Week of Organization Recap

Hi everyone,

As of March 1st I am trying to be more organized. Being disorganized costs money, so this is a frugal post as well as an organization post!

I've done very well this week.

1. I made a list of things to do this week and have added to it every time I think of something, no matter how minor. If I don't write it down immediately, its gone forever! LOL

2. I checked my list several times a day to see what needed doing immediately or what I could be working on. For instance, one item is "work on taxes". Well I could do some work on that when I have a few minutes, such as adding up different deductions or just sorting out the different deductions.

3. I had our supper menu in my mind at least as early as the day before every day this week. I cooked supper in the morning on two days. I do better this way than to make a detailed menu out ahead of time. I do want to have the ingredients for several meals on hand at all times so I can put something together each day.

4. I checked my list of bills and drafts due to make sure they were on time and that there was money available for them.

5. I want to get back into the habit of shopping at CVS and Walgreens, but with a new perspective. I don't think I've set foot in CVS since Christmas. Can you believe that? Anyway, now I am only going to buy the things that we really use and need. I want to take advantage of any free after Extra Bucks and Rebate deals. My goal is, after an initial investment, to roll as many of the extra bucks and Rebates each week as I can. This means only buying items with Extra bucks that will generate more extra bucks. The same thing with the rebate from Walgreens. I have my rebate loaded onto my gift card each month. I'll use this gift card each month to buy more items that are free after rebate. I also plan to purchase other items from both of these stores that are on sale at a good price that we actually use.

I'm starting out slow, but this is what I bought today at lunch. I once had a huge supply of toothpaste that I got free or nearly free, but had either used it all up or given it all away. We needed toothpaste this week. At CVS I purchased two Colgate Advance toothpastes at $2.99 each which generated an extra bucks coupon of $5.98. There is a limit of 5 of these during the month of March, so next week I'll go back and buy two more using my $5.98 Extra bucks, as well as any other good deals I see in the sales paper this Sunday.

At Walgreens I bought 2 packages of Zest soap for $4.00 which generated a coupon for $4.00 on my next shopping order. I picked up the Easy Saver Catalog for March while there and next week I'll go back and buy some of the free after rebate items listed in there. I can use my $4.00 to go toward those purchases. I see that they also have Colgate Advance Toothpaste free after rebate. There are certain items that Walgreens has on sale at a good price from time to time and I'm going to be on the lookout for those in their sales paper too.

6. I placed the CVS and Walgreens coupons in a place that I wouldn't lose them! I've lost them before or forgot to redeem them before they expired!

7. I washed a load of laundry every day this week. I will only have about 3 loads to to tomorrow, compared to my usual 6 or 7.

8. I cleaned the bathrooms during the week and swished and swiped the potties regularly.

I think my organization this week has been pretty good!