Sunday, December 9, 2012

FREEBIE FOR ME!!

Well, I hope. The Frugal Navy Wife is having a give away for LOADED COUPON BINDERS!!! Sweet!!! Here's hoping!!!


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Hamburger Helper Fix-up

So the past few nights, we've been eating Hamburger Helper. Hamburger Helper is fine on its own, but taking cues from one of the company's commercials, I have been getting a little creative with the boxed meal.

I don't have any pictures of some of the ways that I've fixed up Hamburger Helper. Maybe when I make it again, I'll remember to get pictures and post them in an edit.

Crunchy Taco Fix-Up:



  • 1 box of Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper - follow the ingredient list on it
  • 1 packet of taco seasoning
  • 1 can of tomatoes with garlic and onions, drained
  • 1 can of pinto beans drained and rinsed

Brown the hamburger meat and drain it, just like the package states. Place back in pan. When you add all the liquids and seasoning and rice packets from the box to the meat, add in the taco seasoning, tomatoes, and pinto beans and finish cooking according to the package directions.

Top with the cheese sauce and the corn chips that come with the kit. If you want, serve with shredded cheese, Fritos, and sour cream.

My husband added some black pepper to his dish and said it was spicy. :)

Another way to serve this kit:
Crunchy Taco Burritos - Betty Crocker

Rambling for a bit...

So, while working overnight last night, I FINALLY decided on a new name for the blog! (Remember me talking about possible changes, one of them being a new name?)

I ran out of Febreeze while cleaning my living room the other day. I needed it to get the smell out of my couches and chairs. Where did I turn to get a recipe for homemade Febreeze? Where else? Pinterest! Some of the recipes there call for baking soda. It's not something that I have in the house right at this moment, so I had to find an alternate one. My Crazy Blessed Life had one that didn't call for baking soda, and of course I modified it because I don't have the Downy Unstoppables that she has. (I have plain old Downy in my house that I got cheap.) I just did the modification with the regular liquid Downy and put it in my empty Febreeze bottle and went back to cleaning. When I go to make this again, I will have the baking soda.

I also need to get some of that carpet powder for that black rug in my living room. I finally got a small vacuum that works on carpet and floors like hardwood and such for $7.00. (It was a left over Black Friday deal that was marked down. How awesome is that?) I can probably get some really cheap from CVS next time there's a sale on Glade products, and then keep the container to make my own. (Yeah, gonna need baking soda for it too.)

I really need to lay back down. Last night was a little rough because I didn't get that much sleep.

Friday, November 30, 2012

I'm back....for now.....

Well, right now, I'm back. For how long, I don't know. My schedule at work is changing to where I will be doing overnights until Christmas.

So anyhow.

I should talk about how my Thanksgiving meal went. It was pretty awesome. I mean some of it was pop in the microwave and cook, but it was that way because I had to work that day and I only had so much time to get it done.

Menu was:

  • Roasted turkey (in the crockpot)
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Green bean casserole
  • Mac and cheese
  • Green beans (husband won't eat green bean casserole)
  • Gravy
  • Stuffing
  • Apple Enchiladas - I HIGHLY recommend using fresh apples instead of the canned pie filling.
  • Hot chocolate brownies
  • King Hawaiian rolls
Everything came out really well. I was not fond of the mac and cheese. I have to do something next time I make it that way to make it taste cheesier. Oh, I know. Use a different cheese sauce or make it homemade.

My husband got a car for himself (finally). Now he can find a better job that Hardee's but I don't know if that's going to happen. He might become a general manager whether he wants it or not. Hopefully something will happen with one of these places he's applied before that happens.......

Him getting a car makes the finances a LOT tighter. Not a fan of that so close to Christmas with Miss Bug's first Christmas coming up, but it is what it is.

I need to get a blank cookbook so I can put recipes in it. I really don't want to use a computer to keep them. Things can happen to a computer, and I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to things like that. Sometimes, it's just better to have a cookbook done with paper and pen.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Oops....so much for doing blog planning

Yeah, oops. Haven't blogged in a month. To be quite honest. I haven't felt like it.

5 days after my last post, my granddad passed away. I haven't felt like doing much of anything. Couponing, anything. I'm getting by right now. My coupon notebook....yeah, it's a mess. HOT mess.

