Clips for Kitt

I get into a lot of trouble when I go to the Reece's Rainbow website. This is where I first saw my daughter's profile and since then this orphan ministry has held a special place in my heart. Well, tonight I caught myself back on the page, looking at all those sweet faces, and one little girl stood out. How adorable is this face?! 

Sweet Kitt was born in 2009, and is HIV positive. She currently lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe and is in desperate need of a family of her own. Maybe you're her mommy, or maybe you stumbled across this blog and feel led to help me find her mommy! As an adoptive mother of a child with special needs, who happened to be born across the world, I can promise that the cost involved in adoption is scary, and often is the reason potential parents decide against adoption. Reece's Rainbow establishes grant funds for the children listed on their site and as of right now, Kitt only has $22.50. For the month of June, I'll be donating all of my profit from my little hair bow business directly to Kitt. My featured bows with be these clippy sets:

You can find these listed in my Etsy store or you can comment on this post with color choices and I can directly invoice you through paypal. All profit from everything listed in my Etsy store will go to Kitt during the month of June, not just these clips, so if you have a custom order, let me know! Thanks to all my readers, lets work together to find this sweet girl's mama!

-Cilla

5 Ways to Make Money From Home

This question gets asked all the time: "How can I, a stay at home mom, make money from home?" Really, there are very few legitimate ways in which ANYONE can score a few bucks while being parked on the couch watching The Sopranos like I am right now. I've seen people list out a ton of things but I'm going to weed out the multi-level marketing companies and such and just give you 5 ideas that have worked for me.

1. If you are crafty, create and Etsy store. I make hair bows, and I hesitated with this because I worried about losing money ($0.20 fee per listing) but Facebook (where I was selling) is changing more and more everyday and making it nearly impossible to do business without paying to promote your items, which made Etsy the smarter, cheaper option. 

Click Here to check out my Etsy store to get an idea of how etsy lays out your items. I feel like it's a really professional way to sell your product without needing much knowledge of HTML and other techy stuff that I know nothing about. ;)

If you decide you would like to open your own etsy store, feel free to use this link to get 40 free listings when you sign up!

2. Swagbucks. I was iffy about joining because I saw a lot of "sign up for this for 1000 swagbucks!" and that's not going to cut it for this frugal gal. But, you can earn a few swagbucks everyday by doing the daily poll, and watching a few videos. I figure if I spend a few minutes on the site everyday, I'll at least earn enough points for an Amazon gift card by Christmas, and I'll be able to mark a gift off my list without my wallet punching me in the face. :)

3. Get Paid to Write when you become a yahoo contributor. You can write about what interests you and hope it gets published, or to get a guaranteed payday, choose an item from the assignment desk!

4. Amazon. You can make money with Amazon by becoming an affiliate, where you earn an average of 5% of whatever people buy using your referral link, you can also make a few bucks using Amazon's MTURK program where you get paid a few cents here and there to complete simple tasks.

5. Facebook Yard Sales: Sell your junk! This has been very lucrative for me lately! When you're spring cleaning, make 4 piles: keep, sell, give away, trash. Then go through your sell pile, take pics, and list everything on your local facebook sale site or on ebay if you don't have a local site. It's crazy how much money you can make just by selling stuff you don't want anymore!

I hope this is helpful for you guys! There are a number of other ways to make money, but these are relatively simple, and cost you NOTHING up front!!

-Cilla

How I Feed My Family for $300 a Month

I’ve been asked to share my “secret” for feeding 5 people for $300 a month…and no we don’t eat hot dogs and mac n cheese every day.  First and foremost, I’m not a meat eater, so I think that might save a little money, but then again I have a husband, a preteen boy, and a four year old boy who eats like a grown man so maybe I cook more meat than the average family. My daughter isn’t big on meat either, but she’ll eat shredded chicken and occasionally she’ll eat ground beef but not often.

Okay, back to the point here! Here are a few basics to keeping the food bill down:

We buy meat in bulk…ground beef in 5 pound packages and broken up, repackaged, and frozen at home

We buy frozen boneless chicken breasts in 8 pound bags

We buy a few of the kids favorites (Eggo waffles, Gogurt yogurt tubes, and Frigo string cheese)  in bulk at Sam’s Club

We don’t drink empty calories. No sodas, no juice boxes, etc.

