Looking for a way to keep summer fun and exciting for your children? Make a bag of summer fun with special activities to do every day.
Summer Bucket List
Classic View
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Shared May 24, 2011
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How You Can Help the Tornado Victims: Donate From Your Stockpile (+ more)
How You Can Help the Tornado Victims: Donate From Your Stockpile (+ more)
As most of you know, Joplin, Missouri was hit with a devastating tornado on Sunday evening. The pictures of the destruction are heart-breaking. People have lost everything — their homes, their belongings and their loved ones.
While not everyone is close enough to be able to go personally help with the relief efforts and many of you are on very tight budgets, so donating money might be out of the question, but there are things you can do to help — no matter your budget. Most of us have stockpiles of toiletry items we’ve gotten for free or almost-free. Here’s an opportunity to put them to good use!
***See my updated list of ways to help here.***
Melissa, a MoneySavingMom.com reader who lives very near the destruction, is helping with the relief efforts and she and I communicated yesterday about specific ways you all can help those in great in need in the Joplin area. Her husband’s ministry (Mustard Seed Global Fellowship) has teamed up with The Bridge (another local ministry) to form a shelter and supply distribution hub.
They can use all of the extra supplies you can send. Needs include:::Non-perishable Food (most are without electricity and gas, so sending food that doesn’t need to be cooked is especially helpful)
::Toiletries (deodorant, shampoo, soap, body wash, razors, shaving cream, toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.)
::Diapers, wipes, formula
::Towels
Please send the items to:
The Bridge
3405 S. Hammons Blvd
Joplin, MO 64804They will distribute them to those who need them most.
Be sure to package your items securely. Wrap any bottles or items that might leak in plastic, to prevent spills in the box. If you are sending towels or clothing, please send items that are in good condition.
If you would like to give money, there are a number of relief organizations you can donate to listed here.
If you live in the local area and want to volunteer, or are looking for a donation drop-off point in a nearby city or state, check out the Joplin, MO Tornado Relief Facebook Page. There are numerous opportunities being listed there for volunteer help, as well as physical and monetary donations.
If you have other suggestions or specific ways to help, please leave them in the comments.
From Thrift Store TV Stand to Adorable Play Kitchen
Fresh Cut Flours bought this tv stand at the thrift store.
And she shows you how she turned it into this adorable play kitchen. Is that not the coolest transformation ever?
Shared May 24, 2011
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This Week’s Menu Plan: The Road Trip Edition (and where I’ve been the past few days!)
This Week’s Menu Plan: The Road Trip Edition (and where I’ve been the past few days!)
Children’s clothes all packed and ready to go
We survived the whirlwind weekend that included us running a table at our local homeschool used book sale (we sold almost all our stuff and made over $120 to use to buy next year’s homeschool curriculum!), two special missionary services at our church, Jesse’s sister’s graduation, time with Jesse’s other sister and her family who were in from out of town for the graduation and a Josh Groban concert (my husband shocked me big time by surprising me with tickets to this!).
Sunday afternoon, we started packing for our family road trip. Our first stop was to be Joplin, Missouri. Then, Sunday evening, we heard the heart-breaking news of the devastating tornado there. I spent much of this morning researching out ways our family could personally help and specific ways you all could help by donating extra stockpile items. I’ll have a post up tomorrow with more details on that.
In the mean time, thank you for your patience with me today as I was focusing most of my time and energy on Joplin and figuring out Plan B for our road trip. We decided to still go ahead with our planned family road trip, but we headed to Oklahoma City today instead.
Silas getting ready for a dip in the hotel pool tonight
I didn’t get a video done for the 31 Weeks to a Better Grocery Budget series today. I’d hoped to do it from the hotel room tonight, but it just didn’t happen as we were having too much fun playing in the pool and just enjoying life away from all the usual distractions of life.
I am planning a number of road trip-themed posts over the next few days along with the usual blogging fare, provided I have time and internet connection while we’re traveling. We’ll see. If they don’t get done this week, I’ll be sure and post them next week.
For starters, here’s our menu for the road trip:
Breakfasts
Continental breakfast at the hotel (we always try to stay somewhere that serves breakfast as this saves a nice chunk of money — especially when we get a great deal on the hotel in the first place!)Lunches
Ham sandwiches, chips, juice
Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks, bananas
Tuna sandwiches, chips, veggies
Egg salad sandwiches, veggies, fruit
Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples
Snack-y lunch (cheese & crackers, pretzels, carrots, apples, etc.)
