Last night, I asked my husband a relatively banal question. "Do you know what would be good?" I was thinking about a fried peach pie.
"A thousand dollars?" he replied.
His answer stopped me cold. Would a thousand dollars be good? And I could not for the life of me think of anything I would need a thousand dollars for. We have plenty of food, all of the bills are paid, I have a little bit of mad money if I want it. What would I possibly use it for?
Am I the only one who is happy and thankful for the things I ALREADY possess and really don't need anymore? We watched a television show the other evening about greed in the United States. I was simply appalled! The things people would do to other people all for the sake of money and power.
I guess I just don't understand those folks who can't get enough money, power, possessions....anything. I don't need "stuff". I have more "stuff" than I know what to do with as it is. And if you don't need "stuff", you don't need the money to buy the stuff or to upkeep the stuff.
And I have NEVER understood the power thing. Why would I even WANT power? I have enough trouble just keeping the laundry done. What would power get for me?
I just don't get some people.
Showing posts with label frugal lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal lifestyle. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, September 28, 2009
Making Diapers
Well, it looks like i will be back in the diaper making business. My husband's nephew is going to have a baby in the spring. They are so excited. They have been married for 9 years and had given up being able to get pregnant. Now that they are, they don't know what to do with themselves.
They don't have a lot of money so we are going to do whatever we can to help them out. Cloth diapers will help a long way to saving them a lot of money, so that is what I am going to do.
I had made up a bunch, like 2 dozen, for a friend of ours who became a grandpa last Spring. They use a lot of disposables too, but now that Max has grown some, the diapers I made for him fit now. I think they are going to pass them back to us after he has outgrown them so Greg and Brandy can use them as well.
I like making the diapers. It only takes about half an hour to put one together and the materials aren't that expensive. Maybe $2.50 each. But the fact that it can be used over and over is a major plus on the money side. 20 diapers at $2.50 each is about $50. So if you figure that the baby can use each size for about 4-5 months, that is a big savings over disposables. Disposables might be only 36 cents (or so) each, but if you change your baby 5-6 times a day or more, that is $2.16 a day in something you are going to throw away. You can invest the $2.50 each in cloth diapers, and in less than a month, they have paid for themselves. And the cloth diapers are just too cute.
They don't have a lot of money so we are going to do whatever we can to help them out. Cloth diapers will help a long way to saving them a lot of money, so that is what I am going to do.
I had made up a bunch, like 2 dozen, for a friend of ours who became a grandpa last Spring. They use a lot of disposables too, but now that Max has grown some, the diapers I made for him fit now. I think they are going to pass them back to us after he has outgrown them so Greg and Brandy can use them as well.
I like making the diapers. It only takes about half an hour to put one together and the materials aren't that expensive. Maybe $2.50 each. But the fact that it can be used over and over is a major plus on the money side. 20 diapers at $2.50 each is about $50. So if you figure that the baby can use each size for about 4-5 months, that is a big savings over disposables. Disposables might be only 36 cents (or so) each, but if you change your baby 5-6 times a day or more, that is $2.16 a day in something you are going to throw away. You can invest the $2.50 each in cloth diapers, and in less than a month, they have paid for themselves. And the cloth diapers are just too cute.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Saving Money on food
With the economy like it is, we are all trying to do more to save money. And there are as many ways to do that as there are grains of sand at the beach. Not every tip will work for all families but a few are just common sense. Don't buy it if you don't need it, shop around for the best deals, don't buy disposable anything if you don't have to, etc.
Since I have two teens, one of which will be headed for college in the fall, we have to save wherever we can. Our biggest way is to cook at home instead of eating out. In the last year or so, we have cut back on the number of times we eat out every month, and have started being more careful of what we buy at the grocery store. I have even found better ways to use up leftovers (so they don't look like leftovers).
My absolute favorite way is to cook big once or maybe twice a week, and eat leftovers the rest of the time. I use my smoker a lot that way. Smoke a pork roast or fresh picnic roast. The same time you are smoking the pork, you can smoke some whole chickens for later in the week. Chop up what meat isn't eaten and put that into meal sized freezer bags and throw it in the freezer. The leftover pork roast can be heated with BBQ sauce for sandwiches the next night, and the bones and meat tidbits left (not the BBQ ones) can be thrown into a pot of beans for yet another meal. And the leftover beans can be used to make bean burritos the next night or for lunch. The chicken can be sliced onto a salad, sauteed into a stir-fry, made onto sandwiches, chopped into soup or dumplings, or make chicken salad. Not only are you stretching your food costs by only cooking once or twice a week, you give yourself some very easy, super fast meals for hectic weeknight dinners.
Another way to save money on food is to do it yourself. Shredding your own cheese can save dollars per pound on the cost of cheese. And is will not have all of the anti-clumping additives that are just not really healthy for you. Buy a big chunk and shred it all at once. This is why Ziplock bags were invented. And as an added tip, use the finest shred you can. Your cheese will go farther. It is all in the psychology of it. It looks like you are using more, but by weight, it is actually less. And sharp cheddar will go farther than mild. More flavor, and all of that.
Not everyone has the time to make it all yourself, and sometimes it is just cheaper not to. Take bread for instance. It is cheaper for us to buy our sandwich bread from the bakery thrift store than it is for me to make it. That is partially because of the price of ingredients and the electricity to run the oven, but more because we can buy a loaf of 100% whole grain, Name Brand bread at the thrift store for 80 cents, and the store is only a couple of miles from the house. And we drive by it fairly often. I still make things like flat breads, baguettes and dinner rolls, but hamburger and hot dog buns and sandwich bread we get from the thrift store. This won't work for everyone, but there ya have it. Bread does freeze well, so if you stock up by buying a month's worth at a time, it could be worth a special trip to the store.
Use your freezer. It is more than a place to store ice cream sandwiches. Any time meat goes on sale, or veggies, or most fruits, you can stock up and freeze what you will not up fresh. Just remember to get as much air out of the freezer bags as possible to prevent freezer burn. And date everything so you will remember to use the oldest first. I have even frozen leftover veggie side-dishes (like corn or green beans) into 1 large bag and when the bag gets full, make soup. Soup is an excellent way to use up leftovers before they go bad.
We also have what we call a freezer night. Once a month or so, I go through the freezer and pull out partial bags of french fries, a few pizza rolls, whatever I can find in there that needs to be eaten. I usually will have several things that don't really match what you would consider a "normal" meal. A couple of burritos, some fish sticks, some mixed fries and tater tots, that bag of frozen brussel sprouts that you got on sale and never cooked, you know, that sort of thing. Cook it all. Everyone can get a bit of everything or one person can get all of the fish sticks while some one else gets the burritos. However you want to do it. This is a great way to not only clean out the freezer to make room, but also you are not wasting food that you would normally have to throw out because you forgot it is there. And my kids think it is a fun way to have dinner since it isn't so formal. I will usually bake everything that I can (like fries, fish sticks, and burritos) on the same baking sheet to avoid making a mess frying every thing. And it is just faster too. Microwaves are good for doing the veggies. So I can generally have dinner ready in less than 30 minutes without a lot of fuss or a lot of clean up.
But anyway, saving money is all in the mindset to think outside the box. Find ways that your family can live with. Look back at some of my other posts for other ideas on how WE save money.
Since I have two teens, one of which will be headed for college in the fall, we have to save wherever we can. Our biggest way is to cook at home instead of eating out. In the last year or so, we have cut back on the number of times we eat out every month, and have started being more careful of what we buy at the grocery store. I have even found better ways to use up leftovers (so they don't look like leftovers).
My absolute favorite way is to cook big once or maybe twice a week, and eat leftovers the rest of the time. I use my smoker a lot that way. Smoke a pork roast or fresh picnic roast. The same time you are smoking the pork, you can smoke some whole chickens for later in the week. Chop up what meat isn't eaten and put that into meal sized freezer bags and throw it in the freezer. The leftover pork roast can be heated with BBQ sauce for sandwiches the next night, and the bones and meat tidbits left (not the BBQ ones) can be thrown into a pot of beans for yet another meal. And the leftover beans can be used to make bean burritos the next night or for lunch. The chicken can be sliced onto a salad, sauteed into a stir-fry, made onto sandwiches, chopped into soup or dumplings, or make chicken salad. Not only are you stretching your food costs by only cooking once or twice a week, you give yourself some very easy, super fast meals for hectic weeknight dinners.
Another way to save money on food is to do it yourself. Shredding your own cheese can save dollars per pound on the cost of cheese. And is will not have all of the anti-clumping additives that are just not really healthy for you. Buy a big chunk and shred it all at once. This is why Ziplock bags were invented. And as an added tip, use the finest shred you can. Your cheese will go farther. It is all in the psychology of it. It looks like you are using more, but by weight, it is actually less. And sharp cheddar will go farther than mild. More flavor, and all of that.
Not everyone has the time to make it all yourself, and sometimes it is just cheaper not to. Take bread for instance. It is cheaper for us to buy our sandwich bread from the bakery thrift store than it is for me to make it. That is partially because of the price of ingredients and the electricity to run the oven, but more because we can buy a loaf of 100% whole grain, Name Brand bread at the thrift store for 80 cents, and the store is only a couple of miles from the house. And we drive by it fairly often. I still make things like flat breads, baguettes and dinner rolls, but hamburger and hot dog buns and sandwich bread we get from the thrift store. This won't work for everyone, but there ya have it. Bread does freeze well, so if you stock up by buying a month's worth at a time, it could be worth a special trip to the store.
Use your freezer. It is more than a place to store ice cream sandwiches. Any time meat goes on sale, or veggies, or most fruits, you can stock up and freeze what you will not up fresh. Just remember to get as much air out of the freezer bags as possible to prevent freezer burn. And date everything so you will remember to use the oldest first. I have even frozen leftover veggie side-dishes (like corn or green beans) into 1 large bag and when the bag gets full, make soup. Soup is an excellent way to use up leftovers before they go bad.
We also have what we call a freezer night. Once a month or so, I go through the freezer and pull out partial bags of french fries, a few pizza rolls, whatever I can find in there that needs to be eaten. I usually will have several things that don't really match what you would consider a "normal" meal. A couple of burritos, some fish sticks, some mixed fries and tater tots, that bag of frozen brussel sprouts that you got on sale and never cooked, you know, that sort of thing. Cook it all. Everyone can get a bit of everything or one person can get all of the fish sticks while some one else gets the burritos. However you want to do it. This is a great way to not only clean out the freezer to make room, but also you are not wasting food that you would normally have to throw out because you forgot it is there. And my kids think it is a fun way to have dinner since it isn't so formal. I will usually bake everything that I can (like fries, fish sticks, and burritos) on the same baking sheet to avoid making a mess frying every thing. And it is just faster too. Microwaves are good for doing the veggies. So I can generally have dinner ready in less than 30 minutes without a lot of fuss or a lot of clean up.
But anyway, saving money is all in the mindset to think outside the box. Find ways that your family can live with. Look back at some of my other posts for other ideas on how WE save money.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Dreams of self-sufficiency
Trying to be self-sufficient is becoming popular these days. More and more people are trying to eat healthier and are paying more attention to their overall health.
I have noticed that online seed companies are selling out of vegetable seed more quickly and the seeds that are selling the fastest are the heirloom seeds. More and more people are getting scared of GMO (genetically modified organisms) and hybrid seeds. A lot of people, my self included, want to only buy seeds once then let some of the end-of-season crops go to seed for next year. There is a problem with that, though. Some vegetables, like corn, are so hybridized and so easy to cross pollinate, that it is almost impossible to keep the variety pure. Corn has to be planted like 2 miles from other corn or it will cross-pollinate from the wind. And some vegetables take more than 1 year to produce seeds, like carrots and asparagus.
