Here are some easy strategies that will help your kitchen clean-up be a breeze.

1. Start with a clean kitchen. If you have cleaned your kitchen the night before, you'll find it much easier to keep it cleaner. Remember that clutter breeds more clutter.

2. Clean up as you go. Run a sink full of warm soapy water before you start cooking. As you finish using each pan and pot, slip it into the soapy water to soak until the meal is complete. Keep a clean dishcloth handy to wipe up any spills as they happen.

3. Use the one-touch method. If you take out a spice, don't set it back on the counter. Pick up the spice, use it, and put it straight back in the cupboard. This tip alone will be a big help to you and you'll have a lot less clutter.

4. Take a minute before you serve the meal to transfer the empty pots and pans to the dishwasher. Just takes a second and it will make clean-up that much easier.

5. Train your family to put their dishes directly into the dishwasher. I sometimes leave large notes on the counter to remind them not to place their dishes there. Even young children can do this if you take a few minutes to show them how and it will give them a sense of accomplishment.

6. If possible, try to get the whole family involved in the evening tidy-up process. If everyone helps, you can have the kitchen sparkling clean in just a few minutes. It's building good habits for everyone and if you try to make it fun, it can be a nice family time. Feel free to splash a little water on each other, snap your husband with a towel, challenge your kids to see who can wipe their half of the table the fastest. If you make it fun, it will get done!

6. Start the dishwasher immediately after dinner. Then you can empty the dishwasher before bed and the dishwasher will be ready for the next day's dishes. One of the key components to keeping a kitchen clean is to have somewhere to put the dirty dishes throughout the day.

Don't forget to stop by on Mondays and Fridays. That is when I post my Clutterbugs posts. If you'd like to read all of them, you can click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of the post and it will list all of them.



By TwitterButtons.com

I'm sitting in my hotel room here in Phoenix and I am SO happy. I love hotel rooms so much it's almost indecent. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and I love my family, but once in a blue moon, it is such a luxury to have a space that I can call all my own.

I think it's because I've never lived alone - never. I lived with my Mom until I was 24 and then I got married and moved into an instant family with my husband and my new stepson. That was 25 years ago, so I don't think anyone could begrudge me a tiny little corner of the world to have all to myself for a few days every year or so.

I'm sitting here in this comfy, cozy bed, watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and eating a whole pint of butter pecan Haagen Daz while I check in with my blog and see what the rest of the Internet is up to.

I feel like I've been such a neglectful Mommy of this blog lately. Other than my pre-scheduled Clutterbugs posts, I haven't had time to post much lately. Even today was a little hectic. I got up early this morning to catch a plane to put in an appearance at our Phoenix office. When I got there, I taught three different computer sessions to my co-workers - one Excel, one Access database with a little Excel thrown in, and one on our in-house billing software.

I love doing that, but it takes the energy right out of you - much more than just regular work. Not to mention the fact, that I was panicking all week because the in-house software wasn't working properly for me and I was completely freaking out because I thought I was going to get up there and look like a total idiot in front of my co-workers! Fortunately, at about 7:00 last night, I finally got it working right - whew!

In between that and the craziness of my normal workload - I normally process about $4 million dollars worth of phone bills in about a two week period across three different billing platforms, plus a whole other boatload of meetings and other job-related stuff, work has been well, crazy.

Then I get home and had a Stampin' Up! class to prep for, a Pampered Chef show to pull together, a Scout campout to help organize, a musical that Blake is involved in, a Mission Trip that Matt is preparing for next weekend, a dinner party for a dozen people, I think Easter was in there somewhere, and I know there was something else in there, but I just can't remember. Then there was all the usual stuff - doctor, dentist, and vet appointments, homework, grocery shopping, laundry, meals, and I'm pretty sure there was a husband a couple of kids floating around there somewhere! Yep, that's my Crazy Life for you!