Cereal, fruitSnacks
Apples
Carrot sticks
Pretzels
Crackers and peanut butter
Cheese and crackers
Chips
Granola barsDinners
We’re planning to eat dinner out every night as this is something we budget for on vacations. We keep it pretty economical, though, and usually spend around $25 to $35 maximum for dinners for the five of us. We did Cracker Barrel tonight and will likely do Chick-fil-A tomorrow night.
How to Re-Use Plastic Bottle Caps
Super Savings Saturday
My Walgreens Trip — see the full details on this $0.16 shopping trip here.
My Target trip — see the full details on this trip here.
My Dillon’s Trip — see the full details here.
Dollar Tree Trip — see the full details here.
Jesse also stopped by Aldi to pick up some basics and stuff for my Freezing Cooking in an Hour session this week.
Would you like to know what the best deals and coupon match-ups are for your local stores? Be sure to check out the Store Deals section of our site where we post the best deals and coupon match-ups each week for over 100 different stores across the country. You can sign up to receive the top deals in your email inbox each week as soon as they are posted!
Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.
Shared May 21, 2011
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Books Read in April and May: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Life On the Wire + more
Books Read in April and May: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Life On the Wire + more
So, I have to confess something to you all: I kind of had a bad attitude about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I know that sounds weird, but it’s true. I’m someone who tends to go against the grain instead of just following the pack, so I figured there’s no way this book could really live up to the over-the-top rave reviews everyone kept giving me. And, because of this, I had a negative bias from the get-go.
But (you knew this was coming!) I loved the book. I read it in one setting and have been itching to bake crusty loaves of bread ever since. The book made it sound so easy, so doable and so delicious.
I’m sold — and I’ve not even made the bread yet! Provided the bread turns out as well as the rest of the world proclaims it does, this book is a blue-ribbon winner. Stay tuned for later this year when I share about my adventures in baking Artisan Bread as part of my Do-It-Yourself Experiment series.
Also read in April and May:
Life On the Wire — I picked up this book because Dave Ramsey recommended it and it looked like a great book on balancing — an area I can always improve in. I loved the first few pages of the book, but it grew somewhat tiresome to me after that. I think perhaps the book’s method of presentation just didn’t appeal to the way I process and organize my life. That said, if you feel like your work and life balance needs some serious help, this book might be very beneficial to you.
The Blessing of Boundaries — This is a book for Christian women on finding God’s purpose for your life and not trying to be superwoman. While there were some helpful thoughts, overall, I didn’t find the suggestions or ideas to be earth-shattering. And, like Life on the Wire, it seemed to drag on and I felt like I was slogging through it, at times.
31 Days to Clean — Read my review of this ebook here. (In my review, I failed to mention that this ebook is written for Christian stay-at-home moms primarily. If you work outside the home, you might not find it as helpful. I’d also love to see the book professionally edited as I did find some typographical errors, as well as structural dissonance. But overall, I loved it and think it would be a great encouragement to many stay-at-home moms who are feeling overwhelmed.)
Large Family Logistics — I wouldn’t agree with all the ideas and methodology presented in this book and, like 31 Days to Clean, it’s written for Christian, homeschooling, married stay-at-home moms. However, even though we don’t have a large family, I was very inspired by this book and the suggestions and practical tips the author outlined. I’ve been seeking to implement some of them in our home organization with great results. Now I just need to read a book on having discipline to follow through with all my good intentions! 🙂
The Grace and Truth Paradox — A friend loaned me this book and it was excellent. If you’re a Christian who struggles with how grace and truth are to be lived out in our lives, this little volume is packed with food for thought. It was my first Randy Alcorn book and now I want to read everything he’s written!
The Long Winter — The children and I were mesmerized by this book’s tales of surviving a frigidly cold winter. It’s hard to imagine what that would be like as we sit in our comfortable air-conditioned home. And I realize I probably can never complain about the weather for the rest of my life!
