Introducing the New Webseries: How to Survive on a Tight Budget

How to Survive on a Tight Budget: A Webseries from Journey to Life 

Not to brag, but I've had plenty of people ask me how in the world I am able to make ends meet. For awhile, I was the sole income for my household, working less than 40 hours a week at barely above minimum wage and able to make it work. Now, I'll admit, I do have quite a bit of help from extra scholarships among other things, but I am confident that with my tips and tricks, I can help anyone stick to a budget and figure out how to survive in this economy. So, with that said, I am creating a new webseries with different "Lessons" filled with my tips and tricks. I've created an outline so far and the following Lessons are being created now:

Lesson 1: Creating A Budget and Knowing Your Limits
This Lesson will look into how to create a budget, how to figure out your "limits" in regards to spending, and why it's important to know all of this before cutting corners.

Lesson 2: Shopping Trips--From Couponing to DIY
Ahh, couponing. I've been asked by many for this blog, and I look forward to writing it. We''ll explore what couponing means, the different ways to do it, and a brief look into DIY (do-it-yourself) rather than spending good money on pricey items that can be made yourself. Focus on grocery items and household goods.

Lesson 3: The Internet is Your Friend!
A deep look into how the internet can help you accomplish many tasks--from finding a recipe for the night's dinner and further help with budgeting to tutorials on making your own clothes and earning rewards!

Lesson 4: ....And So are Reward Programs!
What was that about rewards? Oh yeah, that's the internet thing again. This post will focus on nothing but the many rewards programs out there, how to get into them, what rewards they offer and what I recommend. I had a post back in March that dabbled in this, but I want to go a little more in depth with it. What sayest thou?

Lesson 5: Family Outings and Other Fun Things on a Budget\
Everyone wants to spend time with their friends and family doing things other than nights in (though that shouldn't be discounted!). So what is there to do? Of course, since I'm based in Knoxville, most of this will be focused in East Tennessee, though I will definitely get into how to find these free/cheap things to do in your hometown.

Lesson 6: Repurposing and Reusing: A Further Investigation in DIY
A bit of a further look into DIY and learning how to make things for yourself. Noted in this post will be my clotheslines and how to find recipes for DIY household cleaners and other items. This will be a very BROAD post, with specific examples, but I'm sure there'll be something for everyone.

Lesson 7: A Little Money on the Side Never Hurts
And of course, we can't forget the "How to Find Money!" posts. I'll explore the different options on how to get a little bit of money on the side, whether its running a home business, selling unwanted/unneeded items, or utilizing that Internet again.

I'm looking forward to writing these over the next few weeks and doing this. One question remains, and that my friends is where you come in.


What do YOU want to see in this webseries?

Recipe 2: Delicious Veggie Soup! in a Crock Pot

Yes, I do realize it is spring, but this soup is wonderful! It's filling, but not so filling you feel a hibernation coming on. I usually eat this one warm with a Minute Maid Cherry Limeade---call me weird but I think it makes it feel springy--y'know? Anyhow, I made this one last night in the crockpot and the boys ate it all up.

The way I did this one when taking pictures and what not, I'll introduce the ingredients through picture format and then throw it all together. Imagine this as a picture book recipe! :D

One pound ground beef (optional)

Three medium carrots

Chopped. Varying sizes are cool too!

One cup chopped celery. I always buy celery in bulk and freeze it.

1/2 cup chopped onion (I used a sweet onion)

Herb mix! 2 tsp Basil Leaves, 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp Garlic Powder and 2 tsp Parsley flakes. Mix well.

Two cans diced tomatoes.

Brown the meat if your using meat in your soup.

Dump everything into your crock pot.

I used one bottle of water, but the point is you want enough to water to leave the stuff room to cook in, not enough for it to make really soupy.....soup.

And this is what it looks like with meat.

Crock pot low 8 hours. (We cooked ours actually on high for 4 hours---made a late dinner!)

And voila! That's it! Super yummy too! 

What are your favourite soup recipes? Let me know if you used this recipe and what you think! Enjoy!

The Easter Egg Hunt and the Ticket System

Better late than never! I've been saving this Easter post until I get the pictures into this thing and it's finally here!

As my first Easter living "on my own" and working, nonetheless, I wanted to be sure my son could still enjoy the wonders of the Easter Egg hunt! So, early Saturday morning we distracted Adam while eggs were stuffed and hidden. Now, you may be asking, "what about this ticket system you mention in the title? Kayla, you said there'll be a ticket system! What's that?" Well thank you, wonderful reader, because the Easter Egg hunt helped push the ticket system back to life.

The stash of Easter eggs (that I will reuse again and again...) and candy

Inside the eggs: Monies (see below), tickets, and candy!

 A few months ago, I purchased a roll of tickets and a small container to keep them in. Adam had a little Toy Story container from last Easter, and so we sat him down and explained the system. For every good thing he does he gets a ticket, and his ticket-reward increases with each thing he does. For example, he gets Mommy the remote half way across the room. He helped Mommy like a good boy, so he gets one ticket. He helps Bryan do the laundry, he may get 5 tickets. Cleaning his room, he'll get 5 tickets per toy box he's filled on his own. And so on and so forth. When he's bad, however, his tickets get taken away. He gets three warnings to behave, and then we take tickets in 5 ticket increments. Usually, he straightens up immediately--he wants those tickets, because they can be used for cool rewards and prizes.

The Ticket Rewards Box with price list. Rewards include candy, Hot Wheels, a Star Wars Light Saber (for a whopping 100 tickets!) and Monies.

