MomsBudget

 

Squeaky Clean Challenge Day #4 – The Home Office or Office Area

Sort your bills, organizing by due date or type. 
Go through papers sitting on the desk, either shredding/recycling what isn’t needed or filing. 
If you are a file junkie, go through your files, and shred/recycle what you no longer need. 
File receipts, bills, manuals, and any other “keepers” you have accumulated around the house that belong in your office files. 
Check office supplies and make a list to purchase what you need (envelopes, pens, staples, stamps…) 
Keeping a recycle box or shredder close by will make it easier for you to get rid of unneccessary paper before it becomes clutter.

Brand new to the MomsBudget Squeaky Clean Challenge?  Click here for all the details, plus get the full list of all thirty days.   Comment when you are done!

Squeaky Clean Challenge Day #3 – Junk Day

Clean catchall drawers and shelves by culling junk from usable items.
Group like items, such as pens, tape, stamps and coupons.
Use small baskets or folders to hold pens, coupons, etc.
Give kids 5 minutes to get all their stuff to their rooms—or else!

Brand new to the MomsBudget Squeaky Clean Challenge?  Click here for all the details, plus get the full list of all thirty days.   Comment when you are done!

Squeaky Clean Challenge Day #2 – The Living / Family Room

Return videos and CDs to storage area.
Spot-clean sofas and carpeting as needed (recipe for Herbal Carpet Freshener)
Flip and rotate cushions; fold throws.
Straighten magazines and newspapers.
Spot-clean and dust surfaces (instructions to make your own Swiffer Duster reusable dusters)
Vacuum/sweep family room floor.
Timesaver:
Clean rooms in a clockwise pattern, starting at the door.

Brand new to the MomsBudget Squeaky Clean Challenge?  Click here for all the details, plus get the full list of all thirty days.   Comment when you are done!

Squeaky Clean Challenge Day #1 – The Daily Household List

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.
And this is the daily list, that you do every day

This actually looks do-able Say when you are done, and you can motivate the really bad clutterbugs when you can show that you managed to do it!

Brand new to the MomsBudget Squeaky Clean Challenge?  Click here for all the details, plus get the full list of all thirty days.   Comment when you are done!

We all love to have that nice clean house, but the reality of it is that we don’t often get it done!  So over the next 30 days, we will be issuing a new Squeaky Clean Challenge… some days might take you 5 minutes, others a half an hour, and on the weekends, it is just a single project you can tackle sometime over the weekend. 

We will also include links that make the challenges faster or that will save you money.  So if cleaning windows is one of the day’s challenges, we will include a link to our sparkle window cleaner recipe.  Dusting that day?  We’ll remind you how to make your own Swiffer Duster reusable dusters.

We will begin by posting Monday as the first day of the 30 day squeaky clean challenge, and link to them all from here.

Day One: The Daily List
Day Two: Family & Living Room
Day Three: Junk Day
Day Four: Home Office Cleaning
Day Five: Basement Cleaning
Day Six & Seven: Attic Weekend Project
Day Eight: Living Room
Day Nine: Dining Room Cleaning
Day Ten: Bathroom Cleaning Time!

Are you doing the Squeaky Clean Challenge?  Blog about it, comment here, and we will list your name here as a participant!  And don’t forget to comment each day if you have tips on how to tackle certain challenges! 

Squeaky Clean Challenge Participants!

Love chocolate? Well, if you are like most women, you want to indulge in the chocolate without the calories! Then you will love this collection of fabulous recipes for chocolate lovers!

Decadent Chocolate Bubble Bath
What is better than immersing yourself in chocolate?

Chocolate Facial Mask
You can do your mask while you soak in yout decadent bubble bath!

Chocolate Lip Balm
Chocolate lip balm is surprisingly hard to find, so here’s how to make your own!

White Chocolate Lip Balm
Like our regular chocolate lip balm, but with a twist.

Green tea and chocolate anti-oxidant facial mask
The best of both worlds – green tea and chocolate!

Chocolate Bath Melts
Great as gifts too, these are done up as hearts

Another chocolate milk bath recipe
Suggested for gifts too.

Chocolate Bliss Moisture Mask
You have to see the accompanying picture! Does have uncommon ingredients though.

Hot Cocoa Bath
From Herb Companion.

Ever had that horrible feeling after you have dropped a favorite eyeshadow or blush, only to discover it has shattered into a zillion pieces? Well, instead of throwing it out next time, do this handy tip.

Mix the broken pieces with a small amount of vaseline, ensuring you are mixing well. Then use it as a cream-based eyeshadow or blush, instead of a powdered one! Just remember that cream-based products need to be applied slightly differently, so don’t use this for the first time right before heading out the door! While you may apply it perfectly the first time, with others it takes the practice makes perfect method

You know how a bathtub can look fairly clean, simply because of shampoo and body wash being used in it frequently.  Usually, it is a huge buildup of soap scum, or a more obvious sign, such as mildew, that gets us bringing out the cleaning supplies.  But how many of us can say we really gave the bathtub a good scrub as opposed to a quick once over?

Want to know why you should be giving your bathtub the good scrub down?  The Hygiene Council tested family bathtubs and found that the germ that is most commonly responsible for that staph infections was found in over 1/4 of the bathtubs tested… while that same germ was only found in 6% of garbage cans!

And the rest of your bathroom?  Well, for starters, the toilet seat has LESS bacteria on it than your bathroom sink and sink faucet. 

So doesn’t this weekend sound like a really great time to clean the bathroom?  And don’t forget we have a ton of bathroom cleaner recipes you can make, if you prefer to clean your bathroom without using a ton of the chemical laden commercial cleaners.

CNN has a good feature today on nutritious meals for a family for $10 or less.  You won’t find a box od Kraft Mac and Cheese anywhere to be found!

Which got me thinking, what are some of your favorite nutritious meals that cost less than $10 for a family.

Here are some of the things I do:

• Pesto sauce with veggie pasta (or whole wheat pasta) with chopped fresh tomatoes in it
• Homemade veggie pizza (store bought crust, tomato sauce, fresh chopped veggies such as peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms) topped with a small amount of cheese
• Vegetable pasta salad
• Marinated then baked chicken thighs, served with veggies

What are some of your favorites?

Some people get really good about packing lunches to save money, for themselves, their partners and their kids.  But did you know that if you don’t pack some sort of drink, the temptation to buy an expensive coffee drink or even just soda pop out of the vending machine can put a serious dent in your carefully planned budget?

Think how much the vending machine charges for a can or bottle of soda, juice or even bottled water at your work.  Now compare that to what you can pick up the same thing for at the grocery store… huge difference, right?  And even if you have packed a lunch, sometimes thirst is what does the budget in because it is so easy to buy a drink. 

Make sure you pack a drink with all the lunches you pack.  Juice boxes for kids are frequently on sale, or you can buy re-usable drink box containers and fill them yourself each day – which also means you can dilute them with water to cut down on the amount of sugar, or even just add ice cubes, since they will melt by lunchtime.  If your partner insists on soda, buy cans or bottles in large packs, then send one each day.  Or pack tea bags or bring a small packet of hot chocolate into the office and use the hot water there.

Don’t forget we also have plenty of drink mix recipes at MomsBudget, so you can leave a jar of these inexpensive homemade drink mixes right in your office, or bring a plastic bag with enough for a cup each day.