I pack 40 school lunches each and every week. That’s a lot of lunches, I must admit!

With eight kids, the option to buy 40 school lunches weekly at roughly $5 per lunch from the school cafeteria is not at all feasible for us. That would total $200 per week and $800 per month. Oh my goodness, that’s crazy!

I’ve managed to develop a very orderly and organized system to purchase, make and pack school lunches so that it takes me roughly 20 minutes per day to prepare and pack.

First of all, I require a main course which is any of the following: a sandwich, a green salad, chicken salad, egg salad or tuna salad, hummus and pita or chips and guacamole.

I also require a fruit, a vegetable, a “crunchy” (any type of chips or pretzels), a dairy, a dessert and a drink. I also pack a daily bus snack to eat during the 45-minute bus ride to school and a school snack as required for during the school day.

To save money, I purchase only large size bags of crunchies and repackage them into individual sizes in Ziploc bags. (more…)

As I sit here drinking my morning coffee, I realize just how much I rely on this morning “jolt.” Some days, coffee – the smell, taste and caffeine boost it provides – is the reason I get out of bed!

No matter what, I always have 8 hungry mouths to feed, but I purposefully get up a bit early so I can brew my first cup or pot of coffee and drink a cup before I have to begin feeding the masses! It makes me a happier morning mommy! Because I drink so much coffee (about 4-5 cups per day minimum) I have to replenish my supply often, even though I am the only coffee drinker in my house, obviously! It is an expensive “hobby”!

I recently tweeted at length about my love of coffee, my broken coffee machine, and Keurig. The company’s wonderful customer service department replaced my machine (and according to your tweets back to me, many of your overused machines)! Regardless, coffee is quite an expense, albeit a necessary one, when you’re a mom. As a mom of 8, I need all the energy my caffienated coffee will dole out to me… and more! (more…)

This year, I am lucky to have eight reasons to celebrate the love on Valentines Day. I always do little inexpensive things to make heart day special for them.

This year, I bought a very inexpensive foam craft set at Target and I will make each of my kids a handmade Valentine. It’s a mommy tradition! I typically sit up ALL night to handmake paper Valentines for each of my kids but I thought I’d mix it up a bit this year and make them a foam art “card.”

Each year, I hang their Valentine pouches from Pottery Barn on their dining room chairs  and fill them with inexpensive but thoughtful trinkets that show them my love.

I also make all meals heart themed. In the past, I have made heart shaped pancakes, sandwiches and hamburgers! This year I’m thinking I’ll make heart shaped muffins for breakfast, heart shaped peanut butter crackers for lunch and heart shaped pasta for dinner!

None of these things cost a lot, but all of them add up to mean a lot to my kids! I have always said that Valentines Day is a great day to remind your family and friends how much you love them. So, this year I’ll be busy making all sorts of fun heart shaped stuff for the 8 that I love. And, in case you’re wondering, you won’t find me out on a date this Valentine’s Day. My date is with my 8… They own MY heart!
- K8

I’m heading to the grocery store today so I thought I’d jot down the ways I save to help you save, too. In order to save the most money, I do the following:

1. I research sales and print coupons for specific items on my list from the Internet. I’m on CouponCabin’s grocery page right now!

2. I sort other store coupons that I have on hand and put the ones that I’ll use aside to take with me.

3. Once at the store, I take note of the sales and stock up on sale items. If something is on my list that is NOT on sale, I’ll keep that item on the list for next time. Usually I keep a few backups of each item so it could wait if need be. If an item is on sale AND I have a coupon, I’ll buy extra of those.

4. I plan my menu for the week before I leave for the store. This way, I am not aimlessly buying and the chances that fresh produce will spoil is decreased. (more…)

I don’t know that I’m an expert on all things savings, but I do know that the many methods I use to save DO work. The following is a list of things that I do regularly to save:

1. I buy in serious bulk. 

I buy ‘half a cow’ at a time in different cuts, which equals about 400 pounds of organic meat. This alone reduces my beef prices to a fraction of what I would pay in the grocery store if I bought one cut at a time.

I also do this with chicken. I visit a local organic chicken outlet and buy straight from the factory store. Most times I package it myself into portions that are right for us, using my Food Saver (which I LOVE!)! We use about 3 whole chicken breasts per meal at this point.

I also buy bulk products wherever else I can. Typically the bigger you’re buying, the lower the price per unit.

