My Grandma’s Most Helpful Hints

My grandmother has put together one of the sweetest, most thoughtful and most useful gifts I’ve ever received. She has given this gift to all the granddaughters so far. Basically it’s a cookbook, but really, it’s so much more! Inside she included family-favorite recipes with coordinating grocery lists, and I use it daily. Over the last two … Continue reading →

Organizing and the Wise use of Child-Labor…I Mean, Little Sisters

In my nesting phase, the small nuisance areas of my homes have become these horrid beacons, screaming out profane recriminations about my housekeeping skills. The top of my fridge and tops of the cabinets above our dishes had become one such beacon. That dreadful black box “hid” our stash of candy…only it didn’t. Frequently candy … Continue reading →

Simple Organization: Going Crazy with Hooks

Every house has those little, annoying, seemingly unavoidable hang ups. Especially when it comes to organization. Sure, you could California Closet the whole place…but that requires winning the lottery, so you just have to live with things like they are. Then again, sometimes, just a few dollars can make all the difference in the world. … Continue reading →

A New Habit

I’m trying out a new habit. The house has been messier than I like lately, and I need some simple fixes for it. I stumbled across this blog post 10 habits of a Clean Home on Pinterest the other day and decided to incorporate one of the tips into my life. First, you should know something … Continue reading →

Feeding a family of 4, for 2 weeks, on less than $160. 2 Weeks of COMPLETE Meal Plans, Grocery Lists and Tips.

As much fun as it is to be able to stroll into a first-rate grocery store and buy whatever strikes my fancy, it isn’t a luxury I’ve had often in my adult life. Since becoming a full-time stay-at-home wife and mother, it isn’t something I’ve done at all. We always have plenty of what we … Continue reading →

Completed Projects Make Me Feel Like a Genius.

The title pretty much says it all, but I guess I can elaborate. I love my Home Management Guide. I use it every day, but to be honest, the binder setup uses valuable counter space in our rather tiny kitchen. We have a total of 4 counters. Three of them are near the sink or … Continue reading →

So I Need 50 of These

When I went to Office Max the other day for printer ink (and to wander because I LOVE organization & office stores sell all kinds of ways to get organized), I found the coolest thing on clearance. This is a 2-inch, 3-ring binder with a built in file-folder and a pencil-pouch. It is amazing! I have decided … Continue reading →

Great New Budget Binder!

No joke, I am thrilled about this! I saw a great new pin which inspired me to re-organize the way I do our family budget. I’d already moved our bills off an overly complicated Excel document onto a printout because my computer crashes ALL THE TIME. I got tired of having to reconstruct the stupid … Continue reading →

Boy Scouts, Den Meetings and Forced Socialization

Last month, we started Boy Scouts. Originally, the plan was for Hubby to really head up this mission, but his second job has completely taken over his free time, so it has all fallen to me. I even signed up as a den leader! Trust me it’s great, but I really wasn’t looking forward to this. … Continue reading →

Building Your HMG: Odds & Ends

This is the last day of the HMG! Congrats on getting organized. The last two sections in my HMG are very simple. For the Family section, I have a sheet protector which holds a spreadsheet with  names, phones numbers, addresses, email, etc. for all the friends and family that I try to correspond with occasionally. … Continue reading →