There are a lot of little things people can do to become more self-sufficient these days. One of the easiest( for us at least) to do is to just stop buying things you don't need. You have to know the difference between a need and a want. You NEED food, water, shelter, clothing, and climate control. You WANT an i-phone, a big screen plasma TV, eating out every week or even every night, and Prada. Once you can deal with the difference between want and need, you will realize just how much money we all waste every month. With all of the money you save from cutting your spending, you can get yourself out of debt. You simply cannot be self-sufficient if you are in debt. Money has to come from somewhere and if you have debt, you cannot make enough to be SELF-sufficient.
You can grow your own food, raise animals for meat and/or eggs, cook your own meals, make your own bread, sew your own clothes, and you still will not be completely self-sufficient. You will still have a water bill unless you have your own well, electric bill unless you have gone solar or wind, fuel costs for your vehichles unless you can bike everywhere you need to go and are physically able to do so, and countless other things that nibble away at your money. There are even some things we would have to buy even if all of the other criteria have been met. There is simply no way to grow coffee where we live. It just gets too cold. And the same with sugar cane. Sorgham for molassas, yes, sugar cane, no. We "could" grow herbals for tea if we were really in a bind, and roasted dandelion roots makes a passable coffee substitute, but those would be desperate times indeed. And as long as we have access to enough dirt and/or pasturage, we could free up money from other food items to buy coffee, sugar, and tea.
Being truely self-sufficient is a complete dream these days, but cutting as much as possible, given the current economic climate, only makes sense.
I have noticed that online seed companies are selling out of vegetable seed more quickly and the seeds that are selling the fastest are the heirloom seeds. More and more people are getting scared of GMO (genetically modified organisms) and hybrid seeds. A lot of people, my self included, want to only buy seeds once then let some of the end-of-season crops go to seed for next year. There is a problem with that, though. Some vegetables, like corn, are so hybridized and so easy to cross pollinate, that it is almost impossible to keep the variety pure. Corn has to be planted like 2 miles from other corn or it will cross-pollinate from the wind. And some vegetables take more than 1 year to produce seeds, like carrots and asparagus.
There are a lot of little things people can do to become more self-sufficient these days. One of the easiest( for us at least) to do is to just stop buying things you don't need. You have to know the difference between a need and a want. You NEED food, water, shelter, clothing, and climate control. You WANT an i-phone, a big screen plasma TV, eating out every week or even every night, and Prada. Once you can deal with the difference between want and need, you will realize just how much money we all waste every month. With all of the money you save from cutting your spending, you can get yourself out of debt. You simply cannot be self-sufficient if you are in debt. Money has to come from somewhere and if you have debt, you cannot make enough to be SELF-sufficient.
You can grow your own food, raise animals for meat and/or eggs, cook your own meals, make your own bread, sew your own clothes, and you still will not be completely self-sufficient. You will still have a water bill unless you have your own well, electric bill unless you have gone solar or wind, fuel costs for your vehichles unless you can bike everywhere you need to go and are physically able to do so, and countless other things that nibble away at your money. There are even some things we would have to buy even if all of the other criteria have been met. There is simply no way to grow coffee where we live. It just gets too cold. And the same with sugar cane. Sorgham for molassas, yes, sugar cane, no. We "could" grow herbals for tea if we were really in a bind, and roasted dandelion roots makes a passable coffee substitute, but those would be desperate times indeed. And as long as we have access to enough dirt and/or pasturage, we could free up money from other food items to buy coffee, sugar, and tea.
Being truely self-sufficient is a complete dream these days, but cutting as much as possible, given the current economic climate, only makes sense.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
25 Random Things About Me
1) I have so much useless knowledge in my brain that I sometimes forget what I am doing.
2) I sometimes think I would be much happier if I never had to go to a store ever again.
3) My husband really is my best friend.
4) I would love to have a smoke house, root cellar, berry patch, chickens, and a big garden just like my grandparents did.
5) I know how to build a house, dig a well, plumb a bathroom, butcher a pig, and pluck a chicken. But I can't physically do any or it. And that makes me sad sometimes.
6) I like eggs
7) I like standing in the woods while it is snowing and just listening to the silence.
8) My first job was stuffing envelopes for $4.00 an hour while all of my friends were flipping burgers for $3.15.
9) I don't tell my kids how proud of them I am nearly often enough
10) I am not afraid to try new things even if I often fail at it.
11) The only "stuff" I need to be happy really just belongs in the kitchen. If I couldn't cook, I think I would go crazy. I don't know how people live without cooking their own food. I just get so much satisfaction from getting elbow deep in a bread bowl. I think we would all be healthier and happier if we would all just take the time to cook a big meal for family and friends at least once a month.
12) I make my own soap, laundry detergent, bread, and ham. I can make butter (when I have access to extra milk) salami, and sausage. I sew, crochet, can our food, and make jelly. I think I am living in the wrong century.
13) I get more joy from watching the birds in the yard than from watching TV.
14) I sometimes think that getting sick and not being able to work was actually a blessing. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have missed so many chances to be with my family.
15) I want a homestead so badly I can taste it.
16) I am tired of the government telling me what I can eat, what I can do or not do, where I can put a chicken coop, what i am supposed to believe, and how to raise my kids. After all, they have done such a great job with the banks and manufacturing sector. I don't know why everyone doesn't adopt the morals the government employs. It has worked so well for them, after all.
17) I think that greed is over-riding common sense. That is why we are in such an economic mess.
18) Learning to be still was very hard to master, but very worth the effort.
19) I think I would be much harder to live with if I didn't have chocolate.
20) Bureaucrats make my teeth hurt.
21) I don't kill things, except ants.
22) I think the two most important phrases in the English language are " thank you" and "I'm sorry".
23) I would like to lose weight, but I just like food too much. If I could lose weight without giving up good food, that is a diet I can stick with.
24) I believe in knowledge for knowledge's sake. If you stop learning, you might as well just give up.
25) I enjoy being silly sometimes. I think that if we take everything too seriously, we forget to take joy in the moment.
2) I sometimes think I would be much happier if I never had to go to a store ever again.
3) My husband really is my best friend.
4) I would love to have a smoke house, root cellar, berry patch, chickens, and a big garden just like my grandparents did.
5) I know how to build a house, dig a well, plumb a bathroom, butcher a pig, and pluck a chicken. But I can't physically do any or it. And that makes me sad sometimes.
6) I like eggs
7) I like standing in the woods while it is snowing and just listening to the silence.
8) My first job was stuffing envelopes for $4.00 an hour while all of my friends were flipping burgers for $3.15.
9) I don't tell my kids how proud of them I am nearly often enough
10) I am not afraid to try new things even if I often fail at it.
11) The only "stuff" I need to be happy really just belongs in the kitchen. If I couldn't cook, I think I would go crazy. I don't know how people live without cooking their own food. I just get so much satisfaction from getting elbow deep in a bread bowl. I think we would all be healthier and happier if we would all just take the time to cook a big meal for family and friends at least once a month.
12) I make my own soap, laundry detergent, bread, and ham. I can make butter (when I have access to extra milk) salami, and sausage. I sew, crochet, can our food, and make jelly. I think I am living in the wrong century.
13) I get more joy from watching the birds in the yard than from watching TV.
14) I sometimes think that getting sick and not being able to work was actually a blessing. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have missed so many chances to be with my family.
15) I want a homestead so badly I can taste it.
16) I am tired of the government telling me what I can eat, what I can do or not do, where I can put a chicken coop, what i am supposed to believe, and how to raise my kids. After all, they have done such a great job with the banks and manufacturing sector. I don't know why everyone doesn't adopt the morals the government employs. It has worked so well for them, after all.
17) I think that greed is over-riding common sense. That is why we are in such an economic mess.
18) Learning to be still was very hard to master, but very worth the effort.
19) I think I would be much harder to live with if I didn't have chocolate.
20) Bureaucrats make my teeth hurt.
21) I don't kill things, except ants.
22) I think the two most important phrases in the English language are " thank you" and "I'm sorry".
23) I would like to lose weight, but I just like food too much. If I could lose weight without giving up good food, that is a diet I can stick with.
24) I believe in knowledge for knowledge's sake. If you stop learning, you might as well just give up.
25) I enjoy being silly sometimes. I think that if we take everything too seriously, we forget to take joy in the moment.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saving Money
Everyone knows that saving money is a good thing. And everyone has little tricks they use on themselves to save the most. But not every tip will work for every family.
Take, for instance, the fact that I save money by cooking at home instead of eating out. That works very well for us because I have the time to cook and really enjoy it. Some friends of ours do not have that luxury. She works an hour and 15 minutes from home and doesn't get home in time to cook a nice meal every night and still be able to get the kids in bed at a decent time. And she doesn't really like to cook that much. But they both have good jobs and make good money, so eating out for them is an option.
For us, as a family, we really don't need that much stuff. We spend more on groceries than anything else. None of us are clothes hounds, we don't compulsively buy new "toys", we don't go out to the movies or dinner very often, and we don't just go shopping just to be shopping. When we do buy things, it is generally used DVDs. We watch a lot of movies at home. We won't buy them new. Why spend $20 on a movie that will be less than half that in a couple of months? We have a lot of movies, some of them really good, some really really bad, but most are just on the good side of average. Which is fine. There isn't really anything being filmed that is better than average anyway. And by paying $6.99 for a DVD instead of $7 each for movie tickets ($28 for the 4 of us) plus concessions, we are saving a ton of cash. And if one of us needs to take a break, we can just pause it. Much better than going to the theater.
I have seen lists of money saving tips all over the internet, and for the most part, it is good sound advice. And we do a lot of the things that make sense for us. But not everyone can grow their own food or make their own clothes. Or cut their own hair. Or bicycle to work. It just isn't possible for most of us.
The key is to be comfortable with it. Going from living large to being a tightwad over night is impossible. You will only make yourself crazy. Anyone who has lost their job will tell you that it is no fun living on pork and beans and mac and cheese. Work up to your savings goals. When you get comfortable with one change, then add another. Don't just stop spending cold turkey. You have to retrain your self to a new lifestyle. So work up to it. Slow and steady will work much better for long term change. If you feel yourself getting depressed or feeling deprived, have a treat. Just remember that it is a treat, and that you can't to do it all of the time.
So when you decide to start getting serious about saving money, study the tips. Make a list of your own. But keep in mind that if it isn't something that you can actually do, and will do consistantly, forcing yourself to do it will only make you feel guilty when you don't. Saving money should make you feel good, not deprived. I have found that having a goal in mind when you start trying to save money really helps. Something like, "I want to pay off this bill by the end of the year. How much do I have to save to be able to do that?" If you drink coffee shop coffee everyday, you can save 3 or 4 dollars a day my making coffee at home instead. That is around $80 a month you can add to your bill payment every month. Or if you go out every weekend and spend $30 at the bar, go every other weekend and save $60 a month. If you have a big dry cleaning bill, try to find clothes that don't need to be dry cleaned, or if you have to wear suits to work, try to wear them more than once as long as they pass the sniff test.
There are a million ways to not spend money, the secret is to find what works for you. Set a goal, add new tips slowly into your lifestyle, and if you start to feel deprived, splurge a little.
Take, for instance, the fact that I save money by cooking at home instead of eating out. That works very well for us because I have the time to cook and really enjoy it. Some friends of ours do not have that luxury. She works an hour and 15 minutes from home and doesn't get home in time to cook a nice meal every night and still be able to get the kids in bed at a decent time. And she doesn't really like to cook that much. But they both have good jobs and make good money, so eating out for them is an option.
For us, as a family, we really don't need that much stuff. We spend more on groceries than anything else. None of us are clothes hounds, we don't compulsively buy new "toys", we don't go out to the movies or dinner very often, and we don't just go shopping just to be shopping. When we do buy things, it is generally used DVDs. We watch a lot of movies at home. We won't buy them new. Why spend $20 on a movie that will be less than half that in a couple of months? We have a lot of movies, some of them really good, some really really bad, but most are just on the good side of average. Which is fine. There isn't really anything being filmed that is better than average anyway. And by paying $6.99 for a DVD instead of $7 each for movie tickets ($28 for the 4 of us) plus concessions, we are saving a ton of cash. And if one of us needs to take a break, we can just pause it. Much better than going to the theater.
