Finding extra money. Kinda.

Don't kill the messenger but Christmas really is just around the corner.

And as much as I love Christmas and all things faith, family and friends, I can get stressed out about money.  Actually, there's no "can get" about it.  I do get stressed.  And yes, logically I can say that it's not about the gifts - and I know it's not.  But I still want to knock it out of the park for my boys.  I want them to get what they want.  And no matter how hard I try no one has just given me money when I smiled sweetly at them.  Mostly they've just looked at me like I need to up my medication. 

 



Let me tell you about one of my tricks for this year.  And I have to give credit where credit it due - mostly because she reads my blog and will call me on it if I don't.  This idea came from the brilliant mind of Kerry.  She told me about it during Kidz Camp and I've been doing it ever since.

 

It's the Walmart Savings Catcher.  Are you doing this?  It's easy.  Just download the app and scan your receipts.  Walmart compares your purchases with area competitors and if a lower price is found, they credit your account the difference.

 



I'm more of an Aldi's and Sam's Club girl but let's face it, eventually we all end up at Walmart.  Might as well get your money's worth.

 

I've been saving my Savings Catcher money to cash in for Christmas shopping.  It may be too late to get much of a balance built up this late in the year but remember that every little bit helps. 

 

My plan is to cash out around Thanksgiving and use my credit to lower my total when buying gift cards, wrapping paper or maybe even presents. 

 

Another easy way to save a little cash. 

 

Five Easy Ways to Feed Your Family: The Back to School Edition.

Here we go guys.  Back to school time seems to coincide with back to crazy busy season.  It's not just heading back to school.  It's all the sports and events and busyness that accompanies it that makes us feel a little overwhelmed.  Add to that a house filled with people who, oddly enough, expect you to feed them.....  well it can make you not so nice.

Here's some ideas on how to get food on the table.

• Slow cooker love.   Seriously, I love my slow cooker.  It makes life simple.  Just dump in your ingredients and walk away.  It's like magic in my kitchen.  Try my layered dinners, awesome chili, lasagna and even lazy rice crispie treats.

• Big batches.  If you have to cook (and you do), make double or triple and save it for another time.  I always make double or triple of taco meat, sloppy joes, grilled chicken, chili, hot dog sauce and soup beans.  I use one serving for dinner on the night I make it and freeze the rest in labeled freezer bags for use on a night that I know I'll be busy.  With most of the meals, I just throw a frozen lump of meat (especially tacos, sloppy joes and chili) into the crock pot in the morning and turn it on low.  By the time I get home the majority of my work is done.  Add a veggie or two and dinner's on the table. 

• Quick and easy meals.  These are my go to's when I have nothing.  No time, no energy and no money for takeout.  There's quick, cheap and easy - my perfect trifecta of a recipe.  Some of my go to's are keilbasa & potatoes, the big sandwich, quick potato dinner, and Uncle J's dish.  And of course, if you're really in a bind there's always breakfast for dinner.

• Freeze and grill it.  This is my main way to do chicken.  When you come home from the store (or in our case the farm) take a few minutes to separate out your chicken into freezer bags.  Throw in a great marinade and toss your labeled bag in the freezer.  Pull it out to thaw before work or after breakfast on the day you need it.  It's just a quick grill from there to dinner.  I usually add baked potatoes done in the microwave and a veggie.  Some of my favorite marinades are sweet suprise sauce for chicken or pork, honey grilled chicken, and this amazing chicken and steak marinade from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. 

• My final tip is Leftover love.  We have leftover night just about any week that we actually have leftovers.  It's simple.  Just warm it all up and put it on the table.  Why waste what you've made, right?

And there you have it.  Now get to it!

Pictures from Anne Taintor.

Will they ever stop eating?!

 

Let me introduce you to my bottomless pits:

 

 

I think they had a planning meeting a couple of months ago to see what would be the quickest way to eat me out of house and home.  And from the results, it was a very successful meeting.

Every time I turn around we're out of bread, milk and eggs.  And apparently lunch meat has a 2.2 second shelf life in this house.  I honestly wonder if they're eating it as they put away groceries. 

So, what to do?

I still have to have a grocery budget.  We're not the Rockefellers.  I can't just go willy nilly in the grocery store getting whatever strikes their fancy - not only because of cost but also because I don't want them eating a lot of the junk that passes for food or snacks these days. 

