Quote of the Week

"We all consume significant quantities of time in the buying and then maintaining of things.  A life of voluntary simplicity and contentment, on the other hand, is opposed to the unnecessary proliferation of material possessions...At the beginning of every day we are given assignments that have eternal significance - to serve, to love, to obey, to pray.  Instead, we squander much of this time on things that very soon will leave us forever." 

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives -
by Richard Swenson, pg. 156

Vision Forum Coupon Code

If you are interested in placing an order with Vision Forum now is the time to do it. 

They have a $25 off coupon when you spend $75.  Just type in SAVE25 (expires 2/28) at checkout to get your $25 savings

Vision Forum is one of my favorite family friendly catalogs for homeschool resources, quality books, excellent frugal living reading material and great children's imaginative play items. 

Every birthday and Christmas our girls get at least a few items from the Vision Forum catalog.

Our girls have part of the Beautiful Girlhood collection including several of the high quality dolls.  They are an investment, but one that will last for years:

I have my eyes on a few of their newer books:

Check out their website - Vision Forum.

Gap Deal - Wednesday, March 2nd ONLY

If you are in need of a pair of pants, go to your local Gap store next Wednesday, March 2nd and ask at the cash register for a 40% off coupon. 

Each Wednesday through the month of March, Gap is offering a 40% off coupon for any purchase in the store.  The sales associates have the coupons at the register.

You can pair up that deal with their current sale, buy a pair of pants and get a free shirt.  The free shirt sale is over on March 2nd.

Some of the sales associates will tell you that you can't use both deals together - the coupon and the shirt - but others will say it's "okay."  We went to our local Gap store last night and purchased a pair of jeans for Torie, our college-age daughter, and she found a shirt she loved.  The associates told us both codes would work, and they both went through the register just fine.  The free shirt offer is for a shirt up to the value of a regular priced pair of pants.

This is a pretty sweet deal if you have your eye on something special at Gap.  And the 40% off coupon can be used on sales and clearance items as well.

(The free shirt promotion is only available at adult Gap stores.  Sadly they are not offering the deal at Kid's Gap.)

Simplify Your Wardrobe

Thanks for bearing with my "silence" for the last few days as I spent time with a sick child.  Today I'm reposting a simplifying post from my personal blog. As we prepare to organize our closets, give this idea some thought.

One of my long-standing simplifying ideas is "Simplify My Wardrobe". Now I'm warning you...this one is going to be really, REALLY boring to some of you. But it works and if you ever try it you will be hooked!


Limit your base colors to 2 or 3...Let me explain:

I only buy black or denim pants/capris/skirts (and I splurged a few years ago and bought the white capris pictured above). What this translates to is I only need a few pair of shoes - they only need to match black and denim. When I shop for shirts, I can totally dismiss whole racks of shirts because I only need to match black or denim. My earrings and necklaces need to match - black and denim....you get the picture.

I can't tell you how much time, energy and money this saves me!
For those of you old enough...remember "Color Me Beautiful." Phil (my husband) spent hard-earned money to have "my colors done" not long after we were married.

Every time I went shopping I faithfully carried around my wallet of "allowed colors". It seemed like 100 colors...probably really about 36. I faithfully held them up to each rack of clothes.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with picking colors that look best against your skin tone, but I can't tell you how I agonized over this. And I'm ashamed to say how many times I went over our meager budget. At the time we were living in a single-wide mobile home, so I could stay-home full time with our 1st daughter and live on Phil's teaching salary at a private Christian school.

Finally I had an "aha" moment and realized I could put colors near my face that looked good next to my skin and the base color really didn't matter. Voila...black and denim.

Now I don't need to own a plethora of pants and capris. They are black and denim. And who really knows if I am wearing the same pair day in and day out. I own a few classic pairs. I wear them until they wear out and then I replace them. EASY!!

The same goes for Phil. He wears khaki pants to work - denim at home and on the farm. His suits are navy and khaki. The end.

It's simple and sweet.

