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Shared Apr 3, 2015 comment

Reader Tip: How To Give Yourself A Weekly Raise

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

Tshanina from Thrifty T’s Treasures emailed in the following tip:

I always cringe when I hear friends share their excitement about getting a tax refund. It’s as if they’re getting an unexpected bonus every Spring.

What they might not realize is that their tax refund is actually their very own money and the government’s been keeping it all year! Yes, you heard me right, the government has been earning interest on your hard-earned money!

How would you like to give yourself a raise?

If you consistently receive a tax refund every year, with just one simple step you can give yourself a weekly raise. All you have to do is change the withholdings on your paycheck.

Talk with your H.R. person at work and take a few minutes to change your withholdings. If you’re not sure what your withholdings should be, ask your tax person or accountant.

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Shared Apr 3, 2015 comment

The Tiniest Apartment I’ve Ever Seen (just 86 square feet!)

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

So, I guess I’m on a small house posting kick this week, but I just couldn’t help but share this tour of an 86-square-foot apartment!

I was blown away by how minimalist it was and how functional it was. You have to watch the video and then let me know: would you love to live in a space like this? Why or why not?

Shared Apr 3, 2015 comment

Brigette’s $52 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 6

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

Aldi

2 8-oz canisters Parmesan Cheese – $4.98

2 16-oz cartons Egg Whites – $3.98

1 10-lb bag Russet Potatoes – $1.99

1 32-oz pkg Spaghetti – $1.59

1 bunch Bananas (2.28/lb @ $0.35/lb) – $0.80, plus receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51 – $0.55 after rebate

3 16-oz bags Baby Carrots – $2.07

1 Cucumber – $0.49

1 large bag Kale – $1.99

1 24-oz pkg Zucchini – $1.99

1 container Artisan Baby Lettuce – $1.99

1 3-ct pkg Romaine Hearts – $1.99

1 Pineapple – $1.79

1 3-lb bag Sweet Potatoes – $1.17

1 3-lb bag Yellow Onions – $0.99

2 pkgs Pepperoni – $3.98

1 24-oz jar Gourmet Pasta Sauce – $1.79

Total: $33.31 after rebate

Harris Teeter

2 20-oz pkgs Sara Lee Butter Bread (B1G1) – $2.79, used 2 $0.55/1 Sara Lee Bread, exp. 6/1/15 (SS 03/01/15 R) (doubled) – $0.59/2 after coupons

2 16-oz bags Mahatma Brown Rice – $2.00, used 2 $0.50/1 Mahatma or Water Maid Rice, exp. 4/30/15 (RP 01/25/15) (doubled) – FREE after coupons

4 5-oz bags Mahatma Rice Mix – $3.00, used 2 $0.75/2 Mahatma Rice Mix, exp. 4/30/15 (RP 01/25/15 R) – FREE after coupons

2 8-oz pkgs Sargento Sliced Cheese – $5.00, used 2 $0.55/1 printable (doubled) – $2.80/2 after coupons

2 8-oz chunks Kraft Pepper Jack cheese (B1G1) – $3.79, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $0.79/2 after coupons

2 16-oz boxes Land O Lakes Half Sticks Butter (B1G1) – $5.49, used 2 $0.50/1 printable – $3.49/2 after coupons

1 gallon Milk – $2.99, plus receive $0.25 rebate from Ibotta – $2.74 after rebate

1 container Truwhip – $1.74, used $2/1 printable – FREE plus overage after coupon

Total: $10.15

Walgreens

4 pkgs Walgreens Diapers (B1G1) – $8.99, used 2 $1.50/1 printable, plus receive $0.25 back from Ibotta – $5.74/2 after coupons and rebate

5 dozen Eggs – $4.95 (this may have been a local price), plus receive $0.25 back from Snap by Groupon – $4.70 after rebate

Total after Taxes, Coupons and Rebates: $11.07 (Note: I did not include the diapers in my weekly grocery total, but I left them in the Walgreens picture in case anyone else is interested in picking up a couple of packs of diapers for a great price!)

