Monday, Monday...

So today is technically the first day of my new budget year. Yay me, right?! Some bills came in (expected) and I almost choked at how much we spent over the last month or so! Egads... thankfully, the money has been put away for everything (recital outfits, monthly bills etc), but it still hurts!

That being said I sat down and updated the checkbook and paid all of the bills that have come in over the last week. I also made a shopping list for the next week (including our New Year's Eve party - our year to host). I haven't hit the road to shop yet, but I'll be doing that today. This trip will not be inexpensive since we're serving ribs and a flank steak, but since we only host once every 3 years we'll be just fine :-) I planned my side dish and breakfast dish around leftover ham from Christmas so I saved money there. Our dinners will be quick and easy meals for the next few days until I am fully back on my feet next week when the kids are all back in school. Until then we're taking it as we go... eating breakfast for dinner, leftovers and whatnot that we throw together from the freezer and pantry. Since we're all home (no work or school) we have the luxury of time... it's a nice change of pace!

My financial goal for the next week are to stay out of all restaurants (fast food or sit down) and eat food here at home. My personal goal is to get all of our Christmas decorations down and stored away (after the carpet is laid tomorrow morning in the basement!).

Happy New Year!

New Year, new goals and fresh start

I can't believe 2008 is almost over. I've been taking a look at many aspects of our life over the past year and I can honestly say it is a blur! Between trying to finish the basement, live life and still have time (and resources) for extra things has taken up all of my time. So, for 2009 I'm focusing on getting organized - both in the home and monetarily - and enjoying a simpler life.

Where to start? Well, I started by sitting down and creating my annual budget and workbook to get me through the next year. I know the economic picture isn't pretty right now, but we are blessed with currently stable jobs and no real debt to speak of aside from our mortgage. By my calculations, we should be able to put away $200/month into our savings after all living expenses are accounted for. This is in addition to the 15% of dh's pay going to 401K and $300/month going into college accounts. We should also be able to put $100/month into a Christmas savings for 2009. Sounds great, right?! I need to do better. Why?! Well, we are both driving cars with over 125K miles on them and we've used a huge amount of our savings to finish our basement. We're way below my comfort zone at this point.

How to remedy? Honestly, the only remedy I have is to really buckle down and spend less than I've budgeted as much as possible. I have 3 months this summer that I won't have to pay for dance or preschool - right there I could save an additional $1K if I pay savings before we spend it! I have overbudgeted in some categories in anticipation of price increases (like energy, gas, food and preschool) so until we see actual price increases I will have additional savings there. Will this help me attain my goal? Time will tell!

Which leads me to my biggest goal for 2009. My savings goal for the year is $5K. This is really ambitious, but I think I can do it if I really buckle down and focus. I won't even count what I'm about to move into savings from dh's bonus :-) This goal also does not count our tax refund for 2008 because most of that is already earmarked for basement expenditures. Seriously though, if I can make this goal I will be able to breathe a large sigh of relief. And in these tough economic times, we could all use a bit of relief!

Join me as I embark on this adventure - savings, frugality, sanity and a simpler life. I hope to update my progress each week when I sit down to balance our budget - the good, the bad and the down right ugly! My first update will be after the new year! Until then... Happy 2009!

The simple life?!

Does anyone else feel like the start of the school year sends your life spiraling out of control? Or is it just me? The first week of school was benign enough... oh yeah - there were no activities! Second week of school still didn't seem that out of control - oh yeah - we only had 2 out of 4 dance classes that week! The third week hit and WHAM! Life is no longer simple! Here are some things that I've decided to do to keep it as simple and budget-friendly as possible.

Monday nights are our crazy night. So dinner will be on the go food until further notice. Or at least my version of on the go - things like sandwiches, homemade nuggets and fries that I can pack up and feed in the car or finger foods that travel well. My husband may not be thrilled with it but it was will work and keep my relatively sane on that night.

I did plan out my menu for the next 2 weeks and most of the meals can be prepped ahead of time or thrown together quickly. Some take advantage of leftover meat (fingers crossed that there is leftover meat after feeding my growning girls!) and other are just favorites. Here is what I have:

cold cut sandwiches, chips and veges
pot roast with egg noodles
bbque beef sandwiches, fries and cold veges with dip
chicken pot pie, salad
pizza, fruit salad
chicken parm, green beans and italian bread
stuffed bell peppers, rolls
homemade nuggets, fries, raw veges
spaghetti & meatballs, salad
chicken noodle casserole, fruit, rolls
pancakes and apples
calzones, raw vege
chicken enchiladas, salad
bbque pork over mashed potatoes and corn

If I stick to this dinner plan we'll eat healthy and for far less than what we could spend eating out because it is faster. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it... if I say it enough will it be true?!

Meal planning

I do my best to plan our meals ahead of time so there is no real thought process involved on a day-to-day basis. That being said there are days that my plans fall apart because I didn't take a chicken out in time or I was just busy and didn't stop to look at my plan. Last night for instance - I planned to cook a whole chicken in the crockpot. The plan was to put it in around noon. Well, 2 o'clock rolled around and it wasn't in yet. I rushed to get it in only to discover it was still frozen. ARGH! It wouldn't be done in time for dinner so I put it back in the fridge for tonight and did a quick inventory to see what I could pull off easily here at home. I found plain bagels in the freezer - perfect! We had bagel pizzas and fruit for dinner. The best part? I didn't spend anything extra to make it and even better was that we didn't go out to eat!

What are some of your "always have on hand" back ups for planning failures? Ours tend to be breakfast for dinner, grilled cheese and soup or everyone fend for yourself. I need to have more on hand in the coming weeks as our schedules gets a bit hectic with dance and brownies. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Electricity usage revisited

I have been watching all of our electricity usage and trying out the whole drying rack concept for clothes drying (instead of my dryer). I am happy to report that out of 12 loads of laundry this week, I have "line-dryed" 7 loads. I am still using the dryer for our towels and sheets since I can't have an outside clothes line. I am actually enjoying not using my dryer :) It takes a bit longer to the laundry, but I for some reason putting it all away takes less time.

We have had so many nice days here in the last few weeks. My windows have been open and the air conditioning off. It has been wonderful! Not only do we have fresh air circulating in the house, but my electricity usage is down... bonus!

However, in the midst of all this saving on my end - my dear, sweet husband has been hard at work in the basement painting, doing trim work and everything else. Great, right?! Except when I walked down on Saturday to every single light on... including the 500 watt halogen. All this and my husband working in a small corner of the basement nowhere near most of the lights - ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH! I'm thinking all of his lights have canceled out my "line-drying" this week... sigh :)

On the girls' lunch menu today:
J - turkey lunch meat, cheese stick, cut up nectarines, home made granola bar and cheese crackers with a full bottle of water.
A - 1/2 a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, cheese stick, cut up nectarines, home made granola bar and cheese crackers with 1/2 a bottle of water.

