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Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 13, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: Focus on Other People

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Early to Rise Challenge: Focus on Other People

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.

Focus On Other People

Today’s reading in the Early to Rise book is on how you can change your life by living it to bless others. Getting up early is a great way to not only prepare yourself for a wonderful day, but also to help you be more organized so you have time in your life to bless others.

Think about it: if you’re always living life at breakneck speed with no time to breathe, you’re probably not going to have a lot of room or energy in your schedule to bless others. But if, on the other hand, you start your day off a little earlier and you have a plan of attack (and you actually follow through with that plan), you’re going to find that your days are not only more calm, you also have more enthusiasm for life. This enthusiasm will fuel your ability to bless others more.

I loved that a number of you said yesterday that one of the benefits of getting up early has been that you are a more cheerful person. I so agree (though if you get up late, don’t let that be an excuse for having a bad attitude, okay?).

You know what a direct by-product of a cheerful attitude is? Blessing others. Whether you intend to or not, when you are cheerful, it is going to be contagious.

What are you going to do today to bless someone else? Tell us your plan in the comments.

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

Me? I got up at 6:40 a.m. Not as early as I would have liked to, but I stayed up too late last night prepping for this weekend’s trip, so I set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. this morning… and then, ahem, I had a little trouble actually getting up when it went off.

That’s life sometimes, though. And I’m determined to have a great day today, even if it started out a little later than I would have liked.

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 12, 2013 comment

How I Keep My Email Inbox to Fewer Than 5 Emails

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How I Keep My Email Inbox to Fewer Than 5 Emails

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

I’ve always been pretty fanatic about keeping my email inbox cleaned out.As a result, for the past few years, I’ve deleted diligently and filed fastidiously, and this has worked alright.

However, the more email I received, the more I started dumping things into my “To Answer Later” file. This file would soon fill up with 50 to 75 messages that needed to be addressed — some that required a significant amount of time to deal with (a lengthy form that needed to be filled out for something or other, information that needed to be gathered and emailed back, an article I needed to write and submit, etc.)

I made it my goal to deal with my To Answer file on Saturdays. But this stopped working efficiently as the number of emails in the To Answer File grew. Some Saturdays, I wouldn’t have time to answer the emails — which then meant their number was doubled the next week.

As a result of not being able to find a big time block to deal with these emails, I’d often miss important deadlines and opportunities. These unanswered and undealt-with messages hung over my head like a dark cloud, constantly making me feel behind and unorganized.

Clearly, I needed a new system! So, at the beginning of this year, I drew a line in the sand and made some significant changes to my email system.

The result? Not only am I hitting Inbox Zero almost every single day, I’m also much more productive and efficient with my email time. Plus, I’m answering emails much more quickly than I ever used to!

Here’s what has worked for me:

1. Unsubscribe Ruthlessly

I started examining every single email list I was subscribed to. I’d ask myself, “Have I found something from this email list to be valuable in the past few months?” If so, I wouldn’t unsubscribe.

In just about 90% of the cases, I realized I was deleting the emails from each list as they came in every week — or as much as every day. Sure, I’d delete them immediately, so it’s not like it was clogging up my inbox.

But why was I wasting minutes every single day deleting emails that I didn’t care anything about when I could take 5 seconds to unsubscribe and never see an email from that company in my inbox again? Such a revolutionary thought, I know. 🙂

In all honesty, though, it was something I’d not given a lot of thought to. I’d just delete, delete, delete. However, since taking a week to unsubscribe from 90% of the lists I was signed up to, I’ve realized how much time and inbox space this is freeing up!

For example, it used to be when I’d check my email in the morning, I’d have at least 40-60 new emails, the bulk of which I’d delete. Now, it’s unusual for me to have more than 20 each morning. Most of those 20 are emails that need to be responded to or in some way dealt with. But instead of having to go through my email first thing and delete a bunch of unneeded emails. Now, I can just start responding to emails right off the bat!

