If you are a regular reader of Just Doing My Best, you will begin seeing changes starting this week. In the next day or so, this blog will be moving to its own domain. Many people cannot read the current site at work (while at lunch, right?) so access will be easier when this change occurs. I have many plans for this site and moving to my own domain will allow those plans to continue.

The graphics you will see on both the old site and the new site this week are temporary. New art work and a new layout is also planned. I'm so excited about the new look of the site in the coming weeks!

You may notice some disruption or errors, so please bear with me while changes are being made and I'm learning new programs.

Thanks for reading Just Doing My Best!
Heather

Labels: announcement, blog business

Congratulations to the winners of Zondervan's Mother's Day Book Giveaway! I'm excited because all three winners will receive their first choice.

#9 Sally at Sallyhanan's blog will receive What Southern Women Know about Faith by Rhonda Rich

#4 Beth at Tea and Thee will receive Spilt Milk by Linda Vujnov

#2 Mindy will receive Eight Little Faces by Kate Gosselin.

The winners will be receiving an email with information on how to claim their prize.

If you are a mom, I hope you had a great Mother's Day. This week, when you begin to feel tired or frustrated from your responsibilities, remember how important you are to your children each and every day. They can't always express it, so this is your reminder that you are.

Labels: Encouragement and Inspiration, Giveaway

Did you catch Part 1 of the Trash to Treasure Party that I attended? Part 2 is posted at Happy to be at Home and it includes tips on how you can host your own. If you host one, I would love to hear back about your experience.

Have a great day!
Heather

Labels: writing on other sites

For the past couple of weeks, I have talked about a Trash to Treasure party over at Happy to be at Home. The party entailed a group of ladies bringing unneeded items in good condition from their home to the host's house in which the other ladies could "shop." We were all able to leave the party with new, free treasures that suited our families. I listed several ideas and variations for the Trash to Treasure party in the articles at Happy to be at Home, but it got me thinking about how this party would tie into the Frugal Family Fun series perfectly.

If you know a few families with children about the same age as yours, consider a toy or book swap. You could invite them over for a BBQ or potluck and have them bring their outgrown or unused toys. This would work best with older children who understand the "trade" concept, though the party could be conducted without children present if toddler toys are involved.

A Toy Swap is a great way to spend time with friends and family while decluttering our homes of unneeded items and acquiring new treasures for free.

A Mommy Secret: If you have younger children, place some of the new toys out of sight for a while. When your children are having "one of those" days and just need a distraction or if you want to have a reward on hand for the unexpected accomplishments, you can pull out one of the "new" free toys.

You can find more frugal or family tips at:
Frugal Friday hosted by Life as Mom
Family Friday by Homemaker Barbie

Labels: Frugal Family Fun Series, frugality, fun with the kids, Mommy Secrets

Zondervan has provided a copy of the following books for me to give away to a few of my readers. I recently won the newest Karen Kingsbury book, Take One, from them so I was more than happy to help them out and offer these to you on their behalf.

How to win a copy and other necessary info:

• Leave up to one comment per day on this post, including your email address and your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice of books if you are selected.

• You can receive an additional entry if you blog about this giveaway. Just leave me a comment with the link so I can visit you too. Don't forget to leave your contact info with your choice of books.

• Comments will close 9 pm Saturday, May 9. Winners will be contacted on Mother's Day, May 10 via email and announcement on Just Doing My Best.

• If winner cannot be contacted via email, a new winner will be selected.

• Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.

Thanks to Zondervan, your choices are:

Spilt Milk by Linda Vujnov is a devotional for moms with young kids. Linda uses her unconventional and edgy writing style to add a dose of laughter into every daily reading for busy moms. She puts her unique spin on everything from trying to feed four children breakfast to her not so secret crush on Dr. Robert Chase (on House). Check out her blog at: http://lindavujnov.blogspot.com/



Eight Little Faces by Kate Gosselin, of TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8, features personal family photos from Jon and Kate Gosselin, parents of twins and sextuplets. This gift book includes comments from Kate on various themes including trust, perseverance, joy and encouragement. Any fan of the show can have a glimpse into the Gosselin family.





What Southern Woman Know About Faith by Rhonda Rich is a collection of hilarious stories by former Nascar publicist, current bestselling author and newspaper columnist and permanent southern bell. Come, sip a glass of sweet tea and sit for a spell with Ronda on the porch swing as she tells you stories of happiness and heartache, friends and family, and a faith that’s strong enough to handle anything life throws your way. Dolly Parton endorsed it “it speaks to [her] heart,” so it’s got to be good.





Don't forget to stop back daily for a new entry and to see what is new at Just Doing My Best.

Labels: books, Giveaway

This week, Kristen of We Are THAT Family and host of Works for Me Wednesday asked us to provide our best Frugal Tip. I am providing the link to the original post I wrote about saving on newspapers as well as a couple of others you may find helpful.

How to Pay Less for Your Newspaper

5 Ways to Stretch Bread

Frugality is a Lifestyle - Organization

If you enjoyed these tips, you might enjoy subscribing to my feed in the upper right corner so you do not miss any tips. You can also find more frugal tips at Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Labels: frugality, Works for Me Wednesday

In celebration of my 100th post, I have found some 100% free goodies to share with you (less possible shipping or tax.) As always, some of these samples require a sign-up, so if you are concerned about your inbox being flooded by companies, consider setting up a free email account at Google, Yahoo, etc., to use for your online activities. Some of these are dated or may run-out quickly.

