Archives for June 2011

Cookout Meal Options

June 21, 2011 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Flickr (D'Arcy Norman)

How are your summer events going? Are your cookouts successful? With our busy schedule, I have not yet entertained this summer. Our grill has gotten used a little to help keep the heat out of the kitchen.

Though I love a good hamburger and sometimes a hot dog, having them at every cookout gets to be too much for me. So, as I prepare for up-coming family gatherings, I am considering some other cookout options. Here is my current list of possibilities:

Marinated grilled chicken, pasta salad, and corn on the cob
London broil steak, baked potatoes, and green salad
Shrimp, fettuccine alfredo, and vegetable tray
BBQ chicken, potato salad, chips, and green beans
Vegetable kabobs, cold cuts, and rolls

If your family enjoys seafood, then a fish fry theme, complete with hush puppies, could be another possibility. Since our family does not care for seafood, I will keep our possibilities fish-free. 🙂

By planning ahead, I can watch for sales on these items. Purchasing the ingredients on sale will save me money, energy, and time. If you have additional suggestions, please leave a comment.

Maintaining: Lawnmower

June 20, 2011 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: MorgueFile (Pambenn)

My husband Paul keeps up our yard. I remember when our old lawnmower quit about 5 years ago, and we began shopping for a new one. After looking and researching the features needed to keep our property maintained, we purchased a push lawnmower from Wal-mart for around $175.

During the summer months, Paul mows the yard about once a week. With a little maintenance each spring and fall, our 5-year-old lawnmower operates correctly and cuts the grass in one pass.

I was reminded this morning, while watching my neighbor mow his yard, that routine maintenance on a lawnmower really helps to save time. With his lawnmower, my neighbor was making several passes before all the blades of grass were cut. Going over the same area numerous times was wasting his time.

Remember that routine maintenance will require investing time and money. You might need a Saturday morning to change the oil, fill up the gas, and sharpen the blades. But using your time wisely to maintain your lawnmower should save you money (for a new one), energy (numerous passes over one area) and time (one pass around the yard).

How has maintaining your lawn equipment saved you money, energy, and time?

Happy Father’s Day!

June 19, 2011 by Tracy

To all the Fathers, thank you for investing your money, energy, and time into the next generation. Your care and protection of your family is greatly appreciated.

Happy Father’s Day!

photograph credit: Flickr

photographer credit: epredator

Show and Tell: File Box 1

June 19, 2011 by Tracy

Up until now, I have only explained my accordion filing system. Realizing that I have failed to show you my file, I apologize and deliver a show-and-tell session of Box 1 of my accordion filing system.

The closed accordion file box. When purchased, the file had a string to close it. But after sliding the box on and off the shelf with the string getting caught on the other files, the string broke. Since the file still functions properly and I like this system, I have kept the “broken” file box.

The opened accordion file box. This box, purchased inexpensively at Wal-mart, has 13 gaps or slots. I have not labeled each slot, but the categories are written on the tab inserts. For me, having each slot labeled would be a sea of clutter. I prefer to spend my time keeping the file simple by just notating the categories to guide me to the document needed.

Up-close look at the file tabs. In this file, I have used four tabs to identify the four categories. To make the tabs easy to read, I have placed them in a row from left to right. The four categories identified in this box are:

This concludes the pictorial tour of my accordion file box. Now as I explain where I have placed named documents, you will have a visual image of my document organization.

What about you? What filing system are you using? Was this post helpful to you? I welcome your feedback.

CVS: Using Extra Bucks

June 18, 2011 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: CVS

Since I have been a stranger to most stores in the last month, I am getting back on track. Having gone grocery shopping this week, my family now has food to eat. Yea!

By spending the time getting my coupons cut and matched up with the store sales, I was able to spend less than $100 to re-stock my kitchen and freezer. Though I still need to complete my menu plan and make an Aldi run, I have used my time wisely to get back on track.

After spending the day at the pool with my kids, I have another shopping list to make. My CVS Extra Bucks expire on Saturday, and I am not about to lose the savings I have worked hard to obtain. The Extra Bucks are store credit to help stretch my dollars. I will definitely be making a stop by CVS today.

The best time to shop at my CVS is after noon on Saturdays. My CVS activates the next week’s sales on Saturday morning which allows me to shop the current week’s sales and next week’s sales in one shopping trip.

Instead of making a trip today for this week’s sales and returning on Monday morning for next week’s sales, I can use my time wisely and shop both sale weeks at my CVS on Saturday afternoon.

I found this neat tip by asking the CVS supervisor when the new sales were activated at my store. By befriending and communicating with the store employees, I have learned a few extra tips and tricks to saving money, energy, and time.

My day is set with a free family activity at Home Depot and a shopping trip to CVS using my Extra Bucks. How are you planning to use your time wisely and stretch your hard-earned dollars?

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