Is it possible to have a clean house with kids? I believe that it is! Today, we talked about cleaning tips for a busy household. There are so many different methods and systems out there, and no one system will fit every family. I encourage you to try a couple of systems until your find a hybrid that works for your family. Here are a couple of suggestions:
I love http://www.flylady.net/ ! I started reading her website many years ago when my children were toddling around and I was working full time. Housekeeping was such a struggle for me during those days! I hated spending every Saturday cleaning and grocery shopping and having no family time. I decided that I had to find a better system and that is when I came across Flylady. I do not totally subscribe to her system, but use the parts of her system that work for my family. Every week, I check in for Kelly's Missions, a daily reminder to spend 15-20 minutes on a specific, deep cleaning task. I also love her Weekly Home Blessing Hour and her detailed cleaning lists. The key to the Flylady method is doing a little bit each day to maintain your home and decluttering unnecessary items in your life. I employ her Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Wednesdays but it normally takes me a couple of hours with Baby Cooper in tow. I love to have the "Aha" moment when the house is clean-if only for ten minutes!
Last summer, I read a book by Tara Aronson titled Mrs. Clean Jean's Housekeeping with Kids. It is a wonderful guide to help you enlist your family into the cleaning process, and I highly recommend it for young families. She has some wonderful tips on age-appropriate activities for your children.
Another method that has worked for me in the past has been to clean different areas on a designated day of the week. For instance, Mondays are mopping days, Tuesdays are toilets, Wednesdays are wipes countertops, etc. This is methods works great for those busy moms who can't devote a couple of consecutive hours a weeks to a Home Blessing time. Thanks Gail for your suggestion many years ago when I was deep in the trenches!
A number of other helpful suggestions were made today, and I wanted to highlight a couple of them. My friend Jennifer uses red, white and blue tall hampers so that her young children can help her sort the laundry and have a visual cue to ensure proper sorting. My friend Melissa has recently purchased a Lysol steam mop for her home and loves it to clean her tile and laminate floors. I personally love my Swiffer vac for quick cleanups on my hardwood floors.
We also talked about tips for sorting and storing childrens clothing and artwork. Next week we with be talking more about home storage and organizing. This topic is one of my passions!!!
On a personal notes, thank you all for your prayers during this past week. I was honored to sit in church Sunday and sing, "He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away. My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name!" We are devastated to have lost Baby #5, but we know that God has a plan for our family and we trust His perfect will. Have a blessed week!!!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Couponing and Bargain Shopping
The couponing discussion was so good, we decided to do it again! This week with talked about couponing best practices. Did you know that if you load coupons onto your Kroger card through websites like http://www.shortcuts.com/ that you can layer them with your paper coupons? For instance, if you loaded a $.50 coupon for yogurt onto your Kroger card and you had a $.50 paper coupon, you could use both coupons...and Kroger will double your paper coupons up to $.50!!! This would result in a savings of $1.50 off of your yogurt.
Here's another tip: If you have a coupon for buy one get one free for a certain item, these are very valuable. If a store runs a sale for buy one get one free for the item, you can use your coupon to get two items absolutely free! Your coupon "purchases" the first item and the store covers the cost of the second item.
If you are new to couponing, I am attaching a link to a website that explains some couponing terminology and best practices: http://www.couponing101.com/getting-started This is a great place to start and there is no time like the present to begin!
If you don't use coupons or are new to couponing, I challenge you to try it and watch the savings add up. Next week, we are going to begin our discussion on cleaning and organizing. Our first topic with be cleaning with kids!!!
Here's another tip: If you have a coupon for buy one get one free for a certain item, these are very valuable. If a store runs a sale for buy one get one free for the item, you can use your coupon to get two items absolutely free! Your coupon "purchases" the first item and the store covers the cost of the second item.
If you are new to couponing, I am attaching a link to a website that explains some couponing terminology and best practices: http://www.couponing101.com/getting-started This is a great place to start and there is no time like the present to begin!
