31 day$ to a Le$$ Cluttered Life #3

If you've completed the first 10 challenges you are over 1/3 of the way through the month!  Congrats.  It takes 30 days to make a habit!

11) Listen to something you enjoy as you de-clutter.  Perhaps your favorite rock and roll tune or classical music gets you motivated.  Maybe it is a book on tape or your favorite pod cast...

While you are at it, clean out the apps on your phone that you no longer use.  Technology needs de-cluttering occasionally too!

12)  Tackle the coat closet next.
Donate or consign those items that are too small or are never warn,
Repair items that need a button secured.
Launder or dry clean other items.
Place baskets or bins in the closet to house scarves, hats and mittens or gloves.  Find the missing mates or toss.

13)  I love to cook and I regularly tear recipes out of magazines and the newspaper.  I find the change of seasons an ideal time to purge my files and pull out recipes I want to try for the coming season.  Toss recipes you KNOW you'll never make and file the rest in an accordion file by type (chicken, pasta, breakfast).  Purge any cookbooks that just didn't live up to their color photos on the front cover.

14)  This is also the perfect time to purge the spice rack of that cardamom (or any other spice) you bought 3 Christmas's ago and the pantry of expired canned goods .  I make a "bucket list" of 3-5 recipes I want to make and put the special ingredients on my shopping list.    

The pantry purge gives me ideas on how to use up what I have.  This Frugality girl hates to wast good food!

15)  And now to purge the baking dishes and cookie sheets.  I may never really get rid of that pumpkin shaped cake pan but I do remember that I have it and make a plan to use it for the next Halloween neighborhood potluck!

Cooking at Home

One sure fire way to save money is to eat at home.  We rarely eat fast food because we live 11 miles from the nearest McDonalds.  I consider myself a pretty good cook and prefer to eat at home much of the time.  We usually dine out once on the weekend at a nicer establishment and with a fast food meal for 2 adults and 2 teenage girls topping $22 (which is 1/10th of my food budget for 2 weeks) it just seems a good idea to eat at home.

Successfully saving money by eating at home does take some planning.  I don't plan my meals around what is on sale (which would save me a LOT more money) but I find that too rigid for my taste-buds!

Thoughtful preparation of a weekly menu is critical to success.  I use a loose leaf notebook.  I make a note of what events occur during the week and make sure my menu takes those in to consideration.  If I only have 30 minutes to get the food to the table I need a plan to make that sure to happen.  I plan my weekly menus on Saturday or Sunday so I can grocery shop for any "exotic" or fresh ingredients I may need.  No last minute runs to the grocery on a busy weeknight!  This Dining with Diana post may give you some ideas to help you get into the habit of meal planning  http://dining-with-diana.blogspot.com/2010/08/meal-planning.html

Secondly, it is imperative that you have some basic ingredients on had at all times to use to create a home cooked meal.  By the time I decide what to prepare, shop and arrive at home I am too exhausted to cook!  This prevents that from occurring on a regular basis.  My Blog, Dining with Diana ( http://dining-with-diana.blogspot.com/) has some suggestions on how to stock a pantry.   http://dining-with-diana.blogspot.com/2010/08/well-stocked-pantry.html 

Don't these pictures make it look like my pantry is stocked with nothing but JUNK food?

Lastly, I always have a go to meal in the freezer.  It might be a Stouffers frozen pasta meal, a frozen pizza or my meatballs.

If planning a week's worth of menus is too overwhelming for you at first, start by planning 2 days worth of meals.  I guarantee the time you save is well worth the effort.

Happy $aving$!

Diana