Penny Pinching Peach

For the semi crunchy, homeschool friendly and totally frugal!

Category Archives: Living Life

Family, fun and randomness


by 26 Comments

Mommy Meltdown Moments

Driving mommy's cart
When Mommy is having a meltdown,  but we’re still cute….

My toddler loves to go shopping with Mommy. Does Mommy always enjoy that experience? Umm….nope!!

There are times when shopping with my beautiful children is pure bliss.

We wander the aisles of the grocery & department stores, racking up compliments on how gorgeous and well behaved my little angels are while my daughter points out all the neaterific things she sees everywhere with witty descriptiveness and my baby happily chortles at every grandmother who smiles at him. These are the moments of pride & joy in motherhood. I glow and think I could handle a few more of these wonderful beings.

Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there are the “Mommy Meltdown” moments on a routine grocery shopping trip.

If you’re a mother and claim to have never had one of these, you are either actually an angelic being posing as a human mommy or a big honkin’ liar! I’m betting on the latter! 😉

My personal meltdowns have been triggered by a myriad of crazily challenging experiences. Want a sample? Let me see…

How about the time my daughter was pitching tantrums and trying to grab things all through the store? The icing on the cake was when she grabbed my coupon organizer and scattered it’s contents all over the cleaning aisle. An older lady came upon me in tears on my hand & knees, baby strapped to me in a carrier and my other hand holding the seat of the pants of a squirming toddler. She was very sweet and helped me gather up my many pieces of paper gold, assuring me this happens to the best of us now & then.

Oh, oh! And the other day when my sweet little girl was sharing Cheerios with her baby brother, and dumped the whole container all over the drugstore floor? That took awhile to clean up, especially since I made her “help” and had to keep her from putting the nasty crumbs into her hungry little mouth while baby brother cried from his perch in the buggy.

That same trip, as I strapped both kids into the car, she pulls two lip balms out of her pocket and exclaims “Surprise, Mommy!!”. Yeah, that was a fun trip back into the store.

You should’ve heard the lecture she got through our whole grocery trip about what stealing is, why it is bad, and what the consequences will be if this ever happens again. She can now be heard loudly lecturing random strangers in stores about not taking things without paying for them.

My most recent meltdown happened this morning at home.

Both kids were content playing for a moment, and I walked away for a minute to get something. Suddenly, I heard suspicious scribbling noises. As I walked back to the kitchen, asking Princess Peach what she was doing, I heard a clattering crash and baby protesting loudly. Miss munchkin ran guiltily away, pencil in hand, refrigerator covered in her hastily scribbled “artwork”, with the echo of me hollering “TIMEOUT! NOW!!!” following her into the other livingroom. Baby was looking at up me in irritation, still grasping the trash can lid in hand, wondering why everything was scattered all around and why I looked so frustrated. The next little while saw me scrubbing the fridge, gathering the trash, scrubbing the floor, cleaning the baby and muttering under my breath “God made them cute to ensure their survival”. 🙂

So, yeah, I’ve had my share of “I-am-so-embarassed” and “If-one-more-thing-goes-wrong-I’ll-implode” during routine trips to the grocery store, ill-planned visits to restaurants or even simply trying to get a few things done around the house.

What triggers your “Mommy Meltdowns”?


by 6 Comments

The Liebster Award!!

The Liebster Award

Liebster Award

Liebster Award

I was given an unexpected compliment & honor this week, by being nominated for the Liebster Award! Liebster means “favorite” in German, and is given to new bloggers who are building their audience by people who believe they are doing an exceptional job.

Thank you so much to My Fabulous Frugal Life http://myfabulousfrugallife.com/ for nominating me! Be sure to visit and follow her frugally fashionable blog.

These are the Liebster Award rules; “When nominated, the blogger must list eleven facts about his/herself, answers questions given by the nominator, and come up with eleven questions for the bloggers he/she nominates.”

♥ Eleven Facts About Penny Pinching Peach♥

•Above all, I love my family.
•I was raised on a farm, and I miss it.
•I come from a long & proud line of penny pinching peaches
•I enjoy cooking and baking yummy vittles, then share them.
•I was homeschooled, graduating at age 15 in the top 1% of graduating seniors nationwide.
•I lost my mom in 2006, and I miss her every day, but she lives on in the hearts of all who loved her.
•My children are the reason I get up every morning.
•My pet peeves are parents who don’t parent and rude people.
•I love animals! We have two dogs, two cats, and are getting chicks before Easter.
•I’m new to the Wonderful World of Blog, but I’m finding folks friendly here. 🙂
•I’m pretty creative, and love making random things beautiful.

