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Shared Nov 6, 2015 comment

Q&A: “How do you keep a healthy work-life balance?”

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 6, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance requires constant change and adjustment on my part. I have to choose to hold dear to my heart what matters most.

For example, while I love social media for connecting and networking with others, I am not a rule follower. I don’t want to be chained to a regular schedule, even if it’s what the experts say is best for growing my business.

I don’t want a blog that is a burden to me and my family. I want it to be a blessing, and so there are some choices I make for myself in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance and manage my time well.

Looking for more tips & advice? Sign up for my FREE 5-day How I Make a Full-Time Income From Home course!

Shared Nov 6, 2015 comment

Brigette’s $88 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 6

Published: by Brigette on November 6, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Aldi

Cauliflower – $1.99

2 Butternut Squash – $2.58

1 4-ct pkg Zucchini – $1.99

3 Avocados – $2.07

1 Spaghetti Squash – $1.99

1 box Cinnamon Crunch Squares – $1.69

1 10-lb bag Russet Potatoes – $3.49

1 32-oz container Half and Half – $1.79

2 16-oz cartons Egg Whites – $2.59

3 pkgs Rice Cakes – $3.87

1 Artisan Baby Lettuce – $1.99

1 3-ct pkg Romaine Hearts – $1.99

Total: $26.03

Harris Teeter

1 3-lb bag Clementines – $3.49 (not an amazing price, but my children love and beg for these!)

2 Dawn Dish Detergent – $2.00, used 2 $0.25/1 printable (doubled) – $1.00/2

2 McCormick Gravy Mix – $1.00, used $0.50/2 RP 10/25 (doubled) – FREE

4 pkgs Sargento Shredded Cheese – $7.98, used 2 $0.65/2 printable (doubled) – $5.38/4

2 8-oz pkgs Challenge Cream Cheese – $3.00, used 2 $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $1.00/2

1 large pkg Mission Corn Tortillas – $2.49, used $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $0.99

Total: $11.88

Save-A-Lot

4 large Pumpkins – $3.96 (I’ve been working on cooking and freezing these)

1 bunch Bananas (3.56lbs @ $0.34/lb) – $1.21

1 3-lb bag Gala Apples – $2.49

Total: $7.66

Sam’s Club

(A friend called to tell me she found large jars of Almond Butter for $3.91 each, which is a fantastic price! I’m guessing Sam’s Club is discontinuing them. The expiration date wasn’t until July, so I was thrilled to be able to stock-up! While my weekly grocery budget is around $65 a week, that does not factor in occasional bulk purchases such as this.)

10 24-oz jars Almond Butter – $39.10

Total: $39.10

Zaycon

(We LOVE Zaycon! The only thing I have ever ordered from them is chicken, but we have been thoroughly impressed with the freshness, quality and pricing, as well as excellent customer service. I highly recommend checking to see if they offer a drop-off in your area.)

40lbs of Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (@$1.89/lb) – $75.60, used $72.00 referral credits (from many of you – THANK YOU!) – $3.60

Total: $3.60

Weekly Total, including Bulk Purchases: $88.27

Weekly Menu Plan

Breakfasts

Cereal x 2

Oatmeal with Fruit (from the freezer) x 3

Veggie Omelettes x 2

Lunches

Baked Potatoes with Cheese, Apples x 2

Build-Your-Own-Tossed Salad, Oranges x 2

Almond Butter on Rice Cakes, Bananas x 2

Leftovers

Dinners

Venison Roast in the Crockpot, Mashed Cauliflower, Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

Wipe Your Mouth B-B-Q (Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook), Homemade French Fries in the Oven, Broccoli

Chicken Gravy Over Brown Rice, Roasted Butternut Squash, Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

Homemade Cheese Pizza, Tossed Salad

Cheesy Hamburger Potato Soup, Easy Whole Wheat Muffins

Leftovers x 2

Shared Nov 6, 2015 comment

Read Chapter 1 of Money-Making Mom for FREE!

