Money Saving Mom®

If you’ve been reading here in the last year or two, you know that I love me some essential oils. I slowly started dabbling with using them after rave reviews from people I trust.

While I think some of the claims about them you’ll read on the internet are way over-dramatized (i.e. “MY DOG WAS CURED OF CANCER BECAUSE OF OILS!!!”), I have fallen madly in love with a number of different oils and we use them on a very regular basis.

Here are three reasons I especially love essential oils:

1. I Love That They Last Seemingly Forever

Okay, so technically I have used up a few bottles of essential oils over the past two years, but because you only need a few drops (or less than that!), one bottle can last for months and months and months.

2. I Love That They Have Multiple Uses

I love that one bottle of essential oils can be used for dozens of different things. You can mix it with coconut oil and rub it on the bottom of your feet, you can diffuse it, you can put a few drops in your bath, you can make homemade cleaners with it, you can use it in homemade personal care products, and on and on it goes.

3. I Love That They Are So Inexpensive

Because they have multiple uses and because they seem to last just about forever, essential oils truly can be a very frugal alternative to paying for over-the-counter drugs or other herbal remedies.

Some of the bottles and brands can be quite pricey. But there are other kinds and brands on the market that are very reasonably priced.

Why I Don’t Sell Essential Oils

With my self-proclaimed love of essential oils, so many people have been shocked to discover I have no interest in selling them. I have been strongly encouraged over and over again by various consultants of essential oil companies to sign up under them and sell oils.

But unless some major something or other swoops in and completely and drastically alters my life, I don’t foresee myself ever selling oils.

There are a number of reasons why I don’t sell oils:

I don’t need to start another business. My life is plenty full without me signing up with a company and then having to mess with all the details involved with running that oil business.

I know that it’s been a great business for some of my friends, but most of them only do oils as their business — not oils plus writing and speaking and blogging. I may sometimes try to push too hard, but I do know my limits on this one.

I am not passionate enough about oils to sell them. I think that it’s fantastic that some of my friends are making an amazing income selling oils, but almost every single one of them who is, is intensely passionate about essential oils.

They love them fiercely. They love talking about them. They can’t not talk about them. I like essential oils, but not enough to live and breathe them as a business.

I don’t think anyone should sign up to sell something just to make money. Unfortunately, one of the big reasons people have tried to get me to sign up to sell essential oils is so I can make “a lot of money”. I’ve had people tell me I am just throwing money away to not sell them.

I’ve had people even yell at me saying I was being ridiculous to not sell them because I could make so much money to give away. If you have a choice, I don’t think you should ever do something just to make money. Period.

If there’s not heart and passion behind it, there’s no fulfillment that comes from that. And it’s a very quick way to set yourself up for being miserable and exhausted.

I love my friends too much — and wouldn’t want to hurt relationships. So here’s one of the big reasons I don’t sell essential oils: I have good friends who sell different brands. I’m not brand loyal and like multiple brands. So how would I ever be able to choose which brand to sign up under?

Regardless of what brand I signed up with and who I signed up under, I think it could potentially hurt relationships or cause awkwardness. Like I were playing favorites with people I love dearly. It’s not worth it for me to hurt relationships I hold dear just for the sake of earning an income.

I am not brand loyal. I mentioned it above, but it deserves it’s own paragraph. I could never choose which brand to sign up with, because I like some of the oils from some brands and other oils from other brands.

I like to be able to pick and choose my favorites from among the brands instead of feeling like I can only stick with one brand because that’s the brand I sell.

Would you like to try out essential oils and you’re wondering how to get started with them? Well, I’ve got GREAT news for you!

Through Monday only, you can download The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle at the low, low price of $29.97. That is 97% off the $1900+ value!

This bundle is filled with inspirational ebooks, e-courses, and free bonuses to help you feed your family better, get healthier, and feel more energetic.

Best of all, there are some fantastic resources on essential oils, including:

• Essential Oils for Families e-Course — $135 value
• How to Protect Your Family From Colds & Flus With Essential Oils e-Course — $50 value
• Detox Your Home Handbook — $19 value
• The Beginner’s Book of Essential Oils — $9.97 value
• The Truth About Essential Oil Safety — $9.97 value
• FREE Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint Essential Oil Set — $25 value (just pay $6.95 shipping!)

