* American Girl Cyber Monday Sale * TOMS shoes has a $10 off $50 code, plus free shipping! Use code: THANKFUL13
* Target: some great toy deals, plus they are buy one, get 30% off the next one. Plus, buy one get one 50% on home décor and buy one, get one 60% off clothing and accessories!
* One Kings Lane has 30% off today! Use code: HOLIDAY13
* Free shipping, no minimum at Jo-Ann Fabrics! Use code NOMIN336 at checkout. The wood crate I used in this project is only $5.99 + free shipping!
* JCPenney has an extra 20, 25, or 30% off depending on how much you buy. The curtains could be an especially good deal!
* this adorable old man will teach you more about gratitude in the next 2 minutes and 47 seconds than you have learned in your entire life 
* or waste time reading tips and things you never knew at 1000 lifehacks?
Thank you so much for the recipes you shared yesterday! My “to-try” folder is full, we will let you know if we acquire any new family favorites!
We’re picking out flooring this month! I cannot believe the choices out there, it’s can be very overwhelming. Our builder’s standard is engineered hardwood, so that is what we are going with. Real wood in Utah can be tricky with the extreme temperatures here and how dry it is, so we’re okay with the engineered hardwood, and it will help us stay in budget.
I want a classic, medium, not too shiny, not too light, not too dark floor that won’t show how dirty they really are, that are strong enough to withstand 5 rowdy kids, and clean up like a dream. Is that too much to ask? Here are some of my inspiration pics:
#1 this is my favorite: love the warm, wide planks. Love that butcher block island too!
via Taylor Lombardo Architects
#2 warm wood with white kitchen
via BHG
I got one of the best meal planning tips from this old book my Mom gave me that she had when she was a young mom.
It is to know what’s for dinner by 10.
10 p.m. the night before if you are working outside the home, and 10 a.m. if you are at home. It gives enough time to turn on the crock pot, take meat out to thaw, start the rice cooker, or know what you need to grab at the store. It’s amazing what a simple thing like knowing what’s for dinner can make in the day! I try to make a general meal plan for the week on Sunday, but it’s flexible because sometimes you don’t feel like spaghetti on Wednesday, but everyone is always in the mood for pizza on Friday. Tonight it’s Yoshida chicken: we just get the Yoshida sauce
I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a recipe rut lately~have you come across any good family-friendly recipes lately? We would love to hear them, or leave a link in the comments or on Facebook!
Happy Wednesday~
Anyway, this week we nailed down appliances. We have purchased appliances for our Texas home and our Virginia home during this week because we have found the big box stores have their best appliance deals in November, usually before Black Friday. They began this week!
First, I checked out our builder's appliance source and was pretty underwhelmed by what we could get for $4,000. That is the allowance he gives us for appliances. It sounded like a LOT to me at the beginning, but when you start pricing out everything separately, you find out it really doesn’t go too far. He said that we could be reimbursed if we found the appliances at a better deal somewhere else, so of course the deal hound in me began sniffing things out.
Sears, Lowes, and Home Depot all have huge appliance deals going on right now. I am affiliated with none of them, just to clear that up from the beginning. I went to all three, went to the outlets, the scratch and dent places, checked out Canal Street in NY :), and we are going with Home Depot. They all have similar sales, but HD has an extra incentive that was the kicker for us:
Plus, the sale lasts through December 4, they will hold them for 3 months while we finish building, and they had free delivery. We subscribed to Consumer Reports for the month and compared the different models because we wanted good quality with the sales, so here is what we’re getting:
Refrigerator: LG 27.6 french door $1698 I wanted French door, with a water/ice dispenser. This was the prettiest I could find for the price and it rated in the top 4 of Consumer Reports
Dishwasher: LG Stainless tub dishwasher $598 I wanted a stainless steel tub with top controls, this one also rated pretty high in C.R.
Oven: Frigidaire 30-inch double oven with convection $1699 Wow, these are expensive. I have always, always wanted a double oven. I have thought so many times for Sunday and family dinners, for Thanksgiving and Easter dinner how much I would love one. I also wanted one to have convection so I could be cooking a couple of pans of rolls on top with a turkey on the bottom. A big complaint with these is that the cooling fans are really loud. From the reviews, this one didn’t seem to have that problem. This was a big splurge for us, but I am hoping it is worth it!
Cooktop: GE 36 inch Cooktop $719 Just a good basic cooktop. In all honesty, I have never used all 4 burners at once, so I don’t need anything fancy. I think I am more of a baker?
Washer: LG 3.6 cu ft. front Loader $599 This is the same washer my husband surprised me with 3 years ago. I loved it, have no complaints, but we sold it to the people that purchased our home so we didn’t have to haul them across the country.
Dryer: LG 7.3 cu. ft. dryer $599 Love this dryer too, and boy do I miss how fast it dries + the shoe rack + the steam dry (because I don’t iron!!)
Microwave: we’re keeping the one we bought for our rental and putting it in the pantry.
Since we spent over $4996, we get an additional $500 off. I checked to see if I could use a 10% off coupon on top of that, but they said no bueno.
Total: $5912 – $500 instant savings + $365 taxes + free delivery= $5777 for a big french door refrigerator, top control stainless interior dishwasher, double convection oven, 36 inch cooktop, and a front loader washer and dryer. We are thrilled! If we didn’t need the washer + dryer, we would have just been over our $4,000 budget.
I’m okay with the brands not matching and hopefully no one will walk in my kitchen and turn their noses up because my appliances are not a pure bred collection. If they do, no soup for them. Are you buying appliances on these crazy sales this month? Do you had any of the ones we are buying? If you hate it, please let me know because I have a couple of weeks before we purchase!
As you may know, we are in the process of building a home. (yikes! still makes me nervous typing that) We haven’t even broken ground yet, and are waiting for permits to go through. (taking FOREVER.) This week we needed to nail down our exterior options so those can get ordered and it’s going to be LOTS of decisions from here on out.
So, I am deciding to open up my inspiration vaults (aka secret boards on Pinterest and inspiration notebook) to let you see what I’m drawing from. Now, these pictures are beautiful, awesome, everything I could ever want, but I’m also finding out can cost LOTS of money. And we are on a budget and really have to think about what to invest in now, what to wait on, or omit from the dream plan. I still love to look and be inspired though…
Dun da da dun: here they are! My favorite exteriors:
via Norris Architecture on Houzz
Would it be fair to say I adore dormer windows, white trim, and classic/cottage styles? And, I notice these all have beautiful old trees which we definitely won’t have right away.
What do you think? Which one would you pick to move into?
Social Icons