Saving Made Simple

Regular Raw Mom readers, and subscribers to Raw Mom Tidbits, will know that I have an interest in finance (and with a financial advisor husband, it’s a fairly regular topic of conversation in our house). I’ve even created the Raw Mom Financial Serenity Budgeting Toolkit, which is a fantastic, free gift from me to you – I created it, based on my own budgeting system, to help you face your spending reality, thus empowering you to take control of your money.

I have been bursting to tell you about an absolutely amazing budgeting website, one that I’ve known about and used for a couple of years. It’s called Simple Savings, and was set up by an Australian couple. Basically, it’s full of thousands and thousands of fantastic ideas for saving money!

It’s a very generous site, with many tips available for free. You can sign up for a free monthly, highly entertaining and inspiring newsletter, and when you do this you also receive the free weekly “Hint of the Week”. The site also has heaps of other free resources.

However, if you want access to over 13,000 tips, all categorized, you can sign up for cheap, cheap, cheap membership to “The Vault”. The tips come from fellow subscribers to the site, and are vetted, edited and categorized before being placed on the site. Main categories include Friends & Family, Finances, Home, Entertainment, and Transport, with many, many subcategories under each of these.

I’ve come across some fantastic ideas since subscribing to The Vault – such as making rainy days at home with children fun (and cheap, without going out) by giving such days a “color” theme. For example, we all wear red clothes, eat red food, have red placemats, draw pictures of things that are red… Through The Vault I’ve also found out about fabulous websites such as www.naturalstrategies.com.au, a site that provides environmental tips (which naturally work towards improving your finances), and the handy http://www.askthebuilder.com, which gives plenty of advice on doing your own household repairs. I’ve also learned of one family’s tip for cheap weekend outings, by having “$20 Saturdays” – with whatever outing they take, the whole family has to work out how they can make it all happen for under $20. Another great tip is to keep razor blades in a small dish of olive oil, as this means that the blades don’t rust between each use, so they therefore last much longer (I’ve found that this works better for razors that don’t have a lubricating strip).

Being an Australian site, quite a few of the tips relate to Australian stores and websites. However, most of them are general tips, with anyone in the Western world being able to apply them to their everyday lives. There are quite a few tips that relate to food – and while I don’t agree with many of these (some promote unhealthy, cheaper substitutes for junk and other unhealthy foods), there is heaps of information on healthy eating options, and organic gardening.

The site is also full of wonderful stories from people who have turned their lives around (including people who have suffered crippling debt), with some choosing to reduce their working hours with the savings they’ve made, enabling them to spend more time with their families. Even if you’re on a good income, and can afford a good quality of life, there are heaps of ideas here that can help you rein in unnecessary spending, and secure your financial future. The ideas can help make you more creative (and environmentally aware), looking for enriching ways of living your best life possible – without always praying to the god of consumerism.

To make sure all your favorite Vault money-saving ideas are kept in one place, you can print them out and keep them in a binder.

I really wanted to tell you about this site, and I’ve been waiting for the right time – Christmas is coming (say no more), the world’s financial markets are in a state of upheaval, and there’s currently a sale on Vault membership! So this is the perfect time!

Yearly membership to The Vault is usually only AUS$47 (about US$31), but until Monday December 1 (AEST), it will be ON SALE for only AUS$27 (about US$18). So, if you live on the east coast of the US, you have until about 8am Sunday November 30 to sign up at the discount rate. Click here to check out the site. But, honestly, even at full price the membership is a bargain.

***Important update: the AUS$27 (about US$18) special price for Vault membership has been extended to Tuesday December 9, 2008 (AEST) – so if you live on the US east coast, you now have until Monday December 8 to take advantage of this great price.***

If you’re after loads of ideas for saving money, I do recommend signing up. They say that you can easily make back the cost of the membership with savings from your very first purchase. It really is a phenomenal resource. In fact, I think it’s so good, that last Christmas I gave a few family members and friends memberships to The Vault as Christmas presents! (Generously, Matt and Fiona, the creators of the site, renewed my membership for free, for doing that!)

