Weekly Spending Report: 07/26-08/01/2015

This week I knew was going to be tight, but I had to get some snack food for the hubby, special food for Howard, and some bottled water.  We technically went over our budget for the month, but I had enough change in my wallet to cover the difference, so I'm okay with it.  I didn't really pick up much this week, but I was proud of the razor deal at CVS.  I had a rain check that made the razor $9.99 with a $5 ECB, along with the $2 ECB deal from this week, and the $3/1 coupon, I got it for FREE!  Those types of deals are a lot sparser than they were when I first started couponing 7 years ago.  I'm just thrilled to start a new month next week, and have a full grocery envelope again!  But anyway, here's this week's break down...

• Sunday's CVS Trip (not pictured 3-24 pks bottled H20): $6.10 , Earned $7 ECB's ($5 from a Rain check deal)

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $28.95 oop

Total OOP: $35.05
Total Earned: $7
Total Remaining from July: Zero!

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Weekly Spending Report: 07/19-25/2015

With only $60 left in the budget for the month, I was very choosy about what I bought this week, and kept things very simple at the store.  I didn't even do any of the ECB's deals this week - gasp, I know right!?  Anyway, We have plenty of food in the house, so I just made a quick stop for peanut butter and Benedryl at CVS, and grabbed the needed produce and snack food at ALDI.  Here's how the week went down...

• Sunday's CVS Trip: $7.07 oop

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $25.17 oop

Total OOP: $32.24
Total Earned: Zero
Total Remaining for July: $26.51

Linked to Couponaholic, and Others!

Weekly Spending Report: 07/12-18/2015

This week was a high spending week, but that happens every once in a while.  We needed bottled water, benefiber, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner food.  Luckily I was able to take advantage of some sales and had some good coupons to use.  With only about $60 left over for the month, the next two weeks are going to be tight.  Here's how this week went...

• Sunday's CVS Trip: $34.58 oop (includes 3-24 pk cases of H2O, not pictured), Earned $15 ECB's, and $3 Saving Star Rebates (for Advil PM)

• Sunday's Giant Trip: $42.67 oop (includes a big box of Pampers diapers that had been marked down, and I had a coupon for, not pictured)

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $23.28 oop

Total OOP: $100.53
Total Earned: $18
Total Remaining for July: $58.75

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Weekly Spending Report: 07/05-11/2015

This week was a FULL week of shopping.  There were deals to be had at CVS and Giant, needed items to purchase at Aldi and Walmart, and returns to be made.  I spent a LOT of money for one week, but I also feel like we got a LOT for our money, so I'm okay with that every once in awhile.  I also picked up 4 huge boxes of diapers from Target out of my fun money; I know, it isn't a very fun purchase, but that's just how the budget goes sometimes.  I also grabbed a 2 pack of sippy cups (variety #3 we have tried now), and 4 boxes of crystal light sticks.  After using gift cards from last time, manufacturer and target coupons, and sales I paid $80 oop, and earned another $45 in Target gift cards for next time!  CVS is usually my go to for diaper deals since they have CVS coupons you can use with manufacturer coupons, ECB deals, and you can use ECB's to pay for them, but it's nice to know that you have a big box of diapers too in case CVS is slacking when you need them.  Anyway, on to the purchases for the week...

• Sunday's CVS Trip: $9.93 oop, Earned $18 ECB's (includes $5 from Pharmacy Rewards and $3 for Spring spending)

• Sunday's Giant Trip: $50.01 oop (not pictured, 5-12 pks Coke products)

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $22.56 oop

• Thursday's Wal-mart Trip: Zero oop (used a gift card from returns)

• Friday's Amish Market Trip: $20 oop

• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip: $11.30 oop

Total OOP: $113.80
Total Earned: $18
Total Remaining for July: $159.28

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Menu Plan Monday: 07/13/2015

After a couple crazy weeks with no menu plan, it feels good to have the time to plan, and hopefully execute a menu!  Between work and family stuff, life has been nuts, so we have mostly been eating thrown together sandwiches, salads, and a few things that I could make in the crock-pot.  I am looking forward to having actual meals this week.  We are doing an unofficial pantry challenge for the rest of the month as well.  The freezers are not over-full, but they need some definite trimming-down.  So, I'm still going to be grocery shopping and finding deals, just not so much for freezer stuff.  I mostly want to just get the three freezers tidied up and reorganized, and that is a LOT easier to do when there are less things to work around.  I'm hoping to take some pictures this week and do a summary post of the good things we've been eating from the freezer on Saturday.  On to the menu...

