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Guest post from Kaly Sullivan
It was 2004 and the housing market was hot. Everyone around us was buying. People were making money buying a home and selling it a few years later. The prices kept going up and up. You couldn’t lose. We jumped on the bandwagon and decided to buy before the prices went any higher. Couple that with the path our parents and grandparents had paved for us. You get a degree, you get a job with a pension, you get married, buy a house, build equity, have kids, trade up into a bigger house, and retire. Following that blue print, my husband and I removed ourselves from the urban center we had come to love, and traded in our car-less life for a red shingled house with a two-car garage. We bought on a five-year ARM because that is what everyone was doing. We bought a small fixer upper with potential because you’re supposed to buy the smallest house in a nice neighborhood (for resale value). We started the process of turning it into a home. The list of tasks that we undertook is now unimaginable. Over the next nine years we spent thousands of hours and dollars upgrading systems, putting in new features, shopping for the perfect item to complete a room. Our evenings and weekends were filled with tasks, Home Depot shopping lists, and annual attempts to grow lush grass. Meanwhile our children were born, and we adapted to life as suburban home owners. Don’t get me wrong. I loved that house. I loved every creak and every brick in the patio we had installed. But it’s quite possible that the little red house is the only house that we will ever own. My husband took a job in a different city, and we made the decision to relocate. We sold our house fairly easily (we did not make any money, but we did break even). Because we were unfamiliar our new area, we thought renting would be a good way to get the lay of the land and settle in before buying a new home. Now that we are well into the second year of our lease, I’m not convinced that I ever want to own a home again. Although it isn’t always as easy as "Call your landlord and they fix it," we have thoroughly enjoyed this time off from home ownership. I can’t imagine walking into Home Depot anymore than I can imagine landing on the moon because as renters we have more… 1. Time: Weekends are used for adventures, naps, downtime, and new experiences not upkeep and chores. 2. Money: Our rent is more expensive than our previous mortgage but the money we save in home maintenance and purchases has us saving money every month. And we have zero debt! 3. Brain space: We don’t worry about systems, resale value, and lists of repairs so we have more room in our heads to pursue our true interests. My husband feels a little differently about the rent vs. own situation. He worries that as renters were not part of our community because we haven’t put our money where our mouth is and invested in a more substantial way. That maybe if we’re not buying, we’re transients that aren’t going to stick around and are not worth getting to know. I see his point. People ask me, “Are you going to stick around? Have you started looking at houses?” I still challenge my husband to think about it differently. If you ask yourself, “What am I going to do with my one life?” Does owning a home make the list? Your top ten? If you think, “What legacy do we want to leave in this world?” Is the answer, “I was a good homeowner” part of your response? Since we’ve been renting, we’ve put less of our resources into our home. We’ve used our time and money to start a company, travel more, and explore our new city. We spend more time together as a family and our overall stress level has decreased. As a family, we will continue to consider what home ownership can offer us. But we are definitely looking at our options through a more critical lens and will not be buying just to buy this time. In the meantime, we’ll keep renting. And enjoying every second of it and the freedom it brings. When Kaly doesn't have her nose in a book, she wrangles and referees two elementary age boys and blogs about her often humorous efforts to lead a mindful, connected life. She’s the co-founder of Harlow Park Media and is the author of Good Move: Strategy and Advice for Your Family’s Relocation.
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This is the weekly list of Free Homeschool Curriculum and Resources compiled by Jamerrill from FreeHomeschoolDeals.com. If you aren't a homeschooler, but you're a parent, teacher, babysitter, or nanny, you'll probably find at least a few useful freebies in this list. You may also want to go through the Educational Deals and Freebies from earlier this week for more. Homeschooling is a big challenge, but we have plenty of resources below to help you! You will find everything from teaching resources for pre-K through high school to financial ideas to make it affordable. First up is our list of Valentine’s Day resources. Yes, we have activities just for fun, but there is also an abundant supply of educational tools so be sure to look carefully! Valentine’s Day Freebies Whatever you are looking for, this FREE List of Valentines Day Resources, Printables, and Activities is packed full of links to fun and educational Valentine’s Day fun! 
