Shrink your food budget Day 1: What do you spend?

By Angela on January 2, 2016

It’s none of my business and you don’t have to tell me, but you need to know for yourself. Do you know how much you spent in December on groceries? How about November or October?

If you don’t have a clue, search for all the food receipts you can find and add them up. If you are still using credit or debit cards, you’ll have a record on your statements and can add up the charges from food stores to get a ballpark figure. If finding out what you spent those months is impossible, make sure to keep track of what you spend this month. Every time you spend record it in your phone or keep your receipts. Pick the method that works for you and do it.

Once you figure out how much you spent, decide how you feel about it. Is it enough? Is it too much? Can you afford it? What do you want that number to be? WHY?

“Why?” might be the most important question to answer today. If you don’t have a big enough “why” you won’t be able to stick to any positive change. Our why includes a hope and a future for our kids. We can eat our money right now, or they can have music lessons, a college fund and opportunities. We can’t do both.

Here’s the deal. I won’t spend less on food if it means my kids are eating non-nutritive junk, and I won’t ask you to do that either. Is it possible to spend less and still eat healthy food? I know it is and this month I’m going to show you how. Who’s with me?

This is Day 1 of our Series: Shrink Your Food Budget

Happy New Year!

By Angela on January 1, 2016

The new year is a gift waiting to be unwrapped and revealed little by little. There’s not much in the new year that I have control over and that’s a little scary. One thing I can control is that I can draw closer to God through it all. That is a peaceful though.

It’s always interesting to look back and see what the most popular posts were through the last year. They usually surprise me and this year is no different.

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Biscuits and Gravy. I created this recipe during the year that I didn’t have a functional kitchen and it struck a chord with overwhelmed moms everywhere.

2. Coconut Blueberry Muffin in a Mug. I made this recipe for a blueberry contest with a big cash prize that I was hoping to use to finish our master bathroom. I was in the middle of a fitness contest and made the recipe as healthy as I could and still taste great. I didn’t win or even make it onto their website, but the rest of the world approved.

3. Plywood Countertops: These countertops are temporary while we save up money for real ones. Seems like there are lots of people needing lower cost options for their kitchen. Here’s the update post for how they look finished.

4. First-Steps: This isn’t technically a blog post, but it’s the heart of what this blog is about. I’m happy that the message is getting out.

Look how tiny these kids are. That baby is now 8 and the girl holding his hand is almost 16. And little Grant wasn’t even born yet….sniff. Good memories. We have got to take an updated family picture!

Speaking of the message getting out, I’m dedicating January to shrinking grocery budgets everywhere. If you haven’t known where to start or how to spend less, this is the month for you!

Merry Christmas

By Angela on December 22, 2015

I hope things are well with you. Take a deep breath with me and try not to feel stress. I’m need to be offline with my family until New Year. I might pop in and blog, but I need it to be ok not to.

Here’s a little peak at our fun this week.

Wide mouth mayo jars (borrowed from my mom since I don’t save stuff.) wrapped with twine and layered with Epsom snow, freezer burned cranberries and a tea light. I plan to reuse the salts for healing soaks later.

Progress in the shared boy room. Formerly black lamp spray painted green and made over night stand with new pulls, a new top and a new paint job.

Our presents are almost all wrapped. I have collected different papers after season clearance sales over the years and have several years worth. I’m a little bummed because there are so many cute wrapping ideas out there that don’t fit in with my stash. On the other hand this is easy and the kids get just as excited about our mismatched wrapping. So not Pinterest worthy but family and budget friendly and that’s better than ok.

Caleb, my oldest boy is ripping out the 45 year d carpeting while I’m safely tucked away in another part of the house. I have developed a severe allergy and this is part of making the house safe for me.

Acts of service like this really make me feel loved.

For more than 2 months my entire body has looked like this. It itches like poison ivy that won’t heal. I noticed on Sunday that there is a line around my face sides of neck and chest where the rash won’t cross that coincides with where I use my anti-aging products. So I tried a bit in an affected area. 2 days later it is clear. I’m hoping it’s not just a coincidence. Basically the doc thinks this is a dust mite allergy gone wrong from stress. Any worse and I’d need an epi pen. I’ve been on so many medications and the only thing that helped was prednisone–yuck. I’m exploring all the natural options and will report back if anything works.

Making Disney Affordable

By Angela on December 17, 2015

Jo, is a friend of our family and as an avid disney fan and travel expert has experience making Disney affordable. If you’re looking for a clutter free family Christmas gift that you can save up for all year, this might be the perfect thing for you.

