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Shared Jul 29, 2016 comment

The Before & After Hair Photos You’ve Been Begging to See

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 29, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So, here’s something you may or may not know about me: I’m naturally a very shy and reserved person.

I’ve learned how to fake being an extrovert and I’ve learned that I enjoy life a lot more when I don’t live in my safe little shell. However, even though I’m a blogger and have live video shows almost every day, there are lots of things I’m still incredibly awkward about sharing.

Case in point: when I posted about how much the NuMe Silhouette Straightener and Argan Oil had changed my hair you all begged and begged for me to post before and after pictures.

The very thought of taking before and after pictures was enough to terrify me. I mean, really, there are some things I’d rather not share with the world. Some things I’d rather that you never see.

The truth is, I’d like to pretend that I have my ducks more in a row than I do. I’d like for you to think that I don’t have bad hair days. I’d like for you to assume my hair really isn’t as much like straw as you could imagine that it is.

But since I’m working on being more authentic and honest and vulnerable, I figured it was high time I just step outside my comfort zone and take and post some Before and After pictures.

It’s scary for me to put this kind of stuff out on the internet… the place where you can’t really ever take back what you put out there.

But because I love you all, because so many of you begged, because I want to encourage others to step outside their comfort zones, and because I figured if I’m going to rave about a product then the pictures would speak volumes more than my words ever could, here you go…

I wasn’t kidding when I told you I was born with straw hair, was I? 🙂 {I did put on makeup, though, because I figured there should be some sort of limit to my over-sharing today. ;)}

For years, I made ponytails and buns and blobs and braids and curling my hair my go-to’s instead of wearing my hair straight because I just couldn’t figure out any way to prevent the straw look.

But all that changed thanks to the NuMe Silhouette Straightener and Argan Oil. Here’s the picture proof…

I am madly in love with this straightener and oil. Madly in love.

Because for the first time in my life, I love wearing my hair straight. I love how it looks. I love how it feels. And I love how easy it is to take care of.

How I Straighten My Hair

So many of you asked for step-by-step details on how I straighten my hair. I haven’t gotten brave enough to actually take pictures for a hair tutorial (maybe that’s the next thing I’ll try??), but I’ll give you a run-down on how I style my hair straight:

Wash hair with shampoo and conditioning cream. (I only wash my hair every 4-6 days. I use this conditioning cream. A little bit goes a long way. I leave it in for about 3-5 minutes and then rinse it out.)
Put about an 1/8 teaspoon of this on your hands and rub it around and then run your fingers through your wet hair.
Blow dry.
Put a few drops of Argan Oil on your hands and rub it around. Start from the underneath sections of your hair and run your fingers through your hair. Then smooth down the outer sections of your hair. (This prevents a greasy look.)
Section off the top of your hair with a clip. Straighten the bottom half in small sections with the NuMe Straightener. Let cool before running a brush through.
Then, take the clip out of the top half and straight the top half.
Spray with hair spray.

All of this from start to finish (including my shower and hair-washing) takes me about 25 to 30 minutes. On the 2nd and 3rd days when I don’t wash my hair, I just do a quick straighten of my hair with the straightener (it takes me about 4 minutes to run through all my hair).

On the 4th and 5th days, I usually add a little dry shampoo to my scalp and brush it out and then I will often wear my hair up in a blob or bun since my hair is a little greasy by then and has more volume so it will stay in a bun or blob better.

It’s SO easy to do this and I LOVE how it looks. You can see a lot more pictures of it styled straight in my videos here.

Shared Jul 29, 2016 comment

My $35 ALDI Shopping Trip (+ I forgot how much I loved ALDI!!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 29, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So, want to know the honest truth? I haven’t stepped foot in ALDI for over a year. In fact, it’s probably been closer to a year and a half.

Yes, I know! That’s pretty shocking considering I’ve been SUCH a raving fan of ALDI for so long.

Jesse took over the grocery shopping when we moved to TN, so he was the one who always went to ALDI. However, as you may have noticed if you follow me on SnapChat or Facebook Live, I’ve started doing the grocery shopping and cooking and menu-planning again.

{I’ll be sharing why we made this change on Monday; I can’t wait to tell you more about that! I’m also excited because this means I’ll be bringing back the weekly menu plans, grocery shopping trips, and more cooking posts again.}

So I was so excited to go to ALDI again on Tuesday evening. It sort of felt like I was home again! 😉

And I realized just how much I had missed shopping there and how many fond memories I have of shopping there and all the great deals we’ve gotten over the years. I feel like I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to ALDI for all the money that they’ve saved us and how they’ve allowed us to keep our grocery budget low.

Here are two things I was especially thrilled to find when I went to ALDI:

1. I was so impressed with their new Organic & Natural selections.

They’ve really upped their game when it comes to natural and organic products. I knew they had introduced a number of new organic and natural products, but I was really surprised at just how many new organic products they had!

I got Whole Wheat tortillas for $1.39 and 4 pounds of Pure Cane Sugar for just $2.59!!

2. I was completely blown away by how low their prices still are.

I know that I’ve sung the praises of ALDI’s low prices for forever, but I guess that you still have reverse sticker shock when you go in there! I mean, where else can you get eggs for $0.49 per dozen!!! (Yes, for real! I couldn’t believe that price, either!)

A few of the prices had gone up a little, but by and large, the prices were just as amazing as ever… and some were even lower than I remember!

What I Bought for $35 at ALDI

Crispy Oat cereal — $1.19

Honey Nut Oat cereal — $1.19

Cantaloupe x 3 — $0.99 each

Tortillas — $0.99

Whole Wheat Tortillas — $1.39

Refried Beans x 4 — $0.79 each

Iceberg lettuce — $0.89

Seedless watermelon — $2.99

1 lb. butter x 2 — $2.19

English muffins — $0.99

Plums x 4 — $0.25 each

Natural peanut butter — $1.49

4 lb. Pure Cane Sugar — $2.59

Brown Sugar — $1.29

Organic mixed greens — $1.49

Butter popcorn (a treat for the kids) — $1.69

Salsa — $1.89

Tortilla chips — $1.19

$32.77 + $2.38 tax = $35.15 total

Why you need to stop short-changing your sleep

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 28, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

For 15 days, we’re exploring the topic of making our health and well-being a priority as part of the 15 Days to a Healthier You series. You can read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here, Day 8 here, and Day 9 here.

For years, I ran myself ragged. I burned the candle at both ends. I thought that the best way to be more productive was to be as organized as possible, work as efficiently as possible, and get up really early.

Being organized, working efficiently, and getting up early can all be great things, but in my case, I forgot one very important truth: if I get up really early only to go throughout my day completely exhausted, I won’t be able to work anywhere near as efficiently and I won’t be able to stay at all as organized and focused.

Not only that, but not getting enough sleep for days and days and days on end is a surefire way to hurt your health and to probably also go through life feeling frazzled and irritable.

Today we’re going to talk about the importance of getting a great night’s sleep. I truly believe that this one of the keys to a better morning. When you wake up feeling refreshed, rested, and energetic, you’ve given yourself a huge head start for a fantastic day.

Ever since I first started blogging, I’ve known and preached the importance of good sleep. For years, it was something I really wanted to make happen and did try to make a priority, but between babies and toddlers and a business and life, it was hard for it to ever really consistently happen.

I love the quote that says, “If it’s important to you, you’ll find the time. If it’s not important to you, you’ll find an excuse.” This was true for me with sleep.

Even though I preached all about sleep and had amazing intentions to get good sleep, it was rare that I actually got a good night’s rest more than a few days in a row. And there were a number of periods of time where I ran on fumes for days on end and had to just keep pushing through in order to meet the deadlines and goals I had, follow through with my commitments, and still have time for my family.

I had bought into the lie that, “I had no other choice.” That I needed to say “yes” to these things in order to be a good businesswoman, a good friend, a strategic author, a good wife, a good mom.

In reality, I had brought almost all the stress, the to-do’s, and the tasks on myself. I had said “yes”, I had chosen to feel obligated, I had set those goals. I was the problem, but I was also the solution! I could choose to say “no”, I could choose to not feel obligated, and I could set fewer goals.

This Year of Rest has been bursting with lessons and a-ha moments. One of the greatest lessons for me has been that saying “no” to a bunch of things hasn’t ruined my life or my business. If anything, it’s made things so much better because I’m only doing a few things which means I can do those few things really, really well. And not just that, but I can also fully enjoy those few things instead of feeling stressed over what else I still have to do and what’s coming up right around the corner.

This breathing room in my life has giving me the space to start actually getting good sleep. Not just one good night’s rest here and there. No, it’s becoming very rare that I get less than six hours of sleep in a night and it’s becoming very normal for me to wake up before my alarm clock — something I basically never, ever did before.

