I Am STILL Ruining My Evenings

It's 8:15pm.  I just tucked my toddlers into bed, and I can finally finish cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, put the groceries away, and fold a load of laundry, but somehow I crawl into bed a couple hours later with the dirty dishes still in the sink and the laundry still in the dryer.  

I wrote this two years ago and somehow it still seems familiar.  With five little ones under six, it is SO hard to follow my own advice.  I'm revisiting this post because, well, I need it.  I'm planning to retake the Money Saving Mom class starting tonight.  Tonight.

Does this sound familiar?

If you're like me, you probably have the best of intentions in making the most of the evening by tidying up and getting prepped for tomorrow.

BUT if you're like me, you might get your kids tucked into bed and think, "It's been a long day, and I can finally sit down and relax for a few minutes."

The next thing you know, it's time to get to bed, so that you can be rested when your alarm goes off at 6 AM the next morning.

Where did the evening go?

I've identified three reasons that I consistently ruin my evenings.

1. Spending Too Much Time on Social Media

Do you sit down to check your email, just to find yourself still scrolling through Facebook half an hour later?

I certainly do.  And we are not alone.  86% of moms are members of at least one social network.  And mothers with children under five spend 37 hours each month on their smartphones using apps or browsing the web.

Nevertheless, social media can suck time away from all of the important things we need to get done.

Social media can wait.  This is just one reason why you might be ruining your evenings.

#2.  Putting "it" off until tomorrow.

Do you ever think, "I'll just do that in the morning"?

I do.  Somehow I think that if I put off the things I need to do in lieu of the things I want to do (i.e. social media), that I'll be able to easily catch up later.

And then life laughs in my face when I hit the snooze button three, maybe four, times the next morning.

The dishes in the sink just grow and grow.  The laundry pile seems to triple in size each day that I don't wash a load.  These chores-that-never-end (they just go on and on my friend), should not be delayed until tomorrow.

And this is reason #2 that you might be ruining your evenings.  (I do.)

#3.  Forgetting to delegate.

Once the kids are in bed, and I can finally get back to those things around the house I need to finish before bed, I tend to 1) get overwhelmed and sleepy and 2) forget to delegate.

Why should I need to finish clearing the table or washing the dishes at all when I have a wonderfully capable and willing husband and a wonderfully capable (though admittedly less willing) tween who can help with the dishes and such?

The answer is that I shouldn't.

Not that I won't have things to do after tucking the toddlers in bed, but I need to learn to delegate better.

I'm working on a cleaning schedule that clearly delegates tasks to each member of the family, including my oldest toddler, but the first few days of it haven't gone smoothly.  It's a work in progress, right?

Do you delegate efficiently?

This is yet another reason that you might be ruining your evening (like me).


#4.  Bonus! Justifying Watching Just One (okay, maybe two) Episodes of That Show You Don't Even Care About

"I worked all day for everyone else in my family, so I deserve 45 minutes to myself to watch the latest fad on Hulu (or Amazon Prime or Netflix)"

Do you ever find yourself saying that to yourself?

I can't tell you how many different shows I've watched in the last year alone.  I'm in no way attached to them, they are just mindless entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's complete fine to watch mindless entertainment, but not to the extent that it ends up ruining your evening.


. . .

But what can we do to make our evenings run smoothly and prepare us for the next morning?

I have what I hope will be the answer for me.

One of my very favorite bloggers, Crystal Paine from MoneySavingMom.com, is hosting a course called, Make Over Your Evenings.

I'm SO excited to take part in the course, and if you are anything like me, you should be excited to take this course, too!

The Make Over Your Evenings class requires just 15 minutes once a day for two weeks.  I bet you can handle that!


So hurry to MakeOverYourEvenings.com to get more details and SIGN UP!

Let's Make Over Our Evenings together, so that we can stop Ruining Our Evenings.

**This post contains affiliate links.  Please see my full disclosure policy.**

How I Saved Over a Thousand Dollars on an Area Rug

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Yesterday, I mentioned in my Five on Friday post that I finally found an area rug at a local overstock store for under $200.  Last night, I decided to try to find my rug online to find out more information about the quality and such.

Honestly, I thought it was a long shot since the store I purchase the rug from specializes in overstocks and closeouts.