Math can be fun with this FREE Valentine's Day Math Worksheets Pack (14 Pages) or these Free Valentine Graphing Printables (26 Pages!) Practice spelling Valentines themed words with a fun FREE Valentine's Day Spelling Words (20 Page Pack!). I love that these FREE Valentines Scripture Card Printables include God’s Word in them. Dot-a-dots are so much fun! Here are FREE Valentines Hearts Preschool Dot-a-dots. Have some Valentines fun with these: Writing and Copywork Teach Shakespeare through copywork with Free Shakespeare Copywork (35 Pages!). Keep your middle and high school student writing with this FREE List of 100 Not-Boring Writing Prompts for Middle and High School Students. Science 
This huge list of FREE Earth Science Unit Study (50+ activities & Printables) is an excellent resource for anyone teaching Earth Science. Bionics is a fun subject to study and here is a FREE Bionics Printable Pack to get you started. Here are FREE Ocean Preschool Printables because it is never too early to start teaching your child about God’s creation. Music Composer study is an important part of teaching music. Learn about George Frideric Handel with a FREE Music Unit Study that focuses on him. Reading and Literature Alice in Wonderland is an incredible story, but it is more than that. You can use it to teach writing, copywork, literacy, math and more with this FREE Alice in Wonderland Unit Study. Does your beginning reader need ways to practice reading? Here is a FREE You can Read Sight Words Pack Unit 6 and Learn to Read Word Family FREE Books. After that, here is a FREE Reading Word Search Activity to reinforce the reading that your older child is doing. Random Homeschool Goodness 
Celebrate Dr. Seuss with A Collection of 50 Free Dr. Seuss Printables including Math, Games, Writing, + More! Home Economics is an important skill, and learning to sew is part of that. Here is are 7 FREE and Easy Learn to Sew Lessons to help your child get started on sewing. Frozen is still a popular movie/theme with most children. Here are Free Frozen Themed Alphabet & Math Printables to engage your child in learning with a topic they love. Tech your child about the Chinese New Year with this FREE Chinese New Year Printable Pack. History and Geography Learn the about Columbus and his sons with a FREE World of Columbus and Sons Printables Pack for Middle and High School. Preschool and Early Elementary 
Here are a 8 Pages of FREE Letter C Worksheets! Even if your child has good finger coordination, they still could need help with fine motor strength. Here are FREE Play Dough Pinch Strengthening Activity Mats. If you are looking for a complete preschool curriculum, be sure to grab this FREE Preschool Curriculum (subscriber freebie)! 1st and 2nd grade students will benefit from this FREE Beginning Sounds Diagraph Game. You may be surprised to learn how many educational shows Netflix offers. Here is a FREE Preschool with Netflix Printable to familiarize yourself with what is available. This FREE Winter Learning Pack for Preschoolers has it all: prewriting, literacy, fine motor, and more! Math Skip counting is a necessary skill for multiplication. Use this set of FREE Skip Counting Tile Printables to keep things fun. Flash cards are a great teaching tool. Here are FREE Flashcard Math Games so you can change it up a little from time to time. Click here thousands of homeschool freebies! Learn How We Snag Weekly Homeschool Freebies From Educents.com. *Don't forget! If you are looking for additional free homeschool resources please check the huge growing list of free homeschool curriculum and resources on MoneySavingMom.com! Jamerrill is the homeschooling mother of a large and growing family. After seasons of spending $50 or less annually to homeschool her children, she started Free Homeschool Deals in 2012 to help all families afford the homeschool life. You can follow the homeschool goodness on Pinterest and Facebook.
We were at Cracker Barrel last week to celebrate Kathrynne’s 10th birthday. (I still cannot believe I have a daughter who is 10 years old. How did that happen?? I still feel like I’m 17!) After we ate dinner as a family, we went out to the store to window shop for a bit. (My kids think Cracker Barrel is just about on the same level as the LEGO store! They love that place and I don’t blame them; they have such fun kid’s toys and games!) I noticed Silas was on a mission in the toy section. He kept picking one toy up, looking at the price, and then putting it back. As he did this over and over again, I started following him around to try to determine what he was doing! 
