Saving Families Money Since 2007
MissMaesDays.com shows you how to put together some thrifty educational center activities using mostly dollar store supplies.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
1 3-ct pkg Romaine Hearts – $1.99
1 10-lb bag Russet Potatoes – $3.49
1 2-lb bag Red Grapes – $2.38
1 Cauliflower – $1.99
1 4-ct pkg Zucchini – $1.99
1 Spaghetti Squash – $1.99
1 3-lb bag Honeycrisp Apples – $2.98
2 cans Green Beans – $0.98
1 3-lb bag Boneless Chicken Breasts – $6.69
1 head Cabbage – $1.29
1 bunch Bananas (2.62lbs @ 0.43/lb) – $1.13, plus receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51 – $0.88 after rebate
1 2-lb bag Pears – $1.58
1 16-oz container Egg Whites – $2.59
2 1-lb bags Baby Carrots – $1.98
1 bag Mini Sweet Peppers – $2.29
1 bag Spinach – $1.79
1 container Artisan Baby Lettuce – $1.99
I Gallon Milk – $2.99
Total: $41.86
(Super Doubles this week – wahoo!)
2 18-ct cartons Eggs – $3.96
2 boxes Celestial Seasonings Tea – $5.00, used 2 $1/1 Celestial Seasonings Teas, exp. 1/4/16 (SS 10/04/15 R) (doubled) – $1.00/2 after coupons
4 45-oz jars Ragu Pasta Sauce – $6.58, used 2 $1/2 printable (doubled) – $2.58/4
2 24-oz Hormel Always Tender Pork Loin (B1G1) – $11.99, used 2 $2.00/1 printable (doubled) – $3.99/2 after coupons (If anyone has any great recipes using pork loin – let me know! Since they usually cost $12.00 EACH, I figured this was a good deal. :))
1 bag Braeburn Apples, reduced (about 3.5lbs) – $1.00
1 12-oz pkg Sorrento String Cheese – $3.50, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $1.50 after coupons
2 Yakisoba Japanese Noodles – $1.60, used $1/2 Maruchan Bowl or Yakisoba, exp. 12/31/15 (SS 08/16/15) (doubled) – FREE after coupons
2 4-ct pkgs Dannon Activia Yogurt – $3.98, used 2 $1/1 printable (doubled) – FREE after coupons
4 International Delight Coffee Creamers – $6.67, used 2 $1/1 printable (doubled), and 2 $1.00/1 printable (doubled) – FREE after coupons
2 Challenge Butter (B1G1) – $2.99, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled), plus receive $0.20 back from Ibotta – $0.20 MM after coupons (It’s not every day that I paid to buy butter! :))
1 32-oz Tazo Chai Tea Latte Concentrate – $4.29, used $1.50/1 printable (doubled), plus $1.50/1 evic – $0.21 MM after coupons
Total after Coupons: $13.60
Weekly Menu Plan
Breakfasts
Oatmeal with Fruit (from the freezer) x 3
Eggs and Toast x 2
Cereal x 2
Lunches
Yogurt, Carrots, Apple with Peanut Butter
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Carrots, Bananas
Tuna Fish Sandwiches, Peppers, Pears
Build-Your-Own-Tossed Salad, Cheese Sticks
Leftovers x 3
Dinners
Venison Roast with Carrots in the Crockpot, Baked Potatoes, Biscuits
Homemade Cheese Pizza (trying this make ahead sourdough recipe for the crust), Tossed Salad
Chicken Noodle Soup (with homemade noodles), Easy Whole Wheat Muffins
Spaghetti, Homemade Dill Bread, Roasted Cauliflower
Chinese Chicken Stir-Fry, Brown Rice, Grapes
Hotdogs, Relish Plate, Chips, Apples (campout)
Leftovers
Snacks
Easy Whole Wheat Muffins, Apples with Peanut Butter, Popcorn, Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
As you all know, we recently flew to South Africa and back, with three kids in tow. We flew Delta from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa — a 15-hour flight each way!
