So you wanna be frugal?

People will do anything to save a buck.

Seriously, have you watched the show Extreme Cheapskates on TLC?
 

Sorry, but I refuse to reuse my dental floss or pee in a jar just to save a few dollars. Not happenin folks!

However, with becoming a one income family I have been on the lookout for ways (that are not disgusting!) to help us save some money.

I follow many different coupon sites on my Facebook and have gotten some awesome deals on gifts or household necessities from them. Some of my favorites are: Raining Hot Coupons, The Krazy Coupon Lady, and The Frugal Girls.



Groceries

The biggest part of my weekly shopping list is decided based on a blog that an awesome lady in my hometown started! Walmart is the main place to shop at in our little town and Mrs. Emily Graves learned how to take full advantage of their ad match policy. She puts out a comp list weekly (Wednesday nights) with our local competitors prices on everything from shredded cheese to diapers. I have saved so much money using this list and base my meal plan off of what I can get a great deal on that week. You can also combine the comp list with coupons! Score!

Get the comp list here

I don't consider myself a pro at using the comp list by any means but after some trial and error I have found what works for me during trips to Walmart so let me know if you have any questions!

Pinterest was a great resource (Imagine that!) when I started to meal plan. I wanted to know how to save money by planning ahead and let's be real, this momma doesn't always feel like putting a lot of effort into cooking. So if our meal for that night is already planned out or I can just throw something in the crockpot I am much more likely to feel up to the job!

The best tips I got from all of my research was to use your leftovers! Plan a leftovers night where the whole family gets their choice of what they want from that weeks meals or plan your leftovers into meals on another night. Every couple of weeks I will make a huge pot of chili and then dish out some for the fridge, freezing the rest. I will eat the chili in the fridge for lunch occasionally but then the chili in the freezer gets pulled out for other meals. We can make chili dogs or frito chili pie among other things, 3 meals in one!

Another great tip was to shop in your own pantry! I forget what I have in my cabinets half the time and the other half I used to not take the time to look, just put it on the grocery list and go. Now I take the time to check ingredients off my list that I already have. I also go through the fridge and check which items are about to expire and need to be used. I can then plan a meal around those items and save us more money!

The best site I found for meal planning was Blissful and Domestic. She inspired me to be smart when planning ahead and I have tried many of her recipes, all of them are great!

Formula

I had some complications after birth that caused breast feeding not to work out for me. It was tough at first but I've accepted it and am very happy with how formula feeding has turned out! Formula became extremely important for us but it is super expensive! Luckily I had registered on many different websites to receive free samples of Similac, Enfamil, and Gerber formula. We have received many FREE large cans of formula in the mail and I continue to get $5+ coupons from them. I never ever pay full price for formula!

Similac StrongMoms

 

Register Here

 

 

 

Register for savings

 

Clothes, accessories, gifts, and more

I spend WAY too much time shopping online for things I don't need but also have been able to find great deals! With Christmas coming up and being on a budget you always want to be able to find good quality gifts but for a low price. I have purchased many items from Pick Your Plum and loved everything I have received! I also have a new diaper bag on its way from Simple Addiction that I paid under $20 for so I'll let you know how that comes out. I have yet to order much off of Zulily but am always seeing great deals and feel tempted to spend almost daily!

Groupon is also another one of my favorites as I have found deals on gift cards (Pay $5 for a $10 gift card) and specials on tickets or activities around KC.

 

Go there now for $19 Stanford & Sons Comedy Club tickets!

Add myHeartlandLove to Facebook and be informed of great deals as I find them! I don't have much going on with my new page yet but soon it will get kicked into gear! I'm continuing to work on the items for my Etsy store but don't want to jump into this venture without making sure everything is done right! I will be revealing my creations on here and on Facebook when they are up for sale!



In other news, we are ready to Rock Chalk in this house tonight!

Ok well, some of us are... Go KU!

The Story of Us- Part 2

If you need to catch up on our story, you can read Part 1 here.

