Laundry Balls

A friend of mine suggested I share this handy laundry tip with you.  So, here goes.  If you have long haired people in your household, you know that you sometimes get hairballs stuck on your clothes when they come out of the dryer.

Like this lovely example that was on my sock the other day! I have found an easy way to prevent this from happening.  All you need to do is put 2 or 3 clean tennis balls in your dryer with your clothes.  I also use a dryer sheet with every load to prevent static. Yes, it's a bit noisy, but the hair will stick to the tennis balls instead of your clothes!

 All you need to do is pulls the hair off the tennis balls after your load is done. Easy Peasy!

 

My Snack Hack

I have always had a issue with Munchies Snack Mix.

I don't think the pretzels belong. Munchies is a summer staple for us, we take a bag with us to the beach, but the kids also don't enjoy the pretzels, so they usually got tossed to the seagulls as we were leaving (don't feed the seagulls while you're there or you won't get a moment's peace!)

Chad brought a bag home from his office a few weeks ago, and I have been enjoying the occasional bowl in the evenings,  but what to do with the pretzels? There is a distinct lack of seagulls where we live!

I accidentally came upon a solution. I left the pretzels in a bowl overnight,  and the next morning at coffee time pretzels seemed like a reasonable snack! 

So, now I savour the cheezie goodness of Munchies in the evening, and keep a little bag out for the pretzels. Throughout the day I enjoy the pretzels!  I still don't believe that pretzels belong in Munchie Mix, but now I have 2 snacks in one bag!

The Thrift Store Find

A few years ago I was in a thrift shop & one of the volunteers was stocking the shelves.  We'll call her Mary.  Mary turned to me & said, "What section of the store do you suppose I should put this ceramic bathtub in?

It was similar to the one pictured here, & I suggested, "I'd put with nicknacks, as it's clearly meant to be put in a place visible to all!"

"But where would you put it, & what would you put in it?" Mary inquired of me.

"Well, if I were you, I would put it on a front hall table, & when my grandkids were leaving I'd say, 'don't forget to get some candy from the bathtub!'"

I don't know why, but I did not purchase that little bathtub that day.  I was living with regret for the past 2 years, always on the hunt for a little bathtub of my own, despite the fact that I have neither a front hall table, nor grandkids.  A few weeks ago, as I was thrift shopping with a friend, I perused the nicknack aisle as I always did, in search of a little bathtub, when lo & behold, I found not one, but TWO!  One was black & yellow & a little too loud for my taste (little candy bathtubs should be elegant after all).  I gleefully deposited the cute bathtub into my cart & took it home to be put in a place of honour...

It's only logical, isn't it?

Couponing the Easy Way

Couponing was all the rage in the States a few years ago, but it has never been as easy to save using coupons in Canada.  There are a few reasons for this...

1. There just aren't as many coupons available
2. Most stores don't allow you to use more than one coupon per item
3. Unlike the States, there are no "Double Coupon Days"

Recently, however there have been a few apps that have coupons you can use after you have shopped.  You simply buy whatever product they have listed, take a picture of your receipt, & choose which coupons you qualify for.  Once you   Since you are getting paid after the shopping trip, with multiple apps, it is possible to save more than what you spend on certain items if they have coupons on multiple apps!

Without further ado, here are the coupon apps I use, & how they work, listed in order of what I use most.  (In all cases, you must view the app before you shop so you know which products are listed.  Though sometime I have lucked out & unknowingly purchased an item I could get cashback for)

"PC Plus" - Superstores have a free loyalty card which you scan each time you shop.  Register your card online, & make sure you 'Load Your Offers' each week (agree to the weekly email to remind you to do this!).  The store has points offers every week, but your offers are specifically tailored to what you buy.  1000 points = $1.00.  When you have saved a minimum of 20,000 points you can redeem them towards your purchase.  Save them throughout the year & you can have free groceries at Christmastime!

"Coupgon" - This is an app that lets you save at the checkout.  You choose which coupons you are using today, then scan the QR Code at the checkout.  So far only certain stores are participating, but Atlantic Superstore (where I get most of my groceries) is one of them, check to see if one of your local stores participates.

"Checkout 51" - After you shop, take a photo of your receipt, & select the coupons which you qualify for.  After you have saved $20, you can cash out at anytime.  They will send you a check for your balance.

"Zweet" - After you shop, take a photo of your receipt, & select the coupons which you qualify for.  After you have saved $20, you can cash out at anytime.  You also collect points, & they have offers available you can use your points for like gift cards to Starbucks, Amazon, Tim Horton's, etc  They will send you a check for your balance.  What I like about Zweet, is they often have offers for "Any Milk", or "Eggs", so it's not a specific brand, but something I buy every week anyway.

"Snap by Groupon" - After you shop, take a photo of your receipt, & select the coupons which you qualify for.  After you have saved $20, you can cash out at anytime.  They will send you a check for your balance.

"Save.ca" -  After you shop, take a photo of your receipt, & select the coupons which you qualify for.  After you have saved $5, you can cash out at anytime.  They will send you a check for your balance.

"CartSmart" - I don't know how much you need to have saved before you can cash out, but you can get paid through PayPal, or a check.

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"EBates.ca" - For online shopping, you can find coupon codes on the EBates site, as well as earning cashback on all purchases that you make with the stores on the site.  All you need to do is go to ebates.ca then look for the online retailer you want to buy from (ex. Old Navy).  Any valid coupon codes will be listed.  Then click the link to go to that site & you will be redirected to Old Navy.  Once you check out on Old Navy's site, eBates will let you know how much you have earned.  Once you have earned $5.01, every 3 months they send you either a check, or pay you via PayPal!

Good luck, & happy savings!