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 6, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Thank you so very much for all of your kind words, your Instagram posts, your tweets, your emails, and your sweet words of encouragement about my new book that released yesterday. I spent the day feeling so humbled and touched by you all!

If you haven’t yet purchased your copy of Money-Making Mom and you are looking for ways to increase your income and use your skills and gifts to earn money, you’ll want to go get your copy of the book here.

If you’re still on the fence wondering whether this book would be a good fit for you or not, you can read the introduction and Chapter 1 here.

You’ll notice that much of what I share in this book is brand-new stories and information — stuff that you’ve not read here on the blog before. I had so much fun digging deep, writing from my heart, and writing new material that has come from years of having my own business and making many mistakes.

I think you’ll enjoy getting a closer look at the behind-the-scenes of what has made MoneySavingMom.com successful, as well as hearing about many, many failures I’ve made along the way.

Best of all, this book doesn’t just share my story, but there are dozens and dozens of success stories from many different women who are in different seasons and who have a wide variety of different businesses and income-earning ventures.

Money-Making Mom is not a book about about making money as a blogger or even just about making money online. Instead, it’s a hands-on manual to help you discover your passions and talents and turn those into a profitable business — whether online or offline.

Woven through the pages is my heart to inspire women to uncover their gifts, use their talents, and make a difference in this world! Because you have a story. You have a message. You have gifts and talents. And the world needs your story, your message, your gifts, and your talents!

Go download the first chapter here. Then go get your copy here, if you haven’t already!

Shared Nov 5, 2015 comment

Stop Feeling Guilty About Asking for Help

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 5, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I am so glad I decided to extend last week’s book club into this week, because I am absolutely loving Brene Brown’s Rising Strong. It is challenging me personally on so many levels, and I have really enjoyed taking my time and soaking up the words as I read through it slowly.

“Connection doesn’t exist without giving and receiving. We need to give, and we need to need.”

I scoped about this quote yesterday in-depth, because it hit me SO hard this week. When I first read this quote, I thought to myself, “Need to need?” That seemed almost strange to me at first, until I really started reflecting on it.

I was raised by parents who modeled what it means to be a giver. I’m so grateful my parents taught me how to be a servant.

As a result, though, I saw firsthand how draining it can be when people are always needing and taking and asking and are never giving back in any way. I told myself I didn’t want to ever be that person who was constantly taking and needing.

So what did I do? I swung the pendulum to the other side. I decided I wanted to always be the giver — the solutions girl, the girl who has her act together, the girl who is always pouring into other people.

I became what Brene Brown describes as an over-functioner: “Over-functioners say ‘I won’t fail. I will do. I don’t need help. I help.‘”

I don’t like to feel needy. And if I admit I’m struggling, I usually feel like I am letting people down or being a needy person.

I’m slowly learning, though, that it is equally as important to ask for help, and that letting people into our lives and struggles and needs is a gift we can give to them. It’s being real, vulnerable, authentic, and human.

Chapter 8 of Rising Strong on needing to need really hit home for me in this area.

When was the last time you asked someone to help you?

This is a question I had to ask myself and be honest about. You see — the past few weeks have been a really difficult time for me, personally. There have been some issues going on with situations that I can’t talk about publicly that have left me feeling overwhelmed, hurt, frustrated, sad, and a whole host of other emotions.

I’ve wanted to keep it all together and be okay, but it’s been SO heavy, and it’s been hurting pretty badly. There have been many days when I walked around feeling on the verge of tears — and I’m not usually one to be super emotional or cry.

On Sunday, I shared with my community group a little bit of what’s been going on and asked for prayer. On Monday night, I did the same with out Monday Group. In both cases, those there just cared and listened and prayed for us.

And I’m so grateful. But honestly, it was hard for me to do that, and I came away from it feeling like I was some sort of needy, drama queen. I was wondering if I should have shared and thinking maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, until I read this chapter and was re-reminded that it’s okay to need help sometimes.

“When you judge yourself for needing help, you judge those who are helping. When you attach value to giving help, you attach value to needing help. The danger of tying yourself worth to being a helper is feeling shame when you have to ask for help. Offering help is courageous and compassionate, but so is asking for help.”

