Money Saving Mom®

Ruth at Living Well, Spending Less shows us How to Create a Cleaning Schedule That Works For You. This post is full of practical tips and lots of free printables to help you get your house clean on a schedule that works for you.

Here’s a little of what she has to say:

“If the idea of creating any sort of cleaning schedule sounds overwhelming, try not to worry—I promise it is not as bad as it sounds. In fact, as you will see below, you can do it in three easy steps! The point of a schedule is not to make you feel guilty or to make you have more to do, but to actually relieve guilt and to create a routine that gives you more freedom and less stress. Knowing that you have a workable, manageable plan to tackle those sticky sinks and dusty dressers makes the idea of cleaning house seem a lot less overwhelming in the long run.

So bear with me. We can do this. I promise.”

Don’t forget, you can get a bunch of cleaning printables for free!

There’s a reason I don’t have a parenting blog. And there’s a reason I don’t give out parenting advice.

Why? Because most days, I feel like I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.

I see these moms who have all these specific systems and philosophies for their parenting and I wonder what’s wrong with me. I’m over here on my knees praying I don’t mess up my kids too badly.

I love my children beyond what words can express. But some days? I don’t do a very good job of showing that love.

Take last night, for instance. We’d had this wonderful weekend trip to Oklahoma City. We’d unplugged, laughed together, had great discussions, enjoyed fun experiences, and made beautiful memories.

And then we came home and, in the process of cleaning out the car, my patience disappeared. I got frustrated at the messes made and said words I regret to my family members.

My kids went to bed feeling hurt and I started to go to bed feeling like a failure. Why did I have to ruin a perfect weekend? Why can’t I be more patient? Why do I get so frustrated sometimes?

The thoughts started swirling around my brain and I began to beat myself up over failing, yet again.

But then I realized: the night’s not over with yet. I couldn’t take back the words I’d said or the attitude I’d had, but I could ask my family to forgive me.

So I went into my children’s room and sat by their beds. I confessed that I’d been wrong and asked their forgiveness for getting frustrated and saying words to them that I shouldn’t have said. They readily forgave me and expressed their love for me.

I walked out of their room feeling ten times lighter! Yes, I’d messed up. Yes, I’d made a mistake. But my kids still love me — in spite of my many imperfections.

I might not have any amazing parenting advice to dole out, but one thing I’ve learned through making many mistakes is this: being willing to ask forgiveness and admit when you are wrong is hard, but it’s one of the best things you can do for any relationship.

Read this post from Ann Voskamp on Why Your Kids Don’t Need a SuperMama.

We took a family trip to Oklahoma City this past weekend. Silas was so excited about the trip and had looked forward to it for quite awhile.

On the drive down, he kept exclaiming, “This is the BEST day of my life!”

Every time he said it, it made me smile. Not just because it makes me so happy to be able to bring so much thrill to my 4-year-old, but also because I love his enthusiasm for life.

I want to live each day with that kind of attitude. I want to wake up each morning thinking, “This is the BEST day of my life!” And then I want to go through the day living like that.

Because truly, today is the only day we can live right now, so we might as well choose to make it the best day of our lives. And then we can wake up tomorrow and think the same thing!

We’re excited to have Plant Therapy as one of our sponsors. We had the opportunity to interview them and get to know their company a little more recently:

Tell us about the history of Plant Therapy.

Plant Therapy was started about 5 years ago. Chris and Amanda Jones had recently been given the opportunity to buy a all natural body care company. Part of this company was a small line of essential oils. They decided that they wanted to do more research in the essential oil industry.

Quickly, they found that most essential oils were overpriced and not the quality that is needed for aromatherapy. That is when they decided to break the essential oils away from the all natural body care line and start Plant Therapy. They wanted to provide 100% pure, undiluted essential oils of the highest quality at a more affordable price.

What products does Plant Therapy offer?

Plant Therapy offers 100% pure, undiluted essential oils of the highest quality. They also offer synergies, carrier oils, and all essential oil accessories.

How does Plant Therapy help us save money?

Plant Therapy was founded with two goals in mind: to provide the highest quality essential oils at a price that everyone can afford and to provide the highest quality customer service. We know the benefits that can come from using essential oils. That is why we try to keep our essential oils and accessories at an affordable price so that more people can benefit from their uses.

Is Plant Therapy involved in any charity work?

Plant Therapy has donated up to 20% since the beginning to charities both locally and world wide. You can check out some of the charities going on right now here.

What would you most like your customers to know?

Plant Therapy cares about our customers. We sim to educate them on essential oils so that they can make the best educated decision for themselves and their family members.

