A Roku Upate.

I called Comcast on Monday morning to make sure I didn't need to bring the modem back as well as the boxes.  Good thing I did call, I found out some interesting information.

1.  The price of the internet/phone option has risen in the past two weeks from $90.90 to $102 per month.  We have poor cell service where we live, we have to have a phone.

2.  There is a limit on the amount of internet usage you have access to each month.  When you reach a certain level, you're simply cut off until the next billing cycle.  According to Comcast Nancy, this usually isn't a problem, but seeing how we are all heavy internet users, this was worrisome to me.

Now, at this point I was basically disgusted.  I just want to save some money! 

I listened as Comcast Nancy gave me several other options - the cheapest of which was $129.99 a month.  I already pay $149.99 a month.  Not the big money saving idea I was hoping for. 

I calmly explained that we try to live within our means.  I have to cut this bill.  Period.

Guess what?  Turns out they have a bare bones budget type package.  I get phone, high speed internet and 50 channels for.....wait for it.....are you ready?

$94.90 a month.  Say what?

Yep, less than just the internet & phone.

Insert happy dance here.

 The Roku will now take up residence in the playroom (which is also home to our treadmill and stair climber).   I can use it for Netflix during school.  Who knows, Ronnie & I might even get crazy and watch it while on the exercise equipment. 

You just never know with us.

This week's shopping trip....and an update you don't want to miss.

Maybe I should have called this my plan for this week's shopping trip.  Ronnie has been taking my van to work because his heater is a little on the fritz, so we've been home bound all week.  No complaining here.  I've been a little wimpy about going out in the cold for no apparent reason. 

I've decided to try harder to pair sales with coupons this year to save more money.  So, while I'm still doing my Eat from the Pantry Challenge, I'm also going to stock up when I see good prices.  I'm going to price match at Walmart, saving gas and avoiding a trip out of town this week.

So here's the plan:

Price match from Target:

Pepsi 6 packs 4/$12
(Ronnie always has pop with lunch at work.  If I don't buy it, he will get one or two out of the machine at work for $1.25 each.  It's cheaper for me to just plan for it.)

Price match from Kroger:

The following sale requires 4 items for discount. 
2 Tide powder (31-40oz) @ $4.99 each
     pair with two $2 off one coupon = $2.99 each
2 Downey liquid (52-60oz) @ $3.99 each
     pair with $1.50 off 2 coupon = $3.24 each

Also, pears at $0.99 per pound, if I have money left over.

Lastly, price match at Walgreens:

1 Dawn 9oz dish detergent, blue @ $0.99
    pair with $0.25 coupon = $0.74
Nice & Easy foam hair color @ 7.99
    pair with $3 off coupon = $4.99

Other deals at WM according to Passion for Savings:

Oral B floss @ $0.97
     pair with $1 off coupon = free plus overage
Colgate toothpaste @ $0.94
     pair with $0.75 off coupon = $0.19

As always, I will make sure the WM price isn't less than the sale price at other places and adjust as needed.  All my coupons came out of Sunday's Clarksburg Exponent.  Unfortunately, our Times WV doesn't seem to get all the inserts.  Next Sunday's paper is supposed to have 6 inserts.  I'm going to check Pittsburgh's paper and compare the coupons before I buy.

As far as my actual groceries, all I need are my usual four gallons of milk, two brown sugars, two white sugars, and tea bags.  Everything else for next week will come out of the pantry, freezer or cellar.  I'd like to keep my total under $50.  If I have any money left over after my sales and stock ups, I'll pick up some salad fixins.  If not, no worries....I still have all my canned goodies from this summer and a freezer full of broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower and who knows what else. 

*Update:   I wrote this post on Thursday afternoon, planning on publishing it Friday morning and going to the store that afternoon on my way home from co-op.  But Ronnie had some prescriptions called in and I needed to go to the bank, so I decided to run by Walmart without the kiddos and pick up what I needed.  And that's when it happened. 

While I was waiting in line (and waiting...and waiting), this 20ish year old guy got in line behind me.  He noticed me going over my coupons and ads and asks me "Are you one of those extreme couponers?  I've seen that show!"  He gets so excited he starts telling people getting in line behind him to "pick another line - this lady is an extreme couponer".  I just laugh and tell him that no, I just have about 8 coupons and some price matches.

 I finally get to the front of the line and a young boy is ringing my groceries.  My new Walmart friend tells him "I think she's an extreme couponer...you know, like the show."  The cashier gets excited too and the two of them are adding up the retail price of my groceries before price matching.  Then they proceed to loudly call out the the value of each coupon.  I ended up picking up some Nyquil, three butters, lettuce, Always products and Crest toothpaste for the boys as well as what I listed above.  The total price before price matching and coupons was $93.  After coupons and price matching, i spent $63 and change. 

