Reasons to clean

Cleaning for one is very therapeutic! It can help you feel better. I know when I am having a bad day if I look at my kitchen or bathroom and its messy. I feel completely awful! However if I go in an tactile the task of cleaning it, I feel wonderful!!!

While cleaning you can organize you fridge... This is a great way to save money. Have a shelf designed just for left overs, this way when someone is hungry they know where to look. I know while cleaning out your fridge you realize "wow I forgot about this leftover and have to throw it away." On average in an American household we throw away $70 worth of leftovers a month! Take $70 multiply by 12 months you get that's right $840 a year, you have just thrown down the sink (literally).

Another way cleaning is therapeutic. You find things that you no longer, need, use or want. SELL, SELL, SELL! Garage sales to 2nd hand stores, to craigslist, there are many ways to sell your items! Have a corner in your garage or storage room just for this... As you find items throughout the week, put them their and sell even just once a month... You will be surprised what you can make at even a garage sale. I had one a few months ago and made over $800. Hey, that's an extra payment on something!

Get creative, organize your toy room or kids bedrooms, you will find tons of toys they no longer need. Sell that unused treadmill that you haven't used in years. No the dog in your house doesn't use it when your gone... Cleaning allows for great times to reflect on your life. It can help you appreciate the things you have... It shows God you appreciate them as well. These are ultimately his things, and what and how you treat them is ultimately up to you. Do you not want to honor the blessings God has given you?

You will also find extra space that you need for something else that is out of place. Get rid of the 2nd coffee pot that your neighbor gave you. Really is that a sentimental item! Organize pictures, you wouldn't believe just by going through them and putting them in albums saves space! Instead of buying the next house up the road who has another bedroom for your storage, save money and clean out the rooms you have.

How do people decide when and how many children are enough?

This is a struggle my husband and I are going through. We have 2 perfectly wonderful great children. After have the foster kids in our home, we are not even sure if we want more children due to so many reasons. Here are some that we have come up with:

• Added Stress
• More mouths to feed
• The expense alone is much more
• Jealousy of time between children
• Harder to get places or do anything
• More householdchores
• Pretty much more of everything
• Sibling Fighting
• Less time with each child

We have always desired a large family, but yet we have found one struggle after another. From having a hard time getting pregant, to the miscarriage, to the pre-term labor. Now we have a really hard case which was supposed to be an adoption case. However is a reintergration case. Wow, after writing all of this, no wonder my heart aches. I had always dreamed of being a large christian family full of love and compassion. Maybe I wasn't supposed to feel this way. Maybe this my own desire and not God's. How do I know? I know that I hate living month to month wondering am I pregant. I hate the hoping and then finding out no, again!!! So maybe its time for a new chapter in my life. Almost everyone around us is saying you have 2 beautiful children one boy and one girl what else could you want. Well maybe I should feel this way. The hard part is I am starting to fall in line with this thinking. My husband is so burnt out from this case he has pretty much given up on all his dreams in regards to having more children. Thats what saddens my heart the most. Hearing him, after all he was the one that kept saying he wanted like 10 kids. Now he is saying enough is enough.

The thing that looks the most appealing to stopping would be we would never have to move. We probably will not outgrow this home. We could get rid of all the baby things I have been holding on to. We possibly could afford college for the two of them. Get debt free a whole lot sooner. Its hard because almost all of this is materialist. I know materials do not bring happiness. But the stress of being wall to wall furniture and living on top of each other. And all the FIGHTING drives me crazy. So where do we go from here. I do not know. I feel like I am sitting on a fence waiting for the wind to push me one direction. I do not want to make a rash decision, yet I do not want to forget this crazyness and end up in the same position again. I really don't know if I could manage having a large family. Maybe that is why all of this is happening. Maybe I would go crazy or something.... Who knows.... I just wish I knew where to go from here.

Well we got the news this is the last week.

We have heard officially that kiddos will be moving this next week sometime. Which is sorta difficult yet I am excited to see what is next for my family... I know homeschooling will be starting soon! I am anxiously excited. I am a little nervous since this is my first year and she has attended public school for kindergarten and first grade. So I am jumping in.... Wow that is scary. I have signed her up for a few extra curricular activities. Now I have to figure out a schedule that works for the whole family. I wonder how mom's get it all done. House cleaning, and teaching, cooking etc. I would love to hear about schedules that work for you. Do fathers help out with this stuff or is all up to the moms? These are the questions I have...

