A Coffee Maker for All Types

I was one of those people. I had a drip coffee maker. I had a K-Cup maker. I had a My K-Cup adapter.

I kept the drip coffee maker in the cabinet, pulling it out only if we had a number of guests.

I kept the K-Cup Maker on my counter and the adapter in a drawer.

Then, several years ago, I upgraded to a new K-Cup Maker but it had updated 'technology' to ensure that you were only using 'Keurig' cups and not any others, which unfortunately meant that the My K-Cup Adapter didn't work anymore.

This was frustrating. I liked being able to have options and to buy ground coffee, which was a better value. So, I started looking for options. I wanted flexibility to still make a single cup of coffee from ground coffee but having one coffee maker would be better. There were a few options out there but none of them were quite right for me. Several of the options brewed the cup and the carafe in separate spaces, making the coffee maker much larger than my counter could accomodate.

Then, I saw it, in an ad. The Ninja DualBrew Specialty Coffee System. It had everything! I could make a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate) using a k-cup, I could make a cup of coffee up to a full pot of coffee with grounds, I could make a cup to a pot of hot or boiling water, I could froth milk for my coffee or hot chocolate. And, it's footprint was smaller than my current K-cup maker. Win-win! Of course, it was more money than I wanted to spend, so I started to watch.

Finally, there was a sale and I had 40% off and I earned Kohl's cash. Another Win-Win!

I went and bought the coffee maker. I cleaned everything and set it up. I ordered some cone coffee filters. Then I began to use the coffee maker. I was pleased with the results. The k-cups use an insert and can brew up to 12 oz.

I liked that the hot or boiling water didn't deliver through the space where the coffee brewed (of course, that was an issue when I tried to brew a cup and hadn't changed it off of water - I got a cup of water, even though I had a k-cup in place.)

I love that the filter basket is spring loaded, so when I remove it from the coffee maker to dispose of grounds, it doesn't drip. When I wash it, I have to squeeze to get water through the drip point and/or turn over to dump out the water. When you brew into the pot, it fills from the bottom...which I read years ago helps with the flavor of the coffee. When you brew from 1/2 carafe up to carafe, the burner will keep the coffee warm and shuts off after a set amount of time. I learned that there were two settings - classic and rich for the coffee. And, there is an option for over ice, which my daughter loved for making iced coffees over break. The coffee scoop guides how much coffee to use for a mug, a travel mug, a 1/2 carafe, a full carafe. The frother doesn't heat but does make a nice foam and is easily detached for cleaning.

Once I knew it was going to work for me, I sold both my K-Cup Maker and my Drip Coffee Pot, helping me further reduce the effective price of this new investment. I enjoy the flexibility. On days where I only have a cup, I will still use K-Cups out of convenience mopst of the time but if I want a couple of cups or we have company, I can make from 8 oz -18 oz in a mug or travel mug and anywhere from 28 - 55 oz (classic brew) in the carafe (I supposed i could make 8 oz in the carafe but that seems silly).

My daughter has used the hot water for hot chocolate and for oatmeal, she uses the Iced Coffee setting to make a single cup of iced coffee from grounds.

This new kitchen addition was a great decision and made me glad that I had waited to find the one that was right for me.

I bought this product and all opinions are my own.

Finding a Better Way to Drain Dishes

This year I did some shopping for myself to solve problems that I have had for a while and wanted to find a better solution for.

A few years back we updated our kitchen. I love the new kitchen layout. An area where we had a narrow cabinet, we rotated and put the cabinet doors on the 'side' allowing for a wide but not deep cabinet. i use it for my spices, my food storage containers and some of my baking dishes. It utilizes the space so much better than the old style and since it backs up to the fridge, it helps encase the fridge. On the other side, we replaced a bifold door with wire shelf pantry with a pantry cabinet with roll-out shelves. Again, being able to use and access all of the space was a huge improvement. We added a credenza style cabinet that replaced our desk and added a computer shelf under the penisula so we can use it as a workspace but store the computer out of the way when we cook or entertain. We added an open shelf unit at the end of the peninsula, allowing us to display a few pieces and store cookbooks within easy reach.

