Saving Families Money Since 2007
A few months ago, Naomi left a comment on one of posts and said:
“We are also a family of five but we have special dietary issues. My goal this past week was to reduce our weekly food budget to $100 and it was $99! Previously, I thought that I couldn’t save money because of our food restrictions but I wasn’t really ready to try.”
I wrote her back and asked if she could share some specific tips she had implemented. Here’s what she said:
I may be the only person on the planet who loves to find great clothing deals on Amazon and thinks that Amazon is the best place to buy clothes from, but some of my favorite fashion finds have been from Amazon! (Scroll to the bottom of this post for some of my recommendations!)
And I love that most Prime eligible clothing offers FREE shipping and FREE returns! So if something doesn’t fit or I end up hating it, I can just send it right back without worrying about losing money on the purchase.
As I’ve been sharing about some of my favorite Amazon clothing deals recently, some of you have asked how to find the best deals on budget-friendly clothing on Amazon.
Amazon’s search feature is not set up well to find exactly what you are looking for, so you might have to do some poking around.
Here are 5 simple tips to find great clothing deals on Amazon…
It’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for at first. Most the time, you have to put in specific search terms to find exactly what you’re looking for. Don’t give up within a few tries; it’s probably there if you’re willing to dig! Use as specific of search terms as possible. If you know a brand name and specific type of what you’re looking for, be sure to include those details in the search terms. Amazon carries a LOT of brands and you might be surprised what you find and the prices they are offering.
What I’ve found works best is to find a few brands that I love and then buy multiple colors of that same item once I know that I love it (because I might be branching out some, but I’m still boring enough to have multiple colors of the same shirt. Hey, if I like it a lot and it fits really well, it’s so much easier to just have the same shirt in different colors!!)
If you find an item you love, be sure to scroll down on the page to see the “Related Searches” items and the “People Who Bought This Also Bought” selections. In both cases, I’ll often find some great options there that I might not have found just by searching. And both of these tools often turn up some great finds that are in similar styles to what I love!
Amazon reviews are a goldmine of helpful information! Often, items will look amazing in the picture, but if you read the reviews, you’ll discover that the quality isn’t great or the sizing is off. I always search for clothes that have at least a 4 star average from 50+ people. To make this easier, you can narrow your search to show only these items when you select 4+ star reviews option on the sidebar.
Many clothes ship free to Amazon Prime members or with a qualified $49 purchase. Make sure you check the shipping price before falling in love with something — because sometimes it won’t be free and might be as high as $5-$6.
If something doesn’t fit, most Amazon clothes purchases can be returned for free, but you have to read the details because different sellers are different. (A general rule of thumb is that if it’s Prime eligible, it usually offers free returns with the free shipping. But be sure to double check!)
Some of Amazon’s clothing ships from China and takes 4-6 weeks to arrive. Be aware of this when you are looking at items — especially if you are hoping to get them within in a few days.
Want to see some of my all-time favorite Amazon clothing finds?
Fall/Winter
- PinUpArt Women’s Color Block Long Sleeve Sweatshirt
- MBJ Drape Top With Side Shirring
- Long Sleeve Tunic Top
- Derek Heart Flannel Shirt
Spring/Summer
What are YOUR favorite ways to get great deals on Amazon clothes? I’d love to hear! Tell us in the comments!
Going on a big family vacation sooner or entertaining a large group? Check out these easy recipes for a crowd of people — including our full menu plan for 26 people!
Be sure to also check out these Cheap Meals for Large Groups and these Easy Meals for 20 People!
Need some ideas for food to make while on vacation with a crowd? Two weeks ago, my entire extended family (except my brother who is working on the The Wilds camp this summer and couldn’t take time off) went to Bull Shoals Lake.
We’ve been doing this trip together as a family since before I was married. The number of people who come each year has slowly grown as my siblings have gotten married and we’ve had babies. We’re now up to 26 people total (My parents, my six siblings, plus their spouses and kids!)
On this trip, we stay in cabins that have kitchens so we bring food and make it there for all but one night. We all pitch in to help with meals, ingredients, cooking, baking, and clean up. This way, there’s not too much work on any one person’s shoulders.
Many of you asked for details on what we cook and how it works, so I’m posting our entire menu plan so you can get ideas on recipes for a crowd of people. 🙂
My sister planned the menus based upon what she knows that everyone would like/eat/would give some options for those on special diets or who have food allergies and then she put together a sign up form on TakeThemaMeal.com for everyone to sign up for what they wanted to bring.
I know that this might not work in some families, but because of the dynamics of our family, this works really well for us. It’s also nice because then everyone can sign up for what types of food they like to bring or what meals they’d prefer to help make.
My sister set up the sign up sheet so that every menu item was on a different line and if you signed up for something, you were responsible to get the ingredients for it and make it for that meal.
Some of the items were really easy things, like bringing a jar of pickles or a bag of tater tots. Others were a little more time intensive, like making bread or mashed potatoes or a main dish.
Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon, Juice
Ice Cream Soaked French Toast, Eggs, Bacon, Juice
Baked Oatmeal, Sausage, Eggs, Juice
Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists, Eggs, Bacon, Juice
Cold Cereal
Salad Bar, Leftovers, Snack-y Foods (everyone brings some snack type foods to contribute and share)
And that’s that! I did want to mention that some of the meals were more allergy-friendly than others, so on a few of the nights where they weren’t as allergen-friendly, those with food allergies made some other for the main dish.
Do you have any other easy recipes for a crowd of people? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Want to cut your grocery budget? Go here and sign up (it’s free!) I’ll send you my 10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill By $50.
I stopped by Kroger on Saturday to pick up some of their deals — and I was so excited with what I got! (And I’m sorry that I’m just now getting this posted. I had plans to post it earlier in the week so you could take advantage of some of these deals, but I’ve been in India and haven’t had as much time to write blog posts as I’d hoped!)
Here’s what I bought:
Jesse also stopped by Sprouts and picked up 2 watermelon for $1.98 each (they were running a 3-day weekend sale!).
Have you gotten any great deals recently? I’d love to hear about them! Tell us in the comments!
Welcome to my weekly Book-ish post where I share what I’ve been reading and watching recently. If you missed it, you can see my Reading Goals for 2018 and 44 Books I Plan to Read This Year.
(Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and we will be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking through our links. Read our disclosure policy here.)
And it’s week #5 of reading 3 books in a week! I’m so excited that I’m continuing on with this trend!
Here are the three books I finished this past week:
1. The Broken RoadThis book wasn’t what I was expecting, but as someone who has a very driven personality and who is prone to work too much or put my worth in my work, this story hit home in many ways and caused me to think and step back and examine my life and choices.
(I listened to this audiobook for free on the Libby app.)
I really enjoyed this story (thank you to whomever out there recommended this book to me — I’m not sure of your name because it was awhile ago!). I did feel like the text could have been tightened up and the storyline made a little stronger, but overall, it was a good read and I’d recommend it.
I absolutely loved Finding Spiritual Whitespace, so I was excited to read this followup book. It’s one you want to savor over a 3-4 week period (that’s what I did).
If you feel overwhelmed with your life or just need some encouragement to rest in the Lord and stop feeling like you have to control or micromanage or stress over everything, I think you’ll find this devotional helpful. Plus, it has a lot of practical ideas and advice, too!
One thing I wanted to note is that I found some parts fairly repetitive and I also noticed a number of typos. (If that kind of thing bothers you, I just thought I’d mention it.)
I flew to India yesterday and today (if you want to follow along with my trip behind-the-scenes, be sure to follow me on Instagram Stories). On the first flight from Nashville to Chicago, I had two empty seats next to me… and I made the most of it! 🙂
The CrossFit Games were last week, so we spent hours watching them live online over the course of a 4-day period. We are all pretty big fans and each have athletes that we were especially cheering for!
(We went to the CrossFit Regional competition earlier this year and got to see some of these athletes compete live so that made it even more fun!)
I love that this is something Jesse and I can enjoy together — and that the kids get in on, too!
When I Find Time to Read
People are always asking me how I find time to read. Honestly, it’s because I love to read, because I’ve chosen to prioritize it, because I don’t have a lot of other hobbies, and because I can’t not read. Also, when you love something, you usually can find ways to get creative to find time to fit it in — even if it’s in the little nooks and crannies of life.
I wrote a post on 3 ways to find more time to read — even when life is busy. And here are 7 more ways to find time to read.
Welcome to my weekly post I share a peek into our lives, talk about things I’m loving, share links to interesting articles or helpful ideas I’ve collected throughout the past week, and just talk about whatever is on my heart! ?
This post contains affiliate links and we may be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking through our links. Read our disclosure policy here.
As I mentioned, we spent almost all of last week near Mountain Home, Arkansas at Bull Shoals Lake. It’s a family tradition for us all to get together at least once a year at this lake.
The tradition started before Jesse and I were married over 15 years ago and has continued — and now there are 27 of us total (though my brother couldn’t make it this year because he was serving as a counselor at The Wild Camp.)
Here’s a little peek into our time together…
We played lots of games — including some fun rounds of Spot It.
My dad rented two boats for the week, so we spent a LOT of time on the water.
Some of the days were a little cloudy, but mostly, the weather was beautiful — not too hot and not too cold!
I fell in love with knee-boarding on this vacation and had so much fun attempting different things (I still haven’t mastered backwards knee-boarding, but I’m determined I’m going to get it!)
Most all of us went bowling one evening. They rented out the lanes for just $16 each for an hour, so we got three lanes and a BUNCH of us bowled for every minute of that hour and had a blast — and it only cost about $51 total!!
Close to 7 pm, they turned on the strobe lights for Cosmic Bowling!
Kathrynne planned games for the younger kids every afternoon and they earned tickets which they got to cash in for prizes at the end of the week (see below).
This roll the marble game was a hit! You had to sit or stand behind the line and roll a marble and you got points based upon where the marble landed.