While I was very excited about my savings, my new friends were crushed.  My cashier was worried that my blog would be ruined because of my additional $13.  He and my new friend behind me then got into a debate about whether my hair color and laundry detergent should count.  As I thanked them both and walked away, the last thing I heard was one of them saying "You can't eat laundry detergent....so it doesn't count!"

Oh Walmart....how you entertain me!

Deals today.

Thanks to my friend Stephanie for pointing out some great deals at Shop'nSave.

Pepsi 6 pack bottles 6/$10
Boneless Ribeyes $3.99/#
Family pack ground beef $1.89/#
3# bag b/s frozen chicken breast for #3.98
Hillendale large eggs $0.89/dozen
Milk $2.49/gallon

You also recieve a coupon for $5 off your next purchase on any purchase over $50.

These offers are good only at the Middletown Mall S&S, but remember, you can price match at WalMart if they're out of stock.

Sale ends today!

Saving you some Christmas cash.

It's almost here.  Have you started your shopping yet? 

I'm on the downhill slide of my shopping.  I thought I'd share some good bargains that are going on now.

Old Navy - in store or online you can get 30% off your order.  Enter the code ONFRIENDS at checkout.  You can also get free shipping on orders over $50 (after coupon code & before taxes.)  This ends today, so hurry. 

Ollie's - This is my first year of shopping at Ollie's.  They just opened this spring in Bridgeport.  If you sign up for the Ollie's Army (for free), you can get 15% off your total order through Nov. 20th.  I got a good bit of toys here for a great price, as well as two much wanted electric blankets for $23.70 each after discount.  Not to bad.  They're having an Ollie's Army only shopping event in December where you can take 25% off all toys as well as other offers that they're not disclosing yet. 

Toy's R Us -  TRU is doing a much better job on prices this year.  I usually buy a lot of my toys from Amazon.com, but TRU has beat their prices on most of the items I've needed. Don't forget that if they're out of stock, you can price match at Walmart.

Kohl's and JCP Black Friday ads are already up at black-friday.net.  JCP's ad is good on Thanksgiving as well.

Gabriel Brothers is open Thanksgiving this year with some big sales planned.  As a rule, I don't shop on holidays....I don't think it's fair to the employees.  But, the nice boy ringing up my purchases this week told me that Gabes is paying them time and a half to work until 1pm on Thanksgiving.  He said most people actually signed up to work that day.  That makes me feel a little better about it. 

I'm excited to go out on Black Friday without absolutely needing something.  I usually use the day to stock up on birthday gifts for all the nieces & nephews, as well as friends parties we get invited to.  Also, my mom & I shopping on black friday are almost better than the Steelers steel curtain.  Good luck getting through us. 

One last thing -  if you're ordering online always check for discount codes.  I have had good luck at retailmenot.com.  Why pay more than you have to? 

That's all the Christmas shopping wisdom I have to share for today. 

Now, get out there and get it done, so you can actually enjoy the Christmas season!

Make your own.

I've jumped on the make your own bandwagon before.  I usually jump right off at some point between buying the supplies and actually making the item. 

No more friends.  No more.

Finally, I have actually followed through.

I've had Borax, Fels Naptha soap and Washing Soda sitting above my washer for almost three years.  You read that right.  Three years.   And while I frequently use and replace the Borax, the remainder of it sits there...mocking me every time I put a load in.  Trust me, that's a lot of mocking.

Here's what I made:

Homemade dishwasher detergent

1/2 box Borax, 1/2 box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, 1 1/2 cups Epsom salt and 1 bottle citric acid.

Mix it all together.



Store in a container with a tight lid. 
Use 1 TBSP per load.

 Homemade Laundry Detergent:

1/2 box Borax, 1/2 box Baking Soda, 1/2 box Washing Soda, 1 1/2 bars grated Fels Naptha, 1 cup OxiClean.

Use your food processor to grate the soap.

Mix it all together in a bucket.

Store it in a container with a tight fitting lid. 
Use 1 TBSP per load.




I'll probably use 1 TBSP for regular clothes and 2 TBSP for Ronnie's work clothes and towels. 

I have less than $20 total in both recipes.  At 1 TBSP at a time for both the dishwasher and washing machine, I expect it to last anywhere from 4 to 6 months.  I do an average of 3-4 loads of laundry and 1-2 loads of dishes daily. 

I'm sure I could make it for less if I left out the Oxiclean.  I just threw it in because I had it in the laundry room and Ronnie's work clothes are a greasy mess from the aluminum plant.

One final project for today:

My sweet friend Cessna gave me some wonderful smelling foaming soap for my birthday in February.  I just recently ran out and was wanting more.  Luckily, I found a recipe for it too.

