Grocery Shopping, Meal Planning and Paying in Cash..oh my

When we were a dual income with a family size of two grocery shopping had no rules or limits. However in the last three months we went from a family of two to a family of 3 and sometimes 4 and one income so there has to be rules and limits.

Ever grocery shop and think you got it all only to realize that none of the stuff equates to meals? Well, this would happen to me several times and I would feel like I had nothing and race out to the store. Ever set a limit for the total amount of purchases only to go over and use your debit to cover purchases?

So I have made changes to my shopping techniques.

So first thing is first, I create a meal plan with common ingredients nothing worse than running midweek for some exotic ingredient.

The game plan for this week:

• Jambalaya- chicken, shrimp and sausage 
• Pot roast with potatoes
• Baked Chicken, rice and beans and steam veggies
• Spaghetti and Turkey meatballs (turkey because I found it bogo)
• Salmon, potatoes and steam veggies

This will keep me on track and under our budget of 80 bucks. Now that I have a working list, let's talk snacks.

I don't buy package cookies, cakes and prefer to make my own. I can usually buy the mixes cheaper and it seems better for you.

The only snack I splurge on is ice cream and I mean GOOOOOD ice cream.

Again for veggies and fruits I go to the local farmers market and this is a huge savings. I have a steamer so I can steam all my veggies. I learned how to make my own apple sauce so again I have saved on paying for packaging.


For Beverages, cleaning products, cheese and the like, I have to go to walmart to get the savings.


So I was able to do it all within my budget of 80 dollars this week, plus the coupons helped meet this goal.

Bottom line: I am no expert at grocery shopping but I am learning a few tricks of the trade and at the same time feeding my family quality food.

Baby Clothes Galore...

The biggest piece of advice to all New Moms and Expectant Moms is DON'T BUY ANY CLOTHES for your child. This will save you a bag of money that can be used elsewhere.

I am a proud mom of a 3 month old daughter and can state that we have not bought one stitch of clothing for my child yet. While I was working at my previous job a fellow coworker let me know that she had not bought any clothes for her almost 1 year old daughter because so many people had given her onesies, dresses, shoes, socks etc. She told me to focus on the big ticket items and leave the clothes for the friends and family.

With this advice in mind, my husband and I agreed that everyone loves to shop for a little girl, tons of headbands, dresses, cute onesies and bibs. So why not let friends and family have fun picking out the clothes and we stick to buying the stroller and etc.

We were fortunate to have several showers with tons of clothes at each. I quickly (after sending thank you notes) organized them by sizes keeping the newborn and 0-3 months out first and rotating her through the outfits. Then for Christmas, we were fortunate to receive clothes from size 6 months and up, so now she has a full wardrobe up until 24 mos.

Now, that my baby is growing we don't just hoard the clothes we share the wealth, I used instagram to give her clothes to those who may need it.

Bottom line is that a baby is costly and you have limited resources put your money where it is most needed.

Deals deals deals

Deals..

As a SAHM, there are few days I look forward to Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

I love deals, coupons and discounts especially for grocery shopping. Since becoming a wife with my own "mini" household, I relish the opportunity to oversee all foods that we purchase. Growing up I would see my mom coupon, shop at 3 different grocery stores and knock of 50-60 off her bill consistently. As a kid, this was so embarrassing holding up the line to save some pennies here and there but now I see its well worth it.

Back to my favorite days of the week, Wednesday and Thursday my two grocers put out the circulars and Sunday the ads come out. Since having my little one, I get the Sunday paper delivered to me, scored sunday delivery for a year for just 10 bucks.

My usual grocery routine involves surveying the cupboards and basing meals on what we have. Shopping once a week, never hungry and trying to stick to my list. Since we function primarily on one income, I spend approximately 60 dollars per week for 2 people and 1 dog.

To make my dollar stretch here are my strategies ( you may have heard)

• Buy all produce at the Farmers Market, seriously I spend 18 max for all the apples, onions, green peppers and potatoes we can eat.
• Buy meat in bulk and separate to dinner portions and wrap and freeze.
• Buy juice, Milk, Eggs and all toiletries from Walmart because you can't beat the price.
• I stack my coupons for weeks and try to use them when the markets have a sale on them.
• I sign up with Kraft, Kellogs and Pillsbury for deals and recipe ideas.

My goal in the New Year is to meal plan more effectively and cut costs and waste down. Also as my little one grows, I want to make her baby food.

Until next time....

My Baby has what...Torticollis??

You spend 9 months (in my case 40 weeks and 3 days) hoping and praying that your baby will be perfect. In fact, I had several dreams that my baby would come out looking like an alien. I worried that I wasn't showing like a 9 month pregnant woman then something must be wrong.

Fast forward to when Ms. K was born, she had all ten toes and ten fingers, two eyes, one nose, well you get the point. She was perfectly healthy 6lbs 6oz little girl. I was relieved that she looked normal.

However at about 5 weeks, I began noticing something strange, she favored her right side, only looked to the left and her head never looked even on her neck. I decided maybe she needed time to develop and I would ask at the 2mos check up. At the check up, I showed the doctor and she explained my baby may have  congenital torticollis.

