Consignment Sale and St. Patrick's Day

Well, Saturday was a quite a busy day for us.  First off, of course, was shopping at the Catholic Consignments sale.  Since I volunteered two shifts in order to shop at 6:30 in the morning, I was able to find a lot of great bargains.  Here are some of my favorites:

This Jona Michelle dress for my 5 year old for $8 - retail is around $50 or $60.

I couldn't resist this Laura Ashley 3-piece outfit for Baby Gem, even though it will probably be too hot to wear for Easter.  It was also $8 for the whole set.

And I still can't believe my best clothing deal: I got this New with Tags Strasburg Children outfit for $1 at the Dollar Dash!  Clearly my children will be wearing yellow this Easter!

I was also excited about this unexpected find: two kid digital cameras.  I have had my eye on the Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera for a while as a potential gift for my 5 year old, and even though I wasn't looking for it it caught my eye at the sale.  I don't think I've seen this item for less than $35 retail, and this was priced at $5. I still have to put in batteries and make sure it works, but for $5 it was worth the risk!

Then at the Dollar Dash I found this Little Tikes model.  If they both work, each girl will get one for her birthday!

Since Saturday was also St. Patrick's Day, I rushed home after shopping to put our corned beef in the crockpot for dinner.  Then after lunch I went back to work my shift and shop the Dollar Dash.  My husband put the cabbage in before I got home, and I only had to quickly cut up and roast some potatoes and carrots to go with dinner.  We took the day off from our Lenten meat fast, and boy did dinner taste good!

I hope you had a Happy St. Patrick's Day as well!

Did anyone else get some good bargains this weekend?

My Couponing Talk in Alexandria

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 8),  I will be delivering a talk on the basics of couponing at the Alexandria Beatley Library in Alexandria, VA.  Here's the synopsis:

Are you interested in learning to save money on groceries?  Have you heard about couponing but don't know where to start?  Do you know about couponing but think it's not for you?  In her lecture, Liz from Frugally Blonde will break down couponing based on how much time you have available and show you how to make couponing work for you.

If you're in the Alexandria area and are interested in attending this talk, I'd love to meet you!

My New Blog

Today I wanted to share with all you Frugally Blonde readers about my new blog, Catholic Deals.  I started it back in the fall, and I have been working on slowly building it and getting the design finalized.  I am glad to be finally getting around to announcing it to you all!

Catholic Deals is a deal blog for Catholic and Christian products, something I had never seen before.  I feature sales, coupon codes, and freebies on all sorts of products that would be of interest to Catholics -  religious goods, books, movies, gifts, educational products, and more.  

I hope that if you are Catholic or know someone who is, you will check out Catholic Deals.  Even if you are not Catholic, you may be interested in some of the many deals I feature on general Christian products, from companies like Dayspring, Veggie Tales, and Christian Book.  If you want to be kept up to date on all the deals, you can follow by email or rss feed or like my Catholic Deals Facebook page.

I was excited last week to be interviewed for this article on Catholic mom bloggers for the Arlington Catholic Herald; the article mentions both Catholic Deals and Frugally Blonde.

And as for Frugally Blonde?  For the time being, I'll still be here.  Right now I am trying to post the Wegmans deals on Monday each week.  Although I cannot write additional posts every day, I will still be posting other deals, projects, and reflections from time to time.  I hope you continue to follow.  You will always know when  I post new content if you follow by rss feed. or by email.  I also post additional items on my Frugally Blonde Facebook page.

As always, thanks so much for reading!

Welcome Money Saving Mom Readers

Just wanted to give a quick welcome to anyone visiting from Money Saving Mom.  I hope you enjoyed my review of Crystal's book.  Crystal has been such an inspiration to me in my frugal journey and life as a mom and homemaker, and I wouldn't have this blog today without Money Saving Mom!

Here at Frugally Blonde I write about a little bit of everything frugal - from sharing deals to my Wegmans coupon matchups to my "Bake It Don't Buy It" series on cooking from scratch to my own thoughts on living a frugal lifestyle.

My tagline is "Living the Good Life on Less," and I try to make that the theme of my blog and life.  I'd love it if you decide to follow me by email or in a reader or just visit again.

Merry Christmas!

May you all enjoy a most blessed Christmas.

To quote the sweet song my daughter sang in her Christmas pageant:

Happy Birthday, Jesus
I'm so glad it's Christmas
All the tinsel and lights
and the presents are nice

But the real gift is YOU.

Enjoy the gift!

Back . . . And Catching Up

Just wanted to let you all know that the kiddos and I got back into town last night.  I had a great few days visiting with my parents and twin sisters, but now it's time to get back into the swing of things!  I'll be catching up here on the blog this week (along with getting the messy house back in order and catching up on laundry!)  Wegmans deals should be up by this afternoon.

