Our family has avoided sick visits for over 2 years.

Now, I’m not trying to say we’re super healthy and never get sick, we’ve had our fair share of sickness during these past 2 years.  We’ve had colds, congestion, coughs, rashes and a couple awful stomach bugs but all of these ailments have been treated naturally at home.

Through our natural methods we’ve avoided major illnesses and over the counter medicines and haven’t had to visit a doctor for illness or be placed on antibiotics.

We’ve treated our ailments with rest, nourishing foods, essential oils, hydration, cell salts, apple cider vinegar, fermented cod liver oil and other methods, depending on the ailment.

While I have been treating my family naturally for a couple of years now, I still have so much to learn!

I wanted to share with you about an eCourse I’m currently taking called ‘A Parents Guide to Natural Remedies’. It’s about learning how to naturally treat fevers, coughs, bugs, rashes, boo boos and more.

I’ve already learned some new methods of naturally treating sickness just after the first two sessions! I’m really looking forward to applying my new knowledge in treating my family and hopefully we can continue to avoid sick visits.

‘A Parent’s Guide to Natural Remedies’ is normally priced at $99 but is part of a bundle sale going on this week.

So, for $29.97, you’ll get this $99 eCourse (plus many more eBooks, eCourses, printables and some bonuses)!!

This Natural Remedies eCourse alone makes the entire bundle worth the $29.97!  

Click here to find out more information about everything that’s included in the bundle.

* If you order The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle through Intentionally Simple, I’ll send you a FREE digital copy of my newest, not yet released resource: Declutter – A Workbook to Rid Your Life of Excess. To redeem the offer for my Declutter book, forward me a copy of your Ultimate Homemaking Bundle receipt to rachel@intentionallysimple.com.

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post and will earn commission from your purchase.

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle sale ends tonight at 11:59 EST!

Have you purchased your bundle yet?

If not, why are you waiting?

Are you waiting because you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything that is included in The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle?

You know what? It’s too much for me too!

So, how am I avoiding overwhelm?

By choosing the things that interest me the most and focusing on them.

I’m not worrying about all of the others that don’t interest me or don’t apply to my life.

My top 10 picks

1. A Parent’s Guide to Natural Remedies eCourse ($99)
2. The Healthy Home eCourse ($95)
3. Project Organize Your Entire Life ($14.98)
4. Lotions, Potions, Salves and Sprays eBook ($6.99)
5. The Healthy Breakfast Book eBook ($12.95)
6. From Your Garden to Your Family eBook ($10.00)
7. Your Grace Filled Journey to Real Food eBook ($9.99)
8. Homeschooling Day by Day eBook ($4.99)
9. The Heart of Simplicity eBook ($9.99)
10. Vegetable Gardening: Smart Techniques for Plentiful Results (BONUS Craftsy class) ($39.99)

My top 10 picks alone have a value of $303.88 which make the $29.97 for the bundle worth every penny.

Focus on the eCourses and eBooks that interest you the most and don’t let all the rest leave you feeling overwhelmed!

Are you waiting because you already own several of the eBooks that are included?

Did you know you can gift the Books you already own, don’t apply to your season of life or you’re not interested in?

As long as you delete them from your computer (to honor the copyright), you can gift the eBooks you already own or won’t read!

To gift, you could print the eBook out or just email the recipient the file.

I have given several eBooks and printables from past bundle sales to friends and family because I already owned a copy or they weren’t applicable to me!

Are you waiting because $29.97 seems like too much to spend? 

I’ll admit I normally don’t spend $29.97 on anything ‘miscellaneous’. And, $29.97 is almost all of our monthly ‘miscellaneous’ budget!

[Now, if you’re on a tight budget and really can’t afford it, please don’t buy the bundle. I’m not trying to get you to go into debt for this!]

But, this bundle is such a wonderful value!

• The Parents Guide to Natural Remedies eCourse is valued at $99. The bundle is $29.97. Most pediatrician co-pays are $20. So, learning from this eCourse could pay for the bundle if you don’t have to go to the pediatrician twice!
• The books on motherhood have a value of $35.96. And, the encouragement you’ll glean from those books is priceless!
• The simplifying and organizing books plus the Declutter Buddies eCourse are valued at $59.90. And, simplifying your home could earn you money (from selling unused things) and lower your stress level!
• All but 3 of the Craftsy classes are priced $29.99 and up. I really enjoyed the Vegetable Gardening: Smart Techniques for Plentiful Results class and hope what I learned will help shave a few dollars off our our grocery budget thanks to our garden this summer.

Stop waiting and buy your bundle now before it’s too late! 

The sale ends at 11:59 EST tonight!! Don’t miss out on the wonderful value of this bundle!

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post and will earn commission from your purchase.

Mother’s Day is just a few days away.

What do you give to someone who lives simply and doesn’t like clutter?

I love giving gifts but want to give gifts that are meaningful, thoughtful and won’t just clutter up my mom and mother-in-law’s home.

And, as someone who lives simply, gifts that are personalized and consumable are always appreciated.

Gift Ideas for the Mom Who Lives Simply

1. A Meal Out

Mom’s are always cooking and cleaning for their families. A meal out is a wonderful (and clutter free) way to celebrate your mom. I often say that food is my love language! And, I feel even more loved when I eat out and don’t have to clean up.

2. Personalized Jewelry

While I don’t own a lot of jewelry, I do love meaningful and personalized pieces. Bejeweled Outlaw is a mom owned business specializing in hand stamped jewelry. She makes cuff bracelets, leather bracelets, necklaces and more.

3. Personalized Photo Gifts

Moms and grandmas love pictures of their children and grandchildren. A photo canvas, photo necklace or photo magnet all make wonderful gifts.

4. Homemade Body Products

I love making homemade body products, both for myself and to give as gifts. Your mom would probably love homemade scrubs or lip balms made their favorite essential oil scents.

