We've Made It Through Another Week!

Happy Friday! I don't know of anyone who doesn't look forward to the weekend, some well-deserved time off!

Even as a mom who stays at home, I tend to be more motivated about having all my little 'chores' done so I can enjoy the weekend, too, with my husband and kids. Nothing like doing laundry or mopping floors while everyone else is enjoying themselves - no way, not me!

Besides the time off and having the family at home, another thing we really look forward to on the weekend is eating out. That may sound strange to a lot of you, but as a mom committed to savings, we have allotted in our budget only one day a week for eating meals outside the home. It's been a very positive change for us both financially, and appreciatively. The kids really see it as a privilege now, and recognize how it can potentially turn into mindless spending by stopping at the drive thru multiple times a week. We do have food at home, you know!


You've probably all seen the TGI Friday's 'buy one entree get one free' promotion (click to grab your coupon!). Buy one get one free? What a great deal! This is the last weekend, though, so take advantage of it while you can, it expires March 1.

Sometimes these kind of deals aren't always so obvious, but they do exist.
Sweet Tomatoes has a program called 'Club Veg'. You sign up with your e-mail so that they can send you, in addition to what's new on their menu, special offers and special savings opportunities. If you've not heard of Sweet Tomatoes before now, it's an all you can eat, salad and fresh food extravaganza! Build your own salad with fresh produce, hot, freshly-tossed pastas, right from the oven baked goods, fresh fruit, and lots more. Ok, sorry about the pitch, but it's one of my favorite places to go! Anyway....my point is, by signing up with their 'Club Veg' program, I've been receiving in my inbox pretty much every week now, printable coupons to come on in and 'buy one get one free'. It's not advertised on TV, or even in their restaraunt, but that's my other point. There are great deals to be had if you look for them! It could be as simple as signing up with an e-mail program.

Have a great, relaxing, money-saving weekend! And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Back From Hiatus

I went off the radar for awhile, but as you know, life happens! Sometimes you have to reprioritize, and when you have a family, I'm sure you also know that they go straight to the top of the list!

My 7th and 8th grade kids are now being homeschooled which at first, took a big chunk of my time. I'm not presenting all of their lessons or curriculum to them, just more of a 'teacher aide'. I enrolled them into Arizona Virtual Academy, http://www.azva.com/, (K12 curriculum available in a public school format available in most states http://www.k12.com/). They provide students with computers to use while learning at home, beautifully designed and formatted, engaging, on-line curriculum that is not only nationally accredited, but meets the national standard of where kids should be learning-wise at their grade level (I found that kids in enrolled in public schools in our state, unless they are in honors courses, are about 1 year behind the national average). And, all the text books, science lab supplies, novels, etc. needed for a successful school year.

I last blogged about my need to lose weight. I'm still in the same predicament, though, with a new, refreshed attitude. Sometimes I get so focused on one thing, that I can't do anything well. So now I'm focusing more on doing only what I am capable of doing at that time, and doing it well. My kids are in a productive routine with their at-home schooling, my house is much cleaner, my eating habits are greatly improved, and I'm back on the treadmill again. Whew!

Accomplishing tasks in well thought-out baby steps generate much more success for me than trying to accomplish big things all at once. Slow and steady always wins the race!

Well, back on track here. Hope you all have had great successes and inspirations as well.

See you tomorrow, and as always, thanks for stopping by!