Saving Families Money Since 2007
Today’s questions is from Anna:
I need to find a credit monitoring service and I was wondering if you or your readers have a particular service that stands apart from the others? -Anna
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Note: I always hesitate to share honest posts like this because I don’t want it to come across that I’m complaining or whining about my life. I’m incredibly blessed and I know that many of you are going through crazy hard, overwhelming, and massively discouraging life stuff right now and would give anything to be dealing with these types of “problems”. At the same time, though, I’m committed to being authentic in this space. And this is just my real and raw thoughts tonight…
It’s past 8 p.m. and I’m finally getting this written.
I’ve meant to do it since 8 a.m. this morning. But today was just one of those days.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad day. But it was just an exhausting day.
There’s a lot going on with the business right now. I’m writing a book. And I’m learning how to juggle homeschooling three kids for the first time.
All three of these things combined together makes for a LOT in each day, especially as we jump back into the school year.
I’m not complaining because I’ve chosen this life. And I know that it’s exactly where I’m supposed to be. I also know that this is a short season with a lot of responsibilities and it will definitely be slowing down in another month or two.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s always easy. Or that I don’t ever longingly consider alternative choices.
Like maybe lounging on a private island with complete quiet and a good book??
Yeah. That sounds about perfect right now after such a long day of business projects, emails, writing, and hours of homeschooling kids who weren’t all that thrilled with today’s assignments. Ahem. 🙂
But the good news? Homeschooling is finally finished for the day (as of about 10 minutes ago), I kept my commitment to not yell or be angry with my kids throughout this whole long homeschooling day, we made some really good progress today, one child just made me a bowl of fruit and gave me a love note, and all the kids just asked if they could snuggle with me once they were ready for bed.
So yes, even if we had a lot of rocky moments throughout the day, it’s ending well. And for that, I’m grateful!
Today’s Rise & Shine Assignment
I thought it was perfect timing that today’s Rise & Shine assignment was about being a Calm Mom. Oh how I needed this reminder!
Because the truth is, this momma here has been struggling to be calm and to respond with grace, kindness, and patience. Simply put: my attitude and words haven’t been all that pretty in the last two weeks.
In fact, on Sunday, I came to Jesse and asked him to please keep me accountable for responding calmly to my kids instead of yelling or getting irritated this. I think, for me, just being honest about my struggles and asking for accountability has been a great help. And praying and asking God to infuse me with peace and kindness when I don’t feel peace or kindness.
Another big help has been to think about what kind of example I’m setting before my kids. How do I want them to respond in stressful situations in life? I need to model that behavior before them.
By doing these things and really reminding myself over and over of my intention and desire to respond calmly, it’s made a big difference. And I hope I can keep this going!
Marie Madeline Studio is one of my very favorite companies in existence. Run by a very talented and creative mother and daughter team, they design sewing patterns, sell fabric and offer ready-made items which are handcrafted right in their home studio.
Their work is meticulous and their customer service is spectacular. You won’t be disappointed with anything you order from them.
And this weekend, I’m so excited because five winners will get a free $50 store credit to Marie Madeline Studio. You can use this to choose from their patterns, fabric and sewing notions, or have something custom made!
If I were to recommend something, I’d definitely tell you to get one of their aprons. Of all the aprons I’ve worn over the years, the aprons from Marie Madeline Studio are my very favorite.
If you are looking for a special gift for a budding little chef or a fun present for a special gal in your life who loves to bake and cook, check out the Marie Madeline Studio Aprons.
And be sure to follow Marie Madeline on Facebook to be notified of their specials, sales, and new products. Also, check out their Pinterest page. While you’re at it, do stop by their blog as they have decorating ideas, gorgeous pictures of their recent projects, and delicious recipes.
Click below and type in your name and email address to enter to win a FREE $50 credit to anything from Marie Madeline. This giveaway ends Giveaway ends Thursday, August 28, at 11:59 pm, CST. Five winners will be chosen and posted early next week.
I’ve got some BIG news for you today!!! Remember the really incredible Bundle Sales I’ve told you about a few times in the past?
You know the ones where you can get hundreds of dollars’ worth of quality resources for one low, low price?? Well, there’s another bundle sale coming in a few weeks — the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle Sale — and you and your friends can get it FREE.
