Bet you didn't know the power of Yogurt - Dr. Oz

This morning the Hubby left for work way earlier than usual (I'm not going to reveal a time - just know - I am not a morning person and neither are my kids - thank goodness). So this morning I was able to catch a little of the Dr. Oz on the Today show while feeding my little man his breakfast. I am sharing because I am totally intrigued by this and will certainly be giving it a shot. I will also be sure to keep you up to date on my "findings".

So here's what Dr. Oz had to say.......A recent study looked at people who ate a six ounce serving of low fat yogurt before every meal and found 80 percent of those people lost more weight around their waist than people who didn’t eat the yogurt before a meal. Dr. Oz said this happens because calcium in the yogurt tells fat cells to release the fat. When the fat mixes with the calcium it makes soap, which means you are absorbing less calories.

Seems simple enough - any of you tried this concept???

Feel free to share. 

Poster prints at Walgreen's $0.25 - AWESOME!!

Being the photo nut that I am, I read about this deal over at Mommysavers.com and I can't not share this. I scored (3) 11 x 14 - poster prints of my photo's of my little one's, including this one showing of my new backdrop in my studio.

Here's how....
Head to Walgreens Photo and order your 11×14 poster print with coupon code 25CENTS.  Poster prints can only be printed in select Walgreens Photo centers. This is a savings of $9.99 per print and it's valid until 3/2/13.

SCORE these funky fun magnetic wooden fridge letters

These awesome magnetic fridge letters are an awesome deal over at amazon.

I found this fabulous deal from livefabuluLESS. Jodi Furman shares some awesome deals and saved me a ton of money at Christmas.

ONLY $3.41 SHIPPED for these wooden, magnetic letters: http://amzn.to/WkvVrs

MOVE QUICK - THEY SELL OUT FAST!!

FREE Personalized Calendar from VisaPrint

Now, I like to coupon, I'm not a die hard "stock piler" and I don't live and breath coupons but I do use them and I do think they have saved me a ton of money over the years.

I follow quite a few blogs for my savings and my goal is to compile them altogether here for you and pass on the savings.


With that being said, I'm a sucker for anything FREE and I love any product that showcases our world in pictures. I simply couldn't pass up this nice deal that I read about at mojosavings.

So here's the scoop on the Free Calendar....Head on over to VISTAPRINT to customize your personalized calendar, this is a $15.99 savings and you simply pay $5.30 in shipping.  Happy creating!!

The Green Monster

After giving birth to my lovely little man in July via C-section(see my cuitie below) I had a desire to loose the "infamous" baby weight in a quicker fashion than I had with my daughter. I had a goal of fitting into my swimsuit for our trip to Disney World.

So began my search for the ultimate answer. I'm not one to try 100's of fad diets, yet I'm not one for heading to the gym at 6:30 every morning especially after a c-section. I began drinking a shake every morning, I got this shake from my Mom who bought from a friend who was part of multi level marketing company. The shake was great and I truly believe it got me to my pre-pregnancy weight much quicker and it was very YUMMY!! (you can email me and I'll give you the info if your interested in this shake). However, it's kinda pricey and being a stay at home Mom I had little justification to buy it each month.

I started my research online or actually at Pinterest (I'm addicted) for "Weight Watcher" type food ideas.... (My Mom recently lost over 30 pounds with weight watchers and I had done the same prior to my children.)

I began drinking the lovely green monster shake about a week ago and I LOVE IT!! It gives me an excuse to use my NINJA blender that I got for Christmas (if you have never used one - you must - it's awesome). Anyway, back to the shake, I have so much more energy and I feel so much healthier and I love the taste of the shake... so without further adieu... here's the recipe. SO with the combination of our "weight watchers" type diet and this green smoothie, over the holidays and through our vacation I have lost 4.5 pounds and my husband 6 pounds. And I am happy to report that 6 months after giving birth via C-section I am below my pre-pregnancy weight.

Ignore the color and don't judge it's ingredients.. It's YUMMMY!!


Green Monster Smoothie
1 banana, roughly chopped
4 or 5 strawberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 small peach, peeled and roughly chopped
1 heaping cup (or more) fresh spinach leaves, thoroughly rinsed
splash vanilla soy milk
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup crushed ice

I have to share that I "pinned" this recipe from

http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com/2011/07/19/green-er-brown-ish-monster-smoothies/

Family Trip to Disney - Jan 2013 - how we made it affordable

We started 2013 with our very first trip to Walt Disney World. It was a fabulous, exhausting, awesome vacation. My parents we kind enough to make the trek to the happiest place on earth with us. First and foremost.... Parents - this is not a vacation, it's hard work - you will be exhausted upon your return, make sure you have a day or two to rest before heading back to work or school - BUT IT'S SO WORTH IT!!

Being the cheap chic I am, I began my research about 5 months prior to our trip. I wanted to know how I could have the ultimate vacation the cheapest way possible and not miss out on a thing. I do have to pat myself on the back - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

In a nut shell here's what we did and how we did it......

