This post is sponsored by Haven Life but opinions are my own. You guys know I’ve been busy lately. I’m running three businesses, all while parenting and helping to manage our household. Every morning I wake up with a To-Do list a mile long, which often makes prioritizing what needs to be done first rather difficult. A lot of the time it seems like everything is important, but when I step back from the madness,…

Good morning! You guys know how much I love Trader Joe’s, right? Of course, you do. I’m also a big fan of scoring deals and doing things efficiently, so when Remy from Miss Mamie’s Cupcakes reached out about sharing her “secrets” to saving time and money at Trader Joe’s, I was ALLLLL about it. I love stuff like this, and she had so many awesome ideas, many of which were news to me! 🙂 So, without further ado,…

This post is brought to you by Haven Life. My husband, Mal, and I aren’t financial experts by any means, but we’re pretty good with our money. Mal is a successful teacher, and I’ve been fortunate enough to form an amazing career by having Carrots ‘N’ Cake. We definitely consider ourselves lucky. But, a big part of why we live a good life is because we make decisions to ensure peace of mind in our…

Hi, guys! Our little family planned a getaway for next week during Mal’s school break, so when You Need A Budget (YNAB) reach out about partnering on a blog post, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to set some goals and create a vacation savings account for our trip. I actually saw it as a challenge: Let’s see how much we can save in 6 weeks! Yayyy! Never heard of YNAB? Well, it’s a…

Disclosure: I’m proud to partner with CVS/pharmacy for the #FindYourHealthy campaign. I am being sponsored by CVS/pharmacy for my posts and activities, but all opinions expressed are my own, and all product claims or program details shared should be verified at CVS.com or with the appropriate manufacturers. Good morning and a very happy Friday to you!! One of my favorite ways to motivate myself and get excited about exercise is updating my fitness gear. Sure, I…

Helloooo! You guys know that I love a good deal, so here are a bunch of Black Friday sales you might be interested in. Most of them are only good through Friday, so be sure to hop on them. And I will definitely add more to this list as I hear about them! Happy shopping! American Eagle: Take 40 percent off and free shipping at American Eagle with code GOBBLEUP. Offer ends Nov. 30. Aerie: Take 40…

You guys have heard of Ebates, right? If not, Ebates basically gives you money back in your pocket for shopping online. For example, if there’s an Ebate’s offer for 10% back at Old Navy and you buy something online, you get 10% of your total purchase in a check from Ebates. Awesome, right? It might sound too good to be true, but it’s totally legit. You really, truly get cash back for shopping online. No points…

Ok, here we go! Week 5 of my grocery budget experiment! This week I was all about shopping sales and using coupons at Whole Foods to guide my meal planning for the week. I ended up shopping the in-store sales like it was my job, but I only used one coupon. Even still, I came in well under budget. (Well, technically, we don’t have a grocery budget, but anything under $100 per week is a…

So, I think this week’s grocery shopping was a success? I created a meal plan and headed to Trader Joe’s with my list in hand. I tried to stick to my Trader Joe’s shopping list, but I veered off track a little bit here and there. I just can’t help myself when I’m there. Trader Joe’s has so many fun foods! Even still, I managed to come up with two weeks worth of groceries from…

Oops, this post was actually suppose to publish yesterday, but I am a space cadet and set it as a draft, so it never did. Anyway, here it is… better late that never! After months and months of not wanting to meal plan or even cook, I finally feel like my old self again. Meal planning is actually exciting again, and I want to eat “real” food instead of just frozen yogurt for dinner. Not…

Good morning! I have an awesome giveaway for you Target lovers out there! During the month of January, Target is offering some amazing discounts on its C9 by Champion line that we all love so much. And you save even more on the latest fitness gear by downloading the Target Cartwheel app! What is Cartwheel? Cartwheel is a first-of-its-kind digital savings program that allows you to choose from hundreds of offers at a Target store….

Good morning and happy, happy, happy Monday! We had another low-key weekend around here, but it was so nice and much-needed. Here are some photos from it! Clockwise from top left: Poor Murphy just wasn’t feeling Sunday morning and stayed in bed for hours. His life is so hard. On Friday night, Mal and I ordered pizza, salad, and spinach artichoke dip from Bertucci’s. It was an epic dinner. A CrossFit friend, who works for…

Hi, guys! Good morning and happy Hump Day! (Uh-oh! Guess what day it is!?) Breakfast I’m back on the oatmeal train, and it’s as delicious as I remember! In the mix: rolled oats, almond milk, chia seeds, a handful of trail mix, a huge scoop of peanut butter, and fresh raspberries on top. YUM! The other day, I joked to Mal that Murphy is worth every single cent. That little furball has made me (and…

Have you guys ever heard of a price book when it comes to saving money at the grocery store? Me either until the other day. I read an article in ALL YOU (September 2013) called “Build the Best Price Book,” which explains how to create a price book and then use it to get the best deals on your groceries. Basically, it’s a book that helps you keep track of food costs so you can…

I went to Target the other day and spent a boatload of money. You know how it goes: Go into Target for a few things. Leave with $100 worth of stuff. It happens every time. Anyway, one of the things that I obviously needed to buy (and actually inspired this post) was a bottle of amazing-smelling coconut body wash, which only cost a couple of bucks. Awesome. I love finding awesome beauty products on the cheap. With…