Wow. If we act like we never need help, it’s almost a sign or value we wear…”I don’t need help. I’m the person who helps.”

I’ve been saying this my entire life. But the truth is that we all need to need, and there are times in our lives when we all need help.

“In a culture of scarcity and perfectionism, asking for help can be shaming if we’re not raised to understand how seeking help is human and foundational to connection.”

Vulnerability and honesty leads to trust within relationships. It’s important not to be afraid to share your struggles with those closest to you, and I am learning to be better about this as I embrace authentic friendships.

“The bottom line is that we need each other, and not just the civilized, proper, convenient kind of need. Not one of us gets through this life without expressing desperate, messy, and uncivilized need — the kind we are reminded of when we come face to face with someone who is in a deep struggle.”

Just recently, one of my friends was in a really traumatic situation. When I called her up to see how she was doing, she immediately broke down into ugly sobs.

In that moment, I didn’t think, “Oh, what a needy person.” Instead, my heart broke for her and it actually knit my heart closer to hers because of her willingness to be honest and vulnerable with me.

My challenge for you today:

Do you need to ask for help, instead of being frustrated or hurt because nobody is giving it? Or do you maybe need to ask someone if/how you can help them?

Shared Nov 4, 2015 comment

Q&A: “Is your book, Money-Making Mom, just for moms?”

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 4, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Yes, I wrote Money-Making Mom with the target audience of moms.

But I believe that any woman will benefit from reading Money-Making Mom.

Maybe you’re feeling stress from financial crisis, you’re the primary bread winner, or you just need a little extra side income.

Whatever your situation, I hope the ideas in my new book Money-Making Mom will inspire you and help you get started on the journey towards making a full-time income from home!

Looking for more tips & advice? Sign up for my FREE 5-day How I Make a Full-Time Income From Home course!

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

Click here to sign up!

Shared Nov 3, 2015 comment

Who wants to win $1500???!!

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 3, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Giveaway closed. The winner is: Crystal (rcworkshop2012@). You should have received an e-mail with details on claiming your $1500.

After years of learning, experimenting, and making mistakes. After months and months of brainstorming and writing. After weeks and weeks of edits. After days and days of preparation… THE BOOK IS DONE and it’s available in stores nationwide today — as well as being available on Amazon.com & more sites online!!!!

This book is for every woman who has ever wished she could make a difference, ever wished that she could live a life that matters, and ever wished that there was a way to use her gifts and skills to make an income while making an impact.

It’s really surreal to think that the girl who just wanted to find a way to bring in a part-time income 10 years ago, is now releasing a BOOK on how women can make a part-time or full-time income from home. Truly, God does exceedingly abundantly above all we can ever ask or think!

Why We Launched This Book in a Different Way

When our team was brainstorming what we wanted for this book launch, my heart was really to have it be a quiet launch. By that, I mean that I just didn’t want to jump through a bunch of hoops — or make you jump through a bunch of them.

If you read here, you know my heart and you know what I’m passionate about. I don’t want fancy bells and whistles and gimmicks to try to get more book sales. I wanted to keep it straightforward — here’s what the book is about, here’s my heart behind it, and here’s who it’s for.

The bottom line is this: I only want you to buy this book if you feel it’s truly a good fit for you or someone you know. If it’s not a good fit or it’s not in the budget, I totally, totally get that. And I don’t want you spend your money on it.

Because the last thing I want to do is encourage you to buy something that you can’t afford or don’t need. Whether you buy my book or not changes nothing about what I think of you.

