Pretty up my Grocery Binder

So am I the only one that ALWAYS feels broke shortly after payday?? Yes? Anyone?

Well because I am sick of being broke I am (finally) taking charge. I have gone over our finances and made a budget for our family to stick to; one of the biggest things we needed to cut back on was food.

The hubster would buy lunch every day because we are too lazy to make it which is about $6-$10/day… no no boo boo, and of course I would go to the grocery store and spend way more than I should on stuff we didn't need.  

I have finally figure this out: I go to the grocery store, most likely Wal-Mart with both of my boys. They are chaotic. Lovebug can’t handle being in stores, his body freaks out. Turbo takes advantage of my attention being on shopping and keeping Lovebug contained in the cart while he is climbing out/throwing stuff/kicking me/whining and he in turns acts out by messing with his brother/jumping around/running into things/begging for everything. So now I have these two wonderful darlings creating chaos and instead of high-tailing it out of there, I subject myself to this torture by prolonging my shopping and go down every aisle looking at needless stuff thinking how much I could use that item to organize my chaotic life. Purchase said items and leave with $200 worth of junk, one night’s dinner and some snacks. THIS IS MY LIFE!! Still the only one?? Yes? 

So I am vowing to do better. And doing better is only fun if it looks CUTE! J

I made up my budget and gave myself $200 for groceries a week. Yes, I know that’s still a lot but I've got to work myself down. I also allotted $100/month for beauty and cleaning items.

I made this cute binder to make my grocery shopping easier. (I bought this really cute purple binder at Walmart for a couple of dollars and I had everything else on hand) I used 12x12 scrapbook paper of my picking, made up the labels on Word and glued it on, then stuck it inside the binders clear sleeve. So pretty now! 

The first thing in my binder is a clear zipper bag to hold my stuff:

•           highlighters (I buy most of my food at Walmart-yellow highlighter, and my fruits/veggies/chicken/deli meat at Publix-pink highlighter)
•   calculator
•             pens

The sheet directly behind that is a copy of my weekly dinner plan so I remember what I am making in case I forgot to add a side to the meal in my shopping list or something. I just made the dinner plan on Word. I wanted to add color to it so it was pretty but the hubster accidentally printed off a million papers and used all of my colored ink. waaa 

I added tabs to the next couple of sections.

The first tab is my grocery list. I got this from Organized Meg. She has some really cute AND free lists so go check her out! I love that it is sectioned off for me and most of it is written in already- who has time to write all of that EVERY time?! I highlight everything I need and then as I get it, I check it off the list. Here is where my highlighters come in handy. I highlight the stuff I am getting from each store in a different color. This makes it easier than writing stuff separately or forgetting what I already got! 

The Second tab is Notes. I just have some loose leaf paper in there. I write down items in a store ad to see if it’s a better deal than Wal-Mart. They price match and you don’t need the ad. So writing it down helps me remember so I can tell the cashier! Nothing fancy, just a quick note. J

                                 

  The third tab is a price book. Most of the time things are cheaper at Wal-Mart. But not always. I have not started my price book but I am going to. I will keep a list of the stuff I buy regularly and the price from Publix, Wal-Mart, Target, and Winn Dixie. That way when there is a sale, I will know the best price for it and where. This will also help with price match. I downloaded this price book sheet from here.            

                                                                   The last tab in my binder is Coupons. I do not do a lot of couponing. I don’t find a lot of coupons for the things I am buying and it is pointless to buy something just because I have a coupon for it. For me anyways. But I do find coupons I will use sometimes so I store them in these plastic baseball card sleeves. Pretty handy to see and flip through to find what I need.

    

So now that I have a cute binder to tote with me to the store, I KNOW I will be able to stay on budget! J

Oh yea, the hubster is off one weekend day a week so I have been getting up early and heading to Wal-Mart ALONE! Earphones in, binder with me, I ROCK these shopping trips now! And I come in each week under budget!! WooHoo!!!

 

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HOME SCHOOL DILEMA

I haven’t had a lot of time by myself to get on and blog… but I do miss it and the sanity it brought me.

I started working part time as a substitute teacher and I realized how much I absolutely LOVE it! I can only sub at the school my boys are in because my youngest doesn't qualify for the extended day program offered by his school. That doesn't leave me with many days to sub in our small school. I usually get in 1-2 days a week but have had the occasional teacher that needed to be out for longer. It is such a rewarding (and yes I am going to say it, FUN!) time. I love scouring the web, Pinterest and TPT to find fun stuff to bring. I have bought my own treasure box items and used it alongside the teacher’s behavioral plan. I created (going off of the idea of others on TPT) a fill in the area note to leave for the teacher of our day, and I have gotten to know so many amazing students and teachers!

So now to my dilemma...

The school we are in now is not our zoned school. We are there on a variance for both my boys because my Lovebug is in the ESE pre-k program. Next year he will be starting kindergarten and we will be moving to our zoned school. My middle has been at this school for kindergarten and first and will be switching to a new school for second. On top of this, we will be moving within the next year or two and may have to switch schools again! The idea of it breaks my heart! My oldest is in middle school, and although she is a great student. Ok she is a little too social at times and slacks on her school work, but for the most part she is wonderful. Her school and the high school she will be attending in 2 years scares the CRAP out of me! There are the usual fights that constantly break out everywhere, the make-out sessions and worse in the bathrooms, the drugs and cussing and bullies, then there’s the gun that two high school students brought on campus, the knife that was pulled out during a fight, and so much more that scares me.

So what should a mom do? I can’t protect my kids from everything, I have to let them experience life, I can’t shield them from all dangers… right? I love teaching and my kids would most likely benefit more from being homeschooled so I am contemplating doing that. I am weighing the pros and cons, trying to get all of the facts and opinions from as many sides as I can.

So far here is what I have:

PRO

CON

o   Home as a family to spend more time together o   More 1:1 learning than in a full classroom o   I love teaching so I think I will be good at it and not get burnt out quickly o   Without the social scene being a major influence in my eldest’s day I think she will learn and progress further o   SAFETY (They will not be exposed to the amount of bullies and hormonal kids walking around on campus)

o   Together ALWAYS o   Finding the right curriculum can take time and Waste Money on ones we don’t like or use o   Can get expensive between school supplies (I am a Supply junkie) and books, equipment, furniture, etc. o   I tend to start some projects and not finish (so What if this is one of them) o   Even though I know we can find other means of Socialization I worry that they won’t get enough. I will have to quit my part-time job and lose that income

So my question is: Do you home school? If yes, can you give me some pros/cons, If no, would you? If not, why?

Also I would love to gather as much info to make an informed decision, so if you do home school what are your top must-haves, how did you decide on the curriculum (what do you use) Do you plan on doing it through high school? What have been your biggest issues with home schooling?

Please leave answers in comments! :D

Thanks guys!!!

XOXO Angela

This is another reason why I am a little skeptical of home schooling... My kids are umm, little monsters sometimes. In the short time I was writing this my lovebug wrote on the wall (and his brother’s neck) my middle has been up and down picking fights with the youngest. SIGH...