Bulk Shopping

We hear all the time how it’s more cost effective to buy in bulk, but how do you start if you’re already struggling to do your normal thing?  Well we decided we would gut it out the last month and save so that I could go to Sam’s had got some serious food.  So…the last month at my house has been interesting as to what meal would be on the table.  I laughed as I scrapped the bottom of my freezer for items I didn’t even remember buying and made awesome food out of it.  Hey! It may sound crazy but we didn’t starve…we ate just fine and had eggs and pancakes or egg salad or I chopped steak up into pieces and made it into a skillet.  So, this past week I went to Sam’s and dropped some cash and am happy to say that I purchased wisely.  Try it truly it can save you money and time!

Article of the day:

Buying Food in Bulk – How Long Will It Last?

By Donna L Montaldo

Many smart shoppers like stocking up on food items in order to save money on their grocery bills, but before filling up the cupboards (and every other possible space) with bulk items, you may want to review the average shelf life of the most common foods we buy.

Also, asking yourself a few questions before buying large portions of food will help insure that what you are purchasing will not go to waste.

1) Will you have adequate storage space to put everything you are buying?2) Do you have a freezer large enough to store bulk food items?3) How much will your family enjoy the products you are buying?

Recipe planning is a good strategy to use when buying food in bulk. By knowing what you have, how much you have and when you plan on cooking it will help deter the problem of food going bad before you have a chance to eat it.

How Long Does Stored Food Last?

Meat and Poultry – Uncooked

• Chicken and turkey – Nine months
• Steaks, beef – Six to 12 months
• Chops, pork – Four to six months
• Chops, lamb – Six to nine months
• Roasts, beef – Six to 12 months
• Roasts, lamb – Six to nine months
• Roasts, pork and veal – Four to six months
• Stew Meats – Three to four months
• Ground meats – Three to four months
• Organ meats – Three to four months

 Dairy Products

• Butter/margarine – Six to nine months
• Cheese, soft and spreads, dips – One month
• Cheese, hard or semi-hard – Six months
• Eggs in shell- Do not freeze
• Ice cream – One month
• Milk / Cream – Three weeks

 Dried Food Items – Shelf Life

• Baking powder/soda – 18 months
• Bread Crumbs – Six months
• Cereals – Six months
• Coffee creamer, dry – Six months
• Flour/cake mixes – One year
• Gelatin/pudding mixes – One year
• Herbs/spices – Six to 12 months
• Milk, nonfat dry – Six months
• Pancake/pie crust mixes – Six months
• Pasta/noodles – Two years
• Potatoes, instant – 18 months
• Rice, white – Two years
• Sugar, granulated – Two years
• Sugar, brown, confectioners’- Four months

Fruits & VegetablesCommercially frozen fruits will last up to a year in your freezer. Commercially frozen vegetables have a life-span of only eight months. Another option for storing these items for long periods is canning them. If you plan to buy these items in bulk, on a regular basis, it would be a good investment to consider purchasing a canning machine to insure the food is kept air-tight. Beans

Dried beans kept free from moisture can last for several years. This is an excellent way to stretch your money, plus beans are full of protein for healthy eating. Drinks

Most juices that you buy, such as apple juice, can last 3-5 years un-opened. If you are unsure of how long your juice will last, contact the manufacturer consumer phone number. Optional Items

• Chocolate – unsweetened 18 months
• Coffee, vacuum pack – One year
• Milk, canned – One year
• Molasses – Two years
• Nuts – Eight months
• Oils/salad dressings – Three months
• Peanut butter (unopened) – Six months
• Sauces, condiments, relishes (unopened) – One year
• Shortening – Eight months
• Syrups – One year
• Tea – 18 months

 The important thing to remember when buying in bulk, is that a deal is only a good deal if you actually use the products that you purchase.

Grocery Savings Guide

 

A friend of mine was gracious enough to lend me her copy of Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette.  I love it!   I am have already learned how to make a game out of grocery shopping, how much money I can save when I go to the grocery store.  My family thinks I’m really sick.  I’ve started to compile a price book of all the local grocery stores in the area so that I can see who really has the best price sale or no sale.  I’ve found that many items go on sale in rotation so that I can continually get it by going to different stores for less.  Luckily I’m in an area where I don’t really have to drive too far to get anything.  This is starting to carry over into other aspects of my life like our utility bills.  I get totally excited seeing our bills go lower rather than higher, just by not using it.  For example, I would rather all of us wear sweats and heavy socks with our heat at 68 and our gas bill being $40.00 rather than spend more.  I knew it was too low at 65 because even my husband asked me to turn it up…man!  Hey instead of trying to add more cash flow to your budget to just spend more, maybe if we can save more money in anyway we can we’ll actually have more with what we already have?!?  Crazy talk I know…. Article of the day:

Use a Grocery Price Book to Slash Your Food Spending   

Wednesday, 2nd May 2007 (by J.D.)  

