Spring is almost here! This beautiful weather always gets me in the mood for spring cleaning. I like to scour the house and purge any unneeded junk hanging around from winter. Here are 5 of my favorite tips to help you tidy up and get organized.
Tip 1: For everything that comes in to your house something has to go out. So, when you return with something new find something old to toss or donate.
Tip 2: Choose one area at a time to organize and clean. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you don’t have to make over your whole home in one either. If it’s a big mess or you don’t have a lot of time you can break it down even further into sections of a room or sections of a closet even. The easiest way to quickly organize an area I have found is to be prepared before you start. Gather up any necessary cleaning supplies and set up three boxes, one for trash, one for donate, one for keep items that belong somewhere else.
Tip 3: Ask yourself how much you really need an item before you purchase it or you decide to hang on to it. Is it really worth the space it’s taking up. For example, a few years ago I tossed all the pots and pans out of my kitchen that I do not regularly use. Anything Teflon coated went and most pans that could only be used for one specific thing. I love to cook but I usually stick to my favorite pots and pans and rarely took the time to dig out specialized ones. Now I have 3 or 4 pots of various sizes and 4 cast iron skillets. I haven’t once missed my old pans and I am much happier with the extra space that allowed me to better organize my kitchen.
Tip 4: Give everything a home. Every item needs a place to live. Homeless items cause clutter and distraction. Deal with any items that seem to keep floating around your home. In my home toys are biggest floaters. To help with this problem I ration toys into 3 totes and we rotate them every three days. This way the kids don’t get bored and there aren’t tons of toys scattered around the house.
Tip 5: Have a tidy-up time. Every evening just before bed I turn on fun music and the entire family takes 10 minutes and we tidy up. It’s fun, we do it together, and it gets tomorrow off to a much better start.
I hope these tips will inspire you as your organizing your home this spring. If you want more tips on organizing your home head on over to Amazon and grab this free Kindle book I just found Conquer Clutter: 3 Books in 1 – Declutter Now, Organize Your Home, Simple Storage Systems – Discover the Secrets of a Clutter Free Lifestyle. I can’t wait to read it! I would love to hear what your favorite tips are for organizing and cutting clutter from your home. So, leave me a comment if you have a great suggestion or favorite way to organize!
Update on Grandpa
Thank you all that have been praying for my grandfather. We have always been close and it’s been hard seeing him suffer. He has lymphoma and has many complications that are not allowing them to treat. Unfortunately it seems like we will have to say goodbye soon. That’s where I am right now and why postings have been few. I have 2 great assistants, though that will be posting when they can.
We appreciate any and all prayers for the family during this time.
Homeschool: Learn to Listen with LEGOs!
I saw this on Pinterest and I was eager to give it a try. My older 2 definitely need some practice listening to each other, so we dove in! It also helps in coming up with descriptive words. Check out how to practice listening with LEGOs!
For starters, get 2 ziplock bags and put identical blocks in each bag. We started with 20 blocks in each bag. I grabbed my 9 year old and 6 year old, took a big box as a divider and had them describe to each other what they were building.
Now the result? Sounds like they need to practice listening a little more 😉 But they had fun and it was a nice quiet activity while the little girls were sleeping 🙂
My Blessings
I know I don’t share a lot personally, but I wanted to say that I feel incredibly blessed to have ya’ll as my readers. Blogging has enabled me to continue staying at home with my kids and I will forever be thankful. Below are my kids. They are amazing and bring a smile to my face daily. So blessed to be their mom!
Things I Learned From Wisdom Teeth Removal
As ya’ll know I had my wisdom teeth out last Tuesday. It’s been an okay ride. Wasn’t in as much pain as I thought and really I think it went quite well. I did learn some things and I thought I’d share those with you:
*It’s completely possible to be sick of icecream. And yogurt. And applesauce. And mashed potatoes.
*Friends will offer to bring food for your family. Real friends will remember to bring something you can eat.
*Have childcare lined up for several days after. That supermom stuff is impossible with painkillers in your system.
*Eat your favorite foods for several days before. You might as well say goodbye to them for the next couple of weeks.
*I’m entirely way too reliant on straws. I had no idea how often I was using them. Being strawless stinks.
*And lastly, REST. Use this time to catch up on the years of sleep lacking. Even if you’re feeling better, sleep for all it’s worth! As a mom, you won’t get another chance like this in the next decade.
What did you learn from your wisdom teeth removal?
Whew! I’m Done!
Such a relief! I am DONE with my taxes. I’m confident that they were done right since Turbo Tax double checks my stuff and checks for red flags that the IRS will look for.
If you haven’t done yours yet, it’s SUPER easy with Turbo Tax, it’s FREE for federal if you have a 1040EZ. Check out this awesome program here:
Why Is A Stockpile So Important – My Personal Experience
We’ve all seen the crazy stockpiles from Extreme Couponing and other shows. I hear from a lot of you how crazy they are and how nobody needs a stockpile that big.
That’s true, however, I strongly recommend having a stockpile for your family to cover your needs.
We’ve never truly needed to use our stockpile. I’ve rotated things and donated as they aged.
Until now. Now we are fully relying on our stockpile.
