April 28, 2025 • 35 mins
Interview with Crystal Paine | Money-Saving Tips, Homeschooling, and Faith In today’s conversation, I’m honored to sit down with Crystal Paine — author, entrepreneur, and homeschooling mom — to talk about practical money-saving techniques, homeschooling, motherhood, and faith. Crystal shares wise, real-world strategies to help you steward your finances well, especially during challenging seasons. She also opens up about her heart for families, her journey in writing multiple best-selling books, and her passion for encouraging moms to live with intention and trust God through every season. You’ll walk away feeling uplifted, inspired, and equipped to build a homeschool and family life filled with peace, patience, and grace. Learn more about Crystal’s resources:
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Episode Transcript
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(01:45):
Hello everyone.
Today I'm here with Crystal Payne and I'm very excited to have her and I think that she can really help all you moms out.
Um, crystal Payne is a devoted wife to Jessie and she's a mother of six.
And forgive me if I say these names wrong and correct me if I do, but, um, her, she's a mom to Catherine, Katelyn, Silas.
(02:09):
.154Kirsten, that's where I, David and Micah, she did homeschool kids, and I think she informed me that she was not homeschooling her kids right now. 6 00:02:17,702.154 --> 00:02:32,822.154 But she has so much financial, financial wisdom to offer, especially moms who are home with their kids and often, I remember those days we were living on one income, so I just thought it would be really good for her to talk to all of you. 7 00:02:33,642.154 --> 00:02:40,422.154 Her mom introduced her to couponing and entrusted her with grocery shopping and meal planning for her family. 8 00:02:41,52.154 --> 00:02:47,442.154 Uh, and her, she came from a family of nine, so then also her husband, um, was going to law school. 9 00:02:47,742.154 --> 00:02:54,672.154 And, uh, and she managed, uh, household and on a mod on a modest budget. 10 00:02:55,62.154 --> 00:02:56,82.154 And she said she. 11 00:02:56,432.154 --> 00:03:06,842.154 Did groceries on $35 a a week, which I don't know if you could do nowadays, but I think she could do you a lot of, um, she has a lot of information on how to save money. 12 00:03:07,202.154 --> 00:03:11,642.154 So, um, she has a website called Money Saving mom.com 13 00:03:11,642.154 --> 00:03:14,312.154 and it would do you really well to check that out as moms. 14 00:03:14,762.154 --> 00:03:19,442.154 And, um, she also wrote a book called The Money Saving Mom's Budget. 15 00:03:19,892.154 --> 00:03:19,952.154 So. 16 00:03:21,392.154 --> 00:03:25,352.154 Uh, crystal, welcome to my podcast and to my moms. 17 00:03:25,352.154 --> 00:03:26,792.154 Um, welcome. 18 00:03:26,792.154 --> 00:03:28,682.154 Thank, thank you so much for having me. 19 00:03:28,682.154 --> 00:03:32,762.154 I was gonna let you know also that interesting tidbit since we're talking to homeschool moms. 20 00:03:32,822.154 --> 00:03:35,282.154 Um, I was homeschooled, um, graduated from homeschool. 21 00:03:35,282.154 --> 00:03:46,442.154 My husband was also homeschooled and so we just grew up very much in the homeschool community and I really, it's funny 'cause now when moms are talking, you know, I know all of the curriculum and all of that. 22 00:03:46,442.154 --> 00:03:47,612.154 It's just, um, and we. 23 00:03:47,857.154 --> 00:03:52,957.154 Always say with our kids where every year, every child, um, really seeking the Lord what he has for each of them. 24 00:03:52,957.154 --> 00:03:57,7.154 So sometimes that has been homeschooling and sometimes that's private schooling. 25 00:03:57,187.154 --> 00:03:59,107.154 And it's just every year it changes. 26 00:03:59,467.154 --> 00:04:00,277.154 Absolutely. 27 00:04:00,277.154 --> 00:04:00,847.154 For sure. 28 00:04:00,847.154 --> 00:04:01,537.154 Exactly. 29 00:04:01,927.154 --> 00:04:02,287.154 Yes. 30 00:04:02,287.154 --> 00:04:02,887.154 So, yeah. 31 00:04:03,187.154 --> 00:04:05,137.154 Um, I do have a lot of questions for you. 32 00:04:05,137.154 --> 00:04:06,7.154 Um, so. 33 00:04:06,917.154 --> 00:04:24,767.154 I think my first question that I would like to ask you is what are some of your favorite frugal meal ideas that don't take much time for moms who are busy, uh, whether it's sending kids to their Christian school or homeschool moms who were, who is my platform? Yeah. 34 00:04:24,882.154 --> 00:04:28,337.154 So one of the big things that I always encourage moms, this is. 35 00:04:29,12.154 --> 00:04:42,122.154 Kind of answering your question, but I feel like, especially if you're homeschooling with my mom, having me do the menu planning and the cooking for our family of nine, she had all of the kids, um, all of her kids do that for a time period. 36 00:04:42,122.154 --> 00:04:50,732.154 And so I say, you know, if your child is 6, 7, 8, 9, older than that, like, have them help with the menu planning, have them help with the cooking. 37 00:04:50,732.154 --> 00:04:51,362.154 It's such. 38 00:04:51,622.154 --> 00:04:56,902.154 Real life, hands-on home ec experience, but also it helps you as well. 39 00:04:56,902.154 --> 00:04:59,362.154 And so, um, having your kids help out can be huge. 40 00:04:59,362.154 --> 00:05:03,292.154 And teaching them to learn to meal plan on a budget can also be huge. 41 00:05:03,802.154 --> 00:05:06,412.154 Um, but we love breakfast for dinner. 42 00:05:06,412.154 --> 00:05:08,422.154 That is something that is one of our favorite things. 43 00:05:08,422.154 --> 00:05:10,762.154 I also like to always keep on hand things like. 44 00:05:10,947.154 --> 00:05:13,587.154 Pasta and pasta sauce and cheese. 45 00:05:13,587.154 --> 00:05:16,197.154 And so I can do a quick spaghetti casserole. 46 00:05:16,377.154 --> 00:05:19,992.154 I like to have ground beef that's pre, um, cooked and mm-hmm. 47 00:05:20,217.154 --> 00:05:35,307.154 You can either add some taco seasoning or just add it as you're making, you know, so you can do, we like to do a taco bowls where you could do some rice and some beans and some ground beef and cheese, and maybe some lettuce, tomato, whatever you have on hand, you can kind of concoct it for what you have on hand, but. 48 00:05:35,542.154 --> 00:05:41,512.154 Always just having some meals at the ready that are super easy to pull together. 49 00:05:41,512.154 --> 00:05:52,702.154 So even if you have a menu plan, but maybe there's a day when it was just a really hard homeschooling day and you're like, I don't have the capacity and the energy to make that meal that I planned. 50 00:05:52,732.154 --> 00:05:55,732.154 So instead I'm gonna pull out this thing out of the freezer. 51 00:05:55,732.154 --> 00:05:58,582.154 That is super easy, um, to be able to make. 52 00:05:58,757.154 --> 00:06:09,767.154 Or I also recommend when frozen pizzas go on sale, buy some of those and have those in the freezer because it's much less expensive to pull out frozen pizzas and make those for dinner. 53 00:06:09,887.154 --> 00:06:09,977.154 Mm-hmm. 54 00:06:10,127.154 --> 00:06:16,457.154 And you're feeding the people than it is to actually, you know, get pizza delivered, or go and buy pizza. 55 00:06:17,147.154 --> 00:06:17,867.154 Absolutely. 56 00:06:17,867.154 --> 00:06:18,77.154 Yeah. 57 00:06:18,77.154 --> 00:06:19,547.154 I love the hamburger idea. 58 00:06:19,547.154 --> 00:06:28,337.154 Like you can, you can fry up, you know, 10 pounds of hamburger just as well as you can fry up one pound and then you have it there for so much. 59 00:06:28,337.154 --> 00:06:33,167.154 And, and I remember doing, like, my children are, my youngest daughter is getting married in May actually. 60 00:06:33,167.154 --> 00:06:36,947.154 So I do have still, uh, my oldest is special needs, so he's still home. 61 00:06:36,947.154 --> 00:06:38,447.154 And then we have one other son. 62 00:06:38,492.154 --> 00:06:40,982.154 Who still is, um, home for a bit. 63 00:06:41,12.154 --> 00:06:43,22.154 He's not, he's going again, but he's home for a bit. 64 00:06:43,322.154 --> 00:06:46,322.154 So, um, yeah, so I'm not homeschooling anymore either. 65 00:06:46,382.154 --> 00:06:51,632.154 I've been through it all and I just remember those frozen pizzas, they came in handy. 66 00:06:52,262.154 --> 00:06:54,782.154 Um, I was very disappointed when they discontinued. 67 00:06:54,782.154 --> 00:06:55,712.154 So I'm in Canada. 68 00:06:56,132.154 --> 00:06:57,122.154 In Ontario, Canada. 69 00:06:57,542.154 --> 00:07:02,132.154 So I was very disco upset when they discontinued these frozen peaches. 70 00:07:02,132.154 --> 00:07:03,362.154 We had all our life. 71 00:07:03,362.154 --> 00:07:05,912.154 And so, yeah, something new, we have to find something new. 72 00:07:07,262.154 --> 00:07:08,552.154 So, yeah. 73 00:07:08,912.154 --> 00:07:20,507.154 Um, what's one simple change that a family can do today to start saving money on groceries? I think one of the biggest things is to start with a budget. 74 00:07:20,747.154 --> 00:07:31,607.154 And I know people would, you know, like to jump to the fun things and feel like, okay, how can I cut my grocery bill by 50%? But you can't know if you're actually saving money if you don't have a plan for your money in the first place. 75 00:07:31,607.154 --> 00:07:38,867.154 And so if you have no budget at all, the, your grocery budget is the best place to start because everybody has to buy groceries. 76 00:07:38,957.154 --> 00:07:41,957.154 And also it's one of the easiest areas to cut. 77 00:07:42,247.154 --> 00:07:53,977.154 When it comes to your budget, and so starting with that, if you have no idea what to budget, I always say 30 to $50 per person per week, if that feels really low. 78 00:07:54,947.154 --> 00:08:13,787.154 You can do $60, you can do $70, but start somewhere and then challenge yourself that over time, like every month, you're going to challenge yourself to shave it down by one to 3% until you get to an amount that you're like, this is kind of the lowest that I feel like we need to go, and this feels very doable and this feels realistic. 79 00:08:13,787.154 --> 00:08:15,677.154 So starting with that budget, so then. 80 00:08:15,902.154 --> 00:08:26,522.154 You can actually know how much you're saving, and you can also then be able to know if you're trying something in order to save money, is it actually saving money? Mm-hmm. 81 00:08:26,912.154 --> 00:08:27,512.154 Exactly. 82 00:08:27,512.154 --> 00:08:27,692.154 Yeah. 83 00:08:27,692.154 --> 00:08:34,292.154 That's, that's excellent advice because, um, it's so easy to go over, um, over budget. 84 00:08:34,292.154 --> 00:08:39,662.154 Like it's so easy to just pick up things and, and not really be like, not thinking like. 85 00:08:40,37.154 --> 00:08:50,387.154 Not thinking you're spending the extra money or maybe saving the money, but if you say, this week is this is what I spend and this is what I can spend, then you can, um, control it so much better. 86 00:08:50,447.154 --> 00:08:50,807.154 Yeah. 87 00:08:51,227.154 --> 00:08:51,557.154 Yeah. 88 00:08:52,7.154 --> 00:08:58,667.154 Um, do you involve your kids in budgeting and do you like, I know you talked about involving anybody over six in meal making. 89 00:08:59,147.154 --> 00:09:00,107.154 I remember doing that too. 90 00:09:00,107.154 --> 00:09:02,2.154 I had one child work with me every evening. 91 00:09:03,137.154 --> 00:09:07,217.154 And, um, and they learned from that and they use it today still. 92 00:09:07,607.154 --> 00:09:29,942.154 But, um, how would you, other ideas that you have used and that you would suggest for budgeting and for involving your kids? So if you're bringing your kids to the grocery store, which honestly I think, yes, it's nice as moms to have that break if you're shopping by yourself, but I think there's a lot of value in bringing our kids, and especially if you can make it almost that you only bring one or two at a time. 93 00:09:29,942.154 --> 00:09:39,152.154 So you have time to really go down the aisles with them and explain to them, like teach them how, I don't know if it's like this in Canada, but in the US they have where you can see the price per ounce. 94 00:09:39,152.154 --> 00:09:42,602.154 And so showing them you know how to really. 