1) Keep your pantry organized – I have my spices and baking needs above the stove. My other dry storage is in four cabinets. My husband and boys help with this. We keep things lined up and organized so that we know what we have and things don’t get lost. You don’t want to buy all these great deals only to have them expire so severely that you’re afraid to use them. Keep boxes of pasta, dessert or dinner mixes facing sideways so that you can see if that is mac & cheese at a glance. This will help with quick meals and with planning your menu. It might also be advantageous to write the expiration date on the side that you have it facing.

2) Deep freezer tips – A deep freezer is a wise investment in a rural area. We don’t live near a Sam’s. We have gardens. Some gardeners and hunters will share their excess. Make sure you wrap your food well. Freezer burn is not the final destination for this food. If you have a lot of one item, store them in an office or fruit box so that it is easy to find.

3) Protect from bugs – Keep a close eye on your food for moths and other critters. They are not invited dinner guests. And once inside, they don’t leave easily. Keep all that you can in the freezer. Mason jars are great for storing small amounts of flour, grains and beans. Keep an eye out for great deals on 5 gallon food-safe buckets. The best buckets have the screw-in gamma lids but those can cost $10 a piece. My husband was able to find three buckets for less than $2 a piece. They didn’t have the gamma lid but they did store sunflower seeds. They still have a great strong-sealed lid. I kept the cornmeal, oats and brown rice flour in their original bags and sealed them inside these buckets. I can open them and refill my mason jars and succeed in keeping my food supply safe. Another great option is ice cream buckets. I’ve accumulated a few but I would like some more. So for a treat, we’re buying one 5 qt ice cream bucket each month. We eat up the ice cream and wash up the bucket for use with smaller amounts like sugars, pastas, granola bars and other snacks.

4) Plan your meals – Shop your stash when making a menu plan. Make sure if there are leftovers in the fridge or other things in your pantry or freezer that may expire soon, that you use them somehow in a meal soon. I had gotten some Special K cereal for free. Great deal but my family hates it. I used it up by making corn flake candy and my crew all agree that I can get that deal again if I use it for candy. You’ll also be able to see things you are running low on and need to keep an eye out for a great deal on.

5) Be creative – You may not have a large kitchen complete with deep freezer like I do. You may have to look for extra space in closets, under beds, or in basements or utility rooms. Look for good-sealing storage totes and containers. Wherever your food is, you want it safe from water, bugs and such.

Our Baptist church family was very kind and gracious. They wished us the best and couldn’t have been nicer.  My husband’s family was great. Most of my family has been very quiet, but some have been very defensive when they couldn’t answer a question that challenged their beliefs. Some of the statements that resulted angered and deeply hurt me at first. But I realized that it was more about what they couldn’t answer than it really was about me.  From stories that I have read of other conversions, there are a lot of people who just won’t discuss it.

Some of the efforts to make me the bad guy involved the struggles we went through with my husband’s cancer. That was pretty dirty but I have reflected and evaluated everything that we’ve been through this year. Whether or not everyone agrees, I think we managed through it all with a bit of grace. During quiet time last night, I realized just how much of a toll last year really was.

We started with the challenge to read the Bible from cover to cover. Both my husband and I completed it. The questions that arose and the studying that resulted is probably the toughest spiritual journey that you can take. It takes a major break-down of personal pride to admit that all your life, you might have been wrong. I’m grateful for my upbringing. I did already know a lot of what the Bible said. I didn’t really understand how it all fit together so perfectly until I studied Catholicism.

The first part of last year brought our fourth miscarriage. If this is the first time you’ve heard of it, forgive me but sometimes it’s just easier to deal with it privately. I believe God is in control and He blessed us with a viable pregnancy shortly afterwards. We’ll be welcoming our new addition in just 15 days. But the miscarriage and pregnancy have had a physical toll on me.

Shortly after suspecting that I was pregnant, my husband’s health deteriorated rapidly and we discovered that he had cancer. My father died of cancer so I was brought to tears as soon as the dr began talking about the lymph nodes. Thankfully my husband’s cancer turned out not as dangerous as my father’s but the emotional toll that a battle with cancer can bring is definitely significant.

