Category: Finance

Dress Shopping

Dress Shopping for my eldest girl’s first dance. “I’m Losing My Mind!”

September 30, 2018

Dress Shopping

The alternate title to today’s blog could be: AHHHHHHH!!  I have a teenage girl going to a dance!  I’m losing my mind!  (Yelled like the Dad in “Signs” as they are chasing the “Wolfington Brothers” out of the yard.)

Granted, she will be fifteen when she’s going.  (YIKES!)

And, yes, that picture of her is my favorite.  She dresses up and wins “best dressed,” but she’s way more at home in jeans, t-shirt, clean face, and some weapon strapped to her (jacket in the picture because it was literally freezing).  So “I’m going to a homecoming dance” seems really foreign.  (This is the same kid who built all of the Lord of the Rings weapons from wood 4 years ago… Gimli’s ax, Gandolf’s staff, Legolas’ bow, Aragon’s sword, etc.)

I’m a bit irritated that we allowed her to go thinking she could have an adult chaperone and the school doesn’t allow a parent or uncle to attend.  (They will have to deal with Mom & 5 younger siblings watching every episode of “Torchlighters” and “The Greatest Adventure Stories” in the parking lot in the van – and likely having their own dance party like we do when waiting for her at CAP.)

You know, I’m just an overprotective parent who doesn’t like the idea of dropping a non-driving teen off at an unknown school 45 minutes from her house in an area that has no local cabs.  I always had an “exit strategy” when I went somewhere by myself and unknown.  Granted, I never had to use it, but always had it preplanned.

Since I can’t rent an apache helicopter for the night, my kiddie-loaded van will have to do.

Back to the shopping.

I’m not much into shopping – or thought I wasn’t.  I go in with a list and nothing else touches my buggy.  It better be on the list next time.  Today, the list includes three burning words “Christina’s green dress.”  (I should write to Professor VonDrake: Dear Doctor, HHHEEEEELLLLPPPP!)

Six thrift stores, lots of very helpful ladies, and almost three hours later, we find it – of course, at the place we originally thought would be most likely to have it.  (Thank you, Betty Griffin Thrift!)  Not only did we find the perfect dress, but also found the perfect shoes to go with it and a pair of sneakers for two who needed sneakers… and dresses & shoes were half off.  (Thank you, Jesus!)  Becky even found a “snake light” with gator-colored lamps and it was also half-off! (I instantly thought Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and some snake-headed apparatus, but it seems “snake light” means the lamps are attached to the stand with bendable metal.)  We have been looking for a lamp for the dining room for a little over a year and a half.  I’m very happy leaving decorating up to Becky because she always finds stuff that Louis approves of.  (My attempts at interior decoration resemble the outcome of Doris Day’s frustration when redecorating “Rex Stetson’s” apartment in “Pillow Talk.”)

Total damage at all 6 shops combined: 20 pencils, 2 expo markers, a sharpie, some crayons, 5 red pens, a school box, four pairs of shoes (three sneakers, one dress), five shirts, two skirts, one pair of shorts, formal dress, standing snake lamp, 5 extra bulbs, and one extra bowl (matched our current set).  This ran us $38.  I love thrift store shopping!

The girls used their own money to buy things like: a Barbie doll, two birthday gifts for Christina, four baby stuffed animals, a wallet, toys for the “Treasure box” at Sunday School, and some assorted other items.

Lucas was happy, showing everyone his “new shoes” through the last three stores.

I’ve discovered I do enjoy shopping, when I’m hunting something specific and spending time with my children.  I certainly enjoy family time – even if the other girls are all constantly teasing Christina and a wee voice in my brain is screaming, “I’m not ready for a going-out teenager!”

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Upcoming Show!

Come join us for some craft show fun! Sunday, October 14, 2018 between 1pm & 4pm

September 30, 2018

Upcoming Show!

The girls are ecstatic about October 14th.

It isn’t someone’s birthday (although it’s two days after Becky turns thirteen!).

It isn’t an anniversary.

It’s the day of the Shores Fall Craft Fair at the Shores Clubhouse in Saint Augustine!  For the girls, this is a chance to meet people, show off their wares (they like to make various crafts), talk about illustrating Mommy’s books, and enjoy looking at all the amazing crafts for sale.  (Usually, they pick up Christmas gifts here, too.)  One of Rebeccah’s favorite crafts (she gave a bunch out as Christmas gifts one year) is her glittery ornaments.