Here are some of my tricks and tips that I use to combat eternally hungry boys:

1.  Always make extra.
          Leftovers rule in this house.  If I'm baking potatoes, I make double.  If I'm grilling meat -
          double.  You get the idea.  I want to have good food available for quick meals during
         the day.  As a bonus, Ronnie's lunch isn't that big of a deal to pack at 5:30am because
         it's ready to go from where I packed up an extra meal the night before.

2.  Homemade really is the way to go:
          If left unattended, those sweet little faces will destroy an entire box of graham crackers or
          bag of oreos in 15 minutes.  Some of my go to snacks are granola bars,  popcorn (we buy the
          giant bag of kernels from Sams and store them in mason jars), apples with dip (mix peanut
         butter, plain greek yogurt and honey together for dip), homemade lunchables (more commonly
          known as meat, cheese and crackers) cornbread and cut up veggie and ranch dressing.

3.  Eating your meal is not an option.
          You know this one.  They try to say they're not hungry but 20 minutes later they're waist deep
           in the fridge looking for a treat.  No way.  You don't want to finish dinner or you're not hungry
           no problem.  But I'm going wrap it up and when you decide you're "starving" later, you'll see
           it again.  And again.  And again.  This is probably the most effective of all my tips here
           today. 

4.  Keep cheap, healthy, filling basics on hand.
          Baked potatoes are a staple here.  Each of the boys has the ability to wash a potato and
          hit the potato button on the microwave if they're that hungry.  Apples are filling and cheap.
          We go through an average of 40 pounds of apples a month.   Boiled eggs are kept in a baggie
          in the fridge to snack on. 


 Stick with it.  It's hard to get your kids into eating healthy filling snacks, especially if they're used to
 grabbing crackers, cookies and prepacked granola bars (which are really just candy with a little
 oatmeal). 

Your budget will thank you even if your kids won't.

Baked Ham Recipe aka Charli's Ode to Ham.

What?  You don't wax poetic about ham? 

Well, that's a little weird.

I've come to the conclusion that ham may be the best value for your money when it comes to feeding a small horde of hungry folks.

I can usually find ham around the major holidays for $0.99/# which  makes it totally in my budget.
By cooking a 10 pound or larger ham, I can have enough meat not only for dinner on the night I bake it, but I can also stretch out the leftovers for ham salad, ham sandwiches, quiche, and omelets.  And I'm still left with a nice big ham bone for soup beans.  And when you're done with the bone for soup beans, give it to the dog.  Everybody wins!

When choosing a ham at the store, don't pay extra for spiral cut.  You just want a nice half ham with the bone. And if it comes with a glaze, throw it out.  No one wants that unnatural tasting mess.

 Here's my basic ham recipe:

Around 10# ham
2 sticks of butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup honey

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine butter, honey, brown sugar and cloves in sauce pan over low heat just until mixed together.

Score ham.  Place ham in an oven cooking bag in a foil lined 9x13 pan.  Pour sauce over top of ham and seal bag.  Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning bag and ham 3 to 4 times during cooking.  At the end of the cook time, remove the bag and broil for 3-5 minutes to caramelize the glaze - watch closely so it doesn't burn!  Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before slicing.

By rotating the cooking bag, you don't have to baste your ham and by broiling at the end, you'll have that nice coating like the fancy baked ham stores, but for a fraction of the price.  And lining your pan in foil makes clean up a breeze.

Now head on out and grab ya a ham! 

Lick the Pan Cornbread. (It's really that good).

I don't know what makes this cornbread so amazing.  It just is. 

I always buy a couple of 5 pound bags of fresh ground cornmeal at the Bunner's Ridge Fall festival and keep it in the freezer for this recipe.  I think the fresh cornmeal makes it even better.


Here's what you'll need:

1 cup cornmeal
3 cup flour
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 melted butter
2 Tbsp honey
4 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups milk


Preheat the oven to 350.
Grease a 9x13 baking dish (I use butter to grease it)
Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine oil, butter, honey, eggs and milk. 
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well by hand.
Pour into prepared baking dish and place in 350 oven.
Bake for 45 minutes until golden.

Now go make a pot of beans or chili to go with this! 

Plan to Can: How to eat from your garden year round.

If you've been following my blog for any time at all, you know I like to can.  Not in the "If I could spend a day doing anything, I would can" type of way, but in the "I like to know where the food I feed my family is coming from" way.  It's an effort to spend days putting up food, but it's worth it. 