The longest flight any of our kids had been on was a 5-hour flight, so I was a little concerned how they would do — especially since they were quite nervous about the flight.
As a result, I tried to do the best I could to prepare well for the flight. We learned a lot about flying with kids, and I wanted to share 10 things you should bring on long flights with kids. Or, at least 10 things we found were very helpful to have:
We packed backpacks for each person with a change of clothes, Dramamine, socks, a neck pillow, a blanket, a few activities, snacks, headphones, and a few other items. This made it so nice for everyone to have what they needed with them. It also simplified things since every one was responsible for their own items.
One of my readers recommended this and it turned out that these were a lifesaver. We used them to wipe off our seatback trays, wipe down the video screens, wipe down dirty hands and mouths, and even to clean up a big bloody nose one child ended up having.
We had all of the kids pack an extra pair of clothes and socks in their backpacks, just as a precaution. We ended up not needing the extra outfit for anyone (gratefully!), but I was so happy to have them just in case.
We also had everyone bring a sweatshirt and wear very comfy PJ-like clothes for the flights. You want to be as comfortable as possible when you’re going to be on a plane for that long!
I had the kids take off their shoes as soon as they were all situated in their seats and put on comfy socks. This helps your feet circulate better and is just more comfortable, too! I also brought slippers with rubber soles for me to wear and loved having these on during the flight.
It’s possible we may have stocked up a little too much on the Dramamine, but I didn’t want to take any chances seeing as I had thought I’d be just fine without Dramamine on my January trip to South Africa and quickly discovered I wasn’t quite so fine.
We discovered that Dramamine actually sort of hyped the girls up, unfortunately. But it was perfect for Silas. And Jesse and I took some for the middle part of the flight, too, so that we were able to sleep and our upset stomachs were quelled.
Good noise-canceling headphones were such a lifesaver. We brought a pair for each person and they were each a different color.
The kids not only loved having their own color-coded headphones, but they were great for listening to music and watching movies. Plus, they wore them to cancel out the noise so they could sleep.
If you’re going to try to sleep on a plane, having a great pillow can make all the difference. This is my favorite travel neck pillow and it’s the only thing that allowed me to get hours of good sleep on the plane.
You have to fuss with it a little bit to get it situated just right and I propped a blanket up on it to help give me a little extra support, but if you get it just right, it’s SO comfortable.
You’ll get a thin blanket when you board a long flight, but it’s still nice to bring your own — in case you are really cold or to serve as an extra pillow. I love this blanket especially.
The girls being silly before our flight took off! 🙂
Eye masks are another must. You never know what the people around you will be doing — they might have their light on for most of the night (as did the lady sitting next to Silas) or their TV or iPad might be shining right in your line of sight.
Eye masks helped our kids be able to fall asleep and sleep more soundly. By the way, they usually give them to you for free on longer flights.
We found the food to be fairly decent on the plane, but it was nice to have some extra snacks for one of the meals that was less than appetizing. Plus, it was a nice treat to enjoy when the flight was feeling especially long.
Do not try traveling with three kids on over 30 hours (total) on planes without a complete sense of humor. Laugh at everything you can laugh at — including yourself!
On the first flight, the last hour or so was grueling. The kids hadn’t slept much (more on that in a bit), everyone was so ready to be off the plane, and I was just tired of trying to redirect and correct bad attitudes.
I tried to come up with anything and everything we could to laugh about and distract ourselves from the fact that we had been on a plane for over 14 hours. And it helped make those last 60 or so minutes not drag by so slowly or painfully.
You’re going to need lots of extra doses of patience to survive a long flight with kids. So pack as much as you can to bring with you. 🙂
I tried to get extra sleep ahead of time and come to the flights with very little expectations other than that we would make it to our final destination in one piece. I also went into the flights remembering that my kids were scared and anxious and that this would probably play into their attitudes… and it did.
