Frugal isn't easy....

My post about my living room decor dilemma stirred something in me. I've been thinking. Why am I feeling so bad about the way my living room looks? Does it really matter? What caused this?

As I was thinking it hit me! I had been browsing online decorating sites, blogs, and also visiting friends homes. I was simply jealous, I wanted new furniture and a living room like Pottery Barn. Which brings me to my point.... frugal isn't easy. So many people live impulsively and just charge it or buy it. My family does not work that way. We are patient and make big purchases after we have planned and prioritized. Don't get me wrong, we've learned along the way and have made many expensive impulsive purchases... too many to list.

How do I overcome it? Well that is a daily challenge I face. We live in a very materialistic word where bigger and newer is better. To overcome I pray and thank the Lord for my blessings and try to remember what is most important. My husband and I have our wish list and we purchase nice things when we are ready. I take my time when making big purchases and do lots of research and comparison shopping. Then when it is time I get exactly what I want. No buyers remorse. How many times have you impulsively purchased something then a couple hours later you regret it and don't like what you got?

I choose to enjoy my life and live frugally. I don't have a huge expensive home full of the latest and greatest. What I do have is a home full of love where pretentious stuff is left at the door.

Calling all decorators... need some help!

Tuesday's Tip is a little different today. Why, because I need your help to transform my living room.

I found these great wooden shelves for $5 at a garage sale this weekend. I've been admiring wall shelves for a while and wanted my own. I found them and now... what do I do with them. I have a bit of a decorating dilemma in my living room. Let me explain.....

We have a huge leather couch. We purchased this couch for our last house. It is too big for this space but too expensive to replace. Everything in this room is a design dilemma for me. You see the pack in play in the corner... nice decorating huh? Even worse ... nothing matches!

What I want is a remake of this room. I want you all to help with the transformation. Now that the kitchen is done... it is time to move on. This time I am going to only purchase thrifty finds. This will be a design on a dime makeover.

After looking at the photos I think it is worse than I thought!!! It looks so cluttered. Keep in mind I cannot change the couch. I love the fireplace screen and the cross wall. I would love ideas to remake or reuse what I already have.

So do you think you can help? Please forward to any designing friends I will feature any decorating bloggers to help with the makeover.

Menu Monday

I had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday night I got a special date night with my hubby (Posh Josh) you will understand the nickname soon.

The kids were off to his mom's house. He made reservations for dinner. Knowing I am a frugal girl I am expecting On the Border so we can share fajitas and have a few drinks. No... he made reservations at Boi Na Braza a Brazilian steakhouse. Are you kidding me, they do not offer coupons and it is very expensive! Posh Josh insisted we needed to treat ourselves like we used too. So I gave in without resistance... what a wonderful night we had. We sat at this nice table all dressed up for 2 hours with no high chairs or children throwing food.

After dinner we headed to the movies, again no coupons. We saw The Knowing. Very creepy movie. I enjoy doomsday movies, no chick flicks for me. What a wonderful splurge date we had! Thank you Posh Josh!

On to my menu for the week:

Monday: Make your own pizza. We are using ready made pizza crust this week. Toppings include hamburger, pepperoni, pineapple, and jalapenos (my favorite)

Tuesday: Hot Dogs (Only Hebrew National) and Tator Tots for the boys, I have a dance recital meeting with the girls.

Wednesday: Client Dinner for Hubby's work... I think Gloria's or PF Chang's. Wow, we are on a roll!

Thursday: Grilled Burritos, a big favorite in our house. Let me share....
What you need:
Big Tortilla's
Cooked Rice (I used Knor Spanish Rice)
Shredded Cheese
Black Beans (Drained and Rinsed)
Refried Beans (I used Old El Paso Fat Free)
Chicken (I used the Oscar Meyer Southwest Strips)
Jalapenos
Sour Cream
Salsa

1. Lay out the tortilla, top with refried beans smooth around.
2. Add the rice, cheese, black beans, chicken, jalapenos and anything else you want to add.
3. Fold into a huge burrito.
4. Spray with cooking spray and put on the grill. (We use the George Foreman Grill)
5. Once cooked top with sour cream and salsa. We also add Guacamole for an extra treat!