If you don't use coupons or are new to couponing, I challenge you to try it and watch the savings add up. Next week, we are going to begin our discussion on cleaning and organizing. Our first topic with be cleaning with kids!!!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Meal Planning
What a terrific day in the Lord! We were blessed today to discuss meal planning and strategies for feeding a busy family. There are lots of strategies for meal planning and countless benefits: better nutrition, cost savings and ultimately more time to spend with your precious family. Ultimately, your meal planning strategy should be one that best fits your family and cooking style. Below are some suggested methods:
* Category Menu Planning -- Each night of the week is assigned a category : casserole, chicken, pasta, hamburger/beef, soup, vegetarian, sandwiches, pork. This category stays the same from week to week, but the recipes change. For instance, Monday night might be casserole night. This Monday I will make a lasagna and the next Monday I will have a chicken & rice casserole.
* Recipe card meal planning -- Your favorite recipes are written on recipe cards and stored in a binder. Each planning cycle, you would pull out the recipe cards chosen for that time period and shop for the ingredients. The menu would change from week to week.
* Sale shopping meal planning -- The weekly sales ads are consulted and meals are planned based on the store sales for the shopping period.
* Recyclable menu planning -- weekly meals plans are developed, printed and stored for future use. After several weeks of plans are accumulated, mix and match your weekly menus to create varied monthly plans.
These are just a few of the planning ideas that we shared. Having a plan is the key. I have found a website with some great basic forms for grocery lists and weekly/monthly planning pages for those of you who would like templates and more detailed planning tips:
http://organizedhome.com/articles/kitchen
This website also has tips on freezer cooking. Lots of recipes can be frozen for future use. Whether you have a "cooking/baking day" or just make double and freeze half, freezer meals can help us manage our busy schedules. There are lots of great cookbooks and websites devoted to freezer cooking. If you are unfamiliar with a cooking or baking day, take a look at the following links as the author goes into detail about her baking day:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/menu-plan-and-baking-day-list.html
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/baking-day-the-master-plan.html
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/my-entry.html
We are putting together a cookbook of favorite weeknight recipes, crockpot recipes and freezer recipes to be shared. If you have recipes that you would like to contribute, let me know. I will try to have the recipe booklet published by next Thursday. I am also updating the links on the side of this blog with some of our favorite recipe websites.
Whatever method you use for feeding your family, pick one that is helpful to you and blesses your family with physical nourishment. Most importantly, we are reminded not to forget to "feed" our souls daily by spending time in God's Word and in prayer with Him. Physical malnutrition will eventually cause our bodies to waste away, but spiritual malnutrition will cause the demise of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Plan ahead for your spiritual as well as your earthly meals. Have you had your "soul food" today?
* Category Menu Planning -- Each night of the week is assigned a category : casserole, chicken, pasta, hamburger/beef, soup, vegetarian, sandwiches, pork. This category stays the same from week to week, but the recipes change. For instance, Monday night might be casserole night. This Monday I will make a lasagna and the next Monday I will have a chicken & rice casserole.
* Recipe card meal planning -- Your favorite recipes are written on recipe cards and stored in a binder. Each planning cycle, you would pull out the recipe cards chosen for that time period and shop for the ingredients. The menu would change from week to week.
* Sale shopping meal planning -- The weekly sales ads are consulted and meals are planned based on the store sales for the shopping period.
* Recyclable menu planning -- weekly meals plans are developed, printed and stored for future use. After several weeks of plans are accumulated, mix and match your weekly menus to create varied monthly plans.
These are just a few of the planning ideas that we shared. Having a plan is the key. I have found a website with some great basic forms for grocery lists and weekly/monthly planning pages for those of you who would like templates and more detailed planning tips:
http://organizedhome.com/articles/kitchen
This website also has tips on freezer cooking. Lots of recipes can be frozen for future use. Whether you have a "cooking/baking day" or just make double and freeze half, freezer meals can help us manage our busy schedules. There are lots of great cookbooks and websites devoted to freezer cooking. If you are unfamiliar with a cooking or baking day, take a look at the following links as the author goes into detail about her baking day:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/menu-plan-and-baking-day-list.html
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/baking-day-the-master-plan.html
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/my-entry.html
We are putting together a cookbook of favorite weeknight recipes, crockpot recipes and freezer recipes to be shared. If you have recipes that you would like to contribute, let me know. I will try to have the recipe booklet published by next Thursday. I am also updating the links on the side of this blog with some of our favorite recipe websites.
