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Shared Oct 26, 2010 comment

Help For An Overwhelmed Newbie (Part 1)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 26, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’m a brand-new mom of a 4-month-old and I work at home part-time. I’m also a disorganized and a recovering procrastinator and money-waster. I’m thrilled to have found your blog, but I discovered it at a time in my life when I hardly have a free minute to spare.

I desperately want to change, but being so new to this lifestyle, so set in my bad habits and so extremely busy, I have no idea how to go about it. Do you have any suggestions for an overwhelmed newbie? Thanks in advance! -Deanne

Excellent question, Deanne! I was hoping to answer it in one post, but as I started outlining the post on paper (as I usually do with lengthier posts), I realized there was no way I could cover everything I wanted to cover in just one post.

So I’m going to do a series over the next few days with some step-by-step help for you and others who have just discovered this blog and are feeling overwhelmed at where to start in getting your finances in order.

1. Streamline Your Life

Saving money is going to take some time and effort. There’s no way around that. If it were effortless to live beneath your means or save 65% on all your grocery bills, everyone would be doing it!

It doesn’t have to take hours and days of your week, but if you want to change your finances, you first need to be willing to commit to put forth the time and effort required.

It will be worth it, but it won’t always be easy. However, the long-term benefits of short-term sacrifices can be amazing.

You can’t do it all. When you say “yes” to one thing, you must say “no” to another.

So if you really want to see some significant changes in your finances but you’re feeling completely overwhelmed and busy with your current responsibilities, you’re going to need to cut some things out of your life in order to make time to spend getting your finances in order.

2. Set Short-term and Long-term Goals

Once you’ve decided to streamline your life and put forth some effort when it comes to getting your finances in order, it’s time to get down to business! The first thing I recommend is to set goals.

Take a few hours during a quiet afternoon to sit and think (I highly recommend doing this exercise with your husband for those who are married). Where do you hope to be in five years and ten years from now? Don’t be intimidated! Just write down whatever comes to your mind. It’s okay to dream big dreams — even if they seem impossibly out of your reach.

Once you’ve scribbled down a lot of big ideas, choose which ones you really want to shoot for. I say to pick no more than three long-term goals. If you’re not out of debt, that should be at the top of your list. It’s hard to get any financial traction if you’re dragging the bondage of payments around with you wherever you go!

Now, break these big long-term goals down into smaller, bite-sized pieces. For instance, let’s say you have $12,000 in credit card debt and you’d like to have it paid off in two years. That means you need to have a goal of paying $6,000 off per year which translates to $500 per month, or about $125 per week. So there you have one of your concrete goals: you need to find an extra $125 in your budget each week in order to have all your credit cards paid off within two years.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll be sharing some tips and ideas for maximizing the mileage of your limited time and money!

Readers: What suggestions do you have for Deanne or other brand-new readers here who are feeling overwhelmed with where to start? I’d love to hear what has helped you!

photo by Katie@

Shared Oct 25, 2010 comment

The Relevant Conference: Humbling, inspiring… life-changing

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 25, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Left to Right: Courtney, Kristen, Kimba, Alyssa, Jessica, Dana, Melissa, Angie, me, Sarah, Jen — I enjoyed all the speakers so much but I especially loved getting to know Angie and Melissa. And what’s amazing is that they make me look tall, which is something that rarely happens seeing as I’m 5’4″! {Photo by QuatroMama}

After all of our flight complications, we finally made it to The Relevant Conference location on Thursday evening just 15 minutes before I was supposed to be in the ballroom for the Speaker’s Round Table Dinner. I was still in my dirty-diaper-blowout-soaked clothes, so we lugged the suitcases up to our room as quickly as possible and then I changed into the outfit I was planning to wear.

I had spent money (well, actually a Groupon!) and had my sweater and skirt dry cleaned for the occasion, seeing as I didn’t want to distract everyone while I was speaking with my wrinkled rayon black skirt (because I’m usually too cheap to dry clean it!). When I went to put the sweater on, I realized the dry cleaners had pressed the collar wrong so it stuck out all funky. And I do mean funky.

Um, not gonna work.

