Finances on Friday

...In which I try to keep my head in the financial game by thinking on (and acting upon) ways to save pennies, make pennies and stretch pennies.

for good measure- a picture.  Not money-related, but whatever.  :-)

 Since I had company last Friday and was unable to post, my "efforts" list will be a bit longer today as it covers two weeks instead of one.

But first~ I have to share this video.  I found this guy's videos and have been devouring them whenever I have a spare moment (usually as I snarf my lunch).  This video, especially, is very helpful in explaining modern economics to anyone and everyone interested in learning about it.  (And any and every American SHOULD be.) Wondering what exactly a debt ceiling is?  Where our money supply comes from?  How currency works?  Why our nation is in some serious debt? 
  This video explains it all in very clear and concise terms and in an easy to understand format.  Watch it- and see if you don't go searching for other Mike Maloney videos.  ;-)

 




And now, A few financial efforts from the last two weeks:

(It is at times hard to write these because there are so many things I have done for so long to save money...many little bitty things that just come naturally.  Like hanging clothes on the line and reusing ziploc bags and using the library...nevertheless, I will try to remember to include these things at the bottom of the list.)

~ instead of throwing away the water I used to blanch vegetables, I froze it for veggie broth

~ went to a free knitting class at the library.  We started a new project and I really wanted to go and buy a PERFECT yarn for it but I instead chose to use a skein from my stash that had been given to me.  I am proud of myself for this because I really wanted to go to the yarn store.  Not only did I not spend money unnecessarily- I dwindled my stash a bit- AND it turns out the yarn I had was PERFECT for the project!

~ got tons of books from the library to read for pleasure and home education

~ filled a bag of books and audio-stories from the book barn for $2.00

~ I read this article about saving money on health care costs.   

~ crushed the last of the tortilla chip crumbs in the bag and saved for a crispy coating for meats or casseroles.

~ dropped off the clothing limit at the consignment shop.

~ I ordered local, grass fed beef: 1/4 of a cow.  The price was $3.30 a pound which is more than I would pay scouring the stores for deals.  But it is much more quality meat and sometimes being cheap isn't always cheap in the long run.  Besides, I won't have to do any meat runs to the store for a while!   

~ Called a local place for some bulk prices.  

~ used a free Redbox code (from m.s.m.) for a movie

~ I used a turkey in my freezer from last Christmas' sales (.19c a pound) to feed a visiting family instead of planning (and purchasing) more elaborate meals.  My tendency when hosting people is to go all out and splurge on 'special things' to feed them so it was a big deal that I showed restraint.  This helped use up the turkey, make room in my freezer, and keep my feeding-company costs down to almost NOTHING.  It was awesome.  PLUS- it was all cooked and boned before they even got here so it made meal prep a total breeze.

~ I boiled the turkey carcass for broth the next day.

~ gave dog and cat half of the turkey bits and skin from making broth and froze the other half for later dog/cat food.

~ I paid for a doctor visit up-front in cash and got over $45 knocked off my bill.

~ I took advantage of a Canon Press deal to buy a few things we've been wanting for over a year now (at 40% off), including some homeschool resources and a Christmas present for one of the children.  (Prices no longer appear on sale)

~ Found some kettlebell workout videos to use on youtube instead of going out and buying a dvd

~ hung all the laundry on line to dry

~ Matt sold some logs and got a tidy little sum to put in his 'boy toy' envelope.  (He would hate that I just called his envelope that.  :-) )

~ I began (and finished) reading The Real Crash by Peter Schiff.  Really great book.

~ accepted some dahlia and gladiola bulbs that a neighbor was looking to get rid of.

~ canned a few batches of applesauce 

~ washed and reused ziploc bags

~ cleared the fridge of leftovers and added them to dinners to be sure nothing spoiled and was wasted.

~ cut flowers from my own garden for vases

~ reused aluminum foil

 ~ fed chickens our kitchen scraps 

How did you do this week on stretching those pennies?

Yarn Along

 It's yarny.  It's bookish.  It's right up my alley.  Probably not every week, but perfect for every now and again.  

It's a yarn along.

