Looking Well to the Ways of My Household

• She is like the merchants' ships, she bringeth her food from afar.



• She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.



• She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

I've been working on my daily routine--those little everyday things that need to get done, regardless of what else happens to my day. I've been having lots of those "IGAD" days--I've Got All Day--where I drift through the day with good intentions but nothing actually seems to get done for one reason or the other--till suddenly it's time to start supper and I jump and start cooking and cleaning and snatching and grabbing and the next thing I know, I'm feeling tired and out-of-sorts and like I'm worked down (ha!) and yet I really haven't accomplished much of anything, other than feeding my family.

I've been doing too much "eating the bread of idleness" and not enough "looking well to the ways of my household"!

So today I had a plan. I knew there were three main tasks that I needed to accomplish:

1. Get ready for the cleaning lady to come--I have a wonderful woman who cleans for us twice a month--she's a rare jewel, a perk that comes with the corporate apartment we live in when we're at home-away-from-home--but I have to make sure that she can actually clean the apartment and not have to deal with our personal things that are strewn around.


2. Get the oil changed in my truck--I'm on the road again later this week, and it needs to be done before I drive that far


3. Shop for groceries

That was me planning my work, and this is what I did to work my plan:

1. I set my alarm clock. I didn't need to rise "while it was yet night", but I knew I needed to get up and get at it before very late. I ended up getting up before the alarm-I think the simple of act of setting the clock made a mental checklight go off that I needed to get up and get going.


2. I got "groomed" and dressed in going-out-of-the-house clothes right away, even to make up. No sitting in jammies and housecoat half the day!


3. Made a couple of passes around the house just picking up and putting things away--socks and shoes left beside the couch, church clothes left draped instead of hung back up, jeans in a pile waiting for the washer, books and magazines left on top of the coffee table--each thing alone doesn't seem like much, but all of it together makes for a messy overall look, and definitely gets in the way of actual cleaning.


4. Emptied the dishwasher and dishdrainer and put clean dishes away, ready to start filling with today's dishes.


5. Did the outside-the-house errands, including getting the oil change, shopping for groceries (see some of my bargains below, thanks to my coupons), and making a couple of other stops.


6. Took my pictures for my blog, and put everything away immediately afterward


7. Washed and dried a load of clothes.


8. Was able to spend some time chatting with the wonderful lady who cleans for us, instead of running around picking up each room just ahead of her.


9. Spent some time online, but doing some productive things, not just surfing.


10. Had dinner with my family and a pleasant evening together just hanging out.

Nothing major, but I got three "main things" done, as well as a lot of those little ones that need to be taken care of regularly.

And to make it even sweeter, I found lots of free and frugal items today!

I did my main shopping at Walmart for this week--not always my store of choice, but they have some good roll backs going right now, as well as everyday low prices on a few items that I knew I had coupons for. This is what I found:

For free or almost free:

2 Frosted Mini Wheats, $2 each, less $1 Q (coupons) and B1G1 Q, making this $1 for 2 or $.50 each
2 Wheat Thins Artisan crackers, $2 each, less $1 Q and B1G1 Q, making this $1 for 2, or $.50 each
2 Kraft Dressing, $1.58 each, less 2 $1 Qs, making these $.58 each
2 Kraft Barbecue Sauce, $.98 each, less 2 $1 Qs, making these free
1 Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, $2.19, less one Free Sauce Q, making this free
4 Mahatma Rice mixes, $.66 each, less 2 $.75/2 Qs making these $.29 each
1 Bounty Paper Towels, $1, less $1 Q, making this free
1 Kraft Deluxe Mac & Cheese, $1.50, less $1 Q, making this $.50
1 French's mustard, $1, less $.75 Q, making this $.25

Not free, but still frugal:

4 Crystal Light Tea, on sale for $2.98, less $1 Qs, making these $1.98 each--at this price, I can make a 2qt pitcher of Crystal Light tea for $.33
2 Crystal Light individual packets, $1.97, less $50/2, making these $1.74 each
1 Hefty Trash Bags,$3.98, less $2 Q, making this $1.98
1 White Cloud toilet paper, $2, less $.75 Q, making this $1.25, or $.31 a double roll

I did buy a few other things--peanut butter, chai latte and hot chocolate mix (an indulgence of sort for me, but still much cheaper than buying my chocolate chai lattes at the coffee shop) a package of manager's reduced chuck steak--my total OOP was $43.09, I saved $24.67 with coupons.

And so for today, I rose early (although not still night), brought my food from afar, gave meat to my household, ate not of the bread of idleness, and overall--looked well to the ways of my household!

Until next time...