Add 3 TBSP clear liquid soap to a foaming soap bottle.
I used the last drops of Avon honeysuckle bubble bath.

Slowly add warm water.  Do not shake.
Gently rotate to mix.
Let sit for 3-5 minutes.

Ta Da!  Foaming soap. 

I think I'm going to have a hard time paying $3 and up for foaming hand soap from now on. 

And for the record, all this homemade stuff took me less than 30 minutes to do, with kids helping.  I think I could pull this all together in 20 minutes on my own.  Not too bad.

OK, now pick a project and just go do it!

Update:  I actually made all of this on Wednesday.  Since then I've done a few loads of both dishes and laundry.  I'm impressed.  Our clothes look and smell clean and no one is itching - the sign of success for us.  And the dishwasher detergent even cleaned my icing bowls from the Angry Birds cupcakes.  Getting Crisco and butter off of plastic is no small feat.  So far, so good.

Shop N Save 2 Day Sale.

Sorry for the double post today, but I went to Shop n Save for their 2 Day Sale and thought I would pass on some great deals for my local readers.

Frozen b/s chicken breast 3# bag are 4/$20.
Gia Russa pasta 1# bags are 10/$10.
Whole Chickens are BOGO at $1.89/#
Ballpark Franks are buy 1 get 2 free
Sugardale bacon is 4/$10.
Twin packs of Hamburger Helper are 3/$5.  (like getting 6 boxes for $5)
Kellog's Pop Tarts 12 pack are 5/$10.
Gia Russa stuffed rigatoni are buy 1 get 2 free @ 3.99 each.

I stocked up on whole chickens, 2 bags of chicken breasts, the pasta, hotdogs, and bacon.

I also grabbed 3 boxes of Hamburger Helper and 6 packages of the stuffed rigatoni.  It makes a super quick meal and is much cheaper than the drive thru (and healthier, I'm sure).

Don't forget, it ends Friday.

Amish Invasion....Part 2.

Today was our trip to Countryside Produce Auction in Salisbury, PA.  Or as my friend Tracy called it, our Amish invasion. 

We were up and at 'em at the crack of dawn.  I dropped the kids off with my friend Alisha and met everyone at Hardee's by 7:15am. 

We arrived in plenty of time to sign up for our number and scout out the produce as it arrived.  This pictures shows the sellers setting up.  When they're done, this whole area is full of veggies and the shelves in front of Ronnie were full of mums. 

While it was still definitely worth the trip, the produce prices are so much higher this year.  I don't know why I didn't expect this.  The prices are higher in the stores too. 

Here's what we bought:

75 dozen ears of corn
10 bushel green peppers
100 pounds red potatoes
5 bushel apples
2 pecks of onions
1 flat of yellow tomatoes

 After splitting the large lots with Tracy and Scott and selling a little to one of Ronnie's friends, we have $230 total invested in 35 dozen ears of corn, 4 bushel green peppers, 100 pounds potatoes, 2 1/2 bushel apples, 2 pecks of onions and 1/2 flat of yellow tomatoes.  Fresh produce, unsprayed with harmful chemicals and picked within the past 24 hours. 

We also bought lunch for Ronnie, Ronnie's dad Ron, and myself from some sweet church ladies for $8 including drinks and whoopie pies for the boys.  Eight dollars total!

If you're interested in checking it out, it's called Countryside Produce Auction in Salisbury, PA.  Remember, this is not the place to go to pick up a few tomatoes.  You will be buying large quantities of food.  There are not guarantees as to what you can get.  Whatever is brought in is what's for sale that day.

We were really needing peaches, but only one lot was brought in.  They sold for $19 a 1/2 bushel (which is ridiculous).  Oh, and take cash.  They don't take credit or debit cards.  (You know, because they're Amish).

I really think that next year we'll only plant green beans and zucchini.  Everything else is such a good buy at the auction.

Instead of spending time trying to keep up with the garden, we can spend time keeping up with the boys. 

I'm off to can (and can, and can, and then can some more!).

Enjoy your Saturday!

Grocery Deals this Week.

I've been a little quiet this week.  I'm still picking up extra days at work and we've had VBS every night.  Thankfully, Josiah has decided not to cry during his class.  All the boys are really having a great time. 

I actually left during last night's VBS and went to Shop & Save's 2 Day Sale.

Here's the stuff you need to go get:

Boneless skinless chicken breast 4/$20.
     This works out to $1.67 per pound. 

Lunch meat is on sale at the deli, I picked up honey ham, turkey breast and American cheese for $2.98 per pound. 
     I'll post some easy meal ideas with lunch meat tomorrow.

United Dairy Ice Cream 5/$10.  Perfect for ice cream cake.

Sugardale Bacon 4/$10.

White bread 10/$10.  I use this in the freezer as my back up bread to make sure we don't run out mid month.

