LivingChicontheCheap.com shows you how to make homemade pumpkin pie spice.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Summer Bucket List
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Shared Oct 7, 2013
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Share Your Budgeting Success Story and You Could Get a $250 Amazon.com Gift Card!
Share Your Budgeting Success Story and You Could Get a $250 Amazon.com Gift Card!
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Less Anxiety, More Rest
During the month of October, I’m following along with Edie & Ruth on their 31 Days of Less & More journey. I’d love for you to join in by reading the posts and completing the projects, or just sit back and read along each day.
Less Anxiety
Life is full of struggles and difficulties. In fact, probably for most of us, rarely a day goes by that we do not have something (or many somethings!) to be stressed about.
However, more and more I’ve been realizing that John G. Miller is right: “Stress is a choice.” You can’t always choose your circumstances, but you can always choose your response to those circumstances.
When hard things come, you can either become uptight and anxious, or you can choose to be calm and cheerful. Sitting and stewing never accomplishes anything good, so you might as well opt to look for the silver lining and choose gratitude instead.
No matter what you’re going through, there is always something to be thankful for. No matter how hard your situation, it could always be worse. So make a choice to rejoice!
More Rest
In the past few years, I’ve become a big advocate for rest. Not only having margin and white space in our schedules, but also just plain getting more sleep.
Burning the candle at both ends doesn’t make you superwoman; it makes you exhausted. I learned this lesson the hard way in the first six years of our marriage. As a result, I’ve now made sleep a high priority in my life. And I’ve learned that I actually get a lot more done when I’m well rested, plus I feel a lot calmer about life in general.
So I’ve been trying to go to be earlier and, on the nights when I don’t go to bed early, I let myself sleep in a little. It makes such a difference in my productivity — and in my overall demeanor.
Here’s what I wrote about sleep in my 15 Ways to Have More Energy post:
I know, I know. It’s hard to get sleep when you have a hundred other things you feel you should be doing.
However, if you don’t take the time to rest, you’ll constantly be running on fumes. Rearrange your schedule, turn off the electronics, do relaxing things before bed, go to bed early (if at all possible), take a 30-minute nap in the afternoon, or do whatever else it takes to make sure you are getting good sleep at least 5-6 nights each week (I’ve found that if I sleep well at least five nights each week, I’m rested enough that I can have a late night once or twice a week without it really affecting me!)
Don’t know whether you’re getting adequate sleep? I’ve heard that a good barometer is to see if you’re tired at all midday or afternoon. If you are, you aren’t getting enough sleep at night. Keep extending your sleep at night by 15 to 30 minutes until you no longer feel tired in the afternoon.
For more on this topic, check out Ruth’s post on Less Anxiety and Edie’s post on More Rest. I promise you’ll be inspired and blessed!
10 Goals for This Week
This week’s goal progress was only slightly better than last week’s. But progress is progress, right? 🙂
Last week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1.
Read 3 chapters of The Borrowers and
finish reading The Tanglewoods’ Secret to the children. Read 3 chapters of Caddie Woodlawn with Kaitlynn.Read a few picture books with Silas.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.Personal Goals
3. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-23.
4. Run 12 miles. {Only ran 8 miles.}
5. Read Daring Greatly, Leaving Yesterday, Bread & Wine, and Wild Goose Chase.
Homemaking Goals
6. Work for 30 minutes on my embroidery project.
7. Try at least two new recipes.Business Goals
8. Work on updating 10 more posts for Pinterest.
9. Practice my updated talk for Saturday’s event in Andover, KS.
10. Write one post for the 52 Ways to Save $100 a Year series.
This week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
Personal Goals
3. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-23.