Prairie Gopher

Since we’ve been enjoying warmer weather, we’ve been leaving the patio door open most of the day to let in a bit of a breeze.  It didn’t take long for Thanet to realize that if he wanted to get outside, all he had to do was run at the screen door & the bottom corner would pop out, allowing him access to the outdoors.

 

After PChad fixed the screen a few times, we decided we had to do something to stop Thanet from going through the screen.  I measured the door, & went to the local hardware store for a piece of wood.  The only problem now, is that Thanet can’t sit on the mat by the door & watch the birds.  So, he pops up like a prairie gopher & sits like that to watch them now!

Sock Spot

I have a special little spot near the back entrance that saves my sanity.  Asher is a perpetual sock remover.  He always wants to have his socks or slippers, but every time we sit down at the table to eat, the first thing he does is remove his socks.  It seems he can’t get through a meal with his feet encumbered.
So I insist that whenever an item of footwear is removed it must be placed in the designated “sock spot”, for if it wasn’t for this place, we would never have a clue as to where the missing socks had gone.

Every night, as I make my way upstairs I must remember to collect the day’s socks & put them in the laundry, because otherwise, we can end up with a week’s worth of socks piled up in the “sock spot”.

It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference on those mornings when it’s time to head out for school & we don’t have to wonder where the socks have been left lying, for they will be found in the small pile near the back door.


I like to think that I’m also teaching my kids a bit about organization…

Nightlights

When Asher was about 1.5, we had issues with him waking up too early in the morning & constantly asking for us to come & get him out of his crib.  We didn’t allow him to get out of bed before 7am, but we didn’t know how to let him know when it was the right time.

 

I looked online for some suggestions, & all the ones I saw were about telling him, “when there’s a 7 at the front of the clock, you can get out of bed,” or, “set a clock radio to play music when it’s ok for him to get out of bed.”

 

Due to his age, the “read the clock” advice wasn’t going to work, and we didn’t want to wake him up if he was still sleeping at 7, so the music solution was impractical as well.

 

So, I decided to try putting a nightlight with a timer in his room, & I told him when the nightlight came on, then he could get out of bed.  It worked like a charm.  Occasionally he’d wake up too early & ask to get out of bed & we’d call back to him, “Is your nightlight on yet?”  When Chancery was about 1.5 we put a nightlight on a timer in her room as well.

 

When we travel, we take the nightlights with us & when we change time zones, it makes it that much easier, since the kids know exactly when they can get up.

 

Now, at age 4, Asher still abides by the nightlight for night time & for naps.  Sometimes he even helps us out when Chancery starts talking, by calling out to her, “It’s time to sleep, Chancery, and when your nightlight comes on Mummy or Daddy will come & get you!”

 

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When we were in Alberta visiting PChad’s family, Asher had the opportunity to have a sleepover at a cousin’s house.  At 7:30 all the other kids had been up & running around for awhile, but Asher was still in bed.  Then Tara heard a tiny voice call out, “May I get up now?”  We had sent Asher without his nightlight…

 

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The other night, the kids were in bed, PChad was upstairs, and I was on my way up as well.

 

PChad called down to me, “Can you come & help me a second?”

 

From Asher’s room we heard a voice say, “Umm, Daddy, I can help you after my nightlight comes on, so I can get out of bed then.”

 

We could tell that he really wanted to help his daddy with whatever it was he needed help with, but he knew he wasn’t allowed out of bed yet.

No Splatter Rice Cooking -WFMW

Every time I use my rice coker, I end up with splatters all over the counter/stove/cupboards what-have-you. It was irritating. I'm not all that excited about cooking anyways, and I REALLY don't like to have to cook AND clean up a huge mess afterwards. So I started "tenting" my rice cooker with a dishtowel &, viola, problem solved!

I have only had one issue since I started doing this & that is sometimes the little vent hole gets a bit of rice stuck in it causing the lid to rattle around as the steam has no escape route.Afterwards I just peel the towel off & throw it in the laundry pile. Problem solved, easy-peasy!

For more great ideas, visit we are THAT family

Cleaning Schedule

The Queen B asked the other day about how people clean their houses. Here's what I do:

I like things tidy, so I'm constantly putting things away, that way it doesn't seem like too big a job b/c there's not that much to put away. Basically when the kids leave a room, we tidy it before we go.

As for cleaning? I generally clean when it looks like it needs to be clean (ie. you can SEE that the floor is dirty). That being said, I only vacuum once a week or so, but there is no set day/time. I have central vac, but I HATE it b/c I find you have to lug everything out & it's not conducive to doing a quick cleaning, so I use my old vacuum most the time unless I'm going to do a thorough cleaning. Monday is laundry day. Everyone knows to have their laundry in the hamper on Monday or it has to wait another week. I fold right away b/c then I don't have laundry lying about & I'm done for a whole week (unless there's a huge spit-up accident like there was yesterday). Dusting? Well I should probably do that from time to time......

Works For Me Wednesday - Groceries

I can't tell you how many times I've carefully set my groceries in the back of our Pathfinder, carefully driven home, opened the back of the truck to discover everything has rolled out of the bags.

We have thought of many different options to solve this problem, but most of them cost quite a bit of money, so we keep doing nothing & keep having to re-bag the groceries once we get home. Then it's countless trips in & out of the house to unload all the groceries.

A few weeks ago I got tired of this rig-a-ma-roll. I went to Walmart & I bought 2 of the cheapest laundry baskets they had. Now when I load my groceries into the truck, I put them into the baskets & they stay put on the ride home. Once I'm home I take the baskets out, & instead of 5 trips, it takes 2 or 3 to unload the truck. And that works for me.

Go over to Rocks In My Dryer for more ideas & to link up with what works for you.