Most of my nieces and nephews were better than me at this game! 🙂
We also played a rousing game of Whoonu — and my 5-year-old niece beat me fair and square!!
Have you ever played this game? It was a lot harder than I expected it to be!
My sister’s daughter, Cadence, planned snacks for the younger kids on two of the afternoons (and my brother’s daughter planned snacks on the other two days).
One of the snacks was these cute apples that all of the kids got to make!
The kids really enjoyed making these!
The best part? They got to eat them after they made them!
There was a lot of double-slaloming that went on during the week. Here, two of my brothers are showing off their skills!
It was so peaceful and beautiful!
We had multiple swimming breaks in the lake.
Another shot of how beautiful this lake is!
The boys climbed up on the rocks one day and would have stayed up there for a long time if I hadn’t told them they had to come down (because I was a little afraid they were going to slip and fall!)
Kathrynne did so well at skiing this year — and even got up on one ski the second time she tried (I didn’t get a picture because I was screaming so loudly about how well she was doing!!)
And then Silas wanted to try skiing on the big skis. He’s gotten up on the kid skis before, but never on these larger skis.
The boy got up on his second try and stayed up for over 2 minutes!!
I was SO proud of him and I think he just might be able to slalom soon, too!
At the end of the week, the kids took all of their tickets and they got to cash them in for prizes that Kathrynne had in her “store” (all of these came from Dollar Tree).
The kids came in one at a time and got to redeem tickets for one item — from youngest child to oldest child.
And then, once the first round of ticket redemptions was finished, they got to do another round and choose another item.
We drove back home on Saturday — and made a stop at this place we found in Jonesboro last year. I love little coffee shops, even if I don’t drink coffee any more! (I got their cinnamon tea and had them make it like a London Fog.)
This made me laugh and say ouch, because yup, there’s way more truth to it than I’d probably like to admit.
One of the reasons I chose the word SLOW for this year was because I knew I needed to work on being slower to respond. And it’s been so good to make it my goal to actually take time to think before I say something instead of just blurting out the first thing that comes to mind.
It’s still a challenge and I still have had to apologize and stick my foot in my mouth, but I’m thrilled to tell you that by making this one word my mantra, it’s actually been making a big difference.
I’m talking less and listening more — and I’m taking more time to weigh my words before talking. And it’s really making a difference. I’m even not always having to get in the last word in a conversation or discussion… which is no small miracle!
2018 Goals Update
Personal Goals
1. Read 100 non-self-help books that will build me up/encourage me/inspire me/recharge me. (Fiction/story-driven/biographies/inspirational living books/devotionals.) See the list of 44 books I plan to read this year.
**Progress: 42 books read so far this year
2. Read through the entire Bible.
**Progress: I’m using the Robert Murray M’Cheyne plan and am all caught up— yay!
3. Write one handwritten note to someone every week.
**Progress: 31 notes written so far this year
4. Run 500 miles.
**Progress: 290 miles run so far
Marriage Goal
5. Go on an overnight trip with Jesse without the kids.Jesse and I went to NYC together in January.Family Goals
6. Read 10 books aloud with the kids.
**Progress: I’ve finished two books so far. (I have a plan for how we’re going to incorporate more reading into our schedule once school starts and we’re all driving in the car to school drop-offs every morning. For now, I’m just happy that we’re fitting in a little family reading a few times per week when we’re all in the car together driving to the pool or somewhere else. Something is better than nothing, right??)
7. Take the kids to South Africa.We took this trip in July. What a memorable experience!8. Go on a family road trip.
**Progress: We’ve been researching some options for this and are hoping to make this happen over Fall Break. Stay tuned!
Financial Goals
9. Save up to pay cash to finish off an office for me and workout room for Jesse and me in the basement in our new house.
**Progress: The workout room is DONE and the office is getting close to being done!
10. Replenish our Emergency Fund (we dipped into it to replace my car when it got totaled because of the carpet beetle infestation.)
Business Goals
11. Increase our gross income from the business by 8%.
12. Launch 5 new courses.**Progress: We launched 4 Weeks to a More Productive Life launched in January, Content Creation 101 in February, 4-Week Blog Coaching Program in March, Email List Setup 101 in March, Make Over Your Mornings LIVE in April, the Facebook Live Masterclass in May, and we launched Build Your List 101 in June!
Welcome to my weekly Slow Day post, inspired by Monica from The Homespun Heart. My Word for 2018 is Slow and, in the spirit of that word, I’m taking one day each week (Wednesday) off — I’ll be unplugged and offline and plan to move at a slower pace, take time to do things that refresh me, and just really focus on being present and savoring the moment.
Each week, I’ll be sharing a photographic peek into my Slow Day. Enjoy a little peek into our lives!
As I mentioned earlier, we spent all last week near Mountain Home, Arkansas at Bull Shoals Lake with all of my extended family (26 people total, if I counted correctly!)
