I have a problem. (also, Meal Planning Monday)

It's a big problem.

Ready?


I didn't get any grocery store circulars this week.

I KNOW!!!

Usually I get a Globe Direct mailer on Friday with the sales circulars, but it didn't come.  I figured I'd just wait until the Sunday Globe came (I have a Sunday only subscription for the coupons) but I dug through the paper, and again, no circulars.

What's a meal planning, money saving mom with little to no life to DO?

Luckily for me, both Stop and Shop and Shaws post their weekly sales circulars online.  Unluckily for me, this didn't help me much at Stop & Shop since the Catalina deals I was planning on doing were either 1) gas points instead of a $ off coupon or 2) completely sold out, shelves empty, please drive through.

Grrr.  Anyway, in no particular order as usual, here are our meals for the week...

Smothered pork chops (another Cooks Illustrated crock pot recipe)  and asparagus
chicken stir fry and rice
Rebekah's pork chops with potatoes and asparagus (guess what fresh veggie I got on sale?)
Chicken scallopine with linguine and salad
breakfast for dinner- pancakes and bacon
leftovers

anything I can do, I can do better.

When Charlie was two, I knitted her a pink sweater to go with her Easter dress. It was the year I learned to knit, and I thought that it'd be a cute handmade touch to go with the dress I fell in love with and bought her at Baby Gap (normally I don't brand drop, but there's a reason I did it this time, and you'll see why soon).

 

The year Charlie was three, she had a baby sister.  I decided that I'd knit Charlie a new Easter sweater from expensive organic cotton yarn to go with her dress from Old Navy.  Baby Mia?  Well, she'd be fine wearing a dress she already had and a sweater I'd knitted when I was expecting her.

 

When Charlie was four, it dawned on me that I'd need to knit TWO Easter sweaters.  So I hunkered down, bought acrylic (sparkly) yarn from JoAnn's, and knitted them cute little boleros to go with their dresses from Old Navy.  My mother-in-law contributed the hats, which lasted all of 2 minutes.

Last year, I hit on an awesome clearance sale at The Children's Place.   For yarn for the sweaters, I'd long given up on hitting my local yarn store.  Once again,  I got my yarn at JoAnn's.

Which brings me to this year.  After poking around the various websites for their Easter dresses, I decided to hit up a local consignment store.  Lo and behold- I found two super cute dresses.  They were less than $20 total, as was the yarn that I bought for their (bright pink) sweaters this year.

See, my life has changed.  I've gone from spending $45 on the dress alone for one daughter for Easter to spending less than $40 total for the dresses and sweaters for both girls for Easter.  Am I bummed that they won't be matchy-matchy this year?  Yeah, a little, I'll admit.  But does it feel good to have that saved money sitting in the bank instead of at the bottom of the closet, where the dresses inevitably end up?  You bet it does!

If you have kids (or you buy for kids) has your holiday spending changed over the past few years? 

It's my VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

It's April first, and I woke up to a solid coating of snow on the ground.  It's supposed to be spring, and yes, I know that I live in New England and this is completely normal, but I'm still sick of it.  So in order to cheer myself up, I'm having a giveaway!

The winner (chosen at random) will receive codes for TWO free redbox rentals!  These codes don't expire until 9/30/11 so you have plenty of time to use them.  Do not apply to Blu-ray or video game rentals.


You can enter the contest in a few ways:

1) Comment on this blog post- 1 entry
2) Facebook fans, comment on this Facebook post- 1 entry*
3) Facebook fans, SHARE this Facebook post on your wall- 1 entry*

*You must be a fan of Goldfish OTT on Facebook or have already "liked" Goldfish OTT on Facebook in order for these last two entries to count.  Click here to visit and "like" my Facebook page.

This contest will end at 11:59 PM EST, tonight, April 1st, 2011.  I highly doubt I'll still be up by then, so I'll announce the winner tomorrow! (and by then... this snow better damn well be melted.)


ETA: The winner was announced and notified- congratulations, Tiff P!  I hope you enjoy your free rentals!

for better or for worse, Extreme Couponing is coming back.

TLC aired a special called Extreme Couponing a couple of months ago.  To their surprise, the show was a hit, and they've made it into a series.  The first season will start airing on April 6th, and if you're already couponing, you WILL be affected by it, even if you don't watch the show.

Strangers and cashiers will see your coupons in your hand and ask if you're "like those people on TV".  Your favorite stores might have the shelves cleared of their sale items earlier than you're used to.  You'll have more "competition" out there.  Drugstores might impose more limits on their sale items.

The problem with the show- at least, last time- was that it didn't teach responsible coupon usage.  I talked about this at length when the show first aired.  Yes, it's great to get a good deal, and yes, if you can stock up you should-- but you should NOT clear shelves unless it's the last day of a sale.  Three of the four couponers shown on the first episode bought more items than their family could possibly consume in a year.  What's the point?  Why bother getting free stuff if you're just going to throw it away?

I'll be watching the show then it airs- and it might feel a little like watching a horror movie through my fingers.  Anyone else planning on watching?

menu plan Monday, on Tuesday.

I love having our menu planned out every week, but I have a really hard time actually doing the planning.  I'm just too easily distracted by everything else in the world to sit down and concentrate on SEVEN WHOLE NIGHTS of dinner.  So sad!

I will say though-- menu planning each week is a HUGE money saver for us.  First of all if I've taken the time to buy ingredients for a particular meal, I'm mush less likely to go "ahh, who cares" and order take-out instead.  Secondly, it cuts way down on impulse purchases at the grocery store.  Thirdly, it helps me to remember on the days that I need to start prepping the meal early (to get the crock pot going, or to marinate something, or my nemesis- remembering to defrost meat in time).

In the past I've tried a couple of different meal planning services- e-mealz and Dine Without Whine.  While they were a great starting point for me, I found that most of the recipes they offered were things my kids (or I!) would never eat, so I've gone off on my own.  Every week I try to plan meals based on what's on sale that week, and what we have on hand and in the freezer.

I love looking through Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.com where literally hundreds of people post their weekly menus.  I get some great ideas there!

So with all that said, here's our planned menu for the rest of the week, in no order whatsoever...

-Baked Ziti (Tom made this for Game Night at church on Sunday and it was so good, we want it again!), salad, garlic bread
-Individual Meat Loaves (last time I tried an Ina Garten recipe but this time I'll just wing it), peas
-Macaroni & Cheese (Tom's specialty, made on Thursdays when I'm at gymnastics with Charlie in the afternoon)
-Salisbury Steaks, mashed potatoes, salad
-Huli Huli Chicken (from America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution), asparagus
-we usually get pizza Saturday night
-one night of leftovers!

Do you plan your meals every week?  Or are you thinking of trying?  I'd love to hear about it!