Grocery Savings

I've talked about this before in my blog and people have asked about it in conversation, but I am a big saver when it comes to shopping. My friend Christy introduced me to The Grocery Game about a year and a half ago and I have become a sale nazi. My kids have learned that if it is not in the house then it is not on sale! It has helped us tremendously with our grocery budget and has made me aware of what are good prices and what are not. I used to be the person who just bought everything at Walmart because it was the cheapest or just bought generic. Well, Walmart has us all fooled because they are definitely not the cheapest if you pay attention, and if you watch sales, you don't always have to buy generic.

The basic concept of The Grocery Game is that you choose the store or stores that you are going to shop at, and each weekend, they publish the sale list from that store. Along with that, they list all the coupons that are out that correspond with those items on sale so that you can stock up while things are at the low prices. These coupons are from the newspaper as well as from internet sites. When I first started, I was all about stocking up as much as I could but found that I was still spending a lot. Yes I was getting everything on sale but my bill was still high because I was buying more of everything. After a few weeks, I realized I needed to set my weekly budget and then stay within that range. My budget stays around $50 a week, sometimes less sometimes more, if there are sales on some bigger items (i.e. toilet paper and paper towels). I have the Sunday paper delivered every week for the coupons but also get several off the internet. My friend Christy who introduced me to this, gets several papers so that she can have multiple coupons and stock up more, but she also has a larger family and this works for her. I haven't found a need for that yet.

Some items that I keep stocked are definitely cereal because we eat a lot of it. We have had as many as 12 boxes at once and I never spend more than a $1.50 a box (that is the high end...usually it is around $1 or less). Condiments, spaghetti/sauce, snacks, rice, brownies, canned goods, are some of the things I regularly have because they go on sale often and cheap.

When I went shopping this week, I decided to take a picture of all that I bought just to show the amount that I was able to buy for our weekly groceries for a great price. There are people out there that get even lower than I do, and I am working to figure out all the secrets. But for now, we are saving a ton of money and I enjoy doing it.

First of all this was my greatest savings of the week. 12 big rolls of Bounty paper towels and 24 rolls of Charmin toilet paper are anywhere from $14.99-17.99 depending on the week and where you shop. This week at Randalls they were on sale for $9.99 if I bought two things listed (meaning I could have bought two paper towels, two toilet paper, mix and match, or one with something else on the list.) On top of that already good price, I had a $3 coupon for each one from pgesaver.com (Proctor and Gamble website) which made them $6.99 and then a .25 coupon for each which is tripled to .75 which made them $6.24. I also had a dollar coupon for the Charmin which I got in the mail so the toilet paper was $5.24. Instead of spending a total of $32.98 (Randalls regular price), I spent 11.48! That is a 66% savings!

Above is everything I bought this week at Randalls and Kroger. 9 boxes of cereal, 2 Eggo waffles, two boxes of Nature Valley Granola Bars, 2 bottles of Lea and Perrins Worchestershire Sauce, Sara Lee Bread, 2 Dole 4 packs of peaches, 3 boxes of Crest toothpaste, 4 bars of Oil of Olay soap, 2 bottles of Old Spice Body Wash, a Jennie-O turkey loin, milk, 2 16 oz containers of strawberries, a pint of blueberries, 6 granny smith apples, 3 peaches, a container of cherry tomatoes, grapes, broccoli, 6 cucumbers, 24 pack of water, 2 packs of Orbit gum, and of course the paper towels and toilet paper. Total cost, full price would have been $141.88. I paid $69.68! That is a 51% savings!

That is more than I would normally spend but I restocked all my cereal because we were down to 1 box and then of course I had the toilet paper and paper towels which are something I get every 6 weeks or so. The sale on the cereal was not as good as it can be but we were low so I got what I could for as little as possible. I also bought a lot of fruit because we all eat a lot being home this summer. I have included two more pictures a little more close up so that you can see what I got.

So here was a little view into one of my hobbies I guess you could call it. I have learned a lot and would love to share with anyone who is interested.

Sarah's Garden

I recently finished another book from Thomas Nelson Publishers, Sarah's Garden, by Kelly Long. Set in the Amish country of Pennslyvania, Sarah's passion and natural gift is for the garden she nurtures throughout the year that provides so much for her Amish family. This year though she must step away from what she is most comfortable and run the farmer's stand for her family. It is there she meets the new veterinarian in town, Grant Williams, who has come to run his practice among the Amish community.They are immediately taken with each other but this is a relationship that is forbidden among her family and community. What follows is a struggle between what is right and the feelings that are so real. Can anything come from a love that is so forbidden? This story was an easy yet enjoyable read. For me, I enjoyed learning some of the rules and and reasons behind the practices of the Amish. The story took me into a community that I was unfamiliar with and made it real to me. The characters were well developed and kept me rooting for them throughout the story. The only thing that I was frustrated with in the story was the ending. It ended a little more abruptly than I thought it would. I was hoping the author would develop it better. All in all it was a good story and I enjoyed it!