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Just after church, we’ll drive to the clubhouse to set up, and enjoy the day!  The show starts at 1pm and runs until 4pm.  (My mom will be there too, as she’ll be there presenting some of the most amazing photo artwork I’ve ever seen – she takes photos and my Daddy paints on them to turn them into realistic, fantastic creations.)

Of course, my only real craft is writing.  I am very proud of my artsy offspring but it’s hard to duplicate what they do!  I will have my printed books for sale.

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And the Audio CDs and the girls’ favorite DVDBook, “Long Tail and Red Hawk,” which although it was the second in the “Long Tail” books, it is the first one my Dad created an educational DVD for!  (The girls love it because their Grandmother is narrating it and the comic-book-style artwork is theirs!)

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But most of the table will be covered in beaded jewelry like these because even Jillian has crafted some of those pieces.

Or, to see a giant room full of beautiful and unique crafts, join us from 1pm to 4pm on Sunday, October 14th at the Riverview Club in Saint Augustine Shores – we’ll be at one of the round tables!

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Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Asian Blacks

Such beautiful new chicks to add to our flock!

September 20, 2018

Asian Blacks

About two weeks ago, we happened into Tractor Supply for feed when the girls spied the “cutest little chicks ever!”

Kimberly says, “Mom, they are on clearance!”

Since it was nearing the end of chick days, they had brought their money just in case.  We had just moved our latest toddler bunch into the small chicken run and were planning to start another batch of eggs.  When the chicks are at or below a dollar each, they cost less than us incubating our own.

Becky had $4, Kimberly had $8, and the little ones excitedly counted their money while the lady watched, rather amused.  Jaquline and Jillian each had a dollar and change.  The original count said 14 but a 15th was hiding in with the white ones.  Lucas hopped in his seat, “I have 1-2-3-4-5 quarters, I can buy him!”

So we brought home fifteen beautiful almost two-week-old Asian Black chickens.

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Since each chicken was a dollar plus tax, they are mostly Kimberly’s to care for, but even Lucas spends time with his little one.

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Jillian and Jaquline have been helping with food and care.

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Jaquline poses with her chicken.

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Jillian likes to tote hers in the egg basket!

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I have no idea how they find “their chicken” in all these look-alikes, but they seem to always be carting around “their” chicken.

What a beautiful addition to our flock!  (And a way to keep Kimberly occupied!)

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*Note: the pen they are in is the PVC “Daytime Run” we built about ten years ago.  In our yard, this is not predator-proof and the chicks need a heat lamp (or 85 degrees plus) so although the original design had a rabbit-wire floor and the lids were locked with hinges and a clasp (which was predator-proof), it has been modified for easy grazing.  The chicks are put in a smaller cage in the shed to keep them safe at night.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

New Venture

Why is a crazy never-used-makeup 35 year old starting to present it?

September 18, 2018

New Venture

Okay, so if you’ve been following this blog (or *gasp* actually know me), you know that my one experiment with makeup was as an overactive girl in the sweltering mid-Georgia summer.  My attempt at rather cheap (I thought it was expensive then, but now know better) mascara, foundation, and blush rolled down my face and irritated my eyes as it literally was melted by the sun and sweat.

I did manage to wear lipstick a few times, like for my wedding, my sisters’ weddings, and my brother’s wedding.  (Honestly, every time I bought a lipstick tube, it ended up being used by some child as a crayon.)

That was it.

Now, I have three daughters dabbling in makeup.  Rebeccah loves it.  I’ve researched everything I can and a few years ago found a couple of brands of makeup I liked and would buy for them.  A few months ago, Kimberly and Rebeccah discovered my cousin Tiffany’s Facebook page loaded with tutorials, beautiful images, and the makeup line she sells.  This past month, we discovered the lady who used to sell the face cleanser we’ve all used for over a decade doesn’t sell it anymore!  No one I know does.  If I’m going to buy a product that isn’t sold in stores, I’m going to buy it from someone I know.

Louis has been trying to talk me into makeup for years, and recently, God has opened my eyes that if I’m serious about wanting to please my husband, why am I so against getting “made-up” once a week when we have adult time?  Really?  I realized how petty I was seriously being.  Yes, others who “put their face on” daily spend a lot of money on makeup, but I would be using it on the nights we go walking together.  Three or four times a month.  That was not going to break the bank.

