Spring (Cleaning) is Here!

I have a very messy closet. It used to be organized, but dressing in the dark does something to my wardrobe that is inexplicable. Things get mixed and lost in that closet and I can't remember what I have or where it was put. For instance, today I grabbed a high-waisted pencil skirt and a black button down shirt. Not until I was changing after my workout did I realize that the shirt was 2 sizes too big for me. Luckily the shirt tucked into the skirt quite well. How embarrasing.

My very first task on my Spring Cleaning list is to re-organize my clothes closet. Here are some tips that I have picked up from Real Simple Magazine.

Edit Your Wardrobe: Take a look at your clothes and assess what you wear most, least, or not at all. Donate the clothing you haven't worn in a year or more, as well as anything that no longer fits. If an item is severely damaged, toss it out.

Decide what to store: Let seasonality and frequency of use be your guide in determining what to keep in the closet and what to stow elsewhere.

Organize hanging garments by type and color: Blouses, for example, can be sorted first by sleeve length and then by shade. By keeping like with like, options for a given outfit are clear at a glance.

Choose the right hanger: Your closet will look neater if you use just one type of hanger- wood, wire or plastic.

Set up zones: A low rod holds tops and skirts; an eye-level pole, dresses; and a high bar, shirts and suits. A high shelf works fine for out-of-season shoes and sweaters.

Arrange folded items: Any clothing that will stretch out of shape should be folded. When organizing the folded clothing you'll store on shelves, place heavier items at the bottom of the pile, and lighter ones at the top. After folding, arrange garments by function (workout tops together, business tops together, etc.) and color (white to nude to bright colors to black). If your closet doesn't have shelves, consider using part of your clothing rod for hanging canvas ones.

Get a garment bag: A sturdy canvas garment bag protects fine suits, dresses and jackets better than plastic. Leather in particular is susceptible to drying and cracking if kept in plastic.

Deal with dry cleaning: Remove clothes from dry cleaning bags as soon as you get home, and hang your clothes on proper hangers. Return the wire hangers to the dry cleaner for reuse.

Manage odds and ends: Store bags, belts, ties, scarves and other accessories in plain sight on hooks or racks, which can be attached to the inside of your closet door.

Contain what doesn't hang: Use containers- consider a matching set of baskets- to hold accessories and clothing that can't be hung, such as socks and undergarments. Smaller baskets or boxes can store a single type of accessory, such as scarves or hats.

Pick a system for storing shoes: Choose between a she rack on the floor, a hanging shoe organizer, see through plastic boxes or original shoe boxes with photographs stapled to them to identify the boxes' contents. Stow shoes you don't wear frequently in labeled plastic boxes on a high shelf, in another closet or under your bed.

My Lucky Day!

I absolutely love the blog Frugal Coupon Living. She makes it so easy to follow on how to obtain great deals and wonderful freebies. I often repost from her blog the many posting she gets from frugal bloggers everywhere. Very often she puts up posts about giveaways. It's not often that I enter them. Apparently on this particular day, I felt adventurous. Good thing, too. I won the giveaway for 3 beautiful rugs from FoFlor!

I am thrilled and feel so lucky to have been chosen. I love 2, but the third just won't fit into my decor. It is a beach theme. Any takers? It's a 2'x5' runner.

New Arrival

It's been a while since I have been able to sit down to write anything. Most recently my sister-in-law gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy named Logan. He's healthy at 6lbs 9oz and 17.5 inches. I don't remember the last time that I saw my brother so filled with joy. Congratulations- he has the best mommy and daddy in the world!

Freebies and Good Deals

Here are a bunch of links to either free samples for ways to get items for a really great price.

Head to CVS on Sunday, March 27th, and get Clean & Clear Body Wash (16 oz) for as low as $0.49 each!

Here’s the deal:

Buy 2 Clean & Clear Body Wash at $2.99 each = $5.98
B1G1 Clean & Clear Body Wash SuperSaver 3/27 = $2.99
$2 Clean & Clear printable
= $.49 each

Print the $2 coupon right now before it runs out of prints. You may not receive the coupon in Sunday’s paper. If that’s the case, you will get them for $.99 each!

Head over to Walmart for a FREE sample of Dove Men+Care.   They are advertising the body wash and the new deodorant, so we may get a sample of both – they don’t specify.  This offer is good while supplies last. Samples are GREAT for travel.

Get a FREE Sample of these little Power Bar Bites.  Expect your sample in 3-5 weeks.  Can’t wait to try them!

Right now, score a FREE 8×10 Canvas or get $50 off toward a larger canvas.

Now is a great time to order from Canvas People. Canvas People is sure you will use them again, so they are giving you a FREE 8×10 portrait. Not desiring an 8×10, go bigger and get $50 off your FIRST purchase.

It is as simple as working on any other photo site. Upload your photos, choose your size, and it is shipped to your home.

Keep checking the Schick Facebook page. They are supposed to be releasing a $3 coupon. Those make great matches for CVS Deals and Walgreens Deals.

Hurry to print this coupon for B1G1 Old Orchard Juice from Concentrate. This juice has great flavors and is a really good deal considering you could get 64 ounces for a little more than $.50 at Target!

