Saving Families Money Since 2007
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!
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.
I took the last couple of weeks off from grocery shopping because we were out of town for part of it and I was also trying to use up what I had in my freezer and pantry. It was good to get back to the grocery stores this week though because I kind of missed it. 🙂
Aldi
5 cans Black/Chili/Kidney Beans – $0.59 each
2 Cucumbers – $0.69 each
1 Unsweetened Applesauce – $1.69
1 Cinnamon Bagels – $1.69
1 Cauliflower – $0.99
1 Celery – $1.29
1 Rice Cakes – $1.29
1 Half & Half – $1.89
1 Flour Tortillas – $1.19
2 pkg Chocolate Chips – $1.79 each
3 Grapefruit – $0.69 each
1 bag Baby Carrots – $0.99
1 Frozen Orange Juice – $1.19
1 gallon Milk – $2.32
Total: $24.71
Homeland
1 Fisher Boy Fish Sticks – $3.99, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $1.99 after coupon
2 Taco Bell Dinner Kits – $2 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – $1 each after coupon
1 Hinode Rice – $2.39, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $0.39 after coupon
2 Challenge Butter – $2.99 each, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (first one doubled) – $1.86 each after coupons
2 Oscar Meyer P3 – $1.59 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – $0.59 each after coupon
1 Country Crock Quarters – $1.79, used $0.55/1 printable (doubled) – $0.69 after coupon (We don’t normally use fake butter, but I know I’ll have a lot of holiday baking coming up so I plan on using it for that.)
1 Hillshire Farm Little Smokies – $2.50, used $0.55/1 printable (doubled) – $1.40 after coupon
0.88 lbs Tomatoes – $1.21
Total after coupons: $12.58
Dillons
2 Horizon Mac & Cheese – $1 each, used $0.75/2 printable – $0.62 each after coupon
1 Kroger Salt – $0.49
1 Nature’s Own Bread – $2
2 Chex Cereal – $1.99 each, used $2/2 mailer coupon – $0.99 each after coupon
3 Lara Bars – $1 each, used $0.75/3 e-coupon – $0.75 each after coupon
4 Tombstone Frozen Pizza – $1.99 each, used 2 $1/2 printable AND received $2 catalina – $0.99 each after coupons and catalina
1 pkg Nabisco Oreo Thins – $2.99, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) and $0.20 Ibotta rebate – Free plus overage after coupon and rebate (I’m pretty sure this was one of my favorite Free Friday e-coupons Kroger has given out!) 🙂
1 Kroger Unbleached Flour – $1.49
2 dozen Simple Truth Eggs – Marked down to $0.99 each (I almost did a happy dance in the store when I saw this price!)
2 Campbells Soup – Marked down to $0.59 each
1 Kroger Soup – Marked down to $0.49
1 bag Grapefruit – Marked down to $0.99
1 bag Green Peppers – Marked down to $0.99
2 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99 each
1.99 lbs Broccoli Crowns – $2.21
1 bunch Bananas – $2
1 box Kroger Fruit Snacks – Marked down to $0.49
Total after coupons, sales and rebate: $25.52
Total for all grocery items: $62.81
Scrambled Eggs, Sliced Green Peppers, Grapefruit x 3
Toasted Cinnamon Raisin Bagels, Bananas
Cereal x 2
Oatmeal
Tossed Salad x 2
Mac & Cheese, Carrot Sticks
Fish Sticks, Celery & Peanut Butter, Sliced Apples
Peanut Butter & Jelly Rice Cakes Sandwiches, Applesauce
Baked Potatoes, Cottage Cheese
Leftovers
French Toast, Eggs, Bacon, Grapefruit
Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Tossed Salad, Baked Potatoes
Tacos, Steamed Carrots
Chili, Rolls, Veggies
Chicken Enchiladas, Green Rice Casserole, Tossed Salad
Pigs in A Blanket, Steamed Cauliflower, Tossed Salad
Chicken Pockets, Steamed Broccoli
Stephanie at Six Figures Under has a great post up on how she became an entrepreneur…and you can too! Here’s a snippet:
Being an entrepreneur is in my blood. Growing up I watched my mom use her creativity to help supplement my dad’s income. As a professor, he didn’t usually get paychecks during the summer, so my mom’s income was very helpful.
