3 Winks Design

More Last Minute Valentine Ideas!

2/12/2020

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I know! Friday is Valentine's day and you are in a hurry to find a quick treat idea to share with family or friend or even that special someone! You don't have time to read a long blog post, so I am not going to give you one. Instead, I am going to give you a list of resources and ideas to help you out! Here goes!

This post is from last year and shows you a Hot Cocoa Bomb option or a See's Candy knock off that is delish!

You could add some heart sprinkles or conversation heart candies to this Swiss Cake Roll to make even more Valentinish.

I adapted these Strawberry Lemon Blondies that I found on dailyes.co. I used bottled lemon juice because I didn't have any fresh ones and I doubled the recipe using half butter and half coconut oil. Click the photo to go to the recipe.

I just recently showed you how I made these mini cannolis. So simple and delicious!

Need Even Simpler Ideas? (I mean, you can't get much easier than those cannolis...) Try these:

Rice Krispy Treats with sprinkles or Valentine M&Ms mixed in and shaped or cut out into hearts.
Popcorn Balls with sprinkles, colored pink or M&Ms mixed in. Or, just pop some popcorn and mix in the candies and drizzle on white chocolate.
Cupcakes, obviously.
Chocolate dipped pretzels with sprinkles.
Heart shaped pancakes. These Cherry 7-up ones are a pretty pink. Or how about these Apple Pancakes with RED HOT Sauce?
Just buy some candy and add these printable Valentine's that Alicia created to go with your candy choice.

Okay! There you go! You've got this! Now get busy and have a great Valentine's Day!

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30 Ways I Saved $1000 This Month (And You Can Too)

2/9/2020

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I have a lot to save up for this year. I had some medical bills I needed to finish paying and I have 2 BIG vacations planned. At first I was a little worried about how I would be able to pull this off, but then I sat back, really examined my finances down to the last penny, and I got really creative with how I could save the extra money. Some of these seem extreme on paper, but when you are actually doing them and living them it just feels normal! So whether you are saving trying to pay off some debts or saving up for a vacation, here are 30 ways you can save $1000 this month.

Review your monthly subscriptions and cut what you don’t actually need. Are you actually using your gym membership? If not, do yourself a favor and cut that bad boy loose. You can always sign up again the future if you feel like you will use it. I got rid of my Nintendo online subscription and went to a lower tier on my gym membership because I just wasn’t getting enough use out of them to justify the cost.

Get with a group and share streaming services. In my family we have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, etc, but we are sharing our accounts so we aren’t each paying the full price every month. My sister pays for Prime, my parents for Netflix, and I signed up for Disney+ the day it was available. Most streaming services allow you to stream on multiple devices at once, so take advantage of that!

Get rid of cable. This goes along with the last one. If you have access to these streaming services, then along with the basic antennae channels you can get for FREE, it doesn’t really make sense to have cable as well. Get rid of the box.
Utilize cash back apps! There are so many and you can use all of them! Ibotta, Rakuten, Receipt Hog, Checkout51, Fetch. Sign up for ALL of them and get cash back from each of them on all your purchases. Rakuten is for online shopping, but for the rest all you will need is your receipt.
One of my favorite money saving apps is Instacart. It is primarily advertised as a grocery delivery service, but many stores on there also offer free pickup. Save the delivery fee and go this route instead! I like it because it’s easier for me to stick to my grocery list without all the distractions around. No impulse buys. It’s also very easy to switch between stores to compare prices.

Take advantage of the sun. Don’t turn on your lights and use that electricity if you don’t need to! My apartment has great natural light so I’ve just started opening more blinds in the morning. I don’t typically turn on the lights until around sunset.
To go along with that, use energy savings bulbs! This ensures that when you are using the lights, electricity still isn’t being wasted.
Don’t touch the thermostat unless you have to. If you want your home to be cooler, open up some windows to allow air flow and keep a small fan on. If you are looking to get a little warmer, make sure all the cracks around your windows and doors are filled in, use some thicker curtains, and bundle up! And remember to turn it off every time you leave your house empty. That is a huge waste on energy that is just costing you money.

