One of the questions I’m regularly asked is if a sale price is low enough to be considered a stock up price, so I thought it would be good to share my target prices. I usually have two prices for items – one that’s low enough that I’ll buy as much as I can, and one that’s not quite as low but it’s low enough to pick up a few months’ worth.

The last time I kept a written price book was five years ago, when I noticed prices starting to rise. Prices have risen even more since then, but I just keep my price book in my head.

So I want to know: Which of my target prices do you want to see in a future post?

Let me know in the comments!

One thing I’ve learned about having kids who are old enough for school and seasonal sports: your schedule is always changing.

We’ve entered a new season of life that found me spending pretty much the entire day out at the fields, watching my boys play sports. And I apologize for not being able to get all of the drugstore deals posted before I left the house this morning. I’ve learned that I will need to plan ahead a bit better for the coming weekends, and hopefully I will be able to get the drugstore deals scheduled for the day before we head out the door. But if that doesn’t happen, please know that I will get the deals posted in the evening!

It may take me a couple more weeks to get used to this new schedule of ours – thank you for bearing with me!

And now … the rest of the drugstore deals!

As I mentioned a week ago, I am doing one small task a day in 2013 to eventually accomplish everything on my incredibly long to-do list. I’ve been using the Chief Family Officer Facebook page to share my task each day, and I post an update when I’m done.

The best past is that it’s working really well! Posting on Facebook is great accountability, and I am getting things done that might not be getting done otherwise. Here’s what I’ve done so far this year:

• Jan. 1 – Found a new home for my food processor. It was the final appliance on a kitchen counter that I had been gradually clearing. I now have one full counter that’s got nothing permanent on it, and it’s turning out to be a fabulous workspace when I’m cooking. I also love that it makes the kitchen look a little bigger.
• Jan. 2 – Cleaned the kitchen walls that were newly exposed by the removal of the counter clutter.
• Jan. 3 – Readied my 2013 taxes folder. I know the year just started, but as I mentioned last January, I use folders to collect tax-related documents year-round. By January 3, I already had a couple of receipts that needed to be filed so it was important to get that 2013 folder ready so the paper clutter didn’t accumulate on my desk.
• Jan. 4 – Made a menu plan for the rest of January. We all know I’m not going to follow the menu plan exactly, but just having a plan helps me cook so that we save money and eat healthier by staying home.
• Jan. 5 – Put things where they belong. This included items I had to find new homes for, like the free-after-rewards file boxes I picked up at Staples last week. I used one to replace a falling-apart banker’s box under my desk, and that led me to transform the entire area. It looks fabulous now!
• Jan. 6 – Got ready for the kids going back to school. I prepped backpacks and homework folders, filled the fridge with juice boxes, milk boxes, applesauce pouches, presliced apples, etc. But I’m still not feeling back in the groove with our morning routine yet.
• Jan. 7 – Purged my coupon stash of expired coupons. I updated the Unexpired Insert Coupons List, pulled the expired coupons out of my files, and packed all of the expired inserts, loose coupons, and issues of All You magazine into a Medium Flat Rate USPS box. It’s all ready to send off to a military family overseas (they can use coupons at the commissary for 6 months after the expiration date). I still have to file the coupons I clipped from Sunday’s inserts, but I wouldn’t have gotten the purging done without the accountability of Facebook!
• Jan. 8 – Renew my passport. I’ve been meaning to do this for months now. I haven’t gotten to this yet today, but I will! I can renew by mail, and I used ECB’s to get passport photos at CVS a couple of weeks ago, so all I have to is fill out the paperwork and make sure I submit everything that I’m supposed to.

Some of these tasks took longer than 15 minutes, but most didn’t. I’ve been really happy with how much I’ve been getting done. In addition to taking care of things I might not otherwise get to, each small task seems to build momentum toward helping me get even more done.

So by the end of this year, I’ll have a much shorter to-do list!

Banner ad via Escalate Media Network