Beautiful Homemakers

Country Living has a lovely book called Simple Country Wisdom, 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life , by Susan Waggoner . I've been using this gem of a book for several years now and refer to it even more than Home Comforts . It has beautiful pictures, and easy to read pages with lots of headings so you can easily peruse it to find the details of what you "kinda remember reading."  You know, "didn't I read about something that deodorizes closets?"  Oh yes, go to All About Closets, and notice that you starred the last paragraph regarding how to refresh cedar wood blocks.  Now I remember! The book has 4 sections:  The Home that Welcomes; Behind the Scenes; In the Kitchen; and Harmony. The Home that Welcomes discusses what makes a welcoming home, clutter control, and what meets the eye (colors, textures, painting, decorating, senses), along with beautiful and inspiring pictures.  The pictures are one of my favorite parts of this book - I a

photo credit We had to cut 60% of our budget in order for me to stay home. I had started a list of all I did in this post, but it was soooo long, that I eventually took the 240+ steps I took while living on one income and becoming debt-free, all while homeschooling our child, and expounded on them in my book How to Thrive on One Income .  The blessings of living on one income are so worth the effort! Know that you must be agreed that you being home is more important than a higher income.  If your husband is resentful you will encounter problems (or if you really want to work, then you will sabotage yourself at home).  You can have a trial time as well – he might not believe you can cut expenses.  But you can!  Joni McCoy of MiserlyMoms.com has a wonderful audio tape telling her story that is incredibly inspiring. You must know WHY it is important for you to be home.  Finding Your Way Home , which I talk about in its own post ( here ), is an excellent resource. The

Elosie Wilkin "We Help Mommy" Clean in ORDER.   That means, you pick the most important room in the house to YOU, and start there.   You never deviate from the path (otherwise you get sidetracked). I t works really well because it is thorough .  Example:   I start with our bedroom.   I make the bed, take clothes to laundry baskets, straighten dresser tops and books.   If it is a cleaning day or changing sheets day, I do it.   Then I move on to the next room clockwise.   If I find something that does not belong in the bedroom I take it to that room, and just place it down anywhere .   I don’t decide to feed the cat, or wash dishes, or sort laundry or wrap a gift or… I simply place it down and go back to the room I’m working in.   This ensures that : all the clothes from each room in the house ends up in the laundry basket before I sort and begin the wash; all dishes are in the kitchen; all trash cans emptied; all toys are in the playroom; etc.

Eloise Wilkin In paying attention to the sunrise/sunset calendar I printed from sunrisesunset.com , I realized that January 1st is the perfect month to begin getting up earlier!  Every day, set your alarm for the same time the sun rises. January 1 - 14:  You have two whole weeks to get used to arising at 6:58 ! January 15-18:  Arise one minute earlier:  6:57 January 19-21:  Another minute:  6:56 January 22-23:  6:55 January 24-25:  6:54 January 26-27:  6:53 January 28:       6:52 January 29-30:  6:51 January 31:       6:50 You've painlessly begun your quest to get up with the sun! Half of you are thinking "I WISH I could sleep in that long" but the other half is praying that God will help them as they attempt to arise earlier. You can always set your alarm for 5-10 minutes earlier than the sun so that you can be outside when it arises.  I've come to love the pre-dawn hour.  Speaking of which - the sun is rising!  Out I go for my walk.  Read