I have seen lists of money saving tips all over the internet, and for the most part, it is good sound advice. And we do a lot of the things that make sense for us. But not everyone can grow their own food or make their own clothes. Or cut their own hair. Or bicycle to work. It just isn't possible for most of us.
The key is to be comfortable with it. Going from living large to being a tightwad over night is impossible. You will only make yourself crazy. Anyone who has lost their job will tell you that it is no fun living on pork and beans and mac and cheese. Work up to your savings goals. When you get comfortable with one change, then add another. Don't just stop spending cold turkey. You have to retrain your self to a new lifestyle. So work up to it. Slow and steady will work much better for long term change. If you feel yourself getting depressed or feeling deprived, have a treat. Just remember that it is a treat, and that you can't to do it all of the time.
So when you decide to start getting serious about saving money, study the tips. Make a list of your own. But keep in mind that if it isn't something that you can actually do, and will do consistantly, forcing yourself to do it will only make you feel guilty when you don't. Saving money should make you feel good, not deprived. I have found that having a goal in mind when you start trying to save money really helps. Something like, "I want to pay off this bill by the end of the year. How much do I have to save to be able to do that?" If you drink coffee shop coffee everyday, you can save 3 or 4 dollars a day my making coffee at home instead. That is around $80 a month you can add to your bill payment every month. Or if you go out every weekend and spend $30 at the bar, go every other weekend and save $60 a month. If you have a big dry cleaning bill, try to find clothes that don't need to be dry cleaned, or if you have to wear suits to work, try to wear them more than once as long as they pass the sniff test.
There are a million ways to not spend money, the secret is to find what works for you. Set a goal, add new tips slowly into your lifestyle, and if you start to feel deprived, splurge a little.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Making due
With more and more companies downsizing and prices on the rise, it is becoming more important than ever to watch where and how we spend.
There are so many ways to save money every day that it is almost intimidating. Most of us settle for just not buying things, but that can make you feel deprived and depressed about the whole situation. What my family and I have done is a little bit different. We haven't completely stopped spending money, but we are a lot pickier about what we spend it on.
For instance, instead of buying some of our Christmas gifts this year, we made them. We spent less money than if we purchased them, and they are actually a little more heartfelt. We found out at the last minute (actually about 10 days before Christmas) that our nephew was giving us a gift after the family decided last year to not buy for each other any more. So I rapidly made him an afghan in his favorite team colors. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing when I made the original chain for the length, so it wound up being HUGE. Almost 8 feet long. Well, at least he and his wife will have plenty to keep warm at the football games. But he loved it. Probably better than if we had bought something random from the store.
Since I cook, that saves us a lot of money too. We haven't stopped eating out completely, but we have cut down a lot. And when we do stop for a burger, we generally eat off of the Dollar Menu. Last night, for instance, we had to go grocery shopping after my husband got off work. It was 7pm by the time we were finished and we were both very hungry so we decided to go to McDonalds and just grab a bunch of double cheese burgers and take them home. We got into the drive thru and saw the new dollar menu and were shocked. There were only 6 items on the dollar menu now and none of them were meat. Just ice cream, fries, pies, parfaits, small sodas, and I think cookies or something. We were amazed that McDonalds would kill their dollar menu like that. So we went thru a couple of more drive thrus looking for dollar items. Finally wound up at Wendys. Jr Double Cheeseburgers for $.99. Sold! We got 8 of them( 2 for each of us) and 4 plain baked potatoes for $14 and change. While it is still somewhat expensive, it is better than it could have been. Had I cooked them myself, it would have been about 1/3 of that after buying buns and meat, but at least we got to eat quicker and didn't have a mess to clean up.
Anyway, I generally cook our meals. I haven't really found anything that I can't cook at home that we would normally eat if we went to a sit down restaurant. And sometimes, I can do a better job than the restaurants, since I can tailor it to my family's liking. Granted, it does make us have to have a wider variety of ingredients on-hand, but if I shop smart, and use coupons, I can almost always make it cheaper than retail.
An example of this is flatbread. I got online and looked up pita bread recipes and found that you can use just about any bread dough to make pitas. So yesterday I was making bread and decided that instead of 2 loaves of slicing bread, I would make 1 loaf and some flat bread. Pinch off a ball about the size of a pingpong ball, roll it out really thin, like 1/4-1/8 of an inch, pre-heat a pizza stone in the oven to about 475 degrees, and bake them on the stone 2 or 3 at a time. When they puff, flip them. It takes about 5 minutes each. And they are wonderful. Since I was making bread anyway, it saved me the $3 or $4 dollars that a pack of flatbread would have cost me, and I know they are fresh.
Prices have gone up so much lately that it is almost cheaper now to make our bread instead of even going to the thrift store. And if I can ever get a batch of sourdough going without killing it, I won't even have to buy yeast. Flour is going up, but that will affect commerical bakers as well as home cooks.
So as long as prices keep going up, I will continue to find ways to either make it myself or make due without.
There are so many ways to save money every day that it is almost intimidating. Most of us settle for just not buying things, but that can make you feel deprived and depressed about the whole situation. What my family and I have done is a little bit different. We haven't completely stopped spending money, but we are a lot pickier about what we spend it on.
For instance, instead of buying some of our Christmas gifts this year, we made them. We spent less money than if we purchased them, and they are actually a little more heartfelt. We found out at the last minute (actually about 10 days before Christmas) that our nephew was giving us a gift after the family decided last year to not buy for each other any more. So I rapidly made him an afghan in his favorite team colors. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing when I made the original chain for the length, so it wound up being HUGE. Almost 8 feet long. Well, at least he and his wife will have plenty to keep warm at the football games. But he loved it. Probably better than if we had bought something random from the store.
Since I cook, that saves us a lot of money too. We haven't stopped eating out completely, but we have cut down a lot. And when we do stop for a burger, we generally eat off of the Dollar Menu. Last night, for instance, we had to go grocery shopping after my husband got off work. It was 7pm by the time we were finished and we were both very hungry so we decided to go to McDonalds and just grab a bunch of double cheese burgers and take them home. We got into the drive thru and saw the new dollar menu and were shocked. There were only 6 items on the dollar menu now and none of them were meat. Just ice cream, fries, pies, parfaits, small sodas, and I think cookies or something. We were amazed that McDonalds would kill their dollar menu like that. So we went thru a couple of more drive thrus looking for dollar items. Finally wound up at Wendys. Jr Double Cheeseburgers for $.99. Sold! We got 8 of them( 2 for each of us) and 4 plain baked potatoes for $14 and change. While it is still somewhat expensive, it is better than it could have been. Had I cooked them myself, it would have been about 1/3 of that after buying buns and meat, but at least we got to eat quicker and didn't have a mess to clean up.
Anyway, I generally cook our meals. I haven't really found anything that I can't cook at home that we would normally eat if we went to a sit down restaurant. And sometimes, I can do a better job than the restaurants, since I can tailor it to my family's liking. Granted, it does make us have to have a wider variety of ingredients on-hand, but if I shop smart, and use coupons, I can almost always make it cheaper than retail.
An example of this is flatbread. I got online and looked up pita bread recipes and found that you can use just about any bread dough to make pitas. So yesterday I was making bread and decided that instead of 2 loaves of slicing bread, I would make 1 loaf and some flat bread. Pinch off a ball about the size of a pingpong ball, roll it out really thin, like 1/4-1/8 of an inch, pre-heat a pizza stone in the oven to about 475 degrees, and bake them on the stone 2 or 3 at a time. When they puff, flip them. It takes about 5 minutes each. And they are wonderful. Since I was making bread anyway, it saved me the $3 or $4 dollars that a pack of flatbread would have cost me, and I know they are fresh.
Prices have gone up so much lately that it is almost cheaper now to make our bread instead of even going to the thrift store. And if I can ever get a batch of sourdough going without killing it, I won't even have to buy yeast. Flour is going up, but that will affect commerical bakers as well as home cooks.
So as long as prices keep going up, I will continue to find ways to either make it myself or make due without.
Monday, November 17, 2008
News...good and bad
Well, we had a little bit of unsettling news this past weekend. One of our friend's 16 year old daughter is pregnant. We are a little worried about her because she is so petite and so very young. But we are trying to be supportive of her and their family.
They have been barely making ends meet as it is. He is on disability and she is a waitress and that is essentially their only income. The daughter doesn't work, and the baby's daddy is only 15, not old enough to work. So we are going to do what we can to make it better for them.
The next time we see them will probably be New Years and she will probably be showing by then. I thought I might make her a couple of maternity tops since they really cannot afford to buy her a new wardrobe, especially at Christmas.
There is sooo much they are going to need. They will probably be able to find quite a bit at yard sales and flea markets, but you always want some new things too. I thought I would make up some baby clothes in a sort of unisex way until we find out whether it is a boy or girl. Maybe crochet a couple of blankets. Baby clothes do not take much fabric or much time to make, and I am definitely better at sewing than I was when my kids were babies. Although I did make my daughter a couple of dresses.
I did ask if they were going to use cloth or disposable diapers. Probably both, so I got to looking around for free patterns for cloth diapers on the web. They are so cute, and appear very easy to make. So I thought I might make up a few of those too.
If the situation were not so sad, I would be thrilled to be an honorary Grand Aunt. I think I would have prefered to wait a few years though.
They have been barely making ends meet as it is. He is on disability and she is a waitress and that is essentially their only income. The daughter doesn't work, and the baby's daddy is only 15, not old enough to work. So we are going to do what we can to make it better for them.
The next time we see them will probably be New Years and she will probably be showing by then. I thought I might make her a couple of maternity tops since they really cannot afford to buy her a new wardrobe, especially at Christmas.
There is sooo much they are going to need. They will probably be able to find quite a bit at yard sales and flea markets, but you always want some new things too. I thought I would make up some baby clothes in a sort of unisex way until we find out whether it is a boy or girl. Maybe crochet a couple of blankets. Baby clothes do not take much fabric or much time to make, and I am definitely better at sewing than I was when my kids were babies. Although I did make my daughter a couple of dresses.
I did ask if they were going to use cloth or disposable diapers. Probably both, so I got to looking around for free patterns for cloth diapers on the web. They are so cute, and appear very easy to make. So I thought I might make up a few of those too.
If the situation were not so sad, I would be thrilled to be an honorary Grand Aunt. I think I would have prefered to wait a few years though.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Good Friends Make Life Nicer
I have noticed that my Random Thoughts have been incredibly random lately. I would like to explain that because my thoughts have been very random.
With the economy like it is at the moment, it is even more important that we not spend money on frivolous things. We have to stay focused on the big picture here. If my husband loses his job, how are we going to make it through the year so my daughter can graduate with her friends? What about my son who still has 3 more years? How will we make the house payment? What about insurance for my medications? What about Christmas?
These are all things we have to think about. As more and more Americans are having money troubles, and are trying to spend less, it is causing the nations retailers some pain. And that is causing a cycle of increased unemployment, more late payments or defaults on loans, and even less money out there to spend.
Personally, I think the real problem is the mindset that we as Americans have adopted. We think it is our right and duty to spend large amounts of cash on every item there is to buy. And retailers and ad executives are ultimately to blame here. They have found new and interesting ways to convince us that we absolutely must have "things" to be happy.
Case in point. This past weekend, we had house guests from Friday night until Sunday evening. We didn't go out to eat, we didn't spend a lot of time playing games or acting like consumers. We sat and visited with each other. We did go to the bread outlet (they do not have one within easy driving distance of their home so they stock up when they visit) and we went to Big Lots (they don't have one of those either). The rest of the time we ate, talked, and basically just enjoyed each others company. And we had a good time. And we didn't have to spend a lot of money to do it.
The funny thing about that is 20 years ago, we would have played a game that took all weekend to play or played several games that took 5+ hours. 5 years ago, we would have played maybe 1 game that took 5+ hours and maybe a couple of games that took 1 -1.5 hours. A year ago we would have played 3 or 4 games that took 45 minutes to play. Maybe we are just getting old. But it just seems more important now to slow down and enjoy each other that have to be entertained the entire time.
