Here are my favorite reads for the week:

Here are the best reads this week:

This post from Frugal for Life nearly broke my heart. If you are having financial problems, suicide is not the answer. Please read Dawn’s advice and resources for those of you who are financially struggling!

Jeri’s Organizing & Decluttering News has a great post on sites that can help you with your summer travels, including free packing lists!

Scribbit added a great free summer activity that you can do with your little ones this summer. How about letting them be an archaeologist for a day?

Mommy Secrets shares her grandmother’s homemade chocolate ice cream recipe. Are you hungry yet?

101 Cookbooks has a yummy recipe for a Skinny Omelette.

LifeHacker shares a great way you can organize your frequently used CD’s.

Creative Organizing shares tips for weeding through your children’s toys.

Storybook Woods shares pictures of her beautiful vintage sewing chest. I want, I want, I want!

The Simple Dollar compares the cost of making your own laundry detergent versus the cost of the Costco brand. Is there really a savings?

Simply Thrifty shares tips for fighting stains.

Here are a few of my favorite entries for the week!

Saving Advice has a great entry on how to get discounted movie tickets with tons of links to programs that you can take advantage of.

Baby Cheapskate is giving a penny to the Humane Society for each unique hit she gets, in the month of June, and Angie is asking our readers to visit. Please swing by her site and help charity in the process.

Dawn, over at Frugal for Life, compares her experience with the Grocery Game versus her experience with the free service from Coupon Mom. I have always wondered about the Grocery Game and if it would be worth the money spent. I think she answered the question well!

Apartment Therapy has a great suggestion for using bookcases for toy storage. Check out their great post on how to make ice cream in a bag. Does this bring back any memories for some of you?

The Simple Dollar shares a great reminder for keeping track of your home and auto maintenance.

Goodyblog has a great idea for making your own version of the game, “Guess Who?” Check out their instructions!

Meredith, at Like Merchant Ships, had some really great posts this week. Her post on disguising a store bought cake was ingenious, and I love her tutorials on spray paint and the varieties that are offered in the store.

Sound Money Tips has a great tip for getting the cheapest airline travel.

Enjoy that reading and stay out of the heat!

I had hoped to have more time to put this together, but I had the opportunity to host a birthday dinner for my father-in-law so time ended up being limited today. I did manage to make a big tray of baked ziti, homemade bread, and a chocolate birthday cake in honor of his special day.

Regardless, I did want to share a few of my favorite reads for the week! Enjoy!

Stop the Ride! has a great entry on how to keep track of all of those library books. I love Stephanie’s suggestion for book limits.

Happy Hearts at Home share a homemade version of insecticidal soap.

Simply Thrifty shares about a free donut day at Krispy Kreme. Yummy!

Jeri’s Organizing Tips shares the importance of finding your colors to help you weed through your clothing and to help you when doing shopping in the future.

I’m An Organizing Junkie offers up a great idea for an inexpensive organizer for your wall. I am going to have to look for these when doing my thrift shopping.

The Frugal Duchess has a great listing of freebies you can score at your local hardware store.

INNside Innkeeping has a great entry on ways you can go green that will save you the most money.

My Home Redux shares some great ways you can decorate with garage sale finds.

Scribbit has a great tutorial on how to make your own dollhouse.

Home-Ec 101 has a yummy sloppy joe recipe posted.

Apartment Therapy has a fabulous entry on how to photograph your children chock full of great resources to help capture all of those precious moments.

Simply Recipes has a recipe for making juice popsicles. Be sure to read the comments as the readers seem to have lots of other great ideas for this summer treat.

Be Mom of the Year:

Today’s notebook entry is going to be a quick one. I am down and out with some kind of head cold thing, so I am not really up to doing my usual thing today. I hope you will enjoy some of these fun reads in the meantime though!

Baby Cheapskate tells us how to find playgroups in your local area.

INNside Innkeeping offers some insight on making muffins and a special recipe for applesauce spice muffins.

The Frugal Duchess offers thrifty bookshelf tips.

DIY Maven shares pictures of her finished craft room– I am green with jealousy!

