Hey September! Hey Fall! Hey Rambling!

Hello my woefully neglected little blog.  I'm too scattered right now to type out a decent length and entirely coherent post.  So, I'll just give a you a little peak into my current stream of ideas. 

Well, that whole make up hiatus didn't last long.  I tend to rebel against any harsh rulings and decrees even when self imposed.  I'm back to the reigning it in portion of my rebellion.  Yesterday I took my oldest to Dollar Tree to get poster board for a project and picked up some Physician's Formula organic lip veil.  For one dollar in a pretty neutral color- how could I resist?  Well, sometimes stuff ends up at the Dollar Tree when it should go to the dumpster.  This stuff was gross and rough. 

We have been so busy with the school year that I am constantly thwarted in my pantry clean out quest.  We have martial arts twice a week, and soccer practice, and confirmations classes and scouts and whatever else happens upon us.  I am really missing family dinners.  It's either a quickly scrambled microwave meal or a drive thru dinner in the backseat.  I really look forward to Friday nights so I can see my family together.  Of course, not this Friday as DH has plans but I get the kids to myself!  Last week I did manage to make homemade pizza and hamburger buns with my bread machine though.  I need to figure out some scratch freezable make ahead meals for our busy nights.  I am quite sick of Taco Bell, Little Caesars and BK veggie burgers.  I just ran across Heather's post on Make Ahead Mixes and I'm inspired to make some mixes of corn bread and cookies for the cold weather.   I did not order premade cookie mix from the school fund raiser because I rationalized I could make the cookies for a tenth of the cost.  I'd love to load up my freezer with bags of ready to go scratch mix for gingerbread, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodle cookies for Christmas.

I've been doing a bit more couponing.  But, mostly I'm going to coupons.com before I shop so I can print out what's on my shopping list.  It beats clipping every coupon I might use and sorting them and dragging the hole binder to the store.  I might miss out on a few deals with way but I can't see the back of my pantry right now anyway.  I haven't been in Target for a few months.  I got burned out on the whole cartwheel app, plus Target printable coupons, plus text coupons, plus MFR coupons combo.  I can save a ton of money but it takes a lot of time and effort.  If you're interested, check out Hip2Save.com. 

Thredup.com is now on ebates.com for 7.5% back.   If you haven't used Ebates and you shop online it's such an easy way to get money back!  All you have to do is go through their website and look for the shop you want and use that link.  I get a nice check from them every few months.  If you haven't used Thredup.com before it's a nice way to shop for second hand clothes.  Some of them even have the tags still attached.  I sent my son to school today in a brand new pair of Kitestrings khakis that cost me $9.   If you're interested in trying Thredup.com go through my link and you'll get $10 to spend.  Also, use the code 40SNP and get 40% off your purchase.  Combine that with 7.5% back on ebates, and it's quite a deal.  I've been stocking up on winter clothes for my son.  You get free shipping if you spend more than $50.  They also have women's clothing and accessories.  I haven't had the best of luck in selling my items there but I did make $28 on a Nieman Marcus cashmere sweater (Goodwill) that I never wore.

I'm behind on laundry and my house needs a quick clean.  See you in a few months?  ; )

My Tiny Baby Princess Has Turned Into A Goth Gal

The era of buying ahead when I see a good deal is pretty much over.  My almost ten year old girl -is not having it- anymore.  No more pastels.  No more puppy dog prints.  No more anything cutesy or girly. 

I filled a laundry basket with clothes that she doesn't like.  Yes, I could make her wear them anyway.  She would do it so she wouldn't hurt my feelings.  She is a nice kid like that.  But, I do think she should have a lot of say over what she wears as long as it's appropriate and covers her parts.  She's allowed to express her individuality.  I know what it's like to have to wear clothes you don't like.  It's no fun.

So, I turned to Thred Up to help me find plain black and red clothes for her.  I've always had good luck with my purchases from there.  Today I bought eight kid's items for about $40 including shipping and I ordered a bag to fill with our outcasts. 

There are some pretty good coupon codes for first time users.  If you go through this link we can both get $10 on our next purchases too. 
http://www.thredup.com/r/BTGXTF

Scorched Earth Policy on Clutter

I just spent two weeks in an hotel suite with mini kitchen. I have an idea of how little a person really needs to not just get by but thrive. It had me thinking about just getting rid of everything that my family using or didn't need for the next six months.

