Monday, March 31, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Time to Spring Clean!
Now with Daylight Savings Time in full effect you have probably noticed more flowers are blooming, the birds are serenading, and but your house may still feel like it's stuck with winter blues. Spring cleaning is a tradition that allows us to freshen up our homes and get a head start on the hectic seasons of spring and summer.
Spring Cleaning Checklists By Room
These tutorials help with any room in your home. Each tutorial gives a list of steps, tools and supplies needed, and tips to help you get the job done with special attention given to seasonal chores for this springy time of year. Use these checklists as a spring board to deep clean the areas of your home that really need extra attention. Skip items that have recently been cleaned and focus on the parts of your home that have been neglected all winter long.
One of the biggest parts of spring cleaning is getting rid of clutter that you don't need. Use these resources to clear out your stuff. Learn how to box up items you don't need. Find out how to donate items that are taking up space. Take advantage of the natural urge that comes each spring to get rid of items that are weighing you down and begin fresh with a more streamlined lifestyle. While we may have a tendency to hoard and hold on to items in the winter, we generally are more ready to let go of clutter when spring arrives. Trust me. Cleaning will be a lot easier when the clutter is gone.
Getting the Family Involved in Spring Cleaning
If you need a little help in your cleaning endeavors, try to get your family involved. Even the most unwilling helper can make a big difference in the work load. I know what you are thinking. It might actually seem easier to just do everything by yourself rather than try to get your family to help. Don't worry, we've got advice to deal with even those most reluctant helpers. This is actually a great time of year to get the entire family to work together. Try throwing on some music or establishing a family reward for when the work is done.
Products to Use During Spring Cleaning
The cleaning aisles of our stores are stocked full of supplies to help you clean. But sometimes the variety can be overwhelming. Although you may be tempted to clean out the local store of all of their cleaning supplies, the real champions of spring cleaning are more basic supplies like a good all purpose cleaner and microfiber cloths.
Maintaining the Spring Cleaning
If you want some ideas to help you maintain the new cleanliness around your home these 15 minute cleanups can make that fresh feeling stay around for a long time. When things are broken down into 1-2 minute chores, all of us find tasks more simple to complete. It's amazing what 15 minutes can actually accomplish in a room.
Spring Cleaning Checklists By Room
These tutorials help with any room in your home. Each tutorial gives a list of steps, tools and supplies needed, and tips to help you get the job done with special attention given to seasonal chores for this springy time of year. Use these checklists as a spring board to deep clean the areas of your home that really need extra attention. Skip items that have recently been cleaned and focus on the parts of your home that have been neglected all winter long.
- Kitchen Spring Cleaning
- Bathroom Spring Cleaning
- Living Areas Spring Cleaning
- Bedroom Spring Cleaning
- Dining Room Spring Cleaning
One of the biggest parts of spring cleaning is getting rid of clutter that you don't need. Use these resources to clear out your stuff. Learn how to box up items you don't need. Find out how to donate items that are taking up space. Take advantage of the natural urge that comes each spring to get rid of items that are weighing you down and begin fresh with a more streamlined lifestyle. While we may have a tendency to hoard and hold on to items in the winter, we generally are more ready to let go of clutter when spring arrives. Trust me. Cleaning will be a lot easier when the clutter is gone.
Getting the Family Involved in Spring Cleaning
If you need a little help in your cleaning endeavors, try to get your family involved. Even the most unwilling helper can make a big difference in the work load. I know what you are thinking. It might actually seem easier to just do everything by yourself rather than try to get your family to help. Don't worry, we've got advice to deal with even those most reluctant helpers. This is actually a great time of year to get the entire family to work together. Try throwing on some music or establishing a family reward for when the work is done.
- Reasons Your Family Won't Help With Chores
- 5 Easy to Set-Up Chore Charts
- 12 Tips for Chore Chart Success
Products to Use During Spring Cleaning
The cleaning aisles of our stores are stocked full of supplies to help you clean. But sometimes the variety can be overwhelming. Although you may be tempted to clean out the local store of all of their cleaning supplies, the real champions of spring cleaning are more basic supplies like a good all purpose cleaner and microfiber cloths.
