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Dillons Transaction #1 2 Pull-Ups – $8.99 each (On Sale Buy 2, Get $5 catalina), use 2 $3/1 printable - $5.99 each after coupons 6 Giant Green canned Green Beans (On Sale Buy 6, Get $3 catalina) – $1 each Total: $17.98, Received $8 back in catalinas Transaction #2 2 Quaker Granola Bars – $1.67 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum insert – $0.67 each after coupons 2 Nabisco Triscuits – $1.99 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 4/13 SmartSource insert – $0.99 each after coupons 1 Kroger Donuts – Marked down to $0.59 1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99 1.08 lbs Broccoli Crowns @ $1.59/lb – $1.72 1 Kroger Barbecue Sauce – $0.89 1.09 lbs Tomatoes @ $0.99/lb – $1.08 1 Green Bell Pepper – $0.89 1 Clif Bar – $1, used Free catalina coupon – Free after coupon 2 Horizon Mac & Cheese – $1 each 1 Kroger Unbleached Flour – $1.99 1 Kroger Butter Quarters – $2.50, used $0.40/1 mailer coupon – $2.10 after coupon 2 lbs Sterling Silver Ground Beef – $3.99 each 1 Tyson Frozen Chicken Breasts – $7.47, used $1/1 printable - $6.47 after coupon 3 Breyers Ice Cream – $2.99, used $3/3 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum inset – $1.99 each after coupon (Such a great price for one of our favorite brands of ice cream!) 1 gallon Dillons Milk – $2.79 1 Kroger Cheddar Cheese – $1.99 Used $8 catalinas from Transaction #1 Total after coupons and catalina: $32.77 Total for both transactions: $50.75 Menu Plan for this Week Breakfasts Cereal, Banana Muffins, Baked Oatmeal, Applesauce Lunches Cheese Quesadillas, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Macaroni and Cheese, Tossed Salad, Cheese/Crackers/Veggies Dinners Salad Bar, Peaches (We canned these last fall.) Chicken Fajitas, Peas Hamburgers, Chips, Tossed Salad Breakfast for dinner (Pancakes, Eggs, etc) Grilled Pizza, Steamed Broccoli Leftovers Dinner with friends Need printer ink? Visit CompAndSave.com for an exclusive $1 ink sale for Money Saving Mom® followers!  My coffee table right now: a book I loved (Bread & Wine), a book I can’t wait to read (The Nesting Place), flowers I bought for a song, and fingerprints from little people I cherish. Love it!
It’s been an interesting and full few days. I flew home with Kaitlynn and Silas on Sunday while Jesse and Kathrynne stayed back for Jesse to tie up a few loose ends with his business in Kansas. He and Kathrynne drove our second vehicle back on Tuesday afternoon/evening. They arrived home around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning… and we were SO glad to see them (And I breathed a sigh of relief as it was hard for me to be at home waiting up for them while they were driving at night hoping they stayed safe!) We all slept in late on Wednesday morning and then got up and around quickly for the busy day ahead of us. We had a big strategy/planning meeting scheduled with the new publicity team we recently started working with here in TN and my business manager, Joy, was flying in from Colorado for that. Our friend, Lexi, came over to watch our kids while Jesse, Brian (my other business manager), Joy, and I headed to downtown Nashville for the all-afternoon meeting. We are so excited to be working with this publicity team and we all pretty much instantly connected and bonded! In fact, and in a very short time, we were talking about our love languages, crazy quirks, swooning over Aldi, and introducing one of the gals who wasn’t feeling well to essential oils. In between all that, we also mapped out some short-term and long-term plans for the business. It’s always fun to brainstorm, discuss, and dream! While we don’t know what all the future holds, we are so honored to be working with such an people in this journey. I love how many people I get to work with who challenge me to think big, aim high, keep growing and learning, and strive for excellence. After the publicity meeting, Joy, Brian, Traci (Brian’s incredible wife) and their son came over to our house and we all hung out, ate P.F. Chang’s, laughed over crazy things, shared our hearts, and did a lot more business brainstorming. I am so grateful for the wisdom and experience Brian and Joy bring to MoneySavingMom.com as my business managers, but, more importantly, I am so grateful for how they (and their spouses) pour into our lives and love us for exactly who we are and yet challenge us to be the best we can be. Friendships like these are such a gift… and ones we don’t take lightly!  Breakfast courtesy of Kaitlynn this morning
By Wednesday evening, we were all exhausted and we went to bed early and got a really good night’s rest (which felt SO good!). Kaitlynn made bacon and eggs for breakfast for us this morning (her first time to make breakfast all by herself — I was so proud of her!) and then we spent the morning and afternoon hanging out as a family, reading together, working on homeschool lessons, cleaning the house, and taking care of some other random things that needed to be done.  Waiting to board our flight at the Nashville airport.
