Making Travel Easier with Your Smart Phone

**This post was sponsored by U.S. Cellular.  I am part of their Better Moments Blogger Brigade.**

U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them. 

I love going on overnight  and weekend trips.  Unfortunately, my husband and I don't get a chance to do so as often as I'd like.  We live in an area that within six hours or less we can be visiting his family, travel to Canada, Washington D.C., or a number of other destinations from an area with some of the best geocaching in the United States to Amish country.

That Week of the Pantry Eating Challenge where I landed in the hospital

A month ago, my pantry eating challenge started.  The whole idea was we would eat things we had in the house and not buy groceries. Seems simple enough, right?  Especially for a couponer who has a pantry that screams that is a hobby of mine.  When our house insurance agent did a walk through, she took asked me without prompting how long I had been using coupons.  It surprises people when I say twenty five years because I just don't look old enough.  But I digress.

Using Credit Cards to Your Advantage

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As much as I appreciate the financial advice contained inThe Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey, I disagree with him on one thing:  I never pay cash when I can pay for something with a credit card.

Granted, this is only good advice for someone who has the discipline to pay off a credit card each month, but although I have heard Mr. Ramsey say that no one has ever gotten rich using a credit card, I have received some wonderful reward items including:  thousands of dollars in gift cards and cash back, an airline ticket to New York City, an airline ticket to Grand Rapids, an airline ticket to Nashville, and nearly a month's worth of hotel stays.

Week Three of the One Month Pantry Eating Challenge

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This week was harder with the one month pantry eating challenge than the previous two weeks.  This was because we haven't had much fresh food in a while, plus our town's water had a yellow tint to it one day, and was muddy the next.  So we had to buy some stuff to drink, and we opted to eat out as well.

How to Stock a Gift Closet On a Budget

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Several years ago, I began putting things back for gift giving occasions.  I hadn't heard the term "Gift Closet" or "Prize Closet" (as those who enter sweepstakes often call it.)  But I knew the concept.  I also knew our amount of money to be spent was next to nothing.

Why I Don't Attend Church on Mother's Day.

Last year, a couple ladies I know asked me to go to church with them that next Sunday.  I said honestly, "I never go to church on Mother's Day."  Truth is, churches have turned me off to going to any service that entire weekend.

The last time I did attend one, I left in tears.  The priest kept repeating that being a mother is God's highest calling for women.  I have to disagree with that.  It is the highest calling IF you are to have children.  Do you think Mother Theresa missed God's highest calling because she wasn't a mother? I think God's highest calling for us is what He has called us to -- and that might not be motherhood.

Adoption and Goals Update May 2016

I'm changing how I am doing my adoption updates as it seems things are dragging so slowly.  I feel overwhelmed much of the time and I think if I categorize and attack things in a more systematic manner, it will help me.  Also, on some of the online selling boards I visit, they love to "show the numbers" so while I'm not comfortable showing all my numbers, this is a little more of "how I do what I do" As always, this post contains affiliate links.

Adoption / House Goals

*We need to get the 89 year old windows replaced.

Week Two of the One Month Pantry Eating Challenge

Two weeks ago I announced my husband and I were going to do a one month pantry eating challenge.  I am a bargain shopper, avid coupon user and have so much in the pantry that I want to see how little we can buy and still eat for a month.

I often stock up before winter, but it's not as needed anymore, and so I'm going to see how long the one month pantry eating challenge will last.    Here's what we ate and what we spent last week.

A Budget is NOT a Bad Thing -- In Fact it is GOOD!

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I was scrolling through Facebook and saw someone mention a budget.  To my surprise, every response was negative.  I "learned" that having a budget means you can't buy your kids something they want, and you have to eat Ramen.  My response was "Being on a budget means you can afford the extras without feeling guilty because you have been careful with your money in other areas."

Week One of the One Month Pantry Challenge

Last week I announced my husband and I were going to do a one month pantry eating challenge as a way to both save money and help clean out the pantry.  Here's how the first week went.

Day 1:  Burgers from McDonalds ($5) Okay, so it looks like we failed before we even started, and in a way we did, but we hadn't planned on having burgers that night.