One other thing we did was upgrade to granite countertops, and in so doing, went with an undermount sink. The undermount sink we chose is asymetrical, with one larger than normal well and one smaller than normal. This works great for washing dishes and food prep but it was a challenge for us when it came to drying the dishes.

We tried to find a small drainer that we could put in the small side of the sink but none of them seemed to work. It also didn't do well accomodating larger pans and dishes because of the narrow space. I could have gone with any size and had it always on my counter (or would have had to find a place to store it), which I didn't want. So, for several years, I would lay a dish towel on the counter, wash dishes and then let them dry for a bit on their own before drying and putting away. I wasn't a big fan of the wet towel laying the counter for a period of time. The dishes sitting on the wet towel only partially dried on their own with that moisture filled towel below them. I would go through 2-3 dish towels at a minimum each day too.

So, I was constantly on the outlook for a better way to solve my problem. Late last year, I found the solution. A roll-up dish drying rack. It was perfect for me. It solved the problem of drying dishes on towels all over my counter, it allows for the water to drain from the dishes, I can drain dishes large and small and it rolls up for easy storage.

Now, I can wash my dishes, leave them to drain for a while and come back and give a quick dry and put them away. No more need to put them away immediately after washing to keep the wet towels from lingering on the sink. The dishes can breath, helping to prevent those weird smells that were in water bottles after being left to drain even for a short period on a damp towel. I go through fewer dish towels on a daily basis.

When I am done using it, I give it a quick wipe dry to get rid of any excess moisture and then I roll it up. I have a tendency to leave the drying rack rolled up in the sink most days so that I can simply unroll it when I am ready to do dishes but it is also compact enough to stow under the sink when we are entertaining.

What problem have you recently solved with a new tool?

I bought this product and all opinions are my own.

Baseball Uniforms - A Laundry Challenge! #whiteuniformpants #whiteagain

My son has played baseball for years. Many of those years the biggest cleaning worry was a grass stain, which was easy to treat and return the pants to their pre-game appearance. Now that he is in high school, they play hard and they really ground in the dirt from the field. Whether laying out for a catch or sliding into base, his pants are always dirty when he comes home.

Over the years, I have tried this cleaner and that, all sorts of pre-treatments and soaps. Some of them work great most of the time, but it seems that there are playing conditions that cause dirt that just won't come out of the pants no matter how many times you wash them.

Before and After with Fels-Naptha soap. It helped but there is still a lot of dirt.
Before and after with a combination of dish detergent and peroxide. Better but still not clean.

So, I finally broke down and gave a try to a trick I heard time and again, the car wash. You know what...it worked. We tried at home with our hose and a jet spray nozzle, but that just wasn't enough. I did put a bit of prewash on it to provide a bit of soap. Use the hooks that they have for hanging mats and voila! clean pants.
Not perfect, but pretty good and much better than with soap alone. Be sure to take a bucket with you to bring the pants home in...they are pretty damp after being hosed down.

Where's the Hot Water?

I can't explain the why, but for some reason, getting hot water in the shower in our bedroom is nearly impossible. As I am sure many do, we would turn on the water and let it warm up while getting prepped for hopping in. Problem was, it only warmed up, never got to the point of being hot water. Even as the shower progressed, it didn't seem to get warmer. The second person showering seemed to have an advantage. By the time they hopped in, it was actually a pretty warm shower.

Over the years, I have tried several things. If I run the dishwasher or the washing machine shortly before a shower, that usually helps, but I can't always be doing this. Sometimes the water is warmer if I run our tub first and then the shower, but that feels a bit like a waste.

A while back, by complete accident, I found a solution that seems to work consistently. I have actually been able to take hot showers instead of warm showers (I am first most mornings). On that morning, I had reached in and turned on the shower and when I hopped in, it was relatively cold. I reached for the handle and discovered that I had not turned it all the way on. When I did - voila! - hot water. I thought that was nice. So, the next morning, I intentionally only turned the handle on about 3/4 of the way, got ready and moved it to fully on right before stepping in - hot water! I don't know why draining the cold water from the pipes on a warm vs hot setting allows for the overall shower to be hotter - I just know that, at least at my house in my shower - it WORKS!

