Works-For-Me Wednesday: MYO Mixes

I do almost all my cooking and baking from scratch these days. One way I keep it simple and fast is to make my own mixes. So far, corn bread, baked oatmeal, pancakes, waffles and lentil-rice casserole are my favorites to keep stocked in my pantry. I simply measure the dry ingredients into a quart-size ziploc bag and then write the remaining ingredients and cooking directions on the bag with a permanent marker.

While I sometimes will take a half hour or so and mix up a few to have on hand, usually I just fill a ziploc bag or two when I am cooking that particular item for a meal. That way I have at least one extra in the pantry ready for quick mixing!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Organize Receipts and Bills

This idea may be too simple for some of you more technical people, but it works very well for the technically-challenged me.:-)
I have always had trouble keeping receipts and bills organized, so I was thrilled when I came up with this idea to keep up with them.
I use a regular binder and put a page protector in for each month. I file the bills and receipts in the correct month and everything is in its place and easy to find. This was very helpful last week when I needed to return my shoes. It also came in handy today when I needed to compare several months electric bills. I knew exactly where to find them! (Compared to last year when I stuffed all receipts in a small plastic drawer together. The idea was that I would file them at the end of each month. Well, that never happened and I could never find anything!!)
This binder also keeps all my budget info and each months income/outgo sheets. I also have a separate section where I keep track of childcare income and expenses.
Hope this idea will be of help to someone! It has really worked for me.:-)

Free Curtains!

After cleaning the office/craft room/guest room on Saturday, I felt like beautifying the room with some new curtains. When things are clean, pretty and somewhat decorated, I am more motivated to take care of it! So I went through my stash of fabric and found this plaid piece that was given to me last summer. I hadn't noticed it before but the colors go so nicely with the blue walls.

Curtains such as these are very quick and easy to make. I think it took me just under 2 hours to sew both curtains. I was very pleased to use something I already had and my husband loves the way the room looks now!

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Don't Forget The Money!

I thought I'd join in the fun this week! This idea is a small one, but it really works for me!

As soon as I write my tithe check, I slip it into the front of my Bible, so it is sure to make it to church. I hardly ever forget my offering money this way! I used to put it in my purse, and found that I seemed to change purses for church and the check would always be forgotten.

Be sure to check out Shannon's blog for more Works-For-Me ideas and participants!

More Cheap Ways

Since I have had no success in posting my next saving money post, I will just rewrite it now. These are some ways that I have been able to save significantly. I have only been married a year and a half, so I am still learning as much as I can to save even more! I thought I was frugal before I was married, but nothing compared to now.:-) And I'm sure more things will change in the years to come. I recently read a blog about a family of 6 ( four kids) who live on less than my husband and I do now. Wow! And I think that I make sacrifices! It just changes your perspective somehow. So here are my few ideas :

1. Limit the amount of disposable items. I use some cheap ziplocs and don't normally re-use them. We also use toilet paper.:-) I don't use a lot of paper towels or paper plates, cups and napkins. Cloth napkins are so much nicer and can be gotten cheap at yard sales or make your own out of scrap fabrics. Of course, there is a time and place for using disposables, I just don't do it all the time.

2. I have found that using half the recommended laundry detergent works just fine. Also, I wash most loads in cold water.

3. Keep a gift box. I pick up small items that will make nice gifts and keep them on hand. I try to select items that can be used for different occasions and people, unless I am buying for someone in particular. I find nice items at yard sales as well as the dollar store and clearance. I also buy my cards at the dollar store or make my own.

4. I stay home a lot. This saves a huge amount of gas $$. This also helps me to get my work done at home.:-) I have one day a week that I don't keep kids, so I plan all errands and appointments for that day.

5. I use the library. I was disappointed that the local library doesn't carry the selection of movies like the library where I used to live. My sister and I do trade books, movies, and magazines back and forth so we always have something new at no charge.

6. We don't go to movies or on outings really often. The trips we do take are planned for. We enjoy going on picnics, which is also a great activity that we can continue when we have children. And with our busy schedules, we just enjoy an evening at home together these days.

