August 2, 2012

It’s Not Your Money, Is It?

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Written by Stacy Myers, Contributing Writer A while back, there was this strangely annoying commercial on television for JG Wentworth. It’s a bunch of adults yelling out their windows about THEIR money. While the normal person would just find this commercial extremely dumb, I found it very bothersome. When I heard my pastor mention the commercial in one of his sermons about stewardship and giving, I really started thinking. The sad thing is this MY MONEY mindset is very prevalent today. Most of us consider [...]

Filed Under: Budgeting, Faith and encouragement, Good stewardship Tagged With: , , , , 53 Comments
January 18, 2012

Can Coupons Be Used Responsibly?

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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 [...]

Filed Under: Frugality, Good stewardship, Real, whole food Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 56 Comments
January 10, 2012

Book Review: The Money Saving Mom’s Budget (5 Copies to Win!)

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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, [...]

Filed Under: Books, Budgeting, Frugality, Giveaways, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 1,133 Comments
June 6, 2011

Is Compassion International a Good Investment? A Husband’s Perspective.

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**Many of you may have realized that I was blessed to have my husband, Ryan, come with me on my trip to the Philippines last week. Though we hadn't originally planned for him to join me in writing, he was so impressed by the answers to all of his questions (someone on our team referred to him as the Barbara Walters of Canada!), that he simply felt compelled to write and tell you what he found.** Growth in business does not happen by accident. Everything [...]

Filed Under: Compassion Trip, Good stewardship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 21 Comments
May 19, 2011

Frugality as a Means of Giving (and Meet Keeper of the Home’s New Sponsor Child!)

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Why do you practice frugality? It's such a hot topic these days, how to save money and do more with less. We read about it, talk to our friends about it, put great amounts of effort into living it. What's less common, though, is to examine exactly why we do it. Perhaps it's because money is tight, especially as a single-income family in a dual-income world, and we want to make staying at home with our children a priority. Or maybe it's because of the [...]

Filed Under: Compassion Trip, Faith and encouragement, Frugality, Good stewardship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 24 Comments
May 13, 2011

Waste Not, Want Not: Lessons in Frugality for Children

Written by Meg Dickey, Contributing Writer As we seek to train our children well, one of our family's major learning points is to teach our children the art of frugality.  Frugality is making good choices with the resources God has given you - this includes your brain, as I am apt to remind my children. :-) I have heard many times from other parents, "I just want my kids to have the best I can give them."  OF COURSE! We all desire our children to [...]

Filed Under: Family life, Frugality, Good stewardship, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments
January 4, 2011

What It Means to Be Well

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Written by Shannon, Contributing Writer All year long we are inundated with advertisements, marketing campaigns, and articles that try to teach us how to be healthier. At the New Year this wellness parade reaches a fevered pitch with resolutions being made and everyone trying to undo the overindulgence of the past month. And then there is that word "wellness" used by all sorts of alternative and mainstream medicine camps. Some of these camps define wellness as the absence of disease. Others claim it is some [...]

Filed Under: Good stewardship, Living healthy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments
July 22, 2010

Get Outdoors and Get in That Sunshine!

Cora Lake

Guest Post by Kait Curran Palmer Summer is upon most of the Northern Hemisphere at this point--minus the cloud-covered and still-chilly Pacific Northwest--but for the rest of you lovely people you are kicking off your flip flops and getting to have a grand ole time basking in the warmth of long and sun-filled days. No bitterness here as I sit wearing flannels and a fleece. None at all... Seattle drudgery aside, as the kids are out of school and it is the season for “fun [...]

Filed Under: Good stewardship, Living healthy, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 13 Comments