So, I Googled . . .

fleur de lis area rug . . . nothing.
fleur de lis black area rug . . . nothing.
fleur de lis black and cream area rug . . . nothing.
fleur de lis heart black and cream area rug . . . YES!

There it was.  A pin on Pinterest with my exact rug.

click.
click.

Yikes!  Wowsers!

Here is what I saw.

Sixteen hundred dollars?!?!

$1,600!?!?

So, obviously, I thought it was a fluke.  So I searched more for my rug and there it was on Amazon, Walmart, Wayfair, and more.  All for nearly sixteen hundred dollars!

So how did I do it?  

How did I save nearly $1,400 on an area rug? 

This is how I saved over a thousand dollars on an area rug.

1. Talk to the locals.  We are new to the south and I knew there must be more options that the standard national retail stores and the giant rug store that I had seen tons of billboards for.  My local source is our daycare provider.  She knows all the right places to find things around here.  She was the one that knew about the local overstock/closeout store.

2. Seek closeout and overstock deals.  I have found that closeouts and overstocks are great ways to save money.  Think of the Amazon open-box deals that you can find on diapers sometimes.

3. Dig deep, Be patient.  In this case, my rug was at the bottom of a pile of 50 or 60 rugs.  I could have looked at the top few rugs and eliminated the store altogether.  This rug was truly a treasure hunt and felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.  I could only see about one square foot of the 8x11 foot rug when I selected it.  I was crossing my fingers the entire time as I waited for the employees to get to it that I would actually like the rug.  Luckily, I did.

4. Use store reward programs.  Like many stores, this store had a rewards program.  And there was even a special offer to get an extra 15% off once signed up for the program and filled out the online profile.  I signed up in the store, walked out to my car, sat in my car, and filled out the online profile.  Once I received the email for the extra 15% off, I walked back into the store and bought the rug.

Here's the breakdown.

Original price: $1,573.00
Closeout price: $199.99
Sale + rewards discount: $20.00

Final price = $179.99 

Savings of $1,393.01 or 89%!

I'm loving this rug, and I think I love it more knowing that I saved over a thousand dollars on an area rug!

Five on Friday: Home Edition

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Wow, it's been a very long time since I jumped into a Five on Friday post.  Even though these are some of my favorite posts, life has just seemed like a sprint since we moved to South Carolina.

1.  IKEA

One of the great things about our new location is that we are only about an hour away from Charlotte.  And that means we are only about an hour away from IKEA.  For years, I have watched as friends posted pictures of their adventures at the iconic store, and I've pinned IKEA hacks over and over from fellow bloggers (especially for children's rooms), but it wasn't until recently that I had the chance to have my very own first IKEA experience.  My husband and I were in Charlotte doing some business research, but I saw IKEA in the distance and convinced him to walk through with me.  Even though we had fun feeling inspired by ideas that we might want to implement someday, at the end of the afternoon, Alexander the Great remarked, "You need to make some friends, so that you can go to IKEA with them."  The unspoken part was along the lines of "...so that you won't drag me here again."  And he's totally right.  The first trip resulted in only one purchase.  Lingonberries.  I've eaten lingonberries at almost every Christmas that I can remember because my Dad makes Aebelskiver every year, our traditional Danish food.

After that first experience, I knew that I would be heading back to Charlotte to bring some IKEA back to our house!  And yesterday was the day!  I am finally finishing off the Littles' room (our 2 year old and our 7 month old).  I have been eyeing the Kallax cube unit forever and finally got it!  Yay!  The picture ledges I wanted to go above the Kallax cube unit were out of stock, but I got a few baskets, and I'm hoping that Hobby Lobby will have some similar shelves.  I decided to spend a bit more and go for the IKEA Kallax instead of the Walmart or Target versions because the cubes are larger by couple inches and I think that will make a big difference for storing kids' toys.

I also found a bath mat that perfect matches the kids' bathroom, a small black picture ledge for my master bedroom, and a frame with knobs on clearance that I'll put in the kitchen to hang towels.

Next time, I want to pick up some of the kitchen wall storage to use in our main bathroom (i.e. the kids' bathroom).  There is really no counterspace, so it's tough to organize the things we use most and don't want to stash beneath the sink.  I'm trying to decide between the spice racks and the Bygel rail with a couple colorful pots and hooks, but I'm leaning toward the Bygel rail.  Thoughts?


