Potty Training...Almost There!

Parker has been going pee pee in the potty for a while now. The only snag has been pooping in the potty. He flat out refused to go in the potty. I think it came about because he was constipated so it hurt when he went and he associated the hurting with the potty. I finally took a break from getting him to poop in the potty. I told him if he had to poop to tell me and I would put him in a diaper. He wears underware unless we are out and about for a while, but for pooping the diaper was his comfort. At first, he would freak out about pooping no matter if he was in his diaper just because he was scared of it hurting. After a while, that stopped so my next step was to get him to poop in the bathroom. He just had to stand in the bathroom in his diaper to poop. I told him that we poop in the bathroom and soon he will be pooping in the potty just like mommy and daddy. He got that down good. So finally, I told him no more diapers when he had to poop. He was not too happy with me when I wouldn't put his diaper on for him to poop. He kept handing me a diaper and saying "biper." I stayed strong and used distraction. I told him I would go get the special potty book to read if he sat on the potty. We read Usborne's Potty Time book.

It worked! That calmed him down so I went to get another book to read. While I was gone, he pooped in the potty!!!!! I made a big deal about it. You could tell he was very proud of himself. Then later on in the day, he had to poop again. This time there were no please for his "biper." He just sat right down on his potty and went. I am hoping this is the start of being completly potty trained. Well, at least during the day. It might be a while before he's diaper free at night.

Frugal Friday: Cook Up Some Savings

I love going out to eat. It's fun to eat food that you usually don't make at home. Of course, it's nice to not have to think about what should I make for supper today (although sometimes I have trouble deciding what I want to eat from the menu.) But the best reason I love going out to eat is I don't have to do the cooking and the cleaning!

It's so easy to pick up food to bring home for supper on a busy day or to go out to a restaurant on a lazy day, but if you go out to eat a lot it adds up. So, my Frugal Friday tip is to cook up some savings. I know this is nothing new to you, but sometimes we need a reminder. Cooking at home not only saves you money, but also can benefit your health which can save some money on medical costs. You can control the ingredients you use and choose to cook in a healthier way.
Maybe you don't feel confident in the kitchen. Maybe you don't have a lot of ideas on what to cook. Maybe you don't have a lot of time to prepare a meal. Whatever your excuse is, it can be overcome. Use the internet to find some tips on cooking or some recipes. Check out cookbooks from the library. Chances are someone else has faced the same difficulties and have written a book or a blog about it.

I have to admit that I could help our family save more on food costs if I did some meal planning. After I get back from vacation I'm going to do better on that.

Frugal Friday-Paper Towels

Paper towels are quite handy when it comes to messes and drying hands, but they are consumable. You use them and they go into the trash. Of course you can get good deals on paper towels by buying them on sale and with a coupon. However, I got tired of seeing so much paper towels being used or barely used, then thrown away (my husband was the worst when it came to paper towel use). My solution to save money on paper towels and reduce our use was to hide them. That's right I hide our paper towels. Now, I'm not talking about the hiding like you would do for an Easter egg. I simply put them in the cabinet under the sink-  out of sight, out of mind. I have found that having to go through more of an effort to get the paper towel has forced us to use towels and wash cloths when appropriate. Now, we only use paper towels when it is a paper towel only kind of job. I bought about three big things of paper towels when they were on sale when we first moved here almost 10 months ago and I still haven't used them all. In fact, I won't need to buy paper towels for some time.
So, if you want to save some money on paper towels, put them in a place where it takes more effort to get to. Also, evaluate the "job" you are using them for. Think to yourself, "can I use something reusable instead?" Hiding paper towels can save you money and make less waste in the landfills. It's a win win to me!

Frugal Friday: It Start's with Your Attitude

Photo credit here

You may be disappointed that I'm not starting off with a tip that's going to save you hundreds of dollars. However, I'm going to tell you the key to living frugally. So here it goes, the key to living on a shoe string budget, pinching every penny, saving tons of money is...be content with what you have. I hope you are not too disappointed, but that is where you start. Attitude is everything when it comes to everything.

