The Toy Box Years: Spending Less, Loving More - The September Saving & Giving Challenge

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

I know it's been MONTHS since I posted here....and I'll be honest....the past few months have been a rollercoaster of ups & downs. I have not given up on my journey or my goals....but I'll be honest and admit that I haven't been as diligent as I should have been. As the holiday season quickly approaches once again, it's time to brush myself off, dig deeper and get myself back on track.

Recently I started reading "7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" by Jen Hatmaker.

If you've read it, you may know how incredibly life-changing it could be. If you haven't, in a nutshell, 7 is the true story of how Jen and her family identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. Their categories included food. clothes. spending. media. possessions. waste. and stress. They would spend thirty days on each topic, and only eat seven foods, wear seven articles of clothing, and spend money in seven places. Eliminate use of seven media types, give away seven things each day for one month, adopt seven green habits, and observe “seven sacred pauses.”

It was amazing! I highly recommend it!

After reading it, I felt so incredibly pulled, deep in my soul, to conduct my own version of "7". So for the month of September, I'm doing a "Saving & Giving Challenge".

For the "Saving" part, I will:
* Stick to the "want" vs. "need" plan
* Refrain from shopping craft stores, bookstores, clothing stores
* Shop the pantry and freezer. I will be allowed to purchase fresh fruits & vegetables, milk, bread and other "perishable" items
* Any sales from my Etsy store goes immediately into the savings account....as does any of My Marines extra pay

For the "Giving" part:
* The main thing will be to declutter our home and donate everything. Normally I would ~~save~~ hoard everything and then try to sell it all on online garage sale sites and save the money for Christmas. This Christmas, I am challenging myself to cut down on the QUANTITY of gifts, in favor of QUALITY of gifts. And that will mean trusting on God to provide if that is the right gift meant for my family. And so by trusting more on God to provide, I'm giving away everything I would have held back to sell.
* Go through our family's closets and if the items haven't been worn within the last 6 months, then it gets donated
* Have the girls go through their toys and books
* I will sort through my craft supplies and books and donate

My plan will be to do a weekly update here on how my progress is going. I hope you'll continue to come back and see how it's going! You can also check in on my Facebook page - Spending Less, Loving More - for more real time updates that may not get posted here.

I also invite you to join me in September and do your own spending and giving challenge. Whatever that looks like for you, but challenge yourself, just a little bit.

Will you join me?