Saving Families Money Since 2007
Zan from FlourishingAtHome.com recently shared her Say Goodbye To Survival Mode testimonial over on her blog.
Read how my book helped them get more organized and, in-turn, pay off over $1000 in 2 months!
Here’s the pile of mail she tackled — wow! I’m so proud of her!
If you feel overwhelmed with piles and projects, I think you’ll be really encouraged by her post! Go read it here.
Note from Crystal: My oldest sister, Brigette, lives in South Carolina with her husband and four young children. I asked her recently if she’d start sharing her shopping trips here since she’s an amazing bargain-shopper and has some different stores in her area than Gretchen and I do. Enjoy!
1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99
1 Red Leaf Lettuce – $0.99
Zucchini squash (2.30lbs @ $0.99/lb) – $2.28
Chicken Leg Quarters (5.75lbs @ $0.69/lb) – $3.97
5 Dozen Eggs ($1.25/dozen) – $6.25
3 Boxes Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese – $1.10 each, used 3 $0.35/1 printable coupon from their website – $0.40 each after coupons
2 Boxes Horizon Organic Macaroni and Cheese – $1.50 each – used -$0.55/1 Horizon mac & cheese printable – $0.40 each after coupons (they were all out of the boxes that were on sale for $1 each and would have been free)
3 Boxes (4-ct) Hunt’s Snack Pudding – $1 each – used $0.75 off any THREE (3) Snack Pack Pudding 4ct – $0.50 each after coupons (my husband can use these in his daily sack lunches at work.)
1 Picsweet Steamers Green Beans – $1, used -$0.50/1 from the 3/02 Red Plum insert – free after coupon
1 Silk Almond Milk – $3, used $1 off Silk Almond, half gallon printable, plus $1 Harris Teeter eCoupon – $1 after coupons
2 Bags Santitas Corn Chips – $2 each, used $1 off of $3 salty snack purchase (BI-LO catalina coupon) – $1.50 each after coupon
Used $3 off of $30 total purchase (BI-LO catalina coupon)
Total after sales and coupons: $16.46
WalMart (We were already there to pick up something, so I price-matched a couple of Aldi’s produce prices while we were there.)
3 Avocados @ $0.69 each – $2.07
1 Pineapple – $1.19
1 5lb bag of Flour – $1.68
2 Gallons Milk ($3.98 each) – $7.96
Total: $12.90
BI-LO (They were out of most things I went for, unfortunately.)
1 Large Box Honey Nut Cheerios – $3, used $0.50/1 General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios or Honey Nut Medley Crunch Cereal – $2 after coupon (not a good price, but my husband likes cereal for weekday breakfasts, and we were out!)
5 Yoplait 100-Calorie Greek Yogurt Cups – $3 (must buy in sets of 5 for this price), used Bi-Lo eCoupon, plus SavingStar (EXP 05/31) eCoupon – $1 for 5 after coupons and SavingStar
1 Half Gallon Minute Maid Orange Juice – marked down to $2.49
1 (4-pk) YoCrunch Chips Ahoy Yogurt – marked down to $2.29, used $0.75/1 printable – $0.79 after coupon
Total after sales and coupons: $7.28, plus receive $1 from SavingStar
Local Farmer’s Market (I LOVE this place, and I totally scored there today!)
Huge Box of Bananas – $5.00 (I came home and weighed it because I’m weird like that. 🙂 It was 43 lbs!! We will eat as many as we can over the next week, and then freeze up the rest for baking and smoothies.)
Box of Assorted Pears – $4.00 (21 lbs!)
4 Heads of Cauliflower ($1.25 each) – $5.00
3 Roma Tomatoes (@ $0.49/lb) – $0.56
1 Bag of Mini Carrots – $0.99
Total: $15.55
Total for all grocery items: $52.19, plus receive $1 back from SavingStar
Menu Plan for this Week
Breakfasts
Scrambled Eggs, Yogurt, Fruit, Easy Baked Apple Oatmeal (I will use pears instead of apples.), Smoothies, Toast
Lunches
Baked Potatoes (I bought a large discounted bag of potatoes last week that needs to be used up), Macaroni and Cheese, PB&J on Homemade Bread, Tossed Salad, Leftovers, Carrot Sticks, Fruit
Dinners
Spaghetti Marinara (using homemade sauce from the freezer), Easy Italian Breadsticks, Green Beans
Venison Roast in the Crockpot (my husband loves to hunt, and we have an abundance of deer meat in our freezer!), Baked Potatoes, Roasted Cauliflower, Biscuits
Taco Salad (I use ground venison instead of beef.), Fresh Fruit
Chicken Gravy over Rice, Steamed Cauliflower, Pears
Meat Potato Quiche, Banana Pear Muffins, Broccoli
Grilled Pizza, Tossed Salad
Baked Chicken, Cheesy Mashed Potato Cauliflower Bake, Banana Oat Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free! Recipe coming soon!)
