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Shared Oct 18, 2011 comment

Simple Things: Read-alouds, Hasty Pudding, a yummy salad, and a Busy Bag

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 18, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Just a little peek at some of the simple things from our day today…

Read-alouds and coloring pages (we’re studying Paul Revere in history and The Nutcracker Ballet in music this week)

Making Hasty Pudding for breakfast since we’re learning the words and story behind Yankee Doodle this week. (We all thought it tasted terrible, by the way!)

My yummy salad for lunch (I’ve been making an effort to eat at least one big salad every day since I feel so much better when I do!)

A fun Busy Bag (details and more pictures on this Busy Bag coming tomorrow!)

A bowl of cereal, thanks to some samples we got in the mail from FiberPlus–a big treat around here as I rarely buy cereal anymore.

Shared Oct 18, 2011 comment

Dressing for the Professional Workplace on a Budget

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 18, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Alice from Farewell Office

When buying my son’s school uniforms, I often lament, “Why can’t I have a uniform, too?” Working in a professional environment can strain the clothing budget, but you can be well-dressed without spending a lot of money. Here are some rules I follow:

1. Buy quality, and quality does not mean expensive.

Buying clothes at discount stores is rarely cheaper in the long term. After repeated washings, a pair of $15.00 slacks will rarely look presentable for more than one season. Instead it is more cost effective to put that $15.00 towards a pair of quality slacks that will last for many seasons.

By shopping sales (especially clearance) and using coupons, a pair of good quality slacks rarely costs much more. Also, do not disqualify garage sales and thrift stores. You would be astonished at the stylish, high-quality clothes people throw out.

2. Buy basic colors and timeless styles.

Stick to neutrals and simple styles. Stay away from skinny or wide leg cuts that will be out of style long before the item wears out.

3. Avoid seasonal fabrics, such as linen, wool and tweed.

Unless you live in a climate that is below freezing or scorching 11 months out of the year, you will get more wear out of season-less fabrics such as polyester/rayon/spandex blends. Also, I rarely buy long-sleeved shirts or sweaters.

One exception is cardigans. You will get more mileage from layering your pieces. For example, you can wear a short-sleeved shirt alone in the summer and then layer it under a cardigans in the winter.

4. Buy separates.

Buy a skirt and blouse instead of a dress. This will create more combination outfits, giving you the appearance of a larger wardrobe.

5. Accessorize with scarves, belts, and jewelry.

This allows you to cheaply change your look.

6. Buy trendy styles and colors at discount stores.

If you only wear it one season, you won’t have wasted much.

7. Get on the mailing list for high-quality retailers.

Many of them send out coupons and paired with sales, high quality items rarely cost more discount store items.

8. Ask stores if they offer additional discounts.

Some stores offer discounts on certain days of the week, and certain retailers offer discounts to certain professions. For example, several stores offer additional discounts to teachers.

9. Learn the mark-down days of your favorite retailers.

Be kind to your salespeople and they will gladly give you inside information like, “We make markdowns on Tuesday.” You then know that, if possible, you want to shop on Wednesday morning for the best selection.

10. Make your clothes last.

Change your clothes when you get home from work and always wash in a high quality detergent. Finally, hang dry your clothes as the dryer’s heat breaks down the fibers prematurely.

Dressing well and professionally on a budget is possible; you simply need to be a savvy and resourceful shopper.

Alice is a wife and mother, who also works full-time outside of the home. Her goal is to do all work “as unto the Lord.” Her blog Farewell, Office chronicles her journey to do all of this on a time-budget.

photo credit

Shared Oct 18, 2011 comment

Make a ruffle pillow from an old t-shirt

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 18, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Floral Showers shows you how to make a Ruffle Pillows from an old t-shirt.

Shared Oct 17, 2011 comment

This week’s menu plan

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Oatmeal with chocolate chips and raw sugar–yum!

Breakfasts

Granola bars
Oatmeal
Hasty Pudding (we’re memorizing Yankee Doodle in school this week, so we’re making this!)
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins (from the freezer), fried eggs
Steel Cut Oats, fruit
Morning Glory Muffins (from the freezer), scrambled eggs
Homemade Biscuits with Homemade Apple Butter, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs

Lunches

Macaroni & Cheese with Beef
Rice and beans, carrot sticks, apple slices
Tossed salad with feta cheese and dried cranberries
Egg salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, grapes
Leftovers x 2

Dinners

Parmesan Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli
Frito Chili Pie, tossed salad, fruit salad
Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup, Soft Italian Breadsticks, apples, carrot sticks
Cheesy Beans and Rice, fruit salad
Dinner with Extended Family x 2
Dinner out

Freezer Cooking Session (I’ll share more details and pictures on how this goes on Thursday.)