Not that I'm complaining - I like my life and I've actually got it pretty good. I've got a family who loves me - and puts up with all this nonsense. I've got a pretty good job, and I get to sell some fun stuff that I love. I've got a great house that is clean enough to be heathy and messy enough to be comfortable. And I've got some delightful friends in my on-line world that give me a bit of fun and relaxation in the midst of all this. Some of them are on Facebook, Twitter, Blogfrog, Ning, and Yahoo groups and a lot of them have blogs of their own. And tomorrow, I get to hang out with a bunch of them for the rest of the weekend! Yep, two whole days with about 80 of my newest best friends at the beautiful Xona resort. You can't beat that.

So I'll have some good posts for you over the next week or so, hopefully with some pictures of my adventures down here in Phoenix!

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to enjoying my lovely hotel room!


By TwitterButtons.com

How is the stress level in your life? We all have stresses in our lives that come and go and some periods in your life are worse than others. If you are struggling with jobs and finances and worrying about the economy, like many people, this period of time can be an especially stressful one for you. Other times, there will be issues with kids, or struggles with family members, or serious health problems to deal with. The list is endless and the stress can be unrelenting.

When the outside world is crazy, that is the time that you need a calm environment in your home even more than ever. Home needs to be your refuge, your place to relax and recharge your batteries to get out there and deal with everything the next day. But if your home is chaotic and disorganized, it deprives you and your family of that needed tranquility.

This doesn't mean that your home needs to be absolutely perfect, or that it needs to look like something right out of a magazine. If anything, homes like that make me a little bit edgy. I'm always worried that I'm going to mess something up, or forget to put something back. But if your counters and floors are clear from clutter and your living areas aren't full of uncompleted projects screaming at you all the time, you will feel a wonderful sense of calm.

Be sure to schedule some time in every day to do something for yourself. Even if it's just 10 minutes to leaf through a magazine, do a quick Yoga workout, or take a little cat nap, it will do a lot to minimize your stress level and recharge your batteries.

I think Moms especially feel guilty about taking these little moments, but really who is going to mind? If you went through your family and took a poll on the matter and asked them - do you think Mom has the right to a few minutes for herself everyday? They'd probably shrug their shoulders and say - sure, why not?

So THEY aren't the ones putting the pressure on us, WE are the ones doing it to ourselves. OK Moms, so loosen up a little! The world is NOT going to go to pieces if you take a few minutes here and there to take care of yourself.

Be sure and stop by on Mondays and Fridays for my Clutterbugs posts. Hint: If you want to see my past posts, just click on the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list.




By TwitterButtons.com

Sometimes I think one of the biggest challenges in keeping a nice house is to deal with the daily clutter of dishes, mail, shoes, newspapers, backpacks, etc. If you can just get this one habit until control, you would be so surprised at what a difference it would make in your home!

One simple thing you can do is to just get in the habit of taking a few things with you every time you leave a room. It would literally take a matter of seconds to pick up a couple of glasses or dishes when you're heading for the kitchen, a pair of shoes or a coat when you're headed for the bedroom - how easy is that?

Eliminating the clutter in this way will make your room look so much cleaner and will make it so much easier to keep a room looking nice. You've gotten to the point where you don't even notice the clutter. Once you remove the constant clutter from a room, you'll notice even one thing out of place. It's like the peace and quiet of the country after a few weeks of being in the noise and bustle of the city. It's very refreshing.

The trick is to remember it. You know the old saying that it takes 28 days to build a habit. I don't know if that's true or not, but building new habits is definitely a big challenge for me. However, there are some little tricks you can use to help get yourself into a new habit.

Here are some ideas:

- Put a rubber band around your wrist or a brightly colored bracelet.
- Reward yourself. If you do better with the habit than you did the day before, reward yourself with a little extra TV time or a special coffee or some other small, easily repeatable reward.
- Stick up Post-It notes everywhere to encourage yourself.
- Engage your kids or your husband. Have them levy .25 cent fines on you when you forget.
- Try the don't "break the chain" technique. Get a calendar and some fun stickers. You get a sticker for each day you remember your habit. When you get a chain of 3 or 4 days, plan a special treat for yourself and then you won't want to break the chain.

