Get Orgnanized: Day One Results

There is nothing like posting something on a blog to motivate you to do it. I totally was not feeling like cleaning at all today but I mustered up the gumption and did it. You know it felt really good too. I had to wait til after Family Home Evening and putting the kids to bed to get this post up; so sorry it's so late. Well, this is how my closet turned out:




Everything is clean and organized in the closet. I now know where everything is and the stuff that needs to be used first is in the front. Go here to see what it looked like before.

I was also able to fill up these three boxes to give away.




My tip for today on organizing toiletries is re-purposing old diaper wipe tubs to store items that are small and don't stack well. I label them and make sure that I place them where I can read them easily. It also makes me feel better about all the diaper wipes that I have had to buy. Free storage containers are always welcome. Here's what mine look like:





My marker was running out of ink and I couldn't seem to find any of the ten million other sharpie markers roaming around my house. I will probably go back and make the labels darker later.

Tomorrow I am tackling my hallway closet. I spilled a box of pins today in there and haven't found them all yet. So it should be really fun. Check back and see how I do.

School Supply Deals This Week

Are you sick of back to school deals yet?

Hopefully not because I have another round of them for you. Lots more freebies this week.

Office Depot

:: FREE Backpack Offer

• FREE backpack with $10 minimum purchase. Selection varies by location. While supplies last. No rainchecks. Limit 2 per household/business.

:: Under $1 Deals

• Office Depot 6" Protractor, $0.05
• Office Depot 2-pocket Portfolio Folders, $0.25
• Office Depot Ballpoint Stick Pens (10 pk.), $0.25
• Office Depot 12" Wood Metal-Edge Rulers, $0.50
• Scholastic Standard Crayons (24 pk.), $0.69
• Office Depot Erasers, $0.79
• Office Depot Wood Pencils (12 pk.), $0.99
• Space Saver Pencil Case, $0.99
• Select Fashion Portfolio Folders, $0.99
• Scholastic Glue Sticks, $0.99
• Schoolworks 5” Kid Scissors, $0.99
• Assorted Fashion Notebooks, $0.99
• Assorted Composition Books, $0.99
• Assorted Binders & Portfolios, $0.99
• Assorted Memo Books, $0.99
• Assorted Pencil Pouches, $0.99

:: Other Deals

• Office Depot Value Notebook Filler Paper, $1
• Paper Mate Pencils, Mini Pens & Erasers, $1
• Oxford Index Cards, $1.29
• Wilson Jones 1" Binder, $1.49
• Sharpie Accent Generation Highlighters (5 pk.), $1.99
• Kleenex Boutique 3-Ply AntiViral Facial Tissue, $1.99
• Select Sharpie, Paper Mate Expression & Paper Mate EraseMate Pens, $2
• Assorted Locker Accessories, $2.99

:: B2G1 Mix & Match Deals

• Elmer's Washable School Glue, $1.29
• Foray Double Hole Manual Pencil Sharpener, $1.99
• Post-It Note Cubes 3x3, $5.99
• Neon Binder Clips (24 pk. or 36 pk.), $2.99
• Neon Book Rings, $1.99
• Office Depot Clipboard, $5.99
• PaperPro Single Hole Punch, $4.49
• Rubberband Ball, $0.99

Office Max

:: Under $1 Deals

• 12" Wood Rule with Metal Edge, $0.05 (Limit 6)
• OfficeMax or Just Basics #2 Pencils (12 pk. -- Limit 3)
• Paper Mate Black or Blue Ballpoint Pens (10 pk. -- Limit 3)
• OfficeMax Filler Paper (100 ct. -- Limit 6)
• Schoolio 1" or 1.5" Poly Binders (Limit 6)

:: Other Deals

• Avery Note Tabs, B2G1
• Crayola Crayons, Colored Pencils, or Markers, B2G1
• Iris Plastic Storage or Fellowes Bankers Boxes, B2G1
• OfficeMax 1, 3, or 5-Subject Notebooks, B2G1
• OfficeMax Durable View Binders, B2G1
• OfficeMax Inkjet, Laser, or All-In-One Paper (500 ct.), B2G1
• Trend Stickers or Classroom Decor, B2G1
• Wausau Astrobrights Colored Paper, B2G1
• OfficeMax Jumbo Glue Stick (1 pk.) or Small Glue Sticks (4 pk.), $1
• Westcott 8" Kleencut Scissors, $2
• Zebra Z-Grip Retractable Ballpoint Pens (7 pk.), $2
• PaperPro Nano Mini Stapler, $3
• Sharpie Accent Highlighters, $3
• Expo Dry-Erase Markers (4 pk.), $4
• Post-It 3x3 Notes Cube, $4
• Sharpie Permanent Markers (5 pk.), $4
• Subzero Stainless Steel Water Bottles, $4

:: BIC/Finish Line Offer

• BIC Pens, Pencils, or Wite-Out Correction Tape, B2G2

*Get $10 off $30 at Finish Line wyb 2 BIC Products.

:: Mead Offer

• FREE Mead Five Star Reinforced Filler Paper wyb Five Star Flex Binder or Notebook

Staples

:: FREE Multipurpose Paper

• Buy ANY ream of paper, get 100% back in Staples Rewards. (Limit 2)

:: Binder Bonanza

• Avery Economy 1" Binder, $0.59 (Limit 3)
• Avery Insertable 5-tab Dividers, $0.59 (Limit 3)
• Avery 1" Durable Binder, $1.50 ea. wyb 4
• Avery 1" Durable View Binder, $2 ea. wyb 4

*Get 20 bonus Box Tops For Education wyb $20 in Avery Products.