So, I dug through my suitcase and put together a Plan B outfit in the three minutes I still had left. (I almost put my skirt on inside-out in all the commotion; wouldn’t that just be like me to look down when I’m up on stage and realize I have this big white tag sticking out on the side because my skirt was on inside-out?!).

With the one minute left, Jesse and I prayed together and then I bounded downstairs, laptop in hand, praying all the way down that God would calm my nerves.

I got into the ballroom and dinner was already just starting, but I had to meet with the tech guy for him to check my laptop to make sure the adapter cord would work and allow my slides to show up. While I was hashing out details with him, Myra came up out of nowhere, hugged me and told me she was praying for me.

She had no idea how much that meant to me right then. God just flooded me with peace again and I went to sit down at my assigned table.

Dinner was spent mingling with the attendees (the speakers had assigned tables and we rotated them every 15 minutes) and God just helped me to keep my calm and be able to focus on these amazing women and their incredible stories. I even managed to sneak in some bites of salad and chicken, too!

All too soon, dinner was almost over with, and I stole away to the restroom to try and compose myself and pray for two minutes in the bathroom stall (I can’t believe I just confessed that on my blog!).

A week ago, I’d planned to get at least two really good nights of sleep before the conference started. Instead, I was running on a total of about seven hours of sleep in a 48-hour period because I’d been up with Silas.

A week ago, I’d envisioned I would spend the last three days before the conference going over my speech with a fine-toothed comb and doing a complete run-through of it with the slides at least five times. Instead, I’d only gone over the entire speech with the slides one time — and that was late the night before and peppered with interruption after interruption.

We’d booked our flights planning to get into the hotel in the early afternoon so that I’d have time to decompress, pray and prepare. But instead, I barely arrived at the hotel in time to change my clothes.

If there was ever a time when I needed God to step in and undertake for me, it was now. I was about to go up and speak for an hour in front of 240 women — many of whom were women I’d long admired from their blogs — and I was exhausted and terrified.

Back in the ballroom, I discovered my computer wouldn’t work with adapter cable and I’d need to run the slides on another computer. By now, it felt like we were about on Plan W, having long ago tossed out my well-laid out Plan A, B and C.

We finally got the slides to pull up on the screen on the borrowed laptop and then the live-streaming wouldn’t work. We were delayed by another ten minutes or so while trying to get that to pull up (all the while I was secretly hoping it maybe was in God’s plan that my talk wasn’t going to be live-streamed!).

Stephanie came over — out of the blue — and asked if she could pray for me. I remember her praying specifically that I wouldn’t be nervous while at that very moment my knees were knocking together!

Then I was introduced and walked up onto the stage — wondering what on earth the next hour might hold and pleading with God to please guide my mouth and give me peace.

As soon as I started speaking, He did just that.

I’m not sure what all I said, but I felt His presence streaming through every ounce of my body giving me courage, calmness and clarity.

As soon as my talk was over, the most amazing thing happened: People started coming up to me — many with tears in their eyes — telling me of their struggles… thanking me profusely for sharing… talking about how God used it in their lives and convicted them of areas they needed to change.

And I knew that God had shined through in a powerful way. He had taken a weak, inadequate, unprepared person who’d never given a talk longer than ten minutes in her life and He’d used her to impact lives for the glory of God.

It felt humbling and amazing to be His conduit.

The rest of the conference was just incredible. It’s really impossible to put into words, but the best I can describe it is that God moved in powerful ways — healing wounded hearts, inspiring women to do great things for God, encouraging women to recommit themselves to put first things first, changing and transforming lives.

I met so many amazing women. There were many tears shed. Much laughter shared.

And there was authenticity and real-ness and brokenness.

No one was trying to be someone they weren’t. We were ourselves — and we were accepted and loved just as we were.

It was a beautiful thing to be apart of.

Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations, me and Carisa from 1+1+1 = 1 — two women whom I’ve been so blessed and inspired by as a brand-new homeschool mom. They are so fun in real-life that I could have spent all week long with them and we would have never run out of things to talk about! {Photo by Jill from FNA Photography}

For those who might be interested: You can read more thoughts and take-aways from the conference by other bloggers at The Relevant Conference site or at 4Tunate.net.

