Well, hello there!

I'm back!

As you may recall my family and I moved halfway across the country to New York City.  Astoria (Queens) to be more exact.

I truly have not been couponing recently for a few reasons:

1. Time.  Getting a house settled, having guests, traveling and getting to know the neighborhood has taken most of mine.  Now, 3 months later we are now settling into a routine and I am learning my local stores.
2. No one coupons around here!  Seriously.  The grocery store across the street won't take internet printables and the other just recently started.  Sometimes they look at me like I'm crazy.
3. Change in diet.  While we often had fresh fruit/veggies in the house, meats, and "grocery store perimeter" items, we also had a ton of boxed stuff.  I am getting my family away from this and choosing healthier items - even if they cost more and aren't on sale.  Choosing more all natural and organic items and less processed.  I wanted to get out of this rut back in MN, but had a hard time with limited choices available....and our very limited income.

So, life is settling - I know our stores, we are getting a routine and our budget worked out - and with that my couponing has once again picked up!  It's exciting to see how much I can save.  I don't get a paper here with coupons in it, but we get a little flyer with some, and I've turned to mainly internet printables.  I'm shopping the sales and planning meals around them.

What to look forward to in this blog?  I will be writing out my grocery/drug store choices each week - it will highlight some of the best sales from Key Food, Trade Fair, CVS, and the local organic store.  My budget each week is $100.  That may seem like a lot, but it's not for our area.  From those lists I will be making my meal plans.  I will also be highlighting coupons for organic and all natural food that I find.  Occasionally there might be some Target deals thrown into the mix if we adventure in that direction....it's not close to our house, so it's about a once a month excursion now.  Same with Whole Foods - they and Trader Joe's might pop up from time to time.  We'll see!

If you are interested, join me in this adventure!  Please share with me your thoughts and opinions and any deals you might find too!

-Brook

Family Blog

Joe and I have had a website since before we got married, but we've never been very good at updating it.  We recently decided to make it into a blog for ease.  So, if you'd like to follow along with my family's adventure to NYC you can visit us at www.joeandbrook.com

I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with this one...we'll see what NYC brings us deal-wise!

In 5 Weeks...

We'll be living in New York City.

Hence the complete absence from my blogging.

Our house finally sold, PRAISE THE LORD!  Nearly three years on the market, lowering the price more times than I can count....ahhh, it's been a long road.

We at first were going to stay in Hutchinson....
Then we thought we'd move to Minneapolis....
All the while knowing NYC was where we would eventually end up and be our "landing spot".

Time has disappeared on us and we are just going to make that giant leap from small-town, MN to NYC.  Queens to be exact.  I am ecstatic to be moving back there!

It's a given we have just a few things going on.  We have sold much of our furniture in a recent garage sale (made over $1,000!), and have been downsizing drastically.  I've been focused on the move, attempting to still do coupons and deals, but not nearly to the capacity I once was.

I haven't decided what to do with this blog yet.  I may continue blogging about deals I find once I am in NYC, but I know life will be different...the nearest Target is just miles away; however, it's a hefty subway ride (we will not have a car)-so it won't be on my "daily errands" list anymore! :)  Plus, there are oodles of deal type sites out there already for NYC that I have stumbled across.

Maybe I'll just simply blog about using our money wisely, yet as richly, as we can in NYC.  I'm just not sure yet.

So perhaps, I will be back soon.  Perhaps it will be 5 weeks (or more) until you hear from me!  Thank you for reading.

PS. Currently at Cash Wise the Lunchables are $1.00 and if you buy a certain amount you get a $1.00 off your next shopping order Catalina.  I bought 5 Lunchables and that was enough to trigger the coupon.  Easy on the go toddler food.  Love it.

-brook

Econo deals coming EVEN MORE laterz...

Hey folks, sorry the Econo deals aren't up yet, I full intended to get them done this evening; however.....we ended up in the E.R.  My little guy has been battling a cold the past few days and this afternoon took a turn for the worse.  I took his temp and it was 104.  After a short discussion with my Mom, who has been in nursing for over 35 years, she thought the E.R. would be a good idea.

Turns out, she was right!  Mom usually is. :)  Henry has RSV.  Since he's two, it's more like a really, really bad cold, we have to monitor his fever and just make sure he doesn't get any worse.  Whew!  The doctor was very, very glad we brought him in though - he said it was the right move, he could have gotten quite a bit worse overnight.

So, I'm drained tonight...Econo deals will get done at some point tomorrow!

Cash Wise Deals Coming Soon!

I apologize again this week for being mostly absent from the blog world - with the busy Christmas season and preparing for vacation in just a few days, my free time has been eaten up by my To Do list.  :)  However, I will at least get Cash Wise deals up this week!  I hope to get that done for you tonight.

-Brook

Missing in Action

I apologize I have been "missing in action" lately.  I have been very busy, focusing on getting things ready for Christmas and our upcoming vacation...which results in me having even less time and my blogging, both reading others and writing, has come to a complete stop.

I do plan to be back in action soon! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick note to wish you all a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I could write a list of all the things I am thankful for, but where would I end?

I am blessed.

