Did you know grocery prices are up 29% since 2020?

“Wait, seriously?”

Yep. Twenty-nine percent in five years.

So if you feel like your grocery bill has basically doubled overnight, you’re not imagining it. But my problem is this: I still want to cook meals that are reasonably healthy, deeply satisfying, and not the same three dinners on repeat.

So in this article, I’m showing you 20 meals I make whenever money is tight and we need to stretch a dollar. (Oh and they are also easy, because I have four kids ages seven and under, so time is… not something I own in abundance.)

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1. Beans & Lentils: The Budget MVPs

I will die on this hill: the humble legume is one of the most underrated superheroes in the kitchen.

They’re cheap, insanely filling, full of protein and fiber, adaptable, and they stretch into multiple meals. Beans, lentils, chickpeas, you can swap them around endlessly without feeling like you’re eating the same thing every night.

Black Bean Meals (On Rotation in Our House)

Black bean tacos or burritos are one of my go-tos, mostly because the base is absurdly cheap and everything else is customizable depending on what’s on sale.

My basic method:
Dump a can of black beans into a pan—liquid and all. If I have an onion or pepper, great, but it’s optional. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin. Cook until the liquid is mostly gone, then mash.

From there you can:

• Make tacos with lettuce or avocado.

• Roll bean + cheese burritos and crisp them in a pan. Recipe

• Build burrito bowls with rice, salsa, frozen corn, and any leftover meat from the week.

Smash tacos are another favorite—spread on the beans, smash the tortilla bean-side down onto the griddle, flip, crisp, done. Recipe here.

Lentil Soups & Stews

Lentils are like beans’ overachieving sibling: same benefits, but they cook in a fraction of the time.

Quick myth-bust: If you struggle digesting legumes, it’s usually because your gut isn’t used to the oligosaccharides they contain. Start small, eat them regularly, and your microbiome typically adapts. Black beans, pintos, and lentils tend to be easiest.

My easy lentil soup formula:
Sauté whatever veggies are in your fridge, add lentils + broth + canned tomatoes, and simmer. That’s it. It freezes beautifully. Recipe here

I also love a Cheesy Lentil Bake—sauté carrots, garlic, onion, add red lentils, broth, and grated stale bread. Mix in cheese, bake until set, and top with more cheese. My kids inhale it. Recipe here.

Chickpea Favorites

Chickpeas might be the most versatile pantry item I buy in bulk at Costco.

Some favorites:

• Pasta e Ceci
  Cook down tomatoes, add pasta + broth, simmer, stir in tomato paste, garlic, and chickpeas at the end. Recipe here

• Lemon Chickpea Soup
  Bright, fast, cozy. Recipe here.

• Chickpea salad
  Chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt, maybe red onion or pepitas, feta if I have it. Eaten as-is or smashed into sandwiches. Recipe here.

2. Meat Dinners That Stretch a Dollar

When meat is the priciest part of your cart, the trick is to use it strategically.

Sheet Pan Meat + Veggies

This is my “I refuse to think” dinner.

Search whatever meat + vegetables you have with the words “sheet pan,” and something always comes up.

Use:

• Chicken thighs

• Sausage

• Pork

• Meatballs

Flavor with pesto, honey mustard, balsamic, teriyaki—whatever you’ve got. Toss with veggies, roast, done.

Chicken Thigh Bakes

Chicken thighs are cheaper and more forgiving than breasts. There are endless one-pot variations, like this Honey Chipotle Chicken from Budget Bytes.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

My swim-lesson-night hero.
2–3 chicken breasts • 1 cup rinsed long-grain white rice • 1½ cups broth (or water + bouillon) • 1½ cups salsa
Optional: 1 cup corn, 1 can black beans (drained), ½ cup onion, garlic powder, cumin.
Add everything to crockpot; cook LOW ~4 hrs (less if your slow cooker runs hot) until rice + chicken are done. Remove chicken, shred, return, stir.

Chili

Stretch a half-pound of meat with beans and tomatoes and it becomes a whole pot.

Leftover Teriaki Chicken

Marinate leftover chicken in soy sauce + garlic + brown sugar. Pan-fry. Serve with rice and roasted (not steamed!) frozen broccoli. Recipe here

The Whole Chicken Trick

Boil a whole chicken with veggie scraps, garlic, herbs, etc.
You get:

1. A huge pot of homemade broth

2. The juiciest shredded chicken for meals all week

It’s cheap, foolproof, and makes you feel like a frontier woman with a Costco membership.

3. Veggie-Based Meals

Plants can be incredibly budget-friendly when you cook them well.

Vegetable Curry

Garlic → curry powder → coconut milk (or canned tomatoes + yogurt) → chickpeas → frozen veggies → simmer 15 minutes. Serve with rice. Recipe here

Roasted Veggie Couscous

Couscous cooks in five minutes. Mix with roasted veggies and feta or parmesan if you have it.

Baked Potatoes (Regular or Sweet)

Top with:

• Greek yogurt

• Black beans

• Broccoli

• Corn

• Mushrooms

• Leftover chili

One of my favorite variations is sweet potatoes topped with crispy chickpeas + tahini dressing: recipe here

Vegetable Soups & Stews

Carrots, potatoes, turnips—cheap but hearty. Add broth, tomatoes or coconut milk, seasoning, and simmer. Add chicken if you have some.

3 Favorite Soups:

• Veg-forward soup

• Creamy cozy soup

• Family-friendly classic

Homemade Pizza Night

Dough costs pennies. Sauce from the pantry. Whatever cheese + toppings you can use up. Kids love it. Cheaper (and often better) than takeout. Recipe here.

Shakshuka

Eggs poached in tomatoes with spices and veggies. Fancy-looking, dirt cheap. Recipe here.

Breakfast for Dinner

Omelets, pancakes, breakfast bowls—an excellent “clean out the fridge” night.

My Best Grocery Cost-Cutting Habits

None of these are fancy. All of them work.

