Frugal Friday - A Day Late, But Not A Dollar Short

I had a little more money to play with this week for groceries and toiletries. This week's unsuspecting victim of me driving like I stole it seems to be Kroger. Here are the totals:

Kroger
83 items purchased
$ 215.11 total retail value
$ 93.45 total spent
$ 126.66 total saved (I get a $5.00 rebate added to $121.66 that I saved at checkout)
That's a savings of 59% off of the retail value.

Target
29 items purchased
$ 69.91 total retail value
$ 32.87 total spent
$ 37.04 total saved (I got back $10.00 in gift cards - that was added to the $27.04 that I saved at checkout)
That's a savings of 53% off of the retail value.

Publix
30 items purchased
$ 74.71 total retail value
$ 38.66 total spent
$ 35.51 total saved
That's a savings of 48% off of the retail value.

So my total spent this week: $164.98
my total saved: $199.24

Hooray.

And if the proverbial poop hits the fan, the us-es can barricade behind all the paper towels.

A Breather

I just wrote a super long, extremely boring post.

DELETE, you are my friend and have served the best interest of all of us here.

Moving on . . .

Monday is the hubster's and my thirteenth wedding anniversary. How awesome is that?! Pretty awesome. We have always tried to be diligent and intentional about getting away; from things, to things, for things. It gets more tricky with more us-es, but it also gets more crucial. We love and are in-love. That's our reality everyday. We laugh and we talk and we work together and we support one another. But the getting away, the selah moments, just simply afford something to us, to Us, that we just simply need.

He and me. That's it.

We love the kids; passionately, wholey, unconditionally. But they will grow up. They will leave. They will become transient in our home. And He and Me will remain. If we want to know each other then we have to keep learning each other now. If we still want to see each other then we have to make eye contact now. Then, I want to still remember the rightness I feel in holding his hand and having mine held in his. We can cultivate these things in the everyday, but getting away is good.

Getting away is really good.

We had an awesome plan that would've included planes and unbelievable accomodations (sniff, sniff, operamama...) while pretending to be native New Yorkers. It was a fabulous plan. But it didn't work out.

I know. Everybody take a minute to groan and mourn the failure of the plan. It's okay. We had to, too. But this ends well, I assure you.

We regrouped, put our game face back on, and made another plan. And though I would've loved to escape to NYC and to show Ma Luffin' Mayun new sights and sounds, the new plan is lovely and organic and simple and comfy and right. And coincidentally, it totally falls in line with all things winnowish (hey, it could be a word. Need I remind you "bootylicious" made it into the dictionary? It's the end of the world as we know it...but I feel fine).

We will take Brilliant Beauty to school as usual on Monday and then take Little Big Man and Pretty Baby to KakiBlackBarry's, one of the Us-es' homes-away-from-home, second only to Tunan's/Papa's and Nana's/Pawpaw's. After that we will depart for the north Georgia mountains, to a place called Amicalola Falls. There is an awesome spot we have wanted to go for years, but just haven't until now. It is called Hike Inn and the only way to access it is to "hike in" a little over five miles, where dinner and a sunset await. You can read more about it here, but let me show you some pictures.



Nice, huh? I think so. The room accomodations are certainly rustic. We will sleep in bunk beds (this makes me laugh just to type it). There are no TVs or computers or phones, etc. Just trees and sunshine and mountains and us (and likely some "granolas" running the place). This is where we will spend Monday night. Apparently if the sunrise is particularly spectacular (or maybe even mediocre...can sunrises be mediocre?) on Tuesday morning, someone will beat a drum loudly to wake us all up to see it. Could you imagine anything more romantic? Okay, maybe not the drum, but whatever...

On Tuesday we will hike another five+ miles back out and spend Tuesday night at the Amicalola Falls Lodge. Where Hike Inn promises a simple and rugged experience, the Lodge will afford us a king-sized bed, jacuzzi tub, kitchenette, private balcony, electricity in general, and other great amenities. We will be occupying the executive suite on our visit. Here's some pictures I snagged of the Lodge and, again, the falls.



I think it's pretty nifty to get such a spread of experiences in one three-day/two-night excursion. In addition to the accomodations we will have dinner and breakfast provided at Hike Inn, and breakfast provided at Amicalola Lodge. Those are nice perks.

Here are a few things that make this trip winnowish:
-it's more affordable because of it's nearby location
-the total cost for our accomodations (including the three meals mentioned above) falls under $350.00
-the obvious absence of technology and even creature comforts at Hike Inn provides us with a good quantity of time that we will hopefully chock full of quality

So, yeah. I'm pretty excited. Actually, I'm really excited.

