I Love a Clearance Deal! {Walmart Edition}

We have the most wonderful Walmart in the next town over. I love to shop there - great prices and great people (for the most part). Also, it's in a small town and it's never all that crowded. Love it! This past week, I stopped in to pick up a few groceries and had a couple extra minutes before I needed to leave for preschool pickup, so I leisurely looked around. I stumbled upon a few aisles of clearance goods that I had never really noticed before. For the sake of time and money, I only went down the aisle that seemed the cheapest - everything was marked down to either $2 or $4. I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

I have a few cutting boards, but only one I actually like. Unfortunately, it's really big and slips around unless I remember to put a towel underneath. I was so excited to run across this adorable red, non-slip cutting board.

$4 seemed like a perfect price.

I do not really like my rolling pin and have been eying the French Rolling Pins for a while, but I never could justify the expense since my technically worked. 

I could definitely justify $4!

I can always use a new trashcan somewhere in this house. 

 Especially when it's only $2. This one had a few smudges on it, but they easily wiped off with my finger. I'm sure a Magic Eraser will make it look perfect.

I've been looking forever for rattan-ish chargers for our table. I'm imagining something similar to this table scape the Pioneer Woman posted.

Source

Unfortunately, I've never found a set of 6 for less than $40. I just have a really hard time paying that much for something that you put plates on. Call me cheap thrifty! 

Well, today I hit the jackpot: exactly 6 chargers and guess how much...$12 total!

My favorite find of the day was this colorful set of office organizers. I'm envisioning great organization options for my crafting area!

The document box will hold letter size paper, but they also came with dividers.

The DVD/CD organizer has so much more potential than just a few discs!

My favorite part - each item was only $2!

So, go check out your local Walmart and see what kind of good clearance deals you can find!



Linking to Frugal Friday.

Meal Plan Monday

Just a mere two weeks ago I was complaining about the cold weather. Well, tomorrow's high is 89 - hello summer! The rest of the week is supposed to be in the low-70s...perfect! Spring in NC -just never know what you're going to get. Warm weather means grilling, so that's what we're going to do!

Monday: Hamburgers & Hot Dogs on the grill, Potatoes or Chips (depending on how lazy I am), Green Beans

Tuesday: Turkey Tettrazini & Salad

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Salad

Thursday: Clear-the-Pantry lasagna (we'll see how it compares to our fav PW Lasagna)

Friday: Pizza night!

My hubby has also requested Pimiento Cheese (a true sign of warmer Southern weather), so I'm trying out this new recipe. Hope it's yummy!

So many other great meal plans at OrgJunkie - check them out!

Glimpses of our yard this week

We are jumping for joy because spring is here!

We've spent lots of time playing outside enjoying all those outdoor toys.

We've got color popping up all over the place!

Azaleas almost ready to bloom...

and some that already have.

We received a big truckload of FREE pinestraw...unbaled (which is why it was free).

That pinestraw filled one side of the front shrubbery

but we fell a little short on the other side. No worries, we'll finish up this weekend.

We never got around to removing our leaves in the backyard this past fall, so I spent some time raking

and raking...

and raking.

Hopefully either a leaf vacuum or a leaf truck should be arriving today to take all those away for us. And then there will be more pine straw to spread. And soon we'll plant summer flowers. And vegetables. It's a never ending process...but something we (mostly) enjoy!

YAY SPRING!

Car Organization: Toddler Version

Yesterday I shared my organizing solution for all my stuff that was floating around the car making a big old mess. 

Well, today is all about the little people in your life. I like to keep a small bag in the car to keep Little Man entertained, especially for longer car trips, shopping adventures, or when I know we're going to have to wait (like the doctor's office). I've had this in my car for a while, but it was time to get tidied up and I thought I'd share.

This bag is actually a shower caddy, perfect for a toddler since it's completely washable. I picked up this bag last year at Target when the "back to college" gear was on clearance. 

Here's a closer look...

So, what's inside:

Emergency Essentials

Small Toys

No-Mess Coloring

Thin Books

Activities: Homemade Lacing Card, "Shaker" they made at school (he loves to shake it and yell, "Dance Mommy!"), and a frisbee if we make a stop to burn off some energy

Car Mat I made for our friends from Radiator Springs.