Breakfasts: Bagels, Waffles, Yogurt, Fruit

Lunches: Leftovers, Smart Ones Meals, Salads, Sandwiches

Dinners:

Sunday - Leftovers/Sandwiches

Monday - Tacos, Salad, Mexican Rice

Tuesday - Leftover Taco Meat, Rice, and Salad

Wednesday - Baked BBQ Chicken Legs, Buttered Noodles, Vegetable

Thursday - Frozen Pizza

Friday - Crock-pot Pork Loin, French Fries, Vegetable

Saturday - Mac and Cheese, Hot dogs

For more AWESOME Menu Plans, visit Org Junkie!

Weekly Spending Report: 06/28-07/04/2015 Part #2

This is part two for this week's spending report; part one is here.  We had $8.76 leftover from June's budget, and I added that into July's, so we started the month with 308.76!  I snuck out really quickly on Wednesday and stopped into Giant for a few things, and then again on Saturday just for my newspapers.  My uncle died this week, so not only has everything been crazy busy, but also very sad.  I'm just ready for the week to be over, and get a fresh start on Sunday!  Here's how the end of the week went...

• Wednesday's Giant Trip: $35.68 oop, Earned $1 Saving Star Rebates

Total OOP: $35.68
Total Earned:$1
Total Remaining: $273.08

Linked to Couponaholic, and others! 

June Goals Update

June was a crazy month.  I feel like all I did was work, except for the 8 day vacation we took to Maine.  And, while I LOVE vacations, don't get me wrong, they are great, however, they also come with a boat-load of work before and after.  I spent my days prior to leaving working and my evenings packing suitcases, washing laundry, and prepping the car.  So, that vacation was well deserved, and enjoyed, until the last day or two when I realized I would have to go home and unpack everything, and wash a ton of laundry, and get back to the real world, all while going back to work the next day.  Sometimes, life can be a little sucky, just sayin'.  Surprisingly things for June goal-wise actually went pretty well though, as you can see below...

Household:

1. De-clutter the whole house in January, February, and March -- Done!
2. Do a Deep-Spring, and Deep-Fall Clean in March and November  As well as keep up with my weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly cleaning chores. -- I managed to stay caught up on all of my cleaning tasks, as well as the laundry!
3. Paint the Windows/Sills/Trim in the Kitchen and Nursery. -- Still hasn't happen yet.  Unless we get a cool day in July, it probably won't happen until Fall, when I can open the windows and not cook from the heat.

Family:

1. Write a 'love letter' to Joe each month -- Done!  Joe and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on the 16th, which of course including some lovey-dovey cards.
2. Take a trip to Maine in June with the hubby, and Howard. -- We were very blessed to take an 8 day trip to Maine this month.  Friends of ours have been after us for a few years now to come and stay in their cabin with them for a week or so in Maine.  We were going to go last year, but the 14 hour drive just didn't seem feasible with a newborn.  So, this was the year.  We had an AMAZING time, ate lots of yummy food, saw some great sights, and had a blast spending time with our friends!  Howard loved any chowder that we gave him, and loved crawling all around in the nice green grass.  They want us to come visit again, and we definitely will, but I think I want to wait until Howard is a little older and can appreciate all the 'exploring' activities Maine has to offer, like mud flats.  Here are some pictures from our trip...
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Take a Trip to Ocean City in August -- N/A
4. Get together with family at least once a month -- We got together with Joe's family for lunch to celebrate his birthday before we left for Maine, but we didn't manage to get together with mine, maybe next month. 
5. Plan and Execute Howard's 1st Birthday Party -- Done!

Blogging:

1. Have 2 Freezer/Pantry Challenges (January and July), post updates on the blog, and defrost the chest freezer -- N/A
2. Post my Menu Plan, and Weekly Spending Report every week, along with at least 1 other post per week.  This may be an update, a reveal, a recipe, a shopping trip, some Aldi Deals, or a frugal find. -- This month I did a great job with posting my Weekly Spending Reports, and my Menu Plans every week. I also posted a Frugal Finds post here.
3. Plan and execute a 31 days post for October. -- N/A

Health:

1. Lose at least 20 lbs -- So far I have regained everything I lost last year, and lost 12 of it again.  I am still working hard on this.  I am hoping I can make some more progress in July.
2. Drink plenty of water, eat healthy, and do exercise of some kind everyday. -- I did this every day in June.  I am glad to see that my hard work is finally starting to pay off.  I do feel better, but the weight is just being stubborn!