I cannot stress this one enough: take care of your appliances! Clean the filters, keep them clean, store them safely, and just keep them well taken care of! There are so many reasons for this. For our first example let’s look at my vacuum. I vacuum maybe once or twice a week. I clean the roller brush and make sure there is no blockage affecting the suction once a week (takes maybe 5 minutes) and once a month I remove the filters and clean them out. This keeps my vacuum working better in the long run and allows it to be more energy efficient in the short term. If it’s working really well, I spend less time vacuuming and going over the same spots which equals less energy used, which equals more money in the short and long run. If you are in an apartment, you also want to take good care of your appliances so you can get your deposit back in the end! My philosophy is clean as I go. Don’t wait for a mess to cake onto your stove. Clean it when it happens so your stove stays looking brand new.
Invest in a water filter! Using filtered tap water is so much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying bottled water all the time. Yes it may make an increase on your water bill, but it’s pennies to the dollar if you are no longer buying water in the store.
Do a spending freeze. A spending freeze is when you do not spend money on anything but the NECESSITIES for a predetermined amount of time. This can be anywhere from a week to a month long. My recommendation would be one week a month. And when I say necessities, I mean you are only paying bills and maybe for transportation. No grocery shopping- use what you already have at home! This is a great time to rotate food storage and make more room in your pantry and freezer.

Buy second hand. I love buying things at the thrift store and I have a few tips for shopping and cleaning your items to make sure you are truly making the most of it (let us know if you want a post about that!). Not only are there physical thrift stores, but many online places to shop secondhand, such as eBay, Poshmark, thredUp, and Offer Up.
This one amazed me when I learned about it, but buy an attachment for your shower heads that lower your water pressure. There is no huge difference in the quality of the shower and you will save on your water and energy bills.
If you are not using something, turn it off and unplug it! Phantom energy is basically energy that runs through electronics even when they are turned off. It may not seem that big a deal… until you really think about how many unused appliances and electronics you have plugged in right now. Your toaster, coffee maker, lamps, even phone chargers. These are the real silent killers, people. Unplug them!

If you don’t want to completely sacrifice your social life while saving money, a potluck is a great way to have a fun get-together. As the host, I would suggest serving one main entrée item and one dessert. Then ask each confirmed guest to bring something (side dish, another dessert, drinks, etc). Have some board games or a movie for entertainment and you have a fun night planned with friends and family! This allows you to host a large get together without paying for EVERYTHING.

When you are doing laundry, air dry as much as you can. For the stuff that is in the dryer, use the lowest possible heat setting. Since there is less in there, the items will still get thoroughly dried for a fraction of the cost.
I use one multipurpose cleaner for almost everything. I useLove Home and Planet Multipurpose Cleaner to clean big messes in the kitchen, windows and mirrors, dust, and clean the toilet and shower. It works great and I’m not spending a ton on different cleansers.
Go through your cupboards and determine which single use items you can replace with reusable items. Use less paper towels and more cloth. Use a reusable cloth pad instead of buying more Swiffer pads for you mop. Don’t use paper and plastic plates and utensils regularly (unless you reuse those, which I know some people do). This will help cut down on your household consumables budget each month.

This one is controversial… but just. Use. Less. You don’t need 3 pumps of soap when you wash your hands. Half a pump is actually enough. You don’t need a full capful of laundry soap for your clothes. In fact, you can probably use half the recommended amount of soap and still get your clothes clean. The easiest way to judge is by smell. If your clothes smell musty and like mildew, use more soap. If they don’t, they are fine. If you use dryer sheets, rip them in half. You do not need a full sheet for even a larger load of laundry. My recommendation, however, is to make the switch to dryer balls. It’s a onetime purchase and they work just as well as dryer sheets. (We have a tutorial on how to make them here!) Use less dish soap by mixing ¾ dish soap and ¼ water in a spray bottle and use that when washing dishes in the sink. They get just as clean and you have so much more control over how much you are using.
Save every penny. Literally. I thought this was an obvious one, but I have have so many friends who hate change and won’t take it. I have a jar in my room that I just use to save up change. When it is full, get it rolled and take it to the bank.
Utilize YouTube and learn how to do some things yourself. Trim your own hair in between appointments, sew and mend your own clothes, do small repairs around your home yourself. I don’t recommend doing anything major on your own unless you are very well trained in that area because you can do more damage than help sometimes and the risk isn’t worth it to me. But small things like this can save you money!

