The Summer Adventures Of Cherished Dog

Aside from laying on the rug, the Cherished Dog has been quite adventurous, providing plenty of fodder that is blog-worthy.

 Fraidy Dog

Cherished Dog has grown to love his new house and yard. The first week he couldn't get enough of the backyard. There was so much to explore! If we left the kitchen door open, he would sit at the back door and gaze longingly over his new domain. He loved to go out and we could hardly get him back inside. Clearly, his new yard was his "crack" and he was addicted to it!

A week later, he suddenly refuses to go out into the backyard. Instead of running out before the door was completely opened, he stayed back hiding behind the kitchen door. Cherished Dog is not small and therefore, doesn't hide easily, so this was quite amusing. He acted so strangely and we couldn't figure out what was bothering him. We pondered over what he could've seen. Did someone scare him? Did he see a snake? Is a neighbor being mean to him? Etc. Etc. Etc.

He would eventually go out each day because we insisted and really he had to do his business at some point but he would seem very uneasy while out there. And if I didn't close the door quickly enough, he would back himself right back into the house! What a stinker!

After a few days of this, his behavior was becoming quite frustrating and honestly, it was hard for us to force him to go somewhere that was obviously quite traumatic for him. At this point, I began to pray over the yard asking God to remove any evil presence or spirits  that were not of Him from this place. We saw almost immediate improvement in Cherished Dog's behavior and within a few days he was back to his brave fearless self. He still occasionally has moments where he will refuse to go out but we attribute that more to his stubborn nature than anything else!

A Gift From Heaven

One day in July while my parents were visiting, we were all getting ready to go out to lunch. We put Cherished Dog out in the backyard to play while we were gone. We let him out and stood there watching him run around for a minute and we are so glad we did!

Like most dogs, Cherished Dog loves to chase squirrels. He will jump and leap at the trees if he sees a squirrel up there. The desire to catch one is there but he lacks the coordination and grace needed to accomplish such a thing.

Well, on this particular day, as soon as he went out, a squirrel scurried across the top of the fence and leaped up into a tree. Cherished Dog noticed him, of course, and was standing guard at the bottom of the tree.

We had never seen anything like this before, but the squirrel lost it's footing or balance and fell out of the tree! In a ball, he spiraled through the air, landing no more than twelve inches from Cherished Dog's face.The look on Cherished Dog's face was priceless- he looked absolutely thrilled as though God had just sent him  a special gift right from heaven.

We watched in wonder as the frantic squirrel landed on the ground and continued to roll until he landed on his feet and started to run away, the Cherished Dog right on his heels.

This scared me a bit as I did not want him to attack the squirrel and get bitten or the other way around. I began to scream to the dog to get him to leave it alone, which of course, really didn't do any good!

Fortunately, the squirrel was faster than Cherished Dog and  despite the incident, was able to climb another tree to safety in record time.

We laughed so hard after it was over. Cherished Dog couldn't have been happier with this occurrence and we so wished we'd have had the video camera in hand!

Rock's In Socks


Rock, the Cherished Dog  tore a toe nail a  few weeks ago. He tore it clean off, leaving a painful stump of a toe. We were first alerted to it when we saw spots of blood on our just delivered new-to-us carpet. We cleaned him and the carpet as best we could and tried to figure out the best way to bandage the wound so that he wouldn't continually lick at it and hinder the healing. 

We had looked at several sites online to learn how to treat the wound. One place suggested putting a sock on his foot over the bandage. That seemed like a great idea and a frugal one at that. We found one of Andy's old socks and cut it way down. It worked ok but was not ideal. 

Our next brilliant idea was to buy a pair of toddler size socks. This should fit perfectly. Andy set off to find a cheap pair. We also had some other things on the schedule for that evening so we were in a big hurry. We live near several dollar stores so we figured  it would be easy to find something quick. 

Not so much. After quite a while, Andy came home and flung a pair of white ruffled and lacy socks on the table and said, "This will have to work!" 

We put the sock on the offended foot, taping it in place. Then we laughed as he limped around, a big black manly dog, with his frilly little sock on his foot. 

**Note: The Cherished Dog's foot is now much better with the toe nail starting to grow back in. He no longer has to wear a frilly sock and is slowly regaining his manly pride. We hope he will not have to go to frilly sock therapy anytime soon. 


Where is Rock?


One day, I was out front getting the stroller ready for a walk when I heard the Cherished Dog whining. It sounded for all the world like he was in the bushes at the front of the house. But no, I must be imagining things because he was safely in the backyard. I ignored it and went on  my merry way. 


Later that afternoon, Andy heard some interesting noises and went out to check on the dog. The dog was no where to be found. 


He called for him. No Rock.


Suddenly he turned around and noticed that the door to the crawl space under the house was opened. And there seemed to be thunderous movements happening inside. Looking around, he also noticed mysterious saucers from clay pots strewn around the grass.


He leaned over and called into the crawl space. Eventually, a very excited bundle of energy came bustling out, acting as though he had just discovered China! 


Andy got several big rocks and a block of wood and barricaded the door. He went inside, feeling very confident with his dog-blocking abilities.


But not for long! It was only a few more minutes before we once again heard the strange noises, which we now knew were the sounds of a very large dog running around underneath us. 


We went back out only to discover that Cherished Dog had moved the barricades and got back in. This happened several times before we finally were able to secure the door enough that he cannot paw it back open. 


But that doesn't mean he has stopped trying. Oh no! Almost every morning, he runs right to that little door and bangs around on it to see if perhaps it will open again today so that he can once again go exploring. 


And what sounded like Rock in the front bushes? Well, I hadn't totally lost my mind! He was under the house at the front and his whines were heard through the vent. 


Stay tuned for the next installment of The Adventures of Cherished Dog. The innocent look on his face isn't fooling any of us. We know he's already carefully planning his next caper.

Story CD

We love to give gifts to our nieces and nephews, but it can be a challenge to come up with something affordable and fun that doesn't add to the toy avalanche.

