Recipe for A Simple Life

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Update - End of Year To Do List

Remember my massive To Do List to ring in the new year with a cleaner home?  Well I haven't updated in a week, but I have been doing pretty good.  I redid the kids' chore charts to help keep the house more organized.  The places I've cleaned and posted before and after pics of, those have been kept that way pretty well!  Clutter can take over my home so easily, so I decided to work my way through the house one room at a time, yet keeping the previously cleaned areas clean at the end of every day so I don't fall back into chaos. 
Progress-
I try to grab at least one thing every time I get up and move, especially the living room floor, and put it where it goes.  I really want the first room you walk into in my home to be clean so my focus is always the living room.
Then I try to keep up with the dishes - oh how I long for the day when I have a dishwasher.  The loads of dishes I have with our family of six takes no time at all to fill my itty bitty counterspace. 
Today, I finished cleaning our master bedroom!  It's not a storage dump any more!!!  I tried getting the mirror up off the floor, but it doesn't fit where I wanted to put it, so it will remain there until we move.  Oh well. 

Entry Way Before

Living Room/Entry Before

Living Room Before

Living Room Before

Kitchen/Dining Room Before

Our Bedroom Before

Stairs Closet Before

Bathroom Hall Closet Before

Bathroom Before

Bathroom Before

Financially Fit Friday

"When real faith grips you, you develop a mind-set that looks for the best in everything, refuses to give up, finds a way around or through every obstacle, and presses on to victory."

- Norman Vincent Peale

Have you started a money makeover? What are you planning on paying CASH for? What bill are you paying off? Share a bit of your story! No story is too small to share! Real life stories keep Sister C motivated :D Catch up on Our Story to see how far we've come.

Emergency Fund - $1000 - STOCKED!

Tuition Payment - $1000 due on 1/25/2011

• Deposited $3.01 in spare change
• Deposited $10 from Brita rebate
• Deposited $20 in leftover income
• Deposited another $49.65 from Scrip Program!

• This program is through our kids' school. We buy gift cards for gas, groceries, department stores, etc each week and a portion of it goes to decrease our tuition amount due!
• Currently Saved $414.25 -  41% of our goal
• Whoa, this is quickly approaching. I forgot about it, crap. lol

Fun Money - I am saving up my money to take Hubby on an Anniversary Trip this year - our first vacation together since we got married!

• Deposited $20 in fun money
• Current Balance $61.71
• This account pays for my membership at Curves, for my ladies night out, and gifts for birthdays and Christmas. So I need to start saving for Christmas! Oh wait, I'm excellent at finding sales/deals, so I don't need much lol

House Fund - Goal $15,000.00 by 5/31/2011

• Deposited $0, we need to stock the Tuition Fund first :o(
• Currently Saved $0

The following are the other loans we currently have, but will put them on the back burner as we save for a house bigger than a 2-bedroom for our family of SIX :D We plan on keeping the duplex we currently own, and renting out the side we currently live in, thus earning more money each month that will pay these off for us :D

Hubby's Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $9395

• Outstanding Balance is $9,240.20

My Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $6480

• Outstanding Balance is $6,366.18

Family Loan $3000 - Will be paid back with tax return

Wednesday WOW

Because I am often a kitchen disaster waiting to happen, I thought I'd share two kitchen tips I came across while taking a study break on Pinterest.  The first is one I should have tried tonight when I was making noodles and boiled the water over - AGAIN!  (I watched that pot like a hawk and as soon as I turned away it spilled all over the stove.  Thank goodness I have flat top electric range.)  According to the author of the tip, putting a wooden spoon across the top of the pot will prevent boiling water from spilling over.  I'm not 100% sure I buy this, but I think I owe it to my stove to give it a try!  Let us know if you try it and it works - or not.