 I have this problem.  I can't just focus on one thing at a time- I have to be half-focused on a dozen things at a time.  It isn't the best or most productive situation, let me tell you.  Projects take FOREVER to complete because I have so many begun.  Books take FOREVER to finish because I pick up a particular one before bed and then a different one in the afternoon for a few minutes and then a different one then those the next time I have a minute to read.  It is ridiculous.

I finished the first fingerless glove from last years' knit class and put the second one on hold through the summer because I was unable to attend any classes to help me through my inevitable hangups.  Going from dishcloths to fingerless gloves is quite a jump for me and my brain often feels like it is going to explode.  As the knit class has started back up, I'll be tackling that second fingerless glove to finally complete the pair.  And hopefully before spring.

(Can I just say how depressing it is to go through all the work of a project, finally get it off the needles and then have a whole OTHER thing to knit before the project is completed and becomes usable?!  Wow.  What a buzz kill.)

One more chapter to go of The Real Crash by Peter Schiff which is a just fabulous.  He has all the answers to our economic woes, if only people would listen.

The book Brave New World I have just cracked open because I never should have been allowed to reach 31 without reading and by golly, I am not going to reach my next birthday without reading it.

Hard Times is a great book to take nibbles on- all differing accounts from the Great Depression.  A Bountiful Harvest I got mostly for the pictures, I admit.

 My sister-in-law loaned me The Pioneer Woman book and I am nearly done.  It is as witty and hilarious as her blog was, back when I read her blog. It is a welcome change to the heady and deep books I have been consuming lately.

Jason and Jennifer: Wedding Sneak Peek

I had the privilege of taking pictures at the wedding of a friend. 

She was a beauty, her colors were gorgeous, the church was amazing, the weather was unbelievable.  What a glorious day it was.












A few Getting Ready shots:

 

The guys were hilarious to photograph.  Each one outdid the other with funny antics.  It was hard to keep the camera still with all my laughing.

the ceremony:

Some details:

 




And my most favorite shot of the day: 

 

Christopher Columbus (and a few other learning resources)

 Happy Monday to you and Happy Columbus Day to boot!  We had a lovely weekend with company but now it is back to the grindstone, as they say.  As soon as I empty my camera card of wedding photos and recharge my battery, I may have something to blog.  Until then, I thought I would share a few Columbus Day goodies. 

While we use a chronological approach to history, I do take a break from our normal history programs on particular holidays to study the importance of certain days and to do related crafts and activities.   One interesting thing about Columbus is just how misrepresented the man (and the holiday) is.  Some people claim he sailed around the world to prove it was round.  Some people claim he was the first to 'discover' the Americas.  Some people claim Isabella funded the entire trip with her jewels.  Some people claim he was a vicious, awful person who encouraged the slaughter of the native people.  All of which are entirely false.  Columbus is often approached all wrong. 

~ Here is a great book on the true story of Columbus:  The Last Crusader: The Untold Story of Christopher Columbus. (This is a grown up book, mind you.)

~ Lots of free homeschool links and resources here- for various age groups and maturity levels.  These include links for Columbus as well as other aspects of American History.  Worth checking out.

~ A very good youtube video about Columbus set more as a slideshow than a movie- mostly for readers, since the words must be read, not heard:



~ The Homeschool Mom has all sorts of Christopher Columbus links- including games, crafts, unit studies, videos) to peruse which you can even filter by age group.  Handy Dandy.

~ If my printer worked right now, I would totally have the children make this Christopher Columbus Puppet.

~ Readingwell.com has many audio recordings of different books in many different genres.  Here is the link to American History where you will find the Voyages of Christopher Columbus (but don't stop there. this website has lots of goodies!)

~ I like this ship in a bottle paper craft.

~ I REALLY like this ship in a (REAL!) bottle craft!

~ Lots of free printable worksheets related to Columbus Day (including grammar and math!) for Columbus Day at Enchanted Learning.

~ Columbus' Letter to the King and Queen of Spain-  for an older child/teen/adult.

