Sometimes You Gotta Let Fate Design A Room

Those of you who read frequently know the girls room has been a quandary for me for a long time. I've been all over the place on ideas, have taken back those shiny comforters for money reasons, and been back to the drawing board so many times. I had a breakthrough one day when cleaning my room and picking up an old 2006 Home Companion magazine. I have had it forever in my stack because I use to have a subscription. I LOVED the wall color. Not for a dinning room as it is shown here, but for the girls room.

So, I went to Home Depot and tried to find something close. The picture above showed me some elements that would make it work. The mantle and table are white, the chairs brass so that gave me the idea of how good it would work with their old French Provincial furniture. I found a color and got my tester quart. I went home and painted a by 2 foot square on the wall in their room. I felt it was too dark, and too purple. Rick like it though. So, I decided to just dig in. I went back for two gallons and painted the room from after I dropped them off at school, till 10 pm at night. They camped out in the living room. After I did the first wall I paniced big time. It was bold, and dark. I knew the girls got a lot of light in their room though so I pressed on in faith.

Once the room was done, we loved it. It was dark, but it was very royal and beautiful. We brought in the furniture and just went "wow!". We had found a wonderful combination.

From there I figured to go with aqua and yellow floral I had found in a beautiful vintage sheet. The plan was to make a duvet and shams and such. The girls room had been lavender and white so although the curtains were still that, I was determined not to do any lavender in the room.

Until this past Thursday. I was at the Goodwill dig with Rick (oh, my goodness, we did so good. We got four boxes for 30 dollars which included: 4 2' square Lego panels which cost 30 bucks almost each new, Scatagories complete, Payday complete, Blues Clues complete, about 8 pairs of jeans for the kids, some funky shirts for funky Lilo, A globe basketball for Superkid, An Army jacket for him to play dress up but that is actually his size, books for Princess, Tupperware, a hanging lamp for my friend who was looking for one, a Nerf gun, a transformer, a vintage suitcase which I use for decorative storage, and more) and going through the fabric and bedding, I came across this beautiful quilt and sham. They were absolutely gorgeous but guess what color they were? Lavender and white. Actually, they are Lilacs. Which is cool, it's one of my favorite flowers but I stood there and went "no, I don't want more lavender!". See, when I change things, I really change them. It's not like me to keep any part of the color scheme the same. Still, this was so pretty, and such a good quality quilt that I decided to grab it and if I hated it I could sell it or give it away. I happened to find two lavender gingham pillowcases that matched perfectly too.

(the wall looks a tad darker in the picture) (don't ya love Lilo's black and white Converse at the foot of the bed! They were given to us fro her brother but she snagged them first. Such an oxymoron to the bedding:)

I came home and washed it with hot water and lots of soap. I mended the two frays in it. I made the bed and stepped back and went "wow, okay, I give in."

And you could not beat the price which was next to nothing. Oh, and those window treatments that I was thinking I would just use till I could make something else, well, they worked perfectly.

Hey, one huge project I don't need to do anymore!

(I'll show the rest of the room when we get it done.)

If You Knew Me, You Would Understand

(first I just have to say about the quiz below...it's very accurate, but.. I don't get physical when I'm mad, and I don't make a habit of cursing! Also, I hope I have some more tender qualities than just those mentioned. I still am wreathing that I'm Betty Davis, she is the one Hollywood woman I would never admire. Humph.)

So, if you knew me, you would know why I get tickled about these things.

I found a vintage Little People for Superkid at the Goodwill Outlet (I call it "the dig" because you dig for things literally). I was so excited just to find the frame. It's not as old as the one Rick and I had growing up which had the chalkboard, but it had a retractable playground that is way cool and it had parts too! That is not usually the case at the dig. So, today I cleaned it up with an old toothbrush and some soft scrub w/ bleach. It is so cute now!

We have a crate of a bunch of vintage little people all ready that he can add to this to have more kids and so on.
The really fun thing about this and a reason I think it was a fun thought of God's that I found it, is that school itself is so new to him this year. He is now going to understand the play and be able to get more out of it. So fun!
Just had to share my other little thrill. I use to have a tradition where I would wrap garland and beads on our dinning room light at Christmas to make a type of holiday chandelier. This year I did not want to do that because I don't want to mess with my new special one .

So, I had all this white garland and had some fun with it. I wrapped it around my entry way lamps instead. It gave the same effect as it did in the dinning room, a rather snowy feel to we deprived California types. A cheap thrill.

