Witch's Brew

Ingredients –
3 pints purple grape juice
1 1/2 pints club soda
grapes
apples
Surgical or plastic glove

A day before your party - fill the glove with juice or plain water tie shut and freeze.

The day of the party - Cut the apple into small chunks. Mix the grape juice and soda in a pitcher, chill.

Before serving – In a large punch bowl combine punch, fruit and frozen hand. Like magic, the grapes and apples will look just like eyes and teeth and your guest will be delighted by the frozen hand floating on the punch. Happy Halloween!!

Labels: Recipe

Organizing Kids Toys

We all have piles and piles of toys that we have collected throughout the years. This is mainly due to the fact that Christmas is always just around the corner or we have another birthday.

After her birthday my daughter would rush to open her gifts. By the time I looked all the pieces were scattered all over the place and if she got one of the same kind, Polly Pockets specially, forget it; they would never see their box buddies again.

I came up with an easy solution to fix this problem…take a pic! What I do now is that we open the gifts one by one; we put the toys together, and take a picture of it. I have a computer file just named “toys”, where all the toy pictures go. When it is time to ebay it or garage sale it I know what items went with what toy. Perfect. I also try to keep the box, if I can, and the instructions.

Look at it this way, you can be making a little bit more money by knowing the name of the toy and how it looks went it is put together. Once I saw a garbage bag full of Power Wheels pieces sell for just $5 because the owner did not know what pieces went with what.

Next time, since you will most likely have your camera handy, take a pic as you put the toys together, it will save you a lot of time in the future.

Labels: General

Paying Bills Online

This is a really good idea, but what about doing away with paper bills? And automatic payment of bills online?
I personally pay all of my bills online, thus saving stamps, envelopes and checks.
It is a good idea to be able to look at your bills, it also gives you an incentive to pay them off quicker.
Just for a moment do something for me.
1. Pick up one of your bills.
2. Look at the "Monthly Payment amount", what do you see?
3. How about "Amount Past Due?"
4. "Late Charges?"
5. "Total Payment Due"
6. "Please Pay This Amount By"
7. "Principal Balance"
8. "Interest Balance"
9. "Payment Applied"
10. "Ending Balance"

#1 Currently, I am looking at a client's Credit Card bill.

#2 This month it says they owe nothing, RED FLAG!!! Actually, they still owe $7,160.00. Do you realize how much interest will accrue if they don't make a payment this month? Look at the fine print, here goes: "Please note: Interest will continue to accrue on this loan. "

#3 Fortunately, this client is not past due but if you are, you will need to play catch-up, in other words, try and find even more money that maybe you thought you would have this month. Do you have it this time?

#4 Try never to be late on a payment. These charges add up quickly. Some people actually pay more on late charges than the actual bill.

#5 After all of those "other payments" due here is the grand total. Don't you wonder sometimes, WHY????!!! What have I done???!!!

#6 Are you ready to pay this bill on time, (for a change) this month? Or are you, once again, short on cash?

#7 How much you have left to pay on the loan.

#8 The total amount owed on a loan before any payments are made.

9. This is last months amount you paid, did you pay it? Was it tight?

#10 Your total now.

I calculated this client's bill. If they pay the minimum on this credit card, like they were doing, it will take approximately 183 months (15 years) to pay off this one credit card!

In that time they will have paid $21,045 including interest. That is if they never used the credit card again.

If you have credit card debt, you need to pay it off as soon as possible!

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Post written by Brenda Ludecke from No More Mortgage.

Labels: Finance

Getting Rid of Summer Hair

After a summer of running around in the hot sun, laying out on the beach, and swimming in chlorinated water, your hair needs help, but which is the fastest way to get your hair healthy without spending an extra five minutes in the shower?

I have tried every thing ranging from 5-10 minute hair treatments, but in my opinion nothing works as good, for the time spent, as VO5 Hot Oil Treatment. I know, what? you are saying, VO5?!! Are not they the ones that sell the $.99 shampoos? Yes, they are and even though I do not purchase their shampoos or conditioners I think that the oil treatment works pretty good and best of all it is FAST.

The treatments come in little tubes that you heat up in hot water for one minute before use - I usually get a cup with hot water and leave it in there while I soap up. After the minute you put it in your hair, before shampooing, for one minute, then you rinse, shampoo, and condition. That easy. And since it is done before you shampoo and condition there is no heavy residue or staying extra in the shower to rinse it out. My kind of treatment.

Labels: Personal Care

Clothes Shopping for Kids

I get compliments on my kid's clothes all the time. I get asked where do I buy their clothes and how much do I spend? The answer is always the same online and not much.

I believe in getting the best value for my money the fastest way possible. I am not one of those moms that pays $139 for a Diesel shirt for her 5 year old. I do however like to buy quality name brand clothes at reasonable prices. This is where The Full Attic comes in. They have wide assortment of new and used kids clothing, but the best part is that they only sell name brand clothes, not Target or Kid R Us clothes, plus I get to do all my shopping online when the kids are fast asleep.

If you know of another wonderful online store let us know, we love a good bargain.

Labels: Shopping

Going Back to School

My daughter started kindergarten this year. To be totally honest the husband and I were dreading her starting school mostly because of the impact it would have on our schedules. We have never been morning people, so her first day of school would not only be a first for her, but also for us.

Here is a list of things that help me have a happy and good morning -

I figured out rather quickly that getting her clothes ready the night before was a big help, it also kept me from running around in the morning looking for stuff. She can also voice her opinion (and she has one about every thing) on the outfit. If she does not want to wear a certain thing, or if it does not fit, then we figured it out before hand.

I also check her backpack every afternoon for notes from the teacher or especial needs that need to be addressed. I sign things, read things, and enter things in the calendar as I see them.

Bedtime, a big issue. I can see a big difference on the days that my daughter goes to sleep on time as oppose to the days when I have to shake her for her to wake up. When she falls asleep on time she jumps out of bed in the morning and wakes me up before the alarm even goes off. She is also more alert, happy, and ready to face the day.

Buying versus taking a lunch to school - we do both. We add money into her lunch account big chunks at a time, that way I do not have to remember every week. There are days when she wants to take a lunch, so I make her one. But there are those days when she wants to take a lunch and I have not gone grocery shopping, or really do not have time, that I am glad the school lunch money is there.

Of course there are those days that nothing goes as planned. On those days I figured I am doing well if I just get her to school on time.

Labels: Time Management

The Last Hoorah of Summer

Labor Day is the last major holiday before summer ends, what a better way to wave goodbye to the season than to make a simple, but delicious fruit salad that will compliment any dish in your barbeque.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups tart apples, diced


• 1 cup seedless grapes, green


• 1/2 cup Mandarin orange sections


• 1 cup miniature marshmallows


• 1/2 cup pecans


• 2 teaspoons lemon juice


• 1 cup whipped cream


• 1/4 cup sugar

Preparation:
Coat apples with lemon juice; mix in grapes, orange sections, marshmallows, and nuts. Combine sugar and whipped cream. Mix thoroughly. Fold fruit into cream. Serve immediately or chill. Serves 6.

Labels: Recipe