budgetsmartgirl

Archive for January, 2011|Monthly archive page

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The Blog-Coupon Giveaway

In The Blog on January 31, 2011 at 4:19 pm

 

Here’s the reader giveaway I told you about last week. Kettle Cuisine is launching a line of new soups in February and they’ve offered one reader some coupons for their product. Just e-mail me or leave a comment on the site by Midnight Eastern on February 2nd, 2011 and I’ll pick one at random. The soups are only available in the US right now so the giveaway is open to US residents only.

Here are the three varieties that will be offered next month-

 Thai Curry Chicken

Gluten free: Chicken Soup w/ Rice Noodles

Vegetarian: Three Bean Chili

Kettle Cuisine’s soups are available nationwide at Whole Foods Stores, as well as a variety of natural/health food stores. For a complete listing of stores in your area you can visit: http://www.kettlecuisine.com/Where-To-Buy.aspx. The SRP is $3.99.

The first month of the year is almost over and that means this week it’s time for the February newsletter.

I’ve also been working on redesigning the Web site. I’m having a logo designed and will put more money saving resources on the site. Some of you who signed up to receive the posts and newsletter via your e-mail have contacted me not realizing that all the articles and past newsletters are archived on the site. If there’s ever something you’ve accidently deleted or you’re a new reader, everything is kept on the site for future reference.

Articles of interest this week-

Marketing trends for 2011…a few money saving ones-

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-01-24-trends201124_CV_N.htm

Sometimes knowing where to shop is the key to saving money-

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/financiallyfit/5-things-not-to-buy-in-a-supermarket-2444234/

It pays to delay a purchase-

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111885/12-hi-tech-items-that-will-be-cheaper-this-year

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Add Some Pizzazz to Six Gourmet Soups

In Budget Smart Cook on January 28, 2011 at 3:22 pm

Canned soups always seem to be on sale, especially tomato and chicken noodle. I always keep some in reserve for those days when I don’t feel like making homemade. However, sometimes adding a few ingredients to these canned varieties can turn them into almost gourmet treat. Here are six of them and what I’ve added to give them some pizzazz-

 

Tomato

 

 

There’s so much you can do with the tomato variety. I’ve add salsa and topped it with sour cream and shredded cheese. Sometimes to make it more of a meal, I’ve served it with cornbread which I’ve added chopped chile peppers.

Leftover pasta works great with tomato soup.

Another addition is spicy croutons. You can make your own or use store brand, heat them and add cumin or chili powder.

 

Mushroom

 

One of the drawbacks to many of the canned mushrooms soups is lack of bite size mushrooms. I like to saute bite size pieces and then add them to the soup once it’s made. Something else I’ve added is curry powder.

 

Chicken Noodle

 

 

Just about everyone loves chicken noodle and like the tomato variety it’s perfect for adding a variety of ingredients. One is leftover roasted chicken. One thing I love is roasted vegetables. Carrots and zucchini are my favorites. Another idea is to turn it into chicken tortilla soup. Add some chopped chiles, and top with tortilla chips.

Potato

 

I like this soup as is but when I want to make more of a meal out of it, it’s easy to turn it into chowder. For corn chowder I add corn and chopped cooked potatoes. For shrimp, I use the salad shrimp and more potatoes.

Lentil

 

This one is perfect for adding things like chopped sausage or bacon. Sometimes I add a few spices too, like cumin and coriander.

Cream of Chicken

I use this one all the time for dishes like chicken divan and even a sauce for pot pies but one thing that’s great to add is more roasted chicken and corn. Another time I tried adding salsa which was pretty good too.

All these soups are a perfect way of using up leftovers and sometimes it’s just a case of pairing different ingredients to see what you can come up with. It’s amazing that something costing as little as 50 cents can be turned into a meal.

Check out Monday’s blog because I have some coupons for a new soup to give away to one lucky reader.

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Soup, a Great Budget Meal

In Budget Smart Cook on January 26, 2011 at 7:56 pm

I can’t think of a better comfort food than a bowl of homemade soup. It also makes a great bargain meal for many reasons-

Low Cost Ingredients

Most items you use to make soup aren’t that expensive…vegetables and cheaper cuts of meat that usually tenderize during this slow cooking process.

A Hearty Meal in a Bowl

Thicker soups like split pea or chili contain lots of fiber that fill you up quickly. Soups containing dairy products add a satisfying richness that tricks us into thinking we’ve eaten an elaborate meal.

