Keeping Short Accounts

I thought my life was pretty full: a husband, two active little boys, church involvement, playdates, etc.Now some changes have happened in our family and I'm finding myself caregiving for family beyond those who live under the same roof.

Life can change in the blink of an eye. Or at least an ambulance ride.

This experience caused an important thought to resurface in my mind: it's so important to keep short accounts.

Don't put off making that phone call to say "I Love You" or "I'm Sorry" or whatever you want to share. Put a date on the calendar to get together with friends. Even if you have to reschedule later, commit to being present with those you care about.

Along the same lines, but in a more nuts-and-bolts application, I really try not to put off until tomorrow the things I can quickly do today. I'm in the middle of reading Getting More Done: 10 Steps for Outperforming Busy People by Chris Crouch. He suggests that you immediately address anything which can be done in under two minutes. He also has a great quote about maintaining white space in your mail program:

"Most problems related to email center around one issue: how long you typically allow an email to sit in your inbox."   --Chris Crouch

I pay my bills when they come in. I read the mail every day. I return voicemails as soon as possible. Not only does it keep the clutter down, I exert less mental energy remembering it for another time.

When I worked, I often looked through my files and papers making sure that someone else could easily find stuff if one day I didn't come back (due to going into labor or winning the lottery, of course... :)

I guess it boils down to this: If you've got "to-do" items that will affect others if they go undone, it's time to make them a priority. We never know what tomorrow holds.

The dusting, eh, not so much...

Disclaimer: I downloaded Chris Crouch's book on my own, with no financial incentive. All opinions are my own.

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 5)

We're more than halfway through this series on meal planning. Is anyone doing this along with me, or are you enjoying watching me suffer?!?


One very positive aspect of this project is that I'm not running to the store for just one or two ingredients. Plus, I can start working on dinner any time during the day that I have a few minutes to thaw, chop, or mix.

On the other hand, it's becoming tough to find the line between stocking up because of good deals, keeping the spending down, and having a manageable level of food in the house, so none is wasted. I am feeling very humbled looking at the bottom line each week.

On that note, I spent $89.71 on groceries at Target this week. I think this is where I've been having some trouble, because while I get a lot of food at Target, it's also mixed in with other household items like diapers, health and beauty items and other legitimate stuff. I had to open up a spreadsheet to figure out what exactly I spent on food items.My purchases included multiple packages of the following: peanut butter, snacks for the kids, cereal, and coffee, plus OJ, eggs, and frozen salmon filets. My hubby also stocked up on frozen lunches and crackers for the office, for when he's not taking in leftovers for lunch or being treated by vendors.

At the grocery store, I spent $50.22. What you see pictured here is from the first trip; we returned the same day for the absolutely necessary bread, butter, sugar, and $1.88 bottle of Hershey's syrup that didn't make it the first time. I was distracted...big time, but I did stick to the list for the second trip.

The refrigerated biscuits were on sale for $1 apiece and the krimpets were on sale, too, and just had to come home with me :)

The menu this week


Monday: A "hash" of sausage, pepper, onion, tomato and pasta with side salad.
Tuesday: BLT sandwiches and zucchini-corn fritters (you really must try these) to use up more produce and most of a carton of buttermilk
Wednesday: Texas Roadhouse!
Thursday: Salad with chicken
Friday: Homemade pizza and salad
Saturday: Dinner with friends
Sunday: Panini and hand-cut fries

So, let's talk a little bit about freezing. I am still learning this, because it seems that as soon as I have room in there, it gets filled back up. Sometimes we can't find things without a little "discussion" between me and the freezer, or between me and my wonderful hubby.

[Again, not my real house, but fun to dream!]

Here are some items I typically keep on hand:

• A variety of meats: ground beef, chicken breasts/tenders, venison, hamburgers, bacon, pulled pork, salmon filets, often salmon burgers, fish filets or fish sticks
• Boxed lunches (e.g. Lean Cuisine) for my husband
• Bags of shredded cheese purchased on sale
• Breads: I stock up during buy-one-get-one sales and freeze bread inside a zip-top bag in its original package. I also freeze hamburger buns and hot dog rolls, sometimes bagels and English muffins purchased on sale.
• Baked goods like banana bread or zucchini bread. It's much easier to make several loaves at once and pull them out of the freezer as needed.
• Frozen vegetables, including green beans from the garden (ours or my in-laws)
• Herbs like basil and parsley
• Yeast purchased in bulk
• Applesauce that we make each October
• Ice cream, sometimes popsicles, and dessert ingredients like cool whip, pie crust or puff pastry.