When I plan my garden - or in this year's case - my trip to the auction, I always go with an idea in mind of what I need to put up for the winter.  Yes, it's fun to make pepper jelly and special relishes but that's not what's going to put food on the table all winter.  The bulk of my canning is for food on the table purposes.  Just a small portion goes to making all those weird but beautiful things you see in the Ball Blue Book. 

Since auction day is coming up in a couple of weeks, I've already started my canning plan.  There's nothing hard about making a plan.  You simply figure out how many quarts of an item you use a week or month and plan to can that much or more.  For example, if I use 1 quart of green beans a week, I plan to can 52 quarts to get me through until the next year.  Now of course, you're always dependent on what your garden has produced or in my case, what is being brought to auction. 

This is my canning plan at this point:

30 quarts of carrots
50 quarts of potatoes
20 quarts of applesauce
20 quarts of peaches
20 pints peach salsa
50 quarts of spaghetti sauce
20 pints of pizza sauce
25 quarts of sauce and peppers (like Oliverio's)
25 pints of peppers
20 quarts of salsa
20 pints of strawberry or tomato jelly (I may be too late for strawberry and believe it or not, you can make tomatoes taste like strawberry jelly by using jello)
10 pints of pepper jelly

I'll also plan on making a turn of vegetable sandwich spread from the ends of all the veggies.  I was given that recipe and the tomato jelly recipe from a patient last year.  One of the best benefits of working home health is getting to meet old farmer's wives who have great canning recipes. 

If there's a great deal of green beans, squash or corn, I'll probably go ahead and can them as well, but I'm actually pretty well stocked with those right now. 

Going with a plan will give me an idea of what I need to pick up at the auction.  Of course, depending on prices, I may get more or less of what my plan is and that's OK.  It's all about being flexible and working with what you can get. 


What are you going to can this year?

Why I Love Amazon Prime.

I really do you know.  I love our Amazon Prime.  Even though they've raised the price to $99 per year, I still think it's the best. 

Why?  Well, I get two day shipping on lots of things that I need.  OK, I'll admit, that's shouldn't really be a big deal for me.  I mean, it probably wouldn't kill me to have to wait a week for most things, but it's nice (really nice) for things to show up on my porch two days later.  What can I say?  I love almost instant gratification. 

And then there's my free streaming with Prime video.   Amazon is getting so many great shows to stream for free, I think I'm going to cancel Netflix.  We regularly watch movies and TV shows - especially Gilligan's Island.  What can I say?  It's just a great show.  We also use Amazon for movie rentals.  It's cheaper in the long run than using (and forgetting) to return movies to Redbox.  Most rentals run from $2-$3 and you can watch as many times as you want in a 48 hour time period. 

Did I mention that I get to check out a book a month for free for my Kindle?  Yep.  That happens.  I can check out one Prime selection a month for free.  I've had lots of choices for both the boys and I.  You just pick it, read it and return it before the end of the month and you're ready for a new book on the 1st of the next month.

And finally, the newest addition, Prime music.  This I'm still discovering but what I've discovered so far, I like.  Lots of choices to listen to for free.  Newer choices as well as classics.  My favorite right now is that the Seeds Family Worship that I use to help with our memory verses. 

So basically, for $8.25 a month, I'm pretty pleased with what I get from my Amazon Prime. 

Frugal Friday: How to Make a Menu Plan.

It's that time of year where we make (and break) resolutions.

And we all know that one of the top resolutions is to save money.

Today I going to try to convince you that menu planning is worth the time.

I used to hate dinner time.  Not only because I was tired and didn't want to cook, but because I hated trying to figure out what we were going to eat night after night.  By sitting down once a month, I can plan out my menu for the next four weeks and be done with it.  I'm saving time, money and stress in my life. 

Here's how I make a menu plan:

I print out a copy of our google calendar for the next month so I can see what days are busier that others and all of our plans for the month.  Then I pull up my list that I made of our favorite meals, as well as my Pinterest boards. 

Before I put anything on the calendar, I take a peek in my freezer, pantry and cellar to see what I have and make note of it.  (For example:  ground beef, steak, whole chicken, chicken breasts, carrots, beans, pasta).  Then I head to the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, my lists and my calendar.  On a scrap piece of paper, I write down meals that I can make with what I have in my food storage - making notes to the side of anything I may need to pick up.  For example, if I decide to have tacos, I'll put "tomatoes" out from it so I know I need to add tomatoes to my grocery list for the month.  I try to make sure I have at least eight crock pot or quick fix meals to cover the days I work and have homeschool co-op. 