So, I looked into being a makeup rep.  As I’m browsing, I realize I’m crazy.  Then I counter that with – I have five daughters, I’m sure I’ll be buying makeup for them too.  I’m a BeachBody coach because I LOVE SHAKEOLOGY!  I love the only whole food vitamin shake that I  I don’t have a huge business through them, but one day I might when I can put more time into it.  If I find a makeup line whose business practices and products I like, why shouldn’t I present it to others and perhaps make a little money?  It is wise to invest money in products and businesses you love because you would recommend them anyway.

Now, like my beautiful cousin, I’m “presenting” for Younique – at least, as soon as I get my makeup!  The starter packet came with items I was going to purchase anyway along with many others to try.  I’ll be updating as I travel on this strange journey of learning the art of makeup at 35.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Our Daily Bread

Season of Uncertainty: struggles over finances and worry for me. Learning to trust in daily provision.

September 14, 2018

Our Daily Bread

Have you ever thought about the line in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread?”

I always believed it meant to trust God for provision.

I never really lived the “daily” part.

Our life is broken into seasons and in this season, there is no weekly or monthly guaranteed income.  We work daily.  We get paid daily.  Of course, we understand that bills are monthly, so we have to save the money we make in order to pay for monthly provisions.  For the last few months, when we pray that prayer, I understand the “daily bread” part literally.

Our service work is different than a “regular job” in that we don’t have sick days or PTO to pull from when we’re sick.  When I got sick with the mold garbage was a huge cut on our family’s finances.  Our income has even changed from what we had a few years ago: From startup to two years ago our business had several streams of “weekly” or “monthly” income from operating, but times change.  We could take a day off then and it didn’t come with worrying if rent or electric would get behind over it.

God always provides, though.  God makes sure we get enough calls to keep our provisions met (we have been on time for rent & electric in this season).  We get blessed in unexpected ways too.  Unexpected ways are like this past Sunday when a sister from church gave us two boxes of fruit popsicles – the kids LOVE those things!

Radio preachers always say stuff like, “just give what your family would spend eating out.”  It makes me feel so sad.  (We do pay $200 a month to help another – plus anything God tells us to give.  But that is between God and us.) We don’t eat out.  We used to.  If I mention a restaurant we’ve tried “the other day,” it was likely over two years ago.  I don’t tell other people our financial situation.  I don’t like to “bother others” because God does always provide and as long as we have rent, I’m not going to ask anyone for help.  Outside of Louis buying a $20 box from the new Bojangles to try it out for a birthday lunch, we haven’t eaten out in ages.  We understand that good stewardship in our family right now means spending less than $8 for each dinner meal for all of us – and one item each from the dollar menu still breaks that budget.  Honestly, beans and rice (the most common) or spaghetti/zoodles with marinara (2nd most common) cost $2.80 and $3.30 each, respectively.  Most of our family dinners cost us less than $8 a meal.  Breakfast (thank you, God, for eggs!) is under $2 and lunch is usually about $4 since we save full meat and good veggies for dinners.  Since we make feed money off our chickens and eggs, eggs are practically “free.”  We go to a local produce market a mile from us and pick lots of veggies from the $0.50/lb “scratch and dent” box.  I like to think I’m pretty good at stretching money.

For us, this season has taught us to depend on God daily.  That was very hard for me at first.  I am a planner.  I am a saver.  I am very good at saying “no, that’s not on the list,” and not allowing money to be spent on something I consider unnecessary.  But I find it an extreme challenge to not have the full month’s bills sitting in the bank – we used to have six months of bills in the savings account and one in the checking!  I hate the uncertainty of depending on God to give us calls every day.  I look at our reservations and my stomach churns.  There’s usually nothing for me to plan on.  Fifty-three stories online and I made zero in August, so I can’t plan on that just yet.  I’m so unsure that I’m applying for every job that I can possibly pretend my skill sets fit only to be rejected by everything in the last two years.  (Obviously, God doesn’t want me there.)  If I get a job, it will be because God wants me there.  (Maybe God wants me in this season of uncertainty because He’s teaching me to depend on Him more and worry less?)

