Time Saving Tuesday - Schedules

It's Back to School Time!

The lazy days of Summer are behind us and it is ime to return to a more fromal routine. As you firm up bedtimes, get stricter on oral hygine and matching clothing for the kids it may be a good time to look at your daily schedule. How are you spending your hours each day? Use the change in routine for the children as a framework to more effectively spend your time each day.

I began carrying around a small stack of index cards and a pen in my pocket. They are rubberbanded together. The top card is a "To Do" list, the other cards represent the hours in my daywith one hour increments printed at the top.

On my "To Do" list I write down the "must be done items" the things my DH has asked me to do, any goals for the day and reminders.

On my hourly cards I have given myself a schedule. I give myself times for prayer, scripture study, personal time. I also alot time for each of the children & homework time. Each day I tackle one room/closet/area for de-cluttering or deep cleaning. The rest of the day is filled with routine housework such as laundry, meal prep, etc.

These cards give me accountability and a game plan.

IT'S A BOY!!!

FrugalMomma and her family welcomed their newest member this afternoon!

Meal Plan Monday

Sunday - BBQ at friends
Monday - Stuffed shells, garden salad, bread
Tuesday - BBQ chicken, grilled veggies, pasta salad
Wednesday- Tacos, beans, Mexican rice
Thursday - Grilled chicken salads, sliced pineapple, rolls
Friday - Cold Tuna Casserole
Saturday - Pizza, salad

BabyAge sale at Amazon!

EDITED TO ADD--That offer went quickly! The code is now already expired! Hopefully some of you got in on the great deal!

For a limited time you can get $40 off a qualifying purchase of $41.00 or more through the BabyAge store at Amazon by using the code LDAVISO3 at checkout. Below is just a sampling of some of the things being offered through their store. (If you've been using swagbucks.com to search and have been earning Amazon gift cards, now is a great time to use them!)

EDITED TO ADD: It looks like the links are messing up--but if you click HERE it will take you directly to the the BabyAge store and then you can search their store for deals. I found all these below by clicking on a category and searching by price. So it's best to click the above link and then you can type in the items below so you can be sure you're getting them from BabyAge.

I just got this Skip Hop Diaper bag for $14 shipped (instead of the $54 I was planning on spending at Buy, Buy, Baby!) but it was free for me after using my swagbucks Amazon gift cards!








Fisher-Price ESPN Better Batter Baseball for just $1.18 plus $9.99 shipping after code.


Fisher-Price Rainforest Bouncer For $4.48 = $9.99 shipping.


Little Tikes Americana Table & Chairs Set $5.36 + $9.99 shipping using code




Fisher-Price Space Saver High Chair $4.05 + $9.99 shipping using code.

Melissa & Doug Parking Garage Only $8.40 + $9.99 shipping


Fisher-Price My Little Lamb Deluxe Infant Seat - White/Brown $5.66 + $9.99 shipping using code.

Peanut Shell Reversible Sling Collection $2.43 + $9.99 shipping using code.


Arctic Splash Water Table $2.91 + $9.99 shipping using code.




Badger Toys Doll Crib with Cabinet $3.36 + $9.99 shipping using code.

Lego - Star Wars Republic Attack ShuttleTM $9.40 + $9.99 shipping with code.

Cosco Scenera Convertible Car Seat $9.14 + $9.99 shipping using code.

Advent Calendar $9.09 + $9.99 shipping using code.

Badger Basket Three Bin Organizer $4.20 + $9.99 shipping using code.

$10/$50 LOWES coupon!

My Lowes hardware store has a display of Energizer batteries 16 AA's or 16 AAA's on sale for $9.99. In side the package is a Lowes coupon for $10 off your next $50 purchase.

Walgreens 20 free 4x6 prints today!

Today only you can get twenty free 4x6 prints at Walgreens. You can upload your pictures online and checkout using the coupon code 20FREE4ME. They don't need to be picked up today, just ordered today.