It's the most wonderful day.... of the year :)

Yes, it is the first day of school here... did you hear that?! It was a huge ~sigh~ escaping my lips! My two older girls were so excited to get out the door with their new laptop lunchboxes full of fun food to eat. Actually it was normal food, but they declared it fun food since it was all placed in the cute containers that came with their lunchbox. I filled their lunch bottles halfway with water, added an icepack to their bag and they were ready to go! Today's menu was:

J - turkey and cheese wrap, Banilla yogurt with mini chocolate chips on the side, home made granola bar, pita chips and water

A - peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Banilla yogurt with mini chocolate chips on the side, home made granola bar, pita chips and water

I need to run to the store today to stock up on some fruit... we're out which is why the girls didn't take any today. I think I'll make up a little fruit salad for tomorrow's lunch and today's afternoon snack!

It's the most wonderful time... of the year :)

Back to school breakfast

I was reading my newest Family Fun magazine yesterday (this get past around and recycled - not too mention it was a free subscription) and stumbled on a great back to school idea (well, I think it is!). Basically, I'm inviting our neighbors to join us the last day of summer vacation at 8am for a small outside breakfast. I'll have bagels, muffins, coffee and juice for everyone to share while we remind our kids what it is like to get up and out the door for the bus :)

I'm keeping it simple and figure at the very least it will give our newest bus riders (those incoming kindergartners) a chance to meet the older kids and see familiar faces on the bus their first day. Of course my girls are so excited... I think I have 3 little party planners in the making!

Thank you Family Fun for a great idea!

We use what?!

In my house our financial month is the 15th to the 15th. So, I've decided to run my energy challenge the same way. I am hoping to reduce our average daily kilowatt usage by 3 kilowatts. This may not seem like much but I honestly don't have a clear picture of our daily usage. Our power company estimates our bills every other month (sometimes more) and it is never close to being right! So... I'm starting with our last "actual" read where they estimated our average daily usage at 55 kilowatts which cost us $4.86/day. I read my meter at 4pm yesterday and we are starting at 85955.

Things I plan on doing to reduce our usage:
1. Only run air conditioning when necessary. We live in a new development so there are NO shade trees around my house... pity because I could definitely get away with running my air less if we had them. I should be able to turn the air off overnight through mid-morning/lunch for the coming week if the weather holds.

2. We still do not use the heated dry on the dishwasher... I don't even miss it!

3. We are using a caraffe for our coffee in the morning. I do have our coffee pot on a timer so my husband has coffee when he leaves for work (which is earlier than I get up). He transfers the coffee to the caraffe at that point, turns off the pot and unplugs it. My coffee is still burning hot hours later... love it!

4. I will not be using my dryer for our clothes. I found a folding drying rack to use for items that won't hang easily, everything else will be hung in the bathrooms to dry. I may try drying our towels with the rack outside... can't hurt to try :)

5. I am making sure everyone turns out lights when they are not in the room and we aren't using lights during the day. My girls are getting better about this! Now, if only I could convince DH to turn off the tv when he leaves the room... since that may never happen I'll focus on other things!!

This is our starting point. I'll share other things as we go through the month.

On to food... the girls and I went peach and nectarine picking yesterday. The farm that we go to uses integrated pest management which is a practice that we are comfortable with even though the fruit isn't organic. We've been going to this farm for years and there have been quite a few (this year included) that they haven't used any chemicals or pesticides to control problems with their crops. We picked 10 pounds of peaches and close to 10 pounds of nectarines. We're all looking forward to freshly picked fruit, some cobblers and some muffins!

We also hit the barn and picked up 3 of the biggest cucumbers I've ever seen. We should get a large batch of pickles from them! I'm going to play with canning some of the pickles to use as treats over the winter. I think I'll hit the farmers market next week to pick up more if all goes well - I don't think I can have too many of these pickles on hand!

Tomorrow is owner appreciation day at my market. 10% off everything in the store. I'll be there before they open waiting in line... but it will be worth it. I plan to only shop for normal items and won't stock up on much since I do a lot of our shopping at Trader Joes (even with 10% TJs is still cheaper). I do need to pick up 3 kleen kanteen water bottles for the girls to use at school, some 7th Generation pull-ups for my youngest to use at night and some other odds and ends. With any luck I'll spend under $200 when all is said and done. All I should need after that for the month is veges and occasionally some fresh fruit.

Now... on to the laundry :)

Is it organic?

I found an article at Amy's Kitchen that explains how to tell if your produce is really organic when you are shopping at a conventional store - Is It Organic? I have written the tricks of the trade in my handy, dandy notebook (too much Dora lately!) so I will always have the answer with me when I'm not sure if I am picking the correct apples. Why does shopping have to be so difficult anyway?!

And if you are suddenly wondering about genetically modified foods (gm) here are a few links for you to ponder:

Prince Charles says to count him out of the GM process.
All about GM food.
50 Harmful Effects of GM food. (You need to scroll down past a lot of industry-speak type information to get to the 50 effects).

There are so many articles (just google it), but I didn't find a single article that was in favor of GM food. Maybe I just didn't wade through enough of the google hits? Regardless, I will not buy GM food for my family. I always get a bit nervous when my food's DNA is so blatantly tweaked.

I am counting down to next spring when I can plant my garden - that will take a huge chunk of worry (not to mention help my budget significantly) out of my menus. We're off to the farmer's market today... rest assured I will be on the lookout for fresh, locally grown (organic is a bonus, but integrated pest management will work too) produce!

Things that make me go "hmmmmmm"...

I've been away over the last two weekends. We traveled to Chicago and then I traveled with a friend to NYC to visit another friend of ours. Maybe I just had too much time on my hands to think, but I found myself really thinking of ways to tweak our very new environmentally-friendly, organic lifestyle. Each city presented me with different thoughts.

In the Chicago-area I was surprised by the number of above-ground pools (my husband and I went for a 4 mile walk one morning through a large, maybe 10-15 year old neighborhood). We saw maybe 2 or 3 in-ground pools and the rest were above-ground. My husband and I were discussing how much use a pool would actually get in that area. We guessed maybe 2-3 months tops which could explain the above-ground v. in-ground (not too mention price being a factor), but after seeing at least 50 of these on our walk I started to wonder how much it costs to keep a pool running. And what happens to the above-ground pools when they deteriorate or the family is simply done with it and trashes it. Does it just go to the landfill to never biodegrade? That being said, I was happy about all the big, shady trees along the sidewalk :)

NYC always creates awe in me. I absolutely love the lights, the hustle and bustle and well... everything about it (maybe because I only visit?!). But then I noticed that all the beautiful lights are ALWAYS on! All day long the lights along Broadway and in Times Square are on... why exactly? I'm guessing that it isn't cheap to have those lights on at all times... couldn't businesses use a time or a solar indicator thingy? I just can't imagine how many kilowatts are used to keep lights on all the time. Granted, I have no clue what the lights are getting their energy from and I will hope that it is from solar panels atop one of the many, many huge buildings, but it definitely made me wonder. I will say that Central Park is absolutely beautiful when you have a 75 degree day to explore it... I absolutely loved the Library walk... one day I want my driveway to look just like that with huge, mature trees lining it and providing such wonderful shade! Granted I have to find just the right old house with a wrap-around porch to go with it... I can dream :)

So, all of these ponderings got me thinking about our own energy consumption. I'm ashamed to admit that it is more than it should be. So, I am not going to use my dryer on our clothes this week and see how I manage to dry everything. I'm also going to start keeping track of our kilowatt usage (our energy company estimates for a few months before doing an actual reading... pain in my butt!) so I can see where I can really make a difference. I'm going to do my first reading today and mark my calendar for future reads. I am sure I'll see a huge difference as I work hard to change our habits, but for now it will just be one baby step at a time.