We don’t buy bottled water

We don’t buy premade sweets/desserts. I make fudge, bake cookies, cakes, etc…3 times a week, so there is always something sweet to nosh on and I didn’t spend my kid’s college funds on Oreos and Chips Ahoy.

We don’t shop hungry!

We try to take one day to do all of our shopping, hit the stores 

we need to hit to get the best deals

We buy store brand unless name brand is on sale for cheaper

We don’t use many coupons, because I’m not gifted enough to get things for super cheap by couponing so I end up spending more to get the name brand items just to use a coupon.

We treat the kids to a slushy at Sonic or an ice cream cone at McDonald’s and some time at the play place every payday instead of eating an entire meal out.

I marathon cook. I’ll put six chicken breasts in the crock pot, when they’re cooked I shred them and make 3-4 main courses out of them, put them in casserole dishes and freeze them. When I’m tempted to go out to eat or order a pizza, I grab one and pop it in the oven…instant dinner

I buy lots of popsicles. My kids are obsessed and they’re super cheap and a perfect treat for the summer

Our only drinks are milk, orange juice, and plain water or store brand crystal light. I mentioned not drinking calories but it really adds up. I can make three gallons of flavored water for under $2…and there are very few calories. I know a lot of people are really against artificial colors and flavoring so take this advice with a grain of salt, but as for me, I love the grape flavor. 

I buy iced coffee from Aldi as a treat on grocery day. I was a Starbucks junkie for a long time, but for 2.99 I can get a half gallon of iced vanilla coffee and I make it stretch. It’s the little things.

We pack picnics and go to the park instead of going to restaurants. Peanut butter and jelly, a few bananas, some crackers or pretzels, and homemade cookies…my kids think they hit the jackpot, and my wallet stays happy.

So, there are a few ideas for cutting out the waste on the grocery bill…but what about actually shopping for meals on only $300?! It’s honestly not that hard if you force your kids (and yourself…because I struggled with this too) to learn portion control, and to figure out the difference between being no longer hungry, and STUFFED after a meal. Also my younger kids (ages 4 and 5) tend to eat often throughout the day instead of sitting down to three big meals and having a snack or two. I know there are other parents who have kids who do the same, and I feel like it’s a healthier option, so here is a day in the life of a kid that eats frequently

Morning: Small bowl of yogurt with chopped almonds

Mid-Morning: Packet of instant oat meal with peaches or pineapples

Noon-ish: Half of a grilled cheese and a pickle

Early afternoon: Carrots and ranch dressing

Late afternoon: String cheese and a few animal crackers

Dinner: 2-3 meatballs, some peas, a mandarin orange

Bedtime snack: Graham crackers and milk

Obviously the “what” changes from day to day but the portions stay about the same. If you add it up, the cost is probably equal to having 3 larger meals and a couple snacks. It works for them, it works for me, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Dinner is probably the hardest place to save money. The meat staples in our house are chicken breasts and ground beef or turkey (whichever one happened to be on sale) and I pick one other meat to switch things up a bit once every two weeks. My hubby and preteen love pork tenderloin and corned beef so I tend to go back and forth between those, and we also keep chicken patties for chicken sandwiches in the freezer, along with chicken nuggets for the little kids and beer battered fish fillets for my husband and oldest son…because honestly some days are hard and cooking a meal from scratch isn’t going to happen and let’s face it kids like chicken nuggets and French fries sometimes. When I do cook from scratch, these are the meals that find their way to my table most often:

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a veggie

Spanish rice with ground beef and stewed tomatoes

Skillet something (rice or pasta, spices, shredded chicken or ground beef, and onions and peppers)

Baked ziti

Spaghetti and meatballs

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken fajitas

Corned beef with carrots and potatoes

BBQ pork tenderloin

Sloppy Joes

We switch it up a bit but these happen a lot, and for our meatless nights:

Angel hair with marinara

Bean burritos

Matzo ball soup w/sandwich

Caesar salad

Veggie pizza

So as you can see…we eat, it might not be as healthy as some, but it sure beats drive thru! I think the easiest way to start saving on groceries is to keep a little stock pile. I have a small pantry, and shelving in my microwave cart, plus a deep freezer, so that helps with stocking up when things go on sale. I try to keep some cans of soup, tuna, veggies, PB & J, and canned fruit on hand to make meals or snacks in a pinch. I keep extra boxes of mac n cheese, or au gratin potato mixes etc. on hand so if I happen to run out of potatoes, or my kids friends are still here at dinner time, I’m covered if I need extra food and  I don’t need to run to the store.

