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Archives for September 2011

Backyard Fun – A Step Away

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School is underway, the extreme temperatures are dropping a tad, and my house is halfway clean (the upstairs is complete). My reward when I finish cleaning will be to burn my pumpkin spice candle. Oh, what motivation! I love, love, LOVE autumn. The cooler temperatures, football season (Go Gators!), and outdoor fun with my family.

After the evening dinner together, my family enjoys spending time outdoors. If you stopped by, you might find us:

Hitting Baseballs

My son, older daughter, and husband enjoy hitting, missing, and/or slamming the baseballs into our neighbor’s yard. Though the balls are plastic, they sail through the air.

This automatic pitching machine was a great investment. My son has really improved in his performance, and my kids stay active chasing down the baseballs to start again.

Digging in the Sandbox

For dessert, my youngest daughter enjoys a mouthful of blue sand. 🙂 She loves to dig, scoop, pour, and eat. Keeping it out of her mouth is a battle, but the fun had in the sandbox has been worth it.

My son is a little big for the sandbox, but he plays well with the girls. Maybe someday the girls will play well with him. 🙂

Hunting Bugs, Frogs, and Snakes . . . oh, my!

Before mowing the yard, my husband moves the down spout splash blocks out of the way. Since critters are usually hiding, he takes the bug containers to capture frogs, katydids, and grasshoppers. One evening, this little guy surprised him.

At the announcement of a snake, the kids ran to see him. Knowing that he lived under the splash block, we were able to see him one or two more times before he found another home. Then we were off to find other interesting creatures for our next Show and Tell item at school. 🙂

Riding Bikes

Between the tricycle, big wheel, bike with training wheels, big boy bike, and the scooter, my kids can spend more time getting out an item and putting it away than they do riding their vehicle of choice.

Been there?

They drive me nuts!

I get out 3 bikes. They ride up and down the sidewalk once and come back to put that bike away and get another. I have found taking walks, away from the house, deters them (a little) from this strategy. Somehow, I get roped back into it every time. Though it can be frustrating, I am thankful for healthy kids who can run, jump, and ride their bikes.

Exploring the Tent

Before camping, Daddy airs out the tent in our backyard. The kids love to run around inside. This fascination is fun to watch. All of a sudden, they have a new clubhouse with a door and windows.

When the windows are unzipped, my youngest daughter hides in the coverings that hang on the floor. She is small enough to fit. Then comes the peek-a-boo game which gets her giggling, and sister and brother laughing, and then Daddy and I join the fun.

While enjoying the cooler weather this fall, our family will be using time wisely playing outside. These fun family activities burn off energy, offer lots of giggles, and give us time with each other. As you plan family outings, don’t forget about the great activities you can discover a step away in your own backyard.

Question: What fun activities does your family enjoy in the backyard? 

Grocery Shopping: Creating your Grocery Lists – Part 2b of 3

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Photograph Credit: Stock.Xchng (Gerla Brakkee)

Has your schedule changed in the last few weeks due to one or more children attending school? If so, I’m right there with you. My son just entered first grade which is a transition to a longer school day. As he is adapting to school, the girls and I are adjusting to him being gone, picking him up later, and finding a new routine that works for us.

Keeping all the pieces together and just rearranging them a bit is helping. For me, adjusting a plan is much easier than creating a new one. As we continue this grocery shopping series on creating your grocery lists, I hope that you can take this detailed plan and adjust it to fit your needs.

Last week in Part 2a, I covered steps 1 and 2 in a 6-step process. Today, I will continue steps 3 and 4.

Step 3: Scan the ad for items on your needed list

If I find a sale on spices and have ground mustard on my needed items list, then I will be purchasing or at least looking at spices when I shop at this store. If the web site you are using has a little box next to the item, then you can check it if you are considering purchasing this item. At the end of the list of sale items, you can create your shopping list. (This is my number one reason for loving www.southernsavers.com.)

Unfortunately, not all grocery store deal web sites have this option. If you use a web site that does not create the shopping list for you, then create your own:

    • Open a word processing program like Microsoft WORD
    • Create a NEW document
    • Go back to the deal web site, highlight the entire grocery store deal post, and copy it.
    • Back at your new document, paste that list.
    • Delete items you do not plan to purchase.

Step 4: Consider the Buy One Get One Free sale items

When you purchase items that are buy one get one free (BOGOF), you are already saving 50%. If you have coupons for these items, you can increase your savings! The number of BOGOF items I purchase depends on the answer to the following questions:

1. How many coupons I have for that product?

    • If I have 6 coupons for Hillshire Farm sausage which brings the price down to $.86 per package, then I will probably purchase all 6 packages.
    • If I have 2 coupons for Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, then I will be purchasing at least 2 packages. (My kids eat A LOT of goldfish.)

2. How much of that product my family will consume in 4-6 weeks?

    • My family does not need 6 packages of Hillshire Farm sausage, however, I will work in meals with sausage (maybe try a new recipe) for this great price.
    • Two packages of goldfish will not last more than 2 weeks at my house, so I will probably purchase more than 2 packages. Two packages will be lower in price due to the coupons, but the other packages will still be 50% off.

3. How often that product goes on sale?

    • Sausage goes on sale often, so I do not need to stock up for longer than 4-6 weeks. My family is not partial to Hillshire Farm. We will eat other brands.

TIP: If your family goes through a lot of a specific brand, then stock up at the 50% off savings when that brand is BOGOF.

I stock up when Kraft Singles and boneless pork loins go on sale since their sales are infrequent.

    • Goldfish are on sale about every 5 weeks. So, I will purchase 7-9 packages to get me through until the next sale.

4. How much money is available in my budget?

    • It is very likely that sausage for $.86 per package will be in my food budget.
    • It is also very likely that Goldfish will be in my food budget.
    • However, $15 for a whole boneless pork loin may or may not be in my food budget. If I need pork loin, then I may need to forego some of the other BOGOF sale options to stay within my budget, use money saved from previous weeks to cover the cost, or choose to stock up now and adjust my weekly budget for the remainder of the month.

By adding items your family needs and stocking up on the Buy One Get One Free items, you can create meals your family enjoys and stay within your budget. You will then have more items available to create next week’s menu plan. This process has been very helpful to me as I learn to use my time wisely, save money, and feed my family.

Guess what I’ll cover next week? There’s no fooling you. Yes, I will finish steps 5 and 6 in the second part of creating your grocery lists. Happy savings!

Question: What is your family’s monthly food budget? You can check Using Time Wisely’s Facebook page for my answer. While you are there, add your answer or leave a comment. 🙂