The Bon Bon Eater

I'm A Sucker

2010-09-27T22:53:00.000-04:00

I went ahead and took the suggestions and ordered the Yummy Earth lollipops and LOVE them!!! If you sign up for the subscribe and save option (I did every six months), you can save even more money and then cancel if you decide you don't need another five pounds of lollipops. I liked these pops for a few reasons: they are organic, they have great flavors and they are a bit smaller than other lollipops so they don't last forever. Plus, you get enough that if your children, like mine, start them and then leave them somewhere, you still have a billion pops left. I'd say, if you need a bunch of treats for a party or trick or treaters, give these a try.

Happy Licking!

Can't Win for Losing

2010-09-02T13:04:00.000-04:00

I came up with a great craft idea today which combined crafting, learning and role play. We played restaurant. Lilly made menus by cutting out pictures from the grocery store sales flyers. She and Oliver pasted them on to construction paper and then she decided on the prices for the items and she wrote the name of the item next to the picture. She had all her "friends" come to the restaurant and order and she told them how much things cost and what they should eat - it was GREAT!

And then it was time to clean up. There were bits of paper and sales flyer that had fallen, construction paper that needed to be put away and all the "friends" to be returned to her room. Suddenly, everyone was "too tired" or "too little" to pick anything up and neither of them were "going to be my friend anymore". Our great activity ended with two crying children, nothing really picked up and steam comming out of my ears.

I think my modification for next time will be that we clean up the project before we start playing with it and we will start cleaning up at 11:30 am so that we can be cleaned up before they get hungry and tired for lunch and nap. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions . . .

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!

2010-08-30T21:02:00.000-04:00

I just now realized how long it has been since I have posted anything and, it's not that I haven't been shopping or saving, just that I've been too busy to write about it. I've decided that even the small savings count also so I'll be posting daily on the things that I've done to make my home a better place or my money go a bit further. Plus, I just realized that I'm out of diapers. My stash lasted me six months and now I'm having to pay attention to diaper sales again - ahhhhh! Let's see if I can knock the rust off of this old coupon holder and hit the town!

Thrifty Thursday - Other Savings

2010-05-13T10:30:00.011-04:00

Target
Check your recent magazines because I have found two "20% off any Merona brand item" coupons in Parents Magazine and also in Real Simple Magazine. It expires July 15, 2010.

Kohls
I just received ANOTHER "$10 off any purchase" card in the mail yesterday that is good from Wednesday, May 12-Saturday, May 22, 2010.

CVS
I just received my $15 extra bucks certificate for participating in a CVS survey as a CVS advisor member. The survey took all of 10 minutes and I got an email with my $15 voucher the other day. If you are interested, go here and sign up. I can't remember where I heard about this program but, thanks to whomever you are!

Thrifty Thursday - Free Sorrento Cheese Sticks!!!

2010-05-13T08:00:00.006-04:00

There are peelies on packages of Sorrento Cheese sticks for a $5.00 mail in rebate when you purchase two Sorrento snack cheese products. There is a FIVE rebate per household limit on this rebate and everything has to be purchased between 3/1/10 and 9/30/10 and received by 10/31/10.

The smaller packages of string cheese are $3.99 each at my local Wegmans but they will probably be on sale at some store somewhere in the near future so pay attention to your sales flyers. There was also a coupon for $3.00 off when you purchase two Sorrento cheeses in the May 2, Smart Source coupon insert.

Deal Scenario:
Purchase 2 small packages of Sorrento cheese sticks for $3.99 each = 7.98
Use $3.00 off 2 coupon from May 2 coupon insert = 4.98
Send off for $5.00 rebate = FREE CHEESE + $.02 overage - but who's counting :-)

My children love cheese sticks, as do I, but it is hardly ever the most economical way to purchase cheese so this is a fun, free way to get a treat for them (and me).

Happy snacking!

Wild Wednesday - Better Late Than Never

2010-05-12T19:38:00.000-04:00

On this fine, Wild Wednesday, my husband and I are planting seeds in our garden. Nope, not metaphorically or spiritually, really we are planting seeds in the dirt, hoping we remember to water them, and hoping they turn into some wonderful food for our family. We have tried to plant things in the past with varied success. We have stumbled upon a remarkable fact: if you don't water your plants very frequently, they will not produce very well. Amazing and earth shattering, I know!

This year, we are planting the following:
Florence fennel, corn, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, squash, zuchini, cucumbers, brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, regular peas, black beans, pinto beans, and basil. We have a rosemary plant that is the size of a Mini Cooper and mint that came with the house that we just can't seem to get rid of. We also have some strawberry plants from a friend of mine (love ya, Chris!) and a rather prolific grapevine and a weeping mulberry tree that is covered in green berries.

We have had some good years and some bad years for gardening. This year we have all of our planting locations established, we have been trying long enough that we now know the amount of sun certain areas actually get, as opposed to how much we would like them to get, and we picked specific plants that we like and think will grow well based on past years mixed in with a few newbies. We shall see how it goes . . .

Mama Tuesday - Happy Birthday Duke!

2010-05-11T16:50:00.001-04:00

Today is Duke's 6th birthday and we are having a party!!!! Duke is one of our dogs and yes, we are having a party. It is a rainy, nasty day here in NoVa and for our Mama Tuesday activity, we are making cards, decorating wrapping paper and making him a snack. This morning we went to IKEA for some other things and we lucked out in picking up a leather collar/leash combo in the clearance section for $4 - saving me a trip to PetSmart :-)

I have laid out construction paper, glitter, glue, stickers, crayons, colored pencils, yarn bits, etc. and am going to let the kids just decorate away to make him some cards. I also have a two foot length of butcher paper from Costco that I will have them decorate to make wrapping paper and then we will wrap his present. We are going to "make" him a snack of dry food mixed with wet food but I'll let them measure and mix for as long as they want and maybe they can spice it up with some quinoa that I've got leftover in the fridge. All this will be done on our dining room table which is covered with a vinyl tablecloth that I picked up for $1 at Target in clearance. It only comes out for big, messy projects and really makes clean up soooo much easier (and keeps my anxiety level lower).

Hope you enjoy whatever you do on your "Mama Tuesday"!

Don't Get Lost

2010-04-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

I am one of those people who tends to purchase for my family before I purchase for myself, but I have made a deal with myself this year: all rebates/free money should be used on me.

This might seem selfish but what it means is, after I spend all the time entering my pampers points, I will be the one using the Starbucks gift card and when I get the Kohl's $10 off card in the mail, I will look to see if there is anything that I want or need (before buying my children socks and underwear). All my SC Johnson rebates, 7th Generation rebates, etc. go into an envelope and if I want to go get my nails done or grab an overpriced coffee with a girlfriend, I raid "my" envelope.