So enjoy a little peek into our day at the lake…
We all contribute to the meals when we’re together. My youngest sister plans the menu and then put together a sign-up sheet that we all signed up on. Today’s breakfast was Baked Oatmeal, courtesy of my sister-in-law.
We all stay in different cabins, but we eat our meals (and hang out a lot) in the big cabin that my parents stay in.
The girls loved getting to spend time with their baby cousins.
It was an absolutely gorgeous morning!
Silas and I went out on the boat for the afternoon.
We watched Jesse ski.
And then he knee-boarded, too.
(I also knee-boarded, but since I’m the one who usually takes pictures, we don’t have any pictures of me. 🙂 Silas knee-boarded, too, and you can see the video and read more about that here.)
Atlas and I spent a lot of time together this past week. He’s such a cutie and I love how much he’s learning how to talk and communicate!
The chaos before dinner. 🙂
Dinner was hamburgers, hot dogs, veggies, fruit, corn on the cob, and french fries.
Welcome to my two-week series all about our recent family trip to South Africa. I’m recounting some of our favorite experiences, lessons we learned, travel tips, and some of the most memorable stories and takeaways. To read all of the posts in this series, click here.
Many people have asked us why we would spend the money to take our whole family to South Africa. It’s a very valid question — especially when I have a blog called MoneySavingMom.com. 🙂
Well, first off, when you stay with friends and they are kind enough to graciously provide your food and transportation and you get a great deal on plane tickets, it’s not at all as expensive as people would assume.
But, at the same time, it is definitely not cheap, so why would we spend the money on a trip halfway around the world? For starters, I wrote a post on three reasons we take our kids to South Africa here. Those reasons were a big driving force behind why we took our kids to South Africa a second time.
There were three other reasons, too:
1. We’ve chosen to prioritize life-changing experiences in our budget.
In January of 2015, I boarded an 18-hour flight to South Africa with my friends, Lisa-Jo and Joy. The trip itself was SO far outside my comfort zone (I had never been on a plane for more than 5 hours and had never really traveled internationally) and I had no idea what to expect.
On that trip, I fell madly in love with the people of South Africa, I discovered that I love traveling and experiencing new cultures, I found out that I’m a lot more extroverted than I realized I was, I made dear friends, I learned so much from people whose lives are very different than mine, and our family found a calling and passion to come alongside and support the amazing work that Take Action Ministry is doing.
Since that trip, South Africa has become like a second home to me. It’s why I’ve been there four times in the past four years. And it’s why every time I go, it never feels like enough.
Our heartbeat for so much of why we do what we do — why I blog, why we produce products, why we seek to be strategic with the business and wise with our personal funds — is so we can give generously to the needs in South Africa and elsewhere.
I am forever changed. Our family is forever changed. Because of what we’ve learned and experienced in South Africa.
And that’s why we prioritize making this trip as often as we can.
2. We want to be motivated to remember our “why”.
The South Africans have taught us what true giving looks like — even when you have almost nothing to give.
They have taught us what warm hospitality looks like — giving up your time and vacation days and your bedroom and sleep to host us!
They have taught us what contentment and joy looks like — even when you live without power and water in a tiny shack.
They have shown us what faith looks like — when you believe God can do big things despite having almost zero resources.
And they have given us incredible purpose. To live beneath our means so we can give generously. To be strategic and wise stewards of our time and money and opportunities in order to be able to help out as many people as possible.
Being with these people reminds us of what really matters in life. And it gives us fresh perspective and deeper empathy and a greater understanding of how to love others well.
3. We want to do more than just give money.
Our family invests a significant portion of our income every month to help fund Take Action Ministry. And while money is very important, we want the team there to know that we are with them in the work they are doing.
While we aren’t called to live in South Africa right now, traveling there regularly to be with our friends there, to celebrate their progress, hear of their struggles, see the work first-hand, and just hang out with them and spend time together is so valuable.
More than anything, people who are sacrificing so much need to know that they aren’t alone. That there are people who care deeply about the work they are doing. That they have friends who are praying and celebrating — even if they live thousands of miles away.
I think it’s easy to forget this. To think that people just need financial support. But as our friends in South Africa have taught us: relationships are so much more valuable than financial support ever could be.
Let me tell you, going to South Africa for the second time with our kids was really incredible!
Our first trip to South Africa as a family was good but still pretty overwhelming for the kids. They struggled with the time change, the jet lag, the new foods, the different schedules, the language barriers… everything was so foreign to them and it was rough on many days of the trip.
This time around, there were still the unknowns and variables and challenges that come along with international travel, but all three kids handled it like champs. Every day, we went to new places and they got to meet and hang out with new people from a variety of backgrounds.
I saw them walk into these situations with confidence and grace. Instead of sitting on the sidelines and playing it safe, they jumped in and played full out.
And it was so beautiful to witness. Once again, they demonstrated that you don’t have to speak the same language fluently to communicate love.
One of our heart’s desires is to raise kids who realize there is a big, big world out there and there is so much we can learn from everyone in it — no matter what language they speak or background they come from. Traveling outside our “American bubble” is one way we’re seeking to begin nurturing this understanding in them.
