Recently i came across an app called Ibotta. I must tell you that i was very skeptical that this app would deliver what it promised.
https://ibotta.com/how
I earned 12.50 from filling out the surveys which only took a minute. The only thing is you have to remember to buy the items you have filled out and then load your receipt. I think it would be really easy for you smartphone users. We have recently moved away from the smartphone to flip phones to save money, we only spend 30-60 a month now instead of almost 300.
try it out folks and tell me what you think.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Dear Friends and Followers,
I am so sorry that i haven't updated this wonderful blog in awhile. I just started graduate school and have been completely swimming in reading and homework. I do hope to organize myself better soon and will continue to impart my self-taught wisdoms.
Since remodeling the house this summer, i have found that i have a weakness. I know hard to believe when I feel like i should have been given super-powers at birth and the avengers and xmen took them before i could get to the head of the line. Darn you Jean Gray! i wanted to move things with my mind. but she took them from me like movie ladies fight for Louis Vuitton shoes at a fire sale.
Well, because ms.gray didn't feel like sharing, Here are some hacks to make dishwashing easier.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/37-hacks-to-make-dish-washing-easier
ST housewife Tip #1, if you have a boiling pot and you know you put too much water in...use a piece of wood or a wooden spoon to put over it and it will magically not boil over. but don't just read this tip, try it out.
Now go do dishes! i will be doing them in my bathtub until i figure out these hacks.
lovingly,
your self taught housewife.
I am so sorry that i haven't updated this wonderful blog in awhile. I just started graduate school and have been completely swimming in reading and homework. I do hope to organize myself better soon and will continue to impart my self-taught wisdoms.
Since remodeling the house this summer, i have found that i have a weakness. I know hard to believe when I feel like i should have been given super-powers at birth and the avengers and xmen took them before i could get to the head of the line. Darn you Jean Gray! i wanted to move things with my mind. but she took them from me like movie ladies fight for Louis Vuitton shoes at a fire sale.
Well, because ms.gray didn't feel like sharing, Here are some hacks to make dishwashing easier.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/37-hacks-to-make-dish-washing-easier
ST housewife Tip #1, if you have a boiling pot and you know you put too much water in...use a piece of wood or a wooden spoon to put over it and it will magically not boil over. but don't just read this tip, try it out.
Now go do dishes! i will be doing them in my bathtub until i figure out these hacks.
lovingly,
your self taught housewife.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
low body love"osis" : the trouble with weight gain
Hello all, I will skip voicing my self deprecating remarks today and move to improvement.
This weekend i signed up for a gym membership. I know that most people do that in January and then fail to actually go 10 times by march, then they feel guilt for spending a lot of money on their membership around now and try to at least go one more time. I would like to believe that by buying my membership now i have skipped the procrastination and started really thinking about being more fit. We shall see.
There are a lot of little goblins that want to takeover your positive attitude and day. Some of my goblins being low in body love and dishes. I have a very active toddler and outside actives are what he loves to do the best. When i was young, i also did a lot of playing outside and always felt sad that my own mother was not fit enough to play outside with me. Whether it was in the dirt, playing catch or even getting on the floor and playing barbies. I have often been terrified of becoming so unfit that i would miss parts of my kids life because i was not able to participate. As a young mother you rarely have opportunities to exercise and lose the baby fat. I have two kids under 4 and often between my toddler climbing all over me (which he is doing right now) or the baby teething and needing to be held, i rarely feel like i can step away enough to loose weight. Before baby two i could call myself a daily runner. my little toddler would ride in the stroller and we would go about 3 miles before he got fussy. Now, that same toddler would like to walk with me, which i would like to encourage, yet it slows me down and walking, even slowly will allow the weight to come off...but very slowly and, depending on your diet, not at all. We have since put child #1 in preschool 3x a week and so that frees up my time. I have been doing P90x, but it has been ineffective because the days i do workout with my father and p90x, they usually are doing yoga or stretch. Which has made me very flexible, put alas, not healthier.