1. The Twenty-Minute Meal Plan

This alone saves me the most money.
One plan allows you to know exactly what you’ll need for the week. It’s the “little midweek trips” that blow the budget every time.

2. Buy Bulk Basics

Rice, beans, oats, flour, potatoes, canned basics. Cheap, filling, long-lasting. Costco is my go-to.

3. The Snack Aisle Is a Budget Villain

Snacks = expensive + kid appetite-ruining + waste-creating. We choose 2–3 per week and that’s it and I try to make at least one or two of those easy homemade options.

4. Treat Meat as a Flavor, Not the Main Event

Stretch it with beans, rice, or potatoes. Try one meatless night a week.

5. Cheap Flavor Boosters Are Everything

Onions, garlic, dried herbs. Plus parsley and basil grown at home in the summer.
If you don’t like soup, it’s probably because you’re not topping it.

6. Use Your Freezer Like a Second Pantry

Freeze leftovers, extra rice, cooked beans, waffles, broths anything!

7. Cook Once, Eat Twice

If I’m making lasagna or enchiladas, I always make two.
Future me is thrilled, and it saves real money.

8. Read Ingredient Labels

Store brands are often identical to name brands. Once you can read the labels you can find the dupes. Don’t pay for the label.

Final Thoughts

Cooking cheap doesn’t mean eating boring. With a few go-to meals and tiny weekly habits, you can stretch your dollar, feed your family well, and still eat food you’re excited about.

If you want the full recipes I mentioned, I’ve linked them throughout—just scroll back.

Recently I tried something radical in our playroom.

After years of decluttering, toy rotations, and constantly feeling like I was always one birthday away from chaos, I stumbled on a simple toy organization method some people used that stopped me in my tracks: Each kid only gets four toys.

It sounded a little extreme, but I figured what could it hurt.

And so, I tried it…and what happened completely changed how I see my kids’ play, our space, and the way we’re all being marketed to as parents.

Why We’re So Overwhelmed by Toys

This isn’t my first time trying to pare things back when it comes to toys.
As a mom of four, I’ve been fighting toy clutter since my oldest was two. I’ve done huge toy detoxes. Tried rotation systems. Decluttered again and again. And yet…the toys always seem to multiply.

Apparently, I’m not alone. Studies show the average child receives about 70 new toys a year (that’s a new toy every 1.3 days in my house.)

Then I came across a chart that changed how I saw everything. It’s from FRED, an economic database that tracks price indexes over time. Nearly everything: food, clothes, furniture, has gotten more expensive.

Except toys.

Toys are the only line on the graph that has sharply and steadily declined in price.
They’ve gotten cheaper, easier to make, and infinitely easier to buy.
So no matter how often we declutter or organize, the stuff keeps coming back in.

When I saw that, the 4-Toy Rule suddenly made a lot more sense.

The Science Behind the 4-Toy Rule

The rule itself is simple: At any given time, each child only has access to four toys. Everything else is stored out of sight and rotated later.

There’s no official inventor of the rule from what I can tell, but it likely traces back to a University of Toledo study where researchers gave toddlers either four toys or sixteen toys. The results showed the children with only four toys played for longer stretches and stayed more focused on a single toy.

Countless studies like this have proven that kids typically play better with less choices and engaged in more deep, meaningful play.

Step One: Choosing the Four

With four kids (ages 1, 2, 4, and almost 7), even starting this experiment felt overwhelming. So I started with a plan instead of mindlessly decluttering.

For each kid, I picked the toys they played with every single day—those few “must-haves.” Most only had one or two. The rest became “rotation slots” that they could swap if they wanted something else. Because an important thing to understand about the 4-toy rule is it doesn’t mean you’re getting rid of all their other toys. It just means you’re only letting them have 4 available at a time.

I ran into some hiccups along the way. Did a music bin count as one toy or a dozen? Were books part of the rule? In the end, I kept the music bin (for now) and decided books didn’t count.

Once the toys were chosen, I sat back and watched what happened.

Week One: The Calm After the Storm

At first, my kids didn’t even notice. We’ve always done toy rotation, so this didn’t feel shocking to them. But I noticed something immediately: cleanup took minutes.
When there are only four toys per kid, there’s just… less to deal with.

Week Two: Getting Ruthless

By Day 5, my son asked for the magnet tiles I’d packed away (a favorite). As discussed we could only have 4 toys per kid so we had to choose something to swap for it. So we swapped them with the music bin. That swap help me realize something…in the past, I had been justifying entire bins of toys that barely got played with. Having a strict cap of four forced me to see what was actually worth keeping. What my kids REALLY played with. There was no room for “sometimes” toys.

Week Three: Clarity and Boundaries

Another thing I started to notice when we only had 4 toys per kid was I could instantly tell when a new toy had snuck in. A random party favor, a grandparent gift, a forgotten toy dragged down from upstairs, it all stood out.

Before, it would have just blended into the noise. Now, I had a clear mental inventory. And for the first time, a clear boundary:

“We keep out four toys per kid. If you want something new, swap one out.”

It eliminated the endless negotiations and power struggles. I don’t think it was even the number four, but just that there was a clear, in the sand boundary for everyone involved.

What Changed (and What Didn’t)

After a few weeks, here’s what I found:

1. Cleanup is effortless.
   It takes literal minutes to reset the room.

2. Playtime hasn’t decreased.
   The kids are still engaged, often for longer stretches.

3. Creativity exploded.
   Blocks became food, beds, houses. My son built an entire mouse mansion out of boxes. They use what they have in far more creative ways.

4. Toys still come in.
   Birthdays, holidays, grandparents…it’s inevitable. But now, the 4-toy rule makes it easy to keep balance because it’s not about a bunch of one-time purges. It’s a framework.

The Bigger Realization

Here’s the biggest shift of all: I realized parents are marketed to even harder than kids.

We’re not just being sold “fun.” We’re being sold development.

