The Broke Mom's Guide to: Spring Cleaning

I’m back, broke bitches! I know I’ve been on a hiatus for quite some time, but having a crazy toddler will do that to you! We’ve been carrying along fine. Cutting corners where we can and just thinking outside of the box when it comes to budgeting. Throughout the winter, we’ve stayed cooped up inside so much. It’s been really easy to save money because we weren’t going out to do anything and hot chocolate is really cheap! Now that spring is finally rearing it’s gorgeous little head, I’ve started to tackle my list of fun things to do without spending much money. We aren’t quite ready to head to the park yet. The swings aren’t up and it’s a bottomless pit of mud. That doesn’t sound too appealing, so we’ll still be spending most of our time inside. We can at least open our front and back door though, which Emerson loves! He bangs on the door and screams at the dog through the glass. It’s a nice change and he ends up occupying himself forever. The best part is-it’s free! I save on the electric bill too. The sunlight doesn’t cost a penny to light the place and I can turn off all of our inside lamps. Literally looking on the bright side, right? So what is there to do now that we’ve sprung ahead and are on the tail-end of winter?


Clean and Organize: I know this doesn’t sound like much fun for the little one, so I tackled this one myself, while he was at daycare. I found so many toys and books that I forgot he had, so when he got home, it was like Christmas! My living room and Dining room are now freshly cleaned and organized, which makes me happy. It feels so much fresher at home, which is a nice change from the stuffiness of winter. I hoard a lot in the winter. It’s almost like I’m hibernating, so throwing all of that junk out was nice. I’m not entirely done yet. I need to tackle the basement, but that’ll be another day!


Go “Shopping”: I started to pull all of Emerson’s spring clothing out. He has tons of adorable, plaid shorts, shirts, and polos. Lots of bright colors too! I felt like I was going shopping, but without having to pull out my wallet. I even went through some of my clothes too, which was even more exciting. I forgot about all of the spring dresses I have. So many floral prints, which are huge this year! I cannot wait for that first warm day. It’s so on!


Visit the Car wash: For a couple of bucks, you can hit up a local car wash to rid all of the nasty salt and crud stuck to your car from winter. When I was a kid, I got such a kick out of going to the car wash. Whether we went to the automated one, or the manual (depending on the weather), it was so much fun! I thought it was so neat and always loved going there. If you’ve been stuck in the house all weekend, the kids are getting to you, and you need something quick and cheap to do, take them to the car wash. You aren’t paying costly admission for each kid either. One price, one car! If the weather is really nice, get them involved in washing. If anything, it might tire them out and push them into a late afternoon nap. You might get a little piece and quiet, while cooking dinner too. Even if you just go to the automated wash, it’s neat being in the car watching the soap, water, and brushes wash over the car. Turn the music up and just get silly with it. “At the car wash, car wash!”


And something for the kiddos:


Indoor Puddle Jumping: So, you just got back from rain boot shopping, it’s pouring outside, and you’re stuck inside with a bunch of wound up kids. Let them break those boots in, mama! Using construction paper, or cardstock (which I’d recommend because it’s heavy duty) have the kids (or you) cut out large blue puddles. Place them strategically all over the floor and let the kids jump from puddle to puddle. Make a fun game out of it. If you have rain jackets, let them wear those too! I’d stop short of umbrellas, but I’m very superstitious. If you’re secure in your luck, then add those into the mix. The kids will get an absolute kick out of this.


As you can see, I broke into spring cleaning fever over the weekend, but I’m so glad I did. I felt really motivated from the nice weather and ended up making some placemats for the dining room table too! My dining room looks so sunny and bright now. I had extra yellow chevron fabric leftover from last spring, so I decided to put it to good use. It makes my mood feel a little brighter too. Winter was extra hard on me this year. I felt the winter time blues more often than I’d like to admit! I’m so happy to be entering spring with a clean, organized home, and with some “new” clothes!