While reading Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette this afternoon, I learned a great new money hack. Dacyczyn (pronounced “decision”) advocates using a grocery price book to save big bucks at the supermarket. A grocery price book is an ongoing list of the items you most commonly purchase and how much you paid for them. This list allows you to detect price cycles, spot bargains, and plan your shopping trips for maximum savings.

Dacyczyn explains:

My price book is a small loose-leaf binder. Each page contains prices for one item, and the pages are in alphabetical order for quick reference. I include my code for the store name, the brand, the size of the item, the price, and the unit price.

 

I began by writing down prices on sale flyers and from my grocery slips. I made a few trips to compare prices of specific items. It quickly became evident that not every sale was really a sale. But when I did find a good buy, and I could verify it with months of records…what power! I could stock up with confidence.

At first you may think this is too much work and the idea of shopping at so many stores will be inconceivable. It will pay off. A good strategy is to shop at different stores each week of the month so that within a 30-day cycle you can hit them all. We have our shopping system down to once a month with only a few short trips to hit unbeatable sales.

[Keeping a price book] revolutionized our shopping strategy more than anything else we did. For the first time we had a feeling of control over our food budget..

It might take you a total of five hours to make up a price book for comparison shopping, but after several years of supermarket excursions, you may discover that your hourly “pay” for those five hours was over $1,000.

When Dacyczyn first published this technique nearly twenty years ago, personal computers were not ubiquitous. But in the Internet Age, it seems a little old-fashioned to keep a paper-based price book. As much as I love notebooks, I’d rather keep my data in a spreadsheet where it’s easy to search and sort. I found two Excel-based price books: one at Cheap Cooking and a more elaborate version at An Uncommon Way to Wealth.

If you’d rather start a paper-based price book, OrganizedHome.Com has a free printable price book page. (Though, to be honest, you’re probably better off just using notebook paper!)

Did I just miss a whole week somewhere?

Do you ever loose track of time?  I certainly do!  Man, this past week flew by with out me doing too much work wise.  As everyone is now feeling better my priority turned to yard work and getting all the winter cloths out of storage.  Praise God to mommies who want to discard close!  My children thrive off of that.  I was asked about a week ago to do a diaper survey, it’s totally awesome!  I received 15 days worth of diapers and will be paid for my time at the end of this.  It’s been interesting as the diapers are a brand I don’t usually use and they’re holding up awesome.  Anyway, I’m excited because that money will be put into our Christmas fund for this year.  Hey keep on the look out for different ways to make money; you’ll never know when one will show up!

Article of the week:

10 Interesting Ways to Make Quick Money

By Parashar Joshi
Published: 9/5/2009

Here is a list of 10 interesting money making ideas using which, you can make quite a few dollars within a short span of time.

1. Part Time Jobs: Taking up a part time job could be a good option, as you will be able to pursue it without disturbing your regular routine. Consider options such as working at the public library, the gas station, the local department store, becoming a nighttime cabbie, etc.
2. Volunteer For Medical Tests: Many medical institutes which conduct research and perform tests regarding new medicines and drugs, are always on the lookout for volunteers. The monetary compensation is also not all that bad. Therefore, it could be a viable option for you to consider.
3. Home-Based Business: You could consider home-based business opportunities in a variety of fields such as pet care, confectionery, craft making, sewing, selling insurance, etc. Find out what your niche is and explore it to the fullest.
4. Become a Bartender: You could also consider working as a bartender or a server in high class places where you are most likely to get some good tips. The hefty tips, in addition to your daily wages, could surely add up to some good money.
5. Do Odd Jobs: Do odd jobs for people in your locality such as mowing lawns, washing cars, babysitting, delivering pizza, etc. Once again, tips could add up to your earnings and you may find yourself with a thick wad of notes at the end of the week.
6. Sell Stuff: If you happen to have stuff lying around in your house which you haven’t used for ages (and aren’t likely to use in the future), the best thing to do would be to sell it off and make some money out of it. As an alternative to plain selling, you could consider auctioning it through online auctions. This could fetch you a much higher amount, especially if the things that you are auctioning off happen to be antique valuables, paintings, etc.
7. Online Get Paid Programs: There exist certain programs on the Internet wherein you are paid to answer surveys and give your opinions regarding certain products and services. Zeroing in on the right program could help you in making money online by voicing your opinion.
8. Acting: Ever dreamed of acting in a film? Well, your wish may just come true (even if it happens out of financial necessity). If you are a good looking fellow with a decent physique, you could register yourself with a modeling or a casting agency. You could get to work in a movie as an extra or a junior artist. Payments are made on a day-to-day basis, so basically there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain!
9. Become a Freelancer: This is another great option if you wish to rake in the moolah without altering your daily time-table. You could opt for freelance writing, or consider becoming a freelance realtor, an insurance agent, a marketing executive, etc.
10. Casino: I do not advocate gambling. Therefore, I suggest that you resort to this option only in case of extreme emergencies. Do not let offline or online gambling become a habit or else you may ruin your life.

