Written by Erin Odom, Contributing Writer

My family operates on a tight budget. And since having children, there hasn't been much--if any--room in that budget for adding to mine or my husband's wardrobe.

But just over a year ago I discovered a way to increase my wardrobe--without spending any money: a women's clothing exchange. 

Image by agador

My Sister's Closet

A local church where I attend a weekly Bible study has hosted a women's clothing exchange called My Sister's Closet for several years. Although I never would have voiced that I didn't have the extra money for new clothes, the idea of the exchange excited me. It wasn't a program for a certain income level. My Sister's Closet is open to all women involved in the church's women's ministry--whether they be church members or Bible study attendees. 

And the atmosphere for the yearly event is like that of a girl's night out with friends. Women bring clothing a few days before and volunteers sort and hang the clothing. There are three rooms of clothing (sizes small, medium and large) and one room full of accessories and shoes.

Each woman is allowed to choose a certain number of items--depending on the amount of donations. There are even dressing rooms, so the ladies can make sure the clothing fits before they take them home.

I was so humbled and grateful after the first time I participated in My Sister's Closet. I was 9 months pregnant and felt very sure I wouldn't be fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothing any time soon. Yet, I knew I would need some clothes for the in-between stage. I walked away from the night with designer jeans, sweaters, blouses, a dress, and even some maternity clothes for my newly-pregnant sister-in-law. 

Image by shellgrand

Starting Your Own Women's Clothing Exchange

Are you intrigued by the idea of a women's clothing exchange? Why not start your own?! You can form one with:

• a group of friends
• the women's ministry at your church (or combine several local churches)
• a mom's group, or
• even your co-workers!

While developing a program that will truly help you increase your wardrobe--without spending any money, keep these tips in mind:

1. Decide on participation requirements (if any).

Must participants donate clothes in order to receive them? If so, will you require a certain number of donations? Must participants be church/group members, or will you open the exchange to the public? Must participants serve volunteer hours in order to benefit from the event?

Image by theswedish

2. Secure a location.

If your church women's ministry is hosting the event, then the logical location will be your church building. Other possible venues could be your workplace, a school gym, a community center or even at a participant's home.

3. Organize the clothing and accessories.

Part of what made me feel so special was that My Sister's Closet was very attractively organized. Donations weren't just thrown together or scattered all over the floor like in a garage sale. Think about consignment shops or consignment sales.

Make each women feel as if she really is spending a day with friends shopping. My Sister's Closet organizes the clothes according to size and season. Designate racks for dresses, skirts, blouses, pants, coats, maternity, pajamas, workout clothing, jeans, etc.

4. Provide a dressing room.

Since the clothing is free, there are no returns. There will only be so many clothes to go around, so ensure that each woman leaves with items that she can feel confident will compliment her body.

5. Determine what to do with leftovers.

Will donors be allowed to reclaim their items, or will you pick a local charity to receive the excess?

What are some ways you have increased your wardrobe without spending any money? Have you ever participated in a women's clothing exchange?

 Top image by jnnfrmarie

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Knowing and Using What’s in Your Freezer
• Living Simply Saturday: “A Mother’s Work is Never Done”
• Clothing Kids Without Breaking the Bank: Part 2
• Clothing Kids Without Breaking the Bank: Part 3

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If you haven't yet read my initial post, What I Would Feed my Family on a Monthly Budget of $250, I would suggest going there first, and then coming back to this post.

First, Some Answers to Your Questions

1. No, this isn't how we regularly eat. I did mention that in the other post, but I want to say it again for clarity. This is make-believe. Our usual grocery budget (which includes about $30-40 of household and toiletries) is $450, NOT $250. The point of doing this was to see IF I could do it and to figure out HOW I would do it, to challenge myself and to encourage and help those who are at a point where they don't have the luxury of upping their budget. In the past, we did eat very similarly to this, but our budget has since been raised now that we are not as strapped as we were.

2. Does our family actually consume this little dairy? No. We would and could (and used to), but we don't anymore. We drink or eat more like the equivalent of 1 gallon of dairy per week (in the form of raw milk, yogurt or kefir), not 1/2 a gallon as outlined in my budget. This is an option that we now have due to a higher budget, and we thoroughly enjoy it, plus I think it's good for us. We also eat more cheese than the other budget contained (we eat 5-6 lbs per month, not 4), probably about the same amount of butter (4 lbs), and then also some extras like sour cream and cream.

3. What is flaxseed egg replacer and how do you use it? See this post for more details.

4. How would you do this when you have food allergies (like wheat or gluten), or when you're on a special diet, like GAPS?

Here are a few helpful posts for those trying to cut costs when eating grain-free:

• Frugal Living with Food Sensitivities
• Building a Grain Free Pantry
• Using Four Frugal Foods from the Produce Section Creatively 

Our family has eaten wheat free for many, many years and this is how I made it work on a tight budget-- we would still eat the other grains I mentioned (oats, brown rice, rice pasta, etc.) plus starches like potatoes and sweet potatoes and squash. For bread, I made mostly sourdough with a combination of rye and kamut, and then also some yeasted breads using only kamut or sometimes adding other inexpensive flours like barley. I bought all of my grains in bulk from the food co-op that we order from to keep it cost effective. Of course, this would cost a bit more than the wheat flour I used as an example in my last post (25 lbs kamut for me, for example, is $19.55 and 25 lbs of rye is $11.65), but I saved money in other areas of the budget to help make it work.

For those who are gluten free, I would give you the same advice. Use different flours (brown rice, sorghum, millet, tapioca starch, etc.) and buy them in bulk, as well as the necessary extras like xanthan gum for binding. Make your own GF mixes to store in your pantry(never buy them- that makes it so much more expensive). You will probably spend even a bit more than I spent doing wheat-free, but it's still do-able. I wish I had more and better suggestions for you, but we have rarely eaten gluten free, so I'm not particularly experienced in this issue. Perhaps you can help each other out in the comments?

Snacks

Several people asked me what we would eat for snacks on this budget. I'll be honest in saying that it would be a struggle to eat decent snacks. Here are a few things that I would make:

• Granola bars
• Extra muffins
• Bread/toast or tortillas with butter or peanut butter
• Possibly cheese slices, if there was enough
• Any extra raw veggies or fruit that weren't used in other meals (but I know there wouldn't be a lot of leftovers)

All the Other Things I Would Do to Save More Money

My initial budget was based primarily on frugal eating and careful planning, which anyone can do. Now I'm going to share with you some of the many other techniques that you can use to find more room in that lean budget, buy better quality foods, and more of them.

Shop my local produce market

I love my produce market. For those local to me, I shop at 2 EE's. They carry a mix of their own, locally-grown and either unsprayed or organic produce in season, and then they supplement this with other local produce, as well as plenty of imports for those who want them. My market in particular has great prices on most of their local and seasonal items, but I find that produce markets in general are MUCH cheaper than any conventional grocery store, and truthfully, I buy hardly any produce from regular stores.

Aside from their better prices on these local and seasonal items, I also purchase bulk cases at a discount. In my $250 scenario, I spent $4.98 on 5 lbs of apples. At my market, I could buy a 20 lb case for between $9-15 (between late summer and early spring, anyways), depending on the variety I chose. That's a huge difference. I can also buy things like potatoes, carrots, onions, as well as seasonal fruit (apples and pears in fall and winter, tree fruits like peaches and plums in summer, plus tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers and all sorts of foods for preserving in summer as well), all in cases of at least 10 lbs and up to 50 lbs.

On a regular basis, I spend about $35-40 every two weeks at this market, shopping mostly seasonal foods or sales, a few discount items, and then a few things we just enjoy, and I walk away with 3-4 shopping bags stuffed with produce. The produce in my initial post cost $36.60. I could have spent the same or slightly more at the produce store and walked away with more and a better selection, especially if I...

Image from raw+peace+love

Buy From the Discount Shelf

I can't tell you what a difference this makes. Did you know that most stores or markets have a cart or a section where they put fruits and vegetables that are very ripe or just starting to go bad, but still have plenty of life left?

We North Americans tend to have a fairly spoiled view of what "good" produce looks like. If a pepper starts to get a soft spot, we're more likely to throw the whole thing out than to cut around the bad spot. If the lettuce has some bad looking pieces on the outside, we might be tempted to compost the whole head, instead of peeling off the bad parts until we get further in. Honestly, I think we're way too picky and that's why we waste so much food.

