Please – No More “New Year, New You”!

Please – No More “New Year, New You”!

by | Jan 2, 2020 | Lifestyle | 0 comments

Do you feel bombarded by all the emails, social media posts and articles about how to make 2020 your best year ever? I’ve got to admit, I’m
a little stressed out about all the information about how I can improve myself in some way. Obviously, I’m not good enough as I am!

Here are a few of the email subject lines showing up in my inbox lately: “New Year, New You; Will You Accept the Challenge?; Don’t Miss
Out On……; It’s the Magic Formula; Get a Head Start on …..; 5 _____ Mistakes You Don’t Even Know You’re Making”! The list could go on and on with subject lines and titles that imply I need to know more, do more or be more.

Even the title of the article I’m sharing with you today implies I should have done something that I didn’t do – “Why Didn’t I Think of
That?” Well, the reason I’m reading the article is to get tips that I didn’t think of! And if I had already thought of them, I wouldn’t need to read the article.

You are enough. Just the way you are. (Wow, I’m sounding a little like Mr. Rogers here!) But my best advice to you this new year, new decade
is not to try and reinvent yourself. I cannot think of one year in which I made New Year’s resolutions that I actually accomplished . Most of my past resolutions never made it into February! So that means I started off that new year as a failure.

I don’t mean for you to sit back and do nothing to improve yourself. But be selective and make choices that help you improve the quality
of your life or make life a little easier or more efficient for you. And that’s where I aim to help.

My goal is to offer tips and hacks that you can use with little or no effort. I hope to provide a smorgasbord of ideas from which you can choose to implement if they meet your needs.

And that brings me to my request of you. How can I help? As I offer Home Economics Reimagined to you, what are the things you need to make your life a little easier? Comment and let me know what you need to know. Or click on the Contact Me page to email me. I will respond to each and every suggestion.

In the meantime, check out this article of simple tips to make life simpler: https://vickiloves.me/handytips. Number 7 alone is worth the read!

My Favorite Christmas Shopping Apps

My Favorite Christmas Shopping Apps

by | Dec 9, 2019 | Lifestyle | 0 comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – or so a familiar Christmas song says. But it’s also a time of hustle, bustle and stress, with so much to do and so little time to get it done. Some people revel in the shopping experience, getting to stores early to get that special deal of a doorbuster. I’m not one of them. I prefer laptop shopping.

For either way you like to shop, you probably need some method of keeping up with all you have to do and all you’ve already done. I use a phone app called Santa’s Bag. My daughter introduced me to this free app last year and it has replaced my little notebook with scribbled and crossed-out lists.

First, I enter the names of everyone for whom I need to purchase a gift.  You can set up an overall budget and/or individual budget. Unfortunately, I have great difficulty sticking to one, so I just try to keep a close look and make sure I’m equitable with purchases. When I purchase a gift for a recipient, I enter the name of the gift, the store from which it was purchased and the purchase price.

Once the name of a gift is entered for a recipient, there are several icons to select that put the item in a list that tells you the status of what you have completed and what you still need to do. Those include: Idea; To Buy; Ordered; To Wrap; Wrapped; To Send; and Given.  An additional icon identifies a gift as Stocking Stuffer. I request wish lists from family members and label the items as Ideas. Then, when I purchase a gift, I select the Ordered icon. When the gift arrives (I am well acquainted with the UPS and FedEx delivery people!), I
change to the To Wrap icon. The last icon I use is Wrapped, and then the gift goes under the tree

You can use none, any or all of the icons. When you click on the appropriate icon for a gift, it creates a to-do list by moving all similarly labeled gifts together. Then at a glance I know what has been ordered, what I need to wrap and the final list I work toward is Wrapped.

I like the simplicity of Santa’s Bag. It is intuitive and easy to set up and use. I can use as many or as few of the many features as I need. Screenshots of some of the features and layout are below.

Budget Page Recipient List
& Status		 How to Sort Lists
Gifts for
Individual		 Additional Features Gift Ideas Search

Some other gifting apps available and their main features include:

  • Christmas – similar features to Santa’s Bag; matter of preference as to whether you like Christmas or Santa’s Bag
  • Giftry – this app is more of a year-round gift planner; can select favorite stores and enter or search for possible gifts
  • Giftster – is an online gift registry connecting family and friends; gives options to create groups and lists and share wish
    lists with others in your group; use for all types of events and holidays
  • Gifted – keeps track of gifts, people and events; can add or import people; add birthdates, anniversaries and other
    events; then add gift ideas; has progress slider to keep track of each gift; has profile pages for each person
  • GiftPlanner – similar to other apps for gift planning. Upgraded paid version allows you to import gift ideas from the web

In addition to Santa’s Bag, I use one other indispensable online shopping app – Rakuten. Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten allows you to earn cash back from online stores. During the Christmas holidays, cash back percentages are often doubled or even tripled. Since I have been using Rakuten, which has been several years now, I have received close to $2000 back in ebates! I never shop online without checking Rakuten for stores offering cash back. You can earn additional cash back by referring friends to Rakuten.

