Category Archives: Family

Should You Buy the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle

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The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is here! Keep reading below the image for the full scoop and to find out what e-books and bonuses are included this year!

I’m not big on spending money or buying something just because it’s a good deal. If you aren’t going to read any of the books or use any of the bonuses, you are wasting your money. I’m not trying to talk you out of purchasing by any stretch of the imagination. The bonuses alone more than cover the cost of the bundle (in fact they cover it 6 times over).

Here’s how I recommend you approach this bundle.

Look over the e-book titles.

  • Are there any that you’ve been meaning (or wanting) to purchase?
  • How many and how much are they?
  • Are there any new to you e-books that would benefit you?

Check out the bonuses.

  • Are any of them items you normally purchase or you might be needing?
  • How much money are you going to have to spend to receive the bonuses?

As you figure up what books and products in the bundle you really want and how much they are worth you can even use sale prices you have seen them for before, then come up with the total. The bundle might be cheaper. Even it’s a bit more, you will receive all 84 resources and the bonuses. There’s a pretty good chance you’ll find another book you’ll enjoy or you might know the perfect person to gift something to.

On the other hand, if there’s only one book or bonus you’ll actually use, you might be better off purchasing just it!

This weekend, I’m going to break down the bonuses so that you’ll have a better idea of how much money they are going to cost you out of pocket with shipping. If you are on the fence, it might help you decide what to do! I’ll also share some of the e-books that most interest me.

Keep reading below for FULL DETAILS including a list of all the bonuses, e-books, and resources you’ll find in the bundle!

Get The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle--Hurry: Sale 6 Days Only!

By popular demand, 100+ homemaking bloggers are bringing back The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, and it’s better than ever!

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is a complete library of great eBooks on homemaking—a truly valuable knowledge base you’ll use for many years to come.

Unlike a library, though, you don’t have to spend years building it up. The Ultimate Bundles team has done the hard work for you, searching the web to find the very best eBooks from top homemaking authors and combining them into one essential collection that you can buy in one simple purchase.

Act now to get the ultimate eBook collection on homemaking at a once-in-a-lifetime price.

Buy the PDF BundleBuy the Kindle Bundle

I’m confident you won’t find a more comprehensive set of homemaking resources anywhere — and certainly not at this price. Bought separately, they’d cost a total of $698 (not including $200+ in bonuses!). But you can have all of them for just $29.97!

Or, for just an extra $10, you not only get the full set of PDF files, but also a bonus set of Kindle editions, perfectly formatted for easy Kindle reading. This has been a popular request over the years and I’m excited to say it’s now available!

I believe it’s the best deal on homemaking eBooks anywhere on the web. But it will only be available for six days. So grab yours before it’s gone!

You get ALL THIS in The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle!

This huge wealth of information and guidance will be right there on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, or Kindle, whenever you need it.

Here’s what you need to know about the sale:

When? 8 a.m. EST Wednesday, April 23 until 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, April 28

What? 78 eBooks, 2 eCourses, 2 audio files, and 2 printable packs PLUS over $200 worth of bonus products you’ll really use!

Where? Purchase the bundle here.

How much? Well now, that’s the best part. The entire package is worth nearly $900, and it’s selling for less than $30. Sweet deal, right?

Get ALL of these eBooks for 1 LOW Price! One Week Only!

What’s in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle? ($698 value!)

Homemaking

Food

Motherhood

Marriage

Faith

Faith {For Kids}

Financial Stewardship

Health & Wellness

Holidays & Special Events

Homeschooling

Pregnancy & Babies

Self-Care

Working from Home & Blogging

What are the Ultimate Homemaking Bonus Offers? ($200+ value)

bonus-images

In addition to all the amazing eResources, this bundle includes the best bonus offers it’s ever had. These deals are worth over six times the price of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. So you’re up on the deal right away!