I am learning (I use the present tense because it is a continual process for me.) to be content. I have to learn to be content with all areas of my life, but it is especially hard when it comes to money. I grew up in a family where saving money was important. It was important because having a good amount of money was important to financial security. So to me, having lots of money saved up made me feel content. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Having little to no money saved up made me feel insecure. I would stress out when I would look at our bank account information. I didn't feel secure. It was unhealthy and a product of my lack of faith and trust in God as provider. God has been working on me to change what makes me feel secure. I quit looking at our bank account. I let Paul do that since he doesn't freak out about it like I do. I'm learning that I can trust in God completely. I'm learning that contentment is a by-product of trust in God.

The apostle Paul explains in best in Philippians 4:11-13, "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." I'm going to get on a little soapbox here, but it has often bothered me how vicariously people use Philippians 4:13. I say that as someone who has been guilty of just that. I remember praying, "I can do all things through Christ who strenghthens me," as I was getting ready to take a test that I didn't study for well in high school. The ALL THINGS part of that verse is the key. Everything we do, we can do only by and through the authority of Jesus Christ. So "all things" means I can learn to not worry about finances. I can be content with our humble circumstances and actually enjoy it.

So, learning to be content is going to save you hundreds. If you don't have to buy a lot of things to make you feel good, then you will save money by enjoying what you already have. If you learn to be content to make something that you would have normally bought, then you will save money. I could go on. I promise that I will be sharing more concrete ways of frugal living, but like I said before, the key to frugal living is being content.

Introducing Frugal Friday

Photo credit here

I've decided to start a series of posts to share some of the things our family does to save money and live frugally. I really enjoy frugal living. Even if we had a lot of money, I think I would still live frugally. To me, it's important to be good stewards of what God has entrusted us with, and if there is a way to live less wasteful then we should do it. Of course for us, living frugally has come out of neccessity. With the economy the way it is and gas prices soaring, there are a lot of us trying to pinch every penny we can find.
Most of what I share, you may have heard or even do yourself. In fact, a lot of what I do has come about by google searches, reading blogs, and now pinterest. Some of these may be little and some may be big changes. I'll go ahead and put this disclaimer out here. Althoug it's called Frugal Friday, there may be some Fridays that I don't get around to posting. However, I hope you enjoy.

Budget...Ugh!

Most people cringe when they hear the word budget because they feel like it is some type of restraint. I like the idea of having a budget. Since money is tight, I want to make sure we spend it wisely, and a budget helps. However, I still cringe when I hear the word budget just because I don't like creating one. The process of making a budget is what I hate. I don't mind the living by a budget part.
For all of our 5+ married years, Paul and I have probably created 6,529 different budget plans and have yet to really stick to living by any one of them. That is about to change. It has to change. Since money is tight, we are going to have to be dilligent and be good managers of what God has entrusted to us.
This time around we are taking a different approach, the one we should have taken all along. God's will for our lives is to bring Him glory. Everything we do should be an act of worship to God. All that we own by the world's definition of ownership really doesn't belong to us. It is all His. He doesn't owe us anything. So, why haven't we consulted God in how to manage what is rightfully His? So many times we just sat down and logically created a budget. We'd punch some numbers in, and with the little we were working with, it never seemed to work out right. (It is truly by the Lord's blessing that we are not in debt up to our eyeballs. I don't know how He did it, but He has taken care of us financially when it seemed impossible. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!) A few days later, the budget might as well have been in the trash because we weren't really using it.
Again I ask, why haven't we consulted God in how to manage what is His? That will be the difference this time around. We are giving our budget over to God. We are seeking His wisdom (James 1:5). We are asking for God to transform us by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). I know this means that we are going to have to make some major changes in how we think and live, but I know that we will be better off.
I just want to add that creating a budget is not about finding security in money. I struggle with that. I'm learning to find my complete security in Christ. Creating a budget will help us to be better stewards of what we have been given, and therefore, we will be able to better invest in the Kingdom work of Christ.
I'm putting this out there not to bore you to death but for accountability purposes. I know this won't be easy. So, if you would like, pray for us as we create the budget. Pray that Paul and I will be of like mind with Christ. Pray that God will reveal areas that we haven't surrendered to Him. Pray that God will give us the strength to surrender all to Him. Pray that our minds will be focused on things of eternity and that we will view our "possessions" as avenues to invest in those eternal things.

