End of the year grocery stats

Just wanted to update you on my end of the year grocery savings stats.  I started my journey back in late July, but began tracking my savings in September.  I knew I was saving money, but wasn't really sure how much until I started tracking it in an excel worksheet.  (I know, i'm a dork!)  
So here are the end of the year totals:


Spent: $1,445.67
Saved: $1,723.09
Total percent savings: 54.4%!!!  


I am totally surprised and very happy with the outcome.  This means that we  have successfully brought our grocery budget down 54.4% since September.  That is amazing! 


I will say that through this journey it has been both easy and hard.  There were many days and nights that I dreaded the thought of having to file my coupons, but I stuck with it and to see the savings is so awesome to me.  


My Church is wanting me to have a coupon workshop this coming January.  January 23rd to be exact.  If anyone is interested, please let me know and I will get you all the info.  I can't wait to share with others how much this has helped our family financially!  To me, its worth the time and effort to put into coupons.  We are now able to put money in the bank for savings and I can't wait to see what 2010 will hold for our bank account!

Out with the old... in with the NEW

No one knows what 2010 will hold, but what I do know, is that I want to change the look of the inside of my house.  I've decided that little by little throughout 2010, I will be changing something in the house.  Whether it be new paint in the rooms, new or refurbished furniture of some sort, or new storage ideas for around the house.  I need to "modernize" my home so that when I sit on the couch or go to bed, I enjoy what's around me.  Right now I just go day by day and grumble every time I have to dust the awful looking night stands we have in our bedroom.  They are from when Jon was a single man and they look like poo poo.  Basically, I read TONS of magazines with new ways to decorate and always think "wow, thats a great idea, I need to do that" but never do it.  So, ONE of my new years resolutions will be to get rid of all the old stuff and bring in the new stuff.  Be it new or used or refurbished.  Things have got to change!!  While I'm on this journey, I'll be updating with old pictures and new pictures.  Wish me luck!

** One thing that I bought today that will go in our bedroom are two new throw pillows.  They are chocolate brown round pillows.  Super cute and very modern!

My 2009 year in Status

2009 has been great to my family and I!  We have two beautiful boys, a lovely place we call home, two reliable cars, and great families on both sides!  What more could we ask for?

The Slack Tooth Fairy

Ok, so the worst has happened... The Tooth Fairy has forgotten to come TWO... yes thats 2... days in a row!  I feel awful for Austin.  It amazes me the lengths someone will go to keep your child's smile and heart going.   


Our first night that was forgotten was Friday night.  It was the night of that horrible rain storm.  It was a busy night and the boys went to bed late anyway!
Last night, Saturday night, we just plainly forgot!  :(


Hopefully the note I typed up on the computer and the glittery envelope with the $5.00 in it, will do the trick and hopefully it will make him happy.  


Excuse to give when you forget about the "tooth fairy"
1. Maybe she was super busy and is running behind on schedule.
2. Maybe she took the night off because there was bad weather.
3. Maybe she doesn't work on national holidays and the new homeland security laws wreaked havoc with her flight plans.
4. Your tooth fell out AFTER she made her tooth schedule for that night, so you would be scheduled for the next night. 


** However #4 would not work in our case, since we forgot the second night too.  Sigh **


So folks, after two long nights waiting for the tooth fairy to come, austin will now get $5.00.  I never knew that I would pay money for a stinky old tooth, let alone $5.00!!


Here is the letter the tooth fairy gave him.  


Dear Austin, 
  I am so sorry I was not able to get to your house on time.  It has been very busy for me these past few days.  I gave you a little extra to make up for me being late.  You did a great job pulling your own tooth!
Remember to keep those teeth nice and clean for me!


From: The Tooth Fairy



** When I went in his room to do the "exchange" he had his hand under his pillow stuck to the bag with the tooth in it.  He must have wanted to make sure she came this time.  Maybe even catch her in the act.  hahaha **

Busy Bee Monday

(Sorry - this was originally supposed to be posted on Monday evening, but we are having computer problems)  
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Today was a busy day!  It started out with taking the kids to school then I headed over to Julie's house to help out with Jude some!  He is so super cute!

This was Jude and I today. 

Here is a close up picture!  Isn't he adorable!!!












Anyways, back to the busy Monday.  Once I got there I started to make my homemade crayons.  I got the idea from another blog I read and thought it was inventive.  So, this past weekend I dug through the boys crayons (there was alot) and picked out the broken ones.  Jon and I peeled the paper off them last night and then I seperated them into cupcake holder.  You can bake them on about 250 degrees for a little while.  You will need to watch them and keep and eye on them so they don't burn. 