So when they were reacting in an irritated way, I tried to remind myself that, yes, those attitudes were not good, but I needed to give extra grace to them because they were stepping way outside their comfort zone in this. So instead of correcting them as firmly as I may have in another situation, I tried to ask them questions like, “How are you doing?” “How are you feeling?” Because I knew that more than stern correction right then, they needed love, empathy, and reassurance.
Since this was our first big trip with kids in tow, we learned a lot. Here are three of the most important lessons:
3 Things We Learned
1) We needed to set boundaries ahead of time. On our first 15-hour flight, we sort of had an anything goes attitude. I just wanted to survive and I was happy with our kids doing whatever it took to make it through with decent attitudes.
The problem was that I didn’t set any boundaries ahead of time: like on when they needed to have lights out and movies shut off. So because we didn’t have boundaries set in place, they just wanted to watch movies for hours. Which meant that they didn’t want to sleep. And this made for very grumpy kids.
On the way home, we set the boundaries ahead of time, reiterated them, and took away the headphones and we turned off all of the electronics during a long stretch of the nighttime. This worked SO mu
ch better and the kids actually ended up sleeping well and the flight went very smoothly.
2) Delta has different rules than South African airlines. I don’t know why I assumed that an international flight with Delta would be exactly like it was with South African airlines, but I did. And I quickly learned that wasn’t the case.
When I flew South African airlines in January, they had a “blackout” time during the night — I’m not sure what it was officially called, but for what felt like 10 hours, no one was allowed to turn on their overhead light, talk above a whisper, or do anything other than sleep, quietly get up to go to the bathroom, or watch a movie or read on a device.
I wrongly assumed it would be the same on Delta. So I assumed it would be no problem at all for our kids to fall asleep and stay asleep for at least 8-10 hours.
Instead, Delta had no such “blackout” time and many people had their overhead lights on all night — including one lady right next to Silas — and people were constantly up, talking, congregating around the restroom, and so forth.
It wasn’t incredibly loud, but it was quite distracting for my kids and kept them from being able to sleep as much — especially on the first flight since they were already so nervous.
3) Always double-check your seat when you leave. Oh how I wish we had done this! My bag with all my medicines, vitamins, supplements, my contacts, my glasses, and deodorant didn’t make it out of the airport with us when we arrived in South Africa. And it made the first few days of the trip especially hard as we had to try to track down replacements for the can’t-live-without items.
We know that I had the bag on the plane and we think I possibly left it under the seat. I didn’t double-check as thoroughly as I usually do (probably because I was just so ready to be off the plane!!) so we’ll never know.
(The airline checked multiple times and didn’t find it on the plane, so we’re not sure what happened to it. But had I checked thoroughly around my seat before deplaning, I may have found it and saved us a lot of headache in the beginning of the trip.)
What tips and tricks would you add to my list? Anything I forgot or any other questions you have about the plane rides? I’d be happy to try to answer them, if I can.
Do you feel like you need some sort of new skin routine and you don’t know where to start or what to use? If so, you’ll want to check out this giveaway!
Stafanie, a consultant with BeautyCounter, is offering 10 $25 gift cards to her site to readers here this week.
She sent me some samples of the BeautyCounter products to try. I especially loved this Countertime Nourishing Cleansing Balm.
If you’re looking for skin care products that are made with purer ingredients, you’ll want to check out BeautyCounter and be sure to enter this giveaway! If you’re looking for a way to make money from home, they also offer the opportunity to become a consultant.
Beautycounter is a mission based company, aimed at getting safe products into the hands of everyone. It’s about progress, not perfection because every little bit helps!
BeautyCounter is a chic, stylish beauty brand that is committed to the highest standards of safety and performance. They have what they call their “Never List” is made up of 1,500 ingredients that are linked to human health problems that they’ve committed to never use. Read more about it here.
Knowledge is power: To check what’s in your current products go to ewg.org/skindeep (The Skin Deep database from the non-profit Environmental Working Group). Be sure to check any “natural” and “organic” products too!