I have figured out that just the act of ruthlessly unsubscribing is saving me a good five to 10 minutes of time every single day. That doesn’t seem like too much, until you multiply that out over the course of a week (35 to 70 minutes), a month (150 to 30 minutes), or a year (1,825 to 3,650 minutes). That’s a lot of minutes saved!

Stop the Social Media Insanity!

Please do yourself a favor and unsubscribe from all notifications you possibly can from social media. You can always go look up and see who your new Twitter followers are or who left you a comment on Facebook. You don’t need those notifications interrupting your workflow throughout the day. I promise you will survive just fine without them!

2. Use the Delete Button Liberally

The delete button is your friend. Use it as your secret productivity weapon. If you don’t need an email, just delete it. Right now.

If you think you might need some of the information on it in the future, then just use the handy-dandy feature on GMail and archive. {You are on GMail, right? I am convinced is the best productivity email service on the planet!}

For those of you who currently have 35,000 emails in your inbox, the delete button needs to become your very best friend. Today. To save yourself the extra time and effort, check out Unroll.me. One of my readers recommended it on my Facebook Page this morning and it looks like a fabulous way to deal with a huge load of emails in an efficient manner.

Save Yourself a Little Time With Send & Archive

Have you added the Google Send & Archive option to your email? This saves you the step of having to send an email and then delete it. Just press Send & Archive and your email is sent and archived. Ta-da!

3. Set Up Filters Fanatically

Maybe you can’t unsubscribe from an email, but you can always filter it — provided you have GMail. I use filters for affiliate notifications that I can’t turn off, junk email that I can’t subscribe from, and more.

I also have filters set up for submissions to my site. So if you submit a deal or a guest post, those go in a separate folder that I check when I’m posting deals or reviewing guest posts. This keeps them in an organized place that I can easily access, without taking up real estate in my inbox.

4. Deal With Email Immediately

I saved this suggestion for last, because this is truly what has revolutionized my inbox. Before my “Inbox Revolution”, I filed things that would take longer than a minute or two to answer.

This truly only just resulted in a bulging To Answer File. Yes, it wasn’t in my inbox, but it was still weighing me down because I knew it was lurking there waiting to be dealt with.

At the beginning of the year, I decided to change my strategy and stop filing any email in my To Answer file for a few weeks. I was amazed at how this forced me to be more efficient!

I stopped asking myself, “Should I file this to answer later or take the time to answer it now?” Instead, I just answer the email right then and there, if at all possible, and then delete it.

Usually, there are a few emails that will require longer answers. In that case, I’ll leave those few in my inbox until I have a longer time-slot to deal with them. But I try to not let anything stay in my inbox for longer than a few days, preferably a few hours.

By adopting this strategy, it’s opened my eyes to how much time I was wasting just moving around virtual files and furniture, rather than just getting the job done.

How I Keep My Email Inbox to Fewer Than 5 Emails

A. Check Email

B. Immediately Delete Any Emails That Don’t Require Opening or Answering (such as someone just responding with a one-sentence confirmation)

C. Unsubscribe From Any Subscription That Has Still Made It Into My Inbox

D. Open and Deal With All Emails

  • Respond to those requiring only a few-sentence response first.
  • File emails that need to be filed (such as a deal that someone submitted via email rather than through my deals submission form).
  • If time, respond to as many emails as possible that require a lengthier response. Oftentimes, I find that it doesn’t take me at all as long as I think it will if I just dive in and start writing!

E. Never Allow There to Be Any More Than Four Emails In My Inbox <— This has been key for me. If there are more than four, it means that I highly prioritize email answering above other computer work.

What tips & tricks do you have for taming your email inbox?

photo credit; photo credit

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 12, 2013 comment

The Homemade French Bread Flop

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The Homemade French Bread Flop

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

I’m beginning to wonder if I’m a homemade French Bread failure. Because every single recipe I’ve tried so far has been a disappointment.

Which makes me wonder whether it’s more the baker than the recipe itself. Ahem.

I was all determined to try yet again yesterday. I searched online, found what looked to be a winner recipe, and I got to work dumping the ingredients in the bread machine.