95 00:09:42,862.154 --> 00:09:46,312.154 No cost per ounce and which one of these is a better deal. 96 00:09:46,312.154 --> 00:09:48,982.154 And I'm teaching them to start thinking about that. 97 00:09:48,982.154 --> 00:09:54,22.154 And then also like looking at, in our grocery stores, we often have clearance sections. 98 00:09:54,22.154 --> 00:10:01,462.154 And so looking at that and knowing, is this a good deal? Is this actually, is this produce good? And what could I use it for? And helping them to start think. 99 00:10:01,712.154 --> 00:10:03,152.154 Thinking along those lines. 100 00:10:03,152.154 --> 00:10:06,32.154 Another thing that we've done is giving our kids a budget. 101 00:10:06,32.154 --> 00:10:15,482.154 So we'll say, Hey, we have this much money and you can help us figure out how we're going to spend it to get the best bang for our buck. 102 00:10:15,482.154 --> 00:10:18,362.154 And, and they have so much fun doing that. 103 00:10:18,362.154 --> 00:10:23,822.154 Sometimes it will have $10 extra on our grocery budget to take the kids to the store and be like, okay. 104 00:10:24,17.154 --> 00:10:27,407.154 We're gonna spend this $10, let's see how far we can make it go. 105 00:10:27,677.154 --> 00:10:33,587.154 And so just making it more like a game and something that's fun, but also something that's teaching them to really think about that. 106 00:10:33,587.154 --> 00:10:37,157.154 Because those are skills that so many young people do not have. 107 00:10:37,187.154 --> 00:10:44,297.154 And then they go out into the real world and they don't know how to think about how to get the best deal. 108 00:10:44,297.154 --> 00:10:47,207.154 They're just used to just kind of pulling things off the shelf and putting 'em in a cart. 109 00:10:47,207.154 --> 00:10:49,547.154 And then you get to the, you know, register and you're like. 110 00:10:49,697.154 --> 00:10:52,7.154 What, $300? Yeah. 111 00:10:52,7.154 --> 00:10:57,377.154 Not, and then another thing is to teach them, I like to keep a running total in my head. 112 00:10:57,377.154 --> 00:11:00,137.154 So as I'm putting things in my cart, I'm keeping a running total. 113 00:11:00,197.154 --> 00:11:04,547.154 Um, but you could have them do this on a calculator, um, or on your phone or on a piece of paper. 114 00:11:04,547.154 --> 00:11:11,657.154 It's great math skills, but so as you're adding things to your cart, they're adding them to the running total and then also teaching them about tax. 115 00:11:11,667.154 --> 00:11:23,97.154 And how we, you know, if you live where you have tax on food, that adding that in as well, there's so many life skills that at the grocery store you can be homeschooling while also getting your groceries. 116 00:11:23,577.154 --> 00:11:24,357.154 Absolutely. 117 00:11:24,357.154 --> 00:11:24,657.154 Yeah. 118 00:11:25,137.154 --> 00:11:27,567.154 I, um, I, I often, um, I. 119 00:11:27,962.154 --> 00:11:44,72.154 Talk to my moms about that, about how, you know, so often we think we have to sit at the desk to, to learn, but there's so many ways to learn, um, in different ways, and this is an excellent way to get math in and, and get your chores done for the day on top of it. 120 00:11:44,862.154 --> 00:11:56,532.154 what advice would you give for a mom who feels constantly stressed about money? And it may, it may be that she's implementing whatever she can, whatever her knowledge is. 121 00:11:56,562.154 --> 00:12:01,767.154 Um, what, what, what advice would you give to her? Yeah. 122 00:12:01,767.154 --> 00:12:07,287.154 Well for me as a Christian, I feel like it does come back to trusting God. 123 00:12:07,287.154 --> 00:12:20,217.154 And so for me, like with finances, I know when my husband was in law school and money was very, very, very tight for us and we learned to really seek God, answer prayer in the sense of. 124 00:12:20,562.154 --> 00:12:24,132.154 We would pray, and I would pray before I went into the grocery store. 125 00:12:24,132.154 --> 00:12:29,232.154 God, please help me to, you know, just multiply this little bit of money that I have. 126 00:12:29,502.154 --> 00:12:35,202.154 Help me to find the great deals that's going to be enough to make all of our meals for this next week. 127 00:12:35,202.154 --> 00:12:42,282.154 And I can tell you that God delights in our prayers of faith like that, and he has been so faithful. 128 00:12:42,342.154 --> 00:12:48,12.154 And I can tell you just time, after time after time where I would pray for something specific. 129 00:12:48,577.154 --> 00:12:55,87.154 I would see this really specific answer to prayer that was so far beyond what I could have come up with on my own. 130 00:12:55,627.154 --> 00:12:58,237.154 And then I just had to, you know, be like, that was God. 131 00:12:58,687.154 --> 00:12:59,707.154 Like that's God. 132 00:12:59,707.154 --> 00:13:04,267.154 And it's like him saying to me, I love you so much that I care about the little details of your life. 133 00:13:04,267.154 --> 00:13:11,107.154 And so I really feel like if we are stressing about something, stress is an indication usually that we're not trusting the Lord. 134 00:13:11,287.154 --> 00:13:11,377.154 Mm-hmm. 135 00:13:11,617.154 --> 00:13:14,227.154 And so that is an opportunity for us to stop. 136 00:13:15,107.154 --> 00:13:25,727.154 Take a breath and really say, where am I not trusting God to be enough? And then releasing that to him and saying, God, I'm really scared about our finances this week. 137 00:13:25,727.154 --> 00:13:27,557.154 I don't know how we're gonna pay our bills. 138 00:13:27,827.154 --> 00:13:33,827.154 I need to go to the grocery store and get groceries, but I, I'm afraid that we're not gonna be able to pay our electric bills. 139 00:13:33,857.154 --> 00:13:34,787.154 Please help me. 140 00:13:35,112.154 --> 00:13:40,362.154 To rest in you and just continue to release that to Lord and then also put feet to your faith. 141 00:13:40,392.154 --> 00:13:53,562.154 And so looking for those creative ways that you can maximize the mileage of your money and asking God to give you eyes to see things in a new way so that you can figure out how to stretch the money that you have. 142 00:13:53,592.154 --> 00:13:56,472.154 And I just find that he is faithful. 143 00:13:56,472.154 --> 00:14:03,732.154 He is always faithful, but it requires us to put our faith in him in order to see his faithfulness. 144 00:14:04,737.154 --> 00:14:05,397.154 Exactly. 145 00:14:05,757.154 --> 00:14:12,567.154 Um, my husband has owned his own business all his life, so, um, income was not consistent. 146 00:14:13,77.154 --> 00:14:19,647.154 And, and we went through times like that too, where it was like, is this gonna keep going? Or, you know, but I. 147 00:14:20,682.154 --> 00:14:31,332.154 Um, as encouragement to moms that God is faithful like of we've been married 37 years now and, um, we've always been provided for even when we thought it wouldn't come through. 148 00:14:31,332.154 --> 00:14:38,172.154 And, um, yeah, that faith is, has been an important part in our life also, um, through all those times. 149 00:14:38,172.154 --> 00:14:39,552.154 And, um, he is faithful. 150 00:14:40,92.154 --> 00:14:42,102.154 Like, that's your story and that's my story. 151 00:14:42,402.154 --> 00:14:45,252.154 And there's thousands of others who have that same story. 152 00:14:45,342.154 --> 00:14:45,642.154 Yeah. 153 00:14:46,272.154 --> 00:14:46,632.154 Yeah. 154 00:14:48,267.154 --> 00:15:08,697.154 What is your go-to method for? Um, a tight budget? A small budget? Well, I think for me it starts with, you know, really prioritizing and so we talked about budgeting and how important that is, and I think to really figure out what is the priority for your family in the season of life that you are in. 155 00:15:08,877.154 --> 00:15:10,977.154 And so we love to use. 156 00:15:10,977.154 --> 00:15:14,37.154 The, um, yap, it's uni to budget.com. 157 00:15:14,37.154 --> 00:15:16,227.154 I think there are lots of tools over the years. 158 00:15:16,227.154 --> 00:15:21,957.154 When we first started out, we actually used a ledger with the, you know, pencil and a ledger, and that worked for us. 159 00:15:21,957.154 --> 00:15:24,357.154 We had a very, very simple budget at that point. 160 00:15:24,837.154 --> 00:15:31,497.154 Our budget is more complicated when you add more children and more activities and more expenses and all of that. 161 00:15:31,497.154 --> 00:15:33,177.154 And so we use YAP now. 162 00:15:33,477.154 --> 00:15:37,77.154 Um, we've also used some other things over the years, but you can even just use a simple spreadsheet. 163 00:15:37,77.154 --> 00:15:38,337.154 But I think having. 164 00:15:38,802.154 --> 00:15:48,192.154 A plan for your money, and at the beginning of the month, pre-deciding where that money is going to go, this is so helpful. 165 00:15:48,252.154 --> 00:15:56,442.154 And so that you aren't just letting the money come in and being like, well, what are we gonna spend it on? That you're actually telling your money where you go, you're making it work for you. 166 00:15:56,442.154 --> 00:15:56,532.154 Mm-hmm. 167 00:15:56,772.154 --> 00:15:58,932.154 Instead of you working for it. 168 00:15:59,232.154 --> 00:15:59,322.154 Yes. 169 00:15:59,322.154 --> 00:16:07,2.154 And so when you set down to do that plan, then you have to prioritize, you have to decide, you know, we have this much money. 170 00:16:07,187.154 --> 00:16:08,477.154 We can't do all the things. 171 00:16:08,477.154 --> 00:16:22,877.154 So what are those things that are most important for us? And one of the things for us was from the get go, committing to tithe, even though the, mm-hmm the money did not make sense on paper saying, God, we're gonna give you 10% and we're gonna trust that you will. 172 00:16:23,317.154 --> 00:16:26,107.154 Take care of us with the additional 90%. 173 00:16:26,107.154 --> 00:16:26,167.154 Yeah. 174 00:16:26,167.154 --> 00:16:28,627.154 And like you said, he was always so faithful. 175 00:16:28,627.154 --> 00:16:30,547.154 He is always so faithful to do that. 176 00:16:30,577.154 --> 00:16:38,107.154 And so that was one way that we just showed our priorities of we're going to put God first and trust him with that. 177 00:16:38,107.154 --> 00:16:45,787.154 And so then another thing for us, um, as our income has increased a little bit, we prioritize experiences over things. 178 00:16:45,787.154 --> 00:16:50,737.154 And so that's something that our family is important and so we're going to put that in the budget. 179 00:16:50,887.154 --> 00:16:52,542.154 Whereas for other people it might be, you know. 180 00:16:52,862.154 --> 00:16:57,902.154 I don't care about my house being decorated, but for other people that might be important or you might care about gardening. 181 00:16:57,902.154 --> 00:16:58,922.154 That's not something that I do. 182 00:16:58,982.154 --> 00:17:05,702.154 So just deciding ahead of time those priorities for your family, maybe when it comes to your kids' activities, when it comes to homeschool. 183 00:17:05,702.154 --> 00:17:09,872.154 You know, if your kid's gonna have your kids in a co-op, or you're gonna, you know, use this curriculum. 184 00:17:09,872.154 --> 00:17:15,32.154 You know, deciding those things ahead of time and then that allows you to be able to budget for them. 185 00:17:15,392.154 --> 00:17:17,792.154 And also thinking ahead to what are your. 186 00:17:17,967.154 --> 00:17:19,917.154 Expenses and then you can budget for those. 187 00:17:19,917.154 --> 00:17:26,337.154 Um, on our website we have a free budgeting spreadsheet that you can download that it has variable expenses and fixed expenses. 188 00:17:26,337.154 --> 00:17:43,257.154 And that's just really to help walk you through if you haven't done this exercise before, what are those fixed expenses? What are those variable expenses? Starting with your fixed expenses then really helps you to decide what do have room for when it comes to variable expenses, and then to decide what you can do each month. 189 00:17:44,757.154 --> 00:17:44,997.154 Yeah. 190 00:17:45,87.154 --> 00:17:49,137.154 So that was actually my next, um, my next thing that I kind of wanna discuss. 