Weekly Total for all Groceries: $52.16

Weekly Menu Plan

Breakfasts

Cereal x 3

Eggs and Toast x 2 (Veggie Omelettes for me)

Oatmeal x 2

Lunches

15-Minute Parmesan Pasta, Oranges, Carrot Sticks

Baked Potatoes with Cheese, Apples

Perfect Oven Sweet Potato Fries, Bananas, Cucumber Slices

Build-Your-Own-Tossed Salad, Boiled Eggs x 2

Leftovers x 2

Dinners

Spaghizza, Homemade French Bread, Tossed Salad, Buttered Broccoli, Fruit Salad (Company for Dinner)

Fried Egg and Cheese Sandwiches (meatless), Green Beans, Fruit

Chicken Fried Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Leftover French Bread

Scalloped Ham and Potatoes (from the More With Less cookbook – we still have lots of ham in the freezer from generous friends!), Easy Whole Wheat Bread (recipe coming soon), Tossed Salad

Venison Roast in the Crockpot, Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes, Make Ahead Butterhorns, Buttered Carrots, Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownies (Easter Meal)

Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Healthy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (for me), Popcorn, Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothies, Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownies, Fresh Fruit, Carrot Sticks

Shared Apr 2, 2015 comment

12 Goals for 2015 + the Progress I Made in March

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

March was a full month, but a good month. And we made a LOT of headway on our goals for this year… which was so encouraging to realize. Here’s an update on how I did on my goals for 2015 in March:

My 12 Goals for 2015

Marriage

Read 1 book per month on marriage.

Read in January: 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband

Read in February: From This Day Forward

Read in March: For Married Women Only

Write at least 1 love note to Jesse each week.

Done in January

Done in February

Done in March

Motherhood

Read at least 1 book aloud to the kids per month.

Read in January: James the the Giant Peach

Read in February: The Imagination Station Book 15, The Cricket in Times Square

Read in March: The Imagination Station Book 16, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

Write 1 love note to each child every month.

Done in January.

Done in February.

Done in March.

Myself

Complete all She Reads Truth 2015 Bible Studies + memory work.

Done in January — I absolutely loved the John study.

Done in February — I really enjoyed the Esther study.

Done in March — I’m almost finished with the Lent study — so, so good!

Read 1 fiction book per month.

Read in January: What Alice Forgot

Read in February: The Cricket in Times Square (read aloud to the kids)

Read in March: Lizzy & Jane

MoneySavingMom.com

~~Hire a local personal assistant.~~

Done! And I’m so grateful! My new assistant, Ashley, is amazing!

Launch 2 courses (we’re planning one for spring and one for fall — stay tuned!)

In March, we did all the filming for the first course, Makeover Your Mornings. We’re currently finishing up post-production and I can’t WAIT to share this with you very soon!

Launch our new product line (slated to soft launch in the summer).

Release my third book (slated to come out November 2015).

I finished copy edits in March and now we’re working on all the graphic design.

Money

~~Increase last year’s overall giving totals by 10% in 2015.~~

Part of my going to South Africa was to investigate the possibility of our family personally supporting the work of Take Action. After coming home, we both felt this was the direction we were supposed to take and our partnership with them will allow us to meet this goal. We’re so thrilled with what God is doing there in South Africa and, for those who have joined us in this through the #TenDollarTribe.

Finish funding our Rental House #3 Savings Account.

Yay! We moved from 35% to 44% this past month. So excited to see some significant traction here this month!

How are you doing on YOUR goals for 2015?

If you set goals for this year, I’d love to hear how you are doing on them! Leave a comment telling us about your progress on them or leave the link over to your blog post about them. Here’s to a year of living with purpose, intentional, impact, and meaning!

Shared Apr 2, 2015 comment

How to Become a Successful Blogger (video)

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

I wish that I could come and have coffee with each of you on a regular basis, but since that’s not possible, I thought I’d share this video that I recently filmed with Kelsey Humphreys.