Whatever method you use for feeding your family, pick one that is helpful to you and blesses your family with physical nourishment. Most importantly, we are reminded not to forget to "feed" our souls daily by spending time in God's Word and in prayer with Him. Physical malnutrition will eventually cause our bodies to waste away, but spiritual malnutrition will cause the demise of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Plan ahead for your spiritual as well as your earthly meals. Have you had your "soul food" today?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Couponing and Grocery Shopping
So how do you stretch a dollar when it comes to buying groceries for your family? Today we met to discuss this topic and share our couponing strategies. What a wonderful discussion! Here are some of the hints and tips that were shared with the group today:
I shop every two weeks for groceries and miscellaneous household goods. This helps keep me on budget and on prevents impulse purchases. I have created a spreadsheet for the miscellaneous household items I frequently purchase for our family. When I first created this document, I did it to find out if it was really cheaper to shop at Wal*Mart/Target/Walgreens/CVS. I have attached a sample copy of my list below:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1SECST8md-dERVM0wxazJpaGk5TF81b2M3bzRUQVE&hl=en
Each biweekly period, I go through the house and determine which household items need replenished or replaced. I delete the unnecessary items from the spreadsheet and then total up the columns to determine what it should cost to purchase those items prior to any coupons or rebates. Now before you say it, yes, it took a little time investment to price out the items and, yes, you can subscribe to services that will do this for you. I really found it beneficial to know how much a bottle of shampoo should cost. In my opinion, it was a worthwhile learning experience.
Once I have my list together, I go online and to my coupon organizer to find coupons for the needed items. There are lots of wonderful coupon sites that have printable coupons. Here are some of my favorites:
http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.afullcup.com/
http://www.shortcuts.com/
http://www.upromise.com/
Don't forget to check manufacturer's websites. I find that sometimes the best way to find a coupon is to simply Google it. Type "crest toothpaste coupon 2009" in the search box, and you will often find a printable coupon.
It is always best to plan your meals based on the grocery store weekly sales flyers. They are published on Wednesdays in our local paper and by mail. When an item you use often is on sale, stock up if you can. Many products can be frozen to extend their shelf life.
Also, don't forget weekly specials in the Walgreens and CVS ads. Many items will be free or extremely inexpensive if you can find a manufacturer's coupon to go along with those sales. I only purchase items that my family will use or that I can donate to someone else. I love the printable Walgreens and CVS lists available from http://www.couponmom.com/! And last but not least, always be on the lookout for manufacturer rebates. I love www.thefreebieblogger.com and www.couponing101.com for their online tips!
These are just a few of the tips shared today. If you weren't able to join us this week, please join in next week when we will be talking about meal planning ideas. Bring your favorite quick weeknight recipes, freezable recipes, or just plain ole' family favorites on an index card, recipe card or computer printout. You can also post them here. I'll be putting together a recipe book!
I shop every two weeks for groceries and miscellaneous household goods. This helps keep me on budget and on prevents impulse purchases. I have created a spreadsheet for the miscellaneous household items I frequently purchase for our family. When I first created this document, I did it to find out if it was really cheaper to shop at Wal*Mart/Target/Walgreens/CVS. I have attached a sample copy of my list below:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1SECST8md-dERVM0wxazJpaGk5TF81b2M3bzRUQVE&hl=en
Each biweekly period, I go through the house and determine which household items need replenished or replaced. I delete the unnecessary items from the spreadsheet and then total up the columns to determine what it should cost to purchase those items prior to any coupons or rebates. Now before you say it, yes, it took a little time investment to price out the items and, yes, you can subscribe to services that will do this for you. I really found it beneficial to know how much a bottle of shampoo should cost. In my opinion, it was a worthwhile learning experience.
