Giving Legacy Gifts
While painting Husband's dresser, on my to do list since we moved into our present home, seven years ago, my thoughts travel back to our previous bedroom furniture. Beautifully crafted and made of cherry wood, this furniture had been passed down to me through my mother's family. For years these pieces graced the bedroom of Husband and myself. The day came, however, when Daughter was to turn the age of 19, that Husband and I made the decision to offer this cherry set, our bedroom furniture, to Daughter as her birthday gift.
You see, the year before Daughter had joyfully followed our move here to Texas, even though her heart was aching. Leaving behind close family and friends made this journey challenging for her soul. Joy and happiness are not always the same. Then our year of transitioning to a new home and state was intensified beyond imagination by the care of an aging parent with a heartbreaking dementia.
Daughter had stood by us strong and cried many of her homesick tears alone as Husband and I were overwhelmed that year with dementia care. Daughter became my right hand as we sought to honor the life of Husband's father and my days and nights were filled with Dad's care. As her 19th year celebration approached, Husband and I wanted to give her a gift of legacy. As Daughter loved family and history, we knew this cherry bedroom furniture would be such a gift for her.
The cost of finding some humble dressers to take the place of our cherry furniture was worth the sacrifice. Now this beautiful cherry furniture graces Daughter's married bedroom and God blessed her willingness to leave all that was familiar and gave her a wonderful husband met in Texas. And so I paint our substituted dresser and consider other legacy gifts we have given to our children.
A thirteenth birthday was deemed most special for Firstborn Son with the gift of a barrister bookcase highly esteemed and once a part of Husband's office. Not only does this bookcase house Firstborn Son's books, but reminds him of a season of life no longer lived by our family. Precious teacups which once belonged to Husband's mother, now long gone, became bridal shower gifts for a niece and my daughters which somehow seemed to make this grandmother a part of the special occasion. I won't take the time to list all of these type of gifts, but often we include some item with memory or family history to our children.
This practice is not necessarily frugal, but bears consideration if funds are limited. Sometimes giving some family treasure or item for a special birthday or other gift giving occasion can be a way to show love and appreciation without spending large amounts of money. Taking time to write a letter documenting past family history or even giving the gift of a book dear to your heart, can also be legacy type gifts. In our materialistic culture where so many gifts get broken or forgotten, passing on a bit of personal history can provide your children with more than just another present.
How about you? Any legacy gifts that have been a blessing in your life?
Planning Ahead
We had the opportunity to buy organic strawberries this week for 1.25 a lb- freshly picked, too. I was short on help, so I was only able to buy 25 pounds, which really isn't much for a family of 7 people living at home. I have been regretting the circumstances that limited me to 25 pounds. So I have been astonished by the reaction of so many people upon hearing I bought 25 lbs. They look stunned and ask, "Why did you buy so many?"
Planning ahead is a vital skill for frugality, and that I am hearing this question from so many people- mostly in their twenties, but some of them are married and starting families. Storing up quantities in season to hold over for use when no longer in season is the basic lesson in Aesop's fable, the ants and the grasshopper:
THE ANTS were spending a fine winter's day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, "Why did you not treasure up food during the summer?" He replied, "I had not leisure enough. I passed the days in singing." They then said in derision: "If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter."
The concept has been part of religious instruction for millennium, as well as just basic common sense. However, I feel the ease of convenience has clouded our judgment and ability to plan ahead. Because we can buy strawberries in and out of season with no more trouble than it takes to grab the keys and run to the grocery store. Even if I only buy seasonal fruits and vegetables, I won't be able to see this price for organic produce very often. So I could scrape together the money from another part of my budget now, or I could spend two or three times as much on fruit buying it in smaller quantities at a time. Sometimes you just don't have the ability to do that, as we know from sad experience, but knowing that you're spending more over the long run is great incentive to find creative ways to reach a point in the food budget where you don't have to pay more over the long run again.
The strawberries were stemmed and rinsed, then spread on trays for flash freezing in our large freezers. We have two because we also either raise or buy our own grassfed cows each year. Later the frozen berries will be used in smoothies and to make our own strawberry yogurt. If I had purchased more, we might have made strawberry jam, or taken time to dehydrate them.
I also made my own yogurt this week using this crockpot recipe and our own raw milk. I haven't had success with the crockpot yogurt versions before, but this recipe worked really, really well, and I didn't even follow the directions precisely. I fell asleep at one stage so the crockpot milk was left cooling far too long. I just turned the crockpot back on for fifteen minutes, then stirred and continued as directed.
This month we will also be saving some money in the produce part of the budget as lambsquarters and day lilies are in season. Lambsquarters grow wild, and the greens are easily identifiable. I use the leaves in omelettes, soups, and stir fries, and I dehydrate them for later use in omelettes and stir fries. I use day lily buds and blossoms in salads and stir fries, and kimchi pancakes.
How do you lay by in store and plan ahead?
More about eating organic and frugal here.
More about eating easily identifiable wild edibles like day lilies here.
Free Kindle Books for the day:
Saving Money This Summer: How to Be Frugal and Still Enjoy Family Fun (More for Less Guides)
Budget Planner System: Get out of Debt, Save and Prosper
Brilliant Breakfasts on a Budget (Eat Better For Less Guides)
Grandparenting Motivations
Husband comes in the door, sweaty, tired and with a big smile on his face. Having just played basketball with men more than half his age, Husband is a happy man. Almost one year to the day of a heart attack, Husband plays basketball on a Thursday, hikes four miles uphill on Saturday and then comes home and pushes our lawn mower for an hour and a half with gusto.
Now with a total weight loss of almost 40 pounds and off of most of his heart medication, Husband looks well to his future. We both give all the glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave the grace for life changes that have brought much fruit into our lives through Husband's renewed health and vitality. I think on these things as so often our two year old grandson, Blissboy, asks Nonna where Grandpa is or vice versa. We are a unit in his mind and I am grateful we still have been given more time to grandparent together.
