Friday, August 3, 2018

Happy Friday, y’all!  How was your week?  What’s going on this weekend?  I’m not sure what we are doing yet!  

Here are a few of my favorites from this week!

1. Pierre Dumas Rosetta Sandal – I had real Jack Rogers for maybe 4 years that I bought on sale.  I finally gave up on them this summer and donated them.  Seriously, they were the most uncomfortable things ever!  It felt like walking on two boards. I love the look, though, so when All About That Mommy Life blog posted about these, I placed my order.  They are less than $30 and she says they have a cushy footbed.  I will let you know what I think when I get them in.  I love, love, love the cork and gold combo.  I think I might be able to wear them to teach in with dresses, skirts, and pants.

2.  NYX butter gloss – I love my Lipsense, but I don’t always want to “waste” it or maybe I don’t want my lipstick to last that long.  This has a great price at $5ish dollars, great consistency, great smell, and all of the colors are named after desserts.  This is “eclair”.  

3.  I think I’ve talked about this before, but many summer days, I will make a Crystal Light Peach Tea and put it in my reusable Starbucks cup.  It’s so good!

4.  I love buying and giving gifts.  This was for my sister-in-law’s birthday Thursday.

I got her a cute pair of pink readers glasses.

5.  This is what my new polish looks like in the bottle – De-Stressed Denim

6.  Do you all have a pop socket for your phone?  It’s great for propping your phone up or for holding your phone so it doesn’t slip out of your hand.  But, you know what is even better?  The stick on holder for your car – especially when using your GPS.  

7.  Did you all watch Laguna Beach and The Hills?  I did!  I’m enjoying this newest version of Reality Kristin.  She is hard core!  She is a mom, wife, business woman and is not afraid to speak her mind.  

8.  I have no idea what to do with my eyebrows, but I knew I needed to do something.  The sweet girl at Ulta showed me how to use this Benefit product.  It is called “Ka-Brow”.  I love the Benefit product names!  

9.  Here is the second recipe I made for my sister-in-law (same one with the birthday Thursday).  She had a procedure done the day before her birthday and I wanted to bring some food to help her out.  I followed my same tips from Wednesday and I brought her Wednesday’s recipe, as well, (find my recipe for Mexican lasagna here) along with some pretzel rolos from here.  

This recipe is courtesy of Narci from http://www.graceandloveblog.com.  This is the second time I’ve made it and again, I made one for my family, too.  Ours is in the glass dish and the one to take is in the disposable. 

Bacon Alfredo Bake 

-Heat oven to 375

-Make your bacon in the oven – seriously, game changer – takes about 20 minutes.  Use an entire package.

-In a bowl, mix together I jar of alfredo sauce, about a half cup of sour cream, and a cup of mozzarella shredded.  You should be boiling linguine while mixing.  Chop bacon and add to your bowl and then combine the noodles with the sauce.  I used about 3/4 box of linguine.

Spread in pan or pans.  You could do one 13 x 9 or two 8 x 8 pans.  Bake for about 20 minutes in the oven still hot from the bacon.  

Now, you could have two easy and make ahead recipes for the first week of school because you will need them!  Read my back to school post here!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for visiting me!

Amy 

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Today’s thoughts are about blogging and I hope to have fellow bloggers and readers chime in!

I have been a faithful blog reader for maybe 6 years.  This has been part of my morning routine and usually I spend about 30 minutes with my first cup of coffee and my favorite bloggers.  They have enriched my life and given me countless tips on books, shows, movies, recipes, products, articles of clothing, ideas for my kids, ideas for holidays, and the list goes on and on.  I used to be a big reader of magazines and I think blogs maybe replaced magazines for me.  I do still read the occasional magazine when I get them for free at the library!  