When lit they are warm and cozy. The one on the right is shown before I turned the shade around so the overlap is showing of the garland. You want to put that in the back normally. It's very easy to do. You just start a loop and tuck it, wrap around to the top and tuck that. No glue or anything.

Lastly, here are some pics form Thanksgiving day before we left for my mom's. We forgot to take the camera to moms:*.

Superkid cuddling with Shasta. If you are on my facebook, you all ready know this cat hates me. She loves Superkid but she is meaning to give me those evil eyes, trust me. Her brother loves me, so it's not me, right? As I said on facebook, I'm sure she is a dominatrix. She likes him because she knows he is the least in charge in the house. She hates me because I boss her when to get off or down all the time.

Rick watching the parade and playing big legos with Superkid.

Lilo happy in a chair with a bucket of crayons and a notebook.

Princess helping me peel apples. She was so cute in her apron.

Superkid building Diego's treehouse with daddy's help.

A Few Fresh Ideas

I three more ideas for ya:

1. Saw a fleece quilt kit for girls at Michael's. You could cut the little squares yourself for such a fraction of the cost (the kit made a throw size and was 20 dollars) and pick colors your kid likes.

2. The Dollar Tree has tiny wooden treasure boxes and acrylic primary and pastel paint. You can make a kit for your kid with some of these so they can decorate them for friends.

3. You can have them decorate some for family and print verses on cardstock to fit in the treasure box. Pick a few themes (security, love, peace, forgiveness etc.) and color code them with a hole punch and ribbon for that theme. Then if they need a verse for reassurance, they pick that color. Create a tiny brass hook in the top of the box so the box can be set on it's side (you could do vertical or horizontal and even have the kids decorate the top of the lid like a picture frame) and hook the one they needed that day to the front to display on their dresser, counter or desk. I came up with this one this morning and will use it for someone special I know.:)

4. Michael's has these neat magnets in the dollar bin. They are shapes of all kinds (animals, butterflies etc). They are black but you have a scratcher to design a beautiful image. The magnet ones (their are plain shapes and stickers too) are good because the kids can create them and give them as a gift.

Maybe more later...who knows. My brain's been reelin'.

Frugal Thoughts For Christmas

I was going to do this post over at our getting out of debt site but it's so consuming my thoughts and life right now that It probably belongs here. The point is that we are determined not to use our credit card at all this year for gifts. Even with the "we can pay it back in January" mentality we sometimes have.

So, in the budget there is so little room for Christmas. I thought I'd share some ideas I'm using to make it happen.

-I'm thrifting a lot, especially for the kids but also to put some things together for family.

-I'm taking Daja's idea from last year and making a basked of felt play foods for Lilo and Superkid (Daja has some other great ideas on there too) who still enjoy playing restaurant and such. The kit will be a basket from the thrift store w/ a vintage tiny table cloth I found a few months ago thrifting, the felt foods, and the aprons and chef hats they all ready have along with a new apron I found that is for the on who wants to be the waiter. Plus one little notebook and pen for taking orders.

-I found a "bedazzler" a long time back at a thrift store and saved it. I'm working on a craft kit for the girls that will include that, some cut squares of blue jean from worn out pairs from our family that I've been saving, thread, needles, buttons, ribbon scraps and whatever else I come up with. Blue jean is a great starter fabric for girls because you can just sew a seam and let the edges fray in the wash. This makes purse or tiny bag making very easy. I'm throwing in the seat of the jeans so they can make them into little handbags and such. I still have to find some bedazzle beads so they can accessorize with those.

-I really liked Julie's hand made gift for her friend and it got my brain rolling on something to make for my mom (so mom, if you are reading....STOP NOW!). Only I want to print some black and whites of the kids and tear the edges and then mount them on cardstock to add to the message of the piece. I'm not sure exactly what will come together, but I loved her idea.

-I found some porcelain dolls in great shape at the Goodwill outlet. Their hair and dresses were still lovely. I have a bunch of old vintage doll dresses my grandma made in the 50's that I want to give to Princess with the dolls. I'm looking for two stands so she can dress them and then set them on her shelf.

-I was given a bunch of American Girl books with some hand-me-downs that I will be putting in sets with a ribbon and giving to Princess.

