Meal Planning Newb

I still don't know how I was in the dark about meal planning, but boy am I glad it's now in my life! There are varying degrees of meal planning: the simpler end of the meal planning spectrum is to plan out meals one week at a time. The more complicated end of the meal planning spectrum belongs to those folks who plan out an entire month of meals. It boggles the mind, right? I don't think I'll ever get to the latter, so for now I'm sticking to the weekly meal planning level.

I prefer weekly meal planning because:

a) It's been a very easy transition from absolutely NO meal planning to weekly meal planning

b) I like anticipating the Sunday grocery deals, and using those as my inspiration

c) I like going to the grocery store(s) in general, so I like being able to go every week

d) I have visions of me and a grocery cart full of a month's supply of food and other stuffs, and it scares me

So how do I form a plan of attack? Thought you'd never ask!

Analyzing Sunday Deals

I now get reeeeeally excited for the Sunday paper. My husband now also gets excited for it, and we usually "fight" over the ads. He wants to quickly get his foods added to my list for consideration (usually items like Pop Tarts, pizza rolls, and Coca Cola :) ). I read through all the grocery ads and start writing up a list of stuff per store by hand, including the prices. At this point I usually don't know what I want to make for the week, but the deals serve as my inspiration later on.

Getting Nerdy With a Spreadsheet

Once I have all the items written down that piqued by interest (due to good prices and/or something seasonal that looks great), I turn to le computer. I created a very simple spreadsheet (thanks, Open Office!) that I use to keep track of the week's meals, and it includes a section where I list out all items per store and their prices. This lets me see the potential grand total, and tweak items if they don't work with the desired total. Let me emphasize that this spreadsheet is SUPER simple. It's just meant to help me develop and stick to my "food schedule". It keeps me sane, for reals. Want to see it? Mk, here's a simple template version!

Research

Fun research, I swear! After starting to add to my simple spreadsheet, I give my pantry, freezer, and fridge a once-over to figure out what I already have. Then with that knowledge, and the deals I've written down, I go to the internets to look up recipe inspiration. That lets me finish my list of items that I want to buy for the week, and it lets me fill out my meal schedule for the week!

Money Cap

I mentioned desired total. This is obviously going to be very different for me. Regardless of your financial situation, setting an amount you will spend (whether it's a total per week, per month, total per category - food, gas, etc....) really holds you to a number, and helps you save so much more money. I really wish we had been doing this even when I was working and our combined salaries were very comfortable. We would have a lot more money in the bank! Alas, hindsight. Aaaaanyway, the way I have set my desired total is a more complicated explanation than I'll go into at this time, so I will simply say that I have decided how much I want to spend TOTAL per week. This includes food and other household stuffs.

Making a Shopping Date

I henceforth declare Monday as: The Day to Shop. Well, for me anyway! :) I just decided that I'd make Monday the day to haul my daughter off to a few stores in the morning after breakfast, and we get 'er done for the week. It feels great to get it all done in one day! Every now and then, I have to run out later in the week to get a few supplementary items, but I try to avoid that as much as possible.

Coupons. Argh.

I should also mention the coupons. I love coupons, and hate them. They honestly stress me out a little bit, which I think is partly to due with the fact that I can't figure out a good way to organize them so that it's easy to go through them on demand. I don't rely on coupons to make the weekly meal plan; for now, I see them as a bonus. After I have my list of things to buy, I go through the coupons to see if anything matches up to my list. Or if I have time, I'll see if any of my coupons match up to anything in the weekly ads. But I don't spend loads of time on this, because it's pretty darn time consuming, and there's lots to do, y'all!! If anyone has any good couponing tips, please share!! I don't know how those Extreme Couponers do it. :S

That's what I feel like sharing for now... I hope this is inspirational / useful for at least one person. :D

I'm Alive! Really!

Whoo boy, I have been a bad, bad blogger! Apologies all around. I can sorta kinda explain.