Ever since I can remember, she has taught dozens of piano students. She has done freelance calligraphy work and has taught children’s singing and art classes. In the pre-Etsy days, she sold crafts and patterns at a local boutique. She has taught everything from tie-dye to cake decorating. She is one of those people who not only excels at everything she puts her mind to, but has a knack for teaching it too!
The Intentional Mom is hosting a series starting on Monday (November 2) to work through my Make Over Your Mornings course and get your life in order before the busyness of the holiday season hits.
Go read more about the series she is hosting and how to join here.
You need a target to aim for before you even get started, and I think this target may look a little different for various types of businesses.
That being said, watch my video above to learn what 3 marks I think every successful business idea will hit.
Looking for more tips & advice? Sign up for my FREE 5-day How I Make a Full-Time Income From Home course!
I was going through old photos earlier this week and discovered this photo — it’s of my husband and I and our daughter Kathrynne in the early years of our marriage. My husband was in law school, I was trying to help us stay afloat and stay out of debt by making money online, and we were both trying to figure this parenting thing out.
Those years were simple, but stressful. We didn’t have any extra money so that kept life very, very simple. And sometimes we miss those days.
But at the same time, life was stressful because we never knew how we were going to manage to pay our bills each month. We ate a lot of beans, we stayed home a lot, and we prayed a lot!
I look back on those years and realize that we learned so much and grew so much as a result of them. It was hard. It was stretching. But we learned to be creative, to be content, and to think outside the box. And it was those character traits that laid the foundation for the successful businesses that we have today.
I loved getting to reminisce on those years in my new book, Money-Making Mom. I share some of the stories from when I was a child and the lessons my parents taught me, as well as the lessons my husband and I learned early on when we were first starting an online business.
We didn’t have a clue. We made so many mistakes. And we look back and wonder, “What were we thinking??”
But little bit by little bit, we started to discover a few things that worked. We’d make $1 here and $3 there. And then $10 here and $20 there.
The little trickles became a stream that became a river that became a rushing torrent.
All because we didn’t give up. We kept going when it felt discouraging. We kept pressing on through mistake after mistake. And we kept learning and growing.
And I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to share more in-depth than I ever have before in my new book, Money-Making Mom: How Every Woman Can Earn More and Make a Difference.
This book is for you if you are:
It’s the manual I wish I had had when I started my very first online business 10 years ago. It’s practical, inspirational, and relatable.
Pre-Order By November 2 & Get These Bonuses!!
If you’ve not ordered a copy yet, you’ll want to do so today because for the next few days only (through November 2, 2015), you’ll get the following when you pre-order:
- Make Over Your Calendar: 7 Day Online Course—a comprehensive course to teach you how to simplify, streamline, and organize your daily schedule & to-do’s.
- My Top 10 Favorite Productivity Tools Tip Sheet—a printable PDF with links and information on all my favorite tools for better time management.
- An Exclusive Live Q&A Call—an invitation to join me for a special Q&A call to ask any of your Money-Making Mom questions
To get your bonuses, order a copy of the book here and then go here and fill out the form to get your free bonuses!
So what are you waiting for? Go order your book here — and grab your free bonuses while you can! They are only available until November 2.
And I hope that you have an amazing story in 5 or 10 years from now as a result of reading this book! I can’t wait to hear it and I’ll be cheering you all the way!
Robin at Mama Shire shares her review of Money-Making Mom and how it’s impacting both her and her daughters. Here’s a snippet:
My daughters and I all have home businesses that we have started over the past several years. We love our work and have learned so much already. What’s exciting to me as a business owner is that Crystal puts things in such a clear way that it is helping me to understand the business side of our work in a much easier light. It’s also helping me to have a greater vision for what we are doing with our work and how to bless other through it.
Guest post by Boril
Back in 2013, Crystal shared 9 Apps That Will Save (and Make) You Money to highlight some of the most worthwhile mobile apps around. Things have changed a bit since then, as there are many new mobile apps that contain money-saving features.
If you’re looking for new ways to save, consider how each of these 10 apps can help!
Flipp is an app that displays flyers in the user’s area. It updates on a regular basis, ensuring users always have the most up-to-date information.
