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Shared Jan 24, 2013 comment

Reader Tip: Check to see if your library offers free ebooks that you can borrow

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Reader Tip: Check to see if your library offers free ebooks that you can borrow

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

Hannah emailed in the following tip:

Many people don’t realize that most public libraries have eBooks available for checkout through their websites. All you have to do is log into your local library’s site using your library card, then follow the links for eBooks (often, there are also digital audio books available).

In just a couple of minutes, you should be able to search through the available titles, download your selection, and begin reading on your device! No late fees for failing to “bring the book back,” because it will simply expire after 2-3 weeks. This is a great, free way to read some of the newest and most popular books without paying a cent — or leaving your home! -Hannah

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Shared Jan 24, 2013 comment

How to Get Three Meals from One Chicken

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How to Get Three Meals from One Chicken

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

How-to-Get-Three-Meals-from-One-Chicken

Guest post from Katie of Kitchen Stewardship

There’s no arguing with the fact that a whole chicken is just about the most frugal meat you can buy. But is it a waste to pay for all those bones?

Won’t your family eat more meat if you serve a whole chicken than if you serve a casserole with a few cut-up chicken breasts? Plus, how often can you serve roast chicken? You’d get tired of it once a week. Right?

Actually, I respectfully disagree. I think a whole chicken is the best meat purchase there is, even if it’s not on sale (gasp!).

Keep reading to learn how I get three meals plus leftovers plus ingredients for even more meals, all from one chicken – and I’m not going to roast it at all.

Meal #1: Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry

I’m no butcher, and I’ve never learned the trick of cutting up a whole chicken into chicken parts. All those bones!

But I do “harvest” the meat from my whole birds sometimes. I use kitchen scissors and hack away at the breast, snipping out bite-sized pieces that are perfect for a stir fry or pasta dish. It’s not pretty – don’t worry, I’m not including photos – but it works, and it doesn’t take all that long because I’m not seeking perfection. I just get some meat out for dinner number one.

It’s titled “Veggie & Chicken Stir Fry” because I don’t have a whole chicken breast for each person, so I make sure I’ve got lots of nourishing vegetables to round out the meal, and some cooked brown rice to go with it.

I always used to follow a recipe when I made stir fry, but now I just follow a pattern:

1. Cook chicken in a little bit of sesame or olive oil over medium-low heat until no pink is left in the center. Season it while stir frying with salt, pepper, and spices that sound good that day. I love to mix up ginger, cumin, sometimes curry and often a dash of cayenne. Sometimes I just use simple Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

2. Remove the chicken to a plate – you don’t want it to get tough.

3. Add veggies, starting with the ones that take longest to cook and cutting the others while the first ones are in the pan: onions and bell peppers, then carrots and broccoli stems, then pea pods and broccoli tops. If I have zucchini or some greens, like spinach or kale, those go in near the end. A stir fry is a great way to use up the veggies that are about to go bad in your crisper drawer, so it’s a money-saving meal because you don’t throw the money you already spent on groceries into the garbage.

4. Season the veggies in the same way as the chicken, then add the chicken back in to heat it up for the last few minutes.

5. Serve over rice with a soy sauce (I buy ones that don’t have any high fructose corn syrup in them).

Meal #2: Chicken Rice Soup

After I “harvest” that bit of breast meat, I put the rest of the whole chicken into a big old pot, cover it with cold water and a little vinegar, and let it sit for an hour. Then I bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook it all night long on low.

After lunch, I’ll add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for another hour to finish off the homemade bone broth, and for dinner that night, we’ll have a simple chicken rice soup – in the same pot the stock was just in, because I hate doing dishes!

We usually end up using about half the broth and two cups of chicken, which leaves me with 4-8 cups more broth to stock my freezer and at least another two cups chicken for the next night’s meal.

Meal #3: Chicken with Rice and Green Beans

This dish is a new family favorite that couldn’t be simpler.

I reverse engineered it from a casserole recipe that called for chicken breasts, onion soup mix, instant rice, and lots of butter. I kept the butter and ditched everything else, remaking the processed part of the meal into a whole foods recipe that I feel great about putting on the table.

