As many of you know, I’m a serious coupon user. Over the past year, I’ve saved our family over $2000 on food, household, and health and beauty products by using coupons to buy items when they were on sale.

However, when I made the decision to go more organic, greatly limiting processed foods and going for more natural options, I was hit with the realization that I’d be spending even more on organics than I did on conventional foods before I started using coupons. I had to ask myself some serious questions.

Can I afford to go organic?

The answer: Not totally organic, but I do have a plan that I think will get me to mostly organic, or at least more natural, unprocessed foods.

At this time, I don’t plan to go organic with household products or beauty products. I know these items are important, but right now I’m really more interested in what is actually being ingested into our bodies.

How can I use coupons to offset the extra costs of organics?

1. Use coupons on organics. There are several coupons out there for organic products. Some food brands sell primarily, or only, organic foods, and I’m learning those brands so I can be on the lookout for coupons to use on those products. On the other hand, there are other common name brands that sell mostly conventional products, but have an organic option available also. For example, if I find a coupon for $.75 off any Heinz ketchup product, I can use it to bring down the price of the organic Heinz ketchup.
2. Continue to use coupons for household and health and beauty. Since I know I can’t go completely organic on everything, I’m going to continue to buy paper, cleaning, and health and beauty products with coupons as usual. I’m planning to let the great deals I can get on these products help offset the additional costs of buying organic foods.
3. Stock up on organics when they’re a good price. One of the major components of couponing is stockpiling items when they can be bought on sale and with coupons to get the lowest price possible. Although it doesn’t seem that organics go on sale that often, I plan to stock up when they do, especially if I have coupons to use along with the sale.

Without a doubt, it costs more money to eat better quality foods. At the same time, you have to ask yourself, can I put a price on my health, or the health of my family? I say NO, definitely NOT.

This is just one way I’m planning to save money and buy healthy foods. I’ll have to get back to you later on other ways I’m planning to make it all work for us.

Do you buy organics foods? Do you use coupons? How do you make it all work together?

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Well, I’ve made up my mind to do an overhaul on our eating habits. Yes, last year I attempted to eat healthier because of my son’s eye problems. However once that issue got resolved through surgery, I, well, reverted back to my old ways of cooking and eating.

I like to cook real southern food, which much of the time means lots of fat and sugar. Yum, but ugh!!

After doing quite a bit of research and talking to some others who have revamped their way of eating, I’ve decided to go for it yet again, but this time I feel more prepared.

I’m trying to choose healthier recipes with healthier ingredients. Heavenly Homemakers has helped me tremendously with getting started. If you don’t believe I’m serious about this, just check this out.

I actually cleaned out my pantry and my stockpile and have begun replacing these unhealthy processed foods with more healthy and organic versions. It may not look like much, but those are pretty deep bags, plus I tried to get rid of the worst items first.

I’ll tell you more about it later, but for now I better get to my menu plan. Oh and FYI, the kids and I will be going out of town next week, so there won’t be a menu plan next Monday.

~Here’s what’s cooking this week~

• Monday:

Breakfast - Oatmeal, Strawberries
Dinner - Chicken & Pasta, Green Beans

• Tuesday:

Breakfast - Whole Wheat Honey Muffins
Dinner - Black Bean Veggie Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries

• Wednesday:

Breakfast - Mini Apple Pies (I know - apple pie for breakfast. Just check it out. It’s pretty healthy.)
Dinner - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches w/Homemade Tomato Soup

• Thursday:

Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs, Cinnamon Toast, Fruit
Dinner - Broccoli Salad, Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes

• Friday:

Breakfast - Bagels w/cream cheese
Dinner - Out of Town

• Saturday: Out of Town

• Sunday: Out of Town
  

Hope you have a great week!

For more menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

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2. Menu Plan Monday (5/10 - 5/16) I hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother's Day. I did, even though we really didn't do anything extra...
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I can hardly believe it but my baby girl is turning 3 years old next month. I really don’t have a baby anymore. I have a precious little girl. She is my sweet princess, and she has requested a princess birthday party.

When I do a party for one or my kids, I want it to be special and unique for him or her. Of course, that involves quite a lot of planning. To be honest, right now, I am still in the beginning stages of planning for this princess party and only a few weeks to do so. I’ve got to kick it into gear, and NOW!

The other day I sat down to figure it all out and realized I had to first get myself organized by making lists of everything I needed to do and needed to get.

• Who to invite
• Food and drinks
• Party Supplies
• Games and activities
• Decorations
• Party favors

I decided to create some simple worksheets so I could just fill in the blanks with my ideas and other information necessary to pull off this party. I quickly went to work on my worksheets, and you know me, they had to be cute, as well as functional.

Now, I’m feeling much less stressed about the party planning, just knowing I’m headed in the right direction.

So, do you have any birthday parties coming up soon?

Well, I’ve got these worksheets in printable form for you too. All you have to do is download and print, and you’re off to a great start planning your next birthday party.

You can click the picture of the planner above or click this link. (There are 2 pages to the planner. This is just the first page you see.)

By the way, I’ll also be sharing some fun princess party ideas and printable invitations soon.

How do get organized for your party planning?

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