Friday: (Good Friday) This is a special day for Christians (we are Catholic and yes we are still considered Christians. I get that question a lot because I was raised Baptist and changed churches as an adult)

We will be fasting and only eating one large meatless meal. Since the whole family will be out of work and school we will have a big lunch. Maybe eating Pizza or Fish Sticks. We have both I'll let the kids choose.

Hope you have a wonderful week, what's your favorite planned meal this week? For more menu's check out www.orgjunkie.com

Freebie Friday

I found a new blog, Charity is giving away 5 reusable shopping bags and coupon organizers. Check out her blog and enter to win!

Free Spatula at Great Indoors - Our local great indoors closed. I used to love just walking through and browsing... probably why it closed too many browsers and no buyers.

Free Kashi granola bar- We love granola bars in this house! Free granola bars are our favorites!

Free Trash Bag- Glad is offering a free Force Flex trash bag. For those who have not tried this ... you have to! I purchase these trash bags when they are on sale.

Almost Free Crazy Bread and Sauce- Little Cesar's is offering this printable coupon. I found a Little Cesar's by my husband's office yesterday. Their large pizza's are $5 each! Wow, I will be calling him to bring home dinner soon.

Hooray, Garage Sale Season is here!!!!
This morning I am heading out to hit some sales. My favorite place to check for sales is Craig's List. Here is a link to the DFW site. I am hoping to find some great buys!

Thrifty Thursday- Easy Banana Bread

I was checking my email yesterday when I got a reminder that Thursday I am scheduled to bring snacks to my journal group. Oh no! How did I forget? I found this out just as I finished making a meal to take to a new mom at church. Now, I have to figure out what snack to bring!!

So what did I do? I searched my pantry...nothing..no cookie or bread mix. Then, I looked over and saw some brown banana's. Bingo, banana bread from scratch! Well almost ... I had some Bisquick. I got online and found this recipe . And guess what? I had all the ingredients!! I ran out of sugar so I added a little brown sugar instead. As a little bonus, I used up the rest of my Hershey mini morsels. It turned out great! This was my first attempt to make banana bread from scratch (it wasn't out of a box mix)! I am so excited I spent $0!!!!

What is your favorite frugal snack to bring to meetings or gatherings?

Wasteless Wednesday- Shopping Spree

Last night were sitting together after the news and here come the lotto numbers: 7 yes, 49, yes, 54 yes, 28 yes, 31 yes. WE WON THE LOTTERY!!!! So you know what that means I am heading to Central Market with no coupons and no grocery list, then to Nordstrom to get those $200 jeans I've been looking at for 4 years, then I will head to the Lexus dealership to get the 2009 LX, it is only $75K no big deal right?

Really!!! No.... April Fool's . I had to do something a little silly. Honestly if I did win the lotto I would go buy those jeans but at the Nordstrom outlet.... after all I am Frugal Jen and even a lottery winning would not change that :)

Now tell me if you won the lottery what splurge would you want to purchase? Let's indulge ourselves today.....

Tuesday Tip - Purses!!!

I am a purse freak, before my frugal days I had quite the expensive purse stash. I still have them all in a plastic storage tote hoping that one day they will be called "vintage" and they will once again grace my shoulder in style... I won't hold my breathe! These are my favorites:But until those old expensive purses are back in style I will stick with my bargain bags. I found this FABULOUS bag at Target on sale for $13, normally it was $29. Yeah I love bargain bags, especially in animal print!!!

Menu Monday

Whew, after a busy weekend of birthday parties for my daughter I am exhausted and stuffed. As I write this post I could go for a week without eating... too much birthday cake and ice cream for me.

Monday: Leftover Chicken Stir Fry, I tried the Green Giant Szechuan frozen kit just added chicken. Yummy and easy!

