Saving on Summer Vacation June 9, 2013

There are lots of ways to save on summer vacation. We truly do a family vacation. We go on vacation with my mom and stepdad…..and my sisters and brother in law…..am some times family friends. We are lucky that my parents have a time share about less then two hours from our house and we have access to a beach house in South Carolina for cheap through the company my step dad works for.

We still try to save even with the fact we have some nice vacation spots.

1. Bring you own food keeps you from eating out and spending money. Even if you are staying in a hotel that does not have a kitchen keeping things like fruit, nuts, granola bars, peanut butter, and crackers around it can save a lot of money. If you have a small fridge think about lunch meat and cheese. We also go shopping when we get there if it is a long trip ( South Carolina is an 18 hour trip for us so we pack food to eat on the way and food for breakfast and hit Sam’s Club after we get there. This year we will be feeding seven adults, two kids, and the baby.)

2. Stay some place with a kitchen so you can cook!

3. Check for things that are free – breakfast, kids eat/stay free, pool, appetizers, Internet….you get the idea.

4. Go with extended family or friends and split the cost. This works well if you want a date on vacation too. If your friends have kids you stay in and watch all the kids one night and your friend gets to do it the next.

5. Check for free activities before you leave. With the Internet it is so easy to find parks, festivals, or other free activities where you are staying.

6. Do they have free laundry? Both place we go I can do my laundry for free other then the cost of the detergent. I know that doing laundry on vacation does not sound like fun but it saves me a lot of work when I get home. I bring a laundry bag and we put all the dirty wash in it as we go. The day before we leave I do at least one load of wash in, fold it, and pack it in each persons bag. When I get home the dirty laundry goes down the steps as soon as I walk in the door and everyone’s bag goes to there room with clean clothes to go back into their dresser!

What are your tips for saving money on vacation?

Gearing up for summer saving May 17, 2013

Well as I sit here waiting for the morning bell to ring on the last Friday of the school year I am reflecting on what I need to do to save this summer.

I am looking for a new job and I know I have a paycheck until August so the need to build my stockpile now is very important. I have not had time to coupon the last few months due to work and family but now I am ready to go.

To go along with my savings plans I will start a new series called Summer Saving.

Well the kids are here so I should start class.

The Cost of Convenience May 4, 2013

I had to stay at school late for a function a few weeks ago and in order to save money I packed a salad. That was one of the days I packed all three meals. I decided that I needed a little something else to add to my dinner. I had to get gas and decided to pay inside so I could check out the chips and drinks. I was SHOCK at how much things really cost at the gas station. I then remembered that this is a Dollar General in town. I payed for my gas…got in my car…and went to the DG. For $2 I got a box of Wales and a Snapple. For $2 I could not have even gotten the crackers at the gas station. Just a little extra time saved me a lot of money!

Three things that have saved me time, money, and sanity January 9, 2013

We all went back to school for a full week this week. This is my first full week back in four months and we now have a new born to add to the mix. In order to try and make things a bit more stream line I have found three things that help a lot.

1. Make all of the sack lunches on Sunday. This keeps us from spending money on school lunch (or the vending machine) and all I have to do is put the pre made items in every ones lunch box the night before. It took me an hour on Sunday night but I have 19 sack lunches ready to go! (I know that is one short for three people and a five day week but my daughter likes to get the school lunch on Wednesday.)

2. Make my breakfast for the week on Sunday. I don’t ever have time to eat in the morning before I leave. I have always eaten in the car or once I get to school (not the best but better then not eating at all). This means I have to pack breakfast. This week I took 30 min and made my self 5 egg breakfast sandwiches that I wrapped in a paper towel and then in foil. I stashed them in the bottom of the fridge door so all I have to do it grab one, unwrap the foil, microwave it for 1 min, re wrap in foil, and but in my lunch bag. It is about 30 min from the time I warm it up until I get to eat it and it is still warm! 

3. Make dinner in the crock pot the night before. If you are like me you are gone to long during the day to make something in the crock pot. I have found that the best way to still use my crock pot is the put the dinner I need for the next night in when I get home. When I do this I am there when the food is done and I don’t have to take time to cook dinner. I pack it up and put it in the fridge then warm up what we need in the microwave the next night.

This is the sweet Crock Pot set my Dad and Step-mom got me when I had the baby! LOVE IT!!