The next thing I do is add them to the calendar.  The calendar is important because I have be realistic in what I'm fixing on days I work or we have plans and it helps me to make sure I'm not going overboard on one type of meal.  I try to not have beef two nights in a row or chicken two nights in a row and I try to do at least one meatless meal a week.  Use a pencil, because you'll change things around as you go. 

On the side of each week, I also write out lunch ideas and what kind of snacks and treats we'll be having.  This goes along with once a month shopping.  For the two weeks right after the grocery trip, I make sure to note that we need to eat the things that don't last as long - grapes and lettuce before apples and carrots.  That kind of thing.  It helps to keep food waste down. 

This whole process takes around a half hour.  It's worth the time.

Once the menu plan is made, it makes it so much easier to make my monthly grocery list.  But that's a post for another day.

If you've not done menu planning before, start small with just planning your dinners for the week.  Not only will it save you money, but it will save you aggravation.  So worth it.

Hope this helps take the mystery out of menu planning. 

Feeding a big crowd for little cash.

My baby's birthday is coming up next week and we're having his favorite party again this year - a bonfire in the backyard.

It's just as much fun for us as it is for the kids.

We usually have around thirty to forty people over, including both our large families and friends.

It's a blast!

It also has the potential to get expensive quickly.

I thought I'd share my top three meals for entertaining large crowds on the cheap.


First, my absolute favorite:  Baked potato bar. 

Always a great choice.  I fill my roaster full of scrubbed potatoes, rub a little oil over them and wrap them in foil.  Then I let them bake in the roaster for 4-5 hours while I get ready for the party.  Serve them with all the fixin's (sour cream, bacon, cheese, green onions), add a veggie tray and a homemade cake.  I serve coffee, lemonade and tea - all cheap options.  This is what I'm planning to serve next Saturday - with the addition of smores over the fire and maybe crockpot hot chocolate if it's cold enough.  This meal is always a favorite.  I'll head to Sam's to pick up most of the ingredients, using the bacon, cake mix and ranch dressing mix I've already picked up on sale.  For under $40, I'll feed close to forty people. 

My second favorite:  Sloppy joes

This one has the added cost of using ground beef, but it's still a filling and easy meal.  This is another easy meal that comes together in the roaster.  Just brown your meat then add it and your sloppy joe sauce (homemade is cheaper) and let it simmer all day.  Once again, I head to Sam's club for buns - they have the best prices.  I add a potato salad or mac & cheese and green beans from the garden.  Add a homemade dessert and always the same drinks - coffee, tea and lemonade.  This meal works out to around $60 for a group of forty.  If you want to save a few bucks, you can skip the buns and make cornbread (homemade, not packages) and serve it over cornbread. 


Finally, the standby:  Hot Dogs

This is an easy one as well.  Once again, I pull out my trusty roaster or large crock pot and line up the wieners to cook.  If it's a bonfire, we roast them over the fire instead.  Then another crock pot cooks the sauce.  Add ketchup, mustard, onions and a little coleslaw for the hot dogs (Is a slaw dog just a WV thing? It's so good.)  Depending on what time of the year it is depends on my sides.  If it's hot out, I pair it with potato salad and a veggie tray.  If it's cool, it's two hashbrown casseroles and a veggie tray.  This meal works out to around $50 for forty people, including dessert and drinks. 

You'll notice that I rarely do chips, juice boxes or pop.  They are huge budget busters.  It's cheaper to make a big side dish using potatoes, which are cheap, and throw together a quick veggie tray with cut up carrots (not package baby carrots), celery, pepper strips and cherry tomatoes. 

Just goes to show that you don't have to bust your budget to feed your family and friends. 

What's your favorite meal for a crowd?

I know you don't want to hear this but.....

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm going to say it anyway -

It's time to start thinking about Christmas. 

I know.  I know.  But it's already October.

If you're making gifts, it's time to get busy.  And it's still early enough that you can buy one gift a pay and not toss this Christmas on the credit card.  We've paid cash for our Christmas for the past nine years.  It's a great feeling.  Trust me!

Here's some of the DIY gifts I'm planning on this year:

For the boys and my little nieces and nephews:


Super Hero capes



 

Hot Cocoa Mix

  

Reindeer Donuts

For my teenage nieces:

Headbands

Ruffle scarf - in blue & gold for school colors.

Manicure sets

 

 

For my mom:

I have some great fabric in brown & green for this, plus a matching warming rice bag.