Finally, I wanted to share this recipe that I found on allrecipes.com (best website ever, imo!) for sweet pickles. These are easy and a yummy way to use up cucumbers... mmmmmmmmmm... so good!

Potty training, carcinogens and whatnot

First I need a moment to celebrate our mostly successful potty training adventures! My youngest is well on her way - I just need to convince her that she can indeed use a big potty instead of her little one and we'll be golden! I am thankful that this is the last time I will be solely responsible for potty training a child :)

Carcinogens in potato chips and fries... wow! I found this article over at MSNBC about reducing cancer chemicals in chips and fries. It is kind of scary when I really think about it... I'll have to forward this one to my husband who likes to roll his eyes at me when I get on his case about chips!

On that note, I need to sit down and work out my menus for the next couple of weeks so we can go shopping. We're low on food after a trip to Chicago!

Potty training fun

I wish I could say potty training was going as wonderfully the third time around, but alas my youngest child is by far my most stubborn! We are in the middle of day 2 and we've had 2 successes... I'm celebrating them with lots of fanfare (and doing my best to forget the misses). The second time she went on the potty, she did it on her own without a single suggestion from me :) That was a bright moment in our day!

I am looking forward to being diaper-free... I hate diapers. Changing them, wiping, changing them, and then changing them again! Although the first month or two of potty training does present a whole new set of challenges like knowing where every public bathroom is at every stop we make, making sure I always have a few extra seat liners, convincing my youngest that yes, she too can use the big potty that flushes for no apparent reason (my middle dd was 5 before she was OK with that one!) and other minor inconveniences of a newly potty trained child.

Of course once this milestone is behind us, I'll forget all the trials and tribulations and simply focus on how wonderful my girls are :) But first we must master not urinating on my floors!!

Menus for this week

I'm putting together my shopping lists and finally sat down to make a menu for the week. I'm trying to figure out if we should really stick to shopping every 2 weeks or go back to weekly with TJs every 2 weeks (I think dh would flip if he had to go every week!). Here is what I have for the next week:

Today:
breakfast - toast, yogurt, OJ or milk
lunch - mini bagel pizzas, fruit, water
dinner - pasta, bread and a salad, water

Weds:
breakfast - cereal, fruit, OJ or milk
lunch - sandwiches, chips, vege, water
dinner - chicken enchiladas, fruit, water

Thurs:
breakfast - waffles, fruit, OJ or milk
lunch - cheese, crackers, yogurt, fruit, water
dinner - bbq chicken sandwiches, fries, salad, water

Friday:
breakfast - toast, yogurt, OJ or milk
lunch - sandwiches, chips, fruit, water
dinner - pizza, fruit, soda (actually sparkling fruit juice... Friday night treat)

Saturday:
breakfast - cereal, fruit, OJ or milk
lunch - crackers, cheese, yogurt, veges, water
dinner - burgers, beans, veges

Sunday:
breakfast - pancakes, fruit, OJ or milk
lunch - sandwiches, chips, fruit, water
dinner - grilled chicken, rice dish, salad, water

Monday:
breakfast - toast, yogurt, OJ or milk
lunch - mac & cheese, fruit, water
dinner - mac & beef casserole, bread, veges, water

Tuesday:
breakfast - cereal, fruit, OJ or milk
lunch - sandwiches, chips, veges, water
dinner - eggs, potatoes, bacon, fruit and water

I do have water planned with most meals, however the girls may have chocolate milk depending on how much water they've had throughout the day. I have syrup on hand so it isn't really an issue. Planning out breakfast and lunch is new... usually I wing it, but I'm hopeful that if I have it planned out we can avoid eating cereal every day.

I'm planning to go blueberry and plum picking later this week unless the local farmers' market has beautiful berries and plums at a reasonable price... then I'll just stock up there and freeze the blueberries for later use this winter in pancakes, waffles, salads and whatever. I'm simply looking forward to some fresh plums!

How do your menus look for this week?

School lunch boxes

Yes, I just got back from vacation and find myself looking for new lunch boxes for my oldest girls. We have used Lands End lunch boxes for the last 2 years, but I have to say that they rather stunk! The first one was difficult to clean and started falling apart by the end of the year. The second 2 were easier to clean (new design) but started falling apart as well. Now, my girls aren't rough on their lunch boxes and while Lands End does have great customer service I simply don't want another lunch box falling apart!

After some serious searching and reading, here is what I came up with:

http://www.laptoplunches.com/

These look like a great alternative to throw away lunch packaging and with any luck they will be sturdy! They are priced similarly to everything else I saw, but I like the concept of the containers and everything being completely safe. I ordered 2 laptop lunch systems and I'll let you know what I think when I get them!

Had to share this article

As so many of us are trying to squeeze organics into our shrinking household budgets, I saw this article on msnbc:

How to buy organics while on a budget

It is a lot of the same old, same old, but sometimes the same old thing can be a good reminder! They also provided a link to The Organic Center which looks like it could hold some gems of information. I haven't been through it yet... I am on vacation after all!

Happy reading!

Ahhhhh... VACATION!

How I love vacation... beach and/or pool all day, grilled food and no real plan except to have fun :) I hope you're enjoying summer too! I'll be back to trying to figure out our frugally organic life style all too soon!!

See you later :)

Vacation at last!

Today is my day to pack :) I can't wait for everyone to get up so we can get it going... well after we make waffles! I wanted to share my rough food cost breakdown for this week of fun in the sun. I've broken it down by meal (estimating in some places when needed). All meals will serve 2 adults, 1 teenager, and 3 kids:

Meal 1 - sloppy joes
2 pounds grass-fed ground beef (from local farm): roughly $8 (from my freezer)
2 boxes of Annie's mac and cheese: $4.78
Rolls: $3.19
Fresh fruit: ? I'll purchase this at the local farmer's stand en route
Estimated total: $20

Meal 2 - burgers and dogs
2 pounds grass-fed ground beef: roughly $8
Organic hot dogs: $5.81
Chips: $3
Buns: $1.50
Raw veges: ? I'll purchase this at the local farmer's stand too
Estimated total: $20

Meal 3 - Chicken
2 packs of organic chicken: roughly $14 (DH will purchase today at TJs)
2 boxes of alfredo risotto: $5.02
Corn-on-the-cob: ? I'll purchase this at the local farmer's stand
Estimated total: $23

Meal 4 - Steak
Steak: roughly $20 (DH will purchase today at TJs)
Organic potatoes: $3.91
Salad: roughly $4
Estimated total: $30

Meal 5 - Ribs
3 large racks of ribs: $30
2 cans of organic green beans: $3.46
Salad: roughly $4
Estimated total: $38

Meal 6 - Meatball subs (this is for arrival night... instead of take-out pizza)
Leftover frozen meatballs: no cost since I bore initial cost in my monthly budget
Chips: $3
Raw veges: ? I will purchase this from local stand
Estimated total: $7

Lunches will be leftovers, lunch meat, pb&j, cheese and crackers and what not. At most I have spent $20 on items to bring for lunches.