:: $1 Deals

• Avery Glue Sticks (3 pk.)
• BIC Great Erase Dry-Erase Markers Fine (4 pk.)
• BIC Wite-Out Quick Dry Correction Fluid (2 pk.)
• Kodak Premium 4x6 Photo Paper (100 pk.) -- after Easy Rebate
• Pentel R.S.V.P. Ballpoint Pens (5 pk.)
• Staedtler 6" Protractor
• Staples Dry-Erase Board Eraser
• Staples Gold Paper Clips
• Staples Pink Erasers (3 pk.)
• Stretch Pencil Box

:: $2 Deals

• #6 3/4 Envelopes Security (125 pk.)
• Assorted Mini Pencil Pounches
• Avery Note Tabs
• Expo Dry-Erase Board Cleaner
• Metal Pencil/Crayon Sharpener
• Pentel EnerGel Deluxe Gel Retractable Pens Medium (3 pk.)
• Pentel E.Sharp Mechanical Pencils (3 pk.)
• Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pens Fine (3 pk.)
• Pilot FriXion Erasable Highlighters (3 pk.)
• Quartet 8.5x11 Dry-Erase Board
• Really Useful Box (1.6 liter)
• Staples Adjustable Dividers (5 pk.)
• Staples Construction Paper 9x5 (200 pk.)
• Staples Invisible Tape (3 pk.)
• Staples Pencil Pouch
• Xcellence 10-Piece Math Set

:: Other Deals

• Assorted Eco-Easy Notebooks and Composition Books, $1.99
• Assorted Fashion 1-Subject Notebooks and Composition Books, $1.99
• RoseArt Washable Markers, 3/$5

Target This Week

Looking through the Target ad for this week I thought it was a bit ho hum. (That could just be that there are Albertsons doublers and they kind of overshadow it.) Either way I am not doing any match ups for it. But if you are going there you might want to check out Collin's post on Target here. Hopefully you can find something awesome there this week!

Get Organized: Day One

I realized that every year no matter what as soon as the summer hits I start to relax about household chores. As the summer progresses, I get even more relaxed and things start to pile up. By the time school starts, I have put off doing so many things that I am swamped and it takes me until the holidays to get everything in order.This year is going to be different, I have vowed that I am going to get back on track before my son's school starts. Well that date is slowly creeping up on me and I have decided that this week is the week that we get organized. Every day I will show you what project I have accomplished.



Today I have decided to tell you about my bathroom closet. In fact this closet is a big reason that I love my house so much. It can store so many toiletries that I am amazed. The downside to this is that I haven't been very diligent about organizing things when I put them away. As a result my closet is such a mess. I couldn't tell what all is in there. I have been planning on donating some of the items but instead I have just been sticking them on the shelves in there where they then get lost and forgotten about. Here's what it looks like (sorry the pictures are hard to see, I really need a new camera. Mines currently being held together with tape!):









My goal for today is to get it organized and to wipe down all the shelves. I am also going to be filling some boxes for several elderly people in my church who need these types of things and one for the food bank. I will be working on it this afternoon and will report back my results and a few tips on organizing toiletries tonight. Wish me luck!

No Eating Out In August Challange

My husband and I have been discussing for awhile ways to trim our budget. One way that we came up with is to not eat out as much as we do. It has been good in theory but hard to achieve in real life. Since the weather has been really hot neither of us have felt very much like cooking and our eating out budget has been blown consitantly. So we have decided to challenge ourselves to do significantly better on eating out throughout the month of August.
Here are the guidelines that we have set up:

1. Reduce our $20.00 a week budget for eating out to $10.00 a week. Putting the extra $10.00 into our Christmas fund.

2. Try to not eat out more than one time a week. (This is particularly going to be challenging for my husband because the people at his work love to eat out and he loves to go with them.)

3. Work or church related eating out that we do not pay for does not count.

4. We will track our progress daily and report back here. I am hoping this will motivate us since we are going to have more accountability to all of you.

Anyone else who would like to join in on the challenge feel free to. Of course you can change your guidelines to fit your situation. The main point is to do better than you already are. I would love to hear how you are doing if you decide to participate. Well good luck to all and I'll let you know how we did today in the morning!

Off To Albertson's Doubles

Although this weekend I have been really sick from my sleep disorder, I took most of it to rest and recoup so I am planning on heading over to Albertson's for some doubles fun today. In case you missed them there were three Albertson's Twice the Value coupons in Sunday's paper. (They tend to have them around the 1st and the 15th of the month.) I posted a bunch of stuff here with the idea that we would be getting them. And I have come up with a few more ideas on what to use yours for.


Danimals Crush Cups $2.49
use: $1/1 from 7/18 SS
use 1 doubler
final: .49

Fritos Chips and Dip $1.69
use $1.00/2 when you buy both chips and dip from
use 1 doubler
final: $.69 each when you buy two


Kerr Regular Lids, 12 ct $2.00
use $1.00/1 from 8/1 RP
use 1 doubler
final: free

Ball Canning Funnel $1.99
use $1.00/1 from 8/1 RP
use 1 doubler
final: free

Mission Tortillas Corn 28 Count $2.29
use $1.00/1 from 8/1 SS
use 1 doubler
final: $.29

I'll post anything else that I might find later after I have looked around more. If you snag any great deals pass it along.

Here's To The Start Of A Better Week

Do you ever have one of those weeks when everything goes wrong? You wake up and every problem that could happen does? Well I just described this last week for me. I have been starting to think that I am jinxed or something. I won't go into details but I am so glad that this last week is finally over.
I haven't really had the time (or energy) to post very much and I am hoping that this next week will be better. So here is to hoping for a better week and lots of couponing goodness.

Have a wonderful Sunday!