Lunchtime shopping 5-16-2012

Cvs.                                                                      
6 finish quantum tabs 3.50 each =21.00. Used a $3 off cvs coupon and 6 $1/1 finish coupons. Paid 13.26 and got 10 ecbs back.                           Rite aid:
4 pantene shampoos 3.50 each =14.00. Used 2 bogo free coupons, 1 $3/2 coupon and $3 in up rewards. Paid 1.98 oop and got back 4 in up rewards.

30 Days to a Cleaner Home - Day 6

Recap, Day 1, Day 2 , Day 3., Day 4. and Day 5

Today's project was to clean out the vehicles.  This proved hard to do this weekend for us since it was cold and rainy. Normally on a nice warm spring weekend, we will clean out all our vehicles (Mustang, Camry and Explorer...nothing fancy, newest one is a 2004!  Every time I say I have 3 vehicles people think I'm rich...if they only saw our cars, they'd know we are not!)  It was very cool this weekend and it rained a lot, so we put this one off until a nice weekend comes by.

The smaller project was to pick up odds and ends around the house, which we were doing anyways, so that's that. 

So here's another shot of 7 more things to take out of our house:

Top left is a Partylite piece I'm going to sell.  Purple doesn't really match anything in here.  Then there's the free nail file kit DH got when buying me the Hair Bean. I have plenty of that stuff, so I'm just throwing it away since it's cheap stuff anyway.  Ah, my fan.  I've had that fan/heater for YEARS.  I really didn't want to part with it.  I kept it next to my bed for days I felt sick.  I believe I'd had that one fan since high school.  I remember bringing it to field hockey camp since we were told there was no A/C in the dorms.  Yikes.  And it has gotten me through many sicknesses. When i feel like I'm about to vomit,the cool air on my face helps tremendously.  It also helps since it's not quiet when the neighbors upstairs are um, well you know where the bed squeeks.  The past year or so, when I turn the fan part on, it almost short ciruits and it gets a loud high pitched squeel.  So DH got me another fan for my birthday.  At first I was upset and kept this fan....but it's time is up to hit the garbage.Then the four sets of sweatpants are DH's that he has outgrown and doesn't wear anymore.  They are getting donated.

30 Days to a Cleaner Home - Day 5

Recap, Day 1, Day 2 , Day 3. and Day 4.

Ah, on to day 5.  Today, was a very good day.  Well, okay we all know I did this all in a one day span in hopes of catching up, but the tasks in this one was very easy for us.  We were to take off all couch cushions and CLEAN, clean, clean. Well, when we got our new couches, they are full recliners so you cannot take off the cushions!  There's no where for crumbs to go, so we made out well on that one.

The smaller project was to take time to enjoy yourself and relax.  DH and I make this happen every night...and no, not THAT way...get your minds out of the gutter.  We make it a point to sit and cuddle every night, which means I lay my head on DH's lap, he reclines back on the couch and he rubs my head.  To me, nothing is better then head rubs...they are my absolute favorite!

So, I did manage to find some things in my journey to donate/throw out/sell, etc so I figure this post is better then any to post the picture of my first of 7 things:

Okay so from top left we have a sweater that DH got for Christmas from my mom or his mom.  He had it sitting next to his side table waiting to return it.  However, upon cleaning, we cannot find the receipt and I know going to JCPenney to return it for a store credit, we will ge $5 max, so we are just donating it along with all our clothes.  The thing next to it is a cheap candle and holder for it.  It's pretty old and in bad shape, so we are throwing it out.  The basket we were gonna get rid of too.  It was in DH's bathroom and we had no spot for it in there.  And I love baskets.  I didn't really want to part with it, so I took it and re-purposed it after the picture was taken.  It now holds all our remotes on the side of the couch!  The calendar was what I got DH for our first anniversary.  You can't really see it, but it's a calendar of firsts for us.  Each month, I found a picture of one of our firsts that correlated with that month.  So for February, that's the first month on the calendar since that's when we started dating, is our first ever picture together.  Other months include our first kiss on camera, our first vacation, our first graduation, our first shower, etc.  It was a really nice thing, but the calendar is now outdated. I can always use the pictures and make a collage of firsts so we can hang that, as opposed to an outdated calendar.  The little thing next to the calendar is a memory card. All that's on there are pics of us parasailing which is saved on all our computers, so no need to keep it.  The pants I got and don't fit and they cost me about $5 from Kohls, so instead of returning it, I'm donating them.  And the belt went with a shirt I got, but it doesn't look right on me with the belt, so I'm throwing it away, it's pretty chintsy.

30 Days to a Cleaner Home - Day 4

One of these days, I will get around to fiddling around with this blogger and figure out how to post the days easier then this. But for a recap, Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

So Day 4, the mini project was the bathrooms.  I have 'my bathroom' (where I do my business, but DH showers in, it's the master bath) and 'DH's bathroom' (where he does his business in and I shower - main bathroom with full shower/tub).  I refuse to clean his because that's where all our guests go to use the bathroom. Mainly it's DH and my best friend (both males, and it skeeves me to clean that toilet).  So he cleans his bathroom, and I clean mine (his is bigger hahahaha!).  I didn't get a chance to take pictures, but we spent more then the required 15 minutes in the bathrooms, they needed it!

