Thrifty Tuesday: Keeping Kendall busy!

One of the things I am going to start working on with Kendall is getting her to write her name. I have been searching on pinterest fun ways to do this.

The lined paper is from the dollar tree and the big construction paper came with Kendall’s easel from IKEA. I cut up a bunch of squares out of construction paper and then put glue on the letters. I turned on work (kids song stations on Pandora) music and she loved it!

There have been so many days where I rely on the tv or ipad to keep Kendall busy when I am trying to get things done and I always feel so guilty. Who knew pasting some squares would be so entertaining and keep her busy for a half hour?

Thrifty Tuesday: Goodwill Shopping

Since I just had a baby one month ago, and I have a closet full of smaller, cute clothes that don’t fit again yet, I don’t want to spend a lot of money and buy transitional clothes. But I am also OVER wearing maternity clothes.

While out and about with my mom and Adley on Friday, we decided to hit up a Goodwill for fun because we love thrifting.

I decided to look for some clothes and I was impressed with what I found! All pieces were $3 a pop! Can’t beat that!

 

Left – Unknown brand cardigan

Right – a.n.a. top (JCPenny brand)

And in both pictures unknown brand jeans

 

Left – Xhilaration black ruffle dress

Right – Ann Taylor Loft piko top

 

Other honorable mentions

Left – Mossimo ruffle silk top

Right – workout tank!

I was happy with my purchases and would like to hit up another Goodwill soon.

Do you thrift store shop?

Thrifty Tuesday: Beans

Beans, beans,

Good for your heart, 

The more you eat them, 

the more you...

Ok, I'm mature.

Let me introduce you to the cheapest and best toy ever for a 3 year old. Beans. 

My mom busted open a bag of kidney beans at her house for Kendall to play with and its all she talked about. "Can I go play with beans at Grandma's?" 

So I purchased a $2.68 bag of Great Northern white beans and a $1 set of measuring cups. Mix that with a few unused kitchen items and you have instant fun.

Best IDEA ever!

We even pulled out her kitchen and accessories to maximize our bean fun one day. 

Obviously, I wouldn't let Kendall play with beans if I was concerned she would try to eat them like this. AND she is very good about cleaning them up. In fact, if girlfriend finds a missed bean on the carpet she is certain to bring it to me. 

Thirfty Tuesday: Deal Blogs

On a daily basis I try to frequent a few deal blogs. What is a deal blog? A deal blog is a website where they post about the best coupon deals, where to find online coupons, and all kinds of online shopping deals.

My favorites are...

southernsavers.com
dealseekingmom.com
moneysavingmom.com

Aside from finding great printable and ecoupons to use, I have found some bargain shopping. Last week i scored a Valentine's shirt for Kendall ($3.80) from the children's place with FREE shipping! And I scored a newborn gown for Adley for $7.80 w/ free shipping from a boutique website.
This is why I check these sites every day!

Do you have a deal blog I should add to my list?

Thrifty Tuesday: DIY Pantry and Where Our Food Goes

I do not have a pantry but I do have a shoe organizer hanging up in laundry nook. I have raved about this pinterest idea before but I really can’t say enough about the genius who thought of this. I use another shoe organizer for K’s Barbies in her room too.

I store all my mixes and our go to snacks in this thing. This way I don’t have a bunch of granola bar boxes or apple sauce pouches crowding up my limited food cabinet space!

Just for fun, and because I like to be nosy and see how people organize their crap too… here is a look at where we put our food.

I LOVE my fridge!

I love having 3 compartments.

The middle drawer is great for produce, water bottles, or a sheet cake when you’re about to throw a party! Ha!

Food Cabinets

It ain’t pretty but here it is…

And canned goods are somewhere behind the chips and cereal boxes. I curse every time I open this thing and crap falls out. Whatever. Ha!

Thrifty Tuesday: Kendall’s Coloring Caddy

Kendall has a plethora of artistic options. Some of these options are kept hidden in our office. Example: PAINT! And some are kept out, since girlfriend has never really been one to get all Picasso on the walls. (Yet.)

Similar to her school, I am implementing organization with her things so she knows where her stuff is and where they need to go when she is done playing. I will have to elaborate more on this later. I am by no means finished with toy organization. In fact, it overwhelms me. Ha!

But, I believe in baby steps and I can control this!

Here I have created a little basket that is home to all Kendall’s coloring and handwriting needs.

I purchased a $1 plastic caddy from the Dollar Tree to hold everything. I used two large ziplocks to house coloring utensils and ALL the stickers! And then I found this cute apple sand toy for Kendall to use when she just wants a few crayons out. I also placed a plastic cup in the basket when it is necessary to have colored pencils on display.

So far the caddy has been a success. She knows where to find her things and it keeps me sane not having coloring stuff everywhere. No fancy art caddy or crayon box needed here! This cost me $1 considering I had everything else!

Thrifty Tuesday: Breast Pump Style

Without getting all political on my blog, let me just say that there is one benefit of all this healthcare crap I actually appreciate and find important. Breastfeeding!

If you followed my blog back when Kendall was a babe, then you know I nursed her for 14 months. My goal was 6 months and then it just became so easy. Around 1 year I started weaning her but it took a few months. I am a huge breastfeeding advocate because I truly believe it is the best for baby and for mommy too. Plus you save a TON of money! And did I mention the weight loss?

