I have left a huge absence in my blog lately, but I am back, at least for today. So I have made a commitment to myself to be especially frugal with my household shopping the next month. I’ll probably do the same after the month, but it’s always best for me to set short, attainable goals.

Some of my “rules”:

1. I can never go over the food/household/cat budget.

2. My goal is to come under budget. By how much is dependent on sales and weekly needs.

3. Find inexpensive, easy-to-make snacks and drinks at home to cut down on costs.

4. Every week, buy another new household cleaning product that is all-natural and non-toxic in order to replace the current toxic kind I have on hand.

Alright, so the last one isn’t really to help me be more frugal, but I have been planning on doing this for a long time. I started last week with laundry detergent, and, this week, it was dishwasher detergent. It’s been totally attainable, even with my frugal budget.

So, here’s my menu this week. Enjoy!

Dinners:
*Seared chicken and veggies, tossed with fresh chopped parsley and a Thai black pepper sauce
*Teriyaki Chicken bowls
*Eric’s manly meal– Sweet bell pepper and onion sausage, in small blackened pieces, pan fried potato pieces and a dark irish stout
*Gnocchi in a gorgonzola sauce, leftover blackened sausage pieces, and caramelized leeks (all together in a bowl)
*Asian salad w/ mandarin oranges and wontons
*Shredded chicken tossed with spinach and an olive tapenade – all wrapped in an olive oil wrap
*Leftover (or find whatever’s in the pantry) night

Snacks:
*Cake mix cookies (made with 1 box yellow cake mix, 1 egg, 1/2 c. soy butter)
*Horchata (see this recipe)–It tastes amazing, and it’s so easy!
*Celery and peanut butter, topped with just a dash of sugar

~Also, I have recently discovered my own lactose intolerance, so I’m kinda new to this. If any of you have any good tips on dairy free menus, that would be so helpful. Thanks!~

So I was in line on Wednesday waiting for my free pie (thanks to National Pie Day, Baker’s Square and a coupon from the Sunday newspaper), and I quickly noticed how bad the behavior was of so many of the people were at the counter. The poor restaurant was almost out of pie, so our choices for free pie were very slim. Somehow, the people up there getting their free pie had the gumption to act frustrated about the limited choices, as if they were somehow deserving of great service and loads of free pie! My mind turned to how easy it is to lose an attitude of thankfulness that we are able to save money and be frugal. It is a privilege that we have anything as much as we do!

That night I went home and was playing on our piano and ran across an old favorite song of mine. It struck me (yet again) at how poignantly it speaks to the issue of gratitude. Please read and enjoy these lyrics. For those of you wishing to find this song it is sung by Nichole Nordeman on the album “Woven and Spun”. Here is the aptly named “Gratitude”.

Send some rain, would You send some rain
‘Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But, Jesus would You please

So….last week I made mention on selling books. As of thursday night, I’ve sold 8 books and made $58. It’s so exciting to make money from a desire to get rid of clutter!

As far as the deals, I’ve found some good ones recently.

*Share Senseo–I answered a few questions and am receiving a free Senseo coffee maker and bag of coffee pods for only the cost of shipping!

*Free soyjoy bar! Check your Smart Source coupons from this last Sunday’s newspaper. There’s a coupon for a free Soyjoy bar. No purchase necessary.

*Free Peet’s coffee drink if you signup for their newsletter in store. They’ll email you a coupon for a free drink!

*Target deal–They’re selling 3-packs of both Secret Platinum Protection and Old Spice High Endurance for $3.99. I know that it’s possible to find it for cheaper if you have a CVS nearby, but, as I am unlucky in that area, this is the best deal I’ve found around here!

*Old Navy major clearance sale–You can get some great deals at these sales. I’ve walked away with shirts for pennies. Literally. Check it out here.

Let me know if you see any more deals. Enjoy!