Once I have my list together, I go online and to my coupon organizer to find coupons for the needed items. There are lots of wonderful coupon sites that have printable coupons. Here are some of my favorites:
http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.afullcup.com/
http://www.shortcuts.com/
http://www.upromise.com/
Don't forget to check manufacturer's websites. I find that sometimes the best way to find a coupon is to simply Google it. Type "crest toothpaste coupon 2009" in the search box, and you will often find a printable coupon.
It is always best to plan your meals based on the grocery store weekly sales flyers. They are published on Wednesdays in our local paper and by mail. When an item you use often is on sale, stock up if you can. Many products can be frozen to extend their shelf life.
Also, don't forget weekly specials in the Walgreens and CVS ads. Many items will be free or extremely inexpensive if you can find a manufacturer's coupon to go along with those sales. I only purchase items that my family will use or that I can donate to someone else. I love the printable Walgreens and CVS lists available from http://www.couponmom.com/! And last but not least, always be on the lookout for manufacturer rebates. I love www.thefreebieblogger.com and www.couponing101.com for their online tips!
These are just a few of the tips shared today. If you weren't able to join us this week, please join in next week when we will be talking about meal planning ideas. Bring your favorite quick weeknight recipes, freezable recipes, or just plain ole' family favorites on an index card, recipe card or computer printout. You can also post them here. I'll be putting together a recipe book!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Budgeting
I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful and dynamic group of ladies! We are reminded in Matthew 6:25-34 that God loves us and will provide for our every need. He instructs us, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you are well" (Matthew 6:31-33).
This week we talked about how each of our families handle budgeting duties, and we shared our best practices and lessons we have learned along the way. We covered the budgeting worksheet attached to the previous post. Here is a synopsis of how I budget:
Each month, I sit down and prepare a budget for the following month. I use a spiral notebook (old style). I open in prayer to the Lord, asking for His blessing and direction for our finances. I list out our income for the month and calculate our monthly tithe based on our gross income. Then, I continue listing our expenses for the month beginning with housing, utilities, groceries and ending with negotiable expenses like clothing and personal care items. I try to be as specific as possible as I budget. Giving each dollar a name helps me to prioritize our spending. In years past, we have used the Dave Ramsey system to pay off our debt (both credit card and vehicle payments). I highly recommend this method if you have consumer debt. It has freed us in so many ways!
Often, I am discouraged or stressed at the end of the process, so I often end by writing a prayer in my budget notebook. I tell God that I trust Him and ask Him to help me be a good steward of the gifts He has given us. I ask Him to take away my stress as I am reminded, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" (Matthew 6:34).
After completing the budgeting process, I write a check to get cash out for all of the budget items not paid by bank draft or check (i.e. tithe, mortgage payments, utilities). I have purchased a plastic coupon organizer and labeled it with the following categories for monthly spending:
Groceries
Miscellaneous groceries (Target/WalMart type expenses)
Dining Out (Family meals)
Lunch money
Miscellaneous
Under the Miscellaneous category, I paperclip and label money for various spending categories such as clothing, personal care, postage, etc. The contents of the miscellaneous tab vary from month to month. I also separate the money behind the other tabs into the cash needed for each week. This keeps me on budget each week, which is key to sticking to a budget. When the money runs out, the spending stops. This is extremely hard. I recommend keeping a small amount of money in your budget to pull from for emergencies or sudden and necessary expenses. Otherwise, when these expenses arise, you will have to re-distribute money from one of the other spending categories.
I would love to spend time with you talking about your budget or going into more detail on how the Franke family handles this process. I would also love your feedback on what has been shared. Next week, we will be talking about couponing and grocery shopping. We have agreed as a group to begin a Coupon Exchange at Parkway. We will be starting a box or envelope on the Women's Ministry bulletin board soon! The Lord is working among us and I am blessed!