So, with this in mind, I asked my publisher if it would be okay if I did some things different than a publisher would typically expect of an author:

We waited to really start mentioning the book until just a few weeks before the launch — because I didn’t want to wear you out with stuff about the book, especially if you weren’t even interested in it in the first place.
We only personally asked two people to do anything for the book — Dave Ramsey and Michael Hyatt — both who generously wrote an endorsement for the book. (I know! Was that not amazing of them??)
We sent out boxes to a number of my dearest friends and said basically, “Whether you post about this book or not changes nothing about our relationship. So there is zero obligation for you to write about this book because I totally get that you get lots of books in the mail and I want to release you from any sort of guilt over needing to write about this book or promote it in some way.”
And instead of writing a bunch of blog posts leading up to the launch, I shared that content in my afternoon #MoneyMakingMom Periscopes because I figured the people who were interested in it could show up to those voluntarily.

But I did want to do one big giveaway — something that every single reader could benefit from. We talked about a lot of different ideas, but finally landed upon one that I think every single one of you will be excited about — whether or not you need a copy of Money-Making Mom.

Yes, I’m Giving Away $1500!!

So who wants to win $1500??? One reader will win a $1500 Visa gift card this week and I can’t wait to see who wins!

We’d love for you to use this money to fund a new business, expand your business, pay down debt, invest in something, or use it in some way that will make a big impact on your family and others.

This giveaway is generously being funded by my publishers and they’ve asked if we could ask you to do one of three things to enter the giveaway. I know I don’t usually ask you to anything in order to enter a giveaway, but we want to honor their request. I hope that you’ll maybe want to spread the word about this book to those you know who might be interested in it, even if it’s not a book you need to read right now.

So in advance, I want to say thank you for your willingness to participate in a giveaway that does have a few “hoops to jump through”. It’s not our usual method, but thank you for grace for this special exception.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fineprint: Must be 18 years or older and a resident of the United States to win. One winner will be chosen at random. If chosen, the winner must complete a tax form for Thomas Nelson Publishers before the $1,500 gift card will be issued.

Shared Nov 2, 2015 comment

Voice Acting: The Side Job that Let Me Quit My Job

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 2, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Carrie of CarrieOlsenVO.com

After I had my first baby in April of 2014, I had to go back to work after just three short months at home with her.

I liked my job, but I spent my commutes grieving over the lost time with my family. I tried not to think about everything I was missing out on, or feel guilty for spending more time in the office than I did with the people I loved most.

I wasn’t actively looking for a solution that would let me stay home with my baby… because I didn’t think it existed. My husband is an author, and his book sales weren’t bringing in enough to support us yet. I had to work.

The Podcast That Changed My Life

One day, on my way to work, I picked a new podcast to listen to for my drive. The episode was an interview of a woman who did something called voice acting — recording the voice parts for radio and TV commercials, e-learning, on-hold messages, and more.

I had never heard of it, but about halfway through the interview, something clicked. She gets paid to talk! And she can do it from home!! I knew I had to check this out.

I ended up buying some coaching lessons from her, and immediately went crazy trying to get my own voiceover business started. I submitted auditions after work and on the weekends. And after only a few weeks of auditioning, I got one of the most beautiful emails I had ever seen. I booked a job! My payday for that job was $450 — to read a two-minute script!

The third job I ever got was a national radio campaign for an international brand. I still can hardly believe it when I type that out, but that job generated over five figures for me and my family over the next few months, and I continue to do work for that client today.

Working From Home & Loving It

Only four months after hearing about voice over (VO) for the first time, I quit my job to pursue it full time. It has been a Godsend to me and my family. I get to make my own hours (for the most part), work from home, and do something creative and fun.

Of course it has its cons, as all work does, but still, it’s basically a dream job for me.

One of the reasons I love telling this story is because you don’t normally think of VO when you think about home-based businesses or freelancing. I love introducing it as a viable option for parents who want to make some extra money from home, professionals who want a creative outlet, or anyone who just isn’t feeling fulfilled in their work and wants a change.

How to Get Started Doing Voice Acting

Find a coach:

I recommend getting a voiceover coach and following their lead. I know it sounds crazy to hire someone to teach you how to talk, but I promise there’s a lot more to it than that!

Voice acting is, after all, acting. And there’s the whole business side as well, which my coach was so great at helping me navigate.