Breakfasts will be frozen waffles that I made with my iron. I mixed up 2 batches of pancake mix... just need to add wet ingredients. I purchased 1 large box of "vacation cereal" - in this case Lucky Charms - for $4. We will also have bagels on hand that was part of my monthly budget but we haven't eaten them yet.

Snacks will be plentiful! I won't list my purchases but I will say my total food purchase bill thus far is $123.55 (not including chicken and steak). This is for a week of food (including new condiments to bring so we aren't traveling with large open bottles) for 6 of us! Wahoo! My average dinner cost is an estimated total of $23 or $3.83/person. I realize that will go up slightly once I make the vege and fruit purchases and we go out to eat for our one cook-free night, but overall I feel like I'm providing my family (and niece) with healthy food options during vacation. And the best part is most of the food is already prepped... it just needs to thaw and cook!

Happy vacation to me!

Preping and cooking day

I'm busy preping and cooking some of our vacation food. I mixed up 2 batches of pancake mix (dry half of it) with instructions on the bag for what else I need. I also took that opportunity to cook up a 3rd batch for breakfast today and bonus! There are enough leftovers to have them for breakfast Saturday morning too.

I'll make up one last batch of waffles for breakfast tomorrow morning and freeze what we don't eat (that should bring me up to 9 huge waffles for vacation).

I have meatballs going for dinner (in grape jelly and chili sauce... these make yummy subs) and I will have enough left to freeze and take for dinner our first night at the beach. I also have sloppy joes going in my other crockpot that I will freeze and use for dinner. This is my favorite sloppy joe recipe:

1 pound of ground beef
1 onion (and/or green pepper) chopped
3/4 C ketchup
2 Tbsp. chili sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar

- Brown beef and onion in saucepan. Drain.
- Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours.
- Serve on buns (whole wheat work great!)

I have cookies to bake Saturday night for the drive (so they are wonderfully fresh!) and I will possibly make granola bars too. That leaves me with making sandwiches for lunch so we don't have to pay to eat junk :)

We did our shopping today... dh will hit TJs on his way home from work completing all of our vacation food purchases. I'll update tomorrow with my final analysis of how we did.

10 tips for going green

I found this article at MSNBC and thought I'd share their 10 tips for going green.

1. Clean green - Scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom with synthetic cleansers is counterintuitive (why would you want to breathe in harsh chemicals or leave a toxic residue on your tub or tiles?). From counter sprays to toilet scrubs, there are green cleansers for every part of the house.

2. Invest in a new candle - Opt out of out regular scented candles (synthetically-fragranced candles often contain phthalates, compounds that are thought to disrupt hormone functioning) and go for a naturally-scented soy candles instead.

3. Flush efficiently - The EPA estimates that flushing makes up 30 percent of a household’s water use (about three to six gallons per flush). Placing a brick in your toilet tank will help to conserve the amount of water used during each flush.

4. Trade your bulbs - Switch from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, which use about 75 percent less energy.

5. Furnish wisely - Think about how those chairs or sofa or throw pillows were made. Whenever possible seek out furniture and home accessories that are constructed from certified sustainable wood — look for the FSC label (Forest Stewardship Counsel), reclaimed materials, bamboo, organic cotton and so on.

6. Eat right - Support regional farmers by seeking out fresh, locally grown food and whenever possible buy organic.

7. Become a biker - Biking is an excellent form of eco-friendly transportation — good for both you and the planet. If you have to drive, keep other cars off the road by carpooling.

8. Reuse your lunch box - Pack your sandwich in a reusable container and if you must use plastic bags, wash and reuse them for tomorrow’s lunch.

9. Print properly - At work, think twice about printing, but if you absolutely must hold that document in your hand, fill your printer with recycled paper and print on both sides of the sheet.

10. Hit the power button - Turn your computer, printer, fax and copy machine off when you’re finished for the day.

We do a little more than half of these... I'm not sure I can convince hubby to put a brick in the toilet tank though. That may be too much for him for now. All in all, these are excellent suggestions and most are relatively easy to incorporate into our lives.

Vacation food

We are going to the beach this month and we can not wait! However, this does mean that I need to plan, purchase and prep meals and food for the trip. Everyone is always amazed that we bring our food to the beach and don't wait to purchase it there. I prefer to bring it for many reasons, but the top 2 reasons are:

1. I prefer to have organic and/or locally grown food. We do stop at a farmer's stand on the way to buy fruit and veges knowing that they are local.

2. I have no real desire to shop at Food Lion :) This is my own personal thing!

So, I will be busy prepping 5 meals this week. Here is my menu:

Ribs - already bought and frozen. I simply need to bring a few bottles of bbq sauce and foil for these bad boys and yummmmmmmmmmmm!

Sloppy Joes - already have the ground beef for these. I need to prep and cook them so I can freeze them. This is one of my beach favorites because all we do is thaw and heat!

Burgers and hot dogs - already have the ground beef and need to buy the dogs. I may also buy a small package of brats to keep dh happy.

Steak - need to buy the steak this week and mix up marinade. I will freeze this one in the marinade so when it is thawing it is soaking it all up - mmmmmmmm.

Bbq chicken - I'm experimenting with a new bbq sauce today. If we like it I may freeze the chicken in the sauce... I'll know more later.

Side dishes are always easy... Annie's mac and cheese, risotto, lots of fresh fruit and veges, chips or anything else that may strike my fancy when I go shopping. We usually have dessert too... ice cream, pudding or something else that is really easy :) You can never have too much ice cream at the beach!

I will be cooking up a few batches of waffles this week and freezing them to take. We are all looking forward to these. The girls get to choose one horribly sugary cereal to take... this is a vacation-only treat. I'll also cook up a batch or two of pancakes to take for breakfasts too. Other than that we'll have eggs and hash browns and maybe even some bacon. I love vacation!

Lunch is almost always leftovers or sandwiches and chips. Easy and quick!

We'll probably pick up pizza for our first night there since we'll get there somewhere between 4-6pm. And we'll go out to eat dinner once while we are there. We have found that our kids can handle it once... generally they are too tired to sit through a dinner in a restaurant where we expect them to behave like angels :) After a full day in the sun, ocean and pool they usually just want to hang out and play games! Me too :)

I'll post my shopping list and my spending goals tomorrow. Until then I'll be dreaming about the ribs and steak.....

Food processor to the rescue!

