Month: March 2008

Monday Organizing Challenge: Tables

/ Kara Kelso / Leave a comment

As I type, I’m looking at a very unorganized dining room table. There’s toys, loads of candles, mail, and other “stuff” that needs to be put in it’s place. It’s become the dumping ground for all we didn’t want to just throw on the floor.

This week’s challenge is about cleaning off the “dumping table”. This could be your kitchen table, dining room table, coffee table, or side table inside a door.

Go ahead and clean it off right this minute. Didn’t take all that long, did it? Now the REAL challenge is keeping it clean. Every time you think about just tossing something down on that particular table, stop yourself. Don’t toss it in another place either – just put it away.

A simple step that takes less than a minute, but has a dramatic effect on the organization of your house. Post your success here next week!

Frugal Friday: Clip Coupons

/ Kara Kelso / Leave a comment



This is one of those money saving tips that usually we don’t have to mention. Of course you can save money by clipping coupons!

The real trick here is not just cutting out coupons to get x amount off a name brand product, but paying LESS than you would for the product regardless of the brand. Generic brands usually are just as good as the name brand. In some cases, it IS the name brand in a different package. So always do a price comparison in the store. Is the product you are about to buy LESS than the generic brand with the coupon? If so, you are good to go. If not, PASS!

Also, you can get quite a few coupons online to print (See the banner above for Coupons.com). I know we don’t have any other option here since we don’t get the Sunday paper. Just not something we read, and isn’t worth to buy just for the coupons (although sometimes I go to a local gas station on Sunday because they give free papers out with $20 or more of gas – free paper IS worth grabbing just for the coupons!).

Another place to check for coupons is the store and company sites. Sign up by email to receive their current coupons, and you might be surprised. Especially look at the products you buy on a regular basis. Some coupons offered are good for “any size” and can be quite a bit. Several months ago there was a $5 off coupon from Tylenol that we used for the travel size at Target. We ended up with a free travel size pack of Tylenol, and an extra $4 off our total bill. Good yes?

Give the ideas above a shot and see how much money you can save!

No Bun Fun – Hamburger Recipe

/ Kara Kelso / Leave a comment

This recipe was sent in by one of our visitors. I know buns are not something we generally have in the house, but we always have a pound or two of hamburger in the freezer. This recipe requires just a tad bit of planning, since you’ll have to get it ready the night before. However, it sounds absolutely delicious!

No Bun Fun
by Nikki Eddt

Ingredients:
Hamburger meat
Bacon
Onions

Want a yummy hamburger but forgot to buy buns? Marinade your meat the night before (worcester, s/p, garlic, etc.) Make patties and wrap uncooked bacon around with toothpicks. Place in aluminum foil (onions are also good on top) and bake for desired cooktime at 250-400 degrees. Place on place with yummy side dish.

More easy hamburger ideas can be found on Idea Queen.

The Things Kids Say

/ Kara Kelso / 3 Comments

No matter how crazy they make us sometimes, kids say some pretty darn cute things. Mispronounced words, taking a figure of speech as literal, or just really cute remarks can make our day.

Here’s a two things my 5yr old has said recently that made me giggle (at least when they weren’t looking anyway!)

“My friend is toast intolerant, she can’t have real ice cream”

“Mom! He called me a sofa pig!”
(A what? Oh selfish pig…..still trying to figure out where her brother learned that one)

When told that my hands were tied, her response….
“REALLY? Let me see!”

What have your kids said recently that made you laugh? I’d love to hear some more!

Have You Joined Cafe Mom?

/ Kara Kelso / Leave a comment


If you haven’t joined Cafe Mom yet, what are you waiting for?

I’m completely in love with this site. There are so many different groups to join, and so many people to connect with. Just about any topic you can think of is here, and it’s amazing to meet so many different “types” of moms. Don’t see a particular topic? Start a group! Yes, it’s really that simple to do (I started one after about a week).

Right now I’m in love with the sewing group there, since the ladies have so many great ideas for sewing projects. There’s other groups there too that are designed to give support for specific issues moms have to deal with.

So if you haven’t signed up yet, at least go join CafeMom.com and check it out. You never know who you are going to meet, or what group you are going to find!

Monday Organizing Challenge: Laundry

/ Kara Kelso / Leave a comment

Since I kinda blew my New Year’s resolution to work on one room of the house per week, I decided I needed to try this again. My house is still quite unorganized and in need of serious help.

So instead of trying to force myself to clean like a mad man every day, I’m picking one day of the week to get just one job done. And the job is not an “every day” task like dishes, sweeping, or anything else I do everyday. Sound like a challenge?

This week I’ve decided I need to get caught up on my laundry. Not so much washing, but putting away. We’ve got a huge pile of folded clothes in the laundry room that need to be put away once and for all. If we can get caught up, it will be a whole lot easier to SAY caught up. Not long ago I caught up on washing the clothes and it’s stayed that way for at least a month now. Go us!