Because I know my weekly menu plan in advance, I would have made a double batch of rice with the stir fry two nights ago. And since there’s already cooked chicken from the stock-making endeavor in the fridge, I can put together this recipe in less than half an hour, with only 5-10 minutes active work time!

Recipe for Chicken with Rice and Green Beans

from Better Than a Box

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 medium onions, chopped (about 1-1 ½ cup)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon parsley
  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt (or seed)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 cup fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch pieces (about ¾-1 pound), or 2 cups frozen green beans
  • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 3-4 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, whatever you have on hand, optional)

Directions:

In a cast iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed pot, melt one stick of butter. Sauté the onions over medium to medium-high heat until translucent, at least 10 minutes. This browning step is what will add much of the flavor, so if you have time to cook them 20 minutes, it’s worth the wait. Feel free to cover them to speed the process along.

Add green beans and stir to saute them lightly. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and all the other seasoning to the onions and green beans. Stir around for a minute or two to release the aromas of the herbs, then add the cooked rice and cooked chicken plus optional cheese.

Stir and cook over medium low to heat through, and serve immediately.

Three frugal, simple meals, all from one whole chicken.

If I’m lucky, I might even have another cup or two of chicken to freeze for the future, and remember I already have a few jars of stock ready for another meal.

The best part is yet to come: Did you know you can actually reuse the chicken bones for another batch of stock, and even a third? You should be able to get at least a half gallon of “seconds” broth which is great for white chicken chili, stir fry sauces, and other uses where the broth doesn’t have to be the spotlight, and the “thirds” work for cooking rice, adding to spicy chili, and mixing with “firsts” for any soup.

Katie Kimball is a mother of three from Michigan who spends a ton of time in the kitchen making real food with whole ingredients and then blogs about her successes and failures at Kitchen Stewardship.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 23, 2013 comment

Q + A: How do I avoid becoming obsessed and overwhelmed with goal-setting?

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Q + A: How do I avoid becoming obsessed and overwhelmed with goal-setting?

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I have learned so much from you about goal-setting. Thank you so much for all your wise and helpful advice. I set goals for the year and I’m very excited about them. But I get overly obsessive about reaching my goals, and I feel terrible if I haven’t been able to cross off all my goals and todos by the end of the day. I almost feel like I want to give up my goals so I stop being so obsessed. Please help me find a better balance! Thank you! -Laura

Laura, I really appreciate you asking this question. While I’m a big fan of goal-setting, I think it’s imperative that we not go overboard with them so that they control our life — ultimately sucking the joy of living out of life itself.

Goals Are Meant To Be a Blessing, Not a Burden!

The reason you set goals is to enhance your life, not to become exhausted or overwhelmed. If goals become additional stress in your life, they need to be tweaked, rewritten, or dropped altogether.

It’s good to challenge ourselves.

It’s good to push ourselves outside our comfort zone.

It’s good to aim high and work hard.

BUT there always needs to be room to breathe in life. Charging ahead at breakneck speed just for the sake of speed and productivity is no way to live.

With this in mind, here are five ideas for you to consider:

1. Create Weekly Goals Versus Daily Goals

I always encourage people to break their goals down into bite-sized pieces. I encourage this because viewing a big goal in one lump sum can be overwhelming.

However, if you break a goal down so small that you feel obligated to always be working on it every single day — even when the inevitable interruptions come up — you can end up feeling like you’ve failed or fallen way behind when you don’t hit your daily goals every single day.

Perhaps a better option for you would be to choose a few small, bite-sized goals to tackle each week versus each day. Write them down and post them on your refrigerator or somewhere else that you’ll see regularly and then fit them in as you’re able throughout the week.

This way, you are still chipping away at your goals, but you’re doing so in a way that’s more flexible and adaptable to your schedule. On days that you’re really busy, you can just focus on the basics. On days that you have some extra time, you can knock out one or two of the bite-sized pieces.

If you don’t get to all the goals that week, just bump the leftovers to the following week.

2. Make Your Goals Your First Priority Of the Day

Since one of my words for the year is Discipline, I’ve been making a very concerted effort to do the hardest things first. This means I’m starting the day by tackling some of my least favorite but most important things first.

