Spring Cleaning Project - the Pantry.

Note: It's weird as I write this I know that it will post while I'm in Haiti. So um, hey from the Caribbean? Hope you enjoy the posts this week and forgive me for slow responses, I'll be back the 28th. Hope you'll still stay tuned here, I've worked hard to keep interesting content in my absence.

I was slow to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon. First off, when I got in my invite and logged in I thought 'this is completely overwelming!'. Then when I realized how it worked, it grew on me slowly. When I later found out it has amazing organizational tutorials and blogs as well as cleaning tips and gift ideas - I came over to the dark side!

If you follow my board you may have found, liked, or judged my OCD pinboard which I started to tag all the amazing organizational and cleaning ideas I've found and want to put into practice. I have found some serious heros via Pinterest! These women are legit.

Let me introduce you to my pantry hero:

Image.

This is amazing. I wish that my pantry looked like this. BUT I'm planning on revamping mine in May when I do my official spring cleaning, condo upgrade, and guest bedroom project overhaul! So, while I had that $50 One King's Lane giftcard I got a canister set (for free) that looks like this:

I had been keeping an eye on similar items at Big Lots and Target - but the prices still seemed a bit steep and I was hoping to find them clearanced. Then when OKL had them AND I had a giftcard I thought, perfect! I want to move away from having bags of baking supplies and into having organized, easy-to-find and easy-to-keep-fresh baking supplies in canisters.


A few days later I pinned this - a magic decal tutorial that teaches you how to label your canisters for good. I think I'm going to have to do this, right?

I have a few silver canisters now that will be used in my coffee cupboard. I've also been saving glass jars (because I kind of hate the idea of buying them) to make my own seasonings in, eventually. Ragu pasta sauce in the glass jars was recently bogo so I started with those. I may still have to buy a few for various projects but I figure as much as possible, I will use what I would have otherwise thrown away.
I'm in the process of saving up and cleaning out some BIG glass jars for homemade laundry detergent which I plan to make soon. I find that the large sangria bottles are my favorite, so I snagged a few from a party recently and delabeled them.

I'm still in the market for a great spice holder for my pantry so if anyone knows of a great place to find them, shoot me a comment or e-mail!

What organizational project are on your spring cleaning list?

Have no fear - before and after pictures will happen for this project and many others!

Love,
B

5 DIY Projects.

Pinterest really has me thinking about DIY projects. I like to be hands on. I've tried several times to talk myself into buying a groupon for a maid or for a month of meals but in the end I always back out. I like to do things for myself. There's some sense of satisfaction in completing projects, on my own.

Pinterest is DIY on crack, though. I can't imagine doing EVERYTHING by hand instead of buying it. Ever. Time is money and most the time I'd rather spend the money to save the time. But I sat down the other day and thought what would I consider doing myself, either for the fun of being hands on or for the money it would save. Here's a few ideas I got from pinterest that I DO want to try:




Enamel Painted Vases. I love these and the blog post I've linked to boasts that she found the vases at the dollar store. This would be a fun project that could jazz up book shelves quick. I also love the idea of being able to custom make the color you want to go with the room.

Freezer Crock Pot Meals. I pinned a while back a blog where a woman teaches you how to make crock pot meals, in ziplock bags, to freeze! Then you pull them out, toss them in the crock pot and ta da!...dinner. I love this idea. It's a DIY version of Dinner Done, in my mind. This seems worth the time and effor tto me especially if you made a few at a time on Sunday afternoon.

Homemade Laundry Soap. I think laundry soap is incredibly over priced and am constantly annoyed by spending money on it. Not only would this be a fun project and a money saver but I actually think this could be a cute house warming gift, if you put it in a pretty glass bottle (like a large wine bottle) with instructions. I've agreed to help a friend do some spring cleaning in 2 weeks, I think I will try'n make a batch before then and give her some as well.

Body scrub. I never would have thought of this myself but DIY body scrub makes so much sense to me. After making my own face exfoliator last week, I'm really rethinking this and liking the idea more and more. Again, this would make a great gift! You could mess up the kitchen making a few at a time and have them onhand for guests, gifts, or at home spa nights.

Homemade Seasonings. I think seasonings are a big fat waste of money - so I love this idea. I want to make these for myself as well as possibly as gifts in the future. I think this would be a cool thing to receive from someone!

What DIY projects has pinterest inspired you to try? Was it worth the effort? Did it really save you money?

Love,

B

Budget Cuts.

One topic I consistently get e-mails, text messages, twitters, and calls about is budgeting. It turns out that many of my blog readers are trying to meet financial goals and trying to make cuts in their budget to get there. While out to dinner last week one of my neighbors as well as my friend Jessica were asking me about leading another Financial Peace University class, apparently they'd be the first two to sign up! The next night I had a scheduled phone call with my friend, Mer, in Chicago to help her start towards a budget as well.

