Menu Planning

We've decided to cut our grocery budget down by about 30%. This is kind of a lot. So, I'm sitting here trying to get a shopping list and menu plan ready for our grocery shopping trip tomorrow. I'm realizing that staying in budget is really not going to be too hard. I've stashed up several frugal recipes and tips over the years. The problem is going to be the execution of said meals. I'm not a planner so doing things in advance like soaking beans or cooking rice often gets forgotten. So I need your tips, I need your advice. How do you plan your meals and make sure everything gets done in time? So help me out, people. Share!

Thrift Store Master List - CDA

Welcome to the first week of Frugal Friday! I think that was at the third time I've initially typed in Frugal Fruday on accident. If you want to hear a bit more and what Frugal Friday is and how to join, click here.
As you may recall, we went thrift store shopping earlier this week. So, I figured for our first Frugal Friday, I'd share with you what we learned about the thrift stores we went to since most of you live in the area.

The Thrift Store Master List - CDA

Women's Center Thrift Store: This thrift store is not large, but has a quite a bit of woman's clothing and shoes. Not a lot of children's, babies, or mens clothing though. All clothing is 50% off on Mondays, and shoes are 50% off Thursdays.

Idaho Youth Ranch Thrift Store: This place we were pretty impressed with. They are rather large and have a good selection of clothing in all sizes, which all seemed very clean and in good condition. The pricing is fair, not overly cheap but not too expensive. Except the furniture, that seemed rather expensive to me. All of their items are color-coded to help them move inventory out. Each week there is one color of tags that are 50% off and another color that is 25% off. The also have bargain bins that get refilled every 3 weeks or so (according to the girl working). The clothing pricing in the bargain bins is only $.50 and we managed to find a lot of good stuff.

Humane Society Thrift Store: Another pretty small store, again with a fairly large selection of woman's clothing. The childrens, babies and men's clothing selection was small. The did, however have a ton of dishes. If you need dishes, this is where you go. Or food dishes for your pets. I was unable to tell if they had any regular sales or discount days.

Thiftique (Lake City Church's thrift store): I'm not entirely sure I spelled that right. This store we did not spend a lot of time in. If you're claustrophobic, don't go here. If you have some time and no children, you could probably find some great stuff. This place is very large and very full. I didn't see much of the pricing or if they had any regular sales or discount days, I was to busy imagining being buried alive in the store.

Goodwill: We didn't actually go to Goodwill because we think their pricing is to high. But I figured it should be on the list anyway. I think we've all been there and know what kind of stuff is there. If I find out about any kind of sales or discount days, I'll add it here.

Hospice Thrift Store: We didn't go to this one simply because we ran out of time. We've been there before and I can tell you that they have a lot of women's and men's clothing, but not a lot of children's. They also have a lot of kitchen and home items as well as crafting stuff.

St. Vincent's Thrift Store: 50% off anything in the store every Wednesday (Thanks, Taylor!).

I think that's it. Next week we plan on going to Post Falls to thrift shop, so I'll probably make up a master list for there too. If I've left out a store or you have some more details or info for one I've listed, let me know!

Do you have a Frugal Friday post you want to share? Enter it below! Please make sure and leave the link to your post and not your homepage. As well, add your post title when you enter your name. Example: Jessy (Thrift Store Master List - CDA).

Join the Resistance

So my wonderful husband made me some graphics for our Frugal Friday stuff. We had fun, although I think he got tired of my giggling after a while.

First, we have a little banner that should fit nicely within a blog post:



And then a nice little square button for your sidebar:



The images are available here, so feel free to download them. If you remember, please make the images link to this post so that a newcomer can see what Frugal Friday is all about =) Or to make things easier, there's some code on the right sidebar that you can use.

Frugal Friday Explained

Well, since I only got 2 votes (slackers!) on the title, we're going with Frugal Friday, and since a few of you said "tell me what to do and I'm in", I'm telling you what to do =) Also, for simplicity sake, I'll do the hosting for the time being. Now, to go into more detail about all the fun and excitement you can expect.
Who can join?
Anyone! If you don't have a blog, hop around and read all the participating blog posts. And comment...we like comments. If you do have a blog then feel free to join in, no purchase necessary. What do you blog about? I'm glad you asked!
What do I post about?
Anything and everything that has to do with saving money! Here are a few ideas:
Tips -
How to lower your heating bill
How to make the gas in your car last longer
Recipes -
You know you have them...we want them too!
Beans and rice, rice and beans
Bargain Hunting -
Do you know when Target marks down their clearance?
Find a great coupon, freebie or sale? Like free Polly Pockets. That was a great one.
Victories -
Did you have $10 left in the grocery budget at the end of the week?
Find some great deals at the thrift store? Share them!
The Rules
There aren't really rules, just a few things to help it all run smoother.
1. Link back: At the beginning or end of your post, link back to the hosting blog post. For example, if I'm hosting for that week you would do something like this:
"This post is part of Frugal Friday. To read more posts like this or to add your own, visit (enter the link for the current Frugal Friday post on the hosting blog)". Just make sure the link is the actual FF post for the week and not the homepage.
2. Mr. Linky: The hosting blog post will have a little widget at the end of the post (called Mr. Linky) where you can come and enter in your name and link to your blog post. This helps to keep all the participating blogs listed in one place. Again, make sure you're linking to your specific post and not your homepage.

Frugal Friday images are available here.

That's about it! I'm looking forward to what you all have to share! Oh, and feel free to "advertise" our little carnival on your own blog and link back here for all the details. The more the merrier!

My April Snow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

My April Snow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!