When I buy bags off of the discount shelf, I expect that I will cut away and throw out some part of the bag, but it's usually minimal. I always look the bags over carefully before choosing which ones I want. There are a few things that I won't buy discounted, because I know they are routinely not worth it (like already soft avocados- in my experience, more bad than good).

Overall, though, I pay at least 50% less (and often much cheaper) for produce that will still go a long ways. I have a friend who consistently buys the bulk of her produce from the discount shelves at various stores, and I know that she spends much less on produce than even I do (since I only buy some of mine this way, not all). I think that our family still eats a little more fresh produce overall and we enjoy more variety and choice, but their family certainly isn't suffering in any way and they still eat an excellent, whole foods diet with fresh fruits and vegetables.

I know that discounted foods aren't available absolutely everywhere- just yesterday someone was telling me that where they're from in Illinois, they just don't see these discounted items. But, they are available far more than you think. Ask the managers at the stores where you shop where they put discounted items or what days they mark them down. If you never see items already discounted, you can also just ask. Just because it isn't marked down doesn't mean it can't be. Trust me on this.

Buy Other Discounted Items

Produce isn't the only place to save in this regard. Many stores will also discount their dairy (yes, including organic or even raw), breads, meats, fish, eggs, and sometimes dry goods and regular grocery. Learn which stores do, learn how and when they mark them down, and then try to shop according to those patterns.

Don't be afraid to buy near-expiry items. Unless they really don't look good, they almost always are. Meat or fish can be used within a day or two, or frozen immediately. Same with milk, pasteurized or raw (and after being frozen, it's still great for making yogurt or kefir, for baking, for pouring over cereal or oatmeal, etc.). Yogurt or other cultured dairy usually lasts far beyond the expiry date, as do eggs. Breads can also be frozen and taste just fine once thawed.

Image by bcmom

Use a Natural Foods Co-op or Bulk Store

Although there are sadly few of these in Canada (at least, not in the West where I live), I have found an excellent one that I can buy from and pick up just across the US border. I buy from a co-op called Azure Standard. This is, hands down, my most cost effective option for purchasing any sort of grains (whole or already ground into flour), dry beans and legumes, other baking staples, dried fruits, raw honey, among other things.

The beauty of food co-ops (or natural bulk-foods stores) is that they regularly offer foods in much larger quantities. I buy my dry beans in 5 lb bags, for example, instead of the piddly little 450g bags I used in the $250 scenario. Here's the price difference:

Pinto Beans

• 5 lbs $6.25 (organic are just over $7)
• 450 g (just under 1 lb) $1.88
• 5 bags of 450g each (to equal 5 lbs) = $9.40

By buying in bulk, I am saving over $3. If I only want to save a little over $2, I can get organic instead. This makes a huge difference in your overall budget!

Take Advantage of Special Store Deals

The particular store that I used as the basis of my $250 budget actually runs a fantastic promotion each month. The first Monday and Tuesday of every month are Family Days. Depending on how much you spend ($25, $50, or $100) your discount goes up. When I spend $100, I save 15%.

In other words, I could have taken that $250 budget, and by buying at least $100 worth of it at the beginning of the month in one shopping trip, taken an immediate $15 off my total. That alone would give me the extra I needed to be able to buy more snack foods, or to help with extras like spices, yeast, baking soda, etc.

This is just one example of a store promotion. Every store is totally different. Maybe your store offers really excellent in-store coupons that you can use. Maybe you get a gift card back when you spend a certain dollar amount on particular days. If the store that you regularly shop at doesn't offer promotions like this, see if you can find one that does and make the switch.

Image by jshontz

Include Home-Grown and Preserved Food

When I made that $250 budget, I did it from scratch, not including anything I already had in my house.

The truth of the matter is, I have jars and jars and jars of preserved foods up above my cupboards. Among them are:

• Apple sauce made with gleaned (free) apples
• Apple jelly (made with the same apples)
• Strawberry jam (made with cheap $1 jam berries bought in season)
• Peaches (I bought cases at the end of the peach season, for $0.60 per lb)
• Dried beans, zucchini and tomatoes (all free from the excess of my garden)
• Salsa (with my excess garden tomatoes, and discounted peppers and onions, made last summer)

I know, you're not going to be growing or preserving much at this very moment (and neither am I). But winter is a great time to start thinking about what you might want to grow or preserve during this upcoming spring and summer season.

If these posts were written in summer, I could also include plenty of fresh produce from my garden that we would eat with meals and snacks, instead of needing to buy as much produce. Though I certainly don't grow everything our family eats, even with a handful of garden boxes, a few containers and a very small in-ground plot, I grow enough that we only buy produce minimally during the growing season. I can't think of a better way to include more fresh, nutrient-dense, organically-grown produce in a tight budget!

There's So Much More to Say

Truly. I could ramble on about this subject all day (and I will just a little bit more, on Monday). Writing posts like these are so hard for me, because a post just feels so short and there's so much more I want to say.

In fact, I did say it. I wrote an entire book on this topic in detail. It's called Real Food on a Real Budget: How to Eat Healthy for Less.

If you want to really delve deeper into the details and techniques of cutting down your budget without compromising the quality of food that you eat, I think you'll find it immensely helpful. If you want to focus first on learning to carefully think through and plan out your meals like I did in my initial $250 budget post, then you might want to start with my book Plan It, Don't Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan. 

What about you? What other types of techniques do you use to take a tight budget and stretch it even farther?

Top image by USDAGOV

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Q&A- My Grocery Budget, Part 2

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*After you read this post, be sure to read the second post in this series, with thoughts on how I would improve upon this budget.*

I had way too much fun writing this post.

I hinted on Facebook last week that I was working on a post detailing what I would buy if I could only spend $250 a month for our family of 5 (we currently spend $450, although that does include some household goods/toiletries, which my $250 budget doesn't).

My goal? To prove that you can still eat real, whole, nourishing foods even on a tight budget and while living in an expensive area.

A few caveats to help you explain what I've done here: 

1. I used Canadian prices. I realize most of you live in the US. These prices should be encouraging, because they are generally more expensive than what you would pay in most US grocery stores.
2. I did this based on an average, popular grocery store chain where I live (Extra Foods/Superstore). Not a discount chain, mind you, but just an average store with decent prices.
3. I didn't use all of the tricks that are usually a part of my repertoire. First, I wanted to see if I could do it with only careful planning and from-scratch cooking. No gardening, backyard chickens, food co-op, preserving, coupons, discounted/near-expiry items, shopping multiple stores for sales, etc. I didn't even use my beloved produce market's prices. I wanted this to relate to anyone.
4. I didn't include any food allergies or special substitutions, but I'll address that a little bit in the next post.
5. I did include eggs from a local hobby farm for $3 a dozen (these are the eggs I actually buy), as well as ground beef and beef bones from a local meat store that offers mostly grass-fed (grain-finished, but otherwise very clean meat) for reasonable prices. I considered using only grocery store meat offerings, but wanted to see if I could keep all of the meat sources (because it's at the top of the food chain) a bit cleaner and most people could find a similar source of meat locally if they were to really look/ask around.

