|
 |
|
|
25% off sale - Today Only!
In celebration of God's goodness to our family and just for fun, we are holding a one-day-only sale of 25% off on ALL orders of any size! Just use coupon code TodayOnly when checking out to receive your discount. Be sure that the discount is calculated before you check out. We cannot refund the discount after the order is placed. This discount is also good on any orders placed through our toll-free number or for any orders mailed in today. Be sure to mention this special when ordering by phone or mail. To start shopping, click here.
More details for the inquisitive
For those who might not have gotten it the first time, or even weren't completely sure after reading all the comments on my somewhat subtle post, here's the plain jane facts: I'm pregnant.There you have it from the horse's mouth (er, maybe the soon-to-be-hippo's mouth!). I'd been feeling "weird" for about a week - very tired, dizzy, bad headaches, among other symptoms. I didn't think much of it for a few days, especially since I'd been low on sleep. After a few nights of nine hours of sleep each night and still no relief, I began to wonder what was up. And then I started feeling as if I'd lost my brain - for a few days I just seemed to go round and round in circles. I couldn't focus, I couldn't concentrate, and I really started wondering what was wrong with me. I mentioned to Jesse a few times that maybe I was pregnant. He brushed it off thinking I probably just got the notion in my head like I'd done multiple times before, since we both were praying for and hoping for this. After a few more days of it, though, and no relief on my part, Jesse got up early one morning and ran out to get a pregnancy test telling me we'd do that to "rule out pregnancy." I was still half asleep when he left, but as I lay there in bed, I pretty much had fully convinced myself that I'd take the test, it would be negative, and then maybe I could shake all these symptoms and get better. This had worked well in the past when I had thought I was pregnant. I'd take a test, see it was negative, and then feel remarkably better right away. Jesse finally got home and was getting ready to head right back out to get to work when I stopped him. "Why don't you wait until I take the test, Honey?" He agreed to, though I really think he was not at all expecting anything but a negative test and he went out to play with Kathrynne. After I took it, I eyed the test for a few seconds, fully expecting the one line to appear... My jaw dropped open when I saw two lines. "No, that can't be." I waited a few more seconds, thinking it would disappear. Instead, it got darker. Finally, I called Jesse in to see. "Uh, honey, you might want to take a look at this."He walked in, took one look, and said, "Oh, I think that other line will probably disappear." He waited a minute more and it didn't disappear. It only got more distinct. "Maybe you should retest," he then said. Neither of us were really sure we could believe this little plastic thing right now. We so wanted it to be true, but maybe we were just imagining that second line. Or, maybe it was just the 0.01% of tests which were faulty. You would think we had never had any experience with pregnancy tests before! I re-read and re-read the information and it said, "If two lines are showing, no matter how faint the second line, you can assume you are pregnant." Gulp. Yes, there were two lines. Two very clear lines. The second one wasn't even faint. I reviewed all my recent symptoms - some nausea, bad headaches (and I rarely ever get headaches), dizziness, insomnia and extreme tiredness (don't ask me how you have both of those at the same time, but I do!), cravings, abnormal hormones... um, yeah, it would seem like this test was probably accurate. So, I finally looked at my husband squarely and said, "Honey, I'm pretty confident this test is accurate. I'm pregnant."We both still don't quite know what to think. We're so excited and thrilled and, yes, still in shock! After dealing with infertility issues, I think it makes you that much more grateful for those two pink lines. Especially when you never expected to ever see them on a test you took. And then to be blessed with pink lines not just once, but again less than two years later. God is so good. I look into my precious little Kathrynne's eyes and am in awe that God has seen fit to allow me the privilege of being a mom again. I'm due sometime in June, probably. I'm guessing near the end of June, especially if I go late like last time. It could even be the beginning of July. I'm probably somewhere between six and seven weeks right now. I'm not for sure. Due date, or no due date, I'm just happy to be a pregnant mama again. There, did I more-than-satisfy those people wanting more details? Edit: I also wanted to mention how much all of your kind comments and emails mean to me. It is a such a blessing to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who love us and care about us and pray for us - many whom I've never met before and might not meet this side of heaven. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Input Requested: Moms of two
Any tips for me from moms of two?
Frugal Fridays: Simply Centsible Living - Part 3
I don't know about you, but I can hardly believe it is time for Frugal Fridays again around here. Wasn't it just Friday? This week flew by for our family, that's for sure! Today I bring you a post on Budgeting... Yes, I know, probably not the most pleasant topic for some but before you skip over this because you are making excuses about why you can't have a budget, hear me out. As I alluded to last week, one of the most helpful things Jesse and I did before we got married was to make a budget. This was at my dad's encouragement and it was not only a great exercise for our engagement, but it has saved us literally thousands of dollars since we've been married. Yes, thousands of dollars. We done the math and been amazed at the figures! People are usually quite astounded to hear that Jesse went through law school without enmassing any debt and only working part-time. How? It is thanks to the grace of God and our commitment to stick to our budget. It would have never happened otherwise. I would highly recommend all engaged couples consider embarking on the exercise of budget-making. It may be eye-opening to both of you! Actually, whether you are engaged, newly-married, or celebrating your thirty-five-year anniversary, I'd recommend you consider this exercise, especially if you are struggling financially. Jesse and I talked through every expenditure which we felt was necessary. We researched to determine how we could do things as inexpensively as possible and we figured out many things on our budget which we could nix. Writing everything down and calculating it against our small income figure helped us to further hone and tighten and pinch. After we got married, our budget was put to the test. And you know what? Inspite of having to tweak a few things here and there, it worked beautifully! In fact, it was a lifesaver for us. We learned to enjoy the freedom we found within the budget boundaries. Because everything had been worked out ahead of time on paper and the money we earned was being set aside for the various necessities ahead of time, it freed us from much worry and stress. Yes, there were still many times we had to really cry out to God to do a miracle since our income wasn't enough to even fill all the necessity categories, but we were so thankful to have set aside everything we did so that we knew we had done our best and could trust God with the rest. And God was always faithful! For those who have asked for specifics on our law school budget, here you go: Tithe: 10% of gross income - fluctuating based upon what was earned, always taken out first. No matter how little we made, our first priority was to give back to God as a token of our gratitude for His provision. Give God the firstfruits, not the leftovers. Jesse always makes sure we tithe off of gross income, as opposed to net income. Rent: $520/month - $260 pp (pay period)* This was an area that we could have cut back on considerably but we decided to opt for a larger apartment in a nicer and safer location since Jesse was going to be gone most of the day. We also wanted to have space for operating a business (something we were already toying with when we first got married) and for children, if God were to give us any. *We found it worked out best to split up the budget categories into bi-weekly amounts, rather than monthly amounts, since Jesse was paid every two weeks. Groceries/Household Items: $140/month - $70 pp We often used the leftovers from this to pay for going out to eat - which we did occasionally when we had extra money. We could do it for $6-7 using coupons. Phone: $30/month - $15 pp This was one area we could have cut, however, we wanted to have a way to talk throughout the day. Jesse's dad did pay for him to have a cell phone for awhile (since Jesse had been doing some side work for his dad's business early on in our marriage), but we didn't have cell phones until the last year when we were able to fit them into our budget (our business pays for part of the costs since I use my cell minutes primarily for business calls). We did not pay for internet until the business was able to pay for us to get DSL. For the first