All my savings and smart shopping benefit my whole family and if they need something, I'll certainly prioritize it, but I'm trying to make sure I don't get lost in taking care of everyone else and this is my small way of taking care of myself without feeling like I am taking away from my family.

Think about it.

Free Money In Your Inbox (check your junk mail)

2010-04-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

Magazines.com sends out emails a few times a week. I almost always delete them but I do look to see if the email title has anything about a gift card in the subject. Most of the time, the subject title involves a "discount" or "savings" and I hit delete but, sometimes, a few times a year, the subject says, "gift card" and I do NOT delete that email. The reason I don't delete that email is that you are given the option of using your gift card code or cashing it in for a check!!! The current email that I just received had "$5 Gift Card Enclosed for Mother's Day Deals" as the subject. If you do receive this email, look down at the bottom and it will tell you that you can go here to request a check instead of using your gift card code on a magazine subscription.‏ If you want or need a magazine subscription, go for it, but I'll take my $5 check instead. You might think, what's the big deal about getting $5? Well, they offer gift cards at least 5 or 6 times a year so that is $25 or $30, assuming you catch all the emails and request all the checks - not bad for doing nothing. If you haven't signed up for their emails, go ahead because they are sure to send out another offer sometime soon.

Why I Love Kohls

2010-04-23T13:31:00.000-04:00

Kohls is almost giving away clothing right now. There are tons of items marked down 80-90% off on their clearance racks. I got some Chaps by Ralph Lauren cardigans (one black, one white) for $4.00 each! I actually needed new cardigans so it was really a great deal but even if you don't need anything for yourself, go take a look for gifts for other people. Also, pay attention to your mailbox because they just sent out another $10 off your total purchase card. This can be used on anything and if your purchase doesn't come up to $10, you just forefit the remaining amount but I bet you can find a few things on the clearance rack to bring you up to $10 dollars.

My total Kohl's purchase included the two aforementioned cardigans, a black turtleneck sweater, a black cowl neck sweater, a dressier tank top, a flowing top that I"m going to use as a beach cover up, and a mandarin collered dress all for $21 out of pocket. I used my $10 off card, my mother's and my neighbors and really only paid for the cover up and the dress but even they were marked down over 70%!!!!!

My Weekly Savings Strategy Sunday

2010-04-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

I don't really NEED too much this week but there are a few things that I plan to pick up at some of the stores that are on my route. I plan to hit Staples, Michael's, Target, Costco and CVS. I will also hit some combination of grocery stores but I haven't created my menu plan yet. Check back tomorrow for my Manic Monday - Menu Edition posting.

Staples - Toner, paper towels, mesh index card box
The toner is for work and I will be reimbursed for it, the mesh card box is to store my seed packets in it in the back of the refrigerator for next year (I read an article that this is the best way to ensure germination for the following year) and the paper towels are for home. This will all (except the toner) be paid for with staples reward money that they send me for every purchase I make. I will also drop off 10 ink cartridges which will ensure that Staples will send me another $30 check next month for my ink exchange ($3/per up to 10 a month).

Michael's - Lamp Oil
I always cut out the Michael's and AC Moore coupons because there is a Michael's on the way to my children's school and they take competitor's coupons. They sell a bunch of things besides craft supplies and fake flowers that you can pick up - cupcake papers, baking sheets, candles, plain t-shirts, crayons, etc. - that you can always use and I'd rather get it for half off than full price. I keep a running Michael's list in my coupon folder under my Michael's tab and each time I am going to be near there I check my list and grab a coupon and get the next thing on my list. This week it happens to be lamp oil for some oil lamps that I picked up at an antique store to use around our outside dining area.

Target - luvs diapers (2 packs), schick intuition razor (2 packs), gillette mach 3 cartridges (2 packs), gillette mach 3 disposables (4 packs), tide detergent travel samples (2 packs)
The luvs are on sale for $6.99 and I've got 2 $1 coupons, the intuition razors are on sale for $6.99, buy 2 and get a $5 Target gift card and I have 2 $4 off coupons, the mach 3 cartridges I have 2 $4 off coupons, the mach 3 disposables I have 2 BOGO free coupons, and I have 2 $1 off any size tide coupons that my Target allows me to use for the travel size detergents.

Costco - beer, butter and toilet paper - need I say more?

CVS - always pads, cheerios (4), kandoo wipes refills (2)
The cereal is BOGO free and I have some $1 off coupons for cheerios, the wipes refills I have 2 $1 coupons for, and the pads will be purchased with some assortment of coupons from always, I'm just not sure which coupon provides the best deal so I'll sort it out in the aisle. All of this will be paid for with a few extra bucks I have and a gift card that I received for transferring a prescription.

This might seem like a lot of stops but I am lucky, on good traffic days, to live really close to a ton of different stores. I'll probably be able to swing by all these stores on Monday morning after I drop my children off at school at 9, and hopefully be home before 11. Wish me luck!

Coupons Getting Better . . .

2010-03-30T23:37:00.000-04:00

I have really been impressed with coupons.com lately. They seem to have really upped the types of foods and products that they are offering coupons for. It isn't just junk food anymore, they have a ton of other stuff like food coloring and spices. I know some people are not into food coloring but I've got to tell you, I've never met a child that wouldn't drink turquoise milk . . .

New Me, New Plan, New Posts

2010-03-30T22:49:00.000-04:00

I've decided to get my act together and start posting regularly. I was having a hard time for a while but now I've decided just to share the things here that I share with my girlfriends in the real world - nothing earth shattering, but fun and probably money saving. I also think that having a theme for posting tends to help keep me on track.

I'm thinking of the following: (please let me know if they sound ridiculous)

Savings Sunday (stores and sales I'm going to hit this week)
Manic Monday (an overview of what my week contains - meals/food prep)
Mama Tuesday (what my daughter calls it since she doesn't go to school T/Th - a fun "mommy" tip or activity to do with munchkins)
Wild Wednesday (the day my husband and I have together with no kids - either involves a very cheap date or home improvement - probably a rundown of something totally mundane with a tip to make it easier
Thrifty Thursday - some fun way to save money/stretch a buck
Take Five Friday - a link, story, antecdote to make you take 5 and enjoy life - also mandating I tell you how I took 5 over the week - trying to work in my own 5 is hard so I'm hoping to be accountable here
Family Saturday - suggestion for something to do all together whether your family is just one or 100

Also I will throw in additional posts that may not fit the schedule but this will at least give me some structure and guidance and also provide a regular posting routine for any readers that I might someday get :-)

A Partner's Passing

2010-02-05T16:02:00.000-05:00

I just received my first check back from The Caregivers Marketplace for purchasing Huggies diapers. I had heard about the program from a number of sites and finally purchased at least five packs of Huggies jumbos and submitted for the rebate. I realized it was an easy rebate program to participate in and was looking forward to using it again. Included with my check was a flyer about the program for 2010. Not included in the program for 2010 is diapers!!!! It appears that they have removed Huggies from the progam. So sad! Just wanted to pass this along to anyone who was thinking about participating or was already saving receipts to submit this year. Guess we will have to make do with coupons and sales.