Husband credits this little blue-eyed treasure and our precious granddaughter, Grandgirl, as his motivators. He does not take grandparenting lightly. This glorious experience is one of which he is most mindful comes with a great responsibility. The deepest desire of Husband's heart is to build into the lives of his grandchildren things most meaningful. So much so that he is willing to turn away from so many of the foods he has enjoyed through life and to make sure that exercise, sleep and purposeful living are now his mantra.
Recently, Husband heard of a grandfather who spent two years visiting with his homeschooled grandchildren and teaching them history. Husband is now salivating at the thought of doing the same. Such goals do help to get all the vegetables down.
Along with the incredible joy-filled hearts at continuing to be given time to grandparent our grandchildren and of course build into the lives of our adult children, is our appreciation that we were able to come through this experience still debt-free. I write in my debt-free journal my appreciation for being members of Samaritan Ministries, the doctors who gave Husband samples of very expensive medication, the blessing of Costco pharmacy and that we are able to make a healthy food budget a priority. We do not take these things for granted as we understand that sometimes circumstances can make life goals most challenging.
Husband and I do not presume upon our future. We know that each day is a gift and that life can take twists and turns unexpectedly. However, our hearts are full with the many blessings of the Lord and the hope that you, too, may rejoice with us.
Simplified Frugality
Several streams of events and observations have come together this week in my brain and created a whirlpool of ponderings and wonderings about simplifying, convenience, frugality, and the occasional tension between our desire to make things easier on ourselves, and our need to save time as well as money. I've written before about how the weeds of convenience can overtake our garden of frugality. I still believe that. But I also believe that sometimes it's because we no longer really understand how to truly simplify.
When our second daughter was a wee thing, she was a bottomless pit of hunger. She was a tiny soul, with a huge appetite and metabolism of a hummingbird. Her 3 year old son is the same way, and he appears to have some food sensitivities, so much of her life (as mine when she was young) is centered around finding suitable snacks for this ravenous child. We lived in Japan when our second child was between the ages of 15 mos and 6 years old. One day I noticed that a neighbor child had been given a snack of a cooked sweet potato and sent outside to munch on it. Turned out this was a fairly common snack for her, and she really enjoyed it. She was about ten years old, and she had no objections to snacking on a steamed or baked sweet potato rather than a bag of chips or a box of cookies because she was used to noshing on sweet potatoes.
How convenient, and how frugal! How healthy!
In my weeds of convenience post I wrote:
Convenience isn’t just the enemy of frugality. It’s also reducing us to consumers and making us sick, something I realized when reading an interview with Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food:
MP: The authority of mothers was essentially destroyed by the food industry. The $32 billion a year in marketing muscle out there has undercut culture’s role in determining what we eat, and culture is a fancy word for your mom.
TMN: Just to emphasize that number, that’s not the food industry, that’s the food marketing industry.
MP: That’s advertising, studying us, packaging, figuring out how to get us to eat more.
[...]One of the things that 32 billion dollars a year in marketing has bought is our idea about food and how fast we need for it to be.
For some time now I have been a strong fan of K-dramas (Korean television shows)- this seems like an abrupt jump, but bear with me. One program I particularly enjoy watching (and my 17 y.o. watches with me) is called in English, "Dad! Where Are We Going?"
The basic outline of the series is that five real-life dads who have some connections to show-business each take one of their real-life children along on a trip devised by the producers of the show. The dads have little or no idea where they are going ahead of time or what they will be doing. The producers usually take them to little known Korean villages in out of the way places where living conditions are still quite traditional rather than modern, and while in those villages, the dads and their kids are given various tasks. They are filmed the whole time- especially the children.
I know it seems like I'm still way off point, but we're nearly there, so hang in here with me just a bit longer.
Because they go to such out of the way places, the crew shows up at the homes of their father/child pairs ridiculously early and they travel for hours before arriving. After they have scouted out their sleeping arrangements, the fathers and their kids are given a large snack to take back to their separate sleeping quarters and enjoy along with some down time between each father and child. Here's the snack from the first episode:
Those are potatoes, by the looks of them, regular russet potatoes, baked or steamed. Each father/child duo was given a large bowl of steaming hot potatoes and that's what they snacked on. Nobody complained or seemed surprised, although some of the children did want something else to eat once they finished the potatoes.
Other episodes the snacks have been:
Steamed or baked sweet potatoes
boiled eggs
popcorn
roasted chestnuts
boiled or roasted ears of corn
Some combination of the above, usually corn and potatoes, or eggs and potatoes.
They drink water when they are thirsty. I realize at home things are different for the kids, but still, they don't complain about the simple snacks, but eat them with delight.
We look for recipes for dishes that will make our lives easier- grafitating to five ingredients or less (although some of those ingredients themselves have ten ingredients or more on the labels, and we can't pronounce half of them).
If we really want to simplify- why not try snacks and treats of a single, whole, food (butter and salt not counted). In addition to the above, there's:
Fruit
Bok Choy stems, which are mildly sweet
Jicama, which is also mildly sweet and quite juicy
Cherry tomatoes
a peanut butter spoon (ideally from freshly roasted peanuts and with no other ingredients- we have a nearby healthfood store that sells freshly ground nut-butters, maybe you do, too)
In the LIttle House on the Prairie books and Understood Betsy, people snacked on plain raw turnips!
Maybe our tastebuds are too jaded to go straight from pop-tarts and flavored corn chips to turnips, but we might surprise ourselves. I find the longer I avoid packaged foods loaded with artificial ingredients, the stranger they taste when I do have the occasional nibble.
We can apply the same principle to other areas of our lives- toys, for instance. Why so many? Why not use what we have around the house? Handkerchieves or bandanas.... a yard or three of fabric....a beanbag and a bucket, and I have the quickest and easiest beanbag in the world for you to make.... a corncob and some feathers (okay, that may not be an around the house item for you, but we live in the center of cornfields and my son hunts turkeys)
Clothes- With the advent of the sewing machine and automatic washing machine, women's lives became a whole lot easier. While washing clothes got easier, so did buying more clothes. So washing clothes is physically easier, but we own about ten times more clothing to organized, clean, fold, hang up, sort, find, match, clean again, and mend. A chore that used to be done once a week now has to be done almost daily. Are we absolutely certain we can never wear the same outfit more than once before washing it? Do we really need pajamas every night? Can we just sleep in the same clothes we're wearing (maybe yes, maybe not- depends on activity levels and the style of clothing- but maybe we shouldn't take it for granted that we have to change clothes for bed).