191 00:17:49,497.154 --> 00:18:07,707.154 Um, do you remem, do you recommend like cash envelopes or, or digital tracking or for moms who are just starting to budget, how, how do you suggest starting that? And I know you said you start the groundwork, but from there, where, where would you go from there? So I would say. 192 00:18:08,367.154 --> 00:18:13,227.154 You figure out what works best for you, because I don't think there's a one size fits all method. 193 00:18:13,317.154 --> 00:18:15,447.154 I think different people are wired differently. 194 00:18:15,597.154 --> 00:18:21,477.154 I do feel like there's a lot of value in cash envelopes, at least for a short season. 195 00:18:21,477.154 --> 00:18:24,357.154 So if you've never used cash envelopes before. 196 00:18:24,902.154 --> 00:18:26,672.154 It can just be a great exercise. 197 00:18:26,672.154 --> 00:18:38,12.154 I also feel like it's a really valuable exercise for our kids because I think so often our kids, you know, if we're just swiping a card, whether it's a debit or a credit card, our kids are not equating value with that card. 198 00:18:38,222.154 --> 00:18:40,802.154 Like the other day, my 4-year-old daughter, she was. 199 00:18:40,822.154 --> 00:18:47,212.154 She said, I was talking, we've been really working with her on the value of money and that work is how you earn money. 200 00:18:47,212.154 --> 00:18:50,332.154 And so in order to buy things, you have to work in order to earn money. 201 00:18:50,332.154 --> 00:18:56,272.154 And uh, she, I said something about, well, you know, you don't, you don't have enough money for that. 202 00:18:56,272.154 --> 00:18:58,402.154 And she said, well, you can just use your card. 203 00:18:59,632.154 --> 00:19:01,852.154 And I was like, oh, we need to really. 204 00:19:02,152.154 --> 00:19:04,312.154 You know, that's a hard concept for a Oh for sure. 205 00:19:04,312.154 --> 00:19:07,822.154 Like somehow this card equals money in the bank. 206 00:19:07,822.154 --> 00:19:21,202.154 But we're starting to talk about that, so that's why I think having cash envelopes can also really help your kids because they are then understanding that when we go to the store, we're not just swiping a card that to them just is free money, but we're actually pulling. 207 00:19:21,522.154 --> 00:19:23,22.154 Screen cash out of an envelope. 208 00:19:23,82.154 --> 00:19:34,92.154 And so one of the things that I think can be really valuable is just using it for your grocery budget, and it can just be this helpful tool to help you get on a budget. 209 00:19:34,92.154 --> 00:19:36,552.154 Because here's the thing, if you only bring your cash. 210 00:19:36,567.154 --> 00:19:39,417.154 To the grocery store, you will stick with your budget. 211 00:19:40,317.154 --> 00:19:40,527.154 You have to. 212 00:19:40,527.154 --> 00:19:42,117.154 'cause when the money's gone, the money's gone. 213 00:19:42,117.154 --> 00:19:44,367.154 Like you will not have any more money left. 214 00:19:44,367.154 --> 00:19:49,437.154 And so you're gonna have to put some things back if you're over the amount that you have in your cash envelope. 215 00:19:49,437.154 --> 00:20:01,17.154 And so I think that it's a great exercise to just challenge yourself to do, at least in a few areas, for a few months, to just develop that self-discipline and also just kind of, you know, think of your mindset. 216 00:20:01,262.154 --> 00:20:08,792.154 Am I swiping a card without really thinking about how much something costs me and how many hours it requires for me to work. 217 00:20:08,792.154 --> 00:20:25,322.154 I think that's another really valuable lesson to give our kids of how much is my time worth? So is this thing that I want to buy worth the hours that I'm gonna need to spend to work in order to earn that? And so thinking in that, um, context can be really helpful. 218 00:20:25,352.154 --> 00:20:26,342.154 'cause a lot of times you'll be like. 219 00:20:26,772.154 --> 00:20:32,472.154 Nah, I don't, I don't wanna see, like, that's not worth four hours of my time, so I'm just, I'm not gonna buy it. 220 00:20:33,402.154 --> 00:20:34,992.154 Yeah, that's very true. 221 00:20:35,232.154 --> 00:20:36,312.154 Um, it's easy to get away. 222 00:20:36,312.154 --> 00:20:40,872.154 It's easy for it to get away and, and kids need to see cash to put it together. 223 00:20:40,872.154 --> 00:20:41,412.154 For sure. 224 00:20:41,532.154 --> 00:20:41,892.154 Yeah. 225 00:20:42,462.154 --> 00:20:42,852.154 Yeah. 226 00:20:43,242.154 --> 00:20:52,962.154 Um, so like, do you have any suggestions, like you have obviously are the coupon queen by the sounds of, I looked through your website and, and, um. 227 00:20:53,577.154 --> 00:21:14,457.154 Do you have any suggestion for free resources and, um, maybe even digital things that can help, um, people, uh, just kind of organize themselves? Like we, we talked about the, the, um, the envelope, but we also need, um, is there a digital program that you could, they could use or we could use. 228 00:21:15,672.154 --> 00:21:23,412.154 Yeah, so most digital programs are going to cost, but there are some that you can have a basic version for free. 229 00:21:23,592.154 --> 00:21:28,452.154 Like Dave Ramsey has an app that you can use that is a basic budgeting app. 230 00:21:28,452.154 --> 00:21:39,12.154 There's a few of them that, um, I can send you the links to that have, um, just, you can get the basic version for free and then if you really love it and you find that this is super helpful, I wanna actually pay for it. 231 00:21:39,12.154 --> 00:21:41,237.154 'cause it can be sometimes I know it's hard to be like, mm-hmm. 232 00:21:41,332.154 --> 00:21:43,612.154 I'm gonna pay money to be able to save money. 233 00:21:43,612.154 --> 00:21:49,282.154 Like that doesn't make sense, but sometimes it is so helpful for the amount of money that you save. 234 00:21:49,282.154 --> 00:21:57,117.154 And so, um, I think that there are a lot of, so many free resources though, out on the internet, and I feel like a lot of times people don't really. 235 00:21:58,602.154 --> 00:22:04,692.154 You know, see all of the opportunities that are out there and you just, you know, want somebody to kind of give you the quick fix. 236 00:22:04,692.154 --> 00:22:15,342.154 I really feel like with YouTube and just searching online, so you know, if it's I'm really struggling with budget budgeting, or I wanna lower my grocery budget, or whatever it is that you're struggling with. 237 00:22:15,692.154 --> 00:22:20,252.154 Just Googling it and being able to find it out would be a great way to just start. 238 00:22:20,312.154 --> 00:22:22,262.154 Um, also money saving mom.com. 239 00:22:22,262.154 --> 00:22:25,682.154 We have a lot of like, we have the, um, free budgeting resource. 240 00:22:25,682.154 --> 00:22:32,612.154 And then also, um, I was gonna mention that we have a free cheat sheet that is 60 meals to make, um, when you don't feel like cooking. 241 00:22:32,612.154 --> 00:22:34,262.154 And so super easy meals like that. 242 00:22:34,262.154 --> 00:22:35,187.154 We have a lot of things like that. 243 00:22:35,282.154 --> 00:22:38,852.154 And then also just really trying to provide a lot of resources. 244 00:22:39,207.154 --> 00:22:43,107.154 To help you to be able to use your money intentionally. 245 00:22:43,107.154 --> 00:22:48,177.154 One that I was gonna mention, a lot of people order off of Amazon, and if you do, um, there's a website. 246 00:22:48,177.154 --> 00:22:51,447.154 It is a pretty antiquated website, but it still works really well. 247 00:22:51,447.154 --> 00:22:53,607.154 It's called camel Camel camel.com, 248 00:22:53,907.154 --> 00:22:55,347.154 and you can actually type in the. 249 00:22:55,907.154 --> 00:23:01,427.154 Amount of any item that you want to buy, the, the price that you want to pay for it. 250 00:23:01,517.154 --> 00:23:03,827.154 And it will let you know when it goes below that price. 251 00:23:03,857.154 --> 00:23:17,387.154 So I know for a lot of people in the us, especially if you're on some kind of special diet or you order toilet paper from Amazon or whatever it is that you, um, order from Amazon regularly, um, to put it in there and then it'll send you an email when it goes below that price. 252 00:23:17,387.154 --> 00:23:24,167.154 And that's just a great way to be able to keep tabs and get, um, some good deals on things that you are already gonna be buying. 253 00:23:24,877.154 --> 00:23:26,857.154 Yeah, I've actually heard about the Camel. 254 00:23:26,857.154 --> 00:23:27,217.154 Camel. 255 00:23:27,577.154 --> 00:23:29,797.154 Um, I've never used it, but I've heard about it. 256 00:23:30,127.154 --> 00:23:37,27.154 And, um, I'm, I like when I talked about resources, I, I also was on your website for quite some time, a little while ago. 257 00:23:37,267.154 --> 00:23:38,17.154 A couple days ago. 258 00:23:38,17.154 --> 00:23:40,507.154 And, um, I would say that that would be, I. 259 00:23:40,752.154 --> 00:23:42,72.154 An excellent resource. 260 00:23:42,72.154 --> 00:23:50,382.154 Your website is an excellent resource for, for moms, um, or anyone looking for deals because, um, it's full of ideas and full of things. 261 00:23:50,382.154 --> 00:23:57,792.154 And, um, I do have some American moms watching me and some Canadian moms, so, um, you'll, it will work for some. 262 00:23:58,592.154 --> 00:24:01,712.154 Some stuff will work in Canada, some will not, and vice versa. 263 00:24:01,712.154 --> 00:24:06,692.154 So, but, um, it still is a good resource and, and your freebies are definitely a good resource. 264 00:24:07,172.154 --> 00:24:24,692.154 Um, so you were talking about, um, experiences rather than things and, um, I think that, um, I find in general, like my, my children are tending to go more to experiences because they don't like our parents handed stuff down to us. 265 00:24:24,692.154 --> 00:24:25,952.154 And then, um. 266 00:24:26,562.154 --> 00:24:28,212.154 I think we built on it. 267 00:24:28,212.154 --> 00:24:30,432.154 And then, but our kids are seeing a different way. 268 00:24:30,762.154 --> 00:24:39,42.154 I think just in, within my family, I'm just talking within my family and, um, they often say that like, experiences are way more important than things. 269 00:24:39,282.154 --> 00:24:56,22.154 And, um, how would you suggest a mom to give her child, family, a family to give them their, their children experiences in a budgeted way? Well, first off, there are lots of experiences that don't cost anything. 270 00:24:56,22.154 --> 00:24:57,42.154 It just takes your time. 271 00:24:57,42.154 --> 00:25:00,642.154 And sometimes I feel like our time is our most precious commodity as a mom. 272 00:25:00,942.154 --> 00:25:05,412.154 You know, sometimes it's easier to buy things than to give our time. 273 00:25:05,532.154 --> 00:25:16,902.154 And so to recognize like, playing games with our kids, I have a, a 4-year-old and 2-year-old, and we, um, just got the, um, just some games that I loved when I was. 274 00:25:16,932.154 --> 00:25:21,492.154 Was younger and our older kids, we have a, a 20-year-old, a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old. 275 00:25:21,492.154 --> 00:25:24,222.154 So we have this big gap in between and um. 276 00:25:25,62.154 --> 00:25:27,162.154 Just sitting and playing games with them. 277 00:25:27,192.154 --> 00:25:36,402.154 Like they love that you can find games at the thrift store, garage sale, or just ask around people, you know, ask your friends like, do you have any games you don't want anymore? Um, there's lots of ways to do that. 278 00:25:36,402.154 --> 00:25:42,252.154 And so, you know, just looking for ways to build experiences with your kids that don't. 279 00:25:42,312.154 --> 00:25:43,872.154 Cost money first. 280 00:25:43,872.154 --> 00:25:53,832.154 If you're on a really tight budget there, usually it depends upon where you live, but a lot of times there are lots of, maybe there's nature trails, maybe there is, you know, some, a free movie night in the park. 281 00:25:53,832.154 --> 00:25:56,652.154 You know, just looking for those types of things and start there. 282 00:25:56,712.154 --> 00:26:07,392.154 And then if you're wanting to do something more than thinking outside the box, um, sometimes you can volunteer for places and be able to earn, um, different types of. 283 00:26:07,617.154 --> 00:26:19,347.154 You know, ability to have tickets to something or, um, you, I don't know what the libraries are like in Canada, but um, here some of our libraries will give you free tickets to like the zoo. 284 00:26:19,347.154 --> 00:26:24,207.154 Um, another thing is asking for memberships for Christmas and birthday presents. 