Buy this or they’ll fall behind. A shape sorter for spatial reasoning. A sensory bin for tactile learning. A play kitchen for “life skills.” They market to us that if we don’t have these things our kids won’t learn these skills.

But kids learn all of that just by living. They develop fine motor skills stacking dishes, spatial awareness climbing furniture, and life skills cooking dinner with us.

They don’t need different toys to do it.

Of course, toys are fun, I’m not throwing everything away. But what this challenge taught me is that kids don’t need much to play deeply.

As the weeks went on, I started rotating toys naturally: one in, one out. And you know what? So many toys stayed in storage untouched for months—some for a year. It really put everything into perspective.

The 4-Toy Rule started as a way to make life simpler, but it ended up doing something deeper: it made me see how much joy, creativity, and calm come from less.

We’ve all been there: scrolling Instagram or Pinterest, looking for inspiration, only to end up discouraged. Instead of ideas for our own space, what we see is a highlight reel of homes no one actually lives in. You’ll never find a beautiful shot on Instagram that includes the phone charger by the bed…but who lives without a phone charger?

The more we scroll, the more those flawless images start to feel like the baseline. Without even realizing it, that’s we think a home should look like.

And there’s actually a word for this: house dysmorphia.

What Is House Dysmorphia?

House dysmorphia is the feeling of dissatisfaction with your home because of constant, unrealistic comparisons with curated images online. It’s the distorted belief that your home isn’t good enough unless it matches an invisible, impossible standard.

Interior photos are designed to look perfect. It’s not that the photos are bad, it’s just that they’re art (not reality.) They use perfect lighting, strip away any distractions, and remove any signs of someone actually living there. No dishes in the sink, even though we all eat in our kitchens, and no chargers on the nightstand, even though we all keep chargers by our beds.

Upward Comparison

Psychologists have a term for this: upward comparison. (A lot of terms, I know. We love a good buzzword.) It’s when we compare ourselves to someone we perceive as better off.

The problem with upward comparison is that social media supercharges it.

In the past, you might have compared your home to a neighbor’s or a friend’s (houses you were seeing in real life). Now, you compare it daily to hundreds of professionally staged, filtered interiors. Even if you never post your own home, just scrolling past those images trigger dissatisfaction. You start seeing flaws in your own space no one else would ever notice.

How House Dysmorphia Changes How We Live

The danger is that house dysmorphia doesn’t just live in our heads. It changes how we live.

It leads to house shame: the belief that your home isn’t “good enough” to invite people in. Suddenly, you’re putting off hosting Thanksgiving until the house is “done”, or skipping that neighbor BBQ because the backyard isn’t nice enough. You’re postponing joy in your home until it’s “perfect.”

But homes aren’t meant to be staged showrooms. They’re meant for people—for living, gathering, connecting.

I recently came across a Substack article by Katherine Goldstein that introduced the idea of “Deep Casual Hosting.” Her advice when it comes to your home: don’t aim to wow—aim to welcome.

It’s not about the perfect meal or the spotless house, it’s about inviting people into your real life. A quick tidy, some casual food, and an open door.

But what I love the most about this sentiment is that when we host this way, we’re not just making our own lives easier (and removing an impossible standard to live up to). We’re setting the tone for others.

How often have you gone over to someone’s house that is just PERFECT, and you never really feel relaxed? You’re worried about messing up the perfectly arranged throw pillows or your kid dropping a snack on the rug. Now, picture when you’ve gone to someone’s house and it’s not perfect. I’m not saying it’s DIRTY but there are phone chargers out, there’s some mail on the counter, the shoes aren’t perfectly arranged on the shoe rack. That’s precisely what makes you feel at home, too. You probably feel a lot more comfortable and relaxed. You probably feel more like you can act like own self, too.

And that’s the point, homes don’t need to be perfect to be good. In fact, sometimes it’s the imperfections that make a home feel the most welcoming.

Redefining What Makes a Home

I’m not saying NOT to decorate your home. I love adding design, color, wallpaper, and style to my home. I love getting inspiration from images of things I’d like to add. Pushing back against house dysmorphia doesn’t need to mean not incorporating any Aesthetic into your home. The difference is remembering that a home isn’t about how it photographs, it’s about how it feels to be in.

Some simple shifts I’m working on:

• Host before it’s perfect. Don’t wait for the “finished” home. People just want to feel welcome. Host now even without everything done.

• Embrace signs of life. Shoes by the door, kids’ art on the fridge, chargers by the bed—these aren’t flaws, they’re proof of living. Your house shouldn’t (and can’t) look like the ones online if you live there.

• Let your home grow with you. Homes are never truly done. Styles change, families grow, needs evolve. Your home is a project that’s always in progress.

A Home Worth Living In

At the end of the day, chasing a home that looks like the ones online is a race you’ll never win. The algorithm will always find the next trend, and photos will always make things appear more perfect than they are.

But your home doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be yours. A place that feels good to live in, not just to photograph.

I recently shared on Unphoned that we took a screen-free road trip with our kids.

In the past, bringing along a tablet would help ensure my kids were pacified for a lot of the travel. But, as I shared in that post, we’ve been getting more and more intentional about our kids (and our own) tech use. I’ve realized my kids thrived when they had more unstructured play. Limiting screens to weekends led to better, longer play and fewer battles. So, it felt natural to take a screen-free road trip, just like when we were kids.

It would be our first long-haul travel trip going screen-free. So, while I felt confident that it’d be fine since we’ve been stripping away excess tech in our daily life for the last year anyway, I was a little worried it’d be chaos.

But wanna know what….it wasn’t.

Sure, the 10-month-old had herself a few little meltdowns (as a baby might in a long car ride). But a screen wouldn’t have changed that. There was a little whining. Some bickering over wanting the same toy. Some crying when a toy was dropped out of reach. Some “are we there yet?” But all of this would have happened with or without screens.

And honestly, in some ways, I almost found it more relaxing. My kids seemed calmer and more collected when we arrived at our locations.

