The enemy today? Clutter

 It may be part of my whole nesting thing, but I don't care, I want the clutter gone! Whatever the reason is....I'm so excited to have less stuff in my home!

It is so hard to keep the house clean with so much stuff, and 5 kids who spread said stuff everywhere. Most of it really is just stuff! I feel like I have been attacked by the "stuff monster"!

I am on a mission! Last week I cleaned a box of toys out of the playroom, along with a bag of trash.  Today, a bag of stuffed animals was added to the yard sale stash in the garage. Some church movies were added to the movie folder and the cases tossed into the trash.  Oh there is so much more for me to get rid of! There is also a good chance we will be moving this summer. Less stuff would be very helpful with that. 

So, how do you approach something that seems so overwhelming? A little at a time! Rome wasn't built in a day, and you are not going to de-clutter your home effectively in a short amount of time.  There are different ways you can approach this. Regardless of how you approach it, you first need to establish an area in your home (ie-garage,closet, etc) where you will put all the yard sale/donation items. If you are going to donate them, go ahead and drop them off when you can so it doesn't all get re-absorbed back into your home. 

Try one of these. 

-Spend 15 minutes a day. (or however long you want) Work in the same area each day until it's complete. 

-Choose 15 things each day. (or 1 if that's all you can do) Either trash, or yard sale/donate.  

-Choose one entire room if you have the time.

You will be surprised how much stuff is just laying around your house that you don't use.

Ask yourself some questions.

1-Is this item truly important to me? Or am I keeping it out of obligation?(ie-a family member gave it to you)

2-Do I use this item? 

3-Is this an item that I love? 

4-For Clothes-Would I buy this right now? If not, toss it!

I am looking forward to less clutter in my house. "Stuff" isn't important in life, and I think it only slows you down. You will also probably be surprised the value of the things that are in your home that you don't use.  Consider selling the item on ebay, craigslist,Amazon, or an online yard sale site like www.bookoo.com. You have the potential to turn what is just "stuff" to you into extra money! 

One more important thing. When buying a new item, really think about why you are buying it. Do you need the item? If you  hesitate, don't buy it. Even if it's a great deal, if it's just going to sit in your house unused and become part of the "stuff monster" it's not worth it.  

Ways to save:Pampers Gifts to Grow!

For the majority of the past 13 1/2 years I have been purchasing diapers. The 2 brands I buy are Pampers and Huggies. I have not had good experiences with any others. These two both work great for us! I watch for sales and coupons and buy the one that gives me the best deal at the time.  I have both in my daughters closet right now.
Pampers has had a rewards program for a long time.  Huggies has recently also started one. Yay! ;-) Every pack of diapers, every pack of wipes-they all have a special code you can enter into your account which you can redeem for toys, sweepstakes, items from Shutterfly, books, magazines, gift cards, and more! It isn't hard to collect the points if you have a child wearing diapers.  If you haven't yet signed up for the Pampers rewards program just click here to sign up and receive a 25 point bonus! ;-)
More pampers codes to score free points!
DM13PA4NRWPRE14- 50 pts
FBNY213EJFARY14- 10 pts
 JOINNOW4REWARDS - 50 pts
PRWELCOMEU10PTS- 10 pts
 GTGWELCOME10PTS - 10 pts 
 Huggies rewards program can be found at Huggies.com.
Happy diapering!

I am back! Hopefully to stay!

I am soon to be the mother of 6 children! I am 20 weeks pregnant and I can't wait to meet this little life that I am being trusted with.  My family is everything to me, aside from my Savior. I am a stay at home Mom who works every day to have an orderly home, love my family, be a little better than I was yesterday, and be as frugal as possible.  I am going to get back into blogging and see if anyone ever reads this. ;)
I am going to share as much as I can about my life in hopes it will help someone, somewhere: how I take care of my large family on a small income, food storage, crafts, recipes, cleaning and anything else I feel like sharing!
I am not a very social person, so often no one ever hears any of my ideas. Those days are over, because I am now shouting them out to the world! So, here's hoping for a year of great posts...from this quiet lady! ;-)

Great new book to check out!

Check this out!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A62H3CA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00A62H3CA&linkCode=as2&tag=ereagirl-20

June-Week one grocery totals!

Aldi's  $22.69

Publix  $56.88

Not pictured

Kroger $10.00

(4 loaves bread, 5 dozen eggs, 4 glade scented oil plugins and 2 lemonade drink powders)

Publix  $12.67

(8 mac & cheese, 2 boxes cheerios, 1 sm. tub I can't believe it's not butter, 2 cans Blue Diamond almonds, 1 loaf bread, 2 ocean spray juices, 4 baby food pouches)

My Grand total this week was 

$102.24

I went over a little bit this week, but I had more than $14 left over from last week so I think I am good. ;-) 

I'm BACK! And Cheaper than ever!

My life has recently changed quite a bit. We were living in Germany, we had been there almost 3 years, and were fortunate enough to be able to come back to Georgia! I was almost 6 months pregnant when we moved with our 5th child.
A huge thing about being back in the states is that I can get back into coupon-ing! And I have to tell you that this is so majorly exciting for me because I am a frugal person. I'm cheap. I am always looking for a deal. In Europe that is so much harder to do. It is really just not feasible.
I have totally immersed myself into re-learning everything there is to know about couponing and doing the drug store sales. It is really amazing how much money you can save if you are willing to put in some effort! In Germany we were probably spending at least $800-1000 per month on groceries. Right now I am spending $100 each week for our family of 7.
Now, I don't just buy what we are going to eat that week...we don't eat that way at our house. I have food storage. I have serious food storage. SO, The things I buy are stocking up items or things that just compliment what I already have. I think it is so much fun to see how much food I can get for $100!! I LOVE FREE STUFF! Seriously! It's out there! I do alter our menu for that week if there is a super good sale. Like a dozen large eggs for $1 for example. Well, our family happens to really enjoy eggs. SO, Egg Salad Sandwiches are suddenly on the menu for two lunches that week. With summer out, that means my kids and I will go through a dozen eggs in one lunch. Not a big deal when I only paid a buck for the eggs!
SO, I am going to start blogging about my exciting adventures in coupon-ing! I don't know if anyone else will ever really read this but it will be motivation for me to stay on the ball and keep myself accountable to the plan and budget I want to be on!
Happy Couponing!
-L

Into Food Storage??? I am

There is a great website with great info provided by great people...you should go and check it out..just click the button on my blog to the right.I have been following the "everyday food storage" blog and now she has joined with a few other food storage blogger to make an awesome network of information! CHECK IT OUT!