Chocolate Banana Bread
Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Soft Italian Breadsticks (recipe emailed in from reader Amy, if it turns out well, I’ll post it)

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

Shared Oct 17, 2011 comment

Simple Things: Crayons, coloring pages, and letters to our Compassion child

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’m continuing to intentionally seek to slow down and relish the simple things.

Pictures printed out from the internet and carefully colored by little hands to send to a small girl who lives far away and has very little in the way of earthly possessions.

Have you taken time from the rat-race of life to soak up and enjoy some simple things? I loved this post by Gretchen on not looking at the clock.

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Shared Oct 17, 2011 comment

10 Goals for this week (+ a link-up!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Well, last week I told you that I’d completely fallen off the bandwagon. This past week was much better. Not anywhere near where I’d like it to be, but sometimes I think I tend to have unrealistic expectations of myself.

I went to bed before midnight every night but Saturday night and I got up before 7 a.m. every morning but Sunday morning. That’s headway, at least.

And our homeschooling schedule went really well, we accomplished a lot fun projects and reading together, and I spent a lot more time playing with and just enjoying my children last week. That’s likely one thousand times more important than the other things that didn’t get crossed off the to-do list!

So I’m trying to just be thankful for the progress made and not be discouraged that I still have a very long way to go. Babysteps, babysteps, right? 🙂

Last week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

~~1. Finish reading The Cabin Faced West and Sarah Witcher’s Story aloud to the children.~~

~~2. Take the children to the pumpkin patch~~ and the corn maze (Yay for Groupons!).

Personal Goals

3. Run 10 miles (total).

~~4. Finish reading Angel in the Rubble and A New Kind of Normal.~~ Still working on EntreLeadership, The Rose Conspiracy, He Heard Hannah,

5. Finish Rag Quilt and knitted dishcloth.

6. Go to bed by 10 p.m. every night. (If I follow through with this simple goal, my whole week should be incredibly improved!)

Home Management Goals

7. Spend 10 minutes picking up/cleaning our bedroom/bathroom every day (I’ve really been working with the children on keeping their room/bathroom cleaned and I realized that I’ve not been setting the best example for them!).

8. Do one load of laundry from start to finish every day.

Business Goals

9. Shoot video for 31 Weeks to a Better Grocery Budget series.

~~10. Outline our workshop for the Relevant conference with my husband.~~

The knitted dishcloth I’m working on this week

Here are this week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading Paul Revere and The Imagination Station: Showdown With the Shepherd aloud to the children.

2. Take children to a soccer game.

3. Take at least 30 pictures of the children this week (I’ve been trying to train myself to take more pictures; I always seem to forget and then we miss having photos of some of our most special moments and memories!)

Personal Goals

4. Run 10 miles (total).

5. Finish reading EntreLeadership, The Rose Conspiracy, He Heard Hannah, Kisses from Katie, and In Search of Balance.

6. Finish Rag Quilt and knitted dishcloth.

7. Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. every night.

Home Management Goals

8. Follow this 15-minutes-a-day cleaning schedule (this is an experiment to see if this works any better than my current system!)

9. Do one load of laundry from start to finish every day.

Business Goals

10. Finish writing and do a run-through of our workshop the Relevant conference with my husband.

photo credit

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.

Shared Oct 17, 2011 comment

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf (video)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

As many of you know, I love scarves and think they are one of the best accessories for a minimalist wardrobe in the cooler months.

My friend, Angie, knows this and sent me this video with 25 ways to tie a scarf. I found at least 10 new scarf-tying ideas from it and thought I’d share it for those of you looking for new ways to creatively accessorize using scarves you already have!

Shared Oct 14, 2011 comment

Homemade Baked Apple Chips

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 14, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

These easy baked apple chips are an awesome healthy snack your family will love — save this recipe for the next time you find marked-down apples at the store or your local orchard!

After buying 18 pounds of apples two weeks ago and another 20 pounds this week, I was excited to see this recipe for Baked Apple Chips.

Since I don’t have an apple corer, I decided to cut the apples in half, cut out the core, and then slice them thinly.

