Category Archives: Workin’ 9 to 5
Q&A with Kasey Knight Trenum, Author of Couponing For the Rest of Us
Not so sure about couponing? Is it really worth the time? Listen as Kasey answers our questions about couponing.
Q. I’m already busy, and couponing looks like a part time job. Do I really have time?
A. I hear your pain. If anyone thought she didn’t have time to coupon, it was me. I didn’t even consider it as a remote possibility. Time or no time, I couldn’t afford not to use couponing as an avenue to save. Soon I began to see how the benefits outweighed my investment. It was worth it to have several hundred dollars a month back in our budget, especially when our other household expenses weren’t going down. Will couponing take some of your time? Yes, but not much. I’ll show you the ropes so you can save both time and money.
Q. I have a small family. I don’t see how using coupons could help us much since our grocery bill isn’t that high.
A. The size of your family doesn’t matter. Whatever your grocery bill is, there is usually room to save. Even if you only spend $50 a week, wouldn’t you like to cut that down to $20 or $30? Aside from the numbers, when you shop ahead of time to buy what you use, it takes the stress of having to go to the grocery store out of your life.
Q. This seems like a lot of work, and I’m not an organized person. I don’t think I can keep up with all this!
A. Oh my! If you look up “unorganized” in the dictionary, you’ll find my picture. I really (really!) want to be organized, and I have tried to help myself in this area more ways than I can count. But you know what? I was not created that way. You can imagine my struggle with organizing my coupons. I had to find a way that worked for me (and didn’t consume my life), and that I could stick with for the long haul. Remember, couponing isn’t all-or-nothing. It’s what fits into whatever season of life you are in right now. What works for one person might not work for another; we are all unique. Be patient as you figure out what makes sense and works best for you.
Q. I’ve seen where couponing revolves around stockpiling and having massive amounts of food in your house. I don’t think I can (or want) to go there.
A. Fabulous! That makes two of us. My goal is to teach you how to save your family money and open up doors to give. It’s all about simplicity here; couponing isn’t an all-or-nothing deal. Couponing success isn’t measured by the size of your stockpile. I’d much rather be known for giving.
Q. I’ve always thought people who use coupons end up purchasing things they don’t need just because they have a coupon for it.
A. Guilty! I did it. Most people do, especially in the beginning. However, you’ll soon figure out the items that your family uses and what items make good donations. Beyond that, I’ll save you some time here. If you can’t donate it, even if it’s free or cheap, it’s not worth it. In some states you will still have to pay tax on the full purchase price before coupons. My mission has been to simplify; if my family doesn’t use it and I can’t donate it, then it’s just going to take up space in my home. You can always share your coupons with friends, schools, military programs and so forth.
Q. I’ve never been good at math—Can I do this?
A. Don’t worry, I was never good at math and you don’t have to be either. Besides, who said you can’t use a calculator? Throw one in your purse or use your smartphone
Q. How many grocery stores do you shop each week?
A. Lately I am happy to make it to one. I have been asked this question more times than I can count. It is not necessary to shop more than one store, or even to shop every single week for that matter. Whether you save 5 percent or 70 percent, you are still saving. Couponing has to fit into your life, not become your life.
Want to learn more about couponing. Read my review of Couponing for the Rest of Us: The Not-So-Extreme Guide to Saving More.
Couponing for the Rest of Us: The Not-So-Extreme Guide to Saving More
Learning to use coupons can be very intimidating. With Kasey’s help, you and I both can start small and appreciate the savings we make along the way…
I tried couponing a few years ago and I bombed. I had a all or nothing approach, which obviously didn’t work. I didn’t have the time or patience to invest in being obsessive and perfect at it. Reading Couponing For The Rest of Us, I’ve been offered to give myself a little slack and just do what I can to save in a way that fits my lifestyle. I’m a working mom of two teens and a baby, married to a hubby that does most of the cooking and wants to use coupons. I don’t have a lot of free time, but I could squeeze in some couponing at my own pace.
I see a lot of blogs that focus on couponing at drug stores. I was sad to see that my local town didn’t have the most commonly mentioned CVS drug store. Recently, we received a Walgreens and this book tells me how to grab the savings and freebies that are offered by Walgreens. I can’t wait to get started!
I don’t feel so intimidated by little glossy squares of paper now that I’ve read this book! I admit that we eat out a lot, simply because we never go grocery shopping on a regular basis. I hope to change that by using the suggestions in this book to make a grocery list centered around store ads and coupons.