Shared Oct 21, 2010 comment

On our way to The Relevant Conference… with just a few bumps in the road!

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 21, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Have you noticed I’ve been a little MIA the past two days? I cannot even begin to describe the craziness that the last 36 hours of my life has held. Whew!

It included two nights of little sleep as Silas was up with a bad cold. The cold got worse yesterday and I was really concerned with his breathing so I ended up taking him into Urgent Care. I’m so glad that I did as his oxygen levels were quite low and they gave him a breathing treatment almost immediately. He had signs of RSV, but, gratefully, the tests came back negative.

Silas, Jesse and I were planning to leave early this morning for The Relevant Conference, but with how sick Silas was acting, I didn’t think it was going to be possible — and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do as I was slated to be one of the keynote speakers plus speak on three other panels.

Amazingly, Silas perked up a great deal after the breathing treatment, so the doctor thought it would be completely okay for us to go — provided we brought along a nebulizer and some other medications in case Silas had another episode.

So we went home and hurriedly finished putting everything together in order to leave bright and early this morning. We made it through security and on our flight, with just a few minutes to spare and we’re pretty happy with how things were going after all the events of yesterday.

But then, they had us all get off the plane because there were technical issues.

Uh-oh! Not a good sign!

We all had to trek back down to the ticket desk and get moved to different flights and then go back through security again (which is no small feat when traveling with children!).

They boarded the plan and then we ended up having to sit there for 30 minutes while the pilot filled out paperwork. And then we had to sit there some more because they forgot to fuel the plane.

We finally got off the ground and things were going pretty well, but on our way down, Silas had a dirty diaper which leaked on him and me and we had to stand and wait and wait and wait to get off the plane because of some miscommunication issue between our plane and the guys on the ground. All the while the plane continued to wreak more and more of dirty diaper smells!

Once we finally were allowed to exit the plane, I headed straight for the bathrooms to clean up Silas and myself. It ended up being worse than I thought and I had to wash my jacket in the bathroom sink with soap and water (I had brought a change of clothes for Silas but not for me! I thought we were past the days of diaper blowouts!)

When I came back out of the bathroom to find Jesse, he met me with the news that our flight to Harrisburg was full and they soonest they could get us on a flight was 7 p.m.

There was only one slight problem with that… I was supposed to be giving a keynote talk at 6:30 p.m. at Relevant.

I just prayed and asked the Lord to please work out the details and then we walked what seemed like a few miles to the customer service desk. I was overjoyed and relieved when they told us that the initial information was incorrect and they did have us scheduled for the afternoon flight — which would put us into Harrisburg right before the opening dinner at Relevant. God is good!

And now we’re hanging out at the Chicago airport, waiting for our flight to leave. Since we have a few hours to kill, I’ll be posting a bunch of updates on my blog — unless another unexpected catastrophe strikes! 🙂

By the way, I’m so thankful that Silas has done exceptionally well in the midst of all of this craziness and he seems to be feeling a lot better today! I’m so thankful as it is so hard for me to see my babies struggling.

Shared Oct 19, 2010 comment

Q&A Tuesday: What do you do if a business refuses to acknowledge that they shorted you over $40?

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 19, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My boyfriend ran into a situation about a month ago with Dunkin’ Donuts. He paid for a $2 coffee at the drivethru with a $50 bill. He received $7 as his change and no receipt, so he parked the car and went inside to get the receipt and $40 they didn’t give him. The clerks working said they couldn’t open the drawer because the manager wasn’t there.

He went back the next day to speak to the manager. She said she would watch the security tapes and call him that day. He never received a call. He called her back the fallowing day and she rudely told him to “stop trying to rip them off”.

We are truly honest people. We’ve both worked in retail and know how to handle customers. We’ve contacted Dunkin’s consumer care (three times!) and have received no response. Is there anything else we can do? -Vicki

First off, I’m so sorry about this! What a frustrating situation!

