Back to School Prep {Laundry}

When I asked on Instagram “What makes you stress about Back To School time?

The top answers were 

Laundry/Kids Clothes 

Dinner

Housekeeping 

Logistics 

Breakfast 

Lunch Prep

Getting Out The Door 

I’ve pretty much shared all I can right now on kids clothes, but I wanted to share how we do laundry when we are on the right track. 

I do 1-2 loads a day Monday-Thursday and sometimes a special load, or couch covers on Friday and NONE on the weekend. No one wants to put laundry away Sunday night! 

Obviously there is the occasional mishap when a uniform gets missed in the last dark load on Thursday and is needed on Monday, or someone is losing their mind over certain jeans. But typically our family of 6, with pretty small wardrobes ( I think anyway) can make this work and I feel less resentful about laundry if it’s not an issue on the weekend. 

I’m always down for hearing about new methods! Send em my way! 

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April Goals

Oh my my, life has been busy, to say the least. I didn't even bother with goals in March! I mean I meant to, I thought about them but I don't really know where March even went! So here we are on the 3rd of April. I can start this month off with some written goals.

House~Yikes, some of the same goals since January! Countertops, finish up cabinets, decide what we are going to do with the pantry. Outside is a whole other ball game! My main goal this month is to get the garden going, just SOMETHING, even if it's not beautiful and everything I want to plant. I also need to finish dealing with the trees that we had felled in the fall. I broke our chainsaw so it's been a slow process until we can get it fixed.

Financial~Only goal there is to recover from Disneyland trip!  No more eating out (besides hubby's birthday), meal planning is a must if we are going to come close. We paid off a few smaller debts the last couple months without making the budget suffer. This month I hope to make a good dent in another with some Etsy sales. I am on a no clothes shopping challenge for the month too!  Not going overboard on Easter stuff!

Health~I need to get myself back to the doctor for more labs, and make getting there a priority. I am so bad about going, but I can tell that my thyroid is off again.

Relationships~ I really doubt we will have opportunity for date nights, or kid dates at all until baseball season is over. Once I get everyone's game schedule I hope to have a few nights we can have family dates!

And MAYBE, just maybe I will actually update y'all. I need some accountability ; )

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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Managing Goals

 I think the MOST important step in goal setting is making sure that

 YOUR GOALS LINE UP WITH YOUR PRIORITIES!

When you tell someone what your priorities are, do your goals reflect that? If not, maybe it's time to alter your goals a little.

There are lots of methods of Goal Setting. I think these 2 are the ones I hear the most
SMART Goals
Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, Time Based

IDEA

Identify, Design, Execute, Augment

For me I need it simple and easy to manage and track. I don't have an hour a week to reflect on my goals. What I do is

~Have my action plan, or steps in my planner, every week, for the things I can focus on RIGHT NOW.

 ~Those steps or action plan written down are good when/if you get sidetracked.

~Mark the deadline, my ideal deadline

~Make a spot in my planner every week to update, remind, just the constant visual reminder is helpful in keeping my priorities in sight.
I just use a little mason jar stamps and tally marks for things that are daily. 

Here I have our savings/budget jar
and the 3 littles are sticking to my Morning and Evening plans and Meal Planning

Here is a great deal on a little stamp!

How do you manage your goals? Do you share them to keep you accountable? Keep them to yourself?  Daily or weekly reflection or accountability?

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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February Goals 2017

 

I am already doing better planning my February goals than I did for January.

February is ridiculously busy for us. We have tournament basketball for 1 kiddo, and regular season for 2 others. I am not going to make my goals smaller, but will be heavy on the GRACE, grace, GRACE. Planning big.

SELF~January was super, I planned some time with friends with no kids, and went to a concert too. Even those 2 little breaks help me feel refreshed. I have somehow managed to miss MOPS for the last 4 times. I need that adult interaction time.

This month, chances of me squeezing in any kid free time are slim. Still planning some mini hikes with the kids. I love the quick little break, sunshine and trees <3 p="">

HEALTH~ Diet bet is over, not too shabby! I think I might try the step bet this month. We have lots of swamped weekends, so really my only goal is to be prepared for the weekends and keep up on my water! 

