Happy WIFE Halloween! October 31, 2008

Have a safe and Happy Halloween! While you are busy handing out candy and carving pumpkins, save the seeds! I love roasted pumpkin seeds, totally fits the season!

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the pumpkin seeds with the garlic powder, salt, crushed red pepper, and black pepper on prepared baking sheet and toss to combine. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until seeds are crispy and light golden brown. Remove from the oven and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to release any seeds that have stuck to the baking sheet, and cool completely before serving. Roasted seeds will keep in an airtight storage container for up to 1 week.

WIFE in a Costume October 30, 2008

So, I will not tell a little wife lie, I am planning my first Halloween Party (as a wife)! This confession is the exact reason why my posts have been lacking. Shame on me! I should be good at multi-tasking but this week, I am not.

However, I still am feeling the Halloween inspiration and even if you are not planning a Halloween Party, you just might have a few trick-or-treaters. So, do you need some fast costume ideas? Here are a few quickie wife costumes that will make it look like you spent hours but maybe only minutes!

1) Miss “Whatever State You Live In” This is such an easy costume. We all have those old bridesmaid dresses or maybe even prom dresses tucked away in our closets somewhere. Or you might have a second-hand wedding or formal dress shop near your home. So put on a pretty dress (which any wife would love to do), drag out the bottles of hairspray, and move into “MISS USA” mode! Purchases can be minimal, just some simply silky white fabric for a sash, some puffy paint (black) to write your state of choice and BAM! Instant Costume. You can really dress it up by carrying a dozen roses and putting on a TIARA to let everyone know you won!

2) A Princess Bride!Okay, every little girl will think you are amazing if you answer your door in a REAL wedding dress and tell them you are the PRINCESS BRIDE! First of all, as a NEW WIFE you will more than likely already have the dress, shoes, veil and jewelry. All you need is a little make-up and up-do! Perfect Princess Bride!

3) A Pastry Chef! Most wives will have a fresh new apron (from all the showers), a cookbook, and possibly some crisp clean new towels to make this costume complete. Wear your everyday, add the apron, carry the cookbook, throw the towel over your shoulder, add a couple of smudges of flour on your cheeks and if your really want to go over the top, mix up a quick bowl of your favorite cookie to have in your arms (freshly mixed and ready to bake)!

Whatever you decide to be, have fun! You know, you could always just go as “the wife”!

The WIFE and Halloween Entertaining October 28, 2008

‘Tis the season to creepy crawlers, googley gooblers and scarey squirmers! Halloween is literally days away and if you are a wife making spooky holiday plans, then hats off to you! Hosting a Halloween party is very time consuming (not to mention you have to be dressed up while you entertain)! So over the next couple of days, from one wife to another, lets try to make this Halloween Wife adventure fun and entertaining!

The first place you should visit is Hostess with the Mostess! This website is full of great yet simple decor ideas for all your party needs!

 

Next, take a little internet trip over to the Food Network! Another great site full of TONS of food and even party planning ideas! I never have time (as a busy wife) to actually watch the Food Network, so the site is perfect to keep you up to date and in the food entertaining loop!  While visiting the site you have to check out the Gingerbread Haunting Houses! So much fun!

Although this may be an easy one, Martha always does it so well! Marthastewart.com has some great last minute decor ideas you can use to spruce up your home for the big event!

More Ways the WIFE Can Save! October 25, 2008

Other than your wife home, your wife care is your biggest yearly expense! So, how can you penny pinch in the personal vehicle department???

1) Although we have finally seen some relief at the pumps, you can continue this relief by skipping the premium gas. Now, if your car specifically states you must use premium than you must use premium. However, lucky for most of us wives, nearly 90% of vehicles on the road can safely use regular gas (which is exactly where you you can find some fuel savings)!

2) As a wife, it is so easy to get busy and brush of little hints that your car could be in need. Don’t ignore the warning lights on your dashboard. If a light comes on, check your car manual, if it is something that needs to be addressed, have it checked by a professional. Doing this early on rather than waiting could save you hundreds and possibly thousands of wife dollars!

3) We wives love a clean and shiny car but those quick drive-thru washes can really add up. How to find and save on these sometimes necessary clean-ups? Check your favorite gas or convenience store. Many of them have car-wash punch vouchers with “buy 10, get one free”. Other stations may offer your discounts for purchases of gas.

4) We know, sometimes we wives can have a heavy foot, but only while wearing adorable cute wife shoes! Another way to save is by driving slower. Driving 10mph over 65 is almost equal to eating up an additional $0.74 per gallon. Yikes! Keeping a soft foot could save you almost $180.00 per year!

Savings for the WIFE! October 22, 2008

Taking a look at the BIG ways you can save is always helpful but, what about the little ways? We wives have many things to uphold…a functioning & clean house, an amazing career and a beautiful body & face. So many of us spend a large portion of our discretionary wife dollars on hair products, make-up, lotions and more! So how can we penny pinch in a department we have so many favorites and “can’t-live-withouts”! Easy!