We strive to have the best customer service possible. We also offer 100% customer satisfaction. If for any reason a customer is unsatisfied, we will simply refund their money or exchange the product.

Also, when our customers have any questions about our products or their uses, their email are answered within 24 hours 95% of the time. We work with one of the most well known essential oil experts in the industry. We are doing everything possible to provide the most information to our customers so they can get the most out of the essential oils they are using.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Plant Therapy offers free shipping in the United States. We also offer our first time customers a coupon code to get $5 off their first purchase of $10 or more. We know if you try Plant Therapy’s essential oils that you will know the quality we provide and that you will be a customer for life.

Interested in becoming a monthly sponsor or advertising with us? Find more details here.

I’m excited to be joining Andy Traub on Tuesday, February 18, 2014, from 7-8 p.m. CST (8-9 p.m. EST) for a free live webinar. We’re going to be talking about How Every Mom (or Woman) Can Find Margin.

I believe that everyone will be able to benefit from what we’ll be talking about — even if you’re not a mom. Some of the topics we’ll be discussing will be:

• Why self-care is the best thing you can do for your family
• How to get your spouse on board with creating margin for you
• How to stop fighting about money
• How to rest and not feel guilty about it

Many of you will remember Andy from his book, Early to Rise. We did an entire month-long challenge based upon this book because I was so inspired by reading it!

And guess what? I’ve got some exciting news for you: everyone who attends the webinar will get a free download of Andy’s re-released book, The Early to Rise Experience. If you’re wanting to start getting up early and really struggling with making it happen consistently, I highly recommend this book!

>>Register for the FREE webinar on Tuesday evening here.<<

Note: If you can’t attend the webinar but you’d like to have access to the free replay, be sure to sign up above as well. Everyone who registers will also have access to the recorded webinar.

Today I’m going to ask you to join me in something big. Something that has the potential to change hundreds — if not thousands — of lives in South Africa.

I get requests all the time about projects and needs and I just can’t post about them all, otherwise this blog would be overrun with requests for you to donate money to causes. And I know many of you are living on extremely tight budgets right now.

However, today, I’m going to break tradition. Because I just can’t help myself.

My friend, Lisa-Jo Baker, is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. She just oozes with love and grace. And she’s hilarious, too.

I had a chance to read a pre-release copy of her new book, Surprised By Motherhood, and I loved it so very much that I wrote her and asked her how I could help promote it for her. Well, the email she sent back just blew me away. She shared with me about this huge vision she has to impact the culture in South Africa — where she grew up, where three of her siblings are adopted from, and where her parents still live and minister.

As she shared about this massive dream she had to encourage women around the globe to come together to change a community of kids in South Africa, I knew I had to tell you about it.

Here’s what she says:

What if between changing the diapers, the laundry and the dishes a community of mothers around the world could change the future for a community of kids in South Africa?

What if 1 blog community could build 1 South African community a safe place for sustainable food, child care, economic empowerment, job skills trainings, a gathering place for church, classrooms for HIV/Aids education, and a playground for their kids?

What if love was more than a date on the calendar this year?

What if we fell in love with the world next door?

Read her full post here to catch of glimpse of her vision behind this.

Today is Valentine’s Day and I’m going to ask you all to prayerfully consider giving something to help fund the Maubane Community Center in South Africa. Every little bit can make a difference.

If you can only give a dollar, give a dollar. If you have more wiggle room in your budget, would you prayerfully consider giving whatever amount it is that you can give?

Special Bonuses:

1. Give a donation of any amount and you’ll get the free downloadable print above emailed to you after you donate.

2. Give a donation of at least $20 and you’ll get the free downloadable print above, plus I’ll send you a copy of my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode. Just forward the email you receive after you donate to [email protected] and include the amount you donated and your mailing address and I’ll send you a copy.

3. Give a donation of at least $40 and you’ll get the free downloadable print above, plus I’ll send you a copy of my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, and I’ll pre-order you a copy of Lisa-Jo’s book, Surprised By Motherhood. Just forward the email you receive after you donate to [email protected] and include the amount you donated and your mailing address and I’ll send you a copy of my book and pre-order you a copy of Lisa-Jo’s book.

If you can’t give right now, would you consider tweeting about this project (you can retweet my tweet here) or sharing this post or Lisa-Jo’s post on Facebook or via email with your friends? Let’s all band together to help change this community in South Africa!

Psst! You can also buy one of these beautiful necklaces for $24 and $12 of your purchase will be donated to this project!