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Shared Mar 21, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: Face Your Day With a Smile

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Early to Rise Challenge: Face Your Day With a Smile

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to the Early to Rise Challenge! Throughout the month of March, I’m challenging myself and my readers to make the most of their mornings. So every week day morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’m posting a short Early to Rise post. I’ll share a few of my thoughts on the day’s passage from Early to Rise, tell you what time I got up that morning, and encourage you to leave a comment to tell us what time you got up and how you’re doing on the challenge.

Face Your Day With a Smile

I thought today’s reading in Early to Rise was intriguing. And I get Andy’s point, but I have to tell you that I don’t really like the word “smirk”.

Why? Because, by definition, it seems somewhat haughty and self-serving. I know that wasn’t Andy’s intent, but I just don’t like the word.

I prefer, instead, to stick with the word “smile”. A genuine smile is not only blesses yourself, but it blesses everyone you meet.

When I wake up early, spend some time in quiet, and face the day with a game plan, I’m much more excited and energized about life. As a result, I smile more. This, in turn, allows me to bless others — and then I’m blessed back and that makes me smile even more.

Today, I want to challenge you to smile more. No matter what time you got up. No matter what struggles and trials you’re experiencing. No matter what difficulties you’ve already encountered this morning.

Face your day with cheerfulness and excitement. Bless others with a genuine smile — and you’ll be blessed and energized in return!

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

I got up at 6:02 a.m.

What time did you get up? Leave a comment and let us know!

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 for today below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the Early to Rise Group Board on my Pinterest page, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.

Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? Each week day morning on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account, I’ll be posting a picture of my alarm clock as public accountability. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #EarlytoRise to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!

 

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 20, 2013 comment

52 Different Ways to Save at Least $100 Per Year: Use Cloth Diapers {Week 11}

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52 Different Ways to Save at Least $100 Per Year: Use Cloth Diapers {Week 11}

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At the beginning of every week in 2013, I’ll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.

We talked about eliminating disposable products earlier in this series, but I wanted talk more extensively about cloth diapering in a stand-alone post. Why? Because you can fairly easily save $100+ per year just by eliminating disposable diapers completely — or even just partially.

However, making the switch to cloth diapering is a big decision and not one to rush into without some thought and research. It’s a commitment of time and energy and it’s also usually a financial commitment. But it can pay off in fairly big dividends.

Our Cloth-Diapering Story

When Kathrynne was born, Jesse was in law school and our budget was extremely tight. I had wondered how we were going to afford diapers.

Well, we didn’t end up having to worry about it at all because shortly after Kathrynne was born, some good friends of ours called us up out of the blue and generously said they wanted to give us an entire set of Fuzzi Bunz diapers. We were overwhelmed at their kindness and enthusiastically accepted their offer.

We exclusively cloth-diapered Kathrynne and loved it… plus, we saved so much money. In fact, I don’t know how we would have ever afforded to buy disposable diapers since there were many weeks in those days when we struggled to just pay for our food and rent.

When Kaitlynn was born 2 and 1/2 years later, we planned to cloth diaper her as well. However, she was extremely allergic to every cloth diaper and diaper we tried. I was determined to make it work, but after a few months and many, many severe diaper rashes, I finally concluded that she could only use Pampers.

Gratefully, by this time, I had discovered the Drugstore Game and was able to work in Pampers purchases to my overage (that was back in the good old days when overage was a whole lot easier to come by at CVS!).

What Are the Cloth Diapering Options?

There are many, many different cloth diaper options out there. I recommend researching them all so you understand the lingo. For a basic primer, check out these two articles: Having a Baby Without Breaking the Bank: Cloth Diapering and Cloth Diapering 101.

There are many different ways to build your cloth diaper stash other than buying them brand-new yourself:

Ask for Cloth Diapers for Gifts — If you’re a first-time mom and you’re planning to cloth diaper, asking for cloth diapers as gifts for your baby showers might be an option for you.

