Hello Friend!

We hit 100,000 downloads last week, so in appreciation, for everyone that adds a rating and review, I am going to put you in a drawing for $100 amazon gift card!!! You just need to send me an email at monica@claimingsimplicity.com letting me know you left a review with your user name. If you have already left a review, share with a friend and add me in your instagram stories and tag me and you will be entered in the drawing as well! This podcast wouldn’t be as successful if it wasn’t for all of you, so I appreciate you all!

I really want to talk today about 3 areas where you can easily simplify your life to live more intentionally with ADHD. As I have talked about a few times here, I have never been diagnosed with ADHD, but I have many characteristics and that is really why I had to simplify my whole life to live with more intention. I really enjoy slow living with my family now and I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I was working as a full time nurse with 5 kids at home and all the activities and sports, it was exhausting, but once I changed the way I lived, I was able to quit my full time nursing job which gave me so much freedom to how I spend my days & more time with family.

The first area you can simplify is your cooking, if you haven’t followed claiming simplicity on instagram, you should do that now. A large portion of many family’s budgets goes to food, but it doesn’t have to. I can show you how a family of four can eat dinners on $75/week and that is nutrient dense, healthy meals. You don’t need fancy expensive meals and you certainly don’t need to buy convenience foods at the store but instead learn to cook simple homemade meals at home on a very low budget.

Next, declutter your home. Living with less stuff really reduces stress. You will also feel less overwhelmed when you have less stuff to care for - start with one room of you home and see the difference. Always make sure you carefully think about each item you bring into your home. I am going to do another declutter challenge, so email me if this is something you would like to be a part of. It is for busy moms, so it will be steps you can’t quickly declutter in a short amount of time.

And lastly, you will want to reduce debt, living debt free can be rewarding in so many ways. If you are spending more than you bring in, think about where you can make changes. I will be doing another no spend challenge starting January first and this time I am going to do all audio. If you are interested in joining, please reach out by email or DM me on instagram!

And with all of this, make sure you are putting Jesus at the center of it all!

Love you friend! Have a blessed week

~Monica

Instagram -> https://www.instagram.com/claimingsimplicity/

Email -> monica@claimingsimplicity.com

Happy Fall Friend!

If you haven’t visited claiming simplicity on instagram recently, you may not know that I have been teaching families how to eat dinners for less than $75/week and have taught over 3000 families so far after starting that in July and now I have expanded into a month of our favorite crockpot dinners and am working on a snack guide to save money as well. I love love love teaching people that you can eat healthy on a budget and it all started because that is what people were asking me.

Now, I have people reaching out that want to live the lifestyle that we have, so I’m transitioning into showing them exactly how I was able to quit my full time nursing job to become a homesteader & homeschooling mom and it all started with knowing how to save money on groceries and then once I had that figured out, then I would reduce wasteful spending in other areas like making my own natural cleaning supplies that saved money and now I create an income just showing people how I did it because that is just how it has evolved!

I am very passionate about families raising their own kids and homeschooling….shaping them to be Jesus centered in everything they do is the ultimate goal in life. You can’t take your home, your cars or material possessions to heaven with you, so why not chase something with eternal rewards and teach your children to do the same. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.

If you are ready, I want you and your spouse to talk about this and see if it is something you both want & pray together about it. Talk about how you want your life to look and feel. My husband was on board and he found out quickly how much easier.

How much money do you actually need to live comfortably and where could you reduce expenses if you need to. Figure out all of you bills and then you will need to figure out all the bills you won't have if you decide to be a SAHM or homemaker such as daycare, gas, convenience items, maybe even one less car or less insurance. There are many ways to make it possible!

There is so much peace and joy in intentional and slow living, that you will probably not ever want to go back to the hustle. The time with your family will be treasured forever. You can’t ever get the moments and memories back, so live in the present every single day. Freedom & Time are much greater asset than money if you value memories.

If you have any questions about any of this, please send me an email or DM on Instagram, I would love to help you get started or even help you take next steps if you are ready!

Have a Blessed day!

9-15-25 EP 206 // 5 Ways to Start Simplifying Your Life Without Feeling Stressed & Overwhelmed.

Hello Friend!

My life is very full with all of the things we choose it to be such as gardening and homesteading activities, but I make sure that I have time to just be, pray and think in the morning and that usually means getting up by 4:00 am. (Yes, I am in bed early at night so I get at least 7 hours of sleep) It gives me time to see the sun rise, sit in silence and just listen to what God is saying to me without any other disturbances.

Our lives are shaped mostly by how we create them. If you know me at all you know that little simple things make me happy. I don’t need to spend money to be happy, I enjoy the birds chirping, the rooster crowing, a fresh Fall breeze coming throught the open windows, the sun rising, walking in the woods and we are now living what we have created.

I could have continued to climb the ladder working for someone else just to chase after more riches, but nearly 30 years ago, we made a life plan of how we wanted to live, raise our family and what was important to us……and guess what-not any of what was important to us was new cars or material items-it was Jesus, time with family and freedom to do what we want, when we want and it seems as if God has been just chasing us with blessing after blessing.

Things have shifted slightly as God is giving us a new direction and so we will reveal where that is going as time goes on. Right now, we are at the stage of really God? You want us to do what? So I don’t know any details right now, but I do know that He wants me to help you get back to the root of what is most important.

I want to give you 5 simple steps to get started on this simple living journey, and I will saved the #1 way to the end.

~ 1st, Become so clear on what you value and make sure your time matches up with your values. You say you want time with your kids, but then you spend all day at work, or you might say you value giving, but your pocketbook looks like you spend more on things for yourself. It has to match up or you will not ever feel at peace or aligned.

~ Next, Make your life plan-do you want to be a SAHM and homemaker, do you want to living in the country, want to homestead or learn to cook from scratch to save money? What kind of house do you want to live in? Be so clear that when you move to a house, you realize it was exactly what you handwritten out in detail many years prior. Your life might not start out exactly as planned, but I can definitely tell you if you have a vision and a plan in written for, you will most likely get to that place! I even put in my plan I wanted to be a Grandma that was available for my Grandkids whenever they needed me or had events and I am thankful to be able to spend time with all of them quite often and love it!

~After that you will want to make a plan you reduce your debt. Maybe you need to sell a vehicle with a payment and get a used vehicle-there is certainly not anything wrong with having an older vehicle. I was just trying to figure out the last time we had a car payment-probalby over 15 years ago! Spend your money wisely and living a debt free live is so rewarding.

Then you need to put your plan into action-just start-it is an incredible feeling to know what you are working toward!

And the absolute #1 step that is the most important is reading your Bible and putting Jesus first in everything that you do. When you walk the narrow path, there are many rewards. I’m not saying there will be opposition, because there certainly will be, but the rewards far outweigh it.

1 Start reading your Bible

1. Become clear on your values
2. Create a written life plan of what you want your life to look like
3. Make a plan to reduce debt
4. Put your plan into action.

I want you to send me a message and let me know how this is going for you and if I can help you in any way.

Instagram -> https://www.instagram.com/claimingsimplicity/

Email -> monica@claimingsimplicity.com

Keep it simple and God Bless!

Monica