2 Strategies for Better Sleep

If you’re struggling to get enough sleep at night, I want to challenge you to try these two strategies:

1. Learn Your Triggers

Are there specific things that are keeping you from getting a good night’s rest? Things that are either keeping you up at night or keeping you from going to bed at a decent hour or waking you up early in the morning?

Now obviously, those things might not be a thing; they might be a baby or a toddler who is waking up at night! I get that because that was my life for about six years. My nights were full of interruptions and crying babies needing to be fed.

But in that season, I also had other triggers: I was addicted to busyness and productivity. I felt worth from what I did. And I had bought into the lie of chasing after “more”.

So instead of getting up with the babies and then letting myself sleep in or take a nap to compensate, I got up early and worked through the baby’s naps. Because there was always so much to do… almost all of which I had put on myself.

As I’ve talked about before, I struggle with being a performer and a people-pleaser and this fed into how I short-changed my sleep.

I have been so challenged by Emily Freeman’s quote in Simply Tuesday: “When I’m performing for my own acceptance, burnout is always the result.”

If you’re feeling worn down and worn out, take a step back and examine if any of the exhaustion is a result of trying to earn someone else’s acceptance. Are you only saying “yes” to that opportunity because you want someone to like you? Are you only volunteering or sending that email or showing up for that event just so someone else will be impressed with you?

2. Track Your Sleep

One of the most helpful things I’ve done in the past two years is to start tracking my sleep. I always had a general idea of how much sleep I was getting, but actually tracking itreally opened up my eyes in big ways.

I started out by tracking my sleep with the Sleep Cycle App. This is an app that you download and run on your phone during the night. You choose a 30-minute window of time when you’d like to wake up and then it tracks your sleep patterns (based upon your movements) and wakes you up when it’s the most optimum time during that window.

The Sleep Cycle app also tracks your sleep and gives you a report each day on your sleep cycles and how deep and restful your sleep was. You can read more how it works here.

While I found this to be a really great start, I felt like the tracking wasn’t as accurate or in-depth as I wanted. Sometimes when it would say I got great sleep, I didn’t feel like I had.

So I started researching other options. Though I had resisted getting a fitness tracker for a long time as they felt like such a “fad”, I finally caved and bought myself a Jawbone UP3 at the beginning of this year. I’m SO glad that I did as it truly made such a difference for me.

Not only have I found myself much, much more motivated to be active and get in more steps, I’ve found that the sleep tracking has been incredibly enlightening.

For instance, I’ve learned that when I go to bed hungry, I don’t sleep as well. I’ve also learned that it takes me a lot longer to actually go to sleep than I realized. So I’ve made adjustments to my schedule so that I’m in bed for at least 7 1/2 hours in order to get close to 7+ good hours of sleep.

I’ve also determined that stress and certain other factors result in a lot lighter sleep. So I’ve worked on eliminating as many of those things from my life — or at least around bedtime! — so that I’ll sleep more restfully.

In not only making sleep a priority, but also in making deep sleep a priority, I’ve discovered that I have much better focus, I feel a lot calmer, I’m a lot less irritable, and I’m a lot happier! And all of those things definitely help make for better mornings!

5 Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Struggling to get more sleep? Here are 5 suggestions:

1. Go to bed earlier.

If you’re having a difficult time going to bed early, you can try the shock technique or the gradual technique. The shock technique involves getting up earlier a couple days in a row, until you’re so exhausted that you can’t wait to fall into bed earlier than usual. (This is actually why I did the get up early challenge first, so that I could force myself to get used to an earlier bed time.)

The gradual technique involves gradually teaching your body to adapt by choosing an earlier bedtime by 5 minutes each evening until you’ve reset your bedtime to what you want it to be. Once you’ve reset your bed time, try to go to bed at the same time each night.

Most importantly, learn how to go to bed when you’re tired. Don’t wait for your body to catch that second, third, or fourth wind.

2. Plan ahead for great sleep.

Start getting ready for bed at least an hour before you want to go to bed. Having an evening routine can really help you get in the mindset for going to bed.

Think about what helps you relax. Maybe it’s reading a book, taking a bath, or listening to music.

You can also prep your environment for a great night’s sleep. Here are just a few suggestions from my Say Goodbye to Survival Mode book:

Make sure your room is cool and dark.

Dim the lights early.

Have white noise in the background as you fall asleep.

Try using an eye mask or ear plugs to block out sight and sound.

Diffuse or apply lavender essential oils.

I personally love drinking Sleepy Time Tea as part of my evening routine and applying Badger Sleep Balm to my feet before bed.

3. Drink less caffeine.

I love my coffee, and I will not be giving it up any time soon. I do limit myself to two cups per day, and I try not to drink it after 3 p.m. each day.

If you’re struggling with falling asleep at night, limiting your caffeine intake might be something worth trying.

4. Turn off the electronics.

Turn off the electronics at least an hour before bed time. Taking e-mail off of my phone helped me so much. I used to instinctively check my e-mail right before bed and feel like I needed to deal with it right away, which always prevented me from winding down and relaxing because my brain wouldn’t shut down properly.

Now I try to shut down the computer after dinner and not turn it back on until the following day. This helps my mind stay calm so that I can wind down, relax, and wind down at night.

I’ve also found that when my mind is racing, it helps me so much to write down anything that’s keeping me awake. This is why I love brain dumping and planning out the following day before I go to bed each night. It makes for a much more peaceful night’s sleep, knowing everything is out of my brain and onto paper.

5. Give yourself grace.

Sometimes you don’t get a good night’s rest, and that’s okay. Choose to make the most of the day and try again tonight, even if last night didn’t go well!

Day 10 Project

1. Think through what your triggers are that are keeping you from getting a great night’s sleep. Are there things you could avoid, remove, or eliminate from your life in order to cut down on hindrances to a good night’s sleep?

2. Start tracking your sleep and see what you learn from it. I recommend tracking it for at least two weeks so you can notice trends and see what’s working and what’s not working.

Looking for some more practical help?

Read my post on How Getting More Rest Has Changed My Life.
Download Day 1 of Make Over Your Mornings (it’s FREE!) — my 14-day course to help you jumpstart a successful day.
Grab a copy of Rest Assured or The Abundant Mama’s Guide to Savoring Slow for inspiration to incorporate more rest into your life.
Sign up for the FREE 21-Day Go to Bed Early series from my friend, Beth.
Have young kids? Read my post on How to Get Up Early — Even If You Have Young Kids. And be sure to check out this post where I talk about some hard lessons I learned with balancing business & family life.
And finally, check out my post on How to Get Up Early — Even With a Crazy, Ever-Changing Schedule.

Shared Jul 26, 2016 comment

Set yourself up for a GREAT day — the night before!

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 26, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

For 15 days, we’re exploring the topic of making our health and well-being a priority as part of the 15 Days to a Healthier You series. You can read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here, and Day 8 here.

Do you struggle to get up and going every morning? Does your day start with you feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do, need to do, and feel you should do?

I truly believe that a successful day begins the night before. Setting yourself up for success before bed is an amazing way to not only have more peace in your day, but it’s a way to feel calmer and happier — and to have time for those things that matter most to you.

If you want to make the most of your days, you can’t just expect to jump out of bed without a plan and somehow have all of the pieces fall into place for a very productive day. No, a productive morning is usually the fruit of planning and preparation. And it begins the night before.

To change your morning, you need to first change your evening.

If you go to bed late and the house is a mess, the dishes are piled in the sink, you’re way behind on laundry, you don’t have food for breakfast or lunches the next day, and you don’t even know what appointments or events are scheduled for the next day, no wonder you wake up feeling frazzled, stressed, and behind!

If, on the other hand, you go to bed at a decent hour, your house is picked up, you have clothes laid out to wear, breakfast is in the crockpot, lunches are made, and backpacks and your purse and keys are by the door, you’ve given yourself a huge head start on a successful morning.

Instead of trying to get up at some too-early hour and cram in a crazy amount of things in the morning, focus on changing your before-bed routine first. You might find that this is the thing that transforms your morning much more than getting up early does.

In fact, if you prep well ahead of time in the evening, you just might be able to sleep in a little bit more in the mornings. (I bet all of you non-morning people just let out a collective shout of “Hallelujah!”)

How to Set Up a Successful Evening Routine

1. Determine Your Bedtime

What time do you need to get up in the morning by in order to be out the door in time or start your day off on the right foot? Write that time down and then count backward by 8-9 hours. Whatever time you land on is your new bedtime.

This is the time that you must be in your PJs, have everything finished for the night, and be in bed. No ifs, ands, or buts. I’m your new drill sergeant and you must do what I say, okay? 😉

Sticking with a consistent bedtime just might be your number one key to morning success. When you’re well rested, you have more energy, more clarity, and more productivity. Not to mention that you usually are less stressed, less irritable, and life just looks a lot rosier when your sleep tank is full.