Buy Used — Check Craigslist, garage sales, eBay, and online diaper forums for used cloth diapers. This might not be appealing to some people, but it is an option.

Make Your Own — If you’re handy with a sewing machine (unlike me!), I’ve heard it’s fairly simple to make your own cloth diapers.

Get Creative — Willing to think outside the box a little? Check out these two articles: How to Cloth Diaper for Practically Free and Start Cloth Diapering at Home for $20 (no sewing required).

How Much Can You Save?

How much you save by cloth-diapering will vary a great deal depending upon how many children you have, what kind of diapers you buy, how much you’d usually pay for disposable diapers (if you read this blog and print coupons, you likely pay a lot less per disposable diaper than many people do!), how much your water and electricity costs, whether you line-dry your diapers or not, and so forth.

However, regardless of your situation, I can fairly safely say that you will save at least $100 per year by using cloth diapers at least half the time. And there’s a good possibility that you’ll save significantly more than that if you cloth diaper exclusively, don’t have high electricity and water costs, and use your diapers for more than one child.

BabyWorks has some interesting statistics and stories on how much you can save by cloth diapering. You can also read some of my readers’ answers to this question. And here’s a breakdown of a number of different diaper costs from Diaper Decisions.

Save Even More By Making Your Own Cloth Wipes

If you’re already cloth-diapering, it’s really simple to use cloth wipes, too. With Kathrynne, I just used baby washcloths and water. However, if you want something a little more handy, you can Make Homemade Reusable Baby Wipes.

Related: My Journey to Cloth Diapers

Have you tried cloth-diapering? If so, what tips and suggestions do you have to add to my post?

photo credit; photo credit; photo credit

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 20, 2013 comment

Does TV-watching increase your spending?

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Does TV-watching increase your spending?

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I found this quote on Dave Ramsey’s Pinterest Board and thought it was very interesting. Do you agree or disagree with it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 20, 2013 comment

Earn Money By Watching Videos on Jingit

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Earn Money By Watching Videos on Jingit

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Jingit is a newer income-earning program that pays you to watch ads online. You can also earn money for downloading the mobile app, scanning items at Walmart, and answering a couple of questions.

How Do You Sign Up?

To sign up, just go here and follow the steps outlined. You’ll need to create an account, input your phone number, and type in the verification number they text to you.

How Do You Earn Cash?

Once you’re signed up, you can begin watching videos or doing store check-ins. You should be offered at least a few videos you can watch right away. It looks like they add a few new videos each week.

Plus, if you have a smartphone, you can download the Jingit app and get paid to scan grocery UPC codes while you’re in store.

How Do You Get Paid?

To get paid, you just register for a Jingit Visa Debit Card (costs $3 from your Jingit balance to request it) and then add cash for your online Jingit balance to the Visa card.

How Much Can You Make?

There is an earning limit of $15 per week. When you initially join, you’ll have a lower earning limit but this can be raised to $15 by inviting friends to join.

Candi commented on my post about Jingit and said:

I have tried it and found that it is really very easy to make a couple of bucks. They videos you watch are super short, so it really doesn’t take too much time. I have also done the “check in” feature which has you scan in items Walmart and answer a couple of questions and you get money instantly! Fairly simple, but I have had it not scan a couple of items. I will only scan items in store if I need to be at Walmart anyway, you are only going to make a buck or two at a time so it is in no way worth the trip to the store for that. -Candi

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 20, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: Be Quiet

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Early to Rise Challenge: Be Quiet

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to the Early to Rise Challenge! Throughout the month of March, I’m challenging myself and my readers to make the most of their mornings. So every week day morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’m posting a short Early to Rise post. I’ll share a few of my thoughts on the day’s passage from Early to Rise, tell you what time I got up that morning, and encourage you to leave a comment to tell us what time you got up and how you’re doing on the challenge.

Be Quiet

Andy talks about the lost art of quietness in today’s Early to Rise passage. Truly, this is one of the main reasons I get up early on a regular basis: because I savor that morning quiet.