Next step is taking a look at what I'm eating. As head chef of Lund a la Cuisine, i am responsible for what my family eats. i really have very little excuse for my menu including high caloric food with very little nutrition. Before baby 1 i had 6 months of being a vegetarian. I loved it. I know many of you are probably meat eaters. And believe me, I grew up as a connoisseur of the perfectly made hamburger. When I saw a physician about my weight problems about 2 years ago now, She had decided to become a vegan. She shared her experience of weight loss and feeling like she had more energy, she suggested that maybe i should try going vegan for a week and see how i felt. I was very reluctant and made fun of the idea. after hitting a point in my frustration over not running very fast on my last race, i decided what would one week hurt. So I did...and then i...lost 3 lbs. I felt freer. So i kept up with in and around 1 month i didn't crave meat anymore. In fact, if it was put in front of me, i felt like it was a piece of cardboard. no interest whatsoever. 6 months after that i became pregnant and decided to eat meat again because i am not cool enough to figure out how much of everything i need to eat in order to keep a healthy pregnancy.(my first pregnancy was awful and ended in a very horrible early birthing experience.) So i fell off the vegetarian/vegan wagon, now i am struggling to get back on it. i don't really want to eat meat, but my husband and kids do, so it makes life a little interesting. they are not against eating vegetarian, but their mental health issues do better on high protein and being vegetarian is not high protein, though I'm sure some extremest could do it. For those who would like to try it and are scared, just try it. You will notice that a lot of things can be so very good without meat. In fact, eating out isn't as complicated as it looks. Red Robin( my favorite burger joint) serves any burger with a vegi patty or a boca patty. You honestly can not taste the difference. (or maybe you can, but its still delicious.)
Okay, next topic. I have come across a wonderful blog/website that i must share. http://thestressedmom.com/2012/03/10-habits-for-a-well-run-home/
This stressed mom has wonderful ideas to help organize a home.
Ok peeps, Happy Easter and Happy Spring.
This weekend i signed up for a gym membership. I know that most people do that in January and then fail to actually go 10 times by march, then they feel guilt for spending a lot of money on their membership around now and try to at least go one more time. I would like to believe that by buying my membership now i have skipped the procrastination and started really thinking about being more fit. We shall see.
There are a lot of little goblins that want to takeover your positive attitude and day. Some of my goblins being low in body love and dishes. I have a very active toddler and outside actives are what he loves to do the best. When i was young, i also did a lot of playing outside and always felt sad that my own mother was not fit enough to play outside with me. Whether it was in the dirt, playing catch or even getting on the floor and playing barbies. I have often been terrified of becoming so unfit that i would miss parts of my kids life because i was not able to participate. As a young mother you rarely have opportunities to exercise and lose the baby fat. I have two kids under 4 and often between my toddler climbing all over me (which he is doing right now) or the baby teething and needing to be held, i rarely feel like i can step away enough to loose weight. Before baby two i could call myself a daily runner. my little toddler would ride in the stroller and we would go about 3 miles before he got fussy. Now, that same toddler would like to walk with me, which i would like to encourage, yet it slows me down and walking, even slowly will allow the weight to come off...but very slowly and, depending on your diet, not at all. We have since put child #1 in preschool 3x a week and so that frees up my time. I have been doing P90x, but it has been ineffective because the days i do workout with my father and p90x, they usually are doing yoga or stretch. Which has made me very flexible, put alas, not healthier.
Next step is taking a look at what I'm eating. As head chef of Lund a la Cuisine, i am responsible for what my family eats. i really have very little excuse for my menu including high caloric food with very little nutrition. Before baby 1 i had 6 months of being a vegetarian. I loved it. I know many of you are probably meat eaters. And believe me, I grew up as a connoisseur of the perfectly made hamburger. When I saw a physician about my weight problems about 2 years ago now, She had decided to become a vegan. She shared her experience of weight loss and feeling like she had more energy, she suggested that maybe i should try going vegan for a week and see how i felt. I was very reluctant and made fun of the idea. after hitting a point in my frustration over not running very fast on my last race, i decided what would one week hurt. So I did...and then i...lost 3 lbs. I felt freer. So i kept up with in and around 1 month i didn't crave meat anymore. In fact, if it was put in front of me, i felt like it was a piece of cardboard. no interest whatsoever. 6 months after that i became pregnant and decided to eat meat again because i am not cool enough to figure out how much of everything i need to eat in order to keep a healthy pregnancy.(my first pregnancy was awful and ended in a very horrible early birthing experience.) So i fell off the vegetarian/vegan wagon, now i am struggling to get back on it. i don't really want to eat meat, but my husband and kids do, so it makes life a little interesting. they are not against eating vegetarian, but their mental health issues do better on high protein and being vegetarian is not high protein, though I'm sure some extremest could do it. For those who would like to try it and are scared, just try it. You will notice that a lot of things can be so very good without meat. In fact, eating out isn't as complicated as it looks. Red Robin( my favorite burger joint) serves any burger with a vegi patty or a boca patty. You honestly can not taste the difference. (or maybe you can, but its still delicious.)
