Raise Them RIGHT!

Yesterday, I ran through Target to finish up my needs for the week and my 4-year-old daughter spotted a book she really wanted, "Strawberry Shortcake" something or another.  As a teacher, I LOVE the fact my kids love to read!!!  Absolutely, I was tempted to grab that impulse buy, with its $5 price tag, just to see my cutie reading a book!  She still had Christmas money in her piggy bank and we could have easily grabbed it.  The problem?  It wasn't on sale.  My mother taught me to shop (and she did it well, thank you very much!) and the shopping rule is , "if you don't need it NOW, and it is not on sale, you don't buy it now!"  As a child, I understood eventually most everything WOULD go on sale.  Out came my inner teacher, "Look at the red tags over here. See that? It means this is on SALE! Strawberry Shortcake is not on sale, but we will check back next time we are here and we will buy the book when it goes on sale." Suprisingly, my daughter agreed (no fuss?!! I have a witness to this too!) After checking out with my goodies (some great Target sale price+ Target coupon+ Manufacturer coupon= SWEET deals! Check out my free nail polish!) the cashier handed me my receipt and a Catalina machine (those Target coupon printer things) coupon for, ironically, $2 off a children's book of $5 or more!  I made sure to make an impression! I put the coupon in her piggy bank, and then tonight I took her and her piggy bank and her coupon off to Target to get her book that went on "sale" with its coupon.  Needless to say, she was THRILLED, I was glad I could follow through so that she does not interpret "When it goes on sale...." to mean, "I am never going to buy this for you...." Now I can postpone her spending money until we find great things at a great price!  It didn't hurt that the cashier broke her $20 bill, so now she thinks she has "more money" since she got back more than one bill (I didn't correct her, I trying to teach a lesson here!!!) On the way home, she asked me if I was "impressed" (yes, she is not even 4 and a half yet!)  And I said, "I am VERY impressed." It is certainly a great time to begin teaching my daughter about saving money!

Kid's Lunch Idea

Lots of schools to run to every morning!  My oldest is in high school, my middle child comes to my school with me,  and youngest goes to a homeschool (we tease that it is his school, he is 18 months old, but watching the older children get schooled---and I am sure he is soaking it in too!)  Packing a lunch for the day is the way to go in my household.  The meals are cheaper (most of the time) but the real reason is I can pack much healthier than the "healthy" school lunches (chili cheese fries.  as the entree??? obesity epidemic, anyone?) Anyways...  Yesterday, on my trek through Target, we found the best price for sandwich bags on the Up & Up brand bags.  I try to use the washable containers as much as possible, but we need to keep the bags nearby because of the large number of lunches we pack each week.  My 4-year-old daughter saw this "girl" on the box from Target and loved her, so we decided to pack her up for lunch at school!  We took one slice bread, spread peanut butter , sliced bananas and raisin (the box had blueberries, but we didn't have any, so raisins was our stand in, glued on with a bit more peanut butter) and an apple slice for her mouth.  Lemon juice was squirted on the apple to keep it white.  After school, I asked how it was, she said, "Yummy!" so we shall make it again tomorrow.  Grand price? Cheap! And healthy too!  Post any healthy, yummy, and cheap ideas you have to feed your kids away from home (or at home, homeschoolers!!)

The Power of Paint

Are you underwater?  Did that term even exist before the Great Recession?  We, like most Floridians who own their homes are underwater (I think I heard 60% mentioned in Obama's State of the Union? Can anyone confirm??) and can not, will not be able to move anywhere anytime soon (or ever?) That can feel a little depressing, so now is the time to improve your home (since you are stuck in it anyways!) This month, we refurbished two spaces in our home.  The first picture is my 4-year-old daughter's room. For the price of $10.97 for the gallon of paint, her room has a completely updated look.  We also rearranged furniture and hung a few things in different spots.  You can see a framed fairy picture and a dragonfly hook both purchased from my favorite store---Goodwill! I love how people think I am nuts to shop there, but I think the donations I see there lead me to believe the donators (spell check is saying that is NOT a word???) A.K.A.,  The shopaholics who donate all their brand new things there are the CRAZY ones, and I am there to swoop in and scoop it up with barely a budge to my budget.  Who's crazy now???

