When I lived in England, for a while I lived with my grandparents. My Grandad and I would awake every morning and have "breakfast" together. Hot tea and digestive biscuits (cookies).
As I was looking for treats for the kids I ran across a recipe for digestives! They are healthier than storebought and the kids love them!
RECIPE:
1 cup butter
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 350 F
Cut butter into flour until mix looks like a course meal
Add the rest of the ingredients, adding water slowly until it resembles pastry.
Roll dough and cut to desired shape (I just used a glass)
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown
Cool
These don't taste quite the same, but pretty close to the ones I remember.
Showing posts with label frugal living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal living. Show all posts
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
How far can you stretch a chicken?
I tried just out of curiosity to see how far I could stretch a 5 pd whole chicken.
Day one: Roasted the chicken, served chicken with potatoes, gravy and veggies
Day Two: Made broth, used some of the leftover chicken and made chicken a la king
Days Three and Four: Made a pot of chicken soup (I did cheat and add some chicken bullion and water to stretch the broth) had this for two nights and my darling took some for work the next day....
Another chicken:
Day One: Roast Chicken with wild rice and fresh veggies
Days 2-5: Used broth and veggies made a thick chicken stew with dumplings and salad.
Still enough left for a day of hot lunch for Husband.
Think I like whole chickens. Now if I can just find a place that sells "real" unadulterated chickens that wont break the bank.
Day one: Roasted the chicken, served chicken with potatoes, gravy and veggies
Day Two: Made broth, used some of the leftover chicken and made chicken a la king
Days Three and Four: Made a pot of chicken soup (I did cheat and add some chicken bullion and water to stretch the broth) had this for two nights and my darling took some for work the next day....
Another chicken:
Day One: Roast Chicken with wild rice and fresh veggies
Days 2-5: Used broth and veggies made a thick chicken stew with dumplings and salad.
Still enough left for a day of hot lunch for Husband.
Think I like whole chickens. Now if I can just find a place that sells "real" unadulterated chickens that wont break the bank.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
It's been a while......again
First off, computer time has been limited...our regular computer totally gave up the ghost...the mother board kicked it. I have resorted to using my husbands laptop until we are in the position to get another one. Fortunately, I did not lose to much when she died.
The highlights of my time away from this....
The fourth of July, the kids had the opportunity to ride a float for the parade with their mom. The younger two enthusiasically rode with her, the oldest was skittish and stayed with me to watch the parade. It was a typical small town type parade, with the oldest thrilled with the military floats. After the parade, a barbeque with friends of ours. (a tradition that dates back over 10 years now).
For the past few years our local churches pull together a 2 1/2 day Christian Music Festival. I took the older two to see KJ52 and got a giggle as I stood with my grandchildren as they rapped away. I think I was the oldest in the crowd. Not my favorite but the kids sure loved it, which made it worth every moment.
The best thing was seeing them enjoy the "Newsboys" my oldest (a whoping 10 now) has loved them since the veggietales movie Jonah came out. I had hoped for years to be able to take him to their concert...Praise be, God answered my simple little prayer.
My husbands family had a mini reunion in Kalispell mid July, I opted not to go, and in seeing the pictures am grateful I did not. I would have caused a stir right away when one of my nephews was wearing a shirt referencing womens anatomy and I would have asked him to change right away. The "highlight" of the weekend (according to my brother-in-law) was my 4 year old nephew swearing up a storm! I don't get this world, instead of correcting him, they laughed.
After this we gutted about 1/4 of our house, down to the studs, including the walls. We have been working on that, reinsulating where needed, building new walls, (changing dimensions and layout) slightly. We ended up having to replace the subflooring in the bathroom as it was rotted so badly near the tub. We have already put in a new tub and are prepping it for tile, and as I write this we only have 2 small pieces of sheetrock to put in before we start with the mudding. We have been purchasing what we need for quite a while so the only thing we will have to buy is tiles...which I have found at a resale store for less that 1/2 the cost of a retailer.
Needless to say this makes schooltime a little chaotic, but it is coming together.In the meantime, the kids have each had turns at plumbing,electrical, sheetrock, and framing so far. Once the remodeling is done, we shall move the princess to a new room (painted in pink of course) and I shall reclaim her current room for office and school supplies, from there I will have my closet space in the laundry room for storage other than school stuff....I shall be glad when we see the end of this project as most of my dining room is now doubled in my living room...I told my husband it looks like a house a hoarder lives in and it is driving me up the wall.
