{thankful vol. 18} killer deals

There's one thing my mom taught me that I will be forever grateful for: how to bargain shop and appreciate a good deal.  

Saturday morning I had a coupon from Bath & Body Works and a great friend to accompany me who unlocked a whole new deal of the day.  We first powered through B&BW.  I have to admit that this is actually one of my least favorite stores because I just can't handle how many smells they have!  However, I desperately needed some new hand soap for our house along with some festive candles to make it feel "cheery and bright".  

I walked out with 2 new candles, 4 new soaps, 1 room spray, and 1 wallflower refill (not pictures because I am currently enjoying the beautiful aroma).  My grand total was $23!  I felt like I robbed the place given that the candles originally are $10 and soaps are $5.50.  Oh yes, I left with a huge smile on my face knowing momma would be proud! 

My sweet friend delivered better news when she told me that Old Nave was offering 75% off of their outerwear for five hours that day.  I went in to just browse and came out with a beautiful white coat for myself and an adorable little gift for my niece (not pictured since it's a Christmas present).  

Okay, so the coat was originally $90 and I bought it for....drumroll please.....$22.50!!!  I was so proud of myself that I had to call my mom after to get her stamp of approval.  She was definitely proud!  

I can barely stand paying full price for anything, especially when it comes to clothes, nowadays.  The feeling of success when you walk out with a killer deal is far greater than just loving what you bought.  And so today I am extremely thankful for my mom who taught me how to look for deals and appreciate them like crazy, the "wintery" smells flowing through our home, and the cute little coat that I proudly wore out on date night! 

SSF: the rule breakers

Another week of the September Spending Freeze is down!  I wish that I could say that I had another super successful week, but I can't.  

Let me start with this: the week started off amazing!  I kept my head in the game, listened to my wants vs. needs, and definitely resisted the urge to run to Starbucks to get a pumpkin spice latte.  

Then, Wednesday happened.  I had been getting over a cold, Daniel was starting to feel sick, class went late, I hit traffic, was running on 4 hours of sleep (long story), and neither one of us was in the mood to cook.  Plus, my stomach was screaming "FEED ME"!  So, we ran to Panera Bread and got some scrumptious soup.  Therefore, we broke the "no eating out" rule.  

Then, I caved again this morning.  I was picking up a coffee for my boss for her birthday, had left my coffee mug at home, and temptation for a latte won over.  

There you go!  I definitely fudged on two rules.  Knowing that we broke the rules is slightly frustrating, but I don't plan on breaking another one for the rest of the month.  AND, I'm half-way there!  

This week I wanted to focus on one way that we have enjoyed the Spending Freeze: cooking!  I love to cook, it definitely is a stress relief for me, but sometimes I get bored with the meal planning and cooking the same things.  I decided to try new recipes so that I had something to look forward to.  Since we're not eating out, I decided we needed to spice things up a bit!

Monday Dinner: Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema.  This is actually a big favorite in the LaFuze household from Cooking Light.  

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff...in the Crock Pot!!!!  I was so excited to pull it my best friend:

Comfort meals to me include beef stroganoff.  My mom would make it using cream of mushroom soup, and I loved every bite of it.  Then, I found out she made it so much because it was such a cheap meal!  I haven't had it in years, so when I saw this crock pot recipe I could not wait to get my hands onto it.  

The best part was that the husband put everything together in the crock pot for me before he left for work.  All I had to do was boil the pasta when I got home and stir in some greek yogurt into the mix.  

I was slightly apprehensive...and I decided to play around with the computer this night for your enjoyment...

It was amazing!  When the husband got home later he tried it out and was surprised at how well it turned out!  It is definitely going into the recipe box.

Tip: After a meal I always package them up into separate containers so that the husband and I have easy access to leftovers for lunch at work.  I always love opening the fridge in the morning without a care of what to make for lunch.  I especially love taking scrumptious food to work!

Thursday: Mexican Quinoa with Grilled Chicken

We have made this recipe in the past, and the reason why I love it so much is that it not only tastes good but it also requires a lot of ingredients that I have already.  I just grilled up some chicken while it cooked, and voila!  Dinner was done!  

Leftovers were packaged up for tomorrow's lunch!  

Even though we didn't stick through all of our rules this week, I would say that it still was a success!  $15 on dinner and $3 on coffee only sets me back $18 this week.  

This week it seemed as though a bunch of added expenses popped up and it felt as though all of the money that we were saving went towards these.  My car needed new brakes and the computer needed a new cord :(

15 more days to go!!!