The second picture is my window seat in my front living room.  The paint for this came to a whopping $7 to contrast the previous light blue color with a sort of frame to the space!  The was also the prime time to fill in some pesky nail holes and a saggy curtain rod and rehang evenly.  Then, we (ok...not we...my husband) covered the seat part with leftover wood laminate from our kitchen redo a few years ago.  The black fluer de Lis (spelled wrong, for sure!) were less than $3 at Wal*Mart, and washing the curtains to make them look new? FREE!  Finally, the trim piece along the bottom, $6 at Home Depot!  A brand new reading nook for me (just add pillows) for just over $15.

Paint has a HUGE effect on your space.  If you are feeling blue, head to nearest paint counter and change it up.  You won't regret it, and it is a price we all can afford!

www.skinnytaste.com

Big thanks to a Facebook friend, Shannon, who recommended I check out this website for healthy meal ideas!  Here is a sample of one of her favorites from the site:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts.html

She suggested using any leftover as a filling for quesadillas, making two meals from one batch.

I estimated my family could eat this for under $5 because we buy our chicken breasts in bulk from Sam's Club, at a price of $1.97/lb, rice in 12 bag for $6/bag, taco seasoning in bulk (uber cheap!!!), skip onions because my husband is too picky, and grow our own cilantro!

Thanks for the tip, Shannon!

Menu Jan 30th- Feb 10th

Many of you may not to be so explicit with your menus, but for those of us living paycheck to paycheck, in addition to budgeting money, we need to "budget" our food.  Menus help the budget by limiting last minute take out, impulse shopping trips, and wasting food we already have by letting it spoil.  I recommend writing your menu from payday until the next payday so you know your family will be fed (healthy food!!!) no matter what your bank account balance is.

Monday: Jan. 30 Crockpot Chicken ($3), Steamed Broccoli ($2), Microwaved Baked Potato ($1.25)
Tuesday:  Jan 31 Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Celery and Carrots (Leftover from Monday) and Pulled Pork Sandwiches ($2) leftover from Sunday Dinner
Wednesday: Rice and Bean Enchiladas ($3) with frozen corn ($1)
Thursday:  Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwiches (with Honey Mustard) ($4), Ore-rida Fries ($1) Green Salad
Friday: Homemade Beef Stroganoff ($3), egg noodles, fresh veggies (carrots and celery--left from soup on Tuesday)
Saturday: Lunch- Pizza ($3) and Salad, Dinner- Tacos($3), black beans($1), and corn($1)
Sunday: Lunch-Flounder ($5) rice, lettuce salad, baked potato Dinner Chicken Alfredo ($5) frozen peas ($1)
Monday: Feb 6 Spaghetti ($3) Green Beans ($1)
Tuesday: Feb 7 Breakfast for Dinner, eggs, fruit, waffles ($3)
Wednesday: Feb 8 Grilled Chicken Breast, rice, salad ($3)
Thursday: Frozen Pizza, salad ($3)
Friday 10: PAYDAY! Treat the family to dinner out!!

I try to include additional fresh fruit and veggies with every meal that is not listed on the menu so nothing spoils.