If you've never ordered pictures from Walgreens before, you can get an additional 25 prints for free by signing up here first. After you sign up and get your 25 free print credit, you can then upload all of your pictures. By doing this and adding the 20FREE4ME code you'll get 45 free 4x6 pictures.

Free bacom at Safeway

Smithfield bacon is $3 per pack at Safeway this week. Go HERE and sign up and print out 2 $3 off coupons and you'll get 2 free pounds of really good quality bacon!

Walgreens--4 day sale Spend $25 (pre coupons) get $5 RR

Today starts a 4 days sale at Walgreens where if you spend $25 (after tax, but BEFORE coupons) you will receive a $5 Register Reward good for your next order.

The Huggies wipes deal works GREAT with this.

If you only have the $2 Huggies wipes coupon found in the Back to School coupon flyer at the front of the store, your transaction would look like this:

9 tubs of wipes $2.79x9= $25.11
-$2 coupon (x9--you just need the one coupon though) = $18
=$7.11 oop of pocket, earn a $5 RR. Total cost for 9 tubs of wipes $2.11.

If you have the $.50/1 manufacturer's coupons that came out last Sunday (or previously) the deal looks like this:
9 tubs of wipes - 9 $.50/1 qs, 9 $2 qs = $2.61, earn $5 RR, making it a $2.39 money maker!

Don't forget that the new Softsoap Nutri body wash is $3.99 and produces a $4 RR. You can use this as a good "filler" to get you to a $25 total.

The Register Rewards don't "roll", meaning if you get one from one transaction you cannot use it on another $25 transaction and receive an additional $5 RR.

I did 3 separate "$25" transactions, received 3 $5 RR and one $4 RR for the Softsoap, then turned around and spent those RR right away since I'll be having the baby soon and won't be able to get back to the store later to use them. In addition to the wipes and Softsoap I bought 3 12 pack double rolls of Angel Soft toilet paper, a Red Baron pizza, a 12pk of Coke, 7 boxes of mac-n-cheese, a box of cookies (to keep little shoppers quiet), 40 4x6 prints, and a hard case travel size of Huggies wipes for the diaper bag.

Target: Dove Deodorant for $.29

Thank you to Money Saving Mom for this head's up. Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth deodorant is $3.29 at Target. Using the $1/1 target IP and the $2/1 manufacturer's coupon, you pay just $.29!

I've been waiting for a Dove deal at CVS to stock back up on deodorant but there hasn't been one in a while, so I'll be jumping all over this!

Meal Plan Monday

This will be my last MPM post for a bit. A woman from school has generously organized families to bring meals for us for the most of the nights of the following 2 weeks as we prepare for and celebrate baby's arrival!

Sunday: Burrito Pie, fruit salad
BURRITO PIE aka Mexican lasagna 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 1 onion, chopped 2 teaspoons minced garlic 6-7 (6 inch) flour tortillas 1 (16 ounce) jar taco sauce 1 (16 ounce) can black beans 2 cups shredded Colby cheese 1 (10 ounce) can diced tom. w/ green chiles 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat. Mix in the tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco sauce and beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. 3. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer (2 cups) of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese (another bag=2 cups). 4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.


Monday: Lazy lady shish kabobs--Beef, red/green pepper, onion marinated in Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing cooked in grill basket, buttered egg noodles, pineapple and watermelon.

Tuesday: Oven baked "fried" chicken, mashed potatoes, corn.

Wednesday: Spaghetti, green beans.

Thursday: Grilled cheese or quesadillas, fruit, carrots.

Friday: Salmon cakes, rice, green beans

Saturday: Spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn

As always, check out more ideas at Org Junkie!

Walgreens Huggies Wipes Deal

8isgreat mentioned this great deal going on at Walgreens this month. (Tubs of Huggies are $2.79 at many stores and there is a $2/1 tub of Huggies coupon available in the store and you can combine manufacturers coupons with it.) Read all the details here.