Just getting by.....yup....just getting by...

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Possible changes to the blog

Yup, that's right. I've got a few ideas swirling around in my head about some new stuff I want to do to the blog. One of those changes might be a name change.

You see, I don't really talk about the "nerdy" stuff I do. I think I might have mentioned gaming once. (Actually, looking back, I haven't.) I think I found a good name for the blog, so I need to see if it's still available. I need to snag it if it is. If not, back to the drawing board.

I've found some really helpful blog planning printables that I'm now starting to use. Those pages will be going in my home management binder when I get it all set up. That's also a page that I need to set up so EVERYONE will have access to what I'm using (should you want to use them).

Currently, the printables I'm using are from Infarrantly Creative. They were the best ones I could find. I thought about using them a while back, but I decided to look around and see if I could find something else that I liked better. Nope, couldn't find anything else, so I chose them. :)


Printable blog planner
http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2012/02/free-printable-blogplanner.html

Somehow, some other household stuff ended up on it, but it's whatever. So far, this is what mine looks like.



Sorry about the pictures being blurry. I took the pictures on my phone because it was the closest thing I had to me to take the pictures with. I really need to stop taking pictures with it because the picture quality isn't the best at times.

Wasn't going to post anything till later today, but......

Here I am. I was going to post something later today, but I'm up and I'm bored. Yea,bored even though I have some light picking up to to in the living room.

Anyhow, I have been obsessed with trying to find printables for home management. I have a feeling that I have found the one that I want. I just have to wait until she finishes her 31 Days of Home Management Printables series. I've already downloaded some of the ones that I know that I will use; I just have yet to print them and get them in the binder I want to use.


Friday, October 19, 2012

Traveling with Baby - Lessons Learned

Recently, I took a trip to Florida with Miss Bug, mainly to visit my dying granddad. It was a very emotional trip. I cried off and on the entire three days that we were there. I learned a few lessons about flying with a baby.



Of course the first person I packed for was Miss Bug. In fact, she was the only person I packed for because I still have a bunch of stuff at my dad's place. She had jarred food, extra diapers and wipes, clothes and a few toys in the suitcase. That was fine, although I took about 2 weeks worth of food and we were only there for 3 days.

Someone in the house (here in Alabama) packed her diaper bag, which I really had no intentions of taking on the plane with us. I only wanted to put the needed items in my backpack and put the bag itself in the suitcase. The only problem would have been the can of powdered formula that I took with us. I would have figured how to handle that because well......I would have done it. (LOL)

If you want to know why I brought the formula on the plane, I made her bottles of it for take off. My mother in law said that it would help with the popping of her ears during take off. It worked wonders!!!

Miss Bug flew remarkably well. She fell asleep while we were in the air. Fortunately on the flights down, she was calm enough to fall asleep on her own and let me get a little nap. (I had to be at work at 5 the morning that we left, so I was worn out.)

My husband talked me out of taking her stroller with us. Yeah, that's the last time that I listen to him about that, but he did have a very valid point about it. It would have been something else for me to keep up with, but I realized in Atlanta that I NEEDED it. I had her in my arms, her diaper bag, and my backpack. That's quite a bit of weight to carry through a very busy airport. I was a little achy after all of that because that's weight that I'm not used to carrying.

On the flight back, I had a stroller to use to carry her through the airport. It was a good thing too because the Charlotte airport is much bigger than I remember. (I flew out of there about 10 years ago.) That airport is crazy and I had a long walk. Apparently you aren't allowed to use the people movers with a stroller. Yeah, just like on the escalators. Should have expected that. Even though it would have helped me get where I was trying to go faster, I followed the rules and walked through the concourses to the next gate.

Miss Bug was super tired because she was out before we took off from Charlotte, but for some reason she did NOT want to sleep while we were in Florida. It took her forever to get to sleep, but once she was out, she was OUT. Slept the whole night through without problems. She let me snuggle her to sleep (a rare treat). Once we were home (in Alabama), she screamed and cried and refused to go to sleep. My husband was really concerned about her screaming and crying, so we took her to the ER. (They diagnosed her as being just as tired as mommy and nothing else was wrong with her.) Once we got her back into her normal routine, she was fine.