And as they say, talk is cheap.
Now I know why our grandparents would just sit and visit instead of wanting to do anything. It is actually relaxing to be able to visit instead of trying to plan a series of entertainments that every one would enjoy.
With relaxation being a lost art these days, and the amount of stress people are under at work, it just makes sense to take the time to enjoy life.
You don't have to buy a lot of specialized equipment, special clothing, or even special food (although I do cook a lot when we have company) to visit with friends. And taking time off from the world every couple of months to just sit and drink tea is a good thing. And good friends make it that much better.
With the economy like it is at the moment, it is even more important that we not spend money on frivolous things. We have to stay focused on the big picture here. If my husband loses his job, how are we going to make it through the year so my daughter can graduate with her friends? What about my son who still has 3 more years? How will we make the house payment? What about insurance for my medications? What about Christmas?
These are all things we have to think about. As more and more Americans are having money troubles, and are trying to spend less, it is causing the nations retailers some pain. And that is causing a cycle of increased unemployment, more late payments or defaults on loans, and even less money out there to spend.
Personally, I think the real problem is the mindset that we as Americans have adopted. We think it is our right and duty to spend large amounts of cash on every item there is to buy. And retailers and ad executives are ultimately to blame here. They have found new and interesting ways to convince us that we absolutely must have "things" to be happy.
Case in point. This past weekend, we had house guests from Friday night until Sunday evening. We didn't go out to eat, we didn't spend a lot of time playing games or acting like consumers. We sat and visited with each other. We did go to the bread outlet (they do not have one within easy driving distance of their home so they stock up when they visit) and we went to Big Lots (they don't have one of those either). The rest of the time we ate, talked, and basically just enjoyed each others company. And we had a good time. And we didn't have to spend a lot of money to do it.
The funny thing about that is 20 years ago, we would have played a game that took all weekend to play or played several games that took 5+ hours. 5 years ago, we would have played maybe 1 game that took 5+ hours and maybe a couple of games that took 1 -1.5 hours. A year ago we would have played 3 or 4 games that took 45 minutes to play. Maybe we are just getting old. But it just seems more important now to slow down and enjoy each other that have to be entertained the entire time.
And as they say, talk is cheap.
Now I know why our grandparents would just sit and visit instead of wanting to do anything. It is actually relaxing to be able to visit instead of trying to plan a series of entertainments that every one would enjoy.
With relaxation being a lost art these days, and the amount of stress people are under at work, it just makes sense to take the time to enjoy life.
You don't have to buy a lot of specialized equipment, special clothing, or even special food (although I do cook a lot when we have company) to visit with friends. And taking time off from the world every couple of months to just sit and drink tea is a good thing. And good friends make it that much better.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Now, More Than Ever...
In these uncertain economic times, it is more important than ever to watch what you spend, and how you spend it. With the stock market in flux and unemployment on the rise, people are getting nervous about their next pay check.
I see things a little bit differently than most urban dwellers do. We have not instilled in our children the need to be busy with activities all the time. We do not spend beyond our means. And we almost never impulse buy. We don't have a house full of stuff to maintain, or need to get a bigger house to have a place for all of the stuff. We actually will be downsizing a child next fall, as she goes off to college.
We don't need a lot of "things" that most people feel is necessary. My cell phone was purchased in 2002, I think, and it still works fine with the original battery. I have no need to replace it. I have a camera so why do I need a phone that takes pictures? I have an internet connection for my laptop, so my phone doesn't need to be able to search the web either. I have a radio, so I don't need it to play music. I don't text people, I talk to them. It is a phone. I talk to people on it. That is what it does and that is all I need it to do. It works out well.
If and when the economy collapses, there will be a lot of people walking around with cell phones/MP3 Players/cameras/text messenger/computer/personal organizers with a blue tooth connection that can't afford to pay the bill. And they will be lost with out it. "OMG! I can't text?!?!"
As a society, we have gotten so used to spending money, that a lot of people will just be lost if they have no money to spend. College funds and IRAs are all well and good, except that they are tied to banks and/or the stock market. If those institutions fail, then so does your money. And everything you have worked for is just , poof, gone. I am not saying that you should panic and cash out all of your assets, I am saying you should not depend on them being there. If they don't diminish and you can still access it when you need it, Great! But you can't be sure it will always be there. That is why there is fine print on your prospectus.
Credit cards are another thing that our society has gotten used to. It has become a staple of every day life. People just don't carry cash anymore. And most people do not pay in full every month. I don't understand why you want to buy something with interest every time you get a whim. That just strikes me as dangerous. What if you lose your job? Or have a medical emergency that prevents you from working for 6 months? Or a year? What will you do then? Getting yourself into a debt cycle is just a bad idea. And lots of people are starting to realize that they have spent themselves into a hole they can never get out of.
What to do about all of this? Stop spending. Sounds easy doesn't it. It isn't. It takes commitment and a willingness to change your lifestyle. So you don't eat out so much, stop buying the newest gadgets just because they are new, and find new and creative ways to reuse the things you already have. Shop for "things" at flea markets and yard sales instead of paying retail. Utilize Freecycle. Swap things or services with your neighbors. Invest in a good cookbook and learn to cook your own gourmet meals.
And stop using credit cards. If you do nothing else, stop using credit. If you can't pay cash for something, don't buy it.
I see things a little bit differently than most urban dwellers do. We have not instilled in our children the need to be busy with activities all the time. We do not spend beyond our means. And we almost never impulse buy. We don't have a house full of stuff to maintain, or need to get a bigger house to have a place for all of the stuff. We actually will be downsizing a child next fall, as she goes off to college.
We don't need a lot of "things" that most people feel is necessary. My cell phone was purchased in 2002, I think, and it still works fine with the original battery. I have no need to replace it. I have a camera so why do I need a phone that takes pictures? I have an internet connection for my laptop, so my phone doesn't need to be able to search the web either. I have a radio, so I don't need it to play music. I don't text people, I talk to them. It is a phone. I talk to people on it. That is what it does and that is all I need it to do. It works out well.
If and when the economy collapses, there will be a lot of people walking around with cell phones/MP3 Players/cameras/text messenger/computer/personal organizers with a blue tooth connection that can't afford to pay the bill. And they will be lost with out it. "OMG! I can't text?!?!"
As a society, we have gotten so used to spending money, that a lot of people will just be lost if they have no money to spend. College funds and IRAs are all well and good, except that they are tied to banks and/or the stock market. If those institutions fail, then so does your money. And everything you have worked for is just , poof, gone. I am not saying that you should panic and cash out all of your assets, I am saying you should not depend on them being there. If they don't diminish and you can still access it when you need it, Great! But you can't be sure it will always be there. That is why there is fine print on your prospectus.
Credit cards are another thing that our society has gotten used to. It has become a staple of every day life. People just don't carry cash anymore. And most people do not pay in full every month. I don't understand why you want to buy something with interest every time you get a whim. That just strikes me as dangerous. What if you lose your job? Or have a medical emergency that prevents you from working for 6 months? Or a year? What will you do then? Getting yourself into a debt cycle is just a bad idea. And lots of people are starting to realize that they have spent themselves into a hole they can never get out of.
What to do about all of this? Stop spending. Sounds easy doesn't it. It isn't. It takes commitment and a willingness to change your lifestyle. So you don't eat out so much, stop buying the newest gadgets just because they are new, and find new and creative ways to reuse the things you already have. Shop for "things" at flea markets and yard sales instead of paying retail. Utilize Freecycle. Swap things or services with your neighbors. Invest in a good cookbook and learn to cook your own gourmet meals.
And stop using credit cards. If you do nothing else, stop using credit. If you can't pay cash for something, don't buy it.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Economy, the Election, and What it means for Us
Continued from yesterday...
So what does the upcoming election mean for us as Americans? I personally don't think it really means all that much. I know that people get passionate about their favorite candidate, and sometimes are very vocal, but I don't feel that either of the major party candidates will be a good choice.
We have allowed our leaders to destroy the Democratic process by our apathy. We just don't care what they do in Washington as long as they give us money every now and then and stay out of our way. We do not care that they are bought and paid for by lobbyists and special interests groups. On a local level, we do not care that lucrative state and county contracts go to good friends and relatives instead of the lowest bidder or the most qualified. We do not question where the campaign funds come from. We just don't care. And as a result, the only people who want to become politicians are those who are in the business for personal gain, not for the want to do good.
What it all boils down to is that politicians, as a species, are not politicians so that they can help the people. And that being the case, one is just as good as the other. Either way, the American people lose.
The US economy is in such bad shape from lack of oversite, that there will not be a good or easy way out. The economy will collapse. How far, and for how long, is really the only question. Home prices have been way, way over-valued for the last 10-15 years so the local governments could collect higher property taxes. Gasoline has been over-taxed so the DOT could collect more money to pay civil engineers to design new bridges and roads that we have nowhere to put. Income taxes have been raised time and again to pay for social programs that encourage people to not work and have more babies instead of training them for good paying jobs. The Social Security Program has been tapped into for decades to fund congressional pet projects instead of being used to keep healthcare costs for senior to a manageable level. Farmers are being paid to NOT grow certain crops to keep the prices artificially high instead of letting the market take care of itself. Factory farms are pushing traditional farmers out of the business through over regulation and higher production costs.
Every dollar you earn is taxed a minimum of 4 times. Yet we are going to pay $700 BILLION to bank CEOs for driving their businesses into the ground. Where is that money going to come from? You guessed it, higher taxes...again.
Higher taxes mean fewer jobs. Fewer jobs means higher unemployment. Higher unemployment means more people default on their loans and credit cards. More defaults means more banks will fail. See a cycle here?
My guess is that it will be a very lean Christmas season for retail sales. And come January, credit card companies will start failing. That will mean all the people who live on their credit cards will no longer have access to credit. It is very possible that the card companies will demand payment in full. That would mean that every card that you have a $2000-$10,000 balance on will say, "Pay it off now or we will sue." Blood from a turnip I know, but if they get a judgment against you in court, they can seize your assets to settle the debt. Like your house, your kid's college fund, your IRA. See the picture? And the government will be on their side because they do not want the banks and card companies to fail.
Your best bet is to do what every you have to do to pay those suckers off and never look at a credit card again. Pay cash. Or use a debit card. Or better yet, do without it if you can.
So what does the upcoming election mean for us as Americans? I personally don't think it really means all that much. I know that people get passionate about their favorite candidate, and sometimes are very vocal, but I don't feel that either of the major party candidates will be a good choice.
We have allowed our leaders to destroy the Democratic process by our apathy. We just don't care what they do in Washington as long as they give us money every now and then and stay out of our way. We do not care that they are bought and paid for by lobbyists and special interests groups. On a local level, we do not care that lucrative state and county contracts go to good friends and relatives instead of the lowest bidder or the most qualified. We do not question where the campaign funds come from. We just don't care. And as a result, the only people who want to become politicians are those who are in the business for personal gain, not for the want to do good.
What it all boils down to is that politicians, as a species, are not politicians so that they can help the people. And that being the case, one is just as good as the other. Either way, the American people lose.
The US economy is in such bad shape from lack of oversite, that there will not be a good or easy way out. The economy will collapse. How far, and for how long, is really the only question. Home prices have been way, way over-valued for the last 10-15 years so the local governments could collect higher property taxes. Gasoline has been over-taxed so the DOT could collect more money to pay civil engineers to design new bridges and roads that we have nowhere to put. Income taxes have been raised time and again to pay for social programs that encourage people to not work and have more babies instead of training them for good paying jobs. The Social Security Program has been tapped into for decades to fund congressional pet projects instead of being used to keep healthcare costs for senior to a manageable level. Farmers are being paid to NOT grow certain crops to keep the prices artificially high instead of letting the market take care of itself. Factory farms are pushing traditional farmers out of the business through over regulation and higher production costs.
Every dollar you earn is taxed a minimum of 4 times. Yet we are going to pay $700 BILLION to bank CEOs for driving their businesses into the ground. Where is that money going to come from? You guessed it, higher taxes...again.