I have a lot of clutter. My Grandmother was a hoarder (although she would want it said that she wasn't a nasty housekeeper.) My aunts and mom have problems with clutter too. It runs in my DNA. Do you know what I'm starting to realized doesn't make me happy? Clutter. This is doubly hard for me because so many frugal tips are based on buying things cheap to store for when you need them. I'm kinda over it.

One more reason I have a hard time parting with stuff I don't really want is that I think I should try to get some money out of it first. Most of you know what I mean. You buy a new pair of shoes that are really cute and wear them once and they give you blisters. You hate that you only wore them once and know someone would pay for them. Why just donate them when you can try to get a few dollars back? The trouble with selling things is that it takes time, effort, and sometimes it takes money. I've had good luck selling stuff on ebay and craigslist but it has never been without hassle. So, the clutter stays because I don't want the hassle. And the unhappiness continues.

I'm gonna have to go full flylady I think and donate. So, today I scoured my pile of back to school supplies in the basement and bagged up a bunch of stuff to donate that my kids didn't need this year. Brand new stuff. Stuff they will eventually need. Donated. Because it's in my way and somebody this year needs it. Today is tax free shopping day and I have two things left on my list to buy- an eraser and a plastic folder. My collection has been a blessing for us. Now it's time to bless someone else.

I'm off to take a test to see if I'm a hoarder. Then I'm loading the kids up and driving to the donation center.
The survey indicated that I have a mild to moderate hoarding disorder. Ouch. Off to scorch!!!

LIfe handed me lemons, I finally have time to make lemonade

Whew! I don't know if you noticed or not but I was gone for about a month. I went to Texas to be with my Mom while she sought cancer treatment. It's too early to tell how she's doing but she seems much stronger than last month.

I drove myself to Houston. If you read my blog you know how big of a deal that was. I was so nervous the whole time. My fears were compounded by my mom and my aunt both worrying over how I would manage the terrible Houston traffic. Turns out that I managed quite well. In fact, I have to say that I much prefer traveling by myself on long car trips as I can go for hours without a potty break. Of course, now the maintenance required light is flashing on my dashboard so I'd rather not have another long car trip anytime soon. A trip to the Midas (I have a coupon!) needs to put on the agenda.

My family flew in for the last week for which I am so grateful because I was missing them terribly. I've spent way more time away from my kids this summer than I wanted or intended to. We didn't do as much sight seeing or vacation stuff as we probably should have. But, we did go to the Space Center and to Galveston Beach where we all got nasty sunburns. We stopped by the roadside in rural Arkansas to look for crystal rocks and got eaten by chiggers. I hate to say that my favorite part of being in Texas was the 99 Cent Only store but it's true. The food deals were pretty good plus they had two kinds of Mexican laundry soap bars for 99 cents!

I'm glad to be home.
School starts in 14 days so I've got a lot to do. Kindergarten immunizations, health check ups, glasses for Big Girl, school supply gathering, and any last bits of summer fun we've left undone.
This year we did not complete any library summer reading goals. We haven't been to the neighborhood pool more than a few times and my tomatoes are dead from lack of water. But, there are more important things going on than making sure my kids get free ice cream cones and having a bountiful garden.

Right now I've got an internal debate over whether or not to step up as the new leader of my daughter's small Girl Scout troop. I just don't know if I'm organized enough or even understand Girl Scouts enough. Plus, I know how hard it is to get the few of us Moms motivated to do anything. I've seen the countless emails from the last leader begging for help. Plus, I have no idea what the next few months of my life will be like with my Mom sick. I just don't want to offer myself up and then not be able to deliver. There is already a cookie mom so I wouldn't have to worry about that part though.

I'm ready to start frugal homemaking again though. I've missed it terribly.

News with Lots of *Asterisks*

(My family in June on the Mark Twain riverboat in Hannibal, Mo)

*I am having a blissful week with my babies before they are sent back to their grandparents. This is our second day of just hanging around the house. I like it!

*My Mom had her first day of cancer treatment. I know the outlook is bleak for someone with Stage 4 Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the colon but we have hope. I will say it again- WE HAVE HOPE!