two and a half years of our marriage, we used Juno (free service plan) and then did the AOL 3-month free trial. We were planning to switch back to Juno once our AOL free trial was up, but when we called to cancel our account, they gave us three more months for free. Every time we called again in three more months to cancel, they'd give us another three months. This went on for about a year and a half. When we finally got DSL through our business (our AOL account was dial-up, of course), we had the toughest time actually getting them to drop our account! "No, we don't want to use your service anymore. Please cancel our account. No, we don't want three months more free. Thank you for offering but we've switched to a new service now. No, we really and truly do not want three more months free. I understand it is free, but we really and truly and honestly do not want it. Please cancel our account." After about 20 minutes of this, we finally got our year and a half's worth of free AOL cancelled. Whew! But it was sure a nice way to have as much free dial-up as you wanted! Electricity: $70/month - $35 pp This fluctuated some - sometimes it was more than $70 and sometimes a little less. Gasoline/Automobile repairs: $70/month - $35 pp Medical Expenses: $35/month - $17.50 pp For general medical expenses not covered by insurance or not covered upfront by insurance. This allowed us to be able to pay out-of-pocket for doctor's visits or prescriptions when needed and then be reimbursed later. Health Insurance: $129/month - $63.50 pp This was one of our biggest expenses. We checked into many different things. Our least expensive and best route was to go on student health insurance. We were able to add me into the plan for hardly anymore. Once Kathrynne came along, we had to switch to a family plan and the rates increased dramatically. Our budget had increased since then some and we were able to afford the increase. However, we did pray about going off of insurance for a season and just setting aside money every month for medical expenses. We also looked into health insurance alternatives such as Medi-Share. We decided to continue paying our more expensive health insurance costs for as long as we could since Jesse felt the best about that. We were able to continue this through the end of his schooling and have recently switched to insurance through his work. Renter's Insurance: $10.25/month - $5.13 pp Mandatory for renting here. Auto Insurance: $33/month - $16.50 pp Oops, I missed this the first time I posted - thanks to Anonymous for pointing this out! You can tell I'm a woman and don't pay the bills! :) I missed it on my husband's ledger as it was the last line.
Optional: Misc./Personal: - $50/month - $25 pp This was often the category which didn't get filled because there wasn't enough to fit it in. However, if we were able to put money into it, this went for clothes, shoes, or other extra expenses. We learned to go without many new things like that (or even used things!) for much of the first few years of our marriage because it wasn't in the budget. We learned to be thankful for what we had, to pray and ask God to provide (which He often did), or to stretch the little bit of money we had as far as it could go. After a few years of living like this, I don't know if I'll ever be able to bring myself to pay full price for much of anything, though. I find myself not willing to pay most prices on things found at garage sales (Maybe it's name brand and maybe it's in new condition, but I don't go to a garage sale expecting to pay $6 for something, however nice it is!! Call me a penny-pincher, but I like to pay around $0.10-$0.75 for stuff at garage sales. Besides, I know if I'm patient enough, I'll find it at that price at some sale!)
Savings: Anything extra we could scrape together. :) Now, if you add up all those numbers, excluding the optional numbers, you'll come up with $1,037 and that's not even including tithe. The amazing thing is, some months we only made $800. Somehow, someway, that $800 would stretch and pay all the bills. Like I said, it didn't always work out on paper! Sometimes our electricity or gas or groceries would be less and that would help fill the other categories. Sometimes we'd receive an unexpected check for something. Sometimes, the Lord would provide an additional opportunity for one or both of us to earn extra money. No matter what, though, God always allowed the ends to meet! For those wondering how we paid for law school instead of going into debt, this was also by very careful budgeting. Jesse and his dad had saved up enough money to pay for law school before we were married by wisely investing money he had received as survivor's benefits after his mom's death and saving everything else he could (Jesse says this is all thanks to his dad's wise training of him!). Although he could have easily squandered this amount of money on undergrad, he wisely and thoughtfully had scoped it all out and made it last through not only undergrad, but law school as well. He was able to procure an academic scholarship for both undergrad and law school which helped to supplement this. In addition, he invested the money in the best-earning money market account he could find. He also chose to go to law school in state at a fairly inexpensive law school (well, "inexpensive" as far as law schools go!). This saved us thousands of dollars. Another thing he did was to buy as many of his books online or through other sources, rather than the university bookstore. He would save at least a few hundred dollars each semester this way. Then, when he was finished with his books, we would turn around and sell them on www.Half.com - usually making almost what we paid for them. This money went right back into the law school account and helped stretch it further. Since Jesse is now working full-time as an attorney, our income has increased. However, we both decided to stick with a very similar budget only tweaking it a small bit to include our increased housing costs, increased insurance, increased electric and gas costs, and cell phone costs, among a few other things. This allows us to save a large proportion of his paycheck every month. We have set some short-term and long-term savings goals for this and having a budget will help us to, Lord-willing, achieve those. Another change we have made since Jesse finished school is that the income I am earning from home through business salary and other things I do on the side is going towards savings and also towards extra expenses like gifts, eating out, clothes, crafts, and so on. The "fun" stuff, not the necessities. ...To be continued next week. Be sure to ask if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer. ------------------------------------ To join in Frugal Friday, just post a frugal tip or post on any subject of frugality on your blog, link to this post in your post, and then post the direct link to your Frugal Friday post below. Any link or post which does not adhere to these rules will be deleted at my discretion. If you do not have a blog, but have a tip to share, please post your tip in the comments section. And, remember the rules: Must be family-friendly. Please no posts on frugal Halloween ideas (email me privately if you have any questions on that one!). Thanks! I can't wait to read your tips!
Review: Gehman's Country Fabrics
Okay, I have a really big confession to make here... I'm a procrastinator. I always have great plans and it seems that I get so distracted, many of those great plans never happen. I had promised a review of Gehman's Country Fabrics over 4 months ago and here I am, just finally doing it. Now granted, I have been quite backlogged on getting things posted on my blog and have a large file of stuff waiting to post, however, that is still not a good excuse. The real reason it hasn't gotten done is because they sent me this gorgeous fabric to make a skirt with, and, well, um... the skirt isn't done. Dare I tell it isn't even cut out? Yes, that's right folks. So anyone who still has some crazy visions of me being some "superwoman" can go up and knock me right down off of that pedastal you put me up on. I'm not superwoman. Instead, the truth is that I'm really and truly a procrastinator. I kept saying I'd sew that skirt this week, or tomorrow. I kept moving it from my daily to-do list to the next day. I finally decided that the skirt would probably fit Kathrynne by the time I actually got it done, so I'd better just do the review, skirt or no skirt. So, here goes the review, with my great apologies to Gehman's and sincere thanks for your wonderful patience. If I ever do finish the skirt (which I'm sure I will now that I've embarrassed myself so much about it!), I'll post a picture! I was incredibly impressed with Gehman's Country Fabrics, not only the fabric they sent, but the people themselves. Owned and operated in rural Pennsylvania, the Gehman family is committed to providing fabrics and more to women who desire to dress modestly. Their fabrics are very high quality and their customer service is above par. Gehman's offers a wide variety of fabrics - from Tropical Breeze fabrics, to Country Rose fabrics, they are constantly adding to their stock ( Take a peek here at their new fabrics for this month). They also offer custom-made cape dresses, modest slips, sewing notions, baby items, and more.
