Weekly Spending Report: 05/03-09/2015

This week, we didn't really need anything, so I just made a trip to Dollar Tree on Saturday to pick up a few things and peruse the aisles.  Here's what I ended up with...

• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip: $8.95 oop (plus a 5-pack of size 4 diapers, not pictured)

Total OOP: $8.95
Total Earned: Zero
Total Remaining: $291.05

Linked to Couponaholic!

Weekly Spending Report: 04/26-05/02/2015

This week was a little crazy with Joe gearing up for the Civil War event here at the museum, so I didn't get to do a whole lot of shopping.  I did manage to stop at ALDI for a few things, but with the budget mess-up last month, I paid with money I shouldn't have had left, and still had money left over, which I added to our 'fun money' envelope.  So, the only trip that came out of the budget money was my Dollar Tree Trip, which you can see below...

• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip: $2.12 (2 newspapers)

Total OOP: $2.12
Total Earned: $0
Total Remaining: $0

April Goals Post

April was better than February and March, but not by much.  I had a tea to run, and re-started my contract job here at the museum, plus we celebrated Howard's 1st birthday!  So, needless to say, things have been a little nut-so around here with all three of us trying to get into a new groove.  But I think we are finally starting to understand and follow our new routine.  I did get some things done, and I am hoping to really knock some stuff out in May!  Here's what I accomplished in April...

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 was able to keep up with my weekly cleaning responsibilities (and the laundry) even with all the crazy going on in our lives.
3. Paint the Windows/Sills/Trim in the Kitchen and Nursery. -- I am hoping to work on this in May.  The weather has been nice, but usually when I'm working, so hopefully May will be a little more cooperative.  

Family:

1. Write a 'love letter' to Joe each month -- I did manage to accomplish this in April.  It was an email message, but it was kind of a nice surprise for him to find among the museum and civil war emails that are filling his inbox.
2. Take a trip to Maine in June with the hubby, and Howard. -- N/A
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 on Easter for dinner, and then we got together with both families for Howard's birthday party.
5. Plan and Execute Howard's 1st Birthday Party -- This was a total success!  I am planning to do a couple of posts throughout May illustrating how we celebrated his 1st birthday frugally, even with having a party for family and friends.

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. -- Well, I did keep up with my weekly spending reports, and my budget and goals updates, but that's about it.  I did do one Menu Plan post, but only 1.  I really want to make this a priority in May since I am working now and have a little time at the computer without a toddler on my lap. 
3. Plan and execute a 31 days post for October. -- N/A

Health:

1. Lose at least 20 lbs -- I don't really want to talk about this right now.  I didn't gain any, but I also didn't loss any either, and I'm starting to get frustrated.  Hopefully May will be better!
2. Drink plenty of water, eat healthy, and do exercise of some kind everyday. -- I did this to a tee.  Joe and I have been walking every evening, and I have been drinking plenty of water, and trying to eat as healthy as I can manage right now.  I'm going to play around with eating different healthy things and see if it makes a difference.

Budget/Income:

1. Do at least 5 Flea Markets throughout the year, and list at least bi-monthly on Amazon/Facebook Yard Sale. -- 1 Flea Market done to date.  
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 943 swagbucks, only 1257 more and I can cash in for the $25 reward!  We'll see, maybe May will be the month!
3. Set a monthly budget, and coupon and deal shop as needed to stay within our budget. -- I did coupon and deal shop this month, but I some how screwed up the budget, because I should be out of money, actually in the negative, and I still have money in the envelope, so...  But it all works out in the end.  I am starting May out fresh with $300, and I'll go from there.
4. Put at least an extra $100 a month on Joe's Credit Card starting in May -- N/A

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 -- Howard's baby book is all caught up, until he does something else new, or we go to the doctors and have weight/length to record.  I secretly wanted to have this caught up by his birthday, and I succeeded!  I love it when that happens!  I still have to write about his birthday party, but I am hoping to cross this one off in May!
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 -- This so didn't happen, again.  Maybe May will be the game changer!

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

ALDI Deals: 04/29/2015

Here are some of the awesome deals at ALDI this week...

