Financial Peace University Week 3

We attended session 3 of FPU Thursday night.

Cash Flow Planning
Unlock the secret of developing a monthly spending plan that really works.

You can get more info on Financial peace universityhere.

I am really enjoying the program. I would highly recommend it for anyone married or single. I have been wanting to do this course for a few years now and it never was offered at a location close enough to us at a time we could attend. We go Thurs nights 6:30-8:30 and they offer childcare for only $4 a night for the three boys. The boys actually love going and have a great time with the kids who do the childcare.

Homework for this week:
1) Complete the financial snapshot
2) Create a zero-based budget
3) Read Chpt 19 and 21

Other items on my financial to do list:
1) Make a will
2) Order FP Junior for the boys

Menu Plan Monday 2-23

Monday: Glazed meatloaf baked potatoes, squash


Tuesday: Grad class for me (my second last one woo hoo!) Tovers

Wednesday: Steak fajitas w/ pico de gallo, chips and guacamole, fresh fruit

Thursday: Sloppy joes, chips, fruit

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs, sauteed spinach, chopped salad, breadsticks

Sunday: Celebrating March birthday w/ dinner @ my db's house

Menu Planning tips

There are tons of menu planning tips and tricks out there. Whole websites are dedicated to helping you plan your meals. The most important thing IMO is to plan your meals. You don't have to get all fancy and organized just write down what you will make and then make sure you have the ingredients to make your meals.

My personal menu planning style is to start with the weekly sale ads. I have four main grocery stores I shop at. I don't hit all four stores every week, but if there is an exceptional sale I try and stock up. I am fortunate because we have a full sized stand up freezer in our basement. We also have a small fridge in the basement that stores soda/beer and an overflow of any refrigerated items that don't fit in our main fridge. One thing I love about my chain stores is that they now do an online grocery list that I can click on items and then print out what to buy right from the sale ad. Easy peasy!

We have a decent sized pantry in our kitchen and a large pantry storage area in our basement. I try to stock up on things when they are on sale and also on things we use frequently. I tend to plan my weekly menu based on what is on sale that week or what I want to use out of the freezer.


Menus for moms is a great website for menu planning. They have tons of tips and links to check out. I also love to print out their menu planner for my weekly menu.

Organizing junkie's menu plan Monday is a link to hundreds (I am not exaggerating) of weekly menu plans that people have linked. If you are bored or looking for something new you could spend hours perusing people's menus. Many people post recipes or links to recipes. If you are looking for some menu planning inspiration start here.

All recipes is my favorite website to search for recipes. You can type in whatever ingredient you are looking for and it will show you recipes for that. I always have them list the recipes by rating and have never made anything with under 4 1/2 stars. If you find a recipe be sure to read the comments as they can be quite helpful. All recipes is definitely my go to recipe site. There are many other great ones out there. What is your favorite?

Hopefully this gives you some ideas as a starting point for your menu planning. Please feel free to add any tips.

My washer and dryer

I think one of the most important keys to an organized life is laundry. If you have clean clothes that are put away where they belong, you will always have something to wear when you need it. You won't be desperately searching for the last clean pair of underwear or socks if you keep up with laundry.

I live in a house filled with boys, three little ones and one big one. To say we generate a lot of laundry is quite an understatement. Managing Mt Washmore is really the bane of my existence. Anytime I feel like I have finally won the war against dirty laundry, a new battle emerges.

I know the sensible thing to do would be to do a load or two everyday, instead of having to do five or six loads on the weekend. I just cannot seem to get myself into the daily laundry routine during the school year when I am working. I am much better at keeping up with the laundry when I am home during the summer. Of course I am much better at keeping up with EVERYTHING during the summer when I am not working outside the home, but I digress.

And now without further ado let me introduce you to my washer and dryer. I love the dryer because it is so much quicker than my old dryer, but I do have to say that the washer takes FOREVER.





Model : WM2688HWMA

The LG SteamWasher™ with Allergiene™. The largest front load washer available.
The power of TrueSteam™ penetrates fabrics for optimal cleaning performance and also reduces allergens by more than 95% with LG’s exclusive Allergiene™ cycle.





Model : DLEX8377WM

The LG Electric SteamDryer™
The LG SteamDryer™ with TrueSteam™ Technology helps to reduce wrinkles and odors practically eliminating the need for ironing.

Only LG’s SteamDryer has exclusive features such as ReduceStatic™ which virtually eliminates static cling, and EasyIron™ which helps make ironing easier and more efficient.

Welcome to my new blog about organizing my life, home, and family

This blog is the beginning of my journey to find peace and tranquility through an organized and well decorated home. Oh who am I kidding?! I live with a house full of guys. This is about maintaining my sanity by keeping order in our sometimes chaotic lives.

There are ten main areas of organization I will be focusing on:
1) Spiritual
2) Financial
3) Fitness/Health
4) Family/Marriage
5) Home
6) Beauty
7) Menu Planning/Meals
8) Laundry/Clothing
9) Career
10)Personal/Hobbies


Thanks for joining me and PLEASE feel free to post comments and questions.