Learn to love those leftovers and use them right. Personally, I can eat leftovers as is. Take them for lunch to save on eating out during your lunch break. If you are one of those people who cannot stand to eat leftovers, use them to make something new. Are there veggies you can use in a scramble for breakfast or a salad at lunch? Can you disassemble the dish and use the ingredients to make a soup? Get creative with it and lower your food waste.
Only drink water! Not only at home, but when you are out as well. I do not spend money on beverages when I eat out. Water is free. It’s good for you. Drink it and save the extra couple dollars you would have spent on a drink!
How can you spend less on gas? Can you set up a carpool? Are you able to walk some places instead of drive? Are you able to get discounts on gas at your local supermarket? Gas is very expensive- any way you are able to cut back on that is a major win.
Do not buy for convenience! Freezer meals, frozen fruits and veggies, precut fruits, etc are all nice to buy because they require no prep on our part. But they are typically more expensive than buying fresh because you have to pay the extra cost of having them prepared for you. Do your own meal prep and freeze your own fruits and veggies. Heck, if you have time make your own bread, soak your own beans, make your own oat milk. Most artisan breads are simple to make and can cost less than a dollar per loaf. That is a big savings.

Utilize your local library. At the very least, it’s a free resource for entertainment and knowledge. But most public libraries offer more. They will have classes you can join, culture passes you can check out that give you free admission to places like the zoo or local museums, seed libraries where you can “borrow” seeds to get your garden growing. We’ve even seen libraries with sewing machines! Check out your local library and see what they have to offer you.
Start your own garden. No matter your living situation, there are at least a couple things you can grow where you live. My parents have space in their backyard for a bigger garden. Living in an apartment, I don’t have that option. But I can grow herbs inside and smaller fruit and veggie plants out on the balcony.
Reuse your water. There are a couple ways to do this. If you just made some pasta, use that water to water your lil garden we just talked about. Just boiled some potatoes? Throw in some other veggie scraps and create your own veggie broth. You can either can or freeze the excess broth you won’t be using within the next week or so. You can do the same with meat scraps and make a bone broth. Just don’t pour it down the drain!
Lastly- take care of yourself. As I mentioned earlier, I had some medical bills to finish paying off. Avoid co-pays and bills and invest a little more in your physical and mental health. Take your vitamins, eat your veggies, get your exercise, and ask for help when you need it. Don’t overwork yourself trying to get extra money. A little overtime won’t kill you, but in excess it is not sustainable for your physical or mental health!

Now for those of you asking- yes I really did save an extra $1000 this month. And that is $1000 I thought I didn’t have. These are all really simple changes you can make in order to free up those extra dollars. Got any of your own ideas on how to save money? Share them with us! We would love to hear from you.

Here are some past ideas shared that can help you make or save money:

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10 Books You Can Read in One Month

2/4/2020

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This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

When I wrote my last post on ways to read more in 2020, a common question/request I received was to share recommendations of what I read. I read ten books this month and started two more! My goal is to read two books a week and I feel blessed and happy to say I have exceeded my goal for January. I am especially excited to share the list of books I read with everyone.

The one catch is that some of my reads were Audible Originals. So you will have to have Audible to read them. I will separate those into their own list. And I do highly recommend Audible for many reasons, the originals are just part of that.

I won't rank the books In any particular order but I will write a short blurb for each of what I thought about them.

