A Good Wife in Her Well Ordered Home
Welcome to the final stretch of my 31 Days Writing Challenge. Today is Day 28 and we’re considering a good wife as we read through the book of Sirach. We talked about an intelligent wife and a modest wife; today let’s consider a good wife in her well ordered home.
A Good Wife in Her Well Ordered Home
So a good wife can be defined by how well her home is ordered? Uh-Oh. I could go through some legitimate excuses like a two month long illness, nine of us, traveling, hunting, nine of us…but they would just be excuses. A well ordered home just makes life easier don’t you think? It’s a constant struggle of mine to move and breathe in a well ordered home while granting grace to the nine of us so I’m not constantly walking around saying “Do this…Do that…Why did you not do that or this?” Although I’m pretty sire my children would tell you I say that way too much already and anyway. But let’s consider,
What are the benefits of a well ordered home anyway?
- You can find what you are looking for quickly and easily (read not turning over couches and digging under beds for an hour)
- You save money because you don’t double purchase something you already own but cannot find.
- Safety–in case of fire you would not bust your shin on an open drawer or trip over a pile of dirty laundry.
- You won’t step on Lego’s…enough said there.
- Always ready, willing and able to practice the virtue of hospitality.
- It shows importance and usefulness for the things you own.
- It honors and respects your husband’s sacrifice working for the family.
- It shows your personal pride in owning and keeping your possessions nice.
In one of my favorite posts ever read on the internet and by one of my favorite bloggers, Elizabeth Foss, she address this verse and the need for order in the home.
I want to be a gracious wife, not just a gracious hostess. Not just a lovely face to the public, but a comfort and a blessing to my husband. So, why bother with homemaking? Because God call us to be virtuous wives and He tells us that virtuous wives live in well-ordered homes.
Order precedes beauty. Radiance is the goal. Our housekeeping routines are crucial to the smooth functioning of our days, our weeks. Life in a well-ordered home does shine. Radiance streams into our lives like the grace of God. Ordering a home isn’t something you do once and it stays that way. Instead, it’s a continual commitment.
Remember when we considered Who is My Neighbor? Our family is our neighbor first then like spokes on a tire the circle expands…but it starts at home.
That is a disservice to ourselves as a child of the King. It is a disservice to God the Father from Whom all good things come. It is a disservice to those in our home when we show them, our home is not the priority.
Click here to read more posts about a good wife.
Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.
How to Save Money at the Grocery Store Part 3
I’m posting a short series on ways that we are trying to save money at the grocery store. Here’s part 1 and part 2 of How to Save Money at the Grocery Store.
3. Meal Planning
So back to our Grocery Shopping and Money Saving planning. I have made my list of items on sale that I use and I’ve looked to see if I have any coupons for them. Now I look over that list and plan our meals for the week. If you grocery shop every other week or even monthly, you now do the same…build your meal plan from items on sale.
This has been a recent shift for me. I used to plan my menu first then match sale items to it. But it needs to be the other way around I believe. Using some of the examples I listed in How to Save Money at the Grocery Store Part 2…what if I didn’t have anything with avocadoes planned for this week’s menu? But then I plan a dish with avocadoes next week, when they are not on sale? Well, next week, after I made my list and checked the local sales, I wouldn’t see avocadoes listed in any sales, but they would be on my grocery list, so I’d buy a few at $1.48 each. How about instead, I see avocadoes are on sale this week and we love avocadoes around here! So I make a meal plan that includes avocadoes this week while I can get them on the cheap. If I meal plan according to the sales, I won’t be paying full price for most of the ingredients. {Tweet That!}
Using the examples from Part 1 of How to Save Money at the Grocery Store and Part 2…According to the sale ads and my coupons, I could purchase chicken breasts for $1.99 a pound verse the regular Walmart price of $2.98 a pound. I could also buy some avocadoes at .33 cents instead of $1.48 each using my price match from Aldi plus I could save money on them using one of the apps on my phone. I already had some dry pinto beans and canned tomatoes in the pantry. I also had some Chili Powder, Cumin, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and dried Oregano in the spice cabinet. Looks like a good week to have Crock Pot Chicken Chili!
