Monday, August 6, 2018

Shopping Goals: August, 2018


Man, I'm tired today.  I am attempting to start getting the kids up earlier in the morning.  Their sleep patterns have really suffered this summer, to the point that the last couple of weeks they are staying up till 1 am or so and getting up at ten no matter what I do to try and dissuade it.  So, this week I'm working on getting them up at seven in the morning and then next week at six as we have to get into the habit of getting up early before school starts next Thursday.  Not fun, but necessary.  Combine that with Alvah's eczema flaring bad over the weekend to the point that even with the clonodine's help to get him to sleep at night, he hasn't slept in about two days now, and yeah...it's been a fun day so far.

I've made some headway with getting some shopping goals from last month accomplished.  I was blessed with money I could spend on Amazon.  Per usual with me and Subscribe and Save orders, I think and think and think and redo my order about 18 bazillion times before I settle on what I want to spend money on.  I ended up completely redoing my Amazon order for this month and ended up getting less cleaning supplies and more food for school lunches and things.  Enjoy Life products were on sale last month as part of Prime Day specials, so I got some of their trail mix to put into my daughter's lunches and for snacks (since peanuts are obviously out for us with Alvah's allergy). I also ordered another container of Seventh Generation laundry pods as they actually came out with a 30% off coupon this month for their products.  Between that and last month's Prime Day coupon on the laundry detergent I will hopefully be set on laundry detergent for a while.  I'm really looking forward to my Subscribe and Save order coming in this month as it's all things we could really use around here and will also help me store up some food for winter (like BBQ sauce and tomato sauce, for instance).

In order for the money I had for my Amazon order to go further I cancelled the order for the bleach pods and the chlorine free bleach pods and just went to the store and bought a bottle of cheap bleach and a bottle of chlorine free bleach.  The bottles don't go as far as the pods would have, but they were also a lot cheaper, so it was worth it.  I used that money on Amazon to put toward paper towels and toilet paper as we are in desperate need of both and with the son still kind of still learning the ins and outs of potty training (as he didn't potty train till he was seven) he is kind of blowing through toilet paper and wet wipes (which is good that he wants to be independent in that regard, but isn't great on the money saving front).  I was also blessed with some vacuum bags and some lemon pie filling, which was an upper to my month :).

The only meat I've bought the last month has been the free meat that I got from the Mighty Spark coupons and the fish I got and some other clearance meat, that I wish went further.  Past that there just wasn't good enough sales and not enough money to make that goal happen to any great degree (which mind you I am VERY grateful for what I was able to get).  Greens weren't accomplished either.  Instead I put that money toward fruit and other produce that would be more immediately used.  I DID manage to get a bag of storage onions and some carrots, which I was out of both of those, so it was nice to be able to put those back into my stores.  I'd still like to get another bag of storage onions soon as we do blow through onions around here, but at least I'm not in desperate need of them anymore.  I also had my husband just go down and get a huge bulk box of garbage bags because we've just been blowing through them like mad around here with the beetle issues and all of the weeding I've done.

So let's get to the list of things I would like to buy this month and probably the beginning of next month too the way pay periods are scheduled.

Regular Stores:

  • Garlic:  Minced (jarred) and fresh
  • Storage onions (if room in budget)
  • Lettuce 
  • Apples (additional for daughter's school lunches)
  • Eggs (more than normal to make hard boiled eggs for school and work lunches)
  • Grapes (for lunches...if not too expensive)
  • Tortillas (to freeze for later meals)
Used Stores (or Regular Stores, depending on where I can find them):
  • White Dress Shirt for daughter for orchestra concerts


Bulk Store/Three Bears:

  • Cooking Oil (I might get this at the regular store if the sales/personalized prices are there)


Amazon.com  I'm just going to hit the highlights here as the son is rewriting the book on cranky today and needs my attention.

Note:  The Following contains affiliate links.  If you order through these links I receive a small commission from Amazon.com for pushing sales their way.  This doesn't cost you any additional money to do.  Thank you for your support if you order through these links. 


Cleaning Supplies (on going needs, will get when I have money in the budget):

  • White Vinegar
  • All Purpose Cleaner (refills)
  • Window Cleaner (probably get the bulk container of it and fill up some empty spray bottles around here)
  • Mop and Bucket
  • Broom
  • Dish Scrubbers/Cloths
  • Cleaning Sponges  (found a few buried in the depths of my laundry room, but would like to buy some back ups)
  • Toilet Bowl Cleaner
  • DAP

Linens/Bedroom Needs (once again this is an ongoing list that I'll get when I have money in the budget or run into super duper cheap and can't pass up):

  • Queen Sized Duvet (I want to switch to a duvet and just make covers for it instead of having to invest in 4 different comforters a year at the used store that are constantly falling apart and wasting money, not to mention the logistical problem of finding room to store multiple comforters when you have a house that has nothing resembling a linen closet or storage closet period, really)
  • Queen Sized Sheet Sets (we have two sets and both are ancient and worn out)
  • Standard pillows for son's room and master bedroom
  • "Satellite use" pillows or master bed (going to see how far I can get making my own with what I have on hand)
  • Thick Queen sized mattress pad/feather bed (mattress is causing a lot of discomfort in my hips and arms as well as my husband's back and this is going to be WAY cheaper than buying a new mattress)
  • Curtains for master bedroom (I'm going to attempt to make new ones out of materials I have around here).

And there you go folks.  Some of the shopping goals I have this month (well Amazon really isn't so much a goal as that has all the money put aside and is essentially paid for).

How about you?  Got things you need to get this month?

4 comments:

  1. We have a 4 inch memory foam mattress topper, and it makes a world of a difference. It wasn't too expensive (around $100 for a King)- from Walmart. Certainly makes an uncomfortable mattress live longer! Good luck! Good sleep is so important.

    Leigh-- Maryland

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  2. I admire your organization here, that you can plan out monthly what you need. I usually have an idea of what I'm looking for, but nothing serious. Our stash of black beans is getting low, so I'm hoping to find a good deal on those. I do need to start building up our winter stash of toilet paper- I usually try to have three or four bulk packs around so that we never run out. And I'm still on the lookout for an extra set of sheets for my son's bed. I haven't run across any at yard sales yet this season, but I'm still looking! :)

    My daughter is awake every morning at early o'clock, so I'm still in the habit of waking up early, and my son has requested that we start getting him up when we're up, but I'm NOT looking forward to that 6 am wake up that starts next week. And come January, my son starts what's called zero-hour gym, so we'll have to get up at about 5:45 so that he can be at school (where I'll have to drive him) at 6:30. YIKES. I'm sure summer vacation and only having to wake up at 7 with my daughter will feel awesome next year!

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  3. I noticed window cleaner on your shopping list. Don't buy. Make your own with vinegar and water in a spray bottle. (I am still using my last purchased spray bottle for mine). 50/50 ratio.

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  4. sorry for 2nd post. toilet bowl cleaner: 1/4c baking soda and 1c vinegar. Let sit 15minutes and scrub with brush. works fabulously!

    Vinegar/baking soda is the only cleaner we have in the house! It works great. I keep a spray bottle at the ready always: fill halfway with water, add 2T baking soda and very slowly add vinegar. Once it's really foaming over I stop. That's it!

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