1) You can save on mascara! Mascara formula’s have very little variation, inexpensive brands do the trick just as well as high-priced brands! My GREAT DEAL WIFE suggestion is Maybeline’s GREAT LASH Mascara, average price of $5.79

 

 

2) Eye Make-Up Remover can easily become pricey (especially the kind from the department stores). A bargain priced Pond’s Cool Classic Cold Cream is one of my favorites! Simply smooth over eyes, wipe with a damp warm cloth and it leaves eyes feeling soothed and refreshed! Even better, it comes to you on a great price of around $4.99.

 

 

3) WATCH the SUNDAY PAPER! You would be so surprised how many coupons you can find in your local Sunday paper, the ads are full of them! $1.00 SAVINGS on foundation, $1.00 SAVINGS on Facewash, $1.00 SAVINGS on Bodywash and more! If you are really good, you will use your coupon when your favorite products are on sale! Even better for the wife, twice the money saved!

 

CHECK out these sites money saving coupons, just click on one! DOVE, OLAY, HERBAL ESSENCE

 

The WIFE can Save! October 21, 2008

This week, the focus is the wife being on a budget and easy, easy ways she can help her household SAVE money! Here are a few simple things you can do!

1) The Cell Phone Bill! Visit with your cellular provider. You will be amazed how much money you can save by just going in and visiting. Do you really need ringback tones? Saved this wife a $1.99 a month. Do you really need all those minutes? This wife saved almost $20.00 a month by cutting back on minutes I wasn’t even coming close to using! After my visit, I saved a total of $33.00 a month (that’s almost $400.00 a year)!

2) The Cable Bill! While having a WIFE Budget meeting at the kitchen table, my husband shared with me our cable bill was reaching nearly $130.00 a MONTH! I nearly fell over and hit my pretty wife head! Action needed to be taken. We cut our plan in half with one phone call. Dropped our channel “package” to a smaller one , took half of the HD channels away and blocked movie rentals!

3) The Heating Bill! For us wives not so lucky to be graced with warm weather every day of the year, the heating bill can quickly pile up! So wives, let’s become the “handyman” in the house and make a few quick fixes to save a bundle on the bill! Idea 1, Block cold winter drafts by using a decorative “door draft stopper”. Idea 2, keep the temperature in your home low (for every degree you lower your thermostat, you can save (on average) an additional 3% on your bill) but, keep an energy-efficient portable space warmer close by you. Use it in the bathroom in the morning or in your living room while watching TV!

The Wife on a Budget…hmmm October 21, 2008

It is true! I have been cut off! My “Starbucks drinking, heavy cell phone using, excessive Dr. Pepper drinking” little cute wife self has been given the words BUDGET and it has yet to settle well. As new wife, we often times are forced to recognize our old habits may no longer fit the habits of a MR. & MRS. long-term planning.

The word “BUDGET” can be scary but when put into perspective, it seems vital. Did you know the number one reason for divorce in this country is because of MONEY! Yes, money! Who would have thought! so this wife is being proactive! Wives let’s take action!

Okay, so let us do some math….let’s say you purchase a “standard” size flavored coffee oh…3 times a week (not every day, a Wife can have control)! Let us say this coffee, on average costs $4.06 (tax included). Now, there are 52 weeks in a year, which means your little wife coffee of $4.06 (only three times a week), has now cost you $633.36 in a years time, YIKES!

So where do you go to budget? Well there are many avenues you can take to manage and save money. My husband and I are taking a class, there are websites with budget forms and many places you can go to get coupons or discounts! However, this is only DAY ONE of WIFE ON A BUDGET! So we will baby step in!

The Wife and her Kitchen October 18, 2008

Who likes Williams-Sonoma? Wives do! Who likes Kitchen Sweepstakes? Wives do! Who likes winning $5000 to spruce up your kitchen with Williams-Sonoma products? WE ALL DO!

Visit www.RealSimple.com/ultimatekitchen to enter for a chance to win an Ultimate Kitchen make-over from Williams-Sonoma! So go, hurry up, get over there and sign up to WIN!

A Fast Fix for the Wife October 18, 2008

I have found being a wife means you have become many things, especially to your husband. One of these things is a “Professional WIFE Problem Solver”. I love it when my husband walks up to me with his shirt in one hand and the button that fell off in the other, and with him comes this look of complexity and simplicity all in the same moment. He knows if he looks confused and concerned he has turned this rather simple but time consuming task into my hands! Ha and they think we don’t know what they are doing (the wife is smart, and she is quick)!

Little does he know I have the best “button-fell-off” trick up my adorable wife sleeve! FAST FIX BUTTONS! Fast Fix Buttons are a simple (but rather creative) solution to fixing a missing button! Keep them in your purse, at your desk at work or in your home (mine live in my “junk-drawer”)! Just pin and go! No one ever knows it was a quick wife fix!

The Wife will wear PINK! October 17, 2008

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and every wife has the opportunity to support the cause! So many businesses and organizations do there part to find a cure, to show their support and to extend a hand to the Susan G. Komen Foundation! As a wife, we can do our part!

I encourage you to take some time today to visit these sites to learn more about how you can show your support or become involved with the global efforts to stop breast cancer and find a cure!

1) FORD Cares: Warriors in Pink

2) Yoplait USA: Save Lids to Save Lives

3) SELF Magazine: Who’s your Suzy?

4) Breast Cancer: 3 Day