Maintaining the Spring Cleaning
If you want some ideas to help you maintain the new cleanliness around your home these 15 minute cleanups can make that fresh feeling stay around for a long time. When things are broken down into 1-2 minute chores, all of us find tasks more simple to complete. It's amazing what 15 minutes can actually accomplish in a room.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Feeling a Little Cramped in your Apartment?
Before & After: 3 Easy & Inexpensive Ideas for Making Rooms Look Larger
When an apartment feels cluttered, regardless of space, sometimes it's more about your own emotional issues with the space itself. Here are a few simple tips and tricks that can help to open up a space and give it the breath of fresh air that it (or you) so desperately needs.
1. Maximize your space by using light colors, specifically on the wall. White is right! I honestly believe that you cannot go wrong with bright, heavenly white. We painted our bedroom walls Polar Bear white, and left the ceiling in the previous dark gray.
2. Do a furniture and accessory shakeup! We bought ourselves a nice dresser from West Elm, switched out the dated ceramic lamps for new glass bedside lamps, changed up some artwork, removed two bookshelves and a chair that you can't quite see in the photo, and replaced our bedspread with another quilt, in bright white and navy.
3. Trick the eye with window treatments. As you can see in the before image, that window does not cover the entire back side of the room. But by adding curtains in a color similar to the wall paint, we maximized the space by tricking the eye into imagining a much larger window.
Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-opening-up-a-room-with-window-treatments-and-color-200400
Sunday, March 23, 2014
10 Money Saving Tips for the Grocery Store
Locally, with the current drought and nationally with the unsteady prices of gasoline, I'm sure you've all seen the price hikes at the grocery store. Here are some quick and fairly simple ways to help alleviate those pains at the cash register.
1. Use your smartphone to manage shopping lists. My family uses AnyList, and the ease of use and list sharing makes it simple to stick to a list. By getting everything we need in one fell swoop, we avoid the extra trips to the store that are likely to result in additional impulse buys.
2. Plan your meals. Working out weekly menus enables you to work with what you have and stick to a budget. Meal planning cuts down on food waste, and you're less likely to order takeout at the last minute for lack of preparation.
3. Know what you have and buy only what you need. Keeping an organized pantry means no redundant purchases. Avoid coupon bait or impulse purchase of items on sale; if you wouldn't buy it full price then you probably don't really need or want it.
4. If buying organic is a priority, let the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen be your guide. Unless it costs exactly the same or less than its conventional counterpart, don't bother springing for organic grapefruit or other items on the clean fifteen list.
5. Avoid packaged foods. It's better for your body and your wallet. What is a "convenience food" anyway? It's no harder to grab a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit than it is to unwrap a protein bar. The fruit and nuts taste better too.
6. Shop the bulk bins, where you will find the best values on coffee, tea, beans, flours, and dried fruit.
7. Buy local and seasonal produce. Keep your costs down by keeping your food's travel time down and buying seasonal foods.
8. Consider a discount club. This may seems antithetical to many of the other tips, but there are ways to do it right. Consider teaming up with a friend or another family and split the costs and the grocery bill.
9. Plant a garden! Growing your own veggies, herbs, and fruits can translate to tremendous savings.
10. Learn how to save at your go-to stores. For example, informed Whole Foods shoppers know about the Whole Deal booklet, the 10% discount when purchasing 6+ bottles of wine, and weekend sales that are posted on Facebook
Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-strategies-for-saving-money-on-your-groceries-apartment-therapy-home-remedies-201297
1. Use your smartphone to manage shopping lists. My family uses AnyList, and the ease of use and list sharing makes it simple to stick to a list. By getting everything we need in one fell swoop, we avoid the extra trips to the store that are likely to result in additional impulse buys.
2. Plan your meals. Working out weekly menus enables you to work with what you have and stick to a budget. Meal planning cuts down on food waste, and you're less likely to order takeout at the last minute for lack of preparation.
3. Know what you have and buy only what you need. Keeping an organized pantry means no redundant purchases. Avoid coupon bait or impulse purchase of items on sale; if you wouldn't buy it full price then you probably don't really need or want it.
4. If buying organic is a priority, let the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen be your guide. Unless it costs exactly the same or less than its conventional counterpart, don't bother springing for organic grapefruit or other items on the clean fifteen list.
5. Avoid packaged foods. It's better for your body and your wallet. What is a "convenience food" anyway? It's no harder to grab a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit than it is to unwrap a protein bar. The fruit and nuts taste better too.