2.  Pillow covers

I finally ordered pillow covers for my living room throw pillows that coordinate with the color scheme I'm moving toward.  I need to cover four pillows, and I ran across some pillow cover designs on Pinterest, which led me to Amazon, which led me to some rather inexpensive pillow covers with great ratings.  I'm super excited for them to arrive; the bummer is that it turns out that the pillow covers are being shipping from China.  Oops.  It'll be a month or more before they arrive.

Triangle Pillow Cover from Amazon

Bible Verse Pillow Cover from Amazon
  

Arrow Pillow Cover from Amazon

3.  Rugs

I guess the theme today is home decor and home organization!  Our current rental house has wood or laminate floors except for in the bedrooms.  I know that everyone else in the world loves wood floors, but personally, I hate them.  They are cold and hard.  And high quality rugs are so expensive.  And if you know me, you know that I am a very thrifty, frugal person.  For the past month or so, I have been hunting high and low for a decent rug at a decent price.  Apparently, it is a rather difficult thing to do.  I almost bought this rug from Pier One, but after the shipping costs, no thank you.  I also considered a few from Target.  Because who doesn't love Target?  Anyway, here are some of my favorites.

Greek Key Rug from Target

Threshold Fretwork Rug from Target

Swirly Rug from Wayfair

But that was before our daycare nanny told me about a local overstock/closeout place.  One of things I had been struggling with was paying several hundred dollars for a nice tufted rug like I saw at the fancy rug stores or paying $150-$200 for something that was cute, but not high quality.  And at this local store I found the rug.  I joined their rewards program for an extra 15% and went home with an 8'x10' high quality tufted rug for under $200!

You find out how much I saved in my post here.  I was shocked!

Here's my not quite finished living room with the new rug.  Next step, curtains and end table decor.

My new rug!

4.  This Mermaid Art

Mermaid Canvas from Zulily

Mermaid Moon Canvas from Zulily

My daughter's theme is mermaids.  (The Little Mermaid was my favorite movie as a child, and I have always wanted to have a mermaid/sea themed nursery.)  I saw these on Zulily and fell in love; I haven't decided whether or not to order one or both, but I think they are just perfect for a little girl's room.

And then there's this . . .

Sleeping Mermaid Print from Zulily

And in another year or so . . .

Mermaid Comforter Set from Zulily

5.  Lists

I love lists.  Love them.  Right now I have about 7 of them for different categories of things I need to do.  Over the weekend, I plan to cross off a lot of items from the category of finishing our house.  It's time.


Have a fantastic weekend all!

Sticking to the Budget when it's the Last Week of the Month

It's not easy sticking to a budget.  In fact, more often than not, by the end of the month, I find that I haven't been able to stick with it.  "We're over the food budget, but we're out of milk."  So, I run to the store and get milk...along with a few other items, of course.

With the New Year, however, comes resolutions and such.  One of ours is to not just make a budget every month, not just pay off the credit card in full every month, but to get our family in a better financial position and to create better financial habits.  Especially by the time we move this summer.  

I'm already a nerdy couponer, so making a budget is fun for me.  But like I said, sticking to the budget is often hard.

Three weeks ago, we started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course at our amazing church.  Total Money Makeover, here we come!  We are excited for February because we already have our budget put together, and we are feeling good about what we can start accomplishing when it comes to paying off student loans, adding to our savings for a down payment on a house, etc.  

But this last week of January has been a struggle.  We're talking rice and beans.  Except that rice and beans aren't Paleo.  We've had some big expenses that while we knew were coming, are still big expenses.  We were already over on our food budget for the month, which I mostly attribute to the adjustment to the Paleo diet.  (Meat and produce can get expensive!)  So I made a menu based on what we had in the pantry already to keep expenses down for the week.  And I knew that no one in our house would be in any way excited about the menu for the week - cabbage soup, chicken marinara with zucchini noodles, leftovers, boring sack lunches, etc.  But I stuck to the menu.  But even sticking to the menu doesn't work when you can't predict how many eggs your husband and kids are going to eat and how far the leftovers will stretch.  

So, skip to yesterday, Saturday, January 31st.  Our fridge was bare with the exception of a few leftovers from the night before, fruit, and condiments.  No milk, no eggs.  Just bare.  But I was determined not to even set foot in the grocery store.  So we made oatmeal for breakfast, but without the customary milk.  And we finished off the leftovers for lunch.  And then it was dinnertime.  Uh oh.  