Looking back at 2011, I can’t imagine much more that one family could go through physically, emotionally and spiritually. But there was a lot of good to last year. We learned so much! We had peace through Mike’s battle. We didn’t fall apart. And 2012 is seeing us with my husband in remission, our baby on the way and us all enjoying our new path of faith. I am grateful for the strength of our immediate family unit. It wouldn’t have been as doable if we couldn’t lean on each other.

Thinking back last night, the phrase Not easily broken came to mind. But truly it’s more than that, my husband and I both felt the call to make some changes in our way of life this year. I firmly believe that God is guiding our steps and it’s very exciting. Not just what we will be doing this year but what God’s plan for our family is in the years to come. I’ve also felt the freedom of forgiveness of past wrongs. There’s not a need to guard myself as much although after some of the statements last week, I truly wished that I had guarded a little bit. But I imagine that I’ll see that as all part of His Master Plan sometime in the future.

I think it’s more about being “pliable.” The clay in the Potter’s hands. No longer is the idea that we have it all figured out. We aren’t rigid in our adherence to beliefs of generations past but rather open to the leading of the Holy Spirit wherever it might lead. I can see now where had I not listened to the Holy Spirit when I was called to read the Bible in 90 days, how easily my life could have felt that it had shattered into many pieces. And I may still be a lump of clay to some, but I can see God molding our whole family into something useful and beautiful. I am looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Here’s how we do breakfast sometimes. We had oatmeal and fruit this morning. Now, I bought 9 lbs of oats at Sam’s for $7.44. I haven’t calculated the cost per serving there but it’s probably minuscule. At our discount grocery this past week, I found Quaker Peaches and Cream (my favorite!) for 1.50 for 12 packets of instant oatmeal. It wasn’t expired or in torn boxes. What a find!

My boys LOVE apples so I went to our local produce supplier. I bought a box of apples for 29.75. Now don’t be discouraged if your supplier has a big sign that reads “No retail to the public.” That simply means that they won’t break open a box and give you 10 apples. You buy the whole box or nothing! It was a box of 113 red apples. We have a dorm fridge that I had almost unplugged because I wasn’t buying canned drinks anymore. This little fridge and one of my crisper drawers made perfect apple storage.

A wonderful find at our discount grocery was Starbuck’s coffee for $3.99. Now I could have gotten Maxwell House for even cheaper, but I figured that all my budgeting success was worthy of a small treat. AND I get to take it to my local Starbuck’s for a free coffee when I am finished. How could I pass that up? I had also found Dominoes sugar at the discount grocery for $0.50/lb. I bought 20 lbs. Another tip on coffee. Only make as much as you need. I’m the only one that drinks it. I was blessed with a small coffee maker that only makes two coffee mugs full. This is the perfect amount for me. I don’t miss my big coffee pot at all.

Now the children have juice and milk to drink from WIC so I can’t calculate the costs there. Also, don’t get discouraged if you don’t have a discount grocery near you. You may be able to do just as well or better with coupons or watching the clearance shelves at your local grocery or supercenter.

Here’s the tally:

Oatmeal x 4 servings = $0.50

2 Apples = $0.53

2 cups Coffee + sugar + milk = $0.17

Total cost for breakfast for 4 people = $1.20

By eating frugally a few days out of the week, a big spread of biscuits/tortillas, sausage, eggs and such won’t hurt the budget at all. Sausage was also found in the freezers of my discount grocery store for $1.50. That will be enough for two meals. They have eggs for $1.50 if I recall correctly and I bought a whole stack of flour tortillas for $0.75 each. The tortillas have been frozen and defrosted without any sacrifice in taste.

WIC – It stands for Woman, Infants and Children. It is a program that provides nutritious food to women who are pregnant, infants and children up to age 5. Exceptions are made for older children if they are underweight, I believe. It doesn’t provide all that you need but it definitely helps. They have so many options now with added fruits and vegetables, corn tortillas, brown rice or wheat bread and even lactose free milk which is fabulous for dairy-sensitive kids like mine.

Food pantries – If you are going through a health issue that is adding expenses and cutting income, these ministries are very helpful. Don’t forget these ministries when you are doing well. Every donation helps!

