Buying Herbs in Bulk: A 7QT of Sorts

Seven Quick Takes - All on the Same Subject (I think this might be cheating the rules!)

Totally unrelated but I think pretty. New kitchen rags! Washed, folded and ready for use. 

1. Buying herbs in bulk has been awesome awesome awesome for me!

2. Have you ever visited Mountain Rose Herbs? You should click on through! Serious! Want want want everything I see!

3. I ordered from them...a long time ago...I really honestly can't remember when, but this draft was started in July of 2012. That should give you an idea! (I ordered a pound of raspberry leaves and 1/2 a pound of nettle leaves - just getting low on the nettles now.) The herbs still taste fabulous in tea and I try to whip-up a batch of my home blend of the nettles and raspberry leaves, both of which I ordered from, you guessed it, Mountain Rose Herbs, for any new mommas I know!

4. I know these herbs have a delicate shelf life but I keep them in a dry, cool, dark cabinet and mix-up the two herbs into a separate container so that I'm not dipping into and opening the main bags every day.


5. Herbs that I have found wonderfully helpful to keep stocked (as loose dry leaves):

Chamomile (teething, fever, anxiety, restlessness, sleeplessness)
Peppermint (upset stomachs, gas, nausea)
Raspberry Leaves (pregnancy, nursing)
Nettles (pregnancy, nursing, antihistamine)

6. Other items for herbal remedies:
Lemons
Ginger Root
Onions
Honey

7. In addition, Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs has been super helpful. My brother gave it to me two Christmas' ago and I probably reference it monthly, on average. Every recipe has been really great and helpful.

No one paid me for these opinions - they are mine-oh-mine but if Mountain Rose Herbs wants to say thank-ee that would be cool, or Amazon, I'm not picky!

Anyway, I hope that you are feeling brave! And thinking thoughts that are all Ingalls-Pioneer-ish. Just sayin'! I'm not anti-meds at all but if I can whip-up a little something to help us all out, I'm all about it!

Joining in with Jen and the rest for the seven posts...and I really don't even know what day we are on and I STARTED this on Friday. It's totally my Friday post.

Sweet dreams!

22 Days (Don't Check my Math)

Can we start with this:

Ok so October was awesome.

November (BOOM!) I totally blew the budget. Long-awaited purchases (read: underwear, socks, socks, a comforter for Rita, baskets for holding Tyler's gaming equipment and Rita's toys, etc.). Y'all these purchases aren't like I went and bought a computer (ours works 80% great). Our budget is just tight and now this massive dog we have literally eats and eats more and more. It's sorta scary. Like, is the dog worth it? I know that's controversial. Moving on. 

And now you're like...

Um, Sue? Pardon me, but did you notice we're still smack in the middle of November?

Oh yes dear. I'm quite aware.

My sweet husband. I just know my irresponsibility really brings him sadness and stress.

Girls, if your ability to spend within a set amount is like mine, then do something about it. Because when you are married one day, you do not want the OVERTIME your husband works to be the money that covers your bad choices.

Wow, this is like way deeper than I meant to get.

Apologies. You can totally click the little red "x"in the corner. I understand.

So if you're still there, I HAVE A RESOLUTION!

I am not going to spend money unless Tyler tells me that I have to. That I must load our kiddos in the car, drive to destination of his saying and purchase whatever he says.

For 22 days.

22?

I was in the check-out line last night and I thought...I need Tyler's help. But he can't tell his wife no (BECAUSE HE IS THAT MUCH OF A PRECIOUS WONDERFUL SWEET MAN IN LOVE *swoon!*). So, instead of telling me no - he has to be the one to say "yes, we need, now go and get x, y, z"." 

I will certainly let you know how this goes.  Is it funny it has been TWO years that I have been pursuing submission and I'm justjustjust starting to get a glimpse into how horrid I am at it? Maybe. Whatever it is, it's true.

On that note, here are the specs:

• no online purchases
• no Christmas shopping
• no grocery shopping
• no shoe shopping
• no
• no
• no

I certainly have an issue with hearing "no," so pray for me will ya? It's gonna be a great way to start Advent. I just know it. :)

Why through December 10th? In the line at the grocery yesterday I said a prayer and asked the Lord to help me...and December 10th jumped into my brain. So, there you have it.

Hopes:

• I exercise more
• We visit family more
• I bake more (Christmas gifts - I'm thinking yes!)
• I spend more time with kids
• I read more

We will see. How much has spending been consuming me? Time will tell.

Happy Tuesday!!!!! Go! Make a goal! Challenge yourself! This is it! Today, now. It's your life. 

Live awesome and amazingly!

To my husband,

I will never be able to put into words the disappointment and simultaneous forgiveness that was in your eyes as I yet again confessed to reaching beyond my boundaries, letting the tidal wave of discontentment crash over my soul.

Please forgive me.

I want nothing more than to bring you happiness and joy and the hope of life-everlasting.

You are my lover and soul-mate.

For your kindness and forgiveness and undying love, I am forever grateful.

-Sue

Saint Matthew, pray for us!

Update on Yackling Car Debt (with an update!)