Stuff- for instance, the things we accumulate in the kitchen. What would a minimalist kitchen look like?
What are your favourite frugal solutions that are frugal of both time and finances?
GMO Information and Vegetables That Grow from Kitchen Scraps
My two raised bed gardens can be viewed from my kitchen window. Usually by this time of year in South Texas the garden production would soon be ready to cease. However, this year with a much cooler spring than would be considered normal, our harvest has not yet peaked.
My eight tomato plants are producing green tomatoes, although with our nights now getting warmer they do not seem to be setting many flowers. The peppers and squash have yet to show any fruit and my swiss chard will soon be impacted by the heat. As I have shared before, I find gardening in Texas to be a challenge, yet I continue to persevere.
Recently my determination has been increased by the cautions I have read on the internet, on the radio, and even a source emailed to me by a family member. I am no expert on this subject and am just beginning my own journey of sorts to try to understand what the real truth is in regards to adulteration of our food supply. This information does however encourage me to consider how to be more effective in growing more of our own food.
Recently I came across this information on how to take some simple vegetables many of us purchase and eat on a regular basis, and use the scraps to reproduce the vegetable. I really find this idea intriguing! With all honesty, I have tried to re-grow green onions before in a glass with little success, but next time I make a green onion purchase, I am going to try growing a few bulbs in my raised bed. Although I do not buy everything organic, I do believe I will make organic purchases of any vegetables I want to try to re-plant.
Also, I think you might find this article about PLU codes and how the vegetables you are purchasing in the grocery store are grown. I do want to be sure to make clear I am not recommending any of these websites as I have no personal knowledge of them nor am I seeking to present myself as any kind of expert on the topics. My point is just to share some of the areas that I am giving some thought and research to in the midst of the busyness of daily life.
Please do share if you have tried re-planting any vegetables at your house and tips or cautions your experience could offer.
Buying Seasonally, and STRAWBERRIES!!
Since I'm an American living in America, that's where this post will be centered, but I hope you can make the adjustments necessary to make it useful to you in your country and hemisphere.=)
Eating seasonally is about more than simply knowing that strawberries are ripe in May and June, so they are cheapest then, and blueberries are in season in July, and the best time to find persimmons in the midwestern grocery stores is the fall, etc. According to this website: http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/strategic-shopping/:
Each advertising collective has its own month—e.g., January is National Beef Month. The National Cattleman’s Beef Association has chosen the month of January to promote eating beef. That means you can expect excellent sales on steak and ground beef in January.
So here's what to look for over:
May
- Memorial Day Sales
- National Barbeque Month
- National Hamburger Month
- National Salsa Month
- National Strawberry Month
- National Salad Month
This is a great month to stock up on condiments. You will find mayonnaise, catsup, mustard, barbeque sauce, steak sauce, and other such products on sale BOGO. Newspaper inserts start running coupons for these products in April. Hold on to your coupons, and use them for the BOGO sale. (Most stores will let you use two coupons when buying BOGO items.)
If you miss a sale, don’t worry. Such items will go on sale again during the next two months. But do note that the sales on barbeque and picnic items are typically better in May than in June or July.
If you purchase pre-made hamburger patties, May is the month to stock up on them. You can usually find sales up to 40 percent off.
May is the best time to make strawberry this and that. Next year, I want to put up some strawberry jam.
Keep an eye out for picnic items such as paper plates and plastic utensils. Around the summer holidays, you can usually pick these up for half price.
June
- National Dairy Month
- National Iced Tea Month
- National Seafood Month
- Adopt-a-Cat Month
We are now half way through the year, and the stores of butter you put in your freezer from last Thanksgiving are running low. Count of some excellent sales on butter and other dairy products. Buy enough to last until November.
Strawberries in our town are .99 a quart right now, so we've stocked up. We dehydrate them. The future mother in law of our daughter who is currently courting makes freezer jam. We also have made this 1911 recipe for strawberry shortcake, and we make strawberry 'soup' when it's hot outside (this is sooooo delicious and refreshing!).
We use strawberries and spinach, or other combos, in our delicious green smoothies.
Strawberry cottage cheese pancakes : You know how people will share a recipe for something that has no sugar and tell you it doesn’t even need sweetening? Or some food you usually top with butter is so rich that you don’t even need to butter it? I never believe it, either, but I am telling you, this is delicious plain, without any butter or syrup. It might be even better slathered with butter and a tall and cold glass of raw milk on the side, but it’s pretty tasty as is.
You can also make your own strawberry syrup for those, and other, pancakes.
You might also glean some frugal ideas from:
Lessons from extreme cheapskates
Here are five free Kindle books for today:
Budget Cooking 30 Recipes for under $5
Making It Pay to Stay: Living Abundantly on One Income
The Laid Back Surfer Dude's Guide to A Successful Life
How I Have Adapted the Salad-In-A-Jar Idea
Recently, I was slated to have house guests arrive at 6:30 on a Friday night. The challenge for me was I needed to be away from home all day. My guests were traveling and wanted to be able to get to bed early, so to save time and try to accommodate them to the best of my ability, I decided to do my cooking the day before. A cold salad type meal seemed to be the best plan and it proved to be as I was delayed by traffic and reached home the exact time my guests were to arrive.
At some point in my planning process, I had considered making a green salad as soon as I arrived home to accompany the rest of my cold supper. However, my strategy for making Husband's lunch salads for the week by layering them in canning jars came to mind. Remembering my pickle jar collection, I set out to make my green salad the day before my house guests were to arrive.
