Mary Jo Rulnick’s Fast Track Woman Blog

Hi there-

Check this out!  One of my contacts at Hershy, Inc. (love that town–the smell of chocolate how can you resist) contacts just passed along this information. Hershy will sponsor your holiday cookie exchange. :) 

This December, Hershey®’s Kisses® Chocolates will sweeten the holidays by inviting 1,000 domestic divas to celebrate the season by hosting a Hershey’s Kisses Chocolates Cookie Exchange Party for family and friends. Beginning September 28 through November 15, the iconic chocolate treat is inviting bakers and holiday entertainers to apply to have their cookie exchange sponsored by Hershey’s Kisses Chocolates. Hosts can visit www.kissescookies.com to learn more about the cookie exchange parties and enjoy and share delicious cookie recipes and party tips that are sure to sweeten any holiday get-together.

On a recent trip, I sat next to a man who has worked in the utility industry for many years. After much conversation, I asked him what was one tip that the average homeowner might not think about that can increase or decrease her electicity bills.

His answer did surprise me. The cable box, flat screen TVs and game systems, such as Xbox, use lots of electricity. The cable box is the biggest culprit of the three.  Touch your cable box.  It’s hot. Using electricity 24/7.

He suggested that we plug these things into a power strip and we turn the power strip off when we’re finished watching TV or playing games.

Sometimes a gal just needs to get her nails and toes done. Some may call it pampering, while others feel it’s part of personal self care or professional maintenance–like taking that suit to the cleaners.  Sometimes we need to justify it because we’re spending money on what could be considered a luxury. And yes, when you sit down in that chair and have your feet and hands massaged it is definitely a luxury and one that is so enjoyable.  And then there’s the big but tacked on the end. But, as we’re handing over that cash, check or card, we’re thinking of other things we should’ve (should’ve should be banned from our vocabulary) bought instead.  

Gals, whatever your thoughts, if you love getting that manicure and pedicure, you don’t have to give it up.  Look for a cosmetology school near you.  Most schools have a salon where students provide everything from haircuts to coloring to pedicures. Yes! Rates are at least 50 percent less that your local salon, making this a great bargain.

For those of you who shop at Giant Eagle supermarkets, the store started a new program called Food Perks. You can get Food Perks for buy gas at Get Go.  Food Perks give you an additional percentage off our your grocery bill.  However, you can get 5 percent just for watching a video clip and it’s only 80 second.

Go to www.foodperks.com and watch the short clip to claim your bonus. Once you watch the clip, click on redeem bonus, type in your email addy and your Giant Eagle Advantage card number and the bonus is automatically added to your Advantage card. So the next time you shop, you can save $$.

With today’s economy, everyone is thinking twice about their purchases. So taking care of what we have now is vitally important. Our vehicles should be a priority. Not being a car person, I have to admit I’m not one to keep the car as clean as I should. So, today’s Move-it Monday is all about the car.  Yes, this is a nudge for yours truly, too. Here’s your spring car to-do list.

* Rotate tires. Rotating tires will keep them longer as you wear the tread evenly. I like to have my tires rotated while I’m doing my monthly warehouse club shopping.  When I’m finished shopping, my car is ready to go.

* Change oil and filter. Having clean oil run through the engine is better for your engine and changing these items gives you better gas mileage, too.

* Top off windshield wiper fluid, antifreeze and transmission fluid.  Oh, driving is so much easier with clean windows. Your car works harder during the winter month and uses more antifreeze so make sure you top this off. If you don’t know how to do it, don’t hesitate to ask someone at the gas station. I had to do so during a very wintry day and the kind Pespi rep was so gracious about it.

* Contain your CDs and stuff.  Find a box or plastic container for loose items.  This makes it easier to find and they’re not flying all over your car.

* Ditch junk.  Toss old receipts, pens, directions and so forth.  A de-cluttered car makes a happy driver.