Okay...maybe a little boring for some but it works for our family and simplifies our closets, our budget, our time and our wardrobe!

Quote of the Week

"If we don't own it,
we don't have to take care of it,
and we have more time to do what we want." 
Tapestry

Harris Teeter Super Double Coupon Week

This week is Harris Teeter's Super Double Coupon week.  The store will double any manufacturer's coupon with a face value up to $1.98.  That means a $1.50 coupon is valued at $3.00.

Two of my favorite websites that list the coupon match-ups are:

The Coupon Teacher here

and

Mrs. Moneysaver here.

If you are new to cutting coupons, you will want to check out Money Saving Mom's (my absolute favorite coupon and money saving website) post on getting started with coupons.  This is the blog that got me started, four years ago, on getting serious about using coupons.

You also need to know a few basic rules about doubling coupons at Harris Teeter:

1)  They will only take 20 coupons per day.

2)  They will take 3 coupons a day per product.

3)  They will only take 2 Internet coupons per day per specific product. 

You can read all the Harris Teeter coupon policies here.

My store was out of several of the really good deals.  I'll head back out in the next day or two after the re-stock.  I used thirteen coupons and purchased all the items below.

Total bill:  $13.80...not too bad!

Remember to check the two coupon sites, I mentioned above, on Sunday.  They will list the new coupon match-ups from the Sunday paper.

Have coupon shopping!

Day Four Challenge Continued - Create A Serene Bedroom (COMPLETE)

Today we are continuing our quest to create a serene master bedroom by clearing out all the extra "stuff" and leaving only what is necessary for sleeping, relaxing and dressing.

See the previous post here for what we have already completed in this room...now let's press on...
to the next items mentioned in 30 Days to a Simpler Lifeand Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life.

1)  Berry, in Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life
says, "Eliminate excessive throw pillows unless they are really worth the effort of taking off and putting on the bed twice a day."

Another note, throw pillows are a great place for dust mites to congregate.  If you are a sufferer from allergies you may want to reconsider the necessity of extra pillows in your room.  If you can not part with them, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation, "...wash...weekly in hot water. Temperatures of at least 130 degrees F are needed to kill dust mites". 

2)  Clear off the top of your dresser.  Keep your favorite few pictures or decorations.  Make sure you are putting your clean clothes in the dresser and not just sitting them on top.

If you have a small master bedroom consider eliminating your dresser. A few years ago, I decided to re-purpose our dresser.  I took everything out of the dresser and realized we had not worn at least half the items in years.  I find that because items in a dresser are hard to see, they are forgotten.  I moved my dresser items to the master closet.  The socks, underwear and lingerie are now in clear Rubbermaid boxes and one small drawer set in the closet.  The contents are conveniently located with all my other clothes.

I also relocated our sweaters, which were formerly in our dresser, into our master closet.  They are on shelves in our closet.  We happily gave away several of them, mostly wool sweaters which neither of us wore.  Our master bedroom now feels more spacious without the dresser.  Just an idea to consider.

This is our dresser now re-purposed in our dining room as a sideboard.

3)  If you are keeping your dresser, organize in the following manner...

       " Empty each dresser drawer one at a time.
             Sort and toss:
            -Socks without a match
           -Worn-out underwear and bras
           -Clothes that are the wrong size or you no longer wear
           -Bathing suits that you never wear
      Put back just those items that you love and wear.

4)  And finally, according to Cox and Evatt, their "For Serious Simplifers Only!" Challenge.

"Create a tranquil bedroom.  First, remove the television.  Next remove excess furniture and everything under the bed.  Redesign your closet sot it can hold clothing that was stored in your dresser.  Put a large plant where your dresser used to be .  Finally, empty the walls of everything except one serene print or painting.  Without busy art and bulky furniture, your bedroom will have a spacious, airy feeling."

Once you finish the Master Bedroom...hold on to your hats because tomorrow we will tackle our master closets!!

