Our household expenses have skyrocketed lately - partially due to baby and part due to being home more. I am working hard to make every purchase be as productive as possible.

Target has a deal on toilet paper - I was able to get TWO packages of 48 Double Rolls for $29.25. They have a subscription promotion, I used my Redcard Debit card.

Then I used a $25 gift card I earned on a diaper deal from the other day. After all that, I paid $4.25 out of pocket for 96 double rolls of toilet paper. Can't beat that deal!

I also got a great deal on paper towels as well. Two Bounty Huge Rolls (set of 8)at discount for $26.59. I used a $20 gift card from my deal the other day, paying $6.59 out of pocket.

We still have $20 in Target gift cards from the Diaper deal. I am keeping an eye out for a good paper towels deal LOL

I also was notified by babies'r'us that their promotion for our Baby Registry has hit. They gave us a $169.38 gift card to use there by Feb 23, 2016. That will go a long way! We also still have $200 in BRU gift cards that we have been gifted. I hope to use them well.

Lots of updates. I ran a bunch of errands today - so bunches of spending. Vet (27.99), gas (36.91), Acme,(41.52) Farmer's market(9.14) and Walmart groceries(23.86) and Walmart cat litter (5.36).

I saved $2 at the vet by pointing out a price discrepancy.

I broke out my new crockpot and made BBQ Shredded chicken for dinner tomorrow. Then headed out to my HOA meeting.

I cancelled my plans to hang out at home. I plan on doing some online points earning, laundry and cleaning. All meals were had at home

I have gotten several freebies in 2012:
-2012 pocket calendar
-craft paper from 2 gift wrap rolls
-3 Kindle books (recent ones)
-$10 credit Groupon for shopping locally
-Publix wine bag
-Personalized Valentines Day card
-2 snack bags of chips
-Shoprunner 2 year membership ($79 value)
-1KB memory card

I also have really hadd a good start on my Free Christmas 2012 Challenge: $70 total

-$20 Serve.com checks
-$20 Mastercard promo
-$15 Amazon giftcards from Swagbucks
-$5 amazon giftcard from Bing Rewards
-$5 check from Synovate
-$5 Toys r us rewards

I also have pending:
-$58.15 from Cashcrate
-8,973 points with MyPoints (another 2,000 pending)
-$11.27 Inbox Dollars (need $30 to cash out)

Went grocery shopping this morning. I hit up Acme, the farmer's market & Walmart and got some good deals.

Acme:
1 pound pasta - $0.25 (after coupon)
Red Wine Vinegar - $2.19
Ranch Mix - $0.69
4 Pack Acme dressing mix - 1.89
2 bags Lettuce - $5.00
TOTAL OOP: $10.02

Farmer's Market:
3 cucumbers - $1.00
4 tomatoes - $1.76
Celery - $1.29
5 pound potatoes - $2.49
TOTAL OOP: $6.54

Walmart::
25fl oz - $6.48
Ketchup - $2.68
3 cans tuna - $2.46
1 Pound bag mini pretzels - $1.48
10 mini bags microwave popcorn - $2.98
FF Cottage cheese - $2.68
Light Sour Cream - $1.58
Dozen Eggs - $1.88

Today's lunch was a quick pasta salad. Tonight will be Sunday Dinner at the boyfriend's. Its not my week to cook, so dinner is free AND I get to have tacos for dinner

Meals/Work snacks for this week:
Hard boiled eggs
Oatmeal
Cottage Cheese
Apple
Celery & low fat ranch dip
Pretzels
Salad with tuna
Pasta salad
Meatloaf muffins
Sloppy joe
Spaghetti
Chicken
Taco salad

My December Lunch Challenge Goal is to pack breakfast, lunch & snacks for all but 3 days between 12/5 and 12/31

Happy Friday All! It's been a stressful week and I am looking forward to some relaxing this weekend.

Today was payday, so I budgeted out everything:

In cash, I have:
$40.00 towards Wine Tour
$77.49 towards Groceries
$90.00 Entertainment spending

I paid some bills:
Mortgage
Electric
Reimbursed mom for some Halloween Decorations

And I bought Groceries
-Acme $5.49
-Farmer's Market $10.30
-Walmart $29.46

My manager let us out early (WOOO) and I was able to get all my errands done & get home by 2:30. I had time to clean my room, prep food for the wine tour tomorrow, clean the bathroom and help the new roommate move a dresser upstairs. She has her stuff here, but will start actually living here tomorrow.

Once she left, my previous roommate came by & picked up the last of her stuff. She gave me the $75.00 she owed me and the keys. I did an inspection and found that she left a couple of things:

-1/2 bottle of Pino Grigio
-1 clean tupperware bowl & lid
-a bunch of salad dressings (1/2 used)
-1/2 jar of vodka sauce
-protein shake
-1 full large, unopened bottle of V8 Splash
-3 bags of frozen mixed veggies
-1 bag frozen steamer red potatoes
-1 bag frozen broccoli
-1 lb ground turkey burgers (frozen)
-1 bag broccoli & rice
-1 bag Tyson grilled chicken strips
-2 opened 1/2 full bags of veggies

Most of it usable - I will get rid of the opened veggies (freezer burn), vodka sauce & some of the dressings - but all the freezer food is good and healthy! So Yay Freebies. I then had to move all the food around in the freeze to free up 1/2 the space for the new roomie.