Gardens – I am going with no-till and container gardens this year. A package of lettuce seeds will provide a lot more salads than the same money spent on salad greens. I’m gonna grow potatoes in containers so that I can slowly add compost as they grow so there’s not a big up-front cost. I’ll spread that compost out after harvest and be ready for tomatoes, peppers and squash. Small spaces can be used with clever ideas like pallet gardens, shoe organizers and gutters. Search Pinterest for some ideas.

And if a garden is not something you can tackle, try trading work with a gardening friend or neighbor for a share of the produce. Larger productions will allow you to glean from their fields. We have lots of sweet potato farmers nearby. You can get imperfect or cut sweet potatoes for little of nothing. Find out about the local agriculture where you live.

Our kitchen – One of the most under-utilized resources is our own kitchen. Very few of us have truly bare cupboards. Take inventory of your food in your freezer, refrigerator and cabinets. Search for recipes to use up those ingredients. This will free up more of your grocery budget to buy in bulk to make your food supply last longer and longer.

Don’t forget your leftovers. Send them with your husband for his lunch at work. Freeze them if you can’t use them up before they ruin. Plan out the use of big cuts of meat. I have a ham that I’ll be cooking this week. We’ll have one leftover meal, a few lunches, Quiche Lorraine and a few omelets. From a 10 lb ham bought for about 8 dollars, we’ll get about 25 servings. You can’t beat that!

When checking recipes, look at several different version. Sometimes, you can make a perfectly suitable alternative with what you have on hand rather than having to add ingredients to your shopping list. I had an example this past weekend. I was making a cupcake mix that was hidden in the pantry. I wanted to frost it but I didn’t have what I needed for my usual frosting. I found a fudge frosting recipe that used cocoa, sugar, milk, margarine, corn syrup, conf. sugar and vanilla. It was delicious. Twelve cupcakes didn’t even make it 24 hours in the house between the five of us.

Loss leaders – These are items that are placed in the ad with a shockingly low price. There are only a few in each ad. These items are like 18 ct eggs for 1.88 or shank ham for 0.79 a lb. The store actually loses money on these items. They figure that you will come in and buy other things that will end up covering their loss. If you don’t buy other things, you are what is known as a cherry-picker. Buy as many loss leaders as possible when you see them. Eggs last well past their expiration date. Meat, cheese and butter can be frozen. Canned goods have a long shelf life. Take advantage of these opportunities.

Grocery schedules – Things go on sale often in a predictable fashion. Here is a great post about this from Prudent Homemaker. Right now, we are in January. Everyone has their New Year’s Resolutions which often includes better health or losing weight. Chicken breasts are a great buy this month. Most you can figure out like eggs at Easter, bbq sauce in the summer, turkey at Thanksgiving and ham at Christmas. Stock up for as long as possible.

Look high and low – How many times do you have to go to the grocery store with kids and in a hurry to get home and get supper on the table? It’s easiest to grab what is at eye level while you’re trying to keep a toddler from grabbing something else off the shelf, one kid from running to the next aisle and the other from blocking the other half of the aisle while he’s lost in a daydream. Usually the lowest prices are on the top and bottom shelf. You’ll see this with beans and rice. The best deal is usually at the bottom.

Be wary of displays – Sometimes a loss leader will be put on an end cap but most of the time, you can walk down the aisle and find a different brand or different size that is cheaper. This is where a price book comes in handy. I have mine in my planner that I carry in my purse. I list an item, the unit size (lb, oz or item) and the price per unit for Sam’s, Walmart, Amazon, Dollar General, Kroger and our discount grocery store, Frugal Pantry. This way, I can look at the wall of values and automatically know if that truly is the best deal I can get on that particular item without having to check on the aisle.

Price per unit – Since I’ve been tracking this, I’ve been quite surprised that not everything that I thought was a good deal really was. I’ve seen that while Sam’s can cause you to waste a lot of money if you go in without a plan, their prices on spices, oats, baking powder, corn meal, etc cannot be beat. But The Frugal Pantry has better deals on rice, sugar and powdered milk. It pays to keep track.