I was able to go to two Walgreens today to do this and got 31 tubs of wipes for $8.41 before tax. If you are going to do this deal and have the $.75/1 or $.50/1 manufacturer's coupons, make sure you give those to the cashier first then after all of those are entered, give the cashier the $2/1 walgreens coupon. It will then take $2 off each tub of wipes and the computer won't beep at all.

It's a great deal, and there's still time to order coupons to take advantage of it!

Thrifty Thursday--make it yourself!

Recently I saw a friend with a new baby with a beautiful nursing cover. It was the Bebe au Lait style, but at $35 I knew that wasn't something I was going to buy. After mentioning this to another friend she passed along a great tutorial for how to make your own Bebe au Lait style nursing cover for about $10 and less than an hour of sewing.

Here's the link. It's fantastically easy to sew and it was so fun to go to the fabric store with my oldest daughter to pick out which fabric we thought was prettiest. There was plenty of fabric leftover so I was able to make a cute drawstring bag to hold it in. This project is simple enough for the novice sewer. If you're new to sewing, you can make it even easier on yourself by ironing the hems first before sewing, rather than just tucking and sewing as you go. (in the picture above you can kind of see how I added a soft flannel pocket on the underside to hold nursing pads or to wipe baby's mouth.)





If you try it, I'd love to hear how it turns out!

Bebe au Lait cost: $35
my materials cost: $9.82
savings: $25.81!

Harris Teeter Triple Coupon Event 8/12 - 8/18

Here is the list of FREE items from HCW. For all the deals see this thread at the HCW HT fourm.

Pillsbury Grands Biscuits $1.00$0.35 07-12 SS=FREE
Suave Deodorant- 1.47 .50/1 8/2 RP = FREE
Rhodes Rolls - $2.19$.75/1 IP found here: http://coupons.com use 85031 = FREE
Wacky Mac - $1.59$.75/1 IP found here: http://coupons.com use 85031 = FREE
Tabasco Sauce - $1.79 $.75/1 blinkie = FREE
Uncle Bens Long Grain & Wild Rice - $2.25$.75/1 7/26 RP= FREE
Wishbone Dressing - $1.99$.75/1 8/02 RP= FREE
Wishbone Spritzer - $2.00 $.75/1 8/02 RP= FREE
Mt. Olive Pickles - $2.19 - $3.19$.75/1 7/19 SS= FREE to $.94
Martha White Corn Meal Mix, 1.49 .55/1 6/7 RP (DND - 5) = FREE
Purell 2oz, 1.500.50 8/2 SS = FREE
Reach Floss, 1.390.50 3/15 or 8/2 SS = FREE
GUM Toothbrush 1.99 (adults and kids) .75/1 8/9 RP = FREE
Heluva Good Dip 2.15 .75/1 6/28 SS = FREE
Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner- 1.99 .75/1 7/12 SS = FREE
ZonePerfect Bars 1.39.55/1 6/14 SS = FREE
Viva Big Roll Paper Towels 2.49 .85/1 6/28 22 = FREE
3 lb Mahatma rice - $2.75/1 Coupons= FREE
(28 oz brown rice = .39, Basmati or Jasmine = $1.74)
Solo Squared Cups - $2.75/1 Solo Cups, Plates or Bowls, Any Package (Bricks Link)= FREE
.75/1 Solo Squared Cup, Any - 06-21-09 SS= FREE
Curad kids bandaids - $1.49 (Curious Geogre or My Pretty Pony).50/1 http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=GLPAHOLHDARLS = FREE.
50/1 Curad Product, Any - 07-26-09 SS or 06-21-09 SS= FREE
Simply Beverages – 1.50 – Use .50/1 (Tearpad) = FreeSnapple – 1.39 Use .55/1 hangtag = Free
Propel – 1.39 Use .55/1 hangtag = Free
Pepsi Max – 1.49 Use .60/1 tearpad = Free
Lysol All Purpose Pourable- $2.50 .75/1 Lysol All Purpose Cleaner Pourables, Any - 07-12-09 SS=FREE

ANOTHER free 10-day sample of bareMinerals MATTE SPF 15 Foundation

This offer is good in stores only, but you can get a free 10 day sample of the Bare Minerals MATTE foundation and brush. Available now at Bare Escentuals Boutiques, Sephora, Sephora inside JCPenney, ULTA, and select Nordstrom, Macy's and spa locations. Click here to find a store near you.

