Olive You Because...

It was over a decade ago I when walked on the beach of South Africa; I cannot blot out from my memory the young orphan boys begging for spare change. They risked being chased off by local store workers with crops, similar to the ones used in horseback riding, for amounts totaling less than our American dime.  It was there that my heart was broken for those who do not have a mother's love.  There were many opportunities to hear God's whispers on long van rides through the African country side.  His heart is for the orphan, and He has planted the desire of adoptive motherhood in mine.  I get a little over excited when I hear God's calling.  I left Africa with plans to become a successful therapist and to sell all I had to move to South Africa.  I was going buy a house and open my home to children like the ones I had seen on the boardwalk.  However, God had set a different path under my feet and called me to trust His plan over mine.  In a matter of months before my undergrad graduation my heart was captured by a young man, and my self drawn plans were interrupted for a greater purpose.  Greater than selling everything and entering the mission field in Africa?  Yes.  It had been made clear that His purpose for me is in my home. It is where I can be most effective for His kingdom.  My mission field is in the everyday battlefield of raising a family in God's word.

Nearly a year and a half ago my husband and I committed to a cash envelope system and we are so happy we did! I like spending money and my husband does not.  Before the envelope system, he would keep tabs on the bank balance while I went around my domestic duties: buying groceries, keeping up the household, and clothing shopping for our two growing children.  I was an expert at using coupons, shopping clearance and finding rock bottom deals. What I was not good at was keeping track of my spending.  Matt would tell me when we were nearing "broke" for the month. AHHHH!  I would be frustrated with myself for over spending, and filled with buyers remorse over all the fab deals I scored.  It would frustrate him that I couldn't stick to our budget when using the debit card.  I have the same problem with calories, I consume more than I should unless I keep track of them.
We had read The The Total Money Makeover and were applying a few of his principles, but hadn't tried the cash envelopes.  After several months of going over budget, we decided that we had to use the cash system to stay on track.  Paying down debt was important to us and not overspending was crucial.  We evaluated our spending, set realistic goals, and recalculated our monthly budget.
We now utilize the cash envelope system and online bill pay to keep our budget in check.  We try to use a Zero Balance budget meaning our income-bills-expenses=0.  Matt pays bills like the mortgage, utilities, and phone online.  We take out $600 in cash every month: $400 for grocery/dining out, $100 for household, $50 for clothing, and $50 for misc. spending.  We use our debit card for gas mainly because pay at the pump is convenient, but still have set a budget and stick to it.  We usually are under budget for gas and that allows us to pay more towards what we owe.
It is a great feeling when you pay off credit cards and pay down debt.  Using cash envelopes has been a liberating experience.  At first I felt humbled when I would have to tell a friend that I couldn't go out to eat because it didn't fit into our budget, but most people understood.  It took a few months and some creative planing to be able to stretch our money through the month.  Matt and I usually go out to eat 2-3 time per month for date night and strive to spend $25 or less, including tip.  We often frequent a local Mexican restaurant and order from the a la cart menu. Ordering off the a la cart menu helps keep our bill and calorie intake low.  We never leave hungry.  We also eat well at home utilizing coupons and stocking up during sales.  My Milwaukee Mommy is a great resource for a coupon/ad match up. She also posts great online shopping deals.  If we purchase items online we remove the money from the envelope as if it were spent and redeposit it into the account.  This practice also applies to the Target Red Debit Card which we use because it saves us an extra 5% on our purchases at Target.  We have become very efficient with our cash system and have had a few months when there was surplus.  Clothing is the only envelope that we let accumulate, if there is a $20 surplus in household from March we only withdraw $580 for April. Then we apply the $20 March surplus to our efforts to pay down debt.  At first it can seem impossible, but with hard work and dedication, I promise it does get easier.

There are many tools to help you organize your cash system.

1. A Plastic File Folder

2. Dave Ramsey's Deluxe Executive Envelope System

3. The Trendy Savvycents

4. Crafty and Cute

The choices were a little overwhelming and I wanted a combination between Crafty and Trendy but didn't want to spend a lot of money.  So I decided to make my own and here is how:
Choose your fabrics and interface.  Cut two 7.25" squares of fabric and one square of iron on interface per envelope.

Living on a budget takes some time and effort, but is well worth it.  Here is a tool to help you get started with your family's budget.

We use online payment tools to pay the monthly bills like our mortgage, utilities, phone and the such.  We use a cash envelope system for all the other monthly expenses and I will post on that soon.

