My monthly total is......

So this has been my first real month of stockpiling as I had said before. In my research I have read that the first 2 months or so you will spend a bit more but then your bill will get MUCH less. So to recap my goals for the next 3 months

Jan- 800 total on ALL groceries, household items etc...
Feb- 700 total on ALL groceries, household items etc
March and beyond- 600 or less total on ALL groceries and household items etc

Even though I feel like I literally lived in the store this month I actually JUST made my goal by a TINY margain....

Total spent in Jan - 799.65 ( a 35 cent under budget WOOHOOO...LOL)
Total saved- A whopping 844.32

Plus I scored :
4 free 12 packs of soda for dealing with a bad customer service issue
A free Coffee party kit which included several goodies and 15 free coupons for coffee creamer for dealing with a bad customer service
issue!

Yay for me!! Now onto next month =)

Varsity

Nina is starting her first time ever season of varsity cheerleading. She has been cheering for 2 years now and has been on the jv squad. Now I am a total soccer mom, I admit it but I am SO psyched for her to be on varsity now. They have much more advanced cheers, stunts, and they always win =). I know it's not about winning but since her jv team hasnt placed yet it will be nice for her to finally get a victory under her belt and hopefully build up her confidence. She is very good and is ready for the next step. She is however a bit nervous since she isn't supposed to start varsity until she is 10 and she is still only 8. Her coach and I though both believe that since she will be 9 by the competition she is ready for the challenge. So I have my fingers crossed and am praying that she gets excited about it! So every1 cross your fingers too please =)

Food shop score of the week

With this new plan of budgeting I probably run to the store a few times a week and while I always do well sometimes I score HUGE!
For anyone following my excitement or wants to learn how to save on grocery shopping themselves here was my big score

1-16oz mozzerella cheese- on sale 2 / 6 - 1 publix store $1/1 coup= $2.00
1-16oz mozzerella cheese- on sale 2 / 6 - 1 publix store $1/1 coup=$2.00
1 8oz mild cheddar sargento cheese on sale 2 / 4- 1 publix $1/1 coup +50cent coup=50cent
1 8oz swiss sargento cheese- on sale 2 /4 - 1 publix $1/1 coup + 50cent coup=50cent
1 8oz swiss sargento cheese- on sale 2 / 4- 1publix $1/1 coup + 50 cent coup=50 cent
1crisco canola oil on bogo - 3.65 -1 / 55cent coup= 3.10
1crisco canola oil on bogo- free plus 1/55cent coup= 55 cent overage
4pack ge energy saver lightbulbs on sale 1.59- $2/1 coup + $1/1 comp cop= $1.39 overage

Total bill for this whole shopping was $6.89 ...WOOHOO!

January Blues...

Does anyone else get them? Every year after all the excitement of Oct-Dec activities, holidays and planning I find myself having the blues. It is cold ( yes even in FL), money is not as plenty because I always go over my "budget" on the holidays, n there just isn't much going on. For some reason this also feels like the LONGEST Jan ever. Seriously, how was Christmas only a month ago??? How is there still almost a full week left of this month? I for one am SO ready for Feb because at least things pick up a bit with birthdays,county fair, tax returns(woohoo) and a glimpse closer to the summer....so in the meanti,e I will be daydreaming of vacations n pina colodas until it is actually time for them =)

Planned Menu for the week of January 24th

Here is my projected menu for this week( of course things will change and I will edit as such )

Monday- Leftovers
- Pasta Fazool ( pastina for the kids)
-Chicken CUTLETS
- Salad

Tuesday-Taco night
-Tacos
-Rice
-Beans

Wednesday- Wacky Wednesday ( although not a wacky dish today)
-Turkey and cheese meatloaf muffins
-Au gratin potatoes
-Brussel SPROUTS

Thursday-
- Honey mustard chicken and pasta
-salad
-corn for kids( since they arent big salad lovers)

Friday-
-Turkey burgers w/turkey bacon
-Fries
-Green beans

Saturday
-BBQ ( Hot dogs n burgers)
-macaroni salad
-veggies

Sunday
-Baked chicken cutlet
-pasta in vodka sauce
-garlic bread
-mixed veggies

Im hoping that this will keep my shopping easier if I plan ahead and cause me to make new dishes if I see my hubby is right and that I do constantly cook alot of the same things...=p