-I scored after Halloween and was able to get a Batman costume and a Superman costume for 75% off the original price. The nice thing is that they are size 8-10 boy which is what Superkid is even though he is only five, so the little ones never fit him anymore. Even though he looks big, he still wants to dress up. They came with the capes and masks and everything. So fun! You could still do these from thrifting but if you have not thought of it yet, they may be gone. Good thoughts for next year though.

-We are trying to put together some outside things for the kids. I found a huge bouncy ball at the Goodwill outlet that we are going to pump up and give to Lilo. Since the kids have gone to school they have become more interested in foursquare games, tetherball, and jump rope. So, I'm thinking of making a movable tetherball pole with an old time, cement, and a pole. I just need to figure out the pole part. We are also considering making a cheap plywood back board that they can bounce the balls against and letting them graffiti it themselves with paint. That one is still in the idea only department.

-I was very fortunate to find gifts at the Target 75-90% off for my nephews and niece last year. I don't want to say what they were but I also got one for our kids. It's a great way to get quality gifts for such a fraction of the cost.

-I'm making "Get Cozy For Christmas" kits for Rick's family but I can't say what's in them yet.

-Making a few more handmade things for friends that I can's share yet either.

-All year long I pick up "Boxcar Children" books Princess does not have, or "Animal Ark" or "Magic Treehouse" for Lilo or "Nancy Drew", all from thrifting, and tie each set up with a ribbon and box it as a gift.

-At Easter clearance I was able to grab a few Lego men singles from the Target clearance section. Superkid really gets more out of these than the big sets since he can't quite put them all together yet, and he likes the Lego men the best anyway.

-We save great games that we find complete from the thrift store through the year as well. This year I have an original "Battleship" and "Scrabble Jr." for the kids.

-Pier One is a great place to get some after season clearance items. Last year I got a holiday scent set for my grandma and will send it this season.

Those are the ones at the top of my head and I just can't share all of it yet so....have to wait for the rest of the details.

Here is a fun link for ideas.

And my friend Judy at Judy's Notebook always links to this site that is a craft lovers drooling station.

Food at $75 Part 2 and Pinto Beans Cheap and Easy

I'm still roaming' my other bogs. I realized I did not quite complete my talk about groceries at %150 a paycheck, so I have a Part 2. BTW- I really welcome more ideals from you all over there as to how you save money so please comment!
Also, I have been asked by a few friends how I do my beans. The recipe is in the Cupboard.
OH, and you have to check this out...it's so cool!

Mothers Of Invention Monday: A Little Mommy Marketing

I came up with a simple way to make some money this holiday season. I wanted to share it for our Monday theme.

I invested in a costco bulk amount to make my homemade almond roca and sell it. It's easier to pick one thing, make it well because repitition helps fine tune the recipe, and sell it in enough time for people to give it as a gift for Christmas. Help them out by pre-packaging it cute but cheap.
Here is my plan:
1. Buy the ingredients.
2. Make a sample batch and put it in a bowl as samples.
3. Create one sample of the packaging. I will not have the product in this, just some filler like foam peanuts or something. It is just to demonstrate how it will look when they get it.
4. Create an order form on the computer and put it on a clipboard with a pen tied to it.
5. Place the product at my husbands work in the breakroom, my mom's workplace (if she let's me:)or anywhere else besides church that I can think of. Put a plastic container of samples with a lid for freshness and a sign that says "please just take one to sample". Have the clipboard left there so they can sighn up their name, phone number and how many bags they want. I'm not sure what poundage the bags will have yet because I have to figure out the cost too.
6. Create a display tray with packageing sample and product samples and go around to the neighbors, kids teachers or other places to see if anyone wants orders. If they are not sure, ask if I can get back to them later.
7. Have a date the product will be ready. Prepare ahead of time to deliver.
8. Make remaining orders. Package and deliver on the date. Collect payments.
(I may warn ahead of time that payment needs to be cash so their are no problems)

Harvest Blessings Bundles
The above is my plan for before Christmas. I have an even easier one for before that. I made a wonderful apple coffee cake this week. The dry ingredients I put in a bag ahead of time. All I had to do after that was chop one apple and add the oil and egg. What a great little Thanksgiving blessing to give someone I thought. Then I thought....what a great item to sell too!
So, the plan is to make batches of the dry mixes. Package them similarly only with harvest colored raffia and tag, along with instructions and ingredients and sell them for a great price if people want a easy "thank you" gift for someone at this time of year. I am not sure this one will sell as much but I thought I'd give it a try and it's something I don't have to cook! Have the kids help and go around with you too!

