Lists

     I love lists, they help me organize everything. I have daily lists, weekly lists, monthly lists and categorized lists. I have a 3 ring binder labeled LISTS with index tabs to keep things categorized. I have found that by having my lists organized in a binder, I am able to keep many more things organized. I can open it and add things instantly. Some are good for short term organizing, and some are good to use for things such as keeping track of important information for yourself or others. Your lists will vary depending on your lifestyle. If you have several children your lists will be different than if you are a single woman in the corporate world. Just consider all of your life situations and think about whether you can make a list with that information. The list can be on paper or stored electronically to be accessed from your phone or computer. There are websites that help you develop and store lists. If you would like to start keeping lists, here are some ideas of lists to use.
1. Grocery
2. Daily “To do” for home and work
3. Ideas
4. Goals
5. People and contact information.
6. Passwords (be careful with this one, but they should be compiled somewhere)
7. Medications
8. Projects
9. Accounts
10. List of important documents and their location.
11. Inventories of your collections
12. Medical information of everyone in the family
13. Vegetables to include in garden.
14. Home repairs needing attention
15. Tax information lists
16. Things you want to buy
17. Movies to see
18. Books to read
19. Things to do before you die
20. List of lists……

Save Money On Food After You Buy It

Some of the best ways to save money on food are to use coupons, buy store brand items, join wholesale clubs or grow your own.  If you are careful to save money when you buy your groceries, that is a great start. It is just as important to be sure you literally do not throw this savings away. I am reminded of the commercial for plastic wrap where the woman tells the butcher that she wants two pounds of meat, but he can just throw half away. I am very conscious about not wasting food. I freeze most things that I can and take them out within the hour I need them. With the invention of the microwave, we are not held to our Grandmother's old ways of having to thaw things for a day before they can be cooked. Freezing allows you to take advantage of sales on meat. Another way to save is to make smaller portions so there is less leftover food with a meal. If you do have leftovers, make sure you save them and eat them! If you don't want them the next day, you can freeze them for another day. I save even a tiny portion of anything. It is fun to have a leftover night once each week and just put everything out like a buffet. Whatever is leftover from this night can then be frozen. It is not uncommon for us to have a mixture of leftover chicken, vegetables, taco fixings, ziti, meatloaf and fresh veggies. That sounds like a buffet to me!  We also have a huge garden and we raise chickens for eggs and meat. I love the idea of providing fresh produce for our family. We save a lot of money this way.  Any of the fruit and vegetable scraps we have from preparing food go to our huge compost pile that the chickens like to snack on. The compost then provides nutrients for the next year's garden. If any food goes to waste here, I cringe. I make it a personal challenge to try not to let any food go to waste. Try this challenge for yourself.