It’s when I think, read, pray, plan, write, breathe, and dream. When I begin the day with quiet, the whole day feels calmer.

If you don’t have the ability to enjoy at least a few minutes of quiet in the morning, can I encourage you to find time elsewhere in the day for quiet? Maybe it’s when you’re commuting to work, or while your kids are playing outside in the backyard, or before bed.

Whenever it is, make a practice of finding white space in your day. It’s not healthy to fill up every nook and cranny of your day with to-do’s. That’s a way to suffocate, stifle, and exhaust yourself.

Breathe. Soak up the quiet. Savor the stillness. Even if it’s just for two minutes.

How are you going to make time for quiet today? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

I got up at 6:32 a.m. — not quite so “early to rise” as usual, but I’ve determined that regardless of what time the clock said when I got up, today is still going to be a great day. 🙂

What time did you get up? Leave a comment and let us know!

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 for today below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the Early to Rise Group Board on my Pinterest page, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.

Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? Each week day morning on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account, I’ll be posting a picture of my alarm clock as public accountability. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #EarlytoRise to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!

 

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Click here to sign up!
Shared Mar 19, 2013 comment

Homemade Vegetable Stock… in a Slow Cooker

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Homemade Vegetable Stock… in a Slow Cooker

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Guest post from Kate

If you tend to cook from scratch you probably have had several recipes that called for broth, and while canned broth isn’t very expensive, you can make it at home with hardly any effort for pennies!

This homemade vegetable broth recipe is very easy.

Step 1: Accumulate veggie scraps.

I save veggie scraps in a zip bag in the freezer. You don’t need to use new, fresh veggies for broth — old, frostbitten bits work just fine!

When I cut up an onion, I put the skin and bits I am not using into the bag. We buy a large bag of uncut carrots with the skins on, I put the tops and bottoms of the carrots into the bag too. Celery tops go straight into the bag, along with that last one or two pieces of celery that get limp before we use them. When I use garlic for sauces I put the left over bits into the bag.

Everything that goes into the bag is leftovers – totally free!

Once I have two or three gallon-size bags of veggies, I am ready to make broth.

photo

Step 2: Cook veggie scraps in slow cooker.

I empty the bags of veggies into my slow cooker, add in a couple bay leaves, and fill with water. I turn the slow cooker on low for five hours and walk away.

After five hours, I can just scoop the broth out of the slow cooker and into containers.

It lasts in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer for months!

Not only does this easily save me a couple dollars each week, it’s also quite “green” as I’m reusing veggie scraps I normally might throw out. Plus, I put the broth into a reusable container, so I am not throwing out or even recycling a package.

Win win!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 19, 2013 comment

Ask Jesse: When saving for a home, where should we keep our money?

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Ask Jesse: When saving for a home, where should we keep our money?

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We are debt-free and want to start saving for a 100% down payment for a house. Do you have any suggestions as to where the money should be held while saving? Savings account or money market? Any info would be appreciated. Thank you, Kelly

What a great goal! It can be daunting at times, but persevere and you will not regret it.

When we were saving for our house, we put every last penny we could squeeze out of our budget in a money market account. The reason we chose to use a money market account was because they do tend to pay more in interest per month than a regular savings account. Plus, you have the benefit of being able to write checks against the account when you want to take money out.

With a savings account, you need to transfer money and do not have as easy access to it. That said, if you like the idea of having an extra safeguard in place so you cannot get at your money very easily for discipline purposes, a savings account is still an okay choice. It all comes down to the reasons for doing what are doing.

Money markets traditionally pay out more in interest because they are tied to a market and carry a little more risk than a savings account. So, if the money markets change, you run the possibility of having your interest rates fluctuate.

In all my times of utilizing this tool, I have never lost money. I have only seen the rate interest is paid out increase or decrease, depending on how the economy is doing.