Okay so lessons learned about traveling with a baby:

  • Pack the carry on bag as light as possible while carrying what you need. Next time, I will pack the carry on with just a few diapers, a blanket, a bottle/sippy cup, a travel case of wipes, some snacks and that's about it.
  • Never listen to the husband about how to transport the baby through the airport. (Sorry, babe. Love you though.)
  • Figure out some way to maintain a "normal" schedule/environment for Miss Bug when away from home. I think part of her not wanting to sleep was because Daddy wasn't there and she wasn't in HER bed. It was also a new, unfamiliar environment.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

What's new?

I'm still working on getting that post about what I learned while traveling with an infant. (Kind of forgot about it until I looked at the blog.)

Other than that, I have recently started selling Avon products. I'm still learning the ropes with Avon. My mom sold it when I was younger and I think she did well with it. I don't really remember.

Oh, yeah. I need to post about my latest CVS and Walmart trips because those were pretty exciting for me. My friend Bekah posted something on her Facebook page about how she spent close to $82 on $500 worth of groceries. I wish I lived close enough to her so I could go with her and perfect my grocery couponing.

I found a really interesting recipe for an easy Mexican dip recipe from couponsavingsinthesouth.com. It looks so good. I can't wait until I get all of the ingredients to make it and try it.

I found some Fila Skele Toes on sale at one of the local shoe stores in town. I can't wait to pick them up and wear them. Now the thing is to find some for my husband that fit. The store had some for him, but they weren't in his size. :(

Okay, back to planning the posts that I want to post soon.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Upcoming post

I need to make a post about what I learned from traveling with an infant, and I need to do it soon. Right now because we are getting a new furry family member (today), I need to get my cat food coupons clipped and get the rest of my house ready for him.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Busy busy busy

Miss Bug has had a SUPER busy week meeting family!

Let's see......She and I went to Florida to see my dad, granddad and aunt down there. She flew like a champ! Mommy's back was killing her after the trip down because my husband somehow managed to talk me out of taking her stroller to help me carry her stuff and her around the Atlanta airport. Yeah, not listening to him on that one again.

Anywho.......


Yeah, my dad TOTALLY ignored me when my aunt had us stop over at the hospital where he works. Meh, whatever. Doesn't matter to me. He finally got to hold his first grandchild and that's what mattered to me.


Miss Bug and Granddad. I had to leave the room because I was crying so hard taking this picture. There are more, but this is the only one I want to post.


Nap time snuggles. Just too damned precious.


One of my best friends from high school. She drove an hour and a half from her house to see us. You never realize how much you miss friends like that until you move away and you can't see them all the time.


Miss Bug and her cousin Nodah. That's his life long nickname. :)


Her and her Gpa. These two can see each other as often as they can get together.

I think the craziness of this past week is over and done with for the time being and now it's back to getting on the regular routine.


Thursday, September 20, 2012

I can't think of a title....

Yeah, I'm not going to talk about couponing in this post. Shocker right? LOL

Well, I have to go to Florida. I'm going to visit my granddad who may or may not make it to 2013. Yeah, it will be nice to go see my dad and hopefully a couple of friends of mine, but it's mainly to see him. I've done some crying over it, but there's nothing I can do. He's 91, and I'm almost positive that it's not just his kidneys that are failing him. I believe that he's dying of a broken heart because he lost his wife last year.

Miss Bug is going with me so she can see her Papa Jack (my granddad) and her granddad (my dad). I'm looking forward to the trip because of that.

I painted my nails tonight just because I could. It's one of the few girly things I've done for myself lately. Buying make-up and actually wearing it is another thing I've done too. :)

In order to help supplement my income, I have been considering selling Avon, Scentsy, adding coupons to this page (oops, I mentioned them), just something. We have enough, but at times I still feel like it's not enough. I guess I feel that way because my hours are so damned crazy at work, even though my department manager gets me more hours than I had been scheduled for. (Some weeks, I don't get that many hours.)

Miss Bug is really getting into what I like to call "big girl food," meaning jarred baby food and some food off my plate when we go somewhere to eat. Good thing is, she LOVES it. Today for breakfast, she had oatmeal, some peaches (she's not too sure about those), and a small amount of formula. She ate all of her oatmeal! She also had some sweet potatoes and a banana/strawberry mix. We went and ate at a Mexican restaurant in town and had some refried beans and rice off my plate. There was some guacamole on there too, so I let her try it. She loved it all. My little girl is such a good eater, and that makes me happy. I just hope she doesn't become one of those picky eaters when she's older......

