Friday, June 27, 2008

Every Year We.....

Do you have a list of things you absolutely must do every year? Before I had Justice, I did not have a list like that; however, since he was born things have changed drastically.

It has come to my attention that, our must do list has grown to gargantuan proportions. As we continue to explore the state of Florida on a budget and a dream, we seem to unearth more and more amazing things to do each year.

Below is a list of things we must do and see each year. These are the things that have been so fun and so incredible, that we can't imagine not doing them again and again.

In Town/Day Trips

1. Artigras in Jupiter
2. Renfest in Ft. Lauderdale
3. Easter Egg hunt in Lake Park
4. State fair in Palm Beach County or St. Lucie county
5. Trip to Morikami Gardens when a festival is being held
6. McKee Botanical Gardens in Vero Beach
7. Boynton School House Museum
8. Drehyr Park Zoo
9. Science Museum in West Palm
10. 3-D Imax theater in Ft. Lauderdale
11. The Girls U-Pick Strawberry farm in Delray Beach
12. Monsters In The Marsh at Grassey Waters Preserve
13. Davie Pro Rodeo
14. Wanna Do City
15. Friday night Flicks in Delray Beach
16. The Christmas Boat Parade In West Palm Beach
17. The Sunrise Balloon Race

Out Of Town Trips In Florida

1. Epcot for the Candlelight Processional
2. Animal Kingdom
3. Magic Kingdom twice (1 hard ticket event, rotate each year)
4. MGM Osbourne Family Festival of Lights
5. Both Disney Water Parks
6. Disneyquest
7. Sea World (The Polar Experience is THE BEST Christmas theme park attraction in Orlando!)
8. Universal (both parks, not to miss Grinchmas and the Macy's Parade)
9. Bush Gardens Tampa
10. Weeki Wachee Mermaids
11. Tubing the Itcheetuknee
12. Camping and fossil hunting the Peace River
13. Solomon's Caste in Ona
14. Gaylord Palms Ice Display
15. Aquatica by Sea World
16. Orange picking and the Citrus Tower in Cleremont

* We would like to add the Keys, St. Augustine/Amelia Island, Discovery Cove and The Kennedy Space center to this list in the coming year.

Do you have any other must do's/must see's each year? I'd love to hear about them!

Friday, June 20, 2008

My Kitchen Experiment

I know gas prices have been soaring out of control for some time now; but, I have to admit it has only been recently that I have noticed a very deep impact on my finances, as a result of this crisis. While it seems the price of everything is going up right now to compensate for the rising fuel costs, two particular areas are really making me wince. Gas (go figure) and food.

As far as gas goes, I can do little things like check my tire pressure once a week, keep a clean air filter under the hood and ease of that gas pedal; but, the only real solution is to drive less. Yea right! There is only so much "less driving" I can do, especially as a single parent who must drive all over the county to pick my son up from whatever sitter I can muster up. The idea of sitting in the house all weekend and staring at the walls is not so great either, so I'm left with trying to group my errands together and stay closer to home to avoid wasting fuel.

As far as groceries go, I think I have a-lot more options. The big dilemma comes with eating healthy and eating cheap. After doing a bit of research on this topic I have come to one conclusion. It you want to eat healthy and cheap you have to sacrifice some time. It requires a bit of planning and cooking from scratch. Normally I look for any way I can find to make things go faster; but, I am in a position where I have to start to look at ways to reduce my cost of living.

So, here is my plan. Obviously I'm not going to make everything from scratch; but, I'm going to give it a good shot. Below is a list of ways I will reduce my overall grocery bill over the next month. At that time I will post again on this subject and let you know the results of my kitchen experiment.

1. I will be laying Coca-Cola and his dearly beloved friend Mountain Dew to rest. That's right, no more soda. Now this does not mean I am quiting soda, just quiting spending money on it.

2. I will bake my own bread. This is time consuming; but, it's soooo tasty and so much better for you, not to mention cheaper. I'm actually kind of excited about this.

3. I will use the whole bird. Chicken or turkey. For one month I will only buy whole birds and use them for lunch and dinner. I will have sandwiches without nitrates or fillers. I will have homemade soup. I will have lean protein for dinner and sometimes even some homemade gravy.

4. I will make every effort to buy what's on sale, especially for the foods I can't make like yogurt.

5. I will be green. I will stop throwing out my quart sized zip lock bags. I will take the time to wash them and let them air dry. They are expensive and it is downright irresponsible to throw them away after one use.

6. I will plan my meals. I will take a list with the ingredients needed to the grocery store and I will make every effort to plan my meals around what's on sale.

That's it! I know there are other ways to reduce my costs; but, I'm trying to start with something reasonable and work from there. If you have any other tips for saving money at the grocery store, please let me know! I'd love to hear what's worked for you.