Spring cleaning progress and more

UPDATE ON REVOLUTION MONEY EXCHANGE I received my "free money" yesterday! I did not have to give them any banking info -- I simply requested they mail me a check. I just checked their web site and they still have the FREE $25 offer up, though I think I remember the last day is 04/15. The check is drawn by the First Bank and Trust, just as my research showed me it should be. I'm happy! Hey, anytime anyone wants to send me free money, I'm in! Too good to be true? Not so far! If you go under "Help" on their website, on the bottom left you will see privacy policy. Click on that and it will pull up the whole three pages of privacy details. At the end, there is an opt out section that you have to print and mail in if you want to opt out of the following: their sharing your non-public information with nonaffiliated third parties, with their affiliates, and their using information to market their products and services. I plan on sending in my opt-out information, but maintaining my account. As an Ebay seller, I'm hoping that this new service will make some progress and give PayPal some competition. SPRING CLEANING AND GROCERY SHOPPING PROGRESS I continue to make progress on my Spring cleaning. Yesterday the laundry room (which also holds my chest freezer and cabinets holding baking ingredients) was attacked. Now the kitchen, laundry room, dining room, and family room are done. It was eye-opening to do my freezer inventory. I will definitely have no problem going the rest of the month without buying any groceries. Funny how I think I need to do a full grocery shopping every week (out of habit?), but if I'd just stay organized and keep a running inventory, I'd be better about what I do and do not have to buy. Take a look at my freezer inventory (this is a small chest freezer plus a refrigerator freezer): 5 1/2 lbs of hamburger, plus 2 lbs swedish meatballs 2 pkg boneless pork chops 1 smoked sausage 3 pkg diced ham (for adding to omelettes, mac & cheese, etc.) 2 bags chicken pieces for soup 3 lbs chicken wings 4 pkg chicken breasts, bone in 2 pkg chicken breasts, boneless 1 1/2 bags chicken breast strips 2 pkg talapia fillets 1 pkg lentil soup 1 pkg chili w/beans 2 boxes breakfast sausage links 2 lbs. bacon 5 4-cup bags of tomato sauce (from garden tomatoes) 1 bag mixed vegetables 1 bag whole Okra 1 bag spinach 1 bag cauliflower 1 bag green beans 1 bag peas & carrots 3 pkg pumpkin puree (from our Halloween pumpkin) 2 boxes egg rolls 2 boxes lean pockets 1 loaf bread 1 English muffins 1 party rye bread 1 pkg of 6 cupcakes (no frosting) Open items 1/4 bag french fries 1/2 box waffles 1/4 box mini ice cream sandwiches 1 bag blueberries 1/2 bag cheese raviolis My pantry contains plenty of bottled salad dressings, canned soups, cereal, canned vegetables, rice, and pasta. I also have boxes of brownie and cake mixes (bought at Krogers last week for $1) for desserts and lunches. I got out my bread machine yesterday, but will use up the bread and English muffins we have before making my own bread. I was also delighted to find that I'd stored a large variety of flours in my freezer! I do that to prevent bugs from infesting the flours -- I found almond flour, rye flour, wheat flour, corn meal, barley, and whole oats! Great for future breadmaking! They are all enclosed in ziploc bags, then stored in tupperware airtight containers, so I'm hoping they will still be good. I am proud of the fact I only had two unlabelled packages of "mystery meat" that had to be thrown away. I also had one package of roast beef slices dated 2006.. that got tossed as well. FREEZER ORGANIZATION What good is it to clean out your freezer if you don't organize while you're at it?! To toss all those items back in the freezer in the same jumbled way they came out, just doesn't make sense, so I organized it all. I used two cardboard boxes that fit in the bottom of the chest freezer -- one for beef and pork, and one for chicken and fish. In the two wire baskets, I placed vegetables and lunch items. On the shelf of the freezer, I placed "fast food" items - egg rolls, chicken nuggets, etc. In the refrigerator freezer, I placed all breakfast items (sausage, bacon) on one slide-out shelf; dessert items (ice cream, cupcakes, Girl Scout cookies) on the second shelf; and breads in the bottom shelf. Good to go!