backwards thinking on fathers~

Yesterday I read a short little book on the subject of contraception vs abortifacients called Open Embrace, A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception. Basically it's about natural family planning as compared to artificial means of birth control. In the foreward by J. Buudziszewski, he was talking about the concept of God being the model for fathers. I know I often have to struggle to correct my thinking in how I view the Father, so I thought this quote was great...

"We need to take more seriously the teaching that God is the Father,

the uncreated Father, the model for created fathers.

We imagine that he is called Father because He is vaguely like a father;

no, fathers are called fathers because they are vaguely like Him."

.

Now that is something I want to hold on to.

$60 Free...Seriously Easy, Not A Gimmick~

**update~ as of friday morning the 16th,

it appears the promotion is still going on**

Well, I waited until the very last minute

as I wanted to make sure it actually works...

and what do you know?

It does!

So, today is the last day to sign up,

but you can really get $60free, with very little effort.

You sign up and

they credit your account $25 immediately,

then you request it to be transferred to your bank account.

It seems to work just like paypal.

You wait a couple of days for them to credit your bank account

with two small deposits, verify your account,

request the money to be transferred to your bank account,

and....wa la!

$25 free!

At the same time,

you refer your spouse,

thus earning you the $10 referal credit,

and he/she the $25 sign up credit.

Wa la...a total of $60!

I also am not sure when or if I'll ever use the account again, but hey...

a very nice, free date night!

It appears to be like paypal, so I guess they are trying to provide an alternative

and cash in on the online money transfer thing.

Anyway, today is the last day to sign up.

You only have to initiate the process by the 15th,

not actually complete it.

So, here it is...

(The easiest and quickest way to do it, is when they credit your spouse's account,

have that money sent to your account.

That way you only have to link and verify one bank account.)

extra info for super suppers~

Extra info:
Unfortunately, they do not allow you to bring children with you. Just so you know :o(

frugal fridays~ meal planning

There are many great ways to save money at the grocery. One of the ways I have learned to utilize is meal planning.

Meal planning is an excellent tool for the homemaker and has several benefits. First of all, it allows for conscious, planned purchases at the grocery. Grocery shopping can be a crazy event when you have little ones, so having your purchases planned out is a great benefit. Secondly, you can plan your meals around sales. That can be a whole post in itself, maybe I'll get around to it one day in all my spare time :o) Thirdly, pre-dinner time is often one of the most frustrating, hectic times of the day when you have little sweeties running around, so not having to decide what to do makes things go much more smoothly. I can tell such a difference in the quality of our meals when I actually take the time to plan them out in advance.

Depending on how much time you have and want to commit to meal planning, there are several ways you can utilize meal planning. Some people just have a running list (in their head or written down) and can just decide what they are going to have each night, create their list and go to the grocery. Some moms I know have a different theme for each night, such as Monday~Mexican, Tuesday~Italian, Wednesday~Casserole, etc. This method can be good as it is predictable amd kind of helps direct your thoughts. I would like to try this method at some point, but right now I mostly just plan around sales and what I have in my freezer. I am a big fan of bulk cooking and pantry stocking, so I generally just pull from that.

A great resource for the meal-planning-challenged, or really just anyone who wants someone else to work it out for them (the easier the better is a great motto!), is Menus 4 Moms. It is wonderful. Every week, a pre-determined menu is provided, along with recipes and a grocery list! It can't get much easier than that. Right now, I still have a freezer full of pre-prepared/pre-cooked meals that I mostly pull from, but I also plan on adding some of the menus 4 moms meals in now that Haven is two months old and life is settling down to more of a predictable routine (whatever a predictable routine looks like with a newborn :o) anyway.

Here is the menu plan for this week:

Monday - Recipes
Taco Mac Salad
Yogurt With Berries

Tuesday - Recipes
Chicken Ham and Rice Casserole
Broccoli Salad
Fruit of Your Choice

Wednesday - Recipes
Homemade Pesto with Angel Hair Pasta
Salad
Garlic Bread

Thursday - Recipes
Easy Feta Chicken Bake
Zucchini Herb Casserole
Italian Bread dipped in Olive Oil with Pesto sauce

Friday - Recipes
Hawaiian Pizza
Salad
Snow Cones

With the recipe links are also plans for buying extra to use for later meals that week or the following. Such as, if you are browning meat for a taco salad, you may also be browning meat to freeze and use the following week in an Italian dish. It is extremely helpful and easy. And it is free! You can either subscribe to the emails, or just go to the site. I do my meal planning on either Thursday or Friday as I go to the grocery on Saturday. Again, the grocery list (including the extra amounts for future recipes or stockpiling) is included. Two weeks of menus are given at a time, but they also have all the archives from the past several years, so there are a wealth of recipes and ideas. There are also links to many other helpful resources.