About an hour later, I checked the bread machine and saw that the ingredients hadn’t really moved at all — even though the bread machine was on, the pan was fully locked in place, and the paddles were installed. (Yes, those three things have been the culprits in the past when I’ve had issues with my bread machine not mixing up the dough!)

Then I realized that the paddles weren’t all the way locked in. Aha!

So I got the paddles fixed and restarted the bread machine cycle. I thought all was well.

The dough looked beautiful and it rose wonderfully. But in my haste (since I was delayed by the bread machine hiccup), I think I under-baked the bread even though I thought it was done when I took it out of the oven.

The final result was edible, but I didn’t love the taste or texture at all. And it’s far from the amazing loaf I was hoping for!

So I’m back to the drawing board again… and I’d LOVE any amazing French Bread recipes or tips you want to throw my way. Because clearly I need all the French Bread help I can get.

Someday, someday, I’m going to be a Homemade French Bread pro. In the mean time, I’ll keep experimenting and hoping that the next recipe I try becomes the winning ticket.

In the mean time, though, I can attest to the winning nature of these bread recipes. I’ve made them all multiple times and they are family favorites:

My Favorite Homemade Bread Recipe

My Sister’s Bread Recipe

Homemade Breadsticks in the Bread Machine

Homemade English Muffin Bread

Bread Machine Buttery Rolls

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls (not really bread, but these are so good that I have to include the link for those of you who have yet to discover their yummy goodness!)

Have you had any recipe flops recently? I’d love to commiserate with you! 🙂

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 12, 2013 comment

Save money on baby & kid items by shopping at Moms of Multiples sales

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Save money on baby & kid items by shopping at Moms of Multiples sales

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Katie emailed in the following tip:

Before our twins were born, we learned about a “Moms of Multiples” club that held a resale in our area. I went to the sale with my husband, and we were able to find almost everything we needed for our newborns (pack ‘n plays, swings, bouncy seats and more) for just under $200. If we had purchased these items new, we would have spent well over $1000.

Across the country, “Moms of Multiples” clubs frequently have sales where they sell gently used items for babies and children. Most clubs publicize their sales by posting fliers, emailing, and word-of-mouth.

You can use this website to find upcoming sales in your area. If you don’t have any sales in your area, you can search for “Moms of Multiples” clubs in your area as they might know of another nearby sale. You can also visit the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs site to find a club in your area.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 12, 2013 comment

By Getting Our Finances in Order, We Were Able to Say “Yes” to Adoption

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By Getting Our Finances in Order, We Were Able to Say “Yes” to Adoption

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

Testimonial from Beka of Unconventional Homemaker

My husband and I were married in 2005 and kept two separate checking accounts for our two separate incomes. My husband knew there must be a better way to handle money — so being his frugal man, he went to the library and found a little book by Dave Ramsey called Priceless.

It was the shortest book we’d ever read! Yet it got us on the same page and gave us new ideas. We immediately combined our bank accounts, like any married couple should do, and sat down to do our very first budget.

We went to the bank, filled our envelopes with cash, and started our game-plan using the cash envelope system.

By Getting on a Budget, We “Found” an Extra $300 Per Month

With that very first month of budgeting, we found an extra $300 we didn’t even know we had! Since we had already cleaned up the couple of tiny debts we had, we figured we might as well put that $300 as an extra principal payment on our mortgage. Might as well pay that 15-year loan off in 12!

It didn’t stop there though, we kept putting extra money on our mortgage, month after month after month. The snowball effect started happening to us! We saw that our mortgage could be paid off in 10 years… then 9… then 7.5!

Three Years of Sacrifices Was Completely Worth It

We began selling anything and everything on Craigslist and putting every dime (after giving) from bonuses straight onto that puppy. You know what? From the start of that very first budget until the mortgage was paid off in 2009, was just three years!

Three short years of sacrifice — minimal restaurants, older cars, tightwad vacations, thrift store shopping, garage sale hunting — and we were done with all our debt. Praise God!

Some people might not want to sacrifice for three years, but honestly, it was the best time of our lives. We had fun teaming up together and finding the cheapest ways to live. It was a blast and we’ll never forget the memories we made by doing it.

