Works-For-Me Wednesday: MYO Mixes

I do almost all my cooking and baking from scratch these days. One way I keep it simple and fast is to make my own mixes. So far, corn bread, baked oatmeal, pancakes, waffles and lentil-rice casserole are my favorites to keep stocked in my pantry. I simply measure the dry ingredients into a quart-size ziploc bag and then write the remaining ingredients and cooking directions on the bag with a permanent marker.

While I sometimes will take a half hour or so and mix up a few to have on hand, usually I just fill a ziploc bag or two when I am cooking that particular item for a meal. That way I have at least one extra in the pantry ready for quick mixing!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Organize Receipts and Bills

This idea may be too simple for some of you more technical people, but it works very well for the technically-challenged me.:-)
I have always had trouble keeping receipts and bills organized, so I was thrilled when I came up with this idea to keep up with them.
I use a regular binder and put a page protector in for each month. I file the bills and receipts in the correct month and everything is in its place and easy to find. This was very helpful last week when I needed to return my shoes. It also came in handy today when I needed to compare several months electric bills. I knew exactly where to find them! (Compared to last year when I stuffed all receipts in a small plastic drawer together. The idea was that I would file them at the end of each month. Well, that never happened and I could never find anything!!)
This binder also keeps all my budget info and each months income/outgo sheets. I also have a separate section where I keep track of childcare income and expenses.
Hope this idea will be of help to someone! It has really worked for me.:-)

Free Curtains!

After cleaning the office/craft room/guest room on Saturday, I felt like beautifying the room with some new curtains. When things are clean, pretty and somewhat decorated, I am more motivated to take care of it! So I went through my stash of fabric and found this plaid piece that was given to me last summer. I hadn't noticed it before but the colors go so nicely with the blue walls.

Curtains such as these are very quick and easy to make. I think it took me just under 2 hours to sew both curtains. I was very pleased to use something I already had and my husband loves the way the room looks now!

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Don't Forget The Money!

I thought I'd join in the fun this week! This idea is a small one, but it really works for me!

As soon as I write my tithe check, I slip it into the front of my Bible, so it is sure to make it to church. I hardly ever forget my offering money this way! I used to put it in my purse, and found that I seemed to change purses for church and the check would always be forgotten.

Be sure to check out Shannon's blog for more Works-For-Me ideas and participants!