"On The Money" Meals!

I have been on a decorating spree lately. I just finished my cabinets ( see them in this post here !) and so I've been changing things up a little bit. Plus spring is almost here and so I've been getting my flowers out for it! I also love to see how inexpensively I can decorate while still looking nice. I love the stuff from Pottery Barn, Magnolia Market, etc. but here on THIS blog, I'm on a budget! My favorite stores are thrift stores, specifically the Goodwill or Goodwill Outlet and stores like Ross, Homegoods and Michaels. And of course, the Dollar Tree! I try to make a lot of my stuff, or redo it so it's more my style. I've tried to include links to some of the stuff I've bought. None of these links are affiliate links, they are just there to help you out! I've already shared my "mantle"  already but I had to include it in this post. I made the star, my husband made the plaque, I covered the books and decorated the vase. Everythin...

I love to organize my home, but I like my organization to be as cute as possible. Recently I picked up two things-a white dish/tray/platter, and a shallow basket with handles. And I put them to work! This is so simple but it really works well for me! I bought this basket at Homegoods for $6.99. I love how it has the handles. This only holds decor. I have the items sitting on a paper covered book for a little more height. How is this organizing? this is perfect because I love for my house to look nice. But my kids also like the coffee table because they put their play dishes and toys on here. I don't mind that really, but with the decor in the way it's just not practical. So my solution? Put them in a tray so that the kids want to play, I just pick up the tray and move it. When they are done or when I want the house to look pretty again, I just put it back! It's simple and easy and it keeps my home looking nice while still being functional. This sits on the d...

Edit: Make sure you keep reading to the end to see my little update! Hi all! I'm so excited for spring! It never really got cold here! It snowed ONCE and it was only about 2 inches. So, I've be ready for spring since January I think. I put away my Christmas Decor pretty much right after the new year, but left some of my winter decor up. Well, that just came down and spring decor is going up! I need my hubby to get my box of spring decor out of the attic, so for now I've just been using stuff I'm moving around the house. I love farmhouse/cottage/country style decor. It's a mish mash of stuff I like, all put together. Oh, and I did say this is my spring "mantle" only I don't have a mantle. I figure my piano top will double for one, right? I made the star a few years ago from yard sticks that I painted and distressed and then glued them together. The easiest, but coolest, DIY I think I've ever done! I just found this w...

This is another quick and easy recipe that comes in at only $0.54/serving! This is a regular in our house and easily customized! I would love to try mushrooms in it, but I'm the only one that likes mushrooms in our household. You could add green pepper, onion, or swap out the ground beef for Italian sausage.  Here is the recipe and the cost breakdown. I did not include the cost of the pepperoni since you use only a few slices and if I don't have it, I just leave it off. I am also assuming you have the spices on hand already. Cheesy Pepperoni Pasta 1/2 pound ground beef ($1.50) 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce ($0.50)* 8 oz pasta ($0.50) Water and salt to cook pasta 1 cup mozzarella cheese ($0.75) Pepperoni Slices  3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp oregano 1/8 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/8 tsp onion powder 1/8 tsp Basil crushed red pepper flakes, optional, to taste Cook pasta in water and salt according to package directions...

This is a really quick chili recipe that is perfect for those cold winter nights. This recipe serves about 4. I put this in individual containers so my husband has 4 days of lunches ready to take to work. I figured this up to be about $0.80/serving, or in my case $0.80 for lunch! Compared to a lunch at Mcdonald's of at least $6-7.00, this is great! Here is the break down. You could pay less than this if you find a great deal on the meat or other ingredients. I actually used a coupon for $1.50 off 1 pound of ground beef at Kroger so my out of pocket was less. And I'm figuring these on average prices for where I live. $1.50 for Half pound of ground beef 0.54 large can of tomato sauce 0.69 large can of kidney beans 0.50 for others (You only use a little of each of the other ingredients) First, cook your onion, pepper and ground beef until cooked through. Drain. Combine your spices together, Chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, cayenne powde...

I'm so excited to share today's post. It's something I've been working on for about 2 months, on and off. But it is finished and so today I'm sharing how we renovated our kitchen cabinets for about $100. When we bought our house in a little over a year ago, I fell in love with the kitchen just by the listings photos. UPDATE!!! Check out this  post to see how I also stained my island! It was HUGE and there was about a billion cabinets. The kitchen in our old house was a pretty good size also and I knew I would not be content with a smaller kitchen. So these pictures sold me. We bought the house and moved in and I lived with the kitchen for awhile but the cabinet color was really bugging me. I liked the counter tops well enough but they clashed with the cabinets. We did not have the money to replace all those cabinets so the next decision was to either paint or stain them. I stumbled upon General Finishes Gel Stain and thought the id...