24 Books I Plan to Read in 2011
Business and Financial Books I Plan to Read and Review This Year:
January — 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
February — Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living
March — Becoming a Person of Influence
April — Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
May — Life on the Wire: Avoid Burnout and Succeed in Work and Life
June — Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents
July — Have a New You by Friday: How to Accept Yourself, Boost Your Confidence & Change Your Life in 5 Days
August — Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
September — America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money
October — Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
November — Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Money, Simplify Your Life, and Save the Planet
December –Personal Investing: The Missing Manual
Other Books I Plan to Read This Year:
January — Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment
February — Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
March — The Possibilities of Prayer
April — The Blessing of Boundaries
May — Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
June — Honey for a Child’s Heart
July — One With Christ
August — A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning
September — Womanly Dominion: More Than A Gentle and Quiet Spirit
October — The Rose Conspiracy
November — Disciplines of a Godly Woman
December –Benjamin Rush: Signer of the Declaration of Independence
What books have you read recently? Any you’d highly recommend?
(Note: The Amazon.com links in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)
Shared May 20, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Free Gillette Fusion Razor, Free Suave Professionals + more!
In My Mailbox: Free Gillette Fusion Razor, Free Suave Professionals + more!
Here were the freebies in my mailbox this week:
Free Huggies GoodNites samples
Free Eucerin Everyday Protection samples
Two coupons for free full-sized Suave Professionals hair products
Free Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor
I also received the free package of Kellogg’s cereal and coupons from Vocalpoint.
What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?
By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!
Shared May 19, 2011
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Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Breakfast Burritos, Chicken and Southwest Rollups
Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Breakfast Burritos, Chicken and Southwest Rollups
I had another successful Freezer Cooking in an Hour session yesterday. I’m amazed at how much I can get done when I set the timer and just work for an hour without distraction (well, other than the typical interruptions you have when there are three children living at your house!).
Here’s how it went down:
3:30 — Stick the chicken breasts in the oven to bake. (I’ve found this is such a simple way to cook chicken and they end up much more tender and juicy than when I boil them.)
3:32 — Mix up the pancake batter and start cooking the pancakes.
3:45 — Chop the vegetables and saute them. Beat eggs and milk together and pour over vegetables. Roll up all the Breakfast Burritos. Continue cooking pancakes.
4:10 — Chicken is done. Chop and mix together Southwest Rollups. Get interrupted multiple times by children, phone calls… I finally let everyone have a snack of chocolate chip pancakes and that keeps them occupied for awhile.
4:30 — Almost done! Finish rolling up the Southwest Rollups and clean up the kitchen.
5:00 — Get dinner finished and feel completely satisfied at having made six meals in a little over an hour! {Then, as soon as the kitchen is clean, I go collapse on the couch and read aloud to the children. Whew!}
Results of my Freezer Cooking in an Hour session:
24 Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal pancakes
1 bag of Southwest Rollup filling
1 bag of chopped cooked chicken
The Best Frozen Breakfast Burrito
These freezer-friendly breakfast burritos are perfect for busy weekday mornings or a quick snack on the go. They are packed with protein, super frugal, and SO easy to make!
You’ll love having these Freezer Breakfast Burritos on Hand
My husband loves McDonald’s Breakfast Burritos and I wanted to create a homemade version he’d like as well. These Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos were my first attempt and Jesse absolutely loved them!
I’m not a huge breakfast burrito fan, but I have to say, I think this recipe is a winner. In fact, I can see myself sneaking these from the freezer for a mid-morning snack. 🙂
They are perfect for breakfast on the go, and they are probably loads healthier than the McDonald’s Breakfast Burritos.
One thing is for sure, they are significantly less expensive — especially if you can get some of the ingredients on sale.
Best Frozen Breakfast Burrito Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup chopped green pepper
- 18 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup chopped ham
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 20 flour tortillas
How to Make Breakfast Burritos to Freeze
1. Saute onions and green pepper in butter.
2. Beat eggs and milk together and pour into the skillet with the onions and peppers.
3. Add the ham, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set.
4. Mix in cheese and let melt.
5. Scoop 1/2 cup egg mixture onto each tortilla.
6. Fold ends under and roll up.
7. Freeze (see instructions below) or put all burritos in a baking dish, top with extra cheese (if you’d like) and bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until heated through.
8. Serve with salsa.
How to freeze Breakfast Burritos
1. Wrap each burrito in a paper towel and then in a sheet of aluminum foil foil.
2. Seal foil tightly and place in freezer bags.
3. When the bag is full, remove all air, seal, and freeze.
How to reheat Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos
Remove the foil and put the paper-towel-wrapped burrito in the microwave for about 1 minute.
Serve with salsa.
Breakfast Burrito Meal Prep Tips
These burritos go together so quickly, as long as you have the ingredients on hand.
Stock up on eggs, cheese, and tortillas, and use whatever breakfast meat you already have in the house (bacon and sausage taste wonderful too!)
