Chocolate crust with cherry topping, drizzled in chocolate, Blueberry topping, Strawberry, and an Apple topping with walnuts and caramel sauce.

Our absolute favorite, use a chocolate cookie crust and stir in mini chocolate chips to the filling. MMMMMM!(I'm making this today!)

Joe says these freeze well(it's his recipe!) Make a few up, pop in the freezer and then thaw when you have company or a get together!

This Works for Me!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's the plan(there's repeats because it was too dang hot a couple days last week to cook)

Breakfasts:

Eggs

Toast

Oatmeal

Cereal

all served with fruit

Lunches

Salad

Sandwiches

Leftovers

Dinners

Chicken pot pie

Sloppy joes, fries

Steaks, potatoes, green beans

Fish, broccoli with cheese

Almond crusted chicken, rice, carrots

Pizza, salad

leftovers

Desserts

No bake cheesecake

No bake cookies

Peanut butter bars

super savings saturday

We've been eating more whole foods lately, so it seems like I haven't been so coupon crazy on prepackaged foods. I am planning on getting a few of the things Dillons has on sale(buy 10, get $3 off).
　
Game exchange:
Christmas is going to be extremely tight this year so I'm on the lookout for whatever I can find now. Thankfully, the kids don't want a whole lot and my dear MIL is buying the crew a Nintendo Wii and some games for it!
Thing 1 will play video games but she only has certain ones she likes. Those are puzzle type games and any kind of racing games. I went this past week to Game Exchange to see about getting Thing 2's favorite game repaired or replaced(you can see my adventure here) . While my MIL was browsing(yeah, she likes video games thanks to the kids) I came across some $0.99 video games. WooHoo! Most of them were NFL or NBA type stuff but I managed to find a couple car chasers Thing 1 might like:

And for $0.99 each, those are some cheap presents!
　
　

Walmart
I found 3 containers of A-1 steak sauce for $0.46 each and came across these 2 things when I was killing time in the cool air waiting for Thing 1 to get out of Tennis class.






It's automatic I head for the clearance aisle and right at the end I found 2 3 towel sets(bath towel, hand towel and washcloth) marked for $1 each! Holy smokes! I've never been one to be particular on getting things all matchy, just as long is it is something we need and does the job it is supposed to, I'm happy. I snatched them up and searched high and low for anymore randomly placed, but no luck. 2 sets are great. Some of our towels look mighty threadbare, and with money tight, they are way down on the priority list.






The other thing I found for 3 sets of 4 plastic picnic plates for $1 each. I swore off buying paper plates for everyday use over a year ago and recently made the decision to quit buying them for parties(just money wasted and more trash in the landfill). I'm going to keep my eye out towards the end of summer and hopefully pick up a couple more sets for even cheaper.

itch to pitch

I had originally planned to to the shelf that runs along the top of my cabinets, but my mom borrowed my step stool and I didn't want to take my chances balancing on a Tidy Cat bucket. So I switched to my desk. This area is alway a nightmare for me. Everything gets dropped here. Here a couple before....
　

AH! The horrors!

　
　
　
I decided to do the floor first. First to go were the Tupperware Pastry sheets. One was my mil and the other I put away in the kitchen. Next I cleaned out the space between the desk and gun cabinet. Paper bags went in my Jordan Essentials storage tub, along with my bag with all my catalogs and order forms. The cardboard box held cd's I've been meaning to list on Ebay, since I had no luck on Craigslist. Those were quickly photographed and I will get them listed this weekend. Under the box, was well, more empty boxes. I passed them on to my mom, who is moving soon.
　 stuff on top of my desk that didn't belong
trash!
　
Next I tackled the underneath nightmare. This is mostly magazines I want to keep for one reason or another. The tedious part was skimming through them to remember what I wanted them for. If it was a coupon or recipe, I tore it out and placed them in a pile to take to the neighborhood laundromat(for people to read while they wait) I have 19 to take! Next I put the computer tower back with the other computer parts(not sure why or how it eneded up there. Then I sorted through the papers left and placed them where they needed to be or pitched them in the trash pile. It took about an hour and half for this part, most of that was flipping through magazines.
　
19 magazines to take to the laundromat

　
Then I moved onto the desk. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I was mostly coupon inserts that need to be cut and filed or mail that needs to be sorted. I did get all of my Coke Rewards codes together to enter them online, only to find out instead of 100 point a day limit like it was, it's now only 120 A WEEK you can enter! What the heck? Needless to say, those will take awhile to get rid of. I also sorted out stuff that didn't belong, and returned them to their proper homes.
　
　
　

It looks a whole lot better, even though I know have to find a different spot for my son's birthday present I had hidden in all that mess.

Next week, Bedroomis Nightmaris(aka, the room shared by my 12 and 9 year old!)

Check out more brave ladies at Itch to Pitch!