Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
I find a lot of great ideas on Pinterest… but pinning something doesn’t do anything unless I actually, you know, try the idea. So I thought it’d be fun to challenge myself to do at least one Pinterest experiment every week — and blog my results.
I can’t promise that I’ll always have a Pinterest Experiment post up each week, because you know how I sometimes get distracted or on blog tangents. But I’m at least going to try. By the way, you can follow my Pinterest account here, if you’re interested.
These One-Hour Cinnamon Rolls looked promising. And they were fairly easy to make (I used my KitchenAid to mix the dough).
However, I think that my Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls still beat this recipe out by a long shot — and the Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls only take about 20 minutes of actual prep time to make. (You gotta try the Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls if you have already. Trust on this; it’s a winner recipe!)
I was excited to try the Cracker Barrel Pancakes. They were good and hearty, but I still think that our regular pancake recipe is better.
Want to see what ideas I’m thinking of trying next? Check out my Recipes I Want to Try board and my Do It Yourself board for things I’m considering trying next.
Have you tried any ideas or recipes you’ve found on Pinterest this week? If so, how did they turn out for you?
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Welcome to December’s series on 31 Days of Giving on a Budget. In this series, I’ll be sharing inspiring stories from my readers and posts with practical ways to give — even on a limited income.
We had the incredible opportunity of getting to have Chris Seay and his cameraman come to our home for a short visit earlier this year. Chris is a pastor, author, and a man with an amazing heart for the poor. I was so blessed and inspired to meet him and get to hear a little of his heart.
Chris has traveled all over the world to visit those living in poverty. He’s seen suffering beyond what most of us could even begin to fathom (some of the stories he shared just blew my mind!). But he’s not just witnessed the poverty, he is actively seeking to live a life of walking with the poor–sacrificing his own comforts and wants in order to reach out to those in desperate need.
In his book, A Place At the Table, Chris issues a challenge for us to not just talk about the dire needs and poverty around the globe, but for us to actually walk with the poor. His book challenges readers to consider a 40-day fast from excess.
In the short video below, I share about two books that have impacted me recently when it comes to giving and living a simple life and Chris shares more about his heart for the poor:
For more video clips from my interviews with Chris, be sure to check out the following links:
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Today’s question is from Jessica:
I love giving homemade Christmas goodies out to friends and neighbors, but sometimes the ingredients can really add up to be a lot of money. When I’m already spending plenty of money this time of year, it can sometimes be hard to fork over the extra for specialty ingredients.
I wanted to get ideas from other MoneySavingMom.com readers about what Christmas goodies they find to be the most frugal to make and give. I’d love to be able to keep up this tradition with minimal damage to my pocketbook. -Jessica
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Have you blogged about a Handmade Christmas idea? Submit the link through this form here and we’ll consider sharing it as part of this series during the next 4 weeks!
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Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Welcome to December’s series on 31 Days of Giving on a Budget. In this series, I’ll be sharing inspiring stories from my readers and posts with practical ways to give — even on a limited income.
Three years ago, our church of 40 members started giving away backpacks and school supplies every August for needy children in our area. I secured a list of families from a local organization, sent out invitations, and began collecting donations from Target, Meijer, and individuals.
These donations were used to fill backpacks for 150 needy children. To top it off, they were invited to our church facility where a local salon set up hair cutting stations and gave the children free back-to-school haircuts. It was incredible!
Fast forward three years, to this past August. We had so many backpacks and supplies donated the we had leftovers. I called two local schools, asking them if they would like what we had left.
One said, “Yes. We can use those to send food home to children who need it.” I was astonished, heartbroken, and saddened–there were children in our area, who for whatever reason, were not being fed by their parents on the weekend.
Since this particular school already had a food program in place, I contacted the school that was taking the remainder of our backpacks and told the counselor my plan: We wanted to provide food for needy children in the school via a backpack each week.