I have always loved to write but as I was reading these blogs I never thought it was something I could ever do.  I was most daunted by the technology and the photographs. And, as you can tell, I still don’t have the nice tabs or search bars or the professional photographs or the search engine or the social media buttons.  I decided to learn how to use the free WordPress site and see how it went.  I started blogging in April with about 3 times a week of posting and then quickly went to 5 days a week.  I also upgraded to a paid plan when WordPress ran a Mother’s Day special.  That meant I got my own .com address instead of a complicated series that people would have to enter.

http://www.coffeeandcocktailsatthecasa.com is all mine!  Why didn’t I pick a shorter blog name?  I wanted something that spoke to my loves and I don’t think it truly tells people what my blog is about.  I’m o.k. with that.  I love coffee and I love cocktail(s) and I love being home.  

Am I in this for the money?  No.  I don’t make any money and I’m honestly not sure how to go about it.  This is merely a creative outlet for me.  

I decided to post regularly five days a week based on what I learned as a reader.  I like the dependability of set days and a set time.  I schedule my posts for 4:00 a.m. for early birds.  As a reader, I would get frustrated if I continually visited a blog that  rarely had new content without letting readers know that they were taking a break.

I have really enjoyed link-ups and try to participate in as many as I can.  This has brought new blog traffic to me and once I even had 300 readers which was a lot for me!  Link ups are great for readers, too, because you are exposed to new blogs.

I try to start drafts for the week on Sundays and then I add or finish each post after dinner.  It only takes me about 20-30 minutes a post.  The bloggers who do lots of links and lots of photos probably spend hours on each post.  Some may have virtual assistants or employees of their blog.  Whoa!  That is out of my territory!

I respond to every comment that I receive.  Receiving comments is the best! I have been sad before when a blogger doesn’t acknowledge my comment.  It’s hard to type on my ipad which is where I read my blogs, so it takes some effort!  If a blogger uses Disqus for comments, I can’t comment because that system hates me!  Sorry!

Currently my post theme/schedule is:

Monday – Hello Monday with a recap of the weekend

Tuesday – A Tip of some sort

Wednesday – Whereabouts/What I Wore

Thursday – Thoughts on some topic

Friday – Favorites from the week – products, items of clothing, or activities that I did

I originally did Monday meal plans and I may get back to that if I can get more organized.  

I enjoy writing about frugal fashion, trends, recipes, clothing and life hacks, stuff with kids, entertaining, travel, saving money, holidays, gifts, and more.  

What would you like to hear about?  Do you like my daily themes or do you have a suggestion?  Sometimes being this rigid makes it hard to participate in specific link ups, but I like the structure, too.  

I think my favorite posts are here where I talked about graphic tees and kimonos and here where I talked about how to wear white without fear.  

If you stuck with this post this long, you are a VIP reader!  Thank you! I would love your feedback!

Amy 

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Tomorrow and Friday I’m in an all day professional development and then next week is registration and classroom set up.  Ready or not – here it comes!  I’m looking forward to seeing my work friends but I’m not sure what my attention span will be like!  

On Monday, I had my last Spanish lesson with my young couple.  They touched my heart and told me their Spanish lessons have been the highlight of their summer.  They have been married for one year and they are so cute!  They gave me a sweet card.  It was a really good experience for me.  

We also had an orthodontist appointment and a library run on Monday.  

On Tuesday, I ran to Target for some toiletries and strolled through the school supply aisle.  You guys, it is only July 31 and look at this photo below!  My sister in Indiana did start school today and I know many of the Indiana schools across the river start super early, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this picked over before August!  Wow! 

I walked out of Target without buying anything because they didn’t have the toiletries I needed!  That is restraint!  

I also did some cooking Tuesday and I wanted to show you a go-to dish I make to take to people.  This is for my sister-in-law.  I’m taking it to her this afternoon after she has a procedure.  

I call it Mexican Lasagna and I think I started making this from a newspaper clipping about 13 years ago.  I’ve tweaked it a bit.  

Tip:  Always use the aluminum disposable pans you can get from The Dollar Tree.  Don’t stress them out about returning dishes.  

Tip:  Double it and make your family’s dinner as well.  This is what my family had for dinner Tuesday night.  

Mix up in a bowl:  corn (I used frozen and didn’t heat it up), a can of black beans drained,  cooked chicken (I used rotisserie), 3/4 of a jar of salsa (don’t use fresh), a container of sour cream.  

This is my mixture below:  It looks kind of not good, but trust me!  