285 00:26:24,207.154 --> 00:26:32,442.154 If you have grandparents who are generous instead of asking them for things for your kids, for their birthdays and Christmas, asking for them to give. 286 00:26:33,77.154 --> 00:26:38,687.154 Memberships, you know, whether it's to the science museum or you know, some place that your family loves to go. 287 00:26:38,687.154 --> 00:26:47,567.154 And so that's one way that you can really be able to get a lot of experience is for basically nothing because the grand birds were already going to be buying gifts. 288 00:26:47,567.154 --> 00:26:50,507.154 And so that's, that's something that we have done, that we found to be. 289 00:26:50,667.154 --> 00:26:51,357.154 Really valuable. 290 00:26:51,357.154 --> 00:26:54,927.154 There are also a lot of places that offer grants for different things. 291 00:26:54,927.154 --> 00:27:01,77.154 So if you're on a really low income, um, to be able to look at what the grant options are for things like that. 292 00:27:01,647.154 --> 00:27:09,597.154 Um, getting creative, thinking outside the box, like I talked about, you know, praying and asking God to give you, um, creative ideas and, and then just. 293 00:27:09,992.154 --> 00:27:24,902.154 Really making it something that's exciting and fun, because I think so often the way that we speak about things, our kids pick up on it, and so they constantly hear us stressing about finances, worrying about things, you know, how we're gonna pay for things or. 294 00:27:24,982.154 --> 00:27:28,732.154 Feeling badly that we're not doing enough for our kids, they're gonna pick up on that. 295 00:27:28,732.154 --> 00:27:42,142.154 But if instead they hear a mom who she is excited about trusting the Lord, she's excited about how you're gonna go to the park today and you're gonna have a picnic and you're gonna go feed the ducks, you know, and you're just talking about what you're excited about doing, they're going to pick up on that too. 296 00:27:42,142.154 --> 00:27:46,942.154 And, and our attitude and our perspective on life really impacts our kids. 297 00:27:46,942.154 --> 00:27:51,292.154 And an attitude of gratitude, I feel like is something that's gonna bless everyone around us. 298 00:27:52,377.154 --> 00:27:53,127.154 Absolutely. 299 00:27:53,127.154 --> 00:27:53,397.154 Yeah. 300 00:27:53,787.154 --> 00:28:03,807.154 I, um, like when our children were young, I, we would go to the park and then, um, we would get a McDonald's ice cream, which were 99 cents, so we could do the whole family for $10. 301 00:28:03,807.154 --> 00:28:04,77.154 Right. 302 00:28:04,77.154 --> 00:28:05,877.154 And that was, it was cost effective. 303 00:28:05,877.154 --> 00:28:08,697.154 And, and to them, an ice cream is just as good as anything. 304 00:28:08,697.154 --> 00:28:08,997.154 Right. 305 00:28:08,997.154 --> 00:28:11,487.154 So they didn't feel like they were being. 306 00:28:12,342.154 --> 00:28:13,332.154 Didn't have much. 307 00:28:13,332.154 --> 00:28:14,982.154 They just were happy with what they had. 308 00:28:15,312.154 --> 00:28:29,232.154 And yeah, that, um, sometimes we think we have to give so much and it has to be, but it doesn't have to be that it can be a lot less and there can, they, you can create memory memories that your children will remember for the rest of their life without the money. 309 00:28:29,322.154 --> 00:28:29,592.154 Yeah. 310 00:28:30,12.154 --> 00:28:30,642.154 So, yeah. 311 00:28:31,2.154 --> 00:28:41,772.154 Um, there was one more question I I, I wanted to ask 'cause I think moms, this could be a concern for moms who are on a budget and 'cause there's always birthdays, especially us home. 312 00:28:42,162.154 --> 00:28:44,592.154 Homeschool families love their big, their big families. 313 00:28:45,162.154 --> 00:28:59,592.154 And um, like for special occasions like Christmas or holidays or birthdays or um, those extra cost time times, how would you suggest to deal with that? So one of the things I always encourage people is plan ahead. 314 00:28:59,982.154 --> 00:29:01,117.154 You know, it comes around. 315 00:29:01,737.154 --> 00:29:04,107.154 Every single year and so don't wait till the last minute. 316 00:29:04,377.154 --> 00:29:11,847.154 Um, there are a lot of apps I know, at least in the US I think that they work other places as well where you can earn gift cards and cash back. 317 00:29:11,847.154 --> 00:29:15,807.154 And I know a lot of my followers, this is something that they do all year long. 318 00:29:15,807.154 --> 00:29:18,567.154 They will be saving that up to pay for Christmas. 319 00:29:18,567.154 --> 00:29:20,547.154 And so that's something to look into. 320 00:29:20,547.154 --> 00:29:22,347.154 We actually have a cheat sheet on our site. 321 00:29:22,567.154 --> 00:29:25,207.154 Um, that's free all about the different apps that we recommend. 322 00:29:25,207.154 --> 00:29:26,437.154 I can send you the link for that. 323 00:29:26,707.154 --> 00:29:32,257.154 Um, but then also I think one of the things is to set the expectations that are realistic. 324 00:29:32,617.154 --> 00:29:40,27.154 We don't do big birthday parties, we've just never done that for our kids, and that's just something that we have decided is not a priority. 325 00:29:40,357.154 --> 00:29:43,537.154 But we always do things that make them feel really valued. 326 00:29:43,537.154 --> 00:29:47,947.154 And so one of the things is that my husband and I will both take the birthday child out. 327 00:29:47,992.154 --> 00:29:49,852.154 Separately for a little date. 328 00:29:49,912.154 --> 00:29:51,37.154 Like that's just something mm-hmm. 329 00:29:51,117.154 --> 00:29:52,552.154 That we have always done for years. 330 00:29:52,552.154 --> 00:29:57,262.154 And it, we just, it's just a really special time for us to get to spend one-on-one time with them. 331 00:29:57,352.154 --> 00:30:01,942.154 And then also they get to pick something else, so they get to pick the meal that we're gonna do. 332 00:30:01,942.154 --> 00:30:04,552.154 And then usually some type of activity that we're gonna do. 333 00:30:04,642.154 --> 00:30:08,272.154 And it will be different things, it really depends on the child. 334 00:30:08,302.154 --> 00:30:12,352.154 Um, but we've had a few times where a child wanted to do a party. 335 00:30:12,382.154 --> 00:30:15,802.154 And so what we actually have done is we've given them a budget. 336 00:30:16,272.154 --> 00:30:19,392.154 We've said, here's your budget and you can plan the party. 337 00:30:19,392.154 --> 00:30:21,252.154 And again, this is great homeschool. 338 00:30:21,522.154 --> 00:30:34,962.154 Um, so they will have to give us a, who they want to invite, what all of the costs are going to be, how it's gonna fit into the budget, what the order of the party will be like, what they're gonna do and everything. 339 00:30:35,262.154 --> 00:30:38,922.154 And it has been so interesting because they are so creative. 340 00:30:38,922.154 --> 00:30:40,572.154 My son, when he was. 341 00:30:41,352.154 --> 00:30:47,532.154 I think he was six or seven, I don't remember exactly, but young, and he wanted to do a little party with some of his friends for his birthday. 342 00:30:47,832.154 --> 00:30:49,722.154 Well, he came up with the idea here. 343 00:30:49,752.154 --> 00:31:01,302.154 Um, the Home Depot and Lowe's stores have these free days where you can go in and you can do this project and they give you all the things and they, um, you know, it's a little project for kids. 344 00:31:01,302.154 --> 00:31:07,92.154 And so he came up with the idea that his, he and his friends would go and do that for his birthday. 345 00:31:07,92.154 --> 00:31:09,882.154 And then he's like, and then we'll just have a cake and ice cream. 346 00:31:09,882.154 --> 00:31:10,482.154 And in. 347 00:31:10,687.154 --> 00:31:12,517.154 I was like, that is brilliant. 348 00:31:12,517.154 --> 00:31:14,407.154 I would've never come up with that on my own. 349 00:31:14,737.154 --> 00:31:24,697.154 But because I put it in and I empowered him, like for you to come up with the idea, it really, he came up with this creative idea and so I think sometimes we don't, I. 350 00:31:25,182.154 --> 00:31:34,482.154 Really value how much creativity our kids can have and how it can be a fun thing for them to think outside the box and also then to really learn the skills. 351 00:31:34,482.154 --> 00:31:40,812.154 My daughter is now the head, um, she's the coordinator, the fun coordinator at her campus ministry at college for. 352 00:31:41,277.154 --> 00:31:42,777.154 Lots and lots and lots of kids. 353 00:31:42,777.154 --> 00:31:50,127.154 She, she, um, coordinates every single week their fun activities and all this stuff, and, and she MCs it and all that. 354 00:31:50,127.154 --> 00:32:00,237.154 And I look back to like when she was eight and 10 and 12 and putting together those little agendas for the different things that she wanted to do and how now I see her using those gifts and skills. 355 00:32:00,237.154 --> 00:32:08,157.154 And so I'm just, I really think that when we involve our kids and we make it something fun and we make it something enjoyable and we. 356 00:32:08,452.154 --> 00:32:16,162.154 Are teaching them skills throughout it, it can just be something that becomes so much more special because they have so much more ownership in it as well. 357 00:32:16,162.154 --> 00:32:19,492.154 And so they enjoy it more because it was their thing that they planned. 358 00:32:19,732.154 --> 00:32:19,882.154 Mm-hmm. 359 00:32:20,542.154 --> 00:32:21,472.154 Excellent, excellent. 360 00:32:21,742.154 --> 00:32:25,912.154 And that's just a great, um, it's time for us to go now. 361 00:32:26,212.154 --> 00:32:30,322.154 Um, and that's just a great way to end it, like, um. 362 00:32:31,692.154 --> 00:32:37,422.154 Taking, have our children involved in, in what, um, we're trying to teach them. 363 00:32:37,422.154 --> 00:32:41,622.154 And also that servicing our budget also. 364 00:32:41,622.154 --> 00:32:49,542.154 So, um, I just wanna thank you so much, uh, for coming on and um, so I think it's money Saving mom.com 365 00:32:49,542.154 --> 00:32:50,292.154 is your website. 366 00:32:50,862.154 --> 00:32:51,162.154 Yes. 367 00:32:51,162.154 --> 00:32:52,152.154 There's so much on there. 368 00:32:52,152.154 --> 00:32:53,472.154 And you also do a blog. 369 00:32:54,72.154 --> 00:32:56,262.154 Do you not for a podcast? Yes, I do. 370 00:32:56,262.154 --> 00:32:58,92.154 It's, it's called the Crystal Pain Show? Yes. 371 00:32:58,92.154 --> 00:32:58,422.154 Okay. 372 00:32:58,422.154 --> 00:33:02,832.154 So yeah, so there's a lot of information and a lot of resources for moms. 373 00:33:03,372.154 --> 00:33:04,332.154 Within your website. 374 00:33:04,842.154 --> 00:33:12,162.154 And, um, and then you also have a several books that you created, but that's also on your website if moms wanna go, take a peek at that. 375 00:33:12,162.154 --> 00:33:22,602.154 And, um, to help them, help them get to the, um, a more positive, uh, budgeting attitude and, um, help moms through that situation in life. 376 00:33:22,602.154 --> 00:33:27,702.154 So thank you very much Crystal for coming on and, um, and I really appreciate it. 377 00:33:28,617.154 --> 00:33:29,877.154 Thank you so much for having me. 378 00:33:29,877.154 --> 00:33:44,277.154 I also was gonna mention that on the website, for those of you who are in Canada who some of the deals wouldn't necessarily work, um, we have where you can just click a button where it says, um, that it's light feed only or non-deal, and we have an email newsletter that's just for the non-deal. 379 00:33:44,457.154 --> 00:33:49,677.154 And then it's, you can just click that and it will just show you all of the articles and things that would work for anyone. 380 00:33:49,917.154 --> 00:33:50,97.154 So. 381 00:33:50,217.154 --> 00:33:50,907.154 Oh, that's great. 382 00:33:50,907.154 --> 00:33:51,777.154 Great information. 383 00:33:51,957.154 --> 00:33:52,167.154 Okay. 384 00:33:52,167.154 --> 00:33:52,647.154 Thank you. 385 00:33:53,427.154 --> 00:33:54,657.154 Thank you so much.