Rebates Create A Happy Mailbox!

2010-01-27T09:30:00.001-05:00

I have started to receive my rebate checks and items in the mail and it adds a bit of excitement to my day. I just received my copy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from Kelloggs which might come in handy if we do get all the snow that they are calling for this weekend. I also received two checks for $5 each from Johnson & Johnson products for purchasing Glade candles. I posted more about my rebate system here but, these three transactions were definitely money makers and took no time at all. If you have been reluctant to try rebates, you might want to reconsider. I did and have been pleasantly surprised at the ease and benefit of rebate programs.

It Continues!!!!!!!

2010-01-26T13:24:00.001-05:00

Our Eating From the Pantry Challenge continues! I have decided that we will continue this until we have darn near depleted everything. I really want to clean the deep freezer and reorganize my cupboards and pantry area and the best way to do it is if it is as empty as possible. I am surprised at the amount of meals that we have been able to create with what we have. The meals for this week will be:

Monday: Jerry's Pizza
Tuesday: Baked ziti, steamed broccoli, crusty bread
Wednesday: Lamb sausage, peppers and onions, couscous, pita bread
Thursday: Soup, crusty bread
Friday: Calzones
Saturday: Chicken drumsticks, stovetop stuffing, green bean casserole
Sunday: Chicken quesadillas, beans, rice
I've also decided that it is much easier if I plan breakfast and lunch as well so I'm not tempted to feed my munchkins the same thing day after day. Our breakfast and lunch meals for this week will be:

BREAKFAST
Monday: Bananas/oranges with honey, cinnamon toast
Tuesday: French toast
Wednesday: Cinnamon rolls, eggs
Thursday: Banana/strawberry smoothies, english muffins
Friday: Waffles
Saturday: Eggs and toast
Sunday: Cold cereal

LUNCH
Monday: Pita, hummus, apple slices
Tuesday: Leftover pizza, apple slices
Thursday: Chicken nuggets, apple slices
Saturday: Tuna salad sandwiches
Sunday: Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, cheese slices

I'm not forgetting to feed my children on Wednesday and Friday but they both are in school so I don't need to provide their lunch so I'll just feed myself something random from the fridge :-)

Eating From The Pantry This Week

2010-01-16T21:12:00.000-05:00

This has been a crazy two weeks. There was an unexpected medical emergency in my family which resulted in our eating rather random dinners due to hospital visits, etc. The medical drama is resolved happily and we made a small dent in our deep freezer and our pantry. I had planned to participate in the Eating From the Pantry Challenge over at Money Saving Mom but didn't have a chance to inventory everything before the drama unfolded.

I have finally inventoried our deep freezer and created a surprising amount of normal seeming meals which should result in using the majority of our food with minimal trips to the grocery store. I think I am going to continue to try to eat from our pantry/deep freezer as long as we can so that I can defrost our freezer and reorganize the pantry. The meals for this week will be:

Sunday: Turkey tetrazini, foccacia
Monday: Jerry's Pizza
Tuesday: Dinner at Mom's house
Wednesday: Pork chops, baked apples, green bean casserole
Thursday: Beef tips with mushroom sauce over bow tie pasta
Friday: Homemade pizzas
Saturday: Lamb sausage, peppers and onions, couscous, pita bread
Sunday: Baked ziti, foccacia

The funny thing is that no one in my house was particularly excited when I brought up the pantry challenge yet they are all excited about the new and different things that we have on the menu for this week. I guess necessity really is the mother of invention.

Free Dinners Out This Month

2010-01-07T17:13:00.002-05:00

A while back I posted about Boston Market having a Kids Eat Free event whereby you could purchase one meal for yourself and get up to two kids meals free. Well, they are doing it again! The current promotion can be found here and it is valid Saturdays and Sundays through the end of the month. You just have to have the children present to get the children's meals. They do say that you must have at least a $6 purchase to get the kids meals free but, I'm all for dinner out for $2 per person.

I prefer to get the three sides meal for myself and order two 1/4 chicken meals for my children. I bring a drink in a sippy cup for my little one and then I use the cup provided for him to get myself a soda and we all share the chicken. That way I keep the cost of dinner right at the cost of a meal. If I happen to bring my husband, I have him order separately and use a coupon for his meal so our out of pocket is as low as possible.

Enjoy!

Lots of Coupons This Week

2010-01-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend in The Washington Post (and other papers, I'm sure) there are a TON of coupons and many of them don't expire until 3/31/2010, some are even good until 1/31/2011. This would be a great week to ask your friends and neighbors for their coupon inserts. Also, look over the coupons in your own paper first and if there are enough coupons for items that you purchase, go get a few more papers.

Happy clipping!

Rebates - Worth it?

2010-01-01T21:39:00.000-05:00

Today, as I was filling out a few rebate forms, I decided to share my thoughts on rebates and let you know the system that works for me. I will submit for some rebates, but I am not willing to jump through a thousand hoops just to get $1.00 back.

I have three file folders within one hanging folder that I use for rebates: Rebates - To Do, Rebates - In Process, and Rebates - Pending. Whenever I print off a rebate form or find a rebate program that I will participate in, I fill out the informational part of the form, name, address, etc. and drop it in my Rebates - To Do folder.

I then put the name of the item on an index card that is on my bulletin board. Currently the card has, "glade candles, huggies diapers, organic pet food, olay stuff" written on it. These are the products that I currently have "Rebates - To Do" for. The index card just reminds me not to throw away a receipt that contains a purchase for any of these items before checking to see if it works with the rebate.

When I have a receipt that applies to a rebate, I go ahead and pull the rebate form from the "To Do" folder, fill it out completely, copy it all, place the date sent at the top of the copy and put the copy in my "Rebates - Pending" folder and go drop it in my mailbox for pickup. This works most of the time unless it requires more action, then I use the "In Process" folder.

My "Rebates - In Process" folder contains those rebates that need more than one purchase to send in. Right now it has my Caregivers Marketplace information ($.75 back per pack for Huggies), organic pet food forms (buy 10, get 1 bag free) and the DVD circles from the backs of Raisin Bran (need 5 for a free DVD). With Caregivers Marketplace, you need to purchase at least 5 items before sending in the form so I just keep paperclipping my receipts to the form until I have what I need and then I follow the above steps for copying and mailing. The pet food requres UPCs from the bags of food so as I clip those, I attach them to the form and as I finish a box of cereal, I cut the circle and clip it to the form.