Love on a Dime by Cara Lynn James

Another great book by Thomas Nelson Publishers, Love on a Dime by Cara Lynn James. The story set in the 1890s in Newport, Rhode Island centers around Lilly Westbrook and her family doing their best to maintain their status in a society where money means everything. During a time when the Astors and the Vanderbuilts were people everyone aspired to be like, there were certain rules to be followed in order remain in the upper eschalon of society. No one in Lilly's social circle, including her family, soon -to-be fiancee, and long-lost beau who has just reentered her life, knows that she pens dime novels under another name. She feels God has called her to write these books but to reveal that she does would destroy her reputation as well as her family's. Two problems arise as Lilly must face protecting her secret as well as her family and choose the man that truly has her heart versus the one that is "socially" right for her.

Cara Lynn James does a great job of quickly establishing the characters and the storyline and keeps your attention until the very end. I enjoy reading historical novels and this was interesting in its revelation of society life in those times. What was required to be in the upper social circle, the rules that must be followed, and the ease it took to quickly fall from grace. James wove a good spiritual lesson into the story with folllowing God's will for your life but that it could come at a cost. Lilly had to make the decision about what was most important: writing these stories and sharing her faith or protecting her family's reputation. The only place I felt the story fell short was developing the spiritual aspect of it. There were times when Lilly prayed for God's guidance but never truly looked for Him to guide her. She constantly handled things on her own, which could be considered a lesson in itself. All in all it was an easy read, entertaining, and I enjoyed it all the way through!

New Book

I am currently waiting on this book from Booksneeze! Can't wait to read it! Watch for my review!

Field Day

The first week in May, Caleb had his annual field day at school. It is always a fun day but this year we were in for a hot one because it was in the afternoon instead of the morning. It was organized well this year though because they split the kids up into two groups and each group did different relays. That way we didn't have to watch all 20+ kids go through 7 or 8 different relays. One group would do a relay and the other group would rest in the shade and have their drinks. I helped out by standing with the kids doing the relays and keeping them cool with spray bottles. In years past, Caleb's team never won much of anything but this year they did pretty well!

Caleb's class waiting for everything to start

His first relay was just running around the cone with a bean bag. 

Cheering his teammates on.

Caleb is so competitive!

Trying to keep as much water in the sponge and getting it to the milk jug.

This relay was the pizza delivery relay. He has on an apron, sunglasses and is carrying a pizza box.

This was called hippity-hop. He said he was really good at this one but he had a hard time staying on. I think they all needed a little more air!

This was all the classes lined up for each relay. At this point I think we were on the last one and so the whole class was participating.

This was Caleb's class and Heath is spraying them with water. He had taken over for me at this point because the other teacher helper never surfaced and I was melting in the heat! Plus I hadn't gotten a chance to take many pictures.

Throwing the chicken in the bucket

Cheering and getting refreshed

Elizabeth was a trooper! The homeroom mom had brought wash cloths and put them in the ice water and gave them to all the kids to keep cool. Very smart!

The kids finished the day up with giant popsicles that  dripped everywhere, but despite the heat it was a lot of fun.

Camping

Again, so much time passes between my posts nowadays! With it being May there are a ton of things going on with school ending just around the corner. But I have lots to share so there will be more posts coming. My last post was about the book I reviewed for Booksneeze, The Heart Mender. I did a drawing and my friend Lisa won the book! Thanks for the comments and for those of you still interested, you are always welcome to borrow mine. I have been watching for my next book but nothing has caught my eye yet. I will let you know when I get it in!
Two weekends ago the families of the Level 5 and 6 boys at gymnastics were invited to go camping out at a family's ranch in Crockett, Texas. Only Caleb has done an overnight camping with Heath so we were looking forward to a fun weekend. By the time we were ready to go, I felt like I had packed half our house. We got up there around 6 Friday night and got everything unpacked and our tent up by 8. The kids had already run off and found friends. The one thing about getting out of the city that I love, is the amazing night sky when the sun sets. One of the parents got a text about 8:30 that said we would be able to see the space station fly over at 8:40. Sure enough we started looking and were able to spot it crossing over us.  By 9 we had even killed our first snake!