Truthfully, this is making a world of difference for me. I realized that I’ve been wasting a lot of time just stalling… I’d add things to tomorrow’s to-do list or file things to do later instead of just doing it now. There’s a time and place for filing and putting things on tomorrow’s to-do list, but I’ve been challenging myself to stop procrastinating on these things and just face ’em head-on and get them done.

Not only am I getting a lot more done, but I’m also finding I have a lot more margin time. Because once you stop stalling and start working, it takes a whole lot less time to do things!

3. Take A Day Off Once a Week

If you go-go-go all week long and never take a break, you’re bound to burn yourself out. Give yourself at least one day “off” each week that you don’t worry about work or goals or to-do lists. This is your day to refuel and refresh.

We have Sundays set aside as our day off at our house. We go to church, come home and have a really simple lunch of some sort, and then have a quiet afternoon either resting, reading, talking, playing a game, or engaging in other relaxing activities.

We don’t blog, worry about business stuff or goals, and I often don’t even turn on my phone or computer all day long. It’s a day we look forward to all week long!

If you can’t take a full day off, at least take half a day every week. I promise that you’ll find you’re more productive when you take time to recharge than if you just keep going and never stop to take a breath.

4. Set Fewer Goals

Experiment with lowering the bar a little when it comes to goal-setting. Maybe what you’re getting hung up on is the fact that you’re trying to accomplish too many goals.

It’s better to have fewer goals and follow through with them than to have a lot of goals and just end up overwhelmed by them.

Go through your goal list and try culling it down to the most important goals for 4-6 weeks. Just focus on those and see if that makes a difference in your stress level.

5. Give Yourself Grace

You’re pretty much never going to get everything done that you want to in a day’s time. That’s just life!

Focus on what you have accomplished instead of beating yourself up over what you didn’t accomplish.

If you end the day feeling like you accomplished nowhere near what you’d hoped, don’t fret. Just transfer the things you didn’t get done to tomorrow’s to-do list (or decide to skip them altogether), go to bed, get some rest, and wake up to a new day tomorrow!

What advice and suggestions do the rest of you have for Laura? I’d love to hear your input!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 23, 2013 comment

Why You Shouldn’t Wait a Year to Clean Out Underneath Your Oven {Ahem}

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Why You Shouldn’t Wait a Year to Clean Out Underneath Your Oven {Ahem}

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

I was looking for a mini muffin pan and couldn’t find it. So I had the “brilliant” {ahem!} idea to pull out the oven drawer and look underneath it.

Word to the wise: do not perform this exercise without seriously preparing yourself for what you might discover. I was thoroughly unprepared…

I pulled out the oven drawer and almost screamed. There were enough pieces of food living under my oven to fill up the entire dustpan. I kid you not.

It was nearly horrifying as I’d been feeling like I was doing a fairly good job of keeping my home clean and orderly recently. Yikes! Apparently not!

After using the vacuum attachment to sweep up all the nasty particles that had been residing under the oven for way too long, it stilled looked pretty awful.

It took lots of elbow grease, but I finally got it looking much better. And I’ve promised myself that I will do my best to not wait an entire year again to clean underneath my oven.

However, at least these pictures can make you feel better about any mess you might have at your house. Because I’m pretty sure that I win the award for Dirtiest Oven Floor of the Year. 🙂

Using goals to change your life
Shared Jan 23, 2013 comment

How a Little Focus Can Change Your Life

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How a Little Focus Can Change Your Life

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Using goals to change your life

Note from Crystal: After Rachel read my post on How One Word Can Change Your Life in 2013, she asked me if she could write a guest post. As she’s the co-author of My One Word, I was delighted to have her share from her experience here — especially since this is my first year to choose one word and she’s been doing this for years!

Guest post from Rachel of RachelOlsen.com

Have you ever notice how the start of a new year prompts us to make long lists of goals?

We promise things like:

  • I’m going to exercise five days a week and lose weight.
  • I’m going to get my entire house organized and keep it that way.
  • I’m going to get up early and read my Bible every single morning.

