March Makeover – Menu Planning

We are starting our MARCH MAKEOVER on my Christie Jarvis Connects Facebook page today!! One of the things we will be working on is organizing our lives by using some simple methods of planning.  You save SO much money and time when you actually plan your meals.  Not to mention, it is MUCH healthier!

The first thing I want you to do is print out this blank menu that you can use to plan what you will be preparing for your family’s meals each week.  This is the same format that I use.  My children love having it posted so they know what we will be eating without asking.

You will need to look at your calendar and make note of what activities you have planned for each day while you are working on your menu.  For example, if your child has piano lessons on Tuesdays at 4, it would be a good idea to either put something in the crockpot that day, make it sandwich night, make that “take out Tuesday”, or choose something to fix that is quick and easy.

After you write your menu in, you will then make your grocery list based on the ingredients you need for the menu.  Personally, I use the Cozi app on my phone for my list but you can simply write your list on a piece of paper. 

After you make your list, you will want to check to see if there are any available coupons for what you need. How??  Using a coupon database on one of the MANY websites dedicated to couponing!  CouponMom.com is the first site I started using a few years ago but there are many others now as well.  I actually have the database link saved in my favorites on my mobile web so that if I see something marked down while I am at the store, I can do a quick search to see if I might have a coupon in my files.   If the database shows there is a coupon for an item you need, go ahead and cut it out so you’ll have it ready to use and mark your grocery list with a code that reminds you that you have a coupon.  Ex: Parmesan Cheese (Kraft Grated $) or even Parmesan Cheese (Kraft Grated 02-12 S)which tells you which week and circular the coupon is in.  Now, keep in mind, this doesn’t mean you have to buy the brand that you have a coupon for.  If you get to the store and another brand is cheaper even after your coupon, by all means, get the least expensive one.  This method is just to help you remember that you have a coupon just in case. 

This may sound like a lot of work and you think you don’t have time to do all of this.  You don’t have to do it JUST like I do!  If you already have a system that works better for you, great! If not, just give this a try and see how it makes your life a little easier.  If possible, keep the same menu for the entire month.  This is what I am doing right now as I am learning a new way of preparing meals for someone in my family who is on a low sodium plan. 

If you already have a menu planning system and would like to share, please do!  I would personally love to see your ideas!

 

 

 

Kroger Clearance Deals

I went to Kroger last night to get a few boxes of the Kellogg’s cereal in the three day sale and as always, I checked the clearance shelf.  I found these bottles of Old Spice Body Wash for $1.99, quickly did a search using the coupon database that I have bookmarked on my Droid and found that in the 11/27 PG insert there were coupons for $1 off when you buy 2…so I paid $1.49 each 🙂  I just had to share! ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check the clearance section!

What makes this even better??  Well, today I saw that MyMemphisMommy is holding a contest right now where she wants readers to send in the great deals they find from now till February 1st.  One lucky reader will get a $25 American Express Card AND a 1 hour long shopping trip with Shana!! How cool is that?  So, I am sending her MY find and I encourage you to do the same.  If you don’t mind, when you share with her, be sure to tell her Christie Jarvis sent ya! It won’t give me any extra entries but I just want her to know that I am sending people her way 🙂

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Do not copy and paste MY content onto your site without giving me credit with a link. That is considered stealing and is wrong.

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Disclaimer: Yes, this post may contain affiliate links. I love connecting you to the great deals and information that I find but I still have to make sure my bills get paid so I sometimes use links that I make a little money off of.  Thanks for supporting me so I can keep connecting you to these great things!