Click here for the printable offer (just bring it into the store with you!)

Time Saving Tuesday

Painting.


Use disposable rubber gloves when painting a room. You can slip off the gloves to answer the phone, or quickly wash up to make lunch for others. If you are taking a break, but are not finished for the day, wrap your bristles in foil or in plastic wrap to prevent paint from drying on bristles. Then you only need to clean bristles once - when you're done!

Menu Plan Monday - 8isGreat

Sunday - Cheeseburgers on the grill, pasta salad, chips
Monday - Chicken and mixed vegetable casserole, rolls
Tuesday - A day at the lake - Pizza & ceasar salad
Wednesday - Pork Tenderloin on the grill, rice, corn on the cob
Thursday - DS #2 turns 8! His request, spaghetti, corn, garlic bread
Friday - DD#2 turns 16! Her request Chicken Enchiladas, black beans, mexican rice
Saturday - Flank steak, red cabbage, rosemary roasted potatoes, broccoli

Meal Plan Monday

This is another edition of the very tired, very uninspired, very pregnant lady's weekly meal plan.

Sunday: Dinner at a friend's house.

Monday: Ham and spinach quiche, fruit

Tuesday: Leftovers that the very generous friend from Sunday night sent home with us!

Wednesday: Grilled chicken breasts with grilled packet potatoes, green beans

Thursday: Grilled homemade pizzas, salads

Friday: Cold tuna noodle casserole, chips, carrots, fruit

Saturday: Burgers and fries

$5/25 CVS printable coupon!

If you go to cvs.com you can fill out a short survey about their Ready Fill Program. At the end you will receive a $5/25 coupon to be used in the store!

You can click on the survey on the image on the center of the screen that scrolls through a couple of different screens. It's the #1 screen and says "Ready Fill.....Get a $5 coupon just for testing your health IQ."

Once in the store, be sure to stop by the pharmacy and ask about the Ready Fill program. Just for asking about it you can receive a coupon booklet that has great coupons to use in the store (including two $4 off $20 purchase coupons!)

If you need diapers this week, here's how to get them for cheap after ECBs:

1 Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Makeup $9.99 (earn $9.99 ecbs)
2 bags Huggies $9 each (earn $4 ecbs when you buy 2)
total cost: $27.99
use $5/25 coupon
use $1/1 Revlon cosmetic coupon from 7/19 SS
use two $1.50/1 huggies coupons from coupons.com or recent insert
=$18.99 oop, earn $13.99 in ECBS, plus submit for $1.50 rebate from Caregivers Marketplace.
After ECBs and rebate, just $3.50 for 2 packs of Huggies and the Revlon make-up

The deal is even better if you have the $3/1 Huggies from the home mailer Huggies sent out. The math would be:
$27.99
-5/25
-$1 Revlon
-2 $3 huggies
=$15.99 oop, earn $13.99 ecbs, submit for $1.50 from Caregivers
After ECBs and rebate, just $.50 for 2 packs of Huggies and the Revlon make-up

If you belong to Upromise.com, be sure to load the $1.50 Huggies coupon to your CVS card and you can add $1.50 contribution to your upromise savings account!

Safeway Kellogg's cereal deal

Buy four boxes or more of specially marked boxes of Kellogg's cereals (on sale for $2.49/box) and get $1 off each box automatically at the register. There are many Kellogg's Qs out there. Some are $1/1 box. Uses 4 $1/1 Qs on four boxes or more and pay 49c/box.

The Kellogg's brands marked $2.49 at my Safeway were:
Rice Krispies
All varieties of the Mini Wheats
Fruit Loops
Corn Pops
Frosted Flakes

There may be more varieties participating in this promotion.