In this case, since there’s no receipt and likely no transaction record — as your boyfriend paid with cash — it comes down to your word against theirs. How far you take it will depend upon how much time you have and how much $40 is worth to you. Here are some suggestions I would have for dealing with this type of situation:

1) Document the Experience in Detail

I had a really bad experience at CVS one time where the manager accused me of stealing and told me rather loudly to never come back to the store. He didn’t incorrectly charge me, as was the case with you, but he did treat me in a very rude manner for using coupons as intended. As soon as I arrived home from the store, I wrote out what happened in very in-depth detail. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t forget anything in case I couldn’t get ahold of someone at CVS corporate for a few days.

{By the way, CVS corporate was very polite and apologetic and actually wanted the manager to call and apologize to me personally. I told them that wasn’t necessary, but did ask that they clearly inform this particular store’s manager and employees of how ECBs and coupons worked. Apparently it worked, because that store became very coupon-friendly!}

2) Contact By Phone and Email

I see that Dunkin’ Donuts has a contact form and a 1-800 number on their website. I’d contact them through both at least once a day or every other day until you get a response. I’d also call the local store and politely inform them that you are contacting corporate and also reporting this to the Better Business Bureau. They need to understand that this is improper treatment of their customers and will result in consequences for them if they don’t resolve it.

3) Be Polite But Persistent

Don’t give up if you don’t get a response within a few days. Keep trying until you get through to someone. But don’t ever allow yourself to be frustrated or flustered with someone on the phone or through email. Showing common courtesy as well as professionalism will always get you much farther than ranting and raving will.

4) File a Complaint With the Better Business Bureau

If you cannot resolve this with the local store or with the corporate headquarters, I’d suggest filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. There are some good tips here if you plan to go that route.

If this had happened to you, how would you respond? What suggestions or advice do you have for Vicki and her boyfriend?

Shared Oct 19, 2010 comment

Reader Tip: Saving Money on Paper and Printer Ink

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 19, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Feel like you’re going through paper and ink like water with all the coupons you print? Erica from EEEndeavors, emailed in some tips to help you save money on paper and ink:

Reuse Your Paper: Most commonly, three coupons will fit on one 8.5×11″ sheet of paper. If you only print one, clip off that coupon (as straight as possible) and re-insert to print an additional two coupons. If extra wording or graphics printed with your first coupon, make sure to flip to print on the other side.

Reuse Other Paper: Stop and think about how many papers are thrown away from school or the mail. If it has a blank backside, use it! To avoid confusion, it’s a good idea to “X” out the side that has writing but not a coupon.

Change Your Printer Settings: Change your printer settings to print in Grayscale (only uses black ink) and in Fast Draft mode (uses less ink and prints faster). You can always easily change these settings for when you need higher quality prints, but it is expensive and unnecessary when it comes to coupons.

Fill Your Own Cartridges: I don’t suggest this for color cartridges as I think it’s too risky, but it’s hard to fail if you’re just filling a black ink cartridge. It is messy, but practice makes perfect (and reading directions sure helps!). I paid $14 for my last refill kit, which is enough to fill an average of 20 ink cartridges. If you consider the cost of a factory refilled, generic cartridge (usually $12), this is a $226 savings!

For more helpful tips and ideas, check out Saving Money on Printer Ink and Save Up to $20 Per Year By Switching Fonts.

photo by Renway2007

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Shared Oct 19, 2010 comment

A Handmade Christmas Carnival

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 19, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Abbi over at Proverbs 31 Living is hosting a Handmade Christmas Carnival every Tuesday sharing creative ideas for gifts you can make. If you are looking for ideas or have blogged about some of your own ideas, you’ll definitely want to check it out and consider participating!

How to afford special diet foods on a budget

Shared Oct 18, 2010 comment

Buying Special Diet Foods on a Budget

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 18, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Anne from When Food is Dangerous and Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy

These days, it seems like everyone has to deal with diet restrictions, either for themselves or a family member. Diets can be restricted by a variety of health conditions. Diabetes, heart disease, food allergies, food sensitivities, bowel diseases, celiac disease and lactose intolerance are just a few reasons some people are forced to change their diet — sometimes drastically.