For real. I’m not joking!
When I heard about this opportunity, I almost thought it was too good to be true. But I checked into it to make sure I had gotten all the details correctly and it was absolutely really and truly legit.
I’m going to tell you about how to get your Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle for FREE. First, though, let me tell you about why you’ll want to JUMP on this offer…
The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle is going to PACKED with amazing ebooks on natural living, some resources to help you with weight loss, real food ecookbooks with delicious recipes, resources on how to feed your family well on a small budget, an eCourse on essential oils (I can’t wait to go through this one!), and even some $200 worth of free, tangible bonuses like an amber necklace and a subscription to an at-home fitness program!
All told, the bundle has 70 different resources in it and it’s a value of over $1000! And you can get it for FREE!
Here’s how to get a FREE Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle:
1. Enter your email address here to sign up for the Refer-A-Friend Program.
2. Post your special Refer-A-Friend link on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest, or even email it out to your friends.
3. If one friend signs up for the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle email list through your link, you’ll get $5 off the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle when it’s available.
4. If ten friends sign up for the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle email list through your link, you’ll get the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle completely FREE!
Here’s the best part: no one has to buy anything!! And you’ll want to encourage your friends to sign up through your link and get their link and share it with their friends so that they can hopefully get their own FREE Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle, too!
You’ll want to sign up right away, though, because this special offer is only available for a limited time. And when it’s gone, it’s gone.
Trust me, when you see all the amazing resources that are in this bundle (it will be live in a few weeks and you’ll be among the first to know!), you will be so glad you did!
Have you tried a business idea that worked really well for someone else but didn’t work at all for you? Have you put a lot of effort into a business idea that ended up flopping?
If your answer is yes to either of these questions, I would love to consider featuring your story in one of the chapters of my upcoming book. You can leave a comment sharing the details of your story (what the business idea was, why you tried it, and what the results were) or you can email your story to crystal @ moneysavingmom.com
I may contact you for further details if I need more information or want to clarify something.
Please note: We will be using some of the comments and emails in the book. If you’d rather we not use your story or would like to remain anonymous, please say say when commenting or emailing.
Did you enjoy your weekend? We had a busy day on Saturday with lots of projects to accomplish, but our Sunday afternoon and evening was spent just totally relaxing and hanging out… which was such a nice change of pace after a very full week last week.
The interesting thing was that, even though I had told myself I could sleep in as late as I wanted to, I woke up both mornings by 7:30 a.m.! This might seem really “late” to those of you who always get up by 5 a.m. on the weekends, but I was excited because I fully expected that I’d sleep in until 8:30 a.m. as I often do on weekends. But nope, I think my body is starting to fully embrace this early to bed, early to rise thing again! 🙂
Today’s Rise & Shine Assignment
Today’s assignment is to really make your morning ritual a habit. Because I’ve been getting up and doing practically the same routine for years, it is very ingrained in me as a habit.
It looks a little different every morning, but it’s very rare for me to not start my day with Bible reading, writing in my Blessings journal, reading at least a few pages from a book, and praying over my day. It’s amazing how this refuels my tank and starts my day off well!
Now, some of you might be reading this and thinking, that’s a great idea to start your day off with some quiet reading, prayer, and reflection, but that would never work for me because my kids get up so early. Or, they’ll get up as soon as I wake up, no matter what time it is!
If you’re feeling like that, I encourage you not to be discouraged! Here are a few suggestions:
- Have your child get to watch a special movie or show during that time. Just plan on it so you don’t feel guilty.
- Let your child play an educational app for an allotted amount of time.
- Have your child go back to their bedroom with a special basket of toys and let them know they can play quietly and come out when the timer goes off.
- Have the child snuggle with you if you’re sitting and reading/having devotions.
I’m sure some others have some great suggestions here that I didn’t list. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this topic, too!
Guest post from Sarah of Saving Money Never Goes Out of Style
The laundry room may be one of the last places most people think of when it comes to saving money. The truth is though, it is one of the easiest places to pinch your pennies! Here are some tips for saving money in the laundry room:
One of the easiest ways to save money in the laundry room is to make your own detergent. You can do this with just a few low-cost ingredients and it really gets your clothing clean very well! The cost of making your soap is just pennies per load and when you do it this way, you save yourself from needless chemicals as well.
