Well, today, I inventoried my pantry & made a list of all the things I need to buy. I also printed a copy and put it on the side of the fridge (facing the pantry).
Inventory:
(Top)
Canisters:
Sugar pitcher
Butter cooking spray; cooking spray; baking spray; sugar
rice; koolaide; instant oatmeal pkts.
bread flour; all-purpose flour; seasoned flour; Italian bread crumbs
brown sugar; powdered sugar; splenda
self-rising flour; quick-cooking oats; baking cocoa; baking soda; decaf tea
(top row; left)
Snacks/Beverages:
Microwave popcorn & kernels
Applesauce
Hot chocolate mix
Jello & pudding mixes
(top row; middle)
Extras for Canisters:
2 Splenda
2 all-purpose flour
Quick-cooking oats
(top row; right)
Mixes, Boxes, Packets:
3 pks. onion soup
3 meatloaf season pkts.
1 taco season pkt.
1 chicken pasta
4 Ramen noodles
1 beef rice
2 pkts. Shake & Bake Italian
3 pkts. Ranch dressing mix
1 cheddar French fried onions
2 pks. stuffing cubes
(middle row; left)
Jars:
Molasses; 2 teriyaki marinade; sugar-free syrup
Light corn syrup; honey; pumpkin butter; sunflower seeds; syrup
2 cider vinegar; red wine vinegar; rice vinegar
White cooking wine, horseradish; parmesan cheese; soy sauce; EVOO
(middle row; middle)
Extras for Canisters + shortening, bisquick & cornstarch:
Splenda
Bisquick (need canister)
Cornstarch (need canister)
Shortening
2 baking soda
Baking powder (need canister)
(middle row; right)
Baking:
2 semisweet chocolate chips; 2 milk chocolate chips; white chocolate (swirled) chips
Whole almonds; pecan chips; chopped pecans
Unsweet baking chocolate
Cake mixes: yellow, carrot, orange supreme
Cream cheese frosting
5 envelopes dream whip
Miniature marshmallows
Dark brown sugar
2 pkts. Yeast
(bottom row; left)
Pasta/Dried Beans:
Elbow macaroni; lasagna noodles; 3½ bags egg noodles; wacky mac
2# pinto beans; 1# navy beans; 1# baby lima beans; 1# lentils Baby: Baby:
(bottom row; middle & right)
Baby:
nothing in those bins yet
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Pantry Update
Have tossed 3 bags full of stuff, so far (opened or expired). I have organized the cubes and the top. I actually have 2 baskets free for the baby's stuff to go in that I've bought so far (diapers & bottles) until I get the bedroom ready for her.
I will set aside things for donation, as I do the inventory:)
It looks really good....now I just have to figure out what to do with the stuff that was in the bin on the floor.
I had several character/decorative cake pans (wilton's) that I think I will wash off & hang on the wall. I will need to find a place for my food processor & blender:)
I will set aside things for donation, as I do the inventory:)
It looks really good....now I just have to figure out what to do with the stuff that was in the bin on the floor.
I had several character/decorative cake pans (wilton's) that I think I will wash off & hang on the wall. I will need to find a place for my food processor & blender:)
Decluttering the Pantry
I'd worked on it Thursday night, but just gave it a quick once over. Today is a deep clean:)
My pantry is a 9-cube organizer with the cloth drawers (Target).
With dh's help, I took everything off the pantry, & took out the baskets. I even took off our small microwave (we also have a full-sized one). I wiped down the top & all the shelves. I even took out everything in between the pantry & the fridge that was keeping me from opening most of the drawers.
So far, I have tossed a trash bag of expired foods. I have also put aside the microwave to send to dh's work. They already have 2, but with 15 or so men all trying to heat their meals at the same time, and only an hour lunch break (they all break at the same time), it gets backlogged. So, maybe one more will help them out a bit....just need to clean it up a bit.
I am going back in there to write down my categories of what I have (the shelves were labeled, but everything has gotten a bit jumbled up in there since labeling. So, I've already typed up a diagram to fill in the blanks, to make it easy on me to see what can go where. (I just did a 3X3 table & enlarged the squares).
I will probably be tossing more food as I go. There's lots of opened stuff that I don't know how long it's been in there:) I have already reserved the top for my "canisters" not really canisters, they are those leak-proof containers that have 4little "pop" tops to open (when I think of the name, I'll give you the website). They are great....they are square or rectangular, so they fit nicely together, rather than the round ones, that don't get close to one another.
I can't tell you how many duplicates I have of things, so the extras, plus any food we will not use will go to our local food pantry. All damaged, expired and opened foods will go to the trash.
I will also inventory what we have:)
I will report back later to let you know how I did:)
My pantry is a 9-cube organizer with the cloth drawers (Target).
With dh's help, I took everything off the pantry, & took out the baskets. I even took off our small microwave (we also have a full-sized one). I wiped down the top & all the shelves. I even took out everything in between the pantry & the fridge that was keeping me from opening most of the drawers.