Higher taxes mean fewer jobs. Fewer jobs means higher unemployment. Higher unemployment means more people default on their loans and credit cards. More defaults means more banks will fail. See a cycle here?
My guess is that it will be a very lean Christmas season for retail sales. And come January, credit card companies will start failing. That will mean all the people who live on their credit cards will no longer have access to credit. It is very possible that the card companies will demand payment in full. That would mean that every card that you have a $2000-$10,000 balance on will say, "Pay it off now or we will sue." Blood from a turnip I know, but if they get a judgment against you in court, they can seize your assets to settle the debt. Like your house, your kid's college fund, your IRA. See the picture? And the government will be on their side because they do not want the banks and card companies to fail.
Your best bet is to do what every you have to do to pay those suckers off and never look at a credit card again. Pay cash. Or use a debit card. Or better yet, do without it if you can.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Economy, the Election, and What it means for Us
It sort of concerns me the amount of unrest this election is causing. Between the economic panic and worry over who will be our next president, people are starting to get worried about the future.
I personally do now see how a President can really have any effect on the daily lives of US citizens. Sure, he will have policies for everything, but without Congress, he is just so much carbon and water sitting in a slightly round room. Now if Congress was on the same side as the President, then there will be a huge amount of crap going on in DC. Everybody and their brother will have their hands in the taxpayer till, picking out change for every little pet project that comes along. And that is always a good thing, right? (see the sub-prime housing market)
If McCain is elected, he will have a hostile Congress to deal with, so nothing will be accomplished. He will be called every name in the book and the Democrats will eat his guts for lunch on a daily basis.
If Obama is elected, then the liberal right-wingers will have parties in the streets. Social programs that we can't pay for will abound, and businesses will stagnate and fail. Taxes to pay for all of the new programs will put us even farther in debt to foreign countries, our military will be cut to the point where we can no longer protect ourselves, and our status as a world leader will be over.
Nations all over the world are endorsing Obama for President, and I have to ask why? Why do they care who our president is? Why would Hugo Chavez, who hates the US with a burning passion, want Obama to be our President? Why would the religious leaders in the Middle East, who have declaird jihad on us, want Obama to be our President? What difference does it make to the Mayor of London who our President is? What do they have to gain by it? And why do we care?
All of this really just boils down to a couple of things. Most of the countries of the world want to see us fall. Some hate us for our crass commericalism, some for our arrogance, and others are just jealous of our freedoms. While we take for granted that we can buy just about anything we want at any time, and usually do, others have to do without even basics like food and water.
I cannot see the future, but I can imagine if the US falls to socialism, there will be a fundemental breakdown of society. Riots, worthless currency, martial law, and world-wide chaos. Granted, that is a worst case scenario, but I can see it happening.
And the US as a whole is simply not prepared for it. It would come as a shock to the majority of US citizens who live in their I-Pod world. People do not even know how to cook anymore, much less raise food crops or build a shelter. What will they do when their credit cards don't work any more?
At least me and my family are getting ready for it.
I personally do now see how a President can really have any effect on the daily lives of US citizens. Sure, he will have policies for everything, but without Congress, he is just so much carbon and water sitting in a slightly round room. Now if Congress was on the same side as the President, then there will be a huge amount of crap going on in DC. Everybody and their brother will have their hands in the taxpayer till, picking out change for every little pet project that comes along. And that is always a good thing, right? (see the sub-prime housing market)
If McCain is elected, he will have a hostile Congress to deal with, so nothing will be accomplished. He will be called every name in the book and the Democrats will eat his guts for lunch on a daily basis.
If Obama is elected, then the liberal right-wingers will have parties in the streets. Social programs that we can't pay for will abound, and businesses will stagnate and fail. Taxes to pay for all of the new programs will put us even farther in debt to foreign countries, our military will be cut to the point where we can no longer protect ourselves, and our status as a world leader will be over.
Nations all over the world are endorsing Obama for President, and I have to ask why? Why do they care who our president is? Why would Hugo Chavez, who hates the US with a burning passion, want Obama to be our President? Why would the religious leaders in the Middle East, who have declaird jihad on us, want Obama to be our President? What difference does it make to the Mayor of London who our President is? What do they have to gain by it? And why do we care?
All of this really just boils down to a couple of things. Most of the countries of the world want to see us fall. Some hate us for our crass commericalism, some for our arrogance, and others are just jealous of our freedoms. While we take for granted that we can buy just about anything we want at any time, and usually do, others have to do without even basics like food and water.
I cannot see the future, but I can imagine if the US falls to socialism, there will be a fundemental breakdown of society. Riots, worthless currency, martial law, and world-wide chaos. Granted, that is a worst case scenario, but I can see it happening.
And the US as a whole is simply not prepared for it. It would come as a shock to the majority of US citizens who live in their I-Pod world. People do not even know how to cook anymore, much less raise food crops or build a shelter. What will they do when their credit cards don't work any more?
At least me and my family are getting ready for it.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Frugal VS. Cheap
There is a fundamental difference between frugal and cheap.
People who are frugal will shop around for an item before they buy, look at value instead of price, and try to find a trade item instead of having to spend money for it. People who are cheap will always try to get something for nothing, and if they have to buy it, will pay the absolute minimum.
Frugal is when you will recycle, repurpose, or take apart and salvage value from discarded materials. Cheap would be to not buy it at all or buy the least expensive item that will do the job.
Now the real difference is actually in the value. People who are cheap will buy the absolute lowest cost which is generally, but not always, an inferior product. Tools are a good example. Yes, you can buy a screwdriver that is less than a dollar, but it will not last and you will have to buy that screwdriver again and again. A frugal person will look for a better quality screwdriver so they will not have to buy another one. But they will not buy the most expensive one just because it is the top of the line, high tech, indestructible, titanium covered, engraved, or whatever.
There is something called a cost/benefit analysis. And frugal people can do it without thinking. Is the item worth the money it will cost to buy it? Will the item earn, either in time or repair costs, more that the cost to buy it? Will the cost to buy the item be recovered in usage? When these answers are yes, then buy them. Say you need to cut some firewood. You have an ax already, but you want a chainsaw. You visit a store that sells them. There are 5 models to pick from. One is small, lightweight, and very inexpensive, actually less than you expected to pay. Another one is big, heavy, and quite little bit over your budget, but it has a lifetime warranty. The three mid priced ones all have similar features, similar prices, and are good brands but they are nothing fancy. A cheap person will always buy the lowest priced item that will do the job. So they buy the small, lightweight model. They get it home and try to cut down a tree with it. It takes several tries to cut all the way through the tree and the user has to put a lot of pressure behind it to get it to cut through the knots. That will dull the chain faster and wear the motor out. So while that person didn't spend as much money for his chainsaw, he has to work harder and will have more repair time. A frugal person would buy one of the mid-priced saws. They are heavy enough to cut with out damaging the motor, and will probably be easier to use in the long run. If they had purchased the heavy, expensive one, it would probably be to unwieldy and they would wind up not using it as often because it is so difficult. Poor value.
Some people see the spending habits of the frugal folks as being cheap. But someone who is truly frugal will not buy things just to be buying them. There has to be a need and that need cannot be met by something they already have. Just because you can buy something, doesn't always mean that you should.
People who are frugal will shop around for an item before they buy, look at value instead of price, and try to find a trade item instead of having to spend money for it. People who are cheap will always try to get something for nothing, and if they have to buy it, will pay the absolute minimum.
Frugal is when you will recycle, repurpose, or take apart and salvage value from discarded materials. Cheap would be to not buy it at all or buy the least expensive item that will do the job.
Now the real difference is actually in the value. People who are cheap will buy the absolute lowest cost which is generally, but not always, an inferior product. Tools are a good example. Yes, you can buy a screwdriver that is less than a dollar, but it will not last and you will have to buy that screwdriver again and again. A frugal person will look for a better quality screwdriver so they will not have to buy another one. But they will not buy the most expensive one just because it is the top of the line, high tech, indestructible, titanium covered, engraved, or whatever.
There is something called a cost/benefit analysis. And frugal people can do it without thinking. Is the item worth the money it will cost to buy it? Will the item earn, either in time or repair costs, more that the cost to buy it? Will the cost to buy the item be recovered in usage? When these answers are yes, then buy them. Say you need to cut some firewood. You have an ax already, but you want a chainsaw. You visit a store that sells them. There are 5 models to pick from. One is small, lightweight, and very inexpensive, actually less than you expected to pay. Another one is big, heavy, and quite little bit over your budget, but it has a lifetime warranty. The three mid priced ones all have similar features, similar prices, and are good brands but they are nothing fancy. A cheap person will always buy the lowest priced item that will do the job. So they buy the small, lightweight model. They get it home and try to cut down a tree with it. It takes several tries to cut all the way through the tree and the user has to put a lot of pressure behind it to get it to cut through the knots. That will dull the chain faster and wear the motor out. So while that person didn't spend as much money for his chainsaw, he has to work harder and will have more repair time. A frugal person would buy one of the mid-priced saws. They are heavy enough to cut with out damaging the motor, and will probably be easier to use in the long run. If they had purchased the heavy, expensive one, it would probably be to unwieldy and they would wind up not using it as often because it is so difficult. Poor value.
Some people see the spending habits of the frugal folks as being cheap. But someone who is truly frugal will not buy things just to be buying them. There has to be a need and that need cannot be met by something they already have. Just because you can buy something, doesn't always mean that you should.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Frugal projects
I have discovered over the course of the last year that I actually enjoy being frugal. Every time I get a great bargain on something I need, I tell just about everyone I know about it. I just can't help it. I love spreading the news.
I like trying to find new ways to do things, whether it is reverse engineering something we eat at a restaurant so I can make it at home, or making something nice as a gift instead of buying it. I would really like to be able to live on a minimal amount of money just to prove to myself that I can do it.
Every now and then, I even get the urge to built something, like a house (lol) and make it livable without spending a dime. Then I take a really deep breath and make that idea go away. I am not a stranger to work, but just where in the world would I build such a thing? And why would I do it when I don't need to.
I get wild hairs every now and again to so something off the wall. Like my vertical planter. My husband just looks at me like I am crazy then tells me that if it will make me happy to try...but he never expects it to actually work. My thought is that you never know until you try, and trying is half the fun. And if it works and saves money, why not? If it doesn't work, take it apart and use the materials for something else. That is why we have an old flag pole buried in the middle of a raised flower bed with string tied to nails and pole beans growing in it. It is ugly as home made sin, but it works. And it has worked for 3 years now.
My next project is still undecided. I either want to try to make a couch, or a Murphy bed. I don't really have the space for either one, but they would be useful when we have company. When we have company, it is usually 14 at a time. And trying to find sleeping space for all of them is difficult at times.
I don't know, that will probably have to wait. DH has a project in mind for this weekend that will probably keep us busy for at least a week. We are going to pull up carpet and put down laminate. It really wouldn't take that long except that the area in front of the door has tile glued to the concrete subfloor. And there just isn't a good way to get that stuff up. Hammer and chisel is just about the only way. And that takes forever. So this weekend project may take over a week. We have to have it done by the end of the month though, because said company will be here Halloween weekend. And if we start it, it will have to be done by then.
But then again, we still haven't painted our bedroom or put down a floor in there either. And that project has been almost a year this month. No one sees it but us and I can look at dry wall for a while longer if I need to.
I like trying to find new ways to do things, whether it is reverse engineering something we eat at a restaurant so I can make it at home, or making something nice as a gift instead of buying it. I would really like to be able to live on a minimal amount of money just to prove to myself that I can do it.
Every now and then, I even get the urge to built something, like a house (lol) and make it livable without spending a dime. Then I take a really deep breath and make that idea go away. I am not a stranger to work, but just where in the world would I build such a thing? And why would I do it when I don't need to.