6. Shop the bulk bins, where you will find the best values on coffee, tea, beans, flours, and dried fruit.
7. Buy local and seasonal produce. Keep your costs down by keeping your food's travel time down and buying seasonal foods.
8. Consider a discount club. This may seems antithetical to many of the other tips, but there are ways to do it right. Consider teaming up with a friend or another family and split the costs and the grocery bill.
9. Plant a garden! Growing your own veggies, herbs, and fruits can translate to tremendous savings.
10. Learn how to save at your go-to stores. For example, informed Whole Foods shoppers know about the Whole Deal booklet, the 10% discount when purchasing 6+ bottles of wine, and weekend sales that are posted on Facebook
Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-strategies-for-saving-money-on-your-groceries-apartment-therapy-home-remedies-201297
Thursday, March 20, 2014
5 Money Saving Tips to Help you SAVE!
Feeling the financial pinch? We may live in a (mostly) fixed-price society, but that doesn't mean that you need to pay sticker price for every single purchase. Learning how and when to bring out the big bargaining skills can save you major moolah. Read on for five basics.
1. All prices are negotiable — Welcome to a whole new world of buying! It's probably not worth your time to haggle a 29 cent banana down to an even quarter, but when you're in the market for big ticket home items that you can almost afford, it's so worth it to give bargaining a shot. Remember, most businesses would rather sell something with a slight discount than nothing at all.
2. Be polite — No one wants to do business with an inflexible jerk or someone who feels entitled to get their way no matter what. Bargaining is all about finding common ground — the sweet spot where what you can both leave happy.
3. Loyalty counts — If you're a regular customer, your chances of scoring a discount increase exponentially. After all, it's worth the seller's while to keep you happy and spending your dollars in their establishment.
4. Buy in bulk — Spending more at once will also increase the chances that the seller will be open to discussing a discount. Try saying something like, "I'd love to furnish my whole living room today. Would you be able to give me 10% off my total if I buy these three pieces?" Then smile!
5. Snap up the floor model — There are certain costs to doing business, and they include sacrificing one item for people to try before they buy. The floor model may be well-loved or it may be practically pristine. Either way, the store can't sell it at full price. Asking to see floor models from previous collections could get you significant savings (up to 50%) and help the store clear out valuable storage space. Expect minor wear and tear, but remember to carefully check your score for any major damage because a floor model sale is almost never returnable.
At the end of the day, it's about getting the best you can with the money you have, so take a risk and ask away. You have nothing to lose.
Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/bargaining-for-beginners-5-smart-strategies-to-get-you-a-better-deal-200894
Monday, March 17, 2014
Spring Forward
Get ready to roll your clocks forward into daylight saving time –- the bittersweet switch that signals spring but delivers a blow to your sleep.
The body clock is a cluster of neurons deep inside the brain that generates the circadian rhythm, also known as the sleep-wake cycle. The cycle spans roughly 24 hours, but it's not precise.
It is reset daily from signals from the brain.
The signal is sunlight, which shines in through the eyes and "corrects the cycle from approximately 24 hours to precisely 24 hours," said Lewy. But when the sleep-wake and light-dark cycles don't line up, people can feel out-of-sync, tired and downright grumpy.
With time, the body clock adjusts on its own. But here are a few ways to help it along.
| Soak Up the Morning Light |
Getting some early morning sun Saturday and Sunday can help the brain's sleep-wake cycle line up with the new light-dark cycle. But it means getting up and outside at dawn. Sleeping by a window won't cut it, Lewy said. The sunlight needs to be direct because glass filters out much of the frequencies involved in re-setting the sleep-wake cycle.
Resisting the urge to linger in the late sunlight Sunday and Monday also can help the body clock adjust.
| Try a Low Dose of Melatonin |
While light synchronizes the body clock in the morning, the hormone melatonin updates it at night.
The exact function of the hormone, produced by the pea-size pineal gland in the middle of the brain, is unclear. But it can activate melatonin receptors on the neurons of the body clock, acting as a "chemical signal for darkness," Lewy said.
Taking a low-dose (less than 0.3 milligrams) of melatonin late in the afternoon Friday through Monday can help sync the sleep-wake and light-dark cycles. But be careful: Though melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement, it can cause drowsiness and interfere with other drugs.
Good Night!
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