Removing Nail Polish from Wood Furniture

I recently learned this tip, out of necessity. My daughter and her friend decided that they wanted to paint their nails on Saturday. I gave them paper to put underneath, but at some point they managed to either have some drip on the table or inadvertently rubbed a wet nail on the table, because on Sunday, when we were cleaning off the table, we noticed a nice green spot and streak.

The thing about a wooden table is that you don't want to remove the finish, so your choice of cleaners has to be careful. We knew that using acetone or likely even a non-acetone nail polish remover was out of the question. We tried assorted sprays including wood cleaners, to no avail.

Then, we tried steel wool grade 0000, super fine. With the lightest of touch (so as not to sand off the finish), we removed the nail polish from the table. The smear was easier to clean up, as it was a very thin amount. The drip took a little more effort. There was a slight dullness to the finish, but a quick use of some Pledge brought back the shine. Because I know where to look, I can still see the spot, but if you aren't looking for it, it is invisible.

Glad I know this trick, but certainly hope I don't need to use it again.

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday.

Getting Shoes to Fit

I will admit it, I hate buying shoes. It's not that I don't like shoes, it's that I really struggle to find a pair that fits. So much so in fact, that when I find a pair that does fit, I have been known to buy multiple pairs - in the same color, but also the same shoe in several colors. I look with envy at the really fun and cute shoes that others wear. I want to be able to wear them too, but frankly, comfort comes first.

Recently, when a pair of shoes that I loved developed a hole (one of the seams simply came unstitched), I was forced to pick up a new pair of shoes on short notice. Of course, that same style was no longer available - you better believed I checked that first. I found a pair of shoes that seemed comfortable and they were leather, the problem was that the size 7 1/2 was a little tight and the 8, I slipped out of. I liked the way that the shoe fit and cushion of the insole. Despite being a little tight, they were the best that I had found.

I tried stretching them by wearing them with sport socks around the house in the evening - I am sure it was a sight to behold. This method of extended wear with bulky socks has worked in times passed, but with this pair, they just didn't seem to actually stretch though.

So, I decided to try something I had read once. The next morning, when I was drying my hair I took a break of drying my hair and aimed the hair dryer into the shoes - warming them on the inside. Then, I slipped them on with a pair of white socks, which are slightly thicker than the socks I wear with dress pants. For extra measure, I let the dryer blow over the tight spots for a few minutes. Then, I allowed them to cool.

When I finally took them off and put them back on with just dress socks, they fit wonderfully. The heat from the dryer allowed them to give and stretch just enough - and in just the right spots. It is so much better than having settled for the larger shoes and dealing with the inevitable blisters that would have developed from wearing them or trying to wear the shoes around the house for several days trying to get a little bit of stretch out of them.

Now that I know how wonderful this works, and how much quicker than trying to break them in for several hours, I might just try this trick on every new shoe before I wear them. Of course, if they aren't 100% leather, I'm not sure that it will work as well, but I will likely still try it.

Using a hair dryer to get shoes that fit, works for me!

Thanksgiving Tips from the Hormel Test Kitchen

Preparing a feast to share with family on Thanksgiving can be a daunting task. I know that the first time that we hosted Thanksgiving at our house, the planning and preparation was shared with my cousin, who came to town to celebrate with us. From making a turkey to timing the food to all be ready at the same time, there is a lot that goes into the holiday meal.

Recently, Hormel invited their Hormel Extended Family Bloggers to submit their questions about holiday food preparation to their test kitchen director. Then, they compiled the responses into a short video.

HORMEL Thanksgiving Tips from Hormel Test Kitchen Director, Joan Hanson:


For me, Thanksgiving is actually a small event with just my family. I make my "Thanksgiving" meal each year for my daughter's birthday weekend at the beginning of November and we celebrated Thanksgiving with extended family this past weekend. We will still roast up a turkey breast and make a few traditional sides - it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it!

