One of the top New Year’s resolutions many people commit to each year relates to finances.  Everyone wants to save more money and pay down debt, especially after the holidays.  But trying to figure out how & where to cut back is more challenging than ever.

I’ve never been one to create Honey-Do lists.  Until recently, I stayed home with the kids for almost 2 years while my husband worked long hours so I didn’t want to ask him to spend his weekends working as well.

But this past weekend trying to get ready for visiting family, I realized we all need lists.  After 8 days of two sick kids and getting over my own illness, I can’t describe the condition of our house.  Being in such a rush to get it cleaned up, I realized without providing guidance for the rest of the family they were more in the way than helpful, which was by no fault of their own.

I’ve always believed in taking advantage of every 10-15 minute window of free time I’ve had.  After all, think about how many things you can get done if you have a few of those windows each day – sort laundry and get a few loads through the wash, empty and/or load the dishwasher, vacuum a few rooms. 

But if there is one thing that bothers me it’s when I start something I can’t finish. 

I’m curious to know how much of the handiwork other busy moms do around the house, and I don’t mean the usual “mom” work, but the harder, “dad” work. 

Before I quit my full time job, I relied on my husband for a majority of the grunt work – lawn care, light bulb changes, squeaky doors, and even spider killing.  But once I made the switch to SAHM, I felt the need to pick up added responsibilities to make it as easy as possible for him to focus on just the job (except for spider killing when he is home – all him).

’ve always been hesitant about the idea of keeping a gift closet for when my kids are invited to birthday parties.  My concern has been that we either choose a gift from this closet for a friend and he or she ends up not liking it, or we opt to buy other gifts due to interests and end up with a closet full of gifts we never give away. 

There are many reasons everyone should make a conscious effort to Go Green, all in support of our health and conservation of natural resources.  All too often I wonder if my family is being Green enough.  I know many other people who still don’t recycle at home because they feel there is too much involved, or they don’t know what should be recycled.

I’ve explained to my kids that there are many things in life we just can’t control, so our happiness is somewhat dependent on how we respond to these things.  One such thing is the weather.  So while I haven’t let myself get upset about all the storms we’ve been having over the last couple of weeks, I did panic a bit tonight.

One valuable lesson I learned this morning was to not rely on garage door keypads.  Another is that these little pads of convenience run on batteries, and batteries eventually die. 

Unless I’m driving, I’ve gotten into the habit of using the keypad every time I leave the house, so I never have my house key with me.  This morning the boys and I decided to walk the dogs before the rain came, so we leashed them up and went out our usual way.  

We have a few rules in our house as it relates to dinner.  The first is that you give everything a try because chances are, you’ll like it.  The second is the 5 bite rule – when you say you are full, if there is still food on your plate you have to take 5 more bites of whatever contains the most protein and/or vitamins.  We’ve become a little more lenient these days with rule #2. 

I have to admit I’ve been a little lax over the last few months keeping up with my kids’ Chore Charts.  We’ve reached a point where, while they still need to be reminded of doing certain things, they have mastered the easy tasks, so it’s time to revise them.