Hi there! I’m Jo, a lover of all things Disney and thrifty. Typically these two terms don’t

go hand in hand, but I’ve found several ways to save on a Walt Disney World vacation.

My husband and I just love Disney World (oh, and so do our kids), so we make it a

priority to visit as often as we can. This was easy when we had no children and lived 45

minutes away from the parks, but once we started having babies and moved far away

from Orlando, it became much more of an investment to visit. I’ve picked up several

tricks over the years to make a Disney World vacation affordable, and I’d love to share

those tips with you!

First of all, I recommend planning your trip as early as possible and taking advantage of

Disney’s payment plan. Disney allows you to make a reservation with a $200 deposit.

After that, you can make as many or as few payments as you like, as long as the

balance is paid 30 days before you check in. If something comes up and you have to

change or cancel your vacation, you get 100% of your money back or transferred to

your new vacation dates. For my family, this is huge. We make our reservations as early

as possible and break the trip total down into as many payments as we can. There are

no fees or interest like putting a vacation on the credit card, and the trip is paid in full 30

days in advance! You can actually feel like you’re on vacation instead of counting every

penny spent, because you already paid for it! By booking your vacation way in advance,

you give yourself more time to pay the balance off, and you also have a larger selection

of resort hotel rooms from which to choose. The cheapest rooms go the quickest, so it’s

definitely best to grab those as early as you can.

I often hear people wonder if it’s really worth it to stay at a Disney resort hotel. After all,

Orlando is a big city with lots of budget hotels nearby. In my experience, it is always

better to stay on Disney property. I love never having to leave the magic behind at the

end of the day and have always found Disney’s resort hotels to be charming, fun, and

convenient. But I also love saving money, and it’s true that the nightly rate at a Disney

hotel can be more than an off-property site. However, there is some value built in to a

Disney resort that off-property hotels just can’t compete with. First of all, Disney resorts

provide complimentary transportation to and from the Orlando airport. It’s called the

Magical Express, and it doesn’t cost anything when you stay on-site. Parking all over

Disney property is free when you stay on-site (currently daily parking rates at the theme

parks are $17/day). They also provide free continual transportation from the resort

hotels to all the parks and attractions via buses, monorails, and ferry boats. Disney

resort hotels also have three pricing tiers: value, moderate, and deluxe. The value

resorts are great for families trying to stretch their dollar, and all the above benefits are

included at every resort. Finally, the Disney payment plan referenced above is only for

those staying on property. Can you tell I’m a fan?

In the past few years, Disney World has rolled out the My Disney Experience feature.

Through the use of their site, your hotel reservations, dining reservations, Fast Passes,

and even your credit card information is loaded onto what is called a Magic Band. You

wear your Magic Band during your entire stay and use it for everything. Seriously, it

becomes a part of you and feels so weird after your vacation when you have to take it

off. Magic Bands are complimentary for every person in your traveling party when you

stay on property. (For those staying off-site, Magic Bands start at $20 per person.)

Here I am last year with my Magic Band… oh, and two adorable boys.

Not only does it matter where you stay, but it also matters when you stay. Prices

fluctuate at Disney World all year long. During summer and Christmas breaks, when the

crowds are the highest, prices skyrocket because there is such a huge demand. But

during “value seasons,” such as February and September, prices come down by quite a

bit. For example, the cost of staying at a value resort over the week of Christmas starts

at $201 per night. But in January, that cost plummets by $100 a night! Disney also

offers promotions throughout the year, and those promotions are usually concentrated

on times when crowds are lower. Simply put, it’s cheaper to visit Disney World when

school is in session, because many families can’t go during those times. For example,

Disney World will offer a percentage off your resort hotel or throw in a free dining plan.

There are HUGE savings to be found when you combine a Disney promotion with avalue season! I honestly can’t remember the last time my family paid rack rates for a

room at Disney World just by using these tips.

Let’s say the only time you can visit Disney World is during summer vacation, and there

are no promotions during the time you visit. Fret not, there is still an incredibly easy way

to save 5% on your Disney vacation… if you have a Sam’s Club membership. If you

don’t, make friends with someone who does, because Sam’s sells discounted Disney

gift cards! (For those of us who have to fly, Sam’s also sells discounted Southwest gift

cards.) I’ve also been told that you can save 5% off of Disney gift cards at Target by

paying with your Red Card, but my local Target has never given me that discount, so

you’ll want to check with your store. Disney gift cards can be applied to your trip balance

as well as merchandise and dining inside the parks. We make every single payment

using these Disney gift cards. It also works if you want to ask for Disney gift cards for

holiday or birthday gifts! You aren’t adding clutter to your home and are one step closer

to the vacation of a lifetime!

