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Home and Beauty
Home Management Tips to Help
Busy Moms!
"Every wise woman builds her
house, but with her own hands
the foolish one tears hers
down." What are you doing to
build your house? What are some
things you do to take time for
yourself so you are a more
spiritually, emotionally,
mentally, and physically strong
person as a wife and mother?Have
you ever wondered how it's
possible for some people to work
a full-time job, raise three
kids, have an active
recreational lifestyle, and
still maintain a well-run
household they're never ashamed
to show to others?
The answer is that they've
learned to follow a set of
principles that help them stay
on top of their household chores
and responsibilities.
Quick Clean Up Tips
Sometimes the easiest way to
clean your house is to clean as
you go. By devoting a few
minutes here and there to
cleaning, you can drastically
reduce the amount of time you
spend cleaning later.
·
Make a list of all the things
that have to be done, and decide
what jobs can be turned into
chores for the children. The
sooner the work gets done, the
sooner all of you can enjoy time
together.
·
Cleaning one room at a time,
clean left to right and top to
bottom, placing anything out of
order in the room in a box or
laundry basket. Put the items
away when you are done cleaning
the room. DO ONE THING AT A
TIME!
·
Have several times during the
day that you have a five or
ten-minute pick-up. This gives
you an opportunity to put things
back into place before the big
mess evolves. Along with this,
take time every night before you
go to bed to make sure
everything is in its place.
·
Clean the kitchen as you cook.
·
Wipe down your bathroom sink
after you brush your teeth or
apply your makeup. Neat and tidy
makes a big difference in how
clean a room appears.
·
Don't wait to empty your trash
containers until the containers
are full. You'll stop odors
before they have time to stink
up your rooms, and empty trash
cans just look cleaner. Take the
trash outside to wait for
pickup.
·
Make up your bed and your
childrens' beds if they're still
too young to do it themselves.
This can really improve the look
of a room (even a cluttered
room).
Neat and tidy really is half the
battle to having a house that
always looks clean. None of
these chores take more than a
few minutes each day to perform,
and these quick clean up tips
will have your house looking
great every day of the week.
Keep in mind that a little bit
of work every day will save you
a lot of work on one or two days
a week.
Quick Laundry Tips
Washing the laundry is about
more than cleaning your clothes.
Your wardrobe is a significant
expense for most families, and
if you want your clothes to look
good for as long as possible,
you'll want to follow the tips
outlined below.
1. Turn your clothing inside out
Turning your clothing inside out
will protect it from pilling and
prevent colors from transferring
as easily onto other pieces. By
turning your pieces inside out,
you give them longer life.
They'll last longer and look
better.
2. Wash like colors together
Always wash like colors
together. Dark colors may not
leave an obvious transfer of
color onto your lighter clothes,
but over time, the lighter
pieces will dull and you'll
wonder what happened to them.
3. Don't use fabric softener on
your kitchen toweling
If you want absorbent towels,
don’t use liquid fabric
softener. The agents used to
soften your fabrics interfere
with the natural absorbency of
cloth.
4. Treat stains immediately
Don't wait to treat stains on
clothing. Set in stains are must
harder for your detergent to
remove. Treating a stain is as
easy as rubbing some detergent
on it or rinsing it with water
and spraying with a stain
remover.
5. Avoid bleach
Chlorine bleach is a great
whitener and can take out some
really hard to remove stains on
white clothing. Sheets smell and
feel fresher when bleached, as
do white towels and wash cloths.
However, using bleach with every
white wash will lead to weak
clothing fibers. Your fabrics
will tend to rip and tear easier
and will thin much sooner they
with natural wear and tear. So,
avoid using bleach when it's not
needed.
6. Wash cold and dry low
Finally, wash your clothes in
cold water whenever possible.
Always dry on the low setting.
Both of these tips will help you
save your colors and make it
easier to get out any overlooked
stains.
Steps to a Working Budget
Budgets are an essential element
of well-managed household
finances. It's easy to forget
that budgeting isn't about
depriving yourself. Budgeting is
about setting limits and
sticking to them. Just as you
know that if you overeat too
often, you're going to gain
weight, you should know that if
you don't set limits with your
spending, you're going to end up
in debt.
Budgeting must include your
spouse, and enables you to be a
wife that allows her husband to
"trust safely in her"
Your financial health depends on
your ability to set a realistic
budget and then to maintain that
budget. There are some specific
steps you can take to get your
budget off the ground.
1. Set up budget categories
Set up categories for your
budget, such as automobile
maintenance, home maintenance,
groceries, dining out, cleaning
supplies, income taxes, toys for
the kids, toys for the adults,
and any other expenses you think
you might have. Fill these
categories with genuine and true
estimates.
2. Know your income
Calculate your income from
previous months. In this
category, it's better to
underestimate than overestimate,
but don't be afraid to be as
accurate as possible. Fake
numbers aren't fooling anyone.
Fake numbers also make a budget
worthless.
3. Don't panic, yet
Don't try to trim your expenses
until after you've completed
your first budget. You want to
see if you're overspending or
underspending BEFORE you decide
what you need to do about it.