I think tomorrow morning I'm going to mix some of her fruit in her oatmeal to make sure she eats it. (Peaches  here we come!)

I decided today as I was leaving work that I would inventory all of her food. Done. Now I just have to organize it the way that I want to and put that inventory in my coupon notebook so I have it when I go shopping.

Well, I guess I need to get back to looking for plane tickets or organize the baby food inventory or something. I am fresh out of ideas to talk about here..........

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Free Dawn dish soap at CVS??????

Hells yeah!!!! Totally shocked me too.



See, my little Miss Bug needed Children's Benadryl, so I took the opportunity to go stock up. I got one bottle at Wags today and a couple of other things to start building my Balance rewards. I saw that CVS had a pretty good deal on it as well, so I went there too. ($2 ECBs? Yeah, I'll take those!)

I had $5.67 in ECBs from my last trip, so on top of the (2) $1/1 coupons I had, it brought my total down to $2.18 with tax. Of course the $2 ECBs technically made it free, so I suppose I got those free as well.

I also got $1 ECB from the Green Bag tag program. Guess what ECB paid for my Dawn dish soap that was on sale for $.99? Yup....the one from the Green Bag tag. The total was $1.09, so I reached in my purse to pay for the tax. Hey, I thought I had to. My cashier told me that I didn't need to pay for the tax. "It's free!" she said, loaded everything in my bag and got out of there. LOL


TA DA!!!

I feel like throwing a tantrum

Yup......really disappointed with the coupon inserts today. Now, I know that coupons are regional and stuff, but usually my area gets diaper coupons. Did I get any in the inserts from the Cullman Times? NO. Not one.

Now, I know that this might be a little dramatic and all, but I really don't care. I have a diaper stockpile that I want to make absolutely glorious and I can't do that now because the inserts I got SUCK.

There was a gum coupon that I wanted. Did I get that? NO. No free gum for me again this time unless I order them from thecouponclippers.com, which is a HUGE possibility this week.

That would be great if Red Plum and Smart Source put out every coupon that I see on sundaycouponpreview.com. That way, I wouldn't be having a fit over not getting coupons that I spent all weekend looking forward to.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Fun Stuff!!!!

Hubby needed a wrist splint this morning so I got up about 6:15 and got going. I also picked up my FREE nail polish and a few other things. I love remembering I have a BOGO free coupon for something that I want too.



There are my 4 free nail polishes, my BOGO gum packs, my $2.97 eye shadow and my $.22 multi-grain Pringles.

Coupons used:

  • (1) $.75/1 Multi-grain Pringles (also price matched these to Kroger's price of $.97, down from $1.50)
  • (2) BOGO iD Gum, up to 1.28
  • (1) $2/1 Almay product
  • (4) $1/1 Wet 'n Wild nail polish
Total spent: $5.47 (price not including my associate discount and tax).

I got some "big girl" snack stuff for Miss Bug but that was a different trip. Yay Walmart!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Sept. 11 and more

Today is 9/11. Obviously a day that we will NEVER forget. (If you have forgotten about what happened on this day 11 years ago, shame on you and do some research. If you're too lazy to do that, jump off a bridge. Harsh, I know.)


I was a senior in high school when this happened. The school district I went to school in had these stupid things called half days and that's what that day was. I had a doctor's appointment that morning and because the day was a half day, I was staying home from school then going to work that afternoon.


Wow, I thought I was going to blog about this when I got here tonight, but now, I don't feel like it. Long story short, I remember what I was doing and where I was when these HORRIBLE events happened and my daughter will know about it. I don't care that people have stopped showing the video from this day on TV because they are "too graphic." Piss off, you bunch of babies. We NEED to see this to remember what happened and why America changed.


Never forget

To me the skyline of Manhattan will never be the same........

On to things that make me happy.....saving money and free stuff. I'M GETTING FREE NAIL POLISH THIS WEEK!!! BOOYAH!!!!! How?


Thanks to the $1/1 coupon for Wet 'n Wild nail polish that was in the Sunday paper, all I have to pay is a teeny weeny bit of tax, and nail polish is MINE!!!! Exciting!!! I'm doing a little happy dance over here!!!!

