As a mom you probably go through times in your life when you think you can’t possibly manage work and taking proper care of your family. In fact, there are probably times when you feel you’re not doing a good job at one or the other or maybe even both. Don’t despair! There is help for you whether you work from home or outside of the home, your family is large or small or you have other commitments like volunteer work.

Time Management – Knowing where and how you spend your time is key to balancing your life. Start by keeping a calendar of all your activities. You can do this online, on a paper calendar or in a journal. Track everything from showering, exercise, meal preparation, driving time, and so on. You will probably see areas where you can cut some time out by doing certain activities while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store or riding in the car. There are lots of useful ways to spend idle time and you can figure those out as you fill out your calendar or journal.

Set Priorities – As women we often have a hard time saying “no” because it is in our nature to help others and want to be useful. However, you must know when to say “no” to those activities that don’t help you reach your family, personal or business goals. And even if the activity does in some way help you reach your goals, you will need to prioritize the activity according to its value or importance.

Don’t be Afraid to ask for Help – Another trap women tend to fall into is the “I can do it all” syndrome. For some reason society has taught women that they have to be “Super Mom” otherwise you’ll be seen as lazy or a bad mother. That is a lie! When you are feeling overwhelmed by work, family and kids, have a friend, relative or neighbor give you a hand by helping you clean your house, or taking the kids away for a couple of hours while you get some work done. Whatever the situation may be, don’t hesitate to ask for help.

These are just a few of the suggestions you’ll find in my report, Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family. The “Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family” report shows you how you can find a balance between work and family, without letting any of those balls you are juggling fall on the floor. This report gives you real life solutions, and the best part is that you can get started right now.

Not only are there tips for everyday life, but inside The “Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family” contains valuable insight for work at home moms and moms who work outside of the home.

In addition, I also show you how to get started and then keep the momentum! So don’t wait another second. Stop doing the juggling act and get your life in balance now with the Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family report.

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Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Looking for tips to get your life in balance now. Get ‘em right now… 24/7! Real Life Guidancetoolkits are available for easy and instant download to your computer.

When you plan ahead for the holiday season or any special occasion, you can take time off and it won’t hurt your business at all. It will take some added work on your part, but it’ll be worth it when you can take a few days or a week off and not have to worry about how you plan to make money.

There are two ways to make this happen and both will work, but you’ll need to decide how much time and money you want to put into it. Once you know that information, the choice will be easy to make.

One way is to do it all yourself. You’ll need to work longer hours so you can do double the work. You’ll need to make a to-do list and schedule your time so you know exactly what needs to be done and when you’re going to do it. It’s a good idea to plan ahead of time so you give yourself enough time to get everything done. Two or three weeks should be enough time. When you give yourself that much time, the hours you’ll have to work won’t be too bad.

If you plan to do the work yourself, you’ll need to let your family know that you’re going to be working longer hours so you can take the time off. They may need to help with chores and they’ll need to be patient during this time. It’s a good idea to remind them of the outcome and that will help them to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

The other way is to hire a Virtual Assistant to help you. She’ll be able to do the tasks that don’t require you to handle yourself. These would include scheduling blog posts, writing and scheduling social networking posts, email management, and many other tasks that may be specific to your business.

The holiday season or vacation time is meant to be spent having fun and being with your family. If you have to continually do work during this time, it’s not much of a vacation. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead and finish the work ahead of time. You’ll feel relaxed and you’ll be glad you spent the extra time doing your work early.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business. She enjoys helping her clients plan ahead and so they can take time off during the holiday season or for vacations. If you’re ready to make this happen, click here to visit her Virtual Assistant site today.

Ingredients:

½ c of brown sugar
1 package of frozen and thawed cranberries
¼ water
1/3 cup of orange juice
1/8 tsp of allspice
1 tsp of cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients above to a medium saucepan over medium heat and slowly bring this to a boil to really cook those cranberries until their nice and soft. Now reduce your heat and let is simmer so the sauce thickens up. Now after your cranberry sauce has thicken to your consistency put into the refrigerator to cool down.

Ingredients:
Large box of Instant Mashed Potatoes
1 small container of French onion dip
1 small box of cream cheese
1 4 cup pkg of shredded cheddar cheese
1 large container of French Fried Onions
Milk according to Instant Mashed Potato Recipe

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Now in a large mixing bowl follow the instruction on your instant mashed potato box to make a full box of potatoes and be sure to use milk to make it creamier. Now when mixing the mashed potatoes I recommend adding just a little more milk that normal as we want our potatoes thinner than normal mashed potatoes. Now add your softened cream cheese and entire container of French onion dip and blend with a mixture on medium until all mixture together well. Now pour this into your baking dish and then pour your shredded cheese over the top and then add your French fried onions. Now put this in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until the cheese is all melted and your fried onions are turning a nice golden brown.
e never have a holiday meal without someone making our famous Patio Potatoes and they are super easy to make and very flavorful and hopefully you will have some yummy leftovers.

Ingredients:

2 Cans of Sweet Potatoes-Drained
1 Cup of Sugar
¼ C of Butter
2 Eggs
½ Cup of Milk
1 tsp of Vanilla
1 package of mini marshmallows

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Now in your baking dish or pan please combine your sweet potatoes, butter, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla  and mix well. Now pour this into your pan and top with your mini marshmallows and bake for about 40 minutes or until your marshmallows get a nice golden color to them.

