So it has been about two years since doing this blog. I've decided to pick it up again in hopes of holding myself accountable. Accountable to what? Just about everything.

A lot has changed since the last post. We now have a dog, which is attached at the hip to my son. Conner really is a super dog, except during thunderstorms, when the fire alarm goes off after burning dinner, and just about any loud noises.

We also have 6 chickens. I really should have chronicled the making of the chicken pen. Two city adults trying to figure out how to make a pen the chicken wouldn't fly out really was a comical experience. I might have to tell that story one day. I talked my hubby into the chickens because I wanted my kids and I to know where our eggs came from. Yes, I know where they came from, but do you really know what the chickens are fed and how they are treated? This gives me some piece of mind and chickens are fun to keep. The truly have their own personality.

Also, my oldest daughter graduated high school at the age of 16. My hubby and I are so proud of her. It has been a rocky road, but she made it and is starting community college. Gotta love the photobomb from my coworker!

I am hoping to keep up with this blog. I have started the 21 Day Fix Extreme program by Beachbody. I have a lot to lose so I will be doing the 21 days over and over until it becomes a lifestyle change. I will keep track of recipes I like and the colors they use for each serving. I am majority vegetarian, except for the eggs and seafood. I do not eat dairy products, chicken, pork or beef so majority of my recipes will reflect this.

On the 21 day fix program you don't need to count calories. You will use the measuring Tupperware to help you succeed in losing weight.

 I attached the vegetarian food list so you can see the variety. I pulled from http://amandajbush.com/can-i-do-the-21-day-fix-if-i-am-vegan/ . She has some useful information, as well as, some menu ideas.
 I couldn't help but put an updated picture of my kids. I love my rugrats. They are growing up to fast!

How to Make Galaxy Shoes

       I searching through Pinterest one day and came across a vague tutorial on how to make galaxy shoes. I attached the link for the original website. Some of the directions were a little vague for me, and I am the type that needs you to spell it out while slowly repeating yourself six times in order for me to get it right.
     I decided to make this an adventure and do this with both of my girls so we would all have matching galaxy shoes. I'm going to give you step by step directions and go more in depth than the website I provided. That website was a great start for me, but I had to learn along the way.

Step 1- Get a cheap pair of black canvas style shoes. I found mine at Family Dollar for 6 bucks, but afterwards I found them on Amazon for cheaper if you happen to shop through them. Shipping can get you unless you have Amazon prime, which I don't have. Just one less fee for me to pay.

Step 2- You will need fabric paint and a sponge or sponge like paint brushes. I used this sponge and cut the rough bottom part off of one then vut the sponge into three different sections. I found a pack of these sponges, six for $1, at Family Dollar. I bought small white, blue, purple and pink fabric paint bottles at WalMart for .97 cents a piece.

Step 3- If you have thick soles on the side of your shoe, you should tape them to prevent paint from spreading on them. My soles are thin so I skipped this step.

  ~~I used an old egg carton to put the different colored paint into the little cups to prevent a mess and leakage. ~~ I also didn't like how dark the blue was so I mixed some white in to make it lighter. ~~

Step 4- Sponge the  colors one by one on them. My girls and I all interpreted these directions differently. I tried to make them cloudy and blended rather than blotchy by dipping the sponge lightly in the paint, then getting rid of access paint on the sponge by wiping it off on the side of the egg carton. Then I blotted and rolled onto the shoes.  Kiara and Brianna had too much paint on the sponge and theirs turned out more rubbed in than cloudy; however they still look good. This is where I should've started taking pics but we were having to much fun and our hands ended up looking like a galaxy! Once you have your desired look move on to step five.

Step 5- This is the hardest part. The website says to splatter, but doesn't explain how. I did a test run on a grocery bag first so I didn't mess up my shoes. I tried dipping a straw in the white plaint then flinging it on the grocery bag. I didn't like how this turned out. It looked more like lines then stars. Kiara then suggested to use a coffee straw, suck up some paint then blow it on the shoes. She decided to try this out on her shoes first, not the grocery bag. This ended up doing the trick; however, when you blow hard on the straw, a huge splotch comes out first, then small splatters come out. I didn't want such a huge splotch so after sucking up some of the paint (sucking to hard the first time and getting a nice mouthful of white paint. Girls were laughing at me while I was gagging and spazzing) so I decided to blow out the large splotch on the grocery bag, then I did the rest on my shoes. This turned out the best for me. After awhile of blowing out paint, spit tends to go with it. Don't worry, it just made the stars look more realistic!


                                       These are Brianna's shoes. Sorry I didn't get a better picture.

 

Kiara's shoes. The huge splotch is paint and spit mixed together. She didn't test out blowing out the paint first. She went for it. Kiara is braver than I am!