The Ticket Rewards Box  is a small plastic shoebox filled with all kinds of goodies, like Hot Wheels cars, Curious George fruit snacks, or something of the like. As we find cool new things for him to do and/or have, (provided there's the little bit of extra money and/or item is cost-effective) we'll add it into the rewards box.

Price List for the Ticket Reward Box. Some extra rewards are added on as we go--like the Light Saber. And of course, "Time with Mommy and Bryan is always free!"

This Easter, we added a new reward---Monies. Adam always asks me "Do we have monies for bowling? Do we have monies for McDonalds?" And of course, I face the issue every parent has faced before: How do I handles this without him always wanting thing x? Special things like that are rewards, not just given out; how can I teach my son that? So, using his own wording and a few index cards, we created monies. He can turn in 5 tickets for one of the Monies (below), and turn in x amount of monies for the desired trip or reward.

We've had this system in place for about a month now, and we've already gotten a Knoxville Zoo Membership and had a few excursions. Adam's behaving better than ever (*knocks on wood*) and things are getting brighter as we move on!

I hope to write another post tonight on couponing, and my upcoming Ireland trip but for now--Have a good one!


Leave me a comment or message me if you wanna learn more about the ticket system, rewards, or the monies. --Kayla

Recipe 1: Yummy and Simple Tomato Soup with Crisp Parsley Toast

Many people have asked for my recipes and I figured we could plug them in here! This recipe is one of my favourites for quick-fix dinner/lunches at any time. I've altered it Takes about 15-20 minutes total from start to finish. Makes about two to three servings, depending on the size of your portions. (I always go for the big bowls.)

Ingredients:
2 can Campbell's Tomato Soup
1 can water (I just use one of the cans to measure it out)
1 loaf of Italian bread (I buy mine from the Kroger bakery, sliced with the bread slicer. You can also use regular bread, or make "croutons" by tearing bread into small cubes)
Olive oil (can use butter as substitute)
Cheddar cheese, grated or shredded
Herbs/Spices to taste:
(These you can "customize" to your own likings, these are just my personal faves that have gotten wonderful reviews from those who've had it.)
--basil
--oregano
--garlic powder
--cilantro.
--parsley

Directions:
1) Empty both cans of soup into a medium size pot, set on medium heat on the stove.
2) Stir in water. Make sure it's well blended. Let simmer for two-three minutes.
3) While that's simmering, line a cookie sheet/oven pan with aluminum foil. Arrange sliced Italian bread on the pan. Set the oven to about 350F.
NOTE: You may also use regular bread or make "croutons" by tearing the bread into cubes. For croutons, simple arrange in a single layer across the pan.
4) In a small bowl, pour just enough olive oil to cover the bottom.
NOTE: if you're using butter, heat in the microwave 10 secs, stir. Microwave in 10 second intervals with stirring between.
5) Mix in a little bit of parsley, enough to "fleck" the olive oil/butter. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the bread. If making croutons, slowly pour or spoon the mixture over the bread pieces.
6) Bake the bread in the oven for approximately 5 minutes.
7) Returning to your soup, mix in your spices. I usually do 2 parts basil, 2 parts oregano, 1 part cilantro, 1 part garlic powder. This is usually 1 tsp per part, but I usually do it by sight ("eyeballing it"). Mix well.
8) Cover the soup, and turn heat to medium-high.
9) Grate cheddar cheese. Shredded will work just as well.
10) After ten minutes, check the toast. The toast is ready when the edges of the toast are very lightly browned, and feels firm to the touch. Croutons will be slightly browner.
11) Serve.

Serve soup in a bowl topped with cheese, with a side of toast. If using croutons, they may be served atop the soup as well.

I've included my pictures of my soup and toast as well. :)
Enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments!

A New Chapter in the Book

Proverbial book, that is, but a book nonetheless. Moving out last October has certainly put a spin on things in my world, and I'm hoping I can start documenting them more and more here, as well as most some of my wonderful ideas and recipes that some Facebookers have been dying to get their hands on.

First things first, I'd like to show off a couple of the new reward programs I am loving! The first is called Swagbucks. It gives rewards in the form of "Swagbucks" for doing simple things, such as having a toolbar, answering a daily poll, or going through a "NOSO Path," that is a path of No Obligation Special Offers. Follow the path, get Swagbucks. You can also fill out surveys, perform tasks, watch videos, etc to earn SB. Even searching with their search engine (conveniently found on the toolbar!) can earn you surprise SwagBucks.  After all that, earning points for doing simple tasks, you can trade them in for Sweepstakes Opportunities, or some cool prizes! They've got it all from stick rubber ducks for the bottom of your bathtub, all the way up to sewing machines and TomTom GPS Systems. Pretty sweet deal for just clicking through a few things a day! To help get you started I've place a widget on the right side of this blog, so all you have to do is click and start earning!

My Coke Rewards is the program I've been with the longest. Simple enough, CocaCola has printed codes on the inside lid of every Coke product, as well as on the inside of the boxes of canned products. Each code can be entered for points (minimum of 3 points per code) and you can turn these in for prizes or sweepstakes. I'll admit, MCR does have its downfalls: points expire after 90 days of inactivity, and the prizes aren't too great unless you have major luck as a Sweepstakes winner, or are a Coca-Cola fanatic. If all else fails, I would always happily accept you MCR donations. :D

Kellogs and Huggies are also companies that have Rewards programs. I haven't looked into either of these too terribly well yet, but I will keep you updated as I learn more. As always, links are provided there so you can check them out yourself!

I think that's about all for now, I'll check in later with everyone. Maybe post some more recipes later in the day. :)

--K