Would you like to enter to win a free $25 gift card to BeautyCounter? Click on the link below to type in your name and email address to be entered to win. This giveaway ends Friday, October 16, at 11:59 pm, CST. 10 winners will be chosen and posted next week.
Thank you so much to those of you who voted on the next title for our book club!
I’m excited that we have a winner… it’s I Used To Be So Organized by Glynnis Whitwer. This book looks so good and has come highly recommended to me!
If you’d like to join us, you can borrow or buy a copy in the next few days and then plan to join me on Monday where I’ll be scoping and blogging through the book each weekday next week.
The (in)courage blog is hosting a Better Together series right now that is focused on what it looks like to do life in a way that reflects the timely truth that we are better together.
Each Wednesday, they invite different writers from the community to share what doing life Better Together has looked like in real time for them.
I’m honored that this week, Lisa-Jo shares some of my thoughts about going to South Africa and the benefits of being uncomfortable. Here’s a snippet:
My friend Crystal Paine had never traveled further abroad than the Dominican Republic when she took an 18-hour plane ride with me to South Africa.
She was coming to see first hand the community center, water point, and vegetable garden our blog readers had built together through our partnership with Help One Now in South Africa.
It was hot and often uncomfortable. There were plenty of awkward moments. Because anytime you open your door to your neighbor, whether they live across the street or across the globe, it can get bumpy.
I asked Crystal if she’d share some of those moments with you all – a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to walk around in someone else’s shoes and someone else’s story that is so totally different than your own.
Because sometimes that’s the best way to discover what we have in common.
Jessica at Life As Mom has a great post up on how to pay for a big trip with kids without going into debt. Here’s a snippet:
Back in our credit-card toting, debt-defying days, we took a few vacations. We flew to Minnesota to visit family. We drove to New Mexico for a conference once. We spent a weekend in Saint Louis just to say we had done it.
But, we always used credit cards. Typically I felt pretty guilty about it. It wasn’t our money we had spent. And we’d be paying for it long after the laundry was finally washed, and the kids couldn’t even remember the voyage. That was a little disheartening.
In 2009 we paid off the last of our consumer debts. A year later we decided to take our first, bonafide vacation. We drove up the coast, stopping in Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey. We visited the Aquarium, slept in a funky hotel on the beach, and ate pizza at a place we’d never ever heard of. It was fabulous to get out in the world with our kids.
Even better was knowing that it was paid for.
There was no nagging feeling about how to strategize to pay for it nor any worry about whether or not we should or could buy something or do something. There was freedom and a lot of joy.
So, how do you pay for a trip? And how do you swing it with a family?
It’s hard for me to believe that just a week ago we were flying home from our trip to South Africa! It was SUCH a great trip and I can’t wait to tell you more about it!
But I needed time to get over jet lag. Time to process what I’d experienced. And time to feel like I wasn’t walking around just trying to pry my eyeballs open with toothpicks. 🙂
So I’m excited to finally be back to the land of the living and ready to write about the trip. And oh! There is so much I have to share.
I decided to kind of take you on a journey with me, day by day, of our trip. So you could get a little peek into what we experienced, what we learned, and how it impacted us.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll be blogging each afternoon/evening about one day or one aspect of our trip — including what we learned about traveling with young kids, how our kids fell in love with South Africa (even though they were apprehensive at first!), some of the fun adventures we had, and the beauty and hope we experienced in the midst of so much need.
I’ll also be sharing more about the work we are participating in there and how you are making a difference in very specific and tangible ways by purchasing products we sell and visiting this site.
It made me sort of sad to be stain-treating all the red South African soil stains on our clothes… It’s such a beautiful reminder of such a memorable week! But while the soil might wash out of our clothes, our love for South Africa can’t be scrubbed from our hearts. Ever. And now it’s not just me who is smitten; our whole family has fallen fast in love!
