Day 4: 40 Bag Challenge

         I know I completed day 4's task yesterday on day three but I figured I would stay in number sequence for the title ;)    Since I finished day 4's task already I decided to go through my list and take care of other tasks that are in my kitchen.  My goal is to get my whole kitchen done first, and then move on.  I don't think I will do an entire room again only because some of the other rooms in my house are bigger and it is nice sometimes to space things out and work on something else for a change.
       Anyway, I finished 2 tasks and got two more bags out today!! So my bag total is 8 bags for 8 tasks done :D 
       If I do this again I will probably make a rough draft list first and reorganize things before I make a decision on my list.  Really though, it doesn't much matter in what order I get them done just that I get them done and stick with the challenge.  Who knows I could end up adding to my task list since some of my tasks aren't taking me as long as I thought they would.
       It is so very relieving to have so much progress made in my kitchen.  With it being the first room in the house that we come into, it becomes a dumping station for every one's junk.  The living room being the next worst on the list ;) I am hoping with some of the new organizing I have done that things will be a little easier to keep clean.  It will also help now that the kids are getting older they can start helping with the chores.

Kitchen Organization Quick Tip

Just had to share this quick tip.......
          Since we live in the country we occasionally have a mouse or two that like to visit inside the house :S, so we have a lot of our dry goods in plastic containers.  Plus I like the way the plastic containers fit better in my cabinets.  For the longest time I would get so angry when I would forget to keep certain cooking instructions to the items I was filling the containers with.  I started cutting the side of the box off and I would stick it in the cabinet next to the container with the corresponding item in it.  This only worked with things like Bisquick, most everything else comes in plastic bags or a cylinder(oatmeal, corn meal).  So I came up with this idea.........

I took a Sharpie marker and wrote the instructions right on the side of the container.  A Magic Eraser will take the marker off if you need to remove it, a pencil eraser works well too.

After a while I will have cooking instructions memorized, but this comes in handy if my husband has to do the cooking.  Great to help out baby sitters as well, and when my kids are old enough to use the stove or microwave they will be able to read and follow the instructions if I'm not there to help.

Day 4,5, and 6 knocked off my list on day 3!!!

     Well I got ambitious and kept working on things in my kitchen ;) I finished they next 3 days worth of tasks on my 40 Bag Challenge, and got 1 1/2 more bags so, lets see, that makes 6 bags total.  Right on track ;) I think for sanity's sake I am going to move around a couple of things on my list and just finish my kitchen tomorrow, that way I can have that room in my house completely done.
      I'll post again tomorrow, but for now I am gonna leave this one short and sweet ;)

Day 3: 40 Bag Challenge

       I am still keepin' on ;) and doing rather well I might add!  I have even worked ahead a little here an there, while I still have the cleaning buzz ;)
       Day 3 was my upper kitchen cabinets, and wow! did they really need cleaned out!  I haven't majorly reorganized and cleaned them out in probably about 2 years.  I reorganized them when I painted my kitchen and cleared out a lot of stuff then, but now my youngest has grown out of a lot of the "baby" stuff.
        I also should have done it sooner, because 2 years ago we had a massive snow storm on Christmas Day.  When this storm hit we lost power about half way through the day and couldn't get out of our farm.  That didn't bother us so bad because we figured the power would be back on and the storm would stop at some point.  At 9 pm we still had no power so we all huddled in the living room with blankets and candles.  By 10 pm my daughter and I came down with the tummy flu (not a fun night and I will probably never forget it) so blankets and towels started to become scarce.  Thankfully by 8 am the next morning, my father-in-law was able to get to us with his tractor and we headed for a hotel.  Before we left my youngest who was 2 at the time came down with the flu and my husband followed suit after we had settled into the hotel.  After 2 weeks of no power in the house, the electric company was finally able to get the power back on.  Because of the state we left the house in, my husband and I returned first and cleaned!  We had to make sure no pipes were frozen, we lost everything in our fridge and freezer, and disinfected like the entire worlds germs were in our house.  When we cleaned we were only targeting things that had been handled during the flu epidemic, we later realized that everything in the house was also covered in soot.  When we had the candles burning(yes we put then out before we left for the hotel) as the temperature in the house dropped the soot from the candles stuck to everything.  I gradually got the most of the soot mess cleaned up, but when I went to clean my cabinets this morning I found out lines of soot on the backs of the cabinets, and my top shelves that I rarely have to use still had a thick soot film on them :(
         So anyway.... enough of the story telling ;)
         It took me a little longer to accomplish this task.  I ended up rearranging my cabinets which was awesome!  I can find things a little better now.  I mean it wasn't bad before but now certain things are closer together, and I should have put them that way to begin with!  Not to mention while completing this task I got a head start on the next days tasks!
          Last but not least I cleaned out 1 1/2 bags worth of stuff.  That puts me a bag and half ahead of schedule :D

Money saving tips for the Summer.

