Be sure to check out this free E-book Saving Money on Groceries  from Christine over at The Menu Mom.   Tawra

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Hi
We are on a serious budget after my husband and I set up our own business last year and made a few misjudgements. We have two small kids. I’ve been enjoying your newsletters these last couple weeks. I’m keen to buy your e-books but I’m just wondering if you’ve noticed a recent trend in blogs and in general.

There’s a movement about nourishing foods, like those in the book, Nourishing Traditions. They are touting this as the best, most healthful diet ever. It’s expensive-ish to follow but they have a little guilt trip with it saying things like, “Your kids are in their important formative years. You can’t feed them cheap junk,” along with all the eco-warrior and organic foods movement stuff. I feel that people like me are afraid when they have to go on a budget because they wonder if their family’s health will suffer . Do your books give good  balanced diet recipes that I know will be nourishing my kids? Did your diet when you lived on a dime contribute to your chronic illness later on?

Thanks,
Diana

Diana,

First let me answer your question, “Did your diet when you lived on a dime contribute to your chronic illness later on?”

No. A virus or bacteria (doctors are pretty sure it’s a virus) is what caused us to become ill, not what we eat. Having said that, I do now have to go on a special and expensive diet to help try and fix some of the immune problems caused by this virus but it is cheaper than the medical bills that we have to pay for if it works.  The diet I am currently on includes no wheat or starches, no sugar, no dairy, no corn or no beef. It’s an elimination diet. Basically all I can eat is fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish, nuts and homemade chicken broth.

Frankly, I think this new movement in nourishing foods is just putting fear into people. Unless you have some medical reason to be eating this way, I suggest that you STOP READING THOSE WEBSITES!!! I am very serious. We have gone from “learning about nutrition” to “being afraid” and that is not at all what God wants for us.

My grandparents are in their 80′s and in very good health. Most of their lives were spent eating all the preservatives that are supposedly killing us now. Before we had things like preservatives and added vitamins and minerals, people were sick and dying from malnutrition. During World Wars I and II, they discovered that the farm boys who lived off the great organic foods on the farm were very malnourished and that is why they started adding vitamins and minerals to foods after that. They added these things to save lives.

Having said that, there is a happy medium. You don’t have to eat all raw organic food but you don’t have to live on boxed macaroni and cheese either.

Make life easy.
For breakfast, eat cereal or oatmeal with a piece of fruit.
At lunch, with your macaroni and cheese, eat some carrots and cucumbers with ranch dressing.
Eat a sandwich with lettuce  and tomato.
Make broccoli and apple slices to go with your chicken and rice for dinner.
Eat sliced apples with peanut butter or yogurt with granola or a smoothie for a snack.

Don’t make it so complicated. It sounds like you are overwhelmed and this is just making it worse for you.

Yes, the meals in our books are balanced and nutritious but we are moderate when it comes to food. We do not swing either way because you can go insane if you do!!!

-Tawra

Here’s something for everyone to think about: Since the organic and eco-eating frenzy started in the late 80?s and 90?s, there has been a rise in child obesity, diabetes, allergies and many other things. It should make you wonder and stop and think. Yet, like Tawra mentioned, many people like my parents who were raised on preservatives and all the foods so many people are poo pooing are living to a ripe old age.

There is something else going on here more significant than the food we eat. We need to stop bowing down to fear and start rationally looking at the reasons that this is happening. Stress is a big factor in heart disease (and other illnesses) and fear, among many other things, causes extreme stress, yet we fluff over the fact that obsessive worrying about what we eat is causing us to be very stressed in our lives.

How much stress do you think it causes a child if you are always bugging him about not eating this or touching that or, even worse, how stressed is he when his classmates sit and eat a candy bar. Kids are torn between wanting one too and the fact that their parents have told them they will die of something awful if they eat one. Just the stress of being unnecessarily different from the other kids can cause a problem.

Honestly, the chances are just as great that I could get a horrible illness stewing over whether or not I should buy an organically grown banana and worrying about how to get the money to pay for it as they would be if I just tossed a regular banana in my cart.

