Let God Get You Organized!
May 19, 2009 by Leslie
Many of you are aware that I have been working on getting my home overhauled over the last few months. This process has taken a bit longer than I originally had planned for a variety of reasons; work schedule, lack of “homes” for stuff, loss of motivation, illness, and my attitude. Last week I posted on the Total Home Overhaul group about how God has been working on my attitude. This was a turning point for me. Prior to this change, my mind was consumed with the organizational changes I needed to do before anything else. Budget and down trodden thinking put a damper on this. I kept justifying why I couldn’t move forward because I didn’t have this or I didn’t have time to complete the other. As God worked me through my attitude issues, my eyes were opened to what I CAN do right now to get it together. When God answers, He answers BIG!
One of my biggest obstacles to overcome was lack of shelf space. Like many homemakers, homesteaders, and homeschoolers, books take up a LOT of space in our home. I had an entire hallway that was just piled with books; piled HIGH! When I couldn’t pile the books any higher, I started piling them in my office. After that they got piled in boxes and such in my office closet. I didn’t stop there because every flat surface was a potential space for piling books and notebooks. The hubby and I had been pricing different bookshelves, both pre-made and supplies for building them into the wall. To be honest, as much as I needed those shelves, I couldn’t bring myself to take money from our savings to complete the project. But each week brought more grumbles from me about how I could barely breathe in our home. It never occurred to me to stop buying books or look for other resources for shelves. I had been looking at yard sales, but I kept coming across those 2 level particle board shelves that bow when any weight is put on them. I wanted what I wanted and anything less just wouldn’t do. No surprise that God wasn’t answering me with that attitude! Once I allowed God to come in and transform my attitude, a solution was found.
The hubby asked me to come to our local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store to search for a small TV stand. Long story short, we had a big screen TV that had been sitting broken in our living room for almost 3 years. It took up a lot of space and since it didn’t work our bedroom became the living room; which drove me absolutely nutty. How many of you know how short a drive that is? But, I digress. The hubby had found a smaller flat screen for an absolute steal, but we had no place to put it; thus his idea to visit the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.
These stores sell used furniture, appliances, linens, housing supplies, remodeling supplies etc. They sell pretty much anything but clothing. At any rate, we get there and the sparkle shown in my eyes immediately. The hubby said, “You are like a kid in a candy store!” That was true. Here’s how God answered my prayers for an inexpensive TV stand. Quickly my hubby located a piece that fit the bill and I said yes right away. It was perfect! However, I also found a treasure trove of other pieces, including two large shelving units that would fit our hallway and solve my book problem. Here is the final list of what I wanted: 2 large shelving units of solid wood, one round pillar table for a game table, a stand for our TV, a prayer chair, and an upholstered chair. The total for the furniture was tallied @ $320; which was a good deal as purchasing shelves for the hallway cost more than that, but of course I wasn’t satisfied with the price. I talked them down to $120. Yep, you read correctly; they came down $200. We came home with our pieces and I quickly set to work. But that is NOT all!
Our book pile issue is solved. Our game area is now solved with the use of the pillar table and 2 dining chairs that I had sitting in the garage that I had picked up for free on the road side during one of my evening walks. Our TV has a home and we now use our living room for living and my bedroom for uh…sleeping. I was able to place this darling and most comfy chair in my bedroom for a prayer chair (Prayer space for me complete!). Then I turned around and sold the broken TV for $50. Total cost of the overhaul of 5 rooms: $80!
The point in telling you my story is to inspire you to give your home issues to God. He is there for everything in your life. We often overlook these issues in our times of prayer and fellowship because they seem so mundane. But the reality is that the state of our home affects our lives. In the last week I have done so much overhauling with the help of my daughter, son, and his friends, that I can’t believe we are in the same house. There are still projects on my To Do List, but it is not overwhelming and I don’t feel as if I am drowning. My mind is in a better place. Just in time as one of my daughters was in need of undistracted Mom time this weekend. I was able to give that to her, because my mind wasn’t spinning in different directions due to clutter all about. I was able to concentrate on praying with and for her.
Let God work through you as you tackle organizational issues in your home. As you open yourself up and broaden your relationship with God by including those mundane issues you will find Him transforming you in fantastic ways. God will lasso much of the chaos allowing for the much needed simplicity to flow through your life and afford you the opportunity to truly walk with Him. When our homes are less cluttered, our lives are less chaotic. The result is that we are more able to focus on devoting time to Him and His purpose for our lives; and we are better be able to listen.
Leslie Valeska is the wife of Thomas and homeschooling mother of four children who reside in SW Florida. Her family operates Fresh Gear Solutions, LLC and enjoys RVing. She is the founder and director of Simple Journey Ministries which was established to encourage, inspire, and support women on their journey to Godly womanhood. Leslie is also employed as a vintage seamstress by Vintage Vixen.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - Homesteading With Suzanne
May 11, 2009 by Suzanne
I was on a roll. I was saving money. Going green. Preparing my garden with the compost I had so lovingly saved. I was perfecting my bread making, keeping granola on hand for hungry mouths, instituting cooking days, and cutting my grocery bill in half. I was cultivating confidence (and growing pride) by the yard full.
We found out we were expecting the newest Parker and I knew we’d fold this upcoming baby into the routine just as I had done with the first four. I’d begun to ask about and look into cloth diapering. Baby food would take on a whole new look now. It was going to be great!