For my nephew's 5th birthday last week, we decided to make him a story time CD. I picked several books from my collection that I thought he might like and then also recited a couple of poems in between the longer stories.

I used scrapbook paper for the "album cover" and decorated it by hand. I know you're just blown away by my beautiful artwork! hahaha

I listed the titles on the inside.

The process took about an hour and a half- 30 minutes for me to read through everything and an hour for my husband to fine-tune it.

One of the blessings of having a musician for a husband is that we also have equipment.  He used his own home recording system for this and it worked great!

If you don't have access to a recording system, most computers have a simple sound recorder built into the operating system. All you need is a basic microphone. That's all the info I can give you because I have no idea how it all works!

This is a very frugal gift to make(provided you have the proper equipment) and one that can be personalized to suit the recipient.

We didn't give books along with this gift but it would be a neat addition. This is also a great idea for trips in the car!

 He liked it a lot and I see us making a few more of these in the future!

It's frugal, it's personal and it won't clutter up the house!

** This post is part of Frugal Fridays!

Knox's 5th Birthday Party

My nephew turned 5 last week so that meant a birthday party trip over the weekend. This was his first party with kids instead of all adults. He had 4 friends over ranging in age from 4 to 6 years old and I do believe a good time was had by all! We were honored to be the first party guests to be put on the list even though we are not kids. :-)

Party activities included football, kickball, making their own pizzas and eating pizza and excavator cake!

My sister made this excavator cake, as requested by the birthday boy. She found an idea online and then tweaked it accordingly. I think she did a fabulous job, don't you?

The party table. 

Can you believe that this is really the only picture I got of the birthday boy? I did gets lots of shots of the cake though.:-) Here he is with his beloved Uncle Isaac!

Happy 5th birthday, Knox!

Requesting Your Input

Here's a few questions for your thoughtful consideration:

1. Any ideas for a new blog series? A series gives a bit more structure, rhyme and reason to my normally random style of blogging, so I'd love to do another one!

2. Do any of you have yummy crockpot breakfast recipes to share? I'd like to try some as the weather turns cooler. Wouldn't it be great to wake up to a hot breakfast all ready to eat? I've found a few to try, but would love more ideas if you have them! I'll be sure to post results once we try a few.

3. What do you use to clean hardwood floors? I'm especially interested in a cheap homemade cleaner.:-) I've been using  Murphy's Oil Soap but would like to have one less item to buy, if I can find something that does the trick. Via a quick Google search, I came across the idea of using vinegar in warm water. Does anyone have experience with that? My floors are old but I still do not want to ruin them. And besides, we're renters. The practicality and simplicity of using vinegar appeals to me since I already use that method for cleaning the linoleum.

Thanks for your input! I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas.

Homekeeper's Journal- The Autumn Edition

This week's Homekeeper's Journal is all about Autumn. 


My first thought was "Fall? What's that?" :-) It's still pretty hot here that it's hard to imagine that in a month or so, it will start turning a little bit cooler. 


Fall is my favorite season!


Autumn in my kitchen means... making applesauce and apple butter, eating lots of sweet potatoes and squash, more soups and warm crock pot meals.


Autumn in my home brings... our anniversary, leaves to rake.


I bring Autumn indoors by...decorating with pumpkins and gourds, switching out our wardrobes for warmer clothing, simmering apple cores and cinnamon sticks on the stove for a homey autumn smell.


A few favorite Autumn activities for my family are... watching football (Go Redskins!), going to the mountains for leaf-peeping, and visiting the orchard for fresh apples.


Two favorite Autumn recipes are... pumpkin bread and sausage and apple stuffed acorn squash.


This Autumn I would like to... go back to the mountains and celebrate the first day of fall by doing something fun for my neighbors. 

What are your favorite things about fall? 



**Thanks to Sylvia for hosting the Homekeeper's Journal!

New Routines

My personality thrives on routines, a schedule and lists. My productivity rises when I'm on a good schedule. And truth be told, I'm happier, too.

It does seem that once I get a good schedule going, something comes along that requires a change. Isn't that the way life works?! So I am always tweaking and changing things around to make the schedule work better for us!

I started a new childcare job a month ago which again required quite a few changes to my then-current routine. This family arrives at my house at 7 am and then leaves mid-afternoon.

Even though I'm a morning person, I was skeptical of having company that early in the morning. I love me some quiet time to get things done!

As it turns out, I love this new schedule! I get up and since I'm on a stricter time schedule, I do what needs to be done instead of putting things off or spending too much time at the computer. I also simplified my morning routine greatly so that it is very doable.

Morning Routine:

1. Get up at 5:45.
2. Shower and dress.
3. Spend time in God's Word.

That's it!

By the time I've accomplished these 3 things, it's about time for the kids to arrive. Sometimes, I have a few extra minutes where I fix the bed and throw a load of laundry in the washer, which is nice but isn't a horrible thing if it doesn't get done first thing.

My husband usually rises and has his quiet time while I'm in the shower and then he showers while I have mine. This works out pretty well!

Since I don't do as much in the early morning hours now, my evening routine is a bit longer than it was before.

Evening Routine(in no particular order): 

1. Sweep and dust mop floors in general living areas. (Living room, kitchen and dining areas, hallway.)

2. Vacuum area rugs in living room.

3. Make sure breakfast and lunch items are ready to go for the next day.

4. Straighten up around the house and put things away.

5. Sort laundry and start a load soaking overnight, if needed.

6. Make sure dishes are washed and kitchen is clean.

Most days, this list takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to complete, depending how much there is to do. It's worth it to have a less chaotic morning!

I really don't have a really firm routine down for during the day yet. I just try and do a little housework each day and do things in between childcare. Plus I don't want to be too busy and scheduled that I can't take a lot of time to hold and cuddle the baby! Some things are much more precious and important than schedules!

The oldest child is starting preschool this week so it will be me and the baby. I suspect my days will fall into a more predictable pattern then since the baby is on a very good schedule already.

I'm already seeing the great benefits of having a very set schedule and these new routines. I've been much more productive, even on the weekends. A routine is a little thing but really has helped me with my time management!