Here’s one last point you need to really think about: Any doctor will tell your more than 50% of illness is caused from stress. The confusion and hesitation you’re experiencing is a perfect example of that stress and what this movement is doing to people.

Moderation. Don’t go extreme in either direction.

-Jill

It is important to make good choices with your food. Clearly, if all you eat is meat and bread, it’s not a good choice. Most people eat too many carbohydrates and not enough fruits and vegetables so reminding yourself to lean a little more toward fruits and vegetables and a little less toward breads and other carbohydrates is generally a good choice.

Regarding the “guilt trip” you mentioned – It’s good that you recognized that’s what it is. When you get the feeling that you’re experiencing a guilt trip, you’re probably right. In this case, there are two reasons for it. First, in order to motivate you to buy their products, many people know that if they tell you your children are going to die or be horribly damaged for life, you will buy just to alleviate the fear that it “might” be true. I remember one news promo that aired at 2:00 in the afternoon where the reporter said, “Could you be poisoning your child right now without even knowing it? … The story at 6.” If it’s really that serious, why do you have to wait 4 hours for the answer? That message is a good way to get you to buy it without really considering whether or not it’s wise or necessary.

The second reason someone may use a fear tactic is that the person has invested a lot of emotional effort in that area. Maybe the person does get some benefit from the extreme diet but a lot of people soothe their own fears and feel more like they’ve made the right choice if they can persuade everyone else that their way is finally the secret perfect solution everyone’s been waiting for.

In any case, when you feel afraid something terrible will happen if you don’t immediately adopt someone’s apparently extreme eating regimen, you’re probably being touched more by guilt than by common sense, so don’t let it scare you.

-Michael

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Anne, one of our readers, asked me the question, “How do you save when your husband is a meat and potatoes man and meat prices are going up so high?”

Anne, I know it is frustrating that prices are rising a bit. I told Tawra the other day I never thought I would see the day when I would crave hamburger. It is so expensive now that I hate to buy it.

Here are a couple of things you might try to stretch your meat dollar and spend less on groceries in general.

• Stretch any meat farther by using it in casseroles, soups or stews instead of serving it as its own individual serving. If you serve two casseroles and two soups or stews, you instantly have four meals you can use to save money on meat. Then serve your regular slice of meat and potatoes the other 3 nights. That should help save quite a bit.

• Add filler foods. In some recipes, add filler foods. For example, you can add beans to chili and use less meat. I would break up spaghetti noodles to stretch my chili. Use refried beans for your burritos instead of meat or use a combination of both so you don’t use as much meat.

• Stretch your meat even more by cutting the pieces of meat smaller than you usually do. In your stews, soups and casseroles you don’t need huge chunks of meat. You could start by cutting the meat pieces half the normal size and, after your family gets used to that size, cut them smaller again if you need to.

• Use less meat than the recipe calls for. Most families don’t notice if you use half a pound of meat or a full pound of meat in things like lasagne, spaghetti or casseroles. Cut back a tablespoon or two when you make something like tacos or burritos.

• Buy cheaper cuts of meats and either slow cook them or marinate them. If your husband is not picky about what meat he eats then serve meats like turkey or chicken much more often than you serve roast or steak.

• Buy whole chickens and cut them yourself instead of using chicken breasts. I know pre-cut chicken breasts are handy and easy to use but the bottom line is they are also more expensive. You can start using thighs instead of chicken breasts to save money, too.

• Make your meat portions smaller, especially for children. If you do use chicken breasts, cut them in half for younger members of the family and let your family fill up on potatoes, veggies and other things. Cut down on portion sizes for all meats.

• Watch what other foods you do buy and make sure you use everything. Don’t let food go stale or spoil. Watch portions and adjust them to reduce the food left on plates that gets thrown away at the end of a meal. Looking at how much gets thrown away after dinner is the best way to judge if you are wasting food.

• Cut back on the amount of food you cook. I knew a woman who was always bemoaning her high grocery bill but she always cooked two or three times the amount of food that her family could eat. Instead of freezing it or otherwise saving it, she would simply throw it away. Look carefully at your food, eating habits and grocery shopping and see if there is anyplace where waste is happening.