Just use the jarred stuff – the fresh doesn’t work for this. 

Now cut up a package of flour tortillas.  Or, maybe just cut 3 and see how many more you will need.  These will be your “lasagna noodles”.  I think I use the soft taco size.  

I reserved a little bit of the jarred salsa and put it on the bottom of my 8×8.  The glass is for us at home and the disposable is for my sister-in-law.  

Then, do a layer of the tortilla strips, followed by a couple of spoonfuls of the mixture in the bowl, followed by some shredded cheese.  In the photo below, I forgot the cheese and removed the tortillas and started over.  Oops – not a professional food blogger.

Repeat the layers and end up with just tortilla strips on top, add a little more salsa and a sprinkling of cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until bubbly.  

Most of the way through the process:  All it needs now is the last layer of tortilla strips, salsa, and cheese.  

When I take it to someone, I usually add a bag of tortilla chips, maybe some guacamole, maybe a pan of brownies.  I know this isn’t the healthiest, most rounded out meal, but people seem to love it.  I made it last fall for a former student who had triplets and whose mother taught with me.  She and her husband said it was their favorite meal from the meal train.  It’s just a nice comfort meal and people usually love Mexican food.  

I write directions on the foil on top:  “Mexican Lasagna – fully cooked.  Cut a square and warm up in microwave”.  This is great for their lunch the next day, too.  It saves really well.  

Variations:  You could do taco meat, you could do corn tortillas, you could add green chiles, Ro-tel, etc.  Also, I have seen it done in a round pan where you don’t cut the tortillas.  I may try that myself.  

Where have you been so far this week?  

What is your go-to recipe to take to someone?  

Let me know if you try this!

Amy 

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

You may be rejoicing that school is starting back up soon or you may be sad that summer is over, but either way… buckle up, people – you are in for a big change of pace!  Even if you aren’t a teacher like me (high school Spanish), the beginning of the school year is nuts!  It’s stressful to be a mom or parent at back to school time – can I get an “Amen”? Every year, I think I will do better and be better but every year it hits me like a ton of bricks, despite my preparations.  Here are some tips that I plan to employ and that might help you, too. 

Why am I qualified to write this? This will be my 12th year doing back to school as a mom and my 25th year doing back to school as a teacher! Check out my first back to school post here if you are so inclined.

Nowadays I’m really just responsible for myself in the mornings.  My twin boys who will be juniors get themselves up, make their own breakfast and walk to school.  They leave the house about 40 minutes before school starts and it’s about an 8 minute walk.  They like that morning time to chat with friends and let’s be honest, they also finish up a bit of homework, I’m sure.  I’m at the same school so they can ride with me if they choose and I leave about the same time, but they enjoyed their independence and a little bit of fresh air last year until about the end of October.  

Some Tips:

-Try to gradually make bedtime earlier – maybe go to bed 15 minutes earlier each night for the week leading up – depending on how late you had let the child stay up during the summer.

-Try to gradually get kids up earlier in the morning.  Maybe make early a.m haircut or vaccination appointments in the week leading up?  

-If your child is going to a new school, walking to school or riding their bike for the first time, do a dry run and time it with your phone.  I have found that people seriously underestimate how long it takes to get places. 

-It would be fun to time your child’s entire routine!  I bet elementary and maybe middle school kids would get a kick out of this.  You could even do it more than once and see if anything changes?  Hey, you’re out of activities at this point in the summer so why not?  

-We had a rule that our boys couldn’t exit their bedroom until they were fully dressed including socks and shoes.  This just left breakfast.  No screens were allowed until fully dressed, either.  You may want to have a no screen rule in the mornings period.  

-Lay everything out the night before. Insist that backpacks be fully packed and do as much lunch and breakfast prep as possible.  I do this for myself, as well.  I lay out everything I need the night before – papers, special items for a lesson, my clothes, everything.  Mornings are hard.  Make them as easy as possible.  You can even set a breakfast table.  Hey, I know it sounds very type A, but your morning self will thank you.  

