Kids

  • CVS: Spent $0.99 and Got $6 ECB’s Back!

    Hershey Bliss Deal at CVS this week!

    I had to run into CVS real quick to check on another item and picked up this deal. Today I was able to get the Hershey Bliss for $0.99 plus tax ($0.00) making my out of pocket cost $0.99 and received $6.99 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase.  Here is what I purchased.

    • 1 –  Hershey Bliss Dark Chocolate for $5.99

    Here are the coupons I used on the items.

    • Used $1.00 Hershey Bliss Manufacturer Coupon

    I received $6.99 ECB’s back today:

    • $5.99 ECB’s for Hershey Bliss Products
    • $1.00 ECB’s for Green Tag Reward (every 4th visit you use your Green Tag you get a $1 ECB)

    Today I was able to save $5.00 at CVS by purchasing these items and using coupons.

    When you shop the CVS sales regularly and have ECB’s that you can roll over toward future purchases the bonus ECB’s start adding up (Green Bag Tags and Beauty Club).  As you can see from my shopping trip today you don’t have to purchase a lot to save money when shopping at CVS.  Plus you can use the additional ECB’s you receive towards your next purchase.  You can pick and chose what is best for your family.

    I would love to hear your CVS shopping story for this week!  For those of you who shop regularly at CVS please share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save shopping at CVS.

  • Fresh & Healthy: A Refreshing Twist to Ice Water

     

    Summer Time Favorite Drink - Ice Water with Fresh Lemon Slices!

    One of our favorite inexpensive, easy, and refreshing summer drinks we like to serve at our house is Ice Water with Fresh Lemon Slices!  Lemonade is delicious but can be a little too sweet at times.  Many times on the hot summer days the kids just want ice water so to add a little more to their drinks we will buy lemons when they are on sale, slice them up and add them to the water pitcher.  It is very refreshing!

    Refreshing and delicious - Cool lemon water on a hot day!

    I need to look for some more lemons on clearance!  The girls and I drink this a lot since we spend some time almost every day outside!

  • Pampers Gifts to Grow – 5 Free Points (Expires Tonight)

    Receive another 5 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  TWITTERDIPEWIPE

    The code expires on 11:59 PM EST  on June 20th so make sure to add it to your account within the next few days!

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!

  • CVS: Spent $1 and Got $14 ECB’s Back!

    CVS Deals!

    CVS has a few good deals this week.  I was happy to stock up on some items including fingernail polish and shampoo this week while utilizing a few of my coupons.  The girls had fun picking out the finger polish today.  I see a pedicure and manicure happening in the near future with blue and purple colors!  Today I was able to get the items for $1.73 plus tax ($0.12) making my out of pocket cost $1.85 and received $14.00 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase.  Here is what I purchased this week.

    • 1 –  Pantene Shampoo 2 in 1 Classic for $3.49
    • 1 – Pantene Shampoo 2 in 1 Clean for $3.49
    • 1 – LA Looks Power Spike Gel for $2.99
    • 1 – Revlon Scented Fingernail Polish (Blue) for $4.99
    • 1 – Revlon Scented Fingernail Polish (Green) for $4.99
    • 1 – Irish Spring Hair and Body Wash (15 oz) for $2.99
    • 1 – Colgate Toothbrush 360 for $2.79

    Here are the coupons I used on the items.

    • Used $3.00 Pantene Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $1.00 Colgate Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $1.00 Revlon Nail Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $1.00 Revlon Nail Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $17.99 ECB coupons from prior purchases

    I received $14.00 ECB’s back today:

    • $2.00 ECB’s for Pantene Products
    • $2.00 ECB’s for L.A Looks Products
    • $6.00 ECB’s for Revlon Products ($3.00 each)
    • $2.00 ECB’s for Irish Spring Products
    • $2.00 ECB’s for Colgate Products

    Today I was able to save $33.80 at CVS by purchasing these items and using coupons.

    When you shop the CVS sales regularly and have ECB’s that you can roll over toward future purchases the bonus ECB’s start adding up (Green Bag Tags and Beauty Club).  As you can see from my shopping trip today you don’t have to purchase a lot to save money when shopping at CVS.  Plus you can use the additional ECB’s you receive towards your next purchase.  You can pick and chose what is best for your family.

    I would love to hear your CVS shopping story for this week!  For those of you who shop regularly at CVS please share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save shopping at CVS.

  • Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points

    Receive another 10 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  FXHMWY4WKHU47JD

    The code expires on June 24th so make sure to add it to your account within the next few days!

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!

    FXHMWY4WKHU47JD

  • Book: “The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room” by Stan and Jan Berenstain

    I love my kiddos, however, there are days I feel like all I do is pick up after the entire family.  It is amazing how quickly the house can get cluttered.  When you add all the kid books, toys and goodies it can become a mess in a hurry.  The girls do help pick up but the process is not always the most efficient and every so often we make a point to go through the toys and books they have to keep our home from getting cluttered with extra stuff.  We like the book  The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room by Stan & Jan Berenstain.  They have a whole series of great “character” books that our girls enjoy.  This is one of the books Mommy pulls out occasionally to read because it is good to not only remind the kids but the adults in our household that it is important to take care of the items we have.  Also, I like how they encourage the cubs to share with others.  I think it is important that we are good examples as parents first followed by teaching them through books and spending time organizing / putting away their toys with them.  What is one of your favorite Berenstain Bear books?

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    Another week of doing Groceries $40 for 4. I was able to stock up on some items but overall it was a quiet grocery shopping week. I stocked up on non-perishable products this week.  We are trying to eat up our perishables this week since we have a lot of produce already in the fridge from previous weeks and the garden.  A lot of the items we picked up will be great for the upcoming road trips we have this summer!  I am hoping to get back on schedule next week with grocery shopping.  Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!

     

    Groceries from Dollar Tree and Publix!

    Publix Groceries:

    • $4.36 at Publix for 1 Capri Sun Fruit Punch (10 packs), 1 Inglehuffer Wasabi & Horseradish (on clearance and great dip with fried green beans), 1 French’s Mustard (on clearance), 1 Publix Vanilla Waffer (1 penny with a $10 purchase, bought 3 birthday cards and a dog treat for Skipper which brought my total up to $10 so I could get the wafers for $0.01).  I used a coupon to get the 1 penny Vanilla Wafers and a $2 coupon for the 3 Hallmark cards (not pictured but helped bring up my total to $10).

    Dollar Tree Groceries:

    • $10.15 at Dollar Tree for 1 box Alphabet Crackers, 1 box Lance Chocolate Cookies (6 individually wrapped packages), 1 box Animal Crackers (6 individually wrapped packages), 1 Stax Sour Cream & Onion, 3 Kool Aid Freezer Pops (24 Count), 2 packages of Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread, and 1 box of Minees Cookies (10 individually wrapped packages).  These items are great for summer activities and traveling. I am looking forward to our upcoming road trip adventures with the family!

     

    Groceries from Family Dollar & Walgreens

    Family Dollar Groceries:

    • $1.75 at Family Dollar for Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kit, Mrs Freshley Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vitners Potato Chips Sweet BBQ, and Vitners Potato Chips Triple Cheese. All these items were on clearance and will come in handy for our upcoming road trips.

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $0.00 at Walgreens 2 Cheeseburger Hamburger Helpers Meals. These items were on clearance and I used a register reward to pay for them.

    I am excited to be back doing our Groceries $40 for 4 budget again.  This week I spent $16.26 on groceries.  Even though I wasn’t even close to the budgeted amount for the week  I was still able to stock up on several items.  Thankfully I was able to keep the amount within reason although I would like to see a little extra left over for those weeks when I find a really good deal or go a little over.  Plus I hope to have more time next week to do more regular grocery shopping.  We were down to one vehicle this week because the van was in the shop so it was a little more difficult juggling 4 schedules with 1 vehicle but we managed to make it happen!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • Recipe: Taco Lasagna

     

    Taco Lasagna, one of our family's favorites!

    Taco Lasagna is a favorite menu request in our household.  It is one that my husband requests at least once a month and it is super easy to make.  Our friend, Terry,  from church was kind enough to share the recipe with us.  If you like taco’s this is a great recipe to check out.  It uses flour tortillas instead of pasta to separate the layers.  Brina helped me put this one together, she even sliced the olives all by herself, did one complete layer and added cheese.  Glad that she enjoys helping Mommy in the kitchen!  Thanks for sharing the recipe Terry!