Almost 1.5 years later (Fall 2006), I was over 3 hours away from home at Barton County Community College and Kyle was still at Emporia. Both of our relationships had fizzled out but I had been so busy with dance, school, work, etc. that I hadn't been back to Emporia for awhile. In October, my sister called to invite me to come down to Emporia for her last night working at The Dugout, the best bar at the time at ESU!

I couldn't wait to get away for the weekend with my best friend in tow and let loose! This night was extremely packed at the bar as everyone loved my sister and she was a great bartender! Of course Kyle and his friends came down to bid farewell to Jen and we proceeded to flirt most of the night. At one point he was teasing me about kissing him and a friend was egging it on. I ended up leaning over and kissing him while sitting on the pool table during the chaos.




Our first picture together after I went to his indoor softball tournament in Topeka





 

From there we started travelling to see each other almost every weekend. I surprised him at his Halloween party and he drove down to watch me perform in Great Bend. It was a 2- 2.5 hour drive but I would go late at night and drive back early in the morning, making it back in time for class.

Halloween 2006

There are so many memories of how much fun we had in those few months. Competing at darts, walking to the park to swing, driving in the country, testing Kyle's sports knowledge, drinking games, "mudding" in my Ford Taurus, jamming to NSYNC in the car, Great Bend Zoo, Ben & Jerrys with movie night, parties with friends, New Year's Eve, The Dugout, and I could go on and on. We could have so much fun just sitting around either of our houses, doing nothing.

New Years 2007

Christmas 2006- We unknowingly got each other Braves hats

 

 

Kyle asked me many times to make things official and I never told him yes. I knew that a relationship with him would be serious and I just wasn't ready for that. I could tell that he was head over heels and it scared me as I had unresolved issues. We dated off and on until May of 2007 when I knew I had to call it off for good.

I remember driving to Emporia and sitting outside his college house having the goodbye talk. I told Kyle I just wasn't in it and we needed to be done. Even though Kyle was hurt he never uttered a negative word and just let me know that he really cared. I felt horrible but I just wasn't feeling it at the time and needed space to be on my own.

Visiting me at Barton- November 2006

 

 

Hanging out at Babe's during a random drive to Etown

Sister's Birthday- January 2007

I had done college visits at Emporia State but came to a decision that I was going to attend Kansas State University. My closest friends were going there and all of my friends at Emporia I had met through Kyle. I knew things would be awkward and it made my decision a little bit easier.

Looking back now I get a little mad at myself that I made that decision. I had many good times at Kstate but also struggled there and wished I would have went straight to ESU. I feel like I lost years of time with Kyle we could have had together (as I think things might have been different if I would have been living there) but then I have to remember that things happen exactly the way they are supposed to. We went through experiences that made us a better fit for each other and we learned many lessons from our relationships while we were apart that made us that much more thankful to have each other.

"I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true."

-"God Bless the Broken Road" Rascal Flatts

 
 
 
 

Winter 2006- One of my favorite pictures of us

So thankful for this man!

 To be continued...

Cheesy Chicken Goodness

 

 

I'm about to tell you about the best and easiest thing to come out of my kitchen. My husband will attest to this as he consistently asks for this meal at least once a week. He'll even take the initiative to make it himself! Yes, it is THAT easy!

 

I can't take the credit for this one though, my roommate cooked this concoction for us in our little college party house and I've never looked back!

 

We always just call it cheesy chicken stuff in this house and I thought goodness was a great description to add.

 

 

 

Bag of chicken strips

Jar of alfredo sauce

1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese

 

*I don't quite use the whole bag of chicken strips as I just make this for 2.

*I tried something new and mixed in 1/2 triple cheddar which was amazing!

 

 

 

Cook chicken strips as directed on the package.

 

After chicken strips are cooked, place in glass dish. Leave oven on! Can use a 13x9 dish if using whole bag of chicken strips.

Pour jar of alfredo sauce over chicken strips and then pour bag of cheese over chicken and sauce.

This is where you can decide how cheesy you want to make it and not use the whole bag. However, we love ours super cheesy and use the whole thing!

 

Now put that puppy in the oven and let the cheese melt into amazingness!

 

Depending on your oven this could take around 10 minutes but that's it!

 

How easy was that?!

 

 

 

Corn and garlic bread go great on the side!

