Search Results for: blog the challenge of winter break

The Challenge of Winter Break

It is holiday vacation time, and if you are like many home – based professionals, that means that your children are out of school or home from college. Chances are that you still have at least some work to do. The challenge of holiday vacation is similar to that of spring break and summer vacation, and it has two parts. The first is how to spend enough quality time with your children while still getting some work done, and the second is how to find fun, age appropriate things for your children to do independently or while in the care … Continue reading →

Single Parent Holiday Tip–Break it Into Do-able Chunks

Time management during the holiday season is NOT the exclusive territory of single parents, but I have found over the years that there are some added stressors and challenges that creep up on a single parent during this time of year. While all of us can use some tips and suggestions for how to get through the season with a minimum of “overwhelm”–here are some tips for the maxed-out single parent: I have learned to start early, and instead of trying to do everything in a couple days, I break it up into more manageable chunks. This way I don’t … Continue reading →

Winter Events in Orlando

My neighbors are just back from Florida (again)—-just in time for this week’s home Packers’ game. I can’t help but be jealous of their retirement status. Sure must be nice to head down to Florida for a week. They escaped a series of miserably frigid days and nights here in Wisconsin. Yet, I know they are not the only snowbirds that fly south this time of year. If you happen to be among the lucky ones that get to soak up the warm rays in the Sunshine State you might be interested in learning about the following events that are … Continue reading →

The Frugal Blog Week in Review: Jan. 27 to Feb. 2

Hello there! It is a quiet Saturday evening on the day before the Superbowl. my husband is getting the last kid to bed, I’m listening to my new Nora Jones music, and I am seriously thinking of taking a nice hot bath. Before that, though, I wanted to bring you the week in review for the Frugal Living Blog. I know you read every blog faithfully, so I’ll just assume you want to reread them all again. Saturday, January 27 Save on Paper: Take Advantage of Junk Mail In an earlier blog, Save on Paper: The Three Best Ways, I … Continue reading →

Winter Sports – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Just about now you may be missing the swimming pool and your bathing suit, but the winter months have their own sporting gear and sports for you to enjoy. Wintertime is a great time for winter sports and to stay active this winter season, here are some of the best sports of winter for you and your family to indulge in. So stay active and check out these winter challenges: Ice Skating – You don’t have to be Dorothy Hamill to strap on a pair of ice skates and go for a simple spin around the ice – an hour … Continue reading →

Several Frugal Indoor Options for Entertaining Your Children This Winter

Entertaining children indoors all winter long can be a difficult challenge. But there are some standard, run of the mill ways you can help keep them entertained in addition to some of the unique ideas I’ve been providing and will continue to offer over the remainder of the week. Here are a few simple and traditional ideas: – Give them a puzzle to complete. All of our kids are older so they enjoy puzzles with at the very least 500-700 pieces. If you get a puzzle that’s big enough, they can all work on it together. – Grab a few … Continue reading →

Spring Break

College students across the country are on spring break for the next few weeks, and the annual concern over their revelry is mounting. Levels of alcohol consumption are often at toxic levels – girls have the added warning that alcohol may also result in pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Not all students are participating in the national orgy. Some are using the time to travel and provide volunteer service to people in need. Sounds like fun, right? Well, with good friends, good times, and good food away from the college cafeteria, doing volunteer work can be more fun than a … Continue reading →

3 Types of Cleaning

My first housekeeping blog for the year was sort of a challenge; in conquering what I feel has become a lost art in today’s society.  The care of the home isn’t always considered to be so important.  But I believe it’s one of the ways we show love to our family. I also mentioned how housekeeping has evolved into what we typically refer to as homemaking.  I suspect that some think of the word “housekeeping” in a negative light. No matter what you call it, my goal is to help you understand the importance of it and what it all … Continue reading →

The Forest Garden

Some of us have vast, open expanses to play with in our gardens. These expanses are sunny, and the soil is good for vegetables. Others? Well, if you’re like me and you live in the Pacific Northwest, rain is more common than sunshine, and forests dominate the landscape. This is lovely for walking, but it can be much more challenging if you like to grow the traditional sun-loving vegetable crops. What’s a gardener to do? Whether you have one big tree in your garden or you live in the middle of a forest, you can grow food. Forests are naturally … Continue reading →

Home Based Business Idea – Online Tutor

Tutoring has always been a great way to work part time and earn money while helping others. Traditionally, tutors have met with their clients in person but there is a growing trend towards online tutoring. Students seek tutors when they are having trouble with a specific subject or if they are simply curious and want to learn more about a topic than their current curriculum provides. Tools like Skype, Dropbox, and Google Documents make it possible to have tutoring sessions with clients in the next town or halfway around the world. If you think that you would like to be … Continue reading →