Money Saving Mom®

I had the opportunity to sit in on two of Heidi St. John’s sessions at the Teach Them Diligently conference this past weekend. And while I gleaned a lot of different things from both of them, one phrase she said in the time management session has etched itself forever in my memory:

“You don’t have a time management problem. You have a ME management problem.”

Gulp.

How often I want to blame being behind and disorganized on the lack of time, the overloaded schedule, or the alarm clock that failed to go off? I’ve got a dozen excuses, but very rarely do any of them involve ME.

A bad system is not the problem.

An unreliable clock is not the problem.

A too-full schedule is not the problem.

I am the problem.

That’s bad news, but it’s also good news. You know why? Because if I’m the problem that means I’m also the solution.

Fixing my time management issues doesn’t start with a new system, a better clock, or a less-full schedule. It starts with me.

Once I own that I am the problem, I can then begin implementing a solution.

For more helpful time management tips and suggestions, check out my Time Management 101 series and my ebook, 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life.

photo credit

Local Health Food Store

6 Oranges @ 3/$1 – $2 total

2.25 lbs Gala Apples @ $0.99/lb – $2.23 total

Organic Cucumbers (2 pk) – $0.79 total

Organic Green Bell Peppers (2 pk) – $0.79 total

Carrots (2 lb bag) – $0.79 total

Total with tax: $7.08 

Aldi

1 Gallon Milk – $1.99

1 Roma Tomatoes – $1.19

Total with tax: $3.41 

Dillon’s

1 Dillons Bread – $1

2 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta – $1 each, used $1/2 coupon from the 4/28 SmartSource insert – $0.50 each after coupon

1 Fruttare Frozen Bars – $4.99, used Free Dillons e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon

1 Sargento Sliced Cheese – $2.50, used $1/1 catalina coupon – $1.50 after coupon

1 Kroger Shredded Cheddar Cheese – $1.67

1 Kroger Butter – $2.29 (that’s cheaper than Aldi right now!)

1 Yoplait Trix Yogurt (4 pk) – Marked down to $1.19 (I wished I would have had a coupon for this.)

1 Dannon Activia Yogurt (12 pk) – Marked down to $1 (Amazing price for a 12 pk!) 🙂

1 Nestle Hot Chocolate – Marked down to $1.59 (I needed this for a get-together I’m hosting.)

1 Post Great Grains Cereal – $2.69, used $1/1 catalina coupon – $1.69 after coupon (My Mom gave me this coupon as she knows this is one of my very favorite cereals and since I haven’t had it in months, I couldn’t wait for a better deal. Yum!)

French Yellow Mustard – $1.25, used $0.50/1 coupon from the 5/12 SmartSource insert (doubled) – $0.25 after coupon

2 Yakisoba Ramen Noodles – $1 each, used 2 $0.50/1 coupon from the 5/19 insert (doubled) – Free after coupons

1 U by Kotex Liners – $1.49, used $2/1 printable (no longer available) – Free after coupon

3 Special K Cereal Bars – $2.99 each, received $3 instant savings at register for buying 3, used 3 $0.70/1 printables – $0.99 each after coupons and instant savings

1 (5 lb bag) Potatoes – $1.99

1 can Kroger Black Beans – $0.69

Total before coupons and sales: $47.38

Total with tax after coupons: $20.72

Total for all grocery items: $31.21

Menu Plan for this Week

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Toast, Cereal, Fruit, Yogurt, Cinnamon Roll Cake

Lunches

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Carrot & Zucchini Bars (I’ll be slightly tweaking this recipe), Leftovers, Yogurt, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Fruits & Veggies

Dinners

Spaghetti, Sliced Oranges, Steamed Broccoli, Toast

Broccoli & Cheese Quiche, Steamed Cauliflower, 30-Minute Rolls

Mini German Pancakes, Grapefruit (from my mom)

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole, Tossed Salad

Chicken & Rice Casserole, Apples, Green Beans

Shepherd’s Pie, Biscuits, Sweet Corn, Tossed Salad

Date Night (eat out)

Remember how I blogged about meeting Beth, the mom of seven who has leukemia, at a homeschool conference recently? {Read this post here if you missed it.}

Since many of you asked if she had website or anyway you can follow along with her treatment, she graciously gave me permission to share a picture her son took of the two of us (above) and also a link to her Care Pages site (note: you’ll need to login or set up an account first in order to be able to view her page).

If you were inspired by what I wrote about her, would you take a moment and leave her a little note on her Care Pages site? I know it would mean so much to her.

You can also see pictures of her beautiful family on her Caring Bridge page, too.

I had a cold a few weeks ago and my nose was completely stuffed up one of the days. I was cooking up a big pot of something that day and got busy working on something else in the kitchen while it was simmering.

About 30 minutes later, Jesse arrived home from work and about choked when he walked in the door. He gave me a funny look and then looked at the stove and gasped, “How can you not smell that awful burning smell?!”

Then we both started laughing because we realized that I couldn’t smell a thing. Which was good — since the kitchen now reeked of burnt smell. But it would have never smelled like that had I been able to smell since my nose would have alerted me quite awhile before to turn the burner off. 🙂

At any rate, we aired the house out and have been working on trying to redeem the burned pot ever since. We’ve soaked it, scrubbed it, scraped it, run it through the dishwasher, and soaked it some more.

And it’s still a mess.

Anyone have some amazing tricks and tips for getting stubborn burned-on gunk off a pot? Let me in on your secrets in the comments and you’ll be my hero. 🙂 Thanks so much!

Want to do a little something for those who were devastated by the tornadoes yesterday? Here’s something that everyone can do — even if you don’t have any extra money to give.

Head over to the Box Tops for Education Facebook Page and claim 5 free BoxTops for the Plaza Towers Elementary School (one of the schools that was destroyed by the tornado). Just enter zip code 73160 and choose Plaza Towers School.

Also, be sure to sign up for the Box Tops 4 Education email newsletter to be eligible for a free product sample every month.

Thanks, Family Savings!