That would be tackling, but isn't "Yackling" so funny?! Ha! True genius appears in...typos?

    He just takes my breath away!

So we haven't used our credit cards since putting them away a few days after my last post on debt. 

We also haven't saved much...

So to kick-start my excitement about saving, me and the jolly wee hobbits will be adventuring to the bank...ahem, again. Because all good Americans take trips to the bank on Columbus Day, right? 

We will be depositing all the change we have saved up here in the casa. 

Today I shattered the piggy bank I started in high school. Thought the money would be paying for a plane ticket to a convent one day, but looks like it will be going towards a "forever" home. So exciting! God has such great plans. *blissful sigh*

Shattering piggy banks, even wrapped in old towels, is a messy business. I tried the butter knife trick but it actually broke part of the bank, so I finished the job. I don't recommend the bank shattering unless you have someone to help watch the kids. - Coming from someone who undertook shattering without additional adults to help!

Anyway, it's not like loads of money. Give me a break, it's change! But it's something. And that matters. 

Remember! Our house is for sale!!

UPDATE: Put $123.60 in coins into savings, plus our allotted amount for this month. Came home, updated budget and realized I transposed numbers and had our budget hundreds over funded. Fixed mistake. $78 remain until November 1st. Thank you JESUS that my husband was on-call this past weekend! It will be t-i-g-h-t; come Holy Ghost and light our way!

The Credit Card Post

After 11 months of waiting, and musing, and failure...this post, that has been in the "Drafts" since October 2012, still applies.  Enjoy.

So we've tried and tried and tried to be SUPER great about using our credit card as our "debit card." It earns free cash back, which might seem really amazing (because in some ways it is).  But with that in mind we have this attitude of "making money by spending it."  That can be just so dangerous.

Mostly we live simple because we enjoy simple.  Clutter-free, worry-free lives are wonderful and we know Christ lived simply.

We know money won't make us happier (maybe a little less stressed at times, because finding affordable healthcare on one income is sort of like finding a needle in a haystack, but not happier).

So we try to be frugal in order to better embrace a simple life.  Try.  I know, I know that Yoda says "Do or do not.  There is no try."  So maybe we just jump back and back between "do" and "do not."  Whatever.  I think the effort is valuable! But, yes, at some point, just do!

Are we really, truly frugal?  Nah.  Do we want to be?  In most aspects, yes.  (I mean, I DO wash ziploc bags.)  

My grandfather is an amazingly happy frugal person.  If you are looking for frugal tips, that isn't in this post but my grandfather would be a great person to interview!   

So where do credit card and frugal meet?

Here, in this sentence:

We thought using a cash-back credit card as our debit card could be really frugal, and if you have the self control of a mule at a cliff, then I'm sure you could make this frugal.  Earning cash while following our budget seemed like a guaranteed gold mine! Except, we aren't mules, truthfully we're more of the run amuck and fly off of the cliff type.  Which means that once the hurricane hit, we pulled out of savings, went a bit awry with our convenient, and kindly giving us a mere amount cash-back, credit card, did a cash beach trip that at the end required additional funding and...  Bleah! Needless to say, our savings is down and out on itself, as are we, just a bit.  (Are all my posts negative lately? Sorry. It seems like me and Tyler are having some now-we-aren't-newlweds-and-we-have-two-babies growing pains.  But there is SO MUCH growth happening.  We both feel it.)

So for November (and the remainder of October) we will have most spending done with cash. I'm just not the record keeper this family needs when we use credit or debit and cash drastically reduces record keeping.  Cash is for those categories that aren't directly withdrawn or automatically paid from our account.
There are two main exceptions: online purchases (which I'm trying to cut down on as the purchase doesn't profit our local community) and vehicle fuel (because taking two babies out of car seats to get $25 worth of gas is far from what this momma needs to be doing for her sanity) will be put on our debit card.
I love budgeting and we have great intentions but the reality is by the middle of the month our budget is often too unorganized for me to figure out what the heck is going on.

So, cash, here we come.

Nightly (is that a word?! Is now! :) ) budget review. Check!
Daily entering transactions into budget program. Check!
An amended heart, seeking simple, frugal, joyful, Gospel living is reaching out to budget again, knowing that practice makes perfect. Check!
2013 Update: Apparently I am utterly utterly human, because this amended heart...is still failing and still amending.  We are trying yet again.  Every month is a bit of a battle, but as time passes our fervor is united and a bit more ignited.  :) ...And I'm TOTALLY understanding why Dave Ramsey says to cut the credit cards up.  I get it...trust my past 11 months of trial and error!

Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen often said that we should "fast now, feast later" and my prayer is that we can adopt this mentality in all areas of life, especially finance. 

Please, please pray for us to be faithful to our goal of debt-free!

Thinking About Grocery Budgets, Chickens and Travels

Etsy search: "Red hen painting"

So I've been thinking about grocery budgets lately, and it is just this CONSTANT tug-of-war within me.

I totally agree with this article, written by Haley of Carrots for Michaelmas, yet we aren't consistent with local, sustainable purchases.  Mass-produced meats really really bother me, and while Tyler agrees, he is also an advocate for lowering our food budget.  Some weeks we do awesome with local food, and honestly, some weeks there just isn't as much meat available, I guess this is a good introduction into the true rhythm of famine and feast, so to say.