She came to Nashville and sat at our kitchen bar and we talked about my blogging journey, the lessons I’ve learned, the struggles I’ve experienced, and some key takeaways I’ve found through many mistakes along the way.

As you’ll discover if you take the time to watch it, this is not a highly edited video but just real, authentic footage of me sharing my heart… kind of like I would if we could sit and have coffee together.

If you’ve ever wondered how I got started blogging or ever thought about starting your own blog or ever wished you could talk “shop” with me over coffee, I think you’ll enjoy this video.

And feel free to comment and ask any followup questions you might have — about blogging or anything else we talk about on this video — and I’ll do my best to try to answer them.

Thinking of starting a blog? Be sure to check out this page where I share How to Start a Blog & Make Money Blogging.

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

Click here to sign up!

Shared Apr 2, 2015 comment

Toluna: Take online surveys and earn cash, gift cards, and prizes!

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

Have you signed up with Toluna yet?

When you sign up, you can earn cash, gift cards, and prizes by taking online surveys, voting, and testing out products. Plus, you get to make your voice heard to the companies, retailers and designers of the products and services you use.

Register here today and you’ll get 500 points for joining.

Find more legitimate survey companies you can sign up with here.

Shared Apr 2, 2015 comment

How a Family of 4 Happily Lives in 700 Sq. Ft. Home

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

After I posted the guest post on Why I Like My Smaller House, Roni left a comment talking about how their family of 4 lives in a 650-square-foot home. I was intrigued and asked if she’d do a post on it sometime.

I loved the post she put together giving us a very thorough walk-through of their small home and how they make it work. It’s inspiring and if you are currently living in a small space or you are thinking of downsizing to a smaller space, be sure to read it here.

Shared Apr 1, 2015 comment

Sign up for the 30 Days to an Organized Life series!

Published: by Crystal Paine on April 1, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Kimberlee over at The Peaceful Mom is doing a 30 Days to an Organized Life series starting today. Sign up here for free to receive daily emails to help you get your home and life in order.

When you sign up, you’ll also receive a customizable Daily Planner and a free The Best Times to Buy Everything printable.

Shared Mar 31, 2015 comment

Limited Time Offer! 4-Week Online Blogging Class {Includes Blog Set-up} – For Just $.99!

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

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own money-making blog? You want to start – but you just don’t know how? Or, maybe you have a blog that would like to take to the next level and start earning an income from it?

Through April 6, 2015, Blogelina is offering a special deal for my readers who want to start a money-making blog. Enroll in their popular 4-week blogging class—Profitable Blogging for Beginners—for just $0.99!

If you want to learn the basics of how to set up a blog, how to take your blogging to the next level, or how to begin earning money from your blog, you’ll want to check out this class!

When you sign up for this class, here’s what you’ll get:

A FREE Blog Set Up – Blogelina takes care of the techie side of the set-up so you don’t have to. All you have to do is just have to start blogging!
A FREE Year of Web Hosting
A 60-Page How-To Manual – packed with information that will help take the overwhelming out of starting your own blog
4 weekly online class sessions where you can ask your questions and get personalized feedback
Blueprints, step-by-step tutorials, networking with other bloggers — everything you need to grow your blog.

This class will cover:

How to Get Your Blog Started on the Right Foot
Questions to ask as you begin blogging
How To Actually Set Up A Blog
Why Your Blog Design is So Important
9 Different Ways to Easily Monetize Your Blog
How to Draw Visitors to Your Blog
and so much more!

Blogelina has been featured on the Dave Ramsey show, and is well-known for their ability to help bloggers make a successful start. Many of my readers here have gone through this course in the past and have great reviews to share with me.

And for $0.99? That’s a steal! But this offer is only valid until April 6, 2015!

Sign up for the Blogelina Build Your Own Profitable Blog class today!

*If you’re not 100% satisfied with your experience with Blogelina, you are free to walk away at any time during the class session! PLUS, you’ll get to keep your copy of the class manual and your free year of hosting – Blogelina will refund your money!

Note: This post was underwritten by Blogelina. Read our disclosure policy here.