A few other must-have shopping apps include:

  • Honey (joinhoney.com) – best for online coupons and price alerts
  • Fakespot (fakespot.com) – best for choosing what and where to buy by spotting fake reviews and flagging most helpful reviews
  • PriceBlink (priceblink.com) – best for price comparisons for an item among other stores; PriceBlink does not have a mobile app, so you could use the ShopSavvy mobile app instead
  • RetailMeNot (retailmenot.com) – best for in-store coupons and sales

For your best shopping experience, consider your priorities and what you want an app to do for you. There are a lot of choices out there. I hope these few get you started.

To your less stressful and more enjoyable shopping experience!

Whatever Happened to Thanksgiving?

Whatever Happened to Thanksgiving?

by | Nov 12, 2019 | Lifestyle | 0 comments

Thanksgiving is the holiday that’s just too good for its own good. This unassuming holiday is sandwiched between holidays that are the two biggest bullies of the year. Okay, perhaps that is a little harsh, but think about it.

Halloween has become the little giant of commercialism. Whole retail stores pop up a few months before Halloween and then disappear as quickly as they came. I never owned a store-bought Halloween costume. Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever having dressed up for Halloween or going trick or treating! We did live in a very rural setting, and people just didn’t go trick or treating on Halloween.

But now, children are asked what they want to be for Halloween just like they are asked what they want to be when they grow up! And adults are even worse. The retail stores are really for adults. At least I think they are; I’ve never been in one. As you can tell, Halloween is not among my favorite holidays.

And what about Christmas? I’ve seen homes decorated for Christmas in early November. It’s like people are going straight from Halloween into Christmas! I’ve even seen homes that leave up their Christmas decorations until almost spring! Well, maybe not that long, but when 25% of the year is about Christmas, I’m thinking that’s a little too much. And we won’t even talk about the excessive shopping for Christmas, something that some people do year-round.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Christmas. I love giving gifts, especially for my grandchildren. And I try especially hard to give gifts that my family members actually want, need and use. I love Christmas music. It lifts the spirits and brings back wonderful childhood memories.

But, let’s get back to Thanksgiving, the introvert of holidays.  It doesn’t stand a chance. I believe celebrating the true spirit of Thanksgiving helps ease you into the spirit of Christmas. By being thankful for your blessings, you can then approach Christmas with the joy of sharing. It’s so easy to get caught up in the frenzy of Christmas decorating and shopping that we sometimes forget the real reason for the season.

I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for some time now, and it’s been a spiritually rewarding experience. Every evening, I write five things for which I’m grateful. I write them in complete sentences, starting with “I am grateful for”.  This practice has made me more aware of the little things I encounter every day that are a blessing to me in some way.

Of course, I find myself often being grateful for family members. But I have grown from just saying I’m grateful for them to seeing qualities, character traits or good deeds that fill my heart with thankfulness.

I’m also more aware of little things I previously overlooked that enrich my life. Now, I often pause to be thankful in the moment when I see a beautiful cardinal at the bird feeder or watch two squirrels playfully scampering up a pine tree.

All I’m saying is that if we give Thanksgiving a chance to be more than a turkey feast with family, it can enrich our lives throughout the year.

WHIF Your Way to Happiness

WHIF Your Way to Happiness

by | Oct 22, 2019 | Lifestyle | 0 comments

While the dictionary defines happiness as “the state of being happy”, that gives you very little information about what the state of happiness feels like. I used to think happiness was about having things, but then I got older and hopefully wiser. Happiness is more about being. And it is a choice.

I taught Child Care Services several years to high school students. One of the discussion strategies I used was WHIFs. A WHIF is WHat IF a specific scenario existed and you had to respond to it. In the course, scenarios were usually around dealing with preschool children and their behavior. In other words, WHat IF a child (or children) were doing something that required a caregiver to take action. What would you do in that situation? How would you respond that would provide a teachable moment for the children or model a more appropriate behavior or even apply disciplinary action?

I think applying a WHIF to situations in your life is often an appropriate decision-making process for adults. In terms of happiness, as in most life situations, the response you choose can either add to your overall happiness or detract from it. It is especially helpful in potentially negative situations to ask yourself this question: What if I choose to _________? (Fill in the blank with a choice you could make in a situation.) Would that choice fulfill my needs or add to my peace and contentment? Or what if I choose to _________? (Fill in the blank with another choice you could make in the same situation.) What would be the likely outcome of that choice?

Your response to your WHIF has the potential to either add to your happiness and move you further toward your goals and dreams in life or move you further away from those goals and dreams and possibly the people you love the most.