And then I found out I didn’t have any cinnamon on hand (how did that happen?!), so I sprinkled one pan with nutmeg and cloves and left one pan unsprinkled. I stuck them in the oven at 275 degrees. After around an hour, I pulled the pans out and stirred them and then put them back in to bake for another hour.

They turned out a little on the chewy side. If you wanted them to be crispier, you could leave them to bake for another 20-30 minutes and then let them cool completely before eating or storing.

The final result was yummy apple chips that didn’t last longer than 24 hours. The whole family was impressed and enjoyed them.

I stored those that weren’t eaten right away in a ziptop bag in the refrigerator, I think these would also freeze nicely, but I didn’t get a chance to try that before they were all eaten up!

By the way, we preferred the unsprinkled chips to those with spices.

If you’d like to try them, head on over to Delighted Momma and give them a try!

(Today’s apple project was making homemade applesauce and apple butter. I’ll share pictures and more details on how that went on Monday! By the way, I cracked up that LEGOs ended up in this picture–they seem to be taking over our house!)

Shared Oct 14, 2011 comment

Books Read This Week: A New Kind of Normal, Angel in the Rubble, The Cabin Faced West, Sarah Witcher’s Story

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 14, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Many of you have asked me to share reviews of the books I read. I used to do this on a monthly basis, but I decided it might be simpler for me to start doing this on a weekly basis instead. So, each Friday, I’ll be sharing a little synopsis of the books I’ve read that week.

Personal Reading

A New Kind of Normal by Carol Kent — After reading When I Lay My Isaac Down, I wanted to read this follow-up book. It has some overlap from When I Law My Isaac Down, but also a lot of new material and tells more of the continuing story of her son’s imprisonment.

Carol’s testimony of trust in the Lord even in the midst of very traumatic circumstances was such an encouragement to me. After reading her story and the other stories in the book, I feel like I never have anything to complain about.

I appreciated the author’s raw honesty. She doesn’t act like she has it altogether, but shares very openly about the struggles and how God has been faithful. This book would especially be a great source of comfort to those who have had very difficult life-altering situations come into their life.

Angel in the Rubble — This was an interesting read of a woman who was the last survivor to be pulled out of the rubble 24 hours after the twin towers fell. The story is riveting and I made the mistake of starting this shortly before bedtime one night and then stayed until until 11:30 p.m. reading it (I know, I know, I really should read boring books before bed so that I fall right to sleep and stick with my goal of going to bed early!).

I would recommend the book as it’s a good read and it’s always helpful to consider if we’re living our lives in a way that we would want to live if we were to die today. However, I will mention that the last few chapters felt like they were just stuck in to make the book long enough to be a book. Or, maybe I was just tired at that point? At any rate, I ended up skimming those. I checked this out from the library so hopefully your library has it, too.

Read-Alouds

The Cabin Faced West — This is the story of Ann, a pioneer girl who is struggling to be content in her new home in the wilderness. The children and I really enjoyed this read-aloud and it provided opportunities to talk about being content and how blessed we are with our modern conveniences.

Sarah Witcher’s Story — The children were mesmerized by this story, even though we’ve already read it in the The Bear Who Heard Crying.

Currently reading: EntreLeadership, He Heard Hannah, The Rose Conspiracy, and listening to Purple Cow audiobook. You can see all of the books I’ve read in 2011 so far here. Read all of my book reviews here.

Have you read any good books recently?

(Note: The Amazon.com links in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)

Shared Oct 14, 2011 comment

We Paid Cash: A new-to-us 4-wheeler

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 14, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A testimony from Lacey

I am Lacey, a fresh nursing graduate with about 10 cents in my pocket. Jason and I have three amazing kids: Abigaile (7), Jacob (2), and Chase (1). Throughout our years together we have suffered many setbacks–including both of us losing our jobs (our income being cut by 80%, thanks to this) and a setback with school, graduation from school, and an additional pregnancy.

Thanks to MoneySavingMom.com, I’m aiming to better our lives financially. This has meant using coupons at every turn, sticking to that wonderful grocery budget, shopping ahead (which my husband thought was crazy, until he saw it on your blog!) paying cash, and even doing without.

The concept of paying cash has always been foreign to me. It only took me a bankruptcy to realize that maybe my sanity was worth more than those material possessions. I’ve been trying to pass my new-found wisdom onto my daughter by setting her up with a savings jar so that she too can see what progress she has made towards her goal.