 

This pair is mine. Even though we all sponged the paint on the shoe and spit it out, they kind of turned out the same.

 Overall, this was a fun project and now I have a pair of science shoes that I can wear while teaching science. And, I can tell everyone that I am SSOOOOO cool that even my kids wanted the same type of shoes. (They will say it is because the shoes look cool, but I know the difference in my own delusional head!)

 

Grocery and Shopping Tips

Some of these you have heard before, some of these tips are personal for me. Either way, I hope it helps.

1. Try not to go with kids.

      ~ I know that can be hard when you have little ones. Luckily my oldest is, for the most part, responsible enough to watch her siblings for a couple of hours. However, I am surprised sometimes to come home and she hasn't strangled the other two. If I go to Target, which is 45 minutes away, I go with them, regretfully (I promise, I do love them). It is hard enough trying to price compare and sometimes couponing; you don't need kids going, "Mom, I'm hungry. When are we going to eat? This is taking to long!" Or even two of them chasing, playing, or fighting in the store with each other. (That was specifically intended for you, Evan and Brianna!)

2. Eat before you go.

     ~ You have probably heard this before and it works for me. If I go with an empty stomach, I am eyeing down every piece of fattening goodness like a kid in a candy shop. I have made many shopping mistakes going on an empty stomach. If you take your kids with you, make sure they eat, also. You will still get that nagging, "can we have this? Can we have that," you know you love to hear; however, you will know it's just because they are begging, not because they are hungry. I keep snacks in the car as a bribe and tell them they can have a snack when we are done if they stop asking for everything they lay their eyes on.


3. Make a list and stick to it!

     ~Another rule that is not new, but I stick to this like a fly on a flytrap. (I don't know why I keep typing silly puns, it is not my style.) If it is not on my list, it must not have been important enough to remember. I do not deviate from my list. My grocery list hardly varies from the previous one. I will explain in another tip. I know most of the prices of what I buy which helps me stay in my budget range. Another thing I do is shop for my groceries every two weeks. I enter the store with a calculator and total my items as I put them in my basket. I always round up a dollar to account for tax. This helps stay at $200 for every two weeks. If I hit my cap, then I have to decide what I am willing to forgo.

4. Menu plan before grocery shopping.

     ~ I plan my menus on a monthly calendar ahead of time so I know what grocery items I will need. I basically cook the same types of meals unless I see a Pinterest recipe I want to try. Although we eat the same meals, the meal only gets eaten twice a month so my family doesn't get tired of the same thing. Ex. black beans, nacho casserole and our other meals are only eaten twice a month, unless hubby gives a special request. I plan a month ahead of time and it only takes about 30 minutes. Here is my menu for July. It is basic and mainly helps with my grocery list and allows my kids to see what we will be eating that night. I did this because my son asks 18 times a day, "What's for dinner?" I have attached a link to my menu and my grocery list.

5. You don't need to buy name brand.

     ~ This is just my personal opinion, but I mostly by store brand items. It is cheaper and since I make a lot of casseroles or items that get mixed with other grocery items, our family can't taste the difference. I know many people will be upset with me because a few of the items are made outside the U.S.A.; if I could afford to buy strictly here, I would, but this is a debate I won't get into.

6. It is ok to venture into the middle of the store.

   ~ A tip you usually have heard about is to shop the parameter of the store and not venture in the isles. There are some items I have to get from the isles, such as canned or dried beans, rice, canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, canned salmon and tuna fish, frozen veggies and other things. As long as you stick to your list, you will be okay. I avoid most of the snack items, especially chips!

7. Don't use meat as the major part of your meal.
                                                                  
    ~ Everyone knows meat is expensive. This is why I make a lot of casseroles, tacos or bean meals. Meat, in our family, is used to enhance the meal, it is not the main course. I buy my meats in bulk and use a pound and a half or less at a time. I also buy whole fryer chickens and crockpot them. This way, you have homemade chicken broth (saves on buying!) and chicken that can be used for two to three meals. I go ahead and use the chicken in a row so I don't forget it is in the fridge.

8. Use a coupon site to find the best deals.

    ~If you want to save even more, use sites like Krazy Coupon Lady to tell you where you can get some items for very little or even free. I want to reassure you I am not getting paid to mention any of these sites. I  truly use them because they tell you the best deal and they even list links to online coupons for the item. Southern Savers does the same for FoodLion coupons. Another way to get epic coupons for Target is to join the Cartwheel program and their mobile coupons. Target let's you use their store coupon on top of a manufacturer coupon for extra savings. Ibotta is a phone app for coupons. They pay you for certain items you buy. All you do is upload your receipt, scan the product, take a survey and they will add money to your account. Once you save up $10 or more, you can transfer the money to a Paypal account. The first week I used it, I transferred $18.00 dollars! Again, I am not paid to mention these websites.