(By the way, the kids are begging that we not only go back to South Africa next year, but can we please visit another continent next year, too? Even my child who is very scared to fly commented and said, “Well, now that I got that 18-hour flight over with, I think I can fly just about anywhere. So please can we travel more??” As you can imagine, that put a great big smile on my face! ?)
I don’t know what the future holds for our kids. I don’t know if we’ll be able to reach our family’s crazy goal of traveling to all 7 continents by the time Kathrynne is 18. But I do know that the money we invested to take this trip to South Africa was every bit worth it.
In fact, I’d say that the return on our investment has been pretty near priceless!
Well, the day has finally come. I’m sad to tell you that we cancelled our MoviePass subscriptions earlier this week.
I held on to hope that maybe things were going to turn around, but it just kept getting worse. And we made the decision this week to cancel both of our accounts.
Since I strongly promoted MoviePass in January, I felt that it was only right for me to share why we decided to cancel our accounts. The reasons weren’t isolated to just one concern. It was a series of issues over the past two months that brought us to this decision.
First off, MoviePass changed their policy a few months ago to say you can only watch the same movie once per account.
This is kind of a big deal as this means that you can’t actually see one movie every day… because most theaters don’t show 30 different movies in one month! Of course, there’s no way I could go to a movie every day, but I still am bothered that they are claiming that they are still offering “unlimited movies” for $10 per month. To me, that’s deceptive marketing.
Then, their customer service had all sorts of issues. I heard from many of you that you had issues with your card and contacted them and hadn’t gotten a response. We contacted them about switching our card to another device and didn’t hear back from them for weeks.
Next, they introduced Peak Pricing — which meant that you had to pay extra for movies that were popular and/or showing at popular times. Again, if the whole reason that we signed up for MoviePass was so that we could see up to one movie per day for just $10, then this defeated the purpose. Because we could only choose movies that weren’t popular or weren’t showing at popular times. Otherwise, we had to pay a few dollars extra per
movie on top of the $10 per month subscription.
We realized that we were beginning to only use the card a max of two times per month due to all of the changes — which meant that movies were costing us about $5 each. That’s not a bad deal, but it wasn’t at all as great of a deal as it had been when we first signed up and could go to ANY m
ovie at ANY time — up to one movie per day.
The final straw for us was when they announced this week that they wouldn’t be allowing you to see big new releases and some show times wouldn’t be available at all for some movies.
Here’s what they said in the email they sent out:
In order to continue growing our service and maintaining a high level of financial discipline, we need to make some modifications:
We must reduce availability for big new-release titles, such as Mission: Impossible – Fallout and other popular new releases, at least for a while as we adjust the business model. We are working on making this more clear in the app so you know which titles are available.
Showtimes that are offered through our service will vary from day to day, and every showtime may not be available. We encourage you to check the MoviePass app for showtimes before you leave for the theater.
It just no longer makes sense for us to pay $10 per month per card (we have two cards) to only be able to see select movies at select times — and that you’ll never know until the day of whether a movie and showing will be available. Plus, you may have to pay extra to see it if it ends up being at a popular time.
Considering the fact that our AMC theater offers $5 Tuesdays (where tickets are just $5 each), it’s a better deal for us to just go on Tuesdays once or twice a month and be able to see the movie we want to see at the time we want to see it — and pay just $5.
So yes, we cancelled our MoviePass subscription and I no longer endorse or support them. If they ever decide to go back to the truly unlimited movies for $10 per month model, I’ll definitely consider signing up again. But for now, I’m out.
Welcome to my two-week series all about our recent family trip to South Africa. I’m recounting some of our favorite experiences, lessons we learned, travel tips, and some of the most memorable stories and takeaways. To read all of the posts in this series, click here.
This post contains affiliate links and we may be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking through our links. Read our disclosure policy here.
I shared a peek into my bathroom bag on Instagram Stories before we left for South Africa and so many of you asked if I could give links to the products and post more details. So, here you go…
(Note: This is only for a one or two-week trip. I’ve never done an international trip that was more than two weeks, so I’m not your girl if you’re looking for long-term international trip packing tips!)
(Psst! In case you missed it: What I Pack in My Backpack for International Trips)
I got this bag in my FabFitFun box when they sent me a box to unbox on Facebook and share my thoughts. It’s a really expensive bag if you buy it on its own, but Amazon has some Train Case Makeup Bags that are similar and much less expensive. For instance, this one, this one, or this one.
I love how much I can fit in this case! In the top section, I have my toothbrush, a nail file, makeup brush, tweezers, mascara (this is the one I love and have used for a long time), and eyebrow powder.
In the side pocket, I keep my contacts, Visine, floss, and essential oils.
I typically only bring three essential oils when I travel as these pretty much cover it all for me and they don’t take up a lot of space.
I bring Deep Relief (I adore this stuff!), Digize or Digestzen, and Germ Fighter or Thieves.