For packaging I'll be using brown sandwich bags. They are cheap and VERY cute when dressed up a bit. After all, the best present is "brown paper packages tied up with string"!. Here is an idea from what I did for friends and neighbors cookies last Christmas. This photo is from Angry Chicken where I got the idea last year. Mine were more full and I used rick-rack ribbon and cheap price tags w/ red writing and snowflakes drawn. I don't have that blog on here anymore to show you, but this gives you the idea.

Some ideas may be:

-You favorite bread

-Homemade candy

-Homemade cards (I saw a whole group of women at costo around the big pack of handmade cards. I think this could be a big hit)

-Jar Mixes for all kinds of baked goods or coffee mixes

-potholders or scarfs (if you crochet or knit fast, other wise, start now for next year!)

Here is another packaging idea: A coffee cake would be cute put in a coffee mug w/ ribbon.

If you want to take part in Mothers of Invention Monday just paste this sticker to your blog and tag back your blog entry. I'm just getting this going but, I think its a great one to share. Go here to see what it's about.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXe5qkF0cqjsmsfGVWX6X2_N4X1yzf475mcNp1KS1PqNH4140ry03WCuydfJtk5tk1LN-M5wWAgS26inBQrIQWidyALunyCUuCSbnFUJJ8LUGJGdbKLOWlAp9_st-KR-oqXVSxWeiDIfM/s1600-h/housewifeb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257047961718883650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXe5qkF0cqjsmsfGVWX6X2_N4X1yzf475mcNp1KS1PqNH4140ry03WCuydfJtk5tk1LN-M5wWAgS26inBQrIQWidyALunyCUuCSbnFUJJ8LUGJGdbKLOWlAp9_st-KR-oqXVSxWeiDIfM/s200/housewifeb.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />

Here is the large one for the head of your post if you like:

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nW_3BrGqGf_pFd_WNoy0lTufJkhE7KZaByvZ3xjmeaaB7JYGZTNP0fwF8lqOmC1dls15Nq5T2V8CTbR8Likrwoi6GkbwwJUlixmuHsGoChXE3tQ988iqpNhII6rSRfmO15U4d34tLao/s1600-h/housewifeb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257047832994174114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nW_3BrGqGf_pFd_WNoy0lTufJkhE7KZaByvZ3xjmeaaB7JYGZTNP0fwF8lqOmC1dls15Nq5T2V8CTbR8Likrwoi6GkbwwJUlixmuHsGoChXE3tQ988iqpNhII6rSRfmO15U4d34tLao/s400/housewifeb.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />

Perfect Bread Machine Whole Wheat

I am trying hard....hard to be frugal, and the wheat prices have finally trickled down to the supermarkets. The other day I bought some cheap bread and it was so sad, it was collapsed before I got home and it was not even near stuff to squish it! Sad. I love TJ's bread but I've noticed it dries out fast and even molds faster than my own stuff. It's had a few days traveling before it gets to me. I go through spurts when it comes to bread. I almost got rid of my bread machine because I was doing the multiple loaf in the oven thing through the fall last year. However, something told me to not be impulsive on this one and I'm glad I listened to that voice. See, when it's 107* you just don't feel like baking, so I've pulled out my little helper and she is turnin' out some great loaves.

The other problem I was having was with whole wheat not being fluffy enough for my little picky one who does not like chewing more than she has to evidently.

Here is my perfect formula right now for everyday sandwich bread:

3 cups whole wheat flour (I mill mine....store bought should work too)

1/4 cup gluten (you could leave this out if you just milled it because gluten levels are high...also, get in bulk if you can to make it cheaper)

1 1/8 cup warm water

3 Tbs. Canola Oil

3Tbs. Honey

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

No, I don't use dry milk, and I don't use butter. Oil is cheaper and milk does not make enough difference to me and we would rather have it on our cereal thank you very much!:)

Order to put in machine is my own way:

water

honey

yeast (why? yeast loves sugar...makes it happy. it does NOT like salt so we want to keep it away from it's enemy)

flour

gluten

salt

I'm hoping to add this to the Cupboard soon. I've had so little time for my other blogs lately (like the past six months:). I'm also hoping to get some awesome home made ranch on there soon.
Oh, and I'm putting some local alerts on What's The Deal in an hour or so unless something else happens to me in life, which is a possibility.:)

(I borrowed the pic from Google, but it looks like that:)

What Do You Eat For Lunch?