I was going to get new eye shadow over at CVS this week for the ECB offer they have for Almay products. I still might do it, but I'm not sure if I can pass up using my $2/1 Almay product coupon to get my favorite eye shadow for $2.97 at Walmart.


I mean, the ECBs are nice and I plan on using some of the ones that I will be earning to help me get more make up. (Oh, I just remembered I have a $5 Beauty Club Reward too. Maybe I will buy this at CVS....)


I think I might be able to get me some Carmex, but I have to double check my coupon and see which product they have in the $.98 bin.

In case some haven't heard, Walgreens is changing up their reward program. I'm all signed up for it and I'm planning my first purchase with this program.

Updated my app and I'm ready to earn my points!
Yup, that's the screen shot that I took from my phone today. Super excited about this too. Woot woot! I should be saving some good money there soon too.

I'm going to try my hand at shopping at Kroger coming up soon. I think it might be worth the 30 minute drive. *Fingers crossed*

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Wags rewards card and other news

Yeah, that's what I said to myself this morning when I looked at iheartwags.com, but then promptly started putting my purchases for that week together after signing up for the program.

Walgreens is calling it Balance Rewards, and you earn points to get money off your purchases. I'm guessing they are doing away with the Register Rewards catalinas. I've never bought anything that gave me the catalina coupons, so I guess I'm not worried about that. I will, however, be participating in this. It seems a LOT like the CVS ExtraCare Bucks that I love so much.

iheartwags.com, werdeals.com
ihearwags.com, werdeals.com
iheartwags.com, werdeals.com
iheartwags.com, werdeals.com
In other news, I'm finally getting a washer and dryer in the apartment. I'm hoping it gets here today because I would LOVE to wash some clothes for work before I go in today. If not, the pair will be here tomorrow and I can get caught up on my laundry then. Squee!!!!!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

So.....we meet again......

Blogger was being weird for me yesterday. I don't know why, but now it's working for me! Woot!

Latest couponing trip: WALMART. Yup, where I work.

What did I get? Bic pens and pencils.

How much did I spend? $1.45

How?

  • Price matched the pens at the Kmart sale price of $.75. Bought four 10 packs of the Cristal pens.
    • Used (2) $1/2 Bic stationary coupons.
    • Final Price: $.25 after price match and coupons
  • Price matched the pencils at the Staples sale price of $.50. Bought four 5 packs of mechanical pencils.
    • Used (2) $1/2 Bic stationary coupons
    • Final price: FREE after price match and coupons
Oh yeah! The original cost of everything would have been about $14.00 without the price matching and the coupons. Hubby figured that I saved about 90% yesterday. He also said that I was spending money on pencils when we didn't need them. Well, I didn't spend any money on the pencils (except tax) and the guys ended up using the pencils for a new form of boffer fighting they are creating. (Never know when you're going to need a pencil.)

Update on Miss Bug: she's now starting to say very simple words and get on all fours and rock back and forth. I was woken up to her looking at me from her crib, saying "Ma ma ma." Very pleasant way to wake up this morning.

According to Hubby, she's saying "Ba ba ba ba" and "Fa fa fa fa." She says "Ba ba ba" when she sees a bottle getting ready. She freaked out on Uncle Fatty when he didn't get the bottle to her fast enough, but the point is she knows what a bottle is. LOL

I can't believe Miss Bug is going to be six months old very very soon. Where has that time gone, other than flying by?

Friday, August 24, 2012

Walmart deal!

I had to go to Walmart today for some sodas. The hubby loves coconut rum and Peach Nehi soda, and I needed the Peach Nehi for him and sodas for the rest of the week.

 I FINALLY FOUND MY COUPON NOTEBOOK PAGES!!! Oh it's about time!!!! I was able to get my coupon notebook set up only to realize that I'm going to need a bigger binder (and one with a zipper).


WOOT!!!!

I can't have my coupons falling out!

I was also able to score a Febreeze Car vent clip for $.97 today. I had the $1/1 coupon that came in a P&G  mailer the other day and it was $1.97 before the coupon. Now my van will smell nice. Wooty Woot!!!!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

From I Heart the Mart


Lay away is back for the holidays and Walmart is starting it even earlier this year!!!!! Perfect because we want a new TV and it's Miss Bug's first Christmas.

