Cleaning, Chocolate and Tunes - Must do at the same time

Family Dollar has a sweepstakes to win a year's supply of Gain laundry products. Click here to enter.

While we're speaking of laundry, Lozo, a website devoted to helping you save money, gotta love that, had some advice on lowering your laundry costs. They recommend the habit of doing some small things like running the washer only when you have a full load. (Which I always seem capable of.)  This will save you on water and electricity costs, as it takes the same amount to run a small load as a large load despite the custom settings. And they recommend using just enough, not too much, detergent, it won't get the clothing any cleaner.  I happen to also think running the dryer at night in the summer, and during the cold mornings in the winter, help my a/c and heater out a little too! Check out Lozo.com for more great money saving tips and sign up to get those tips daily to your inbox.

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After all that cleaning, you're going to deserve a little treat. Since Valentine's Day is coming, you might as well share them. Right? Right, yeah. Skip to my Lou is one of my favorite places to scan for homemade inspiration and this little recipe hit me right in the heart, and hopefully soon, my stomach.  First a great little recipe for Devil's Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling and Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting. (Now I have your attention.) Then send them an email telling them about a recent time when you gave to charity, and you will receive a special download with printable heart cupcake toppers, printable cupcake wrappers, valentines papers, and digital files you can customize. All this was inspired by the tragedy in Haiti, and how they are still a country where 4 out 5 people live in poverty!  If you can't contribute financially to a cause, consider donating something handmade to Craft Made where you're item would be sold to raise money for Haiti.

Looking for some new fun music you and your kids can both enjoy? Saunter over to freekidsmusic.com and you can legally download mp3 tunes by new kids artists, for FREE! Download to your computer and then transfer to your iPod, or burn to a disc. There are also links to kids coloring pages, and kids stories and games.  Enjoy!