4. Run 10 miles.
5. Read Daring Greatly, Leaving Yesterday, Bread & Wine, and Wild Goose Chase. (I’m really hoping to actually finish a book this week — or maybe even two or three! :))
6. Write thank you’s.
Business Goals
7. Prep for the SCORRE Conference.
8. Write outline & rehearse for filming with MOPS next week.
9. Practice my updated talk for the MOPS & ReWrite Conferences next week.
10. Write one post for the 52 Ways to Save $100 a Year series.
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.
This Week’s Menu + Freezer Cooking in an Hour Plan
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 eggsFreezer Cooking in an Hour (I’ll share more how this goes later on this week!)
Taco Meat
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Pumpkin Waffles
Dinners
Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, fruit, scrambled eggs
Tacos, fruit
Lasagna, fruit, bread (my mom sent home the leftovers from the birthday dinner she made for me)
Homemade Pizza, fruit, veggies
Meat, Potatoes, Onions, and Carrots in the crockpot, Chocolate Chip Muffins
Dinner with extended family
Dinner out
What’s on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.
Swagbucks Helped Us Stock Up On Diapers
Testimonial from Leah of Simple Home Blessing
I was so pumped after getting back from CVS the other day! I stocked up on some much needed items and spent almost nothing thanks to Swagbucks and a tip I got on MoneySavingMom.com.
I had created quite the little stockpile of toiletries and necessities from CVS and Walgreens when I was really couponing a few years back. But when we had our first little one (and then another one quickly thereafter) I got out of my couponing groove and before I knew it, our stash was running low.
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money out of pocket to start playing the drugstore game again… and that’s when I remembered I had a bunch of Swagbucks I had not redeemed — enough for a $25 CVS gift card!
I redeemed my Swagbucks and had my CVS gift card ready for the right deal to jump on. Then I got a hot tip from MoneySavingMom.com that Luvs diapers would be very on sale at CVS… but I knew I could get them even cheaper if I played my coupons and ECBs just right.
The day finally came and here’s what we did:
Purchased 1 Colgate Total mouthwash, 1 Colgate Total toothpaste and 1 stress relieving gum.
Used $2 coupon on mouthwash and $1 coupon on toothpaste
Spent $9.25 of my giftcard (balance $15.75)
Got back $3 ECB and $5.79 ECB
Then on a separate transaction we purchased 5 packs of Luvs diapers
Used 4/$1 coupons (we couldn’t get another computer and printer to print the 5th)
Used the ECBs from the first transaction.
Spent the remaining $15.75 on the gift card and $9.21 out of pocket
Got back $10 ECB
So after both transactions, I only ended up spending $9.21 out of pocket and got $10 ECB back!
I’m so excited to have lots of diapers for our little ladies, a couple things we needed for us, AND a “starter” ECB fund again!
Thanks Swagbucks and MoneySavingMom.com!
Leah writes about all things related to homemaking over at Simple.Home.Blessings. She is currently working through a series called Hope for Homemakers designed to provide encouragement to women struggling to do it all in their homes. She just celebrated her 9th anniversary with her husband, who doesn’t mind calling a trip to CVS a date.
How to Make 5 Fall Meals from 5 Pork Chops
JessieLeigh from Parenting Miracles shows you How to Make 5 Fall Meals from 5 Pork Chops. I loved her great ideas!
Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter, Freezer-Friendly Pizza Dough, Banana Oatmeal Cups, and Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake
I was really excited about trying three new recipes for this week’s Freezer Cooking in an Hour session. Sadly, none of them turned out as great as I was hoping. 🙁 But none were disasters, so I guess that’s something to be thankful for. 🙂
The Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter was really easy to make. It turned out a little more syrupy than I was hoping it would. I’m thinking if I try it again, I’ll add more pumpkin as I think that would fix the issue. (Psst! If you’re looking for a great Crockpot Apple Butter recipe, you must try this one.)
The Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake turned out decently. The topping was yummy, but I thought the cake wasn’t sweet enough — or just wasn’t the best pumpkin coffee cake I’ve tried. I think it may have been that the recipe didn’t call for eggs and that made the texture a little different than I was expecting.