So, instead of being like me, don't procrastinate - visit their website today! You can also print their catalog right here, if you'd rather print and peruse their selections off-line
Review: Girl Talk
 Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhoodby Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Mahaney Whitacre We all know the old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." In spite of the adage, I have to confess I don't usually follow it; a cover speaks volumes to me, whether it's right or wrong. And I was wrong this time and almost missed out. You see, I've seen Girl Talk advertised many places - many reputable places - I might add. But in all honesty, a book with a hot pink cover and a phone and a shopping bag just doesn't seem to jive much with my view of Biblical Womanhood... and supposedly, that's what this book was about. I'm glad I took time to get past the cover though, because from the first page, I was laughing and "Amen-ing" my way through. Carolyn and her daughter, Nicole, have done a beautiful service for mothers and daughters everywhere through this book. From the importance of developing a lifelong mother-daughter relationship, to how to teach your daughter about modesty, to how to prepare your daughter to be a future homemaker (one of my favorite chapters, not surprisingly!), to friendships, to courtship, they cover many pertinant topics from a Biblical standpoint honed through much study, prayer, and years of experience. Though I will readily admit I am more conservative than them in some subjects (For instance, I don't think a modest one-piece swimsuit cuts it when it comes to modesty - at least pair it with some board shorts or something. You can direct all rotten tomatoes right here, thank you very much.) and I probably error much more on the side of caution when it comes to exposing our children to the world, I still feel that this book would be highly beneficial to many mothers and daughters, especially those struggling in their relationship or moms who feel their daughters are being pulled by the world. Oh, and don't forget to visit the Girl Talk blog. I hear they have another book in the works, too. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy when it is finished! This time, no matter what the cover, I'll no better to not pass judgment until I've read it.
Wacky, weird, and unpredictable!
Has anyone else noticed how wacky Blogger has been the last day? Is it only non-Beta accounts or everyone? If I had time, I'd consider switching over to WordPress or Typepad where I've long been considering taking up residence. However, there's too much to blog, and too little time to mess with a major change like that, so I'll just stick with wacky Blogger, at least for now...
In the ordinariness
This was a great post on Girl Talk (by the way, I finished their book a few days ago, review to be forthcoming shortly!). You don't have to be a mother or a mother-in-law to apply Titus 2:3-5. Just take a look around and you will find many motherless women in need of that listening ear and practical advice. Give them a call. Offer to babysit or make a meal. Be their friend. "Show her, in the ordinariness of Monday through Saturday, how to keep a quiet heart" so that she "may glimpse the mystery of charity and the glory of womanhood." "The ordinariness." I love that! Even though I'm not an "older woman," I so desire that my family and others would see Christ in me in my ordinary life. That, as I often pray, He would "love through me, live through me, write through me, speak through me." I know, in my own experience, it was my parents' example which spoke volumes more to me than anything they ever taught me. Christ was not just Someone they told us about, He was their life. The realness of their Christianity was evident every single moment of every single day. As a young person, there is nothing more powerful than seeing Christ living and breathing in your parents' lives day in and day out. How I desire to be this kind of example to my own children - only by the grace of God!
Power toothbrushes: A mom's best friend
 Since we're just starting to teach Kathrynne the importance of daily teeth brushing, I came up with a fun way to encourage her in this - buy her a power toothbrush! She loves it and asks often to brush her teeth. I love it because it has made something which could be a chore into something fun. Plus, because she enjoys brushing her teeth so much, I rarely have to remember to have her do it at night - she's asks me for her toothbrush so that she can brush her teeth! I help her brush her teeth at the beginning, to make sure they are brushed well. While I'm brushing her teeth, I sing through the short vowel sounds with her. I got this idea from a creative mom and try to implement these little teaching things whenever possible. (Just as whenever she's finished pottying, we count "1-2-3" and then jump down from off the toilet. I know, I know, silly as it may be, incorporating simple things like these into tasks we perform daily is just a way I am teaching her and she is learning, without either of us really realizing it.) After I finish brushing and singing, I set her loose with the toothbrush. She'll often spend quite a long time seriously working on those teeth of hers. The result: Clean teeth, a happy momma, a happy daughter, and vowel practice thrown in there, too. Now that works for me!Psst...You probably know me well enough to know I don't usually recommend some expensive, unecessary gadget. Well, I'm not. I'm going to tell you how you can get this "expensive, unecessary gadget" for free. How? Well, the Oral B Cross Action Power toothbrushes we got are free at CVS through November 4 (well, free as in, you pay $5.97 for them, use your Extra Care card when you purchase, and get $5.97 back in Extra Care Bucks 2 days later.). These are unlimited and most stores have them on sale for $5.97. I bought multiples of these (paying with Bucks I'd earned previously, of course) and so we have more on hand as backups. I also used a few coupons I had available in addition, so I actually got paid to get these. If you don't have a CVS, you can also get a toothbrush free after rebate using this rebate form. Or, you can do both (get the free toothbrush from CVS and send in for the rebate on it!). For more information on how I find and take advantage of deals like these all the time, be sure to check out my brand-new ebook.
How often do you vacuum?
 On the Making it Home yahoo group (where I sometimes peek in to read and be encouraged by other wonderful ladies seeking to make their homes a beautiful place for their families), it was recently being discussed how often each family vacuumed their carpets. I thought it was an intriguing question and one maybe some of you would like to chime in on, too. Growing up, we vacuumed the "middles" almost everyday inspite of having carpet which was intended not to show dirt. Something about having nine people tracking in good country dirt all day long just called for lots of vacuuming. After getting married, I was pleasantly surprised to find I could often vacuum only once a week or less and the carpets looked great. Then I had Kathrynne. I didn't know adding one little tiny person to our home would change things so much! (Call me a naive first-time mom!) It seems something is always being spilled, little bits of this and that are always being strewn around, and somehow small particles of food make it into almost all the rooms of the house. However, Kathrynne has really helped me to have a better, more relaxed approach to life - she's helped me to put things into perspective. Whereas I used to always try to have my house "perfect" and I literally couldn't stand if things were messy or out of place for long, now, although I do clean and pick up and organize and vacuum, it's okay if there are some things out of place or some crumbs are on the floor. We live here after all! I'm usually doing good to get our carpets "quick-vacuumed" 2-3 times a week and I'm happy with that. I'd rather have semi-clean carpets sporting a few crumbs here and there and a calm cheerful attitude, than perfectly clean carpets and be a stress basketcase over keeping them that way. So, how often do you vacuum? If you have children, have you noticed an increase in your need to vacuum since they've become toddlers? Just curious. :)
Another sneak-peek pricing special!