$15 for a chicken is a good bit of money, and while I am able to glean LOTS more from local chickens (fat for cooking, the organ meats, carcasses that produce a VERY hearty stock), it still is hard to rival the conventional chickens at $5 a bird and the "sorta" organic birds at $8 a bird.  We usually (90% of the time) stick with the "sorta" organic birds.  It's really frustrating for me.  I don't like making compromises on our food, as we have both come to agree with Hippocrates, who said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food," but I ultimately feel like until we get our car payed-off, it is easier to justify less than great consumer purchases.

Thankfully, we owe just a bit above $3,000 on our car.  So, so, so close (we started with $12,000+ in January 2012).  If we can manage to have it paid-off before filing taxes, than any refund can be geared toward our next goal.
Speaking of birds, our chickens started laying eggs! And the day we learned that they started laying is the day that one of the laying hens died.  Ironic!

I had placed a piece of a tree branch in the hen house and apparently it wasn't secure because one of my sweet, beautiful Rhode Island Reds met her death beneath the thoughtfully placed branch, when it fell and crushed her.  I cried like a baby.  We didn't eat her, and I sort of felt better about that.  Not quite at the point of raising meat birds on our own yet.  How spoiled am I that that isn't a necessity?!  My great-grandmother HAD to kill a chicken, if she was to put meat on the table at night.  What a woman!

We are hoping to take a vacation in October, which is due to sweet friends of ours getting married in North Carolina.  Here is the catch...Tyler will have half, .5, of a vacation day left.  Flying is out of the question, unless there is some crazy awesome way to get plane tickets for $200 a piece.  So, train or car?  Is it worth taking unpaid leave (seems so crazy!)?  We briefly thought of going sans children, but Jo is still my cuddly nursling just a few times a day, and if we bring Jo, well, I just feel terrible leaving our princess behind.  Is driving through the night, alternating shifts, totally crazy talk?  Could we actually get sleep on a train?  And for the record, will my husband's boss even approve unpaid leave?!?! Well, I think our work is cut-out for us; we should start with finding-out if unpaid leave is ok, and how much might be allowed.  But please still share your thoughts!

Making this wedding will set-back our goals for car-payoff but I know in my heart of hearts that this wedding is important.

PLEASE share any tips or ideas about traveling with kids...and to come full circle, any opinions on temporarily eating crap-ishly in order to pay-off car debt sooner.

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"

Hippocrates

Blessings to you!!! Have a wonderful week!

A Confident and Capable Woman... St. Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Jane Frances de Chantal is my randomly generated patron saint, thanks to Jennifer of ConversionDiary.
Although I have found sources saying St. Jane's feast is the 18th of August, as well as the 21st, the Catholic calendar says that it is today, the 12th of August and so does catholic.org.  So the 12th it is!

Truly I didn't know much about St. Jane until this week.  I'm totally enamoured though.  She and her husband were madly in love and had four children together, but sadly their marriage ended early due to a hunting accident.  He husband was wonderfully forgiving of the man who killed him.  She later established a religious order and put herself under the spiritual direction of St. Francis de Sales.

But to pedal backwards a bit, upon their marriage St. Jane found herself deep in debt with her dear husband.  St. Jane took this upon herself and whittled it away until the estate was productive and prosperous.  And this I find most admirable, because of her, her family was able to prosper despite starting off "in the red."  

What a great model for financial stability and independence!
Even here, in our home, I need to believe that I have a great ability to help our family to prosper.

monasteryicons.com

St. Jane Frances,
Please help me to delight in my vocation.
Teach me to be thoughtful without becoming discouraged.
Pray for me that I can joyfully and hopefully travel upon the path that the Lord has laid-out for me.
Amen.

Money, Money, Money (Not an NSYNC Rendition)

image: flickr.com

Finances make me feel like the above picture.

I LOVE the IDEA of being debt free and I mostly get frustrated with the process.

Here's an awesome quote that I read to re-ignite my fervor.  It's from Choosing Voluntary Simplicity.

I think the most difficult part of real frugality might even be the initial realization that for most people there is no shortcut to achieving a debt-free life. Unless your income is unusually high, your expenses are unusually low, and you have just been throwing your money away… it is a given that it will take time to pay off debts, build up savings, and prioritize your values. It won’t happen overnight, but if you stay on track, financial security WILL follow.

Christ is teaching me so much with this pursuit of contentment. Daily I have to turn our finances over to Him.  Some days I do better than others, but I am confident the Easter season will bring so much grace!

Year of Faith Meets 2013 Goals

Year of Faith (2013) Goals

Throughout the beginning of the new year, which started early December (shout-out to fellow Catholics!) I spent time praying and discerned that this year will be a year of contentment.

Last year submission was my theme.  This year it is contentment and it is already such a challenge!  But I'm hopeful that I can open my heart to receive the needed grace to embrace this virtue (is contentment really a virtue? i mean, it has be! right?!).