It's hard to leave the kids. But it's harder to not break away every so often and to remember and experience a fuller otherness than being Daddy and Mommy.

Afterall, it started with Us...
Once upon a time (1997) . . .

And they lived happily ever after (2010) . . .

Frugal Friday

I'm not a motor cross fan, but this shirt sums up my super-awesome fun I'm having with couponing. The man half of our BFF couple, upon being regaled with yet another of my couponing success stories, said, "Wait. Is this an addiction?" KakiBlack and I just laughed. Like all good addicts might say, "NO! I can stop anytime I want". But with savings like these, why would I?

Seriously, I do have to check myself often because there are deals and freebies and coupons and special offers all over the place and every time I turn around on the world-wide-tangled-web. They're all great, but they aren't all necessary for the life of our FabFive. If the couponing is helpful at winnowing our spending, GREAT. If the couponing is creating mental clutter and sucking time better spent somewhere else, NOT SO GREAT. Once again, it's an area in which I will have to continually refocus and reset my aim so I don't just go cuckoo with it...or become an addict.

Having said all of that, I am so pleased with the results of this week's shopping excursions. To help frame up the success, here are my goals in the area of shopping:
-Spending no more than $100.00 per week on food, toiletries, paper goods, and cleaning supplies combined

-Not compromising healthy snacks and meals for convenience or expense

-Stockpiling items, BUT only when they are at their lowest cost (like FREE)

-Keeping an organized system for coupon and sales flyer storage

-Maintaining an organized system of coupon sorting for the week's shopping list

-Compiling an orderly and concise shopping list, covering three+ stores, that can be shopped in two hours or less

I'm working through all of these goals, tweaking here and there. I'm still finding my way through the process, my style, my coupon comfort zone.

***Wait. I just realized I'm writing a post about coupon shopping. For my family. Of five. Huh. I'm really not twenty years old anymore. The weirdest things drive that reality home. Anyway...***

So here are this week's totals:
Kroger
18 items purchased
$ 64.36 total retail value
$ 32.56 total spent
$ 31.80 total saved
That's a savings of 49% off of the retail value.

Target
45 items purchased
$156.50 total retail value
$ 70.35 total spent
$101.15 total saved (I got back $10.00 in gift cards and will receive $20.00 in rebates - that was added to the $70.15 that I saved at checkout)
That's a savings of 64% off of the retail value.

Publix
44 items purchased
$105.24 total retail value
$ 32.01 total spent
$ 73.23 total saved (Shut UP. What, then?!)
That's a savings of 70% off of the retail value.

My combined totals are:
107 items
$326.10 total retail value
$134.92 total spent
$206.18 total saved (including $10.00 gift card and $20.00 in rebates)
That's a savings of 63% off of the retail value.

Hip, hip, hooray, I've got to say. Here's just a sample of some of the loot:
14 jars of organic baby food
formula
fresh produce
fresh frozen vegetables
shampoo and conditioner
deodorant
2 Frog Princess DVDs
band-aids
cereal

And here are items that I have stockpiled enough to last AT LEAST through summer:
shampoo and conditioner
deodorant
toothpaste
dental floss
toothbrushes
soap
dish soap
laundry detergent
cereal

I have other smaller stockpiles of other goodies (laundry detergent, granola bars, paper products, cake mixes...). I LOVE it. Three times this week the us-es and our fabulous neighbor kiddos were out playing and I had snacks aplenty for them. Ah, the joy.

Thus concludes this week's installment of Frugal Friday. Oh, happy day!

P.S. I am not a candidate for stockpiling ready-to-bake cookie dough or canisters of cake frosting. My selected mode of storage is my belly. I had my suspicions to this fact. I removed all doubt last week by plowing through the stash. Ouch. Talk about driving it like you stole it...

Expanding The To-Do List So It Includes...Um, Well...SOMETHING

Good morning, my fine friends.

Hubby's home and my mood is considerably less heavy than when I last met you here on the blogosphere. Lesson hard-learned, that ol' I-can't-do-it-in-my-own-strength one. Phew. If I'm not careful I might throw my back out...or a shoe...or a tantrum.

Help is good. Help is real good ("Please, sir. May I have some more?", in my best Oliver accent).

When I look around me I get the distinct impression that nothing in the way of winnowing has happened over the last ten to twelve days. Hmm. Why does it feel that way? Let me think. Oh yeah; because nothing has.

Well there you go. Mystery revealed.