Be sure to come back every Monday and Friday for a new Clutterbugs tip. Hint: To view all past Clutterbugs tips, click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of the post and it will bring up a list.



By TwitterButtons.com

I know Easter is long past now, but I'm finally getting around to posting some pics of our Easter eggs. Thanks to a tip from Lauren at MakeItWorkMom, we got a little creative with our eggs this year. We used some rubons, did some fancy swirly things with them. And I think they came out very cute. The "E" one was for Matt's cute girlfriend Erin, who sadly has broken up with him. We miss her like crazy - she was such a sweet girl, but young love is complicated.

Shamus is so darn cute sometimes. He runs around like a crazy kitten most of the day and gets into EVERYTHING just like any other type of baby, and we've all got scratches all over the place from him, but then he gets sleepy and comes over to purr and snuggle up with you for a little nap and you just melt. Usually he comes and snuggles up right under my chin and purrs so loud and you can't help but forgive him for being such a little stinker all day!

Next Thursday I am off to Phoenix for Bloggy Boot Camp. After all the rain and snow we've had here, I am more than ready for some sun, although I will miss all my pretty tulips and gorgeous blooming trees. I do love Spring flowers. Miss me!


By TwitterButtons.com

I read a good tip this week. Not only does upbeat music boost your mood and get you in the right frame of mind to want to do your cleaning, but it also can be used as a sort of a clue to yourself and your family that it's clean-up time.

If you always play the same artist or the same genre of music when you do your cleaning, your family will start to build a subconscious association with that music and when they hear it, they will be more likely to get up off the couch and pitch in with the work.

Flylady has a whole CD of songs that have been put together just for cleaning. You might want to pop over to her website and check it out.

The music I like best for cleaning is The Pointer Sisters or the score from Dreamgirls. Music that is upbeat and fast paced with a lot of variety to it.

PS: Here's a quick tip from my Grocery Tips for Smart Shoppers. Bring your I-pod with you when you go grocery shopping. The stores deliberately play that draggy elevator music so you'll shop slower and buy more stuff. Listen to your own upbeat music and keep your own pace and you'll spend less money!

Be sure and come back next Monday and Friday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them.



By TwitterButtons.com

This is a subject I am kind of a fanatic on. Money is very important to me. Not because I want a new Lexus, or a mink coat, or a cruise around the world, but because I want to make sure that my family is safe and secure, even in precarious financial times such as these.

I've had some tough financial times in my life and it wasn't fun at all. It isn't just about having nice clothes, or eating in nice restaurants, or taking nice vacations. Sometimes it's about having a safe place to live.

Because of my Mom's financial situation as a single mother, I was raised in some very rough neighborhoods. The kind where your Mom doesn't let you play in the back yard or go across the street by yourself to play with a friend. The kind where there are shootings and police around all the time and scary looking guys walking around. Where the kids at school have lice and belong to gangs and will be only too happy to beat you up if you look at them wrong. My Jr. High School backed right up against the Long Beach Projects, so when we moved to Orange County a year or so later, I thought I'd died and gone to paradise.

Here's an excellent post I found on Unclutterer.com the subject of Financial Clutter - click HERE to go and check it out.

Be sure to stop by on Mondays and Fridays for my Clutterbugs posts. Hint: If you want to look at past posts, just click on the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will pull up a list of them.




By TwitterButtons.com

Well, it finally happened, the ultimate embarrassment. My Super Cleanie sister happened to drop in on a day when my house was looking like a total train wreck! Ugh. Don't you just hate it when that happens? It is SO humiliating! You just want to crawl right under the couch and eat dust bunnies.

I know you're thinking that I am the last person who should let myself be placed in a situation like that. After all, I teach this stuff and I write posts all the time about cleaning and organization.

But, we all have busy weeks, and get distracted with other stuff and start drifting out of our normal routines. And even though I've learned a lot about organizing and developed a lot of new habits, it doesn't mean that I don't have a little backslide once in a while.

And my sister, of all people - sheesh! These are pictures of my sister's house. As you can see it is gorgeous and it looks like this 24 X 7.