7. I try to make do as much as possible. This not only saves money, but helps me develop my creativity. I apply this a lot in decorating.

That's all I can think of for now! What are some things you do(or don't do) to save money?

On Saving Money and Living Frugally

In the last week or so, there have been many blog postings regarding saving money, living frugally and living on one income. The discussions have been interesting and encouraging, so I thought that I would share some of my own ideas here. I hesitate to share too much on this sort of subject as I am younger and much less experienced than most of my readers. So as you read, keep in mind, that I am only sharing what I have learned as suggestions and ideas. This is not in any way Biblical truth other than trying to promote good stewardship of what God has given us to work with in terms of money and possessions.

I also realize that many of our family and close friends read here regularly, although many of you are "lurkers" and do not comment often or at all!:-)Please do not get the idea that we are poor and destitute. This is not intended to be Mary Ann's pity party at all. We have everything we need, in fact more than enough. I find it a great challenge to stretch our income as far as it will go.

This time I will focus on saving money on food. Later I will share some ideas for other areas.

Saving money on food:

1. I don't buy meat for over $2.00 a pound. I watch the specials and stock up and freeze plenty when the sales are good. I do pay more for fish and the occasional steaks, but still buying them when marked down.

2. We eat a lot of cooked oatmeal for breakfast which is certainly better for us than most cold cereals. I do buy a couple of boxes of cereal per month, but try to stay in the limit of $1-$2 per box.

3. We drink mostly water. Again, the health benefits are great. I keep some orange juice concentrate on hand and we always buy a big jug of cranberry juice each month.

4. I keep very little snack foods around the house. I do buy tortilla chips and a bag of pretzels every month. For snacks, we will make popcorn or eat fresh fruit which I try to keep on hand depending on the season and price.

5. I consider canned beans a convenience food. That being said, you can probably guess that I don't buy many prepared foods. I do buy boxed mac & cheese for a quick, easy meal.

6. I cook most of our meals from scratch. This saves a lot of $$!

7. I bake most of our bread, and I also buy marked down loaves at the local bread outlet for when I can't bake my own.

8. I try to keep most meals rather simple by planning menus such as soup and fresh bread, a casserole and a salad and so on. It depends on what we are having as to the amount of sides, but especially during the week, I keep it pretty simple.

9. Since there are just the two of us, I will make a whole batch of something and freeze the extras. When I make lasagna, I put it in two 8 or 9 inch square pans instead of one large pan. We can eat one that night and freeze the other for later. I often will cook double when making dinner and freeze the extras. I like this approach better than spending a whole day preparing food for the freezer, although I do that sometimes too.

10. I try not to waste food. Leftover oatmeal can go into muffins. I keep my veggie bin cleaned out by chopping up the leftovers and freezing them in small amounts for soups and casseroles. I also keep a large container in the freezer for any leftover cooked veggies, veggie broth and little bits of meat. When I get enough, I will make soup.

11. I keep my grocery budget at about $150 per month.Including paper products, cleaning supplies and personal care items, I spend $200 a month altogether. This gives me enough to stock my pantry a little at a time and we also have guests over for dinner several times a month. We eat out probably about 2-3 times per month. Otherwise, we eat at home and my husband takes a lunch to work. Our eating out money has its own category in our budget.

12. I read lots of cookbooks and am constantly finding new recipes online. I love to cook and bake and find lots of recipes that use cheap ingredients.

13. For most items, I buy the store brands. This saves quite a bit. There are a few brand name items I love, such as Kraft dressings and we have found that no matter how cheap the Food Lion mac and cheese is, we still do not like it. :-)

14. As you may have figured out, I grocery shop once a month. This works well for me. I keep a small amount of money back to use for sale items that come up through out the month. I like getting all my staples at once, then I plan my meals by looking at what I have in my pantry and freezer.

Please share your ideas for saving money on food!

How To Pray For Your Husband

I came across this article/list as an about-to-be-married woman and continue to find it excellent and useful. This was written by Sandy Day and taken from the book The Best of the Proverbs 31 Ministry. Along this same subject, I also highly recommend the book The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.

