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One of my favorite blogs is We Are THAT Family. I love Kristin's writing style & think she's very funny. On August 1 she is beginning a newsletter called The Family Room. I have already subscribed & think you should too. I have no doubt that this will be informative, insightful, & funny, just as her blog is.

Win a $25 gift card to Sonic.

Win a $25 gift card to Sonic.

Old Navy Coupon Giveaway

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Thanks, From Dates to Diapers & Beyond!

Menu Plan Monday June 14

We have a really busy week. David is in Parents' Day Out on Tuesday & Thursday & he has swim lessons Monday-Thursday evening which begins at 6. I'm not sure how well this menu will work considering we need to be out the door by 5:15. I tried to pick easy to fix items.

Sunday - pizza
Monday - tuna salad (plenty leftover for lunches), rolls, garden salad (lettuce from our own garden)
Tuesday - pasta with alfredo, chicken, & broccoli
Wednesday - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots (all in the freezer)
Thursday - spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
Friday - stir fry
Saturday - leftovers

I need to begin also doing a menu plan for lunch. Eventually I'd like to incorporate breakfast too so we don't end up eating cereal every morning.

Arby's

Do you ever look at those messages at the bottom of receipts? Some times you're receipt is a mile long because of all the messages. This evening we went to Arby's for our free Chicken Club. After we got home I happened to look at the message at the bottom of the receipt. By taking 5 minutes to complete their online survey I can now get a Regular Roast Beef or Beef N Cheddar for FREE. I'll be paying more attention to those messages now.

Deal on Kids Colgate

You can buy the kids Colgate for $.24 this week. There's an in ad coupon for $1 & a manufacturer coupon for $.75.

Menu Plan Monday June 7

My menu plan usually just consists of dinner. I try to make sure we have plenty of leftovers for lunches. Also, I don't usually cook on the weekends. We eat leftovers, quick meals, or some times my husband cooks.

Sunday - salad (with lettuce from our garden) with chicken, Sister Schubert rolls (YUM!)
Monday - Poppy Seed Chicken, brown rice (actually I usually do half brown rice & half barley; I'll probably make enough for leftovers & another meal later in the week), salad
Tuesday - Waffles, eggs (maybe), fruit
Wednesday - Hamburger patties, Knorr stroganoff noodles, green beans
Thursday - stir fry with chicken, brown rice (& barley)
Friday - homemade pizza
Saturday - leftovers

ideas for lunches & snacks:
hot dogs
cheese
peanut butter
power muffins (in freezer)
fruit
raw veggies (carrots, celery)
homemade yogurt
almonds
crackers
graham crackers

Blue Bunny

Win FREE Blue Bunny ice cream for a year at From Dates to Diapers.

Bobara Laptop Bag Giveaway

Mommysnacks is giving away this very cute laptop bag. Wouldn't you like to win it?

Did you know . . .

. . . that you can freeze eggs?

Get Ready for More Triples

at Harris Teeter

Confession . . . it's good for the soul, right?

For the past several months I have been stockpiling - ALOT. My wonderful husband has been on board with this. He likes the thought of having a stockpile "just in case." He also likes the variety of foods we've been having lately. What I have not been doing is following our budget or even watching our checking account. I simply got tired of not seeing the numbers add up. My husband kept saying that as long as we would (eventually) use everything I bought then he saw no problem with it. Well, now there's a problem. Our checking account is severely overdrawn. How did I find this out? I was attempting to purchase some more good deals at Rite Aid when my Visa card wouldn't go through. How embarrasing! The nice manager offered to hold my order until morning. Unfortunately the short fall is so severe that I will not be able to go back to Rite Aid in the morning to purchase my good deals.

The last few times I've gone shopping I've felt a pretty major negative vibe suggesting that perhaps I shouldn't be making these purchases right now. I just pushed those vibes down. Now I realize that it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me. I have confessed my sins to my Lord and I know He has forgiven me (it will be harder to forgive myself). I know He's in charge and will take care of us. I just got caught up in the rush of getting a good deal.

I've been feeling like I need to find more of a balance between being on the internet and taking care of my home, children, and husband. I hadn't found a real good solution so I just stopped worrying about it even though I've had this nagging feeling continue. There are so many other things besides couponing that I need and want to do. I feel behind. Of course, FlyLady would tell me that I'm not behind, to jump in where ever I am. So, that's what I'm going to attempt to do.

We have to get back on a budget. I will still be couponing but we will be eating out of the pantry and freezer for a while except for the necessesties (like milk, which we're out of). I'll be taking an inventory of everything we have and making a list of necessesties that we need. I will be spending more time with my husband after the kids are in bed instead of on the internet. I will be scrapbooking and cooking more from scratch. Cleaning my house and playing more with my children. Exercising more and attempting to watch what I eat (I say that as I sit here eating a brownie - YUM). These are all things I've been needing and wanting to do but haven't had time for because I've been spending so much time chasing the good deals.

Deal Mart

Have you ever heard of Deal Mart? A friend of mine has mentioned this discount store to me several times but she always made a reference to clothing so I thought it was just a clothing store. This week I killed my food processor and couldn't find replacement parts for it. I use it all the time and was missing it the very next day. Geoff suggested we look for one on Craigslist. When he did the search a Cuisinart came up that Amazon sells for $145 and the suggested retail price is $250. Deal Mart had it for $90! The lady at the counter made sure that Geoff knew that it was brand new. I am very excited about it and can't wait to use it, which I will do in the next day or two when I make some strawberry jam. YUM!