Depending on your families health and taste preferences, you may or may not be able to use all of them. That is why it is good to have a running list of meals that you commonly prepare. Then, prior to going grocery shopping, you can sit down and plan your meals out (I plan "whatever days" and left over days, too), make your list, and make your life a little easier.

Implementing this, along with several other things I do regarding meals, has made my life enormously easier. Some of the other things I do are bulk cooking, coupon clipping (not necessarily easier, but definatley money saving), pairing coupons with sales, along with sometimes purchasing extra coupons to go along with sales, keeping a stocked pantry by stocking up when there is a sale, keeping prepped veggies/ground beef/cooked chicken/etc. in the freezer, and having a list of meals and side dishes I can easily reference on those crazy days. Most of these things I do have some sort of method behind them, and many have books and/or online resources that I glean from. Some of those are The Coupon Clippers, The Grocery Game, Don't Panic Dinner's In The Freezer, and I've learned many wonderful tips from my MOMYS group.

In addition to all this, my reality is that I like to and prefer to plan meals in advance, but I do not alway do it. This is where having my stocked pantry and freezer along with my meal/side-dish list comes in handy. If I have a week (or two or three) where I do not pre-plan, I always have a list I can pull from, and pre-prepared main dishes (casseroles, marinated chicken, ground beef, etc.) in my freezer, along with ingredients for sides in my pantry.

Are any of those of any interest to anyone? I greatly enjoy planning things out and organizing, and have really learned a lot in the past year or so that has streamlined meals in the Hutchison house. I would like to post on some of them, so let me know what sounds interesting to you.

Happy Friday!

frugal fridays~ biblical womanhood

I got the idea for Frugal Fridays from the Biblical Womanhood site. Crystal's blog is one of my favorites in general, but I also enjoy reading the Frugal Fridays posts. She actually has it set up so that her readers post their Frugal Fridays posts on their blogs or websites, and then link to the Biblical Womanhood site. Once there, you can access all of her reader's Frugal Fridays posts. Make sense?

half-off nashville thursdays~

this is something i discovered last week that looks pretty exciting. every week, there is a different place featured, and basically, they sell gift certificates at half price. there are only a limited number available, so order early!

i've never actually used this, but i am planning on trying it tomorrow. my youngest sister is wanting to go to bistro 215 for her birthday in a few weeks, so we're going to try it. i'll let you know how it goes!

i noticed they also have some deals left over from previous weeks. i didn't check out all of them, but i did notice they had a lot left for cafe coco and a spa :o)

half-off nashville thursdays

can this count for my frugal friday post? i am having a post-partum hormonal week :o(

frugal fridays~ tn tax free weekend

After a long, tiring journey to the Chattanooga Aquarium, and getting us semi-lost on the way home last night, I am super tired. So...I'm just going to make this quick.

This weekend is TN tax free weekend. In nutshell, that means clothing, school supplies, and computers under $1500 can be purchased tax free Friday through Sunday. As long as you would be buying these items anyway, and the price is not raised in a way that would cancel out any tax you will be saving, this is a great way to save some money this weekend.

Sorry so short and generic. Hopefully these posts will be a little more specific and thought out, but for today, I'm wiped out :o)

Happy Friday!

frugal fridays~ kids consignment sales

I hope to start a Friday post on saving money through various means. Feel free to send me your tips and ideas! On that note...

It is consignment sale season!
(why they think we want to shop for winter clothes in the middle of july is beyond me)

One way I used to often save money was shopping consignment sales. It was an excellent way to find clothing for my children at a fraction of the cost. I am very particular about the way my children dress (not saying that is a good thing!), although I have gotton much better :o)

I used to buy name brand clothing for cheap, and then sell it again the following season. I could usually make close to the same amount I spent. Not quite, but close. That meant I was dressing my children for practically free!

Now, I don't shop consignment sales as much anymore as it is a lot of work to take six children to a sale and not end up spending more on junk and toys than on clothes, but I love ebay! Consignment sales, overall, are better than ebay, though, when it comes to cost. I do still shop consignment sales when I am able to get out alone.

I love saving money. When I am making a purchase, I often spend quite awhile researching the best product, best price, best quality, etc. Places such as bizrate, pricescan, pricegrabber, and nextag are good for finding the best current deal. Googling coupon codes is an excellent way to save money when online shopping. And then of course, there is ebay! In the past I have spent hours hunting down the best deal on something.

Anyway, sorry for the rabbit trail...

For finding a list of current consignment sales in your state, go to http://kidsconsignmentguide.com/

You have to look up your specific state, then scroll down to find nearby cities with listed sales, but it usually has quite a few listed.

That's your Frugal Fridays tip of the week :o)

(in the spirit of honesty, i did stumble across the frugal fridays idea on the biblical womanhood site, so for more frugal friday ideas, go there...)