Our re-entry has been easier than I expected. Since jet lag was so much worse than I’d envisioned last time around, we cleared our calendar for 5 days after the trip and we took it really, really easy — sleeping at weird times and just letting our kids slowly adjust to the time zone here. We’re mostly all re-adjusted to US time and life has fallen back into a pretty good rhythm (well, other than a not-so-good few hours this morning!)
Here are my goals for this week:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Write a love note to Jesse.
2. Have an at-home Movie Date with Jesse.
3. Finish reading a book with the kids.
4. Watch the Democratic debate as a family (my kids are loving watching all of the debates and discussing all things political right now!)
Personal Goals
5. Start working on a new handwork project.
6. Finish at least one book.
Business Goals
7. Finish article due for my book launch.
8. Do a Money-Making Mom scope each afternoon at 3 p.m. (Are you joining us for this? If not, you can download the Periscope app and search for my name or @MoneySavingMom to join in live. Or, you can watch the replays on Katch.me/MoneySavingMom)
9. Everything done for special Influencer Boxes to go out to about my new book.
10. Write emails to go out to email lists about book launch.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
A few of you have asked me what books I ended up reading on the long 15-hour plane flight to South Africa and back. So I thought I’d give you the rundown of the four books I read (and two I didn’t read):
First off, I read two marriage books: this one and this one. I also read half of this one. {And yes, there’s a reason I’m not writing out the names here — because I don’t need to attract people here who are searching for not-so-great stuff on the web! :(}
This year, one of my Christmas gifts to my husband was my commitment to read at least one marriage book per month. Because I’ve found that it’s helpful to have regular refreshers and tune-ups regarding a healthy marriage.
I also read The Devil in Pew Number Seven. This book came highly recommended to me and while it was pretty good, I felt like it was one of the those instances where the story would have only filled a few chapters, so they added unnecessary filler information just to make it a complete book. However, I thought the story of forgiveness was really moving.
And finally, I read When God Doesn’t Fix It. I was unfamiliar with Laura Story’s background and struggles and really found this book engaging and encouraging. If you or someone you know is going through an ongoing medical situation that you never could have imagined and that there isn’t a real cure for, I think you’ll be very blessed by reading this book.
I had planned to read Still Alice and Big Little Lies. I discovered that the plane had the movie Still Alice available so I ended up watching it instead. I thought it was rather depressing and discouraging and didn’t make me want to read the book. However, it was a good look at what Alzheimer’s is like and what families deal with. The ending felt off and I kept thinking maybe it wasn’t the actual ending… but the credits kept rolling so I finally realized that it was, indeed, the ending — even if it didn’t feel like it should have ended where it did.
I ran out of time to read Big Little Lies, but am hoping to get a chance to read it in the not-too-distant future.
I’m currently reading a pre-release copy of Breaking Busy by Alli Worthington and really being convicted by it. Watch the end of the video here for two of my favorite quotes from chapter one.
We also just finished reading The Sign of the Beaver aloud as a family this morning. We really enjoyed the story and it was very engaging and interesting for all the kids!
In a sort of related note, in case you missed this post on Instagram, I’d love your help to pick next week’s Book Club Book.
https://instagram.com/p/8uPjo9Dz7i/?taken-by=themoneysavingmom
What have YOU been reading recently? I’d love to hear!
Aldi
1 bag Gala Apples – $1.49
2 Grapefruit – $0.59 each
1 Cucumber – $0.59
1 Half & Half – $1.89
1 Cauliflower – $1.89
1 Summer Sausage – $3.79
1 Vegetable Oil – $1.79
1 bag Candy Corn – $1.29 (I’ll put this in my fall candy dish!)
