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Shared Feb 1, 2012 comment

Renting Our House We Couldn’t Sell

Published: by Crystal Paine on February 1, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Erica from Ze Petite Mama

When a job changed forced us to move across country last summer, we needed to decide what to do with our home. Like many Americans, we were underwater on our mortgage, but we also wanted to be responsible homeowners and to do everything we could to avoid a short sale or foreclosure when we moved.

Through some hard work, and careful research we were able to rent our home in less than a week. Although we are not experts in being landlords or real estate, we feel like we learned some important lessons that helped us rent our home quickly to a quality renter.

Prepare Your Rental

Although we were not trying to sell our home, we knew that whoever rented it needed to be able to picture themselves living there long term. We de-cluttered, stored extra furniture in a friend’s basement, and deep cleaned every room.

Every person who toured our home commented on how clean and spacious it felt compared to other rentals they had seen!

Research the Market

Just as in selling a home it is important to know what your competition is. A clean and spacious overpriced home will not rent no matter how desirable it is. I researched online and found what other comparable properties in our community were being listed for. I added up our costs to maintain our mortgage, tax payments, and association fees. This gave us a baseline for what to charge for rent.

We were able to list our property for $100 less a month than other rentals, and still meet our baseline needs. This gave us a small profit, and guaranteed that we not only had the nicest home on the rental market, but also the cheapest. It was tempting to charge more in an attempt to make more money, but we knew that increased our chances of our home sitting empty.

Advertise

Once we had our home in rental condition, we began to advertise. I used our camera to take pictures of each room. I then typed up a flier about the house. I not only included the facts such as square footage and number of rooms, but also pointed out the upgrades in the house, such as the location in the neighborhood and the gas fireplace. Highlighting what you love about your home will pique renters’ interests, and helps them move from simply viewing your ad to scheduling a showing.

We chose to advertise on two websites — one was free, and the other charged a fee per month. We found that the investment in the website designed specifically for renting homes provided us with the highest quality applicants.

We are so thankful that we were able to navigate this process of becoming landlords. It has truly freed us to follow our passions and opportunities even when the economy seemed to have us stuck.

Erica blogs at Ze Petite Mama. Her blog has always attempted to be a place where she can not only celebrate the fun, happy, and precious of parenthood, but also be brutally honest about the really hard “I don’t like my kids right now” moments as well.

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Shared Feb 1, 2012 comment

40 pounds of beef + 7 hours = 40 freezer meals

Published: by Crystal Paine on February 1, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Heather from Queen Bee Coupons shows how she took 40 pounds of beef and spent seven hours turning it into 40 meals for her freezer. Here are the meals she made:

10 taco meat meals (1 pound each x 10 = 10 pounds)
6 Italian mozzarella meatball meals (1 pound each x 6 = 6 pounds)
6 sweet and sour meatball meals (1 pound each x 6 = 6 pounds)
6 meals of Kalamata/olive burger patties (18 patties, 3 per meal = 6 pounds)
6 meals of burger patties (18 patties, 3 per meal = 6 pounds)
6 meals from lasagna dishes (6 pounds)

Head on over to her blog for pictures and details on she pulled this off!

Shared Feb 1, 2012 comment

Ask The Readers: How do you organize photos online?

Published: by Crystal Paine on February 1, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s question is from Amy:

I always love seeing all the freebies and discounts for photo gifts and books. My problem is I never have enough to time get them done because my pictures are not organized online. How do other people manage this? -Amy

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

Shared Jan 31, 2012 comment

Achieving My Audacious Goal: My First Novel

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 31, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by MK Jorgenson, author of Regardless

I have a distinct memory from when I was five. There are no images or places or events attached to it, but the memory is strong: it was the moment I decided that I would write a book someday.

The planted seed of that dream remained buried during my growing-up years, building deep roots as I wrote essays and stories for classes and poetry in my spare time. My dream lay dormant during the busy days of college, the blur of getting married, moving to a new state, setting up a home, and welcoming our first precious baby.