We’re Debt Free!!

You ought to have heard my “We’re Debt Free” call on The Dave Ramsey Show, I was over-the-top enthusiastic and also a total corn ball. It was amazing! (I must just turn really corny when I talk to Dave, because a few years later we stopped at his office to meet him and right when he came out I yelled, “Cheeeee-tahhh!”)

People often want to know what life looks like for us since we have no mortgage, no debt. The obvious differences are that we are able to give a lot more money away to those in need. That’s definitely the best part of not being tied down to payments every month. Secondly, we’re able to invest heavily in our retirement and our children’s educational funds. The third thing we were doing was saving up to buy a rental property.

But then it happened… In September 2012, God, in an enormous way, opened our eyes and our hearts to adoption. We already have three biological children but it pained us so bad to know that there are little ones going to bed with no one to tuck them in at night. There are nearly 150 million orphans suffering while we live in our 2,000 square-foot warm home. Surely we can take just one.

Saying “Yes” to Adoption

So we stepped out in faith and said “Yes. Yes, we will take in a little one who has no hope. Yes, we will give of ourselves to raise this little one. Yes, yes, yes!”

If we had not paid off our mortgage and built up our savings to buy a rental, we may not have said “Yes” to adoption. Of course, finances should not be the main concern when considering adoption (there are grants, scholarships, fundraising, and many other possibilities out there), but our situation sure did put us in an easy position to say “yes”.

Two weeks after we started the process to adopt, my husband and I looked at each other and said, “Oh, we didn’t even talk about how we’re going to pay for this, did we? I guess we’re getting a child before we get a rental!”

Thanks to starting that budget, sticking with it every single month, and letting God tug on our hearts, we’ll be traveling to China this fall to pick up our little boy! An orphan no more!

Beka is a homeschooling mom of three (almost 4!) children ages 5, 3, and 1; their 2 1/2 year old boy will be joining their family this fall. She blogs at Our Eternal Treasures about their upcoming adoption and at Unconventional Homemaker about wholesome living.

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Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 12, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: Swim Upstream

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Early to Rise Challenge: Swim Upstream

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.

Swim Upstream

The Day 12 reading in the Early to Rise book was very inspirational — especially since I tend to be an “out-of-the-box thinker”. I don’t like following rules made by experts. And if you want to motivate me, tell me something can’t be done! 🙂

Early rising tends to be a bit of an “against the flow” mentality. Most people would prefer to stay in bed and sleep rather than get up and get moving at an early hour.

Now, I’m not saying that sleeping in is always wrong. If you need sleep, by all means, get that sleep. But if you’re just sleeping in out of laziness or lack of discipline, I wholeheartedly encourage you to start challenging yourself to make earlier rising a priority.

I’ll just be really honest here: it’s pretty much never fun to get up early. And I often second guess my sanity for the first few minutes after my alarm clock goes off.

But a few hours into the day, I never, never regret getting up early — even if I’m a little tired. Why? Because my day goes much more smoothly, I get so much more done, and I’m not running around like a chicken with my head cut off feeling overwhelmed and behind. Getting out of a warm bed when I still feel a little (or a LOT!) tired, is a small price to pay for the benefits I reap later on in the day.

What benefits have you experienced so far as a result of getting up early? I’d love to hear how this challenge has helped your life and about any difference you’ve seen by making an effort each morning to get up early.

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

Me? I got up at 5:34.

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 11, 2013 comment

52 Different Ways to Save $100 a Year: Cut Your Own Hair {Week 10}

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52 Different Ways to Save $100 a Year: Cut Your Own Hair {Week 10}

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

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.

While this is one of those often-encouraged frugal tips, this series wouldn’t be complete without it. Because, truthfully, you can save a LOT by cutting your own hair at home… or having a family member do it for you.

My Own Hair-Cutting Adventures

For years, I didn’t go to a hair salon — not even an inexpensive one. I couldn’t afford to get it cut anywhere for some of that time and for the rest of the time, I just chose not to pay to get it cut because I wanted to save my money for other things.