Jesse Paine is a licensed attorney who owns his own law firm. He’s married to Crystal and is the numbers nerd of the MoneySavingMom.com team! If you have a question you’d like him to answer in a future column, you can submit it here.

The content of this column intended for informational use only and is not to be construed as providing legal, investing, accounting, or other professional advice. Your situation is factually specific and you should accordingly seek qualified professional counsel concerning your specific legal, investing or accounting needs.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 19, 2013 comment

Is it always a good deal to do-it-yourself?

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Is it always a good deal to do-it-yourself?

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Megan emailed in recently and said:

We always look for ways to cut money — I coupon regularly and take surveys to save and earn money to be able to provide fun money for our family. We try to do most things ourselves and hate to hire since, most of the time, we can do it much cheaper (and better) than a “professional” can.

For six years, my husband and I always bought mulch in bulk and then spent several hours over several days carting it all over the yard with a wheelbarrow and making our islands look nice. Each scoop cost about $32 plus tax and we did it one truck load at a time plus we had to add in gas, time, and wear and tear on the truck.

Doing this up to 20 times in the matter of a weekend can really start to add up and zap the joy out of “doing it yourself”. We even tried having the mulch delivered for a small delivery charge, but we still had the same amount of labor involved.

Well, last spring, it was time to put new mulch out again and we were absolutely dreading it so we hired someone to do it for us. {GASP!}

We decided that it was just too much to do while trying to get my husband’s new company off and running, too. It was a very good decision.

One year later, my husband’s company is providing paychecks and health insurance to eight different employees and we are hiring the same guy to install our mulch again this year.

We have developed a relationship with this man who owns his own landscape company, and because we are repeat customers, he has given us a better price than we could probably get elsewhere. He purchases the mulch we like, brings eight scoops at a time, and has his workers install it — all for $45 a scoop.

It blows my mind that, when it comes down to it, we did all that physical manual labor just to save $8 per scoop! I know when you multiply $8 by 20 scoops, the savings does add up — but, at this season of our lives, it just isn’t worth it to us to both work for almost two days straight in order to only save $160 total.

We will gladly pay the $160 on top of the mulch price for this valuable service.

While we technically aren’t saving any money, we are choosing to pay someone a small amount of money in order to save valuable time — time that we’d rather spend with our children than mulching our yard!

Do you feel like sometimes it’s a good value to pay to have something done instead of trying to do it yourself?

photo credit

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 19, 2013 comment

Do It Yourself: Patterned Easter Eggs

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Do It Yourself: Patterned Easter Eggs

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CreativeGreenLiving.com shows you how to make patterned Easter Eggs with silk ties.

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.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 19, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: Don’t Live Today on Accident

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Early to Rise Challenge: Don’t Live Today on Accident

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to the Early to Rise Challenge! Throughout the month of March, I’m challenging myself and my readers to make the most of their mornings. So every week day morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’m posting a short Early to Rise post. I’ll share a few of my thoughts on the day’s passage from Early to Rise, tell you what time I got up that morning, and encourage you to leave a comment to tell us what time you got up and how you’re doing on the challenge.

Don’t Live Today on Accident

You have a choice today: you can stumble through life just trying to make it through and survive the day. Or, you can live today on purpose.

Which option do you think will give you more fulfillment and productivity? Living each day with intention will give you much more energy and passion for life, not to mention that you’ll probably end up doing a lot more things that matter!

Andy mentions in today’s Early to Rise passage making out a framework for your day. I love this and it’s something that I do every single day. It’s likely the Type A in me, but I just can’t stand to live my days without some sort of plan in place. 🙂

So, either before I go to bed at night or first thing in the morning, I write out the to-do’s for the day and create a simple order for the day. I write a targeted time beside each item on the list and this helps to keep me on track. However, I don’t feel constrained to stick exactly with this time; it’s more of a ballpark figure.

The structure for most of each day is somewhat similar around here, but because my husband and I are both self-employed, there are variables and no day is exactly alike. So, instead of trying to stick with a scheduled formula of sorts for each and every day, making a fresh plan each morning has been really helpful for this season of our lives.