When the weather is warm, you can also save money by giving up your dryer. Hanging clothes to dry not only saves you money off your energy bill, but might extend the life of your clothing as well because you won’t be using any high heat. Plus, taking a break from using your dryer also extends the dryer’s life!
If making your own detergent sounds like it won’t work for you, (although it really only takes about 15 minutes of your time!) make sure to stock up on sales and use coupons when you can. This last year, I have seen Tide on sale for $3.99 and with my dollar off coupon, it only ends up being $2.99 for a 32 ounce jug.
This applies to soap, but it also applies to fabric softener. If you feel you need fabric softener, opt for dryer sheets instead of the bar and cut them in half. You still get the great scent and softening of clothes that you like, and this will make a box last twice as long.
Did you know you can make your own scented “dryer sheets”? While they may not have the same effect on clothes to soften them, most people like dryer sheets because of the scent.
To get the same effect, just have a couple rags or make your own wool balls and try this trick. Drop a couple drops of essential oil onto your rag or wool ball and throw it in the dryer with your clothes. They will come out smelling amazing and each load costs you less than a cent!
You will be using the same amount of energy to wash and dry a half load as you will with a full load, so make sure each load that you do is full sized. That said, don’t over-stuff your machine as this damages it and could cost you more in repairs.
Doing a half-load doesn’t make much sense when you think about it in terms of saving money.
Many of us have too many clothes! I know I was constantly doing the kids’ laundry and I wasn’t even sure how dirty it was.
One day, I just got sick of doing it every day. I thought to myself, “There’s no way they could possibly be wearing all these clothes.” Since then, I’ve scaled way back.
Each child is only allowed to have 20 outfits in their room at a time. That is almost 3 weeks of every day wear and more than plenty.
Believe it or not, I sold half of their clothes! I made money AND I don’t have to wash as many clothes!
This is a money saver as well as a time saver. Some things can be worn or used multiple times before needing a good washing: jeans, bath towels, pajamas, etc. Even some things like what you wear to church for only one hour can sometimes be worn again before washing.
How do you like to save in the laundry room? Did I miss anything?
Sarah is a stay-at-home mom of two wonderful children. From homeless to well-off, this single debt-free mom is most known for her ability to live well on $18k/year. Sarah loves encouraging others that dreams do come true if they are willing to consistently work for it. Follow her blog: Saving Money Never Goes Out of Style.
Thank you so very much for helping me with the researching process for my next book. I am so appreciative of your answers to my questions so far and have already included quite a few of your thoughts as quotes or examples in the book. Keep them coming!
Today, I’m writing to ask for more help:
I’m looking for women who have their own successful business. It can be an online business, an offline business, or a business that is a little of both.
I want to hear your stories — how you got started, how you’ve grown your business, and how you’ve been able to impact others through your business.
I’m especially looking to profile women who have started a business and been able to use part of the funds from their earnings to make a difference — either in their family’s finances, in their community, or globally. It can be something big — like starting an orphanage — or it can be that your business helped you pay cash for a vehicle for your family.
If you have a success story to share, can you leave a comment on this post or email me (crystal @ moneysavingmom.com) telling me your story? I may follow up with you to clarify on details or ask for more information.
Also, if you know of someone who has a success story to share, could you direct them to this post and ask them to email me, too. I’m so excited to share some of your stories and introduce my readers to some of your businesses through the pages of my book!
Please note: We will be using some of the comments and emails in the book. If you’d rather we not use your story or would like to remain anonymous, please say say when commenting or emailing.
2 Cucumbers – $0.59 each (I will get $0.25 back from Checkout 51.)
1 lb Butter – $2.69
1 Honey Bear – $2.99
1 loaf Bread – $0.99
1 Cantaloupe – $0.99
2 Strawberries – $1.25 each
2 Avocados – $0.33 each
1 bag Flour Tortillas – $1.19
1 pkg Kitchen Trash Bags – $4.99
1 can Refried Beans – $0.79
1 pkg Roma Tomatoes – $1.19 (I will get $0.25 back from Checkout 51.)
