Happy Earth Day!

I have been remiss at posting here lately...last week was crazy. School functions, real work to do, sewing to tackle, cleaning up around the house; I even gave a talk about how to get set up for couponing at the community college for their financial awareness week! It was fun and I hope I get to do it again.

Because we have been so busy, I haven't been cutting my coupons lately. I have been just putting the date on the top and filing them and then just cutting the coupons I need for my shopping trips. It has kept me from doing too much impulse buying, which is the one thing that can undo your entire shopping plan and budget. I never would do it without having the coupon, but I have really focused on just buying the things I really need and not wasting time on scouting out the unadvertised clearance items. :-)

Today is Earth Day, so of course I am trying to restrict my electricity use. I will have to get on the computer later for work, so that is just unavoidable. However, I am in the process of doing laundry - I have successfully avoided using the dryer for more than 15 minutes total so far. I hung out the laundry and then we ran some errands and by the time we got back, it was dry. It is officially summer in the desert - we are into the triple digits. I would love to be able to shut off the a/c today, but it is just not feasible.

We are also going to have a *mostly* organic dinner. I already had pork chops and carrots, but we went to the certified farmer's market and picked up spinach, red leaf lettuce, green beans, a tomato, and a cucumber. It should be a lovely dinner full of veggies.

I also have some sewing to do, but I am going to focus on the hand sewing that I need to get done. I have become a quilter and it amazes me that women were able to hand sew beautiful quilts. It must have taken forever and maybe someday I will make a quilt with that hand-sewing method. I'll have to set that project aside as one without a deadline. ;-)

I would really like to find some time today to clear out the kids' drawers...one of the best ways to be kind to the earth is to reuse your items in some way. In this case, someone else can find a way to reuse the clothes that don't fit my kids anymore. We actually have several other items that can be sold to someone else to treasure. Maybe I will try to list some of those on craig's list today...

Springtime is also a good time to clean. But why use expensive chemical cleaners? Vinegar and water cleaners can do a great job at freshening up your space. If you don't enjoy the vinegar smell, add a couple drops of essential oil (you can find them at crafts or natural foods stores and they last forever). The vinegar smell will dissipate, but the essential oil will last for a while. I use lavender oil for a relaxing scent. Baking soda also makes a great cleaner and deodorizer. There are lots of resources online for making your own cleaners with readily available items. I will try to post some links later today.

I hope you are able to find a way to reduce your impact on the environment today. But I always remind myself on Earth Day each year: it is great to make a special effort on this day, but the best thing you can do is to make it Earth Day EVERYDAY.

--Katie

Crazy schedule...not enough meal planning!

Well, here I sit waiting for DD during dance, DH just found out he is going on a business trip...TOMORROW, and I have to do my meal planning! I have done fairly well at avoiding going out and keeping my refrigerator stocked, but I feel like I am not using it fast enough! And I did break down and took the kids out to eat...more than once.

So here we go with another week of meal planning. Last week was a strange one since the kids had spring break; it gave me a taste of what summer will be like. :-S Not sure if I am looking forward to having more time to cook or if I will be scrambling to find activities!

I got my ads today and Sprouts has some good deals. Their Roma tomatoes are only 49 cents per pound. I think I will try fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil over pasta. DH does not like this type of tomato sauce, so this will be one to try on the kids. Sprouts also has hamburgers at their meat counter that I have been wanting to try and they are only $3.99 a pound this week. Of course I will pick up some broccoli (49 cents a pound), some baby carrots (99 cents a package), and maybe some potatoes (49 cents a pound). Finally, I may get some chicken drumsticks and thighs for grilling later ($1.49 a pound in a value pack).

This week, I will do the fresh tomato pasta and a salad or broccoli; steak, baked potatoes, and broccoli or salad; hamburgers on the grill with salad and fruit; pork chops with Vons' prepared sides (on sale this week); and poppyseed chicken casserole with carrots and salad.

I did the roasted buttered carrots from Cooking Light and they were a hit. Just put baby carrots or diagonally cut carrots on a cookie sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil and a tablespoon of melted butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 425 for 15 minutes! So easy and so yummy.

Hope you have a great week with a well-planned menu...good luck to you!
--Katie

Easter Candy...

Today I was able to leave the kids with DH, so I took the opportunity to get Easter shopping done. I had a general plan, I checked some prices, and I narrowed it down to three stores to get my goodies: World Market, Target, and CVS (had to pick up some prescriptions there, too).

World Market is almost cleared out of the best fstuff! They have great candy...unique and weird candy that is always fun to throw into Easter baskets or stockings at Christmastime. DH loves Abba Zabba (I have no idea why!), and they always have a fresh supply. They also have great Hello Kitty stuff and DD loves Hello Kitty. I am a member of the World Market Explorer program - this is a loyalty program and the benefits include periodic coupons and rewards on food purchases. I always recommend enrolling in loyalty programs and this one is pretty good. I had a 10% off coupon that I was able to print before leaving for the store.

Target has their candy on sale as well. They have Starburst jelly beans on sale for $2 each, then there is a Target coupon for $1 off two bags, and a manufacturer coupon for $1 off two bags. That brings the price down to only $1 each. We needed to stock up on Head and Shoulders and there were buy one get one free coupons in the P&G Saver that came in the newspaper today, so I saved 50% off those, too. I also got some Strawberry Shortcake bandages for only 57 cents with a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon. The kids are always wanting to put on bandages, so I might as well get them cheap. :-) Just remember to get those Target coupons from their website. They CAN be combined with manufacturer coupons for bigger savings.

Finally, I stopped at CVS. I stopped at the red coupon machine and out spit my quarterly rewards ($9), a $2 off $10 easter purchase, and the reminder that I had a 25% off coupon loaded to my card. I went to the pharmacy and settled that up and then started shopping. Unfortunately, the CVS I chose is incredibly slow at getting their new price tags out; I don't think they had a single tag out. So I grabbed an ad from the front so I could remember which items were included in the extra buck sales. I got 2 M&M bags ($2 ECBs plus a manufacturer coupon), 1 hershey's miniature bag, 1 whoppers robin eggs bag, 1 cadbury mini eggs bag, 1 garnier dark spot corrector ($5 ECB with $15 purchase of garnier and these were marked at $17, but that's wrong; plus $2 manufacturer coupon), 2 revlon mascaras (2 - $2 off coupons and ECB's with $15 purchase, marked at $9.50 each, also wrong), and some new sunglasses for DS. I went to the front, ready for a great trip. However, CVS had a different idea. I tried one credit card and it told her to call. Then we tried another and same thing. For some reason, after using the VERY SAME card in the back, they declined it up front. Who knows. So then I thought (and even said out loud) that at least I was getting ECB's and that would make it all better. FAT CHANCE! April Fool's on me because I had to spend $15 in garnier and that moisturizer was only $14 on sale (!) and the mascaras were ALSO on sale and only totaled $14 (again with a $15 minimum). So I have to figure out if there is anything I need to get to that extra dollar on both. Argh. I was busy loading my items on the counter and didn't watch the little screen to see the prices. :-( I *was* able to save $35 today, though...there is a silver lining I guess.

I hope your experiences today are better than mine ended up! Good luck to you on this April Fool's day...!!!
--Katie