So I give thanks to God, for everything He has given me - from my wonderful husband and child, to the spoon I am eating my morning yogurt with.

And coffee.

Thank you for coffee!!! :)

I hope you have a wonderful day, enjoy!

My adventures in cooking

I just wanted to share a couple successes I had last week in the kitchen.  Since I'm cooking much more often than I ever have in my life, it's been kinda fun-and scary-to see what I might come up with.

I made a roast in the crockpot.  I threw in some onions, a can of Cream of Mushroom soup, some Worcestershire sauce, a clove of garlic, some beef bullion, beef gravy, water and some salt and pepper.  It all sounded good, but would it be?

The result...

Yum!  It was a juicy roast with a nice sauce to go over it!

Knowing we probably wouldn't get to the leftover roast, I took it and made soup.

Again, just kinda threw a bunch of stuff into the crock...the meat, onions, a can of peas, a can of corn, can of carrots, beef bullion, water, and rice...let it cook for 6 hours or so.  We had it for lunch the next day and the it got a big two thumbs up from Henry and hubby.  Henry ate so much I thought he might split down the sides!  I couldn't believe he was eating all those veggies and asking for more.  YAY!

I don't usually serve canned veggies, but they were a total steal at Target and it worked slick in this soup....plus it was easy.  I quickly put this all together in just a few minutes because I had everything pre-sliced or canned.  I made it just before we ran out the door for dinner at my Mother-In-Law's.

I think I am going to offer more canned veggies to Henry to see if that is what he will prefer...some veggies are better than none, right?

This week

This week might be a bit quieter for me here on my blog.  I really need to focus on planning our upcoming vacation.  I still have a ton to plan, and I know with the holidays the next 44 days are going to fly by.  Plus, this is a big trip - Disney and New Orleans with the in-laws, many, many details still need to be worked out - I am the Chief Vacation Officer and don't want to let anyone down! :)

If I see any screaming good deals, I will post them still - but otherwise, it will probably be a tad quieter around here for a few days.

Meanwhile, a quick deal I spotted yesterday at ShopKo - they have a very nice assortment of games on sale for $6.99 or $8.99 (Monopoly, Clue, Hi Ho Cherry Oh, Life, etc.).  In addition to that, there is a mail in rebate - $2.00 or $3.00 respectively.  I picked up "Don't Break the Ice" for Henry.  I also noticed cool trucks that make noise on sale for $3.99, marked down from $7.99 - and there were quite a few other mark downs as well.  Looks like ShopKo is kinda getting in on the toy price wars between Target and Wal*Mart!

All the cheap wipes come in handy in more ways than one!

So far I have 12 boxes of the Up & Up wipes that I've told you about getting from Target for $0.29.

Well, this week I have been teaching Henry about Joshua and the walls of Jericho from the Bible.  An idea came to me last night to use all those wipe boxes to build a wall that we can knock down.

It was a GREAT lesson!  He really got into it!  Of course, the wall tumbling was his favorite part.

Walking around the wall

Blowing the trumpet

 And the walls came tumbling down!!!

So not only are wipes good for cleaning heinies, hands, faces, etc. but also excellent for Bible lessons!

Coupon Match-ups Tomorrow

After this weekend, I am BEAT!  We had a really wonderful time, but my brain feels a tad like scrambled eggs from the long nights and early mornings-and all the running around we did.  So, I will start the coupon match-ups tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I do have a bunch of other deals and freebies coming your way!

This weekend

As you may have gathered, due to my lack of posts, I am away this weekend.  We left on Thursday night and will return tomorrow (Sunday) at some point.  We are visiting my Grandma and celebrating her 88th birthday. It was a huge surprise party for her - she had NO idea! It's been a great weekend, seeing family members and friends, visiting with my Grandma and sharing many, many memories.

I hope to have the coupon match-ups done on Sunday at some point, or at the latest on Monday.  I will also get caught up on my email and any freebies I might as soon as I can this week!

-Brook

Good Read: The Lazy Girl's Guide to Coupons

For anyone that wants to coupon, but the whole organized box/binder/pouch freaks you out a tad...check out this post --> HERE <--

I have a big-o-box, sorted alphabetically by brand.  I clip all like brands together, meaning all my Huggies coupons are clipped together in the H envelope.  This makes the clipping/sorting/storing part take longer, but I can usually find a coupon very quickly in the store.  Which is handy with a toddler!

And I just can't yet let myself pass up a steal.  My giant box comes with me in every store....!

Our trip to the A Maze'n Farmyard

As you know, Saturday we went to the A Maze'n Farmyard.  We were there for about 2.5 hours and didn't even get to do everything-there is a ton!  The kids all had a blast, and so did all the adults.

It's about an hour drive from Hutchinson, and $6.95 for ages 3+.  That can get to be very expensive, very quickly - but if you have a warm day, you could easily be there for four hours or more.  Our day started out very cool, but warmed up nicely.

 

Despite grass being everywhere, the goats eagerly ate it out of our hands

 

Yes, that's my son, kissing a goat.  Gotta pick your battles.