If you’re interested in some private voice over coaching, I recommend Alyson Steel. She’ll be able to help you discover what your “wheelhouse” is (soccer mom, girl next door, techy guy, etc). And she’ll also help you figure out the right time to make a demo, to reach out to agents, or whatever the next move in your VO career should be.

Get the right tools:

If you aren’t quite ready to invest in a coach, or you just want to get out there and see what happens, I recommend buying a good microphone, reading and listening up as much as you can, and joining Voices.com. If you’re interested in the premium membership, you can get $50 off by using promo code CARRIEOLSEN349 (not an affiliate link).

You can sign up without a demo, and if you have a good microphone and recording environment, you can start submitting auditions for around $40/month.

I also have a step-by-step guide to getting started in voiceover without a coach, available on my website. It includes microphone recommendations and other helpful resources — however, I know you’ll get further faster with a personal coach.

Start listening:

Listen to commercials, e-learning programs, audiobooks, or whatever you’re interested in voicing. I know, you’re supposed to change the station or fast-forward when commercials come on, but now that commercials actually help me make money instead of spend it, I change the station when music comes on so that I can study the commercials!

Reach out and market yourself:

Once your skills are competitive, make a website and a demo. Best practice is to have your demo professionally produced, but I recorded all of my demos from my home studio with direction from my coach. They were good enough to land me one of the biggest voiceover agents in the country.

Once you’ve got a good demo and website, start reaching out to your ideal clients. This can be local car dealerships, the local university, your neighbor’s lawn care business, or even companies who need on-hold messages. Voiceover is everywhere, and the more creative you are with your marketing, the better you’ll do — especially first starting out.

Keep practicing:

Voiceover is one of the best things to happen to me and my family. I get to be creative, and it’s really fun most of the time. But it’s still a really competitive business. I know that I need to keep my skills up to stay competitive.

I know I am blessed to be working in this industry that I love, that allows me to work from home and spend time with my family. And I am absolutely floored that it all happened in a matter of four months.

I no longer stress about all the missed time with my daughter, and even though I work hard auditioning and marketing to make sure I get enough work, the jobs have been consistent enough to support my family for a full year now.

Carrie Olsen is the wife of Derek and mama of Amelie. She is a lifelong learner and believes opportunities to make positive changes are everywhere. She blogs about her voiceover journey and business at CarrieOlsenVO.com and DerekAndCarrie.com. You may download her guide to getting started as a voice actor here.

Shared Nov 2, 2015 comment

How to Substitute Dried Beans for Canned Beans in Slow Cooker Recipes

Published: by crystal on November 2, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Kelly at New Leaf Wellness has a super helpful post on how to substitute dried beans for canned beans in slow cooker recipes.

Shared Nov 2, 2015 comment

Q&A: “I don’t feel like I have any gifts or talents…Can I really find a way to make money?”

Published: by Crystal Paine on November 2, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you feel inexperienced, unmarketable, or unskilled, know that you are not alone! I talk to SO many women who struggle with this idea. They feel so average and untalented, like they don’t have very much to offer the world.

I strongly believe everyone has unique abilities and gifts to give to the world; sometimes it is just difficult to see. You may have to dig deep or get others to help you in order to recognize your gifts.

This is a huge part of the goal of my Money-Making Mom book — to help women discover what their gifts are and turn them into viable income streams. There is only one you, and the world needs what you have to offer!

Looking for more tips & advice? Sign up for my FREE 5-day How I Make a Full-Time Income From Home course!

Shared Oct 31, 2015 comment

5 Things I’m Loving This Week (+ one thing I’m NOT loving!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 31, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

1. Flowers From Silas

This child. He went to a Royals game with Jesse last weekend. He brought me home these flowers that he bought for me with his own money.

Jesse said it was all Silas’ own idea. (Jesse also said he tried to talk Silas out of it because they were kind of expensive but Silas had his mind made up!)

There are days when being a mom is crazy hard, but moments like this make it all worth it. {Excuse the Cheerios on the floor. #RealLife}

2. My 8-Year-Old In-House Hairstylist

Kaitlynn has spent hours this week working on perfecting some new braids and I’ve been her hair model to practice on — which I’ve been happy to do!