I get wild hairs every now and again to so something off the wall. Like my vertical planter. My husband just looks at me like I am crazy then tells me that if it will make me happy to try...but he never expects it to actually work. My thought is that you never know until you try, and trying is half the fun. And if it works and saves money, why not? If it doesn't work, take it apart and use the materials for something else. That is why we have an old flag pole buried in the middle of a raised flower bed with string tied to nails and pole beans growing in it. It is ugly as home made sin, but it works. And it has worked for 3 years now.
My next project is still undecided. I either want to try to make a couch, or a Murphy bed. I don't really have the space for either one, but they would be useful when we have company. When we have company, it is usually 14 at a time. And trying to find sleeping space for all of them is difficult at times.
I don't know, that will probably have to wait. DH has a project in mind for this weekend that will probably keep us busy for at least a week. We are going to pull up carpet and put down laminate. It really wouldn't take that long except that the area in front of the door has tile glued to the concrete subfloor. And there just isn't a good way to get that stuff up. Hammer and chisel is just about the only way. And that takes forever. So this weekend project may take over a week. We have to have it done by the end of the month though, because said company will be here Halloween weekend. And if we start it, it will have to be done by then.
But then again, we still haven't painted our bedroom or put down a floor in there either. And that project has been almost a year this month. No one sees it but us and I can look at dry wall for a while longer if I need to.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Credit Crunch
With the economy turning the way it is, it is more important than ever that we all take a good hard look at our spending practices. Do we really need that I-Phone? Is it really necessary to drive thru the burger joint or can you make burgers, or anything else for that matter, at home? Do you really need a new pair of shoes or do you just want them?
With Christmas coming up, it will be more important than ever to watch how and where you spend. Advertising will be aimed at getting you to go on one last spending spree before the New Year. Key indicators are showing that what has happened to the housing market will happen to the credit card industry in early 2009. So that credit card you have been struggling to pay off will more than likely try to bury you in the spring. When credit companies go under, it will be because too many of their cardholders can't make their payments and they have no cash on hand to meet the company's expenses, like payroll, building rent, electric, etc. and they will either need a bailout like the housing market, or they will collapse as well. That will mean that no one will be able to get new credit and the credit you already have will suffer from extreme interest rates.
The best way to handle this is to get out of debt NOW. If you do not have any credit cards or pay them off every month, why not just spot using them altogether? Just don't have one. If you have relatively low balances, pay them off completely and stop using them. Paying for something on credit just isn't worth the interest rates in the long run. If you find something that is on sale for $100 dollars and it looks like a really good deal, you buy it on the credit card that you are already carrying a balance on, at 19% interest, you are paying $119.00 for it the second month, $141.61 the third month, $168.51 the forth month, etc, until it is paid off. That $100 purchase doesn't look like such a good deal anymore, does it. And that is considering you don't have a late fee in there somewhere that causes your interest rate to skyrocket upward of 25-30%. Best bet is to just stop using credit.
If you can't pay cash for it , don't buy it. And even if you can pay cash, do you really need it?
With Christmas coming up, it will be more important than ever to watch how and where you spend. Advertising will be aimed at getting you to go on one last spending spree before the New Year. Key indicators are showing that what has happened to the housing market will happen to the credit card industry in early 2009. So that credit card you have been struggling to pay off will more than likely try to bury you in the spring. When credit companies go under, it will be because too many of their cardholders can't make their payments and they have no cash on hand to meet the company's expenses, like payroll, building rent, electric, etc. and they will either need a bailout like the housing market, or they will collapse as well. That will mean that no one will be able to get new credit and the credit you already have will suffer from extreme interest rates.
The best way to handle this is to get out of debt NOW. If you do not have any credit cards or pay them off every month, why not just spot using them altogether? Just don't have one. If you have relatively low balances, pay them off completely and stop using them. Paying for something on credit just isn't worth the interest rates in the long run. If you find something that is on sale for $100 dollars and it looks like a really good deal, you buy it on the credit card that you are already carrying a balance on, at 19% interest, you are paying $119.00 for it the second month, $141.61 the third month, $168.51 the forth month, etc, until it is paid off. That $100 purchase doesn't look like such a good deal anymore, does it. And that is considering you don't have a late fee in there somewhere that causes your interest rate to skyrocket upward of 25-30%. Best bet is to just stop using credit.
If you can't pay cash for it , don't buy it. And even if you can pay cash, do you really need it?
Not putting our lives on Credit
With the economy turning the way it is, it is more important than ever that we all take a good hard look at our spending practices. Do we really need that I-Phone? Is it really necessary to drive thru the burger joint or can you make burgers, or anything else for that matter, at home? Do you really need a new pair of shoes or do you just want them?
With Christmas coming up, it will be more important than ever to watch how and where you spend. Advertising will be aimed at getting you to go on one last spending spree before the New Year. Key indicators are showing that what has happened to the housing market will happen to the credit card industry in early 2009. So that credit card you have been struggling to pay off will more than likely try to bury you in the spring. When credit companies go under, it will be because too many of their cardholders can't make their payments and they have no cash on hand to meet the company's expenses, like payroll, building rent, electric, etc. and they will either need a bailout like the housing market, or they will collapse as well. That will mean that no one will be able to get new credit and the credit you already have will suffer from extreme interest rates.
The best way to handle this is to get out of debt NOW. If you do not have any credit cards or pay them off every month, why not just stop using them altogether? Just don't have one. If you have relatively low balances, pay them off completely and stop using them. Paying for something on credit just isn't worth the interest rates in the long run. If you find something that is on sale for $100 dollars and it looks like a really good deal, you buy it on the credit card that you are already carrying a balance on, at 19% interest, you are paying $119.00 for it the second month, $141.61 the third month, $168.51 the forth month, etc, until it is paid off. That $100 purchase doesn't look like such a good deal anymore, does it. And that is considering you don't have a late fee in there somewhere that causes your interest rate to skyrocket upward of 25-30%. Best bet is to just stop using credit. If you can't pay cash for it , don't buy it.
We paid off all of our credit cards a couple of years ago. We refinanced the house at a lower interest rate and a shorter term. We knocked 2 years and 2.5% off of our mortgage and managed to cash out some of the equity to pay off 4 of our 5 credit cards. We were left with 1 card that had a 5k+ balance. By not having the other cards to pay, we were able to pay that one on time every month. A large cash gift from the in-laws allowed us to pay that one off as well as the truck. So now all we have left is the mortgage. And we try to pay extra on that principle as well, when we can.
This has allowed us to build up some savings. Now if something happens to my husband's job, we have enough to get by for a couple of months until he can either find a new job or we can sell the house and move. Or in an emergency comes up, we do have some reserves.
All of this means that we cannot go out every weekend, or buy the latest gadget on the market, but you know what, we don't really need it. And it feels much better to have the reserves in the bank than to have the coolest video phone on the market. Especially now.
With Christmas coming up, it will be more important than ever to watch how and where you spend. Advertising will be aimed at getting you to go on one last spending spree before the New Year. Key indicators are showing that what has happened to the housing market will happen to the credit card industry in early 2009. So that credit card you have been struggling to pay off will more than likely try to bury you in the spring. When credit companies go under, it will be because too many of their cardholders can't make their payments and they have no cash on hand to meet the company's expenses, like payroll, building rent, electric, etc. and they will either need a bailout like the housing market, or they will collapse as well. That will mean that no one will be able to get new credit and the credit you already have will suffer from extreme interest rates.
The best way to handle this is to get out of debt NOW. If you do not have any credit cards or pay them off every month, why not just stop using them altogether? Just don't have one. If you have relatively low balances, pay them off completely and stop using them. Paying for something on credit just isn't worth the interest rates in the long run. If you find something that is on sale for $100 dollars and it looks like a really good deal, you buy it on the credit card that you are already carrying a balance on, at 19% interest, you are paying $119.00 for it the second month, $141.61 the third month, $168.51 the forth month, etc, until it is paid off. That $100 purchase doesn't look like such a good deal anymore, does it. And that is considering you don't have a late fee in there somewhere that causes your interest rate to skyrocket upward of 25-30%. Best bet is to just stop using credit. If you can't pay cash for it , don't buy it.
We paid off all of our credit cards a couple of years ago. We refinanced the house at a lower interest rate and a shorter term. We knocked 2 years and 2.5% off of our mortgage and managed to cash out some of the equity to pay off 4 of our 5 credit cards. We were left with 1 card that had a 5k+ balance. By not having the other cards to pay, we were able to pay that one on time every month. A large cash gift from the in-laws allowed us to pay that one off as well as the truck. So now all we have left is the mortgage. And we try to pay extra on that principle as well, when we can.
This has allowed us to build up some savings. Now if something happens to my husband's job, we have enough to get by for a couple of months until he can either find a new job or we can sell the house and move. Or in an emergency comes up, we do have some reserves.
All of this means that we cannot go out every weekend, or buy the latest gadget on the market, but you know what, we don't really need it. And it feels much better to have the reserves in the bank than to have the coolest video phone on the market. Especially now.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
It's County Fair Time
For the first time in about 25 years, I entered something in the county fair. I have been canning this year for the first time since I was a kid, so I had a serious learning curve. Between trying to remember how we did it when I was helping my mom growing up, and using my Ball Blue Book and the really old Bernardin book my mom gave me, I think I have a pretty good handle on it now. So I entered 15 jars of home canned goodness in the fair.
This process actually started back in the late spring. I figured that if I was going to go to the trouble of canning, I might as well make them nice enough to show. So for each item I canned, I tried to carefully place the food, in a pleasing manner, in at least 1 jar in each batch. Some things just didn't come out very pretty though. My beans boiled out too much juice and have turned dark on top. They are still perfectly edible, but they are not fair-worthy. And I had some other things that I didn't get packed tightly enough and they floated. Like some of the peaches. They will still be fine for making pies but, again, not good enough for the fair.
Toward the end of August, I called the county extension office about how to go about entering. They said that I had to pre-register each jar by September 1 to get them in. So I went up there, got the forms, and began sifting through the jars to find the most perfect ones. I had a jar of green beans somewhere that I had lined up straight that I couldn't find in my mess of a pantry but I still finished up with 15 jars to enter.
I had to take them to the fairgrounds between 2 and 5 pm on Sunday the 14th. But we had a problem. We were going to be in Jonesboro that weekend on a college hunting trip. You know, the campus tour, admissions and financial aid folks telling us the process, tailgating and a football game on Saturday night. And in addition to all of that, we got to deal with my mother-in-law. So we got up early Sunday morning and made the drive back (2.5 hours by the way) so I could get my stuff entered. When we got up there, it seemed there was more competition than in previous years. That had me worried. Like I said, I haven't canned anything in 25 years and this was the first time all on my own. But I left them there and tried not to get my hopes up too much.
Judging was on Monday. The fair opened on Tuesday evening. We went last night to see just how I fared against everyone else. While I was frantically searching the shelves for my jars, the kids pointed out that one of my jars was on the table in front of us. It had a red, white and blue ribbon with a nice rosette that said "Best of Show" and a certificate with my name (well, it was my name but spelled wrong, go figure) on it. I got a Best of Show for carrots, of all things. Out of all of the veggies that had been entered, I took top prize. I was stunned. I was expecting maybe red ribbons. I don't think I have stopped grinning since I saw it.
Everything I entered got a ribbon of one color or another, mostly reds like I expected, but I got 3 or 4 blues and a couple of white too. I then proceeded to call every one I know. My Mom told me that she was proud of me, my Dad told me that I shouldn't let it go to my head, and my sister-in-law just said that she knew that I was going to win so why was I so surprised. My hubbie, bless his heart, had to deal with me saying "guess what? Best of Show!" all night.
Now I have to decide if I want to take those carrots on to the state fair.
Who knows, I might just win there too. If we don't eat them before then.
This process actually started back in the late spring. I figured that if I was going to go to the trouble of canning, I might as well make them nice enough to show. So for each item I canned, I tried to carefully place the food, in a pleasing manner, in at least 1 jar in each batch. Some things just didn't come out very pretty though. My beans boiled out too much juice and have turned dark on top. They are still perfectly edible, but they are not fair-worthy. And I had some other things that I didn't get packed tightly enough and they floated. Like some of the peaches. They will still be fine for making pies but, again, not good enough for the fair.