So far, I have tossed a trash bag of expired foods. I have also put aside the microwave to send to dh's work. They already have 2, but with 15 or so men all trying to heat their meals at the same time, and only an hour lunch break (they all break at the same time), it gets backlogged. So, maybe one more will help them out a bit....just need to clean it up a bit.
I am going back in there to write down my categories of what I have (the shelves were labeled, but everything has gotten a bit jumbled up in there since labeling. So, I've already typed up a diagram to fill in the blanks, to make it easy on me to see what can go where. (I just did a 3X3 table & enlarged the squares).
I will probably be tossing more food as I go. There's lots of opened stuff that I don't know how long it's been in there:) I have already reserved the top for my "canisters" not really canisters, they are those leak-proof containers that have 4little "pop" tops to open (when I think of the name, I'll give you the website). They are great....they are square or rectangular, so they fit nicely together, rather than the round ones, that don't get close to one another.
I can't tell you how many duplicates I have of things, so the extras, plus any food we will not use will go to our local food pantry. All damaged, expired and opened foods will go to the trash.
I will also inventory what we have:)
I will report back later to let you know how I did:)
Great deals at Dollar General this week
These are the deals I'll be getting (they have more, though).
They also take coupons...the flyer says so:)
I'll be checking Wal-marts prices on these things tomorrow when I go there. I divided it into categories to make it easier for me to check. I probably won't go to Dollar General until Friday.
Grocery:
15 oz. Glory Canned Vegs 1.00
16 oz. Campbell's Chicken noodle or COM soup 1.00
Paper Products/Trash Bags:
8 rolls Bounty Basic Paper Towels 5.00
24 rolls cottonelle 6.00
Glad trash bags 5.00
Cleaners:
100 oz. Liquid Tide 5.00
16 oz. joy or dawn dish detergent 85c
182 oz. clorox 2.50
56-64 oz. Suavitel fabric softener 3.00
56 oz. Fabuloso 3.00
Beverages/Juice:
2ltr. coke products (limit 5) 90c
48 oz. Hawaiian Punch 1.00
Baby:
Luvs Diapers Jumbo size 7.00
Electronics:
9 volt Energizer battery (chk w-m 1st) 3.00
Housewares:
2 pk. bed pillows (X2) 6.00
bath rugs 4.00
Garden:
24 oz. Spectracide Grass/weed killer 3.00
Pets:
10 lb. Tidy Cats Scoop Litter 5.00
Health/Beauty:
6.4 oz. Colgate whitening toothpaste 1.50
30 ct. Band-aids 1.00
They also take coupons...the flyer says so:)
I'll be checking Wal-marts prices on these things tomorrow when I go there. I divided it into categories to make it easier for me to check. I probably won't go to Dollar General until Friday.
Grocery:
15 oz. Glory Canned Vegs 1.00
16 oz. Campbell's Chicken noodle or COM soup 1.00
Paper Products/Trash Bags:
8 rolls Bounty Basic Paper Towels 5.00
24 rolls cottonelle 6.00
Glad trash bags 5.00
Cleaners:
100 oz. Liquid Tide 5.00
16 oz. joy or dawn dish detergent 85c
182 oz. clorox 2.50
56-64 oz. Suavitel fabric softener 3.00
56 oz. Fabuloso 3.00
Beverages/Juice:
2ltr. coke products (limit 5) 90c
48 oz. Hawaiian Punch 1.00
Baby:
Luvs Diapers Jumbo size 7.00
Electronics:
9 volt Energizer battery (chk w-m 1st) 3.00
Housewares:
2 pk. bed pillows (X2) 6.00
bath rugs 4.00
Garden:
24 oz. Spectracide Grass/weed killer 3.00
Pets:
10 lb. Tidy Cats Scoop Litter 5.00
Health/Beauty:
6.4 oz. Colgate whitening toothpaste 1.50
30 ct. Band-aids 1.00
Reusable Swiffer Cloths
For the cleaning pads, I cut some fleece up into the size of the mopping surface. When you get done, you can just take them off and toss in the washer. Saves money and uses up some of those scraps:)
For cleaner, instead of buying the refills, you can spray your fleece pad or the floor with either white vinegar or lemon juice.
For cleaner, instead of buying the refills, you can spray your fleece pad or the floor with either white vinegar or lemon juice.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Kids' Easter Gifts
Ok, as you know starting for Valentine's Day, we started trying to do non-clutter gifts for our kids. Well, we did it again for Easter, with good results. The Easter Bunny even followed our lead:) As did my mom (Grammy).
Me & DH bought the kids bulbs to go in the yard (tulips & hyacinths) and took them to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who. Now, we spent $12 on 8 bulbs (2 each) and they are already blooming, $32 on the movie tickets and $10 for popcorn/drink. So, total spent was $54, or roughly $14 each. We'd have spent way more on that for toys that would've only been played with a short while, before becoming clutter.
