Keeping up with the Jones

You know.....I am so tired of keeping up with the Jones. First off, why do I think I need to be a Jones? I am only 28 years old, and have more than a lot of people my age. We are in the military, and I am a stay at home mom, and we still seem to live a privileged life!! I listened to a gal last night on a blog talk about how we always want more. No matter how much money we have, we think we need the NEXT best thing. We are always searching for things out of our grasp. Maybe we should try finding that value in something other than monetary things. Does Savannah need to be the best dressed girl at school? Do I need to have the coolest car in pick up line? Does our family need to take big extravagant vacations? HECK NO! What is that going to accomplish? What is that going to teach our children? I need to teach them how to give back. I want my children/family to be known for being giving and selfless and lovers of Christ. I want people to look at us and say, "Man, they have it together. They are truly blessed." And when they say "blessed," they mean blessed by the riches we have gained through loving Christ and giving back to others, not because of a big house or huge diamond on my finger. How do I accomplish that goal? How do I find peace with what we have and not feel the need to live up to someone else's standards? I mean, the real answer is, if these Jones families or friends do not like us because we cannot keep up with them, then they are not the kind of friends we need anyway. I want to find ways to give more of myself and my money. The more I save, the more I have to do that.

Hold me accountable friends....hold me accountable....

Wowzer....

So it has been a long time since I have posted on this website. I am not sure anyone even reads this thing, but I am going to start (at least try to) this thing back up.

So..I have meal planned for the next two weeks. Here is my plan:

Jan. 31-Chimichangas/Nachos

Feb.1-Small group-bringing mashed potatoes

Feb.2-Chili/Hotdogs

Feb. 3-Left over Chili/Hotdogs

Feb. 4-Awards Banquet

Feb. 5-Home made pizza

Feb. 6-Chicken Stew

Feb. 7-Super Bowl snacks

Feb. 8-Chicken Parmesan

Feb. 9-Feb. 11-Scrounge/Leftovers/Soups/Sandwiches--Brent will be gone

Feb. 12-Chicken Parmesan

Feb. 13-Seafood

Feb. 14-Valentines Dinner

So...there you have it. I am hoping not to have to go back to the store for anything except bread and milk. We should be able to make it!!! I spent $118 on food for breakfast, lunches, and dinners, which totals out to $9.80 a day (this does not include the cost of the banquet food or the Valentines Day dinner). I am still struggling to save more than 10% in coupons, but since I get the commissary discount and the prices of a discounted grocery store (Aldi), I guess it is ok.

I tried out a new place today...I am sure you have heard about it. It is called Aldi. I have heard you can save LOTS of money by shopping there and I SURE did! They have LOTS of staple items, which i stocked up on. They have lots of vegetables for me to use in my recipes for dirt cheap. I was very impressed with what they had. They even had a few brand names. Most of it was just off brand, but I saw several brands that I recognized. I am not too proud to shop there. Heck no...I left with THREE bags full of groceries for only $23!! The rest of the stuff I bought at the commissary. I still haven't decided if I can get better deals at Walmart or the commissary. It seems like I can get more canned goods or anything that has a Walmart brand cheaper at Walmart, because the commissary doesn't have a brand...but if I have to by an actual brand name or meat, the commissary is cheaper.

I will pass on my knowledge as I find it :)

For now....

Big Savings!

So, today I went to Walgreens and saved 39% off my bill. Wanna know how?? Every Tuesday, the Walgreens on Viera Blvd/Murrell offers military a 15-20% discount AND I used Walgreens and Manufacturer's coupons! I got aluminum foil for 0.09!!! I saved $1.60. If you look through the Walgreens circular and your coupons and match them up and then go (if you're military) on Tuesdays, you can save big! WAHOO!!

YUMMY CHIMICHANGAS!!!!!

Another $5 hit in the Mundie household. I doubled this recipe so I could freeze a second portion. We made five chimichangas and We will have enough for lunch leftovers. I spent a little less than $10 and it will make at least two hefty meals. Here is the recipe. REMEMBER: I doubled the recipe to freeze.

BEEF AND BEAN CHIMICHANGAS

**This recipe and picture come from www.5dollardinners.com

VERA VERA HERE I COME!!

Vera Bradley is having a great sale today on their Tic Tac Totes. They are normally $55 and they are down to $19. You can also use coupon code 10offsale and get another 10% off! Pretty darn good deal and great Christmas ideas. Here is the link: VERA DEAL!

Steak dinner

So, here is just a run down of how much money we can save eating at home versus going out for the same meal. Clearly steak is not quite as frugal as chicken or ground beef, but it is ok to splurge every once in a while. Tonight, we are eating a steak dinner which includes steak, of course, green beans for kids, mac and cheese, and salad for the adults. This will also include milk for the kids and a soda for each adult. I did not keep an exact count, but we are going to spend roughly $10.oo for the entire meal. How, you ask? Well, I buy in bulk. So, all the sides, except the salad are bulk items and the steak was on sale so for enough steak to feed our whole family, I did not even spend $6.oo.

Next, I will give you an example of how much it would cost us to to eat at a local steak joint. And, this place is one of the cheaper steak places, not Ruth Chris or anything outrageous. For us to eat, which would include TWO steak dinners and TWO kids meals usually, four drinks, tax and tip, would cost roughly $48!! So, we have just saved ourselves almost $40!! I will be giving more examples of this as we take this journey together or feel free to share your great eat in deals versus eating out.

However, I will say this. I LOVE to eat out because there are no dishes to clean afterward, so this is a challenge for me. BUT, how can you resist the "extra" $4o, which for us, helped send us to Disney one day this weekend!

Coupons

I have "trash" coupons to give away if anyone wants them. Remember, my "trash" coupons are just coupons that our family does not use that will go into the trash if no one wants them. Either leave a comment on here, email me, or facebook me if you want these coupons. I will set them aside for you. I will only keep them until Tuesday morning if I haven't heard from anyone.