Okay, next topic. I have come across a wonderful blog/website that i must share. http://thestressedmom.com/2012/03/10-habits-for-a-well-run-home/
This stressed mom has wonderful ideas to help organize a home.
Ok peeps, Happy Easter and Happy Spring.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
I first of all would like to give a shout out to LegacyKnits. I have left this blog alone and you have inspired me to continue on my battle. Thank you.
Now for my focus this month....CLEANING and ORGANIZING...Don't run away, i have taken some advice that has actually made this scary combination fun.
This month in cleaning
I have decided to organize and clean the whole house. for those of you who are unaware, my family currently resides in what used to be my mothers paint studio. We have partially converted it into home a couple years ago with a pretty good sized kitchen and a bath. yet, the kitchen and bath are very rough.
I have decided to divide my home into zones. I am taking the advice of my sister in law and taking one part of my home at a time and cleaning it. I started with the Bathroom and Bedroom and they look so much better. I love Costco and Amazon for helping me organize. I have to admit that i am too impatient to go garage selling(I live in Washington state and garage sells are only in good weather...which happens for like a week a year) and i can usually find better deals online or through Costco than i can in store for the quality.
The Bath
We have a large water heater in our bathroom. I hid it by buying a cloth shower curtain and hung in on existing pipe. Thus, hiding the water heater. I have also matched the colors in the room so that it looks nice. We have a light blue, very cushiony mat and i have a step stool for my toddler. I also have a shower curtain for our tub, its blue tile inspired. I removed our old bin for shampoo and toys and replaced it with a tool organizer.
The bedroom
I have bought 3 shelving units from Costco. We are using them for clothing and also one is being used for my husbands robotic and mechanical gadgets. I bought sheets and a large king yellow quilt. I am working on acquiring artwork to fit what i need. my husband recently installed 5 point surround sound in our bedroom with our giant TV. we are currently looking for a large tapestry to hang over the TV when not in use.
This week is the Kitchen and Zone 1(which is behind the kitchen)
So far all i have done is a partial cleaning on the kitchen.
Kitchen
I have purchased a wire shelf organizer at Bed Bath and Beyond. we have encased our coffee maker in the shelf unit and placed mugs next to it. The shelf has really helped organize the many gadgets we leave on the counter. also instead of a drawer for our cooking utensils i have put them in a metal container and have magnetic measuring spoons attached. I hug our measuring cups near the stove. To handle making dinner clean up easier i bought a vinyl table cloth. it is so much easier to clean off messes.
wow, this all sounds very boring. When i have worked by rooms or zones cleaning seems so much more manageable. i have taken pictures of artwork to put into my home.( in fact there is a pintrest art project where you taking pictures of your kids in the tub and frame them for the bathroom) I am feeling very creative and alive with making each room or zone a focus. Jump on the wagon and lets clean together. I would be happy to hear any ideas that would help organize and clean. Happy Spring cleaning!
Now for my focus this month....CLEANING and ORGANIZING...Don't run away, i have taken some advice that has actually made this scary combination fun.
This month in cleaning
I have decided to organize and clean the whole house. for those of you who are unaware, my family currently resides in what used to be my mothers paint studio. We have partially converted it into home a couple years ago with a pretty good sized kitchen and a bath. yet, the kitchen and bath are very rough.