Then we rush out and spend money on stuff we think we need to make these resolutions a reality. We buy new workout wear and join a gym. We buy 18 different organizing bins in four different sizes. We purchase a hefty new study Bible, highlighters, and a new journal.

What happens? After a couple weeks of effort, life interrupts or our will power fizzles and we discover these purchased items have no power to change us. We conclude that we just can’t change, and nurse our feelings of failure with some chocolate, or nachos.

What if I told you that what you need isn’t a bigger house, high-end running shoes, or an 8 lb.Bible? What if I told you all you really need is focus?

Here’s what I’ve discovered:

Change is possible; but focus is required.

You might be thinking that focus is something you either have or you don’t, but that’s not true. Focus is something you DO. And focus can come into your daily practice in the form of one single word.

For the last six years, my church and I have ditched our lists of resolutions in favor of choosing one word to be our focus for the year. Just one word that represents what we most hope will manifest in and through us in the year ahead. Thousands have since joined us in doing something about one thing via one word, rather than little about a whole list of resolutions.

Let me encourage you to replace of your list of promises to exercise more, read the Bible, and maintain an organized home — all great goals, by the way — and spend a year with the one word DISCIPLINED.

Got different goals? You could focus this year on saving money, paying down your debt, and learning to happily live within your means with the one word CONTENTMENT. Or you could focus on taming your tongue and cultivating loving relationships with the one word GENTLE.

Your one word is memorable and has a way of driving down to matters of the heart — and that’s where our behaviors ultimately flow from. That’s where our lives change.

So pick a word for 2013 and let your one word govern your actions and decisions. Let it be your focus and your daily prayer. Let it cast a vision for who you can become over the course of an entire year.

Resolutions can be broken. A single word cannot. Why not choose a one word for this year and see what changes a little focus can bring?

What is your one word?

Rachel Olsen is the co-author of My One Word: Change Your Life with Just One Word. She is also a national speaker on the subject of change, and a life coach. She blogs at RachelOlsen.com. And at www.MyOneWord.org, where you can post your one word.  

photo from Big Stock

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Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 23, 2013 comment

Ask The Readers: How can we save money on a Disney vacation?

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Ask The Readers: How can we save money on a Disney vacation?

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Today’s question is from Dana:

My parents would like to take my husband and I on a Disney vacation this year. This is a generous offer and I want to make sure we do everything we can to help save them money on the trip.

It has been 15 years since any of us have been to Disney and we are sure a lot has changed — like the passes to reserve a spot in line. We do not have children; it will just be 4 adults acting like kids while on vacation. Do you have any tips or sources to help us save money on this trip? -Dana

Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 22, 2013 comment

52 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year: Ditch Your Cable Package {Week 3}

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52 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year: Ditch Your Cable Package {Week 3}

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.

You knew it was coming… I just couldn’t write a series on ways to save $100 or more per year without going there.

Yup, we’re talking about ditching cable TV this week.

Some of you are thinking, “Of course. We ditched cable a long time ago.” Or maybe you’re like us and you’ve never even had cable.

But others of you are clinging pretty tightly to your cable package and hoping that you can find a way to justify keeping it. 🙂

How Much is Cable Really Costing You?

Well, if you need a little motivation to consider ditching or downsizing your cable package, how about you do something for me, okay?

Go get your latest cable bill. Yes, go get it — or look it up online. See how much you’re spending per month and multiply that by 12. That big number you’re seeing? That’s how much you’d save per year by giving up cable.

Stop and consider what you could do with that kind of money if you weren’t sending it into the cable company every month.

Now, every cable package is different, so I can’t tell you exactly how much you’d save, but I took a poll on Facebook over the weekend and do you know what the average amount people were spending on cable TV per month is? More than $46.

That’s over $550 per year. Multiply $46 per month over five years and you’d come up with $2,760 in savings.

That’s no small potatoes we’re talking about here!

And some people are spending more like $68 per month. That translates to spending $816 per year or $4,080 over five years!

What Could You Do With the Time You’re Spending Watching TV?

I’m going to stick my neck out and say that I believe Americans, in general, could survive just fine without watching as much TV as they do. In fact, I think many Americans would be much more fulfilled, more active, healthier, and happier if they spent less time sitting in front of the tube for a few hours or more per day.