It’s funny because a few years ago, the thought of doing that long a drive without the ease of a screen for my kids would have stressed me out. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to remove something we think is convenient to realize it isn’t as convenient as we thought.

The more I pull back on my own personal tech and screen use, the more I realize I don’t actually need these things I’d convinced myself I did. Just as I had shared in the post about “you don’t really need that app.”

Removing screens from my kids' lives was like this.

Let me say, I’m not trying to get preachy on this topic. I hate how parenting culture online is so black and white: you're either feeding your kids only homemade food or only fast food, or you're either living a completely screen-free life or letting them watch TV all day with full internet access. For me, it’s just about being intentional.

It’s taught me that screens don’t make parenting easier. I’ve found that when used daily or to pacify in every “kinda” hard situation, it typically does the opposite. It leads to my kids being less efficient at independent play, and it takes them longer to get into deep play.

Some lessons from our screen-free trip:

• Pack snacks. However many snacks you have packed, pack more.

• Plan to stop every 3ish hours. Prep ahead of time here helps. I mapped out parks and playgrounds on our route.

• Audiobooks are just the best best best. My kids listen to their own on their Tonie Box or Yoto, but I also will play them through the car speakers via Spotify. I want to give a personal shoutout to the amazing creators out there who create read-aloud audiobooks of kids’ books. I am forever indebted to you.

• Don’t forget about the power of a family dance party, even in the car. I think my favorite thing about going screen-free is that I felt more connected as a family on the trip. We listened to the same audiobook. When we hit traffic, we pumped each other up with a dance party, and the kids requested their favorite songs.

• Expect some chaos. Did we have moments where multiple kids were melting down at once? Yes. We have four kids aged six and under. Tandem meltdowns or whining happen. That happens whether or not we’re in a car for 6 hours. Without a screen to pacify, what I realized is that the chaos eventually subsided on its own. In the past, I might have used a tablet to appease a whining kid on a long car ride. They are stuck in their seat, what else can I do?! Without it I had to ride it out, often to realize it typically just fizzled out on it’s own.

• Novelty toys were the hit. I packed a variety of car activities - obviously. I was surprised that their favorites were the more basic novelty toys like fidget toys or poppers OVER the more involved toys like travel magnet games or travel art activities. Granted, my oldest 6-year-old did prefer the more involved activities, but for my younger pre-k kids, the novelty toys were where it was at! I mention this because I’m usually not a novelty toy person; to me, they just end up as clutter and trash. But man oh man, there is a time and place for them, and long car rides are it. Here are some of my favorite travel toys.

This trip reminded me that the “easy” solution isn’t always the better one. Screens promise convenience, but they often come with strings attached—shorter tempers, harder transitions, and less imaginative play.

Every time we buy something, our brain gets a little dopamine hit. That feel-good chemical tied to reward and pleasure. But the interesting thing is it spikes not when we receive or own the thing…but in the anticipation of buying it.

That means it’s not owning things that gives us a high. It’s chasing them.

As humans, we are biologically wired for the pursuit. So we’re constantly left chasing the next thing in this sort of vicious cycle like a hamster on a wheel.

That’s the engine of consumerism.

I Didn’t Realize I’d Slipped

About three months ago, I decided to do a no-buy month. Not my first one, but it had been years. And… I didn’t realize how much I needed it.

Somewhere in the chaos of raising four kids, managing a business, and just juggling daily life, I had slowly fallen into a habit of buying.

Each purchase was tiny. Justified. Rationalized. But they added up — not just in money, but in mental clutter. And the worst part was when it builds up slowly it feels normal.

It’s like the frog in hot water analogy (which I’m pretty sure isn’t factually correct but it does a good job making the point.) It’s easy to become complacent about negative trends in our life when they develop slowly enough that they feel normal.

And so doing a “no buy” and thus kind of “stepping away”? It changed everything.

If you’re considering doing a no-buy or wanna hear more, I’m sharing how I structure mine, the biggest lessons I learned, and the practical steps that made it successful.

(If you want to grab the printable tracker I use, you can get that here.)

Step One: Start with a Positive Why

Before you do anything else, define your “why.”

But here’s my advice: make it a positive one.

Negative whys sound like: “I’m bad with money,” “I buy too much stuff,” “I’m ashamed of my habits.”

They can spark short-term action, but they usually fizzle out and leave you feeling worse.

Positive whys sound like: “I want to feel more in control of my money,” “I want to make space for what really matters,” “I want to simplify and be more intentional.”

Postive whys empower you. They give you something to move toward, not just run from. And so that makes them WAY easier to stick with.

Step Two: Set Crystal-Clear Rules

A no-buy month can look a million different ways, but you need to decide your own rules ahead of time.

Here’s how my husband and I did it: Basically, if it wasn’t essential, we didn’t buy it.

Our essentials were: groceries, utilities, healthcare, gas, childcare

Everything else? Off-limits. No drive-thru coffee. No random home items. No supplies for a new project. No new clothes.

Being black-and-white about it ahead of time helped avoid the mid-month “is this allowed?” debate.

Step Three: Remove Temptations

Prepare your environment for success.

• Delete shopping apps from your phone (this creates an easy barrier for impulse purchases)

• Unsubscribe from retailer emails.

• Tell your close circle what you’re doing so they don’t tempt you with dinners out or shopping invites.

Step Four: Stay Engaged

The first week will feel great. The second week… meh. The third? That’s where it gets hard.

Here’s what helped me stay on track:

Keep a No-Buy Journal

Write down every time you almost bought something. Log what it was, how much it would’ve cost, and why you wanted it. You’ll be amazed at the near-misses.

I call this the “Thneed List” — shout out to anyone who gets the Lorax reference. (“A Thneed’s a fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!”)

Replace the Habit

Figure out why you shop.
Bored? Try a good book.
Stressed? Take a walk or journal.
Need a treat? Make a fancy at-home coffee.

You’re not just saying no, you’re saying yes to something better.