This week we talked about how each of our families handle budgeting duties, and we shared our best practices and lessons we have learned along the way. We covered the budgeting worksheet attached to the previous post. Here is a synopsis of how I budget:
Each month, I sit down and prepare a budget for the following month. I use a spiral notebook (old style). I open in prayer to the Lord, asking for His blessing and direction for our finances. I list out our income for the month and calculate our monthly tithe based on our gross income. Then, I continue listing our expenses for the month beginning with housing, utilities, groceries and ending with negotiable expenses like clothing and personal care items. I try to be as specific as possible as I budget. Giving each dollar a name helps me to prioritize our spending. In years past, we have used the Dave Ramsey system to pay off our debt (both credit card and vehicle payments). I highly recommend this method if you have consumer debt. It has freed us in so many ways!
Often, I am discouraged or stressed at the end of the process, so I often end by writing a prayer in my budget notebook. I tell God that I trust Him and ask Him to help me be a good steward of the gifts He has given us. I ask Him to take away my stress as I am reminded, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" (Matthew 6:34).
After completing the budgeting process, I write a check to get cash out for all of the budget items not paid by bank draft or check (i.e. tithe, mortgage payments, utilities). I have purchased a plastic coupon organizer and labeled it with the following categories for monthly spending:
Groceries
Miscellaneous groceries (Target/WalMart type expenses)
Dining Out (Family meals)
Lunch money
Miscellaneous
Under the Miscellaneous category, I paperclip and label money for various spending categories such as clothing, personal care, postage, etc. The contents of the miscellaneous tab vary from month to month. I also separate the money behind the other tabs into the cash needed for each week. This keeps me on budget each week, which is key to sticking to a budget. When the money runs out, the spending stops. This is extremely hard. I recommend keeping a small amount of money in your budget to pull from for emergencies or sudden and necessary expenses. Otherwise, when these expenses arise, you will have to re-distribute money from one of the other spending categories.
I would love to spend time with you talking about your budget or going into more detail on how the Franke family handles this process. I would also love your feedback on what has been shared. Next week, we will be talking about couponing and grocery shopping. We have agreed as a group to begin a Coupon Exchange at Parkway. We will be starting a box or envelope on the Women's Ministry bulletin board soon! The Lord is working among us and I am blessed!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sample Budgeting Worksheet
I have created an electronic version of my budgeting worksheet. I have included some broad, general categories for expenses, but I really encourage you to get specific and tailor it to fit the needs of your family. We will be covering this at our meeting tomorrow and talking about truly giving your finances over to God. I hope you can join us, but if you can't, the blog will be updated after the meeting!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1SECST8md-dEhnY1hQMTNQTE9BZW15QzJUUFUtb1E&hl=en
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1SECST8md-dEhnY1hQMTNQTE9BZW15QzJUUFUtb1E&hl=en
Monday, September 21, 2009
This Week's Topic - Budgeting
I am so excited to tackle this as our first topic for discussion! I can honestly say that I have learned A LOT of lessons about budgeting over the past few years and still have A LOT to learn. Brandon and I have developed a method that seems to work for our family, and I can't wait to be able to share our journey with all of you. Bring your best budgeting ideas, successes and failures to share with the group on Thursday morning at 10:00 am.
I want to help you in any way that I can. If you want to bring your actual monthly budget for September/October, I will be happy to spend some one on one time with you or set up another meeting to go over it. No judgement--just advice and support.
If you can't join us in person, feel free to share your ideas here, and they will be shared out with the group. After our meeting on Thursday, I will share the ideas that we discuss so that we can all learn from and support each other as we strive toward successful stewardship!!!
I want to help you in any way that I can. If you want to bring your actual monthly budget for September/October, I will be happy to spend some one on one time with you or set up another meeting to go over it. No judgement--just advice and support.
If you can't join us in person, feel free to share your ideas here, and they will be shared out with the group. After our meeting on Thursday, I will share the ideas that we discuss so that we can all learn from and support each other as we strive toward successful stewardship!!!
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