How I organize all the kids clothes

 If I'd been thinking clearly, I would have taken a picture of what my house looked like an hour ago. You see, Monday's are cleaning days. And every week, I completely gut 1 room in the house- I touch absolutely EVERYTHING in that room, windows inside & out, wash the curtains, move all the furniture & vacuum, and put it most of it back. Not all, which is the point. I throw some stuff away, make a pile to donate/yardsell or pack up for the next kid in line.
  Last week was Kaylors room, and I THREW away ALOT. Not losing any steam, instead of just doing all my normal cleaning today, dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms etc. I decided that E & F's room would be a piece of cake. Essentially it was, til I got Eowyn's dresser.
  It's been hot, it's been cold. I needed to keep both seasons of clothes out, but she's at an in between stage- I don't want to pull the 4 winter stuff yet.... I started pulling things out, setting aside what's too small for their cousin that's inbetween E & F. Then I went thru Finn's stuff, pulled out things that were the cousin's that needed to go back, things that were ours that I was done with, and things that I want-to-hold-onto-just-incase-we-have-another-baby.
  I had a massive box of clothes K has outgrown & a box of shoes that needed to go up.

 I'm thrifty- but let me tell you I HATE putting cardboard boxes in my attic. I want all the( size 7/8 winter stuff in one container. Not 2 or 3 or however many. I like totes. (I used to not label them. I had K. At the end of a season, it all went in, and then it all went up.) Then I had E, and realized I didn't know what the crap was going on in any of the totes in my attic. So I came up with this code, E1, E2 etc. for which tote we would need for E. But then I emptied a tote and put something back in it. So I went to pieces of paper taped on.
 
 So I needed some totes, and Aaron was going to the home improvement store on his way home for rat traps & small planters for transplanting seedlings.  He brought me home 5 new totes. (2 are giant ones that I wouldn't be able to get up the pull-down-stairs into the attic by myself it it were full- plus the lids didn't fit- so they're going back.)
 So I had a bunch of boxes spread allover my living room, various sizes thrown about. Still not done.
 I want to get all the shoes into 1 or 2 totes as well. I can tell you what size clothes all 3 of my kids wear, but please don't ask me what size shoes they were. So it just makes sense to keep all the shoes together.
  But I did take the chance to pull a whole box of clothes to pass on. And a giant box of stuffed animals (mostly mine. I saved them for my kids to play with. They want to play with everything. I kept my favorites. The rest is going into the yardsale.)
   I think there are 12 or 14 totes, plus 2 boxes of shoes. 3 totes (1 is shoes) is stuff for K to grow into.  I didn't count the 1 tote full baby clothes- newborn-12 mos. I made it all fit in one. I eliminated pieces til it fit.
  I still have several totes to go thru and pull stuff out of. Maybe I can condense them enough to empty a whole tote and get those 2 boxes of shoes into one.
   I can't remember which room is next, but when I get to the toy room, my goal is to get all the toys (with the exception of Kaylor's since she has her own room) into the same room, no more packed up. (Except for the stuffed animals that will get rotated (and some eliminated), depending on what the girls are into (it was dogs, but now it's unicorns & mermaids, so all the dogs are in the attic.)
 

Happy Earth Day... more than 9 mos. later

 In honor of one of my favorite holidays, I'm re-launching my blog. So much has been going on that has been down-right hilarious, or interesting or good learning experiences.
  So I here I go again. I was going to start a new blog, keep this one, (last time I started over blogging, I deleted the old one..) I like simple. I don't need multiple blogs. So I'll keep adding to the pile on this one.
  So follow my blog. Tell your friends about my blog. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be inspired (at least I hope that's what happens)!
   Once I get 15 followers- I will do a giveaway of some sort. Giveaways seem to be hot in the blogging community. Can't say I've ever won one, but then again I don't enter alot of them. You will find out why if you follow my blog, because as some point I will write all about why I don't like 'stuff'.