Hope all of you are having a good week!

Blogging Break this Week

I'm sorry for my silence this week; I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back next week.  Something came up with my family (everyone's okay), and my children and I took an unexpected trip down to my parents house in North Carolina.  I'll be back to blogging next week!

Easter Break!

We start observing the Easter Triduum tomorrow, and I want to focus on the holiday and my family.  So I'm signing off here until after Easter.  (I will post the Giant deals on Monday.)


I hope you all have a very blessed Easter!


Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.  
                                                                                               - Isaiah 26:19

2011 Financial Goals

A couple of weeks ago, I shared how my family did on accomplishing our 2010 financial goals.  Now it's time to get into the swing of things with our goals for the new year.

My husband and I have designated this year as "recovery year" financially, so our goals are not too exciting.  After a year in which we had a baby, dealt with an unexpected hospital stay and medical bills, and purchased new computers (more on that later), we have some catching up to do.  Therefore, our main and really only big goal is:

Fully Fund Our 3-Month Emergency Fund - We've planned out our budget for the year, and if we are careful, we should be able to hit this number by the end of the year.  We've come close for several years, but we've always ended up using some of the money.  We'd really like to get this money socked away so that we don't have to touch it except for a true emergency.

Also, once again I've designated some "frugal goals," ways I plan to save money in the new year to help accomplish our main goal:

Stick closely to our budget and cover incidental expenses - My husband and I are pretty good at sticking to a budget - I mean, I do write a frugal blog!  But like everyone else, we have our weaknesses, and of course unexpected expenses always come up.  In the past, we have sometimes gone over our budget in certain categories, which in turn eats up money saved for other things.  This year, I think I have set a realistic and workable budget, and I am determined for us to adhere to it.  That way, the money set aside for things such as car repairs is there when we need it, and we don't have to touch our savings.

Stick to a $300 grocery budget - I worked on this last year and came pretty close.  According to my Pear Budget year in review, I averaged $303/month.  However, it varied somewhat, as high as $331 and as low as $250.  This partially had to do with my pregnancy and having a new baby; I wasn't as strict with myself as I had planned.  This year, however, I'd like to stay within $300 every month, including months with holidays and events. 

Keep excellent track of our spending - Sometimes the only reason I'd go a little over budget in a spending category is that I hadn't kept up with all my receipts and thought there was more left in the budget than there was.  Now that I have a portable computer of my own, I have no excuse for not keeping exactly up to date with entering my receipts in Pear Budget.

Like I said, our goals this year are pretty back-to-the-basics.  I dream of some day being able to save for a more "fun" and interesting goal, but for now I am just grateful that we are able to live under our income and that we have what we need.

Do have any financial or "frugal" goals you'd like to share?

Check out more frugal tips at Frugal Fridays.

Sick . . .

Sorry I'm late getting back into the swing of things here!  We arrived home from our lovely Christmas trip in North Carolina Sunday evening, only for me to become ill hours later.  I'm still feeling pretty sick, so I may not be back to blogging for another couple of days.  Sorry for the delay!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year . . .

And one of the busiest!  And so, a little earlier than I anticipated, I am stepping back from blogging for an extended, restful Christmas break, though January 2. 

In addition to regular Christmas preparations, we're preparing to take our first long car trip with baby Gem, to visit my parents for Christmas.  We're leaving a week from today, and I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed at the thought of all the packing!

I will still be posting some deals, but I won't be writing any substantive posts until after New Year's.  My focus is shifting from Christmas shopping and deals to preparing for the real celebration of this wondrous season.

I am so looking forward to celebrating with my husband and children, especially since the girls can understand and anticipate so much now; and with my parents and brothers and sisters, whom I don't see enough.

I hope all of you have a most blessed Christmas too!

It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!                                      -- Charles Dickens

Saying Thank You

This week I've naturally been thinking about gratitude.

I think sometimes as adults we remember to be thankful to God for the intangibles in our lives - the love of our families, our freedom, etc.  But lately I have been thinking about a number of gifts - physical wrapped presents - that I have received from other people during my life.  You certainly can't buy happiness, but the love and thoughtfulness that was put into these gifts actually made a huge difference to me.  That is why I have remembered them for years after they were given.

