FromGarbageToGourmet.com shows you how to make homemade funnel cakes from leftover pancake batter.
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
Classic View
Grid View
30-Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #30
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
April 30, 2013 Project
Today’s project is to clean all your electronics (computer, TV, iPad, iPod, smartphones, etc.)
If you’re a family who has very few electronics, then you have a pretty easy day today. 🙂
Does anyone have any great tips or tricks for cleaning electronics easily?
Come back here at 6 p.m. EST and I’ll have a linky so you can link up your pictures of your accomplishments today!
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on the daily check-ins. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
Shared Apr 29, 2013
comment
Yesterday’s Mud Experience & Why You Should Always Watch Where You Walk
Yesterday’s Mud Experience & Why You Should Always Watch Where You Walk
Yesterday, we went to a nearby nature trail for a picnic lunch after church. It had rained Friday and Saturday, so the ground was still wet and muddy in places.
But it was a beautiful spring day and we couldn’t resist, despite the mud. We walked the nature trail, observed animals tracks, discussed bird calls, walked down by the river and found shells, and just enjoyed the quiet, peace, and fun family outing.
When it was time to go, we found a short cut across the field to get back to the parking lot. A lot of people were taking this route and so we followed suit.
There were lots of muddy places on the short cut route, so we kept reminding the kids over and over not to step in the mud. Things were going well until about halfway to the car when one child forgot to look where they were going and stepped right into a mud hole.
They had trouble getting their shoes out from the strong suction of the mud. When they finally did, they had mud all over their shoes and feet and were pretty upset about the whole thing.
The mud slowed them down considerably and us, in turn. Then, we had to spend a long time wiping everything up with baby wipes (the only thing we had!) when we made it back to our car.
It was all good in the end and, once the mud was cleaned up, this child’s attitude lightened considerably. So the fun day was salvaged, in spite of the mud experience.
While we were dealing with all the mud, I kept thinking about the life analogies that it contained. How many times in our adult lives do we get distracted and not pay attention to where we’re going and all of a sudden end up in a muddy mess?
This is especially true when it comes to our finances: we can make a plan for our finances, but then we get busy and we take our eyes off of the path we’d mapped out. We get distracted, we become undisciplined, we let our good habits slip.
Little bit by little bit, we start veering off the path. And then, all of a sudden we can find ourselves stuck in financial mud and frustrated that we didn’t notice we were walking right into it.
The moral of the story? Keep watching where you’re walking.
Have accountability in place so that you’re constantly checking the path (your financial or life goals) to make sure you’re not getting way off course. Those little course corrections will keep you from ending up mired in a mucky mess.
10 goals for this week
Last week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1.
Read 20 pages of Rascal by Sterling North aloud to the children.
Start reading The Hardy Boys Book #1 with Kathrynne, read two chapters of Life With Lily with Kaitlynn, read a few picture books with Silas.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.Personal Goals
3. Memorize Romans 1:11-12.
4. Exercise five times.5. Finish reading: A Lady in Waiting, 24/6, Start, and When the Game is Over It All Goes Back in the Box.
6. Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night.Homemaking Goals
7. Follow the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge.
8. Work on my embroidery project for at least 30 minutes.Business Goals
9. Finish tweaking recipes for my new recipes page.
10. Finish editing the last five chapters for the second round of edits on my manuscript & turn into my editor {this should be done tomorrow!}
This week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
Personal Goals
3. Review Romans 1:1-12.
4. Exercise five times.
5. Finish reading: A Lady in Waiting, 24/6, Start, and When the Game is Over It All Goes Back in the Box.
6. Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
Homemaking Goals
7. Finish the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge; Start the Clutter-Busting Challenge.
8. Work on my embroidery project for at least 30 minutes.
Business Goals
9. Finish editing the last five chapters for the second round of edits on my manuscript & turn into my editor.
10. Finish outlines for my talks for the Pennsylvania Homeschool Conference next week.
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.
30-Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #29 Update
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
I’m kind of embarrassed to post these pictures seeing as I just cleaned out my bathroom drawers. But oh well, here the pictures are anyway…
Hiding under all that?
Was this sticky medicine spill from the weekend.
Much better — and I even got some of the other items back to where they belonged, too.
