by Jamie Jeffers | Nov 9, 2015 | Meal Plans
The grocery stores are absolutely full of great deals on baking supplies, stuffing, chicken stock, and…of course, turkey! It’s hard to choose which things to stock up on. But if you can create any wiggle room in your grocery budget at all, be sure to take extra advantage of the great prices on the items you use the most. Fill those freezers and pantries!
If you’re starting to make your Thanksgiving plans and aren’t sure what side to take to your pot luck, here is a great list of suggestions.
A tradition my own little family has is to eat a Practice Thanksgiving every year about a week before the “real” Thanksgiving. Since we attend a big family pot luck for both lunch and supper on the actual day of Thanksgiving, this gives us the chance to celebrate the holiday for ourselves. It also gives me the opportunity to try out any new recipes before I take them along to the big family event. We really enjoy this tradition!
So here is our 2 Week Meal Plan for November. As usual, I like to keep it simple and work with the cheaper in season foods.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Nov 6, 2015 | Ways We Saved This Week
Wow! Ten whole weeks of money saving tips. That’s 50 ways we’ve saved money since I started this series. That’s pretty exciting! If you want to see all 50 tips, check them out here.
All of that said…it’s not been the most frugal week around here. A last minute zoo trip cost us some extras since I didn’t have a packed lunch prepared. (That’s ok, my kids had a blast with their buddies. Worth it.) We also ordered pizza and generally had a too busy week. It happens.
We still managed to find our 5 ways to save money, so here they are.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Nov 4, 2015 | Holidays, Recipe
These (mouthwatering) easy Thanksgiving side dish recipes will have your family going back for seconds.
Here comes Thanksgiving.
Many of us Thanksgiving lovers enjoy the holiday because it’s so simple.
But the one part of Thanksgiving that isn’t so simple is (obviously) the meal.
Either you’re hosting and have a big burden on your plate…
(Pardon the pun. Actually, I totally love a good pun.)
…or you’re heading to someone else’s Thanksgiving. And you have to bring a side dish.
That might be stressful.
But it doesn’t have to be!
Those foods that make Thanksgiving so amazing don’t have to keep you in the kitchen for 10 hours.
With the right recipe, you can get the side prepared ahead of time, without a ton of effort.
And, wouldn’t you know it…those perfect recipes are right here!
(Psst…print out one of these Thanksgiving potluck signup sheets to keep it simple!)
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by Jamie Jeffers | Nov 3, 2015 | Be Prepared, Debt, Saving Money
Our family is on a money saving journey as we raise a bunch of kids on one income and attempt to pay off some debt. We are always on the lookout for creative ways to save money. That’s not to say that we are experts at frugality! I actually consider us to be students of thrift.
One of the first points that crops up when a family is striving to save money is food. Grocery bills. Dining out. Starbucks runs. Drive thrus.
And ordering pizza.
That’s one of my weaknesses. About once a month I have the kind of day where time gets away from me. Before I know it, it’s suppertime and the family is asking what there is to eat. On days like this, the temptation to order pizza is strong! And many times I don’t resist it very well.
When I do order pizza, I always feel like I’ve failed my money saving ways. That isn’t necessarily the case since we don’t use credit to pay and it doesn’t happen frequently. But I still wish I could stop ordering last minute pizza.
You need a plan! Let’s put one together.
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by Jamie Jeffers | Oct 30, 2015 | Ways We Saved This Week
Happy Halloween everyone! Do you have any special family traditions you like to do to celebrate this holiday? We have a few family traditions that we enjoy.
We always carve a family pumpkin and let each child choose a feature to design: eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. (Guess we’ll need to figure out another feature for the 2 year old this year! A mustache, maybe?)
This year we bought a couple of extra pumpkins so we could carve fun stencil designs into them. It’s hard to believe that my older boys are now at the age where they can be trusted (mostly) to use a knife to carve a pumpkin themselves.
Buying extra pumpkins isn’t frugal, but we choose to splurge on family fun from time to time. That’s the good stuff of life!
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by Jamie Jeffers | Oct 28, 2015 | Be Prepared, Income, Saving Money
Once upon a time, I was an elementary music teacher. I really enjoyed teaching children. Watching them grow into little musicians was such a treat.
Meanwhile, back at home I had two babies within 16 months of each other. And then I became pregnant with our third child.
And as much as I loved my students, I didn’t love being told that I had to choose between my job and going with my sick baby to the hospital.
I didn’t love the politics at the local level, or the national level, or anywhere else.
And I didn’t love being forced to constantly prove that my job mattered (since music is often the first thing cut from a struggling school district’s budget).
A Dream Come True
When our family could finally wiggle room for me to be a stay at home mom, we made the move. The summer my third baby was born, I put in my notice and gave up my teaching job.
Sometimes it feels like that was a lifetime ago…and I suppose it was my third born’s lifetime ago! But no sooner than meeting our goal of staying home with our kids, I began to hear a certain question. If you are also a stay at home mom, you probably get this question as often as I do.
“When are you going back to work?”
Let me clarify that it doesn’t bother me when people ask this. I think it’s a natural question, since we so often identify with each other through work.
But I tend to hem haw around that question. There’s not a great answer. I doubt I’ll ever be a full time teacher again.
In fact, I’ll let you in on a secret… I don’t want to go back to work for someone else.
What Else is There?
If you’re a “road less traveled” kind of gal, you have the same kinds of thoughts. There are so many ways you can contribute financially to your family, even without a traditional job.
When you start out as a stay at home mom, more work is probably not doable. Caring for a young baby or toddler, especially while pregnant and not getting enough rest, makes taking on additional work at home nearly impossible.
But as your babies grow, you’ll start to find more space in your day. That’s time that you can start to put to work for you, if you want to.
Starting a New Dream
With new found free time on my hands, I decided to try blogging. And I’ve learned that I enjoy blogging for so many reasons!
- Create something all your own.
- Connections with other Moms you might otherwise never meet.
- Using the blog to create a business and make some extra money for your family. Extra money that would mean paying down debt more quickly. Extra money that would mean being able to make larger contributions to worthy causes and people who are truly in need.
My blog is still pretty new, and I haven’t made any money from it yet. I’m still learning how to blog and where I fit in on the world wide web. I want to be very deliberate about what I do here. I want to be sure that the choices I make don’t benefit my wallet more than they benefit my readers. So I am still reading and researching.
That’s why, when I learned that the title of Crystal Paine’s newest book was Money Making Mom, How Every Woman Can Earn More and Make a Difference, I couldn’t believe the timing. Just as I was ready to join the world of entrepreneurs, there was a perfect book just waiting for me. It was like an amazing God wink.
Crystal generously offered me an advanced copy to read. I have to tell you, this book is encouraging. She has a way with words that makes you feel like you can accomplish great things.
Money Making Mom offers real world advice that any Mom with an entrepreneurial spirit can follow. She gives real life examples from women who have their own businesses from a variety of backgrounds.
This book is unique from other entrepreneurial books I have read. In addition to discussing the whys and hows of beginning a business, it also talks about keeping a good balance in your life between work and family. (That’s a struggle I think all working Moms can relate to!) And her words about generosity are truly inspiring.
I am not a person who typically purchases a lot of books since you can get them from the library. But I would definitely purchase this book to keep as a resource.
It’s that good.
And I promise you that I wouldn’t promote anything that I wouldn’t truly purchase myself.
If you aren’t sure yet (or if just want more great resources!), you can try a free 5 day course about how to Make Money from Home.
Have you ever considered starting a business? What is stopping you from beginning or from being successful?
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Becoming a 
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