FINANCIAL~ I probably could have done a LOT better on the meal planning. But did put some extra to that Home Depot Bill ;) Have our budget all set up.  So the plan for this month is to meal plan for REAL this month. Stick to my grocery budget and put the leftover to debt.

RELATIONSHIPS~ Birthday celebrations and basketball will keep us busy. But I am hoping to squeeze a kid date in around Valentines Day. Last month we had a couple 1 on 1 dates and a lot of family dates!

HOUSE~ January was a productive month! Kitchen cabinets are built, and almost done with paint. Couple more coats on a few drawers and the doors. Knobs picked out, handles purchased. 

Just got our faucet in the mail. It's perfect! I hope it works out well! 

 

I am hoping to finish the kitchen this month! We have cabinets to finish, counter tops to have installed, some barn wood to install and a vent hood. This might be a little ambitious considering we have NO free weekend days all month.  I also want to keep up on my organizing schedule and get the garden plan done and prepped. Some raised beds, some fencing and sprinkler installation. Not sure when that will happen though. 

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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What things can you do right now?

 I can get overwhelmed when I think about my goals and how much WORK it is to get there. Sometimes it seems so daunting and I don't know where to start, if you can relate to this, join me and see if this helps you, no matter what your goals are! Taking baby steps to make it to the big steps!

Things I can do RIGHT now to move me towards my January goals!
Making time for myself
Schedule alone time! It's easy to say and put off. I am adding it to my planner. Just 1 thing so far

And I want to tell you how much I LOVE these pens! So smooth and fine!
You can find them HERE.

Diet Bet, staying hydrated, eating well
I am using MyFitnessPal, my water trackers in my planner, so cute right?

Meal planning is really what saves me. I put my dinner in and do breakfast and lunch around that to make it fit my goals.

Financial Goals, not eating out
Meal planning, and using my planner as best I can to thaw/prep in the morning! Set an alarm on my phone to prep dinner. Different times each day, we have a insane schedule in the evenings right now!

Kid Dates
Similar to making time for ME, making time for us, planning and putting it in the planner ahead of time (and fitting it in the not eating out budget) We won't be doing anything extravagant this month, but we will be using up some old expired groupons and gift cards for fancy coco dates.

House-Finish sanding cabinets, Organize Plan
 I started keeping the sander IN the house as motivation. And my weekly organizing plan handy!
Sticking to my Weekly Cleaning so I still have FRIDAY free to get the organizing done!

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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January Goals

 Already 3 days in and I feel behind! But I am starting with small steps, little chunks of the big goals!

Self~ MAKE TIME for myself, twice, even if it's something small like a trip to the gym

 Health~ I joined a diet bet, nothing like the dread of losing money to motivate ya, right? Especially when it's ALL on me, 100% me.  Little parts of this are staying hydrated and being aware of my food choices. I use something like these to track my water!  

Financial~Eek, this is my least favorite to jump right in. So January I am taking it a bit easy, my only goals are to not eat out (besides what is planned), update all our debts/accounts and make a plan for the year. 

Relationships~ Take each kiddo out once and one for hubby and I. NO PHONE (besides pictures)

If you struggle with phone time, the app InTheMoment

House~Finish sanding kitchen cabinets, finish the last door molding and 1 last floor board piece! 

Stick to my Organizing Plan!

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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2017 Goals/Resolutions

Like the rest of 2016, I am behind! I love the idea of fresh starts and new possibilities! I like to choose a WORD OF THE YEAR and make goals for different areas of our lives. I haven't done anything!

Today is the 31st so I figured I better get with it!

I decided on the word WILD   I love the description

uncultivated or growing freely without human intervention.

It just really speaks to me, not letting others comments/opinions intervene with my life.

Self Goals: Take chances, have more faith in myself, remember that not everyone who shares their opinions has my best interest in mind.

Health Goals: Make time for some kind of exercise because I love it.  Continue to find ways to get good nourishment into our picky kids. Manage the health issues I've been dealing with more efficiently

Financial: Make Dave Ramsey proud 😆

Relationships: More dates and less helicoptering

House: So many!! Slow and steady, budget fitting projects! Keep purging unnecessary things, keep working on the best ways to make life run smooth! 