I hear so many people lament their lack of time to pursue their dreams or start a business. And yet most people seem to find plenty of time to watch their favorite shows. Is there possibly a disconnect there?

Less TV watching not only frees up more time and encourages you to be more active, it also brings less of the consumerism mentality into your home. If you’re not watching all of those commercials, you don’t know what “amazing” things you “need” to buy! This, in turn, can help you become more content — all while saving a hefty amount of money, too!

Three Alternatives to Paying for Cable

Now, hear me out, I’m not saying you can’t ever enjoy a TV show. We have a few we enjoy watching occasionally and I think some of the things on TV can be educational or clean family entertainment (though the commercials sometimes ruin the “clean” part unfortunately! :()

However, we have found ways to watch TV without having to pay for it (other than our monthly Netflix bill). Here’s a guest post that Jenae from I Can Teach My Child wrote in 2011 on three alternatives to cable that I thought was so helpful that I’d just post it in its entirety here…

There are so many alternatives to paying lots of money for cable each month. Here are three we’ve found to be helpful for our family.

High-Definition Antenna

What if I told you that you could still watch most of your favorite shows for free? ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS and even a few other random channels can all be received for free in most areas* with a high-definition antenna. After a little upfront cost, you can watch these channels for the rest of your life. All you need is a converter box (if your TV does not already have an HDTV tuner — every new TV has one) and a high-definition antenna (which can go in your attic, wall or outside).

High-definition antennas range from $40-$150. You can purchase them at your local home-improvement store (Lowe’s or Home Depot). You can also go here for more information and to purchase one as well. And if you’re really handy (or you know someone who is), you can supposedly even make your own HDTV antenna for less than $10! It might be worth a shot!

If you own a TV that was manufactured after July 1, 2007, it should already have an HDTV tuner. You only need a converter box if your analog TV is older than that. Converter Boxes start at $40 and go up from there. Go here for a few converter box options.

*I realize that good reception depends in large part due to where you live. If this isn’t an option for you, you could still opt for the cheapest plan from your cable or satellite provider and implement the other two suggestions.

Netflix & Redbox

Many of you know that you can receive unlimited DVDs in the mail for about $10 a month from Netflix. But did you also know that they have thousands of movies on instant play as well? We’ve watched entire series of very popular shows instantly. You can stream it to a Blu-Ray player, XBox or Wii, or you can just watch it on your computer. Netflix is also a great resource for children’s television shows. The best part is that there are no commercials.

Redbox (a $1-per-night video rental kiosk that can be found outside many McDonald’s, Walgreens, and Walmarts locations) offers at least one free rental each month (usually the first Monday of every month) when you create an account on their website.

Borrow

Libraries are not only a great resource for books, most libraries also have movies as well! And the best part is that it’s free! You can browse most titles on your library’s website. Another option is to borrow movies from friends.

We’ve gone without cable for our entire married life (almost seven years). At first, we simply couldn’t afford cable and opted for bunny ears. Now that our income has increased and we could afford if we really wanted to, we still choose not to. We enjoy enough television and movie time without spending all that money every month!

Jenae is a wife, mother of two boys’ ages 3 and 15 months, and former first-grade teacher. She loves spending time with her family and sharing fun and educational activities for young children on her website, I Can Teach My Child.

There are also options like Amazon Prime and Hulu to check out now, too! For more ideas, check out Amy’s post on How to Ditch Your Cable Bill.

By the way, if you have sports fans at your house, you’ve got to check out this piece on A Coach Without Cable. Thought-provoking stuff!

photos from Big Stock

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 22, 2013 comment

Please DON’T Buy My Book! (one author’s plea)

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Please DON’T Buy My Book! (one author’s plea)

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Guest post from Tricia of TriciaGoyer.com

I’m an author, and I love readers (of course!). I get excited when I know someone out there is so engrossed in one of my novels that she misses sleep. However, I also love when readers don’t buy my books.

Do you have an author you love? Instead of buying the book ask your local library to purchase a copy… or two.