And then I got sick. Nothing to worry about, just run of the mill, first trimester-can’t-get-off-the-couch sick. Why didn’t I plan for this? Why didn’t I see it coming, you gently ask? Well, the answer is not a popular one. I wasn’t really sick with the first four pregnancies. I had a little nausea a couple of times, but mostly just breezed through it. I know, don’t hate me, I can’t help it. And I was always thankful for it, I knew others and I knew how it could be. So I was always grateful.
But it caught up with me. I paid for it this time around. Still am, on some days. My house came crashing in around me. And I was completely unprepared. I couldn’t plan meals, shop for meals, cook meals, much less actually eat the meals. I couldn’t keep laundry done, sweep the floor, or even manage to teach my children. So, naturally, when my sewing machine came to a slow pitiful stop in need of oil, I couldn’t manage to figure out how to fix it. I couldn’t imagine preparing a whole fryer for boiling. I couldn’t prepare a garden. I wasn’t brewing coffee anymore or chopping any fresh vegetables, so I quit even trying to upkeep my compost. In fact, the only thing I kept up of my new ways was my laundry detergent making (it’s that easy - and I’ll share how I do it next time).
But one of the hardest parts of this for me has been the mental battle that came with this. I beat myself up over it. Feared that all my progress had been for naught, that I had let y’all down - two measly updates in. As we filled our cabinets and fridge with frozen, packaged, instant foods again I knew I had failed. And let’s not even talk about school work. Lapbooks came to a screeching halt. And finally even our ridiculous attempt at worksheets stopped. Who was I kidding? What was I thinking? What were we going to do? (I tend to be a little on the dramatic fatalistic side when it comes to myself.)
What DID we do? We ate out. A lot. We ate instant foods. We watched tv. I laid on the couch and cried. Really, it wasn’t a pretty picture.
But now, as I’m rounding the corner into my second trimester, the fog is lifting. About an inch at a time, but enough so that I feel hope. I’m back to cooking a real meal or two a week. My sweet husband put the few items we bought for the garden into the ground and even used my compost! Just yesterday I added new compost fodder to the container. Worksheet schoolwork is back in swing (but I’m saving those lapbooks for when I feel like superwoman again). And my house doesn’t look so much like a disaster area.
As I sat wallowing in my “I’m a failure” self-pity and bemoaning the fact that since I am a failure I have nothing to tell you guys, I had a revelation. That is just what I would tell y’all. That sometimes when starting something new there will be bumps in the road. Heck, there will even be times you just pull over on the side of that road and do nothing. But the desire that drove you to start in the first place will bring you back to where you left off. It’s okay to do the dance your own way. And for me, right now, that homesteading dance is one step forward and two steps back. At least I’m starting somewhere. Again.
Suzanne is wife to one and mama to four, with a new one expected in October. The little ones are 2 boys ages 7 and 6, a girl who’s 3, and a 2 year old boy who’s not knee-high to a grasshopper yet. She eclecticly unschools with lapbooks the Charlotte Mason way. In other words, she doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s doing, but does it anyway. She lives in a world where there are few absolutes. The dishes don’t stay cleaned, the laundry doesn’t stay put away, the children don’t remember what she told them yesterday. But in their chaotic lives they have found joy. And they’d love to share that with you. So, come on over, kick a path through the toys, have a seat on the couch and grab a cup of strong coffee. Just be ready to hone your skills of “interrupted conversation”! And be sure to stop by her personal blog at JoyfulChaos.
Simple is as Simple Does
April 22, 2009 by Leslie
Simple is as simple does, is a credo I try to live by. I encourage others with small steps that can be used to bring simplicity to your life for the first time, or the thirty-first time. The fact is that even the simplest life can begin to become chaotic as life changes occur. Living a simple life is about the journey and the end result, as well as the learning process along the way. Taking small bits of time to record the process is instrumental in continuing forward. The simplest way to record this is to keep your records is to place notes in one special area of your planner, calendar, or Family Notebook. Another is to keep them logged in a small personal notebook that you are able to keep handy at all times. You never know when you will come across a neat idea, tip, or direction.
I am always amazed when it is time to review my life and see what needs to be trimmed in order to achieve the simple balance that is right for our family. I look back at the methods and choices we have made in the past, where we are, and our goals for the future. Why am I amazed? I always discover nuggets of information that I previously overlooked. Reviewing provides a time for evaluating all of those ideas and methods. I can easily access information about what worked, what didn’t, and why.
One of the best reasons to keep track of your journey to simplicity is that an effort, idea, or tip that worked in the past, may not work in the present. Something that failed in the past may be right for your family in the present. A task that did not fit your small family may be just what your larger family now needs. Sorting through these and knowing which to seriously consider is a matter for intimate prayer and counsel with your husband. I have found that our family runs the smoothest when I ask my children some questions about our lifestyle past, present, & future, take these answers and present them to the hubby and ask for his opinions and counsel, and take it to the Lord in prayer. Using this information I have been able to tweak our lives as needed to return to a simpler lifestyle when chaos is creeping in through the cracks or has flat out knocked the door down!