Your Monday organizing challenge is to get caught up on your laundry in some form. We’re starting off kinda easy and you may already be caught up. But for those of us needed a little more help, this is a great place to start.😉

Frugal Friday: Greeting Cards

/ Kara Kelso / 1 Comment

Are you the type of person who makes sure to send greeting cards to all your family and friends for every holiday? If so, today’s Frugal Friday tip may be perfect for you.

The point of a greeting card is to show you care, and that you are thinking about that person. Plus a greeting card can brighten a person’s day, and make them feel loved.

However, the cost of greeting cards can really add up over time. Depending on the type of cards you send, you could easily be spending a few hundred dollars over the year buying and sending cards. If you figure even $1.50 cards sent to 10 people for 5 holidays, that’s $75 a year without including postage!

It may not seem like too much, but what if your list is bigger or you send for more than just 5 holidays? Don’t forget birthdays, Mother’s day, and those other days special to just a few people. The cost can really add up over time.

To save the most money, you may want to look at alternatives for sending cards. Companies like AmericanGreetings.com allow you to send unlimited cards for one flat fee. It’s not just limited to eCards either (which can help cut down on your postage costs). You can also print unlimited cards as well.

On this particular site, there are three different options for membership – ecards, create & print, or both. Prices at the time of this post were $13.99, $19.99, and $29.99 respectively. That’s unlimited cards for the entire YEAR. When you figure you could easily be spending twice this much, it looks like a pretty good deal huh?

If you are interested in checking them out, sign up for a 30 day free trial by clicking the banner below. With Easter right around the corner, why not?

Vegetable Garden Ideas

/ Kara Kelso / 3 Comments

It’s about that time of year – time to starting thinking of great vegetable garden ideas! I can’t wait for it to be warm enough to start, how about you?

Normally our garden is set up as a salsa garden. Basically you’ll find tomatoes, jalapenos, and green peppers. Sometimes we’ll grow red peppers too, and dry them (those plants produce quite a bit – far more than you’ll ever use in one year!). Tomatoes we always have an abundance of as well, and I’m tired of chopping them.

Instead of our normal garden, I think it’s time for something different. Last fall we really got into the pumpkins both for pie and for decorating. So this year we might just plant two different types of pumpkins and see how that goes. Our main garden area is big enough to let them take over, so why not?

I might sneak in a tomato plant somewhere just because it wouldn’t be summer without garden fresh tomatoes. Although I have a feeling a few plants from stray seeds are hiding in the garden right now waiting to surprise me. It’s just a matter of cleaning up all the dead plants from last year to find them.😉

What are you planning to plant in your garden this year?

Leftover Sausage Idea

/ Kara Kelso / 3 Comments

Well this is new. This is the first time we’ve ever had sausage leftover. Luckily as soon as I realized I was cooking too much, I knew what to do with it.

For supper last night we had breakfast. You know, hashbrowns, eggs, and sausage. The last time I made this, I only used half of one of those tubes of raw sausage. Well, last night I forgot and made it all. Oops! I knew it was way too much and there was no way we’d eat it all.

Although I knew immediately what to do with it – make pizza! For some odd reason, my daughter’s favorite pizza is sausage where as mine is pepperoni (unless I’m making the “mountain pizza“, then just about anything goes). So I informed her the next night for supper we’d be having her favorite.

Really there’s just about enough to make it a pizza topping, so it turned out pretty well. The kids are getting somewhat tired of my pizza, so I think I’ll make a smaller version of it tonight with just sausage and pepperoni. That way everyone will be happy, and we’ll be using up that leftover sausage.

What do you do with leftover sausage when there’s not enough for everyone?

Decorating Easter Eggs – Paint or Dye?

/ Kara Kelso / 2 Comments

Here it is, almost Easter and we still don’t have our Easter eggs done yet. Gasp! No worries, we plan to tackle this project on Saturday right before Easter.

Today I found an articled about painting eggs instead of dyeing, which I thought was rather interesting. The thought never crossed my mind that we could actually use paint instead of those messy dyes. Not a bad idea at all! The article goes on to give ideas for different ways to paint, which I also thought was very useful.

This got me thinking – exactly what do we want to do this year? Do we want to paint them or dye them like we always do? Well I think we are doing a little bit of both.

Usually we get the kind of dye kits that come with little sponges which allow you to “paint” the dye onto the eggs. This has always worked pretty well and kept the mess to a minimum (thank goodness for black counter tops that don’t show stains!).

Regardless, there’s some pretty good ideas for painting on that page that I believe we can use with the dye. I especially like the Tie-Dye idea with the paper towel. We might give that a shot with the regular dye instead of the paint and see how it works.

Have fun!