The second is a kitchen cleaning tip that I need to try on a baking sheet.  Not sure how I'm going to adapt it yet for that, but it looked promising so I bookmarked it just in case.  It's a step by step method for cleaning burnt pans without harsh chemicals and with great results:1. Fill the bottom of the pan with a layer of water, about 1 cup.  2. Add 1 cup vinegar.  3. Bring the pan to the boil. It should be looking a bit cleaner already.  4. Remove the pan from the heat and add 2 tablespoons baking soda. Expect fizz!  5. Empty the pan and scour as normal, if necessary add an extra bit of dry baking soda.  6. If there are any super stubborn marks that don't come off with scouring, make a paste of baking soda and a couple of drops of water. Leave the paste on the marks for a while and return to clean as normal.  7. Tad-ah! Now you can put your feet up and enjoy the many hours you saved yourself standing over the sink.  

Thanks to aparment therapy for this tutorial.  You can view the original HERE.

Menu Plan Monday - Lunchbox Edition

Hello!

Wow!  Christmas break really drained my available school lunch supply stash!  Last week was such a challenge that I didn't even have enough to post about.  We are getting back on track this week though, and building up our lunch supplies again.  Here's what my kids will be having for lunch this week:


Protein Choices (1-2 items):
Peanut Butter (in sandwiches)
Raw Almonds (not roasted or salted)
Yogurt

Fruit & Vegetable Choices (2-3 items):
Oranges
Bananas
Green Peppers
Applesauce
Baby Carrots
Apples
Kiwi

Grain Choices (1-2 items):
Bread (in sandwiches)
Cheese Nips Crackers
Pretzels
Banana Bread

Menu Plan Monday

This week is the beginning of a challenge that Scott and I are taking on.  We have challenged each other not to eat out for the rest of the month of January.  I didn't work between Christmas and New Year's so the budget is stretched pretty thin this month and we are going to have to plan carefully and work hard to succeed at this challenge, but it will be a good test for us to see if we can do it.  I'll let you know each week how we do when I post our menu plans.  

Do any of you struggle with eating out too often?  What do you do to break the habit?  I'd love to hear your stories to help keep us motivated.

Here's what we are planning this week:

Chicken and Beef Taco Rice

Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns, Oranges, Green Peppers

Beef Storganoff with Noodles, Corn

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche (I keep planning this but it never gets made!!!)

Enchiladas, Salad

Homemade "Wetzel Dogs" (Complete experiment - wish me luck!)

Spaghetti, Garlic Bread

What's on your menu this week?

Cub Foods Match-up 1/8 - 1/13/2012

This week's match ups from Cub come to you from Pocket Your Dollars.com.  Click HERE to see what the best deals are this week.

What will be on your list this week?

CVS Match Up for 1/8/12 - 1/14/12

 This week's CVS ad Match ups come to you with a big thank you from Passionate Penny Pincher.  It looks like there are a few things I'll want to put on my list this week.  Let us know if you find any other great deals we missed or if you get a coupon machine printable worth noting.


If you are new to CVS shopping, make sure you sign up for the Extra Care Card so you can take advantage of the Extra Care Bucks offers each week. Once you get started, this is one of the  easiest ways I have found to get things for free.  Make sure you also go online and register your card so you can take advantage of the e-mail coupons they often send too.


Here are the things that look most interesting to me:

Get $3.49 ECB wyb CVS Vitamin D 400 100ct $3.49 Limit 1

As low as free after ECB

Get $4 ECB wyb (3) General Mills Cereals 10-14 oz Limit 1 - $3.33

$0.50 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
$1.00 off 2 boxes Cheerios cereal
$1.10/2 Chex Cereals, Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex, Multi-Bran Chex, Cinnamon Chex printable
$1/2 Chex Cereals: Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex, Multi-Bran Chex, or Cinnamon Chex printable
$1/2 Chex Cereals: Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex, Multi-Bran Chex, or Cinnamon Chex printable
$0.50/1 General Mills Lucky Charms Cereal printable
$1/3 General Mills Cereals: Basic 4, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, or Cookie Crisp printable
$1/3 General Mills Cereals: Basic 4, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, or Cookie Crisp printable
$1.10/2 Select Cheerios Cereals printable
$1.50/2 General Mills Cereal printable
$1/2 General Mills Cereal printable
$1/2 Chex Cereals: Rice, Corn, Wheat, Honey Nut, Chocolate, Multi-Bran or Cinnamon, exp. 1/14/12 (SS 12/04/11)
$1/2 General Mills Cereals, exp. 1/21/12 (SS 12/11/11)
As low as $1.50 after ECB