  That same woman’s family almost always left 1/4 – 1/3 of a plateful of food per person that they tossed in the trash at the end of the meal. You may say, “I cook double and then freeze the rest or send it in lunches.” She said that, too, but never got around to sending it in lunches and rarely used most of the things in her freezer. Freezing it only to throw it away later is still wasting it.

• Find another meal or food item that you can cut back on. If trying to cut back on meat at dinner isn’t as successful as you’d like, you might also see if your meat and potatoes husband would be willing to give up something expensive he eats at breakfast like bacon in exchange for something less expensive like oatmeal.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you find ideas that will work well for you. If you’d like more details, I have included a lot of ideas just like this in our Groceries On A Dime e-books.

-Jill

You might also check out these articles:

Children, Wasting Food and Portion Control

Save Money in the Kitchen

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I was washing some potatoes this morning so I could dehydrate them and, boy, were they dirty. A couple of them had clods of dirt covering one side of the potato. When I washed it off, the part that had been covered in the dirt was a different color than the rest of the potato. Most of the potato was getting a greenish tint but the part under the dirt still looked fresh and nice.

This experience reminded me that there is a proper way to store potatoes. When the experts tell you this is the way to store your fruits and vegetables, there is a reason for it.

Potatoes must be stored in a cool, dry and dark place.

Not storing potatoes properly causes them to spoil faster, grow “eyes”, and turn green. You can still use them when they turn green but they say it is best to not eat the peel.

Now I understand why, years ago, when people stored their potatoes for the winter, they would sometimes cover the potatoes in dirt in their cellars. It made the potatoes keep better for the winter. That little clod of dirt sure did make a difference on my potato.

Don’t store your potatoes in the refrigerator. The extra cold temperatures cause a reaction in the starch of the potatoes. This reaction can make your mashed potatoes become gummy and gooey rather than light and fluffy.

Speaking of mashed potatoes, I usually add 1-2 tsp. of sugar for every four potatoes when I mash them. I get more compliments on my potatoes and most people don’t have a clue what my secret is. (I guess the whole world knows now.) 

When preparing to make mashed potatoes, don’t spend ages cutting the potatoes into small cubes before you boil them. Just cut them in fourths lengthwise and they will cook just as quickly as when they’re cubed.

Don’t like lumpy potatoes? (I know some of you do like lumps and that’s ok…) I use my hand mixer to beat my potatoes. The mixer makes it much less work, it’s faster and the mashed potatoes turn out beautifully smooth, light and fluffy. First, mash them slightly and then slowly add your milk until you get the right consistency.

It’s hard telling what I will write about tomorrow. Maybe I will go peel some carrots and discover some deep meaningful insight about my carrots.

      -Jill

Photo By: rfduck

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This is a recipe from the new crockpot menus cookbook I am working on. It’s one of those recipes that can be used in the dead of winter or on a hot summer’s day because barbecue and your crockpot are both perfect for summer.

Tips:

• Lay the ingredients that will take longer to cook on the bottom of the crockpot. For example, put things like carrots, potatoes and turnips in first. Then place the meat on top of that.
• Even though this is a crockpot recipe, like most crockpot recipes, it can be cooked on the stove. Just set it on simmer or your lowest setting and let it cook all day. Some things that are more casserole-like can be baked in the oven at about 250 degrees for a couple of hours, too.
• Crush a large amount of graham cracker crumbs and store them in an airtight container. This will make future baking easier because all you need to do is scoop out what you need for a recipe.

There is nothing like a piping hot bowl of stew on a cold winter’s day. We love the favorite standbys but here is a different twist on regular beef stew.

Menu:

Barbecue Beef Stew*
Rice or Noodles
Coleslaw
Hello Dolly Cookies*

Barbecue Beef Stew

1-2 lbs. stew meat
1 cup onion, sliced
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cups beef stock
1 can (8 oz.) tomatoes
1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms
1/3 cup barbecue sauce

Saute onion, pepper and garlic in oil. Add salt, pepper, beef stock,tomatoes, mushrooms and barbecue sauce. Cook meat and all of the other ingredients in a crockpot on low heat for 8-10 hours. To thicken, mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water and add to stew before serving.