When I prepare Husband's salads-in-a-jar for work, I make the dressing be the first layer on the bottom of the jar. Then I add the chopped vegetables like celery, carrots, radishes (things that won't get too soggy in the dressing),and add tomatoes, sunflower seeds and any other contributions to health and taste. I always put the lettuce at the top of the jar which keeps the greens from getting wet and unappealing.
So, grabbing two of my 80 ounce large, clean, pickle jars I set out to make my salad. I did not put any dressing in these jars as my guests would be given a choice in what kind of dressing they would like for their salad. Layering several different types of vegetables in the jar and stuffing two different kinds of lettuce to fill the jar, I quickly assembled a delicious and healthy salad that was as fresh and tasty as if I had prepared it right before the meal. By dumping the jars into a large bowl, I had a lovely tossed salad in minutes after arriving home.
This idea is also great for attending potlucks or bringing a green salad if asked to contribute something to a meal away from home. Although I have not as yet tried this plan when traveling, I think it would work well, and for those of us who eat frequent greens for health reasons, make traveling away from home a more healthy experience. I find the jar makes fitting items into a cooler easier and I just bring an empty bowl or plates as depositories for the salads.
Has anyone else tried the salad-in-a-jar idea?
Building Your Savings Account
One of the most important ways to be frugal is also one of the most difficult, and that is building your savings account cushion- an emergency fund, yes, but also a fund that makes it possible for you take advantage of unexpected bargains.
We recently were given an unexpected opportunity to buy 1/4 or 1/2 of a beef cow which had been raised by an agricultural student at the local U. He had reared the animal on organic pasture and some non-GMO feed, and now needed to butcher it to finish his class assignment. He was selling it for 3.00 a lb. Without the cushion we have built up in our savings account, we would be unable to take advantage of this. Not only does this save money (since meat of this quality is usually five dollars a lb or more in our area), having a freezer full of meat at 3.00/lb is a hedge against the coming inflationary food costs we know we will be seeing in the grocery store.
There are only two ways to build that savings cushion: find ways to cut back on spending, and using the money you saved for your savings account, or find ways to earn some extra income.
Ways to save money:
Read Frugal Hacks, and the frugality related material on my own two blogs, The Common Room and The Common Kitchen
Beans and rice and other frugal eats. More here.
Navy showers and other ways to reduce utility costs
Drastic budgeting in the kitchen
Save money on utilities in the winter- I have a post on that here, and one with more tips here.
Stock up on groceries when they are on sale so that you are only shopping to replenish your pantry, and you are doing that only from sales.
I read a tip a few years back from somebody who watches the holiday sales in her area very, very carefully. She cuts back on her grocery buying for a couple months in advance and starts making room in her freezer. As soon as any store has a loss leader sale on holiday meats- turkey, hams, roasts (lambs in the spring)- the sort of sale where you get the turkey practically free for spending a specific amount in groceries- she goes to the store, restocks her diminishing pantry and gets the free turkey. Then she does it again. The she goes to the next store with a similar deal. Her goal, she said, was to get all her meat for free this way and fill her freezer. I’ve never done this, partly because nowhere I’ve lived has offered free birds for a minimum grocery purchase since I read the idea. But it is an example of thinking creatively about the grocery budget and how to make the most of sales. More here.
Ways to bring in money:
Reselling second hand items you find at thrift stores and yard sales.
Sell plasma
Try Mechanical Turks (varies based on your skill set- such is life. Our fifth daughter has made nearly 100 dollars using Amazon turks, in things that didn't take her much time))
I’ve written at least two posts here at Frugal Hacks on quick ways to come up with some emergency cash- here, and here.
If you blog, here’s a good place to start reading on monetizing your blog.
Here’s where to get more information on how to buy a parenting ebook I and three other moms of large families wrote togehter! or become an affiliate, which is another way of making some extra income.
These free titles for Kindle may (or may not) be useful
These books are free at the time of listing. This can change, so be sure to check the cost first before you download. I love to hear from our readers, but I do not love to hear that a book listed here is not free because this tells me you did not read the first sentence of this post and that makes me sad. On the plus side, it might even make me sad enough to eat chocolate, so there is that.
You do not need a Kindle
If you’re curious, this is the Kindle
I haven't read these myself unless otherwise noted. They are just free titles that looked like they might be interesting readers. I do take some time to screen- often, but not always, reading the first few sample pages, always reading at least the first 5 star AND the first 1 star reviews, usually more, sometimes even hunting up free titles at Gutenberg so I can read more of the actual text. There are a lot of books I look at that never make it to these 'free4Kindle' posts. Nonetheless, I'm still just skimming the surface- I don't have time to read the books and get them listed before the 'free' listing expires the price goes up. I'm not vouching for the content, unless otherwise noted. I'm just a bird-dog, sniffing through the forest and weeds of free listings and occasionally pointing at something that might be interesting. Then again, it might turn out to be a decoy. I'm not a well trained bird dog.
Whoof.-
Starting your own Home Business online can be most rewarding. My home business is selling products online. In this book I’ll tell you about some of the benefits of running a home business online; How to get started even if you have no money, Where to go to find wholesale suppliers, How to approach wholesaler suppliers you want to do business with? There may be one or more suppliers in your own home town and I’ll tell you how to find them. Do I need to pay a fee to the wholesaler to sell his products? How to know if the product you are interested in will sell online and where you can sell them. Can I sell this product for a profit? Can I compete with the big boys? How to get products below drop ship cost. What is drop shipping? How to not get scammed! Before doing any business from home, check with your local zoning board to make sure you can run your business from home. Where and how do you get your sales tax number? Why do you need one? Do you need a website? How do I put up a website? What is Affiliate Marketing? Who are Liquidators?
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Real Homestead Survivalist (Greenhouse Advice for Beginners)
How to Sell your Handmade Jewellery (Marketing for the Small Business)
This book is designed to help you sell your handmade jewellery face to face to your customer.
Ther are many guides to small business, but his book concentrates on the process of actually selling your jewellery at craft fairs,wedding fairs, country fairs and markets and through party plan.
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How to create your own style,how to set your prices, how to present your business, how to set out your stand, how to package your work, how to promote your business and how to encourage people to buy your handmade designs.