Do I love working from home?  YES!  (I drive when there are calls, wait at home in-between.) Do I love being able to homeschool, write more stories, tend my garden and tiny farm, and be present as my children grow?  YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!

What is hard for me is accepting uncertainty.

Frankly, though, life is totally uncertain!  A “steady job” is just as uncertain as the “daily bread” season we are in!  It only appears more secure.

Only God is truly certain.  Why would I want to trust in anything else?

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Organization for Clothing

How eight months of one system taught the girls how to keep a neater barracks!

September 6, 2018

Organization for Clothing

I like things organized.

I also can’t stand washing tons of clothing.

One day I’d finally finished with 7 loads of clothing and walked back to the barracks (girls’ bedroom) to check on something… and walked onto a four-inch-thick carpet of folded clothing just dropped on the floor!  (Rebeccah’s and Christina’s bed were quilted with their clothing!)

Instantly, I was like, “come put your clothes in your drawers!”

Five voices replied with, “There’s no room.”

Lightbulb!  They have too many clothes.

We had just moved from a house where clothing storage wasn’t an issue.  We had two large closets, plenty of hanging space, and a full dresser for each girl.  Now the barracks had two dressers where three had three drawers on the smaller one and two had two on the larger one.  They had enough space for their play clothes in the drawers while the small closet had enough space for everyone’s hanging nice clothes.

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At least, it originally had enough room.

But we love hand-me-downs.  And my kids sometimes don’t want to admit they have grown out of something so it sits in their drawers.

Lightbulb!  I can do this and teach them organizational skills!

I already intercepted and tossed torn or otherwise destroyed clothes on their way to the washer (this led Christina to doing her own laundry because she LOVED certain clothes and keeps nighttime outfits until they literally fall apart), if anything no longer met the clothing modesty guidelines, it was altered, donated, or handed to the next in line, and shoes had to fit in the shoe compartments (everyone has two cubicles) – notice the flip-flops are community property.

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Rebeccah loves shoes, so do you see that polka-dotted sheet on one corner of her bed?  That hides a small cardboard box in which she keeps her special shoes! (It’s out of reach of the dress-up crowd & saved so the polish doesn’t get scuffed.)

We started doing what I already do to my clothes every month.  Purging.

For the next eight months, we used this system.  I have a list of “necessaries,” otherwise known as clothes they should have.  We would start on a day when all the laundry was complete.  Starting with the oldest, she’d bring in her clothes and go through them to make sure she still fit and wanted them, retiring destroyed stuff to the garbage, putting aside items she had outgrown, and packing away stuff she didn’t want anymore.  She’d pick out the necessaries, put them away, and fill the space with whatever else she wanted.  Anything extra went in the donate pile.

The next in line would repeat, with the option of augmenting her supply with otherwise “donated” items from previous big sister.

Necessities: Five bottoms (two must be jeans), five tops, one church outfit, one long sleeve “jacket,” seven pairs of underwear and socks, two nighttime outfits, one pair of sneakers, and one pair of church shoes.

All the above fit into one of the drawers and on two hangers easily, so there was plenty of leftover space for other clothes.

This system gave them inspiration to roll or fold their clothing in order to keep everything fitting well.   Lucas has only one drawer and he keeps everything neat!

This system lasted only eight months because by that time, all of them were purging their own stashes as needed.  We didn’t have to make it a monthly event anymore.  Even Lucas will put a shirt on and if it’s too tight, he will pull it off, say “time for someone else to wear you,” and lay it on my bed.  (His drawer is in my bedroom.)

Kimberly and Rebeccah love having lots of choices, so they utilize more of the hanging space than Jaquline and Jillian.  Christina’s hanging space is loaded with CAP uniforms, and a couple of dresses from her aunts which she claims “I’ll never wear, but I keep just in case.”

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Our system has only backfired once so far: when Christina was planning for encampment, she was required to have 12 undecorated t-shirts in two specific colors plus 6 “workout shirts” (additional plain t-shirts!).  We had to search every thrift and resale shop in Saint Augustine for enough tan, black, and white t-shirts!  When she got back there was the issue of keeping them stored – Christina didn’t want to hang them all or give them away since she planned on going to future encampments so she just rolled them in her luggage bag and hung it in the closet!  It took less space than 18 hangers.