And yes, I am promoting a Healthy Living Bundle that I will make money off of if you click through my link and purchase. My ebook is a part of this bundle, so that’s one reason.

But I am not just promoting this bundle because I make money off of it… I really and truly believe it is an AMAZING collection of resources.

Even if you only download the e-courses on essential oils + grab the three free essential oils (just pay $6.95 shipping!), it is every bit worth the low, low price of $29.97!

Go download your Healthy Living Bundle here.

So this section of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was probably the one that was the least helpful or inspirational to me.

In fact, I sort of speed-read through some of the sections.

I felt the most important quote was this one: “Designate a spot for every last thing you own.”

And this is why: “The reason every item must have a designated place is because the existence of an item without a home multiplies the chances that your space will become cluttered again.”

I’ve always said I’m a big believer in “A place for everything and everything in its place.” However, as I read through this section of the book, I realized how many things I have that don’t truly have a designated place.

Or, that sort of have a designated place, but I’ve been so lax about actually putting them in that place that I might as well have not assigned them a place in the first place!

Empty your bag every day??

Marie Kondo also makes a strong case for why you should empty your purse/bag every day. I’m really torn on this one, personally.

I see the value in cleaning out your purse/bag daily so that it doesn’t become a traveling trash can (ahem), but it also feels like extra effort — especially since I only use one bag and don’t swap between multiple handbags.

I would worry that I’d forgot to put something in it (like my wallet or something) when filling it each day and it also just feels like extra effort to pack and unpack it each day. What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Did you read along with section 4 today? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it or on what I shared above.

P.S. If you have a few minutes, you might enjoy watching my latest Periscope video from this morning. I shared more in-depth how reading this book has impacted me and talk about what “spark joy” really means to me and why reading this book is inspiring me to get rid of my massive book pile next to my bed. Watch it here.

So you noticed how I skipped doing the Homemaking Challenge yesterday and stayed in bed instead? As I shared on Periscope this morning, that is a big deal for usually-driven-push-hard me.

And it’s all part of my new mantra to do a better job of listening to my body, of giving myself grace, and of taking time to rest. Because the health scare of the last two weeks was a real wake-up call for me.

I finished reading For The Love by Jen Hatmaker last week and I was so challenged by many parts of the book, but especially by the first chapter. In that chapter, she talks about how we try so hard as women to be the best, do the best, and impress other people. In the process, we end up exhausting ourselves.

She sums this up perfectly with a quote that jumped off the page at me and stuck in my head all week long:

“We need to quit trying to be awesome, and instead be wise.”

What exactly does this mean? What does it look like? I’ve been mulling over that the last week.

For me, it means giving myself grace and doing what is best for me and my family. I can invest so much energy in trying to give my all — as a mom, as a wife, as a friend, as an employer, as a blogger, as a homemaker, as a homeschooler — and I can easily burn myself about by trying to be “awesome” in every area of my life.

But the truth is, when I try to be awesome in every single area, I end up so exhausted instead that I’m not really able to be anything to anyone.

So I am working on doing a better job of reminding myself of this. And I easily forget.

Take last week, for instance. Even while letting this quote resonate in my mind, I had a moment where I tried to choose awesomeness over wisdom.

As you know, the last few weeks I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and worn down. I had a lot of projects on my plate, to-do’s on my list, and people who were needing extra investment. As a result, I hadn’t been getting enough sleep or taking care of myself.

During a moment of sitting at home feeling like I was barely hanging on or keeping up, I received an e-mail from a reader that said, “I used to love your blog, but I don’t anymore, and here’s why…” She then listed all of the reasons why she no longer enjoys my blog.

I get e-mails like this from time to time. I have learned over the years of blogging that I can’t please everyone. I will always disappoint someone, because I am only one person and I can’t be all things to all people.

But this e-mail came right at a time when I was already feeling like I was failing big time. I was discouraged, and this e-mail felt like a gut punch while I was already down. It felt like I was pouring every last drop out and it wasn’t enough.

