September 21, 2012

A Day in the Life: Diana (Real Food Mama Shopping for the Healthiest Food at the Lowest Prices)

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Written by Diana, Contributing Writer I don't know about you, but these past few years have been the most challenging, economically, for my family. When my husband and I had our first child six years ago, we made the decision to sacrifice my career in favor of raising our children at home. Three children later, it's been an up and down struggle, but through every situation God has provided for all of our needs. What's been truly amazing is witnessing how our dependance on Him strengthens my [...]

Filed Under: Frugality, Real, whole food Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 63 Comments
October 12, 2011

3 Tips That Will Truly Help You to Manage Your Grocery Budget Better

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Once upon a time, there was this girl who was very careful with her budget. So careful that her husband trusted her implicitly, and she carefully maintained her grocery budget with cash each month, so as not to overspend. She was so insistent that this method worked, she even wrote profusely on the topic. This worked well for several years. Then this girl discovered that upon returning home from an overseas trip, she was pregnant with her 4th child. Then two homestay students arrived, fatigue and nausea [...]

Filed Under: Budgeting, Frugality, Good stewardship, Menu Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , , 70 Comments
July 14, 2011

Giveaway: Win a $75 Gift Certificate to Spend on Cloth Diapers & Supplies!

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Note: Giveaway has now ended. Winner will be announced shortly. Considering the popularity of the cloth diapering series that I began on Monday, where I am dispelling common myths about cloth diapering and sharing just how easy it really is, this should prove to be a very popular giveaway as well! Sweet Little Blessings is a one-stop online cloth diapering store, selling everything from fitted diapers and covers, pocket diapers, one-size systems, prefold and flat diapers, inserts and doublers, wet bags and pails, swim diapers, [...]

Filed Under: Babies, Giveaways, Natural living Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 1,372 Comments
May 9, 2011

How to Save Money and Score Big At Garage Sales

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I love garage sales and our house is full of garage sale finds, bought for a song (sorry, no dance). Frugality is the topic of the month, and I happen to think that buying used is one of the most important strategies for saving money on a regular basis. Not only that, but you can't get much greener than reusing something, saving it from the dump, and not needing to purchase a new item made with valuable resources (and complete with excess packaging). These are [...]

Filed Under: Frugality, Going green, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , 34 Comments
May 19, 2010

Questions to Ask at Your Local Farmer’s Market

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Photo by shaggyshoo I grew up in West Michigan where the local farmer’s market was always a highlight of the summer.  Early on Saturday mornings my sisters and I would head to the market with mom to buy yummy, fresh, and local produce, and THE BEST cinnamon rolls from a Mennonite family to eat on Sunday mornings before church! My mom was raised on a farm in Ohio, so she always taught us the value of fresh produce, whether we grew it ourselves in our [...]

Filed Under: Real, whole food, Sustainability Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments
December 3, 2009

What It Means to Vote With Our Dollars

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Today's grocery shopping outing was a bit of a disaster. Hungry, upset children, a crying baby and a frazzled mom. By the last store, I was barely looking at prices anymore as I tossed things into the cart that appeared to have at least some semblance to what was written on my trusty list. I know that I made at least one really good decision this afternoon, though. Nope, it wasn't a frugal decision-- stocking up on some exciting sale or figuring out which 3 [...]

Filed Under: Going green, Good stewardship, Natural living Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 34 Comments