 

She also wants a picture of all the grandkids in "whatever they want to wear".  Her words exactly.  I tried to remind her that this is asking for trouble.  I have no doubt that despite it being October we'll have at least a couple in super hero costumes, at least one in shorts and I would not be surprised at all to have my niece in her cheerleading uniform.  We'll see how this turns out.  I'm going to take the picture myself and then split the costs of developing and framing with my brother. 

I have to say, I'm most excited about my mother in laws present, but since she's the only one who actually reads my blog, it will have to remain a secret.  I'll take a picture of it for you to show after Christmas - if it turns out right.

I also have my homemade vanilla that has turned out great!  Ronnie & I are also thinking about making some pints of apple pie moonshine with the alcohol we have left over from the vanilla for gifts this year.  There is nothing better with some honey as a hot toddy when you're feeling bad. 

There's still plenty of time to get started on any crafts you want to make for Christmas!  It's a great way to bulk up your gift for very little money.  Most of these projects will be done in the evenings while we're watching TV or just hanging out.  If I feel really productive, I could knock out most of these in one afternoon. 

If you want to make any of these projects, you can find the original links by checking out my Pinterest boards here and here.

So, are you making anything this year?

Fill Your Freezer Week 3: Dinner Time.

 

 

Are your freezers getting full?  Mine too!

 

Dinner is usually an easier one to prep.  It's mostly making a large batch of your recipe and dividing it into separate bags.  I'll make one big batch of marinade then when I want steak or chicken, I'll just throw a bag into the fridge to thaw in the morning and grill dinner the same night.   This really is the least time consuming of all the freezer cooking I'm attacking this month. 

 

Here's my plan:

 

Kidtastic grilled chicken legs - substituting honey for sugar in recipe.

Marinated chicken and steak - using my favorite marinade here

Cooked shredded chicken

No boil cheese manicotti

Cooked ground beef - I'm actually canning this in about three weeks when we get the cow back.  No use wasting the freezer space. 

 

We're taking one of our cows to the butcher on Monday.  It has to hang for a while before it's processed so we won't get it back for a few weeks.  My plan is to can 75% of the ground beef on this one.  I use a lot of browned ground beef in recipes so why not do the work all at once.  Plus, I don't use up precious freezer space.  Gotta love that. 

 

A little bit of time now will make life just a little easier when all the Fall craziness starts!



Four Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Lunch Time.

This week, I'm focusing on lunches. 

I don't know about you, but I really dread making lunch.  It just ties up the middle of my day.  I have to stop what I'm doing, figure out what we're eating, make it, eat it and then clean up.  I usually do leftovers from dinner or sandwiches - PB&J being a favorite.

The nice thing about lunches in the freezer is that I have the option of homemade food in the freezer for when Ronnie has a double to work or I make something for dinner that isn't great the second time around - like Breakfast.  It just makes life a little easier. 

Here's what's on the schedule for this week:

Bean & Rice Burritos
Pizza Dough
Ham & Cheese Pockets
Chicken Ranch Tacos
Sloppy Joe meat.

Hopefully I'll have this to fall back on for at least a few months. 

Four Weeks to Fill Your Freezer

That's right! 
In the next four weeks, I'll be making lots of great things to toss into the freezer.  Why?  Well, it just makes back to school season - and life in general - a little easier. 

We all know that homemade foods are not just better for our budgets, they're better for our health.  So by spending a few hours each week over the next four weeks, I'm going to fill my freezer with breakfast, lunch, dinner starters and snacks to help lessen the crazy that always accompanies starting school again.

This week, I'm focusing on breakfasts. 

Here's the plan:

Egg & sausage breakfast burritos
English muffins
Waffles
Banana chocolate chip muffin mixes
Granola

I finished the breakfast burritos yesterday in less than 30 minutes.  My plan is to make the granola in the slow cooker and English muffins in the bread machine tomorrow while I'm cleaning corn to can.  That will just leave the mixes and waffles for later this week. 

Next week we'll be focusing on lunches. 

Hope you'll join me!

Summer Fun..... and a garden update.

We have been having a lot of fun with our friends this Summer, despite the rainy weather. 

Here's a peek at some of our fun:

Swimming with our cousins.

My nephew Eli turned 5.

Servolution with our church - passing out free water at the parade.



More Servolution fun - a free car wash.  Talk about freaking people out!

Old chickens....

And new chickens...

Soap making with the girls - so much fun!