Need more details: http://www.iheartthemart.com/2012/08/21/walmart-layaway-program-for-the-2012-holiday-season/

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Frustrating Couponing Trip

After a couple of successful couponing trips to Walgreens and CVS this week, I had a very frustrating one at Walmart. It might have had something to do with the cashier or maybe I did something wrong. I don't know, but it was frustrating and I am super disappointed with the way it turned out.

I wish Kroger and Publix weren't so far away from me, especially Kroger. Kroger has some really good deals, but I think after today's trip, I might make the trip to Hartselle to go shopping at Kroger.

My successful couponing trip at CVS was great! Loved it. Thanks to iheartcvs, I was able to get this little spreadsheet that helped me calculate how much I would be spending and saving. I spent exactly what I thought I would be spending and was able to get a couple of extra items and my ECBs for my next trip, which will be when I get paid again. CVS is having a gas card deal, so I am DEFINITELY hitting that up.(It never hurts to have gas cards laying around!)

My Walgreens trip was also just as successful, but I want to keep that one to myself. Sorry. LOL

I was asked to cook dinner the other night and I had no idea what to make. The guys had no clue what they wanted to eat, so what did I do? Hit up Pinterest, of course. I found this super easy recipe for Taco Pizza, and it turned out awesome! Hubby didn't like the crescent roll crust, but it was just amazing. It's something that will be made again some time in the near future. (I have the supplies for it, with the exception of the refried beans in my refrigerator.)

EDIT:

Hamburger meat with taco seasoning

Refried beans with Green Chilis

SHREDDED CHEESE!!!!!

Crescent roll crust slightly baked

Refried bean "pizza sauce"

Meat and cheese

More cheese on top

Melted cheesy taco goodness

Salsa and sour cream to top it off. YUM!

Friday, August 10, 2012

And here I am again

So I took a short little break away from my blog for the past few days. Sorry. :(

This past weekend was not easy for me. It marked the one year anniversary of when my grandmother left her family to take her place as an angel. I was pretty much in a crummy mood all weekend, and I was so happy that Monday rolled around as quickly as it did. (Yeah, it's weird that someone would look forward to a Monday, but I did.)

I have 100% completely decided that living in a small town that doesn't have my absolute favorite grocery store sucks. Publix occasionally rolls out these coupon books with all of these yummy coupons that I need in order to satisfy my new couponing habit/addiction. Problem is: Cullman (the town that I live in) doesn't have one. It really really sucks. The closest one is in Decatur, which is about 30 minutes away. Yes, our "new" van is a lot more mechanically sound, but we aren't sure if we want to put it to that kind of a test yet and gas isn't cheap. (Please Publix, come to Cullman!!!!!! Other than the coupons, there are several things that I need because I miss them!)

Since I'm talking about saving money, I did awesome yesterday. I walked out of CVS with a pack of Pampers and some Pampers wipes for $5.72! That's a little cheaper than getting some Parent's Choice diapers alone! How did I do it? Here's how:

  • The diapers were $8.99 with the Extra Care card.
  • I had gotten some coupons from Pampers in the mail. Coupon values were $4, $3, and free wipes with the purchase of diapers. (That coupon allowed me to buy 60-72 count wipes with a price of up to $3.99)
  • I used my card, the $4 coupon, and the free wipes coupon and paid $5.72 for all of it.
This week CVS has a deal if you buy $30 worth of P&G products, you get $10 in Extra Care Bucks. Unfortunately, all I needed were the diapers, so I didn't get to earn any of those ECBs. (Pampers is a P&G product).

Here's the edit with the receipt. Ignore the peanut butter. 

Work is going pretty well. I didn't get the full time position in my department, but I was asked to be a sponsor. Sponsors at Walmart are basically department trainers. I know that I don't get paid any extra to be a trainer, but it's okay. It's another little feather in my cap to add to my resume to help me move up. I'm hoping that there is another full time position in my department open that I can apply for. I think the only thing that might be held against me is the fact that I've been with Walmart for less than 6 months. I haven't really been there 3 months yet, and I haven't gotten my discount card yet.