Going backward: I was about 14, stood in front of my mobile closet (clothes rack), and spent almost fifteen minutes deciding what to wear!  That started me on the lifestyle of keeping necessities, only a few other items with specific purposes that fit into whatever clothes storage system I had, and routinely donating what I couldn’t fit or didn’t want.  Call it purging or minimalist, or whatever, it helps me spend less time thinking about clothing… and hopefully, I’ve passed that practicality on in some way.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

 

 

Hand-Me-Downs

A radio talk show guy’s comment made me ponder my absolute love of hand-me-downs and thrift shops.

September 4, 2018

Hand-Me-Downs

Driving to pick up a long-distance call, I was listening to Christian talk radio.  A guy comes on talking about how he and his family love hand-me-downs.

I can totally relate!  All my life I’ve loved, and lived in, hand-me-downs.  When my kids get a bag of clothes, they all get excited.  It’s sorting, trying on, modeling, and deciding how to “fix” something they love to make it fit (sewing skills).  Anything we can’t use (and everything we grow out of or don’t have room for) gets passed on.   We only allow them to keep what they can fit “in their drawers” and on their bit of hanging rack space.   Rebeccah, who loves shoes, has created some interesting storage adaptations to stretch her allotted space to keep extra shoes.

Kids grow so fast!  At one stage, Kimberly jumped through one full shoe size every month for about six months!  During this same time, Jaquline sprouted through three shirt sizes and Rebeccah’s legs stretched by nearly a foot!

We had quite a few bags of shoes and clothes to give away!  Most, we had received as hand-me-downs but they looked practically new!  Lots of happy kids got to pass around clothes in this growth spurt.  The girls like to plan who can get their clothes – if anyone we know needs them, if anyone is their size and is okay with used clothing, or if they know a friend who “loved” some outfit.  Otherwise, we donate to Alpha-Omega or Betty Griffin Thrift.

The radio talk show guy was mentioning that he was super excited one day because a friend gave him some amazing hand-me-downs that were almost new and stylish.  He was showing one off at work and realized he was wearing the emblem for a college he didn’t attend!  So he almost felt embarrassed telling a coworker it was a hand-me-down.  Then, he stopped.  He said we are to be good stewards and trading clothing around if it still has wear in it is being a good steward of the materials (less waste) and finances (less purchases made).   He told his coworker that the money he and his family saved on clothing allowed them to give more financially to charities they supported.

I had never thought of our hand-me-downs as “good stewardship” in that way!  I have always told others that it saves waste (why throw something away when someone else can use it?) and it stretches our budget.  I never actually thought of what I do with the money I save.

We do give a lot of what we make, sometimes we end up giving more in time than in money, but we still help in a lot of places monetarily.

When we do buy clothes, it’s usually underwear (I do buy that new from target on “clearance,” it seems some character is always going out of style), sneakers, or jeans.  We go to the thrift shops on the day when said clothing is x% off or wait for an end-of-season sale (thrift shops do that too).  So, annually, we spend about $300 on all 8 of us.

I never really thought about how much money I’d spend without hand-me-downs.  Using thrift shop prices (I still wouldn’t buy new): I figured that for each growing child, I’d spend about $80 twice a year, and for each adult, I’d spend about $40 a year (what we already buy from thrift stores can’t be counted as savings).  So for our family, that would be about (160×6)+(40×2)=$1,040 annually in addition to the $300 we already spend!

$1,040 is almost a rent payment.

That’s about three weeks’ of work.

Then I realized that I never buy anything new – furniture, animal cages, books, movies, games, toys, yarns, craft stuff… the list is endless.  Except for food, most cell phones, a few tools, the coffee maker, most mattresses, and one computer, we’ve taken hand-me-downs or bought resale items when it comes to everything else.  And we donate what we no longer need.  Oh yeah, and the drum set was new – Louis got a full size eight piece drum set on a clearance sale for $120 about 10 years ago.

We save for items we want (like our couch).  We had a hand-me-down one that served great for a while, but Louis wanted a big one that all of us could sit on at once and it would double as a kid bed when guests came.  We ended up saving and finally bought a really nice used sectional that had two backless sections that doubled as storage (bonus & I love dual-purpose!) and seats six adults without using the backless parts – it was on clearance at Alpha-Omega Thrift so we spent only $165 of the $200 we’d saved for it.  (Yes, Louis was shopping, so we ended up buying $35 of future birthday gifts while we were there.) And one of my sisters said “let me crash here, this is comfy!”