Click on photo for the FREE Budget Planner

To get started gather bank and credit card statements, write down where and how you spent your money last month.  Compare your spending to the suggested budget table in this printable.  The suggested budget percentages are from Dave Ramsey'sThe The Total Money Makeover.  Then make adjustments for your next month's budget.
Track your spending by keeping all your receipts for the following month and find areas that you can cut your spending.  Set realistic goals, and stick to them.  We found that shopping sales and using coupons helped us cut our grocery bill drastically.  We budget $400 total for grocery and dinning out per month.  This usually breaks down to $75 per week for grocery and $25 for dinning out.  We stock up on items that go one sale and freeze meats and produce when needed.  A great resource for learning when to stock up on items is the book Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Standard of Living...and Giving, by Kelly Hancock. It took a few months to get a stocked pantry and freezer, but now it is all set and we are able to restock when needed.
Good luck with your budgeting adventures!

Fully trusting God isn't an easy thing to do.  My pride often fools me into believing that my timing is better than God's.  Like Sarah in Genesis, I know that there is a promise of good for my future, but I struggle to do things my way instead of God's.  This compulsive need to be in control hinders my ability to see His divine plan unfold as it should.  God has marked my path so why do I choose to go my own way.  It is like setting my GPS but failing to heed its directions. There have been many u-turns because of my intuition, and poor since of direction.  A calm voice simply says  "Recalculating..." and before I know it a new path is routed for me. My journey becomes a little longer but my destination stays constant.  

Sticky raisins make sticky fingers, and sticky fingers make sticky messes!  My girls love raisins, but not the way their fingers were all sticky after eating them.  For a while we avoided snacking on them until a friend shared some dry dates with me.  I noticed they had been coated with a light dusting of flour and thought about our raisin problem.  Four was a great solution to our sticky situation!

It really doesn't take very much flour to coat 20 oz of raisins.  We start with a little less than a quarter cup of flour.  I use organic coconut flour.  It is gluten free and has a subtle flavor that compliments the raisins. You can use any flour you have available. First mix the flour with one cup of raisins at a time getting them well coated. Sift out the extra flour. Pour the raisins into a class jar for storage. Repeat these steps until all the raisins are coated.  You will have plenty of flour left.  Place it in a small jar or baggie for the next round of raisin coating or use it for baking right after your done.

Lemon Oil is also great for cooking and baking. Oil can be a substitute in any recipe that calls for lemon zest or juice. Below is one of my favorite cookie recipes.

• No monthly order required
• Option to receive 10-30% of your total purchase back in FREE product points
• One-time enrollment fee -- no annual renewal fee

Who doesn't love a free Starbucks? I love paying for coffee for the person behind in the drive through.  However, I am frugal, by marriage. Frequenting Starbucks is not a common occurrence, so I am not the saint de la caffeine.  I do like to smile, and the last time I checked smiles are free: so I do give them out often.  Sometimes I will even through in a wave. (It's a Southern thing.)  Most of the time my smiles are briefly greeted with a polite smile in return.  The wave, on the other hand, gets me some pretty weird looks in Wisconsin.  I do recall one instance of this random act of smiling, at a woman as I walked out of Sendick's and she walked in, backfiring. Moments after our smiling encounter, she found me in the parking lot in order to ask me if we knew each other.  I replied, "no" and she asked, "Then why did you smile at me?"  "Just because," I answered.  She then turned and walked back into the market perturbed.  Other than this instance, my joy filled expression is generally accepted.  I love people.  I am energized in crowds, and smiles come naturally.  Random people make me smile, so I guess they are serving me a random act of kindness and I am thankful to receive them.

Itchy eyes, scratchy throats, coughing, and nasal congestion are all common symptoms in our household during the spring and fall.  We are no strangers to outdoor allergies.  Mine often hit me in early March when the thaw begins.  It always starts with a scratchy throat and a horse voice.  My sinuses become congested usually within the week.  Sure enough I find myself wishing I had taken something earlier to help my allergies because I have a full blown sinus infection.  But it doesn't stop there I will typically develop bronchitis before I can conquer the sinus infection.  I have marked my next year's calender for late February to begin allergy symptom prevention.

Itchy eyes, scratchy throats, coughing, and nasal congestion are all common symptoms in our household during the spring and fall.  We are no strangers to outdoor allergies.  Mine often hit me in early March when the thaw begins.  It always starts with a scratchy throat and a horse voice.  My sinuses become congested usually within the week.  Sure enough I find myself wishing I had taken something earlier to help my allergies because I have a full blown sinus infection.  But it doesn't stop there I will typically develop bronchitis before I can conquer the sinus infection.  I have marked my next year's calender for late February to begin allergy symptom prevention.

• No monthly order required
• Option to receive 10-30% of your total purchase back in FREE product points
• One-time enrollment fee -- no annual renewal fee