Meal In Itself

Serve a soup containing a protein and some vegetables, add some great crusty bread, and you’ve got yourself one of the least expensive meals you can put together.

It’s Great for Later Too

Soup is also a great item to make in large batches and freeze. Never worry about leftover soup. In fact, ask any top chef and he or she will tell you all soups should be eaten the day after they’re made. I’ve been to many restaurants where the menu proudly states all their soups are made the day before. When I make homemade soup sometimes I can’t wait that long but when you do, day old soup has a much more intense flavor.

Make Your Own Stock

And if you’re thinking about making a stock for the soup, try saving up all your veggie peelings, and boiling them together. Some people also sauté the scraps and add the water after. It does give you a more flavorful stock, but if you’re watching your fat intake, the boiling method works just as well. You can either use the stock straight away or freeze it. You can also make soup from leftover meat bones and don’t forget to add ham bones to soups like navy bean and split pea.

Soup Making Tips

Always cook the vegetables in the right order, sauté the onions first, then the root vegetables, then the ones that tend to cook quickly like zucchini.

To lower the fat content-If you find you have to add more oil to sauté the veggies, try adding some water or even stock. To get a creamy soup without adding cream, take out some of the soup, put it in a blender and then add it back to the pot. If a recipe calls for cream or half and half, I use about only 25% of the amount the recipe calls for and then I top it up with low fat milk.

And here are three soups to try…

Cheese and Potato Soup

(Serves 6)

  • 2 oz butter or margarine
  • 1 cup thinly sliced onions,
  • 1 pound of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
  • Two tablespoons chopped fresh chives or 1 tablespoon dried
  • 2 oz. shredded cheese

1. Melt butter, add onions, potatoes and cook slowly for about five minutes.

2. Add bay leaf, stock cubes, water and cover and cook for 30 minutes.

3. Blend the entire mixture, return to the heat and gently reheat.

4. Serve with a sprinkling of chives and shredded cheese.

Fire Roasted Tomato with Avocado Cream

(Serves 6)

This soup relies on fire-roasted tomatoes and smoky chipotle seasoning to maximize its flavor without adding too much fat. It also gets a creamy texture from pureeing the finished product. And uses the higher in fat ingredients like avocado and sour cream as a garnish rather than a main ingredient.

  • 1 cup of chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash salt free Southwest chipotle seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons of Chipotle hot sauce.
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 14.5 oz cans of fire roasted chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup corn, frozen, fresh, or canned, but drain or defrost them before you add them to the soup
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tablespoon sour cream, regular or low fat
  • Dash of lime juice

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.

2. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add the chipotle seasoning and hot sauce and make sure all the onions are well coated. Cook for one minute.

3.Slowly add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and simmer until onions are completely cooked, about five minutes.

4. Add both cans of fire roasted chopped tomatoes and heat through. Taking about 2 cups of the soup at a time, puree everything in a blender. When the whole mixture is pureed return to the pan and heat through.

5. Stir in the corn. Adjust taste and if you like foods really hot you can add more hot sauce.

 For the avocado cream, peel and mash the avocado add a dash of lime juice to stop the avocado from discoloring and then add the sour cream and blend together.

Ladle the soup into a bowl and place about a tablespoon of the avocado cream in the center. The longer this soup sits the better, it freezes perfectly, and a great accompaniment is blue corn tortilla chips.

Lentil Soup

(Serves 4)

  • 4 oz red lentils
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 3/4 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes
  1. Place lentils, onions and carrots in a saucepan, top with water, tomatoes and spices.
  2. Simmer for 20 minutes.
  3.  Place everything in a blender and blend. Return mixture to the pan and add about another cup of water and simmer 10 minutes.

 

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The Blog-Check Those Bills

In The Blog on January 24, 2011 at 5:54 pm

My late father taught me lots of things about watching your money. One was checking every bill you receive. These days we’re all busy and it’s easy just to write a check and put it in the mail. However, that can cost you money. Just this week we had two bills that had errors on them. First one was from the dentist. We’d paid the bill two weeks ago and got sent a second notice just ten days later. Second one was the cable company who charged us for a call out visit when a technican needed to stop by to update some outside wiring because of some upgrades the company had done. If we’d paid these two bills without checking the amount would have been close to $700.  It might not happen on every bill and probably not for that much money but it’s budget smart to look over every item before you write that check.

