Living Simply

Now days, it seems like there is a new “green”, “natural”, “organic”, and/or “eco-friendly” alternative for every product on the market — and the main difference I see between these “green” products and the other “regular” products is the price!

“Green” products ALWAYS seem to be more expensive! 

And while I definitely AM in favor of protecting our environment, reducing the amount of chemicals we put in and on our bodies, and lowing our energy consumption… I have to wonder if this is just a marketing tactic for some companies.

Honestly, is it REALLY necessary to pay more for “organic parchment paper” when regular parchment paper is already eco-friendly? And is it REALLY necessary to pay more for “natural” body lotion when I don’t even know what “natural” means?

I think the one that makes me laugh the most is General Mills cereal — they now have more “whole grains” and are marketing Lucky Charms as “healthier”.  I have absolutely nothing against cereal or against General Mills, but if people are really willing to believe that Lucky Charms could possibly be a “healthy” breakfast… they are just buying right into these marketing tactics!

I’m sure you’ve all seen, heard, and read stories about companies using these “green” words to lure buyers into paying more for their products — and I have to believe the stories are true.

You would not believe all the junk mail and spam emails I’ve gotten since Nora was born — all trying to make me feel like a horrible mother if I don’t use only “green” baby products {for 2 to 3 times the prices}!

I do know there are certain fruits and vegetables that are important to buy “organic” {see this handy printable chart} but other than that, I honestly don’t have enough information to know when it’s just a marketing ploy or when it’s “for real”.

What are your thoughts on paying more for “green”?

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Yes, I know, it’s only the middle of February — however, if you are serious about having a successful garage sale this spring, you should start planning now!

I’ve been to hundreds of garage sales, yard sales, estate sales, second hand sales, new-to-you sales, mom-to-mom sales, etc. etc. and in my opinion, there are a few things you can do NOW to make sure your sale is a success… and it really won’t take that much time or effort!

1. Gather Boxes:

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You will most likely need lots and lots of boxes and bins to corral all the items you plan to sell {see #2 below}. There is no point in paying for boxes and bins you hopefully won’t need after your sale is over, so why not try to find them for free.

If you or your spouse work outside the home, try asking for extra paper boxes or other smaller boxes with handles. Also, you could try asking local restaurants or stores to save boxes specifically for you.

Put those boxes in a designated spot in your home or garage and then move on to #2 below!

2. Find Stuff to Sell:

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Obviously, you can’t have a great garage sale unless you have LOTS of stuff to sell. I absolutely hate pulling up to a garage sale only to see they have one small table of stuff to look at — it’s just not worth the buyer’s time to stop.

This is also an EXCELLENT opportunity to purge and organize every room in your house!!

Schedule a day or an afternoon to go through each room in your house {maybe one room every other week until the garage sale} and pull out anything you don’t need, use, want or love. Put those items in your designated “garage sale” boxes.

If you don’t think you’ll have enough stuff, start talking with a few of your friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, etc. and see if you can plan a combined sale. In my experience, the more stuff you have to sell, the more traffic you’ll get.

3. Decide on a Location and Approximate Date:

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Obviously, you don’t need to have every last detail nailed down at this point, but you should start thinking about an approximate date and location. If you are planning to do a combined sale, you’ll want to decide who’s house has the best location and then pick a weekend that will work for everyone involved.

Also, if you are planning to be part of any church, school, or community sales, you’ll probably want to get that information soon. I know some sales around here require participates to register several weeks and even months in advance!

4. Start Pricing Your Items:

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Again, it’s not essential to have every item priced and ready to go, but as you go through your house and start purging items for the sale, it might be smart {and very time-saving} to start pricing your items now!

Please, please, PLEASE remember that your stuff is used. You don’t want it anymore… and while I’m sure there are people out there who DO want it, you can not expect to get top dollar for your stuff!

In my opinion, the only thing worse than showing up to a garage sale that doesn’t have a lot to sell is showing up for a garage sale with ridiculously high prices. People are looking to get a great deal, so make sure your prices feel like a bargain.

5. Use Craigslist:

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If you have some big-ticket items, I would suggest trying to sell them on Craigslist before your garage sale because you can usually get a higher price that way.

If you don’t want to sell anything on Craigslist, then at least take the time to advertise your sale on Craigslist! It’s free and you’ll get tons of exposure! Another good idea is to look for other sales in your area and then plan your sales for the same weekend to ensure even more traffic.

By taking a little bit of time to plan ahead now, you’ll hopefully have a much more successful garage sale later this spring.

What are your tips for a successful garage sale?

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A couple weeks ago I hit a breaking point and was simply fed up with the disorganized mess of cleaning products that had accumulated in our laundry room. The problem is that I can often get cleaning supplies for FREE after coupons and rebate… and I have a really hard time passing up free cleaning products!