Paying it Down

Most of my readers are in the mindset debt is bad, but most of us NEED it, to live the life we want to live.  We are working hard at keeping our debts to a minimum, and paying them off as quickly as possible (Who HATES those truth-in-lending statements that show you what your home or car REALLY costs, after the bank takes their TREMENDOUS chunk?) There are various schools of thought on HOW to pay off debt (if you have it....once again, those who don't have debt, you are awesome, congrats, wish I were there with you, but I am not!!!) Paying off the highest interest rates first saves you money paid in total interest...smart for the bottom line of how much interest you pay, but may not help the money going out every month as much as our method.  We are squeezed tight right now, due to increases in most everything (except our paychecks).  To make more money in our budget, we need to reduce the bills that go out every month. I have shared earlier how we divide up our monthly bills into four chunks (one per pay check our household receives each month) so that we are paying about the same amount in bills each pay day. The leftover amount is just never enough!!!  So we need to increase the amount of leftover money after bills!  Tax time is coming soon, and rather than spending (ok, confession, I am sure I will spend some--but frugally, on something we TRULY need, more to come later) or saving (smart to do, will save what is left over), we are making priority one with our taxes paying off debt that eats up our budget every month.  Two items wiped off our bill list will save us close to $400/month (or $100 per paycheck!) and should feel like a "raise" on our paycheck.  However, the interest rates are relatively low, 9% and 4%. If we paid the same amount to our highest interest rate (17%!!!) it technically would save us more in dollars, but would not provide immediate relief to our budget  (saving perhaps $20/month).  So with tax time coming (or when windfalls come your way---I see I have a lot of Europeans reading my blog, sweet!!! I don't know when tax time comes in Russia...?) Think carefully about those extra chunks of money that come your way, and make them work the way that is best for you.  When I was younger, and money came my way, my mother would tell me, "You can spend it any way you want, but you can only spend it once." Simple, but oh so true.

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

A few good things DID come out of the car tease of 2012!  Shopping for financing gave us a sneak peek at our credit scores (at an all time high, I think! Our hard work is paying off, slowly but surely). My mom (great money mentor she is!!!) suggested if we must finance to try to do it at a credit union.  GREAT advice, if we would have bought, we would have saved almost 5% interest!!!!  That is as much at $5000 over the life of the loan (if my math is right?)  which I would be happy to spend myself instead of handing over to the BANK!  We had never set foot in  credit union before going for the sole purpose of an auto loan.  What a discovery!  We walked out with a new checking and savings account that should save us some decent money every year by reducing fees our previous bank was charging (to use OUR money, huh?) and paying interest on everything--even checking?! Right off the bat, we will save around $20 this summer when my job as a teacher does not automatically deposit paychecks (and my bank punished me to the tune of $8.99/month for no direct deposits while off work).  Also gone are my pesky $3 fees every time I transfer money from my savings account to my checking account more than 2 times every month.  This was necessary fee at my previous bank because I was paid for the whole summer in full (TEMPTING!) and had to be responsible and transfer my pay to checking twice a month.  So ANY pull of money from savings in the summer = $3 fee.  Discovering the benefit of credit unions was worth the headache of last weekend, and I am hoping some of my readers might take a look at credit unions in their area.

uggg, sorry so long between posts!

Last weekend was a "too little" nightmare.  My trusty 2001 Kia Sephia bit the dust (or so we thought) and my husband and I spent the weekend/and week! trying to fix it, car shopping, applying for car loans (boooooo), sharing a car and stressing over where the money was going to come from.  I cannot tell you how this made me feel, I spent my days adding, subtraction, and reworking our family budget in my head without resorting to cutting off our cable or eating a diet of (soley) ramen.  For YEARS I have been at war against debt, trying desperately to escape some expensive mistakes of my ( and my husband's!) youth.  I was determined to pay off the debt we had and not bring in any new debts. That is easier said than done, for sure. I envy those debt-free families we hear  about on the Clark Howard Show, and certainly aspire to that goal!!!! However, being a one-car family is just not for me (although it would fit my budget!). I mean, it was fun to have a chauffer (husband!) for a few days, I majorly missed car freedom (aka, leaving work when I wanted to, not when Todd was there for my pick up!) We had succumbed to sign on the dotted line.... The time was near to chain ourselves down to another payment, but in an unexpected turn of events, a $2.99 (not a typo, we almost spent $15,000 we didn't have instead of the chump change auto part!!!)  fuel injector O-ring (picked up the part myself! I am woman, hear me roar) reincarnated the no-longer dead vehicle.  So now, I can continue to have a dream, that one day my family will have NO DEBT!  However, that dream might die when the Kia REALLY bites the dust.......

