Another long, but fun few weeks in the books! We are still adjusting to the new puppy and she to us. Honestly, I can’t wait for her to be outside a lot more. I truly believe most dogs are meant to live outside and she is proving that to me over and over again. On the other side of this is that my house is very clean right now between picking up stuff so she doesn’t chew on it and her little accidents here and there.

Having a meal plan these last few weeks has been a sanity saver! I stuck to what meals I was going to make and it made a huge difference at meal time. I was able to take advantage of the bone-in chicken breast sale (99 cents/pound) and got three whole breasts. I cooked them in the crockpot all day. We had one for supper that night with roasted vegetables. The rest I put in the fridge for future meals including chicken noodle soup for lunch yesterday. I put the bones back into the the slow cooker and added water and let that cook all night and most of the next day to make a deep, rich broth. It made about 20 cups which is sitting in the fridge also. I used some of it also for chicken noodle soup and chicken enchiladas.

I have been making bigger meals when I cook to have leftovers on the nights we have been running short on time and to have lunch for work.Last week I made a big pot of lentil soup which served as two meals for me at work. I also made Korean Beef and Rice last Thursday which will be supper tonight also. I have been really watching our food waste and being more conscious of serving it for supper a second time. On the keys to this is to make food that I know my kids will eat a second time and serving different side dishes.

Saturday a few weeks ago,  we went over to my parents for the day to celebrate Shali’s birthday and because we haven’t seen everyone for awhile. My parents have been cleaning out and reorganizing their basement. They wanted us to go through the stuff before they took it to the thrift shop. I ended up with two pizza stones, cereal bowls, a tea kettle, some towels and dishclothes, and some books. I have been wanting another pizza stone and a tea kettle so this was great for me! The kids found some things to bring home too. My parents came over last Saturday and brought some more things they thought we would be interested in. Lovely stuff!

I decided to start cleaning up my email and printing off articles/recipes to try or save in my binders. This can take a lot of paper, but I have been using the backs of the kids’ school papers for this purpose. I don’t care what is on the back and the paper doesn’t got to waste. I also try to print black and white or use economy print so I don’t waste ink either.

We got a grocery sack and a trash bag stuffed full of clothes for Dane! Yeah! He has been growing like a weed again! These will also help with my garage sale shopping this summer as he has been growing fast and I am finding myself short of clothes in the next few sizes up.

I stopped at Target on my home from Rob’s house last weekend and got a few great deals. The best was wandering through their health and beauty section. I got several bottles of body wash for 50-75% off and some lip balm for 75% off. Love those deals! With girls in the house, sales like this are crucial. I also introduced Rob to Big Lots and we both found some great deals in there. I got several items for the garden and yard at a significant savings!

I made a change on my cell phone plan. When I first signed up and had to have data on my phone, I could only choose from 1GB, 2 GB, and 4 GB. The 2GB plan was not enough, so I choose the 4GB which was too much. I checked over my plan recently and found out they are offering a 3GB plan which I jumped on. I am saving about $12 a month. I am working down to 2GB plan, but am working on the adjustment month by month. If I can use wireless, I do! I find that hard to do in some places though.

We are still hanging up most of our laundry using the big clothes drying rack. One load fits on there nicely. I do have one line strung up, but I would like to get 3-4 more lines done so I can do more laundry. We have been using the dryer for towels only. I can’t wait for the warmer weather later this week so I can use the outside lines!

We have been facing and paying for a lot of car repairs lately and that is putting a bit of a crimp into my budget. I am looking for a newer vehicle right now that will be hopefully much easier on my budget and fewer repairs. I would like to pay cash for a newer vehicle, but I don’t see that as possible right now. Maybe though…

That is all for now! Or all I can think of. We do a lot of everyday things that I forget to mention, but I am hoping to talk more about them in future posts!

Thanks for reading!
Erica

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