Shared Mar 31, 2015 comment

5 Things To Remember When Teaching Kids How To Save

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

Guest post from Madison:

If I had to come up with a title for kids in general, using one simplistic term, I’d call them munchkins with a short attention span.

Let’s face it, sometimes it’s hard to teach lessons and even harder to get those lessons to stick. However, when it comes to the importance of saving money, there are no excuses to take on the teacher role.

Teaching kids to save will set a precedence for their entire financial future, so I’ve compiled a few things to remember when you start.

1. Object Lessons

Kids are visual learners, and concepts like saving money will come a lot easier if you demonstrate.

Give your kids an object lesson on patience. Whether it’s candy, ice cream, or a different treat, tell them that if they don’t eat it within a given time-frame, then they’ll get another one afterwards. It’s a simple yet effective way to teach them how to save.

The next step is to move on to money so they can understand and put the concept into practice.

2. Set the Example

Kids pick up on a lot more than you think. They are constantly learning by example, so why not set a good one?

Show them how you save money for big purchases and openly communicate with them what it takes to do so. If you’re constantly buying brand new, unnecessary things, they will think that’s the norm and grow to do it themselves.

3. Be Consistent

A lesson on saving money is only effective if you keep teaching days, weeks, and months afterwards. Don’t let it be a one time event. Consistently ask your kids if they’re saving their money and go over ideas on what they can save for.

4. Make It Fun

As a child, I thought saving money was hard and in all honesty, boring. I was constantly thinking about everything I couldn’t buy at that specific moment because my money was locked away in a piggy bank. (I’ve always been an impatient person!)

Make the process of saving fun by putting up a sticker chart in the office where the kids can have a little healthy competition with one another. You can even give them small prizes for each benchmark they hit.

5. Teach Them Rewards

The reward is sweet, but your kids will never realize it if they don’t make it to the end.

I once started saving up for a bike, but kept spending my quarters on candy and jewelry and lost sight of my goal. Instead of paying for a bike with my own saved money, my parents got me one for Christmas a year or two later.

Not to discredit Christmas or birthdays, but I would have learned a lot more about saving had my parents made me buy it myself.

Teaching your kids to save isn’t too hard when you put these ideas into practice. Before you know it, they’ll become money-saving moguls and who knows? Maybe they’ll save enough money to give you a nice retirement when you’re old. If that’s the case, let the teaching begin!

What are your best tips to teach kids to save?

Madison is a Community Relations Specialist at an accounting software company. She enjoys running, sewing, marketing, and fashion illustration.

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Shared Mar 31, 2015 comment

A Day In My Life: Flooded bathrooms, leaking ceilings, and entrepreneurial kids

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

Yesterday started bright and early. I’d planned to get up, run, take a shower, and get dressed for the day first thing in the morning. But some unexpected things came up needing my immediate attention and that got pushed to the back burner.

I finished those pressing things and my morning blogging and while Kaitlynn made eggs for breakfast and I started the laundry.

Kathrynne had made a pan of Energy Bars this weekend, so she opted to have that for breakfast instead. She made a case for why it was a healthy way to start the day and the nutrition that was in this recipe and her case was so solid that I gave in and let her eat “dessert” for breakfast.

{Considering that I eat Chocolate Cake for breakfast sometimes, I can’t really protest too much!}

While the kids finished breakfast, I cleaned up the messy kitchen (you can’t see it from this vantage point, but there were some pots and pans in the sink with crusted on food… just lovely! :)) and went over our plans for the day with the kids.

Silas couldn’t WAIT to start in on his math. He’s been itching to do the Monarch Online School that the girls do, but since he’s still learning to read, it starts at a 3rd grade level, and he’s only 5, we’ve been holding him off. However, recently, we decided that it wouldn’t hurt to let him at least try the math, since that’s such a strong subject for him.

Well, what do you know? The kid is whizzing through the lessons — often doing 8 or 9 a day! And he’s getting an average of 90% to 95% on all of the lessons and quizzes — all with very little help from us!

