Are you a busy homeschool mom trying to manage your household on a budget? Raise your hand if you’d love to save money on groceries? This episode of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast is for YOU! I’m thrilled to have my friend, Karen Morris, back for another chat full of actionable strategies.
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In this time in history and based on the state of our economy, I’m sure you are feeling the need like I am to make sure my family has the finances, food, and supplies necessary. But what if you’re not a hard-core “prepper” – because you’re busy enough just homeschooling the kids! How can you save money on groceries but also be prepared for whatever is just around the corner?
A Year Without the Grocery Store
Karen’s original book and website, “A Year Without the Grocery Store” is a treasure trove of practical steps to take to create an economical food storage system.
She gives busy moms like you a step-by-step plan to learn how to:
- feed everyone in your family for around $160/year!
- safely store water
- how to cook from your food storage during a power outage
- recipes to use with easy-to-store food
- organize your supplies
- and more!
Check out episode 106 of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast to hear our first chat with Karen.
Save Money on Groceries
In this episode, Karen walks us through simple ways to save significant money on groceries. The two keys to save money on groceries is cooking from scratch and buying in bulk.
Here are some of the resources she mentions for cooking from scratch:
- Gnowfglins.com
- Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
- Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
If you want to buy in bulk, check these out:
- Azure Standard
- Bulk food stores
- Amish stores
Okay, ready for some super practical ways that even busy moms can find time for cooking from scratch? Listen to the episode for all the juicy details, but here are a few things to consider.
- once a week or once a month cooking
- cook once and eat 2-3 times
- double a recipe and freeze the second half
- bulk cook basic ingredients
- create a cooking routine
With these foundations in mind, we’re not only able to save money on groceries, but also make sure we’re prepared for the future.
Preparedness Principles
Preparedness allows you to serve your family by making sure they have what they need to be able to eat, even if the power goes out, or your husband loses his job, or the economy goes even further south!
Karen explains the benefits of preparedness living in this episode:
- buying in bulk allows us to have enough in reserve for lean times
- by learning to cook from scratch, you can make your money stretch even further when you can’t purchase convenience foods
- both cooking from scratch and buying in bulk often leads you to consider other avenues of preparedness including gardening, preserving foods, and homesteading – yay for chickens!
If you want some easy ways to get into preparedness (even as a busy homeschool mom!), Karen gives several in this conversation:
- clotheslines
- indoor herb gardens
- microgreens
- basic water filtration
- composting
Listen to Episode 244
Our guest on the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast today is Karen Morris, homeschool mom and preparedness coach. She’s the voice behind the websites “A Year Without The Grocery Store” and now “Are You Prepared, Mama?“
She has authored A Year Without the Grocery Store, A Year Without the Grocery Store’s Companion Workbook, Mom on the Run, and The 2024 Prepper Planner.
Karen joined us back on episode 106 where we learned about Prepping 101 from a busy mom’s perspective. Her ideas and tips are things that anyone can do! It’s one of my favorite non-homeschooling podcast episodes!
With the current state of the economy and world, I knew I wanted to have Karen back to help us become better prepared as moms.
Here at “Are You Prepared, Mama?” You’ll find information to help you get your family ready for life’s emergencies. We provide you with resources to quickly move your preparedness efforts forward. We equip you with actionable steps that you can take today to get your family ready for whatever life throws at you.
From Karen’s site, Are You Prepared, Mama?
Grab this FREE download to take notes and make plans to take action while you listen to this episode.
Check out the Prepper Planner
Karen’s newest resource is The 2024 Prepper Planner. It’s a huge beautiful planner that will be just the tool you need for the new year.
The Prepper Planner on Amazon is a paperback version, but if you want a spiral-bound Prepper Planner, you can find that too.
The 2024 Prepper Planner is not just about filling your day with more things to do. It’s about helping you create focus on what is most important – for your family, your work, and your preparedness….
In the 2024 Prepper Planner, you’ll get everything you’d expect from a planner, PLUS:
– Preparedness focus areas with suggestions on what “To Learn,” “To Do,” and “To Buy” each month.
– “In the Garden” section guides you in what you should strive to accomplish in your garden each month.
– “On the Homestead” section helps enumerate the tasks that can or should be tackled that month.
– Monthly and weekly “Priority Tasks” pages help you determine where your focus should be for the week and month.
– Monthly and weekly “Reflection” pages help you celebrate your accomplishments and tackle your problems.
The 2024 Prepper Planner
Want to learn more from Karen? Check out A Year Without the Grocery Store’s Class – Smart Stash.