I received a copy of the book from Revell Publishing in exchange for my honest review.
About the Book
Founder of Time 2 $ave Shows Busy Woman How to Save Big
Without Spending Hours a Week Clipping Coupons
Couponing expert Kasey Knight Trenum will be the first to tell you that she does not like coupons. But she does love saving money. Faced with mounting bills after her husband was downsized five years ago, Trenum turned to coupons to plug the hole in their savings account. She spent hours researching how to use coupons effectively and easily reduced her family’s weekly grocery bill by 75 percent. “I’ve learned how to balance savings with having a life and without it becoming an obsession,” says Trenum. “I’ve never woken up singing the praises of a coupon; I’ve just sung the joys of saving a ton of money.”
Trenum shares the ins and outs of couponing and all the secrets she’s put to good use over the years in Couponing For the Rest of Us: The Not-So-Extreme Guide to Saving More. With her help, readers will discover ways to save hundreds of dollars every month and ultimately improve their family’s finances without letting it take over their lives. Couponing for the Rest of Us shows readers:
- Where to find coupons for what your family eats
- How to make the internet do the work for you
- How to find sale cycles and store match-ups (and what those terms mean!)
- How to reinvent your shopping strategy and toss your lists
- How to make grocery shopping less stressful – even fun!
- How to turn money saved into money shared
- Make couponing fit your life not become your life
“If you’re worried that you aren’t a coupon kind of girl, don’t,” writes Trenum. “You don’t have to be in love with coupons. You don’t have to compute math in your head. And you don’t have to set aside hours each week just to work on your coupons. I can’t stress enough – balance is the key to making couponing work for you. You have to figure out how to make it fit into your world; it cannot become your world.”
After shoppers started following Trenum out to her car to find out how she was getting such good deals, she realized she had a lifestyle solution she could share. She began teaching couponing workshops. In 2009, she co-founded Time 2 $ave, a frugal and couponing blog, to help others discover how to make couponing work for them. The silver lining to her savings from coupons became an empowering focus on giving to others. She has helped thousands improve their lives and become purposeful givers.
Kasey Knight Trenum is the cofounder of Time 2 $ave (www.time2saveworkshops.com), a frugal and couponing blog and conducts Time 2 $ave workshops frequently. Her weekly column can be read in Scripps newspapers nationwide, her work has been featured in Parade and All You and she has been interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered and HLN’s Making it in America. She has a personal passion for seeing women, men and families find financial freedom, be empowered to improve their lives and become purposeful givers. She and her husband and children live in Tennessee.
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books for everyday life. For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.
Your Beautiful Purpose: Discovering and Enjoying What God Can Do Through You
I’ve been struggling with defeating thoughts, questioning my purpose and my ability to live a life worthy of God.
Past mistakes, current struggles, and the fright of having to make decisions for the future all debilitate me. I make no progress with anything, even those things I think I know how to improve for the better. Instead of learning from my mistakes, I feel inadequate to move forward.
Reading Your Beautiful Purpose pulled me out of my immobile slump, as I was reminded of:
• Our worth in God;
• Our ability to access His great power to accomplish what seems so difficult;
• Our potential to make great changes for His (and our) good;
• Our enemy, who is the devil and not the people in our lives that rub us the wrong way or seem to be out to destroy us; and
• Our need to read the Bible every single day, so that I don’t forget these and many other life changing principles.
At the end of each chapter is an opportunity to do some Bible study and soul searching.
I look forward to continuing with the Bible studying on my own and making changes that will move me along in my God-given purpose here on earth.
Scripture translations include NIV, ESV, GW, HCSB, NKJV, NLT and the Message.
I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.
About the Book
Let God Breathe a Fresh Purpose Into Your Soul
We so want each day to matter–to serve God in big and small ways. But how, especially when everyday responsibilities, work, fears, and other obstacles get in the way?
Like a trusted friend, Susie Larson shares practical, scriptural ways to overcome whatever keeps us from living fully in God’s will. Susie will help you learn to:
Discern the best use of your time and gifts
Confidently pursue God’s unique desires for you
Stretch your faith and deepen your impact
Respond today to that nudge in your spirit–that desire to use your gifts and passions more fully in God’s work. Lay down lesser commitments and lay hold of God’s beautiful purpose for your life.
Organic Outreach for Families: Turning Your Home Into a Lighthouse
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“We can’t give others what we don’t have… Parents who are lukewarm about living for God can’t expect their kids to shine brightly for Jesus.”
