What the 50s Housewife Knew

I’ve been reading a lot lately about 50’s era housewives, including a couple of blogs that feature modern women who take on living as though they were still in that era: creating elaborate dinners that often feature gelatin and liver, getting dressed up complete with lipstick before they greet their husband’s good morning, and boiling laundry at the kitchen sink. While I am not quite ready to give up my modern appliances or attitude, there is one thing that I do appreciate about that time period. Everything got used and only disposed of when absolutely necessary. For example, a 50’s … Continue reading

De-Cluttering Our House Has Lead to Saving Money

One of the lovely consequences of doing a huge de-clutter of our home and living with less is that we are actually saving more money! That is right, there is more money at the end of each month, despite rising food and gas prices. How is this possible? Well, analyzing things lately, here are some of the contributing factors and the connections that I can see from our budget since we have been de-cluttering, including some things that will be with us long-term. Bigger Tax Refund All of the donations that we made were itemized and served as charitable deductions, … Continue reading

What’s New at HealthCare.gov?

If you haven’t visited HealthCare.gov recently, you will want to go back and take another look. There have been many changes made. Previously, the website was a resource to learn more about upcoming changes in insurance. It still is, but the focus has shifted to helping people get ready for the health insurance Marketplace. HealthCare.gov was specifically mentioned in a recent post by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. The post first appeared on HealthCare.gov, and also can be read at the White House Blog. The post is titled Countdown to Affordable Health Insurance. It has information about … Continue reading

According to a New Report, Household Debt is Increasing

Maybe it is because basic things required for living costs more these days. Food, healthcare, utilities and clothing have all seen a rise in prices. Maybe it is because we simply haven’t learned from the last economic crash. While home prices are slowly rising, so are sales of the latest electronic gadgets that sell out hours or days after being released. At the same time, U.S. income has fallen overall by 1.5 percent. Whatever it is, a need study has confirmed what may be surprising to some: household debt has seen the largest rise since 2008. How much household debt … Continue reading

Houseplants that Purify the Air

Right after we had our son eight years ago, my husband bought an air purifier from Sharper Image. He figured we had a new baby, four cats, and lived in a community where they were still building houses, so it might help. I don’t know that it really did help or not. I still suffered from allergies, but our son doesn’t really seem to have much trouble with it, so who knows. The good news is that there are plants you can have in your home that will purify the air naturally. One plant that will help clean your air … Continue reading

New and Free at the Library!

Sure you can get books from the library, but if you aren’t taking advantage of the other freebies that are available, you are missing out. Library offerings are changing with the times, so you might not realize all that there is to get, for free! Admission Passes I remember the first time I discovered that you can take out passes for free admission to local museums, zoos and more. I was living in a small New England town, in a small house on a small budget that allowed for very little entertainment. When I found out that I could go … Continue reading

Getting New Clothing at the Thrift Store

Don’t want to buy your clothing at the thrift store because the idea of wearing used clothing makes you ill? What if I told you that not only can you find new clothing at your local thrift store, but you can find new designer clothing, and can even turn your thrift store shopping into a business. The biggest source of new clothing with tags at the thrift store are local and chain stores that donate substantial collections of new clothing in order to make room for the next season or style. For instance, Target generally makes large clothing donations to … Continue reading

Temple Open House In Brigham City- Part II

My little family made it to the open house last night. It was fun to get to go on a little short trip and show them something so meaningful. As we were driving there, I could tell my kids were excited. As we made our exit off of the freeway, the temple spires were in the distance and we pointed it out to the kids. It was a beautiful sight at this time of year to see those white spires against the brown mountains behind it. When we got there, we had to be shuttled in to the temple grounds … Continue reading

Preparing Pets For A New Baby

As you prepare for the arrival of your baby, it is important to make sure that others in your family are also prepared to welcome the new arrival. Pets are an important part of many families, and the arrival of a new baby is a big adjustment for them. In order to keep both the human and animal members of your household happy and safe, check out these tips for preparing your pet for a new baby. It can be helpful to think of your dog or cat as an older child who, up until now, was your only child. … Continue reading

Planning for a New Arrival

One of the challenges of being a home – based professional parent is deciding what to do when you become a parent, either for the first time or when you expand your family. Having a newborn in the house is an adjustment and while you may not be able to completely stop working for a period of time when you have a new baby, it is important to plan how much of what kinds of work you will and won’t be doing during those first few months. It is also important to think about whether you will look for help, … Continue reading