How Budgets Help In Making Big Life Decisions
Budgeting came late to Husband and I. Not that we didn't watch over our funds carefully in years past, just that we found the years of self-employment to be quite challenging in setting careful budget categories. Now, I think in this season of life, we do much better with writing out a realistic budget each year. After setting monthly budget allocations, we work diligently at following our plan.
These yearly and monthly budget goals have not only helped us to try to make wise financial decisions but also assist us in making big life decisions. By setting goals so as to anticipate future needs and/or wants,and counting the financial cost of these goals, Husband and I are better prepared to make make life choices. Just checking to see if there is enough money in the checking account so we can participate in an exciting event or make a greatly desired purchase can be deceiving.
One of the things we have learned as we have sought to budget our funds carefully with forethought, is that the unexpected is rarely even that. Truth is Husband and I know our air-conditioner and roof more than likely will need to be replaced in the next five years. Our home will need painting, cars replacing and I could go on and on. Few surprises in life are really surprises.
Certainly, medical issues and unforeseen tragedies occur, but what I am really speaking of here is that it is wise to consider future expenses even when living in the here and now. I know that some seasons of incomes make future planning challenging, if not almost impossible. We just need to keep in mind that our hearts can distract us from being as prepared as possible for "Murphy's" visit.
By being very frugal with both our air-conditioning and heating use, and frequently coming in below our electric budget, Husband and I have been able to save $900.00 towards a replacement air-conditioner. This has not been an easy process. We have spent about five years often being hot in the summer and cold in the winter to make this happen. There has been many a time we could have used that money for something else we would have really have liked to do or replace. Remember when I wrote about our appliance fund and how we finally replaced our washer and dryer? Well, one week later, my dishwasher ended its life and mourning is still being practiced at my house. That $900.00 could really buy a great dishwasher. Yet Husband and I know that when the day comes to replace our air-conditioning (a need for us in South Texas,) having some monies saved will be of the utmost blessing and wisdom.
My point is that there will always be something that encourages us to spend money now for something that will be needed later. Sometimes that "now" is really not as important as later. A simple example is that eating out might be an enjoyable experience for the moment, but may wreck havoc on the monies needed to buy food for the rest of the month.
As a Christian, I know all about the blessings of a provider God. We have experienced so many blessings and have seen God work in ways we would have never imagined. Still, Husband and I know there can be a thin line between faith and presumption and have seen too many times God's people want to spend money on their wants and then have God provide their needs.
Truth is for Husband and myself, our paper and pencil budget really helps us to make big life decisions. Not that we seek to be selfish or hoard our funds, just to be careful to live with some foresight. Quite honestly, we are not as prepared for some of the "bumps in the road" that may come our way as we might like to be, but by keeping the future in mind, we are better able to count the cost for the decisions we make.
Meshing Love With Frugal Living
Husband calls and with emotion in his voice shares about his Mother's Day visit to a dear friend of ours. Having just completed a work assignment at a conference on the East Coast, Husband drives north to spend some time with a widow woman now stricken heavy with Alzheimer's. In her 90's, this dear woman was once the best friend of Husband's mother. As this woman had no children to call her own, Husband and his brothers became like family to her heart. When Husband's mother died many years ago, soon after the birth of Firstborn Son, this woman loved our children as her grandchildren and our family like her own.
Now, so far from us, she is well cared for in a home and watched over by her living family. Although not able to speak in full sentences, this beloved friend recognizes Husband and his visit blesses both of them. Youngest Son too is there and rejoices in this opportunity to visit with this woman who loved him much. My heart remembers this lady, one of my frugal heroes, as I also ponder a visit with other dear friends this past weekend.
Gazing into the beautiful blue eyes of a 16-year-old young lady as she hugs me tight, I remember her as a little girl of 7. In my mind she is again held close as her mother's body leaves their home in death. Cancer took this young lady's mother, leaving a grieving husband and four young children.
I still can hear my dying friend praying that God would bring a new wife and mother to her husband and children. How many times did I pray with the children and hear them do the same, I ask myself? Now these prayers have been answered and this young woman and her siblings have a new mom and the restoration and healing I see in her eyes brings such rejoicing to my heart.
As my memories and reflections find me in the past, I am amazed at how both of these visits Husband and I have tasted bring back memories of love and frugal living. My frugal hero, now so aged and mentally unhealthy, lived an amazing frugal life of choice. She would have called it good stewardship as she saw all the funds that came her way through marriage and inheritance, gifts of God to be used with the utmost care and generosity. Through all her frugal living, love is what shines most bright.
My little friend, now almost grown, has come from frugal stock. Her parents were a frugal family to be sure. Building their home from scratch and finding many a yard sale treasure, their lives spilled forth a frugal essence. It is the love, however, of mother for children, so sacrificial that she prayed another woman would someday receive her blessings, that fills my thoughts.
I muse on these things. How love and frugal do go well together. Both take a willingness to live sacrificially and make the best of what comes your way. My widow friend so willing to share of her love and resources with so many and my younger friend, with such joy on her face as she lives out the loving prayers of her first mother.
As I listen to this amazing interview of Ken and Joni Tada, I wonder if they too may have a frugal story to add to their legacy of love. They certainly know what it means to live sacrificially. May you be as blessed as you listen.
Would you too, share how love meshes with your frugal life?
Frugality Isn’t Meanness
One of my domestic treasures is an old book formerly belonging to my great-grandmother. It is titled The Complete Home, An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Life and Affairs Embracing All the Interests of The Household, by Julia McNair Wright. Mrs. Wright wrote to help impoverished families economize during the economic crises of the 1870s, known as The Long Depression. She writes in the first person in the character of a delightful old biddy named Aunt Sophronia. She is giving advice to her three young nieces as they embark on adult life.
