Grocery Coupons ... Again

When my son, now 5, was a baby, I used grocery store coupons to save tons of money on my grocery bill each week. It was not uncommon for my receipt to go from $300 (before sales and coupons) to less than $100 after the savings.

However, I have to admit that what we ate was not always the healthiest choices. But since I could get certain frozen processed foods for free ... well, I bought them.

Now that we have changed our eating habits to embrace natural, organic and traditional foods, I actually buy much of our food through a local natural food co-op and from local farmers. We get our milk from a local Amish family and our most recent side of beef is from a small rancher in nearby Maryland.

However, I still make my way into the grocery store, for a smaller set of purchases than before, about once every two weeks. I buy some organic and natural foods, as well as household goods and things we've run out of from our other sources.

As many others in America are doing as we face a recession, I'm watching my money more carefully. It's not going as far these days, and I have to make every dollar count. I was please to see that The Coupon Clippers website is still offering a simple service: clipped individual manufacturer's grocery coupons, mailed directly to your door.

Rather than spending $2 on a Sunday paper that only has a few coupons you'll use, go to The Coupon Clippers and buy the quantity of each coupon you want. I recently ordered 20 Daisy brand sour cream coupons and several for household goods. Since I'll save over $20 from the coupons, the couple dollars I spent was well worth it. And I didn't even have to pick up my scissors.

I've Started Seeds for the Spring!

My friend Erika very generously shared her bounty of new seeds with me. She went all out with her order -- herbs, vegetables, squash, fruit ... and with the seeds, she gave me an excitement for spring. I am looking forward to the warmth and sunshine, and having my little seedlings already coming up makes me very happy.

As I planted the seeds (thyme, lavender, eggplant and few other early varieties) I documented it for the purpose of making a how-to video for a website I write articles for. I'm including it here as well... my first Blogger video.



Because we have very rocky, clay soil that is hard to cultivate, I will be primarily a container gardener this year. I am also going to make a couple raised beds for the squash and eggplants, that like to spread out with crawling vines. But the tomatoes and herbs will sit in large pots on my deck, a few steps away from my kitchen and ready to be harvested fresh for the night's salad.

New Year 2008: Simple Order

My New Year's goals for my home are about simplicity and order.

We are downsizing out home, and planning to move into a two-bedroom cottage not far from our current location.

Since the house is smaller (by about 1/3) it will hold less stuff. Less stuff is good, as long as I can de-clutter effectively and rid ourselves of the things we really don't need.

I would love our new home to be an oasis of simplicity and order. Here are my goals for 2008:

1. Design a simple, attractive decor in the new home.

2. Keep only what is truly beautiful or truly useful.

3. Find a place for everything, and put everything in its place.

4. Rid ourselves of all unnecessary clutter.

Here's to a beautiful, clutter-free 2008!

It all starts with a clean desk

While not the best example of a clean desk, here is a picture of me working at a clean surface. Ahh, those were the days. Today, my desk holds my computer screen, three wooden Ikea desk organizers filled with crucial items, and the clutter that accumulates during a week of inattention.

My goal is to clean my desk once a week, and when I do, life seems much more ordered. As I work from home, I am able to be more focused and decidedly more productive with a clean desk. There's nothing like a clean work surface to motivate you when you need inspiration.

And I thought my house was tiny...

You have to check out these Tiny Tumbleweed Houses. The smallest featured home, the Biensi, is 70 square feet. A set of plans for the miniscule home--which can fit inside a parking spot when fully constructed--is $997 and the materials to make it will cost about $14,000. Those reluctant to build it themselves can purchase a finished home for about $35k.

Most of the Tumbleweed Houses are designed to be buit onto trailers, which can then be pulled by a truck...perfect for moving your home around on a large tract of land, or for a simple cross-country relocation. Just hitch up the trailer and you can go anywhere.

Watch this YouTube video of one such tiny-home dweller, where she drives her tiny home into a large subdivision... it's pretty funny!

Why I love Ikea

Not only does Ikea offer great storage solutions, they share advice and tips to make your home a more simple, organized environment. I like this new slideshow, Five Steps to Get Organized, which presents these tips (in more detail):

1. Sort everything, into as few categories as possible.
2. Reduce -- get rid of excess.
3. Put everything you keep in its place.
4. Count and measure items that need storage.
5. Choose the right storage or organization items.

It's my desk that sometimes starts to pile up with unwanted clutter. I sorted through everything last week, and now I can see my mousepad again. These are some of the desk organization items on my Ikea wish list:

Ikea letter organizer, for use as an in/out box, $9.99. This would keep me from having piles to sort through....

And the MACKIS storage rack for writing materials. You know, I really think I would write more notes if I had them so neatly accesible.

My Real Simple Calendar

A Really Simple Calendar

In need of inspiration for organizing my family's schedule and having one place to put all the appointments, I found this great Real Simple Planning Calendar with Stickers at Target.

I've already used the four color-coded label sets, assigning salmon to myself, brown to my husband, blue to the kids (right now, at least, my preschoolers have the same activities) and orange labels for family events.

I feel more organized already. At a glance, I can see all my appointments and scheduled activities. I still use my personal agenda/ planner pages, but this tool helps me organize the family. Now my husband has no excuse for forgetting the date of our upcoming family Christmas brunch ... it's December 16, and we'll all be there, thanks to the orange label.