Gallon White Vinegar  $1.88.  I use this for fabric softener and cleaning.

My two new realizations are:

The On Cor Entrees at 3/$5.  For only $1.67 each, I can pull together a last minute meal and hopefully avoid the drive thru.  Now, I'm sure these are not the best nutritionally, but they have to be the same or better than fast food.  I'm keeping some in the freezer for just this reason.

Also, they have pork loin for $1.88 per pound.  Most are sold by the 10 pound section, but the butcher will cut these to order for you.  That means you can have thick cut pork chops for only $1.88 per pound instead of $4.  I bought three.  Two as chops and one cut into fourths for loin.  I'll repackage them at home for the freezer. 

You can also price match United Dairy 1%, 2% and skim milk at WalMart thru Saturday at $2.99 from CVS.  Limit 2 gallons. 

For produce, I price matched plums at $0.79 per pound and seedless grapes at $0.99 per pound from Save a Lot. 

Remember, their policy is that you do not need to show the ad.  I even saw it on their commercial this week.

Alright.  Go save some money.

Beans, beans and more beans.

This week, I bought a 20 pound bag of pinto beans.  Yep, you read that right.  20 pounds. 

It was only $6.89 for the entire bag.  That works out to 34 cents per pound for beans.  Now that's a bargain. 

So, are you wondering what in the world I'm going to do with that many beans? 

My plan is to make some, freeze some and store some.  Let me explain.

Beans can stretch your budget beyond far.  They are cheap, filling and a great source of protein. 

One of my favorite bean recipes is for re fried beans.  Here's what I do:

Use about 2 pounds of beans, cover with water and let soak overnight.  In the morning, drain, put in the crock pot and add water until just covered.  Then add in one chopped onion, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1 TBSP minced garlic. 

Let cook on low all day.  Check often to make sure they don't dry out.  If needed, add some water.  Not too much though...your not making soup.

When they're good and soft, mash with a potato masher. 
If they seem too soupy, put them on the stove to cook down to the right consistency.

Did you notice they're not actually re fried?  Unlike what you get in the restaurants and canned in the grocery store, these don't contain lard.  That's right.  Lard free beans.  That's a good thing.

I then let them cool and use them for all kinds of things: 
Bean burritos, tostados, a side dish.  Sometimes I serve them warmed up with a can of tomatoes on top of rice.  Quick and easy lunch.

You can use regular pinto beans in chili, add them to taco meat to stretch a meal, and don't forget the WV staple - soup beans and cornbread. 

I'm also going to store some dry beans in my canning jars.  If kept dry, beans have a very long shelf life. 



Bean Tostado from Good Cheap Eats

 So don't forget to add beans to your shopping list this week!

What works for me.

Everyone knows you should read to your children.  There are so many good benefits from reading aloud, even to older children.  It's really amazing the background information they can soak up from good books.  Given the fact that I love books, I obviously love going to the public library, right?  Umm...well....

Here's the thing.  I dread going to the library.  I dread finding parking.  I dread the walk downtown into the library trying to keep three little guys together.  I dread keeping them all together in the library....they have those wide doorways that lead to other rooms.  And rarely do we want to all look at the same book while we are there. 

Basically,  I end up stressed out and cranky.  Not exactly a great family outing.  I'm pretty sure it leaves a lot to be desired as far as showing my boys a love for reading.

My only choice to salvage the awful trip is bribery with bubble gum on the way home.

For a while I just sucked it up and went to the library with the boys and a bottle of Excedrin Migraine.  Next, I tried FSU's library, but had to wait until the weekend or breaks to find a parking space.  Then I tried story time at Barnes & Noble, but I didn't like driving up there (and I always spent money at Starbucks).

Then.....a wonderful thing happened.......

The Bookmobile came to our community building. 

That's right, every Thursday, Lynn the librarian and the Bookmobile come to my little area of the world.  There is easy parking, hardly any traffic and nice neighbors all sharing their love of free books.  

They have a great selection of books, magazines and audiobooks for kids and adults.  You can also rent movies for just $1 - including new releases (and unlike Redbox, keep them for two weeks for that same dollar). 

They go to many outlying areas in our county.  Click here to see when they'll be in your area. 

So now that you know when to go, and where to go - here's my favorite part. 

You can go to the MCPL website, log in with you library card and from there you can pick and choose whatever you would like to read.  You can request it from the site or save it in an online list to read or request later.  It's just like Amazon's wish list, but free.  (Do you see why I like it?).  The website also has a ton of new releases as e-books to check out.  And if your not going to be able to make it in time to return your books....just renew them online. 

I put all the read alouds that I want/need to read for school this year into a list and then I just request them when I'm ready.  I put my pick up as the Bookmobile and they come right to where I am (well, within a half mile). 