None of this is rocket science but this is what keeps it quick and simple for me. With this system, I know exactly what I need to save, where it is in the process and then I don't lose track of what should be coming in the mail. Today, all I had to do was sit down for about 10 minutes and finish off some rebates to get them ready to mail tomorrow. For 10 minutes time, I will receive: 1 DVD (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) from Raisin Bran, two $5 checks from Glade candle purchases, $13.48 from Olay quench purchases, and $5.25 from Caregivers Marketplace = $28.73 + a DVD!

The icing on the cake is that the cereal was free using double coupons and a killer sale, the candles were $.99 each after sale/coupon, the olay was BOGO and the diapers were bought on sale with a coupon and all of these items are ones that I WOULD HAVE PURCHASED ANYWAY.

I'm not going to purchase a product that I don't/won't use just to use a coupon to get a rebate to almost cover the cost of the item that I wouldn't have purchased in the first place :-) I'm not that girl.

A Cleaned Coupon Stash = $$$

2009-12-30T09:18:00.001-05:00

While cleaning out my coupon stash, I came across THREE coupons for BOGO Olay Quench lotion which expire 12/31/09. I'm not sure where I got them but if I have three, and I only get my coupons from one paper and the occasional magazine, odds are good that you probably have at least one hidden in your stash somewhere. This would be a fun find any day of the week except I just posted here about Olay offering a rebate for Quench Lotion and, as the original post mentions, you can submit for purchasing up to TWO lotions and get a full rebate on both! I will be swinging by Target this morning to pick these up along with some other "free" items that will expire on Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Earth's Best Diapers - $5 Per Pack!!!!!

2009-12-29T14:18:00.001-05:00

Check your mail for the latest Babies R Us sale/coupon flyer. It appears that Babies R Us and Toys R Us are having a January "Free for All" Sale. It includes some Super Buys that are good January 1-3 only. The one that caught my eye was ALL Earth's Best jumbos are $5, with a limit of 3 per guest. I've got to be honest and say that I've never tried these diapers before but I'm willing to try them for $5 a pack. I might even be willing to drag along my husband to purchase another 3 for $5 a pack :-) Also, if you have any of the coupons that Earth's Best sent out along with their rebate items that are still good, you could make this an even better deal - mine all expire 12/31/09 - bummer!

Also, there are a few additional coupons that would be good to use during the same trip including one that, with ANY baby purchase, you can get a free pampers sensitive touch wipes travel case. I always grab these when they are free because they are great for my car box (post about that forthcoming in January) and also as an add on shower gift. The other coupon I might use is for $1 off all diaper rash items because, combined with a manufacturer coupon for specific brands, which I'm sure we all have, would result in very cheap diaper cream. And, last but not least, all clearance clothing is buy one, get one for .99 which makes it worth a look at the clearance racks for next year, donations or gifts.

Recycle Bank Update!

2009-12-21T15:42:00.005-05:00

For anyone who follows Money Saving Mom and took advantage of her post about the Recycle Bank program here, please be advised that the $5 off a pack of Huggies coupon is now available again so if you haven't used all your points, go sign up and get the free kitchen cleaner and diaper coupon!!!

FYI if you are in the NoVa area, AAA Trash participates in the Recycle Bank program and their trash service is competitively priced so, if the Recycle Bank program interests you and you get to choose your trash provider, you might be interested in AAA Trash. We have used them before and will be switching back since our promotional period with our current provider is almost up.

Organized for Savings

2009-12-16T14:43:00.007-05:00

I have found that the more organized I am, the better I can find something for myself, husband or children, the better I can tell how much of something we have or need and generally, the better I feel. When you are organized, you can find things; when you can find things, you know that you don't need to go buy them again; when you don't buy them again, you save A LOT of money!

I am a HUGE fan of The Container Store and, while some of their products cost more than Target or Walmart, I have found that the quality far exceeds the difference in price. They have these clear storage boxes in all different sizes that we use at our house to contain just about everything. They also have really great (and reasonably priced) boxes and jars for putting home made mixes and baked goods in. We have an older home with no storage space and we have used their elfa closet system in all our closets, in our garrage, in our pantry . . . In short, I absolutely love The Container Store!

Right now they have a promotion going on here where you receive a $25 gift card when you purchase $100 worth of gift cards. The limit is $500 on one gift card at a time, netting you $625 in credit per transaction. While I don't necessarily advocate purchasing $500 worth of gift cards if you don't need to, this is a great deal if you were planning on purchasing some things to keep you organized in the new year.

I went to ebates, where The Container Store offers 4% cash back, clicked through to The Container Store, figured out what I wanted, put it in the shopping cart, figured out how much it would be, then opened up a new window, purchsed enough gift cards to pay for my purchase, received my bonus gift cards, then went back to my original window and paid with my gift cards.

While this may not seem like a super steal to some bargain hunters, The Container Store rarely has coupons or sales so, for any of you who shop there anyway, taking a few minutes to purchase the gift cards ahead of making your purchase to save at least 25% off makes good financial sense to me!

Menu Plan

2009-12-15T22:33:00.006-05:00

This week begins a new schedule for us because my husband has changed his hours at work due to a promotion (great job honey!) and my brother has some things going on so I'm on my own with the monkeys for two nights. My hubby's schedule won't have him home until about 7pm the rest of the days of the week so the dinner prep and timing will be a bit different in the future. Here is the plan for this week:

Monday - Jerry's Pizza (just me and monkeys)
Tuesday - World Market Pasta (just me and monkeys)
Wednesday - BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, baked apples, baked beans, coleslaw
Thursday - Chicken quesadillas w/ beans, rice, quacamole, sour cream, tomato
Friday - Baked ziti, homemade foccacia, clementines w/ honey
Saturday - Beef & venison burritos, beans, rice, quacamole, sour cream, tomato, cucumber
Sunday - leftovers

I hope you enjoy whatever you have planned for this week!

Free Ebook - Gifts in a Jar

2009-12-11T17:56:00.004-05:00

If you go here you can download the book Mason Jar Recipes: 34 Holiday Ideas for Gifts in a Jar. This has some ideas that would be great budget friendly teacher or neighbor gifts. Check it out and let me know if you make any.

Free Olay Lotion (x 2)

2009-12-11T15:33:00.004-05:00

If you want to try the new Olay Quench body lotion, now would be a good time since there is a rebate form here for you to get your entire purchase price back by mail with a limit of TWO rebates per name or address. If you have a coupon, this would be an even better deal. You have until January 29, 2010 to make the purchase so you've got some time to watch the sales and look for coupons. I've found that most times there are coupons, rebates and sales all around the same time for the same products in order to promote those products multiple ways. Since you can submit two rebates in the same envelope, pay attention for BOGO sales for this product!

