Review ~ The Master Plan...

I am a bit of a stationery addict!  Over the years I've amassed dozens of diaries, planners and organisers in the hope I would find 'The One'.  It never happened.  I would use one, trying it for a while but something was missing and I couldn't pinpoint what it was.

 

I tried a day to a page diary but wasn't really busy enough to fill it.  Next was a week to an opening.  A little better.  But since becoming a part time worker with a little one attending kindy, taking on a P&F Secretary role and blogger with a Facebook page I needed something that I could group those roles and see them at a glance. 

 

And then I found it.  The One...a horizontal planner.  The Master Plan.  I.love.it.

 

 

 

The horizontal planner lets me see in columns what is coming up for the week for each role.  This year with the addition of an extra column I was able to add a Projects line, which is fantastic and allows me to write down specific projects I'm working on. 

 

Use it to keep track of after school activities, play dates and appointments.  Being A5 size it's portable, pop it in your handbag or keep it at home as part of your Family Command Station.

 

I love that this year the pages are white which means if I have to use white out it doesn't stand out (I know, OCD much).  I'm also this year using my washi supplies and cards to brighten up my week ahead.  

 

The Plan is a 15 month calendar commencing in September & while I start using mine at the beginning of the year, I use the extra pages to write notes etc. There's also a removable notebook included. 

 

 

 

 

The menu planning section is a favourite because as you know we love to menu plan, 5 years and counting and saves us so much money and time.  Being able to see at a glance what's for dinner prompts me to get the meat for that night out of the freezer ready to go.

 

Even if you have already bought this years diary, it's never too late to change to the perfect planner.  When you make the switch you'll be buying it every year, trust me!  This is my second year and I haven't looked back.  The hardest part is choosing the colour.  I love the Mint, my signature colour for the year.

 

 



Thanks to the lovely ladies at Sweet Creations for sending me The Master Plan in mint to review & keep.  As always the opinions are my own. 

 

Annabel from Milestone Press has also kindly given me a copy of The Master Plan for one of you to win and love.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

  

Giveaway details

The Giveaway will run here on the Because Everything Counts blog page.

It will run from Tuesday 28 January and end Tuesday 4 February 2014.

Entry is open to Australian residents only.  One entry per person.  This is a game of skill and the winner will be chosen based on the answer given.

 

Comments require approval by me before publishing.  This reduces spam comments.  All genuine responses are published. 

 

If you have any issues with Rafflecopter please don't hesitate to message me via my Facebook page

How to Enter

Please leave your answer below and include your full name & email address. Good luck xx

 

 

 





 

How I shopped in 15 minutes and for under $100

As a follower of my page you will know I am a huge fan of menu planning.  It saves me time, money and my sanity.

This week was the easiest by far.  I shopped in our pantry and freezer as well as looked at recipes with maximum flavour but few shop bought ingredients.

I'll share this weeks plan as well as what it cost for each ingredient that made it to our shopping list.

Thursday
Turkey Roast and Smash Potato
The roast was bought last week on special.  The bag of potatoes were $2.48
Shopping list: $2.48

Friday
Chilli & Lemongrass Chicken with Rice
The lemongrass and chilli grows in our garden as does the coriander.  Chicken thigh x 500g was $5.78
Shopping List: $5.78

Saturday
Fish Curry
The fish was caught by hubby, the coriander is from our garden.
Shopping List: Free

Sunday
Osso Bucco
Our favourite recipe is found here
The anchovies, tomatoes and the gremolata ingredients are already in our cupboard or garden.  So are the sage, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.  Osso Bucco $11.05
Shopping List: $11.05

Monday
Lentil Soup
We have celery from last weeks shop (buying the celery heart from Woolies stays super crunchy), the carrots are from our garden.  Red lentils $2.13
Shopping List: $2.13

Tuesday
Sweet Curry Mince
I bought mince last week from Coles for $3.00 for 500g.  Fruit Chutney is already in the fridge for sandwiches.  Curry powder is in the cupboard.
Shopping List: Free

Wednesday
Pea Floater Jaffles
This is something very new I'm trying and only putting it on the menu for hubby although I will try it.
Mince $4.16 but I will freeze half.  Peas in the freezer.  Frozen puff pastry in the freezer.
Shopping List: $4.16

That's our menu for the week.  When coming up with our plan I always look at recipes where we might already have ingredients.  We don't have a pantry so we don't have a lot of stock on hand.  We do always have the staples such as diced tomatoes, rice & pasta.  We have a reasonable vegie and herb garden so that also helps. 