Image by *clairity*

My $250 Budget Grocery Shopping List

Grains

• Whole Grain Rolled Oats- 1 Kg ($2- sale x 2 = $4)
• Organic Brown Rice Pasta- 2 454g packages ($2.79 x 2= $5.58)
• Brown Basmati Rice 4.54 Kg (10 lbs) $12.99 (this would probably last two months)
• Whole Wheat Flour 22 lbs $8.78

Dairy

• Full (whipping) Cream 1 L $4.13
• Whole Organic Milk (not raw) $8.50 per gallon (x2) = $17
• Cheddar Cheese 907 g $8.99
• Mozzarella Cheese 907 g $8.99
• Regular Salted Butter 1 lb $3.29 x 4 = $13.16
• Sour Cream (full fat) 1 L $3.88

Produce

• 20 lb Russet Potatoes (local) $8.98
• 5 lb Ambrosia Apples (local) $4.98
• 5 lbs Carrots $3.48
• 1 Large Celery $1.98
• 1 Large Green Cabbage $2.34
• 1 Broccoli Bunch (3 smaller heads) $0.96 (sale)
• 2 Field Cucumbers (local greenhouse) $0.98 each = $1.96
• 10 lb Navel Oranges $5.96 (sale)
• 3 lbs Yellow Onions $2.48
• Large Bag Baby Spinach $3.48

Image by cookbookman17

Meat/Fish/Protein Sources

• Dry Kidney Beans 450 g bag $2.58
• Dry White Beans 450 g bag $2.28
• Dry Pinto Beans 450 g bag $1.88
• Dry Red Lentils 450 g $2.78
• Canned Wild Pink Salmon 213 g $2 each x 4 = $8 (sale)
• (Mostly) Grass-Fed Local Ground Beef 4 lbs x $2.50 ($10.00)
• Whole Chicken ("free from" antibiotics, hormones, etc.) 1.93 kg (4.25 lbs)  $15.29
• Eggs $3 per dozen x 5 = $15
• Large Bag Local (Mostly) Grass Fed Beef Bones $5

Other Grocery

• Organic Tamari Wheat-Free Sauce (like soy sauce) 296 ml $4.99
• Natural Peanut Butter (no additives or sugar, but not organic) 750 g $5.19
• Unpasteurized (but not local/high quality) honey  1 Kg. $6.00 x 2 = $12
• Tomato Paste 13 oz. cans $1 x 2 = $2
• Diced Canned Tomato 28 oz. cans $1 x 4= $4
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 L $8.99
• Raisins 750g $4.28
• Shredded Coconut 400g $3.38
• Walnut Pieces 400 g $5.78
• Bulk Flax Seed 500 g $1.20

Grand total = $237.17 

Image by victoriachan

Meals That I Would Make:

Would there be much extra? Nope. By the end of the month, I would be down to slim pickings and creative cooking. Employing more of the techniques I talk about next time would help me to purchase a greater quantity and variety of food to make the cooking a little easier.

Image by stevendpolo

Why I Chose These Foods

What would you feed your family if you had to seriously cut back your budget? Which foods would be a priority and why?

Top image by USDAgov

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Real Food on a Real Budget: Using Cash

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Written by Natalie Klejwa, Contributing Writer

I'm not a child expert or anything. I've had a few babies. I've learned over the years that there is a lot of paraphernalia out there you could purchase or register for to get ready for your new family member, but most of it is completely unnecessary and a total waste of money.

This is my list of the good stuff that I have not regretted purchasing, and some of it I have only recently discovered. I wish I had read a list like this when I was starting out. I'm certain it would have saved me money, headache, and clutter.

Getting Ready for Mama

You need a few things to get through those first few weeks of nurturing a newborn! Here are the basic necessities for Mama:

• Lansinoh Lanolin This is the only thing that solves the cracked, bleeding nipples problem of a nursing mama in those first couple of weeks. The nurses will tell you that you won't have cracked, bleeding nipples if you "nurse right".   I'm fairly certain that's a lie. You very likely will, and for two weeks it will be toe-curling pain. But...just because it hurts to nurse the first couple weeks doesn't mean your nipples have to crack and bleed too. Just apply it to your nipples after every feeding. When I faithfully use lanolin, I avoid a lot of extra trouble. You really don't need it after the first month...but save it for the next baby!

• Wool Nursing Pads Don't bother with disposables. They are crackly and uncomfortable. (Who wants to put paper next to their breasts?) I used cotton pads for several babies, and it was better than disposable...but now I'm turned on to all wool pads. They are expensive, but you only need two pair, one to wear and one to wash, and they will last for all your babies. They soak up a lot of milk, are warm, naturally anti-bacterial, and very comfortable.

• Setting Their Hope in God by Andrew Case This is the book I use every day when I pray for my children. It is simply Scripture written into powerful prayers. Diapering them, feeding them, rocking them to sleep, stimulating their brains...all good things. But the most important time you will spend each day is the time you pray for them. If you want to raise young adults who follow hard after Christ...you'll need the power of God at work in their lives. Start praying now. It will change your own life too! (The Kindle version is only $.99!!)

Image by Caitlinator

Getting Ready For Baby

• White Noise Machine This seriously helps babies sleep better and longer. Think about it. They are used to the white noise inside your womb, and then all of a sudden they're exposed to the total quietness of large, empty spaces. Sudden noises can be very startling and unsettling. If you can make the transition from the womb to the world more seamless, you will be doing yourself and your baby a huge favor. In our home, our rambunctious kids make enough "white noise" to suffice during the daytime. But at night, both Baby and Mama sleep better with the sound of our white noise machine. A loud fan will also do the trick.
  

• Aden & Anais Cotton Muslin Swaddle Wraps Once I discovered these little lovelies, I threw out my hundreds of flannel receiving blankets I had collected over the years. These wraps are stretchy, light, and offer a bundled "feel" while still allowing the limbs to move slightly...as if they are in the womb. Because they are light material, they won't overheat your baby. I found three to be plenty, but I do laundry every day when I have a new baby. If you don't have much laundry in your life, you may find that you need a few more for those times when your newborn spits up and has blow outs on them. As I recall, this is a daily occurrence in the life of a newborn.

• Hanna Andersson Night Night Baby Sleepers Other than 10 white, onesie t-shirts, you don't really need any other clothes. I usually buy mine used on Ebay...but my babies have LIVED in these for the first year of their lives. They are soft, comfortable sleepers and adorable, cozy play suits all in one. This brand is by far superior to any other brand I've tried. The zippers are so much better than snaps as far as ease of diaper changing, getting on and off. I don't recommend buying things with snaps or buttons unless you are looking for things to do with your time. (Clothes with collars are also troublesome on a baby.) The cotton is super soft, high quality, and lasts for several babies. Other brands get holes in them or wear through...are thin...too fitted...etc. You can try to save money by going with an inferior product (believe me, I've gone that route more times than I care to remember), but you will end up paying the same price in the long run.

• Cloth Diaper Stash I realize not everyone is a cloth diaper mama.  That's OK.  I adore cloth diapers, and have had a lot of fun trying different kinds, but I've really settled on Bum Genius as my favorite brand.  I loved using the all-in-one pockets for a few years.  Now I'm using the Bum Genius All-In-One Elemental Organic with snaps.  It took a while to get used to the snaps concept, but now I like not messing with pockets and velcro.  I've found 15 to be the perfect number to last for two days.  You have to wash them every 48 hours anyway, so there's no need to be storing more than that.  These will not work for newborns.  I've just used disposable for those newborn days, but I did break down and buy 12 Fuzzi Buns x-small pocket dipes for this next baby while he/she is in the newborn stage.  Mainly because the right cloth diapers handle those newborn blowouts (you know...the ones that go all the way up the back and out the top...somewhat like a volcano?) more gracefully than disposables.

• Ergo Baby Carrier Everyone has their preference when it comes to these. There are some wonderful carriers to choose from!  I would not go with a cheap brand unless you want to ruin your back. Might as well get a high quality carrier, use it for all your babies, and be happy. I'm not as excited about the Ergo for the newborn stage, so for my next baby I'm planning to try a Moby Wrap for those first couple of months. I bought mine from Simply Nurtured (owner, Courtney Dunkin, in a contributor here!)

• Bouncer Seat.  You can't NOT have one of these. If you are trying to save money...skip the swing and just get the bouncer. (Some of them are actually a bouncer/swing in one!) I really like the vibrating bouncers...they usually put a fussy baby to sleep in a pinch. (Wish they made them for big people...)

• Lullaby CDs My personal favorites are An Angel In My Arms by Pearl and Serene, Hidden in My Heart: A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture 1 and 2, Bedtime Prayers: Lullabies and Peaceful Worship by Twila Paris, and Sleep Sound in Jesus by Michael Card.

Image by em 140

Planning for a Growing Baby

• Activity Jumper  I use this from about 4 months until my babies are almost 2! They love to jump in it...and it is a great place to put them when you are doing family devotions with the older kids...or when you want to "contain" them for a period of time (maybe when you are making dinner...)

• Gym Little babies LOVE these. They learn to reach, pull, bat, and grab. You can get cheap ones with no bells and whistles and just add your own toys to them with some links. I use mine every day from the time my babies are about 1 month until they are old enough to crawl away.

