Thank you to everyone for your AMAZING support of the launch of my new book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode. Your encouraging emails, comments, and reviews has blessed me so very much.
I loved this email that I received from a reader:
I thoroughly enjoyed the sample chapter from your new book, Crystal, and I was elated when my copy arrived just one day after the launch! However, over and over I see reviews written from Type A, over-achieving, busy-loving, and chaotic-enduring moms.
I’m not one of them. I am introverted, am constantly turning down “opportunities,” and am already trying to live a minimalist-style schedule. Even so, your book is for people like me, too!
We were hit hard last year with financial strain, three life-changing medical diagnoses, and a new baby (he is a blessing!), all while home schooling, living in a high-cost-of-living area, and sharing a single car despite being a 6-member family. On top of that, we’ve had to squeeze in multiple ER visits, several hospital stays, and numerous doctor’s appointments. To say that we’re in survival mode right now is an understatement!
Your suggestions to develop simple routines, to set goals and evaluate ministry opportunities in light of our future ambitions, and to admit to personal failures in an effort to improve are all very valuable, even to someone like me who is not currently bogged down with sports involvement, Bible study participation, or many other good-but-not-best endeavors.
Thank you for sharing your heart, for being honest with us (LOVED the part where you secretly wanted a pat on the back for your Supermom efforts!), and for your encouragement to thrive instead of survive, no matter what our current stage of life may be. -a reader
If you haven’t ordered your copy yet and want a sneak peek at the contents of the book, you can download a free chapter here. In this chapter, I share:
- A little background on why I wrote this book
- My own personal spiral to hitting rock bottom
- The words my husband said when I was in the pit of despair that changed my life
- Why I stopped using my personal Facebook profile
- The importance of creating a Personal Priorities List
- The four C’s to creating margin
If you haven’t ordered your copy of Say Goodbye to Survival Mode yet, you can order your copy on Amazon or through many other retailers here.
The post Say Goodbye to Survival Mode: Not Just for Extroverts & Type-A People! appeared first on Money Saving Mom®.
Breakfasts
Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit
Lunches
Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch {veggies, cheese, yogurt, fruit, crackers, etc.}
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Lunch with friends
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 2
Snacks
Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Boiled eggs
Freezer Cooking in an Hour
Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting
Crockpot Granola
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
Dinners
Italian Chicken, veggies, bread
Dinner out for Kathrynne’s birthday
Barbecue Chicken, rice pilaf, veggies, fruit
Sloppy Joe Pizza, veggies, fruit
Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Dinner with extended family x 2
What's on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.
The post This Week’s Menu Plan + Freezer Cooking in an Hour Plan appeared first on Money Saving Mom®.
Guest post from Kelli of Eat Pray {Read} Love
I am not an organizer by nature, or at least I wasn’t until recently. I’m quite sure I drove my mom crazy with an ever-chaotic bedroom growing up. And my car usually looks like someone lives in it.
But, since having my 4th child a little over a year ago, I have been on the quest to get my home in order.
It hasn’t been easy (it has caused me to reevaluate my overly-sentimental tendencies) but, it has saved my sanity in more ways than one!
After reading Crystal’s new book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, I have been even more motivated to get more areas of my life in order so that I don’t feel like I’m constantly hanging on by a thread!
Here are a few areas I’ve organized that have been a tremendous asset to living freely:
1. Homeschooling
Until this school year, I did most of our schooling in the breakfast area of our home. And while that worked okay, I got tired of having to move the books for lunch, immaculately clean the table after lunch, then haul everything back out. If we were in the middle of working on something, it made it much harder to get everything back in order after lunch.
So at the end of the summer, I spent a solid week in our new “school room,” which was formerly our playroom. I re-painted it, then got all of our books organized. I got all of our supplies in order so I didn’t have to spend 20 minutes looking for a pencil before starting school.
This school year has been much smoother. Although it took a while for the room to transition from “playroom” to “schoolroom” in my kids’ minds, it has helped so much to have a defined area for schooling.
When we’re in there, it’s school time, as opposed to being in the kitchen, where food is always on the mind!
2. Toys
I wrote an entire post dedicated to our toy organization (you can read it here), but the basic premises are: purge, purge, purge!
Then, when you’re down to what your kids actually play with, find unique ways to organize them that work for your family.
This is the key in all areas of organization — if it doesn’t work for your family, it won’t help you! We use a dresser in our living room to “hide” our toys when they aren’t being used. It’s one of my favorite organizational tools in our home!
3. Paperwork
This is one area of our home that I feel will always be a struggle for me, but I have found some ideas that have helped tame the paperwork beast a bit.
I use organizers on top of my desk to separate medical bills from kids’ shot records, etc. and that has helped tremendously. I also toss junk mail in our garage trash can before it ever even enters the house. Paying bills as soon as they arrive is also helpful — and you’ll never pay late fees again!
Although perfect organization is an illusion — especially in a home with six people — taking proactive steps to get a few areas of my life under control has been such a blessing for our family!
Kelli is woman who is never bored! Between loving on 4 kids and her husband, serving her church as the pastor’s wife, developing (and tasting!) new recipes, and looking for the next great book to read, she’s always on the go! You can follow her family’s adventures at Eat Pray {Read} Love.
top image credit
The post How Organizing Saved My Sanity appeared first on Money Saving Mom®.
Finish reading 