And since I did that, I took a freezer inventory: (boring, I know - but its really good for planning)

-1 1/2 bags turkey pepperoni
-2 - 4packs of breaded chicken patties
-6 servings chicken breast
-4 frozen turkey burgers
-1 container lime sherbert
-4 tilapia fillets
-2 1/2 bags Morningstar crumbles
-1/2 loaf bread
-4 veggie burgers
-4 servings turkey bacon
-1 bag no sugar added strawberries
-1 bag no sugar added blueberries
-1 bag broccoli
-1 pint blueberries
-8 bagel thins
-1 bag broccoli & rice
-3 bags mixed veggies
-1 bag grilled chicken strips
-4 pack water ice
-9 meatloaf muffins
-4 servings sloppy joe
-3 cinnimon raisin bagel thins

The rest of my night will be dinner, making the rest of food for the wine tour tomorrow, cleaning up the kitchen & dusting/vaccuming the empty room. Hope everyone has a good night!

The trip to Oktoberfest in Munich & to Amsterdam was phenominal. Came in under 'budget', but unfortunately some of the trip still went on a card. This was a splurge that I financially shouldn't have done, but mentally/emotionally, I needed.

I am home now & back to living frugally. I did buy fast food dinner on the way home from the airport Friday night.

Saturday, I had lunch with my parents at Olive Garden ($10) and completed some grocery shopping (approx $27).

Today, I went to the Farmer's Market and spent about $17 on TONS of fresh produce. I went to an Arbonne party at my sister's house (free food) and may buy 1 item at 50% off ($9.00). I will make the purchase tomorrow. And for going to the party, I received a set of make up brushes (which is actually needed).

As for the trip, I did come home with some toiletries. I found the complimentary body wash & shampoos in the (CLEAN/EMPTY) trash can in the hotel room - so I took them. All brand new, no reason to toss!

I am eating at home today, catching up on DVR'd shows & enjoying getting the house in order.

My roommate is moving out today & the new roommate is moving in Thursday-ish. She already gave me the deposit money & will provide the rent on her move in date.

I have goals for this week: $20 in entertainment money & I plan on packing breakfast/lunch/snacks for each work day this week. NO uncessary spending!

I plan on getting pictures uploaded tonight - expect some fun ones!

I'm having a great weekend. I didn't get much of my To-Do list done, BUT I did get lots of Me time & much needed rest.

Friday, I fixed a coworker's WorkAtHome access. Only took me a few minutes & I got a beer out of the deal Afterwards, I was able to come home & enjoy some dvds from the library and shows on the dvr while decluttering my kitchen.

Saturday, I did some grocery shopping & was able to score some good deals. I took an inventory of the pantry, freezer & fridge and made a meal plan.

Sat night, my BF came over & we watched the Original Fright Night and I made dinner. Used up frozen breaded chicken patties,pasta sauce from & a 1/2 box of macaroni noodles from the pantry & some mozzerella, green beans & salad from the fridge.

This morning, I made breakfast from stuff in the fridge & pantry. I have been doing some organizing & cleaning, prepped food to pack to work this week, and am resting before going to my boyfriend's house for our weekly True Blood Dinner with our friends.

Hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did

I haven't gotten everything I wanted to off the To-Do list this weekend. But I have accomplished what I needed, which was getting some serious downtime.

Friday I went to a coworker/friend's after work & helped fix a problem with her computer. Payment was in beer, it only took 5 minutes

Then I went home and did some kitchen decluttering & laundry & watched a bunch of library movies & DVR'd shows!

Saturday, I did some grocery shopping & then took an inventory of my fridge, freezer & pantry. Did some meal planning! I am out of grocery funds

Saturday night, the BF came over. We watched the original Fright Night on dvd. I made dinner with breaded chicken patties I found in the freezer & a half box of macaroni noodles & pasta sauce from the pantry. Salad from the farmer's market trip. He supplied ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

This morning, I made scrambled eggs with cheese & hashbrowns and tonight I will be getting a nice dinner at his place, so we're even

I am spending the day watching DVR/Netflix doing some organizing, paperwork & cleaning. Heading to my parents to pick up something then to the his place to hang out before dinner.

Just finished prepping a bunch of food for this week! Some partially prepped, some fully.

Breakfasts and morning snacks:
3 servings almonds (Mon-Wed)
5 servings strawberry yogurt (Mon-Fri)
5 servings celery & carrots with ranch dip (2 made, 3 to be made) (Mon-Friday)
4 servings cottage cheese (Mon-Thurs)

Lunches/Afternoon snacks:
Salad with macaroni leftovers (Mon)
Salads (Tues-Fri)
Leftover breaded chicken patties (Tues, Thurs)
Tuna sandwiches (to be made )(Thurs-Fri

Meal Plan for Dinners: Will be home for dinner Mon, Wed, and Thurs
Chicken taco salad
Shake n Bake chicken & potatoes
Chicken patty & macaroni (leftovers)

Well, yesterday I paid all of my bills and I am now left with entertainment & grocery spending between now & the 31st. Fun!