My favorite scrub recipe book – Simple Scrubs to Make and Give.

My favorite lip balm recipe - Homemade Lip Chap Recipe

5. Anything Lavender

I love the smell of lavender. It is such a relaxing scent. Lavender soaps, essential oil, a lavender plant or lavender sachets all would make a wonderful gift.

Of Lavender and Lace sells beautiful lavender filled pillows and sachets.

Lavender essential oil would make a wonderful gift. It’s consumable, smells wonderful and can be used on burns, stings, cuts and more.

6. Books

I love to read. Books are such an encouragement in my mothering. They help me grow spiritually, manage my home better and teach me how to better nourish my family. This is a list of some of my favorite books and a few that are on my wish list.

Mothering

• Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love by Sally Clarkson
• The Mom Walk by Sally Clarkson
• Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sally Clarkson and Sarah Mae

Faith

• One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp
• Journaling Bible English Standard Version // HCSB Journaling Bible (This one is on my wish list, it’s currently a pre-order.)

Other

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
• Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
• Everyday Grain-Free Baking: Over 100 Recipes for Deliciously Easy Grain-Free and Gluten-Free Baking by Kelly Smith

7. A Handwritten Card

Don’t just sign your name to a card, take some time and write down things you appreciate about your mom and why you are thankful for her. I’m pretty sure this gift will be more appreciated than anything you can buy!

Do you have anything to add? What are your favorite meaningful and/or clutter free gift ideas? 

Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links which help support this site.

April was a full and fun month for our family! We’re enjoying spring and the beautiful weather so much.

We were able to spend Easter afternoon with some of John David’s family. We had lunch and then the kids hunted eggs. Cecilia enjoyed hunting for Easter eggs at Nana’s this year. This baby carrier (it’s a Boba) makes running errands, grocery shopping and going to church with 3 small children so much easier! It’s so nice having my hands free to hold on to my other two (especially my 3-year-old!) And, the boys positions/expressions in this photo are so funny (Pax was upset because we were in the girls bathroom and Weston is just crazy!)

This sweet nap moment melted my heart – my baby girl loving on her baby doll!
Paxton turned 5 on April 16!! He and his papaw share a birthday so papaw came down to celebrate. Papaw, Paxton and Weston all went out for birthday breakfast. Then, our family celebrated with birthday lunch at Chick-fil-a. After our late lunch, the kids and I ran a few errands around town and then we ended up at a Mexican restaurant downtown and shared nachoes for dinner before church. Paxton thought it was so neat that he ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner on his birthday!

Birthday nachoes at the Mexican restaurant! And, this was my very first time to bring all 3 to a ‘sit-down’ restaurant all by myself. Cecilia did sleep through half the dinner but I still felt quite accomplished conquering dinner out with 3!
We had a small birthday party on the 18th for Paxton. He wanted a ‘big blowout’ and talked about this party for 2 months. It was not a big blowout but was a fun little Lego party with a taco bar, a few good friends and a birthday cake made by his Mimi. He had such a great time even though his party wasn’t a ‘big blowout’!

He was so excited to open his presents at his party. (This is the first party he’s had that he can remember – we typically celebrate birthdays simply but have decided to have birthday parties every few years if the birthday child wants a party!)

April 2 marked 4 years of living in our home. One of the first things I did when we moved in was put up our gallery wall. I’ve changed out pictures a time or two since then but haven’t made any major changes to the wall. I’ve decided to change it up and add more color in! It’s still a work in progress but I’m loving the pops of color in the living room and seeing the newborn pictures of all 3 of my babies on the wall.
Cecilia has a few baby toys but would much rather play with her brothers toys. She really loves their Legos and if they leave them out, she’ll find them. This particular morning, she hit the Lego jackpot since Paxton hadn’t put his Legos away the night before. Weston was yelling for me saying, ‘Lego alert, Lego alert’ (which sounded more like ‘wego awert, wego awert’…adorable!) So, now anytime she gets near Legos, we say ‘Lego alert!’
Here’s a shot of our garden at the end of April. We’ve planted potatoes, onions, cantaloupe, watermelon, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. We’re looking forward to this gardening season and all the yummy things we’re going to grow in the coming months.

When I was in college, I started dipping my toes into ‘green’ living. We started using cloth napkins and traded our paper towels for reusable rags and cloths and I first learned about reusable menstrual products. I purchased a menstrual cup and used it off and on for a couple of years before the birth of my first baby.

When I was preparing for the birth of my second child, I decided to use reusable pads postpartum. I knew it wouldn’t be any extra work to just throw them in with the cloth diaper wash. I purchased a mix of heavy and regular pads to use postpartum.

The cloth pads were so much more comfortable than any disposable pad I’ve ever worn. 

Once my cycle resumed after the birth of my second baby, I was only using cloth pads, liners and my menstrual cup. I completely stopped using disposable products because I love the reusables.

Having a stash of cloth pads (a mix of overnight and day pads) is wonderful for postpartum. I’ve used my cloth pads after the births of my second and third baby. For my monthly period, typically all I use is the menstrual cup paired with a liner.

My period is no longer something I dread or hate because my menstrual cup paired with a cloth liner is so comfortable!

I have found that reusable pads and liners are not all the same. After trying out several different brands made of different fabrics, I learned that I prefer cotton flannel. It’s soft, comfortable, absorbs well and holds up great to repeated washes.

My preferred liners are my GladRags pantyliners. The GladRags color pantyliner is very small at 6 3/4″ long by 2 3/4″ wide but it’s very comfortable and you barely notice it’s there yet it provides adequate backup menstrual cup coverage. The color pantyliner plus is 8.5″ long and 3″ wide and provides great coverage both as backup to the menstrual cup and for light days.

One of my favorite things about GladRags is the company itself. It’s a small business and all GladRags are made in the United States. GladRags come in fun, colorful prints like strawberries, cherries, dots and flowers and they also sell undyed, organic cotton ones.