The reason I bring this process to your attention is that while our family has been recently tweaking our lives to regain simplicity due to unexpected jumbling, is that God has never steered us wrong. Our goal is to live within God’s will and purpose for our family. I practice what I preach. Most recently, the Holy Spirit has revealed to me that my priorities were in contradiction to God’s set of priorities for Christian living. My life is filled with all good things! I even consider the not so good things, such as my declining health over the last several months as a good thing because I have learned and grown so much. God uses all things for His good. Accepting and working with this will change your attitude and how you handle your own journey to simplicity. A willing and quiet attitude that is obedient to God’s purpose for your family will accomplish more than all the works you can ever do.
Leslie Valeska is the wife of Thomas and homeschooling mother of four children who reside in SW Florida. Her family operates Fresh Gear Solutions, LLC and enjoys RVing. She is the founder and director of Simple Journey Ministries which was established to encourage, inspire, and support women on their journey to Godly womanhood. Leslie is also employed as a vintage seamstress by Vintage Vixen.
Family Gardening
The home that my family and I lived in from the time I was in kindergarten until high school was a small, four bedroom home in the outlying suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky. Daddy had grown up on a 162 acre farm, so he wasn’t content with a small cookie cutter plot of land. We were luckier than most and had a larger yard and were able to maintain a sizeable garden every year of my youth. We owned a little more than a half acre, not really very big, but large compared to the lots on the other side of our fence. Our garden was at least half of the yard and I remember the first year we went from a rototiller to a tractor. It meant quicker work for my dad in preparing the garden, as well as our weeding between rows – at least until the plants got too big safely drive over without causing damage.
My dad was always a meat and potatoes kind of guy and our garden showed it. Every year, without fail, at least half the garden was potato plants while the other half was a combination of green beans, corn, tomatoes, radishes, turnips, squash, cucumbers, onions, cabbages, lettuce, and anything extra that my mom might have an eye for trying that year. The labor throughout the spring and summer months was always hard, something my brother, sister, and I complained about, but the preserved foods we ate the rest of the year always made it worth it. Until the next year’s bit of hard garden work came about.
People always ask me how my dad was able to preserve his potatoes for so long and so well without them rotting so, before I go on, I’ll share that secret with you. My dad worked side jobs to help make ends meet when we were very young. One of the jobs he had was cleaning banks, and one year one of the banks decided they needed new plastic bins for storing all the money bags. They tossed out 30 or so of their old hard-cased, stackable plastic bins and my dad, ever creatively thinking, asked if he could have them. The bank management approved his request, and he took those bins home and drilled holes down each side of them. We filled those bins about three-fourths of the way and stacked them in the shed that was connected to the back of our house. The holes drilled in the sides, along with not over-filling them, allowed enough air to constantly circulate around the potatoes, so they never went bad. We always had plenty until the next year’s harvest began producing small new potatoes. His answer for preserving the potatoes wasn’t very dramatic or overwhelmingly inspiring for agriculturalists, I’m sure, but it worked for us and that was what counted!
Our garden never just fed our family. I remember taking bushel baskets to family or church members during harvest time, as well as canned goods. When we visited our family on overnight trips, we always brought a gift of food along. At times, my aunt would stay and help mom with the canning. Then she would take some of the finished jars back home for her own family. We didn’t just rely on our own garden for food, either. Every Saturday morning during berry season, our whole family would be out at the wild blackberry patch, picking berries for cobblers in the winter.
My dad had another ingenious technique that freed up both hands for picking, so we could get out of the patch before the sun got too high. We saved gallon milk jugs in the months leading up to berry season. Daddy would cut an opening in the jug opposite the handle that was large enough for your hand to drop berries through. We would all strap two jugs through our belts, and then it became a race to see who could fill up their jugs the fastest, without getting too many scratches from the briar thorns. Our neighbors, the Boone family, had apple, peach, and pear trees in their yard, as well as strawberry plants and a grape arbor in their garden. We often traded vegetables for their fruit. Their peaches were always in abundance, and they were so sweet and juicy – perfect for canning, pies, or ice cream topping. My Great-Aunt Fannie, now home with the Lord, lived across the river in Indiana, and she also had apple trees that we helped pick dry in the fall. We would go with an empty trunk and literally come home with apples overflowing the back of the car!! Apple peeling and coring was a job that only Mom and Dad would do, for some reason, and Mom usually froze most of her apples. I’m not sure why she preferred to peaches, but freeze apples, except maybe that was what Granny always did. Sometimes families are funny in their choices like that!
Our family did not have much money, but we had a lot of love, and we learned about hard work by doing it. Some of my fondest memories are sitting around the back stoop and breaking the green beans into pieces that would fit neatly into the mouth of the jar, all the while joking and laughing with my family. As a military family, my husband and I have not yet been privileged to own our own home or parcel of land, but we go home to Kentucky every chance we get in the summer. There our children can experience a bit of gardening first hand. We’ve canned tomatoes picked from local U-pick farms, blanched and frozen green beans, and made the finest tasting jam with the berries picked by our own hands. At least we like to think it tastes pretty good!!
I’ve learned you don’t always need a huge garden of your own to do some simple preserving. Though, if I had my choice, my husband knows I’d love to have our own garden plot one day. Here are a few recipes that have become a standby until that day arrives.
Canned Tomatoes
To prepare: Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Dip the tomatoes in the hot water long enough to crack their skins (about 2-3 minutes). Place in cool water. Core, skin, and quarter the tomatoes. Place in another pot and bring to a boil. When you see foam, they are ready to go into jars (make sure you scald the jars, lids, and bands in hot water to sterilize them while you are waiting for the tomatoes to foam).