                 I am always looking for ways to save money, with 3 kids I have to.  Not to mention the more we become self-sufficient saving money kind of goes hand in hand.

                 In the summer time while trying to stay cool saving money can be hard to do!  Our air conditioner is a luxury, we don't have to run it but sometimes it helps us sleep better.  At the same time, as with any luxury, our pocket book gets kinda skinny.  So I have learned a few small ways to save money to help with the extra expense.

1.         We make our own Popsicles.   What kid doesn't love Popsicles in the summer?!  I bought enough sets of Popsicle makers for the kids to each have 2, plus 2 extras for dad ;) They only cost me around $.90 for 1 Popsicle maker that makes 2 Popsicles.  This way the kids can pick the flavors they want and I know what the Popsicles are made of.  We even make fudgesicles from chocolate pudding, and smoothie pops with real fruit in them. Root beer float pops are good two ;) You also won't have a box taking up space in the freezer with Popsicles that are going to waste because the kids don't like the flavors that are left, or because they forgot they were in there. Ice cube trays also work well for making mini Popsicles ;)
2.        Grill.  We have a charcoal grill and in the summer we grill a lot! When I have to run my oven in the house I am paying to run that plus the air conditioner works harder while the oven is running. Or we resort to my electric skillet it cooks the food and doesn't heat the whole house up like my oven does.  George Foreman grills are a good alternative too.
3.        Don't just run the air condition because you don't want to take the time to shut it off until it's time to turn the furnace on.  If we are going to have a couple of cool days in a row or more, we will shut the air off, but when we do turn it on I don't wait till its really hot and sticky.  If I know it is going to be really hot that day I will turn it on while its still a little cooler outside so the AC doesn't have to work as hard to cool the house back down.
4.        Rain barrels.  They are relatively cheap to put in and they supply water for my flower beds and herb garden without me having to run the hose.  Saves on electricity and water bills ;) Basically a rain barrel(for those who may not know) is a large barrel or tub placed under eve spouts to catch rain water.  Some have hoses attached to them for watering, I will usually just dunk my watering can in mine.
5.        Grow a garden.  Fresh produce is not only very healthy for you, it is also cheap to grow and will save on your grocery bill.  Even more so if you can your surplus.  You can also swap with friends or sell your extras. 
6.        Instead of paying for admission to a local pool or water park go to the nearest natural swimming hole instead.  My kids had more fun swimming in the lake my in-laws were living by last summer, than they did going to a crowed town pool.
7.       Hit the garage sales!  You can find tons of bargains at garage sales, especially city wides.  We used to go to garage sales every weekend when I was growing up, but the best time is to watch for local city wides.  More people are likely to have a garage sale during city wides, and some save their stuff just for city wides.  Remember not to be afraid to haggle, some people will stand firm, but others really want the stuff gone and might budge some on their prices.
8.      Don't turn the lights on till you have to!  My kids used to have every light on in the house from sunrise to sundown.  When I figured out what they were doing I immediately put a stop to it! The next month my electric bill had gone down.  With the days being longer we are usually outside till it's too dark, but on those scorcher kind of days when we are sitting in the air conditioned house I make sure the kids do not turn the lights on till they absolutely have to!
9.      Keep your freezers full.  A full freezer runs more efficiently.  We fill clean empty plastic bottles 3/4 of the way full and freeze them.  This keeps our freezer full, plus if the power goes out in the winter we will have clean drinking water and ice packs to keep the frozen food cold.  I will even use the frozen bottles as ice packs for our cooler when we go camping or on trips, and when they thaw you have cold water to drink without the extra expense of buying bottled water at the store.  They also work well for boo boos ;) and way cheaper than the cold compresses from the store.

