2hr Cleaning Checklist
Classic View
Grid View
Today’s shopping trip: Dillon’s & Aldi
I needed to head to Aldi to pick up some produce, so I swung by Dillon’s on the way there. Here’s what I got:
Dillon’s Shopping Trip
2 cans of Dole pineapple — $1 each, used $1/2 coupon = $0.50 per can after coupon
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste — $1 each, used two $0.75/1 coupons (“doubled” to $1 off) = free after coupon
2 Snickers eggs — $0.50 each, used $1.50/2 Mars Easter candy coupon from the All You magazine = free plus overage after coupon
2 packages of Land O’ Lakes butter — $2.50 each, used 1 $0.50/2 coupon (doubled to $1 off) = $2 each after coupon
Total with tax: $5.16
And here were the great deals I scored at Aldi:
Aldi Shopping Trip
1 gallon milk — $2.77
3 packages of strawberries — $0.99 each
2 bags of sweet potatoes — $.099 each
1 bag oranges — $1.48
3 cantaloupe — $0.99 each
10-lb. bag of potatoes — $1.99
Total with tax: $15.19
Shared Mar 30, 2012
comment
Free live webcast on April 5, 2012 + iPad 2 giveaway (submit your questions by 8 p.m. EST tonight!)
Free live webcast on April 5, 2012 + iPad 2 giveaway (submit your questions by 8 p.m. EST tonight!)
As I mentioned recently, I’m working on stepping outside my comfort zone this year. So, with the help of the fabulous folks from LitFuse Publicity Group, I’m hosting my first-ever live webcast next Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 8 p.m. EST.
I’m excited about it–though a wee bit nervous since this is completely new territory for me. But I know it’s going to be fun and I’m especially excited at the opportunity to get to interact with you all in a more personal — and live! — format.
I’ll be sharing 7 simple things women can do to contribute to their family’s finances, I’ll be giving away a lot of fantastic prizes (things like Vitacost.com vouchers, Starbucks gift cards, iTunes gift cards, books, + more!), I’ll be doing a live Q&A chat with you all, and my husband’s going to be joining me for an pre-recorded Q&A session.
Enter to Win a Free iPad 2!
Would you like to win a free iPad 2? I’m giving one away during the webcast!
To enter to win, all you have to do is Enter the Sweepstakes here. That’s it!
Submit Your Questions For the Q&A With My Husband
Jesse and I are shooting our joint Q&A video tomorrow (he’s watching the children during the webcast, so we’re pre-recording it!) and instead of me coming up with questions to ask him, I thought it’d be fun for you all to submit questions you’d love for me to ask him in the video.
So, put on your thinking caps, and then leave your questions for Jesse in the comments on this post or submit them through the contact form here. If you could have them to me by 8 p.m. tonight, that’d be fabulous.
I’m looking forward to sharing/chatting with you next Thursday!
10 Chore Ideas for Toddlers
Today, I’m tackling chores for toddlers. Before I share our list of toddler chore ideas, here are a few tips for encouraging your toddler to help with chores.
1. Keep It Simple
Don’t try to have your toddler learn how to do five new chores at once. Start with one simple chore and then gradually add a few more after they’ve gotten the hang of one chore.
2. Shower Them With Praise
Remember to enthusiastically praise your toddler and to make chores a fun and exciting thing. Work alongside them showing them the right way to do things and giving them lots and lots of positive affirmation for their efforts.
3. Don’t Give Up!
Training requires a lot of repetition. Don’t get discouraged if it seems you’re not making any progress or getting anywhere with your toddler. Just keep praising, encouraging, teaching, and helping them with their chores. They’ll eventually get it!
10 Chore Ideas for Toddlers
::Get Dressed — They can also learn to put their dirty clothes in the hamper.
::Brush Teeth — with help from mom or dad to make sure they are thorough!
::Help Pick Up Room
::Water Plants — a watering can or small cup works great for this. Outdoor plants are best since toddlers tend to be a bit enthusiastic in their watering! 🙂
::Fold Washcloths
::Put Away Laundry — Silas has learned how to put away his pile of folded laundry in his drawers.
