This is the week I start getting ready for the New Year - - - making new file folders for paid invoices - - - beginning a new Excel spreadsheet for $$$$$ saved during the year. That is something new I started in 2009. You can set it up however suits you best but mine totals on separate sheets for each month and then has a cover page with month summaries and the annual total. On each month, I list the store and the amount saved - - either in coupons or sales. Let me tell you it can get pretty impressive to see what you saved. My husband said it's not all true sales because he wouldn't have paid the original price to start with on some of the clothing! However, I can still sort on Excel with just the grocery stores and we recognized that the budget was stretched considerably.
I don't know about you but I like to shop name brands. Years ago, I went with the generic store brand on Cream of Chicken Soup and I ended up with a casserole that had a slightly greenish tint due to the incorrect amounts of food coloring they had used in the soup. Yesterday I was checking out a generic store brand and although the price was half as much as the name brand, the ingredients were not the same. It was kidney beans. The name brand had 100 calories per serving. The generic had 160 per serving! It appears they had put fructose syrup in addition to the sugar. So - - - - - if you save more at the cash register but the nutrition is not as good - - - - have you saved? You will end up paying in poor health and doctors' bills in the future to save a few cents now.
Our stores seem to be "pushing" us to switch to generic brands. Juices are another item. On one brand, I saw stamped in small letters - - apart from the label - - that it was made from concentrate from either China or somewhere in South America. My question - - - how can it be as good as American grown and still be half price after it's imported? hmmmmmm . . . I am going to do a further investigation on some and then if I find many more nutritional deficiencies, I will write to the main office. I am sure they will take notice of my one letter - - ha!
So do you use coupons? I do but often some expire. I don't let those bother me but rather focus on what I have saved. Does anyone else track their savings? It's encouraging to do so.
Which brings me to a similar area - - - - organization!!!! How I wish some of the books I have read in the last few years had been available to me years ago. I did not grow up learning to "stow as you go", i.e., put stuff away or carry it to another room as you head for that location. That it is easier to keep it picked up as you work rather than doing it once a week. So there is something you may not have known about me or were able to figure out by being around me.
One thing I have learned though is to keep lists. It makes your day more productive. Prioritize the things most important for you to complete each day. The book at the beginning of this post goes one step further and divides the lists into four quadrants. DO, GO, WRITE, & CALL. CALL would be the phone calls you need to make. WRITE are the notes, emails, & maybe your bills. GO are the errands - - - or I am using it for anything outside the house that requires leaving the driveway or yard. DO is just about everything else either at home or work. Really it would be better to keep a separate list for each place.
This book is one of the better ones I have read. It gives ideas on dealing with things that side-track and steal your time - - - everything from interruptions to bits of ADD & OCD. My favorite analogy in here is when your day is compared to a bookcase. hmmmmm - - wonder why that was appealing? haha Basically time is like a bookshelf. There is only so much space to put stuff. You can group that stuff in an orderly fashion so it can be found quickly and easily. You can leave a little space at the end of each shelf so another item can be added. Relating this to your schedule, you should group "like" activities together and you should build a cushion of time into each segment - - or remember that a project generally takes longer than originally planned. That way you have built some flexibility into your schedule without your schedule running your life. Calendars and lists are tools to help us more efficiently use the time God gives us. The benefit is we are more relaxed at the end of each day.
I can tell you all this but still have to confess that I haven't mastered it yet! However that doesn't keep me from trying. My biggest "failure" in this area is my Christmas letter did NOT go out this year. So how did I get it done last year after our daughter's wedding at the end of November but could not complete it this year? And those are the mysteries of life.
I don't know about you but I like to shop name brands. Years ago, I went with the generic store brand on Cream of Chicken Soup and I ended up with a casserole that had a slightly greenish tint due to the incorrect amounts of food coloring they had used in the soup. Yesterday I was checking out a generic store brand and although the price was half as much as the name brand, the ingredients were not the same. It was kidney beans. The name brand had 100 calories per serving. The generic had 160 per serving! It appears they had put fructose syrup in addition to the sugar. So - - - - - if you save more at the cash register but the nutrition is not as good - - - - have you saved? You will end up paying in poor health and doctors' bills in the future to save a few cents now.
Our stores seem to be "pushing" us to switch to generic brands. Juices are another item. On one brand, I saw stamped in small letters - - apart from the label - - that it was made from concentrate from either China or somewhere in South America. My question - - - how can it be as good as American grown and still be half price after it's imported? hmmmmmm . . . I am going to do a further investigation on some and then if I find many more nutritional deficiencies, I will write to the main office. I am sure they will take notice of my one letter - - ha!
So do you use coupons? I do but often some expire. I don't let those bother me but rather focus on what I have saved. Does anyone else track their savings? It's encouraging to do so.
Which brings me to a similar area - - - - organization!!!! How I wish some of the books I have read in the last few years had been available to me years ago. I did not grow up learning to "stow as you go", i.e., put stuff away or carry it to another room as you head for that location. That it is easier to keep it picked up as you work rather than doing it once a week. So there is something you may not have known about me or were able to figure out by being around me.
One thing I have learned though is to keep lists. It makes your day more productive. Prioritize the things most important for you to complete each day. The book at the beginning of this post goes one step further and divides the lists into four quadrants. DO, GO, WRITE, & CALL. CALL would be the phone calls you need to make. WRITE are the notes, emails, & maybe your bills. GO are the errands - - - or I am using it for anything outside the house that requires leaving the driveway or yard. DO is just about everything else either at home or work. Really it would be better to keep a separate list for each place.
This book is one of the better ones I have read. It gives ideas on dealing with things that side-track and steal your time - - - everything from interruptions to bits of ADD & OCD. My favorite analogy in here is when your day is compared to a bookcase. hmmmmm - - wonder why that was appealing? haha Basically time is like a bookshelf. There is only so much space to put stuff. You can group that stuff in an orderly fashion so it can be found quickly and easily. You can leave a little space at the end of each shelf so another item can be added. Relating this to your schedule, you should group "like" activities together and you should build a cushion of time into each segment - - or remember that a project generally takes longer than originally planned. That way you have built some flexibility into your schedule without your schedule running your life. Calendars and lists are tools to help us more efficiently use the time God gives us. The benefit is we are more relaxed at the end of each day.
I can tell you all this but still have to confess that I haven't mastered it yet! However that doesn't keep me from trying. My biggest "failure" in this area is my Christmas letter did NOT go out this year. So how did I get it done last year after our daughter's wedding at the end of November but could not complete it this year? And those are the mysteries of life.
Behold, I shew you a mystery . . . 1 Corinthians 15:51a
3 comments:
I am vowing to be more organized this year. I need to find a way that I can divide my blogging time, writing time, other website time, family time, work time, kids outside activity time, and excercise schedule. The only schedule that is consistent is my office job. Those hours remain the same. Somehow I will figure it out and eventually find what works for me. At the moment, I am weighing the importance of sleep :).
I will be diligent with list come January since I'll be juggling work, school, & home.
We've had luck with some generics; I'll have to look to tell you which ones.
If you have a Save-A-Lot in your area I have found that their cream soups are actually just fine for casseroles and other cooking. I don't care for the ones at Wal-Mart so I stock up at SAL ever so often. I always advise people to try the store brands by buying just one can and giving it the "taste test". I enjoy reading and seeing what you and Bill are up to these days. We need to get together and "meet to eat" soon. Do you ever wonder why it is all about food as we get older?????
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