I always go into hyperdrive when I know she is coming over because I can't stand the thought of her seeing my house in less than perfect condition. And believe me, today it was in much less than perfect condition!

We had just redecorated the kitchen last night and were too tired to finish it up, so there were boxes and plastic wrap and styrofoam all over, in addition to the pictures we had taken down.

We'd run out of kitty litter and the cat box was in a very sorry state, and naturally her grandkids were begging to come in and visit the kitties. Even my normally clean entryway was all cluttered with my Easter decorations that I was in the process of putting up.

And of course, my husband had to bring her into the very messy kitchen to show off our new dining room chairs and new decor, and then take her down to the cluttered basement to show her the new paint job. Man, I so need to retrain that guy!

Oh well, what can you do? It is what it is. You can't get a do-over on that one. And stumbling around mumbling excuses and trying to shove stuff out of the way just makes it worse. You just have to stand up and deal with the whole humiliating situation as best you can.

After she left, I was tempted to get mad and blame my family, but it's not their fault. Yes, some of the mess was their fault, but I'm the Mom and I'm the one who sets the tone for keeping the house clean (or not!).

So, I didn't get mad, but I did get busy and so did the rest of the family. And you know, with all four of us working, we had the house back under control in just about 30 minutes.

Hopefully, next time we'll think to do the 30 minute clean-up BEFORE my darn sister comes over rather than AFTER!

Be sure and come back next Monday and Friday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them.



By TwitterButtons.com

One thing that seems to be common among us "domestically challenged" types - we tend to struggle with low-self esteem and usually our weight as well. I saw some informal polls that were taken on Flylady.com and this seems to be the trend. Not for everyone, of course, but for a very significant percentage of us.

I think part of the secret to having a nice house is believing that you and your family deserve to live in a nice house. Personally, I think everyone deserves to live in a nice house, including me. Keep in mind that my definition of a "nice" house is one that is clean, peaceful and welcoming to friends and family alike, rather than one that is in a high-priced neighborhood and full of expensive whatevers. That's nice too, if you're in a position for that to be a reality for you, but any home can be made into a "nice" home even if the furniture is from Goodwill!

Part of convincing yourself that you deserve a lovely, welcoming home, is in how you take care of yourself. When I see a woman who looks like a sad, messy frump, I don't have to look in her front windows to know what her house is going to look like. I can just about guarantee it's not going to be a pretty sight. And it's the same thing when I see someone who is wearing cute, perky clothes, and a little makeup with a fresh up-to-date haircut. I know what her house is going to look like too. It's likely to look just as cute as she does.

When I teach my decluttering classes, that is one of the first rules I give out. It is a daily rule of mine that each woman has to do at least one thing (preferrably several things!) to make herself feel pretty every day. It can be as simple as a little splash of makeup, or wearing a pretty top that you usually save for "nice", or taking a few extra minutes to blow dry and curl your hair. We always think it is going to take "too much" time, but in reality, it doesn't take much longer than dressing like frump-girl and it does make you feel SO much better. And when you feel better about yourself, you start to feel better about your house too.

This is one change I was able to make stick a few years ago. I subscribe to several fashion rescue E-newsletters, such as MissusSmartyPants.com, and Andi Paige's Cents of Style. These are free newsletters for the every day woman who is in need of a little simple fashion advice. I love Andi's section called "Uh, don't wear that" where she shows pictures of women in pleated slacks, too tight blouses, and the dreaded VPL (Visible Panty Line). And Missus Smarty Pants has great style tips every week for women with every figure problem known to woman.

So, I took the plunge. I purged every single t-shirt, sweatshirt, and turtleneck from my closet except for a just couple for gardening, exercising, or lounging around the house. MSP pointed out quite correctly that it is a rare woman who looks flattering in any of these items. Unless they are unusually cute or cut exceptionally well, just about every woman looks boxy and frumpy in t-shirts, sweatshirts, and turtlenecks.