How To Pray For Your Husband

Sunday: That he would become a holy man, a man of prayer, mature in the Lord, growing in his knowledge of God and daily seeking Him with all his heart. (I Thessalonians 5:23; Colossians 4:12: Ephesians 1:18-19; Ephesians 3:16-19; Psalm 119:1-2)

Monday: That he would learn to take every thought captive, to not be conformed to the world's thinking, but to think scripturally. (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 10:5)

Tuesday: That his self-image would be a reflection of the Lord's thoughts toward him. (Ephesians 1:17-19; Romans 12:3; Psalm 139)

Wednesday: That he would become a called man, not driven, with well thought-through and prayed-through goals in life. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

Thursday: That he would stand firm against the schemes of the devil and resist Satan in all circumstances. (Ephesians 6:10-18; James 4:7)

Friday: That the fruit of the Spirit would be exhibited more and more in his life. That he would learn to love as God commanded. (Galatians 5:22-23; I Corinthians 13:4-7; Romans 12:8-10)

Saturday: That the Lord would protect him, guarding his course. That he would learn to manage his time well. (Proverbs 2:8; Ephesians 5:15)

Control Journals and Menu Planning

I have been setting time aside this week to build my control journal the Flylady way. Hopefully, by following her steps one at a time, I will be able to do this long term!

Ever since the beginning of the year, I have come to a standstill with my weekly menu planning. I just can't seem to think of anything to cook! My pantry and freezer are well-stocked, so the problem obviously lies with me.:-) I made a master list of the foods we like in their respective categories and started doing a monthly dinner menu. Then each week, I can transfer it to a weekly menu and include side dishes and breakfast and lunch menus, which are simple to come up with in comparison! After several months, I should be able to rotate the menus, and it will help me to remember to prepare our favorites on a more consistent basis.

For the sake of simplicity, I adopted and adapted the "If it's Monday, it must be spaghetti" meal plan.(On the Flylady website.) This was helpful in preparing the monthly menu because it gave me a game plan to go by. I also left at least one day open a week for Cook's Choice, so that I can either try a new recipe or use leftovers(my friend in cooking and eating frugally.) Here is the plan I came up with, which I'm sure will be tweaked as the year moves along :-):

Monday: dinner with small group 3 weeks out of month, otherwise Cook's Choice
Tuesday: Soup and salad or sandwich
Wednesday: vegetarian night
Thursday: crockpot or something from freezer
Friday: Cook's Choice
Saturday: Breakfast foods(I like doing this in the evening when there is more time and it will be helpful when yard sale season rolls around! Heehee!!!)
Sunday: Snack-type foods

My husband's supervisor sent home some cooking magazines for me to look at yesterday. Some of them are the Kraft Food and Family magazines. I am getting lots of great ideas. A lot of these recipes call for convenience items that I don't normally keep on hand, but others use cheaper ingredients that I do have in stock. I already found a few that I want to try and some more expensive ones that would be good for a special dinner(think Valentine's Day!). If these are good recipes, I will share them with you on my cooking blog!

Weekly Specials

Even though I do the bulk of my grocery shopping on a monthly basis, I still try to save a little of my grocery money to use towards the end of the month on great deals that come up, especially meats and produce.

I have been using the Sunday Savers site to check the weekly specials for those store circulars that I don't receive in my mailbox each week. They have a ton of stores listed and you can click on whichever ones you frequent and see this weeks specials. I use it to check specials for the stores that I don't normally shop at, but are known to run really great specials on meats, like Harris Teeter. Having it all online also helps to eliminate some of the paper piles around the house.

Oops!

As I was writing the post below, I suddenly felt something scratchy beneath my neck and realized my sweater is on backwards.The stitching of the tag is quite noticeable and the funny thing is that I didn't even get dressed in the dark this morning. Oops!!!:-)

Engagement Anniversary

Today is two years since we got engaged. We don't make a habit of really celebrating these special days, but it is fun to remember them.

The day we got engaged was Martin Luther King Day and we both had the day off. I had no idea he was going to propose, but we had been discussing marriage and starting to plan our wedding. I knew he had picked out the ring and was paying for it.

