• Recipe: Easy Mini Pizzas

    Easy mini pizzas

    When you need a quick lunch or dinner for the family this is an easy one.  I used English Muffins for the crust, pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and toppings (we used bacon crumbs, pepperoni, and black olives for this lunch).  Baked them in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melted and viola….mini pizzas.  These are easy enough for the kids to make themselves now too!  It isn’t a meal we make a lot in our house but in a quick pinch it is easy and one everyone enjoys.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I thought maybe this week would a little calmer, but it has yet to slow down.  In between appointments I was able to make a quick stop at the grocery store.  Nothing fancy or amazing this week just picking up a few items before the next wave of crazy begins, ha!  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles and Dollar Tree

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $35.02 at Ingels for 2 loaves Bread, 1 container Cottage Cheese, 2 jars Planters Peanut Butter (on sale), 1 package Ground Beef (on clearance), 1 box Danimals Yogurt Sticks, 1 container Philadelphia Italian Cream Cheese Spread (on clearance $0.99), 1 container Strawberry Cream Cheese, 1 bag English Muffins, 1 bag fresh Oranges (on clearance for $0.99), 1 can Biscuits ( on clearance $0.50), 1 bag Blueberry Bagels. (everything was marked down, on sale, or clearance today at Ingles).

    Dollar Tree Groceries:

    • $1.00 for 1 box Toast’em Poptarts

    We were able to get a few items this week. Thankfully, I was able to make it by the store and pick up some items that we’ll need over the next couple of weeks.  Thanks for helping keep me on track even in the midst of this busy season!

    This week I spent $36.02 on groceries.  I was under on my budgeted amount for the week, yay!  I was happy to find a few items marked down on clearance.  I hope that next week we can come under budget!

    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.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time shopping the sales this week with all the extra stuff going on around here (including sick family members for a couple days), but I was able to go to a couple stores and pick up some stuff.  Most of the stuff I stocked up on were items that we can use over the next few weeks.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles and Walgreens

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $27.93 at Ingles for 1 loaf Laura Lynn Bread, 2 boxes Act II HomePop Popcorn, 2 boxes Act II Light Popcorn, 2 boxes Act II Butter Popcorn, 2 bags Laura Lynn Oyster Crackers, 2 jars Vlasic Dill Relish, 3 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 1 container Deans Onion Dip, 2 boxes Yogurt (clearance for 50 cents each), 1 block Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 2 bags English Muffins, 4 tubes Laura Lynn Texas Biscuits,  2 tubes Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, and 2 loaves French Bread.  (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance.  I was able to pick up some more cheese on sale, and used some coupons for the items purchased!)

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $7.27 at Walgreens for 2 gallons Milk, 1 box South Beach Granola Bars, 4 boxes Mountain Dew (12 packs),  (everything was on sale, I used coupons, registered rewards, and I received $5.99 in Register Rewards back to use towards my next purchase.)

    This week I spent $35.20 on groceries.  Even though I was under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time.  I was thrilled to stock up on bread and diary items as well as other great fridge & pantry items this week.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

    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.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    It was a wild week, our family has a lot of fun adventures coming up so I am trying to stop on top of everything.  Hopefully I will be able to share a little bit more about our upcoming plans before long.  I was not able to get to the grocery store until late on Friday but thankfully was able to pick up almost everything I needed this week even if I did got a little over budget.   Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Save A Lot | Rite Aid, Walmart, Ingles, and Walgreens

    Save A Lot | Rite Aid Groceries:

    • $7.90 at Save A Lot | Rite Aid for 2 boxes Blue Bonnet sticks of butter, 2 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, 1 container Butter Spread (3 lb), and 1 bag Carrots (2 lbs).  (All the items were on sale or clearance.)

    Walmart Groceries:

    • $0.00 at Walmart for 1 bag Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls (on clearance), 1 bag Everything French Bread (on clearance), 1 bag Chocolate Chips, 1 box Popcorn (8 count), 2 liter Mountain Dew (price matched), and 1 box Idaho Potatoes (free product coupon).  (Bought items on sale or clearance and paid with a gift card so the total was zero.)

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $42.84 at Ingles for 1 jar Peter Pan Natural Peanut Butter, 1 can Tuna Fish, 1 Starkist Tuna Fish, 2 boxes Pop Secret Popcorn, 2 loaves Laura Lynn Bread, 4 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 2 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 2 Laura Lynn sliced Cheese (16 count each), 2 boxes Breakfast Biscuits / Pancakes (on clearance, 10 count each), 6 containers Fresh Blueberries (on clearance), 3 bags Snow Peas (on clearance), 1 container Cherry Chocolate Covered Pretzels (on clearance), 1 container Roasted Soybeans (on clearance), 2 bottles Bare Naked Fruit Drinks (on clearance), 2 Laura Lynn English Muffins (6 count each) and 2 sweet Yellow Onions.  Not pictured 3 bags of chips we purchased to take over to a friends house.   (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance.  All the produce was marked down to $0.99 cents, I was able to pick up some more cheese on sale, and used some coupons for the items purchased!)

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $0.65 at Walgreens for 2 dozen Eggs, 1 S6 Power Bar, 1bag Domino Sugar (4 lbs), and 1 two liter A&W Root Beer (everything was on sale, I used $9.59 in coupons, and I received $1.89 in Register Rewards back to use towards my next purchase.)

    This week I spent $51.39 on groceries.  Even though I was over on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time plus I had a little extra to spend since I had come under budget in previous weeks.  I was thrilled to stock up on produce (blueberries) and diary items as well as other great fridge & pantry items this week.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

    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.