♥Questions From My Fabulous Frugal Life♥

•Why do you blog? I blog because it is the way I have expressed myself since I learned how to scribble words on paper, and I wanted to try a new avenue of sharing some things I love. You know, like pinching pennies and the funny kiddos.
•What is the last book you read? Organizing For Dummies. I got some great pointers out of it, too. I guess I’m a dummy when it comes to being organized with all the clutter we have around here. 🙂
•What is the last item you purchased? Groceries. Exciting, I know! 😉
•What is the last meal/food you prepared? My great-grandma’s recipe for Ritz cracker chicken, accompanied by some yummy mashed taters & green beans with onions, washed down with a cold glass of sweet tea. (Yep, I’m from the South! How’d y’all guess?)
•Where do you find home decorating items/inspiration? I find inspiration in my favorite things and colors, as well as nature and things others have done with their homes.
•What do you love? I am so in love with God, my family, friends, pets, writing, cooking & creativity.
•What’s something you know you do differently than most people? I don’t care where I am or who is looking. If I want to do the chicken dance with my daughter or look like a monkey to make my baby laugh, I’m not too embarassed to do that.
•What would you do if you won $1 million? Pay off all of our bills, buy our dream home on acreage, invest some for the future, and help out a few deserving folks a bit.
•What is your guilty pleasure? Yummy, delicious, delectable chocolate, especially of the dark & creamy varieties! Drool city! 🙂
•What is your favorite store and why? This is going to sound weird, but right now my favorite chain store is CVS. It is the easiest local store for stacking coupons and deals together for ridiculous savings! 🙂 Besides that, I have a lifelong friendship with thrift stores and consignment shops. You can find all sorts of nifty treasures on the cheap at those spots, and they keep my munchkins beautifully clothed for pennies on the dollar.
•What are you grateful for? I am grateful to be alive to be with my family. I had an extremely complicated pregnancy (due to a grapefruit sized dermoid cyst and delayed discovery by my original doctors) with my 10 month old son, and both of us nearly passed away. It was a hard fight to carry him as long as possible, then they nearly lost both of us when he was born. He went into respiratory arrest due to being three weeks premature and the meds I was on to keep from going into labor any sooner. I lost too much blood during an emergency c-section & surgery. Had my husband not fought so hard to force them to switch me to specialists at the best hospital in the state, I honestly believe that we might not be here today.I thank God every day that I am here to enjoy my life, family and babies, and even be annoyed & exhausted by them, because I was so close to not having all of this. We are very blessed.

♥Penny Pinching Peach’s Liebster Award Nominees♥

 •Our Thrifty House http://ourthriftyhouse.com/
•The Dissocial Mom http://thedissocialmom.wordpress.com/
•WAH Families Live Green http://wahfamilieslivegreen.com/
•Goodwill Hoarding http://goodwillhoarding.com/

♥My Questions for the Nominees♥

•What inspires your blogs?
•What is your favorite way to save?
•If you could spend your weekend any way you wanted, what would you do?
•Do you have any pets?
•Which beauty item can you not live without?
•What is your favorite place to shop, online or offline?
•What’s your favorite meal?
•What two words best describes your personality?
•What is your favorite way to treat yourself?
•Do you have any hidden talents?
•What would you like to be remembered for?

Congratulations to all of these fantastic bloggers!

I look forward to reading your replies and to continue keeping up with all of your blogs! Please visit and follow all of these creative bloggers. I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!


by 2 Comments

Deciphering Diaper Deals

Blissful sleep in discount name brand diapers

Blissful sleep in discount name brand diapers

If you’re the parent of a diapered darling, you know that the the little stinker is going to to keeping doodying in those diapers and you’re going to have to keep wiping those bottoms. Unless you are one of those brave (and commendable) souls who ventures into the world of cloth diapers and reusable wipes, it’s an inevitable part of parenting a small, drooly being. They are going to poop & pee and you’re going to keep buying something for them to stinky up over & over & over &….well, you get the picture. 🙂 I have a few simple strategies which have kept me rarely buying full price diapers or wipes, and have saved us a truckload of money.

First of all, sign up with all of the diaper makers for their email lists or clubs or whatever they have available. They will often mail, email or post on their sites very high value coupons to get you to continue buying their products. Huggies and Pampers also have rewards programs you can use to earn different things. I’ll probably write more about those another day. 🙂

Secondly, check the online printable coupon sites at least once a week, and print any coupons for diapers and wipes they have available. They will usually let you print them at least twice, so try to do that. Keep these coupons in your purse all the time, in case you run across a real bargain you can stack the coupons on top of. One site that frequently has baby product coupons is http://coupons.com

Third, sign up for store loyalty cards, and don’t forget to use them. They track what you buy, and since you are obviously buying diapers & wipes, they will often wind up giving you coupons for those items to keep you buying them in their stores. Many stores, like CVS and Walgreens, will allow you to “stack” their store coupons on top of a manufacturer’s coupon, which makes for some great bargains.