Philedelphia Cooking Creme is very popular in my area right now. There are several $1.50 off cupons available. My local grocery even had them pasted up next to the item. Not only that, but the creme is on sale at Pick'n'Save 2/$4! On double coupon day that makes these items beyond FREE! On regular days, it brings the cost down to $.50 each!

Bruegger's is offering a free bagel sandwich with cream cheese until tomorrow, March 24, 2011.
You'll need a special coupon to get yours, which you can print by clicking here .

My HERO!

Wow, the things that this woman has accomplished are amazing. I aspire to one day be able to do the things she does. I've copied the article from Yahoo! Finance.

How to Erase $70,000 in Debt

by Lisa Gerstner
Sunday, March 20, 2011

In early 2006, Jaime Tardy, 29, of Turner, Maine, resolved to wipe out $70,000 in debt as quickly as possible so that she could quit her job and start a family. By April 2007, she and her husband were debt-free — and had $23,000 in the bank.

How did you rack up $70,000 in debt? I had two student loans totaling $26,180 after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and my husband, Matthew, and I took out a $24,560 home-equity loan to cover a portion of the down payment on our house. The loan had a variable interest rate, so it was as bad as credit card debt. We also had a $19,300 car loan.

Why did you decide to pay it off? Paying off the debt was the first step toward reaching my goal of working from home part-time and starting a family. Having a reason to pay it off that was bigger than myself made it a lot easier to make the sacrifices. Once we were ready to take the leap, we wanted to do it as fast as possible because getting out of debt isn't fun.

How did you do it? We traded in the new Honda Civic that we had bought two months before for a used Jeep Cherokee, and we sold our other car. We canceled our cable and got a cheaper cell-phone plan, and we budgeted only for necessities and $25 a month each for spending money. We found better deals on homeowners and auto insurance.

Image credit: Christopher Churchill

Jaime Tardy

Surely a strict budget can't account for everything. We took on extra work to bring in more income. In my job as project manager for a video-on-demand company, I was paid $40 more a day to work on-site with cable companies. So I traveled a lot and worked 70 hours a week. My husband, who is a performing artist, was doing Web and graphic design on the side. We made $140,000 in 2006 and lived on about $40,000 of our post-tax income.

Did you get any help? I read every personal-finance book I could find. And I called personal-finance radio host Dave Ramsey during his show for advice. I had enough money in my bank account to pay off our last loan — we owed about $23,000. But I was due to have a baby in December, and I didn't want to part with that money. He suggested we keep the savings in case we needed it for medical bills.

And you were able to quit your job? I went back to work for a little more than two months after my maternity leave, then quit my job and paid off the last loan in April 2007. And we still had $23,000 in the "baby fund."

What's your next goal? Someday, I'd like to have a net worth of $1 million. You might as well aim high. Each year I figure out what I need to do to push toward that goal. I'm making good money working part-time as a business coach for entrepreneurs, and Matthew's income has gone up every year. I write about it on my blog, www.eventualmillionaire.com.

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What's your best advice? A lot of us think we have to have jobs we dislike because we need the money, but that puts money in control instead of you. Figure out the life you love to live, then make your million.

St Patty’s Observed

Since I wasn’t able to prep the food for the crock pot on Wednesday evening, we are having our St. Patrick’s Day meal this evening. I set it up following a recipe from Allrecipes.com. I did, however, follow one variation that exchanged the water, cider vinegar and sugar mixture for apple juice. Also, I was out of bay leaves. Oops!

Corned Beef and Cabbage Crock Pot Recipe

When Roo checked the Crockpot this afternoon he noticed that there was a large amount of liquid in the pot. I had an inkling that it would produce more liquid than was necessary and I should have cut it down as my instincts told me to do. He caught it and ladled out about a cup or so of liquid for me. What a sweetie.

Let me tell you, I can’t wait to get home and eat this meal!! I also was sent a recipe to my email from Food & Wine for Irish Brown Bread. I wish I had the time to make this as it would have been a fantastic addition to our meal this evening.

Irish Brown Bread Recipe

I am a bit disappointed, as I haven’t come across too many St. Patrick’s Day deals in my neck of the woods. To my rescue in a time of deal draughts, Kraft has sent out another taste test for me. Last week I tried the NEW Philadelphia cooking crème. It’s fantastic, people. I haven’t looked at the calorie content (but I should). I used the Italian Herb and Cheese flavor to create a skillet meal with Chicken, peas, onions, green beans, carrots and noodles. I only used about half of the container on a large amount of food. It’s nice to know that the crème can go a long way.

I’ve been working out regularly for about 9 months now. I have a goal that I am trying to accomplish, even though I know that it is very lofty. Has anyone seen these Jennifer Aniston Smart Water ads?

Her abs are killer! That is my goal. I have been cardio-ing my behind off at the gym while adding in some weights. While I have definitely seen a drop in sizing, I didn’t see it in my weight. I reached my original goal of the smaller size I had picked as my “ideal” size. Yet, I had not yet seen much definition to my shape. It made me a little sad that all that time I have spent wasn’t improving my tone. What’s a girl to do? That is until I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror in the locker room this morning. I have ab muscles! I normally am in such a rush that I don’t look at myself besides to do my hair and makeup. I just am so proud of myself that I can see some sort of ab muscles, albeit not anything like Jennifer’s. All this hard work is paying off and maybe my goal isn’t so lofty anymore.