Here’s why I love my readers turn to their local libraries to get my books:

1. If the library has it, then checking it out tells the librarian it’s good. This means the library orders the next one I write.

2. If the library doesn’t have it, you can ask the librarian to order it. Most libraries have a system for recommendations. Libraries have a budget for books, and they are happy to oblige.

3. When you request a book it gets put on the shelf and others pick it up. If they read it—and love it—that means more fans for me!

4. And if you read a book that you really enjoyed, let your librarian know! Librarians are one of the greatest resources on the planet. They get asked daily for recommendations. If you have an author you love, spread the word.

5. Finally, when you’re talking to that librarian make sure you thank her (or him!) for buying all those books so you don’t have to! Just think of all the thousands of resources and literary adventures available to all of us for FREE!

How often do you frequent your local library?

Tricia Goyer wife, mom of six, author of 34 books… and a familiar face at her local library. You can read more about Tricia at TriciaGoyer.com or at at Mom Life Today.

photo source

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 21, 2013 comment

10 Weekly Goals

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10 Weekly Goals

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

I’ve been amazed at how much of a difference it’s making for me to be approaching my days by being really committed to knocking out the hardest things first. This resulted in another week where I completed all my goals — and there was still plenty of margin time. Yay!

Here’s my list of goals for this week:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read five chapters of Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy aloud at lunch. Read three chapters of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh at dinner. Read three chapters of The Amazon Stranger with Kathrynne, read three chapters of Little House on the Prairie with Kaitlynn, read three chapters of Farming with Father to Silas.

2. Play at least one game of Scrabble together as a family.

Personal Goals

3. Memorize Romans 1:5-6.

4. Finish writing all Christmas thank yous.

5. Exercise 5 times.

6. Finish reading You Can Raise a Well-Mannered Child, The Shelter of God’s Promises, The Duck Commander Family, and The Good Life for Less.

Homemaking Goals

7. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.

8. Finish 30 rows of the scarf for Kathrynne.

Business Goals

9. Work on the second round of edits for three chapters of my next book.

10. Finish two guest posts for other sites.

This 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 three 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 Father to Silas.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

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, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life, Making Room for Life: Trading Chaotic Lifestyles for Connected Relationships, 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, The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse, Risk is Right, and Tahosa Treasure. {And yes, I know that that is a crazy long list, but since I have eight flights combined for my two trips this week, I’m thinking I should plan for plenty of reading time!}

Homemaking Goals

6. Do a Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.

7. Finish 30 rows of the scarf for Kathrynne.

Business Goals

8. Work on the third round of edits for two chapters of my next book.

9. Attend the She Speaks Intensive.

10. Finish mapping out my keynote for the BEECH Retreat.

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 Jan 21, 2013 comment

5 Steps to Grocery Shopping Once a Week

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5 Steps to Grocery Shopping Once a Week

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


Guest post from Amy of Permission to Peruse

A year ago, I was running to the grocery store nearly every day. I panicked about dinner every afternoon. I’d run to the grocery store last minute, if I could even think of something to make. Many nights, we’d head for take-out.

Now, I’m grocery shopping once a week, making homemade meals nearly every night, and saving hundreds of dollars.

Here are 5 steps that worked for me:

1. Quit Assigning Meals to Days

On most traditional menu-planning posts, I see meals attached to days.  My Type A, literal self couldn’t handle the pressure of cooking exactly that meal on that day.

What if I didn’t have time? 

What if we didn’t “feel” like eating that meal that day? 

Would the menu-planning police come after me when I switched the days around? 

One thing my best friend told me last spring completely changed my view of menu planning. It’s so simple, it seems silly now. I plan out meals for the week but don’t assign days to them.

A light bulb went off!

Now, I choose an average of 5 meals for the week. I cook whatever strikes my fancy each day from that list. If I get down to the last meal and really don’t want it, I can resort to the breakfast-for-dinner trick and save the meal.

By not assigning days, I opened my Type A self to menu planning and that is the first and absolute key to shopping once a week.

2. Learn Your Regulars

The second step was to list our regular meals and learn the ingredients. I have a list of regular Crockpot meals on my blog with at most three ingredients.

