What to do with extra school supplies?

The stores are still practically giving away school supplies this week. Here are 3 things you can do with the extra school supplies you bought.

1. Donate them to a food pantry. Food pantries often give out school supplies this time of year.
2. Donate them to a local school. Each year teachers spend hundreds of dollars of their own money to buy school supplies for their classrooms.
3. Save them to put in a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child- coming in November.

WFMW- I no longer clip coupons

What?!? Yes, I no longer cut out coupons. I found it takes too much time to do it ahead of time. What I do instead is keep a folder with each weeks newspaper inserts. I label the front of each insert like this "SS 4/5" or "RP 4/5" with a black Sharpie. That way when I am hunting for a coupon it's easier to find. I also remove any pages that have no coupons or are just ads. I keep a bag in my my car with all my coupon folders and periodically throw out the expired ones. I find with multiple sets of inserts, it's just too time consuming to cut the coupons out.

Any tips you'd like to share? Check out more Works For Me Wednesday tips at We Are THAT Family.

Frugal Friday: Re-purposing Items

I am a bit of a pack rat, so I often save containers and boxes and things thinking I will "re-purpose" them later. My favorite re-purposed item is a baby wipes box turned into a coupon organizer. Voila!

Got any great ideas for "re-purposed" items? Please share a comment! Get more Frugal Friday tips at Life As MOM.

Menu Plan Monday- Plan My Menu!

I was checking out the post at MoneySavingMom about using what you have in your pantry- and I decided to do an inventory of what I have on hand. Here's where YOU come in- plan my weekly dinner menu from the list of things I have on hand- good luck and thanks! (just leave a comment)

Freezer:
1 bag meatballs
2 bx Mrs. T's Quick Ones
frozen corn
frozen carrots
frozen broccoli
1 bx Texas Toast
1 lg Stouffer's lasagna
1 bx fish sticks
1 bx chicken nuggets
1 lb beef for stew
2 steaks
1 lb ground turkey
2 split turkey breasts
2 lbs chicken thighs
Pantry:
2 bx Kraft mac & cheese
1 bx Suddenly Salad
1 bx brown rice
1 bx mashed sweet potatoes
3 jar spag. sauce
2 bx spaghetti
1 box elbow mac.
can corn
can diced tomatoes
can evap. milk
can black olives
can kidney beans
can chicken broth
can green beans
can sauerkraut
2 cans cream mushroom soup
Parmesan cheese
BBQ sauce
red potatoes
yellow onions
Frig:
raw carrots
leftover egg noodles
sour cream
Grands biscuits
4 eggs
lettuce
apple sauce
limes
apples
milk

Check out more menu plans at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday 3/16

Hello and welcome to Menu Plan Monday (MPM)- check out $5 Dinners.com for more great ideas!

Mon- Chicken sloppy joes with carrots and oven fries
Tue- Pork roast (crockpot) with sauerkraut and garlic roast potatoes
Wed- frozen meals that were on sale last week
Thu- Spaghetti & meatballs with salad
Fri- Turkey Tetrazinni (leftover turkey) and peas
Sat- Leftover buffet!
Sun- tacos

Free Photo Videos at Animoto

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If you sign up at Animoto right now and use the code bieogjka you can take $5 off an all-access pass. When you go to Animoto to sign up- just use the code "bieogjka" in the referral code box. Get ready to start creating!

Snapfish 20% Off Photo Books

Get 20% off photo books at Snapfish with the code BOOKFUN (offer ends Feb 28). I have said before- photo books are a great organizing tool. You can take 20 or so photos and make a book for each year for your family. Or make your own cookbook complete with photos. Or my favorite idea- take photos of all your kids school art projects and make them their own coffee table book!

Getting Organized

Well it's January and it's the time of year everyone either works on dieting or organizing- or both! One thing I started to struggle with last year is what to do with all the "artwork" kids make. My daughter just started preschool this year and she already brings home about 4 things a day! I started by hanging her artwork on the basement door. She likes to look at it all and the door is big- I let her help me tape things up. Next I take a digital photo of each little masterpiece. In the fall I took the best projects and used the photos to make a photo book of just her artwork plus some school photos. She loves her book! I saved my favorite items in one of those brown accordion file folders you use for filing bills and stuff. I use one slot per year. The rest I threw away (yes is was hard!)

How I organize my coupons

I have tried a few different methods, but here is how I currently organize my coupons. First of all, if I have several of the same inserts I usually only clip one. I use an empty baby wipes container to store my coupons. It's the perfect size to fit several letter size envelopes. I stapled an index card to each envelope and wrote the name of the coupon category on each card. Voila! An easy filing system that was practically free to make.

Menu Monday and more

Here's my attempt at getting better at organizing my week- a weekly menu! I usually have an idea in my head of what we're going to have for dinner- but I thought things would go better if I actually wrote it down. I tend to plan based on what I have on hand- I rarely go out and shop just for dinner. Also we tend to eat out or on-the-run on weekends.

Sun: order carry-out
Mon: crockpot beef roast with potatoes & veggies
Tue: Johnny Marzetti casserole (make ahead Monday night)
Wed: frozen Boston Market meals (got on sale)
Thu: beef vegetable soup (use leftover beef)
Fri: turkey hotdogs, buns, baked beans
Sat: leftover buffet

For carry-out meals I try to use the Entertainment Book.

Tonight I also cleaned out the laundry room/utility closet and wiped down the washer and dryer. That was quick!

Anti-Procrastination Week

Cyrstal over at biblicalwomanhoodonline has delcared this week "Anti-Procrastination Week". So get up and get something done you have been putting off. I like to use the ideas over at the Fly Lady. Sunday night I tackled that pile of papers that collects on my kitchen counter. I threw away lots of stuff and found some stuff I really needed. I should have taken a before and after picture.

Freezer, frig and pantry inventory

I'm really feeling the need to take an inventory of the food in my freezer, refigerator and pantry. I think I should have plenty enough food to make meals for a week without grocery shopping. Unless I need milk or bread or orange juice. Speaking of OJ- it's so expensive (usually $3 for a 1/2 gallon) we usually just have one small 4 oz. glass for breakfast so we can make it last all week. I guess if I had more time I would squeeze it myself. I do water it down for the kiddo- she doesn't seem to notice yet.