Menu Planning

I go through cycles where I plan the meals for the week, and I love it when I do.  I find this is a habit I need to work hard to stick to, it isn't natural to me. I HATE COOKING.
The door to our pantry is painted in chalkboard paint. I use this spot as the place where I record our weekly meals. 
There is a lot of food in our house. I spent five minutes and did a little inventory of the meals we have in the freezer, and food on hand.
Romaine lettuce is a staple here for salads, remember you have to eat this quickly before it goes bad.
I bought supplies to make an Epicure Thai meal for dinner with a friend on Saturday night. I will make a different Thai dish for dinner using up the fresh supplies. 
I cut the ends off of it and stick it in water for longer shelf life in the fridge. 
I recently bought a second deep freezer to store prepared frozen meals.  There are half a dozen turkey soups, pink sticker pizzas, and prepared Chinese Food kits that were on sale a few weeks ago and bonus Airmiles. 
This week we are eating out on Friday. A friend gave us 2 free large pizzas at a restaurant in town in exchange for a coupon session.  To upgrade to garlic fingers is $8.05 after taxes so I recorded that amount to come out of our budget. I will use the entertainment budget vs the food budget, the choice is up to you.
On the weekend we are going to the city for the day. We are going in just before lunch. We will bring snacks and a sandwich on the drive in, and for supper we will go to Superstore Grocery Store.

Happy meal planning

** We ordered Hamburger from a local farmer. It is a bit more per pound but delicious! I suggest looking for a deal like this in your area. 

Check Out 51

There is a Cash Back App that I use weekly, Check Out 51.  You can download the app on your phone, or Ipad.  And you can have more than one account per household, which helps for the really good deals! There are limits on how many offers you can claim. Multiple accounts allow you to benefit multiple times.
The concept is simple.  Once a week (Thursday morning) you will get an update of new fresh offers. Scroll it and make notes on the offers. There are offers for things from toiletries to produce, to cleaning supplies.  The best part of it is, they send you a cheque once you have hit a credit of $20.  Now, some people like to save it and cash out when the number is high, and a certain time of year.  I am a natural born pessimist, always believing when things are too good to be true, they may not be real or last.  THIS IS REAL, but cash out every $20 credit. They mail you a cheque and deposit into your bank account, and voila, that simple. 
Once you check your offers on Thursday, make your list, and go shopping as per usual.  (Check and see if you have coupons or Coupgon that match up to your offers).
When you go home, go onto your Checkout 51 App.  
Some offers are really good, and I upload the receipt when I get to the car as offers are limited in quantity.
At the bottom you will see a green camera and it says Upload Receipt.  Click. 
From here step by step directions how to line up the camera to your receipt and claim your offers.
That is it!
This is a great app for those that don't like to use coupons, or ways to make extra cash.
Happy Shopping!

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Groupon

My family is on a plan to be Mortgage Free by June 2018.  This has us on a budget, and being extremely frugal. The best part of a budget, is that there is money for fun, it just has to be planned.  Our favorite restaurant Cafe Chianti in Halifax offers a Groupon on twice a year for an appie for 2, 2 main meals, and 2 desserts for $65.  I am all over this, for a night out after Valentine's Day. 
Subscribe to Groupon Emails for your area.  When you register you get a code to use for money off of your first purchase (sadly, not applicable for this deal) and also you receive discount codes from time to time.
Groupon is already a great deal, but there is MORE!!!!!
When you receive your code, and email offer that you like, log in to airmilesshops.ca  and search Groupon.
Now you will receive AIRMILES and the amazing deal.
Happy Date Night :)