Store brands – Some people have an aversion to store brands, but many have very little, if any, difference with the national brand. Actually, some national brands take their label off the machine, put the private label on and put the exact same product in the store brand container. I know this from my husband’s work in the business. But again, pay attention to price per unit and coupon policy. Sometimes, matching an awesome sale with a great coupon and/or coupon policy will get you the national brand for cheaper than the store brand.

Coupons – Sign up for any coupons that you can get in the mail. I get coupons from Kroger and usually get 1-2 FREE coupons every month or so. Find a great ad-matching coupon blog that posts links to coupons that you can print on things you need. I’ve stopped buying papers and spending all the time organizing coupons. I was barely covering the costs of the papers and with my busy schedule, it isn’t worth my time to save a couple of bucks. But you can still run across some good deals so don’t write off coupons completely.

The truth is that Americans live better than majority of the rest of the world. The rich overconsume. The middle class lives beyond their means. The poor have so many resources to keep them from having to starve like so many in Africa and other impoverished areas. Even the homeless and illegal alien in America has access to resources like Food Stamps, hot meals and shelters. And yet majority of us are holding out our hands for more. And this is just as much a rant against myself as anyone else. I have long taken for granted how blessed I am to live in this country. I have griped even if just to myself about not having what I want and failed in being thankful for what I have. By the grace of God, I intend to live differently and give my children a different model to follow.

A discussion was started on Facebook about how hard it was to live on a Food Stamps budget of $4.50 a day per person. At first glance, the effort by the Democrats to eat like a Food Stamps recipient sounds honorable. Then you do the math. I have a family of 5 with the 6th to arrive in less than a month. So $4.50 x 5 people x 7 days equals a budget of $157.50 a week. That is more than I spend on groceries, eating out, diapers, cleaning supplies, personal care products and paper goods combined!  To have that amount for just groceries would be like hitting the lottery! Then I read about this congressman trying to make it on this budget and reusing his tea bag for the third morning in a row. Ok, you’ve got to be kidding me!

I posted my opinion that I believe that this is an education problem more than a money problem. I know you can eat well on what is provided. Well, a couple of people became very defensive and downright irate with me. But that doesn’t change the facts. Too many people are on food stamps. My husband and I have seen the abuse over and over again working as cashiers and managers in the grocery business. Several years ago, I needed food stamps for a month and a half. I can’t remember exactly how much it was but I got a babysitter and made a list. I walked out with three buggy loads of groceries filled with cook-from-scratch supplies that lasted us months afterwards. And yet, I had seen people spend it all on a half buggy of meat or a buggy of convenience food that wouldn’t last near as long. What a difference a little education, planning and hard work would do for these individuals!

Now, before you write me a nasty comment, I am not judging every individual on this program. I am not for abolishing the program. But I know that it is being abused and/or not being used to it’s maximum potential for so many.

Education is the key. So I will be blogging as my effort to reiterate these tips in my brain and maybe help someone else in the process. I have a little bit of groceries in the pantry from a $0.49/can veggie sale and from buying some bulk items at Sam’s and my discount grocery store which include rice, oats, cornmeal, some spices, baking powder, baking soda, etc. I have a freezer with veggies and some meat as well as some freezer meals that I’ve put up in anticipation of our new arrival. I will be using what I have on hand but I will be coming in so way below budget that even buying those things will keep you below budget.

The next post will be tips on how to outsmart the grocery stores.

The printable daily sheet was a great idea and my husband even appreciated it because he could see what I needed done and help where he could. But of course, nothing is perfect. I was so focused on that one piece of paper that I failed to check my calendar and ended up with a financial mistake. I had been doing soooo good with the budget. Hormones got the better of me and I cried myself silly over it. I got it fixed. It wasn’t the end of the world. But a lesson learned. My little brown day planner is keeping me on track. If it won’t fit in there, I’m not using it.

I had a lot of false labor pains this week at 35 weeks pregnant. Lofty plans come crashing down in times like this. Now I didn’t get 7 minutes in all the spaces but I did keep up the dining room and living room. I didn’t get the kitchen cleaned after every meal. One day, it didn’t get touched at all. The next day was tough trying to catch it all up. Lesson #2 Kitchen has to come first. Even if it is just two minutes at a time, put some dishes away or load some in the dishwasher. Guess what? It’s ok to unload the dishwasher halfway and get to the other half later. The little bits of time add up.