Are you a routine person or do they drive you nuts? Inquiring minds want to know!

My Daily Giggle

If you haven't already, you'll need to check out Catalog Living. Since subscribing, these posts never fail to give me my daily giggle.

Too funny!

HT to Money Saving Mom for mentioning this site in a recent post. 

Homemade Play Dough

I love making homemade play dough. It's cheap and easy to make and I like the texture and smell better than the store-bought play dough. It also makes an excellent and frugal gift!

Making your own means that you know exactly what's in it, so it's not such a big deal if the little ones taste it.

Making play dough can be a fun activity to do with the kidlets, especially those 3 years and older. It doesn't take very long to make and it can be played with as soon as it's finished!

Homemade Play Dough

 1. Combine 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 cup salt and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar** in saucepan and heat until warm.  You can add food coloring at this point, too, if you want the whole batch to be one color. My helper and I decided to wait to add the food coloring for this batch since we wanted to divide it and have several different colors. 

**Cream of tartar is what makes the play dough stay fresh longer, so resist the urge to leave this important ingredient out!

2. Remove from heat and add 1 cup flour.  Stir well. You may need to add a bit more to get a good consistency. For this batch, I added just under 1 1/2 cups of flour.

3. Pour mixture onto counter or table and knead until smooth. Poking it may be desired as well, especially if you are almost 5 years old!

4. Add food coloring at this point, if you haven't already, dividing dough into as many portions as you want colors. Knead the colors in and add food coloring until desired shades are reached. Natural food dye can also be used as explained in this post.

5. Play with your new play dough! Cookie cutters, small pans, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, plastic knives, small rolling pins and garlic presses are good play dough tools. Using tools from your play tool box is also pretty cool! Nothing like sawing that play dough right in half!

Mixing all the colors together for a marbled effect is also fun!

6. Store play dough in an air-tight container. It should last around 6 months.

Enjoy!

** This post is a part of Frugal Fridays!

Peaches!

Harris Teeter had peaches on sale for $.49 a pound recently so I decided that was a good stock-up price for canning and freezing!

I marched myself right in there and asked the produce manager for two boxes. Each box was right about 25 pounds. From reading my Ball Blue Book of Canning, I knew that I should figure 2-3 pounds of peaches per quart. I wanted at least 10 quart canned plus some to freeze and a few to eat fresh so 50 pounds seemed like a good amount.

I spent most of last Friday peeling, slicing, canning and freezing those peaches! I ended up with 14 quart canned, 8 quart frozen, 2 quarts of  frozen peach puree for 2 batches of  jam to make later and 1 peach cobbler. We also had lots to eat fresh!

I'm looking forward to having home-canned peaches to eat this winter! I'll use the frozen peaches for cobblers, pies and smoothies.

When I make the jam, I'll let you know how it turns out!

Food For The Freezer

Back during our courtship days, if I mentioned that I was "cooking for the freezer", Andy would always chuckle and ask what my freezer liked to eat. Smarty-pants.

"Cooking for the freezer" may still sound funny to some, but it's a lifesaver for me these days!

I had allowed my freezer cooking ways to go by the wayside the past few months. The result? Lots of ingredients and nothing to eat in a pinch.

Since I make the majority of our food from scratch, it takes a bit more effort to keep foods at the ready. After all, if I don't make it we don't have it to eat!

I spent some time last weekend preparing foods  to freeze so that we would have extra stuff to grab through the week.

Friday night, I made a double batch of dinner rolls and froze half.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day in the kitchen and accomplished this list. No picture since we were heading out the door for a church event as soon as I finished  cooking!

--5 loaves whole wheat bread
--1 batch (8) pita pockets
--1 batch peanut butter granola
--2 dozen pumpkin muffins and 2 small loaves pumpkin bread
--1 dozen hard-boiled eggs
--1 pan baked brown rice

Obviously, I didn't freeze the eggs! But they are nice to have in the fridge for easy breakfasts and snacks.

I made the rice for a dish I was taking on Sunday, then I found out we were doing picnic lunches that day so we ended up using the rice for a couple meals this week and freezing two bags of rice for future use.

 Tonight for supper, I planned to make beef sausage to go with scrambled eggs and toast. Instead of making just enough for one meal, I used three pounds of ground beef instead and made 6 meals worth! It only took a few more minutes to make a big batch than a single meal and now I have 5 extra meals of sausage in the freezer ready to be used.

It feels good to be getting a little ahead of the game again by having some foods prepared and ready in the freezer! It's so great to have food to grab when we're in a hurry or on the go!

I'm hoping to get back into the habit of keeping my freezer and pantry well-stocked!

Our Crazy Summer

Where has the summer gone?

It's almost the middle of August which means it's almost back-to-school time around here. Summer is almost over!

I still think that school shouldn't start until after Labor Day, but then what do I know? 

This has been a crazy busy summer for us. We've moved, my parents were here to visit for the better part of July, we took them to a family reunion in Florida, Andy's friend was very ill and then passed away, I started a new childcare job last week...

Life has been crazy but hopefully it's settling down a bit. Maybe....

In the meantime... I have 50 pounds of peaches to can and freeze. We're getting some new-to-us furniture and home furnishings tomorrow. More on those things later!

Great news... We just got our first utility bill for our new house the other day. It was for two months instead of one because of when we switched it over. We were almost too scared to open the envelope but surprise, surprise!!! The first two months at the new house was the same amount as one month at the old house. Yeah! If this keeps up, the extra $100 we are paying in rent will be totally worth it. :-)


What have you been up to this summer? Do you feel like it's been a crazy one, too?

In Memory of Scott Adams

As most of my regular readers know, one of Andy's best friends from the college days passed away last week after battling colon cancer for less than a year.

Scott Adams was 34. He left behind his lovely wife, Heather and 4 young sons ages 7,5,4 and 5 months. He loved the Lord and was a pastor with strong evangelistic giftings.

Although I didn't know him that well, he had a very unique personality and was one of those people that you never forget. He was known as a bit of a control freak and a planner and never sat still.