Of course the one main at-home lunch money saver is the leftovers. On a day where there are none, here is what we have for lunches. All are usually served with fresh veggie slices or fruit slices.

Peanut Butter and Jelly (of course)
Peanut Butter and Banana
Grilled Cheese
Ham and Cheese
Egg Salad
Tuna fish
Tuna Melts*
Soup (homemade)
Pintos and Cheese
Meat and Cheese bites w/ crackers
Cheese or Cheese and bean Quesadillas

*can be a dinner too
What do you eat for lunch?

(BTW- there were not many responses yet on the breakfast one, so if you have any more ideas to add, please do!)

What Do You Eat For Breakfast?

I have found that breakfast can be one of the best ways to save in your budget by one tip alone.... don't buy boxed cereal! I dont' follow it myself all the time, especially if there is a sale leading to a dollar a box, or a Trader Joe's brand on a bad week, or it's a kid birthday which means their favorite junk food cereal. Otherwise, baking, and making save you so much.

Now, I'm very excited that yall' are talking and responding from the last post, so I'm hoping you will have more sharing for me on this one because we are all looking for new ideas. I said I would start posting "now, what do I make with all that" and I decided to take it one meal at a time. If you have a favorite receipe please post comment. I really appreciated Lisa leaving her sausage roll receipe on the post comment from the last entry. Here's me claping for you gals "alright, alright, alright, let's go, le'ts go, let's go!" as you think up some frugal goodness!

Breakfast (from all that listed below)
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Whole Wheat Muffins
Baked Oatmeal
Oatmeal
Eggs + Whole Wheat Toast
Egg Flower Muffins*
Granola
Fruit and Yogurt Parfait w/ Granola
Puffed Oven Pancake
Whole Wheat Waffles
Eggs + Potatoes
Egg Bakes
Fritatas
*requires the purchase of fridge biscuits

What do you eat for breakfast?

Grocery Talk

I've noticed there is a lot of bloggity chat about grocery budgets lately. Perhaps all of of are adjusting to the increase over the past few months and all our brains are searching out solutions in a time of pressure.
I am not a budget champion. I am not good at the right method for anything, including food shopping. I have however been blown away by some estimate numbers floating around as budget numbers for the month of food. Our budget was 250$ a month before Christmas but we had to raise it to 300$ with the food and gas increase. Now, that is for food and toiletries.
You have to remember that we are really trying to crunch to get out of bad debt right now so my motivation is great. I am still working at it and trying to get creative but I wanted to share my staples and where they come from. My life has forced me to get down the the cheapest way to do it with the time I have and the gas enough for so many trips to the stores I need to go to. This is going to be random dumping but I just thought I'd share.


1. I live seven miles from the nearest living town (I say living because I consider mine "sleeping" because it is so small and has a market that would bust my budget to buy milk at) so I always group shopping with times I'm out all ready.

2. Staples- I try to think back to a cabin kitchen. What would it need? Well, I don't really know, but this is what my staples are:
- Wheat Berries - bought in co-op size bags usually 25lbs for me and a friend.
- Oats, Raw- Used for oatmeal, breads, granola and cookies, and also from co-op.
- Popcorn- Used for well... popcorn (the cheapest and healthiest snack you can have) and also milled for cornmeal.
-Brown Rice- I'm using up what I have but will be getting it from co-op after that.
-Beans- ( I eventually would like to do these by co-op too when I can afford more paint buckets to put them in!)- Lentils, Pinto (big 5lb. bags from Costco) and black beans.
-White flour- I keep one 5lb. from the store, it lasts me forever since I use whole wheat usually for everything.
- Sucunat- ( I know, they did not have that back then) I keep about 5 lbs flowing in and out from co-op where it is a good price. We use it in everything needing sugar except something like jello where it would just be...weird.
-Butter- Definitely bulk Costco.
- Honey- Large 6lb. "Busy Bee" from Costco (if anyone knows of a better deal, I'm open) which is used for bread and granola making mainly.
-Canola Oil- Again, the large one from Costco. It too is a staple of bread and granola making.
-Potatoes- I know this is a produce but when you are pinching, it's a basic you have to have. (I remember in "Little Women" how the girls would take their baked potato for their lunch and that was it because times were tough.)
2. Proteins (again, this is in crunch mode)
-Eggs- The best price I have found is always Trader Joe's basic ones. I think they are 1.19 a dozen right now.
-Tuna fish- I am trying an even cheaper method of this too. I am using the big can from Costco and freezing leftovers in sectional freezing containers to use later for sandwiches or casseroles.
-Peanut Butter- There are many good options, I just happen to be getting the double Laura Scudders real peanut butter from Costco.
-Canned Pink Salmon- Used for a dinner of Salmon Patties
-Ham or Turkey Ham- I bounce between Costco Ham for sandwiches, and Foster Farms big hunk of Turkey Ham from Food For Less which is actually cheaper and able to be used in cooking.
( I am hoping to add one meat a week like a good chicken that can be used for a few meals)

