Tag Archives: mothers

Keeper of the Coins

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I’m a big fan of “every little bit helps,” especially since Liam and I are the appreciative Bread-Eaters to our beloved Bread-Winner. I found a few ways to cut home/family costs and I’m looking for more, so I thought I’d break from my usual reflections for a little nickel-n-diming. The income we have has been a huge blessing for us and it’s so important to be excellent stewards and managers of God’s gifts.

Take It Back
I read on Dave Ramsey’s website that there is always new, unused merchandise in any given house. With those things fated to collect dust, the money spent goes to waste, BUT not if you return them. Getting a refund or store credit is a great way to put that otherwise trashed cash back in your pocket so you can really put it to work (depending on the situation, you can even return merchandise without a receipt). I thought, great idea! but I don’t have anything like that laying around here. After a little digging, however, I found a couple of rolls of shelf liner, some unopened furniture pads, two picture frames, and unused home decor. All purchased over time from different places, but they were forgotten or unnecessary. Not only did returning these items put about $50 back in our pockets, but it also cleared a bit of clutter from the house as well. If you can’t take it back for one reason or another, Craigslist!

Turn it Off
While I’m home during the day, I try to use as little electricity as possible to keep our monthly bill down. Our house has plenty of windows so keeping the blinds open allows for a delightful abundance of natural light, eliminating our need for lamps and overheads; I also have big weekend plans to put up a laundry line so we can reduce how frequently we use our dryer; and I keep the A/C warmer than what we usually enjoy and turn a ceiling fan on in whichever rooms Liam and I occupy.

On a side note, we just re-insulated the attic and for two days our A/C didn’t kick on even once. Making investments in your home like that can save pennies in the long run.

Swagbucks
I’ve mentioned Swag Bucks before, but it bears re-promoting. I use Swag Bucks so I can rack up points to redeem for Amazon gift cards. THEN I use the gift cards to purchase diapers for Liam (and soon Little Boy #2), which already come at 30% off if you’re part of the Amazon Moms program. I once worked the gift cards and the discounts so well that an order for 200 diapers came to 19 cents with free shipping. That was the most satisfying 19 cents I’ve EVER spent. Even without working it that well, I can still get a $45 box of diapers for $15 and I’m all about saving that kind of money. Because I’m not a major contributor to our income, I work Swagbucks pretty diligently so we can have cheap or free Pampers. (Most major diaper companies offer point systems, too, which gets you even more for your dollar.) Forget the diapers, though – put the Swag Bucks toward anything you want! You can get points for searching, playing short videos, taking polls, etc.

CVS
Couponing is good. Couponing plus discounts is great, but throw in store credit and it’s just brilliant. Several other pharmacies have reward systems, but my store of choice is CVS. Just within the past few months, I’ve saved over $100 using my ExtraCare Card, which doesn’t include the ExtraCare Bucks (store credit) they offer with a few deals. Today I earned $3 in ExtraCare Bucks from an initial purchase, which I then put toward an originally $4 gallon of skim in a separate transaction. Total for that purchase? $1. I will totally take cheap milk. You can work things that way, OR you can take the store credit and put it toward a deal that will earn you even more, which couponers call “rolling.”

Mono-Transport
Because we lost our car not too long ago, we put the insurance money and my beautiful pickup toward a Honda Odyssey. We are officially a single-vehicle family now and while it’s slightly inconvenient on occasion, it cuts back on gas and insurance costs BIG time; PLUS it requires our lives to be a bit more structured with more communication about Andrew’s and my respective plans for each day. For days when Andrew takes the Odyssey, I have an arrangement with another at-home neighbor in case I need to take a little person (or myself) to the emergency room. AND the fact of the matter is that when I’m at home, I don’t go out and spend money anywhere – gas station, grocery store, Starbucks or Target; which means that we can stretch our dollars across more blocks on the calendar. The whole effort has been great for our family and the pros certainly out-weigh the small inconveniences.

Tell me how you save! Penny pinching can seem like a burden or it can be a thrilling game; it’s pretty satisfying to get things for free or inexpensively. These methods I use are by no means an exhaustive list – even within each approach, there are ways to go deeper and save more.

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Weekly Snapshot!

  • Of his own accord, Liam has started picking up bits of grass and leaves from our wood floors and bringing them to me to put in the trash. I can’t help but beam with pride at this. Of course, he thinks that putting things in the trash is a game, but if it actually gets the house clean, who am I to tell him otherwise?? :)
  • A HUGE blessing in my life recently is a Bible Study that I joined with my mother-in-law. Just last week I felt spiritually parched and, as I mentioned in my post, I scoured all over the place for something to satisfy my soul. I started reading St. Francis de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life and the next day started my Bible Study. It’s such a great group of women and we just finished studying James. If you need a good spiritual slap in the face, James is your book. It’s been SO good to be so abundantly spiritually fed!
  • Andrew had TWO days off of work this week and it’s been such a nice bonus in addition to the welcomed rain in our area! With a husband home for a couple of days and [slightly] milder temps, there was plenty of time for fishing, errands, ice cream, and lounging.
  • Our Little Man #2 is pretty active! Originally I thought this kid would be more laid-back than his big brother, who is already collected and calm; but if he continues at the bumpin’ and kickin’ rate he has now, I’m in for a busy motherhood :)

