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?