Making the necessary changes can be daunting, especially when you begin to research the costs for replacements and substitutions. I should know! My husband has ulcerative colitis, a condition that does not allow him to eat either excessively fibrous or highly acidic foods, and my son has multiple severe food allergies.

Learning how to cope with these varied diets on a limited budget has stretched my creativity to say the least. If you are struggling in a similar situation, here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way:

**1. Focus On Foods You Can Have**

For most people, whole foods are still an acceptable and desirable part of their diet: meats, fruits, vegetables, and certain grains, seeds and nuts. Focusing on those foods will not only make you healthier, but help you stick to your budget. Avoid overly processed foods with long lists of ingredients that could create dietary issues.

2. Make It Yourself

Instead of purchasing items like breads, sweets and snacks, learn how to make them yourself. That way you know exactly what ingredients go into each food item and you can tweak recipes to meet your dietary needs.

I learned early on how to make bread that strikes the balance between my own and my husband’s dietary needs – a mix of whole grains and regular all-purpose flour. For my son, I’ve learned how to make everything from granola bars to fruit leather so as to provide healthy, inexpensive snacks that are safe for him.

3. Find Inexpensive Substitutions

This may require some creativity. My husband can’t have tomato sauce, so when it comes to pizza and pasta, I have learned to come up with a variety of creative sauces. Instead of pizza sauce, for example, I use barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, alfredo sauce, or even just olive oil and some herbs. One of my favorite pasta sauce substitutes is actually pumpkin-based!

4. Research Sources for Necessary Substitutions

When first learning about my son’s allergies, I spent a great deal of time researching both local and internet-only sources for flour substitutions because of his wheat allergy.

I learned that the Walmart Supercenter is surprisingly the cheapest source for rice and chickpea flours. Amazon.com’s Subscribe and Save program is probably the cheapest way to purchase Bob’s Red Mill grains and flours, among other foods. Local ethnic markets can also be great inexpensive sources for things like tapioca starch or other food alternatives. I have found that a locally owned organic market is the cheapest place to buy coconut milk and coconut milk yogurt, which I substitute for regular dairy products in my son’s diet.

5. Forego Unnecessary Substitutions

This one can be very difficult. My husband simply has to live without some foods he used to love, even healthy foods, like spinach and corn on the cob. There just are no substitutes for those foods!

For my son, the choice was a matter of budget. The only “cheeses” and store-bought breads he can eat are prohibitively expensive, so he simply does without. Except for basic food substitutions, like the coconut milk, I almost never buy him specially made and packaged “allergen-free” foods. I either make it myself or forego it altogether because the cost is not worth it to me. And let’s be honest, most of those substitutes taste nothing like the real thing, so what’s the point, anyway?

6. Find Mainstream Foods That Are Safe

This principle applies particularly to food-allergy sufferers, but has useful applications for other diets, like gluten- or lactose-free. You don’t really need to shop from the “allergen-free” section at the health food store, and that should be a relief to you if you’ve ever taken a peek at those prices!

Instead, be a detective, and take some time to browse the detailed nutrition information on packaged foods to find ones that are naturally free of allergens, or whatever food it is you have to avoid. I discovered early on that while my son could not have the traditional Cheerios or Gerber Puffs as a first finger food, Kix were a safe option. As a toddler, he still loves them, and I buy them whenever I can get them cheap on sale and with a coupon.

Similarly, I’ve found a variety of safe snacks and convenience foods — all available in any regular grocery store, and often available for cheap on sale and with coupons — that I keep on hand for those times when making his food myself is not an option, or for when we’re on the road without the usual emergency snack or meal from home. Of course, when dealing with allergies, always proceed with caution when trying a new food.

7. Expand Your Palate

Because of our various diet restrictions, certain foods I used to dislike, or had never experienced, began to creep into my regular menu. For example, I never had much experience with winter squash because my mom never cooked with it. However, since my husband has a limited range of fruits and vegetables he can safely eat, I’ve realized it’s necessary to incorporate all that he can eat, and that includes winter squash! I’ve found some really creative ways to hide it in foods while we adjust ourselves to the taste and texture.