It was then that he picked a toy up and triumphantly exclaimed, “Yes!! This is in my budget!” I about burst out laughing right there in the store. First, because I hadn’t heard him use the word “budget” before. And secondly, because it sounded so grown up and funny to be coming from the mouth of a 5-year-old. But I held my laughter in and instead asked him more about this budget of his. He explained to me that he has $30 at home in his piggy bank — money he’s collected from doing chores, birthday gifts, etc. — and he decided that he had a $10 budget to spend on something from Cracker Barrel. He didn’t want to spend all of his money, so he’d set the $10 budget to make sure he didn’t spend all his money. 
He said he hadn’t brought his money this time, so he was just looking to see what he could buy in his budget. Next time, he’d bring his money and buy the $10 or less toy. As he recounted all of this to me, you can imagine how much I was grinning from ear to ear. I love that he’s learning money management skills from a young age. But more than that, I was reminded of how much our kids are watching and learning. We’ve talked about basic money management with Silas (spending and saving, etc.), but we’ve never actually gone over what a budget is or why you should have one. So Silas has picked up the idea of budgeting from watching us and hearing things we’ve told to Kathrynne and Kaitlynn.  It also reminded me of how important it is that I set a good example before my kids. Because it’s not just the words I’m saying that they are paying attention to; the life I’m living before them is what they are paying the most attention to.
I usually enjoy grocery shopping (I know, I’m weird like that), but this week ended up being a less than ideal experience. Every store was completely out of the “best” deals (you know – the ones you go into the store excited to buy), and apparently “cold” weather puts everyone in a shopping mood, because the lines were ridiculously long. My preplanned list mostly went out the window and I just ended up doing the best I could, adjusting my weekly menu plan as needed. Some weeks in life are just like that, though!  
Aldi 1 3-ct package Romaine Hearts – $1.99 2 2-lb packages Carrots ($1.19 each) – $2.38 2 dozen Eggs ($1.19 each) – $2.38 1 bag Ceasar Salad Mix, reduced – $0.15 1 1-lb box Butter Quarters – $2.99 1 2-lb bag Lemons – $2.29 1 1-lb carton Strawberries – $1.49 16-oz bag frozen Peas – $0.89 1 head Cabbage – $1.29 1 3-lb bag Golden Delicious Apples (so disappointed they were out of the advertised Fuji Apples!) - $2.99 1 3-lb bag Gala Apples – $2.99 1 bunch Bananas (2.53lbs @ $0.44/lb) – $1.11, plus receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51 – $0.86 after rebate 1 12-oz bottle Hot Sauce – $0.85 2 16-oz cartons Eggs Whites ($1.99 each) – $3.98 1 gallon Milk – $3.29 Total after Rebate: $30.72 
Target 5 8-ct packages Pencils ($0.50 each) – $2.50, used $1.50/5 School Supplies printable – $1.00/5 after coupon 4 boxes Barilla Veggie Pasta ($1.16 each) – $4.64, used 2 $1/2 Barilla Proteinplus, Whole Grain, Veggie, White Fiber or Gluten Free Pasta, exp. 3/31/15 (RP 01/04/15) – $2.64/4 after coupon 2 bags Hormel Pepperoni ($2.84 each) – $5.68, used $1/2 Hormel Pepperoni Product, exp. 3/2/15 (SS 01/04/15 #2), plus $1/2 Target printable (NLA) – $3.68/2 after coupon 4 jars Ragu Pizza Sauce ($1.15 each) – $4.60, used 2 $0.75/2 Ragu Product, exp. 2/22/15 (RP 01/25/15 #2 R) – $3.10/4 after coupon Received $5 Target Gift Card for buying 10 Select Items Total after Tax, Coupons and Gift Card – $5.49 
