Today's my son's birthday!!!

Wow. Today my first born is 11 years old!! How crazy is that?? Makes me feel old! lol. Seems like it wasn't that long ago that he was 2 years old and getting into all kinds of messes. Wow. Where does the time go? Soon he will be a teenager. WOW.
Anyways

HAPPY BIRTHDAY D!!!!!!

Frugal Meal Friday 6/5

Every Friday I will be sharing with you a frugal recipe. These meals will average $5 or less for a family of four, and many will give you lots of leftovers for lunches. If you have any recipes you would like to share with others, please feel free to email it to me at: couponqueenofcorning @ hotmail.com and I will include it in my Friday's posts.

Today's meal is Tex-Mex Shells N Cheese from the Kraft site. Go check out the site for more recipes that are quick and frugal. This is a staple in our house. We probably have it at least once a month, and it so quick and easy to make! Add a fruit or veggie to round out the meal a little better and your are still under $5.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground meat ($2)
1 package Velveeta Shells n Cheese ($1.50)
1 can diced tomatoes (you can use regular, italian, etc) ($.50)
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (optional - $.50)

Directions:
1. Cook and drain ground meat.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients except packet of cheese sauce and shredded cheese. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.
3. Add cheese sauce and stir until blended. Top with optional shredded cheese.

Rubbermaid Giveaway

The Coupon Princess is having a giveaway that ends on June 8th. You can win a 20 piece Rubbermaid set. Click here to go and enter!

Frugal Party Planning

Sometimes planning for a party can be very expensive. But there are some things that you can do to keep the costs down.

• Party Items: Don't invest money in fancy party items like plates, cups, etc. When I have a birthday party for younger kids, I will buy just plates (many times on clearance or at the dollar store) with their favorite character on them. I buy cups and tablecloth (usually at dollar store) in a color that coordinates with the plates. I buy plain old napkins and regular plastic silverware. Also don't fall into the whole party favor trap. No one says they need to get a goody bag. If you really would like to give these out, check the dollar store for things you can put in there. Party favors for kids can run from $3 and up at places like Walmart or Target.
  
  
• Cake: Make your own cake. Store bought cakes can cost $20 and up for a half sheet. Even if you buy one of those shaped pans, you will still be under $20. For most occasions though, a simple cake with frosting is appropriate. Even if you buy cake mix and frosting, at full price you are still under $3, and if you use coupons you can get this total down even more.
  
  
• Gifts: Buy gifts throughout the year for birthdays when you find them on clearance. My daughter's birthday is in August and I already have three things for her that I bought cheap on clearance (plus we found a Princess backpack at Burlington that I want to go back and get for her this week sometime). By doing this, you can either save the extra money that you normally would have spent, or use that money to splurge and buy something nice for them.
  
  
• Food: There are several ways to have food at a party and still keep the costs down. Cooking out is always a nice idea. I have had build your own sandwiches (deli meats and bread) and meatball subs for parties. For my son's party this weekend we are having hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni salad, and chips. We will end up spending less than $30 for all the food, including cake and ice cream. Rolls will be bought at Aldi's for less than $1 a pack, hamburger will be bought for less than $2 a pound, I bought hot dogs last week for $1.50 a pack (Ballpark), chips were bought with a coupon and grandma is bringing the salad. I got the ice cream (Breyer's) for $1.50 after coupons, the cake mix for $.50 and the frosting for $.75 after coupons.
  
  
• Beverages: We usually buy some water bottles (we got these on sale last week 32 pack for $3.99), and also have a few 2-liters of soda (bought on sale for $1 each). I have also made Koolaid when there was going to be a lot of kids at the party. If you are using 2-liters, don't forget to buy plastic cups.
  

Do you have any ideas on how to keep party planning expenses down? Share with us by leaving a comment.

Free Donut!!

Yep, you read that right. Tomorrow (June 5) is National Donut Day, and to celebrate Dunkin Donuts is giving away a free donut with the purchase of a beverage. You can find more info at Dunkin Donuts' site.

2 Giveaways

Melissa over at ConsumerQueen.com is running two contests right now.

