Mission: Love Your Family

Today was family day, as I believe all Sundays should be.  Hubby was home, which is sometimes a rare commodity due to the nature of his work, but lately has been happening more often.  (YEAH!!!)

He spent time helping Reece finish his car for the Boy Scout Derby Race this afternoon.  They began the project earlier in the week, and were super ambitious about the look they were trying to achieve.  Last night, however, neither of them were happy with the way the car looked.  So, they spent much of the early afternoon trying to modify the paint to their satisfaction.  I was pretty impressed with their final product, even if they weren't!

Would you just look at that cutie pie grin?  My heart is just melting!  <sigh>  He was all pumped and ready to race!  He and his friends were feeling a little silly, as most boys usually are when they get together for anything.  It was difficult to get them to stay seated and actually watch their cars race!  When they finally got settled, their little eyes were glued to the score board to see whose car rolled the fastest and who got first place.  They were all very good sports!

This was Reece's 1st Derby Race and he really enjoyed seeing all the other boys' cars and watching the races, even if he didn't make it to the Grand Finals.

So what does all this have to do with loving my family?  Well, I firmly believe that we must support each other in our endeavors.  Having your family stand by and watch while you do something you're proud of, in my opinion, can only encourage you to continue to try new things.  I believe it will give each of my children the confidence they will need later in life when they apply for college, a job, a promotion, or whatever else God leads them to do.  I want them to have the courage necessary to fulfill the purpose He has for them and its my job to help them find that courage.    Something as simple as a Boy Scout Derby Race is a good opportunity to do that.  Sometimes I just can't believe what a fun job God gave me!  Who could ask for anything better?

Blessings to you,
Dafne

Today, as part of my February mission, I'm going to Love My Friends.  So many of you have asked me to show you how I save so much money at the grocery store and today I'm going to tell you how I do it.  (BTW - this is also how I Love My Family - saving money at the grocery store means more money for spending on fun stuff!)

Now listen friends, this is not a task to be taken lightly.  It does take some time and effort, more so in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it - it's a piece of cake!

First off, you MUST purchase your weekly Sunday newspaper.  If you have a family of more than 3 people, buy 2 so you will have double the coupons.  Set aside the grocery store ads and coupons, then choose a day that is the least hectic (notice I didn't say calm, not hectic or outright boring - mostly because we don't have those days around here!)  So pick the LEAST hectic day to sit down and cut them out.  Or better yet, hand them over to your kids and let them get to work with those scissors!  When it's all been done, you should have a pile like this:



The next, and probably most important thing, is to have some sort of organization system.  Some people like to organize by expiration date, but I prefer to organize by the way my store is set up.  I use a small 4x6 photo album with clear sleeves to hold the coupons.  I label the front of each clear sleeve with the name of each department, beginning with what I see first when I walk in the store: Bakery (Bread, Tortillas, etc.), next would be produce (not a lot of coupons here, mainly for bagged salads, dressings, etc.)  If you have a good visual image in your head of what your store looks like, it's not hard to do.  Just try to be as detailed as possible.  If you only have one sleeve that says Dairy, you're going to overload that sleeve, so I break my Dairy department into Milk, Juice, Coffee Creamer; Eggs, Cheese, Butter; Cookies, Brownies, Pillsbury Products; Sour Cream, Yogurt . . . well, you get the picture, right?

After you have your coupons all cut out, you're ready to sit down and make out your list for the week.  If you're a busy mom like most, you probably have a few crock pot or take-out nights planned.  (BTW - if you have them planned, you can save a lot more money than if you just pull into the nearest McDonald's without even thinking about it!)  Lots of restaurants place coupons in the paper, and many also have Kids Eat Free Nights - so if you know baseball and dance are falling on the same night this week - have that in your plan and you won't be breaking the bank!  You can find local Kids Eat Free Restaurant deals here.  My favorite is the TX Roadhouse - yum yum!  Sorry, I digress, back to the meal planning.  So you sit down with your handy grocery store ads

and your calendar and you start planning.  Now listen my friends, we all know that when we go into the grocery store we tell ourselves I am ONLY going to get what I absolutely NEED!  Right?  Do you say it to yourself?  I know I did for YEARS.  Well, you have to get over this mindset or you will never save the kind of money I do.  I wish I had a copy of one of my best trips - the cashier rang me up and the total for my overflowing basket of groceries was $230.  After I gave her my Kroger card and the stack of coupons that made the woman behind me roll her eyes, it came down to $107.  Believe me, by the time it was over, she wanted to know the secret! 