Anyways, we had a very nice quiet morning talking about wedding plans when out of nowhere, he said he was working on a special song for the wedding and wanted me to hear it.(He writes songs and sings, so I wasn't suprised about it.) So he proceeds to sing this lovely song and I thought it was wonderful. When he was done, I hugged him and told him how great it was. He told me to sit back down and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He actually put the ring on my finger and then ask me to marry him. :-) Then we called everyone to tell them that I had said "yes", and no one was really suprised but they were all very happy.

And that, my friends, is the story of our engagement. Oh, and he later sang that song to me at our wedding.

Quick Shopping and Bargains

I finally did it. I was in and out of Wal-Mart in less than 10 minutes. Sure, I only needed 3 items, well, 2 and ended up with 3, but it was also Saturday morning. So that counts for something, especially since a few minutes of that time was walking to and from our car which was parked in Outer Mongolia. My husband, who sat in the car because he hates shopping at Wal-Mart during busy times, was quite impressed.

My little impulse buy from this morning turned out to be a package of corndogs for my husband who sometimes craves food from his bachelor days. :-) This will be game food while he watches the Redskins and Seahawks play this afternoon. Go Redskins!

Since we all like to brag on our bargains from time to time, I thought I'd share my buys from this week. If you know me at all, you will know that I love Mary Engelbreit. I am thrilled that Michael's has been carrying a line of her cards and papers and such in their dollar section. I popped in the other day and they had the Mary Engelbreit Christmas cards for .30 a package so I got 40 cards for $1.50. I was pleased. I also found 2 large cans of sweet potatoes for .79 each(half-price). The only reason they were discounted was that the labels were a little torn. While I love a good deal, I think I save a lot more money by just not buying many items even if they are on sale. Just because it is cheap doesn't mean I need it. But if it is something I use anyways and will need in a reasonable amount of time, I go ahead and buy it.

Thought For The Day

This quote was found on a Mary Engelbreit card:

To be happy: Don't do whatever you like; like whatever you do.

That is pretty profound and a good thought for most of us to ponder. The picture on the card shows a woman pushing a vacuum and waving a Flylady-style duster while dancing and holding a rose in her mouth. Now I don't know about the rose part, but I need to remember to be cheerful no matter what my circumstances. It is easy to generally be discontent with life because "It's not what I expected." Well, I guess that's the way life is, isn't it? This quote reminds me of a familiar Bible verse: "...And be content with what you have." Hebrews 13:5. Also in Ecclesiastes 5: 19 and 20: "...When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." I wonder what will happen in my heart and home as I cultivate a spirit of contentment and joy?

A Three Year Anniversary

Today is three years since my husband and I met in person. We were introduced on eharmony in September 2002. After 4 months of communicating through the site and personal email,we decided to meet face to face.

I already felt like I knew him, so I wasn't too worried about that. I was, however, concerned that maybe he was not as healthy and independent as he had led me to believe.( My husband was born with spina bifida.) I was also highly concerned that his voice would sound funny. Evidently voices are a big deal to me! :-)

We chose to meet at a Cracker Barrel and I suggested the Cracker Barrel nearest to me. Not only would I not have to drive very far, but I also knew the area well enough if I needed to make a quick escape. (You can never be too sure about these men you meet on the internet.)

My sister and her friend went with me, because they felt the need to protect me. He came alone. I did have a moment of panic when I drove around the front of the restaurant and saw him- only it was a sixty year old man instead and I thought he had lied about his age.

Anyways, he brought me daisies, which he remembered were my favorite flower. My bodyguards were impressed. He had a very nice deep voice, was very conversational and was very much like I thought he would be. I was impressed. He paid for our meals. We all were impressed. Especially him, who used a gift card he had gotten from his boss for Christmas that year.

He passed the test and we soon found ourselves sitting alone in rockers on the front porch of the restaurant, while the bodyguards went shopping next door. We meditated in silence for several minutes and then discussed the weather. Eventually the topic changed to other things. We exchanged phone numbers. I told him that he could call me.

I could hardly wait to check my email that night to see if he was still interested. He was. He said he would call me the next Saturday around 9:30. He did, on the minute.