But instead of panicking, I checked the fridge again, checked the freezer, and realized that we had just enough ingredients to make chicken fried rice.  Rice, 4 chicken thighs, a few fresh carrots, a head of broccoli, some frozen veggies...that's it.  Plus just barely enough teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, etc.  (We used the ends of about 4 different bottles of sauces to get enough to cover the rice.)  

We made it!  It would have been easy to say, "We've already failed this month, let's just stop trying until next month."  It would have been so easy to swipe the credit card at the grocery store or a restaurant to get us through to the next month's budget.  But instead, we used what we had on hand to get through the end of the month.  And I have to say, I'm so proud of us - my husband and I.  It feels great to start February this way.  

Happy Sunday everyone!

photo source

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The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule {Book Review}

I've been drafting posts about routines and scheduling for a couple of months, but nothing I haven't gotten anywhere with it.  And I need a schedule.  Desperately.

There truly are many resources and printables out there, and I've found several that I like, but usually I don't even get around to printing them.  Forget about actually implementing them.

So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review Amy Roberts' The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule.  

Like I said,

I need a schedule.

Amy from Raising Arrows, is a homemaker AND homeschooler to 6 children.  Six!  If she can do it with six, then surely I can do it with one.  Right?

The amazing thing about this book is that Amy outlines steps to follow in creating a schedule.  And instead of starting from scratch, she encourages you to work from where you are.  I always had the mindset that my schedule should be the perfect ideal, and that I should just make up what I thought would be ideal.  Well, Amy takes a different approach, and I like it.

No creating drastic changes.

No adherence to specific times if that doesn't work for you.

No one size fits all mentality.

This book outlines your organizational type, the schedule creation process, example schedules, how to involve children in homemaking, and tips on how to stick with it.  The second part of the book covers scheduling for homeschooling.  Baby Prez isn't old enough to even think about schooling, but more on that later. 

As soon as I opened my review copy, I literally sat down and read the book cover to cover.  I didn't even intend to, but I couldn't stop reading!  And now I am following the steps outlined in the book.  I will admit that it has only been a few days, but already I am feeling better about my schedule/routine.  Now, unlike any time before, I am truly convinced that this will work. 

The first question the book asks is: Are you a schedule person or a routine person? 

My honest answer: I have no clue.  But I want to be a schedule person.  I've tried to be a routine person, and that hasn't worked particularly well (not that I really stuck to my routines anyways).  The good news is that both types can have an effective, but different schedule.

So I'm working on the steps and plan for a schedule person.  Since weekdays are not alike at my house, I have my handy-dandy notebook for recording my activities and drafting my tentative "I'm already doing that" schedule in Step 1.  Today was my first day to record my activities for the two days a week that my little guy is in daycare.  So, I won't be able to put the tentative daycare-day schedule into place until next week, but it felt like a good exercise to keep track of what I'm actually doing each day.  The exercise was beneficial not only in terms of creating a schedule, but also in terms of understanding where and when I'm wasting time.  I don't know about you, but too often, I get to the end of the day and wonder what I even did during all my waking hours.

Not only are the steps and exercises in the book useful, I was also struck by this quote at the beginning of the book:

"Let me entreat you to consider the God you serve and His attributes in this respect (remember, we are created in HIS image).  God set forth timing and order to nearly everything.  Our day is 24 hours, with a sunrise and a sunset.  We have a 7 day week, with a day set aside for worship.  The tides, the seasons, the revolutions and rotations of the planets are all in a set order.  Even God’s plan for mankind’s salvation and reconciliation to Himself was set forth in a certain order.  God is not a God of chaos." - Amy Roberts, The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule

Isn't that an amazing thought?

That God created the first schedule.

And it is incredibly inspiring to me.

These are a few of my favorite tips from the book:

• Daddy's Comin' Dash - Implement a 15 minute mad dash around the house at 4:30pm to get the house ready for Daddy to come home.
• Age-appropriate children's chores - It's time to start teaching my 10 month old to put his toys away and to turn lights on and off!
• Start with what you've got - And tweak, tweak, tweak.
• Chore cards - Hoping to get Baby President in on these as soon as he is old enough!
• And Prayer - praying for the right attitude about homemaking really can make a difference.  How did I not think of that before?