• Pack and Play We've gone through three of these over the course of 8 children, mainly because we use them every day until our children are into their toddler years. They are great for travel, playtime, visiting relatives, etc. We even use them as a toddler bed if our toddler type isn't quite ready to transition to a bigger bed when the new baby comes home. HERE is a link to a nice, big square sized one. I'm expecting our ninth baby in a couple of months, and since we are in need of replacing our older, very rickety model, we're planning to get the Graco Modern Pack-N-Play Playard with Changer and Bassinet.  I like to "hole up" in my room with a new baby for a few weeks, and because my current youngest will only be 21 months old and still in need of using our crib in the nursery, this model will enable me to have a changing table and "bassinet" in my room with me...with the added bonus of a future pack and play...all in one.

• Play Yard This is similar to a pack and play, but provides a much larger play space. Once my babies are crawling, this goes up in our family room. It enables the kids to play with the baby in an enclosed area, ensuring that the baby will not crawl off and get into danger. We put this up outside, at the beach, etc. It is one of those contraptions that we definitely could NOT live without. Right now, we have our old pack and play in the play room downstairs so our 19 month old can play "with" the other kids and be safe, while the Play Yard is currently upstairs in the family room where he is safely contained when the kids and family are up in that area.

While there are countless other fun looking, necessary sounding gizmos and gadgets all designed to collect your money and supposedly bring you and your baby happiness, I've found these to be the indispensable items that we use on a daily basis in our home.

You may have noticed a lot of things...like baby bathtubs and baby towels, bumbo seats and nursing pillows...are missing.  I've just found those to be more of a hassle than a help, and storing all the equipment can be tricky if you live in a small space.

Keep it simple on your budget, your storage space, and your sanity, and just enjoy that miraculous bundle of sweetness straight from heaven!

What are your "necessities" for a new baby?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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• A Lament for my Raw Milk
• Q&A: Cloth diapering (even for the faint of heart)- Part 2
• A Trip to the ER

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Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer

In the new year, one of the major resolutions a lot of people make (after losing weight) is getting out of debt.  A lot of families are reeling from their Christmas expenses -- I think I've read the average family spends over $2000 on Christmas each year! Much of that goes onto credit cards.  When you think about taking several months to pay that off at 18% (or more) interest, that's a lot of extra money that you're spending just to pay the interest.  That doesn't even take into account any late fees or other fees if you can't make the payments or something happens.

The best way to avoid all this, of course, is to stop using credit cards entirely.  It sounds a bit scary, no?  But you can do it!

Our Story

When Ben and I got married 5 1/2 years ago, we had quite a bit of debt.  We had his student loans, our mortgage, and around $10,000 in credit card debt.  Yikes!  I was still in college and Ben was freshly out, and we didn't make a lot of money.  Certainly we couldn't do anything about this situation, right?

It was hard.  I won't lie.  Every time we sat down to look at our budget in the first year or so that we were married, we literally did not make enough to cover our basic expenses, let alone pay down our debt.  I worked part time as a private music teacher while going to school full time and I had to.  We scrimped and saved as much as we could (although in retrospect, not as much as we should have).

After a year and a small promotion it got easier.  And we got smarter about our money.  We ate out less, we cooked from scratch more, we bought used clothes and furniture when we bought at all.  We prioritized saving and paying down debt.  Within about a year, our credit card debt was gone.  We cut them up and haven't looked back!

We paid off the last student loan just before we celebrated our 5th anniversary.  All that's left is our mortgage now.  The total amount that we paid off was around $160,000.  Not bad,  in 5 years!

You Can Do It, Too

Does that sound crazy to you?  It's not.  And no, we don't make a ton of money now.  We don't struggle, but we definitely have to budget very carefully.  If we can do it, anyone can.

The first step is to simply cut up those credit cards!  You don't need them -- there are alternatives out there for some uses (like online transactions).

Some of you are saying, "Now, wait a minute...what about my credit score?  Won't it go down?"  Yes.  But experts like Dave Ramsey say that it isn't really a 'credit score,' it is a 'debt score.'  It measures the amount of debt you carry and how you manage it.  If you don't intend to carry around any debt, then you don't need that score (which largely tells businesses whether or not they should lend you money -- i.e., allow you to go into debt).  Sure, there's the issue of renting homes or apartments, but there are debt-free people who are able to do that with no problem (like Jessica Fisher).  Ask her how it's done; I know it's possible.  Besides, the idea that you "need" a credit card is just a myth (seriously, read those myths!).

Not having a credit card is freeing.  There's no one to pay back at the end of the month; my money is mine.  If you're wondering about emergencies, we immediately saved up $1000 and set it aside just for that, and we don't touch it unless we have to (which has only happened once).  After we paid off the rest of our debt, we saved up a three-month emergency fund (three month's living expenses), and aim to save up six months soon.  There's nothing catastrophic that could occur (that I can think of) that wouldn't be covered either by our insurance or our emergency fund.

Benefits to Not Using Credit

1. Paying Less For Purchases -- When you pay in cash, the transaction is finished.  You've paid what the price tag said.  When you use credit, you will pay 18% or more compounding interest, in some cases paying twice as much over time!
2. Spending Less Money -- Studies have shown that when you have to hand over actual cash vs. a credit card, you spend about 20% less.  There's a psychological factor involved here.
3. No Surprise Fees -- If you forget to mail your payment, you'll pay a late fee (which happened to us by accident sometimes, and could to anyone else, too).  There are various other fees involved, or your interest rate could change.  Bills can surprise you.
4. Protection Against Theft -- If you carry cash, and you lose it or get robbed, you've lost that amount of cash.  But if someone steals your credit card, even if you are not liable for their purchases, they could still use it to get additional information about you and you could become the victim of identity theft.  That's not possible if you use cash.
5. Have More Money -- Many millionaires and successful business owners avoid debt (including Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs) because they know that debt doesn't make sense.  Their no-debt, frugal ways have enabled them to have more money and run successful businesses.  Take a lesson from people who are successful: debt's not the way to get ahead!

Doesn't that sound pretty awesome?

Image by Images_of_Money

How to Stop Using Credit

The most important part is determination.  If you start out saying, "I will avoid my credit card...unless I really need it," you will just keep using it.  You will forget your cash, spend a little more than the amount of cash you have (on things you "absolutely need") or there will be an emergency.  Trust me.

For a long time I knew my microwave wasn't good (a topic I'll talk about in a couple months when Keeper of the Home tackles real food basics), but as long as it was in my kitchen, I was tempted to use it.  "I forgot to get meat out to thaw for dinner!  Well...I'll just use it this once, just to thaw the meat a little."  Once I simply put it away and it wasn't accessible, I found other ways and I didn't miss it.  The same thing applies to using credit: it's convenient and if it's available, you'll use it.  If it's not, you'll find other ways.

1. Cut up those credit cards and call the company to cancel.  Do not be wooed to stay by extra rewards or a lower interest rate; debt is debt (no matter the interest rate) and you won't "save" enough, statistics show, to make those rewards points worth it.
2. Create a budget.  If you know where your money is going, then you'll have planned enough to spend on your necessary expenses (and maybe a few indulgences, if your finances allow) and you won't have to worry about falling short. (Check out our current advertising, Pear Budget, for a simple-to-use budgeting and expense-tracking service)
3. Save up an emergency fund.  You need at least $1000 set aside, and you don't touch it unless you have an emergency.  Not being able to have your weekly date is not an emergency.  The car breaking down is.
4. Set up a system to pay down the debt you have.  You may have to tighten that budget -- if you only allotted for your basic expenses, including minimum payments, you'll be in debt forever.  Try to at least double the minimum, but pay as much as you can comfortably allow each month.  Most or all of your "extra" money should go towards debt.  This is temporary but critical.

It has been so amazing not to have debt.  We know that the money coming in each month is ours and that we don't owe anyone (except for what we actually pay for our electric, insurance, and other services).  When we look at whether or not we can afford something, we can usually find a way to work it out (if it's really important) without having to stop paying any other bills.  We have wiggle room in our budget so that unexpected expenses don't scare us and we almost never have to dip into our emergency fund anyway.

You can have that freedom too!  All you have to do is take the tiny step of not using credit cards, then work towards paying them off, and continue on your journey of paying down debt!

There's a new book coming out on this very topic, from Barry Myers (the Mr. behind Stacy Makes Cents).  It's called From Debtor to Better, and details his advice as both a financial counselor and the head of a family who is personally out of debt (they paid off even their mortgage last year).  It's just launched, so if you're interested in learning more about getting out of debt, you may want to check into this resource.

