Savings, Savings, Savings!!

Another great summer week of fun and savings!  Here's what I was up to this week:

Made 8 small loaves of french bread.  Also made my sourdough bread starter.

Made chocolate pudding pops by adding 1/2 container of Cool Whip to homemade chocolate pudding.
Also experimented with the recipe to make vanilla (it still needs some work, but wasn't bad for a first try).

Went to the Springs Preserve with some friends using our annual membership, we have gone enough for it to pay for itself.

Used a $50 gift card to Babies R Us I received to get baby formula and swim diapers.  I found reusable ones that were on sale so I got 2 for the price of one package of the disposable ones.

Found 12 packs of mason jars much cheaper at Winco so I bought half pints for $7.98, pint for $6.98, and quart for $8.98 and returned the ones bought a JoAnn's last week.  I have a multitude of intended uses for these: candle jars, sugar scrub jars, food storage, etc.  I had leftover soup and used the half pint freezer safe jars to store the leftovers in the freezer for a quick lunch.

I got my oil changed for free with my service plan on my vehicle.  My dealership is in Henderson, so we took advantage of the trip south to also visit Hobby Lobby and the Henderson Chuck E Cheese (the one closest to our house had some health code issues a few months ago so I am avoiding it).  Austin had earned a trip there at the end of the school year, so I was finally able to take him.

We didn't eat out for dinner all week, but Austin and I ate out for lunch 3 times.  However, it wasn't very expensive with just the 2 of us.  I needed a break from the extra cooking and cleaning that eating at home all day brings.

I was craving guacamole but I didn't realize we ran out of chips, so I made my own by baking sliced corn tortillas and lightly spraying them with oil and a sprinkle of salt.

I cut my bangs, getting a little more confident at doing this!

Took Austin to the free kids workshop at Home Depot last Saturday, they made Lucy's Car from Despicable Me 2.

We went to the Shark Reef with some teacher friends and their kids Saturday night as it was a free teacher weekend.  The kids had a great time!

Went to a church breakfast and pool party for the 4th of July then Ryan's parents treated us to a matinee movie, BBQ, and fireworks.

Went to Children's Place and got some clothes for next summer for the kids on clearance with an additional 20% off.  Went to Kohl's and got 3 shirts and a pair of capris for $26 by using Kohl's cash and a 15% off coupon.

Made baby food carrots and sweet potatoes.

Austin had quite a stash of coins and had been asking when he could get a new toy.  I learned that Coinstar will not charge a fee if you get a gift certificate, so we got a Toys R Us gift certificate worth $40!  He was able to purchase quite a few items with it.

There's a big fire in the Mt. Charleston area north of Las Vegas.  Ryan was able to pick up overtime hours by helping with the ground transport and other operations through his job with the BLM.

Repurposing with Duct Tape!

Don't you love the cute duct tape designs they have now?  There are several designs at Michael's and using a 40% off coupon can get you a great price.  Duct tape is so fast and easy to work with and can enhance any container!

Here are a few things I have done with duct tape:

1.  Repurposing a Clorox/Lysol wipe container:  You can store plastic grocery bags in your pantry or car.  I use one by my sink to store used Bounce dryer sheets.  I use the dryer sheets to scour my dirty dishes and clean sinks and counter tops.

2.  Decorate an upcycled can:  A stripe of duct tape with some ribbon or raffia tied around it can be a cute gift container for cookies or punch holes in the sides and add wire to make a little bucket.

More ideas to come!  Keep checking vivamomvegas or subscribe for notifications!

Last week's savings jackpots!

We had another fun filled summer week!

Austin went to two classes at Michael's arts and crafts, we went to storytime at the library, swam at the YMCA waterpark, and met up with some friends at the park.

Our friends invited us to their daughter's first birthday party.  We had a nice time and got her a cute bath in a bucket gift using an upcycled can.  (see my post titled "Repurposing with duct tape")

We took Austin to Monster's University and went to the AMC matinee before noon to get the cheaper ticket price.

I made baby food pears, peas, peaches, and squash.

We made no butter banana bread and cookies with red, white and blue M&Ms!

I made 10 handmade cards.

There was a 50% off deal for a painting class.  I used the birthday money from my sister to sign up for 2 spots for the price of 1 and brought her with me.  The painting is a Cabo San Lucas beach scene that I can hang in the new bathroom.  We had a fun night together doing this!

We ate out once this week at Panera Bread which was the night Ryan repainted the master bath!

Here is the finished bathtub!! The final touch will be glass sliding doors that are set to arrive this week.

It took us five months to complete but being able to pay cash as we went and using spare time for Ryan to do all the work himself or with some help from friends and family made it all worth it!

Ryan's parents took us out to Olive Garden on his mom's birthday on Saturday.  I ordered her a gift she really wanted from Etsy awhile back and then got her a cute outdoor rug that says "Nana's House" at JoAnn's using a 40% off coupon plus the 15% off teacher discount.

I also purchased a case of quart size canning jars on sale at JoAnn's for 25% off plus my teacher discount.  The sale goes until July 13, so I'm hoping they will get more in stock as I also want pint/half pint sizes too.

I bought a small amount of black swim fabric to sew an insert into a swimsuit that is a little too low cut in the chest.  It is one of those nice "suck-you-in" suits that would cost at least $50 to replace and it's hard to find cute suits that are appropriate for family swimming situations.

We made strawberry yogurt popsicles with some strawberries that were starting to get too ripe.  They were deliciouse: a handful of strawberries, tsp of sugar, and a few scoops of vanilla yogurt pureed then poured into popsicle molds.  YUMMY!!

Austin enjoying his strawberry yogurt pop!

My husband and I were asked to speak in church last Sunday.  Our topic was on the Blessing of Eternal Marriage.  I joined the LDS church in 2003 and met and married Ryan in 2004.  We were married in the San Diego Temple.  I spent a lot of time last week reflecting on our 8 years of marriage and reading various talks on the subject by our church leaders.  It was a great blessing to not only celebrate how far we've come in our marraige together and the effort we've both made to stay strong, but also to note those things which we need to keep working on (like doing Temple work more often).  To share our stories and these blessings with others was so uplifting.  click here for more information about the church