 

Hope you enjoy!

Missing in Action

I have seriously been slacking on getting this blog going.

I am trying to do so many things at once and keep up on everything around the house. (Insert sigh, though I know I have no reason to complain, just a bit overwhelmed)

My college classes started back up, decorating for Christmas, Christmas shopping, trying to make inventory for my Etsy shop, and trying to take care of a 3 month old don't give me much time for anything else...

The only way I can get any crafting done and it's still hard with that adorable smile :)





But I'm vowing to get everything I want to DONE and in a timely fashion. I've always been a "list" person and it really does help so much. There's something so gratifying about crossing those things off your list you've been struggling to get done.

For a little recap of our holiday week...

Wednesday night we had a casual "appetizer" dinner at my mom and dad's house. My sister Jen and her husband couldn't make it to our big family Thanksgiving so we decided to have a night of finger foods and all kinds of dips. The food was amazing! I made monster cookie dough dip and a cheesy bread dip that I had never made before but turned out really good. Camden always gets lots of attention and loves it (especially from his Grandpa.) We're finding out that he is really starting to love looking at books and we're going to have to start packing them with us wherever we go.

Thursday morning I woke up early to get all of my cooking done and be able to give Cam his bath before we left. I tried a corn souffle (that honestly wasn't that great) and a recipe I got from a friend that her family calls "Yumminess." It is a concoction of Fritos, three kinds of baking chips, and peanut butter which doesn't sound good at first but OH MY it is amazing!

The finished product

We got over to my aunt and uncle's just in time for Kyle to catch the Lions game and eat a big lunch. Kyle has a tradition of wearing his Lions jersey to Thanksgiving since he was really young and Barry Sanders played. He insisted that Cam dress up in Lions gear with him so I decided turkey apparel wasn't needed and he could start a new tradition with his daddy.

 

These pictures were taken after we got home and it took forever to get a good shot. Kyle looks extremely tired and Camden was a ball of energy.

 

 

Going to my aunt and uncle's is always something I look forward to each year and this year was especially fun as Camden got to meet his cousin's for the first time. (And me too!) I have triplet cousins that were born in June and I hadn't got to see them yet due to having a cold while they were in the hospital. Everyone loved on all the babies and it was the funnest thing to see our family holiday filled with babes again.

 

 

After a long few days of cooking and family gatherings I wasn't too king on going Black Friday shopping but I'm glad I pushed myself to go. The girls in my family have had a longstanding tradition of going Black Friday shopping together, eating lunch, wearing silly hats, etc. The amount of us who go has dwindled but it still makes for a fun day with family! I was feeling some withdraw as it was the longest amount of time I had ever been away from Camden but Kyle made sure to send me pictures while they hung out at Kyle's work.

 

Picture from Kyle- Caption: Hi mommy!

 

 

Watching Tom & Jerry with daddy at work

 

 

We scored some great deals and didn't have to deal with any crowds. Shocker! We always shop in Lawrence which is much better than Kansas City but even then, this year was extremely low key. We did come home with tons of stuff and had to be buried in the car!

 

 

Yes, they had to dig me out when we got back!

 

 

The final part of our weekend we went for a quick trip to my hometown (which is only about 10 minutes away) to get our Christmas tree. There is a tree lot where you can walk around in the field and pick out your own tree, then get it cut down to take home. I have many memories of going with my parents when I was still the only daughter at home. We had so much fun, one year going after a big snowfall and making a snowman with a mohawk while searching for a tree. Kyle and I have gone with my parents to get our tree the past 3 years and just can't pass up a real tree. Camden wasn't having much fun as he got hungry as soon as we got there but Grandpa saved the day and kept him on the move.

 



 

So comfy in his new hat from The Rand's

 

Grandpa's boy

 

 

We hurried home so that we could make it back for the Chiefs game (which they disappointingly lost) and got the tree up. I have yet to do any other Christmas decorating but at least our tree is up and I am loving it!

 

 

We despise our star tree topper as it never stays in place so I improvised with some burlap and an ornament from Target. I love how it came out!

 

 

I am getting so excited to start family traditions with Camden and show him what Christmas is all about, no matter how old he is!