Saving Families Money Since 2007
Today’s question is from Karen:
My family is planning a trip in April and I can order an Entertainment Book for the city that we are going to, but I’m wondering if it would be worth the $20 to buy the book or not? -Karen
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Guest post from Anne of Modern Mrs Darcy
At my house we love our coffee, and not just any coffee will do. We enjoy high quality, freshly roasted beans — and if you know anything about great coffee, you know that gets expensive, and fast.
But we found a way to cut our coffee costs in half, without sacrificing quality, and I’m shocked more coffee lovers don’t know about it:
The process is simple. You only need two things:
Both methods take 8-15 minutes a batch.
Oven roasting isn’t hard, requires no special equipment, and is cheap to try out. Find directions here.
Air roasting requires more hands-on time and nonstop cranking, but your results will likely be better. Find directions here.
Home roasting isn’t perfect: you’ll probably have to throw out your first batch. Roast level can be inconsistent. Your kitchen will get a little smoky. And you’ll never be able to use that popcorn popper for anything else.
Home roasting is for serious coffee lovers!
Don’t try this at home if all you care about is the cost savings. If you don’t love it, it’s not worth it; you’ll be happier buying Folgers with coupons. But if the craft of coffee roasting appeals to you — if you think roasting your own sounds fun and fascinating — try the DIY route. Many serious coffee geeks enjoy the process, and the savings.
(For further reading, I recommend Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival.)
Anne Bogel loves strong coffee, long books, and big ideas. She puts a timely spin on timeless women’s issues at her blog Modern Mrs Darcy. Head here to get her free ebook Paper Gains: A Guide to Gifting Children Great Books from Modern Mrs Darcy.
Guest post from Kathi Lipp of KathiLipp.com
One of the most frequent questions I get is “I know you leave a lot of notes for your husband, but how do you do it?” It seems some women are intimidated by leaving little, encouraging notes for their man – as if they aren’t going to do it “right”.
So here are a few fun, creative, and inexpensive ways to leave a note of encouragement for your man to get you started:
1. Use Post-it Notes.
As a certified “Office Supply Junkie” I always have a variety of Post-it Notes at my disposal. I leave love notes in his car, in our bathroom, on the fridge, and in his lunch. Anywhere that I can “plant” it in advance for him to find at a later date.
2. Write in Lipstick on Your Bathroom Mirror.
3. Spell “I Love You” With Hershey’s Syrup on a Plate.
Add vanilla ice cream and strawberries for an elegant and tasty add-on.
4. Send A Banana-gram.
When silliness is called for, nothing brings it on like a banana. Just use a Marks-a-lot maker and get creative.
5. Leave Chocolate and a Note on His Pillow.
6. Create a Background On His Computer That Says “I Love You!”
7. Leave a Love Note in His Jacket Pocket.
8. Text Him a Love Note While He’s at Work.
9. Send a Note to His Work Address.
Don’t send a big red envelope with hearts and flowers all over it (unless he enjoys being the center of attention!) but a plain white envelope with some sweet nothings tucked inside would be a welcome break from him day to day work routine.
10. I Love You Because… Mailbox
Come up with your own list of why you love your husband, and then create little messages for each of those reasons. I bought the mailbox in the Dollar Bin at Target and cut up some festive scrapbook paper to create the little notes.
11. Spell it Out on a Scrabble Board or With Pepperoni on a Homemade Pizza.
These are just a few ideas to get you thinking. If you need more creative love note ideas, check out my free “21 Post-it Note Sized Encouragements” download on my Facebook Page
Kathi Lipp is the author of seven books including Praying God’s Word for Your Husband. For more free goodies from Kathi, check out her website at KathiLipp.com
Guest post by Elisha
My husband and I are huge fans of Dave Ramsey. We became debt-free after we got married and used the cash envelope system to stick to our budget.
We strongly believe in the cash system. But when my husband started getting his paycheck directly deposited, I would have to go get cash out to put into the envelopes. It became one more thing to do.
After we started having kids, it became more of a hassle and struggle to count out the cash, get my coupons, make sure I had my price-matching items organized, and control the tots.
This probably sounds like I’m really unorganized — but I’m not really! It’s just that with our 3 kids under 4, life somehow gets a little more chaotic.
A few months ago, we discovered Mint.com. Boy, has it made life easier! Now, we pay for nearly everything using our debit card. No more envelopes….just the checking and savings accounts to keep up with.