All Laundry Detergent - $4.00

$1/1 All Laundry Detergent printable
$1/1 All Laundry Detergent printable
$1/1 All Laundry Detergent, exp. 2/12/12 (RP 01/01/12)
$0.75/1 All Laundry Detergent, exp. 1/15/12 (RP 12/04/11)
As low as $3.00

Finish 10-20ct or Jet Dry Rinse 8.45oz - $3.50

$1/1 Finish Quantum Automatic Dishwasher Detergent printable
$0.50/1 Finish Jet-Dry Rinse Agent or Turbo Dry printable
$0.65/1 Finish Powerball or Gel Pacs printable
$0.65/1 Finish Powerball or Gelpacs printable
$0.75/1 Finish Dishwasher Cleaner printable
$0.50/1 Finish Dishwasher Cleaner printable
$0.50/1 Finish Dishwasher Cleaner printable
$1/1 Finish Quantum Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Product printable
$0.50/1 Finish / Electrasol Automatic Dishwasher Detergent printable
$2.15/1 or $1/1 Finish Quantum Powerball or Gelpacs, exp. 1/30/12 (SS 01/01/12) regional coupon
As low as $1.45

Your turn - what's going on your shopping list this week?

Michael's Clearance

Sister C just made a run to Michael's looking for cards on clearance - look what I snagged for $7.02...

That's 98 cards in case you were wondering how many :D  Plus a back massager for Hubby and a pair of slippers for Eve's birthday in a few weeks.  I love having her birthday after Christmas, we get her presents for SUPER cheap :D

Sunday Coupon Preview - SIX possible inserts!!!

Looks like some of us will hit the coupon jackpot this weekend.  There are 6 potential inserts being released this weekend according to Sunday Coupon Preview.  You can check them out here:

1-8  RedPlum Coupon Preview

• 1-8 Smarsource Coupon Preview Insert 1 & 2
• 1-8 General Mills Coupon Preview
• 1-8 Target Johnson & Johnson Coupon Preview
• 1-8 Walmart Coupon Preview

Let us know which ones you get in your paper.

Financially Fit Friday

"When real faith grips you, you develop a mind-set that looks for the best in everything, refuses to give up, finds a way around or through every obstacle, and presses on to victory."

- Norman Vincent Peale



Have you started a money makeover? What are you planning on paying CASH for? What bill are you paying off? Share a bit of your story! No story is too small to share! Real life stories keep Sister C motivated :D Catch up on Our Story to see how far we've come.

Emergency Fund - $1000 - STOCKED!

Tuition Payment - $1000 due on 1/25/2011

• Deposited $3 from a survey
• Deposited $15 From clothes fund - earned a $15 Kohls gift card from Huggies Rewards
• I have to say THANK YOU to Stephanie for sending me these codes to add to my account!!  You are helping us achieve our goal and I thank you so much for thinking of us!!
• Deposited $8.07 in spare change
• Deposited $20 in leftover income
• Transferred $77.32 from House Fund
• Deposited $108.20 from Scrip Program! 
• This program is through our kids' school.  We buy gift cards for gas, groceries, department stores, etc each week and a portion of it goes to decrease our tuition amount due! 
• Currently Saved $331.59 - 33 % of our goal
• Whoa, this is quickly approaching.  I forgot about it, crap. lol

Fun Money - I am saving up my money to take Hubby on an Anniversary Trip this year - our first vacation together since we got married!