What are your Thanksgiving plans? Do you host or just bring a dish to share?

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided a thought starter and some of the information for this post.

Happy Earth Day!

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the celebration of Earth Day.

Did you know that about 80% of Hormel Foods' product packaging by weight is recyclable and/or made form recycled materials? Over the past few years, Hormel has found many ways to reduce, revanmp and change the size nad material of their packages. When you think of some of the little changes that they have made and how quickly it adds up across the business, it makes you take pause and consider how each little change you make as part of a greater population can have a significant impact. As an example, when in 2009, they reduced the height of their Jennie-O Turkey Store turkey burger carton by just 1/2", they generated a 68,000 pound annual paperboard savings. That is a lot of paperboard! You can learn more about their efforts on package minimization on their site.

It's interesting, a number of things that we have changed in our lives over the past few years for the purposes of convenience and/or money saving, have brought about some environmental savings as well.

When my son was a baby, we started using wipes to clean him up after a meal. Very quickly, we realized that this would amount to a lot of wipes over the coming years. We picked up a 10-pk of white washcloths at Kohl's and have been using them ever since. We used to keep a basket of them next to the bibs, now that the kids are older, they are under the sink in the half bath. These work great for cleaning up the kids boo-boos too! I can't even begin to guess how many wipes this has saved us over the year...all of those wipes and plastic containers have been saved too!

Another change that we made was the move to using cloth napkins at the table. My goal was to reduce the amount of money that we were spending on paper napkins. Understanding that I do laundry on a near daily basis, I figured that having a couple of sets of cloth napkins would work well for us. I wasn't concerned on coordination of the napkins, so I picked up some beige ones at a post-holiday clearance and pulled out some that I had in my linen closet. If we try, we can all four use the same napkin, but generally there are at least 2 or 3 different ones on the table. We haven't bought paper napkins other than some themed ones for the kid's birthday parties in over 2 years. That is a lot of paper napkins not thrown away.

Around the same time, we returned to using more clothes for cleaning. We have old cloth diapers (actually for us they were just burp cloths) and a set of wash cloths that are unique from our actual dish cloths to avoid confusion. We use them for cleaning and then rinse thoroughly before dropping into the laundry. This has reduced our usage of paper towels.

The next move was a change from paper plates to reusable plates. I struggled to find the right solution, finally settling on Correlle dishes, found at the outlet allowing me to purchase just the dinner plates. It was a bit of an investment to move to the reusable dishes, but now that we have them we can use them for every birthday, picnic, etc., saving us the repeated purchase of paper or foam plates and saving the environment all of that waste.

Once we started using real plates, the next move seemed natural...dumping the plastic silverware. It just makes more sense to use real utensils with real plates. It took a while to find just forks, spoons and knives. The answer was found at Sam's Club. They sold 24ct packages of individual types of silverware. We bought one each of forks, spoons, and knives. A handy storage container picked up at Target has allowed us to store them easily between parties.

None of these changes were 'major' for us. All of these changes have saved us money and has reduced the amount of trash that we are generating.

Another change that has saved us a little bit in the form of discounts from the store are reusable bags. For a while, our grocery store was offering a 5c per use discount which essentially paid off the initial investment. They don't that anymore, but Target and CVS still reimburse - Target at 5c per bag used and CVS at 25c per visit in the form of a $1 ECB after four visits. Personally, I am most glad to not have all of those plastic bags to deal with. Now, to be honest, we don't use them 100% of the time, but when I go to the store for my weekly trip and when I go to CVS, I use them everytime. It's those little stops for an item or two or when my husband is running errands that they don't always get used. This is fine, because we do reuse those plastic bags and it is good to have some on hand.

Not a change, but another way that we like to live green is planting a summer garden each year. It is a great way to not only teach children, but also a wonderful feeling of accomplishment when you eat a tomoato or cucumber or other vegetable picked from your own garden.

How are you living more green?

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided some of the information for this post.