I've been playing with my food processor (fp) this week after DH had a minor meltdown about the economy and our budget. Here is what I've discovered - this is based on organic produce but I have no doubt there are savings across the board:

Hash browns: a bag of hash browns is $2.69 (I think that was on sale) for one pound and a 5 pound bag of potatoes is $5. If I shred the entire 5 pound bag I'm still only spending $5 for 5 pounds of hash browns. If I buy 5 bags of hash browns I'm spending $13.45. Total potential savings - $8.45! This will also hold true for homemade french fries instead of frozen fries.

Carrots: a 1 pound bag of baby carrots is $2.99. A 5 pound bag of regular carrots is $5. I can use my fp to slice or shred the carrots. I can then use the prepared carrots for a side dish or to enhance our salads or I can freeze them for later use. I can also peel and cut the carrots into sticks to eat. Potential savings: $9.95!

So, just by changing my potato and carrot buying habits we can save $18.40/month or roughly $220.80/year!

I also discovered that I can use my fp to make pizza dough! This is huge for us because we use our breadmaker to make pizza dough weekly, but we're learning that 1 pizza isn't enough for the 5 of us. Now I can make 2 crusts at the same time which solves our problem and keeps us from ordering out or buying a frozen pizza to go with our homemade pizza. I haven't calculated the monetary savings for this, but frozen organic pizzas aren't cheap so I'm thinking it is significant!

My fp came with tons of recipes... from coleslaw to mayo! I plan on trying out a lot of these simply to see where I can save money. Hmmmm... I may have to try slicing hard-boiled eggs since my egg slicer has died!

What do you use your fp to make? Apparently I'm a little green to this kitchen-wonder (no pun intended LOL)!

Two stores in under $100!

I did it! I made it in and out of Costco and my market for under $100 - yay me! $94.15 to be exact. That total does include diapers (will this child ever be potty trained?!), wipes and ribs for vacation. It means I have to really watch what I buy next week for here and vacation - can't go wild at the stores!

Today we are off to visit a local farm that doubles as a doggie day care and boarding facility. I'm not sure if it will be less expensive than our current option, but the dogs would certainly be happier! They are not crated or put in a run at the farm. They are free to play, swim and romp about all day and then they sleep in the house at night - how perfect is that?! We'll see when I find out the price LOL

After the farm we are scheduled to go to the pool - I'm not sure we'll go. It would cost us $12 to get in plus gas to get there - I'm not convinced it is really worth it. Of course my kids think it is worth it but when I see that we spend close to $450-500 on gas each month it is a little hard to believe the pool is worth it. Besides how can I reduce our carbon footprint if we are out driving around every day when we don't really NEED to do it? ~sigh~ Being a responsible grown-up isn't always easy.

Coming tomorrow... how a food processor has possibly saved our organic food budget.

My first shopping trip analysis for July

Yesterday I shopped at Trader Joes. I'm comparing prices with an organic coop (CM) that I shop at regularly.

-Organic Pulp-free and calcium-added OJ: $3.99 ($5.69 at CM) – I saved $13.60
-Chicken breast: $4.69/pound ($6.19/pound at CM) – this is All natural with no antibiotics or hormones. It is also never fed animal by-products – I saved $6.22 today.
-Whole organic chicken: $2.69/pound ($2.39/pound for Natural whole fryer at CM – I saw the natural ones at TJ but didn’t note the price because I already had mine bagged and was on the move)
-Organic bananas were $0.29/pound! ($0.69/pound at CM) – we stocked up knowing we can use some for baking.
-Organic romaine hearts $2.79 ($3.99 at CM) – I’m guessing most of their lettuce was cheaper – saved $2.40 today
-Organic frozen corn $1.69 ($2.69 at CM) – saved $2 today

I also got snack foods and some frozen convenience meals (for Ron to use in his lunches when there aren’t leftovers) and those are all free of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils – this included some mini bagels and pita pockets to use for sandwiches). They have a small cereal selection, but I think we’re going to try moving away from cereal for breakfast for a bit to see how that impacts the budget so that worked for me. My total savings today was $26.22 over CM. I’m not sure how that would stand up to MOMS but I think overall it would still be worth a monthly trip J It was roughly 40 miles round trip – so about $6 in gas. Not bad!

My total spent was $183.14 and with any luck this will be the biggest amount spent this month since I stocked up on OJ and chicken. I will be hitting my market, Costco and one other store later today to stock up on a few things that TJs didn't have that I will need this month. I'll also start my vacation shopping (a small curve ball for July!). My goal is to keep all of my shopping today under $100 (I am buying ribs for vacation). I can do it!

I'm back and feeling inspired once again!

Hi to anyone who is actually reading this blog :) It's been roughly 3 months since I blogged and I've missed it. I was feeling rather uninspired about organic eating and living - frugally that is. The price of food and gas has really hit us hard and while we haven't made any large, sweeping changes to our budget and life - it is scary to see the real numbers! Regardless, here is what we've been up to:

Our basement project is chugging along. Drywall is complete, tile will go into the bathroom this weekend, doors will be hung and then we paint and paint and paint. From there we'll see how fast it goes LOL We are doing the painting and trim-work ourselves to save money. DH will also install the bamboo flooring around the wet bar to save money there. Overall, we are thrilled with this project - it has drained our savings so it is a little scary, but we planned it so really it is fine.

Food - ACK! We finally took a long, hard look at our budget last night and here is our plan of attack - track every penny for the month of July to figure out where it is all going! I budget a large amount for food each month and we are going to work together to try and cut that budget a bit. For instance, we have rediscovered our food processor. I spent the morning cutting up carrots (and not baby carrots - expensive!) and making shredded hash browns from potatoes that needed to be used. I LOVE my food processor! I will be going to the market later today to do some price comparisons for real savings, but I'm guessing it will be significant. My quest in the food budget for the month of July is to figure out how to make more of our favorite things from scratch (and yes, cutting my own hash browns counts LOL) to see if it saves money. We also discovered Trader Joes - OMG can you say SAVINGS?! And the best part is there is one not far from DH's job and he has volunteered to do that shopping! Not only does that mean we aren't spending anything on gas to get there, but DH will stick to a list and not deviate - that is HUGE :)

Gas is another scary line item on our budget. We aren't sure how to lower it considering DH works an hour or so away and his job isn't supportive of working from home. So, this will fall primarily on me and my driving. I feel like I've cut it back as much as possible, so it really means we'll be home most weekends :)

Hopefully I can stay inspired to help us get our budget and savings back on track... and hopefully we can be inspired together! Let me know that you're reading this... it is lonely to think I'm writing it all for myself :)

Spring fever

I have a serious case of spring fever. Temps have been balmy (like 50s balmy) for the last few days with some actual sunshine for most of the day - I'm in heaven! Today we took 2 walks (1 walk for each dog) much to the delight of my toddler. My older girls are at a friend's house this afternoon enjoying this amazing weather. Please, oh please let spring finally be here!!!!