The radio guy quoted the scripture about “where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”

Yes, my treasures are in my children, my family, my friends, the really important things in life.  Our hand-me-down and thrift-store lifestyle helps me to understand that even though we have some cool stuff, it’s just temporary and I’m not really concerned with it.  I mentally note that I’m wearing sandals from one sister, a skirt Christina grew out of that was a hand-me-down from a friend, and a shirt from another sister… all hand-me-downs!

I’m sure the radio guy is right.  Our family is able to do as much giving as we do because we don’t spend “full retail” on temporary items.  Our treasure is in heaven.  Our treasure is the character growing in our six awesome blessings on loan from God…

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

School Supplies

School supplies on a budget – our methods

August 31, 2018

School Shopping

Lots of people do school shopping in late July or August, just before school starts.

Since we do school year-round, I’m constantly replacing school supplies by stopping in at my favorite thrift shops and scooping up extra pencils, notebooks, erasers, or expo markers (the most commonly used items in our school).

I do try to take advantage of the school sales that pop up at the end of school supply shopping months.

Take notebooks: one independent writer in our home goes through an average of five single-subject notebooks a year!  (That’s not a lot when you consider that each notebook usually has 70 pages.)  Our history, science, and most upper math courses require a paragraph or page of written work.  Grammar practice is to edit said paragraphs or pages and rewrite them correctly.  So we use a lot of paper.  I prefer to use notebooks because they keep all the papers together and they are easier to carry than loose leaf paper (we often do work in remote locations).  This year I have four independent writers and one still using training paper (the ones from tablets with three-line-spaces).  But my training-writer is writing times tables and measures this year.  She will need one or two notebooks.  I always add one extra for each student because I would rather have extra than to buy them at 4 to 10 times the sale price!  (Most of us homeschool on a budget, don’t we?)

Oh, yes, another trick I learned was to buy college-ruled notebooks because you get extra lines at the bottom.  (Silly, but it also makes you write smaller thus more work ends up on one page.)

We bought 22 notebooks this year!  Staples & Officemax both claimed the “normal” price for a college-ruled store-brand notebook with 70 pages was $2.49.  I know Walmart has them for $1.20 or so and the thrift shops have partially used ones for $0.50. They were on sale for $0.25, usually I can find them for $0.10, but this year if someone had them super cheap, I missed that sale.  Shopping the sales essentially saved us $20.90 just on notebooks.  (The receipts claimed we “Saved” way more, but I base my savings off the cheapest normal price, not the inflated office supply store price.)

Pencils, erasers, markers, rulers, and other assorted small things I usually buy from thrift stores because you can get a lot more used items less expensive than the sale price on new ones.  Rebeccah does Sunday School and likes to buy cute craft stuff for it, which is also less expensive (and a much larger collection for choose from) at the thrift stores.

Backpacks are another thrift store buy.  I generally choose to spend less than five dollars on a backpack.  Someone’s hand-me-down from last year often has a lot of wear left in it.  We use backpacks for school stuff, travel bags (you can only carry what you can fit in your backpack), and overnight bags for Grandma’s house trips.  Even Lucas has a backpack (a cute smaller Cars one we found for a dollar at a thrift store).  He’s funny, when we’re headed to drop off at college, I’ll say “grab your school stuff.”  (Generally, a writing tablet or book)  Lucas puts two books (usually two the bigger girls have been reading – lately a favorite has been Prince Caspian), his crayon box, and his tablet in his backpack and will say “I’m ready for my school!”  His backpack swallows him!

We have learned to use the before-school sales to help keep our expenses low yet still get the items we like to use.  (Filler paper is cheaper than using notebooks, but I’ve learned notebooks are neater and easier.)  The older girls need computer paper for some college assignments and CAP work, so we also tend to buy computer paper during the sales times as they will have some super mail-in rebate offer or something.

The coolest part of shopping for school supplies is the practical math lessons that go along with it!  (I can find lessons in everything!)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Rejoice Over Little Things

July 10, 2018

Rejoice Over Little Things

Sometimes, in the middle of junk life throws at us, we need to choose to be excited over “little” things!