As of the end of August, DH is officially unemployed. We are praying as "they" are working on him getting orders effective October 1st. We hope and pray that he can get just four more years on orders as then he can retire, as for right now it is in the hands of God..In the meantime he is submitting aps but nothing yet.
On top of this, I have started canning some of our meats from the freezer. We still have some of the venison from last year as well as some deals that I have picked up along the way. Archery hunting started last week, and my beloved is trying that for the first time. We will roll from that into rifle hunting and he has multiple tags including elk...I pray his hunts will be safe and sucessful that we can refill our freezers and I shall learn more of canning. I am truly grateful to a woman at our church who gave me 14 dozen canning jars!
In reading about canning, I am going to try something new...canning butter...I am curious to see if I can get it to work. Today I purchased some 1/2 pint jars and hopefully next week I can put up 4 pounds of butter and 6 quarts of chili, and 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce. I get most of my canning info from www.backwoodshome.com. It is an awesome resource for just about anything to do with homesteading, either fulltime or just aspects of it like we are doing now.
Once I can get hubby away from the remodel for a day, I need to till up garden space for next year and plant some berry bushes from seeds I have picked up along the way. We have been given about 20 trees (mostly aspen) that I want to get transplanted, and my little ones want to plant some of the cherry seeds they saved from when they were in season. I actually want two spaces dug up, one for an herb garden and one for veggies.
My search to try to do things as frugally as possible has meet with a new thing in our home. I made a batch of cereal. The kids love cold cereal in the morning but they go through it so quickly (and I am sure the contents in the packages are being reduced) The kids like it, hubby wants it cut into bars to have with a glass of milk instead of eating it like cereal.
THE RECIPE:
3 cups milk
2 Tbls honey
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Mix the milk and honey until smooth, add other ingredients and stir well. Spread on 2-3 cookie sheets, between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes until golden crisp (you may have to break of at the edges as you go). Cool and break into flakes or grind with a course blade. Store in an airtight container...makes about 6 cups. If I can get the kids to eat this regularly I shall save the presweetened, chemically altered, crud for snacks and treats.
On top of this, I have had to run errands for my dear mom, she is not having a good year! Her heater/ac went out, her water purifier started leaking, we still have not been able to resolve why her garage door opener will not work, and her car has been in the shop, it needs a new engine and wont be available until the middle of the month. One of her beloved kitties is ill, so I have been running Shutlz to the vet. We have weeded her yard (my father put in all gravel for her as it was suppose to be maintenance free....right! best weeds we ever grew...I'd rather just go and mow grass once a week) and we have yet to get in and help her clean out her garage (this has not been done since my father died and now she is overwhelmed by the task).
The highlights of my time away from this....
The fourth of July, the kids had the opportunity to ride a float for the parade with their mom. The younger two enthusiasically rode with her, the oldest was skittish and stayed with me to watch the parade. It was a typical small town type parade, with the oldest thrilled with the military floats. After the parade, a barbeque with friends of ours. (a tradition that dates back over 10 years now).
For the past few years our local churches pull together a 2 1/2 day Christian Music Festival. I took the older two to see KJ52 and got a giggle as I stood with my grandchildren as they rapped away. I think I was the oldest in the crowd. Not my favorite but the kids sure loved it, which made it worth every moment.
The best thing was seeing them enjoy the "Newsboys" my oldest (a whoping 10 now) has loved them since the veggietales movie Jonah came out. I had hoped for years to be able to take him to their concert...Praise be, God answered my simple little prayer.
My husbands family had a mini reunion in Kalispell mid July, I opted not to go, and in seeing the pictures am grateful I did not. I would have caused a stir right away when one of my nephews was wearing a shirt referencing womens anatomy and I would have asked him to change right away. The "highlight" of the weekend (according to my brother-in-law) was my 4 year old nephew swearing up a storm! I don't get this world, instead of correcting him, they laughed.
After this we gutted about 1/4 of our house, down to the studs, including the walls. We have been working on that, reinsulating where needed, building new walls, (changing dimensions and layout) slightly. We ended up having to replace the subflooring in the bathroom as it was rotted so badly near the tub. We have already put in a new tub and are prepping it for tile, and as I write this we only have 2 small pieces of sheetrock to put in before we start with the mudding. We have been purchasing what we need for quite a while so the only thing we will have to buy is tiles...which I have found at a resale store for less that 1/2 the cost of a retailer.