-Homework:  I think you need to find what works best for your kids.  My kids walked home with me from elementary school (I got out an hour and a half before them – so nice!) and we stopped at the school playground every day.  This was great for them and we really stopped and played in all types of weather.  Also, I think my kids were in 2nd grade when I was obsessed with not getting the swine flu/H1N1 and I would make them take off uniforms right away to be washed when we got home.  (This also goes a long way to keeping allergens at bay and other viruses they pick up at school, IMO.)  So, our tradition has always been to immediately change into “cozies”.  I do this also to protect my nicer school clothes. Then, we would tackle homework while eating a snack.  

We are lucky to go back on a Wednesday this year.  As an educator and a parent, I think Monday start days are just wrong.  It’s better for all involved to ease back in with a shorter week. 

For the first week or two weeks, just think easy prep and/or freezer meals.   I am planning to stock up on frozen entrees from Trader Joe’s and Costco and give myself a break. The meals won’t be super healthy or creative, but we are in survival mode.  I will buy frozen meals for my lunch, too.  I will also buy some salad kits and individual serving packets to make life easier.  I will start doing online grocery shopping again as I don’t do it as much during the summer.  

If you can, try not to plan evening activities the first week back.  It will be all your kids can do to do homework, eat dinner, take a bath, and go to bed.  The long school day is really tiring no matter what the age of the children.  I hope that community youth sports don’t start right away and that schools don’t have evening activities the first week.  

Remember that you as a parent will have tons of papers to sign and fill out and you will be getting up much earlier, too.  I have a friend who stays up until 1 a.m. and then has to go back to bed after taking kids to school at 7.  This is no way to live, in my opinion.  The whole house needs an earlier bedtime and it’s an adjustment for everyone in the family. 

Let me get on my soap box for a minute:

Please remember not to complain about the new schedule, the papers you have to sign, the school supplies, how tired you are, how you are mad that they start before Labor Day, etc.  Your attitude is contagious and your kids really do feed off of you.  We are so blessed to get to give our children an education and to have teachers and schools who love our kids!  Learning should be fun!  Kids should want to go to school!  I still love going to school!  

O.k., stepping off of soap box…

What tips do you have for me or my readers?  
What did I forget?  

Remember to check out my first back to school post here!  

Best of luck as you start the 2018-19 school year!

Amy 

Friday, July 27, 2018

Happy Friday!  Linking up with Momfessionals, Mix and Match Mama, and

The Slaughters today.

Favorite #1)  Monday night’s work event for my husband!

This is what I wore.  I love these Loft pants and I paired this consignment blouse with it for the first time.  In the past I’ve only worn black with the pants.  I love these comfy sandals and of course, I have my tassel jewelry.  I forgot to take a mirror selfie and I didn’t take any pictures at the event.  I was comfortable and felt like I dress appropriately for the wine bar. 

Favorite #2)  This new to me lotion from Bath and Body Works!

This was my Bath and Body freebie with my coupon that I used a couple of weeks ago.  I put this on in the car for the first time and I was transported back to Spain!  Do certain smells do that to you?  I lived in Valencia, Spain for a semester in college and maybe it was the oranges we ate there, but this scent takes me back!  And, it’s called Happiness.  This is part of B and B’s aromatherapy line which includes:  Sleep (lavendar), Comfort (Patchouli and vanilla – I’m not a big fan of patchouli alone, but this works), Happiness (bergamot and mandarin) and I believe the last one is my Stress relief with ecalyptus.  I really love these scents and I’m thinking about having one of each in my classroom.  The students would love having this available to use as they enter or leave the room.  Wait, I can’t offer a lotion called “Sleep” – oops!  

Favorite #3)  This boy!

Look at this face!  He is such a good dog and a constant companion.  What would we do without dogs?  Ernie turned 5 in January and is already getting a little grey!  No!  

Favorite #4)  This boy!