For now, it's not looking promising that I will have the time needed to play hostess to an FPU course BUT I would like to continue to share with you all what I've learned along the way in hopes that each of you will meet your goals too! And as always, keep the e-mails coming. I love talking through your budgets with you, I really do.

I'm pleased to share that 2012 has been my best year financially yet. I know it's early in the year but my hardwork at learning the system in 2010 as well as my gazelle intensity to get debt free in 2011 have paved the way for 2012 to be fabulous (on a budget still, of course). However, there's no resting in your current situation...getting ahead and staying ahead takes work. So here's some resources and hints you might find helpful...

Total rookie? Need to make a budget? Start here and make yourself a 'quickie budget'. Note: this is a free resource, take advantage of it!

More of a techie? Try this one. This helps you use Mint.com to get your catagories right. I have several friends who use this and love it! There's an app on your phone that will automatically update when you use your debit card. It does alot of the leg work of budgeting for you. Once you make your catagories, it tells you when you're out of money. This is a thing to know, clearly.

If you feel like you have money oozing out of your house it might be time to look at how you can cut your at home expenses. If so, take a look at this:

Cut your costs by room: via pinterest.

One of the big ones for me that I was pleased made the chart? Making your own coffee! I buy amazing gourmet coffee at Marshalls (yes, Marshalls) for 7.99 which lasts me more than a month v. Starbucks at 3 bucks a day. This is a big money saver. I should, however, confess that I hit up Sonic Happy Hour pretty much daily to the tune of 1.23 per day. I rarely eat out, but this is my splurge. Diet cokes. And you can't judge me because they're in the budget!

If you've been on this blog for a while then you've read a lot of my budgeting advice but what I may not have touched on before and want to make sure you know now is this: pay yourself first. Wait, maybe I should start by saying that if you're a believer - tithe first, pay yourself second! But anywho, put what you've determined into savings BEFORE you start paying bills, spending, etc. And let me go ahead and say for those of you who are anything like me, don't take it out (some of you just started sweating). Pay yourself before you pay your bills because let's be honest, there are never leftovers!

Also, never ever forget to weigh out needs v. wants! This is key. But to assure you that I put my money where my mouth is I will tell you that I've decided to cut my cable as of March. It costs me $108 bucks a month and I watch less than 2 hours of TV per week (on average). So, it's going goodbye in honor of being a good steward of the money I have. I am KILLING my savings this year, blowing my goals per month out of the water and it feels great.

So loves, make those budgets, cut those expenses, pack those lunches, and manage those wants because I want to see you all reach new levels this year!

Love,

B

Getting a System.

If you follow me on pinterest you may have noticed I have an OCD/Organization board. I love love love to try out new ways to keep my life in order so I make sure I live each day to the fullest. I promised myself that 2012 would be the year of no excuses - that I would stick to my budget, I would travel, I would keep my house clean, I would drop more weight, I would workout, be healthy, and sleep enough.

I was pretty half hearted about my pinteresting at first but when I realized how many great organization and cleaning ideas can be gained there, I basically fell in love! I'm literally constantly adding to my 'to organize' list (next up: my cleaning supplies closet and under my kitchen sink).

I pinned the weekly cleaning calender pictured below because I realized that for my house to stay clean, I really need to be doing a little bit every day. Right now with averaging 55 hours a week of work plus bible study, workouts, friends, reading, blogging, cooking, etc I just don't have a huge chunk of time to devote to scouring the whole house AND I don't want it to look like a bomb went off the rest of the week. I also HATE rushing around trying to get it clean enough for company at the last minute. And so I present to you the new plan:

Found here.

Now, we all know I hate to do anything alone. I have Mia to keep me accountable to my morning workouts (at least 2-3 days a week I workout in the AM). I have Jess and Kayla to report my weight loss to every week. I have my small group to keep me accountable to reading my bible, praying, and finishing my homework before our Monday night meetings. You get the idea, there's safety in numbers! And so, I was thrilled with 3 of my sweet twitter friends: Mia, Joey, and Emmy agreed to try this new everyday cleaning with me ( I linked to their blogs so you can follow them, they're awesome).

So how's it going? Well, first off, I should say I think this chore list was made for a family of 5 - laundry 3 days a week seems excessive to me - at least for one! I also don't vacuum three days a week - since I don't have pets, children, or a messy husband to clean up after. BUT otherwise, I've been really pleased with this list! Tuesday morning I felt great at work all day because I'd windexed my bathroom counters and mirrors after my morning workout and before I left for the office!

I love staying on top of the dishes AND keeping the counters clean! It makes the kitchen so much less overwelming. Though I should admit here I pretty much put everything in the dishwasher.