There have been so many thoughts swirling in my head this past week… and so much I want to share with you all. This is a long post, but I hope it helps to answer many of the questions I’ve been asked over and over again the past few months. Thank you for your patience as I waited to share these details until the time was right.
Four weeks ago, I came out and told you all that my heart was to get back to my blogging roots. I was scared to push publish on that post.
Scared because I had no idea what the response would be like. Scared because I’ve been pretty quiet when it comes to personal life stuff as a blogger the past few years. Scared because I knew that it was opening myself up and putting myself out there.
But I was also very settled about it. I knew it was the right move for me. I knew that’s where my heart was. So I was okay if some of my readers were disappointed by the decision.
Your overwhelmingly positive response has BLOWN. ME. AWAY.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Your kind comments and cheering me on have blessed me more than words can say.
It’s felt so good to be “back” to blogging. Back to sharing about my everyday life — the highs, the lows, the triumphs, the failures… the excitement and the mundane stuff. Thanks for joining me in the journey.
Also? Thank you for how you have supported our family in our move to Nashville. It was a BIG step for us and the way that you all have surrounded us with prayers and encouragement along the way means more than words can express.
There was a lot of sadness, grieving, and processing that went along with moving away from our family, friends, and the state we’ve always lived in. Many days, in the midst of all of that, I’d get an email or a comment from one of you that would be exactly what I needed to hear right then.
It’s been a month since we moved and we are so very grateful to be here. Over and over, God has confirmed to us that this is exactly where we’re supposed to be.
We’ve been so blessed by our welcoming neighborhood. We’ve found a church that we feel our family is going to really grow and thrive in. We are loving getting to spend a lot more time with dear friends here we already knew before we moved. And we have also met other wonderful people who are fast becoming dear friends.
Yes, we miss our family and friends in Kansas. Yes, there have been adjustments being in this new city, new house, and new state. Yes, we don’t have everything completely organized and I have yet to get anything hung on the walls.
But we are happy and content. And deep in the core of our souls, we know that this is home.
Whether it’s home for forever or just a season, we don’t know. But we are throwing ourselves wholeheartedly into developing roots and relationships here because no one is guaranteed tomorrow. So we want to live today to the fullest.
Having a much more flexible schedule since Jesse is working from home instead of running a busy law firm has been a very welcome change for us. We are loving being home as a family more, loving having Jesse more involved in our every day lives, and loving a simpler pace of life where community and relationships are much more important than productivity and to-do lists.
Many of you have asked why we moved and/or what our long-term plans are. I’ve held off sharing details publicly because we were still processing them ourselves. But now that we’ve been here for a month, Jesse and I wanted you all to know where our decision to move came from.
It was much prayed over, thought over, talked over, mulled over, cried over, and counseled over. In fact, it’s a decision that’s been about three years in the making.
While there is a LONG list of reasons why we decided to move, here are three of the biggest reasons:
1. My husband needed a change.
In the past year, the light had gone out in my husband’s eyes. The passion from his heart. The spring in his step. Running his own demanding law firm had taken its toll and he was ready for something different.
He’s learned so much and grown so much in the past five years. It’s been exciting to see him take a dream and turn it into a successful reality. He’s gotten to help many, many people. And he’s grateful to have had the past five years. But the time had come to move on.
2. Our family needed a change.
We loved being close to family in Kansas. We loved being able to see them often, spend time with them, and build close relationships with them. And we miss them dearly. But we also felt like Jesse and I both having separate businesses was taking its toll on our family’s health.
We longed for a slower pace of life and more community — for our family’s growth and health — and after much prayer and thought, we ultimately felt that a sort of “starting over” of sorts in a new city would be a much more effective way to accomplish this. So far, it truly has been.