Do you have a plan for today? If not, take 5 minutes right now to make out a simple game plan. The little bit of time you invest in this will likely pay off in big dividends throughout the day!

Related post: My Top 3 Tips for Getting Stuff Done

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

I got another great night’s sleep last night! Went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and got up — without an alarm! — a little after 5:40 a.m. My phone was dead, so I had to charge it up before I could get a picture of the clock. 🙂

What time did you get up? Leave a comment and let us know!

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 for today below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the Early to Rise Group Board on my Pinterest page, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.

Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? Each week day morning on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account, I’ll be posting a picture of my alarm clock as public accountability. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #EarlytoRise to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!


OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

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Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 18, 2013 comment

10 Goals for this Week

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10 Goals for this Week

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I had a wonderful time at the Southeast Homeschool Convention last week. It was wonderful to get to meet some of you and we were so blessed by the southern hospitality there.

Last week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read three chapters of Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy aloud at lunch. Read three chapters of More About Paddington with Kathrynne, read three chapters of Anne of Green Gables with Kaitlynn, read three chapters of The Courage of Sarah Noble to Silas.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Memorize Romans 1:9-10.

4. Exercise five times.

5. Continue with the Early to Rise Challenge.

6. Finish reading Uneclipsing the Son, A Charlotte Mason Education, Sparkly Green Earrings, Sleep: It Does a Family Good, and The Chance.

Homemaking Goals

7. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.

8. Work on embroidery project.

Business Goals

9. Go to South Carolina and speak at the Southeast Homeschool Convention.

10. Finish updating the recipes for our new recipe page launch.

This week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Finish Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy aloud at lunch. Read four chapters of More About Paddington with Kathrynne, read four chapters of Life With Lily with Kaitlynn, read three chapters of The Adventure of Laura and Jack to Silas.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Memorize Romans 1:9-10.

4. Exercise five times.

5. Continue with the Early to Rise Challenge.

6. Finish reading Uneclipsing the Son, A Charlotte Mason Education, Sleep: It Does a Family Good, and The Chance.

Homemaking Goals

7. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.

8. Work on embroidery project.

Business Goals

9. Go to Atlanta and speak at the Killer Tribes Conference.

10. Finish updating the recipes for our new recipe page launch.

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.


Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 18, 2013 comment

This week’s menu

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This week’s menu

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Pull Apart Rolls

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Pull Apart Oat Rolls
Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes
IHOP-Knock-Off Pancakes

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Crockpot Fried Rice, fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos (recipe coming later this week), fruit, veggies
Steak, Baked Oven Fries, The Frugal Girl’s French Bread, fruit, veggies
IHOP-Knock-Off Pancakes, fruit, scrambled eggs
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Pull Apart Oat Rolls, fruit
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 18, 2013 comment

How to Write and Sell eBooks

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How to Write and Sell eBooks

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Guest post from Kathy of Kathy Hutto

In today’s market, eBooks are hot commodity. With Kindles and iPads taking the place of laptops and personal computers, you can bet that eBook sales are through the roof.

You might be surprised to learn that it isn’t hard at all to write an eBook. If you have a good idea for a book or just want to find out what is selling and then explore ideas for writing your own, this article is for you. It will walk you through a step-by-step process for creating (and then selling) your eBook.

It couldn’t be easier using the techniques listed here… and best of all, it’s possible to create your own eBook for free using the resources listed and links provided to you here.

Microsoft Office PowerPoint

One tool you can use to write your eBook is Microsoft Office PowerPoint. PowerPoint is super easy if you plan to add a lot of graphic elements to your book. It allows you to move around the objects and manipulate them much easier than Word does.

Here’s what you do:

  • Open PowerPoint. You will be taken to a new slide show.
  • Remove the title and text boxes that automatically are there.
  • Design your cover.
  • Click New Slide (under the Home tab) and begin with your first page.
  • Continue adding slides for the number of pages you need.