I have to say that in the name of flexibility whilst adjusting to WeFour becoming the FabFive I have had a pretty haphazard schedule. I mean, there is an important degree of consistency; morning time before Brilliant Beauty is off to school, Pretty Baby's feeding schedule, nap times for the smallest two of the us-es, picking Brilliant Beauty up from school, etc. It's not all willy-nilly around here. But what I am waking up to see (finally, Rip Van Winkle!) is that there are large portions of the day that are not being used well, thus creating even larger gaps in my efforts to sift, shift, steward, and save. And this has one, big, ugly, dirt-covered snowball effect.

Hear me say (or, uh, see me type) that I will never be the kind of person that has every second of the day predestined for noble and necessary tasks. I'm pretty certain that unless I have some sort of personality or behavioral transplant I will never have every thing checked off on life's epic TO-DO list. I remember my Mom having a sign when we were growing up that read, "An immaculate house is a sign of a misspent life". Agreed. I like the way that woman thinks. But I also think a house in disorder is a sign of a misspent life. Let's shoot for center, shall we?

I can deal with "messy". Messy is what happens in everyday life. Junky, dirty, and disorganized is what happens when minimal thought and effort is put into the little and big things alike that are needed to make a home run relatively smoothly. I'm not sure how I did it, but incrementally I have put too much thought and effort too many other places until we find ourselves in the midst of a chaotic Quaint Cottage.

Boo hiss.

Okay then. So let's regroup.

I took some time over the last couple of days to really try to identify the whats, whens, and hows that are getting in the way of peace and order around Quaint Cottage. Over the last few months I have really gotten rid of so much unused and underused stuff that the blame can't be placed there anymore. It really comes down to this: me and how I'm using (and misusing) my time.

Here's some confessions, stepping stones if you will, on the path to Here...
-Both the owning and the winnowing of the stuff have each in their turn taken too much of my focus.
-I have stepped over the mundane, but EXTREMELY necessary, tasks of the everyday to work on other "more exciting" projects (also needing to be done, but that could totally wait). Sometimes this is okay (winnowing Little Big Man's room which was beyond critical mass vs. unloading the dishwasher). Sometimes this is bad (rearranging...again...the laundry room for future grocery stockpiling vs. washing at least a load or two of Mount St. Stanky).
-Hold onto your butts for this one...I play the "I'm the tired mommy of three little ones" card throughout the day to give myself an excuse for slacking off. I'm not talking about those necessary little breaks to sit and soak up quiet or a bath or a book. I'm talking about sheer laziness. There, I said it. Ick.
-When I do need a break, I go to the wrong things to recharge my energies. Quiet, music, reading, meditation and prayer, writing, QUALITY time with the us-es, sitting outside, doing something with my hands like knitting or cross-stitching or painting, cooking...these things energize me. Watching a movie, knocking around on the internet for too long, perpetual snacking...these things offer an instant gratification that ultimately sucks the life out of me.
-I procrastinate. I'll elaborate on this one later. (Heh, heh...these are the jokes, folks.)
-I can fly by the seat of my pants when necessary. I can also fly by the seat of my pants when it would be a whole lot better to just make a plan and aim for sticking to it.
-I can get lost in the nebulae of working in the home with no boss or job description and forget the end goal.

These are each contributing factors to the mayhem. I've grown up hearing the adage "aim for nothing and you'll hit it every time". This is the diagnosis for the daily tasks: my aim has been off. Some days I don't even show up for target practice.

We've had quite enough of that, I can assure you.

My new aim: A Place For Everything And Everything In It's Place.

My goal: A Smoother And More Consistent Home Environment That Fosters Peace For Anyone Who Enters.

My aim isn't perfection. My goal isn't an immaculate house. My desire isn't checks in the boxes on a to-do list. We just need better around here. I can do better. The us-es deserve better. I deserve better.

So I made a plan, a schedule for each day of the week, to aid me and the us-es in consistency and moderation and perseverance with managing our household. I feel very good about it. I think it is well-thought out, sensible, reasonable, and do-able. I printed each day's schedule on it's own sheet of paper, hole-punched them, and put them in a notebook.

