Being Frugal

I saw some really good ideas for cutting down on your grocery bill on a blog I follow. It's called Momadvice.com and the post is 35 ways to cut down your grocery bill. I'm not as good as some of you bloggers out there and don't know how to set up a link in this post. I'm also too lazy and tired to try and figure it out :)
So I never knew you could rinse your ground beef and get a lower fat content. You can buy the cheapest ground beef, cook it, rinse it a certain way (site tells you how), and it's like you bought the more expensive lean beef! I'm actually excited to learn this and will be trying it!
I also liked the idea of having a price book. I've gotten good at knowing what the prices are at Walmart of the things we buy the most. Then when I check the circulars from other stores, I can tell if matching the price is worth it or not. I haven't done a scientific analysis or anything ,but I'm thinking this saves us money :)
I've also decided to try the make your own mixes route (like syrup, salad dressings, and spice mixes) and make your cleaning supplies. I was surprised how simple her cleaning supplies are. Do they really clean well?
Also, I was checking out a friend's favorite blogs and read a story that is amazing! This lady says she goes shopping twice a year!! And she spends $150 each time!! They grow all their own veggies and fruit, have all these livestock for meat, milk, and eggs. If you'd like to read the story the link is www.handprintsonthewall.org/2008/05/09/the-true-queen-of-frugal.
I thought Wow! I'd kind of like to try that, but then I thought would I really want to live like that? I told Jeremy about it and he doesn't think it's true (about the $150 for each shopping trip)!
How do you save on your grocery bill?

Birthdays

We had two birthdays in our family, Jeremy and Ayden! (last month, May)
For Ayden's party we invited family over to eat cake and ice cream. Here's her cake...






She LOVES Oswald and Weinie!!!





















This is everyone in our small living room! I was hoping we could have gone to the playground, but it had rained that day :( I was surprised we had enough chairs for everyone!














Ayden was really great about being excited to open every present! She said Wow! and Yeah! for everything. I was unsure if she would be ready for the bike we got her, but she loved it. We have gotten alot of use out of it. Her favorite thing to do is ride down our driveway. It's down hill so she goes really fast!!
Jeremy's birthday took a few days to do mainly because of his schedule. We did our date thing one night, cake and ice cream another night, and then presents on another night! Here's another great photo of him...














I feel bad that he was holding his own cake to blow out the candles, but I wanted pictures too!
I have to tell about the funny thing that Jeremy did the other day! We were at a pack meeting and he couldn't hear the prayer very good. When the boy said he was thankful for Jesus Christ Jeremy thought it was the end of the prayer and said Amen. It was so funny!!! I couldn't help but laugh! This picture is great! These are some of the "posters" Jeremy's students made to hang up around his room. They all say how Coach Scott is the best and he rocks your socks off and stuff like that! He tries to act embarrassed about it, but I know he enjoys it!














Also I could use some ideas for the summer!!! Especially from those who live around here. I am feeling guilty of letting Asher play video games and watch tv all day. I scoured the internet for cheap/free things to do and haven't come up with much. Any ideas? Maybe I'm worried for nothing. The kids would probably be happy with going to our neighborhood pool everyday, but I feel like I need to plan a variety of activities for the days. Does anyone else feel that way?
Other than that it's the same old stuff :) Hope everyone is doing well!!