Reasons to Use Reusable Menstrual Products:

• Your Health – You’re not exposing your delicate parts to the chemicals that are used in disposables.
• Your Comfort – Reusables are so much more comfortable than disposables which helps make your period more pleasant.
• The Environment – When you choose to reuse, you’re keeping waste out of landfills.
• Your Budget – Reusable products do cost more up front, but over time you will save a lot over time.

How do you wash cloth pads and liners? 

• Since I’m currently cloth diapering, I typically just wash them along with our diaper laundry.
• When I use a menstrual cup paired with a cloth liner, the liner is used for backup and rarely gets very soiled. I will just toss these liners in with my regular laundry.
• You can store the pads/liners in a wet pail to help prevent staining and then toss them into your regular wash when you have a load of laundry.

Where can you buy GladRags?

• Directly from the GladRags website. Right now, they’re offering 1 color pantyliner plus for only $5.95 to Intentionally Simple readers so they can give cloth liners a try!
• Some brick and mortar stores like Earth Fare and Whole Foods carry them and some cloth diaper retailers also carry GladRags.

Where should I start? 

The easiest way to try out reusable menstrual products is to start with cloth liners. Buy a 3-5 liners and give them a try. If you love them, maybe purchase a few pads next or purchase a menstrual cup to pair with your liners.

Have any more questions? 

If you are interested in learning more about reusable menstrual products, GladRags has a Reusables 101 page on their website. There are frequently asked questions, a chart to help you decide which products will work best for you, a video gallery and more.

Disclosure: I was provided with 2 GladRags liners to review. I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

When I first became a mama over 5 years ago, doing certain things defined me as a mother.

For awhile I described myself as a ‘breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering mama.’ And, while I did all of those things (and still do), they don’t define me as a mother.

Now, I do these ‘natural mama’ things because they are what work for me and my family.

• Breastfeeding all 3 of my babies has been easy. But, I know it’s not easy for every mama.
• I wear my babies because it makes taking my children places so much easier. Wearing my babies also allows me to fix dinner, fold clothes, wipe bottoms and do other household tasks even when my baby does not want to be put down.
• We cloth diaper because it saves our family money. Diapers are expensive and I love that we’re able to reuse our diapers over and over and have saved a lot of money over the past 5 years of diapering. But, cloth diapering doesn’t work for every family and that is perfectly fine.

Now that my oldest son is 5, my thoughts on birth and taking care of babies do not define who I am as a mother because I realize that there is so much more to mothering than how babies are born, diapered or fed.

With my oldest being kindergarten age now, we’ll officially start homeschooling this fall. ‘Homeschool mama’ will be a way to describe myself, but it’s not going to define me.

Who I am as a mother is so much more than how my child is educated. Our family chooses to homeschool for our reasons and other families choose public or private schools for their reasons but we all want the best for our children.

Being a mom should not be about trying to prove that we’re better than other moms because of the way we give birth, care for babies or educate our children.

No matter how a child is born, how they are fed, diapered or educated, they’re all children. And, all children have tantrums, get sick, fight with siblings and leave their mamas exhausted.

Being a mama is hard and the last thing we need to do is define ourselves by what we do or don’t do and compare ourselves to other moms.

Instead of viewing motherhood as a competition, it should be viewed as a sisterhood. We need to remember that we’re all in this together.

We need to encourage one another. We need to support one another. We need to help one another.

We need to let love, support, help and encouragement define us as mothers.

What defines you as a mother? 

We love reading.

Our children love having books read to them and all three enjoy looking at books. Our homeschool curriculum is literature based. We even keep a selection of books in our van for them to ‘read’ while they’re riding.

Of course, not all children’s books are the same. There are many books out there that are considered ‘twaddle’. We prefer quality, classic children’s books that inspire and spark imaginative play!

Here’s a list of our favorite books for baby, toddlers and preschoolers as well as a few of my favorite parenting books.

Baby

For babies, we like simple board books with bright pictures. We really like Bright Baby books, they’re simple with big pictures for chubby little hands to point at and learn basic words. We also like books that are interactive (like touchy-feely books).

• First Words
• My Very First Book of Shapes
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Just Like Mommy
• First 100 Words
• First 100 Machines

Toddler

The best books for toddlers are books with bright, colorful pictures and not too much text per page. Our toddlers have all loved animals and trains so we have several of those type books on this list.

• The Best Nest
• Farm Tales
• Winter on the Farm
• Eloise Wilkin Stories
• Train Man
• The Little Engine That Could
• The New Adventures of Curious George
• Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story
• Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever
• Choo Choo

Preschooler

As children grow, their attention spans begin to increase and you can start reading them books with more text per page. Of course, they’re still young children so illustrations are still very important!

• The Jesus Storybook Bible
• The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook
• My First Hands-On Bible
• Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life
• Mike Mulligan and More
• The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature
• The 20th-Century Children’s Book Treasury
• Make Way for McCloskey: A Robert McCloskey Treasury
• Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm
• What Do People Do All Day?

Favorite Parenting Books

While these aren’t children’s books, they all have been inspiring to me as a parent of young children and I wanted to share my favorites!

• Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids
• How To Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way
• The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child’s Heart for Eternity
• Romancing Your Child’s Heart
• Parenting with Scripture
• Heartfelt Discipline: Following God’s Path of Life to the Heart of Your Child

What are your favorite children’s books? (I love book recommendations!) Are some of your favorites on this list?

Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links.

Frugal is a word that I often use to describe our lifestyle.

To our family, living frugally is positive. Many people think of frugality in a negative light, viewing it as deprived or miserly living.

What exactly is frugality? Is it positive or negative?

Here’s a definition:

Frugality- The practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services to achieve a longer term goal. 

This definition of frugality explains our lifestyle in one sentence.

“The practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner”

The first thing that comes to mind when I read this is budgeting. When you are on a budget, you are restraining yourself from excessive and haphazard spending.