Don't let the bills pile up

Yesterday was payday.  Years ago, payday was a celebration, out to dinner, shopping, rich for a day!!!  But when one grows up, and decides to try to be in a good financial position, payday is not quite as fun.   This is my tried and true system of how to pay all your bills on time, every time.
1.  Start with a list of all your bills for the month. Include who is paid, how much, and when it is due.
2.  List all your pay days for the month.
3. Divide up the total of all your bills by the number of paychecks you will be getting.
4.  Make a list for each payday of what bills will be paid.  For example, my January 13th paycheck said, "$xxx to savings for Feb. Mortgage.  $xxx student loan.  I try to hit as close to the target of step 3...bills divided by paychecks, so that I typically pay out in bills an equal amount each payday.  (Bills that are larger than your paycheck, like mortgage, divide up into 2 paychecks.
5.  I set up my bills to be paid on electronic pay, so I don't even need to do much else when payday actually arrives.
6.  Check off each bill as it goes through your account, so you know they each got paid.
I keep my list of paychecks and bills in a notebook, typically a few months in advance (mine are budgeted until March right now) so if you have money stress, it is not over bills (it is over the small amount left over AFTER bills). This strategy makes paying bills QUICK, and keeps a close eye on your bottom line (and I wish that bottom line was bigger!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Know when to say "Mercy!"

Too little time to post today!  I did make time to play Don't Break the Ice with my little ones MANY TIMES, read 4 books at bedtime to my kids, worked the treadmill for 40 minutes, and SQUEEZED a few minutes into Target to get my son the toddler train table on clearance for $45 (from $90!), AND tried a new meal for my family, "Cashew Chicken" from the book "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half" I mentioned a few days ago on this blog.  It was REALLY GREAT, inexpensive, healthy, and possibly the best part, enough for two meals, so I froze half of it for a meal in a few weeks---Just simmer, make rice to serve it over and bon apetite (sorry to the French-Canadians if I spelled that wrong...no time for a dictionary tonight....) But as for the rest of my responsibilities, tonight I say , "MERCY!!!!!"

Not just money, TIME!

I have spent the past few days blogging about money...how to conserve, not waste, and trust me, I LOVE saving money. But I need to remember the little things I blog about is not just the little money I have, it is the little time I have, too! Truly, for many of us, time is more valuable than money.  Tonight was a sad night in the house.  My normal after bedtime work out did not happen.  Instead I spent the evening taking the kids to two of their favorite (freebie!) places.  After dinner we headed out to the library (uhh, free books? YES!) and PetSmart (My kids are animal freaks, they are more than happy to hang out peeking in the tanks without bringing anything home---our house is at it MAXIMUM PET CAPACITY with a dog and two cats)  Upon returning, there were bedtime rituals and books, and I wasn't free of little kids until after nine.  Normally, I would go ahead to the gym at this point....but my kitchen was not finished being cleaned, and lunches weren't yet packed. So with a somberness I accepted the fact there would be no calorie burning tonight.  An occasional off-night is acceptable, but I am trying maximize my time!  So....I am considering diving into the land of Once a Month Cooking.  Proponents of OAMC claim it saves you massive time because you do all chopping, cooking and washing on the same day (instead of in little segments every day).  I am quite intimidated, I have never done anything on a scale this large before, so I will need an smaller scale experiment  first.....OAWC (Once a Week Cooking).  On Sunday, I am planning on making all of my meals for the WEEK.  I want to see if it A. Actually Works B. Saves me Time and C. Will it save me money???? I will be going where no one in my family has gone before....wish me luck.  Also, please post any experience you have with this phenomena AND any meal ideas you think freeze well I can make on Sunday to pull out for meals this week. Thanks for reading!

