{Budget Groceries}: meal planning

I have shared before about our student loan debt, and the chaos of balancing my job and motherhood. I cannot say thank you enough to my friends and family that have walked along with me through this struggle, and encouraged me to abide in God. I now understand why God warns us to not borrow money. Debt sucks. 

Bryan has noticed my stress with balancing my role as a working-momma and motherhood, and offered to hire a cleaning service to help me with my bi-weekly cleaning. This was a helpful offer, but it has also been humbling because I have to admit that I'm not perfect. I can't be a perfect employee, a perfect mother, and a perfect homemaker. I need help, or I need to live with the chaos.

I want our financial budget to stay the same when we hire the cleaning service in February, so I had to "find" money. This left me with two options: cancel our cable or lower our grocery budget. Bryan voted for lowering our grocery budget {thanks to ESPN}.

I normally shop at Krogers because it's 1 mile down the street in the neighborhood, but I probably make 2-3 stops a week because of the convince. We spend $120-$150 per week on groceries not counting what Bryan spends eating out at lunch {weekdays only}. I also never meal plan. I just walk into Krogers and randomly buy ingredients and hope I can make a meal out of it. I hate cooking, so I'm not an organized shopper.

To save money I needed to meal plan. 

 Krogers isn't extremely expensive, but I needed to grocery shop at a more cost-effective store. A couple of my friends, Whit and MT, suggested that I do my grocery shopping at ALDI to save some cash.

I made my grocery list based on my meal plan for 5 days {I make meals to feed 6 people, so that we will have leftovers on the weekend and for work lunches}, and then headed to ALDI. ALDI doesn't carry everything, so I had to make an extra stop at Walmart to pick up toiletries and cleaning products, but adding up my ALDI + Walmart receipts I saved $50 the first week and $65 the second week. Crazy!

I am sold on ALDI now! If I can save $120 per month on groceries, then I can afford to pay our cleaning service, yay!

Meal planning is the hardest part, so I'm going to document 4 weeks of meal planning and share my meal calendar with you. If you have an ALDI or Trader Joe's near you, I encourage you to check it out! {No, no one is paying me or giving me anything to say this...it's just my opinion}

Let me know if you have any money saving tips? Saving money makes me do a happy dance! 

{ALDI Shopping Tips}:
*Go without bringing the kiddos the first time {it'll be easier}
*bring 1 quarter for the grocery cart {they're locked, and you'll get your quarter back if you take the cart back}
*bring grocery bags {you'll have to bag everything}
*they only sell in-season produce
*check out ALDI's FAQ page

{a majority of the recipes on my meal plans can be found on my Pinterest. check back in February for a complete booklet of my monthly meal plans to download for FREE}

CK's {1st Birthday} Design

Caleb will be turning 1 in exactly 2 months and 2 weeks, eekkk!  Well, it's a good thing I already have Caleb's party invitations made! Ha! No, I'm not crazy, I'm just really organized.

I want to go over the top crazy with Caleb's birthday party because I love to party, but I want to stay within a tight budget. No that's not an oxymoron, it's just going to require a lot of DIY decorations/projects and proper planning. When Caleb turned 6 months I started brainstorming party themes:
1. Neverland/Peter Pan Party
2. Fox Party
3. Fall Festival
4. Enchanted Princess Party {oh wait, I have a son}
5. Open Season Party

Well, we chose #5, the Open Season Party theme about a month ago, and since then I have been a busy little bee trying to start the planning process. My hubby is a hunter and is beyond thrilled with the party theme {*disclaimer* "Open Season" will be a forest friends theme and no animals will be injured during the planning and/or party}.

During the party planning process, I like to start with designing the invitation. After you design the invitation, then you can incorporate the invitation's colors and design into the decor of the party. I think the invitation should be a "sneak peek" of what guests can expect to see at the party.