New Ebook!

Yesterday, I just launched my own new ebook!  It's the latest in the Modern Alternative Mama: In the Kitchen series, and it's called Wholesome Comfort: Whole Foods to Warm and Nourish Your Family.  It's all about real comfort foods -- with no white flour, white sugar, or canned soups that are so common in comfort food recipes!

There are many allergy-friendly recipes, too, and each recipe is designated with little symbols if it's egg, dairy, grain, or nut-free, so you can see at a glance if the recipe is safe for your family.  It contains 42 recipes and sells for $10.95.  During launch week, you can get 20% off with WCLAUNCH20 through Friday 1/20.

Do you still use credit cards?  Or are you on a debt-free journey and want to share some advice?  Tell us your story!

Top image by Images_of_Money

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• You Tell Me: How Do You Make a Whole Foods Diet Work on a Budget?
• The how-to of the Savvy Spending Challenge!
• Living Simply Saturdays- I can’t do it all!
• Setting up a cash system- Part 2

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Written by Courtney, Contributing Writer

As mothers raising families in a tough economy, we are always looking for ways to save money and make our dollars stretch a little further. Since the beginning of time, mothers have learned to be wise stewards of the limited resources available to them. More recently, many have turned to coupons to help make the most of their family's hard earned dollars.

Using coupons and taking advantage of sales and other promotions can be valuable tools to help us maximize our family's budget. I consider myself very frugal and love a good deal! However, I'm noticing that this bargain-hunting mindset, when taken to the extreme, can cause us to lose sight of the big picture.

Much of the coupon/bargain advice and tools out there are reasonable, ethical, and sensible, but I've recently stumbled upon a particular hard-core couponing mindset that encourages the idea of "shopping" for free or next to nothing.

I don't doubt this is possible, but I question why this idea is acceptable. It costs money to grow and raise our food and to produce household goods, so who, if not the consumer of these items, is paying the cost?

A Place and a Purpose for Coupons

In theory, coupons are part of a strategic marketing effort put forth by companies wishing to introduce new products, expand their existing products to new markets, or reward and encourage loyal consumers to continue to buy. The idea of saving a few cents is enough to pique the interest of curious consumers and sometimes lure competitors' customers into switching brands in hopes the consumer will be satisfied enough to become loyal to their brand instead.

Coupons in and of themselves are not bad. In fact, they can be valuable tools. For example, combining coupons with store sales can maximize savings for the consumer and profit for both the store and manufacturer of the product, as the sharing of the consumer discount minimizes the loss to both store and manufacturer.

This is a realistic part of a free market and it used to work. Lately, though, coupons have been taken out of their proper context and used unfairly. Take, for instance, the idea of stockpiling a product that can be obtained free or next to no cost when coupons are combined with store sales. Coupons are often designed for single use per customer and stores have been known to over-ride this rule in order to stay competitive, knowing that the majority of consumers are not using coupons this way. (As this idea is beginning to take off in the mainstream, stores are starting to adjust their policies to permit coupon use as intended.)

Another way in which consumers sometimes use coupons unfairly is when they take advantage of a coupon “overage”. Using a high-value coupon on the smallest size permitted on the coupon, they will use the “overage” (the difference between the coupon discount and the price of the product when the price is lower) to help cover the cost of their entire purchase. This is a strategy promoted by extreme couponers to be used even on products for which they have no use..

The extreme bargain-hunting mindset, which has the potential to take on a sense of entitlement, has essentially dissolved the idea of brand loyalty as consumers begin to make purchases based on the current low price instead.

Unfortunately, as brand loyalty dissipates, commitment to consumers in the form of quality and service has become a thing of the past. Many companies are learning that to stay competitive, offering the lowest price is all that matters to many shoppers today, where in the past, quality was an equally important consideration. In the race to provide the most competitive price today, the cheapest possible materials are often used.

Image by Steve Snodgrass

The Consequences

Over time, we've come to accept a mediocre product if it means we save a buck or two. Afterall, why would companies dedicate themselves to sourcing quality materials and ingredients for their products if consumers only care about the lowest price and will switch brands at the drop of a hat? We see this in food, clothing, toys, furniture, other household goods...you name it.

For example, we have forgotten that our grandmothers enjoyed heavy duty appliances that lasted decades, with honest and friendly repairmen to make them work like new again when something broke. Today, we have come to expect our appliances to break down after a few years and even find it normal that the cost of buying a brand new one is usually cheaper than paying someone to fix the broken one! And the cost is not in the cheap replacement parts; it's in the labor (American laborers prefer not to work for next to nothing.)

Clothing that was once sourced from quality fabrics and was handed down from one person to another is neglected in favor of cheap clothes made from poor fabrics and underpaid workers. While some consumers will pay a premium for certain clothing, the value is too often found in the status of the brand name and not the quality of the clothing itself.

Toys used to be passed down from one generation to another, becoming heirlooms full of decades of memories. Today, cheap plastic toys won't even make it through one child, let alone one generation. Some toys break with only hours of play! But we've come to think of this as normal and just buy new toys when old ones break.

There are many types of household goods that are affected by this search for the lowest price, but nowhere is it more evident than with our food supply. Coupons for food are no doubt the most common type of coupon. What is the impact of this and what does this mean for both couponers and non-couponers alike? (Yes, it affects us whether we use coupons or not.)

Image by muffet

From Farm to Table?

There was a time when most people knew the source of their food and many saw first hand where it came from. Today, many meals that appear at the dinner table are a hodge-podge of a variety of ingredients from all over the place, sometimes composed of food-like products that might resemble the molecular structure of plastic more than that of real food.

Many children today don't even understand the farming process and have no idea where their food really comes from, aside from a box at the supermarket. With this loss of awareness also comes loss of culture, taste for real food, and skill in food preparation. And on top of all this, we forego our health and our vitality when we become blindsided in the quest for grocery deals.

It takes a lot of hard work on the part of our farmers to grown healthy food in organic soil and to raise healthy animals in the proper environments. It would be much easier to cram as many animals into one space as possible, providing the cheapest possible feed and giving hormones to grow them bigger and fatter and preventative antibiotics to keep them alive in their less than sanitary living quarters. It would be easier for our farmers to just plant genetically-modified seeds that can grow in any soil, rich or void of nutrients need to sustain the plants, knowing that all it takes is potent fertilizers to make them grow and dangerous pesticides to keep them alive. This, of course, is less risky and brings much more profit for the farmer.

Growing food in healthy soil and raising animals in the appropriate environments brings much risk to the farmer and generally reaps a lower profit than that of their convention farming counterparts. It's no wonder so many farmers have fallen for the easier route and have gone away from humane and sustainable farming methods.When we as mothers no longer place any value on the quality of food we serve our families, farmers have little choice. They simply can't stay afloat when the demand is not there.

I believe the biggest danger of this coupon frenzy is the loss of quality, real food as the couponing trend entices mothers to save much money as possible at any cost.

Our Choice

As mothers, we have a choice. We can serve our families wholesome food that comes from traditional family farms, food in the form of that which our God created and intended for us to eat, or we can be tempted by the lure of coupons and cheap prices and opt for food from questionable and unknown sources, maybe factory farms or worse yet, a laboratory.

We can choose quality household goods made from materials built to last. This may mean paying a little more at the store or buying used from other families or second hand stores. Our buying power sends a strong message to manufacturers and retailers.

As mothers, we learn to be creative in how we manage our homes. There are many ways in which we can be wise stewards of our resources and I'm not suggesting there is a right or wrong way. I'm not suggesting coupons are worthless or inherently bad and I'm not suggesting that you should avoid using them.

My plea to you today is to use integrity and common sense if you choose to use coupons. Please use caution and avoid the lure of "extreme couponing". Be smart and pair coupons with store promotions, but please be responsible and limit your purchases to what you need so other families can benefit from the same deals.

Don't get so caught up in hunting for bargains that you lose sight of the big picture, primarily the source of your food or other products. Think of what it takes to get it to you and expect to pay those producers accordingly. Many times, it is best to go directly to the source, as is often the case with food. Bypassing the store and going straight to the farmer is a wise choice for many reasons.

Image by sweetonveg

We CAN Eat Wholesome Meals On a Budget

I've shared some of the ways I serve my family healthy food within a tight budget here.