Joy came over in the afternoon to meet with Jesse about some projects they are working on while I packed and got ready to leave for the Teach Them Diligently conference that I’m speaking at in DC this weekend. Joy and I left for the airport around 3 p.m. to catch our flight to DC tonight. By the way, while the Nashville airport takes a little more time to get to and navigate, it’s so nice to now have the option of direct flights to some cities! Direct flights were almost unheard of in Kansas and getting to DC would have taken me at least half a day, as opposed to a few hours! I’m excited to be speaking twice tomorrow and twice again on Saturday and I look forward to meeting some of you at the conference. {If you’re attending, be sure to come find me after one of my sessions or stop by our booth. One of my very favorite things about speaking at conferences is getting to meet my readers!} Need printer ink? Visit CompAndSave.com for an exclusive $1 ink sale for Money Saving Mom® followers! 
 I’ve been SUPER excited about this giveaway. In fact, I couldn’t wait to share it with you, so I went ahead and posted about the Give, Save, Spend Wallets for Kids a few weeks ago, because we have loved the items we’ve gotten from this company!
A Time for Everything is a blog and handmade business run by a husband and wife who are passionate about people living on a budget and becoming and remaining debt-free.  Since Melissa is also convinced that having a pretty wallet to organize cash categories helps keep the joy in the process, she has designed several different styles from very basic to full-feature so that just about anyone can find something that suits her taste, needs, and budget. In their shop, you’ll also find coordinating accessories and products for kids. All items are made from designer laminated cotton which is lightweight yet very durable, CPSIA compliant, and free of BPA, PVC, and phthalates.  Ten readers will each receive the following set of products from A Time for Everything: Divide-It cash envelope system wallet in choice of any available fabric 
Melissa sent me one of these Divide-It Cash Envelope Systems and I have truly loved using it. Not only is it so cute and fun to use, but it’s also very durable. It makes using cash simple and easy! No more messing with ripped or falling apart envelopes! 
GET FREE SHIPPING — THIS WEEKEND ONLY! From May 15-17, MoneySavingMom.com readers can receive free shipping from A Time for Everything! Click “Apply shop coupon code” at checkout and enter MSMOM. (Free shipping applies to domestic orders only, but international customers may leave a note at checkout requesting a refund equal to the shipping amount a U.S. customer would save on that order.) In addition, anyone who subscribes to AT4E’s newsletter will receive a free set of black & white printable spending logs after clicking the confirmation email. 
I would also highly recommend checking out the Give, Save, and Spend Wallets for Kids. My kids love these! See more pictures of them here. Want to know more about A Time for Everything? Check out their website (this will be home to their shop later this year), or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. Would you like to win a Divide-It Cash Envelope System? Just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address to be entered to win. This giveaway ends Saturday, May 17, at 11:59 pm, CST. 
Need printer ink? Visit CompAndSave.com for an exclusive $1 ink sale for Money Saving Mom® followers! 
Guest post from Katie of Embracing a Simpler Life It's the same old story; a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear. My kids, and most kids I presume, have an over-abundance of toys. Nonetheless, they eventually lose interest. There they stand, bored, surrounded by a room full of delights. We're left wondering what else we could buy to keep them entertained. Over the years, I've resisted this temptation out of both necessity and principle. Instead, I've experimented with how to re-interest them in their toys. Here is what I've found helpful: 1. Give toys a sabbatical. This tried and true method is one of the best I've found. Box up toys and stick them in closet. After a few months, trade them out for others. This takes only a small effort and works wonders in reestablishing interest. 2. Pretend play with your children. Kids need new ideas for old toys, not new toys for old ideas. Fifteen minutes of fully engaged, imaginative play on your part will likely produce hours of new material for your kids. They never imagined that basket as an oven or those blocks as cake. They never saw the afghan as a picnic blanket or the stacking cups as teacups. Open their eyes to new possibilities through pretend play. 3. Assign toys to various different spots around the house. Restricting toys to certain areas allows children to change environments throughout the day. My daughter plays dress up in her room, cars in her brother's room, puzzles in the family room, coloring and stickers in the kitchen, etc. Also, feel free to switch toys from room to room every so often. Seeing them in a new environment gives toys new life. 4. Reinvent them. Figure out which toys would work in the bathtub, even if that's not their original purpose. Which would work with play dough? Allow children to explore new applications of their existing toys. 5. Make accessories for toys together. One of my fondest memories of my grandmother was when she and I made a baby doll bed from an empty oatmeal canister. This was a special memory, totally free, and it piqued my interest in baby dolls for months to come. My dad tells stories of taping cardboard boxes to his Radio Flyer wagon and decorating them to look like race cars. Simple paper and cardboard accessories can be a great way to expand the use of toys without buying new ones. How do you build your kids' interest in old toys? Hi! I'm Katie. I'm a young-ish, stay-at-home mom of two adorably-fun little ones, and I live a life devoted to Jesus. I love to write, and I focus my energy on living simply and well. My husband works for our church as a tech guy, I blog at Embracing a Simpler Life, and together we have a photography business.
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