Organizing

So as I posted before this year I am working on organizing just about every aspect of my life. One thing I have really gotten into is couponing. I am learning that I can save an INSANE amount of $ by using coupons and coupon match ups. I didn't even know such a thing exsisted ..and they are awesome..so I will be tracking my grocery trips on here.
Here is my LONG term goal. Get food/household product bill down to 600 per month
Usually on average we spend about 800 per month on grocery and household products. ( This is actually down since we used to spend like 900-1100)
So this whole couponing /stockpiling ( but def not HOARDING) thing is roughly new to me. I have been doing couponing a bit more hard core for a few months now and am ready to jump into the stockpiling. It is said it takes a good 2 months to build a good stockpile. So this month I am probably going to still max out at around my 800 or a bit less. By next month I am hoping to get it down to 700 and by the end of March I want my food bill to be at around 600 or less.
How am I doing this?
1) Buying about 3 Sunday newspapers
2)UNCLIPPING my coupons- All I do is skim the papers for coupons I will use that NEVER go on sale that I buy anyway. I then just date it n put it in my coupon folder.
3) Go to my publix coupon match up site n match the sales with my coupons
4) Go to my coupon folder with dates n coupons n then clip knowing exactly where everything is.
5) Then go shopping and save a bunch...
So here is my list of shopping trips so far....

date store Spent Saved
1-5-11 publix 10.88 14.76
1-5-11 sweetbay 19.94 10.00
1-6-11 publix 55.36 105.00
1-8-11 wg 17.13 17.05
1-8-11 wg 7.96 21.97
1-9-11 wg 9.85 8.00
1-9-11 wg 11.37 26.97
1-9-11 wg 8.07 33.19
1-12-11 publix 28.30 62.86
1-13-11 publix 24.00 72.00
1-15-11 publix 41.39 86.08
1-18-11 sweetbay 206.13 27.56
1-19-11 wg 7.01 10.00
1-22-11 publix 49.91 67.83
1-23-11 wg 16.43 23.81
1-23-11 wg 15.69 5.48
1-25-11 publix 29.10 3.91(hubby did this trip...uh-oh)lol
1-26-11 publix 6.89 22.60
1-27-11 publix 45.11 102.29
1-29-11 sweetbay 143.20 49.91
1-29-11 wg 19.21 20.05

Shopping month over!!! Total in new blog

Germs

Dear germs,

I know you are looking for a place to live, however, this whole family has grown VERY tired of your stay. 3 months of nonstop sickness in one house is more then enough. So, I beg of you..PLEASE take your things and go elsewhere( or just disappear in general)
Thank you very much!!!

Central air

I guess part of being organized is being prepared for the unexpected? WEll, problem is..Im not that organized yet. It is only January 21st and two big surprise expenses have arrived.

1) Giovanni will probably need tubes in his ears and while I do have insurance it comes with an insanely high deductible that I must pay before it kicks in...
2) My central air system is on the fritz again and is going to be ALOT of $ to fix!!!

So, instead of getting frazzled by this like I usually do I will just have to work it into my newly organized budget..only problem is, I havent created one of those yet either..doh!!

This organizing isnt as easy as I was hoping it to be =p!

A new year, a new blog

Wowza! I just realized I have not blogged in quite some time...almost 5 months to be exact! I just wasnt inspired to write, I have been insanely busy and sick(constantly) so there has not been much extra time either. So with a new year upon us my New Years resolution was to get my life more organized. In every which way. So I am going to redirect my blog a bit. It will still cover tons of tidbits from our crazy lives, but it will also be geared upon organizing n renovations I want done in my life. The biggest changes I am trying to make this year...
1) Get healthier- I had lost most of my baby weight 2 summers ago only to have put about half of it back on by just not watching, not excersizing enough n I wont lie..pure laziness. So I will be tracking my weight loss on here to be Disney cruise body ready!! In November we are going on our first ever family cruise( and its a Disney one sooo woooohooo). So my goal will be to lose about 20 or so pounds in about 10 months..totally doable if I keep track. I will also try to be posting my weekly menus.
2) Budget- Being that we are going on this enourmous vacation..we really need to work on our budget so I will be tracking, my grocery bills n coupon craze, my paying off debts, n ways I am trying to save all around
3) house stuff- This year we plan to do quite a few changes around here so stay tuned to the fun!!
Just realized how much I missed blogging, Glad to be back!