I love this girl’s creativity and how she is always trying new things, experimenting with ways to add more beauty to our lives, and forever thinking outside the box. She constantly inspires me!

Plus, having an in-house hairstylist is sure nice! 🙂

3. A Box of Ice Cream From a Friend!

Oh my goodness!! Look what showed up at our door this week?!?!?!

Friends who ship you 8 cartons of special, incredibly delicious ice cream just because are friends for LIFE.

Ice cream is my love language, in case you didn’t know! And this is exactly just what I needed to carry me through Book Launch Week!

Thank you so much, Kristi! Pretty sure my kids think you are the coolest person ever (no pun intended!)

4. Rejoicing in the Small Victories

I snapped this picture earlier this week because I wanted to document that our bed was made before noon.
Because when it’s been one of “those weeks”, you gotta look for victories wherever you can find them. 🙂

5. Friends Who Celebrate With You

Launching a book into the world is a sort of a scary thing. You pour your heart onto paper. You have to spend months editing and re-editing. Then it goes to the printers.

And you sort of wonder why on earth you ever got the crazy idea to sign that book contract. Because once the thing is published, you can’t edit or delete like you can on a blog.

But then, friends make videos like this one and post them on the internet and you forget all about being scared and you just laugh and smile and celebrate that the book is D-O-N-E and that other people are so excited about it with you.

(And it also reminds you of how important it is to remember to take time and make time to celebrate others, too! Because it means so much!)

One Thing I’m Not Loving: Termites

Our furnace is finally fixed (it only took multiple guys and 5 visits on 5 different days to get it fixed!!!) but… drumroll… We also found out the same day that our furnace finally got fixed that we have termites. Really bad termites.

{Although I’m not sure that there’s such a thing as “not really bad termites!”}

Our poor landlords! They have been the most gracious people ever, but I’m sure they just cringe anytime their phone rings with our number!!

What are you loving this week? Tell us in the comments.

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

Click here to download!

Shared Oct 31, 2015 comment

“In the absence of data, we make up stories.”

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 31, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So I’m a little behind in posting about our Book Club Book this week, but folks, this book is messing with me in so many good ways. I decided to extend this book club book through the next week since I don’t want to rush through this book.

And oh my goodness! I have underlined and dog-eared more pages than I probably ever have in any other book. And then I keep taking screenshots and texting them to people or reading the quotes aloud to my husband.

Yes, this book is good stuff. So good, in fact, that I just bought it for two people this week!

I read chapters 3-6 the past few days and it’s hard for me to pick just a few quotes to share. But I’ll try:

“Compassionate people ask for what they need. They say no when they need to, and when they say yes they mean it. They’re compassionate because their boundaries keep them out of resentment.”

Whoa. This was hard-hitting. And a good inspiration to set and keep boundaries.

“In the absence of data, we always make up stories.”

How much of the time do we jump to conclusions and start concocting stories about a situation — when we haven’t taken the time to fact-check and make sure that are assumptions are actually true?

This book has really challenged me in this regard. I realized how many times, I’ve not done my due diligence to check data and make sure I’ve gotten my facts and stories straight. I can let my brain run wild with stories that aren’t true — just based upon a small little thing.

For instance, if I’m in a situation with a friend and she acts kind of cold toward me, I have sometimes made up a big story — that I’ve offended her, that she doesn’t like me, that she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore… when it could just be that she has something hard going on and she’s struggling with it. Or maybe she has been hurt by me about something. But I’ll never know unless I ask instead of just make up stories.

And finally, the above quote was really, really good. Powerful stuff.

We’ll slowly work our way through chapters 7-11 over the next week. I’ll be scoping about them and blogging about them a few times next week.

Are you reading this book right now? If so, I’d love to hear what’s impacting and challenging you.

Shared Oct 31, 2015 comment

Join the Money-Making Mom Book Club!

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 31, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Have you pre-ordered a copy of my book, Money-Making Mom? If not, what are you waiting for?