One Feature that I like is under the Tab Insert. It’s the Word Art button. It allows you add a little more pizzazz to your words. This is great for the cover of your eBook.

Your PowerPoint presentation will automatically be horizontal (landscape). To change it to vertical (portrait), you will need to hit the Design tab and then Slide Orientation. You can choose landscape or portrait.

While you are working on your book, if you want to see what it’s going to look like, just hit the View tab and then Slide Show. You can click through to see the entire project and escape if you want to end the show.

Play around while on the Insert tab. You can add clip art, pictures, shapes, smart art, and charts. When you are ready to save your eBook, click Save As and PDF.

Free Images

Images like photographs and clip art will be important to your eBook. Look for public domain images that are free.

My favorite site for photographs is Public Domain Pictures (I also really like the Illustrations section of this site.)

My favorite site for clip art is WP Clip Art

If you are writing a How-To eBook, you can take a screen shot of whatever you are working on.

A Good Cover Design

The key to a good eBook is having a professional looking cover design. Photographs often make the best cover designs, and it’s best if you find one that is vertical. You will need to stretch it to fit the entire page.

Promote Your eBook

There are many places that you might sell your eBook. Here are a few places I’ve had success selling mine.

EBay

The very simplest way to sell your eBook is through EBay! Set up an eBay account if you don’t have one already. Be sure to include in the product description that the auction is for an eBook in a PDF format. You can email the buyer the eBook file (zipped if it is large), once you receive payment.

Currclick

If you want your book to reach the homeschool market, then Currclick is the way to go! You will need to create an account and send in your title for review. Once approved, you can upload other titles.

Kindle Direct Self Publishing 

If you want to sell products that will be purchased by those with Kindles, then you can follow the very simple steps for setting up a free account and selling them here.

Teachers Pay Teachers

If you want to sell products to the teaching market (as in school teachers), then you may want to check this site out. Follow the steps for creating an account and uploading your products. The first product must be free, so choose wisely. You want it to be a good product to begin building confidence in your items, but you want your best products to earn you a profit.

If you’d like to learn more about creating and selling eBooks, be sure to download your free copy of How to Create and Sell eBooks the Simple Way.

Kathy Hutto is a Christian, wife, and homeschooling mother of two. She loves serving the Lord and has a heart for reaching families with devotions and resources that will enable them to disciple their children at home. She strives to “bloom where she’s planted” and maintains a blog where you can find family devotions, Sunday School ideas, homeschooling resources, recipes and more.  She writes curricula which she sells through TeachersPayTeachers and Currclick.

photo source

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 18, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: Choose Who You Will Be Today

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Early to Rise Challenge: Choose Who You Will Be Today

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to the Early to Rise Challenge! Throughout the month of March, I’m challenging myself and my readers to make the most of their mornings. So every week day morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’m posting a short Early to Rise post. I’ll share a few of my thoughts on the day’s passage from Early to Rise, tell you what time I got up that morning, and encourage you to leave a comment to tell us what time you got up and how you’re doing on the challenge.

Choose Who You Will Be Today

Who is the only person you can change?

Yourself.

You can inspire other people, you can motivate other people, you can nurture and mentor other people. But ultimately, you can only change YOU.

And that’s what today’s reading in the Early to Rise book is all about.

Every day, you wake up and you have the opportunity to choose your attitude. You can choose to be a victim or a victor. You can choose to be a complainer or a conqueror.

You choose your attitude. And your attitude sets the whole tone for your day — and your life.

So choose wisely.

What attitude are you choosing for your day today? Me: I’m choosing to be cheerful, flexible, and energetic as a wife and mom today. I might not end up getting everything done on the to-do list, but I want to look back at the end of today and be happy with the time I invested in loving and blessing my family. You?

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

I went to bed around 8 p.m. last night and I got up a little before 5:45 a.m. this morning. Felt so good to get in a very good night’s rest after a full weekend!