Keep a Running Wishlist

Things will come up that you want, but don’t need. Write them down. At the end of the month, revisit the list. I can almost promise half the things won’t even matter to you anymore.

Step Five: Celebrate the Wins

The longer I went without buying things, the more empowered I felt.

Every 5–7 days, my husband and I would check in with each other. We compared spending from the no-buy month to regular months. And we were floored — hundreds of dollars saved, plus less clutter, less stress, and more clarity.

Biggest Lessons I Took Away

“I didn’t need it.”

So many purchases were based on anticipation of needing something… that I never really needed.

“I didn’t miss it.”

Skipping restaurants or drive-thru coffee didn’t make my month less joyful.

“It’s more work than it’s worth.”

A lot of purchases that promised convenience, like my wet/dry vac or the cute magnet chore chart. Most of these things ended up being more work. Sometimes the “old” way is simpler and better.

“Less stuff in = less stress out.”

Fewer packages. Fewer things to manage. It felt… calmer. The house felt lighter.

“I felt in control again.”

This one was huge. I wasn’t just spending less, I was choosing with intention. And that felt powerful.

“I focused more on moments, not things.”

Without shopping as a default dopamine hit, I turned to actual living. You know like… playing with my kids, going for walks, listening to music, connection, creativity…and sometimes just sitting. Yea…just sitting. Try it, it’s nice.

Step Six: Use Mantras

You know I love a good mantra. Here are a few that helped:

• “I have enough.”

• “Do I want to look rich or be rich?”

• “Discipline now or regret later.”

Or just return to your “why.” Write it down. Post it somewhere. Let it ground you when you feel the itch to click “buy now.”

Step Seven: Don’t Let a Slip-Up Derail You

You might mess up. You might buy something. It’s OK. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s awareness. Don’t throw the whole month out because of one slip.

Progress > perfection. Always.

Final Thoughts

Doing a no-buy month wasn’t just about saving money. It rewired my brain. It helped me see how often I was spending not out of need, but out of habit. It gave me back control over my space, time, and choices.

And honestly? It made me feel lighter.

If you’ve been craving less, maybe it’s time to try a no-buy.

Again, you can grab my free printable here for a no-buy month.

Hey there! If you’re new here because the title of this post sucked you in, hi! I’m Kallie (mom of four kids in six years) and sharer of practical, realistic tips to help you simplify the chaos of life. Today we’re diving into a topic that gets a lot of hype in the parenting world: potty training.

Let’s just start with this:

Potty training doesn’t need to be something we avoid like the plague.

In my opinion, it’s been hyped up to be one of those Worst Parenting Tasks Ever™—right up there with childbirth, the newborn phase, the terrible twos, and losing your identity and alone time forever (which, spoiler alert: also overhyped).

Certainly, there are aspects of parenting that are more challenging than others. But the truth? Potty training (and the other above-mentioned) doesn’t have to be THAT bad. If you approach it with the right mindset, clear expectations, and a plan—you can totally handle this.

Here’s the thing most people don’t tell you: potty training is just as much about you being ready as it is about your kid.

If you go into it convinced it’s going to be horrible, it probably will be. But if you approach it with realistic expectations, a calm mindset, and a loose grip on your need for control… the whole thing goes so much smoother.

So….let’s talk about how to do that.

Ground Rules Before You Begin

🗓 1. Pick a Date. Write it Down. Commit.

Mark off your calendar and clear the week as much as you can. I know life is busy, but giving your child a full week without pressure is a gift. Stock the freezer with easy meals. Grab some snacks, maybe wine. Settle in. You don’t have to stay glued to the house all week, but don’t plan anything rigid or stressful either. Flexibility in the schedule is key so you don’t have any hard and fast things

🚽 2. Pick a Method—And Stick With It.

There will 100% be a moment where you want to throw in the towel and slap that diaper back on. DON’T. That moment is usually right before it all clicks. Consistency is KEY with potty training. Stick with it. Think of it this way: would you rather have one hard week or four months of wishy-washy “kind of trying”?

Yeah. Exactly.

🧻 3. No One is a Potty Prodigy

Ignore the stories about kids who “potty trained in one day!” Chances are that’s not exactly how it went. Your kid will probably resist at first in their own way. They might refuse to poop. They might only pee while holding a stuffed duck and humming row row row your boat. They may insist on peeing while sitting on the potty backwards. It’s all NORMAL. Toddlers are weird. Stay calm and expect weird.

🫣 4. Accidents Are Not a Setback

You’re going to have accidents. Expect them. Accept them. They don’t erase your progress. They’re part of the process. Don’t hover or obsess. Let your child live their life and learn through it. That means… yes, even go to the park. Risk the accident. It’s OK.

Your Job? Be Chill.

However chill you think you're being—be even chiller.

I think potty training should be no big deal. I don’t do special charts, we don’t get gold stickers, there aren’t M&M’s for going potty, there isn’t a special toy when they finally do it.

This is for a few reasons:

1. Going to the bathroom in the potty should be a normal thing. As normal as leanring to use a fork or go down a slide (but when we teach our kids to use forks or go down a slide we don’t treat it like some big circus.)

2. I find if we build it up too much the kids resist it more because HOLY COW WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE.

When my kids go potty on the potty this is what i do: Oh look at that you went pee on the potty. Great! Do you feel better? Nice, would you like to flush the potty?

I keep it chill. Maybe a “awesome job!” or a little high five, but I do not make a really big huge show of it. Because I don’t want to stress them out about it.

What About Daycare?

I’ve potty trained kids who were home with me and others who were in daycare. There are pros and cons to both. So, don’t get hung up thinking it’d be easier if you had one over the other.

Daycare can help because kids see their peers do it. Home can help because it’s more consistent and calm. Both work. Don’t stress about which is “better.” Just make what you’ve got work.

If your child is in daycare, I highly suggest potty training over a long weekend or holiday break so you get a solid few days to establish a routine. And—important—talk to your daycare in advance. Ask about their method, share yours, and get on the same page.