2. Pick Your Top 5 Evening Must-Do’s

Once you have your bedtime determined, then it’s time to determine the five things that you are committing to do every evening before bed. I know you might want to come up with a list of 25 things that seem like they’d really be good to do, but let’s keep it simple and just pick the top five must-do’s.

To figure these out, start by listing off everything that comes to mind. Then, go through the list and star the most important priorities that will make a huge impact on your life.

Keep in mind that you can’t realistically do everything. {I know, I know, I wish I was superwoman! Sadly, she doesn’t exist!}

As you’re analyzing your list, look for what Charles Duhigg calls “keystone habits“. These are habits have a positive trickle down effect on all other areas. This could be something like going to bed earlier, or exercising before bed, or taking vitamins that give you more energy, or spending time with your husband.

Possible Evening Must-Do’s

Clothes Laid Out for the Morning

Kitchen Cleaned Up

Lunches Made For the Next Day

Breakfast in the Crockpot (Or cereal out and cereal bowls and spoons set out on the table.)

To-Do List Made for the Next Day

Quick 15-Minute House Clean-Up

Everything Together and Set By the Door That You Need For Tomorrow

Once you have figured out your Top 5 Must-Do’s, write them down on a piece of paper and put them in a conspicuous place. You could even print them off in a cute font, laminate or stick them in a page protector, put this on your fridge, and then use a dry erase marker to mark each item off as you accomplish it each evening.

3. Create Your Realistic Evening Routine

Think realistically how long it’s going to take for you to accomplish your Top 5 Must-Do’s and then work backward from your bedtime to figure out your Evening Routine start time. In most cases, your start time is going to be at least an hour before your bedtime. I’d add in some extra time, just to be on a safe side and to give yourself a cushion in case something comes up.

Write this start time down on your Evening Routine, set a timer or an alarm to go off to remind you when you’re supposed to start, and just do it. You can stick with just 5 simple things, or you can flesh your routine out a little more — like mine below.

My Current Evening Routine

6:30 p.m. — Clean up the kitchen, plan tomorrow’s list, refill water bottles
7:30 p.m. — Snuggle, talk, and hang out with kids
8:00 p.m. — Kids in bed, make tea
8:10 p.m. — Drink tea & plan my FB Live and Periscope shows for the morning
8:30 p.m. — Take my vitamins, wash my face, lay out my clothes for the morning
8:45 p.m. — Bath & read or time with Jesse (some nights he wants to stay up and work on a project or read, some nights we hang out together and talk or watch something)
9:15 p.m. — Lights out

4. Commit to stick with it for 21 days.

When you stick with something for three weeks, it’s much more likely that it will become habit. It becomes a part of your life and something you don’t even have to think about!

At the end of three weeks, you can tweak your evening routine and even add a few more things, if you’re sure you’re up to it. If you miss a few days or have a few hiccups along the way, don’t be discouraged, just pick back up where you left off the next day.

If you need some ideas of ways to set up your evenings for success, here are three practical ideas that have made such a big difference in my own life. These are not hard or difficult or time-consuming, but by doing these three things almost every single night before bed, I set myself up for success every morning when I get up.

1. Clean Up the Kitchen

Waking up to a clean kitchen does wonders for my spirit. I don’t know what it is, but when my kitchen is clean, it feels like my whole house is clean!

Jesse and I usually work together to clean up the kitchen at night before we head to bed. Not only does this mean that we don’t wake up to dishes with food crusted on them that then we have to try scrape off, but it also makes me feel like I have a fresh head start on the day.

A few tips: I’ve found that if I make sure the kitchen is completely clean after breakfast and after dinner (here’s our simple system for keeping the kitchen clean), it makes it so much easier to stay on top of the kitchen. It seems like letting it go for more than two meals makes for an almost insurmountable job!

Also, if you have a dishwasher, use it. And if you don’t, maybe consider simple meals and paper plates as often as possible?

2. Pick Out Tomorrow’s Outfit

When I dress in an outfit that makes me feel great, I tend to feel happier, more energetic, and more productive. Taking a few minutes each night to pick out an outfit — down to shoes and jewelry — not only saves me time in the morning, but it makes it so much easier to actually get dressed in something I love.

A few tips: I found that keeping my closet simplified (here’s my system for keeping my closet pared down) and only owning what I love, makes it much easier to put together outfits that I feel and look great in.

I also have found it so valuable to wear things that are my type and style (here’s the course that changed my approach to how I dress).

3. Plan a Time-Blocked To Do List

Every night before bed, I write out a prioritized to-do list. It’s simple and it only takes a few minutes, but it has revolutionized my productivity, helps me sleep better, and allows me to go to bed feeling peaceful and calm.

I check my Google calendar to see what projects and activities are already planned for the next day and then I write down a to do list with time blocks for each item on the list. (See my system for creating this to do list here.)

I aim to focus on getting the hardest tasks done first because I’ve found that when I “eat my frogs” early in the day, I have a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment to carry with me the rest of the day.

Day 9 Project

1. Determine a bedtime. Follow the steps above to figure out what a good bedtime is for you and commit to go to bed at that time every single evening for the next three weeks.

2. In addition, pick your top 5 Evening Must Do’s, write them down, and commit to following them for the next three weeks.

3. Leave a comment telling us what bedtime you’re committing to stick with and what your you determined were your Top 5 Evening Must Do’s.

More Helpful Resources:

Read my post on How to Get More Sleep and How Getting More Rest Has Changed My Life.
Download Day 1 of Make Over Your Mornings (it’s FREE!) — my 14-day course to help you jumpstart a successful day.
Grab a copy of Rest Assured or The Abundant Mama’s Guide to Savoring Slow for inspiration to incorporate more rest into your life.
Sign up for the FREE 21-Day Go to Bed Early series from my friend, Beth.
If you’re feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, check out the book, The Adrenal Reset Diet, for some practical ideas. (Read my full review and thoughts on this book here.)

Shared Jul 26, 2016 comment

Gretchen’s $7.08 CVS Shopping Trip

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 26, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

CVS Shopping Trip

Transaction #1

2 Gatorade Drinks – $1 each (Buy 2, Get $2 ECBs)

1 Scope Mouthwash – $4.99 (Buy 1, Get $4 ECBs)
Used $0.50/1 printable

Total after coupon: $6.49, Received $6 ECBs

Transaction #2

2 L’Oreal Shampoo/Conditioner – $4 each (Buy 2, Get $6 ECBs)
Used 2 $1/1 printable
And used $1 Ibotta rebate

1 Clear Care Contact Solution – $8.59
Used $5/1 printable
And used $2/1 CVS store coupon from in-store machine

And used $6 ECBs from Transaction #1

Total after coupons, rebate and ECBs: $0.59, Received $4 ECBs

Total for both transactions before coupons, ECBs and rebate: $23.58

Total for both transactions after coupons, ECBs and rebate: $7.08 and $4 ECBs leftover

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Click here to sign up!

Shared Jul 25, 2016 comment

This Week’s Menu Plan (We got a GRILL + how we’re doing lunches!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 25, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We are SO excited because we finally got a GRILL!!! We’ve been talking about buying one and setting aside money for one for quite some time, so it was a really happy day when we got it this week!

And it’s just in time because the hot, hot days of summer are here and the last thing I want to do is heat up the kitchen by turning on the oven every day. So this week, there is a LOT of grilled foods on the menu.

I planned our menu based upon the great markdown deals I’ve gotten at the store recently. Since I bought 7 dozen eggs at Kroger on Saturday, you’ll see lots of items with eggs in them on the menu. Plus, I got a great deal on kale, pineapple, and blueberries… so those are superstars on the menu, too! 🙂

Breakfasts

Breakfasts are a big deal at our house. Not necessarily because of what we eat, but because this is the one meal we’ve committed to eat together around the table pretty much every single day. We often don’t all eat lunch at the same time and sometimes dinners are a quick affair — especially if the girls have swim team or skating. But breakfast, it’s a given. We eat, we talk, we read together, we pray together, and we linger around the table. It’s been a beautiful addition to our schedule + a great way to start the day!

French Toast Bake x 2 (made this weekend)

Blueberry Muffins (made this weekend), Eggs

Scrambled Eggs, Fruit x 2

Oatmeal x 2

Lunches & Snacks

During the summer, we’ve been doing Make Your Own lunches. I have some assortment of the following items on hand and the kids and Jesse and I are responsible for choosing from the list of items to make our own lunches. It’s worked well this summer — especially because the kids are getting better and better at cleaning up after themselves, too!