We usually take our big goals and make monthly goals in little bite size chunks! January goals coming soon 👍🏻

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April Goals

My goal in March was to work on meal planning, March was rough, and April is probably going to be worse. I am going to have to meal plan even better the next 2 months. We are starting baseball and softball and T-ball. I am not sure how we are going to be at 3 places at once. This will be interesting to say the least. Figuring out dinner is one thing I will need to just figure out ahead of time to make life easier. Also going to work on eating better and working out again. I have been in such a rut, mostly due to lack of sleep. Our little guy is still up a good portion of every night. I will share some more of what is going on here and with this rut feeling soon too. For now, the usual lineup (So hard for me!) plus a couple more.

 ~Drink more water
~Stick to the meal plan
~STOP with the sugar
~Make the time for at home workouts during the week


Water drinking will probably always be one of the things I need to work on. Meal Planning this month will have to have some portable dinners. We recently added a pressure cooker to the kitchen gadgets, OH MY GOODNESS. I used it every other day since we got it. What a time saver! I had no idea what I was missing out on! I love baking, baking does not love me! Sugar has been such an issue lately! Preparing the hubby and kids that I may be, like for sure will be, on the grumpy side while I work on some sugar detoxing. Planted some veggies a couple weeks ago and can't wait to have them around. When they are here and fresh it's a whole lot easier to enjoy them. I borrowed some dvd's from the library that are less than 30 minutes to do. I have set my alarm again after a few weeks of just letting the baby or big kids wake me up. I should be able to find 25 minutes in a day to just do the workout! Please tell me I am not the only mama that puts laundry, dinner, dishes and 100 other things before doing something for them self?


Anything you are working on this month?  Still keeping my word for the year as a goal for life in general. Refine is my word, looking for ways to apply it to life. How is your word for the year going, if you participate?

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March Goals

I am just now thinking about what my goals are for March. A big thing in February was giving up soft drinks. I didn't do too bad, occasional drink here and there. After not really drinking diet cola this month, I tried a drink of it the other night and I could barely get it down! 

I am still avoiding coffee I have to pay for and going to keep avoiding soft drinks. We will just snowball them and keep going.

I am trying to base all of my monthly goals around Refining. I was initially thinking I would give up chocolate in March but being honest here. Cadbury mini eggs? Yeah, I'd fail!

We are done with basketball and we don't have any sports starting until after Spring break. I feel like March is the perfect time to refine our meal time. We have been in a dinner rut and busy with basketball. I haven't been meal planning that great and kinda winging it. That really just hasn't worked out for me. I don't think a month worth of meal planning is going to work for us either, so many variables with 4 kids and a busy hubby. I am just going to keep my goal to meal planning dinner 6 days a week, and STICKING to it. This should really help me refine our grocery list and grocery shopping. 

I've shared meal planning before, I do things differently at different times of year. I know during baseball season everything has to be portable, that is only a few weeks away. Until then, I am just trying to focus on

~Not spending more than our grocery budget due to lack of planning

~Getting the kids to try more types of food

~Use more fresh veggies

~Use what's in our freezer/cupboards

If I can make the time, I also would like to see about container gardening. Since we are renting we have slightly limited choices. If we have our pots still and I can squeeze the other stuff needed into the budget we just might give a few plants a go!

Any container gardening book recommendations? I already have a slight brown thumb as it is.

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February Resolution!

But first! How I did in January? Proud to say I bought 1 or 2 coffees in January and I plan to keep up that trend! I did find a tool that sure made it SO much easier! I love an extra foamy latte, that was my go to drink at Starbucks and other places. But with this, I can make my own controlled ingredients as foamy as I want in just 2 minutes! No driving, no paying $4 for a drink, no waiting in line. I was totally skeptical at first, I mean really? Look at it! It doesn't appear to be anything special!

And here is what it can do! Worth the few bucks!

Ok, enough about that and the $60 plus dollars I saved last month!

February's goal is another money sucker but not nearly as bad, although it is probably WAY worse for my health!

Diet Pop! I don't keep it in the house but we will get one when we are out running errands. This goal is really 2 fold, give up the gross and replace it with water. Something I have been struggling with my entire life anyway!

I've got my at home drinking glass and a couple tricks I might try. 

It's really going to be when we are out that I struggle. Stocking up on water bottles as soon as they are on sale! Then stocking the bottom of the fridge with them.

I also have been adding a couple drops of Lemon or Grapefruit Essential Oils

That seems to be helping me a little bit.