I had so much fun selling my last ebook when it was hot off the press at a sneak-peek pricing special, that I decided to do it again on my latest ebook... Yes, that's right, my latest much-anticipated, long-procrastinated ebook, Secrets to Supermarket Savings is DONE! After contemplating writing it for almost two years, and working on putting it together for the last four months, I am so happy to have it finished! This ebook includes the entire Supermarket Savings series I recently did on this blog in a much more thorough and organized manner. It chronicles God's blessing in allowing us to eat well, have a stocked pantry and plenty of food and household items to spare, for less than $35 a week. I've so often received requests from people who want to know the nuts and bolts of how I am able to stretch our grocery budget so far. This book shares in-depth how it's done. I've tried to make it simple and easy enough so that anyone could implement much of the ideas. No matter how much or little time you have to give to frugal shopping, I hope you can glean some helpful hints from the things I and others have learned in this journey of trusting God to provide for us. This ebook includes many extra tips added in from readers and friends, a list of helpful resources, my favorite sources for coupons, simple ideas for menu-planning, helpful budgeting information, practical hands-on examples for newbies and seasoned homemakers alike, my coupon organization method, the binder coupon organization method, tips on price comparing at Wal-mart, a primer on CVS shopping, and more. I believe that God is the Great Provider - He has provided for us again and again in great and mighty ways. One of those ways is by giving us creative ingenuity. In this ebook, I seek to encourage homemakers to not only trust God to be their Provider, but to look to Him for practical wisdom and creative ingenuity to stretch your grocery budget beyond what you might have thought possible before. Secrets to Supermarket Savings is 45 pages long and for a very limited time, I'm offering this freshly finished edition to you all for only $3.97! I'm sure there are a few typo's (let me know if you find any!) and I'll be going over it with a finetoothed comb in the next few days before I upload it to the main section of our website, but until then, I'm extending this special deal to you! To purchase Secrets to Supermarket Savings: Tips and Strategies to Cut Your Grocery Bill by 40-75% or More at the special sneak-peek pricing of $3.97, just click on the button below to purchase through Clickbank and receive an instantly downloadable copy:
Buy Now for only $3.97!Just a note: 3:45 p.m. CST - I had to upgrade my account since you all bought so many ebooks through Payloadz today. :) But then the upgrade wasn't working right so I just switched over to Clickbank. For the past little while, button wouldn't work because of that. It should be fixed now. Sorry for the trouble but thank you for all your orders!
Cookie recipe
For those requesting the whole wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe, it is here.
To marry or not to marry, that is the question
 There were a few questions in this thread from Friday which I thought I'd address in a separate post: I was wondering, Crystal, why you and Jesse didn't wait until he was finished with school. I, personally, think it is best to wait until the man is ready to support his wife. I know NOBODY (hardly) does this now. My parents didn't and neither did most of my friends. I just think that it would encourage girls to want to stay home, more. Studying and working is hard enough and than put taking care of wife and family on top of that is adding a lot of stress. Just wondered what your ideas were. I totally understand that circumstances change and a lot of husband and fathers have to go back to get another degree or change their career, but, ideally it would seem best for a man to wait until his job was established before marrying. I hope I didn't offend you. Just curious. -Zan
Hey, I have the same question as Zan. Why did you marry before Jesse finished school? I don't see a problem with doing that, and I'm sure it really caused you to grow close as a couple when you went through tight times. But I have just been meaning to ask you for the last couple of weeks about that. Would you recommend that other couples-to-be do the same, or do you see wisdom in waiting? (hind-sight you know!) Eager to hear your response! -Anon. First off, I think these are great questions and I appreciate you both for bringing them up. My husband and I had a fun discussion on Friday night about why we are glad we got married when we did. I didn't pick the timeframe, but, looking back, I wouldn't change it one bit if I were given a choice. You see, I was the first child in my family to get married and I always assumed that my parents would require any potential suitor to have everything down pat - to own a home, have a good job, and be well-prepared to take care of me. I assumed that my dad, being the wise man that he is especially when it comes to financial matters, would never pass his girl on to someone who didn't have all his "ducks in a row." Imagine my surprise whenever my parents sat me down at 19 and told me that Jesse was interested in courting me. I remember being utterly shocked - not only that he had asked but more surprising that my parents were completely in favor of it. I'm a fairly sensible person and I remember one of my first concerns was about money. My dad said that he had already thought everything through and prayed about it and he really felt it was God's timing. He felt I was ready to be married and that Jesse was ready to take on the responsility of being a husband and father. After that, I had complete peace that this was God's timing. Jesse and I were engaged a little over a year later and married 5 1/2 months after that. He still had one semester of undergrad and three years of law school left. We both knew it wouldn't be easy, but we also had complete peace that this was God's direction for our lives. Here are a few of the reasons we came up with Friday night in our discussion that we are thankful we got married before Jesse was done with his schooling: 1) We learned to trust the Lord together. All our lives, we'd been taught the need to trust the Lord and to rely upon Him, when we got married, we had no option but to live this. When we didn't know how we were going to pay a bill, or how the ends were going to meet that month, or what to do when our car broke down, we learned very quickly to have faith in God. And we saw God do great and mighty things on our behalf. 2) We learned to lean upon each other. Moving away from our family and friends and church and having to learn to balance the weight of school and living on a meager income forced us to not only rely upon the Lord, but also drew us so much closer together. We didn't have anyone else to turn to so it sure strenghtened our marriage! 3) I was able to be Jesse's help and support through school. I hesitate to write this, but Jesse assures me it is a very important point. He says he would have struggled through school so much without me. Not only would he have been lonely, but he wouldn't have had anyone to clean up after him, do his laundry, iron his shirts, make his lunches, make sure he was eating and sleeping, make sure he took a break from studying every now and then, and so on. 4) We saved money. I know, conventional wisdom says that being married has to cost you more money. In our case, that wasn't true. Yes, insurance cost a little more and we lived in nicer housing than Jesse would have if he had been single, but he would have spent all of that money saved on food, dry cleaning, and so forth. Because he had a family, it also greatly encouraged him to be very disciplined in how he spent money. These habits developed will be of enormous benefit the rest of our lives. 5) It matured us really quickly. Marriage and parenting grow you up, whether you want them to or not. It forces you out of independence and selfishness. By marrying when we did, we had a huge jumpstart in this regard so that now that Jesse has begun his career, I think we are both much wiser for it. I'm not saying that people who get married later are always selfish and immature, I'm just saying that I believe the longer you wait to get married and have children, the easier it is to slip into selfishness and independence. You become entrenched in your own habits and own way of doing things, your "own time", your "own space", and so on. 6) We both reveled in the joy of our daughter together. I think hands-down the greatest blessing of getting married when we did was having Kathrynne. She brought so much joy to our life (and continues to every minute of every day!). She was a huge asset to Jesse in school. He would come home stressed and overwhelmed and just ten minutes of playing with her would calm him. This was especially evident during finals. After Kathrynne was born, Jesse not only did much better grade-wise on finals, he also was much more relaxed. Another benefit was that having a wife and daughter gave Jesse a life outside of school. Instead of getting law school tunnel-vision like many, he was able to stay balanced and keep things in perspective and his priorities in place. Those are just a few of the things we thought of off-hand. Another big factor would include the freedom from temptation that marrying younger can provide. If a couple is ready to get married (as in, they are ready, they have their parents' blessing, and the clear leading from the Lord), they should get married. When you know it is God's will, don't wait around. That's like playing with fire and thinking you won't get burned. Personally, I'm all for short courtships and engagements when you know it's God's time and God's will. Saying all of this, though, I want to be clear that I don't always think it is wise for a couple to get married when the young man is not finished with school. Each couple and each situation is different. One thing which I think is extremely important is that a young man has clear direction for his life (instead of aimlessly drifting about) before he ever gets married. A young man has no business asking a wife to follow him when he has no clue where he is going. I also would strongly encourage anyone considering marriage before finishing college to purpose to stay out of debt, if at all possible. This has been another huge blessing to our marriage. I think it is easy to "put God in a box" per se when it comes to courtship, engagement, and marriage. I know many a girl with a long list of qualities a young man must have in order "pass the muster" to even consider a romantic relationship with her. Personally, I like my parents' philosophy: "If he loves the Lord and loves you, that's what matters most to us." I also know many a family who think that the courtship and engagement process must go according to their presubscribed plan. I hate to break it to you, but God doesn't always work according to our presubscribed plans. He often has things planned for you which are much bigger, better, and greater than anything you can imagine. I know He has done so in my life! I'd love to hear the thoughts and input from others. What did you do and, looking back, do you have any regrets?