This statement really got my attention.
My home has not been a lighthouse. It’s been more of a self-serving environment, as each of us do our own entertaining thing. Reading Organic Outreach for Families has left me wanting more for my family. As Christians, it should be each of our desire to grow closer to God and share His great love with others. How did I forget that in the midst of day to day living? I’m determined to reconnect with God, be real and honest with my kids in how I live, and show them through God’s Word how to live a life that is joyful and meaningful.
Organic Outreach for Families Has Prompted Change in This Family by:
• Shedding light on Postmodernism and Relative Truth’s deception how parents can counteract these worldly influences.
• Demonstrating how parents can bring their family together for discussions and life-changing action.
• Teaching on the good: prayer, serving others; and the bad: materialism
This book is excellent in sharing how our homes should operate. No, it’s not a ‘do it this way or you’re wrong’ type of book. The authors share their experiences and their own now-grown sons’ testimony of how their parents’ leading and commitment helped them become the committed Christians they are today. It really has a lot that I would love to implement in my own home. I’ve been falling for Satan’s deception and discouragement regarding my home and the lack of spiritual habits. However, I see that I can change things in my home, because with God all things are possible.
About the Book
In Organic Outreach for Families, Kevin and Sherry Harney share insights from the Scriptures and give practical advice from their own experience to help you learn how to transform your home into a lighthouse of God’s amazing grace.
The Harneys discuss five ways you can naturally share your faith with others:
- Reaching your own children with the message of Jesus
- Sharing God’s grace with your extended family
- Raising your children to be beacons of light in their schools and in the neighborhood
- Opening the doors of your home to make it attractive and welcoming
- Shining the light of grace into your broader community
The Harneys balance a concern for developing your home into a safe, secure environment with the biblical mandate for believers to be salt and light in the world. Pastors and parents will discover creative ways families can become a natural and winsome presence in their schools, through community activities, and as a witness in their neighborhoods.
Look for future posts, as I share my implementation of Organic Outreach for Families in my daily living, and hopefully my family will make the decision to become lighthouses, too. Subscribe to This Mom’s Delight and you’ll be inspired to live intentionally as you read along with me.
I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.
Letting Go of Supermom
Being a mom isn’t an easy job. I find myself worrying how I will manage my teenagers and a new baby when he arrives. Comparing myself to the Proverbs 31 woman, I definitely don’t measure up.
I haven’t been the perfect mom to my two oldest. I find that I’ve slacked off greatly in the departments of spiritual training and teaching responsibility. However, I couldn’t be perfect even if I continued trying.
Reading Letting God of Supermom, the author impresses upon us that the passage isn’t about just “one woman but every woman” meaning that the passages include a little bit for each woman depending on their role in life as either a stay at home mom, a work at home mom or work outside the home mom. So, maybe that means we don’t have to do it all…
A mom isn’t just a mom. She may also be a child of God, a wife, an employee, and so on. The book is divided up into sections of tips and advice for these various roles:
- Faith
- Family
- Home
- Health and Beauty
- Balance
- Working
While some of the information provided isn’t new to me, it worked well with the new information to encourage me as a mom to do the things I know I should be doing — prioritize — and not be so hard on myself for what I choose to let go.
As a working mom, I look forward to referencing this book to make my life more manageable and get my parenting priorities of spiritual training and teaching responsibility met on a regular basis.
I can do this … and so can you!
About the Book
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Dr. Daisy Sutherland is the founder and CEO of Dr. Mommy, LLC. She is a doctor of chiropractic by profession, wife, and mom to five children, whom she has homeschooled for the past twelve years. She hosts a weekly Blog Talk Radio show called Family Talk and is the featured parenting expert on Mom Talk Radio, a nationally syndicated radio show that airs on more than fifty stations, reaches 50,000 moms, and has been recognized in The Oprah Magazine, Women’s Day, USA Today, and Parenting. Women all over the country have benefitted from “Dr. Mommy’s” health, parenting, and career management tips and godly advice. She is the voice and advocate for every mom and says she is blessed to be able to help so many.
Visit the author’s website.
This guide will include time-management and organization tips, how-tos for handling stress, nutrition and general wellness advice, parenting and relationship tools, and ways to stay spiritually refreshed and highly productive without losing it! Dr. Mommy will also share her best tips and tricks from her personal experience of being a homeschooling, CEO mom.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1mPey3aKog]
Product Details:
List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Siloam (August 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616384638
ISBN-13: 978-1616384630
AND NOW…A SAMPLE (Click on pages to see them better):
Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook: 400+ Simple to Spectacular Recipes
I’ll admit it. I’m not much of a cook. My hubby does more in the kitchen than I do. I am very appreciative of his efforts. However, I’d like to make more meals for my worthy husband, but I don’t seem to find any recipes that fit our taste.