I also have a list of books I'd like to read and movies for our at home date nights.  I've cancelled my Netflix (since they sent me the nice email letting me know I could either cut my plan in half or pay almost double starting September 1st.)  I don't need you anymore Netflix.  I have the Bookmobile. 

I love the Bookmobile! 

20% off your total order at Big Lots this weekend.

Sorry for the double post today, but I just checked my email and thought this needed passed on. 

Today, if your a rewards club member, you can get 20% off your entire order at Big Lots from 5pm - 9pm. 
If not, you can print a coupon here for 20% off your entire order all day Sunday.

They have a bunch of summer items on clearance and they also have their back to school stuff in.  Or you could be like me and realized this week with the electrical outage from the storm that your getting low on candles and go get a few today. 

I was there a couple of weeks back and picked up a great smelling candle for my kitchen - key lime pie and graham cracker crust.  I know it's kind of weird, but it smells incredible. 

Enjoy.

Local Grocery Deals

Here's some great deals that are going on right now.

Shop N Save is having their 2 Day Sale finishing up Friday.
Chicken breast 4 bags for $20.
Ragu spaghetti sauce  $0.99
Eckrich bun size hot dogs  buy 1 get 2 free
United Dairy ice cream 5 for $10
Sugardale bacon 4 for $10

They also have Flavorite dozen eggs and Shop N Save frozen veggies for 10/$10.

You can also price match the following items at Walmart if you don't want to leave Fairmont.

From CVS:
2 liter Coke, Diet Coke or Sprite for 0.69 each - limit 5
United Dairy milk (2%, 1% or skim) for 2.99 each - limit 2

From Kroger:
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, RC or Diet Rite 12 pack, 12 ounce cans  5 for $12.
Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Mountain Dew 6 pack, 24 ounce bottles 5 for $10.
Grands biscuits 0.99 each - lots of coupons out for 0.40 off 2
Gatorade (red) or G2 (grape)  0.68 each.
Chef boyardee mini ravioli   0.69 each (this makes me want to gag, but I'm sure someone must like it....and it's a good price.)
*You have to buy 10 total of the biscuits, Gatorade or ravioli to get the price.  Not 10 of each item, just a group of ten items.
Whole pineapples 2/$5
Yellow or Zucchini squash or green beans 0.99 per pound.

From KMart:
Cantaloupes  0.99 each
Peaches  0.79 per pound
Iceburg lettuce 0.99 each

I really don't need many groceries this week, but I am planning on going to Rite Aid to sign up for their rewards card.  They have a $2 up rewards for my favorite hair color, John Frieda Precision foam hair color.  I also have two $2 off coupons for it as well.  With my up rewards, it will make it $7.99 each instead of $11.98, which is the cheapest I've found it (at WalMart).  While I'm there I'll pick up some Juicy Fruit and Extra Dessert Delights gum on sale for 0.69 each.  Maybe I can bribe Josiah to stay in his class at church with gum. 

If you know of any other great sales, be sure to comment and let me know. 

My coupon adventures.

My friend Tracy has started a homemakers co-op.  It's basically a bunch of us sitting around discussing what works and sharing ideas to help us be the best we can at our job.  It's also a great chance for me to get to talk to grown ups.  Those of you with small kids at home know just what I mean. 

Our first project has been to lower our grocery bills using coupons.  Now, I'm not new to couponing, but I will say that I've fallen off the wagon in recent months.  I just found it so easy to shop at Aldi's and fill in at Shop & Save or Walmart, that I quit using them.  Not too smart, huh?

So here's my personal rundown on what I'm getting at local area stores, including coupons and price matching for this week. 

Krogers:
Bone in chicken breast 0.99/pound
Chicken quarters 0.59/pound for 10 pound bag (5.90)
Buy 10 sale items:
Grands Biscuits 0.99 minus my 0.30 off 2 coupon that's doubled = 0.69 each
Pizza rolls 0.99 minus my 0.40 off 2 coupon doubled = 0.59 each
Coke 2 liters = 0.89
Barbecue sauce = 0.69
Gator aid - 0.69
Oscar Mayer hot dogs = 0.99

WalMart:
I will be price matching the following items

From KMart
Suddenly Salad 10/$10 minus 0.50 off 2 coupon = 0.75 each
Betty Crocker Cake Mix 10/$10 plus Betty Crocker icing 3/$5 minus coupon for 0.75 off 1 cake mix & 1 icing combo = 5.50 for 2 cake mixes & 3 icings.
Corn on the cob 8/$2

From Save a lot
3 pound bag Perdue frozen chicken breast for $4.77 (1.49 per pound)

From Rite Aid
Twizzlers 0.99 minus 0.50 off coupon = 0.49 each
Raisin Bran 1.99 minus $1 off 2 boxes = 1.49 per box.