We recently took on a paper route to supplement our income. We set up a price per day for my daughter’s assistance and told her that paycheck is hers to do what she wants with. Plus, as an added incentive, we promised we would assist her in buying whatever she wanted. She chose to buy a 4-wheeler.

I’m proud to say that after three weeks of saving her paper route money, along with a successful yard sale, we were able to raise $500 that she could use towards the purchase of her 4-wheeler. We looked on CraigsList.com and found a 4-wheeler that looked suitable for a 7-year-old. After a trip to see it and some haggling by Jason, we were able to purchase a new to us 4-wheeler for just $200!

This experience has left not only myself but my entire family much more excited about our financial future: not only do we have a paid-for 4-wheeler, we’ve got $300 and nothing left to pay!

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

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

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Shared Oct 13, 2011 comment

Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Brown Rice, Pinto Beans, Frito Chili Pie, Apple Chips, and Mac & Cheese With Beef

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

It’s hard to say whether or not this was done in an hour because I broke it up over little snippets of time during the last two days.

Yesterday morning, before school started, I boiled a big pot of pinto beans, cooked a pot of brown rice, and browned some ground beef.

After school was finished for the day, I made quadruple batch up Frito Chili Pie. We had it for dinner (it was a hit!) and I saved the rest to freeze.

This afternoon, once school was finished, I boiled a pan of noodles, took the remaining ground beef, and made Macaroni & Beef With Cheese. We served one pan for dinner and I froze enough for another meal. I also made two pans of apple chips.

Tomorrow, my plan is to start the Apple Butter in the crock pot early in the day and also, if I’m ambitious, to make a batch of homemade applesauce on the stove. I’ll post pictures of that, if I end up completing it. Sometimes my great intentions don’t end up going very far! 🙂

I’ve found that even just doubling or tripling a recipe I’m already making for dinner and then sticking the extras in the freezer really doesn’t take much extra time. And having at least a few extra dinners on hand in the freezer to pull out and use on busy days can be such a lifesaver!

Shared Oct 13, 2011 comment

Simple Things: LEGOs and Apples

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

As I mentioned in my cookie-baking post yesterday, sometimes it’s the simplest things that can bring the most pleasure.

LEGOs are so simple, but they bring our children hours and hours of fun right now.

I love the creativity that bubbles forth when they open up the tub of LEGOs and start building.

A bag of apples purchased for $0.59 turns into a beautiful tray of red.

And then a pan of apple chips (More details on how I made these and how they turned out coming tomorrow.)

Have you taken time from the rat-race of life to soak up and enjoy some simple things? Speaking of which, if you’re a mom, be sure to read this post on the little moments.

Shared Oct 13, 2011 comment

How to Spend Less Money Eating Out

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Carmen from Life Blessons

For the past two years, my husband and I have kept our monthly budget tacked up on a wall in our kitchen. It may not be the most creative of wall art, but in spite of that, we don’t even bother to hide it when guests come over, because over these past two years, that little sheet has become something of a masterpiece in our house.

You see, the other day, I realized how much I actually enjoy looking at our budget now. One category on the sheet caught my eye: our eating out budget. It was a big, fat zero.

I remembered how when we were first married, that was the category that we struggled the most with; our first month of marriage alone, we spent $376 on eating out! That was one of the main reasons we started hanging our budget on the wall in the first place.

Obviously, we have come a long way since those first days of matrimony. Through it all, we’ve grown not only in our marriage but also our financial savvy. Learning how to be content without eating out was something that took some practice, and here are some of the lessons we learned along the way:

All those little meals add up. When I look back over the spending of that first month, we weren’t dropping wads of cash at every meal. In fact, almost all of our eating-out bills were around $11 each. The most expensive meal we had the entire month was when we took a friend out to pizza and it totaled $30!

Eat out for lunch instead of dinner. Eating out for lunch can cost considerably less than when you eat out later in the evening. Plus, you’re usually not quite as hungry, so you eat less. That right there will cut down on your spending!

Instead of going out for entire meals, go out for treats. One thing we’ve done to trim our spending is to go out for things like ice-cream or coffee, rather than full-fledged meals. Sure, you can have coffee or ice-cream at home, but when it scratches the eating-out itch at a fraction of the price, it can be well worth the splurge!

