Jan27

JAWS – Hardworking Eco-Friendly Cleaners

In my housekeeping and homemaking quest for cleanliness, I’ve found that the cleaner really can make a difference. I’ve tried a variety of cleaners and have even tried to make some of my own. There are a few problem areas that I think need special cleaners, like the hood of the stove and the bathroom. Unfortunately, I also have a big hunk of cheap-o in my system that means I hate paying a ton for cleaners, even if they’re supposed to be the best. So when I heard about JAWS and how they are hardworking eco-friendly cleaners, I was super interested.

JAWS CleanersI was offered an opportunity to try out these cleaners and I have to tell you – they are amazing. First I was super thrilled by the quantity of cleaners I received. See JAWS stands for Just Add Water System. Here’s how it works – you buy a spray bottle that has a canister (or more than one) attached. You unscrew the top of the spray bottle, fill to the line with water, pop the canister in the bottle, and screw the top back on. Voila – the non-toxic cleaner empties from the canister into the water, changing the color to match the label of the bottle, and you’re ready to clean.

Since being eco-friendly is one part of my requirements for a cleaner, the next thing I did was try out the heavy hitters – the degreaser and the bathroom cleaner. I have had huge problems with my stove hood – there are lots of years of gunk not just from my cleaning exploits, but from those of the earlier house dwellers as well. I’ve tried several products that didn’t get it all. Going into it, I didn’t have high expectations for this cleaner – after all, it’s just water. I was both surprised and a little shocked to see that this cleaner did an amazing job. Not only was the new gunk gone, but the old gunk was gone too. Awesome.

Next I moved to the bathroom with the bathroom cleaner. Our water is both city water and hard water since we live in a rural area. It makes rust and other buildup collects really fast, and my husband has a tendency to have nose bleeds, so there’s always drops of blood I’ve missed. I was really impressed with the bathroom cleaner both for the cleaning power and the scent. It’s not super overpowering, which is really important to me since we have a tiny bathroom with no ventilation. (My house sounds awesome doesn’t it LOL) One more perk – the glass and hard surfaces cleaner did a wonderful job on our TVs!

JAWS Cleaner Sale at Marsh in Indiana and Ohio

JAWS is starting a BOGO offer this week through Feb. 8 on its glass cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner and bathroom cleaner at Marsh Supermarkets in the Indiana and Ohio areas. Buy one JAWS bottle with one attached refill, get any other JAWS bottle with attached refill free. Or, buy one JAWS refill pack of two cartridges and get a second refill pack of cartridges for free. It’s $4.99 for bottle with refill attached. The refill pack of two cartridges is $3.69. If you start breaking down the math, it becomes $1.25 on the BOGO per bottle of cleaner if you do the BOGO.

Not Near a Marsh?

You can also buy JAWS online at Amazon or at this list of retailers.

And now I have a giveaway of a collection of JAWS cleaners and refill cartridges!

Continue reading →

Posted in cleaning, frugal, giveaway, homemaking, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment
Jan24

Save Money on Groceries – Get Started Today

With the current economic atmosphere, it’s no surprise to hear people saying that their New Year’s Resolution this year is to save money on groceries. Unfortunately, so often we come up with great ideas in late December and early January, but by February they’re still unfulfilled. But never fear! I’m here to help this year!

How to Save Money on Groceries

I have heard so many people say that they would love to save more money on groceries, but they just don’t know how. Another worry is the food quality that you find when you are using a rock bottom budget. Processed food is often cheaper, but it usually doesn’t mesh with our other New Year’s Resolution of losing weight and getting (back) in shape.

How I Learned to Save Money on Groceries

I first learned about being frugal from my mom. I loved watching her clip coupons and she’d even give me the expired coupons so I could use them in my pretend grocery store with my stuffed animals. I’ve pored over blogs and forums trying to find the answers, but the one resource that helped me the most is Grocery University.

Why Grocery University Works

I love the Grocery University course because:

  • It’s an audio course – way easier for me to listen than to read
  • Even experienced couponers can get valuable info from it
  • I am in love with their Rock Bottom Price List
  • It’s not just about coupons
  • I can use what I learned at my local grocery store

Save Money on Groceries with Grocery UniversityI have worked hard to stay at home with my kids instead of working outside the home, and part of that work includes saving money. I do whatever I can to lower our bills so that we need less money, and this course was instrumental in that change. Even if you don’t have kids, when you save money on groceries it can help ease your budget and make more room for travel, toys and other luxuries!

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Jan22

Mamavation Monday – Healthy Lifestyle Inspiration

Hey howdy hi!

This week life was batting against me – my FIL was in the hospital on Saturday (thanks for all the thoughts & prayers!) through Tuesday. He’s home now and doing well! Then both the boys and both the parents in our house had colds. Yippy. Oh and then my first post-baby PMS hit like a wall of bricks… So yeah, it’s been fun. I’m retaining water and craving everything. I barely slept this week and was trying to stay calm under stress. All in all, I was a peachy awesome friendly person, I’m sure.

But something awesome was accomplished! I made it through the 2 Week Challenge! I haven’t weighed or measured yet, so no official check in, but still. I did it. And the hazing workouts. I’m amazed at what I’ve been able to accomplish. I never ever ever thought I would be THAT girl working out, eating right, doing the right stuff… it’s awesome. And the energy I have to for everything else is pretty sweet too!