The remainder of my groceries will be from Aldi's as usual. 

I'm sure my list seems oddly unusable to make a menu from, but remember - I buy things when they're on sale to save money.  Then they're in the pantry or freezer for me when I need them and I'm not paying full price.  I also try to buy the majority of my groceries once a month - because I hate going to the grocery store.  And the more often you "pop" into a store just to pick something up, the more likely you are to buy something that's not on the plan. 

I've price matched before at WalMart without any trouble.  If your going to price match, put all your items together by store ad and do it at the end of your order.  Then you just show the cashier your items and the other stores ad.  If it says "select varieties" are on sale, I only get the ones shown in the picture - usually those are the only ones they will match.  Be prepared and try to make it as easy on the cashier as possible.

I also give people in line behind me fair warning that I'm using a lot of coupons and price matching in case they want to choose another lane. 

I probably could do even better if I shopped more stores, but for me, my time is important also.  So unless I'm planning on being in the area of another store, I'm going to price match at Walmart.

Yippee for saving money!

Weekend Plans

So, do you have any plans for the weekend?

Most of mine will involve working in the garden and moving the boys rooms.  I don't know if I'll get everything done.  It's a little overwhelming. 

Tonight we finish up VBS with a family picnic.  Thankfully, last night was uneventful and everyone went to bed without any hassles. 

Our beans haven't done well, so we got some new seeds and we're going to plant four more rows this weekend and see if these go better. 

I need to move the boys rooms around.  We're putting them all back together.  Josh has decided that privacy was over rated and they all want to share a room again.  I don't mind, since we'll get a playroom again (and I can move the treadmill out of the school room).  The hardest part is moving the school room.  It's loaded.  I need to
reorganize it before we start "full" school again anyways. This weekend is as good as any to get this project started.

Here's some things going on around the area this weekend:

Marion County Human Society is having a yard sale at the old Animal Kingdom building at the Middletown Mall.  It's Friday & Saturday from 8am - 4pm.  Pet Helpers site says that Saturday from 1pm - 4pm is fill your bag for $5. 

Fairmont Farmer's Market is open this Saturday at 8am.  They usually sell out of produce by 9am, so if you're interested, be there early. 

Sunset Drive Inn has great movies this weekend.  Cars 2 and The Green Lantern.  If anyone has seen Green Lantern, leave a comment as to how it was.  I like Ryan Reynolds, but I'm not sure what to think of the previews for this one.

The big excitement for our house is that Cars 2 is out.  I was hoping to keep it a secret until the middle of next week to avoid the crowds, but I had to be so smart and teach Josh how to read a calendar.  He knows it's today and has told the others.

This isn't really an event, but I did get a great flyer in the mail for Kohls.  I love Kohls.  They have great sales and double stroller shopping buggies.  So smart.  I received a $5 off any purchase coupon as well as 15% off your total order.  And you still earn Kohl's cash for every $50 spent.  I'm so torn on this.  I don't really need anything, but I really want to go.  What to do, what to do? 

I'm also trying Angel Food again this month.  I ordered it when we still thought Josh might have a gluten allergy.  It turns out he doesn't.  We're back to eating normal foods.  I ordered the gluten free box and the produce box.  I'm not sure if I'm saving a lot over my normal Aldi's prices with the produce, but I thought I would give it another try.  I do know that it is usually cheaper than regular grocery store prices, but I don't usually shop the regular grocery store without coupons.  I'm going to use this month to reevaluate Angel Food.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Another day of great sales.

We went to Fair Oaks today for our favorite yard sale.  I'm very pleased with today's haul. 
Here we go:

First up, kids clothes

1. 7S & 8S Gap jeans
2. Old Navy (ON) jeans
3. Gap l/s tee
4. ON l/s tee
5. Gymboree l/s tee
6. Star Wars tee
7. Pirates short set
8. Steelers jersey
9. WVU shirt
10. Transformers 2 pc PJ
11. Nike sweat set x 2 sets
12. Adidas sweat set
13. ON l/s gray set
14. Umbro soccer cleats
15. Spalding soccer cleats
16. White winter coat (for me)
17. 10 pairs boys socks (Nike, Reebok, Star Wars)
18. 1 pair Crocs flip flops

For Ronnie
1. Under Armour hoodie
2. 2 Nike shirts
3. 2 Reebok shirts
4. 1 Army tee
5. 1 Harley tee
6. 2 l/s Under Armour turtlenecks
7. 2 ON l/s shirts
8. 1 l/s Nike shirt
9. 1 pair unworn Easy Spirit shoes (for me)



The rest of it.