If you’re not familiar with Mint.com, it’s is a great, free website that helps you manage your money. There is also an fantastic free app you can download.
Like I said, the cash envelope system helped us tremendously for several years! But this system of only using our debit card and Mint.com is so much easier — especially for this season of life we’re in. If you’re trying to get out of debt and working to follow a budget, this is another great option.
Elisha is more than happily married to her husband of 6 years. They have 3 kids: 3, 2, and 8 months — and she loves being a stay-at-home mom! Her family enjoys the outdoors, gardening, and snuggling.
Just a quick note to let you know that I’m taking a short break from blogging for the next few days. It’s something I’ve been planning since the end of 2012 and it couldn’t be coming at a better time since I just finished my book draft and some other big business projects. I’m looking forward to a few days of being completely offline and unplugged to refresh and recharge (I won’t even be checking email!)
However, don’t worry! There will still be plenty of fantastic posts going up in my absence. I’ve pre-scheduled a number of really thought-provoking and inspiring posts that I know you’ll love and my team will be doing a great job of overseeing all the comments and Facebook posts while I’m offline.
I’ll look forward to reading your comments when I get back online on Friday! Have a wonderful week — and hopefully you’ll get some time to rest and recharge this week, too!
My week was full with a lot of wonderful blessings. One of the biggest things is that first draft of the manuscript for my next book — all 69,000+ words — is DONE! Well, at least the first draft is. 🙂
A book is never truly done until it’s published. And then, once it’s published, there is still a long list of things that you must do to market and sell the books.
But the first draft is off to the beta test group who is reading and critiquing it right now. Then, it’ll be back to another round of edits before I submit it to Thomas Nelson on March 1. Then, it’s another extensive round of edits through their publishing house.
Truthfully, I much prefer edits over crafting the outline and “bones” of the book. In fact, it’s a fun process to see how much better you can make the finished product.
So I’m quite excited to have this much work done already. And I can hardly wait until I can tell you more about the topic. It’s a message that has been years in the making, so I’m really thrilled with how it is coming together.
It was also nice to be home all week this week after a busy few weeks of travel. I spent much of the week catching up on sleep and projects, wearing lounge pants, and hanging out with my family. I love the opportunity I have to travel and speak right now, but I also love being home, too!
Our kids are at such a fun age right now and we’re trying to soak up every minute we have with them. The weather was beautiful this week, so they spent hours outside on their bikes and on the rip stick. They’ve been highly motivated to get all of their school projects finished in a timely manner so they can have more time to play outside.
We also had a playdate with some of Kathrynne and Kaitlynn’s favorite friends. It’s so fun to see them developing close friendships with others — and seeing as I’m an introvert by nature, their more extroverted personalities help ensure that we have lots of social engagements. 🙂
I also did the freezer cooking session — finally. I didn’t get too many pictures of it as I was sort of fitting it around dinner prep and some other things, but this picture is proof that we were busy bees in the kitchen.
This Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Pie is SO simple to make and is wonderfully delicious! It makes a fun (and frugal!) fancy dessert you can whip up for special occasions.
Recipe by my sister, Brigette
This is my go-to favorite Valentine’s Day dessert!
You can serve it anytime of the year, of course, but the combination of rich cream cheese, smooth indulgent chocolate, and tangy red raspberries makes it absolutely perfect for this holiday.
This “cheesecake” is much less intimidating to make than a “real” cheesecake. No worries about it cracking or falling apart. It is super easy to put together, but it looks impressive and always wins rave reviews. Most importantly, it tastes amazing!
My family first discovered this recipe in October of 2000 (I called my mom, the Queen of Numbers, to ask about where this recipe came from – and she passed on that little tid-bit of information!) on the inside of a store-bought Keebler pie crust.
Since then, we have served it countless times (actually, my mom might know how many times… but I forgot to ask!) to probably hundreds of people. We’ve used it for banquets, dinner parties, and even our family Thanksgiving celebrations.
People LOVE it!
For the Cheesecake:
For the Topping:
*NOTE: If making your own graham cracker crust, keep in mind that this recipe is designed for an 8-inch pie pan (and many pie pans are 9-inch). If you use a 9-inch, you will probably have to adjust the cooking time (and obviously, the finished product will be slightly thinner).
Yes, frozen raspberries work wonderfully well in this recipe — just make sure they are fully frozen (not defrosted) or they will get the crust all soggy.
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Arrange raspberries on the bottom of the crust (if using frozen raspberries, do not thaw; if using fresh, make sure they are not wet).
3. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth.
4. Beat in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix well.
5. Carefully pour on top of the raspberries.
6. Bake in preheated oven for for 30-35 minutes, or just until set.
7. Cool completely.
8. After the cheesecake has cooled, melt the semi-sweet chocolate and whipping cream together over low heat, stirring often (I do this in the microwave).
9. Pour melted chocolate over the cheesecake.
10. Chill several hours before serving (it’s best to chill overnight).
I love to drizzle a little white chocolate over the top of each piece, and then top it with fresh raspberries and mint leaves. However, you can do whatever you like.
Whipped cream is always delicious, sprinkled with a bit of chopped chocolate.
A raspberry glaze or jam would also be extra tasty.
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Done-For-You Dinner Recipes With Simple Ingredients and a Grocery Shopping List!
Yesterday, three-year-old Silas decided he wanted to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. Since we’re the type of parents who never want to hold our children back (or maybe you could term us “relaxed parents” since we’re okay with letting our children do things that might possibly result in some scrapes and bruises?), Jesse took off his training wheels, we suited him up with his bike helmet, and we helped him get up on his bike and try riding without training wheels.
Of course, he didn’t succeed yesterday and it was a whole lot harder than he thought it would be, but his determination to do this has been inspiring to me. How many times in our own lives do we wish we could do something, but we don’t just go try it, because we’re scared of the falls and bruises that might result from going out there and trying?
I’ve been learning this in my journey to become a public speaker. At first, public speaking absolutely scared me beyond what I can express. And no, I am so not exaggerating. Even though I had a lot of passion and a lot of things I wanted to share, I would avoid speaking opportunities like my life depended upon it.
This went on for years, with me turning down opportunity after opportunity because I didn’t want to stand up in front of a crowd and make an utter fool of myself. Now granted, I’m really, really glad I didn’t do public speaking back when I thought I pretty much knew everything.
God has been gracious to teach me a lot about grace in the last few years and to help me realize how far I have to come and how much I have to learn. In the process, He’s been challenging me to step outside my comfort zone and share some of my passion for financial stewardship and intentional living as a public speaker.
The first few speaking engagements I did were really downright awful. In fact, I pretty much read my talks word-for-word with a shaking voice. {If you were in attendance at one the aforementioned speaking engagements, thank you so much for your kindness to actually sit through the sessions!}
But as I kept putting myself out there, kept making mistakes, kept getting back up and trying again after falling down, public speaking has more and more become something I’m truly loving. And I’m excited that I can actually stand up in front of a crowd and ad lib with passion — something I never would have dreamed would be possible a few years back.
If I had given up after those first few abysmal speeches, I never would have discovered how much I actually enjoy speaking to a crowd. And I certainly never would have had some of the opportunities I’ve had in recent months to get to meet and become friends with such amazingly dear people.
I’m far from where I want to be in honing the craft of public speaking (I was telling someone just last week, “I’ve got the passion, I just need to work on the polish!“), but I’m so excited at the progress I’ve made. Instead of running from critiques, I now welcome them because I know this is one of the best ways to improve. In fact, I’ve been making a few honest friends critique me after every speech and I’m getting ready to start working with a speaking coach who will likely take critiquing to a whole new level.
This is how you learn anything in life. You stop saying “I wish” and start saying “I will”. You jump out of your comfort zone and face your fears. You watch and learn from people who are much more experienced. You practice, practice, and practice some more. And you get back up and do it again when you fall down.
You might not succeed at what you’re hoping to and you might not end up where you plan to, but I promise that if you turn your “I wishes” into “I wills”, your life is going to be much more rich, fulfilled, and exciting. And you just might far exceed what you ever imagined was possible!
What are you going to stop saying “I wish” about today? Tell us about it in the comments.
Looking for another survey company to sign up with? Definitely check out MySurvey.com. This is a survey company I’ve used myself and my readers have also recommended.
(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)
Today’s question is from Amanda:
I love all of the freezer cooking posts that you have! However, I’m wondering if you or any of your readers have suggestions for low-carb freezer cooking meals?
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
As you well know, I’m an avid reader. Not only do I love to read, but I find that a steady diet of good books challenges my mind and inspires and motivates me as a person.
If you’re a full-time college student, a busy professional, and/or a mom of a few children, you might feel like there’s no time in your day to fit in more reading. Well, I disagree.
Head on over to The Better Mom where I’m sharing 15 of my favorite ways to find more time to read. Have any great ideas to add to my list? Leave them in the comments!