Here are just a few elements that are part of the schedule each week:
-a new wake-up time to allow for showering and dressing everyday before the kids are awake
-ways to "eat the elephant a bite at a time", i.e. washing/folding/hanging/putting away ONE load of laundry every day, cleaning any dishes in the sink at the start of the day, making Brilliant Beauty's lunch for the next day the night before, etc.
-designating each day for only one "major" project, i.e. Monday = finances/budgeting/pay bills, Wednesday = dust/vacuum kids' rooms, Friday = clean bathrooms, etc.
-a designated day and time for grocery shopping
-built-in time to be focused on the us-es (not just being in the same room at the same time, but being together)
-designated start and stop time for me to spend online
-work-free times built in (especially during the weekend) to spend time together as the FabFive
-designation of certain daily tasks away from me and to Ma Luffin' Mayun and Brilliant Beauty
-a stop time each day so that when we are all home together in the evening no one is rushing around to get major cleaning/winnowing projects done

And there you have it. We'll give this a try. I am very optimistic about it's potential. Goals are good. Even the Bible talks about people perishing for a lack of vision.

Here's to seeing more clearly.

Frugal Friday to come...

Frugal Friday I Cannot Tell A Lie

Well, that's not entirely true. I can lie with the best of them. Tell a "half-truth", lie by omission, keep a nice smile and "hospital corners" when things really aren't going so good.

Today, things aren't going so good. So I decided not to lie about that, even to you.

First let me say that everything is fine...fine in the sense that no one is not taken care of or lacking basic necessities or hurt or even depressed. Let me say all of that right here up front so that you can be at ease that nothing is at critical mass. In fact, at this moment I'm enjoying quiet in the house while Brilliant Beauty is off on her first overnighter ever out of town with our children's ministry, Pretty Baby is sleeping in her bassinet, and Little Big Man is occupied with a cardboard box that is absolutely living up to the stereotype of being more fun to play with than any toy we could buy.

But I am discouraged.

That's another one of those words that gets thrown around and used generically until I'm not really sure what it's true meaning is. As is typical with me, I looked it up. "A deprivation of confidence". Yep, that sounds about right.

It's been a tough week. As I said a post or so ago, Ma Luffin' Mayun left on Tuesday morning and returns tomorrow from a conference in Florida. I really love that he has had this experience over the last several days. The focus of the conference is servant leadership. He oozes this concept, always looking for ways to serve, to make no name for himself, and to infuse that kind of frame of mind, soul, and spirit into the lives he has the privilege and responsibility to lead, both in the four walls of Quaint Cottage and within vocational ministry. I know these five days he has had are like bricks and mortar on the foundation already laid in his person to be the kind of leader who sees the Big Picture, keeps a hand to the plow, and wants a life so lived on this stage as to please only an audience of One. I completely support his being exactly where he is.

But it sucks.

I know that it has been a good week, both there with him and here with us. I can look back on the week and see really good things I accomplished. I can see that I was a good mommy to the us-es. I know they got food and sleep and diaper changes and conversation and clean clothes and baths and taken to school and picked up from school and even little somethings special throughout the week. The dog got let out and let back in and fed and watered. I know the facts of all of that.

But I also see the failures. I never called my sweet brother-in-law back this week when he just called to check on me, or Pawpaw or Nana, or KakiBlack tonight. The house looks like it had a 96-hour stomach flu and has repeatedly thrown up from it's deepest bowels all over itself (gross, I know). I haven't called to check on my Mom like I should while my Dad is in Thailand. Little Big Man hasn't worn a single pair of underwear since his daddy left, leaving him in pull-ups and stimeying potty-training this week. I've eaten the junkiest junk all week, inhaling it like I won a reward challenge on Survivor, when I get a sideways minute between all the tasks the days and children require.

I'm tired. So very tired.

I'm tired of being "on". I'm tired of answering questions. I'm tired of repeating myself. I'm tired of distributing food. I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of listening. I'm tired of redirecting behavior. I'm tired of sun-up to sun-down and no "thank you". I'm tired of diapers and dirty clothes. I'm tired of homework. I'm tired of watching the clock to make sure everything is happening that needs to and that it's happening when it needs to. I'm tired of VeggieTales and Clifford and Angelina Ballerina. I'm tired of loading and unloading kids and cargo from the jeep. I'm tired of being composed under the pile of duties I have had to manage this week.

Sincerely, I don't really know how the one-parent households make it. If you are a single parent reading this, please hear me say that you are in my thoughts and my prayers and my awe and my concerns. It is not for the faint of heart.

I love my us-es. I love my job of caring for them. I love that I know it is what I am supposed to be doing on this earth at this time without a doubt.

But sometimes I want to pitch a fit. Or scream. Or get some seriously major recognition for my efforts. Or go on a trip knowing everything at home is completely covered. Or cry. Or do nothing and not have to answer to anybody for it.

I'm really tired. And in this moment it is glaringly clear that I have been and done some really awesome things this week, and in some ways nothing of what I truly wanted.