When I was nursing my son and was therefore on his restricted diet, I found that almond milk was my favorite substitute for cow’s milk, and since then, I’ve learned to buy it when on sale — with coupons of course! — to use as a cheaper substitute for baking and cooking.

8. Look For the Silver Lining… and Give Thanks For It!

This is sometimes difficult for me when I get discouraged by the amount of money or time I spend on making and procuring safe foods for my family. It’s imperative, though, that I keep my mind focused on the blessings to be found in our enforced diets: for one thing, we all eat a lot healthier than we would otherwise! A positive perspective goes a long way in helping me continue to improve my efforts to provide safe, healthy, and affordable foods for my family.

Anne Simpson blogs about living with life-threatening food allergies at When Food is Dangerous, and about preparing healthy foods without sacrificing time or money at Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy. She is mentally preparing herself for whatever dietary needs her second son may have when he arrives early next year!

Do you have an idea for a guest post? I am always looking for high-quality, original (i.e. not published anywhere else online) content with tips and ideas Money Saving Mom® readers can use. If you would like to submit a guest post, please follow the Guest Posting Guidelines.

photo credits: kaintuckeean; Elana’s Pantry

Shared Oct 18, 2010 comment

Interview on DaveRamsey.com: Working from home as a blogger

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 18, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I was honored to recently have the opportunity to be interviewed for an article on DaveRamsey.com about working from home as a blogger. If you’re a blogger or someone considering blogging, you might enjoy reading it.

By the way, once I start and finish the Time Management series, I plan to update and repost my Blogging for Profit series for those interested in earning an income through blogging.

In the mean time, if you haven’t read it, you might enjoy my Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom series.

photo from Shutterstock

Shared Oct 17, 2010 comment

Super Savings Saturday: A trip to the Bulk Foods Store

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 17, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We took a field trip to a Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze on Friday with some other friends.

Kaitlynn’s curly hair turned into “crazy hair” with all the wind! That girl has some volume! 🙂

In addition to the corn maze and pumpkin patch, they had some different play areas set up for the children. I think the favorite of Kathrynne, Kaitlynn and Silas was the hay area.

Since it was quite a drive to get there, we stopped by the Bulk Foods Store which was in the area and were able to re-stock up on turbinado plus buy some other goodies including two pounds of local honey for only $7.34! We ended up spending about $31 on food. Plus, I let the children pick out a few treats to eat on the way home.

All in all, it was a fun day for the children. And I was happy to get in a little bargain-shopping, too!

______________

Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.

Shared Oct 15, 2010 comment

We Paid Cash! :: SUV

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 15, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A testimony from Amy

In October of 2008, my husband and I discovered we were pregnant. While this baby was not a “surprise” by any stretch of the imagination, we quickly discovered that our world was about to be turned upside down.

The first dilemma was getting from point A to point B with baby. You see, at that time our vehicles were not purchased with a baby in mind. My husband’s car, while very nice, was a four-door Coupe and not the most space-efficient. A car seat + baby + diaper bag would take up most of the back seat.

My car was a “college car.” It was my first car, purchased used when I was in high school. And, five years later, I was still driving it. It was beginning to become unreliable and definitely wasn’t the safest option for our baby. Because of this, my husband and I decided to start saving for an SUV. We started the savings process almost immediately after seeing the positive pregnancy test.

Our goal: pay cash for a safe, used (but still in good condition) SUV all before baby was due in July.

How We Did It

Cut back on the budget. We cut down on the money we were spending on groceries. I started shopping sales and using coupons. We saved about $80 a month doing this. We also had more date nights “in” rather than expensive dinners out. We rented movies rather than going to the theaters.
We put all of my husband’s work bonuses into a separate savings account — for the car.
We spent less on Christmas gifts. I made a lot of gifts and made our own Christmas cards.
We put our savings each month into the account for the car.
We applied our tax refund to the car account.
We sold my car.
We bought used baby items and put the money we saved into the account for the car.
We bought used.
We weren’t picky.
We were patient. (This was hard for me!)

My husband’s uncle is a car dealer. We talked to him early on in the process and told him what we were looking for. Once we had the money saved up (all $13,000!) we gave him a call and he began the search.

