On the Move again

Sometimes when I blog here I feel almost that I have to write about all things cheap…and well my life and  lifestlye and how I am growing and changing are so much more then how to find things on the cheap….so I have decided to switch gears with my blog, and pour more of me into it…with that said I invite you to read my new blog at http://lifeandthoughts.wordpress.com/.

Mother’s Day — Lets think of FREE Ways to Show We Care

Well Mom’s Day is around the corner and well Im cheap and a mom who has a mom so of course I want to show my mom I care but I want to be frugal about it!

So what are some options for me?

1. Write your mom a poem perhaps a haiku about what she means to you.

2. Make a card( or ecard ) There are lots of sites for help with this one.

3. Get a canvas and paint her a picture

4.Decorate a small glass vase or perhaps a cup..you can fill it with flowers you pick.

5. Clean the house

6. Invite her to do one of her favorite activities whether it is a game of Scrabble, doing a puzzle, playing a card game, going for a walk.

7. Give your mom a manicure (great for tween girls to do).

Now what am I really doing well…. for my mom she is getting  a framed pic of me and Roo and the frame was decorated by Roo.

I wonder what Roo is going to do? Well I hope you all have a great day on Sunday and dont forget your Mom’s.

Menu Monday–Being Frugal and Healthy

Well here it is Monday again and time for me to plan my menu but wait..what has changed from last week. I have decided that I am tired of being the fat cheap momma. I am now the frugal healthy melting momma. I am using the Isagenixprogram to help me melt. So two of my meals a day are meal replaced with yummy chocolate shakes. Yes they do taste good! With that said I am replacing breakfast and lunch with them and having a healthy dinner with Roo while still watching my budget…after all my cheap, um frugal habits arent going anywhere. Roo is taking the Isakids multi Vitamin and getting a well balanced diet after all she is ten.

So avaiblabe for Roo for breakfast

Cereal( Rice Krispes, MultiGrain Cherrios or Corn Flakes), eggs, wholewheat toast, orange juice and maybe whole grain pancakes on Saturday. Fresh fruit: mango, strawberries, apples, and grapes are in the house.

For lunch ( she eats at school)- bagels, wholewheat rolls, cooked ham, turkey meat,chicken, cheese, yogurt tubes, salad fixings, and serving size pudding or fruit cups are in the house. As well chicken noodle soup or pasta are available too.

For our dinner menu-

Monday-Grilled chicken breast salad–making this with spinach leaves, chicken breast( sale item), tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, a 1/2 cup of croutons and a low fat dressing….lucky for me Roo loves salad!

Tuesday-Turkey Sausage(again sale item), wholegrain brown rice, broccoli

Wednesday-  Easy Veggie Chili with TVP, roll

Thursday- Chesse Omelettes, tomato slices

Friday-Homemade Cheese Pizza and a garden salad

Saturday- we have been invited out

Sunday- TVP taco salad

Now if you want to follow my journey as I melt you can read me over at Life and Times of a Melting momma. I will be blogging my journey to that healthier me.  For now I am off to fellow blogger, Canuck, and great giveaway host Laura’s to read what everyone is cooking this week.Thanks again for  the task manager Laura!

Menu Monday- More Cheap Cooking

With me really trying to tighten my budget with goals in mind.  Here is my Menu for the week.

Breakfasts-

oatmeal, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Waffles, orange juice

Lunches-

cooked ham, PB and J, chicken noodle soup, salald, lentil soup, bagel pizza

Monday-Veggie Noodle Chili, and biscuts

Tuesday-spaghetti pie and salad 

Wednesday-eggs, bagels, tomato

Thursday-leftovers

Friday-BBQ (hotdogs) and potato chips

Saturday- TVP  tacos

Sunday- Tuna casserolle, and salad

Now I am off to here to see what is cooking for everyone else this week.