Fevers and Holloween

My son woke up today with a nice 101.1 fever, of course the day that we’re getting everything ready for Halloween.  We have a trunk or treat we are going to tomorrow at one of the local churches, and the kids are very excited.  This has been a rough month with sickness in my house, and it looks like no end in sight.  I spent time opening windows and doors and spraying Lysol wherever I could.  I still need to bake cookies and grab a pumpkin too, so I’m praying that this fever will disappear like daddy’s did a couple of days ago.  Have a happy Halloween!

 

Article of the day:

Ideas for Creative and Imaginative Halloween Costumes

By: jack jackson

Each and every Halloween we have to be creative and imaginative. You have to dress up both your kids and yourselves, and also should decorate your sweet homes. But when you have to do this every year, at times you start on to run out of ideas. It’s quite difficult to be innovative and different every Halloween. To help keep your creative juices flowing, take a look at some of the ideas sketched below. Use these ideas to keep your Halloween costumes fresh and with loads of fun.

Your child’s most likely tired of being Superman or Wonder Woman every year. Why not opt a more innate look this Halloween? Dress them up as a tiger, or any other animal costume. Not only are these amazing costumes on their own, but they can be added to and accessorized with in ways that seem very unique and attractive. Relying on the look your child is going for, you can make them look either creepy or endearing.

Perhaps you child wants to look pretty. Add a gorgeous stuffed animal on the candy bucket, and match the stuffed animal to the costume. For instance, if they’re dressed up as a lion, add a plush lion to the candy bucket, and they get to travel with a little cute friend! Perhaps you want the lion to be a terrifying man-eater. Add some marks to its fur, and maybe some parasite teeth too, and it will be like its fangs are barred. For the stuffed animal in the bucket, affix the lion’s prey. Get something like a small stuffed giraffe, and add a little fake blood so that it appears like a new kill by this hazardous lion.

Stuffed animals can be used in a lot of additional ways to dress up almost any costume. For instance, say you want to dress up like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Get small plush dog and put it in a straw basket and you’ll have Toto to take all around with you! Or possibly you want to be a conventional witch. No witch costume is inclusive without her faithful familiar: a black cat. Add a broomstick and a stuffed cat and you’ve got some immense additions to your attire! These costumes come with a further bonus, as you get to keep the stuffed animals once Halloween is over!

Perhaps you want to be a Disney Princess, so you get all types of small forest animals. You just need a small basket and can fill it up with stuffed bunnies, stuffed raccoons, and even plush squirrels. Princess outfit can never be complete without its entourage. In case you wish to be a Tarzan then get a big stuffed monkey which will be carried around along with you. Wrap it round your neck and the monkey will authenticate your costume and also keep you bit warm in chill October!

There are list of amazing ideas like this which can be used for Halloween. Have fresh ideas every year which will give you loads of fun in the party. Hence go ahead and put all the above concepts and prior to you know it everyone will be thinking how you came up with such a creative and amazing idea!

 

Am I loosing my mind?

So after nap time today the children were especially special today!  My nephew was over today and at this particular moment is going potty in the potty chair, dumping half of my toilet paper roll in the water.  My daughter is spinning around in circles singing.  My son has crawled onto my table and is now laughing because he’s pulling tissue paper out of the tissue box.  Wow!  So much can happen in one moment.  Lately I’m feeling rather overwhelmed with all that mom has to do plus work.  I have to say women are amazing creatures that they can even stay sane!  Keep going ladies and don’t ever give up!  Even if you look and your child is sucking her thumb with one finger and picking her nose with the other…lovely!

Article of the day:

11 ways of staying focused

by Dave Cheong

Each of us have our busy lives and in this world of constant distractions, how can we stay focused on our goals? This article discusses several techniques I have found to work.

For me, there are always several things constantly competing for my time – articles to write, business opportunities to explore, links to follow up, my daily work, personal commitments etc. In my experience whenever I try to work on many things at the same time, none of them actually gets done.