Chicken Broth Coupon

2009-12-10T23:17:00.007-05:00

Here is a coupon for $1 off any College Inn chicken broth. This coupon doesn't expire until June 30, 2010 so please print it now while you can and use it anytime in the next six months! I am always in need of broth during the holidays for gravies and soups. Plus, a can of broth will last a long time in the pantry if you don't need to use it now or just hold the coupon to match with a sale later. You can print two coupons by hitting the back button on your browser while it is printing the first one. Enjoy!

Budget Friendly Dinner Out

2009-12-07T14:47:00.005-05:00

We can pretty much always be found at Jerry's Subs and Pizza on Monday nights. Jerry's has a $5.99 large pizza special that either feeds me and the munchkins for about $7 (including my drink) or feeds my entire family (2 pizzas) for under $15. This makes it really easy to plan our Monday night on our weekly menu, gives me a break on the dinner prep and clean up and makes me feel like I have "gone out to dinner". Afterwards, we treat ourselves to ice cream at the custard place next door. If you are in the NoVa area and are looking for a fun, family friendly place for cheap, good eats, you should definitely try Jerry's on a Monday night.

Sterling Rec Center Nap Inducer

2009-12-04T18:13:00.002-05:00

The Sterling Rec Center located at 120 Enterprise Street, Sterling, 20164 will be filling the gym with inflatables tomorrow, Saturday, from 9:30 to 11:30. It costs $5 per child and should be a great time. It's like a moonbounce birthday party but you don't have to bring a gift! Last time they were supposed to have this event they cancelled it so I've called ahead and confirmed that it will be on for tomorrow. Hope to see you there!

Comfort Food Time

2009-11-12T15:46:00.001-05:00

The weather in NoVa is really nasty and is supposed to remain that way for the next few days so, if anyone out there is craving soup, this coupon for the Corner Bakery would be a good one to use to get a free soup when you purchase a sandwich or salad. I'll use this when I am having a relaxing lunch out after a hard day of shopping.

Organic Yogurt Coupon

2009-10-26T23:49:00.001-04:00

When you go here you can request a Stoneyfield Farm coupon for their Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt ($2.00 off when you buy 2). They are giving away 250 coupons per week so, get there fast!

I've always wanted to try this yogurt and have heard great things so, I think I will send the grocery fairy to the store to pick some up but I will advise her to hide this in the back of the fridge so I can try one of them before they are put up for public consumption.

Sunday To Do Status

2009-10-18T12:25:00.000-04:00

Today my goals are to:

1. make and freeze baked ziti
DONE! - 3 in the freezer, 1 in the fridge for dinner this week and 1 small one for lunch today

2. make and freeze two loaves of whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread DONE! - they are cooling on racks and waiting to be bagged, tagged and thrown in the freezer

3. make and freeze two loaves of whole wheat bread (AMENDMENT - I only own 3 loaf pans therefore, 4 loaves of bread was not going to work so, instead I've got 1 loaf of bread and 18 whole wheat clover rolls in my cupcake pans) DONE! - the loaf of bread looks good, the rolls, well, they were a great mother/daughter bonding experience. I think perhaps they were rolled a little too tightly and it took enough time that they spent their second rise being rolled by little hands. They are like little concrete nuggets and will not be tagged or frozen but they will be bagged (trash bagged, that is)

4. make and freeze either 4 balls of pizza dough OR, 4 pizza crusts (AMENDMENT - decided it's not worth my time to parbake them since I'll still have to bake them whenever we decide to have pizzas anyway so, just balls of dough is the goal) DONE! - I actually ended up making 5 balls of dough, 2 smaller ones for the kids and 3 larger ones for the adults. They are labeled and in the freezer.

5. finish all the remaining laundry almost finished. . .

6. put away the kids laundry Lilly - yes, Oliver - nope!

7. swap summer/fall clothes for both kids not happening tonight

8. strip all beds and wash the sheets not happening tonight - did change Lilly's sheets to her new "super duper soft" flannel holiday sheets - she is SO excited!!!

Accountability

2009-10-18T11:23:00.000-04:00

I know that some other bloggers post their goals ,etc. online so that they are held accountable by putting it in writing for all to see. I've decided to put my goals and activities online so that I can account for my day. Sometimes at the end of a particularly long, hard day, I can't seem to remember if I got anything done but I've decided to embrace my small successes and post them for all (or none) to see.

I've got to figure out a way to balance my weeks so that everything gets done in an efficient way. Right now the system of do all laundry one day, do all shopping one day, do all baking one day, etc. is not really working for me since none of it can/does get done in one day. We just lost our cleaning service so I've got to find a way to get the cleaning stuff in since I haven't had to do it in over a year and I haven't ever had to do it with two little monkeys running around my house either. I'm going to try a few ways of breaking down my "chores" so that I do a bit each day and see if that works out. Did I mention that I also have a full time job that I do from home? Ahhhh!

Today my goals are to:
1. make and freeze baked ziti
2. make and freeze two loaves of whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread
3. make and freeze two loaves of whole wheat bread
4. make and freeze either 4 balls of pizza dough OR, 4 pizza crusts
5. finish all the remaining laundry
6. put away the kids laundry
7. swap summer/fall clothes for both kids
8. strip all beds and wash the sheets

I'm thinking of trying to parbake the crust and then freeze it so I can just pull it out, top it and then bake it. Anyone tried this?

Wish me luck!

Robeks Coupons

2009-10-17T23:11:00.000-04:00

Here are some Robeks coupons good for a free small smoothie when you buy a larger one and $1 off a medium or large smoothie. I love smoothies but they are soooooo bloody expensive so, I'm all for any coupon which can justify the "but it is cheaper than normal so, I should get it" rationale related to smoothies. Enjoy!

http://www.robeks.com/Robeks-Emailer-Oct-16-Corp.html

The Three Bs - Batteries, Books and Breasts

2009-10-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

Get a free Keep Going® Journal with the purchase of 3 select Energizer® battery products. Acording to this site, http://www.energizer.com/komen/promotion.aspx , it has 80 pages, inspirational quotes, convenient calendar, ribbon bookmark, and a magnetic closure.

This offer expires 3/31/10 but since we will all probably be purchasing batteries some time during the holiday season to go along with gifts or just because it's time to replace our fire alarm batteries, this could be a great bonus for taking care of your home and/or other people.

Also, for every journal that is sent out, Energizer will donate $1.00 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® so, buy batteries that you would normally buy (using coupons and sales), request your free journal AND make a donation to fight breast cancer - it is a win, win, win all around! The mail in form can be found here: http://www.energizer.com/komen/pdf/energi10918_19_komen_national_rd5.pdf.

Free Honey Nut Cheerios AND Coupon!

2009-10-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

Go here: http://sample.nonchallenge.com/HNCFY10/Default.aspx to get a free sample of Honey Nut Cheerios AND and $1 off coupon which, if good on any size, could net you a free individual cup at Target since they carry the single cups in the cereal aisle.

