The Budget Diet girl (a.k.a. your free personal organizer) is here again with your checklist for March.

Check Your Calendar
Check your calendar and plan ahead for any big events this month like birthdays, anniversaries or weddings. If your weekend social calendar revolves around children’s birthday parties, this might be a great month to start a gift closet! Learn how to start a gift closet, so you can avoid last minute running around and save money!

Lent
Lent has begun, and if you’re looking for some frugalicious and fast meatless meals, check out Recipes for Lent.

St. Patrick’s Day
Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, so add a little green fun to your family meals! Just a few drops of green food coloring and you can serve up green grits or green oatmeal! How about green mashed potatoes for dinner? Add a surprise treat to your children’s lunch by cutting out their sandwich with a shamrock cookie cutter!

Spring Break Vacation Ideas
If you haven’t planned anything for Spring Break, now’s the time to take advantage of last minute travel deals. Don’t miss This Week’s Top 10 Budget Travel Deals. Another budget friendly option is a road trip, try The Budget Diet’s road trip plan where every member of the family plans a day! Of course, a staycation is always a bargain – think of the possibilities:

• Be a tourist in your own town
• Host a cooking school for your children in your own kitchen
• Go berry picking
• Have a backyard campout
• Take a factory tour, go to factorytoursusa.com for a complete listing by state
• Play croquet or putt putt golf
• Have a picnic in the park
• Visit a farmers market
• Make sure to eat out a few times, so mom gets a few nights off from kitchen duty!

 
March is a great time to buy…

• china and flatware
• gardening tools
• perfume
• fruits: mangoes & pineapples
• vegetables: broccoli

 
Thanks to my friends at FreeShipping.org for keeping us up to date on the best buys each month!

Here I am (again)…your FREE personal organizer with your checklist for February!

Check you calendar!
Any birthday gifts or birthday cards you need to send? How about anniversaries? Plan ahead for all those special events by putting together a Greeting Card Organizer!

Super Bowl Party?
What are you serving or what are you taking to your Super Bowl Party? I’ve put together a Super Bowl Party Menu (aka Man Food!) that’s full of frugalicious and fast favorites.

Valentine’s Day
Don’t let Valentine’s Day sneak up on you! Be a “Budget Cupid” and order discounted gift cards or Groupons now, so you can save at favorite stores and restaurants. How about saving on your Valentine’s dinner? As of today, Plastic Jungle has discounted gift cards for Macaroni Grill 10% off, Black Angus Steakhouse 12% off, Morton’s Steakhouse 12% off, Olive Garden 9% off and P.F. Chang’s 9% off. You’ll also find discounted gift cards to your favorite movie theaters, Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and more!

 
Spring Break Travel Plans?
It’s time to make Spring Break travel plans! In the spirit of budget travel, why don’t you take a good old-fashioned road trip? Have a family meeting, decide where to go, and let each family member plan a day of the trip (from meals to activities to lodging)! It’s a great way to please everyone and save money! You can even find Marriott Gift Cards for 10% off right now at Plastic Jungle! Another option, find a Groupon Getaway to cure your spring fever! Groupon Getaways update each Tuesday, and these great deals can always be found on the right side of this page.

February is a great time to buy…
Bicycles
Boats
Home Theatre & Big Screen TV’s
Video Games
Wedding – plan an off-peak wedding and save!
 
Thanks FreeShipping.org for sharing your Best Buy Guide!

Here’s to an organized 2013!

Your FREE personal organizer (that’s me!) is here to help you get off to an organized start in 2013! If your new year’s resolution had anything to do with saving money or getting organized, The Budget Diet girl is here to help!

Save Money!

A new year is the perfect time to take a look at your financial situation, and update your budget! If you don’t have a written household budget, try my budget basics! It’s a simple fill in the blank worksheet, so you’ll know exactly how much you have left to spend on food and fun! If your new year’s resolution is to save money, you don’t want to miss these articles:

• Cut Your Spending By $11 a Day and Save $4000 a Year
• Cut Your Spending by $400 a Month
• Let’s Go on a Budget Diet
• If You Could Share Just One Money Saving Tip, What Would It Be?
• Resolution Solution – Reduce Your Bills
• Resolution Solution – Shop Smarter
• Resolution Solution – Cut Food Costs
• Resolution Solution – Have Fun for Less
• Resolution Solution – Travel More, Spend Less
• Resolution Solution – Go Green and Save Some Green
• Resolution Solution – Reduce Health and Fitness Expenses

 
Get Organized!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could wave a magic wand, and all your Christmas decorations would be put away, nice and neat, labeled and ready for next year? There’s no magic wand, but you can save yourself a lot of time by organizing your decorations as you put them away. Follow these three simple rules for putting away Christmas decorations:

• Use clear plastic bins and label clearly!
• Roll each strand of lights and put in a plastic grocery bag to prevent tangling.
• Make a box of decorations that you no longer want and drop them off at Goodwill.