3. Our business needed a change.
MoneySavingMom.com has grown a LOT in the past few years. We’ve been grateful for the growth and excited at the possibilities and open doors, but it’s become much more than I could handle on my own.
Jesse and I (along with some of our team) felt like restructuring things internally to take some of the load off of my plate would be a wise move. We also wanted to free Jesse up to come on the team in a managerial role and help oversee all the legal/financial details of running MSM. He also had some legal/business ideas he wanted to pursue outside of MSM that have been on the back burner because he was too busy running his law firm.
The more we discussed these possibilities, the more we realized what a great fit this would be for everyone. And the more we prayed about it, the more excited we got about it.
But it was still a BIG, BIG leap for our family. In November of last year, Jesse and I came to Nashville to meet with people, talk in-depth to our friends here, check out the area, and pray hard for clear direction.
Truthfully, we prayed most of all for red lights and closed doors. We did not want to make this big move if we weren’t absolutely, 150% sure it was the right thing.
All we got were more green lights and open doors.
So we sat at the airport on the way home and both looked at each other and unanimously agreed, “We’re supposed to do this. And if we don’t jump out in faith, we’ll always wonder what we would have missed out on because we weren’t willing to step out of our comfort zone.”
We moved May 1 and not a day goes by that we don’t experience yet another confirmation that this is where we’re supposed to be. We don’t know what all the future holds, but we are grateful for how God has led us so far and we continue to trust Him to lead us in the future… one step at a time!
Silas (just turned 5) asked if he could “be my cameraman” while I made Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls yesterday.
His photos turned out so well, that I had to share them here. I loved seeing this progression through his camera lens.
After we pulled the Cinnamon Rolls out of the oven, Silas helped me make the glaze to go on the Cinnamon Rolls. We didn’t have any more butter, so I just made a glaze with milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
I LOVED using homemade vanilla that my Kansas friend, Angie, made for us!
Note: here’s how you can make your own homemade vanilla.
The finished result were SO delicious!
If you haven’t made Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls yet, do yourself a favor and put this recipe high on your priority list. You can thank me later. 🙂
Mornings just got so much easier with this FREE list of 50+ Easy & Cheap Breakfast Ideas for Busy Weekday Mornings!
Before I started my Freezer Cooking in an Hour session last week, I spent some time working on the stubborn grease stains in my dress (read about the crazy escalator incident here, if you missed it!)
By the way, after Shout, Dawn, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, more Shout, more Dawn, and Norwex detergent, the dress is saved, the stain is almost invisible, and I wore it to the Florida Homeschool Convention this weekend. Thanks for ALL your help with grease-removal ideas!
And then I had to have a little sustenance for the freezer cooking… of course! 😉 So I ate one of these ultra delicious cookies from my neighbor and fast-becoming-my-dear-friend, Tammy. I’m going to have to bribe her for this amazing recipe!
I threw all the ingredients in the bread machine for some Cinnamon Swirl Bread.
And I ended up getting a little messy and spilling all this yeast! 🙁
Next, I mixed up some Homemade Pizza Dough for the Twisted Pizza Breadsticks.
I don’t know about you, but a lump of kneaded dough just makes me happy. There’s something so cathartic about kneading dough and turning it into something yummy to bake in the oven.
After making the Twisted Pizza Breadsticks, I decided it would have been a lot more efficient to just make Pepperoni Pizza.
However, if you’re going to try making these, I’d recommend using mini pepperoni like the recipe calls for. I only had regular pepperoni on hand and it had trouble staying in the twists when I went to twist them.
Once the twists were finished, I put together the ingredients for the Brown Sugar Meatloaf.
And then the bread dough was finished, so I rolled it out, put the honey and cinnamon on it, rolled it up, and baked it.
This Cinnamon Swirl Bread is just SO good. My favorite part about it is that it’s incredibly easy to make and yet it turns out tasting and looking like you slaved in the kitchen over it!
I sliced it up, froze it, and then we just pull out as many slices as we need at a time!
The verdict on the Brown Sugar Meatloaf is that it is really delicious and easy to make. I used half ground turkey and half ground beef to save money and my family still raved about it.
Links to Recipes I Made:
Brown Sugar Meatloaf
Twisted Pizza Breadsticks
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Whew! The past five days have been quite eventful! I flew to Florida to speak at the Social Media Summit on Thursday afternoon.