I have decided to divide my home into zones. I am taking the advice of my sister in law and taking one part of my home at a time and cleaning it. I started with the Bathroom and Bedroom and they look so much better. I love Costco and Amazon for helping me organize. I have to admit that i am too impatient to go garage selling(I live in Washington state and garage sells are only in good weather...which happens for like a week a year) and i can usually find better deals online or through Costco than i can in store for the quality.
The Bath
We have a large water heater in our bathroom. I hid it by buying a cloth shower curtain and hung in on existing pipe. Thus, hiding the water heater. I have also matched the colors in the room so that it looks nice. We have a light blue, very cushiony mat and i have a step stool for my toddler. I also have a shower curtain for our tub, its blue tile inspired. I removed our old bin for shampoo and toys and replaced it with a tool organizer.
The bedroom
I have bought 3 shelving units from Costco. We are using them for clothing and also one is being used for my husbands robotic and mechanical gadgets. I bought sheets and a large king yellow quilt. I am working on acquiring artwork to fit what i need. my husband recently installed 5 point surround sound in our bedroom with our giant TV. we are currently looking for a large tapestry to hang over the TV when not in use.
This week is the Kitchen and Zone 1(which is behind the kitchen)
So far all i have done is a partial cleaning on the kitchen.
Kitchen
I have purchased a wire shelf organizer at Bed Bath and Beyond. we have encased our coffee maker in the shelf unit and placed mugs next to it. The shelf has really helped organize the many gadgets we leave on the counter. also instead of a drawer for our cooking utensils i have put them in a metal container and have magnetic measuring spoons attached. I hug our measuring cups near the stove. To handle making dinner clean up easier i bought a vinyl table cloth. it is so much easier to clean off messes.
wow, this all sounds very boring. When i have worked by rooms or zones cleaning seems so much more manageable. i have taken pictures of artwork to put into my home.( in fact there is a pintrest art project where you taking pictures of your kids in the tub and frame them for the bathroom) I am feeling very creative and alive with making each room or zone a focus. Jump on the wagon and lets clean together. I would be happy to hear any ideas that would help organize and clean. Happy Spring cleaning!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
saving money
My topic for the next few weeks will be how to save money in the home. We ( my family) have decided to save for a home (thus cutting the extras) but how do you do that and save money? I know there are common ways to save money such as don't eat out, find no-cost babysitting and other advice, but i am talking about the other mystery things that people do that save on groceries, house cleaning supplies and tips i have yet to find. Here is my beginner list of how i plan to save my family money:
1. Only eating out 1 x a month...i may be overly ambitious but this includes my occasional stop at the coffee stand for peppermint hot chocolate. This also includes not stopping somewhere to get fries for Landon and cooking my own dinner even if i don't feel up to it.
2. buying in bulk: I must say that not all buying in bulk seems to be cost effective, but for us buying meats, grains, sugar, flour, brown sugar, tortillas (i could make these myself, but i don't know if i want to spend time doing so) and beans seems effective. i am also going to look into buying items to make my own laundry detergent and possibly baby wipes( there are a lot of recipes on pinterest that say i can do it).
3. cleaning for my father : my dad is being generous and helping me save a little money by cleaning his house once a week.
4. cutting out or down daycare: i am really not sure which one, my toddler loves going to school with other kids, yet we pay $300 a month for 3xs a week.
5. we pay close to $200 on our phones each month, my husband and i are going to pay our early termination fee and get prepaid cell phone plans for awhile. neither of us really use our phone for more than just calling and texting anyway.
6. instead of paying for a gym membership here in my local area, i have decided to go with my dad to the fire hall in the next town to do P90x with him and his friend. i know i would workout more and possibly save time if i exercised closer to home, but i think the cost of membership wouldnt' be worth it.
7. baking instead of buying: i will be making any treats we consume, i will not be buying any goodies.
8. cooking and packing lunches for my husband.
9. taking all the old clothes to the consignment shop, the one near me will pay for children's clothes in in store credit, which allows me to buy new clothes for the kids without spending extra money. i tried selling on ebay..but no one wanted cute boys clothes.