I wish the house was clean. I wish I hadn't eaten that. I wish I'd spent the time on the Better Thing. I wish the laundry was done.

Wishes don't wash dishes.

I don't know where I'm going with any of this. I just know that I don't experience anything that someone else hasn't, isn't, or won't in the future. And I would never want this blog to become some monument to a half-truth; a lie. It's not all killer grocery deals, winnowing perfection, and bright ideas.

Sometimes it's deprivation of confidence.

Sometimes I forget who I am. And it's not the us-es' fault. It's not even that I get lost so much in the epic amount of stuff that comes along with and is required for the us-es; not always. Sometimes it's that I get lost in some sort of idea of what I think everything should look like. The idea is often unrealistic and rigid and based in something entirely other. And walking hand in hand with the idea is this attitude of striving. The ironic result is the discovery of a destination that doesn't exist and a path that only goes in circles.

I'm pretty sure I wanted people to be amazed at my ability to maintain and excel this week in my husband's absence. I'm pretty confident that I thought I would get mammoth amounts of stuff done, disregarding the utter lack of free time. I'm pretty positive that I thought I had enough within me to accomplish all the "have to"s and most of the "want to"s.

I put a lot of stock in me.

There's the problem. Me ran out days ago.

It isn't Ma Luffin' Mayun's fault. It isn't the us-es' faults. Really, it just is what it is.

I am my own most easily depleted resource.

There's a Better Way and I chose in a lot of ways not to walk it this week. Ma Luffin' Mayun told me on the phone one day this week that one of the speakers at the forum talked about the reality that God will not help you to be somebody that you are not. I go a step further and say He can only work with the most organic, authentic person we really are. How could He help me to the fullest this week when I had an iron-clad front in the form of a huge "S" on my chest?

Resting it all on my shoulders, my abilities, my charisma, my energy, is exhausting and stupid and comical and tragic. And I'm done.

I'll have to learn this lesson again, I'm sure, on another day through another set of circumstances and at a varied degree.

But I can take a hint.

I will have to fight the urge tomorrow to create a ruse that the house was spotless in hubby's absence, or that I consistently washed laundry, or that it was all a piece of cake. I'll also have to fight the urge to dump it all in his lap when he walks through the door.

It is what it is, and it's been what's it's been.

However, I do believe I'll tap a Resource that is not renewable or recyclable or puffed up with airs, but, rather, ever-present, real, and eternal.

What could I be or do if my deprived confidence rested and refueled There?

Already, I feel like I'm breathing deeper and cleaner than I have all day.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day...Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:1-5,10 (emphasis mine)

It's A Small World Afterall - Second Edition

Top o' the mornin' afternoon, to ya!

Once more, I've been checking out the analytics for my little piece of the blogosphere (nerd, still), and just wanted to give an appreciative and humble shout out to:

-Miami, FL, USA
-Lake Worth, FL, USA
-Hialeah, FL, USA
-Orlando, FL, USA
-Athens, GA, USA (whatup, new homeys!)
-Atlanta, GA, USA
-Winder, GA, USA (Hi, Mom!)
-Roswell, GA, USA
-Commerce, GA, USA
-Jefferson, GA, USA
-Rutledge, GA, USA
-Warner Robbins, GA, USA (is that you, TopNotchTeacher?)
-Statham, GA, USA (formerly known as Hell's Half-Acre when the passenger train still came through...seriously...)
-Augusta, GA, USA
-Snellville, GA, USA
-Aiken, SC, USA
-Charlotte, NC, USA (of Bosak Buttsacks fame, I believe...)
-Fayetteville, NC, USA (Hello, grandest of Grands! Give Grandad a kiss for me.)**
-Cordova, TN, USA
-Memphis, TN, USA (is that you, My12Hats?) Bring it, biscuit, with another post, willya?! Don't worry, I won't give up on you.
-McNeil, TX, USA
-San Antonio, TX, USA
-Spring, TX, USA
-Bulverde, TX, USA
-Dallas, TX, USA
-New York, NY, USA
-Brooklyn, NY, USA (how's the gestating, friend?) We're like ships passing in the night it would seem. Missed that hug.
-Seattle, WA, USA (Thank you, oh thank you, for alternative rock. Truly.)
-Denver, CO, USA
-San Francisco, CA, USA
-Los Angeles, CA, USA (I knew Hollywood would come calling one of these days)
-Berwyn, PA, USA
-Bloomsburg, PA, USA
-Birmingham, AL, USA
-Farmington, MI, USA
-Chicago, IL, USA (Oprah, is that you? Am I one of your favorite things?)
-Yazoo City, MS, USA (That sounds fun)
-Honolulu, HI, USA (luck-y)
-Portland, OR, USA
-Charlottesville, VA, USA
-Salt Lake City, UT, USA
-Washington, DC, USA (Mr. President?!)
-Canada (Anne Shirley, is that you? I'll be there as quick as I can!) I'm going to be later than I thought
-London, England (now I'm a little self-conscious about my grammar and usage of the English language...)
-Glenrothes, England United Kingdom (England or UK, which do you prefer? I aim to please.)
-Frankfurt Am Main, Germany (Mit tiefer dankbarkeit!)
-Brisbane, Australia (Thanks for sending the sun and moon back our direction every day!) ...and thanks for coming back!
-Shannon, Ireland ("You're a corker, Shannon." Please tell me that's not an insult.)
-Kingston, Jamaica
-Malaysia (Technically speaking, they hit the blog and bounced right back out. Ah, well.)