I love speaking on the topic of Monetizing Your Platform, so this is always a fun session for me to share. And the attendees were so engaged and interested in the topic — which always makes it even more enjoyable!
On Friday, I had the privilege of giving two different presentations (Say Goodbye to Survival Mode and 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life) at the Florida Homeschool Convention. I loved getting to meet so many of you after the sessions and at our booth!
One of the highlights of the conference was discovering that FlyLady was there! She was at a booth near ours, so I was excited to get a chance to meet her and thank her for how she’s impacted my life over the past almost 12 years!
On Thursday evening, as we were heading to grab some dinner, we had this crazy idea that we should see if we could go to Disney World on Friday evening.
As we looked at our schedule for Friday, we didn’t think it would work since we wouldn’t be finished until around 7 p.m. However, since we were staying so close to Disney World and I’d never been before (My only experience at a Disney park was when I went to Disney Land once when I was two years old and I don’t remember it at all!), we decided to look up the hours for the park.
Well, guess what?? They just happened to be keeping Disney World open all night long on Friday evening!!
So I told my amazing team that if they hit a really ambitious sales goal at the Florida homeschool conference on Friday, we’d go to Disney World on Friday night after we were finished at the conference.
Want to know where we ended up from 8:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning??? 😉 Let’s just say, my team was highly motivated… and I’m SO glad they were as we all had a blast at Disney World!
Me with my wonderful road manager, Liz, on the train at around 10:30 p.m. We were slap happy by this time, but having so much fun. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard!
I LOVE this picture! It was taken around 2 a.m. in the morning. We were tired, but just so happy for all the fun memories we’d made as a team that night!
On Saturday morning, I gave two more presentations at the Florida Homeschool Convention — on How to Slash Your Grocery Bill Without Clipping Coupons and One-Hour Freezer Cooking. Afterwards, I headed to the airport and hopped on a plane back to Nashville to be reunited with my family. Oh how I always miss them when I’m away from them!
I slept for 11 hours solid on Saturday night and it felt amazing! After church on Sunday, we headed to Historic Franklin as a family.
We tried out Mellow Mushroom for lunch and were very impressed with it. My kids especially loved that they had inexpensive arcades. 😉
Then we walked down Main Street to Sweet CeCe’s for some delicious frozen yogurt. This was our first time to this adorable shop and we loved it! I have a feeling we’ll be back often. 🙂
We also walked around to some historic sites… In light of Memorial Day, it was good to be reminded of all the brave souls who gave their lives for freedom in America.
As we celebrate Memorial Day today, I am humbly grateful to the many men and women who have risked and given so much for the freedoms we enjoy in this country.
Thank you — from the bottom of my heart — to the many military families who are readers here. We so appreciate the sacrifices you make on a daily basis to protect and defend our freedoms. We don’t say it enough, but thank you!
So the past week was wonderful, wild, and wee bit crazy. I’ll be sharing all about it later today… but I was encouraged that in the midst of everything that went on, I did get some goals crossed off my list.
This week is looking like it will be much calmer. I have quick trip to Little Rock on Wednesday to do some radio tapings and filming with FamilyLife about my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode. I’ll be flying out that morning and back that night, so it will be a full day… but I’m looking forward to it as I love the folks at FamilyLife!
Last Week’s Goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1.Get our closet organized.
2. Get the garage organized.
3. Get the bookshelf/school area organized.
4. Write a love note to Jesse.5. Finish embroidering quilt square for my sister’s baby quilt.
Personal Goals
6. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-29.
7. Exercise four times.8. Finish reading Red Hot Monogamy, The Traitor’s Wife, and
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.Business Goals
9. Finish tweaks/edits for my talks this weekend at theFlorida Homeschool Convention
10. Write one guest post for another blog.
This Week’s Goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Read 4 chapters of Brother Andrew: Behind Enemy Lines aloud to the kids.
2. Get the garage organized.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.
4. Finish embroidering quilt square for my sister’s baby quilt.
Personal Goals
5. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-29.
6. Exercise four times.
7. Finish reading Red Hot Monogamy, The Traitor’s Wife, I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t), Breathe, The Measure of Success, and In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day
Business Goals
8. Finish tweaks/edits to a new product we’re releasing soon.
9. Write one guest post for another blog.
10. Shoot one video for my YouTube channel.
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.