Then it crept up on me, a tiny bud pushing through the soil of my new life, whispering that it was now or never: “The baby naps so well, you have an encouraging husband, you have a plot…”

It’s been nearly a year in the making, but it’s finished! Though the process was sweet and life-changing, there were some very practical steps that made this possible:

I created stakes. November is National Novel Writing Month, in which aspiring authors can sign up, post their daily word count, and “win” a certificate if they write 50,000 words during November. The website has forums where writers can connect locally and by genre. Going after a prize (even one as silly as a print-yourself certificate) helped spur me on to “win”.

I set daily goals. Crystal talks often about breaking big goals into smaller ones, which I found crucial during NaNoWriMo. To reach the 50,000 word count goal, I had to write 1,667 words a day—more than that to avoid writing on Sundays. Knowing I had to hit that number within my writing time helped a lot.

I made the time. Not everybody’s in the place to write a novel; I was fortunate to have a newborn who napped very well and at predictable times, so I knew when I could work. Now, she is fourteen months old but still takes one big nap, so I can still write every day.

I made myself accountable. Every day when I finished writing, I posted my word count on Facebook. People were very supportive, which only spurred me on all the more.

I gave myself grace. 50,000 words does not a novel make; after the NaNoWriMo challenge was over, there was still more work to be done. Then there was editing, formatting, and artwork. Plus there was a grad student husband who needed encouraging, a baby girl who needed loving, and a house that needed cleaning. If I had kept up my NaNo pace, I would have published six months ago, but I am truly loving the balance I’ve struck between my “work” (which is my passion) and my “job” as mother and wife (which is my greater passion).

So a seedling dream becomes a reality, and now that I’m pre-writing my next novel, it might become an entire orchard.

MK Jorgenson is a first-time author, wife, mother, and Jesus follower. When she’s not frantically typing during naptime, she loves walks to the park and reading story after story with her daughter. Her debut novel, Regardless (inspired by events in the book of Acts), is available on Kindle, Nook, and in paperback through Amazon. She can also be found blogging at mkjorgenson.blogspot.com.

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Shared Jan 31, 2012 comment

Video blog: January’s hymn of the month

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 31, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We set a goal as a family to learn one hymn every month in 2012 during our evening family Bible Time. The children are loving this and have learned almost all of the words to two verses of this month’s hymn. It’s so fun to hear them singing together.

We tried to capture them singing the hymn on video a few times last night and found that it’s near impossible to get a good take of three children singing at once. But just for fun, I thought I’d share one of our takes!

Silas also learned Jesus Loves Me this month and Kathrynne wanted to take a video of him singing it with her.

I feel so blessed and unworthy to get to nurture, love, and mother these three precious children. I truly want to soak up every moment.

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Shared Jan 31, 2012 comment

Where do you want to be financially five years from now?

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 31, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you’re joining in The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget Book Club, you’ll want to hop on over to Amy’s post on creating big goals and breaking them down into bite-sized pieces.

Shared Jan 31, 2012 comment

Graduating Debt-Free!

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 31, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Anne Jisca

My husband and I met in college and got married after our 2nd year. He went on with his studies, pursuing a Master’s degree part-time while working.

Now, after six years of marriage, he will be completing his degree this spring. Throughout those years, we have learned to make do with little, and to keep our student loans to a minimum.

This past summer, we set ourselves a high goal of doing whatever it takes to pay off our student loans this year, so that he can graduate debt-free. It seemed unrealistic on my husband’s salary (I’m a stay-at-home-mom), but we sat down and determined how much we would need to pay into the loan every month to have it paid off, and found ways to make that happen:

We contacted the loan agency and applied for interest relief, for a period of six months. That means six months of saving the interest to apply to the principle!

We’ve lowered our grocery budget. We were already eating inexpensively, but we lowered it even more. What that means is mostly eating less meat and replacing it with beans and legumes that I soak and cook myself.