So, here is CK's party invite:

With a little time and effort, I created Caleb's invitation using Photoshop. I chose to use gingham because camo makes me want to barf. Sorry. I support my hubby's hunting hobby, but I draw the line at camouflage. When I think of a huntsman/outdoorsman/forrest theme, I think of a lumberjack and flannel, so I chose gingham. 

I have the party favors picked out for CK's party and it is going to be so AWESOME, but I'll keep that a surprise for our guests!!! Now it's time to start all the DIY decorations {hey! I know I have 2 months, but you don't want to be in a rush. trust me!}. Here's what I'm thinking:

Source:

1. BlushInk

2. Woodland Forest Theme

3. Trail Mix Bar

 4. Kara's Party Ideas

 I have a lot of work to do, so I need to get cracking on these projects! Want to come over and play crafts??? I have a TON of "pins" on my Pinterest that I need to go through to help me get started on the decor.

I know Caleb won't remember his 1 year party, but I love throwing parties! I loved Chi Omega in college and having themed socials/parties and matching t-shirts! So, don't hate my party-loving-heart!

Seriously though, want to come over and craft? Ha!

Just Between Friends {Ft. Worth}

My thrifty-loving-heart had a sweet adventure a few weeks ago! My girlfriends shared an awesome DFW secret with me called Just Between Friends. Have you heard of it?? It's a large consignment/resale convention where you can buy {and sell} gently used baby, kids, and maternity items. It's A.MAZ.ING.!!! I had no idea what to expect, but went to the pre-sale {first time moms get in before it's opened to the public! Squeal!} looking for random baby toys and bargains. 

And, boy, did I find a bargain!

 I bought:

*50pk of ballpit balls--$5.00

*Sit 'n Stand/car--$8.00

*Laugh and Learn Puppy--$8.00

*Camo shoes--$3.50

*Ball Popper--$5.00

*Dump Truck--$5.00

Grand total spent including tax=$37.35 

Hot Tamales!! That's a huge win!

We had so much fun running around looking for "treasure":

The best part for you fellow DFW peeps, is the Fort Worth JBF sale begins Saturday, Sept. 1, at 2pm!!! {first time parents, grandparents, and teachers can get into the pre-sale}. To find out more about the 11-day {yes 11 days of amazing treasure hunting! Squeal!}, and more information on how to get into the Pre-Sale click here.

JBF Fort Worth is the largest children's and maternity consignment sales event in Texas and probably in the top 15 in the U.S. They are in a 75000 square feet convention center for 11 days and are expecting 1200 families to bring their gently used children's and maternity items to sell! Oh, think of all the bargains and treasures that await!!! Visit the JBF Fort Worth website to get more details.

Look at how much Caleb is loving all the toys we purchased from the JBF sale...

This next sale I'm looking for a little car that I can turn into a cool Batmobile like Sweet C's Designs':

Is this making your heart skip a beat with thrifty finds, and DIY projects for your little kiddos??

To make things extra sweet, JBF Fort Worth, has offered to giveaway a $15 JBF giftcard to one of my lucky readers! 

Here are the RULES:

Leave a comment, on this post, by sharing what your "most thrifty" find has been {doesn't have to be kid related}, or what fabulous DIY project you want to do with a kid bargain find! {and leave your email info}

I'll announce the winner of the $15 JBF giftcard on Monday! $15 can go a long way at one of these JBF sales! Good luck and can't wait to hear about your thrifty finds or DIY project wishlist!

And the winner is:

Congratulations Veronica, you've WON!!! I can't wait to see what you get at the JBF Fort Worth Sale next week!!

{Budget Playroom}: the design

We have a dining room in our house that we NEVER use! We've used it for parties as a buffet table, I've used it for a crafting room, and we've used it for a couple of holidays to actually eat in, but on an every day basis our dining room is never used.

Do you use your dining room? Since we never use this space, I decided we should turn it into a playroom.