Make your own:

PB&J

scrambled eggs

hard-boiled eggs

leftovers

fruit

veggies

refried beans & cheese

chips & salsa

yogurt

smoothies

Kale Chips

Dinners

Jesse and I splitting up the cooking responsibilities for dinner this week. He’s in charge of everything that involves the grill. I’m in charge of everything else.

Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pineapple, Rice, Kale Chips

Sausage/Peppers/Onions/Summer Squash Skillet

Smoked Salmon, Fruit, Broccoli, Rice

Breakfast for Dinner: Waffles, Scrambled Eggs, Berries

Chicken/Broccoli/Cheese over Rice

Grilled Pizza, Fruit, Campfire Cones

Dinner out

Get rid of the junk so you can experience more joy!

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 25, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I was blessed to grow up in a very clutter-free home. My mom taught us the beauty and practicality of keeping our kitchen countertops cleaned off, she was the one who first inspired me to have annual Clear Out the Clutter Challenges, and she encouraged me to keep life simple so I could focus on the most important things.

Inspired by her example, our family has chosen to live a semi-minimalist lifestyle. We don’t have a lot of stuff, we don’t have a lot of toys, and some people would probably come to our house and think it’s entirely too empty!

But we love our {mostly} uncluttered house. Here’s why:

1. It simplifies things because I have less to clean up. The less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to take care of.

2. It makes things easier to find. When you don’t have as much stuff, it’s easier to put things away.

3. It provides breathing room. I love wide open spaces — they allow my soul to breathe and make life feel calmer.

4. It saves money. The less you buy, the more you usually save. Plus, the less you have, the less you have to pay to maintain.

Last year, I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and this book really challenged me. Yes, there was some weird stuff in it that I didn’t agree with, but there was also so much in it that changed my perspective.

I love what she said in one chapter, “We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.”

That kind of turns things on its head, doesn’t it? So much of the time, we think in terms of what we shouldn’t have, what we need to get rid of, or what kinds of boundaries we should set on clutter.

I love her take on focusing less on what we should get rid of and spending our energy on defining what we want to keep.

5 Questions I Ask Myself About Clutter

For a long time, my approach to decluttering has been to ask myself the following 5 questions:

1. Do I Need This Item?

Need is the keyword here. If you could live without the item, then you likely don’t.

I’m not saying you can only have two outfits and one pair of shoes, but the exercise of objectively considering how much of the stuff you have is something you need for survival can help change your perspective on your stuff.

2. Do I Regularly Use This Item?

If you only use something once every six months, get rid of it. Christmas decorations are exempt, but if you have a food dehydrator lurking in a basement corner that you’ve only used once in the last ten years, you either need to pull it out and start using it or find a better home for it — preferably someone else’s home.

3. Do I Like This Item?

Sometimes, it is easy to keep clutter just because we always have. It becomes a part of our home without us ever examining whether it is a useful part or something we like and use. If it’s doing nothing for you and you don’t even like it in the first place, pitch it!

4. Is This Item Taking Up Space I Don’t Have?

Many people feel like they need a bigger home or apartment for all their stuff, but most people just need less stuff. When my husband and I first got married, we spent the first six months living in a one-bedroom apartment with one closet.

Where would we put the vacuum, or the suitcase? We made use of all our available room, from under the bed to under the bathroom sink, and learned an invaluable lesson: the less space you have, the less stuff you realize that you need.

5. Could I Bless Someone Else With This Item?

One of my favorite ways to “dispose” of items I no longer love, need or use is to share them with someone who will! Not only do I get the item off my hands, but I bless someone else in the process — and likely save them money, too!

Now, I am not advocating that you go dump of ten bags of junk on your friend’s doorstep, but if you know your friend could use some diapers and you have half a box that your son outgrew, stop letting them take up space in the nursery and ask your friend if she’d like them!

“Keep things because you love them, not just because.”

I think these questions above are still great questions to ask. However, after reading Marie Kondo’s book, I’ve shifted how I think about everything in my life. I started focusing primarily on asking myself, “Does this spark joy? Or am I just keeping this item because I haven’t come up with a good enough reason to get rid of it?”

I’ve been noticing how much stuff I hang onto because I think I should.

I should read that book. We should review that manners chart. I should teach my kids that. I should make that craft kit. And on and on it goes.

But none of these shoulds are bringing me joy. Instead, they are making me feel like I’m not doing enough.

You all know well how much I love to read. Reading and books have changed my life. So I always felt like having lots of books was a good thing. Books are good, right?

Then I read this quote from Marie Kondo’s book: “You are going to read very few of your books again. Keep only those books that will make you happy just to see them on your shelves. Having fewer books actually increases the impact of the information I read.”

It struck me right in between the eyes. I’ve been hanging onto these books because I felt like it was the “right” thing to do. They were good books, after all. Books I hoped to read someday. Books that could potentially impact my life.

But they weren’t bringing me joy.

Having a massive stack of books I hoped to read didn’t make me feel energized and happy. It taunted me and made me feel like I was behind and not reading enough.

So guess what I did? I immediately pared down my massive stack of I-want-to-read-right-now books next to my bed and soon after, I went through every single book on our bookshelves and asked myself, “Does this spark joy?”

I discovered all sorts of books I’d been hanging onto merely because I had felt like I really should read it because a number of other people had raved about it and told me I should, not because I personally really wanted to read it.

It was SO freeing for me to get rid of stacks of books and pare down to only those few shelves of books that really sparked joy for me. Since then, I’ve stuck with only reading 3-4 books at a time and haven’t allowed myself to make piles of books I want to read next.

I’ve also been a LOT more particular about what books I will order or keep from those that are sent to me (because I’m a blogger and often mention or review books, I’ve gotten on the lists of many publishing houses… which means that I end up getting a lot of unsolicited boxes of new releases in my mailbox every month!).

This has eliminated a lot of stress and guilt from my life — and it’s allowed me to enjoy the books I do read quite a bit more. I can just savor them without feeling like I need to speed-read through them to get to the next book.

Practical Ideas to Cut Down on Clutter

1. Have Ongoing Garage Sale/Goodwill Boxes

We have a designated spot in our home for Goodwill boxes. In our current home, this is in the garage. As I find things we no longer need or use (or unsolicited items we aren’t interested in arrive in the mail from companies hoping for a review), I put them in the Goodwill box. When one box is full, I fill up another. Once we have 2-3 boxes filled, we make a trip to Goodwill to drop them off.

Instead of moving an item around from one room to the next when we aren’t using it anymore, I pitch it in the Goodwill boxes and it’s out of our way and ready to be dropped off once enough stuff is collected.

(You could also set up a system to sell your clutter — something I did for a long time when money was tight.)

2. Annual Clutter Elimination

Once or twice a year, I go through my home from top to bottom and am ruthless about eliminating clutter. Every nook and cranny is cleaned out and every item is evaluated.

By doing this on a regular basis, no area of our home ever becomes unmanageable. Rooms or closets might be messy or unkempt at times, but they never get so overwhelming that I can’t deal with them.

3. The No-Pile Rule

Except for my husband’s dresser and our laundry basket, we try to strictly adhere to a no-pile rule. I’ve found that a small pile quickly grows–without any effort. So if you don’t start a pile in the first place, you can avoid a lot of disorganization.

4. In the Door, In Its Place

Instead of piles of paper around from place to place until you have time to deal with them, take care of them immediately. When the mail or other papers come into our home, I go through it right then and there and throw out everything that we don’t have to keep.

Bills go on my husband’s desk, magazines go in my suitcase to take on my next trip, and junk mail goes in the trash. Within just a few minutes, the mail is completely dealt with!

5. Avoid Clutter-Collecting Furniture

I’ve found my utilitarian nature helps avoid heaps of clutter. How? Because we don’t have a lot of furniture that tends to be clutter hot-spots for others. I’ve found that when there’s no place to collect piles, you are much less apt to make them.

6. Develop More Contentment

When you learn that stuff doesn’t buy happiness, your life suddenly becomes much richer. As I wrote about in this piece on contentment (stop right now and go read this post, if you haven’t already!), when we were first married and our budget was so tight, I quickly learned that contentment is a choice.

You can choose to be contentment — whether you are in the middle of a feast or a famine. Why? Because contentment isn’t about what model of car you drive, how big your house is, what brands of clothes you wear, what kinds of foods you eat, or how much money you make.

Contentment is first and foremost about your heart. It’s an attitude you can get up and choose to have (or not have) every single day.

Day 8 Project

Get a copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and read it as soon as possible. It’s a pretty quick read and well worth it. {I disagreed with a lot of this book, but also found it very valuable. Read my 4-part review: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Don’t have time to read? Listen to the audiobook!}
What areas in your home need to be decluttered? Make a plan for tackling these in the next week.
Are you hanging onto things because you think you should? Start considering whether what you own really sparks joy for you. If it doesn’t, guiltlessly get rid of it so you can keep only what brings you joy!

