Last Week in my life :)

Just a little bit of bragging and some Before & After pictures from last week!
Last week, FlyLady’s Zone of the week was the master bedroom.  
 My bedroom was in serious need of some TLC. I’m a bit ashamed to show you these, but I think many of you can probably relate!

Uhm… yeah, that’s my Master Bedroom. This room can quickly become a disaster in my life. It’s not a place that needs to be “company ready”, because Company, if any is had, would have no need to go in there. It becomes the “Stash and Dash” area. To busy to put laundry away? Stash it in the bedroom. Not sure where to put something, or too lazy to put it away? Stash it in the bedroom. As you can see, this hasn’t really worked out!  Also, I couldn’t even GET to my closet!

So anyways, I set to work on my bedroom. I took on a “no pressure” type attitude, letting go of perfectionism and just accepting that ANYTHING would be an improvement on what it was. And guess what? It only took about 2 hours to get the majority of that mess cleaned up! Afterwards, I wondered why I had put it off for so long!   Look! I can see the floor!! AND I can get to my closet! The clothes are all hung up and/or folded and put away. The boxes are back where they belong! The top of my dresser is now a perfect place to do my daily devotions or meditations.

FlyLady helped too! With her zone projects and “Fly Missions”, I was able to get more done than just cleaning up the mess. She had some great suggestions that only took 15 minutes (or less) a day and really helped me Bless my Bedroom!
On Monday I cleaned out under the bed and vaccuumed the whole room.
On Tuesday I cleaned out my sock drawer, threw away old socks and organized it. I even bought myself new socks and did the same with hubby’s sock drawer!
On Wednesday I spent more time clearing away clutter on the night stands and tops of dressers.
On Thursday I dusted the room, even wiped down the tops of the door jambs, wiped the doorknobs, windowsills, etc.
On Friday I pretty much had my bedroom nice and clean, so I focused on the small bathroom that is adjacent to the bedroom. I gave that room a good scrubbing and put stuff away that needed to be put away. Now when I go in my bedroom I really feel like it is a relaxing area, both for begnning and ending my day!

My bathroom, before –

and about 30 minutes later…. after putting everything away, taking out the trash, scrubbing the toilet and shining the countertops and sink;

It’s funny the things we take for granted, and the way that we minimize the importance of having a clean, sacred space to rest. This week, the work I did here in my bedroom was not just a cleansing of the room where I sleep, but it was a major blessing for myself! Giving myself a peaceful environment to sleep, read, rest, get dressed, etc, was a HUGE affirmation of self-love. It gave me a major boost that I really needed!

On another note, I also had a great time using my coupons and checking the sales papers this week!  I brought my grocery bill for the week down by about $30.oo by watching sales and using some coupons.  I also went to Walgreens and picked up a few things ….

I got all this for $16!

Walgreens Coupon Trip 1/25/2011
Subtotal $38.17
Total paid – $20.91
plus Walgreens Register Rewards $4.00

(If you calculate in the $4 they gave me back in Register Rewards then my actual total was $16.90!!)

2 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios, sale plus coupons = $1.50 each
2 Red Baron pizzas sale plus coupon = $2.00 each
Mens Socks $6.99 buy 1 get 1 Free
Kleenex sale .89 each
Kraft Mayo, sale plus coupon = $1.24
Jello sale plus coupon = .50 cents each
Bowl Fresh sale plus coupon = .50 cents each
Pediacare sale $5.99 plus $4 back in Register Rewards = $1.99
Soda & Chips for Xander – not on sale LOL but he was a good boy while I was shopping 🙂

Coupon Savings – $8.46
Register Rewards used froms last week $9
Walgreens Sales Savings – $20.05

Total savings $37.31

A Coupon Adventure, and a recipe

Yesterday I finally broke down and got the ink cartridge refilled for my printer.  It’s been… IDK… a YEAR or more since I have had ink in my printer!  I was tired of not being able to print things out; especially coupons!!  I found a place about 2 miles from my house called Cartridge World and they do ink cratridges cheap!  A new cartridge of black ink for my printer at OfficeMax would cost about $36.00.  I got my cartridge refilled yesterday for $16.49!!

So, last night I found some coupon websites and bookmarked the websites of the places that I shop the most often so I can start looking for coupons before I go to the store.  I already printed out a few coupons from www.coupons.com that I thought I might use this coming week.  This morning I decided to check the Walgreens website, since there is a Walgreens within walking distance of my house.  I found some GREAT coupons, and decided to go ahead and use them today.  (Most of them expire tomorrow, and I’ll be at work!)  So I printed out about 6 coupons and made a list of what I wanted from the sale items.  A tip for if you shop at Walgreens; check out what sale items give you Register Rewards too… these are items that when you buy them, they print you a coupon that’s as good as cash fr your next shopping visit!

The result of my couponing adventure?….

Walgreens Couponing 1/7/2011
Subtotal – $32.77
Total Price Paid – $15.42

Coupon Savings – $13.57
Walgreens Sales Savings $3.78
plus a $1.00 Register Rewards coupon for my next visit!

I Got;
Clorox Wipes 2/$5, plus $1 Register Rewards Coupon (Store Sale)
Chips Ahoy Cookies 99 cents each (Coupon)
Hunt’s Tomato Sauce 3/$1 (Coupon)
Goody’s Asprin $2.99 ($3 off) (Coupon)
Household Cleaning Gloves 39 cents each (Coupon)
Aquafresh toothpaste $1.99 (Store Sale)
Papermate Mechanical Pencils 5 pack 19 cents each (57 cents total for 3 packs) (Coupon)

A total savings of $17.35!
In other words… the $16.00 I spent yesterday on ink for my printer has already paid for itself with ONE day’s savings in printed coupons!

Wahooooo! 
I’m actually looking forward to grocery shopping on Monday to see how much more I can save with coupons!!

Okay…. back to the grind!  Time to do some more housework!  I’m going to put a roast in the crockpot for the family to eat while I’m at work.  A favorite crockpot recipe of mine…so I’ll share it with you!

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Rio Grande Pot Roast
1 beef eye of round roast (approx. 2 lbs)
2 jars of your favorite salsa (about 36 oz total)
1 packet of Ranch Dip Mix

Mix together the salsa and Ranch Dip Mix.
Put the roast in the crockpot and pour the salsa mixture over the top.
Turn the crockpot on low and let it cook for about 6 hours.

Slice or shred and serve!  Goes good with Spanish Rice.  You can top the meat with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream if you like.