His brother shared at the funeral that around the first of July, right after they had made the decision to stop the chemo, Scott announced one afternoon that he was going to go down to the funeral home to "try out some caskets." We all laughed because it was just so Scott! I believe his family managed to talk him out of it, but still!

Every part of his funeral was planned with the order of service handwritten, signed and dated  by him. True to character, he even had the last word when at the end a video was shown with Pastor Scott addressing his congregation for the last time from his Hospice bed.

But the true testimony to Scott's life came at the graveside service on Sunday when 14 people accepted Jesus into their hearts. Yes, 14!  It was so awesome! Heather was just beaming while this was happening. Scott would've been so thrilled.

Scott and Andy became friends in college when Scott joined a Southern Gospel singing group that Andy was a part of. The group disbanded in 1997 but Scott and Andy would still get together to sing from time to time. Scott's diagnosis was the catalyst that finally brought the whole group back together for a "reunion concert" in January. He was a wonderful singer and thoroughly loved getting together again for that evening. He was so weak from chemo treatments that night and was totally wiped out by the end but he had so much fun and could hardly quit!

The group together after their reunion  concert at Scott's church in January 2010. 

From left to right: Scott, Eric, Chan and Andy.

Please continue to keep Heather and her boys in your prayers as they walk through this difficult time. As you can imagine, Heather is absolutely exhausted and completely worn out from this tragedy and needs rest and time to process all that has taken place. She and the boys will be moving to be near to her parents where she will have their help and support.

Thirty-four seems so young. In fact, I think this may be the first funeral I've attended where the person who died was the same age as me.  Makes you think, you know?

Scott will be missed. But we know he would want us to celebrate his life and that he is now free of pain and disease(he also had cerebral palsy) and is running down the streets of gold and singing praises to the Lord like never before.

Menu Plan Monday

Since we unexpectedly ended up leaving town for a few days last week, I'm transferring the meals we didn't get to make from last week's plan over to this week. I figure since I have all the ingredients already, why not?

Pair that with inexpensive corn on the cob (10/$1) and a free 1 pound box of salad greens from Earth Fare  plus $.49 pound peaches from Harris Teeter and I think we are pretty much set with groceries for the week.

Supper Menu for Monday through Saturday:

1) Leftover lentils and rice with salad greens and vinaigrette dressing.
2) Scrambled eggs, waffles**, fruit smoothies
3) Sloppy joes, homemade buns**, coleslaw, corn on the cob, pickles
4) Homemade pizza, salad, dessert treat
5) Macaroni pie, peas
6) Beef and broccoli stir fry, brown rice

**Indicates already-prepared freezer item.

Head on over to Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration!

Update On Scott

An update on Andy's friend Scott:

Scott passed away early this morning and is now walking in heaven with Jesus, free of pain and sickness. Please remember to pray for his wife Heather, their four young boys and the rest of the family that they will find comfort and healing during this difficult time.

Yard Sale and Thrifting Finds

We went to a bunch of yard sales this past Saturday and scored some great deals! We hadn't been out for a morning of die-hard yard saling since April when we found our couch, so this was lots of fun! I was even able to find a few items that were on the list for our new house.

The highlight of the trip was finding a set of four Fire King custard bowls with lids for 50 cents! I was so thrilled to find "Pyrex leftover bowls with lids" that I didn't even notice that they are Fire King until later that afternoon.

Other wonderful finds:

-- Pillow insert: $1.00
-- Frontier Logs set (similar to Lincoln Logs): $1.00
-- Lamp: 50 cents
-- Dish drainer: 50 cents
-- Bag of Mega Blocks: 50 cents
-- Clock: 10 cents (I still haven't put new batteries in it to see if it works, but figured 10 cents was worth the risk!)
-- 2 Kingdom Heirs videos: 25 cents each
-- Set of navy curtains(already hung up but you can see the package in the picture): $4.00
-- Vera Bradley purse, checkbook cover and wallet: $2.00

One purchase always lead to another, you know, so after we got home from our adventure, I ran out to our neighborhood thrift stores to find a super long curtain rod so we could hang the new curtains in the office. No luck with second-hand curtain rods but I did find these two items:

--Tupperware  relish tray/baby dish: 25 cents
-- Super cute Liz Claiborne red shoes: $3.49

I think the Goodwill prices in our area are kind of high, especially for clothing, but I really liked these shoes so it was worth the price!

What about you? Any great thrifty treasures lately?

Menu Plan Monday

 **Thanks for stopping by! While you're here, I'd love if you'd enter my giveaway for a Dave Ramsey book!**


Last week, I mentioned that I was in the midst of creating a 4 week meal plan complete with shopping lists. Well, the meal plan itself went rather quickly. The shopping list part is a bit more tedious as it involves getting all my recipes together. It will be great to have my recipes compiled in one place once I'm done, though.

I went ahead and did the shopping list for the first week and will work on one a week until 4 weeks are completed. I plan to use these meal plans over and over so the extra effort is definitely worth it!

Already, I've tweaked the meal plan for this week to make it fit with time and budget restraints. But overall, I think we will like this plan and we'll see how it works long-term. This week's shopping trip was a breeze since I had it all listed out ahead of time.

Breakfasts are the same few things repeated each week. Lunches are leftovers, sandwiches or something very quick and easy. For suppers, we're doing a bean night, a meatless night(focusing mainly on egg or cheese as the main protein), a meat night(our favorite!), a sandwich and/or salad night, breakfast for dinner and the infamous 'other' category one night.  I don't usually cook on Sunday nights; we eat a big noon meal and then just dig around for a little something once we are finally hungry again.:-) This is how we typically eat and it works well for us. Dividing it up into categories really simplified the planning process as well. I just went through my mental recipe file, my cookbooks and asked my husband for input and quickly plugged 4 meals into each category.

I'll certainly change things up with the seasons, but this will be a huge help in these very busy next few months. 