Speaking of spring... we are headed to FL for spring break :) Bring on the heat!!!! In preparation I had my tires rotated and balanced this morning. It is free for the life of my tires (love Costco!) and it will help with wear and tear so I'm all for it! Next on my list is an oil change - need that one for help with gas mileage. Then I need to plan what snacks we are bringing so I can cook and freeze them. I did buy some fruit snacks today (Welch's) and need to find a few other surprise goodies that the girls are not normally allowed to have. The element of surprise is important on a 16 hour road trip!!!!

Last, but certainly not least, I need to sit down and put together my shopping list and hit the market. I'm really watching what we're spending on food - it eats up so much of my budget (haha - no pun intended!). More on that later!

Organic yet frugal snacks

I'm struggling with this concept. My kids come home from school and they are hungry. I need to get food in them or they will melt into puddles of their former selves... cut up fruit only goes so far before they take the last bite and complain, "but I'm still hungry!". Honestly, I think my 8 year old daughter has become a human disposal - her hunger never lets up! I have to say I can't imagine having boys with bigger appetites... I wouldn't be able to keep up. OK, so back to my topic at hand - organic yet frugal snacks. I should add that I prefer them to be relatively healthy - too much junk is never a good thing!

I have a few tried and true recipes that I've gathered from different places and I've made them organic simply by using organic ingredients. The only way I can make them frugal at this point is by buying in bulk - things like sugar, flour, quick-cooking oats, salt and whatnot. I generally don't use organic chocolate chips - mostly because they are way expensive!

Here is one of my all-time favorite snack recipes - Apple Butter Bars
1 1/2 C All-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 C uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C melted butter
1 1/2 C Apple Butter

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in butter.
2. Press 1/2 of mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan; top with apple butter.
3. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture and press gently with the back of a spoon.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Cool and cut into bars. Makes 3 dozen.

And fyi, you can freeze the finished product for later use :) My kids love these and so do DH and I. I have a few more recipes that I'll share this week - if you have good ones let me know! I'm always in search of good recipes.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

We are celebrating low-key at our house this year. Basically small cards for the girls and dh, small bags of chocolate for the girls and one solid chocolate hammer for dh. I'm making tacos for dinner because everyone will eat them and even go back for more! I'll also bake 2 large heart shaped chocolate chip cookies and frost them with homemade pink icing - one for our dessert and one for our closest friend's and their girls. And I'm making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Mostly, I plan on taking extra time to hug and kiss my girls because I can. They are here, healthy and so very sweet and happy. I plan to enjoy every moment of that today because today is a gift that I don't want to miss!

Remember to recycle your cards instead of throwing them away - they make cute gift boxes!

Eco friendly alternatives to the same old, same old

As I've mentioned (at least once or twice LOL), we are gearing up to finish our basement space. It is going to be quite the family area complete with a wet bar (dh's baby). While the wet bar isn't exactly kid-friendly, it will have some kid-friendly features (like plastic barware, popcorn popper and sparkling juices). But I digress...

We stumbled across some really great counters during our search. We are looking at Silestone because we would like to replace the kitchen countertops in the future as well. DH mentioned that he saw countertops that mimic granite but were actually recycled metals. He found the website and we looked at them last night. He is going to talk to the receptionist at the architectural firm in his building today to see how they are holding up after use (we want to make sure they don't scratch easily). If they are holding up and not scratching every time she moves something, we are going to seriously consider them. It turns out that they roughly cost what Silestone would cost... so this may turn out to be a total no-brainer!!! Fingers crossed :)

The flooring around the bar will be a "hardwood". I've decided to check out eco friendly flooring as well and have started my search. Since this is a basement I'm not sure what we can use. But here is one site that I'm looking at (bonus - owned by a woman!). I'm leaning toward cork for the bar area. I have to figure out the bathroom space too. That leaves me with carpet. Not bad for one morning's work!

More later...

Eating organic frugally

Does this sound like an oxymoron to you? It does to me after a trip to the store! I've been doing some research on doing this frugally (because my food budget needs to shrink a bit) and thought I would share what I've found. If it helps just one person... well you know the rest :)

Here is a great article about buying organic foods on a budget - 10 Ways to Buy Organic Food on the Cheap.

Here are some coupon sites that look legit and may even be helpful!
- Organic Valley - This one has serious potential for saving me some money!
- Stonyfield Farm - This one requires your email address.
- Organiccoupons.org
- Organic Consumers Association
- Santa Cruz Organic - we love their juices and juice spritzers!
- This one has a list of a large number of links to more coupons.

Happy shopping! Next week I plan to share information about affordable organic cleaners... more to come!

Idle free zones

As I was surfing different living an organic, frugal and/or simple life sites, I stumbled on information about idle free zones at school. This is something that I haven't given much thought to until my kids became car riders. I thought I'd share some of what I learned here because it is important!

(This is from a fact/myth publication from AirQ at www.marc.org/airQ):
Idling on a warm day with the air conditioning on burns even more fuel than idling without AC. On an 88-degree day, your car probably uses about one-quarter gallon of fuel in 30 minutes — or about 75 cents at a fuel cost of $3 per gallon. If you were to idle for a total of 30 minutes every weekday for one year, you’d be spending nearly $200 on gasoline that’s not taking you anywhere. Gloves, warm/cold drinks and personal fans can all help make you comfortable without costing you money.

Vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution, and idling can produce more pollution per minute than driving. Studies have linked various types of vehicle emissions to asthma symptoms, cardiopulmonary disease, lung cancer and other causes of death. Ground-level ozone, which is caused by a reaction between two exhaust byproducts, has been associated with eye, nose and throat irritation and, in higher concentrations, asthma, bronchitis, increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, and decreased lung function. Children are even more vulnerable to air pollution than adults because they breathe much more air per pound of body weight and their respiratory defenses are not fully developed.

Sign me up! I'll be turning off my engine when sitting in the car rider line... now I need to figure out how to sell my school district on this idea!!!!

February goals

I can't believe it is already February 6! I thought I should sit down and get my goals down before the month ends!

1. Put $120 into savings (this is what we did spend on our cleaning service).
2. Have contractor give us a bid to finish basement, stop stressing and freaking out about said bid and set date to start the construction.
3. Finish clearing out the basement (this includes stuff that we'll move back in after construction - price is cheaper if they work in an empty basement).
4. Move tax return to savings minus $300 to pay for my girls' weekend.
5. Wrap up monthly budget on 2/15 and face the facts :)
6. Spend final 2 weeks of February reminding myself of why we are sticking to a budget (this means more savings, less home equity credit to finish the basement, living without added stress) and do it!
7. Bring a well planned list to owner appreciation day at my local co op (we get 10% off that day instead of our normal 3% as owners) and do not buy anything that is not on that list!
8. Keep kids' play dates under control - say no if it will cause us to feel rushed at all.
9. Begin cleaning out my closet (it is the dumping ground for everything right now - this will have to wait until we finish clearing out the basement).
10. Plan 1 family fun activity every weekend - it should be simple and free

Wish me luck!

