BOOK SALE!!

AHHHH book sale right now the Lindgren's children center is having a book sale 2 for a dollar. GO buy books...NOW. Lots of kids books.

Coupons and such

So I was looking in to coupons in general, and I discovered something really neat. Most of the local businesses I go to will honor a coupon, even if I am not holding it (so long as it is an in store coupon.) Not just because it is decent, but because it does indeed pay to shop local, if they know your name and face you get the bonus of being a  regular customer. Use this type of social currency when and if you can. But don't over use it. If you get to be known as the "can I sample it." Person at the deli counter that's just wrong.

This is a really good dish using Easter leftovers, ham and scalloped potatoes. it's simple to prepare so it's almost like taking a break from cooking too. Take some leftover ham and chop it in to chunks, take fresh or leftover boiled potatoes and slice them. Fry some bacon and onions (or just chopped onions if you prefer, but then use butter to fry them) use the lard from the bacon and a couple of tablespoons of flour to make the base for a rue. Then alternate adding shredded cheese (any kind is good though I prefer a nice sharp cheddar,) and cream(unwhipped leftover heavy cream works) or milk till your sauce reaches a desired thickness and cheesiness. I usually end up with about a cup of sauce and use 3/4 of a small bag of cheese. Then layer potatoes and ham till your casserole dish is full adding sauce with each layer and if  you have it also sprinkling cheese. Be sure to start and end with potatoes, because ham gets crusty in the oven if left uncovered. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 if you are using leftover ingredients for an hour if you are using fresh potatoes. A dis so cheesy and good even your kids will eat it.

Easter and the big spend

So last weekend was Easter, and as good bunnies do the Easter Bunny came to my house. I love my kids, most mom's do, but lets not forget that a little goes a long way. I decked out 5 Easter Baskets for under a hundred dollars, including candy AND baskets. Here are some of my simple tips. Know your audience (and mine was pretty wide.) I have a seven year old, a five year old and a one year old, not to mention myself and a friend. I went light on the candy and bought a dvd  for everyone (except the seven year old) The dvd's were five dollars at Walmart. I left the candy till the last minute, why, because it gets marked down, way down. I also put a small (under ten dollars) toy in each basket, and rather than buy individual candy I broke up big packs. For my seven year old it was gamestop all the way, using my power up card I got two Nintendo DS games for twelve dollars and a third one FREE, the third one I kept for me. And of course everyone got a bunny, because it isn't Easter till you have had your bunny ear for breakfast.

The most important thing I did to save money was skipping out on the junk in my baskets. I don't buy fancy Easter grass, or little plastic eggs. Like wise I got ice cream pail style "baskets" because your kids hate those evil splinter giving wicker ones. Look forward to my nifty easter leftover recipes this week too.

SALE!!!!!

Okay that was dramatic. Just like every store  I walk in to, how come everything seems to be on sale but the only real deals are on the clearance rack? Because SALE! motivates you to buy. I mentioned this before. The thing is with clothes shopping, go in with an agenda, and a price range. If you have to buy new (and I would REALLY suggest checking out Goodwill, Savers, Plato's Closet, Clothes Mentor, or Once Upon a Child) say to yourself "I want a pair of Jeans that looks good for under $20" and hunt.  I'd also like to point out Goodwill has a toddler day on Thursday where a good majority of their kids clothes are a dollar or less.

This weekend.

Exciting stuff this weekend for St. Cloud area parents. The boat house at Lake George is opening. St. Patrick's Day is coming, and of course the art crawl is this weekend as well. he art crawl is a great event for kids and parents, you get a chance to check out some amazing down town businesses and quite a few of them have free food. There are lots of demo's for the kids to see how things are done, and a free look at what art is for the young, and the young at heart.

Minnesota Children's Museum

What??? Costly??? Never check out this need based membership program....one year for free, if you're a low income parent this is a great deal. Want some arts and culture on the sly locally check out the St. Cloud State Art Department as well as the Paramount and the theater series at St. Johns and St. Ben's .

Shopping much?

     So, lots of my friends disparage shopping being naturally as spendthrift as the author of this blog. The worst complaint (from my friends who pay cash for groceries,) is the cost of food. I figured I'd throw out a few tips for grocery shoppers to cut costs.
    Tip 1: Meal plan, don't just indiscriminately buy what you're hungry for, plan meals. When I buy and cook chicken breasts I divide it in to three portions, that's meat for three meals. I plan meals that include chicken, usually one pasta with chicken, one salad with chicken, and one savory barbecue dish or casserole. If you know exactly what you need, your not going to grab everything off the shelf at random, and load up on cupboard place holders like fruit snacks or doritos. Also I use all my leftovers when I meal plan for new dishes, which means less waste. 

     Tip 2: Check your ads twice. Your grocery store puts stuff on sale all the time, only it's not ACTUALLY on sale. It's the same price it was last week with big bold sale letters on it, or it's a whole penny cheaper. This works for people who go "ooo what a deal we'll stock up!" Stores have been doing this FOREVER. So don't be fooled.

     Tip 3: Stock up ONLY if it is incredibly cheap. Stores run sales, like 5 for $25 or $20 meat sales. This is a good time to stock up. Other than that buy what you need and get out. The longer you linger the more stuff you don't need you'll end up buying. I spend roughly forty bucks a week, and then do one big stock up shop for dry goods, and meats for the month. When I stock up on meat my grocery bill including my weekly $40, is around $100. When I stock up on dry goods it's between $60-$80 that also includes my weekly $40.

     That means I spend around $260 a month on a family of three, mind you this is just on food. It doesn't include diapers, or toilet paper, or any of those types of things. I rarely use coupons, I use these tips and buy fresh fruits for snacks. My kids are light eaters too. I know how much they eat, I don't over buy for their appetites. I don't buy prepackaged treats and junk. I do however let them pick out a candy or ice cream every time we go shopping. Now depending on how much your family eats you may not get off so easy, but you'll definitely shave off more than pennies doing it this way.

Spring Break

    Spring Break has officially sprung. Lot's of families go on fancy spendy vacations for this week long holiday. What's a cheap mom to do? Staycation. With lot's of very cool budget friendly things to do here in the St. Cloud Area, it's a cinch. The Stearns History Museum is running an exhibit on the history of the girls scouts in the Minnesota and Wisconsin area, which is sure to make any little girls excited. They are also running a piece on Natural Disasters. The Library is running Teen Tech Week this week for those of you with bigger Kids, and they are running a special Spring Story Time event for those of you with little ones. Also there is still Ice Skating going on just not on the lake, luckily there are some ice rinks right in town. By all means don't forget to go sledding/tubing you can either pay the piper and go to Powder Ridge, or just hit up a park with a decent sized hill in your neighborhood.

Cheap easy flowers

The Crayola website has lots of neat craft ideas like these tye dye flowers http://www.crayola.com/crafts/detail/tropical-hibiscus-bouquet-craft/ They're cheap to make and a fun way to celebrate the coming of spring. The tye dye coffee filters are also great for making leis if you want to have a pretend luau and all sorts of other imaginary play, and the cost is about two bucks for a pack of coffee filters, most of theother supplies are common household items.

How to?

The economy is tight and we're all trying to save, but not lose that fun family time, to live life as full as possible on half or less income. My friends always ask me how? How do you make all this great food without breaking the budget? Where do you find all these cool things to go to?

I spend a lot of my time paying attention to what's going on around me. I walk by something like 15 flyers a day for events. Most of them are free. Some are just cheap, pay a cover charge for a date night sure why not? Take my kids skating down at Lake George, you bet. Crafts From coffee filters absolutely.