Summer Vacation Planning on the Cheap

Roo and I are busy planning our summer and it looks like it may be a busy one..So far I have registered her for 1 week of sleep away ( got this for $50 because I applied early). I will be registering for one week of day camp as well and that will cost me another $50. Besides these two weeks of camp for Roo we will hopefully taking advantage of Via’s Great Summer Rates….kids go FREE! So for me and Roo to travel to Nova Scotia will cost us $349.26! It will be our very first family vacation. Roo has never been away for more then a weekend of camping.

We will stay with family so no accomodation expenses, things that are must do’s on our list:

-jaunt over to Prince Edward Island on the ferry and head to the National Park to the land of Anne of Green Gables. In grade 4 this year Roo has written about L M Montgomery and the island for 2 different projects.( Cost $70 ferry & $21 park entrance).

-Pier 21($13.50 for us 2) where Roo can learn about Canadian immigration and Citadel Hill both in Halifax (Family$30)

-The Bay of Fundy is another must hit.(free)

So we are looking at about $500 plus our train and we get our first family vacation in 10 years…

How are we going to afford it?  GST ($150), First ontario childtax credit($50), garage sale ($75?), saving $20 a check between now and then ($240), which should get us there…. so come late July we should be there, and be there for Natal Day(a Nova Scotia Holiday)….

Now thinking of summer there are lots of great Canadian spots to see. In my days before Roo I had travelling feet so what are my favorite Canadian spots or events?

• Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia—a great spot to see the Atlantic from.
• The Saint Lawrence Seaway–take a trip down the locks, this is a family history site as family land was taken to create these.
• Algonquin National Park–I love to canoe the lakes here.
• Stanley Park in Vancouver BC–you can get lost in here forever…It was here I first looked to the west and beyond.
• Banff and Jasper are equal in great places to see in Alberta.

As for events:

• The Busker Fest in Halifax–I volunteered at this event in its founding days and it still is a great festival.
• The Canadian National Ex in Toronto-a family favorite!
• Luminatio in Toronto-a new event in Toronto that celebrates the arts and its FREE for lots of great family fun.

There are lots of great ways to vacation here in Canada on the cheap. So get and enjoy this great place.

Works for Me Wednesday- Losing the Landline

Have you ever had one of those days? Mine started off like that today. I was writing this post when down goes the computer and I lost everything. It was a frustrating moment.But I took a deep breath and thought maybe I need a computer break so since it is a beautiful day here in Toronto I decided to take a short walk.

Now that I am home I can write about what is working for our family at this point in time-that is losing or better put getting rid of the landline. For our tiny family that is on the go it makes more sense to have a cell phone. So while I was at Lifefest we visited the Rogers booth we got great deals on phones ( they were FREE) and a good family plan. Roo has her own phone. This is used for her walking back and forth to school and for when I am out of the house (I really like her having her own phone with her for safety reasons here in Toronto). I have my phone-went with the Blackberry Pearl and it is a great deal and phone for me since it too was FREE. We went with a family plan so we share minutes and have FREE local calling after 6pm. We (meaning ME) have 1000 Canadian long distance minutes a month as well. With my mom in hospital and me job hunting it simply made more sense go goodbye landline and hello Family Plan.

Well I off to go and read over at what is working for everyone else over at Rocks in My Dryer. If you want read what is working for a hundred or more bloggers go here.

Menu Monday and Cheap Cooking

I am really trying to tighten my budget when it comes to grocery shoping. So going to try and cook on the cheap, the real cheap. Why? I want to save money for our first family vacation in 10 years.

So here is the menu for this week….

Monday-Kraft dinner and hotdogs, broccoli ($2)

Tuesday-Sweet and Sour Tofu, rice,red peppers($3)

Wednesday-Meatloaf, mashed potatoes,corn($5)

Thursday-Leftovers($0)

Friday-Cheese Pizza, and salad($5)

Saturday-Kid Pleasing Spaghetti, and Salad($4)

Sunday-BBQ Chicken Pieces, rice, carrots($3)

Now I am off to Laura’s to see what is cooking for everyone else.