Hello Dolly Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup nuts
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter and graham cracker crumbs and press into an 8 inch pan. Add coconut, chocolate chips and nuts in layers. Drizzle with condensed milk. Bake 30 minutes. Cutting is easier if you chill for 30 minutes or more.

photo by: jetalone

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I think we are all trying to recover from heavy holiday meals and all the cooking many of us have been doing non-stop so I tried to make this week’s menu simple and easy.

Tips:

• When using canned soup or any soup for that matter, go the extra mile and add a simple garnish to it. It doesn’t take much. A few fresh herbs, cheese, sour cream, green onions or croutons sprinkled on top really can add to it.
• If you need to stretch your croutons or for something slightly different, try crushing them a bit. Cracker crumbs can look pretty and taste good too.
• When cutting bar cookies or desserts you can use a pizza cutter but what I like the best is to use my pastry cutter. Some people call it a bench knife. It’s that flat square metal tool. Just press it down on to the cookies to cut. Don’t pull or drag it like you do a knife. Just go up and down.
• Try something different for grilled cheese sandwiches. Use chicken or ham for meats or try Swiss or Colby cheese. If you usually eat your grilled cheese with ketchup, try spreading it with mayonnaise before you grill it instead.

Menu:

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches*
Tomato Soup
Cereal Yogurt Fruit Dessert*

Recipes:

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Italian Dressing
Bread
Tomato
Basil Leaves
Provolone Cheese

Spread bread with dressing (in place of the normal butter). Place dressing side down on a pan that you have sprayed with non stick spray. Layer with basil leaves, cheese, tomato and 2nd slice of bread. Grill on both sides.

Yogurt Dessert

5 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 cup pecans or nuts, finely chopped
4 Tbsp. margarine or butter, melted
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
16 oz. plain yogurt
16 oz. vanilla yogurt
2 – 3 cups fresh fruit

In a 9×13 pan, mix cornflakes, nuts, margarine and syrup. Press flat. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Mix yogurts together and spread on cooled crust. Top with fruit. You may halve this recipe and bake in an 8×8 pan. Serve immediately.

Photo By: FotoosVanRobin

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Tips:

• Add a box of dry instant vanilla pudding, after beating eggs, in any cookie batter for a perfect textured cookie or bar. From Marsha B.
• Try adding a pinch of oregano or a teaspoon of onion soup mix to your green beans for a different twist and taste.
• Add a teaspoon of bacon grease to green beans and sprinkle with onion salt or onion powder. This is especially good when serving them with something like meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Menu:

Creamy Fajitas*
Tossed Salad
Salsa Green Beans*
Apple Plum Crisp*

Recipes:

Creamy Fajitas

I have a favorite recipe using steak cubes, mushroom soup, sour cream and green chilies.

Flour the steak cubes as it helps thicken the sauce. Brown the steak cubes. Add mushroom soup, green chiles and simmer for 1 hour. Then add sour cream and put in beans if you want them. Wrap ingredients in flour tortillas and add shredded cheddar cheese. Everyone loves it! Jane S

Jane didn’t give us exact measurements, but here is a general idea. These measurements aren’t exact and you can feel free to adjust them.

2 cups cubed steak
1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz.)
1 small can chopped green chiles
1 cup sour cream

Salsa Green Beans

1 lb. green beans
16 oz. jar of salsa
1 tsp. olive oil

Cook frozen, fresh or canned green beans. Add salsa and olive oil and simmer 5-10 minutes until flavors are blended.

Apple Plum Crisp

4 cups apples, peeled and sliced
2 cups plums, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup margarine, melted and divided
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided
1 cup oats
1/4 cup nuts, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed, divided

Combine 1/4 cup margarine, 1/4 cup brown sugar, lemon juice, flour and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Add apples and plums, toss and coat well. Place in 8×11 baking pan.

In a bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup margarine, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon along with oats, nuts and ginger. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes until fruit is tender and topping crisp and browned. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping. 

