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Since it is tax season, if you are like me this is the time that I clean out files and get rid of documents that I no longer need.  Sometimes I don’t know whether to keep certain documents or shred them.

After working at a tax firm for 3 years and also having a husband that is in a ministry to where we have to keep all our receipts for taxes, I have learned that you have to be organized and also that you don’t have to keep every little piece of paper.  I wanted to share what I have learned over the years about how to maintain your household documents.

Pay Stubs:  Keep your last few from the last year until you receive your W-2 to make sure they match.  Once you see that they match, you can throw the pay stubs away.

Receipts:  Keep your personal receipts until you get your bank statements or credit cards.  Make sure you are charged correctly and then you can dispose of the receipt.  Receipts that you used on your tax returns, keep these for 7 years in a file with that years tax return.  The IRS has up to 7 years to come back and review your tax returns.

Insurance Policies:  Keep the current policies on file.  If you no longer hold the policy then you can shred the documents.

Tax Returns:  Keep your tax returns for 7 years.  just like the receipts, you need to keep these in case the IRS wants to review your returns.

Credit Card Statements:  Keep each bill until the next bill comes in to make sure your payment was posted correctly.  You can then shred the old statement.  If you have charges on the credit card that should be used on your taxes, then save the statements for that tax return.

Utility & household bills:  Keep these until the next bill comes in then you can shred them.  The only time you would need to keep these for the year is if you are able to count the monthly bills on your taxes.  If this is the case then put them with your taxes for that year.

Retirement funds statements / IRAs:  You need to keep these statements until the next statement comes.  Make sure everything shows up correctly and then you can shred the previous statement.  Each year you should get a end of year statement, be sure to keep these statements with your year end documents.

Property documents:  Your house, cars, land, boats, etc.  You need to keep all the documents until you no longer have the items.  You will need to keep the documents for 7 years after you sell or give them away if you used them on any tax documents.

Be sure that you shred everything.  This is very important.  If you just throw your documents in the garbage someone will be able to get your personal information.  We have already had someone try to use our credit card before and I think it was from not shredding some documents and just putting them in the trash.  This is an important step that doesn’t need to be skipped.

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Guys, Valentines day is coming soon and if you need to get flowers for that special one, here is a site to check out for a discount.  At Blooms Today, Receive 50% off from America’s 4th largest online florist retailer! Send your loved one the perfect flower arrangement this Valentines day.

I have not tried this service but I was looking around on their site and they have some beautiful arrangements.

Post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.

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Valuemags is offering a FREE subscription of Family Fun via complements of  JudysHealthySnacks.com.  Go here to sign up for the magazine.  This offer will not last ong because they always have limited quantities.

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Last night I made some almost “chick-fil-a” nuggets at home from scratch and they were very good.  Gregg even made the comment that they might slightly be even better.   Gregg and I are doing Weight Watchers now so I changed some of the methods to make it fit in our points for the day.

Ingredients

2 large boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup of skim milk
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour * See below post to see how I made this weight watcher friendly
2 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
peanut oil  or olive oil
Cut the chicken breast up into small nugget size pieces.   Wisk together the milk and egg then place the chicken nuggets into the bowl to soak.  Soak for 30 minutes or more in the refrigerator. This will make them very moist.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a large zip lock bag or bowl with lid.

While the chicken is soaking,  put your oil into your frying pan and heat up to medium high heat. Do this just before it is time to fry the nuggets.  *See below on how I adjusted this step to make it Weight Watcher friendly.

After the chicken has soaked for over 30 minutes, take them out of the liquid and put into the dry ingredients.   Shake the nuggets in the dry ingredients to get fully coated.

Fry in pan until done.

These were wonderful.  I could not come up with an exact total of point for our count but I know that an 8 count pack of nuggets from Chick-fil-a is 7 points and these were not fried or did not have whole milk, or all white flour.

Enjoy!!

** I used 1/2 Wheat flour and 1/2 regular flour for the batter and I used olive oil.
**I did not fry the nuggets.  I placed the nuggets on a baking sheet that had been lightly coated with olive oil and then I sprayed the tops of the nuggets with olive oil spray before baking.  I turned the nuggets over 1/2 way through the cooking process.   I baked them at 425 degrees and right at the end I turned on the broiler to get the crispy texture.

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Guest post written by Mae Wilcox

One thing that I’ve been worried about is our twins getting all of their college applications in on time. It’s something that I’ve bothered them about for a long while now and they’ve been putting it off. I think that’s about the only thing that they can agree on. You would think that they would sit down and do it together to make it easier on them. But I guess that’s not the case.

I’ve been offering up all the help that I can muster so that they get these things in on time and have time to make sure everything on them is perfect. That’s been a bit tough. When I was online looking for some tips about their college essays, I ran across the site http://www.debtsettlementfamily.com/services. My husband and I have some debt so I thought that this would be a good site for us to explore after we deal with getting the kids to finish those applications.