That started the ball rolling. The school sent home surveys to parents to get a feel for who needed food, and how many people we would be dealing with. It turned out that there are 18 children who go home each Friday with a backpack of food to feed them for seven meals over the weekend. Our little church of 40 people is feeding 18 children week! I did some math, and when it came down to it, a backpack of weekend food can be filled for less than $10!
After a few months of this, I was made aware of a national organization called Blessings in a Backpack. Although our church isn’t doing the program through this organization, it seems to be an easy way to start helping others if you need something more “official” to present to a school for consideration.
The point of the Backpack Buddies is not to fill pantries for families, but instead to provide enough food to children to get them through the weekend.
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Guest post from Joanne
I am a stay-at-home mom of five who enjoys novice photography as a hobby. While the cost of quality photography equipment has come down in recent years, it is still a good chunk of change to purchase quality cameras, lenses, and software.
In the past two years I have been able to purchase (with cash) both a Nikon D3000 (digital SLR) and a 50mm f/1.8 lens! I used three total sources of income to save for this equipment: Swagbucks, a garage sale, and birthday/Christmas money.
I also spread out the costs over 3 years…
2010: Camera savings and purchase (approx. $450)
Early in 2010 I was introduced to Swagbucks, and established an account. I was also able to get several friends and family to join Swagbucks through my referral link, which greatly increased my earnings. Over the course of a few months I was able to spend my Swagbuck earnings on Amazon giftcards.
My second means of saving money was as a result of a garage sale in late August in which I sold, among lots of other things, my old Minolta 35mm film SLR and lenses. I had advertised the camera specifically on Craigslist and sold it at the end of my sale as a direct result of my Craigslist ad.
When I totaled my garage sale earnings and added it to my Amazon gift card stash (via Swagbucks), I had enough to purchase my camera from Amazon (with free shipping, of course).
2012: Lens savings and purchase (approx. $150)
After a year of shooting and learning on my base-level camera and “kit lens”, I learned that the results I desired required better lenses. For those familiar with the “bokeh” effect – that’s what I was after in my portrait shots, and not successfully achieving.
Upon research I realized that what I needed was a higher aperture lens, but that was going to cost more money that I didn’t have to spend. So back to my savings plan I went. I was able to purchase one of the lenses I wanted just last week via Amazon.com after combining more Amazon cards, Christmas money, and birthday money from the past year.
As a non-working (or should I say non-income earning worker?), I have been able to save to pay cash for equipment that I use frequently. Now I’m working on building up my Swagbucks account to purchase a zoom lens and then some photo editing software!
Joanne is a stay-at-home mom from Michigan. She has been married to a widower for 6 years and has five children aged 15, 13, 5, 4, and 3. She enjoys couponing, music, paper crafting, photography, and spending time with her family.
Have you blogged about a Handmade Christmas idea? Submit the link through this form here and we’ll consider sharing it as part of this series during the next 4 weeks!
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Welcome to December’s series on 31 Days of Giving on a Budget. In this series, I’ll be sharing inspiring stories from my readers and posts with practical ways to give — even on a limited income.
Last year, I shared with you how my daughter Kathrynne taught me about giving through her Operation Christmas Child Project. This fall, as we were considering what giving project we wanted to do as a family this Christmas, our daughters challenged us to think big.
Once again, we’re touched, blessed, and challenged by my children and their giving hearts. I think you will be, too. Head on over to Keeper of the Home to read about our family’s Christmas Giving Project this year.
Here’s a snippet from the post:
“…We’ve sought to model giving before our children, encouraging them from a young age to earn money so they can pay cash for things they want, as well as have money to give to our local church, to those in need, and to bless others with gifts.
We weren’t sure if all of our teaching was really sinking in until last year when we were blown away when our then six-year-old daughter said she wanted to invest all of her savings to put together 10 Operation Christmas Child boxes. It was such a joy to see her find so much fulfillment in giving her money away to bless others. And her selfless spirit challenged and convicted us!