End of January ramblings

It is hard to believe that the first month of 2008 is almost over! Time flies when you're cleaning out the basement!!! Yes, one of our major goals for this month is well under way. We've made 2 huge trips to Goodwill and we've been throwing things out that can't be reused, donated or recycled a little at a time so our trash company will take it. We are making great progress and hope to have our contractor over by the middle of February (at the latest) for a final bid and then to start the even bigger project of finishing the space.

January has been very frugal for us. I have watched my spending (because I am the spender in the family) and I'm proud of myself. We are under budget by a good bit, I canceled my biweekly cleaning and I'm putting that $120/month directly into savings, I've planned menus and stuck to them, we haven't eaten out on the household budget (it has come from our weekly allowance) and I've been very aware of what I buy at the market. I'm cooking more from scratch and I'm thrilled with our efforts on the money front so far in 2008.

My serious case of the "I wants" has subsided for now. We have a wedding to attend out of town late in the summer so I'm rather focused on saving money for that as well as our planned vacation at the beach. I've put off our Disney trip (which we will combine with visiting my family) until 2009 to help us plan our savings better. Not too mention saving as much as we can so we can finish the basement and furnish it the way we want within reason... as in quality furnitre and not just whatever will do for now :)

As far as doing my best to live simply, this is and probably always will be a work in progress. I am using my Chico bags and I love them! I am only buying what we need and taking the time to help my older girls understand the difference between what we want and what we need (this is not easy!!!). We are planning our spring plantings, yard work and garden. I'm hopeful that most of our butterfly/hummingbird garden will come back this year (it was new last year so we're hoping everything made it in spite of the new puppy trampling things). We are making sure that the activities and outings we agree to attend are what we really want to do instead of going out of obligation. No is a powerful word... not just when I use it but it makes me feel powerful instead of a "yes girl". I'm enjoying this power and making sure I don't abuse it :)

Overall, I'm happy with our start to 2008. With some hard work and fun mixed in, we should have a simple and fiscally sound year!

The safety of my skin

I've noticed that stores already have out summer clothing - how crazy is that at the beginning of January?! This may not be that bad since we are currently planning a trip to FL over spring break to visit family, but it has made me start thinking about sunscreen. I am leary of what is really in some sunscreens and are they really that safe for you? I was told about this great database at Skin Deep. I checked it out last summer and was shocked at what I learned about some of our favorite brands of sunscreen! We made a switch for what we feel is better - or at least less toxic!

The database will give you the low down on all of your favorite cosmetics. Check it out... you may be surprised at how toxic your brands are. One word of warning... making changes to your cosmetics is not cheap in the short run... I'm looking at it as a frugal victory for the long run in terms of health.

Happy researching!

I want...

I'm going through a serious case of the "I wants" right now. Not with my kids - I'm the one who wants :) I haven't given in to myself and I'm using this serious case of the "I wants" to really look at what I do want/need v. what I just want because I want it.

We are clearing out the basement so we can begin finsihing it. This will give us a guest room for grandparents who visit (none are local) and a large rec area with a wet bar. While I'm excited about this on many levels (think kids in the basement with the door closed making as much noise as they want while I sip coffee in relative peace and quiet during the winter months!), I'm also struggling with keeping our purchases in line with green living. Carpet or laminate? Sofas, chairs, tables, bed for the guest room? Cabinets and counter for bar area? What will dh do on his own, what will contractor do? Time for all of this? ACK! I know, one step at a time! So, first step is clearing it out. Why does clearing it out make me feel this huge need to buy more stuff?! We don't need more stuff. ~sigh~

I'm going to keep working on not buying more stuff until it is time to make actual purchasing decisions that are for the basement. We still have a couple of weeks before we nail down start dates and whatnot. Until then I will finish my huge pile for an Amvets pick up next Monday!

Cleaning out the basement...

OK, so cleaning out our basement stinks! I hate going through everything, I hate dividing up what will be donated v. trashed because it serves no purpose whatsoever anymore (then why were we keeping it?!) and I hate having to create a list of everything (and photographing) that is being donated. Then I actually have to load the van to deliver it! Grumble, grumble, grumble...

In the end the silver lining will be that our basement will be clear of junk and ready to finish and be turned into a usable space. Right now it is simply a vast wasteland of junk!! We are making headway though and maybe I'll feel better once I get a load or two out of here and to Goodwill (at least then I'll be able to see what my basement actually looks like!!!!). And this will make our lives more simple... at least that is what I keep telling myself as a pep talk every time I head down to the dungeon to work!!

I scored one for the environment today!

I used my chico bags today and I loved them! I also have a huge "cooler" type bag that I use for all of my cold items. So between the cooler bag and my 5 chico bags, I did not use one plastic or paper bag for my shopping. I also used a "recycled" container for my bulk salt purchase, bulk shampoo purchase and my castille soap purchase.

Another big victory for me today was that I have planned 3 weeks of menus (mostly dinner but when I shopped I factored some lunches into it too). Aside from perishables, I will not need to do a major shop for 3 weeks!

So, my goals for the rest of this week are to continue keeping my heat set at 67 during the day when we're not here and at 69 when we are. I also only want to do one day of errands to help conserve gas. I may have to do 2 because my glasses should be ready by Friday, but I'm not sure I can wait until Friday to do the rest of my errands. Plus Friday is going to be crazy as it is between volunteering and interviewing a vendor for an event I'm heading up... hmmmmmmmmmm, may have to play with this one a bit! I also want to avoid eating out of any kind for 1 week. We have plenty of food and a large variety (especially once I do a little baking) so this shouldn't be too hard. Continue drying the dishes out of the dishwasher and only use my reusable bags when shopping!

My bags arrived!

I have never been so excited about receiving mail as I was today! My Chico reusable shopping bags arrived... I suddenly feel a need to shop so I can use them :) I won't but I am sooo excited about them! I have been saving containers for my bulk purchases at my co-op as well so I'm not using more plastic. I am looking forward to my big shop next week so I can use all of my recycled and/or new stuff! Who knew that grocery shopping would ever prove to be this exciting?!

Beautiful weather = frugal for me!

Alas our beautiful weather is ending, but I can at least look back at the past 3 days as a total frugal victory for us. Let's see... no heat used for 3 days and instead we enjoyed a total airing out of our house. Since we spent so much time outside we weren't out spending money. I made all of our meals with items here in the house. I did do a necessities only grocery shop, but that was it! So, now that the heat is back on and life is catching up with me (as in laundry, cleaning and whatnot - stuff didn't magically take care of itself while we were playing LOL) I am going to focus on staying out of the stores and spending money because I'm suffering from cabin fever. Between now and next Friday I only want to do my biweekly large grocery shop, a trip to Costco for some items that we are running out of and I have coupons to use, Target if my list of needs is more than 5 items (shouldn't grow that large before the end of next week) and one trip to the mall before Saturday to spend my free $25 on a future bday gift for one of my dds (earrings). I'll keep myself honest by reporting back :)

The great outdoors...