Last week, I saved $33.84 in price matches, $10.35 of that was just in avocadoes. Now some items I only saved .10 or .20 cents, but as you can see, that change adds up. I then saved $24.95 in coupons. Again, some of my coupons were only for .25 or .30 cents, but again, that adds up. And then between Ibotta, Checkout 51 and Shopimium I saved another $8. Combined savings, $66.79.
Oh, let’s consider one more important point which I need to change my thinking on.
It should not be about how much I saved, but how little I spent. {Click Here to Tweet!}
It doesn’t save me anything if I “saved” $66.79 on things we don’t use and would never buy. For example. We are in the middle of soccer season right now…well, we should be but instead we’re fighting the respiratory virus from hell, anyway…I don’t usually buy sport drinks, but Veronica asked for some Gatorade for her tournaments when she’s out on the field all day for two days. I noticed one of the apps, Ibotta I think, had a .50 “coupon” on Propel water. At our Walmart, a single bottle of Propel is $1, but using my Ibotta app, I was able to purchase it for .50…that’s something we kind of needed. At the same time, there is also some change off a People Magazine. I could buy it and save so many cents off the purchase, but that’s not something I would buy normally. So I might “save” $1 off the purchase price of a magazine, but I spent $2 out of my grocery budget (or however much) to get the deal. I saved nothing.
Share some of the ways you try to save your grocery bill.
Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.
How to Save Money at the Grocery Store Part 2
I’m doing a little series on ways we are trying to save money at the grocery store. Here’s part 1 of How to Save Money at the Grocery Store if you missed it.
2. A Money Saving Plan
Once I’ve gone through and found any good deals in the sale ads that I can price match at Walmart, I then look to see if I have any coupons for those items. Anna and I have just started couponing and so far so good. I can see though where it would be easy to make myself crazy trying to chase down every good deal, so I’ve set some boundaries for myself.
First, I only look into a couple of stores. I cannot reasonably save myself time and money chasing down every deal. It does not save me any money to drive to five different stores in an attempt to save a dollar here or earn two here. Fuel cost needs to be a consideration in your grocery shopping deal chasing. This is why I primarily rely on price matching on Walmart. One store, easy-peasy. I will still look at some of the deals listed with Target, Walgreens or CVS though. But only the ones that will “make” me money, in the form of a gift card or in store “money.” But these deals have to be pretty sweet and the store has to be on the way to somewhere I have to be in order for me to do anymore than just look it over.
In addition to traditional coupons, there are a couple of really great apps I use on my phone to save me money at the grocery store. They are like coupons only the money saved comes in the form of a payment either placed on a gift card or deposited to my paypal account.
The really great thing about some of the apps is that some of their “coupons” are for things I typically cannot find coupons for: milk, fresh meat, fruits and veggies.
The ones I have used so far have been Ibotta, Checkout 51, and Shopimium. Here’s how they work; I just loaded these onto to my phone. I look them over as I’m preparing my list and make a note on my list if they have a deal for me to take good advantage of, there was one for avocadoes the other week…the same week I was able to price match the sale price of avocadoes at Walmart. Once I make my purchase and get home, I use my phone to scan the barcode of the item. Once I’ve scanned the barcode, then I take a picture of my receipt and wait for them to give me money…saawweeet!
Since starting with Ibotta last month, I’ve already earned $34.75…on things I would have normally purchased. For example…I’m all about the examples…I earned .25 on the purchase of a gallon of milk, $1 on my lunch meat, $1 on my Windex (which I also had a paper coupon for). And they offer incentives for me to refer friends…hello friends! Even without the incentives, I would be telling you all about this great program. Every little bit counts and it all starts to add up quickly.
Let’s finish this series up with part 3 of How to Save Money at the Grocery Store.
Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.
How to Save Money at the Grocery Store
Groceries are expensive. Period. And I never thought I’d be at “that” age to say this kind of stuff, but…I used to pay .98 for a box of generic saltine crackers and now two years later I pay almost $2 for the same box. It’s time for me to make some changes in the way I grocery shop and I’m sharing what I learn with you all. Some of these tips, tricks and principles are tried and true and others are in a test run around here but all of them hopefully show us how to save money at the grocery store.
