Money Saving Mom®

Today I’m going to ask you to join me in something big. Something that has the potential to change hundreds — if not thousands — of lives in South Africa.

I get requests all the time about projects and needs and I just can’t post about them all, otherwise this blog would be overrun with requests for you to donate money to causes. And I know many of you are living on extremely tight budgets right now.

However, today, I’m going to break tradition. Because I just can’t help myself.

My friend, Lisa-Jo Baker, is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. She just oozes with love and grace. And she’s hilarious, too.

I had a chance to read a pre-release copy of her new book, Surprised By Motherhood, and I loved it so very much that I wrote her and asked her how I could help promote it for her. Well, the email she sent back just blew me away. She shared with me about this huge vision she has to impact the culture in South Africa — where she grew up, where three of her siblings are adopted from, and where her parents still live and minister.

As she shared about this massive dream she had to encourage women around the globe to come together to change a community of kids in South Africa, I knew I had to tell you about it.

Here’s what she says:

What if between changing the diapers, the laundry and the dishes a community of mothers around the world could change the future for a community of kids in South Africa?

What if 1 blog community could build 1 South African community a safe place for sustainable food, child care, economic empowerment, job skills trainings, a gathering place for church, classrooms for HIV/Aids education, and a playground for their kids?

What if love was more than a date on the calendar this year?

What if we fell in love with the world next door?

Read her full post here to catch of glimpse of her vision behind this.

Today is Valentine’s Day and I’m going to ask you all to prayerfully consider giving something to help fund the Maubane Community Center in South Africa. Every little bit can make a difference.

If you can only give a dollar, give a dollar. If you have more wiggle room in your budget, would you prayerfully consider giving whatever amount it is that you can give?

Special Bonuses:

1. Give a donation of any amount and you’ll get the free downloadable print above emailed to you after you donate.

2. Give a donation of at least $20 and you’ll get the free downloadable print above, plus I’ll send you a copy of my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode. Just forward the email you receive after you donate to [email protected] and include the amount you donated and your mailing address and I’ll send you a copy.

3. Give a donation of at least $40 and you’ll get the free downloadable print above, plus I’ll send you a copy of my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, and I’ll pre-order you a copy of Lisa-Jo’s book, Surprised By Motherhood. Just forward the email you receive after you donate to [email protected] and include the amount you donated and your mailing address and I’ll send you a copy of my book and pre-order you a copy of Lisa-Jo’s book.

If you can’t give right now, would you consider tweeting about this project (you can retweet my tweet here) or sharing this post or Lisa-Jo’s post on Facebook or via email with your friends? Let’s all band together to help change this community in South Africa!

Psst! You can also buy one of these beautiful necklaces for $24 and $12 of your purchase will be donated to this project!

We’re excited to have Motivated Moms as one of our sponsors. We had the opportunity to interview them and get to know their company a little more recently:

Tell us about the history of Motivated Moms.

Deann Polanco and Janet Russell created and collaborated for several years on the Motivated Moms chore planning system. They first started selling the planner as a physical planner — copies placed in a binder and mailed to customers. Later they moved to the ebook format.

Beginning in 2005, Janet wanted more time to spend on other interests and Deann took over the business. I (Susan Cramer) met Deann at an online message board for Dave Ramsey fans several years ago. We had a lot in common — both Texans, born the same year, even owned the same model first car! She was my dear friend.

In early 2012, when Deann realized she was likely losing her battle to ovarian cancer, she asked if I would be willing to buy Motivated Moms. My husband had started programming the app for her a couple of years earlier so we were already very familiar with her product. I said yes: I was happy to carry on her legacy.

Can you tell us more about how the Motivated Moms Chore Planning System works?

Motivated Moms is a chore planning system designed to make housework easier for anyone, not just moms! It is a preplanned checklist of chores covering most common household tasks.

Each day has a manageable list of chores to be completed. Just do that day’s tasks, check them off, and you’re done for the day. If housework has been hit or miss for you, within just a few days of following the system you will notice the difference, both in your home and your sense of accomplishment.

The system is available as an ebook (several variations available) as well as an app for iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and Android (including Kindle Fire).

How can the Motivated Moms Chore Planning System help save you money?

