You cast your vote…

… in my survey.

Thanks for doing that!

(Wait, you thought I was talking about something else?)

I learned a lot about you and why you come to this little spot on the ‘net.

And just when I was worried that I was boring you with my tales of frugality, you reassured me that “that’s why you come here”… at least, most of you.

One person said that s/he wanted to see less content around that topic. But I can’t please everyone!

For example, one respondent said she wanted to hear about the TrimHealthyMama diet less often, another said please write about it more. Since I’ve only touched on that topic a few times on this blog, but I write about it exclusively on a different blog, I suppose both parties can be happy.

I was pleased to hear from several people the suggestion that I post more often. Thanks for that!

A few people said they struggle with time management. One of the things that has proven most helpful to me in that area is keeping a time diary. Even if you only track your time for one week, it’s very helpful.

Time management is a highly personal and variable thing, so it’s hard to give blanket suggestions, which is why time tracking is so valuable. Like a food journal or a spending diary, it shows how you’re actually spending your time, which is often quite different than our perception!

A few people said they were challenged trying to feed a family wholesome food on a budget. That is tough! If you have an Aldi in your area, check out this free Aldi whole foods meal plan (or take a look at my book). If not, here are a couple of articles on saving money on groceries:

Cheap eats – lower your grocery spending by building your menu around low-cost foods

Reducing food waste is another very important way to instantly lower your food spending

Another common theme in the “biggest challenge” area is: managing stress, several young kids, getting it all done, balancing roles.

The short answer for those things is this: take care of mama.

For me, this looks like:

Daily movement – I keep a simple tracker in my Bullet Journal and aim to move my body every day, either by biking, walking or lifting weights. Speaking of my BuJo, that’s also how I keep on top of things. I wouldn’t be half as productive without it.

Spending time outside every day  – even if the sun isn’t shining, the quality of light is better outside and our bodies are designed to need nature, regardless of the weather

Prioritizing things that I love. That last bit will look different for everyone, but for me it’s getting up before my household is awake so that I can write.

Whatever feeds your soul, prioritize that over cleaning the baseboards! Unless cleaning the baseboards makes you sing, in which case, do that. (Want to come over and do mine? I’m generous like that.)

One last thing. If you enjoy receiving updates when a new post is published, consider signing up for an RSS reader like Bloglovin’ or Feedly. I don’t send a newsletter out each time I publish a post (the way some bloggers do), so you might miss one if you don’t use a feed reader.

I use Bloglovin’, and it makes it so easy to scroll through all the blogs you follow, without having to visit each one separately.

Start a free account at one of those sites and simply enter the name or URL of the blog you wish to follow into the search field and add it to your reader. Easy!

OR, simply click on one of the icons to the right ——————->

p.s. I have to tell you something funny. When you enter my blog’s name into the Feedly search field, it suggests 3 “related feeds”. They are The Frugal Girl (of course, huge fan), Living Well Spending Less, and … the Art of Manliness.

That last one just makes me chuckle. I do love that site!