I wish that each of them had only one college application essay each to write, but they’re of course applying to multiple colleges so that means even more work that they need to do.

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Bee Savy has teamed up with several bloggers and is giving away a Kindle Fire. The contest will run now through Feb. 14, 2012. All you have to do is the following. It is very easy with just a few clicks and you are entered into the drawing.

The winner will be announced on facebook with in 3 days of the end of the drawing and also will be notified by email.

Good luck!!

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 Bear Naked has a coupon for $2 off right now on their site.   Scroll down to access the coupon.  Right now you can get a bag for .99 cents at Target.  It is $2.99 and with the coupon it will be $0.99.

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Did you know that studies have shown that when you begin to prepare your meal with rice, you end up cooking a healthier meal?  I have never really thought about that but I see how that results is true.   Cooking for my family has always been a joy but I have to admit not until recently I have not paid too much attention how I am preparing the food and serving my family what is best for them.

I regret not raising my children in a kitchen with the norm not being “southern” cooking but rather being healthy and wonderful for my family.  I  wasn’t awful with my choices that I cooked but I wish i was more intentional in my food preparation.   Here are a few tips that we have implemented in our household to start cooking healthy  and how i wish I had started cooking this way when my kids were around me in the kitchen at an early age and they could have learned from example.

1. Buy fresh as often as possible.  I am not a have to have all organic person but I love the taste of fresh veggies and fruits.  I have started putting my veggies and fruits in display bowls in the kitchen to be more prompted to cook them and cut them up for snacking.
2. Get rid of the Crisco and oil.  When I think about it now on how Crisco looks in the can…. that is how it looks in your body.  YUCK!  Replace your oils with olive oil and still try to use only a small portion of oils.
3. Start changing over your flour to whole wheat flour.  I made the mistake and did a hard switch on the flour and my family bucked it big time.   I suggest starting by combining the flours for a little while and then start backing down on the white processed flour.  The change will be slow enough that the family will transition better.
4. Have the kids help cut up the fresh veggies or the fruits.  The smells and flavors that rise from the fresh cut produce will encourage them to try them.  Involving your children in the cooking process not only allows them to learn how to cook but it lets them learn the different veggies and fruits and the proper way of handling them.

Uncle Bens has launched a national contest called Ben’s Beginners.  By entering the contest, you could win $20,000, along with a $50,000 grant towards a cafeteria makeover for your child’s school. You will also have a chance to appear on The Rachael Ray show! If you are a  parent with children ages 5-12 all you have to do is  to submit a 2-3 minute video of you cooking a rice-based dish with your children

All you have to do to learn more is to like Uncle Ben’s on Facebook and you will receive instructions there further on how to enter.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Uncle Ben’s blogging program, for 6,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link tohttp://BensBeginners.socialmoms.com/about)

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NoMoreRack is having a promotion through the 30th of January and if  Kentuckiana Youth For Christ can get friends and family to sign up for No More Rack they will earn points for items for the new building in Louisville Ky. This building is strategically placed in the Shawnee neighborhood that is going to reach a community that suffering. The mission is to Rebuild, Restore, and Renew the community of Shawnee by reaching the youth.

All you have to do is use this link and register at No More Rack. I have talked about this site before and how wonderful the deals are on this site. I have bought several items from here and have been 100% pleased with them each time. It is a daily deal site.

When you sign up you can choose to be notified daily with an email update of what is on sale or you can opt out. I use my secondary email account for sites like this.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! For doing this. Be sure to use this link to sign up or the credit will not be given.

This is my personal link for No More Rack but all proceeds from this link is going to help furnish the building for Youth for Christ, Kentuckiana.

Below are the items we are shooting for.    So please send your friends, family and workers to this post and have them sign up too!   Let’s help impact this community with just one click!

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One of the big things that eats up money is food shopping. It is so easy to go to the store and wander around the aisles with a trolley, throwing in everything that you think you will need. You may think that this is efficient, but actually when you reach the checkout, you will more often than not have a nasty surprise. How can you avoid this? I have found that the best way to make sure that you spend only what you need to and no more, is by making a list before you go to the store.

The point of making a list is that when you are in the store, you will not be as tempted to pick up everything that you think you might like. Before you leave to go shopping, after having breakfast or checking a site like lovemoney.com for savings tips, have a look in your cupboards and fridge to see what you actually need. Plan your meals for the week and write down what you will need to buy for these. It is helpful if you can come up with meals that share ingredients, so that you can buy things in bulk and save money in the long run.

Once you have made a list, remember to bring it with you to the store. This may sound silly, but I can’t tell you how many times I have left without it and had to try and remember all the items. When in the store, try your best to stick to the list. If you are tempted by something, think about when you were back at home deciding what to eat for the week, and whether or not you thought you needed it. If you can get to the checkout with minimal extra items, then that will be a success, and you can worry less about wincing at your final bill.

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