• Serra Ladies Canvas Shoes $6.99 pair
• Crofton 2 pk Chalk Mugs $2.99 per pk
• Crofton Tea Kettle $6.99 ea
• Crofton 2 piece Muffin Pan or Cake Pan with Carrier $7.99 ea
• Crofton 2 pk Insulted Cookie Sheets $8.99 per pk
• Easy Home 3 piece Woven Tote Assortment $7.99 ea
• Adventuridge Foldable Multi-use Basket $8.99 ea
• Fit and Active Banana Cream or Orange Cream Light Greek Yogurt $0.75 ea
• Baker's Treat Boxed Donuts $2.49 ea
• Best Breakfast Chocolate Chip Waffles $1.29 ea
• Village Bakery Mini Muffins $2.79 ea
• Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen White Pizza or 4 Cheese Pizza $3.99 ea
• Season's Choice Cheesy Broccoli or Cheesy California Blend $1.49 ea

To see more deals from ALDI, visit their weekly ads page!

Menu Plan Monday: 04/27/2015

This week is going to be a little crazy with getting ready for the Civil War event here at the museum this weekend, plus working, and taking care of Howard, so I planned super simple meals.  I was also super realistic and planned some take-out/frozen pizza meals, because that's just life sometimes.  We also have a freezer FULL of food just itching to be ate, so I tried to make use of that as well.  Here's what's going on in the Roger's household kitchen this week...

Breakfasts: Bagels, Yogurt

Lunches: Leftovers, Sandwiches, Carrots and Dip

Dinners:

Sunday - McDonald's

Monday- Chicken Fajitas, Mexican Rice

Tuesday - Steak, Sauteed Mushrooms, 3 Cheese Noodles, Broccoli

Wednesday - Cheesy Baked Pork Chops, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans

Thursday - Alfredo Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli, Garlic Bread

Friday - Civil War Set-up here at the museum, Take-out

Saturday - Frozen Pizza/Take-out, depends on how Joe and I feel after working all day

 

For more AWESOME Menu Plans, visit Org Junkie!

 

April Budget Update

April was a crazy month.  I knew I was going to go over budget before I even got started, since Howard's first birthday party was this month.  We managed to do things fairly frugally, and I plan to share all of that in several posts.  I went over budget on paper, however, I still have money left in the grocery envelope - not really sure how that happened?!  So for May, I'm just going to start with a fresh $300 and go from there.  The leftover money is going into the 'fun money' envelope, because, well, because I said so. 

• Week #1: $85.25 oop, Earned $4
• Week #2: $68.25 oop, Earned $14
• Week #3: $81.23 oop, Earned Zero
• Week #4: $115.11 oop, Earned $43.29

Total OOP: $349.84
Total Earned: $61.29
Total Remaining: Zero

Weekly Spending Report: 04/19-25/2015

This week was a little crazy budget-wise since we had to do the shopping for Howard's first birthday party this Saturday.  We are planning a little ice cream and cake party with lemonade and iced tea for some family and friends.  It should be fun!  I have some posts planned about it in the future, so I won't share too much now, but I'm pretty excited about it!  I also bought some diapers from Wal-mart (using my bank card - different budget) and received $21 cash back from TopCashBack.  Here's what we ended up with for this week...

• Sunday's CVS Trip: $40.22 oop, Earned $18 ECB's

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $39.05 oop

• Sunday's Giant Trip: $35.84 oop, Earned $4.29 MIR (Lysol TapTop Cleaner) (picture is missing one snickers bar)

• Earned $21 from TopCashBack (from the Huggies Deal)

Total OOP: $115.11
Total Earned: $43.29
Total Remaining for April: Zero, actually negative money, but somehow I still have money left in my envelope, which means I either can't add, or I can't count money????  I don't know, but next week starts May's budget, so I'm just going to start with a fresh $300.

Linked to Couponaholic! 

Weekly Spending Report: 04/12-18/2015

This week there weren't any great deals at CVS, so I just stuck to ALDI and Giant.  Since we didn't get to ALDI last week, we were in need of quite a few things.  Also, Giant had some great deals to stock up on, including meat.  Here's what we ended up with...

• Sunday's ALDI Trip: $35.69 oop

• Sunday's Giant Trip: $45.54 oop

Total OOP: $81.23
Total Earned: Zero
Total Remaining for April: $97.90

February and March's Goal Update 2015

February and March were insane months.  I felt like a hamster in a wheel, constantly running around, and getting no where.  A few things got done, but between creating and working the teas at the museum, and taking care of Howard, and my usual household responsibilities, needless to say, not a whole lot got accomplished.  Here's is what has gotten done so far this year...

