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Archives for March 2011

Rita’s: Free Italian Ice on March 20, 2011

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Mark your calendars for a great, free celebration for the first day of spring!

When:                  Sunday, March 20, 2011

What time:            Noon until 9:00 p.m.

Where:                 All open Rita’s Italian Ice locations

What:                   A free regular size Italian ice for each customer

What a nice cool way to enjoy the start of spring! Check out Rita’s website for a participating location near you: http://www.ritasice.com/events-and-promotions/first-day-of-spring.aspx.

Using the Sales to Create a Grocery List

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Last week I shared how I saved 81% on vegetables and Mentos at Publix. This scenario was possible because I knew where to find the grocery store ad, the coupons, and the prices. Now I will share my secrets on how I create my grocery list. For this example, I chose to make out a PUBLIX list. I probably start where you start by:

  • Scanning the sales flyer from the Tuesday and Sunday newspapers. Sometimes these flyers have store or manufacturer coupons within.
  • Visiting www.southernsavers.com. I love Jenny Martin’s website. If you live in the southeast, Jenny covers all the major grocery and drugstore deals. She posts each deal and lists the coupons available with those deals.
    • When I go to her home page, I hover over “Publix” under the grocery store deals bar.
    • Then a drop-down list shows “Weekly Ad.”
    • I double-click on that post title.
    • Then click on the top post title – Weekly Ad.
    • Now the entire sales flyer loads in a list-format.
    • To the left side of each item is a box. If I am considering purchasing that item, then I click the box. If not, then I proceed to the next item until I reach the end of the list.
    • At the end of the post, I can click “Create list.” I also choose to show coupon matchups. The list is then created in another document.
    • You can also add items to your list. Then print your list.
  • With my list in hand, I then begin looking through my coupon files for any matchups. I rarely find all the coupons Jenny lists on her site, but I find many of them.
  • I then make the decision of how many I need to purchase of each item. I write these numbers next to the items on my grocery list.
  • All my coupons are then placed in an envelope with PUBLIX written on the outside. Now I have my grocery list and all coupons to be used in one place. I find that shopping with this system keeps me organized and makes checking out very simple.
  • Then I go shopping.

This list covers the basics of how I create my shopping lists based on what the store has on sale for the week. I will continue to share how I save while keeping my family fed.

A Clutter-Free Inbox – Step 1 of 4

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How many e-mails are currently in your in-box? I know individuals who keep hundreds of items in their inbox. YIKES! Just writing this amount overwhelms me. I realize that some people do not check e-mail often, but there are ways to manage your inbox to keep that overwhelmed feeling at bay.

As an owner of about ten e-mail accounts, I check each one at least once a week. My personal e-mail gets checked more frequently, numerous times a day. In my personal account, I currently have 6 read e-mail and 0 unread e-mails. My junk e-mail account (used for purchasing merchandise and registering for promotions, free items, coupons, etc.) has 4 read e-mails and 57 unread e-mails. Most of these items are . . . well . . . junk, but I still scan through to catch the information I may need.

Though there are a number of ways to manage your inbox, I follow the same 4-steps for each of my accounts.

STEP ONE:

Delete unnecessary items.

I immediately delete any item I don’t need, including advertisements, store announcements, savings/clearance notices of stores I am not planning to visit within the next month, etc. I also usually delete the “FWD: FWD:” messages. These are usually sent from well-meaning friends and family with tips, virus alerts, funny stories, etc. If I have the time and know the sender, I MAY read the message. However, in an effort to save time, I usually delete these items.

Deleting items can be done quickly. I deal with the 10 or so messages I can see at one time on my screen. I will click on the box to the left-hand side of any messages that need to be deleted. As I click in the box, the message will be highlighted. I will highlight all unwanted messages which could be anywhere from 4 to 10 of those messages. Then I click the DELETE button which is next to the REPLY button on the title bar. All those highlighted messages have now been moved to the TRASH. The next set of messages now moves up and I repeat this process until I have touched all unwanted messages. This process takes me between 5-10 minutes. I am then left with the messages I need to read.

Stay tuned next week for STEP TWO on how I manage my inbox. Do you have a quick and efficient way to weed through your list of messages? If so, please leave a comment with your tips.

Organizing Dinner with Friends – Part 3

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Today I will conclude my entertainment checklist with the last two steps. If you have missed either or both of the other posts in this series, you can view them here: Part 1 and Part 2.  Now, that I have all the ingredients on hand, I am ready to execute my plan on the day of the dinner.

STEP 5: Make preparations.

  • On the day of the dinner, I do a quick clean up of the downstairs. I pickup the toys, sweep the floors and vacuum, and clean our half bathroom in the morning.
  • After lunch, I clean up the kitchen and set the table(s).
  • Then I begin baking the ham according to the recommended time frame. If my dinner is at 6:00 p.m. and the ham takes 2-3 hours to bake, then I put the ham in the oven at 2:00 p.m. The ham will finish baking around 5:00 p.m. I will removed the ham from the oven and allow it to cool. Then about 5:45 p.m., my hubby will carve it and place it on a platter.
  • While the ham is baking, I prepare the other side dishes giving myself time for interruptions. Once the ham is out of the oven, I can then bake any side items needed, i.e. sweet potatoes or dessert.
  • Wait for our guests to arrive.

STEP 6: Enjoy the evening.

I then relax, spend time with our friends, and enjoy watching the children play. My wonderful husband clears off the table and stacks the dishes in the sink. I will help put the food away, and then we relax. Cleanup is dealt with on Saturday morning.

This list has been adjusted and changed into a system that works for me. By organizing a plan, I can spend my time executing that plan rather than spending time worrying if everything will get done.

What items would you add or subtract from this list to save you time when entertaining guests?

 

Time to Clean

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When I was a teenager, Saturday mornings were deemed cleaning the house time. My brother and I had a list of chores that had to be completed before the fun activities commenced. I quickly began to dread Saturday mornings.

Up until this year of my married life, I have worked hard to keep the weekends free of housework. This plan worked for me as I am a stay-at-home mom. This year was a big change for our family. Our eldest child started school. My week days are spent driving to and from school, and my time at home is broken up into small sections. I still attempt to keep Saturday mornings free, but the cleaning must be done.

My cleaning schedule is currently in a transition phase. I am trying to clean one room at a time on different days. With each day having a different schedule, I am still testing out ideas. Here are some ideas:

  • Clean the same type of room on certain days of the week? For example: Mondays – bathrooms, Tuesdays – laundry, Wednesday – bedrooms, Thursday – heavy traffic areas, and Friday – laundry.
  • Start at one room clean in geographical order? For example: start in the upstairs bathroom, and then move counter-clockwise to a bedroom, then to the next bedroom, etc.
  • Choose an order based on my answer to the question, “What must be cleaned first?” For example: clean the downstairs bathroom since guest will be arriving, or the kitchen since milk was spilled all over the floor this morning, etc.

As I continue to try these options, I have a better understanding of why my mom used Saturday mornings to clean. With a block of about 4 hours, my mom, with help, could have her whole house cleaned. Though it is nice to have the entire house clean at once, I still do not like cleaning on Saturdays.

Have you found a system that works for you? I would love to hear your suggestions and guidance as I adjust to a new cleaning schedule.