Disclosure

This is the commercial segment of the program where I let you know in what ways you can help pad my envelope system!  I have put an Amazon box at the bottom of the right margin with a search box in it.  If while using this box you choose to buy something from Amazon, they will compensate me for refering you.  I'm not asking you to go out and spend just to help me.  I am simply letting you know that if you choose to use Amazon to order something, please consider using this feature. 
I believe in honesty, so there you go.  No tricks, just treats!

Tuesday Tips - Command Station

Many studies have been done on how much a housewife would make if all of her duties were hired out. It seems like the total pay rate for a mother/housewife is somewhere around $150,000.00 a year! I use this only to point out that we have many very important responsibilities that if left undone would cause our harmonious homes to be come crazy chaos. With so much responsibility that ranges from fix lunch to prepare the taxes it is easy to loose track of what we are to accomplish next.

You see, it’s not that I forget a lot, it’s just that I can’t remember it all at once. I have tried to use everything I could imagine to tame the wilderness including a PDA, several paper calendars, a programmable calendar on my desktop, spiral notebooks scattered around my home, and sticky notes everywhere.

Finally, I found my solution. Instead of having information spread out all over my life, I needed to have it all in one constant area where I could coordinate and contain the chaos. I have a three-ring binder open on my counter top in an area that, due to poor building planning, is unusable otherwise. The two exposed sheets of notebook paper contain most of the information that I need for my week. It has my weekly menu, the important events for the week, a shopping list, and list of things I need to accomplish for the week. If I’m feeling particularly motivated I’ll even have the projected high and low temperatures penciled in.

I’ll check over it a few times a day, which is no bother since it is already open and accessible. By the end of the week I feel less ed and frazzled. My tasks were able to be worked on at my pace without being forgotten or past due. My menu was coordinated with our activities which prevented planning a 2 hour preparation for supper on an evening following an afternoon spent at the park. On the day with errands, I can planned for sandwiches which could be taken with us since we were running behind on time. This is usually the case, because somehow no one can ever find his or her shoes when it is time to leave.

My day seems just a little smoother when I utilize my external brain.

Introduction

It is actually difficult to know where to start when introducing myself.  Do I begin by telling you that I am a bargain-a-holic, or that we homeschool 4 of our 5 children, or that we are total sellouts to Jesus, or that I am always trying to learn a new skill.  These are all important factors in knowing who and why I am.

Because we have followed what we believe to be God's plan for us and homeschool, we are a 1 income family.  This presents new and exciting, although occasionally unwelcomed, challenges in my duties as the CFO of our family of 7.  I have learned to hone my bargain shopping skills as well as develop a few new skills.  Luckily we live in a community where many things are still done the "old way", which most times translates into the "less-expensive way."  They are helping me to relaim this almost lost knowledge as I transform from a city kid into a full fledged country girl!

Now I understand that most bargain shoppers are not willing or able to do what it is that I do.  So please read this in the same manner that you would watch Martha Stewart.  Some  ideas are just not realistic, but aren't they cool to imagine!  There are usually a few tidbits that can be adapted in order to suit your tastes and abilities.  That being said, I was a HUGE Martha Stewart fan growing up.  The organization and creativity just amazed me!  And while I will probably never own a potting shed nor antique linens, I have learned much about making certain that nothing goes to waste. 

So there you have it.  Tomorrow I'll start a Monday series that will be all about homeschooling on a tight budget.

Getting Started

First, I should explain the name of my blog.  It comes from a game that my mother and I used to play as I was growing up.  Early on, I learned the value of finding a good deal.  When Momma and I would return home after a shopping trip we would play our game with whatever family member had been lucky enough not to have been drug around with us while we scoured clearance racks and dug through 75% off bins.  We would hold up an item, giving the original retail price, and dare the family member to guess what small fraction had been paid for the beautiful item.  The conversation would go something like this: "This Ralph Lauren sweater was regular price $65.  How much did I pay for it?"
"Oh, I don't know.  $40?"
"Momma price?  $15!"
"Oh wow, Momma.  That is awesome!  You are such a good shopper!"  This, of course, is the correct response when playing the game.  You fail the game if you do in fact guess lower than Momma actually paid for the item!
As I aquired my own money for shopping, I began playing the game, only now Momma had to guess my prices.  Oh, it took a lot to impress her.  She invented the game!  "A roll of wrapping paper.  Liz price?"
"Hmm, how about $.50?"
$.10 was the response that I gave earlier this week after finding Christmas items marked 90% off at my local Dollar General Store.
That was the long version of what in the world a Liz Price is.  It is a deal worth braging about. It is a discount that is so impressive that you simply MUST take your best girlfriend to the same store so that she can enjoy that same thrill.

In the coming posts, I hope to share some of the great deals that I find as well as some of my adventures along the way.  I hope that you will be amused at what "some people" are willing to do in order to get a good deal!