He has started letting me take more pictures again.  He got the news from the orthodontist that he only has to wear his retainer at night, so that was exciting!  He had some book store gift cards to spend and I took him there and then we grabbed Five Guys for a very rare treat.  I eat probably less than 5 hamburgers a year.  If you are going to eat one, this is the place to go in my opinion.  I didn’t buy any books for myself because I’m still on a $0 book budget for 2018.  I did open up my library app and request the first and second Poldark books while I wait for season 4 to become available to me.  This guy has finished his summer reading but wanted to read some books for pleasure and to talk about with his English teacher.  How sweet!  I think he is ready to have a great, but challenging junior year with 4 AP courses.  

Favorite #5)  Watch What Crappens Podcast!

I’m a big fan of most of the Bravo shows.  I love Below Deck, Southern Charm Charleston and Savannah, Real Housewives of NYC and the OC, and Summer House.  I have all of these set to record and then I watch when I have free time.  I heard about this podcast and it’s pretty funny.  They recap the shows and comment or make jokes about what happens.  

Favorite #6)  New Work Computer!  

I got to pick up my new laptop for school this week.  I’m thinking about buying a nice laptop bag or at least a sleeve to use to put it in my school tote.  Any suggestions on a bag are welcomed!  It’s a really light HP.  

Favorite #7)  My other son’s acting camp!

He is finishing his two week camp today and he has absolutely loved it.  It makes my mama heart happy.  He wants to continue at this theater during the school year but we will have to see if we have time in addition to his courseload and his activities.  He has not finished his summer reading and will need to get on that next week but I think he is also ready to have a great junior year with 3 AP courses.  

Favorite #8)  Book Club Thursday night!

We had to cancel in June so I was excited to see everyone for the first time since May.  We read The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty which I read maybe 4 years ago.  I should have re-read it, but I don’t like to re-read books.  It seems like we can never have everyone make it but the food and conversation is always great.

What are you up to this weekend?  

My plans are not set yet, but I must have some summer fun!  

You will find out about it on Monday, I guess.  Did I or did I not have fun?  I hope you can stand it!  Thanks for reading!  

Amy 

P.S. – You may have noticed I didn’t buy anything this week – except groceries.  I talked about contentment yesterday here if you missed it and on Wednesday I did give a recap of my last week’s consignment haul here.  On Tuesday I talked about Costco tips – so if you are a member of considering joining, check it out here!  

P.S.S. – I did decide to try ThredUp’s Goody Box (a box of 10 second hand items for you to either keep or send back – no pressure.)  If you go to Modern Mrs. Darcy blog here, you will get a great review of this service and a discount so it will only cost you $10 which you can use toward one of the items.  I will review mine next week!  

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Thursday Thoughts – Being Content with your Current Closet

Today I’m going to talk about contentment in the area of clothing, shoes, and  accessories in your closet.  I don’t know that there has ever been a time in history like today where we are so aware of what everyone else has and wears. We see people on tv, in magazines, and on social media.   Comparison is the thief of joy or something like that?  

You know when I feel like my closet ISN’T enough?  It’s when I spend too much time reading fashion magazines or looking at fashion bloggers online.  

You know when I do feel like my closet IS enough?  It’s when I have reorganized it and realized how much I have.  Sometimes this just takes 5-10 minutes when I’m putting away clean clothes.  

I actually feel like I have more when I downsize and purge items that no longer fit me or my style.  It’s crazy, but it’s so true.  Less is more.  If you read about capsule wardrobes online, enthusiasts all seem to share this sentiment.  You know when you go on vacation and getting dressed is so easy because you have so few choices?  We really shouldn’t keep anything that doesn’t make us feel wonderful.  

Switching over to the non-slip black velvet hangers helped me, too.  If you don’t already have these, they are so worth it!  I also have uniform clear plastic and metal pants and skirt hangers and I never take the cheap hangers from a store.  Having room to look through the hangers and not have too much crammed in there is a great feeling.  I bought some at Costco many years ago and got rid of my mismatched hodge podge of plastic, wooden, and dry cleaner wire hangers.  I don’t waste a black velvet hanger on something I don’t love anymore!  

Figure out a new way to organize – by color or type of clothing or by use of clothing.  Maybe you could have a work section and a weekend section.  On Sundays, I try to group potential outfits together for the work week.  This makes the mornings easier.  