So instead, I have gradually built up a wardrobe of items that are much more flattering. Instead of a sweartshirt or a turtleneck in the winter, I will wear a nice top with a v-neck sweater, or a pretty colored tank with a cardigan over it. It's just as warm and it looks so much more put together. I'm a big fan of zip fleece because you can pair it up with anything and zip it up as modestly as you like (or not!).

I may still wear a t-shirt now and then, but I will layer it with a blazer or a printed shirt. In the summer, I will match a pair of cute capris with an embellished top and a light duster with some cute flats. I have a whole rack of different colored crocheted cover-ups that don't add any weight to an outfit, but are perfect for camouflaging a few stray fat rolls.

It's done wonders for my self-confidence when I know I look nice and I think it is reflected in my house as well. I wear a little make-up every day, not a full face-paint, but I think every woman over 25 needs to at least wear a little mascara and some eye shadow. My old Dad used to say - "Any old barn looks better with a coat of paint". That's not the best way to put it, but Dad was right on this one. Now I'm embarassed if I happen to forget or if I don't take a few minutes to "fluff and fold" my hair properly.

Especially now that I've let my hair go totally grey, I make a little extra effort to carry a fun, colorful purse, or do my nails in crazy, sassy colors, or wear clothes with a little "drama" to them. My favorites right now are boys graphic tees. Yes, boys tees, but these are teen boys tees, so they are very cool ones. They have very bold unusual graphic patterns on them and come in a host of very unboyish colors.

Today I've got a white one on with fleur-de-lis and fancy flourishes with french script in grey. It goes perfectly with my amethyst corduroy blazer and a nice fitting pair of jeans. I love them because they are cut a little longer than women's tops so it gives me a little more coverage around the middle, where I need it most and no one will ever know that I'm wearing boy clothes (and you won't tell, will you?). Unless I show up at a party somewhere with some guy wearing the same outfit - now that would be embarassing!

So, c'mon ladies, what have you got to lose? Let's dump those frumpy, dumpy clothes, that frizzy hair, and that purse from the bargain bin at Walgreens! Reinvent yourself and be the cute girl you were in High School. Then let's see if you still want to live in Frumpville or move on up to Trumpville!



By TwitterButtons.com

Sometimes I think one of the biggest challenges in keeping a nice house is to deal with the daily clutter of dishes, mail, shoes, newspapers, backpacks, etc. If you can just get this one habit until control, you would be so surprised at what a difference it would make in your home!

One simple thing you can do is to just get in the habit of taking a few things with you every time you leave a room. It would literally take a matter of seconds to pick up a couple of glasses or dishes when you're heading for the kitchen, a pair of shoes or a coat when you're headed for the bedroom - how easy is that?

Eliminating the clutter in this way will make your room look so much cleaner and will make it so much easier to keep a room looking nice. You've gotten to the point where you don't even notice the clutter.

Once you remove the constant clutter from a room, you'll notice even one thing out of place. It's like the peace and quiet of the country after a few weeks of being in the noise and bustle of the city. It's really refreshing.

The trick is to remember it. They say that it takes 28 days to build a habit. I don't know if that's true or not, but building new habits is definitely a big challenge for me.

However, there are some little tricks you can use to help get yourself into a new habit. Here are some ideas:

- Put a rubber band around your wrist or a brightly colored bracelet.
- Reward yourself. If you do better with the habit than you did the day before, reward yourself with a little extra TV time or a special coffee or some other small, easily repeatable reward.
- Stick up post-it notes everywhere to encourage yourself.
- Engage your kids or your husband. Have them levy .25 cent fines on you when you forget.
- Be creative. Try to think like a teacher who is trying to motivate a room full of kids.

This is my favorite technique for habit building - Try the "don't break the chain" technique. Get a small calendar and some fun stickers. You get a sticker for each consecutive day you remember your habit. When you get a chain of 5 or 6 consecutive days, plan a small treat for yourself. Each time, try to make your chain longer and longer - you are basically competing with yourself and that is a great incentive

Be sure and come back next Monday and Friday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them.