Like this month.  I was going through bills (yes, “adulting” is fun, guys, it’s full of never-ending bills) and as I checked my bank statement I yelped, “Yippee!”

Christina looks up from my computer screen, buried in something: CAP emails, college emails, or some online chat with a friend.  “What happened?”

My first thought was “how silly am I to rejoice over that?” and my logical brain said “seriously?  You are excited over $6.47 when you just got another hospital bill for almost $15,000?”

But I chose to rejoice.

“Someone bought three books from Barnes & Noble and I got paid $6.47!”  I told the girls.

“Wow,” Becky nodded, “that’s way more than Amazon.”

Yes, she was right – Amazon sells my ebooks for the same user price, but I usually make $0.01 per book or less.  This month’s Amazon deposit was three cents.  This Barnes & Noble deposit was for three ebooks – I was thrilled.  The books were: Two of the Five Alive: Stories of the Funny Sisters ebooks, Becky’s Crazy Day and Gale at the Ghost Town and my toddler illustrated ebook, The Skating Pony.

“Mom,” Christina shook her head, she is getting good at practical stuff. “That’s not a lot, is it?”

“It’s $6.47 more than we had,” I laughed.  AND, it’s three more books sold.  That tiny deposit holds the record for the largest gross payout from any sale yet! (Even my $20 retail softcover novels at the book sales gross less than $2.40 – if we cover venue costs.)

Thank you, Jesus!  And I remember this as I go back to bill stuff – “despise not the day of small beginnings.”  (Of course, my logical brain reminds me, “that was seven years ago and three cents from Amazon!”)

Is it silly to rejoice over less than $7 when you are buried in medical bills?  Nope.  It’s part of life.  Rejoice in the good, always!  (It seriously helps you not think so hard on the bad.)  You may not be able to choose your circumstances, but you can choose your attitude!  I choose to rejoice – even in the little things!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Chore Candy

July 7, 2017

Chore Candy

 We have a neat little system with a chore chart on the refrigerator and set amounts for specific chores completed.  This has worked well for about twelve years.  When a job is done, Mom or Dad (or big sister) checks it and puts the amount on the chart under the helper’s name. On Saturday, if all school work is completed, we would add up the amounts and “take money” off the chart.  They would then decide if they wanted it in their savings account or to spend. *(the picture was taken after Rebeccah and Kimberly pulled all their extra money off to buy guppies)

Then on one fun day at Betty Griffin Thrift looking for a bookcase, we discovered a Candy Machine.  You know; the kind you stick coins in and get candy or nuts.  It was bright powder blue and Christina says “Mom!  This would solve the candy problem and help motivate us for chores!”  (This is coming from my teenager – “candy problem” was that I don’t buy candy.)

It worked and was five bucks.  Yes.  I bought it.  We made the “candy machine rules.”

#1: you must ask mom first, two coins a day is enough candy

#2: whatever money is in the machine after the candy is gone will be used to buy the next batch of candy/nuts

#3: mom has to approve said candy/nuts

#4: disobeying rules means candy machine gets donated right back

Then this started happening: I’d hear, “I’m done with school, I did xyz, may I take 25 cents off my chart for candy?” Or they’d see nothing on the chart under their name and want to know what chores needed doing.  (Motivational tool, check)

The girls raised $6 and change in their first “batch” ($1 worth of jelly beans).  They bought more candy and set their own additional rules which they have been following for the last three weeks.  They added:

#5: money comes off the chart in quarters only when being used for the machine

#6: excess money “made” off the candy machine goes into a savings envelope

#7: each girl gets to pick a candy/nut and mix it together each time they reload

#8: (appears to apply to the three oldest only) if you take money off for candy, you have to put the same amount in your savings account

Now they have “raised” about $25 in a little over a month and asked me to help them print a chart so they can keep it in the envelope with their “candy machine” savings money to track their big goal progress.  I asked what the “big goal” was – all I was told in reply was “at this rate, it will take three years.”

They discovered that if they load dark chocolate into the machine, Daddy uses it too!  So with each new batch, they’ve been sure to add dark chocolate almonds or dove bites (that mix went fast and I’m sure Daddy was probably their #1 customer – he was always asking “do you have a quarter?”)

They turned the “chore motivation” tool into a “saving for a big goal” tool!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

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