In her book, Real Food on a Real Budget, Stephanie shares a wealth of ideas for eating wholesome, nourishing meals without spending a lot of money. Stephanie reminds us that real food does cost money, but that there are many ways save a lot on our food without compromising our values or our commitment to the hard-working people who grow, raise, and help get that food to our table. Regardless of where you are on your path to health, I think you will find this to be a valuable resource and a great read!

I realize I'm preaching to the choir here as I assume many of you share my concerns. I am grateful to be a part of this wonderful community of like-minded health-conscious mothers.

Still, the extreme bargain-hunting behavior does impact us, whether or not we engage in it, and we are not immune to the temptation to compromise real food and quality household goods for cheaper, less than ideal options. I'd love to hear how you find balance between the desire to raise a healthy family and the necessity to make your family's hard-earned money go as far as possible.

In what ways are you a creative and wise steward of your family's money and health?

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• 11 Ways to Teach Your Children to Be Diligent Workers
• You Tell Me: How Do You Make a Whole Foods Diet Work on a Budget?
• Living Simply Saturdays- I can’t do it all!
• What It Means to Be Well

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

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Did you miss the first two posts in this series? Find them here and here. 

Let's continue on with the practical, shall we?

Making Work More Productive

Part of the balancing act is learning to work smarter, not harder. This includes developing the ability to see what doesn't need to be done, and not just learning to do too many things more efficiently. Doing unnecessary work "efficiently" is still a waste of time!

Here are some productivity tips that work for me:

• Batching. Rather than processing emails as they come in, on your iPhone or by checking your email frequently as you work, set aside particular chunks of time where you deal with it all at once. You'll be far less distracted and get through it faster. The rest of the time? Just close your email. The world will go on. (And you can apply this to many areas- do all of your weekly writing in one time slot, process orders all at once, etc.)
• Set timers for work. I love using The Tiny Timer while I'm writing or completing tasks. It helps me to work faster, stay more focused, and be better at stopping when I need to.
• Plan what you need to do before you begin. If I sit down with the computer without a prioritized to-do list, my time use is poor, to say the least. By taking 5 minutes to brainstorm what needs to be done and put it in a priority sequence (most important tasks first), I actually accomplish what is truly important, instead of just what comes easily.
• Use Google mail and learn to manage your email well.
• Use Google calendars or iCalendar. I use reminders for everything from my blogging post schedule to submitting my food co-op orders to date night with my husband to following up with an advertiser. I have the reminders sent to my email. Some people like the pop-up reminders. Use what works for you.
• Avoid email and social media while doing important tasks. This is more particular to having a web-based business like I do, but for anyone that works from home, it's a matter of figuring out what are the distractions that keep you from completing important tasks quickly and effectively, and shutting them off.
• Eat a frog. Do your crucial tasks first.  

Automate, eliminate, delegate. The process goes like this... take the things that you are currently doing or feel need to be done. Then ask yourself, 1) Can this task be automated in some way? (Computer program, reminders, auto-responders, etc.) 2) Can this task be eliminated? (Is it truly valuable, does it contribute to income-production, is it unnecessary busy work?) and 3) Can this task be delegated? (Again, back to hiring things out. Can someone else do this better/faster/cheaper? Do I really need to be the one to do this?). Just a few examples:

• Auto-feeds for social media (I do this for Twitter, but not for Facebook)
• Setting up detailed FAQ pages to refer people to
• Use email filters to avoid seeing things you don't really need to see, or to automatically forward emails to people who need to deal with them (when it's not you)
• Staying current in your field. How many blogs, magazines, articles do you need to read? Is reading them daily or even weekly necessary? How many conferences are worthwhile to attend? Which trade shows are actually worth going to? Be brutal and eliminate everything but the best.
• Make a list of all tasks that you do and assess all of the ones that someone else could do, and if you can, seek to delegate or hire them out. Focus only on what you do best and what tasks absolutely require you and you alone.

Image by comedy_nose

Creative Scheduling

Part of being able to keep my family a priority and balance my work time with my husband's is that we try to arrange our schedules creatively. Who says you need to work within regular work hours?

• Think outside the box. I use a combination of different times of day, lengths of time, and locations. When you look at your schedule, don't toss out any ideas without considering them. In some seasons, I have gotten up super early one morning a week, or let the children have a movie one afternoon a week. Take advantage of a night that your husband works late. There are so many possibilities.
• When do you work best- mornings, afternoons, evenings? Choosing to work during your ideal times helps a lot with productivity. I write and work well in the mornings and early afternoons, but in the evenings my brain starts to shut off. I work one evening each week because it just happened to work that way, but it isn't intensive writing work. I also won't wake up super early to work anymore, because I personally prefer to keep that time for exercise and devotions, and I am a basket-case when I attempt to do mornings at 4 or 5am. For others, they thrive in the early mornings and so that might be their best time!
• Before you put together your work schedule, carve out the times that are essential for your family's rhythms and routines. I slot in essentials like meals, homeschool, church caregroup and the like before planning the rest of my schedule.

Letting Go of Things That Aren't Necessary

Some things I've found it's good to let go of:

• Social media. I keep it bare bones.
• Checking email (or anything else) constantly. Not everything is urgent, so why treat it as such? Just because technology has made us available to the rest of the world every second of the day doesn't mean that we need to go along with it. Turn things OFF.
• Making fancy meals. I realized that my family was just as happy with simple meals, so I toned down the need to make more elaborate things with multiple courses or dishes. Soup with bread, pasta with a meat-and-veggie sauce, a hearty casserole with some raw veggies. Why does it need to be more complicated?
• Some household tasks. Do the floors really need to be cleaned on a particular schedule if they still look good from the last time you did them? Does anyone look inside your pajama or underwear drawers? I don't fold pajamas or kids pants, and store all my kids underwear and cloth diapers unfolded in baskets. When you're pressed for time with cleaning, do the doorknobs and baseboards and little crevices make a big difference? Focus on the basics- decluttered and wiped surfaces, floors, bathroom basics, and a tidy entryway.
• Every opportunity. You can't say yes to everything. I've turned down things that I really wanted to do, but knew would be too much for me and my family.
• Perfectionism. I aim for a high quality of standard in the work that I do, especially in my writing. I edit every post as carefully as possible but eventually, I have to press Publish. If I make a mistake, then I make one. Sometimes we just have to do our best, and be content with letting our best be good enough.
• Being superwoman. You really can't be. And that's OK.

Source: uhohitsem.tumblr.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Resources to Recommend

Here are some highly recommend resources that have both challenged and encouraged me in my own journey as a blogger and work-at-home mom:

For bloggers in particular:

How to Make Money Blogging series @ Money Saving Mom

My Top 11 Blogging Tips @ Simple Mom

Blogging With Amy (a blog about blogging for profit, in easy-to-understand language)

Simple Blogging eBook by Rachel Meeks of Small Notebook (this eBook really challenged all the things I thought I "had" to do as a blogger and helped me to scale back and focus on the essentials)

For work-from-home moms in general:

Working from Home @ Simple Mom (this link is to the entire category, because it's full of useful posts, too many to link individually)

Becoming a Work at Home Mom @ Money Saving Mom

How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Mandi Ehman of Life...Your Way.

The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss- This is where I got the concept of automation, elimination and delegation. The book is very counter-cultural (and he is not coming from a Christian perspective at all so keep that in mind), but in my opinion, there are some brilliant ideas as far as managing work load, and it's at least worth taking out of the library.

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam- I'm reading through this right now and finding that it is really challenging the way that I think about how I use my time. It's from the perspective of a work-at-home-mom, although it is written for a broader audience.

What are your productivity tips? What things do you let go of and what helps you juggle it all?

Top image by Marina Pics

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]]> http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/managing-life-as-a-work-at-home-mom-how-to-juggle-it-all-part-2.html/feed 12 http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/my-new-ebook-plan-it-dont-panic-everything-you-need-to-successfully-create-and-use-a-meal-plan.html http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/my-new-ebook-plan-it-dont-panic-everything-you-need-to-successfully-create-and-use-a-meal-plan.html#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:00:40 +0000 Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home http://www.keeperofthehome.org/?p=14074 Announcing my newest eBook... Plan It, Don't Panic: How to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan! What if you could learn to meal plan in a way that helped you to eat better, while saving you money, time and stress? After the huge success of the Plan It, Don't Panic Meal Planning Challenge that I ran [...]