A glimpse into our weekend
 Freshly poured, homemade, soy candles - my first attempt at candle-making - one of the more pleasant aspects of the weekend. Some of the less pleasant aspects aren't photo-worthy. Namely, being all dressed up in our Sunday best and halfway to church and then suddenly having all our nice clothes (including my favorite blue suede Dry-Clean-Only fitted jacket) and the car, and the blanket, and mom, and the books, and well, anything else in range, being completely covered in throw-up, thanks to Kathrynne. Poor girl. At least I had a box of baby wipes to use to semi-remedy the situation while we back-tracked 30 minutes to our home.
The never-ending adventures of parenting continue! And tell me, why is it that I still haven't learned not to buy Dry-Clean-Only clothes?
Frugal Fridays: Simply Centsible Living - Part 2
 Last week, I laid the foundation for why I am writing this series. This week I want to jump in with some practical help. As most of you know, Jesse graduated from law school in May, passed the bar in early September, and is now working as an attorney in a high profile state political legal job (A girl can brag, can't she?!). We feel incredibly blessed and know that it is only God who has opened the doors and made it possible for us to be where we are today. However, getting to this place in our lives was not a piece of cake. Instead, it was a walk of faith. We were stretched beyond what we thought we could handle and it's only by the grace of God that we are where we are today. Without relying upon Him, we could have never made it through the last three years. Before we were married, we understood rather clearly that we were stepping out in faith, out into the unknown. We had purposed to not go into debt, we had purposed to trust God with our family size, and we had purposed that I would be a keeper-at-home. Throw into the mix that we would be moving a few hours away from all of our friends, family, church, jobs, and support structure after we got married, the fact that law school costs upwards of $30,000 and that living expenses for three years would most certainly be quite a bit more than that. A recipe for disaster? According to many, yes. But God is able to do the impossible. I don't just say that because it sounds nice, I say that because I've lived it the past three years. We tried as best as we could to prepare for marriage with all of this in mind. There were a couple of things we did before marriage which were extremely beneficial: 1) We spent quite a lot of time discussing and creating a budget. This has been one of the greatest assets to our marriage. More on this later. 2) We only registered items which were basic living neccessities.Neither of us were really keen on doing gift registries for our wedding. It just seemed so selfish or something - like we were asking for handouts. However, with lots of thought and discussion, we decided that we would create registries at two places but we would only register necessities and we wouldn't tell anyone about the registries unless asked. At the time, we didn't realize the wisdom in only registering essentials but I can't tell you how helpful this has been. Many registries I've seen nowadays include items like an Xbox and a big entertainment system. We registered a mop, trashcans, hangers, an ironing board, and, well, you get the picture. We didn't register any china and I don't regret it one bit. I don't have space to store nice china, I didn't want to have to mess with moving it, and I'd rather use our sturdy white Walmart dishes anyday. Plus, if anything breaks, I don't have to stress over it, since it was cheap to begin with and will be cheap to replace. I know, I know, I might just be way too practical and unromantic, but hey, it's really helped us out. We ended up getting everything we registered and multiples of many things which we were able to take back and use the return money to buy a few extra things we found we needed in the first few months of marriage. We were given all the furnishings to our home, including a washer and dryer (that's another long story to be told elsewhere!). A group of ladies had a baking shower for me and gave me all sorts of staples for our cupboards. One woman gave me a entire spice and herbs set. My mom donated many things from her coupon stockpile. The only furnishings we bought were a sofa and chair for our living room which we found in the paper for $100. That was our only out of pocket expense to furnish and start up our entire home. All this might sound rather superficial, but it really made a difference. By spending so little out of pocket to start our marriage, we were able to save that much more to put away for future expenses. This benefitted us enormously in the years to follow. It also taught us to be grateful and thankful for what we had. We learned early on that having nice things doesn't make a good marriage nor do things guarantee an happiness. We were happy as could be with our hand-me-down furniture and Walmart white dishes. And you know what? We still have and use almost all of what we began our marriage with. And, we're happy with it. ...To be continued. ------------------------------- To join in Frugal Friday, just post a frugal tip or post on any subject of frugality on your blog, link to this post in your post, and then post the direct link to your Frugal Friday post below. Any link or post which does not adhere to these rules will be deleted at my discretion. If you do not have a blog, but have a tip to share, please post your tip in the comments section. And, remember the rules: Must be family-friendly. Please no posts on frugal Halloween ideas (email me privately if you have any questions on that one!). Thanks! I can't wait to read your tips!
Book review: Seasons of a Mother's Heart
I'm slowly making a dent in my Fall reading stack - 2 down so far, 10 to go! I'm not doing exceptionally well, but at least I'm making some progress! Here's the review on my lastest finished book... Seasons of a Mother's Heart was a book I had gotten almost a year ago and hadn't had too much interest in reading (there are always about 60 books on my shelf calling my name urgently to be read!) until a mother of seven under seven told me she had just finished it and it was one of the best books she had ever read. When experienced moms like her recommend a book, I have to take note. So, the very next week after the recommendation, I cracked it open. Honestly, there wasn't anything earth-shattering about it to me. Maybe it's because I'm still a young mom, or maybe it's because I've not started homeschooling yet. I think there was a lot of encouragement in its pages, I was just hoping for something more. More of what, I'm not sure. Maybe more of something that would speak to me right where I am now as a young mom. I think the book is better suited for moms with a few more years than I as a mom under their belt. I'm guessing that if I read this again in about five years from now, it will have a lot more meaning. I've not reached the "homeschool mom burnout stage" yet. However, I did find Sally's vision for motherhood inspiring and encouraging. Her words challenging moms to focus on what is important - developing relationships with your children, finding joy in the little things, delighting in your calling as a mother - blessed me and I found myself readily agreeing with her take on a parent having "sympathy" towards their child (Wondering what that is all about? I guess you'll just have to read for yourself!). If you are a mom feeling burdened and worn out in your mothering or homeschooling and need some fresh encouragement, I'm sure this book would be a great blessing to you. I still liked The Mission of Motherhood a lot more, though. I think it's probably just me, though. I'm hoping to make time to read The Ministry of Motherhood in the near future and have heard that one is even better. We shall see!
