Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
At the beginning of 2011, I set a goal to try 12 Do-It-Yourself Experiments–one per month. I ended up trying all 12, most which turned out fairly successfully.
Here are links/photos of the 11 that were fairly successful:
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Today’s question is from Amanda:
I am trying to find the right financial management software for budgeting and help with my bills. I am a recent college grad (’08) who just secured my first “big girl” job and would like to get started on the right foot. I’ve explored Mint.com, but couldn’t grasp it. Sounds silly for a college grad, but any money management budgeting tips or software you know of or could suggest would be great! I’ve searched and haven’t been able to locate anything. – Amanda
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Believe it or not, I only really “discovered” the incredible-ness of audiobooks this past year. I’m such a visual person, that audiobooks never appealed to me. But at my husband’s encouragement, I listened to one audiobook.
And I was hooked! I realized that I could listen while I folded laundry, cleaned the kitchen or bathroom, cooked, or did some knitting.
However, even though I knew that listening to audiobooks would be a great way to help use my time more efficiently when my hands are busy and my mind is free, I didn’t do a good job of being intentional about listening to audiobooks and only ended up listening through a handful in 2011.
In 2012, I want to be more intentional about listening to audiobooks. With this in mind, my husband helped me come up with a list of 12 audiobooks to listen to–one for each month. I figure that if I get in 10-20 minutes of audiobook listening most every day, I can easily go through one or more audiobooks per month.
As I finish each of these, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on them in my Good Reads posts. Have you read or listened to any of these books? I’d love to know what you think!
Type in the books you want to read, save the file, and then you can print it. Or, just print it blank and hand write your list. It would be fun to then save this list at the end of the year to refer back to in a few years from now to see what you were reading and what interested you in 2012.
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Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
I loved the way you posted your “goals” (what to read, what to make, etc.) last year instead of New Year’s Resolutions and I’ve loved reading how you have checked them off each month. I want to be able to do this for 2012 and was thinking it might be a good topic for you to post a “how to” or tutorial as to how you came up with your list of things to help others “plan” their upcoming year. -Kris
Setting realistic, achievable goals on a yearly basis has been life-changing for me. Not only am I much more productive, I’m also living with much more intention. Here’s how I recommend going about goal-setting:
1. Determine Your Priorities
It’s pretty near impossible to decide what route you need to take if you don’t know what your final destination is supposed to be! Therefore, goal-setting and living an intentional life requires you to first know what your priorities are.
So, before you set down and make out a list of goals for 2012, first spend some time creating a list of five or six priorities in your life. I’ve written more about determining your priorities and share my own current priorities in this post here.
2. Create a List of Focus Areas
Once you have your list of priorities written out, it’s time to get more practical. Take each area of priority and determine 4-5 specific things you want to focus on for that priority item.
It’s great to have goals, but it’s hard to actually accomplish them unless you break them down into bite-sized pieces. A big goal can seem overwhelming and daunting as a whole, but when broken down into small pieces, it becomes much more doable.
When you break your goal down to a weekly bite-sized piece, you are better able to know exactly what you need to do to stay on track. If you want to read 24 books next year, you know you’ll need to read two books per month, or half a book each week. That boils down to around a chapter per day, give or take. That’s much more concrete and doable than a big audacious goal of reading 24 books in a year.
4. Set an End Date
I like to set yearly goals, but some goals are too big or too small for a year’s time frame. Consider how much time you realistically think it would take to accomplish your goal and then set a date to have it accomplished.
You can always change the date, if need be, but having a goal finish date gives you momentum and drive. And you just might find yourself picking up speed the closer you get to the finish line!
5. Track Your Progress
Accountability is key to be successful in following through with your goals. My husband and I review our financial goals on a monthly basis and I review my personal goals at least every few weeks. I’ve also found that the public accountability of blogging my goals and process is also amazingly motivating. 🙂
Plan a monthly accountability meeting with your spouse or accountability partner, write it down on your calendar, and don’t deter from it, no matter how tempted you are to slack off. I promise it will be worth it!
Tomorrow, I’ll post a downloadable goal sheet you can customize and print to create your priorities list, break your goals down, and track your progress. And later this week, I’ll be sharing more of my goals for 2012.
What process do you use for goal-setting? What helps to keep you on track and motivated? I’d love to hear!
This plan worked very well for me, and while I didn’t follow it exactly, it motivated me to read more and read some great books that I likely wouldn’t have picked up and read had they not been on my list. I still have 2.5 books on the list to finish before the year ends, but I’m hopeful I’ll actually be able to cross all of them off my list by December 31!