Final Thoughts

Potty training doesn’t have to be dramatic. Or stressful. Or something you dread.

Approach it with confidence, calm, and a dash of humor. Your kid will learn this. And you’ll survive it.

You’ve got this.

—
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I recall the first time I visited Costco. It was an experience. But what stuck with me most was seeing a woman—clearly a seasoned Costco shopper—with TWO carts. I was in awe. And it hit me: she was me in a few years. With four kids, groceries and mealtimes are always top of mind. The older they get, the more they eat, and honestly? I’m a little nervous about what our grocery bill will look like when they’re all teenagers. I will absolutely be that woman with two carts.

Now that all of my kids are old enough to eat real food (my oldest is six, my youngest is 9 months), I’ve had to get more strategic with how I shop, cook, and plan our meals. If you’re also trying to spend less time cooking and less money on groceries, it really comes down to one thing: a solid plan.

If you thought I’d get through this post without mentioning meal planning—sorry to disappoint. It’s just that important.

Without a plan, you’re winging it. And when you wing it, budgeting and prepping get a whole lot harder.

Let’s talk about some practical tips that help me keep our grocery bill in check and dinner on the table.

1. Master the Stretch Meal Stretch meals are all about making one ingredient go further. You can do this by:

• Buying a larger quantity of something and using it in multiple meals (e.g., ground beef for tacos, chili, and burgers).

• Cooking once and eating multiple times (e.g., roast a chicken on Sunday, then use the leftovers in quesadillas and soup).

• Bulking up meals with affordable fillers like beans, lentils, rice, pasta, or frozen veggies.

This approach helps prevent food waste and saves money. Food waste is money waste.

2. Theme Nights Are a Lifesaver Theme nights make planning easier and help reduce decision fatigue. A few of my favorites:

• Meatless Monday (eggs, beans, chickpeas = cheaper protein!)

• Taco Tuesday (easy to stretch with rice or beans)

• One Pot Wednesday or Sheet Pan Thursday (great for using up produce and random pantry items)

• Leftovers or Clean-Out-the-Fridge night

3. Use a Grocery-Based Meal Planning Strategy Instead of picking recipes and then shopping for the ingredients, flip it: shop the sales first, then build your meals around what you bought. This is called reverse meal planning, and it’s a total game-changer.

Here’s how I do it:

• Shop your kitchen first. Take stock of what you already have.

• Check the sales. Look at flyers or apps for weekly grocery deals.

• Pick 3–5 flexible meals using a mix of what’s in your kitchen and what’s on sale.

• Write it down. A calendar or meal planning sheet helps me stay organized.

• Make your list. Only buy what you need to complete your meals—and try to choose meals with overlapping ingredients.

(If you want a template to help you do this, I have free Reverse Meal Planning sheets you can download them here!)

4. Don’t Cook Every Night Normalize leftovers. Double your recipes and reheat. Do a “snacky dinner” night—think crackers, cheese, fruit, and cut-up veggies. Not every meal needs to be fancy. I’m all for health and balance, but some nights are about getting full bellies on the table without the fuss.

Breakfast for dinner? Yes. Nacho bar? Always. On pot pasta? Count me in.

—

What’s your go-to budget meal? I’d love to hear in the comments.

You can also grab my free meal planning printables here: https://www.thatpracticalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Reverse-Meal-Planner-1.pdf

Yes, 1,000 things. In one week.

This wasn’t just about tidying up—it was a reset. Even though I’ve always been someone who regularly declutters, this challenge hit differently. It was eye-opening, uncomfortable at times, and honestly… kind of freeing.

📥 Download the free 1,000 item challenge printable here
🧹 Try the 30-day version if you want a slower pace here

Why I Did It

Over the past six years, I had four babies. And I’m pretty sure we’re done with the baby stage and moving into the next season of parenthood. Our home had built up an excess of stuff—tiny socks, random gadgets, knick-knacks, baby gear we no longer needed.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of daily mini-declutters, but this season of life called for a deep purge. The kind that forces you to face the hard stuff: your habits, your buying impulses, your fantasy self. I wanted a clean (okay, clean-ish) slate.

How I Structured the Challenge

You’ve probably seen that 30-day decluttering challenge where you declutter 1 thing on day 1, 2 things on day 2, and so on—ending with 465 items gone.

Well, I wanted to level up to 1,000 items. So after asking ChatGPT to do some quick math, I created 50 “buckets,” each with a number from 1 to 44 (and a few extra bonus buckets), adding up to 1,000 items total. Every time I decluttered an area, I counted how many items I got rid of and colored in a bucket. It was SO satisfying—and wildly motivating.

What I Learned (and What Helped)

1. Keep a declutter bin in your main living space. Every time I came across something to get rid of, I tossed it in. When it filled up, I sorted it into five categories:

• Trash (broken toys, stained clothes)

• Recycle (paper, plastics, e-waste)

• Donate (items still in good condition)

• Store away (seasonal or hand-me-downs)

• Put away (they’re staying but need to go to their actual home)

Sometimes finding places to donate can be hard at first. Look into the normal spots like Goodwill and donation centers but also check out your local No-Buy Group on facebook and even just ask around! You’d be surprised the places you can find.

2. Be ruthless. Ask better questions.
These are the five questions that helped me let go:

• Did I forget this existed?

• Will I need this in the next 3 months?

• Would I buy this again at full price?

• Would I wash poop off of it? (Yep, really. If your basement flooded with sewage, would you care enough to save it?)

• Is this for the life I live now…or the life I wish I had?

That last one was a big one for me. It’s so easy to hang onto things for the “aspirational” version of ourselves—craft supplies for a hobby we never started, workout gear for a routine we never stuck to. Letting go of those things is hard, but it also frees you from the guilt of seeing them sit there unused.