In the large section, I keep everything else! 🙂
I have toothpaste, my Mary Kay Timewise cleanser (in the squeeze tube) + SPF and moisturizer, deodorant, travel size shampoo and conditioner, hair spray, and then baggies with magnesium & probiotics, my Sinus Rinse packets, hair bands, earrings, hair pins, foundation, lip liner & lip stick, blush, and eyebrow pencil.
I also keep my glasses in here (not pictured). You could also keep a small comb or brush in here if you’re unlike me and can fix your hair on-the-go without using a brush.
I typically just pick up travel sized shampoo, conditioner, and hair spray at Target before a trip. You can also get small bottles and divvy up what you like to use into those bottles. But I find this to be simpler.
And there you have it! 🙂 I can keep enough in here to last me for a good two weeks.
I will put this bag into my backpack for international flights so that I have everything I need to brush my teeth, wash my face, put on makeup, take out my contacts, fix my hair, etc. (Note: We have TSA PreCheck so we’re never asked to take our liquids out of our bags or have them in a clear bag at security nor have I ever had an issue keeping everything in this case.)
If you enjoy posts on international travel, be sure to also check out the following posts I’ve written on the topic:
What else would YOU pack in this bag? What would it be missing for you? I’d love to hear!
Guest post from Ariel of A Meaningful Motherhood:
I sat at the table and cried.
Our 1100 square foot house was practically choking me. The kitchen cabinets were falling off. The dishwasher had been broken for nearly a year. Our wooden kitchen table was “lovingly” dinged, dented, and wobbly. The children had peeled paint off the wall like a banana peel. We held our breath every time we walked around the garage because we had no idea when it might decide to fall.
Our family of six isn’t getting smaller. We’ve got four kids all under the age of ten in a three bedroom house with one working bathroom. We also homeschool, so there are books everywhere (which, isn’t a huge problem!), and have two Golden Retrievers who shed more hair than they have.
As I sat there sobbing, I felt I’d never see that glistening homeschool room, bookshelves to the ceiling, or perfectly groomed dogs. Everything felt so mountainous.
Our debt was a hindrance in our finances and our marriage. It caused fights, discussions, tears, and holding a magnifying glass over ourselves to find traits and habits we didn’t like. It also made this mountainous climb feel impossible.
The worst was the guilt of wanting money to afford nicer things. So I cried for my guilt and I cried for my foolishness.
Some people will say that being in debt is not forever, that we can get out and change our lives. I believe this is true. But I also am a realist and know that not everything I want will actually happen.
I may never have the homeschool room I desire or gleaming shelves of books. My kitchen may never be lined with fingerprint-free gray cabinetry worthy of HGTV and a dishwasher that cleans cooked-on eggs.
Sometimes it’s disheartening not to have things that make our lives easier or look magazine-worthy or offer us a pleasing aesthetic… but we cannot let that weigh on us. The truth is, even if I eliminate all my debt, that doesn’t mean I’ll have everything I want.
I don’t want to stay at that table and cry. I want to get up and change my outlook and my situation.
I don’t have a working dishwasher, but I have four kids willing to pitch in washing dishes every day.
I don’t have sturdy bookshelves, but it gives me an opportunity to be creative in how to store them.
My dogs will provide many memories for our family, despite the clumps of golden hair I find lurking in every crevice.
What’s a life at the end when you’ve got everything you’ve wanted?
My situation doesn’t have to define my perspective; I get to choose that. And in the pit of debt, when it’s overwhelming and heavy, perspective is a life-line!
Ariel is a Mid-Western wife to Greg, and stay-at-home mom to four kiddos. She is a freelance writer, homeschooling mom, and blogs about the challenges of motherhood at A Meaningful Motherhood. She loves books, coffee, and avocados.
Welcome to my weekly Book-ish post where I share what I’ve been reading and watching recently. If you missed it, you can see my Reading Goals for 2018 and 44 Books I Plan to Read This Year.
(Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and we will be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking through our links. Read our disclosure policy here.)
And it’s week #4 of reading 3 books in a week! I’m so excited that I’m continuing on with this trend! Here are the three books I finished this past week:
1. PaperboyI finally finished read aloud #2 this year with the kids! (I’m hoping that once our school schedule begins in August, we’ll be going through books much more quickly because I’ll be read aloud to the kids every morning on the way to school drop-offs and then again in the evenings after dinner. My goal is to make it through at least 8 books with them by the end of the year. We’ll see!)
Paperboy wasn’t anything like I thought it would be and I almost stopped reading it after we encountered some language right at the beginning of the book. It had some kind of unexpected and “heavy” things in it for a kids’ book and I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend it because of that (I’d recommend reading it first to see if you think it’d be a good fit for your kids or not).
However, it opened up the door for some good conversations on topics that I felt were worthwhile and I’m glad we ended up finishing the book. But Silas did say, “Mom, I can’t believe that a book with multiple bad words in it would have won the Newberry Award.” I agreed with him!
This book teetered very close to the line when it comes to self-help books (which I’m not reading this year) and I almost felt a little guilty reading it because of that.