Household:

1. De-clutter the whole house in January, February, and March -- I worked really hard in the nursery in February and March.  I have taken so many bins of stuff to store in Joe's grandfather's house, as well as bags and bags of stuff to be sold, or donated.  I managed to clean off my desk, and clean out Howard's closet.  The only thing that really hasn't been decluttered is half of the kitchen cabinets, so if I have some time in April, that's next on my list.
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. -- It took almost all of March, but I did manage to get the whole house deep cleaned.  The nursery is still a work in progress, so I did what I could in there, but the rest of the house is beaming!
3. Paint the Windows/Sills/Trim in the Kitchen and Nursery. -- Still waiting for some warmer weather!

Family:

1. Write a 'love letter' to Joe each month -- I did this in February, but not in March.  To be honest, I kind of forgot about it - whoops!  I'll have to make a better point of this in April.
2. Take a trip to Maine in June with the hubby, and Howard. -- N/A
3. Take a Trip to Ocean City in August -- N/A
4. Get together with family at least once a month -- We did not get together with either family in February or March.  It seemed that whenever we planned something, someone got sick.  But I guess a lot of that has to do with the time of year it is.  April will be better, since we have Easter and Howard's birthday to celebrate!
5. Plan and Execute Howard's 1st Birthday Party -- I started working on ideas for this in March, and getting supplies together.

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. -- I have been doing so horribly with this!  I have kept up with my monthly posts, and my weekly spending reports, but everything else has been sliding to the wayside.  This is something else I need to really work harder on in April.
3. Plan and execute a 31 days post for October. -- N/A

Health:

1. Lose at least 20 lbs -- I've lost 5 pounds.  Slow and steady wins the race, right?!
2. Drink plenty of water, eat healthy, and do exercise of some kind everyday. -- This I have actually been doing really good with.  Joe and I have started walking every evening when the weather is nice.  The rainy days are a little harder, but I do try to get in at least some stretches on those days.  I've also been pretty much drinking exclusively water, and trying to eat better.  I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel with my eating, because then I won't stick with it, just little tweaks here and there. 

Budget/Income:

1. Do at least 5 Flea Markets throughout the year, and list at least bi-monthly on Amazon/Facebook Yard Sale. -- 1 Flea Market done to date. I also cleaned up our Amazon account so we can start listing things again - yeah!  I plan to start this in April.
2. Earn Swagbucks everyday by completing the daily poll, toolbar log-in, Daily Crave, and NOSO offers daily.  (Try to earn $10 a month) -- Now that Swagbucks has taken away the $5 Amazon reward, this is a little more difficult.  I do try to earn as many swagbucks each day as possible, but saving for the new $25 reward takes a while.  So, I'm going to try for a $25 every 2 months, we'll see.
3. Set a monthly budget, and coupon and deal shop as needed to stay within our budget. --I did a fabulous job with this.  I posted my February budget update here, and my March budget update here.  I came under budget both months!
4. Put at least an extra $100 a month on Joe's Credit Card starting in May -- N/A

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 haven't even started this yet, and chances are that now that I've started working for the season, I won't get started until Fall or Winter, but that's fine. 
2. Continue to work on Howard's baby book -- I have really been chugging along on this hard.  I'd like to have it as up to date as possible by Howard's party, so I can have it on display.
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 -- I still haven't made time to do this each month.  Maybe April will be different, but I doubt it -- just keeping it real!

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

Weekly Spending Report: 04/05-11/2015

This week was kind of crazy with Easter church service, followed by dinner with family, and then a week full of work obligations.  I was able to sneak out to CVS and Giant on Sunday afternoon and wish a happy Easter to my favorite cashiers, who were extremely happy to see Howard!  Overall it was a good week, and we didn't even spend much money!  Here's how it all went down...

• Sunday's CVS Trip: $16.25 oop, Earned $14 ECB's

• Sunday's Giant Trip: $31.45 oop

• Wednesday's Wal-mart Trip: Zero oop (used Tax Money - different budget)

• Thursday's Amish Market Trip: $20.55 oop

• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip: Zero (used tax money, different budget)

Total OOP: $68.25
Total Earned: $14
Total Remaining for April: $178.93

  Linked to Couponaholic!