This fall, as we were discussing the possibility of what giving project we wanted to do as a family, my daughters hatched a plan — all on their own — to fund a project through Samaritan’s Purse. They looked through the Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog and debated which of the giving opportunities would have the most lasting impact.
After some discussion and number-crunching, they came to us and presented their idea for our family to fund a…”
It was fun to make — and the end result is delicious. It’s sweeter than the other recipe and doesn’t have as much of the sweet and salty flavor thing going that I love in my other recipe, but this recipe is fantastic in its own right.
Best of all, this is a recipe that can be made ahead of time and frozen… provided you can keep yourself from eating all of it straight from the freezer. 🙂
Chocolate Peanut Butter Holiday Bark
One sleeve of Saltine crackers (you can use an off-brand)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chips
1/3 cup peanut butter
Chopped M&M’s (or other candies or nuts)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper and lay crackers on the the pan (make sure the cookie sheet has sides, otherwise, you’ll end up with sticky burned goo all over your oven!). Leave a small amount of space between the crackers (see an example of how these should look here).
Bring sugar and butter to a boil in a saucepan on medium heat. Turn down to medium low heat and boil for 3 minutes, without stirring.
Pour boiling mixture over crackers on the cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
Spoon the peanut butter on top of the crackers and bake for another minute. Spread melted peanut butter over the crackers with spatula and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Return to the oven and bake for another minute.
Spread the now-melted chocolate chips evenly over the crackers with a spatula. Top with M&M pieces and freeze until hardened (this will take 1-2 hours).
Once these are hardened, remove break into pieces and store in a ziptop freezer bag in the freezer for up to four weeks.
Recipe originally from Grin & Bake It.
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Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Welcome to December’s series on 31 Days of Giving on a Budget. In this series, I’ll be sharing inspiring stories from my readers and posts with practical ways to give — even on a limited income.
One of our biggest frugal pleasures is sharing our home and food with others. I can almost always whip up a neighborhood coffee or deliver a meal during hard times.
But how are you supposed to budget for hospitality? Will your own family end up eating rice and beans because you sent too many chicken casseroles elsewhere?
I struggled with this question until I created a hospitality envelope. Using our Dave Ramsey system for cash, hospitality gets its own category. Because I know I have money just for this, I’m no longer afraid to spend it.
When you don’t budget for hospitality, money might always be your excuse for not sharing with others.
How I divide the money varies month to month. $50 could stretch to cover one big party, five $10 meal deliveries, or ten $5 muffin baskets. What we don’t use one month rolls over to the next.
How much you earmark is up to you. What I can tell you is that when I spend in a way that honors our budget, God has a way of multiplying His provision.
One day I raced through the grocery store, putting together a delivery for a sick family. Deals jumped out at me left and right, from super-clearance gourmet soup to Buy One Get One Free crackers and perfectly ripe pears. I ended up with a beautiful basket worth well beyond its $10 price tag.
Here are some ideas for hospitality on any budget:
Meet a new mother at the park. Bring the quilt, a jar of cold lemonade, and a listening ear.
Open your home to a group meeting. You provide a clean, welcoming space, hot coffee, and muffins.
Take a basket of sandwiches to the funeral home to help a family keep up their strength.
Offer to watch your friend’s children during her next doctor visit, serving up encouragement, quick pizza bagels and fruit.
Develop a repertoire of tasty but inexpensive meals for others and stock up when those ingredients go on sale.
Hospitality can be rewarding, but never more so than when you practice it with purpose. Here’s to sharing our blessings with those around us!
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Welcome to December’s series on 31 Days of Giving on a Budget. In this series, I’ll be sharing inspiring stories from my readers and posts with practical ways to give — even on a limited income.
Last week, I was excited to get a great deal on an item we needed. After I bought it, God strongly prompted me to give the item to a friend who is going through a difficult financial situation.
I struggled to follow the prompting as I knew this was an item we needed and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find a good deal on it again for awhile. But I gave it to my friend, because I just knew in my heart that was what I was supposed to do.