Breakfasts
Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit
Lunches
Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch {veggies, cheese, yogurt, fruit, crackers, etc.}
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3Snacks
Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Boiled eggs
Freezer Cooking in an Hour Plan
Pizza Stuffed Pretzel Rolls
Flaky Biscuits
Freezer-Friendly Pizza DoughDinners
Eggs & Bacon (our simple Sunday night dinner!)
Cheeseburger Flatbread Melts, steamed veggies, fruit
Brown Sugar Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, fruit
Million Dollar Spaghetti, steamed veggies,
Southwest Roll-Ups, fruit, salad
Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, fruit
Dinner Out
What’s on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.
Are you joining us for the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge? If so, it’s time for our weekly check-in to post our progress.
We’re focusing on developing the habit of getting more rest. I encourage you to set a simple and doable goal for getting more rest and to stick with it.
New to this challenge? Read more details on the plan for this year here.
My Get More Rest Goal for May
My goal for May is to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep every night.
I’m also hoping to keep up with January’s habit of exercising at least 4-5 times every week, February’s goal of eating a big salad at least six times a week, March’s goal of drinking 8 glasses of water every day, and April’s goal of eating dessert once a week.
Well, I had high hopes that I’d hit my goal of 7.5 hours of sleep every night this past week and I didn’t quite make it. However, I DID get one 11-hour stretch of sleep after I came home from my trip to Florida, so that makes up for some of it, right??
I hit my water goals five days, exercised four days, ate a salad six of the days, and had dessert two times. So yes, I’m not hitting all of my goals perfectly, but I’m going to celebrate the progress I’m making!
How Are YOU Doing?
Leave a comment telling us how you did on your exercise goals this past week. If you’re blogging about this challenge, leave the direct link to your blog post about the challenge below. Are you on social media? You can also share your progress on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter by using hashtag #12MonthstoaHealthierYou.
Aldi
1 Frozen Peas – $0.95
1 bag Gala Apples – $2.99
2 Strawberries – $0.99 (I noticed when I got home I was charged for 3 packages of strawberries instead of 2.) 🙁
1 Rice Cakes – $1.29
1 Mini Marshmallows – $0.89
1 Flour Tortillas – $1.19
1 Pineapple – $1.29
1 bag Tomatoes – $0.99
2 Cucumbers – $0.49 each
1 Cantaloupe – $1.29
1 loaf Bread – $0.99
1 Mild Salsa – $1.69
Total with tax ($1.25): $18.76
Dillons1 gallon Milk – $3.09
1 Kroger Sour Cream – $1
4 Land O Lakes Spreadable Butter – $1.88 each, used 2 $0.50/1 printable and 2 $0.40/1 coupon from the 4/13 SmartSource insert – $1.43 each after coupons (We LOVE this butter!)
1 Kroger Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate – $1.59
1.57 lbs Bananas @ $0.59/lb – $0.93
1 Kroger Cream Cheese – $1
1 Kroger Shredded Cheese – $2
1 dozen Dillons Eggs – $1.69
1 Hillshire Farms Sausage – $3.99, used $3/1 e-coupon – $0.99 after coupon (I’ve never bought this before but couldn’t resist trying it after this great price. We’ll see how we like it!)
0.54 lbs Broccoli @ $0.99/lb – $0.53
2 Lettuce – $0.99 each
4 Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce – $1 each, used 2 $1/2 coupon from the 5/18 SmartSource insert – $0.50 each after coupon
2 Chocolate Chex Cereal – Marked down to $1.89 each, used $1/2 coupon from the 5/4 SmartSource insert – $1.39 each after coupons
1 Raisins – $1.79
1 Psst Crackers – $1.19
2 Kroger Cream of Mushroom Soup – $1 each
1 Quilted Northern Bath Tissue – $5.99, used $1/1 printable – $4.99 after coupon
Total after sales and coupons: $40.02
Total for all grocery items: $58.78
Pancakes, Homemade Granola, Cereal, Eggs, Juice
Cheese Quesadillas, Tossed Salad, Crackers/Fruit/Veggies, Mac & Cheese, Leftovers
Sour Cream Enchiladas, Chips and Salsa, Fruit Salad
Salad Bar (This is one of our favorite dinners in spring/summer!)
