Frugal Friday!

I decided to make this Frugal Friday--a day I will share my way of saving some money.  I have been wondering if it really is cheaper for me to pack a lunch for the kids every day, or would it be cheaper for them to buy lunch.  School lunch for them is $1.80 (Ian), $1.95 (Emily), and $2.10 (Josh).  So, I broke down the cost of what they usually have in their lunches.  These prices may vary slightly depending on little things, but they won't change by much.  Here's what I found:
Bread: $.22 per sandwich (2 slices)
Peanut Butter: $.05 per Tbsp
Jelly: $.08 per serving (not quite a Tbsp but almost)
Honey: $.09 per tsp
Turkey (or other meat): $.21 per slice
Cheese: $.12 per slice
Apple Sauce: $.24 per pre-packaged cup, or about $.10 to put 1/4 in a Tupperware container
Fruit cup: $.44 per pre-packaged cup
Granola bar: $.16 each
Lemonade or other juice: $.03 per 6 ounces (the size of the bottle I put it in)

Now, they do not use all of this each day. :)  The most expensive sandwich is the meat and cheese, but even if I make that I'm still saving.  Also, Ian usually has the apple sauce, Emily and Josh like the fruit cups.  Ian and Emily both have the 6 ounce juice bottles that I can fill every day which is cheaper than buying juice boxes (and more environmentally friendly).  Yes, there is a cost for zip lock bags, but since I buy them in bulk at Sams, it is like $.01 per bag.  Plus, Emily and Ian both have the sandwich size containers to use for their sandwiches.  Making the most expensive sandwich for Ian makes his lunch cost about $1.15.  For Emily's most expensive lunch (since she only likes one piece of cheese) it costs $1.39.  Josh typically makes pg&j, although he sometimes makes 2 sandwiches.  It is still only around $1.32 for him to make a lunch.  Total savings???

Ian: $.65/day, $3.25/week

Emily: $.56/day, $2.80/week

Josh: $.78/day, $3.90/week

Please note, again, that this is an average.  There may be days I put more in their lunch, but this gives you an idea of the savings.  Since they are in school about 32 weeks a year, we save an average of $100 per kid if they pack a lunch every day.  Granted, we allow them to buy lunch a couple times a week, but we still save a lot of money!

There you have it.  Proof that it is cheaper to pack a lunch.  Yes, it takes more time, but I think I spend all of 5 minutes making Emily and Ian's lunch in the morning.  Soon, Emily will make her own.  Hope this was helpful!  Have a great Friday!!

Tuesday Ramblings

I can't believe it is already Tuesday night!  The weekend went by so fast!  We had such a good time hanging out with the Morse family, and then with the Mochries.  Sadly, the Mochries are leaving us to move "home" to England.  I've never been a big fan of change, and this isn't helping any!  The good thing is that we now have a really good reason to go to England. :)  

The weather turned cooler today, which was a nice change.  I know it will warm up again before summer is over, but I love the cool breezes that come in the windows.  I wish I could have gone outside more today, but I just have too much to get done for my classes.  Maybe tomorrow I will take a break to garden.  I will definitely ride bikes with Ian to school.

Random thought for the day:Why does the cat insist on leaving her nasty hairballs in the middle of the hallway on the carpet?

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Stormy Night

It is a stormy night here in Kansas.  The clouds came in fast, as they often do.  There is a ton of lightening and thunder, although it seems a little bit far off right now.  I love stormy nights.  I wish our dog wasn't so scared!  Poor guy walks around with his Kong and eventually goes under the bed to hide.  I think the cat thinks he's a big baby. :)  

I had a full day today, although most of it was spent doing homework.  My life seems to revolve around homework, kids, and the house.  Tomorrow I have to do laundry, continue reading, submit my paper, work on the 2 papers due next Sunday, get Emily to her birthday party, and then go to a friend's house for a cookout.  It will be another full, busy day.  I'm hoping it won't be too terribly hot for the cookout, but I know it will be fun.  

I got thinking today that I could make my Friday posts be Frugal Fridays.  Problem is I don't always have a new idea.  So, I will do my best to come up with something next week, and give credit to anyone I borrow an idea from.  I've also thought about posting some articles related to education, but will hold off for now.  So many things I could post, but I just don't always have time to comment.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Made it through another Thursday!

