Piecing together ways to save money, protect the environment, and keep kosher.
Earth Day is on April 22. However, I truly believe that every day should be Earth Day. I have already written about it in many of my previous posts. To guide you in undertaking simple things for our Earth, check out the ideas and links below. Fortunately, protecting the environment often results in money savings,... Continue Reading →
(updated 3/17/17) Pesach is a very expensive holiday, even if you eat out for some of your meals or don’t buy all Shmura matzah! It is a wonder how you can spend half your monthly food budget on eight days of Pesach! Here are some tips we use to keep our costs as low as we... Continue Reading →
Taxes are due very soon and I definitely need to get started on mine. I don't do them myself (I worry I would miss something), but there are still a lot of things to gather, print, call for, etc. I don't want to forget things from year to year, so of course I created several checklists. The... Continue Reading →
We love cookbooks and actually have too many. Many of our cookbooks are year-round kosher ones, some of which have Pesach recipes in them. But how do you use a "chometz" cookbook for Pesach? I undertook a project to solve this problem several years ago. I created a Pesach recipes binder. 1) Gather: I looked at all of... Continue Reading →
(updated 4/18/22) Being successful in preparing for Pesach depends a lot on being organized. There are so many details to keep straight with cleaning, shopping, meal planning, cooking, guests, etc. In my single days Pesach was much simpler because I didn’t have guests. I went out for all my Yom Tov and Shabbos meals and had a... Continue Reading →
(updated 4/18/22) Really it is best to start preparing for Pesach/Purim two weeks before Purim. However, that usually doesn't happen for us. No matter when you start, though, the first thing to do is to print your planning checklist. If you don't have one, I have included mine below. You can use it as a... Continue Reading →
Sorry to post this so late, but I wanted to share with you the great ideas that some of our friends and family came up with for shaloch manos (mishloach manot) this year. Themes: Breakfast or lunch foods: This year several of our friends did breakfast shaloch manos with things like cereal, juice boxes, muffins, instant coffee, creamer, etc. Outdoor/fitness: My... Continue Reading →
At the recommendation of a co-worker, I found Flylady my second year of teaching, when I also had a child under one. I love Flylady’s website, which features organizational, time, and home management tips. Since following her tips, I have gotten much better at managing my life and time. She has helped me create routines... Continue Reading →
I love to read magazines. When I was a kid I used to beg my grandmother to buy me Sesame Street magazine at the grocery store. I moved on to Sassy, Teen, and Seventeen, and have been an avid magazine reader since. However, paying the bills for magazines can be quite tricky. They mail you multiple renewal... Continue Reading →
I wanted to share one of my favorite organizing tips I found years ago. I love Real Simple Magazine, as many of you who follow my blog know. I happened to see a great idea for storing all those odds and ends that would otherwise end up in a junk drawer and not being found... Continue Reading →
Surviving on a tight budget 