Do any of these attributes or feelings apply to you? Do any of them define or contribute to your happiness? Consider how your choices impact your happiness level by applying your own WHIF.

  • Your Needs are Met – When a person is happy, their needs are usually being met at the level they want them to be met. It doesn’t mean that someone is not having a hard time, it’s more about how you make what you have fill your needs.
  • You Feel Satisfied – When you are happy, you tend to feel simply satisfied with your life. You think about your life and feel good about it.
  • You Feel Content – A happy person tends to feel content about their life in general. They are not in a constant state of stress. But remember happy people do have stress, they’re just better at feeling content even when things aren’t perfect.
  • You Are at Peace – Peace tends to go with contentment. Happy people tend to know that everything will turn out okay and are good at turning negativity into positivity.

The truth is, happiness is how you define it personally for you. It’s not about getting tons of stuff unless you want that. It’s not about finding a spouse unless you want that. It’s not about having kids unless you want that. It’s all up to you how you define happiness.

Happiness is not a destination that you get to one day and stay at. It’s a lifelong journey that will have many ups and downs and struggles. But, you get to decide how those ups and downs of life affect you. You have it in your power to be happy where you are in your life right now. So, the next time you’re faced with a potentially negative situation, apply a WHIF to consider the impact of your actions. While you do have to do more than think positively to really and truly feel happy, it does start with your thoughts. Make your choices manifest happiness through your actions.

5 Lessons From a Jigsaw Puzzle

5 Lessons From a Jigsaw Puzzle

by | Sep 28, 2019 | Lifestyle | 0 comments

 

I know – sounds crazy, right? What can a jigsaw puzzle teach anybody? But it did, so stay with me and I’ll share everything.

I love puzzles, but haven’t put one together in quite a while. That’s because I know myself, and I know that once I open the box and start spreading out the pieces, I won’t do anything else – no working on my business, no housecleaning, no cooking, nothing! So, I’ve been avoiding the cabinet that houses at least five or six unopened puzzles. (I love Charles Wysocki Americana-style puzzles!)

But, one recent, rainy Sunday afternoon, I just couldn’t resist any longer. I opened a 1000-piece puzzle. And then it began to unfold its magic for me.

Lesson #1: Puzzles are therapeutic.

As soon as I opened the box, I started to feel more relaxed. I forgot about everything else that had been on my mind. I just focused on the puzzle and all stress and worries melted away.

Lesson #2: Devising and implementing a system solves many problems.

Spreading out 1000 puzzle pieces is a daunting task. So, I had previously made puzzle boards. You can buy some on Amazon, but I cut large cardboard boxes into manageable sizes (less than 2′ x 3′) and hot-glued felt to them. Voila! I now had room to spread out the puzzle pieces so they would not slip off the surface, and they could be stacked as well for ease in accessing.

The next part of my system was to sort individual pieces by placing them on the puzzle board evenly in rows, while separating the edge pieces. This immediately felt so satisfying, like there was truly order in my life!

Next step was to complete the border of the puzzle, followed by starting on small sections for which the colors were clearly defined and could be easily seen and selected from the puzzle boards. As I began to look for puzzle pieces that fit, I referred often to the picture of the puzzle, always orienting it the same way as the puzzle frame. (I work on all sides of the puzzle, so I can see things from a different, and closer angle.)

Lesson #3: When you are faced with a problem that seemingly has no applicable solution, leave it alone for a while and come back to it later with a fresh view of the situation.

For instance, many times I was sure that a certain puzzle piece would be so easy to find, either by it’s distinctive color or shape. But having scanned those puzzle boards several times, it still didn’t show up. So – I just moved on to another section of the puzzle and later that specific puzzle piece happened to be right there in front of me! Perhaps, one could call me a procrastinator sometimes, but I prefer to say that I’m “waiting for a vision”!

Lesson #4: When you’ve exhausted all options to solve a problem, regroup.

After about one-third of the way to puzzle completion, I noticed puzzle pieces were getting harder to find. So, I took a few minutes to re-organize each puzzle board. I put like puzzle pieces together – such as dark green leafy pieces, white sand ones, buildings and animals. Then I could focus on the specific attribute of the puzzle piece for which I was looking. Worked like a charm! I started seeing the pieces easily. Then, I started consolidating the pieces onto fewer boards to make the search easier.

Lesson #5: Finishing a project is a joy in and of itself!

One (among many) of my shortfalls is excitedly starting many things, only to fizzle out before they are finished. But putting that last piece into the puzzle “sparks joy”, as Marie Kondo would say!

So – the final lesson to my puzzle story is this: when you find yourself stressed out and unable to see the next steps you need to take, stop and complete a jigsaw puzzle. It will make everything clearer!