You have to learn to buy the things that you may not need today, but will definitely use tomorrow, when you have the best coupons and the best sale is happening.  Here's the best example I've used that I can think of:

Say I have a bathroom drawer full of razors.  You wouldn't think I would put that on my list, right?  Wrong!  Kroger has my brand on sale Buy 1, Get 1 Free.  But I don't even want to pay for 1 package - so I get out my trusty coupon album, find my Buy 1, Get 1 Free coupon, and I come home with $14 worth of razors that I paid $0 for.  Now isn't that nice?  Gee, I sure think so!  At our local theater, my 3 kids and I can get into a daytime showing for that price.  Woo hoo!   You just have to apply that mentality to everything you're shopping for.  You may not be able to use it for bread or milk, but you rarely find coupons for those items anyway.

Ok, so we're back at our table, with our ad and coupons.  You're going to look to see what meat is on sale that week.  (I am no longer a meat eater, which is another story, but when I was, it's how I started my planning).  There are no coupons here either, but if the roasts are on sale for $4 vs $13, you're going to buy 3 even if you don't plan on cooking them this week.  It's like seeing a sale sign that says 3 for the price of 1!  Plan your meals around the meat specials, but use your coupons and sale ads to help you.  If the chicken is on sale, as are the frozen veggies, campbell's soups, and rice - grab your coupons for those items, stock up, and you'll have a pantry ready to throw a quick casserole into the crockpot. 

It's going to take some practice, but you can do it if you decide you're tired of letting Kroger, Wal-mart or H-E-B have all your hard-earned money!  My family took our very first "out of Texas" vacation this year, complete with airplane rides, hotel accomodations and the best time we've ever had as a family.  My husband didn't get a raise and we didn't stop spending money on things we wanted.  I am certain we were able to do it because of my ambition in this area which most people don't realize they can actually have some control over.  Our food budget (which includes groceries and eating out) has decreased from between $800 - $1,200 a month (which is just sickening to me friends!), to around $600 for a family of 5.  Don't think for one second it's because I am no longer eating meat that I am saving - my family still eats it up like there won't be any around tomorrow!

Well friends, I hope you'll try to keep a little more of this:

 

so maybe you can go to more places like this:

 

or do whatever else your family loves. 

You can visit these sites for more information or to get more help,

http://www.couponmom.com/

http://www.afullcup.com/

http://www.mommysavers.com/category/blog/

http://www.retailmenot.com/

and as always, you can leave me a comment as well.  I will be more than happy to answer any questions or to help you get started. 

Blessings to you,

Dafne

Mission:    Love Your Neighbors

We spent some time yesterday with friends from our homeschool group at the Annual Valentine Skate Party.  We exchanged valentines, had a few snacks and participated in the Most Creative Valentine Box contest.  The kids had a blast!

While we were there, I learned a "knifty" new craft which Grace and I will do together in order to accomplish Mission: Love Your Neighbor.  Several of the other moms have committed to making hats for the homeless and I wanted to learn so we could participate as well.  Using some very inexpensive tools (which can be purchased at Hobby Lobby or Michael's) I learned how to create a precious knitted hat. Here is what the Knitting Looms look like:

These were very inexpensive - about $15 for 4.  There is an extra small ring for babies, a medium sized ring for toddlers or small children, and a large and extra large ring for adults.

I bought some chunky yarn in a pretty pink color (also at Hobby Lobby) and set to work: 

It took a few sittings, but I estimate that it took a total of about 2 1/2 hours to do this: 

I'm sorry, but this hat is too stinkin' cute if I do say so myself!!!  I still have more to add in order to make the little ball on top, but it's almost there!!  It feels so good to do something so simple for a child who might not otherwise have anything warm to cover their head.

I taught Grace how to work the looms, and she has already begun her first hat.  I'm excited that this is something she and I will be able to do together.  It is also my hope that she will feel the joy that comes from giving to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Tomorrow, we'll pick up on the Love Yourself Mission in her room.  For today, we put the focus outside of ourselves, and learned a new way to show love to our neighbors.

