TIP FOR THE DAY THINK OUTSIDE THE HUTCH

Tip for the day .. think outside the hutch.. you do not have to stick to a traditional dining room hutch. You could use an old dresser to store your linens and silverware.

Be creative ... watch for interesting pieces of furniture to " repurpose " to work for you.

Yesterday I was at the thrift store and offered were two sewing machine in wooden cabinets. The cabinets could make cute little desks. I was so tempted but knew they were to small for me or my hubby.

Thanks for stopping by at tip for the day... Grace

What's For Dinner " Pot Roast " Saving Money Eating At Home

The day is beautiful. Feels like Spring is near. We did not get our huge winter storm as predicted. It went south of us and we are not shoveling out. At this moment we are at McDonald's eating thrifty. I am on the computer and hubby his reading a John Sandford book.

We are out searching for treasures to resell visiting several thrift stores. While we are " working" dinner is cooking at home in the crock pot.

Tonight we will have a beef pot roast with potatoes and carrots. What I love about this pot roast is I can turn it into more than 3 meals for the two of us. First the roast dinner, then hubby's fantastic beef stroganoff and finally will use the last third of the beef for a stew. Now that sounds smart to me.

Hope you day is going good and you can find my recipe here if interested

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together Grace

Grocery Shopping Challenge Round Up 3/24/11

We have had a fairly quiet week around here. I made one trip to the grocery store for most of our groceries and then stop in for more milk or bread.
I bought a pot roast to make our main meal but this got put off until today so tonight's dinner will be special.
So here is what we bought this week
Super One
2 bags of Malt O Meal cherrios / shredded wheat $3.99 each ( I had a $2.00 coupon off 2 bags)
1 can of coffee this was an off brand so will see how it tastes ($5.99)
1 bag of cookies $2.99 with store coupon
1 peanut butter store brand $1.99
2 cans of store brand mushroom soup 69 cents each
4 cans of store brand gravy 69 cents each
1 package of egg noodles $1.66
1 beef roast $9.63
2 loafs of bread 99 cents each with store coupon
1 garlic bread $2.99
4 coffee creamer $1.88 each
1 sour cream $3.19
3 jars of spaghetti sauce 99 cents each with store coupon
total spent $50.03

Super One
hamburger buns $2.69
milk $3.39

Walgreens
milk $3.19

Total spent this week $59.30

Total spent this month $210.74

I will be saving this at the following blogs

grocery cart challenge

Homemaking mom

Frugal Follies

Show Your Savings

Addicted To Savings

Friday Finals

Thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together.. Grace

Tip For The Day Keeping Nail Polish In Line

Here is an interesting idea I just read in 1001 Timely Tips For Clutter Control. Keep your bottles of nail polish in your bathroom drawer from tipping and slidding every time the drawer is opened or shut. Take a piece of sewing elastic and tack it across the inside of the drawer. Choose the height and width that suits your needs. You can then put your nail polish between the elastic and the side of the drawer.

Sounds like a neat idea to me. To bad there is no drawer in my bathroom. Maybe in the next apartment I can do this.

thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together... Grace

Moderation, Addiction And When To Say Enough Is Enough

Good morning everyone, I am happy to report that the 12 to 18 inches of snow never came. We are having snow flurries but should not amount to much.

Right now we are at McDonald's and drinking coffee, getting noisy with the high school kids coming in from school to have a lunch.

While I am here I am just spending time reading blogs and came across a posting on one of my favorite blogs on moderation. Be More With Less wrote on Moderation, Addiction and When to Say When. With it being lent many are giving up something for 40 days.