Looking through Taste of Home: Cooking School Cookbook: 400 + Simple to Spectacular Recipes I have found several recipes that hubby and I would enjoy. I wanted to make a few of the recipes and share my opinion of them, but being pregnant has wiped all energy from this girl!
Since I am beginning to feel a spark of energy, I want to treat my hubby to a meal every weekend and I’m looking forward to giving the following a try:
- Baked Potato Soup
- Chicken Fajita Pizza
- Layered Tortilla Pie
- Chicken Cordon Blue
- Easy Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie
Maybe I’ll have an opinion of the above recipes in the near future for you…
What’s even more appealing are the easy-to-understand instructions throughout the book. There is even a page with pictures describing what each knife is used for. Maybe I’ll grab the right one from now on!
Tell me: Which recipe sounds most appealing to you?
About the Cookbook
by Catherine Cassidy and Taste of Home
Published by Reader’s Digest
Learn to cook with confidence with The Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook based on the popular Taste of Home Cooking Schools attended by millions.
The Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook, “is just like having a Cooking School instructor in your very own kitchen,” says Catherine Cassidy, Editor in Chief, Taste of Home. “This essential cookbook captures the highlights of our cooking school lessons and presents them in a way that allows people of all skill levels in the kitchen, to create memorable holiday meal moments in their own homes with family, friends and neighbors.”
Learn fresh techniques, tips, secrets and entertaining ideas straight from the Taste of Home Cooking School team. Each chapter builds from simple, beloved classics to spectacular dishes handed down by families from generation to generation that are sure to impress family and friends. Better yet, all of these recipes can be created with affordable ingredients available at your local grocery store. As you move from one recipe to the next, you will enhance your cooking skills and discover new favorites.
Highlights Include:
- Low-effort “Cheat It” recipes with big rewards like the refreshing Lemonade Icebox Pie, the 10-minute Zesty Salsa and Chocolate Cooking Cupcakes
- More than 400 simple to spectacular recipes including mouth-watering Gnocchi in Sage Butter, snappy Sweet & Tangy Wings, and Fresh Cherry Pie
- 140 how-to’s, secrets and tips shared by Taste of Home Cooking School experts from how to shape drop cookies to the best techniques for shredding meat for sandwiches and grilling salmon fillets
- Exciting twists on all-time favorites like burgers, pizza, Chinese takeout and more
Disclosure: Thanks to FSB Media for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Working Successfully with Screwed-Up People
Let’s face it. We all daydream about the perfect job. The perfect job would be one that pays me to stay at home and enjoy my family, but reality doesn’t offer that choice.
We must work to pay the bills and eat.
So, how do we handle the day-to-day task of dealing with our co-workers? I’m sure you have one or more co-workers that get on your last nerve. I’ve had troubles with a few co-workers – past and present – and have managed the situation to the best of my ability.
Further below you’ll read about a book I just read that helps with this co-worker issue. The book taught me a few things, including:
- It’s not always the other person – I may need to adjust my own behavior.
- How to balance work life with life outside the job – While I don’t bring home job duties, I do bring home the problems and let them eat away my evenings and weekends.
- Controlled emotions bring better outcomes – Stepping away and giving myself some time to cool before responding is sometimes the best thing.
- Taking on everything threatens the ability to do well in any one area – Mistakes and low-quality work are the results of taking on too much.
I
About the Book
Making a Game Plan to Deal with that Difficult Coworker, Supervisor, Customer or Boss
Let’s face it. Some people just don’t listen, don’t care, and aren’t willing to compromise. And you probably work with some of them – the incomprehensible supervisor, the person in the next office who chats more than works or the customer who, by the way, isn’t always right. For all those you come across at work who drive you crazy, there’s a solution.
Working Successfully with Screwed-Up People offers healthy ways to have good working relationships with those around us. Author Elizabeth B. Brown covers everything from daily annoyances to serious workplace issues.
Brown, the bestselling author of Living Successfully with Screwed-Up People turns her insightful eye to the workplace, showing readers how they can get along with and work successfully beside the people who drive them up the wall. “It doesn’t take two people to change a relationship in the workplace,” says Brown. “It takes one—me!” Her expert advice will help workers in any profession learn how to be unflappable, imperturbable, and unflustered when dealing with the difficult people in their workplace.