This week I also bought a pumpkin on special which will probably become part of next weeks menu. 

Add fruit, bread and sandwich meat for lunches to the shopping list.  Milk for breakfast and coffees and snacks and that's how I shopped this week for under $100.

How I shopped in under 15 minutes was easy too.  I write my list out into categories:
Non-perishables
Dairy
Meat
Fruit & Vege

By doing this I shop in sections of the store rather than getting to the freezer section and realising I've missed something at the other end of the shop.  Doing this and knowing the layout of the store means I only shop in the specific aisles and not visit every aisle.  Not wandering the aisles means little to no temptation to buy outside of our list. 

If you would like any of the recipes featured please just ask.

Bags, bags, bags

Oh where to store bags when you have limited space?  School bags in particular. We live in an old house - not old as in vintage/interesting.  Old as in built in the late 60's.  That leaves us with not much storage, a very small entrance and small rooms.

Now that Miss M has started kindy (holding back the tears still ~ me that is) we needed somewhere to store her bags, one school and one library.  So the hunt was on.  In her room?  No, not much available space in there as it's only around 3m x 4m. 

I found the perfect space, a space previously unused and probably would never have..until now. I just had to convince hubby to let me do it!

I searched Pinterest (of course!) for ideas and inspiration. 

Oh if we just had more room, I could go crazy with these ideas.

But alas we dont.  So where is the best space I found?  Right behind the front door.  Not on the door itself but the wall behind the door opening. 

 

I ordered some mdf words from MDF Magic which less than $10 each including postage.  I chose the font I wanted and the thickness (I went for a thin profile as they weren't to hold weight, just look nice!). 

I decided to paint them with chalkboard paint and that way I could pretty them up with coloured chalk polkadots, flowers whatever.

And the end result?  I am so happy with it, it's not big but it works for us.  Now to finish updating the rest of the Family Command Centre.

Sugar and spice and all things nice...

I thought I'd share how I store Miss Matilda's hair accessories.  I do her hair in the bathroom so I wanted to store them where they were easy to access but also matched the decor.

It's not the cutest idea, but it's something I already had, it's so easy to clean and I can see everything I need.

I picked this up from Target a while ago just because I liked it and was planning on using it in the kitchen but our bench couldn't really take the width of it.  Then I realised it would be perfect for hair accessories. 

I bought the little white buckets from Pink Frosting for Miss M's birthday and had a few left over.  I've used them to separate basic hair clips, basic hair ties and pretty ties.

You can see she has a serious amount of headbands.  That would be because she was practically bald until she was 18 months old!

There are lots of ideas out there, and so many things you could repurpose, think pretty bowls, gift boxes, mini suitcases, hurricane vases.

Here are a few ideas I saved pre Pinterest;

One: Sharnel Dollar Designs
Two, Three, Four, Five - All Ikea
Six: Birdcage I found on clearance at Target

Why I Menu Plan Part Three

This is it, I promised I'd share how I make shopping easier, faster and less stressful...for me.

Yes I have one child so it's definitely easier than for those who have more than one.  I'm not saying my way is perfect but it's the way it works for me.  This is the same thing I did when shopping with my boy who is now 19 and because it worked then, I'm keeping it up with Miss 3.

It starts well before I leave home and that's with the menu plan itself.  Here is where I shared with you how I do the actual planning.

This is how I set out my plan and shopping list.  I include the magazine I've used for the recipe and the page number to make it easier. Having it popped onto the fridge means I can see what meat I need to defrost for the night.

