Weeks like this make me feel like such a smart housewife. I took about 5-10 minutes and actually did some menu planning! To try to get into the habit of doing this, I’m going to try to do Menu Planning Monday each week. We had some leftover food from last week, so this week was pretty easy to plan.

Monday - Hamburgers, French Fries
Tuesday - Manicotti, corn
Wednesday - Spaghetti, breadsticks
Thursday - homemade pizza
Friday - eat out

For breakfast, we either have biscuits or oatmeal. I eat lunch at my Mom’s and hubby either takes his lunch or eats out. The weekends are usually a free-for-all - whatever you can find you can eat.

I already feel peace about this week knowing the menu is planned. Now I can answer that daily question from my husband “What’s for dinner?” with ease.

One of the best ways to get better performance from your laptop is to upgrade your laptop memory. I recently upgraded mine to 1 GB from 512K. The difference has been very noticeable as it boots and accesses windows faster. It was relatively inexpensive and took less than five minutes to install.

I did need a small Phillips head screwdriver(Jeweler’s size) to remove the small, plastic backing. Then I had to place the memory in the slot and push down. Even though it was a tight fit, it was easier than installing memory in a PC.

It’s been one of the easiest upgrades I’ve ever done with any of our computers. The results have been great, too. So, if you’re looking for better performance out of your laptop, then try a memory upgrade.

Today while looking through the clearance aisle at Wal-Mart, I noticed a gadget for the computer that allows you to use your game controllers with your PC. A friend of ours had done a similar thing for a senior project in college. Senior projects are suppose to be innovations that would be useful to consumers. My hubby will be doing his senior project this fall. Oh if I were a futures broker to know what the next big thing would be. We might could make that college education immediately pay off!

I have always wished that I had gotten into computers in college, back in the early 1990s. Everyone I knew was into them. I guess I just didn’t think I was smart enough to get it. I remember a friend mentioning a home page and what it was. I just couldn’t fathom it.

Maybe the next big thing I will be able to recognize before it becomes huge. I somehow doubt it but still it’s fun to dream about being a pioneer in something.

Right now, McDonald’s is running a special on their drinks. Buy any size for just $1. That is cheaper than buying a 20 ounce, so we’ve been picking up a large Diet Coke at McDonald’s while we’re in town instead of a 20 ounce drink. My husband loves this because he prefers a drink with ice in it. But now we have all these large, plastic cups that I just hate to throw out.  I’ve thought of a few uses for them.

In a few weeks, we will be heading to the beach. I think the shape of the cups will be perfect for building sand castles. We will probably have at least 10, so we will have plenty for the whole family to get in on the action at the same time.

Of course, we can always use as drinking cups especially when we are heading somewhere and don’t want to take a good drinking glass.

Rae loves to play with cups in the tub, pouring water from one cup to the other. I’m sure a few cups will find their way to the bathtub or even the swimming pool.

I’m sure I’ll think of a few more uses for them hopefully. It seems such a waste just to throw them away.

Using coupons can be an awesome way to get a discount on items you already buy. Drugstores run weekly sales that make it easy and cheap to stock up on household staples like cleaning products, toothpaste, shaving cream, and more. Most of these deals will be a buy one get one or a special price for two. Combine the special offers from the drugstore with the manufacturer’s coupon and you can save any more.

You can find coupons on your local newspaper or a better, faster way is online. Savings.com is a online coupons website that lists deals from several merchants. You can search by merchant or just plug into the search box what it is your are looking for. There are also categories that you can browse if you are just interested in seeing what has been submitted to the website. Deals are listed in Digg-like form by users and can either be given a vote of approval or buried by users. This type of check and balance means that the best and most useful deals will rise to the top.

You can also find promotional codes, discounts, and free shipping coupons plus more. Shopping online is very convenient and can save you money. With the right coupon code, that savings can even be greater. Amazon.com has become one of my favorite places to shop especially since they offer free shipping on orders over $25. Amazon also have plenty of other great discounts that can be found on Savings.com.