10. i solemnly swear that i will put my debit card in a sealed envelope, only to be used in medical emergencies.
i know for the most part that saving money is pretty much a goal for everyone, who wouldn't want more money, right? but from my beginning look at how to save money i have realized that saving money is about what your problem areas are for your own family. some of you may not have daycare, but spend every dinner eating out. i suggest looking at your families expenses and decide what you are willing to give up for your financial goals and or even do less of. i will post what i find in my search to find more ways to save.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Today i finally have the dishes done from monday's procrastination. I planned the rest of the months meals and realized that i am making it harder on myself that it needs to be.
I think sometimes when we don't know something or understanding something we procrastinate doing so out of fear...sometimes fear that we are going to like doing it, others fear of what happens if i do it. well, in the case of dishes i was just fearing the smell and what i would have to reach my hand into in order for it to go away.
Planning meals, i have come to realize, is not as much a science, but a lesson in preparation and the ability one has to cook. i do not need to research blogs or other websites to know that if i buy in bulk and portion it, then it will last longer. though i must admit, those blogs and websites were helpful. I just wish that there was a way to portion all food out, that way when you buy something you are not tempted to go overboard. We don't eat meat very often, so i can say that we still have a large frozen supply. What should i do next fellow cleaning and organizing afficianados?
I think sometimes when we don't know something or understanding something we procrastinate doing so out of fear...sometimes fear that we are going to like doing it, others fear of what happens if i do it. well, in the case of dishes i was just fearing the smell and what i would have to reach my hand into in order for it to go away.
Planning meals, i have come to realize, is not as much a science, but a lesson in preparation and the ability one has to cook. i do not need to research blogs or other websites to know that if i buy in bulk and portion it, then it will last longer. though i must admit, those blogs and websites were helpful. I just wish that there was a way to portion all food out, that way when you buy something you are not tempted to go overboard. We don't eat meat very often, so i can say that we still have a large frozen supply. What should i do next fellow cleaning and organizing afficianados?
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
birthday procrastination
Well, Yesterday was my birthday. Which to meant i get to spend the day how I want. Now that the day is past, I feel like it really isn't my day anymore. Its a day like any other. A day to clean, wash dishes, feed everyone.(I got out of the last part by going out to dinner, except that i had a cake at home and now need to wash dishes from cake) I think I have finally realized that while my kids are young, my life is not my own nor will it be for a long time...possibly when i die, but even then? probably not. I feel unsure how to continue being myself and yet be a good mommy and wife.
today I am picking up the house, the dishes and the laundry. I am most sad that after not doing anything for a day that the world didnt see that it was my birthday and that on my birthday the laundry is supposed to do its self like mickey's brooms in fantasia without the bigger mess at the end.
It seems like being myself would be a selfish desire, yet, as i have started reading Parenting with Love and Logic i realize that being myself is the best example for my children. I have only read the first chapter and have realized that i may appear to not care much about what my children do, i find myself being overprotective, which really doesn't help them out in life. The book gives the example of God being a loving and caring parent to mankind, yet he allows us to make mistakes, even if it means jumping off the tallest building in the world. (just an fyi the world's tallest man-made structure is the 829.8 m (2,722 ft) tall Burj Khalifain Dubai)
the book suggests (against my mommy feelings) that being hit in the nose by a bully or falling off the table is a life lesson worth the cost of pain. yet, my mommy feelings want to rescue him from the situations....so, what do you think?
today I am picking up the house, the dishes and the laundry. I am most sad that after not doing anything for a day that the world didnt see that it was my birthday and that on my birthday the laundry is supposed to do its self like mickey's brooms in fantasia without the bigger mess at the end.
It seems like being myself would be a selfish desire, yet, as i have started reading Parenting with Love and Logic i realize that being myself is the best example for my children. I have only read the first chapter and have realized that i may appear to not care much about what my children do, i find myself being overprotective, which really doesn't help them out in life. The book gives the example of God being a loving and caring parent to mankind, yet he allows us to make mistakes, even if it means jumping off the tallest building in the world. (just an fyi the world's tallest man-made structure is the 829.8 m (2,722 ft) tall Burj Khalifain Dubai)
the book suggests (against my mommy feelings) that being hit in the nose by a bully or falling off the table is a life lesson worth the cost of pain. yet, my mommy feelings want to rescue him from the situations....so, what do you think?
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