If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Crazy people frugal doings

First, I do not think taking way too many condiment packages is the right thing to do.
And I did not take these. 

My son treated us all to Olive Garden take out over Thanksgiving. He said the server that sacked up his  order was especially enthusiastic and added handfuls of grated cheese packets to his sacks even though he did NOT ask for them,   The Olive Garden Take Out

I guess a few us used some of the cheese when we ate that time. But the rest of the packets ended up in my pantry. I found them this week and decided I should do something with it, 


I got out a pint jar, funnel and scissors. Then I opened and shock them all out. 
I ended up with about a cup of grated Romano that I will use in future recipes. 

I am not advising to take extras, but if you do end up with extra packets, use them, 

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Plans and Goals for 2014

My plans and goals for 2014, in no particular order at all though I did try to group them by topics

Keep records in homekeeping notebook and put a copy of my goals in the front of it  to remind me

Menu plan a week ahead and try at least 2 new recipes each month. I've already tried 1, Lena's soup

Sew at least 6 quilts with stuff in the craft room- I will need to buy batting and am wondering if I should buy a giant roll or would it be nuisance to work with and store.  Any advice from anyone who has ever bought a whole roll of batting? 

Quilt # 1 in progress in photo at bottom


Cricut- follow the challenge blog and do at least one challenge a month

Pinterest,  like Tammy plans to, DO at least one Pin every week, especially when I find pins that the grands would like to do,  get the stuff ready before they get here. 

As in 2014, clean out every drawer, cabinet and closet in this house at least once.  Less is More :) 

Make some  gifts.  look on Pinterest of course!

Health wise- eat more fruit, aim for 2 fresh fruits a day, I buy lots of fruit and serve it to my husband and grands but I don't eat as much of it as I should

Walk at least 5 out of 7 days -aim for 10000 steps

Bible study every day - I mostly read and do 2 or 3 devotion series on the YouVersion Bible App
Swagbucks everyday -make goal #1 everyday and shoot for goal #2 on days when Swags has many quick earners.
take time every week to watch one old movie or TV show 1962 or older - just because I like them. 

Make baked treats for husband's work once a month

Now that we have a gas stove,  get out the cast iron skillets and try cooking with them. 
blog 15 times a month

Financial goals-
I have 3 very specific goals but decided to not list them here. I have them in my notebook but for privacy and because we all have different incomes and expenses, I just don't feel confortable listing them,  

Stay with our budget and there should be more than enough to accomplish these goals and increase our savings.


There are several financial choices we have made that lower our costs for watching TV without a cable bill, low cost cell phones, easy way to buy gasoline and keep track of that expense and using the envelope system of groceries and personal spending  I will be sharing these in future January posts. 


I thought this might be a 14 in 2014 list but it ended up a bit longer.  
and No,  I probably wont accomplish all of them but I like lists and plans and having ideas in written form helps keep me on track.  
Hopefully I will get lots done. 

Do you make goals or do you call them resolutions or do you just wing it?

2014 Pinterest #1 done!


Paper towel tubes, cut to different lengths, taped to the freezer.
Braeden says it is fun. 
You can't go wrong with pop poms and little bugs. 

51 more to go........

Friday, January 3, 2014

Another good soup with thanks to Lena

Lena writes a really sweet, frugal and helpful blog called On My Side Of The World. She posted this soup recipe recently and I made it yesterday. I had thought we would just have the last of the smoked turkey soil but when I checked, there was only one serving left.
I remembered this soup and it was perfect since I had not thawed any meat for supper.
I like meatless meals best but the rest of my family think meals usually need meat so my husband had the last of the turkey soup and I had this yummy and easy soup.

Cabbage and Bean Soup

I made it just like Lena's recipe except I substituted a pinch of sage and Rosemary for the marjoram and I had to leave out the white beans as we had neither cooked or canned white beans or marjoram.  Next time,  I will add the beans. 

This is a really nice soup, light and made with basic kitchen ingredients. 
 
chicken broth, carrots, onions, potatoes, cabbage, a little butter, some spices and beans
 
I will be making this soup again! 

Thank you Lena. 

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Happy New Year and a new home record keeping notebook


Isn't he silly? I got him from  a thrift store years ago.
My kids think he is creepy, my grandson said he is an elf, but whatever he is, he makes me smile. 

This last year may of been my most fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants, unorganized year ever. I prefer to plan things ahead and have time to think about choices and decisions. So I am really hoping that 2014 will be smoother. 
I tend to write lots of lists on spiral notebooks and then they get messy or switched around, with no real plan, just what I write in them.  I've seen on several blogs about homekeeping notebooks and decided I need to do one of those. 
I shopped online and at one store, seeing if I could buy a readymade one, but none of the ones I looked at had just the things in them that I need to plan and keep track of. 
So, I made my own!  First I bought a notebook and a package of 8 dividers, but when I was looking for my page protectors at home, I found an old notebook that would work fine. I returned the first notebook for a refund. 

 Not sure I like this cover but it is what I used in 2008, the last time I had a home keeping notebook.
Mine has 8 sections so far, mainly because my dividers came in a package of 8. 
The sections may change as the year goes on.
My notebook has 2 pockets on my sides, I knew it would need pockets. 

My 8 sections
1. bills, I used a printout from organizedhomelife.com called annual bill schedule, with a page protector behind it to hold the bills needing attention. Thankfully, we don't have stacks of bills every month and I pay most bills online so this section is not big. Some families will need a notebook dedicated just to their bills. 
2. birthdays   I used a printout from organizedChristmas.com and filled it in with family birthdays and anniversaries by the month. My father in law's birthday is in a few days so I noted beside his name what gift we sent. 
3. Holidays- this section will be to keep menu plans and any special things I hope to do. So far, it is just a page protector holding our 2013 Thanksgiving and Christmas menus. 
4. Kitchen- I put my freezer inventory here and used a printable at organizedhomelife.com for it. 

5. Home receipts- another page protector that will hold them and some lined paper to keep totals. 
I know this ticket is dated 2013 but it is part of my current spending period. 
6. Daily- I printed off 53 pages from TheConfidentMom.com, one for each week. I can write things for each day as well as plans for the week. It also has a spot for menus. 

7. Create- where I will plan and keep track of crafting and sewing projects,
8. Home- for projects and needs 

There are oodles of free and pay to print printables on the sites I mentioned and on many other sites. 
This system is what I think will work for me and it looks a lot tidier than my old spirals. 
I am also pleased that the only money spent on it was buying the new dividers, and the printer ink.  It is always nice when things come together in a frugal way.

What is your system for keeping up with these things?