To can: Place tomatoes in the jar. Add salt to each jar (1/2 teaspoon for pints or 1 teaspoon for quarts). Place in a pressure cooker, put the lid on, and lock it. After the stopper comes up, watch your steam for 5 minutes and then place the weight on lid. Can to 15 pounds of pressure, then remove cooker from heat. DO NOT take the weight off until the stopper has fallen completely back down. Remove the jars and let cool before putting away.
Blackberry Preserves
4 1/2 pounds of blackberries
5 1/4 cups of sugar
2 lemons
1/2 cup water
- Choose ripe, wild blackberries and wash well in cold water. Let stand in a sink of cold water (especially if they have insects on them). Drain well and dry on paper towels.
- Bring sugar and water to a boil in a large pan and cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the blackberries into the sugar syrup and stir well while simmering for 5 to 10 minutes. Ideally, the heat should be turned off and the berries left to stand for half a day. When this time is up, add the grated rind of one lemon. Return to a boil and cook while stirring and skimming. As soon as the preserves are thick enough, remove from heat and stir in the juice of both lemons.
- Pour into jam jars and seal tightly. Keep in a dry, dark place.
Strawberry Jam (without pectin)
2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
- In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berries.
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C).
- Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process any unsealed jars in a water bath.
Mom’s Zucchini Bread
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
2 cups of white sugar
1 cup of oil
2 cups grated, raw zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup of chopped walnuts
- Cream oil and sugar together; add eggs and beat.
- Sift all dry ingredients together.
- Stir into oil, sugar, and egg mixture.
- Add zucchini, then vanilla, then the walnuts. Mix well.
- Pour into 2 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour (check center with toothpick).
Check out my article on page 32 of the funky flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Sallie Anderson is an off-again, on-again homeschooling mom to her 4 children, ranging from elementary to high school. In her writings, she discusses the challenges of homeschooling a child with disabilities and offers insight to those who sometimes feel all alone, like a square in a round world. Please visit her at Seaside Tales.
Managing Your Tax Return
March 18, 2009 by Sallie
The first months of the new year always seems to be tighter on the purse strings as folks enjoyed the bounty of Wal-Mart and other shops a little too much during the holiday season. Gift giving season is over and the stockings were full, but now our coffers are empty as we struggle to pay off the cards we charged up, or fill back up the savings accounts that we dwindled at the end of the last year. Now is a good time to sit down and make a plan for your income tax return, if you are typically blessed with receiving one. It is also a good time to create a workable budget that you can stick with so that you don’t face the same tightening of the purse strings at this time next year.
Several years ago when my husband was stationed in South Carolina, I volunteered in a military relief society office on base that helped folks with budgets and emergency financial needs. The most common excuse I heard for financial woes was that the family didn’t make enough money to create a budget and that they lived payday to payday. I always told my clients that this was the time they needed a budget the most because every penny counted and they needed to know where all those pennies were going. It was through my experience of creating budgets for other people that my husband and I really began to work on staying on budget and saving for our own family. I figured if I was going to be telling people what to do with their own money, I better have my own finances in order as best as possible, too!
Because of homeschooling, and other activities as our children have gotten older, I no longer have the time to volunteer on base in a typical office setting, but I do still try to help young friends and family out with budgets and finances when asked. I find it a blessing to sit down with young nieces/nephews or teens especially, and show them how they can budget their small paychecks to make their money work for them. My husband and I are not perfect with our finances, of course, but we are pretty tight with what we spend our money on, try to pay for everything with cash, and have worked to create a bit of a retirement fund and college funds by creating a sound financial plan that works for our family. My husband will tell you that he doesn’t typically know what is in our bank account, but he will also tell you to ask me. I can almost always tell you within a penny or two what we have there. That is only possible because we use cash (or our bank check card) for everything now and we have created a budget that allocates all our money into specific categories.
Our biggest goal has been to teach our children how to be responsible with their money. It is a blessing to see our children put their tithe in the plate as it is passed on Sunday morning without having to be reminded. It is also a blessing to see our children make wise decisions when shopping. Our three sons are younger and don’t have their own “income” other than occasional small side jobs, such as leaf raking or dog walking, but our daughter just turned 17 and has been working for several months for a lady with whom we attend church.
Victoria’s position is most closely described as a personal assistant. She does a little bit of everything ranging from dusting and vacuuming, to creating wardrobes (my daughter loves fashion and can put together outfits like I only dream about), to paying bills, and writing notes. We have told Victoria that the money she earns is her own spending money, with the exception of her tithe, and that she can spend it on whatever she wants. However, we have also told her that she must pay for any youth trips that she wishes to attend, as well as pay for her own clothes, and drivers education classes. She now keeps a ledger of all her incoming and outgoing finances so that she can track what areas she is saving money for and in what category it falls, as well as all of her expenditures.
For example, she has chosen to spend a portion of her money on building up her hope chest with items that she would like in it but that are above mine and her dads price range. There is a specific vintage 50’s china pattern that she has fallen in love with, so she has allocated money for savings for that whenever she runs across the pattern online or in an antique shop. It is a very high cost purchase, but one that she is willing to save for because she knows she, and her future family, will enjoy it for a long time to come. It is a personal choice she has made.