~ Extracts from the Journal of Christopher Columbus-for an older child/teen/adult.
"Tuesday, 25 September.  At sunset Martin Alonzo called out with great joy from his vessel that he saw land, and demanded of the Admiral a reward for his intelligence. The Admiral says, when he heard him declare this, he fell on his knees and returned thanks to God, and Martin Alonzo with his crew repeated Gloria in excelsis Deo, as did the crew of the Admiral."

Good Stuff

We have some out of town friends coming to stay with us for a few days on Thursday and they have never been here~ which means I have some serious dust bunnying and rolling out the proverbial red carpet to do today.  

There are still zinnias and cosmos to cut for bouquets around the house (thanks to the hose treatment when the first hard freeze happened!) which I am very thankful for because fresh flowers in a home just make it so much more beautiful.   Pretty much everything we own is second hand, furniture roadkill or given to us.  We don't have fancy new furniture. But by golly- we still have FLOWERS.

While I am changing the sheets on all the beds and mopping under the dining room table (which hasn't happened in...well, too long)  and trying not to eat all the cookies that I bake in preparation for their visit, you can enjoy a few things that I have enjoyed around the web!

This is great- in a might-illicit-tears kinda way:

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This is great- in a laugh out loud funny kinda way:

 (And now you know the name of my next child.)

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A thought-provoking article about not judging a book (or rather, person) by its' cover. And what if the world would wear the signs that make them who they are at that moment???

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This looks good:

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Rachel does it again.  This blog post is a must-read. It was so what I needed to be reminded of today (and every day).

Once-A-Month Menu Plan

 

 I mentioned a bit ago that I now shoot for a once-a-month big grocery haul.  While it isn't REALLY shopping once a month in its' truest sense (since I still have to make a weekly dairy run), it has helped tremendously in the going-uptown-and-buying-things-we-don't-need predicament I find myself in when I buy groceries every week.

To make the transition easier on me, I made a monthly menu plan.  My objective with this menu plan is to have enough groceries in the house to cover these foods and by knowing what we will be eating, I can get them in one trip.  By having the foods accessible at home, I don't have to feel like I don't have anything in the house to eat (*and thus, I don't need to feel like we need to buy pizza!  Or, go grocery shopping!)

Not to mention, having meals written down makes figuring out what is for dinner much easier on me.  

Because we eat so many in-season things, this menu is a fall/winter menu.  

(I'll make a new one with spring/summer foods-although it seems like that will be harder given how much we eat from the garden.  That will be interesting.)

Some things to mention about the menu:

* I don't have particular days set in stone- I simply have a breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack for 31 days.  Whatever I choose to make that day (that WEEK) is up to my discretion.  All meals are interchangeable (meaning: Day 1 breakfast doesn't have to go with Day 1 lunch unless I want it to.)  And if nothing floats my boat and I happen to have the ingredients in the house for something that DOES float my boat- I can deviate.

* This is a lot of food!  We don't eat all of it.  Naturally, there are leftover nights, which aren't planned on.  Having planned for the food and not using it just allows for a bit of extra slack come next grocery shopping trip.

 

* I am purposely vague with foods.  While soup/stew is on the menu often, it doesn't have to be boring because there are so many different types of soups/stews you can make!  At the bottom of the menu I included a few ideas for soups/muffins that use ingredients that I have put up for winter. Before each grocery trip, I plan things more specifically.

* I laminated my copy of the menu and as I make the meals, I can cross them out with a dry erase marker.  When the next grocery trip is coming up, I can see very quickly what groceries have been used and will need to be restocked.

* You asked how much money I spend on groceries.  The goal is $200.00 per month (which is a lot nicer to work with for some reason than the previous $50.00 each week.)   That is just for food.  Other expenses like toilet paper are not included.  And of course, there are times when I go over that.  For example, when we have company.  Or when I see a huge bargain and stock up on it.

Making a monthly meal plan (even when you shop more than once a month) is really valuable.  And if you are interested, you are more than welcome to use mine.  Here is a printable pdf version of the menu.  

Does you make meal plans?  For a week?  A month?  

If so, do you eat as many carbs as we do? sheesh.)

Fallishness

 

Apple cider, flannel shirts, pumpkins replacing flowers in table centerpieces, roasted veggies for dinner, garden clearing, ginger cookies.  Dried cattails, potato digging, time for knitting, crunchy footsteps, harvest moon.