With families arriving late and the excitement of friends, it was extremely late by the time I wrangled the kids into the tent but I did and I am glad I did because they were awake when the sun came up. I was able to snag this great photo as the sun came up though!

This was our tent. We borrowed it from Heath's mom and it was quite spacious.

This was a view from the house looking out over "tent city" as we called it. A few more tents were added that day as some more families arrived.

Saturday was filled with tons of activities including fishing, hiking, dirt-biking, four-wheeling, archery, BB guns, water fights and lots of eating! It was hot but we had canopies to hang out under and the kids of course weren't fazed by it. They never stopped going. We had an accident early on with one of the kid's airsoft guns. One of the younger kids picked it up and shot it thinking it was a water gun and it hit Caleb in the side of the head. God was watching over him because if he had not turned his head, it would have been in his eye. I included a picture of the result.

Heath and the kids hanging out fishing

This was the extent to what he caught: weeds!

A sweet picture of Elizabeth!

A front view of the house from the pond. We spent most of our time on the backside of the house where the tents were.

While Daddy was fishing with Caleb, I took Elizabeth on the four-wheeler. She spent the rest of the weekend on the four-wheeler with someone!

Do you think she is having fun?

Caleb learned how to ride a dirt bike. He was timid at first but did a great job and had a lot of fun!

Elizabeth and Daddy on the four-wheeler

We went on a hike over some of the 34 acres of the ranch.

The canopies we set up for shade. They came in handy later when we had about an hour long rain shower as well.

Heath helped Elizabeth shoot the BB gun. 

Caleb ready and waiting to shoot the BB gun.

Breaking up into teams for the water war and listening to the rules.

Each team had a barn to defend their flag. This was Caleb's team getting ready to head to capture the other team's flag.

Elizabeth is on her way with a water balloon and gun! She's ready!

Chaos ensues at the other barn!

Caleb makes off with the other team's flag but it is eventually captured back. I believe the blue flag was eventually captured but everything went haywire with accusations of cheating and Caleb running though stinging nettles which had him screaming on the the ground. If you have ever experienced them you will know the pain! If you haven't, be thankful!

Saturday evening we had a rain shower for about an hour and at the end, I told Heath to go check our tent. Unfortunately what he found was a wet mess. The canopy outside our tent had dumped onto the roof of our tent on one end which then flooded the entrance below it, and then the rain shield failed over our bed and it was soaked! We were very thankful the ranch house had a washer and dryer. We were able to get everything washed and dried and set back up in time for bed. The kids were wiped by the end of the day and were sound asleep when their heads hit the pillow. Sunday we slept a little later and then broke everything down before relaxing and then heading out.

The weekend turned out to be everything we hoped and the kids were begging to stay. All the parents at gymnastics the next night were all sharing about how we were ready for another camping weekend!

The Heart Mender

I told you in my last post that I signed up to review books and yesterday I received my first free copy from Thomas Nelson Publishers called The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews. I have to say I was not let down in the least as you can see since I finished it in one day! Author Andrews tells of some interesting historical artifacts he unearthed in his yard that led him down an interesting path of investigating the story behind them. In the summer of 1942 in the midst of World War II, German submarines have been dispatched to the United States coastline to sink U.S. vessels. One night along the Alabama shoreline, Helen Mason stumbles across an injured German soldier. Due to their bitter pasts and unforeseen present, they have every reason to hate each other. They are suddenly thrust into circumstances that will change them forever. This is a story of true forgiveness and the power it has over the human spirit. My interest was peaked immediately by the artifacts that Andrews found and the pictures he includes. I found myself wanting to know the story as much as he did. The characters and the stories behind their lives opened my eyes to the realities of war and the choices that many were forced to make regardless of how they felt. We all struggle with forgiveness in some way and Andrews brings to light the power that an unforgiving heart can have over anyone's life.

I enjoyed this book immensely and put it down thinking a lot about forgiveness in my own life and where I have allowed bitterness and anger cripple and control me at times. I highly recommend The Heart Mender to anyone as it is filled with historical accuracy, great storytelling, and an inspiring message.

For those of you that are interested, Thomas Nelson publishers was nice enough to send me an extra copy to give away on my blog. If you are interested in reading it and sharing it with the people in your lives, leave me a comment on my blog and I will put your names in a hat and randomly choose a winner. You will have until Friday evening at 5:00 CST. Looking forward to hearing from all of you!