And finally, the garden. 

Look at that beautiful corn!

John, our garden helper.

Zucchini

We totally beat "Knee high by the 4th of July" this year!

All this rain has been great for the garden - and the weeds!  I've given up on weeding the potatoes.  At this point I'm pretty sure I'll tear the plants out with the weeds.  I'm already getting tomatoes and different squash from the garden and since the corn is already tasseling out, I'm pretty sure we'll be picking corn in about three weeks. 

It may be a wet Summer, but it's still a fun one!

Summer Book Club: Total Money Makeover

Welcome back to the Summer Book Club Blog Hop!

Today's book is not necessarily a fun Summer read, but it's a book that has seriously impacted my life.

Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.

 

When Ronnie & I were first married - actually during pre marital counseling - we realized that we were polar opposites when it came to managing money.  He liked to save his money, then splurge on big expenditures.   I thought the words payday were synonymous with shopping day.  Neither of us worried about having a plan for spending our money because we both had great jobs.  He had money saved for the future, while I was happy to have enough to pay my bills and have a fab closet full of clothes and shoes. 

 

Our first year of marriage was a challenge.  We opened the trailer park the Fall before our wedding.  Until our trailers were filled, we were completely on the hook for that big ol payment.  Which was fine at first.  We had saved back a few payments prior to opening knowing this would be an issue.  It really became an issue when January came and we still didn't have enough trailers in to make our payment.  All of a sudden we had to adjust our life to make the payment, which we could afford to do at that time - we just weren't happy about it.  We took a Larry Burket course at our church and kinda sorta started budgeting.  We basically reined in my shopping and our eating out. 

 

 

We didn't "drink the debt free kool-aid" until after having Josh.  I loved my job but I hated leaving him day after day.  I had to work because we liked new and shiny things - cars, trips, electronics. We didn't have to keep up with the Joneses, we were the Joneses.  We had credit card debt, like everyone else, and we still ate out two to three times a week because we had crazy work hours and who feels like cooking after being on you feet the past ten hours?  We were able to pay our bills, but it just started to feel like we were on a hamster wheel.  Always running but never getting anywhere. 

 

At this point, we went and spoke with Tom Clayton, a man from our church who had taught our first money class.  He always had great business and personal financial advice for us.  He recommended we read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.  When I read it, it just clicked.  It made sense.  It was just one baby step after another.  We saved up our emergency fund, then started working on our debt snowball.  We reining in our spending, worked overtime to pay off debt and after about 16 months of really hard work, we had all our credit card debt paid off.  We only owed on our home, business and one vehicle.  Did I mention we had John during this time as well?  Yeah.  We kicked butt.  It was a great feeling.

 

When our little surprise Josiah came along, we were in a place where I could work part time.  I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my husband listening to godly counsel and encouraging me to join him in cutting our spending and paying off debt. 

 

Now, it's confession time.  We once again have some credit card debt.  We had a tenant move out of one of our rentals and they absolutely tore the place up.  Big holes in the walls, ruined carpet - just a disaster.  They also left owing up money and the deposit wasn't near enough to cover the repairs.  We put most of the supplies on a 0% account at Lowes and bought carpet for two rentals at Wholesale Carpet - on a 0% account.  The carpet we've just finished paying off and Lowe's is down by half.  Since then, we decided it was in our budget to finally invest in a lawn tractor.  We bought a John Deere X500 for our very large yard and field and for the park - on a 1.9% interest card with John Deere.  Still, we were fine.  We planned for the payment and it really wasn't going to impact our finances or current way of life.  Then, the truck.  Ronnie's 1991 truck was completely done.  Our 2000 Subaru needed a new transmission and frankly, we felt bad always having to borrow his dad or his brother truck to do work at the park or hauling our Kubota.  We found a good deal on a new truck for Ronnie - at about $20,000 more than we had saved up for a new truck. So we're back on our debt snowball.  And I've come to realize that it's ok.  We know how to take care of this problem.  My goal, my debt snowball - written on the back of our bedroom door just like the last time - is to have everything but the truck paid off by next May. 

 

If you're struggling with debt or if your just tired of being on the hamster wheel, check out Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. 

 

We are proof that it's a system that works. 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to stop by and check out what my bloggy friend are recommending to read today:

 

Clockwise, from top center:

Lorrie @ Life and Lessons Learned, Audrey @ Everything Beautiful, Tracey @ Building My House, Jessica @ Redeeming the Home, Charli @ WV Urban Hippies, Selena at Campbell Clan, Kathleen @ Positive Adoption, and Maria @ The Joyfully Frugal Home 

Not pictured: Megan @ Parenting Beyond

 



Thrifty Living: Using what's around.