What are your goals for the month?

*This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

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Monthly Resolution January

Resolution, Goal, whatever you call it. I have a LOT I need to change and I know I can't do it all at once. Well, I probably could try and end up in the nut house! Starting each new month with something to give up or change. In January it's Starbucks. I am not nearly as bad as I used to be but November and December are by far the hardest months for me and Starbucks and our not good for me relationship. Now it's not JUST Starbucks, it's all paid for coffee, no Dutch Bros, no little in town coffee drive through, I need to be done with it all. If I can do it for a month I can do it for longer.

Why I am giving it up AGAIN? There really is only 2 reasons.

1. The $$$$$$

Good night can those lattes add up?! To the tune of $700+ dollars a year if I go ONLY 3 times a week! Ouch! That is a couch and I like couches a lot more than coffee!

2. The Calories

Nothing I want to drink from there is low in calories or even remotely healthy.

There isn't a reason I should be going anyway, I can make coffee at home and none of these places are really close to me so they are all more work! My plan to avoid paid for coffee is to make sure I have coffee at home, I have re-usable K cups so ground coffee is all I need. Spend a little bit on some syrup for every once in a while and keep prepping the coffee maker at night.

In addition to NOT buying drinks, since I know I will be tempted, every time I say no to that $4+ drink I am moving that amount to savings. If I thought I could afford to spend it on coffee then I for sure can afford to put it in savings. Refining what we spend our money on and saving all at once.

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June Goals!

I am so excited June is here, err almost half over! I am ready for sunshine and for the kids to be home from school, for baseball to be over, and for strawberries and blueberries to be the fresh snack of choice!

We listed our house for sale, I feel like a crazy person doing this while pregnant with 3 kids home all day but the time just feels right!

Our Goals for this month are pretty basic.
SURVIVE

Haha, just kidding, but kind of. We have a lot going on and our goals are all based around those.
Our house being for sale, a trip the end of the month, school being out. Those are my 3 hurdles for the month.

1. Keep the house 30 minute ready, ideally I would like it to be 15 minute ready but the kids have to be able to play too!
Meal times are going to be tricky, there will be a whole lot of repeat quick prep meals.

2. Stay on budget for our vacation.
We saved for the trip, taking a lot of planning to stay within our budget.

3. Keep the kids doing their school work, summertime often means all fun and no work. Our kids are by no means behind for their age, but I would rather encourage them to learn about something over the summer. We don't have anything set, whatever they decide they want to learn about. As long as it's not spiders and it's age appropriate I probably won't have a problem!

Here is the plan to meet our goals:
1.
 ~Stick to weekly cleaning, be a little better about nighttime tidying.
~Do laundry less, put it away RIGHT AWAY.. my weakness :/
~Do more dishes, I usually wait until the dishwasher is full, but now I am washing a little more often.
~Try to nicely (hound) encourage the kids to keep their room tidy
~Use this list I shared a few days ago

2. too much for this post. I will have a road trip post coming up soon! I promise it will be BIG, my crazy brain has been working on this for months!


3. Lots of talks about what they might want to learn about, trips to the library to support their curiosity. And depending on what they choose, some day trips and fun stuff.

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May 2014 Goals

I totally forgot to do these!! I would love to blame pregnant brain but I think it's just that April was a blur!

 We kept the same ones from the month before.

~ We didn't pay $1000 towards debt but we did pay some. We had some baby stuff to purchase, will for sure be back on track to just debt soon!

~ Kept the same savings plan

~Meal Planning. THIS I did super on!

~ Scheduling. A little better, I am sure it will be a lot better once there is less on the schedule haha

~Been spending more time at home, not as much as I want, but getting there!

This month I am going to be a little less ambitious, I know we have a lot going on and some big expenses.

~Making our "To-Pack" and "To-Do" list for our trip

I need to do some research, we haven't done a road trip like this with kids! I need to have this done before the 25th. I need time to get what we need too.

~Get the majority of the baby stuff in the room

20 weeks to go feels like a long time but I know with a little trip and all the summer fun stuff it will fly by!

~Stay home MORE

I know I have plenty to do here, I just need to stay away from all the fun resale groups on facebook that drag me into town too often!