So, of course, I intend to nurse Adley.

A few friends of mine had mentioned that they were able to score a breast pump for free via their insurance. I called my insurance (Humana) and sure enough, they will cover a breast pump at 100% up to a $200 value.

But don’t you have a breast pump? Yes, I do. I shelled out $300 for my Medela Pump in Style w/ tote before K was born. It was also my 3rd arm when I went back to work. And it is still in great shape. In fact, I just paid $15 to replace the tubing, valves, membranes, bottles, etc. BUT we pay a lot of money to have good insurance so I do not feel bad about getting another one for FREE! I know I will use them both!

If you’re pregnant, I highly advise you to call your insurance to check and see if they cover a breast pump. My insurance provided me a list of websites I could go to get one that is covered and I didn’t even have to pay shipping.

So that’s my thrifty deal for the week! I hope this was helpful for someone out there!

Thrifty Tuesday: Stockpiling for Baby

Thrifty Tuesday might become a weekly link up. I make no promises. I need to make sure I really am that thrifty. Ha!

My good friend Casey (who is also due with her second girl on March 27th) has me HOOKED on stockpiling baby supplies.

I signed up for -$2.00 Dreft coupons via. dreft.com and printed Pampers diapers/wipes coupons via coupons.com and pampers.com. Then I look for deals.

With Kendall I bought cases of diapers because I saw I got more than a jumbo pack. This time around I’m focusing on the best price per diaper.

Example: A few weeks ago Walgreens had 2 jumbo packs (aprox. 84 diapers for 2 size 1 packs) of Pampers for $18. Price per diaper $0.21. You also received $3 in Register Rewards and I had 2 (-1.50) coupons. So I got 2 packs/$12… $0.14 per diaper. Holla!

I made a little chart with goals in mind. I am not really using any logic on amounts/sizes, I just know I will use a lot and what I don’t use I will try to exchange/return so I am keeping receipts.

Did you stockpile before your babies?

Thrifty Thursday

Today I wanted to share a hidden gem with you all. This may be no secret to some of you but it’s something new in my life.

I can be very particular about grocery and non food items I purchase. There are some products I will always buy name brand. Peanut butter (Jif), Cheese (Kraft), ketchup (Heinz) and toilet paper… please don’t ever make the mistake of buying cheap toilet paper.

Other than those few items…. I have Aldi’s.

Aldi is a discount grocery store that carries their own brand of products. From time to time they carry name brand items at a discounted cost. I have visited other discount grocery stores and Aldi’s knocks them out of the park.  Honestly, I don’t even put Aldi in the same category as some of the discount stores I’ve visited.

Aldi’s has the best brands and they are 100% quality. Some of their products look exactly like name brand products and taste so close it makes you question if it’s not really the name brand in disguise.

I mean seriously… could this not look anymore like Fruit Loops? They have a bird and everything.

 

I am also very impressed with the amount of food you get. We love some Cheetos in this house and every time we open a new bag it’s only half full. This Aldi brand of “cheetos” is 100% filled to the top for $0.99!!!

 

Aldi’s prices are excellent. At Kroger a bag of Ore Ida frozen french fries is anywhere from $2.59 - $3.89 a bag and their store brand usually runs $2.19.. Aldi’s price was $1.89

The only other discount grocery store I can compare Aldi’s too would be Save-a-lot. I went there one time because it was close to our old house and never went back. There products looked cheap and I wouldn’t dare buy meat from their meat department.

Aldi’s has a great selection of meat and poultry. They carry a brand throughout the store called “Fit & Active” and I purchased this brands’ ground beef last week and it was amazing. There was hardly any fat when I cooked it!

Here were my selections from today. That little filet wrapped in bacon is amazing and was only $1.89 a piece. Those usually run 3/$10 at Kroger if they are on sale.

My box of goodies :)

I’m not really sure if there are Aldi stores everywhere in the country or if it’s a southern thing. I know that the concept of an Aldi store is European because everything is sitting in boxes. There are no pricey shelves or displays. Just pure, great products.

Here is their website link. And no I am not getting paid to brag about Aldi. I would happily accept compensation if someone from Aldi’s happens to read this post. :)

**** Next time I go to Aldi’s I will walk you through the experience. They have a neat way of distributing shopping carts, food presentation and bagging your groceries.****

Have you ever shopped at ALDI?

Thrifty Tip Tuesday

I've decided to join in on Jamie's



Thirfty Tip Tuesday!!!
You can check it out here.
My Thrifty tip:
Meal Plan each week and include snacks

Meal Planning saves you time and money. You can purchase what you need at the store (using coupons of course) or base your meals off what you already have in the freezer/pantry.

I know you can't completley meal plan for snacks but there are small changes you can make to cut down on stops at Walgreens & various gas stations when you what something to drink or you are craving something salty/sweet.

My husband like Gatorades. They run about $2.00 at a gas station. Yesterday I bought 5 for $5.00 at Kroger (plus I had a $1/5 gatorades) coupon. Instead of spending $10 for his weekly gatorades we only spent $4.

I also try to buy things I can divide in sandwich bags as quick snacks for when we are running out the door. This prevents me from stopping at a gas station for a quick fix when I'd probably spend way too much money and get something really unhealthy for me!