Happy Easter!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter! My kids and I had a nice time with family at my brother's house. We had a big dinner with ham and sausage and cream cheese corn, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, deviled eggs, and rolls. Then on top of all that, for dessert there was pie and cookies and graham cracker fluff. If you have never tried the fluff, you should! It is so delicious!!

My kids are getting older now, but I still love giving them a basket of goodies on Easter morning.

 For my daughter, who is 18, I gave her peanut butter and chocolate candies and a Starbucks gift card.

My son is 13 and he got sugar free candy and tic tacs (since we eat mostly low carb) and a basketball.

Happy Easter!!!

Two Week Menu-Low Carb Eating On a Budget|How I Am Losing Weight

I'm back with another 2 week menu. I always shop my refrigerator and cupboard first so that I use what I have on hand. I find this helps keep the cost of my groceries down quite a bit and helps avoid waste! I spent about $125 on what I needed for this 2 weeks. I buy for breakfast, lunch, and dinners.

The Menu

Taco Soup

Velveeta w/ Hamburger Cheese Dip

(with homemade chips)

Breakfast Burritos

Pigs in a Blanket

Baked Pork Chops

Ham & Cheese Sliders

Rotisserie Chicken

Tatertot Casserole

Chicken & Broccoli w/ Alfredo Sauce

Chicken Caesar Wraps

And as always, we have a few nights of leftovers.

**We use low carb tortillas for wraps/burritos & to make our chips. We use a low carb dough for the pigs in a blanket. We use low carb buns.

I would love to hear what you've got on your menu and how you are saving money on your groceries!

Laundry Room Cuteness on a Budget

I decided to give my laundry room a little love and decorate a bit. I did have a couple things hanging on the walls, and an old wash board sitting out, but other than that it was kinda drab. Everything I did here I used things I already had around the house and spent NO MONEY :)

I have had the basket for a long time it came from a thrift store. I keep clothespins in it & carry out with me to hang clothes on the line. I have lots of old glass jars sitting around so I grabbed this little one & put a few clothespins in it. The letter holder thing I got at a thrift store a long time ago. It was ugly and brown. I finally got around to painting it & love it now. I have had the cake plate & thought it looked sweet with another old jar with flowers stuck in it. I have a stash of fake flowers that I have picked up at thrift stores over the years. The are kind of expensive new so I keep my eye out for cheap ones!!

The basket I got as a Christmas gift. It had pedicure stuff in it so I took it out to use for this. Another old jar with powder stain remover in it. The old jar in the back has liquid detergent in it. I had the little pot but it was shiny & didn't go with my decor so I painted it and added faux moss. The piggy bank was something we had laying around. It was gold so more white paint!!

Here I hung a little scrap fabric garland I made from fabric I already had. The WASH sign was an old sign I wasn't using anymore so I gave it a makeover :)

These zero dollar projects really make my day. I love walking into my laundry room now :)

Have you done any cheap decorating lately?? I would love to hear about it! :)

Linking up at :

Nifty Thrifty Things

Flamingo Toes

Tatertots and Jello

Spring Break Fun on a Budget

For the last couple of years, I have taken the kids to a hotel for a couple days just to relax and get away and spend time together just the three of us. We eat and shop, maybe see a movie, those kinds of things. We have really enjoyed this. Unfortunately, this year, I ended up needing some car repairs that took a big chunk out of my savings..so plans had to change a little. When I first found out how much my car would be to repair I cancelled our 2 day hotel reservation right away. We just could not afford to go this year. But, I just kept thinking about how much we would miss out on. The bonding, the laughs, the relaxation..I decided to look for a less expensive hotel room and to just stay for one night instead of two. It wasn't what we had always done, and it wasn't what we had planned to do, but it would be better than nothing, right!? I decided on a small amount of money I would spend on each of the kids and estimated how much it would cost to feed us. The hotel I found had free breakfast so we saved there. We still had a great time, even with a smaller budget. I am SO glad we didn't skip it all together. My daughter graduates from high school this year and I am cherishing every last thing we can do with the three of us.

Krispy Kreme stop was on the list.

Our room was actually pretty nice!

Relaxation

We stopped at a Humane Society and visited all the dogs.

There was a little excitement at our hotel, but all was well!!

My daughter tried makeup for free at one of her favorite stores.

When we were all wound down for the night, my daughter and I watched HGTV while my son did this :) I was okay with it. He deserved some game time after a day with mom and sister!

I almost forgot I also stopped at a new Goodwill and found my son 4 pairs of like new Nike golf shorts for $3.49 a pair. What a deal!!! :)

So even if you don't have much to spend, make the most of what you CAN do and treasure those memories made!!

Thrifty Birthday Gifts and More!!

I don't know if you all are lucky enough to have a discount store near you, but we have a couple within 10 miles of where I live!! I was just about to head to Walmart to pick up birthday gifts for TWO nephews when I had an "aha" moment and thought to check the discount store first! I have lots of nieces & nephews and it seems like there is ALWAYS a birthday party to go to. Buying gifts for these parties can really get expensive! I am pretty excited with what I found for the boys on a budget.