Needless to say this makes schooltime a little chaotic, but it is coming together.In the meantime, the kids have each had turns at plumbing,electrical, sheetrock, and framing so far. Once the remodeling is done, we shall move the princess to a new room (painted in pink of course) and I shall reclaim her current room for office and school supplies, from there I will have my closet space in the laundry room for storage other than school stuff....I shall be glad when we see the end of this project as most of my dining room is now doubled in my living room...I told my husband it looks like a house a hoarder lives in and it is driving me up the wall.
As of the end of August, DH is officially unemployed. We are praying as "they" are working on him getting orders effective October 1st. We hope and pray that he can get just four more years on orders as then he can retire, as for right now it is in the hands of God..In the meantime he is submitting aps but nothing yet.
On top of this, I have started canning some of our meats from the freezer. We still have some of the venison from last year as well as some deals that I have picked up along the way. Archery hunting started last week, and my beloved is trying that for the first time. We will roll from that into rifle hunting and he has multiple tags including elk...I pray his hunts will be safe and sucessful that we can refill our freezers and I shall learn more of canning. I am truly grateful to a woman at our church who gave me 14 dozen canning jars!
In reading about canning, I am going to try something new...canning butter...I am curious to see if I can get it to work. Today I purchased some 1/2 pint jars and hopefully next week I can put up 4 pounds of butter and 6 quarts of chili, and 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce. I get most of my canning info from www.backwoodshome.com. It is an awesome resource for just about anything to do with homesteading, either fulltime or just aspects of it like we are doing now.
Once I can get hubby away from the remodel for a day, I need to till up garden space for next year and plant some berry bushes from seeds I have picked up along the way. We have been given about 20 trees (mostly aspen) that I want to get transplanted, and my little ones want to plant some of the cherry seeds they saved from when they were in season. I actually want two spaces dug up, one for an herb garden and one for veggies.
My search to try to do things as frugally as possible has meet with a new thing in our home. I made a batch of cereal. The kids love cold cereal in the morning but they go through it so quickly (and I am sure the contents in the packages are being reduced) The kids like it, hubby wants it cut into bars to have with a glass of milk instead of eating it like cereal.
THE RECIPE:
3 cups milk
2 Tbls honey
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Mix the milk and honey until smooth, add other ingredients and stir well. Spread on 2-3 cookie sheets, between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes until golden crisp (you may have to break of at the edges as you go). Cool and break into flakes or grind with a course blade. Store in an airtight container...makes about 6 cups. If I can get the kids to eat this regularly I shall save the presweetened, chemically altered, crud for snacks and treats.
On top of this, I have had to run errands for my dear mom, she is not having a good year! Her heater/ac went out, her water purifier started leaking, we still have not been able to resolve why her garage door opener will not work, and her car has been in the shop, it needs a new engine and wont be available until the middle of the month. One of her beloved kitties is ill, so I have been running Shutlz to the vet. We have weeded her yard (my father put in all gravel for her as it was suppose to be maintenance free....right! best weeds we ever grew...I'd rather just go and mow grass once a week) and we have yet to get in and help her clean out her garage (this has not been done since my father died and now she is overwhelmed by the task).
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Laundry
Through journeying through the internet, I have found recipes for all kinds of homemade cleaning products. I have made my own laundry soap with this recipe.
The recipe I used:
3 pints hot water
1/3 bar fels naptha (altho I have read you can use ivory or dove as well)
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
1 quart hot water
Mix grated Fels Naptha in a sauce pan with 3 pints hot water until soap is dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and borax, stir until thickened and remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot water to bucket and pour in soap mix. Fill bucket and conteiner continue mixing and set aside for 24hours to thicken...(the recipe called for a 2 gallon bucket...I had a 5 gallon so I double the recipe.)
Use 1/2 cup per load...can add essential oils for scent if you want)
I have been using straight vinegar as fabric softner, but I miss the smells of fabric softners. Following advice from another blogger, Today I diluted some of the downey I had left over (three part water to one part downey, ) and cut up a cheap sponge and threw it in the dryer. >>>> I have my downey smell back yet I want to stretch it as far as I can.
I hope I ran into another deal like I did with the downey...I got 10 bottles at .75 each on clearance. That was all they had left.