Hubby challenged me to create a playroom with a budget of $0! Say What?!?! I asked him how was I suppose to do that??? He said, "you'll figure it out." I thought this was his way of saying "no" to my idea of transforming the space, but I was going to accept his smarty-pants challenge!

If I had $0 for a budget, then I had to get creative and find free money.

I like our kitchen table more than our "dining" table, so I sold our dining table and 4 chairs (I kept 2 chairs for another project) on craigslist for $350. 

My parents have been bugging me to sell my piano (that I left at their house) for awhile, so I finally sold it on craigslist for $450.

I have a few more items to sell, but so far I have a budget of $800 to create a playroom! Ha! Take that Hubby and your $0 budget!

My home has a coastal vibe decor {or I've tried to make it like that}, so I want to create a playroom that goes with the flow of the rest of the home. This is the design board I created with a few of the items that I've purchased already.

I still need a rug and artwork, but I have a starting point to work with.

I found this room on Pinterest and I fell in LOVE! This room will be my inspiration as I decorate the playroom!

{source}

I really don't want to repaint the dining room {for cost and labor purposes}, so this room gives me hope to have a neutral wall color that still has a bright and cheerful room feeling.

I'm excited to start on another budget design challenge! I wowed Hubby on Caleb's budget nursery, so I hope to do the same on this budget playroom!

Attacking Bottle Chaos!

My kitchen has turned into bottle chaos since Caleb has arrived! {Now that's a good chaos!} And, I'm trying to attack this chaos by cleaning up my kitchen counters and cabinets by getting some organized storage. I first tried to create cabinet space and organize all the bottle parts by brand {Caleb uses 3 different bottle brands}, but every time I tried to grab something I ended up knocking over a stack of lids and created a mess. See for yourself:

So, the idea of stacking lids and parts was good in theory, but it didn't work. While I was shopping at Target, I stopped in the dollar section {my FAVORITE part of Target...I always find goodies there!}, and I found these cute little art supply trays. They were $1.99 and I bought 2 hoping they would fit in my cabinets and help with my bottle chaos. 

I filled the art supply trays with all the bottle parts and organized them by brand. Now, when I grab a lid or a part I don't knock it all over the place. Everything is nice and neat in the tray:

So here is my bottle cabinet now:

It's so nice to pull the tray out and grab what I need without making a mess. And, it's so nice to NOT see a mess when I open my cabinet!

My counter still has bottles drying on them, but now it's a lot less:

Target has a TON of other trays and buckets in the dollar section, so grab a few and happy organizing!!!

{Budget Nursery}: Finished Nursery

Caleb is here, and it's time to reveal pictures of his finished {budget friendly} nursery! Let's recap all the expenses for the nursery first:

Total cost for our thrifty furniture finds: $202.43

Total cost for paint: $114

Total cost for nursery decor: $85.93

Additional costs:

Crib bedding {fabric + paying a friend to sew}: $160

Shelf brackets {Ikea floating shelf kept falling down--bummer}: $10

Nursery Grand Total: $572.36

{the crib was a gift, but found on sale for $179.99, and the mattress was a gift--would have cost $90}

My cheap frugal Hubby is so very proud of my budget friendly nursery! Even if we didn't receive the crib and the mattress as a gift we would of spent only $842.35 total....under $1000 for a room design! Happy dance! I still can't believe after going over the receipts that we only spent $572.36 on the nursery...that's how much some people spend on a crib!!! I guess my Hubby is right {sshh, don't tell him!}, being frugal can be fun!

This is what $572.36 can buy:

When I was first describing to my Hubby how I wanted to decorate Caleb's nursery he didn't like any of my ideas, but now that it's complete Hubby says it's his favorite room in the house {I guess I'm right on that one!}!

Happy budget designing, thrifty finding, and frugal shopping to all you friends out there!