My routines that I talked up in May? Well I've been verrrrrrrry loosely following them in July, and the cleaning routine has been collecting dust. I had some wonderful family visits at the end of June into early July, and I used them as an excuse to become a big ole slacker. Oopsy! Don't get me wrong, I have been cleaning! But I haven't tackled every cleaning project I should. Please don't be scared of my house. :)

While I've been slacking in the routine department, I've been doing pretty well in the food department. I've been doing really well with meal planning, improving my grocery shopping skillz, and dabbling in freezer cooking.

So now I just need to:
a) get back to work on my cleaning routine, and
b) update the flipping blog at least once per week!!

More to come...

My Routine: Ready for Prime Time

A month ago, I talked about my efforts to create and try out a routine for my new life as a homemaker. After a month of running my routine pilot, I'm happy to say that it's now in production!

The core of my routine is almost identical to the original, with a few tweaks. The biggest change was in my morning routine. I'm a YMCA member, and had an epiphany a couple weeks ago:

a) As a Y member, I get free child care
b) The Y has some nice showers and changing areas
c) The Y has tasty free coffee
d) The nice Y child care ladies will watch Annabel for me, allowing her to have fun with some other kiddos while I work out, take a shower, maybe even dry my hair!!!, and grab some coffee.
e) NICE

As a result, the routine now looks like this:

Morning routine

• 6:00 Wake up time – Em
• Get dressed for YMCA
• Coffee + breakfast
• Start a load of laundry
• Make Zach's lunch
• 7:15 Wake up time – Annabel
• 8:00 Breakfast - Annabel
• Switch laundry to dryer
• YMCA
• Errands OR fun time

Afternoon routine

• 11:30 Lunch – Annabel
• 11:45 Nap – Annabel
• Fold laundry
• Clean up kitchen
• Straighten bathrooms & bedrooms
• Cleaning task
• 2:00 Wake up – Annabel
• Fun time!

Evening routine

• 5:30 Dinner
• Clean up kitchen
• 7:30 Bed time – Annabel
• 10-minute house pickup
• Scoop kitty litter
• Read
• 10:00 Bed time – Em

And I keep reminding myself that (as Crystal from MoneySavingMom.com says) the routine "is not a regimented schedule with detailed time blocks for how you’re supposed to spend every minute of every day." This is pretty critical for maintaining sanity, since things do not always flow according to my nicely bulleted list. :)

My Routine: Pilot Status Check

I'm on day 3, and still enjoying my new routine! Much more than Annabel enjoys mowing the sidewalk. :D

Some minor tweaks here and there, but the core elements are still there. And I have to admit that even though I'm doing it all digitally at the moment, crossing things of the list has been reeeeeeally satisfying!

Since things are going so well, I need to get a new pilot going... so food is next. More to come on that!

In the meantime, here's where I'm at so far for the day:

Morning routine

• 6:00 Wake up time – Em
• Shower, get dressed
• Coffee
• Start a load of laundry
• Make Zach's lunch
• 7:15 Wake up time – Annabel
• 8:00 Breakfast
• Switch laundry to dryer
• Fun time!

Afternoon routine

• 11:00 Lunch – Annabel
• Fold laundry
• 11:30 Nap – Annabel (12:15)
• 12:00 Lunch – Em
• Clean up kitchen
• Straighten bathrooms & bedrooms
• Cleaning task (Sweep wood floor, dust first floor, clean kitchen garbage can, + made pancakes)
• 2:00 Wake up – Annabel
• Fun time!

Evening routine

• 5:30 Dinner
• Clean up kitchen
• 7:30 Bed time – Annabel
• 10-minute house pickup
• Scoop kitty litter
• Read
• 10:00 Bed time – Em

And for my cleaning routine tasks:

Weekly cleaning tasks	Monthly cleaning tasks	Quarterly cleaning tasks
Clean toilets Wipe bathroom sinks/counters Clean bathroom floors Clean bathtubs + shower Sweep wood floor Vacuum first floor Vacuum second floor Vacuum stairs Dust first floor (basic) Dust second floor (basic) Wash sheets Wash towels	Clean refrigerator Clean microwave Full kitchen counter wipe First floor windows Second floor windows Purse / diaper bag reorg Clean kitchen garbage can Wash bath rugs Wash comforter Mop wood floor	Change air filter Wash pillow cases Wash couch cover Clean oven Vacuum mattresses

My Routine Update + Cleaning Routine Addition

My Routine: Pilot Status Check

So far, so good! I loved having the routine as my guide; I felt like I got so much done today, and still had fun time to enjoy with Annabel. Even though I do love sleeping in, it actually felt so much better to get up early and have time to myself. It was so relaxing! Who knew?? Maybe the best part: I was able to drink an entire mug of coffee. Without interruption. Le sigh.