We’re purging our house of unused items and selling them through a yard sale and on the internet.

We had bake sales, and I continue to sell baked goods from home.

We minimized our spending money, and find cheap or free ways to make memories as a family.

Any extra money we get, however small the amount, goes towards our student loan.

While not every way of making and saving money has panned out, we are still making progress that we would not have made otherwise. It’s not always easy or fun to limit ourselves in this way, but the anticipation to be debt-free (aside from mortgage) by graduation is worth every effort!

Anne Jisca is a wife, and a Mom to two little boys. She loves to cook and bake, seeking to feed her family healthy (but yummy!) foods. She shares her recipes at Anne Jisca’s Healthy Pursuits.

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Shared Jan 31, 2012 comment

Do-It-Yourself: Homemade Peanut Butter

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 31, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

CreativeCarisa.com shows you how to make homemade peanut butter.

Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Jan 31, 2012 comment

“If you start chasing a dream just to get applause…”

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 31, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Thanks, Jon Acuff!

Shared Jan 30, 2012 comment

Tonight’s Dillon’s Shopping Trip: Spent $10.40, Saved $36.70

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 30, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I made a quick run to Dillon’s tonight with Kathrynne to take advantage of the Mega 10 event. Here’s what we bought:

10 cans of Hunt’s tomatoes — $0.49 each after Mega 10 discount, used 2 $0.40/2 coupons (doubled), used 2 $0.60/3 coupons (“doubled” to $1 0ff) = averaged out to $0.13 per can after coupons

6 half gallons of Blue Diamond Almond Milk — $1.99 each after Mega 10 discount, used 6 $0.55/1 blinkie coupons (“doubled” to $1 off) = $0.99 per half gallon after coupons. (There are also $1/2 coupons available here.)

4 boxes of Mom’s Best Cereal — $0.99 each after Mega 10 discount, used 2 $1/2 Mom’s Best coupons = $0.49 per box after coupons

Total with tax: $10.40

See the full list of deals at Dillon’s this week here.

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Click here to download!

Shared Jan 30, 2012 comment

This week’s {mostly} gluten-free menu

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 30, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Silas helping me make juice–he loves fresh juice and has been begging for me to make it every morning!

You may have noticed that we’re been experimenting with some gluten-free recipes at our house. One of our children has been experiencing some health issues and they are currently on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet for three weeks to see if it clears things up.

The rest of our family is adapting our diet somewhat, too, to make it easier for this child. It’s a new adventure and we’ll see how it goes! By the way, if you have any fantastic gluten-free recipes or websites you’d recommend, I’m all ears.

Here’s this week’s menu:

Breakfasts

Granola Bars
Fresh carrot/orange juice, scrambled eggs
Green Monster Smoothie
Chocolate Peanut Granola
Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins
Cereal
Wheat-Free Pancakes, fruit

Lunches

Lunch at friends’ house
Macaroni & cheese, peas
PB&J on rice cakes, carrot sticks, apple slices
Refried beans, rice, carrot sticks
Soup, carrot sticks, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Healthy Chocolate Mousse
Fruit/Veggies
Black Bean Brownies

Dinners

Steak, potatoes, broccoli, fruit
Black Bean & Taco Bake, tossed salad
Hamburgers, tater tots, steamed veggies
Frito Chili Pie, fruit, brown rice
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

Freezer Cooking

Black Bean Brownies
Wheat-Free Pancakes
Frito Chili Pie

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

Shared Jan 30, 2012 comment

The Real Debate: Cash vs. Credit Cards

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 30, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Kathryn of Bond Musings

Discipline is a noble thing. Crystal strives for it. The Proverbs 31 woman is lauded because of her discipline. Succesful people everywhere credit their success to discipline.

So when I was reading the comments on this post about saving money by switching to cash and one reader commented that the real issue was not which spending system is the most effective but was rather why we tend to lack discipline and overspend, I knew she hit the nail on the head.