There was so much joy in giving this item to my friend and I realized that I could always pay full-price if I had to because following what God called me to do was more important than saving money, anyway.
In the mean time, I knew we could live a little while without the item, so I figured I’d hold off as long as I could and see if another great deal came along.
Well, not two days later, someone emailed me out-of-the-blue and said they had a package they wanted to send to me and could I please email them my new address?
Can you guess what arrived in that package yesterday? The exact same item I’d given to my friend — only this was a bigger and better version.
10. Work on the rough drafts for chapters three and four of my next book.
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!
Dinner with extended family
Ham & Beans, World’s Best Honey Cornbread, carrot sticks, grapefruit
Beef and Potato Pockets, grapefruit, tossed salad
Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits, raw veggies
Steak, mashed potatoes, Homemade Breadsticks in the Bread Machine, fruit
Church Christmas Dinner
Dinner out
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Welcome to December’s series on 31 Days of Giving on a Budget. In this series, I’ll be sharing inspiring stories from my readers and posts with practical ways to give — even on a limited income.
Recently my husband and I had the grueling task of revamping our budget. We had to make cuts across the board, due to an increase in one of our bills. As we went through the budget line by line, we began asking ourselves, “Do we really need this?”
One of the categories in question was our Gift Budget, which was taking $120 per month. We decided to drastically decrease this amount and implement creative ways to reduce spending for occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, special holidays, and various events.
We came to the conclusion that anyone can run to the store and pick up a quick gift and card. We wanted to show our recipients that we put extra effort into creating something unique and personal, especially for them, saving us money along the way!
1. Find your inner Betty Crocker!
Most people really enjoy receiving homemade treats. Get creative and bake up a small sample platter showcasing your favorite desserts, a simple batch of cookies, or homemade cake pops.
Baked goods make great gifts, especially when you have to give several gifts at one time. Give it that extra touch by purchasing an decorative platter or container at your local Dollar Store.
2. Recycle cards.
As you receive cards for all occasions throughout the year, place them aside. When a need arises, cut the fronts off with decorative scissors, leaving the back blank for a special note or make into a gift tag.
If you’re really creative, use sections of the cards to create a whole new card, using scrap-booking supplies you already have on hand. Plus, don’t forget to utilize the free card promo codes, often offered on online card sites!
3. Substitute gift wrappings.
Forget about buying wrapping paper and gift bags, I love to use my Sunday Comics as wrapping paper. Not only is it fun, it is free!
Forgo expensive gift bags and consider packaging your item in a basket, crate, mason jar, or bin, that you already have laying around the house. Also, save the ribbons and special embellishments from gifts you receive, and reuse them to decorate your gift.
4. Re-gift.
Okay, so I know this may be tacky to some, but don’t let a gift you received (and won’t use) go to waste. Place it aside for a future gift-giving occasion. Just make sure you remember who originally gave it to you!
A rule of thumb is not to re-gift anything that was especially handmade for you.
5. Give recycled gifts.
Your home is full of gift ideas, so before you throw items out, think of your possibilities! Turn an empty wine bottle into a elegant Tiki Torch, an old window shutter into a photo frame, or a small wooden crate into a beautiful planter.
6. Use those freebies.
Opportunities to receive free items are readily available these days — store promotions, giveaways and contests, requested samples, etc. When you get such items, set them aside. Use them later to create themed gift baskets for unexpected events such as baby showers, house warming, or get-well.
What are your favorite ways to give on a budget?
Jennifer Van Dahm is a stay-at-home mom, who knew there was more to life than laundry and dishes! Her motto, “Taking the ordinary out, of everyday living”, is shown throughout her website, When Pigs Fly. There, she highlights her passion for cooking and providing a healthy life style for her family, while saving money in the process. Her goal is to refresh families and help them get out of their rut– physically, mentally, and spiritually!
Homemade Breadsticks in the Bread Machine