::Pick Up Toys & Put Into Tub — Cleaning up a huge mess is overwhelming for a toddler so it’s better to give them a simple task like putting all of the books back into the basket or the Duplos back into the tub.
::Dust — Give a toddler an sock to wear and let them dust all of the surfaces in a room.
::Wipe Down Sink/Toilet — Cleaning wipes work especially well for young children to use. Or, you can spray some nontoxic cleaner onto a rag and let them wipe down the sink, toilet, or floor in the bathroom.
::Empty Trashes — If you have small trashes in some rooms in your home, this is a perfect job for toddlers.
Want to help your youngsters develop a morning routine? You can print these free morning routine cards from Living Locurto.
Looking for other age-appropriate chore ideas, you might find these chore lists helpful:
What ideas do you have for other simple chores that toddlers can do?
We Paid Cash: An 8-passenger SUV
A testimony from Carrie from Natural Moms Talk Radio
Today we drove our “new to us” Ford Expedition (with room for eight passengers) off the lot. We’ve been waiting for this day for over two years and we’re so excited that we paid cash for it!
You see, we have six children and ever since our youngest was born 16 months ago, we have not fit into my beloved Toyota Sienna minivan. This means that when we went somewhere as a family, we had to take two cars–a major inconvenience.
During my pregnancy with our sixth, we saved all the cash we could, and thought we would be able to buy a bigger car by the time baby was a few months old. Unfortunately, the tax man came knocking that year, and we wiped out every cent of our savings.
My husband and I are both self-employed, but with several little deductions we weren’t expecting to owe much in taxes. Sadly, we miscalculated and ended up having to pay a lot more than we were expecting. However, we had a very good year! While on the one hand we were thankful that we were able to pay our taxes by stroking a check to Uncle Sam, we were so disappointed not to be getting our larger car anytime soon.
We were back at zero. It was discouraging at first.
My husband and I have weekly budget meetings, so we hunkered down and started thinking of all the different ways we could cut spending and get our savings back up.
Here’s how we rebuilt our savings:
- Had a yard sale.
- Sold a ton of stuff on Craigslist.
- I reduced the grocery budget by: couponing, shopping at ALDI twice a month instead of weekly, and eating less meat.
- We limited eating out to once a month, and only where kids eat free.
- For entertainment we did inexpensive stuff like: stay at home movie night with old fashioned popcorn, visited the library a lot, and played board games.
- Made lattes at home.
- Stopped spending on clothing unless it was half price day at the thrift store.
- Sold a ton of books on Amazon.com.
- Started eBaying again — even the kids got in on it and made money selling old toys!
My husband and I are so relieved to have a car that fits everyone in our family and no debt! In fact, once we sell our Sienna, we’ll have a nice sized “car savings” account again.
Financial Peace University graduates, we ascribe to Dave Ramsey’s “How to Drive a New Car with No Debt” plan. We’ll continue to put money aside each month, and buy a newer large family vehicle every six months or so, until we’re driving something with low miles. And who knows, in a few months we may need a nine-seater!
Carrie is a wife and homeschooling mom of six, a writer and reader of great books. She blogs about living more naturally at Natural Moms Talk Radio.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Today’s Walmart Shopping Trip
I also stopped by Walmart today. They didn’t have some of the deals I was hoping to find, but I was happy to pick up a few things at a great price. Here’s what I got:
4 bottles of Glade Room Spray — $0.98 each, used 2 $2/2 Glade coupons = free after coupons
5 lbs. of bananas — price-matched to local store’s sale of $0.18/lb. = $0.90
Total with tax: $1.17
Today’s Dillon’s Shopping Trip: Spent $1.26, Saved $5.38
So I stopped by Dillon’s today to check on a few of the coupons I had that I thought might made good deals. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much, but here’s what I got:
2 bottles of Ragu sauce — on sale for $1.50 each, used 2 $0.50/1 Ragu coupons (doubled) = $0.50 each after coupons
2 Snickers Eggs — $0.50 each, used $1/2 Mars candy coupon from the All You magazine = free after coupon
1 Suave deodorant — $1, used $0.50/1 Suave deodorant coupon (doubled) = free after coupon
Total with tax: $1.26
Flint, Texas Reader Meet-up
It was so fun to get to meet a group of you all last week when I was in Texas. Thank you to those of you who made the drive to come and for all the fun stories and wise advice you shared. I left inspired, blessed, and encouraged.