This year I'm not using an acronym, but I am breaking my goals down into tasks again.  Breaking the goals down was much more helpful than the cheesy (but legit) acronym, so keeping the good and tossing the lame!

Continuous Goals

Monthly Confession (Before the 25th of each month)
Attend one weekday mass per month with the children
Night prayer with Tyler every day
Cardio three days per week (Monday-Saturday)
Wake-up with Tyler every weekday
Paint with Rita once a week
Use holy candles at supper, for First Friday, First Saturday, prayer requests, keeping vigil, etc.
Spend at least one hour per day solely playing with the kids (between nursing, diaper changing, meals, meal preparation and daily duties this is truly a difficult task for me, but I want it to be a priority)
Once a month visit out-of-town/out-of-state family

Play-by-Play Goals

1. Read the remaining Gospels (cause Jesus is the best to learn from!)

• December: begin Mark
• April: begin Luke
• August: begin John

2. Read and apply four books on simplifying (including Happy are You Poor and One Thousand Gifts of which I have only ever heard good things)

• December: Tell Your Time
• March: Surrender to Love
• June: Happy are You Poor
• September: One Thousand Gifts

3. Reduce clutter - Jesus obviously encourages this from my reading of Matthew's Gospel this past year

• January: Create and implement filing system
• February: Update hand-me-down organization
• March: Purge files (filing two months in a row would cause my brain to melt, thus the February hiatus)
• April: Eliminate technology clutter
• May: Purge Tyler's shed (Ahhhhhhh! I have SO MUCH STUFF hidden there.  So sad)
• June: Clean out prayer bench drawers
• July: Clean out linen chest
• August: Clean out clothing chest
• September: Cycle thru 31 Days to Living Intentionally Simple
• October: Organize and purge toys
• November: Pair-down Christmas ornaments

4. Sew once a week 

• January: Sew four felt food toys in January
• February: Sew four felt food toys in February
• March: Sew Lucy four felt food toys (Birthday present)
• April, May, June: Sew Rita a dress to wear for Jonah's one year pictures in July
• July: Sew Mom a make-up brush bag (Birthday present)
• August: Sew Nicole a make-up brush bag (Birthday present)
• September: Sew Stephan a harmonica case (Birthday present)
• October: Sew Nanny a make-up brush bag (Christmas present)
• November: Sew Molly a make-up brush bag (Christmas present)

5. Build a Lego Table

• Easter gift to Rita
• Easter 2013: March 31st
• January: price materials
• February: purchase materials
• March: assemble

6. Blueberry Business

• Build raised beds for blueberry bushes, plus room for one more
• Plant blueberry bushes
• Purchase and plant one alternate variety blueberry bush

7. Fence in our front yard

• January: get an estimate
• Save for fence 
• October: have fence installed (if three month emergency savings complete and fence-only funds available, otherwise wait until 2014)

We would love to fence in the front yard, but this isn't our forever home and so we are eliminating this.

8. Pay $500 on principle car debt

• July: $250 (at least that much paid)
• November: total $500 paid

9. Build a three month emergency savings fund

• Use any tax return money for this savings
• Use any Ebates earnings for this savings
• Set-up automatic withdraw

10. Save for a family vacation/wedding in October 

• February - August Save $100 per month
• August possibly purchase plane tickets
• August order visitors guides
• September book/plan accommodations

I think this concludes my Year of Faith goals.

Jesus, into your merciful hands I entrust these goals.  Above all, let me accomplish what You desire, Jesus.  I give you my life.  Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Review of G.O.A.L.S. which were last updated in June (so terrible, I know! but our sweet Jonah has put a new rhythm in our awesome family!)

GOD
Increase in visits to the adoration chapel (weekly, hopefully)
Must be done solo.  
Daily family prayer
Before dinner, and at bedtime most nights.  Tyler and I are also working on saying Night Prayer each night together once the babies (or at least Rita) are sleeping.  That is such a blessed time.
Teaching Rita the traditional Catholic blessing before meals, the Guardian Angel prayer and the Hail Mary
Working on it and we added the "Glory Be."  Rita continues to make the Sign of the Cross and every now and then clasps her hands in prayer.  She also exclaims "A-ben!"  So sweet to read this June update.  ACCOMPLISHED AND MORE! Rita now (23 months old) knows the Hail Mary, Our Father, Prayer Before Meals, Guardian Angel Prayer and the SIgn of the Cross.  We are so blessed to have such a bright and delightful (and sometimes fierce) little girl.  I love you, Rita.
Establishing 15 minutes of conversational prayer time
Challenging.
Saying as much of the Rosary each day as I can (separate from conversation time with Jesus)
I usually manage to start at least one Rosary each week - progress!
Lately it has been about one decade per week.  sigh  More effort and focus needed!
OWE NOTHING*
Decrease vehicle debt by $1200 (at minimum)
We have put $524 towards principle! And that's it for 2012.  Almost 50% of this goal met.  Every dollar has helped!

Take a family vacation with CASH only.  ACCOMPLISHED!