Let me say, The Littlest Way does not apply only to our spiritual lives, it encompasses every aspect our lives. To me, The Littlest Way means doing something, anything and everything as a means to know, love and serve God. Using The Littlest Way mindset as our guide in grocery shopping can mean saving money and that money can be given to charity. Or, the more money we can save will help relieve some of the burden off the family finances; some of us are single income families with lots of kids at home all day, some are two income families paying school tuition from elementary to college and some are retired and living off less than you may be used to. Throw a medical issue, a major home or car repair into the already delicate balance of family finances and things can get messy quickly. These tips will help out no matter your financial, home or work situation.
To get started, we have to have a plan. Period. We will not be able to save ourselves anything–time or money–if we do not first have a plan. {Click Here to Share!} Our plan should include three things: a grocery shopping plan, a meal plan and a saving money plan. Let’s take each one by itself.
But first things first…let’s have an idea how much we can or want to spend. We all need some type of monetary boundary. This serves a couple of really good reasons. First, if we set a specified dollar amount and stay under it, we suddenly find ourselves with some “extra” money. This “extra” could be used to stock up on a great grocery deal for our family, purchase a couple extra items to donate, make an extra payment or a principle only payment on a loan, invite friends or family out for a special meal, use it for a date night, or open a saving account just for those weeks or months when we have a little overage. We’ll be surprised how quickly a couple dollars here and there can add up. This overage may come in handy during the holidays when we may want to give a little more to charity or need a little more to help our family through the extra expenses of the holiday season.
It’s also fun for some healthy competition between you and you. It keeps you on your toes and makes you bring your “A-Game” each time you shop. No more time and money wasting shopping trips! Let’s get started.
1. A Grocery Shopping Plan
The very first thing we need to do is see what’s on sale for the week. “But wait, I do all my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and they don’t have weekly sales,” you may say. Hey me too! And you’re right, Walmart does not have a weekly circular that comes out with sales, but they do price match the sale ads from other local stores in our area. So the first thing we do is look over any local sale ads. Sometimes these come in the mail; mine does on Wednesday’s. They are also a part of our local Sunday paper. Start skimming those ads, especially the front and back pages for the best deals.
I’m going to use a recent grocery trip of mine for some examples.
A local grocery store had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.99 a pound if I bought their family size pack. I thought that sounded like a good deal so I wrote it down on my list, making a note of the sale price and the store. A couple of side notes; first, Walmart now says we do not have to have the competitor sale ad with us. I try to still take my just in case anything is called into question in my mind or the cashier’s mind.
Second, it helps to start keeping a document or a page in a spiral of prices for items we buy; this way we’ll know if something really is a good deal or not. I just started an excel spread sheet where I type in the product, price of the product at different stores based on what they have listed it for in their circular or what I have paid. Looking at my list, I can tell that Walmart usually has their chicken breasts priced $2.98 a pound. $1.99 is a great deal, so I put chicken breasts on my list to price match at Walmart. I’m getting the same sale price but only having to go to one store. I usually can price match from about two to three stores at Walmart. I get the benefit of the sale and only have to drive to one store. Win–Win!
Another example, we have an Aldi’s near by and some of my best price matches can be found there. This particular week, they had avocadoes on sale for .33 cents each!! Walmart’s price for avocadoes was $1.48 each!! So obviously avocadoes went on my list for the week. I already had the chicken on my list…I can already start to see a meal come together, can you?
This post ended up getting pretty long so I’m going to end this one here and have a Part 2 on How to Save Money at the Grocery Store next Friday.
Let me add one more thing to this post. Have you heard of Walmart’s Savings Catcher? Ah.MAA.Zing! I should be their official spokesperson for this. You can use your computer or put the app on your phone. After you shop at Walmart, take a picture of the bar code of your receipt or enter the numbers above it. Their system will search locally to see if there was a better price on something you purchased. If there was, they will give you that money on a Walmart Gift card!! Even though I price match already, I’ve missed $10.47 in the past month. If you shop at Walmart, you need to be taking advantage of their Savings Catcher Program.
Where do you do most of your grocery shopping? Large discount store, local grocery chain…
Read part 2 and part 3 of How to Save Money at the Grocery Store.
Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.
Hi There!
Sponsors & Affiliates