Tuesday: Make your own meal - my husband will be traveling so most likely sandwiches or spaghetti o's for me and the kids

Wednesday: Baked Ziti double batch, I am taking some to a friend who just had a baby. Here is my recipe for a single recipe:

1/2 package of Ziti Noodles (cooked)
1 Can of spaghetti sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
1 pound of cooked ground beef (lean)
Mozz cheese

Mix the everything but the cheese together, top with cheese then cover with foil then bake 350 for about 30 minutes.

Then enjoy!!

Thursday: Grill burgers and baked tator tot's

Friday: Frozen fish from the fish fry a couple weeks ago, yes I will bake and not eat frozen

I need your help, I am in a cooking rut and need new recipes, please share your favorites!!!

Freebie Friday & Birthday Wish

I have a special birthday wish to my oldest daughter today.

Happy Birthday Sweet Kate!!

My friend Brandi is a photographer B4 Photography, she is very popular in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area. We were very lucky to have her do a photo shoot of Kate. Take a look at her website. If you are looking for a FABULOUS photographer Brandi is your girl. She does amazing professional high quality work. Check her out http://www.b4photography.com/

Birthday Freebies we've received :

• Free Kid's Meal at Red Robin
  
• Free Scoop of Ice cream at Baskin Robins


• Free Ice Cream at Coldstone


• Free Kid's Meal from Red Lobster


• Coupons for Justice and Limited Too ( they are now one store)

On to the Freebie's of the week:

Free sample of forest oils- if my allergies would not go crazy with the smell of fresh cut wood I'd have it in the mail.

Free Zyrtec sample- speaking of allergies, this is a great allergy medication. I used it for years. So maybe I will get a sample of the oil...

Free Bake Sale Starter Kit- this is a great freebie for mom's. It seems that every group or school does a bake sale. Good way to start :)

Free Cottonelle Sample- this is my favorite TP. I normally by Scott Ultra Plush but I am always looking for Cottonelle coupons.

Thrifty Thursday - Get Carded

I love to get carded when I get rewarded!

FREE Frequent Shopper Program with Saver Cards- save some money by signing up for these programs. I simply took a look in my wallet to find lots of savings.... yes my wallet is fat!!

CVS Extra Care- 2% rebate on in store and online purchases. Get extra bucks. Many other frugal blogs do lots of CVS shopping. I am just learning about this. My blog friend Lindsay has this down, check out her frugal blog. (yes our blog names are similar... what can I say great minds think a like)

Office Depot- 1% back on most purchases. 10% back on ink, toner and printing services. We use this card for my husband's business expenses. We get a gift card every quarter for at least $15

Staples Rewards- get rebates similar to Office Depot. Earn 10% back in rebates for ink, paper and toner. (I don't have this one after seeing my OD card I thought I would check for you Staple customers)

AMC Theaters- The movie watcher program you can earn points for movie ticket purchases and get points for snacks or tickets.

Restaurant Cards- one of our favorite local restaurants (La Hacienda) has a punch card you get a punch each time you visit. Then after so many punches you get a free entree up to $20. Check around at some of your local favorites and see if they have frequent diner programs. Our local Cici's pizza also has punch cards.

Kid to Kid- this franchised resale shop has punch cards for purchases. When you reach the end of the card you get $5 or a certain percentage off of your next purchase.

Starbucks - they have a reward program you can sign up for with a gift card. They give you special rewards when you make a purchase with a gift card. (Many other local coffee shops have reward punch cards for frequent customers, ask next time you are in)

Grocery Store Cards- almost every grocery store has a frequent shopper card. I have at least 3 in my wallet. I always use, if you don't have a card expect to pay more.

Best Buy - I forgot about this one until last night... my wonderful husband came home with a Wii for the family. Photos coming soon.... Total splurge but it was worth it. The kids were up at 6:30 am ready to play. Join this program for rebates on dollars spent.

Did I miss a reward program? Leave a comment and tell me your favorite reward card program!

PS.... one of my bloggy friends April is having a giveaway on her blog for a custom wooden sign. Take a look and enter.