My mom would trim my hair for length and then I’d cut layers in it. Did my hair look amazing? No. But it was decent and I had fun learning how to do layers and just play around with it.

Yes, I messed it up sometimes, but it was sort of an adventure. And I sure saved a lot of money by cutting my own hair! 🙂

Nowadays, I do go to a salon to get my hair done. It’s a splurge we budget for and I don’t feel one bit guilty about it. But I know if our budget and financial situation were ever to change and we needed to tighten things up, I could definitely go back to home hair cutting again.

If you are struggling financially, I’d heartily encourage you to consider cutting the trips to the salon until you get in a better financial position. If you don’t want to completely give up your professional hair cut, at least try to go as low as possible between each visit. Or, look for less expensive options (see below).

Practice Makes Perfect — Or Almost!

If you’re scared of the damage you might be able to do with scissors, instead of trying to give yourself a whole new ‘do, start small. Do simple trims of your boys’ hair (see a tutorial for trimming boys’ hair with clippers here) and try trimming your bangs or a small child’s hair.

Kikka says:

To get started you can watch free how-to videos on YouTube.com, look for a sale at your local beauty supply store (like Sally’s) to purchase what you need, do your research, and then give it a try! Just remember that practice makes perfect, or close to it. Also, the good thing about hair is that it does grow back! :) -Kikka

Creative Ways to Get Your Hair Done Free or Inexpensively

I loved this tip in ALL YOU magazine:

“I answer Craigslist ads looking for hair models to be used for salon interviews or for people who are building hours toward their certification. I no longer pay for hair cuts, straightening, hair color, or even highlights, and I always have nice results.” -All You magazine (April 27, 2012), page 117

Rhonda says:

Our children are grown now, but when our son was little, my husband cut his hair. As they got older, we all went to a cosmetology school where students cut hair at a greatly reduced price. It took longer, but the work was always inspected by the supervisor so you wouldn’t have uneven lengths, etc.

When my hair began getting gray in my 30′s, a friend showed me how to color it myself. I have been doing that every month since then, and have saved thousands of dollars I’m sure, compared to having a stylist color it. I buy a brand I can get at Dollar General, and once a month a newspaper coupon insert will have a $1 or $2 off coupon for it. So I average $3-$4 a month for hair color!

Another idea for haircuts is to check ad circulars that come in the mail. We usually have one for our local franchise hair salon for $6-$9 a haircut. Even with a tip, that’s less than $10 for a quick haircut which I get every 8 weeks or so. My husband has an electric hair trimmer that I use to shave the back of his neck, and he has bought a Flowbee hair system that he uses to cut his own hair. After 10 haircuts, it’s paid for itself.

If you don’t feel comfortable doing your own hair care, then perhaps you have a friend who cuts hair and will barter another service from you for that. Look around — there are many alternatives to high-priced hair care out there! -Rhonda

For tips on At-Home Hair Coloring, check out this post.

How Much Can You Save?

Well, that depends upon a lot of factors… like how many people you have in your family, how often you usually get your hair cut, and so on. But I can almost guarantee you that you’ll save well over $100 in a year — likely much more!

For instance, Kikka says: “We have found that if I cut my husband’s hair and he colors my hair, we are saving a minimum of $840 a year.”

Do you cut your own hair? If so, approximately how much do you save per year?

photo credit; photo credit; photo credit

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 11, 2013 comment

10 goals for this week

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10 goals for this week

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

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 five chapters of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh at dinner. Read five chapters of A Bear Called Paddington with Kathrynne, read four chapters of Anne of Green Gables with Kaitlynn, read four chapters of Sarah, Plain & Tall 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, Fit To Burst, A Charlotte Mason Education, and Eve’s Daughters.

Homemaking Goals

7. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.

8. Work on embroidery project.

Business Goals

9. Finish outlines for my talks at the Southeast Homeschool Convention next week.

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

This 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.

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.