1. Kitchen rugs - 1 runner, 1 small
2. Star Wars sheets - NIP
3. Melissa & Doug wooden puzzle
4. Pampered Chef Mix & Pour pitcher
5. Tupperware container
6. Animaniacs VHS tape
7. School House Rocks VHS tape
8. Highlights puzzle books x 3
9. Hot Wheels car wash
10. Wooden desk organizer
11. Partylite tarts - 4 Mulberry Vanilla, 6 Lemongrass
12. 1 Sigg water bottle
13. 2 Lotions
14. 1 Castle toy
15. 1 Giant sword
16. Cranium building set - it's like a life size Tinkertoy set. 
17. Boys Huffy bike - not pictured, it's outside.

 I really went overboard this week with yard sales, but I got some really great deals. 

I spent $68.00 today, and that amount also includes this -

A new desk!  Just what I needed for the "new to us" computer Tara gave us.  I'm going to load all the boys school games on it. 

My yard sale posts will be a lot less volume after this weekend.  I'm planning on going to the one at Trinity next Saturday and that's it for next weekend. 

So my total spent for this weekend is $130.00 even.  That's a lot, but I did get some really nice things and big ticket items. 

I'm pretty good at getting a deal, but even I was amazed at the prices I was able to get items for this weekend.  Ronnie's clothes alone were only $5 - most of the shirts were priced at 10 cents and the hoodie was 25 cents.  Crazy! 

I talked them down to $25 for the desk, new shoes and bulletin board, all together.  

A very nice man offered us the boys bike for $5 - after I finished telling Josh that his bike would be OK for one more year.  Now everyone can move up a size on their bikes this summer. 

We chose not to go to FGH/Main St. Fairmont's sale - they were charging $1 to shop there.  I know that probably sounds terribly cheap, but there are too many great sales elsewhere.  Why would I pay?

Hope you ventured out today to take advantage of the great deals.

Charli

Friday's unplanned trip

I was checking the paper today for tomorrow's yard sales and just had to take a little excursion this morning.  I called Marion, loaded up the boys and away we went.  Boy, am I glad we did. 

Here is today's haul.

Here's the breakdown:

2 complete V Smile systems with AC adapters & 7 games, Gator Golf, Robotic Dinosaur

8 books, Hot Wheels racetrack, 3 Lego mini sets, Twister, 3 Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles

Elephun, Silly Pins, Melissa & Doug Solar System and Zoo Friends floor puzzles, 5 Animated Stories from the New Testament videos, Speedway racetrack & car, basketball net, little motorcycle.



This was the boys stuff.  The boys current V smile has a short in it and John & Joisah love to play it while Josh & I do school.  Today's are newer versions and in great shape with games we don't have.  I bought them for $10 each - less than the price of a game.  Now I have an extra controller & system. 

But wait....there's more!

I also picked up a waffle iron, wooden candle holder, gallon pitcher with lid, 2 tin flower baskets, a wreath, Levi's and sweat pants for fall for Josh, a plastic bag saver, a blaze orange kid's size hunting vest, and a Vera Bradley purse.

 My personal favorites from today are the purse and the candle holder.  I'm also excited about the waffle iron - my gluten free baking mix came in and I'm going to try making some waffles. 

I will say that I spent way more than I usually do today. 

Total spent:  $62.00

Now that's a good yard sale day. 
Charli

WV Weekend Round-up

Got any plans for the weekend?  Of course you do.  Don't we all. 
I thought I'd share some fun stuff going on around the area this weekend anyway.

• Morgantown Farmers Market - great produce, baked goods, fresh WV trout, steaks - this place really does have it all.  I'll be missing this one Saturday due to other plans below and the fact that Mr. B will be there with his delicious honey.  He's the one who taught Ronnie's bee classes.  I'm having no love for the bees this week and I'd hate to be banned from this great farmer's market for attacking the bee man.
• Sunset Drive In - That's right!  It's opening this weekend.  X-Men First Class and Thor are playing.  I have heard from numerous people that Thor was kind of a dud, but I would really like to see X-Men.  With it being the first show and PG13, I don't see us making it.  It might work out for me though, the boys should be very tired from all the walking we'll be doing in #3.
• YARD SALE DAY!  That's right.  It's my favorite yard sale day of the year.  The first weekend in June.  I'm going to go ahead and tell you my plans, but be warned- if I see you there scoping out my buys based on what I'm telling you here... I will take you down. 
• Fair Oaks development is my first stop and by far my favorite yard sale of the year.  There is a drug rep on the top street who's son is one size bigger than John and she is always selling his barely worn clothes.  Love them.  Plus, she has great toys & books.  I also stock up on a years supply of bandage scissors (I tend to leave my scissors at patient's houses all over Marion County).
• FGH is having one in the parking garage downtown Saturday.  They've had it in the hospital parking lot before and always have a good selection.  I'm interested to see how it goes at the new location.
• If you're in Clarksburg, I've been told the Nutter Fort city wide yard sale in Saturday.  It tends to be a nice sale also.
• Check out the Times WV for some other great sales while you're driving around. 

