household tips
Keeping it Real… {My Dirty Truth}
This was not the blog post I had planned for this morning, but yesterday evening I happened to check my blog stats to see what posts people were reading. I was amused–and a little horrified–to see that, thanks to Pinterest, the most popular posts of the day were Why I Make the Bed: 10 Reasons I Keep My House Clean and Speed Cleaning. As I looked around my house, I couldn’t help but think to myself, wow, if they only knew….. Because in that moment every single room in my house was an absolute disaster, dishes piled in the sink, laundry overflowing from the hamper, clutter, sand, dust, and dog ... read more
How to Shop Online Without Blowing a Cash Budget
For as long as we’ve been together, my husband and I have placed almost all our purchases–gas, groceries, clothing, vacations, restaurants, and practically everything else we purchased–on a reward-earning credit card. We thought we were being smart. After all, we always paid off the balance each month, even when that balance made us cringe, or was the source of yet another huge fight about money. The day the credit card bill came was always a dark day each month in the Soukup household. Month after month we were always shocked. We weren’t really spending that much, were we? Besides, look how many rewards we were earning. Even long ... read more
8 Must-Have Bathroom Cleaning Tools
Ever wonder what bathroom cleaning tools you can’t live without and which ones are just taking up space? Pop over to Home Made Simple to check out my list of 8 Must-Have Bathroom Cleaning Tools, along with lots of little-known tips for how to use them more effectively! Pin It
Why I Don’t Always Use Coupons
I love saving money with coupons. I don’t always love using coupons. Because, let’s face it, clipping coupons—enough to really save a LOT on groceries—is a lot of work. Yes, the payoff is often impressive—I mean, who wouldn’t want to bring home $127 worth of groceries for less than $0.25—but the truth is that using coupons is not always feasible. I know many of you first found this blog by searching for help on how to start using coupons. You stumbled upon my Beginner’s Guide to Coupons, mastered the 8 week baby steps program, and are now coupon geniuses. Please don’t worry—this is still a good thing! Everything in that ... read more
Conquering the Kitchen {The Big Spring Clean, Part 4}
Hopefully by now you are all enjoying the fruits of your Big Spring Clean labor and your home is now relatively dirt and clutter free. Doesn’t it feel GOOD? Of course if you are anything like me, there may be one room that looks tidy on the surface, but that is secretly haunting you behind closed cabinet doors. It’s not that we don’t want to keep our kitchens neat and organized, but so often the hustle & bustle of every day life gets in the way. We rush to put away groceries without bothering–or having time–to throw out the items no longer edible. We open multiple packages of the same ... read more
Goodwill Hunting {5 Tips for Better Thrift Store Shopping}
Today’s guest post comes from Kate @ Coupon Cravings If you have heard of the movie Good Will Hunting, you’ll quickly realize this guest post really has little to do with a genius, a therapist or math. Well, a little math, I suppose… Being a Mother of two and wife to a full-time banker, I rarely get time alone. But, when I do, I love to go Goodwill hunting. This is a chance to spend some “me-time” perusing the racks upon racks of deliciously frugal finds of my local Goodwill store. Not only do I know I am doing good by giving back to the Goodwill mission, but I ... read more
Cleaning From Top to Bottom {The Big Spring Clean, Part 3}
Spring is finally officially here, which means that today, after clearing out our clutter and making our own green & thrifty cleaning products, it is now time to CLEAN! Are you ready? Once-or-twice-a-year deep cleaning is a lot different then regular old day-to-day cleaning. (For daily cleaning tips, check out my speed cleaning routine!) It is your chance to take care all those often-neglected, out-of-sight, out-of-mind areas, to reduce allergens, minimize clutter, and to make your home a haven. For this process, I find it helpful to follow a system of cleaning the entire house from top-to-bottom rather than room-to-room so that all the dust and debris that gets stirred ... read more
Green & Thrifty Cleaning Products {The Big Spring Clean, Part 2}
Hopefully all this de-cluttering is getting you all excited for the deep, deep cleaning that is going to happen soon! I don’t know how it is for you, but with every box of stuff I get rid of I feel like another little load has been lifted off my shoulders. We are still going to take some time in the next week for more weeding and purging, but in the meantime I thought it would be a good idea to also start gathering some of the necessary tools you’ll need to get your space spic & span. I have always had a bad habit of thinking that more cleaning supplies ... read more