In response, I’ve incorporated the following techniques for staying focused into my work patterns:

1. Having well defined goals. I can’t stress the importance of this too much. Having goals which are well defined along good guidelines is key. I’ve found writing my goals down really helps. Whenever I get distracted, I read my goals and I’m reminded of what I am trying to do and why.
2. Breaking things into bite sized chunks. Having broad high level goals are good but having an actionable plan is essential. A plan can identify how you can get from where you are to where you want go. Breaking goals into smaller actionable chunks (tasks) is great – it gives me motivation to start and allows me to get things done in one sitting.
3. Prioritising constantly. To figure out which task I should be working on, I prioritise constantly. Some tasks are more important than others. Some tasks are more urgent than others. I’ve found that working on urgent tasks followed by tasks which have the greatest impact to work well for me – urgent tasks allow me to get things done on time and important tasks allow me to maximise the benefits I receive.
4. Tracking progress vigorously. Each of us wants to improve our lives. However, it is easy to start with good intentions but more difficult to sustain commitment. I’ve found that by tracking my progress, I have more visibility on what I’ve done and can better gauge how much effort is left.
5. Planning ahead without fail. Concentrating on the remaining effort can help reinforce commitment. Some might think they’ll get discouraged, however I haven’t found this to be the case because my tasks are bite sized and easy to finish. I’ve found it really helps to look at my goals and task lists periodically, so I can assess how much time it’ll take to do something and determine the best time to sit down and work on it.
6. Rewarding myself when warranted. By all means focus on what’s outstanding, but also take stock of what’s done. I always reflect on what I’ve done, whether it is reading a post I did awhile ago or looking at the ticks I’ve made alongside my task lists. Whenever I accomplish a logical piece of work, I always reward myself. It really does help with maintaining motivation.
7. Having positive patterns in my routine. I’ve found having good habits and positive patterns to be instrumental. At the moment, I can consistently get more done. As these patterns continue to establish into a routine, I’m finding that I can better judge the periods of the day in which I really need to focus and work.
8. Removing distractions as best I can. The best way not to give in to temptation is not to have the option to. What seems to work for me is making the distractions difficult or inconvenient to access. Because it takes too much effort to indulge in the distraction, I find it is less likely for me to give in.
9. Blocking out some time. In a previous post I wrote about waking up early and consistently. You don’t necessarily have to do this but I’ve found that having quiet time, set aside specifically for accomplishing a given task, to be very productive. I also tend to be more focused in the morning after a restful night.
10. Keeping the results clear in mind. Instead of concentrating too much on the task at hand, sometimes I put some attention on the feelings I ultimately wish to experience. By focusing on the results, it is easier for me to maintain my motivation especially when working on things that I am not by nature motivated by.
11. Enlisting my family and friends for help. I communicate with my family and friends about my goals all the time. Not only have they been helpful with gentle reminders whenever they see my behaviour is not consistent with my goals, but they also give me constant incentives to work at my goals and succeed.

Here are some examples of how I have applied these techniques to my blogging:

• Having a goal to write 120 articles in a year.
• Working on 3 articles each week, or 2 paragraphs in each sitting.
• Prioritising bill paying before working on writing tasks.
• Tracking the number of posts I have done each week.
• Planning the topics for future articles in advance.
• Taking time out to do searches on Technorati and Google.
• Waking up at 5:30am and working on an article before work.
• Asking my wife to wake me up if I fail to get up on my own.
• Unplugging the Xbox to remove distractions.
• Watching TV to relax my mind after completing an article.
• Visualise the growth in subscribers to my feed to maintain motivation.

These 11 techniques can be applied to any aspect of your personal and professional lives. If you find you have trouble staying focused for whatever reason, try applying some or all of these techniques. What works for me may not necessarily work for you, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Wiggling Fun

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of the Wiggles, but they are huge at my house.  My children love them and think they are just hilarious; I love them because I get a good 30 minute work out daily dancing with my children.  As we’re getting over colds, I put an extra Wiggles episode on and my children were just beside themselves with excitement.  My daughter, whose voice is still going in and out, is singing at the top of her lungs dancing with ”Wags the Dog” and my son got up and was high stepping it as well.    Even sickness couldn’t stop my children from giving the Wiggles all they have.  That’s what it’s like when we’re trying to make a tight budget stretch!  No matter what comes our way, we have to be ready to high step it and sing with all we have to get the job done.  That’s my challenge to you (and myself) today.  Keep up the good fight, and you’ll see it pay off…eventually!

Article of the day:

Stretch Yourself

by Eithne Egan

 For me, the beginning of Fall is a great time to re-examine my goals and spend a little time on myself. With my son heading back at school, I am looking forward to having an opportunity to stretch myself a little beyond my comfort zone and try to accomplish something new. I’m sure this will resonate for many moms. Mothering can sometimes get us stuck in a rut and it’s nice have some aspirations that can be met with just a little bit of effort and creativity. This can go a long way towards boosting our self-esteem and creating a bit more balance in our lives.