And the Banana Oatmeal Cups were okay. Not out of this world, but definitely edible.
Last but not least, I made a batch of my favorite Freezer-Friendly Pizza Dough. If you’ve not tried this recipe before, I can’t recommend it highly enough. In fact, you just might give up ever ordering pizza after you see how easy it is to make it yourself!
Recipes made:
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter
Banana Oatmeal Cups
Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Freezer-Friendly Pizza Dough
Did you do any freezer cooking this week or attempt any new recipes?
Dillon’s Shopping Trip: Spent $13.40
My mom took me out to lunch on Friday and we ran into Dillon’s on the way home (mostly because my friend, Angie, had texted me and told me I must stop by Dillon’s and check out some of their deals this week).
We were both so glad we did! Here’s what I got:
- 2 bags of Ocean Spray Trail Mix — marked down to $0.79 each
- 1 Pineapple — $0.99
- 1 Feta cheese — $0.99
- 1 package of bacon — $3.49
- 14 tubs of Greek yogurt — $0.39 each
- Total with tax: $13.40 (my receipt says I saved $17.96!)
Less Comparison, More Confidence
During the month of October, I’m following along with Edie & Ruth on their 31 Days of Less & More journey. I’d love for you to join in by reading the posts and completing the projects, or just sit back and read along each day.
Less Comparison
Not too long ago, I had a little extra time one day and was perusing blogs. I somehow stumbled upon this beautiful blog written by an even more beautiful woman.
As I read her posts, I began to feel very inadequate. She was pretty, in shape, creative, witty, had a gorgeous home, had more children than me, and really seemed to have it altogether.
I started to feel ugly, disorganized, out of shape, and like a really pathetic woman in comparison to her. But I kept on reading–and continued to feel even worse.
Then I landed upon a post where she talked about this woman that she so admired and wanted to be like. I was shocked when I clicked on the link and discovered the woman she was referring to was me.
Yes, this woman whom I felt I paled in comparison to wanted to be like me.
And then I realized how silly this was. Here she wanted to be me and I was secretly wishing I were her.
It hit me anew just how easy it is to want what we don’t have–better hair, better decorating skills, a better personality, more creativity, more spunk… there’s always someone who it seems we’d like to trade places with because they have what we want.
But trading places with someone wouldn’t fix anything; we’d just inherit a new set of things we wish we could change. No one has it altogether. Everyone has struggles and difficulties. Comparison only leads to discontentment.
More Confidence
We can’t change who we are, but we can make the most of our situation. We can’t choose the personality we are born with, but we can choose to be thankful–even in the midst of difficulty.
And we can choose to be intentional and purposeful in how we live our lives so that we make the most of all that we’ve been given instead of wishing we were someone else.
I loved this part of Amy Lynn Andrew’s post on The Trouble With Blogging:
…Never forget that what you see on the screen is not the whole picture.
Never forget that the people behind the blogs are, well, people…with unorganized cupboards, unmanaged time schedules (ahem!), cranky children (ahem again!), painful stories, crafty train wrecks, struggling marriages, unpaid bills and burnt meat loaf. (Those are the examples I use, because those have all been me behind the scenes.)
Never forget that their story and their journey and their choices apply to them, not to you.
You are who you are for a reason. You are where you are a for a reason. Don’t do what I do and beat yourself up for not being where someone else is. It’s a colossal waste of time.
Appreciate everyone else’s outside, but embrace your inside. (Read the full post here–it’s fantastic!)
Originally posted January 2012.
For more on this topic, check out Ruth’s post on Less Comparison and Edie’s post on More Confidence. I promise you’ll be inspired and blessed!
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Shared Oct 4, 2013
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Frugal Photo Friday: Garden Produce, Great Grocery Bargains, Library Books, and Homemade Pizza Dough
Frugal Photo Friday: Garden Produce, Great Grocery Bargains, Library Books, and Homemade Pizza Dough
Welcome to Frugal Photo Friday! This month, I am partnering with Rebekah from SimplyRebekah.com. Each Friday we are sharing pictures of simple ways that we save money.