Cleaning Gas Stove Grates

So, there are many wonderful things that I have found on Pinterest. One thing that I found a few weeks ago and finally took the time to test out this weekend was a method for cleaning gas stove grates (now if I could find one for cleaning the tops and sides of the sealed housings - I would be set).

One of my friends pinned it to her board and I repinned it after checking out the post on Pinching Your Pennies. I know that on more than one occassion, I have tried to clean the grates. Sure, you can get some of the gunk off, but there always seems to be that layer of built on uck, that just won't come clean no matter what you do.

Here is what the burner grates looked like before I started:

To clean a gas stove grate, slide the grate into a 1 gallon zip close bag. Add two or three tablespoons of ammonia and seal the bag.

Let sit, 12 hours or overnight. Remove from the bag (watch out the ammonia vapor is almost enough to knock you over), scrub with a scour pad and rinse.


Voila! Clean grates!

This new method for cleaning the grates on my stove works for me!

All In Good Time

For many years, I have been reading Deal Seeking Mom. It was one of the original blogs that I read even before I started blogging myself. So, I was excited to have the opportunity to review her new book All In Good Time, which she co-wrote with Mandi Ehman of LifeYourWay.net.

The book is full of practical advice and many common sense tips. I really like that they start the book off by saying that you shouldn't feel like you need to do everything in the book. It's about finding what works for you and doing. It's about saving $1 or 15 minutes here and there, in order to maximize your time and money.

The book is broken down into what they call "rooms". Within each room, they tackle the most common purchases and tasks and share their tips for saving time and money. The last chapter is about Holiday and Event planning and includes everything from birthdays to weddings. The back of the book is a great appendix that features Homemade Cleaning Supplies, Common Kitchen Substitutes, Pantry Inventory, Freezer Storage Tips, Cooking Temperatures, Seasonal Produce, Necessities for Your..., DeepCleaning Checklists - including what/how to declutter, how to/what to clean, and maintenance of the space once you have it decluttered and cleaned, Internet Resources and Recommended Reading.

I really like that it is full of common sense advice. One example of this is their advice to clean out the refrigerator each week before you grocery shop. Makes so much sense. How many times have you come home from the grocery, only to find out that the sour cream, or the peppers, that you were going to use for dinner are no longer good. Not only that, but it certainly is easier to wipe down half empty shelves than it is to clean a freshly stocked refrigerator.

Many of the tips and tricks that they share are things that I have heard before, but now, they are captured in one easy to reference resource. The organization of the book makes it easy to find the recommendations that they provide on how to save time and money. I love that they recognize that not every method will work for everyone. First, they state in their introduction and then they follow through in the book. As an example, in their section on coupons, they present several ways to organize and maintain coupons including the binder method, the coupon box, and the insert method.

The one thing that I wish this book had was an index.  I find that a quick alphabetical listing makes for a great way to find what you are looking for.  Thankfully, they do include a list of subjects under each 'room' in the Contents section which is in alphabetical order (as is the chapter), so it is a little easier than just 'guessing'.

Whether you choose to read it cover to cover or simply thumb through when you are looking for some tips, this book is a great resource.

You can learn more about the book by checking out the Q&A with the authors from the USA Today. You can also check out the book's website. The book is available to purchase online or in your local bookstore.

No compensation was received for this post. A complimentary review copy was provided by the Publisher. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

The Wonder of the Lint Roller

I think that lint rollers are such a great idea. Can you imagine the person who came up with the idea presenting it to his colleagues? I have this great idea, we've been making tape for years, what if we take our tape and roll it backwards. The sticky side will be out and people can use it to pick up lint and other small fibers.

We have multiple lint rollers in our house. Not only are they a handy tool to defuzz my pants after my cat so lovingly rubs up against my legs when I am dressed for work or for gathering up the hairs from my head that seem to collect on my black sweater when I put it on, but they are great for cleaning around the house.

Have you ever used one to clean a lampshade? They are perfect tool for cleaning the lampshade. They gather up the dust, lint, hairs, etc that have accumulated on your lampshade overtime. I can think of no other good way to clean a lampshade.

