Grocery Deals for 5/11 - 5/17

Here's some links where you can go to see what's on sale this week here in AZ. Follow the links to find the lists for the deals.

Fry's - Go HERE


Bashas' - Go HERE

Albertson's - Go HERE

Safeway - Go HERE

A friend of mine also told me about this site: GrocerySmarts

This Week's Menu

This is what is going to be on our plates this week.

Weekly menu planning is a great way to save money.

You not only use up what you have,

but you don't make as many trips to the grocery store

where you inevitably buy items you

weren't originally planning on buying.

Those extra shopping trips add up!

Monday

Chicken & Veggie Stir-fry

(my way of cleaning out the vegetable bin)

Leftover Mongolian Beef

Fried Rice

Tuesday

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Wednesday

Grilled Salmon

Rice Pilaf

Sweet Potato Oven-baked Fries

Thursday

Skillet Beef & Noodles

Carrots w/ Garlic

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday/Sunday

More Leftovers!! :D

What's on your menu this week?

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Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sunday Paper Coupon Preview

I found this link recently and it gives you a preview of the coupons that are going to be in the Sunday paper. This is great for deciding if you need to get multiple copies of the paper or not. This week's coupons contain coupons for a couple of things I would buy, namely the Mountain High yogurt and Tide detergent. So, I will probably pick up a couple of extra copies of Sunday's paper. Isn't that nice to know ahead of time without having to look through the paper yourself?

Here's the link: http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/  Make sure you click the "read more" button at the bottom of the post for this week to see the complete list!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers! =)

Coupon Adventures

I've been an amateur coupon user for a few years.
"Oh, I use that." snip
"Maybe this will go on sale." snip

My husband and I watched some youtube videos
a few weeks ago and decided to give this whole coupon thing
a trial of a few months and see if it's worth the time and effort.
There are many youtube videos out there about couponing,
but I have really appreciated this series by Living Well Spending Less:
Extreme Couponing for Normal People

(click above for the first episode and the others are on the side bar)

Yes, normal people! That's what we are!
Well, we have friends and family that would beg to differ...
but you know what I mean.
We're not going to be using underneath our children's beds
to store extra items.
And we're not going to buy things we aren't going to use.
That kind of normal.
Anyhoo... this intro to what I really want to share with you
is taking a long time because I'm rambling too much.

Living Well Spending Less also has an awesome
step-by-step guide to help you start couponing
that we found very helpful.
Here's the link to that: How to Start Extreme Couponing.
I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the label "extreme",
but that's what I'm doing and I guess that means I'm extreme.
If you decide to jump in and be extreme like myself (and others)
and you decide to follow her step-by-step guide,
please follow her suggestions when putting together
your first shopping list.
I thought I knew how to "coupon" and I went
too extreme (you might say) with my first trip
and I was so exhausted and burnt out just making the lists.
I almost gave up then and there!
So don't overwhelm yourself.
Take baby steps.
Start with a very small list.
Start with ONE store.

I'm only on my 3rd week and it was much easier this week.
I was so excited with my trip to Fry's today.
I spent $15.46 and saved... are you ready...
$39.89!!!!!! That is a 72% savings.
Yes, I'm pretty excited about that.
I spent about an hour getting my list
and coupons together.
I would say $40 for an hour is pretty good. =)

Before I decided to give this a try
I was doing a pretty good job of shopping smart
and saving money when I went,
but my percentage was usually anywhere between 35-45%.
The past few times I have gone shopping, my percentage has
been in the 50%-60%.

I definitely have more to say about all this,
but I don't have the time at the moment.
I just wanted to share my results with you thus far
and also share the list for Fry's this week (5/4-5/10).
Deals & Coupon Match-ups @ Frys

Hope you're enjoying your week!

Yummies!

I'm sitting here feeling a little under the weather.

You can call it a cold and so can I,

because that's what it is.

So while I've been sitting here,

I've been doing a little blog-surfing

on foodie blogs.

Here's some posts you might like!

BBQ Chicken Enchiladas @ Feels Like Home

Mexican Ground Turkey Quinoa Skillet @ Debbie Does Dinner Healthy

Hearty Whole Grain Waffles @ Hallee the Homemaker

Stay healthy!

Homeschool Musings

My two oldest and I have been busy

with our 50 states unit study for several months now.

I don't know if this is a problem or not

(at least not yet),

but it is feeling a bit dry.

I can't think of another word to describe the feeling.

And the thought of enduring many, many more months

of this dryness is a little concerning to me.

I want to give my kids the best

home educated experience that I can,

and somehow I feel like I'm missing the mark with this study.

But then on the other hand, the thought

of abandoning the study when we've come so far

(about 1/3 of the way)

is hard for me to justify,

especially when I want to teach my kids

good character qualities like

persevering and not giving up!

What to do?

While we leave me, myself, and I to ponder that question,

here is a great link that I found today:

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

And no, this did not help me at all with

being content with what I teaching at the moment.

Look at all these topics and such creative ways of teaching!

I'm drooling... in a way that only a teacher can.

(Teachers out there, you know what I'm talking about).

Sitting here, contemplating the matter at hand,

God's Will & Testament

I have never read the Bible all the way through!

There... I said it.

You would think that since this book

is at the very core of my faith,

I would have bothered to have read it

all the way through at least once.

I guess I didn't really think it was

I M P O R T A N T.

I mean, that is the most logical

conclusion to come to, right?

R I G H T.

And that is the truth,

because if it wasn't the truth,

than I would have read it through in its entirety already,

and many more times over.

I have gone so many years not knowing what

the Bible says.

And that is really sad,

because it is the testament and will

of my Father, God Almighty.

This book tells me what is mine.

It tells me what He has left for me.

It tells me the truth about my Father,

about His Son, His Spirit, about life, about death,

about what really matters.

If you had a really rich father,

would you think that his last will and testament

wasn't important enough to read?

Would you rely on other people

to tell you once a week what the will says

without checking it out for yourself?

(All the while living in a one-room shack

with a leaky roof, infested with cockroaches and mice...

Starving, with nothing, being a slave to a master

who abuses you, I might add.)

What?! That's crazy talk!!

I know, and yet, that is how I've treated God's Word to me.

A few years ago, I began to really read

my Father's will and testimony.

Not to be religious

(who else is tired of doing that?),

but because I wanted to really know

W H A T  I T  S A I D.

I have found out some things that no one...

NO ONE,

told me in church all those years I went on Sunday.

Things that I should have known.

Things that would have helped me.

Things that have changed my life.

Who should I blame?

Who should I blame for cheating

me out of years of enjoying the riches of Christ?

Who should I blame for unnecessary

spiritual poverty?

Who should I blame for the counterfeit faith

that I was satisfied with?

Who should I blame?

M  Y  S  E  L  F.

M  Y  S  E  L  F.

M  Y  S  E  L  F.

Truly, I was a fool.

So how do I end this reflection?

Find out for yourself what God's will is!

Read the testament that He left for you.

There is an inheritance beyond imagination

for anyone who has become a son of God.

How do you become a son of God?

Email me... I'd love to chat with you about it.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.

Have a blessed day!