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.