Grocery Introduction

     Let me start by saying I live 20 minutes from the nearest Super WalMart or FoodLion, and 45 minutes from a Target or any other chain store you can think of that comes to mind. The only grocery store that is in town is a Hill's, which is only a couple of minutes away; however, they are more expensive than any other and I only go there in food emergencies. So what I am really saying, is when we go grocery shopping, it is an outing! I mostly shop from WalMart because it is the closest, occasionally from Target when I can find a manufacturer coupon to stack with a Target store coupon and makes the drive worth while, and occasionally from FoodLion when they have an epic BOGO sale I can't pass up. The only couponing I do is for Target because they can be on the expensive side but when you stack a manufacturer coupon with a Target store coupon you can get a great deal, better than WalMart. I also, rarely, coupon for FoodLion when I find a coupon for a BOGO item which makes it a deal you can't pass up!

    I am usually good about keeping health in mind; however, I can not afford organic or wild caught anything. I also do not , nor does my hubby hunt for any of our meat. We just choose not to do although living in Rural North Carolina many people do to save on meat. I may get criticized for some of the items I buy to keep my family fed, but that is our choice and this is how I keep cost down. I am also trying to lose weight to get healthier so some of my meals may be different from what I feed the other four of my family. For example, I may feed them a pizza while I eat a chicken salad. My hubby and kids are healthy and fit and somewhere in the 13 years we have been married, I have lost my way and I am now trying to change. Pizza, HotPockets and frozen dinners are a very rare occurrence in this family and are usually only bought if I get an extreme deal on them. The staples I keep in my home at all times are onions, green peppers, rice, bread, tortilla shells, pasta noodles, and potatoes. You can make many different recipes with these staples in your home
   
    I do not spend hours clipping coupons, searching coupons or any other crazy things you may have seen on those coupon shows. All this work is already done by other amazing people and I just search their websites. The Krazy Coupon Lady does an amazing job of this and this is one of my main sources for coupons. She even gives you the link to the coupons. No more need for newspapers! If you sign up as an email insider to Target, you will get great coupon texts from them. Up to five a month! Target also has something called Target Cartwheel program where you can get up to 10% off of many different items. When you use the cartwheel program, plus manufacturer coupons, on top of Target store coupons, you can sometimes get the item for free. You can't beat free! Also, Pinterest is amazing. I can find new recipes to try that still keep us in budget. There are so many online resources that kind of make my blog obsolete, but please keep reading! :) I will eventually get links up to websites I use.

Why start this blog

      I am not one to take time to write my thoughts down. I am more of the 'vocalize how I feel while being brutally honest' type of person. However, after speaking with my mother about how I feel that I have perfected grocery shopping for my family of five (which includes leftover lunch for two adults the next day) at around $400, she suggested I start a blog to help other parents that may struggle with feeding their family on a smaller grocery budget.

     Now I know there are plenty of excellent blogs about living frugally, living on pennies, living on a shoestring budget and so forth, but a huge portion of these blogs are stay at home mothers. They have definitely perfected it better than I have on many different things. I can only blog about my specific situation.

    Both my husband and I work so we are a two income family. We have come a long way from both working as a cashier at McDonald's raising two kids on this budget. These were very hard times for us and we made tons of sacrifices along with receiving help from my mother. We are definitely a lot better off now but, by no means, are we rich, or even well-off. We are technically still struggling.

    I am a middle school science teacher who makes less than $2,000 a month after taking out taxes, pension and insurance. A portion of income goes to my classroom supplies, science experiment supplies, and, occasionally, I help a student pay for items that I know their family can't afford such as field trips or sports related items. Contrary to popular belief, I do not get a beginning year stipend to help with school supplies and necessary classroom items I need.  90% percent of my students are on free or reduce lunch. By no means am I complaining, I am just stating facts. I love my job, I love my co-workers, and I love my students. I would not have it any other way. I am merely explaining this so you know why I have to stretch my budget in certain areas of my life. My hubby also works, he is in lower management, and makes about the same I do after taking out insurance and deductions.

    Let me start by saying about 1/3 of my income goes to housing. Most people would say that the biggest place to cut cost is housing. Now, we rent because we moved here a little over a year ago and we are also not financially able to buy. I could get cheaper housing if I choose, but then it compromises where we live. I live in a small town, with one grocery store, one restaurant, and one bank. My rent is a little higher in this area than surrounding towns; however, our crime rate is virtually zero. You can't beat piece of mind and security for your children to save a couple hundred bucks. Another cost that goes with living here is gas, it is a 35 mile drive one way for me to get to work and 20 miles one way for hubby. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my neighbors and my community here.

