Healthy Lifestyle - How I get all 8 Glasses of Water in!

I feel everyone struggles with is getting their daily recommended water intake. I mean, 8 glasses of water a day can sound like a lot - because it is! I envy the people who can just pour a glass throughout the day and by 6pm they’ve reached the suggested amount. I’m the type of gal who had to find tricks to get myself to drink H2o. So if you're in need of some advice on how to get all 8 glasses of water into your daily diet below I mention some helpful tips that I use everyday! 

- Set small goals
If you’re an anti-water drinker you’ll probably struggle to get more than 3 glasses down. So start small, and be proud. Start with 2 or 3 cups and work you way up. 

- Switch up the cup
Something that helps keep me excited to drink water is switching up my ‘water bottle’. Sometimes I’ll match the bottle to the outfit I’m wearing or grab a funky shaped bottle so when I see it, I’ll remember to take a sip.

- Add a vitamin to it
A way I make sure I get my full amount of water needed is by adding a vitamin supplement. Currently, I drink 8oz with a collagen tablet which gives the water a lemon rose flavor but also I know I ‘must’ drink all the water to get that vitamin in for today. Then later in the day when I take my other vitamins I pour another 8oz and remind myself to consume all the water with the vitamins. 

- Flavors help
Add water flavors or fresh fruit if you’re bored of the flavorless water. Water flavors varies from ‘sweet tea’ to ‘lime margarita’. They seriously make a flavor out there for everyone! And fresh fruit you can toss anything from watermelon, berries, to even cucumbers. 

- Ice does the trick too
For me, really cold water is easier to consume than room temperature or Luke-warm water. So I always make sure to add some ice cubes (like the small pellet size from Sonic).

-Remind yourself why you’re doing it
For me, if I tell myself “hey girl, drink this water! It’s going to do wonders for your skin, appetite, weight, and keep you alert to play with Holly” I suddenly get major motivation to drink a little more H2o. Find what will motivate you if its a quote or a goal you want to reach. 

- Reward yourself overtime
The best trick is to reward or ‘treat’ yourself overtime. When I met my 30 day water goal I went and bought a new mascara I’ve been dying to try. I feel keeping a promise to drink water even when you rather have a Coke-a-cola is a reason to celebrate! 

I know these might sound silly or be obvious but the goal is to get the daily recommended amount into yoru diet. If drinking 8 glasses of water is hard for you I hope these tips help!

-Brittney

Store Credit Cards - Are they worth it?

The other day I went to Tjmaxx to get diapers and at the register the sales clerk asked “Would you like to sign up for the Tjmaxx credit card and get 30% off your purchase today?”  I said “30% off 3 packs of diapers? Really?? No”.
Then 45 minutes later Victoria’s Secret asked if I owned the 'Exclusive Angels Card' when I said “Yes, but I’m no longer using it” The girl spent 10 minutes explaining why I should use my credit card today.
Anyways, I went into 3 more stores and all asked me the same question.

After my drive home I peered into my wallet to see what 'Store Credit Cards' I owned and if they are even worth owning. 

You see, I have collected quite a few “Store Credit Cards” and all are either cut in half or locked in the safe. This is because overtime I realized store credit cards aren't worth owning. Below you will see my reasons behind this statement, a list of what cards I own, and which I feel is okay to own. 

Why these cards SUCK.
- Rewards are 99.99% only for that store/brand. Unlike regular credit cards where you can redeem for flyer miles, gift cards, or cash back - store cards are just ‘points’ off your next purchase to the actual store itself. 

- The interest is triple what a regular credit card would be. (This is no joke. One store card is 40.25% interest vs my discover which is only 11% interest). 

- Many require you to meet a certain yearly purchase rate to even get some ‘perks’. For example: Ulta requires you to spend 450$ just to get your points to NOT expire for 1 calendar year. And you have to keep that 450$ track record going every year or your points will be erased. 

- A lot of cards claim you will be invited to ‘exclusive events’ but be warned; so is EVERYONE else who owns that card. Which is A LOT of people. One VS PINK event I went to had 400 people waiting to get in. By the time I got in the ‘drinks and free gifts’ were gone. 

- Having a card or not, they still only want ONE thing from you - money.

- A lot of stores use the credit card sales as ‘bonus’s’ for the associates. So the constant pressure to get you to sign up is so that associate will get an extra vacation day or extra $20.00 on their quarterly sales goal. 

- If your card gets stolen and used; store cards normally don’t refund you AKA: they still expect you to pay off the balance - even if your card was stolen. This happened to me at Express and I still to this day refuse to shop at Express.

What cards do I own? *All Cards are no longer in use*
-Victoria’s Secret
- Ulta Beauty
- Nordstrom
- Express
- Amazon 

Honest Opinion on Which I'd Keep

Out of all these cards the only one worth having would be the Amazon because you get a cash back percentage back on all purchases + points to use on your future Amazon purchases.
Express I refuse to use because of the situation I mentioned above.
Nordstrom you get “Nordy Points” to use on your future Nordstrom purchases but to move up you have to spend THOUSANDS of dollars and keep up yearly or your will be bumped down.
Ulta Beauty you get 2x the points on Ulta purchases (which they do double points days already; so this is a worthless perk), 1 point PER 3 Dollars outside Ulta (Do the math $3 for gallon of gas = 1 point). You must spend 450$ to move to level 2 and actually keep your points longer than 1 year. 
Victoria’s Secret has went DOWN HILL. At one point you got monthly coupons for things like $10 off a bra, Free panty your choice, 40% off a beauty purchase, etc. Now they moved to a tier level where you must spend so many hundreds of dollars to move to the 2nd level and only get $15 off a credit card purchase reward.

