• Recycled Bottle Top Tank

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    On her own my daughter decided to start recycling the bottle caps for a craft.  The other day she pulled out the recycled bottle tops that she had been collecting and put together this bottle top tank .  With a little bit of construction paper, tape, and bottle tops you can make a lot of cool items for fun!

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    She put this  Bottle Top Tank in the living room so it can “guard” our front door (not sure it is the most welcoming sight for our guests, but at least it is harmless).

  • Greenville: Exploring the Children’s Museum of the Upstate

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     Karlie and Brina climbing the rock wall at the Children’s Museum of the Upstate!

    We had some great opportunities to travel over the girls summer break so we didn’t get to do some of the fun activities in our local area.  Whenever we had a chance we would look over our list of fun local activities and pick one to do together.  The girls recently chose going to the Children’s Museum of the Upstate as one of their activities.  The Upstate Children’s Museum is located in downtown Greenville and has many fun interactive activities for the kids.   We had a great morning exploring and learning at the Children’s Museum.  Thankful for such an awesome museum for kids in our area.

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    When you put your hands on the spots the drum mimics your heartbeat.  Pretty cool!  Two people can do it at the same time and hear the differences in their heartbeats.

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    They are smiling a lot for being on crutches!  Hopefully we will avoid having family members on crutches.

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      Karlie pulling herself up!

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    Brina smiling as she pulls herself up.  Testing the different ropes and pulleys.

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    Karlie at the bank getting some cash for her groceries.

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    That’s a lot of wind!

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    Construction crew making bricks!

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    Brina bringing over a wheelbarrow of bricks!

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    Karlie’s proud of her creation!

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    Making a cool structure!

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    Relaxing in the camping area!

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    The Light Waves Ahead display is always a fun one to use your creativity on too!

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    Fun times with the girls at the Children’s Museum!

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    Driving the recycling truck!  Watch out!

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    Brina in a water bubble!

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    Karlie having a blast in the music room!

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    Brina loves hanging out at the Children’s Museum!

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    Going through the cool jungle gym area at the museum!

  • Living on a Budget: Creative Cash (October Update)

    October is my ninth month tracking my Creative Cash.  What is Creative Cash?  Creative Cash is finding ways to come up with extra cash to share with others as well as work on our current goal.  I am working part time, a stay at home Mom, and wear many other hats from day to day, however, I feel that it is important to save money for our family by using coupons and buying items on sale but to earn a little money to help with the extra expenses and to share with others.  The extra amount I bring in on top of the work is what I call “Creative Cash” which means finding ways to make money creatively or with items and talents I have already.  I plan to continue this goal for the remaining months of the year.  Despite the many financial obstacles that we have faced as a family we have been blessed with so much.  My husband and I believe it is important to be accountable with our finances and give to others.

    Explanation: The creative cash will be made throughout the entire month through various endeavors.  As it comes in the money is placed into our savings account and withdrawn at the end of the month so it can be split.  It is my goal to make at least $100 extra a month to help with our goals as well as share with others.  At the end of the month the money will be split 50 / 50 with half going towards our current goal we are working on (which at the moment is paying down debt) and the other half going to charity.

    To be honest October was not as great of a month as I hoped it would be, however, it was better then September.    Although life is still busy we are at least home more now giving me the flexibility to focus on this goal as well as other ones.  I anticipate November being another busy month with upcoming Holidays and I hope to come closer to meeting this goal.  Thankfully I was able to save some extra cash even though I did not reach my my goal of $100.  I want to share with you the ways we did it so if you are looking for ways to make a little extra creative cash for your family hopefully we can be an inspiration in getting your creative juices flowing:

    • $13.19 – Items sold on Ebay (after fees):   The all the items sold were coupons.  I encourage you to look around at some of the coupons you get the mail, newspapers, magazines, in your stockpile, or other places and if you will not have the opportunity to use them then consider selling them for a little extra creative cash.
    • $6.59 – Recycled Items taken to the scrap metal company
    • $28.99 – Other miscellaneous amounts earned  (rebates, returns, cash back,  extra money, etc…) that was added to my stash for the month.

    It was a harder month to set the extra aside because it was very busy and I was not able to participate in as many extra creative cash activities.  The good news is despite the crazy schedule I was able to get a few dollars of creative cash and almost met at least half of my goal.  October’s “Creative Cash” total was $48.77 which means $24.38 extra that goes towards our current goal (saving for 3 to 6 month Emergency Fund) and $24.39 goes towards charity.  Although I didn’t hit my $100 goal this month I am happy that I was able to contribute something this month and every little bit helps us get a little closer to our goals as well as helps others along the way.  I have a plan of action on ways to earn creative cash in November so stayed tuned, hopefully, it will be another month where we can get closer to our goal and share with others.  Each month I do a variety activities to accomplish this goal, the items above are just the ones I did specifically in October.  I look forward to sharing more of the things that work well for our family as I do them in the upcoming months.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to find ways to help our family as well as invest in the lives of others is important to us.  I hope that we have been able to encourage you to find ways to come up with some creative cash for your household as well.  Obviously, each situation and family is unique so decide what works for you and go for it!  Do you know of another way to earn creative cash?   I would love to hear your ideas!

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

    Photo by StopNLook