“Economy will be especially demanded of young people who have no fortunes but in themselves. Are you capable of self-denial and self-sacrifice? Can you be cheerful while others, your friends, make a greater display and have more showy pleasures? Can you be resolute to save a little every year, even if it is a very little indeed? This strength of character which can attain to self-denial, to perseverance, self-sacrifice, is fine capital…”
“Practise Economy as a Fine Art: make a duty and a pleasure of it; it is the mortar wherein you lay up the walls of home; if it is lacking, or is poor in quality, the home building will crumble. Don’t be ashamed of economy: study it, consult about it; don’t confound it with meanness: economy is the nurse of liberality. Meanness is going into debt for luxury: is keeping behind-hand the wages our work-people have earned [in other words being slow to pay obligations such as rent, plumber's bills, the internet bill, the propane, your lawyer, your babysitter, your paper boy, etc].: is making a show and the street and withholding charity: is presenting cake and confections ostentatiously to our callers, and stinting the kind or quantity of our servants’ food.”
~The Complete Home an Encyclopaedia of Domestic Life and Affairs, by Julia McNair Wright
In answer to a niece's question about the rules for getting rich, she says:
“All that has been said can be boiled to a very short and simple answer, ” I replied; “and all the difficulty in the work lies in the needful self-sacrifice. The question first is, What do you mean by getting rich? …Will you be content to call honest independence, enough to live upon tastefully without fear or favor, enough to keep away the wolves of debt and want, and to send out from your door, on your errands, the full-handed angels of benevolence, will you call that being rich?”
“…I will give you the rules, which are few and simple, and easily performed by self-sacrifice. Work hard; see and improve all small opportunities; keep out of debt and carefully economize. That is the best that all the wisdom of the world has been able to digest and formulate as rules for getting rich. The matter is simple and lies in a nutshell: have the end definitely before you; do your own work toward it and do it honestly, and don’t give up until you have reached your goal; the same plain, straight, unadorned and yet passable road is open to all.”
You can read more wisdom from this maiden aunt of yesteryear here.
Hope For Dark Days
Pondering the different discussions heard regarding the economy and the future, my heart is heavy. Change seems to come quickly and I for one am not overly fond of much of what I see. A recent phone call with my mother finds her recalling many years ago when I was but a child and her decision to make her way as a divorced woman with two children. Most of the time, her income was all we had to live on. She never even considered getting help from any government programs. Life was not easy. Clothes often came from church boxes, meals on the table were simple and at times lean, but we eked out an existence and made ends meet. I would not have wanted it any other way.
Frugal was not even a word I had heard at that time although I suppose we were living the frugal experience. A remarriage for my mother in the following years improved our financial state, but I learned to never take for granted the basics of life. Now, these many years later I marvel at expectations of what is to be provided to the masses and the attitude so often seen of entitlement. Sometimes I feel a sense of discouragement in what the future may hold.
Even though I rest strong in the mighty hands of a sovereign God, I also know consequences come for decisions made. In my house, when the money is used up, we stop spending and look for other ways to meet our needs or choose to do without. This concept seems to be becoming a remedy many would see as too demanding or limiting for a pleasant life.
So during these challenging times along with my faith in a mighty God, I reflect upon the frugal people I have known and the frugal blogs I read with hope. The dark days that may be ahead or even here for some, look brighter to me because of the many people in our land who purpose to live within their means and seek to pay their way.
I appreciate the fortitude and willingness of so many to sacrifice today so tomorrow will be better. To find ways to pay their debt and to set goals worthy of the cost of their implementation. Those frugal people willing to say no now to their children in hopes they will give them a better future. Those parents who eschew the materialistic society we live in and are teaching their families what is really of value and importance.
It is a blessing to me to have tasted of so many frugal ideas and ways to make ends meet, even those I seldom practice at this time. It is as if I have my own frugal arsenal ready at my disposal should circumstances challenge my present way of life. Something as simple as learning how to better use what is in my hand can provide unseen opportunities for success in endeavors that can at first appear hopeless.
It just seems to me that frugal people don't sit back and wait for others to make their lives better. They do what they can to change difficult situations and learn to make what cannot be changed work. Frugal people are willing to walk a rougher road if necessary.
Each and every generation have had unique and what may have seemed difficult and foreboding challenges. Certainly we can see some changes needed for the years ahead. I am encouraged though each and every time I read a blog, hear a tale of frugal living or meet someone who is willing to walk the narrow road to live within their means.
Frugal people and their stories really do give hope for dark days. I certainly am not advocating all the different decisions and lifestyles, but I find the resourcefulness of people and how they manage their circumstances encouraging:
For an extreme minimalism approach to frugal living check out Annie at Annienygma. If you are reading this on Tuesday, today is the last day to purchase her free book. Then there is Pat at corninmycoffee-pot.blogspot.com whose cheerful attitude makes the frugal life sing. Ruth at livingwellspendingless.com hosts a Thrifty Thursday which has some great ideas and Thriftyfun.com has a great Pinterest!
Where do you find some frugal encouragement?
Free Books
Coconut Flour (Gluten Free, Cookie, Muffin And Cake Recipes)
Vegetable Container Gardening: 7 Easy Steps To Healthy Harvests from Small Spaces
Why I “Heart” Costco Pharmacy
My day at home catching up on the many tasks before me now had changed. A new cardiologist had eliminated a medication from Husband's pill regime and as a precaution was doubling his blood pressure medication. With prescription in hand and Costco, our usual place for purchasing pills a forty minute drive, I decided to head out to our local grocery store chain with hopes of filling this prescription there. A coupon for a haircut in the same direction as the grocery store seemed to make this plan a wise one.
As the cost of the single dose medication was around $10.00 at Costco, I assumed the cost would be somewhat higher at the grocery store, but comforted myself that the saved time and gas would justify the expenditure. Imagine my surprise when I asked the cost of this drug before committing the prescription to the grocery store pharmacist, and I was told the doubled strength medication would cost me $55.00! However, I was assured that a three month supply, which was what the prescription was for, would only be $145.00.
Thanking the young woman for her time, I made an easy decision to look elsewhere. Still not wanting to make the Costco trip I headed to another discount chain with a pharmacy well known for reasonable generics. Cheaper yes, but $42.00 for one month made no frugal sense to me.