• Deposited $0 in fun money, I need to work a full week before I get fun money again :o( 
• Current Balance $117.72
• This account pays for my membership at Curves, for my ladies night out, and gifts for birthdays and Christmas. So I need to start saving for Christmas! Oh wait, I'm excellent at finding sales/deals, so I don't need much lol

House Fund - Goal $15,000.00 by 5/31/2011

• Deposited $0, we need to stock the Tuition Fund first :o( 
• Currently Saved $0
• I also plan to call around to different banks and find out mortgage rates, down payment requirements for different purchases - such as 'regular' house buying mortgages, foreclosures, short sales, contract for deed, etc. Then we'll know what we are up against :D

The following are the other loans we currently have, but will put them on the back burner as we save for a house bigger than a 2-bedroom for our family of SIX :D We plan on keeping the duplex we currently own, and renting out the side we currently live in, thus earning more money each month that will pay these off for us :D

Hubby's Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $9395

• Outstanding Balance is $9,240.20

My Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $6480

• Outstanding Balance is $6,366.18

Family Loan $3000 - Will be paid back with tax return

Wednesday WOW - Storing Christmas Ornaments

I'm sure many of you have already packed the tree and all it's trimmings back up - ours went back into storage over the past weekend.  But, for those of you who are still enjoying the holiday decorations or who were frustrated by how to get it all put away without breaking anything, this one is for you.......

If your ornaments fit, you can use cardboard egg cartons to store them.  The carton is designed to protect eggs, so it should do a great job with your ornaments too.  The cartons also stack nicely inside a larger container or on a shelf.  If you start saving now, you should have enough cartons to pack all your ornaments long before next Christmas rolls around and you'll be re-using something that might otherwise end up in a landfill.






If your ornaments don't fit into egg cartons and you want to invest a few dollars in an alternative storage solution, try this clever idea from Design a la Mod and create you own ornament storage container.  I like this one the best.  I may look for some clearance cups between now and next December so I can make this once we unpack the tree again.


Your turn - do you have a clever or "WOW" idea to share on how to store Christmas decorations?  We love feedback!!!

Introducing the Wednesday "WOW"

Good Morning!

This morning I'd like to welcome the new year by introducing the "Wednesday WOW," as in "Wow, why didn't I think of that?"  Each Wednesday I'll put up an idea or two that I think is a great idea or time saver.  Some might be new to you, and some of you might have even better ideas.  If you do, I hope you will share them.  You can either comment below or send me an e-mail.

The inspiration for this weekly feature came from my mom, who sent me a list of neat tips that she thought I would enjoy.  She was right, and I wanted to share them with you, my cyber friends.  I hope you enjoy them and find at least a few over the course of the next few weeks that you are able to use or find helpful.

Happy New Year!!

Menu Plan Monday

It's time to get back to menu planning.  The holidays were great and I loved spending time with my family, but I got a little lazy with meal planning and we had a little too much "convenience" food over the last 2 weeks.  I'm making a concentrated effort to buckle down and get back on track this week.  Here is what we will be serving at our house this week:

Dinner with family friends - we are making Tacos
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with Brown Rice Crust, Fruit
Loaded Potato Soup, Breadsticks
Beef & Black Bean Taco Bake, Corn
French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
Steak, Spinach & Noodles

What's on your menu this week?

Update - End of Year To Do List

*Update* 
I didn't get everything accomplished as I ended up picking up a shift, and then had some friends over last night.  However, I am pleased with how much I have accomplished.  So I'm giving myself until Wednesday to finish this list off.  I am already feeling better - I started taking Iron pills again.  Why do I not remember that when I feel so rundown, that I'm low on iron?  Ugh.  As you can see by the pictures, I've cleaned up the entryway and living room areas pretty well.  I've got the table cleared off, well, not right now lol  So I hope to have pics of the kitchen updated by the end of Monday :D    One of my goals is to Keep My House Clean - A 30 Day Challenge, something to keep me motivated to keep the house free of excess clutter.  I know this will my my hubby happier, me happier, and it will be easier come moving time :D

I am so overwhelmed with my To Do list. However, all four kids are home today and will be helping me attack this list. I have not felt well for several weeks, and I'm wondering if there is too much dust or mold in my house, so I'll be deep cleaning all day today and into tomorrow. I've made a list online before and crossed it off as I got them accomplished, so I'll be sharing this with you all day and tomorrow.