He absolutely loves it and we just keep laughing at how much he surprises us with his math skills, especially since it’s not something we’ve worked on really hard, just something he’s learned by asking lots of questions from all of us.

We had guessed that he was probably at a 3rd grade level in math, but we didn’t really think he could actually do the 3rd grade computer school lessons without a lot of help from us. Clearly, he has proven us wrong! We’re curious to see how long this pace and enthusiasm keeps up!

Now, if he could just learn how to read well, he’d really be whizzing through lessons! 🙂

These flowers on my kitchen table brightened up my morning! Such a fun and cheery color!

While Silas was working on math and the girls were working on their Daily Lists, I tackled the fridge. Yup, it looks like it needed some help!

When I actually dove in, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. About 10 minutes later, it was squeaky clean!

I finished up the last of the dishes and wiped down the counter tops and smiled to see a clean kitchen. I love a clean kitchen. Even if the rest of the house is messy, having the kitchen clean makes me feel like half the house is clean!

While I was finishing up the kitchen, the girls came back down and we got engrossed in an in-depth conversation about business ideas they had and how to best launch them. I love seizing these everyday opportunities to teach and talk through real-life stuff, to weigh pros and cons, to ask them questions, to help them think through outcomes, and to inspire them to exercising their entrepreneurial muscles.

We came up with some new ideas today that I’m actually thinking they might carry out. We’ll see, but I love to see them thinking and pondering and asking questions with long-term goals and dreams in mind.

As we were finishing up our conversation on business ideas, Jesse came home bringing this for me. Yes, folks, with much reluctance, I finally upgraded.

I have been due for a free upgrade for quite some time, but I always hold out as long as I possibly can. But because I’d been having some issues with my phone and because Jesse was really anxious to go ahead and upgrade, I finally bit the bullet and said, “Go for it!”

I feel like my new phone is some foreign object invading my life, but I’m sure I’ll get over it soon enough. 🙂

Jesse also came home bringing the mail… which had some fun surprises for me — including my new She Reads Truth study pack and some goodies I bought for myself off of Amazon using my free gift cards from Swagbucks. I can’t wait to watch Habits Workshop with Jesse and try out the Sweet Blend that I’ve heard so many rave reviews of!

These fun review products also showed up in the mail… look for some great giveaways coming soon! I love getting to offers giveaways for great (and useful!) products.

After we went through the mail and got things put away, the girls told Jesse all about their new business ideas and then we sat down to finally have Morning Time. We’re going through this Holy Week devotional from our church this week.

By the way, have I mentioned how much we love our church?? We are so grateful for how intentional they are about encouraging families to spend time in God’s Word together and the practical helps they provide to us parents to help us teach the truths of Scripture to our kids.

After Morning Time, I had planned to leave and head to the office space, but I still hadn’t had a chance to run and take my shower and I really had some pressing projects I needed to finish and I wanted to also take some time to read my Bible and journal.

So instead of leaving, I just made myself a cup of coffee and a snack and spent some time reading and journaling and then headed up to my room to knock out my afternoon blogging list while Jesse oversaw lunch, the rest of the Kid’s Daily Lists, and school work for the day.

After Kathrynne was finished with her list and school, she spent some time working on her latest Lego machines. I’m hoping I can get her to put together some tutorials for me to share on the blog soon as I think some of you might have Lego-lovers in your house who would have fun making the Lego Candy machines and puzzle boxes that she creates.

We got a box of clothes from Schoola with some new-to-us clothes for the kids for the warmer weather.

So Kaitlynn asked Kathrynne if she’d do a photo shoot with one of her new outfits.

I was quite impressed with how the pictures turned out!

Around 5:30 p.m., I finished up my blogging work and we all ate some of the delicious homemade Chicken Nuggets that Jesse made for dinner. And then I — finally! — headed to take a shower and get dressed since friends were coming over for Dessert Night (just keeping it real here!).

There was water in the tub from the kid’s baths much earlier in the day and when I went to pull the plug on that, instead of draining out like usual it backed up into our shower and flooded the shower and the bathroom floor!