Perhaps this could be a wee gift to yourself this Christmas?

IF YOU WANT HEALTH, WATCH YOUR MOUTH

I know how busy you are, but like I always say, ‘If you are too busy for your Health, then you are WAY TOO BUSY!” For two minutes, take a few deep breathes, relax those shoulders that are up by your ears, and just let go, and relaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…….BREEEEEEEEEEEATHE!

We live in EXTREME TIMES- the most EXCITING, TRANSFORMATIVE TIME EVER IN OUR HISTORY!All the VEILS have been lifted for those who choose to see.We NOW have all the Knowlege, Technology and Spiritual Grace to literally create SUPERIOR HEALTH, UNCONDITIONAL JOY & ENDLESS MIRACLES now and forever.You can remember being a KID, and how EVERYTHING was bigger than life, exciting and delicious…If you are into getting out of the boring, the mediocre, the STRESS and into Mastery, Manifesting, being set free by FORGIVENESS and COMPASSION, experiencing the BEAUTY of Nature, SPONTANEITY, PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL VIBRANCY, and whatever else YOU want, (only you knows what your heart REALLY desires) ALLOW me to share what I have learned and experienced to assist you on your journey. Isn’t it time life got ridiculously and outrageously fun again?

So check out my OUTRAGEOUS, PASSIONATE, TIRADE I gave with Tera who gave me full-throttle to just LET GO and tell you personal stuff, precious pearls, simple strategies- all kinds of tools to put in your parenting tool-belt!

Health just isn’t all about what you eat- it’s also about WHAT’S EATING YOU?

When we are stressed, feeling isolated at home all day with very demanding little people who out-do us in energy and whining or tantrum capabilities, we often find ourselves LESS THAN elegant in our responses. I give examples from my own life. And we either strive to cope by over-eating, eating crap, or even saying/yelling words that aren’t helpful to anyone,especially ourselves.

So, why not find some time tonight to curl up in a comfy chair with a cozy blanket with a mug of fresh ginger tea, and relaxxxxxx and enjoy mom-talk that goes into over-drive, with a ton of insight and inspiration to re-inforce and bolster you for the heroic and sacred task of YOUR Motherhood.

With Love, Raw Mom Shannon

Healing Medicine: Green Drinks & Threading the Needle

It feels good to bottle health for family and friends. Today, I bottled one green juice and two green smoothies for a friend who was recently hospitalized for stomach-related issues. Since being released, she hasn’t had much of an appetite, so I figured fresh green juice and/or the green smoothie would be the perfect food for her to sip on to assist her healing journey.

The top bottle in the picture shown here is of the juice: kale, 3 apples, 1 pear (because I ran out of apples), 1/2 lemon.

The bottom two bottles are of the smoothie, which turned out silky smooth. The ingredients used to make that were:

~ a couple handfuls of Kale

~ a handful of Parsley

~ two Pears

~ a few slices of Pineapple

~ half an Avocado

~ about 1 teaspoon Cold Pressed Olive Oil

~ about 1 teaspoon Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar

~ Water (didn’t measure — maybe a cup or so)

~ dash of Cayenne Pepper

~ about 1 1/2 teaspoons Agave Nectar

Now, I’m about to send my friend this blog entry suggesting she also “Thread the Needle” as a way to massage her abdominal organs and rejuvenate her entire system. What a nice complement to her green drinks!

“Thread The Needle?” she’ll ask.

~ On all fours in Table position (hands about shoulder width apart), begin lowering the right temple to the floor while “threading” the right arm under the left arm. (The left hand is planted on the floor.) Feel a nice stretch behind the shoulder. Hold for a few seconds while inhaling and exhaling through the nose.

~ Return to all fours and repeat on the opposite side.

To increase the stretch, raise the non-threaded arm toward the ceiling and hold for a few breaths.

Feel renewed now, Michele?

Green drinks and stretching! Does healing “medicine” get any purer than that? Why get a needle when we can just “Thread the Needle”?

