Monday, April 27, 2015

Our (not quite) Paleo Weekly Menu {april 27}


Our Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday -  Leftovers

Dinner @ HOME Group

Monday - Haystacks for my Birthday

Tuesday - Chicken Salad

Wednesday - Salmon, Collards, and Cantaloupe

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Paleo Italian Casserole

Saturday - Sandwiches with Carrots and Fruit

Dinner Out with Family

Sunday - Lunch Out with Family

Dinner @ HOME Group


School Lunches for Miss Coco: Hard boiled eggs and bacon x 2, Pizza Salad x 2, and Leftovers with apples or bananas, pretzels, and carrots on the side.




Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Our (not quite) Paleo Weekly Menu


Our Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday -  Carry Out Pizza

Dinner @ HOME Group (taking CCQ & Chips)

Monday - Nachos

Tuesday PW's Parmesan Zoodles with Fruit Salad

Wednesday - Collard-Wrapped Turkey Burgers with Salad and Fruit

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday Grilled Chicken Shawarma with Israeli Salad

Saturday - Pizza Salad for Lunch

Bacon and Eggs with Smoothies

Sunday - Leftovers

Dinner @ HOME Group


School Lunches for Miss Coco: Hard boiled eggs and bacon x 2, Pizza Salad x 2, and Leftovers with apples or bananas, pretzels, and carrots on the side.




Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Our (not quite) Paleo Weekly Menu

Our Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday -  B.A. Breakfast Sandwiches (not Paleo)

Dinner @ HOME Group

Monday - Paleo Italian Casserole with Fruit

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday Paleo Chicken Pad Sew Ew

Thursday Bacon & BBQ Burger Salad with Fruit

Friday - Black Bean Couscous Salad with Cheesy Burritos (on Cauliflower tortillas)

Saturday - Pizza Salad for Lunch

Salmon, Collards, & Fruit for Dinner

Sunday - Leftovers

Dinner @ HOME Group


School Lunches for Miss Coco: Hard boiled eggs and bacon x 2, Pizza Salad x 2, and Leftovers with apples or bananas, pretzels, and carrots on the side.




Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.

Friday, April 10, 2015

I Love Great Deals at Eleventh Avenue + 15% Off

Disclosure: The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on it.

Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is grab my cell phone, turn the alarm off, and check my email.  And every morning, I have about 10 or so promotional emails from various companies.

Most of them get deleted immediately, but there are a few that I must admit that I enjoy!

One of those is from a company called Eleventh Avenue.

If you haven't heard of this website yet, you should check it out.  They have so many awesome and creative daily deals, and if I had all the money in the world, I would definitely spend some of it here.  Okay, even if I didn't have all the money in the world, the prices are usually pretty good deals.

I also love Eleventh Avenue because they have something for everyone.  In other words, I could shop for myself and for gifts for friends and family all on the same site, while saving money!  I think I've seen at least a dozen things that I know my sister would love just in the past week or so.

Admittedly, I have not yet made a purchase from Eleventh Avenue, but I'd say that it's inevitable.  I have a personal policy of not endorsing or promoting products or brands on this blog unless I actually like the brand or have experience with the brand.  In this case, I think the products at Eleventh Avenue are awesome, but I haven't had any experiences with the company...yet.

My most favorite product this week was this one:



I had to show this to Alexander the Great immediately.  We both thought it was great!  Everyone uses the "eating for two" excuse, why shouldn't dads have one too?  Seriously, it's just so cute and funny.   And wouldn't this make the perfect baby shower gift?

I also love their deals on women's apparel, kids' clothes, and home decor.  Here's my latest pick in the home decor category at Eleventh Avenue:



I can't decide if I would choose the "He Has Risen" blocks (shown above) or the "Be Still" blocks.  I love all three options!  And I have the perfect place to put them in my house because we have this great built in bookshelf piece right as you walk in the door, and I could use the right decor to add to some of the shelves.


And right now, you can get a 15% off discount at Eleventh Avenue with discount code: SPRING15!  


Sunday, April 5, 2015

Our Weekly (not quite) Paleo Menu {April 5}

Our Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday -  Eating Out for Easter Lunch

Chicken Salad with Spinach Salad, Tomatoes, and Cottage Cheese

Monday - Leftovers for lunch (Mommy and Baby Prez)

Taco Soup with Salad for Dinner

Tuesday - Naked Breakfast Burritos with Fruit

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Crock Pot Paleo Chicken and Kale Soup

Friday - Paleo Chicken Pad Sew Ew

Saturday - Pizza Salad for Lunch

Paleo Italian Casserole

Sunday - Leftovers

Dinner @ HOME Group


School Lunches for Miss Coco: Leftover chicken salad, pizza salad x 2, hard boiled eggs and bacon x 2 with strawberries, apples, or bananas, pretzels, and carrots on the side.




Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Mission to Financial Freedom: March Budget Update

We Saved Over $3,000 in March for Mission to Financial Freedom


We have officially graduated from Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University!  But that means we are now on our own without the support group that we found in our class.  Nevertheless, we are sticking to our Mission to Financial Freedom.  Last month, we were able to save over $2,000, which was over $1,000 more than we had expected to save.