Hello everyone.
Today I'm here with Crystal Payne and I'm very excited to have her and I think that she can really help all you moms out.
Um, crystal Payne is a devoted wife to Jessie and she's a mother of six.
And forgive me if I say these names wrong and correct me if I do, but, um, her, she's a mom to Catherine, Katelyn, Silas.
(02:09):
.154Kirsten, that's where I, David and Micah, she did homeschool kids, and I think she informed me that she was not homeschooling her kids right now. 6 00:02:17,702.154 --> 00:02:32,822.154 But she has so much financial, financial wisdom to offer, especially moms who are home with their kids and often, I remember those days we were living on one income, so I just thought it would be really good for her to talk to all of you. 7 00:02:33,642.154 --> 00:02:40,422.154 Her mom introduced her to couponing and entrusted her with grocery shopping and meal planning for her family. 8 00:02:41,52.154 --> 00:02:47,442.154 Uh, and her, she came from a family of nine, so then also her husband, um, was going to law school. 9 00:02:47,742.154 --> 00:02:54,672.154 And, uh, and she managed, uh, household and on a mod on a modest budget. 10 00:02:55,62.154 --> 00:02:56,82.154 And she said she. 11 00:02:56,432.154 --> 00:03:06,842.154 Did groceries on $35 a a week, which I don't know if you could do nowadays, but I think she could do you a lot of, um, she has a lot of information on how to save money. 12 00:03:07,202.154 --> 00:03:11,642.154 So, um, she has a website called Money Saving mom.com 13 00:03:11,642.154 --> 00:03:14,312.154 and it would do you really well to check that out as moms. 14 00:03:14,762.154 --> 00:03:19,442.154 And, um, she also wrote a book called The Money Saving Mom's Budget. 15 00:03:19,892.154 --> 00:03:19,952.154 So. 16 00:03:21,392.154 --> 00:03:25,352.154 Uh, crystal, welcome to my podcast and to my moms. 17 00:03:25,352.154 --> 00:03:26,792.154 Um, welcome. 18 00:03:26,792.154 --> 00:03:28,682.154 Thank, thank you so much for having me. 19 00:03:28,682.154 --> 00:03:32,762.154 I was gonna let you know also that interesting tidbit since we're talking to homeschool moms. 20 00:03:32,822.154 --> 00:03:35,282.154 Um, I was homeschooled, um, graduated from homeschool. 21 00:03:35,282.154 --> 00:03:46,442.154 My husband was also homeschooled and so we just grew up very much in the homeschool community and I really, it's funny 'cause now when moms are talking, you know, I know all of the curriculum and all of that. 22 00:03:46,442.154 --> 00:03:47,612.154 It's just, um, and we. 23 00:03:47,857.154 --> 00:03:52,957.154 Always say with our kids where every year, every child, um, really seeking the Lord what he has for each of them. 24 00:03:52,957.154 --> 00:03:57,7.154 So sometimes that has been homeschooling and sometimes that's private schooling. 25 00:03:57,187.154 --> 00:03:59,107.154 And it's just every year it changes. 26 00:03:59,467.154 --> 00:04:00,277.154 Absolutely. 27 00:04:00,277.154 --> 00:04:00,847.154 For sure. 28 00:04:00,847.154 --> 00:04:01,537.154 Exactly. 29 00:04:01,927.154 --> 00:04:02,287.154 Yes. 30 00:04:02,287.154 --> 00:04:02,887.154 So, yeah. 31 00:04:03,187.154 --> 00:04:05,137.154 Um, I do have a lot of questions for you. 32 00:04:05,137.154 --> 00:04:06,7.154 Um, so. 33 00:04:06,917.154 --> 00:04:24,767.154 I think my first question that I would like to ask you is what are some of your favorite frugal meal ideas that don't take much time for moms who are busy, uh, whether it's sending kids to their Christian school or homeschool moms who were, who is my platform? Yeah. 34 00:04:24,882.154 --> 00:04:28,337.154 So one of the big things that I always encourage moms, this is. 35 00:04:29,12.154 --> 00:04:42,122.154 Kind of answering your question, but I feel like, especially if you're homeschooling with my mom, having me do the menu planning and the cooking for our family of nine, she had all of the kids, um, all of her kids do that for a time period. 36 00:04:42,122.154 --> 00:04:50,732.154 And so I say, you know, if your child is 6, 7, 8, 9, older than that, like, have them help with the menu planning, have them help with the cooking. 37 00:04:50,732.154 --> 00:04:51,362.154 It's such. 38 00:04:51,622.154 --> 00:04:56,902.154 Real life, hands-on home ec experience, but also it helps you as well. 39 00:04:56,902.154 --> 00:04:59,362.154 And so, um, having your kids help out can be huge. 40 00:04:59,362.154 --> 00:05:03,292.154 And teaching them to learn to meal plan on a budget can also be huge. 41 00:05:03,802.154 --> 00:05:06,412.154 Um, but we love breakfast for dinner. 42 00:05:06,412.154 --> 00:05:08,422.154 That is something that is one of our favorite things. 43 00:05:08,422.154 --> 00:05:10,762.154 I also like to always keep on hand things like. 44 00:05:10,947.154 --> 00:05:13,587.154 Pasta and pasta sauce and cheese. 45 00:05:13,587.154 --> 00:05:16,197.154 And so I can do a quick spaghetti casserole. 46 00:05:16,377.154 --> 00:05:19,992.154 I like to have ground beef that's pre, um, cooked and mm-hmm. 47 00:05:20,217.154 --> 00:05:35,307.154 You can either add some taco seasoning or just add it as you're making, you know, so you can do, we like to do a taco bowls where you could do some rice and some beans and some ground beef and cheese, and maybe some lettuce, tomato, whatever you have on hand, you can kind of concoct it for what you have on hand, but. 48 00:05:35,542.154 --> 00:05:41,512.154 Always just having some meals at the ready that are super easy to pull together. 49 00:05:41,512.154 --> 00:05:52,702.154 So even if you have a menu plan, but maybe there's a day when it was just a really hard homeschooling day and you're like, I don't have the capacity and the energy to make that meal that I planned. 50 00:05:52,732.154 --> 00:05:55,732.154 So instead I'm gonna pull out this thing out of the freezer. 51 00:05:55,732.154 --> 00:05:58,582.154 That is super easy, um, to be able to make. 52 00:05:58,757.154 --> 00:06:09,767.154 Or I also recommend when frozen pizzas go on sale, buy some of those and have those in the freezer because it's much less expensive to pull out frozen pizzas and make those for dinner. 53 00:06:09,887.154 --> 00:06:09,977.154 Mm-hmm. 54 00:06:10,127.154 --> 00:06:16,457.154 And you're feeding the people than it is to actually, you know, get pizza delivered, or go and buy pizza. 55 00:06:17,147.154 --> 00:06:17,867.154 Absolutely. 56 00:06:17,867.154 --> 00:06:18,77.154 Yeah. 57 00:06:18,77.154 --> 00:06:19,547.154 I love the hamburger idea. 58 00:06:19,547.154 --> 00:06:28,337.154 Like you can, you can fry up, you know, 10 pounds of hamburger just as well as you can fry up one pound and then you have it there for so much. 59 00:06:28,337.154 --> 00:06:33,167.154 And, and I remember doing, like, my children are, my youngest daughter is getting married in May actually. 60 00:06:33,167.154 --> 00:06:36,947.154 So I do have still, uh, my oldest is special needs, so he's still home. 61 00:06:36,947.154 --> 00:06:38,447.154 And then we have one other son. 62 00:06:38,492.154 --> 00:06:40,982.154 Who still is, um, home for a bit. 63 00:06:41,12.154 --> 00:06:43,22.154 He's not, he's going again, but he's home for a bit. 64 00:06:43,322.154 --> 00:06:46,322.154 So, um, yeah, so I'm not homeschooling anymore either. 65 00:06:46,382.154 --> 00:06:51,632.154 I've been through it all and I just remember those frozen pizzas, they came in handy. 66 00:06:52,262.154 --> 00:06:54,782.154 Um, I was very disappointed when they discontinued. 67 00:06:54,782.154 --> 00:06:55,712.154 So I'm in Canada. 68 00:06:56,132.154 --> 00:06:57,122.154 In Ontario, Canada. 69 00:06:57,542.154 --> 00:07:02,132.154 So I was very disco upset when they discontinued these frozen peaches. 70 00:07:02,132.154 --> 00:07:03,362.154 We had all our life. 71 00:07:03,362.154 --> 00:07:05,912.154 And so, yeah, something new, we have to find something new. 72 00:07:07,262.154 --> 00:07:08,552.154 So, yeah. 73 00:07:08,912.154 --> 00:07:20,507.154 Um, what's one simple change that a family can do today to start saving money on groceries? I think one of the biggest things is to start with a budget. 74 00:07:20,747.154 --> 00:07:31,607.154 And I know people would, you know, like to jump to the fun things and feel like, okay, how can I cut my grocery bill by 50%? But you can't know if you're actually saving money if you don't have a plan for your money in the first place. 75 00:07:31,607.154 --> 00:07:38,867.154 And so if you have no budget at all, the, your grocery budget is the best place to start because everybody has to buy groceries. 76 00:07:38,957.154 --> 00:07:41,957.154 And also it's one of the easiest areas to cut. 77 00:07:42,247.154 --> 00:07:53,977.154 When it comes to your budget, and so starting with that, if you have no idea what to budget, I always say 30 to $50 per person per week, if that feels really low. 78 00:07:54,947.154 --> 00:08:13,787.154 You can do $60, you can do $70, but start somewhere and then challenge yourself that over time, like every month, you're going to challenge yourself to shave it down by one to 3% until you get to an amount that you're like, this is kind of the lowest that I feel like we need to go, and this feels very doable and this feels realistic. 79 00:08:13,787.154 --> 00:08:15,677.154 So starting with that budget, so then. 80 00:08:15,902.154 --> 00:08:26,522.154 You can actually know how much you're saving, and you can also then be able to know if you're trying something in order to save money, is it actually saving money? Mm-hmm. 81 00:08:26,912.154 --> 00:08:27,512.154 Exactly. 82 00:08:27,512.154 --> 00:08:27,692.154 Yeah. 83 00:08:27,692.154 --> 00:08:34,292.154 That's, that's excellent advice because, um, it's so easy to go over, um, over budget. 84 00:08:34,292.154 --> 00:08:39,662.154 Like it's so easy to just pick up things and, and not really be like, not thinking like. 85 00:08:40,37.154 --> 00:08:50,387.154 Not thinking you're spending the extra money or maybe saving the money, but if you say, this week is this is what I spend and this is what I can spend, then you can, um, control it so much better. 86 00:08:50,447.154 --> 00:08:50,807.154 Yeah. 87 00:08:51,227.154 --> 00:08:51,557.154 Yeah. 88 00:08:52,7.154 --> 00:08:58,667.154 Um, do you involve your kids in budgeting and do you like, I know you talked about involving anybody over six in meal making. 89 00:08:59,147.154 --> 00:09:00,107.154 I remember doing that too. 90 00:09:00,107.154 --> 00:09:02,2.154 I had one child work with me every evening. 91 00:09:03,137.154 --> 00:09:07,217.154 And, um, and they learned from that and they use it today still. 92 00:09:07,607.154 --> 00:09:29,942.154 But, um, how would you, other ideas that you have used and that you would suggest for budgeting and for involving your kids? So if you're bringing your kids to the grocery store, which honestly I think, yes, it's nice as moms to have that break if you're shopping by yourself, but I think there's a lot of value in bringing our kids, and especially if you can make it almost that you only bring one or two at a time. 93 00:09:29,942.154 --> 00:09:39,152.154 So you have time to really go down the aisles with them and explain to them, like teach them how, I don't know if it's like this in Canada, but in the US they have where you can see the price per ounce. 94 00:09:39,152.154 --> 00:09:42,602.154 And so showing them you know how to really. 95 00:09:42,862.154 --> 00:09:46,312.154 No cost per ounce and which one of these is a better deal. 96 00:09:46,312.154 --> 00:09:48,982.154 And I'm teaching them to start thinking about that. 97 00:09:48,982.154 --> 00:09:54,22.154 And then also like looking at, in our grocery stores, we often have clearance sections. 98 00:09:54,22.154 --> 00:10:01,462.154 And so looking at that and knowing, is this a good deal? Is this actually, is this produce good? And what could I use it for? And helping them to start think. 99 00:10:01,712.154 --> 00:10:03,152.154 Thinking along those lines. 100 00:10:03,152.154 --> 00:10:06,32.154 Another thing that we've done is giving our kids a budget. 