Cheap Huggies Wipes at Walgreens!

Walgreens Huggies wipes are $2.79/box for the 64 count.

In the Back to School coupon flyer found at the front of the store there is a $2/1 Huggies wipes 64-216 count Walgreens coupon. You will only need one of these Qs. It will take $2 off each package of wipes no matter how many are rung up. You can use manufacturer's Qs with the Walgreens Q. I had some 75c/1 Huggies wipes. I bought 6 tubs of 64 count wipes for $0.04 each + tax.

There was a 75c/1 Q in a home mailer recently. Also, there may be Huggies Qs coming out before the coupon expires on 8/29/09.

Thrifty Thursday makes room for Tradition Thursday!

Family Traditions!


Today is my #3 son's 6th birthday. I decided to share our family birthday traditions instead of a thrifty tip. The idea came to me while I made breakfast. The birthday breakfast is one of our family traditions.

Here is my son's birthday pancake on the griddle.



I've gotten pretty good at making number shaped pancakes over the years. One and eleven are really easy! :o)


So, at our home, the birthday person gets a birthday pancake in the shape of their new age. They also choose the menu for dinner. Tonight is hot dog and beans (much easier and cheaper than some of the other requests I've had). They also choose their celebration dessert.

We also reassign chores shortly after the bithday to reflect their growing responsibility and contribution to the family.

Whittle Down Wednesday

I have decided to make decluttering a part of my daily routine.

My washer really has freed up some time in my day! :o)


I thought about doing one room/day and working through all the rooms my house a few times/month. The first time I declutter a room it might be a big job, each additional visit to the room will be easier and easier. I have worked a few rooms already but even with a HE machine I just can't commit to doing a whole room every day (I'm thinking closets, dresser drawers, toy bins, bookcases, etc). I still have little people that need feeding, diapering and play time not to mention errands to run.

I've decided to give myself a challenge each day, but to be realistic as well. I have a short 2-handled laundry basket that I bring to the room where I will be working. I empy the contents of the dresser/bookshelf/cupboard/closet and anything that doesn't go in the trash that needs to be returned to another room or be donated goes in the basket. I return all necessary items creating a home for them. Then, when I've finished the particular project, it is easy to carry the basket around the house placing lost items where they belong.

My project this morning was my bed side table.

I love to read. I don't have lots of time to read, but like to have a book (or ten) nearby when I do. I like to be inspired when I read. I read a lot of spiritual, self help, mothering, homeschooling and marriage books. If I do read fiction is is usually a read aloud to my kids.

When I purchased our bedroom set, I wanted a bedside table with drawers. My idea was that I'd always have a drawer to keep my books in so my table surface wouldn't look cluttered.

Here was the surface of my bedside table thismorning. For some reason 3 drawers weren't any help at keeping the table surface clear.

And here's why. Drawer 1 before.

Drawer 2 before. Drawer 3 before.
It took about to an hour sort through papers and remove the overflow from these three drawers and put items in new homes.

Surface after. Drawer 1 after. Drawer 2 after. Drawer 3 after. Just tissues, a folder of momentos and my booties and gloves for winter skin care. I decided to keep only one book on the table. I kept journals (8 of them! I can't part with them, though.), two Bibles and a few devotional books in my drawers. The rest I moved to a book shelf in my closet. (my old coupon inserts are stored in the 3 buckets on the bottom shelf).

Time Saving Tuesday

Laundry!

I had no idea how a HE top loader would change my life! It is incredible. Gone are the days of 3 full dirty laundry baskets (or 7-8 loads) waiting for their turn in the washer. It used to take 130 minutes to dry my loads. Here is a Whittle Down Wednesday post (from April) where I tried to decrease our dirty laundry mountain.

Now a days my dirtly laundry baskets are empty! I run about 1-3 loads per day. I can't tell you how much time I save with this new washer! I look back at my former situation and I'm sad that I had the old machine so long!

My HE washer is a huge time saver!