Don’t feel like you’re failing if you’re having just a few of the same meals over and over. Many of us remember having the same meal every week growing up. It creates tradition, not boredom.

Once you have a database in your head of recipes, you’re one step closer to shopping once a week.

3. Quit Writing a Menu

Next, I quit writing a menu. I know, it goes against all menu planning rules, but it was key. You’ll see in the next step how I plan my meals.

4. Plan Meals Around Sales

At the store, I find what meats are on sale. I run through the meals I know and decide which I can make. I keep doing that until I get to 5 meals.

Once I have main courses, I spend the rest of the shopping choosing sides around sale items.

5. Choose One Shopping Day

The final step is to choose one shopping day — and stick with it. Saturday mornings work for me.

By carving out one day, I set family plans around shopping and know how long items need to last until the next week.

To you write-ahead day-assigning menu planners, absolutely keep doing what works! But if menu planning and shopping once a week have eluded you, perhaps these steps might help.

How do you handle menu planning and grocery shopping?

Amy is a work at home mom of two girls. She writes about faith, family, food and fashion at Permission to Peruse.

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Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 21, 2013 comment

This week’s simple menu

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This week’s simple menu

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It’s a busy week for me… I’m at the She Speaks Intensive through tomorrow, will be home for two days, and then am headed to Austin, TX for some business meetings on Friday and Saturday. So we’re sticking with simple meals, some that are already made in the freezer.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & Cheese, fruit
Chicken Noodle Soup, crackers, veggies
Snack-y lunch
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 2
Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

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

Southwestern Slow Cooker 2-Bean Chicken
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, fruit
Easy Crockpot Chicken Fajitas, fruit
Twice Baked Taco Potatoes, green salad, broccoli, fruit
Spaghetti Pie, steamed veggies
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 Jan 19, 2013 comment

A Peek Into Our Week: A Lost Tooth, Number Pancakes, Knitting, Homemade Stilts, Playing Shop, Ice-Skating Lessons, and Park Dates

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A Peek Into Our Week: A Lost Tooth, Number Pancakes, Knitting, Homemade Stilts, Playing Shop, Ice-Skating Lessons, and Park Dates

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Look who lost a tooth this week — finally! {Her top tooth has been hanging on by a thread for almost a week. She was determined not to pull it out until it was very good and ready!}

Silas & I made Number Pancakes this week as a preschool project. They were definitely a hit!

I made some pretty good progress on Kathrynne’s scarf this week.

Kathrynne created her own “stilts” using pieces from her Marble Maze. {Hey, while they aren’t the sturdiest stilts ever, I did have to give her props for creatively using what she already had on hand!}

The kids started their ice-skating lessons back up again today.

Both Jesse and I enjoyed hanging out on the ice with them during the free skate time.

Kaitlynn and Silas had fun playing “shop” this week. This was their little sales booth. Yes, Kaitlynn’s still working on learning to spell. 😉

Don’t ask me why they had to sit in the laundry basket, but apparently that was an important piece of their shop set-up. 🙂

The weather has been SO nice here the past two days… which meant we’ve been to the park twice to enjoy it!

So that was a little peek into our week. What was your week like? Tell us in the comments.

You are guaranteed to save money if you always buy these 4 things used! This is a great list!!
Shared Jan 19, 2013 comment

4 Things I Think You Should Always Buy Used

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4 Things I Think You Should Always Buy Used

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You are guaranteed to save money if you always buy these 4 things used! This is a great list!!

Guest post from Liz

There are some things I will spend good money on, and then there are other things I refuse to pay any more than $50 for.

In my opinion, shoes are important. They can make an outfit pop and you have to walk in them all day, so they have to be comfortable and durable. For those reasons, I will pay a good $50-$100 on shoes. T-shirts, on the other hand, I will refuse to pay $60 for a t-shirt just because of the trendy name brand. You can always find a new treasure at thrift stores.

Below are four things you should always (at least in my opinion) buy at thrift stores:

1. Jean shorts

Every year there are new trends that come out, but the cut-off jean shorts look seems to never get old. The way I see it,why pay anywhere from $35 to $50 on a pair of shorts that looks like you hacked them yourself?