It took him about a month and a half, but he eventually (and before baby arrived!) found the perfect SUV for us. It was a 2008 Saturn Vue in great condition.

The carseat fits great in the backseat and we still have room in the trunk for our dog! We will even have room for an extra carseat come January. 🙂

I love my SUV, mostly because I know how hard we worked to pay cash for it, and how much money we saved in the long run by doing so!

Amy is a stay-at-home mom to a little boy with a little girl on the way. Her husband is a computer programmer who works hard to provide for their family. They are striving to live debt-free and set a good example for their kids of what it means to be good stewards of what God has given them.

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

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Shared Oct 15, 2010 comment

We Paid Cash :: Vacation Home on a Lake

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 15, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Testimony from Lana

All of my life I wanted a vacation house on a lake. I don’t know what gave me this desire and I don’t remember a time that I did not have it.

The Background

About eleven years ago there was a class action suit against the manufacturer of the siding on our house. In the end, we got a check for $6500 in compensation. Our siding was fine so we didn’t need the money for replacement. I asked my husband if we could set up a savings account for my dream of a lake house. He was agreeable.

As I was setting up the account, I prayed for that money to be able to purchase our vacation property. I thought to myself that it was a ridiculous prayer as it was not even enough for a down payment and we couldn’t afford to put any other money toward it anyway.

Then a Big Surprise!

Two weeks later, I was listening to a garage sale program on a local radio station. A man called in with a 1/12 share of a cottage on a lake for $6000. Well, I was so excited I didn’t even write down the phone number. I called the station after the program and they had the number in their notes.

We contacted the owner and went to look at the house that afternoon. We agreed to purchase his share of the house. He told us that he had paid $5000 for his share 18 years earlier and he just wanted another family with kids to enjoy it now.

What We Gained

We have been blessed by being able to get away one week out of every season for over 10 years and we only pay 1/12th of the cost of keeping up the house. Our share of the upkeep is less than we would pay to rent a house for only one week.

We could have spent that settlement check on so many things but have been so blessed to have saved it and invested it in this way. Property values have tripled on the lake, so our money will someday give us a good return. We have also been able to share our time with friends who needed a break and could not afford to pay for a vacation.

(No picture — we have been going over there so long that we have long ago stopped taking pictures!)

Lana, and husband Bill live debt-free in Wellford, SC. They homeschooled their five children for 23 years and they are all grown and either married or in college. She enjoys teaching young women how to coupon and stretch the family budget.

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

Shared Oct 14, 2010 comment

Time Management: What questions would you love to have answered?

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 14, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’ve been getting a lot of emails recently asking “How do you do it all?”

Well, the truth of the matter is that I don’t do it all — and that’s the only reason I can have three young children, homeschool, keep up with a large blog, stick to a budget — and still have time to read, have a clean and organized home (most of the time!), get enough sleep (most nights!) and go on dates with my husband.

I’m speaking some on balance and time management at The Relevant Conference next week (can’t wait to meet some of you there!) and since so many people are asking for my practical suggestions on time management and how I manage to accomplish what I do, I thought I’d share some of what I’ll be sharing at Relevant in a series on time management here, as well.

However, in an effort to make this series as helpful as it can be, I wanted to open up the floor for requests. If you had a specific question you’d like for me to address regarding time management, what would it be? Email me with your question or leave it in the comments here.

I plan to begin this series near the end of October and will be posting one post per weekday until it is finished (no making you wait a week or two or 15 for the next installment as I’ve sometimes done in the past!) No promises that I’ll have a great answer to your questions and am pretty positive I won’t be able to address everything regarding time management in the series, but I’m hoping to make this series as comprehensive and helpful as possible based upon what is working for me.

Shared Oct 14, 2010 comment

Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Granola

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 14, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Lynn from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures is sharing my recipe for Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Granola today. It was originally in one of my ebooks that I put together and sold way-back-when and I gave her permission to share it on her blog.

This is such a simple and economical recipe and it freezes well, too. I’ve not made it for quite some time, though, and now that we’ve eliminated regular oil and processed sugar in our baking, I’m thinking about trying it with coconut oil and sucanat instead of the oil and brown sugar. Not sure if it will work, but I think I might give it a shot!