*Currently we owe on one vehicle and on our home, so this won't happen in 2012 but we are at the start of the journey to totally debt free living!
APPRECIATE 
Being a SAHM is the greatest blessing, Lord let my lips not complain!
Become great at pursuing gratitude and expressing it at every opportunity
Appreciate our financial stability and practice frugality as part of my job as wife and mother
A hungry toddler and a nursing momma and a dada that does lots of physical labor has pushed us up. We're happy to eat healthy!  Meal planning quickly strayed from the ideal plan (doesn't it always in this imperfect world?!) but I try to jot notes on the calendar on Saturday or Sunday and have at least four meals planned.  Still working on gratitude via contentment.

LISTEN
I talk way too often
I interrupt even more often 
Lord Jesus Christ, remind me of the simple anatomy of my being - two ears and only one mouth
Always pursuing this.

SAVE

Save, save, save!
Save $6,200 $5,967* for our three month emergency fund  

We have saved $3,033  $3040.55  $3045.99 towards our three month emergency fund (more than half way)! 

*We reevaluated our needs vs wants during a time of financial stress and determined we would truly need $5,967 for three months.  

Savings is drastically reduced.  Sad but true.  But for 2013 we have auto-withdraw!  

Save $400 for photos with our new baby in July and for family Christmas pictures
We haven't saved anything for pictures and being that Jonah is due to arrive anytime in July...looks like I will be calling on my high school photography skills and my black and white manual camera.  Won't be what we thought of but it will be done by me, and that's special!  Still hopeful about Christmas though!

Took Christmas photos with cash! Hooray!

In Light of the Fact that I Tend to Overspend

Yep! I admit! Using a cash back credit card with the intention to stay within budget has yet to work for grocery shopping for me! Since Jonah's birth our finances have been in crazy land of I-have-no-idea-what-is-going-on!

So I had given myself the deadline of Thanksgiving as the end of postpartum madness (haha!).

So today I go shopping with cash! Renewed and recommitted to the Big B: Budget!

Advent tomorrow! Our wreath and candles totaled only $8 before tax at Hobby Lobby! Hoping you can put together a simple one for you and yours!

A Great Financial Quote

I'm just so inspired by quotes.


I am totally one of those people who could cover mirrors, walls and refrigerators in a myriad of compelling quotes.


Thank God we try to live minimally...because in high school my mirror served the above function quite well.  


Instead of cluttering our home, I try to leave these inspiring quotes on my computer desktop, so that when I need a kick in the pants (especially to get off of the computer) they are there for that purpose.


But today the quote is about finances...which as organized and well-intentioned as we are tends to get a bit hairy sometimes (especially at the end of pregnancy and welcoming a new baby).  Despite this, we are currently pressing on and being as obedient as we can!  


We haven't pulled out the weapons of mass financial destruction (credit cards), we just aren't putting quite as much towards debt as we would like.


Often I will review these crazy months with a bit of frustration... and feel like we will never meet our goal to be debt free by November 2013!  


And then comes this quote.

"I think the most difficult part of real frugality might even be the initial realization that for most people there is no shortcut to achieving a debt-free life. Unless your income is unusually high, your expenses are unusually low, and you have just been throwing your money away… it is a given that it will take time to pay off debts, build up savings, and prioritize your values. It won’t happen overnight, but if you stay on track, financial security WILL follow."

http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/dont-confuse-playing-at-frugality-with-living-frugally/

Source: tumblr.com via Marshanna on Pinterest

This quote is just so wonderful.  It totally reminds me of the story of the old man throwing starfish back into the sea.  Someone comments that he will never make a difference and as he grabs the next starfish and flings it back to sea he remarks, "I just did."  Powerful, in the same sort of way.

Trudging through debt can be cumbersome, but the journey is well worth it!  Once we are debt-free we will have 16% of our income to put towards saving for a variety of goals that seem to be floating in the clouds of the future.

I know Christ desires this for us.  He knows better than me the tons of virtue that can be gained through the discipline it takes to become and remain debt-free.  

Lord, be our guide!  May the immense sacrifice You made inspire us to make the necessary sacrifices to live within (and hopefully below) our means.

Thought on Finance...

So, for some reason I have always associated budgeting as something "poor" people do.  Let me clarify, yes my parents were poor when they were first married and their garden and the nearby bayou were true sources of food, but we have never been destitute.  Not the poverty of a third world country.  


But anyway, budget.  I forever remember us being on a budget.  The thought of having to (GASP!) be on a b...b...budget! Ah!  I'm admitting that I can't have what I want when I want it and that I am lower on the income totem pole than Joe next door (or Fred or Tom...).  And that my life is boring, mundane, restrictive, unfair and cheap.  And that I'm unhappy cause I can't have it now!!


Really?


Seriously?


Do you think Bill Gates got to be where he is because he just blew money like a preschool kid with bubbles?  Absolutely not.  He probably (I really should have read-up on him before using him as an example) scrounged and saved and scrimped and ate Ramen noodles for five years!  Not advocating eating Ramen noodles...but it proves a point.  Once his corporation was booming he probably still didn't get what he wanted when he wanted!  Instead, he probably read-up on investing, or allowed someone competent to do the investing for him to save and prepare for when life threw him a curve ball.  Note: Investing your money is not playing at a casino hoping that the money you've "invested" in the next flashy Adams Family themed machine will tell you that you've just hit the nickel jackpot people!  Even successful individuals follow budgets.  Quite possibly the MOST successful individuals follow budgets.