Do you need a promotional code listing?

Promotionalcodes.com is a great place to find promotional codes on almost all stores... At least the most frequent ones. There are free shipping codes to discount codes on this website. Find the store of your choice and check it out the code and use the savings for your pocket!!!!

Traveling to citys

I found this awesome website called. Citypass.com This website allows you to get cheaper deals on certain citys... The cities included on these deals are: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Fransico, Seattle, Toronto. It also includes southern California. On the left side of are the lists of citys... Click on them and check out the deals...

Garage Sales for Winter Clothing

Do you need winter clothing for your little ones? If so start checking out garage sales. Garage sales are a great way to cloth your children especially young children this way. Sometimes you can even find new clothing that has never been worn for a reasonable price. There are also group garages sales. For an example, www.herewegrowagain.biz is a large garage sale that happens a couple of times a year. Their prices are not retail and not garage sale. They are right in the middle. However as the sale goes on prices get cheaper. This is what I wait for. I believe if I am not mistaken on Saturday all prices go 50%. So check it out later and see if you can even find some play clothing for your kiddos.

Do you know where every dollar goes?

If you do awesome Job!!! Make sure to follow the good ole' budget. Yes I said budget. I know most people hate this word, but it works. Sit down figure out what you want to spend on each item, and what you are spending. Do not cut it all at once! That is a disaster waiting to happen, you will certainly fail. That can make all parties feel frustrated! Label items from clothing, to food, restaurants, etc. I personally pull out everything I can in cash. This keeps me from spending money I do not have! I am tired of giving Visa, Master Card my hard earned money arent you? Whether you right it out on paper or for the nerd, use an excel spreadsheet.. (That is what I call my husband, so please don't be offended) There are also things like quicken to help you keep a closer track on your money. Find what works for you! Debit cards can be a bad thing when you do not realize how much money you are spending! Pay attention, right it out... You can make financial goals of where you want to be in the future this may help you stay on track. Happy Tracking Your Money!

Great ways to save money and still get Holiday decor

After any holiday you will find almost everything on sale if not 75% off or so. I do this with all my christmas items especially. Christmas is my favorite so a few days after the rush is over I head to my local wal-mart and target and shop the clearance. I got all my goodie bags for next year for $1. These will hold up 100 people's worth of food items. I love baking goodies so what a great way to save yet allow people to enjoy. Halloween is another great way to get cute costumes. Even if you do not celebrate you can still get dress up clothing for your children much cheaper after the holiday... Being patient is the hard part I know I do it alot.... Another great way to save in the holiday season is celebrate christmas with your family after christmas. Get great deals after Christmas. What a great way to get more things for your family with out missing the holiday. Get creative if you see something on sale that you know your child will still want a few months from now purchase it and put it in a special spot so you will not forget... ;)

Gift Certificates

Another great way to save is on plasticjungle.com. This website allows for you to buy, sell or trade gift certficates. So if you need to make money and have a left over gift certficate you no longer will be using, this is a great way to get rid of it. Most gift certificates can be purchased a lower price than what it is worth. Check it out and let me know what you think about this. I just found out about this website so if you have used this please make a comment and tell us about your story... Thanks

Gift Certificates

Do you know that on restaurants.com you can find restaurant gift certificates at a cheaper value? They usually have some stipulations on the gift certficiate but however if you want a good deal this is the way to go. Some stipulations might include you spending $35 or such. Just read the fine print before using to make sure this is a good deal for you. Usually you can get a $25 gift certficate for $10. There sometimes are coupon codes out in the internet to google that can even lower this price. I personally have not used this but do know of some friends who have and love this. I think this website would work for special occasions and large groups of people of large families. I plan on using this soon.

Large Family Savings at Restuarants

Wow, lately I have had the opportunity of going from a family of 4 to a family of seven. Now I have had to find out other ways to save big when going out to eat. No longer can we go to the really nice restaurants and make it affordable. Great ways to save. Check dollar menus! Mcdonalds, Burger King have these. Taco bell also has a dollar menu, some items are even cheaper than $1. That is always a good thing. Subway has buy a footlong for $5. Little Cesars has pizza for $5. Yeah I know their left overs are not so great however for a quick meal on the go. These ideas can be very affordable. Always drink water. That saves the $ even more! All of us can go to Taco Bell for under $15. Still remember to keep a food budget no matter what size of a family you have. This will help you stay on track to keeping your dollar where it belongs.