*We're still working on summer homeschooling although I've only managed it twice this week. My sons handwriting is so much better now. Hopefully he will be ready for all that writing he will have to do in Kindergarten (next month, yikes!)

*I am finishing up my back to school shopping for the kiddos. I pretty much just need one new outfit for my daughter for the first day and a few pairs of pants for my son. I found pull up jeans online at Sears for him that I may buy as he has problems with snaps and buttons.

*A lot of their "new" clothes came from garage sales and thrift stores that I've hit up here and there this summer. Last week I lucked into a quarter clothing sale at a thrift store on the way to my Mom's house. I bought a new outfit for myself, two shirts and a pair of Tommy Hillfiger capris for my daughter, and a pair of shorts for my son.

*I finally have a green tomato on my tomato plants. Way back last spring I bought an organic tomato and it was so good I kept a few seeds to plant. It took forever for them to flower so I just assumed they were a lost cause and forgot about them. I was happy when I noticed them flowering. I started cherry tomato seeds in a pot on my window to replace them with and now I'll have to find a new place to put my tall cherry babies. I wonder if they'd grow in our bathroom like our lantana does.

*I think I waited to long to take my tub of summer clothes to the resale shop. I think I'll try it soon anyway just in case. I guess it wouldn't hurt to clean out the hall closet and see if I can find an outgrown jacket or two.

*I just finished the book I've been reading for a few weeks, White Mountain Brides. I guess technically it's considered a christian romance novel but I mostly loved reading about the daily lives of three pioneer women living in 1689. I'm going to be posting it on paperbackswap.com to share.

*I've got to go make dinner now. I've been doing that here and there lately. Tuesday night I made a tofu stir fry. Last night I picked up a $5 Little Caesars because I had a throbbing head ache (I used a movie ticket stub and scored free bread sticks though). But, tonight I've found things in the freezer to bake plus I made a peach crisp. It's a little like life is back to normal. At least this week anyway.

Pizza Crust and Online Shopping for Childrens Clothes

We're having pizza for dinner. Lately every time the kids hear that we're having homemade pizza they start groaning and complaining. Meanwhile, Hubby and I love my pizza.
I decided to try another pizza crust recipe. This one is a bread machine Pizza Hut knock off. Since my daughter loves Pizza Hut, maybe this will finally win her over.
Our normal pizza dough machine recipe is perfectly fine though and more pantry friendly.

For toppings we have:
Hunt's Canned Sauce (standard $1 a can- will have leftovers)
Mozzarella (Aldi)
Mushrooms (produce clearance for .69 cents)
Sunflower seeds (seems weird but really good)
Feta cheese (on sale for $1)
Tomato Slices (leftover from last night)
Veggie Pepperoni (need to use up soon)

**update- The pizza hut crust was deemed delicious by me and Hubby and better than normal by my kiddos. The only downside is the lengthy cooking time for the crust. Next time I will cook it on a normal pizza pan.

Children's Place is having a clearance sale on select clothing items. Most of what I found online were smaller childrens clothes (12m - 3t) but I did manage to find a few things to buy. I bought two t shirts for my niece's birthdays in May and a fall outfit for Big Girl.
My total after shipping and taxes for three shirts and one pair of pants was $22.91. This is after I used a coupon code (check retailmenot.com) for 15% off any purchase. I also went through ebates.com. That saved me another 3%. (And I used my Discover card for 1% cash back). That brings my total for each item somewhere around $5.50).

Of course, considering that my Mom hit the motherlode with a stop at a thrift store that was having 25 cent sale on all clothes when she was on the way to my house- $5.50 per item seems outrageous. I think that if I only relied on my Mom's occasional second hand shopping to dress my kids, I probably would only have to buy soccer cleats and shin guards. She found a nice thick winter coat from Old Navy for Little Guy for $1. And it still had the hood attached. I spent $2 on a similar coat minus the hood for him at another thrift store on the sale rack. I think I'll sell the one I bought at our next garage sale and keep the one my Mom bought.

Weekend Review

Friday-

We had a family movie night and I made up a frozen Jack's pizza (bought on sale). I added additional ingredients like feta cheese (bought at Dollar Tree) and veggie crumbles. We watched a show on Netflix.
Nothing spectacular but the week leaves us pretty tired.

Saturday-

We caravaned to the car dealership so Hubby could drop his car off for new tires and other maintenance requirements.