A budget is simply your chosen method of managing your money, rather than allowing debt collectors, credit card bills and late payments bully your income around.  Familiar with good ole' Dave?  He says (I quote loosely) "a budget is you telling your money where to go."


You may be surprised how freeing a budget is.  It is the BEST lesson in accountability and strengthens the communication between spouses.


Once you find the budgeting system that works for you, you may find, as we have, that a budget teaches you self control (holy cow!!), prudence, patience... 


Do you see the connection?  Not only is a budget part of adulthood responsibility, growing in communication and virtue, but following a budget is part of being a good Christian!  The job(s) that source income into your life are gifts.  May we not forget this!  The Lord has equipped you and formed within you the gifts you need to excel at your vocation.  You aren't poor because you are on a budget my good friend.  You are actually RICH!  Rich in the knowledge of being a responsible consumer and Christian, a prepared parent, a debt-free (or on the way) member of society, a  person of intentionality, a person free to delegate their income to needs rather than flounder for money after satisfying your wants.  


You are rich, you are free, you are blessed and you are a gift to all peoples when you follow a budget and use your income as the beautiful gift it is meant to be!


Have a wonderful weekend!  And maybe enjoy a Georgia peach as much as this cute kid...

Do you budget?  What sort of system do you use?  What are your struggles?

Be sure to hit "subscribe by email" when you leave your comment - then I can get back straight to you!

Ways to Afford Being a Stay at Home Mom: Meal Planning

I love charts and lists and spreadsheets...pretty much Excel is a big dreamy playground for my brain!

When it comes to keeping our grocery budget down to help keep our entire budget simple so that we can live debt free, knowing what we need vs what we want at the grocery store is essential!  If I attempt to grocery shop and conjure up a meal plan while strolling (ok, flying and praying Rita's snack keeps her happy) through the grocery store I always come home with the most random assortment of groceries.  Thankfully it has been a few months since that has happened!

We have tried two versions of meal planning.  We did bi-weekly meal planning and chose meals that sounded good or appealing, but it was just mostly disorganized and confusing with grocery shopping.  It also required double the amount of planning time for making grocery lists and menus, in contrast to the second version we tried.  Before the bi-weekly meals, we picked six meals and planned a leftover night.  Then we repeated those same six meals each week.  Honestly, it was never boring!  My cooking time seemed to shorten every week and we had fewer "grab a pizza on the way home" nights...which were starting to happen four times a month rather than just once!

With Jonah expected to arrive by August 1st (42 week mark) we decided to simplify our days by going back to a simple, weekly meal plan.  Following this meal plan has streamlined our expenses, my cooking (which is really helpful at this point), and our life in general.

In order to keep it a bit more fresh than the last time around, we decided to have a lagniappe* night each week, which is the night we try a new recipe or celebrate a delicious old favorite.

Here's how we organize our meal planning.  I call it our "Simple Seven Day Meal Plan" because it has simplified our life in a wonderful way and we generally repeat the same meals every seven days.  Basic, and it runs so smooth!


Some months (June was a great example) there are so many weddings and birthdays and other reasons to celebrate that we have the ingredients for many meals remaining at the end of the month.  That is always exciting and a blessing!

By printing this spreadsheet and filling in the boxes (using pencil of course! plans change!) we are able to take the guess-work out of supper.  Supper is the most difficult meal for me, especially because I want it to be filling and delicious for my dear husband who has been working hard for his family.  Generally, since we've been married, I've tended to wait until the last minute to throw supper together.

Setting a loose schedule for myself, which includes starting supper at 3pm and not running errands later than 2pm, as well as using a meal plan has helped me to be less stressed and better prepared at the end of the day.  We generally eat by 5:45pm which leaves us plenty of family time!

So maybe you're wondering, how can you stand to eat the same meals every week?
It's not as hard as you think!  

Pick your favorites and stick with those.  We LOVE Mexican food and so having that once a week is no problem.  Same with meatballs and spaghetti.  In fact, by the recommendation of a friend and a borrowing of her cookbook we have found the most perfect delicious meatball recipe EVER!

I bet if you and your spouse choose meals together, make a master shopping list, and give this a try for just one month you will be quite surprised!  Even trying for just two weeks is better than not trying at all.  And when we really really think about it...the boys we sponsor in Nicaragua eat simple meals every day, so any variety we have is truly a blessing and a treat!

Of course, supper isn't the only meal I have to worry about!

For Breakfast we generally choose from:
Homemade kefir and cereal (milk instead of kefir for Tyler)
Toast
Waffles (Sunday morning special! and hopefully leftovers for the week)
Grits
Eggs
PB*
Fruit is included in every breakfast 
*PB is eaten with fruit, which is one of my favorite breakfasts!