Often our kids are our best teachers here. They fearlessly approach new milestones, never worrying about failure. My son recently learned to dress himself at the grand old age of three and half (delays in self-care skills are common in kids with autism). Now he is having great fun dragging clothes out of the laundry basket and putting the most outlandish outfits together.

This is something quite simple that has brought him a lot of joy (and me too!) and has given him a new sense of confidence and empowerment. So if a three-year old can do it, why not you?

I’ll give you a personal story of something I recently experienced and how I went about setting myself some new goals to stretch myself a bit. For background, I am a single mom with a child with special needs. I had been spending a lot of time with my son and had started to feel exhausted and stuck in a rut. I felt she was doing things the same way I had always done them, and somehow it just wasn’t working anymore. So I decided to try a few things to test my courage and see what happened. I made a list of a few goals that I could accomplish quickly:

1. Accept an offer of babysitting from my child’s teacher 2.

Arrange to meet a woman I had recently connected with (but didn’t know very well) at my son’s therapy group 3. Tell someone I loved how I was really feeling

These goals were actually not as small as they might seem from the outside. I deliberately chose these things because they required me to do something I would not ordinarily do – ask for help. Sound familiar, anyone? These seemingly simple actions actually helped me achieve a number of important things. By reaching out and accepting help I was taking small but significant steps towards improving my support system, making some time for fun, and testing my confidence. I accomplished all three goals and having done so, realized something significant.

I realized that I had a very strong belief that was really holding me back: “I can do it on my own.” This belief had served me very well during my divorce. The prospect of raising a special needs child alone was daunting, and I needed to believe that I could handle the demands ahead of me on my own, as a single parent. It gave me the courage I needed to move forward, and move forward I did. But now this belief was holding me back and preventing me from creating more joy in my life. This realization gave me the awareness and power I needed to experience something different in my life, and it came simply from the desire to stretch myself a little.

You can see how a very simple exercise can bring you invaluable insights that can be an essential part of your self-care. It’s also a helpful way to identify old limiting beliefs that may be holding you back. I hope you’ll try this, and I’d love to find out what you learned.

The Essence Exercise

1. Identify an area in your life where you are feeling bored or unhappy.

2. Set yourself at least one simple goal that you think might help you move beyond the current state of affairs.

Remember, it can be something very simple, but it should be something that requires you to stretch a little beyond your comfort zone. For example, I reached out for help at a time when I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed – a relatively easy task – but not easy for me because of my closely-held belief that I needed to be able to cope on my own.

3. Once you’ve completed your task, spend some time contemplating what you’ve learned.

How did you feel? What opportunities have opened up as a result?

Can you identify any limiting beliefs that you could work on letting go of because of this activity?

4. Repeat, repeat, repeat…

It’s really important that we constantly challenge ourselves in small ways. You don’t have to go bungee-jumping or run a marathon (unless you want to, and then by all means, go ahead!), but it can be really helpful to continue to test our boundaries in small ways on a regular basis. By doing this, you’re inviting new energy and possibility into your life. For moms, this is really essential as we can often become so absorbed with our kids that we can easily forget to pay a little attention to our own personal growth as women.

We all have colds!

After a long stretch of rainy days, we were blesses with a beautiful one yesterday.  Daddy was off of work with no homework to do so we were out all day playing outside.  Last night I noticed my daughter looking rather flushed and just knew it was time.  This morning I was so ill and my loving husband took care of the kids so that I could sleep in.  I was up all night coughing, and my poor daughter barely has a voice.  (Believe me it’s amazing how quiet my house was today!)  So we chilled out today and watched movies and relaxed with hot tea and crackers most of the day.  I am so blessed that I do not have a job I have to go to on a day like today.  Or have to worry about calling my boss and taking another day off because of my children.  Being a mom is the most difficult and the most rewarding job ever, and I am proud to stay home with them while trying to make ends meet.  It’s difficult, but days like today remind me that it’s totally worth it!

 

The Real Life Stay At Home Mom Succsess Stories

by Lee Butler

The Real Life Stay At Home Mom Success Stories are about key elements that real moms have experienced an used to over come many circumstances in their lives that have transformed them into leaders in their family, community and the world. Many stay at home moms do not have a solution to many of the circumstances they face on a daily bases in the world today. Moms there are some amazing life changing success stories, and unlimited income opportunities verses the online jobs for stay at home moms out in the world today. For confidentiality reasons the stay at home mom names will not be disclosed in this article content, however you will be able to go view, and listen to the moms testimonials on another site that will be provided to you at the end of this article.