Behind the dealership is a thrift store we'd never been in before so we stopped in and checked it out. Children's clothes were all marked $1 and I picked out a few shirts for Big Girl for this Fall. The store was full of shoppers- a lot of them well dressed women picking through the racks of clothing for great finds. The kids happily played in the toy aisle while Hubby and I looked at furniture. I picked out a square basket after being inspired by The Nester's post on using baskets for storage containers. The store was being stocked continually the whole time we were there. I have plans to take my mom shopping there next week.

After the thrift store it was time for lunch. I picked out a coupon from our entertainment guide and we ate at El Maguey. Hubby and I each ordered an entree and one al a carte item for our picky boy. Big Girl had part of our lunches. We shared a fried ice cream for dessert. Yum!

Then we raced to Little Guy's soccer game. Watching four year olds play soccer is quite amusing and a little frustrating. Some of the children obviously know what they are doing but quite a lot of them get bored and wander off the field or run the wrong direction. My own son put his shirt over his face and started wandering blindly off the field.

Then it was time to part ways. I dropped Hubby and Little Guy off at the dealership. I took Big Girl to the mall for planned Girls Day Out. The night before I assembled all of my mall coupons and had a plan of attack for what stores we wanted to shop. The mall I picked has an AMC theater so we used my coke points rewards to see a movie and get a free soft drink.
She's been wanting to shop at Justice for a while because her friends really like it. I have found many Justice items at thrift stores but she wanted something new so I let her pick out a few things. I don't really like Justice's clothing (it's all tacky) and I really don't like their price tags (I will never pay $34 for a pair of kid jeans). But, I had a coupon and we decided on a outfit that wasn't outrageously ugly or very overpriced. I splurged on candles at Yankee Candle and bought a few Christmas presents. After a carousel ride, time in the play land and dinner at Houlihan's we were exhausted. I think we're good on mall shopping for a long long time.
I suffered a good bout of sticker shock from going to thrift store to mall too.

Sunday-

Family At Home day. I did some laundry. I cooked three meals. I snuggled my kids. I took a tiny nap. We watched Project Runway as a family and just generally kicked back. I also put my new square basket into a drawer to hold office supplies. All in all it was my favorite kind of day.

Been Happily Busy

Despite the somewhat hectic schedule of kids activities, my activities, general living chores, and ongoing business trips by the Hubs- I've been fairly happy.

I've been picking up a few things each day from our belongings and designating them for the garage sale. More is leaving the house then coming in finally.

I took both kids shopping yesterday (separate trips) to pick out a shirt for Little Guy to wear for picture day. He really doesn't have many shirts without a cartoon character on them.

The first trip to Kohl's with Little Guy was kind of a bust. The shirt I liked in their store was still $12 on sale and I didn't have a coupon. He picked out two small toys on sale (one for him, one for his sister) though and I bought a small decoration for Halloween. The new toys have been put up until he and his sister clean up their toy room and bring me two items each to sell in the sale. They've been amazingly compliant. Half of the toy room is clean and I have four toys to sell. I imagine the toy room will be finished today and they will get their new stuff to play with. I'm also itching to get out my Halloween/Fall items for display, which means a cleaning in the house will be necessary. I'm actually looking forward to that. Fall is my favorite season.

The second trip to Value Village with Big Girl was better. I found a striped button down Gap shirt with roll up sleeves for $3. I also picked out a 99 cent Gymboree t-shirt in great condition.
Big Girl kept herself busy looking through their poor selection of toys and bemoaning the fact that the ones she liked were broken or missing pieces. I gave in a little and let her pick out a sweater. We picked through the long row of sweaters and she found one that she really liked for $2 in shades of lavender, lime green, and yellow. It turns out that we have don't have the same taste- surprise. And also, the main reason she wanted that sweater was that it was the softest- not the prettiest, not the coolest. It was soft. Whatever keeps her warm and covered, I guess.
I found a brand new pair of size 3 white tennis shoes for her stockpile for $3 also. When I put them away last night I realized that I do not have any size 2 shoes set aside. We don't need them yet but I'll start looking. She's about a size 1 right now and growing fast.

The worst part of the busyness has been a total lack of home cooking. I miss my own food! I miss having family dinners. Tonight I asked Big Girl to help me make dinner. We're having mac n cheese, veggie dogs, and broccoli.