My mom gave each of us $10 towards going to the movies together. To my knowledge, there aren't any other kids' or family movies out right now, but when one comes out, we have $60 set aside to go see it:)
We bought new buckets for the kids this year, b/c last year they got run over by daddy when they left them in the driveway. They each got a character bucket and 6 character eggs to match the buckets (littlest pet shop, disney princess, tinkerbell & spongebob). We hid the eggs in the yard & they could only find their eggs. They had $$ in them, instead of candy, which would just have rotted their teeth:) To avoid the Easter Bunny bringing another basket for each of them, we put their buckets and emptied eggs out for the EB (kind of like leaving out the stockings for Santa).
The Easter Bunny gave them a piece of candy in each egg (M&M's, Twix & Snickers)....only 6 pieces, so not much chance for cavities, lol. He also gave them a character toothbrush to match their bucket (and get rid of any sugar bugs the candy gave them). The grand finale was he went to Chuck E. Cheese's, bought them each a sports cup and filled it with 30 tokens:) So, when dh gets home from school, and gets off call, we will be taking the kids to CEC. Another non-clutter gift:)
The buckets looked pretty bare, so I was concerned, but the kids absolutely loved them:)
They did go egg hunting at church, so they got other candy, too. I let them each keep 5 pieces, and we took the rest to dh's work:) They got to keep the stickers & erasers that were in some of the eggs.
The best part of it all is that we made some family memories this year, rather than adding clutter to the house, which would just be more stress later:)
Me & DH bought the kids bulbs to go in the yard (tulips & hyacinths) and took them to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who. Now, we spent $12 on 8 bulbs (2 each) and they are already blooming, $32 on the movie tickets and $10 for popcorn/drink. So, total spent was $54, or roughly $14 each. We'd have spent way more on that for toys that would've only been played with a short while, before becoming clutter.
My mom gave each of us $10 towards going to the movies together. To my knowledge, there aren't any other kids' or family movies out right now, but when one comes out, we have $60 set aside to go see it:)
We bought new buckets for the kids this year, b/c last year they got run over by daddy when they left them in the driveway. They each got a character bucket and 6 character eggs to match the buckets (littlest pet shop, disney princess, tinkerbell & spongebob). We hid the eggs in the yard & they could only find their eggs. They had $$ in them, instead of candy, which would just have rotted their teeth:) To avoid the Easter Bunny bringing another basket for each of them, we put their buckets and emptied eggs out for the EB (kind of like leaving out the stockings for Santa).
The Easter Bunny gave them a piece of candy in each egg (M&M's, Twix & Snickers)....only 6 pieces, so not much chance for cavities, lol. He also gave them a character toothbrush to match their bucket (and get rid of any sugar bugs the candy gave them). The grand finale was he went to Chuck E. Cheese's, bought them each a sports cup and filled it with 30 tokens:) So, when dh gets home from school, and gets off call, we will be taking the kids to CEC. Another non-clutter gift:)
The buckets looked pretty bare, so I was concerned, but the kids absolutely loved them:)
They did go egg hunting at church, so they got other candy, too. I let them each keep 5 pieces, and we took the rest to dh's work:) They got to keep the stickers & erasers that were in some of the eggs.
The best part of it all is that we made some family memories this year, rather than adding clutter to the house, which would just be more stress later:)
Other Areas to Tackle (Declutering) & Honey-Do List
Other Areas to Tackle (as I have extra time)
Master Bedroom:
-declutter bedroom
-declutter closet
-get rid of excess furniture
-freecycle as much as possible
-make room for baby furniture
Shed:
-declutter bins
-freecycle as much as possible
-get dh to help me arrange bins
-get baby stuff out of storage
-inventory baby stuff
-make list of things I need for baby
Back Deck:
-get Christmas bins in shed
Cherylann's Honey-Do List for DH (as he has time)
Every room in house:
- paint (one room at a time...while me & kids are gone)
-air out rooms as they get painted
Master Bedroom:
-heavy lifting
-rearranging
-pull out carpet (after I declutter)
-lay hardwood flooring (after I declutter)
Shed:
-heavy lifting
-rearranging
Master Bedroom:
-declutter bedroom
-declutter closet
-get rid of excess furniture
-freecycle as much as possible
-make room for baby furniture
Shed:
-declutter bins
-freecycle as much as possible
-get dh to help me arrange bins
-get baby stuff out of storage
-inventory baby stuff
-make list of things I need for baby
Back Deck:
-get Christmas bins in shed
Cherylann's Honey-Do List for DH (as he has time)
Every room in house:
- paint (one room at a time...while me & kids are gone)
-air out rooms as they get painted
Master Bedroom:
-heavy lifting
-rearranging
-pull out carpet (after I declutter)
-lay hardwood flooring (after I declutter)
Shed:
-heavy lifting
-rearranging
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