In today’s Fifteen-minute Friday, we’ll doing bathroom cleanup. First, spray with your favorite cleaner the commode, sink and tub. We want the cleaner to start the cleaning process, making it easier for us to scrub. Next, go through your medicine cabinet or drawer. Toss anything outdated or looks old. Wipe the shelves. Now, clean the easiest (what needs less work) of commode, sink or tub, making your way to the other ones. However, if one is super dirty and needs major scrubbing, spray a bit more cleaner and let it sit until later.

Tomorrow, spend 15 minutes tossing items from any vanity drawers and Sunday spend 15 minutes tossing items from the big open space under the sink vanity.

Off to do my 15-minute cleanup.

Today’s Move-it Monday is crossing correspondence off the list. Oh my, I had an armload. So this is a reminder to you, too.

Pull out the calendar to see who has a birthday or anniversary in the next few weeks.  Hopefully, you’ve creating a greeting card station and have greeting cards on hand to send. If not, add those needed cards to your shopping lists. Are there gifts you must buy for some of the celebrations?  Before you make any purchases, see if you have anything (extra purchases to use as gifts) remaining for the holidays or anything in your gift closet. How about thank you cards. I needed to send out a number of thank you cards to several business associates.  

Look at the month ahead to see if there are any quarterly bills due, too. Add these to your pile for the week/month.

If you don’t have pre-printed labels, you might want to buy blank labels on a sheet and create your own. These are great to have on hand.  One last detail, if you’re almost out of stamps, consider buying the “Forever” stamps.  Forever stamps will be good whatever the first class rate happens to be.

Yes, fifteen-minute Friday is here.  Today’s focus is the kitchen. Our kitchen needs to be streamlined (sounds better than organized) so we spend less time in there and more time doing what we want to do. So this is a challenge to spend two 15-minute segments in your kitchen today and for the next week.  We’ll meet back here next Friday. 

So, here’s  the plan. 

* Choose one drawer or cabinet to tweak during that 15 minutes.

* Toss broken items, expired food and medicine if you keep it in there (I know it seems like you just bought it), chipped/cracked dishware,  chewed pencils or the butts of pencils, leaking pens, and any other item that has seen better days.

Now for the second fifteener, you’ll work on the same drawer or cabinet, but this time you’ll re-arrange and de-clutter. Here’s the plan:

* Pull out a box and put it in the kitchen for items you want to giveaway to a local organization or possibly swap with another person.

* Combine like items to make putting dishes away and setting the table easier.

* Take out anything that doesn’t belong in the kitchen or you do not use on a regular basis. (Now, if you grab the medicine from the kitchen cabinet, leave it there if it’s convenient.) However, if you only use the waffle iron once a year, find another storage place for it.

 I’ll see you next week. Have fun tossing, giving, tweaking, de-cluttering and re-arranging.

The party has started!! Be sure to join in to win prizes and have some girlfriend fun!

Over the weekend, I’ve made some decisions. Starting this week, I will be blogging on Mondays and Fridays. Since I like themes, I’m starting Move-It Mondays and Fifteen-Minute Fridays.  Mondays will offer tips to move into gear–meaning let’s get our butts moving so we can reach some goals.  Fridays will offer quick tips that you can do in 15 minutes or less. I’m all about quick and easy so that’s going to be Fridays.  Since I’ve found myself at a crossroad in my career path (most of you know I have more than one career path), Mondays are the take charge days.

So, today’s tip is to take 10 minutes, just 10, and reflect upon or write down some task you want to accomplish this week.  With everything increasing in costs, I want to cut my expenses. I’ve had a stack of coupons and today I clipped, sorted and wrote out the grocery list, according to ads and fav spring recipes.   Although I spend about 15 min. on this task, it’s one that has been on my mind.

The other task I’ve accomplished is to tweak my bio for an upcoming writers’ workshop that I will be one of six women on the panel.  The bio will go in the program and needed to be tweaked toward this audience of business women who want to write a book.  Also, I’ve emailed several experts for quotes regarding an upcoming article I’m writing.

On Mondays, I’ll set up my work schedule so this will keep me moving forward all week long. And it feels good to know that I have a plan of action in place.  No more sluggish Mondays for me! How about you?  What gets you through Mondays? Let me know.