Since we live on a few acres with loads of mud, I looked for and found a recipe for prewash:
1/2 white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tbls ammonia
3 cups water
Fill in spray bottle and label...spray on just before washing. Because the boys have a tendency to find ways to grind in dirt beyond what I could have ever imagined, I actually use more ammonia to cut through the messes, and will use dawn dishsoap if needed (one of the few storebought cleansers that I have not found an adequate replacement for).
The recipe I used:
3 pints hot water
1/3 bar fels naptha (altho I have read you can use ivory or dove as well)
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
1 quart hot water
Mix grated Fels Naptha in a sauce pan with 3 pints hot water until soap is dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and borax, stir until thickened and remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot water to bucket and pour in soap mix. Fill bucket and conteiner continue mixing and set aside for 24hours to thicken...(the recipe called for a 2 gallon bucket...I had a 5 gallon so I double the recipe.)
Use 1/2 cup per load...can add essential oils for scent if you want)
I have been using straight vinegar as fabric softner, but I miss the smells of fabric softners. Following advice from another blogger, Today I diluted some of the downey I had left over (three part water to one part downey, ) and cut up a cheap sponge and threw it in the dryer. >>>> I have my downey smell back yet I want to stretch it as far as I can.
I hope I ran into another deal like I did with the downey...I got 10 bottles at .75 each on clearance. That was all they had left.
Since we live on a few acres with loads of mud, I looked for and found a recipe for prewash:
1/2 white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tbls ammonia
3 cups water
Fill in spray bottle and label...spray on just before washing. Because the boys have a tendency to find ways to grind in dirt beyond what I could have ever imagined, I actually use more ammonia to cut through the messes, and will use dawn dishsoap if needed (one of the few storebought cleansers that I have not found an adequate replacement for).
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Simple Devotions
Dear Lord,I bring you my shortcomings...It is so easy to feel overwhelmed and forget to look to you. I forget that with you by my side I can do ALL things...
I bring you my worship and praise...reminding me who you are, you gave me a chance to encourage a little christian brother (about 5 years old) as he starts to overcome fear of water while at swim lessons with my own little ones.
I bring you my prayer for...My friend, she has cancer, she is terminal, her husband dies a little inside each day with her, her son...only 12, seems to young to be without his mother. Yet you...O LORD and only you can heal what the doctors call terminal. The treatment she undergoes is tough...be with her. Her faith in you is strong, her love for you even stronger. Father, in the heart and words of her husband, please do not prolong her physical agony if you are taking her home to be with you.
You spoke to me... and reminded me to find joy in all circumstances. As I read the verse Rejoice in the Lord, again I say rejoice....I continued on reading and for the first time in a long time, the words "quench not the spirit" were heard. By not rejoicing...I drown out the spirit you have given to me as counselor and friend. Lord, You are so gracious.
I bring you my worship and praise...reminding me who you are, you gave me a chance to encourage a little christian brother (about 5 years old) as he starts to overcome fear of water while at swim lessons with my own little ones.
I bring you my prayer for...My friend, she has cancer, she is terminal, her husband dies a little inside each day with her, her son...only 12, seems to young to be without his mother. Yet you...O LORD and only you can heal what the doctors call terminal. The treatment she undergoes is tough...be with her. Her faith in you is strong, her love for you even stronger. Father, in the heart and words of her husband, please do not prolong her physical agony if you are taking her home to be with you.
You spoke to me... and reminded me to find joy in all circumstances. As I read the verse Rejoice in the Lord, again I say rejoice....I continued on reading and for the first time in a long time, the words "quench not the spirit" were heard. By not rejoicing...I drown out the spirit you have given to me as counselor and friend. Lord, You are so gracious.
Budget Review
We did not do so great with our budget...nothing we could have figured though. DH went thru a neighbors fence because of the ice on our driveway so we ended up having to purchase fencing supplies to fix that, then his truck needed some work...then DH decided we needed to put up $100 of snow fence (we still need about 3x that) and felt January was the time to do it. As is stands right now, when we put up our house and garage we did not anticiate drifting, so for most of the winter, we cant get a car to the garage much less in it. Now my van needs a new battery...and life goes on...
God's provision again is awesome...our taxes were in prior to this so not so bad. With the return I have purchased most of the curriculum we need for next year. The rest is relatively inexpensive and I will purchase as we go. There should be a used curriculum sale in town in April, then in May or June the PS system gives away unused items so I will hit that. (I do love free!)
