If we don’t have time or don’t feel like making fruit drinks one week, we will throw the fruit into the freezer and use it the next time we feel like making a drink.
Note: Please ignore the HORRENDOUS screen grab that YouTube decided to use for this video, hahaha.
If you have any other suggestions for videos, please let me know in a comment or send me an email. 
I am happy to say that things are much, much better now. What am I doing differently? Well, I created a home management binder a few weeks ago. I know, it sounds totally nerdy. However nerdy it may seem, it has totally saved me! In my binder I have the following things:
CALENDAR:
This is where my monthly calendars go. I fill in all of my daily to-dos and appointments.
HOUSEHOLD:
In this section I have my daily schedule, my weekly schedule (cleaning, blog stuff, etc.), food ideas, family financial goals, stain removal chart and other things that pertain to our home.
HOLIDAYS:
I have a bunch of different pages in this section including birthday gift ideas, christmas gift ideas, lists of gifts we have purchased but not given out yet, birthday and christmas budgets, etc.
VACATION:
There’s not much in here right now. Just a packing checklist and a checklist of things to do before we go away on vacation.
MISC:
The miscellaneous section has our contacts list, website logins and a page where I jot down blog ideas.
I really do think a home management binder has helped me to keep up with all of the housework, our appointments and all of the randomness in our lives. If you don’t already have a home management binder but find yourself never getting things done that you NEED to accomplish, I would definitely recommend starting a binder like this. It can be as big or small as you want and can have whatever sections your family needs.
Here are some ideas for sections:
- FINANCES (monthly budget, spending tracker, savings tracker, financial goals)
- KIDS (childrens’ schedule(s), medical records, school stuff)
- FOOD (favourite recipes, weekly/monthly menu plan, freezer inventory)
You can put just about anything you want in there! Whatever makes your house run more smoothly…
Check out the video I made showing my home management binder:
So, I went out and spent $20 on this awesome Case-It binder. I bought it from Zellers with my SPC VIP card, so I got 10% off as well. I think the price was definitely well worth it, if it can hold up much better than my last binder.
Only time will tell (but I have a good feeling)!
Ready to check out my new partner in crime?
Now, before anyone has a fit – don’t worry, I did not clear any shelves! I actually did something I’ve never done before – I ORDERED these products! Well, kind of. As far as the laundry soap goes, I asked them to give me 2 cases and 5 extras from the back, so as not to deplete their stock out front. They were fine with this and said they had tons. They even helped me load it all into my van.
At Walmart, I did the same thing with the Pert Plus. They only had 16 in stock so I asked them if I could order some more because I had 27 coupons. So they are ordering 11 of them for me and they said that they would honour the $1.97 price when it arrives (since it could take up to 2 weeks for them to come in and the price will most likely go up before then). So – YAY!
Walmart:
10x St. Ives Facial Scrub @ $1.00 each = $10.00 – 10/$1.00 coupons from a trade = FREE! (saved = $10.00)
1x Spitz Sunflower Seeds @ $2.17 – FREE coupon from a trade = FREE! (saved = $2.17)
16x Pert Plus @ $1.97 each = $31.52 – 16/$1.50 coupons from a trade = $7.52 (saved = approx. $40.00)
Tax @ $5.77
Total Paid = $13.29
Total Saved = $52.17
Metro:
2x Sunlight LAundry Soap @ $6.99 each = $13.98 – B1G1 sale = $6.99 – 2/$2.00 coupons from here = $2.99 – MIR (forms found on bottles) = +$4.00 (saved = $10.99)
1x Nordica Cottage Cheese @ $3.29
Tax @ .91
Total Paid = .20
Total Saved = $10.99
Zellers:
2x Cheerios @ $4.49 each = $8.98 – 2/FREE coupons from a trade – get yours here = FREE! (saved = $8.98) + I will also get 2 FREE magazine subscriptions!
17x Arm & Hammer Laundry Soap @ $1.97 each = $33.49 – 17/$1.00 coupons from a trade = $16.49 (saved = $85.34)
Tax @ $3.91 – 10% SPC discount of $4.30 = +.39 (saved = $4.30)
Total Paid = $16.10
Total Saved = $98.62
GRAND TOTAL PAID = $29.59
GRAND TOTAL SAVED = $161.78
Those did not need to go in the garbage. Items could have been given away for free to people in need. Ugh, this makes me angry.