7 Benefits of Minimalist Meal Planning for Busy Moms

Finances / Food / Minimalism
minimalist meal planning, minimalist meal plan

Inside: Have you ever heard of applying minimalism to meal planning? There are so many surprising benefits If your family can tolerate eating the same meals over and over again, you will LOVE minimalist meal planning!

Minimalist meal planning is a tool every mom should have in her meal planning toolbox. This method will not work for everyone long-term – not everyone loves to eat the same meals week after week.

But there are events like childbirth, deaths, and moves when you just need to not think about meal planning. Decision fatigue during these times is overwhelmingly high.

You need the ease of take-out without the cost. Minimalist meal planning can help!

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Blog Income and Traffic Report {May 2018}

Blog Income Reports / Blogging / Work At Home
blog income and traffic report may 2018

Inside: Get blogging tips and advice from a small blogger, one who was stuck for a long time, but with a lot of perseverance, finally started making progress. Follow my income journey from a few hundred dollars a month to $1,000 a month in 2018. 

It’s June, and time for another blog income report. This marks my fifth blog income report since I started chronicling my journey to $1,000 a month income from my blog.

I’m getting so close!

Once I reach my $1,000 monthly income goal, I will stop publishing regular income reports, as I need to focus my time and energy on getting a second blog up and running. I decided to start a second niche blog to test my ability to generate the majority of my traffic from organic search.

While I love Pinterest for driving blog traffic, and my blog wouldn’t be where it is today without it, I don’t love the constant ups and downs. Also, Pinterest takes a lot of effort to maintain, and lately, it seems like what its requirements for decent traffic is changing every other week.

The majority of my efforts going forward will be focused on SEO (search engine optimization) and reader problems/requests. I will still be using Pinterest, as it wouldn’t make sense to pass up the free traffic, but it will be a secondary focus from now on.

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Nature Journaling for Kids Who Aren’t That Excited About It

Art / Homeschool / Science
nature journals for kids, nature walks

Inside: Nature journaling for kids is a core component of the Brave Writer Lifestyle, as well as a Charlotte Mason Education. But what do you do if your kids don’t love it? Here are 10 things to try if your kids don’t love to nature journal.

My daughter’s homeschool co-op first introduced me to nature journaling. They modeled their in-the-making University Model School closely after a Charlotte Mason education, incorporating living books, copywork, narration, and nature journaling into the curriculum.

We purchased a nature journal at the beginning of the year, and my daughter drew a few beautiful drawings. The rest of the journal, however, remained empty.

When we transitioned to homeschooling on our own, I forgot about nature journaling. The few times I attempted to reinstate the practice were met with resistance. While my oldest loves all things art, the rest of my kids didn’t quite see the point of the exercise.

At the time, I was wrestling through my thoughts on unschooling versus relaxed homeschooling, forced learning versus natural learning, so I let it go. I didn’t want to force my kids to participate, and I was at a loss as to how to encourage nature journaling without pulling teeth.

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Stay-at-Home Mom Stress: 7 Ways to Find Relief

Family / Motherhood
stay at home mom stress relief

Inside: Unnecessary stress can steal your joy and make being a stay-at-home mom completely miserable. Get stay-at-home mom stress under control with these 7 must-have tips!

Who knew that being a stay-at-home mom could be so stressful? When I left my job to stay home with my first baby, I never imagined the stress caring for a single, tiny little human would cause.

Combine a screaming, clingy baby with a huge life change (a.k.a. motherhood), plus general household responsibilities, and you have a recipe for extremely high levels of stress.

A few years (and a few babies) later, I finally learned how to manage stay-at-home mom stress and keep it at a manageable level. You can find stress relief as a stay-at-home mom: I promise!

You just need to know where to start.

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Homeschool Organization Ideas for Small Spaces

Homeschool
homeschool organization ideas for small spaces

Inside: Do you need homeschool organization ideas for small spaces? Get tips and strategies from a mom who homeschools with four kids in a small house.

We have always lived in small homes. I was used to it when we only had little babies, but adding bigger kids and homeschooling to the mix made our tiny home feel more than slightly claustrophic.

The inevitable pile of books and supplies that come with homeschooling cluttered our small home FAST. I decluttered like mad, but you can only get rid of so much when you homeschool.

I had to find ways to organize all the stuff we absolutely needed to homeschool.

From a two-bedroom apartment in Boston to our current less than 1200 square feet, single-family home, I’ve picked up a few ideas along the way for staying organized while homeschooling. I know homeschooling in a tiny house can feel overwhelming, but organization doesn’t need to be hard if you have the right supplies and strategies.

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5 Decluttering Questions to Use Instead of “Does It Spark Joy?”

Declutter / Minimalism
the best decluttering questions instead of "does it spark joy?"

Inside: Marie Kondo’s “Does it spark joy?” is far from the best question to use for decluttering. Try these 5 decluttering questions instead, for a better decluttering experience.

The popular book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was my first encounter with decluttering and minimalism. When I heard about it from another blogger, I bought it the same day and read it cover to cover by the end of the next day.

I spent the next week picking up every single object in my house asking the now well-known question, “Does it spark joy?” And I thought that question was helpful…at first.

Bags and bags of donations made the commute from my house to the local thrift store. We gave away other items away to family and friends.

I felt so much better – a huge weight lifted off my chest, until a month later when I realized I had gone a bit overboard in my decluttering purge.

Decluttering regret quickly set in.

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Blog Income and Traffic Report {April 2018}

Blog Income Reports / Blogging
blog income report

Inside: Get encouragement, tips and ideas from a small blogger income and traffic report. Follow along as I work towards my goal of $1,000 a month income from this blog (I’m getting closer!).

I realized this month that I never fully explained why I’m publishing income reports on a blog that is primarily about homeschooling, minimalism on a low income, and parenting. So first off, I wanted to remedy that!

So why do I write income reports in the first place?

First, I started writing income reports as a means of chronicling my journey to earning $1,000 a month blogging. That was my year-end goal for 2018 for this blog.

Second, I want to encourage other bloggers who are struggling to earn an income from their blogs. Reading another blogger friend’s income reports from back when she made very little encouraged me to keep going and to not give up. I hope my income reports encourage other bloggers the way hers encouraged me. I also am a teacher by nature, and I love sharing what’s working for me with this blog and what’s not. Sharing that in a post saves time as well, when bloggers as me questions about my business strategy.

Third, I want other moms to know that it IS possible to earn a living online, working from home. We need the income this blog brings in. It is changing our finances and making staying home to homeschool a long-term possibility.

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