Shipping Costs
Shared Mar 11, 2013 comment

4 Strategies to Save on Shipping

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4 Strategies to Save on Shipping

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

Shipping Costs

Guest post from Bernadine of Montebello Mom

Online shopping is wonderful, the convenience of shopping after the kids are tucked in and after I’ve had a shower is great for this working mom, but shipping costs can easily add $5 or more to a total, and that’s $5 I’m not willing to spend.

Here are the strategies I use to save on shipping at online retailers:

1. Search For Free Shipping Codes

Check RetailMeNot.com or do a quick Google search using the words “free shipping code” and the name of the online retailer. You’d be surprised how many places offer free shipping, but only if you have the code.

2. Meet Minimum Order Requirements

Fill your online shopping cart with enough merchandise to meet the minimum purchase requirements to qualify for free shipping. I sometimes will purchase a range of sizes to make sure my kids get the best fit and return the item that doesn’t fit well to the brick and mortar store for a refund.

3. Place the Order Through a Store

If an item is not in stock at the store, or if it is only available online, you can ask a store associate at the brick and mortar store to order it online for you. I’ve done this at Gymboree for swimsuits and at the Disney Store for princess attire. In both instances, the shipping fee was waived.

I’ve also just come right out and asked a store employee for a free online shipping code to order items that were not in stock at the store — and I got one!

4. Pick-Up In Store

When ordering online chose the “pick-up in store” or “ship-to-store option”. Usually you’ll have to go to customer service to pick up the item, or some stores have a special pick-up counter for online orders.

At Best Buy, I’ve used this option several times to guarantee that I get a copy of a video game or DVD at special limited time only pricing and not have to pay for shipping.

What are your favorite ways to save on online shipping costs?

Bernadine authors MontebelloMom.com, a free family-friendly events and bargains blog in the Los Angeles area. She is the official Blogger for the Shops at Montebello mall and an avid bargain hunter.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 11, 2013 comment

Saturday’s trip to the health food store

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Saturday’s trip to the health food store

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I finally am back to posting about my grocery shopping trips — after a long self-imposed hiatus while I finished writing my second book. I know some of you have missed these posts and I’m excited to bring them back again!

I stopped by the health food store while I was out and about on Saturday and was so glad I did! Here’s what I got:

Health Food Store Shopping Trip

Blueberries — $1.99

3 3-lb. bags of potatoes — on sale for $0.69 per bag!

5 apples — $0.99/lb.

3 pears — $0.99/lb.

5 organic oranges — $0.99/lb.

8 grapefuit — on sale 4 for $1

I love it when I get deals on fresh produce — especially organic produce!

Have you gotten any great deals on product recently?

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Click here to download!
Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 11, 2013 comment

This week’s menu

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This week’s menu

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Homemade Freezer Biscuits

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Lunch out at Applebee’s (We had a gift card.)
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 2

Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

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

Homemade Freezer Biscuits
Amish Cinnamon Bread
Bean & Cheese Burritos

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Cheesy Enchilada Casserole, tossed salad, fruit
Twice Baked Potato Soup, carrot stocks, Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Muffins
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Homemade Freezer Biscuits, Fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos
Dinner with extended family
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 11, 2013 comment

Free Samples In My Mailbox

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Free Samples In My Mailbox

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Here are the free samples I’ve gotten over the past few weeks:

Free L’Oreal Haircare samples

Coupon for a FREE Pepsi Next 2-Liter

Free Lipton Tea samples

Free VitaMelts samples

Coupon for a FREE package of Oscar Mayer meat

Free CD case pouches

What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?

By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Mar 11, 2013 comment

Early to Rise Challenge: “It’s Your World, So Change It”

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Early to Rise Challenge: “It’s Your World, So Change It”

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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.

“It’s Your World, So Change It”

While getting out of bed was not something I loved this this morning (somewhat because of the time change, but mostly because I stayed up too late finishing Eve’s Daughters!), I loved, loved, loved Andy’s Day 11 reading in the Early to Rise book. Why? Because it’s something I’m passionate about.

We all want to do something with our lives. We want to make a difference. We want to change lives. We want to have an impact.

Sometimes, though, we make excuses. We want life to be perfect before we start in on our grand plans.

