Menu Planning Made Easy!

There is nothing worse then looking at the clock and realizing it's almost supper and you have no idea what you're going to make. This is what I lived with for many years and when I did plan the meals out, it was the same meals every few weeks. I had little desire to cook because the food wasn't exciting to me.

I tried a couple different meal planning services out there but found I hated getting the recipe lists and grocery list and not being able to use several recipes. There were several we wouldn't eat, I didn't have time or it was impossible to adapt to be dairy free. It felt like a waste of money not being able to use what I paid for.

Well a year ago I came across a deal on Build a Menu. I figured I could try it out for a few months and see what I thought. Since it's been a year, I'm sure you've already guessed that I really like the program and I do!

So what is so great about Build a Menu?

• Well I love being able to choose from many different recipes for many different diets. We use as many gluten free and Trim Healthy Mama recipes we can and also a few that make my husband happy. Plus they rotate recipes every few weeks so you don't get a massive list of recipes.
• Recipes we love, we heart and it will be in our favorites folder and we can use it anytime.   
• There are 3 different types of plans: Classic, Done for You, and Premium. Classic is what we have. You chose from a limited amount of recipes, Done for You is what you expect. The menu is planned for you. Premium gives a the massive list of recipes from their database.
• After I've picked my menu, I get a grocery list with an estimated cost. I love this feature. If you have three recipes that you need 1/2 a bag of cheese, it will combine it so you are only buying what you need.  
• I can pick from grocery stores near me or there is an any grocery store choice. Recipes are chosen based on sales at those particular stores, saving you money.
• Part of your membership goes to support charities. Mine is set up to support Compassion International.
• Forget your list at home, don't worry just download the app! I love this and use it when I'm cooking.

So are you curious to check it out? I'd appreciate it if you clicked through my affiliate link by Clicking Here.

You Need a Budget

When we first started budgeting I used the program from Dave Ramsey. It was an okay program and I used that for the first year or so. The problem with that particular one was that I couldn't fund my vertical envelopes to accumulate since we budget for things year round. It also didn't allow you to put in a transaction and split between categories.

One day I read a blog post where someone was introduced to You Need A Budget. I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look and use their free month trial. It was so worth my time as a love this site. It is so user friendly and has the features I was missing with other programs I had tried in the past.

So here are my 5 favorite things about YNAB:

1. I can fund my categories in advanced. I know how much we will spend per year on a certain thing, like insurance, and split that into monthly payments. When the bill is due I have the amount already set aside. This also works well with our seasonal employment. I can fund our winter account during the summer. The program tracks all of this for you, other programs I used and checked out, didn't. I had to keep track of things myself.
   
2. I can split a transaction between categories. I really love this. How many times do you buy toilet paper, clothes, and groceries. I have a better idea of what I'm spending my money on when I can split categories.
3. There's an app for it! Who doesn't like being able to quickly enter in a transaction as your waiting for the kids to buckle. This makes bill time go much faster. You can also check to see where you are, especially if you are a family who lives pay check to pay check. A quick check will tell you, yes you can buy that item or no you have to wait. Plus you AND your spouse will have access to your budget.
   
4. You can set up recurring payments. There are several bills that come out of our account automatically and are the same amount every month. You can set that transaction to repeat monthly or weekly. Again it makes bill time easier as I don't need to enter in all the information. I can just check that yes it went through.
5. I have access to a summary of what was budgeted last month, what was spent last month, average budgeted, and average spent. This makes it easy to adjust our budget if we have been spending too much the past few months or too little.

If you want to try out You Need A Budget click on the link here and we both get a month FREE!

Dollar Shave Club Review

A few years ago I started hearing about this new subscription company called The Dollar Shave Club. I finally after hearing about it and people who have liked it, I finally signed up.

There is always an amazing deal for signing up. Right now they are running a $5.00 starter box which includes the handle, 4 blades, and a full size of their shave cream. I figured it was a great deal and worth trying out.

Here are my immediate thoughts below:

Ready to try it out ? Click Shop Here and get your first box today.

Adore Me Review

About a year ago I started hearing about another subscription company called Adore Me. It seemed like an okay company but I knew I could get my bras for less at Victoria Secret during their Semi Annual Sale. I was fine with VS at that point in time.

Lately, I have not liked the bras from VS and I've had a hard time finding ones that fit well. On top of it all, I've been hearing that deals from VS are slowing going to be disappearing due to the fact that the company hasn't been doing to well lately.

This has brought me back to Adore Me. After looking through not only the options, but also the perks of becoming a VIP, I felt like it's a good option for me to try out.

So what are the perks you get with the VIP status?

• You will have a showroom of new collections that will be in your size every month. (You don't have to purchase from here)
• Buy 5, get 1 Free
• Free Shipping and Exchanges
• You can purchase a bra/panty set every month for $39.95. Don't want to shop, just skip that month. Forget to skip and didn't order? Just request a refund or use the credit.
• Going on vacation, skip 2 months and don't worry about it

So far they seem very flexible and user friendly. I have the app downloaded on my android device, making shopping even easier.

There are constant deals going on. I just purchased 2 new swimsuits because they were Buy 1, Get 1. Currently they have a FREE gift with a $65 purchase. They also have panty deals. Right now they have 5 for $20.

I love the first set I purchased which was a T-shirt bra. It is far more comfortable then the ones I've purchased from VS. The underwear is so comfortable. I feel like the prices are competitive with quality bras found in places that will actually measure you.

If you decide to check out Adore Me, Click here to get your first set for $24.95! (Note this is also and affiliate link)