4. Produce
-Carrots- Large bag of whole ones from Costco (it's cheaper to not buy the baby cute ones guys!)
-Celery- Wherever it's cheap
-Onion- Usually a bag at Food For Less (I get yellow because of price and cooking does not require really sweet white ones that I would prefer). I will also grab one red for sandwiches or salads.
(NOTE: these three are kitchen essentials to cheap eating. They are the veggie basis for so many soups, casseroles, and sauces)
-Broccoli- Large bag from Costco.
-English Cucumber- Set of three from Costco ( sometimes I have to choose between these and the broccoli)
-Spinach- Large bag from Costco (I separate right away into storage bags so it lasts over two weeks for salads, no chopping needed)
-Green Leaf Lettuce- TJ's or sale at Food For Less
-Various in season items : tomato, sweet or bell pepper, zucchini, etc. Wherever it's cheapest.
-Apples- I've narrowed down that the bags of small ones from Food For Less are the best deal for what gets eaten. My kids can eat a whole little one, but think they can a big one. There is always to much wasted that way.
-Banana's- Costco is the best price always.
-Third Fruit of what's in season- Right now Pears and Tangelos are a good price.
-Frozen Berries- Costco big bag of blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry mix.
-Frozen Green Beans- Large bag of organic at Costco.
-Frozen Spinach- TJ's
-Frozen Veggie mix- TJ's
-Frozen Sweet Corn- TJ's
(I don't get all veggies each time)
5. Dairy
-Cheese- Kirkland 5lb. block of sharp cheddar. Used in all cooking, sandwiches, snacks etc.
-Eggs- also mentioned under proteins- Trader Joes
-Milk- Costco for price (I also get a case of Soy milk from Costco for when the milk runs out and I can't get into town. I'm thinking of switching to powder milk for a spare though after the idea from Zimms Zoo's Mama.)
-Sour Cream- Costco tub
-Yogurt- Costco Kirkland singles or big tub from Food For Less if it's cheaper which lately it has been a toss up.

6. Variants: The things that I bounce around getting or not getting depending on the menu.
-Pastas- WW from Trader Joe's/I also almost always get a bag of dry tortellini from Trader Joe's
-Pasta Sauce- Either the big can from Costco, or a sauce to make my own, or Trader Joe's Cheapest Marinade.
-Stewed Tomatoes- Trader Joe's
-Cream of Mushroom Soup- Costco or good sale
-Mayo-
-Salsa- Varies by price and whim
-Tomato Sauce- sale or Costco big can

7. Snacks or Extras
-Nuts- I try to get a bag of almonds and walnuts every few months from Costco. They are for snacks and baking.
-Raisins- Costco (co-op in bulk is good too I think)
-Crasins- Costco
-Dates- Costco
-Coffee- Costco ground cheap, very cheap, basic, boring coffee. (not our preference, but, it works)
(I don't buy these all at once, I vary between which one I pick up each time I'm there)

8. Special Occasionals (if the budget allows)
-Sausage Links- Costco has the best price. I use them also for slices on homemade pizza.
-String Cheese- Costco
-Orange Juice- Costco
- Mozz cheese for Pizza
-Canned Pineapple
-Meatballs from Costco (very rare now)



I think that is the basic bottom line. This of course does not include what is kept in a stocked spice cabinet.
If I think of anything, I'll be sure to come back and add.

So, What can I do with all this? Well, that is for another time. I have to figure out half of it still myself.:)

I would love to hear any feedback on further ideas on savings or where to get specific items. Katy, if you come by, can you share your hamburger tip you gave me? Thanks.