And for those who didn’t get to attend, I thought you’d enjoy seeing a photo of all the lovely ladies (and babies!) who came. Truly a beautiful group–and I could have spent hours with you all!
A big thank you to Stephanie for hosting this event at her house!
Save Money By Scheduling Monthly Preventative Maintenance
Guest post from Lisa of About Proximity
In ten years of marriage, surprise bills have inevitably come up. Not only are these taxing on finances, they sometimes are very time consuming and life disrupting. A sampling of our surprises:
- An enormous tree root that backed up our sewer pipes – $500
- A late fee for license plate renewal – $20 times 2
- A minor furnace repair of a pump cleaning (the house was 50 degrees for two days in the dead of winter) – $100
- Washing machine beyond repair – $100 for attempted repair and $150 to replace it
- Annual library late fees – $10
- Drain back-ups in the upstairs bathroom sink (Drano) – $75
- Difficulty finding warranty information when the microwave shorted out – $60 replacement
While working on overhauling our finances this year we realized many of these bills might have been avoided had we done better preventative maintenance. While sometimes these extra bills are unavoidable, we set a goal to have intentional preventative maintenance in our home. Here’s the calendar we follow:
Preventative Maintenance Calendar
January
- Run a bottle of Drano through upstairs bathroom sink
- Oil change for vehicles
February
- Complete Tax Forms
- Complete license plate renewal forms by mail (to avoid lines at Secretary of State)
- Change the furnace filter
March
- Furnace clean and check — $79 (A $50 rebate from Consumer’s Energy available in our area.)
- Annual physical for adults in the family
- Annual eye examination
April
- Run a bottle of Drano through upstairs bathroom sink
- Run root kill through sewer pipes ($13)
- Oil change for vehicles
- Change the furnace filter
May
- Dentist check-ups for the family
June
- Change the furnace filter
July
- Run a bottle of Drano through the upstairs bathroom sink
- Annual well-check for the children
August
- Vehicles in for an oil change
- Change the furnace filter
September
- Flu shots for the whole family
- Replace smoke alarm batteries, go over fire escape plan with family
October
- Run a bottle of Drano through the upstairs bathroom sink
- Run root kill through the sewer pipes ($13)
- Change the furnace filter
November
- Dentist check-ups for the family
- Oil change for the vehicles
December
- Change the furnace filter
- Review the preventative maintenance checklist. Add any new ideas. Prepare the list for the coming year
Weekly
- Keep library books in the same spot in a hallway closet. Drive through the library return weekly on the same day
- When completing our weekly money meeting, choose a home improvement project to complete in the week ahead. This project can be small or large depending on the obligations the coming week holds.
Ongoing
- Keep an up-to-date binder to organize warranties, receipts, and product information brochures.
- When service techs visit, ask questions! They are a wealth of information and can help identify preventative measure.
What preventative maintenance do you schedule regularly?
Lisa Van Engen is a freelance writer from Holland, MI. Her family seeks to be good stewards of the gifts God has given them. Lisa writes at About Proximity about placing yourself in the proximity of renewal.
Today’s Target trip: Spent $37.94, Saved $82.73!
I mentioned awhile back that we’d implemented a paid chore chart system for the girls. They have chores that they do just as being part of our family and then extra chores that they can elect to do and get paid for.
Kathrynne, being the entrepreneurial type that she is, has really gotten excited about the whole paid chore phenomenon–especially since she has her eye on some specific items at Target that she wants to buy. She often does multiple paid chores each day and keeps a running tally of how many more paid chores she needs to complete in order to earn enough to buy what’s on her wish list.
I love the real-life learning that is taking place through the paid chore chart system. The girls are learning that, if you apply yourself and work hard, you reap rewards. Conversely, if you choose to play instead of doing paid chores, you won’t earn any money and therefore won’t have any money to buy anything when we go shopping. It also significantly cuts down on whining and keeps things simple: if you don’t have money or you didn’t bring your money, you don’t get to buy anything.