Meal Plan This Week

2009-09-28T15:14:00.001-04:00

We are off to Boston Market tonight since Alex has to work late and I don't feel like cooking. I figure $6 for dinner and drinks for the three of us isn't too bad. The rest of the week we will be having the following:

Tuesday: Brined chicken drumsticks with grilled vegetables and potatoes

Wednesday: Hot dogs on buns, baked beans, corn (this is so Alex can practice his hot dog grilling technique before we get our food cart)

Thursday: Chicken burritos with beans, rice, tomatoes and cucumber

Friday: Chicken nuggets and french fries

Saturday: Spaghetti and garlic foccacia

Sunday: Leftovers

Strategy for the week:
The extra chicken from Tuesday will go in the burritos for Thursday. I use cucumbers instead of lettuce or another "green" in the burritos because it is cheaper, crunchier, doesn't go bad as quickly, and I like it better and my family doesn't complain. The chicken nuggets and french fries are Mickey Mouse nuggets from Costco that are all white meat and breaded with whole wheat breading. I'm not going to pretend that they are super healthy but, for a night that Alex works late and as treat for Lilly and Oliver, they'll do. The fries are left over from an Angel Food box and I'm trying to eat stuff from the freezer since we have it. The garlic foccacia on Saturday is so easy to make that Lilly and I will probably make two batches of it when Alex leaves work and it will be fresh from the oven when he gets home - delicious!

Stock Up on Chicken!

2009-09-28T15:14:00.000-04:00

If you happen to be lucky enough to live near a Bottom Dollar store (cousin to Food Lion), you should check your sales flyer this week because chicken leg quarters are $.39/pound!!! I can't even get an entire chicken for that low of a per pound price. Last week I was excited to get drumsticks at Safeway for $.79/pound so I'll certainly take more dark meat for less!

Free Dinners All Month

2009-09-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Boston Market is running an amazing deal! If you order one meal you get up to two children's meals FREE!!! No joke. I just went tonight since my husband was working late and I ordered the 3 sides meal for me and then got two of the children's 1/4 chicken meals free. The children's meals come with a side, corn muffin and drink - all FREE! The promotion will be running through October 31, so go enjoy a very reduced dinner out.

Details can be found at www.bostonmarket.com/home?page=kidsEatFree. I suggest printing out the page and having it on you since my cashier hadn't heard about the promotion yet. The manager knew about it so I didn't have a problem but, just in case it wouldn't hurt to take it with you. You do need to have the actual children with you when you order but, other than that, there are no restrictions to this deal.

Kohls Provides "Fun Money"

2009-08-11T15:19:00.000-04:00

If you haven't already, you should go sign up for the Kohls emails. Once you do that you are on their lists and, while the sometimes too frequent emails about sales don't always do it for me, the free gift cards they mail out are definitely worth it! So far (in 2 months) I have received two $5 off your $5 purchase cards in the mail and today I got a $10 off your $10 purchase!

Even if you don't think that Kohls has any clothing you want, they carry kitchen stuff, seasonal stuff, bath stuff, etc. Go get a spatula, candle or pair of socks, or all three if you can match up some clearance stuff along with the free $10. Initially I thought of pjs for my little one but then I reconsidered and, since it is free money and free money = fun money, I might just go get something for me.

The other thing that I like about the Kohls cards they send out is the fine print on the back, "this MAY be used with other discounts/coupons" - music to my ears! How often do you actually see that in writing????

Happy shopping!

Bertoli Coupon

2009-08-06T17:48:00.000-04:00

Bertoli has a coupon here:

https://ssl.unilever.com/villabertolli.com/registration_frozenmeal.aspx?ssl=1

available for $1 off their frozen dinners. Combined with a sale, this would not make a bad "stash in the freezer for a lazy day" dinner. You do have to sign up but it only requires basic information and you can opt out of receiving their emails. There does not appear to be any limit to hitting the back button and getting more than one print from the coupon. I do know that these go on sale at Safeway periodically so it wouldn't be a bad move to get the coupon and add it to your stash just in case since the expiration date on my print was 10/5/09.

Rebate Offer - $5 or $10 Barnes & Noble Gift Card

2009-08-06T15:26:00.000-04:00

If you go here:

http://forms.hain-celestial.com//asbs/servlet/WebContView?C=14957230&R=10111265&K=e8eB

you will see the rebate offer and link to the form for a Barnes & Noble Gift Card. You will get $5 for spending $15 or $10 for spending $25 and you can submit up to two per household. In addition to the Barnes & Noble gift cards, you will receive a complimentary Healthy Eating Tips bookmark and coupons for all participating Hain Celestial Group brands.

The "fine print" does say, "Valid on Garden of Eatin’® snacks, WestSoy® non-dairy beverages, MaraNatha® nut butters, Health Valley® cereals and snack bars and Earth’s Best® Sesame Street®, Tots, Kidz and Frozen Foods. (Not valid on Earth’s Best jarred or other infant foods)" so you can't use it on regular Earth's Best stuff, only the products that are linked with Sesame Street.

Not a bad deal if you are already buying the products. The rebate offer is good through September 30, so you've got some time to purchase if you are interested.

Clearance Diapers

2009-08-05T13:02:00.000-04:00

My local Safeway (Sterling Blvd) has a bunch of Pampers newborn, size 1, size 2-3 and pull-ups in their clearance area by the pharmacy. I just picked up two packs for part of a shower gift and they were marked down to $5.99 plus I used two $1.50 coupons so I just got two packs of diapers for $8.98, which is less than they are priced normally for one pack! Not sure why they were in the clearance area, but it would be worth checking your local Safeway affiliate store if you need some diapers. Happy hunting.

Home Made Simple Coupon Book

2009-07-31T12:53:00.001-04:00

If you go here http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100900/quickQuestion.iphtml?item=100900&source=FEBSO and sign up for the Home Made Simple coupon book, you'll get a book with a bunch of P&G coupons for swiffer, Mr. Clean, febreeze, etc. and it always comes with a free rinse aid coupon. Since these booklets come out somewhat frequently, I always sign up for them just to get the rinse aid. If I use the others with a sale, great! If not, I still get a free rinse aid just about as frequently as I need one. Always good to find a regular source for a free product.

Free Barbecue Sauce at Giant

2009-07-31T12:53:00.000-04:00

Giant has Kraft BBQ sauce on sale for $1 and when you check out you get a printable "$1 off your next purchase" coupon (commonly called a "catalina") courtesy of Kraft. Keep rolling it (using one to buy the next one) and you've got enought BBQ sauce to last the rest of the summer into the next year :-)

I'm Ahead of The Washington Post

2009-07-29T08:03:00.000-04:00

If anyone noticed my meal plan for the week, you would have seen that I planned to have grilled corn and cheese omlettes with baby tomatoes and toast on Monday night. We didn't actually have that because our wonderful neighbors just felt like grilling more food than they could eat and so they brought us some pork chops, hot dogs and corn on the cob just in time for dinner. We will probably have the omlettes another night this week.

