Both Michael and I have started feeling the hint of a cold coming on the last few days. At just the mention of the possibility, I swing into natural medicine woman, trying every trick in the book to prevent getting sick :). For today’s Trying To Be Healthy Tuesday post, I thought I would share my top 6 ways for naturally preventing sickness. Note: I am not a doctor or medical professional. This is just advice from personal experience. Consult with a medical professional before making any major changes in your health routine.

1) Up my intake of vitamins and supplements, especially Vitamin C.
I also start taking an Echinacea/Golden-seal supplement at the first sign of the sniffles. You should not take Echinacea for more than seven days, if you are pregnant or nursing, or if you have a daisy allergy. Again, I am not a medical professional, these are just things I have found to help me. You may want to check with your doctor before adding any new supplements.

2) Increase my water intake.
Trying to flush out the junk :)

3) Try to eat more fruits and vegetables.
The more nutrients we can get naturally through our food, the better.

4) Eat foods with garlic and cayenne pepper.
These foods have been shown to have natural antibiotic properties.

5) Take a baking soda bath.
I am not sure how or why it works, but my massage therapy teacher swore by it, and it has always helped me. For me, this seems to reduce muscle soreness and minimize overall symptoms. Just dissolve one box of baking soda in your nightly bath and soak for around 20 minutes.

6) Make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep.
Sleep is crucial in preventing illness. Your body needs rest to heal itself. Asking your body to get well without sleep is like asking a mechanic to fix your car without any tools.

I would love to hear your top tricks for preventing sickness in the comment section below!

Happy Monday Friends! My parents were visiting for the weekend, and it was a wonderful time. Their visit got me thinking about fun and creative ways to save money when traveling or on vacation. I thought I would post my thoughts for today’s Money Monday post :)

1) Subscribe to the local daily deal sites of the city or place you are visiting.
Living Social or Groupon often offer great deals on restaurants, attractions, and other great vacation additions. Sign up a few months in advance so you can keep watch for the deals most relevant to you. Another idea is to check and see if the place you are visiting has an Entertainment Book. At this time of year, Entertainment Books are usually on sale for around $15 and these books offer major savings on many attractions and restaurants. If you have a large family or are planning on doing much sight-seeing, this could be a great investment that would quickly pay for itself.

2) Explore free options such as local parks, lakes, and other cultural icons.
Many times you can find local parks with lots of attractions for free. Balancing these free activities with more costly events like museums can provide you with a fun and active vacation without breaking the bank. Another idea is to google search self guided tours of the place you visiting. You may be able to find free information or brochures online that you would have to pay for if you bought them on site.

3) If you plan on buying groceries while you are on vacation, sign up for the local grocery store discount card.
There is no reason to spend more just because you are only shopping there once. Usually, store discount cards offer major savings. Also, if there is a gas station associated with the store, using their discount card can also gain you gas savings. For example, at our local Kroger gas station, you always get 3 cents off a gallon when you scan your Kroger card. Also, the Kroger gas station is always at least 3 cents per gallon cheaper than other stations, so that is a total of 6 cents per gallon savings. Speaking of ways to save on gas….

4) Check the local news or radio stations websites to see if they have reviews of gas prices in the area.
Many news and radio stations are now offering a list of local stations with the cheapest gas prices. This could help you find the best deal on gas and save you the time of driving around :) It will also help you to know what to expect as far as average prices in the area.

I hope you enjoy these fun tips. I would love to hear your money-saving travel ideas in the comment section.

So, things have picked up around here as I have been trying to find additional part time work to supplement our income. Unfortunately that has meant less time for blogging. However, don’t give up on me :) As I mentioned in a previous post, I am still planning on continuing the blog, I just may reduce my posting a bit. I am still praying about it, and I will let you know when I come up with a new plan :) For today, I thought I would share with you a bit of what I have been up to…..

As I said, I have been looking for additional ways to supplement our income and/or reduce our spending. Here is what I have found recently…

1) The Craigslist Gigs Section
If you live near a city, this could be an excellent resource for you. In this section, people in need of services or temporary employees post requests and job opportunities. Michael always uses this section of Craigslist, but I never thought it would have anything for me. However, once I started looking at it, I realized how wrong I was! There are potential freelance writing gigs, housecleaning, brand ambassadors, tutoring, and other random opportunities. This past weekend I got a 20 hour job helping sell custom-fit solid-ban toe rings at a booth at the Southern Women’s Expo. I had a very positive experience, and it was fun to be part of a great event. Plus, I made some decent money in a short amount of time. Although many of the “gigs” aren’t desirable options, there are some that are very relevant. I now check this section everyday, just to see what is available. These opportunities are perfect for me because I can find things that fit with my school schedule, and don’t restrict me to a permanent schedule.