So as we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and as we move into the season of gift-giving, I just want to say thank you once again for five presents that I have received throughout the years.  In chronological order, they are the following:

- A special birthday gift - When I was about 10 or 11, my dad went on a business trip right before my birthday.  While there, he visited an ethnic church like the one we had previously attended.  The church was selling pierogis (a delicious Polish dumpling), and he remembered that they were my favorite food.  Somehow he bought a couple of pounds of them frozen and transported them back on the plane with him, specifically for me.  That same birthday, he also surprised me with tickets to the Ice Capades for my mom, my sister, and me.  These things may seem small, but in our large family treats like these were uncommon, making them all the sweeter.  I've never forgotten how special I felt on that birthday.  Thank you, Dad.

- My wedding - Let's just say my parents did not expect me to get married at the age of 21!!!  They had college costs and children still at home, so plenty of expenses at the time.  I knew this and was willing to accept the minimum for our wedding, including making our own food.  Yet in the end, through much research and careful spending (that's a whole other post!), we were able to have a beautiful wedding with many of the classic accouterments, including a catered reception in a lovely historic inn.  My parents paid for the majority of the wedding, but even more than their generosity, I remember how they supported and trusted me at that special time.  Thank you, Mom and Dad.

- My wedding dress - An anonymous donor paid for my wedding dress.  I'm not kidding.  Early in my engagement, my mom informed me that a person close to me who wished to remain anonymous wanted to pay for my gown and veil.  She said that this person didn't want me to "shop at Bargain Basement."  Haha - the person obviously knew me!  So I had the luxury of visiting dress shops with only my tastes and not so much the price in mind.  I ended up a reasonably-priced-but-more-than-I-could-afford dress and was able to buy everything I needed right at that shop.  I have my suspicions who that person might be, although I don't know for sure, but as little as I could forget how I felt in my wedding gown could I forget this person's gift.  Thank you, Anonymous.

- The limo for our wedding - A lot of these gifts seem to be centered around my wedding; I think that's because in good circumstances I think that weddings can really bring out the love and generosity in people.  For example, as we were planning the wedding I planned to dispense with a limousine to save money.  I figured that some family member could drive us to the wedding and reception.  Out of the blue, one of my brothers, who was in high school at the time, informed me that he wanted to pay for a limo as his gift!  I was just blown away by both the thoughtfulness and generosity of this gesture - I didn't even know he was paying attention to the wedding planning!  We ended up with this vintage-looking black car with a very gentlemanly chauffeur, and I felt like a queen.  Thank you, Greg.

- A laptop - More recently, I posted over a year ago on this blog how difficult it was getting for me to continue blogging, mostly because of our very slow, old computer, which we could not afford to replace.  After I posted that, two different friends offered me computers!  They both had recently upgraded theirs and offered me their spares, which were still very usable and much better than the one I was using.  They could easily have sold or otherwise used these, and I was so touched by their generosity.  We accepted one offer and thanked them both, and I felt so blessed in my friends.  Thank you, B. and E.

I have been so blessed in my life and have received far too many wonderful gifts to name in one post.  I hope one day to be able to bless others as I have been blessed myself.

What special gifts have you received during your life for which you'd like to say thank you?

Photo by canna_w.

Relevant Reflections

I had such a wonderful time at the Relevant Conference this past weekend, and there is so much to share.  Now that I'm back to the daily craziness it's hard to remember everything I heard and learned and thought, but I really want to get something out there.

It was a wonderful weekend of fellowship with other Christian women who also blog.  The topics of these women's blogs range from saving money to homeschooling to home decorating to many other topics, but we were all united by our faith.
Much of the time was spent discussing balancing blogging with your "real life," especially not neglecting God and your family for your blogging.  While of course I know I have fallen into this sometimes (see: checking the computer every time I go by), it's actually not been the main problem I have been struggling with.  (Three children under five have a way of grabbing your attention whether you plan it or not!)  Instead, I have more been looking to find enough time for blogging!

However, I think these talks were still something I needed to hear.  I return greatly inspired to reorganize my life with my priorities in their proper order.  Crystal used the old analogy of "putting in the big rocks first."  If you start out with the unimportant things, you have no time for the important ones.  However, if you put the truly important things ahead of everything else, there often turns out to be time for the lesser ones too.

I think that focusing on my true priorities will ultimately give me the time that I need for blogging, but in the end that is not the most important thing.  In the end, the conference was truly more about life than about blogging, and that's okay.  After all, life is what makes blogging interesting and makes people want to read blogs.

I also returned with lots of ideas how to improve this blog, both for you readers and as a way to earn some extra income for my family.  I'm hoping that some of the time management strategies I learned will help me give you a greater number of deals and money saving tips.  I plan to ask for your feedback in the coming weeks about what you would like to see here as well!

Finally, I return from Relevant '10 with everything refocused on the God for whom I ultimately do everything.  In the midst of one of the most physically challenging times in my life (i.e. learning to care for three little children and keep my sanity), God is leading me back to Him.

