30 Days to a More Organized You: Day 28

It's summer vacation at my house. I have completed another year of teaching first grade and my house looks like I have dissappeared for the past 9 months. Well, in some ways, I have. So, I am taking the next 30 days to get it back in order. A little while ago Money Saving Mom completed a similar challenge to this one and it inspired me to make my own list of areas of my home that need some extra attention from me. I thought some of you might like to come along with me on this journey. Perhaps your homes are in prestine condition and you don't need to organize or clean as much as I do. Or perhaps there are only a few areas that need some extra attention. Or, perhaps you'd just like to chuckle at how untidy some areas of my home may be. Feel free to complete as many of the daily assignments you'd like or as little as you'd like. This is simply going to be a diary of what I am doing at my own home to get it in tip-top shape! Most of the daily "chores" will be able to be completed in 30 minutes or less. However, there may be a few that may need some additional time spent to complete them.

Today's assignment (if you so choose to accept it): Recipe Box/Cookbooks

And my cookbooks, now weeded down.

30 Days to a More Organized You: Day 27

It's summer vacation at my house. I have completed another year of teaching first grade and my house looks like I have dissappeared for the past 9 months. Well, in some ways, I have. So, I am taking the next 30 days to get it back in order. A little while ago Money Saving Mom completed a similar challenge to this one and it inspired me to make my own list of areas of my home that need some extra attention from me. I thought some of you might like to come along with me on this journey. Perhaps your homes are in prestine condition and you don't need to organize or clean as much as I do. Or perhaps there are only a few areas that need some extra attention. Or, perhaps you'd just like to chuckle at how untidy some areas of my home may be. Feel free to complete as many of the daily assignments you'd like or as little as you'd like. This is simply going to be a diary of what I am doing at my own home to get it in tip-top shape! Most of the daily "chores" will be able to be completed in 30 minutes or less. However, there may be a few that may need some additional time spent to complete them.

Today's assignment (if you so choose to accept it): Tupperware

Ugh. This is the one area that never seems to stay organized for long. Mostly I just matched up lids with containers and threw out any that didn't match up. =)

30 Days to a More Organized You: Day 26

It's summer vacation at my house. I have completed another year of teaching first grade and my house looks like I have dissappeared for the past 9 months. Well, in some ways, I have. So, I am taking the next 30 days to get it back in order. A little while ago Money Saving Mom completed a similar challenge to this one and it inspired me to make my own list of areas of my home that need some extra attention from me. I thought some of you might like to come along with me on this journey. Perhaps your homes are in prestine condition and you don't need to organize or clean as much as I do. Or perhaps there are only a few areas that need some extra attention. Or, perhaps you'd just like to chuckle at how untidy some areas of my home may be. Feel free to complete as many of the daily assignments you'd like or as little as you'd like. This is simply going to be a diary of what I am doing at my own home to get it in tip-top shape! Most of the daily "chores" will be able to be completed in 30 minutes or less. However, there may be a few that may need some additional time spent to complete them.

Today's assignment (if you so choose to accept it): Stockpile

For me this majorly needed to be done! My stockpile area was a mess. I threw out expired items, rotated my cans so that oldest were in front again, grouped like products in bins/baskets, and gave away any items we won't eat that I acquired somehow.

30 Days to a More Organized You: Day 25

It's summer vacation at my house. I have completed another year of teaching first grade and my house looks like I have dissappeared for the past 9 months. Well, in some ways, I have. So, I am taking the next 30 days to get it back in order. A little while ago Money Saving Mom completed a similar challenge to this one and it inspired me to make my own list of areas of my home that need some extra attention from me. I thought some of you might like to come along with me on this journey. Perhaps your homes are in prestine condition and you don't need to organize or clean as much as I do. Or perhaps there are only a few areas that need some extra attention. Or, perhaps you'd just like to chuckle at how untidy some areas of my home may be. Feel free to complete as many of the daily assignments you'd like or as little as you'd like. This is simply going to be a diary of what I am doing at my own home to get it in tip-top shape! Most of the daily "chores" will be able to be completed in 30 minutes or less. However, there may be a few that may need some additional time spent to complete them.

Today's assignment (if you so choose to accept it): Linen Closet

Works 4 Me Wednesday: Store Loyalty

Store loyalty and brand loyalty are probably two topics that different couponers and different bloggers will never agree on. So, today's post truly is, what works 4 me.

I am pretty loyal to shopping at one major grocery store. For the majority (probably 60%) of my grocery needs I frequent Giant. But I also head to D&K surplus, Maiers bread outlet, and the farmer's market to fill in the gaps. Rite-Aid is my drugstore of choice and where I stock up and save on my toiletry and healthcare items. These are the typical stores I head to on any average week. So why don't I go to Weis, Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, and Walgreens too? After all, they have great deals each week also.

Of course all the circulars in your Sunday newspaper are going to have a few good deals. I could make up a list for each and every one of these stores and pick up a few items at each each week and probably save even more money than I am now. However, my sanity might suffer. I choose to focus on getting the best deal I can at a few particular stores that I frequent often because of the following:

*Promixity to my house (if I have to drive extra then I am saving less)

*Getting to know and being friendly with the manager, cashiers, meat dept. guy all helps to get the best price and best service

*Knowing the store layout well means less time spent in the store (which ultimately helps me stick to my list)

* Ensures coupons in the mail and register rewards I am more likely to use, plus extras like gas points and UPR and special offers for card holders

* These are the stores I have found to save me the most money on the items my family buys (after trial and error at many many stores)

* Focusing on 1-3 circulars helps me to plan the best shopping trip in terms of savings. I don't miss as many deals when I have time to really pay attention to just a few.

* Familiarity with how the store runs promotions and sales (which days certain departments mark down items, the sales cycles, etc.)

*I get to know the coupon policies much much better and feel more confident in calling them out on it when they're wrong. =)

Are you store loyal? I'd love to know. Leave me a note on Facebook or drop me an email at angel1756@juno.com.