I have looked into Once a Month cooking and altho' I am not going to do it once a month, but I will look for things to prepare ahead for busy days. I found a book(Free) on once a month cooking and have selected a few recipes to try from there. Some of the things...like Calzones...I will save for lunches as DH can take them to work and the child in charge of lunches on any given day can just pop them in the microwave. There is a site I found (wish I could remember where) that talks of cooking huge batches of waffles, pancakes, and breakfast burritoes as well. I want to do some of those after I go grocery shopping to try to steer the kids away from all the presweetened cereals they so love. This will also let me send some down to my mother, who hates to cook now that she is widowed. Perhaps once I get a few recipes down my mom and I can do this together at her house. She has a massive kitchen with double ovens and a huge oversized fridge, so that may not seem so daunting a task for me.
I have started using our own homemade laundry soap, between this and using vinegar instead of fabric softner, I have noticed less problems with the little ones asthma! Today he was able to play outside in the cold for the first time in a long time! AWESOME...It use to be he came in hacking and coughing after about 15 minutes. I also make my own cleansers mostly from baking soda and vinegar in varying amounts. I dont know how much it saves, but now the kids can help clean more as I am not concerned with them using to many chemicals.
My goal is to get our grocery bill down to about $300 per month. We have meat as DH is a hunter so we have venison, he did some work for a local rancher so we have more lamb coming, and we are due to buy a 1/2 a beef to really stock up the freezer. I still have 3 turkeys in the frige...I got them for .25 a pound over the holidays...I wonder how far I can stretch that! I got a call from a neighbor who adores the kids, she said that if the kids ever want to raise a sheep for 4h, she will give them a lamb.
I took the kids to their swimming classes this afternoon, we were 1/2 way into town when the princess informed me she forgot her suit...I did not have time to go back as we had to drop of library books. So as we were headed to the library I remembered a thrift shop just a block or so away...she needed a bigger swimsuit anyway and I prayed the entire time there...Please Lord, let there be one. WE FOUND ONE...the only one...and it was her size and the store was having a 1/2 price sale so I got it for .50. On top of that, they had brand new boys t-shirts for .50 and the princess got a new shirt and skirt set (this is hard to find as I am trying to teach her modesty in a show all world)and a pair of brand new pajamas for each of the youngest two!....this definately fell in our clothing allowance for the month.
I still love my paper towels to much, but have reduced their use in exchange for cloth. I now go through about a roll a month when that use to easily be one a week. I tend to use them for spills of solids (ie the youngest spilling his cereal all over the table and floor)It is just to easy not to have to try to get the cereal out of cloth.
Thus the latest update in trying to live a frugal life.
God's provision again is awesome...our taxes were in prior to this so not so bad. With the return I have purchased most of the curriculum we need for next year. The rest is relatively inexpensive and I will purchase as we go. There should be a used curriculum sale in town in April, then in May or June the PS system gives away unused items so I will hit that. (I do love free!)
I have looked into Once a Month cooking and altho' I am not going to do it once a month, but I will look for things to prepare ahead for busy days. I found a book(Free) on once a month cooking and have selected a few recipes to try from there. Some of the things...like Calzones...I will save for lunches as DH can take them to work and the child in charge of lunches on any given day can just pop them in the microwave. There is a site I found (wish I could remember where) that talks of cooking huge batches of waffles, pancakes, and breakfast burritoes as well. I want to do some of those after I go grocery shopping to try to steer the kids away from all the presweetened cereals they so love. This will also let me send some down to my mother, who hates to cook now that she is widowed. Perhaps once I get a few recipes down my mom and I can do this together at her house. She has a massive kitchen with double ovens and a huge oversized fridge, so that may not seem so daunting a task for me.
I have started using our own homemade laundry soap, between this and using vinegar instead of fabric softner, I have noticed less problems with the little ones asthma! Today he was able to play outside in the cold for the first time in a long time! AWESOME...It use to be he came in hacking and coughing after about 15 minutes. I also make my own cleansers mostly from baking soda and vinegar in varying amounts. I dont know how much it saves, but now the kids can help clean more as I am not concerned with them using to many chemicals.
My goal is to get our grocery bill down to about $300 per month. We have meat as DH is a hunter so we have venison, he did some work for a local rancher so we have more lamb coming, and we are due to buy a 1/2 a beef to really stock up the freezer. I still have 3 turkeys in the frige...I got them for .25 a pound over the holidays...I wonder how far I can stretch that! I got a call from a neighbor who adores the kids, she said that if the kids ever want to raise a sheep for 4h, she will give them a lamb.