If you need tips to organize more than just your Christmas decorations, Organize My Life in 10 Short Days will get you off to a great start this new year!

Save Time and Money

Delegate, delegate, delegate! Let this be your motto for 2013, and you’ll enjoy more free time!

Let’s start by delegating some of your housework! Our family tradition is to hold a chore lottery on New Year’s day. I come up with a list of chores, write each one on a scrap of paper, put the scraps of paper in a jar & let the children choose their chores for the year. Here’s a list of chores that my children have been helping me with for years.

How would you like to take a night off from cooking? Let your children do the cooking (and cleaning) and enjoy your night off. It’s a great way for your kids to learn to cook!

Christmas Receipts and Instruction Books

Take a moment to staple your receipts to instruction books for toys, electronics or any gadget that has a warranty. Next, put them in your file cabinet in a folder labeled “warranties”, so you’ll know exactly where to find then when something is broken. If you need to tackle your file cabinet chaos, take a look at these file cabinet organization tips.

Check Your Calendar

Any birthdays, anniversaries or parties this month? If you plan ahead, you’ll save money!

Shopping Calendar

Thanks to the folks at FreeShipping.org for sharing their Best Time to Buy Guide! January is one of those months when retailers are clearing out, so take advantage of the savings if you need:

• Big Appliances
• Bicycles
• Calendars
• Carpet and Flooring
• Furniture
• Linens and Bedding
• Office Furniture
• Outdoor Gear
• Suits
• Video Games
• Wrapping Paper

 
January is also a great month to buy discounted gift cards or sell unwanted gift cards that you received for Christmas! Did you know that according to the USA Today, 30% of Americans still have gift cards that are over a year old? More and more people are discovering that they can sell their unwanted gift cards, and YOU CAN ENJOY THE SAVINGS! $100 gift cards for as low as $70 to purchase brand name products at your favorite stores! PlasticJungle -Buy, sell & trade gift cards

Your free personal organizer, aka The Budget Diet girl, is always at your service with tips to help you keep your new year’s resolution!

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Image courtesy of FrameAngel / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

‘Tis the season for New Year’s Resolutions…well, almost!

What will your resolution be?

Lose weight?

Get organized?

Start a budget?

How about a resolution to make this the best year ever?

There’s a new ebook available that will help you get your year off to a great start by giving you a daily dose of inspiration for 100 days! 100 Days of a New Year will give you 1 task “to do” each day that will help you set goals, put finances in order, organize your home and develop good eating and exercise habits.

One day your assignment might be to purge 1 room of your house, the next day will be dedicated to filing papers and organizing your filing system. How about a day to make a chore chart and delegate some of your housework? The good news is these tasks come with lots of helpful tips, and there’s even a facebook community for support!

The end result is you’ll develop some great new habits, and you’ll be set for the remaining 265 days!

The first step is to order the ebook, so you’ll be ready to start on January 1!

Now, go enjoy another glass of eggnog and a big slice of Pecan Pie…that resolution can wait another week!

Suzy has dance,

Johnny has scouts,

you’ve volunteered at the school all day,

your husband’s working late, and

everyone wants to know…what’s for dinner?

Simplify dinner with these 6 dinner shortcuts that will save you both time and money.

1. Learn to Love your Crock Pot – The Budget Diet has a collection of crock pot recipes that require less than 5 minutes of preparation! That’s it…5 minutes in the morning, and dinner is served in the evening!

2. Warming Oven – Most of us don’t have fancy kitchens with warming ovens, so try The Budget Diet’s frugal warming oven! It’s a casserole warmer that will keep dinner hot for about 2 hours, and it’s perfect for those nights when everyone needs to eat dinner at a different time.

3.Double & Freeze – This is your new rule for cooking! Get in the habit of doubling recipes…one for tonight, and one for the freezer. When you’re too busy to cook, let your freezer handle      dinner. Casseroles, Soups and Chili are best for freezing. Tips: Freeze Soups & Stews in freezer zip top bags, and freeze casseroles uncooked and wrapped in foil and freezer paper. Don’t forget to allow 2 days to thaw in your refrigerator.

4.Frozen Chicken Breasts – They’re budget friendly, you don’t have to worry about expiration dates and there’s no need to thaw before cooking!