I also want to mention a bit about the homeschooling portion of the book. . .

Baby Prez is obviously not old enough for us to start any kind of schooling, but the idea of homeschooling has come up a time or two. . . or three.  If we decide that homeschooling is right for us, I will most certainly be referring back to The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule.  Probably every day.

Amy gives incredible advice, at least in my own inexperienced opinion.  She includes example schedules and resources for when family dynamics change.  My favorite piece of advice is this,

"I believe every homeschool parent should be working themselves out of a job.  When children are young, it is so vital we teach them to love learning so much they seek it with every inch of their little bodies! " - Amy Roberts, The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule

To finish up, I want to point out one more time, the incredible benefits I've found in reading The Homemaker's Guide to Creating a Perfect Schedule:

• The actual schedule-making process is provided
• Example schedules from the author's own life are available as resources
• Multiple scheduling methods are presented with each being unique and valuable
• Advice on how to make the schedule stick is right there!  (And I tell you what, that has always been a missing piece for me.)

You want to buy her book immediately, right?  Trust me, you won't regret it!

The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule is available right now as part of an 87-book homemaking bundle that you can purchase for just $29.97!  The book is $4.99 if you purchase it separately, so why not buy the bundle?

It is one of 8 books and 2 sets of printables on homemaking.

You can find more information about the bundle HERE or purchase it now:

The book is also available to buy separately at RaisingArrows.net, but if you purchase the bundle, you'll save nearly $700, plus receive bonuses worth $200!

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Resources for Homemakers, Wives, & Moms

By popular demand, 100+ homemaking bloggers are bringing back the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, and it's better than ever!

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is a complete library of great eBooks on homemaking.

Unlike a library, though, you don’t have to spend years compiling it. The Ultimate Bundles team has done the hard work for you, searching the web to find the very best eBooks from top homemaking authors and combining them into one essential collection.

Act now to get the ultimate eBook collection on homemaking at a once-in-a-lifetime price.

You will not find a more complete set of homemaking resources anywhere -- and certainly not at this price. Bought separately, they’d cost a total of $698 (not including $200+ in bonuses!). But you can have all of them for just $29.97!

But it will only be available for six days. So grab yours before it's gone!

In this bundle, you will find 80+ eResources aimed to grow you in all aspects of homemaking, including:

• Homemaking
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• Pregnancy and babies
• Health and wellness
• Homeschooling
• Holidays and special events
• Financial stewardship

See the full list of 80+ eBooks, audio files, eCourses and printable packs included in the sale.  Want more information?  Check back each day of the sale for a new review of eBooks from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.

You will also receive $200 of freebies from our 10 awesome partners!

In addition to all the amazing eResources, this bundle includes the best bonus offers it's ever had, including:

• A free 10-pack of greeting cards from Dayspring
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• Sixty-four loads of eco-friendly laundry detergent from Dizolve

As well as five more incredible offers from TriLight Health, List Plan It, Bulk Herb Store, Once a Month Meals, and Fit2B Studio.  These deals are worth over six times the price of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. So you’re up on the deal right away!  Learn more about the bonus offers.

This amazing resource of information and guidance will be right there on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, or Kindle, whenever and wherever you need it.

Here's what you need to know:

When? 8 a.m. EST Wednesday, April 23 until 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, April 28
What? 78 eBooks, 2 eCourses, 2 audio files, and 2 printable packs PLUS over $200 worth of bonus products you'll really use!
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Want to learn more? Read about what this amazing bundle offers—or just buy it now!

Remember, this bundle is available for 6 days only, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, April 23 to 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Monday, April 28th.

This post may include affiliate links. Read the fine print about this bundle and read the answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle.

Harvey Homestead in Progress

I'm too excited about this not to share, so more info is coming later!  But here's what we accomplished tonight for our backyard garden!

We planted tomatoes (3 kinds), zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe,  bush beans, snap peas, paprika pepper, mini sweet peppers (orange, yellow, and red), cucumbers (3 kinds), broccoli, okra, brussel sprouts, butterhead lettuce, and corn.  That's over 150 seeds planted!

Mr. Harvey and his white naga pepper plant.  Yikes!