The majority of our waking life is spent at work. Don’t let difficult people drive you crazy. With Brown’s help and encouragement, you can make the changes that will improve your work environment and enhance your life.
About the Author
Elizabeth B. Brown is a teacher, a speaker, and the author of the popular Living Successfully with Screwed-Up People and the helpful Surviving the Loss of a Child. She and her husband live in Tennessee.
Available May 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.
Disclosure: I received a copy from Revell in exchange for my honest review.
The Good Wife’s Guide
Are you a good wife? Is there room for improvement? Or do you have it all figured out? I know I fail big time, especially when my emotions get in the way. Fortunately I have a husband who loves me and puts up with my moods and character flaws. Still, that’s no reason to continue. I recently read a book by the Time Warp Wife and was blessed by her words of wisdom.
This Mom’s Review of The Good Wife’s Guide
This book is written for women — all women. Even working wives will want to read this. The author understands the need for some women to work outside the home. She encourages you to make sure your decisions, including the one to work outside the home, are grounded in faith.
Discipline and Self-Sacrifice is a section of the book that really grabbed my attention. I’ve been battling with discontentment over unmet goals and neglected priorities. As I listen to the author describe me, I realize the problem is me. No, she’s not pointing the finger directly at me or passing judgment in the pages of the book. God is using this woman’s wisdom to convict me regarding issues I’ve been battling for several years. It’s exactly what I need to hear!
Some things the Lord has laid on my heart as I read this book:
- My need to serve my family with joy, rather than begrudgingly
- The importance of prioritizing faith and family above other things.
- The best way to handle conflict in my marriage
I’ve read many books and articles on they Whys and Hows of setting goals based on priorities and proper time management. The author has really put it altogether in a way that moves the heart with conviction and hopefully the hands and feet with change.
Included in the book are some household helps, including house cleaning recipes and deep cleaning guides.
While this book is written from a work-at-home mom’s perspective, I found the book to be just as insightful for the mom who works outside her home.
Scripture translation used in this book: NIV, KJV
$4.95 eBook
Book Description:
In The Good Wife’s Guide author Darlene Schacht encourages women to joyfully serve their families. In doing so she offers reasons for achieving a well-managed home backed by scripture and gleaned from experience. As well she provides readers with detailed cleaning and organizing schedules for practical application.
The Good Wife’s Guide encourages women to make faith and family their first priorities from a place of sacrificial love. It reminds women that they were created with a specific purpose in mind, which is that of being a help meet. In supporting our husbands and living in unity we reflect God’s blueprint for marriage.
About the Author:
Darlene Schacht is an ordinary mom, living an extraordinary life, because of who she is through Jesus Christ. As help-meet to her husband Michael, she guides and nurtures their four children, leading them toward a deeper walk of faith.
Her work has been published in anthologies by Thomas Nelson, Tyndale Publishing and Adams Media. As well she has co-authored a book with actress Candace Cameron Bure, the award-winning and New York TimesBest-Seller, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness.
If you haven’t read the eBook, I encourage you to. Read more about the book or grab your copy of The Good’s Wife Guide.
Disclosure: Affiliate link included for an eBook I personally recommend.
Review: What’s for Dinner? Solution by Kathi Lipp #mealplan
I recently shared The “What’s for Dinner?” Solution by Kathi Lipp book tour with you. I am now sharing with you what I think of the book.
Dinner is such a time consuming nightly project that takes more minutes to prepare than it takes to eat. Kathi Lipp offers usable advice for the busy overworked mom (or dad) in the kitchen. Her solution is to have a plan. Not only does she show you how to create that plan, she offers instruction on getting prepared and organized for your cooking plan.
The book encourages the reader to find a friend to plan with you. My friend is my hubby. Why? Because I feel guilty because my husband cooks most nights, so that I can exercise or simply unwind after work. However, before he can cook, we must first go to the grocery store and decide on something for dinner — almost every night. That really takes a chunk out of our evening. I look forward to planning our meals together!
Along with the easy to follow advice, included are delicious and easy to prepare recipes. So enjoy!
Grab a copy of The What’s for Dinner? Solution for your kitchen.
This is my first time to read anything by Kathi Lipp. Looking over her list of books, I am interested in picking up her book The Husband Project: 21 Days of Loving Your Man–on Purpose and with a Plan.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Affiliate links included.