Basically, from the doctor's explanation and my hours of research on the Internet its a stiff neck. How the heck do you get congenital torticollis ? Well, you're born with it, some babies wedge themselves in a certain angle in the womb and therefore the muscles stiffen. This makes sense as my lil one every time we did an exam was always in the same position. She put herself head down from about 22 weeks and I guess she stayed that way.

So I took Ms. K to the physical therapist who confirmed the diagnosis and stated that with regular exercise she will be fine. Now I diligently, massage her neck, make sure she doesn't just look to the left or right.

The physical therapist says that it will take about 6 months to correct. I have been exercising for two weeks and so far a big difference she now looks right.

All in all, if she has to have something wrong, I am thankful its something like this and we caught it early.

Introducing your Dog to your Newborn

Before Baby K there was Baby Luke the furry Cockapoo. My husband and I got Luke as gift for Valentines Day so it was all him for a year and a half.

Once I found out I was pregnant, one of my biggest concerns was how Luke would react to the baby. Our cockapoo is loving and loyal but did I mention he is also a hyper show off who needs his time. He also sleeps in the room with us under the bed and I was terrified he would harm the baby. I began reading feverishly about how to introduce a Furry Friend to your Newborn.

So we came up with the following action plan

• Split up the walking duties from strictly me to my husband as well so he wouldn't be jealous of me spending so much time with baby.
• Mother in law brought home baby blanket so he could get smell.
• Let him sniff the newborn so it would be out of his system.
• Let someone other than mom introduce baby.
• Never leave baby unsupervised with the dog.

Overall, you have to know the temperament of your dog and how much is too much. The day we brought home the baby, Luke sniffed her car seat and was more interested in seeing me as he was very concerned when I left him. He did cry a few times when she cried. 

Fast forward 3 months, he is very protective of Baby K and sometimes gets a little to close to her play mat. However, I can say with 95 percent confidence that he would never harm her but still is not left alone with her ever.

How was introducing your pet to your Baby?

Is it too soon to save for College?

I am a new mommy, my daughter is almost 3 months old and now the debate starts on when to start saving for college.

My dad is a bit of a worry wart and has beat us over the head about beginning to think about this HUGE investment. In fact, in lieu of a typical gift such as a stroller or even some onesies, my parents let me know they rather help me set up a 529 plan.

Now as sleep deprived as I am, I find myself looking into 529 plans or prepaid plans. I was leaning towards the prepaid plan where you pay monthly installments of approx 300 dollars until your child is ready to attend college.

According to the Florida Prepaid Plan you lock in the price but can we make the 300 dollar payments, not with our current budget.

On the other hand a 529 plan lets you set up the plan for as little as 250 and then you decide how and when to make contributions. For example, you can use all the birthday and holiday money for your child. I know it may seem premature to start thinking about this but 2031 will be here before I know it and I have to think about my retirement.

Some useful links for college planning

• http://www.savingforcollege.com/
• http://www.myfloridaprepaid.com

Not sure which way we are going to go and I guess thats for another sleep deprived night. Have you thought about your kids college educations? If so how early did you start??

New Year's is a great time to put life in perspective

A little over 2 years ago.. I wrote following list. So now I am looking back to see what I did vs. what I didn't

"On the eve of my twenty sixth birthday, I am putting into perspective everything I want to do. I know this list may sound crazy but at least it gives me a launch pad or a starting point. My significant other (SO) he asked what if I didn't accomplish the list then what? Well the answer is who knows....but I will be sure to keep you updated..."

1. Begin my novel- started one...got through about 10 pages but back to the drawing board.
2. Find out what I really want to be when I grow up- still searching
3. Be debt free- in progress hoping by the eve of my 29th bday this will be accomplished
4. Own a home- Jan 2015 
5. Learn how to drive stick shift- NOPE
6. Run my own business- my Hubby and I run one together 
7. Run a 5k- signed up for one in FEB
8. Get my scuba diving license- NOPE 
9. Cook my own thanksgiving dinner from scratch- NOPE
10. Drive cross country -NOPE
11. Kick Anemia - NOPE
12. Start an e-trade account- NOPE
13. Go camping- NOPE
14. Volunteer- volunteered through a work related event does that count??
15. Go to New Yankee Stadium- NOPE
16. Control my emotions ( change my name to ice cube)- being pregnant would not allow me to do this
17. Finish the Harry Potter series- NOPE
18. Create my own family traditions- YEP
19. Be completely comfortable in my own skin
20. Learn how to speak Jamaican Patois- becoming better each day
21. Find an art activity that I am good at
22. Become a mom - 10/8/12 accomplished this 
23. Lessen my addiction to facebook, twitter, social networking sites
24. Become more tech savvy- depends on how you view this 
25. Read more
26. Strive to make every day a happy day- I try...

Another shot to get it right

Hi my name is Alexis...this must be my 4th blog. I start blogs get excited and then forget to post and ultimately ignore them.

I would like to think that I am above average writer and I should take to this like a duck to water but I guess not.

Since my last blog, I have been married over 2 years and have a 2.5 month old daughter. I have had a rapid career and now currently a SAHM for now.

Life is a never ending journey and for now I am just enjoying the ride.

So what will this blog reflect:

This blog will focus on being a wife and mom, trying to cut costs and create traditions for my family. I am seeking other moms for advice.