Green Hugs & Blessings,

Penny

Green Smoothie Gratitude: Foods to be Thankful For

Since it’s Thanksgiving let me start off with blessing and gratitude to the Green Smoothie ladies and the Raw Diva’s! I try to practice appreciation and gratitude on a daily basis but Thanksgiving is an especially fun day when you can feel free to express gratitude always and in all ways.  As I made my green smoothie this morning I thought of how grateful I am for my Blendtec that The Raw Divas graciously gifted me with.  I love that thing! As I piled kale into the carafe I thought of how happy I am to have a palate that loves kale and a body that loves the benefits. Then the love for my ingredients just kept flowing, from the raspberries to the maca, to the coconut. Once you start being grateful it is so easy to see beauty in everything around you.  I am a self proclaimed gratitude geek. So I am going to give some examples of how easy it is to be a geek like me.

First off, how excited are we that we have this online community where we can easily access free ideas, opinions and tips about green smoothies?  Green smoothies are such a cheap, creative, fun, and easy way to change your health, habits, diet and life! And look at us, we get to have fun with it all together! No matter where you live or what kind of blender you have we all make it work in our own special ways, yet get to share in a collective of green smoothie fans. I love it!

Today I also want to share some simple, fun facts that I have been picking up on lately. While everyone around you seems to be fighting off the inevitable winter colds, we are already building our immune systems and getting stronger by adding our favorite fruits into our smoothies. Lately I have been making these amazing spinach, pineapple, and raspberry smoothies, only to find later that both pineapple and raspberries are high in vitamin C. I found that the pineapple can benefit you in the same way that orange juice does when we have a cough or cold. Also pineapple contains bromelain, which is an amazing enzyme that helps suppress coughs and loosen mucus. One thing to keep in mind when using pineapples in your smoothies is that the bromelain enzyme will start digesting the proteins in your smoothie, so drink it right away. Raspberries also contain a high amount of manganese, which is an essential trace mineral that helps us in many ways. And don’t forget about those beautiful antioxidants. Another seasonal fruit I have been having fun with is persimmon. They add a nice sweet and mellow taste and help thicken smoothies. Persimmons are a heart healthy food. Apparently they contain higher concentrations of dietary fiber, minerals, antioxidants, and trace minerals in comparison to apples.

These are just a few of the things I have been playing around with lately. Think of the abundance of nutrient dense food that is out there for us to play with.  This holiday, enjoy knowing that you don’t need to have a table filled with turkey, and all the fixings, to be fulfilled. We truly have nutritional abundance in a glass with our green smoothies.

Cheers!

Disa

Celebrating Victory

Every once in a while we are lucky enough to be sent a photo from the participants of our programs. This week, Sherry celebrated her 50th birthday and was surprisingly impressed with how good she felt to have passed over the usual birthday cake tradition for this billowing plate of fruit, sprouts and the love of her family.

Sherry is a participant on our Body Enlightenment System, but she hasn’t even been following the menus! She said just by listening to the advice on the BES calls and listening to Dr. T’s lectures about food, she’s already lost 12 lbs and is feeling fabulous!

She said we could share her good news with others, so here it is:

Good Morning Tera!

I just wanted say thank you for last night’s panic call and for this
program. I am the lady from New York, USA who lost 12 lbs
not using the recipes but Dr. T’s and your advice.

I wanted you to see how I celebrated my 50th Birthday breakfast
in bed, prepared by my husband (who doesn’t cook!) and my
“Health Buddy” (my 8 yr old daughter, Rachel).

Thanks to you, I am not missing a heart clogging cake and preparing
myself for another 50 years, this time around, in good health!

You may share my words & pictures with your followers. I hope this
will encourage those who are sitting on the fence or struggling with
the cooked or junk “demons”.

Thank you from the bottom of my healing body & spirit!

Sprouting sonnets,

Sherry

Congratulations, Sherry! We applaud your determination & persistence and celebrate your success! Hope this birthday is the start of you feeling and looking younger every year as you move toward a healthier lifestyle. I still think cake, however, is not to be over looked at birthdays! Raw food enthusiasts CAN have their cake and eat it, too!

Enjoy life and healthy living! (That’s the way it’s supposed to be!)

Tera