My mother in law is my yard sale buddy.  We hit quite a few sales over the summer, but this weekend our favorite.  I score all kinds of great learning games and toys that I use for school, as well as clothes for the boys.  I think we might splurge and have lunch at C.J. Maggies now that they're open in downtown.

It's funny how we change as we get older.  I would never have gone to a yard sale growing up.  Now, I love it.  It's like a modern day treasure hunt.  If you know of any other good sales or plans for the weekend, let me know.

Hope to see you out there.
Charli

Some (cheap) Summer Fun.

In my mind, it's summertime.  Even though we "do school" year round, Summer is still a break for us.  This year we're using the Summer months to catch up on Math & Reading.  I'm also planning on knocking out Health and maybe Geography.
Don't worry, there is still loads of time for fun this Summer.

 And if you know me at all, you know it's going to be fun for very little change.

Here's a few things on the calendar so far:

• Picnic at Valley Falls or Morris Park.
• Free tours at Grafton Dam on Fridays at 1pm during the Summer.
• Carmike Cinemas in Bridgeport has $1 movies on Tuesday for last years kid"s movies.
• MCPARC is having a playground program this summer.  Daily activities including arts & crafts, organized games, and weekly themes. 
• MCPARC is also offering swim lessons for $40 this summer.  One session in June and one in July. 
• Don't forget about Guyses Run Fishing Park.  It's only $2 to fish, no license needed.  Kids 6 and under are free.
• Two words:  Rail Trail.  We love the rail trail.  Sometimes we walk.  Sometimes we bike.  Most of the time the kids bike and the dog & I walk with them.  Pack lunch in the backpack and we have a great, free afternoon. 
• We're trying something new this year.  Geo caching.  Now that we have a GPS, I think this will be a fun family activity. 
• If you don't mind heading to Morgantown, Boparc has some great activities this summer including concerts at Krepps park and Kid's Day in downtown Morgantown for free.  (Minus that tank of gas!).
• Last, but not least, don't forget Prickett's Fort.  They have lots of free or inexpensive activities, including concerts and educational activities. 

Another great option is the movies, especially on a hot afternoon.  Tygart Valley Cinemas has reduced rates on movies before 4pm and all day Tuesdays.  There are some great kids movies coming out this year, like Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh, Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer, and Smurfs. 
Oh!  Wait a minute!  How could I forget our summer standby....the drive in!  We love the drive in.  We bring dinner, drinks and snacks, flip the van seats so there's a big open area, lay out blankets and have great family time under the stars.  You get 2 movies for less than you would pay for one, and it's just a great experience.   They usually show a kids movie followed by a grown up selection.  Our kids usually end up falling asleep at the end of their movie, so, BONUS, Ronnie & I get some drive in time to ourselves.  WooHoo!  Check out this link to see what drive in is closest to you.
I hope I've given you some inspiration for your summer plans
Now go have a fun (cheap) Summer!
Charli 

Look what I found...

I'm going to let you in on a secret. I love yard sales. Flea markets. Thrift stores. I love to just pop in and have a look around at all that junk. Today I stopped by the Penny Pincher in Fairmont. I was on a mission for a "new" VCR - that's right, my house is full of cutting edge technology. Seriously, I have a lot of great VHS tapes that I like to use for homeschooling and thrift stores are the place to go for VCR's. While perusing the oddities such as vintage 1980's living rooms, used underwear (really?) and a complete bathroom vanity - including faucet - I found the above treasures to add to our schoolroom. Here's the breakdown:

1 VCR

1 Winnie the Pooh Word Builder Game

1 Short Vowels Game

3 VHS tapes - Rescue Heroes, Adventures in Odyssey & Joseph

1 USA flash card set

1 Leapfrog fridge magnets set

2 crayon boxes

2 pillowcases

3 puzzles - USA, garden & cars

7 issues of My Big Backyard

7 issues of Highlights

Total spent: $22.00

All in all, a pretty good haul. I'm most excited about the magazines, games & leapfrog set. Josh had the leapfrog magnets when he was little, but by the time Josiah came along, we lost most of the pieces. I really do enjoy thrift stores. It satisfies my yard sale fix until summer comes along.

While we're on the subject of thrifty living, have you been to the Bookmobile lately? Marion County library has a great little Bookmobile that drives around to the outlying areas. They have a new website where you can even request books and they will bring them on their rounds right to your community. And unlike the main library, you don't have to fight for parking downtown or try hustling 3 little people quickly across the street.

I have nothing but love for the Bookmobile.

You really should check them out.