Showing posts with label Steal a Deal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steal a Deal. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Budget Busting Meal Plans

A few years back my Husband Eric and I were looking at our lives through the eyes of newlyweds. One of the realities you have to face when you get married is; what's his is mine and what's mine is his. This includes your debt.

 
We were blessed that our debt was smaller than most newly weds as I had no college loans to speak of at the time of our marriage, and our wedding was cash-flowed. A few months in we took part in a 12 week Financial course produced and hosted by Dave Ramsey called Financial Peace University. Our focused turned quickly to loan payments and soon we'd brought our debt down to one last loan. (One day I want to blog about our journey to "debt free.")

 
Part two of being a newlywed, mostly as a wife, is the realization that you can no longer stock the cupboard with Ramen Noodles and canned Tuna. I was fortunate to get several "newlywed" cookbooks that taught me basic skills and easy meals.

Two and a half years later, Meal Planning is a part of my weekly routine. Every Thursday I get all the flyers for local grocers and make my list of meals for the week. This often ends in us eating the same meals on a two week rotation and buying more than we need or use. I often feel I walk out of the store spending way too much on things that will just end up in the trash because I forgot to use them.

As a rule, our family measures our financial decisions against the wisdom of Dave Ramsey. Yes, we realize and accept that he is not prefect nor the end-all to every financial question. That is why I say we "measure" our decisions against his wisdom but we have found many of his tools and recommendations very helpful to our family.

So what does Food and Dave Ramsey have to do with each other?


Dave Ramsey Recommends eMeals

"Food is the biggest budget buster of all. I’ve wanted someone to create a practical solution to the 'beans and rice, rice and beans' dilemma. Finally... eMeals has done it! Now thousands of my listeners subscribe to eMeals. You will save a ton of time and money." - Dave Ramsey

eMeals is an online service that allows you to pick a meal plan based on your dietary preferences, your cooking style, the number of people in your family, and the grocery stores you frequent. In addition to giving you a weekly meal plan, it also provides a detailed grocery list, all for $5 a month!

http://emeals.com/how-it-works/

Oh but you know me - I need a deal! So check out this great Groupon for 50% off your membership!
So we Signed up! With our Groupon the cost of eMeals is $2.42 per month. Several of our friends are taking part as well and rave about the plans. Here are the options you can currently choose from on eMeals:
 
Dinner Plans               Lunch Plans          Breakfast Plans             Dessert Plans
Gluten Free                 Low Carb              Low Fat                         Low Calorie
Portion Control           Vegetarian             Natural and Organic     Clean Eating
Paleo                           Mediterranean        Simple Gourmet           Vegetarian
 
As a part of each plan, you receive a grocery list, new recipes each week, and you can change your meal plan Once a month if you don't like the plan you're doing. eMeals states you will spend between $75-$85 a week on groceries for a family of 3-6 ($50-$75 for a family of 2-3).

So, coming this week, our Journey in eMeals begins. Follow my eMeals Tag for updates, or you can find the link at the top in my Blog Menu for posts specific to this journey. I will be tracking our spending, meals we enjoy, as well as the benefits of having the hard work done for me.

You can find more information about eMeals by clicking Here or you can see my eMeals link on the side of my blog. Click the link to Follow by email of subscribe to my blog for all my updates!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Dining Room Makeover

Earlier, in my Steal a Deal post, I showed you all the beautiful light fixture I got for a steal at Lowes. This is part of our home-makeover I mentioned in Home is Where the Heart Is. With a Please and a Kiss I convinced Eric to install the new fixture this evening for us and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

Here are some pictures of our dining room makeover for your enjoyment.

Before



During









After




Everything feels so much warmer. With the open concept into the living room, the warm light from the new fixture just makes everything so much more at-home! Thanks Eric for helping me and putting up with my oh-maybe-it-should-go-over-there-ness.

Total price of this makeover:
Mirror $25
Fixture $17
Centerpiece $3 (a thrift find!)
Tablecloth $8

Total: $53

More makeovers to come!

Steal A Deal

Friday is my thrifting day. You can read all about my thrifting tips in my Thrifty Housewife post. After dropping Eric at work, it's off to the thrift shop! The ladies there have started to know me by name... and snag me good deals. Today I went in searching for a few key items to add to our home decor. I really only came out with one "home" item but it was still a good deal!

Check it out!


The Throw Pillow came in at $1.45, the clothes at $5.00 and the iron board $2.02 (and it's the perfect size for our tiny place). I'm excited about the maxi dress as it is the first one I have ever worn and it's so cute!!

I'm not sure what the Akerman t-shirt is... I found a law firm in our area with the name. But the shirt was almost new and super cheap. Just one more to add to the closet makeover!

Next I headed to Lowes. I talked yesterday about the updating we are doing to our Condo to make it feel more at-home for us in my Home is Where the Heart is post. My mom and I did a little research and found a few light fixtures on sale online. I found the one I liked the most at Lowes today but it wasn't on sale in store :( but that didn't stop me...


I asked the electrician to check the price online and sure enough it was on sale!! Then trouble #2 arose as they didn't have any in stock...BUT there was one on Display! He ended up selling me the whole fixture for $17.00 even, a $54.96 difference (enter shocked face here).

So those are my Steal a Deals for today. Maybe I'll update later with pictures of Eric hanging the light... (best deal ever, I buy - he installs).