I hadn’t realized that January is National Soup Month but with the cold weather everyone’s experiencing what could be better than a bowl of homemade soup. I’m a big fan of soup, not only because it tastes good but it’s great for your budget too. So this week that’s my focus. Soups that are easy to make and also how you can give canned soups some gourmet pizzazz.

Articles of interest this week-

Thinking about saying goodbye to cable TV?-

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/First-Person-How-We-Cut-Cord-ac-4204109190.html?x=0

Maybe you don’t really need to throw that out-

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/505/77-surprising-expiration-dates/

Financial experts say many of us will now outlive our money but see how this 107 year old didn’t let that happen to him-

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/111841/view-of-retirement-at-107?mod=fidelity-livingretirement&cat=fidelity_2010_living_in_retirement

Have a good week.

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Bargain Foods…that are good for you too

In Budget Smart Cook on January 21, 2011 at 3:09 pm

With food prices set to go up this year…I think I saw some evidence of this at the grocery store the other day, it’s time to start thinking about foods that give you the biggest bang for your buck. Here are some of my favorites-

Canned Salmon

When fresh salmon goes on sale I buy it in bulk and freeze it, when it’s back to normal prices I opt for the canned variety. Pink salmon is a bargain, even red salmon isn’t that expensive. In the summer I use it on salads, in sandwiches, pair it with sliced cucumbers and it’s one of the best combinations. I sometimes use it with pasta. A favorite of mine is the salmon burger. My old recipe used mashed potato, then I switched to breadcrumbs but now I have yet a new one.(serves 4)

 This one was created just the other week when I discovered I had no breadrumbs and didn’t have time to head to the store. I’d stockpiled some boxes of crackers  (Townhouse Flipsides) during the holidays while they were on sale. I used about 15-20 of them. I crushed them in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. And then added them to the drained salmon, and a beaten egg. You mix it together and form into four patties. Heat some oil and cook them on either side for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. I served mine in a bun with oven fries. I think just the burger and a side salad with be good too.

This is a three ingredient recipe that is so simple to make and the best thing is the crackers have so much flavor you don’t need seasoning or salt and pepper.

Lentils, Beans etc.

I bought all these goodies while they were on sale for just 99 cents a bag. I do buy canned beans but you can save even more money using dried ones. You can make bean and veggie burgers, lentil soups and stews, green pea soup etc. Best thing is most of these recipes can be made in a slow cooker. I’ll be featuring recipes using all these items in future articles on the site.

Eggs

I know eggs took a bad rap because of their high fat and cholesterol content but even nutritionists now say eaten in moderation, they’re okay. I stock up on them each time I visit the store. They’re great for egg and cheese burritos, frittatas, your own homemade egg muffins for breakfast, quiches, and omelets. Keeping a some hard boiled eggs on hand also make great snacks too.

Fruits and Vegetables

Don’t know whether you heard but Walmart is lowering the prices on fruits and vegetables to help shoppers save money on good for you foods.http://finance.yahoo.com/news/WalMart-Takes-a-Healthy-nytimes-2153254849.html?x=0&.v=1

 Produce has gotten more expensive recently but I think it’s still a good buy because it full of fiber so it fills you up and if you use more veggies than say meat or chicken in a dish the recipe goes further. Eat in season and it’s a great way to save even more money. For example, this week my local supermarket had a sale on citrus fruits so I bought oranges and have been using them as snacks and dessert.

Oatmeal

I know some people turn their nose up at it but it’s a good for you food at rock bottom prices. I’m working on a great oven baked oatmeal recipe that once perfected I’ll be sharing it with you. No more cooking oatmeal every day and this one is packed full of flavor with oranges and sweetened cranberries.

Another way you can use oatmeal is in things like meatloaves to make it go further.

Tofu

Okay, for those thinking about running away from the computer right now. I say give this a chance. I think I’ve mentioned I now freeze and then defrost tofu before I use it and sometimes marinade it all day for maximum flavor and chewiness that closely resembles meat. Here’s how I use it for making a shepherd’s pie-

I 10 ounce package tofu

I jar Heinz mushroom gravy

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1onion, peeled and chopped

Mashed potatoes for topping,

optional- smoked paparika and parmesan cheese

Freeze the tofu for a few days and then defrost it. Drain the tofu and squeeze out all the water, crumble into pieces that resemble ground beef.