You could even get your kids involved and create an assembly line — one person adds the filling, one wraps them up, and one preps them for the freezer!
Recipe
Breakfast Burritos to Freeze
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup green pepper chopped
- 18 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup ham diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 20 flour tortillas
Instructions
To Assemble
- Saute onions and green pepper in butter.
- Beat eggs and milk together and pour into the skillet with the onions and peppers.
- Add the ham, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set.
- Mix in cheese and let melt.
- Scoop 1/2 cup egg mixture onto each tortilla.
- Fold ends under and roll up.
- Freeze (see instructions below) or put all burritos in a baking dish, top with extra cheese (if you’d like) and bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until heated through.
- Serve with salsa.
To Freeze
- Wrap each burrito in a paper towel and then in a sheet of aluminum foil foil.
- Seal foil tightly and place in freezer bags.
- When the bag is full, remove all air, seal, and freeze.
To Reheat
- Remove the foil and put the paper-towel-wrapped burrito in the microwave for about 1 minute.
- Serve with salsa.
Nutrition
Serving: 1burrito | Calories: 237kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 170mg | Sodium: 571mg | Potassium: 140mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 417IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 2mg
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Shared May 19, 2011
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Do-It-Yourself Experiment #5: Appliqued Flower Tee (+ free downloadable petal pattern!)
Do-It-Yourself Experiment #5: Appliqued Flower Tee (+ free downloadable petal pattern!)
When I chose the 12 Do-It-Yourself projects to complete this year, I tried to put a few on the list that were a little outside my “comfort zone”. Meaning, they’d require skills I usually didn’t exercise or typically wouldn’t profess to have.
The Appliqued Flower Tee was one such project. It looked beautiful, but I wasn’t so sure if I could actually pull it off — especially because I didn’t have a pattern kit.
But I’m excited to say that I actually did it! Okay, so mine might not look as pretty as the original, but I’m still really encouraged that I did something crafty all on my own.
I was planning to do the big yo-yo in the center, but I didn’t have enough fabric scraps left to pull it off. So I just did three small ones. I don’t like it quite as much, but Kaitlynn was happy with it.
(If you’re a professional seamstress or naturally crafty person, you are more than welcome to laugh at my feeble attempts, bad stitchery and the fact that I forgot to put backing on the fabric. Me? I’m just thrilled you might be able to tell it’s a flower and that Kaitlynn could actually wear this in public… unlike most of my other failed crafty projects! There may yet be hope for people like me. :))
Free Petal Pattern + Instructions
Want to make your own appliqued flower tee? Joy from FiveJs.com put together a free downloadable pattern for the flower petals if you’re like me and can’t just draw something freehand like that. You can download the free petal pattern here. The instructions for completing this project are here.
And now I’m all inspired to try doing more applique because I really enjoyed this project, much to my surprise. Anyone have links to fun free patterns online? I’m thinking of trying this one next. But I’d welcome other suggestions.
In case you missed it, here’s the list of the 12 Do-It-Yourself Projects I Plan to Try in 2011:
January: Make From-Scratch Chai Tea
February: Make Homemade Dishwashing Detergent
March: Make Homemade Hamburger Buns
April: Make Homemade Laundry Soap
May: Make Appliqued Flower TeeJune: Make Homemade Hummus
July: Make Freezer Jam
August: Make Homemade Soap
September: Sew a Rag Quilt
October: Make Homemade Apple Butter
November: Make Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
December: Make Homemade Marshmallows
Dillon’s and Dollar Tree Shopping Trips
In addition to stopping at Walgreens, I also made a quick trip into Dillon’s and the Dollar Tree today. Here’s what I bought:
Dollar Tree — Eight different kinds of Nature’s Own breads and buns for $1 per package.
Dillon’s — Organic plain yogurt marked down to $1.59, two packages of deli ham for $1.29 each and one box of Kashi cereal for $0.99 (on sale for $2.99, used $2/1 coupon from Recyclebank.)
Do-It-Yourself: Homemade Tinted Lip Gloss
Kojo Designs has a great post on how to make your own tinted lip gloss. I really want to try this!
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.
It’s the Simple Things
Guest post by Brandy Chandler at Team Chandler
It seems in this hurried world that we rush from this activity to that, making sure our children are “well rounded” and have the opportunity to have fun and to make new friends. Even if we don’t spend money on lessons or sports, we might still find ourselves spending gas money taking them to and from the park or spending buying lunches at McDonalds while they play in the playzone.
