Archives for December 2017

Christmas is over.

All the gifts have been opened, and after grandparents, aunts and uncles and Santa have visited your kids, you have toys in every room of the house.

If you’re like me, all that clutter, not to mention extra things to step on, will drive you crazy.

But what is a mom to do? Just accept that your house is a Toys R Us store? No way.

Here are five ideas for ways you can restore order to the toy chaos.

1. Rotate toys.
   Everyone from the Velveteen Rabbit to the characters in Toy Story know that old toys often get forgotten when new toys arrive at Christmas and other holidays. That’s what makes the holidays a perfect time to put toys on a rotating schedule. When new toys arrive, put older toys in a box in the closet. In a month, pull out the old toys and store the new ones. This gives your kids something “new” to play with each month and helps them to really enjoy one group of toys at a time.
2. Donate some toys.
   Donating toys is a great alternative to throwing them away. Less fortunate children would love to play with your kid’s gently used toys, and it is easier to give something away when you know you are helping another family. Erin Spain shared an interesting post about how her family decluttered their toys by limiting their collection to 20 toys.
3. Retire toys to storage.
   If you plan on having more kids or have kids of varying ages, you may not want to completely get rid of toys. If a toy is almost guaranteed to be a favorite of another child, box it up and put it into storage. However, be careful that this doesn’t include every toy you own. Not every toy will be a kid favorite or is even something you want your family to own. For example, if you have 10 stuffed animals, don’t save them all. Just save the ones that are popular characters that any child would like.
4. Get organized.
   No matter how many toys your child has, organizing them will keep you from losing your mind. Look at the toys you have and the different categories represented– legos, play food, dress up clothes, etc. Buy bins or plastic totes to store like items together. That will make locating a certain toy and clean up much easier.
5. Teach kids to clean up their own toys.
   Admittedly, this is still a work in progress at my house, mainly because I like things to be put back a certain way, and at 3, my daughter isn’t as particular as I am. (Ha.) However, plastic shoeboxes have been a huge success for us. We have different types of toys in different shoeboxes, and she has to put away one shoebox of toys before we open another.

Join me for some post-Christmas toy organizing this week and post some pictures of your toy area on the Defeating Busy Facebook page. That is a great way for us to hold each other accountable to tackle this much-needed project.

I have been trying to embrace a simpler Christmas this year. But every day still seems to be packed with gift giving, family visits, parties, extra cooking, family activities and decorating. Even when we try not to, it is easy to become distracted by all the things that we have to do and not spend enough time celebrating the true reason for Christmas.

That’s why I put together this list of very simple ways we can focus on Christ this month. For you and for me. These 7 ideas aren’t meant to add more stress to your life, but to be small, meaningful things worth adding to your schedule.

1. Read the Christmas story.
   This is something my family has always done on Christmas morning, but I will likely move the tradition to Christmas Eve so it isn’t so rushed. You can find the story in Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-23.
2. Bake birthday cake for Jesus.
   I don’t think Jesus would care whether it’s a bakery cake or a cake from a box, but the point is to recognize that Christmas is Jesus’ special day.
3. Do an advent activity.
   I have a toddler, so the best I can get is working on an advent coloring page each night. As she gets older, we will switch to the Jesse Tree Project, which I purchased last year. I have also heard great things about Shepherd on the Search, which seems like a Christ-centered alternative to Elf on the Shelf.
4. Hang a white stocking.
   I love this idea from Clarks Condensed of hanging up a white stocking. On slips of paper, they write down acts of kindness done for each other or people outside the family and place those in the stocking. They read them on Christmas day as gifts for Jesus.
5. Attend Christmas Eve service.
   This year Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, which makes this one easy to do. Take your family to a Christmas Eve service as a designated time to remember how special the gift of Jesus is.
6. Watch a Christ-focused Christmas movie as a family.
   The Nativity Story is a great one to watch and The Star, about the Christmas story from a donkey’s perspective, is in theaters now.
7. Give everyone one Christ-centered gift.
   This year, we are getting my daughter a Jesus Storybook Bible to read as a part of her bedtime routine. For adults, you could buy a Christian book, album or even a decoration for the house or office.

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If you are hitting the highway in the next couple of weeks for Christmas, or traveling by car any time during the year, there are a few apps you need to make your trip smoother.

I have been using these three apps for a couple of years now and can’t wait to share them with you.

Waze

Waze is the ultimate map GPS app. Where the typical GPS app just provides you different routes to get to your destination, Waze does that and so much more. It includes notifications about:

• Construction areas
• Police spottings
• Vehicles on the shoulder of the road
• The speed limit and the speed you are driving
• Accident locations

This information is user-submitted, so you always have the opportunity to give a notification a thumbs up or thumbs down. If a police car is no longer in a certain spot, just give it a thumbs down, and Waze will make the correction.

When connected via Facebook, you can also see where your friends and family are located so you can sync up arrival times and meet-ups.

Download the Waze iPhone app here and the Android app here.

GasBuddy

Nothing is more aggravating than stopping to fill your car up with gas and then seeing gas 10 cents per gallon cheaper 5 miles down the road. You can avoid that annoyance and save money by using GasBuddy.

GasBuddy shows you gas prices in your current area, along your route and in the entire state.

It also has a trip cost calculator feature that helps you estimate the cost of your trip by entering in your starting point, destination and vehicle information.

Download the GasBuddy iPhone app here and the Android app here.

Yelp

McDonalds and Subways are very easy to find on a road trip, but if you would like something different, it may be hard to find. That’s where Yelp comes in to save the day.

You’ve probably used Yelp to see restaurants and reviews in your area, but have you used Yelp while traveling?