As I realized what was happening, I quickly mopped up the water flooded out on the bathroom floor and hollered to Jesse to come figure out how to drain out the shower. He finally got it drained by using a snake down the drain. We hoped we had prevented anything from leaking through the ceiling by catching it quickly enough and mopping it up right away.

Once that crisis was diverted, I finished getting ready — just minutes before our friends arrived.

Shortly after they got to our house, we noticed the ceiling in the living room/kitchen bubbling up. And then it started dripping — right where we were all sitting!

At first it was just a slow drip, but then it started dripping at a faster rate. Pretty soon, we had to get towels and buckets to catch the water. Jesse even stood on a chair and held one up on the ceiling for awhile to catch a lot of the water dripping down.

I just stood there and smiled, laughed, and encouraged Jesse… because what else can you do when your ceiling is raining while you have company over and you’re not handy at all??! (Thanks to Tam Hodge for documenting some of the crazy of the evening in pictures for us!)

Gratefully, there was a handy woman in our midst. For those of you who don’t know, Jenny Acuff not only helps Jon write amazing books, she’s also incredibly handy. She climbed up and ripped down the tape on the sheet rock to let the water drain out more quickly. 🙂

We eventually got it to stop dripping and then went back to our chatting, laughing, and dessert-eating. 🙂

And now today, in addition to our A/C not working upstairs and our hot water tank going out (nothing like ice-cold showers to wake you up in the morning!), we need to figure out what this plumbing issue is.

The good news? This house has given us lots of opportunities to learn patience, flexibility, and adaptability. Plus, there’s rarely a dull moment around here or a few weeks that go by where we don’t have some kind of repairmen in our home working on some new problem. 😉

How was YOUR day yesterday? Tell us about it in the comments.

Shared Mar 30, 2015 comment

When You Feel Like You’re Failing At Everything (6 Things to Do)

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 30, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Ever have weeks when you feel like you’re failing at everything? Here’s hope and practical help!

This past week felt like one fail after another.

I had some pressing deadlines, we’re in the midst of some fairly big business decisions, some things I poured a lot of effort into sort of just fell flat, our child who is usually obedient and cheerful was the exact opposite this week, and, ahem, there’s this thing called PMS rearing it’s ugly head.

So it was kind of the perfect storm this week. And I got sucked right into the vortex and let it bring me down.

I yelled at my kids (I know, I know — I need to read and heed my own advice there), I was irritated at my husband, I was short with some of my team members, and I did a lot of personal beating up of myself.

In fact, one child brought me this oil and kindly suggested I try rubbing some of it on, as they said, “You could really use it.”

I think that was code for, “We’d really like a peaceful and calm mom instead of the grumpy, frustrated mom who has been hanging out at our house a lot this week.”

As I thought back over last week and what I could learn from it, here are six things I’m working on implementing into my life to help me pull out of the “failure slump” and begin this next week with fresh resolve:

1. Ask Forgiveness

I am not and can not be a perfect mother. I will mess up and fail.

When that happens, I have a choice: I can beat myself up over my short-comings and sulk in shame over my inadequacies or I can ask forgiveness of my family and the Lord and ask God for His grace and enabling to have a quiet and loving spirit toward those closest to me.

These opportunities to humble myself and ask forgiveness can be powerful examples to my children — and something I hope they remember when they make mistakes and mess up.

2. Remember Your Blessings

It’s easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed by everything going on around us. Life is full of hard things, tough decisions, and difficult people.

Last week, I let outside stress impact my inner peace. Instead of choosing to focus on all of the amazing blessings in my life, I let a compilation of a lot of small things press in and frustrate me.

As I often say, “You can’t always change your circumstances, but you can always choose your attitude.” This coming week, I want to remind myself often to pay attention to the many blessings in my life and live my days in gratefulness for those.

3. Get Some Fresh Perspective

Sometimes, you just need some fresh perspective on life. Whether that’s doing something to serve someone else, getting out of the house, doing something you’ve never done before, or taking a break from a project or situation that is causing you to feel anxious.