Much like Victoria’s personal choice on vintage china purchases, your creation of a budget and use of your income tax return are personal choices. You have to choose what will work for your family. There are a few specific things our family always does at this time of year and I will give you a few examples of those. We always run a check of the 3 major credit report agencies at the beginning of each year to make sure our credit report is in order. Last year I found a late library book fee from several years ago for about $7.00 had been reported to one of the credit reporting agencies. I didn’t even know I had a late fee at that particular library because the date was from a time when we rarely visited the library. However, after some investigating, I found out I did in fact owe the fee. I paid it and was able to have them make the notation on my credit report. Most people don’t realize that places like libraries may report to a credit agency. Completing an annual check of your report will keep you on top of what is happening with your finances.
Another thing we always try to do is put aside a portion of the income tax return in an emergency account for travel. We have several elderly people in our family who have not been in the best of health. By having that emergency fund, we can travel home to be with family should a bad hospitalization or death occur. It isn’t necessarily a happy thing to think about setting money aside for deaths or hospitalizations, but it is a wise choice.
Next, if there is any large homeschooling purchase we need to make, such as high cost items like telescopes or microscopes, or instrument repairs that need to made, then we allocate money for that. For example, this year we plan to have a new set of keys installed in our 105 year old piano. The restoration of our old Bailey has not been a cheap process, or a fast one for that matter, but in the end we feel like it will be worth the cost. We also allocate funds into the children’s college accounts, our retirement account, a personal savings account, and pay off any debt we may have incurred throughout the past year, such as uniform purchases for my husband on his military exchange credit account.
There is one other thing my husband and I do first and foremost with our income tax return that is somewhat controversial among other people. We tithe off of it. I know many folks will say they tithe during the year off their gross pay, and therefore their income tax return has already been tithed off of but my husband and I look at it differently. Most of the time, our income tax return is only so large because of a child tax credit or earned income. That is not income that we have previously tithed off of, but instead it is “free” government money. That is why we tithe off of it as well. Again, that is a personal choice as a Christian family we have made to tithe the 10% from the top, but you have to choose for your own family what you should do.
I have tried to stay away from telling you what percentages you need to put in this or that category, with your budgets and your use of tax returns. I’ve found most often organizations like Crown Financial Ministries or Dave Ramsey are good starting points for teaching you, but each family has its own unique dynamics and needs that no set program will work the same for. Each one has to be tweaked, if you will. I hope that by sharing a bit of what we do with our family it has encouraged you to at least create a budget that will work for you as well as plan where your money will go. If you start with those two simple steps, you will be making worthwhile strides in putting your finances in order throughout this upcoming year.
Sallie Anderson is an off-again, on-again homeschooling mom to her 4 children, ranging from elementary to high school. In her writings, she discusses the challenges of homeschooling a child with disabilities and offers insight to those who sometimes feel all alone, like a square in a round world. Please visit her at Seaside Tales.
How to Earn Money From Home
March 6, 2009 by Heather
These past two months, I have had some fun opportunities to earn some cash and some gift cards for free. What I had to do was simple, although sometimes time consuming. Here’s some of what I did and how you can do it, too.
First, I realized that I desperately needed “office hours”.
In other words, specific time that I would be on the computer that I was not to be disturbed. My office hours were usually after the youngest was down for a nap and the older kids had books to read or other projects that they wanted to work on. After my office hours were set and kids occupied, I found the sites.
Then I signed up with MyPoints.
That was easy enough. What you need to do is fill out some quick info and you earn points. At around 1250 to 1500 points, you can redeem them for a $10 gift card. You can earn cards to places such as Walmart, Target, CVS, Applebee’s, and Bath & Body Works. It took me about 30 days to earn my first $10 card to CVS, and it arrived around 15 days after I ordered it. Earning the points was easy. Each day, you can expect around 3-8 emails that you read through. If you click on the website or link, you will get 5 points just for going to the website. If you actually “respond” to the email, or order the items, you can earn up to 35,000 points. I only checked the air travel info, and just clicked on the link the rest of the time. You can also earn points by printing coupons and by referring others. Fairly simple and easy.
Next, I used CashCrate.com.
This was either cash or points as well. What you do is fill out surveys, getting paid a set amount per survey. They range from $.25 to $1.00, and take about 2-3 minutes each to complete. What I would suggest is getting a new free email address from either yahoo. com or gmail.com and using that one in your surveys. You will need to confirm from your email address, and some of them can send you a bunch of “offers” (read:junk mail!) that can clutter up your regular box. I earned about $20 within 2 days of starting this. It took me about 2 hours to complete that many offers, although not all at the same time. You have options of having the regular surveys, the daily cash, and daily point surveys. Each time you earn cash, you also earn points to trade in for gift cards. You need a minimum of 200 points, and after almost 3 weeks, I only have 14. The cash is easy enough to earn. Easy, but you will need to be able to spend 1/2 hour to an hour on a regular basis in order for this to pay off.
Ebates is a place to earn cash back on each of your purchases.
You get up to 25% Cash Back rewards when you shop online with them. You can also earn up to $5 for a referral who makes the qualifying purchase. If you are looking to just make money, this isn’t the best way to go. But, if you are an online shopper anyway, and you like to save money and don’t mind waiting for the cash back, this is definitely the way to go. I bought something and got the 8% back credited to my account in 3 days. But, since it only pays out every 3 months, be sure that you don’t mind waiting for your cash.