{all photos were taken by the lovely Amanda at AJ Photography}
{bedding made by Sarah at uptmoresewing@gmail.com}

Linked up to: 
 Design Dazzle
& Thrifty Decor Chick
& Tatertots and Jello 
& Positively Splendid
& How to Nest for Less 
&

 

{Budget Nursery}: Decor

I can't wait to reveal pictures of the finished nursery! But, first I want to make one final post...how to save on decor {or at least how I saved $$ on decor}. My favorite decor idea was this wall:

The wall letters were a gift from Whit {the one thing in the room that is actually from Anthropologie}, THANKS Whit--I LOVE them! The picture frames are from IKEA and were originally white {I spray painted them orange with left over spray paint that I had}:

I bought cardstock paper from Hobby Lobby and created/printed the word art myself {it was a simple design so I saved a bunch of $$ instead of ordering something from a graphic designer}. Starting with the top left and going clockwise the word art says:

1. C is for Caleb

2. I Chose You Before I Formed You in Womb, I Set You Apart Before You Were Born--Jer. 1:5

3. Oh, How He Loves Us {this is one of my favorite songs that we sing at church}

4. See What Great Love the Father has Lavished on Us, that We Should be Called Children of God!--1John 3:1

Next wall:

This puppy gave me some major issues! And I will NOT be doing another project like this until I am a proud owner of a Silhouette cutter!!! I tried a couple of DIY techniques from Pinterest, but in the end I spray painted the canvas with left over aqua paint I had, and for the letters I used stencils with white acrylic paint and an orange paint pen to outline. I hope I can get the new Silhouette CAMEO for my birthday...oh, the projects we could make together ;-) I bought the canvas from Hobby Lobby and used my 40% coupon:

Next wall:

Everything on the shelf was free! Yippee! Everything was a gift, except the bobblehead. We got the Nelson Cruz bobblehead for free the night we found out the gender of baby Knox {we celebrated by going to a Rangers game}...and I would like to add that I put Nelson Cruz up on the shelf the night before the playoffs began, so I take full responsibility for all of his homeruns because I'm obviously his good luck charm. You're welcome Cruz. {insert sarcasm} The shelf is from Ikea.

And here are all of the random decor:

 I found the orange basket at Target in the dollar section!

the Caleb banner was apart of my baby shower decor made by Whit and Laura and I had to find a place for it!

This toy basket was free because it was a gift from my shower full of goodies!

 I already had the curtain rod and I got the grey curtain panels from Target.

Ok, so here's the final bill for the nursery decor:

1. Ikea picture frames $1.99x4= $7.96

2. Orange spray paint on frames {used left over}= $0

3. Hobby Lobby Cardstock for wall art $.50x4=$2

4. Anthro wall letters gifted= $0

5. Canvas $24.99-40% coupon= $14.99

6. Stencils and painting supplies= $9

7. Ikea shelf= $19.99

8. Grey curtains= $30

9. Orange target basket= $1.99

10. All the other decor= free $0

Total Decor Bill: $85.93

All of the decor under $100...my cheap frugal hubby is VERY proud of me!

{Budget Nursery}: Painting

I will never paint an entire room stripes again. Never. {or not until I forget about how hard it was} It took me 2 full days to just tape the room. I thought, 'oh, I'll be a nice little wife and help my hubby tape the room since he will have to paint'. I didn't realize how long that would take. Thankfully my sister came over and helped me! She held the black & decker laser tool and I taped along the line. Sounds simple right? Yea, in theory. After day #1 of taping I had a break down that went like this: 'why did I volunteer myself to do this? I'm pregnant, why do I forget that? This is Whitney's fault. I wanted green walls and she said that would be too much color and I should do neutral, and so I picked the hardest neutral design to do!'. {Sorry, Whit, I love you!}

4 rolls of tape and 2 days later...the room was taped and ready for Mr. Big to paint. How long did it take my hubby, Mr. Big, to paint you ask? TWO HOURS!!!! I was a little bitter that day.

