Free Fresco Taco

Go here for a free fresco taco from Taco Bell.

I heart free...especially food that is ok to eat on my diet!!

Enjoy!

Thanks to Cha Ching On A Shoestring

The Mini Eclairs.....

In our other life, the one with two incomes, we treated ourselves to dinner out every Friday evening. It ranged as to where we would go, but even at the cheapest fast food places such as McDonalds or Taco Bell our total would be close to $25. Multiply that by 4 and we have spent $100 in a month on eating out one day a week, add more for those weeks when we went someplace nicer. $100 is almost two weeks of my new grocery budget - yikes!!!

Today as I was waiting to pick up the kids I had pretty much talked myself into letting this tradition continue until I reminded myself that if we are going to make it on one income then some things have to change and this was going to have to be one of those things. We can make the same memories at home eating store bought or homemade food just as well as sitting at a restaurant, actually better, because there will be no memeories of being glared at because your 2 year old is having a hard time sitting still or feeling guilty because as you are leaving you glance down at the floor under where your kids were sitting only to see that all the food that fell to the floor is equivalent to an entree at least... which means that hardly any food made it to the mouth and as soon as we walk in the door there will be cries of hunger. I digress..... I do that alot, don't I?

Kids picked up and off to Aldis we go. I decided this week I was going to do our grocery shopping there since we didn't need a whole lot, mainly fresh fruits and veggies. Wanting to find something easy for us to eat tonight was on the agenda too, since up until then I had thought we would be going out. Kirkwood southern style chicken, fries, mac & cheese and applesauce. Settled - that is what we would have....

Then we passed them, the mini eclairs..

The BEST mini eclairs...

I tried to resist, I promise I did, but something stronger than me made me pick them up...

Then a little voice in my head told me it was alright, no guilt needed. I traded in a $25 meal out for a $5 box of mini eclairs.

Dining out with family.......$25 or more

Southern style chicken, fries, mac & cheese & applesauce.... $7.62 (see, you can eat just as unhealthy at home and for a lot cheaper!!!)

Mini Eclairs with no guilt attached......PRICELESS





That my friend is a finer thing in life!



Visit Amy here for Finer Things Friday!


Happy Friday all!!!

Do I Get an "A" for effort?

Well, for starters let me do a little happy dance.... yesterday was my last day working outside the home!!!

Ok - so back to what I wanted to post about. I have been mulling over what we should budget weekly for our groceries... the same number pops in my head... $60/week for our family of 6. Soooo, I figured this week I would give that amount a whirl.


The results?


$62.65... not too bad, but still over. In my defense and to my utter shame, that was without coupons......gasp.... This past week was crazy being my last week and Brian's long week, so I didn't get the time or make the time to look over sale ads and match with the coupons.

At any rate though, I did stick to my new rule and that is any meat I purchase must be less than $2/lb. I did fairly well there getting a whole turkey breast for $1.19/lb, porksteaks for $1.69 a pound, pork roast for $1.99/lb and chicken breasts for $1.96/lb. So pork and poultry it is this week!! Maybe not, I do have some beef that I purchased on a previous shopping trip in the freezer, so we will be able to mix it up a bit!

I will update next week with my $60 or less grocery shopping challenge for myself!

Inspiring...Motivating....Appetizing....

Apparently this week was baking week in the blogasphere, most of the blogs that I read daily had some sort of baking going on.... Crystal made muffins, waffles, lasanga and a whole lot more on her baking day. She included recipes too... yummy! Amy made some ever so tempting to the tummy cinnamon rolls, that she has promised to post the recipe for soon - I can't wait,although, I am pretty sure that I gained weight just looking at the pics of them! And Jen made some scrumptious looking banana pancakes and muffins.

Even though I didn't get to partake in baking during the week, I am thinking that tomorrow will be a great day to do a little baking...maybe some of those banana pancakes, something with apples... I was able to buy a good deal of apples that were on sale this week at Dierbergs. Hmmmmm... I will see what else I have the ingredients handy for and report back!

Chik - Fil - A Free Sandwich on Labor Day...

All you have to do is wear your favorite sports team logo and you will receive a free chik-fil-a original sandwich!! Read about it on their website here.

Menu Planning

Before we decided that I would be leaving my current position, we really had to take a look at our budget (if that is what you want to call what we had going) and see exactly where the money that I was bringing home was going. Much to our dismay, one thing that we saw was the amount of eating out we did, whether it be Brian and I grabbing a bite to eat on our lunch breaks or me just running through the drive through on the nights that Brian is at work. Feeding our size family at even the cheapest of fast food places is not so cheap!
Realizing that eating out will have to be a thing of the past, I am thinking now is the time to start practicing living with a menu plan. This not only will do wonders for our budget, but eating out is just plain unhealthy!
I am also hoping to incorporate new recipes into my meal plans that my family will like.
My goal is to have our menus for the week planned out and posted by Monday... I have found another blogger who does Meal Planning Mondays - check her out right here. She along with other bloggers will share there menus for the week with recipes, so I am sure I won't have any problems coming up with new things!

The last week for Arby's wednesday Deals!

Tomorrow is the last Wed. that Arby's will be giving away freebies. The special up is a free roast beef & cheddar sandwich with the purchase of any size drink! Gotta love free!