5 Simple Living eBooks for Just $7.40

Is simple living just a pipe dream in today's fast-paced, always-on, more-is-better culture? With this week's collection, you'll discover the secrets to living simply from five authors who are living intentionally and inspiring others to do the same! But don't wait because this bundle is on sale for 90% off this week only.



25 Intentional Days by AndHeDrew
Laid out in an easy-to-follow format, 25 Intentional Days will take you step by step through setting effective long-term and short-term goals, finding time you didn't know you had, tracking your progress and creating the life you've dreamed of.

Simple Ways to Be More with Less by Courtney Carver
In Simple Ways to Be More with Less, Courtney shows you how to simplify your life and live each day more purposefully. This book will challenge you, brighten your day, and if you let it, change your world.

Inside-Out Simplicity by Joshua Becker
Living simply starts on the inside, and in Inside-Out Simplicity, Joshua shares why healthy relationships are essential to a simplified life. You'll discover how to live intentionally by embracing contentment, gratitude, and humility and making generosity, kindness, service, and forgiveness a hallmark of all of your relationships.

ClutterFree by Leo Babauta & Courtney Carver
With the tools in ClutterFree, you'll learn how to eliminate the clutter and create more time and space in your home and life. Leo and Courtney walk you through understanding why we have clutter, learning how to get rid of it and enjoying a clutter-free life.

Flying by the Seat of My Soul by Tess Marshall
Through personal stories, profound lessons, uplifting quotes and stories of others, Tess inspires you to live more passionately and pursue your heart’s desire with more conviction. Flying By The Seat Of My Soul will empower you to move toward inner change, let go of the past, follow your dreams and fly!

The Simple Living bundle is only available through 8am EST on Monday, 4/22. Get yours today:

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Disclosure - This post contains affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Family Balance Sheet! You can read the site's full disclosure here.

My Favorite Running App | Weeks 6 & 7 of 10 Weeks to a Half Marathon

Every week between now and early May, I will be charting my progress as I train for my next half marathon in Pittsburgh. I'll post everything about my training from the actual distances to what I wear to how I stay hydrated, nourished and entertained while running.

I've owned an iPhone since May 2012, but it's taken me almost a year to use a running app. I hate to call myself lazy, but I don't know how else to explain it.

Anyway, I love the Nike+ running app. It tracks my pace, distance, workouts. It stores my personal records, such as fastest mile, fastest 5k, longest run in distance, and longest workout in duration. You also can assign an emoticon and write some notes about each run. So in a few weeks when I look back on yesterday's run, I'll know why my pace was somewhat slow. My foot was throbbing and I had to go to the bathroom really, really bad the last mile. Really bad!

At the end of your run, the app syncs with your Nike + account and stores all of your information for you to over-analyze or ignore.

To get your own Nike + running app, log into Nike.com on your phone and click download app to join the Nike+ running community. Create a profile and then download the app to your iPhone or Android. It's a FREE app

And then start running!

My Workouts for Week 6

• Monday - 3 miles, easy pace
• Wednesday - 4 miles, easy pace
• Thursday - 3 miles, easy pace
• Friday - 1 hour yoga at the Y
• Saturday 6 miles, run at conversational pace

My Workouts for Week 7

• Monday - 3 miles, easy pace
• Wednesday - 4 miles, tempo pace for two miles
• Thursday - 6 miles, easy pace
• Friday - 1 hours yoga at the Y
• Sunday - 10 miles, run at conversational pace

My Training Plan for upcoming Week 8

This is the hardest week before the race, because of the 12 mile long run. I was really nervous about this workout when I was training for my first half. I had never run that far before. I remember feeling victory when I turned the corner towards my house on that first 12 miler. My husband and kids were waiting for me on the sidewalk to cheer me home. It was because of that 12 mile run that I felt confident on my first race day that I could finish the half marathon.

• Monday - 3 miles, easy pace
• Wednesday - 6 miles, tempo pace for 4 miles
• Thursday - 3 miles, easy pace
• Friday - 1 hour of yoga at the Y
• Saturday - 12 miles at conversational pace 

Do you use a running app to track your workouts? Which one do you use? Also, how did your training go this week? Let us know in the comments.

Read more:

• My Road to Half Marathons.
• Week 1 of 10 Weeks to a Half Marathon
• Week 2 of 10 Weeks to a Half Marathon | My Must Have Gear
• Week 3 of 10 Weeks to a Half Marathon | What I Wear
• Week 4 of 10 Weeks to a Half Marathon | Hydration
• Week 5 of 10 Weeks to a Half Marathon | Preventing Boredom on the Long Run

A note about my training plan: I am not a medical professional or a certified trainer, just an avid runner. Please consult a professional if you feel you need one. Also, the half marathon training plan that I follow is designed for beginners. Although, it is advised that you do not start using the 10 week training plan until you are able to run 6 miles. If you are new to running, start by training for a 5k. There is plenty of information online to help you with 5k training.