We are blessed to have many friends who share from their garden abundance. We’re always happy to take the extras off their hands. And nothing beats fresh-grown tomatoes!
I love it when I can quickly run into the store and come out with some great bargains (thanks to my friend, Angie, for texting me about these deals!).
We can’t seem to have too many library books around here! Here’s our stack of books we read this week! Oh how we are thankful for the library and the money we save because of it!
You might not be able to tell what the above picture is, but that’s two hunks of frozen pizza dough. We save so much money by making our own homemade pizza. And whipping up a couple batches of Homemade Pizza Dough for the freezer makes it even easier to pull off dinner on busy days!
Head over to SimplyRebekah to see the savings that Rebekah is sharing today.
Now it is your turn to share the simple ways that you save. Post your link below or on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #FrugalPhotoFriday. All of the link-up details can be found here.
7 Tips to Avoid the Holiday Debt Trap
Guest post from Rachael of Thriving on Thrifty
Now that the weather is getting cooler and the leaves are beginning to fall, I can only think of the joyous season ahead. Holidays full of turkey, pies, lights, mistletoe, debt, tinsel, caroling…Wait, HUH? Debt? That must be a typo, right?
Unfortunately, it seems that debt is becoming about as common in the holiday season as Christmas trees and turkey dinners. So how do we take this joy zapper out of such a joyous season? Well, I have 7 ideas below that have helped me enjoy my holidays without dreading the credit card bill in the weeks to follow:
1. Make a gift budget and stick to it.
Christmas comes the same time each year, and yet somehow it always sneaks up on us financially. However, if you include it in your budget and save throughout the year, by the time it’s time to shop you already have your money set aside.
Also, be sure to stick to your budget. It’s so easy to just go a few dollars over here and there, but those dollars can really start to add up. Make a budget and stick to it!
2. Shop early.
You may be wondering why I wrote this post now. We still have over 2 months until Christmas. Well, the earlier you shop the more time you have to look for deals.
I started shopping for Christmas presents back in the spring so I could catch great deals as they came along rather than waiting until the last minute and settling for whatever prices are available.
While it’s no longer spring time, you still have plenty of time to find some awesome deals… and then next year you can start even earlier!
3. Be practical.
I know it’s so easy to want to buy every toy that your kid puts on his list. However, they truly don’t need every toy.
Guess what? In a few months, they will probably have forgotten about that toy and will be wanting something else. While it’s fun to get a few things that your kids are longing for, use Christmas as a great time to get the stuff they truly need.
When I was about 10, my parents got me a mattress. Yes, you read it right…a mattress.
The funniest part is that I actually asked for the mattress (I was obviously a very practical child). I still remember that gift. You know why? My husband and I are still using that mattress.
While I may remember a few other presents from my childhood, I can truly say that very few of them have lasted me 15 years. That’s why we are using this year as an opportunity to upgrade my son’s baby room into his “big boy” room and get him some stuff that he really needs.
4. Be honest with yourself.
Just because you’ve gone all out in the past for Christmas doesn’t mean you have to meet or out-do it this year. Really analyze your situation and do what you can truly afford according to your income and budget.
5. Be creative.
Try finding creative ways to use your talents to make presents. For example, if your talent is photography, use this talent to make family portraits for someone.
If you are like me, maybe you really like couponing and finding free or inexpensive deals. Take those items and make a gift basket full of toiletries and pantry items. It might be practical, but I have a feeling it will get used.
6. Look for extra ways to save for Christmas.
Try looking for small ways to supplement your income to help pay for Christmas. Trust me, the little amounts can add up if you stick to it!
7. Enjoy the season.
After all, the true meaning of this season is NOT about seeing how much debt we can accrue.