She shares her relationship with Alcohol. Mine is similar to hers in some ways. I grew up in a home where there was no alcohol at all because of religion I would think. As I started to get in my teen years I met husband number one who had a drinking problem and I was married to a practicing alcoholic. That is an experience I wish on no one. He eventually sobered up but then the other issues started. After almost 25 years I decided enough was enough.
That is when I was free to be me. I met new friends, drinking friends and that is when my drinking started. I never drank with husband number 1 hoping if I did not drink he may not drink. Boy did I make up for my years of not drinking. Twenty years of fun drinking, bar hopping, trips to casinos and Las Vegas and eventually it caught up with me.
I knew I had a problem for years. I even quit for 30 days once or twice. Eventually I would think I could control my drinking. There is no such thing as control to an alcoholic ( name your drug of choice, mine was alcohol.)
I truly believe God gave me a good kick in the pants the last night I drank. I got home after a night of drinking with friends , went out to feed the alley cats, stumbled or what ever and fell on my face. I missed a dumpster by an inch. That probably would of been the end of me if I had hit it with my head.
The next morning I woke up sore and with my pillow stained with blood. My hubby #2 said " I think it is time for you to stop drinking " What could I do but agree. I finally accepted that I had reached to bottom. That was the day I prayed, cried, threw out all alcohol and made the decicion to living One Day At A Time. I started going AA meetings at a woman's group and cried out my heart to these ladies.

The following is a comment I left over at Be More With Less

" There comes a time that it is important if we have an addicted personality to say Just for today I will not drink , smoke, over eat , gamble , over spend. What ever our addiction is it is important to say Just for today I will not. Thirty days is easy but when we live one day at a time is when you are really looking at your self and making true decisions of how you want to live.
Just for today I choose to not drink or smoke. I am addicted to both and they have done nothing but harm my life. I can handle being around others that drink or smoke but prefer to be with those that do not. Last night we stayed at my brother in law’s taking care of cats. Sitting on the counter was a 12 pack of beer. Boy a beer would be nice but I never had a beer or a glass of wine, I had several of them often.
There is no such thing as control, that is just putting off what you know you should stop doing.
I do not know if this makes sense but just for today I choose to not drink, smoke, use a credit card and I pray that tomorrow is the same as today and I am thankful yesterday was a good day."

I am thankful that I am not drinking or smoking but especially the drinking. If by sharing something very personal with any one who reads this and they look deep within themselves than it is worth it.
I am thankful for my husband #2 who has always encouraged me and walks with me through sobriety. He may not of had the problem I had but he is healthier every day he does not drink or smoke.

I continue to pray that just for today I continue my walk.

Grace

SAVED QUARTER CHALLENGE # 11 INCREASING INTERNET SALES

Savings Challenge update #11 ... this last week we have been working to increase our Internet sales by going out and hunting more often. We have found a few fairly good books and have been busy putting them up for sale. Some have already sold already. Here are some fun cook books we found this week end at an estate sale.






They all have been listed for auction on eBay, so hopefully we will sell some or all of them.

We had a total of 7 sales this week on eBay and Amazon which brought in $85.00 before fees and cost. Here are just two of the books we sold.

This money will be spent looking for more items to sell and some will go into savings.

It has and will be a tough couple of months. We just spent money from savings to fix our brakes and the van is still may need some work. Taxes are due in less than a month and there is some shortness there.

So motto around here is work work hunt hunt and sell sell.

How did your week go with making more money or saving money.

I will be sharing this over at Savings Quarter Challenge

Monday Menu Plan 3/21/11

This week is going to be a little different in our lives. We have offered to stay at a family member's house for a day or two and Kitty Cat sit. That should be wonderful since we love cats and lost our precious sweetheart last October. Problem is we have a snow storm warning for our area. Could be up to 18 inches of snow.

All we can do is wait and watch the weather. My plans for our meals will be fairly simple since we will not be in our own kitchen.

Tonight will be grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup

The rest of the week will be the following

Rich Burger Sloppy Joes , baked beans and chips

Left over Sloppy Joes and baked beans

Macaroni and Cheese and warm bread

Chili with crackers

Crock pot roast beef with potatoes and carrots

Beef Stroganoff with garlic bread

How is your menu plan coming for the week. It helps me plan to use what I have in the house already with out having to do much grocery shopping.

Thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together .. Grace