Monthly Meal Plan *non-scrap*

So I recently completed a meal plan for 30 days and I've had a lot of friends ask me about it. I figured the easiest way to get the info out was via my blog, so I hope my scrap friends will excuse this non-scrap-related posting. LOL

Anyway...here is a copy of my meal plan:

As you can see, it's not gourmet, or 5-star, or anything like that. BUT it's mostly good-for-you-food that can be easily prepared. As for how I managed to get enough food for this plan for the 4 of us for under $300...that's a bit more difficult. I spent some time going through the weekly grocery ads, then spent several hours putting this plan together with the ads, my coupon stash and online comparing prices. I then put together a final list, broken down by store. It took the better part of Friday morning. We went to Tom Thumb, Kroger, Aldi, Target and Costco to get everything on the list. Costco and Target were the two trips with the largest total cost, but I got almost as much at Aldi as I did at Target for about half the price! Aldi is my new best friend!! LOL The grand total for everything was $279.66. I will have to get milk once or twice during the month and we already had some things in the freezer (a turkey, 2 pork butts and hot dogs, for example). But I should also have a good "base" left over for next month (I have tons of pasta, beans and rice).

That's pretty much it! Yes it takes some work to put together, yes I'll have to cook and clean up, but I figure we probably used to spend double (easily!) per month at the grocery store. Regarding going out to eat...we LOVE LOVE LOVE to eat out, but for the most part it's not very healthy (at least the places we go, LOL) and if I figure we spend ~$35 each time we eat out, that gets me a tick under 8 days of dinners for the same cost as groceries for 30 days of dinners! No brainer!

If anyone has any questions, please just let me know! I'll be more than happy to answer them if I can!

$2 Tuesday and a *FREEBIE*

I hope everyone survived Black Friday/Cyber Monday! If you missed out on any of the designers' sales, today is your chance to still find some great deals on some goodies!

Scrappin' Serenity has two super cute family-oriented kits in the bin this week, Newbie and This Wonderful Life. The coordinating quickpage packs are also on sale:

And she also has a cute freebie that coordinates with Newbie (click the preview to go to her blog)

This Little Missy still has Plum Perfect in the bin. Remember, this is a Rewind Kit and will only be available at the $2 price today and tomorrow, so grab it now!!!

That's it for today, but LOTS of new stuff coming this weekend, so be sure to come back by and check it all out!!!! Happy Scrapping!

You won't want to miss these sales!!! *and a FREEBIE*

So I've been looking over some of the designers' sale fliers for Black Friday/Cyber Monday and WOW!!! There's gonna be some fabulous deals, so let's get right to it!

Since she has a 10 hour drive ahead of her, Scrappin' Serenity has started her sale today! So from the time you read this, all the way through Nov. 29, you can get 50% OFF her kits!!!

And because she loves her customers so much, she also has some coupons for you to use to make a great deal even better!

Be sure to follow the directions/rules and no pushing or shoving! LOL Oh, and I also heard that she has a FREEBIE for you on HER BLOG , so go grab it!

Designs by Snowlady is sticking with more traditional Black Friday/Cyber Monday dates, and is giving you 60% OFF her kits!!!

And This Little Missy is giving you 50% OFF Nov 25-Nov 28!!!

Be sure to check the fliers for the effective dates, as not all designers are using the same dates. Some are also having "Door Buster" and Facebook deals as well! Here is a link to the STS store so you can check out all the designer's goodies!!! Happy shopping!!

$2 Tuesday *and a freebie*

Good morning everyone. Gonna keep it short and sweet today!

Designs by Snowlady has her Recipe Card templates, Sets 1 and 2 in the bin:

This Little Missy has Plum Perfect again as it is the November Rewind Kit...note that this will be the last few days to get the kit for $2...a new kit goes on Rewind on December 1!

And Scrappin' Serenity has Sweet November and a turkey day kit for you!

There's also a great coordinating freebie on her BLOG .

That's all for today, but you'll definitely want to stop by tomorrow for the scoop on Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales!!!!

Special Kit release from Scrappy Cocoa

Good Friday morning everyone. Today I'd like to show you a very special kit that Scrappy Cocoa has released in recognition of the fact that November is National Adoption Month! The kit is called Precious and it's theme is obviously adoption, but it is versatile enough to scrap other baby (boy or girl!) moments. Here's a look:

I love the soft, muted colors in this kit. Here's a layout I did with it:

Awww...I can't believe my almost-6-year-old used to be that little!! You can go grab this precious kit on MEGA sale at Gingerscraps or The Studio .

And if you're interested, here are a couple of excellent links for more information on adoption:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/nam/about.cfm

https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/

Plum Perfect!

This Little Missy has decided to do a "kit rewind" and for the first one, she's chosen a kit that I have loved ever since she released it (and I wasn't even on her CT then!).