More Helpful Resources:

Sign up for Kathi Lipp’s Kickstart to Clutter-Free: 500 Things in 14 Days challenge.
Read my post on 3 Ways to Turn Your Clutter Into Cash, How to Eliminate 99% Of the Paper Piles in Your Home, and why Being Organized is About More Than a Clean House.
Need some extra motivation to declutter? Read 21 Surprising Stats on How Much Clutter We Actually Have.
Overloaded with clutter? Here are 5 Simple Ways to Cut Down on Toy Clutter and also How I Keep My Kitchen Countertops Cleaned Off.
Finally, if you are struggling with contentment, read my post on 16 Ways to Become More Content and 6 Things That Will Help You Have a More Positive Attitude.

Shared Jul 24, 2016 comment

5 Things I’m Loving This Week (Amazing grocery markdowns, Snapchat, + more!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 24, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

1. Great Markdowns at the Grocery Store

I’ve been finding all sorts of great markdowns at Kroger recently! For instance, I ran in yesterday and found the eggs we usually buy for $1.49 per dozen!! There were about 20 dozen marked down, but they expire in a week and I don’t like to use eggs much longer than 2 weeks after their expiration date, so I only bought 7 dozen.

I also found blueberries for $0.99, pineapple for $0.99, kale for $1.49, and peppers — 4 for $0.99!! Yay for markdowns and Kroger sales!

2. Homemade Chai Lattes

I’ve been making myself homemade Chai Lattes recently as a treat. I don’t really have a recipe that I use, I just steep Chai, warm and froth almond milk, and then pour the frothed milk over the tea. I add in a little Coconut Sugar. So, so simple and yummy!

3. A Tea Party With My Kids

Last week, Kaitlynn came and asked, “Mom, will you have a tea party with us?”

Jesse was gone with Kathrynne at swimming. It was my afternoon work time. I felt the pressure of needing to get a few projects done so I could wrap things up and be done by dinner.

But was finishing up my projects really more important than a tea party with my kids? No, decidedly no.

So I put the computer away and for 15 minutes we sat on the floor, drank tea, talked about our day, and laughed as we tried to use British accents. (“Would you like a spot of tea??”) It was beautiful, fun, and soul-filling. And those 15 minutes were just the break I needed and I came back to my projects with fresh enthusiasm and ended up finishing early!

There will always be another to do, another project, another task. But the days of tea parties with my kids won’t last forever. People always trump productivity. Every. Single. Time.

4. Snapchat (Yes, For Real!)

Okay, truthfully, I didn’t think I’d like SnapChat. I kept hearing smart business people talk about it and friends rave about it, but I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was.

I decided to sign up and give it a short-term shot to see if I felt like there was potential there for using it in a way to inspire or encourage others and/or connect with you all better. Well, and also, I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. 🙂

At first, I didn’t think I’d like it at all. But I stuck with it for a few more days and started to like it more and more.

It’s SO easy to upload a snap and I love that it’s real-time. So often, I’ll be somewhere and wish I had time to take a picture or a video to share with others, but I only have 30 seconds and don’t have time to capture a great photo for my blog or Instagram (because I try to at least put forth effort to get decent lighting for those and sometimes that takes me a few tries to get the right shot!).

SnapChat is perfect for these kinds of posts. Plus, it’s a fun way to give readers/followers a behind-the-scenes look at our family life, daily adventures, and business.

If you aren’t following me on SnapChat yet, I’m crystal.paine on there. And I welcome suggestions on what kinds of snaps you’d like to see from me. Leave a comment and let me know!

5. Audiobooks

I mentioned this earlier in my books read post, but I have to mention it again here. Because I’m SO in love with audiobooks.

I don’t know why it took me so long to get on the audiobook bandwagon. I guess maybe I just was making it too hard or I was thinking that since I’m a visual learner, listening to books wouldn’t work well for me.

Inspired by my Facebook Live viewers, though, I looked into our library’s free audiobook programs and I’m thrilled that I did. Because not only does our library offer an amazing collection of audiobooks on their app, they are all FREE!

They don’t offer every single book in existence, but the collection on our library’s two apps (OneClickDigital and OverDrive) is quite extensive — enough to keep me supplied with good audiobooks for a long, long time!

I’ve found that the best audiobooks for me to listen to are ones where the audiobook reader is very engaging and where the book is not a book where I’d want to underline and catch every single word. I’m also finding that it’s a great way to get through long books that might feel overwhelming or intimidating to read (for instance, I put off reading Unbroken for forever, but I’m over halfway through listening to it — and I just started it about a week ago!).

I’ve been listening to audiobooks while cooking, cleaning, and while doing my evening routine before bed. I’ve found that I have at least an hour to two hours every day when my hands are busy but my mind is free that I can turn on an audiobook and enjoy it while doing activities I’d already be doing anyway.

I listened to Big Magic two weeks ago, just finished Unbroken yesterday (SOO good!), and then started All the Light We Cannot See. At this rate, I think I may be able to get through one entire audiobook every single week — which I’m super excited about since that means I’ll be able to get through a lot more books!

What are YOU loving this week? Tell us in the comments!

Shared Jul 23, 2016 comment

5 Lessons After Becoming Debt Free

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 23, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Kelly of Kelly Cox At Home

The culture says that debt-free living is not possible. I absolutely disagree. Yes, the goal to live free from debt takes work, is not the easiest path… but it IS worth it.

My husband and I are debt free! This didn’t come easily, but our diligent efforts, faith, and dedication have paid off.

Over the years, we have learned valuable lessons about being debt free… today, I’m sharing 5 of those lessons with you!

1. Being debt free allows us to give more.

Since we have no debt, my husband and I have been able to give more. God has led us to give in several areas and we feel blessed to be able to do so.

2. Being debt free lets us make ‘Plan A Decisions’.

Since we don’t have debt, we are able to make, what we call, “Plan A Decisions.” We are able to decide what is best for our family without our finances and debt being an issue.

For example, since the beginning of our marriage, we felt strongly that I should stay home full time when children came along. We created a budget to be sure that was possible and stuck to those parameters.

We’ve been led to adopt and when we get the call that will make us instant parents, I will be able to stay home with our child full time. Since we worked hard to avoid debt, we are able to live on my husband’s salary.

Plan A is a blessing. We felt debt-free living was both scriptural and important to pull off this goal.

3. Being debt free means money talks are less painful.

As budgeters, we set up how we plan to spend our money in the form of a budget. This has been helpful when it comes to money talks.

Without debt, it is easier to figure out if we are able to afford something or not.

4. Being debt free affords us more wiggle room.

We have wiggle room in our budget. In other words, when we budget for the month, our money is dedicated first toward tithe, then bills and savings.

Since we’ve eliminated debt, we’ve got a little more wiggle room to buy things and to give more to others.

5. Being debt free fueled my blog.

I blog about debt-free living and budgeting because I’m passionate about these topics. This lifestyle is attainable despite what the culture teaches. I’m excited to be able to share via this crazy blog journey!

Debt-free living rocks! We are proof that it’s possible. My husband and I are not from wealthy families and do not have trust funds.

Instead we worked hard, believed the scriptures about money, and have been blessed to see the fruits of our labor.

Bottom line, debt-free living is possible!

Kelly is a Christ follower, blessed wife, mom to be and a lover of all things home. She blogs over at Kelly Cox At Home about her journey at home and passion for debt-free living. She hopes to encourage others in that goal, while sharing tips on how to manage and enjoy all things that make up HOME!