What we're eating for supper this week:

**indicates freezer meal.

1) Help yourself!
2) Lentils and rice(crockpot)
3) Meatloaf**(used my meatball recipe this time), zucchini fritters, steamed carrots
4) Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit smoothies
5) Sloppy joes, homemade buns**, coleslaw, pickles
6) Homemade pizza, coleslaw, dessert treat
7) Macaroni pie, peas

**For more menu planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie!

Frugal Friday: Less Drying Time

When using the dryer to dry a load of laundry, I've started consistently timing the dryer for a little less time than what I had done before.

Most of the time, it doesn't make that much difference and the load still gets dry. Other times, it may need a bit more time. 

After you do this for a while, you will start to notice  exactly how much time it really takes to dry the laundry instead of just setting it for the same time as you always have.

Sometimes, especially with towels or jeans, everything will be dry except for a few pieces. Instead of restarting the dryer for just a couple items, I'll take them out and hang them over a chair, on the shower curtain rod or on a hanger. It doesn't usually take that much time for them to dry and it saves a little electricity, too!

Even though I line dry most of our laundry, I still dry towels and the occasional load of clothes on extra busy days.  Using the dryer for less time and less loads saves me money in the long run!

**This post is part of Frugal Fridays!

** Thanks for stopping by. While you're here, be sure and enter my giveaway for a Dave Ramsey book!**

My Two Cents On Budgeting: A Giveaway!

To wrap up my budgeting series, I have a fun little giveaway planned for you today!

In case you missed it,  here's a look back at the series.

Week 1: Before The Bills Are Paid
Week 2: Tithing
Week 3: Making A Budget
Week 4: Savings
Week 5: The Envelope System
Week 6: Paying Down Debt
Week 7: Finances And Our Marriage

As my regular readers  well know, we love and recommend Dave Ramsey for financial advice and wisdom. So today, I'm happy to offer one of his books in a giveaway!

The Money Answer Book is a small book with quick answers to your everyday financial questions. Topics include: relationships and money, saving and investing, budgeting, college and student loans, insurance and more. This has been a very helpful resource and addition to our library. This also makes a great gift, in fact, it's one of our favorite wedding gifts to give!

To enter to win this book:


1) For one entry in the drawing, simply leave a comment to this post. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you, should you win.


2) For the second entry, post about my giveaway (with a link) on your blog and then come back and leave a separate comment with a link to your post. 

**Due to shipping costs, this giveaway is open to U.S residents only.**

**Winner will be randomly drawn next Friday, August 6th and will be notified no later than Monday, August 9th. **

The Thrifty Stock-a-holic

I am not anywhere near a shop-a-holic but I do love to stock up on good deals whenever I find them. I guess this makes me a stock-a-holic!

Back-to-school sales are now in full swing and there are many deals to be had. You do not need to have school-age children, or any children at all, for that matter, to take advantage of some of these deals!

Today I'm highlighting a few of the deals we got this week.

Staples


Paper @ $4.99 each then get $4.98 back for each via rebate = 1 cent reams of paper. (Sorry! This deal ended Wednesday 7/28!)
3 pack of Scotch tape @ $1 each with in-ad coupon.
Packing tape @ $1 each with in-ad coupon.
Really useful boxes @ 25 cent each.

I used a 15% coupon which brought my total to $12.73.
I'll receive a $9.98 rebate back for the paper which brings my total for all of the above to $2.75!

View the Staples weekly ad here. There is also an awesome backpack deal going on there this week. Backpacks are FREE after rebate! (Use the 15% coupon to sweeten the deal.) I didn't have the money to purchase the backpack up front and neither do I need any more backpacks and bags but this is a great deal if you need one or even would be a great item to donate!

**If you missed the 1 cent paper deal this week, Office Depot has a ream of paper for 95 cents after rebate! Not quite as cheap as 1 cent but still a very good deal!**

Wal-mart

As much as I despise shopping at Wal-mart, they do occasionally have really good deals!

While there this week, I purchased:

Glue sticks @ 25 cents a pack.
Crayons @ 25 cents a pack.
Notebooks @15 cents each.

Crayons, glue sticks and the Really Useful boxes from Staples will be great items to add to our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes! I also use the crayons for the crayon rolls that I make to give and sell.

Goodwill

Not related to back-to-school deals but look at this super cute mirror I purchased this week at Goodwill for $1.99! It still had the tag on the front when I bought it, so either it was brand-new or the previous owner just left the tag on. :-) I love it!

Have you found any deals this week that you'd like to brag about?

Menu Plan Monday- The End Of The Month Edition

It's the end of the month and I'm once again using up what we have to create yummy meals!

I'm doing a bit of cooking and baking ahead this week in preparation for my new childcare gig that I'll be starting next week. After thinking it through, my main objective is to plan easy breakfast and lunch options since this set will be here earlier in the morning and then leaving early to mid afternoon. It always helps to be prepared especially until I figure out schedules and am better able to gauge typical early morning moods.:-)

I'm also in the midst of creating a 4 week menu plan rotation complete with shopping lists. Once the tedious detailed work is done, I'm hoping this will save me time and help me to stay in budget better over the next couple of months. 

Blueberry season is upon us and I've been out picking several times. Fresh blueberries are so delicious!

Here's the menu plan for the week:

Breakfasts:
-blueberry muffins(make extra to freeze), bananas with peanut butter
-sourdough waffles (make extra to freeze), scrambled eggs (2x)
-oatmeal, blueberries
-oatmeal, green smoothies
-whatever is left at the end of the week!

Lunches:
-hot dogs, carrot sticks
-veggie beef soup(crockpot), bread (2x)
-pb&j sandwiches, carrot sticks (2x)
-leftovers

Suppers:
-tuna melts, steamed carrots, greens
-pork and broccoli stir-fry, brown rice
-birthday freebies (2x)
-hamburgers, homemade buns, carrot salad
-What we have and sounds good at the end of the week!

What's cooking at your house this week?

**This post is part of Menu Plan Monday, a gathering of menu plans from around the world!

My Two Cents On Budgeting: Finances And Our Marriage

Welcome to the last installment in my budgeting series!

To celebrate the end of my first blog series (and also that I made it through), I'll be doing a giveaway here on my blog. So come back next week for more details!