I didn't do everything in the exact order of my routine, but as Crystal from MoneySavingMom.com says, that is OK! And it's the reason why it's a routine and not a schedule.

This morning I was thinking about this whole effort: researching, testing, and implementing a new routine. And the fact that it probably sounds silly to some people, because sometimes I think it's silly. Shouldn't I be able to just know what to do when?! Is this a whole lot of work for nothing??

But then I remind myself of the same thing I wrong about in my post on 27 April; I tend to overwhelm myself with the amount of things I want to get done. If I only have a mental to-do list, my brain kicks into overdrive and my stress levels shoot through the roof!

Also, in my corporate work life I loved having a list of things to do, because nothing feels better than crossing something off that list. And thanks to the test run today, I now know the same holds true for my stay-at-home life! I loved crossing things off my routine as I got them done.

The pilot continues...

Cleaning Routine

Meanwhile, yesterday I decided that I'd start mocking up a cleaning routine as well. Which reminded me of a great blog I found while Pinteresting (is that a real word yet?) months ago. And specifically, of a cleaning routine idea on said blog.

Said blog is iHeart Organizing, which I have yet to explore in detail. But I can attest to the fact that her Cleaning Routine idea is great. It's exactly the kind of cleaning routine style I like, with daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual cleaning tasks to check off. I decided not to use her exact list, but instead used it as a starting point and then edited it a bit. I'm guessing it'll be edited even more as I put it to use!

Here are my tasks so far. I decided to start with weekly, monthly, and quarterly:

Weekly cleaning tasks	Monthly cleaning tasks	Quarterly cleaning tasks
Clean toilets Wipe bathroom sinks/counters Clean bathroom floors Clean bathtubs + shower Sweep wood floor Vacuum first floor Vacuum second floor Vacuum stairs Dust first floor (basic) Dust second floor (basic) Wash sheets Wash towels	Clean refrigerator Clean microwave Full kitchen counter wipe First floor windows Second floor windows Purse / diaper bag reorg Clean kitchen garbage can Wash bath rugs Wash comforter	Change air filter Wash pillow cases Wash couch cover Clean oven Vacuum mattresses

End-of-Day Results

Crystal from MoneySavingMom.com bravely posts what she gets done per day, so maybe I will too?? I'm feeling pretty brave today anyway, so here 'tis:

Morning routine

• 6:00 Wake up time – Em
• Shower, get dressed
• Coffee
• Start a load of laundry
• Make Zach's lunch (N/A)
• 7:15 Wake up time – Annabel (8:15)
• 8:00 Breakfast
• Switch laundry to dryer
• Fun time!

Afternoon routine

• 11:00 Lunch – Annabel
• Fold laundry
• 11:30 Nap – Annabel (12:15)
• 12:00 Lunch – Em
• Clean up kitchen
• Straighten bathrooms & bedrooms
• Cleaning task
• 2:00 Wake up – Annabel
• Fun time!

Evening routine

• 5:30 Dinner
• Clean up kitchen
• 7:30 Bed time – Annabel
• 10-minute house pickup
• Scoop kitty litter
• Read
• 10:00 Bed time – Em

For my cleaning task time slot, I was able to cross off FOUR weekly cleaning tasks! Yeah, I'm still in the overexuberant stage.

• Clean toilets
  
• Wipe bathroom sinks/counters
• Wash sheets 
• Wash towels

We'll see how the rest of the week goes!!

Now I'm off to do the 10-minute house pickup, kitty litter scoopin', then a good book is calling my name...

