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, March 21, 2014

Finances on Friday

 
Some financial efforts for the week:

* baked all our bread needs for the week, including communion bread for church on Sunday.

* made a batch of croutons from the heels and a botched loaf of bread (the inside was too doughy so I cut up the outside for croutons instead of throwing it ALL to the chickens.) Botched bread resurrected and made glorious.

* Used up all leftovers to use it before it was wasted.

* Saved eggshells and scraps for chickens.

* paid all bills.  Called about a bill in question to have a $35.00 fee wiped clean off of an account which I had paid off.  (Said bill was 1 day late due to a holiday weekend.  pshaw!)

* The account that I paid off was for the windows we replaced last summer.  It was interest-free financing until October 2014.  Generally I like to pay for things in cash.  But it was either wipe out our savings or make payments for free.  Interest-free is a great deal except when you miss the deadline- then you get hammered.  So I wanted to get that bill done and over with ASAP.  I've been paying as much extra as I could toward it each month to get it paid off in plenty of time.  Glad it is over- and with 7 months to spare!

* paid an extra $300 toward mortgage principle (This was a 'probably-stupid' move, leaving us a bit TOO CLOSE for comfort until next pay period but I did it anyway.  The end.)

* made a new batch of Ketchup

* boiled down sap and finished off maple syrup

* started germinating wheat berry seeds to make Easter decorations for the table.  (They are growing SUPER fast! I started them too early!)

* borrowed tons of books (and audiobooks) from the library for education and recreation.

* bagged up some clothes and stuff for Salvation Army

* finally got to the liquor store for Vodka to make some more Vanilla Extract!

* Matt fixed our stove issues for me.  Handy Man.

* I've been looking around for some good deals on new furniture for the living room.  Our couches look nice from the outside but when you sit down on them, you find out just how old they are.  Found a few good options.  Nothing that will land us on the cover of Country Living or anything- but at least Matt and I will be able to sit next to each other without the back falling backwards!  ;-)  I am going to wait (and seek) just a bit longer to see if anything else pops up.  I am hoping to get a pull-out sofa bed so that we can offer a real bed for sleeping visitors instead of an unreliable blow-up mattress.  We'll see.  It seems all couches recline for naps (or movies) but sofa beds went out with the 80's for some reason.  (The onset of the 'guest bedroom', perhaps?)

FAIL FOR THE WEEK: The last gallon of milk, when poured for dinner, turned out to be chunky.  (ew.)  Apparently, I kept replacing our milk while that one hid out in the back. 

Here are a few things I plan to tackle for today:
  •  It is a beautiful sunny high-of-51 degree day!  Quilts, comforters, sheets and jeans to go on the clothesline!  Wa-hoo!
  • Make vanilla extract
  • Order some things online:
    • seeds (so late!  Don't say a word.)
    • spelling books for Corynn (she's finished hers)
    • stove insulation
    • a present for Andrew's birthday
  • Make a double batch of yogurt
  • Bake bread
  • And of course, HOMEMADE PIZZA NIGHT!  (It seemed to take FOREVER to get to Friday!)
  • Work on the cable purse and Corynn's Easter dress tonight (during the movie) and over the weekend.
  • Boil some more sap down.
** I had no new photos to include within this post so I decided to do a "What was I blogging on THIS DAY in 2012" trip down memory lane which is where the above photo came from.  I shouldn't have.  I was taunted by GREEN grass, open windows (?*!*?!), and crocuses...and then, worst of all- written for posterity (and to make this Rebecca ridiculously jealous) were the words "It is supposed to be in the 80's today!"  Yeah.  Makes that 51 degree day I was so excited for, well, less exciting

12 comments:

stephaniegiese said...

I love your Finances on Friday series, but this one made me jealous for 2012 weather, for sure! :)

Tracy said...

Did you give the spoiled milk to the chickens? They love it.

Tracy said...

Also, we had a really comfortable futon for quite a few years. It doesn't look all that elegant, but the matress was superb. It wasn't a cheap futon- maybe $300 or so, and we even used it as a bed for one of our children for quite awhile.

Terri said...

I second what Tracy said. Someone gave us a futon one year and it's been wonderful for overnight guests. It doesn't have the normal bar in the middle like a lot of sleeper sofas do so it's more comfortable.

Karen said...

Aw warm weather...I so miss you. 6-9 inches of snow Monday fairly warm today and more snow in the forecast next week. I do not enjoy the 4 seasons in 1 week, every week. I listened to a bit of Jimmy Buffet this week and sung it loud. Daydreaming.

beth said...

chickens devour chunky milk and their own egg shells? boy am I not in the know. (and my farm envy just abated. a little.)

Leah T. said...

Scott and I made soap yesterday and today! Time to get the Etsy shop filled up again. And we're going to try the local farmer's market this summer since we're in such a big tourist area. Very excited about it! :)

terricheney said...

I did one of those 'probably stupid' moves in paying bills this week too. Yep, we came up short when we needed to purchase three items I can't buy at Aldi's...and gasoline for both cars. Ack Ack. This IS where being frugal is a bonus. We have a balance in our checking we try not to touch. Gasoline came from that, the three items from my allowance and we're agreed I shall not do the 'probably stupid' hefty payment thing again, lol.

terricheney said...

IF you can find a good sleeper sofa (and here's where you might check Craig's list) by all means get it. A friend of mine who buys quality pieces has told me that she NEVER has to replace her sleeper sofas due to wear because they continue to hold up far longer than standard sofas. Sage advice.

Courtney said...

Good job on paying off those windows ahead of time! That takes a lot of discipline, but I know you are enjoying the "paid off" feeling now. So, worth it!

Abigail said...

Bah! I just returned to the computer after binging on your last several dozen posts and was stymied by blogger when I started leaving comments. I've got to rattle pans together in the kitchen now and don't have time to figure out what I did to make blogger hate me, but I wanted to let you know that I'll leave them someday!

Your blog is so (pretty, happy, funny, yummy), and I always think comments. Maybe we could work out a telepathy agreement whereby I think comments directly to you, and therefore bypass blogger roadblocks, yes?

See you tomorrow!

p.s. Your syrup, by the way, is lovely, and don't let anyone tell you differently!

p.p.s. We topped out at 40 today, which I think is the highest we've reached this week. You're cruel for taunting us with memories of previous Marches.

p.p.p.s. Good job covering your tracks with the vodka "for vanilla extract" bit. Don't worry. I won't judge you for needing a little something extra to make it through to spring's first shoots.

p.p.p.p.s. Grrr. I'm on my fifth attempt to post this silly comment. So much labor for so little worth. Fingers crossed...

Karen said...

To answer you from my blog hah no too many true Amish are not super stylish are they? :) They are not sporting the designer brands But there is a lot of childrens things at the sale toys, onsies, home/baby items, anything, outdoor stuff, plain clothes too and a lot of maternity. Most the people there are Mennonites, some Amish, and some normal, some Brethren (my family),but mostly Mennonites and they dress there children in pretty much anything within guidelines. Thanks for stopping by it is fun to read every ones ideas.