Weekend Update

Well, it's Monday.  After a VERY busy two days of running around, tracking things down, we have some progress.  Here's what we managed to accomplish:


TO DO LIST:

 - library

- craft shopping  (but didn't find all the things I needed...)

- dog vaccinations

- Stone Mt

- build a coffee table  (STARTED the coffee table)

- reupholster dining chairs  (couldn't find the fabric I liked from the store, now I have to pick a new fabric...)

- jeans shopping for Kevin

- Old Navy

- work on some documents  (tried, but was really tired by Sunday night)

- make wood decor for bedroom (got the (free) wood on Friday, just need the paint)

- Farmer's Market

- inventory spices


I'm taking step-by-step pics of all my projects and will be sharing them as they are finished.  We found a LOT of good deals this weekend, thanks to sales, coupons and the kindness of strangers.  I can't wait to see how our house looks with all the stuff we've figured out how to DIY.

Cheers!

Weekend Plans

Lots to do this weekend!!  We'll see how much actually gets checked off the list on Monday...

Cheers to Friday!

TO DO LIST:

- library

- craft shopping

- dog vaccinations

- Stone Mt

- build a coffee table

- reupholster dining chairs

- jeans shopping for Kevin

- Old Navy

- work on some documents

- make wood decor for bedroom

- Farmer's Market

- inventory spices

Thrifty Tips #4 and 5 (Dog Edition)

Hey there dog lovers!  Our furry babies are part of the family, and when a family goes on a budget, they don't have to be excluded.  Everyone needs to pitch in, right?  :)

I was recently told that there are a lot of things that we buy for our pets that we can make ourselves.  My mom told me about a DIY flea spray and itchy skin bath that she learned about watching her favorite PBS show, Deals.  I haven't tried them yet, but they are on my radar...

Here are some of the things that work with our dogs.  Try them out and see if they work for yours.  Cheers!

#4.  Milkbones can be pricey.  Everyone likes a treat now and then and dogs are no different.  But since it IS a cookie, stretch the box even farther (and healthier for your dog) by breaking a milkbone in half.  Chances are, your dogs will just be happy with the treat, regardless of size.

#5.  We've recently discovered that "treat" has many meanings to a dog.  For training, you can use a piece of dog food as a treat.  Our dogs really like ice cubes.  Ices cubes have now become a inexhaustible treat source that is practically free and they can have as many as they want.  Ice cubes also help them get some water when they are too tired to go their bowl after a walk.

Rude

You would not believe how many times I see things like this.  Next time, I leave a note...

Cheers.

Weekend of Free

Labor Day weekend is also known as "Kevin's Birthday Weekend" here at the Haus of Kendi.  I wanted to do something special for him, but being on a tight budget ruled out all the trips I would have liked to take.  So, we decided to be tourists in our own town for the weekend.  And we managed to do it for (almost) free.  :)

We started with DragonCon.  I had been hearing about DragonCon for years but had never been.  Tickets to the convention were pretty pricey but the parade was free.  You go to comic book conventions for people watching and this one puts it all on display for nothing.  Kevin and I had a great time seeing all the costumes and celebrities, plus the trip down memory lane was fun.  Plus, were we ended up parking (for free) took us through a bunch of cool art I didn't even know was downtown!



The DragonCon parade starts with dragons.  :)



No comic book convention would be complete without superheroes





Back to the Future!!



Some of the random art on the street...

 





After the parade and taking pics with all the cool street art, we headed to Little 5 for some ice cream cones from Zesto.  With a Scout Mob offer, the cones were free.  I happen to think that free ice cream tastes better.  :)



For Kevin's actual birthday, we went on our first trip to the Atlanta Zoo.  Our new library cards came in handy for this one.  The Atlanta libraries have teamed up with the zoo for a promotion.  If you check out the zoo dvd, you get a free family pass for 4 upon return of the DVD.  That's right, the library sent us to the zoo for free!  It would have been a completely free day had we known that you can bring in your own food.  We bought some pizza slices for lunch.  We got to see the pandas eat and all the baby gorillas (my fav).  We even got to see them feed the male gorillas oranges, which was really cool.  Cheers!





Birthday boy at the zoo



We even stopped by the Cyclorama




Birthday dinner.  (I made the cake.  It was buy one get one free ;)







Thrifty Tips #1-3

New segment on Kendi Haus:  money-saving tips we have figured out, heard about, like, don't like, etc.  Hope this will be enlightening to all of you that work hard for your money, and hate to throw it away.

#1.  Most of the time, block cheese is cheaper than shredded cheese.  So, we just buy the block cheese and shred it ourselves.  It's visually more appealing than the shredded because it doesn't have that anti-caking chemical they add (WTH is that anyway?!).  Because of this, it clumps together.  But that's easy to work around.

#2.  When milk is close to its expiration date and we aren't going to use it all, we freeze it in an ice cube try.  Each cube is equivalent to one ounce.  This is really handy for buttermilk, which is pricey (we have a great pancake recipe that uses buttermilk).

#3.  We make great chicken noodle soup over here in the Haus of Kendi.  Recently, we did the math and found out that if you buy the jar of bouillon, it is significantly cheaper than buying the cans of chicken broth.  The jar makes about 10 cups for half the price.  And you can get it in the low sodium version (which we prefer) which really saves you moola.

Cheers!

Stone Mountain

This past Sunday, we decided to take a chance and go to Stone Mountain with the boys.  I want to get them used to hiking and being out in the woods because there are a TON of great camping spots near us.  And camping is the cheapest vacation that I know of.  I can remember camping with my parents when I was really little and I loved it.  Kevin's first camping experience was last year when my ATL friends all migrated up to Helen, GA for the annual fall camping trip.  I love Helen and I hope to be able to take Chester and Freeman soon.  They really well on the nature trail, it was the main path with all the people that was a struggle.  And they were pretty tired for the rest of the day (which is secretly why we take them ;).

Cheers! 


Car rides are our favorite!



We came prepared with doggy water bottles equipped with built in bowls

Freeman and me posing by the yellow daisies on Stone Mt

The boys