Today my husband and I will be sharing our unique perspectives on finances in regards to our marriage. As you have probably heard and if you are married, you most likely know first-hand, finances can be a major source of frustration in marriage.

Well, we are no different.

As can be expected, my husband and I are as different as night and day. We are complete opposites in almost every sense of the word. On the temperament scale, we are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Literally. I am almost as introverted as they come and he is very extroverted. I'm a planner and he is spontaneous. Me? I have to plan to be spontaneous."How about next Sunday at 4 o'clock?"

When it comes to money, I am the saver and he is the spender. Oh boy. This in and of itself can cause a whole host of problems and it has at times. We aren't perfect and we certainly don't have this whole marriage thing figured out yet.

But today, we're going to share a little about where we were when we first got married and where we are now and a few resources and tips that have helped us tremendously in this area.

Budgeting Then:
His: I know how much money I make. I know how much money I can spend. I don't need to write anything down in my checkbook register. It's all in my head. Besides, if I forget I can go online and look at it. Plus, that's what that overdraft protection thing is for, right? And receipts, who needs receipts? This is precisely why I was always having to start over at $0. I never kept track of expenses on paper. I always thought I could remember exactly how much money I had left. And as long as I had money left, I was good to go!

Hers: I read many books on finances and took it all to heart. I was determined to keep track of every cent we spent and save every receipt. Our budget would run like a well-oiled machine and we would be as frugal as possible. I was so worried about doing this the right way that it was extremely stressful and I would have a melt-down every time I sat down to pay the bills. I had no idea that some people (namely, my new husband!) did not record their purchases in their checkbook register regularly. I also didn't know why anyone would need overdraft protection - that was for irresponsible people, wasn't it?

Budgeting Now:
His: WOW! I never knew how much freedom there could be in actually tracking your money dollar by dollar. When we first got married it irritated me that she had to know where every dollar went. I thought she was trying to keep tabs on me. And for a free spirited person, that is a PROBLEM! Nobody, and I mean nobody was going to tell me what to do with my money. But, as we've worked together on OUR money, not my money and her money, I really have found freedom.  She does a great job of keeping track of things. And we're able to communicate clearly on what we do and don't have and what we do and don't need.  If we don't have the money, we don't have the money. And that's really OK now. Also categorizing things has made a huge difference. To me it all used to be just money in one big pot. Now we have food money, haircut money, gasoline money and my personal favorite... FUN MONEY!! The categories have helped to shape my perspective on how it all fits together.

Hers: Thankfully, I've relaxed a bit over the past few years. We love our budget/spending plan and it has been so helpful to us. However, it's a guide. Some months we go over budget a little in some areas and it's ok. I'm learning that spending money and paying bills is just a part of life and I'm not a failure when we don't have oodles leftover at the end of budget. Knowing who it all belongs to and being thankful for what He has provided has really helped me in this regard. I've also learned it's ok to budget and plan for fun. Life is serious but it's ok to cut yourself a little slack and do something fun every once in a while!

Saving Then:
His:  Saving, schmaving! Money is there to be spent, right? Why else would you have it? Retirement, PSSHHH, I'm young. I've got years to think about that.

Hers: Again, I had read many books on finances and took it all to heart. If the book said we should save x% then we were going to do that! If a friend, family member or neighbor's cousin saved x amount then I thought we should too. We had made the decision early on to live on one income and save mine, which was very helpful. 

Saving Now:
His: Again, WOW!! Not only can I live within a budget, but when something unexpected comes up, I've got something to fall back on. Car needs new tires, no problem. Forgot a Christmas gift, piece of cake. I also understand the importance of not dipping into the savings day after day. But, it is quite freeing to know it is there when you need it. Also, categories my friends, categories!!!

Hers: Saving is good and wise but should not be my sole purpose in life. We set goals and then try to fulfill them. But we have to do it in a way that works for us, not everyone else on the planet.

Giving Then: (This refers to all giving not just tithing.)
His: If I ever had money left over, it was yours! You tell me you need a tank of gas, here's a twenty! You're a little short on your impending car payment, here's a hundred. Knock yourself out! I thought everyone was like that.

Hers: We had already made the commitment to tithing regularly. I was fine with giving extra as long as it was planned for. I discover my new husband is extremely generous with everything he has... a little irritating sometimes.

Giving Now:
His: I have learned the importance of some planned giving.  If you know something is coming up in six months that you'll be able to assist with, take that six months and plan for what you can give, THEN, work on that plan until you have accumulated what is needed. A little planning never hurts, go figure.  Fortunately for me there are also those times when you have to decide instantaneously if you should give. You know, that still, small voice saying... "Here's your chance to help. Go ahead." I still love those.

Hers: Sometimes the Holy Spirit impresses on us to give and we have the choice to either obey or ignore His command. Seeing my husband's generosity and willingness to give and share with others from giving money, food and household items, or even inviting others into our home for a meal and fellowship has impacted my life and made me less stingy and self-centered. We still plan for some giving that we do at certain times each year but are still learning to be flexible so that we can follow the Spirit's leading, too. God's desires don't always coincide with our schedules and plans!

Some basic tips that we've found very helpful in our marriage:

• Communication. Talk about finances and make decisions together.
• Know your individual strengths. I do the bulk of the budgeting and bill paying since I'm more of a detail person. Andy keeps track of everything online which is something  that drives me nuts!
• Togetherness. We are very much in favor of joint finances. Instead of 'his' and 'hers', it's 'ours'. Our problems, our money, our this and that. This seeps into other areas of marriage as well and helps to counteract some of the natural tendencies toward selfishness that we all have and encourages us to work together towards solutions.

Resources we recommend:

1. Dave Ramsey. We love him! Many of the financial decisions we have made have been based on what we've read in his books or heard on his radio program. His strategies have been so helpful to our spender/saver marriage. 
2. Crown Financial Ministries. Good financial advice from a Christian perspective. 
3. Ron Blue. More good financial advice.
4. Dollar Stretcher and Bank Rate.com.