If you are feeling drained and exhausted and burnt out, this book has some helpful ideas and suggestions for how to stop living life feeling so exhausted and start feeling more energy and zest for life.
I was so encouraged by reading it to realize how the changes I’ve made in the last few years have made such a difference in how I feel. I still have days where I’ll feel really tired and worn down, but that’s always a sign to slow down and make room for rest. And I now pace myself in a healthy way so that I make time for rest and restoration, even in the middle of really full weeks. This book was a good refresher on living a life of feeling refreshed! 🙂
This was my favorite book of the week — and I actually listened to it for free on Overdrive. It was well narrated and a great story on a historical topic that I wasn’t very familiar with (the opium trade).
If you are looking for a good, clean historical fiction book to read or listen to, I’d definitely recommend this one. I’m not surprised that it won the awards that it did!
I also watched this 20/20 show on the Thailand Cave Rescue and it was fascinating. I would highly recommend it if you haven’t watched another documentary on the story… it filled in a lot of details for me that I had wondered about and also just made me feel pretty in awe of those divers who rescued the boys!
When I Find Time to Read
People are always asking me how I find time to read. Honestly, it’s because I love to read, because I’ve chosen to prioritize it, because I don’t have a lot of other hobbies, and because I can’t not read. Also, when you love something, you usually can find ways to get creative to find time to fit it in — even if it’s in the little nooks and crannies of life.
I wrote a post on 3 ways to find more time to read — even when life is busy. And here are 7 more ways to find time to read.
Welcome to my weekly post I share a peek into our lives, talk about things I’m loving, share links to interesting articles or helpful ideas I’ve collected throughout the past week, and just talk about whatever is on my heart! ?
My sister and her family were driving from South Carolina to Kansas, so they stopped at our house to spend the night. The kids were SO excited and loved getting to have their cousins stay with us for the night.
Clayton is such a sweet boy and he and Kaitlynn hit it off!
We aren’t exactly sure when Quill’s birthday is, but Kaitlynn decided it was this past week and made a birthday hat for him. 🙂
I flew to Kansas with Silas on Tuesday afternoon and stayed until Thursday morning to celebrate my sister’s 40th birthday. You can see a peek into our visit here.
And then we drove to Arkansas this weekend for our annual vacation at the lake with all of my extended family.
My dad is an incredible water skiier!
Hanging out on the boat.
Kaitlynn just can’t get enough of Genevieve.
This was one of my most favorite pictures from the recent photo shoot.
I don’t know what kind of pain or hurt or heartache or sadness you are carrying today. I don’t know the loss you have suffered or the disappointments you’ve endured.
But today, I want to whisper this to you, “Don’t give up.”
As long as your heart is still beating, there is hope, there is a future, there are possibilities.
You are not alone. You are not forgotten. You are not a failure.
Keep going. Keep clinging to hope. Keep reaching out. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep believing that there is going to be a beautiful ending to your story… don’t give up.
P.S. If you would love for someone to pray for you today, I would be honored to do so for you by name. Leave a comment or send me an email.
2018 Goals Update
Personal Goals
1. Read 100 non-self-help books that will build me up/encourage me/inspire me/recharge me. (Fiction/story-driven/biographies/inspirational living books/devotionals.) See the list of 44 books I plan to read this year.
**Progress: 39 books read so far this year
2. Read through the entire Bible.
**Progress: I’m using the Robert Murray M’Cheyne plan and am all caught up— yay!
3. Write one handwritten note to someone every week.
**Progress: 30 notes written so far this year
4. Run 500 miles.
**Progress: 281 miles run so far
Marriage Goal
5. Go on an overnight trip with Jesse without the kids.Jesse and I went to NYC together in January.Family Goals
6. Read 10 books aloud with the kids.
**Progress: I’ve finished two books so far. (I have a plan for how we’re going to incorporate more reading into our schedule once school starts and we’re all driving in the car to school drop-offs every morning. For now, I’m just happy that we’re fitting in a little family reading a few times per week when we’re all in the car together driving to the pool or somewhere else. Something is better than nothing, right??)
7. Take the kids to South Africa.We took this trip in July. What a memorable experience!8. Go on a family road trip.
**Progress: We’ve been researching some options for this and are hoping to make this happen over Fall Break. Stay tuned!
Financial Goals
9. Save up to pay cash to finish off an office for me and workout room for Jesse and me in the basement in our new house.
**Progress: The workout room is DONE and the office is getting close to being done!
10. Replenish our Emergency Fund (we dipped into it to replace my car when it got totaled because of the carpet beetle infestation.)
Business Goals
11. Increase our gross income from the business by 8%.
12. Launch 5 new courses.**Progress: We launched 4 Weeks to a More Productive Life launched in January, Content Creation 101 in February, 4-Week Blog Coaching Program in March, Email List Setup 101 in March, Make Over Your Mornings LIVE in April, the Facebook Live Masterclass in May, and we launched Build Your List 101 in June!