The major project was cleaning out under the bed and furniture. We lucked out with our new couches as you can't go underneath it, there's a wall of sorts so nothing can get under it.  However, our bed was a different story.  It's a king sized bed, so the mattress is heavy.  Their are two box springs which made it easy to move those.  And of course, Lucky was having  blast hiding behind the mattress and box springs!  I didn't get many before pictures, but I got a picture of DH cleaning the baseboard (a big project in the upcoming days) as well as vaccuuming and a final picture:

Very nice! 

30 Days to a Cleaner Home -Day 3

Moving right along to day 3.  If you missed the previous posts, see Day 1 and Day 2. 

Day 3 had us do a quick 15 minute quick clean of the bedroom.  Our bedroom needed more, so we did take more then 15 minutes. When I start something, I have to finish it.  Here's the before picture:

YUCK!  Look has diskept this room is (is that a word?). Clothes strewn on the unmade bed, stuff laying all over the dresser, things just laying on the side tables, etc.  YUCK! 

And now, here's the after pictures:

Much cleaner!  I thought I had another picture of the clean room, but I guess not.  So I felt a huge weight off my shoulders with tidying up the bedroom.

Now, off to the major project of the day. DH thought the major project WAS the bedroom, but it wasn't :)  The major project of the day was easy for us, it was cleaning out the freezer.  We had just done this not too long ago and started organizing them.  I have a spreadsheet on both freezers and anytime something goes in or out, it gets added or deleted.  It's an awesome tool for doing meal plans every week.  I've started doing it two weeks ago, and it's great!  No more 'I didn't take meat out, so let's eat out'  And it saves us a ton of money too!  My best friend comes grocery shopping with me and he's great with organizing the freezers. It's like Tetris.  They are both stuffed to the brims, here take a look:

This is my dining room chest freezer.  This is perhaps the best investment we made.  I was getting so many awesome deals on meats and frozen foods and I couldn't fit it into our kitchen freezer, so we purchased this. And it's filled to the brim! And very organized. 

And here is a our kitchen fridge freezer.  Very organized and up to date!  Love it!

Tomorrow is Day 4's assignments, stay tuned!

30 Days to a Cleaner Home - Day 2

If you haven't seen my day one results, check here. 

As I stated in Day 1, DH needs to be told how to clean, what to clean, etc.  And he kept getting in my way of doing a quick 15 minute pick up.  There were a few DVDs in the entertainment center, so I said 'Put those away in order, and dust the entertainment center.'  I go about tidying up, then ALL our DVD's are out on the floor and he's going through them ALL.  'honey, this is just a quick get the stuff off the floor and where they belong, not take everything apart task'  He's like 'Oh.'  So now I'm just like, 'Dust, then get in the kitchen and put the dishes away'  For some reason, that man LOVES the dishwasher and loves taking control of the cleaning of the kitchen.  And I won't stop him!  So I sent him in the kitchen to get started on the dishes and wiping the counters down, and he also did the wiping of the cabinets.  Good boy :)

We recently did a scrub of our refrigerator, so it just need a tidying up and organizing.  So here's the before shot.

And here's the after shot.

Still looks a little cluttered from the picture, but it's really not.  All the creamers are in the same spots, the Vitamin Water is coded by DHs and mine (mine are the 0 calorie ones).  Fruit is put away into the right drawer, etc. Big improvement!

I know I haven't posted the 7 things, but since this has been a more tidy up first before delving deep into the perils of my cabinets and drawers, I haven't had much to give away. But in all the cleaning, we did manage to have about 2 garbage bags of stuff to throw away.  And I plan on doing a major overhaul of my closet and getting rid of and donating a lot of clothes. 

30 Days to a Cleaner Home - Day 1

I decided to take Money Saving Mom's challenge of 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

Now, since I march to the beat of my own drummer, I decided to take this challenge at the same time that work ramped up (read: OT) and when I decided I needed to start making lists of things to do to get organized at home first, etc. So the past two weeks, I started preparing mentally for this challenge, so yes, I'm a few weeks behind. However, I knew this past weekend, DH and I would be able to sit and really do a lot to catch up. We are not fully caught up, but here goes nothing! Please follow along and if you feel the urge to join in, DO SO!

So on day one, I took my to-do list of over 30 things (yes, over 30) and picked out 5 to do that day. That was pretty much getting on track. So on Saturday, DH and I set the timer for 15 minutes and cleaned the living room and the dining room in our home. I did learn something about DH's cleaning methods. He has NO idea what to do. He looks around aimlessly like 'Um' So I kind of have to tell him 'Do this, or clean that'. It does get annoying because I know what needs to be done and just doing a quick glance around the living room, I thought of about 12 things that needed to get done...DH found 0. Ugh. It was a chore giving him chores to do. This dominoes into every room in the house. That's one thing I need to learn to cope with. It did get annoying when he's like 'What do I do now?" He loves to dust and when I get the Swiffer dusters, he is a kid in a candy store. Here's a pic of him dusting the entertainment center.

And here's the end result, including Lucky (the supervisor) giving her okay that the room is now clean.

I know the big project was to clean out my purse, but I had just done that last week before going to Atlantic City. I downgraded to a small demi purse from a huge purse. And I have a tote bag that I leave in the car with my makeup and other stuff. I'm glad I got this started!