I went to Acme with some coupons - 1 manaufacturer and 2 Acme (for their rebranding of Everday Essentials pasta & sauce).

I purchased:
vinegar
1 jar EE pasta sauce
2 boxes EE whole wheat pasta
4 cans Progresso soup
1 large bag of chips
1 box Barilla pasta
...
For a total of $8.27 after coupons. And when I got home I realized that one of the soups didnt get bagged. So I will be going back for it!

I have $28.66 left in my grocery budget (which is fine because I will only need veggies/fruit/dairy.

I have $59.27 left in entertainment. I am definitely looking to add to this - I have a weekend at a friend's house next weekend. But thats plenty of time to list & sell some stuff on Craigslist!

I am packing my lunch and will continue to do so through September. I am working to sell a bunch of things to add cash to my spending money for Germany next month.

I also have another potential roommate coming to look at my place today. SHe's a friend of a friend & needs a new place as our friend is getting married. SHe would move in around the beginning of October.

Additionally - I received an Ebates check for $9.10. This is going to the Germany fund!

I had an appointment with a rheumatologist today. I was hoping that she could finally give me a definitive answer as to what is wrong with me. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to do that. But she was able to tell me definitively some of the things it's not. She also is sending me for a huge blood workup and an MRI of my neck & head. She also wants me to see a neurologist. So at least I have my next step.

Not to get into much detail, but I am having enough medical issues to affect my day to day living. Which is frustrating, especially since I don't know the cause. In the mean time, I am dealing with the day to day symptoms of my 'mystery disease' and am focusing on the things that I CAN control right now. Which is healthy eating, finances, exercise & organization

I have packed my breakfasts, lunches & snacks all days of the Month but 2 times. So no more buying lunches! I was also provided free lunch twice! So the lunch challenge is going strong!

I have yet to get back into exercise, but I have been doing stretching a few days a week. I am hoping to feel well enough to go to the gym and put in 20 minutes on a treadmill or bike. I plan to start back slow!

Money-wise, there hasn't been a lot of spending. mostly grocery shopping and dinner out with a friend one day. Tuesday is payday, so I have the budget already set up for that.

I already made a meal plan for the week, all of which is Weight Watchers friendly.

Each day, its a given that I will have at least 2 servings of dairy - milk, yogurt, or cottage cheese. I try to get 5 servings of fruits & veggies in a day (sometimes more!). I stick to whole grains when possible.

So here is my Meal Plan:

Saturday
Breakfast: Chocolate milk, banana
Lunch: Pasta salad with tons of veggies & turkey pepperoni
Snack: veggies & dip; pretzels; asian pear
Dinner: Turkey BLT
Snack: Chocolate milk

Sunday
Breakfast: 2 Hard boiled eggs, chocolate milk
Snack: Veggies & hummus
Lunch: Salad with tuna
Snacks: apple, banana
Dinner: Breakfast for dinner- whole grain waffles, sugar free syrup, promise light, turkey bacon & breakfast potatoes

Monday
Breakfast: cottage cheese, blueberry muffin, banana
Snack: veggies & dip
Lunch: Pasta salad with turkey pepperoni
Snack: yogurt
Dinner: Loaded baked potato with cheese, bacon bits & ground turkey

Tuesday
Breakfast: yogurt, 2 hard boiled eggs
Snack: banana, veggies & hummus
Lunch: Salad with tuna
Snack: apple
Dinner: Penne pasta with spinach cheesy tomato sauce


Wednesday
Breakfast: yogurt & cottage cheese
Snack: veggies & dip, animal crackers
Lunch: Salad with turkey pepperoni
Snack: banana and/or apple
Dinner: Meatloaf muffin, baked fries

Thursday
Breakfast: cottage cheese, blueberry muffin & chocolate milk
Snack: 2 hard boiled eggs, veggies & hummus
Lunch: salad, meatloaf muffin
Snack: banana and/or apple
Dinner: Chicken taco wrap

Friday
Breakfast: yogurt, banana
Snack: veggies & dip; pretzels
Lunch: Salad with bacon & pasta
Snack: apple
Dinner: Turkey BLT

I have plenty of grab & go snacks as needed - almonds, animal crackers, all bran crackers, granola bars. I am trying to keep processed foods to a minimum, so they will be used sparingly and fruits & veggies will be my go to snack!

And as someone who is dealing with a daily illness, I have found that I need to prepare as much on the weekend because I am too tired during the week to do much. So many of my meals are easy to pre-make or are quick to make in the evening!

I am trying to get back to my 5 Things List. Tomorrow's 5 Things will be.

1. Attend Weight Watchers meeting
2. Attempt some type of work out
3. Grocery shop
4. Clean out car
5. Laundry