Other cat induced uses
I think that the cat is the greatest contributor to the need to use a lint roller in my home. There are even some that are marketed as "Pet Hair Rollers"

We have a decorative table in our foyer, one of those pedestal ones with a long tablecloth and a glass top. The cat seems to always walk right by and leave an amazing amount of fur behind (I'm convinced, I could knit a new cat with the fur he leaves behind on everything). No amount of tumbling in the dryer will remove the fur - the solution, roll it with a lint roller. Again, so easy to do and a great way to clean the tablecloth between washings.

Curtains. Have you ever noticed how cats love to spend the day looking out the window watching the world? Well, when they do this, they evidently shed a lot. The curtains on my front windows are full of cat fur. Pulling curtains down from the rod to clean them is not a favorite activity, but with the help of a lint roller, you can keep them fur and lint free between washing.

The sides of furniture. There are wide open walkways in our house, yet the cat finds the path between the chair and table to be his favorite. Again, as he passes through, he is kind enough to leave behind copious amounts of fur. A lint roller does the trick. No need to move the furniture just reach in and roll it to remove all the cat fur.

I even keep a mini lint roller at work, for those cat hairs that manage to catch me after I de-lint.

Do you have other uses for a lint roller? Leave a comment to share your uses.

For other "tools" that make life easier, check out Toolin' Up Tuesday at Life As Mom.

Update: You can also check out Works for Me Wednesday hosted by Rocks In My Dryer for other tips.

Christmas Gifts

When it comes to Christmas shopping, for me, the mantra is shop early, shop often.

Right now, most of the kids that I buy for are young. I do my best to pick up an outfit for each during end of season clearances. This allows me to buy a nice outfit at a reasonable price. Since, they are young, I don’t have to worry yet about whether it will be in style or not next year. (I also use those same sales to stock up for my kids for the next year)

Those end of season clearances apply to toys and other gift type items too. Target recently did a clearance on a number of toy items. You can get them at 50 – 75% off. Same was true at Kohl’s. They marked down a number of toys to 60% off recently. Coupled with the additional % off coupons that Kohl’s has many times a year, this made for some really good deals.

Look for these sales in areas like toys, household goods, small appliances, etc. Every time a manufacturer changes packaging or introduces “next year’s model”, it seems like they clearance out the current item.

Many stores, like JCPenney and Toys ‘R Us will offer coupons throughout the year that are good for $ off $. I have seen them as good as $10 off of $10, but typically they are more like $10 off of $25. Since you typically only have access to one of these coupons per event, you need multiple events to maximize savings. This is an advantage of shopping early, you have more events to participate in.

Start a gift closet. This one I credit to one of my friends. She heads to Bath and Body Works during their big seasonal sales and stocks up. She is able to buy a number of things at a great price and then hangs onto them until she needs a gift. She stocks up on fancy notepaper, candles, art supplies, etc., at a lot of seasonal sales and then uses them to build gifts. You can also buy fancy ornaments at the end of the season (watch for dated ones) and hold them back for next year.

For seasonal sale information, Mercedes over at Common Sense with Money did a great article on Stockpiling Around the Year.

Make your gifts. For our teacher’s gifts each year, I buy a pretty plate and fill it up with all of the yummy baked goods that I have prepared. This works well for neighbors and co-workers if you are in the habit of exchanging gifts.

Black Friday – love it! – haven’t done much since the kids were born, but now that they are getting older, I might have to try it again. You can get some really good deals if you are willing to get out early. And, some stores, have moved the start of their sales to late Thanksgiving night, so you can go out once the festivities have wrapped up and the kids are in bed.

Now, some of this won’t work for specific want lists, but if you can get wish lists early, you are more likely to find items in stock and on sale in the months leading up to the holidays. Right now Wii’s are on shelf, in a couple of months, I imagine they will be sparse again. Plus, if you aren’t rushing around at the last minute, you can make better decisions on what to buy.

See other peoples suggestions at BeCentsAble Tipster Tuesday where the subject for is about the holidays and preparation.

Check out other frugal ideas at Crystal's Blog.