101 00:10:06,32.154 --> 00:10:15,482.154 So we'll say, Hey, we have this much money and you can help us figure out how we're going to spend it to get the best bang for our buck. 102 00:10:15,482.154 --> 00:10:18,362.154 And, and they have so much fun doing that. 103 00:10:18,362.154 --> 00:10:23,822.154 Sometimes it will have $10 extra on our grocery budget to take the kids to the store and be like, okay. 104 00:10:24,17.154 --> 00:10:27,407.154 We're gonna spend this $10, let's see how far we can make it go. 105 00:10:27,677.154 --> 00:10:33,587.154 And so just making it more like a game and something that's fun, but also something that's teaching them to really think about that. 106 00:10:33,587.154 --> 00:10:37,157.154 Because those are skills that so many young people do not have. 107 00:10:37,187.154 --> 00:10:44,297.154 And then they go out into the real world and they don't know how to think about how to get the best deal. 108 00:10:44,297.154 --> 00:10:47,207.154 They're just used to just kind of pulling things off the shelf and putting 'em in a cart. 109 00:10:47,207.154 --> 00:10:49,547.154 And then you get to the, you know, register and you're like. 110 00:10:49,697.154 --> 00:10:52,7.154 What, $300? Yeah. 111 00:10:52,7.154 --> 00:10:57,377.154 Not, and then another thing is to teach them, I like to keep a running total in my head. 112 00:10:57,377.154 --> 00:11:00,137.154 So as I'm putting things in my cart, I'm keeping a running total. 113 00:11:00,197.154 --> 00:11:04,547.154 Um, but you could have them do this on a calculator, um, or on your phone or on a piece of paper. 114 00:11:04,547.154 --> 00:11:11,657.154 It's great math skills, but so as you're adding things to your cart, they're adding them to the running total and then also teaching them about tax. 115 00:11:11,667.154 --> 00:11:23,97.154 And how we, you know, if you live where you have tax on food, that adding that in as well, there's so many life skills that at the grocery store you can be homeschooling while also getting your groceries. 116 00:11:23,577.154 --> 00:11:24,357.154 Absolutely. 117 00:11:24,357.154 --> 00:11:24,657.154 Yeah. 118 00:11:25,137.154 --> 00:11:27,567.154 I, um, I, I often, um, I. 119 00:11:27,962.154 --> 00:11:44,72.154 Talk to my moms about that, about how, you know, so often we think we have to sit at the desk to, to learn, but there's so many ways to learn, um, in different ways, and this is an excellent way to get math in and, and get your chores done for the day on top of it. 120 00:11:44,862.154 --> 00:11:56,532.154 what advice would you give for a mom who feels constantly stressed about money? And it may, it may be that she's implementing whatever she can, whatever her knowledge is. 121 00:11:56,562.154 --> 00:12:01,767.154 Um, what, what, what advice would you give to her? Yeah. 122 00:12:01,767.154 --> 00:12:07,287.154 Well for me as a Christian, I feel like it does come back to trusting God. 123 00:12:07,287.154 --> 00:12:20,217.154 And so for me, like with finances, I know when my husband was in law school and money was very, very, very tight for us and we learned to really seek God, answer prayer in the sense of. 124 00:12:20,562.154 --> 00:12:24,132.154 We would pray, and I would pray before I went into the grocery store. 125 00:12:24,132.154 --> 00:12:29,232.154 God, please help me to, you know, just multiply this little bit of money that I have. 126 00:12:29,502.154 --> 00:12:35,202.154 Help me to find the great deals that's going to be enough to make all of our meals for this next week. 127 00:12:35,202.154 --> 00:12:42,282.154 And I can tell you that God delights in our prayers of faith like that, and he has been so faithful. 128 00:12:42,342.154 --> 00:12:48,12.154 And I can tell you just time, after time after time where I would pray for something specific. 129 00:12:48,577.154 --> 00:12:55,87.154 I would see this really specific answer to prayer that was so far beyond what I could have come up with on my own. 130 00:12:55,627.154 --> 00:12:58,237.154 And then I just had to, you know, be like, that was God. 131 00:12:58,687.154 --> 00:12:59,707.154 Like that's God. 132 00:12:59,707.154 --> 00:13:04,267.154 And it's like him saying to me, I love you so much that I care about the little details of your life. 133 00:13:04,267.154 --> 00:13:11,107.154 And so I really feel like if we are stressing about something, stress is an indication usually that we're not trusting the Lord. 134 00:13:11,287.154 --> 00:13:11,377.154 Mm-hmm. 135 00:13:11,617.154 --> 00:13:14,227.154 And so that is an opportunity for us to stop. 136 00:13:15,107.154 --> 00:13:25,727.154 Take a breath and really say, where am I not trusting God to be enough? And then releasing that to him and saying, God, I'm really scared about our finances this week. 137 00:13:25,727.154 --> 00:13:27,557.154 I don't know how we're gonna pay our bills. 138 00:13:27,827.154 --> 00:13:33,827.154 I need to go to the grocery store and get groceries, but I, I'm afraid that we're not gonna be able to pay our electric bills. 139 00:13:33,857.154 --> 00:13:34,787.154 Please help me. 140 00:13:35,112.154 --> 00:13:40,362.154 To rest in you and just continue to release that to Lord and then also put feet to your faith. 141 00:13:40,392.154 --> 00:13:53,562.154 And so looking for those creative ways that you can maximize the mileage of your money and asking God to give you eyes to see things in a new way so that you can figure out how to stretch the money that you have. 142 00:13:53,592.154 --> 00:13:56,472.154 And I just find that he is faithful. 143 00:13:56,472.154 --> 00:14:03,732.154 He is always faithful, but it requires us to put our faith in him in order to see his faithfulness. 144 00:14:04,737.154 --> 00:14:05,397.154 Exactly. 145 00:14:05,757.154 --> 00:14:12,567.154 Um, my husband has owned his own business all his life, so, um, income was not consistent. 146 00:14:13,77.154 --> 00:14:19,647.154 And, and we went through times like that too, where it was like, is this gonna keep going? Or, you know, but I. 147 00:14:20,682.154 --> 00:14:31,332.154 Um, as encouragement to moms that God is faithful like of we've been married 37 years now and, um, we've always been provided for even when we thought it wouldn't come through. 148 00:14:31,332.154 --> 00:14:38,172.154 And, um, yeah, that faith is, has been an important part in our life also, um, through all those times. 149 00:14:38,172.154 --> 00:14:39,552.154 And, um, he is faithful. 150 00:14:40,92.154 --> 00:14:42,102.154 Like, that's your story and that's my story. 151 00:14:42,402.154 --> 00:14:45,252.154 And there's thousands of others who have that same story. 152 00:14:45,342.154 --> 00:14:45,642.154 Yeah. 153 00:14:46,272.154 --> 00:14:46,632.154 Yeah. 154 00:14:48,267.154 --> 00:15:08,697.154 What is your go-to method for? Um, a tight budget? A small budget? Well, I think for me it starts with, you know, really prioritizing and so we talked about budgeting and how important that is, and I think to really figure out what is the priority for your family in the season of life that you are in. 155 00:15:08,877.154 --> 00:15:10,977.154 And so we love to use. 156 00:15:10,977.154 --> 00:15:14,37.154 The, um, yap, it's uni to budget.com. 157 00:15:14,37.154 --> 00:15:16,227.154 I think there are lots of tools over the years. 158 00:15:16,227.154 --> 00:15:21,957.154 When we first started out, we actually used a ledger with the, you know, pencil and a ledger, and that worked for us. 159 00:15:21,957.154 --> 00:15:24,357.154 We had a very, very simple budget at that point. 160 00:15:24,837.154 --> 00:15:31,497.154 Our budget is more complicated when you add more children and more activities and more expenses and all of that. 161 00:15:31,497.154 --> 00:15:33,177.154 And so we use YAP now. 162 00:15:33,477.154 --> 00:15:37,77.154 Um, we've also used some other things over the years, but you can even just use a simple spreadsheet. 163 00:15:37,77.154 --> 00:15:38,337.154 But I think having. 164 00:15:38,802.154 --> 00:15:48,192.154 A plan for your money, and at the beginning of the month, pre-deciding where that money is going to go, this is so helpful. 165 00:15:48,252.154 --> 00:15:56,442.154 And so that you aren't just letting the money come in and being like, well, what are we gonna spend it on? That you're actually telling your money where you go, you're making it work for you. 166 00:15:56,442.154 --> 00:15:56,532.154 Mm-hmm. 167 00:15:56,772.154 --> 00:15:58,932.154 Instead of you working for it. 168 00:15:59,232.154 --> 00:15:59,322.154 Yes. 169 00:15:59,322.154 --> 00:16:07,2.154 And so when you set down to do that plan, then you have to prioritize, you have to decide, you know, we have this much money. 170 00:16:07,187.154 --> 00:16:08,477.154 We can't do all the things. 171 00:16:08,477.154 --> 00:16:22,877.154 So what are those things that are most important for us? And one of the things for us was from the get go, committing to tithe, even though the, mm-hmm the money did not make sense on paper saying, God, we're gonna give you 10% and we're gonna trust that you will. 172 00:16:23,317.154 --> 00:16:26,107.154 Take care of us with the additional 90%. 173 00:16:26,107.154 --> 00:16:26,167.154 Yeah. 174 00:16:26,167.154 --> 00:16:28,627.154 And like you said, he was always so faithful. 175 00:16:28,627.154 --> 00:16:30,547.154 He is always so faithful to do that. 176 00:16:30,577.154 --> 00:16:38,107.154 And so that was one way that we just showed our priorities of we're going to put God first and trust him with that. 177 00:16:38,107.154 --> 00:16:45,787.154 And so then another thing for us, um, as our income has increased a little bit, we prioritize experiences over things. 178 00:16:45,787.154 --> 00:16:50,737.154 And so that's something that our family is important and so we're going to put that in the budget. 179 00:16:50,887.154 --> 00:16:52,542.154 Whereas for other people it might be, you know. 180 00:16:52,862.154 --> 00:16:57,902.154 I don't care about my house being decorated, but for other people that might be important or you might care about gardening. 181 00:16:57,902.154 --> 00:16:58,922.154 That's not something that I do. 182 00:16:58,982.154 --> 00:17:05,702.154 So just deciding ahead of time those priorities for your family, maybe when it comes to your kids' activities, when it comes to homeschool. 183 00:17:05,702.154 --> 00:17:09,872.154 You know, if your kid's gonna have your kids in a co-op, or you're gonna, you know, use this curriculum. 184 00:17:09,872.154 --> 00:17:15,32.154 You know, deciding those things ahead of time and then that allows you to be able to budget for them. 185 00:17:15,392.154 --> 00:17:17,792.154 And also thinking ahead to what are your. 186 00:17:17,967.154 --> 00:17:19,917.154 Expenses and then you can budget for those. 187 00:17:19,917.154 --> 00:17:26,337.154 Um, on our website we have a free budgeting spreadsheet that you can download that it has variable expenses and fixed expenses. 188 00:17:26,337.154 --> 00:17:43,257.154 And that's just really to help walk you through if you haven't done this exercise before, what are those fixed expenses? What are those variable expenses? Starting with your fixed expenses then really helps you to decide what do have room for when it comes to variable expenses, and then to decide what you can do each month. 189 00:17:44,757.154 --> 00:17:44,997.154 Yeah. 190 00:17:45,87.154 --> 00:17:49,137.154 So that was actually my next, um, my next thing that I kind of wanna discuss. 191 00:17:49,497.154 --> 00:18:07,707.154 Um, do you remem, do you recommend like cash envelopes or, or digital tracking or for moms who are just starting to budget, how, how do you suggest starting that? And I know you said you start the groundwork, but from there, where, where would you go from there? So I would say. 192 00:18:08,367.154 --> 00:18:13,227.154 You figure out what works best for you, because I don't think there's a one size fits all method. 193 00:18:13,317.154 --> 00:18:15,447.154 I think different people are wired differently. 194 00:18:15,597.154 --> 00:18:21,477.154 I do feel like there's a lot of value in cash envelopes, at least for a short season. 