milestone monday No. 4--grocery update & blogging

hey all,
i've been quiet for a few days, because the hubs was working on the computer for his master's class this weekend.
but, have no worries,..............

i'm baaaccckkk  (and with a new blog design, nonetheless!  what do you think?)   and so is "milestone monday."

these have nothing to do with this post, but just wanted to document his progress!

if you are new to milestones and memories, mondays are when i pick one (or two) of my milestones/goals for the future and share things i'm doing to help them become reality.  it also helps keep me accountable---which i need desperately.
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today i'm going to touch on two milestones:

1.  milestone: being debt free--groceries
you all know that i coupon, shop discount stores, and menu plan.  since this is the last week of march (can you believe that?!), i'm just going to give you the totals and see how we did on our budget of $350.00/month.  (this includes all food, pantry products, and household products like sponges, cleaning supplies, paper towels, etc.  it does not include toiletry items or baby products like diapers.)

week 1:  Aldi $195.33 
week 2:  Harris Teeter $38.45
week 3:  Harris Teeter Super Double coupons $38.19 (would've been $76.41)
week 4:  Harris Teeter Super Double coupons $ 28.14 (would've been $58.02) 

grand total for March:  $300.11


now before you get all sulky and depressed about your own grocery budget, i have to give some disclaimers.

first, Robro had surgery this month, so jon and i were at the hospital most of week 2.
second, my incredible friends (becky, christine, sarah, megan, and jenn generously provided meals for our family during weeks 3/4 post operation--what a blessing they are to me!).
third, harris teeter had super double coupons (any coupon up to $1.99 is doubled) and i used it for two weeks (it runs from wed-the next tues.).

all that to say, i'm not a hard core couponer, like some of you out there, and there will be worst weeks than this, but there may even be better ones.  either way, i hope this is an encouragement to you that it is possible to stick to a grocery budget (whatever amount works for you) and still provide healthy meals for your family.

homemade pesto chicken pizza

i'm excited, because now we can use that $50.00 extra dollars to pay for our car inspection and minor repairs that are going down tomorrow. 



2.  milestone: learning more about blogging--changing your blog background



anyone can make this easy change to your blog and it can really make a huge difference.   i learned this from a really cool blog decor site called Shabby Blogs, but lots of sites have similar application instructions/templates.  they have tons of backgrounds you can choose from.

once you find the one you want, just follow the instructions below:
1.  click on "get the code" under the desired background
2.  copy the code in the box at the bottom of the screen that opens
3.  open your blogger account
4.  click on the tab that says "Design" or "Layout"
5.  click "Add a Gadget" (it doesn't really matter where it is on the sidebar)
6.  click "HTML/javascript"
7.  under "content" paste the entire code that you copied earlier on the backgrounds page
8.  "save"
9.  enjoy your new blog's look!

here are a few other sites i recommend for finding beautiful backgrounds:

smitten blog designs    (you may have to click on free templates)

cutest blog on the block

i'll be working on my monthly meal plan guide for April this week in preparation for my Aldi trip on friday night!---you know you are old when you put an exclamation mark at the end of a get-to-go-grocery -shopping sentence.    
 hey, i get a night out of the house, dinner, and girl time with my friend, kelly.  i'm excited anyway!

the meal guide and my aldi shopping list will be posted by the end of this week or beginning of next.

if you change your blog background using my directions, let me know so i can check out the glorious changes you made.


merry monday, everyone!