Off I drove to Costco and let me tell you that when I received their price for a three month supply of Husband's doubled medication at less than $20.00 I was most pleased to have made the trip. So if anyone out there needs to purchase medication on a regular basis and has thought Costco's annual charge too steep for your budget, the difference in just the cost of the one prescription more than paid for the executive annual charge. Oh, and if I am correct, one doesn't even need a membership to use the pharmacy. Yes, I did receive an added discount as a member, but the discount was minimal compared to the cost difference between Costco medication prices and the other places I tried.
Just so you know, I have no affiliation with Costco and receive no personal benefit for sharing this information. Just want to be sure to pass on what is to me a budget saver.
Free Books On Finance, Decluttering, Gardening, and Religion
You do not need a Kindle
If you’re curious, this is the Kindle
2012 Family Guide to Groceries under $250 a Month
One of the positive reviews on Amazon:
I really did enjoy reading this book. i think the ideas were fairly common for the experienced housewife, but it never hurts to get reminded about the basics. i think a young family that is just starting and not as experienced would benefit a great deal from this book.
How to Plant and Grow Tomatoes
From a 3 star review:
As a failed tomato guru I grabbed this book with both hands, well one actually, since the other was holding my Kindle. The first section deals with the history of the Tomato and the fear and loathing it propagated initially. This was due to the belief that the Tomato was poisonous; a notion that took several centuries to dispel. Now of course we all eat tomatoes by the bucketful, thanks in no small part to a certain Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson who conducted a clinical trial much to the horror of his doctor.
The book contains some good basic instructions for becoming a tomato growing expert even if you don't know your way around your greenhouse yet. Of particular importance is the weather in your part of the world and the need to be aware of frost patterns. Soil preparation is covered in depth with several illustrations and photos to help the novice.
Having unsuccessfully raised a brood of tomatoes last year I was hoping for a more detailed level of instruction on feeding procedures. While all the photos show outside cultivation there is no coverage of growing tomatoes in Pots, Greenhouses or Grow bags. While it did mention the fertilisation of plants in the beginning of the book, this turned out not to be covered at all. This was the most disappointing aspect for this reviewer.
There are many spelling errors which downgrade this book in my opinion. A good edit and some more information, together with an improved table of contents would make this book more popular and gain a higher rating.
The Frugal Guide to Cutting the Cable Cord (And Saving $$)
From a five star review:
The frugal guide to cord cutting is a comprehensive overview of cutting out cable and replacing it with hardware and online alternatives. I have some experience with a few of the options reviewed but not to the depth and breadth the book details. It uncovers quite a few gems of functionality that I wasn't aware and explored technologies I've heard about but never quite understood. . This was easy to read and I was never blown away by terms that were too 'techie'. I enjoyed the comparison tables provided to show features of hardware, cost and functionality. I'd recommend the book to anyone interesting in saving a few bucks a month and dropping cable but still enjoying their favorite shows or movies, well worth the time to read.
Amazon blurb:
"Money always gets in the way. What can I do to improve my quality of life?" "How do I get more out of life with a limited income?" "My money never seems to go far enough." "Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?" Money doesn't usually come with instructions, but you can learn how to make your money work for you with The Happy Low-Cost Lifestyle: Managing money to improve your quality of life.
Managing money often seems complicated and, at times, frightening. However, the skills to manage your money aren't hard to learn and, with The Happy Low-Cost Lifestyle, you can quickly gain the knowledge you need to use your money more effectively and efficiently. With The Happy Low-Cost Lifestyle, you can take necessary steps to improve your quality of life overnight.
Most money management books demand that readers must make sacrifices to grow financially. The Happy Low-Cost Lifestyle focuses on using your limited financial resources efficiently to avoid needless waste.. By eliminating expenditures that diminish quality of life, this book aids readers with improving their lifestyles while minimizing sacrifice. The Happy Low-Cost Lifestyle is a life-changing must-read for anyone who wants to enjoy life in spite of limited financial resources.
Economic times are hard. In some cases, awful. Having been laid off five times in my life and have suffered through a few periods of bleakness in my life, I recently lost a job I dearly loved after 15 years. I spent many months wondering how I would recover, especially at my age now. I was no longer a kid out of college. I'm a middle-aged man buried in college bills and a big mortgage, afraid of how I would ever find another job in the field I love.
I saw this book featured on the social networks. While I try to create another career for myself, I felt reading this book was an important step to motivating myself to believe again.
I'm glad I found this book. It's an important book, too. Everyone suffers through tough times and questions about our job stability and future. The author, Paul Rega, does a great job in outlining with details how one should get back on their feet and believe in themselves again.
Mr. Rega focuses also on the external factors that affect our outlook and there are many to consider. I like he is always pushing the worker, no matter what field or experience one has, to keep looking for ways to improve our skill set.
As I said, an important book for all of us, for all ages.
I highly recommend those seeking a job and those with one to read this information packed book.
The ABC's of Budgeting is a no-nonsense guide to personal financial fitness. It covers the fundamentals, starting with budgets and moving on to saving and frugal living tips. The guide also includes real case studies, budget makeovers and practical tips on how to solve your own money worries.
Learn the ways of the supersavers with practical tips from grocery shopping to buying a used car to living within your means while still in school. The last sections on emergency funds and debt reduction are brief, but they are eye-openers for those who believe they are financially invulnerable.
Saving for Retirement (Without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery) Updated and Revised
Saving for Retirement will relieve confusion and barriers to action for Americans who are increasingly worried about retirement. The book removes everything from the readers’ path that typically trips people up and hits the sweet spot for everyone aged 18 to 60. Using new figures (including troubling new projections of healthcare and long-term care costs), Gail MarkJarvis helps readers calculate exactly how much money they’ll need and how to get there. She presents easy, proven investing strategies for anyone at any age that will transform pocket change into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Packed with her readers’ personal stories, this book teaches powerful professional financial planning principles — but makes them simple enough for anyone to apply on their own.