While earning money in real-life isn’t always as simple as completing more chores on a chart, the girls are still learning so many valuable lessons with regards to handling money. And the neatest thing has been to see how they are working together as a team–sharing payment for chores when they help each other out and pooling their money to buy different things.
Today, the girls had earned enough to buy a small LEGO set. While we were perusing the aisles to decide which one to buy, I was so excited to find a text offer for MEGA BLOKS — if you text EASTER to TARGET you’ll get a text coupon back for 50% off any MEGA BLOKS set. So we were able to use this coupon on the Hello Kitty Playhouse Set to get it for just $17!
We also scored some amazing game deals. I rarely ever buy games, but we love to play them as a family and when we have guests over. At these prices, I couldn’t resist!
Target Shopping Trip
4 8-oz. blocks of cheese — $1.89 each, used 2 $1/2 Target coupons = $1.39 each after coupons
1 Up & Up Baby Wash — $1.52, used $1/1 Up & Up Body Wash coupon = $0.52 after coupon
1 Scrabble Simon or Yahtzee Flash — $15, Used
$5/1 Target printable coupon, stacked with $5/1 Scrabble Flash, Simon Flash, Yahtzee Flash printable = $5 after coupons (plus got free Hasbro card game with purchase)1 Candyland game — $7.79, used the
$3/1 Candyland Target Coupon, stacked with the $3/1 Printable Candyland coupon = $1.79 after coupons1 Electronic Monopoly Game — $15, Used
$5/1 Target printable coupon, stacked with $5/1 Monopoly game printable = $5 after coupons (plus got free Hasbro card game with purchase)1 Hello Kitty Mega Bloks Set — $33.24 — used text coupon (text EASTER to TARGET) to get 50% off = $16.62 after text coupon
Total with tax: $38.01 (my receipt says I saved $82.73!)
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
Reader Tip: Make Your Own Drinkable Yogurts
Joanna emailed in the following tip:
I used to buy those drinkable yogurts for my babies. My older daughter loved them so much and would drink all four bottles in one sitting if I’d let her. Those organic drinkable yogurts are expensive and I just couldn’t stomach spending that much on them.
My father, born in Europe, came from a family where my grandmother made just about everything from scratch. As I was complaining to my father about how expensive those drinkable yogurts were, he suggested I just make them.
I don’t know why I didn’t think about it, they are actually so easy to make. You just take any yogurt and add water, little by little, to get it to the consistency you want. I usually whisk it with a fork to get it to blend well.
It works great and my kiddos love it!
Ask The Readers: What Bread Machine Would You Recommend?
Today’s question is from Julie:
What bread machine would you recommend?
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Homemade Carrot Fries
My friend, Angie, and I split a 25-pound bag of organic carrots from Azure Standard last week. It was only $10 for my share, so a pretty good deal for quality organic carrots.
Now the fun has just been figuring out how to use them up!
I came across this Carrot Fries recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to try it.
It was so simple to make. You just wash the carrots.
Peel and chop off the ends.
And then slice them into “fries”.
Coat with olive oil and salt and bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for around 30-45 minutes, until a little browned and crispy.
Enjoy!
Homemade Carrot Fries
- 10 large carrots
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and peel carrots. Chop off the ends and slice into “fries”.
Put in a bowl and stir in olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Stir until well coated.
Spread onto a baking sheet and stick in the oven. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until a little browned and crispy. Enjoy!
Makes 2-3 servings.
How to Simplify Your Life and Save Over $5,000 Per Year
Guest post from Nancy of Blessed Earth
A few years ago, I gave a talk on simple living, and a man in the back of the room asked, “Are you Amish or something?”
Although I arrived in a Prius, not a pony, I do believe that the Amish hold many answers to both our budgetary and planetary woes. Frugality and conservation overlap about 90 percent of the time. When we conserve resources, we also save money.
About a decade ago, motivated by a desire for a more sustainable lifestyle, my family and I moved from our doctor’s sized house to a home the size of our old garage—eventually reducing our electricity to one-tenth the national average and our fossil fuel usage by two-thirds.
We did not make all these changes at once: for most of us, going green while saving green is a gradual journey. Try doing ten percent better each year — or changing one habit each month and watch the savings add up.
