Starting Off Febuary Right

So in an effort to stick to my resolutions I finally saw the first benefit of weekly meal planning and once a week grocery shopping. I managed to go to the store and only pay $20 for the items I need for the week, my list contained: paper towels, two cans of tomatoes, one can of chili beans, 2 onions, and some sinus medicine for hubby. My highest priced items were the paper towels and medicine which totaled about $15 of the $20 I spent. I managed to get around buying much because I have been buying larger packages of meat at HEB where they markdown the price per pound about $.30 and I have been taking advantage of what they call weekly meal deals. This last week I was able to a 4 lb. bag of frozen chicken breasts (they were on my shopping list already) and get several items for free including: garlic chicken broth, corn tortillas, cornbread, and a mixed frozen vegetables. I wish we had another freezer because ours is currently packed with lots of frozen veggies, meat and all extra leftovers that I know won't be able to eat within a day or two.

The one other thing we are starting to work on is getting the apartment cleaned up and organized, my husband is reenlisting with the army as soon as he is able to clear all medical exams so we are expecting to get orders to move within a few months. My husband has looked at his options for when he signs a new contract and we are more than likely getting orders to go overseas by the end of summer. So this is causing lots of stress because I tend to worry about every little thing that needs to be done and I decided that we need to get rid of everything we can live without and organize like crazy. I found the best boxes for my craft room at Michael's they were on sale for $2 a piece normally $3.99 so I bought 10 of them... while my husband was hiding in the car for fear of me giving him a heart attack with the total. He seems to think that 10 boxes are more than enough and I am really kicking myself for not buying more now. I got them in all white and I have now filled up 8 of the 10 as follows:
Box 1: Sewing Thread and Bobbins
Box 2: Elastic, Velcro, ans Bias Tape
Box 3: Sewing Patterns
Box 4: Purse Handles
Box 5: Buttons
Box 6: Wax (for wax warmers)
Box 7: Candles
Box 8: Misc. Trims and Ribbons
Box 9: Soon to hold Embroidery Thread  I Had so much embroidery thread I actually bought different containers for them
Box 10: ?

If feels good seeing all my boxes match the next few things I need to get is matching bins that stack so I can store my yarn and fabric tastefully. Right now I have 3 small bins I picked up at the dollar tree years ago that hold some of my fabric, they only really work good for pieces under a yard in length so I can see what I have. I have a few things of fabric that are larger in size so they need bigger bins so they can be folded nicely as well as allowing me to see what I have on hand. I need my fabric bins to be the same as the ones for my yarn because I have soo much yarn. I plan on making a catalog of sorts so that I can always know what I have on hand and how much at any given time, I currently have 3 milk crates, a storage container and a couple of reusable bags filled with all of my yarn. I can't wait to get these organized so I can use what I have. After a couple of hours online looking for suitable storage bins I finally settled on these from Walmart, I am having them shipped to the store to save money and with taxes the were $27 for a set of six. They should work well with 2 of the crates I already have. That is all for now hopefully the next storage update will include pictures of my set up :)

Upcoming Year

So many of us tend to make resolutions and they get broken within a few weeks. Well my resolutions just happen to be ones that will be focusing on saving us money and eating a bit healthier. They will hopefully keep our lives in a healthy balance.

Step One: Every weekend compile the whole weeks worth of meals and ingredients, prep everything on Sunday and freeze them. Doing this will make our weeknight meals go a lot faster.

Step Two: Buy whole chickens, and use the carcasses to make homemade stock. Store bought stock is fairly expensive and I use a lot of broth and stock in place of water for many recipes.

Step Three: Making my own seasonings, We use a lot of taco seasoning, ranch, and onion soup mix. By making on our own we can make a bulk amount and we won't have to worry about buying those little packets that can cost a fortune.

Step Four: Make some of our breads from scratch. Flour tortillas, rolls, crescent rolls and some loaf breads.

Step Five: Purge most of the stuff we haven't been using.

Step Six: Organizing the craft room. Re-purposing shoe boxes and storage baskets.

Step Seven: Use as many of my crafting supplies without buying more.

Step Eight: Use some of my already purchased clothing patterns and fabric to make shirts