~Stick to my CHORE CHALLENGE and Weekly Organizing

I know these are so helpful for our little (can I still call it little?!) family and they really don't take that much time. The Chore Challenge of 15 minutes each day really feels like nothing, but it turns out to be 5 hours a month of EXTRA cleaning I normally wouldn't get to. Even more if I was willing to do it on the weekends.

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April Goals!

A few days late, this seems to be how things have going around here!

Last month goals are here

FAILED

At nearly all of them!

The house is MUCH better, but not 100%.

Didn't do such a great job with budgeting, I still have a couple projects I am working on to help out financially.

We did read more, not enough though.

I feel like I have been home a little more but running around more than I should be. No dates have been planned.

I do have a good reason for some of this though. I have no motivation and have been sleeping a whole lot more, some unexpected costs in the budget and a whole lot of Dr. appointments.

We are expecting baby #4 in September!!

The other good news is, I get to keep the same goals and try again!

I have lowered my expectations a bit. Knowing that we have other things we are needing to purchase, the budget and debt aren't going to be as good as I had hoped. I tire pretty often and have a small complication so I am giving myself a break on getting as much organizing and cleaning done. As long as we all have clean clothes and dishes it's a win.

Hoping I have some more energy (and motivation) back soon!

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March Goals!!

I am SO excited to share some of our March Goals! But first, how we did in February.

1. $1000 towards debt....

We paid $2000 extra towards debt this month! Likely the last month we will have that much progress.

2. Saving more

While I haven't set up Fridays yet, I did move that $ over.

3.Meal Plan

Did SO much better this month, didn't actually keep track of how many days per week but for sure over the (very low) goal!

4.Scheduling

Didn't really have much to schedule (amazingly)

5. Water

Having the re-useable cups all over has made it a cinch!

6. Organizing

For our life the way it is right now, this is working great!

7. Bathrooms

I am terrified of the kids bathroom, 2/3 for the month.

8. Fast Food

Meal planning has really made this a non issue!

9. More time at home

Felt SO good to be home more! 

10. Groceries

Haven't been grocery shopping yet. Hoping I can find some good alternatives!

Our March goals are going to be a little different. I am no longer working outside the home, (weeeee) so we won't be putting as much towards debt but we WILL be getting more stuff done around here! At least until I find something else that works better for our family.

1. Get this place BACK in order!

We have all gotten off task not being home as much, I felt back asking the kids to do the chores they normally would have when they weren't home nearly as much. We will be back to that!

We are using THESE

2. STICK to the new (and changing) Budget

This first month is going to be hard but sticking to our grocery budget of $250 will help!

We still want to pay extra to debt, it will be a slow process but every little bit helps!

Going to go for Once a week Target trips in March too. Jan was hard, February was busy but easier, March should be a breeze!

3. Find a way that isn't take away from our family to make some money.

I am always hesitant to try new stuff. Learning to act towards goals and not out of fear is hard sometimes!

I have a couple things I am working on. I just need to stick my neck out there and not be a worrywart!

4. Read to our kids more

We have always been readers but I feel like this last almost year I missed SO much!

5. Stay Home!

I am used to going into town a number of times a week, that is going to have to change! We just will not be able to afford to do that. Intentional, planned trips into town only. 

6. Plan More Dates!

For both Ryan and I, and family dates. I need to find some close to home, inexpensive stuff to do!

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February goals!

We are a few days in, I am a little late. Seems to be my trend the last few weeks! Some of our goals will be the same as January, some new ones!

1. One of my goals in January was to put an extra $1000 towards debt. That goal is continuing into February! 

2. Build our savings a little more. I know lots of people are doing the $1-$52 per week. I'm not sure that would work for us, putting $200 away right around the holidays. But I love the idea!

3. Meal plan & stick to it! Going to aim low, high for me right now, and say 3 days a week!

4.  Schedule in my planner! Been horrible about just writing dates down and not times and no idea what half these dates are, leaving me scrambling!

5.Water! I think this will still be a challenge for me, even though I did pretty good in January!

6. Stick to 52 weeks of Organizing Plan. Loved this in January, think February will be great too!

7. Deep Clean Bathrooms

8. Still avoiding fast food!

9. Spend more time at home!

10. Find 3 more better alternatives for groceries.

The Plan

1. Stick to my budget, no extra spending, not relying on overtime, 1 trip to target per week.

2. The savings plan that is so popular is about $125/month. I am ok with $25 a week and getting close enough. Setting it up automatically for Fridays!