So, you’ve planned early, snagged an affordable room during a value season, taken

advantage of a Disney promotion, and paid your trip balance off with discounted gift

cards. But there are still ways to save money once you are on your vacation! Disney

World allows you to bring food and drinks into the parks, so my Disney bag is always

stuffed with plenty of snacks for whiny kids (AND adults) as well as empty thermoses for

tap water. Quick service dining locations will give you a free cup of water if you ask for

it, and there are also water fountains throughout the parks. You can also have groceries

delivered to your hotel room (Amazon Prime just started same day delivery too!), so you

can still do this if you are flying and don’t want to waste suitcase space on a huge box of

granola bars. All resort hotel rooms are equipped with a small refrigerator, and some

rooms even have a kitchenette if you choose to eat in your hotel room.

If your children are anything like mine, they are going to be begging for toys at Disney

World. You’ll probably want something special too! I recommend checking out the

Disney Store website before your trip. They sell a lot of the same park merchandise, but

you can get it much more cheaply by buying it before you travel because the Disney

Store is constantly having sales. In fact, I just checked their website to see if they were

having a sale, and sure enough, all Disney Parks merchandise is 25% off. You won’t

see that in the parks, so definitely take advantage of those savings.

Finally, the easiest way hands down to save money on a Disney World vacation is by

going through an authorized Disney travel agent. A good agent will make sure you get

the best rate possible, and using a travel agent is completely FREE. I am such an

agent, and so I am constantly reviewing the rate seasons, upcoming promotions, and

available discounts for my clients in order to save them as much money (and stress) as

possible. I can work with all sorts of budgets and families to plan the vacation of their

dreams, and I feel honored to have helped families visit Disney World when they

originally thought they wouldn’t be able to afford such a luxury. If I can help you in any

way, please don’t hesitate to email me or check out

my Facebook page. I love visiting Disney

World, I love saving money, and I really love helping others do the same!

My Five Favorite EASY Christmas Cookies

By Angela on December 14, 2015

Today Darren took Caleb and Grant to the farm to visit his parents and I stayed home to be available to the kids who go to school and to paint the shared boys room. I’ll be posting all about their room transformation in March. If you don’t want to wait that long to get updates, I’m posting about it in real time on instagram #sharedboysroom

But for now, I want to give you my favorite Christmas cookie recipes. The easy, last minute kind. I’m going to link up to the original sources, so you can open the same page I do when it’s time to cook :).

Christmas Crack

This is a more chewable version of a Heath bar. I can’t. stop. eating. this. So I only make it when I have somewhere to share it.

For a delicious twist, Diane made hers with pretzels!

2. Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz

My family has been sharing this one Christmas Eve for as far back as I can remember. It’s easy to festive up with some Christmas candy sprinkles.

3. Melt in Your Mouth Eggnog Cookies

We’ve already made 3 batches of these. They aren’t as easy as dipping a ritz in chocolate, but there’s no dough chilling or rolling out involved. And the frosting just spreads on with a knife. Sooooo yummy.

4. Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods

Kids cannot mess this up. They might mess up your kitchen….but the pretzels will be delicious.

via The Baker Chic

5. Fattigmann Bakkles (Poor Man’s Cookie.)

My mother’s grandmother was from Norway. When she got really excited, she could only speak in Norwegian. Sometimes she would call my mother and speak hurredly in Norwegian and then hang up abruptly. Then she would call back and scream and hang up again. My mother knew that usually meant she had lost her purse….and then found it. She adored bananas and would stop at the store and buy a bunch as she walked home from her job cleaning houses. Sometimes she would mindlessly eat the entire bunch before getting home. She brought this recipe with her from Norway and we make it every Christmas to remember our heritage.

Sometimes I sub eggnog for the heavy cream in this recipe—delicious.

via Debesys

Frugal Friday #5

By Angela on December 11, 2015

If you’re new here: On Fridays I share a few frugal things I did during the week. Then in the comments you to share a frugal thing or two you did during the week. If you are a blogger feel free to link to your Frugal Friday post in the comments and we’ll come check it out.

1. We ran out of butter. Horrors! It’s so expensive this time of year that I couldn’t bring myself to buy more than a pound at a time even though I was hoping to bake. My mom went shopping with Heather and I, and we stopped at a grocery store to look for the sale priced pineapples. They were sold out of pineapples but had butter for $1.99 limit 2. All 3 of us went through the line separately to buy 2. Let the baking begin!