195 00:18:21,477.154 --> 00:18:24,357.154 So if you've never used cash envelopes before. 196 00:18:24,902.154 --> 00:18:26,672.154 It can just be a great exercise. 197 00:18:26,672.154 --> 00:18:38,12.154 I also feel like it's a really valuable exercise for our kids because I think so often our kids, you know, if we're just swiping a card, whether it's a debit or a credit card, our kids are not equating value with that card. 198 00:18:38,222.154 --> 00:18:40,802.154 Like the other day, my 4-year-old daughter, she was. 199 00:18:40,822.154 --> 00:18:47,212.154 She said, I was talking, we've been really working with her on the value of money and that work is how you earn money. 200 00:18:47,212.154 --> 00:18:50,332.154 And so in order to buy things, you have to work in order to earn money. 201 00:18:50,332.154 --> 00:18:56,272.154 And uh, she, I said something about, well, you know, you don't, you don't have enough money for that. 202 00:18:56,272.154 --> 00:18:58,402.154 And she said, well, you can just use your card. 203 00:18:59,632.154 --> 00:19:01,852.154 And I was like, oh, we need to really. 204 00:19:02,152.154 --> 00:19:04,312.154 You know, that's a hard concept for a Oh for sure. 205 00:19:04,312.154 --> 00:19:07,822.154 Like somehow this card equals money in the bank. 206 00:19:07,822.154 --> 00:19:21,202.154 But we're starting to talk about that, so that's why I think having cash envelopes can also really help your kids because they are then understanding that when we go to the store, we're not just swiping a card that to them just is free money, but we're actually pulling. 207 00:19:21,522.154 --> 00:19:23,22.154 Screen cash out of an envelope. 208 00:19:23,82.154 --> 00:19:34,92.154 And so one of the things that I think can be really valuable is just using it for your grocery budget, and it can just be this helpful tool to help you get on a budget. 209 00:19:34,92.154 --> 00:19:36,552.154 Because here's the thing, if you only bring your cash. 210 00:19:36,567.154 --> 00:19:39,417.154 To the grocery store, you will stick with your budget. 211 00:19:40,317.154 --> 00:19:40,527.154 You have to. 212 00:19:40,527.154 --> 00:19:42,117.154 'cause when the money's gone, the money's gone. 213 00:19:42,117.154 --> 00:19:44,367.154 Like you will not have any more money left. 214 00:19:44,367.154 --> 00:19:49,437.154 And so you're gonna have to put some things back if you're over the amount that you have in your cash envelope. 215 00:19:49,437.154 --> 00:20:01,17.154 And so I think that it's a great exercise to just challenge yourself to do, at least in a few areas, for a few months, to just develop that self-discipline and also just kind of, you know, think of your mindset. 216 00:20:01,262.154 --> 00:20:08,792.154 Am I swiping a card without really thinking about how much something costs me and how many hours it requires for me to work. 217 00:20:08,792.154 --> 00:20:25,322.154 I think that's another really valuable lesson to give our kids of how much is my time worth? So is this thing that I want to buy worth the hours that I'm gonna need to spend to work in order to earn that? And so thinking in that, um, context can be really helpful. 218 00:20:25,352.154 --> 00:20:26,342.154 'cause a lot of times you'll be like. 219 00:20:26,772.154 --> 00:20:32,472.154 Nah, I don't, I don't wanna see, like, that's not worth four hours of my time, so I'm just, I'm not gonna buy it. 220 00:20:33,402.154 --> 00:20:34,992.154 Yeah, that's very true. 221 00:20:35,232.154 --> 00:20:36,312.154 Um, it's easy to get away. 222 00:20:36,312.154 --> 00:20:40,872.154 It's easy for it to get away and, and kids need to see cash to put it together. 223 00:20:40,872.154 --> 00:20:41,412.154 For sure. 224 00:20:41,532.154 --> 00:20:41,892.154 Yeah. 225 00:20:42,462.154 --> 00:20:42,852.154 Yeah. 226 00:20:43,242.154 --> 00:20:52,962.154 Um, so like, do you have any suggestions, like you have obviously are the coupon queen by the sounds of, I looked through your website and, and, um. 227 00:20:53,577.154 --> 00:21:14,457.154 Do you have any suggestion for free resources and, um, maybe even digital things that can help, um, people, uh, just kind of organize themselves? Like we, we talked about the, the, um, the envelope, but we also need, um, is there a digital program that you could, they could use or we could use. 228 00:21:15,672.154 --> 00:21:23,412.154 Yeah, so most digital programs are going to cost, but there are some that you can have a basic version for free. 229 00:21:23,592.154 --> 00:21:28,452.154 Like Dave Ramsey has an app that you can use that is a basic budgeting app. 230 00:21:28,452.154 --> 00:21:39,12.154 There's a few of them that, um, I can send you the links to that have, um, just, you can get the basic version for free and then if you really love it and you find that this is super helpful, I wanna actually pay for it. 231 00:21:39,12.154 --> 00:21:41,237.154 'cause it can be sometimes I know it's hard to be like, mm-hmm. 232 00:21:41,332.154 --> 00:21:43,612.154 I'm gonna pay money to be able to save money. 233 00:21:43,612.154 --> 00:21:49,282.154 Like that doesn't make sense, but sometimes it is so helpful for the amount of money that you save. 234 00:21:49,282.154 --> 00:21:57,117.154 And so, um, I think that there are a lot of, so many free resources though, out on the internet, and I feel like a lot of times people don't really. 235 00:21:58,602.154 --> 00:22:04,692.154 You know, see all of the opportunities that are out there and you just, you know, want somebody to kind of give you the quick fix. 236 00:22:04,692.154 --> 00:22:15,342.154 I really feel like with YouTube and just searching online, so you know, if it's I'm really struggling with budget budgeting, or I wanna lower my grocery budget, or whatever it is that you're struggling with. 237 00:22:15,692.154 --> 00:22:20,252.154 Just Googling it and being able to find it out would be a great way to just start. 238 00:22:20,312.154 --> 00:22:22,262.154 Um, also money saving mom.com. 239 00:22:22,262.154 --> 00:22:25,682.154 We have a lot of like, we have the, um, free budgeting resource. 240 00:22:25,682.154 --> 00:22:32,612.154 And then also, um, I was gonna mention that we have a free cheat sheet that is 60 meals to make, um, when you don't feel like cooking. 241 00:22:32,612.154 --> 00:22:34,262.154 And so super easy meals like that. 242 00:22:34,262.154 --> 00:22:35,187.154 We have a lot of things like that. 243 00:22:35,282.154 --> 00:22:38,852.154 And then also just really trying to provide a lot of resources. 244 00:22:39,207.154 --> 00:22:43,107.154 To help you to be able to use your money intentionally. 245 00:22:43,107.154 --> 00:22:48,177.154 One that I was gonna mention, a lot of people order off of Amazon, and if you do, um, there's a website. 246 00:22:48,177.154 --> 00:22:51,447.154 It is a pretty antiquated website, but it still works really well. 247 00:22:51,447.154 --> 00:22:53,607.154 It's called camel Camel camel.com, 248 00:22:53,907.154 --> 00:22:55,347.154 and you can actually type in the. 249 00:22:55,907.154 --> 00:23:01,427.154 Amount of any item that you want to buy, the, the price that you want to pay for it. 250 00:23:01,517.154 --> 00:23:03,827.154 And it will let you know when it goes below that price. 251 00:23:03,857.154 --> 00:23:17,387.154 So I know for a lot of people in the us, especially if you're on some kind of special diet or you order toilet paper from Amazon or whatever it is that you, um, order from Amazon regularly, um, to put it in there and then it'll send you an email when it goes below that price. 252 00:23:17,387.154 --> 00:23:24,167.154 And that's just a great way to be able to keep tabs and get, um, some good deals on things that you are already gonna be buying. 253 00:23:24,877.154 --> 00:23:26,857.154 Yeah, I've actually heard about the Camel. 254 00:23:26,857.154 --> 00:23:27,217.154 Camel. 255 00:23:27,577.154 --> 00:23:29,797.154 Um, I've never used it, but I've heard about it. 256 00:23:30,127.154 --> 00:23:37,27.154 And, um, I'm, I like when I talked about resources, I, I also was on your website for quite some time, a little while ago. 257 00:23:37,267.154 --> 00:23:38,17.154 A couple days ago. 258 00:23:38,17.154 --> 00:23:40,507.154 And, um, I would say that that would be, I. 259 00:23:40,752.154 --> 00:23:42,72.154 An excellent resource. 260 00:23:42,72.154 --> 00:23:50,382.154 Your website is an excellent resource for, for moms, um, or anyone looking for deals because, um, it's full of ideas and full of things. 261 00:23:50,382.154 --> 00:23:57,792.154 And, um, I do have some American moms watching me and some Canadian moms, so, um, you'll, it will work for some. 262 00:23:58,592.154 --> 00:24:01,712.154 Some stuff will work in Canada, some will not, and vice versa. 263 00:24:01,712.154 --> 00:24:06,692.154 So, but, um, it still is a good resource and, and your freebies are definitely a good resource. 264 00:24:07,172.154 --> 00:24:24,692.154 Um, so you were talking about, um, experiences rather than things and, um, I think that, um, I find in general, like my, my children are tending to go more to experiences because they don't like our parents handed stuff down to us. 265 00:24:24,692.154 --> 00:24:25,952.154 And then, um. 266 00:24:26,562.154 --> 00:24:28,212.154 I think we built on it. 267 00:24:28,212.154 --> 00:24:30,432.154 And then, but our kids are seeing a different way. 268 00:24:30,762.154 --> 00:24:39,42.154 I think just in, within my family, I'm just talking within my family and, um, they often say that like, experiences are way more important than things. 269 00:24:39,282.154 --> 00:24:56,22.154 And, um, how would you suggest a mom to give her child, family, a family to give them their, their children experiences in a budgeted way? Well, first off, there are lots of experiences that don't cost anything. 270 00:24:56,22.154 --> 00:24:57,42.154 It just takes your time. 271 00:24:57,42.154 --> 00:25:00,642.154 And sometimes I feel like our time is our most precious commodity as a mom. 272 00:25:00,942.154 --> 00:25:05,412.154 You know, sometimes it's easier to buy things than to give our time. 273 00:25:05,532.154 --> 00:25:16,902.154 And so to recognize like, playing games with our kids, I have a, a 4-year-old and 2-year-old, and we, um, just got the, um, just some games that I loved when I was. 274 00:25:16,932.154 --> 00:25:21,492.154 Was younger and our older kids, we have a, a 20-year-old, a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old. 275 00:25:21,492.154 --> 00:25:24,222.154 So we have this big gap in between and um. 276 00:25:25,62.154 --> 00:25:27,162.154 Just sitting and playing games with them. 277 00:25:27,192.154 --> 00:25:36,402.154 Like they love that you can find games at the thrift store, garage sale, or just ask around people, you know, ask your friends like, do you have any games you don't want anymore? Um, there's lots of ways to do that. 278 00:25:36,402.154 --> 00:25:42,252.154 And so, you know, just looking for ways to build experiences with your kids that don't. 279 00:25:42,312.154 --> 00:25:43,872.154 Cost money first. 280 00:25:43,872.154 --> 00:25:53,832.154 If you're on a really tight budget there, usually it depends upon where you live, but a lot of times there are lots of, maybe there's nature trails, maybe there is, you know, some, a free movie night in the park. 281 00:25:53,832.154 --> 00:25:56,652.154 You know, just looking for those types of things and start there. 282 00:25:56,712.154 --> 00:26:07,392.154 And then if you're wanting to do something more than thinking outside the box, um, sometimes you can volunteer for places and be able to earn, um, different types of. 283 00:26:07,617.154 --> 00:26:19,347.154 You know, ability to have tickets to something or, um, you, I don't know what the libraries are like in Canada, but um, here some of our libraries will give you free tickets to like the zoo. 284 00:26:19,347.154 --> 00:26:24,207.154 Um, another thing is asking for memberships for Christmas and birthday presents. 