Make it Last

In the early 1940's when supplies and food were being rationed and waste was considered as an act against the war effort...mothers on the homefront were bombarded with propaganda and slogans like "Use It Up-Wear It Out-Make It Do!"  and Food is a Weapon. Don't Waste it.  Buy Wisely. Cook Carefully. Eat it All.  What goes around truly does come back around, as many of these slogans can help us through our lean times of lately.  Tonight, my menu plan for the week hit a near tragedy.  After a full day at work, I came home hungry and ready to begin the dinner-time mambo.  The menu was for chicken burritos, but as I assembled the ingredients something went awry.  We are tortilla-aholics in our home, so I never dreamed I would find only four tortillas in the pack (and no extras in the freezer!? No crunchy shells or chips for nachos either...)Ahhh.   five people and four tortillas does NOT equal DINNER.   Then,  it came to me, the tortillas were burrito size, but normally we don't go crazy filling them up and we eat 1 or 1 1/2 each.  I would have to succumb to a quick trip to the store (wasting my time, and money!) But then I remembered my blog, and thought...What would World War 2 mothers do?  Make it work!  And I did! I made a large pot of white rice (Mahatma, just over $1 a bag..cooked 50c worth), refried beans (another buck) and frozen corn (under a dollar).  Then we stuffed our four tortilla shells with all of it, chicken, cheese, beans, rice corn, lettuce, tomato....big burritos!  My little ones shared one, and each of us (mom, dad, and teenage daughter) had one to ourselves with a small salad on the side. And we are FULL!  All in all, probably a $6 meal for five (pretty healthy too, topped with fresh cilantro from the garden!).  But without my mantra, it could have easily been a backslide, trip to the store to buy more shells (which inevitably turns into $20-30 worth of impulse purchases--more if I send hubby ;)  Repeat after me:  Use It Up-Wear It Out-Make It Do!

MUST SPLURGE!

We are not America's Cheapest Family (and we don't want to be!) My Dad had a great philosophy about money, he said, "There is always more money to be made." meaning, enjoy your money!  My Mom had a great one too, "You can spend it any way you want, but you can only spend it once."  My divorced parents were the ultimate money yin and yangs.  COMPLETE opposites. Both parents formed my money mentality, per se, although as you can see from my blog--my mom had a lot more pull in this area!  The point is, we all need to splurge on a few things that we can truly appreciate; but I would never want to splurge to the point my needs (or my family's needs) did not get met.  One man's splurge is another man's bargain!  Today, after church, Kayleigh saw a heavenly sight.  Dairy Queen looming right next to our church parking lot.  "Mommy, I was a good girl at church. Can I have ice cream?"  The angel on my shoulder said, "Certainly it would be cheaper to buy a carton at the grocery store and bring it home instead...." The devil, "Oh, just spend your hard earned money on Dairy Queen. It will make Kayleigh happy".  I pulled into the drive through line, not sure what I was going to order.  Then, I remembered, doesn't Dairy Queen sell ice cream by the pint? We have chocolate syrup, caramel, and strawberries at home.....So today our "splurge" (that many will argue was not a splurge!) was $3.20 worth of plain vanilla Dairy Queen ice cream brought  home to enjoy.  We all enjoyed it, and still have leftovers!  Go ahead, comment away, tease me if you want.....what are your "splurges" others won't consider a splurge?

Better than Fast Food!

Eating at home is superior to fast food in many ways: dollar signs and calories, plus family time cooking together!  However, when work gets tough, life gets busy, or kids have a bad day, the drive through line or pizza place sucks your money like a magnet.  I cannot focus on "What's for dinner???"  when the kids are melting down or I have gobs of things to do.  To avoid the takeout temptation, I strongly recommend you write a menu on Sundays ( I will post mine in a bit) to avoid mid-week take out, shopping trips, and dinner time stress. Plan your meals with the week's activities in mind (no big prep meals on a night kids have activities!) Look at your menu before you go to bed and make sure you take what you will need out of your freezer (aka, the bank!  Using your freezer is money in the bank!!!) To manage my time in the kitchen better, I need to plan!!! Typically I boil a dozen eggs (they work for breakfast, lunch, snacks, or salad toppers) for the week; I like to make a large pot of chili or soup for lunches that are easy to grab in the morning (healthy too! Today I am making chili AND lentil soup for the week ahead).  Sometimes I make pasta salad, cut fresh veggies, anything I can do to conquer the week ahead without breaking the bank or the diet.  Before you shop for the week or plan your menu, do yourself a favor and take an inventory of what you already have and/or need to use up before it spoils (The ultimate waste of money, who cares how cheap it was if you don't eat it!!!).  Today, I am using up six yellow squash I had bought for only $1.11 a couple of weeks ago, the last skinny stalks of celery left over from the week, a wrinkly green pepper from my garden before the freeze (no good raw, but fine cooked with wrinkles)  Great price, healthy food, and the perfect addition to my lentil soup!  Do you have any Sunday cooking ideas that help your family stay fed without sacrificing lots of time, money, and health? Add them here! Thanks for reading!