We definitely approach goods and services in a restrained manner; shopping is not a hobby for us. We truly evaluate wants versus needs and give in to very few wants.

As far as services are concerned, my husband cuts our boys hair, I never get my hair cut at a salon (my husband will trim it for me or my friend cuts it), and we change our own oil.

“and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services”

Instead of purchasing items the minute we want or need them we will evaluate the things that we already have to see if something else can be used or made into the item that we need.

An example of this, I once needed a bedskirt for our guest bed. Instead of spending $20+ for a new one, I took a queen size flat sheet and made it into a bedskirt for the full bed. Not only is this being frugal, it’s also being conscious of consumption.

“to achieve a longer term goal”

For us a longer term goals are the reason we live a frugal life. When we married, we didn’t have much money, but we agreed and started working towards two financial goals. The first was that I will stay home with our children and the second was to own our home and have it paid off in 15 years.

If we didn’t live frugally, it would be very difficult to raise a family on a single income without feeling constantly deprived (we’re content with our 10+ year old cars, our small home and minimal wardrobes). We also wouldn’t have been able to put a significant down payment on our home and only have a 15 year mortgage. Achieving these goals are why we live frugally.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of exactly what frugality is. It is possible to live frugally without being miserly.

Do you agree with this definition of frugality? Do you view frugal living in a positive or negative note? Does this explanation change your opinion of frugality? 

*Definition of frugality from Lifestyle of the Tight and Frugal: Theory and Measurement by John Lastovicka

Earlier this year, we made an offer on a small farm and put our home on the market. The seller wasn’t willing to negotiate one bit, our home didn’t sell and we realized it just wasn’t the right timing. At the beginning of May, we decided to take the ‘for sale’ sign down again.

So, why are we staying? 

We like our home. It’s in a great location about 15 minutes from my husband’s work, our church and town. We have great neighbors, we love our shaded front yard, fenced in back yard and garden plot. And, while our home is small, it’s just right for our family.

Living in our small home comes with benefits like a very affordable mortgage and there’s less to clean!

A week after we took the sign down, our church had Joe Sangl of I Was Broke, Now I’m Not teach on personal finances. We attended his financial coaching leadership seminar and church wide financial learning experience. His teachings gave us renewed excitement about our finances!

At the end of the weekend, we set several goals for our personal finances. The big goal we set is to have our mortgage paid off in 5 years (and we’re really hoping to knock it out before then!)

We are willing to sacrifice our dream of owning a small farm temporarily so we can put ourselves in a better financial position to purchase a small farm in few years. By waiting until we are in a better financial position to purchase a farm, we will eliminate a lot of financial stress that comes with having a large mortgage.

We’re staying in our small home because it makes the most sense for our family financially. 

Now that we’re focused on this goal, I’ll probably be sharing a bit more about our personal finances and how we’re making steps towards this goal. I’ll also be writing even more about living minimally in a small space since we’re fully embracing the home we’re in.

I’ve had a minimal wardrobe for a few years and enjoy the benefits that come with a simplified wardrobe.

I’m spending less time shopping for clothes, spending less money, my closet isn’t cluttered and getting dressed every day is simple.

I wanted you to see everything that makes up my minimal summer wardrobe.

Sources of My Clothing

I purchase many of my clothes at a local resale store. At the beginning of the spring and fall, I bring in our outgrown and unwanted gently used clothing, shoes and accessories and receive store credit. This store credit really helps stretch our clothing budget since we’re able to shop for the things we need without using cash.

I also shop other secondhand stores for clothes. I prefer consignment sales and stores to thrift shops because they tend to be much more organized. Plus, during this season of life, browsing through racks and racks of clothing with three young children in tow just isn’t my idea of fun!

My favorite sources for clothing are hand-me-downs and clothing swaps because the clothes are FREE! I have family and friends who occasionally pass clothes on to me and a local friend hosts a clothing swap each spring and fall where ladies bring clothes they no longer wear and we ‘shop’ what’s there.

I currently only own a handful of items that were purchased new but I’ll occasionally browse Bargain Hunt (a local discount store) and retail store clearance racks when I’m needing specific items that I can’t find secondhand.

I’ve noted the source of each of the items in my wardrobe so you can get an idea of where my clothes come from.

My Nice Clothes

The clothes hanging in my closet are my ‘nice’ clothes. These are the items that I wear to church, running errands and anytime I need to look a little bit more put together (date night, weddings, etc).

Tanks

These tanks go with just about every bottom I have so they’re working hard for me this summer!

• Cream Ruffled (hand-me-down)
• Grey/White Stripe (resale store)
• Turquoise Embellished (resale store)
• Black Sequin (hand-me-down)

Tops

My short sleeve shirts aren’t too exciting but these three black shirts go with every bottom I own so they’re quite versatile. Pairing them with a colorful necklace gives them a new look.

• Pink/White Stripe (resale store)
• Black V-neck (resale store)
• Black Crewneck (clearance at WalMart)
• Black Scoopneck (clothing swap)

Bottoms

My bottoms are pretty simple but they’re perfect for mixing and matching with my tops.

• Khaki Crops (clothing swap)
• Denim Crops (thrifted)
• Denim Skinnies (resale store)
• Ankle Jeans (resale store)
• Black/Cream Pants (resale store)

Shorts

And, here’s a glimpse of my ‘mom shorts’! I actually love my mom shorts and think they’re fabulous. I purchased the patterned turquoise shorts because they are different than anything I own, I love the color and look great with a black top. They’re a little bit shorter than the mom shorts I’m used to but not too short!

• Turquoise Patterned (resale store)
• White (resale store)
• Grey (hand-me-down)
• Denim (hand-me-down)

Dresses

We attend a very casual church and are simple family so I don’t have a need for really nice dresses. Both of these cotton dresses are cute and comfy and can be dressed up or dressed down, depending on where I need to wear them.