You may substitute 2 cups of peaches or nectarines for plums.

For more money saving recipes and tips check out Dining on a Dime Cookbook.

Photo By: Scott M

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For many people, cutting back on their grocery budgets can be an overwhelming experience. They know they’re spending too much, but don’t know where to begin to cut. Often, they fear that they will deprive themselves and their children if they become frugal. The good news is that there are ways to have your cake, eat it and save money at the same time. The whole secret is to start slowly. There are countless ways you can cut, but if you need to, target just one thing at a time – you will still be saving money if you do only one thing.

If you are a frugal beginner, try these simple suggestions for saving on your food bill:

• Cooking frugally is like changing your diet. You need to learn gradually how to save money and cook frugally. Don’t expect that you will get your food bill down to $300 for four people in the first month if you are spending $600 a month right now.
• Try cutting just $25.00 or $50.00 a month. Even if you cut back only $50.00 a month, you will save $600.00 a year. If you save just $1.00 a day that is $365.00 a year. You can then apply that $365.00 a year to paying off your credit cards. At 21 percent interest, you will save over $70 a year. This will eventually cause a snowball effect since the more you pay off, the less you pay to interest. When you pay less to interest, you have more each month to apply to paying off your overall debt. This means that as you pay off the debt, the rate that you can pay it off increases.
• Before you shop, take a tour through your pantry and your refrigerator. Be organized! Don’t buy what’s already hiding in your kitchen.

• If you’re a fan of coupons, remember this: It’s not what you save, it’s what you spend. If you save 30 cents on something you wouldn’t ordinarily buy anyway, you haven’t really saved anything.
• A typical fruit item is significantly larger than one serving. Most people would be just as happy eating a small apple as eating a large one — so buy smaller fruits! You will save money by the pound.
• This month, try two meatless meals a week (or one, if you’re a die hard meat fan).
• Make simple meals. One-dish meals can contain your meat, your vegetable and your bread.
• Drink water for your meals.
  • If your family is used to drinking milk, juice or pop for every meal then start by cutting juice from one meal or snack a day and drinking only water. After you get used to this, cut from another meal until you drink only water for meals and a glass of juice or milk at snack time.
  • You can also try allowing one glass of juice at meal times and then water after it is gone.
  • You save over $500.00 a year by cutting just one glass of juice per person per day for a family of four.
• Don’t assume homemade is cheaper. If you get a VERY GOOD deal on chocolate chips and ingredients for candies, it is cheaper to make them than buying them pre-made. Make sure you do the calculations, though! If you don’t purchase them on sale, homemade candies can be more expensive than candies purchased at the store.
• Stop wasting food. Give young children small portions. They can always have more if they are still hungry. Give them a half glass of juice and a half sandwich so you don’t waste uneaten food. Put food in the refrigerator right after the meal so it doesn’t spoil. Use leftovers for lunches, in other dishes or frozen in one portion sizes for a quick meal.
• Don’t buy everything at one store.
  Prices vary greatly from one store to the next. Go to different stores to buy only their sale items. You will save more than the cost of your gas. It usually only takes half an hour to 45 minutes per store to get the items that are on sale including driving time. If you save a minimum of $20-$30 per trip, it is like “earning” $40-$60 an hour. If you save $60 spending one hour going to two different stores, it is four extra hours you might not have to work to pay for that same food purchased at the regular price.

• Remember, cooking frugally is a mindset. You have to change your cooking and eating habits. Don’t get discouraged if one idea fails. Try another one.
• Stop buying things like toaster pastries and breakfast bars for breakfast. Eat oatmeal, pancakes, granola and fruit instead.
• Don’t assume that bulk is cheaper. Compare cost by the ounce or pound.

Most people don’t think they can live the frugal life and still be comfortable. I feed my family of six on $400 per month. Over five years, when my husband earned an average of $22,000 per year, we paid off $20,000 debt. When cutting your grocery bill, it’s the little things that add up.

For more easy tips and tricks to save money in the kitchen, check out Groceries On A Dime!

