Which leads me to today’s post.  Even though I’ve not been using this as a viable blogging option, I’m happy to have the format in this instance.

I’ve found that the difference between blogging here and blogging in a public forum like the Lawrence Journal World is that here people seem to understand each other.  We understand how this works: sharing deals and ideas, writing about the things that are important to us and all with a modicum of respect and understanding of each other’s differences.  There, I find that anonymity leads to not only bad manners, but blatantly vile behavior.

Last week was a particularly difficult week at Shop Talk.  I was called names, I was told that as a woman, I was making the “real working women” look bad and making their lives harder.  I discovered that one of the nasty “anonymous” posters is a friend.

What got under my skin the most was, however, being accused of plagiarism.  It was a ludicrous accusation: first I was told that I cut and paste, then I was accused of copying an entire post from Crystal at Money Saving Mom.  The post was cited and I was told to “beware” as the poster would continue to call me out on “these behaviors”.

Blogging is a huge universe.  It is also a close knit society.  Many of the women who blog about coupons and deals I refer to as “friend”.  Some of them I’ve had a play date with.  Even more than that are the women I’ve met at conferences and shared meals and drinks with.  I respect them all.  I would never splog from them.

Many blogs are on mailing lists with large companies.  We get notifications on coupons and upcoming deals. We are members of affiliate programs that send out emails to notify us of deals.  We all get basically the same information.  You will notice that the majority of the information you find is not unique to one blog or another.  You will find the odd blogger, like Jaycie at Coupon Geek, or Keri Lyn at She Saved, who look high and low for a unique deal.  But basically, they are all the same.  The difference is that we all write to different audiences.  I will try, but I’m not sure there are THAT many unique and creative ways to announce that Body Wash is on sale.

There I’ve said it.  I don’t plagiarise.  I couldn’t if I tried, my mom’s an English teacher.

And that post of Crystal’s that was cited last week by an “anonymous” poster on Shop Talk?  The one I supposedly copied word for word?  It wasn’t even for a store that we have in Lawrence.

Time to check out the coupons for this weekend’s papers!  There will be two inserts…Smart Source and Red Plum.  There are lots of good coupons including one for Adult Zyrtec … $6 off/1.  Why is this so great? Its  part of a $10 RR deal at Walgreen’s!

Home Depot has a newsletter you can sign up for that delivers coupons to your home (yes, you heard me…real and actual coupons in your snail mail!) AND to your inbox. If you haven’t signed up you this would be the time to do it because while they have several types of newsletter you can sign up for, their Garden Club is full of incredible coupons right now! The coupons you see on the left were delivered in today’s inbox and the ones you see below came in the mail…one of them is for FREE Kingsford Lighter Fluid.

So make sure you get yourself SIGNED UP for the Home Depot Garden Club (or any of the other cool newsletters they have) … but do it today!!

Thank YOU Keri-Lyn

This Sunday’s paper will hold two new inserts just chalk full of coupons for you!  Check it out now so you can plan how many inserts you’ll need.  Me?  As a standard rule I get 4 but I may go up to 6 this weekend.  High dollar Silk Soy and Almond Milk coupons, BOGO Ziplock, High Dollar Nivea and Listerine coupons all look interesting to me…and so many more!  If you shop CVS or Walgreen’s those Nivea and Listerine coupons are good to have around as they are often money makers or FREE items

It has been two weeks since I posted a solid menu. This also means it’s been two weeks since we had a plan to follow at home and two weeks where we overspent our budget, ate unhealthy “filler” meals and ate out waaaay too much. Time to re-evaluate and buckle down.  I’ve been spending quite a lot of time going through The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook so you will be seeing more and more of those recipes show up in my menus as I try to tighten the budget.

Now, I’m planning like crazy this week:

Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas, green salad
*I have a whole chicken in the freezer I’m going to cook in the slow cooker and debone. A full recipe makes a 9 x 13 pan which is too much for my family. I’m going to make 2 batches…one will feed my family and my friend Aprile’s family (CONGRATS, APRILE!!) and the second batch will go into the freezer. While the whole enchilada does freeze nicely…I may just freeze the filling in two batches. The enchilada sauce is make your own…all with ingredients I keep on hand and I purchased some tortillas at Dillon’s last week on sale, with a coupon with the idea that I would be making these soon.