I should try to get a little bit more sleep before Miss Bug wakes up. It is pretty early in the morning still. Oh, and I have to put a bill payment in the mail before I forget and the mail gets here.

Monday, July 30, 2012

COUPONS!!!!

OMG!!!! COUPONS!!!

Yeah, I am really starting to like coupons. Like really starting to like them. My house is in trouble if I manage to figure out the extreme couponing stuff.

Anyway. In my local paper this week, there was a P&G coupon insert. Apparently, these come out maybe once or twice a month. We use P&G products in my house on a regular basis, so these coupons were a must for me to get.

There were so many other coupons from Red Plum and Unilever (again, another company that gets used in my house on a regular basis).

Oh, I was so exited when I saw all of the inserts when I got home and opened up the paper. I actually didn't play any World of Warcraft tonight like I usually do because I couldn't wait to get into my coupon inserts. (Baby Bug was already in bed when I got home.)

Now, from what I understand about couponing is: use them when the items you need are on sale. That's why many extreme couponers spend hours upon hours looking at deals, price matching and doing match ups to get the most for their money. I do a lot of my shopping at Walmart. It's the only super shopping center in town, and I'm pretty much there all the time because I work there. (Still don't have my associate discount card yet, but it's coming!)

Fortunately, Walmart does price matching, as they call it Ad Matching. What helps me with doing this is the fact that the county that I live in sends out a community shopper newspaper in the mail EVERY Wednesday. In that newspaper, the community gets ads for Piggly Wiggly, Warehouse Discount Grocery (WDG), S&S Foods, and Food World. (There's another grocery store in town, but I never see an ad for them in the shopper.)

I remember one week, I had coupons for Hot Pockets. The coupon was for $.95 off any two. One of the grocery stores in town (I don't remember which one) had them on sale for 2 for $4. Walmart sells a box of two Hot Pockets for $2.18 each. Well, Ad Matching saved me $.36 on two boxes plus the coupon brought the total for 2 boxes to $3.05. That's a total savings of $1.31 on 2 boxes of Hot Pockets. That's $1.31 that I was able to use towards the rest of my shopping list! (EPIC!!)

The weeks that I do my grocery shopping I live for my community shopper. I need to remember to look at my favorite websites:

to help me find the best deals and match ups and check grocery store ads that I don't get in my community shopper. I don't get ads for stores like Publix and Kroger because we don't have either one in the county. (Sucks because I LOVE Publix. Growing up in South Florida instilled that in me.)

Walmart also does price matching with some of the drug stores, like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid. (Other ads I need to look at because sometimes they have good deals on things!)

I need to find myself a shopping list that will help me get what I need. I want to be able to edit it so I can add the prices that I already have from previous purchases and match it up with price matching deals and coupons.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Homemade Cookbook

I need to make myself a cookbook. Currently, on my Food Pinterest board, I have over 700 pins, and that number keeps climbing. Some of that number may be duplicates, but the duplicates are there because I don't always remember if I pin something or not. It would also be much, much easier for me if I had a book to look while cooking rather than running back and forth from my computer. You know, computers, water, and all of that sort of thing don't mix.

I think I might use the set up that I found via Pinterest from maiathebee.com.

http://www.maiathebee.com/2011/12/weekly-challenge-recipe-binder-and-free.html
I can not take credit for the image and the information she provided because it's hers. (It's only fair that I link back to her and give her all the credit in the world.)

I'm still trying to find a set up that I like that won't cost me an arm and a leg to set up. The next step would be to get a baker's rack or something other than my sparse cabinet and counter space to keep it. 

Hobo meal

Hobo meal was a success.

The finished meal
Daddy Bug couldn't finish his. (He had also eaten before he left work because he had been there for 12 hours.) The carrots were a little crunchy, but that's the way I like my cooked carrots. I'm not sure how everyone else felt about them, but I consider the meal a HUGE success

Friday, July 27, 2012

Pinterest recipe modification

Since I have to work from 2-11 tonight, I decided that I was going to make a meal for the guys. All they have to do now is put it in the oven and cook it.

I took my inspiration for a hobo meal from Impress Your Kids and modified it with a ranch dressing packet and added some green beans to the mix.

Green Beans and Baby Carrots
The recipe says to use potatoes, carrots, and onions. Well, I don't have any onions, so I left them out. I'm a big fan of balancing out my meals with a green vegetable, so I figured green beans would be a good option. I could have used broccoli, but for some reason, I went with green beans today.

