April's Big Announcements!

April is finally here!  

I'm so excited!  There is so much going on this month, and I'm thrilled to be able to share a sneak peek of some of the things we have planned:

* Eat-in April: After two months of "Eating from the Pantry" we are finally ready to start grocery shopping again!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to start cooking (and not "inventing") again.  It has been a great past two months and we are now DEBT FREE, but every good thing must come to an end :).  So, this month, we decided to challenge ourselves to see if we could go an entire month without dining out!  For the month of April, there is NO money in our "Dining out" budget.  I'm actually pretty excited about this challenge - I love to cook and after two months of adventure-cooking, making real meals should be fun!  We'll keep you all posted on our progress, and we would LOVE for you to join us in this challenge!!

* Meal Planning: For the month of April, we are going to try to meal plan each week.  We've always done this in a half-hearted sense, knowing what was in the fridge and pantry, and planning our shopping trips around additional items to make specific meals, but I've never really committed to it.  So, I plan to plan for the month of April.  I'm hoping to discover a sense of relief, more freedom and less stress over meals, and (of course) a dip in our grocery budget!  Again, we'll keep you updated on our progress, and I'll be posting this week's meal plans later.  Ever wondered if there was any truth to the "meal plan mystery"?  Join us - we'll find out together!!

* "30 Days to Save": Since April is "Financial Literacy Month", we thought we would contribute with a daily financial tip (I'll be posting today's a bit later).  So, stay tuned for them and feel free to comment or email us (savingsandstewardship at gmail dot com) with your own tips - we'll be happy to post them and give you the credit!  In addition, we'll be having a week long guest posting April 12th - 16th.  His name is J. Steve Miller and he has written an incredible financial book, Enjoy Your Money!  He'll be highlight concepts from his book, as well as sharing some financial advice!  We're very excited.

* "Mother's Day Giveaways": Who doesn't love a good giveaway?!  I know we do.  Which is why we have a whole bunch of them lined up as part of a "Mother's Day Giveaway" promotion!  Starting next week, we'll be giving away a new item each week!!  We have some great stuff planned from some really cool people & companies.  So, stay tuned - and be prepared to win something!

* Price Chopper Match-Ups: Starting this upcoming week, we'll be supplying the weekly Price Chopper (Northeastern US) coupon match-ups for a few other wonderful blogs - including Money Saving Mom's "Store Deals" list!  Be sure to come back weekly to see the best deals!

So, that's our month.  Spring is such a wonderful time of year and we are thrilled to share it with you!  Do you have any big plans going on?  We'd love to hear all about them.