Peanut Butter Sandwich Timeline (aka Save Time and Money!)

Here is a timeline for you:

Circa 2008--Before Amy had three small kids and homeschooled she used to make fun of people who bought "Uncrustables" frozen peanut butter sandwiches.  "You have got to be kidding me.  How hard is it to whip up a peanut butter sandwich?"

Sept. 2010--She became less judgmental and much more desperate.  She could now see the rationale behind having quick, no-fuss lunch items to throw in a bag.  

Sept. 2011--She could hardly believe it but she bought a box of "Uncrustables" at Target.  "Wow!  This is great," she thought.  Then she discovered that the off-brand is only 50-cents per sandwich at Costco.  "Hmmm.  I think I will stock up."  

Early Oct. 2011--She tasted an "Uncrustable" sandwich and exclaimed, "No wonder my kids like this!  This is like a dessert!  How much sugar is in this thing anyway?"  

Mid-Oct. 2011--A friend tells Amy that you can make your own individually-wrapped peanut butter sandwiches and freeze them for up to a month.  Amy starts doing this and thinks her friend is the most brilliant person she knows!  

Each week on Thursdays we have to be out of the door by 8 a.m. I love how much time the frozen peanut butter sandwich trick saves me.  Packing lunches has become hassle-free. And, when they get old enough to complain about eating peanut butter once a week, then they can start packing their own lunches, right?!

An "Aha!" Moment

I'm only two chapters into Julie Morgenstern's book Organizing from the Inside Out but it has been really good so far. And today I had an "Aha!" moment while reading about the six "technical errors" that keep people from being organized.

Here is my problem (Error #5):

"Many people leave things out as visual reminders of what they have to do--e.g., a book that has to go back to the library, bills to be paid, or a coat that needs repair. This would be okay if there were only a few items strewn about, but once the volume builds, everything begins to blend into your environment, becoming a sort of visual "Muzak" that renders all your visual reminders invisible, defeating their purpose."

Apparently Chapter 5 will show me how to create a less obtrusive system for reminding me what things are important and where they are stored.

Maybe I'll just skip to Chapter 5. Seriously, you should see my kitchen counter top right now--there are items to be addressed for mailing out, coupons I need to look through to clip out the good ones, summer reading program forms that need to be filled out, seeds that need to be planted (I'm about a month late already!), and a receipt for an item that needs to be returned. These items have all been sitting there for about a week already. This is my biggest organizational problem, I think.

Okay, should I tackle that counter top first or read Chapter 5 first? Oh wait, the kids need attention ... maybe I'll do one of those things tomorrow!!

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Oh, in case you were wondering, the six technical errors are:

1. Items have no home
2. Inconvenient storage
3. More stuff than storage space
4. Complex, confusing system
5. "Out of sight, out of mind."
6. Organizing is boring

A New Venture: Monthly Menu Planning

This is the first month I’m trying monthly menu planning (vs. weekly menu planning). My goal is to hit up certain stores only once a month and then go to the “regular” grocery store weekly for fresh produce, dairy, bread, and other perishables. I usually stock up on meat whenever the local grocery store has good sales, so there’s always assorted meat in the freezer.

Although I think monthly menu planning will save me a lot of time, the main reason I am doing it is because I really hate going to WalMart more than I absolutely have to. In fact, Kevin encouraged me to stop going to WalMart altogether but, after a six week hiatus, I couldn’t justify the higher cost for the same food. The savings were especially huge on canned goods, cereal, etc. Maybe when we get the student loans paid off, I can celebrate and finally drive the nail in the WalMart coffin!

So, if it works like I’ve planned, I’ll only have to go to WalMart once a month. I think that’s something I can live with! I will also only go to Costco once a month under this plan.

In order to make the monthly menu planning go smoothly, I made a master menu (which is obviously subject to change, but is something I will shoot for). Then I made a master grocery list for the various stores I will go to on the “Big Monthly Shopping Day.” Then I made a sub-list for the remaining three weeks of the month, which has three short lists of the perishable groceries I will need for those weeks’ meals and kids’ snacks. Then I can add to those lists when I run out of stuff and need to make the shorter, weekly shopping trip.

Compiling these master lists took several hours and, I will confess, I was repeatedly interrupted and that was frustrating. Maybe next month I will go to Starbucks for a few hours one evening so I can focus better. But now that it’s done, I’m ecstatic that ALL of the menu planning is done for the month of February. This includes meals for two holidays (where I try to have special food), several dinners for company, and meals for when my family comes to town mid-month.

I’m really not a super-organized person. But menu planning saves me from popping a few gray hairs every day at 5 o’clock. So therefore I keep doing it.

Now we’ll have to see how this new twist works out.