Photo Credit: Cafe Credit via Flickr, under the Creative Commons License

Shared Jul 22, 2016 comment

Gretchen’s $55 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 22, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Dillons

2 pkg (16 oz each) Shredded Cheese – $2.99 each, used $0.25 Ibotta rebate – $2.86 each after rebate

1 pkg Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – $6.99, used $1.45/1 e-coupon – $5.54 after coupon

1 pkg Kroger Real Sugar Cola – $2.50, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon

2 pkgs Goldfish – $1.99 each, used 2 $1/1 e-coupon – $0.99 each after coupon

2 pkg Cottage Cheese – $1.25 each

2 pkg Egg Noodles – Marked down to $0.89 each

1 Chuck Pot Roast – Marked down to $5.95

2.77 lbs Bananas – $1.63

1 pkg Fresh Salad – Marked down to $1.49

1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99

1 bag Squash – Marked down to $0.99

Total after coupons and rebate: $28.57

Aldi

1 loaf Bread – $0.99

2 pkg Strawberries – $1.29 each

2 pkg Blueberries – $0.99 each

1 Applesauce – $1.89

1 bag Frozen Broccoli – $1.19

1 pkg Moo Tubes – $1.79

4 Peaches – $0.29 each

1 Honey Nut Oats – $1.19

1 pkg Butter – $2.40

1 can Tuna – $0.65

1 pkg Carrots – $0.99, Used $0.25 Checkout 51 rebate – $0.74 after rebate

1 pkg Celery – $1.29

1 Frosted Flakes – $1.29

1 lb Ground Turkey – $1.89

1 Frozen Orange Juice – $1.19

1 gallon Milk – $1.79

1 pkg Chicken Drumsticks – $2.47

Total after rebate: $26.48

Total for both stores: $55.05

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfast

Cereal x 3

Toast, Eggs, Spinach x 3

Waffles, Fruit, Orange Juice

Lunches

Tuna Sandwiches, Fruit

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Carrots Sticks

Cheese, Crackers, Veggies

Cheese Quesadillas, Fruit Salad

Tossed Salad, Cottage Cheese

Leftovers x 2

Dinners

Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Steamed Peas, Biscuits

Chicken & Noodles, Fruit Salad

Roast, Potatoes, Carrots

Baked Ziti, Amish White Bread, Tossed Salad

French Toast, Eggs, Orange Juice

Apple Turkey Picadillo, Steamed Broccoli

Dinner with family

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Click here to download!

Shared Jul 21, 2016 comment

Legacy Box Reviews: My Honest Review

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 21, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Thinking of trying out Legacybox? Here is my completely honest Legacybox review of how this company works and what the pros and cons are. {Sponsored by Legacybox. All opinions are my own.}

Looking for other honest reviews? You might be interested in my Stitch Fix review, thredUP review, Datebox review, and Rocksbox review!

going through photos to send to Legacybox

Honest Legacybox Reviews

Legacybox is a company dedicated to helping you preserve any format of outdated memories in a digital format. They can preserve many different kinds of media — photos, VHS tapes, DVDs, even Super 8 film!

I recently had the opportunity to try out their services and share my honest thoughts about the process. If you have been thinking of using Legacybox, I hope this honest review is helpful to you.

Note: After I posted this, many people have left comments stating that Legacybox lost their photos or VHS tapes that they sent in. Though that wasn’t my experience and they have updated their tracking to be more reliable in recent years, I want to keep this an honest Legacybox review. So I definitely think it’s important that you know that this is something that has happened multiple times. Read the comments for honest experiences others have had with Legacybox that were not positive like mine was.

Why this Legacy Box Review took so long to write

It usually takes me 2-4 hours to write a lengthy content post.

That might sound like a really long time for a 1500+-word post, but when you add in the time to think through the outline, dig up links and resources to use in the post, take pictures for the post, tweak sections after you’ve written it to tighten things up, and get everything formatted correctly, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that great posts just require quite a bit of time to get from idea to published post.

Occasionally, a post that requires extra research or photos or thought will take me over 4 hours. But that is very rare.

I wanted to give you some context for what I’m about to say so that you’d understand how crazy and insane it is… and you’d know that I don’t take reviews lightly. Or, maybe I just need to get a better system for organizing my photos and other memorabilia. {No, on second thought, let’s stick with the I don’t take reviews lightly excuse. :)}

So, are you ready for this?

Writing this post took me 15+ entire HOURS.

Yes, I’m not kidding you. I really did say FIFTEEN. Count ’em. FIFTEEN HOURS.

And I may have wondered if I up and lost my ever-lovin’ mind when I was in the middle of those hours. But I’m here to tell you that I survived and I’m here to say I hope you enjoy this post. 🙂

To be clear, it wasn’t necessarily the writing of the post that took all of that time… though it definitely did take some time and effort to research Legacybox, take pictures for the post, and type out everything I wanted to say about my experience.

{Silas with me at my sister’s wedding. I’m not sure what’s going on with my hair there. I asked for an updo from the hairstylist who did hair at the wedding and she gave me some sort of updo for sure! But I had to share this picture because Silas was so teeny-tiny and it melts my heart!}

Going Through All Of Our Photos

What took me forever and a day was that part of writing this post involved going through 4 TUBS of pictures and letters and memorabilia from 34 years of my life and then deciding which items I wanted to send off to Legacybox to digitally preserve.

People, that’s like trying to decide which kids are your favorite. It’s near impossible!

And not only did I have to decide on which pictures and videos I wanted to have preserved, but I had to look through all of the photos and letters and memorabilia in order to make those crazy tough decisions.

Being the highly-distractible person that I am, this was no small task. Because pretty much every photo and letter and piece of paper in those tubs holds special memories for me.

kids going through photos for Legacy box

When the Legacybox Kit arrived in the mail a few weeks ago, I naively thought I could go through the memorabilia tubs in about an hour. Jesse pulled them out of the attic and I opened the lid of one and started in.

{My family — rocking our matching, homemade dresses that my mom sewed for us. This was when there were only 5 kids!}

It Took WAY Longer Than I Thought It Would!

Four hours later, our entire bedroom was strewn with piles of papers and photos and photo books… even a little baggie of hair from Kaitlynn’s first hair cut.

It looked like a disaster, but clutter-hating me didn’t really even seem to notice because there I sat, completely engrossed in reading letters Jesse and I had written to each other before we were married when he was away at college in Virginia. I kept finding another letter or another photo or another piece of our history that I needed to share with Jesse.

Pretty soon, he was up there next to me and we were reminiscing on so many different memories and special times from our past.

All of a sudden, half the day had past and I realized, “Oh my goodness! I’ve not even gotten through two tubs yet! I still have two more to go and I don’t have a CLUE how I’m going to narrow down the photos I want digitally preserved!!”

{Be still my heart! That’s Kathrynne and Kaitlynn in my sister’s wedding.}

I’m So Glad I Went to All That Work, Though!

It took me two more afternoons to get through the rest of the tubs and then two more hours to go through the photos I’d narrowed things down to. I felt like I had just run a marathon when I finally shipped off the Legacybox. But it felt SO good!

I was thrilled with the finished product and getting all of these really special pictures and videos digitally preserved — not only for my own sake, but so I can share them with my kids and their kids and maybe even my great-grandkids someday!

How Legacy Box Works

If you’re interested in trying it out, Legacybox is a company dedicated to helping you preserve any format of outdated memories in a digital format. They can digitize many different kinds of media — photos, VHS tapes, DVDs, even Super 8 film and more!

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up to get a kit in the mail. Depending upon how many memories you want to preserve, you can choose the kit that is best for you. They offer four different kit options.

2. Legacybox will send you a kit that includes a welcome guide, a pre-paid FedEx shipping label, individual item barcodes, a crush proof box, and a personal concierge so you can talk to an expert any time if you have questions while you’re collecting items for your box.

3. Fill up your box with your items you want preserved. They can digitally preserve almost everything — tapes, film, photos, negatives, or audio. fill it with any formats in your collection, then send it back in the box it came in with the pre-paid label.

Note: One thing that I missed somehow was that you are supposed to save the outer box that the Legacybox comes in to stick the Legacybox in and mail back. I almost didn’t catch this before I had tossed that box and it would have been bad because the Legacybox fits perfectly into that box and that’s how it guarantees that your special items aren’t crushed in the shipment.

4. After several weeks, you’ll receive your originals back along with your memories converted into a preferred digitized format (choose from watchable DVDs, thumb drive, or digital download link). Plus, you get to keep the Legacybox for storage. Barcoding with online order tracking ensures your memories stay safe throughout the whole process.

{My dad’s parents meeting Kathrynne for the first time — their first great grandchild. They were SO excited to finally have a great grandchild as they’d been hoping and waiting to have one for a long time. My grandma didn’t live much longer after this and my grandpa is no longer alive, either, so this is a very special photo for me.}

{Our family Christmas card a few years back. Oh, the kids look so little there!}

Pro Legacy Box Reviews

You never have to leave your house! If the thought of finding a local place (or a techie friend) to do this for you feels a little daunting, they save you having to worry about making phone calls or online research to find a company to preserve your memories.

This would make a cool and unique gift idea. I am thinking it would be fun to give to a relative or friend who had a lot of memories to preserve or for someone who had lost a loved one.

It’s so simple… well, not the part of going through all the memories and photos! 😉 But the part of actually sending things off to Legacybox? It’s a cinch! You just put your items in baggies with identification stickers on them, pop them in the Legacybox kit, put it back in the mailer box it came from, attach the pre-paid label, and drop it off at a FedEx store. Boom, done.

Con Legacybox Reviews

You could do it yourself. While some of the older VHS, film, and audio might be hard to professionally preserve yourself, other things — like photos — would be fairly simple to scan and preserve onto a DVD or thumb drive.

