get your turkey organizing on!

It's Time to Thaw!

(thanks's to who said nothing in life is free!!!) 

This is your friendly reminder that it is time to put your Turkey in the fridge to thaw for Thanksgiving.

When thawing a turkey in the refrigerator, there are several variables to take into account:

• Plan ahead: allow approximately 24 hours for every 5 pounds in a refrigerator set at 40 °F.

Refrigerator Thawing Times

(Whole turkey)

• 8 to 12 pounds..........1 to 2 days
• 12 to 16 pounds..........2 to 3 days
• 16 to 20 pounds..........3 to 4 days
• 20 to 24 pounds..........4 to 5 days

wow! i haven't been on in a while!  i've been busy filling orders for my other site and haven't had time to blog!!!

here's my latest conquest!

kroger was having (i think it ended today) great sale on cereal AGAIN!  we are so stocked up on cereal now, i probably shouldn't buy any more, but when it's free or close to it, i can't resist!

kroger gave you a $4 instant rebate (took $4 off your order) when you bought 4 of the participating items.  i bought:

4 boxes of cheerios $2.50ea and i used (2) $1 off 2- 4x$2.50= $10 - $2q's makes them $8 ($2 each box) AND got $4 off at the register, so they were $1 ea!!!

3 boxes of cookie crisp $2.50ea and i used a $1/3  3x $2.50= $7.50 - $1q = $6.50 (2.17 ea box)

and

1 more box of cheerios $2.50 - $55q = $1.95

$1.95+6.50 = 8.45 - $4 off again at the register making it $4.45 for four more boxes!!($1.11 a box)

then the yogo's were part of that same deal, but you could only do 2 deals in one transaction, so i did 2 transactions.

they were also $2.50 a box and i had  (4) $.50 off coupons that double making them $1 off. so that made them $1.50 each, $6 total - $4 at the register= $2!!! that's $.50 a box!!!

another good one was the adolphus rice!  they were 10/$10 and i had $ .75 q's!  that made them $.25 each!!!

the pancake mix was $.45ea and the meds were being clearanced (that's what i went in for because i have a kiddo with a fever today)!  the "tylenol" chewable (kroger brand) was $.89!!! and the jr one's were $1.12!!!

my first transaction was $22.20 with $20.46 in savings

and the second one was $6.51 with $14.28 in savings!!!  not bad for running in to grab some fever meds!

all the q's i used today were ones from the paper except the yogo's.  those were printables here. 

if my little buddy feels good enough tomorrow, i will run to target to try the nivea lip and lotion deal!  (it's about half way down that page)

add your coupon conquests here!!!

organizing your stockpile

well, with all the couponing i've done lately, there's an extreme need over here to get my stockpile organized!  with 15 boxes of cereal and 50 rolls of toilet paper, you HAVE to be organized, or you won't know what you have, what you are out of or where it all is!!!

i'm lucky because i have a pretty large pantry.  i do wish it was a walk in pantry, but it's got shelves all the way up to the 9 ft ceiling, so i have lots of storage room!

i keep over stock up there. cereal, chex mix, juice boxes and so on...

then i use these white baskets for loose items. chip packs, granola bars and so on. i have several of these in there on the lower shelves for the kids to reach. my kids seem to think that if the basket is full, they have to eat everyone of them, so i only unload 1 or 2 boxes of items at a time.

i got lots of tuna this past month, so when i was at the store, i noticed the display boxes.  i bought 10 at a time, so i just stacked them in the box and the cashier just put the whole thing in my bag. it's great for storing those tuna packets!!!

i also stack all my cans, like items together with the labels facing out. think grocery store here! that way i can see what i have and when we are running low. 

here's my "snack" basket for the kids. one is filled up with large packs like pretzels and goldfish and the other one has granola bars and fruit snack packs in it.  they are within easy reach for the kids when they get home from school!

i stack all my toilet paper under the downstairs bathroom counter.  we don't keep anything in there (except for the downstairs cleaner), so i FILLED it up!!!  i also gave the kids 2 four packs for their bath and the master has some stacked in it's cabinets too.

i need to stock up on paper towels and paper goods this month, but under a cabinet in my kitchen that's in a corner and is REALLY deep, i'm storing paper goods.  otherwise, it's too deep for anything and we've never put stuff in there before!  i have baggies, paper towels, trash bags, and my glade candles in there right now!

i'm getting a good supply of laundry soap now too.  i also have a 5 gallon bucket of homemade detergent on top of my washer that has lasted us for more than 6 mo's!  my laundry room only has one shelf above the washer/dryer, so i'm staking stuff.  i hope to add more shelves soon!

and last but not least, the bathroom supplies!  i LOVE baskets, so i have one in there and all my other items lined up.  it's under my master bath cabinet since that's the most used bathroom in our house.  it's getting pretty full, so i am planning on cleaning out the linen closet in our playroom.  it only has kiddo games in it right now, so i will find another place to store those and fill it full of toiletries and paper goods!

if you get creative, you'll find tons of room even in a tiny house!  under bed storage boxes are great for toilet paper!  do you use every shelf in all your closets???  who says groceries only have to be stored in the kitchen???   look around and i'll bet you'll find tons of room!!!