  1. DaySpring—A FREE 10-pack of Premium Greeting Cards. ($20.00 Value. Standard shipping applies.)
  2. HopeInk—$15 HopeInk store credit to be used towards anything + a FREE 8×10 Art Print with order. ($39.00 Value. Standard shipping applies.)
  3. Redeeming Beauty Mineral Makeup—3 FREE eyeshadows of your choice from Redeeming Beauty. ($16.47 Value. Standard shipping applies – only ships to US and Canada.)
  4. Marie-Madeline Studio—A $15 store credit for anything in Marie-Madeline Studio’s online store. ($15.00 value. Standard shipping applies.)
  5. Once a Month Meals—A FREE One Month Pro Membership from Once a Month Meals. ($16.00 Value. No shipping required.)
  6. Dizolve—FREE 64-load pack of Dizolve Laundry Strips for you PLUS a Free 64-load pack of Dizolve Laundry Strips for food banks. ($25.98 value. Standard shipping [$3] applies. Only ships in the US.)
  7. TrilLight Health—Get a FREE 2 oz. bottle of a liquid health formula OR $15 store credit from Trilight Health. ($15.00 Value. Standard shipping rates apply.)
  8. ListPlanIt—Free 3-month membership OR 3 free ePlanners from ListPlanIt. ($15.00 value. No shipping required.)
  9. Bulk Herb Store—Instant download of the instructional video Making Herbs Simple Volume 2 for FREE from Bulk Herb Store. (up to a $15.00 Value. No shipping required.)
  10. Fit2B™ Studio—FREE 2-Month Online Fitness Membership at Fit2B™ Studio. (up to a $20.00 Value. No shipping required.)

Buy the PDF BundleBuy the Kindle Bundle

Remember, this bundle is available for 6 days only, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, April 23 to 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Monday, April 28th.

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post. Read the fine print about this bundle and read the answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle.

Budgeting Your Way to a More Enjoyable Vacation

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Over the weekend I had a guest post published on Money Saving Mom. I wanted to share it with you all today. It deals with how budgeting (and using cash) made vacationing a much more enjoyable experience for me and 5 steps to budgeting your way to a more enjoyable vacation.

Budgeting Your Way to a More Enjoyable Vacation | How budgeting and using cash made vacations way more fun for this tightwad

Here’s a portion of it:

I tend to be a tightwad — in fact, spending money can cause me pain! This means I can be a difficult person to vacation with. I see dollar signs if we consider doing certain activities on a trip or want treat ourselves to something as simple as ice cream sundaes. Thoughts about what we aren’t going to be able to do with our money come to mind.

However, budgeting has helped me enjoy vacationing so much more. I even get excited about doing activities that cost money. How does that work? Isn’t budgeting supposed to help you not spend money?

Budgeting is about making your money work for you and having it go where you tell it. I’m going to share how our vacation budget works for us and allows me to get away for a few days with my family while actually enjoying myself.

Read the rest on Money Saving Mom!

After you read it, I’d love to know if spending money, even if you’ve budgeted for it, is difficult? Does having the cash in your wallet make it easier to splurge on things or am I the only one? I know it’s illogical, since swiping the card will take the money from the same place the cash already came from, but goodness, mentally it’s way easier for me!

Linking up to these fun parties!

Gingerbread Latte

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Guest post from Kara (one of my wonderful sisters whom you met last week)

I’ve been barista at a quaint, little drive-thru coffee stand for over a year now, and I can honestly say I enjoy a good, tasty cup of coffee anytime. My favorite part of working at a coffee shop around Christmas, is the delicious, Christmas-y latte flavors. You know the ones I’m talking about, peppermint mocha, gingerbread, pumpkin spice, and eggnog; my mouth is watering just at the thought of them. But on my days off, I don’t want to drive all the way there for just a coffee, so with the encouragement of Dee, I came up with my own latte/coffee recipe that I can make at home! That means I can stay in my warm home, in my pajamas, and drink a warm, tasty latte.

This recipe comes in two parts – the cold brew and then the latte. MAKE SURE to PLAN AHEAD for the cold brew – you need 12-24 hours.

COLD BREW

Ingredients: (may half, double, triple to whatever amount you would like)

  • 3 cups cold water
  • 1 cup coffee grounds (Coarse or medium-coarse)
  • Coffee Filters

Instructions:

Yummy and perfectly spicy gingerbread latte. Perfect thing to get you going on a cold winter morning.

  • Separate the coffee grounds into several coffee filters and tie with rubber bands
  • Set the little coffee bags into a pitcher and pour the water on top.
  • Let the coffee grounds sit in the water on the counter 12-24 HOURS.
  • After 12-24 hours has gone by, remove the coffee bags and throw away.
  • Get a second pitcher with a strainer lined with another coffee filter. Pour the coffee through the filter.
  • Store in the fridge in a sealed jar. Keeps for about 2-2 1/2 weeks.

Yummy and perfectly spicy gingerbread latte. Perfect thing to get you going on a cold winter morning.

