5 Things I'm Loving This Week and more...

Here's What's New 5 Things I'm Loving This Week Sign up for theSkimm daily newsletter! How I Became a Stay at Home Mom in a High Cost Area :: 5 Things I'm Loving This Week 1) An Essential Oil Locket I'm so excited about this new essential oil locket that was in the mail when we got home from our trip early this morning. You put 1-2 drops of essential oils on the little leather disc inside the locket and supposedly the aroma will last for 3-5 days! 2) Local Community This is what love and community looks like. I texted a friend on Monday to say we were going to stay home from Monday Group tonight because we had gotten home from the airport at 3 am this morning and our kiddos needed a crazy early bedtime as a result. I didn't say anything about how tired I felt. Or how much laundry we had to do. Or the fact that I'm leaving tomorrow for another trip and was a little bit overwhelmed by my to do list for the day. My friend didn't know any of that. But something prompted her to text back and say, "I'm bringing over dinner tonight." It was like a love note directly from God to me through this friend. And it blessed me in an amazing way. It was like God saying to me, "I've got this. Trust me. I'm going to carry you through this day." And He did - and it ended up being such a good day. And it was topped off with this delicious and fun dinner dropped off by friends who didn't know how much their gift encouraged us today. If you're prompted to do something for someone else, do it. You never know just how much they might need your love today. Or how your kindness could transform their entire day. 3) My In-Home Hairstylist I have become a hair model. Or that's how it feels. And I don't mind it one bit! Every single day, Kaitlynn (8) wants to try a one (or 5!) new hair style ideas out on me. This was one of her newest hair styles to attempt. Thanks to YouTube, I doubt she's ever going to run out of inspiration!! I love watching my kids trying new things and discovering their interests, passions, and gifts. It's one of the most rewarding things as a parent! (I was reading a really good book when she snapped this picture and didn't even know she was taking a picture! So excuse the intensely serious look on my face!) 4) A Special Vacation to Fripp Island I was so blessed to get to spend the last few days on beautiful Fripp Island, SC with three of my dear friends. We enjoyed deep conversations, shared lots of laughs, cooked good food, watched funny movies, took time to read, walked on the beach, watched the sun rise and set, and planned for our lives and businesses for 2016. 5) Reese's Peanut Butter Cups On the first day of vacation, I had Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for breakfast with coffee and devotions. At noon. Because I'm on vacation sans kids. Don't judge. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are one of the few non-homemade treats I absolutely adore. And I can't keep them at our house or that could be dangerous. But on vacation, I'm all about doing a little splurging! Bonus: I may be a wee bit excited about these limited edition #ChooseJoy sweatshirts!! Look for a special offer coming in a few days! What are YOU loving this week? Tell us in the comments. :: Sign up for theSkimm daily newsletter! If you follow me on Periscope, you know how much I love theSkimm email newsletter. This is an email newsletter that comes every week day that skims all the top news from the last day, breaks it down into bite-size content, and delivers it in a fun and engaging way. This email newsletter is not from a conservative perspective, but is mostly unbiased and straight-shooting and it's a great way to keep up on all the top news in a quick manner. Sign up for theSkimm here. (Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.) :: How I Became a Stay at Home Mom in a High Cost Area Guest post from Aileen of Aileen Cooks I never thought I would be a stay-at-home-mom before I had my first child. I took pride in working and did not feel the need to change anything. My husband had mentioned the idea of my staying home once we had kids, but I never thought we could afford it. In fact, we couldn't afford for me to stay home - I was bringing in almost half of our income! We live in the San Francisco Bay Area - an extremely high-cost area - and we had an expensive mortgage. There was no way it would work for me to stay home. I had to keep working. Then, my son was born. Boy, did my mind-set change! I could not imagine the thought of leaving him, but I also didn't think there was any way we would be able to survive on a single income. When my son was 3 months old, I went back to work part-time. However, even with a part-time schedule, I was unhappy. I mentioned this to my husband a lot, almost daily. I did not want to work anymore - I wanted to be home with our baby. I felt like I was missing out. So, we made a plan. First, we figured out what our bills would need to be in order to survive on a single income. We would need to make a lot of changes, but we were both determined to make it work. Here's what we did: Cut out the non-essentials. No more trips to the nail salon or daily trips to Starbucks. Contacted every company I thought would work with us and requested a lower rate (Internet, Cell Phone, TV) and most worked with us. Cancelled our home phone. Ate out less and started bringing homemade lunches to work. Made more meals from scratch (homemade stocks and soups are a huge money saver). Purchased second-hand clothes and toys. You would be amazed at the high-quality clothes you can find for children. Refinanced our mortgage. This was huge for us - we were able to lower our interest rate and drop our mortgage insurance. Paid off our credit debt. Saved as much as we could from my part-time income, so we would have a cushion for emergencies. Said NO to pricey house projects. If it didn't have to be done, we didn't do it. An outdated bathroom was a small price to pay for the ability to have one of us stay home with our son. Continued to drive older cars. Our cars are not the newest and prettiest cars, but they get us from point A to B and they are payed off, so we don't have to worry about huge car payments. After 7 months of saving and cutting back, I quit my job! My son was 10 months old and had just started walking. He is now 3 years old and we welcomed a second child last year. Quitting my job was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am extremely grateful to my husband for his continued support. We recently cancelled cable and continue to look for ways to cut back on our monthly expenses. I still make my husband's lunch every day and try to make as much food from scratch as I can. I take the kids to the library and participate in free or inexpensive children's programs run by our local YMCA and First 5 Center. Sometimes, money is pretty tight for us. If I don't have enough gas in my car, we say no to that play date. I scrounge together meals from our pantry until pay-day. My husband and I plan a lot of at-home dates. We buy small birthday and Christmas gifts. All of these things make a difference for us. If you are struggling to make ends meet or are trying to transition to one income, keep at it! Every little bit will help you reach your goal! Aileen is a stay at home mom of two living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She blogs at Aileen Cooks where she shares family-friendly recipes, tips on cooking with kids, and money saving tips. photo source You received this email because you are registered on www.moneysavingmom.com with the email address panatllc1.kate@blogger.com. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, you can easily unsubscribe here. 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