1 pkg Carrots – $0.99
Total with tax ($1.51): $22.66
2 half gallons Milk – $1.34 each
1 half gallon Buttermilk – Marked down to $0.10 (I couldn’t pass this up! I’m going to make buttermilk biscuits and pancakes to freeze. I don’t think I’ve ever bought buttermilk before since I always just make my own so I’m curious to see if it tastes any better with the real stuff.) 🙂
1 Kroger Cottage Cheese – $1.25
1 pkg Raspberries – $0.99
0.71 lb Broccoli @ $1.59/lb – $1.13
1 Lettuce – $0.99
1 Kroger Frozen Hashbrowns – $1.99
1 Kroger Dishwasher Detergent – $3.49
2 cans Green Beans – $0.44
1 Kentucky Legend Ham Steak – $2.99
1 lb Simple Truth Ground Beef – Marked down to $3.34
2 bags Kroger Shredded Cheese – $2 each
1 pkg Chicken Drumsticks – $5.59
1 bag Life Is Good Coffee – Marked down to $2.25 (I’ve never tried this coffee before. It is normally over $9 but they had all the Life Is Good coffee on clearance. I’m anxious to try it!)
Total with tax ($2.18): $32.72
Total for all grocery items: $55.38 (And I will also get $0.50 back from Checkout 51.)
Menu Plan for This Week
Breakfasts
Oatmeal, Scrambled Eggs/Fruit, Toast, Cereal, Smoothies
Lunches
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Macaroni & Cheese, Tossed Salad, Fruit/Veggies/Crackers, Leftovers
Dinners
Baked Chicken Drumsticks (this package will last us 2 meals so I will freeze half of it), Fruit
Beef & Cheese Noodle Bake, Tossed Salad, Peas (from freezer)
Hashbrown Casserole (I will be doubling this and putting one casserole in the freezer), Buttermilk Biscuits, Cantaloupe
Spaghetti with Garlic Chicken Gravy, Green Beans, Tossed Salad
Deer Roast, Potatoes, Carrots, Blueberry Muffins
Brown Bag Burritos (I will make the full recipe and freeze half of them), Tossed Salad
Date Night (using a gift card I earned from MyPoints.com)
We made it to Day 5! Are you still hanging in there and making progress?
I have definitely made progress this week… I haven’t had a perfect record this week of getting up at 4:30 a.m. every morning as I’d planned. But I am encouraged by the progress I’ve made.
Last night and this morning, I didn’t do so well, though. But it was for a good reason!
I had a chapter of my book due to turn into my editor by last night. When 9 p.m. rolled around, it still needed some more work. So I stayed up for an extra two hours to finish it.
Gratefully, I knew today was going to be a pretty quiet day with a short to-do list, so I was able to sleep in to make up for my late night last night.
I guess it kind of makes me feel better to confess I got up at 7:15 a.m. this morning when I read today’s email and assignment on Early Rising Isn’t For Everyone. 🙂
I’d also say that early rising is not for every season or every single day. Like last night, when I had a project that needed to be completed, I was good with giving myself grace and just re-arranging my schedule.
That’s life, isn’t it?
Starting My Day Off Well
One thing I’ve tried to make a habit of is starting my day with a few of the same things — no matter what time I get up. These are things that recharge my soul, refresh my spirit, and just plain get me ready to face the day.
For me, that’s writing in my Blessings Journal, reading a few chapters from the Bible, praying for the day (I often pray through my day — all the projects, the opportunities, and the potentially difficult or stressful things.), reading a chapter from my current devotional/inspirational book, and exercising.
It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes when I start my day with these things. If I get up later and don’t have a lot of time in the mornings, I will often just condense the time — maybe only read one chapter, skip the devotional reading, and pray while I’m running on the treadmill.
Taking 30 to 45 minutes every day to start my day in this way has made such a major impact on my life… and helps me start the day with the right focus and perspective.
Earlier this week, I gave you a little peek into what my next book is going to be about and told you that I was going to be asking for your help during the writing process.
THANK YOU to everyone who left comments or emailed in with your answers to my first two questions. Your insight was incredible helpful as I shape this book.