For Lunch:
Leftovers
PB&J
PB and fruit
Cheese quesadillas
*Tyler's lunch is: leftovers, provided by work or he uses his "fun" money for a lunch of his choice.
Raw vegetable is included in every lunch

Breakfast and lunch are much more simple and a good bit smaller than our supper.  Some weekends we eat our large meal for lunch and then snack for supper, but overall our largest meal is at night.

Meal planning has really revolutionized our home, our marriage (improves communication), my thought process and easily reduced our food budget (without us feeling like we are hungry - in fact we feel more nourished).  We tend to eat more healthy, delicious, whole foods and that's fine by me!

If you are wanting to be a stay at home mom and struggle with meals and meal planning, this book would be mighty helpful!

Have you tried meal planning?  What system works for you?  Question?! Ask away in the comments.

Be sure to hit "subscribe by email" when you leave your comment - then I can get back straight to you!

Other Posts in this Series:

Ways to Afford Being a Stay at Home Mom: Reprioritize

Ways to Afford Being a Stay at Home Mom: Budget

Ways to Afford Being a Stay at Home Mom: Budget

Staying home with Rita (and soon Jonah) is truly the greatest blessing and a dream come true!

Making this happen and living my vocation as a mother every hour around the clock can be exhausting.  It is so fulfilling though.  I wouldn't trade or quit my job for anything in the world. 


Budgeting is so essential in any home.  But when you are living on a single income and long to be debt-free budgeting truly isn't an option!  It is one of the most basic ways to ensure that I am able to stay home with our children and build a warm, welcoming, nourishing and restorative haven for my family.


We have been budgeting (with a tendency to lose momentum after the first two weeks) since August 2010 and are finally really learning what works for us.  We have paid-off debt, taken on debt and now we are resolved to GET RID OF DEBT.  We are totally sick of the idea of "good debt."  I do not want to pay a mortgage forever.  Forget it. I want to own a vehicle when I drive away in it for the first time, not owe on it for four years.  When we need a new appliance, I want to walk-in with cash in hand.  No more "interest-free" borrowing for us.


So after nearly two years of trial and error, what works?


Budgeting in the form of categories with specific, realistic amounts.  Each category is broken down to show how much money from each paycheck goes to each category.  Even though we are paying off debt we are committed to saving a bit each paycheck, to function as a source of money for large unexpected needs.  We also have a bit of personal money for each week - this can function as misc. money, gift money, zoo admission, snack money, etc.  It's our "buffer" money to help us stay on track while still having funds for fun activities or treats.  Let me emphasize, this is a small amount of money, because we have in mind larger goals and dreams than Starbucks coffee every morning.


Cash, cash cash.


You can't fool yourself when you run out of cash. 


We've tried keeping track of debit transactions, we've tried putting it all on a credit card and paying it off at the end of the month (ha!), and we have tried cash.  Cash works for our budget.  I don't impulse buy because I'm scared of running out of money!  Instead when we use a cash budget I am a conscious, intentional, frugal, thoughtful and well-planned shopper. 


We have also gone back to something we tried only once before, but abandoned when I was babysitting a three month old baby.  Meal planning!


I'm a rule follower.  I function best with structure, guidelines and lots of rules.  So this means that our meal plan is very basic.  Five meals, one night of leftovers and a lagniappe night!  Leftover and lagniappe nights will keep our menu from being boring, even though the meals we've chosen are our favorites. 


How does this relate to budget?  I took our meal plan, made a master shopping list for enough supplies for at least four of every meal as well as breakfast and lunch items.  This has allowed me to crunch grocery budget numbers.  We are currently spending $317 of our budgetted $340 (four week month) if we buy only what we need each shopping trip.  I'm pretty confident that with sale shopping, stocking-up and eliminating food waste we will be able to lower our grocery budget to $300 per month come November.  At the same time, we are trying not to compromise buying organic or as near organic as possible for the most important food items for us, which includes milk, yogurt, butter, chicken among a few others.  Really?  I wish I could do this sooner, but with a baby arriving I am trying to stay realistic!


Budgeting as a whole is so very freeing and we are looking forward to fulfilling our renewed commitments to one another to live simple, wise, joyful, conscious and debt-free lives!  Overall the work that it takes to be a stay at home mom gives me great purpose and inspiration!  I love seeing how much healthy food I can get while using a fairly tight grocery budget, saving each month, paying all bills on time and putting extra money towards being debt-free!

Budgeting was the second step to ensure that I would be able to and can continue to stay at home with our children.  It allows us to dictate how our money flows, so that we are not finding ourselves caught in a bind at the end of each month.

So how do you feel about debt?  Do you stay at home?  What sort of budget works for your family?

Other posts in this series:

Ways to Afford Being a Stay at Home Mom: Reprioritize

Be sure to hit "subscribe by email" when you leave your comment - then I can get back 
straight to you!

Envelopes: A Frugal Alternative

In preparation for our vacation, Tyler reminded me that we needed envelopes, just as we do each week.  I'm so glad he remembered this!  When I opened my envelope box there were zip-o envelopes.  We recently got rid of our "misc" budget category because I usually ended up buying something misc. rather than using it for misc. needs, if that makes any sense. So, I had to improvise because although I could have used a misc. envelope of money to buy envelopes at this point, there is none. Anyway! 