Our biggest splurge is milk, so I had to find the cheapest place to buy it, which is Sam’s Club. We drink skim milk, and a gallon at Sam’s is $1.99 compared to $3.79 at Kroger, our local grocery store. About $25 of our budget every month is just milk! I use it for cooking, the kids use it in their cereal, and on nights when my husband works late, he saves his dinner for lunch at work the next day and just eats a couple bowls of cereal.

I do most of my baking from scratch now so I spend another $25 on flour, oil, sugar, butter, etc.  (raisins, chocolate chips, nuts) but it lasts a full month and we get yummy treats so no complaints! Also, you can google “eggless brownies, cookies, etc.” and find lots of great recipes. Eggs are pricey so I eliminate them from baking when I can.

I spend about $50 on fruits and veggies. I buy frozen onion/pepper blends for cooking, frozen corn, spinach, and peas. Frozen is cheaper and I don’t have to worry about it going bad and since some of my kids like one veggie over another, I can just take out a little of this, a little of that, put the rest back in the freezer and everyone is happy. As far as fruit, we buy strawberries when they go on sale, bananas, apples, and grapes, and mandarin oranges are the staples, and I buy diced peaches and pineapple tidbits canned. The kids like them in their oatmeal or on their cottage cheese. I also buy cans of fruit cocktail, mix it with cool whip, chopped nuts, raisins, and marshmallows for a dessert.

I spend $75 on meat, that includes lunch meat, breakfast sausage, and a couple pounds of bacon to use in cooking and for weekend breakfast…that stuff has gotten EXPENSIVE!

I spend $25 on snacks…bags of popcorn (the kind you pop on the stove yourself), pretzels, crackers, etc…the rule here is that when it’s gone, it’s gone…so the kids don’t gobble it up fast like they used too. J

I spend $50 on dairy and bread (aside from milk)…this is our various cheeses, yogurt, eggs, sandwich bread, dinner rolls, and so forth

I spend $25 on pasta, canned goods, things that are on the cheaper side. I use canned crushed tomatoes ($0.99 at Aldi) and spices for spaghetti sauce instead of the $2-$4 jar, so pair that with pasta that I buy on sale 10 for $10, and I’m making a month of spaghetti for $8!

I keep $25 reserved for “extras”…like the crystal light I mentioned that we like, the popsicles, and the little things that just make life fun! I’ll grab a jar of peanut butter for my stockpile too every month and store brand cereal goes on sale for $1 a box so I grab like 5 at a time lol.

We also have 2 nights a week for leftovers, which cuts down on food purchases as well. 

I realize this blog is extremely long, but I hope it helps some people see that eating on a budget doesn’t have to completely suck, and when you start seeing the savings add up, treat yourself for your hard work! If you used to spend $600 and now you’re spending $450, take $50 and take your family to a museum or something! Make a memory and know you can afford to give them that memory because you worked so hard!

Happy shopping!!

-Cilla

Debunking the Homeschooling Myth

A lot of people are surprised to learn that I homeschool my son. We did the public school thing for kindergarten and we weren’t happy with it at all. For first grade we decided to homeschool, and we purchased a curriculum from A Beka, which was great…it was educational, and it was in line with our religious beliefs, but we felt it was just “school at home” instead of homeschooling…and believe me there is a huge difference. For second grade we decided to move to an umbrella school that allowed us to pick and choose our own curriculum based on our sons individual needs and homeschooling has been awesome ever since.  Over the years people have asked me a lot of questions regarding homeschool, and these questions ranged from genuine concern, to simple curiosity, to downright rude…but I’ll try to answer them all, shed some light on what homeschool is (and isn’t), and debunk a lot of the weirdness that surrounds the choice to educate at home.

Are you in a cult?

Yes this is a real question and it gets asked more often than you might think. I think that stems from the fact that many people choose to homeschool for religious reasons, or because they look a certain way (long skirts, long hair, etc.). The short answer is no, I’m not in a cult. I don’t hate public school, I don’t think big brother is out to get me, or anything like that. We chose to homeschool because we felt that our son would get a more well-rounded education, and because it works well for our family.

What about socialization?