How to Read 10 Books in a Month

I think the reason I was able to read so much this month boils down to a few things;

Instead of watching YouTube or a TV show at night I opted to lay in bed and read.
I listened while cleaning and making dinner.
I read two books at a time. I always have one book I'm listening to and one book that I'm physically reading. Not simultaneously, but in the same day I will have two different books I'm reading.
Nine of my 'reads' were on Audible. Like I said in my previous post, reading more would be impossible without Audible.
I chose books of differing lengths. Some of the books I listened to were ten hours some were just two. My physical book was 239 pages and it took me about two weeks to read at night (but I didn't read every night).

I feel blessed to have more free time than most to read and listen to books, and I feel like that contributes to my being able to read so many books. But I feel these tips could be applied universally to anyone in order to fit in more reading. That's my hope in sharing at least.

Audible Originals

A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs by Ben Garrod- If you have even I mild interest in dinosaurs I recommend this book. It's science in words we can all understand and I promise you'll learn something new! The author interviews paleontologists and other experts around the globe to bring us the facts about the dinosaurs we know and love.

The Minuteman by Greg Donahue- If you love reading about WWII this is a book for you. It's a very fast listen about how a man affiliated with the Jewish Mob fought back against a growing Nazi movement in Newark the years leading up to the war. It specifically follows the story of Nat Arno, a boxer turned mobster.

Wally Roux, Quantum Mechanic by Nick Carr- A coming of age story about a boy genius who fixes the quantum realm. Honestly, it's a very moving story of a thirteen year old boy who's on a journey to fix the irregularities in his Georgia town. And in doing so he finds some answers to other questions he's had about his life. It's a really short listen, but very good. But there is a LOT of swearing so be warned on that.
My Lost Family by Danny Ben-Moshe and Dasha Lisitsina - This Is one of the CRAZIEST stories I've ever heard. It's amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Basically this women has her two children taken from her when she is 19. Her husband takes the kids to the park and never brings them back! This was in 1957! So this is a story of her other child sho is trying to reunite the family for his mom basically. It's hard for me to explain, you just have to listen and bask in the wonders of this story

The Home Front: Life In America During World War II by Dan Gediman and Martha C Little- Another book I have to recommend if you like to read about WWII. This offers incite into life in America during WWII. It has recordings of Americans from then saying how they feel and what they thought about the war. It's a truly fascinating and worthwhile listen. It's also narrated by Martin Sheen.

Books Available Everywhere

The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, and Lance Rubin- This was an excellent book! It was a bit slow in the beginning but once it got going it was hard to put down. It's the story of a small town, Bleak Creek, and the secrets they're hiding. It follows a small group of friends, Rex, Leaf and Alicia, as they get into trouble that gets Alicia sent to the local reform school where everything is not what it seems. It's wild! It would be a great read for preteens and up.

Late Migrations a Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl- I really enjoyed this book. It's a collection of essays focusing on Renkl's life, not exactly a biography or memoir. I loved the way she juxtaposes the things that happened in her life to those things that happen in nature, specifically in her garden. I also really enjoyed how her life is very relatable we all experience love and loss, and the way she puts words to those feelings is very poetic. I especially enjoyed the insights she had in the last few chapters. Bonus is that the cover art is very beautiful!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley- I did not know It was possible to dislike every character In a book and simultaneously love the book but here is Brave New World and here I am. This book is disturbing, poignant and thought provoking. It takes a look at what the world might look like in the future, and it's a bleak view. And to be fair, it wasn't that I didn't like all the characters, but they mostly just made me sad. I do think you need to read it though, there's some really great debates and philosophical views put forth that are worth mulling over.

Now I Know: The revealing stories behind the world's most interesting facts. by Dan Lewis- This book was interesting, but also like reading a bunch of Wikipedia articles. Still, I found it a fascinating listen.
Sleep Tight by Rachel Abbott- If you want a good mystery/thriller, this is the one for you. I will admit I figured out what happened pretty early on but there were still enough twists and turns to keep my interest until the end. A unique thing about this book is the story is told from about 5 different perspectives, including the bad guy's. But you still never really know what's the truth until the end. It has a very film noir type vibe.

So have you read any of these books? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!