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Pancake Brunch Menu

Tips

• Before you brew your coffee, shake a little cinnamon on the grounds for just a little hint of flavor and a special warm and cozy aroma for those cold winter mornings.
• Mix a bag of dry pancake ingredients and keep it ready in your pantry. Then, when you have an urge for pancakes, you can just mix it with the wet ingredients. It will be just as easy to use as pancake mix when you prepare it this way.
• For special occasions, have a pancake bar. Set out different dishes of things to add to each person’s pancakes, like chocolate chips, berries, nuts or granola. Then, just sprinkle their pancakes with the things they choose as you cook it.
• You can also lay out various pancake add-ins along with different flavored syrups and butters so your family or guests can put them on top of their pancakes after they are cooked. Don’t forget whipped cream or even chocolate syrup to drizzle on the pancakes.

Menu

Fluffy Pancakes*
Bacon Sausage Wraps*
Scrambled Eggs
Fruit Cup or Juice
Coffee or Milk

These pancakes are like the big fluffy pancakes you find at your favorite restaurant. Mix the batter first and let it set for a few minutes while you are preparing the rest of your brunch. The batter will thicken and start to bubble. Don’t stir it. You want the bubbles.

Fluffy Pancakes

1 1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted*

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour”.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into “soured” milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

These are great to freeze and pull out as needed. They’re even better if you can sprinkle them with the sugar and let them set overnight. You can’t use too much sugar on these. The more the better. Sprinkle them with a little more before baking them in the morning.

*If you are watching your fat, you can use less butter or cut it out if you need to.

Bacon Sausage Wraps

Bacon
Little Smokies
Brown sugar

Wrap little smokies with 1/3 bacon strip each and secure with a toothpick. Lay on a foil lined baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once to bake 20 minutes on each side.

Note: You can keep these warm in a slow cooker and drizzle with a little maple syrup, too.

Photo By: Tavallai

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Consumable Christmas Gifts

From: Rachel H:

I was reading your post about Christmas. I have 5 grandchildren. The oldest will soon be 4, the youngest is 4 months. I keep my eyes open but just don’t find appropriate toys that are affordable, which they must be when buying for five! I am an avid couponer and love the buy 1, get 1 sales at Publix and Winn Dixie.

Today I was at Publix looking at some Del Monte fruit cups I had a $1 off coupon for, when it suddenly hit me… My grandkids would love these! Why not give food for Christmas presents? Sure, their parents buy food for them, but they buy toys too. I can use my coupons to purchase fruit cups, pudding cups, candy bars, cookies, etc… It’s in with my grocery bill each week, and I can start buying now and put in a box till December. The main thing is that at this age they love to unwrap. It doesn’t really matter what’s inside. I may not be able to do this forever, but who knows in later years, maybe treats and some money, they can buy what they want.

We do this at our house. The kids don’t get "special" food items like these on a regular basis so they get them as treats for the holidays. Santa often brings them packets of microwave popcorn, juice boxes, gum, pop tarts, fruit roll-ups, fruit gummies, cocoa packets and all that kind of stuff that is the staple of most of their friends’ lunch boxes. Of course we regulate how much they can eat in one day.

For birthdays Mike will get his favorite tea, candies or ice cream sauce. I will get my favorite tea, nuts, blueberry jelly or other goodies. 

This is a great way to get the one your love a gift without all the clutter.

-Tawra

Tawra mentioned something that has been a pet peeve of mine for years and that is "treats" for our kids. We are depriving are kids of so much by giving them too much. We are depriving them of the excitement, joy and anticipation that comes from looking forward to and receiving a special treat.

They get all these things, which we used to think of as something special, on a daily basis so they see them as just everyday fare. When kids are given everything, they have nothing to look forward to. A whole can of pop or a novelty ice cream was something we looked forward to getting. The excitement of thinking about getting it was almost as wonderful as the treat itself.

Not only that, as in any war, my mom used all of the weapons she could and she never hesitated in blackmailing us. If we didn’t do our chores or behave properly, we didn’t get our treat. Stop depriving your kids by starting to deprive them a little more. Give them something to look forward to and add a little joy to their lives.

      -Jill

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