Crowdtap!

I added a new link on my blog for Crowdtap.  It looks pretty cool...simply enter your demographics and lots of market research can come your way.  You choose a charity to contribute 5% of what you earn to...I chose water for developing nations...and then you get paid with Amazon $, gift cards, merchandise to try, ect.....for sure worth a try!  It is on the right side top of my blog.

Combating the Lie of "I can't afford to buy healthy food!"

As a teacher, I see the whole childhood obesity epidemic first hand.  It is a problem, a big problem...and honestly, I am probably contributing to it with occasional candy and treats to my students and plenty of sugar is being consumed in our house.  However, I believe there is a problem and I attempt to feed my children a moderate diet that includes as much "good for you" stuff I can afford (and they are willing to eat!). They also lots of sugar, white flour; typical American diet stuff.  When I go to the store, I am sticking to a budget but that "budget" cannot be at the expense of my family's health. I find that bananas, bags of apples, nuts, raisins, applesauce, and beans are always inexpensive choices, and they are good for us too!  Processed foods many of of buy cost  much more than many whole foods!  I think people who say they would buy healthy food but it costs too much are lying to themselves.   Ok, I get that if you buy all organic foods, shop at Whole Foods, gluten free, ect., YES, your grocery bill will be HUGE.  What people need to realize is you don't need to do THAT to feed your children well (and if you can afford it and that lifestyle is important to you, WONDERFUL, I am just not in that position).  This is what I overheard today shopping at Sam's Club: two overweight children (ages around 9 or 10?), "Yum! Clementines! We love these! Can we buy them?"  I don't hear the overweight  mother's response (honestly, at the moment they asked I was thinking about which produce I would be buying for my family....) but I see the family as  I approach the checkout.  In their cart is a huge pizza (Sam's Club) and a big box of crab cakes (what is the nutritional info on these? awful, fried for sure).  The Clementines were $5.48 for a 5 lb. crate (GREAT price) yet they are not in the cart.  I know I am not supposed to judge other people, and I don't know what the mother said (I hope it was, "We already have a 5lb box of clementines at home. I bought them yesterday!"  and the kids say, "Yay!") but I want to be the  kind of mother who says, "Yes!" when my kids ask for healthy foods, and if I can't afford what they picked out (sorry, not going to spend $3.99 in a bitty box of berries) I can offer them an alternative at a price that works within my budget.  I'd love to see some comments on nutritious food for our families that every wallet can afford. Thanks for reading!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (for shopping!)

I look forward to this time every year!  By the end of January, the malls and Target will be a dangerous place to be (for my bank account!) I love the post-Christmas markdowns as the stores try to reduce their inventory.  To make the money I am about to spend work as hard as possible, I am trying to think about the coming months and what we will want/need.  So far, I have bought Valentines gifts (non-perishable), Easter Basket stuffers, and birthday gifts at HUGE markdowns.  I have my eye on an awesome kid's table that is super low to the ground for playing or art at 50% right now at Target (original price was $90, it is now $45) that I could easily save until My son, Levi's 2nd birthday June 1st.  The top side looks like a train table, and Levi just got his first Thomas the Train set for Christmas.  Of course, I could gamble waiting for Target to mark it down to 70% off, but I risk losing the deal if they sell out.  Who are the January shoppers like me???  What do you buy every year in January?

