Another Free Vacation

We got back from the water-park hotel just a couple weeks ago. It was one of the "free vacations" we got to go on through my husbands' work. It is a new perk that we are certainly enjoying. Especially because we decided to try to live more frugally and within our means. What a blessing!

Tomorrow we are leaving for Riviera de Maya, Mexico and I am beyond excited. My husband will barely have to work (just networking events each evening). We are staying at an all-inclusive resort so it won't break our budget. What a relief!

The only caveat of the free vacation is that we are traveling with two couples I don't know. (Husband's boss/wife and another couple). I would rather be going by ourselves but I am certainly not going to complain about a free vacation!

I will return early next week.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Menu Plan Monday

I inadvertently found a way to save money on my menu plan last week. And although saving money (and losing four pounds) are the only positives I can think of, I would NOT recommend having your whole family sick with the flu for the week.

We are finally up and moving but barely.

Luckily we have something to look forward to this week...another vacation! (Another free one at that!)

My husband and I are going to Mexico! Woo hoo!

We have never been on a warm weather vacation and feel so fortunate to be able to go. We are staying at a resort which is all-inclusive and we're excited to not have to worry about a budget while dining out.

We leave on Thursday (late afternoon) and get home very late Monday night. Our girls (almost 3 and 15 mo.) are staying with my sister and then my mom.

So this is what I have for this week:

Monday:
Breakfast: toast, juice
Lunch: toast (unless we are feeling better)
Supper: Chicken noodle soup, crackers

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Multi-grain Cheerios, banana, juice
Lunch: PB&J, apple slices
Supper: Broccoli Chicken Delight, peaches and cottage cheese

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Blueberry muffins, milk
Lunch: Leftovers
Supper: Corn Dog Muffins, mixed veggies, pears

Thursday:
Breakfast: oatmeal, milk
Lunch: Leftovers

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Help Update

I asked for help with my menu plan and got some good suggestions for crock pot receipes. Thanks for the ideas. The only problem is I won't be able to try any out this week because we have the flu. (again!) The puking kind of flu I'm afraid.

Both girls (almost 3 and 15 mo.) have it and I feel awful right now.

So I suppose I will have to try some of those receipes next week when we're feeling better.

To top off our bad day, it snowed four inches here. This weather is getting to be a little ridiculous! Only in Iowa is it 44 degrees one day and four inches of snow the next.

Oh well.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.

Menu Plan Monday

Hello all. I am in a menu plan rut. Nothing sounds good...any suggestions?

I think I'll try this and see how it goes:

Breakfasts:
Multi-grain Cheerios, banana, milk
Blueberry bagels, cream cheese, grapes, milk
Toast with jam, milk

Lunches:
PB&J, carrot sticks, milk
Egg Salad sandwiches, whole wheat crackers, grapes, milk
Chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, milk
Leftovers

Suppers:
Monday: Chicken Chipulos, Mexican rice, milk
Tuesday: Chili, homemade bread, milk
Wednesday: ??? Will be gone all day...need easy crock pot ideas
Thursday: Spaghetti, garlic bread, lettuce salad, milk
Friday: Leftovers

Any thoughts for an easy crock pot meal? I have a lot of pork in my freezer (we bought a hog but I don't really care for pork and don't really know how to cook it). I'd appreciate any ideas.

For more menu ideas, check out Organizing Junkie.

Have a great week!

Happy Easter!

Here are my girls in their Easter dresses. We had a great day and hope you did as well.

We set a budget for $10 per Easter basket and actually stuck to it. We used to go overboard on every holiday but not anymore! And you know what? They didn't even know the difference between a $10 Easter basket and a $70 Easter basket.

It actually snowed most of today. Craziness.

Happy Easter!

Frugal Friday

I love to give gifts...and with a big family I have plenty of chances to indulge in my "hobby".

My budget does not always love my affection for gift giving. So to compromise I have a ten dollar limit on most gifts. I have a strict policy to not buy junk (I apparently have a lot of rules for myself!) so I have to get creative.

One of my favorite gifts to give is a magazine subscription. The gift receipent can read about something they enjoy. Each month when the magazine arrives they are reminded of the reason they got the gift, (birthday, Christmas, etc.)

My favorite place for discount magazine subscriptions is Amazon. They often run specials for $5 off. I got my mother-in-law (who is hard to buy for) two magazine subscriptions for her birthday (Marie Claire and Redbook) for $3 a piece after the $5 discount. Gotta love it!

For more frugal ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood.

I'm Back

Hello all. You gotta love a free vacation. We had a great time at the water-park hotel! My husband had meetings until mid afternoon but was still able to spend a lot of time with us.

The girls had a blast at the water-park and I did too. They were too little (almost 3 and 14 mo.) to do a lot of the big kid stuff but there was plenty of things to keep them entertained.

Bringing our own food for breakfast and lunch worked well. I made blueberry muffins before we left and the girls begged for these as soon as we got there.

I brought a vinyl tablecloth and we had a picnic on the floor when it was time to eat. They thought this was great fun.

We had a great time and even stuck to our budget! This living within our means goal is getting easier and easier.

We have been sick with the flu since we got home but even that can't tarnish our fabulous free vacation!