  But what does my favorite holiday (yes today's a holiday, for me anyway) Earth Day have to do with re-launching my blog? I'll also provide you with greener living tips, which is my ultimate goal- share real practical advice for living lighter, healthier and cheaper, all at the same time.

Today's Harvest July 1st

Last Friday, we made our first 'harvest' from our garden.

I was so excited. We had a zucchini, cucumber and some purple potatoes. I grabbed a few blackberries and wild blueberries (the little tiny blue balls) just for fun.

I loved I am growing things that I can eat. We've gardened for years, expanding a little each year. Last year I wasn't very active in the garden because I was preggers and cucumbers and tomatoes, one our successful harvests were yuck triggerering foods for me. Just the thought of them made me want to barf.

So this year, despite having a small baby again, plus one that I sometimes refer to as 'A rabid Octopus' and my 8 year old that makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes, my husband said 'The garden's on you this year.'

Wha? He's not working more than he has in the past, but he's been working on this massive chicken palace. Then he's got a greenhouse to build, and an outdoor shower, but I think I can handle that last one, if I could just find the time..

So I've been so proud of my little garden.

Diamonds & Dirt

I'm getting a farm girl tan. Days spent bent over pulling weeds in the garden in a pair of shorts too short for me to wear comfortably in public, a pair of rubber boots up to my knees and whatever shirt I happen to be wearing. I have a stripe across my lower back, and on the back of my legs that stops abruptly at my knees.

My hands haven't developed calluses yet, but they have seen better days. They're rough and stained. I gave up on nail polish years ago- I use my hands too much, it chips and within a day it just needs to be taken off but I don't have time, so I don't bother. I've given up on having long perfectly shaped nails. They break.

I never was super-girly-girl. Sure I wore make-up, got my nails done, even used to get my hair highlighted and *GASP* laid in a tanning bed once. But it never was me.

So I haven't felt like I've had to give anything up, really.

Before I said good-bye to working full-time, we were nervous about me not working. I was quick to point out that when we first got married, that I worked part-time, he worked a little more than part time and was going to school full-time. But when we made more, we spent more. I remember the entire time I was pregnant with my oldest, I didn't spend a DIME that I didn't absolutely have to spend the entire time.

But we still had our doubts, plus we were adding a new member to the family at the same time. And it's worked. We've been running on less money in the past 2.5 years, but our quality of life is so much better. My schedule was allover the place, and I just never felt like a grown-up with a family because we never got to see each other and do family stuff.

It's all been worth it.

Before we were ever pregnant with #2, and I'd planned on being a stay at home mom to homeschool anyway, my husbands ex-stepmom recommended a book called 'Your Money or Your Life' by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez. I did not finish the book, honestly. But the basic idea still rings true. You have to look at things you want and calculate how many hours of your life you have to give up in order to pay for it, whether it's a new pair of shoes, massage, etc.

God has blessed me with 3 beautiful girls and tons more. He didn't give me these girls to pawn off on someone else, my homeschool mantra- 'I didn't have these kids just for someone else to raise them'.

One day, my girls will grow up and go and do things without me. They'll move out of my house. I'll have my me time then.

For now, I enjoy watching my girls each and everyday. They change so much. My littlest grows everyday. My middle does something hilarious everyday. And my oldest is at that make-or-break age where I need to be constant.

So you can keep your designer clothes, your manicures, pedicures, new cellphones. You can keep your trips with no kids. I don't want to be away from my kids anymore than I have to. I'm gonna keep doing what I like. And that's spending time with my kids.

Money Saving Series for Real People- Laundry

Why laundry? Why now? Is there that much to $ to be saved in doing laundry?

Yes.

How much?

That depends on you.

If you read my post from yesterday, then you know how your laundry detergent works. It's the agitation from the washing machine in the water that gets it clean.