Potatoes tossed in a Hidden Valley Ranch mix packet
I cut my potatoes up similar to how I would cut them up for home fries, which are a favorite way to make potatoes in my house. I put them in a plastic container and sprinkled a Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix packed on top of them, put the lid on and shook it all up till the potatoes were coated.

Handmade Hamburger Patty on top
I made the hamburger patty with nothing extra mixed in. Just hamburger meat. Once all of this was done, I wrapped it up and set it on my cookie sheet. I was able to make four hobo meal packets like this out of about 1 pound of hamburger meat.

Cheese to put on top

Since I don't want the cheese to burn during the cooking process, the cheese is going to be placed on top to make it extra yummy.

Recipe:

1 lb Hamburger meat
1 bag of baby carrots
1 bag of green beans
4 Idaho potatoes
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
Shredded Cheese

Cooking instructions:

Preheat oven to 350, place cookie sheet in oven and cook for about 45-60 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

I HIGHLY recommend putting the hobo packet on a cookie sheet or something to help catch any grease that will cook off of the burger patty. You don't want to start an oven fire!

I will post an update after I get done with work and get to eat my hobo meal myself!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

New happenings

Well, hmmmm.....

Let's see. Miss Bug has decided that she wants to start becoming more mobile. She's attempting crawling, and she's rather successful (yet awkward).


And to think it all started with her pulling herself across the floor on pretty much her elbows that morning.

She had her four month shots a few days ago (not sure if I mentioned this). She did fantastic. Miss Bug is such a little trooper. She definitely makes it easy for a first time mommy to handle the whole immunization process.

Work is work. Someone in my department was terminated last week, so it seems like more hours are available. (I'm scheduled for 38.5 this week alone, which is always nice.) I still have to deal with Old Bitch, but I spend most of the day ignoring her because her negative attitude is highly offensive. (I don't need any language that can be considered offensive to get me in trouble.)

My mother in law was saying something about boiled cookies the other day on Facebook, and I was like, "Huh?" They also go by the name of no bake cookies. Tonight, I decided to look at Pinterest and see if I could find a recipe. Of course, I did. Guess what items are going on my shopping list next time? You got it. Boiled cookie supplies, and they will be made on my day off.

Speaking of days off from work, THURSDAY!!!! Woot! Agenda for the day:

  1. Take Hubster to work
  2. Clean
  3. Bake cookies (been meaning to do this for a couple days now)
  4. Dr.'s appointment (story for another blog post)
  5. Cook dinner (I have no clue what yet. Pinterest maybe?)
Ugh, I suppose I should get out of here and get to bed. I have stuff to do!!!!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

My Obsession with Pinterest

Pinterest is my new drug, I swear. I can spend hours and hours there and find all sorts of things that I want to do, try, or go. Last night, we tried pepperoni string cheese roll ups.

After 10 minutes of baking.

They were a HUGE hit in my house!!! It's a recipe that has officially been added to our menu options and ingredients added to our shopping list. If you didn't see the link for the recipe for it, it's simply crescent rolls (I used the Walmart brand), pepperoni, and string cheese sticks cut in half.

Finished product.
Cleaning my bathtub was super super easy thanks to another gem I found on Pinterest. My tub was dirty and dingy and everything but clean when we moved in. (I don't have a before picture, like a dummy.)  Using white distilled vinegar and Dawn dish soap, my bathtub is a million times cleaner!!!

I've also decided to make my own baby food because we have to live on a rather tight budget in this house and making baby food is so much cheaper. I add a couple fresh fruit and veggie items to my shopping list, prepare them the way that I need to so I can make sure she gets all of the nutrients in them, and she's got plenty of solid food to last her a while. (Yes, I'm starting my 4 month old on solid foods very slowly.)  I don't think I would have the guts to attempt making baby food on my own if I didn't have some guidance from other parents and Pinterest.

I've got plenty of educational activities for Miss Bug for when she gets older. I'm going to get Miss Bug started out on the right educational track because I don't know what the education systems are going to be like when she starts school.

Pinterest = drug that I am obsessed with. I will be posting more discoveries that I attempt from Pinterest, so watch out!!!