Summer is just around the corner.  You're home all day, the weather is beautiful - it just seems like the perfect time to run around and have fun, right?  Of course!  But that doesn't mean you can't be smart about it.

Summer doesn't have to mean breaking the bank with daily pool and ice cream trips.  You just have to be smart about it. 

Here are some tips to help you stretch your cash and still have fun:

1.  Check with your local parks and rec for activities.  Even here in our little corner of WV, our parks and rec have lots of free or cheap activities.  There are over five different parks for free that we love to go to.  Make it a little more special by packing  a lunch and meeting some friends.  We also have a fishing park that has reduced price and free days through out the Summer.  Watch the local pools for discounted times, such as afternoons.  Also, don't forget about the pools in the next town.  Our local pool is a wave pool which makes me crazy and I think is pricey.  We usually go to Grafton, which is about the same distance from our home and half the price.  Plus, unless I'm actually planning on swimming, they don't charge me admission.  Log onto your local parks & rec website to find out what they have planned for the Summer.

2.  Speaking of swimming, know anyone with a pool?  We probably won't end up at the public pool very often this Summer thanks to a couple of great friends who open their pools up to us.  The first is a weekly Bible study poolside while the kids play.  We're using the book Unglued by Lisa Terkerst.  As a bonus, Kathleen was always my favorite teacher on Wednesday nights.  The next is my BFF, Vicki.  She also has a great pool.  We get to spend time together (which doesn't happen often now that she's in grad school) and the kids get to play.  I'll take snacks for the kids and of course, a snack for the adults and we'll have a great time swimming and spending time with our friends.

3.  What about the library?  The library has activities going on all Summer long - and in an air conditioned building.  Can't beat that during the dog days of Summer.  We'll start back with our weekly or bi-weekly trips to the library soon. 

4.  Our biggest source of fun, free (or super cheap) things to do?  Church!  We love our church.  We have all kinds of fun events there for the Summer.  The boys always go to VBS, they usually have a camp out with their boy's club, Rangers, just last week - they went for ice cream.  We also go to my in-law's church for VBS.  They do a great job as well.  This Summer, I'm excited about a series of classes at our church from the wonderful mind of Liz DeRoos - a back to basics type series where I'll learn how to make cheese and soap and herbal tinctures.  All for a minimal cost and with child care!  Ronnie & I are actually teaching the canning class on July 13th.  And don't forget about helping others!  Volunteer opportunities are a great way to show your kids there is more to this world that just me, me, me. 

There are so many more things that could be covered here - bike rides on the Rail Trails, concerts and movies in the park,  $1 movie days at the theater, carload days at the drive in, state parks.  Just look around.  There's a lot to do without breaking the bank this Summer. 

Now, go find some Summer fun!



I'm linking up with Blissful and Domestic today.

Thrifty Living: Yard Sale Mania.

It is getting harder and harder to stretch that budget. Every time I go to the store, I notice that packages are smaller and prices are bigger.  It seems like you just blink and your paycheck is gone.  I know, I'm with you! 

 

If you've read my blog for any time, you already know that I'm a big fan of the cash envelope system.  It helps keep me in budget.  I need help.  I like shiny, new things and I tend to get distracted by a bad case of the "wants". 

 

Today's thrifty living tip is how I keep us clothed for very little cash.  You guessed it - my good friend the yard sale.

 



 

 

I love yard sales!  Kids grow out of their clothes so quickly that it makes no sense to me to buy new.  Even if the stores have them on sale, I can still do better at a yard sale.  My boys are dressed in brand name clothes for pennies on the dollar.  As a bonus, when they inevitably stain or rip them, I'm not nearly as upset as if I paid full price.  Don't be weirded out by them being someone else's clothes.  I used to work in retail - at some higher end stores.  You should smell those clothes when they come out of the shipping boxes.  They're sprayed with horrible chemicals to kill whatever bugs or spiders are crawling around with them from overseas.  One time, when I worked at Brooks, we found a dead scorpion in the bottom of the box.  Creepy.  My point is this, unless you're shearing sheep and weaving your own fabric, all clothes really need washed before wearing.  And after a wash in hot water, what's the difference? 

