Several years ago, my sister tried to get me interested in couponing. I gave her my three standard excuses for avoiding coupons like the plague: I don’t have time to clip coupons, and .35-off is not worth my time anyway. We don’t eat the food that coupons buy. I don’t want to be seen as cheap or stingy. She told me I might surprise myself. I was still skeptical, but I tucked her words away for a rainy day. A year later, the rainy days arrived. It was April, and I was a new stay-at-home-mom. We were suddenly in the deep end, living on one income. We either needed to sink into debt or swim with a tighter budget. We had built up a decent Keep Reading

Guest Post by Kari Patterson We sat on her couch as I recounted my parenting woes. The more I dumped the more I felt overwhelmed. Little things, seemingly unrelated, heaped verbally into the air until I sat in a thick fog of my own creation. I shook my head and looked at her. Where do I start? Her simple response became my guiding principle for resolutions since. Pick one thing, and the rest will fall into place. Pick one thing. She explained that usually all behavioral issues have the same – or at least a similar – root. By simply picking one thing you create a manageable plan, and as you conquer one particular area you inevitably notice Keep Reading