When I walk into the room now I LOVE it! All the hard work paid off because it came out exactly how I envisioned it from my inspiration room. {although, dear little Caleb will NOT be allowed to repaint his room...sorry kid this room is staying like this until we move!}

Here's how the room looks now:

{ignore the GIANT bear...it was a gift and will be in the guestroom until our playroom is finished}

The dresser is repainted and in the nursery now too:

So here's the final bill {and the bottom line for Mr. Big}:

Paint:

1 Gallon of Benjamin Moore-Smoked Ember {Pearl Finish}
1 Gallon of Benjamin Moore-Decorators White {Pearl Finish}
Paint Total: $94

Rolls of tape: $20

Grand Total: $114

{I didn't go cheap frugal on paint because Benjamin Moore is the BEST! We've tried Valspar in our home and it takes gallons to paint...so spend a little extra and use Benjamin Moore! I think in the end the cost would even out}

So you have been warned....painting striped walls is hard. Proceed with caution.

{Budget Nursery}: The Furniture

My hubby is one of the cheapest most frugal people I know. Let's just say that early on in our marriage I struggled with this, but I've crossed over to the dark-side and joined all the frugalistas out there. The main reason I now penny-pinch is to try to be a good steward of the money God gives us. God has blessed our family through this unstable economy by providing financially for us, and I want to show God that I'm not going to waste His money.  My new mentality is this: If my house were to catch on fire or if I were to die, will I really regret not buying the latest designer thing? {If my house were to catch on fire I would cry if I had all Pottery Barn furniture and had to watch it go in flames...but if it's cheap inexpensive furniture I'm not going to shed a tear}

Using this frugal mentality I now had the task of designing a nursery. {and let's just say that when you put the words "maternity" or "baby" in the mix you are guaranteed to spend more money. Why? I have no clue} So, I wanted an Anthropologie designed nursery on a Walmart budget. Here's how we did that:

The first thing in designing a nursery is measuring the space. My type-A personality was on full throttle, and I took measurements of the open wall space and made a drawing {not to scale..hey, I'm not an architect}

Now that I had the measurements I could start searching for furniture. I began by looking for a crib. I wanted something with clean modern lines in white {perfect for boy or girl with bright accent colors}. I stalked the internet and found this Carter's {3 in 1 convertible} crib:

The original price was $419.99

I found it on sale at JCPenny for $179.99 {savings of $240}

My mother-in-law bought it as a gift, my cost: $0

Next, I searched for an upholstery glider. This was a tough one...even Walmart's upholstery gliders were over $350, so I turned to Craigslist for help. After weeks of searching Craigslist I finally found one. The original owner had covered her glider with fabric that I didn't like so I began to take it off. Underneath I found the original fabric and the brand of the glider: Dutailier. Guess how much a Dutailier glider cost? Only $799. Guess how much I bought my "used-Craiglist-still-in-good-shape Dutailier glider"? $40 bucks people! I hired a company to come clean our carpets, and they only charged me $20 to do an upholstery cleaning on my very frugal Dutailier glider.

Original Dutailier glider price: $799

Used glider price: $40 + cleaning $20 = $60 total {savings of $739}

{do a happy dance!}

Eventually I want to have the glider reupholstered, but for now I'm happy with the original fabric {and my savings!}.

Finally, a nursery needs a changing table/dresser. I wanted a dresser instead of a traditional changing table, I wanted it to be solid wood, and have clean modern lines. I went to Craigslist and found a solid wood dresser. Hubby is in the process of re-doing the dresser and this is the only picture I have right now:

Solid wood dresser: $90

Paint for dresser: $32.98

Cute orange drawer knobs: $19.45

Total dresser cost: $142.43

Here's a picture of the orange dresser knobs I found 50% off at Hobby Lobby:

Total cost for Nursery Furniture: $202.43

My hubby is pleased with my frugal finds! 

{the total cost of furniture would have been $382.42 if we purchased the crib instead of receiving it as a gift. Under $400 for all 3 furniture pieces...not too shabby!}