I remember when we had an upright washer, on some occasions I would pack it so full, and we used powdered detergent because it was cheaper, there would be white residue all over the clothes. So that load had to be split into 2 loads and re-rinsed. That wasted water, time and $.

• So the idea is to make sure you have a full load, but don't pack it too full or they won't get clean. Like with cars, washing machines come with an owners manual (if you get it new, and if you're getting it used from a reputable looking person at a yardsale (as my mom calls them) then they just might have the owners manual. If they don't have it handy, you can ask if you leave your name & number if they find it, can they call you? Worst thing that can happen is they say no. But you've just bought a washing machine from them- you've done them a favor.) Otherwise in the age of the internet, you can find the manual online. Find out what the recommended wash size is.

• But then your detergent. Just don't use as much, as I already went over in yesterdays post. In an HE machine, that's already very little, but you can still use less. For example, the detergent I'm using now, comes with a cup like most liquids do, and has fill lines on it, one for regular and one for heavily soiled clothes. For our house, heavily soiled is my husbands clothes. When he's home, he's working on something and is getting pretty dirty & smelly in the process. When he's at work, he's not getting as dirty and sweaty, but he's wearing the same clothes all day long, and likely hasn't had a shower in days. And he smokes a pipe, so his clothes REEK! I use less than the recommended amount for a regular wash on his clothes, run a normal cycle (not the heavy duty) and they are pleasantly clean & fresh when they come out of the washer.
• Don't try to skimp and buy the regular detergent for your HE machine either. The HE kind costs more b/c it will not get as sudsy, which is a disaster for your HE. Those very suds can coat the internals of your machine b/c they puff up and get where a regular HE detergent can't. And you just might need to make use of your warranty. So protect it.
  
• Wash in cold. Don't buy the detergents specifically for cold water. If you have something super dirty-oily, then a presoak in your sink in hot water will suffice.
  
• Line dry. The sunlight is free. The UVA rays will bleach out any stains and kill any germs. Also kills the nasty odor causing bacteria that sometimes doesn't get killed in the dryer. You can pop them in the dryer for a couple of minutes with some dryer balls when they're almost dry or dry to soften them.
• If you're saying, I don't have time to line dry b/c I do my laundry at night. Hmm. If you have a front loader, you probably have a delay setting so it can be done when you get up in the AM. For example, I get up at 7 am everyday. I know the regular wash takes about an hour. So at midnight I set it for it's max time which is 6 hrs and it's ready when I get up for me to put it on the line. And it can stay there all day til you're ready to take it off, when you get home from work, or running errands or whatever. So they're also not laying around in a dryer for a long time getting wrinkly.
• Invest in some dryer balls. You can eliminate the need for fabric softeners and your clothes will dry faster with them.
  

• Wash full loads. I have 3 hampers. 1 for cloth diapers. One for lights & delicates and one for darks. They're presorted and I wash those 3 loads.

Good luck!

Money Saving Series for Real People - Things we use

Think about all the things you use. You have to pay for most of them, right? If you use less, then bingo you don't have to buy them as often = saving money.

Lets talk soap. First off, lets understand the way soaps and detergents work. They work by acting as an emulsifier. They have surfactants in them. What is a surfactant? Here's a good explanation. So as it's explained, the detergents bind to the dirt. Extra soap isn't going to get you extra clean.

My husband uses bar soap and when it gets down to a certain size, he deems it no longer useful. I'm not really sure what he did with the slivers before we met, but I have a soap dish full of slivers. They still work! You can grate them up, scoop them in to the bottom of a pump bottle and fill with water and shake it around, let it sit and then you have handsoap.

The fact is, most of us are obsessed with being CLEAN. Don't get me wrong. I like being clean to, but did you know that the recommended amounts listed on laundry and dishwasher detergents are WAY more than you need?

