Project #1: Declutter Revolution!!!

This weeks project is not crafty and it didn't cost any money!

I have been decluttering for, well, years now. I'm getting close to a *happy place* but with growing children there will always be things to get rid of.

This week I have been listing things to sell online. LEGO are being sold on eBay and I've got some childrens items selling on a mothering forum. I may or may not find things to put on Craigslist. We took 2 boxes of stuff to Goodwill on Monday.

So far this week 4 boxes have left my house!!! Last week a box and a couple packages left. It feels sooo good to sell stuff we don't need anymore. Taking stuff to Goodwill feels real good, too.

Someone was telling me they have a goal to donate 2010 items this year. They got the idea from a blog I should try to find. What an awesome idea! I think I'm up to about 100 already. Yay!

Menu Plan Monday-January 4

I'm trying to get back on track with menu planning. My mom and I cook a lot of dinners together so we are both going to make an effort to plan our shopping and menu. It seems like we've been making a lot of trips to the grocery store lately.
So, today my mom went out and spent almost $300 on food for the month. I'll go get some deals from King Soopers and whatever else we need during the month. We have a goal to stay around $400.

Dinners:

Meat Loaf (half turkey/half beef), scalloped potatoes and zucchini
Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Potato Cheese Soup
Lasagna, mixed veges
Ham and Pea gravy over biscuits
Homemade Pizza
Crockpot chicken and veges

Lunches:

Pasta Salad
Lunchmeat sandwiches
PB&J Sandwiches
Leftovers from dinner
Mac n' Cheese

Breakfasts:

Cereal
Toast with PB & J
Bagels
Oatmeal
Waffles

To see other menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone the best of New Year's!

May all your dreams become reality.

Some Books are Expensive!

I'm putting together my list of books I'd like to read this year. Well, I found a list of books written by Albert Einstein.

COOL!

I totally didn't know he wrote some actual books that weren't all scientifical.

I thought the titles sounded good-yes, I judge books by their names!

Why War? was the first one I looked for on Amazon. HAHAHA! Here it is in collectible form for a mere $950! Don't you wish you had a copy?

Of course, there is a newer English version on half.com that retails for $11.99. BUT, they don't have any copies available.

I might need to check the library...

Hot Tip! Washing Hair with Baking Soda and Vinegar

I've been using this awesome combination off and on for awhile now. I just restarted a few weeks ago and will not be returning to commercial shampoos. They were ruining my hair!

I use baking soda to "wash" my hair and apple cider vinegar to "condition" it!

For those who are wrinkling their noses right now, I tell you it works! My hair is soft and shiny and managable. Are you curious?

First, take some regular old baking soda. You can get adventurous and add essential oil to it if you like. I just use it plain. I keep it in a plastic container in my shower.

Then, get your apple cider vinegar. I put it (diluted) into an old Dawn squirt bottle. One of the little cute ones that I got cheap on sale with a coupon. LOL
I've heard of different dilution ratios, so you might want to see what your hair and scalp like best. I dilute to about 1 part ACV to 3-4 parts water. I keep this in the shower, too.

Having these made and ready ahead of time makes it more likely that you will use it.

Now, when you take a shower, get your hair wet like usual. Then pour some baking soda into your hand and make a wet paste. Scrub and massage it into your scalp. You do not need to do anything to the rest of your hair-just the head and root section.
Some people use a diluted baking soda solution and pour it on their heads. So, you can try that method and see which you like best.

Rinse with water.

Take your squirt bottle and squirt the top of your head. I start at the crown and then use shower water to rinse it down the length of my hair. Avoid getting it in your eyes because it is NOT tear free! This step is necessary to restore the pH balance of your hair and scalp, so don't skip it.

Your hair should be left feeling very clean and soft.

Now, I have never had any problems or "adjustment period" when using this method. However, many women do go through an awkward phase when their hair is kinda detoxing the gunk and the oils are getting used to the new way. Be prepared to wear a hat or ponytail for a little while.
Once your hair has adjusted you will not need to wash every day or even every other day! That is the magic! Your hair will be able to go days between treatments.

I washed my hair with baking soda and ACV on Friday, kept my hair out of the shower on Saturday, washed my hair with WATER only on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday I washed with baking soda and ACV again.

To wash with water I just massage my scalp during my shower with my hair fully wet. My hair looked great on Sunday and Monday. My daughter even told me I had soft hair Sunday night when I kissed her goodnight. :)

If you want to keep your hair looking great for pennies give it a try!

Converting Onsies into T-shirts

I don't know about you, but I think a 3 year old is too old for a onsie! It makes potty learning a nightmare! But, maybe I am just dreaming about the potty learning thing. Salem is already good at using the potty, he just doesn't want to very often. I can get him to go all day dry...until about 3pm. Then we have several accidents the rest of the night. Gotta work on that!

I got a ton of wonderful hand-me-downs for Salem from a sister and a friend. Amongst the clothing were 4 cute short sleeve onsies, 3 in size 3T and one size 4T.

I spent about 4 minutes cutting the bottoms off to make a regular t-shirt. No sewing skills required!

First, lay the shirt flat on your cutting mat.



Next, take your rotary blade (or scissors) and cut just above the hip binding. Some people recommend gently following the curve down so the belly stays covered.



Voila! You have a t-shirt! Some lighter weight knits might curl a bit, but there should be no fraying or runs. If you don't like the unfinished edge you can hem it. If you have a serger, you could have just used that.

GOALS 2010

This is the time of year I like to reflect and decide what changes or goals I want to set for the coming year. Looking forward can be exciting and fun. As we say goodbye to a decade we say hello to a new one.

It is my personal goal to accomplish 52 projects this year. They will focus mostly on making things that are useful and thrifty. This will mean finishing one project per week! I'm hoping this goal will keep me motivated and "slow and steady." Then I will blog about the projects!

I plan on reading 24 books this year. This one might be hard for me. I love to read, but I have been starting so many books before finishing others that I need to regroup (after I finish the book I am on). I have no rules as to genre, but I am in a non-fiction mode right now. Some of the books on my list will be ones I've already started, but failed to finish.

Financially, we basically need to start our Total Money Makeover all over again. We had to use our baby emergency fund and stop BS2 for awhile. We need to get back on the bandwagon and gazelle intense.
We will complete Dave Ramsey's baby step 1 by the end of January. That'll put us back to baby step 2. We owe a little bit more on the hospital bill, so that should be taken care of in a few months. Then, all we have left are the HUGE student and business loans.

I would like to continue participating in service opportunities in my own community by donating items I get for free and cheap at the store. I also want to get into the habit of clicking for cups of food every day-or close to it.
We have a kids service group in our area that I want to attend more often. They meet once a month and we've only been once.

My goal is to spend more one-on-one time with my children. This is easy with my youngest, but harder with the oldest. I want to spend 30 minutes with each child every day. Any one-on-one activity counts for this.

I want to limit TV time to 1 hour per child for a limit of 3 hours combined watching per day. This will be resisted by all, including the hubby. I must be vigilant! I have already installed a TV timer, but it has been over-ridden by Eric.

Our family needs to spend more fun time together. I am setting a goal of 1 fun family activity a month. This can be anything from hikes in the mountains to a day at the museum. No housework or yardwork!

What are your goals for 2010? Have you blogged about it? Do you have any tips for keeping the goals you set?