285 00:26:24,207.154 --> 00:26:32,442.154 If you have grandparents who are generous instead of asking them for things for your kids, for their birthdays and Christmas, asking for them to give. 286 00:26:33,77.154 --> 00:26:38,687.154 Memberships, you know, whether it's to the science museum or you know, some place that your family loves to go. 287 00:26:38,687.154 --> 00:26:47,567.154 And so that's one way that you can really be able to get a lot of experience is for basically nothing because the grand birds were already going to be buying gifts. 288 00:26:47,567.154 --> 00:26:50,507.154 And so that's, that's something that we have done, that we found to be. 289 00:26:50,667.154 --> 00:26:51,357.154 Really valuable. 290 00:26:51,357.154 --> 00:26:54,927.154 There are also a lot of places that offer grants for different things. 291 00:26:54,927.154 --> 00:27:01,77.154 So if you're on a really low income, um, to be able to look at what the grant options are for things like that. 292 00:27:01,647.154 --> 00:27:09,597.154 Um, getting creative, thinking outside the box, like I talked about, you know, praying and asking God to give you, um, creative ideas and, and then just. 293 00:27:09,992.154 --> 00:27:24,902.154 Really making it something that's exciting and fun, because I think so often the way that we speak about things, our kids pick up on it, and so they constantly hear us stressing about finances, worrying about things, you know, how we're gonna pay for things or. 294 00:27:24,982.154 --> 00:27:28,732.154 Feeling badly that we're not doing enough for our kids, they're gonna pick up on that. 295 00:27:28,732.154 --> 00:27:42,142.154 But if instead they hear a mom who she is excited about trusting the Lord, she's excited about how you're gonna go to the park today and you're gonna have a picnic and you're gonna go feed the ducks, you know, and you're just talking about what you're excited about doing, they're going to pick up on that too. 296 00:27:42,142.154 --> 00:27:46,942.154 And, and our attitude and our perspective on life really impacts our kids. 297 00:27:46,942.154 --> 00:27:51,292.154 And an attitude of gratitude, I feel like is something that's gonna bless everyone around us. 298 00:27:52,377.154 --> 00:27:53,127.154 Absolutely. 299 00:27:53,127.154 --> 00:27:53,397.154 Yeah. 300 00:27:53,787.154 --> 00:28:03,807.154 I, um, like when our children were young, I, we would go to the park and then, um, we would get a McDonald's ice cream, which were 99 cents, so we could do the whole family for $10. 301 00:28:03,807.154 --> 00:28:04,77.154 Right. 302 00:28:04,77.154 --> 00:28:05,877.154 And that was, it was cost effective. 303 00:28:05,877.154 --> 00:28:08,697.154 And, and to them, an ice cream is just as good as anything. 304 00:28:08,697.154 --> 00:28:08,997.154 Right. 305 00:28:08,997.154 --> 00:28:11,487.154 So they didn't feel like they were being. 306 00:28:12,342.154 --> 00:28:13,332.154 Didn't have much. 307 00:28:13,332.154 --> 00:28:14,982.154 They just were happy with what they had. 308 00:28:15,312.154 --> 00:28:29,232.154 And yeah, that, um, sometimes we think we have to give so much and it has to be, but it doesn't have to be that it can be a lot less and there can, they, you can create memory memories that your children will remember for the rest of their life without the money. 309 00:28:29,322.154 --> 00:28:29,592.154 Yeah. 310 00:28:30,12.154 --> 00:28:30,642.154 So, yeah. 311 00:28:31,2.154 --> 00:28:41,772.154 Um, there was one more question I I, I wanted to ask 'cause I think moms, this could be a concern for moms who are on a budget and 'cause there's always birthdays, especially us home. 312 00:28:42,162.154 --> 00:28:44,592.154 Homeschool families love their big, their big families. 313 00:28:45,162.154 --> 00:28:59,592.154 And um, like for special occasions like Christmas or holidays or birthdays or um, those extra cost time times, how would you suggest to deal with that? So one of the things I always encourage people is plan ahead. 314 00:28:59,982.154 --> 00:29:01,117.154 You know, it comes around. 315 00:29:01,737.154 --> 00:29:04,107.154 Every single year and so don't wait till the last minute. 316 00:29:04,377.154 --> 00:29:11,847.154 Um, there are a lot of apps I know, at least in the US I think that they work other places as well where you can earn gift cards and cash back. 317 00:29:11,847.154 --> 00:29:15,807.154 And I know a lot of my followers, this is something that they do all year long. 318 00:29:15,807.154 --> 00:29:18,567.154 They will be saving that up to pay for Christmas. 319 00:29:18,567.154 --> 00:29:20,547.154 And so that's something to look into. 320 00:29:20,547.154 --> 00:29:22,347.154 We actually have a cheat sheet on our site. 321 00:29:22,567.154 --> 00:29:25,207.154 Um, that's free all about the different apps that we recommend. 322 00:29:25,207.154 --> 00:29:26,437.154 I can send you the link for that. 323 00:29:26,707.154 --> 00:29:32,257.154 Um, but then also I think one of the things is to set the expectations that are realistic. 324 00:29:32,617.154 --> 00:29:40,27.154 We don't do big birthday parties, we've just never done that for our kids, and that's just something that we have decided is not a priority. 325 00:29:40,357.154 --> 00:29:43,537.154 But we always do things that make them feel really valued. 326 00:29:43,537.154 --> 00:29:47,947.154 And so one of the things is that my husband and I will both take the birthday child out. 327 00:29:47,992.154 --> 00:29:49,852.154 Separately for a little date. 328 00:29:49,912.154 --> 00:29:51,37.154 Like that's just something mm-hmm. 329 00:29:51,117.154 --> 00:29:52,552.154 That we have always done for years. 330 00:29:52,552.154 --> 00:29:57,262.154 And it, we just, it's just a really special time for us to get to spend one-on-one time with them. 331 00:29:57,352.154 --> 00:30:01,942.154 And then also they get to pick something else, so they get to pick the meal that we're gonna do. 332 00:30:01,942.154 --> 00:30:04,552.154 And then usually some type of activity that we're gonna do. 333 00:30:04,642.154 --> 00:30:08,272.154 And it will be different things, it really depends on the child. 334 00:30:08,302.154 --> 00:30:12,352.154 Um, but we've had a few times where a child wanted to do a party. 335 00:30:12,382.154 --> 00:30:15,802.154 And so what we actually have done is we've given them a budget. 336 00:30:16,272.154 --> 00:30:19,392.154 We've said, here's your budget and you can plan the party. 337 00:30:19,392.154 --> 00:30:21,252.154 And again, this is great homeschool. 338 00:30:21,522.154 --> 00:30:34,962.154 Um, so they will have to give us a, who they want to invite, what all of the costs are going to be, how it's gonna fit into the budget, what the order of the party will be like, what they're gonna do and everything. 339 00:30:35,262.154 --> 00:30:38,922.154 And it has been so interesting because they are so creative. 340 00:30:38,922.154 --> 00:30:40,572.154 My son, when he was. 341 00:30:41,352.154 --> 00:30:47,532.154 I think he was six or seven, I don't remember exactly, but young, and he wanted to do a little party with some of his friends for his birthday. 342 00:30:47,832.154 --> 00:30:49,722.154 Well, he came up with the idea here. 343 00:30:49,752.154 --> 00:31:01,302.154 Um, the Home Depot and Lowe's stores have these free days where you can go in and you can do this project and they give you all the things and they, um, you know, it's a little project for kids. 344 00:31:01,302.154 --> 00:31:07,92.154 And so he came up with the idea that his, he and his friends would go and do that for his birthday. 345 00:31:07,92.154 --> 00:31:09,882.154 And then he's like, and then we'll just have a cake and ice cream. 346 00:31:09,882.154 --> 00:31:10,482.154 And in. 347 00:31:10,687.154 --> 00:31:12,517.154 I was like, that is brilliant. 348 00:31:12,517.154 --> 00:31:14,407.154 I would've never come up with that on my own. 349 00:31:14,737.154 --> 00:31:24,697.154 But because I put it in and I empowered him, like for you to come up with the idea, it really, he came up with this creative idea and so I think sometimes we don't, I. 350 00:31:25,182.154 --> 00:31:34,482.154 Really value how much creativity our kids can have and how it can be a fun thing for them to think outside the box and also then to really learn the skills. 351 00:31:34,482.154 --> 00:31:40,812.154 My daughter is now the head, um, she's the coordinator, the fun coordinator at her campus ministry at college for. 352 00:31:41,277.154 --> 00:31:42,777.154 Lots and lots and lots of kids. 353 00:31:42,777.154 --> 00:31:50,127.154 She, she, um, coordinates every single week their fun activities and all this stuff, and, and she MCs it and all that. 354 00:31:50,127.154 --> 00:32:00,237.154 And I look back to like when she was eight and 10 and 12 and putting together those little agendas for the different things that she wanted to do and how now I see her using those gifts and skills. 355 00:32:00,237.154 --> 00:32:08,157.154 And so I'm just, I really think that when we involve our kids and we make it something fun and we make it something enjoyable and we. 356 00:32:08,452.154 --> 00:32:16,162.154 Are teaching them skills throughout it, it can just be something that becomes so much more special because they have so much more ownership in it as well. 357 00:32:16,162.154 --> 00:32:19,492.154 And so they enjoy it more because it was their thing that they planned. 358 00:32:19,732.154 --> 00:32:19,882.154 Mm-hmm. 359 00:32:20,542.154 --> 00:32:21,472.154 Excellent, excellent. 360 00:32:21,742.154 --> 00:32:25,912.154 And that's just a great, um, it's time for us to go now. 361 00:32:26,212.154 --> 00:32:30,322.154 Um, and that's just a great way to end it, like, um. 362 00:32:31,692.154 --> 00:32:37,422.154 Taking, have our children involved in, in what, um, we're trying to teach them. 363 00:32:37,422.154 --> 00:32:41,622.154 And also that servicing our budget also. 364 00:32:41,622.154 --> 00:32:49,542.154 So, um, I just wanna thank you so much, uh, for coming on and um, so I think it's money Saving mom.com 365 00:32:49,542.154 --> 00:32:50,292.154 is your website. 366 00:32:50,862.154 --> 00:32:51,162.154 Yes. 367 00:32:51,162.154 --> 00:32:52,152.154 There's so much on there. 368 00:32:52,152.154 --> 00:32:53,472.154 And you also do a blog. 369 00:32:54,72.154 --> 00:32:56,262.154 Do you not for a podcast? Yes, I do. 370 00:32:56,262.154 --> 00:32:58,92.154 It's, it's called the Crystal Pain Show? Yes. 371 00:32:58,92.154 --> 00:32:58,422.154 Okay. 372 00:32:58,422.154 --> 00:33:02,832.154 So yeah, so there's a lot of information and a lot of resources for moms. 373 00:33:03,372.154 --> 00:33:04,332.154 Within your website. 374 00:33:04,842.154 --> 00:33:12,162.154 And, um, and then you also have a several books that you created, but that's also on your website if moms wanna go, take a peek at that. 375 00:33:12,162.154 --> 00:33:22,602.154 And, um, to help them, help them get to the, um, a more positive, uh, budgeting attitude and, um, help moms through that situation in life. 376 00:33:22,602.154 --> 00:33:27,702.154 So thank you very much Crystal for coming on and, um, and I really appreciate it. 377 00:33:28,617.154 --> 00:33:29,877.154 Thank you so much for having me. 378 00:33:29,877.154 --> 00:33:44,277.154 I also was gonna mention that on the website, for those of you who are in Canada who some of the deals wouldn't necessarily work, um, we have where you can just click a button where it says, um, that it's light feed only or non-deal, and we have an email newsletter that's just for the non-deal. 379 00:33:44,457.154 --> 00:33:49,677.154 And then it's, you can just click that and it will just show you all of the articles and things that would work for anyone. 380 00:33:49,917.154 --> 00:33:50,97.154 So. 381 00:33:50,217.154 --> 00:33:50,907.154 Oh, that's great. 382 00:33:50,907.154 --> 00:33:51,777.154 Great information. 383 00:33:51,957.154 --> 00:33:52,167.154 Okay. 384 00:33:52,167.154 --> 00:33:52,647.154 Thank you. 385 00:33:53,427.154 --> 00:33:54,657.154 Thank you so much.
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