Sunday:

Breakfast: pancakes, Morningstar Farms “Sausage” patties, frozen fruit
*Pancakes are from scratch, I will need to pick up Morningstar Farms patties and I have the frozen fruit mix I bought a month or so ago at Aldi.

Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwiches, carrots and ranch, chips
*I’ll give you one guess where this is coming from!  That’s right, we are using up the remainder of the Easter Eggs for salad this weekend.  I’m adding Light Mayo to my shopping list…for the first time since this summer I’m running out! I will also need to pick up ranch dressing.

Dinner: Skillet Spaghetti, french bread, green beans
*I’ve got all of the spaghetti necessities and this is a recipe I got from my grandma!  I’m going to use the recipe that I got from The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.  I am really enjoying her quick and yummy bread recipes!  I’m using canned green beans I have in the pantry…making way for (hopefully) my own canned beans from our garden this summer!

Monday: We will be out of town.

Tuesday: We will be back late.  I will have sandwich fixin’s on hand so we can eat a quick dinner at home.
*I will need to purchase deli meat and tomatoes.  We will use lettuce from Saturday night’s salads.

Wednesday: Salisbury steak, broccoli, homemade clover rolls
*This recipe is new for us.  In fact, I’ve never, ever made salisbury steak in my LIFE.  My friend Sarah shared this on her MomTV show Wednesday night and I thought it sounded quick and simple so I’d give it a try.  Of course, I will use venison burger which we have in the freezer already.  I will need to pick up a brown gravy packet (unless I can find a quick and easy recipe for homemade) and some fresh mushrooms to throw in (on sale at Aldi this week!).  I have rice on hand to serve this with, but depending on my grocery expenses I may purchase a package of egg noodles.  Broccoli is on sale at HyVee $0.99/head so I will pick that up and I will make the clover rolls from the recipe I found in The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.

Thursday: Honey-Mustard Salmon, Asparagus, Brown Rice
*This is straight from The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.  The whole menu idea…for $5!!  I picked up some Wild Caught Salmon at Aldi for $3.49 a bag last week, I will spend about $1 on asparagus and while I have brown rice on hand, she prices is at around $0.40 for one cup (unprepared).  I will have to pick up asparagus.

Friday: Italian Chicken Breasts, Rice and Veggie Mix, homemade biscuits
*I’ve got chicken breasts in the freezer stockpile, I will need to pick up Italian dressing.  Marinated chicken breasts is one of my favorites…quick and easy and now that its grill season we can do it out there!  I’ve got Green Giant Steamers rice and vegetable medley from a recent sale at Dillon’s.  I’ve got the basics for the homemade biscuits..and of course honey and jam to top it off!

Saturday:
Breakfast: Quiche in a Bag, Fresh Fruit, Blueberry Muffins
*The quiche is in my freezer…this one has green and red peppers, mushrooms and feta cheese.  Strawberries are on sale at Dillon’s and lood GOOD this week we will mix those with $0.39 bananas from Aldi and I will make blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries I got on sale at Target 3 weeks ago.

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Homemade Pizzas
* A favorite of the kids’ I have a great recipe that I use for homemade pizza crust.  We load up with veggies ( I will pick up peppers, mushrooms and olives) cheese (I have a TON in the freezer!) and my kids’ favorite…Pepperoni.  I have some Hormel Low Fat Pepperoni in the fridge that we will use.

So here is my shopping list:

*Edit: We took a family shopping trip with my husband running the calculator while I sped through the aisles.  He was shocked to see the prices on some things!  I’ve edited my list by crossing out the things I didn’t get (too expensive…not enough coupons) and adding, in bold,  the extras that we picked up along the way.

Italian Dressing
Ranch Dressing
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Black Olives
Gallon Milk
Rice Milk 1/2 Gallon
Light Mayo
Broccoli
Brown Gravy Mix
Egg Noodles
Morningstar Farms Sausage Patties
Deli Meat
Tomatoes
Frozen Salmon
Frozen Tilapia
Bananas
Baby Carrots
Smart Ones
Pampers Pull – Ups
Chicken Breast Tenderloins (2 pkgs)
Spaghetti Sauce
Pizza Sauce
Chopped Green Chilies
Oreos

This week’s Total: $57.00
$7 over budget.

