Whatever You Practice At, You Will Improve At and more...

It's a simple rule of life: "Whatever you practice at, you will improve at" (Elizabeth Gilbert). And this applies to all areas of life. If you want to improve, get better, learn a new skill, or see success in a […]

Here's what's new: Whatever You Practice At, You Will Improve At A Peek Into My Life This Past Week Whatever You Practice At, You Will Improve At It's a simple rule of life: “Whatever you practice at, you will improve at” (Elizabeth Gilbert). And this applies to all areas of life. If you want to improve, get better, learn a new skill, or see success in a specific area, the best thing you can do is to practice. And then practice some more. And then keep practicing. You don’t become a great writer, a five-star chef, a talented musician, a highly-sought-after speaker, or an outstanding manager of money without a lot of time, effort, and practice. There is basically no such thing as overnight success. Almost all success is the result of hard, hard work. If you want to be a wise money manager, it’s not just going to happen; you’re going to have to be intentional, strategic, and disciplined. You’re going to have to practice, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, practice some more, get better, and keep practicing. Maybe you didn't grow up in a household where you had financially responsible parents. That doesn't mean you are doomed to always being a poor manager of money. Here are two strategies to break the cycle and practice your way to better financial choices: 1. Surround Yourself With Frugal Advice Find some frugal friends to regularly hang out with. (Need some ideas on how to find frugal friends? Read this post.) You often are very influenced by the people you surround yourself with. If everyone you associate with is spending money pretty extravagantly and telling you that you "deserve" this, that, and the other — even if you can't afford it — it's going to be hard to stick with your resolve to live frugally. On the other hand, if many of your friends are living frugally and simply, if they are content and totally "get" you when talk about buying something secondhand or saving up to pay cash for things, it will be a lot easier to keep on your slow and steady journey toward debt-freedom or achieving your other financial goals. This is why I can't encourage you enough to make the effort to surround yourself with friends who don't think you're crazy for being so frugal. And not just friends who don't think you're crazy, but friends who are just as frugal — or more frugal! — than you are! In addition to hanging out with frugal people, read books on saving money, investing, and getting out of debt. Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy made a great point on her blog a few years ago. She talked about how you should read blogs that are on topics related to areas of your life you want to improve in. I love that! 2. Challenge Yourself to Try New Things Immersing yourself in frugal advice and money-saving ideas is great, but it’s not just enough to read about or be around frugal advice; you have to go out and experiment with some of the ideas. And then you have to keep experimenting and practicing. For example, when I started learning how to use CVS Extra Bucks, I had no idea what I was doing. Even the store employees didn't have much insight into how the extra bucks worked because the store was converting into a CVS from another drugstore. At the start of learning how to play the Drugstore Game, I searched around on forums and read everything I could to learn how it worked. Then I would plan out my shopping trip (usually something really small and simple) and would go to the store to try it out. I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning (and I’m so glad I kept my transactions really small so that it was only a dollar or so lost if I messed something up), but after 5 shopping trips, I had gotten the basic handle on it. And by my 20th shopping trip, I was good enough that I started helping my friends learn how it worked, too. It took time. It took research. It took trial and error. But it all paid off, because not only did I get hundreds of dollars worth of household products for pennies on the dollar and save our family a LOT of money while Jesse was in law school, but it also was the inspiration for starting MoneySavingMom.com! (So many people were asking me about my drugstore shopping trips and I wanted a place to be able to share them plus other shopping trips and how to save money on your grocery bill!) Not every idea you try will be a home-run for you. And that’s why it’s called “experimenting”. Not all experiments are a success! 🙂 One of the best pieces of advice I can give to people who are trying to re-train themselves in the ways of saving money, sticking with a budget, and getting a good handle on their finances is this: true frugality considers the ROI (return on investment of time) as the bottom line. There are thousands of ways to save a buck. But each family needs to carefully weigh how much time it is going to take to save that buck. Time is money, too. So, as you are experimenting, be sure think in terms of what money-saving efforts are worth your time and that work for your own family and own situation. Don’t feel guilted over the fact that you might not be doing all the frugal things some other family is doing. You can’t do it all, so pick and choose what works for your family in the season of life you’re in. Practice doesn’t necessarily make things perfect, but it certainly will mean progress over time — especially if you stick with it. So I challenge you to consider what areas you want to improve in in your life and then go start learning, experimenting, and practicing! “Whatever you practice at, you will improve at.” photo credit        A Peek Into My Life This Past Week Welcome to my weekly post where we take a break from money-related posts and I share about what I'm loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week. What I’ve Been Reflecting On 3 years ago, we moved to Tennessee. The move didn’t make sense — to us or to others. We had a comfortable life in Kansas, both families lived close by, we loved our house, we had an amazing full-time nanny whom our kids adored and who was such a gift to us, Jesse’s law firm was going strong, the blog/business was going strong, we were starting to invest in rental houses in Kansas. The future felt secure and safe. But both of us felt a stirring in our hearts that comfortable, secure, and safe was not what God was calling us to. So, with much prayer and thought, we moved from the state we’d lived in all our lives to a state we’d only visited a few times, to live in a rental house we’d only seen pictures and video of. It was a big leap. We wondered if we were crazy. And I won’t pretend it was easy. It’s hard to show up at events and church functions and feel like you’re the only person who doesn’t know one single other person. It’s difficult to know how to comfort your kids when they miss their grandparents and the only life they ever knew