2. I recycle and reuse. 

Before I throw anything away, I put it aside and try to think of a new use for it. When my kids get too tall for their jeans, I cut them off to use as summer outside play shorts. I reuse Ziploc bags by rinsing them out and reusing them. I could go on and on.

Don’t get me wrong– I LOVE an organized house and I LOVE to throw stuff away, but if I set it aside and think for awhile, chances are I can come up with a new cost-saving use.

3. I use my calculator…a lot! 

Don’t get tricked into buying the 28.4 ounce bottle of lotion because it is on sale at Target. The 36 ounce bottle sitting next to it actually costs 2 cents LESS per ounce – not on sale. That’s why I win whenever I use my calculator (and I LOVE that hidden bargain)! (more…)

Everyone knows Shoka, right? If not, he’s our two year old German Shepherd. We got him and his sister, Nala, in December of 2008 when they were only 8 weeks old.

They were both named prior to us meeting them and we had decided to choose two puppies… Because we seemed to have all multiples in our house, it just seemed normal!

Shoka got his name from a very big security guard we met during our family trip to Hawaii in 2008. Nala was always on my list to name a pet because I loved Nala in the movie The Lion King.

I had never had or been responsible for my ‘own’ dog  before and was more scared to bring them home than I was to bring any of my kids home from the hospital! It honestly scared me to think I’d have to choose food, bedding and supplies for a dog– let alone two! I had no idea what I was in for! Who knew dogs had tartar issues or that choking on a certain toy was a concern?! (more…)

As you know, I have always believed in being fit. Many people say that a gym membership or exercise equipment is too expensive and they can’t afford to get in shape.

In most cases, I don’t disagree; however, many people sign up for the gym and don’t even go more than a few times or they buy a treadmill and use it to hang their clothing on (sound familiar?)! Both of these things are well intended, but both of them waste money.

Over the past few years, I’ve discovered a huge love of running, as you may know. One reason I started running was because I had a lot of frustration to get rid of but also because I wanted an easy, affordable way to work out. Since it didn’t require any equipment or a gym membership, running was the perfect solution for me. All I need is a pair of good running shoes and off I go! Anyone with enough determination can become a runner. A few tips for first-time runners: (more…)

A new year always means New Year’s resolutions. It’s a fresh start for everyone and a time to start new and better traditions and habits.

I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions because I’m not one to make drastic changes just for the sake of making them or just because the calendar starts over.

However, I do aim for certain things as I organize and prioritize my life all year long. For example, I make goals to fix or finish certain projects around the house, goals for giving the kids certain life experiences and fitness and career goals for myself. Beyond that, there are always dreams…those make my list too!

For this year, I made a goal of having the patio and pool redone at our house. The patio was not built for a family of 9 plus a dog and I felt that if we expanded it, we would spend more time outside doing barbecues and making more memories. I accomplished that goal around the little kids’ birthday in May. (more…)

It’s about that time to start thinking about and planning out our holiday meal.

In recent years, I’ve noticed a few things concerning our Christmas Day meal. The main thing is that my kids are too excited about their new toys to eat!

I typically cook a huge feast, only to have the kids sit, take two bites and disappear to play with their toys.

I always get up early to put in the ham and spend the day slaving over the sides much the same as I do on Thanksgiving. But, unlike Thanksgiving, the meal at Christmas is far from the main attraction and so it falls by the wayside untouched, especially when entertaining primarily wee ones.

So, during dinner the other night, I asked the kids if they would be opposed to a NEW tradition. I always do this gently because they are SO painfully tradition-based for the holidays, even more so than I am, and that’s really saying something! (more…)

Christmas time is exciting in any household that contains any number of kids…but can you imagine the excitement at my house?

As my kids are growing up, at 11 and 7 now (sounds like I have a ‘normal’ number of kids when I put it that way, huh?), the excitement of Christmas is growing too.

In recent years, I’ve always let the kids put the ornaments on the tree. And very honestly (and perhaps shockingly!), I don’t care one tiny bit where the ornaments land. As long as the branch isn’t weighted to the ground, I’m okay with their way of decorating. My job is solely to put the hooks on the ornaments and off they go. It’s getting more fun as they get older and sometimes I feel like a kid again at Christmas.

This past weekend was Christmas decorating weekend in the Gosselin household. The boxes of neatly packaged Christmas decorations have been sitting in my dining room for two weeks. We got our tree on Thanksgiving weekend and that usually starts the momentum but this year with homework, the marathon and custody weekends to dodge, our winter wonderland was a bit delayed. (more…)