Tomorrow (or late tonight), the finalists for the Mamavation Mom Campaign 11 will be announced and voting will start. All of the applicants are awesome and no matter who wins, they definitely will rock it!

Who is your biggest inspiration when it comes to healthy lifestyle?

My biggest inspiration has to be the other Mamavation Moms who have gone before. They are so supportive and sweet, through this whole hazing thing they’ve been awesome. Shelley is one of my favorites – I can’t imagine doing all that she does while working and single! Shannon is another of my favorites – she’s my official FitFriend! She is always willing to help and support others and always has a sweet word to offer!

My biggest inspiration for leading a healthy lifestyle is my kids, though. I’m doing all of this for them because I don’t want them to get the bad habits that I developed. I don’t want them to have to deal with being overweight because I didn’t teach them well. I want to be a great example for them and lead a healthy lifestyle for them so that they’re exposed to it, leading one too, and grow to be healthy young men.

This post is sponsored by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway

Posted in mamavation | 16 Comments
Jan21

How YOU Can Write Your Best Blog

how to write your best blog

It’s 2012 – the year of your best blog ever!

These days there are bloggers everywhere. It’s no longer weird to be the emo kid on LiveJournal (I was that kid) or the mom with too much time on her hands on Blogger (been there too). Now we are seeing more people than ever entering the blogging world, sharing their thoughts and knowledge with the Interweb. With all of this flood of information, how can you write your best blog?

Changes from 2011

Many people will tell you that one of the first steps to growing your blog and being a successful blogger is to provide quality content. It’s almost like a no-brainer, but it does need to be said. In the blogger race right now there is a lot of pressure to create content that drives traffic. But at the end of the day, the numbers that you’re seeing can ebb and flow. As a lot of us have seen with the “new” StumbleUpon, the traffic we used to be driving has slowed to a trickle.

New in 2012

Instead of using buzz words and writing content that will bring in the traffic, we need to change our focus. This will also allow those who don’t have blogs yet but who do have something to share to be a part of the community too. Jennifer James in her yearly predictions about the mom blogging world says that the distance between the tiers of bloggers will continue to widen – there’s a separation between the top bloggers and everyone else, and that’s just going to get worse. She also says that content will be of the utmost importance this year.

Your Best Blog

So what can you do to write a blog that is successful even as algorithms change and the mom blogging world changes this year? Easy – write content that matters to you. So many times we’re using the hot topics but we have little interest in them or we’re trying to follow some kind of formula to be a successful blogger because that’s what those before us have done. Instead of letting your blog fall into that trap, step back and examine what’s important to you.

Focus on YOUR Interests

If you’re struggling to put three posts together, it may be that you just aren’t interested in that topic anymore. Instead of treading water with your blog, you should be exploring what DOES make you happy. Even when you’re making money on your blog, you don’t want to be miserable writing it! Time will go much faster and you’ll have your best blog ever if you’re focusing on what you love.

How do you write your best blog? To recap:

  • Write content that you care about – it will go faster and be more valuable
  • Lose the focus on the numbers – algorithms change and the secret to success isn’t tricking a search engine into checking your page out more often
  • Know what’s going on in the blog world, but don’t succumb to fads. Just like in fashion, they’ll be gone before you know it!

I hope 2012 is your best blog year ever! What are your tips and tricks?

Posted in advice, blog, blogging, writing | Leave a comment
Jan20

Weight Watchers Desserts – Delicious and Guilt-Free

It’s no secret that I have a weakness when it comes to eating right. That weakness is called chocolate. If there was a Chocoholics Anonymous, I could be chapter president. My husband’s weakness is dessert – specifically, ice cream. So we were super excited to try Weight Watchers Desserts – products that fed each of our sweet spots AND didn’t knock us off our diet.

We were given an opportunity to try Weight Watchers desserts – and holy cow, were they awesome. One of the desserts we tried was the Dark Chocolate Dulce de Leche – one of my very favorite flavors in dessert coupled with dark chocolate – it was a total win. I’ve had a hard time getting my husband to pick his favorite, but judging from the nearly empty box, I think it may be the Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Ice Cream Bars.

Not only are the bars incredible delicious – they are also each only 3 PointsPlus! The strawberry bars are 100 calories and the dulce de leche bars are 120 calories each. These desserts are a perfect indulgence for us – they combine our favorite things AND don’t break our diet! I really think it’s important to plan indulgence in a diet to keep from slipping, and these are a great option.

I was worried that the low-calorie treats would be grainy or have an aftertaste – you know, the stuff you sometimes get with diet desserts. But I was happily surprised to find no negative taste or texture in these bars. They’re not too big so that you feel full and guilty, but they are big enough to feel like you’ve really treated yourself.

You should really try these bars if you’re working on losing weight this year – it’ll keep you on your diet while letting you have a sweet treat! You can find them in your local grocery store or online.

Disclaimer: I received free products to complete this review. All opinions are 100% honest and my own, except those of my husband, which are 100% honest and his own.

Posted in food, product review, weight loss | 1 Comment