Tune in next week for a fun giveaway! 

**This post is a part of Frugal Fridays!

Waste Not, Want Not

During our recent canning adventure, we were left with quite a bit of tomato juice in the bowl we had used for the peeled tomatoes.

Naturally, I didn't want this to go to waste! We poured it into containers to use in soup later on when the weather is a bit cooler. I ended up with two containers of tomato juice to freeze.

Cutting down on waste by trying to find a use for every little bit of food is one way I'm able to reduce our food costs.

What have you done recently to reduce waste in your kitchen?

Preserving The Bounty: Tomatoes

One of my goals for preserving this summer was to can jars of tomatoes to use through the winter. I was fortunate to meet a farmer at the local market who was willing to give me a good price.

I ordered 50 pounds of ripe "canning" tomatoes from him and ended up with about 60 pounds for $25. This was less than the price he'd quoted me and when I questioned him, he told me that if I had not asked for them, he most likely  would've had to throw them away as most folks wouldn't want to buy them that ripe.

I was happy that not only was I canning local produce, but also helping to prevent waste by getting these tomatoes!

My mom helped me to work these up since I'd never canned tomatoes before. We ended up with 21 quart and 5 pint of canned tomatoes. I don't know if this amount will get us completely through the winter but it will be a very good start!

Cost:  Just under $1 a quart, a little electricity and several hours of work!

Update

Thanks for all your prayers and kind words on this post!

My dad is feeling a whole lot better since starting the prescribed medication. The doctor said it was a "touch of pneumonia" since they caught it early, which is a very good thing.

My grandma came through her surgery just fine. The doctor removed a foot and a half of her colon. The questionable "shadows" or spots they saw earlier did turn out to be cancerous so we're glad they removed it. Please continue to pray for her recovery. For nearing 90, she is a spunky lady and is in pretty good health overall.

Scott is still hanging in there. However, he is fading fast. They moved him to a Hospice House not far from their home where they are attempting to make his last days as peaceful and comfortable as possible. He will be receiving his eternal reward very soon. It is difficult to see someone our own age going through this. Certainly a reminder that life is precious and fleeting.

Andy will be returning home tomorrow. This was not an easy trip for him as he said his good-byes to one of his best friends but he feels he has accomplished what the Lord sent him to do.

I'll be glad to have him back. I've missed him.:-)

Thanks for praying and caring!

Blessings!

Our Trip To IKEA

The nearest IKEA is about an hour's drive from us and we hadn't been there since it's opening a little over a year ago.

On our way home from a family reunion from Florida last weekend we stopped in to see Andy's parents in Georgia. We had my parents with us and before long Andy's mom was showing my mom the IKEA kitchen in their mother-in-law suite.

My mom has been saving up to redo her kitchen for a long time now so she was very interested in the IKEA kitchens and their space-maximizing designs.

We decided that this was our time to visit IKEA! We were all so excited to tour this wonderful store that we'd heard so much about. In proper blogger fashion, my camera accompanied me so that I could preserve the memories as well as remember the things we saw that we really liked!

In no particular order, here are some of the items that caught my eye.

A cute teapot.

I loved the colors and patterns in this quilt.

Naturally, I was drawn to this red and white section of bedspreads.

Not crazy about the headboard, but I do like this bed.

Wouldn't this make an awesome sewing table? There are drawers on both sides and the leaf folds out to double the length of the table.

One of the dining room sets we admired.

Another set of table and chairs we liked. I like the charming curved detail on the chairs.

Cute little high chair.

One of the kitchens both Mom and I really liked.

Another kitchen we liked. Mom especially was fond of the farmhouse style of the cabinet doors here. We both love white kitchens!

Our Cherished Dog may have his own dining area but we all agreed he doesn't need this fancy dog couch!

We went mainly to look but I took a little cash along just in case. :-) We were impressed by the low prices on many of the items. I ended up purchasing some inexpensive cotton bedspreads to make into curtains for most of my house and some fabric to make things to sell. 

Hope you enjoyed the highlights of our trip to IKEA!

Excuse My Extended Blog Break And Other Bits Of News

Well, I didn't expect to take all of last week off from blogging. But I did. My parents were still here visiting, some of of us were fighting allergies/colds and there were lots of things to do!

I have some posts lined up for this week that will show some of last week's activities. Lots of fun!

My husband will be away for most of this week as he heads out to minister to a friend. I mentioned this family last January. His name is Scott Adams and he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last December. Several weeks ago, they made the decision to stop chemo as the doctors said it was doing nothing but affecting his quality of life. At that time, they gave him 6 months. The cancer is now in his liver and he has hardly been eating. Please pray for this family. They have 4 young boys ranging in age from 7 years to about 5 months old.

My grandma is having surgery today at 11:30 am Pacific time. She had a similar surgery 10 years ago and has been cancer free since. Now the doctor has seen something there again that doesn't look good so they quickly scheduled surgery for her.

My dad was taken to Urgent Care yesterday and has a touch of pneumonia. He and my mom are still in South Carolina and are currently visiting my sister.

Your prayers are appreciated for all these needs!

I will be starting a new childcare gig in 2 weeks. This is a 2 month arrangement with the possibility of becoming more long-term.  We'll see how it goes. I'll be doing some extra cooking and housekeeping tasks over the next week or so to prepare for extra busy days ahead!

We are pretty settled in our new home. I don't have very many things up on the walls yet, but am working on it little by little. I'll take pictures and post them one of these days.

I hope to get my sewing stuff out this week and work on some fun projects while my husband is gone. Hopefully, it will make the time go faster! My sewing and craft items are pretty much the only boxes that haven't been unpacked. I'm still not sure where I want to set everything up for the long haul.

What's going on at your house?

The Doggie Diner

It started so innocently.

Cherished Dog's dish sat on the floor in our kitchen.

I set it up on a stool so he wouldn't have to bend his neck so far to eat.

Next, I thought his "table" needed a tablecloth.

And wouldn't  a mirror or artwork be nice on the wall above it?