Rag-rugging
 My current new skill I'm working on perfecting: rugging (click to enlarge)! It takes a bit of time to figure out how to start the rug and do the stitches well, but once you get it, it's really quite simple. After I finish this round rug, I want to learn how to make an oval rug (a little bit more difficult to do, from what I've read). What better way to use old toothbrushes and recycle old fabrics - turn them into rugs! Waste not, want not!
Frugal cloth diapers and potty-training
So, you all know I'm a big proponent of frugality around here and you also know I am a big fan of cloth diapers. However, I never realized you could mix the two and come up with frugal cloth diapers. Thanks to reader Ashley for sending me the link to this really brilliant idea for making cloth diapers yourself out of - get this - old clothes you already have. I think even our great, great grandmothers might be impressed with this one (er, maybe they made it up!). The website includes patterns and all sorts of helpful information. I can't even sew most basic things, so it's beyond my ability, but I know that many of you domestic queens could whip up a diaper wardrobe in an afternoon. Talk about a cheap and ingenuitive. I love it! If someone actually does this, please report back and tell us how it worked out for you. Oh, and while we're on the subject, for all you cloth-diapering mommies, tell us what diapers you like and how you've gone about obtaining them frugally (if you have!). Using cloth diapers has saved us a boatload of money, but I know the initial investment can seem rather forboding to some. We were given all of our diapers, so I really didn't have many excuses for not trying them out. And, I got hooked. We're almost done with diapers for Kathrynne (she's in panties pretty much full-time except for naptime and nighttime and away-from-home-time), but we definitely plan to do cloth in the future should God see fit to bless us with more children. Speaking of potty-training (not meaning to bring up a dozen different subjects here, my brain is just so "rabbit-traily" sometimes!), anyone have great tips for potty-training during naptimes and nightimes? I'm planning to tackle away-from-home-time next, but I'm already trying to come up with a game plan for naptime and then bedtime, so experienced mothers do share your secrets!
No surprise at all
Thanks to reader Jessica for sending along this article:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - It is by no means dead, but for the first time, a new survey has shown that traditional marriage has ceased to be the preferred living arrangement in the majority of US households. The shift, reported by the US Census Bureau its 2005 American Community Survey, could herald a sea change in every facet of American life -- from family law to national politics and its current emphasis on family values. The findings, which were released in August but largely escaped public attention until now because of the large volume of data, indicated that marriage did not figure in nearly 55.8 million American family households, or 50.2 percent. More than 14 million of them were headed by single women, another five million by single men, while 36.7 million belonged to a category described as "nonfamily households," a term that experts said referred primarily to gay or heterosexual couples cohabiting out of formal wedlock.
Next thing people will want to marry their dog and call that a "family."
The article goes on to say a few paragraphs down: Douglas Besharov, a sociologist with the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said it is difficult for the traditional family to emerge unscathed after three and a half decades of divorce rates reaching 50 percent and five decades out-of-wedlock births. "Change is in the air," Besharov said in a recent interview with the State Department journal called US Society and Values. "The only question is whether it is catastrophic or just evolutionary." He predicted that cohabitation and temporary relationships between people were likely to dominated America's social landscape for years to come. "Overall, what I see is a situation in which people -- especially children -- will be much more isolated, because not only will their parents both be working, but they'll have fewer siblings, fewer cousins, fewer aunts and uncles," the scholar argued. "So over time, we're moving towards a much more individualistic society."
When the marriage vows don't mean anything and no-fault divorce is an easy out, when it's more cost-effective and less entangling to live together and society readily accepts those in these sorts of relationships (in fact, it's no longer PC to say "spouse" we have to say "significant other"!), when teenagers are raised in an "it's-all-about-me" world, are these findings of any surprise? Oh that God would raise up a host of young couples dedicated to following after His ways, not the world's ways, to be a shining example to our sin-darkened culture that there is a better way! We don't have to follow along in this heart-rending madness.
Coupons, cupboards, and cookie dough
Kathrynne and I ran out to do a little bargain shopping at Kroger, CVS, and Walgreens before we picked Jesse up from a three-day business trip last night. I only had a short amount of time, but we managed to spend $6 out of pocket to save $125 and we'll be getting $41 back in rebates from CVS and Walgreens. Not bad I say. Most of our loot was in the form of toothpaste, deoderant, and shampoo. I had to rearrange cupboards last night to be able to fit it all in, though! But, the good thing is that it forced me to finally break down and make up an organization system for my stockpile. One cupboard for toothpaste, one cupboard for hair stuff, one cupboard for cleaners, etc. It feels better to have a place for everything and everything in it's place, rather than trying to stuff it all into two cupboards! On a different note, do any of you make up cookie dough and freeze it for fresh cookies later? Kathrynne and I made some up yesterday as a trial run and just used our normal whole-wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was wondering if I was supposed to do anything differently if I were freezing it. Anyone know? I guess we'll find out!
Halloween: Harmless fun?
I've been contemplating and debating opening a can of worms on my blog (something I seem to be really good at doing around here!) for the past few weeks. I wasn't sure whether it was the right time or the right thing to do and yet, when I received the following email, I decided to broach the topic. C wrote: I noticed in your frugal friday post you said not to list frugal Halloween tips. I'm glad you take a stand against that. I am wondering if you have any ideas for how we can avoid this "holiday." Before our daughter was born, we used to just find ways to be away from home that night so that we wouldn't have to deal with trick or treaters, pranks, etc. but now that she's here, I'm not sure what to do. Usually she goes to bed at 7 or 7:30, so being out late might not be the best thing for her. In another wrinkle, Halloween is my mother-in-law's birthday and she LOVES to celebrate Halloween. She doesn't understand why I don't, and has already given me a bib that says "My first Halloween" for our daughter to wear! My husband thinks that although we don't want to celebrate Halloween, we need to be careful to still be honoring to his parents, and I agree, but this is a big challenge this year. What do you think? If you have time, it would be great if you did a post asking how your readers handle Halloween. -C. Are you ready for this? Buckle your seat belts, hold on to your hats, and get the tomatoes ready to fly: I don't think Christians should celebrate Halloween. Period. Dot. Game over.I understand some of you (maybe many of you) are not of the same persuasion. However, I would like to ask you to consider why. Does Halloween help you to embrace holiness and purity and Godliness in your life? Does it encourage your children to desire good or evil? I'm not opening up the floor for a debate on whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. If you disagree with me, search the Scriptures and seek the Lord's direction. I also encourage you to read this wonderful post by Catherine. If you take issue with my statements or want to share with me a Biblical rebuttal, feel free to email me. I will not, however, post comments of this nature. For those of you who do not celebrate this "holiday," (I hate to use that terminology because there is most certainly nothing "holy" about it!) do you provide your children with an alternative, or do you just avoid it altogether? I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'd also love to hear any creative ideas for using Halloween for witnessing. This was something we've done in years past. We would make up bags for the children who would knock on our door with homemade popcorn balls and children's Gospel tracts. I know of another family who hands out tracts specifically which share the Gospel using Halloween as a springboard. They say in the tracts that if the children want to come back at a later date, they have a special treat to give them.