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on linky below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
Shared Apr 29, 2013
comment
This Week’s Menu {and yes, I temporarily gave up coffee & sugar–can you believe it?!}
This Week’s Menu {and yes, I temporarily gave up coffee & sugar–can you believe it?!}
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
For a long list of reasons, I temporarily gave up coffee and sugar a week ago. Yes {gasp!} can you believe it?!
It’s been eight days, and now that the massive headache is gone, I am feeling so, so good (and sleeping better than I have in years). I’m happy and all, but on the other hand, I was sort of secretly hoping I wouldn’t notice such a marked difference. 🙂
Because of this success, I’m now getting brave and giving up gluten, too, as a 30-Day experiment. It’s amazing how health issues will motivate you to do things you used to think were pretty crazy!
So if you notice a bit outside the norm recipes on my menu, you’ll know why. And if you have any amazing gluten-free, sugar-free (I am eating some honey, but no other forms of sweetener outside of fruit) recipes you think I’d love, please do shoot them my way.
Breakfasts
Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit
Lunches
{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}
Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3Snacks
Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Boiled eggsFreezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}
Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Easy Energy Bars (I’m going to sub raisins for the chocolate chips.)
Marinated Chicken
Dinners
Steak on the grill, corn on the cob, veggies
Supreme Egg Loaf, Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles, fruit
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole with ham, veggies
Simple Beef & Veggie Casserole, fruit
Dinner with friends
Dinner with extended family x 2
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
Join Me for the Clutter-Busting Challenge in May!
Beginning May 1, 2013, I’ll be hosting a Clutter-Busting Challenge right here on MoneySavingMom.com.
I’ll be going through my house from top to bottom during the month of May. And to keep me motivated and accountable, every week day at 2 p.m., I’ll be posting a picture of 7 things I got rid of that day.
I’ll invite you to join me in this project, by challenging yourself to find 7 things to get rid of every day, too. I’ll have a link-up on the daily post where you can share a picture of the 7 things you got rid of that day, too.
Who’s with me in this clutter-busting challenge? Leave a comment to let us know you’re in.
3 Tips to Build a Gift Stockpile
Guest post from Liz of Catholic Deals
My family gives lots of gifts.
My husband and I both come from big families, and we have also been blessed to be able to share in the life event celebrations of many friends — from bridal showers and weddings to baby showers and baptisms. Now that my children are school-age, they also are frequently invited to birthday parties, and we need teacher gifts as well.
We really enjoy blessing our friends and family with presents, but the cost of many gifts can quickly become a financial hardship. That’s where a gift stockpile comes in. Instead of purchasing gifts only when I have a specific event to attend, I buy a variety of gifts whenever I find them at good prices and store them until I need them.
Over the past few years I have refined my gift stockpiling system so that gifts take up only a small portion of our budget, yet we are still able to give appropriate and thoughtful gifts. Plus, I rarely have to run out and purchase a present before a party; I just choose and wrap something on hand!
If you want to build a gift stockpile of your own, here are three tips that I have learned over the years:
1. Purchase only items that are appropriate for your gift-giving needs.
Think about the events that you are likely to attend or people with whom you usually exchange gifts. That crystal vase may be 75% off and would be a perfect wedding gift, but if you haven’t attended a wedding in five years it will probably sit in the closet.
For several years I kept a plastic bin of baby clothes and gifts, since I attended so many baby showers and baptisms. However, now that my friends’ children and my own are older, I have mostly stopped purchasing baby items. With my oldest in school and attending frequent birthday parties, I instead started concentrating on looking for deals on toys.
2. Know your target prices and sale opportunities.
The point of building a gift stockpile is not only to have gifts on hand, but to be able to purchase them for much less than you would if you had to run out the day before a party. Therefore, you should know the best price range that you are able to find with some regularity and only purchase gifts when they hit that target price.
For birthday party gifts, I currently try to spend no more than $5 per gift. I know that if I watch the toy clearance at my local Walmart and Target I rarely have to spend more. I also know to watch clearance sales closely after major holidays, and I have learned the mark-down systems used by various local stores.
I almost completely fill my kids’ Christmas stockings and Easter baskets with items purchased after the holiday the previous year.
3. Limit your stockpile.
Even if you pay your target price for a gift, it doesn’t really save you money if you don’t use it for years, either because you have too many items or you can’t find what you have.