This weekend, I chose to “check out” of a lot of business stuff and move some self-imposed deadlines to later and instead spend a lot of extra time hanging out with my family, serving at church, spending time with friends, grocery shopping, and just soaking up some breathing room. It’s amazing what this little “vacation from the obligations” did for my soul.

4. Sleep!

I’ve become such a firm believer in getting enough sleep. It makes such a difference in just about every area of our lives.

If you’re feeling uptight or stressed or want to pull your hair out over a hard thing in your life, stop and do a sleep check. Have you been getting adequate sleep most nights this week? If not, do all you can to make it a priority over the next few days — even if it means you have to let some other things in your life slide.

When you are operating on a “full tank of sleep”, you are much more apt to feel calm and peaceful and cheerful — even in the middle of a lot of stressful situations. Sleep is something I’m going to make a high priority this week and I’m guessing that doing so will make a big difference for me.

5. Be Honest About Your Struggles

Don’t try to pretend that you have it all together. When someone asks you how you are, if you’re not doing so well, be honest.

Let them know that it’s been a hard week, that you’re struggling with something, or that you’re feeling discouraged over something. Don’t carry all the weight of these burdens on your shoulders and then just answer “fine” or “good” when someone asks you how you’re doing. Authenticity and vulnerability breeds some of the deepest, most beautiful relationships.

When I posted about my mom fails on Instagram on Friday, I was amazed at how many moms were feeling the same way and how me just being open about it gave them a safe place to share their own struggles, too.

6. Remember That You’re Not Alone

No matter what you’re going through, know this: you’re not alone. You’re not the only one who is struggling or feeling like a failure.

You’re not the only one who has yelled at your kids this week, gotten somewhere incredibly late, looked in the mirror and felt discouraged by what you saw looking back at you, had an argument with your husband, wanted to just go disappear for a few hours and find this thing called peace and quiet, felt out of place, received devastating news… or whatever else it was that happened to you this week.

You aren’t alone. And that’s one reason I love this community here — and the overflow on Facebook and Instagram. It gives us a place to be honest and to share our heartaches and hurts and to hear that others are dealing with some of the same things, too.

Are you struggling right now, too? Tell us about it in the comments. We’re here for you and we’d love to listen, encourage, and pray for you.

And if you’re not struggling right now, maybe you could take a moment to share some words of encouragement in the comments for those here who are struggling? There’s no such thing as too much encouragement!

Want some practical help with setting up your day for success? It all starts the night before! Be sure to grab a copy of my brand-new online course, Make Over Your Evenings.

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My Monday Morning Plan + Today’s Deep-Cleaning Project

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 30, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My Monday Morning Project

It’s Monday and guess what that means? That means it’s time for our weekly deep-cleaning project! Every Monday morning this year, I’ll be assigning us all a deep-cleaning project to tackle (well, that is, if want to join us!)

Today’s project is to deep clean your refrigerator. I’m headed to the grocery store later today and know our fridge could use some deep-cleaning before I put the new groceries in it.

Here’s my plan for this morning:

Bible reading/journaling
Blogging/Business work
Breakfast/Morning Time
School with Silas
Chores/quick house clean up, start a load of laundry
Clean out fridge
Get girls started on their independent work
Run/shower
Pick up my room/make bed
Ready to go — lunch made — head to work at our office space

This evening, I’ll share a post about how my morning well and give you an update (with pictures) on how my fridge-cleaning project went.

Need some motivation? Check out my post on 10 Ways to Make Cleaning More Fun.

Want to join me? Leave a comment to let us know you’re participating! If you have time, tell us what your morning plan is, too.

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10 Goals For This Week + an update on last week’s goals

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 30, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Last week was full and there were some hard days (I have a blog post coming later today on those!), but the weekend ended on a high note, so that was a blessing.

Saturday morning and afternoon was pretty packed — I had two coffee dates, Silas had his first baseball game, and we had to go get a bunch of supplies for our church’s café.