• Navy/White (clothing swap)
• Black (Bargain Hunt)

My Casual Clothes

I store my casual clothes in my drawers. These are the clothes I wear on the days I stay home all day. They’re comfortable and perfect for playing in the floor, wiping bottoms, working in the garden, cooking and all the other potentially messy things I do each day.

I do not wear frumpy clothes around my home, I get up and get dressed everyday. It’s important to feel both comfortable and cute for days at home!

Casual Tops

I’ve not been much of a tank top wearer in years past because I’ve been self conscious about my arms. As I’m getting older, I’m learning to fully embrace myself, so even though my arms aren’t perfectly sculpted, I can still wear tank tops! They’re perfect for hot Georgia summer days.

• Pink Tank (clothing swap)
• Teal Tank (resale store)
• Green Tank (resale store)
• Black Embellished Tank (resale store)
• Black Tank (clothing swap)
• Black/White Stripe (clothing swap)
• Black Tee (resale store)

Casual Bottoms

These casual bottoms mix and match with my casual tops. All of my tops go with all of the bottoms except the pink skirt. These denim shorts are quite short but they’re comfortable! I only wear them at home (who really wants to see a mama of 3 in short shorts?!) but I’ll probably take them along when we go camping this summer.

• Denim Shorts (clothing swap)
• Yoga Capris (thrifted)
• Dark Pink Skirt (thrifted)
• Grey Skirt (clothing swap)
• Black Skirt (clothing swap)

Shoes

I keep my shoes simple too! The flip flops are worn for water activities and for gardening, the black sandals are my daily wear shoes (they are the most comfortable sandals I’ve ever owned) and the tennis shoes are worn on rainy days and for yard work, hiking, camping and such.

• Yellow Box Flip Flops (Belk)
• Salt Water Sandals (Amazon)
• New Balance Women’s Minimus Shoes (resale store)

Accessories

My collection of necklaces helps keep all of my solid black shirts and tanks from being too boring. Pairing a fun, chunky necklace with my solid black tees gives them a completely new look. I don’t wear cheap, mass produced costume jewelry, I prefer handmade, meaningful pieces.

• Africa Necklace (The Adopt Shoppe)
• Black,Coral, Turquoise Paper Bead Necklace made in Honduras (gift from my friend Marillyn of Just Making Noise)
• Multi-Colored Paper Bead Necklace (made in Uganda, purchased via Etsy)
• Red Beads (Gift from my husband’s 2014 trip to Ethiopia)
• Red/Teal Necklace (Gift from my husband’s 2014 trip to Ethiopia)
• Teal Beads (Gift from my husband’s 2011 trip to Ethiopia)
• Black Beads (Purchased when I went to Ethiopia in 2013)

*And, I should note there are a few items not pictured. I also have a casual sleeveless black cotton dress, a pair of pajama shorts and capris, a bathing suit and swim shorts. Also, all of these clothing items were not purchased this year, I’ve had the majority of the items for 1-2 years and purchased around 12 ‘new to me’ items this spring and a few pieces (like the pink skirt and flip flops) are 5+ years old!

My minimal summer wardrobe consists of 46 items.

To some, that may be too many items and I’m sure I could pare down a little but there’s no need since I like everything in my wardrobe and have adequate space in my closet and drawer.

For others, it may seem like I have far too few clothes and that’s just fine, a minimal wardrobe is what I prefer.

If you’re wanting to declutter your closet and simplify your wardrobe, start by pulling every item out of your closet and drawers and only putting back the items you love and feel great in. Owning a minimal amount of clothing that you love is better than having a closet crammed full of clothing you don’t feel great in.

What are your thoughts on minimal wardrobes? 

For further wardrobe simplifying inspiration:

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
• Project 333
• Minimal Maternity Wardrobe
• The 33 Items in My Wardrobe
• 8 Clothing Items, 13 Outfits

Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links that help support this site.

“My baby is growing up.”

These words weren’t uttered for the first time when he started crawling or on his first birthday. Instead, they were said on the way home from the hospital. He was just one day old!

I spent the first few months of his life sad.

I was sad he was growing, sad he wasn’t a newborn and sad he wasn’t going to stay a baby forever.

Once I realized mourning the past was keeping me from enjoying the present, I began fervently praying about the issue.

I prayed that God would allow me to be content with the season of life I was in, that He would take away the overwhelming sadness that my baby was growing too fast and that I would have joy throughout the years as my children grew.

My heart began to change.

I enjoyed my son in each and every stage instead of looking back on those early days with such longing.

I realized how blessed I am. How selfish it was of me to not want him to grow.

I thought about mamas who have never seen their child because of a miscarriage and mamas who held their stillborn baby only once. They would give anything to watch their babies grow.

I thought about the mamas who have a child diagnosed with cancer who just pray they can see their child grow up to graduate high school or get married.

I also thought of the women dealing with the grief of infertility, praying and hoping they’ll one day be blessed with a child they can watch grow.

How can I mourn my child growing when it is such a blessing that he is growing? Why should I allow the natural and beautiful process of a child growing to bring me sadness?

God really didn’t give us our children, he’s lending them to us for awhile as they grow. We are to raise them and train them to become independent men and women.

When my second and third babies were born, I cherished the moments, knowing the newborn days pass quickly. Those days passed but they were without sadness.

I am enjoying my children just as they are each and every day. 

We cannot slow time down but we can slow down.

We can decide to live in the moment, choose to be joyful about our children growing and enjoy each season of motherhood.

Writing down goals is powerful and sharing those goals creates accountability.

We’ve been pretty open about our finances because we want to encourage others that it is possible to live well on one income.

We recently set some new financial goals with our big one being to pay our mortgage off early.

In March of 2011, we purchased our home. We put 20% down and financed the rest with a 30 year mortgage. We started making extra principal payments soon after we moved in, with the hope of paying off the mortgage earlier than 30 years.

We refinanced in early 2013 to a 15 year loan with a 3.25% interest rate. The monthly mortgage payment only went up $80 by doing this.

