Frugal Tips for Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love for family and friends. Demonstrate your affection for loved ones by using one or two of these frugal ideas:

• Put the kids to bed early and have a candlelit dinner in the privacy of your own home. Make it extra special by getting dressed up and using your fine china – even if its take out.

• If you really want to go out but don’t want to splurge on an expensive meal, just have coffee and dessert at your restaurant of choice.

• Although you may not be able to take a weekend getaway, you can still spend some time together at a local park, museum, or coffee shop. Visit some antique shops and stroll down memory lane of another era.

• Speaking of coffee shops, some offer live music and entertainment. Also check with local colleges and universities to see if they have any theatrical or music performances at a fraction of the cost – and sometimes free.

• Make up some gift certificates or coupons that the recipient can redeem for a complimentary back rub or special dessert.

• Write a love letter to your spouse or significant other. Give the kids a funny poem on the back of a printable Valentine’s Day coloring page.

• Create a scrapbook for your mom or favorite aunt with pictures and cherished mementos.

• Give a potted plant with a festive bow tied around the base as an alternative to expensive, cut flowers.

• Tuck a Valentine’s Day card, pencil, or treat in your child’s lunch box or backpack to remind them how much you love them.

• Make cupcakes or heart-shaped cookies with the kids on Valentine’s Day.
_____________________

Copyright 2010 Charlene Davis. All rights reserved.

Morning Timesavers for Busy Moms

• Shower at night: Not only does changing your routine save time in the morning, it also helps you to feel more relaxed at bedtime after the kiddies have gone to bed. If you’re worried about having bed-head the next morning, simply rewet your hair with a spray bottle filled with water and style as usual.

• Set out everyone’s clothes (including yours) the night before. This will avoid that empty-eyed staring at the closet first thing in the morning and the last minute rush to hurry up and iron a wrinkled blouse.

• Pack lunches and backpacks the night before. Keep the lunches in the fridge overnight and put the backpacks with the coats/hats/mittens/gloves by the door for a big swoop out-the-door exit strategy.

• Make a to-do list each night as a template for the following day. This will help to keep you on track so that you won’t feel overwhelmed or forget something important.

Tips on Keeping Your Family Healthy This Flu Season

During these cold, blustery, winter months, one of a parent’s biggest concerns is the influenza virus. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, cold weather does not cause colds or flu; however, the viruses that cause them tend to be more common during this time of year when children are in school and have closer contact with other kids. This is a big concern because children are generally more susceptible than adults to catching the cold or flu, which can develop into something more serious such as ear or sinus infections, bronchitis, or pneumonia. Taking a few preventive measures can greatly decrease your family’s chances of an infection from a cold or the flu:

• Teach your children to wash their hands several times a day to prevent the spread of infection. Encourage them to use warm, soapy water after using the restroom, playing with high-exposure toys, playing outside, and before eating. Use cleansing pads or hand sanitizer whenever clean water and soap are unavailable. However, use caution with hand sanitizers as several cases of alcohol poisoning in children from swallowing small amounts have been recorded.

• Another preventative tactic is to teach children to cough or sneeze into a tissue, or if one is unavailable into their elbow. This helps to keep their little hands slightly less germ free and reduces the chance of spreading cooties to others. Stuff a package of tissue into your child’s coat pocket or backpack so they will always have some on hand.

• Develop a germ phobia by disinfecting surfaces in your home that family members commonly touch such as counter and table tops, keyboards, remote controls, telephones, light switches, doorknobs, and handrails. And, of course, the bathroom. Throw plastic toys in the dishwasher to be sanitized, and stuffed animals in the washer. And no more sharing cups, food, silverware, or towels.

• Boosting a child’s immune system can help immensely in warding off an infection from a cold or flu virus. The best way to do this is by eating healthy, exercising, getting plenty of sleep, and drinking lots of fluids. Some people also prefer to give their children nutritional supplements such as Vitamin C, Zinc, or Echinacea. However, be sure to consult with your child’s pediatrician before administering any type of supplement.

By taking these steps to ward off germs and boost the immune system you can reduce the chances of catching the cold or flu. Proper hand washing, a healthy lifestyle, and preventative disinfecting can greatly help in this battle. And parents can help keep their families healthier this winter season.
_____________________

Copyright 2010 Charlene Davis. All rights reserved.

How I Learned to Declutter My House With These Simple Tips

By: Penny Scott

Decluttering a whole house can seem overwhelming. BUT if it's broken down into bite size chunks, it doesn't seem so bad. These tips helped me declutter my house. Hopefully you'll find them just as useful.

#1. Start with decluttering for 15 minutes a day. It's enough time to achieve something. It's short enough that we can all fit it into our busy schedules. If you do this one thing, it becomes a good habit. It will also ensure you keep your home clutter free in the future.

#2. Pick one room for your 15 minutes a day sessions and stick to it until it's decluttered. It doesn't really matter which room you start with.

#3. Declutter storage space first. Once you get control of drawers, cabinets and closets it will be so much easier to find a home for everything.

#4. Be ruthless in deciding what to keep and let go. You can't succeed at decluttering unless you’re willing to let stuff go.

#5. Make it easy to get rid of stuff. Designate space for items you want to sell, donate to charity, give away, or send to the recycling bin.

#6. Deal with paper. Little and often works best. Paper causes a lot of clutter. Bills, invoices, receipts... it's so easy to get out of control. Get a simple system going for incoming mail. You'll need a bin and a 2 tier tray. One tray for items that need action, the other for documents that need to be filed. Set up a filing system. Use a diary for scheduling actions, like paying bills.

#7. As soon as you bring something new into the house, set aside storage space for it. Always keep it in its place when not in use.

For more decluttering tips, check out the wildly popular “DeClutter FAST! How To Get Your Home In Order Almost Immediately” ebook.

Tips for Successfully Dieting the Natural Way

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink,” is an old adage that applies to many of life’s principles – including weight loss. You can join a gym, but it doesn’t help if you never go. You can turn down dessert, but it doesn’t matter if you load up your salad with croutons and hi-fat dressing. You can take diet pills and buy infomercial gadgets, but they are not effective if you’re not motivated to do it on your own.

In her article, Effective Ways to Lose Weight Naturally, Tracy Rose provides several helpful tips designed to get you on the road to dieting success. One of my favorite tips is tracking your calorie intake. I’ve been doing this for the past three weeks and have lost 7 pounds! There are several online weight tracking sites, but my favorite is The Daily Plate (I use the free version).

Read the article in its entirety to see what other tips can help you get on the dieting road to success!

Winter Tips for Our Furry Friends

Without a doubt, this winter season is one of the worst the nation has seen in many years. Our furry canine friends are also feeling the cold bite of Mother Nature and need some tender, loving, cold-weather care using some of these tips from The Write Essentials.

10 Healthy (and 10 Terrible!) Vending Machine Snacks

It's crunch time, and the snack machine is whispering your name. Pushing the wrong buttons could be a diet disaster -- so check out these top 10 nutritional nightmares, and the 10 smartest snacks from Fitness Magazine.