What time did you get up? Leave a comment and let us know!

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 for today below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the Early to Rise Group Board on my Pinterest page, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.

Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? Each week day morning on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account, I’ll be posting a picture of my alarm clock as public accountability. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #EarlytoRise to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!

Shared Mar 16, 2013 comment

Living Abroad – an Extreme Approach to Saving!

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Living Abroad – an Extreme Approach to Saving!

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Genevieve

Although we had six months to prepare, the shift to one income after having our first baby was a total shock to the system.

We were in a situation not unlike many other families out there. We had a new business which was only making a little bit of money, but had so much potential that we didn’t want to “shelf it” while we had a family. And as a new mom, I didn’t want to go back to work to make ends meet. So we came up with a rather novel solution.

We packed up the family and moved to Cambodia!

We were fortunate that our business didn’t require us to have a physical presence anywhere. Our business was small, but the income was mostly reliable. We realized would make the same money no matter where we lived, so while we were only making ends meet in an expensive Western consumer society, we live a wonderful lifestyle with our kids abroad.

Our business is 100% online — we sell name change kits to new brides — but even if you don’t have an online business, moving overseas might still be possible for your family!

Developing countries have large expat communities of teachers, hairdressers, architects, graphic designers, bloggers, writers and so many other professions. These people can make decent money abroad. In some cases you only need to work 20 hours a week as you’re making the same hourly wage as if you would in the states. As an added bonus, it’s wonderful way to watch your children grow up in a multi-cultural society.

Interested? Here are some suggestions on how to gear up for a move:

Freelancer? Reach out to all your business contacts and see if any can commit to a monthly work load. Consider charging less for the added flexibility, and you’re more likely to get an ongoing contract.

Online business? All you need is a decent internet connection. Even rural South America has decent internet these days. Get a US toll free number that diverts to Skype so you can provide customer service anywhere

Teacher or hairdresser? Most capital cities have a thriving expat community and you can make decent money serving expat clients.

No special skills? Become a freelancer or create your own blog with your adventures abroad. Sites like Freelance.com and Odesk allow you to find work in data entry  writing, customer service, and more. Virtually all the jobs posted on these sites have no geographic requirements.

Benefits of Living Abroad

Cheaper cost of living. Rent, food, and travel, is all considerably cheaper in developing countries.

Affordable, quality childcare. If you’re a working mom, you can find an abundance of wonderful caring nannies in many countries. With wages from around $60 per month part-time, it’s an affordable investment

More time with family. Especially if you work from home with a nanny. Be with your kids when you want, and work when it suits you.

Consume less. Embrace a simpler lifestyle. Consumerism is hard to come by anywhere outside of North America and Europe.

Healthier lifestyle. So many of the fruits and veggies sold in the US are months old before they hit the supermarket. Developing countries are flushed with affordable and fresh fruit and vegetables, often organically grown.

De-stress. With finances less of a worry and more time with your kids, your mental state of mind is sure to improve.

Cheaper healthcare. Cost and quality of healthcare vary wildly depending where you live, but nowhere is more expensive than the US. If you have an existing health condition, check the quality and prices of hospitals where you plan to move.

Life experience. This is something that money can’t buy. Our 2-year-old is a budding tri-linguist. We love learning about other cultures!

Affordable travel. If you need a break from your break, it can be very affordable to travel to neighboring countries and get a real glimpse of how others live.

Yes, there are some drawbacks of living so far from home — Grandparents missing out is the biggest — but we will be living back home soon enough and all this will be a wonderful memory.

If we were back on the money treadmill in the states we wouldn’t have much time for socializing with friends and family in any case, and we would be stressed out all the time.

We are three years into our five-year adventure and haven’t looked back!

Genevieve Dennis is a reformed corporate stress head. She lives with her husband, Miss 2, and Miss Newborn in rural Cambodia. She and her husband run Easy Name Change in the mornings, then swim, play and socialize in the afternoons.