I decided to re-read Crystal Paine’s new book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, and share my thoughts and notes. Here are the posts about Say Goodbye to Survival Mode: Chapters One and Two and Three and Four
Chapter 5 is about money: as Crystal puts it, being “intentional with your bank account.”
She encourages you to make financial goals instead of just coasting along. This is great advice. Lately I have been going through old posts on my other blog, some of which are 7 years old. During some of those years, I was a single mom with 4 kids, just scraping by with income from my websites.
Yet I was able to set some goals: to pay off my credit card debt, to move out of my parents’ home and get a place of my own, and to grow my income. It was so exciting to meet those goals.
Right now, hubby and I are paying off his debts, and we only have a couple more months to go. With the money that’s freed up, we plan on creating a bigger emergency fund of 3-6 months of living expenses, and then to begin saving for a down payment on a home – at least 20%.
If those steps sound familiar, it’s because they’re based on Dave Ramsey’s “Baby Steps”. We’re graduates of Financial Peace University and big fans of Dave, as is Crystal. She mentions him a few times in the book.
One of the things hubby and I do that’s had a tremendously positive impact on our finances is monthly (or more often) budget meetings. These meetings have helped us understand each other as a newly married couple as well – it’s a chance for us to discuss our dreams and goals, as well as fears.
It’s not all serious business, though. One of our goals is to take our kids to Europe. We’ll begin saving for that shortly.
Chapter 6: Manage the Home Front
Judging by this chapter, Crystal and I share a lot of the same values when it comes to housekeeping. We’re both die-hard de-clutterers, minimalists even. I agree with every word she says here. Still, I could learn to simplify in one area: meal planning.
While I’m a huge fan of meal planning, I still need to make things a little easier on myself during this particular season of my life. For a few weeks, I was feeling really stressed about food – mostly due to the fact that my 8 year old daughter was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. I’ve always been into planning meals, but now it’s even more important – yet more difficult due to her restrictions.
Preparing three meals, totally from scratch, every single day was becoming exhausting. So, last weekend (with encouragement from this book), I decided I had to stop being le petit sous chef and instead, create a 2-week meal rotation. It consists of two weeks’ worth of dinners – no more inventing new menus each and every week. Really, this was a chore I was putting on myself. My husband and kids do not require as much variety as I try to create for them. As long as it’s hot and tasty, they’re good.
This is going to make things so much easier for me going forward. And as the kids get older and (hopefully), Sadie’s allergies improve, I can go back to being more inventive in the kitchen.
I also appreciated what Crystal says in this chapter about creating a routine for chores that works for YOU. There are a lot of great blog posts, graphics and pins online with all sorts of systems – everything from complicated “household binders” that practically need their own zip code, to simple checklists. The important thing is to discover a system that works for you, and then just work it. And don’t worry if that doesn’t look like pinterest perfection.
In addition to meal prep and housework, it’s important to have a system for personal organization and scheduling. Again, this will be unique to the individual. I’ve tried different things through the years, including apps and websites, fancy binders, index card systems, etc – but what works best for me is this simple paper system:
– Once a week, sometime on the weekend, I create a to-do list for the coming week (this gives me more flexibility than a daily one), and a meal plan. The meal plan goes on the fridge, and the to-do list on a Post-It in my notebook.
– I keep my monthly and yearly goals and weekly to-do list in a hardcover, spiral-bound notebook, which also has a pocket to hold my monthly calendar (for appointments), and my daily habits tracker. I have extra pages in there to jot down meal plan ideas, and blogging ideas (topics for guest posts, goals for my business, notes for blog posts, etc) in this one notebook.
The notebook lasts me a few months, then I buy another. This works for me because if I bought something beautiful and expensive, within weeks it would be covered in coffee stains and grubby toddler fingerprints!
How do you keep your household, schedule and finances on track?
Don’t forget to check out Crystal Paine’s excellent new book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode: 9 Simple Strategies to Stress Less, Sleep More, and Restore Your Passion for Life
We have the food allergy thing going on here too. We have to be gluten and dairy free for my hubby and son. It was really challenging at first, but has gotten easier with time. I’ve figured out what works and stopped trying to cook fancy stuff. We stick with what we know and like. I’m rarely adventurous, but we stay full so I’d say that’s good enough!
Jenn that’s wise advice! I decided recently to start doing a two week meal rotation. The kids and hubby are fine with it. It’s ME that tries to complicate things!