Frugal "Survival Mode"

I'm in survival mode right now.  Actually, sometimes it feels more like "barely surviving" mode!

Even though Baby "Gem" will be 3 weeks old on Tuesday, we've only been home from our second hospital stay for a week, so we really lost the first two weeks for settling in.  He's also still been on the bili-blanket for his jaundice, which makes life a bit more complicated.  (He always has to be plugged into an outlet!)  Add all that to the normal adjustment to having three kids under five, and you've got one tired, stressed-out mommy! 

While we're adjusting to our new family, I'm letting a lot of things go!  For instance:

Meal Planning - We have been greatly blessed to receive several dinners from friends and members of my church moms' group.  That has been so wonderful!  When we haven't had a meal from a friend, I've been making pasta.  And we'll eat cereal for dinner if it comes to that!  Right now, I just don't have the energy or organization to cook, and that's okay.  Friends who have three or more kids tell me I will cook again . . . right? right?

Couponing/Shopping - I was briefly tempted this week to try to make it to Harris Teeter's Super Double coupons.  Luckily, I stopped myself in time and decided that the preparation and effort to make the trip was not where I need to be spending my energy right now.  I have a good stockpile from my August bargain shopping, and now is the time to use it.  There will always be more sales to rebuild it later!  One surprising benefit for my couponing, however, is that I used my downtime in the hospital to totally clean out my coupon box.  Now whenever I have ten spare minutes I'm cutting out my back inserts, so when I do get back to couponing I should be totally organized!

Rules/Routine - As a caveat to this, I should say that we are getting our girls back into their bedtime and quiet time routines, as they were of course totally off them while we were in the hospital.  Sleep is definitely very important for everyone right now!  However, yes, I am letting other things slide.  For instance, I have suspended all my normal limits on movie time.  Right now, if I need to put on a DVD for the sake of all of our sanity, I do!  I'm also not worrying too much about balanced meals.  I remember that GiGi spent the first couple of weeks after LuLu was born eating mostly goldfish crackers, and she lived through it. ;-)  I'm also *trying* not to stress about getting back to a rhythm in our days.  I know that it will take some time to figure out what will work best for the new version of the family.

Blogging - Of course, you've also noticed that the blog has to be on the back burner for a little while.  However, I still have a couple of cool guest posts to run.  Beyond that, I hope you'll just bear with me.  I'll be posting whenever I can.  I also can't wait to share with you soon how I'll be attending my first blogging conference in October!

Well, that's about what my life looks like right now! 

What about you?  When have you been in "survival mode"?  Do you have any tips for me?  I could definitely use them!

Personal Update . . .

Sorry things have been a bit quiet here.  My son's first week of life has been eventful, to say the least!  After spending an extra night in the pediatric wing of the hospital for his jaundice, we were discharged on Friday evening.  On Sunday afternoon we were readmitted to the hospital, as his bilirubin levels skyrocketed to worrisome levels.

Praise God, little "Gem" is responding beautifully to the phototherapy, and we are hoping to be discharged today or tomorrow.  Although it has been difficult to be away from my girls in the hospital, I don't have much to do while the baby is under the lights, so I'm trying to get caught up here on the blog.  I published the usual list of Wegmans deals today, and look for some interesting guest posts the rest of the this week.

Also, don't forget that my giveaway for the Safeway Gift Card and Bonus Box Tops Certificate ends tomorrow (Wednesday, 9/8) at midnight, and my Dryel giveaway ends Thursday (9./9) at midnight.  So enter now for a chance to win!

Thanks for all the good wishes for our new son!

Newest Addition

We are proud to announce the birth of our first son at 6:32AM yesterday, August 31.  It was also GiGi's 4th birthday!  As you know, I don't share the real names of my children here, so we'll just call him little "Gem." 

Mom and baby are both doing well, although we have some jaundice to deal with.  I hope to be discharged from the hospital by tomorrow evening and have some guests posts up for you by the end of the week.

I'm Still Here . . .

 . . . but I'm hoping not for long!  Baby #3 is due on Friday, and Mommy having trouble keeping her resolve to be patient.  Please excuse slower posting and email replies lately; my energy has started to lag.  I would definitely appreciate any thoughts and prayers you might send my way as I prepare for delivery!

So, I just wanted to remind you what I'll be up to if you don't see any posts at all for a few days.  However, as soon as I get home from the hospital I'll have some interesting guest posts up for you.  I'll also be planning to keep up with my Wegmans deals (with of course the possiblity of skipping a week, depending on when baby makes his or her appearance).

Can't wait to share the good news of our third child with you!