4.5 from 2 reviews
Print
Gingerbread Latte
 
Ingredients
  • 1⅓ cup cold brew
  • 1 cup milk or half & half (I suggest the half & half or at least a mix of both)
  • ⅛ tsp. ground clove
  • ¼ tsp. ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 3½ tbs. brown sugar
  • whipped cream, optional
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan on low heat.
  2. Heat to your desired temperature, stirring occasionally.
  3. (optional) If you like foam, use a whisk to beat mixture until you get a foamy surface.
  4. Ladle out into mug, top with (optional) whipped cream and/or cinnamon.
Notes
Everyone has their own coffee tastes, some stronger and some weaker, so as long as you start with 2⅓ cup of milk/cold brew, you can easily adjust to meet your taste.

 

This week continues all things Christmas at From this Kitchen Table. (Find all the posts here.) Be sure to come back this week for a fabulous recipe for a pumpkin cheesecake (in a pie pan) and thoughts on losing the Christmas chaos! You can follow us on Facebook or subscribe by e-mail to be sure you don’t miss out!

The perfect gingerbread latte. Uses a cold brew. Great for the cold winter days.

Linking up to Teach Me Tuesday, Titus 2 Tuesday, Create it or Bake it, WFMW, Welcome Home Wednesday,  Homemaking Link-Up, Lovely Ladies, Simple Lives, Thriving Thursday,  House to Home, Thrifty Thursday, Pin It Thursday, The Pin it Party, Faith Filled Friday, Let’s Get Real, The Weekend reTreat, Link Party Palooza, Strut Your Stuff, Mama Moments, Living Proverbs 31, TGIM, Babies and Beyond, Do Tell Tuesday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Good Tips Tuesday, Share Your Stuff Tuesday, Weekend Wind-Down Link Party, What’s Cookin’ Wednesday, Mixing Bowl Party

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The Best Teenage Girl Gift Ideas

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Teenage Girl Gift Ideas

Teenage girl gift ideas. Don’t we all need those?! Teen girls. They have to be one of the hardest groups to buy for. You might be birthday shopping or maybe you are looking for Christmas gifts for teen girls. I’m excited for you to meet two of my sisters (maybe someday you’ll meet them all – there are 4 more!), Kara and Julia. As a sophomore and senior, they are the perfect ones to write this gift guide (and they have good style to boot).

They wrote this post to moms, but take the ideas and buy for any teenage girl in your life.

Remember, I’d recommend that you research any media or book suggestions before you purchase them for your child (or if you are buying for someone else’s child, run it buy their parents first) as each family has different guidelines.

Now, here’s Kara and Julia!

 

Some links are affiliate links.

Teenage Girl Gift Ideas

Teenagers can be very hard to buy presents for sometimes. As the years go by, it gets more and more difficult. So, coming from two teenage girls, here are some teenage girl gift ideas that we and most other teen girls would love to receive.

1. Clothes

If you know your daughter’s style and favorite store, any teenage girl would LOVE to have more clothes to add to their closet. Some of the popular stores for teens: Target, Forever 21, Aeropostale, Hollister, and Wet Seal.

2. Phone or iPod Case

Girls like to change their phone cases just as much as they like to change outfits. One of my favorite places for cases is Wallflower Designs. You can also look at Amazon.

3. Money

Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t be happy with receiving money. You can do whatever you want with it: save it, buy a favorite thing, or spend it on anything else you want.

4. Movies

Most girls love to watch movies. It’s the best to cuddle up on the couch and watch a good film. I have a collection of movies that I keep stored up in my room that I can just pull off the shelf anytime I want to. One of my personal favorites is The Avengers.

5. CDs

Just like movies, teens LOVE music. We could listen to it all day if our parents would let us. I keep a collection of CD’s in my room just like I do with movies. If your child isn’t an album kind of person, get them an itunes gift card… which brings us to the next suggestion. I just love the Imagine Dragon’s album Night Visions. 

6. Gift Cards

Don’t know what types of music, clothes, jewelry, etc. your child likes? Well, gift cards are always a safe bet. It allows your child to be assured that they actually will get what they like. You can easily buy a gift card from your daughter’s favorite store, but if you’re not sure, you can never go wrong with iTunes, Starbucks (or any other food place), or any of the clothing stores I listed above. Don’t forget you can use your Swabucks to buy these!