1 dozen Eggs – $2.49
1 pkg Red Grapes – $1.78
1 pkg Green Peppers – $0.99
1 pkg Rice Cakes – $1.29
1 Grape Jelly – $1.59
1 Mayonnaise – $1.89
1 Raisins – $2.89
1 Salsa – $1.89
1 Celery – $1.29
1 Flour Tortillas – $1.19
Total with tax ($2.48): $35.57
Dillons
1 gallon Milk – $1.99
1 bag Potatoes – $0.99
3 Muller Greek Yogurts – $0.88 each
1 pkg Thomas Bagels – $1.99
3 bag Tyson Frozen Chicken Breasts – $4.98 each, used $1.25/1 mailer coupon – $4.56 each after coupon
1 Kroger Frozen Orange Juice – $1.59
Total with tax ($1.93): $24.82
Homeland
5 Best Choice Chunk Cheese – $1 each
4 Libby’s Canned Green Beans – $0.50 each, used $1/4 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon
1 Celestial Seasonings Tea – $2.59, used $1/1 coupon from the 10/4 SmartSource insert (doubled) – $0.59 after coupon
1 Activia Yogurt – $2, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon
Total after coupons: $5.59
Total for all stores: $65.98
Cereal x 2
Toast & Eggs x 2
Bagels & Fruit
Oatmeal x 2
Peanut Butter & Jelly Rice Cake Sandwiches, Veggies
Tossed Salad & Cottage Cheese
Hot Dogs, Grapes
Lunch at parents
Free pizza from Papa Johns (We’ve accumulated enough points for free pizza!)
Baked Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli
Leftovers
Chicken Almondine, Steamed Cauliflower
Dinner at in-laws
Summer Sausage, Cheese, Crackers, Sliced Veggies
Venison Roast, Potatoes, Carrots
Chicken Fajitas, Tossed Salad
Bean Burritos, Grapefruit
Hawaiian Haystacks
Guest post from Cheri of CheriRead.com
When I started college (in my late twenties as a single mom) I had no idea where to turn for extra financial help. Pell grants and student loans were readily available, but I knew I needed more. I couldn’t live in the dorms or share an apartment with a bunch of co-eds, nor did I want to.
I started out my first year working two jobs at a time and never getting to spend much time with my kids. I needed an easier way to save and make more money so that I could complete my degree quickly but still have a life.
Thankfully, after doing a little digging I found $20,000 in extra savings — here’s how I did it:
Total savings: $14,400.
This was my first requirement when I transferred to a four-year university. The average rent costs, including utilities, at that time where I lived were about $700 on the low end.
Our university housing cost was $300 per month, including utilities. That’s a big savings!
Total savings: $5,400.
Seriously. You would not believe the things you can do on a college campus for money. All you have to do is ask!
After a few months of living in my campus apartment, I noticed the trash was always running over in the laundry rooms and the light bulbs were always out. So I went to my housing department and asked if they needed someone to take care of those issues. It paid off big time.
They offered me the job of apartment manager and knocked half off my rent (including utilities) for the rest of my time there!
Total savings: $2,000.
Most non-traditional students don’t realize that there are scholarships available that they can qualify for, and institutions don’t always make that information readily available.
I received a $500 scholarship each semester for my last two years by asking my School of Business office if there were any extra scholarships I may not have heard of. No one else had applied, so my requirements were minimal.
Total savings: over $1,000.
My college town, along with every college town I know of, has a slew of businesses that offer ongoing discounts to college students. Some businesses have signs posted, but a lot don’t.
I got a list from the student activities office, but I also wasn’t afraid to ask if a business wasn’t on it.
These are just a few of the things I did to shave thousands of dollars off of the cost of my education, but there are many more.
The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to ask!
Are you a single mom thinking about going back to college? If so, what are your concerns?
Cheri Read is a Christian blogger and freelance writer with a passion for helping women discover their callings and fulfill their dreams. You can find her blogging over at CheriRead.com about Christian living and lifestyle improvement.
I Am That Lady is back with another ALDI Freezer Cooking Plan! In this newest plan, she shows you how to make 20 Slow Cooker “Comfort Food” Meals for just $150!
You can see all of the basic details on her blog for the plan or you can purchase the full details (instructions, shopping list, etc.) for a few dollars.