We have nothing planned on Friday night so I'm hoping we can have a family meal together at our table. I've got to get the beds made and the laundry ready.

What I'm Thinking About

Last week was vacation and next week is back to school time. This week has me in a chaotic flux where I don't know if I'm coming or going but hoping to get there soon.

Like the start of the year, school starting has me thinking of getting organized and having a routine. When the school bus pulls away this year I will have many hours alone to do much needed decluttering and cleaning. Little Guy is going to be in preschool many more hours this year and while I will miss him terribly, I am looking forward to getting on the ball and tacking chores without distraction. The days that I have him to myself will be even more rewarding for both of us. He's still my little snuggle bug.


I'm thinking of making this write on/wipe off menu board for my kitchen using things I already have around the house. Also, the recipe she lists for Ski Country Pasta sounds awesome (with some veggie bacon).

The no purchased clothes shopping compact hasn't been a 100% success. But, I have reduced the amount of clothing coming into our house by at least 50% (probably better). Big Girl picked out a few new things for school and we went through her clothes. She has about a week and a half worth of new clothes for Second grade (gulp!). When did I become the mom of a Second Grader? Seems like yesterday she was sitting in her high chair and happily growling at her food.
Now she's reading, writing, losing teeth and riding a bike without training wheels!
I purchased a new pair of exercise shorts on clearance today. My zumba sweats are getting embarrassingly baggy and stretched out.

My diet is on stall right now but I am carrying on and haven't given up. I am looking into joining another zumba class because I realize that I enjoy zumba more than I do dieting. I do feel better physically.

My garden is virtually dead because I gave up on watering it. The heat here is a killer.
I am seriously considering doing the 6 items of Clothing per Month challenge. I tend to wear the same things over and over anyway. I already know my uniform is a t-shirt (v neck or boatneck) and capri pants. I would need to add a cotton skirt and my work out clothes and I'd be good to go. Because of my diet/exercise routine (stalled but not over) and clothing compact I have been slowly weeding baggy and unloved clothing from my personal stash. Doing this challenge would inspire me to do even more. I could use more closet space.

That's about it.

Today I Bought Clothes

Way back in May (before the clothing compact) I earned $25 Gymboree Gymbucks redeemable this week. So, I took my opportunity to shop for the kiddos and scoured the online clearance items.

I bought:
3 summer shirts for Big Girl (will fit her next summer)
2 shirts for my nieces (part of their Christmas)
3 hair ornaments (one for each girl)
A pair of shorts for Big Girl (saving for back to school)
A ringer tshirt for Little Guy
1 pair of undies for Little Guy

Total after Gymbucks- $32.71


I still have $10 in Old Navy rewards to use up. I'm hoping to get some socks for my nieces to go with their other Christmas items.
Now back to the compact.

Checking The Closet First

We have a wedding to attend this weekend and of course I have waited until the last minute to pick out or plan what we are going to wear. I bought a beautiful dress for Big Girl for $2 at a garage sale so she's covered. But, she has outgrown her fancy footwear and unless I want her to show up in dirty tennis shoes, flip flops, or crocs with Simpsons jibbitz on them I'm going to have to find something for her to wear. You know I stockpile clothes and shoes for the kids. Maybe you also know how very bad I am at keeping track of what I've bought. So, it's off the closets I go.
I printed out a 20% Gordman's coupon just in case. Hope I don't need it.


Glad I checked her closet first. I found many pairs of suitable shoes that I am sure will fit her.
I also found 4 pairs! of size 1 tennis shoes for the start of school in Fall. I'm going to donate a pair to the food pantry/thrift store. I am annoyed with myself for not keeping up with my inventory list.

Famous Footwear Savings.

Thanks to Centsible Sawyer for bringing my attention to this sale! Use promo code JULY15 and get 15% off of your purchase. Also through September 19th they are having a BOGO 1/2 sale and Free Ground Shipping. I signed up for a Famous Footwear rewards card to get even more rewards.
With two little kids, we go through a lot of shoes and I can't always find what we need second hand.