3. Watch out for decision fatigue.
Don’t feel like you have to do this all in one day. I spread mine out over about 8 days. That gave me enough momentum to keep going, but enough space to rest and come back with fresh eyes. Decluttering can stir up all kinds of feelings—shame, regret, overwhelm—but also satisfaction, calm, and relief. Lean into those good ones.

4. Less stuff = less noise.
Clutter is more than a mess—it’s visual noise. It's the pile of papers that reminds you of the task you haven’t done. It’s the toys you trip over that make you snap. Decluttering gives you a sense of control. You’ll feel it immediately when you clear a space—you breathe easier. Your home feels lighter.

Final Thoughts

This challenge made me get honest about what I own and why I hold onto things. It pushed me to stop being wishy-washy and just decide. And while I started this to declutter my home, I ended up decluttering a lot more than that.

If you’re in a season where you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or just ready for change—I highly recommend trying this. I’ve included a free printable of the 1,000 Item Challenge and a 30-day version if you want to try a smaller scale.

We don’t have to live in storage units for our “just in case” lives. We can choose to make room for who we are now.

Download Printables to Try Yourself!

📥 Download the free 1,000 item challenge printable here
🧹 Try the 30-day version if you want a slower pace here

WATCH THIS POST:

This summer, we decided to skip camps and keep the kids home. My husband works full-time, and I work part-time, so we’ll have babysitters with the kids Tuesday through Thursday, plus some help on Mondays.

I’m genuinely looking forward to a slower pace—no morning rush, no packing lunches every night. But let’s be real… it’s still four kids home all summer. And with both of us working from home, I knew that without some structure, it could go from “sweet, slow summer” to “total chaos” real fast.

So I’m putting a few things in place to help things run (a little) smoother. I figured I’d share in case any of it sparks an idea or helps you make your summer just a bit easier, too.

SUMMER BREAK FAMILY CODE

Since the kids will be bouncing between time with me and time with babysitters, I wanted to make sure the rules were crystal clear. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about kids, it’s that consistency and clarity are everything. If the rules are vague or wishy-washy, they’ll push every boundary they can. And that will lead to me (or the babysitters) in a power struggle.

So, we created a Summer Break Family Code—a simple set of non-negotiable rules that apply no matter who they’re with. It includes the basics like “no playing in the front yard,” “no TV beyond our set movie nights,” and our go-to: “be gentle, be kind, be safe.” We also threw in a few fun ones, like “Tuesday is pizza day” and “Wednesday is movie night.”

I wanted to think about the things that sometimes become power struggles and make the rules on them crystal clear (things like TV time, going to the store down the street for candy, etc.)

The goal is that everyone—parents, babysitters, and kids—is on the same page about what’s allowed and what’s not.

THEME WEEKS

To make things a little more fun—and a lot more manageable—I decided to create theme weeks, kind of like what you see at day camps. We’re doing themes like Bug Week, Pirate Week, and Nature Week. The idea is to reduce the constant decision fatigue. When there’s a theme, it’s way easier to come up with activities, crafts, and outings that all tie together. It will also give the babysitter some structured activities to do, so she doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel every day.

Each Monday, the kids receive a box containing a variety of items related to that week’s theme, including activity ideas, simple art projects, themed books, a small playdough kit, and other relevant items. I’ve pulled a lot of ideas from Pinterest and grabbed a few cute printables off Etsy. My goal is to keep it around $30 a week for supplies—though some weeks are a little more, some a little less.

Our Themes are:

• Camping Adventures Week

• Mermaid and Unicorn Week

• Zoo Week

• Red, White, and Blue Week (July 4th week)

• Bug Week

• Pirates Week

• Ocean Week

• Rainbow Week

• Nature Week

• Dinosaur Week

REWARD CHART

I wanted to find a way for my kids to earn some bonuses throughout the summer (like an extra movie or a trip to the ice cream shop). I also wanted to ensure that we have a way to give the babysitters authority in our absence. I’m not a huge fan of behavior charts, but I’ve used a similar setup in the past, and it’s always worked really well.

The basic premise is they work to earn stars. They earn them through “Awesome Job” check marks and “Try Again” check marks.

“Awesome Job” check marks can be for things like cleaning up without being asked, doing something extra kind, or helping a sibling… just anything that we want to call out as being great.

“Try Again” check marks are for when they may have made a poor choice or are having a hard time listening.

If they complete a day with 3 or less “try again” checkmarks, they get a star. Every time they collect 5 “awesome job” check marks, they get a star. They can then trade in stars for a variety of rewards.

So, that about does it. The setup I have going for how we plan to survive the summer. I’m a little worried I’ll never get the laundry done again until September. But, I’m trying desperately to remind myself that this is a short season of my life. I have had, and will have again, summers that are actually slow, and quiet, and clean….and when I do I’ll probably miss the summers like this one.

Want Cleaner Dishes? Start by Understanding This…

First things first, you need a very basic understanding of how a dishwasher works. At its core, it runs through a few cycles: it fills with water, splashes that water around to clean the dishes, then drains. When you add detergent to the soap dispenser, it doesn’t get released during the first rinse cycle—it’s saved for the main wash cycle.

Got it? Cool.

Now here’s the key: you can get way cleaner dishes by making that initial rinse cycle work harder for you. Here’s how:

1. Add soap to the prewash.
If your dishwasher has a prewash compartment, add a bit of detergent there. This lets some soap release during the first rinse, giving especially dirty dishes a head start. If you don’t have a prewash compartment (like mine), just sprinkle a little detergent inside the dishwasher before you start the cycle.

2. Run your sink until the water gets hot.
Dishwashers pull water from the tap, and if that water is cold (which it often is for the first 20–60 seconds), your rinse cycle is basically washing with cold water—not ideal. Run your tap until it’s hot before starting the dishwasher so it fills with hot water from the get-go.

3. Don’t overload your dishwasher.
If water spray can’t reach your dishes, it can’t clean them. I’ve started running a small half-load midday so the machine isn’t packed after dinner. My dishes come out way cleaner, and it’s actually more efficient—because having to rewash dishes by hand wastes way more water than running a proper halfload or eco cycle.