Place it in a glass dish and add some oil, soy sauce, pepper, Worchestershire sauce and chopped garlic. Let this sit for at least six hours. Then heat a skillet, add some oil and saute the tofu until it’s crisp and brown. Add the onions and carrots and cook until almost tender. Add the mushroom gravy and stir everything together.

Transfer into a baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. I like to sprinkle them with smoked paprika and cheese.

Place in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees or until the top is lightly browned and the tofu mixture is bubbling. I usually serve this with peas or green beans.

Serves 6

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Stop Wasting Food

In Budget Smart Cook on January 20, 2011 at 3:48 pm

We all do it…buy food, forget to eat it and the garbage bin becomes the recipient of our wasted dollars.

Vegetables always seem to be my Achilles’ Heel. Sometimes I’m cleaning out the produce bin and find an item that I can no longer identitfy. So one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make sure that doesn’t happen…or at least less often in 2011.

Whatever your Achilles’ Heel, here are some things I’ve found helps keep me on track.

Plan Ahead

I know this take extra time and most of us don’t have a lot of it right now. However, when you’re putting together your shopping list think about items you can use for more than one meal. For example, a whole chicken can be dinner one night and leftovers can be turned into chili or burritos. Canned foods like tomato sauce or evaporated milk are great to use in soups and stews.

Leftovers Day

I’ve set aside one day a week (Sunday in my house) as Leftovers Day. I take out everything we haven’t eaten the rest of the week and set it on the counter as a buffet style meal. Sometimes it’s veggies left from one meal, potatoes from another. It also gets the fridge cleaned out for the following week and nothing goes to waste.

Freeze It

If I don’t use leftovers like gravies and sauces I freeze them. Same goes for waffles, bread rolls and muffins.

Make Stock

Another one of my resolutions is to make more homemade stock. I have a container in the freezer to which I add veggie peelings. Once I’ve made the stock I plan on freezing that too.

Soup

One of my favorite restaurants always features a vegetable and bean soup every day. It took me awhile to figure out why and it wasn’t because it was a customer favorite. The restaurant is using leftover veggies and beans and putting them to good use…soup they can sell every day. I now do the same thing. If I have leftover vegetables, pasta, beans etc. I make soup with it. It’s great because you never have the same combination so it’s always new. Some of my favorite soups have been created this way.

Lemons, Tomato Paste…

 

I don’t know why but in the winter I always seem to have half a lemon sitting in my fridge. I could never find a use for it other than slicing it up and using it in water. Now I use lemon juice which you find in those plastic lemons in the produce department. I know it’s not pure lemon juice…it has some preservatives but it’s easy to store, I always have some on hand and nothing goes to waste.

The same goes for tomato paste. I’d use half a can and the rest would sit in the fridge unsued. Now I buy it in tubes. Same goes for anchovy paste. I don’t use anchovies that often so it’s the perfect solution.

Salsa, dressings etc.

And my final way of using everything. If you have a couple of tablespoons of salsa, use it on scambled eggs. Dressing I use as a sandwish spread. Things like pickles get chopped up and put into homemade Thousand Island dressing.

The Blog-Great Coupon Finds

In The Blog on January 17, 2011 at 6:30 pm

Sometimes coupons show up out of the blue. While I was shopping last week I walked by the freezer section that houses the vegetarian food and saw this booklet on a display.

It’s for Morningstar Foods and lucky for me I always buy a few packages of their veggie burgers to keep in the freezer.

The coupons aren’t just 50 cents or less but one’s for $3. Okay, you have to buy more than one item but like I said these products are great for the freezer. They’re on my top five list of things to ‘make’ for dinner when I’m out of time. The booklet also has a form you can fill in and send in along with three upcs for a free tote bag. So altogether not a bad find while strolling by the frozen foods.

Speaking of food, did you hear prices are expected to go up this year? With that in mind I thought I’d focus on food topics this week on the site. Ways to waste less food…yes, we all do it. And bargain foods that are good for you.

Some articles I thought were worth checking out-

Yes, even rich people make money mistakes-

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/First-Person-Money-Mistakes-ac-3438840753.html?x=0

Who says date night has to be at an expensive restaurant-

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/date-night-shortcut-restaurant-quality-frozen-dinners-for-two-2438663/

Thinking of starting a business?-

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/111791/reasons-to-start-a-business-this-year?mod=career-leadership

Have a good week.

