Feeling Good in my Garden!

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about saving money in the garden. I finally put some of those practices in action.

We went to Lowes and used buy one get one free coupons to buy $20 worth of vegetables for $10.

We also bought two trees and some much needed fertilizer.

The past two weeks, we requested bids from five different tree companies. We had a giant pine taken down, a sycamore I hated destroyed, and another pine trimmed. The cheapest bid came in at $1200 for all the work, stump grinding in all. We negotiated that cost down to $1100 by paying for the job by cash.

Now that the two trees are gone, our yard felt a little empty. We thought it would be nice to plant another crab apple in the front and add a quaking aspen in the back. Both trees are supposed to have a fast growth rate, low water needs, and grow around 20 feet. This is much better than our enormous trees from before. Yesterday, we got the two trees planted and the first part of our garden in. I'd say it was a very productive day!

Have you got your garden in?

Behavior Modification: Low-Cost Reinforcers

I worked in our latency aged group home today and was reminded of a very simple, yet some how easily forgotten concept:

Reinforcers MUST by defination be reinforcing to the person involved.

If you're trying to motivate any child, youth, or even yourself, the reinforcer (or award) must be something that is enticing enough to make you want to change. The reinforcer must also be frequent enough for the child's developmental level or the difficulty of the task.

Free Reinforcers that worked for my non-compliant youth today included:

*High-five's

*Playing a Board game after positive behavior

*Being read to

*Watering the plants

The youth teeter-tottered all day but he had a slightly better day today, then yesterday!

Progress, regardless how small must be celebrated!!

Saving Money in the Garden

I have loved the past two days of sunshine!

I raked the leaves, pine needles, and pine cones that were left from the fall when the snow hit hard.

I am dreaming about the plants I would love to buy and fill my garden with. I am dreaming (and getting estimates) on having three trees removed. I also am looking to have a more successful vegetable garden. Last years didn't turn out so well.

How would it be to be one of those people who could plant seeds, nourish them, and watch them sprout? I would love that. My grandma does it each year, so it's in my blood but I think my blood needs maturing or something!

There are the traditional ways of saving in the garden, outside of growing seeds. "Trade plants with neighbors", "Plant perennials, divide, and spread", "Collect Seeds," and of course, "Use coupons."

Some good coupons lately came from Lowes for buy one get one free plants.  This is my first choice, not because I think they have better plants, but they have a waranty on their plants that if you do everything correctly and it still dies, they will replace the plant. I have used this policy in the past and it is my favorite way to go. Make sure you save your reciept and then if you need to, dig up the plant, stick it in a box and take it back to the store. Go to the customer service desk like you were returning any other item and they will either exchange it or give you a store credit.

City Deals has a deal: $30 to Glover Nursery in West Jordan for $15 for those of us in Utah. I imagine other city's will have similar deals.

My grandma gets several plants at the end of the season from the local nursery by her home at pennies. However, she is able to bring them back to life somehow (while I always manage the opposite).

I plant ground cover in my back yard, to be able to use in my front yard once I have enough. Then I rotate where the ground cover was and plant vegetables. As a result of crop rotation, I don't worry too much about supplementing my soil. We till the ground, rake the ground, weed the ground, and then plant.

However you plan to spend your money or your time, I believe that gardening is naturally healing.

Happy Spring!

Utah 1/2 Price Produce!

Utah Moms should be excited about this city deal! Maceys has a $10 gift card towards produce for $5 on City Deals. I see some for the Clinton, Clearfield, and Ogden, Utah locations

I never see deals for produce and coupons for fresh fruit and veggies is few and far between. We will be getting some of these and spreading the word too!

Budgeting Spread Sheet

I was reading along my blog list and saw a great offer from the the frugal free gal! She has an incredible spreadsheet to help you organize your finances.

For the first time in over a year, I pulled up my bank account online and went through item by item of everything we've used the debit card for this month and seperated it all out. I even think I found an error of something we've been double billed for each month for the past three months. Wahoo!

Now, I just have to track down outstanding balances on our debt and on our investments so we can track that too! It's so nice to have it all in one little place.

Our goal this year is to rebuild savings.

20% off plus free shipping at City Deals!

I saw that City Deals is having a "January Sale" plus 20% off. These would make for a good gift certificate for a birthday, co-worker appreciation, or family night! Use code JANSALE to get the discount!

The hottest Utah deal right now is the Armstrong Mansion for $50 (regularly $100) plus 20% of would be $40. Sounds like a nice Valentine's get a way!

Also good is Santa Monica Pizza at Jordan Landing, Hollywood Connections is West Valley area is a fun little place too.

UDIs G-free coupons!

There are two high value UDI's gluten free coupons!

UDI's Coupons Here

I saw their selection at the St. George Smith's and they looked great. I would definately get the chocolate muffins! I would probably freeze most of them, they are pricey but with the coupon it would be better (I'm thinking like $5 for a six pack of the muffins) but definately convenient!

Condos are better than hotels!

I found my reasons for liking our condo's better immediately after Jeff posted his reasons.

Cooking! I have a hard time eating out with food allergies and can have a fresh, home made breakfast at the condo.

Cost! Elijah insisted on getting his own meal at IHOP. For all 3 of us to have a nice breakfast, it cost us $42.40 plus a tip. That's more than what I spend for a whole week of groceries! The condo would have been cheaper just from breakfast alone!

Space! We are very crammed in this one bed and a coffee machine hotel! Eli is loud, the TV is loud, the neighbors are loud. We could never work from vacation if we had to do it this way.

Activities! The pool is heated, but there is no hot tub. The Condos we own have a heated lazy river, three hot tubs, and a heated pool. We usually have more than one TV and Eli can watch cartoons and we can watch home and gardens.

I'm sure there are lots of other reasons. If you want to find out, we don't mind to rent to our friends for close to what we pay. Just email Jeff, he's in charge of that!

Gluten-Free Flour Deal

Jules Gluten-Free Flour is having a special on their "Welcome Pack":

You can now save 64% with our "Welcome Pack." Get 5 pounds of All Purpose Flour, plus 3 e-books (more than 150 recipes in total), and FREE Shipping & Handling.  Priced individually, these products would cost $69.95.  However, the Welcome Pack is only $24.95 - a $45 savings!
 CLICK HERE

We just got our 5lb shipment in the mail. We used the ebook to find a pizza crust recipe that rocked. We made bbq chicken pizza with this crust and our 4 year old chose the bbq pizza over his typical Totino frozen pizza. (He's usually really picky, and doesn't eat the crust so I was surpised when he ate the WHOLE PIZZA, CRUST AND ALL!!)

The only complaint I had was that the crust stuck to the pan. The directions said to use an ungreased pan, which I did, but I'm thinking next time around we will be using spray or a bit of coconut-oil on the pan. I also will add pineapple topping.

Deals that Matter

Share this with friends and family! Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah has teamed up with Dealsthatmatter.com. These are daily discounts that you can purchase and during the month of October 100% of the proceeds are given to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah when you choose us as your charity. The discounts will vary daily and you can sign up to receive alerts. Take a look, get registered and start saving today!

You can choose which agency you want to support, Jeff and I always support BBBSU any chance we get! That's where we met and it will always have a special spot in our heart (and pocket book). http://www.bbbsu.org/

Let me know what you think of this daily deal site!