I really love the 15 minutes on floors and 15 minutes on surfaces. I don’t need to worry about vacuuming the whole house or cleaning all the counters. Just what I can get to in 15 minutes or so. It keeps things from getting grungy and doesn’t make me obsess over perfectionism.

Hoping for more consistency in the next week. Gonna put my goals down in my planner so I can keep track of what is most important during the day. And go by list of importance: Bible/prayers, Kitchen, Laundry, 7×7 Pick up/put away, Floors, Surfaces, Decluttering, Gardening, and so on.

We organized the dining room. I got a huge nesting urge and cleaned out cabinets, bookshelves, drawers, etc. All the kids helped running around the house putting things away and getting me more trash bags and such. I came through the very next day and found the kids had left six items scattered between the table and other surfaces. Don’t they remember how much work we did to get it clean! Now, they could have just taken 2-3 steps and put it in their drawer. Each child has their own drawer, desk and basket. It was then that I realized my problem. I move from project to project instead of consistently maintaining each space. By the time I get back to the dining room or the boys bedroom, it’s trashed again and I end up having to reorganize everything AGAIN!

So I thought of naming it the “Stay ahead of the monkeys” plan but decided to summarize it in three words that I know to be true. CONSISTENCY CREATES EFFICIENCY

First I’ll use a 7 x 7 plan to keep up minimum maintenance. Seven minutes in seven zones of my house. Only 7 minutes to pick up and put away and tidy things. Now, the first few days, I figured that 7 minutes wouldn’t be enough. For the dining room, 7 minutes was just right. For the living room, 7 minutes wasn’t quite enough but after a couple of days of consistently doing the 7 x 7, I’m sure it will be plenty of time. My timer didn’t go off so what was supposed to be 7 minutes in the utility room ended up being 15 minutes so I could skip that one tomorrow. The next day, I might have to expand to the hallway and closets since so much was done today.

Flylady’s plan is to shine your sink in the evening. It didn’t really work for me. So, after every meal, I’m dedicating 10-15 minutes for cleaning the kitchen. It’s easy to leave breakfast or lunch dishes to be done all at once. But after feeding 4-8 people three meals a day, the dishes in the afternoon or evening are a bit overwhelming. So 10-15 minutes 3 x a day will give plenty of time to unload/load dishwasher, wash dishes, put away ingredients, wipe down appliances, etc.

Flylady’s plan is to have a Home Blessing hour once a week. Just doesn’t work in a home that is used as much as ours. So I’m devoting 15 minutes a day to the floors and 15 minutes to surfaces. Floor chores include vacuuming, sweeping, mopping and spot cleaning. Surfaces include dusting, polishing, wiping countertops, tables, etc.

Other dailies include 30 minutes of gardening, 30 minutes of memory verse/Bible reading, 30 minutes of craft/gift making, 30 minutes of decluttering/organizing, 15 minutes of balancing the checkbook/paying bills/managing budget, 1 hour of reading with the children and 1 hour of planning (homeschool/meal/garden/etc).

The idea is that if I do this every day I will become more and more efficient at getting things done. I will also be consistently reinforcing where things belong and that moving things from the floor to a surface or vice versa that I find the children doing so often is NOT picking up and putting away.

I’m keeping track of my progress on this printable daily chart. So the plan is to update here at least weekly, preferably daily. Of course with only 37 more days til baby gets here, not sure how frequent my posts will be after his arrival.

Rest time and I’ll be finishing up my 7 x7 and other dailies. Here’s to a consistent, efficient 2012!

I’ve been perusing minimalism blogs for about a year or so. Initially, I was a little turned off by the modern minimalistic concept. I don’t care for straight lines and geometric designs. I like roses and country decor. But as I am finding more and more blogs, I’m discovering that I don’t need to chose modern style to live as a minimalist. I really love this post.

I’m not a totally non-guilty participant. I have a tendency to want to hoard. Especially food. It’s my security blanket. But am I really saying that I don’t trust God to provide? I have months worth of toiletries thanks to couponing. They were a good deal but do I really need 5 tubes of toothpastes and 4 boxes of bandaids. Well, maybe that’s not quite excessive but it probably wouldn’t hurt to donate some more to the Food Pantry.