The stay at home mom success stories are about key elements that many mothers have used in their lives such as seeking career information, career advice, reading articles on personal development, joining businesses for moms, learning what it takes to become debt-free and developing life changing skills that have transformed their lives forever. Stay at home moms that seek career information are the first ones to accomplish their goals in their life because they are constantly looking to improve the current circumstances in their environment. Many stay at home moms that have the amazing success stories always looked to get good career advice from successful people that already have the results that they wanted in their own life. The real life success mothers in today’s society are always reading articles on personal development to super charge them to achieve far beyond they could ever imagine in life. There are success stories of mothers that have became successful by joining businesses for moms that allowed them to spend more time with their parenting, and families at home.

Many real life success stories of stay at home moms comes as a result of them learning what it takes to become debt-free in their lives today. Many stay at home moms are a success story because they took time in developing life changing skills that have transformed their lives forever. To all the stay at home moms that are at home wondering what am I going to do with the life I have now today? You are exactly right because the designs that you make on a daily bases will determine how your future will be in your life forever. A stay at home mom has a great opportunity being at home to learn new skills, personal development, and make life changing designs that will further advance a mother in having what she truly desires in life. On a more personal note with my own mother who I have seen work more than 20 moms put together have achieve some amazing adversities in her own life over the years. I will always admire my mother for her courage, friendship, and determination to be more, do more, and have more in her own life as well as her children. Stay at home moms you can be, do, and have anything you want in life, but it all starts with a simple design in your heart today 

The Real Life Stay At Home Mom Success Stories are about key elements that real moms have experienced an used to over come many circumstances in their lives that have transformed them into leaders in their family, community and the world. Many stay at home moms do not have a solution to many of the circumstances they face on a daily bases in the world today. Moms there are some amazing life changing success stories, and unlimited income opportunities verses the online jobs for stay at home moms out in the world today. For confidentiality reasons the stay at home mom names will not be disclosed in this article content, however you will be able to go view, and listen to the moms testimonials on another site that will be provided to you at the end of this article.

The stay at home mom success stories are about key elements that many mothers have used in their lives such as seeking career information, career advice, reading articles on personal development, joining businesses for moms, learning what it takes to become debt-free and developing life changing skills that have transformed their lives forever. Stay at home moms that seek career information are the first ones to accomplish their goals in their life because they are constantly looking to improve the current circumstances in their environment. Many stay at home moms that have the amazing success stories always looked to get good career advice from successful people that already have the results that they wanted in their own life. The real life success mothers in today’s society are always reading articles on personal development to super charge them to achieve far beyond they could ever imagine in life. There are success stories of mothers that have became successful by joining businesses for moms that allowed them to spend more time with their parenting, and families at home.

Many real life success stories of stay at home moms comes as a result of them learning what it takes to become debt-free in their lives today. Many stay at home moms are a success story because they took time in developing life changing skills that have transformed their lives forever. To all the stay at home moms that are at home wondering what am I going to do with the life I have now today? You are exactly right because the designs that you make on a daily bases will determine how your future will be in your life forever. A stay at home mom has a great opportunity being at home to learn new skills, personal development, and make life changing designs that will further advance a mother in having what she truly desires in life. On a more personal note with my own mother who I have seen work more than 20 moms put together have achieve some amazing adversities in her own life over the years. I will always admire my mother for her courage, friendship, and determination to be more, do more, and have more in her own life as well as her children. Stay at home moms you can be, do, and have anything you want in life, but it all starts with a simple design in your heart today

No naps

Today was another rainy day and my children have too much energy.  We’ve had several days of rain and my kids need to run around and burn off the energy they’ve stored up.  (I sometimes wish I could get some of that energy)  They’re running around in circles, singing silly songs, and tripping over each other laughing.   So when it came to nap time I knew it was going to be a battle today.  My son went down fine, but my daughter wouldn’t have anything to do with it.  After about a half hour of her keeping my son awake I decided to pull her out of the bedroom and set her on the couch with some books.  Oh well, tonight should be a good going to bed night.  That’s how I feel about looking for ways to keep my family going financially.  I feel like I’m running around franticly looking for something I can do, then I pass out from sure exhaustion. 

Article of the Day:

How To Simplify Life

By Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,

Today, people tend to work longer hours, have their kids involved in more activities, and generally maintain a busier style of life than even a few years ago. This can be exciting and enriching, but it can also lead to a feeling of constant stress and chaos. If you’re looking for ideas on how to simplify life, you’re not alone — the concept of ‘voluntary simplicity’ has been gaining popularity since the 1990s because so many people have felt the same. Here are some of the main ways you can reduce the stress of a life that’s packed to the hilt while still maintaining the activities that are important to you.