Ready...Set...Go...

Entry Way/Porch

• Wash windows
• Organize closet, bag up jackets/shoes/scarves to donate
• Scrub floor
• Organize shoe buckets
• Donate stroller - Posted it for free on Craigslist
• Donate carseat
• Organize shovels or whatever else is out there
• Sweep porch
• Put flower pots somewhere else

Living Room

• Take Christmas ornaments down
• Take Christmas tree down
• Organize top of desk
• Organize drawers of desk - one, two, three, four, five drawers
• Wash windows
• Make pile of boxes to burn in fire pit
• Organize bookshelf
• Water plants
• Dust
• Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum
• Put baby gate away
• Find a place for reams of paper instead of on the floor
• Organize/file away papers
• Organize toy drawers
• Organize diapers and wipes drawers
• Organize gaming drawer
• Fill in holes in wall/mud up, paint touchup

Kitchen/Dining Room

• Clean highchair
• Sweep floor
• Scrub floor
• Clean off table - EVERYTHING off the table
• Put purses away
• Hang my new fruit baskets :D
• Clean off top of 'frig
• Put all dishes away
• Wash all the dishes
• Wash stovetop
• Wash windows
• Water plants
• Wash cupboards
• Take garbage out
• Clean under sink
• Clean microwave
• Organize top of microwave/medicine cupboard
• Clean out 'frig
• Clean outside of 'frig
• Donate food

Hallway/Closets

• Organize presents in closet
• Organize wrapping paper
• Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum
• Organize bathroom hallway closet

Bathroom

• Organize under sink
• Clean toilet
• Clean bathtub
• Clean bathroom floor
• Organize the basket on sink
• Clean inside medicine cabinet
• Wash mirror
• Wash window
• Clean walls and ceiling
• Make more foaming handsoap
• Make bathsalts - That was so easy and fun, I'll be making more :D
• Take out garbage

Kids' Room

• Wash all bedding
• Make all the beds
• Bag and freeze stuffed animals
• Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum
• Put all clothes away
• Pick up closet
• Figure out how to maximize use of the shelves in closet
• Clean top of armoire

Our Room

• Wash all bedding
• Make the bed
• Put all the clothes away
• Donate clothes/give away clothes
• Put shoe bucket back downstairs in storage
• Dust
• Wash mirrors
• Put mirror up  I tried, it doesn't fit.  Sad. 
• Clean off dresser tops
• Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum
• Put laundry baskets back downstairs

Basement - Ugh, the worst part...

• Put all toys in right buckets
• Throw away all papers, broken toys, etc.
• Wash window
• Clean floor
• Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum
• Clean under sink
• Put playpen away
• Donate outgrown toys
• Clean top of dryer off/organize
• Fold all laundry
• Put all laundry away
• Organize movies
• Organize books
• Clean tv cabinet
• Clean fishtank - buy new fish?
• Wash walls
• Take out garbages
• Make a HUGE batch of homemade laundry soap

Odds and Ends

• Call for eye doc appt
• Make wish list for house
• Make goal list with Hubby tonight
• Get new site all ready to launch :D

To prove that my house needs to be deep cleaned and organized after all the chaos of Christmas travelling...I'll post pics once each area is clean too :D

Entry Way Before

Living Room/Entry Before

Living Room Before

Living Room Before

Kitchen/Dining Room Before

Our Bedroom Before

Stairs Closet Before

Bathroom Hall Closet Before

Bathroom Before

Bathroom Before