Wow. That's just crazy. Thanks to all of you for dropping in. I hope you're finding a little something to keep you coming back. God bless you.
Really, really, truly, truly, thanks for reading. Really, I don't have any idea what I'm doing most of the time, and don't know if there is a real point to the blog for anyone else other than me (and it gets lost even on me sometimes), but, truly, thank you for reading! Really. Truly. Too much? Okay.

Now, off to the winnowing Daddy's-out-of-town-and-Mommy's-running-this-zoo-by-herself races! Thanks, KakiBlackBarry for keeping the kiddos while I work (and blog, apparently) today.

P.S. Little Big Man Booty Boot Camp is in full force. Pray, saints... Um, yeah. We're getting there.

**My lovely Grandmother, JoCanMax, is missing from the analytics reporting. She has now been added to the list.

Who Takes Pictures Of Their Groceries?

Um, that would be me.

Not always. Just this time.

In another move of utter self-exposure, I am telling (or showing) you exactly what I got at the grocery store(s) yesterday. There is actually a point to this.

One of the entities I perpetually try to winnow is our budget. Well, let's be honest. Perpetually is definitely a wrong word choice. It evokes in my mind images of constancy; toiling without letting up until something's accomplished or achieved. I whimsically buy enough overpriced 20-ounce beverages when I'm out and about, lah-dee-dah, to rule out using "perpetually" to describe my budget-winnowing efforts. So to be a realist about it let's replace perpetually with "frequently".

Okay, whatever. I frequently try to winnow our budget, looking for where we can cut cost or spend less, or even shift spending from one area to another. And I love when the trying actually materializes into doing and we find new ways to loosen up some funds we may be wasting or overlooking or putting towards the wrong things. My SisterFriend isn't much different (of course, we do share DNA). Along these same goal lines, she started the epic adventure of extreme couponing around two months ago. She is pysching all of us out with her ridiculous savings and huge hauls of depletable resources for her zoocrew of six to use. Her kids have recently commented on her couponing adventures saying the deals are so good it's like she flat-out stole the stuff.

Alas, as is often sometimes the case with siblings, I took the ol' big sister's cues and started my own journey into the vast dimension of couponing. Believe me, it is another dimension and I hear Twilight Zone music every time, but it's starting to pay off.

I have no desire, and even less the energy needed to explain all of the ins and outs of couponing methods (Ma Luffin' Mayun is out of town for this from Tuesday through Sunday, thus leaving me with...well, everything...thus the lack of energy, verily I say unto thee). I certainly can do that at a later time if any of you show interest. But I do want to just whet your appetites to see what an awesomely great couponing experience can look like and result in.

If you enjoy the recap, thank you, thank you very much. If you don't, blame it on SisterFriend. She started it.

Let me show you everything I got. Then I'll tell you what I spent.

FRUITS & VEGETABLES
19 bags of fresh-frozen veggies

2 bunches of fresh asparagus
3 cartons of prewashed sliced mushrooms
3 heads of broccolli
2 bunches of bananas
5 cameo apples (and since they're cameo apples they came with a free bright red thingy that I'm not sure what to do with...here's how this dude decided to use his...and a cassette tape of "Word Up!")