Harris Teeter 2 12-oz bags Eight O’clock Coffee (B1G1) – $6.25, used 2 $1.50/1 printable, plus receive back $1.50 from Ibotta – $1.75/2 after coupons and rebate 3 Lara Bars – $3.00, used $0.75/3 printable (doubled), plus receive $0.75 back from SavingStar – $0.75/3 after coupon and rebate 3 boxes Hamburger Helper – $3.00, used $0.75/3 printable (doubled), plus receive $1.00 back from SavingStar – $0.50/3 after coupon and rebate 2 18-oz jars KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce (B1G1) – $2.39, used 2 $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.39/2 after coupons 1 LA Looks Hair Gel – $1.50, used $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – FREE after coupon 1 Colgate Toothpaste – $1.00 (used raincheck), used $0.50/1 Colgate Toothpaste, exp. 2/14/15 (SS 02/01/15) (doubled) – FREE after coupon 1 Frozen Orange Juice concentrate (already made up into juice in the picture :)) – $1.67 2 12-oz packages Frozen Broccoli – $2.00 10 8-oz bags assorted Shredded Cheese (B2G3) – $13.00 2 packages Butterball Turkey Bacon – $5.00, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $2.00/2 after coupons 4 packages Gwaltney Hot Dogs -$3.88, used 2 $0.75/2 printable (doubled) – $0.88/4 after coupons (After trying many more expensive brands of hot dogs, my husband and children have declared these their “favorite.” I refuse to eat them, but my husband will buy them if I don’t – so I was happy to find a sale/coupon. These will go into our freezer in anticipation of warmer weather and cookouts over our fire pit!) Total after Sales, Coupons, Rebates, and Tax – $22.78 Weekly Total: $58.99 Weekly Menu Plan Breakfasts Oatmeal and Fruit (using frozen fruit from the freezer stirred in) x 3 Scrambled Eggs/Veggie Omelettes and Toast x 2 Cereal x 2 Lunches Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Chips x 2 Build-Your-Own-Salad (Fresh Veggies, Tuna, Hard Boiled Eggs, Craisins, Sunflower Seeds, etc.) x 2 Fried Egg Sandwiches, Bananas, Carrot Sticks Leftovers x 2 Dinners Homemade Chili and Cornbread, Carrot Sticks Date Night Out (Super excited about this! We haven’t had a date in…almost forever it seems. We got several gift cards to restaurants for Christmas, and will finally get to use one of those.) Chili and Cheese over Baked Potatoes (using leftover chili), Homemade Applesauce Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, Tossed Salad Baked Chicken Nuggets, Steamed Peas, Baked French Fries, Apples Egg Roll in a Bowl, Brown Rice, Green Beans Leftovers Snacks Popcorn, Apples with Peanut Butter, Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars 
Liz emailed the following tip: As a new mama, I worked outside of the home and had a very nice income, so I took my daughter to a professional photographer for all her first year pictures without blinking an eye. Once I started to stay at home and we added three more kiddos to our family, professional pictures were no longer the rule, but a very rare exception. Although, we couldn’t afford professional pictures of our kids all of the time, I still wanted to have some sweet, quality pictures to hang on the wall. So, I began to experiment and research great ways to get high-quality photos of my kids, without breaking the bank. 
Here few tips for taking great pictures in the comfort of your own home: - Set your baby up a few feet off of the ground. This puts your child at an easier level for you to photograph. I always have someone there to help in case the babe begins to roll or squirm — safety first!
- Grab some cute blankets, quilts, fabrics, or even a simple sheet. In this shot, I had a vintage quilt that was a family heirloom, a black and white striped blanket, and a fuzzy, white bathrobe that I used for the base prop. It is always good to use texture below the baby if you are doing a naked-baby shoot. If your babe was clothed with color and pattern, go with a simple, solid base blanket.
- Gather a few simple baby props. I used a baby bonnet in this photo shoot. I have used hats, headbands, wraps, and even kept a bare head before. Again, the key is to not have too much texture, but to also have enough to add interest.
- Make sure you have good lighting. In this example, we are in our nursery next to the window. This ensures that I don’t have to use the flash and my camera can gather enough light to make the picture crisp and clear.
I hope you enjoyed these tips and found inspiration to take your own photos at home! Once you take the leap, you’ll never go back (or at least not very often!) | 