2) BookSneeze.com
This is a great resource for anyone who has a blog. This company will send you free books if you agree to write at least a 200 word review of that book on your blog. I LOVE to read, so this is a very exciting opportunity for me. Right now, I am reading Unleashed by Erwin McManus, and so far it is excellent. I will let you know more once I have finished it :)

3) Re-Organizing My Coupon Binder and Creating A Price Sheet
Whew…this one is a lot of work, but I know it will be worth it in the end. Since I have a bit of a break from school right now (until next week), this was one of the major projects I wanted to tackle. My coupon binder had all but turned into a disaster zone due to my neglect of it in recent weeks. So far I have a gotten rid of all my expired coupons, got all my clipping up-to-day, and have all my coupons sorted. To the left, is a picture of where I am in the process :) All that is left is putting them in their proper place in the binder.

The next part of my day, is to start my price sheet. A price sheet is a spreadsheet of the items I buy most often, and their corresponding prices at specific stores. I am doing this so I can properly evaluate sales, and know if I am really getting a good deal or not. I am going to start my price sheet with some receipts I have been saving, and then add any missing information during my shopping trip later this afternoon. I hope to have a template that you can use to create your own price list posted by next week. It will be a work in progress; I just hope to get a start.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I have heard from multiple couponing experts that it is the key to maximizing your savings. I figure an afternoon of work is worth major savings throughout the year. Also, since I want to start purchasing mostly whole foods, this will really help me know who has the best prices.

Hope all is well with all of you, and I would love to hear any of your recent money saving/healthy living news in the comment section below!

Just wanted to give a quick update and apologize for not posting much this week. It is the end of the semester and between that and getting some much needed part-time work, things have gotten pretty busy around here. I do still plan on keeping the blog going, and should have a few days off next week to pray, plan, and write. I really love the learning and growth that writing this blog has offered me, and I plan on continuing it, just maybe with some adjustments :) Thanks for all of your encouraging words and patience as I try to figure out just what God has in store for this. I will leave you with a couple quotes that encouraged me today:

“Life is like dancing. If we have a big floor, many people will dance. Some will get angry when the rhythm changes. But life is changing all the time.” -Don Miguel Ruiz

Something I found very comforting this morning (and anytime I am feeling uncertain), is that no matter what happens today, God will still love me and I am forever secure and sufficient in that love.
My prayer for myself and anyone who reads this today:

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:16-21

Although I am still battling the homework monster (almost through), I wanted to take a quick moment and share a few websites I have discovered recently:

1) Kraft’s First Taste Program
This is an awesome program. How it works is you sign up and Kraft sends you coupons for free new products. So far, I have gotten free Philadelphia cooking cream (which is awesome btw), and free Jello Temptations (which are also delicious). All they ask in return is that you provide brief feedback via an online survey about the product. I have really enjoyed being a part of the program, and it is a fun, easy, and free way to try out new food!

2) House Party.com.
I have mentioned them before, but just wanted to share about the awesome DiGiorno Party pack I received. The basic concept of HouseParty.com is that companies will send you free products in return for hosting a party featuring their products. It is a great win-win situation for everyone involved, we get a free party, and the company gets the word out about their product. I had a party planed a few weeks ago, but was unable to have it due to my grandmother’s passing. So tonight we are heading to a friends house and taking the party pack and food to enjoy there! I will take pictures of the fun and post them next week :) In the meantime, click here to see pictures of what all was included in the package. I highly recommend signing up for House Party.com if you enjoy entertaining in your home!

Despite all my best intentions to blog yesterday, I got totally caught up in a project and lost track of time :) We decided to make yesterday our planting day! Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product:

We have tomato and green pepper seedlings started, and we splurged and bought a strawberry plant yesterday :) In our higher small baskets we have cilantro, parsley, and spinach. There is so much more I want to grow, but we are limited by space. However, I think this is a great start for me. I am nervous that nothing will grow, because I have the brownest thumb around. However, I am trusting that this is a step God is calling me to take, and I am doing everything I can to learn how to be successful.

I encourage anyone to consider giving gardening a try. It is a budget and health friendly hobby that can really improve your life! Not to mention the positive environmental impact of growing your own food.
I will share more in the coming weeks about what I am learning on my organic gardening journey.

Friends, sorry I didn’t get to post yesterday, the end-of-semester homework monster ate me :) Today, I just wanted to share a link to an awesome community of bloggers that are discussing living healthy while also saving money.

Thanks to Kitchen Stewardship’s blog, I stumbled upon some amazing articles this week. Check out Life As Mom’s blog post with a wonderful set of links to amazing money saving and healthy resources.