With this app, you can quickly “flip” through different store flyers for deals. It’s also perfect for grocery shopping, as you can get a quick idea on which grocer has the best prices at the time.
Think of Mint as your account monitoring friend. It keeps track of everything from your checkings to your retirement account.
The app factors your previous spending to create a budget for you to follow. It also offers a lot of eye-opening as to the different ways you can save more.
Lawnmower is an innovative finance app that converts change from your purchases into bitcoins. This is a great way for you to have a savings account without needing the label. You are guaranteed to put your money into savings. This app does the same as a bank’s ‘Bank The Rest’ feature, which typically rounds up and saves the difference of your purchase to the nearest $5 denomination.
While Shopkick was mentioned in the 2013 list we referenced earlier, it’s important to note that it’s still in good standing. In fact, more than six million people rely on the Shopkick app to save money at major retail outlets.
Users get paid rewards points for going to their favorite stores, shopping for deals, and referring their friends to the app. These points later get converted into gift cards, which means every dollar you spend stretches a little further.
The immense savings made possible by Groupon is nothing to overlook. You can get as much as 90% off many products and services by using this app or website.
Just give it a shot for yourself and see what’s available at a steep discount through Groupon in your local area.
Gas Buddy is the only other app from the 2013 list that’s worth bringing up now. With the Gas Buddy app, you can find map out gas stations by proximity and fuel price.
Eat Street shows the best food deals from nearby eateries and restaurants.
You are able to order right off the app, which gives you reward points. These points can later be converted for real rewards, meaning you get more for your money.
The Eat Street app took over support for Campus Special, a food savings app for students, earlier this year.
Checkout 51 is your digital coupon book, full of grocery savings in the $1 to $5 range.
After you pay, just take a picture of the receipt to scan it into the app. You will then get credited for the total amount of the coupon savings, which is based on the deals you went after.
The app updates on Thursdays and payouts are made available after reaching a $20 balance.
Saving Made Simple is a top-downloaded Android app designed to help consumers save money where it counts.
Instead of focusing on savvy electronics deals or grocery discounts, the app addresses your finances behind the scenes. You can tally your bills, earnings, savings, and more, to get a full picture of your financial position for the month.
The app is versatile and can factor in variables like saving plans for electronics, school tuition, and an upcoming vacation.
The PC Plus app works as your PC Points card and is a must-have for any Canadian shopper.
The app showcases weekly deals, which give additional PC points. You could find yourself getting back as much as $15 out of $50 in purchases, but it really depends on what you buy.
At current time, you get $1 back for every 1,000 PC points earned.
Elite Personal Finance is an authority personal finance blog, featuring content from experts in the personal finance field. We are proud to be the home of many informative posts on subjects like credit cards, identity theft, and savings. With the right information, anyone can maximize their savings while further securing their finances.
My friend, Erin, over at The Humbled Homemaker has a great post up on how to enjoy read-aloud books with your kids despite a busy schedule.
I love my family, oh yes I do. But as an introvert, my souls craves some quiet in each day… A time to collect my thoughts, to plan out the day, to breathe, to count my blessings, and to have my soul fed with the life-giving words from God’s Word. I’m a better wife and mom when I make this quiet a priority.
It might mean getting out of bed a little bit earlier than I feel like some mornings, but it is so worth it! Even just 10 or 15 minutes of quiet can make all the difference in my attitude and peace as I face each day.
For the longest time, however, I felt badly that I needed quiet. That I couldn’t just go-go-go and not need to recharge.
I love people, don’t get me wrong, but after about 3-4 hours, I crave a little quiet. I wondered what was wrong with me that I just didn’t want to be with people all of the time. I wondered why I felt so drained after being with people for an extended period of time.
I kept wondering why I felt such a need for alone time to refuel my tank often. I wanted to be more outgoing and energetic. I thought I was supposed to love being around people constantly.
But then, I took the Meyers-Briggs test, and that changed everything! I discovered that my personality type is INTJ. Part of that means that I’m an Introvert!
I’m a high introvert, according to the test, which means I don’t want to seclude myself in a cave, but it does mean that I refuel by quiet. That being with people, people, people and never having a break to recharge my tank will make me feel stressed and even grouchy.