• Dishwasher detergent does not get sudsy, so you never see the remnants of extra detergent in the dishwasher, but try cutting the amount of dishwasher detergent in HALF. I guarantee that your dishes will be just as clean.
• Handsoap is another one. People use gobs and gobs of liquid handsoap. The bar versions are actually cheaper and last much longer, but if you must use liquid, for hands that aren't visibly dirty with mud or grease etc. a pea size amount (just like toothpaste) is all you need. Extra soap isn't going to get your hands any cleaner. It's actually the friction of rubbing your hands under the running water that gets them clean.
  
• Laundry detergent- if you have a front loader, it's very simple- if there are suds in any amount in the ring when the cycle is done, you used too much detergent. In a top loader, your water should be clear. It should all be rinsed away. Not only does it waste money, too much detergent also causes you to STINK more when you start to sweat. When all the detergent doesn't get rinsed out, it dries in your fabric. When you sweat, your sweat reacts with the residue and causes you to stink more. So what do you do? When you do the laundry you use more detergents and softeners, right? Use half the detergent. Trust me.
  
• While we're on the subject of laundry. We've all heard that you should wash things in hot water to kill germs, right? You can save money on electricity if you wash in cold, because you aren't using water out of your water heater. (It will have to pump more in, and get that to temperature, which does use more electricity than keeping it a constant temperature.) Because you're either going to put your clothes into the dryer, which will get hot enough to kill germs, or you're going to line dry them and the UVA rays from the sun will also kill any germs.
• Some people have tactile issues and can't wear crunchy clothes. But for the majority of us, we can. Fabric softeners make our clothes smell good- BUT- again the residue issue. And to me they feel sticky. And smelly. Smells can attract bees, so I find it best to avoid them. But the fabric softeners work by coating the fibers. This actually leads to them breaking down faster. So your clothes, in theory will last longer if you skip the fabric softeners. (Although many people don't wear their clothes til they fall apart.) Clothes dryer dried clothes will still be soft. You can also add white vinegar to your rinse cycle, the smell washes out and it supposedly has softening effects. Really. I use it on my cloth diapers on occasion.

• Lotion. We all like soft moisturized skin right? Lotion does not actually make your skin softer. Lotion forms a coating on the surface of your skin to keep moisture in. The best way to moisturize is to drink water. Lots of it. And it's free most places. Free is good. But if you're going to use lotion, and I do, apply it to damp skin as soon as you get out of the shower. You skin has absorbed moisture in the shower. Lotion will keep it there.

Now I could go on and on and on about all the things we use and how we use way too much. So the next time you're using something non-edible that you have to continually buy, hair stuff, deodorant, etc. Use a little less. Sometimes you get better results. Really.
Know how if you put a thick coat of nail polish on, it takes forever to dry and it chips really easy? And the thinner coats last longer? Same concept.

Money Saving Series for Real People- Lets talk MPG

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the annual homeschool conference. I ended up in an afternoon session by a mom who started out with 'I am an expert at nothing and know a little about alot.' It was on the topic of saving money, and I really went in there to get a break; I had every intention of zoning out while nursing a very wiggly baby and not worrying about having to take notes. But I sat up and paid attention.
I've read 'many a' articles on ways to save. Alot of them are just plain no-brainers for me (as my cousin always says, quoting her late husband- 'Poor people's got poor ways.') And some don't even apply to me. So last night (or the wee hours of this morning) I had the bright idea to do a blog series on saving money for real people. Now, I used to have my best ideas and be my most creative in the middle of the night, but then I had kids. So while hurrying thru a sad excuse for a shower, my head was just full of ideas. I jotted them down as fast as I could until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. So here goes.