If you like blogging, then try Social Spark or PayPerPost
Both sites give you the opportunity to earn money, just by blogging about things you want to. The posts are simple, and the guidelines are clearly stated. You can choose what you want to write about and payment is usually done within 30 days of approval. If you don’t have a larger readership, the opportunities are a little bit harder to come by, but they are still there. The secret is to be able to check daily and to write your post immediately. Again, “office hours” are a good thing here. I have made about $30 so far, and it was fairly easy. I had to count the words in each posting, but I thought it was worth my time.
These are just some of the ways that I have earned a little cash on the side. I don’t have a million dollars yet, but I have gotten enough rewards and cash so far to make it worth my time. I used the $10 gift card to pay for laundry soap and other necessary items at CVS, and the cash has gone into our savings account.
What ideas do you have for earning money at home? I would love to hear what others have done, and to be able to pass the information on in upcoming articles.
Heather is a stay at home mother with 3 blessings to take everywhere with her. Teaching women to shop and save and get the most for your dollar are a vision that has been a long time in the making. She enjoys sharing her trials and triumphs at the local stores, as well as some good (and some not so good) recipes to help make those dollars stretch. Her column is a must read for the thrifty homeschool mom. Visit her blog at Titus 2 Woman.
Please Re-Lease Me…
March 4, 2009 by Julie
I have a happy place.
….In my head.
You should see it.
The walls are painted a soft buttery yellow. There are light wood cabinets with generous counter tops. Several rolls of butcher paper are anchored conveniently adjacent to a low work table stocked with crayons, markers and other art supplies. There are framed pieces of my children’s artwork cleverly displayed. In the center of the room is a large square table with bright rolling chairs pulled up to individual work stations. My children’s well-groomed heads are bent over their lessons, stacks of learning materials well-organized and within reach. And over in that corner, under a generous window, is my desk, the bright sunlight spilling over the coordinated lesson plan notebook open to today’s date with a fashionable pen resting at the ready.
Now, take a great big straight pen.
And POP that homeschool fantasy balloon.
‘Cuz that just ain’t the way it is right now, folks.
We’ve just signed yet another lease on the house we are currently occupying as we enter the twenty-third month of our previous home sitting on the real estate market 220 miles away. That house sitting 220 miles away was practically custom-built for our large family homeschooling needs, complete with a great school room and plenty of storage. The previous two homes we have owned, one tiny and the other mid-size, we were also able to custom-carve room for a school room that met the needs of our style of schooling.
But sandwiched in between our times of in-residence home ownership (as opposed to our current season of off-site home ownership…) have been a spate of leased residences that were not constructed with a big, DIY schooling family in mind. I’ve had to adjust schooling to an unfurnished tiny apartment, an island bachelor-pad style house and our current leasing situation which is a thousand square feet smaller than our home that is still sitting on the market. And while I still have hopes that my happy place homeschool fantasy will one day become a reality, I have picked up a few adjustments along the real estate way that have brought a little bit of ease to our temporary classrooms.
So how to make the most of tight quarters when it comes to all the flotsam and jetsam that seems to trail a homeschool path?
First, take inventory. For real. Get out all the stuff that is the material of your homeschooling. The notebooks, text books, computer software, games, flash cards, art supplies, markers, paints, backpacks, teacher manuals, enormous 3-ring binders and your archives, where you store the work your children have completed. Get realistic about just how big that pile is. In my homes that have had ample storage, it was easy for me to underestimate just how much space was going to need to be dedicated to our classroom supplies. When I had to take a hard look at just how many alphabet puzzles we actually owned and how much shelf space those puzzles required, I knew I was going to have to be more selective.
Second, decide what space is going to be dedicated to your supplies…and cull accordingly. I know that can be a bit painful. I know it can even seem a bit counter-intuitive to good stewardship. But I wax philosophic from a life-changing tidbit I took from Steve and Teri Maxwell’s book Managers of Their Homes. Their book focuses primarily on scheduling, but I have found application of a central guiding principal from their book that transcends time management.
Teri writes that:
God created 24 hour days, and if you find yourself with 27 hours of activities listed for a 24 hour day, then you clearly have 3 hours worth of activities that God didn’t intend for you to have in your day, or else He would have created 27 hour days for you.
The same has held true for my up-and-down sizing over the last five years. In House A, I have room for four shelves to be dedicated to a Native American unit study, complete with a set of tom-toms and a full-size teepee. But now the Lord is taking me to House B. And House B has room to store a week’s worth of toilet paper and a few art supplies. So, apparently, my full-out unit study materials may need to go bless someone else. As the Lord guides, my House A homeschool collection is not intended for my House B storage.
Third, rethink your rooms. We are presently schooling in what is supposed to be the formal dining room. Now, this may seem an obvious place to stick the schooling stuff for a lot of folks; for them, the formal dining room is the spot that only sees action on a couple of holidays throughout the year. But for us, we really need that formal dining room to function as, well, a formal dining room. My husband’s career requires that we host formal dinner parties and social events. And even though our present living situation is tight, we still need to throw those kinds of soirees. However, I found that I could house homeschool supplies in a buffet. I reconfigured some shelving with cabinet-style doors to hide workbooks. The display areas of these furniture pieces hold decorative platters and pretty candles; the concealed portions hide our creative messes.