So despite my best attempts to keep my cleaning supplies simple and organized, they were piling up again… and I wanted to do something about it. Plus I was just in the mood for a quick organizing project

One thing I did that I absolutely LOVE is my new “bucket of bathroom cleaning tools”.

In our old house, we only had 1 bathroom so we kept the cleaning supplies in that bathroom under the sink. However, in our current house, we have 3 bathrooms, so I just decided to keep all the supplies in the laundry room.

That worked fine, except it always seems awkward to cart everything around to the different bathrooms, only to realize we forgot something down in the laundry room or left it in the previous bathroom.

So, 2 weeks ago, I got a medium size bucket with a handle and filled it with my bathroom cleaning essentials – nothing more, nothing less — and now, we can simply grab this bucket, clean the bathrooms, and put it away again. It hardly takes up any space in our laundry room cabinet and we’ve eliminated a bunch of extra trips back down to the laundry room. {yes, I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this earlier!}

What’s In My Bathroom Cleaning Bucket:

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I’m am thrilled with the simplicity of my bathroom cleaning tools… especially since I made most of them myself out of ingredients from my kitchen!

Vinegar Spray:

I use a 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water mixture in a plastic spry bottle to clean and disinfect pretty much everything in the bathroom. It even works great on mirrors and glass.

Baking Soda Shaker:

I simply filled an old spice jar with baking soda and use this to scrub any tough areas {like hairspray on the counter tops}

Toilet Bowl Cleaner:

I still haven’t been able to convert to a homemade cleaner for the toilets — mainly because toilets gross me out and I want to make sure they are really clean! I do keep a separate toilet bowl ‘wand’ in each bathroom so we don’t need to cart those germs around.

Microfiber Rags:

I absolutely LOVE microfiber rags. They are so great for cleaning pretty much every surface and are also really durable {which means I can wash them a lot}. I feel like I have a never-ending supply of microfiber rags so I just keep a handful in our bathroom cleaning bucket and then wash them each week.

Sponges:

I got these great microfiber {and fully washable} sponges through a giveaway I did this summer. They are by-far the best sponges I’ve ever used, so I keep a couple in our bathroom bucket and a couple under our sink for washing dishes. Whenever I do a load of towels/rags, I just throw them in the washing machine and they are good as new. No more smelly, moldy, rock hard sponges in our house!

Papertowels:

Ok, I know I should just use the microfiber rags and give up my papertowels, but I like to use papertowels on the toilets so I can simply throw them away after I’m done. Something about washing rags that I clean the toilets with just grosses me out! Maybe I’ll get over it some day, but for now, our bathroom bucket is fully equipt with a roll of papertowels!

You may notice that I don’t have anything in here for the showers — that’s because I only clean the shower when I take a shower {which is usually not when I’m cleaning the rest of the bathroom}. When I do clean the shower, I use this homemade shower cleaner that I talked about last week.

So there you have it… my bucket of bathroom cleaning tools. I feel so much more organized, more efficient, and even more excited to clean the bathrooms!

What are your best bathroom cleaning tips?

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A few weeks ago, I shared how I keep our showers clean in about 10 minutes a month. I mentioned that although I try to use mostly homemade cleaners in and around our house, I still hadn’t found a great homemade cleaner for the shower.

Well, after that, I got a bunch of emails with different “recipes” for homemade shower cleaner; and although I was skeptical, I decided to try a few of them out.

Anyway, after experimenting these past 2 weeks (yes, our shower is now extremely clean) I’ve picked my favorite… and it’s REALLY simple!! 

Recipe for Homemade Shower Cleaner

Thanks to Anna for sending me this “recipe”!

Step #1: Pour any amount of white vinegar into a plastic spray bottle {I started with about 6 oz.}

Step #2: Heat it up in the microwave until very warm. {you do NOT need to reheat it every time you want to clean your showers}

Step #3: Pour the same amount of Dawn dish soap into the spray bottle.

Step #4: Put the top of the spray bottle on and gently shake until they are combined.

That’s it!!

Just 2 simple ingredients and about 5 minutes of your time and you have a very inexpensive, homemade shower cleaner that works wonders on soap scum and smells great too!

NOTE: This cleaner is also great for removing greasy buildup in the kitchen!

Do you have any other great homemade cleaning recipes?

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I know it’s still January… but I never like waiting until spring to do ALL my spring cleaning. I think it’s much simpler and less overwhelming to tackle a little bit at a time.

The following guest post from Jakob has a bunch of great tips for cleaning those odd spots around your home that you might not get to during your weekly cleaning.