Pasta Salad, Sliced Apples
Poor Man’s Steak (using deer meat), Biscuits, Green Beans, Tossed Salad
Scrambled Eggs and Sausage, Fruit Salad
Italian Chicken, Texas Roadhouse Copycat Rolls, Steamed Broccoli
Leftovers (I’ve been trying to do better about eating up the leftovers in our refrigerator vs letting them go to waste. It’s worked pretty well to do one night devoted to just eating leftovers. And I enjoy having an night off from cooking!)
Ashley emailed in the following tip:
I love being a stay-at-home mom, but cooking is not my favorite part of the job. Menu planning has been difficult for me because I always had trouble figuring out what to make.
I decided I needed to make menu planning easier so that I could instead focus my attention on things that energize me. I started by going through all my cookbooks and making a comprehensive list of all the recipes that I have ever made and liked.
I ended up with 60 recipes. Then, I organized the recipes on the list so that there was good variety.
After that, I divided my completed list of recipes into three lists of about twenty recipes each. Since I don’t cook every day of the week (we typically have sandwiches and frozen pizza on the weekends), each list was enough to cover about a month of meals. After three months, I start over with the first list.
I decided to take things a step further and also put my grocery shopping on auto-pilot. I looked at each recipe and wrote down the needed ingredients. I then came up with a comprehensive shopping list to go with each of the three recipe lists.
I watch local store ads for sales on items that are on my shopping lists and stock up on whatever I can. Then, at the beginning of each month, I print off the appropriate list, cross off whatever ingredients I already have, and head to the store to buy the rest.
I get most of our groceries at Aldi, shop the sales at County Market, and get whatever else I need at Walmart. The rest of the month there are just a few basic staples we have to buy whenever we are running out, like bread, milk, and fruit.
I have a large calendar on our kitchen wall. Each week, I look at what we have going on and decide what days I am going to cook. I then fill out the calendar days with the recipes from my list. I like seeing it all on the calendar so I can keep track of how old leftovers are, and so my husband can look forward to supper.
My new system of menu planning has been really beneficial for me. I no longer have to decide what to cook; the list tells me what to cook, and I get to be surprised!
Also, I don’t have to write out long grocery lists anymore, and the pantry is tidier because I only buy things that I know I will be cooking with in the next few weeks. I am also done dealing with the guilt that comes when it’s noon and I haven’t decided yet what to make for supper!
We’ve recently moved cross-country for a new job for my husband, but are now facing unemployment. We have a small baby, and all our family and friends are on the other side of the country. How did you keep going and keep hope alive during your hard times? -Heather
Oh, Heather! I read your email and my heart went out to you.
You see, we were in a very similar situation about 7 years ago when our second daughter (Kaitlynn) was born. We’d moved to Kansas City for a job for my husband and then that job situation ended up not panning out at all like we expected. Soon after Kaitlynn was born, we found ourselves in a city where we knew very few people, without a job, and with very little money.
We were committed to stay out of debt, but as the weeks wore on and no job turned up and our savings began to dwindle, it was hard to hang onto hope. And to be honest, there were many days when I felt completely overwhelmed and stressed.
But looking back, here’s the advice I would give to myself based on things I learned during that time period:
You are in the middle of very difficult circumstances. Many of them are not circumstances you would have chosen for yourself.
Life feels difficult, overwhelming, and maybe just downright exhausting. But that doesn’t meant there aren’t at least a few things you can be grateful for right now.
Focus on the good things in your life — whether that’s your baby’s smile, sunshine outside, a kind word from your husband, or the smell of bread baking. If you focus on your problems, you’ll naturally feel discouraged. When you choose to look for the blessings instead, you’ll begin to notice many things to be thankful for all around you!
The last thing you should do right now is let your health slide. But when life is filled with setbacks and burdens, it’s easy to let those hard things affect our ability to make our health a priority.
Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, going to bed early (if possible), drinking enough water, eating well, and getting fresh air and sunshine. Investing just a little bit of time everyday in your health can give you more energy and passion for life — which will, in turn, help fuel your hope.
On the flip side, if you let your health slide — eating junk food, not exercising, staying up too late, and so forth — it will invariably affect your ability to be at the top of your game mentally and emotionally. The result will likely be that you feel discouraged and lethargic.
Related: Read my series on 15 Ways to Have More Energy.
I’ve found that if you don’t have a plan for your days, they can feel chaotic and overwhelming. But creating a simple plan will give you momentum for getting up — even during the difficult time periods.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew when it comes to a routine. Even planning just 6-10 things you’ll do in the same order every day can give you a sense of structure and peace. Plus, I find I have more energy and get more done when we have a routine!