The kitchen eating area in this house is tiny, tiny, tiny. We could work at the kitchen table, but there is no room in that area for storage. So to the dining room we go. Perhaps for you it could be a small table and shelf unit placed in the back corner of the family room. Maybe there’s a landing at the top of the stairs that could provide your schooling spot. In one of our houses, the master closet was enormous, even though the bedroom was small. That master closet served as office, nursery and schooling nook at various times in our resdiency there. In other words, think outside of the box.
You probably have your homeschooling happy place, just like I do. Whether you are leasing, renting, homesteading, building or paying that mortgage every month, very few of us have the ultimate homeschool set-up. But with a few adjustments, that organizational and storage challenge of bringing the education home can be managed. Take stock, cull accordingly and think outside the four-wall box.
And don’t forget to leave room for a cup of coffee. A really big cup of coffee.
Julie Carr, aka Octamom, has been steering her homeschool ship while falling behind in laundry for over 12 years now. A mother of eight children ranging in ages from 18 years old to 20 month-old twins, Julie enjoys a slightly obssessive relationship with photography and writing. Be sure to follow her blog at Octamom.
Starting Somewhere: Gearing up for Gardening
February 27, 2009 by Suzanne
As the weather starts to show signs of spring (or at least we hope it does soon!) I’m turning my homesteading thoughts to the garden. You know… that we don’t have, have never had, and have no idea how to have, but that’s for another day. Right now, let’s talk trash.
Composting! Here we come!
In the fall, I started my first compost bin. Overwhelmed by even what kind of bucket to use, I went to my closet, dumped some clothes out of a container and set about my starting. Then we went out into the front yard and started collecting dirt and leaves. I then started setting a plate on my counter and put all of our coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags, and fruit and veggie peelings on it. Each day, or whenever I deemed it too gross to be in my kitchen, one of my children would step out on the back deck and dump the plate into the bin.
We have dumped some dirt into it and stirred it, but that’s been very rarely. It’s not been very stinky, though it has been winter time. I do hear that it doesn’t get really stinky like regular trash.
I do have to say, I wonder if it will be garden ready at the beginning of gardening this year. It appears to not be breaking down at the rate that I had thought it would go. But I will stay the course, and hope that something productive comes of it.
In the meantime, this has been an easy (read: lazy) way to feel like we’re changing our ways. It is so low maintenance. Seems like I can’t really get it wrong. And it’s one more step that by next year will be such a part of our lives that we won’t have to think about it and may contribute positively to our lives. At least I started, made one more change in our consuming ways, and stuck with it. Big steps in my book!
For y’all who have thought about doing this, but have not started because you were intimidated by the unknown (and you know you’re out there, I couldn’t have been the only one!!) start here. Let’s talk trash together and learn alongside each other. If I can do this, I promise you can.
And for those that are old pros: What I need from you is advice. I didn’t research this. I know nothing about what I’m doing except dumping our old produce in a bin and stirring dirt into it. Is this right? Should I be adding something else or not putting something in? How long will this take to be actually useful in a garden? Please leave a comment with your own composting blog post, someone else’s website that has great information, or just a comment telling me what I can do differently. And let’s do this thing!
Suzanne is wife to one and mama to four. The little ones are 2 boys ages 7 and 5, a girl who’s 3, and a baby boy who’s not knee-high to a grasshopper yet. She eclecticly unschools with lapbooks the Charlotte Mason way. In other words, she doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s doing, but does it anyway. She lives in a world where there are few absolutes. The dishes don’t stay cleaned, the laundry doesn’t stay put away, the children don’t remember what she told them yesterday. But in their chaotic lives they have found joy. And they’d love to share that with you. So, come on over, kick a path through the toys, have a seat on the couch and grab a cup of strong coffee. Just be ready to hone your skills of “interrupted conversation”! And be sure to stop by her personal blog at JoyfulChaos.
Traveling Woes - 10 Essentials For Car Rides
February 18, 2009 by Andrea
Recently, because we took the puppy along with us, the kids and I stayed behind in the car while daddy went in to purchase some items at an electronics store. You know he was gone for a while, don’t you? Gabriela was upset (appalled) that she had to sit in the car while her daddy went shopping. After just a few minutes she announced that daddy was obviously lost in the big store. I assured her that he was not lost and that he was simply on a mission. She says “No! Daddy is LOST in that big store and now we are going to have to buy a new daddy”.
Buy a new daddy? Hmmm… if it was only that simple. I guess anything that allows her to shop is okay in her mind!
I realized boredom was fast approaching and decided to act quickly by pulling out our travel bag.
What do you take along to keep kids occupied?
There are quite a few things that I have in ours to keep the kids happy and occupied during long rides in the car. It really is a sanity saver. It consists of:
- 2 bottles of water, 3-4 plastic cups and a few lemonade individual drink mixes (w/grip clip for sealing). The water can get a boost of flavor from just a bit of the individual drink mixes. I also like that I control their sugar intake with these packets. When the kids are done I just rinse with a bit more water and put them away. I wash them and return them to the bag when we get home.
- Non sugary snacks. The last thing you want on a road trip is a wired kid. Or worse, one who is crashing from a sugar high! Stay away from sugary snacks. Pack cheerios, animal crackers, goldfish snacks, pretzels and/or popcorn for older kids. Staying away from the sugary treats also decreases clean up time since it won’t stick.