Become A Private Tutor: How To Start and Build A Profitable and Successful Tutoring Business
Amazon blurb:
Do you want to earn money without feeling like you're working?
Would you love to have a job that truly changes people's lives?
Are you the kind of person who loves learning new things and thrives when showing others how to reach their "AH HA" moment?
Have you ever considered working with children or young adults?
Would you love to work when you want, on your own terms and earn the income you deserve?If you answered "YES" to any of the above, this book is for you!
How Do You Get Out of Debt? Four Simple Steps.
One of the amazon reader reviews:
In the last year I have gone from making $50k a year to over $100k a year and I am in more debt now than I was then. I didn't know what to do or how to do it. This book really has helped me stop the bleeding and start rebuilding my financial future. I recommend it for anyone who needs help dealing with mounting debt.
Vegetable Container Gardening: 7 Easy Steps To Healthy Harvests from Small Spaces
If you are considering planting a small garden for the first time, this book will offer you many options and ideas. If it does nothing else, it will convince you to get going in the garden, something we all need encouragement to do.
Don't have space for a garden? Just use a container. Want to keep your weeds to a minimum? Use newspaper and cardboard. These and many other ideas will spark your imagination.
This is not a fully detailed book, it talks about drip irrigation, for example, without going into great detail of telling you how to put together a system. It discusses companion planting while giving a few examples, but without providing a full list. But it will set you along the way, and it will give you much to think about.
If you want a more detailed book, they are out there, but this one is well worth starting with.
Practical Ways to Simplify Your Life
For anyone that has already cleared the physical clutter from their homes. This book then gives you the principles to live by. It's a 12-step program for everyone. Keep it simple and live one day at a time. Make your home and your life a place you can really enjoy. Loved the book.
A BiggerPockets Guide: How to Rent Your House
This is a quick, fluff-free read that gives you exactly what you need to know in order to find quality tenants for your rental. I've been a landlord since 2001, am currently looking for a new tenant in one of my properties, and am glad that I picked this up. It's a reminder that I can always find new tips and resources to help with my business. For 99 cents, it's a no brainer!
Declutter Your Home in 10 Days (Upgrade The Home)
I have a serious problem ...
Somehow, everything that should be neatly put away ends up on the floor, in my way, ready for me to fall over and break my leg!
Declutter Home in 10 Days gave me a step-by-step plan to get everything neat and organized. Now that my living room is clean, I can work through the other chapters to get my house decluttered which will give me peace of mind ... and keep me safe!
Vertical Gardening: Ultimate Guide to Building the Perfect Vertical Garden!
This book is a good overview about vertical gardening and such options, where and why to do this. I like this idea in general because not everyone of us can do a regular garden due to not much available space.
But I'd like to see more detailed how-to steps; pictures would be very helpful.
This is a very good gardening book if you are looking to plant flowers inside your house or start you seeds inside. Lots of beautiful pictures. Even shows you how to grow food in your apartment. I am going to grow some strawberries. The vertical gardens looked very interesting too.
Declutter Your Life: Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity, and Enjoy Your Clutter-Free Life
A small book with big ideas on clearing up all the cluttered areas of your life. What was really good about this book is the discussion of mental clutter and the stress it brings.
Ground Beef Recipes from My Table To Yours
This book contains 19 recipes plus links to several more on the author's website. There are quite a few Mexican recipes (which is good for our family since we love Mexican food) as well as slow cooker recipes (also good for us since we're often so busy!). I really like that the recipes don't call for unusual ingredients, so I don't have to make special trips to the grocery store.
Paleolithic Slow Cooker Recipes - 50 Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Recipes for Slow Cooked Meals
Easy & Raw: 30 Gluten-Free Raw Snacks to Tempt Your Taste Buds
All I can say is, if my picky eater, daughter likes these wonderful looking treats - then ANYONE will like them! I am amazed at how these snacks have changed her way of eating - and not to mention how this new way of eating has changed her body! I personally know that the guacamole recipe is to die for! I am looking forward to trying more of these tasty morsels myself!!
These recipes are easy to read and prepare. You do need to have some special kitchen toys to prepare some of them. If you have been looking for an "excuse" to get some new "toys" - this book is a GREAT reason!
CHEAP MEALS and Amazing Drinks - 70 Recipes to Impress Your Friends & Save Money
Locally Grown: Portraits of Artisanal Farms from America's Heartland
.... Each chapter focuses on a different farm, and then explores the farmers' practices, products and the restaurants and markets that they sell to. Anna Blessing has really exposed the deep connections between the farmers, their food and the chefs that cook with it. Reading about the enthusiasm that the farmers and chefs have for locally grown food, will make you run out to your local farmers markets to taste the difference in quality that their hard work and passion ensures. Each chapter also features recipes from both the farmers and the chefs, using the farm's ingredients. I have already tried several of the recipes and am VERY pleased with them (which isn't always the case with other books that focus on farming and include recipes). ....
Recession-busting Britain: Best Free Experiences (Promo)
a Lonely Planet guide
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (without Cross-References)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (with Cross-References)
Taste and See: An invitation to read the Bible
The Bible arguably contains the greatest stories of all time. It is the most-printed and most-distributed book in the world making it a must-read for all people. Taste and See is an interactive prequel to the Bible to help make it more accessible to anyone who has not read the Bible before.
Taste and See:
• Provides an overview of the main Bible story
• An introduction to 12 short sections of the Bible; 5 Old Testament readings and 7 New Testament readings
• Identifies key themes found in the Bible and in the sections above
Study guide/commentary on the book of 1 Peter by Warren Wiersbe. I first read his commentary on James in high school and found it very readable and useful.
Excerpted from Biblical Studies, Student Edition --
Who are the Essenes? Where is the Nag Hammadi Library? Can sacred texts be found in a desert dump? What does an island in the Nile have to do with Ezra and Nehemiah? Was Miles Coverdale the Main Man of the Age of English Bible translations? Follow the history of the Bible, its translations and manuscripts, from Cuneiform Tablets to the Spanish inquisition and see the miraculous preservation of God's Word.
Other free kindle titles listed here.