I made it through another Thursday!  I even contributed to the discussion in class today.  Only 2 more classes to go and we move on to the next set of classes.  I can do this!  This evening we got to meet Emily's teachers, which was really nice.  My one complaint is the lack of challenging work offered.  They have an advanced math class, but not an advanced language arts class.  Why?  Emily is bored out of her mind and there is nothing we can do.  It just seems wrong to lump all 5th graders into one class regardless of ability.  What ever happened to challenging the students who are more advanced?  Oh that's right, No Child Left Behind.  :(  I did talk to her teacher about it, but I doubt much will change.  At least she has the higher math and then goes to enrichment once a week. 

Now I am tired and thinking I should go to bed.  So what that it's only 9:20.  Tomorrow will be a day full of writing papers--I have three to work on, one due Sunday!  Hope everyone has had a great week so far.  Looking forward to Friday!!

The art of Procrastination

Lately I have been mastering the fine art of procrastination.  It really is a terrible thing to do when you have children that you are trying to set an example for.  But, when faced with a paper to write, I tend to find many things that just have to get done.  For instance, tonight I decided that the lawn just must get mowed . . .NOW.  Of course, that meant picking up after the dog first (yuck), and then mowing.  This was followed by a shower, as it is about 85 degrees with 1000% humidity.  And then after the shower I had to make cookies because we didn't have anything for dessert.  I can't let my children go hungry!  Now, I am writing this, but in just a couple minutes I have to get the kids in bed.  When all is said and done, a good 2-3 hours will have gone by since I first sat down to start writing my paper.  I have one sentence done.  ONE SENTENCE of a 4-5 page paper!  Hmmmm . . . . do you think that I could use a really big font?  In all seriousness, I will get this paper done just as I have gotten all my other papers done.  I just enjoy taking breaks; lots and lots of breaks.  If you have a favorite form of procrastination, I would love to hear it!  Just post a comment.

Rainy Tuesday

I can't believe I am saying this in the middle of August, but it is an absolutely beautiful day!  We've had nice rain, cool temperatures, and no big winds.  After the 100 degree days last week, we needed this!  It has been a bit quiet though--the birds didn't come out to play like yesterday.  So, I have the windows open and just finished my class and lunch.  Now, I really need to get more of my reading done.  I'd much rather relax and watch my cat sleep.  She is curled up on the window sill--she loves when the windows are open. :)  Oh well, off to read I go.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Back to School

Emily had her first day of middle school on Thursday and Josh started his senior year of high school on Friday.  Ian should have started 1st grade on Thursday, but he was still on vacation with his Grammy and Grandpa, so he started today.  Emily seems to like 5th grade so far, but wasn't as eager to wake up this morning.  I walked with her to the bus stop, since today was her first day riding the bus, and when another girl she knows came to the stop, she told me I could leave.  Sigh.  They grow up so fast.  Ian was very nervous about school.  He told me I needed to go in with him since he didn't know where to go.  Poor guy seemed more nervous today than he did on his first day of kindergarten.  He is so shy that it is hard for him to interact with the teacher.  He'll be fine as time goes by, and I'm sure he will have a great day.  So, I am sitting in a very quiet house with the dog and cat.  There are lots of birds flitting around outside my window.  The barn swallows that built a nest by our front door love to fly around; all 5 babies and the parents!  Plus there are some other chickadees, or something, that are flying into the rain gutter eating something.  It sounds funny, and I can't figure out what they are getting in there.  Silly birds!  I guess I should get back to school as well--got a lot of writing to do with four papers due in the next three weeks.  Happy Monday!

Monthly Menu

So, a friend of mine recently asked me to share how I plan my monthly menu. This is not a secret and it isn't something I made up on my own. I figured I would share here what I shared with her so others can benefit from some of the research I have done. It is a big task to plan a months worth of meals, but it is worth it. Here are the links I shared with her:

* The Pioneer Woman has some really yummy recipes that are NOT low cal. :) http://thepioneerwoman.com/
* Another site she started, but anyone can contribute to is http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/
* Just a great all around site http://allrecipes.com/
* Another great site, especially with kids http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/main.aspx
* Great site for monthly meal planning. I don't like all the recipes, but some good ones and great help! http://www.monthlymenuplanner.com/
* Although this site does cost money, it is well worth it for what you get. http://www.e-mealz.com/

We do one big shopping trip per month and smaller trips each week for things like milk, eggs, produce, etc. Feel free to ask any questions or make comments. Good luck!