$20 = Fall Family Fun Day!!

$20.00 - One trip through the Drive-Thru or a Whole Day of Fall Family Fun??? I choose Fall Family Fun!!

Here's our plan for this Saturday:

*note, if you haven't seen it, I posted a few more Meijer deals for this week below this post. I just don't want you to miss them!!

Breakfast: Pumpkin Spice Pancakes & Sausage Patties

-pancake mix .50

-milk .12

-egg .05

-oil .03

-can pumpkin .40

-spices .05

-butter or margarine 0 (I rarely pay for butter or margarine spreads, which we'll use here)

-syrup .50

-sausage 1.00 (Tennessee pride rolls from Kroger!)

Total = 2.65

After breakfast we'll venture out to the forest of trees behind our house and collect fallen leaves. Then we'll use those leaves to make leaf rubbing cards that we'll send to the grandparents and aunts and uncles. We'll only need to pay for the stamps (1.68 for 4) for this fun activity!

As a snack on our nature walk, I'll make my own Harvest Trail Mix which consists of:

-peanuts .50

-candy corn 0 (from CVS!)

-raisins .17

-cheerios .07

Total = .74

Lunch: Parmesan & Pea Noodles

-2 packages of Knorr Parmesan Noodles 1.00 (.50 each from Meijer)

-peas .33

-butter 0

-milk .16

-applesauce .80

Total = 2.29

After lunch we're going to watch a movie in our home theater. (Yes we have a home theater in our basement, but it was definitely done on a dime. The projector and screen together = the cost of a big t.v. and we bought recliners from Big Lots to use as seats. This was the big thing my husband wanted when we built our house and he got it!! I like to think that it actually saves us money now because we wait for movies to come out on DVD and watch them at home instead of going out to see them!!)

We're going to try Redbox for our movie rental this time. If you sign up here you can get a code for a free one night rental. Plus there are tons of codes out at different times for a free one night rental. It's a great way to watch movies cheap!!

Movie Snack:

-microwave popcorn .15 (1 bag from the .59 boxes or Orville Redenbacher at Meijer a week or two ago)

-soda 0 (got free from Snyder deal at Meijer this week. See post below for more details)

-juice for kids - .20

Total = .35 (For a movie and a snack, not bad!!)

Dinner: Roasted Pork Tenderloin

-pork tenderloin .22 (Remember the Bigg's meat/pierogie deal?? I got this roast from that!!)

-potatoes .60 (for mashed potatoes)

-milk and butter for mashed potatoes .08

-stuffing mix 0 (got on sale sometime at the beginning of the year)

-gravy 1.00

-green beans .33

-cranberry sauce .79

Total = 3.02

A Special Treat - Desert!! Pumpkin Pie!!

For Crust:

-flour .07

-butter 1.00 (have to use real butter for this)

-sugar .03

Total = 1.10

For Filling:

-pumpkin .79

-eggs - .10

-brown sugar .11

-spices .10

-evaporated milk .49 (Meijer deal this week, scroll down to next post for details)

-Kroger brand whipped topping .30

Total = 1.89

Pie Total = 2.99

And after dinner we'll carve our two pumpkins we got from Aldi's for 1.99 each. We already have tools and patterns from previous years, so we're only out the cost of the pumpkins which is 3.98.

And we'll end the day with bubble baths and a bedtime story (We're reading the Wind in the Willows at bedtime right now) which is free!!

So my total for the whole days worth of meals, snacks and activities is 17.70. We'll use the 2.30 left for drinks for the day (Orange Juice, Milk, 100% Juice and Water) for a total of 20.00!! I think that's a great way to spend 20 bucks and have an awesome family day complete with delicious meals and a desert!!

So, it's your choice, a trip through the Drive-Thru or a day full of fun and memories with your family!!