Organizing for the Budget Smart Girl

In Budget Smart Girl's Guide on January 14, 2011 at 7:22 pm

I hope you enjoyed the expert tips on getting organized. The biggest hurdle for me is finding organizing items that fit into my budget so here are some tips and everyday items I’ve found and I hope they give you some ideas too-

The One Stop Organizing Site

This site www.onlineorganizing.com is a great place to start. It has lots of links, articles, templates, etc. So take an hour or so doing some browsing and making notes.

It’s Free

Someone told me about this site a few years ago http://www.cozi.com/  It’s free to register and use and you can create a shopping list and coordinate everyone’s schedule.

They Used to Have Other Uses

The big organizing containers are inexpensive and always seem to be on sale but it’s the smaller and sometimes more useful ones that seem to cost an arm and a leg. So I’ve found some other items that work just as well.

About five years ago when our refrigerator bit the dust, before it was hauled away I realized some of the fixtures like the produce bins would make perfect and yes, free organizers. The dairy container now sits in the pantry and is home to things like gravy mixes. And the produce bins now house hats, mittens and scarves in the closet by the front door.  And the wire racks that once sat in the freezer section are perfect for keeping all my pots and seed trays organized in the potting shed.

Help for the Shoes in the Closet

One of my goals last year was to keep my shoes more organized in the closet. I thought about buying some of the plastic shoe boxes, but then came up with another idea. I’d bought several boxes of Simple Harvest cereal while it was on special. The cereal comes in a study box with a see through window on one side. And if, like me, you have small feet, these boxes make perfect storage ‘bins’ for off season shoes like flip flops.

More Cereals to the Rescue

I’ve also used oatmeal canisters for craft supplies like knitting needles. And for my birthday last year someone gave me some flowers that were arranged in a square glass vase. It now sits on my office desk and houses all my pens and pencils.

Soda Bottles

And in the kitchen attractive soda bottles make ideal containers for things like lentils and split peas.

Mayonnaise Containers

As you know I like to shop the bulk bins. The only drawback is you have to find containers for all these great buys. One solution, those square mayonnaise containers, perfect for things like rice, oatmeal etc. Plus, they’re all the same size which keeps the pantry looking neat and tidy.

So my advice here, plenty of items… and ones you might just throw away, can be turned into organizing bins…if you use a little imagination. Oh, and don’t forget labels on packages. If you don’t have a label making machine, you can cut out words like flour, sugar from packages and bags and stick them on containers.

The Produce Department Can Help Too

 

I have to admit I’m always looking for ways to use something twice so it doesn’t end up in the landfill. Here’s an idea I got at Christmas when I bought oranges and had two or three of these string bags left over. Perfect for storing tennis, golf balls, dog toys, even bath toys for the kids.

The Closet

For me the closets are some of the hardest areas of the house to get and keep organized. A couple of tips I have are-one, if you can, use all the same type and size hangers. I got rid of all the wire hangers and replaced them with plastic ones. I’ve even color-coded them with certain pieces of clothing. White for blouses, blue for jackets, etc. The closet, without doing that much to it, looks more organized, and the more organized it looks the more incentive I have to keep it that way.

And here’s another trick I found. I often couldn’t remember what needed mending, cleaning etc. That was until I found a bunch of twist ties from the garbage bags. I never use them and they always seem to get thrown into one of the kitchen drawers. Now when something needs attention I tie one of the twist ties around the hanger. It’s also works if you have a piece of clothing you’re not sure about keeping or donating to charity.

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An Expert’s Advice on Organizing on a Budget

In Budget Smart Girl's Guide on January 12, 2011 at 5:59 pm

 

If you’ve been following Budget Smart Girl posts for a year or more you might remember Regina Leeds ‘The Zen Organizer’ who gave us some great tips about organizing our finances. She’s back to answer my questions about ways we can get organized on a budget. Check out her book on organizing and also her new one called One Year to An Organized Life with Baby…looks like this would make a great baby shower gift! Visit Regina’s Web site and blog at http://www.reginaleeds.com/, www.oneyeartoanorganizedlife.blogspot.com

 

Budget Smart Girl (BSG)-What mistakes do most of us make (especially when we’re on a budget), when we start organizing?

Regina Leeds (RL)-People are busy, stressed and will make a snap decision to ‘get organized’ over the course of a few hours one weekend afternoon. The problem with that is there is no plan of attack. And since it took time to tumble into chaos, it stands to reason it will take time to create order and the systems that will keep it all in place.