Yes, discipline is what keeps us from overspending our income.

Crystal has a whole slew of ways to increase your top line/income. Here are a few ways to decrease your bottom line/spending as well.

1. Shop less frequently.

Make a menu for the week with a corresponding grocery list. Stick to that, and don’t go to the grocery store more than once or twice a week. The fewer times you walk through that store’s doors, the less likely you are to impulse buy.

2. Take a break from the deal sites.

This is a hard one, but if you are running out of money by the end of the week/month, you must stop reading about all of the great deals out there so you’re not tempted to buy something you don’t really have the money for.

3. Find a spending system that works for YOU.

Many people spend more money when they use cash because there is no accountability. Others say that they spend like crazy if they use debit or credit cards but that cash puts the brakes on their spending. Honestly evaluate your spending habits and determine where you find more accountability in spending.

4. Clean out your house.

This may seem non sequitor, but hear me out. When you go through your entire house and become intimately knowledgeable about what you have, you realize how much you don’t need.

For me, I am totally set on things like scarves and travel mugs, for which there are numerous deals this time of year. Disciplining yourself to clean out your house can save not only your sanity but also your pocketbook.

5. Make some things yourself.

Homemade cleaners and detergents cost pennies on the dollar compared to even the best deals you could find on the cleaning aisles at the store. Making bagels and English muffins at home is far easier than I thought and costs just a fraction of the store’s prices.

This homemade facewash (that works so well!) cost less than six dollars to make and will last more than a year. All of those recipes take only a few minutes (less time than it would take to run to the store for them!) and will save you money.

The bottom line of our bottom lines really does center on discipline. If you are already disciplined in your spending, I applaud you. However, if you have some room for improvement in this area (like me!), add just one of the above suggestions to your spending habits, and watch more of your money stay right where it should, in your bank account!

For me, switching to cash was a huge help, as is staying away from the deal sites when I run low on cash. For you, you may find that cleaning out your house reveals not only a source of income in the form of a garage sale but also saves you from spending money on items you already have.

Many thanks to the inspiring readers who commented on the post about switching to cash— Money Saving Mom® really does have the best and brightest readers on the Internet! Together, pursuing discipline and saving money can be easy!

Kathryn keeps her hands busy during the day as a stay-at-home mother to two precious girls. She attempts to occupy her mind as well by reading and by blogging at Bond Musings.

photo credit

Shared Jan 30, 2012 comment

10 Weekly Goals

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 30, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Last week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

~~1. Finish reading The Boxcar Children aloud to the children.~~

2. Take Kathrynne out on a mother-daughter date for her birthday. {We had to move this from Saturday to today due to some unexpected things that came up.}

~~3. Take the children to an indoor play area for Kathrynne’s birthday.~~

Personal Goals

~~4. Finish Loving the Little Years and finish listening to the Developing the Leader Within You audiobook.~~

~~5. Complete week 3 of the Couch to 5K program.~~

Home Management

~~6. Put together two weeks of pages for my Project Life album.~~

7. Finish knitting the Squidge dishcloth. {I would have finished this, but I accidentally left my knitting at my family’s house on Sunday & didn’t get it until today!}

~~8. Make Homemade Hair Detangler.~~

Business Goals

9. Finish writing an article for AllYou.com.

~~10. Put together photos and talking points for my appearance on the 700 Club.~~

This week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading In Grandma’s Attic aloud to the children.

2. Take Kathrynne out on a mother-daughter date for her birthday. {We had to move this from Saturday to today due to some unexpected things that came up.}

3. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Try Giving Yourself Away, Blue Like Playdough, and Against All Odds.

5. Complete week 4 of the Couch to 5K program.

Home Management

6. Finish two more weeks of pages for my Project Life album.

7. Finish knitting the Squidge dishcloth.

8. Make Homemade Rice Milk.

Business Goals

9. Finish writing an article for AllYou.com and MomLifeToday.com.

10. Fly to VA to appear on the 700 Club (this is supposed to air live on Thursday morning, for those who have asked. And yes, this is way, way out of my comfort zone, so if you happen to catch the show, you’ll have to overlook the fact that I’ll likely be shaking like a leaf!)