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.
Let that brilliant {ahem!} remark sink in for a moment.
While it might seem like it’s the most basic of basic statements — and it is! — we sometimes forget to apply it. Or, as is often the case, we don’t even consider an alternative to paying for what we normally buy.
Homemade cleaners are one such example. None of us wants to live in a dirty home (or, at least I certainly hope none of us do!). Because of this, we buy cleaners because, well, that’s what everyone else does.
Here’s the thing: commercial cleaners are often pricey. And the manufacturers are smart. They play on our desire to have clean homes in the most efficient manner so they create products for every single cleaning project known to man.
Whenever possible, they make super slick gadgets that require refills so that you have to constantly be spending even more money to purchasing refills so you can keep cleaning your house. Before you know it, you are literally washing hundreds of dollars down the drain each and every year.
This is why I’m a fan of homemade cleaners. Unless I can get some amazingly sweet deal on a cleaner by paring a coupon code with a sale, I just plain don’t buy commercial cleaners. In fact, after making many of my own cleaners, I’ve come to believe that almost every commercial cleaner on the market is a rip-off.
Instead of spending tens of dollars each month on special cleaners that are designed for one specific job, go to the dollar store or Aldi and buy some vinegar, baking soda, and spray bottles. These are just about all you’ll need to clean almost every item in your home. Seriously.
You can get a little fancier and make actual homemade cleaner recipes if you’d like. But you don’t have to. You can just spray on vinegar and water and wipe off or scrub most tough stains with a little baking soda and elbow grease.
Earth Easy has a long list of how to clean your house using just baking soda, vinegar, soap, borax, washing soda, alcohol, and cornstarch. You might have to make a trip to Walmart to pick up a box of washing soda or borax, but I bet you already have all of the other items on hand already.
How much you can save by making your own cleaners is going to vary widely, depending upon which cleaners you make, how much you usually spend on cleaners, and how many people you are cleaning up after!
But let’s say you have an initial upfront investment of $30 to purchase the supplies listed above and let’s estimate that these supplies last you for 12 months. That’s like paying around $2.50 per month for all of your cleaners. If you only use baking soda and vinegar, it’s going to be significantly less than this.
If you typically buy commercial cleaners on sale, I’d say there’s a good chance you are purchasing an average of 4 cleaners of some sort each month, at around $2-3 per cleaner. At this rate, you could easily save $100+ per year.
Now obviously, your situation might be completely different. If you’re typically only buying cleaners for pennies each by pairing coupons with sales, it might not save you any money at all to make your own cleaners. However, you will for sure be using fewer chemicals in your home and you will also not have to worry about chasing down deals and pairing them with sales.
Actually, most homemade cleaners can be made in less than a minute. And if they save you $1-$2 per minute of time invested to make them, that’s like making an hourly wage of $60 to $120 — and it’s tax-free money.
In my book, that’s definitely worth the return on investment. And some cleaners don’t even require that much time because you just spray the vinegar on or dump some baking soda on and scrub. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
I’ve linked to a number of homemade cleaner recipes below, but the internet is truly a goldmine of homemade cleaner recipes. Honestly, you can find a recipe for just about any and every cleaner you usually use.
Just Google it or type it into the search engine on Pinterest. Now, I can’t guarantee that the first recipe you try will be a home run success. But if you keep experimenting, I bet you’ll find a good homemade recipe to replace just about every one of your favorite cleaners — all for pennies on the dollar!
Here are links to homemade cleaning recipes I have tried or want to try. My honest reviews are alongside those I’ve tried. Not all homemade cleaners are all they are supposedly cracked up to be, so I hope to save you some effort by letting you know which ones I didn’t find to work well.
If you have amazing recipes for some of the ones I found to be “meh”, I’d love to have you link them in the comments!
Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner — This looks like it would work well!
Homemade Window Cleaner — This one works really well.
Homemade Soft Scrub Cleaner — This works great for cleaning tubs, tiles, sinks, and toilets!
Homemade Shower Cleaner — I’ve heard rave reviews on this one and hope to try it soon.
Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles — I found out after I made this that the two ingredients cancel each other out so it wasn’t really effective at all.
Homemade Dishwashing Detergent — This was was okay. Not stellar. Just okay.
Homemade Laundry Soap — This one worked decently, though I found that I had to wash my clothes in hot water for them to get clean and, even then, some of the stains didn’t come out.