We strategically started paying $300 extra towards our principal each month because we didn’t want to be saddled with a mortgage for 15 years.

In late 2013, we stopped making extra principal payments and started saving the money because we wanted to make some improvements in our kitchen and laundry area. Thankfully we had that money saved because in early 2014, we had to replace our septic field lines (the joys of home ownership, our kitchen and laundry still haven’t been updated!)

Then in April 2014, we put our home on the market and continued saving the money that was budgeted as extra principal money.

Once we decided selling our home wasn’t the best move for our family, we stopped making the extra principal payments – we saved most of it but we also started dipping into that money for other things.

We started to have the attitude that since we’re living in a very affordable home, we can live a little and spend our money a little more freely. We lost sight of the goal of paying off our mortgage early.

In May 2015, we attended a Financial Learning Experience at our church led by Joe Sangl of I Was Broke, Now I’m Not.  We left the event ‘fired up’ again about our personal finances!

We took some time and wrote down some personal and financial goals for our family at the end of that weekend.

The big goal that we set was to pay our mortgage off in 5 years.

This is a bit of a stretch goal but we’re excited about the challenge and focused on achieving our goal.

To be honest, our 5 year goal looks impossible on paper but we know with a little creativity, frugality and focus we can reach our goal.

In the coming months, I’ll be updating you on our progress for accountability, sharing details on how we’re planning on paying off our mortgage in 5 years and posting about different ways we’re saving money to help us reach this goal.

*We’re sharing our story and this goal in a hope to encourage you in your quest for debt free living! We all have different circumstances due to consumer debts, student loans, mortgage amounts and income levels but we all can take steps to improve our finances. Setting financial goals is a great way to motivate you to work towards paying off debts, living within your means and inspiring you to set big goals, like paying your mortgage off early. No matter the state of your personal finances, you can take steps to turn things around!

When we bought our modest 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath brick ranch, we were a family of 3.

We paid thousands less than the initial house budget we had set and tens of thousands less than the mortgage amount we qualified for. 1,300 square feet was more than enough space for our family and we loved the large fenced in back yard.

Around the same time we purchased this home, we also started living minimally. We purged our already simplified home of excess, changed our shopping habits and minimized our wardrobes. We started realizing the benefits of living in a smaller space and living with less.

Continue reading on Smallish Blog where I’m guest posting today!

We have a very small kitchen.

Our kitchen is functional but it’s lacking storage space. All of the cabinets hold our dishes, cups, pots, pans and bowls and there is little room for food storage. All of our food was being stored in a small cabinet in the kitchen that we call the pantry.

We’ve made this space work for the past 4 years we’ve lived in our home but as our children are growing, we’re needing to purchase more food.  We’ve been cramming the small cabinet full but didn’t have enough space to truly ‘stock the pantry’.

We needed pantry space in our home.

Of course, we could remodel our kitchen or purchase a large cabinet that would take up more floor space to serve as a larger pantry but both of these options would cost money that we don’t want to spend right now.

We decide to turn one of our hall closets into a pantry.

Our 1970s home is small but we do have 2 small closets in our hall.

One of the closets was considered mine and the other was my husband’s. My closet contained my sewing machine, art supplies, scrapbooks, yearbooks and other crafty things. My husband’s closet held his tech gear – cameras, tripods, cds, hard-drives and such.

We decided that the best thing for our family was for us combine the contents of these two closets into one and use the other closet for our pantry.

While our boys were visiting grandparents for a week, we emptied the contents of both closets into their bedroom and went through the contents.

I went through pictures and old scrapbooks, purging items that had no real sentimental value. I moved art and craft supplies into our school cabinet that’s in our dining room. After I put my items back into the closet, there were 3 free shelves and half of the floor space available for John David’s things.

John David purged boxes (he’s always kept tech boxes), papers, cds, videotapes and cables. He ended up with a small pile of things to sell and a pile of items to bring to church to use (he does work in church production so these things will be useful there) as well as a lot of papers and boxes to recycle. And, we ended up with 2 bags of trash between us.

In the end, we merged the contents of our two closets into one and only put one small tote (that contains cables and other miscellaneous tech stuff) in the floor of the second closet which is now our storage pantry.

We now have a real pantry in our home. We didn’t spend any money or knock out any walls. We just spent a few hours clearing our home of items that were no longer useful to our family and created the space we needed.

Do you have a need for more space in your home? Could you create the space you need by clearing clutter?

My new eBook, Declutter: A Workbook to Rid Your Life of Excess will help you go through your home and create space by clearing your clutter. It’s available for purchase on Amazon!

We have decided to share our goal to pay off our mortgage in 5 years for accountability and to encourage others in their personal finances.

You see, we’re a family of 5 living on one income. While my husband makes a comfortable income, we’re not rolling in money. Our monthly budget is comfortable – we don’t feel we’re doing without but we do have to spend carefully and watch where our money goes.

Managing your money wisely helps you financially.

You do not have to have a large income to succeed with personal finances.

Our goal to pay off our mortgage in 5 years seems like it is an unattainable goal for a family living on one modest income. However, there are several factors that make this goal a realistic one for our family.

How does a young family living on a budget think they can pay off their mortgage in just 5 years?

1. We have no other debt.

We both graduated college debt free and we never have had credit card debt or car payments. The lack of these debts allowed us to focus on saving for a house downpayment upon graduation. 

2. We own our vehicles.

We began our marriage driving vehicles that our parents gifted us before college. We saved for years for ‘new’ vehicles and our savings coupled with the money from the sales of our old vehicles allowed us to pay cash. Our ‘new’ vehicles are both older models, I drive a 2004 model minivan and my husband drives a 2002 pickup.

3. We put 20% down on our home.

A 20% downpayment saves us from paying private mortgage insurance. And, the exciting part of a large downpayment meant that we owned 20% of our home the day we moved in!