We laugh now, because he was obviously very interested in me right away and showed it. I still felt I needed to check him out. It takes me a while to get to know someone and feel comfortable. So the first several dates were spent with him talking and me listening. I learned so much about him in that first month or two. ( Good thing too, because now I talk and he listens!!)

After a previous rough dating experience, I said I would not date someone again if we were not friends first. Funny, I hadn't met him, but I felt that through the eharmony process we were already friends.

Somehow, in many ways it seems as though we have known each other much longer than three years. Maybe we should go sit on the rockers at Cracker Barrel and celebrate- by talking about the weather.

Study The Word of God- Acts 17:10-12

These verses stood out to me in my quiet time yesterday. We also studied them in our small group last night.

Acts 17:10-12(NIV): As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians. For they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

I really like the word eagerness there-it shows a love and a hunger for the things of God. Studying and knowing the Word of God will protect us against being deceived by Satan's clever tactics.

One of my main goals and prayers for this year is that my heart will search after God more than ever before, and that I will keep His Word as the apple of my eye! (Proverbs 7:2)

First Week of the New Year

Ahhh! A new year. It has been quite a week unwinding from the busy holidays. My husband and I have also been feeling under the weather most of the week. Whatever he had was worse than whatever I had, but we are both feeling a whole lot better now. PTL! Hopefully as the year gets rolling, I will get back into the swing of things and post more regularly again.

As the first week of the new year comes to an end, I will share what happened in my house this week, however boring it may be.:-)

Monday: My parents and brother left at 4:30 am for the Charlotte airport to fly back to Oregon. We got up to see them off and went back to bed. Actually, I started laundry before going back to bed... the piles of laundry were starting to take over the cottage! We got up a couple of hours later and rushed around to clean up the house, wash the glasses and prepare for some guests. My husband's grandparents were on their way back to New York and had time to stop by. My husband had also invited a friend from work with her husband and baby over for lunch that day, so everyone stayed and met each other and had a nice time eating potato soup, fresh French bread, sliced cheese and ham, fruit salad and Christmas cookies. In the evening I paid bills.

Tuesday: My husband and I were both coming down with something cold and flu related today. I did manage to pack up all Christmas decorations and put them away. I thanked God for being newly married and not having accumulated a houseful of decorations yet. The tree is out by the curb. We ate leftovers.

Wednesday: I worked on a grocery list for Thursday. I also worked on a Master Shopping List that I can print out and use each month, simply crossing off the items we do not need that month. I worked on Children's Ministry stuff for church. I took care of an almost 9 month old whose newest accomplishment is climbing up onto the coffee table, using my husband's shoe for a step stool. We ate leftovers again for lunch but for dinner, I made Chicken Cordon Bleu, an impulse purchase from last month's Sam's Club trip. It is tasty and less expensive than eating out, however, I need to remember to never shop hungry or with a hungry husband in tow.:-) We both have Wednesday night meetings at church every week- Worship team practice for him and Children's Ministry meeting for me.

Thursday: I did my monthly grocery shopping and was pleased to stay well under budget so that I have extra $$ for store specials that will come up during the rest of the month as well as extra fresh produce and anything I forgot to buy! I stopped at Target and found a very nice Christmas gift for next year at 75% off, staying in my Christmas budget of $5 or less per person. I also got a Mary Engelbreit Family calendar for a great price and filled in all birthdays and special days for the year. I really like this calendar because it has large spaces to write in plus stickers to draw your attention to birthdays and such. While I was at it, I went ahead and got my birthday cards ready for the year. They are not signed, but I chose a card for each person then put the card in envelope and wrote the name on the envelope. That will help me a lot! For dinner, we had burgers and Baked Potato Salad
. Then we were off to church for our weekly prayer time.

Friday: That's today! I am again doing laundry. I washed some "hand wash only" items today, cleaned up the kitchen and am in the process of taking care of my little buddy once again! I don't know what I am cooking for dinner tonight, but I have a pantry and freezer full of food to choose from!

So that's my week in a nutshell...

New Year's Day

I buy a lot of diaries,
Fill them up with good intentions,
Each and every New Year's Eve,
I make myself a list.
All the things I'm gonna change,
Until January 2nd,
But this time I'm making one promise.