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Announcing my newest eBook... Plan It, Don't Panic: How to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan!

What if you could learn to meal plan in a way that helped you to eat better, while saving you money, time and stress?

After the huge success of the Plan It, Don't Panic Meal Planning Challenge that I ran on my blog this past fall, I realized that there was a definite desire for women to learn how to meal plan more effectively and to start doing it more consistently, for this very reason.

They wanted to be able to serve more healthful meals, while cutting down on their stress, their time in the kitchen, and their grocery budget costs!

But how do you learn to meal plan effectively?

I have been meal planning on and off for almost 8 years. I'm not sure where I first learned to do it, but I do know that most of what I have read in the past has been very basic and gone a little something like this:

• Figure out some meals your family likes eating
• Make a plan for when you want to cook them
• Buy the ingredients and make those meals

Gee, thanks for that.

Based on the amount of women who joined in the challenge, and by the questions and comments that arose, both on my blog and on the Plan It, Don't Panic Facebook page, I know that it can be a little more complicated than that.

Some methods work better for some people than for others. Figuring out how to store and organize recipes can be daunting for some. Meal planning can even feel like more work in the beginning, just another thing to add to the to-do list. Perhaps worst of all, without some guidance in how to approach your planning and subsequent grocery shopping, it might not feel like it saves much money, if it saves you anything at all!

So, I Wrote a Book About It...

I wrote the Plan It, Don't Panic eBook with 3 primary goals in mind, to help you:

1. Stop spending too much money and start making the most of every grocery dollar
2. Avoid the stress and panic of what to cook each night for dinner
3. Serve your family more balanced, healthful meals (rather than resorting to convenience or compromise foods)

Beyond that, I also wanted to dig into some of the more specific and practical aspects of meal planning:

• Find the method of meal planning that will suit you and your family best
• Tweak and perfect your meal planning style with unique tips and strategies
• Make it easier to work around special/restrictive dietary needs
• Become a grocery-shopping ninja and never go to the store without a genius plan in place for maximizing your money
• Learn how leftovers can become your best friends in the kitchen
• As well as how to store your recipes, easily find your favorites, plan for hectic times, and even what to do when you mess up...

Other Goodies I've Included in the Book

No book like this would be complete without a wide variety of printable planning pages to help you pull it all together, so by partnering together with List Plan It, I've included in the book 11 printable pages, for weekly planning, monthly planning, seasonal planning, grocery shopping, taking freezer and pantry inventories, and even planning a freezer cooking or baking day.

PLUS, I made up 4 weeks of menu plans, full of recipes that my family would (and many that we regularly do) eat. The 4-week plan is included in the book, and gives you access to an online page with links to almost every recipe included in the meal plans.

A Bit of Disclosure

I'll tell you upfront that I have included some past material that I've written both on the blog and in my book, Real Food on a Real Budget. The eBook, however, brings it all together and edited into a coherent package (so that you don't have to try to search all over my blog and read 18 different posts), and I've written plenty of new material as well.

Download Your Own Copy of Plan It, Don't Panic Today!

You can purchase the book directly from my site, in PDF format, to read on your computer (or print off, if you like). I've priced it at only $4.99 because I wanted to make it affordable and accessible to anyone who wants to use meal planning to make it easier to serve their families wholesome food.

I'm also excited to announce that this is my first eBook that I have made available for Kindle eReaders as well.

I hope you all enjoy the book!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Plan It- Don’t Panic: Week 1 of the Meal Planning Challenge
• Plan It, Don’t Panic: A Complete Meal Planning Resource
• Cook More Real Food: Make a Meal Plan
• You Asked For It: Plan It- Don’t Panic! {A 6-Week Meal Planning Challenge}

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

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]]> http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/my-new-ebook-plan-it-dont-panic-everything-you-need-to-successfully-create-and-use-a-meal-plan.html/feed 15 http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/book-review-the-money-saving-moms-budget-5-copies-to-win.html http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/book-review-the-money-saving-moms-budget-5-copies-to-win.html#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:38 +0000 Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home http://www.keeperofthehome.org/?p=14042 If you want to learn something, one of the best ways is to learn from someone who has actually done it. Do you want to learn to get your budget under control, cut your expenses drastically, simplify your life, and live both frugally and generously? My dear friend, Crystal Paine, is just the person to ask. Her story speaks for [...]

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If you want to learn something, one of the best ways is to learn from someone who has actually done it.

Do you want to learn to get your budget under control, cut your expenses drastically, simplify your life, and live both frugally and generously? My dear friend, Crystal Paine, is just the person to ask. Her story speaks for itself.

She and her husband began their marriage on a penny-pinching, rice and beans budget of as little as $650-900 (total!) some months, while he went through law school, without going into debt at all. They've dealt with multiple moves, job loss, starting up new businesses and having 3 young children during those years, all the while keeping Crystal at home full-time. They have built up two successful businesses, saved up and bought their vehicles and then their house with CASH (yes, cash!), and are committed to continuing to live frugally so that they can give generously.

Today, her new book The Money Saving Mom's Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life and Save Thousands a Year hits bookstores and I am thrilled to be giving away 5 copies to my readers!

My Thoughts on The Money Saving Mom's Budget

When my own copy of the book arrived just before Christmas, I was eager to read it and found that there were many parts of the book that I didn't want to put down. I had initially wondered whether I would learn anything new or be personally inspired by the book, as my husband and I have similar views as the Paine's do on money and budgeting, we aren't in debt, and frugality is something that I love to practice and share about.

However, I found the book inspiring and helpful to read, no matter where you are at in your financial journey.

You see, Crystal doesn't think that having your finances in order is just about having a budget, cutting up your credit cards, and finding ways to trim your spending. Her approach is very holistic and that's what I loved about this book.

The first two chapters were an unexpected breath of fresh air, and focused on goal-setting and simple, clutter-free living. Her premise is that you need to set goals so that you know exactly where you're going and how you're going to get there, and that streamlining your life and eliminating the clutter (physical and mental) is key to being able to achieve those financial goals.

She's right. It's not enough just to say that you want to spend less or that you want to get debt-free, but not change anything about your overall lifestyle in order to accomplish those desires. If you're still living exactly the same lifestyle that got you into that place of financial struggle, then doesn't it make perfect sense to address the bigger picture and not just the money issues?

Although our family is debt-free, with a healthy amount of savings, and we budget our money every month, I was still reminded of things that we could improve on. Her chapter on goal-setting was the most impactful for me. If I can see one major weakness in how we run our finances, it's that we aren't specific or aggressive enough with setting meaningful goals for our income, our savings, or our giving. Crystal and Jesse have done some tremendous things through their careful money-management and I can see how we could steward our money more effectively by being even more intentional with it.

What You Can Expect to Learn From This Book?

• How and why to set financial goals, and practical, down-to-earth suggestions on how to move towards achieving those goals
• How to simplify and de-clutter your life and why it makes a difference financially
• How to budget your time (in order to help you achieve your goals)
• How to budget your money in a step-by-step manner, why it makes sense to use cash, and how to find money you didn't know that you had!
• How to get rid of your debt and go completely plastic-free
• How to cut down on your grocery expenses drastically, both with coupons and without
• How to reduce expenses in most other areas of your life (clothing, household needs, recreation and entertainment, etc.)
• How to cultivate contentment, no matter what your circumstances are, and live more generously

The one area in which I would suggest that this book may not be helpful for some of my readers is when it comes to the chapters on saving on groceries and household goods through couponing.

Now, I am not against using coupons at all. I use them myself sometimes and write a weekly post with Natural and Organic Coupons and Deals for Crystal's blog, Money Saving Mom. I even started up a deals blog a year and a half ago, with a focus on saving money on more natural, healthy living which included couponing as a way to save (although the blog is now under new ownership). Coupons can be a helpful tool when used carefully, in the context of a "real food" budget.

That said, I think that for those who really desire to focus on eating real, whole, and traditional foods and to keep their homes free of toxins by using simple and natural cleaning and beauty products, you may not gain as much from these two chapters. There is a third chapter that focuses on twenty-five ways to lower your grocery bill without using coupons, and I would agree with (and practice myself) many of these suggestions.