I also finished quite a few books that were not on my list. All in all, I ended up reading 56 books in 2011 (see the full list here), plus the books I read aloud to the children (see the full list of books we read aloud in 2011 here). It’s amazing how committing to read at least a chapter or two each day personally as well as a few chapters per weekday aloud to the children really adds up over time!
Since the 24 book list idea worked so well, I decided to stick with it again this year. After surveying my bookshelf of books I really want to read (yes, I have three entire shelves of books on a bookshelf in our basement with books I haven’t read yet and really want to read!), I narrowed the stack down to 24 books.
Here’s my list of 24 books I plan to read in 2012:
Later this week, I’ll be sharing a downloadable list you can print and fill out with the books you want to read this year. I’ll also be sharing a list of audiobooks I’m planning to listen to and my top five favorite books I read this past year.
What books are you hoping to read in 2012? I’d love to hear!
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
I’m so excited!
The Amazon order page for The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget got updated over Christmas and now you can click on the graphic to see some of the inside pages of my book. I love how the final layout turned out and my hat is off to the team of folks at Simon & Schuster who worked tirelessly to make the finished product one I was really happy with.
Whew! It’s hard to keep your healthy routines going during the busy holiday season.
However, don’t use this as an excuse to skip working out, eating healthy, and taking care of yourself. To help you out, here are a few tips for finding a balance between keeping yourself on track health wise and understanding that your normal routine may not work:
1. Get enough sleep.
I can’t stress this enough. If your sleep suffers, everything else will suffer. This is one area I need to work on myself–it is so tempting to stay up to get everything done, but I have to remind myself I’m just “stealing” quality time from tomorrow.
2. Drink lots of water.
It’s easy to indulge in Peppermint Mocha’s from Starbucks and rich hot chocolates right now, but remember to continue to drink water.
3. Eat a healthy breakfast.
Might as well start each day off with a home run this season. A few suggestions: oatmeal with some dried fruit, a veggie omelet, or sourdough toast with peanut butter and a piece of fruit on the side. All three of these will fill you up while keeping your calorie intake at a reasonable breakfast level.
4. Get a little exercise everyday.
Maybe you can’t make your normal fitness routine work in all the busyness right now, but you can do something each day. Open your front door, walk for 15 minutes, turn around and walk back. If you’re traveling, use the hotel gym or see if a local Y or health club will give you a free or heavily-discounted day pass.
Worst case scenario: do 10 push ups, 25 sit ups, and 15 squats as soon as you wake up and right before bed (that will take you no more than 10 minutes total). If you do something, even if it’s not much, it won’t come as a shock to your body (or your mind) when you pick back up exercising regularly in January.
Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself. It is a crazy time of year, people are busy, schedules are full. Just try your best to do a few things to keep yourself on track and if you mess up one day, start fresh the next!
Pam is a work-at-home mom of two (ages 5 and 7). She enjoys healthy living (nutrition, exercise, etc.), learning, saving money, and having fun! She blogs at Save Money, Be Happy.
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so today it’s time to get our homes in shape for company or so that we can enjoy our family and not have to worry about stepping over dirty laundry piles or tripping on spilled milk. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all you have to do, I’m here to help!
I’ve got a two-hour step-by-step plan to help you get all the major cleaning done so that your home looks presentable for your guests tomorrow:
Two-Hour House-Cleaning Plan
1. Start a load of laundry (3 minutes).
2. Set the timer for 15 minutes and take a laundry basket and a trash bag and go through each room in your home. Quickly straighten, pick up, and put away everything that’s out of place. Put all trash in the trash bag and put everything that doesn’t go in that room in the laundry basket (15 minutes).
3. Put away all contents in the laundry basket and throw out the trash (5 minutes).
4. Head to the kitchen and load the dishwasher or hand wash the dishes (15 minutes).
5. Switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer and start another load in the washer (2 minutes).
6. Sweep or vacuum your kitchen floor and wipe down your countertops (10 minutes).
7. Take some toilet cleaner and go squirt it in all your toilets (2 minutes).
8. Take some window cleaner and spot clean the main glass windows/doors/mirrors (3 minutes).
9. Take a dust rag and quickly dust in the main rooms of your home (10 minutes).
10. Vacuum all the major traffic areas in your home (20 minutes).
11. Head back to the bathrooms wipe down the toilet, sinks, floor, and bathtub/shower. Change the towels (20 minutes).
12. Switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer and fold the clean laundry (15 minutes).
13. Light a candle or simmer some potpourri on the stove and enjoy your freshly-cleaned home!
Free Downloadable Checklist
Like to cross off lists? Download the free 2-Hour House-Cleaning Checklist to keep you on track and remind you of what you’re supposed to be doing next. Now you have no excuse for getting distracted. 🙂
3 Tips for House-Cleaning Success
1. Set the Timer
A timer works wonders in helping me stay focused and work quickly. Plus, it makes it seem more like a game to see if I can finish my project before the timer goes off!