Fourth & finally, never wait until you actually need bottom wipers or poopy catchers to buy them. If you do, you’re probably not going to get the best deals or even close! Always stay ahead. Buy them when they are on sale and you have coupons to help pay for them. It’s easy to check when you’re already shopping or glance online briefly before you head to the store and see if there’s a good sale going on.

See? All of that is super duper easy, and hardly takes a few minutes each week. The pay-off is huge when you compare it to the time you put into it, too! I rarely pay more than half price for diapers and the wipes are usually deeply discounted, as well. Just by spending a few minutes a week on this, and only counting these two items, I would estimate that I save at approximately $60 to $70 a month. If you count that like wages, I’m making pretty good money for my time! 😉

Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!

Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!

Try these little strategies out, and let me know how they work for you. They’ve been budget savers for us! Diapered dudes and divas aren’t discounted, so anything to make them less costly is great by this frugal mama! 🙂


by 4 Comments

Can Crushing Cutie

Any drops left?

My three year old doing chores.

I give my three year old chores, and explain that she is helping our family keep our house clean (and preventing dear ol’ mom from breaking her neck when she slips on the banana peels Princess Peach so casually tossed on the floor).

Call me a promoter of child labor if you will. I call it raising a child to be a responsible adult, instead of raising children who don’t know how to be grown-ups. In other words, if you toss a banana peel on the floor, you darn tootin’ better pick it up before someone steps on it, or you won’t see another banana for a week and whatever you were playing with that made you too lazy to take the thing into the kitchen to compost is going to vanish until you do something to earn it back. 😉 I figure if I start teaching her now, maybe she won’t go into spasms of horrified shock when she is suddenly on her own and expected to cook, clean, pay her own bills, even follow laws. 🙂

For some ideas of what chores your three year old can do, here are some things mine does…

She has a few small duties, such as picking up her own toys at night, wiping up her snack table if she gets it messy, and helping feed her beloved kitty cats. One of her favorite new jobs, though, is crushing the aluminum cans for recycling.

All lined up

Recycling made fun!

Mommy’s little can crushing cutie is so enthusiastic about her job that she will scavenge the house for any empty cans she can rush to crush. We have to watch her, or she’ll take a Coke right out of your hand, scurry to pour it down the drain or drink it, then scamper to the can crusher we have on our kitchen wall to smash it and toss it in our nearby aluminum recycling bin. She thinks it’s the neatest thing!

There is a method to Princess Peach’s can crushing recycling ritual.

She carefully lines up her latest aquisition in the aforementioned crusher, plants her little feet firmly, then grasps the handle with both of her grubby paws. With a mighty heave and an enthusiastic exclamation of “Crrrrrrrush!!!!” she smooshes the can down to a fraction of it’s original size. With a flourish, she lifts the handle, snatches her squished can, waves it in the air while hopping up and down, and chants “I did it! I did it!” before finally tossing her work of art into the handy dandy recycling box. This is basically a daily ritual, and it never ceases to entertain her easily amused maternal figure. 🙂

Crrrrrrush!!!!

Crrrrrrush!!!!

I am not deeply into the “green craze”, but I believe in being responsible with whatever you have.

Recycling makes sense for our family on many levels. We already haul off our own trash so that we don’t have to pay for pick-up. It’s not much more trouble to separate a few things out and save them up to take to the recycling center.

When can are crushed, they take up less space and we are able to put at least triple the cans in each bag. Instead of paying to have those cans disposed of, we are given a few cents for them and helping the environment to boot. All of this, while helping our can crushing cutie pie learn responsibility and providing myself with the free entertainment of watching her theatrics while performing her beloved task. If that doesn’t appeal to someone who wants to maximize her resources as much as possible, I don’t know what does!

What sort of thrifty tasks do your children love or hate?

I did it! I did it!

Three year olds can complete tasks, see?


by 7 Comments

Wedding on a Budget

Under the Arbor

Under the Arbor

My husband and I are about to celebrate our fourth anniversary. This got me to thinking about planning our wedding. Are you surprised that I tried to keep the costs low, even though my daddy was paying? I didn’t think so! 😉 Weddings can be extraordinarily expensive. When planning my own nuptials, I couldn’t see blowing tons of dough on things that wouldn’t help us in our life together. I wanted to make the day special, include people I loved, and celebrate the beginning of our life together without feeling I was wasting anyone’s money.