If you read the Washington Post's Food section today, on the back page are a bunch of corn recipes and one of them suggests a corn omlette paired with some baby tomatoes and toast! If I didn't know any better, I'd think that they took a look at my menu prior to publication and poached a few ideas but, since they probably had to go to print before I made my menu, I'll shelve my litigation for now and just assume that great minds think alike.

Although, I wouldn't mind receiving a paycheck for being a Food section consultant. . .

Breakfast Is On Me. . . Finally!

2009-07-29T07:47:00.000-04:00

Normally when I see sale/coupon match-ups on other blogs they appear to be shopping at some "always reduced price version" of my stores. My Target does not sell toilet paper for $.50 which, when multiples are bought with multiple copies of a trippled coupon, results in me getting thousands of dollars back. I don't live in "that" world. My Target checker always feels like reading the fine print on every coupon I've got and the base prices of my products are always dollars above what everyone else is listing around the web.

Perhaps it's because I live in Northern Virginia where EVERYTHING is more expensive than the rural midwest but sometimes it is frustrating to plan a shopping trip expecting to save a bunch with some sale and coupon match-ups that I saw online only to find that my "free after sale/coupon" item will actually cost me $3.99 and actually isn't such a great deal after all.

I can (and do) make my own match-ups with my sale flyers and coupons but sometimes I see ones online that make me drool.

FEAR NOT, here is one Target match-up that is actually valid here in high price land:
Free Kashi cereal cups! I actually saw, with my own eyes, that the Kashi cereal cups are priced at exactly $1 at the Target across from Wegmans in Sterling, AND there is a Target printable coupon at http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/view.php?pg=cpngenerator for $1 off Kashi cereal.

This could (should) result in ACTUALLY FREE Kashi cereal cups (unless you get some nut job Target cashier that won't take your Target coupon). So, for anyone else who lives in "my world" here is a valid match-up for free cereal that should work.

Enjoy!

Meal Plan

2009-07-26T23:05:00.000-04:00

Monday: Grilled corn and cheese omlettes, baby tomatoes with dressing, toast

Tuesday: Homemade pizza with sauce, cheese, peppers and onions (& pineapple for Lilly & Oliver)

Wednesday: Tomato and zuchini gratin (http://www.americastestkitchen.com/printrecipe.asp?recipeids=5044), pasta with butter and parmesean

Thursday: Keilbasa in rolls with carmelized onions, sauteed kale or spinach

Friday: Red pepper soup and homemade bread

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: BLTs with some kind of green salad or fruit salad (whatever looks good at the farmer's market)

Strategy for the week:
I'll use up some extra corn on the cob that we grilled last week in omlettes on Monday; make a few batches of pizza dough on Tuesday and freeze it all except one for that night's dinner; double the amount of onions that I carmelize for the pizza, refrigerate them and use them with the keilbasa on toasted rolls on Thursday; pull out some soup from the freezer and pair it with some http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ bread for Friday and then I'll make another batch of bread from the same dough on Sunday (but probably in a loaf pan) to have bread for the BLTs on Sunday. If I get really bored, maybe I'll try to make some rolls for the keilbasa from the artisan bread dough, but I'll probably pick some up at the store just to be safe :-)

"Pizza That Pays" - Just in time!

2009-06-11T22:26:00.000-04:00

Tombstone Pizza is offering to pay $15 towards a utility bill when you mail in UPCs for your tombstone pizza purchase. It takes 17 UPCs to get the $15 credit. I've never tried Tombstone Pizza, nor am I sure how much it costs however, this deal runs through February 1, 2010! I think that gives enough time to find some of these on sale somewhere and see if it could be worth it. If anyone has tried Tombstone Pizza and/or knows the price and frequency of coupons, let me know.

Here is the page with the rebate/credit information:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/SiteCollectionImages/ImageRepository/7/TombstoneFlyer.pdf

We are also willing to try a different type of pizza in our house since our Jerry's $5.99 pizza night is no longer - we lost one Jerry's about a year ago and switched over to another one that was a few miles away and this past Monday it too, had closed and locked its doors and the phone was out of order. I will now have to actually put some thought into planning a meal for Monday nights. I haven't had to do this for about the past four years - scary!

Great Deal at Earth's Best

2009-06-10T10:25:00.000-04:00

Here is another Earth’s Best promotion which requires a lot less in amount purchased than their previous rebate offer and you can get a Jason travel kit for $1.95 – not bad for a pool bag or summer travel:

http://www.earthsbest.com/whats_new/whats_new.php?cat=promotions

Enjoy!

Meals This Week

2009-04-28T18:50:00.000-04:00

This week (yes, I know it is already Tuesday) we will have the following:

Tuesday - fried eggs & english muffins

Wednesday - Chipotle Tamale Pie (in freezer)

Thursday - Red Pepper Soup (in freezer) and 5 minute artisan bread (see http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/)

Friday - Pork Tenderloin, Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, Roasted Zuchini/Squash Mix

Saturday - Pork Sandwiches (leftover tenderloin on english muffins with tomatoes, cucumbers, pan sauce and a bit of mayo)

Sunday - Red Hot & Blue BBQ at Grandma Pat's for our Birthday meal

This meal plan requires a mini shopping trip just to pick up some tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchini, potatoes, and some milk. I'm hoping to keep it a fairly low cost trip but the savings won't be so great since I don't have any coupons for produce or organic milk.

Fabulous Safeway Trip

2009-04-24T16:03:00.000-04:00

I went to Safeway with my list to round out our meal plan for the week and stock up on some things that were on sale and, although I spent a chunk of money, I saved a bunch too and came home with a ton of groceries and coupons for next trip. Here's what happened. . .

I purchased groceries worth: $212.28
I used my Safeway Club card which took off $ 71.47
I used coupons which took off: $ 17.30
Which resulted in a total out of pocket of: $123.50
Total savings of 43% ($89.78)

But, I also received the following upon checkout:

- another powerpump reward (this gives $.10 off a gallon of gas when purchased at the Safeway gas station) that can be combined with all other powerpump rewards earned in the same quarter to give you a good amount off a gallon of gas and if you smartly go get gas with all your rewards and an empty tank, it can save you a nice chunk of money.
-3 free points for Pampers Gifts to Grow program (which I participate in)
-$10 off my next shoping visit due to purchasing products in the Living Well Feeling Great promotion
-2 x $3 off my next shoping trip from General Mills (probably because I picked up some cereal)
-assorted printed out coupons
.50 off land o lakes half & half (might not use unless it's a great sale)
$2 off any 5 general mills cereal (will use along with some other coupons)
.50 off 2 six packs yobaby yogurt (will use when on sale)
$1.50 off kraft ranch dressing (will use when on sale)
.75 off glade aerosol spray (might not use unless it's a great sale and then I'll just donate it)
also, a catalina (print out coupon) notifying me that if I purchase 2 hellmann's products between 4/20 and 5/17, I'll get an additional $2.00 off my order.