Think how much of your time contentment can free up, too.  I used to spend hours on an endless cycle of buy, return, buy something else, return, repeat.  Have any of you been on that merry-go-round?  

This may seem counterintuitive, but I think Pinterest has helped me find contentment in my current wardrobe.  I will look at pictures of outfits and see what I can find in my closet to come close to that color combination or style of outfit.  This was the original premise behind Sheaffer Told Me To’s blog.  Instead of making me feel like I need to go buy more, Pinterest has helped me work with what I already have.

Another fun way to feel like you have more is to try different color combinations.  I’m the daughter and sister of art teachers and I love color.  Take one piece of clothing in your closet and hold it up against other items and see how they look together.  Also, you can find color combination inspiration in artwork or home decor on Pinterest.  

Another thing you can do is to challenge yourself to wear every item for a given season in your closet before you repeat something.  

Now, I must admit, I wrote this as much for me as for you.  I’m going to work on contentment through the rest of the summer and into the fall.  It will be hard if I see a great bargain, and I might see a trend I have to try.  It really doesn’t take much time to shop online and the feeling of something arriving on your porch – Is there anything better after a long day of work?  We live in a treat yourself society and it feels like we deserve it.  But, isn’t it an even better feeling to be content and grateful with what we already have?

Let’s work on this together!  Gotta go – just got another inbox sale message that I have to check out!

Amy 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

What have you done so far this week?  This is my son’s second and final week of an in town acting camp so it’s made me get up and out the door by 9 a.m.  I have enjoyed some free time last week and this week getting things together for the upcoming school year.  I have purchased some new school clothes for the boys.  We purchased two new pairs of shoes back in June so we’re good there.  We’ve ordered and started reading summer reading books.  I bought a bunch of 25 cent notebooks for the boys and I.  Target doesn’t have the major school supply bargains that they used to have, you guys.  I’m waiting to buy the specifics after the first day of school so that I don’t waste money on things we don’t need.  

Monday night, my husband’s wonderful company hosted an appreciation night for employees and spouses at a wine bar with heavy appetizers.  We stayed out until 9 on a weeknight!  

Tuesday morning after dropping my son off at camp, I met my former work neighbor (next door teacher for 17 years!) at a cute new bagel place.  It was great to catch up!  

Last week I had a chance to visit my three local consignment stores.  I don’t always find things and you hear me talk about going often because you really have to go frequently  to find good things.  The stock changes daily.  About a month ago, I mentioned that anything else I bought this summer would have to work for school.  Here is what I found:  

Our school colors include maroon, but maroon is also part of my fall and winter clothing palette.  I highly recommend deciding what your colors are and only buying these colors.  This is a Target brand long sleeve with a cute lace detail at the shoulders and at the hem. Sometimes when you are shopping consignment you will need to go up a size because things have been washed and dried.  I actually think this can be an advantage because you can see that it held up in the machine.  

$5

Here is another Target brand long sleeve top.  I think this will look great with white jeans.  This will be good if I’m supporting UK, my husband’s college team, too.  $6

This is a brand I hadn’t heard of but I like the boho chic nature and the light cornflower blue color.  It’s long sleeve, too.  I’ve already worn it!  $8. 

These were a little pricey, but you know how I feel about Hue leggings/jeggings from my post here.  These are full length, not capri length and I had recently thought I needed olive pants in my closet.  These were $15.  Original price would’ve been $30-40, I think. 

Finally, I found some shoes.  Now, I will say that the shoes I buy at consignment stores look like they have never been worn.  I know some people might be squeamish about used shoes.  Also, the clothes are oftentimes not worn more than once or twice and I just wash them right away.  I thought this shoe would be great for fall and it mimics my summer sandal at the top of the photo that I have worn a bunch.  Don’t overlook metallics in your wardrobe.  They are great!  So, this is almost the same but a different brand and a little more gold, but with a closed toe for when open toe no longer seems appropriate.  $15.

I also might add that I sold clothes to the consignment store and earned a whopping $8 to put toward these purchases!  