DAIRY PRODUCTS
1 dozen eggs
2 gallons of milk
2 blocks of natural cheddar cheese
26 containers of yogurt

BREAD
6 loaves of wheat bread
4 bags of pita bread

MEATS
2 icky, disgusting lunchables Brilliant Beauty couldn't be more thrilled about
3 packages of sirloin steak
4 packages of all-natural boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 packages all-natural sandwich meat

PANTRY MISCELLANY
1 bottle extra virgin olive oil (I can't call it "evoo". Actually, I refuse. I also can't pay $137 for a bottle of it just because Rachael Ray's face is plastered on it. Uh, oh. Did I just alienate some readers? Do I have readers? Did he just call himself "the talent"?)
1 bottle vegetable oil
5 cans soup (I actually think I lost a can somewhere between Here and There)
2 boxes instant oatmeal
2 pouches single-use dried potatoes

FROZEN NONSENSE (a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men)
5 bags frozen biscuits
2 bags cinnamon rolls
2 bags mini cinnamon rolls

JUNK (read: What My Butt Won't Thank Me For Later But My Us-es Will)
2 boxes of brownie mix
2 bags of cookie mix
3 cake mixes
3 cake frostings
2 2-pack single serve desserts
4 packages of ready-to-bake cookies
2 bags of flavored snack mix
2 boxes of crunchy granola bars
2 boxes of popcorn
5 boxes of chewy granola bars
1 bag of tortilla chips

TOILETRIES
3 bars of kid soap
4 containers of floss
4 deodorants

HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES
4 bottles of dish soap
1 box of trash bags

Pretty good looking pile o' stuff. I shopped at Kroger and Publix. Here's my spending breakdown per store:
Publix
$125.99 total retail value
$ 58.28 total spent
$ 67.71 total saved
That's a savings of 54% off of the retail value.

Kroger
$207.91 total retail value
$108.33 total spent
$ 99.88 total saved
That's a savings of 49% off of the retail value.

My combined totals are:
106 items
$333.90 total retail value
$166.61 total spent
$167.59 total saved
That's a savings of 50% off of the retail value.

Wowzers. I saved more than I spent, and stuck within the amount I wanted to spend on groceries. And actually, $166.61 is LESS than what we have been spending the last several months on groceries without couponing, buying virtually nothing name brand, and absolutely not stockpiling any items. Nice.

So I've winnowed some grocery cost. I aim to get even better at it. I know I can reduce the spending even more as I figure out what I'm doing a little more in this surreality of couponing.

How about you? Are you saving money in some way? Saving time? Winnowing your own "too much" of something, making room and space for something better? Let me hear from you.

P.S. Laundry's backed up. Dishes are dirty. I'm stepping over toys and clothing the us-es seem to teleport out of. BUT my pantry's full.

Don't despise the process...

Frugal Friday

It's been a busy week, but I can't put my finger exactly on what made it so busy. Just life, really. Ma Luffin' Mayun had a huge event this past weekend, gone from Friday to Sunday with 600 teenagers (gulp), so there was family time to catch up on. Brilliant Beauty had her first project to complete for her SCOPE class. Little Big Man is progressing well on the PottyTrain, and Pretty Baby is eating Jethro portions of homemade fruit and veggie dishes and cereals. All the while clothes are being worn, dishes are being used, and toys are being strewn to and fro.

Phew. Maybe I can put my finger on what made the week so busy.

A long time ago, even before I ever actually did it, I decided I wanted to make my own cleaning products to be used around the house. I have a few reasons:
-I wanted products that aren't laced with chemicals that could potentially hurt these babies we continue to add to the family. I may not be able to explain the harmful effects of each unpronounceable chemical in the store-bought products, but if they burn your eyes and singe your nose hairs I'm thinking it doesn't hurt to replace them.
-In my staunch stubbornness to not spend the money, I am always determined to find ways to just do or make things myself. I once again refuse to spend a huge chunk of the ol' paycheck on over-priced cleaning supplies. Now that I know a little more what I am doing in the cleaning-product-making department, I know I'll NEVER spend the money on the store-bought stuff. (P.S. why are the foods and products that are best for EVERYONE so flipping expensive? Probably because we'll pay, we who have lost the art of thinking through, growing, preparing, and using the stuff on our own...but I'll climb that soapbox on another day, perhaps.)
-I like to do the mixin' (read: pretend to be a scientist).
-It's extremely gratifying to look at the finished product(s), use them, watch them achieve their intended purpose, and know I made them with stuff I had right in my pantry.

I took some time this morning to mix up new batches of my standard cleaning products, so I thought I would take you on a little tour, show you what goes in them and how incredibly easy they are to make. Too bad we don't have smell-o-blog because they also smell super great.

Let me first say I have picked up cleaner recipes here and there for years from books, the internet, and friends. My eternal and golden pal WagStat has been in similar pursuits for years and started a blog of her findings and sometimes foibles as she works towards "green"ery that's just her right fit.