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 Jan 29, 2012 comment

A Peek Into Our Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 29, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My dad got free tickets for a basketball game, so we took all of the children last Saturday evening.

It was a great game–especially since our team won by an onslaught!–and we all had fun!

For Kathrynne’s birthday, I took the children to an indoor play place with inflatable slides and trampolines.

We’d been before when they’d offered a Groupon deal and Kathrynne said this was the one thing she really was hoping to do for her birthday.

They all had a blast!

Birthday cake at Grandma & Grandpa’s house–I can’t believe she seven now!

The girls are continuing to love their ice skating lessons–and they were excited to have me join them in the free skate time today.

So that’s a little peek into our week. Did anything exciting or interesting happen at your house this past week?

Shared Jan 28, 2012 comment

How to Save Money as a Working Mom

Published: by Crystal Paine on January 28, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Melanie of Only A Breath

As a busy, full-time working mom, I often see countless great ideas for saving money. However, many of these ideas can be time and labor intensive, and I need a simple plan for saving money. I simply don’t have the time necessary to research ads, clip coupons from multiple sources, or visit more than one grocery store each week.

If you are a working mom like me, don’t despair! It is possible – and even enjoyable! – to save money as a working mom. All it takes is FOCUS!

F – Form a plan!

Create a meal plan, grocery list, and organize the grocery list by store “section” to make shopping as fast as possible!
Shop alone. Grocery shopping with children can be challenging and much slower than shopping alone. Examine your schedule to see if you can shop during your lunch break or before you pick up the kids in the afternoon.
Stick with the plan! Resist the urge to add extras to the cart.

O – Online shopping

Shopping online saves me both time and money! It is very easy to compare prices online and is much faster than driving to multiple stores.
Coupon codes are readily available for most online stores. Never buy online without first “googling” for a coupon code!
Amazon Prime has been a good option for our family because it allows us to watch movies online, rent Kindle books, and have free shipping on all items.

C – Use CASH when Shopping

Using cash rather than credit cards allows you to more easily keep track of what you are spending, and track spending in your budget.
If you’ve never made a budget, set aside time to make one today!

U – Utilize a Few Key Fashion Pieces

To cut down on costs for your “work” wardrobe, examine your closet and “remix” items to create new outfits from what you already own.
When you do buy clothing, buy only a few key pieces of clothing that have multiple functions. For example:

A nice sweater or blouse can pair with dress pants for work or a nice skirt for church.

A sleeveless silk shell looks great alone in the summer, or layered under a cardigan or jacket in the fall and spring.

Dark-washed jeans in a trouser cut look dressy when paired with heels, but also look great at school functions when worn with cute flats.

S – Skip Eating Out at Lunch

Eating lunch out every day at work can be an expensive habit.
If the average lunch costs $7.50 each day, that adds up to $37.50 per week, $150 per month, or $1800 per year!
Packed lunches are inexpensive and generally healthier than fast food!

As you can see, the savings really do add up over time!

Melanie is a full-time industrial software developer and mom of two boys. She lives in the beautiful Appalachian mountains with her husband and children and writes at Only A Breath about faith, giveaways, family, budgeting, and resources and encouragement for women.

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Organized Home

10 Weeks Organized Life

Want a more ORGANIZED HOME?

Prepare Your Rental

Research the Market

Advertise

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

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

Breakfasts

Lunches

Snacks

Dinners

Freezer Cooking

1. Shop less frequently.

2. Take a break from the deal sites.

3. Find a spending system that works for YOU.

4. Clean out your house.

5. Make some things yourself.

F – Form a plan!

O – Online shopping

C – Use CASH when Shopping

U – Utilize a Few Key Fashion Pieces

S – Skip Eating Out at Lunch

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