By TwitterButtons.com

OK, I ended up with 22 entries in my Pampered Chef giveaway. Apparently Pampered Chef is pretty popular. Being fat and lazy after a big Easter dinner, I decided to do the easy thing for picking a winner. I asked Matt to just pick a number between 1 and 22. He picked 7, so our winner is:


Carol M!


Congrats to Carol!




By TwitterButtons.com

I came across this term in an old post on Unclutterer. I think this is such a great concept. I know we are "supposed" to do a load of laundry every day or so, but every once in a while, we just get too far behind to catch up. Flylady calls this Mt. Washmore and it can be one of the most discouraging things in the world.

Their suggestion was to pack it all up and take it to the local Fluff & Fold. Even if it costs you a few extra bucks, wouldn't it be great to get caught up once and for all so you can start fresh? And besides, they fluff and fold it for you, what could be better than that?

Another idea would be to take it all to a self-serve laundromat and stake out a whole bank of washers and dryers. You might spend a few extra quarters, but you'd be done in just a couple of hours and the kids would probably think it's a great adventure.

Here's my secret for climbing Mt. Washmore - when I get too overwhelmed with laundry, I do it production-line style.

I sort it all into baskets and then I set a timer and put a fresh load in every 40 minutes. Then I sit and watch TV while I fold all of it. I prefer to sort everything into a separate basket for each person and one for towels and sheets.

Then I can just give everyone their own basket to put away. The requirement is that they must put it away before bedtime. With this method, I can usually get caught up in one evening, or one weekend morning.

Be sure and come back next Monday and Friday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them.



By TwitterButtons.com

Our April Fool's Day was quite hilarious here at the Crazy House! I never really go all that crazy about these little holidays in the Spring like some people do. I tied a couple of shoes together and hid Matt's wallet and car keys and that was about the extent of it.

However, about half-way through the day, I got a fun idea. I would have the kitties "catnap" Matt's laptop and leave him a trail of clues for him to find it. It was really fun.

1st note: Messrs Meatloaf, Salami, and Sardine (those are nicknames we call our cats) have catnapped your computer. If you want to see it alive again, you'll need to follow our directions exactly. Your first top off our food bowls and await further instructions and your computer will come to no harm.

2nd note: As your ransom, you must provide treats for all your captors. Must be paid in small bills to Don Salami. Leave the loot in the blue basket or you'll sleep with the fishes. (We keep the pet items in a small blue basket next to the fish tank).

3rd note: Mister Meatloaf and his accomplice Don Salami want to go outside to make sure you haven't called the cops. Their sidekick Sardine will stay behind to keep an eye on you.

4th note: Your catnappers have taken over the guest room as their headquarters. go and make the bed for them. Don't forget to fluff the pillows (the laptop was under the pillow).

5th note: Taped to the computer - Curses! Foiled again - we'll get you next time!


We thought that was going to be the end of it, but 'taint necessarily so! When I signed on to my computer today, I had a comment on an earlier post about my son's tattoo. They pointed out that the tattoo was misspelled! Oh.My.Gosh! We had no idea!

What is really hilarious is that it is his own NAME that is misspelled. Looks almost like "Mother" doesn't it? But it's supposed to be Matthew (two T's), NOT Mathew!


We had planned this for months and Matt had designed all the artwork himself, but the guy changed it all around. He made it much larger, changed the shape of the cross and created this ribbon with the huge lettering on it - originally Matt had the verse on a small scroll at the bottom of the cross. I had even gone down to the place to look at it before they started the work, but I was so upset with the guy for changing his design so much, I didn't take the time to look at it as carefully as I should have. Obviously, neither did Matt.

When I pointed it out to Matt, he was horrified, but what can you do? It's a tattoo. It's permanent. Yes, you can get that laser thing done to fade it out, but it costs like 10 times what the tattoo costs and takes a dozen or so painful treatments to face out the pigment, especially once he gets the final shading and coloring done. I'm horrified too, but it's kind of funny too. I said that he would just have to be a warning to all his friends who want tattoos. Hopefully, they'll think twice about it. I know I will. If I ever get another one, I'm going to get a final copy on paper and take a few days to look it over!