Lets talk MPG. Gas is all the talk right now. It's so expensive. It's still about the same price as a gallon of milk. At any rate, do you know your MPG? I've asked MANY people this over the years, and I've always been quiet surprised when people JUST DON'T KNOW. I mean smart people just DON'T KNOW!
First thing is you have to figure out the size of your gas tank. You can find that info in your owners manual, but if you don't happen to have your owner's manual handy, then you can always find that information online. Just be careful of your sources. Blogs are getting to be a big source of info on a variety of subjects, and like me, these people may or may not know what they're really talking about. So go with a reputable source. (And while you're at it, go ahead and download a PDF of your owners manual. Cars have them for a reason.)
When you know that your tank, is for example, 16 gallons, you know that filling your car til the (hopefully fully operational) gas nozzle clicks off. Most newer cars and some older ones are equipped with a trip odometer (or 2!) that you can reset each time you fill your tank up. (I repeat, you can reset this. (Imagine my mom's shock when I reset hers- if she'd have taken the time to read her manual she would have known this. If you're lucky enough to have and A & B, use one to track your mileage for your next oil change and one for each tank of gas. Not rocket science people.) You don't have to run your tank all the way out. That's actually frowned upon by most mechanics, but some people apparently still do this hence the 'fuel light' that comes on. Some cars chime at you. My car has a handy 'estimated miles til empty indicator'. )
When you stop to fill your tank up again, for example when it's half empty by the gauge- you fill it up til it clicks on it's own- don't force more gas into the tank (more on that later). Look at the pump and see 'oh it took 7.45 gallons to refill my tank, and my trip odometer said 241 miles'. So you divide the 241 miles by the 7.45 gallons you actually used. That comes up to 32.34. So that's your MPG. Now you may have a fancy computer in your car that does this for you. Still check the numbers yourself. It relies on an electrical gauge in your gas tank so it may or many not be correctly working. You never know til you check it yourself. If your numbers are the same, then maybe check it once a month, depending on how much you drive.
There are many ways to increase one's full economy. The first and foremost is to slow the heck down. My nephew has a Honda Civic, a car notorious for their MPG. He complains that his car sucks up gas, yada yada yada. Well when you accellerate rapidly, and break suddenly that destroys your fuel economy. They have done extensive studies on this.
The science is clear-
SLOW DOWN,
Don't accelerate rapidly,
Don't follow so close that you have to constantly slam or tap on your breaks. (MPG aside, it's NOT SAFE- they teach you this in Drivers Ed!)
They also say to fill your tank up first thing in the AM when the tanks have been cooling all night. I debate that one. The tanks are quite a bit underground. The frost line is at 18 inches below the surface. Anything below that is a constant temperature year/day round.
They also say that you shouldn't let your fuel level fall below half- the air in the tank will cause your gas to evaporate quicker. Again. I debate this one. Your fuel line is airtight. When you fill your tank up, there is very little air. You gas cap should be on tight (my car lets me know when mine isn't!) and when you eventually put more gas in your car, the 'whoosh' like when you open a soft drink? That's the vacuum.
There is debate about whether or not you should run your A/C. For stop and go city traffic where you aren't going over 35 MPH, if you can stand it, turn off your A/C and roll down your windows. For me, most of my driving is rural highway. I run my A/C and I've calculated my MPG with and without the A/C and their isn't a noticeable difference. Nor is there in power. But not all vehicles are created equal so this is going to be model specific.
Also, what I consider no brainers. Keep your tires PROPERLY inflated. Don't over-inflate them- causes them to wear un-evenly and faster, plus it's not safe. Keep your air filter clean. Change your oil.
Use your cruise whenever you can. Take extra weight out of your car. I laugh at this one. I have 3 carseats in my car. They aren't always occupied, but I'm sure as heck not taking them out unless someone throws up on them. Then we have the stroller, my permanent car diaper bag. My purse. My 'day bag'. The mobile diaper bag. The 'stuff I might need in my car bag'. A half gallon of water for emergencies.
Also remember the first mode of transportation is feet! If it's less than a mile, WALK. Ride your bike if you can. Really. It's doable. I rode my bike to work 3x a week until I found out I was pregnant the last time. I can't be away from home for the amount of additional time that it takes for me to ride my bike. Maybe next year.
Last but not least- Don't make trips just to get gas. Leave a few minutes early and get it on your way. :-)