I got this nice big bean bag chair for my nephew who is turning 10. I thought I got a great deal only paying $10.50 for this!!

And for the little guy who is turning 3 I found a Paw Patrol pup set, a bubble bucket, & bubbles. The pup set was a steal for $6. The bubblin bucket was $3.75 & the bubbles were $2.50.

I think these are great gifts that the boys will truly enjoy. All for $22.75.

The discount store I went to has a little bit of everything. It has heath and beauty items, toys, clothes, food, furniture, and much more! I am heading to a scrapbook retreat next weekend so finding this little paper pack was perfect timing. You can never really have too much scrapbook stuff :)

I paid $2.50 for it. It is sports themed and has 36- 6x6 pages.

Since my son and I are eating a low carb diet right now, I am always on the lookout for sugar free items. I know at Walmart and Walgreens the sugar free treats can be pretty pricey. I found these candies all for $1 per pack.

Here is one last look at my discount store haul. To top it all off, when I went to pay, they told me if I give my email address I get 10% off my entire order!!!

I love finding good deals so much!! If you have a discount store near you, be sure to stop and take a look!!

Linking Up:

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Two Week Menu-Low Carb Eating On a Budget|How I Am Losing Weight

Most of my adult life I have struggled with keeping my weight in check. I have tried diet after diet after diet. I always felt so deprived while dieting. Most recently I have began a low carbohydrate way of eating and am loving it. I do not feel deprived or hungry. My goal is to eat 40 net carbs or under each day and I am using a free app on my phone to track my meals. So far I have lost 10 pounds in under a month with this way of eating. Even if you are not living a low carb lifestyle, this menu might give you some meal ideas!! 

FATHEAD PIZZA

2 WEEK MEAL PLAN

Tater Tot Casserole

(made w/ cauliflower tots & 98% fat free cream of mushroom)

BLT wraps

Burrito Bowls

Chicken Quesadillas

Rotisserie Chicken 

Ham & Cheese Roll Ups

Fathead Pizza

(using a crust crust recipe from Pinterest)

Baked Pork Chops

Polska Kielbasa with Sauerkraut

Bunless Burgers

Chicken Caesar Wraps

(all tortillas we eat are low carb)

**Plus we will have leftovers a couple nights**

After I have my menu made, I use it to make my grocery list. I have a fairly small grocery budget & find that making a menu & a list help tremendously. Now we are all set for another 2 weeks!

Linking Up:

Nifty Thrifty Things

My Spring/Easter Decor is Up!!

I am SO ready for spring!! Over the weekend I went ahead and put out all my decor. I just love the fresh, clean vibe this stuff gives a room! Over the past month or so I have been picking things up here & there as I have been shopping. I've found decor at Walmart, Dollar General, Gordmans, Ross, JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, and Target.

 I have recently changed my home decor to kind of a "farmhouse" style with a fairly neutral color scheme so my Spring/Easter decor goes along those lines as well. I am really happy with the way it all turned out!!

On to the photos :)

The old window came out of my grandparents' house. Chalkboard was a DIY. The sand timer & the white eggs are from Walmart. The Pray sign & little bird I found at Hobby Lobby, and the bunny came from Target.

The chalkboard here was from a garage sale, the bunny came from Ross, and the jar of beans with moss was a DIY.

The Hymn book I found at a thrift store. This cute basket came from Dollar General. The bunny & carrots I got at Walmart.

The coffee filter wreath is a DIY from forever ago. The chicken wire frame was a DIY using a thrift store frame. I made the cotton stems and wrapped twine around the old wine bottle. The little chalkboard was from Target dollar bins a year or two ago. The vintage camera was a thrift store find! The little tin I got at Walmart.

The small plant is just some stems I put in a thrift store basket. The big tin came from Gordmans in a set of 3 and came in copper. I painted it to look like galvanized metal & filled it with flowers from Walmart.

All from thrift stores except the tin with flowers. I stenciled the & sign on the wood tray.

The old metal thing that I think is a butter churn maybe?? came from a thrift store. The sign & bunny jar came from Walmart. They came out with some cute stuff this year!!

The tray here was from a Chalky & Company party I attended. Everything else was thrift store finds!

All the milk glass I have been collecting for years at garage sales & thrift stores. The BLOOM banner came from Target. I made the little yarn tassel garland.

The tobacco basket I was SUPER exited to find at Hobby Lobby. The plant inside the lantern was also from Hobby Lobby. The Lantern was from TJ Maxx. The market sign was an old metal sign I painted over & stenciled :)

This little table I bought at Hobby Lobby half off. The chalkboard, drawer, and metal orb thing were from there also. The planter came from TJ Maxx.

This tiered tray is probably one of my favorite things & came from Hobby Lobby. The pear & happy sign were also from Hobby Lobby. The bunny on top and the tiny bunnies came from Gordmans.

Whew!! Looks like I was all over the place!! But, I love how it turned out and hope you enjoy it too!

Check out my You Tube Channel!!

Linking up to:

Coastal Charm

Adventures of Mel

Nifty Thrifty Things