2. Heather and I needed dresses for our Christmas concerts this week. We’ve both grown and nothing fits. Happy for her, sad for me. I found mine at Ross for $17 and hers at Burlington coat factory for $12. They were both name brand dresses that retailed for $65+. We also grabbed sparkle shoes at payless at a 50% off sale plus an additional 25% off coupon for members (About $12 a pair.) I wouldn’t have had the coupon, but I did a quick google search to see what was out there before heading to the store. I saved the code to my phone, just in case, even though it said “online only” and the cashier made it work.

3. I used up a bag of frozen wild blueberries that had been in the freezer a little too long. I used 4 cups of them to make blueberry muffins for snacks/breakfasts. For half the flour, I subbed the crumbs saved from the bottom of the cereal bags over the last few weeks. Then with the remaining blueberries and thawed liquid I made jello by adding stevia, plain gelatin and chia seeds for nutrition. It’s delicious but the family won’t touch it–more for me ;).

It’s your turn. Inspire us with some of your frugal activities this week.

We Increased our Food Budget this Month

By Angela on December 10, 2015

Whew, Friends. It is a BUSY week. I’m in charge of 3 Christmas concerts and the doc temporarily increased my allergy medication which makes me slightly more functional than a zombie. Two concerts are complete and the 3rd is tonight. The rest of the weekend we are scheduled up to the minute with basketball games, church activities, and rehearsals/performances. I’m not in charge of the rest of that (yippee!) I get to play taxi, read books, and cheer. My favorite stuff.

I want you to know that we raised our food budget $50 for a total of $550 this month. I thought we were doing ok on the old budget. It was tough, but no one ever went hungry. Then my 10 year old tried to give me $30 from his piggy bank (all he had.) He noticed the cupboards were getting bare towards the end of the month and it concerned him.

I’m not ok with my kids worrying about family finances, or feeling the burden to provide themselves. It was a no brainer for me to raise the budget enough to keep bread and milk in stock for his peace of mind. At our new budget, counting 30 days in the month and 4 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack) it averages $.57 per serving per meal. When you break it down like that it still looks like a crazy low number.

If you are new here, we are a family of 8 with 2 teenagers, 2 tweens, and 2 younger kids that EAT. I’m on a special diet for health concerns, and my husband eats and eats and never gains weight. I’m sure you can relate. (I mean all except that last one—I’ll never understand how he does that.) In this season of life, I’m working 3 jobs and am not as available in the kitchen as I once was. Our finances haven’t changed, so my desire to raise the food budget means we reduced other budget categories until we can increase our income.

You can read past posts about our food budget here: How to blow your budget and end up eating stuff like “Ox Tail” but not starve; December’s $400 challenge week 1; Eating $400 in December; $400 a month to feed 8; New Food Budget Recommendations

p.s. January is grocery budget makeover month. You’ll get step by step support and real solutions to spending less, especially when you’re busy–right here. You can click the green bar at the top to sign up for free if you aren’t already subscribed to get blog posts to your inbox.

Frugal Friday #4

By Angela on December 4, 2015

Frugal Friday

This is going to be a quick post! I’ve got to get back to work so I can finish a present and run it over to a birthday party that’s already started. I’m so happy that the party’s next door! Having a best friend next door is every girl’s dream come true.

I’m making a birthday present from items on hand. Mine is a copy of this scarf with regular worsted yarn instead of super chunky. As a bonus, I really needed some de-stress time and crocheting does that for me. We’re rounding out the gift with a fun new lip gloss from my Mary Kay stash.

Color Block Scarf Tangled happy

2. We bought a car used with cash off craigslist. We did a lot of research on KBB.com first and looked at all the available options. We weighed things such as tire condition (a new set of tires is around $800) and when the next round of maintenance will need to be done–like replacing the timing belt. Timing belts are around $1100 and if you don’t do it on time it can pop and act like a live grenade in the engine (a $3,000 mistake.) We had our mechanic check it over for us before we bought it to make sure we knew what we were dealing with.

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It’s your turn. Inspire us with one of your frugal activities this week.

Bollstr Water Bottle Holder

By Angela on December 2, 2015

I got a new water bottle carrier from Bollstr a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been using it awhile to make sure it’s a good product, and I’m smitten.

It’s sturdy enough that it doesn’t flop around while I am moving, and has a spot in the back to hold a smartphone with an ear phone eyelet so I can listen to tunes while the phone is zipped safely in place. No more jogging my phone out of my pocket while I run! It also has a second pocket to hold an ID or money and a caribiner to clip keys.