This post is linked to Motivation Monday at Life in Balance.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Our History with Credit Cards & Switching to Cash

"Debt is Dumb, Cash is King" - Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey has built quite a business around that quote. He has successfully inspired thousands of people to a life free of credit cards and debt.

My husband and I always thought we were different.

It just seemed easier to us to carry and use credit cards versus cash. We used them for everything, from groceries and restaurants to gas and clothing and everything in between. And we always paid the entire balance at the end of the month. We were using the cards to earn cash back on purchases that we needed to buy any way, so we were being smart about our spending.  Right?  Or so we thought.

But Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University challenged us to think about credit cards & cash differently.

According to Dave, you actually spend 12-18% less when using cash. That caught my attention. If we could reduce our spending by 12-18%, we could put that money towards our debt. In 2012, we spent  almost $8000 on groceries and 12% of that is $960. The most cash back we've received from our visa has been $250 a year. We have the potential to save almost 4 times that just by using cash instead of our visa.

So in March, we started using cash or our debit card for 3 spending categories: groceries, restaurants, clothes.

This has been a huge adjustment for us. We've been handing over our visa for most of our purchases for our entire marriage. We didn't even have ATM cards at the beginning of March, so I had to order them.

Switching to cash definitely will take more communication and coordination between the two of us so we don't overdraw an account. We are trying to figure out a system for when my husband needs to make a purchase. I do most of the shopping for groceries and household purchases, but what if he needs to pick something up on the way home from work or he needs to stop at Lowe's for a household item? He will now need to bring me receipts immediately after a purchase rather than wait until the credit card bill was due.

After one month, we both like the feeling of paying with cash. We felt like our purchases were more intentional and less impulsive, but there were some hiccups in March. I did use my credit card for a few things that I knew I could find the cash for by the time the payment will be due. And I could hear Dave Ramsey barking in my ear each time. My credit card is like a security blanket that I'm not ready to give up.

We took the first step to cash in March and each month should get easier, because "debt is dumb and cash is king."

Do you use credit cards or cash? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

April 13 & 14 | FREE or Low Cost Events for the Whole Family

Lowe's Build & Grow

• Saturday, April 13, 10 AM | Your child will build a plantar and decorate it with creatures & characters from The Croods.

Michael's

• Saturday, April 13, 10-11:30 AM | Earth Friendly Fox - Let your kids explore their creativity while you shop! Only $2 per child reserves 30 minutes for your creative kid. Sessions starting every half hour from 10AM - 11:30AM

A.C. Moore

• Saturday, April 13, 1 - 3 PM | Wilton Treat Pops Demonstration

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

5 Pregnancy & Baby eBooks for Just $7.40

Pregnancy, childbirth and welcoming a new baby can be overwhelming, but this week's bundle is a collection of resources to help you make informed decisions about each. With a bent toward natural living, this collection includes real food recipes for pregnancy and beyond, plus tips for breastfeeding, natural birth and simple living with a baby. This week only, get all 5 ebooks for just $7.40 (a savings of more than 80%)!



Healthy Pregnancy Super Foods by Kate Tietje
In Healthy Pregnancy Super Foods, Kate simplifies pregnancy nutrition with just two rules: 1) Don’t eat junk food and 2) Eat super foods. This ebook includes details about the super foods you should be eating (and a basic list of what you should avoid), what pregnant women’s nutritional needs are, and offers more than 30 super food recipes.

Fearless Birth by Kristen Burgess
Fear of giving birth is a very real thing, but through the Fearless Birth workbook and bonus tools, Kristen helps you understand the source of your fears, create positive images of birth, let go of fear and approach labor and birth with confidence and peace of mind.

Unbound Birth by Jennifer Yarbrough
Unbound Birth: How to Have a Natural Birth in the Hospital is an inspiring collection of natural hospital birth stories. With determination, information, preparation, and support, Jennifer offers women hope for the beauty of a natural birth within a hospital setting.

The Minimalist Mom's Guide to Baby's First Year by Rachel Jonat
Parenting is a demanding job, and the first year with a new baby is exciting, ever so tiring and filled to the brim with baby toys, gadgets and gizmos. In The Minimalist Mom's Guide to the Baby's First Year, Rachel shares her own journey into motherhood and the lessons she learned about avoiding the clutter trap of too much baby stuff, slowing down to enjoy the early months with your new baby, saving money, creating a peaceful home and finding more time in your day for things like sleep!

Breast to Bib by Kate Tietje
If you’ve ever wondered how to get a baby started with real food, this is your go-to guide. In Breast to Bib, Kate offers help with breastfeeding and discusses low milk supply and homemade formula options as well as how and when to introduce solids and tips for handling picky toddlers. Plus you'll find 27 healthy, family-friendly recipes to get you started!

The Pregnancy & Baby bundle is only available through 8am EST on Monday, 4/15. Get yours today:



Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower