A few of my Favorite Things

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Today is my birthday and I thought it would be fun to show you a few of my favorite things.

The first one is an Eye-Vac.  It’s a robotic dustpan. You just sweep stuff near it and it comes on automatically and sucks it up.  It reminds me of the central vac dustpan system I saw on Facebook awhile back, but this one had a price that was somewhat in reach.  In fact, I bought it for myself last night with a gift card I earned in my MomCeo business.   It should be here by Monday—eeek!  I think it will help with all the food crumbs that are a daily battle, plus make for easier clean up after home haircuts.  I was also looking at robotic vacuums that are self-propelled, but I think this one is more practical for me with all the area rugs we have.

I love this dress so much that I bought 2, one in navy, and one in peach. And my 17 year old daughter got the taupe one.  It has pockets and comfortable fabric.  It is comfortable enough to sleep in, yet pretty enough for church.  There are other versions, some with sleeves and some knee length.  I’ve been thinking about a long sleeved one for the fall/winter.  The sleeveless version also pairs well with a sweater or denim jacket.

These loaf pans are my favorite!  Really all the pans from this line are.  The bread just slides out without sticking, no grease needed.  I use the muffin tins all the time, especially for little egg frittatas.  No sticking!  They are made from aluminum for even baking, but sealed with silicone so the aluminum never touches the food.  I also have cookie sheets and cake pans from this line.

This feather top is really fun and has the trendy open shoulder look. I ordered the blue one a size up from my usual and I love how it fits.

This striped dress looks so comfortable yet trendy.  I haven’t ordered it yet, but like the length and POCKETS!  I’m thinking about being daring and ordering the green one.  I think it would be great for fall with a denim jacket.  But really, I like ALL the color choices.

All links are Amazon Affiliate links.  If you decide to purchase something through the links, you pay the same, but Amazon sends me a little bit.

Feeding 8 on a 4 Person Budget

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Families with a lot of kids don’t necessarily earn any more money than their small family neighbors. And yet, bigger cars require more gas per mile.  More showers and more laundry, means more water and electricity use.  An $8 ticket to the zoo isn’t a big deal if you’re only buying 4, but buying 8 is another story.   When it’s time to buy shoes, it’s tough to buy 6 pairs instead of 2.   Hotel fire codes require large families to get at least two rooms. Then there’s the grocery budget.  What’s a big family to do?

We are steadily working on getting our income up, but while we do that, we do fewer spendy things.  When kids aren’t used to a lavish lifestyle, they appreciate the little things a lot more.

We almost always eat at home, so when we go to McDonald’s it’s a big TREAT.  Since it’s rare, we don’t have to let them order whatever they want off the menu to give them that feeling of excitement.  Everyone gets a $1 burger, ice water, and fries to share.  When we get home, if a kid is still hungry he makes a snack.

  1. We always drink water.

2. Fast food is a treat not the time to stuff ourselves.

When we go to a park or festival with food vendors, we pack a cooler from home.  Some parks won’t let you bring it inside the fence, so we plan to leave and have a picnic back at the car for lunch, then return to the park for the rest of our day.  Sometimes there’s a food there that we can’t get anywhere else.  Then we might buy some and cut it up so everyone gets a taste.  If you see the 8 of us gathered around a single funnel cake happily sharing bites.  Don’t feel sorry for us. The kids are thrilled.  Just getting to taste it was a big deal.

We went to the zoo to see cool animals, not to eat over-priced ice cream.  Replace the red words with whatever fits your situation. It helps to keep it in perspective.

3. Pack food when you can.

4. Share special treats.

The most expensive items on my grocery budget are meat and cheese.  We’ve found it’s possible to halve (or at least reduce) the amounts of meat and cheeses in most recipes and still meet everyone’s protein requirements.  This works great for casseroles, soups and stews.  I replace the bulk with another ingredient like beans, brown rice, quinoa or vegetables.

5.  When doubling recipes to feed your family, don’t double expensive ingredients like meat or cheese.  Replace the volume with low cost, high nutrition foods that are compatible with your recipe.

Growing kids are always hungry.  I have 3 teenagers, but the 12 year old is hungrier than all 3 teens combined.  I don’t ration food at our house.  There’s always something they are allowed to grab: apples, carrots, peanut butter and jelly, homemade bread or muffins, bananas, eggs, and milk.  If it’s not on the unwritten, “help yourself” list, they know they have to ask.  They are not allowed to eat all the leftover roast beef that I was saving for stew the next night, or snack on pepperoni or lunch meat.  They can’t eat all the granola bars in the lunch packing baskets.

6. Have a list of low cost, nutritious foods that your kids can have any time (except 30 minutes before dinner is served, lol.) Train them to ask for permission for other things.

7. Bake easy whole grain items like muffins, that are easy to grab and eat on the run or for after school snacks.

Breakfast should be the easiest low cost meal of the day, but food manufacturers have figured out how to make their money anyway.  A serving of Bran Flakes cereal is 10 cents.  Oatmeal is 7 cents.  A cup of milk is 18 cents. Eggs and a slice of bread are 5 cents each.  Half an orange is 15 cents….you get the idea.  While a grab and go cereal bar is $1.  Frozen waffles the same. Name brand fancy cereal is 5x’s the cost of plain.  What we’ve found is if the food is simple, homemade, and nutritious, our kid’s happily eat what they need.  But if it is pre-packaged to look fun or full of sugar, they gorge themselves.

8.  Teach the kids to be satisfied with simple, basic foods.

 

Big family or small, what are some ways you do fun things, feed nutritious foods and still keep the costs down?

 

The Cost of a School Lunch

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When you compare prices with a restaurant, school lunches look like a bargain, but I’m going to ask you to look again.  I appreciate all the hardworking staff that make these hot lunches possible, especially when my kids forget to grab their lunch sack from home.   Yet, they are a far cry from the lunches they had when all the food was hand made from scratch by women like my grandmother who was a career school baker in the ’60’s-’70’s.

In our town, elementary Lunch is $2.55 and secondary Lunch is $2.70.  Per month that is $51 per elementary child and $54 per secondary. I have 2 elementary and 4 secondary students for a total of $318 per month.  Since my monthly food budget, including lunches, is $650….that’s not going to work for us.

Homemade lunches aren’t free, and if they are full of name brand pre-packaged convenience foods, can cost a lot more than a school lunch.  So when is it really more affordable to pack a lunch?  Just for giggles, let’s take a look at some common lunch foods and break down the cost.  Most of the prices are from Aldi, with a few (granola bars, fruit snacks, and cheese sticks.) from Costco. Costco and conventional grocery stores runs sale on lunch type items which can bring the unit cost down even further.

100% Whole Wheat Bread $1.50 for 11 sandwiches = $.14 each

100% Whole Wheat Tortillas $1.39 for 10 = $.14 each

16 oz Peanut Butter for $2.29 = $.14 per 2 Tbs

18 oz Jelly for $1.89 = $.05 per Tbs

24 oz Honey for $4.49 = $.09 per Tbs

Deli Lunch Meat $3.59 per lb = $.45 per serving

American Cheese $1.29 for 16 slices = $.08 each

Baby Carrots $1 per lb = $.16 per serving

Apples $1 per lb = $.33 each

Bananas $.44 per lb = $.11 each

Oranges $.50 per lb =  $.12 each

Grapes $1 per lb = $.25 per cup

Welches Fruit Snacks $6 for 80 ct = $.08 each

Granola Bars $8 for 60 = $.13 each

Veggie Straws $1.89 for 8 oz = $.24 each oz

Cheese Crackers $1.89 for 14 oz = $.14 each oz

Pretzels $1.29 for 16 oz = $.08 per oz

String Cheese = $.15 each

Hardboiled eggs $.85 per dozen: $.07 each

Tuna $.59 for 5 oz: $.30 per serving

A sample lunch with PB&J, string cheese, apple and baby carrots would cost: $.97  My kids only drink water at meals, which saves on calories and grams of sugar as well as money.

If you like math, put together other sample lunches and see what you get.

When we have leftovers, I like to supplement the lunches with items such as oatmeal cookies, cinnamon rolls, whole grain muffins, whole wheat rolls, cornbread, soup in a thermos etc.   I love that my oldest daughter chooses to eat lunch with her Academy Department Head, who has a microwave in his room.  That allows her to pack leftovers most days since she can warm them up.  She uses the time as a working lunch along with other students in her major.

Since we have so many children, I taught my kids early on how to pack their own lunches.  Even the first grader packs his own, using our basket system which I detailed in this facebook live video last week.

You might also like these lunch related posts:

Free Printable Lunch Planner

Why I Still Use Disposable Baggies

Homemade Calzones

Mini Chicken Pot Impossible Pies

How much was that meal?

Apple Carrot Muffins

33 Lunch Ideas

Makeover Monday: Jesse’s Sunroom

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I did this makeover in the spring, but with only 18 summers to spend with each kiddo I decided to wait to show you until now.  As I’m writing this, it’s the first official day of school and the house is empty. I have a senior!  How is this possible? And a sophomore, 8th grader, 6th grader, 4th grader, and 1st grader.  Today I walked my 1st grader to school and he held my hand the whole way.  It’s such a  privilege to share that time with him. 

Jessica’s family is quite an inspiration.  They live close to me and her husband, Brian, taught my kids violin lessons for YEARS.  My son’s first lesson, he hid under Brian’s coffee table and refused to come out.  Then screamed, “I hate you,” when we left.  Good times.  I escorted my kids to the car and came back in alone and said, “If I keep paying, can we come back?”  Brian graciously agreed and my son now plays in the high school orchestra.

That kind of patience is worth admiring, but on top of that, Jesse and Brian are rock stars when it comes to debt free living.  They paid off their small starter home fairly early in their marriage, then on a modest single income, lived there through the birth of 3 children, saving all they could until they could pay cash for a larger home in a better neighborhood.  Can you imagine being a young family with no payments?  It’s awesome, that’s what it is.

This is the view of the room standing in the back door from the living room.  It has a beautiful view of the backyard and plentiful big windows. 

If you step into the room and look to the right, you see this.

Standing in the doorway to the backyard and looking back towards the house.

This is just a shot to show you her current door.  It’s a cute shape, but we weren’t a fan of the yellow glass.  Her screen door is real wood and a very cool vintage style, but it’s always in their way.  They keep it propped open.

Jesse didn’t like ALL of the colors going on in the room.  There are 3 different shades of paint on the wall, plus a 4th for the ceiling.  AND the black windows, gray/brown flooring and brown door add 3 more colors to the mix.  Her biggest concern was all the black above and below the window was vinyl and part of the window unit.  Brian didn’t want to paint it because it isn’t drywall, but my philosophy is to never live with something you hate if you can paint it :).   Showing him a photo of how it would look painted made a big difference.

Instead of pretending the black window frames weren’t there, I encouraged her to embrace them into a mint, black and white color scheme.  I painted out the vinyl header and footer on the windows to match the walls and took the color all the way to the ceiling. Breaking up the walls with stripes of contrasting paint, like the previous owner had, only makes a room look shorter.  That kind of thing should be saved for ceilings 10 foot or taller.  I painted the crown molding to match the ceiling, but it could also be painted to match the walls.

Taking the drapes all the way to the ceiling minimizes some of the black while making the room feel even taller.  I kept them pushed off the glass to let in as much light as possible.  These drapes are just to soften the room and give a feeling of height…not to block light or the view.  A rolling cart holds an herb garden that’s conveniently close to the kitchen.  This is a space where Jesse can enjoy an iced tea with a friend while watching their kiddoes color in the art corner.

Jessica’s kitchen window overlooks one side of the sunroom.  They use the room for homeschool projects, especially art and science experiments which needed storage. I used Ikea Trofast bins to create a corner bench area and added upholstered cushions on top for comfort.  She can customize the size of the bins to the things she wants to organize there.

These are her original chairs painted a shade of green that’s slightly darker than her walls. The table is a similar shape and size to the one she had, but the solid wood top (no hole for the umbrella) and the pedestal bottom really elevates the piece.  I recommend she search Craigslist and garage sales to find something this style and to use her original table until then.

The windowless side of the room is the perfect spot for a chalkboard and art storage.  Since her children are so young, I hung the chalkboard on the bottom half of the room, with bins below to hold chalk and erasers.  Above the chalkboard, I used clipboards for easy art display.

Since they prefer to leave the door open to this room, I recommended a Dutch door.  This allows them to keep their dog in a specific area, while still giving sight lines for Mama. That screen door was precious, and I think they should keep it for a bit to see if it has another purpose for their home, but remove it from this area for now.  What do you think?

Sources:

Mineral Green Wall Paint

Trofast bench

Bench Fabric

Wool Ball Garland

Wicker Furniture

Rolling Herb Garden Cart (White is currently discontinued, but it can be spray painted.)

Stump Table

Pillow and here

Curtains

Curtain Rod

Curtain Brackets

Chalk Bins

Clipboard

Magnolia Wreath here or here or here

Some are affiliate links 🙂

Would you like your room photoshopped and featured on Makeover Monday?  Send a few photos from your space to angela@groceryshrink.com and tell me your hopes and dreams for the room.  

Get a full service virtual makeover complete with 3D room layout plan, 2 photoshop views, step by step work list, and source list–all in your budget. Find out more.

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Learn how to use Photoshop your own designs with the Room Makeover class.

The Ibotta App–Is it worth your time?

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A friend recently introduced me to the Ibotta app and I gave it a try.  Here’s what you need to know:

It’s easy to download the free app, unlock coupons and then verify them by scanning your receipt and your product upc from the packaging after you get home from shopping. Do it right away before you lose anything or eat the food and recycle the packages.

The products are mostly name brands that are trying to increase their reach or to announce a new product release…like Post Cinnamon Rice Pebbles cereal.  But there are some unbranded coupons available, like “any bread” “any milk” “eggs” or “bananas.”  There is a large amount of coupons for alcohol–which doesn’t feel very classy, but it was easy enough to scroll past them for the real food.

The same coupons work at multiple stores, but are usually limited to 1 or 2 of the same item at any 1 location.  If you use a coupon at Wal-mart, it will disappear from your options for that store for the week, but you might be able to unlock the same coupon for another store.

Not all the coupons are for food.  Jo-Ann crafts and a handful of clothing stores are participating too.  When I first started there was only 1 coupon at JoAnn, but there are a more available now.

Once you earn $20 or more in rebates, you can request the cash sent to you via paypal or though gift cards.  In a little over 3 weeks, I earned about $38. Since I have a business paypal account with fees taken out of it, I opted for an Amazon gift card.

You can earn additional money by sharing a link with friends who don’t already us the app. They’ll give you $5 credit when a new friend joins through your link and redeems their first coupon.

Most of the foods are rare treat type foods and not our every day staples, but I’ve still found several things that I could use each week.

What about you? Have you ever used Ibotta before?  Do you use any other coupon/rebate apps?

Simplifying Breakfast

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When I was a new mom I had dreams of sitting around the table every morning, with Daddy leading devotions to smiling children memorizing Bible verses set on a backdrop of a hearty home cooked breakfast. I had no idea at the time that we would welcome one baby after another and that I’d have 12 years of rough mornings. We’d be up all night taking turns with a colicky baby and Darren would peel out of bed barely rested, just in time to throw on clothes and dash to work where he had a loaf of bread stashed for breakfast toast.

Read the rest at http://www.kansascitymom.com/simplifying-breakfast/  and get the make ahead Always Ready Bran Muffin recipe that my family loves.

When we’re on the same page

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I took a trip last week for business training, and when I was making my plans, my husband offered to go with me.  At first all I could think about what how much it was going to cost to not be able to share a hotel room with a bunch of girls and to buy the extra convention ticket–plus his vacation time, and finding someone to watch all the kids.  But we did it anyway, and it was the best decision.  Him being on the same page with me has helped motivate me to make better decisions with how I spend my time and boost how I build my business.

With both of us going, we drove the 18 hours straight through, trading off when the driver became too tired. It saved us $600 on airfare.  Then we skipped the hotel and rented a loft apartment from Airbnb.  It cost less than splitting a room with girls, plus we had a full kitchen and separate living area.  That allowed us to run to Wal-mart and get groceries for breakfast and lunch, which saved us another $100 over restaurants.

It had a round bed that was very comfy.

If you’d like to try Airbnb for the first time, use my link to save $40 off your first stay.  It’s a much better solution for me, especially when traveling with my whole family, since we’d normally need 2 hotel rooms and with airbnb can stay all together more affordably.

Driving the 18 hours home, we had a lot of time to talk and plan and we both came to the same realization–Netflix had to go.  I dreaded telling my kids about it, but my decision was made.  They surprised me by being supportive.  I canceled right away when we were all still in our family meeting and thought the kids would be relieved to learn that they had 14 days left that we had already paid for before the service would be discontinued.  They all said, “no matter, we’re done too. ” and then they deleted the app off their devices!!!!