I have two friends who motivated and inspired me to create this little space for the dog. I still think a mirror and a Hard Rock Cafe sign would be awfully cute!

But for now, I present:

The Doggie Diner

The No 'Poo Hair-Do Challenge

I decided this past weekend to ditch the regular shampoo and give the 'no poo' method a try.

It's life on the wild side!

I was really nervous about trying this since if I don't wash my hair every day it gets really greasy gross and my ponytail holder will continually slide out. What finally motivated me to just dive in and try it was that a friend of mine started doing it and I thought, "Why not?"

This method uses baking soda and apple cider vinegar to cleanse and condition your hair instead of shampoo and conditioner.

So far, so good! My hair feels very clean, doesn't itch and certainly doesn't feel greasy gross like when I go a day without washing my hair. I mixed 1 tablespoon baking soda with 1 cup of water in a squirt bottle to use. This amount should last about 1 week for my thick, medium-length hair. I haven't tried the apple cider vinegar yet, since I don't have any on hand right now and I don't normally use conditioner anyways.

Supposedly, hair goes through a transition period when starting with this method so I'll see what happens and how my hair reacts long term.

Maybe I'll love it. Maybe I'll hate it. But no matter what the outcome, this certainly makes for some good blog fodder!

It's frugal, it's healthier for your hair and skin. Certainly worth a try!

Have any of my readers gone 'no poo'? Please share your experience! And would anyone care to join me in this challenge?

Some good resources (which include more good resources!):

How To Clean Your Hair Without Shampoo @ Simple Mom.

How To Make Your Own Shampoo and Conditioner Video @ Keeper Of The Home.

Menu Plan Monday- Company and Vacation Edition

 Fourth Of July Cupcake Flag inspired by Good Housekeeping.

Hope all of my U.S. readers had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

My parents are flying in later this week plus we're leaving for a family reunion over the weekend. So my menu plan for this week is short and sweet.

My to-do list is quite long to prepare for company and travel so I'm keeping things as simple as possible!

Our freezer is loaded with a huge beef order that we got last week, so you'll notice a good amount of beef on the menu from here on out! We got enough to last about a year! It is so good. Local grass-fed beef purchased right from the farmer. It is more expensive than buying sale-priced beef from the grocery store but we find the price is well worth it for the taste, health benefits and that we are able to support local farmers.

Breakfasts
-scrambled eggs, homemade beef sausage, toast (2x)
-hard-boiled eggs, fruit smoothies (2x)
-cold cereal, milk, berries

Lunches
-spinach salad with various veggies and cheese (2x)
-sandwiches, raw veggies, fruit (2x)
-clean-out-the-fridge-before-leaving buffet

Suppers (You'll notice a few carry-overs from last week!)
-zucchini casserole, green beans, watermelon
-beans and rice, whatever veggies we have from the garden
-scrambled eggs, homemade beef sausage, sauteed veggies
-beef and veggie stir fry, brown rice

**This post is a part of Menu Plan Mondays!

My Two Cents On Budgeting: Paying Off Debt

Welcome back to my budgeting series!

If you are just tuning in, feel free to check out the other posts in this series.

Before The Bills Are Paid

Tithing

Making A Budget

Savings

The Envelope System

Today we're talking about paying off debt.

This common subject really needs no explanation, does it? Almost all of us are much too familiar with debt and how difficult it can be to get out from under it.

Before we were married, we made the decision to not take on any debt for our wedding and honeymoon. At the same time, we decided to live debt-free as much as possible.

Now looking back, we can see that this was one of the wisest decisions that we've made. We do not regret this decision one bit.

However, we did have some debt that carried over from before we were married. While we haven't been in debt up to our eyeballs, so to speak, we do have some experience with it.

One of our first priorities after the wedding gifts had been opened and our honeymoon bags packed away was to get our finances in line.

We chose to pay off our debt rather quickly so that we could begin saving more aggressively. We listed the amounts in order from smallest to largest and paid off the smaller or most time sensitive debts first.

A good share of this debt involved family members, which can be an uncomfortable and delicate matter. I do not recommend borrowing money from family members if at all possible! We didn't have a terrible experience with this but the relationship was much more relaxed once the debt had been paid!

Don't know about you, but I'd rather not eat my Thanksgiving dinner knowing that I owe money to the folks around the table.

In order to pay off debt rather quickly, we adjusted and tightened the budget accordingly. We also sold a few things and had a yard sale to come up with an extra payment or two.

By doing these things, we were out of debt in just over a year.I remember how nice it felt to not owe any thing to anyone and how freeing it was not to have a 'debt category' in my budget notebook.

So if you are in debt, I encourage you to do all you can to start paying it off!

Tighten your budget to just the essentials to make room for extra debt payments. Sell things. Look for ways to make extra money. Do whatever you can, legally and morally, to get out of debt!

As Dave Ramsey says, "Sell your car!"

There is so much more freedom in the budget when you do not have debt. This is especially true if you have a smaller income.

A friend once said in regards to a time when his family of five was living on $1000 a month, " We didn't have the money to go into debt!" I thought that was odd at the time, but I now understand that the smaller the income the less room there is for extra payments and bills!

It's easy to get discouraged over the debt you have. It's easy to feel like there is no way out because it looks so impossible.

Instead of being discouraged and continuing to muddle through, barely making ends meet each month, make the decision to get out of debt and do something about it!

Attack it! Yes, it may take a lot of time to get where you want to be. Yes, it will be hard. Yes, you will have to sacrifice things you like or change your lifestyle. You may need to eat rice and beans for a while.

But it will be worth it!

**Next time my husband and I will be teaming up to bring you the last installment of this series: Finances and Marriage. We'll be talking about our personal experiences and what decisions have or have not helped us as we work together to glorify God with our finances.

**This post is part of Frugal Fridays!

Hmmmm....

 **This photo has been making the rounds on Facebook. **

A guy in a convertible passed us on the interstate today. He was texting while driving at a somewhat high rate of speed and weaving in and out among the traffic.

As he sped off,  his license plate called out: IDIGLIFE.

Really? 

Hmmmmm....