• You can enter to win a year's worth of Kraft Mac N Cheese by clicking here. You will win 50 boxes, and they will give 50 boxes to "Feed America". Contest ends 6/16
  
• Enter to win a Hoover Cordless Stick Vac here. Contest ends 6/10
  

Words of the Week Wednesday 6/3

It is Wednesday again and time to provide my readers with links to sites that I found interesting in the last week.

• Would you like to gain better control of your money? Parents Connect is having a Recession Proofing Boot Camp this month. Each day there will be a new money challenge. Registration is free and it just started on Monday, so if you join you will only be behind 2 days! They are also having a 30 Day Potty Training Challenge for those who have a child ready for the potty.
• I'm an Organizing Junkie is an awesome blog. Every Monday she posts her meals for the week, then other bloggers link to their posts with their meal plan. It can really give you some ideas on what to make for dinner! She has challenges to help organize your house (and life) and keep it that way. Also, she is having a giveaway on her review blog. You can enter to win The Dinner Solution: software that helps you plan your meals for the month.
• Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. They have revamped the Sesame Street site, so if you have little ones (or if you want to reminisce), go on over and check it out.
  

Busy Busy Tuesday

Garden Update

This weekend we did a lot of planting. Yesterday we put in our tomato and pepper plants and planted some squash. We have quite a bit of room left, but only have pumpkin seeds to plant. So, we now have beans, cucumbers, lots of lettuce and broccoli, corn, carrots, peas and onions planted. Anyone have any suggestions on what else we can plant? We have quite a bit of room left. No planting today... dreary and rainy out!


Spring Cleaning - A Little Late. LOL

So, today we have been cleaning. Well, actually I have been cleaning. LOL. While hubby was in the living room with the kids, I cleaned the bathroom from top to bathroom. When I am done posting on here, I need to get my kitchen cleaned. I would love to get that room cleaned from top to bottom today also.

There's a lot of organizing to be done too. Five of us living in this 2 1/2 bedroom apartment just doesn't work well. I constantly have to reorganize cabinets and other spaces to maximize our organization to make this place work for us, at least for now. The worst part is that I organize a cabinet and a few months later it is a mess again, because people don't put things back where I had them. I even label shelves using my label maker and they still don't put them in the right spot. GGGRRRRrrr!!


Job Hunt Update

So, as many of you know, my husband was laid off in March. Since then both him and I have been looking for work. Unfortunately there really is nothing out there for him right now. He looks everyday but no one is really hiring machinists right now. There has been quite a few jobs out there that I could do, so I have been sending my resumes to a lot of jthem. If I had to guess I would say that have sent in at least 30 resumes in the last month. Unfortunately, I only got calls for an interview from two of them, and didn't get hired for either.

I try to keep optimistic, but also in the back of my mind I know that in September we will no longer be able to pay all our bills because we will be out of extra money. This includes using our savings to pay bills. The unemployment benefit just isn't enough to cover all our expenses.


Birthday Party Planning
I have been doing things to reduce how much we spend though. This week I didn't go and get groceries, because we are trying to eat out of our pantry and freezer for a while. I will have to get a few things later this week because our oldest son is celebrating his 11th birthday. We're having a cookout for his birthday, so we need to go get ground meat, rolls, plates, cups, etc. I am making the cake and we already bought the ice cream (on sale for $3 and had coupon that doubled to $1.50 so they were only $1.50 each half gallon). I would also like to make something else for the party but I haven't decided what yet. It should turn out to be a pretty good birthday party for him even though we don't have a lot of extra money this year.

Free Ice Cream

On June 6 from 12-5, Friendly's will be giving away free ice cream (1 scoop). So don't forget to go over and get yours!

Menu Plan Monday 6/1

If you want to save money on groceries, meal planning is key. Every weekend I plan out my meals for the next week. When I have my menu planned for the week, I save money and I save time. I share it with you, to give you ideas of how we eat on a limited budget. Hopefully, this inspires you to plan your own menu for the week.

Here is my meal plan for this week:

• Monday - baked chicken, veggie
  
• Tuesday - meatball subs, veggie
  
• Wednesday - leftovers
  
• Thursday - chicken stuffing and veggie bake
  
• Friday - frozen pizza and salad
  
• Saturday - son's birthday party - we are having hot dogs, hamburgers, and salads.
  
• Sunday - leftovers