Cold and flu season is in full swing, and Anna Mosely is there to help you make your home a place where viruses are easier to avoid. Anna’s five basic housekeeping tips disinfect the key areas of your home that are most likely to pass on germs.
 
Go Ask Anna.
 

The University of Missouri in Columbia has released a study showing that parents who raise their children with materialistic attitudes will see those children’s attitudes cause them a more difficult adult life.
 
So what’s so bad about materialism? It can cause budgeting and financial problems; it can fill homes with organizational problems. These material problems can give a person trouble finding a sense of personal fulfilment outside of what they own, and can even cause marital conflict.
 
In some areas of parenting, you know that psychologists and social scientists only performed a study because they want to convince the impossible people of the world of things that most of us already know. For example: if you teach kids to like material things, they will like material things. If you teach kids to measure how good or bad they are using material things, they will. There are people in the world who grow up mistreating whomever they can but think they are good people because they can buy what they want.
 
A conscientious adult can teach theirself not to do everything they were raised to do. But why make your kid have to go through that?
 
As for those of us who are going through the arduous journey to intentional living, we salute you.
 
Katherine Martinko beautifully summarizes the release at TreeHugger.
 

Is it time to organize your bathroom? Becky at Clean Mama breaks it down for you. In her post she directs you to one section of the bathroom at a time, and breaks down arranging each into one step at a time. Take it one day at a time.
 
The support is there.
 

There are many reasons to simplify your wardrobe. It can save money, and it can be a part of simplifying your whole life if you are adopting minimalism.
 
Now the minimalist conversation is putting a spotlight on the fact that many of society’s most successful people wear the same thing every day. Not having to decide what to wear saves time and energy for more important decisions. For example, Barack Obama wears a black or blue suit every day, because he would rather spend the energy making presidential decisions. Even if you’re not the President, paring down your wardrobe is one thing you can do to reduce the condition called decision fatigue.
 
True, some of us have let our wardrobes grow out of control because of bad shopping habits and a lack of purposeful living. But what about those of us who truly love to get creative with our style? Or what if getting rid of several items will come as a shock? Try these suggestions on for size.
 
Why not wear an outfit repeatedly until it gets dirty? Your outer clothes don’t get dirty every single time you wear them, only your underwear does. If you prefer, fold the same outfit and leave it on top of the dresser to set it apart from the cleanest clothes. This way you still get to pick outfits, but you only have to do it every few days.
 
Are you worried that people will notice your repeat outfits? You may be wrong about that; people notice how good you look more often than whether you wear things repeatedly. Still, perhaps cycle through a few outfits every few days. Wear a prearranged outfit once or twice per week.
 
Thanks to TreeHugger for putting the best sources on the topic together.
 

It’s fun to see what inventive kids will come up with next. What’s great about kids is that their creativity lets them turn any household object into something new. This means the cheaper the items you keep around for them are, the more inspiring they are.
 
Get a list of suggestions at Save Money, Live Joyfully.
 

Plastic food storage has its pros and cons, but there are enough alternatives these days that you don’t need to deal with the cons at all. Katie Wellness Mama would like to discuss some kitchen alternatives to plastic, many of which are oven, microwave and dishwasher safe.
 
Keep well.
 

Maybe you want to simplify your home and life, but some of the things that people are willing to let go of seem like too much. Of course, you define your own simplicity, but Donald Miller has discovered a way to make simplicity easier to achieve. Miller was reading the work of Viktor Frankl, a 20th century psychiatrist who told people to stop chasing after pleasure for its own sake.
 
Apply that idea to homemaking. Filling your house with sale items is fun, but if you make shopping the point of your life, you’re probably hiding the fact that you want your life to have a bigger point. Frankl, and Miller, suggest that you become more intentional and make that point happen.
 
Let Miller explain on Storyline Blog
 

This post is too useful not to link. Heather of My Mothermode appears on Money Saving Mom to name four ways to teach children about money management. The end result can lead to less whining at you for being frugal. Your household will function more harmoniously. Brilliantly, your children can also prepare for the real world.
 
Your kids will thank you.
 

Jillee knows exactly what we want to know about our Keurig machines. The article below has several lifehack-style ideas for using a Keurig just to make hot water. If you like instant oatmeal, for example, a Keurig uses less water and heat than a kettle. The article starts on a more practical note though: cleaning the machine.
 
Click for more perfect coffee.
 

One reason why my household has too much stuff is because I have two sets of everything. For instance, I have a set of good china and a set of everyday dishes. The good china is not getting me my money’s worth. I didn’t buy it so that I would need to fill an extra cupboard or buy a hutch on top of everything else. Nobody looks at it; they walk right by.
 
I have extra clothes because I think I’m going to shrink back into my old clothes. I haven’t even looked at some pieces since my sense of style changed. I also have items that only go with very few other items and can’t be mixed and matched.
 
I think I’m going to try Courtney Carver’s suggestion to enjoy my favorite things every day by getting rid of everything else. After all, how can my favorite things be my favorite things if I never use them? If I never get any value out of them?
 
There are situations that still justify having a “good” and a “regular” set of things. For instance, with china, I may want to reserve using it for when the kids are at school, and wait until the kids are old enough before I save space by giving the “regular” dishes away.
 
The rest of the time, the only reason why I don’t use my “good” things is because I have an undeserving attitude. And I reinforce that attitude by acting it out. It’s a cycle that I will break.
 
Courtney has more suggestions for getting value out of your household’s favorite things every day over at Be More With Less.
 
Click to be more.