So, if you’re thinking about building your credit, stick to a boring card that gives you cash back or where you can redeem for gift cards ANYWHERE. I know the store cards might be pretty and make you feel ‘exclusive’ BUT remember what I said before…. At the end of the day with or WITHOUT a card - they still just want you to buy something. 

LUSH HAUL - Using my Own Tips!!!

Good Morning everyone!
The other day I took a trip to LUSH Cosmetics and used my own tips to grab up a few items. Below you'll see all I purchased! (FYI - I purchased all of this for only $100!)
In total, I got 12 bath and bubble bars, 2 samples, and an 8oz bottle of shower gel (not pictured because my Husband is already using it!) all for under $100!

The gift set "Orbital" was a great deal! It was actually cheaper buying this gift set instead of purchasing each one separately. I did get a few bath bombs I've never tried before and so far I love them! (this was one of my tips).
I also got 2 samples! (one of my tips again!) The soap bar is a good size that I can use multiple times. And the small black jar has a shower scrub that will be at least 2 uses!
I also purchased some holiday items which were limited edition and there was a buy one get one free promo! (another great tip!).

As you can see some of these tips really did pay off! I had an amazing experience shopping the store!

Cleaning Tips! *Daily Chore Log Idea Too!*

When people visit our home I often hear “This place is so clean… How do you do it all?” Then I get the rundown on how much I have on my daily plate. Which are a lot and I know that.

The mass majority can’t stand cleaning (a good example is my husband) but I’m one of the few who loves to clean. I’m in charge of all the cleaning. Bryce spends all day at the office; it just doesn’t seem right for him to work all day and then come home to do chores. Don’t get me wrong, my job isn’t easy. I’m in charge of tending to Holly all day and night during the week so Bryce can rest, plus all the other projects I have. But I’m very fortunate that Bryce works a job that can support me being a “FTM”.

Anywho, cleaning is the best stress reliever for me. I have a weekly chore log that’s broken into daily cleans. The breaks help so I’m not overwhelmed, doing the same thing every day, and still have my weekends to relax. My cleaning list might not work with everyone’s lifestyle but I’m happy to share for anyone who needs ideas on how to create a cleaning log.

Daily:
Make the beds
30 minute pick up before Bryce comes home and/or pick up before bed
fold bathroom towels after baths

Monday
Laundry
Mop floors
Clean kitchen

Tuesday
Clean bathrooms
Clean towels

Wednesday
Dust
Vacuum
Clean livingroom + office
* Once a month (normally the last Wednesday of the month) I dust the baseboards, crown molding/molding around the doors, etc. This takes a lot of work but its a chore you only need to worry about once a month to get the extra dust. 

Thursday
Recyclables ( I take our recyclables to a center because this Condo we currently live at doesn’t provide recycling; and personally I’m a big supporter of helping the planet)
Clean bedrooms
Clean bedding sheets

Friday
Mop floors
* I try to do the least amount of work on Friday’s so I can relax for the weekend!*

Saturday
This is a day we relax. Bryce normally goes to the gym and I can have “me time”. It’s also a day we head to Destin, Seaside or visit family.

Sunday
Meal plan for new week
Grocery shop for the new week
We mainly relax on Sundays as well. We almost always do our grocery shopping this day but sometimes we bump grocery day to Monday. 

Extra tips: 
- When cleaning an area do everything within that area. For example: when I plan to clean the bathrooms I always throw the bath towels in the wash first. Then by the time I have the entire bathrooms cleaned the towels will be clean/dry as well.

- If you have small children like me do the bulk of your cleaning during their naps. I also knock out some good cleaning when Holly is having her ‘tv time’, eating lunch in her high chair, or when she’s having her “alone play time”.

- Keep the clutter down -> clutter is the root of all evil. We trash and recycle as many items as we can. When clothes and shoes are worn out, we pitch em. If it's something we never wear, we donate.

- If you have a busy week, meal prep or make large portions to have leftovers. Bryce isn’t big on leftovers but I grew up on leftovers. I think for families large portions + leftovers help keep the stress of meal planning under control.

- Do a deep clean day once a month. For people with children try to have a relative watch the kiddos so you can focus on deep cleaning with the products needed. Take advantage of a rainy day to do the deep cleaning too! 


My Cleaning Products:
Here's a photo of the cleaning products I use when cleaning. DISCLAIMER: These products are the ones I select and use. They fit my personal lifestyle and I’m not pressuring anyone to purchase these. 

For cleaning tools, I use the rubber gloves I have shown below (purchased at Dollar Tree!), A few brushes and sponges (from Dollar Tree as well) and some paper towels (We get whatever is on special) and/or some reusable towels.