Hooked Up With Facebook!

I linked up my blog with facebook! I want to see how big this can grow, so feel free to share with anyone and everyone you think will appreciate it.  And THANK YOU to my first followers of Life With Little!

I-I-I-I Work Out!

I am a freak.  I actually like to workout.  However, I am a mom first and foremost, and my gym (Planet Fitness, only $10, less if you pay the full year up front like I did!) has no childcare.  Plus, I work all day and the last thing I want to do after a long day away from my kids is leave my kids.  My solution? When the weather is nice, I stick my kids in our wagon and wheel them through the neighborhood with friends. Great conversation, and so nice to be with my kids...but not the biggest calorie burner around.  So, I have taken to 8pm workouts!  This allows me to put my munchkins to bed so they don't even know I am gone!  Off to the gym I go, with an Ipod, my Nook, and a (refillable) bottle of water.  Then I take to the treadmill for whatever I can squeeze in that night. Tonight was a bit of a dud. They closed at nine, and my rowdies wouldn't settle down until 8:30.  It was a deciding factor. Do I tell myself I have no time to exercise?  That is a lie! I have 30 minutes (20 after driving there) and by golly I used every last one.  500 calories burned? Not even close! But I will be happy to kiss the whopping 200 calories I did burn good bye!  Here is my challenge to you: don't say you don't have enough time for X, Y, or Z.  Make the time you do have work.  Read for five minutes or take a ten minute walk.  If we don't meet our goals because we don't even try to use the little bits of time we do have we are foolish.  What feats can you complete in five or ten minutes?

Daaaa Nook!

I received a Nook for Christmas (only $80 for the Simple Touch Reader at Best Buy on Black Friday) and this purchase has been incredible.  Yes, it is a splurge.  Sure, I could be all super saver and never buy books, only lend from the library ect.  Yes, that would be cheaper (except my late fees, and if you lose a book, OUCH!)  I think the Nook will pay for itself in no late fees alone.  I do LOVE a good book, though, I can see spending a lot  on new ones to read.  However, I have found a few great solutions.  A.  I can download ebooks from the library (they will NEVER be late, woohoo!) B. The Lend Me feature on my Nook is nice, I have already borrowed two books from friends (and I can't lose them!!! Awesome!) C.  Barnes and Noble has a Daily Deal feature send to my Nook every day! Sometime they are studs, sometimes they are duds, but I am loving the deep discounts they offer and I have found two studs so far!  D. Free Book Friday! Today's was a goody! "I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School" by Caroline Taggart.  There is also a decent James Patterson book for only 99 cents!  

Breakfast That Saves Time AND Money (and makes my kiddos HAPPY!)

Tonight, the menu at the house was breakfast for dinner! Delicious and nutritious--and a money saver. Plus my kids actually EAT it.   Yesterday, I found an extension of this idea in a book called "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half" by Steve and Annette Economides (The book was the Daily Deal on Barnes and Noble.com...$3.40 for my Nook!).  The back of the book has a section of recipes, including "Steve's Killer Pancakes".  It includes a great pancake recipe that A. Makes ALOT of pancakes B. Boosts the nutritional value by including whole wheat fiber C. Tastes good, too! Really!!  My husband and I preceded to cook bunches and bunches of pancakes, let them cool, and stack them, freeze them (per book's directions) to later reheat them.  My kids LOVE Eggo Waffles, so I am hoping these will be a hit and for a small fraction of the price.

Thanks for Finding My New Blog!

I really don't know all the places this blog will go.  But I do know this--my entire life I have wanted to write.  The idea of writing a book sounds big, unfathomable.  I mean, I have little time, little money, and little kids to care for! I can't sit for hours building the next New York Times Best Seller!  But I do have a lot to say, and I want to hear from you too.  This blog is going to be about how we "do it all" with so little.  Thanks for following!