Ingredients:
4 Can of Regular Sweet Canned Corn
2 Cans of Creamed Sweet Corn Canned
1 Box of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
1 Sleeve of Saltine crackers

Serves 4-5 People

Please preheat your oven to 350. Now in a baking pan open your canned corn and drain the juice and add to your pan, next open your canned corn and add this in too. Next we want to open our Jiffy Corn Bread Mix and mix this thoroughly, you will notice that your corn mixture really begins to thicken. This is exactly what we want, now using your hand crush saltine crackers all over the top of the corn casserole mixture and put into the oven for 30 minutes or until the saltine crackers start to get a nice golden brown color.

Ingredients:
1 box of Yellow Cake Mix
1 Package of Jell-O or Generic Butterscotch pudding mix
¼ Cup of Vegetable Oil
2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
¼ Cup of water
1 cup of canned pumpkin
4 eggs

Now in a large mixing bowl please combine the following ingredients-cake mix, Jell-O mix, oil, water, canned pumpkin, spices and mix on low speed until completely creamy and mixture thoroughly. Now using a cake pan or a bunt pan well greased and floured pour your cake mixture into your pan and put into your oven at 350 for 55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Now be sure to not cook this much longer or this will be a very dry cake. Now allow to cool in the pan before serving and then you can serve with each powder sugar sprinkled on top or add some whip cream or store bought cream cheese frosting is also delicious.

Christmas Cookies in a Jar, adapted from Taste Of Home (makes ONE quart-sized jar)
18 Servings

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup dried cranberries (I used Craisins)
1 cup vanilla or white chips

Additional ingredients (list these on a tag, or email me for the PDF of the label)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Using a quart sized glass jar, layer (use a canning funnel!) the white sugar, followed by the brown sugar. Tamp down between each layer to create a clean line. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour gently into jar and tamp down gently. Layer in the oats, cranberries, and white chocolate chips, tamping between the oats and cranberries. Cover and store in a cool place for up to 6 months.

To prepare cookies (provide these instructions to the recipient!): Preheat oven to 375. Pour cookie mix into a large bowl, stirring to combine. Beat in the butter, egg and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2″ apart onto un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until browned, cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Recipe from Linaloo Blog

Butterscotch Pecan Cookie Mix in a Jar
recipe from C&H® / Domino® Sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Spoon into 1 quart, widemouthed canning jar. Layer remaining ingredients in order given, making sure to pack down each layer firmly. Clean inside of jar with a dry paper towel after each layer. Decorate lid by cutting fabric into a 7-inch wide square or circle. Secure with a rubber band and tie with a decorative ribbon and accents. Attach these instructions to the jar: In a large mixing bowl, cream together 2/3 cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until combined. Slowly add contents of jar and mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 3 dozen.

Black Friday is the most anticipated holiday shopping days of the year. Everyone scrambling to get the Thanksgiving newspaper so they can plan out their strategies to finding the best holiday bargains. There are few tips to make your shopping trip a more economical and fun event.

First thing to remember is to do your research, the one thing I have learned over the last three years is that often times the online deals are much better than what you will find in the stores. Most times the big chain stores will give you a sneak peek not only at what sales they will be having in the store, but also what online deals they will be having. This could save you a hectic trip to the mall or your local store, by sitting at home with a nice cup of coffee and your keyboard and mouse.

Another great tip is to make a list of those you must go shopping for, and next to the persons name put down the gift ideas or must have gifts you are wanting to purchase for that person. By being prepared to only buy the gifts you really need, and only buying for the people whom are on your lists, this will help to cut down on those holiday bargains you really don’t need. The stores tend to pull out all the tricks on Black Friday to get you to spend more than you intended too, and often times they will throw in a last minute sales, or items that are on sale for a limited time period. Try not to get looped into this advertising tactics and stay to your shopping lists so you are only buying what you need.

Thanksgiving day is the perfect day to do you comparison shopping with your newspaper ads, and also the internet deals. That way come Friday morning you know exactly which stores you are going to and for what items and the lowest prices available to you. Another thing I can’t state enough is to use coupons, often times the weeks prior to your big chains stores will send out coupons to customers on their mailing lists hold onto those coupons to use on Black Friday to save even more money on your shopping trip. If you are not a email customer of your favorite stores, start signing up now so that you can be alert to any sales or coupons they might be offering before the Black Friday Event.

To keep you from running to store to store, stick with the stores that offer price matching. This is huge especially on a day like Black Friday. If you can get all of your items in one store that offers price matching that will save you precious time and energy and gas. The last tip I would offer is to shop with a friend or family member to make the day more fun and enjoyable. By having a friend with you the two of you can divide and conquer especially if you are looking for items at different locations from within the same store.
Written by Angie Wenke-she is a work at home mom who currently owns Frugal WAHMs Talk Radio and Resale Clipart and Discount Coupon Queen where she offers WAHM’s opportunity to start their own businesses, and she helps to educate them on how to grow their businesses and families.