This only comes out when we have to go in somewhere and wait. It rolls up and fits easily in the car bag, his backpack, and sometimes even my purse (depending on how much stuff I'm carrying around!).

This is Little Man's view - easily accessible from his car seat.

There's also a snack size baggie of pretzels tucked away just in case we're ever in dire need of a snack.

Now, my car is all organized - hooray! I'm still wishing someone would come along to vacuum all the crumbs & dirt out of there! :)

Car Organization: Mommy Version

I like to keep a tidy house, but when it comes to my car it's an entirely different story. My car is constantly in a state of chaotic mess with trash, snacks, reusable grocery bags, coupons, toys and all sorts of other things floating around. Maybe you can relate? 

Well, I got tired of the mess and wanted to organize a bit. First I cleaned the entire car out: filled a bag of trash, made a pile of things that needed to go back in the house (including 4 toddler snack cups!), and then had another pile of items that needed to stay in the car. Of the items left, there was mommy stuff and toddler stuff. Today I'm going to share what I did with the mommy stuff.

I needed a place to contain everything, so I looked around the garage and found a rubbermaid container that would fit in the front seat. A big bin in the front seat may not work for everyone, but generally it is just me and Little Man in his carseat in the back. Even though it's a rarity that anyone ever rides in the front seat, in the event someone does ride along with us then the bin can easily be picked up and put in the back. 

So here's my new view - definitely function over form, but this was a FREE project so I'm going with it.

A closer look...

So here's what's in there:

Catch-all Jar (for change, pens, straws, hair accesories, etc)

Miscellaneous Essentials

side-note: I usually just stuff extra napkins in my glove box instead of having an entire roll of paper towels. However, while I was cleaning out my car, I opened my glove box and it was so jammed full of napkins that the entire glove box fell out into the floorboard! I decided a roll of select-a-size paper towels would just be easier.

Coupons

Reusable Shopping Bags

A few other things I'll probably add: phone charger, hand sanitizer, travel pack of Clorox wipes, picnic blanket (we were given this one & I love it!), and sunscreen/bug spray (for the coming warmer months).

One last look...

You can see the toddler-version peaking out in the back seat, but more on that tomorrow!

The last 2 months...

The last 2 months have been exhausting, challenging, rewarding, exciting, depressing, and exhausting (yes, I know I said that twice). 

In the last two months, we've renovated our kitchen, miscarried for a third time in less than a year, traveled to Charleston for a wedding, had a taste of the terrible twos, enjoyed some newborn baby snuggles, watched a lot of basketball (including the most boring National Championship in the history of basketball!), gone to many doctor appointments, cut bangs for the first time in more than a decade, been in another wedding locally, and so on. Let's just say, I'm tired...physically and emotionally.

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." 

-Proverbs 16:9

This verse has come to mind often over the last two months. I'm so truly blessed, even when things don't go the way I had planned. There is a bigger plan - HIS plan is better than mine. I've been reminded over the last two months how thankful I am for my family, friends, and my faith. I'm especially thankful to be married to this cute guy.

Looking at our calendar, it seems life is about to slow down and return to normal (whatever that might be). I'm ready to get back to organizing, cooking, cleaning, crafting, blogging (more than just my weekly pictures), and exercising (maybe...). 

Meal Plan Monday

I'm so glad there's a Menu Plan Monday link-up...usually the weeks I skip linking up mean that I haven't sat down to plan and I'm probably flying by the seat of my pants to come up with dinner all week (which means we eat out more often - bad for the waist-line & wallet). This really keeps me accountable and gives me inspiration from other posts, so I hope it helps you too. Here's what we're eating this week...yum!

Monday: Grilled Hot Dogs, Chips, & Fruit
Tuesday: Chicken Pie, Green Beans, Roasted Carrots
Wednesday: Baked Pasta & Salad
Thursday: Turkey & Bacon Subs (plus some undetermined veggie/fruit - probably whatever is left over)
Friday: Pizza (love that tradition!)

As always, I'm trying to use what we have on hand (and stock up when I can take advantage of sales). Because of this method, I only have 5 items on my grocery list this week - yay! 

Check out many other meal plans at OrgJunkie!

Project 365: Week 13