Here is my creative (ha!), quick, simple and basically free envelope alternative which I happen to like better than traditional envelopes.  There is a spot for bills and a spot for coupons.  All of the coin change will be put into a coin purse.

Our envelopes!

Bills in the back pockets.

Coupons in the coupon (top) pocket and a bill in the back bill pocket.

This was so easy and frugal!

Ready to make your own??

Supplies:

• loose leaf paper, plain paper, colored paper, whatever you have!
• marker
• stapler 
• staples

Directions:

1. Hold the paper vertically
2. Fold the paper in half, top to bottom.
3. Fold the bottom 1/3 of  your now half sized sheet of paper, bottom to top
4. Fold the sides edges
5. Staple the edges down
6. Label and fill those babies up and enjoy a DEBT FREEEEEE vacation!

P.S. The recipe for breakfast bars will be appearing tomorrow, for certain!   Come back ready to bake a yummy Easter Sunday breakfast treat. 

Ways to Afford Being a Stay at Home Mom: Re-prioritize

When we decided (before children) that I would be a stay at home mom, we realized that we needed to discuss in depth what mattered most to us.  We needed to assess our current situation (me in college and Tyler working and in college) and determine how to re-prioritize before children entered the picture.

We were already accustomed to living on one source of income and even though Tyler's pay at the time was gross of about $27,000 (if we were to have a baby  at that time we would have been about $500 above the poverty level), we were confident that God would provide for our every need.

At the time I had a terrible habit of spending ridiculous amounts of money on organic groceries - yes I believe in investing in our health but this was even "junk" food.  Organic cookies?  So not a priority OR healthy!  I was seriously spending about $300 - $350 every two weeks!  AH!!!!

Clearly I had to re-prioritize.

God provided Tyler with an amazing job, but he had to stop college (for now).  This meant that we had to leave family housing but to rent an apartment was going to be a minimum of $200 more than family housing!  We would also have to pay for more utilities with a regular apartment.  Thank God our frugal bones started to awaken and me and Tyler decided to accept my parents offer to live RENT FREE in their camper!  We only paid about $40 per month living in the camper!  The $40 paid for a little electricity, a bit of water and propane.

Making the choice to live in my parent's camper in their backyard was the best financial decision we have ever made.  We truly started to budget, pay off our vehicle with fervor and we learned about living within our means.  Because of our re-prioritizing we were able to purchase a home that is 25% of our monthly income and in a location we love.  We have a reasonable and realistic goal of paying this house off in 15 years since we chose a more simple (yet lovely) home.

Re-prioritizing was the first essential step to being able to afford being a stay at home mom.

2012 G.O.A.L.S.: January Update

I am so enjoying using this blog as a means of accountability for myself!  Please join in with a comment here and there at the bottom of the post.  I would love to know your goals too and how you are doing accomplishing them!  Here are the results from the first month!!! 

GOD
Increase in visits to the adoration chapel (weekly, hopefully)       
One visit in January! Hooray!
Daily family prayer      
Accomplished about three nights each week - it's a start!
Teaching Rita the traditional Catholic blessing before meals, the Guardian Angel prayer and the Hail Mary    We have prayed the blessing before meals and Guardian Angel prayer at least twice a day.  Not much success adding the Hail Mary.
Establishing 15 minutes of conversational prayer time      
I have achieved this about three days a week.
Saying as much of the Rosary each day as I can (separate from conversation time with Jesus)      
No progress.

OWE NOTHING
Decrease vehicle debt by $1200 (at minimum)     
No progress.
Take a family vacation with CASH only      
Plans fell through, but aiming for this by May.

*Currently we owe on one vehicle and on our home, so this won't happen in 2012 but we are at the start of the journey to totally debt free living!

APPRECIATE
Being a SAHM is the greatest blessing, Lord let my lips not complain!
Become great at pursuing gratitude and expressing it at every opportunity
Appreciate our financial stability and practice frugality as part of my job as wife and mother
I started buying sale items and try to not spend more than 20% of our weekly budget on non-sale items.  We have also committed to slowly lowering our grocery budget each month.  For February our budget for groceries per week will drop from $100 to $95! Hooray!

LISTEN
I talk way too often
I interrupt even more often
Lord Jesus Christ, remind me of the simple anatomy of my being - two ears and only one mouth
I am more conscious of when I am yacking away, and if I catch myself, I say out loud, "I'm sorry I'm talking/interrupting too much."  I think that is a good first step.

SAVE
Save, save, save!
Save $6,200 for our three month emergency fund  
No definite progress, but we have Tyler's W-2!  Any money from taxes will go toward this category.
Save $400 for photos with our new baby in July and for family Christmas pictures     
No progress.

Obviously we are very focused on our finances.  I really feel that once we have a sort of routine budget and can lower and/or accurately predict our expenses our goal categories will broaden.  This year, 2012, is the year we get our financial house in order.  We are also trying to establish a sort of prayer routine, which I think is obvious from above too.  This takes a lot of practice but me and Tyler both desire a more deeply rooted relationship with Christ.