With these relatively simple tips, I hope you’ll have a wonderful holiday season filled with all that good stuff I mentioned above… and without all the debt!
What are your tips for having a debt-free holiday?
Rachael Lachniet is a stay at home mom who enjoys learning ways to save money for her family and tries to share these ideas with others on her blog, Thriving on Thrifty.
The To-Do List Can Wait
“Mommy, can you play with me?”
His voice broke into my concentration as I studied my to-do list for the day figuring out which more pressing thing I should do next.
I started to launch into a gentle explanation about how Mommy was busy this morning, but I quickly caught myself as I looked at his pleading eyes.
I glanced back at my list — the list that just moments ago had seemed so important — and all those handwritten to-do’s paled in comparison to my little 4-year-old.
He will only be little once. Someday soon, he won’t be begging me to play with him. He’ll be all grown up and involved in his own life and dreams.
For today, the to-do list can wait. I’ve got more important plans… I’m laughing, giggling, loving on, and playing with my little boy.
Less Bitterness, More Forgiveness
During the month of October, I’m following along with Edie & Ruth on their 31 Days of Less & More journey. I’d love for you to join in by reading the posts and completing the projects, or just sit back and read along each day.
Less Bitterness
Not too long ago, a long-time acquaintance of mine did something really hurtful toward me. It wasn’t one of those situations where someone inadvertently hurt you; this was a clear personal attack on me by someone whom I considered to be my friend.
It was upsetting and painful and I wanted to wallow in self-pity and anger over her actions. Truthfully, for a few days, I did. But as I sat and sulked over the wounds this person had caused in my heart, I began to realize this was accomplishing nothing good.
What she did was wrong, there’s no denying that. But if I respond in anger and develop a long-term bitter spirit toward her, I’m just as wrong.
Her actions toward me are her responsibility. But my response to her is my responsibility. I can’t change what she did, but I can choose to forgive.
Bitterness and anger toward someone will never fix a problem. It will only hurt us — and probably the other person, too.
More Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a choice we can make — regardless of whether the other party asks for forgiveness or admits they are wrong. It’s never an easy choice, but it’s always the right choice.
Even though I was angry about this situation, in my heart of hearts, I wanted to choose forgiveness. So I started refusing to allow those upset thoughts to fester in my mind. Instead, I chose to pray for this woman and continually ask God to help me love and forgive her.
Amazingly enough, as I changed my attitude toward the situation, I started to really love this woman and be able to overlook what she had done. In fact, within a few days, I decided I wanted to back up my forgiveness with tangible actions.
So, I thought about something I could do to bless this woman and then I made some things for her, bought a few things I knew she would appreciate, wrote a note, and delivered the goodies to her. Can I just tell you that this felt so very good? After I delivered the gifts to her, I just couldn’t help but smile.
Yes, forgiveness is so much better than bitterness!
For more on this topic, check out Ruth’s post on Less Bitterness and Edie’s post on More Forgiveness. I promise you’ll be inspired and blessed!
It’s Not a Bargain If You Don’t Need It
This was a great reminder from Amy today:
I love a good bargain. When I enter a store, any store, I delight in discovering All Things CLEARANCE.
When we lived in the city and I had access to All of The Stores, I was a bargain shopper extraordinaire, hitting all the sales. Frequently. I did lots of shopping, but spent very little money (on each individual item). That money spent, though? It added up, and I had not much more than lots of stuff to show for it. Some of it useful. Some of it even needed or highly desired. But a lot of it ended up being just clearanced stuff.
My fetish for the frugal find found me scoping garage sales every Saturday morning, and I’d also frequently browse through and order items from clearance catalogs. When the items arrived they might not be exactly what I’d hoped for, or wouldn’t fit just right, or *gasp* looked better on the catalog model than on me. But I wouldn’t send the order back, because paying for shipping would be more than my refund! My stuff collection grew…
Read the full post here.