Weekly Goals

Last Weeks Goals:

Personal:

• Daily devotion/prayer time
• Work on my diet: meaning drinking more water, watching snacks, and watching portion sizes
• Write at least one blog post
• Try something new: craft, sewing project, recipe
• Read one chapter in Reshaping It All

Family:

• Read every night with the girls
•  Have a least one night of game night as a family

 Around the House:

• Complete my cleaning list
• Get my kitchen cleaned up every night (really need to get much better at this)
• Have the girls spend time cleaning toys up every day

Goals for this Week:

Personal:

• Daily devotion/prayer time
• Work on my diet: meaning drinking more water, watching snacks, and watching portion sizes
• Write at least one blog post
• Try something new: craft, sewing project, recipe
• Read one chapter in Reshaping It All

Family:

• Read every night with the girls
•  Have a least one night of game night as a family

 Around the House:

• Complete my cleaning list
• Get my kitchen cleaned up every night (really need to get much better at this)
• Have the girls spend time cleaning toys up every day
• Get Christmas Letters addressed and mailed out (letter is done. YAY!)

 

21 Days to a Simple Christams: Day 5

Day 5's task is scheduling when you will finish your shopping time and leaving yourself less stressful buy having a plan. When are you going to shop, where are you going to shop, and what are you going to get at each store.

If you decided to make some gifts like I have, you'll need to plan a time to work on them. I have two of the three blankets for my daughters made. I can get it done in about 60 to 90 minutes so one night very soon, I'll have to finish the last one. 

My online shopping will leave me with only a few people left to buy for. I plan on doing that today and tomorrow to ensure they are here on time. Since I'm not sure what we are going to get the rest yet, I can't really plan a shopping day. The good thing is that my husband will be able to pick up those last few presents leaving me a little less stressful.

If you haven't gotten Celebrating and Savoring a Simple Christmas by Crystal Paine you can do so here.

21 Days to a Simple Christmas Challenge: Day 4

Day 4 of this challenge brings us to checking our gift list and asking ourselves what we really can afford, what we really need to buy, and do they need everything? Are there things I could make instead? Streamlining and making our final list might be one of the easiest and one of the hardest things to do.

In my family we often go in together on gifts which can make it easier, but often times harder since we can't always agree until last minute.

The only person I am really having a hard time making a list for is my husband. About a month ago I had no ideas for him and now I've had to cut down the list or spend $300 on him. That is not going to happen.

There are a few people we haven't decided what to get yet. About half my shopping is already done and the other half shouldn't take me long. Some will be purchased online and others in store.

Check out Day 4 on moneysavingmom.com and get your FREE copy of Celebrating and Savoring a Simple Christmas.

The Season of Giving: Operation Christmas Child

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/

This is the second year we have done Operation Christmas Child with the girls. For anyone who has never heard of it before, it is part of Samaritans Purse which was founded by Franklin Graham. Operation Christmas Child's goal is to spread the good news of Salvation along with toys and essentials these kids need. 

The boxes are given to kids in very poor regions, often in war torn areas.Many of these children have never and will never receive a Christmas gift. It is a wonderful opportunity to share the love of Christ. 

We built our shoe boxes for around $15 a piece. We hit up the dollar store for some fun items, and also more practical items like soap, washcloth, toothpaste, toothbrush, and a hair brush. The girls enjoyed picking out items for a little girl around the same age as them. 

You can still pack your shoe box. Just go online at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/ and they can pack it for you. 

We want to teach our kids to have a giving heart. Giving them opportunities such as this, will help cultivate that giving heart.

21 Days to a Simple Christmas Challenge: Day 3

 

Today is Day 3: Making a list and checking it twice. I had a list in my head but now it's time to write down who I have to buy for. We have a small list because we are trying hard to get out of debt and so buy for the bare minimum. There has been years past that I have done this because it really does help organizing thoughts and time making it less stressful. Plus I love lists!

Here's my list:

• My Husband
• My girls
• The dog
• Siblings
• Parents
• Nephews
•  Cousins (names that were drawn)

It may be short, but we keep things simple. Christmas isn't about how many gifts you give but the spirit that the birth of Christ brings to us each and every day.

21 Days to a Simple Christmas: Day 2

Today's day 2 of the 21 Days to a Simple Christmas Challenge and probably the hardest for many out there: BUDGET. If you have been following my blog you'll know that we have been going through the My Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It truly has been life changing and this year we head into the Christmas season with money set aside and many gifts already bought. 

To set enough money aside I had to sit down and figure out what we spend on gifts for everyone for Christmas, Birthdays, and Mother's and Father's Day. After I figured that out I divided it by 12 and so every month we set aside $75 for gifts. 

This year we are looking at spending about $365 on siblings, nephews, and our parents. Some of those gifts have already been purchased. This may be the last year we exchange with my siblings and spouses and instead exchange names and donate to a charity instead.

On our kids we spent around $50 a piece which includes blankets I made them and a few toys.

I use gift cards I've earned from Amazon and the cash back on our credit card (which we use like a debit card and I track EVERY SINGLE PENNY) to pay for my husband's gift. He uses cash he's gotten here and there often times money he's gotten donating plasma.

We've always known what we'd spend on each person and have stayed on our sort of budget but this is the first year we will not have to come up with the money after the fact. We have the money up front, just sitting there waiting for Christmas to come around. I cannot tell you how much less stress I feel about that.

Weekly Goals

Last week my goals were simple since it was going to be a busy week. I didn't stress about the holiday and tried to spend my time enjoying it.

We had my in-laws at our house on Thanksgiving day, Friday morning we packed up and headed to my sister's place in Duluth, and Sunday headed out in the morning to take the two oldest to Disney Live.

This week I need to get back into things. So here are my goals:

Personal:

• Daily devotion/prayer time
• Work on my diet: meaning drinking more water, watching snacks, and watching portion sizes
• Write at least one blog post
• Try something new: craft, sewing project, recipe
• Read one chapter in Reshaping It All

Family:

• Read every night with the girls
•  Have a least one night of game night as a family

 Around the House:

• Complete my cleaning list
• Get my kitchen cleaned up every night
• Have the girls spend time cleaning toys up every day