 

Another way to stretch your clothing cash is hand me downs.  I love hand me downs.  I have a couple of girls that I work with who's boys are just above my boys in size.  I get all kinds of great clothes for free.  It's win-win.  They get them out of their homes, I get new to us clothes.  Don't think it's just for the boys.  My dear friend Leah cleans out her closets at least once a year and I reap the benefits.  Most of the clothes you see me in come from Kohls or Penneys - after a stop at Leah's house.  And when we're done with the clothes, any that are still in good shape head to the Salvation Army or Union Mission to help out someone else. 

 

The last place that I use for stretching our clothing dollars is Ebay.  When we went to the beach two years ago, I splurged on a new bathing suit.  Even with a percent off coupon and a sale it was still $60.  This past summer, my BFF Vicki put in a pool and I needed an extra bathing suit.  I got a great suit that I actually like better than my new one for only $12 including shipping. 

 

You may think that a little here and there for a cute shirt or another pair of flip flops is no big deal.  And maybe it isn't.  If you pay your bills on time and have a nice savings in the bank - go ahead!  Head to the mall and have a blast.  But if your income ended today, would you have enough to cover you for the next three months? 

 

That's the purpose of thrifty living.  It isn't just for those who don't have the money to spend.  It's for everyone. 

 

OK.  Enough seriousness.

 

Go find a good yard sale and save some cash!

 

 

 

 

Linking up with We Are That Family for WFMW.

 

Caring for my solar clothes dryer.

Solar clothes dryers.  Honestly, that term makes me roll my eyes a little.  The humble, but effective clothes line has been around for centuries.  Apparently it needed rebranded into something "cool".  Let's just get it straight:  a solar clothes dryer is nothing more than a clothes line. 

And you know how I love my clothes line.

There is a little bit of care that needs done to the clothes line each year.  And I do mean a little bit.

Each year, once the weather starts warming up I head outside with a rag and a bucket of vinegar and water mixed 50/50.  I simply wet my rag and wipe the lines.  Over the winter a lot of grime can build up on it.  It's good practice to give your lines a quick swipe about once a month.

Now is the perfect time to tighten those lines if need be.  Since my lines were built by my electrical lineman husband, I don't have the physical strength to tighten them.  My old line was as simple as untying the line and tightening it back or turning the screw.  Don't think I'm complaining about my current line - it is a beast!  After seven years of use, this will be the first time it's sagging and that's more from children swinging on it than from laundry.  Ronnie can build an awesome clothes line!

Now that your lines are clean and tight, the only thing left to do is check your pins and see if you need any new ones.  I try my best to not leave my pins on the line.  It wears them out too quickly. 

That's it!  It's ready to go for another year.

No wonder solar dryers are all the rage.....



I'm linking up with Frugally Sustainable.

I Made Bagels.....And So Can You.

I am giddy about this! 

I found a recipe for bagels in the bread machine at Blissful and Domestic.  I've looked into making my own bagels, but never have because, well, it seemed like a lot of work.  That is not my idea of a good recipe. 

This recipe doesn't require mixing, punching or boiling to get a great tasting bagel.  It mostly involves using your trusty (and probably dusty from lack of use) bread machine. 

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 TB dark brown sugar
4 cups white flour
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

Step one is to put the ingredients in the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacture.  I, of course, have no idea what order that would be.  I don't have a manual.  I just added them in the order listed.  I also used regular brown sugar because it's what I had on hand.  Once it's all in there, turn the machine to the dough setting and go do something else for about an hour and a half.

Once the dough is mixed, let it sit in the machine for an additional 5 minutes, then remove to a flour covered surface.  Roll the dough into a 12 inch log and cut into 12 - one inch pieces. 

 

 Then take each one inch section and roll into about an 8 inch log.

 

Connect the ends and pinch them together.

 

 

Continue with the remaining dough and place on a cornmeal covered cookie sheet.

 

 

Let rise for 30 minutes

 

 

Look at that puffy goodness!

Next comes an egg wash.  Brush the bottoms and tops with egg white and allow to dry a little.  I placed mine over a cooling rack.

 

 

Then, add any toppings.  I added onion powder and poppy seeds to five and left the rest plain.

 

 

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, then turn over and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

 

 

Look at that golden deliciousness!

 

 

 

We had them as a snack today with cream cheese and tomato and again for dinner with fresh eggs and a fruit salad. 

 

I know it's a several steps, but it's really mostly waiting. 

 

This definitely goes on my "to make again" list!