    I also have student loans and two car note payments. These were not the smartest decisions at the time now that I look back; however, hind site is 20/20 and all I can do is learn from my mistakes. Once the car loans are paid off, I am doubling my student loan payments to payoff early. I am proud to say that our credit cards are paid of and stay paid off every month we decide to use them. If I can't afford to pay it when I receive my paycheck then I don't charge it.

    Due to these factors I have to cut my budget in other places in order to thrive, survive and save. More on that in a later blog. I wanted to tell you this about me so you understand that my situation is probably different from yours and others. I can only hope that I have helped, a little, for someone.  

About Me

       Well, where do I begin... I am a mother of three beautiful children. (All mothers say their children are beautiful, but mine really are gorgeous. :) I will post pics later.) My oldest daughter, Kiara is 14, turning 15 in a month (should I start crying now?). She is starting 10th grade! Ugh, time flies when you are not paying attention.  
 
 

My middle daughter, Brianna, is 13. She starts 8th grade this year. She gets the privilege of having me has her science teacher two years in a row. She is so excited that I am teaching her again! (This is dripping from sarcasm, she is dreading it. Nothing like your mother hovering over your every move!)

Yes, two teenage daughters this close in age. I wasn't asking for trouble, I promise. Trouble just likes to find me.

My son, Evan is 7, soon to be 8, and he is ALL boy. Like bouncing of the walls, tormenting his sisters, asks me the same question 18 times looking for a different answer boy. Matter of fact, when he is at that stage of nearing me to my wits end, he is just called "The Boy". When he gets in trouble and I tell my hubby about it my sentence always starts with," 'The Boy' has done it again." He will be starting 2nd grade. He was definitely a surprise. Actually all of them were little surprises, none planned. That's what makes life fun!


  I am married to a wonderful man named Quantez (don't ask me, I didn't name him), who can, at times, drive me nuts. After thirteen years of marriage, if your husband doesn't drive you nuts at times then there are problems. (I am only kidding, don't attack me for that statement.) We were young when we met, and have grown so much since then. He is a typical man. Love sports, WWE, Spike T.V., video games, adjusting himself, and mows the lawn for me. He is also high maintenance at times. For a man with short hair, he sure takes forever to get  dressed. He won't go and check the mailbox without ironing his clothes, which takes forever! If the crease is not right, he won't stop. He is a great father. He turns into a zombie to eat the kids brains, turns into samurai daddy to beat them up (playfully, so don't yell child abuse please), and many nights are of the four of them yelling, laughing and running through the house from all their antics. He likes to sing and dance for us. (Video evidence later, nothing like blackmail tape!)

       Now about me. I am 32 years old; however, I claim 29 for the third year in a row. I am a middle school science teacher for a poor rural school in North Carolina. I moved here to take my current teaching position. I was raised in a city about twenty-five minutes from New Orleans. I was attending college during the time hurricane Katrina hit and wiped us clean. No I was not in the city when it happened, we evacuated the day before. Although we didn't flood, a lot of our stuff was looted so we took what we could and planted roots in the Memphis area. I attended the University of Memphis, who took me in without a college transfer and they paid for my college the first year I attended. I am forever grateful for their hospitality. My fourth year of college, we were flooded by the Mississippi River and lost everything. What can I say? The water apparently loves us! For my family, this flood was worse because when the water rose over the toilets, it turned to poo water. Poo water is not fun to work with! I will say, it was excellent for the bag of dried red beans on the bottom of my pantry. They were growing so fast from the poo water! Now, I don't tell you this to feel sorry for me. I tell you this part of my life because it has made me the person I am today. I may cry during the time of difficulty, but this has made our family great at bouncing back and being resilient! After this flood, my professors and classmates at the University of Memphis helped our family out again. This is why I will be forever grateful for this college.

I finally graduated, it felt like forever, and started looking for a job. Well, good luck with Memphis laying off 400 teachers so I looked outside the box. This is how I ended up where I am. I live about 45 mins from the Atlantic ocean and Myrtle Beach so I can't complain to much. With starting a family very young, without a college degree, I had to learn hard and fast how to be frugal. Now I skipped many years before I started college because it is longer and this can be something I may talk about another day. By the time I started college I was five months pregnant with my third child. It was time to finally grow up and get an education.

 Now, I do have to add, I would not have made it this far without the help of my mother and father. There has been times that I have gone crawling to them for help and they have helped unconditionally. This includes all of five of us living with them. After years of them having peace and quiet they took us in not fully knowing what they were getting into. Needless to say, they survived us. Barely... (Just kidding, Mom) I could not have asked for a better family and I know I would not be where I am without them!

     Ok, mushy stuff out of the way.

    Oh, and I have two cats. Can't forget about the fur babies, Mickey and Mallory. And the African dwarf frog named Timmy who ate all of Stewie's  food. R.I.P. Stewie, you will be missed by "The Boy"... I don't have any pics of Timmy, he is just too small.