4. We currently own almost 50% of our home.

Our 20% down payment coupled with regular extra principal payments for 2.5 years plus refinancing to a lower rate has really knocked down principal. We currently have paid almost 50% of the purchase price in the 4 years we’ve lived in our home. We believe we can buckle down and pay the remaining 50% in the next 5 years.

5. We bought a home below our price range.

We qualified for a mortgage amount that was nearly twice the amount of the purchase price of the home we’re in. Instead of buying a house at the top of our mortgage qualification range, we chose to purchase a modest house. Choosing to live in our smaller home frees up money each month to pay towards the principal.

6. We have budgeted extra principal payments.

We reworked our budget when we set this 5 year goal and have budgeted a couple hundred dollars each month to pay towards principal no matter what. Intentionally budgeting money towards the extra principal is playing a huge role in reaching our goal. 

7. We’re sticking to a budget.

We have a written budget and we’re sticking to it!  We’ve budgeted our entire marriage but we’ve had a tendency to cheat. We’ll overspend in certain categories and then move money around from other categories to cover our overspending. While we haven’t gone into debt doing this, we’ve been ‘stealing’ from other areas that could be used to pay extra towards our mortgage at the end of the month. We’re committed that when the money is gone out of the budget category, there will be no more spending.

8. Shopping is no longer a hobby.

Shopping at thrift and bargain stores used to be a hobby. We were finding all kind of great deals and ‘saving money’ on things we ‘needed’. If you stay out of stores, you won’t be tempted to spend! I’m convinced that succeeding financially has a lot to do with controlling consumer spending on smaller purchases.

We believe that paying off our mortgage in 5 years is possible for our family.

This is a stretch goal for us but we think we can reach the goal!

What’s your goal?

Are you trying to pay off your student loans? Finally ready to cut up the credit cards and get them paid off? Are you saving up for a house downpayment?

No matter where you are in your financial journey, the decisions you make today will have an impact on your future.

Set financial goals and work towards them.

Some goals may seem impossible today but with focus, discipline and a little frugality, they can be achieved.

Do you have financial goals? 

Simplifying, minimizing and decluttering seem to be popular buzz words these days.

Filling boxes and bags with trash, things to sell, give away to friends and donate feels great and leaves your home feeling a little less stressful and relaxing.

I’m a huge advocate of living with less.

However, if you don’t change your consumption habits, the clutter starts to creep back and soon your closets, drawers and storage spaces are once again filled.

So, how do you change consumption habits?

First, remember why you want your home to be clutter free. It really makes the atmosphere more relaxing, makes the things easy to find and makes your keeping your home tidy easier.

Then, take steps to really change your consumption habits.

10 Ways to Change Consumption Habits

1. Stop shopping as a hobby. You’ll save time, money and reduce clutter by staying out of stores and shopping ‘just for fun.’
2. Make a list and stick to it. Approach all shopping like grocery shopping. If you need to buy a new pair of jeans, when you go to the store, just find the pair of jeans and don’t browse for anything else – ignore the sales and clearance racks!
3. Only accept the ‘cast-offs’ you’ll actually use. If you are given someone else’s ‘cast-offs’ (hand-me-downs, books, housewares etc.) go through and only keep the things that you need or really like. Pass the rest on to someone else or donate.
4. Rent, borrow or purchase digitally.  Instead of buying every book and DVD that you want, trying renting, borrowing from the library, borrowing from a friend or buying digitally.
5. Shop for clothing twice a year. Assess your wardrobes twice a year (spring/summer and fall/winter) and purchase the things you need for those seasons at the beginning of the season. Once your wardrobe for that season is complete, stop shopping for clothes!
6. Stop buying stuff just because ‘it’s a good deal’. If you didn’t need or want it at full price, you probably don’t need it when it is 75% off.
7. Know where you are most tempted to spend. There may be certain stores (both brick and mortar and online) that you can’t leave without buying something. Once you know where your ‘weakness’ is, you can be proactive and change your shopping habits.
8. Stop buying toys all throughout the year.  If you’re a parent, you know that most children have a bunch of toys. They are slammed with even more at Christmas and their birthdays. It’s okay to buy your child a toy occasionally but don’t make it a regular habit or your home will be drowning in toy clutter. (Instead of buying them toys, buy experiences!)
9. Treat gifts like flowers. Appreciate the gift, enjoy the thoughtfulness of the giver but don’t let guilt make you keep something you don’t need or want. You can take the gift back (if you know where it was purchased) for store credit or, depending on what the gift is, you can donate to a toy drive, homeless shelter or pregnancy center.
10. Don’t over consume on holidays and special occasions. At Christmas, we know that our children will receive an overabundance of gifts from grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and extended family so we keep our family gift giving very simple. In the past, we have given them ‘something they need, something to wear and something to read’ as Christmas gifts. They receive 3 gifts from us and that’s it.

After working so hard to simplify your home, you don’t want to allow much clutter back in. Make an effort to change your consumption habits and keep the clutter out!

Have you changed your consumption habits in an effort to live with less? 

Are you wanting to simplify? My new eBook, Declutter: A Workbook to Rid Your Life of Excess walks you through each area of your home and helps you to rid your home of clutter!

When we were expecting our first baby, I didn’t have a gender preference. I knew that having a girl or having a boy would be wonderful!

When we found out we would be welcoming a baby boy, we were excited – I hoped he’d look like his daddy.

When he was born, he was just as I pictured, a dark haired baby boy and he did look like his daddy.

When we found out we were expecting our second baby, I just knew the baby was going to be a boy. Sure enough at our anatomy scan, we found out we were having a baby boy and we were so excited that Paxton was going to have a brother.

We did not feel like having another boy was disappointing, we were thrilled to be adding to our family.

I was quite content with my two boys. I started seeing myself as just a boy mom and couldn’t imagine having a baby girl in our family.