Saving Tip - A Night at the Movies for Less

If you are like us, we very rarely go to the movies because of the exorbitant cost of the tickets. However, Regal Theatres is now offering specials all over the country.

Our local theatre has $5.00 tickets all day and evening on Tuesday. Tuesdays are now my husbands and my new "date night." In addition to the reduced ticket price, if you are a Regal Crown Club member - which is free- you also can get $2.00 Popcorn.  For $12.00 we can see a movie AND get a popcorn. I love Tuesday nights!!

Check to see if your local theatre is participating in Value Days by going to the following Regal Cinema website here.

Financial Tip....

My sister just finished David Bach's newest book, Debt Free For Life: The Finish Rich Plan for Financial Freedomand e-mailed me to let me know about several websites that will help you track down "missing money."

I checked on the websites and actually found out that my husband and I had money sitting in SC from a house-closing fifteen+ years ago.  Needless to say I will be contacting the state office today to request the refund check.

You may want to take a few minutes and take a look at these websites:

www.unclaimed.org

www.missingmoney.com

www.savingsbonds.gov/indiv/tools/tool (for unclaimed savings bonds)

www.irs.gov


Happy hunting!

Day Four Challenge - Create a Serene Bedroom

The challenge in 30 Days to a Simpler Lifeis to edit your sheets and pillowcases.  The authors recommend that you only need two sets of sheets and pillowcases for each bed in your house.  I have to confess that I long for 2 sets of sheets and pillowcases for all of my beds.  We strip our beds, wash the sheets and remake our beds.  One day, when I am am a "big kid", I'll have extra sheet sets for all of our beds

The authors offer some other tips to make your Master Bedroom a serene bedroom, which I am going to implement.  I also gleaned a few tips from another book, Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life by Jennifer Ford Berry.

This room will take a few days.

1)  Take a basket or box and take everything out of the master bedroom that does not belong there. 

I cleared out multiple childrens' items that migrated into our master bedroom... hair bows, miscellaneous socks, toys.  Just put them all in a basket to be carried out at one time and taken back to their "home."

I also cleared out DVD's that we borrowed.  They are all being returned to their rightful owners this week.

Clothes that belong in the master closet, dirty clothes, etc. are no longer in the master bedroom.

2) Cox and Evans remind me..."Don't make your bedroom into a library." 

Ouch, this one hurt.  I had a large stack of books on the bedside table and overflowing on the floor by the bed.  I am a bit of a frenetic reader.  Usually I am in the middle of 3-5 books at a time.  Plus I have a stack of books that are in my "must read" pile.  All of those books are now downstairs back on my library shelves. Now, I have one book, besides my Bible, on my bedside table.

3)  Organize your bedside dresser drawers. 

Berry, in Organize Now!, says "If your table has drawers, use them to store amenities such as lotions and sleep masks so the top can be clutter' free."

I cleaned out my bedside table drawer.  It now has a few cough drops, a pen, highlighter and lotion. 

4)  Next, I cleared out everything from under my bed. 

I had a Rubbermaid box of outgrown clothes that I will resale or store in the laundry room.
Tomorrow I will sweep and swiffel under the bed.  I decided, for our family, it is better for our allergies not to have items stored under the bed.

5)  Cox and Evan also state: "Keep your office out of your bedroom."

I instated this policy several years ago, when I moved my desk out of our bedroom.  That was the best decision I have ever made.  I work out of my home and seeing a stack of "To Do" items from work sitting on my desk or a stack of personal bills to pay, at bedtime, did nothing for my quality of sleep.

Consider relocating your desk if it is still your master bedroom.  Be creative if you have limited space.  One creative option is re-purposing a closet somewhere.  Remove the door, remove the shelves and replace them with a laminate desk top. Add a tension rod with a hanging curtain to block the office from view and you have an instant office.

Berry states "Resting is much more difficult when you are surrounded by clutter..."

I must admit I felt more relaxed last night without the extraneous items strewn around the room.

Tomorrow we'll continue work on making our bedroom an organized room.