So that’s it…my MUSTS for this week…I will use whatever is left of my $50 budget to find a few items to stock up on for future use!

Because I’m nosey I want you to succeed in taking away a little bit of stress in your life… I want to see what you have on your menus this week! Leave a link to your menu for the week below!

There’s a new Jamba Juice Printable Coupon available. This one is for $1 Off any Jamba Juice All Fruit Smoothie Printable Coupon. I know there isn’t a Jamba Juice in Lawrence…but fortunately for me…I have readers all over the place!  Most importantly, there IS a Jamba Juice in Provo, UT…where my beautiful sister and my new beautiful niece live!

Thanks, Coupon Geek!

This is a receipt from one of my actual shopping trips!

If you live in the general vicinity of Lawrence, KS and you are interested in saving some money for your family…this might just be for you!

I have been teaching coupon classes in Lawrence and the surrounding areas for over six months now, sharing my knowledge and tricks to help people get the most out of their coupons and their hard earned money!

Here is the information you need if you are interested in having me teach a class for you:

Where are the classes?  Occasionally I will teach a “public” class that is scheduled and open to anyone.  These are few and far between because people seem to find the “home classes” more appealing.  I will schedule the class and take pre-registration via this website.

A “home class” is much like the home parties we all attend where we SPEND tons of money on cute trinkets, yummy food or good smelling candles.  You provide the location and at least 4 attendees and I will come and do the class at your home, church or office space.

How Much Do These Classes Cost?  The public classes are $35/person and the home parties are $25/person with a 4 person minimum.  All classes are pre-paid via paypal.

What Do I Get for My Money?  Good question!  You get a 2 hour class where I teach  you the ins and outs of how coupons work, how to match them with sales and how to stretch your dollar as far as you possibly can.  There is a take home booklet and complete access to me after the class for asking questions and getting help on your individual shopping trips.  Who am I to think I can ask you to pay me to teach  you?  I’m a blogger, a mom, and a conscious shopper.  I’ve been couponing and saving money for my family for 2 years now.  I write for our local paper each week and share deals with them and on FaceBook as well.  I’ve reduced my family’s budget from $900/mo for a family of four to $300/mo for a family of five.

Why Would I PAY Money to SAVE Money?  Another good question.  This class will give you information that will make what you find on the Internet more helpful.  If your weekly shopping trips are $100 or higher you will most likely SAVE the cost of the class in your first trip, if you use what I’ve taught you.  That’s just the first week!

If you are interested in booking one of these classes, or you want to be put on a list to contact when a public class is scheduled please feel free to EMAIL ME.

I look forward to sharing with you!

I have been clipping coupons, shopping deals and blogging it for over a year now.  I have reduced my family’s grocery/supply budget from a whopping $900/mo to $300/mo.  We currently have enough food storage on hand to hold us over for at least a month if for some reason our budget was restricted.  In addition to blogging about my frugal ways I am co-founder of the Wii Mommies, a virtual fitness support blog and forum and I write a weekly blog for the Lawrence Journal World: Shop Talk with Jenn and Julie.

It’s a new month which means a whole new batch of coupons to print! Among them are a some $0.75/1 Ball Park Hot Dogs and more $1/1 Fast Fixin’ Products…cereal and yogurt as well as magazines and movies!

This is another great “Today Only” sale that will expire at 11:00pm CST.   Best Deal Magazines Deal of the Day today is EveryDay with Rachel Ray for only $6.29! If you love this magazine you KNOW this is a great price!  This would also make a great Mother’s Day gift for a mom in your life.

Enjoy!

(Thanks for reminding me, CouponGeek!)

*Did you know you can get a FREE one month trial of Amazon Prime?

By the way, if you are interested, I LOVE these containers.

Oh, and if you have SWAGBUCKS you can turn them in for Amazon gift cards..then this would be FREE.  I’m tempted to get one for my sister for Christmas…except she sometimes reads my blog…DANG IT.