It’s expensive. $75 to $500 for preserving your memories is a lot of money. But it’s also one of those things that could be a priceless sort of investment. Many of the photos and VHS tapes I dug up were ones I would never want to lose… and ones I want to share with our kids and grandkids.

Note: After I posted this, many people have left comments stating that Legacybox lost their photos or VHS tapes that they sent in. Though that wasn’t my experience and they have updated their tracking to be more reliable in recent years, I want to keep this an honest Legacybox review. So I definitely think it’s important that you know that this is something that has happened multiple times. Read the comments for honest experiences others have had with Legacybox that were not positive like mine was.

Legacybox.com Reviews FAQ

What does Legacybox do?

Legacy box helps you preserve any format of outdated memories by converting them into a digital format. You send in old tapes, photos, reels, videos, cassettes, and more. And they send your memories back in a converted digitized form of your choice!

Is Legacybox trustworthy?

Yes, Legacy box is a legitimate and trustworthy company that has a BBB rating of A+. However, there are many customer complaints about Legacybox losing their photos and videos that they sent in. This is definitely something to be aware of, though they have updated their tracking process to be a lot more reliable in recent years.

How much does it cost to use Legacybox?

Legacy box costs anywhere from $65 to $1000+, depending on how many items you want to convert. However, they almost always offer some sort of discount or coupon code, so never pay full price! For example, right now they’re offering 50% off all of their boxes.

How long does it take to get Legacybox back?

It typically takes around 10-12 weeks to process and receive your digitized memories once Legacy box receives your box.

Tuesday’s Kroger Shopping Trip (I found some great markdowns!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 21, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We stopped by Kroger on Tuesday night and found some great markdowns:

Oscar Mayer Natural Chicken Breasts — marked down to $2.89
Hamburger Buns — marked down to $0.99
Rolls from the bakery — marked down to $1.09
Organic Baby Spring Mix — marked down to $1.49
Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts — $5.99
9 Dannon Greek Yogurts — marked down to $0.49

You can watch my quick video here where I share more about these deals and what I plan to use them for.

What deals have YOU gotten recently? Tell us in the comments.

Shared Jul 20, 2016 comment

Frugal Road Trip Idea: National Museum of the United States Air Force

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 20, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A few weeks ago, we drove to Ohio for an ice-skating competition that Kaitlynn was competing in. Jesse had asked me if we could drive down a day early because he’d heard about this museum in Dayton called the National Museum of the US Air Force that he wanted to check out.

I told Jesse that would work for us to go a day early but I didn’t know whether I’d be able to go since I might be so backlogged on work and projects that I’d need to stay at the hotel. {My full-time assistant was completely offline that week on a hiking trip and one of my other part-time assistants had a baby. So I was in over my head trying to do my normal tasks and projects, blog, and take care of a multitude of extra responsibilities.}

I didn’t want to have to miss out on the museum and time with the family but the reality of having your own business is that there are many blessings and a lot of flexibility, but there are the occasional drawbacks — like weeks when you have to pull double shifts!

Jesse was very understanding as we’d known this very, very busy two week period was coming and I was already having to shift a lot of things around in order to be completely present for Kaitlynn at her competition.

Because I didn’t even think I’d probably get to go to the museum, I didn’t research it at all. In all honesty, what Jesse had told me (“It’s a museum about the USAF and there are a lot of planes.”) didn’t sound all that exciting or interesting. I’m not much of a museum person if it’s just planes or old historical artifacts, so I doubted I would miss much.

However, I really, really wanted to get to go to the museum just to have that fun memory with the kids and Jesse — even if the museum was going to be really boring to me. So I worked late in the evening the night before and was able to get everything done so I could take the afternoon and evening off.

I had asked Jesse that morning, “So how long do you think we’ll be there?” He responded, “I can’t imagine much more than a few hours.” We decided to get to the museum around 1 p.m. since it closed at 5 p.m. and that would give us four hours there. We figured that should be ample time.

Then we pulled up to the museum and realized it was more like a MUSEUM COMPLEX than a museum. In fact, there were four huge buildings and lots and lots of cars and people.

Oops. Apparently it wasn’t the little plane hangar we had envisioned!

FREE Admission!!

We found a parking spot, trekked inside, and went to buy our tickets to the museum. With how big and nice it looked, I was now concerned that the price of admission was going to be much more than we were expecting. My guess was something like $20-$30 per person. And I was kicking myself that we were only going to be there for four hours if we were going to pay that kind of money to get in.

Imagine our surprise when the guy at the information desk said, “Oh, there’s no admission price. It’s FREE!”

FREE??!! Jesse and I looked at each other and realized that things were off to a good start!

Then, we looked at the map and saw more about what the museum was about. Yes, there were lots and lots and lots of plane, but I was so surprised to see that they had a whole, huge section dedicated to World War II.

If you don’t know, I’m a huge World War II buff. I’ve read countless books and am fascinated by anything to do with that period in history.

FREE + World War II? You better believe I was happy that I came!!

Note: There is a charge for the Air Force Museum Theatre and flight simulators, if you want to do those. Otherwise, everything else is entirely free!

The Exhibits

Early Years Gallery — The museum started with a history of flight and how planes used in wars in the early days. It was really interesting to see how quickly technology had advanced in such a short amount of time. It was also hard to imagine how scary it must have been to fly some of the early models of planes — especially during the wars.

Korean War Gallery, Southeast Asia War Gallery, Cold War Gallery — We ended up having to skip these exhibits because we didn’t have enough time, but we would have LOVED to have go through these. The little that we saw of them looked amazing and we all agreed wholeheartedly that we wished we had had two days to explore all the exhibits!

World War II Gallery — We all absolutely loved this exhibit. It was incredibly interesting, very well done, and very informative. And even though I’ve studied and read so much about World War II, I still learned a lot.

We found the section about downed pilots who escaped enemy territory without being caught to be riveting. They showed different methods and means that these pilots used to travel through enemy territory to safety. There were also lots of intriguing facts about prisoners of war and prisoners who escaped.

There was a traveling exhibit dedicated to the Holocaust that was really touching — especially for our kids. For them to see photos and footage of what happened during the Holocaust impacted them in a pretty powerful way.

Missile Gallery — This was pretty amazing! To see a sort of real-life Missile Silo and to be standing next to the missiles felt surreal.

Space Gallery — We loved getting to walk inside a full-size representation of a NASA space shuttle payload bay and look inside the CCT-1 cockpit and mid-deck areas. We were shocked at how small the area was for the crew. I can’t fathom being holed up in such a small area for a week or so on a mission with multiple other people!

Presidential Gallery — Even though we loved the World War II gallery and the other galleries, our excitement was through the roof when we got to the Presidential Gallery. Why? Because we got to walk inside and tour the presidential planes used by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower as well as the Boeing VC-137C 26000, which was used by eight presidents — Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton!

It was kind of overwhelming to be in the plane that carried John F. Kennedy’s body after he was shot and to think of how we were walking in planes that had carried such high-ranking people who have impacted our country so profoundly. We were pretty much all in awe — even though it was the end of the day and we’d done a lot of walking!

FREE Daily Tours

While I think there’s so much you can learn just by going through the museum yourself, you can learn even more with their numerous tour options. And did I mention all of these are FREE?

Daily Guided Tours — The museum offers free guided tours of the museum daily. These last approximately one hour and 30 minutes. Advance registration is not necessary. Find out more here.

Self-Guided Tours — You can explore U.S. Air Force history by listening to these podcasts on your computer, in your car, or while walking around the museum galleries! The self-guided audio tours feature specific topics in U.S. Air Force history as they are highlighted throughout the museum’s exhibits. You can download the podcasts before visiting the museum. Find out more here.

Behind-the-Scenes Tours — Behind the Scenes Tours are regularly scheduled, free guided tours of the museum’s restoration area. Participants are shuttled to the restoration hangars, located about one mile from the main museum complex. Tours are offered every Friday (some exceptions) at 12:15 p.m. Advance registration is required. Find out more here.

Tips For Making the Most of Your Museum Visit

Pack a picnic lunch — You cannot bring outside food or drink inside the museum. You also cannot eat or drink except in designated areas in the museum — such as in the restaurant areas. From what we saw, they were quite strict with these rules.

However, you could definitely pack snacks, drinks, and a picnic lunch and go out to your car to eat it. I didn’t see any picnic tables, but there was a lot of space outside where you could spread out a blanket and have a picnic.

Note: The food at the restaurants was quite expensive from what I saw (you can see some of the prices here). I kind of felt like they had it priced like they did to help cover some of the museum costs. 🙂

Bring a stroller — If you have younger kids, bring a stroller. Even if your youngest is 5 or 6, they will likely tire from all of the walking and it would be easier to push them around so their legs could rest for awhile. Almost the entire museum is stroller-friendly.

