We're on a tight budget too. I shop at Aldi's and sam's club (my MIL gave us her second card). We keep meals very simple. Eggs and Bacon for breakfast every morning (I buy 10 pounds of bacon at a time at sam's- will last 2 months. ~$3.33/pound. 90 eggs is ~9 dollars.) My husband and I have leftovers for lunch. I do make the kids grilled cheese or quesadillas for lunch. Our dinners are usually frozen veggies- or in season, on sale veggies with a meat- usually ground beef or chicken. I'll buy a whole chicken and stretch it over 2 meals plus make bone broth and have soup. I'll buy the fattest beef possible. I save the bacon grease and use that to cook in. Our favorite meals: Melt in your mouth chicken and baked green beans (canned, so good) taco bowls or taco salad chicken fajita bowls breakfast for dinner (at least once a week): eggs, sausage, and oopsie waffles (these are made with whipped eggs and cream cheese). meatloaf chili white chicken chili

I like this. We had an ectopic, July of 2008. I also look to this quote for comfort: “Take no heavier lift of your children, than your Lord alloweth; give them room beside your heart, but not in the yoke of your heart, where Christ should be, for then they are your idols, not your bairns. If your Lord take any of them home to his house before the storm come on, take it well, the owner of the orchard may take down two or three apples off his own tress, before midsummer, and ere they get the harvest sun; and it would not be seemly that his servant, the gardener, should chide him for it. Let our Lord pluck his own fruit at any season he pleaseth; they are not lost to you, they are laid up so well, as that they are coffered in heaven, where our Lord’s best jewels lie.†-Samuel Rutherford

We're working verses, catechism, the Lord's prayer and the apostles creed in our house. We'll move to longer sections of scripture next.

:iagree: This is helpful- thank you!

We don't do many treats because of cost but we'll get the kids popsicles. Or we'll have cream and frozen blueberries. We usually try to do something without food at all- maybe find a new park or take a drive to explore.

I didn't read through every post sorry. Here is my 2 cents. My sister is in a similar situation. she has recently broken up with her partner... but right before last christmas told my parents her and her g/f were coming to visit. My parents passed this info along to us 2 weeks before Christmas since we were also going to be there (we live in the same city as my parents). We talked with my sister. We reminded her that we love her but disagree with her lifestyle (she is not a believer). We told her that if there were any signs of anything more than them just being pals then we were leaving and not coming back. She agreed to this and all went well. I do disagree with how my parents deal with it for the most part. My situation is a bit different because I am not the parent and it isn't my house. That is a bit trickier to me.

for us it is the effort we put in at home. we discipline when our children disobey and behavior is exacerbated in public.

When I get a job I only want to work with people my age. Life should be segmented into age groups by decades. Geez, hope you got my sarcasm. We haven't attended a church with a youth group in a few years (even though our kids are young) because we don't feel like that's a good thing. Kids need to be around older people for many reasons. I'd be concerned. I'd also be concerned about why the youth group is playing video games like that... but that's IMO.

Me and my children lived with my parents for 3 weeks while we were prepping our house for sale/moving to a different state. It was 3 weeks too long. I can barely stand to be at my in-laws for more than a few days. Both families have a tendency to smother and try to make decisions for us. It would never work. I want my children to go out and have their own place and space for their family.

We have 3 TVs. One in the living room and 2 in the basement. I couldn't find anyone to take them before we moved, goodwill would not accept it, and apparently in our new city it's illegal to throw them away? So, there they sit... at least for now. However, we only watch one. I have 3 areas of clutter that I struggle with right now. The kids' stuff- mainly toys in the main room. We just moved from a house of 2600 square feet to probably 1200? square feet. Papers- I need a better system but I have seen improvement since getting a different file box. And, the kitchen. It's pretty small and I feel like all I do is make food and do dishes but the dishes still pile up! Clutter makes me freak out and I get so crabby!

I'm very allergic to cats. But even if I wasn't, moving into a rental house with cat hair everywhere- like in the drawers and fridge would have made me a dog person anyways. :)

I was thinking this! If the person was being very rude. Otherwise, I'd probably just say that we homeschool and smile real big.

my mantra is: "the days are long, the weeks/months/years are short"

3 maybe? I threw away all of my dresses when I was 8. :) I am one of like 3 women at church that wear pants. Sometime I do wear make up (trying to get better). Hate patterns, hate pink. My nails are shameful. I take less time getting ready for church than my husband. :001_huh: My hair is long because it looks terrible short! So I usually just put it up. I live in a houseful of boys so I fit right in :)

pretty sure my mom would let my children hit her and do nothing... one of the reasons i try not to let them spend too much unsupervised time with her.

I love the Redwall series. Also, Dormia. N.D. Wilson has a lot of good books. The second book of his Ashtown Burials series just came out.

i'm interested in seeing the link as well. roughly $75 is a lot for the manipulative kit!

I try to keep it off until 3 pm but turn it off before making dinner so it's off before my husband gets home. So that gives me 2 hours, some of which I am distracted with the kids but it gives me sufficient time to check all of my "stuff" and any research that I need to do. I try to do no nights and weekends because that's family time.

I can't imagine life without legos! My 5 year old plays with them for anywhere from 1-5 hours a day. No joke. He started playing with them about age 3 and really ramped it up at 4. He has some that he follows directions on and then a bunch of random ones that he uses his imagination for. I like the mix of that. He does it in the office on a white sheet and the legos must stay on the sheet. I put in some classical music for him or, if the baby is sleeping, I will often do our read alouds then. My 3 year old is allowed in there with my supervision while the baby is sleeping and we have a gate up so the baby can't get in there. We only had a few duplos and he has always been more into the fine motor skills so legos have been great for him!

:iagree: I've cut out grains and sugars (except for in my coffee!). Keep my carbs low and fat high, protein moderate. Fat is a great filler upper :) I've been eating this way since may and have dropped 15 pounds (I'm always a slow loser and I'm breastfeeding). I'm eating like 1800 calories a day and not hungry! I hate being hungry. Good luck. I'm sorry you had to go through this. I see this becoming more of an issue and weight is not a good indicator of health! And it's no one's business.

It does seem like a lot has changed. My husband's grandmother got really burned when she was a little girl. Her parents paid off the medical bills until she was 18 years old! Why can't places now allow people to take longer to pay it off? We have a bit of medical debt- after every birth, surgery, and ER visit. I always call and get on the payment plan. Right now the baby will be over 2 by the time we pay off the hospital bill from his birth.

I like a lot of dave ramsey's stuff but there is a lot I don't like about it. I kinda do the parts I like :) I have heard good things about crown financial but haven't used it.

We waited and I want my children to do the same. This was for religious reasons primarily but I love not having to worry about sexual diseases (I actually had shingles in a sensitive place and the doctor told me it was herpes but I was able to confidently laugh him off) or an untimely pregnancy. We also have a wonderful time together if you know what I mean... very compatible ;)

double post- sorry

I'm brand new to the forum and homeschooling. What does Pal stand for? I can figure out some of the acronyms but not all. If there is a list somewhere can somebody link it?