Many, many, many people think homeschooled kids are socially awkward, and for us it isn’t true at all. My son does his school work in the day, and is out in the neighborhood playing with his friends in the afternoon, or his friends are at my house playing when they get off the school bus, so I think he gets just as much socialization as any other kid. Maybe this would be an issue for kids in a more rural setting? There are six boys my son’s age in the neighborhood who he plays with, and a little girl who is homeschooled as well, plus we go to church every week, we go on field trips, we go to the park, etc. Homeschooling doesn’t mean you’re a hermit. 

How can you teach if you didn’t go to college to be a teacher?

This is a touchy subject, because I have so much respect for teachers, I had a handful while I was growing up who played a significant role in shaping me into the person I am today, they were excellent teachers, but I think their ability to make me want to learn came more from who they were as people than from what they learned in college. I’m not saying that teachers shouldn’t be educated, but I personally feel that knowing how to teach a subject, and knowing how to make a child want to learn about a subject are vastly different. If you possess the ability to make a child fall in love with learning, that’s most of the battle. The way I’m able to teach without being formally educated to do so is because I’m teaching my own child, a person who I understand, and who I can get down on his level and find ways to make him enjoy his education, and giving him the skills to be self-motivated to learn on his own. For example, I know my son is really interested in the Civil War, so we go to Civil War battlegrounds for field trips, we find ways to incorporate other subjects into our History lesson, we read books on the subject, he writes essays about the books, etc.

Isn’t homeschooling basically copping out on your child’s education?

A lot of people think homeschooled kids are being robbed of a quality education because they’re home and not in an environment that was made specifically for learning. I personally feel that kids are more prepared for life when they aren’t put in a cookie cutter environment, only surrounded by people their own age, with everything planned and everything is done the exact same way every single day, because life isn’t like that at all. Life with throw you curve balls and you’ll have to learn to adapt and roll with the changes while staying productive, and never again in life will you ever be constantly surrounded by peers that are the exact same age and roughly the same maturity as you. On top of that, I think making the choice to be with your child 24 hours a day; 365 days a week is the exact opposite of copping out. I think it would be copping out if I felt the way I do about what my son needs educationally, and sent him off to school anyway because that’s the social norm, and it’s the easier choice.

What is one thing that you think makes homeschooling better than going to school outside of the home?

The first thing that comes to mind is field trips. I think kids learn better when they see and experience what it is they’re learning about. We go on so many field trips, we spend so much time outside in nature exploring and learning, and it’s so fun to see my kids excited to learn something new, instead of stressing out over a workbook.

What is one thing that you think makes going to school outside of the home better than homeschooling?

Not getting the “omg homeschool freaks!” stare down? I honestly don’t know what would be better because aside from kindergarten, homeschool is all we know and we love the freedom of it.

While there are some extreme cases, most homeschoolers are just average parents doing what they feel is best for their families. I would never judge someone on their decision to go with public school, or private school, or unschooling, or whatever it is that they think will shape their kid into a productive member of society later on. At the end of the day it’s all about the kids, and bringing them up in loving, happy homes. <3

-Cilla

Keepin' It Real

I've been told by countless friends that I should blog about what life is like with my wild rascal kids, silly and sweet hubby, and our naughty pups who are always right there waiting to score a dropped scrap of food. Well, here it is...the blog about life with a homeschooled preteen son, a daughter with special needs, and a Jack...because there is literally no other way to describe my four year old son...he's just Jack. You'll see what I mean. 

I have a horribly neglected "business" blog for my crafts and such, but this is pretty much just going to be what goes on in my day to day life and all of our ups and downs and all consuming craziness. 

I debated starting this, because honestly why would anyone want to read my nonsense about couponing and potty training and random side projects...but in a way I think it's important to have "real" blogs to read. Blogs where the pictures aren't staged, and they're taken with your iphone not your $67,000 camera that you sold your firstborn to afford. I love reading blogs, but I often feel like they don't apply to me, because I don't live in the gorgeous seven bedroom seaside home, and my house is the opposite of immaculate, and I don't have the time or the patience to fret over whether or not that box of fruit snacks my kid is screaming for is organic or not. I'm a regular person, living in a regular three bedroom house, with regular sticky faced whiny kids. I bake cakes from a boxed mix, there are corn dogs in my freezer, my kids watch tv, and having all my laundry clean, folded, and put away will never happen. Ever. So, if you're a regular 'ol mom and you would like to read about some real life struggles and successes instead of feeling like a pinterest fail (because I am the Queen of pinterest fails!), I hope you'll follow along and have a laugh with me while we get through this parenthood thang.

-Cilla