I told ya’ll a few weeks back how our rental house was trashed. Due to this, I had to take some time away from blogging, my husband had to take time off work, and we had a lot of expenses on the rental house.
Now before you think that I was making big bucks off the rental, let me further explain. We had a rental company in charge of the house. Due to the mortgage on it, we made nothing. Zip. Nada. They just paid the mortgage fee and kept all the extra. That worked great the past 8 years. Then they moved out of country, leaving us with non-paying tenants and a wrecked house.
Oh yes.
It’s been a nightmare. Our bills completely doubled overnight. In the matter of weeks, we had to come up with money to fix that house, make 2 mortgage payments, 2 electric bills, 2 water bills, etc. That’s not for the faint of heart. Keep in mind the rental is also an hour away from my current house and we know how expensive gas is, especially driving that distance daily.
Then the brake lines in my van cracked. To the tune of $775. That was a nice addition to this already chaotic time.
I’m not telling you this for you to feel sorry for me. I’m telling you this because LIFE HAPPENS. We never know what is around the next corner. Without our stockpile, I have no idea how I’d be feeding my kids right now or how we’d wash our clothes. Although my supply is really starting to dwindle, I can use my couponing knowledge to stretch our already stretched budget to the max.
Our stockpile has kept us afloat so far.
As a final note, please pray for us. Not sure how much longer we can juggle all these things. We are doing our very best to handle this right now, but it’s a true struggle. If you know anyone looking to rent in Winder, GA, please keep us in mind. So far we haven’t been able to find responsible tenants.
On a side note, I do still plan to do a great giveaway for our 3rd anniversary, but it’s going to be a bit as you can tell from above.
How has your stockpile or budgeting helped you in a time of need? Leave and comment and tell us about your experience.
Happy Birthday Eliza!!
My youngest turned 2 today! Seems like just yesterday she was in the NICU fighting to breathe. She is now a spunky, feisty, lovable, squeezable, hilarious toddler. Can’t believe how time has flown.
I’m taking today off and we are going to take advantage of the awesome Half Off Depot – Children’s Museum of Atlanta deal.
Hope you have a fantastic Monday!
What Was In the Drain?
I posted this message for my facebook readers:
$10 amazon giftcard to whoever can guess what was down the drain at our rental house, causing the sink to not work. It’s definitely not something you’d expect. Go!
The responses were hysterical! Lots of great guesses!
The answer?
3 Silicone Caulk Tubes. Yes.
Apparently, someone decided to be ugly and climb on the roof and drop 3 silicone tubes down the vent that runs into the sink drain. We tried everything to unplug the sink – the auger, water bladder, and chemicals. Nothing worked. It wouldn’t budge.
Finally we went in through the drywall in one of the bedrooms and cut the pipe where we thought the blockage was. We were very surprised to find a tube of silicone caulk.
Even more surprised (and quite a bit angry) to discover another, and then another. We haven’t gotten the 3rd one out yet – need a much longer hook or something to fish it out than we had at the time.
Sigh. This rental stuff is for the birds.
Since no one guessed it correctly, I’ve randomly selected a winner! Lisa Bohm Klein email mommyoctopus@gmail.com to claim your prize!
4 Apps to Save YOU Money
One thing that comes up a lot is all the apps for smart phones that are available to help save you money. I have several of them on my phone, so I thought I’d point out my favorites to you:
GasBuddy – Put simply, you can use this app to find cheap gas near you! LOVE it! Many times it has saved me from spending an extra 10 cents or more a gallon by driving a short distance away.
GeoQpons– This app will help you find coupons to use in whatever store you are in! For example, if you’re heading to the mall, just open this app up and search for the store you’re shopping at. I’ve found great discounts to JCPenney, Children’s Place, and more right there in this nifty app.
ShopKick– ShopKick is one of my favorite apps, and my fantastic readers told me about it! You “check in” at stores such as Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Old Navy, etc and it gives you “Kicks”. Trade in your kicks for giftcards! Even better, sometimes it will give you random bonus giftcards! It recently gave me a $2 Target giftcard for no reason. AWESOME! Sometimes when you’re checked in, it will ask you to scan certain items in the store and you’ll get even more “Kicks”. My kids love scanning the products so we can earn giftcards.
Ibotta– You’ve been hearing me talk about Ibotta a lot lately. If you haven’t signed up, you’re missing out! Ibotta is a fun and easy way to earn $20 or more each time you go shopping. The more you use it, the better and more personalized your offers become. Before you go shopping, download the Ibotta app to your iPhone or Android. It’s completely free. Ibotta pays you cash for learning about your favorite products and then buying them in the store. No points or credits – real cash! The more you useIbotta, the more cash you can earn. Simply purchase the items and then use Ibotta to photograph your receipt. Ibotta works in many main stores such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, Kroger, Safeway, Publix, Stop & Shop, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Ralphs, H-E-B, Meijer, Vons, Duane Reade, Smith’s, Fry’s, Pick ‘N Save, Dominicks, Pavilions, Tom Thumb, Dillons, and ShopRite. Once you’ve redeemed offers totaling $5 or more, Ibotta lets you transfer your earnings directly to your PayPal account
Do you have a favorite app not listed? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!
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