Be prepared for lots of walking — Like I alluded to, it’s a HUGE museum with four separate buildings. Wear comfortable shoes and plan to do lots and lots of walking. There are some places where you can sit down and watch various movies about an exhibit, but there weren’t a lot of comfortable places to sit and rest your legs that I saw.

If you needed to take a break, though, you could go sit in the cafe area. You wouldn’t need to purchase anything to sit there and when we were there, it was pretty deserted (however, we were also in there around 3:30 p.m. — so we probably missed the lunch crowds).

Bring your camera — There are no restrictions on taking pictures and, believe me, you will want to take lots of pictures. Or at least I sure did! 🙂

Spend some time researching the museum’s website — I wish I had done this! The museum’s website is very comprehensive and detailed and will give you lots of helpful advice to make the most of your visit. I’d also recommend deciding ahead of time which areas you want to spend the most time at. You can’t do it all, so going into it knowing your priority areas will help make sure you actually make time to hit those!

Plan to stay the whole day — We wish we had planned to stay the whole day! There is so much to see and do and we want to go back! If we did it again, we’d plan to go through two buildings, then go back to the car and get some lunch and have a picnic, then come back in and go through the next two buildings.

I think it would take a good 6-8 hours to go through all of the exhibits at a non-rushed pace. This wouldn’t allow us to stop at read all the signs, by any means, but I think 6-8 hours would be enough time to make it through everything and spend some extra time in those areas where your family is most interested.

The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

3 Books I Read Last Week (+ how I’m finding more time to read!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on July 19, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I finished three books last week. Notice I said finished. That’s the key word. 🙂 I didn’t start and finish all three of these last week.

In fact, it took me about 3 months to read If. Because it was one of those books you didn’t want to rush through. Instead, you wanted to read slowly and savor and digest every chapter.

3 Books I Finished Last Week

Stone Fox — I read this book aloud to the kids at breakfast. Even though it’s a very sad story, it’s engaging and packed with lessons on courage, bravery, respect, strong work ethic, and much more. It’s a short book and a quick read, but we all enjoyed it — including me!

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear — I’d had this book on my bookshelf for quite some time and kept picking it up and trying to start it and then I’d set it back down resolving to read it later. When I discovered the amazing-ness that is OverDrive and OneClickDigital (our library’s free audiobook apps — I can’t believe I just now checked these out!), the first audiobook I downloaded was Big Magic and I loved it.

While I strongly disagree with much of the author’s worldview and some of her insights, her book really challenged me as a creative. I especially loved her thoughts on fear. This post was completely inspired by reading Big Magic. {Note: This book contains quite a few expletives.}

If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God’s What If Possibilities — I love Mark Batterson and this book was another book that challenged, convicted, and messed with me in a powerful way. I underlined and dog-eared many of the pages, sent photos of pages in the book to friends who I knew would appreciate some of the quotes. Here’s one of the quotes that I just had to share.

A Movie We Watched This Week

The girls had seen the trailer to the Miracles From Heaven movie and asked if we could watch it. I didn’t really know anything about it, but it looked decent from the reviews so I said we could watch it together.

It’s based on a true story and it’s a pretty amazing story, at that. I wasn’t familiar with the story and didn’t know how it ended, so that made it more enjoyable. Supposedly, the trailer ruins the story, so if you don’t like to know the ending before you watch a movie, don’t watch the trailer to this one.

I thought Jennifer Garner did an excellent job portraying the anguish that a mom would have felt in this situation and not sugar-coating what would have been incredible traumatic and frustrating.

I thought some of the acting was cheesy and it felt like a low-budget film throughout, but overall, it was uplifting and very family-friendly. (Note: Parts of the movie include some medical drama and trauma… so be advised of that if you’re planning to have your kids watch it. It could frighten younger kids.)

How I’m Finding Time to Read Right Now

People are always asking me how on earth I find time to read as much as I do. I written some about How I Find Time to Read before, but I thought I’d share my three methods that are working well for me right now:

1. Read a Little Bit Every Morning

One thing that’s been very effective for me for a long time is to include reading as part of my morning routine. After I read my daily Bible reading, I open up whatever spiritually encouraging book I’m currently reading and read a few pages from it.

A few pages might not feel like much, but it adds up over time. And some days, I’ll have time to read a full chapter. Which means that I can usually get through at least one inspirational book like this every 1-2 months, depending on the length of the book.

Is there something you do every morning (or every day) that could be your “trigger reminder” to read a few pages from a book. Maybe when you sit down to breakfast or sit down at your desk at work or during your baby’s nap or while you’re waiting in the school pickup lane during the school year? Making it a habit — almost like brushing your teeth — means that it’s much more likely to happen without you really even having to think about it after awhile.

2. Read To Your Kids at Meal Times

Some people don’t think you can count the books you read to your kids as Books Read This Year. I wholeheartedly disagree. In fact, if that’s the only way you can get any reading in, it’s a fantastic way to do so!

We like to read together at breakfast. I usually just read one chapter of whatever read aloud we’re currently going through. It’s simple, it usually only takes about 10-15 minutes, and it’s the stuff that memories are made of!

To this day, one of my fondest memories growing up is all sitting at the table eating lunch while my mom read. We read biographies of famous people and missionaries most often, and I learned so much from those books and the stories contained in them. Many of the lessons are things I carry with me to this day.

By the way, reading during a meal means that there’s a much better chance your kids will be quieter and it makes it much easier to get through an entire chapter with a lot fewer interruptions!

3. Listen to Audiobooks

Get a FREE 3-Month Subscription to Audible!

By the way, if you’re interested, not only do I recommend checking out your local library to see if they offer free audiobooks (the most highly recommended apps are the OverDrive app and the Hoopla app), but Audible is also offering a free 3-month subscription right now. Just be sure to put on your calendar to cancel it before the 3 months are up!

Once-A-Month Grocery Shopping Haul for a Large Family + 4-Week Meal Plan!

Published: by crystal on July 19, 2016 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Jamerrill has a great post up sharing her $620 once-a-month grocery shopping haul for a family of 9, plus her 4-week meal plan. If you have a large family, I think you’ll be inspired by her post.

2hr Cleaning Checklist

2hr Cleaning Checklist

FREE DOWNLOAD: 2-Hour Cleaning Checklist!

How I Straighten My Hair

1. I was so impressed with their new Organic & Natural selections.

2. I was completely blown away by how low their prices still are.

What I Bought for $35 at ALDI

Other ALDI Links You Should Check Out:

2 Strategies for Better Sleep

1. Learn Your Triggers

2. Track Your Sleep

5 Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep

1. Go to bed earlier.

2. Plan ahead for great sleep.

3. Drink less caffeine.

4. Turn off the electronics.

5. Give yourself grace.

Day 10 Project

Looking for some more practical help?

To change your morning, you need to first change your evening.

How to Set Up a Successful Evening Routine

Possible Evening Must-Do’s

My Current Evening Routine

1. Clean Up the Kitchen

2. Pick Out Tomorrow’s Outfit

3. Plan a Time-Blocked To Do List

Day 9 Project

More Helpful Resources:

CVS Shopping Trip

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Breakfasts

Lunches & Snacks

Dinners

Related Menu-Planning Posts:

What’s on YOUR menu this week? Tell us in the comments!

5 Questions I Ask Myself About Clutter

“Keep things because you love them, not just because.”

Practical Ideas to Cut Down on Clutter

1. Have Ongoing Garage Sale/Goodwill Boxes

2. Annual Clutter Elimination

3. The No-Pile Rule

4. In the Door, In Its Place

5. Avoid Clutter-Collecting Furniture

6. Develop More Contentment

Day 8 Project

More Helpful Resources:

1. Great Markdowns at the Grocery Store

2. Homemade Chai Lattes

3. A Tea Party With My Kids

4. Snapchat (Yes, For Real!)

5. Audiobooks

What are YOU loving this week? Tell us in the comments!

1. Being debt free allows us to give more.

2. Being debt free lets us make ‘Plan A Decisions’.

3. Being debt free means money talks are less painful.

4. Being debt free affords us more wiggle room.

5. Being debt free fueled my blog.

Bottom line, debt-free living is possible!

Dillons

Aldi

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfast

Lunches

Dinners

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Honest Legacybox Reviews

Why this Legacy Box Review took so long to write

Going Through All Of Our Photos

It Took WAY Longer Than I Thought It Would!

I’m So Glad I Went to All That Work, Though!

How Legacy Box Works

Pro Legacy Box Reviews

Con Legacybox Reviews

Legacybox.com Reviews FAQ

More From Money Saving Mom

I’d love to hear your Legacy Box reviews in the comments, if you’ve ever tried it!

What deals have YOU gotten recently? Tell us in the comments.

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The Exhibits

FREE Daily Tours