{Silas at his first baseball game. His little 5-year-old heart couldn’t be happier. After talking about it for months and counting down the days for weeks, the day of his first baseball game finally arrived. My mama heart wanted to burst seeing his joy, passion, enthusiasm, and focus at bat and on the field.}

Jesse and I were planning to have our date night on Saturday night and had childcare lined up for it, but a few hours before, we decided to cancel so that we could get to bed early instead. We had a very full day on Sunday and needed to all be at church early and then would be gone most of the day.

While we were sad to miss our date, we both feel like it was a good decision because it allowed us to be able to have a relaxing family evening and then a calm Sunday morning. And the fact that we all showed up at church by 8:20 a.m. with all the supplies we needed to bring for the café and everyone with teeth brushed and hair fixed is pretty much a Christmas miracle. {Those of you who know our family and our “issues” with getting out the door — especially early in the morning! — will be able to appreciate that even more!}

Next week, we get to put our early Sunday morning skills to an even bigger test: our church is having 3 services for Easter — with the first one being at 8 a.m.! So that means we’ll all need to be out the door by around 7 a.m. with everyone dressed and presentable and all the supplies + extra supplies for the Easter crowd. It should be an adventure. 🙂

Here’s a run-down on how I did on my goals last week:

Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals

~~1. Write notes of encouragement to all three kids.~~

~~2. Write a love note to Jesse.~~

3. Have a date night with Jesse.

Personal Goals

~~4. Exercise at least 5 times.~~

~~5. Finish at least two books.~~

6. Work on the Cosy Posy Ear Warmer. {By the time I get this done, it’s going to be summer! I guess I can save it for next winter!}

Local Ministry/Hospitality/Friendship Goals

~~7. Clean out and organize all the cupboards at our church’s café.~~

~~8. Invite a family who just moved to Nashville to have a meal with us.~~

Business Goals

~~9. Outline/write 3 substantive blog posts for next week.~~

~~10. Finish getting all the permissions for stories used in my manuscript.~~

Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals

1. Decorate Easter eggs with the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

3. Continue working on developing the habit of obedience in our home (I attended the Laying Down the Rails workshop at the recent homeschool conference and it’s really motivated and inspired us in our parenting. We’re choosing the habit of obedience to implement in our home for the next 6-8 weeks. Just a week of working on this and it’s already made a big difference. Watch this video here for a snippet of the workshop.)

Personal Goals

4. Exercise at least 5 times.

5. Finish at least two books.

6. Listen to at least two inspiring audios/podcasts while working/driving (I’ve recently been challenged to do a better job of using those little cracks of time throughout the day to fill my mind up with good things and things that make me think and analyze life.)

Local Ministry/Hospitality/Friendship Goals

7. Research how to make the best coffee with the new commercial coffee machine we got for our church’s café.

8. Host a Dessert Night at our house.

Business Goals

9. Outline/write 3 substantive blog posts for next week.

10. Finish all final edits for the Makeover Your Mornings course.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

Shared Mar 30, 2015 comment

Eating From the Pantry & Freezer — come see this family of four’s success!

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 30, 2015 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Heather from Queen Bee Coupons and her family embarked on a Pantry & Freezer Challenge this past month. And they ended up only spending $185 on groceries!

See what they bought, the meals they ate, and the price breakdowns over here on her blog.

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

FREE Summer Bucket List!!

Aldi

Harris Teeter

Walgreens

Weekly Total for all Groceries: $52.16

Weekly Menu Plan

Breakfasts

Lunches

Dinners

Snacks

My 12 Goals for 2015

How are you doing on YOUR goals for 2015?

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

Sign up for the Blogelina Build Your Own Profitable Blog class today!

1. Object Lessons

2. Set the Example

3. Be Consistent

4. Make It Fun

5. Teach Them Rewards

What are your best tips to teach kids to save?

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

How was YOUR day yesterday? Tell us about it in the comments.

1. Ask Forgiveness

2. Remember Your Blessings

3. Get Some Fresh Perspective

4. Sleep!

5. Be Honest About Your Struggles

6. Remember That You’re Not Alone

Here’s my plan for this morning:

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