Homemade Foaming Hand Soap — This is the easiest recipe ever and works SO well!
Homemade Oxiclean — This one worked alright but didn’t work quite as well as Shout.
Homemade Miracle Kitchen Cleaner — I can’t wait to try this!
Homemade All Purpose Cleaner — This one is simple to whip up and worked pretty well!
Homemade All Purpose Lemon Powder Cleaner — This one worked fairy well but had a very strong lemon scent.
As I mentioned in my 2012 Goals Final Tally post, I’m trying to be much more specific and simplistic in my goals this year. I not only want to keep in mind what is realistic, but also make sure that all of my goals are clearly measurable.
If you’re brand-new to goal-setting, be sure to read my post on How to Change Your Life By Setting Goals.
Here’s my list of 25 Goals for 2013 and an update on how I did in January:
Personal Goals
Read through the Bible in a year using this plan. {I’m on track with this so far.}
Run in at least one 5K race.
Complete the Couch to 10K program.
Memorize Romans 1 and 2 with Jesse. {Memorized five verses from Romans.}
Wake up by 6 a.m. and exercise, shower, and dress by 8 a.m. every day. {I didn’t do as good of a job as I would have liked to on this goal, but I made some good progress and am hoping that February is even better!}
Read 150 books/ebooks {See my list of 48 books I’m for sure planning to read here — I’ve read 18 books so far in 2013, so I’m on good track to hit my goal!}Marriage Goals
Read 3 marriage books.
Finish reading through the Psalms together as a couple.
Have overnight stay (sans children) at least every other month. {Done in January.}
Go on at least one date per month. {Done in January.}Mothering Goals
Continue Grace and Truth memory book.
Ice-skating lessons for all three children during the first quarter of 2013. {Started these in January.}
Swimming lessons for all three children during the summer.
Finish at least 37 read-aloud books. {We finished 2 books in January and we’re almost done with a few more, so we’re on pretty good track here.}Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family Goals
Begin weekly accountability meetings with my friend Jerica.
Get together with friends for a playdate or lunch at least once a month. {Done in January.}
Continue being involved in our local church, couple’s group, and blogging accountability group.
Continue with weekly get-togethers with both sides of our extended family.Financial Goals
Use a portion of the proceeds from my next book project to fund a well project.
Fund our Child Survival Program for 2013.{Done — yay!}
Buy a new bedroom set.
Invest in another rental property.Business/Blogging Goals
Release two new ebooks.
Attend one speaking conference.{I attended the She Speaks Intensive in January.}
Finish and submit the manuscript for my next book.
If so, tell us how you’re doing in the comments or leave a link to your blog post update below. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!
Well, last week wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped, but at least I’m chipping away at things slowly but surely. And I have high hopes for this week! 🙂
Last week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1. Read two chapters of Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy
aloud at lunch. Read two chapters of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh at dinner.
Read two chapters of The Amazon Stranger with Kathrynne, read two chapters of Little House on the Prairie with Kaitlynn, read two chapters of Farming with Fatherto Silas.
2. Birthday outing with Kathrynne.Personal Goals
3. Memorize Romans 1:7-8.
4. Exercise 4 times.5.
Finish reading The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears, Love Has a Face: Mascara, a Machete and One Woman’s Miraculous Journey with Jesus in Sudan, Lessons at Blackberry Inn: Adventures with the Gentle Art of Learning, Making Room for Life: Trading Chaotic Lifestyles for Connected Relationships
, and The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse.
Homemaking Goals
6. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.
7. Finish 30 rows of the scarf for Kathrynne.
Business Goals
8. Finish first draft of final chapter for my book+ do a thorough read-through of all other chapters.
9. Create slides & practice talk for BEECH Retreat.
10. Attend & speak at the BEECH Retreat.
This week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1. Read two chapters of Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Have friends over for lunch.
Personal Goals
4. Memorize Romans 1:7-8.
5. Exercise 5 times.
6. Finish reading Love Has a Face: Mascara, a Machete and One Woman’s Miraculous Journey with Jesus in Sudan, Lessons at Blackberry Inn: Adventures with the Gentle Art of Learning
Homemaking Goals
7. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.
8. Finish 30 rows of the scarf for Kathrynne.
Business Goals
9. Finish editing the final draft of my manuscript and send it out to those who are critiquing it before I turn it into the publisher.
10. Begin working on tweaking my talk for the MAPS event later this month.
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.
iCanTeachMyChild.com shows you how to make homemade Brown Paper Valentines.
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.