I am looking forward to being back to normal with tomorrow’s Faithful Friday post about some lessons I have been learning this week.

Traveling can present a host of challenges to those of us who try to eat healthy and maintain a regular workout routine. Springtime and summer are often full of vacations and visits, so I thought this was a perfect time to share a list of quick healthy travel tips:

1) Don’t check out completely.
It is ok to relax a bit on your health routine on vacation, but don’t take it to the extreme. The guilt and regret you will feel later really isn’t worth it (speaking from recent experience :)).

2) Portions, Portions, Portions
We tend to eat out more when we travel, which makes portion control very difficult. I have been known to ask for a box at the start of big a meal, and just go ahead and put half of it in the box before I even start eating. This helps me stay aware of how much I am actually eating, and prevents me from eating past when I am full.

3) Bring healthy snacks from home when possible
Another major trap I fall into when traveling is the impulse buys at the gas stations and rest stops. These purchases are usually less than ideal (i.e. chips, candy, sugar filled coffees, etc). Having one of these once in a while is totally fine, but I find myself wasting much more money and many more calories than necessary on these purchases when I am on the road. I try to bring some healthy and tasty snacks with us from home, so I can at least resist some of these impulse purchases.

4) Drink extra water.
Traveling can make us thirsty, and sometimes we can mistake that thirst for hunger. Even though drinking extra water may make for a few more bathroom stops, the health benefits outweigh the cost :)

5) Bring sugar-free gum
This is an excellent way to prevent impulse purchases from gas stations and vending machines, while also being a low-calorie treat that can help hold you over between meals.

7) Have realistic expectations
Don’t choose vacation week to try to bump your exercise up from three to five times a week, nor should you make it the week to start your diet. Let yourself enjoy some small splurges, have fun, relax, and keep things in perspective. Remember, balance is key :)

Happy Monday friends! In light of the extensive amount of homework I have to finish, my blog posts will be mostly likely be short and sweet this week! For today’s Money Monday post, I would like to share with you three of my favorite ways to save money.

1) Stay out of the store
If you aren’t there, you can’t spend money. It may sound like common sense, but this basic principle has changed the way I shop. I try to limit “emergency runs” as much as possible by planning ahead. I found that when I was making all these “emergency runs” to the store for one or two items, I ended up coming home with three or four items and spending much more than I planed. I only go shopping once a week. If we run out of something, we get creative until it is time again for the scheduled shopping trip. Of course, if we ran out of something essential like toilet paper we would go get it. However, I try to keep ahead of essential items by stocking up on them when they are on sale or there is a good coupon.

2) Make it at home
In the last few months, I have discovered ways to make so many things homemade that I had never thought of before. Last week I discovered homemade chocolate chips, and this week I plan on trying to make crackers (I will let you know how they turn out.) Having a group of homemade essential recipes on hand (breads, snacks, etc) can really cut down on those “emergency trips” I was talking about earlier.

3) Create a price sheet
This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, and I plan on working on it in a few weeks during break my between spring and summer semesters. The idea behind this concept is to create a list of local stores and their prices on the items you buy frequently, your essentials. This way you can compare stores to find the best deals. You can also refer to the list when an item goes on sale, so you can know if it is actually cheaper than what you normally buy. I plan on starting my list by reviewing my old receipts (I have been saving them for a few months), and then fill in the gaps by actually visiting three or four stores and recording prices. This may sound time-consuming, but I believe it will be a huge money saver in the end.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
-Author Unknown

I stumbled upon this quote earlier in the week, and it hit me powerfully. All week, I have been reflecting on how much our thoughts influence the direction of our lives. This morning, I also read a wonderful blog post about not allowing saving money to consume us.

This and other reading I have done this week has caused me to ask myself one central question:
What am I allowing to define me?

Am I thinking about things that are true and beneficial, or am I allowing my thoughts to be dominated by negativity and self doubt? What have my actions said about my inner thoughts this week? Have I been acting in a way that is consistent with who I say I want to be?

Today, I plan to take some time to reflect on what I am thinking about myself, others, and God. From time to time, I think we need to check-in and take stock of what we are believing. It is so easy for lies and negative thoughts to creep in and become a permanent part of our internal dialoge. I find it helpful to journal in these times of self reflection. I have been been known to make a list of lies or negative thoughts I have been believing and then write a list of truths I can replace them with. I haven’t done this in a long time, and I think I am long overdue for a thought check up. Part of why I am writing this is so I will be held accountable to actually doing it :).

I hope these ideas are helpful and encouraging for you today. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” -Paul in Philippians 4:8-9