I obviously browsed the internet for a few months checking out air fare for us all until we scored a pretty darn good deal with United Airlines - sometimes it pays to book through the airline directly - For our family or 3+ an infant plus my parents, we paid just around $1,000 for a direct flight from Chicago to Orlando.

We talked to a lot of people and spread the word that we were heading to Disney and were looking for accommodations and a friend of ours put us in touch with a friend of hers and we rented her timeshare. We stayed at the beautiful Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort and were lucky to enjoy a 3 bedroom Villa with a full kitchen for under $650 for 6 nights. 

We bought our Disney tickets through a promotion on a website my Mom has access to through her work. We bought 6 day park passes with park hopper for all of us for $1300 and we had the tickets delivered to the Resort (it was cheaper than having them shipped).

I must share this: a quick tip on flying. The airlines allow you to travel with a full diaper bag that includes any necessity for your child. I had pre - poured baby bottles and this was no issue - they did however need to test the water and since I brought five bottles with me (you just never know) I had them situated in one bag inside my diaper bag THIS WAS SO convenient and quick. Instead of unpacking half my bag to get to the bottles and then handing them over individually I just handed them the bag with the bottles and continued to put my shoes back on and grab the rest of my belongings. This way I avoided the stares, and grunts from all of the other travelers standing in line behind us and I had everything together which left less chance of loosing or forgetting any of our bags or children.

When we arrived we took a cab to the resort from the hotel - Short of having a local Orlando friend pick you up - I don't believe there is a cheaper option. The cab fare did cost us around $60 but we all fit, plus our double stroller and all of our luggage. Another great part, being familiar with families traveling to Disney the cab company even had car seats available for infants and children. Gotta keep it safe.
Side NOTE ~ we choose not to rent a car - we only left the resort once and the cost of parking at the resort and Disney was over $30 per day combined and our resort offered a free shuttle to all Disney parks.

Since we were lucky enough to have a full kitchen at our accommodations; when we arrived my Mom and I jumped into a cab and headed to Target. - I reserched the area and found there was a super Target near by,  I chose Target because I feed my 6 month old the Up and Up formula (it's cheaper than all name brand and contains the same ingredients) being able to buy it when we arrived saved me from dragging the entire container down with me. 
I also am VERY familiar with Target and the policies and procedures on coupons and also their products!! YEP - I brought coupons with me to shop while we were on vacation!! -(did you know at Target you can use a manufacturers coupon and a Target coupon on the same product) 

$500 later we were set. Yes, I know that sounds like a lot but believe me I bought diapers, formula, solid baby food, dinner for 6 for 6 nights, breakfast and lunch for 6 for 5 days and PLENTY of beer and wine for the week (don't judge - we were on vacation) - since I had planned every meal and even estimated the amount of beverages we may consume - we never ran out of food and the little we had left over that was unopened we were able to donate to a homeless shelter sponsored by our hotel.

So all in all we roughly spent for 6 nights, 5 days at Disney World, close to $3200 for 5 adults, 1 child and 1 infant  for airfare, accommodations, food, drink, and transportation.... this included an ice cream treat most days at the park. And guess what it was EASY!!

Here's my advice - look online - talk to friends, spread the word that you are planning a trip to Disney - someone you know who knows someone has a timeshare, a condo or even a discount to most major hotels.

I know everyone tells you about the perks for staying on the resort - but we had a very affordable pleasant experience for over half the cost than if we would have stayed on property. We were able to cook dinner every night, we made sandwiches and packed them in a backpack and ate them at the park each day. We didn't participate in the dining plan nor did we feel we missed out. There was so much to pack into each day and we didn't waste any of it standing in line to eat. 

Keep an eye out for my next post about how we spent out days at the park - how I learned to make the best out of each day!!

A bit about me and my crew

Hi, I'm Becca - I'm starting this blog at the suggestion of a dear friend of mine (thanks Sarah). I'm one of those women WILL find a way to do ANYTHING in the most affordable, fun filled way possible. I am always willing to try something once and I LOVE to share my experience with anyone that will listen. I respect advice from my friends and family and I love to have their approval for all of my adventures.

My Family:
I have a wonderful, handsome, hardworking and very handy husband. He is the one who supports me with all my crazy ideas and adds logic to my madness. I have a wonderful, sassy, strong willed, sweet 4 year old daughter; Mikayla. She is the proudest and best big sister ever to our newest family member Jaxxon. He's my 6 month old son, he's got his Daddy's good looks and the most laid back personality. We have two loving Black Labs we call Jager and Quincy. Jager is 6 and Quincy is 1 1/2. We also have two Kitty Kats - Chaps and Wyatt and oh yea, I can't forget the 3 fish! Yep, we have a crazy, hectic home but we all love each more than life itself! (or more than 5 ice creams as Mikayla would say).

With this blog I hope to share my experiences, money saving tips, handy tips for around the house etc. whatever journey we take and how we took it.

I hope you find this helpful, enjoyable and even comical at times.

Thanks for following, Becca