I spent the morning outside with my youngest dd. Actually we were out walking and playing for 2 1/2 hours! It was absolutely fabulous (insert High School Musical 2's Fabulous right about here LOL)! And dinner is on the stovetop simmering away (Chicken chili) which means when my older girls get home from school we can have our Wii boxing matches as promised. Life is good...

You want me to what?!

I explained to dh this weekend that we are no longer going to use the heated dry on the dishwasher... I plan to save money by hand drying not too mention that it will save energy (a precious resource today). He balked and didn't get it. To his credit, he is going along with it and actually dried the clean dishes one morning. But, he did make sure to let me know that he isn't happy about it yet :) C'est la vie!

Define simple...

It occured to me that simple may be slightly different to each person. I looked up "simple" in the dictionary and the definition is anything but!! I am going to focus my efforts on this portion of the definition:
not elaborate or artificial; plain; not complex or compound

I want the basics in life before "life" took over. You know, the endless activities, gatherings, parties and running around. I don't want to feel rushed or short on time anymore. I want to fully enjoy the things that we choose to do. Simple.

Reflecting on my weekend... it was simple. Saturday could have been crazy, if we allowed ourselves to feel that way. We scaled back and my middle dd went to dance and my oldest dd went to a skating party. I was able to incorporate 2 necessary errands with the party and our carpool drove to dance. Other than that... we hung out here at home. Our youngest dd even took a nap! Sunday was more hanging out at home. I did spend close to 2 hours in the basement and as a result I have a HUGE amount of "stuff" to donate to charity. I also had 2 large trash bags of pieces parts that didn't really go with anything anymore. Lesson learned... we don't need the toys with hundres of pieces parts - ugh! Now I need to organize the donations, list them and photograph them for tax purposes. Then it can all go - my goal is to have it out of the house by Friday.

We are in the middle of a warm spell - woohoo! Heat is off during the day, windows are open and at night the house is still over 70 degrees from letting the sunshine pour in through the windows. It feels good to save energy in the middle of winter. One 1 or 2 more days of it though and then it appears that winter will return. I plan to take advantage of it while I can :) Actually, my youngest dd and I are headed out for a walk... time to soak up that Vitamin D!!!!

Errand day...

Other than a trip to a friends' for New Year's Eve and taking the kids to school, I haven't left the house this week. I ventured out this morning to accomplish a few things like picking up a few essentials from the market, ordering my glasses and finding a birthday gift for a party tomorrow. Oh and it was my morning to volunteer at school. Mission accomplished! I actually saved all of my errands until today and finished them all! I even stuck to my lists so there weren't any unforeseen expenses (well except the M&Ms to keep the 2 year old happy toward the end of the morning - need to plan to bring something like that from home next time).

I did use some of my Christmas money (a gift to me) to purchase a small fake decorated and lit tree for next year in my foyer. I have been eyeing these since Thanksgiving when they were going for $135. The day after Christmas they were down to $65, but I still wasn't willing to pay that price. Well, I happened into the store today to pick up a birthday gift and there they were marked down to $25! I am so excited to have it in place next year! I spent the beginning of my decorating season pulling out decorations that I knew I wouldn't use anymore to donate. I ended up only purchasing 3 new things and I honestly think that's all I want/need to create the look I want. I am in a good place with my Christmas decorations and that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Tomorrow will be a busy day between dance and a skating party. DH and I will have to split up kids to get everyone where they need to be. I didn't know what to get the birthday girl for her birthday, hopefully the t-shirt decorating kit will be a hit. Honestly, I never know what to get most kids unless my girls are good friends with them. I usually try to stick with something educational (books or puzzles or something like that) or crafty that causes them to use their imagination (scrapbooks, this tshirt thing). In a culture where kids seem to have everything they could possibly want, what do you get them? I have seriously thought about donating to a charity in their name, but I'm guessing that wouldn't be too cool. ~sigh~ At least I got a good deal on the kit!

I'm also planning on finishing the huge task of sorting through my middle daughter's room. I started yesterday and got through her desk and the top of her dresser. This alone filled half a trash bag and added a large stack of papers to the recycling. She is such a pack rat! ACK! I still need to get through her closet, baskets and books. I need to do it when she isn't around or there is major drama over everything. When she isn't here and doesn't realize that I've taken out a piece of paper the size of a 1 inch square, life is wonderful and drama-free :) Drama-free is good!

Dinners are planned and Saturday's dinner is already marinating - chicken teriyaki, rolls and green beans. Sunday we'll have meatloaf, mashed potatoes, rolls and a salad. I'm also planning to make banana chocolate chip muffins (mini muffins) out of bananas that are ready to ooze or be used. I should have enough to freeze a fair amount for later snacks.

My food-related goal for next week is to eat all of our meals here at home and to cook at least 1 warm breakfast during the week to avoid pre-packaged foods. So, Sunday night I'm planning to mix up pancake mix for Monday morning. This should make enough to freeze some for use later in the week. I would also like to make eggs, toast and potatoes one morning. If I can get away with only 3 mornings of cereal or some other breakfast-related convenience food I'll know we can get to 2 the following week. Two convenience breakfasts a week is my goal (including weekends) for the winter.

May your weekend be simple and fulfilling!

My first blog!

OK, so I'm new to this whole blogging thing but after reading so many I thought, "why not?!" So, here I am writing about my journey to simplicity. By simplicity I mean frugality and simple living. One would think that they go hand in hand but I've discovered that is not always the case. For instance, for the most part my family eats organic food. This is not very frugal for my bank account. That being said it is rather frugral in the grand scheme of things. I guess I'm seeking balance in my journey to simplicity. I have decided to set some goals for 2008 to help us keep moving to a simpler life:

1. Clean out the basement! This will keep us moving because I will be able to reuse or recycle just about everything down there that we never use (some of it is still in boxes after our move 4 years ago!). Less stuff down there will enable us to work on finishing the space as well as relieve our stress of knowing it is all down there. The bonus for us is that we can donate to worthwhile organizations that will be able to reuse and recycle our perfectly good excess :)

2. Finances. I have created a working budget for this year. My goal is to stick to it thereby creating less need for spending. How? By staying organized and knowing what we have on hand. This will keep us from spending needlessly and bringing more "stuff" into the house.

3. Recycle more and reduce trash. I am on a mission to reduce our trash and increase our recycling. Part of this step is to start a compost bin (my dh will LOVE that one, NOT!).

4. Make the switch to cloth napkins. I made the switch to rags for everything in the kitchen (much to my dh's horror) and I love it! We hardly ever use paper towels now. By the end of the year I want to make the switch to cloth napkins and never go back to disposables.

5. Cook more from scratch. I think this one is fairly self-explanatory.

Looking at my goals, they seem simple enough. I realize I'm an infant on this journey compared to so many who are already living simply. I am on the right road and know that I am making a difference. Oh and just to toot my own horn for a moment... I have reusable cloth shopping bags on the way :) I found a great deal on 5 Chico bags and I'm anxiously awaiting their arrival. I don't sew so this was the best option for me (maybe I should take some sewing classes?!).