Here’s the thing: life will never be perfect. But that shouldn’t stop us from using today to make a difference.

You may be thinking: “But I’m not gifted or wealthy!” Maybe you don’t possess any amazingly noteworthy talents (though no matter who you are, you are an artist of some sort) and maybe you are barely scraping by, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something right where you’re at.

Smile and look into the eyes of people you meet today. Express genuine gratitude. Send an email or text to tell someone how much you appreciate them. Have a tea party with your kids. Take a loaf of bread to a new neighbor. Call a friend to ask how she’s really doing. Look for something you can do each hour of today to brighten someone else’s life.

What are you going to do to change the world today? I want to hear about it. And don’t let this question stump you. If you don’t have any creative ideas, use one that I shared above or check out this list of great ideas. I promise that in reaching out to others, you yourself will be blessed, too!

What Time Did You Get Up This Morning?

Me? I got up at 5:32 a.m. this morning.

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 10, 2013 comment

A Peek Into Our Week: Scrabble, Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of Nimh, Freezer Cooking, Early to Rise Challenge, and Friendship Bracelets

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A Peek Into Our Week: Scrabble, Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of Nimh, Freezer Cooking, Early to Rise Challenge, and Friendship Bracelets

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We had an impromptu and rousing game of Scrabble one night. I was excited because I actually won (I think that might be a first!)!

I had five “early” mornings as part of the Early to Rise Challenge.

We finished Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh and it was a very sad day because we all thoroughly enjoyed this book — even Jesse. 🙂

Silas helped me do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session — and all three recipes ended up being winners (see the recipe links and more details here)!

I was especially excited because our Crockpot Refried Beans turned out beautifully!

Learning how to make friendship bracelets.

How was YOUR week?

Shared Mar 9, 2013 comment

3 Tips for Reverse Meal Planning

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3 Tips for Reverse Meal Planning

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Guest post by Kirsten of I Still Hate Pickles

Last year, we put our house on the market. Keeping a house in show-ready condition with two kids meant that my house and my time needed some de-cluttering. Couponing seemed to be one more thing I couldn’t handle, so I packed up my coupon folders and stopped checking online for the best coupon match-ups.

I didn’t want our grocery budget to blow up, so I came up with a system of reverse meal planning. This meant hitting the store with a basic list, buying the best deals, and planning my week around that.

If you are think this type of meal planning would work for you, here are 3 tips that helped me:

1. Pick One Store and Know It Well

Each store has its own advantages in terms of savings, whether by great weekly deals or a valued customer program. Find a store that you are familiar with and know you can find savings without coupons. Become familiar with their shopping policies.

My store became our local Kroger, even though it doesn’t always have the lowest prices. It has separate clearance sections for things like organic, meat, frozen, produce, and general store items. Before I really looked, I never saw these areas!

I also discovered what days of the week tended to have the best mark-downs and planned my trips accordingly.

2. Make a General List

Rather than a specific list of items, my grocery list might look like this: fruit, bread, meat, cheese. When I got to the store, I would hit the clearance areas first. Most weeks, I could buy 90% of the list on clearance. Then I filled the list with the best non-clearance deals. In knowing your store well, you’ll already know what prices are really good.

3. Stockpile the Great Deals

Having a stockpile means that for some things, like meat and cheese, if you find a great deal, you can buy a lot and freeze them. This carried me through weeks or months where I found no good deals on items like deli meat or chicken. It’s also a good idea to note what you have stockpiled before you hit the store.

This method requires a little more flexibility than traditional meal planning. These general principles, however, work really well in conjunction with couponing — know your store, have some flexibility if you find an unexpected deal, and stockpile.

Now that we are in a less stressful situation, I can combine coupon savings with clearance savings to maximize our grocery budget. I still do like planning in reverse—it feels a little like a game to me, and sometimes makes me more adventurous with foods I might not have chosen otherwise.

Kirsten Oliphant is a writer, blogger, and wrangler of children at home. Several of her books are available on Amazon and her blog, I Still Hate Pickles, features an eclectic mix of life, faith, recipes, and roller derby.