I've nixed mowing since I don't have a yard but I do love that it makes me sort my mail on Fridays. Gr, I hate when mail piles up and feels overwelming (oh wait, that's always). I added a few things of my own: like trash on Mondays and Fridays, cleaning out my car on Sundays (so I don't drive around looking like I live in it), and changing the sheets (I admit, I'm surprised that didn't make the list...).

It's been fun keeping up on twitter with how the other girls are doing with their daily chore list. I think it's safe to say we all agree, we feel great about having a clean house! It's also fun to brag, celebrate, or whine to each other along the way.

How do you keep your house clean? Do you do a little cleaning every day or have one day a week you do it all?

Love,
B

Time Management & a New Strategy.

via Pinterest.

I've griped before about my annoyance with people who always make excuses for themselves. Of these excuses I am most irritated by the excuse of 'not enough time'. Now I recognize the need for boundaries where our time is concerned and for staying on track with our priorities. But making the time excuse ignores the fact that we CHOSE our priorities in life.

If I had a nickle for every person who said they wished they had 'time' to read as much as I do, I'd build myself a library off the back of my townhome. No really, I would. And it might look like this:

via Pinterest.

Assuming that you haven't found someway to have more or less than 24 hours in your day, you have exactly as many opportunities to read books as I do. In college I gave up cable for 2 years in an attempt to refocus my time. Watching hours of TV per week is a habit I've never picked back up. Now, in the spirit of full disclosure here I should share that my TV hour per week goes up noticeably during football season - since I usually watch at least 2-3 games per week (the colts, SNF, and MNF).

Working out is another area people love to make excuses for, right? 'I'm just not a morning person' is a good one. Several days a week I workout at 6am, because after work I have to go to do more work til about 10 pm. I confess that working out at 6am and then working a 12 hour day is BRUTAL and not for the faint of heart. But it is doable. So the moral of this post is really, don't make excuses about your time - sit down, determine your priorities, and go at them hard.

I love having a clean house. I love that if a friend calls me last minute and wants to lay by my pool or stop by to watch a movie, my house is always company appropriate. But I'm trying a new idea I got, also from pinterest, for doing a little cleaning every day. This is my first week trying it. On Saturday I vacuumed my room and bathroom and mopped the bathroom floor. Sunday I changed the sheets and did the laundry. Monday I cleaned the bathroom. Tuesday I dusted. Wednesday I paid bills. Tonight is cleaning the inside of the microwave and cleaning out the fridge.

I'll have to report back a little farther in, but so far I'm loving it! There was a list on pinterest (check my OCD board if you're interested) on how to do this. I made my own way, per my usual. But I love the concept and so far, the results!

How do you manage your time to get in all the important things?

Love,

B

Budgeting Ideas from Pinterest.

After my blogpost yesterday I got curious about budgeting ideas that might be on pinterest. I'm not much of a pinterest user myself, but I like to dabble here and there. I found a few useful article with ideas I liked. Here's a few of my favorites:

via quirky momma (this was my fav article):

- We do the “packets” budgeting system. All spending money we take out at the beginning of each month. We then pay for everything with that cash, when it is gone there is no more till the next month. This budgeting method works for us, find one that works for you!

Cash is king in most budgets. Any of you tried this method to keep yourself from overspending on clothes, entertainment, or some of the other tough catagories?

- Surround yourself with “frugal-minded” folk. If you don’t have any friends who are willing to make a frugal journey with you try looking online, Frugal Village is a great network, and One Income Dollar and the Prudent Housewife are both great inspirational blogs. We found it is easier to save when you are not surrounded by spend-happy folks.

My closest friends are budgeters (some because I make them be) and this really does work! We do more redboxing, cooking in, groupon dining, etc because were all trying to be smart with our money. The best part is then no one feels like they have to bow out because of funds - were all fund concious and we help each other out!

- Meal plan and coordinate so that leftovers can be utilized fully, yet keeping variety. (Ex: Tacos day one, use left over taco meat day 2 for stuffed peppers)

I love doing this. I plan my meals at end of a week, grocery shop over the weekend, and cook on Sundays usually for my lunches and dinners for the whole week. This would be slightly more complicated if I was feeding 3-4 people, but it works great for us singles or just marrieds. Packing my lunch to take to work has saved me TONS.

Also from Pinterest and worth reading is this ladies post.

If you're thinking about going to a cash system in 2012 there are some precious make-your-own-cash-envelop craftings happening there as well.

As for me, I'm not sold out on being 100% cash...BUT I will say, using cash in my trouble areas (clothing, food, entertainment, travel) really helps me keep to what I say I'm going to spend. Budget reasonably...you know you're not going to spend only 20 bucks in 6 months on clothes...we realistic. But determine what's appropriate and stick with it.

Here's to a budget friendly 2012 with lots of saving in store for me.

Love,
B