5.Rotisserie Chicken – The ultimate dinner shortcut! Try The Budget Diet’s 5 Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas Using Rotisserie Chicken…Chicken Tacos, BBQ Chicken Pizza, BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Quesadillas and Chicken Caesar Salad.

6.Breakfast for Dinner and Other Mindless Meals – Who says dinner has to be elaborate? Every now and then serve breakfast for dinner or try one of The Budget Diet’s No Recipe Required Dinner Ideas.

What are your dinner shortcuts to save time and money?

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When you realize that there are only 25 days until Christmas, do you feel…

• A. Excited
• B. Overwhelmed
• C. In Control

 
If you answered “B”, join the crowd! Most of us have to-do lists churning in our heads, and it’s time to get those lists out of our heads and onto paper. Thanks to the folks at ListPlanIt.com for creating a holiday ePlanner that’s quick and easy to download and print. You’ll discover all sorts of lists to put your Christmas world in order!

• Christmas Card List
• Christmas Shopping List
• Christmas Wish List
• Meal Planning List
• Party Planning List
• Lists, Lists, Lists!

 
Ahhh, now you’ll feel in control the next time someone asks you if you’re ready for Christmas!

Get Organized for Christmas!

Your FREE personal organizer (that’s me!) is here to help you stay sane and manage your to-do list for the festive month of December!

Christmas Gifts:

If you didn’t check everybody off your list during the Black Friday madness, don’t worry! The Budget Diet girl plans to keep you updated with the best deals throughout the Christmas season. You might also want to check out The Budget Diet’s Gift Guide with festive and frugal gifts for everyone on your list…even the hard to shop for!

Christmas Cards:

Have you taken your Christmas card photo? Use coupon code WKDSALE1112 to save 25% on all Christmas Cards through December 2 from TinyPrints.com …cutest cards, great prices! Here’s a time saving tip: keep your Christmas cards with you in the car, and you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll get them stamped and addressed if you work on them whenever you’re waiting in car pool line, dance class, piano lessons, doctor’s office, etc.

Gift Wrap:

The Budget Diet girl actually suggests waiting to buy gift wrap and boxes until all the gifts are purchased. Spend the next couple of week collecting boxes and packing material from the packages arrive at your home! Then, make a list of how many and what size boxes or gift bags you still need. Set-up a “gift wrapping station” with all your supplies and get it done! One trip to the post office is plenty!

Christmas Baking:

If you like to bake during the holidays, but you’re feeling crunched for time – try The Budget Diet’s frugalicious and fast cookie recipes! How about Rolo Pretzel Turtles (they take less than 5 minutes to make) or Saltine Toffee (you can make this in less than 15 minutes)!

Hostess Gifts / Teacher Gifts / Neighbor Gifts:

Tis the season of parties, and it’s nice to have a few hostess gift on hand! Click here for festive and frugal hostess gift ideas that also make nice gifts for teachers, coaches and neighbors!

Holiday Travel:

Keep up with The Top 10 Budget Travel Deals each week and the Groupon Getaways on the right side of this page because you just might discover a great airfare for the holidays or a great travel deal to give as a gift! Our family tradition is to give our Spring Break trip as a gift – we wrap up a box filled with clues, and our kids work together to figure out our destination! A Bed & Breakfast Gift Card makes a great gifts for parents or grandparents, and right now get free $30 Bed & Breakfast.com Gift Card with Every $100 Spent

Shopping Calendar – Best Time to Buy

Thanks to my friends at FreeShipping.org for reminding us which items are typically on sale in December!

• Computers
• Televisions
• Small Appliances
• Cookware
• Hardware
• Champagne
• Produce: Citrus and Squash

Finish your to-do list early this month, and then relax and enjoy the season!

Your free personal organizer, aka The Budget Diet girl, is always at your service with gift ideas,, party ideas, organizing tips and more!

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Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Is your brain on overload trying to remember all your holiday plans?

Thanksgiving Menu

Christmas Card List

Christmas Gift Ideas

Christmas Shopping List

Christmas Budget

Christmas Meal Planning

New Year’s Party Plans
 

Get those lists out of your head and onto paper, so you can relax and enjoy the holidays. Lists are your answer to an organized and stress free holiday season.

List Plan It’s Holiday ePlanner has lists to help you wrap up the holidays…Thanksgiving meal planning list, Christmas card list, gift lists, party planning lists and more. Trust me, these lists include every little detail, so all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

Enter to Win a FREE Holiday ePlanner by leaving a comment letting me know which type of list will help you wrap up the holidays. 3 winners will be randomly chosen on November 15th, 2012.

Congratulations Kelly, Tami & Jennifer…winners of a Holiday ePlanner from ListPlanIt.com.