3. I have no problem making a meal plan, sticking to it with crazy hours has been the tricky part. Prep on weekends!

4. I need to just bring it with me everywhere again, that will help!

5. Keep on with the cold water in the fridge

6.So far it's been going well.With some of my other goals it should be even easier

7. A little each week is the plan

8. Pack ahead, plan ahead

9. NO MORE OVERTIME! And I have a new schedule at work, both of those should really help!

10. Leave a little extra time at the grocery store to read labels.

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January's 10! How we did!

I need these posts to help me with accountablity. You can see our January goals HERE.

And here is how January went down!

1. Pay off $1000 Minimum of DEBT.. that horrible, nasty thing.

Done! We were able to pay off and extra $2050! (not including the regular payments we usually make)

Thanks to all that overtime and some budgeting. We could have paid off some more but we did some fun stuff that wasn't free in January. And two early February birthdays to boot!

2. We did get some apple slices (with Halloween freebie coupons), other than that I didn't have any, kids either! And I have only had very limited pop the whole month! Wasn't perfect, but a whole lot better! February will be even better than January.

 3. I did find some alternatives to the cruddy filled stuff we used to buy.

~Chips, while they weren't a very frequent thing. These are amazing! GF, NON GMO, nut free and delicious!

~ The Target brand fruit snacks. So good, no artificial stuff and relatively inexpensive,not much more expensive than other fruit snacks and way less expensive than Annie's brand. A good compromise for us.

~Again with the Target brand.. the juice boxes. We don't love to use them at all but once in a while we do use them and now I won't feel as bad about it!

~ We would occasionally get the kids granola bars for their lunch boxes, I have failed at making them so many times! I am not sure if these are just a local brand, I can read every ingredient in them, better than the other brand we were getting.

~ I convinced the kids to try the whole grain pasta again, we haven't had pasta much but every little improvement helps!

4. Meal Plans.. Horrible! I just did flat out horrible, not with eating out, although we did a couple times, I just didn't stick to the plan. I didn't have to add any additional grocery trips though so I think it worked out ok!

5. Being at work makes it super easy to drink plenty of water! Being at home was always the hard part for me. We got a Brita pitcher like this one to help! If the water is already cold I will be more likely to drink it.

6. Loving getting this place organized! Check out more HERE. Now that birthday parties are over I will feel less like a crazy person!

7. I have my list of stuff to add to Emergency packs and am slowly (very slowly) adding stuff to it! Only got a couple things this month.

8. Journal writing is still hard for me! I started keeping supplies in my nightstand and car, and purse that has helped. Not every week, but still a little better.

9. Home made dishwasher tabs have been working ok. I don't use them every load because I feel like they leave a build up a little bit on some of the dishes. So every few loads until they are gone. I am not sure if I will make them again. Not these ones anyway.

I used 1C. Borax

1C. Washing Soda

1C Vinegar

1/2C Epsom Salt

few drops of Essential Oil, I used Sweet Orange this time.

10. Got the kitchen nice 'n' clean & a little more organized.  You can find my deep cleaning kitchen list here.

Should have February Goals soon!

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Emergency Planning

It was one of my goals last year, but I didn't really have a good grasp on what we needed even for a minimal emergency pack.

This year I am starting with lists! I don't know what to save for or slowly build up if I don't have a list!

Pinterest is my go to for ideas! I started a Emergency Pack board. I'm sure not all of these pins will be helpful, some will be repeats and some won't pertain to us. I know I won't be able to finish them up in 1 month. I probably won't even be able to read them all in 1 month. Adding a little each month until we feel comfortable with what is in them.

Anyone have a list already?
What is the 1 thing you HAVE to have in your packs?


This is the list I have so far, I liked how some of them were organized by type of thing, like Emergency, Hygiene, Lighting and Food.

Emergency
Small First Aid Kit
Whistle
pocket knife
face masks
emergency blanket
water filter
Flashlight

Hygiene
Hand Sanitizer
Chapstick
toothbrush and toothpaste
Sunscreen
Shampoo


Lighting
Flashlight w/extra batteries
Glow sticks
Emergency Candles
Waterproof Matches


Other Stuff
Cash, in small bills
Pencil and Paper

Food
Water
3 days worth of food, non perishable

Clothes
Socks, multiple pairs
Underwear
Sweats
Long Sleeve Shirt
Waterproof Poncho
T shirts

This is just my starting list, I am sure this small list alone will take me far longer than I want it to anyway!
Share any lists you have! I love a good list or Pinterest Board!!