I know that for most of you, this may seem like an outrageous amount to pay for groceries (those of you with $30 per week budgets for families of 8) but since my family drinks $30 worth of organic milk each week, this is a pretty good grocery run.

On a separate but similar note, I plan to post our meal plan on Sunday and then have my grocery run on Monday so I should be a bit more up to date on my posts.

New Budget Attempt

2009-04-18T22:04:00.000-04:00

So we (I) have tried to find a good budgeting program that could help keep us on track with our financial goals and I have not found a good match quite yet. Perhaps we should nail down our financial goals a bit more but at this point, no debt and moderate, necessary spending seems to be working.

I had tried www.mint.com and liked many of its features but ultimately it seemed like more of an "accounting" software than a family style "budget" software. That doesn't mean it won't work for you, but for me, the check writing, non cash depositing in the ATM, old school type financial person, it was a bit much.

I just heard about another program that seems to be custom made for me called www.pearbudget.com. Now, I will admit that I just completed the set up process (super easy) about 10 seconds ago but I am so excited. This looks like just the thing to get us on track. I had created my own excell spreadsheet that was very similar to pearbudget but somehow I wasn't quite so excited about it when I had to do all the calculations myself.

Alex and I are going to sit down tomorrow during nap time (aka the 10 minutes that both children might be asleep at the same time) and figure out our budget categories and amounts and then we will be off and running with pearbudget.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Sadly Accurate

2009-04-02T14:32:00.000-04:00

Although this has gone around before, I think it is too funny and didn't want to lose it before I shared it with a few people. Enjoy. . .

Nine Words Women Use:

1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up. Anything you say after Fine is the beginning of a new argument.

2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine

4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5) Loud Sigh: This is not actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (Note – this is true, unless she says “thanks a lot”, then it is pure sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. Do NOT say “you’re welcome”, that will bring on a “whatever”.

8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F@!K YOU!

9) Don't worry about it (and/or) I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.

Dinner Out

2009-04-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

Since Alex has been fabulously working on getting our kitchen countertops oiled we decided to go out to eat tonight since the kitchen and dining room were quite messy. We headed off to Boston Market since it's close to the kid's school and they tend to have coupons. We were able to get two crispy chicken meals (with 2 sides each), a children's chicken leg meal, a milk and a soda for $10.

We used a buy one get one free crispy chicken meal coupon
(find it here: http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/bstnmkt/pc/200903/3/crispy.htm )
and purchased those two in one transaction and then we bought Lilly's meal and the drinks in another transaction and used a $3 off when you purchase $6 coupon
(find it here: http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/bstnmkt/pc/200903/1/lntblst.htm) and so we only spent $10 to feed our family tonight and we got a night out.

We also bumped into our neighbors while there, Lilly met and played with a little girl who was there with her family and Oliver . . . well, Oliver just hung out and was happy.

It was a good night for the Collier crew.

We Are Now Official

2009-03-31T16:30:00.000-04:00

The family cards we ordered from VistaPrint are here and they actually look and feel really good. So, now that we have cards we just have to meet people we want to give them to. Somehow I think it might have been easier picking the card than it will be to meet people. We will see . . .

Some Things Accomplished

2009-03-31T15:42:00.000-04:00

So I pulled out some frozen ground turkey and some frozen ground meatloaf mix that I had purchased super cheap from Safeway a while back and put it in the fridge to thaw. That was on Thursday - last week. Today I looked in the fridge and realized that I had to fish or cut bait with this thawed meat. I made three "loaves" of chipotle tamale pie and 40 meatloaf muffins and put it in the freezer for dinners later. I then cleaned up the kitchen taking care not to get our new countertops wet since they are installed and sanded but not yet oiled - THANK YOU to Alex for putting them in and making them look so good.

Now, since I cooked and cleaned, you might think that we would have something fabulous for dinner tonight but I am currently boiling water so I can make macaroni and cheese. I've got cheese I need to use and since we need a quick dinner so Alex can get a hair cut tonight, mac-n-cheese it is.

See below for photos of my frozen dinners:

Almost Beginning our New Lifestyle

2009-03-19T22:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my "official" last ay of work but I still had a few things to get from my cube so I went in to the office today and took Oliver with me so that everyone could meet him. He was a wonderful bundle of smiles and laughs and made everyone happy by snuggling and smiling his way through the department. I hope to be able to keep in touch with some of my coworkers but since I've never really left a job like this before, I'm not so sure how that might work - only time will tell.

Cards Actually Ordered

2009-03-19T21:43:00.000-04:00

So we finally ordered our family cards last night from a company called Vista Print. I'm sure that if you have an email account, you have heard of Vista Print. They offer a ton of promotional items for free or reduced prices. You can even get free cards if you get their logo printed on the back. We decided to just pick a card, pay to have the front and back look how we wanted and actually pay for them. The total cost was under $20. We decided to go with the "slow" shipping which states that they will arrive in around 21 days. Really? They need three weeks to print 50 cards with the exact same thing? I'm not actually going to complain because the price is right and they might arrive early. If they come in and are awful we can let Lilly play with them and if they are cool then it was a good deal and we will use them when we are out and about.

Procrastination is Not Helping

2009-03-11T21:12:00.000-04:00

So, we still haven't picked a family card because it appears that there are a billion different types of cards that can be picked. Some are cute, some are modern, some are ugly as can be and they vary in price from free (my preference) to really expensive. So until we decide on a card we are left to meet people and leave them with no contact information whatsoever just a vague, "we come here often. . . maybe we will see you again".

For example, we had a fabulous time last weekend at Frying Pan Park and we met/chatted with a few different families and couples and it would have been really great to be able to say, "give us a call, we should do this again" but we couldn't since we didn't have any cards. Following are some of the photos from our adventure. . .

WELCOME TO US

2009-02-24T10:31:00.000-05:00

We have now entered the blogging age due to the fact that we wanted to create "family cards". For those of you not in the know, family cards are those cute little business cards that say things like, "Lilly's Mom" or "Oliver's Dad" and have contact information.

Other people have business cards that they jot personal info on when giving them to a social contact but, since we don't have business cards, we decided to go with a cool family card for all purposes.

Since we are only going to have one style card for the entire family, we needed to have one set of contact information for the card. This meant that we needed to choose one email address for the family (thecolliercrew @ gmail . com) which then meant that perhaps we should obtain the same web address and, since that was actually taken, we have obtained the next best thing and so . . . here we are!