Somethings Are Worth The Extra Expense

I am a very budget minded person.  People laugh at me at how I scrutinize our budget and will go without certain luxuries.  I feel as CFO of the Nowak Corporation, I need to be very responsible on expenditures.  However, sometimes it is worth to pay a little extra for the convenience of certain things.

What am I referring to??? Window cleaner wipes.  I know it sounds really crazy that I would get so excited over a cleaning product. In fact excited enough to blog about it, but I recently broke down and bought some and love them. 

I am a cleaning fanatic. I am cleaning my house daily and actually find joy in it.  One of my gripes was the upstairs bathroom mirror.  This is the bathroom used by myself and two little boys.  The mirror always has fingerprints and toothpaste spatter on it.  No matter how many times I tell the boys to brush over the sink, it seems to wind up on the mirror.  It wasn't always convenient to go downstairs to the cleaning cupboard and get the glass cleaner and paper towels.  Then I thought about keeping a bottle of cleaner and paper towels upstairs, but honestly I live in an old house with limited storage space in the bathroom.  I tried using microfibers clothes, but it really didn't get the marks off.  The other cleaning wipes (not for glass), left the mirror streaked.

So I did it. I broke down and paid $2.97 for a canister of 30 glass cleaner wipes.  Oh my gosh, it was wonderful.  One wipe was enough to clean the large mirror, and was still moist enough to wipe down the faucet as well.  My opinion is, the price is well worth the convenience and my sanity of keeping a clean bathroom.  Now I don't have to yell at the boys everyday while brushing their teeth. I simply go behind them and wipe it down.

Have a happy Wednesday.  Come back this weekend and checkout a pot roast recipe. I am having dinner guests and will feature the recipe on Sunday!

Natural Spider Spray

Hello Friday....so glad you are here.  It has been a mentally exhausting week of back to school.  No major dramatics to report, which is good news.  So in thinking what I would post today, I wanted it to be simple for my tired brain. 

In the fall, the weather turns damp and chilly, and spiders love to come inside and make your home their new home for the winter. While I believe spiders are helpful outside eating insects, I do not want them taking residence in my house.  Before I had kids, I would go buy a pesticide from the store and spray the whole house....no more spiders. After having children, my mind began to think differently. I wanted to oust the spiders but not harm my kids. So I searched for all natural sprays, and I wasn't happy with what I found. Then one day I saw a tip on T.V. boasting all natural tips for the home.  My ears perked up and sure enough there was a tip on how to rid your home of spiders.  It simply is water and white vinegar.

The spiders don't like the "taste" of vinegar. So you mix 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to 12 ounces of water and shake.  Put it in a spray bottle and begin to spray every corner in your house, top and bottom.  For the past six months, this is Adam's job. He loves it! He says he feels like he is protecting us. I don't mind him doing it because there is nothing to harm him.  The only downside is, your house will smell like a salad for a day or so. I try and do it on a day that I can keep the windows open, and we do it about once a month during the spring and fall.

Give it a try, and keep the pesky little critters outside!  Happy Friday everyone :o)

Schedule Your House Clean

I am getting myself, the children and the house ready for our trip to Buffalo. Yes, I said the house too. I am one of those people who clean their house before I leave for a trip, so when I come home, it's all done.  I have to admit I have slacked a bit this summer with my cleaning schedule, and it's time I get back on track. So here's how I came up with a cleaning schedule and how it has made my life simpler.

Way back when, when I was single and had my first apartment I would work all week and clean for about an hour on the weekends.  Dusting, vacuuming, and straightening a 800 sq ft apartment was pretty easy.  Then I grew up a bit and bought a house that was 1500 sq ft. Still easy enough to clean on a Saturday.  Then it happened.......I had a baby. Oh my, I became obsessive about cleaning. Just the thought of my baby touching something dirty and putting it in his mouth made me very uneasy.  Still the first few weeks home I was managing pretty well. I would clean when he was napping and in his swing. Then I went back to work. I left early in the morning and wouldn't return until dinner time. I would come home nurse my baby, make dinner, give Adam a bath, nurse him again before bed and flop dead tired on the bed myself.  The weekends would come and go, and I managed to clean the bathrooms and kitchen and perhaps run the vacuum, but I wasn't happy with my whole house not being super clean. 

So I turned to my mom for help and she gave me the idea of a cleaning schedule.  My mom cleaned professionally for many many years. She had as many as six banks a night she would have to clean by herself. She shared with me that you can't do everything all in one night. So if you give yourself a schedule and stick to it, by the end of the week everything has been addressed. So, the next day I wrote out a schedule that I could stick to ( I even laminated it).  I assigned myself one or two rooms a day to straighten, dust and clean the floors. When that room was done, so was I.  It was tempting to go ahead to the next room just because I had time, but I stopped. By the end of the week, my whole house was sparkling. I found this left me extra time for Adam and myself, and I wasn't overwhelmed or too tired.  The other thing I realized, my house was actually cleaner than if I did it in one day, because I wasn't cutting corners to get done.

Now that I have moved into a 2200 sq ft house and two kids later, my schedule has changed a bit. I have to clean a couple more rooms in one day, but it all still gets done. I never worry if someone just drops by, because my house is clean and picked up. So here's a sample of a schedule that works for me. You can tweak it to fit your household, but give it a try, and you'll be surprised how easy cleaning your house can be.

Monday:  Dust, vacuum, dry mop, living room & family room

Tuesday:  Clean downstairs bathroom and Florida room (vacuum and mop)

Wednesday:  Clean upstairs bathroom and vacuum, dust, change sheets for master bedroom

Thursday:  Mop kitchen floors and clean on top of fridge, freezer, remove everything off counter tops and sanitize

Friday: Vacuum, dust and change sheets for both boys rooms

Saturday:  Dust, vacuum, dry mop dining room

Sunday: RELAX!!!!

As far as laundry, to stay on top of things I do about a load a day.  Everyday I pick up toys, but I also have the boys help with clean up to teach them about chores. Adam also helps to strip his bedsheets and Brandon will dust the baseboards for me in his room. I do a quick wipe down of kitchen counters and stove top everyday, but on Thursday it's a more in depth cleaning.