The kit is Plum Perfect. It has a bit of a natural feel to it, but it's versatile enough that you can scrap just about anything with it! I was so excited to get to play with this kit. Here are a couple of layouts I did:

I LOVE how these pages turned out! On the first one I used a template from 3 Lil' Monsters Designs. The second one was for the November Quote Challenge at STS and I used a template from SAHM Scrapper. If you'd like to see some more layouts using this kit, head over to This Little Missy's blog later today.

The elegance and simplicity of this kit make it one you'll go back to over and over. So click on the flyer above to go to This Little Missy's store and get the kit for 50% off or the bundle for 25% off...for the month of November only! You won't regret it!

$2 Tuesday and a *FREEBIE*

Wow, $2 Tuesday's just keep coming and the year just keeps slipping away! Sometimes I'm glad it goes quickly, other times I just want to freeze time! I know everyone feels that way at one time or another! :)

As always, there's some great stuff in the bins today! Let's start with Scrappin' Serenity! Christie has her 2012 5x7 and 8.5x11 calendar quickpages for $2 each! These are great for making gifts for loved ones! Just pop your pictures into the predesigned calendar pages and you're done! The design of the page is the same whether you choose the 5x7's or the 8.5x11's...the size is the only difference.

She also has a holiday kit, Christmas Love, and a coordinating quickpage pack:

If you go check out the Scrappin' Serenity blog, you'll find this cute little freebie that coordinates with the Christmas Love kit (preview is linked):

Next up is This Little Missy who has Plum Perfect for $2 and the coordinating cardstock pack for $1.99. She is doing a kit rewind this month using this kit...see the next blog post for more info about it!

Last, but not least, is Designs by Snowlady with two kits to help you scrap your boy pictures (or any other bright, fun, crazy pics you have!!!). She has Rivets and Robots and Just the Boys in the bin this week. (note that Just the Boys was previously sold as parts of the June BAK at STS):

That's all for now. If you'd like more info, including some eye candy, on the Plum Perfect kit rewind, please check back later today!

Serenity....a new kit from Designs by Snowlady (and *FREEBIES*)

Designs by Snowlady has a beautiful new kit in her store. It's called Serenity. Science has proven that the color blue has a calming effect and this kit is perfect for scrapping those calm, peaceful moments in your life (if you have kids, you can use this kit to scrap other things since you have NO calm, peaceful moments in your life...LOL). Here is the preview:

I LOVE the colors...the blues, greens and brown are just so pretty together!! How did Misty know that those are my three favorite colors? LOL There's also a quickpage set and a set of "clip-it-up" templates (note that the quickpage set was the participation prize for STS Speed Scrap #301):

You can pick up this beautiful kit (and I highly recommend it!) and the other parts for 40% off, but only for a limited time. So click the previews above and hurry over to the STS store to get it!

Here is a layout I did with the kit. My Dad & stepmom went to Mackinaw Island for their honeymoon. They spent one night at The Grand Hotel on the island, and stayed in the "blue room"...I instantly thought of this picture when I saw the kit! I used a template from Designs by Snowlady and the word art is from Word Art World by Jennifer:

The Designs by Snowlady CT has put together some freebies for you. Mine is the cluster frame from my layout. Just click the preview to go to the mediafire download. I hope you like it!

You can find links to the other CT's blogs, as well as some more gorgeous eye candy from this kit on the Designs by Snowlady blog .

That's all for today! Happy scrapping!!!

New kit from Scrappin' Serenity and *FREEBIES*

Good morning! Today Scrappin' Serenity has released a beautiful kit in collaboration with Scraps by Andrea. It's called Sweet November. If you buy both parts you will have a HUGE megakit! The colors are rich and beautiful (I LOVED the reds and pinks in this kit...see my layout below). This is a great kit for scrapping almost anything fall...leaves, pumpkins, landscapes, even Turkey Day! Here is a preview of Christie's part:

And a closer look at the papers (there are cardstocks, as well):

Of course, there's a quickpage set:

And here's a preview of Andrea's part:

And her quickpage set:

Both designers have their parts on sale at 25% off this week! The previews above are linked, so click over and get yourself ALL the parts of this kit...you'll LOVE it!

As an added bonus, both designers have a free add-on for you! The previews below are linked. Scrappin' Serenity's is in the kit's product description in the store and Andrea's is on her blog.

I did a layout for a challenge at STS and a desktop with this kit. I used a template from 3 Lil' Monsters Designs on the layout:

And for reading this far, I have a freebie for you as well! It's a cluster frame similar to the one in my desktop layout above. It's not EXACTLY the same, because I somehow managed to delete the original .psd file. Yay me. LOL But I tried to recreate it for you. Click the preview below to go to the mediafire download.

I hope you like it! Happy scrapping!

P.S. After picking up all the parts to this kit as well as all the freebies, you'll want to stop back by here. I have another kit release and another freebie for you!!!