It’s always good to sweep the floor, vacuum the rug, tidy up clutter, and scrub the bathroom at least once a week. Doing so prevents the build up of hard-to-remove dirt and crud.

However, there are plenty of nooks and crannies that aren’t as easy to reach on a regular basis (and don’t get as much attention) but certainly need an occasional wipe-down. When left untouched, they attract germs and grime… which is why doing periodic home inspections can actually contribute to better health and give your home a little extra shine around the edges

All you’ll need is a little little soap, water, a rag, a mildly abrasive sponge… and you’re ready to clean!

Here are some of the areas you might want to check:

1. Door knobs:

The amount of hands that touch your door knobs every day is a lot, especially if you have a large family. The oils from our skin collect in places like this, leaving a dry scum. It’s those markings you’ll want to search for and eliminate.

2. Household handles:

Door knobs are one thing; handles are another. This is especially true in kitchens where meals with messy preparations often result in oven, fridge, microwave, and cabinet handles getting coated with a long list of ingredients such as oil, dough, and sauce. You may need a good degreaser for this one.

3. Light switches:

It takes one finger to flip a light switch but hundreds of flips later, the switch’s surrounding plate can look a little dark around the edges from all the use. Simply wipe them down with a damp rag and they are good as new.

4. Windows:

Both interior and exterior windows collect a lot of airborne matter that blocks natural light. Giving them a quick cleaning every few months will make a world of difference.

5. Chair legs:

Have you looked at your chair legs recently? The legs of your office chairs, dinning room chairs, and even living room chairs can become covered with filth from your shoes, dust, debris, food, etc. If your chairs have wheels, they might also pick up a lot of particles, hair ,etc.

6. Floor creases:

Especially in older homes, the spaces between the carpet and hard flooring collects crud. Clean out the creases, and if necessary, fill with putty or caulk to prevent new dirt from entering.

7. Light covers:

Check the domed coverings of all your light fixture and ceiling fans… you might be surprised at the number of dead bugs and the amount of dust inside!

8. Small ridges:

Door and window frames often have ridges or ledges that collect a lot of dust particles. Remove the dust and a room’s highlights may stand out better.

9. Shelves:

It’s a good idea to take everything off your shelves a few times each year to eliminate all the dust and dirt that can accumulate. This is also a good time to declutter those shelves too

10. Rugs and mats:

Door mats and other rugs are full of dirt, dust, and grim… which eventually gets tracked into your home. Shake out all your mats and wash the ones you can wash. You might even consider replacing some that are in really bad shape.

I know this might seem like a long list, but I bet you can accomplish most of it in an afternoon… and then you’ll be finished with a chunk of your spring cleaning chores well before spring!

What odd spots would you add to this list?

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Jakob Barry is a home improvement journalist for Networx.com. He writes about eco-friendly topics for remodeling pros across the U.S. including New York flooring contractors.

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I get a lot of questions about the different beauty products I use… which is kind of hilariousness because I’m definitely not that into cosmetics. I often just use whatever I can find for free after rebate and coupons!

However, I’ve received enough emails that I thought I should write a post with a few of my favorite beauty product… you know, the ones I’d buy even if I didn’t have a coupon {and that means I really like them!}

Also, please note: I was not paid by any of these companies… these are really the products I use every day! 

Skin:

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My skin is very dry… especially in the winter, so I’m always trying out new lotions and creams on my face and body. I like some better than others, but over the past few years, I’ve decided on a few of my favorites.

3 Citrus Face and Eye Cream from Prairieland Herbs:

I was first introduced to Prairieland Herbs by a friend of mine… and have been hooked ever since! I’ve done two different giveaways with them because I just LOVE all their products.

Their face and eye cream is absolutely to die for. It’s so concentrated that it takes me a full 6 months to go through a tiny 1/2 oz. container. If I could only take one product with me… this would be it!

MadeOn Hard Lotion bars:

I had never heard of a “hard lotion bar” until I did a giveaway with the MadeOn company – but I can tell you that they are absolutely fantastic! These bars are excellent for traveling because they aren’t messy and they can’t spill all over your luggage like bottled lotions. Plus they are hand-made from all natural ingredients.

During my pregnancy, I had really bad restless legs… and I’m not sure if it was just my imagination or not, but I used these lotion bars every night because they seemed to help with the restlessness!

Cheeky Baby Butter from the BabyBearShop:

I origionally got this for Nora, but it’s so soft and silky that I use it too. I massage some of this baby butter on Nora’s legs and feet every morning and night — she absolutely loves it!

I soon realized that my hands felt so great after massaging her legs, so now I use the baby butter as a hand cream for my dry winter skin.

Vaseline:

When all else fails, I always have at least one huge tub of Vaseline available for REALLY dry, chapped skin and lips!