My New Routine: A Pilot

In my corporate life, many of my projects started off with "pilots". You need to pilot something before you decide it's worth implementing, because you don't want thousands of unhappy clients. I only have a couple clients now (four, if you count the dog and cat), and luckily they're pretty forgiving. :) Regardless, I feel the need to pilot, so voila!

Annabel took it easy on me and napped for a looong time this afternoon. Which gave me more than enough time to do some "research" for inspiration and then to mock up a draft.

The Inspiration

A month ago I discovered MoneySavingMom.com, self described as "an upbeat and encouraging blog dedicated to helping you find great deals, stretch your hard-earned dollars, and live on less than you make so you can save more and give more. " I completely agree with the description; the mom who runs it, Crystal, does a great job of keeping it interesting, updated, easy to read, and full of useful information.

While searching around her site, I found posts about creating routines and time management, and really liked the simple approach to creating something daunting. Today, I finally read through them all from start to finish, including:

How to Develop a Routine That Works–and Stick With It! (Part 1)

How to Develop a Routine That Works–and Stick With It! (Part 2)

How to Develop a Routine That Works–and Stick With It (Part 3)

     Time Management 101: Create a Time Budget

     Time Management 101: Create a Time Budget (Part 2)

     Time Management 101: Make a Personalized Plan

How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It! (Part 4)

In a nutshell, Crystal provides "assignments" per Part that help you end up with a routine, not a schedule. And she emphasizes something that I really appreciate: the routine "is not a regimented schedule with detailed time blocks for how you’re supposed to spend every minute of every day."

To which I say, phew!!! Because I now know that life with a toddler does not allow a regimented anything. Not at all.

The only thing I decided not to pursue (at least for now) is the concept of having "envelopes of time". Like the financial envelope system, you decide how much time you want to dedicate to something and set aside that total time in a figurative envelope. Then you take time out of that envelope as you use it. It's a way to force you to use your time more wisely.

For example: By choosing to work on my blog for an hour, I now have an hour less to work on Annabel's newborn scrapbook. Guess that gets pushed out yet another day, d'oh.

Anyway, I decided that I better get my pilot completed (and marked successful!) before getting more granular with my time.

The Draft

Using Crystal's guidance, I ended up with this:

Morning routine

6:00 Wake up time – Em
Shower, get dressed
Coffee
Start a load of laundry
Make Zach's lunch
7:15 Wake up time – Annabel
8:00 Breakfast
Switch laundry to dryer
Fun time!
Afternoon routine
11:00 Lunch – Annabel
Fold laundry
11:30 Nap - Annabel
12:00 Lunch – Em
Clean up kitchen
Straighten bathrooms & bedrooms
Cleaning task
2:00 Wake up – Annabel
Fun time!
Evening routine
5:30 Dinner
Clean up kitchen
7:30 Bed time – Annabel
10-minute house pickup
Read
10:00 Bed time – Em

Time to Pilot!

I feel pretty good about this, and I plan to start it tomorrow. Normally I let myself sleep in on the weekends, but there's no better time to start than now, right?!?


Since the glorious Annabel nap kept going strong, I also decided to work on lists of cleaning tasks (note the "Cleaning task" in the Afternoon routine)... but I'll save that for tomorrow's post. Ohhh, the anticipation!! :D

A New Routine

This weekend, my plan is to work on a "pilot" schedule for myself! I know, you're on pins and needles now; try to keep the excitement in check. :D

In my corporate IT life, my weeks were chock full of regularly-scheduled meetings. I also had my usual routines: departure prep, cube morning coffee, lunch-time brown-bag lunch, afternoon wrap-up tasks. I knew when to expect my cubemates' arrivals, what directions they should be arriving from, and how they would greet me.

And as of last week, I have... no regularly scheduled meetings. No routines. No morning commute (yay!!). A cubemate who's contained to her crib until I release her. My schedule has whatever I want it to have... woah.

I get easily overwhelmed by the amount of things I'd like to get done in a day, from cleaning to crafting to toddler fun to grocery shopping... you get the idea! So I need to create a new schedule for myself.

Et voila: my weekend homework! I'll keep you posted on the results.

I'm going to be using Money Saving Mom's site as my guidance/inspiration, starting with this article. Wish me luck!!