A Worthwhile Read

If you are in the midst of serious financial struggles, OR if you want to learn to steward your money more carefully and work towards meeting your financial goals, I think that you will be encouraged by this book and find its suggestions practical and helpful.

Some of Crystal's suggestions may be downright hard and she doesn't try to sugar-coat what it takes to be in control of your money (rather than letting it control you). She is straight-forward and honest and one of the hardest working women I personally know. She isn't advocating quick and easy solutions, but rather a lifestyle of intentionality and conscientious stewardship of the resources that you've been given. She acknowledges that it takes discipline and often sacrifice, but that the rewards of financial peace are worth it. 

An amazing bonus is that ALL of the profits from the sale of this book will be going towards an organization that is dear to my heart, Compassion International. I travelled to the Philippines with Compassion International this past spring, and was blown away by the impact of the work that they are doing in the lives of impoverished children and families, as they meet physical needs, offer hope and transformation, and share the Gospel all over the world.

Would You Like to Win a Copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget? I Have 5 to Give Away!

Here's how to get entered (remember to leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Tell me why you would love to win The Money Saving Mom's Budget, or share one of your financial goals for 2012.

2. Subscribe to Keeper of the Home by RSS feed or by email.

3. Share about this giveaway through your blog or favorite social media (find us on Facebook and Twitter here).

Giveaway ends Friday, January 13, 2012.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book for the purpose of review.  This post contains affiliate links to Amazon, where I receive a small commission of sales, which helps to support this site. 

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Managing Life as a Work-at-Home Mom: How to Juggle It All, Part 1
• Healthy Snack to Go eBook: Review and a Giveaway
• The how-to of the Savvy Spending Challenge!
• To the rockinest Daddy we know…

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

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• Plan to Eat: Simple meal planning. Your recipes. Monthly planner. Grocery lists.

]]> http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/book-review-the-money-saving-moms-budget-5-copies-to-win.html/feed 1132 http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/managing-life-as-a-work-at-home-mom-making-it-work-for-you-part-1.html http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/01/managing-life-as-a-work-at-home-mom-making-it-work-for-you-part-1.html#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:26 +0000 Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home http://www.keeperofthehome.org/?p=13978 As I shared last week, I think that working-at-home is an amazing and viable opportunity for many women who wish to (or need to) work but still want to remain at home with their children. Today, I want to get really practical and start sharing some of the things you can do to really make it [...]

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As I shared last week, I think that working-at-home is an amazing and viable opportunity for many women who wish to (or need to) work but still want to remain at home with their children.

Today, I want to get really practical and start sharing some of the things you can do to really make it work for you. There's no denying that it is a challenge to manage the tasks of maintaining a home and a business, while still having time to care for and love on (and even homeschool) your kids.

Goodness knows, I don't have all the answers, nor do I implement all of these suggestions perfectly. These ideas are the result of 4 1/2 years of trial and error, glaring mistakes, reading good books, and learning from others. Most of them aren't revolutionary. They just work. I need to be reminded of them as much as I want to share them with you.

Getting the Help That You Need

I resisted this for the longest time, for two reasons.

First, we often feel that it is a sign of weakness or that it is unacceptable to get help. Admit it. We want to feel like we can handle everything ourselves.

Problem is, we can't. We need to stop trying to be superwoman, change our attitudes about this and be willing to get the help that we need in order to carry on in a balanced and healthy way.

The second is that I mistakenly believed that I had more time than I had money, and therefore should do everything myself. This is a flawed idea.

If it takes me 6 hours and much frustration to do a design project that is mediocre and may result in less sales or a less professional image, but it takes a professional designer 2 hours to create something stunning and highly effective, that money is well spent. I can focus my time on the things that I excel at, the things that build up my business and ultimately make more money, and her superior design may result in more book sales, more clickthroughs, more pageviews on my website, etc. which in turn might generate income that easily makes up for the expense of the designer.

Making these decisions to hire help becomes easier when you calculate your hourly wage. I know, nobody is keeping tabs of your hours and handing you a neat and tidy paycheck in a home business situation. So, you'll need to calculate it yourself. Figure out the average number of hours that you work per week or per month, calculate the average amount that you earn in the same period of time (your profits, after your expenses), then divide the earnings by the number of hours worked. Voila. You have your "hourly wage".

This calculation was instrumental for me in making the decision to hire my first assistant. If I could earn "X" number of dollars per hour, but could hire someone to take some of the workload off of me for less than what I was earning, didn't it make sense to allow them to do those things, freeing me to do more of the things that grow my business? In both of our (very different) home businesses, my husband and I have found this to be true over and over again.

Does it feel like a risk? Yes. Have we ever felt that we truly didn't have the money? Yup. And I would never, ever suggest that you put yourself into any amount of debt to make such decisions. But, if you can do it without going into the red, and you can see that it could be financially worthwhile when you really analyze it, don't be afraid to hire the help that you need. 

(There are also plenty of ways to make this more affordable- barter or trade services, try hiring virtual help from someone in a developing country for less than you would pay here- more on this in the comments section, find someone who is just starting up their business and charging less in exchange for a testimonial or review, hire a skilled high schooler, etc. but this could be a whole other post in and of itself!)

What Do I Hire Out?

I have an assistant, Lindsey, who works about 5 hours per week and helps me with things like moderating comments, emails, research, book promotion, giveaways, and running my private advertising program. I hire out practically all of my design work, as well as my technical behind-the-scenes website issues and upgrades, to a husband and wife team. I'm completing my 3rd eBook with the help of an eBook designer who is also taking care of all formatting and file conversions, plus I hired a wonderful editor rather than attempting to edit the book myself.

I have a mother's helper who comes once a week for an afternoon. She cares for my children and performs one housekeeping task for me each week, like vacuuming or mopping. As I write this post, I have suddenly found my schedule piled up with some unexpected work for the music school we own, in addition to the blog's deadlines and projects, and so this afternoon I will be making some calls for a house cleaner to come for the next few weeks. I don't usually hire someone to clean, but I have no qualms about doing it when needed, either.

Keeping Your Family a Priority

If there's one thing I have learned, keeping my husband and children a priority is absolutely crucial as a work-at-home mom. There have been seasons where my work kept me too busy and distracted, with little leftover to offer my family relationally and I don't want to every do that again.

These are some of the ways that I intentionally keep my family a priority:

• Create my work schedule in such a way as to not be on the computer while I'm with my children. I do this to the best of my ability, and yes, sometimes I do work a little bit when I'm with them, but by and large I avoid this as much as possible.
• Our mornings are kept sacred, as a time when I eat breakfast with the kids (and my husband, when he's home), and we focus on homeschool, devotions and chores until lunchtime. No computer allowed, unless it's for homeschool purposes.
• My husband also works from home, and so we work hard to communicate about what we each need, help each other out in hectic seasons, and take turns having special time with the children. We really have to respect one another's work space and needs, and the better we get at calmly expressing those needs and coming up with solutions together, the better we work as a team.
• Learn to walk away. When I used to work on the computer near my kids, I found myself going into "uh-huh" mode too frequently. They became frustrated because they knew I wasn't really paying attention, and I became frustrated by being interrupted. That's why I don't do that anymore. If I do happen to pull out the computer when they're with me, I have to be willing to shut it and walk away to give them 100% of my attention if they need it.
• Take time off when you need it. As a family of entrepreneurs, sometimes we just need to call a family day and leave the work behind. We do this occasionally- stop homeschool, plan something fun and just get out of the house together. We always find it refreshing. Holidays are important, and over Christmas, I took a week where I barely even checked my email, let alone did anything else. I'm also planning to take a one-month maternity leave when this new baby arrives in the next 4-6 weeks (but don't worry- there will be plenty of fantastic content, from both myself and other writers).

I simply had too much to share to keep this to one post, so next week I'll share more about working productively, scheduling work time creatively, letting go of things that aren't necessary, and also give some recommended resources.

Do you have a hard time choosing to get the help that you need (this actually applies to all moms, not just ones that work from home)? How do you keep your family a priority in your schedule and daily routine?

Top image by Marina Pics. Other image is our family this summer.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• How I “Do It All”
• Living Simply Saturdays- I can’t do it all!
• Caring, Keeping, and Gestating: How To Do Life While Pregnant
• The how-to of the Savvy Spending Challenge!

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

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