Guest post: Praising through pain
Guest post by Dana M. - Praising through PainDana writes: I live with my husband and 7-year-old daughter in Alabama. I lost my right leg to a very rare form of cancer at 16. Because of the chemo, we weren't "supposed" to be able to have children. God blessed us with our miracle, Gracen. We homeschool her and she is truly a joy to us. I have been writing a blog for a little over a year--it's mostly ramblings about what's going on with us. I have tried to write some "meatier" things as well. I wrote a piece about pain last night and my husband suggested that I send it to you. I don't know if it would be of any help to anyone else, but if it would, I'd like for them to be able to read it! My maternal grandfather owned a butane company. He would go out in all kinds of weather on service calls. When my Mom was a little girl, she would go along with him sometime. They would have to go out in the dark, in fields that were caked with mud with knee deep ruts cut through. The wheels of the old butane truck would get stuck and throw mud. Mom was scared that they would be stuck with no one to help them for days. Papaw would always say, "We're going to make it, got to make it." Mom says they always did make it. Pain is kind of like those fields caked with mud and knee deep ruts. Whether it be physical, emotional, or mental; pain is dark and can make you feel as though you aren't going to make it. Most of us don't like to talk about or even think about pain. As a society, we've gotten pretty good at masking the symptoms. However much we don't like to think about it, there is one sure fact: we will all have pain at some point in our lives. It is part of living in a fallen world. Our pastor preached a sermon on Psalm 150 several weeks ago. One of the points that stuck with me was praising God in everything and with everything. I had to think on that a while--especially with regard to pain. I know pain--I know it well. Literally, every step that I take hurts. Sometimes the pain is indescribable. I don't question why--well, not a lot anyway--I know why. For 20 years, I've walked on something "unnatural" so to speak. The prostheses I've had in the past weren't great; technology has finally made some great strides but not before damage was done. I hurt in the morning, during the day, and at night. Pain brings out lots of emotions in people. Some carry it almost as a martyr's badge of honor--either by pretending that they don't have pain and everything is "fine" or by making sure that everyone knows that they have pain! Some ignore it in the hopes that it will simply go away. Others may try to do enough good to outweigh the bad in the hopes that it will simply disappear. Some get bitter and lash out at everyone. But, praise? Not exactly an emotion we think of in the context of pain. You see, praise has to have an object. We have to praise someone or something. Are we going to praise someone or something for whatever kind of pain we find ourselves in? The short answer is yes. We are going to praise someone. We may praise ourselves (secretly or otherwise) for being able to bear the pain. We may praise the doctors or medicine who may be able to give temporary relief. We will praise--it is what we are designed to do. Maybe the rub comes when we have to say who we praise. Psalm 150 doesn't leave any doubt--and there is no exception clause. There are many times that I am tempted to join Frodo in Lord of the Rings and "wish that this had never come to me." But, I always think of the alternative. Cancer could have won in 1985. This path is probably not the one I would have chosen (had I had the option to choose!) but I am incredibly thankful that I didn't choose the path for my life. In light of all this roaming about in my mind, my question became am I worthy of the path (and pain) that I walk? Philippians 1:27 says, "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel." Then verse 29: "For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but to also suffer for His sake. Now, I know that Paul was talking to the Philippian church about persecution and such, but if we are to praise God in all things--and rejoice and be thankful--then it seems that we have to consider whether we are worthy of the path He has put us on. I don't mean worthy in the sense of worth but worthy in the sense of conduct. Are my actions to my pain worthy unto Christ? Crying out to Him to relieve the pain--even as Paul did but accepting in His grace if the pain remains or gets worse--and living, walking and trusting in that grace to sustain me. Am I able to do that? Not a chance. It is then that I am so thankful for Christ's words to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2 Corinthians 12:9) -by Dana M. Visit her blog, Haven's Torch.
Input requested: Homemade baby wipes
I know that you have posted about cloth diapering in the past but have you ever put up recipes for homemade baby wipes? I'm looking to do this when #3 arrives in December but I'm reading mixed reviews about them, i.e. mold can develope on the wipe. Maybe some of your readers would have some tips to prevent this? I'm really looking forward to trying this but I don't want to be let down when it might not work. -Diana Thanks for a great question, Diana. I've never made my own baby wipes, though I had intentions to when I was a brand-new mom. We received a huge box of baby wipes as a gift, in addition to some other packs, and I've never run out! I have used cloth wipes before and love those, but I didn't use them all the time, only part of the time since sometimes it was more convenient to use the other wipes I had on hand (especially when we're out an about). I just finished up the baby wipes right before beginning potty-training in earnest, and now, when I need to use wipes, I use flushable wipes which I got, surprise (!), for free with coupons. That said, I'm pretty confident there are at least a few readers who use or have used homemade wipes. Anyone want to share your experiences? Recipes? If you use cloth wipes, did you make your own or buy them somewhere? Do you just wet them down with water before using, or do you use some type of homemade solution in a spray bottle? C'mon moms, share with us newbies what has worked for you!
God is big enough
I started reading Girl Talk yesterday. I'll save a lengthier review until I finish the book but I just had to mention how good it has been so far. If you are a mom wanting to encourage your daughter on her journey in Biblical womanhood, you will find much encouragement through its pages. Chapter 7, on having faith as a mother, really spoke to my heart. Carolyn talked about the one thing she would do if given the opportunity to parent her three grown daughters again. What was it? She would trust God more. So simple, and yet so profound. As a young mom of a daughter, I needed to hear this chapter. I've already found myself often worrying, "Am I doing enough? Am I going to end up being a terrible mom and thus be responsible for a rebellious daughter?" And so on and on. As I read this chapter, God convicted me how much of my anxiety is a result of me trying to do things in my own strength. Sure, maybe I have great intentions, but trying to follow through with them in my own strength will get me nowhere. God is big enough to be trusted for everything in my life - including my parenting inadequacies. God is big enough to be trusted with my child and her future. The chapter closed with this profound quote by Charles Spurgeon: "As for His failing you, never dream of it--hate the thought.The God Who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end."
Couponing with The Grocery Game
A coupon story submitted by reader Gina which I thought you all would enjoy: In March 2006, I joined www.GroceryGame.com. It has been on the news several times recently. A four week trial is only $1. After that it is $10 for eight weeks (one list store). While some people balk at the thought of paying to save money, my husband and I find it money well spent. I can easily recoup the $10 paid in one week. The listmaker matches the sale ads to current coupons that have been in recent Sunday paper. I tried to do the work myself and it took nearly two hours. As a homeschooling Mom, paying someone else such a small amount of money to do the work for me, is worthwhile.
