Motivating Teens to Do Well in School

Let’s face it, parents; you want your teens to do well throughout their lives. If you can motivate your teens to do well in school, the chances are greater that they’ll also do well after high school is over. Sometimes knowing how to motivate them is the difficult part.

The desire to motivate your teens to do well in school should be applauded. It shows that you are concerned about their future. The goal is to transfer that concern for their future to them while they are still young.

Having teachers that are interested in the subject they teach, even passionate about the subject, can make all the difference in how well a teen is motivated in school. It’s said that enthusiasm is often caught; this would be a good example of that fact.

As a parent, be sure to give positive feedback when your teen has a good report card. Be sincerely interested in what their dreams are for the future. Talk to them about how their good grades can be used as a springboard for getting into a school that has their chosen field as a major.

Threats and nagging really don’t work to motivate children of any age, so it is usually best not to use them in regard to school work. However, rewards can be used if grades are brought up from rock bottom to passing in a semester. Yes, it may seem like you’re resorting to bribery, but if it might be worth it if it works.

How you talk to and treat your teens can also have a motivating effect on them. They want to know that you don’t think of them as children any longer. You may want to tell them that if they want to be treated like an adult, they need to act responsibly like an adult would. This means they have to be serious about school and how they do while there.

Explain to them how what they do in high school can have a great effect on their future. If they are doing their dead-level best and all their grades are Bs or Cs, don’t be too upset at them. Know that they are working hard and let them know that you’re proud of the effort they are putting forth. Let them know that you love them no matter what grades they get.

Don’t be afraid to let your teen learn from failure. It can often be an excellent motivator. In fact, allowing them fail and then asking them about why it happened and how they feel about it can help them learn a lesson that they may not learn in any other way. Don’t forget to ask them what they could have done differently to get the outcome they wanted.

You’ll probably never be able to make your teen do what you want to. However, if you can find a way of motivating teens to do well in school, you can rest assured that their future will be brighter than if you had left them to their own devices. You may also find that your relationship with them improves along with their grades.

Cleaning Out Your Cabinets

It’s confession time, ladies.  How many will admit that they have outdated food in their pantry or cabinets?  Cleaning out your medicine cabinet of expired medicines is also a good idea.  You probably realize that removing old food and medicines when cleaning out cabinets can get you extra space.  So what’s stopping you from doing it?

Cleaning out your cabinets on a regular basis will do more than provide you with much needed space in your cabinet.  Depending upon how old food stuff and medicines are, getting rid of them could also keep you and your family healthier.

Recently reports have circulated around the internet about a young man that died because he ate pancake mix that was expired.  Old food can grow mold spores that are hazardous to your health, especially if you have certain allergies.  Since you want your family to stay healthy, cleaning expired foods from your cabinets can go a long way to keeping them that way.

How do cabinets get cluttered in the first place?  Many grocery stores have “buy one, get one free” sales that are too good to pass up.  The next time you go to the grocery store they have more of the same items on sale and so you buy more.  The newer items are placed in front of the older items.  Later, after you’ve used the newer ones, you reach back for the other box.  Unfortunately, because you didn’t use the older box first, you could be opening a box that has expired.

Be sure to go through your cabinets often to remove old, opened boxes of cereal, crackers, or baking mixes.  Besides opening up space in your cabinets, it could also save the life of someone you love.

Take everything out of your cabinets when you clean them, going through each item to ensure it is still good.  Throw out anything that is old, expired, or opened that hasn’t been used in a while.  Organize the food in your cabinets by moving the items with the nearest expiration date to the front and use those items first.

Go through the cabinet to see what’s still inside that’s good and make a list of the items you need to replace.  When you come home and begin to put groceries away, be sure to put the new items behind the older ones.  This way you’ll use up the older food before it has a chance to expire.

It is important to clean out your medicine cabinet as well, since expired medicines lose their effectiveness.  Some medicines could also become more concentrated the longer they are past their expiration date and could cause serious problems for someone taking them.

Cleaning out your cabinets – food and medicine – is a great way to dispose of things that have expired.  Not only can you make more room in your cabinets, you may also keep yourself or someone you love from getting sick.

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9 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Groceries

It never fails, we budget for our groceries, but the bill always ends up being more. We underestimate, run out of things faster than expected and overall, everything is becoming just too darned expensive! To make things a little bit easier, here are 9 simple ways you can start saving money on your groceries.

1. Go with a List: Yes, I know…it’s a pretty obvious suggestion, but it’s amazing how effective it can be. You can purchase only what you need and avoid all the other yummy distractions of the grocery store.

2. Meal Planning: Planning your meals in advance makes it easier to get your list together and ensure you buy only exactly what you need. You can get help with your meal planning at Dine Without Whine  AND they actually put your grocery list together for you too.

3. Eat Before You Go: Another classic tip. If you’re hungry, you’ll want to buy (and instantly eat) everything! Have a meal or good snack before you go to avoid impulse purchases.

4. Stock Up on Staple Items When They’re On Sale: If you see ketchup or your family’s favorite sauce on sale, stock up. Or if it’s a certain type of soup or frozen vegetable your family eats all the time, buy a bunch of it. As long as it doesn’t spoil and you have space to store it, you will save money in the long run. The nice thing about this is if you continue to stock up on a variety of items, you’ll have a nice pantry full of food at any given time.

5. Cook from Scratch More Often: Yeah, yeah…it sounds easier said than done, but it doesn’t have to be too complicated. It’s no secret that pre-packaged items and convenience foods come at a premium price. They save you time in preparation, but they eat up your budget and let’s face it, time IS money. Plus, if you’re using Tip #2 and planning your meals, cooking from scratch more often is a whole lot easier.

6. Comparison Shop Before You Leave Home: No, I’m definitely not suggesting you go from store-to-store looking for the best deal. That takes too much time. Check the flyers that come to your door and see who is offering the best deals on what you actually need. If you don’t have any flyers at your door, visit the store website as they generally post flyers online.

7. Use Coupons Sparingly: Sure, coupons offer a great deal, but most coupons you’ll find are for items you don’t really need or use. Resist the urge to think, “Wow, that’s a good deal” and search for coupons based on items you need to purchase instead.

8. Keep the Little Ones At Home: If you have young children that want everything that they see, it’s easy to get into the trap of buying items you don’t need, treats that aren’t healthy and become victim to other grocery store distractions. Keep the kids at home with Daddy (it’s a good bonding opportunity) or a relative. You can even swap grocery store shopping times with your neighbor. Not only will you save money, but you’ll save your sanity too!

9. Make Quick Stops for Fresh Ingredients: This may not be easy if you’re on a tight schedule, but if you can work it in, it can save you a bundle. One of the biggest culprits in grocery budgets gone bad is spoiled food. If your fruits, veggies and other perishable items are always going bad, consider shopping for them more frequently, but in smaller quantities and restrain yourself from buying items you don’t need. If you have any teenaged kids, this would be a great chore for them too.

There you go – 9 ways to save on groceries. But in order to make these tips work, you really need to have a plan in place. You need to know what your family needs and what you’ll be eating. To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. You and your grocery budget will be glad you did.

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