How do you think I did?  Just go into your consignment store or even your Goodwill or thrift shop with an open mind and see what you can find.  Don’t buy something just because it’s cheap, though.  Really make sure it fits your lifestyle, your needs, and your color palette.  Or, if you can’t get out easily, check out the online consignment options such as ThredUp.  I’ve heard of people finding great things.  

Happy second hand shopping!  I’ve gotta go and see what else is new at mine!

Amy 

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Are you a member of Costco?  Have you thought about joining?  My husband and I just went this past Saturday and I looked at my membership card and was shocked that we have been members for 12 years!  

Do I think Costco saves us money?  Yes, but you need to be careful.  I also think you can waste a lot of money on things you don’t really need.  You kind of get swept up in the excitement when you enter a Costco.  I have learned a few things over the years and will try to share what I know with you.  

It’s important to note that they are awesome about returns.  I opened a 3 pack of deoderant and hated it – it felt like rubbing sandpaper on my pits!  I told them exactly that and they took it back and refunded my money.  I have opened up packs of socks that were the wrong size and they took them back.  

I have also learned that if you see something you like and it is a seasonal item, buy now and you can always return later because of their easy return policy.  I have gone back to get something seasonal and it’s been gone.  I don’t want that to happen to you.  

Here is a photo of a seasonal item that I took for you.  School uniforms won’t last long at 7.99 for the shirts and 8.99 for the shorts.  I’m not sure you would pay less at a consignment store or a school uniform sale.  

What I buy on the regular: (usually every 2 months or so)  

dog food – the price is great on the type of food we need to feed our dog

papertowels – Kirkland (store brand) select a size

Facial tissue – Kirkland brand

Toilet paper – Kirkland brand

kitchen trash bags – Kirkland brand

dishwasher tabs – Finish

laundry pods – Kirkland brand

Kirkland breakfast blend coffee K cups

grapefruit in individual containers for my husband

toothbrushes – great deal

toothpaste – great deal

Glide floss – great deal

I do think I save on all of these purchases and it’s nice not to have to put these things on your weekly grocery list.  You do need some degree of storage for these large quantities. 

What I buy sometimes:

King’s Hawaiian buns – the price is like half of what you pay at the grocery and I use these for my ham and swiss sliders

Rotisserie chicken – great deal – They are around $5 and they are the Arnold Schwarzenenegger of chickens as compared to the David Spades at the grocery store.  (First actors’ names to pop in my head – sorry!)

flour tortillas – great deal

bread – great deal

prepared spinach salad or other prepared meals

lunch meat

frozen organic chicken breasts

fresh organic ground beef

pretzel buns

frozen meals for convenience – my boys love the orange chicken

chips for lunches

breakfast cereal  – great deal

baking mixes – Ghiradelli or Krusteauz especially 

snack foods – nuts, jerky, cookies

gum – great deal on multi pack of gum that will last for a few months

clothing – great place to get my boys’ clothes and sometimes a cute item for me

birthday and Christmas gifts

I do not often buy the fresh fruits and vegetables because of the large quantities.  I prefer to get those on my weekly Kroger or Trader Joe’s trip.  

What I believe pays for the cost of my yearly membership alone: 

By the way, we have the executive membership which is about $120 a year but we get a check back based on our purchases once a year so it ends up being only about $40 a year.  There is a lower level membership where you don’t get cash back, too.  I’m sure someone talked us into this level and we just stuck with it.  

Christmas cards- You won’t believe the good deal if you like to send photo cards

Contact lenses – I think I saved half by ordering them at Costco instead of at the eye doctor

When to go:  

I usually go right when they open on a Saturday during the school year.  I don’t often bring my husband but sometimes he comes.  He is not a lot of help because the entertainment/technology section is right at the entrance and he is pulled in by the glowing big screen tvs calling to him.  Here he is Saturday gazing longingly at the section while trying to keep up with me and the cart.  

It does get crazy on the weekends.  Some people are all about the samples they have set up all around the store and you can hardly push your cart past.  This is why I like to go early.  But, you do you.  

I hope this helps someone out there!  I’m sure many of this applies to Sam’s Club, as well, but I don’t have personal knowledge of their products.  

What can you recommend to me?  

Thanks for reading!

Amy