I’m currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 grocery budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).
For live updates, be sure to follow my Instagram Stories. See all posts on my $70 Grocery Budget here.
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I was so excited when I went to Kroger and saw these packages of seasoned chicken marked down twice — not only did they have the $5 and $7 off coupons on them, but then they were marked down even more with woohoo stickers! So I bought two packages and stuck them in the freezer. We’ll either bake or grill these for quick dinners when we get back home from Arkansas!
Here’s what I bought at Kroger:
I also got these two coupons at checkout. I don’t recall ever getting Best Customer Coupons printed at checkout. I often get random coupons, but never ones for FREE items (the bottom coupon was for a free package of fudge cookies) and the first coupon was for $1 off any $4 purchase of fresh fruit.
Have you gotten these types of Best Customer Bonus coupons before? Anyone know why you would get them or what would trigger them??
Welcome to my weekly Slow Day post, inspired by Monica from The Homespun Heart. My Word for 2018 is Slow and, in the spirit of that word, I’m taking one day each week (Wednesday) off — I’ll be unplugged and offline and plan to move at a slower pace, take time to do things that refresh me, and just really focus on being present and savoring the moment.
Each week, I’ll be sharing a photographic peek into my Slow Day. Enjoy a little peek into our lives!
Silas and I flew to Kansas on Tuesday to be with all of my siblings, my parents, sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews (except for Zachary who is working as a counselor at The Wilds camp this summer) and celebrate my older sister’s 40th birthday.
We talked, ate all sorts of healthful foods (my sisters are a combination of gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and a whole bunch of other things free ?), got pedicures, went out for coffee, talked some more, played crazy games that my dad is famous for coming up with (including a cookie-baking contest with random unmarked gluten-free and vegan ingredients to see who could make up the best cookie recipe with what we were given — no measuring spoons/cups or consulting the internet allowed!), and laughed at the hilarious antics of our kids.
My family is BIG (there are 7 kids and lots of grandkids) and LOUD (we are always talking over one another and having many conversations going at once) and a little crazy (hello, I’m one of them so I’m sure that’s no surprise!), but we always enjoy the rare few times a year we all get to be together!
This time around, I got to say, “See you in a few days!” when I left to fly back to TN because we are ALL meeting up in Arkansas at our annual week at the lake trip starting tonight.
Here’s a little peek into how we spent Wednesday (my day off):
My mom took us to Bramble Cafe for breakfast. It was one of their last days to be open for breakfast this season.
I had heard so much about this cafe and it was fun to finally get to go — it’s owned by a family that Jesse’s family knows and is just down the street from where my parents live.
It’s beautiful and so fun — and I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you live near Wichita, KS!
I missed the pink memo, but at least I wore stripes! ?This is my mom and my older sister and youngest sister (we missed you, Gretchen!)
My mom and I split two different items and they were both yummy.
We came home and hung out with my sister’s kids for awhile.
They are growing up so much!
And then I made a big bowl of watermelon for dinner.
The kids found out that I’d never played Apples to Apples before, so they taught me how to.
They were all a little upset when I ended up winning! 🙂
Then, Cadence (my oldest niece) and I made a big salad for dinner.
We used some fresh veggies from their garden and it looked SO good!
My sister, Gretchen, came over and brought her three boys and my mom watched them so all of us four sisters could go get pedicures. (Aren’t her boys adorable! I can’t get enough of them!!)
Here are all my four sisters — I think the older we get, the more we look alike! When we were younger, people didn’t usually know that we were sisters!
One of the highlights of the trip was getting to meet my new niece, Genevieve. She’s absolutely beautiful! You can’t see the deep color of her blue eyes here because of the light, but they are just stunning!
Silas LOVED getting to take care of his little cousins!
These two were so cute together!
Dinner!
After dinner, I did two of my nieces’ makeup. They asked me if I could do their makeup and I was happy to oblige! 🙂
I mentioned above that we played some games — one was that we broke into 4 teams and had to see who could put together a US map puzzle the fastest. Our team ended up winning, which I was surprised by since there were only 3 of us!
And then we divided into four different teams and did the cookie-baking challenge. We were given unmarked bags of ingredients that Brigette (the birthday girl!) could eat with her current food restrictions/allergies.
After smelling and tasting them, our team decided that they included gluten-free flour, almond flour, oat flour, coconut oil, vanilla, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, and chocolate chips.
We used the oat flour, cocoa, vanilla, salt, baking power, baking soda, sugar, and flax seed mixed with water (egg substitute) + chocolate chips to make Double Chocolate Cookies.
We had to choose the time to bake them and the temperature to bake them at, too. Pictured above were the cookie creations from the 4 different teams ready to go into the oven.
Our cookies (the chocolate ones in the back) were SO good — thanks to the fact that I was teamed with my brother, Nathaniel, and sister-in-law, Ellen — both who are great bakers!
We also played some outdoor games and relays.
And had a vegan, gluten-free birthday cake for Brigette!
It was a good day and I’m so glad that I was able to be there for it!