in Kansas. There were days when we wondered if we’d made a big mistake. Our kids struggled to make friends. I struggled to adjust to so much unfamiliarity. Jesse struggled to find his new identity outside of the work he’d always done. But I look back three years later in awe at what God has done through this move. Our kids are different kids because if it. They are so much more outgoing and compassionate and grateful for the beautiful friendships they have. Jesse and I are different people because of it. Our marriage is stronger. Our faith is stronger. Our compassion is stronger. Our adventurous side is so much stronger. We are different people for the struggles we’ve encountered, the people we’ve built relationships with, the victories we’ve celebrated, and the big lessons we’ve learned on this journey. We still miss our friends and family in Kansas — and a big piece of our hearts will always be there. But for now, we know this is where God has called us to be. And because of that, it truly feels like home. What I’m Reading Right now, I'm reading: Thou Givest, They Gather (an old Christian reprint), A Gospel Primer (a spiritually encouraging book), and 10% Happier (a story-driven book). This week, I finished reading The Big Leap. I’m not sure what to think about this book. In all honesty, I considered quitting it multiple times because I disagreed with the author’s worldview so much. However, the book made me ponder and think about a lot of things in my life, so I kept reading it and I’m glad I did. Because — even though I disagreed with the author so much — he made me think a lot and I feel like that made the {See my Reading Goals for 2017. Also, see the 37 books I've read so far in 2017 here.} What I'm Listening To This week, I listened to episodes of podcasts from Sorta Awesome and HeyLove. I’d highly recommend listening to Love the One You’re With from HeyLove if you’re looking for a good podcast listen this week. What We’re Celebrating Silas turned 8 this past week. We had so much fun celebrating with him… taking him on a special date to buy things for his class birthday party, taking him to downtown Franklin to walk around and look at shops (what he really wanted to do with me!), having a special dinner as a family, getting to celebrate with his class at school, and then getting to celebrate his birthday with my extended family in South Carolina (see below). We are so grateful for this boy and for the life and fun and joy and laughter he brings into our home. We’re also so proud of him for how much he learned this year — including learning how to read, how to tie his shoes, how to write (he’s been getting 100% on his spelling tests every week!), and how to ride his bike! His extroverted side — that we didn’t really know he had — has also really blossomed this year and that’s been so fun to see and watch from the sidelines as he is growing up!     We left for Charleston, SC on Friday afternoon and have spent the last few days hanging out with all of my side of the family enjoying the beach together. The beach is my happy place, so it’s been so amazing to be here! My dad gifted us this family trip as our Christmas present and it’s our first time to get to go to Charleston and we are just loving it here. We’re staying at a house at the Isle of Palms and it’s SO beautiful and peaceful and the weather has been perfect! We’re sad that we have to leave to go back home tomorrow. 🙁 I told you a few weeks ago that I was trying getting up really early for two weeks. The results of my experiment were NOT what I expected. Here’s what I learned from my 2-week get up really, really early (4:30 am) experiment: 1) It’s hard for me to consistently get to bed before 10 to 10:30 pm in the season of life I’m in. I can do it, but it kind of makes the whole evening feel stressful instead of calm. 2) When I wake up really early and jump straight into my to-do list for the day, I feel like I want to make the most of every minute. Which means that I can’t give myself permission to relax much at all and end up feeling like I’m rushing through the day trying to cram as much into each hour as I can. 3) By not giving myself permission to rest and refuel, I end up running on fumes very quickly. Which means that I am less productive, much more on edge, and generally a not-so-nice person to be around (my husband can attest to this from the last week or so!) 4) Ultimately, while this experiment definitely kick-started my productivity and got me back onto the wagon of focused intentionality in my daily life, I was surprised to discover that I am a lot less calmer, a lot more anxious, and a lot more prone to fall prey to “the hustle” when I get up really, really early. So, I’m back to a saner schedule this week (shooting for a 10 to 10:30 bedtime and a 6 to 6:30 wake up time) and I already feel a huge difference. My heart feels calmer and less frazzled. My head feels much more clarity and like there is breathing room. And I’m just generally a whole lot nicer to be around. I can tell you this is not at all what I expected from this experiment. In fact, I wanted to just fall in love with early rising again and be able to profess that it was the best thing ever for me. But the results don’t lie. So I’m going to go with what I know is best for me and my family right now — even if it flies in the face of what I thought would be the case. The winner of the book giveaway from two weeks ago is: Ashlie. Ashlie, you should have received an email from me with instructions on claiming your prize.  How was YOUR week last week? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment and tell us about it!        Latest finds on Pinterest This is a staple recipe at our house! These muffins are so good and freeze so well. They also make a great dessert to add to a sack lunch. Just pull a frozen muffin out and stick it in a baggie in your sack lunch and by lunchtime, it’s all thawed and ready to eat! Today, I want to give you possibly the most important message you will hear this week… You are enough. Exactly as you are. You don’t have to be more, try harder, or do more. You are enough. This is such a great testimony about the life-changing importance of noticing your daily blessings! Latest finds on Pinterest This is a staple recipe at our house! These muffins are so good and freeze so well. They also make a great dessert to add to a sack lunch. Just pull a frozen muffin out and stick it in a baggie in your sack lunch and by lunchtime, it’s all thawed and ready to eat! Today, I want to give you possibly the most important message you will hear this week… You are enough. Exactly as you are. You don’t have to be more, try harder, or do more. You are enough. This is such a great testimony about the life-changing importance of noticing your daily blessings!     Click here to safely unsubscribe from "LITE Feed, Money Saving Mom®." Click here to view mailing archives, here to change your preferences, or here to subscribe • Privacy Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 365 Boston Post Rd, Suite 123, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.