Yelp allows you to search for restaurants in your current location or along the route you’re traveling.

You can search for a particular restaurant (Chick-fil-A and Jason’s Deli are popular with my family) or a certain type of food like tacos, Italian or subs.

If you really want to use Yelp to help you have a great trip, you can also search for places like gyms or spas when you get to your destination.

Download the Yelp iPhone app here and the Android app here.

For my best tips on saving you time, money and energy, sign up for my email list and get my free guide, 25 Ways to Reclaim Your Time.

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It seems I’m always looking for good $10 gift ideas this time of year. Everything from white elephant exchanges, co-worker gatherings, Secret Santas to Bunco parties require small gifts.

Ten dollars seems to be a common amount, but finding good $10 gifts can be challenging. After all, how many food items or body wash sets can one person use? Though $10 is a small amount, I still like to give gifts that a person will really enjoy and be able to use.

So I put together a few ideas that would make great gifts that still come in under the $10 mark:

1. Gift Cards
   If you’re buying for a friend, you know them well enough to get a gift card from their favorite store. But if you’re buying a generic gift that could go to anyone, stick to stores everyone seems to like– Amazon, Target, Starbucks, Redbox, iTunes, etc. And don’t forget local businesses, such as coffee shops, boutiques or restaurants.
2. Phone Accessories
   In our house, there are never enough charging cables, phone cases, earbuds and wall chargers to keep everyone stocked up. Especially since we keep duplicates in different parts of the house, in our cars and in my purse.
3. Gift Sets
   I hate to knock Old Spice, but skip the average gift sets you see and go for sets from great brands like Burt Bees, Soap and Glory or The Honest Company to give someone a chance to try nice products that they might not typically purchase for themselves.
4. Books, Magazines, Music and Movies
   Be on the lookout for great sales on these items in weekly circulars. Target does this often. In some cases, you can catch a deal on magazine subscriptions from sites like Discount Magazines. You could gift a much-loved Christmas movie or a bestselling book.
5. Ornament
   You can’t go wrong with a beautiful ornament to go on the tree. Stores like Hallmark and Hobby Lobby have pretty ornaments. And if you have something particular in mind, check out Etsy where you’ll get exactly what you’re looking for and support a small business owner.
6. Coffee Mug and Coffee
   Everyone seems to live on coffee (with the exception of my husband and I), so a nice coffee mug and coffee would make a perfect gift. Coffee shops often sell their coffee, and TJ Maxx and Home Goods sell unique coffee blends as well.
7. Nice Soaps, Lotion or Candles
   Now I’m not talking about a bar of Dial and bottle of Jergens here. Instead, choose items like specialty soaps (Goat Milk Stuff is my favorite) or premium candles like Yankee. (Although, essential oils are a wonderful alternative.)
8. Board or Card Games
   You can find several card games and a few board games that cost $10 or less, and it’s something a whole family would love to do. I have wonderful memories of my family playing games at holiday gatherings. Uno comes in many inexpensive varieties now, and classic games like Jenga and Taboo are typically less expensive.
9. Office Supplies
   If you know any nerds like me, then gifting office supplies is always a safe bet. A nice set of pens, cute notebook or decorative post-its are perfect for those in your life who were the type to get excited about buying new school supplies as kids.
10. Calendar
    With a New Year just around the corner, gift someone an awesome calendar. My husband’s favorites are Chuck Norris or Dilbert. I’ve had every calendar under the sun over the years from puppies to fact-a-day. Indoor malls typically have calendar kiosks, and stores like bookstores and Go! Calendars & Games have a great selection of calendars.

Now you can easily find some $10 gifts that you’ll be proud to give this Christmas. Hope this makes your shopping easier.

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We all have someone on our Christmas list who is notoriously hard to get for.

There’s the people who seem like they already have it all.

There’s the people we don’t really know well enough to know what they would like.

And then, there’s the people who want such particular things, only they can buy things for themselves.

The best solution is to ask these people for a list of 3-5 things they want, but if you aren’t able to do that, here are some ideas that may help you out:

• Gift Cards
  There are some gift cards you just can’t go wrong with– Amazon, Target, Starbucks, to name a few. Everyone loves getting gift cards because you can get exactly what you want, or put the gift card toward a larger purchase.
• Subscription Boxes or Services
  Subscriptions are very popular right now– everything from meal kits like Blue Apron to clothing services like Stitch Fix to SiriusXM Radio. Even if you can’t afford to pay for an entire month of the subscription, you can still get them a gift card in the amount you have budgeted.
• Food Gifts
  My dad is incredibly hard to buy for, as are many men. But one thing I can always count on is his love of food. And, there are sites like Omaha Steaks and Cheryl’s Cookies that deliver high-quality specialty foods. Hey, even the food-of-the-month clubs are a good idea for the foodies in your life.
• Practical Gifts
  There are certain products like body wash, lotion, hair care and perfume/cologne that we all use. For a really nice gift, skip the Old Spice set and spend your budget on a nicer brand for your loved one to try, like these razors from Harry’s or Dollar Shave Club. For the ladies, you have to check out All Girl Shave Club.
• Activities or Experiences
  Don’t forget experience gifts like movie tickets, paint studios, gym memberships, house cleaning services or museum memberships. And if there is an activity your friend or family member would love that’s outside of your budget, consider splitting the cost with someone else.
• Quality Time
  We all live such busy lives that sometimes the nicest gift is just focused, one-on-one time together. You can make it special by going to a restaurant you’ve both wanted to try, trying a new activity together or taking a day trip together somewhere.

Who are the hard-to-get-for people on your list? Get help brainstorming ideas for your hard-to-buy-for loved ones by commenting on this post on the Defeating Busy Facebook page.

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