Budget/Income:

1. Do at least 5 Flea Markets throughout the year, and list at least bi-monthly on Amazon/Facebook Yard Sale. -- 2 Flea Market done to date.  I did not list anything in June, but I am hoping to get 10 things listed in July.
2. Earn Swagbucks everyday by completing the daily poll, toolbar log-in, and NOSO offers daily.  (Try to earn $10 a month) -- I'm up to 1,776 swagbucks, only 424 more and I can cash in for the $25 Amazon reward! Hopefully July will be the month!
3. Set a monthly budget, and coupon and deal shop as needed to stay within our budget. --I did a pretty good job again in June with our budget; we came in about $9 under budget for the month!  I also was able to get some great deals on diapers, skin care items, and food, including some fresh produce.  I posted my monthly budget update here.
4. Put at least an extra $100 a month on Joe's Credit Card starting in May -- I did not do this in June because I wanted to take that extra $100 with us to Maine.  I plan to get back on track with this in July.

Hobby-Related:

1. Scan the huge-a** box of photos we have had since my mom died two and a half years ago, and get them sorted to give to people, as well as put the ones I decide to keep in albums. -- I'm not even planning to work in this until later in the year, July maybe, or possibly not until Fall, we'll see.
2. Continue to work on Howard's baby book 
3. Try something new at least once a month and blog about it.  I have a LOT of new recipes and crafts I want to try -- Did not happen again -- I am seriously considering putting this off until next year, but, we'll see.

How was your June?

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June's Budget Update

June was a good month spending-wise.  We took an 8-day vacation to Maine, and still managed to get through the month under budget!  I have really started paying attention to the Saving Star rebates that are being offered.  I don't plan my shopping around them, but a lot times the deals going on at CVS and Giant, along with coupons, just happen to coincide with the Saving Star offers.  This means better deals for me!  Overall the month went well, and I'm hoping that July is just as good!

• Week #1: $84.07 oop, Earned $4.75 ECB's
• Week #2: $96.93 oop, Earned $10 CVS Gift Card, $6 ECB's and $1 Saving Star Rebates
• Week #3: $37.49 oop, Earned $10 ECB's, and $1.50 Saving Star Rebates
• Week #4: $51.22 oop, Earned $14 ECB's, and $0.40 Saving Star Rebates
• Week #5 Part #1: $28.46 oop, Earned $13 ECB's, and $5 Saving Star Rebates

Total OOP: $298.17
Total Earned: $65.65
Total Remaining: $8.76

Weekly Spending Report: 06/28-07/04/2015 Part #1

This week I broke my shopping up into two trips.  I usually try to get it all out of the way at one time, but with a full work week, and a lot of household projects going on, I could only be out shopping for so long at a time.  Anyway, because I shopped twice, the first installment is out of June's budget, and the second is out of July's, it actually worked out pretty well doing it that way.  Here's how the first part of the shopping went for this week...

• Sunday's CVS Trip: $14.38 oop, Earned $13 ECB's, and a $5 Saving Star Rebate

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $14.08 oop

Total OOP: $28.46
Total Earned: $18
Total Remaining from June: $8.76

  Part 2 is Here

Weekly Spending Report: 06/21-27/2015

This week we didn't get home until late Tuesday night, so we did our shopping Wednesday evening.  That gave me a chance to clean the house, get my coupons together, and wash some laundry from our trip.  We mainly needed produce and easy lunch items, so that's mostly what I picked up.  I also got bottled water, and did the diaper deal at CVS.  We have found that with using the Pampers Baby Dry at night, Howard will sleep 10-12 hours straight with no problems!  Here's how the week went down spending-wise...

• Wednesday's CVS Trip: $9.86 oop, Earned $14 ECB's (includes 3-24 pks H2O, not pictured)

• Wednesday's Giant Trip: $30.89 oop, Earned $0.40 Saving Star Rebate (Larabar)

• Wednesday's Baugher's Trip (no picture, just 1 pineapple, 1 seedless watermelon, a red onion, and a tomato): $6.43 oop
• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip: $3.18 oop (no picture, just 2 newspapers and 1 basket)

Total OOP: $50.36
Total Earned: $14.40
Total Remaining: $37.22