• Dunkin Donuts Coffee Sample

• Aveeno Nourish shampoo and conditioner sample

• Zyrtec sample

• Free 8x10 photo at Walgreens - Wednesday, May 6 only
  

• Free custom T-shirt: Will require sign-up and shipping.

Labels: freebie

In a previous post, I explained how I shop for free. I recently had an opportunity to shop for free again, though it was quite a bit different than the first post. You can read about it at Happy to be at Home.

Labels: frugality, writing on other sites

This week I've been talking about what to do with the items after you have done your Spring cleaning and purged your house of the unneeded items. If you are a book lover, you know how these quickly these can accumulate. The book clutter becomes worse when you have children outgrowing their book collection. As part of Happy to be at Home's Thursday Thirteen, I'm going to give you 13 ideas on where you can trade your old books for cash or new books, as well as places to donate.

1. Amazon.com is a reputable company and features a used section along side the new books.
2. Barnes & Noble is another reputable merchant who offers a used section.
   
3. Ebay is great for vintage books and books in high demand.
4. Half.com is associated with Ebay. I've bought from them before with great success.
5. Cash4Books.net sounds like a great program. I have not yet tried it, but this site is first on my list to try out.
6. Half Price Books These chains are found locally and offer cash for your books, music, videos and magazines while you wait.
7. Independent used book stores - These will be different in each community and depending on your town, there may be several to choose from.
8. General consignment shops - Again, these will vary by community, but children's books would do quite well. Even better, look for a children's consignment shop and take the books and games there.
9. Consider taking some books to your local children's hospital. Not only do the children enjoy reading material, but often the parents are away from home and would probably appreciate a temporary diversion.
10. There are numerous sites online where you can donate your books. Each program differs and there are options for helping children, low-income families, urban children, and soldiers.
    
11. PaperBackSwap.com is a popular place to swap your books for the price of shipping. I have never tried it, but have heard positive comments about it from other bloggers.
12. If you homeschool, check the groups in your town or in the next town. Many groups gather in the Spring and Summer for book swaps or book sales.
13. Swap with friends and make a party out of it. Choose a theme, i.e. children's books, DIY books, fiction, inspirational, etc. Invite some friends to your home and trade books while enjoying a snack.

What ideas do you have for unneeded books?

Labels: Amazon, books, cleaning, frugality, money makers, organization, Thursday Thirteen

This week I have been writing about what to do with all your "stuff" when you are Spring Cleaning. The refrigerator certainly needs our attention when we are cleaning and I'm guessing a fraction of what is in the fridge needs to head straight to the garbage. If you have any edible leftovers remaining, you can stretch them into a new meal with just a little creativity.

• First and easiest, rewarm the leftovers, but create a buffet. Let the family choose, as if it were a restaurant. The younger children love this, but don't forget to give your restaurant a name. If you have small children and especially if they do not like leftovers, create a quick menu in which they can select their own dinner. My children loved the menu idea when they were younger, especially when mom sported the folded towel draped over one arm as their server.

• If you have eggs, possibly a little meat, some veggies and cheese, you can make a quiche. If you're doubting the men in your life will be receptive to quiche, you can call it "Ham and Egg Dinner Pie" or a "Chicken and Spinach Bake." You get the drift... You can make the quiche with either a homemade or store-bought crust, though the store-bought will be quicker. Provided you have a little creativity and a few necessary ingredients, you should be able to find a quiche recipe that will work.
  

• If you routinely have small amounts of leftover meat (ground beef, ham or sausage are the best) you can start a bag in your freezer to collect pizza toppings. When I have ground beef or chicken, I sometimes turn the pizza into a barbecue or cheeseburger pizza. I mix in a little barbecue sauce with the pizza sauce and top it with shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella.

• If you have an assortment of noodles or rice, veggies, and even a little meat, you can turn it into a soup. Just grab some stock, choosing an appropriate one based on the meat you have on hand, and rewarm in a pot. Add a few suitable fresh ingredients to stretch it into a big enough meal for your family. Depending on which foods you have left from a Mexican dinner, you might be able to create a taco soup. A minestrone can be created with leftover pasta and beans. The veggies, rice and noodles can also be good ways to stretch canned soup when your time is limited.

• If you have chicken and veggies, you could mix up some dumplings from a baking mix or even from scratch, and allow to cook until done on top of the chicken soup. In addition to stretching the meal, the dumplings will be helpful in thickening the soup.

• Betty Crocker has a series of recipes using Bisquick called Impossible Pies that are also great for using miscellaneous leftovers. While the recipes call for specific amounts of the veggies and meat, I'm certain that you could do a little substituting if you are comfortable in the kitchen. However, there are so many recipes for the Impossible Pies that you may not need to substitute.

I hope this helps you find some new ideas to spice up your leftovers. Using food before it goes to waste works for me. You will find more Works for Me Wednesday Tips at We Are THAT Family.

Labels: cleaning, Everything Egg, food, frugality, fun with the kids, tips, Works for Me Wednesday