Clear Clutter
Many stressed people live in cluttered homes. But, house clutter is both an effect and a cause of stress. Clutter can bring a general feeling of uneasiness, and can literally drain your energy, but getting rid of it is difficult for stressed people with busy schedules. One strategy to simplify life by clearing clutter is to take 15 or 30 minutes each night to tackle one pile at a time, decluttering your house space by space. Another strategy is to take several hours one weekend and just be done with it. Either way, you’ll remove a subtle but significant energy drain from your life, and replace it with the feelings of relaxation that come from having your home be a haven from stress. (Be sure to maintain order once you achieve it.)

Cut Out Negative Relationships
You may already be aware of the value of solid, supportive relationships in your life — the friend who picks you up when your down, celebrates with you when you’re happy, and shares events your life as they happen. You may not be as aware of the effects of conflicted relationships — the critical, unpredictable, or uber-competitive friend. It turns out that these ‘toxic friendships’ actually drain us more than purely negative relationships. This is because we don’t always have strong defenses against the people who are sometimes nice to us, so we can get taken off-guard. If you’re wondering how to simplify life, save yourself grief, frustration and drama if you take an honest look at the relationships in your life and decide which are worth maintaining and which should be let go. (For help with this, check out our Social Assessment Quiz.)

Automate What You Can
Getting some of the daily, weekly and monthly work of your life into an automated system can help simplify life and relieve stress in two ways: You don’t have to take time to do the work, and you don’t have to clutter your mind by remembering to do the work. Making little changes that take steps out of your daily routine like setting up automatic timers to water your plants or turn off your lights, signing up for automatic bill pay options, or getting off junk mail lists can be an easy way to simplify life. By putting in a little initial work, you can then forget about it. (See this article for more on automatic stress relievers.)

Live Within Your Means
To say that money can’t buy happiness is cliché. We all pretty much know this, and research has supported it as well. The truth, in fact, is that money can’t even buy you out of financial stress if you don’t spend less than you make. Many people who make large amounts of money simply spend more, and carry large amounts of debt, leading to feelings of stress rather than abundance. The key to avoiding this type of financial stress is simple, but not always easy: Live within your means. This can be a difficult change at first, but one that will bring great rewards, and can significantly lower your stress levels if you’re not living within your means already. (Check out this article for some ideas on how to move closer to living within your means.)

Learn To Say No
While many people spend as much money as they possibly can, leaving themselves feeling stretched to the limit, too many of us also budget our time this way. With demands from work, school and life in general, it’s easy to become overscheduled these days. However, if you’re always rushing from one place to another, you may find yourself exhausted, but with no time left to relax. While most of us have busy schedules these days, it’s important to schedule in time for exercise, hobbies and other stress relievers, as well as time for our relationships. One way to find this time is to get better at saying no to time demands that aren’t serving you. After you trade some of your more taxing obligations with some more self-nurturing ones, you should see a lasting change in your stress level, and find yourself living a more simplified life.

Sick in bed

This morning I was sick in bed wondering how I was going to make it through the day once my husband left for work.  The kids were extra rambunctious and loud and even daddy needed to give the kids a good time out.  I rolled out of bed not wanting to do anything, but knowing my fate I made myself be the mommy that I am.  That’s what we have to do when we are starting our own business too.  We may not always feel like doing it, but we need to keep plugging away because (just like our children) what we put in is what we’ll get out.  I want the best of my children and my new venture so keep going even when you want to give up.  It’s worth it in the end!

Article of the day:

How to Be Happy In Spite of Your Problems

Rene Godefory

A year ago, I made a trip to the village of my birth, a smallcommunity in the Haitian countryside. I had been away in America for many years, working hard to make my way in the world. I returned now to my island, filled with strange

stories to tell: Stories of markets piled with food flown in from around the world, stories of doctors who gave out pills to stop people from eating, and stories of cars so abundant that they clogged the roads and slowed the traffic to the pace of a bicycle.

I told my fellow villagers,  “You know, American problems come from having too much, rather than too little. And because of these problems, they have what they call stress.” They couldn’t believe me! They had never heard of stress before and neither had I until I came to this country.

Shortly after returning from my trip, while eating in an expensive restaurant, I watched a woman send a Porterhouse steak back to the chef because it had been cooked medium instead of medium-rare. Later, I watched a man who was dining with her struggle to decide whether to have orange sherbet for dessert and stick to his diet or splurge on an ice cream sundae dripping with caramel and piled with pecans. Does any of this sound familiar?

You are not alone. Many times I am faced with such dilemmas. But I see it as an opportunity to be thankful. How? I imagine a mountain of breadfruit! Do you know what a breadfruit is? You don’t often see them in American grocery stores. On the outside, they look a little like a pineapple. But they taste like a tough, extra-starchy potato. As a child, I ate almost nothing but breadfruit.