This will be my resolution.
Every day is New Year's Day.
This will be my resolution.
Every day is New Year's Day.

I believe it's possible.
I believe in new beginnings.
'Cause I believe in Christmas Day,
And Easter morning too.
And I'm convinced it's doable,
'Cause I believe in second chances.
Just the way that I believe in you.

This will be my resolution.
Every day is New Year's Day.
This could start a revolution.
Every day is...

One more chance to start all over.
One more chance to change and grow.
One more chance to grab ahold of grace
And never let it go.

This will be my resolution,
Every day is New Year's Day.
This will be my resolution,
Every Day is New Year's Day.

Written by Carolyn Arends
copyright 1997 running arends music
New Spring Publishing, a division of Brentwood Music Publishing

A New Cooking Blog!!!

Come on over and check out my sister and I's new cooking blog- Two Many Cooks In The Kitchen.

Currently Reading: The Art of Romantic Living

The new book I am reading this week is The Art of Romantic Living: Simple Touches to Enhance Everyday Life by Susan Wales. The author has also coauthored at least one book on entertaining as well.

While I have no immediate plans to install a chandelier over my bathtub or go on a hot-air balloon ride with my husband, I am very inspired by the many simple and inexpensive ways to add beauty to my life and home. She includes a lot of verses and inspirational quotes that remind me of Alexandra Stoddard's books, but this one is written from a Christian perspective.

I picked up this book for only several dollars at a Christian book outlet this week and have found it to be well worth the money spent. It's one of those books that you can pick up and read a couple of pages at a time. I highly recommend this book!

Christmas Recap

I hope everyone has had as wonderful of a Christmas as we had this year. We were down at my sister's house over Christmas. It was very nice having the whole family together. My parents and brother are here from Oregon and this is the first Christmas to have a baby in the family since me.:-) Needless to say, the Knoxster received special treatment for Christmas this year, but fortunately he is a very charming and sociable child who does quite well with all the extra attention.

My sister cooked a delicious Christmas dinner of Pork Tenderloin with Tarragon Mustard Sauce which was wonderful and had sides of Parmesan Potatoes, Spinach Artichoke Casserole, Asparagus, Wheat Bread, Fruit Salad and Green Salad. In the evening, we had snacks and desserts that we all helped prepare. My contributions to the day were a Mango Cheeseball, Green Salad, Christmas cookies, and a Chocolate Cake with a creamy peppermint icing. My mom made a delicious sugar-free pumpkin pie for my dad, who is diabetic, and we all enjoyed it.

It seemed as though we had a larger pile of presents than usual this year. Maybe the new baby is the reason for that? But this is the first Christmas we have all been together since Kathryn and I have been married, so there were 3 more people in the family. I know that presents are not the real reason for Christmas, but it is such a fun tradition to give and receive. I was feeling pretty good about all the bargains that I had gotten on Christmas gifts this year. But come to find out, everyone did that! My husband thinks it is hilarious how we(Mom, Kathryn and I) get such pleasure out of telling where we got our presents. We are all great clearance and yard sale shoppers, as well as the occasional re-gifters. Among my pile of gifts were a set of sheets,a sweatshirt,some books, cherry kitchen towels, cherry serving plates, cherry spreaders, a cherry spoonrest and trivet, some Christmas ornaments and decorations and a vintage apron embroidery kit. Maybe our families wish for me to decorate my kitchen with cherries?!?! I sort of got that idea!;-)

We did some shopping on our way home. My sweet husband agreed to let me stop at my favorite store- the April Cornell outlet store in Greenville. The cashier who was also the manager gave me a $20 dollar coupon for shopping that day so I spent very little on two items. I pretty much got one dress($19) for free. I returned the favor by letting him stop at his favorite music store in Gaffney.

Now we are home and I am still digging myself out from under a very generous Christmas. I am leaving my tree and decorations up until after New Years. My family is still around and for me the holidays will not truly be over until the last guest leaves. I always look so forward to this time of year and while I am anxious about life getting back to normal, something in me wants to prolong the Christmas season just a few more days!