Indulge at home. Find meals that indulge your taste buds and make you excited to eat at home. For instance, we have a cheesy casserole dish that I like to make, which has become a favorite dish my husband looks forward to, week after week. Even though it may not be super-healthy, I’m sure it’s much more healthy than most of what you’ll find on restaurant menus. But even more than that, it keeps us eating at home–and enjoying it, all the more!

Carmen lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, with whom she just celebrated two years of marriage! She writes about her life and faith on her blog, Life Blessons.

photo credit

Shared Oct 13, 2011 comment

How to Significantly Increase Your Income Without Working Harder (Part 6)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you missed them, read the first five parts of this series here.

Two weeks ago, we talked about setting up multiple streams of income. It’s a great concept, but until you can take it from a concept and turn it into real-life practice, it won’t do anything for you.

So, how do you set up multiple streams of income?

1. Think about what you’re good at.

There’s no point in spending enormous amounts of time trying to develop or hone skills you just don’t and won’t possess. Focus on the areas you already excel in.

For instance, while I’ve been attempting to improve my domestic skills (cooking, crafts, decorating, etc.), I would be crazy to try and set up a decorating business or craft-selling website. It’s not an area I’m talented in and it would only result in a lot of frustration for me–and any potential customers!

2. Use what you already have in place.

Look for ways to make additional income from things you already have set in place. For instance, if you mow lawns as a side job, could you also offer trimming services? Or teach a class on how to set up a successful lawn-mowing business on the side?

If you’ve already written an ebook that has sold well, could you produce and market other people’s ebooks for them since you already know how to do it yourself? Or offer ebook coaching or consulting services?

Sarah Mae proved herself as a skillful ebook marketer when her ebook, 31 Days to Clean, sold over $20,000 in revenue. So, she took that knowledge and experience and wrote an ebook on how to successfully market an ebook.

Dave Ramsey was teaching his staff and their friends a weekly class on how to run a successful business. He took this class and turned it into the EntreLeadership Live Event and, just recently, the EntreLeadership book.

3. Experiment, experiment, experiment.

I recently finished listening to Seth Godin’s audiobook, Poke the Box. He challenges people to stop spending so much time researching, planning, and goal-setting. Instead, he suggests you just go out and do something. Stop staying stuck in a box; go bust through walls and make things happen.

I believe wholeheartedly that you learn much more through hands-on experimentation than you can ever learn through reading about something or taking a class about it.

4. Always be looking for new income streams.

If you get a few income streams going, it’s easy to become complacent. Of course, if you land on things that really are working well, don’t jump ship. But don’t also get stuck in a rut. Constantly challenge yourself to look for new ways to improve and expand your current income streams so that you are maximizing the return on your investment of time.

5. Remember that failure is your friend.

The truth is, if you jump out and try anything you are bound to fail at least a few times, maybe even time and time again. If you stop looking at failure as a dead-end and start seeing it as a window of opportunity, you’re well on your way to success.

Don’t give up. It will be worth the 99 tries, when you finally hit on the hundredth amazing idea!

Next week, we’ll wrap up this series with some closing thoughts. If you have any specific questions I’ve not tackled in this series, feel free to comment and ask them (or shoot me an email) and I’ll try to answer them in next week’s post.

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Shared Oct 13, 2011 comment

Quiet Time Tubs

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Looking for something to help keep your youngsters quietly occupied during afternoon rest time? Here’s a great post on how to create Quiet Time Tubs.

We used this concept for a few years and it worked well for us. Find more ideas for Quiet Time Tubs at:

::Keeper of the Home

::Neon Fresh

::Family Fun Notebook

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

FREE Summer Bucket List!!

1. Buy quality, and quality does not mean expensive.

2. Buy basic colors and timeless styles.

3. Avoid seasonal fabrics, such as linen, wool and tweed.

4. Buy separates.

5. Accessorize with scarves, belts, and jewelry.

6. Buy trendy styles and colors at discount stores.

7. Get on the mailing list for high-quality retailers.

8. Ask stores if they offer additional discounts.

9. Learn the mark-down days of your favorite retailers.

10. Make your clothes last.

Breakfasts

Lunches

Dinners

Freezer Cooking Session (I’ll share more details and pictures on how this goes on Thursday.)

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

Personal Reading

Read-Alouds

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

1. Think about what you’re good at.

2. Use what you already have in place.

3. Experiment, experiment, experiment.

4. Always be looking for new income streams.

5. Remember that failure is your friend.

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