7. Jewelry

Any girl would be happy to receive any kind of jewelry – rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, or anything else you can think of. I just love it when someone buys me an adorable necklace or a cute bracelet. You can find jewelry at almost any clothing store and even online. If you know their style and know they would love it, surprise them, but some teen girls can be pretty picky. You could make a date out of it and take her jewelry shopping so she could pick out her favorites.

8. Books

For your daughter that loves to read, any book would be the best gift ever. Check and see if she is missing any from her collections of favorite novels. You can look through her bookcase to get her taste in books. If you’re still not sure, one of our top favorite books ever is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

9. Perfume, Body Lotions and Spray

I know for me, I absolutely love body spray. It is my number one must have before I leave the house. Not only do I get lots of compliments from friends, but also it is a great way to smell fresh all day long. Bath and Body Works is always a given for a great place to buy from.

[Note from Deanna – you can also make your own to avoid harmful chemical. Check out this recipe for Body Spray or this one for Body Butter]

10. FOOD

This is a must have. Christmas is that time to fill yourself on foods that aren’t good for you. So why not go all out on one day? Just fill your daughter’s stocking with cookies, candy, gum, etc. Even if you have a daughter who is into eating healthy, you can still get tasty energy bars and healthy snacks she’d love!

11. Sunglasses and Accessories

Accessories are a HUGE part of a girl’s wardrobe. Scarves, hats, sunglasses, shoes, purses and you name it. Last Christmas this was all I asked for from friends. I loved it. You can easily dress up a casual shirt with a hat and scarf, and it’s super cute. Forever 21 has ADORABLE accessories, and you can find more at Target, Walmart, Payless (or any local shoe store) and basically any clothing store.

Depending on your budget, you can mix and match any of these options to create an awesome gift. We can be picky but we’ll love anything you give us.

 

Thank you, sisters! Hooray for ideas for Christmas gifts for teen girls. If you have questions for them or want to run a gift by them, ask in the comments! What are you favorite teenage girl gift ideas?

This is the fifth post in the Christmas series at From this Kitchen Table. (Find all the posts here.) Be sure to come back for the next post – a recipe for a Gingerbread Latte. You can follow us on Facebook or subscribe by e-mail to be sure you don’t miss out!
Gift Guide for Teenage Girls - 11 ideas any girl would love. (Written by two teens)

The best Christmas gifts for teen girls

Look Upward

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Today I’m excited to share with you the words of someone else. I’m so thankful for her thoughts, heart, and influence, not only here but throughout my life. I’m excited to introduce you to my mom, Vicki! I can’t think of a more fitting person to write the first guest contribution on this blog as she shares her thoughts on keeping your eyes on Christ at Christmas.

It happened again today.

I took my eyes from the vertical position, heavenward, and turned them toward the horizontal. My focus went from following only what the Holy Spirit is directing me to do to focusing on what my friends, neighbors, church, authors, and radio show hosts are telling me I should be doing.

Why do I continue to do that? I know what looking horizontally brings – fatigue, depression, feelings of inadequacies, trying to please others, the fear of letting others down, and frustration. I guess if I had to sum it up, I would say it makes my burdens heavy. Like a chain around my neck, I carry the burdens alone. But, oh the difference when my eyes have been looking upward.

“What next, Lord? Okay, I’ll do it.” Today, God has told me to go “there.” As Vance Havner said,

“’There’ is the place of God’s purpose. God has a ‘there’ for you, somewhere He wants you to be, something He wants you to do. You can never be truly happy elsewhere, nor can you please God anywhere but ‘there’.”

The path is not always easy. The days are not without trials. The problems are still before me. The difference is only in the weight of the burden. When I walk where He tells me to walk, the burden on me is light because He is carrying it for me.

During this Christmas season, we celebrate a day 2,000 years ago when God told His only Son, Jesus Christ, to go ‘there’ – the place of God’s purpose – and He went. Help me in all the hustle and bustle of this Christmas season to keep my eyes centered only on Him. For only then will I be where He wants to use me today.

This week continues all things Christmas at From this Kitchen Table. (Find all the posts here.) Be sure to come back the rest of the week for a gift guide for teenage girls (written by my two teenage sisters) and to get a fabulous recipe for a gingerbread latte. You can follow us on Facebook or subscribe by e-mail to be sure you don’t miss out!

Thoughts on looking upward this Christmas season. Don't be distracted by the hustle and bustle.

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