Obey your thirst

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I’m thirsty. I mean strangely and urgently thirsty. I could go for a tall drink of water at just about any given moment and until my thirst is quenched, I am fixed on getting another refill. It’s been going on for a while and could be part of pregnancy or just southern summer living; but what’s interesting is that I wasn’t aware of this insatiable thirst until today. Back from vacation and beat from readjusting to our normal routine, I foraged in the kitchen, looking for something to satisfy. Nothing seemed appetizing. Fresh fruit? Ham sandwich? Chocolate? No thanks. Running errands, I kept thinking of how easy and refreshing it would be to drive through somewhere for something, but no menu had what I was craving. Finally I came home, put Liam down for a nap, and sat down to a glass of ice water – ahhh… there it is. Simple and perfect. Just what I needed.

And so it goes with my soul. I’m a busy person, an enthusiastic do-er. I love making a list and checking tasks off. These days, I’ve occupied myself with home improvements and nesting – both of which are big thrills for me (as evidenced by my Nesting Notes below). When I complete one item, I glance at my To Do Today List and start another. Phone calls, laundry loads, eager trips to Target. The only thing I really put off is folding and putting away clothes :) Today I checked off everything I had planned, but I still felt an inner nagging as if I had left something unfinished. The floors were clean, the dishes done, as well as other chores, what else could I possibly have to do? Just like earlier when the only thing my body wanted was water, the only thing my soul wants is Living Water. Nothing else will satisfy.

The rector of our parish delivered a strong homily on Pentecost Sunday about the image of the Holy Spirit as water. Images of the Holy Spirit as fire or a dove are pretty common, but considering water brings a different understanding of Who the Holy Spirit is and what He provides. The Holy Spirit inspires and ignites like fire, but also calms and brings peace as with water. The last line of the second reading on Sunday said, “We were all given to drink of the one Spirit,” and I feel like I can’t get enough. In our room we have framed the initial verses of Psalm 63 written in calligraphy, “Oh God, you are my God – for you I long! … for you my soul thirsts, like a land parched, lifeless, and without water.” Life can’t be furthered without water and the spiritual life is no exception. Hands down, my favorite part of the homily on Sunday was when Father quoted St. Iranaeus:

Like dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven…we need the dew of God.

Without water, flour can’t become bread and feed others. It just sits there without serving a purpose. But add moisture, throw it in a hot oven, and flour can provide and further life for others. How can I serve and love my family if I have no Spirit? It’s amazing how a soul will be so parched as to drink the sand of a mirage, just because it doesn’t know any different. In my physical thirst I scoured the kitchen for the one thing I wanted and in my spiritual thirst, I busied myself with tasks and To-Dos hoping to find some fulfillment; when really the solution was so simple. I have re-started Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales (written for married laity so it’s perfect!) and I’m continuing to invite the grace of God to take over my restlessness. My soul will never find peace without the Holy Spirit, just like St. Augustine wrote “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” God is the Sole Satisfier.

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Weekly Snapshot:

  • We learned a couple of weeks ago that our new little one is a BOY! I am SO excited to be the mother of two fun, rough-n-tumble little boys. What an honor! I’ve been hovering around the Boys Bedroom aisle at Target (they will eventually share) and glowing at the idea of introducing them, “These are our sons…” SO exciting. Dinosaurs, airplanes, mud and sticks – I can’t WAIT!
  • We went on vacation with my family to Lake Okoboji in Iowa last week. I’m about 750 miles from my parents, my sister, and her family (and now officially 4,000 miles from my brother and his family in Alaska who couldn’t make it because of their recent move) so seeing them is always exciting and refreshing. We spent the week on the lake, went to a theme park nearby, took a cruise one evening, and went swimming or played Apples to Apples in any down time. Liam LOVED being with “big kids” and since we’ve come home, he’s even more vocal than he was before.

Dinnertime with Liam…and Jesus (the picture of whom is in a corner of the dining room) :)

Nesting Notes (just for fun):

After we learned that our new baby is a boy, I drafted what was initially a short list of home To-Dos – deadline October 15, the Little Man’s due date. Needless to say, I’m still adding to the endless scroll of tasks, which is organized by room – even the hallway. I’m proud to report that several items are totally checked off, one of which the most daunting and that was the linen closet. It used to be folded chaos of sheets, towels, table cloths with my sewing kit buried, the humidifier hidden, and Andrew’s tool box – YIKES. I’m happy to say that it has since been transformed to clear organization. I fold a set of sheets and then put them all in one corresponding pillow case. On Clean Sheets Day, I just grab a pillow case and BADA BING! it already has everything in it. This arrangement is superior to rummaging through trying to find all the matching pieces. Simple and easy. I wish I could claim this ingenuity as my own, but really I got the idea from my space-saving-savvy sister :) Folks, I could really REALLY get used to this. The rush is fantastic.