Since we’re talking about spring cleaning and avoiding “tool-shaped objects” syndrome, I thought it would be a perfect time to talk about favorite cleaning tools I can’t live without. For years, I cleaned with sub-par products, wasting time, energy and money on homemade cleaning products and homemade laundry detergent that didn’t work (and that left my […]

Everyone’s talking about spring cleaning right now. I’m going to take a slightly contrarian position and encourage you to skip it entirely. Here’s why, and what you might do instead that’s a more profitable use of your time.   Where did spring cleaning come from? “When homes were heated with wood, coal or coal oil […]

Last summer during my no spend challenge, I looked for the cheapest laundry detergent that still had positive reviews. That turned out to be Foca. Foca laundry detergent comes in huge bags and is dirt cheap. Like, 4 pounds for $3.42 cheap. I liked the convenience of a large bag of detergent.  It meant I […]

Every once in a while I post things I am enjoying. It’s a sort of product review meets gratitude list. This list is for stuff I liked in February. I moved this month, so a lot of stuff will revolve around that (I’m talking to you chocolate, comfy shoes and Epsom salts!). Lily’s chocolate – […]

The drugstore game is a method of stacking store sales (especially BOGO deals) with coupons in order to obtain drugstore items for pennies on the dollar, or even for free. I learned how to do the drugstore game back when I was a single mom getting out of debt, and I did it for a […]

Our move is complete, although our “settling in” is far from done. Turns out, 9 people have a lot of stuff. The only thing we haven’t unpacked: the books. We need to buy a bookcase first. My body is aching and exhausted (*except for one part) and for the last two days I’ve been having […]

Yesterday I talked about how I want to have a cleaner house (even while living with a husband and 7 kids – what can I say, I like to dream big). A thought came to me late yesterday afternoon. I remembered something I read years ago. The main message was this: Use good tools. Clean […]

There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks now. I want a cleaner house this year. We’re about to close on a home, a first for my husband and me. It feels huge. The house we’re buying is currently inhabited by a retired couple from Australia. There are no kids there, but the […]

This is a new feature here: Things I Enjoyed is simply quick takes on stuff I liked using, reading or wearing in the previous month. Tangie Laundry Paste Concentrate I recently decided to start buying my laundry detergent in bulk, since I go through so much, and the stash I bought back in the summer […]