Week #3

We can see the light… Oh wait, that’s just the glow of the Chuck E. Cheese sign.

Yes folks, we are not perfect…we gave in to some fun at Chuck E. Cheese this weekend.

Let me explain  Here are my excuses…

We were issued an extreme cold warning this past weekend. We were cooped up indoors for a couple of days and the kids did ok…my husband…not so much.

 

 

Daddy Brucks LOVES being around people, large crowds of them in fact. And our little Coco asked his daddy if they could go to chuck e. cheese. I was to have a fun (and free) afternoon with Lulu and her friend E while Daddy Brucks took care of the boys, but I could tell one more day at home was going to be the end of my husband…ever heard of cabin fever?

We looked at the budget and decided that the money saved from not using babysitters this month could be used for Chuck E. Cheese.

Could we have used it for savings? Yes…but losing my husbands sanity wasn’t worth saving thirty bucks.  And we had already put aside some extra savings even with last weeks unplanned problems…so off they went!

As for me and the little girls…we had an awesome fun and free afternoon!

Here’s what we did!

 

Floral Conservatory!

 

Free visiting every afternoon!

We decided to get the girls dressed up and go take some fun photos amidst the beautiful backdrop. I am no photographer, but the camera I had makes it pretty easy to get a few great shots!

 

The second place we went was the Humane society!

The girls love cats and dogs, so we headed over there to visit with the animals up for adoption. They had a great time learning all their names, and thankfully no one asked if they could take one home…cause I don’t think I could have said no…

I was able to earn a few extra PC Points that day by purchasing groceries for a girlfriend of mine. She gave me the cash to pick up the food and I used my PC card and earned a few points. Always great when you can earn a few bucks by helping others out!

I also received a gift of food from my mom...she asked if I could pick up a few groceries for her while she babysat my kids for me and told me to pick up a few things I needed for my crew. Oranges and muffins it was! 

Always great to have a practical gift giving mom!

After getting groceries this week, all those extra errands, and the gas purchases throughout the week, I went from 1600 PC points to over 20,000! I earned another $20 bucks in PC points in one week! That’s $60 bucks just this month! Crazy right!

Menu Plan Week 3

Here are some of the recipes I used:

Cheese Quesidillas– Make Basic Tortillas. Shred cheddar cheese and place between two tortillas. Place on baking sheet in 350 Degree oven. Watch closely as the cheese will melt at different rates depending on thickness of tortillas and the amount of cheese you’ve used.

Chill Night– Leftover Veggie Chili from Week #1 

Chicken Taco Night. – Basic Tortillas again! Salsa, Shredded Cheese and Sour Cream for toppings. Shredded Chicken cooked in Taco seasoning according to package directions. The shredded chicken was from Week #1’s roast chicken leftovers. We froze the shredded chicken to be used at a later day! Today was that day!

Meatballs and Spaghetti Night– Meatballs were on sale so we just bought a box and used KuKu Grandma’s sweet and sour sauce recipe…sorry folks but that one’s a secret!!

Frozen Soup– I made a chicken and rice soup with the roast chicken carcass from Week #1 and added some frozen veggies and rice!

Honey Ham– Just as basic as it sounds…The ham was on sale, so we bought one and ate it as is!

Hawaiian Pizza- Pizza Crust homemade with pieces of ham from last nights supper. Bought a can of pineapple chunks and made some pizza sauce! Voila!

Check out our Pinterest Page for more simple and frugal recipes!

My Groceries:

Goal $136.25

Total $136.90! 

Daddy Brucks has been a trooper through all of this, and he hasn’t complained once about the cheaper brand coffee...until I did that is..it was awful…I just cannot justify buying cheap coffee anymore…we look forward to that morning moment and Starbucks is the only way I can get it…so crazy coffee prices it is…but hey…at least we were brewing it ourselves!

Daddy Brucks has also been taking a lunch as often as he can which has helped out tremendously! Thank you for all those sacrifices hubby!

Update: We ended up battling the flu in our home come wednesday afternoon and boy was I glad I had made DIY Disinfecting wipes! I didn’t have the money in the budget to purchase any and a friend had posted about a DIY she had done. Talk about perfect timing!

DIY Disinfecting Wipes  TipHero DIY

Materials:

Container with Lid

Paper Towel

Knife

Bowl

Rubbing Alcohol -1/4 cup

Water -12oz

Dish Soap- 4 drops

Essential oils (optional) Tea Tree and Grapefruit- a couple drops of each

Instructions:

Step #1: Find a container with a seal lid and cut paper towel to fit the container.

Step#2: Place paper towel inside container.

Step #3: Mix together the Water, Alcohol, Dish soap and Essential oils.

Step#4: Pour mixture over top of paper towel

Step#5: Pull out the cardboard piece

Step#6: Seal with lid!

There you have it! And thank you TIPHERO for this awesome DIY!

After all that fun with kids and battling the flu, it’s time for a relaxing weekend!

Week #3 Overview

No Spend Star Rating:

***

3 Stars

We gave in with no reason other than boredom…but we did gain my husbands sanity back!

What we could do differently:

1. Buy Starbucks in bulk at Costco again. It truly is the best price!
2. Find other ways to play with the kids when it’s cold outside.
3. Find reusable freezer bags. I spend way too much money on these things!

What we did well:

1. Stuck to the grocery budget, watched for flyers and gained lots of PC Points!
2. Had a free afternoon with Lulu!
3. Made my own DIY disinfecting wipes!

Overall, not bad for Week 3!

Here’s to Week #4 and hopefully warmer weather!

Happy Saving!

Mama Brucks