One of the reasons why this reader said she didn’t like my blog anymore was that I no longer hosted regular challenges — like the homemaking, cleaning, or freezer cooking challenges I’ve done in the past.

As soon as I read this, I immediately started looking at my calendar and trying to plan out when I could do challenges multiple challenges in the next few weeks, all because of this one e-mail. I mapped out a plan to do three different challenges — including a challenge last week right before my surgery.

I didn’t think about how exhausted I felt or how full my week already was. I was moreso just focusing on the fact that if I didn’t do these challenges, I was failing my readers.

When I told my husband about my plan to do a challenge last week and then this week and the following week, he looked at me like I was nuts. Because I was!

And then he spoke some truth to me, “Maybe you can another week, but this week you just need to rest.”

I knew he was right, I mean, I was worn out and worn down plus I was scheduled for surgery, but there was that part of me inside that was yelling, “But I’m going to disappoint my readers! I have to figure out a way to make this happen!”

And then I remembered that quote. I had to remind myself to stop trying to be awesome, and instead be wise.

I’m so, so glad that I listened to my husband because last week ended up being a really hard week for me. Not only did I end up in bed with a fever for a few days and then have some serious nausea the day before my surgery, but then surgery recovery ended up being a lot harder than I expected.

My husband gave me permission to plan a simple challenge this week because I felt like I might go stir-crazy with all the resting! But he made me promise to take it easy, keep it simple, and skip any day that I didn’t feel up to it. Which I did yesterday!

I share this in hopes that it will encourage you to think of areas in your life where you might be trying to be awesome when you need to step back, cut back, and be wise instead.

Now, yes, when you start choosing to be wise over trying to be awesome, you will also have to be okay with disappointing some people. Because not everyone is going to be on board with you saying no, cutting back, or not being as available.

But it’s okay to disappoint people — provided they are the right people. I don’t want to disappoint my God, my husband, or my kids. There are a lot of other people I will have to disappoint in the process in order to not disappoint those who are my greatest priorities right now.

So today, my challenge for you is this: Think about the areas you’re trying to be awesome in and decide if you need to dial back and say “that’s not wise for me right now.” Do what works for you and what is best for your family. Be okay if it’s completely different than someone else.

You are not them, you are YOU. Do what works for you!

So, I knew it was coming… the part of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up when it would get weird. And well, today it happened.

Marie Kondo suggests that folding clothes transfers energy. And I responded, “Weird.”

She suggested thanking your clothes. And again, I say, “Weird.”

Finally, she makes a case for why you should treat your socks with respect. And I say a resounding, “Weird.”

But contrary to what you might expect, I didn’t close the book and walk away from it. I plowed through and kept reading… and I’m glad that I did.

I’d heard/seen things about people folding their clothes a different way as a result of reading this book. So I was curious as to what that was all about.

She says, “The key is to store things standing up rather than laid flat.” Why? So that when you open your drawer, you can see everything at once.

I’m torn on this. On the one hand, it seems like a lot of work. She suggests: “Fold each piece of clothing into a simple, smooth rectangle.” {My kids do most of the laundry nowadays and I’m trying to decide if I want to put in the work to teach them to fold and put away this way or not.}

On the other hand, it does make sense to have everything in your dressers in a way that you can see everything and don’t have to dig to try to find what you’re looking for.

Do any of you fold and put away your clothes this way? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it as I am toying with trying it.

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

This quote is one I want to remember and follow. I’ve been noticing how much stuff I hang out 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.

I love what she said about books: “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.”

And then she said this powerful statement: “Having fewer books actually increases the impact of the information I read.”

Whoa. That’s thought-provoking. And it made me immediately want to pare down my massive stack of I-want-to-read-right-now books next to my bed that has been taunting me for too long.

Two more quotes that really challenged me:

• “No matter how wonderful things used to be, we cannot live in the past. The joy and excitement we feel here and now are more important.”
• “By handling each sentimental item and deciding what to discard, you process your past.”

Did you read along with section 3 today? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it or on what I shared above.