I will admit that I really did not feel like cooking this Valentine’s Day. I spent the entire day working on a Notebook Experiment (which I will share with you on Wednesday and which I failed miserably at) and I was tired of cooking and cleaning up the kitchen.

I really didn’t want to eat out of the pantry though so I threw the ingredients in the bread machine to make my pizza dough and cut all of the little pepperonis into hearts to make the kids smile.

I called the kids to the table and no one commented on the hearts.

“Ethan, look! Mommy made hearts for you & sissy for Valentine’s Day? Do you see them? Aren’t those cool! It’s because I love you so much!”

He started to smile and then pointed to one on the pizza, “That one isn’t cut right. It looks like a circle.”

Regardless, they all enjoyed the homemade pizza and then we spent the evening playing on the Wii together as a family. The rest of the evening was spent sacking out on the couch with my sweetie and savoring those quiet moments after the kids go to bed.

Maybe we will go out next year… or maybe we will do this same exact thing again, minus the cooking marathon!

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

I never did use my free coffee coupon at the airport and decided to save it as my reward for good grocery shopping. I love to give myself a little reward for staying on budget. It is usually a giant Diet Coke for a $1 at McDonald’s, but I thought I would use my coupon instead and stay true to the challenge.

The grocery shopping took much longer than I had anticipated though so once again I find this coupon is still waiting for me for when I need a little pick-me-up.

I budgeted $250 for groceries and I spent $219, leaving me just enough for our milk money for the rest of the month. I tried to cash on the coupons that I have been hording for a rainy day. I hope that we can stay on budget and I can prove to myself that with good discipline and thoughtfulness that we can put away more money than we thought.

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

Yesterday I escaped the house and avoided all of the things I needed to do. Today, I began to tackle the mounting projects that have been looming. I whipped open the windows to circulate some fresh air into the house, tackled a few spring cleaning items, and tried to get our house back into shape. There is still much to do, but I got a good start on things.

I will admit it, normally I would have left to escape. Not necessarily to shop, but definitely to do something to get away. The No Spend Challenge has brought to light the fact that many of the busy things I do are just that… busy things. With no reason to spend, I can focus on taking care of the things I already possess. That is a good feeling!

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

The laundry is laying in piles. The suitcase left unpacked. The bills lay in a stack. Do I address any of them today? Nope! I am sitting at my computer trying to play catch-up since I didn’t have my weekend time to work.

I headed to my best friend’s house this evening and left all the piles and to-dos for another day. She made me an amazing dinner that I didn’t have to prepare. The kids played, we sipped coffee, and I knitted a little. Our children ran around until their cheeks were pink and they were sweaty and out of breath. And we sat at her kitchen table and gabbed until bedtime.

I headed home to do my work and put on my favorite free radio station- Pandora. This is a picture of what it looks like on my computer. Can you guess which radio station is my husband’s in this shot? I bet it will make you giggle! He might murder me for pointing it out, but I can’t resist!

A little catch up, a little Adele, a little quiet. The best things in life truly are free!

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

I am guessing that this is going to be the most glamorous of no spend days because Redbook Magazine came to my house for a photo shoot. I mean, it doesn’t get more glam than that! I had the very fabulous and super sweet Jonathan Sprague (and his assistant Brittany) fly to good ol’ Indiana to take my picture for a story that is slated to air in April.

The clothing and shoes? Those were borrowed and then styled by the best fashonista in town, Kathy Friend. The make-up artist? Gabrielle from Camellia Cosmestics. The set? My little home transformed into a studio set. The coffee? My little coffeemaker hummed along for me all day. My nerves? Shot.

We are sharing our family’s journey into becoming debt-free with the Redbook readers and I can’t wait to see how the story turns out. I am so proud of what we have been able to accomplish and this feels like a wonderful reward for all that hard work.

A big thank you to Kathy & Gabrielle for making me look fabulous, Jonathan for flying out here to take my picture, Becky for taking care of my Emily so I could accomplish this, and my husband for taking care of Ethan while his wife played dress-up!

I have a feeling, this is the best no spend day yet!

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!

This box has been sitting in our garage for the past six months or so and we like to get it out when we have had a particularly long day with the kids. We hand them a big recycled coffee can full of crayons and let them go to town coloring, creating, and pretending in this box. When they lose interest in it, the box is drug back out to the garage until another long day comes along.

No eating out means I need to pack up lunches for my husband. I normally do this, but have a desire to make these lunches extra special so he won’t mind this No Spend Challenge so much. A sprinkle of fresh parsley and a little bit of grated cheese make his lunches a little more glamorous this month.

I truly adore cooking and I love when he opens up his containers at work, after a quick zap in the microwave, and his coworkers curse him as their stomachs growl in protest. I admit it, I am a total showoff and completely live for his work feedback.

“Did anyone say anything about your lunch?” I slyly ask. “WHAT? No one was there! They must smell this! They must!”

I live for little moments like those.
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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!