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2014 Goals

Excited for the new year! I know it's not REALLY any different, just a date on a calendar but it sure FEELS different, and I love it!

 

This year we are doing it month by month, lots of our goals will carry over for each month. Getting to celebrate meeting a goal will make keeping it up the next month easier! (I hope)

 
Do you make resolutions, or goals? Are they weekly, monthly, for the whole year or by a certain date?  What is on your list for 2014?
 

Having goals is important but having a plan to meet those goals is even more important!
Goals:

1. Pay off $1000 minimum towards debt

2. NO fast food, not even drinks!

3. Find 5 better alternatives for 5 less than perfect groceries

4. Stick to meal plan 21 out of the 31 days

5. Drink 80 oz of water 5 days per week

6. Stick to 52 Weeks of Organizing Plan

7. Pack 5 things for Emergency Packs

8. Journal 1x per week 

9. Try homemade dishwasher soap

10. Deep Clean Kitchen

 

 

The Plan:
1.

~Work 10 hours a week OT if available

~Stick to grocery budget

~1 Target trip max per week

 

2.

Keep water bottles and re-usable cups clean and cold water in the pitcher in the fridge.

Stick to the meal plan

Keep healthy snacks in the car

Plan ahead for longer adventures out

 

3.
Set aside enough time to read labels at the grocery store, no rush trips
research ahead of time

4.
Prep groceries as soon as they make it home
Check meal plan night before

5.

 Same as #2

6.
Read ahead to prep
Schedule time to do it
DO it, even if it's not a 3 hour block, 15 minutes adds up

7.
Make a list,
incorporate stuff into the grocery list

8.

 Keep it handy
Write it on the schedule

9.
Make it
Add ingredients to grocery list

10.
Plan ahead
Schedule a little bit each week
Goes in line with my organizing, that should help
 

 



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November goal update

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It's almost time to set some more goals! So much has changed this year and it's hard to remember what January was like at all.

This is the second to last update, crazy and not entirely successful but we made it through!

 

Budgeting/Debt

I shared on facebook that I had the chance to work a bunch of overtime, and I still do. I just got the paycheck from those crazy 20 days in a row of work, a lot of them being 12 hour days. Paid off 1 more credit card, feels good to do that, and it's a great push to work some more overtime if it works for our schedule!

Another way we have saved over the year is calling and asking for a lower interest rate on the nasty debt we do have. This is a every few months job, it's not fun and waiting on hold stinks. But if it saves some in the long run it's worth it. Same with car and homeowners insurance. I get a re-quote every 6 months. Last time it went down $8 a month, which I realize doesn't seem like THAT much but it's almost $100 in a year.
If you haven't called yours lately, try doing 1 a day and see if it saves you anything!

 

I have kept track of debt each month the whole year and am excited to see where we are at January 1st 2014 compared with January 2013! Not only will there be less in $, but how much smaller the list is, is really encouraging! I have a feeling December won't be as successful with paying towards debt. I am feeling the urge to schedule lots of family activities and those aren't free. Holiday cooking will for sure put me over the grocery budget a little too!
I am doing my best not to stress about it too much, and enjoy December and Christmas!

Life and other stuff
I don't think I made it to the gym much this year, not at all this month. I miss the fun workouts and haven't lost a pound but haven't gone the other way either, so for now I will be ok with that.

Hubby went out of town for a week for work, goodness I forget what a mess I am when he is gone! Makes me appreciate all that he does when he is here, not just stuff like take the garbage out, but the important stuff like listening to me and my crazy ideas, tucking our babies in and keeping me warm.
So happy that the week long trips aren't nearly as often as before!

I had maybe 2 Starbucks all month, for sure think it be considered a done thing for 2014! I also did way better with drinking water instead of pop. I know how horrible it is, hard habit to break. One bad habit at a time. Paid for coffee gone, pop next!

We had a super Thanksgiving, and we really have SO much to be thankful for.  Happy our kids realize how blessed they are!


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