Taking the Meyers-Briggs test was life-changing for me. Not only did it help me understand myself better, but it’s helped me relate better to other people — especially when I understand their personality type. Most of all, it’s helped me to stop feeling guilty about being an Introvert and instead embrace this important part of who I am.
I have learned that I can’t keep going when I am “peopled out” and I have to give myself permission to be an Introvert and have quiet.
Why am I sharing this? Because I know that many of you can probably relate to this, and I want to encourage you to make it a priority to take time for yourself. If you are an Introvert, you will be a better wife, mom, co-worker, friend, or whatever hats you wear when you take time to fill up yourself with what you need.
I think it’s also incredibly important to understand the difference between Introverts and Extroverts, so that in relationships we learn how to relate to one another. It helps us understand that certain attributes are just personality differences, and not something we should be offended, hurt, or upset by.
Are you an Extrovert or an Introvert? In what ways have you learned to embrace this part of your personality? And how has knowing this helped you relate to others?
P.S. I found this article so fascinating: 23 Signs You’re Secretly An Introvert. 22 out of the 23 are spot-on for me!
Melanie at Gather For Bread has a great post up on how she went from hobby blogger to making an income. Here’s a snippet:
I remember that very first day that I made a couple pennies from ad income here on the blog. I literally did a happy dance in my living room. I was over the moon excited.
Who knew that I could do what I love and make a few bucks? I certainly didn’t. I definitely started my blog as a hobby. When I first started, I wasn’t even sure what to focus on. There were recipes and marriage posts and parenting posts. And I’m still passionate about all those things.
But over time, I realized that I had limited time (just like we all do) and in order to focus and fine tune I had to cut some things out. So in 2014 I cut back to posting mostly recipes. I rarely blogged on any other topics because I wanted to be a better photographer. I wanted to be a better food blogger. I wanted to focus on quality over quantity.
There are so many work-at-home scams out there, and it is important to be careful! Watch my video above for the most important clues that a work-at-home offer is a scam.
Looking for more tips & advice? Sign up for my FREE 5-day How I Make a Full-Time Income From Home course!
When I first started blogging, I had a barebones minimalist wardrobe with just 6 tops and 6 bottoms, and that was it. For real.
I did a video on my minimalist wardrobe and people could not believe that that was possible. But I’m just such a simple person that it worked for me.
Yes, I re-wore many things over and over and over again. Yes, people saw me in the same outfits all the time, but I honestly didn’t care because it kept my life so simple.
It eliminated decision fatigue, it made it easy to keep my closet organized, and it freed up time and space in my life for things that were higher priorities to me than how I looked and dressed.
Over time, as I’ve done more speaking engagements, interviews, business meetings, TV, and video, I’ve realized I need to adjust and expand some from my long time “6 tops and 6 bottoms” wardrobe. (I quickly found that one dressier/business outfit just didn’t cut it — especially when I was on a 3 or 4-day business trip!)
At first, this was really hard for me. I don’t like shopping. I don’t like messing with figuring out clothes and outfits. And it just felt stressful — especially when I would need to get something new because I’d be doing a video interview and they’d say I needed to wear a solid color top or dress that matched with this type of background and wasn’t in these colors.
I took some time to really evaluate and figure out what would work best for my current life season, allow me to have enough options to choose from for different occasions, and also not result in me having more than I need or use.
Instead of having a set wardrobe standard where I only have X number of outfits, I’ve arrived at a really great happy place with what a minimalist wardrobe looks like for me based upon principles, rather than specifics.
These are the principles that have helped me embrace a minimalist wardrobe while also feeling great about myself.
{Keep in mind that this is what works for me, and different things work best for different people. I encourage you to take from this what you can, and then adopt it to fit your lifestyle and individual preferences.}
If you pay attention to what I wear, you’ll notice I only wear a couple of colors — mostly greens and blues, with a few other colors thrown in. I have found the colors that I absolutely love, that make me feel great, complement my skin, and make my eyes pop.
Knowing my colors has also helped simplify shopping for me! When I walk into a store, I don’t feel overwhelmed by all of the choices. I go straight to my favorite colors that I know will make me feel great.
I highly recommend the helpful book Color Me Beautiful to help guide you through the process of figuring out what your best colors are. I also found the book, Help Me Jesus I Have Nothing to Wear to be helpful, too.