Here's my little army of cleaners. Don't they look like a formation of soldiers standing at attention?


In order from left to right they are:
window cleaner
mildew remover
heavy-duty cleaner
all-purpose cleaner


Here are my recipes for each product. If you're like me, you'll have at least a vague recollection from childhood of these ingredients being used to clean. Again, I am not original, nothing is new under the sun, and women and men smarter and wiser figured out the uses of these items long before me. These are just my recipes.

window cleaner
You need: one spray bottle (I got mine for $1.00 and it has measuring marks down the side which is helpful when mixing proportions), white vinegar, essential oil (whatever smell you like), water

Mix the following:
50% white vinegar
50% water
30 drops of essential oil

Shake it up, and there you go. That's all you need. I will say that even with the essential oil this stuff still smells pretty vinegary, but it is an excellent cleaner (I remember Tunan using vinegar and newspaper to clean windows and mirrors when I was a kid. I think of that when I use this).

mildew remover
You need: one spray bottle, hydrogen peroxide, water

Mix the following:
1 part hydrogen peroxide
2 parts water

Shake it up. Spray this on anything with mildew (window seals, kitchen, bath), let it sit for fifteen to thirty minutes, and then wipe away. Works great.

heavy-duty cleaner
You need: one spray bottle, borax, liquid soap, essential oil, water

Mix the following:
*1/2 cup borax
2 tablespoons liquid soap
10 drops essential oil
water - enough to fill bottle to the fill-line

Shake it up. This cleaner is really good for the tougher-to-clean messes around the house, great for greasy messes, and for thoroughly cleaning places that tend to get the dirtiest like bathrooms.

all-purpose cleaner
You need: one spray bottle, liquid soap, essential oil, water

Mix the following:
2 tablespoons liquid soap
20 drops essential oil
water - enough to fill bottle to the fill-line

We use this for EVERYTHING around Quaint Cottage; counters, tables, walls...you name it.

Here's one more product that I use. This is a scouring paste.

I use this when I need to scour a surface. It works great in combination with the window cleaner because the vinegar reacts with the baking soda, making fizzy cleaning goodness (that is the scientific explanation of the chemical reaction, I'm quite sure).

scouring paste
You need: one wide-mouthed mason jar, box of baking soda, liquid soap, water (you can scent it with essential oil if you like)

Mix the following in a bowl:
box of baking soda
3 tablespoons liquid soap
2 tablespoons water

Combine all of these until it forms a nice paste. Transfer it to the mason jar. Just scoop out what you need when you need it (I just use my hand to scoop it out). That's all there is to it.


Here's a little more miscellaneous information . . .
I use liquid castile soap and I love it. It goes a super long way in the amounts I'm using it, is scented with all kinds of great natural fragrances, and completely safe for all the us-es. This link also includes a recipe for using castile soap in an automatic dishwasher. I just discovered it, and we'll be making a batch of that soon. One of my bottles is scented with lavender, and the other with tea tree oil. I actually didn't use the essential oils this time because the soap smelled so good by itself.

Remember, you can use ANY liquid soap you choose. It doesn't have to be castile soap. Basic dish soap works fine.

*Borax is awesome and amazing stuff. I do find that it tends to clump, so when I make the heavy-duty cleaner I pour the borax in and use a potato masher to thoroughly break up the clumps before funneling it into the bottle.

Another thing you can use the heavy-duty cleaner for is spraying around baseboards and door entries for pest control. How awesome is that?!

Make sure you pick essential oils that you can stand the smell of. There are a million to choose from and a few drops go a long way. I picked a smell one time, though, and used it in the all-purpose cleaner which meant I smelled it often. Blech. It was a nice smell in theory, but not in practice. Choose wisely according to your taste.

The window cleaner can also be used as a finishing spray if you feel there is a soapy residue from the scouring paste or the heavy-duty cleaner. It will take it right up.

This time around in my mixing I decided to "color code" the cleaners to make it easier for the us-es to identify the cleaners. I simply did this with literally just a couple of drops of food coloring. Presto. Colored cleaners.

I also write the type of cleaner and it's recipe on the plastic bottles with a permanent marker. I never have to remember the recipe.

I'm not sure if I remembered everything I wanted to say, but one never does, do they? Let me know if you have questions. There are all kinds of places online with recipes for cleaning products. You know me...just google it.

Here's to frugal Friday. I'm off to clean. With this FabFive, the mess possibilities are endless. Buh-lee dat!

Happy sifting!