This is my lifesaver though and the key to me getting out of the shops quickly. Sorting the list into the categories means I don't forget anything as I visit one section at a time and don't visit every aisle when I don't need to.

This is also how I put it onto the conveyor belt which means it gets packed together. There is nothing worse than getting home, thinking you'll just pop the cold stuff away as you're in a rush, only to find there is bacon in with cans! Grrr my pet hate!

It gets put through the check out quicker too as the cashier doesn't need to 'fossik' for anything. It's all there..

Lastly, I find these things invaluable for keeping Miss M tantrum free.  I feel if she's going to throw a 'wobbly' it's because she's tired/bored/hungry/thirsty.  If I cover all those bases I'm reducing the chance of a tantrum (doesn't mean 100% that they're not going to happen).

Miss M chooses her book, the snacks are not squishable, in case she drops them whilst shopping, and the etch-a-sketch means no dropping pencils/crayons.

Last but not least is this groovy little accessory.  This is actually made for prams but I found it fits on the handle of the trolley...awesome and only AU$15 from our local babyshop.

So there you go, hope you got something from the 'series'.  I know that these tips and tricks have saved us money and my sanity.

My poor neglected bathroom

Urgh my poor bathroom.  It's not a very big one.  Our home was built in '69 so we don't have the luxury of two bathrooms nor do we have a bath. It's certainly not an ugly bathroom and has reasonably modern fixtures.  It's just small.

And now for a little disclosure eeeek I thought we had cream tiles in the shower!  I clean them weekly and the only thing I notice is the scum build up is less when I clean.  Well either I haven't been using enough elbow grease or the right cleaner.  Today I get into it with a new product and the new hose my hubby 'built' for me (think garden hose attached to the sink with a spray head on it) and scrubbed my butt off!  Actually Matilda commented that my butt was jiggling!! Out of the mouths of babes!!  So this new cleaner is 'amazeballs' because under years, probably decades of ground in soap scum we actually have white tiles!!  Well there you go! 

I also decided the bathroom was also long overdue for a clean out and organising.  Hubby is always commented on how much stuff I have in the cupboard.  But it's one of those things that you notice when you're getting ready in the morning and only remember again the next morning. 

There are no amazing organising tips on offer here but I love a good before and after...

This is my drawer. No need to show hubby's, his is organised! Freak!! 

Ahhhh that's better, cleaner and more organised. The mesh tray was on clearance at Target. I grabbed it not having a specific use in mind but I knew I'd use it somewhere.

No before for these pics, it was mainly in the baskets that needed work.  The small baskets were repurposed from my drawer, gotta love that!

 

I purged so much when going through the baskets.  Mainly out of date lotions, very out of date hotel shampoos (our Egypt trip where they came from was in 2007!!)  Just by reorganising I found items I'd 'lost' including expensive anti-wrinkle eye serum (that's hard to admit! It means I'm getting old waaah)

I decided to keep some of the hotel freebies for camping.

The cleaning basket includes a free hotel toothbrush which I use to clean the sink drain.

So that's it, no major organising tips, but I can tell you the difference in just accessing everything is worth the time it took to do.

Stationery & Organising

There's no doubt I love stationery. I love TYPO, Kikki K you name it if it's stationery I want need it!
I often find I love the pieces I buy so much that I don't want to use them!! I love stationery catalogues too..oohing and ahhing over the diaries, journals and notebooks.

But trying to find a diary/organiser that fit my needs was a little hard.  I decided to stick with what I had which was a diary, a To Do notebook and a Shopping List notebook and try and corral it all so it was portable.  Enter the Mummy Organiser by Zahley Rose!  I love it!! It holds all the items I need to feel be organised.

I bought a simple student's diary and recovered it in scrapbook paper and I was set.  It's great having everything in one place and I can just pick it up and go.

It's A4 size and just perfect for my bag.

Closed view. 

 

And the open view with my diary and notebooks.  The black pockets are perfect for loose notes and/or receipts.

Anyhoo just wanted to share xx