March was our second full month on the MFF plan, and I must admit that I was not as successful this month with keeping the cash envelopes going, but I'm definitely going to make the effort for April.

For March our goals were:
  1. Put at least $2,000 in savings.
  2. Pay off one student loan bill @ ~$4,300.
  3. Be on or under budget for the month.
  4. Finish and submit our taxes early. - In progress

Overall, I'd say that we were pretty successful at reaching our financial goals for the month.  Now, we just have to get our taxes submitted in the next two weeks!

Budgetwise, we were almost right on budget with most categories, but we were not as disciplined as in February.  Alexander the Great had a fantastic month and earned even more than expected, but my paychecks were less than expected because I didn't realize how much would be withheld for taxes.  Oops!  Overall though, we still came out ahead on the budget!  Yay!


We were over budget in the following areas:

  • Groceries - my nemesis.  ($11 over)
  • Household and Personal Care - I got some amazing deals at CVS, but the out-of-pocket was more than I had budgeted.  ($37 over)
  • Restaurants - Alexander the Great took the kiddos out a few times while I was in Indiana for a conference during the last weekend in March.  ($26 over)
  • School Lunch  ($13 over)
  • Natural Gas - Our budget amount was adjusted up.  Darn!  ($11 over)
  • Gas/Fuel - Probably explained by my impromptu trip to Kansas.  ($42 over)
  • Pharmacy - AKA Lice Treatment.  Gross.  ($25 over)

But, we were under budget in a few areas as well:
  • Cable/Internet - We got a new deal this month, which decreased our bill by $10.  ($10 under)
  • Clothing - No purchases, so $20 goes into the sinking fund for clothing!  It's garage sale season, so I'm hoping to pick up a few more things before Baby Girl arrives.  ($20 under)
  • Doctor Bills - I'm pretty sure this will go up next month, but this month, we ended up paying $22 less than we thought.  ($22 under)
  • Optometrist - Insurance ended up covering all of Miss Coco's optometrist appointment AND glasses.  ($500 under)
  • Life Insurance - We'll be starting with our life insurance in April instead of March.  ($75 under)
  • Daycare - ($20 under)
  • Entertainment - ($22 under)

We also added money to our sinking funds:
  • $50 to car repair and maintenance
  • $50 to car taxes and taxes
  • $40 to pet supplies
  • $75 to gifts
  • $20 to clothing

Thanks to our savings goals for the past three months, we have fully funded our $1,000 emergency fund, expected expenses for Baby Girl's arrival in June (prayers that there are no complications), insurance for Baby Girl until my new job starts in August, and moving expenses for the big move to South Carolina this summer.  It's so nice to know that those things are already taken care of.  We've also been able to set aside funds to start paying down debt after Baby Girl Harvey arrives!  In March, we saved over $3,000 towards these goals!

It feels amazing to see the amount in our savings account continue to increase each month...even more than expected in some cases!  But I'm also so very excited to start the debt paydown process in a few months.  I can't wait to see those debt snowball balances start to go down, down, down!

You can read more about our Mission to Financial Freedom HERE.






Thanks to PicMonkey for awesome photo editing online!

*This post may contain affiliate links.*

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

April Financial Goals {Mission to Financial Freedom}


March Financial Goals


In March, we had four major financial goals toward our Mission to Financial Freedom.
  1. Put at least $2,000 in savings.
  2. Pay off one student loan bill @ ~$4,300.
  3. Be on or under budget for the month.
  4. Finish and submit our taxes early. - In progress

April Financial Goals

For April, we have three major financial goals toward our Mission to Financial Freedom.  One is debt-related, one is savings-related, and one is budget-related.

Here are our April Financial Goals:
  1. Put at least $2,000 in savings.
  2. Be on or under budget for the month.
  3. Finish and submit our taxes early.

Overall, we are focused on savings right now instead of debt pay down, but we had one outstanding student bill that we wanted to get paid off right away.  The rest of the student loan balance will wait until this summer or early fall to start the debt snowball on it.

You can read more about our Mission to Financial Freedom HERE.

What are your financial goals for the month of March?



*This post may contain affiliate links.*

Our Weekly (not quite) Paleo Menu {March 30}

Our Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday -  Driving home...Mr. Harvey and Miss Coco on their own

Dinner @ HOME Group

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday Almond Crusted Paleo Chicken Strips with Sweet Potato Fries and Salad

Wednesday - Ground Beef Paleo Stroganoff with Spaghetti Squash and Salad

Thursday - Paleo Bacon & BBQ Burger Salad (making this ahead because I'll be a business reception)

Friday - Leftovers (since I'll be at a business dinner)

Saturday - Leftovers

Salmon, Collards, & Fruit for Dinner

Sunday - Eating Out for Easter Lunch

Chicken Salad with Spinach Salad, Tomatoes, and Cottage Cheese


I also want to check out these Paleo cookbooks: Against All Grain by Danielle Walker and Make Ahead Paleo by Tammy Credicott!





Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.