A new and rather modern mistake is going shopping for containers before you know what you need.  I see closets and spare rooms filled with containers that look pretty but aren’t needed.  Containers can be the new clutter in the home rather than the long needed solution.

A big mistake couples make is for one person to make decisions about the possessions of the other without asking.  This is a violation of privacy and can only lead to an argument or long festering negative feelings! I believe children and especially teens should also be a part of the process rather than come home and find their rooms have been raided in the name of organizing.  That’s a great way to inadvertently create a slob! Rebellion takes many forms.

It pays to remember the first rule of Zen Organizing: the whole of anything is overwhelming; therefore you need to break a project down into the parts that will bring you to completion.  It’s one thing to say: I have to make decisions about the items on the counters in the kitchen.  It’s another to stand there and think: Today I need to organize the entire kitchen.  The former presents you with an achievable goal; while the latter overwhelms you with its scope.

BSG-My toughest task is organizing the pantry. I keep it well stocked, use items constantly, get too busy to put things back where they came from and within a week it’s back to chaos. Any tips for keeping it in tip top shape?

 RL-My hunch is that you are ‘tidying up’ rather than ‘getting organized.’  To organize means you assign a specific spot for an item.  It takes as much time to toss my keys into the void as it does to place them in a dish or designated hook.  People assume maintenance is some special drain on your time.  It’s merely a re-direction of energy!

In a pantry (one of my favorite places in a home) it’s good to give yourself visual reminders.  To wit:

1. Label the shelves so that everyone in the family knows where that box of cereal goes when they are done with it … or are putting it away after a run to the grocery store. Every home should have a label maker on hand with at least one extra cassette.  I prefer Brother P touch.  The low end model is great and usually sells for around $30 but if you watch for specials you can grab it for $15 or less.  At a store like Staples you get reward points for purchases.  If you have kids you might get enough points for school supplies to get a label maker for free!  http://www.staples.com/Brother-P-touch-PT-90-Personal-Label-Maker/product_812523?cmArea=SEARCH

2. Use shelf dividers (designed for the clothes closet) to keep categories separate.  You don’t want the bags of pasta to bleed over into the soup can area, do you?

 http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10004079&N=&Ntt=shelf+dividers

3. Some items can also be kept in baskets and that will keep them corralled.  Think potatoes, onions and the like. Very often we receive gift baskets and they are ideal for this task.  It’s the ultimate in recycling.

Perhaps THE most useful item a would be organizer can invest in (after the label maker and shelf divider) is some grid totes.  The Container Store has them in clear, pink, green and white. They come in a simple square and a rectangle. They can be used all over the house and are easy to keep clean. (I would designate a specific color to a particular family member or room or I would simply use the clear or a single color throughout.) I prefer The Container Store because they keep items in stock.  I wouldn’t want to start with grid totes as an example and then find out in 6 months that they are no longer carried. You want to be consistent in your choices especially within given areas. http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10010620&N=&Ntt=grid+totes

No one is a robot with a totally controllable schedule.  If life gets away from you and all the pantry items are not in place one day because the kids were late for the school bus or you had a migraine or the dog needed to be rushed to the vet or …., spend 5 minutes correcting the situation either at the end of the day or at the start (depending on when you are at your best). This applies to paper piles and clothes tossed on a chair or shoes kicked into the closet

 

The Blog-Dollar Store Finds

In The Blog on January 10, 2011 at 6:34 pm

It’s the second week of the New Year and already my resolution has been broken…trying to keep my desk more tidy and organized. This week’s focus on Budget Smart Girl is all about ways to get organized on a budget. I sometimes wish I had extra money for a professional to organize everything for me but until then it’s fun to find creative and inexpensive ways to do it yourself. One expert will share her tips with us and then I’ll be sharing some of my own budget friendly ways to stay organized.

Speaking of places to look for cheaper items, I made a trip to the dollar store last week in search of craft items. While I was there I found this great buy. These two spools of ribbons were just 50 cents each.

Perfect for what I was looking for and as I’m teaching myself how to make bows for my flower arrangements, it’s an inexpensive way for me to learn. If you’re looking for items for Valentine’s Day, the store was also stocked full of cards, decorations etc.

Some interesting articles for the week-

Budget friendly ways to stay fit at home-

http://health.yahoo.net/rodale/PVN/build-the-perfect-home-gym

People might be gaining weight but products aren’t-

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111735/more-and-more-products-lose-weight

Have a good week.

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