    Taco Lasagna:

    • 1 pound ground Beef or Turkey
    • 1/2 cup chopped Green Pepper (optional)
    • 1/2 cup chopped Onions
    • 2/3 cup Water
    • 1 package of Taco Seasoning
    • 1 (15 oz) can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
    • 1 (14.5 oz ) can Mexican Tomatoes, undrained
    • 1 (16 oz) can Refried Beans
    • 6 (8 inch) Flour Tortillas
    • 3 cups shredded Mexican Cheese

    In a large skillet, cook the meat, green pepper, and onion over medium heat until done.  Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 2 minutes.  Stir in black beans and tomatoes.  Simmer uncovered 10 minutes.  Place 2 flour tortillas in a greased 13 x 9 pan.  Spread half of the refried beans then half of the beef mixture.  Sprinkle with 1 cup Mexican cheese.  Repeat layers.  Top with remaining tortillas and cheese (I try to add a little extra cheese if I have it and sliced olives if we have them in the pantry or fridge).  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted.  I usually take the foil off the last few minutes to let the cheese on top get a little crispy since our family likes it that way.

  • Fresh & Healthy: How We Split Our First Cherry Tomato 4 Ways

    Our first tomato this year was a sweet little cherry tomato!

    The garden has been a wonderful teaching opportunity for our kids in many ways from the science of preparing, planting, and maintaining it to sharing with others and many more great learning moments.  One of the most exciting parts about the garden is seeing the plants start producing vegetables and fruits.  The tomato plants took (months according to the girls) to turn from green to red.  We have made it a point to split the first type of vegetable or fruit that comes out of the garden four ways.  The first pick of lettuce, summer squash, zucchini, etc….were easy to split among the family.  The first tomato happened to be a little red cherry tomato.  The girls giggled thinking their was no way we could split it four ways.  We teased them about making 4 sandwiches out of the tomato and they thought that would be impossible.  My sweet husband came up with a great solution that was a huge hit.  The girls had a blasting watching us come up with a delicious treat to share with the whole family.  They were amused and excited to eat their first BLT sandwich of the summer!

     

    Making our first "tomato" sandwiches of the summer season!

    We took a tortilla, small scoop and cut out 8 little circles to make our sandwiches.

    Cutting up our first tomato to eat on our sandwiches!

    Daddy carefully cut the tomato into 4 slices.

    Our first BLT sandwich - the mini version!

    The first cherry tomato became a mini BLT’s for the family.  We had tortilla’s for the bread, fresh lettuce from the garden, the fresh cherry tomato and a small piece of bacon.  Who’s ready for a BLT?!

    My first BLT sandwich of the summer with fresh lettuce and our first tomato from the garden!

    The girls giggled while eating their bite sized BLT sandwiches.  They didn’t think Mommy and Daddy could make 4 sandwiches with our first tomato since it was a cherry tomato.  We did it and they tasted delicious!  These would make great appetizers and you can use fresh garden veggies to put them together.  Make up a few, your kids will LOVE them!

     

  • Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Cabbage, Tomatoes, Purple Beans, Green Beans, Strawberries, Squash, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Peppers, Lettuce, and Peas!

    We are loving the fresh vegetables from our garden!  I didn’t have a chance to take pictures last week with all the traveling, guests, and fun activities.  This week I did better at taking pictures but the girls ate a few items before the camera came out, they have been enjoying helping more in the garden now that they are on summer break from school.

    Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:

    Fresh Cabbage, Tomatoes, Peppers, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Snow Peas, Green Beans, Purple Beans

     

    Fresh from the Garden Leafy Lettuce, Summer Squash, Cherry Tomatoes, Regular Tomatoes, Sweet Basil, Dill, Snow Peas, Beans, and Banana Pepper.

     

    Fresh Fruit and Veggies - Tomatoes, Zucchini, Pepper, Summer Squash, Purple Beans, our first Cucumbers, Lettuce, Strawberry, and Snow Peas

    A few strawberries, tomatoes, and some other veggies barely made it inside to be rinsed before they ate them so the pictures didn’t happen.  After picking one day the girls informed me “we picked a rainbow of food from our garden today Mom”.  We had a lot of stormy nights the past couple weeks with hail, heavy rain, and high winds.  We even had a tree fall down in the yard and break our fence during one of the storms.  The garden has “shifted” a little bit but thankfully continues to produce some goodies despite the damage.  We haven’t gotten a lot of any one vegetable or fruit but we have a nice variety of goodies to eat every week.  Plus we haven’t had to water for a couple weeks.

    We were able to share some of the veggies this week with family, friends and people at our church.  During the summer months our church does a “Corner Harvest” where people can share fresh produce from their garden.  It is neat to see what other families are growing and share our produce.

    What are you eating out of your garden this week?