I bought:
Naturalizer slip on loafers for me
Addidas soccer shoes for the kids
Cali girl slip ons for Big Girl
Tennis shoes for Little Guy

Total: 54.46
That's 13.61 per pair not including any rewards or % back I may get (roughly $5 after ebates and credit card incentives- then it's 12.36 per pair). I can live with that. And I didn't have to step foot in a store.

Go through Ebates.com or sign up through my account and we'll both save big $. Famous Footwear is giving 9% back.

I'm so glad I did a clothing and shoe inventory so I could shop more intelligently. I'm filling gaps instead of overloading on what we already have.

More School Supply Hunting

WalMart.

Special Folder for Little Guy- .97 (bought 1)
Two packs of small glue sticks- .25 (I bought 3)
Elmer's School Glue 4 oz.- .25 (bought 1)
Crayola 24 pack crayons- .25 (I bought 4)
Expo Write on Wipe off markers assorted 4 pack- 3.50 (just bought 1)
Plastic Pencil boxes- .62 (I bought 2)
Rose Art colored pencils- .75 (bought 1)
Rose Art 4 oz. school glue- .20 (bought 1)
Notebooks- 70 page wide ruled- .15 (I bought 5)

And 1.25 worth of tomatoes for last nights burger dinner

Total: 11.46

I have most of what we need, a few to stockpile, and some to donate.
Now all I need is a few boxes of tissues, clorox cleaner, and antibacterial gel. Any ideas on sales for those things?

School Supply Hunt

I went through my piles of saved school supplies and came up with pencil boxes, folders, back packs and one bottle of glue. We still need so much more and this year I'm buying for two instead of one.

So, I sent my Mother to Staples for the 1 cent pencil boxes. The sale ends today.

And today we went to K-Mart to check things out-

12 pack of Crayola colored pencils- $1
24 pack of Crayola crayons- .89 cents
Pack of Papermate Ballpoint pens (for me)- 3/$1 or .33 cents.

Later today we'll be going to Wal-Mart to see about getting cheap notebook paper and glue sticks. I'm sure I could probably find Crayola crayons cheaper than .89 cents but I didn't think that was a bad price to pay.

We still have four weeks before school starts so I'm hoping I can get everything we need fairly inexpensively and maybe be even to buy a few things to donate to a school supply drive.

Coupon Reorganizing, Fridge Cleaning and Back to School Shopping.

I dumped my coupon box (for the third time) and finally got around to picking it up. I'm in the midst of cleaning it out and reorganizing it into another system- again. So, shopping with coupons has not been going on at my house. Instead I've been signing up for freebies on WalMart's site and other places where I find them.
I have slowly been throwing out old stuff in the fridge and seeing that we do have room in there after all. I made freezer jelly with the blueberries before they turned into moldy mush too. Tonight we're having homemade pizza to use up the Ragu and parmesan shreds that are hanging out in there. I bought one portabello and a basil plant to make it more tasty.

Now I'm in the process of deciphering what we might need for our school supplies. I tend to overbuy when I find a sale and I save all pencils we get in goody bags or presents. So, I think our needs are limited. But, I always need crayons, markers, notebooks, and glue. Anyone have any ideas on who has the best (or free) deals on any of that stuff?

Clothing Inventory FAIL

I have enough summer clothes for three Big Girls and only a handful of long sleeved shirts for this fall/winter school term. I know there's still time to haunt garage sales and thrift stores for great cheap clothes. But, it's the excess of size 6's that are only going to fit her this summer that is frustrating me. What a waste of money!

I had the same problem with shoe inventory. We have four pairs of tennis shoes in the same size. And probably only one pair that will fit her this fall. Never worn flip flops and sandals that I bought for a song last year are too small.

I had a small book with their shoe and clothing inventory written on it so I'd know what our needs and that worked great. It's time to do that again.

Garage Sale Deals This Morning.

I chose garage sale shopping time over any store bought thing for Mother's Day this year. Big Girl and I headed out with whatever bills I could scrape from mine and Hubby's wallets. I ended up with about 9 dollars.