For help with setting up a routine, check out my series on How to Develop a Routine That Works — and Stick With It!
You need a reason for getting up every morning. A simple routine give you some purpose for your days, but I encourage you to take it a step further and set a few small goals. This will fuel your drive and help you see some forward momentum instead of just feeling like you’re stuck in a black hole.
You can set goals for how many Swagbucks you hope to earn each day, or a cleaning project you want to tackle, or for specific steps you’re going to take to look for a part-time job. Break your big goal down into bite-sized pieces and tackle a little bit every day.
If possible, find an accountability partner/cheerleader for your goal-setting. This could be someone local, or one of your friends or family members who live miles away. Knowing you have to report to someone on your daily or weekly progress will also help you stay motivated.
It’s amazing how refreshing beauty and creativity can be for our souls, even during dark times. Listen to music online that uplifts you, keep your home neat and organized, pick a wildflower bouquet, find a new recipe to bake on Pinterest, work on a handwork project, or learn a new skill.
Figure out what refreshes you and make that a part of your life — even if it requires a little time and effort. Seeing that drawer you organized or that bread you baked or that handwork project you finished will life your spirits.
As much as is possible, plug into your local community. See if there’s a Bible study at a local church you can join, or a mom’s group you can connect with. Go to the park and strike up a conversation with another mom there. Check your local library for possible activities they offer or for a book club you could participate in.
Keep your eyes and ears open for anyone who might be open to come over for coffee or have a play date with you. Invite your neighbors over to hang out in your backyard. Look for that woman who is all by herself at Bible study and go sit by her and ask her about herself. Be hospitable, pretend you’re an extrovert (even if you’re not!), and look for any possibility of friendship.
You don’t need to load up your schedule with dozens of social engagements, but when you are first trying to find friendship and community, you often have to be pretty proactive to make it happen. Keep at it, don’t give up if the first few invites don’t turn into lasting friendship, and I can almost guarantee that you’ll eventually find at least a few good friendships where you’re at. It will take work and effort, but it will be worth it!
For more encouragement, read my posts on 16 Ways to Become More Content and Lessons From Our Little Basement Apartment.
After my Publix shopping trip fail, I decided to go back to my roots and try ALDI here in TN. I was planning to go last night, but Jesse was out running errands with Silas and offered to swing by ALDI to grab the items on my list. I was happy to oblige.
Here’s what we bought:
ALDI Shopping Trip
1 package tortillas — $1.19
2 cans refried beans — $0.79 each
2 boxes of aluminum foil — $1.99 each
Frozen green beans — $1.49
2 bags of chicken breasts — $5.99 each
1 package thick sliced bacon — $5.99
2 packages center cut bacon — $3.69 each
2 Cucumbers — $0.33 each
2 bags of Gala apples — $3.49 each
Strawberries — $1.99
4 Avocados — $0.99 each
Baby carrots — $0.99
Olive Oil — $2.99
Total with tax: $55.39
It wasn’t the most amazing shopping trip ever, but it did give me hope that, with some practice, we’ll be able to get back to most of the prices we were used to paying in Kansas! 🙂
I had the privilege of doing a Skype interview with Leigh Ann Towne from FOX 17 recently on yard sale tips and tricks. She put together a great article and fun video on the subject that anyone who loves yard sales will want to check out.
Here’s a snippet from her article:
“What is a typical day off for me? Getting up dark and early, even though I don’t have to, hopping on www.garagesalefinder.com or Craigslistto see where I will find the treasures of the day. The thrill of the hunt is probably similar to what many sports fanatics feel on game day. (I too love sports, but not as much as thrifting).
Here’s a helpful hint, too. Before you head out for the day, download a garage sale finding app on your phone. One of my favorites is called “Garage Sales, Everywhere!” Just type in the keywords “garage sale finder” and several pop up. They can pinpoint your location and then show little flags on a map with the ones nearest to you. Pretty cool! The app works best when you have a co-pilot, so one can look and direct, while the other drives. My husband and I had so much fun going on a spur of the moment adventure with the app one day.
Before heading out recently on a Friday, I spoke via Skype with blogger Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom. I was really intrigued with one of her entries called 10 Secrets to Holding a Successful Garage Sale…”
Read the full article and watch the news piece I was featured in here.