I have been in denial about autumn's return for a very long time.  "Nah- it isn't here" says I.  

"Soon-" I would concede "but not yet."

Well, on the way home from church last Sunday I noticed that when we reached our sleepy little town, the trees were ablaze with color.  I think it took our peak of color to convince me we were finally into Fall.  And what a peak!  Some years are dull but not this one.  This fall is glorious!

 Happy Fall Y'All.

Finances on Friday

...In which I try to keep my head in the financial game by thinking on (and acting upon) ways to save pennies, make pennies and stretch pennies.

"The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all of the fragments, so that nothing be lost.  I mean fragments of time, as well as materials.  Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever the size of the family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money." (pg1)

"In this country, we are apt to let children romp away their existence, till they get to be thirteen or fourteen.  This is not well.  It is not well for the purses and patience of parents; and it has a still worse effect on the morals and habits of the children." (pg2)

No false pride, or foolish ambition to appear as well as others, should ever induce a person to live one cent beyond the income of which he is certain. ...  The consideration which many purchase by living beyond their income, and of course living upon others, is not worth the trouble it cost.  The glare there is about this false and wicked parade is deceptive; it does not in fact procure valuable friends or extensive influence.  More that that, it is wrong-morally wrong so far as the individual is concerned; and injurious beyond calculation to the interests of our country."(pg 4,5)

"We never shall be prosperous till we make pride and vanity yield to the dictates of honesty and prudence." (pg6)

(all excerpts from The American Frugal Housewife:  Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy...a book from 1833)

A few of my financial efforts this week:

• On Sunday we went to Matt's parents' house to glean some apples from their beautiful trees.  This is the second time I have brought apples home from their trees this year (once last week too).  Total thus far has been about six full 5-gallon buckets.  We've also harvested apples from our one nicely-producing tree. 
•  I used a $15.00 off a $15.00 purchase coupon at Lane Bryant to buy two sets of earrings (buy1get150%off) to be used as Christmas presents (or maybe just ONE will be Christmas and one will be for me?!) Total cost: $7.00 for two sets of earrings.
  
• I dropped off my daily limit of clothes at the consignment shop on grocery day.
• I received a Staples rebate check ( $25.00 from free school supply deals) and an electric company rebate ($61.00) in the mail this week.  The school supply ones will go back in the school money envelope.  The electric company rebate will go toward saving up for the bandmill and to a date.
• I took of my photo postcards to a local gift shop to see if they would sell some.  They couldn't because they already had a photo-card provider.  But I TRIED, so that counts for something!  :-)
• I bought three large winter squashes for $1.00 a piece at a local Amish produce auction and a few bags of cheap bread.
• I gladly received a garbage bag full of swiss chard that someone didn't want.
• I finished making/typing the monthly menu plan. (I'll share it next week- when Matt shows me how to make it into a pdf.)
• Matt and I went on a date using free babysitting in exchange for some photography work.
• I donated more clothes and dropped them off while already uptown.
• Penny (the cow) broke her chain and I had to go get something to replace it so that she could continue to be hooked up to the lead outside.  All I could find at the feed and tack shop was a harness fore $25.00 but then I asked the people at the shop and they showed me a perfectly good neckchain for $2.50 in an obscure box that I never would have found on my own.
• listened to a free Economics 101 course from Hillsdale College

Apple Cidering

Judah wants you to know that big kids aren't the ONLY ones who can climb the apple tree.

Poor Corynn got stung by a fruit wasp while picking apples.  This face was three days in- when the swelling had begun to subside.  (Poor girl.)  She isn't as anxious to help pick apples anymore. ( Poor me.)

I should like to remember the day when he was so small he had to REEEAACCHH to help. 

It seems strange we are eating watermelon and drinking apple cider at the same time.  Maybe this ISN'T strange- I have never had a successful enough watermelon crop to know for sure (until now) but it seems odd.  Almost like summer and fall are playing duck,duck,goose to see who is up next. 

Tomorrow is going to be almost 80 degrees and we are going to play hookie from school and visit the pumpkin patch.  Because- when an almost-80-degree day happens in October- you don't ignore it.