Tips for Thursday

So, after some additional blog reading, I think that my Tips for Thursday is going to move to Wednesday, so I can participate in Works For Me Wednesday, over at Rocks In My Dryer. For today, I will keep it here on Thursday (can't really go back and make it a Wednesday post now).

Today is a tip that I received from a mom friend of mine. She passed away from cancer about 18 mos ago, but I am very appreciative of a tip she shared when she dropped off a dinner for my family in the days following the birth of my son.

She suggested that I select a stuffed toy to be a "Birthday Bear" and that every month during the first year, take a picture of the baby with that bear. It provides a great gauge for how they are growing and changing. She said she started it when her kids were younger and now, they just take annual pictures with the bear on their birthdays.

I loved this tip. I decided on a birthday bear for my son, in his case it was actually a stuffed bear. I took a picture of him and the bear every month for the first year and then every three months the next year and now, every year on his birthday. My husband mocks me, asking if I will still take his picture with that bear when he is a teenager (if he lets me, I just might). When I did his first year scrapbook, I was able to build a two page layout that showed his progress from month one to twelve very clearly.

When my daughter was born, my Mom and son went to the hospital gift shop and bought her a pink fluffy bear. It became her birthday bear and I have carried on the same tradition with her.

Conveniently, though they are different bears, they are both Ty Bears, so they are the same size, so they also can serve as comparison between the two kids.

I always have to remind myself that I need to take the picture. There has been at least one occasion where the kids had had their bath, read their books and were about to be placed in bed when I recalled that I needed to take that picture. In those cases, not considering the next day to be an option, I dragged them downstairs set them in the picture chair with their bear and snapped away. Those pictures show one tired child in their PJs with their birthday bear, but it is still the milestone picture that I will always have.

I love to look back at all of the pictures to see how they have changed and grown.

Do you have a tradition by which you measure how your child has grown and changed?

Tips for Thursday

One thing that I haven't seen many deals on since I started the "Drugstore Game" at CVS earlier this summer has been Shaving Cream. But, I'm not too worried. I rarely use shaving cream anymore.

I read somewhere a while back about the advantages of using conditioner in place of shaving cream or soap when you shave. I have been using conditioner for months now and it works great. It provides a better lubricant than soap and it is a lot cheaper than shaving cream. The conditioner softens the hair and since it usually has moisturizers, also hydrates your legs. I recently was able to pick up 6 bottles of V-05 conditioner with vitamins A C & E for 50 cents a piece. The bottle lasts for a long period of time compared to shaving cream and it is a lot easier to pack for travel then a bottle of shaving cream.

Tips for Thursday

Wow! I couldn't seem to come up with a title for this blog. After some deliberation, I have settled on Tips for Thursday. Okay, I know, it's only Wednesday, but somewhere it is already Thursday and in the future, this will be my Thursday feature. I thought that maybe I would try to get some regular posts onto my blog in addition to the recipes and savings I have been sharing.

Over the years, I have seen numerous e-mails, some many times, with tips. I have a wealth of tips that I have learned from friends and family or read in places like Heloise. So, I decided why not share some of those tips and tricks that I have picked up over the years that make my life easier/save me money.

A while back, it was suggested to me that my hair would be healthier if I washed it less frequently (equals drying less frequently as well and drying your hair, as we all know, is hard on your hair). So, I tried it. I switched to alternating days for washing my hair. I have to say that I am happy with the results. At first, I felt like you could tell when it was the off day, but now, I don't think you can. My hair has adjusted and seems healthier to me. I didn't think of it at the time, but I am saving a good deal of shampoo and conditioner in the process. Knowing that I am using less, makes me feel better about still using the "good" stuff (although lately, I've been using Target's version of the "good" stuff and I like it pretty well and it is cheaper).

The only drawback I have seen is that sometimes I get a buildup on my curling iron from the hairspray I used the first day. I have to clean this off of the curling iron or I find myself with what looks like strange striped gray hairs where the burnt on product is sticking to my hair. Conveniently, this is most noticeable on my bangs. A quick scrub with a scotch brite pad does the trick to clean it up.