For the first 12 weeks with The Grocery Game, your weekly spending probably won't go down much. However you'll be bringing way more home for that amount of money. The goal is a 12 week stockpile of the foods your family uses often. Most items at the grocery store go on sale every 12 weeks. Some things cycle more often (cereal comes to mind) but if you are loyal to a particular brand, it will probably only appear on the list every 12 weeks. I think the key to seeing really big savings with the list is to not be brand loyal. After the 12 weeks is up...the savings gets HUGE!
I am currently saving about 60-70% off shelf price. Our family of four (two adults, 13 yr old boy and 6 yr old girl) eat on about $300 a month. I have so much stockpiled that I only shop twice a month now. I just don't have the freezer or cupboard space anymore. I converted the closet in our schoolroom into more pantry storage! We have never been able to afford name brands or new fun products but I'm saving so much we can indulge occasionally. Before the Grocery Game, the only meat I bought was chicken or hamburger. A roast or steak was a rare treat. In my freezer right now, I have pork chops, steak, roast, pork loin and ham. We live like kings but for a fraction of the cost.
I organize my coupons in a zippered 3 ring binder. I bought baseball card sleeves at Walmart($1.44 for ten). I divided the sections similar to your coupon box. My dividers are bright yellow cardstock. The cardstock holds up well and I can easily see the divisions. Also in my binder is a calculator, extra pen, rebate forms and restaurant coupons. When the Grocery Game list is published on Monday night, I click off what I want, pull the appropriate coupons and we're ready to roll. It takes me about 15 minutes to prepare my coupons and list. Since I don't need the seat in the cart anymore, I prop the binder there and file the coupons I'm using in another pocket in the binder. It takes me about 30 minutes to shop. If we run out of anything that hasn't made it to the list, I get it at Walmart. I buy milk and produce at Sam's.
Can you tell couponing is my hobby? For me couponing takes a necessary and often dreaded job and makes it fun.
Gina, Ohio
Feel free to submit your couponing stories to me for use in my upcoming ebook and for possible posting on my blog. Email me or post it here as a comment. Let's help each other be wise and frugal homemakers!
Input requested: Post-partum blues
Many times, I get emails from people asking questions which I cannot answer or have no experience in. Today I got one from a Christian mother of a three-week-old (who has several other children as well), who is dealing with severe anxiety. She is desperate for help and encouragement and I have no experience with this and thus, no advice or help to give. I am sure that at least a few of you here have experienced something of this nature and could give some advice and encouragement to this woman. If you would be willing to help this woman and give her some encouragement, could you email me? biblicalwomanhood{@}sbcglobal.net Thanks in advance for reaching out to another mother in this way.
eek!
For those of you who know me in real life and come to our home sometimes, you might want to skip over this post, or at least consider yourself warned...I went to bed last night feeling so accomplished - finally, I had gotten the house cleaned from top to bottom and all the laundry almost finished. Wow! It felt so good, after seemingly being behind on these things for a few weeks. How nice to wake up to a clean house this morning... er, at least I thought it was clean. Mid-morning, I called my husband just to chat for a few moments while I was cleaning the kitchen up. While talking with him, I noticed something under our dining room table and went to investigate (thinking it was some spilled food or something). All of a sudden my husband hears me let out a shriek... There was a mouse - a DEAD mouse - lying under my dining room table. Eeeek! It took me a few moments to process it. How would a mouse not only make it into our house but then lay there and die right. under. my. dining. room. table? My husband couldn't believe his ears when I told him this. He asked me a few times, "Are you sure it is a mouse? Are you sure it is dead?" Yep, I wasn't hallucinating. Bless his heart, my husband drove home from work right away to not only rid our home of the mouse and disinfect the area, but also to investigate all the surrounding area to make sure there weren't anymore. I told him repeatedly that I'd do it myself, but he didn't want me to have to mess with it. Aren't I spoiled? So much for the clean house. I've spent most of today re-cleaning. It's probably pointless, but at least it makes me feel like I'm doing something to proectively guard against more creaturely intrusions!
Frugal Fridays: Simply Centsible Living - Part 1
 My Supermarket savings series was so much fun to do, I've decided to embark on another series... Welcome to my Simply Centsible Living series which will chronicle our experiences living on a very limited budget the last few years and share very personally and practically how it is possible not only to survive on a small budget but how you can thrive and not feel deprived! I know many of you have written to me and asked how we managed to make it through law school debt-free on a part-time income. Without a shadow of a doubt, it was the grace of God. Not only did He provide for our daily bread, but He also gave us ingenuity and creativity to make that bread stretch farther! This series will give some what I feel are the nuts and bolts of budgeting and frugal living based upon what we learned through our experiences and will hopefully be beneficial to many of you who also feel strapped financially. And, I'm also hoping it might also encourage those of you who think you can't live on one income to rethink whether there is a way you can make it happen. I'd really like to hear from more of you on this. I know we are most certainly not the only ones who have gone through lean times. If you'd like to share your story to be included, please email me. I want to start off this series by sharing an email I received from Sarah recently: I am a 26-year-old wife to Darrell and mother to four great kids. I work on Fridays for a Christian dentist for about 6 hours. Darrell works half days that day so our kids go to his cousin's home for three hours. As for our budget, the biggest thing we have done to save money is not buy a house. Our family of six lives in a three bedroom mobile home that we bought for $8000 when we were first married as we did not want to bring any debt into our marriage. By living in the mobile home, our lot rent is $150 monthly and our utilities are extremely low. Would I prefer a house? Absolutely. This is one way that we are sacrificing to allow me to stay at home. Also space here is very limited (about 980 sq. ft). This cuts down the amount of stuff we can have as there isn't any place to put it. My husband drives an old car so with low miles so he has no car payment. We do have a car payment for my minivan that is under $200 a month. My niece is an only child and a year older than two of my daughters, and we get her nearly new hand-me-downs. We request clothing for gifts for our kids as well. On the rare occasions I need to buy clothing for my kids, I head off to Bergner's department store. I have found them to have the best sales (this week is 85% off) and they send coupons in the mail and in the paper good for 15-20% off regular, sale, or clearance prices. I was able to purchase name brand polo type tops for my oldest daughter for $3 each and name brand jeans for $5. We shop at garage sales every Saturday and have found outstanding deals there as well. We shop for gifts for the holidays at these sales (my dad collects Star Trek memorabelia, we found a collector plate with stand for $4 that is valued at $60 at a moving sale). We take trips close to home instead of long vacations. Many places have free or reduced admission days throughout the weekdays. I will say we do eat out on a regular basis. I have a list of places where kids eat free. My husband and I typically choose the cheapest meal and get water to drink. All six of us eat out for about $12. We use the library to rent free videos. Our kids usually get gift certificates for the childrens museum in our town or for things like ice skating or ballet lessons. We have garage sales at my sister-in-law's | | |
