Homemaking Organized Blog

Archive for the ‘Home Life’ Category

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So I’ve dropped our monthly grocery bill by a whopping $8 a week.

So are you wondering how I did this? Frankly I am too. Or maybe you’re just wondering what on earth we eat to have such a large grocery bill. Yea me too.

Well you know groceries have gone up considerably. We do eat admittedly well. Grocer’s have wised up to fish being healthy so they’ve raised the prices on that significantly in our area (catfish, basa, salmon, cod, you name it). I make pasta from scratch. Unfortunately I also just discovered heritage grains which are much more expensive than a nice $4 bag of flour (King Arthur) at the grocery store (which is also high). I have a food allergy so if we have convenience food anything it has to come from the health food section of the store which rarely has coupons or lower prices.  We juice which…my goodness takes a lot of fruits and veggies for the three of us. We only use butter. Again unfortunately I discovered the difference between Parmesan and Parmigiano Reggiano. And the list goes on.

So where on earth could I cut corners in an admittedly too high bill?

Well first off came necessity. My husband’s work is governed by the seasons. In the spring and fall are the leaner times around our home. We’ve learned to save up for times like this. But it only makes sense to revisit the grocery bill.

Second came the opportunity to review Crystal’s audio book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget. By many people’s standars we are frugal (except when it comes to food) and already do much of what Crystal talks about in her book but there were bits and pieces that I never thought about which have helped. It was time for a budget review. We’ve pretty much been on the same one since Peanut was small. Making a few small adjustments to the way I went about grocery shopping really have made a difference.

1.  I started taking a calculator. What?! Yes this one little thing made the biggest change. I go in with a set dollar amount and I add up as I shop along. This kept me from adding all manner of this and that EVEN THOUGH I had a shopping list.
2. Cook more from the freezer. During the lush times I purchased lots of meat when I could and it’s now sitting in the freezer. I’m big about filling the freezer but hesitant to use it. Since it’s a fairly new edition to our household I still had time to mend my ways. So I’ve been using up the goods in the freezer.  And now my grocery bill has very little meat in it until I land on a good deal.
3. Take advantage of great deals when I see them. I usually never land up these kinds of things but recently my grocery store had ground turkey for $.99 a pound. Normally it is $4.99 a pound and at the warehouse store (Costco) it is $2.99 a pound. Even with my new smaller dollar amount to work with I had enough cushion to fill up the freezer. It was great.
4. I still use coupons but I need to schedule time to do it more thoroughly. Mostly I focus on coupons for the food items which is great but I need to spend some more time on coupons for non-food items.
5. Since we started juicing I spend more time on the perimeter of the store than before. We juice organic so that’s not necessarily cheap but I put a lot more thought into the fruits and veggies we buy. Even with this this addition the grocery bill is cheaper. I’ve started the garden so that will help even more. Also when I see things like onions or apples for very cheap I buy a lot.
6. As a sort of updated envelope method we have a checking/debit account only used for shopping. On payday I put the amount I’ve allotted for groceries into this account for the next two weeks and that is what I have. Using this and the calculator keeps me on track.

Right now this is all I’ve done but it has made it possible to reduce our grocery bill significantly.

Wahoo!

Achoo! Well I wanted to post nice new pics of my Homekeeping box today along with how well it’s going but I have a head cold that is making things a little difficult to get done.

I’ll tell you about it and then maybe next week this time I’ll have supporting pics.

It’s a green and blue theme as you’ve seen with the previous posts.

I’ve kept the same colors going for the cards.

I made the cards editable so I can make changes when needed.

I’m using my rounded tab punch thingy from Stampin up to make the tabs. It’s my first big punch. Where have I been?!!

I was going to laminate the cards because I was going to cross off things that I’ve done but I’ve tabled that for now.

I’m working on the monthly additions now but I’m using the daily and weekly stuff along with my regular planner.

Smooth as silk although there is no tab for head cold.

Achoo!

Well what’s a girl to do? My computer started having problems yesterday. This in the wake of my mother’s computer dying, my aunt’s computer dying and friend’s wifi going out. I thought for sure I was next. My hubby packed up my other baby and headed off to the machine doctor. He wanted to go for a drive and I wanted to stay home. Again, what’s a girl to do? No computer? And I was not entirely sure it was coming back.

This was puzzling.

Well I dusted and vacuumed top to bottom. I cleaned up Sweet Peanut’s room and did some laundry. I started in on the home office when my mother called to ask if I wanted to go for a walk. On our jaunt home there was hubby and Sweet Peanut (his partner in all things exciting ) returning with….MY COMPUTER! Turns out, like most people, I tend to do a bit too much multi-tasking than my baby can take. We’re talking about upgrading the speed processor..or whatever it’s called.

Since I was already in the mode of not being on the computer I spent the rest of the day getting things done. Sweet Peanut and I spent a funny hour in the kitchen making pasta that was very delicious along with this recipe. We made a few alterations but it was very good. Then she and dad finished up the homeschool day (very long break there) while I finished up dinner.
But what, you say, does this have to do with goals?

Well it got me thinking about how I use my time. I still don’t have anything gelled yet but maybe too much of it is spent on the computer. I would like to rectify that and get more done in the real world. So we’ll call this tidbit Home. Less time on the computer.  Multi-tasking less will also mean I will be a bit more focused on each thing I do. For example right now I only have two browsers open as opposed to three browsers, a desktop publishing program and a pdf reader.

Finances: I’ve started our taxes (no applause please). I really detest taxes but they are a fact of life like….

Business: I’ve closed the Cafepress shop. I’ll be rerouting links to my Zazzle store so if you’re looking for something that was formerly in the Cafepress store it should soon show up at Zazzle.