As I'm typing this list, I see a lot of non-essential things, but I also see a lot of common ingredients that are nice to have around. Except for prepped food like the baked goods, I can buy anything at the store anytime, though not necessarily at the best price.

I think this is where I need to focus: buying only at the best price and preferably with coupons. Also, it seems that I need to start treating my freezer a bit more like my counter top and organize it regularly. Part of the problem comes from quickly throwing in groceries after a shopping trip without finding a place for the items. (This usually has something to do with hungry or tired kids, but that's a whole other post.)

I think I'll revise my cleaning schedule to include a regular freezer "straightening" session.

Am I the only one with things falling out of my freezer?

Next week: Leftovers

The Six Commandments of Organizing (Part 1)

So, here we are just a few days until baby is scheduled to arrive. I made some serious "nesting" headway this week, reviewing and filing receipts, making lists and packing my bag for the hospital. I was also cleaning up some of the files that I saved to my computer's desktop, and found a list that I made for a friend several years ago. Here is the first installment for your inspiration: 

1. Each area of the house should be set up for only one type of activity.  Don’t pay bills in the kitchen, or eat in the bedroom. Use rooms for their intended purpose and designate an area for paperwork in an office or at a desk. Don’t cram all your activities into one room, or you’ll set yourself up to lose things!
2. Handle items only once, or at the very most, twice.  Sort your mail next to the trash can.  Toss junk mail right away, take bills immediately to your desk (or schedule them for online payment immediately). Don’t make a habit of ‘piling’ unless you make a habit of sorting the pile for an hour each week!
3. Designate one place in the house that will always be clutter-free to serve as your sorting area. You need a place to set down grocery bags, stacks of paperwork or supplies, and any other items you bring home with you. Unpack or spread out the items, then start putting things away immediately, working to clear off the sorting area.  Sometimes you have to make a mess in order to organize or clean it up!

Found Money

This is my second full week working as a Domestic Engineer (stay-at-home-mom) and I'm enjoying it quite a bit more than I might have anticipated. As one of my friends has commented, it does tend to make you a bit more OCD about the house!

As you might imagine, I like making lists. I've developed a full-page list of things that I'd like to do before baby #2 arrives November 4. This includes making meals ahead and freezing them, deep cleaning most of the rooms in the house, and prepping the nursery. I hope I can get it all done, considering the number of naps I seem to need right now.

Since we are operating on one income, there's a renewed frugality in me. I'm finding myself interested in evaluating the house to find items I don't use much and can sell. I have a few items up on eBay and was thrilled to find a new consignment shop with adult clothing just opened up a few miles from my house. I'm already planning to rent a table at a Mother's Mart when we're ready to pass on some of the larger baby items.

Flipping through the channels last night, I found a show with people trying to do the same exact thing, only the items are much bigger ticket. It's called Buried Treasure and it's sort of like door-to-door Antiques Roadshow. Very cool, though I kidded my husband that I don't keep anything around long enough to let it become an antique!

Have you found a particularly effective way to recoup some value from items that you are no longer using? I'd love to hear it!

Supermarket Loyalty Cards

I stumbled across this article a few weeks ago. It seems to fly in the face of everything that hard-core bargain hunting coupon ladies are all about. It tells you not to sign up for customer loyalty cards.

In a very roundabout way, the article suggests you don't rely on that card to get you all the deals you need. But you knew that already. Just like you knew many of the tips from my previous post on grocery shopping. Loyalty cards and coupons are sticky wickets when you are a brand-loyal consumer. I'll admit that I only want Heinz ketchup and I don't care if the other brand is a dollar less because it tastes weird. So, I choose to wait to stock up on Heinz when it goes on sale ('cause I've never seen a coupon for Heinz ketchup). However it's no surprise that when I buy one brand of pasta at the store, I'll get a coupon for a competing brand.

