What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Friday, November 08, 2013

Finances on Friday

 I've been thinking on:

"If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no indifferent place." - Rainer Maria Rilke




 


Some financial efforts for the week:

* bought a clearance costume and a few clearance masks this week when I went to bring my Mom a meal after her surgery.  The princess costume was $5.00 and will be an Adele' birthday present later this month.  The masks were $3.00 each (I got two) and will be used for our homemade Renaissance Faire and as another gift.

* set aside four sandwich baggies full of Halloween candy to be used for stocking-stuffers at Christmas. (the children were none-the-wiser.)

* set aside all the trick or treat M&M bags of Halloween Candy to be used in trail mix when we don't have big bowls of candy at our disposal (though I don't anticipate THAT anytime soon)!  ;-)  (The children were none the wiser.  I am sneaky that way.)

Can you tell I am trying to get this candy out of my reach before I gain all the weight I lost back?!?  I am kind of freaking out.  Candy, Candy!  I want more candy!  (I am such a kid...I know.)

* went to a free knitting class at the library and borrowed over a dozen books for school.

* hung jeans, sweaters and other "thick" things on the clothesline and by the woodstove.  ( I am no longer hanging ALL my clothes on the line because it is too...brrrr..cold.)

* Matt called a man interested in buying old barn beams in hopes to make a few bucks AND clean up a bit more from the middle barn collapse.

* used a free Redbox code for a movie rental

* returned part of an order made last week for a refund because I ordered the wrong (more expensive thing!)  I replaced it with what I actually *needed* and got A $40+ REFUND.  Yay.  That excess money will go toward replacing our printer whenever I can get enough cash around to do so.

* I used another free shipping code for above transaction.  (This saved $6.00)

* Judah took a pair of scissors and completely massacred a library book during rest time, unbeknownst to me.  The fee was almost $30.00 to replace through the library system but my kind, wonderful, understanding librarian said I could replace the book myself since it was one of theirs~  I was able to buy a copy for $4.00 on Amazon. 

* roasted pumpkin seeds from our jack-o-lanterns

* roasted jack-o-lanterns after Halloween and made pumpkin puree (over 20 cups)

* harvested last four cabbages from garden

* canned last of our apple tree apples.  Wound up canning 20 quarts of applesauce this go-round, making a total of 58 quarts of applesauce for the year.  I also canned up 29 pints of apple butter.

* gratefully received a beautiful box of yarn and fabric from a blog reader who was cleaning out her craft room (Thanks Ulli!!)

* went to a .25 rummage sale (everything was a quarter) and got five or six things to resell at the consignment shop (including a full length wool coat), along with a set of queensize sheets for our bed and a pair of church pants for Andrew.

* picked up our bulk food order and paid for it in cash

* downloaded a free scripture song entitled "We Trust" by SeedsFamilyWorship.

6 comments:

Ulli said...

A 25 cent rummage sale? I never heard of that, but it sure sounds like fun. Sounds like you got some great finds, too! Way to go!

Anonymous said...

I would love your apple sauce recipe. Do you add any sugar or vanilla?

Sarah

Unknown said...

I just tried to not spend any money and then our car broke down....after my week of thriftiness...and cost 500 bucks to repair. Gah.

Mary P said...

I love the quote at the beginning of your post. We get to be "poets" and call forth the riches in our everyday life :-)

BajaManna said...

I, too, love the quote. You are definitely a poet! My heart was in my mouth when I read that Judah had destroyed a library book, and SO relieved to find that you were able to find a replacement for $4!

Rebecca said...

Ulli- a 25c yard sale is an election day treat in our small town. Mostly it is junk- but occasionally you can find a few things!

Sarah- I don't really have a recipe because I try and do all the apples at once (and so, the quantity varies.) I cook the apples with a small amount of water on the bottom of a pan until they are softened and then I run them through my foodmill. I add sugar, yes, and cinnamon- both to taste. I have never thought to add vanilla! That sounds scrumptious.

Alyssa- I am so sorry! That stinks so bad! Imagine how it would have felt if you hadn't have saved any money the week before!

Mary- I loved it too.

Anna- me too! Boy was I thankful for my librarians' kind understanding. And thank you for your comment that I am a poet- very generous considering just a few days ago I was complaining complaining complaining.