2. Turn on Some Music
It’s much more fun to work when you’re accompanied by cheerful, upbeat music.
3. Stay Focused
Don’t worry about the next thing on the list or your overwhelming to-do list. Just focus on the project at hand until the timer goes off. Then, move on to the next project.
If your house is a complete disaster, it might need more than two hours. However, remember not to get too hung up on making it perfect.
Just work quickly and efficiently and do the best you can do in the time you have. Even if your house isn’t pristine after two hours of work, I’m sure it will at least look quite a bit better than it did when you started. 🙂
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Delicious food is one of the best things about Christmas, in my opinion! But who wants to slave away in the kitchen all day on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
Here are a some ideas of things you can make ahead of time and freeze to make your Christmas meal preparations smoother and leave you more time to just savor the season:
1. Cookie Dough
Make up a double or triple batch of cookie dough and keep it in the freezer to give as gifts or to use when company drops by unexpectedly or you need a treat to take to a gathering at the last minute. Here’s one of my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes.
This year, I made biscuit dough ahead of time and stuck it in the freezer to be able to quickly make Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists for a Christmas Brunch at my family’s house the day after Christmas.
4. Scone Mixes
I put together the dry ingredients from the Glazed Cinnamon Scone recipe and froze them earlier this month. For Christmas Eve breakfast, we’re having scones, scrambled eggs, and juice. It will be a snap to put these together since I already have the dry ingredients measured out.
5. Scone Dough
If you want to really speed up prep time for scones, you can also make the dough up ahead of time and cut the scones and flash freeze them. Just pull them out, thaw, and bake to have fresh scones without almost zero effort! Our very favorite scone recipe is this Pumpkin Scone recipe.
Looking for a delicious roll recipe that can be made ahead and frozen? Check out our family’s Butterhorn recipe. It’s a little time-intensive, but oh so worth it!
8. Christmas Candy
What’s Christmas without candy? My World’s Easiest Christmas Candy recipe is a winner–and it can be made ahead and frozen (if any of it lasts that long!)
Homemade drink mixes are great to give as gifts or to have on hand to serve at Christmas get-togethers. Plus, you can keep them for months in the freezer!
What are some of your favorite Christmas foods to make ahead and freeze? Share the recipe links in the comments!
I was gifted this really cute hot chocolate kit last year from a friend. Hot chocolate is one of my favorite things to drink in the winter so I instantly fell in love with this idea and replicated it this holiday season. A Hot Chocolate Card Kit is the perfect little gift to hand out to your neighbors, co-workers, or friends.
Supplies:
scrapbook paper (1 piece in each size: 8.5″ x 5.5″, 3.75″ x 5.25″ and 3.75″ x 1.75″)
ribbon
adhesive
hole punch
stamps and/or stickers and/or embellishments
hot chocolate packet
candy cane
Step 1: Score your largest piece of paper (8.5″ x 5.5″) at the 4″ mark and the 8″ mark (you can use a scoring tool or simply measure with a ruler and fold)
Step 2: Attach your medium-sized piece of paper (3.75″ x 5.25″) onto the front of the card.
Step 3: Using stamps, stickers, or embellishments decorate your smallest piece of paper (3.75″ x 1.75″) and attach to the front of the card.
Step 4: Punch a hole at the top of the card.
Step 5: Wrap your ribbon around the bottom of your hot chocolate packet leaving a couple of inches at the top to tie a knot (you’ll need roughly 12″-14″ of ribbon).
Step 6: Thread your ribbon through each hole.
Step 7: Adhere the .5″ scored piece inside of the card closing the hot chocolate packet inside.
Step 8: Tie a knot at the top of the card.
Step 9: Adhere the candy cane to the front of the card.
Voila! A quick and easy gift in a card. Using the ribbon to pull out the hot chocolate packet like a little surprise is fun for all ages. Write a little note on the back and gift someone a warm cozy evening of hot chocolate.
Jessica is a work-at-home mom to Shane (4.5) and Adalyn (1). She loves photography, crafting, reading, baking, cooking, and is a Consultant for Close To My Heart. You can read about all of Jessica and her family’s adventures at Preserving Life’s Moments.
Have you blogged about a Handmade Christmas idea? Submit the link through this form here and we’ll consider sharing it as part of this series during the next 4 weeks!
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
10. Drink Mixes