     Just a few tips I thought I would share for now, hope they help ;)

Day 2: 40 Bag Challenge

                     My "hidden cabinet" in my kitchen isn't really hidden.  It is more of a huge cabinet with a tiny door ;) When I first moved in I thought it was an access door for the electrical panel or something like that.  While moving my stuff in and reorganizing cabinets I opened it and was greatly surprised.  Over the years it has become a sort of "catch all" for junk we didn't know what to do with :S  I had unopened horse washing sponges, old broken toys, can cozies, an old rusty thermos, and a bunch of miscellaneous junk in it.  So now it is completely empty!! I pulled a bags worth of stuff out of it surprisingly.  I honestly didn't think I had that much stuff in it!  Now I am thinking of ways to use it that will be useful and so it won't become a "catch all" again.
                    Cleaning out that cabinet only took me 30 minutes.  So, yeah I could be done with the challenge for the day or I could get a head start on my task for tomorrow.  I have to bale hay this weekend, so I won't have much time for cleaning that isn't on my regular schedule.
                    One thing I have learned over the years is to take advantage of extra ambition when it comes to cleaning.  Before, I would be done with what I wanted to get done for the day and would still have the energy to clean.  Instead of using that energy to get ahead of schedule, I would find something less constructive to do with my time(watch TV), and then I would have a few days that we were unexpectedly busy and got behind.  It is a lot harder to catch up when you get behind than it is to do extra ahead of time. 

Day 1: 40 Bags Challenge

   Today was the first official day of my 40 bags in 40 days challenge.  I did really well!  I started with my kids' art drawers and cleaned out 2, yep 2, bags of garbage!

   My tips:
1.  If all the pages in a color book have been scribbled on, throw it out.  My kids will not color a page if it has the slightest bit of a scribble on it anywhere.  So why have them sitting around taking up space and collecting dust!  My daughter actually went through a phase where she would draw one line on a piece of paper and that was an amazing piece of art ;) I couldn't tell her it wasn't, being an artist myself I didn't want to squash any creativity she might have no matter how big or small.  She soon changed out of this phase and has moved on to more elaborate pieces, and now my husband has plenty of fire starter. 

2. Don't keep markers that aren't quite dried up!  They are not worth keeping, mostly because no one will end up using them, or they will be a constant frustration that isn't necessary.

3. Old broken crayons that no one wants to use can be remelted into neat tye-dye color patties that are way more fun to use.  This also makes a good craft for kids on a rainy day.  Here's how its done.....
                 Materials:
                                  Crayon pieces and muffin pan (I like to use an old tin that is reserved for crafts
                                         only).
                 Instructions:
                                 Break crayons into small pieces and remove all paper from crayons.
                                 Fill spaces in pan 2/3 full (have fun be creative with the colors we like to make
                                      rainbows)
                                 Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
                                 Bake for 8-10 min or until crayon pieces have fused into one piece.
                                 Cool at room temperature for about 5 min.
                                 Place pan in freezer for 20-30 min.  this will make the patties condense and
                                     make it so they slide right out of the pan.

4. This was done easier without my kids being home.  I have cleaned out the art center before when they were home and we argued a lot over what was staying and what was going :(

5. Designate and LABEL drawers.  Each of my 3 kids has 2 drawers, one small one for utensils, and one large one for coloring books, and notebooks.  When they know which ones are theirs and can see the other drawers are labeled for something else they tend to be better at keeping things where they need to be.

6. Don't keep junky pens and pencils that only work when they feel like it.  I like my mechanical pencils and Bic pens and the old faithful No.2 pencils ;)

7. Keep pens and pencils in a can, or in a drawer organizer. I can never find a pen when I need one.  My cans have been working great for the last 2 years, plus they are organized this way instead of laying all over the place in the bottom of a drawer.

8. Duplicate coloring books are not a necessity.  These are great to give to Grandma to keep at her house for when the kids come visit, or they are great to donate to a daycare, preschool or even a church(depending on the content of the coloring book).

After cleaning out the art drawers I even had one set of seven drawers completely empty!  I am now moving thing into it that I need to have more organized and more accessible.  For instance my coffee maker sits on the top of this particular set of drawers and the top drawer works great for my coffee filters and my bags of Starbucks coffee.