2015 Groceries Week 26 - $160.45

Yikes - it was a big week.

Monday night I went to Fred Meyer because we needed cream for DH's coffee.  They had lots of stuff on sale this week so I had a pretty big trip, spending $50.24 on food items.  Cereal was 3/$5, coffee $5.99, clearance red pears, apples, & zucchini.  DD#4 had been asking for oranges so I bought a few, not thinking about their weight and that they were about $1.00 each!  I also got lunchmeat, potatoes, tomatoes, 1# sausage for soup on the menu, and GF granola for the kids to put in yogurt.

I was at the store again Tuesday to use my $10/$50 purchase coupon at County Market.  I somehow missed taking phot, though I distinctly remember laying out the groceries.  I spent $40.33 including 13 cans of olives for $0.80/ea after discount, about 14 pounds of chicken breast for $1.59/lb after discount, over 5# grapes that were $1.04/lb after discount, and a package of polish sausage.

I went to Fred Meyer again on Wednesday for more lunchmeat.  It was only $2.50/lb last week and on Monday they were nearly out.  I also picked up organic cucumbers which had also been out of stock Monday.  I also got mayo, clearance apples & nectarines, hamburger buns & more cream.  When I checked my receipt I realized I'd only been charged for conventional cucumbers so I went to the customer service desk to pay the additional $0.30/ea.  After the extra $1.20, I spent $24.88 on food.

Finally, I had a quick run to Safeway while we worked on the rental property over the weekend.  I bought some markdown deli turkey, a box of GF cordogs, tater tots, and a lean cuisine microwave meal on clearance for myself.  I also found some great markdown beef.  I don't actually have it with me as I tossed it in the freezer at the rental, but it was round steak and it was on sale for $3.99/lb BEFORE 30% off clearance, so I paid just $2.79/lb.  The receipt says "BF TP Round London" so nicer (I think) than standard stew beef.  I spent $31.53.

I also had milk delivery for $13.47 (my last one - *sniff*)

Week 26 Groceries: $160.45
Year-to-date 2015: $2,480.38
Weekly Average: $95.40

Katie

Daily Project Post - Recipe Book & Rental Progress

Thursday was a good day.  I started out by chopping a bunch of old veggies in the fridge and tossed them in freezer to use later.

I also spent some morning hours emailing and making calls related to the rental.  There are 6 big items we wanted to hire people for.  2 of these are confirmed, 1 is nearly confirmed, 1 I'm still waiting for bids on, 1 is ready to go but starting late, and the last we may end up having to skip due to budget problems.  We'll see.  Today's tasks re. rental include going to the house & starting something - also make some decisions re. landscaping as DH wants to attack it this weekend.

DD#1 had started this recipe organizing project Wednesday and I picked it up during afternoon quiet time.  

It took forever.  The hole punching is easy, but the reviewing of each recipe was really time consuming!  Now it's all organized with different tabs for different types of recipes.

Since I was already deep into recipes I also attacked the little notebook I have pasted things into over the years.  It was stuffed with all sorts of loose bits.

Now that's all tidy, too.

Yay for a big project done, but I shouldn't have spent so much time on it yesterday when I had other work to do.

Katie

Daily Project Post - Lingering Boxes & Rental Stuff

Hooray!  I got a ton of stuff done on Wednesday.

After a tearful conversation with DH, he recommended I try and cancel the babysitting yesterday.  My friend graciously agreed so I got busy!

I got the laundry mostly caught up and my kitchen all squared away after it had been neglected a couple of days (other than dishes).  It's amazing how quickly random stuff accumulated on the counters!

I also did this small project that's been waiting for me in the family room.  These boxes have been sitting in the way and looking messy for about a month!  It started when I was gathering garage sale stuff and just didn't get put all the way away.

The puppet box got tucked back into its corner and the boxes of junk got stowed in the garage until I can make a thrift store dropoff.  So it wasn't really fixing a problem - more of moving a mess - but my house sure feels cleaner!

I also got this project started.  I'm regularly stashing recipes in a binder I keep in my kitchen cupboard.  The papers have gotten out of control and there's no order to it.  DD#1 helped by sorting out the recipes by category: dinners, salads, desserts, beverages, side dishes, breads, breakfasts.  I'm hoping to get them hole-punched and reassembled today for my Thursday project.

Finally, yesterday I also got lots done related to the rental property.  I made some calls about a gas stove insert, exchanged a couple emails with the painter we'd like to use, talked to the realtor and the property manager, and found out the tenants are taking us up on our offer to vacate a little early for a pro-rated rent refund.  Yahoo!