My mom had passed away from cancer just before Christmas in 2006, before I even met my husband. She wasn’t there to help me plan my wedding, and she never even got to meet my groom. This was heartbreaking for me. I was never one of those girls who planned out and dreamed over every detail of my wedding. The only constant components in my vague dreams were that my dress would be white and my mom & I would relish every moment of planning that celebration together. Because she wasn’t there to do that with me, I went through a time of sorrow and grieving over the fact she was gone, and had alot of trouble getting excited about my wedding day. Planning it in a creative, family oriented, frugal way was the closest I could come to including her in my plans, so I finally threw myself into that. I knew she would want me to focus on my joy in the new family I was beginning, rather than in the emptiness I felt in her absence.

My beautiful bouquet

My beautiful bouquet

My nana (Mom’s mom) is hugely talented with floral arrangements, and offered to do my flowers as her wedding gift to me. She made this beautiful bouquet, did the lovely arbor we said our vows under, and created nice boutonnieres for the menfolks. They were all so nice, creative and special to me because every petal was placed with love and good wishes for our happiness in our marriage. You can’t put a pricetag on that! Also, one of my nana’s best friends is a retired hairdresser, and did my hair for me as a favor to my nana. That was so nice of her.

I love my sweet Uncle ‘Preacher’, who is my dad’s oldest brother and a pastor, and have alot of respect for him. He was my first thought of who I wanted to perform our ceremony, and he was kind enough to grant my request that he do that. His wife makes delicious punch, and offered to make some for our refreshments.

My Brother Playing

My Brother Playing

My brother is an amazing musician, so I had him play some pieces on the guitar while people were being seated and as I walked down the aisle. Folks were pleasantly surprised at how talented he is, and it is a special memory for me of his part on my big day.

One of my cousins is a terrific photographer who had done weddings before, and did our wedding photos for a fraction of the normal cost. I think she did an amazing job!

My stepmother, dad and some family friends helped with refreshments, and others helped my groom & me decorate.

I purchased my gown at a discount, without compromising getting the dress that made me feel like a bride. My sweet sister-in-law went with me. She was a huge support when I wanted to have a meltdown because I was wedding dress shopping without my mama, and made sure I didn’t settle for an “okay” gown because it was the cheapest one that fit. 🙂 Many of my “extras” for decorating and refreshments were bought at the dollar store or I found them at deep discounts, but they fit the simple theme I wanted.

All in all, my wedding cost very little and meant so much. There were moments when I wanted to cry, because I just wanted my mom there, but I knew she would be happy for me to be marrying the man I had chosen. It’s not about how much you spend. It’s about how much love you put into it. Our wedding day started our marriage off with oodles of love from our family and friends without putting anyone into tons of debt or financial stress. I know my thrifty mama would have been proud, and I could feel her spirit there with me, just as I can feel her love living on in me, my family, and especially my own motherly love for my babies every single day.

Stay frugal, remember what and who is important, and cherish every moment you have with those you love.

After the Kiss

After the Kiss


by 3 Comments

The Princess and the Potty

DSC05686So, my latest money saving scheme is to get my very stubborn 3 year old to completely stop having accidents in her britches. She’s intelligent and knows how and when to go potty, but all of Mommy’s best efforts to completely get her accident free have been massive fails. I think I’ve finally struck gold!  I refuse to buy more pull-ups, so I’ve put her little hiney in panties (other than a diaper to sleep in). The psychology I used? Desperation! Kidding….kinda! She doesn’t know that, though. On to my real strategy…

Two things about Little Miss Princess Peach- she loves to help and she hates to get her pretty clothes messy. Using this knowledge to my benefit, first I told her that Mommy & Daddy can’t afford to keep buying diapers & pull-ups for such a big, smart girl. We need her help to save the diapers for her baby brother, who is just plain too little to make it to the potty. Can she help us? “Suuuuurrrrrre, I can do dat!”,  says she. “YES!!!!” thinks me. On to point number two, where I tell her that since she is wearing panties, if she peepees or poopoos on herself, it will go right onto her pretty clothes and ruin them. “Oh, no!” says she. “Oh, yes!” says me. “I gotta stay dry, den.” she states, and Mommy thoroughly agrees. Strategies in place. 🙂

Shortly after we started our latest foray into the mission to stay dry, I hear a little voice hollering from the bathroom. “Mommy! Mommy! I have a surprise for you!” she exclaims, throwing open the lid of her pink princess potty, “It’s peepee! I know you are so happy! Give me a huuuuuug!”

A few days in, we’ve went from a few accidents a day to one or two times, which is pretty much only when she does a number two (HELP ME!!!). Methinks Mommy is winning the war, finally. BWAHAHA!!!

*counting the money I’m saving and the frustration that is fading*

WP_20130209_038