I have found that the easiest way for me to limit my gift stockpile is by space. I have one plastic bin for children’s gifts and one for adult gifts, plus a smaller under-the-bed bin for small stocking stuffer and Easter basket items for my own family. If these bins are filled, I avoid buying more items until I have space. I also clean out the bins every so often.
My personal limit for storing future gifts is about two years. If I buy something on clearance after a holiday, I assume I will use it the next year. If I don’t end up using it, I don’t mind hanging on to it for one more year. However, beyond that I strongly reassess whether I will ever use it, and I sell or donate items that I decide to purge.
My gift stockpile has been a blessing to our family and I hope to our friends and relatives as well. I hope that these tips help you bless your family with your own gift stockpiling system.
Liz McGuirk is a wife and mom living in Northern Virginia. She blogs at Catholic Deals, where she shares savings on Christian and Catholic books, media, religious articles, and much more.
30-Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #29
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
April 29, 2013 Project
Today’s project is to clean one thing (such as your dresser drawer, the microwave, oven, etc.).
I’d recommend thinking of the one area that has really been bugging you recently or that one project you’ve been saying “I’ve got to get that clean tomorrow or next week…”
I know exactly what my one thing is going to be: it’s going to be our bathroom drawer that half a bottle of medicine accidentally spilled in over the weekend. I didn’t have a chance to deal with it yet because we were gone almost the entire weekend, so today is the perfect day to get it cleaned up.
What one thing are you cleaning today?
Come back here at 6 p.m. EST and I’ll have a linky so you can link up your pictures of your accomplishments today!
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on the daily check-ins. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
The Lessons are in the Waiting
Testimony from Tessa of TessaHardiman.com
For so long, things happened quickly for me. A quick acceptance into college. A “quick” courtship — I met my husband right out of high school, which was much sooner than most of my peers. I grew used to having things happen to me fast.
Then, I graduated college and began a job search. My long established trend of quick came to a close. After two complete years out of school, I have yet to find a permanent position in my field. The waiting period has been a tough teacher.
Here are a two things I have learned along the way:
1. You never know what you will discover.
Sometimes our passions are rediscovered in the waiting. I kept a diary on and off throughout my adolescence, but I became a more committed writer when I had to wait. I worked on and completed a full-length novel.
I wrote and had articles featured on huge blogs, including a few here on MoneySavingMom. I was able to work on my first ebook in between temporary employment periods. The waiting time enabled me to develop my creative side.
2. You can be better prepared for any future waiting periods.
I hope I never have to experience the sort of waiting that I’ve had to the past two years. After a few temporary assignments, my hopes would soar that perhaps my waiting was about to end. I would only end up disappointed and back in the same spot. The ups and downs from being employed and then back to unemployed nearly sent me into depression.
Am I thankful for that experience? Not at this moment! I do, however, hope that in the future I will be better prepared to deal with any difficult experiences with waiting.
Waiting is never fun. I like things to happen fast, but this has forced me to slow down. I understand the lessons that I’m learning, but I wish there was an easier way to learn them!
Tessa Hardiman is the author of Surviving and Thriving: 21 Tips for First Year Teachers, available now on Amazon. You can connect with her on her website, tessahardiman.com.
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
30-Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #26 Update
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
I spent over an hour on my room today (yes, it looked worse than this because I hadn’t gotten unpacked from my trip earlier this week!) and I was excited to show you the pictures.
But alas, Silas somehow got the photo card with the pictures on it stuck down in the crevices of our leather chair in our room and for the life of me, I cannot get it out. I just had to laugh — because that’s just life sometimes, ya know?!
So you’re just going to have to imagine what it looked like before and after! And I’ll do a better job of keeping watch over the photo card in the future. 😉
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on linky below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
Should I Snatch Up Every Good Deal That Comes Along?
I would love to hear your thoughts on balancing “snatching up a good deal” versus “impulse buying”. I feel like there are often time-limited sales or good deals that come up, but if I haven’t budgeted or planned to spend that money I have to pass them by or else spend money I really shouldn’t be spending. -Anna
I think this is such an important topic to bring up — because we must have balance in our lives. It’s wonderful to get great deals and bargains, but I think we need to set clear criteria for what constitutes a true “deal”. Otherwise, we can spend a lot of time and money needlessly chasing down supposed bargains that really aren’t a good deal for us at all.