If you’d like more details about why we did it and what we plan to do instead, you can check out my facebook live here.  I started the conversation by explaining what our business goals were and how Netflix was getting in our way.  We showed them pictures of a vacation we’d like to take together before Heidi leaves home, and also talked about the types of values we wanted to lay before our eyes.  This helped set the stage for the words, “We’re going to cancel Netflix.”

Two nights ago, we had been Netflix free for a few days and actually got to bed early.  So I said, “Hey, is there a Bull on tonight?” Thinking we would just go to CBS.com instead and Darren said, “The TV has robbed us from all our life goals–I NEVER want to watch it again.” I just said, “Whoa, now that’s the power of both of us having the same goal!”  On my own, I would have just started watching shows another way, but his encouragement and dedication was really powerful to me.

In other news, you might have missed the Facebook Live where I explained what Fit Mama is. Our next challenge starts Monday!!!! If you are already a Grocery Shrink member it’s free to join the challenge. If you aren’t a member…well, why not? You can take care of that here.

When My Life Changed in 4 Weeks

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There’s something about an organized, fresh, and well styled room that changes my whole mood.  It wasn’t long ago that my room was so horrible–dirty, disorganized, and with 40 year old paint and carpet.  It was the first thing I saw every morning and the last thing I saw every night.  It felt like a project too big to handle on my own and I was hopeless and depressed. Then someone stepped in and changed my life.  Myquillin Smith’s Cozy Minimalist course broke down the process into manageable steps and helped me take my bedroom from this…

to this…

in 4 weeks, on a tiny budget.  I paid $80 for the course and would do it again in a heartbeat.     I’m excited to announce that you don’t have to.  The Cozy Minimalist course is one of the 106 courses and resources included in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.  You can get the whole package plus 18 bonuses for jus $29.97.  Crazy! If just 1 or 2 of the resources are what you need right now, it’s a good value. Click any of the pictures below to see all it includes:












Changing my environment was life-changing.

 

 

$6 Left

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Last weekend I finally ventured to Costco for the month and when I was done, I had $6 left for food in April.  It’s been awhile since I ran out of money this early in the month and I know exactly what happened.   Marshmallows and All Beef Hot Dogs several times a week add up. Plus they taste really good with chips and soda…also expensive and not healthy.

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Our new fire pit is so much fun, but I didn’t know what else to cook out there at first.  We’ve since broadened our horizons.   Marinated chicken and homemade whole wheat bread dough will roast on a hot dog fork.  And oh man!!! They are delicious.  You can also fork roast vegetables (like zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, and onions) and fruits like apples.

But really that’s not the point.  I broke one of my own rules this week and it didn’t end well.

Necessities FIRST! Rare treats after.  

I can have roasted marshmallows once in a while (but 4 bags a week might be overdoing it.)  I just should have made sure that I had enough money for all the essential foods first.

Necessities are any affordable foods that promote health:  In season fruits and vegetables, whole grains like oats, brown rice and 100% whole wheat bread or flour, unprocessed meats, nuts, beans, and some dairy items like milk, butter and cheese.

Rare treats are processed foods like crackers, chips, lunch meats, desserts, sodas, juices, and other beverages. They also might include higher priced healthy foods like steak or fresh raspberries. I’m not saying never buy these, just make sure of the necessities first.

We’ll be ok on $6 this week.  It’s enough to buy a couple of gallons of milk and my pantry is well stocked with enough stuff that we’ll eat just fine.  It’s a good chance to practice my creative pantry cooking skills, but I’ll be doing things differently in May.

The Weather Worn Feather

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One of my favorite parts of running a fitness challenge is gathering up the prizes! The grand prize for the Spring Challenge is this hand painted sign from the Weather Worn Feather.

The Weather Worn Feather is run by husband and wife team Melissa and Jake Lair.  They have 2 small children and started this business using their artistic gifts for their Dave Ramsey debt snowball.

In addition to running their own etsy shop their items are available at the Pink Daisy boutique in the West Market in Kansas City.  There, they also have refinished furniture pieces available for local pickup.

Check out this video showing how they hand make each piece.

We start a brand new fitness challenge in just a few weeks.  Fit Mama includes protein rich meal plans that you can prep ahead for the full week in an afternoon and daily accountability from women just like you.  When life happens, you need the right food ready to grab.