Motivated Moms is a product that helps users to quickly accomplish necessary household tasks, freeing up time for other endeavors. There are even coupon-related tasks listed to remind you to stretch your dollars. In addition, Motivated Moms costs just pennies per day — it’s easy on the budget!

Do you have any new products or promotions coming up?

In the 2014 ebooks, we have added versions that have a touch of color to coordinate with our new logo.

We have just added a sync feature to the iOS app allowing users to share their task list with other iOS devices in their household. Our next step is to add this capability to the Android app and to make the list shareable cross-platform between iOS and Android! Syncing is our most-requested feature so we are thrilled to begin implementing it.

As for promotions, we currently have a coupon code good for $1 off the ebooks: SAVE1. We’re also planning a sale for Mother’s Day.

What would you most like your customers to know?

I want them to know that I love to hear from them! I love answering questions, hearing suggestions, getting feedback. We are delighted when someone finds our product helpful. It is really a joy to communicate with you!

We work hard to provide outstanding customer service because we want you to have the best possible experience with Motivated Moms — we stand behind our product 100%.

Is Motivated Moms just for stay-at-home moms?

Motivated Moms is used by all kinds of people: stay-at-home moms, work-outside-the-home moms, dads, grandparents, people with no children: really, anyone who wants an already-figured-out-for-you plan to get their housework done.

For people who work outside the home, we recommend they look at the week as a whole and move the bigger tasks to the days they will fit best for them.

If you have children, we highly recommend assigning tasks to your children. They will learn valuable life skills and they enjoy checking off their chores, too.

It takes time to teach them how chores are to be done, but it’s worth your time! For the printed version, different colored highlighters work great – just use a different color for each person. Similarly, the app gives you the ability to color code different people’s responsibilities.

Anything else you’d like to share?

One principle that guides me daily is that if I have the opportunity to do good, then I should do it—based on Galatians 6:10. Motivated Moms gives me the chance to do good every day and make every day count.

Interested in becoming a monthly sponsor or advertising with us? Find more details here.

I’m excited and honored to be speaking at all four Teach Them Diligently conferences this year!

Teach Them Diligently celebrates the focus of Christian families — that is, the discipleship of children to glorify God. More than simply a convention about home education, they purposefully develop the themes of Missions, discipleship, and Christian parenting in addition to the traditional academic “how-to’s.

The locations and dates of the four conferences are:

• Nashville, TN — March 20-22, 2014
• Spartanburg, SC –April 3-5, 2014
• Washington, D.C. — May 15-17, 2014
• Dallas, TX — June 26-28, 2014

If you are a Christian homeschooling family (or one who is considering homeschooling), I’d encourage you to attend one of these events. I think you’ll be blessed and inspired! I was able to attend some of the sessions at the Nashville conference last year and was really encouraged by the speakers.

Get $5 Off the Registration Price!

Teach Them Diligently is offering $5 off any family registration to all of my readers when you use coupon code MoneySaver at checkout. Go here to register.

Psst! If you’re planning to attend, I’d love to meet you there! If you can’t make it to one of my sessions, we’ll also have a special meet & greet/book signing time at our booth at each conference. I’d love for you to stop by so I can get a chance to meet you personally. Meeting my readers face-to-face and getting to hear your stories is one of my very favorite things in the world!

Need a little discipline to help you put money in your savings account? SavedPlus is an app that helps you automatically build your savings when you shop. Here’s how it works:

1. Download the SavedPlus app to your smartphone, or use it online at SavedPlus.com.
2. Register with SavedPlus.
3. Set the savings slider. Decide how much you want to save every time you spend. 5% to 20% of your purchase amount will be automatically transferred from your checking to your savings account.
4. Link your bank accounts to SavedPlus. SavedPlus is bank independent and should work with any bank that offers online banking.
5. Choose your source and destination accounts. If you have more than one checking or savings account, you’ll choose the accounts you’d like to use with SavedPlus. You can set your savings to deposit into a traditional savings account, a money market account, or even long-term savings like a 401(k) or an IRA.
6. Set your savings goals. Save for your emergency fund, a college fund, debt retirement, and more.
7. Track your savings and adjust your settings. You can log in and track your progress or adjust your savings slider anytime through the app or online at SavedPlus.com.