I’m guilty! Guilty of trying too hard to provide my child with various opportunities without just giving him time to be a kid. Time to just play.
Recently, we had a “family night”. Typically, this would involve a special (yet quick) meal, movies, games and maybe a special treat. While I pride myself on keeping this way under budget, it hit me: “Family night” isn’t about a well-planned time with one another; it’s about embracing the time to do something spontaneous (yet frugal).
When I asked my 5-year-old what he wanted to do for family night, his simple answer “Play hide and seek”, “watch Wild Kratts with me”, etc. I was given a gentle reminder that sometimes what we, as parents, value as important may not be all that important at all.
It’s about that undivided time with our children doing things they want to in the moment. It’s about saying “Yes” to that 10th game of tic-tac-toe when the dishes need to be done. It’s about saying “Yes” when asked to read that favorite story again when you are ready to drift to sleep. These are the memories that will last. The memories of a mom and dad who were there for the little things.
That is priceless.
Brandy is a work from home mom of two who spends her time homeschooling her oldest child, training for half marathons, couponing and blogging about her families adventures at Team Chandler.
Shared May 18, 2011
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How to Make Money Blogging: 5 Tips for Writing Top-Notch Content
How to Make Money Blogging: 5 Tips for Writing Top-Notch Content
If you missed it, be sure to read: 5 Necessary Traits of Successful Bloggers (Part 1) and 5 Ways to Set Up Your Blog for Success (Part 2).
1. Be You
One of the greatest hindrances to successful blogging is trying to be someone else. You are not someone else. You will never be someone else. You are you!
You are unique and one-of-a-kind. You have amazing gifts and talents that many people don’t. You have a perspective on life that no one else in the whole wide world does, because no one else is you. Learn from other bloggers, but figure out who you are and be you.
2. Be Confident
It’s easy to become discouraged and to feel completely inadequate when you see other bloggers who seem to have more creativity, a cuter blog, a more-frequently-updated blog, more traffic, more comments, more Facebook followers and on and on it goes. You can spend so much time worrying about not measuring up that you completely lose sight of what you have to offer as a blogger.
As I used to tell a dear friend of mine who often felt incompetent as a blogger (and who has now gone on to create a wildly successful blog), “Don’t be mouse-y!” Any time spent sitting and sulking about your lack of ability or worrying about what people will think of you is time that is wasted.
3. Be Engaging
Interact with your readers and respond to their comments and emails as much as you can. Ask your readers for their advice and input and listen to what they have to say. Your readers want to know that you value them. And you should, because without them, you’d have no audience to write for!
Don’t be afraid to try new things — even if they fail. Don’t always post the same things in the same way. Throw in some off-topic posts, photos or videos every now and then. Occasional surprises and unexpected posts will help keep things exciting.
4. Be Real
Readers aren’t looking for perfectionism, they are looking for real-ness. We all make mistakes and we all have our areas we struggle with. Don’t try to pretend that you have all your ducks in an alphabetized row.
Be honest, be open and be vulnerable (when appropriate). People will connect with authenticity but they will run from hypocrisy.
5. Be a Perfectionist
This might seem to fly in the face of being real, but I’m not talking about being perfect as a person, but about being thorough and detailed as a blogger. Frequent typos and blatant grammar errors are irritating.
Sloppiness will never get you far. Always proof your posts at least twice before publishing them. Constantly seek to improve as a writer. Read books and blogs written by good writers. Critique your writing and ask others to do the same.
Please, please, please do not use massive paragraphs without paragraph breaks. This is one of the easiest ways to turn people off from reading your blog. Blog paragraphs should be no more than a few lines long so that people can read them easily on a computer screen.
Three more don’ts: Don’t center the text. Don’t use exclamation points, all caps or ellipses excessively. Don’t use multiple fonts.
Use paragraph headings or points in articles that are longer than a few paragraphs. Include graphics and/or photos on most posts. And did I mention how important it is to proof-read your posts before hitting publish? 🙂
Bonus Point: Be Careful
If you share something in a public forum like your blog, you can never completely take it back. Always assume everyone in the whole world may read what you write.
Don’t use names, photos or other identifying information without thinking carefully about the potential ramifications. It’s better to be safe, than sorry.
What about you? What are your best suggestions for creating top-notch content?
Next week we’ll talk about five ways to increase your blog’s readership.