The folks in my village learned to cook it creatively. We boiled it, we fried it, and we beat it to a pulp and dipped it in sauce. But every day it was breadfruit. My tongue grew so accustomed to breadfruit that I ceased to taste it at all. I ate it only for survival. My stomach was perpetually bloated as it struggled to digest all the starch. I suffered from constant indigestion, and parasites regularly invaded my weakened digestive system.

Have you seen those children on CNN or the Sally Struthers commercials? How did you feel watching the naked children with swollen tummies and skeletal arms, ignoring the flies crawling on their faces? Well, that’s what I looked like in my village in Haiti. Most people assumed I would die before I reached adulthood. They even told me so.

So when my steak arrives a little too well cooked, or I have to choose between ice cream and sherbet, I give thanks to God for the great fortune I’ve had in America. When was the last time you took a moment out of your busy schedule to give thanks for all that you have? Do you cry for what you don’t have? Or do you celebrate what you have? Gratitude is the gateway to happiness.

It is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time. I bet you enjoy helping out a grateful child—one who is always thanking you and praising you for your generosity. Well, that’s the way your creator feels, too. Stop and count

your blessings!

Hording the computer

We had a fun and crazy weekend!  Family in town and my husband had a 20 page research paper due.  He ran into our computer room and didn’t leave it for only purely necessary purposes.  Thus is life with a loving procrastinator!  The children are clawing at the door screaming, “Daddy come out!”  I check on him before bed, “Are you going to come to be soon?”  But alas he does finish at 3:30am and crashes before he has to go to work.  We all procrastinate at different things, for example I can’t stand doing laundry so I let it pile up till I absolutely have to do it…then I can’t stand it all the more.  My family really can’t afford for me to procrastinate with my home based business.  It’s easy to do it without thinking because so much needs to be done around the house, but the effort must be put forth daily or this is worth nothing.  I encourage you to continue this battle; don’t give up without a great fight!

Article of the day:

The Real Killer of Motivation
by Jason Gracia

Routine is a murderer.

Years ago, before starting the Motivation123 Web site, I had pockets full of plans and ideas. My mind was in a constant state of activity.

As for my reality, nothing ever changed. Nothing in my life went in the directions I had hoped for. It got to the point that I began to doubt whether or not a better life was even possible. Could I change?

Then, while paging through a magazine at the doctor’s office, I came across a question, just a short team of words that gripped my attention.

It was simple–as most powerful truths are–but it made an immediate impact. And from that day I possessed a key to progress that has served me ever since.

Before we get to that answer, however, we need to pin down the problem.

The Killer
In a word, it’s routine.

It’s the pattern of living that, like molten lava, slowly crawls into adulthood, covering and consuming our hopes, dreams, and ambitions.

It’s doing the same thing every day because that’s what you’ve always done. It’s a vicious circle of repeating actions and events that leads to nowhere.

The reason nothing was changing in my life was because I was stuck in a routine. Every day I followed the same basic outline of living: wake, work, sleep, repeat.

I had new ideas, to be sure, but my actions were old.

Then I was hit with the truth while waiting – for what seemed like weeks – in my doctor’s waiting room.

The Question I Took with Me
The sad reality is that most people never realize what is happening until it’s too late. That is the skill and cunning of habit and routine.

It wraps its arms around the minutes and hours of your life, distracting and luring you into autopilot, into a dazed mode of living.

All the while, the little time you have to construct your ideal experiences is being sucked away, stolen.

Routine is a murderer. It kills hope and the chance for change. It blinds us to the truth and with a scalpel cuts away our goals and ideas. Routine puts a hand in the face of growth and improvement, leaving room for nothing but the same.

You need a way out of the routine. And for me, the way out came in the form of a question:

‘If you continue to follow the same patterns, what are the chances you’ll ever experience the things you want to do and ever become the person you hope to be?’

I read the sentence again. What would my chances be? Things hadn’t worked out so far, so why would doing the same thing result in anything different?

My Realization
I had my answer. My chances were none.

I would never do the things I had always thought about, never grow into the character I hoped for. If I followed the same routines, the same patterns, I could expect pretty much what I had been getting.

For some, this is the perfect scenario. But for me, I wanted more. I knew how much life had to offer and I wanted to dive in head first. I wanted to experience it all and live a life worth living again.

I looked around the office, looked at the people next to me. None of us would reach that place without a change in pattern. We were all trapped in a circle of habit.

This brings us face to face with a truth that most men and women would rather avoid.

It’s relieving to let our goals live in ‘someday.’ We don’t have to worry about never attaining them. Instead, we can put them off and fool ourselves.

‘It will happen someday.’ No, it won’t.

The truth is, if you don’t change your routine now, you will never reach those goals. You will never wake up to a life that matches the one in your mind. Never.

Don’t hide from this. Accept it. Embrace it. Use it to smash through the chains of routine and drive you into a new way of life, into a new pattern of progress.