I will blog more about how I do each of these things latter but this week has been crazy! What tips do you have that help you and your busy family get through the week with some sanity left at the end? Leave a comment and let us know. I am always looking for a way to make life simpler.

Remember to follow me on Pinterest. Check on the Meal Plan Favorites board to find the crock pot recipes I used this week and other recipes that we have in joyed. I will up date it as we try new meals that my family things are winners!

Resolutions for 2013 – Improve You! December 31, 2012

I have decided that my theme for 2013 is………….. Improve You! 

I am going to try to do small things to improve my life. I am going to hold my self accountable but not set goals that are unobtainable.  I plan on printing of one page yearly calenders for each goal to mark off the days/weeks/months that I have done what I needed to do. Here are the goals.

1. Live a more active life stile.  — I need to loos about 30 lb but I don’t want to stress about numbers. I will be checking my weight and keeping track of it. I hope to be active on 50% or more of the days in each month.

2. Work on organizing my home. — I will be doing this by particaping in the Monthly Organization Challenge from DaNita over at Delighful Order. (Very EXCITED!!)

3. Have international night once a month. — My daughter and I had the idea that we should have a food from one nation that we have not had. We also want to try and fined a movie or activity that goes with it.

4. Become a more educated professional. — I have my Masters in Education but I feel that in the last year I have not expanded my knowledge of the things that I teach. I will read one article, or part of a book, about educational technology and music education.

I think this is good for me. I have some other things that I would like to work on too but these are the biggies. Leave a comment below and let us know what your resolutions are and how you plan to accomplish them.

Happy New year and lets see what 2013 brings!

Meal plan fail December 14, 2012

I know that making a meal plan saves me a lot of money but his week I failed to make a meal plan. We ended up getting take out Mexican on Sunday for lunch and we got pizza last night for dinner. I don’t even want to think about how much this cost us. The truth is my husband payed for it both times so I don’t know for sure but it has to be more then $40….uggggg.

We did do the best we could to save when eating “out”. We got the Mexican to go so we did not spend money on drinks or the cheese dip. When we got pizza we did the beat the clock deal and had $7 left on a gift card we got when I was on bed rest. I AM making a meal plan this week.

I did make one meal this week and had soup that we had in the freezer so that saved us some!

Alton Brown’s Tuna Croquettes December 4, 2012

Last night for dinner we had Alton Brown’s Tuna Croquettes. The kids and I loved them. I did make some modifications based on what I had on hand. I left out the green onions because I did not want to go to the store but normally I would have used them.  I also used regular bread crumbs, canned tuna, line juice, and added some garlic. My daughter and I think they need some more spice to them but we can fix that next time. They where not hard to make at all and I will be making them in the future. My daughter and I also talked about making them with canned chicken and leftover fish (like salmon!). I did not get any photos taken because I had the three kids by myself as I was cooking, Adding a camera to that could have been a recipe for disaster. What are your favorite tuna recipes?

Meal Plan – December 2 – December 8 (Dinner) December 2, 2012

Sunday – Pot stickers and fried rice

Monday – Alton Brown’s Tuna Crochets, couscous, and frozen veg

Tuesday – Crock pot Cashew Chicken

Wednesday – Cheese ravioli with red sauce and green beans

Thursday –

Friday – Mac and Cheese and Moringstar Farms patties

Saturday – First night of Hanukkah – Latkes!!!!

Meal Plan November 25 – December 1 (Dinner)

During the school year I only plan dinner out in advance. I do pack my daughters lunch for the week on Sundays but just kind of make it up as I go.

Sunday – Chili

Monday – Meatloaf and frozen veg

Tuesday – Chili 3 way

Wednesday – Crock pot Chicken Tacos

Thursday – Mack and Cheese with left over chicken and green beans

Friday – Frozen pizza for kids (My husband and I will be at a party!)

Saturday – Brinner – Frozen waffles and Greek yogurt with blue berries and honey. Scrambled eggs with bacon bits. (kids loved this!!!)

Update to Fridays Menu Plan 7/27 July 27, 2012

Breakfast – Cereal

Lunch – Pizza ( a friend and her to kids are bring pizza! We will watch a movie and hang out.)

Dinner – Fish and Chips (or fish sticks and fries)  In celebration of the Olympics!

For family fun night we will be having our own backyard Olympics — be on a look out for a post!