Here are five things that we’ve set up as a criteria for making sure we’re not overspending and that a good deal truly is a great deal for us:
1. Create and Follow a Budget
Without a budget, we won’t have any way to track whether we are truly saving money. In fact, without a budget, we might be spending more money by chasing down sales and bargains.
Sticking with a cash budget has been so helpful to me — especially because I’m not a spreadsheet nerd. I know that the money that I have in the envelope is what I have to spend. And when the money’s gone, the money’s gone. Cash provides instant self-discipline and guarantees that you don’t spend more than you have.
2. Budget for Everything
We have fairly specific cash envelope categories and find that this really helps us to stay on track. For instance, instead of just having a “clothing” budget, we have individual cash envelopes for each person in our family. We don’t just have a Food cash envelope. We have a Groceries envelope and a Dates & Eating Out envelope.
In addition, we budget for everything — from hair cuts and clothing to homeschooling supplies, gifts, and car maintenance. Everything we regularly spend money on (even if it’s just an annual purchase that we routinely make) has a category in our master budget spreadsheet (I’m so thankful that a married a math nerd who loves to create and track things on spreadsheets!)
On those rare occasions that a necessary purchase arises that we haven’t budgeted for, we either have to find a way to shuffle things around in a few categories to be able to afford it, we don’t buy it, or it comes out of our blow cash envelope.
3. Analyze Every Purchase
Because I have a limited supply of cash to work with in each envelope, this forces me to evaluate every purchase and make sure I’m getting the best deal. I’m constantly asking myself questions like, “Do we need this?” “Is this the best use of this envelope money?”
Note: I think that you can get to a point where you over-analyze purchases — like I did with my candle purchase. If you’re agonizing for 30 minutes over a $0.50 purchase, you may need to lighten up a little bit. 🙂
4. Don’t Buy Something Just Because It’s a “Good Deal”
What’s a good deal for someone else won’t necessarily be a good deal for you. This is an important thing to constantly remember. If you don’t have the money for it, it’s not a good deal for you. If you don’t need it, it’s not a good deal for you.
If you feel panicky because you’re missing out on a “good deal”, that’s probably a sign that you need to step back and re-evaluate things. It’s great to get good deals and I’m all about stewarding our money well, but I think we need to be careful that we don’t become obsessed. Life is about a whole lot more than getting the best bargain.
5. Take a Break From Bargain Shopping on Occasion
It’s good to occasionally to just shelve your coupons and maybe even take a break from reading blogs that share bargains. I do this at least once or twice a year — and I find it really freeing!
Taking a breather will help you get some fresh perspective and help make sure that you’re staying balanced in life. And it also usually causes you to be re-energized and excited when you come back to bargain shopping again!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic! Weigh in on this in the comments!
30 Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #26
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
April 26, 2013 Project
Since it’s Friday and we’re taking the weekend off, you get to choose your project from three projects today: you can either surface clean a bedroom or the bathroom(s) or you can vacuum and/or sweep the floors in your home.
You choose which area you’re most motivated to clean or which area needs to be cleaned the most and go for it!
Come back here at 6 p.m. EST and I’ll have a linky so you can link up your pictures of your accomplishments today!
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on the daily check-ins. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
30-Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #25 Update
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
I got up late this morning and that made me a few hours behind all day… but I’m finally getting this post up!
Yes, the junk drawer was in dire need of some help!
Much better!
And then I wiped down all the cupboard doors.
The baseboards and underneath the cupboards also really need some cleaning.
I had to rinse my rag out so many times.
And then I decided to clean the crevices of the sliding glass door. Yikes!
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on linky below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
30-Day House Cleaning Challenge: Project #25
During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
April 25, 2013 Project
Today’s project is to surface clean or deep clean your kitchen and/or living room.
I’m going to clean out some of the drawers and cupboards in my kitchen and wipe down the outside of the cupboards. In addition, I’m going to clean the baseboards — those are always pretty icky in the kitchen!
What are you planning to tackle in the kitchen and/or living room today?
Come back here at 6 p.m. EST and I’ll have a linky so you can link up your pictures of your accomplishments today!
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on the daily check-ins. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!