Thank you for sharing so openly about your struggles, difficulties, setbacks, and fears. My hope is to address as many of these as possible in the book.
Today, I have a quick question for you: What comes to your mind when you hear the words “financial freedom”? What does that mean to you? What does that look like for you?
Share your answers in the comments or email them to crystal @ moneysavingmom.com. There are no right or wrong answers. I’m especially looking for one-sentence answers to use in a section of the book.
Note: I will be using some of your answers in the book, so if you don’t feel comfortable having your comment or email published in the book, please note that when you submit it.
I’m very late in getting this posted, but this morning, afternoon, and evening just flew by and I finally have a chance to sit down and get this written! That’s life sometimes, isn’t it? Thanks for your patience as I’m not always the most dependable blogger ever. 🙂
I got up at 5:15 a.m. this morning. And I’m thrilled because today I felt really rested and energized when I got up. I’m hopeful that my body is starting to adjust to me being on an early-to-rise schedule again?
My One Nightly Must-Do: Create Tomorrow’s To-Do List
Today’s assignment is about creating a nightly checklist to encourage you to have better mornings. I love this idea and think it can be key to successful mornings.
I shared my evening routine yesterday — which sort of serves as my checklist. But I wanted to share one thing that has really helped me to wake up, jump into my day, and be more productive.
That one simple thing is to create a to-do list the night before. This one small thing makes a world of difference for my day. And I find that I sleep better, too, because I have mentally gone through the next day, thought through all the must-do’s and activities, and have created a plan for the day.
This simple exercise frees up so much space in my brain and truly relaxes me.
How it usually works is that I consult my Google Calendar (aka my “brain”) and see what is on tap for the next day — whether that’s a writing project that’s due, a phone call that must be made, an interview that is scheduled, an errand I need to run, or an activity one of my children has going on.
Once I’ve looked over my day, I then plan out our routine. We have a basic routine we follow everyday, but it varies based upon what needs to be done and what’s going on. So every evening, I write out my plan for the next day — including time blocks of when I plan to do everything.
This has been crucial for me, because it not only helps me go into the day with a Game Plan, but it also helps me to know if I need to bump some things I’d planned to do to another day or delete something I’d hoped to do altogether. I only have 24 hours in a day and planning accordingly instead of trying to cram in 36 hours’ worth of work into the day and then being frustrated and overwhelmed makes a huge difference!
I always try to include two to three hours of Margin Time — time when I don’t have anything scheduled. This is typically from 6-9 p.m. It doesn’t always end up being completely empty, but it allows wiggle room to finish things or catch up on laundry when inevitable interruptions or unexpected things come up throughout the day. It’s my sanity-saver!
My friend and “neighbor” Jon Acuff has a fantastic post up today about your worst critic.
It’s so worth the read! Now to just live this.
{Note: Okay, so the Acuffs aren’t technically neighbors because they live like 7 minutes away, but that’s considered neighbors in these here parts of the country! :)}
I told you yesterday that I’d been asked to comment on a media story about the USDA’s prediction that it costs $245,000 to raise a child.
Your comments and thoughts on this topic were so interesting. There were lots of differing viewpoints and perspectives!
The article I was interviewed for was posted today on TheStir.com for those who are interested in reading it. Here’s a snippet:
Before even becoming a mom, one of the most common warnings you’ll hear from other parents is how expensive it can be to raise children. As it turns out, they’re right.
Families who had a baby in 2013 can expect to spend on average $245,340 until the child is 18, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s just-released annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families. That’s between $12,800 and $14,970 a year for a middle-income family with two parents, depending on the kids’ ages.
Angela Hawkins, 33, a mom of three in the suburbs of Houston, is living proof that the numbers don’t lie.
She shared her household budget with The Stir and estimated that she and her husband Shane will spend about $270,000 per child by the time they turn 18.
“The figures can be overwhelming,” Angela admits.
So where exactly does all that money go?
Read the full post here for the price breakdown details on how much this family is spending and some tips from other money-saving folks on how to cut costs (with one on cutting your food costs from yours truly!)