Get a $15 Bonus!

For a limited time, you can get a free $15 savings account bonus when you sign up for SavedPlus using the promo code promo10. To get this offer, you’ll need to install and link your bank accounts to the SavedPlus app. Your $15 savings account bonus should be deposited within a week.

This post was underwritten by SavedPlus. See our disclosure policy here.

As I am reading your book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, I am trying to do one thing at a time… I began to implement a morning routine. That worked for about 2 days. We had to put my kids (ages 1 and 5) in the same room to sleep, as we are renovating the room my youngest was in. Now, the older one falls asleep sooner, and gets up an hour earlier. When she opens the door to the room to come out, she wakes my youngest up, too.

So they are both awake an hour earlier than normal and my routine doesn’t work. Since I am not a morning person, simply pushing my wake up time back an hour is an agonizing thought, though it may be what I have to do.

My question is this: this happens to me in some form or fashion ALL THE TIME. I struggle to get a routine, then once I get one and settle in to it, a wrinkle comes and throws it off. I get out of my groove and consequently seem to never find it again.

Do you have any suggestions for getting back into the routine (for whatever area) after I get out of it? I thrive on order, but cannot seem to keep it. -Kasie

Oh, Kasie! I so know this feeling — and I think many others can relate, too! Here are some ideas I had after reading your email:

1. Make Sure You’re Not Biting Off Too Much

After years of trial and error, I realized that the reason I was failing at my goals and ambitions was because I was trying to take on more than I could handle.

So step back and evaluate your morning routine (or whatever area you’re trying to change) and make sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew. Maybe just start with getting up 10 or 15 minutes earlier and doing one thing, every single morning.

This might seem discouraging because it feels so small, but starting somewhere and doing something is better than trying to overhaul your life overnight and ending up burnt out and overwhelmed. In addition, if you make tiny little steps in the right direction, they’ll add up to big progress over time.

2. Get an Accountability Partner

It’s amazing what a difference accountability can make! Think about running a race: if you have people running alongside you and cheering you on the sidelines, you’re going to have much more motivation to keep going and stick with it.

It’s the same in our lives: if we want to stay the course and follow through with our goals, we’ve got to be intentional about finding accountability partners and surrounding ourselves with cheerleaders.

Maybe ask a few friends who also want to make some small and steady progress in areas in their own lives to keep you accountable to stick with your morning routine. Text, call, or email them to check in on a daily or weekly basis. If you have a blog or Facebook account, you can also post your goals and progress there. I’ve found public accountability to be extremely helpful.

3. Ask a Trusted Friend for Ideas & Encouragement

In addition to having accountability partners and cheerleaders, I’ve found it’s imperative to have people in my life to bounce ideas off of and who can give me wise counsel. Find a few people that you can be 100% honest and vulnerable with about areas in your life you’re struggling with. These should be people who are committed to you, who will celebrate your successes, and who will love you enough to speak the truth to you when you need to hear it.

Ask these people for their advice and input when you’re having difficulty in a particular area. They will know you and your situation well and can give you counsel that’s tailored to your needs and specific situation. They’ll also be there to encourage you when you are feeling like you’ve fallen off the bandwagon and can help you get back up when you’ve fallen.

A Few Practical Ideas That May or May Not Work For You:

• Switch Most of Your Morning Routine to the Evening: Can you switch some of your morning routine to before bed to simplify your morning routine?
• Give Your Children Something to Do in Their Rooms: Could your children have a special basket of toys they could play with in their room if they wake up early to give you an extra 20 or 30 minutes to
• Have Your Children Join You in the Routines: Could your children join you in your morning routine if they wake up early?
• Try Getting Up Earlier for Three Weeks: I know you said you are not a morning person, but maybe consider going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier for three weeks to see if it works for you?

What advice or ideas do the rest of you have for Kasie?

photo credit; photo credit: photo credit

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.

This 14-day online course includes videos, a workbook, and step-by-step projects and is designed to help you maximize your evenings in order to experience more success in your life, more order in your home, and more joy in your soul.

It’s time to stop sleep-walking through life and wake up to the amazing excitement and fulfillment that comes when you follow my simple plan to Make Over Your Evenings.

Find out more about it here.