- All natural baby wipes. These come in handy for quick clean up and the all natural ones won’t dry out skin like the others will.
- Small first aid kit. You just never know when you will need it.
Fun tray. The fun tray is an inexpensive metal cookie sheet that serves as a desk or tray for the child. Use it for lunch on the go and they are easy to clean. The kids can also use it with magnetic alphabets and numbers for a fun and educational adventure!- Fun bag. This bag can include pipe cleaners, colored pencils, notebook, Legos or any other constructive form of entertainment. Using these materials, kids can create anything from castles and swords to zoos and necklaces! We prefer colored pencils over crayons since they don’t leave marks on windows or upholstery and they won’t melt if they are accidentally left in the car.
- Audio Books. These are a real treat for kids to listen to while in the car and you can check them out for free at your local library!
- Classical music. There is just something about it that can absolutely bring peace to an anxious child. It may even put them to sleep for a while!
- Educational goodies. We also take along things that will help to educate the kids. Blank maps of the US can be used for a game of license place geography. Simply have the kids race to color in the states as they are spotted on license plates.
- Shopping bags. These are a must for trash and dirty clothes items.
Well that is the contents of our kid’s travel bag. I’m quite sure there are many more things that you can take along to keep kids occupied while traveling. What do you suggest to include in a travel bag?
Andrea is a laid back gal from the south who has been married to a loud little Italian man named Darin for 7 years. They have two kids: one thinks he is a professional wrestler and the other thinks she is a professional princess (yes she wants to be paid to be bossy and prissy.) She has recently given up the corporate world to step into a land of kisses and learning. You can visit her at her blog: The Honest Woman. Help!
Starting Somewhere: Homesteading with Suzanne
January 23, 2009 by Suzanne
Confessions of a Beginning Homesteader
Although my daddy grew a garden every year and my mama canned at the end of each summer I was a mall-goin’, car cruisin’ kind of girl. When I got married all I brought to the table was my ability to make macaroni without having to look at the directions on the side of the box.
But I have a secret. I want to go green.
Bake my own bread. Can my own produce. Make my own soap. Sew. Mend. Darn (as in socks, right?). I was so gung-ho. When my mom brought over all of her old canning equipment and even a few “vintage” how-to books I did a little dance and got giddy over how my cabinets would look full of beautiful jars, how much money I could save, and how wholesomely my family would eat. All by my own hands.
I dream big.
But I fear bigger. So I stashed those canning supplies in a cabinet set aside just for them and kept telling myself I would tackle that challenge soon. My excitement grew stale and my defeat found roots before I’d even begun.
“I can’t do this.”
“I have no idea where to start.”
“I can’t even keep one house plant alive, much less feed my family from a garden.”
“If I don’t have a garden, then there’s no point in learning how to ‘put up’ my own goods.”
“I can’t afford a deep freeze, I might as well just keep doing what I know.”
“My days are full enough without having to add more stress.”
I closed the door on that cabinet and allowed life to happen. Feed those little mouths, wipe those little bottoms, change nothing, risk nothing, fail at nothing. I can’t do it all, after all. It’s overwhelming to know exactly what to do. Studying all of the must-have’s, just-so’s, best way’s put my perfectionist heart into a stand still.
But each time the toddler opened those doors and pulled out those jars and pans and lids to play with them - I would dream again.
I decided if I wanted to really do this and make it a lifestyle that I needed to make one small change at a time. I accepted that I could not transform myself from Consumer Extra-ordinaire to Producer Supreme in just a few months.
I started smaller than small.
Baking bread seemed so intimidating. So instead I went to my regular grocery store and found a pack of 3 loaves of bread in the freezer section. I still had to let it rise but I started the process a few steps ahead instead from scratch. I spent one-third the money I spent on the regular bread aisle. And I pulled from the oven golden mouth-watering confidence. I did it! I baked bread for the first time ever! I focused on that success instead of the lingering “but I still don’t understand those little yeast packets and all that kneading stuff.” I continued to bake that kind of bread until it was “normal” –just something else I cooked in the kitchen. That allowed me to conquer one fear before moving onto another. And each accomplishment is one more habit that becomes a part of our every day life.
I say all of this to say, this is not a how-to. I’m no expert. Please know: I don’t have the foggiest idea of what I’m doing. But I’m trudging forward. I’m willing to learn. And I really want you to join me - everything new is easier with a friend, plus, I’d sure like to share some fresh-baked bread with you!
Join me, as I keep you updated on the progress of my currently ungreen thumb and the rescuing of my cabinets from that brightly colored parade of store-bought labels. Email me at suzanne@heartofthemattermagazine.com with ideas of what you’d like to see me try next. And by all means, please keep the suggestions, links, and encouragement coming.! Just remember, living off our own land is attainable. We only have to start… somewhere.
Suzanne is wife to one and mama to four. She “eclecticly unschools with lapbooks the Charlotte Mason way.” In other words, she doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s doing, but does it anyway. She lives in a world where there are few absolutes. The dishes don’t stay cleaned, the laundry doesn’t stay put away, and the children don’t remember what she told them yesterday. But in their chaotic lives they have found joy. Visit her at www.thejoyfulchaos.com.