I have just recently starting clipping coupons but have been using online coupons for a while. Combining the two will hopefully save us even more money. While the newspaper and magazines are good resources for finding print coupons, Savings.com is a good resource for finding online coupons, coupon codes, and more.

I think I have finally stumbled upon the best time to hit the grocery store - early Sunday morning. It is quite empty, so I can actually think about what I need to buy and not feel rushed. Today I’m getting ready to go but realize that we only need a few things. Hubby has been working late, so I haven’t been cooking that much. That means we have meals that I haven’t cooked yet. I just need to pick up a few things that are are out of and I’ll be done.

I absolutely hate shopping on Saturday and during the week is not much better. It seems the times that I have to shop that everyone else does, too. Sunday mornings are usually the most peaceful time at the store. But the only downside is that I haven’t been able to yet check the sales papers to find the best bargains possible if I go first thing in the morning.

So, today I will probably wait and curse at myself later when I’m in traffic or waiting in a very long line to checkout. But I can rejoice in the thought that I am spending my money wisely and saving it where I can.

In lieu of a vacation this year, we are opting to do short, day trips throughout the summer. It will be cheaper since most places are within 60 miles of here and some are even free to do. No need to pack the Delsey luggage either for just these short excursions. That’s another plus since I really do not enjoying packing.

Today is our first outing. We are going to the Natural Science Museum that is about two hours away from here. Rae will get in free and for adults admission is $5. I put all of our trips on my Google calendar. I then sent invitations to my husband so that he could add them to his calendar. This way we’re on the same page for once in our lives. It’s neat because by the ‘where’ field is a link to map the address. Google has some really useful and cool features. But they are almost like Microsoft in that I hate to admit that I like them so much. I usually prefer to do business or use apps from small companies.

It’s going to be a fun summer. Our trip today should be a good one and is just the beginning of many adventures to be had over the next few months.

There has been several new restaurants that have opened up in town with very interesting names. We have:

The Flamin’ Pineapple

The Magic Tomato

The Plaid Rhino

Now most everyone that I know who has tried these new places has said that the food was good and they enjoyed themselves. I have to admit that I’m tempted to go to them based solely on the name. What are some crazy restaurant names in your town?

Raegan has a three ring pool that she seems to enjoy as long as there isn’t too much water in it. I even got in it this week and boy is that water cold. It did, however, make me think of upgrading the pool at least to a size that we could use inflatable boats in. But I doubt Rae would get much enjoyment out of it. Maybe next summer.

Splashing around in the pool was a lot of fun and especially will be really nice it becomes unbearably hot. If the pool was just a little bigger it would be great. Rae does seem to enjoy getting in the pool when I’m in it. If not then she likes to play outside of the pool by dipping out water.

I had thought about enrolling her into swimming lessons since there are some places that take them at 2 1/2 years. I don’t know, though. I worry she might be more scared and have a bad experience. Plus, how much will she actually remember next summer? Will we have to do lessons again? I took lessons for a whole summer when I was around ten. I still remember what I was taught. Besides, lessons seem a little pricey to me. $100 for a week just doesn’t sound like a good deal. Maybe I’m just cheap.

Anyway, hopefully this summer she will get more accustomed to being in the water. In a few weeks we’ll be heading to the beach where I think she will really have a good time.

Saturday, June 14 is Flag Day. Tomorrow our company is replacing their worn out American flag. This week they have been searching for places that will properly dispose of the American flag. Apparently the local VFW doesn’t offer this service nor does the local government. The Boy Scouts are all at camp this week are are unavailable.

There are organizations like Flag Keepers that will properly dispose of American flags. You need to order a prepaid envelope for shipping. The cost is a nominal fee of $5.

The proper way to dispose of worn American flag is by burning it. Respect should always be shown to the American flag, so keep this in mind when preparing to dispose of it. For more information on how to show respect to the flag, read the U.S. code on respecting the flag.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Beierle