4. Know your bottom line
After you've subtracted your
expenses from your income, you
can begin to panic. And if
you're lucky enough to discover
that you have money left over
every month, decide how you want
to celebrate. For the rest of
us, this is the time to see
where we can realistically
expect to be successful at
cutting back our expenditures.
5. Trim your expenses
It's easy to chop away at the
grocery and gas categories, but
it's unrealistic. Most of us
aren't overspending in these
categories. Look hard at the
leisure categories, the toy
categories—for both children and
adults, the dining out and the
cell phone bills. These are the
categories that will have the
least impact on your household
in the long run. You can't cut
back home maintenance—in fact,
most people don't set aside
enough in this category, or in
the auto maintenance category.
6. Put aside excess, and if
there's no excess, create some
When you do have money to spare,
save it. If you budget for a
splurge, you're much more likely
to enjoy it without feeling
guilty! If there's no money left
for saving, then you haven't cut
enough flab from your budget.
Saving should be your number one
goal.
Now you have a working budget.
You know how much money you have
coming in and you know what
you're going to spend. Stick to
it. Don't think of it as a
review, think of it as a
spending plan. Look at it
tomorrow and every day after,
and spend your money where you
said you would.
Push Pull Discipline
What is the reason for
discipline? To teach or punish?
The answer seems obvious when
it's written out, but in the
heat of the moment, it's easy to
forget that punishment isn't the
ultimate goal. We want to teach
our children the difference
between right and wrong, good
and bad. The purpose of
discipline and how to get what
you want from others.
There are two types of
motivation we can use to
encourage the behavior we want
from our children (and our
spouse, our friends, and family
members). Let's talk about this
in terms of management.
There's the "push" approach and
the "pull" approach. One
involves rewards and the other
punishments.
The push approach
When you use the "push"
approach, you're focusing on the
punishments and disasters that
can or will occur if something
isn't done or isn't done
correctly. Why the push approach
doesn't work? The push approach
depends on fears. In fact, it
creates an atmosphere where fear
of failure and the fear of
disappointing someone thrives.
Fears hold us back. Think of the
phrase push through the fear.
Have you ever heard it worded
let the fear push you? Likely
not, because fear usually pushes
us to do the wrong things.
The pull approach
The "pull" approach focuses on
the rewards and benefits of
success. Coaxing your children
(or significant other) with
rewards—not necessarily
things—will teach
them not to be afraid to
disappoint you because of some
expected punishment.
How to implement the pull
approach
·
Offer incentives and rewards for
the behaviors you want to
encourage
·
Make the rewards meaningful
·
Follow through. Never promise a
reward and then take it away
because of something else.
There are many ways to apply the
pull method to discipline. Be
creative and see if it doesn't
work for you and your family.
Finally, if there were two
managers at your work and one
used the "push" approach and the
other used the "pull" approach,
which would you rather work for?
Remember your answer when you're
managing your children—or your
spouse.
Time Management or Madness?
Hardly anyone manages to
accomplish much without a plan
of sorts. The question is really
not whether or not you should be
or get organized, the question
is probably what level of
organization is necessary for
you to function well and
accomplish your goals.
Getting started is probably the
hardest, and yet most important
step to getting organized. Here
are a few useful tips:
-
Take on projects on a one job
at a time basis. Make a list
with your husband of the
things that are most demanding
on your attention and decide
what the priorities are. I
have found that if you can get
your husband "on your side" in
this effort, it will be much
easier and faster! Set goals
for completing the "top 5
list" and decide together a
reward for their completion.
-
Make a list for the things you
want to accomplish each day
and prioritize it. First and
foremost in this endeavor is
to set reasonable goals. There
is nothing more discouraging
than setting goals too high
and then not feeling any sense
of accomplishment at all.
Also, give yourself some "down
time" each day too.
-
Find a person (besides your
husband) with whom you can
have an accountability
relationship and share your
goals, successes and failures
with her. When you are
discouraged at the job that
you see still looming ahead of
you, a good friend can help
you remember where you started
and what you have
accomplished.
-
Ordering your day is the first
place to start. "A day that
begins and ends well starts
with prayer". Begin each day
with a prayer, and ask God for
the strength and vision you
need to get everything done
that HE wants you to
accomplish. Live by priorities
and not by pressures.
-
Next, consider ordering your
children’s day. This does not
mean there can be no
spontaneity to their day. In
your home, have a plan for
each day. For instance, set
your goal every single day to
have time just to play with my
children. Too many choices and
freedoms will lead at some
point to frustration for your
child/ren. If you are saying
"no" a lot or feeling very
frustrated with the "mess"
your child makes consider if
you could provide greater
security by providing smaller
boundaries. Or perhaps you
need to plan opportunities for
acceptable messes and
exploration. Also, choose
activities that will help your
child grow in wisdom, stature,
and in favor with God and man.
Stimulate your child
intellectually, physically,
spiritually, and socially
(This does NOT include a lot
of television!). Look at
planning your children's day
as an opportunity for
training. And last but not
least--get outside with your
kids when the weather is nice!
It is a great opportunity to
teach them all about God and
His world.
Beautiful
You
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