If you want the FULL video on using your dishwasher better try it here:

I’ve tried basically EVERY method of doing laundry. One load a day. Washing by person. Doing it all in one day. AM/PM load. Family systems. And wanna know the best one…?

The one that works for your current season of life.

When I had 0-2 kids, the load-a-day method worked perfectly for us. When I was in a very busy season of life, I’d shift to the AM/PM system. Once I had three kids, I switched to washing by category/person. After my 4th was born, my husband wanted to take over doing laundry. He started washing all the laundry in one day and putting them away the next.

ALL of these methods have worked in different seasons of life. The BEST one is just whichever one suited the season I was in.

So, let me break down all the different methods and their pros and cons.

1. One Load a Day

How it works: Wash, dry, fold, and put away one full load daily.

Pros: It keeps you moving through the laundry at a practical pace. Laundry typically doesn’t pile up. Less overwhelming than laundry marathons

Cons: Requires daily consistency. Skipping a day can create backup. Might not work well if you're not home during the day

Tip: Set times in the day for you to do each thing to make you less likely to forget (ex. turn it on when you wake up, switch after breakfast, fold and put it away before dinner)

2. Laundry Day (All-in-One-Day)

How it works: Designate one day each week to do ALL your laundry.

Pros: You don’t have to do it daily - no laundry stress for the rest of the week. Allows for easier planning of outfits.

Cons: With a bigger family, it’s a lot to try to do in a single day. It can be a big time commitment. The laundry mountain can be overwhelming to fold and put away.

Tip: Set timers on your phone to switch that laundry so you don’t forget. Consider still washing by person, to make putting away easier.

3. Category-Based Schedule

How it works: Assign each type of laundry a specific day. This could mean towels on Mondays, kids’ clothes on Tuesdays, adults’ clothes on Thursdays, etc. For larger families, it helps to break it down by each person, such as Mom Mondays, Dad Tuesdays, Kid 1 Wednesdays, Kid 2 Thursdays, Towels Fridays, etc.

Pros: Making putting away A BREEZE. Helps manage larger family loads. Great way to start training younger kids to help on their “day.”

Cons: Requires organization of what day is what and whose basket is whose. Not flexible if something changes in the weekly rhythm.

Tip: Get each category its own laundry hamper (I have different colors of these for each kid and then larger ones of these for towels, etc.)

4. Delegation/Family System

How it works: Everyone over a certain age does their own laundry and/or each person has an assigned laundry day.

Pros: Teaches responsibility and life skills to kids and helps lighten your load.

Cons: Needs initial time investment to teach (and ongoing reminders). Laundry won’t be done to your “standard.” Not realistic for very young children

5. Night Owl and Early Bird Load

How it works: Throw a load in before bed and switch it over in the morning (or vice versa). When I’ve used this method, I called it “tending to the laundry,” and I just made sure to “tend to the laundry” in the morning and “tend to the laundry” before bed.

Pros: Great if you work outside the home. Can become a habit with minimal effort. Low effort.

Cons: Easy to forget the load and leave it in washer or forget to put away. Might not work for larger families with a lot to wash.

Tip: Tie it to a morning and night habit (I used to turn it on while my coffee was made and then switch it when I brushed my teeth at night.)

6. Outsourcing (Laundry Service or Drop-off)

How it works: Use a laundry service for wash-and-fold or dry cleaning.

Pros: Time saver. Can be worth it short-term during newborn phases or busy work seasons.

Cons: It’s a cost. It's not always accessible.

Tip: Want to give outsourcing a try?! Use the code BUTFIRSTCOFFEE for a FREE 1st order (up to $20) at Poplin - a laundry outsource service- poplin.pxf.io/5g0WqN

Still not sure which one is right for you?! Take my Laundry Rhythm Quiz FOR FREE.

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You’re washing machine doesn’t suck….you’ve just been using it all wrong

To keep your comforter from getting tangled or uneven in the washing machine, fold it the long way (hot dog style), then accordion-fold it into an “S” shape. Place it in the washer just like that. This helps it stay balanced during the cycle and ensures a more even clean without all the bunching and shifting.

Every day, like clockwork, my kids would come home after school, absolutely starving. They’d make a beeline for the snack bin, inhale something (or several somethings), and by the time dinner rolled around…no one was hungry. It felt like we were stuck in this weird snack-dinner limbo every single day.

Until…I made one tiny tweak. And honestly? It changed everything.

(Now, before I get into it, I know every family is different. Kids have different needs, appetites, and after-school routines. But this little change worked so well for us that I figured it might be worth sharing, just in case it helps even one of you.)

The Problem: The Free-for-All Snack Bin

Our old routine looked something like this: the kids got home, dropped their backpacks, and went to the snack bin for something to eat. And I’d cross my fingers that it would buy me some peace until dinner.

And two things happened. They either picked something not filling enough and were starving again in 45 minutes. OR they ate too much snack and weren’t hungry when dinner rolled around.

The Solution: One Thoughtful Snack

Here’s what we do now: when my kids get home, I give them a snack. Just one option. I make sure it’s balanced—think a fruit with a protein (like apple slices with peanut butter or cheese and grapes)—and it’s always something they recognize and like. No surprise hummus-and-kale pairings.

They don’t get to choose from a bunch of things. This is the snack. If they don’t want it, that’s totally fine! “Dinner is in 90 minutes. Would you like me to set a timer?”

The Result

To my surprise, they actually started eating the snack. Not every single time—no one wins 100% with kids—but most of the time. And more importantly, they started actually eating dinner again.

Do they complain? Sure. My kids also complain when I sing along to the radio or if the wind is “too windy,” so... it’s fine.

But they adjusted. After a few days, they realized I wasn’t budging, and it got easier for everyone.

So, if you're in snack-time survival mode...

Maybe give this a shot. Cut out the free-for-all grazing. Offer one solid, satisfying option. Hold firm.

Let me know if you try it!