Shared Oct 13, 2010 comment

Revamping My Freezer Cooking Methods

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

As I’ve mentioned in the past few months, I’ve been simplifying and streamlining a lot of areas in my life so that I can focus on the most important priorities, not overload my plate and have time to “stop and smell the roses” instead of feeling like I’m barely staying afloat.

One area that I’ve felt needs some revamping is my method of Freezer Cooking. When I had one and two small children, it was pretty simple to pull off a six-hour Freezer Cooking Marathon if I did a few hours in the morning while the girls played or helped me and a few hours in the afternoon during naptime.

Now that I have three children and a big chunk of our day is dedicated to homeschooling, I’m finding that fitting in a Freezer Cooking Marathon is just not, well, fitting in. In addition, we haven’t been eating casseroles and instead are mostly eating simple dinners of meat, veggies and either fruit and/or mashed potatoes, rice or bread. These meals don’t require a lot of prep work ahead of time, unlike the meals I used to make on Freezer Cooking Days.

The past month, I’ve been experimenting with doing a 30-minute batch-cooking session once or twice each week — marinating four meal’s worth of chicken breasts, quadrupling a batch of meatballs, making up a quadruple batch of pancakes or cooking a roast in the crockpot and then shredding it and turning it into a few meal’s worth of barbecued beef. I usually tack this onto our regular dinner prep in the late afternoon and I’m discovering if I do this once or twice each week, we consistently have at least a week’s worth of meals in the freezer at all times.

I was feeling guilty about doing Freezer Cooking this way as it just didn’t seem “right” compared with how I’ve always done it. When I was talking with FishMama about the guilt I was struggling with in admitting to you all that having a Freezer Cooking Marathon is just not working for us right now, she reminded me that there is no right way to “do” Freezer Cooking.

It’s not about trying to copy what works for someone else or trying to mimic what once worked for us. Being a successful homemaker, wife, mother and home economist is about finding what works for you and your family and doing that — and having freedom from guilt about what others do or don’t do.

So, I’m going revamp my previous Freezer Cooking methods and do what works for us right now — which is just having a mini freezer cooking session once or twice a week. I might not stay as far ahead or have my freezer quite as stocked, but it will still save us a great deal of time. And I really don’t think it will end up taking any extra time and my kitchen won’t get so utterly destroyed all at once (though I might end up washing a few extra dishes by breaking it up like this).

I’ll still be posting an occasional freezer-friendly recipe, but I’m handing off the hosting of the monthly Freezer Cooking Day link-ups to FishMama for now (she so generously offered to take over the shouldering of it for me!). I may pick it back up again in the future, but for now, I’m going to guiltlessly enjoy doing what is working for our family.

photo from Shutterstock

Shared Oct 13, 2010 comment

Sticking to Your Financial Goals — Even When it Hurts

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 13, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My friend, Jen, has an incredibly encouraging post up about their “hunk ‘o junk” minivan and how she’s learning to let go of her ego and drive it –peeling paint, dents and all — so that they can stay on track with their financial goals.

If you’re struggling with playing the comparison game and worried about what other people might think of the financial choices you’re making, I think you’ll be inspired and blessed by her post.

And I just have to say, that after I saw the pictures of the minivan she’s driving, our beloved Old Blue doesn’t look that bad. Oh wait, I guess that’s playing the comparison game, too. 🙂

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

FREE Summer Bucket List!!

1. Streamline Your Life

2. Set Short-term and Long-term Goals

1) Document the Experience in Detail

2) Contact By Phone and Email

3) Be Polite But Persistent

4) File a Complaint With the Better Business Bureau

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

1. Focus On Foods You Can Have

2. Make It Yourself

3. Find Inexpensive Substitutions

4. Research Sources for Necessary Substitutions

5. Forego Unnecessary Substitutions

6. Find Mainstream Foods That Are Safe

7. Expand Your Palate

8. Look For the Silver Lining… and Give Thanks For It!

How We Did It

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

The Background

Then a Big Surprise!

What We Gained

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**1. Focus On Foods You Can Have**