I keep the dog food bowls in the crates and an over sized water bowl outside.

My eldest dd would eat the dog food, Cameo was a very small dog so I set the baby gate at the laundry room high enough for her to get under but too low for the 10 month old dd, I needed the dog food gate for her until she was nearly 2yo!

We keep the dog food and water in the garage.

This is an idea for a smaller dog.  We used it to keep catfood and the litterbox out of our dog’s reach.  If you have a closet or other room (with a door) where you can put the bowls this idea may work.  Set up the feeding station in the designated room.  On the inside of the door frame place a small hook.  Tie a piece of string together (long enough to be made into a figure eight and wrap one end around the door knob on the front of the door and the other end around the hook on the inside of the door frame.  Adjust the length so that the door will open enough to let the dog in to access the food but keep the baby out.

Thanks for the tip.  I will try that.

Rosie - my hubby enjoys snacks at the office too! Heres some ideas - cheese sticks, hummus with veggies, hard boiled eggs, deli meat and cheese rolled up together (you can put a spread in the middle) and cottage cheese and grape tomatoes.

granola or granola bars (I use a coupon because it’s free money), chips (I rarely buy these, but my husband keeps hitting the convenience store right around the corner from his office to buy them and I keep suggesting that the grocery store is cheaper and he keeps insisting that he’s trying to give them up, but then he keeps buying them, what’s a wife to do?), he also likes cashews (the bits and pieces are cheaper than the whole ones).  If it weren’t so hot, I would bake up a bunch of muffins and freeze them, individually.  They’d be thawed by the time he got hungry at work.

A jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers.  A jar of nuts.  Hummus and pita.  Fruit salad.

I shop at HEB here in Texas. They don’t have a loyalty card, but they do have lots of in store coupons. They have lots of buy something get this free type of deals. I try to eat healthy and organic too. It is hard to find coupons for some of those items. There is a local farm and I try to head there every couple of weeks for produce. It is fresher and cheaper than the grocery store, but not necessarily organic. I belong to a meat co-op and purchase grass fed beef and free range chicken every couple of months. However, I do feel that I spend way too much money on groceries, but can’t find the time to really bargain shop and find the best deals.

I’m in the northeast, and our local stores not only double coupons, but they have bonus/rewards cards, too.  We can even use those cards for money off gasoline.  They have lots of BOGOs, plus other sales.  I’ve been researching couponing and cutting down on grocery costs for about 2 years now.  What I have found for us is that it doesn’t really pay to use coupons.  I know that sounds crazy, but we have 9 children, and the time it would take for me to cut, organize, etc. would cost more than the savings, in most cases. Our stores print circulars in the Sunday paper, so all I have to do is check what’s on sale and plan my meny around that.  Within a five mile radius we have a Dollar General, Costco, Aldi’s, and three supermarkets.  I guess I didn’t really realize how lucky we are here in PA.

Marie, Michelle’s point of giving service to your church is a good one.  I know my church is always looking for help with weeding and mulching and other grounds keeping - and they point out that these service hours defray the cost of hiring people to do it.  As for the 10%, I had one pastor say that we should try to give 5% to the parish and 5% to other worthy charities, which I liked because I do have some places I want to support.  We are in a place now where we CAN give more…for many many years we struggled to pay our monthly bills.  If you truly are barely getting by, then I would not worry about how much you give right now.  If you can look at some things and think that you could do without them, then perhaps you should consider making a sacrifice.  For example, if you use rabbit ears for your TV and go to the library for internet, that’s one thing, but if you pay $120/mo for high-speed internet and Showtime, then I would suggest you could reduce that in order to give more to the church.  My family likes to go to our local ice cream shop a few times a month - one trip is $16-$20.  If I can afford that, I can afford to give that much to the church.  There were many years I could not afford that!

Michelle, as you pay off the credit card bill, add a little more to the church envelope. So if your payment is $200, when it goes down to $190, put that extra $10 in the envelope.  That way, you’re still laying out the same amount of money each month, but you can still creep your way toward that 5% or 10%!

My Dad told me when we kids were young (and there were a lot of us and we were barely making it) he did not give anything near 10% but as the kids graduated from college and moved out he was able to give more than 10%.  I don’t think people should be legalistic about the 10%.  As noted, there are a lot of ways to give to your parish besides money in terms of volunteer work.

I think the tithe should be something to work toward.  As long as you’re heading in that direction, you’re contributions will be fruitful (for both you and your parish or whatever charities you donate to).

Oh, I didn’t intend to say that fear is a good way to make decisions!  I meant to say that it is wise to know when you have based a decision in fear and be aware of what it is.  If we trust that God plans for our future, then we relax and follow his lead without fear.

I’m not an expert on this at all and struggle too.  I have three little ones and some days are better than others.  I have recently discovered the usefulness of daily routines.  The Flylady at flylady.net has some great daily routines that have helped me to get my house under control.  She breaks tasks up into 15 minute segments.  Even on my busiest days, I can always find 15 minutes to do something. She also breaks the home up into zones and each week is devoted to a zone.  I don’t follow all of her system, but what I have done has helped me gain some control. 

I have also read Holly Pierlot’s book “A Mother’s Rule of Life” and really like the way she breaks down the different resonsibilities of a mom into “five P’s:  prayer, person, partner, parent, and provider. 

Good luck!

It is a huge challenge, I won’t lie!  I have 2 under 2 and my number one time saver is making extra when I cook, and freeze it for a meal a couple of weeks into the future.  I shop my groceries in the evening when my husband is home and kids are sleeping, and cook on the weekend when he takes the toddler to the park or his parents for a couple of hours.  One very wise mama told me that it is so much more important to have a relationship with your children, rather than a clean house.  While some days it’s very hard to look around and notice my house is far from immaculate, I do not regret spending the time I can with my kids while they still want to! 

So… cooking and freezing has been a lifesaver, especially at the terrible hours of 4-6pm with meltdowns etc…to know I only have to reheat, or my husband can reheat something is a huge relief!  Some other moms and I are talking about either getting together and do big batch cooking at the church, or at home, making 5-6 times the amount, and we’ll swap out meals and freeze them.  That way, we do the same amount of work we would for one meal, with only one time meal prep and clean up, and with everyone doing a different meal, we’ll have as much variety as there are participants!