Toward the end of August, I called the county extension office about how to go about entering. They said that I had to pre-register each jar by September 1 to get them in. So I went up there, got the forms, and began sifting through the jars to find the most perfect ones. I had a jar of green beans somewhere that I had lined up straight that I couldn't find in my mess of a pantry but I still finished up with 15 jars to enter.
I had to take them to the fairgrounds between 2 and 5 pm on Sunday the 14th. But we had a problem. We were going to be in Jonesboro that weekend on a college hunting trip. You know, the campus tour, admissions and financial aid folks telling us the process, tailgating and a football game on Saturday night. And in addition to all of that, we got to deal with my mother-in-law. So we got up early Sunday morning and made the drive back (2.5 hours by the way) so I could get my stuff entered. When we got up there, it seemed there was more competition than in previous years. That had me worried. Like I said, I haven't canned anything in 25 years and this was the first time all on my own. But I left them there and tried not to get my hopes up too much.
Judging was on Monday. The fair opened on Tuesday evening. We went last night to see just how I fared against everyone else. While I was frantically searching the shelves for my jars, the kids pointed out that one of my jars was on the table in front of us. It had a red, white and blue ribbon with a nice rosette that said "Best of Show" and a certificate with my name (well, it was my name but spelled wrong, go figure) on it. I got a Best of Show for carrots, of all things. Out of all of the veggies that had been entered, I took top prize. I was stunned. I was expecting maybe red ribbons. I don't think I have stopped grinning since I saw it.
Everything I entered got a ribbon of one color or another, mostly reds like I expected, but I got 3 or 4 blues and a couple of white too. I then proceeded to call every one I know. My Mom told me that she was proud of me, my Dad told me that I shouldn't let it go to my head, and my sister-in-law just said that she knew that I was going to win so why was I so surprised. My hubbie, bless his heart, had to deal with me saying "guess what? Best of Show!" all night.
Now I have to decide if I want to take those carrots on to the state fair.
Who knows, I might just win there too. If we don't eat them before then.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Getting ready
I have given a lot of thought into making a lifestyle change. My husband and I are in general agreement on being more self sufficient and not depending so much on how much money is in the bank. I have spent the better part of a year doing research on how to make this happen.
The first thing we have to do is find a place where we can have a couple of acres, but not really more than 10, to have a bigger garden and a place for some livestock. While this is possible to do in town, we really don't want to have neighbors complaining about our chickens or cows. Ideally, we would have enough house to have weekend guests without having to blow up air mattresses or have 3 or 4 kids to a bed. I would like a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with a big kitchen, wood burning fireplace or wood stove, at least a small basement to use as a root cellar and/or game room, and a workshop of some sort.
The first thing I would work up would be a garden spot. It takes at least a year to get a garden spot worked up so that it will grow a good variety of food. I am actually thinking that a lot of smaller raised beds and multi-layer gardening is the way I want to go. I can grow more in less space and not have to spend so much time weeding and amending the soil. I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about all of this. I think this way, I can have a good variety of vegetables and still not kill myself trying to work it. I will also have some small fruit plants like raspberries and blueberries, grapes, a couple of fruit trees like peaches, apples, pears, and maybe apricots. Strawberries are another possibility. They do take a little bit more room so we will have to see about that. I really want an asparagus bed. We really love the stuff and it is just so expensive to buy retail. But it takes a lot of time to mature, at least 2 years, but after that, it can keep producing for up to 20 years. If you let it go to seed every now and then, it will reseed itself and you will have a constant supply for the rest of your life.
I have thought about keeping a hive or 2 of bees, for polination and for honey. The problem there is that I am allergic. Not dangerously so, but enough to swell up and itch like crazy. Not really sure my hubby would be up for the bees, but they would definately be useful. Maybe we could just keep them for the pollination and only rob the hives when I can talk him into it.
But anyway, the extra produce we could sell for a little spending money. I wouldn't really want to make a business out of it, but I just can't see us letting it go to waste. And any little bit of extra cash will be welcome.
The chickens will also provide a possible bit of extra income. Eggs always sell well and by free ranging the chickens, the eggs will taste better and be healtier than store bought. Even if I start my flock with only 10 hens and a couple of roosters, and allow at least 1 hen to brood and hatch a nest of eggs each year, I can double the size of the flock every year. If I want to use them as meat as well, I can start with 25 or so and after 4 to 6 months, take one or two a week for the freezer. It is really easy to raise chickens, as long as you can keep the coop clean and the predators out. And since we wouldn't use more than maybe 1/2 dozen eggs a week, and no more than a dozen a week, we would have eggs to spare. If a neighbor has a milk cow, we might could trade eggs for fresh milk.
A pig would also be nice to have around. A pig is a perfect converter of kitchen scraps to high quality fertilizer. And they grow relatively fast so any little piglets would be ready for the freezer in less than a year. If you have enough room to change pastures every year, you can have the pigs work your garden areas for you. They will loosen up the soil for you, fertilize it, and remove most or all of the roots and grasses to make it ready to plant. And after all of that, you will get a Christmas and Easter Ham, close to 20 pounds of bacon, several roasts, a big pile of chops and some really great ribs. And that isn't counting the sausage and sausage products. Since we do not eat the organ meats, they can be used as fish bait for even more variety in your meals.
A small amount of feed grains could be helpful if there is space for it. Feed corn, for one, could be used for more than just feed the critters. It can be used to make corn meal and hominy, or coursely chopped for the chickens and pigs. Wheat and oats would also be good for the livestock or the pantry. The problem with growing grains for feed is that it just isn't really cost effective for a small 5 to 10 acre farm to try and grow the grain and still have enough room for pasturage. But the corn could be grown simply as a suppliment to the forage instead of a main staple and it wouldn't take up too much space.
I hope to be able to convince my husband to hunt, at least some. Some venison, wild boar, turkey, doves and ducks would be a nice change occasionally. And except for the cost of the hunting lisence, the meat would be basically free.
Since I have a smoker, meat grinder, slicer, heavy duty mixer, and a good knowledge of herbs and an inexpensive source for casings, I can make our own sausages. Breakfast sausage and salami are VERY easy to make, and from those basics, I can also make bratworst, smoked sausages, and snack sticks.
My dehydrator can be used to dry onions, peppers, fruit, other veggies, and make jerky and fruit leathers. I can dry fresh herbs for both the kitchen and medicinal uses. I could even make yogurt and raise bread in it.
I can make butter from cream, I can preserve food by canning, freezing, smoking, and drying, I can cook over an open fire as well as on a wood, gas, or electric stove, I can make breads of all kinds, I can cure and smoke ham and bacon, I can sew and crochet, and if I had to, I could build a shelter and live in the woods. I can live well without electricity. I have done it before for a week or so at a time when the power was out, so I have no real problem doing it again. I can make my own soap and laundry detergent, and I have washed clothes on a washboard before, and could do it again if I had to. It wouldn't be fun, but I could do it.
Granted, I don't want to live at the subsistance level in a one roon shack, but living without the need for a grocery store or Wal-mart handy is a good feeling. And not having to spend a lot of money for food every week would allow us to live a much less stressful life.
The first thing we have to do is find a place where we can have a couple of acres, but not really more than 10, to have a bigger garden and a place for some livestock. While this is possible to do in town, we really don't want to have neighbors complaining about our chickens or cows. Ideally, we would have enough house to have weekend guests without having to blow up air mattresses or have 3 or 4 kids to a bed. I would like a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with a big kitchen, wood burning fireplace or wood stove, at least a small basement to use as a root cellar and/or game room, and a workshop of some sort.
The first thing I would work up would be a garden spot. It takes at least a year to get a garden spot worked up so that it will grow a good variety of food. I am actually thinking that a lot of smaller raised beds and multi-layer gardening is the way I want to go. I can grow more in less space and not have to spend so much time weeding and amending the soil. I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about all of this. I think this way, I can have a good variety of vegetables and still not kill myself trying to work it. I will also have some small fruit plants like raspberries and blueberries, grapes, a couple of fruit trees like peaches, apples, pears, and maybe apricots. Strawberries are another possibility. They do take a little bit more room so we will have to see about that. I really want an asparagus bed. We really love the stuff and it is just so expensive to buy retail. But it takes a lot of time to mature, at least 2 years, but after that, it can keep producing for up to 20 years. If you let it go to seed every now and then, it will reseed itself and you will have a constant supply for the rest of your life.
I have thought about keeping a hive or 2 of bees, for polination and for honey. The problem there is that I am allergic. Not dangerously so, but enough to swell up and itch like crazy. Not really sure my hubby would be up for the bees, but they would definately be useful. Maybe we could just keep them for the pollination and only rob the hives when I can talk him into it.
But anyway, the extra produce we could sell for a little spending money. I wouldn't really want to make a business out of it, but I just can't see us letting it go to waste. And any little bit of extra cash will be welcome.
The chickens will also provide a possible bit of extra income. Eggs always sell well and by free ranging the chickens, the eggs will taste better and be healtier than store bought. Even if I start my flock with only 10 hens and a couple of roosters, and allow at least 1 hen to brood and hatch a nest of eggs each year, I can double the size of the flock every year. If I want to use them as meat as well, I can start with 25 or so and after 4 to 6 months, take one or two a week for the freezer. It is really easy to raise chickens, as long as you can keep the coop clean and the predators out. And since we wouldn't use more than maybe 1/2 dozen eggs a week, and no more than a dozen a week, we would have eggs to spare. If a neighbor has a milk cow, we might could trade eggs for fresh milk.
A pig would also be nice to have around. A pig is a perfect converter of kitchen scraps to high quality fertilizer. And they grow relatively fast so any little piglets would be ready for the freezer in less than a year. If you have enough room to change pastures every year, you can have the pigs work your garden areas for you. They will loosen up the soil for you, fertilize it, and remove most or all of the roots and grasses to make it ready to plant. And after all of that, you will get a Christmas and Easter Ham, close to 20 pounds of bacon, several roasts, a big pile of chops and some really great ribs. And that isn't counting the sausage and sausage products. Since we do not eat the organ meats, they can be used as fish bait for even more variety in your meals.
A small amount of feed grains could be helpful if there is space for it. Feed corn, for one, could be used for more than just feed the critters. It can be used to make corn meal and hominy, or coursely chopped for the chickens and pigs. Wheat and oats would also be good for the livestock or the pantry. The problem with growing grains for feed is that it just isn't really cost effective for a small 5 to 10 acre farm to try and grow the grain and still have enough room for pasturage. But the corn could be grown simply as a suppliment to the forage instead of a main staple and it wouldn't take up too much space.
I hope to be able to convince my husband to hunt, at least some. Some venison, wild boar, turkey, doves and ducks would be a nice change occasionally. And except for the cost of the hunting lisence, the meat would be basically free.
Since I have a smoker, meat grinder, slicer, heavy duty mixer, and a good knowledge of herbs and an inexpensive source for casings, I can make our own sausages. Breakfast sausage and salami are VERY easy to make, and from those basics, I can also make bratworst, smoked sausages, and snack sticks.
My dehydrator can be used to dry onions, peppers, fruit, other veggies, and make jerky and fruit leathers. I can dry fresh herbs for both the kitchen and medicinal uses. I could even make yogurt and raise bread in it.
I can make butter from cream, I can preserve food by canning, freezing, smoking, and drying, I can cook over an open fire as well as on a wood, gas, or electric stove, I can make breads of all kinds, I can cure and smoke ham and bacon, I can sew and crochet, and if I had to, I could build a shelter and live in the woods. I can live well without electricity. I have done it before for a week or so at a time when the power was out, so I have no real problem doing it again. I can make my own soap and laundry detergent, and I have washed clothes on a washboard before, and could do it again if I had to. It wouldn't be fun, but I could do it.