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for who I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:7-8 (Go read that chapter. It's good stuff. Seriously, go read it.)

FYI: Shutterfly Cards

So, I'm dissapointed to tell you that I'm not going to be getting 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I did what I was supposed to do and was told I would get a promo code email in 3-5 business days, and I never did. Maybe my blog post wasn't good enough to qualify. This makes me sad because I really like the Christmas card designs by Shutterfly, but money's tight and I can't afford a bunch of cards from them. But, I'm excited to tell you that I still got a really great deal on Christmas cards. I got 60 Christmas cards for $5.29 including tax and free overnight shipping! I think that's a pretty good deal. They are not as pretty as Shutterfly cards, but a SAHM's gotta do what a SAHM's gotta do. I found out about this deal using southernsavers.com. The website told me of a deal from seehere.com. You can also get 50 free prints of any pictures from snapfish. Even though my cards won't be as pretty as I hoped, I did my best to save my family some money. Now, my Christmas cards should be out on time (as long as do good to mail them out when they get here), and by on time, I mean before Christmas.

Saving with The Grocery Game!

I recently started using The Grocery Game to help save money on groceries. After doing some grocery shopping today, I am excited to share about my savings. I got $108.80 worth of groceries and other things for $41.36 (not including tax), plus I earned $0.05 off per gallon at Shell and $2 in Extra Care Bucks plus a Extra Care Coupon for $5 off a $15 purchase at CVS. Here's how I did it. I joined thegrocerygame.com with a FREE four week trial. Every week they send me a list from the stores I selected (Bi-lo, Food Lion, and CVS). The list gives you all the sales, not just the advertised sales, coordinated with the coupons. It color coordinates: green-free items, blue-items to stockpile because they are at rock bottom prices, and black-items that are a good deal but only buy if you need them. I go through the list and print off only the things I'm going to get that week. Then, I go through my coupon binder and pull out the coupons that I need that week. (Yes, I organized a coupon binder.) Then, Monday or Tuesday, I go shopping. The list helps me go through the store quickly, which is such a help with a 6 month old in tow. I love The Grocery Game for so many reasons. Of course because it saves me money, but not only that, it saves me time. They (the people behind the website) do all the dirty work. They find out all the sales, they study the sales trends and know when the item is at its lowest cost, and they coordinate the items with the coupons for extra savings. After my free trial, I will be paying $15 every 8 weeks for 2 store lists (I'm going to get Bi-lo and CVS). That isn't alot of money considering all I will be saving, both time and money. Also, Bi-lo has Fuel Perks which gives you 5 cents off per gallon at any Shell station for every $50 you spend , and that just keeps adding up. The other day I was able to get 15 cents off per gallon. If you use reuseable grocery bags, you get an extra 5 cents off your grocery bill per bag. At CVS, you can earn Extra Care Bucks which you can use toward purchases. I will continue to shop at Aldi once a month because there are some items you just can't beat their price on. I've included a picture of my purchases from this week. It's hard to see what is in the picture so I'll tell you what I got. For $41.36, I got Pine Sol, 3 boxes of Puffs tissues, Crest Pro Health mouthwash, Almay Intense I-Color trio, 6 5 oz cans of Bumble Bee Tuna, 4 cans of Progresso soup, 12 pack Angel Soft double rolls, 2 packs of Pampers Cruisers, Marcal tissues, Smart Balance Sour Cream, dozen eggs, value pack of split chicken breasts, Land O'Lakes sandwich meat, cucumber, 2 Uncle Ben's rice mixes, 2 lbs of grapes, and 6 reusable shopping bags. If this excites you and you want to try or you just want more information, go to thegrocerygame.com or you can email me at kelliepcamp@yahoo.com. If you decide to join, please use me as a referral by entering my email address. This helps me earn free weeks of The Grocery Game. Then, share with your friends and have them use you as a referral.