 

 

 

New P&G Coupon Book

We all know that receiving coupons in the mail is like getting a birthday card with money inside…my friend MyMemphisMommy always says “Coupons are currency”…they are! So when you can request some free currency from companies of products you use and love it is like they are sending you CASH! With that being said, Home Made Simple has yet another coupon booklet filled with great coupons for P&G products like Dawn, Swiffer, Mr. Clean and more! Go request yours here: Home Made Simple Organize in Style Coupons

Kroger Deals This Week

Well I am a bit sad that my deep freezer bit the dust because this week Kroger is having a good sale on frozen foods.  My friend runs a website called MyMemphisMommy and she lists the sale items with the coupon match ups so you can maximize your grocery money.  Here is her list for the Kroger sale for this week. I am going to get some of these items but not as many as I would like…unless any of you have a freezer that needs a new home 🙂 Be sure to follow My Memphis Mommy on Facebook also!

Arby’s Free Chicken Salad Sandwich

Head over to the Arby’s Facebook page and get a coupon for a free Market Fresh Chicken Salad Sandwich! The coupon does require you to purchase a 22 oz Pepsi(R) product and must be used by 5/17 but hey, you get a free sandwich!

Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries

Personally, I make my own sweet potato fries but these would be good to keep handy…especially when you can get a coupon for $1 off on the Ore-Ida Facebook page. You need to click on the “Sweet Shout Out” link and watch a brief video to get your printable coupon.  There ya go! Go snag your coupon!

Smart Source Sunday Coupon Preview 4-17

The Sunday Coupon Preview tells you what coupons will be in the paper each week.  Apparently there will be 2 Smart Source inserts this week.  Here is what is in the first one

(/X) after coupon = expiration date
() before coupon = multiple of same coupon
ETS = excludes trial sizes
DND5 = coupon states Do Not Double, but barcode starts w/a 5

Smartsource coupon insert #1
Air Wick Freshmatic Ultra Starter Kit $4 (5/29)
Air Wick Freshmatic Ultra Refills B2G1F to $5.50 (5/29)
Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit $4 (5/29)
Air Wick Freshmatic Compact Refill $1.50 (5/29)
Air Wick 100% Natural Propellant Spray B1G1F to $1.39 (5/29)
Aveeno Active Naturals $3/2 (5/31)
Aveeno Active Naturals $1 (5/31)
Ban Solid .75 (6/4)
Band any .40 (6/4)
Bausch & Lomb Alaway eye drops $5 (6/30)
Bausch & Lomb Opcon-A eye drops $1 (6/30)
Betty Crocker Fruit Shapes, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers or Roll-Ups .50/2 (6/11)
Biz $1 (5/29)
Biz $1.50 (5/1)
Brita Pour-Through or Faucet Mount System $4 (6/26)
Brita Multipack filters $1 (6/26)
Brita Bottle $1 (6/26)
Cheerios Cinnamon Burst .75 (5/28)
Desitin no trial size .75 (6/26)
EarthWise Entirely Natural Premium products $1/2 (5/31)
Enfamil or Enfagrow large size powder 22.2 oz+ $2 (5/31)
Farmland Breakfast Sausage Links $1/2 (5/31)
Farmland Sausage Rolls $1/2 (5/31)

And here’s what’s in the second one:

Act Dry Mouth bottle $2 (5/31)
Act bottle 16.9oz+ $1 (5/31)
Allegra, Allegra-D or any Children’s Allegra $5 (5/7)
Ascriptin $1.50 (7/31)
Benefiber $1 (7/16)
Benefiber Plus Heart Health product $2 (7/16)
Bufferin 130 ct $1 (7/31)
Dannon Greek 5.3 oz cups .50/2 (5/31)
Doans Extra Strength Caplets $1 (7/31)
Excedrin 20 ct+ .75 (6/4)
Excedrin 80 ct+ $1.50 (6/4)
Gas-X $1 (7/16)
Gas-X Prevention $1 (7/16)
Good Nites Jumbo Pack+ $2 (5/14)
Huggies Little Swimmers $2 (5/14)
Huggies Little Swimmers Sun Care product $1 (5/14)
Huggies Pull Ups Jumbo pack+ $1.50 (5/14)
Huggies Diapers $1.50 (5/14)
Huggies Little Movers or Little Snugglers Diapers $2 (5/14)
Huggies Baby Wipes 64 ct+ .50 (5/14)
Keri Lotion $2 (7/31)
Maalox $1 (7/16)
Maalox $2.50/2 (7/16)
Mineral Ice Pain Relieving Gel $1.50 (7/31)
Myoflex Pain Relieving Cream $1.50 (7/31)
OxiClean Original In-Wash Booster or Pre-Treater $1 (6/30)
OxiClean $2/3 (6/30)
Ortega .50/2 (6/30)
Physicains Formula $1 (7/31)
Prevacid 24HR $3 (5/15)
Purina Beneful Snackin Slices any size $1 (7/17)
Purina ONE brand beyOnd Dog food any $2 (5/16)
Purina ONE brand beyOnd cat food any size $2 (5/16)
Scott Naturals Paper Towels $1/6 (5/29)
Scott Naturals Bath Tissue 4 rolls+ $1 (5/29)
Scott Naturals Flushable Wipes .50 (5/29)
Spice Island $1/2 (6/19)
Starbucks Coffee 11, 12, 20 oz bag $1.50 (6/30)
U by Kotex Pads $1 (5/28)
U by Kotex Liners $1 (5/28)
U by Kotex Tampons $1 (5/28)
Zaditor $3 (7/31)

You can also print Smart Source Coupons here for free!

Free SteviB’s Pizza

Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you that I don’t like pizza…well, not traditional red sauce pizza anyway.  But I do LOVE the selection of different varieties of some of my favorite toppings at SteviB’s.  Well, right now you can go to their Facebook page and like them and then vote to get FREE PIZZA. Just click on the free pizza app on the left side of the screen under their logo when you get there.  Go get your FREE PIZZA now!!

Sunday Blessings

I love Sundays.  Not only do I get to go to church but I also get the pleasure of buying my Sunday paper from this sweet young lady who sells in a parking lot near my church. I always buy 2 or 3 papers if there are good coupons (which I decide by reading the Sunday Coupon Preview website). Today I pulled up and handed her the money and told her that I needed 3 papers.  She handed my son 4 and told me she was giving me a free one because I always buy so many. Then she said the same thing she always says, “have a very blessed day.”  She blesses me with her sweet smile and attitude every week and blessed me with an extra paper this week.  I pray God will bless her as well!

What’s Going On?

I have been so busy doing blogs, websites and social networking sites for others that I haven’t even thought about my own blog but here I am…let me fill you in on what has been happening around here.

I wanted to get back on our family schedule on Monday and discovered Saturday that the county schools were not starting back until Tuesday so that kind of threw me off. I had the school-ager that I keep when schools are out but we still did school work. Of course my kids wanted to know why we had to do school when the other kids didn’t. I guess they forget about those times when the public schools are in session and we take a day off…oh well.

Tuesday was good. We got a lot done in school and around the house during the day. While the little girls were napping, I did the Leslie Sansone Walk Away The Pounds 1 Mile Walk.  Later on,  I went to Kroger and stocked up for the week. I couldn’t believe it but I actually spent close to 2 hours in that store. I told a few more people about the coupon class that we are having this month so it took me a little longer than normal but I got a lot of great stuff though!! That evening, I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and was happy to see a loss of 3.4 pounds!! Woo-Hoo!

I have done very well with keeping up with what I put in my body and am feeling great!  Which is what I told the listeners of The Everything Wellness Show today.  I know to some of you, it is like “DUH!” but I realize now that some of the junk I was eating was making me feel horrible.  Moody…swollen…just blah!

I spent most of the day away from home today running some errands and picking up things I need for this week.  I am looking forward to next week when I do my Winter Theme with the preschoolers.  I will post my lesson plans soon for that.  The thing is, we are actually expecting snow Sunday evening so we may get to play with real snow and not have to make our own with shaving cream or shaved ice! Check back next week for the pics.