Blessings to you,
Dafne

Day 2 of the Love Yourself, Lose Your Junk Mission in Grace's Room

Today went really well!  We completed Step 3 in it's entirety.  I thought for sure this was going to take at least a few days.  We went through 3 large black trash bags, 2 huge boxes, and the miscellaneous stuff that had just been scattered on the floor.  Grace did a really great job letting go of what she KNOWS she has not used in years.  We had a good discussion about charity and sharing our blessings with those who are less fortunate.  She let go of toys, clothes AND dolls.  Wow - I was one proud mama!!  We have 1 large bag of DONATE items ready to go to the church tomorrow, 1 bag of trash, and 2 cardboard boxes to recycle.  We figured out why, even when all the laundry is done, she couldn't find any of her clothes - she had them "hidden" among all that junk in her room!  We have two loads to wash tomorrow and then she'll have a full closet again.  Can you say relief?  *SIGH*

I think she learned an important lesson about why it's so important to keep things neat (a lesson she learns each year around this time when I do my crazy purging thing.)  She was so excited when she "found" one of her favorite stuffed animals, a shirt she's been looking for, and the new tennis shoes we just bought her last week.  

I wanted to take a picture of her smiling face as she sat on her pretty flower rug playing with her Barbies, but sadly, my camera batteries were dead.  Talk about uh-noy-ing!  Ugh!  They're on the charger now peeps - so hopefully there will be more pics tomorrow.

I can tell you from experience that losing your junk really does feel like loving yourself - and once I upload the pic of my daughter's smiling face, you just might believe it too!

Blessings to you,

Dafne

Mission: Love Yourself, Lose Your Junk!

February is the month for love.  Love your family, love your friends, love your neighbors, love yourself!!!  I, personally, feel loved when everything is clean and organized!  I am trying to teach my sweet children that when we keep our home neat and orderly, it makes our guests feel loved and welcome.  Not only that, but we have a much more peaceful home to relax in when everything is in its place and we are not holding on to things we no longer need.

Every year around this time, I begin to get really crazy purge our home of the junk stuff we have somehow accumulated over the last year.  It is unreal to me how much we bring in.  My daughter (bless her adorable soul) is the worst when it comes to getting rid of things.  She will hold on to a piece of napkin she drew a picture on at a restaurant three years ago - sheesh!!

I can't say she is alone, I also have a hard time getting rid of things that I am determined I will use "someday".  We both share a passion for anything creative - she loves to draw, paint or work with clay.  I am a scrapbook junkie, love to sew and have a passion for turning garage sale finds into pieces that make our house a home.  Our combined creative personalities make for a lot of trash treasure around our house!

Well friends, enough is enough!  This year, I am determined to get organized and STAY organized.  I WILL NOT allow my perfectionism to keep me from getting it done.  I WILL NOT procrastinate.  I WILL NOT wait until we buy and install closet organizers (which I have wanted to do for YEARS!)Clutter keeps me from writing, sewing, scrapbooking, baking, or doing anything else I find enjoyable.  It makes my daughter's room look like a war zone and prevents me from even wanting to go in there!  It keeps her from having friends over, working on her crafts, or enjoying a good book in the peace and quiet of what should be her personal space, not her storage room!  I have a plan for getting things back in shape.  Grace (my daughter) and I put that plan into action today!

Step 1:  Get EVERYTHING that does not have a designated space out of the room.  (Do NOT obsess over where we are going to put it, just GET IT OUT!!!)

Step 2: Get the room clean and neat (Vacuum, dust, make bed, etc.)

Step 3:  Go through the removed items (at a reasonable pace - say 1 box/bag per day)  Separate into Keep/Donate/Throw Out categories

Step 4: Take the Donate items to the Church, take the Throw Out items to the trash!

Step 5: Make a list of needed items to get all the Keep items in order (do we need any additional storage baskets for the closet, does she need magazine holders, hooks for her closet to hold purses, etc.)

Step 6: Purchase the items and put them in place

Step 7: Enjoy the newly organized room and reward Grace with a sleepover or craft party!

I'm estimating that it will take us at least a week to complete the remainder of the LOVE YOURSELF, LOSE YOUR JUNK mission in Grace's room.  We got through steps 1 and 2 today.  Here is a pic of what came out of her room, can you believe it?

Wow - that is a LOT of stuff!  Some child is going to be truly blessed with all the clothes, shoes, blankets and whatever else we decide to place in the donate pile.  There is NO way all of this is going back in her space!

I do still want to purchase a closet organizer like this one:



but I am not going to let the waiting keep us from enjoying our home!

I hope you'll stay with me as we complete our Love mission this week.  I also hope you'll share stories of your own Love missions as well!

Blessings to you,
Dafne