Today you'll hear more from my awesome assistant and friend, Kimmi.  She's sharing a random tip from beyond the kitchen to help us save some cash, in order to free up more money in the budget for Real Food!

First, have you seen the following posts with tricks to help you find time in the schedule to make cooking nutrient-dense meals a priority, and find money in the budget to buy quality foods to feed your family?

• Tips on Saving Time – Including the ‘our version of fast food' meal list, meal planning tips, batch cooking tips, etc.
• Tips on Saving Money – Ideas for different ways to use grassfed ground beef, the popular article “How to Eat Real Food Without Losing an Arm & a Leg”, frugal meal ideas for ONE, and a bunch more.
• The first ‘Beyond the Kitchen: Save time and money with Kimmi' post, where I tell about a few of the many ways she has helped me so much!
• More Time and Money Saving posts from Kimmi – scroll down at that link to see them all.

Take it away, Kimmi!

I just had to share because I couldn't believe how great this thing works for the low price I paid!  BISSELL Cleanview Helix Upright Vacuum Cleaner.

When we moved into a two story house last year I wanted to buy a new vacuum to keep on the upper floor so I wasn't lugging my old Kenmore all over 3 floors of house and stairs. My next door neighbor told me about a vacuum that she had just bought and really liked it.  It's been years since I've had an upright and I've never had a bagless vac before.  Let me tell you that I was horrified at what this thing was filled with the first few times I used it.  I think the previous owners' vacuum had stopped working well a while ago so this one filled up with gray dirt fluff stuff within minutes. 

It also has a few filters that can be easily washed.  It's nice to be able to take it apart and wash these things and also see for yourself all of the dirt that you are really getting out. I was amazed.  Another nice thing is when you hear that mystery sound and know you've vacuumed something like an earring or lego or maybe just a popcorn seed, you can open the part where the dirt goes and see if it was something that you want to retrieve.  (For example I think I rescued a whole family or two of those Life people from the board game the other day when I vacuumed the basement!) 

The last time I bought a vac about 10 years ago it was a big process.  My mom and I went to Sears and worked with the sales guy for a while, and $300 plus dollars later I had made a pretty good investment in a vacuum hoping that it would work great.  It has worked really well for years but doesn't pick up any better than this Bissell, which cost me less than a third of what that did!  I even ended up buying a second one to replace my Kenmore.  My folks and a couple of other people ended up buying this vac after they heard how well it works, and they've been really happy with it, too. 

My dad called me after they got theirs and said “Kimmi, I can't believe you allowed your children to come and play at our house. If you could only see what we've just vacuumed out of our carpets you might think twice about sending them here again!” And they are super clean people!!!  LOL! 

One downside is that it is not very lightweight and isn't self-propelling.  You'll get a little workout with this baby.

I really appreciated my neighbors suggestion of this vacuum and thought you might enjoy the bargain workhorse, too:  BISSELL Cleanview Helix Upright Vacuum Cleaner.

Thanks Kimmi!

If you have any recent big “scores” where you've saved loads of time or money, please share them with us!