Face:

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I don’t wear a lot of makeup on a day-to-day basis, but I do have a few products that I won’t go without!

As I mentioned above, my skin is pretty dry so traditional facial cleansers from the store would always dry out my skin even more. Thankfully, I found this recipe for homemade face wash using oil…  I’ve been using it once a day for over a year now and my skin has NEVER looked better. My face is so soft and I hardly ever have dry flaky skin like I used to.

Morning Routine:

• Use a little of the 3 Citrus Face & Eye Cream {see skin section above}

• Apply mascara {whatever brand I can get for free or almost free}

• Use a little concealer and/or bronzing powder

Evening Routine:

• Cleanse my face using the oil wash mentioned above {this also removes makeup}

• Dab a little more of the Face & Eye Cream on any dry areas

I might use a little eye liner or lip gloss if I’m going out at night, but other than that, I really don’t wear much makeup.

Lips:

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I have at least one tube of Chapstick with me at all times… however when my lips get really dry, I have two products I rely on.

Rose Salve from Bath and Body Works:

I’ve been using this since high school and always keep a good supply in our medicine cabinet so I never have to worry about running out. And I can usually get this for free whenever Bath and Body Works offers their “free lip product” coupon!!

Vaseline — told you I’m obsessed

I have several containers of each product so I never run out! Plus, both are really inexpensive and last for a very long time.

Hair:

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I’ve already spent some time talking about the different products I use on my hair. Since I have short hair, I usually only wash it every other day with my homemade “shampoo” and hair rinse. Then I use a few simple styling products to quickly make myself look presentable each day!

You can read about the rest of my hair routine over here.

Nails:

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Unfortunately, I really don’t pay much attention to my nails, and I always keep them cut pretty short. Sometimes I wear OPI clear nail polish to give them a glossy look… but that’s about it.

Believe it or not, I’ve never gotten a real manicure or pedicure before… and I don’t even paint my toenails unless it’s a special occasion!

 So that’s it — those are my favorite beauty products… the ones I use every single day.

Do you have any favorite go-to products I should try?

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Last year, I shared the handy Excel workbook I’ve been using to track my finances ever since I was in college. Obviously, I’ve updated it over the years… but the basic concept is the same, and it works wonderfully for me. Based on all the emails I get, I assume it also works wonderfully for many of you!

Now before you get too excited, let me just reiterate that this workbook is NOT a budget — it does not tell you how much you can and can not spend. Instead, it’s a tool to help you track your finances and monitor how much you actually DO spend.

I know many of you are trying to create a budget to help you and your family save more and spend less, but in my opinion, it’s impossible to set up a realistic budget unless you first figure out exactly where your money is going and how much you are currently spending, saving, etc.

So if you’ve never actually taken the time to track your finances for an entire year, this workbook should be extremely helpful for you as the first step to then creating a realistic budget.

I’m not going to go into a ton of detail about the spreadsheet itself, because you can read about all the different categories and features here… but instead, I’ll give you a quick overview.

Basically, the workbook has 7 worksheets or categories {see image below}

Each worksheet provides a place to track monthly and weekly income, bills, expenses, debt reduction, giving, and investments.

You can see the summary of everything {including your overall surplus or shortage} on the last worksheet.

So the idea is that if you faithfully record ALL your income and ALL your expenses, you should be able to quickly and easily see how much you are spending on a monthly basis AND for each category {like gas, groceries, clothing, utility bills, etc.}

After you’ve tracked your finances for several months or an entire year, THEN it’s time to sit down and figure out where you might be able to cut back a little {or a lot} and create your budget based on those numbers. Creating a budget based on real-life numbers will be so much easier than just pulling numbers out of thin air; and you will be much more likely to stick to your budget — which is the whole point!

If you’ve never taken the time to track your saving or spending before, this could be an eye-opening exercise for you {numbers don’t lie!}… but I guarantee it will be worth it in the end!

Download your FREE 2012 Financial Workbook here!!

• Here is a link to the “regular” Excel File

• Here is a link to the “97-2003″ Excel File {if you are using an older version of Excel}

• Here is a link to an “Open Document Spreadsheet” — in case the others don’t work

• Here is a link to it in Google Docs. {some of the formatting is different here}

NOTE: The files will automatically download to your computer by clicking the link above. You will need Microsoft Excel on your computer to be able to use this worksheet — and you should save it in a convenient place {like your desktop} so you can easily update it on a daily/weekly basis.

I created this workbook so that you will be able to edit everything — because that only makes sense to me! However, even though I’m giving you full access to use and edit this workbook, I hope you don’t abuse that by trying to pass it off as your own

If you are trying to save more and spend less this year, download my FREE 2012 Financial Workbookand get started today!

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