We decided not to find out the gender of our third baby and I was completely convinced that our third baby was a boy too. And, I was excited about the possibility of three boys and brothers so close in age. I did not view having three boys as anything but a blessing!

All during our third pregnancy, it seemed like everyone told us they thought we were having a girl and that we needed a girl. We were still sure our baby was a boy. We didn’t feel like we needed a girl for our family to be complete.

When our baby was born and we saw that we actually had a girl, we were shocked and surprised. We had a daughter! We were thrilled to welcome a baby girl into our family but we would have been just as excited to welcome a baby boy.

It seems like people think that you need one of each gender in order to be happy with your family. I think the excitement from others with my third pregnancy was because I already had two boys and everyone was just hoping I’d have a girl.

I have a feeling if/when we have a fourth baby (we hope to add to our family in a few years) that the pregnancy announcement won’t be met with as much excitement because we have one of each gender. Since Cecilia was born, when people ask me if we’re finished having kids, I jokingly say no, she needs a sister! (And, while I’d love for her to have a sister, adding another baby boy would be wonderful too.)

What is wrong with having two boys or three boys? Or two girls or three girls? Do people really think that families that have one boy and one girl are happier? Or do they think my family of two boys and one girl is better than a family of three girls or three boys? The mindset that everybody wants ‘one of each’ is crazy!

I’ve heard people make comments like, ‘maybe you’ll get your girl next time‘ or ‘you can try to have a boy next time,’ to women who are pregnant with their second (or third or forth) of the same gender. The baby they’re carrying is important and should be celebrated even though there is a same gender sibling.

Forget the silly one boy, one girl ‘perfect family’ ideal and celebrate each and every baby regardless of its gender.

All babies are blessings!

Having same gender siblings is quite wonderful. These 2 boys are loud and full of energy but they love each other and really are the best of friends.

Nearly every household has monthly power and water bills. These are priority bills because if they’re not paid, you don’t have water or electricity!

For the first several years of our marriage, we budgeted monthly for these two bills.

During most of the year, our power and water bills were a little below the monthly budgeted amount and whatever excess was left in that category we’d use to cover any areas where we went over budget or just spend the excess.

Some months, like the middle of winter and the middle of summer, the power bill would be greater than the amount we had budgeted. When the bill was more than we had budgeted, we’d have to scramble, moving money around from other budget categories and occasionally dipping into savings to cover the deficit.

After years of this, it finally dawned on us that by saving the monthly excess during months that our bills were low, we wouldn’t have any stress when we received bills that were higher than what we budget.

We started putting our power and water budget money together and at the end of each month, whatever amount was left rolled over into the next months category. After several months of setting aside the excess, we had a nice sum built up which started to serve as a cushion for the months when the bill is greater than the amount we budget.

Currently, we keep $200 in the power/water category and budget $150 each month. At the beginning of the month, our power/water budget category has $350.

After our power and water bills are paid, whatever is left over $200 is used towards extra principal and we end the month with a $200 balance. If we have to dip into that $200 cushion, we just allow the next couple of months excess build back up until we get back to that $200 excess.

Example:

$200 balance
+ $150 monthly budget amount
________________________________
$350 in power/water budget at the beginning of the month

$25 water bill
– $115 electric bill
________________________________

$210* left after bills are paid

*$10 would go towards an extra principal payment and $200 would remain in the power/water category for the next month.

Carrying an excess in your power/water budget category serves as a mini emergency fund that keeps high bills from causing financial stress.

And, being intentional about wisely using the excess over your minimum amount can help you reach financial goals. You can use any excess towards paying down debt, putting money in your savings account, building up an emergency fund, saving for Christmas, paying extra on your mortgage or whatever goals you’re working towards. (Our big financial goal is to pay off our mortgage in 5 years so our excess in this category goes towards our mortgage principal!)

We have decided to keep a balance of $200 excess because that’s the amount we’re comfortable with but you can choose to keep a minimum balance of $100 or even $50 and probably have a decent amount of cushion built in!

Our boys have been sharing a room for almost 3 years and they’ve had bunk beds for a year.

When we first got the bunk beds, they slept together in the bottom bunk but now Weston sleeps on the top bunk and Paxton is in the bottom. Both boys are heavy sleepers so we haven’t had any issues with them waking each other up during the night.

Our bunk bed has the built in staircase which makes me feel much better about our young children having bunk beds! So far, we haven’t had any bunk bed accidents and the kids know that they are not allowed to play on the top bunk. Our bunk bed also has built in drawers under the bed and on the end of the staircase which gives us some extra storage space for pajamas, underwear, socks and some toys.

One fun part of having bunk beds is the bottom bunk can easily be turned into a fun fort, ship, clubhouse or whatever they can imagine by putting a sheet up!

Our home is around 1,300 square feet and roughly half of that space is living area and half is 3 bedroms which means our living space is a bit small but the bedrooms are pretty large.

With the bunk beds, the boys have a ton of floor space in their room to play, make believe and create.

We have a fun, colorful gallery wall in their room. Most of the artwork was painted by me and each boy painted a canvas. We have an art line up so they can proudly display their latest creations in their room. And, their table is perfect for coloring, playing house, building with Legos or anything they can think up!

We’ve taken advantage of door and wall space to serve as storage for a few items. The back of the door is perfect for their backpacks!

Around the time we purchased the bunk bed, my husband also designed and built a built-in wooden shelving system in the closet to maximize the closet space. This has allowed us to keep the space organized with a toy library as well as store their games, sleeping bags, hanging clothes and memory boxes. The time and money spent on this built-in project was well worth it!

Our home may be a bit on the small side and our children don’t have the luxury of having their own rooms but we’re making the space we have work for our family by living with less. And, even if we lived in a larger home with more bedrooms, I have a feeling our boys would still want to share a room!

Related Posts:

Cecilia’s Nursery

Why We’re Staying in Our Small Home

Our Brick Ranch Home Tour

Creating Space in Your Home