Sew Green has a step-by-step tutorial on making your own laundry soap.

River Band Ranch shows how you can decorate Ikea storage units with vintage wallpaper. Very shabby chic!

The Buzz Queen shares an update on keeping her children motivated to do their chores.

Crafty Pod shares her recipe for spaghetti carbonara.

Simply Recipes has some ideas for kid-friendly wraps.

Happy Hearts at Home shares her master mix recipe for muffins.

Not Made of Money shares tips for frugal scrapbooking. This is a must read for those of you who do scrapbooking for a hobby!

Shakhammer shares a link to free floor plans.

Parent Dish is running a great series called, “Retro Mom.” This one is on how her mom managed to keep the house clean & it is full of great tips.

The Thrifty Blogger has a great recipe for chocolate cake– yum!

Be Mom of the Year:

The Cozi Connection has a great list of items you should add to your family calendar so you don’t miss a single important event. This one is a wealth of information!

Genki Desu Yo shares some tips to get your kids moving on doing chores pay per post style. This is an awesome read and much cheaper than hiring a cleaning service.

Be Cheap:

Scaling Back has a great post on how to scale back on electricity. They got familiar with the electronic meter outside and are hoping to lower their electricity bills.

Zen Habits share a simple way you can save $3,000 a year, without a lot of effort on your part.

Lifehacker shares tips for how to remove car dents on a budget. This is the kind of information every frugal gal needs (especially if you bang up the car and don’t want your husband to know!)

Spending Smart has a great list of frugal cell phone tricks. I like the Craigsnumber one that is listed- check it out!

Have a Martha Moment:

Frugal Upstate has a recipe for making homemade lemonade– yum!

Craft Magazine features an entry on some great sewing accessories you can make. I love the bag idea!

Home Ec 101 shares some ironing tips for fixing those crazy polo collars that won’t lay right. I use the iron so rarely that my son asked what it was one day. Hmm… oh well!

Craftzine shows how to make beautiful fabric brooches. This is a great way to use up some of that scrap fabric you have laying around.

Get Inspired:

Creative Organizing has a great post on how to tame kitchen clutter. There are some great ideas in this one!

Design Mom has some great solutions for inexpensive window coverings, although the expensive solutions are extremely beautiful too!

Be Mom of the Year:

The Goody Blog has a great entry on some tips for your next Disney vacation and how to maximize your visit there with your children. These are great tips for anyone going to an amusement park this summer. Don’t miss our article on the ten best activities for children at Walt Disney.

Make your kids some S’mores Cupcakes courtesy of Sew Darn Cute. Yummy!

Be Cheap:

The Family CEO has an excellent post on twenty-five easy things she does to save money.
Poorer Than You has five quick tips for cheap air travel.

Have a Martha Moment:

Pleasant View Schoolhouse has a great entry on making a chicken pot pie. Yummy!

My Home Redux has a great post on how to quickly update rooms in your house. Guess what? They are cheap!

DIY Maven has found some new uses for tin ceiling tiles.

Design Mom points out how to make fabric covered push pins. These are so cute!

Get Inspired:

Zen Habits has come up with a great entry on steps to make mail & paperwork painless.

Lifehacker has a great post on some tips for organizing your desk. I try to organize this area of our home, but somehow it always goes back to mad chaos!

Shakhammer has a great post on adding crown molding to your cabinets. This is something we
would like to do when we renovate our kitchen.

The Simple Dollar has a great list of fifteen free things to do during a money-free weekend. I love the idea of a money-free weekend and am hoping to try this with our family.

In the Trenches of Motherhood has an excellent post on taking good photographs. This is first in her series and she is beginning with framing your subjects. I am looking forward to future posts from this series as I don’t like to pay for professional photos.

Apartment Therapy has come up with compact solutions for changing stations.

Home Ec 101 has a great post on how to keep that smelly cat litter box clean.

News You Need to Know:

Punny Money (one of my favorite fun reads!) has debunked the myth that receiving a tax refund is bad for you.

The Good Blog shares tips for talking about tragedies with your children. How sad that this needs to be discussed right now…our prayers are with these families.