It comes out on TUESDAY (woot! woot!) and if you pre-order this weekend, you’ll get a copy of my brand-new Make Over Your Calendar course (just fill out this form here)!

Want to go through the book with a group of other women? The wonderful girls at Brilliant Business Moms are hosting a book club during November on this book.

Head over to their site to read all about the book club. And don’t forget to grab your book and your pre-order bonuses this weekend.

P.S. Thank you so, so much for your support of this book. You have no idea what your excitement means to me. Thank you for being some of my biggest cheerleaders in this… I wish I could throw a party for each and every one of you (or have the introverts over for one-on-one coffee!) just to personally say thank you!

Shared Oct 31, 2015 comment

How I Get a Day Off From Cooking Without Breaking the Bank

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 31, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Julia of Swirls and Spice

After I married my husband, he suggested that I stop cooking on Sundays. This was an adjustment for me, and somewhat surprising since both of us come from families where our mothers served a traditional Sunday dinner after church.

Furthermore, cooking is one of my favorite parts of homemaking, and yielding control of the kitchen is not easy for me. However, after making this our Sunday habit, I am thankful for the blessings of rest and refreshment that have come.

Four children and several moves later, we now find ourselves in the suburbs of Chicago, where the restaurant selection is amazing and quite enticing.

However, feeding six people isn’t cheap when we are intentionally not cooking at home. Eating out four to five times a month was costing us nearly $300 — and that figure was separate from our grocery budget, which covered all of our other meals at home.

Living on one income and spending so much money on restaurant food was simply not sustainable.

After pondering our predicament, my husband came up with a cost-cutting strategy that still gives me a break from the kitchen on Sundays. We get take-out food for one meal, and heat up prepared meals for the other. The take-out food could be anything from fried rice to Papa John’s pizza; and for the other meal, we rotate between several different convenience foods like Hot Pockets and taquitos.

After taking these measures, our restaurant spending went down by half. (September’s total was just $136.)

My husband also has taken charge of microwaving or baking the food we eat on Sunday. However, our older children are also capable of following the heating directions if we ever decide to go that route.

At the end of the day, I am thankful that we get two hot meals without me working in the kitchen for the whole day. After my break, I’m recharged to plan the remaining meals for the week, which I enjoy preparing mostly from scratch with whole food ingredients.

Living debt-free doesn’t necessarily mean a family has to stop eating from restaurants. So much of developing a budget comes down to prioritizing what your values are.

By tracking our spending and planning carefully, it is possible to live inside our means and not feel guilty about taking a day off from cooking. The resulting freedom helps me to move beyond survival mode and avoid burnout as I serve my family.

Developing recipes with healthy, affordable ingredients is one of Julia’s favorite pursuits. At her blog, Swirls and Spice, you’ll find a growing collection of dairy-free recipes.

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Shared Oct 31, 2015 comment

Q&A: “Do you think it’s ok to go into debt to start a business?”

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 31, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

This is a point that many, many people may disagree with me on…but I do not think it’s ever okay to go into debt in order to start up a business.

If you don’t have the money needed for your start-up idea, go back to the drawing board. Downsize your idea, or work hard over the next 6 months in order to save up the money needed in order to start your business.

Watch my video above for more practical information on how to start a business without going into debt.

Looking for more tips & advice? Sign up for my FREE 5-day How I Make a Full-Time Income From Home course!

Shared Oct 31, 2015 comment

6 Reasons Why Blogging Might Not Be For You

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 31, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Jesenia at The Latina Homemaker has a great post up on 6 reasons why blogging might not be for you. Here’s a snippet:

The other day I was going through some of my old blog posts and I noticed how much my writing has evolved. It was one of those proud moments that reminded me of how far I’ve come in my blogging journey. However, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, there were several times that I almost quit and gave up blogging. Why? Because blogging is not easy. And blogging to generate income is even harder. If you’re thinking about blogging, I don’t want to discourage you. But I do want you to truly analyze if blogging is something you want to pour your heart and efforts into.

Read the full post here.

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