Granted, I don't want to live at the subsistance level in a one roon shack, but living without the need for a grocery store or Wal-mart handy is a good feeling. And not having to spend a lot of money for food every week would allow us to live a much less stressful life.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Brown bag vs. cafeteria
The lunches they serve at school are expensive and not very tasty. My kids have complained about them for years, actually I complained about them when I was in school too. But lunch kits are expensive and not very filling especially for teens. So I have found a few ways to save money on school lunches.
These I mostly figured out through trial and error, and may not work for your kids but you can take the idea and adjust it for your children.
Make sure the meals are balanced. It isn't doing either of you any good if they don't get the right mix of foods. Too many carbs and they will crash in class in the after noon. Too much protein and they will not have any energy for recess or changing classes. Too much sugar and they will be bouncing off of the walls. I try to make sure there is protein, grain, and a veggie of some sort every day. It is usually a sandwich, chips, a bottle of juice, some pudding or a fruit cup, and a cookie. That way they get 2 grains (2 slices of bread), protein (lunch meat or peanut butter), chips or carrots, a fruit(juice and fruit cup) and a dairy(pudding). My daughter also gets a tea bag since she has a teacher who allows them to drink either coffee or hot tea in class as long as they contribute to the supplies.
Now as to ways to make this meal less expensive. I buy the bread at the discount store. We have a really good one that sells Sara Lee breads for about 70 cents a loaf. That means that I can get the whole grain wheat bread for about 1/4 of retail. I stock up when I go and put it in the freezer until it is needed.
The lunch meats I make my self. I have posted before about making ham and salami. I also made a LOT of jams this summer so I can buy generic peanut butter for inexpensive sandwiches. Adding cheese to the sandwiches will add another dairy to the mix. Lettuce will add another veggie.
The chips I buy in big bags from the Dollar store or Big Lots and put them into sandwich sized zip top bags. That way they actually get more chips than are in the little individual serving bags, and I spend a LOT less for them. I can get about 6 lunches from an average sized (10-12 oz) bag that I pay about a dollar for. That is about 17 cents a bag instead of 30 or 40 cents for the little prepackaged ones.
The juice is another big savings. Buy a couple of single serve (8 oz or so) bottles with the screw on lids and refill them. You can find some sort of juice on sale just about all the time to refill the bottles with, and a 64 oz bottle will fill 8 - 8oz bottles at a fraction of the cost of buying new each time. Or you can refill with water, Kool-Aid, tea, lemonade, what ever. If you freeze them the night before, they will help keep the lunch cool until time to eat and still be thawed in time for lunch.
Pudding is another saving. Make your own. Invest in a couple of small (1/2-1 cup sized) containers from the dollar store. And some plastic spoons. These can hold fruit, pudding, a slice of last night's cake, what every you want to put in them. If you use them for fruit, I would suggest that you drain all of the juice out first in case the lid leaks. You don't want your bread to taste like soggy peaches. Don't buy the individual servings. You wind up paying for packaging and don't even get a full sized serving of fruit since they are mostly juice.
The cookies, again, you can make your self. or make brownies. These can both be made up and stored in the freezer in individual serving sizes. If you can keep the kids out of them after school.
You have to make sure your kids understand that ALL of the plastic comes home every day. Spoons get thrown away a lot. This is easier with lunch boxes, but my kids want paper sacks. My son had his lunch box stolen twice last year so paper sacks it is. And I can draw little pictures or sayings on them. Weird I know, but hey, they are still my kids and I like to make them smile. OR groan. Or, hehe, be embarrassed by silly stuff on their lunch bags.
Is it really cheaper to brown bag a lunch rather than eat in the cafeteria? If you consider that their lunches are about $2 a day, and they will not eat all of it or in some cases even most of it, I would say that it is. You know that they will eat what you give them since they get to help you shop for it and you will know that they are eating right. It is also nice to know that you are teaching them that they do not have to buy a lunch every day when they get to college or in the workforce. This is a money skill that is highly overlooked these days. The less money they waste, the less they will need from Mom and Dad.
These I mostly figured out through trial and error, and may not work for your kids but you can take the idea and adjust it for your children.
Make sure the meals are balanced. It isn't doing either of you any good if they don't get the right mix of foods. Too many carbs and they will crash in class in the after noon. Too much protein and they will not have any energy for recess or changing classes. Too much sugar and they will be bouncing off of the walls. I try to make sure there is protein, grain, and a veggie of some sort every day. It is usually a sandwich, chips, a bottle of juice, some pudding or a fruit cup, and a cookie. That way they get 2 grains (2 slices of bread), protein (lunch meat or peanut butter), chips or carrots, a fruit(juice and fruit cup) and a dairy(pudding). My daughter also gets a tea bag since she has a teacher who allows them to drink either coffee or hot tea in class as long as they contribute to the supplies.
Now as to ways to make this meal less expensive. I buy the bread at the discount store. We have a really good one that sells Sara Lee breads for about 70 cents a loaf. That means that I can get the whole grain wheat bread for about 1/4 of retail. I stock up when I go and put it in the freezer until it is needed.
The lunch meats I make my self. I have posted before about making ham and salami. I also made a LOT of jams this summer so I can buy generic peanut butter for inexpensive sandwiches. Adding cheese to the sandwiches will add another dairy to the mix. Lettuce will add another veggie.
The chips I buy in big bags from the Dollar store or Big Lots and put them into sandwich sized zip top bags. That way they actually get more chips than are in the little individual serving bags, and I spend a LOT less for them. I can get about 6 lunches from an average sized (10-12 oz) bag that I pay about a dollar for. That is about 17 cents a bag instead of 30 or 40 cents for the little prepackaged ones.
The juice is another big savings. Buy a couple of single serve (8 oz or so) bottles with the screw on lids and refill them. You can find some sort of juice on sale just about all the time to refill the bottles with, and a 64 oz bottle will fill 8 - 8oz bottles at a fraction of the cost of buying new each time. Or you can refill with water, Kool-Aid, tea, lemonade, what ever. If you freeze them the night before, they will help keep the lunch cool until time to eat and still be thawed in time for lunch.
Pudding is another saving. Make your own. Invest in a couple of small (1/2-1 cup sized) containers from the dollar store. And some plastic spoons. These can hold fruit, pudding, a slice of last night's cake, what every you want to put in them. If you use them for fruit, I would suggest that you drain all of the juice out first in case the lid leaks. You don't want your bread to taste like soggy peaches. Don't buy the individual servings. You wind up paying for packaging and don't even get a full sized serving of fruit since they are mostly juice.
The cookies, again, you can make your self. or make brownies. These can both be made up and stored in the freezer in individual serving sizes. If you can keep the kids out of them after school.
You have to make sure your kids understand that ALL of the plastic comes home every day. Spoons get thrown away a lot. This is easier with lunch boxes, but my kids want paper sacks. My son had his lunch box stolen twice last year so paper sacks it is. And I can draw little pictures or sayings on them. Weird I know, but hey, they are still my kids and I like to make them smile. OR groan. Or, hehe, be embarrassed by silly stuff on their lunch bags.
Is it really cheaper to brown bag a lunch rather than eat in the cafeteria? If you consider that their lunches are about $2 a day, and they will not eat all of it or in some cases even most of it, I would say that it is. You know that they will eat what you give them since they get to help you shop for it and you will know that they are eating right. It is also nice to know that you are teaching them that they do not have to buy a lunch every day when they get to college or in the workforce. This is a money skill that is highly overlooked these days. The less money they waste, the less they will need from Mom and Dad.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Last minute company
Whew, as much as I enjoy having company over, it is always nice for them to go home.
Se got home from vacation on Saturday the 9th, and Sunday, one of the friends that was feeding the critters for us stopped by for a couple of hours. He was on his way home from Springdale and decided to stop by for a visit. He was here for about 5 hours and it was enjoyable, and then he went on home. Then later that night, we got another email from our friends at the lake. They had decided to take their vacation in Little Rock this year, but unfortunately, their son had a bicycle accident the previous Friday that required surgery on his leg and wouldn't be able to get around with them. They asked if he could say with us while they did all of their running around. Of course, that was a no brainer, and I told them that there was absolutely no reason for them to stay in a motel when we were only about 30 minutes from everything they wanted to see and do, so I told them they could stay here. (They really don't have much money, he is on disability and she is a waitress) So they arrived about 8:30 Tuesday evening. Their injured son is about the same age as my son and they get along great. I think they spent most of the time playing on the game consoles and the computer.
The rest of the time, our friends spent running around Little Rock, seeing the sights and doing things they do not get to do in the very small town they live in, you know, the Zoo, an Art museum, a baseball game, the Mall, and they spent one afternoon at the $1 movie theater. I would feed them before they left and when they got home. They felt really guilty (for no reason) about eating our food, so on Friday night, our other friends (that fed the critters) joined us and we all went out to eat. We left the kids at the house and ordered Pizza for them. Their ages are 17, 16, 16, 14, 13, 13, 11, and 10. So 5 pizzas. Us 6 grownups actually got a night out. And our vacationing friends insisted on paying for the meal. So we insisted on paying for our bar tab. A good natured argument ensued and we graciously paid for our own drinks.
They had to leave fairly early on Saturday since a she had to be back at work at 3PM. The girls were hugging and claiming that they would miss each other. The boys were like "Dude, later man". We agreed that the Labor day weekend would be at the lake (their house) and that we would see them in a couple of weeks. Our other friends left around 7:30pm. And the house is quiet again.
But school starts tomorrow. So today will be busy getting everything ready for that.
So, a s a short recap, a week in Florida, a really long drive home, visitor, a single day to ourselves, then 5 extra people, then, 10 extra people, then quiet again. But there are still dishes to be done, laundry to be done, floors to be done, bedding to wash and put away, school clothes to pick out, back packs to clean out and restock, and hopefully, somewhere in there, we can take a breath.
But you know what, I still would do it again.
Se got home from vacation on Saturday the 9th, and Sunday, one of the friends that was feeding the critters for us stopped by for a couple of hours. He was on his way home from Springdale and decided to stop by for a visit. He was here for about 5 hours and it was enjoyable, and then he went on home. Then later that night, we got another email from our friends at the lake. They had decided to take their vacation in Little Rock this year, but unfortunately, their son had a bicycle accident the previous Friday that required surgery on his leg and wouldn't be able to get around with them. They asked if he could say with us while they did all of their running around. Of course, that was a no brainer, and I told them that there was absolutely no reason for them to stay in a motel when we were only about 30 minutes from everything they wanted to see and do, so I told them they could stay here. (They really don't have much money, he is on disability and she is a waitress) So they arrived about 8:30 Tuesday evening. Their injured son is about the same age as my son and they get along great. I think they spent most of the time playing on the game consoles and the computer.
The rest of the time, our friends spent running around Little Rock, seeing the sights and doing things they do not get to do in the very small town they live in, you know, the Zoo, an Art museum, a baseball game, the Mall, and they spent one afternoon at the $1 movie theater. I would feed them before they left and when they got home. They felt really guilty (for no reason) about eating our food, so on Friday night, our other friends (that fed the critters) joined us and we all went out to eat. We left the kids at the house and ordered Pizza for them. Their ages are 17, 16, 16, 14, 13, 13, 11, and 10. So 5 pizzas. Us 6 grownups actually got a night out. And our vacationing friends insisted on paying for the meal. So we insisted on paying for our bar tab. A good natured argument ensued and we graciously paid for our own drinks.
They had to leave fairly early on Saturday since a she had to be back at work at 3PM. The girls were hugging and claiming that they would miss each other. The boys were like "Dude, later man". We agreed that the Labor day weekend would be at the lake (their house) and that we would see them in a couple of weeks. Our other friends left around 7:30pm. And the house is quiet again.
But school starts tomorrow. So today will be busy getting everything ready for that.
So, a s a short recap, a week in Florida, a really long drive home, visitor, a single day to ourselves, then 5 extra people, then, 10 extra people, then quiet again. But there are still dishes to be done, laundry to be done, floors to be done, bedding to wash and put away, school clothes to pick out, back packs to clean out and restock, and hopefully, somewhere in there, we can take a breath.
But you know what, I still would do it again.
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