I found the figures she shared interesting and insightful. And, of course, my frugal brain came up with lots of suggestions and ideas for ways to possibly lower those costs. 🙂
It feels like we were on a road trip the whole month of August. Truthfully, it was only 12 days… but that’s a long time to be on the road! And it came right after a 5-day roadtrip to North Carolina and South Carolina, so that made it feel longer than it was, I think.
We’re not quite finished with road-tripping, because we’re headed back to South Carolina next week. I was planning to fly there for a few days to spend time with a few of my close friends, but as we looked at the map and realized it was well within an easy day’s driving distance, Jesse suggested we just drive and he’d take the kids sight-seeing during the days I was with my friends.
It’s weird because we used to not really be a road trip kind of family at all. But I think as our kiddos have gotten older and now that Jesse and I are both self-employed and can work anywhere, we’re probably going to become more and more of a road-tripping family.
Our kids love visiting new areas and studying the history, we can homeschool on the road (our core curriculum this year is the Monarch Online Homeschool Curriculum for the girls and LIFEPAC Kindergarten for Silas), and we’ve learned how to travel very inexpensively by using hotel points accrued through my business travel (we always sign up for the rewards programs for everywhere we stay and it’s amazing how quickly the points have built up this past year!), gift cards earned through Swagbucks (in big part to the many of you who have signed up through my referral link! Thank you!), and looking for the best deals in whatever area we’re going to be traveling to.
The first stop in our 12-day trip was to spend the week with my entire extended family on Bull Shoals Lake. This is a yearly tradition that we’ve had even before I was married.
Our kids had a blast being with all their cousins on my side of the family. It’s so fun to see them all growing up!
The highlight for me of our time at the lake was going jet-skiing with my husband. It’s been a big year for us as a family and there have been many hard moments in the midst of some pretty big life changes, and I’m so grateful that our marriage has stayed strong through it. Truly, I love my man so much more than I did than when I married him 11 years ago… and I didn’t think that was possible.
{Note: That does not mean that there haven’t been many tense moments and harsh words and even all out arguments. Trust me, we’ve had more arguments and fights in the past three months than we’ve probably had in our whole married life, but we’re truly growing together instead of apart. And I’m so very grateful for that. Our commitment these five things have been key to helping our marriage stay strong in the middle of the storms of life these past few months.}
Another wonderful memory of the trip was when my older sister (Brigette), my younger sister (Gretchen), and I somehow managed to all fit on the tube at the same time for a wild tube ride courtesy of Dad, the boat driver. There was much laughter, squealing, and holding on for dear life, but we had a blast! 🙂
After our time at Bull Shoals Lake, we headed for a day and a half in Springfield, MO to take a breather. And trust me, when I say “breather”, I mean that quite literally.
We slept, we watched movies, I worked on my next book some, and we just totally took it easy for a day and a half. We’ve found our kids need some “down” days on longer vacations otherwise it’s just too tiring for them and then that turns into a cranky situation… for kids and parents alike. 😉
We then went and met up with Jesse’s extended family in Branson, MO. Growing up, we went to Silver Dollar City just about every single year from the time I was a toddler. We have so many, many wonderful memories there and we’ve tried to take our kids there every year to carry on the tradition of my childhood.
After going to Disney World for the first time earlier this year, I realized that, for me, Silver Dollar City is one of my “happiest places on earth.” {Yes, I know, sorry Disney. You don’t hold a candle to Silver Dollar City, in my humble opinion.}
Word to the wise: if a ride at Silver Dollar City warns you that you will get bathtub wet, they aren’t kidding. We had so much fun, so it was worth being sopping wet.
{I was so soaked, I went in the restroom, and wrung my clothes out. I probably wrung out at least a few cups of water. I kid you not.}
Our last stop in Missouri: Bass Pro Shops… One of the boys’ favorite stores in existence. I’m pretty sure they could spend hours in there and never run out of things to look at. 🙂
As for me, I chose to have a cheerful attitude and go along with it even though it’s one of my least favorite stores. And it ended up being a fun family outing!
And this is my favorite picture of the whole trip. Why? Because it represents me punching my fears and “I can’ts” right smack dab in face. And it gives me courage to continue to showing up and living with wholehearted courage. You can read the story behind this picture here, in case you missed it.