I took the kids to their swimming classes this afternoon, we were 1/2 way into town when the princess informed me she forgot her suit...I did not have time to go back as we had to drop of library books. So as we were headed to the library I remembered a thrift shop just a block or so away...she needed a bigger swimsuit anyway and I prayed the entire time there...Please Lord, let there be one. WE FOUND ONE...the only one...and it was her size and the store was having a 1/2 price sale so I got it for .50. On top of that, they had brand new boys t-shirts for .50 and the princess got a new shirt and skirt set (this is hard to find as I am trying to teach her modesty in a show all world)and a pair of brand new pajamas for each of the youngest two!....this definately fell in our clothing allowance for the month.
I still love my paper towels to much, but have reduced their use in exchange for cloth. I now go through about a roll a month when that use to easily be one a week. I tend to use them for spills of solids (ie the youngest spilling his cereal all over the table and floor)It is just to easy not to have to try to get the cereal out of cloth.
Thus the latest update in trying to live a frugal life.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Frugal Living
Over the past few months I have been trying to cut our budget every which way I can. I have started making our own household cleaners, and not only has it cut costs, but my youngest is have fewer asthma attacks.
Hubby and I have set up a budget, and we have been pretty good at sticking to it, the only exception is that I am in the process of trying a new curriculum for math and language for my oldest, however I did get those at less than new cost buy searching and purchasing used.
We have, for the first time ever allotted money for clothes. In the past if we wanted something we just went and got it. With that I hit a huge sale at our local bx and got hubby 4 new shirts at less than $2 each...I also got 5 for myself at less than $2 each...that's cheaper than the thrift shops! Awesome!
I now bake our own bread, make our own yogurt as well as our snack foods and have been looking for other things to implement to save a buck so to speak. I remember my grandad telling me watch for the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. What a concept.
The reasoning for this...in August of this year, DH may loose his job. He has been told that the "temporary" orders we have been living on for the past 10 years cannot be renewed. Some of our goals is to have the kids' school stuff in place for a couple of years, savings built up in case he does not get another job soon, Cars in good shape (checked and rechecked) so that we dont have to worry about that and to do all we can to the house in preparation for this.
On top of this. I need to get our tiller running and set up garden(s). I have access to plenty of canning jars and I hope to grow enough that we don't have to purchase any canned good. We have the space, (on 5 acres) it is just dedicating the time and work to get it done. In my dream of dreams, I will have a greenhouse so that I can start the veggies early, as well as a root cellar to store all our goods.
We have talked of getting goats or a cow for milk, and chickens as well as other poultry for eggs and meat, but this seems a little overwhelming for someone who has never killed anything. (altho' I can process our own venison).
It seems to be a very busy year ahead since I also want to have the remodeling of our house done. A 10 year project now. Time to get it finished.
Whew...think I'll go take a nap!
Hubby and I have set up a budget, and we have been pretty good at sticking to it, the only exception is that I am in the process of trying a new curriculum for math and language for my oldest, however I did get those at less than new cost buy searching and purchasing used.
We have, for the first time ever allotted money for clothes. In the past if we wanted something we just went and got it. With that I hit a huge sale at our local bx and got hubby 4 new shirts at less than $2 each...I also got 5 for myself at less than $2 each...that's cheaper than the thrift shops! Awesome!
I now bake our own bread, make our own yogurt as well as our snack foods and have been looking for other things to implement to save a buck so to speak. I remember my grandad telling me watch for the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. What a concept.
The reasoning for this...in August of this year, DH may loose his job. He has been told that the "temporary" orders we have been living on for the past 10 years cannot be renewed. Some of our goals is to have the kids' school stuff in place for a couple of years, savings built up in case he does not get another job soon, Cars in good shape (checked and rechecked) so that we dont have to worry about that and to do all we can to the house in preparation for this.
On top of this. I need to get our tiller running and set up garden(s). I have access to plenty of canning jars and I hope to grow enough that we don't have to purchase any canned good. We have the space, (on 5 acres) it is just dedicating the time and work to get it done. In my dream of dreams, I will have a greenhouse so that I can start the veggies early, as well as a root cellar to store all our goods.
We have talked of getting goats or a cow for milk, and chickens as well as other poultry for eggs and meat, but this seems a little overwhelming for someone who has never killed anything. (altho' I can process our own venison).
It seems to be a very busy year ahead since I also want to have the remodeling of our house done. A 10 year project now. Time to get it finished.
Whew...think I'll go take a nap!
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