20 Simple Ways to Simplify Your Life and Save Over $5,000 Per Year
1. Make your own nontoxic cleaning products. Have fun! Host a laundry detergent-making party.
Possible Savings = $100
2. Dry clothes on the line. If my teenage daughter can dry her clothes in a dorm room, you can do it, too! Do laundry in cold water. Wash clothes by hand instead of dry cleaning.
Possible Savings = $210
3. Buy second hand clothes. Nearly all the clothes I wear are hand-me-downs or from consignment shops/GoodWill. Remember to dress in layers—climate control your body, not your entire home.
Possible Savings = $250-$1000
4. Borrow and buy used. Look for toys and sports equipment from yard sales and Craigslist. Visit library book sales, share toys and sports equipment with neighbors, and post items on www.freecycle.org
Possible Savings = $150
5. Reduce your refrigerator/freezer usage. Stop refrigerator gazing; turn refrigerator to warmest setting; unplug ice maker. Save more: Unplug your second refrigerator. Keep a list on the refrigerator of things you need so you can combine trips.
Possible Savings = $160
6. Stop buying drinks. Drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water. Make your own coffee at home instead of buying carryout coffee.
Possible Savings = $310
7. Don’t buy disposables. Stop buying disposable plates, cups, and utensils.
One small church did the research and figured out they could feed four families for a year if they used real plates instead of paper. The men in the church volunteered to wash all the dishes for the first year! Save more: Invest in cloth napkins and re-usable lunch containers.
Possible Savings = $50
8. Cook from scratch. Cook meals at home instead of eating in restaurants. Start a garden, purchase food in season, and avoid convenience foods.
Possible Savings = $1050
9. Install low-flow shower-heads and reduce shower time by two minutes.
Possible Savings = $130
10. Don’t run water while shaving or brushing teeth and stop buying disposable razors.
Possible Savings = $70
11. Buy tree-free toilet paper in bulk from an office supply store.
Possible Savings = $30
12. Adjust your thermostat. Turn up your thermostat three degrees in summer and down three degrees in winter. Use programmable thermostat to adjust temperature an additional 10-15 degrees at night and when not at home.
Possible Savings = $200
13. Switch your light bulbs. Switch to CFL bulbs — 75 percent more efficient — like getting 100 mpg instead of 25 mpg! Bonus: When summer comes, the A/C won’t be fighting the heat. (Ninety percent of energy of incandescent bulbs goes toward heat rather than light.)
Possible Savings = $210
14. Reduce electronic usage. Use power strips for TV, computers, and audio. Always completely shut down lights and equipment when leaving the room.
Possible Savings = $140
15. Insert a fireplace balloon or close damper when not in use.
Possible Savings = $200
16. Share or eliminate subscriptions. Share newspaper or magazine subscriptions with a neighbor. Save even more: read news on-line and get magazines from the library.
Possible Savings = $260
17. Recycle used printer cartridges, electronics, and cell phones. Buy refilled ink cartridges, and save more.
Possible Savings = $25+
18. Insulate hot water pipes and water heater.
Possible Savings = $120
19. Caulk around windows and doors. If you can’t afford to replace windows, make heavy, lined curtains; close at night in winter and open windows on cool summer evening.
Possible Savings = $100
20. Go on a spending fast. Register with www.dmachoice.org to remove your name from mailing lists and go on a spending fast one week or month.
Possible Savings = $600
Total Possible Savings = $5370
Nancy Sleeth is co-founder of the nonprofit, Blessed Earth, and author of Almost Amish: one woman’s quest for a slower, simpler, more sustainable life (Tyndale, April 2012)
The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree
When I came back from Texas last week, I found this list that Kathrynne had written out for herself to accomplish the day I was gone. She’s since started writing a list for what she needs/wants to accomplish each day (with a little help from me to make sure all her chores and homework projects make it on the list, too!).
I’ve been amazed at how motivated she’s been by having a list to check off every day. Hmm, I wouldn’t know where she gets that from! 🙂
My husband was just shaking his head when I showed Kathrynne’s list to him. I’m pretty sure he was thinking, “Oh no, not another Type A woman in this house!” 😉