 

 

This baby goat was soooo teeny and cute.  The Momma was very protective and would literally stare anyone down that looked at the baby!

 

 Along with grass, goats also like red knit scarves.

 

 And cameras.

 

 The bounce house lasted for approximately 3.9 seconds.  More than last time where he wouldn't go past the front door though.

 

 This cat really liked my Father-in-Law!

 

 Henry and cousin playing with a farm set.

 

His first pony ride!  He loved the first lap, then on the second one he decided he was done.

 

 

 Christmas card material.

 

 Just the day before our trip, I was teaching Henry about camels having a hump on their backs, and then he got to see one up close and personal!

 

 My boys.

 

 That's why they call it the A MAZE'N Farmyard.

 

 You had to go through the maze and find all 5 towers, it took quite a while!

 

 

Uncle Pete helping Henry up the stairs.

 

 

 That was hard work!

 

 

 

 

 We didn't get a chance to go on the tractor ride. :(

 

 But we hit the slide twice!  Once with Da Da....

 

 Once with Mommy!

 

 And we did get to ride the choo-choo.

 

Which was really a tractor outfitted as a train.  Pretty clever!

 

 He was hungry when we got in the car and munched on Kix for about 5 minutes straight.  Suddenly the crunching stopped and this is what we saw.  Hand still in the bag, but just can't stay awake...

 

At the restaurant.  Drool and all!

We came home and made our pumpkin, which was a complete thrill to Henry.  Everyday since he likes to go visit with his pumpkin.

It was a great day!

Off to the Pumpkin Patch!

 This morning we are off to the pumpkin patch!  As you can see by the picture above, we are going to the A maze'n Farmyard.  I've never been here, I'm pretty excited about what I've read and heard about it!  I think Henry will have a ball.

I just hope it warms up!

Happy Saturday all!

Thursday's Goals

I didn't forget about putting up today's goals-but I just haven't gotten to it! :)

It's been a busy morning.  Joe woke up with some eye pain, so he's been taking it easy at work, which means we've been running all over and I haven't been on the computer much.

Today's goals are:
-Get email to under 50 - I didn't get this done yesterday.  I'm down to about 74.
-Clean kitchen.  I clean my kitchen everyday, but this is scrubbbbbbbing.  Front of cabinets, behind the coffee pot, under the toaster, floor, etc.
-RSVP to a friend's baby shower (to do folder)
-Run to Cash Wise to take advantage of the Morton System Saver deal and give them the coupon for the free 4 cups of yogurt I forgot to give them on Tuesday.  Oops!  That's $2!
-Print a whole mess of coupons
-Get $0.02 stamps - this is done!  Finally!  I also mailed out the rebate for the Johnson's Bath Toy that I spoke of -->  HERE <--

And speaking of Johnson's Baby Products, in case you don't have the $1 off coupon from the 9/13 RP, $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge posted a link to a printable located --> HERE <--, thanks!!

I'll be sure to post a blog when I receive the bath toy!

Wednesday's Goals

Last night I was too tired to put up a post on today's goals, but I did make them! :)

Today I hope to:
-Tackle my newly organized "To Do" folder.  Get at least a few things done outta there.
-Make a Target run
-Clean the downstairs family room
-Get email inbox under 50 emails.
-Kiss my hubby at least 3 times, it's our 3rd year anniversary!

He got me diamond earrings!!!!!!!! Real.Diamond.Earrings. [faint]

I got him a date night. :)
We are going to see "Oklahoma!" at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre on Friday.  I'm uber excited.

Tuesday's Goals

My first day as a SAHM went well.  Very well!

I accomplished all my goals, plus a few things.  I am exhausted, but I have a smile on my face and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Here is a short schedule for tomorrow:
-Breakfast and Bible Study. This morning I started with the story of Samson defeating the lion.  I am going to keep on this story for the rest of the week, and incorporate the art activity to the same theme.  Today I just found a coloring page online that Henry colored and put stickers on.
-Grocery shopping in late morning (over Joe's lunch break?)
-Lunch
-Afternoon art activity (perhaps using tissue paper to paste to a lion's mane), reading, and play

And my goals:
-Clean entry way
-Make grocery and Target lists
-Organize desk (eek!)
-Get email inbox down to less than 100 emails.

Monday's Goals

I am going to set daily/weekly goals for myself now that I'm a SAHM.  I am uncertain of how my days will pan out, I'm a bit nervous about the lack of structure, so I am attempting to make some....I'm setting my goals pretty low for each day until I have a feeling of what I can accomplish with a 2 year old in tow!

Monday, October 18, 2009
-Morning of breakfast, Bible Study, getting ready, Playhouse Disney
-Henry Dr. Appt at 10:15 am
-Lunch (sandwiches, soup, leftover buffet)
-Henry nap time, I will get caught up on emails, core and freeze strawberries, clean bathroom.
-After nap, start on dinner, have Henry "help".

Goals:
-Bible Study during breakfast
-Get emails down to less than 200 (!!!)
-Deal with strawberries
-Clean bathroom

$0.15 coffee creamer bliss

Remember the coffee creamer from Target for $0.15? 

It's goooooooood!