PS: Maybe we'll just change his name. We noticed a couple of years ago that it's also misspelled on his SS card. Maybe the universe is just trying to tell us something!

Update:  Here's the finished product.  He did go to another artist and had the final coloring done and had the letters cleaned up a bit, so it's a bit more readable, but it's always going to be misspelled.

I read an interesting statistic today - 18 to 25 year olds spend up to 49% more than other age groups on dining out. Doesn't say if that's fast food, fine dining, or drinks, but if I had my guess, I'd say 90% fast food with a smattering of fine dining.

This was from an article someone Tweeted about buying habits across the 50 states and I just thought this particular tidbit was just SO fascinating. This is the first generation that has grown up in the Happy Meal lifestyle and this is demonstrating how much they have taken this lesson to heart. And don't worry, I'm lumping my three kids right in there too!

I find this kind of disturbing on a couple of levels. One is the money aspect. It doesn't say what proportion of their income they are spending, but it sounds like a pretty significant chunk of change. You probably aren't in this age bracket - I'm certainly not, but think about what you've spent just this week on food other than grocery store items.

Did you get a Latte or other hot drink in the mornings? Grab a pizza or some burgers for dinner on your way to sports practice or whatever? Have a few lunches in the office cafeteria, or lunch out with some friends? Maybe you and your husband have a Friday night date night at a nice restaurant? Even snow cones or ice cream for the kiddos? What about all those sodas or expensive bottled waters? It adds up fast. And if these kids are spending even MORE than we do what do you think their total for the week would be? $100??? $150??? More??

And what are they getting for all that money? Well, nothing really. Not to be crude, but they are spending large amounts of their income on something that is here today and gone tomorrow (in a manner of speaking).

That's money that could be used for a car payment, a down payment on a house, investing in a business, or saving for retirement or a college education for your grandchildren. I joke with my husband that we could have put one (or two) of our kids through college just for what he has spend on soda pop. And it's totally true. If you figure he has three sodas a day at a buck or two apiece times 365 days times 25 years. It ends up being between forty and fifty thousand dollars!

And that's just the soda. Figure in all the pizza, chicken, tacos, and burgers we eat in a year, not to mention the rare times we go out for a nice meal. Shoot, it usually costs me $40-$50 just to take everyone out to Denny's for pancakes and double that for a nice dinner. There's probably a house or two in there after all these years.

And of course, you are paying for all that eating in another way too. With your health. We've all heard all the statistics - heard Dr. Oz spouting forth on Oprah about childhood obesity, diabetes rates, and all the damage we are doing to our bodies with all this excessive amounts of unhealthy food we eat. We're literally digging our graves with our teeth!

So, what's a Mom to do about it? Well, it's probably a little too late if you've got kids in the 18 to 25 age range like I do. They're pretty well set in their habits at this point. But if you've got younger kids, now might be a good time to start talking to them about this.

But talk isn't enough, is it? You've got to set the example and consistently teach them how to feed themselves and their families without falling into this trap. It would be an interesting challenge to see how long you could go without buying ANY outside food or drink at all. One day? Three days? A week? A month?

It would be kind of fun if you put the money into a jar, so you could see how much you had saved over that time. I'd like that part. Brown bagging it to work, not so much.

I think I could probably do one day, if I planned ahead or even three days if I really got serious about it, but a week? A week would be a challenge for me, and a month, I think would be almost impossible to do. I've never really tried it though, unless I was really seriously dieting and then that was just me, not the whole family.

On the other hand, I just got a new kitchen all full of fancy Pampered Chef goodies along with a bunch of new recipes and whatnot. If I got really serious about it, I'll bet I could do a week or two.

Tell you what I'll do. For everyone who takes this challenge and sticks to it for at least three days, I'll send you a free Pampered Chef recipe booklet. You're on your honor here. Just leave me a comment and tell me how many days you've done it and estimate how much money you've saved with it. I'm interested to hear how everyone does.



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