Then, after picking Caden up from school, I came home and began to make the chocolate lollipops.  These turned out cuter than I thought they would and they taste good!  Plus I made chocolate chip cookies.






















After making those, I assembled the christmas gifts for the boys classes.  Caden's class got one homemade crayon and a chocolate lollipop. 

Austin's class will get a chocolate lollipop with a pencil. 

I also finished up the teacher gifts.  They got a coffee cup from starbucks, homemade hot chocolate mix, puppy chow, and chocolate chip cookies.  Their gifts turned out cute too. 

Puppy Chow anyone??

Every year I make my homemade Puppy Chow during Christmas.  Its a tradition in our house and as Jon says "Once you eat one, its all over from there".  Meaning you can't eat just one of these yummy crunchy chocolate bites.  


This is one of those recipes. I like to call this a "desired taste" recipe.  I dont have a set recipe I go off of, I just dump everything in and then taste as I go to make sure it taste the way I like it.  But here are the ingredients and directions so you too can enjoy this delicious treat!


Ingredients: 
Chex Cereal (Rice or Corn will do.  I use corn because I think they don't break apart as easily as the rice)
Nestle semi sweet chocolate morsels
Peanut Butter
Powered Sugar
(Please note that all these ingredients I bought on sale and with my coupons for super cheap)




Directions:
Melt Chocolate over medium to high heat in a non stick pot on the stove.  Once melted, add about a 1/4 of a cup of peanut butter to start with.  If you want more of a peanut butter taste, add more.  I used about 1/2 a cup total for my stuff.
While chocolate is melting, pour powered sugar in your biggest mixing bowl.  Leave a little of the powered sugar to add to the top.  
Once the chocolate & peanut butter is melted, add about 3/4 of the box of chex cereal to the mixture.  Mix cereal in until it is completely covered in the chocolate.  Then pour the chocolate covered cereal into the bowl with the powered sugar.  Place bowl's lid on tightly, then shake hard.  You might have to open the bowl and stir gently just to get the clumps out and every piece coated with sugar.  Allow to sit for about 30 minutes to cool.

Once it is cooled, you can store in an air tight container or make into cute gifts for teachers, friends, or family members.

I like to make my own cute labels with nice paper stock and ribbon.  Be creative.  


Hope you enjoy your Puppy Chow!!

Homemade Applesauce

Im not much into making homemade from scratch stuff, but I have been trying very hard lately not to waste food.  With that said, I  began my adventure with homemade banana bread.  I would buy bananas and the boys would never eat them so they would just go to waste.  Bananas hurt my stomach so I don't like to eat them, but they don't hurt my stomach if its banana bread.   So I managed to perfect my banana bread recipe. 


Now we have somehow ended up with a ton of apples that no one has eaten.  Jon insists I buy them for him to eat for lunch but I don't think he has been taking them with him to work.   I had nine apples to come up with something to make.  I decided to try homemade applesauce.  The kids seem to really enjoy applesauce so I thought for sure they would eat it. 
Here are the steps and the recipe for Homemade applesauce


Ingredients:
8-9 small apples of your choice (I used Fugi)
Cinnamon
1 cup (or more) of sugar
pinch of salt


Directions:
Peel and core apples and place in a large pot for boiling.

Bring to boil and reduce hear to a simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until apples are tinder.  Add a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness.  I also added a few tablespoons of sugar about 15 minutes into it.

Once they are finished simmering, drain apples to remove excess water.  I smashed my apples with a potato smasher and then took the hand mixer to them to make it smoother.  Then add your desired amount of cinnamon and the remaining sugar.  You can add more sugar depending on how sweet you like it. 

Here is the finished product.  MMMM MMMM Good!! 

The Bald guy got it right

I have to tell you how much I LOVE Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers! They are truely a housewives favorite tool! They clean everything. Thursdays are usually my cleaning days, so while cleaning the house, I noticed some stains on my walls in the kitchen. The kitchen is prone to stains on the walls and so is the whole house considering I have two boys running around all the time. I pulled out my magic eraser today and went at the walls. Then later, I noticed my cabinets. They got a good wipe down too.

Man it feels so nice to sit in a clean house!

I recommend these to EVERYONE!!  They get two thumbs UP

DIY Holiday gift tags

Take a look at the cute Do-it-yourself holiday gift tags.  They are so cute and you can create any look you need for any occasion.

The supplies you need are
stamp, paper stock of your choice, sissors, glue, ribbon, and a design punch (in this case, I used a christmas tree)

So easy to make and they add a personal touch to your gift.