Wallet

I am like most women and love purses and wallets. Finding the wallet that works best for me has been a challenge as I love my loyalty cards and running a GIFT CARD BUDGET. I also needed a wallet that can hold a lot of change, any Canadian knows these toonies and loonies add up fast.  After receving a Michael Kors wallet that I LOVED and spent a small fortune on I realized it didn't work for me. Side bar, it was sold online for what it was paid for, phew. It was hard for me to realize this, but my need to be frugal far outweighed my want for a nice wallet.
The wallet that works best for me is from 31 Gifts, and is called the Benjamin.  It holds a lot of cards, currently has 32 cards in it (OMG 32 really?) and it zips up so my lose coupons also don't fall out. It also has a wristlet to be carried without being in a purse.
I have a second wallet though for the cards that I don't use regularly. I live an hour away from the closest city and many of my cards that I have are used only when I shop there.
This smaller wallet holds my gift cards and loyalty cards for these stores. When I am making  a trip to the city I just throw that wallet in with my purse. It lightens the load a bit.
BONUS FRUGAL TIP
A saving tip I use is to think about my purchases from stores for 24 hours. I carry the gift cards to stores that tempt me in my secondary wallet. This way, when I am out and about and browse stores ( Winners, oh Winners we have a love hate) I won't make an impulse buy because my gift card for there is in my other wallet. This helps me sit on my decision and decide if I really want it. Most times, the answer is no.

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Post Christmas Sales

Boxing Day Sales are a great time to start shopping for next year.  I know, I know I sound crazy.  I go out every Boxing Day to all the Drug Stores, and the day after to the grocery stores and Walmart etc.  It is a great time to stock up on gifts for next year and also birthday gifts.  There are many things that you can pick up that are not necessarily Christmas.
Today ( 10 days after Christmas) I bought items that can be used now and saved a ton. 75% off to be exact.
1) bubble bath gift sets that I will take out of the Christmas box and put in Easter baskets
2)placemats for my house that have sparkles on them, apparently they are Christmas?
3)toothbrushes that are characters with toothpaste in a gift box (well, the kids brush their teeth)
4)hand cream in cellophane packaging, perfect for my purse and work desk
5)bath puffs that had crayola tag on it, perfect for my showers and I replace them regularly. I don't care if they say crayola. 
Get out there and shop, remember Easter baskets, Christmas stockings and birthday gifts. There are many things that are always able to be used, despite being marketed for Christmas.
Happy Shopping
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Packing up Christmas

Today is that dreaded day, the day where I tackle under the Christmas tree.  Despite that we cut down on the amount of presents bought and the money spent the number of gift bags and tissue paper looked like it grew.  When I tidy up this mess of Christmas I save everything that I can.  I have a bin that I put all the tissue paper that I can save in to re-use.  I flatten it as best as I can and fold it up for the container. When I was out shopping the Boxing Day sales with a friend I did pick up a package of white tissue paper half price in case I needed it.  I buy 1 new package a year, this year it was 64 cents.  The rest of my tissue paper is recycled from birthday parties and Christmas.  This little tip will save you a few dollars a year.
Next I sorted out every gift bag that was in the house.  Surprisingly we have a lot of gift bags!  I had two large plastic gift bags that the handle broke off of, and used one for Christmas and one for birthday themes.  I folded each gift bag into the "holder bag" and I should have enough to last eternity.  Until today these bags were saved each year but just shoved in an area of my basement.  I did find some Valentine bags that I added to my Valentine storage tub.  Not needing to buy a gift bag for each event saves at least $1.15 a bag.
I also went through the wrapping paper that I have and organized into two categories, Christmas and everything else.  I had bought the storage containers half price at Canadian Tire three years ago. I also weeded out the character wrapping paper that I had that I know the kids won't like anymore. Dora, really???Obviously forgot about that roll of paper for the past 4 years.  I filed that in the Yard Sale area of my basement.
Lastly, all the bows were placed in an open gift bow bag.  Although the stickiness is long gone, it is nothing that some Scotch tape can't fix.
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Free Wood

We have a fire place wood insert in our home. I love wood heat! We burn a lot of wood a year along with our heat pump.  In the summer when there isn't a fire ban we also use our fire pit quite a bit.  A few days ago a friend of mine moved into a new house and cut down some trees around the property.  She posted an ad on Facebook to have the wood picked up curbside, and I jumped all over it.  It took 2 trunk loads to bring this home, but well worth it being that I can drive by the house on my way home, no special trip needed.  Some pieces are large and my husband will cut it up to use in the house and some pieces are ready to go in the fire pit.  I say free wood on the side of the road, a few days of free heat, well worth my stop.  Side Bar, I am sure anyone driving by was laughing that I was taking free wood from the side of the road wearing a Michael Kors dress $3 yard sale find!