I would much rather buy a pair of $7 jeans and actually do the hacking myself! This way you can cut them as short or as long as you want since not everyone has the same length legs!

2. T-Shirts

People are really into the “vintage” look now a day. What better place to get “vintage” then a thrift shop. Paying $30 for a “vintage” looking or inspired tee is not a smart move.

3. Costumes

Spending a load of money for something you will wear for only 1 or 2 days is unnecessary. Thrift shops often have brand new costumes for sale in October. Their new costumes are generally cheaper than costumes you’d find at national chain stores.

Aside from having new costumes for less, you can also put together a costume with items you find at a thrift store. For instance, finding pieces for a hippie or flapper costume.

4. Children’s Clothing

Children grow so fast — and I don’t like spending good money on clothes that might only be worn a few times before they are too small.

If you do go to the thrift store and find that the clothes are too worn out, there are stores such as Once Upon a Child that buy gently used children’s clothing, shoes, and toys.

What do you always shop the thrift stores for? 

photo source


Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 18, 2013 comment

Relish the Moments

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Relish the Moments

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During our afternoon movie time yesterday, my children were laughing hysterically over a movie we’d gotten from the library. They kept calling me into the room to watch it with them as they thought parts of it were so funny.

I was in the middle of making Best Brownies (oh so good!) and Chili Tortilla Bake and had a few more things left on my to-do list before it was dinnertime. Truthfully, I usually enjoy the quiet that movie time affords — especially since I’m usually ready for a little quiet by 5:30 p.m.!

But after they called me in a third time, I had a revelation: some day my children probably won’t be calling me in and asking me to snuggle and enjoy a movie with them. They’re growing up all too soon as it is.

So I quickly finished what I was doing in the kitchen, left the dishes and my to-do list for later, and just enjoyed laughing at the goofy movie with them.

While they are little, while they begging me to enjoy the funny movie with them, I want to relish those moments. They are all too fleeting.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jan 18, 2013 comment

Good Reads: The Good Life for Less by Amy Allen Clark

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Good Reads: The Good Life for Less by Amy Allen Clark

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For years, Amy from MomAdvice.com has inspired with her knitting and baking and no-spend challenges. A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet her in real-life. She’s fun, bubbly, energetic. and just plain cute!

When I heard she had a book coming out, I knew I had to get a copy. If anything, I wanted to support a first-time author. But I also was sure that if it was coming from Amy, it would be very inspiring.

And I was right. Her book, The Good Life for Less, is so practical, down-to-earth, and motivational. If you’ve struggled with job loss, credit card debt, or feeling like you’re completely green when it comes to cooking, you’ll be motivated by her story of how they’ve struggled to make ends meet, crawl out from under a mountain of credit card debt, and how she’s learned that stew can actually come from somewhere other than a can!

I loved the unique and creative ideas she gave for cutting your budget. And if you don’t have a budget in the first place, you’ll find the percentages she gives for each category to be a helpful guide.

Chapter 3 is packed with make-it-yourself recipes. You’ll find recipes for homemade salad dressings, mixes, soups, crockpot meals, Starbucks knock-off drinks, and much more.

One of my favorite quotes in the book was in chapter 4. She said: “Make it your goal to leave your family with a legacy of happy memories, not expensive gifts, and you’ll be well on your way to creating the kinds of special times they’ll always hold in their hearts.” Love that!

The Good Life for Less is a quick read (I read it in about two hours!). It will leave you feeling inspired to beautify your home, bless others, and make food from scratch. Many of the tips and ideas in this book are things I’ve heard before or currently do, but it’s always good to have a frugal living refresher at least a few times a year. Plus, there were some new perspectives I’d not thought of and Amy brought her own unique angle to everything — which I loved.

My only two complaints? I wish this book were a little longer and I would have loved to hear more of their story. She told it in snippets, but maybe in her next book, she can delve more into all the details of their frugal journey. I know that it’s a story that would be inspirational to so many!

Have you read any good reads in the past few weeks? Tell us about them in the comments!

See the full list of books I’ve read so far in 2013 here. See my list of 48 Books I Plan to Read in 2013 here.