Once again, I have to compliment my favorite store, Target, for their wonderful checkout coupons for the stuff I actually buy. I will more than gladly take that $1.50 coupon for the coffee I buy every few weeks. Even better that I can combine the store coupon with the manufacturer's coupon. Target has the best price on it anyway. Not to mention their awesome credit card that automatically gives you 5% off your purchase.

Anyway, I can't say that loyalty cards, checkout coupons and store credit cards are all bad. You just have to know how to work them in your favor, and be glad to put more than a few in the recycling.

What do you think? How many stores do you visit in an average week to get the best savings, and do you have their card?

Room by Room: Office

Well, we have exciting news...baby #2 is due in November! I guess this is a partial excuse for my infrequent posting the past few weeks.

As we prepare to welcome a new little one, we will soon say goodbye to our office (the third bedroom). Truthfully, we've been working towards this goal over the past year. We have gone virtually paperless, paying bills online and scanning documents that we want to save. Still, losing this space has me thinking about what is really essential when there is limited space.

For my home office needs, I've narrowed it down to a laptop and mouse, flat workspace, a file box, a safe, a scanner, shredder, router and one shelf of a cupboard for office supplies. I really didn't think we could pare down from two desks to this little. It was refreshing to cut down on files and realize that I really only need to save the most recent bill from the water company, the electric company and so forth.

One tip from a friend: Lest you become too zealous in getting rid of paper, make sure you have at least one copy of recent bills (electronic or paper). If you need to call for service, they will want your account number, and you don't want to be left without it.
Do you have pictures of a condensed workspace that you want to share? Please post a comment; I'd love to spotlight some of your ideas!

Mail, Bills and Paperwork

Key idea: Handle a piece of paper only once. At most, twice.

Mail is one of the most aggravating things to keep up with, because it comes nearly every day. And 90% of it is stuff that we don't need or want. Who wants bills, right?

Here's a typical scenario at our house: My darling husband checks the mailbox when he gets home from work, before he even gets in the house. He drops his briefcase and keys in the foyer and plops the mail on the kitchen counter. After saying his hellos, he pulls out what he wants to look at and sets it back on the pile. Then, if it's a day that I've been at work, we launch into making dinner. The mail gets in the way.

Every house seems to have a clutter catch-all. For some people, it's right inside the front door. At my house and  my parents' house, it's the kitchen counter. A wise woman advised me before we were married, "Figure out what one part of your house always has to be clean [for your peace of mind] and make sure your husband understands that." Turns out, my place is that kitchen counter.

Mail bursting into flames (gas stove) and Christmas cards splattered with tomato sauce are unsafe and inappropriate, so how can you deal with the inevitable flow of paper into your house?

• First, I open and look through everything in one batch, and pull out what needs attention or is actually fun to read. Hubby and I look at any letters or cards right away, and magazines are placed in the living room for future reading. If something needs to be filed, that goes with the bills. Since we pay our bills online, the outer envelope, return envelope and any stuffing gets put on a pile for recycling. The bills that need payment get set aside to be entered into the computer. This reminds me that I should set up my accounts to receive bills electronically... Look for a future post on why paying bills and managing money online can save you time and money, if you aren't already doing it.

• Second, recycle as much of the junk paper as possible. I have become a big fan of the Abitibi Paper Retrievers in the area since they provide money for local schools. I usually drop off a paper bag full once a week. To learn more, visit paperretriever.com.

• Third, if you have time, try and get off the mailing lists of charities, catalogs or other companies that send you junk mail. That way, they won't sell your name to someone else who will send you junk mail. And of course, make sure you pull out the bills and pay them, so you don't end up getting more mail in the form of late notices.

We've been swamped with credit card offers recently. While I love to recycle, I shred anything that could be simple for an identity thief to work from before I recycle the shredded paper. If you want to be removed from the list for pre-approved credit card offers, you can follow an automated system by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visiting OptOutPreScreen.com. This will notify the big three credit bureaus that you don't want such mailings for five years.