Clearing the Clutter {The Big Spring Clean, Part 1}
Okay, so technically Spring doesn’t start for another 12 days but I figured I needed to start now to give you (and myself) a little time to gear up for The Big Spring Clean. This year I thought it would be fun to do a spring cleaning series for a little extra motivation, breaking the process into manageable steps so that by the end of the month, our homes all sparkle. You with me? Good! We are going to start by clearing the clutter. But first, a riddle: What do you get when you take one shopaholic-turned-coupon fanatic and one guy who hates to get rid of anything, then add ... read more
How I Get My Kids to Clean Their Room
I haven’t talked about it much but for the past year or so an epic struggle has been waging in the Soukup household. It is Mommy versus Kids in the War of the Tidy Room, and while there are still small battles being fought now and then, I can finally say with confidence that I am winning. I am not exaggerating when I tell you it has been a long and arduous and, at times, downright painful campaign. It has involved tears, threats, bribes, rewards, games, countless trips to the naughty stool, and more reorganizing, reevaluating, relabeling, and retraining than I would care to admit. At one point it even ... read more
How to Make Homemade Butter {in a Stand Mixer}
Okay, so maybe I just tend to get overly excited about butter in general, but I am pretty sure that making homemade butter in my Kitchen-Aid is both the coolest and the most domestic thing I’ve ever done. Just when I didn’t think it was possible to love an appliance even more….I mean really, what’s better than homemade butter? Mmmmmmmm…..butter…… But I digress. It was seriously so easy that I see a lot more butter making in our future. Since this was technically a homeschool activity (and had no selfish motivations whatsoever!), we tried to follow the instructions from Little House in the Big Woods as closely as ... read more
Just Call Me Superwoman {4 Simple Rules for Managing Your Time}
I woke up this past Monday ready to start my week with a bang. I had spent the weekend getting caught up after last week’s trip, and by 8am I had already finished my work for the day, returned several neglected emails, handed in a writing assignment, tidied my house, put in a load of laundry, set our schedule and made our lesson plans for the day. We had a lot to get done and I was READY. And then I got a text message from a Very Important Person asking if I would be available for a phone call in about an hour. I don’t know how it works ... read more
{Minimal Effort} Freezer Cooking
One of my big goals for 2013 is to plan ahead and be more proactive and intentional with my time. Those 24 hours go FAST and it is so easy to let them slip away if you let them. I’ll be honest, when it comes to meals and cooking dinner for my family, I really struggle. Not because I don’t want to do it or don’t like to cook–I really do–but usually because a.) we have a lot of activities in the late afternoon that cut into meal preparation time b.) after a full day of working & homeschooling & mommy-ing (and getting up at 4am), I am TIRED come ... read more
if you have to shop this year…. {a few of my favorite deals}
I’m interrupting my normal posting schedule to bring you this little Public Service Announcement While this year I am perfectly content to stay home and make pretty things, I do realize that not everyone has the time or desire to get all crafty around the holidays. I totally get it; in fact, I was in that exact same boat last year, with too much to do and not enough time to do it. Honestly one of the things I am MOST thankful for this year is that after selling my deal blog, I no longer feel obligated to keep up on all the latest deals and hot sales happening this ... read more
How to Save on Food for the Holidays
Thanksgiving. Christmas Dinner. Holiday Parties. Seasonal baking. For most of us, food plays a starring roll in our holiday festivities. We all have our favorites, that certain special dish we only eat once a year. Without it Christmas or Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same. Oh, the pressure. And while our mouths start watering at the mere thought of golden roasted turkey & homemade apple pie, the cost of food, especially when combined with all of the other expenses this time of year, can be a serious strain on your budget. Even scarier, it is often one of those “hidden” expenses that we don’t account for when we think about ... read more