“March” Grocery Shop

It is already halfway through the month and I have only just done my grocery shop for the month of March this past weekend. I had already done all the prep for it, so I didn’t change anything when I found out that last month’s shop lasted a half a month longer than expected.

This time I was able to shop both Aldi and Pick’n’Save and buy every item I needed. Not only that, my fear that there wouldn’t be enough room in the fridge and freezer was unwarranted because everything fit without a problem. I will admit, however, that I purchased a few items without putting them on the list. Some were at Roo’s request, and some were at my discretion- like the fudge brownie mix that was on sale. It’s good to have a treat every now and then.

The total for this shop came to $125, but there is a lot more food this time and some specialty items (like corned beef and cabbage- YUM St. Patty’s food!!) This reminds me, I must look up a recipe for making that in the slow cooker.

Otherwise, the weekend was pretty good and frugal. Roo and I hit up a new GoodWill grand opening and scored some amazing deals. 3 pairs of name brand shorts (one brand new w/tags) one pair of name brand jeans for Roo (brand new with tags) all for $20! Plus with our purchase we received 4 free Brewers tickets. They had free subs there as well as the “famous” racing sausages that you could have your picture taken with. It was busy, but the place was very clean and super nice. I was impressed. I hope it stays that way. Unfortunately, no bread machine. I was given the suggestion to look for one at GW and haven’t had any luck yet.

Tuesday

I haven’t had a lot of free time this past week to spend writing articles for my blog. Sans research time, I am only left to talk about myself and my own experiences.

This past weekend I spent at home. The original plan was to visit some friends in Minnesota. That fell through mainly because of my ignorance about the things that I really want and that are most important to me. My friendships are very important and it is sad to admit that sometimes I get in my own way when it comes to maintaining them. Luckily, as I am forgiving- so are my friends.

After a long sit down talk about goals and financial safety, Roo and I came to the agreement that we should hit some real goals before spending on something like a vacation. That doesn’t mean that my prior post about finding ways to make a vacation close to free isn’t still in the works.

SIDE NOTE on that- ClubBing.com- free, fun, earn tickets, get free miles. It works. I have only tried one game, but so far it’s not so bad. I’ll keep doing it to hopefully rack up a ton of tickets to offset the amount of miles I still need for a second free ticket. I have some time now that we are waiting another year for vacation. 9000 skymiles in a year shouldn’t be so hard.

My ultimate goal is to have my student loans paid completely and have at least one year of gross salary in the bank. I have done all the calculations and it seems to be a very attainable goal. At the rate I am going, there should be no reason for me to not reach this goal by the end of the year (which is only 10 months).

There are ways that I will be working towards this goal. All raises and bonuses will be going straight into savings. I was awarded a merit raise last week, so that extra amount each paycheck is going straight to the bank.

My company awards small “tokens” of their gratitude to employees who show extra initiatives. Today I received a small gift card award for going above and beyond for the company. That is going to offset other monthly costs so that amount in cash can go directly into savings.

I have even contemplated taking a week’s worth of vacation during the fair to work and make a few extra bucks. There are other incentives that are offered by my company, such as wellness workshops that when completed take a certain amount off my healthcare premium. I’m pretty stoked because a little here and a little there really adds up.

February Grocery Shop: Update

I have done all my research for my March menu. It’s wonderful and I can’t wait to make the food I have scheduled. Yet, there is one minor “set back.” My February grocery shop has lasted into March!! Yes!! (but oh no! at the same time.) I am glad that we were able to make this last well into the following month. By my calculations, we will be eating for another 2.5 weeks on February’s menu items- and then some.

Unfortunately, that means I can’t really shop for “march” until the cabinets and freezer/fridge are closer to empty. I was really excited for some of those recipes, too. I am planning on trying to hold out as long as possible before the next major grocery shop. However, there are a few items that I will be purchasing in advance- corned beef and cabbage!! It’s that time of year and I am ecstatic for traditional Irish fare. And who can forget those Reuben’s for the day after? It’s all I have been able to think about since I read a friend’s blog who posted a mouth-water picture of the Reuben from Carnegie Deli. Okay, that AND Wisconsin’s traditional Friday fish fry. My body might have to go into calorie rehab after March is through. Charlie Sheen, you can keep your “Charlie Sheen” drug- I want creamy thousand island goodness piled high!

I try not to write about food very often, but I came across a recipe that not only fits my March calorie Madness but sounds completely irresistible. I’m putting this out there in hopes that someone (… ahem… hannster) might feel the urge to make them. I haven’t the tools to do it, but could probably figure out a way to bake instead of fry these babies. Here’s the recipe- prepare to drool.

Avacado Fries!! YUM!!

Also, on a related subject- anyone have any recommendations for bread makers? I may have asked once before, but I am pretty interested in this French bread recipe.

Roasted Garlic French Bread