Maybe I need to quit worrying quite so much about tomorrow so that I can enjoy today. Maybe I should desire the poverty of Jesus over the riches of Solomon. In Luke 3:11, Jesus tells us to share our duplicates. But I have at least 10 different coats and jackets. Why?! Would the fact that I have enough to wear for an entire lifetime prevent me from buying another great deal that I found? Would it prevent me from receiving another coat as a gift or hand-me-down? If I died tomorrow, how harsh would be my judgement for not sharing what I had?

In Mark 6, Jesus sends out his disciples. He tells them to take no bread, no bag, no money. They aren’t to wear two tunics. In other words, show visibly that they trust in a Living God to provide for their needs on a daily basis. No backup plan! I think I have read this before thinking that it really applied to missionaries and such. But am I really exempt? If my coat wore out, I would have no opportunity to trust God because I have a backup plan.

So, what if our house was destroyed and we found ourselves tomorrow without a single possession? What would be replaced? What would be missed? Well, the first thing we would need after a shelter and food would be a Bible. Not because it’s the proper Christian thing to do. We end each day with a Psalm and prayer as a family. The quickest way to make things feel a little more normal would be to make sure we have family devotions each night.

What next? We’re homeschoolers so the bare minimum we could have some manner of lessons with would be paper, crayons, pencils, a white board and a library card.

In the kitchen, I could do a lot with just my griddle and crockpot. Would need a serving spoon and a spatula. Plates, cups and silverware would be needed too. Nothing else is particularly vital.

In the bathroom, towels, bath cloths, toothbrushes and hairbrush is needed. Soap is soap. No particular kind or form is necessary.

What about technology? It reduces a LOT of clutter. You can fit thousands of books on a tiny SD card.  Cell phones, laptop, e-reader and Wii would be needed eventually. They are essential assets for education, entertainment and exercise.

What about hobbies and personal items? I would need some needles, hooks and yarn. The kids would need blocks, animals, small trampoline and a rocking horse. Mike would like a way to keep up with his Braves games and some fishing poles.

I did this with the boys when we went through the things in their room. I emphasized the essentials. Things I knew they loved and played with and the toys that were the most versatile like blocks. After that, it became much easier to designate other less important items for Goodwill. If they weren’t listed in the important items then they obviously were expendable.

So, I am going to work towards less hoarding, more faith in God, less duplicates and more time that is less concerned with stuff. God bless!

I’ve been doing the 1John Bible Study with Good Morning Girls. She suggested several methods of studying from highlighters to colored pencils to memory verse photo albums. I decided to try the colored pencils. I figured if it didn’t prove helpful, I’ve only messed up one small book of the Bible.

I really do like it. I’m seeing how when looking for verses about love, my eyes are drawn to the red shaded words. It’s really cool. I was working on it last night. I was journalling rather than marking but my middle child noticed the colors and asked about it. I told him that I was trying to learn more from the Bible about how to be more like Jesus. In a few minutes, he came back with his Bible, journal and his crayon box. It was getting late so I promised to help him with it the next day.

This morning, I helped the boys find John 3:16. We marked God and Son with a yellow triangle to represent the Trinity. We marked “loved” with red shading over the word. We marked “believe” with sky blue. We marked life with yellow. I would do a green and blue circle over world to represent the earth but I worried that would require too much skill for them in their small Bibles.

They were tickled about it. Davy was picking out the words in the next verse that he needed to mark. I told him we would work on it a little each day. James was talking about teaching his cousins how to do it. I warned him that their parents might not want them marking in their Bibles. He said that he would just read the verse to them. Can’t discourage that.

My pastor’s wife is looking for some Kay Arthur books for me to learn more about her use of colors and symbols. I have searched online and I realize that everyone marks it differently. I’m keeping a key in the last page of my journal on how it makes the most sense to me.

I’ve really enjoyed the journaling through 1 John. I have four or five more nice journals and hope to do more books after this one. I think it would make a wonderful heirloom for my children to have all my thoughts through the Bible. Not that I write anything uniquely profound. But it’s a tangible example of how important the Bible is to our daily walk.

God bless!