There are different styles for different people, and there are different styles for different body types. The Dressing Your Truth course helped me figure out my style, completely changed the way I dressed, and made me feel much more confident about myself each day.
With the help of this course, I discovered that I like and look best in classic styles, tailored items, and straight lines (I’m a Type 4). Those beautiful, flow-y shirts that look SO gorgeous on some of my friends simply do not work on my body type. (Seriously, I look like I’m wearing a bag when I try on something like that. Plus, I just feel plain frumpy — despite how cute it looks on someone else!)
Parts of theDressing Your Truth course are a little “out there” and weird to me, but I found the core principles of this course to be truly life changing. You can read my review about it here.
Note: The course is a little bit pricey, so I recommend trying out the Dressing Your Truth eBook first to see if it’s really worth it for you. There are also a number of free videos online with more information that will give you a great peak into what the course is about. If you find these helpful, then you might want to try out the full Dressing Your Truth course.
In The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, the author says it is important to constantly ask yourself, “Does this item spark joy?” Take a look at your wardrobe piece by piece and ask yourself this question. Don’t hang on to anything you don’t like anymore, doesn’t fit you, is worn out, might be the wrong size, or that you don’t absolutely love wearing.
Think, “Am I wearing this because it looks cute on someone else? Or is it because I really love it?” As with everything in life, comparison steals joy. Focus on what works for you, and what makes you feel amazing when you put it on.
Get rid of anything that does not make you feel great every time you put it on.
It’s so easy to feel discontent and think that you need more clothes or “don’t have anything to wear”. But when you feel like that, instead of running to the mall or to shop online, start by looking at what you already have in your closet.
It’s possible that you have a closet full of clothes that you aren’t wearing. Start there.
Go through what you already have and ask yourself, “Do I love this? Have I worn this recently? Could I pair this with something I already have to make a ‘new’ outfit?
Just by going through what you already have, you might discover some items you completely forgot about, put together some new looks, and realize you don’t even need to go shopping at all!
This goes hand-in-hand with only owning what you love. There is no point in buying something that you don’t absolutely love.
When you’re in the dressing room, make sure you are 100% convinced that this item you are thinking of buying is your style and color, that it fits well, and that it pairs well with other pieces and accessories you already own.
If not, don’t buy it. Just don’t.
Otherwise, there’s a good chance you won’t wear it. You’ll keep it in your closet for the day when you find “the perfect shoes to match” or “the right pants to go with it” or for when you get back down to a size 8 again.
Save yourself the trouble, the clutter, and the money and just don’t buy it in the first place. I don’t care how good of a deal it is, it’s not a good deal for you if you don’t love it and aren’t going to wear it regularly!
People usually think I have more clothes in my closet than I do, because most of my clothes are quite versatile. I aim to have most items in my closet be things I can mix & match and use to put together different looks and outfits.
For instance, I recently got three dresses from Stitch Fix (see my completely honest review of Stitch Fix here). I kept them not only because they fit so well, but also because I instantly realized I could wear them during both the summer or winter months. In the summer months, I can wear them as a sun dress with sandals. In the colder months, I can add leggings, a cardigan, and a scarf for a completely different look.
Note: Putting Me Together is an amazing blog that gives moms very practical and doable ideas for mix and matching clothing pieces to come up with an almost endless number of different cute and simple looks. I highly recommend checking it out!
What are your favorite tips, tricks, and resources for simplifying your wardrobe? Tell us in the comments!
Rachel from Smart Mom Smart Ideas has a great post up on 10 creative ways to earn $500 per month from home. Here’s a snippet:
Are you a stay at home mom that would like to add a little to your family income every month? Maybe you work full-time or part-time but would still like to increase your income with a side hustle? With a little creativity, everyone can find jobs and earn extra money working at home.
Let’s make $500 extra dollars a month your starting point. You can break $500 several different ways to determine the type of work you might complete to reach your goal. For example, you could work 10 hours during the month for $50 per hour or 20 hours for $25 per hour or you could work 5o hours for $10 per hour.
After you decide an hourly rate for your time, you can also decide how many weeks you want to work each month. Do you want to do all the work in 1 week or just a few hours every week during the month? Remember, the more you can charge per hour for your services the fewer hours you will need to work to reach the goal.