It adjusts with velcro straps to hold most water bottles. Just be careful with fabric on long sleeves that might snag easily.

They have two varieties, an over the shoulder strap or a waist strap version. The waist strap is more comfortable for my lifestyle, but I was nervous since I’m not a fan of fanny packs. I was relieved when it came that it doesn’t look like a fanny pack at all, allows full range of motion and is super comfortable to wear, even with a full bottle. Wearing it a little low on the hips is super comfortable and distributes weight well.

This Bollstr was founded by Tamra Johnson, a friend I met 10 years ago at a training seminar for Spell to Write and Read. She developed the Bolstr to help her daughter who received a kidney transplant. You can find out more about their story in the video below.

Even though I have 2 healthy kidneys, I still need plenty of water for adrenal support and weight management. I’ve made several water bottle holders from tutorials on pinterest, but none of them are as comfortable or effective as my Bollstr. If you are looking for a health conscious gift, this is a good one.

Choosing Joy

By Angela on November 30, 2015

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Ours was lovely. I was determined not to be stressed, and it worked out except for about a half an hour on Thanksgiving morning. That’s the half hour, I feel compelled to tell you about.

I already mentioned Friday that my dad was released from the hospital on Tuesday, then was right back in on Wednesday for more tests checking for complications. My mom still planned on hosting Thanksgiving for 20 at her house. It was easier to do that for my dad than to try to move him or make him spend the holiday alone. I went over that night to help Mom carry the tables and set a few things up. Nothing major. Then I convinced her to let me bake the rolls and sweet potatoes to lessen her stress a little. She still had the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, salad, and pies to do. That was still too much.

I determined to get over there by 10am to help and had a perfect checklist in my mind. Get up; make the bed all cute with my new allergy free bedding; turn on the parade; bake the sweet potatoes and then head over. But no one in my house was cooperating. Darren wouldn’t get out of the bed so I could make it. The kids complained about having to watch the parade (and I couldn’t’ see it from the kitchen), and when I looked at the sweet potato recipe, it was going to take an hour longer to prepare than I was counting on. There was no way I could get to my mom at 10 and I didn’t like leaving her alone with all the prep work.

I could feel things start to boil inside. “Fine, you make the bed!” I yelled at my husband. Muttering under my breath why he couldn’t grow up and help out a little. He is a smart man, and he got up and made the bed. It looked absolutely nothing like I had planned it to look. I boiled up a little more.

He tried to tell me things would be fine. “So we get there at 11. What’s the big deal?” he wanted to know. The big deal is my dad is sick, my mom is stressed, and the SOURCE of the irritation doesn’t get to say it’s not a big deal.

I stomped and huffed around the kitchen a bit and when he got too close I glared at him, “I’m angry at you because you made the bed and it looks STUPID.” And then the humor of the whole thing kind of hit me.

Who cares if the bed looks stupid? My dad is alive. My husband is alive. My kids are healthy. We have a big family to gather with. Get a grip, Woman! I calmed down and apologized to my family and we had a really nice day.

I wish I could get a better handle on my emotions when things start to spiral out of control. It triggers when I have a goal and I think others are purposefully blocking my goal. Usually it’s because I didn’t communicate it clearly or early enough. The reason really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I understand that the only thing I can control is ME. So, I choose JOY. I want to influence others with my love and happiness instead of trying to control them with my anger.

So Friday, when it came time to decorate the Christmas tree, I thought ahead of time about the things that matter to me (hang the balls towards the inside of the tree) and I communicated it clearly. I decided on the things that didn’t matter and let the kids have free reign with them (put the silver and gold on this tree, but put it anywhere you want.) I limited what mattered to me to just one or two things. The kids aren’t used to a pleasant Christmas decorating mama and they asked me a lot of questions about what goes where and what to do with this or that. They were surprised with how much freedom I gave them and we all had a really pleasant day.

Any time I had a strange feeling of “don’t put that there” well up in me, I swallowed it and reminded myself that I could change anything I wanted another day. What I got in exchange was beauty. Our decorations this year are so very human. The kids will never be this age again and I loved watching them put things in places and step back to judge their work. It won’t end up in a designer magazine, but it’s a special collage of their current ages and thought processes represented in design.

Am I the only Mom out there that gets a little freaked out on special days? If you haven’t seen it already, this video could have been taken at our house.

“If you haven’t made your bed already, throw it away. It’s too late.”

Grocery Shrink

Shrink your bills and grow your pantry