So today will be really busy at home, too, as I try and prepare for my own house to be neglected for a couple of weeks as I shift my attention to getting this other property.  I'm hoping to wash all the sheets and mop the floors.  I also am making a bunch of calls/sending emails related to starting work sooner, if possible.  We'll see what I manage before I run out of energy.  =)

Katie

Daily Project Post - More Rental Property Stuff

Tuesday started well.  I got up, had some time with God, and got busy on more rental property business.  I texted a contractor friend, looked at two contractor estimates, sent 3 emails to the realtor, another email to the property manager, talked to my contractor friend, emailed some measurements to a contractor friend, then had to stop because a friend dropped her kids off to be babysat.

I've been helping a friend with childcare while her regular sitter is unavailable.  It was supposed to be one morning a week, but it's ended up significantly more and it turns out the regular sitter IS available.

Anyway, the rest of the day was shot with babysitting and the kids' therapy.  I wasn't free to make calls until after 5:00 so no more rental business happened and while I could have done a small project, I still had to make dinner for my own family and I was exhausted from only 5 hours of sleep and having 3 extra kids for the bulk of the day.   I checked my voicemail after it was back to just my kids and had a call from a family member I've been expecting since Monday. He had to delay his trip again, and that was discouraging as I'm really counting on his help for our own basement project and getting the rental property on the market for sale.  I also didn't have "Mommy's Quiet Time" in the afternoon with the extra kids so I was in bed by 8:30 last night.

I'm hoping to accomplish a project today, Wednesday.  We'll see - my friend is dropping her sweet kiddos off again this morning.

Katie

Daily Project Post - Rental Property Stuff

I wish I had something more substantial to report for Monday.  Mostly I rushed around early in the morning getting ready for a babysitter.  I spent the rest of the morning traveling to & from our rental property, meeting with our realtor & two contractors and getting a good look at a house I hadn't seen the interior of for nearly 6 years.

I came home to relieve the sitter, fed the kids, made a call & email related to rental stuff and didn't do much else out of the ordinary.  So nothing that improved my own home or efficiency, but still was a busy and tiring day.  I was a bit discouraged with myself.

Katie

Gluten-Free Menu Plan

Dinners:
Monday - Pizza Pasta
Tuesday - Italian Sausage & Veggie Soup
Wednesday - Ribs w/ Hoisin Sauce, Rice
Thursday - Crockpot Sausage & Potato Soup
Friday - Burgers
Saturday - Chicken Cordon Bleu
Sunday - It's my birthday - I'm not cooking.

Lunches:
Monday - Nachos
Tuesday - Pancakes
Wednesday - Taco Salad
Thursday - Corndogs
Friday - Finger Food lunch
Saturday - Chicken Caesar Salad
Sunday - It's my birthday - I'm not cooking

Katie

2015 Shopping Week 25 - $43.88

Yay!  A small week!

I went to QFC for milk, ice cream, and onions on Wednesday.  I found some clearance yogurt and the onions were on clearance, too.  Score!  I spent $16.24.

I went to QFC again Sunday because we were out of milk (lots of cold cereal these days) and our fruit selection was really slim.  I spent $27.64 on organic milk, organic lettuce, organic tomatoes, clearance neufchatel cheese for $0.49 each, clearance turkey sausage for $2,00 each, clearance pepperoni for $0.79, clearance hummus for $1.99, chips and bananas.

No eggs of milk delivery this week.

Week 25 Total: $43.88
Year-to-date 2015 Total: $2,319.93
Weekly Average: $92.80

Katie

Next week will be bigger.  I'm bulk buying rapberries (I think) and will be stocking up on creamer.

Daily Project Post - Scrapbook Paper & Plastic Bin

Saturday I spent a little time organizing my scrapbooking paper.  My motivation was to empty a 12"x12"x 3" plastic box that I was sure one of my girls' facepainting supplies would fit in.  This seems like a small task, but all my scrapbooking supplies are tightly packed into easily transportable bags that are tightly packed into my closet.

These two bags hold something like 2,000 sheets of paper.  I had to empty out a small box of paper and file its contents with like paper.  It was about 200 sheets of 30 different shades.

I was very happy that the face painting kit (and accessories) DID fit into the box.

Who cares that it says 'Scrapbook,' right?

Now this can get stowed in her bedroom with all her other bins of crafty activities instead of hanging out on this bookshelf that I'm hoping to turn into the folded-laundry shelf.

So, getting this silly box emptied was really the first step in the new plan for laundry organization.  Hopefully I'll keep moving on that project soon!

Katie