Personal: My workout buddy called me today to say that with all she is doing (working out, eating right) she thinks she is getting bigger. I laughed very hard and said I understand. I have those days too. She also says I look smaller but I can’t tell. Oh well. I’m still plugging away at working out and eating….well food.

All in all the goals are moving along swimmingly. No great gains but no loses either.

I know I’m being very quiet on the home front and across the blogs. It’s tax time in our household and I’m trying to stay focused.

Here some other things going.

We’re feasting on homemade pasta and fresh juices.

The Housekeeping box is finished up until the weekly chores (pics and an update coming)

I’ve got a new book review. Check back Thursday.

That’s all for now.

Thank you kindly.

So where are we in goals land?

Finances: We’re not millionaires or even thousandairs. I’m still tracking our savings and frankly I could do better. Right now the goal in finances is to do taxes. Oh woe!

Home: I’ve finished the designing of my Homekeeping Box. I just have to print out everything and take pictures. Hopefully next week. The project has me keeping on track a bit better with housekeeping chores. I cleaned out the laundry room today.

Business: Part 1 of the new Homemaking planner is done and available. You can read more about it here where you’ll find a link to a sample to download. Only six more to go! I’m also redesigning the website so if you browse late at night and think you’ve come to the wrong site, nope! It’s just me messing around in the background.

Personal: I’m working out regularly again and we’ve started juicing. Not to lose weight but just because we love the taste of freshly made juice. Makes that bottled stuff seem like garbage. I don’t see any movement on the scale but have been told I look like I’ve lost weight. You know how that is. You start shrinking before it even shows on the scale.

Finances: Keeping consistent. That’s important. I am trying to pay better attention to where our money is going. I downloaded a free coupon savings tracking list from the Happy Money Saver. This at least keeps me on my toes about trying to do my best to use coupons.

Home: I don’t know if meals count as home but we’ve really been eating healthy the last few weeks. We’ve made it a dinner time ritual to have a glass of juiced apples, carrots, cucumbers or whatver. It’s like a juice bar. I stand at the kitchen counter surrounded by fruits and veggies asking everyone what they want. And I’m still working on the ‘box‘ which is coming along nicely.

Business: I’ve been working hard here on the new planner. I don’t have the luxury of endless hours to spend on this like in the past so please stay tuned. And some of my stuff disappeared on the blog sidebar. If you’ve been wondering where it went I didn’t remove it, WordPress did. I’m trying to resolve it.

Personal: OHMIGOSH did I gain all the weight back?! I haven’t worked out in over a week and I feel it. I know I’ll go back to it but I’ve been going strong since last summer and needed the break.

Whew! What have you been working on?

So I thought you might like a teeny update on my goals for 2012.

Finances: The goal here was to bump up the savings as we are able. We’ve been doing well so far. Plunking any extra cash into our savings and it’s slowly building up.

Home: I’m still working slowly on making taking care of home a more lovely experience. I’m working on my Housekeeping Card File. Which must be pretty. But I do need to think on this also a bit more.

Business: A chunk of the new Homemaking Planner is just about ready to go. Just stay tuned. I’ve been working hard here. Evident by the neglect in all other areas.

Personal: I’m still working at dropping 15 pounds. Boy these are hard to get off! I exercise 6 days a week at what would probably be called the intermediate level.  And while that is nice I’m here to say that it does nothing to drop pounds! I had dropped the 3 pounds but being female they found their way back at a certain time. I haven’t given up though.

How are your goals going?

I noticed my friend Roxanne over at HavenofHome has a nifty new blogging schedule. I love her blog because she posts these thoughtful everyday things with occasional (more often than not) touches of the past.

Anyway it got me thinking that I probably should have a blog schedule and get my head out of the clouds. Truly some days I forget I have a blog. Life does intrude you know.

I also like that she has given herself weekends off. That is so important.

So in the interest of keeping organized even on the internet I’m going to try and give myself a blogging schedule because I really like to take action on timely advice such as this. I’m also going to shamelessly copy Roxanne’s ideas for what to post when as this is the sincerest form of flattery. Okay I did change a little bit.

So here is the goal…

• Monday: Vintage Stuff
• Tuesday: Cleaning – or series
• Wednesday: Goals update
• Thursday: Cooking Stuff
• Friday: Crafts of other blog sightings
• Saturday and Sunday: No posts

Here is a tip. Never look for my blog posts in the morning. I’m not a morning person. I may blog at midnight though so you could see it the next morning. This is something I really need to rectify but so far it’s working for me.

So I guess I’d better go do my food stuff blog and write this schedule down so I know what I’m supposed to do.

Do you keep a blog schedule? I guess in the business world it’s called Editorial Schedule.

I received this in my email inbox this morning. Great tips for taking care of some everyday problems. I didn’t have an original source but I did find the same list with one extra here so that leads me to believe this ‘might’ be the original source. Also the sources for the pictures are at this link also.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy. Magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.

Add this item to your beach bag. Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?!

Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials? Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.

Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

Use egg cartons to separate and store your Christmas decorations.

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.

For those who can’t stand the scrunching and bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.

Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes. And you can find them in just about every hotel.

Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod in a bowl. The concave shape amplifies the music.

Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.

Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.

This is my to-do list for today.

-Take my mother grocery shopping.

-Homeschool day (Math, English/Reading, Spelling, Bible Truths)

-Iron Curtains (I washed ‘em so I have to iron ‘em)

-Do 2 loads of laundry (Does it ever end?)

-Workout (6 days a week for 2 Months! Go me!)

-Wash bed linens

-Biz work

- plant potato multiplier onions (they just came)

-Assist hubby in gutting garage (nice fall weather project)

What’s your to-do list look like?