Here's what we got:

One complete Disney's Magic Kingdom set- very neat for $1
Stride Rite sandals for Big Girl- .50 cents
Long sleeved thermal t for Little Guy this winter- $1
Shorts for Little Guy- $1
Polly Flinders sweater for Big Girl- $1
Snowman ornament- .25 cents
Stuffed Simba cub animal- .50 cents ( we so did not need another stuffed animal-this is where shopping alone is a good idea)
Pink Gap summer dress for Big Girl- .25 cents
Long Sleeved shirt for Big Girl- .25 cents
Velour sweat pant sets for Big Girl- .50 cents
Pink Kobe Kids sweater for Big Girl- .25 cents
Two figurines for Little Guy- .25 cents
One free monster truck from free box complete with a full set of teeth in the tires
Lemonade from kid run stand- .50 cents
Alarm clock for Big Girl- $1

I still have about a dollar left. I've definitely done better but Big Girl and I got in some quality time together learning about the value of a dollar. And I won't be scrambling as much come fall to assemble back to school clothes. I'm doing my back to school shopping now one quarter at a time. Of course, she's growing so fast I only hope what I'm buying now will fit next winter. If not I'll pack it up and take it to the kid's consignment store and see if I can recoup something.d

As someone who normally purchases our clothes at thrift stores it seems amazing to me how quickly those $2 and $3 items can seem really pricey. Garage saling can be a lot of work but if you need to stretch your dollars on kids clothes and toys I don't think they can be beat.

What I didn't buy- any more paperbacks. My shelves are aching.
Decorator items- I need no more stuff until I use what I have
Garden plants or items- tempting but I need to take care of what I own first
Adult clothing- we don't need anything
Dishes, cookware etc.- don't need it.
Power tools- Not my department
Furniture- although we are thinking of getting a desk for Big Girl's room since she'll be doing homework soon- I'm just not ready for one yet and we have to re-arrange. When we are ready I feel confident that the right one will come along for the right price. Until then she'll have to make do at the kitchen table.

Menu Planning: Nine dollars and some change for grocery shopping this week.

Even shopping for Valentines Day card candy at the Dollar Store took a chunk out of my budget this week. (The cards are a combination of last years leftovers, after Valentines discount, and salvaged from my Grandma's house. The fun in this is that my kids got to choose from a lot of different cards for each school friend. If I can't find more cards after Valentines this year I'll definitely be making homemade ones with the kids from construction paper and paper doilies that I have stockpiled. )

I have just enough for milk and some produce at Aldi.

This week I need to: Soak pinto beans, thaw the tofurkey roast, and make yogurt for breakfast.
Dinners-
Monday: We had three Burger King veggie burgers. Still not feeling great and this was our dinner low cost option.

Tuesday- We're having pizza. I found some frozen dough in the freezer, half a bag of mozzarella , and half a jar of spaghetti sauce in the fridge. I've also got some spinach in the crisper that has seen better days so I'll salvage what I can for a topping.

Wednesday- Pinto Beans, Fried Taters and Onions, and Corn Bread. I've been craving this for awhile. Anyone else eat this growing up? I remember the potatoes sometimes had a crispy crust like corn meal on it.

Thursday- Tofurkey Roast and stuffing. I found one last clearance tofurkey in the basement freezer. I'll make a small heart shaped cake for Valentines Day and top it with any leftover V-day card candy.

Friday- Leftover Buffet.

Not all Goodwills are equal- Buying for School Uniforms.

I tried out a new Goodwill today hoping to find clothing pieces for Big Girls kindergarten uniforms. She doesn't enter kindergarten for a few months so I still have plenty of time to gather the items that I need.

I loved this new Goodwill that is off of busy street (Manchester if you're a St. Louiser). The racks were loaded and there was a great variety of brand name clothing. In fact I saw more Children's Place than Faded Glory. I filled my cart with Le Top, Lands End, LL Bean, Kitestrings, Talbots, and Gap. Hunting was made easier because I only have a choice of three colors and all shirts have to have collars. I found it surprising how few children's shirts have collars. Turtlenecks in the necessary colors were plentiful. I also found brand new School Uniform brand jumpers in the appropriate color. Now all I need is a pair or two of khaki pants and a plaid jumper and we're all set.

I also snagged a brand new Gymboree top (so cute- ribbon embroidered with bachelor buttons) to send to a friends little girl for her birthday.



Here they are ready for the wash. I particularly love the Good Lad of Philadelphia flag sweater and the Kitestrings turtleneck with stags and a snowflake for Little Guy. There's no way I would pay retail prices for these things so finding them in perfect shape at the Goodwill is a real treat.