Frugal Families Blog

I decided to try my hand at sour dough bread.  My boys have decided that they like a nice chewy bread with a crust.  So today I made up my first batch of starter.  I placed the following into a large glass mixing bowl:

-3 packets of dry yeast (I used 4 tsp of instant yeast)

-1.5 cups of warm water

1 TBS of sugar

2.5 cups of all purpose flour

I mixed it all in the bowl and it said to cover loosely to allow the gasses to escape so I threw a cloth napkin over the top.  It’s suppose to sit in a warm spot in your kitchen for 2-3 days and get sour smelling and begin to bubble.  At this point you can store the starter in the fridge or leave it in a cool, dark part of your kitchen (nothing cool and dark in my kitchen so I’ll probably put it in the fridge).

I suspect the instant yeast is the reason that my sour dough attempted a take over of the kitchen counter within hours of meeting up with sugar and warm water.   It bubbled out, wildly!, all over the kitchen counter!!!! I managed to lasso most of it into the bowl again and this time I  moved it to a 1/2 gallon canning jar.  I’m hoping that the narrow space will force the dough up and back onto itself before it can manage another escape attempt!

I’ll update in a few days with a sourdough recipe.  If you don’t hear from me, send help.  Hopefully, someone with experience taming wild sourdough. 

We canned peaches for the first time this past summer.  I LOVE peaches!  Our local orchard has a pick-your-own option that helps keep the cost down.  I love a sun-warmed peach that is ripened to perfection on the tree.  When you bite into it,  the juice runs down your chin.  sigh…..   just heavenly!

Anyways, I digress.  My oldest boys helped me can up our peaches.  The assembly line approach helped us speed things along but it was still a learning experience trying to pack the peaches correctly.  In the end, our jars of peaches looked so beautiful but I wasn’t sure I wasn’t better off just buying them at Aldis.

Well,  my husband is adding more shelving to our pantry and I had to pull out all of my canned goods.  We decided that we had waited long enough and opened up a jar of the peaches.  Oh my gosh!  FANTASTIC!  The boys and I devoured the quart jar in a matter of seconds.   I thought I’d use the light syrup that now tastes of the peaches for smoothies but truthfully, it’s gone, too.  I was just like that juice that runs down your chin in the summer.  The boys and I decided that the time and labor was totally worth the enjoyment we got out of just that one jar!  Granted, we have more to use up but it’s going to be hard rationing them out until this summer’s harvest.

I feel like I’ve tasted summer.

Last week I needed to go shopping.  I really am NOT a shopper in the sense that if I have to get something at the mall, I am in and out.  I don’t find pleasure in going through racks of clothing.  I don’t get excited about window shopping.  Okay, that’s not ENTIRELY accurate.  I drool over seed catalogs.  I DO lovingly hold onto fishing poles and just imagine a big trout at the end.  Oh and trip through Cabellas had my budget screaming in fear.  LOL.

Anyways, last week I DID get excited about shopping.  It wasn’t about what I was going to spend but what I was going to save!

My first stop:

CVS-I had  $3.50 in ECBs (Extra Care Bucks).  I was out of dishwashing liquid!  My free or nearly free stash was gone!  Anyways, CVS hadDawn on sale for .96 each.  I had two .20 coupons as well.  They had Folgers coffee on sale for 2 for $5.00.  I bought just one and used a .55 coupon.  So, between my three coupons totaling .95 and my $3.50 ECBs, I ended up with them owing me .02!  I held out my hand for my .02 but the cashier said that they couldn’t give me the .02 BUT I could buy something else.  I politely explained that I wasn’t going to buy something else so I could give them more money.  They could have my two cents.

So, after my free CVS stop, I went onto Shaw’s Grocery store:

Shaw’s was having a roast sale.  In addition, when you bought one of the roasts that was on sale, they had a coupon for a free 2lb bag of onions, a free 1 lb bag of carrots AND a free 5 lb bag of Maine potatoes!  I had a $5 coupon from a previous promotion (one of those deals when you buy $20 in select products and get $5 off your next trip).  I was able to get a 4lb chuck roast, the onions, carrots and potatoes for only $6.24!  I was on a roll and feeling good now!  Hey, that’s what shopping therapy is all about, right?

Next stop!

Jon, my 8 year old, goes through the knees of his jeans like crazy!  Not to mention, he’s growing, constantly!  My oldest two have left a slew of hand-me-downs except that around the size 8 jean period, the oldest two grew at such a great rate through the summer that when fall came around we jumped from 7’s to 10’s!  There are NOT a lot of size 8 hand-me-downs for Jon.  My husband wanted to just drop $19.99/pair for new jeans.  I cringed, knowing that Jon would put holes in those jeans just as fast as a gently used pair.  So, my next stop was the thrift store.

I went to one of my favorite thrift stores right down from the Shaws.  Found a pair of jeans there for just $1!  WOO HOO!!!!  I was pumped now!  The adrenaline was rushing!  hehehehe

I decided to hit the Goodwill just down from the highway on-ramp (I’ve done a large loop here, by-the-way, making sure to minimize my gas consumption and get the most out of my trip).  Now, I don’t know about your Goodwill, but mine has gone up in prices.  I used to be able to snag jeans for about $3/pair but they’re up to $4 now.  I shouldn’t complain because new would be $20 but after my $1 find at the other store, $4 seemed ‘pricey’.  That said, I managed to find two  more pairs of jeans for Jon for $8.  Three pairs of gently loved jeans for $9 instead of nearly $60!  I didn’t think this trip could get any better…

THEN I spotted the brand new, unopened bags of quilt batting!  Oh my lucky stars!  I tried not to look too excited as I walked over to the rack, fearful another quilter was afoot and I’d lose my find.  I grabbed both bags, claiming them quickly.  Brand new, queen-sized quilt batting for only $2 EACH!  I felt a rush to my head!  It wasn’t possible!  I asked an associate that was loading up some racks if it was the real price.  She confirmed my wildest dreams!!!!!  Normally priced over $20 each, I was about to get two bags of queen-sized quilt batting for only $4!

THIS WAS EXCITING! This WAS therapeutic!  Only I was sure I wouldn’t have gotten the same adrenaline high if I had spent full price for all of this.  I wasn’t sure how people could get the same therapeutic effect dropping lots of cash.  No matter.  I came home.  My need for shopping therapy fulfilled.

Hmmmm, wonder if I can find Sue a really big snowblower with a headlight on my next trip.  Hmmmmm

I miss my garden.  I miss being outside, my hands working the sun-warmed soil.  I want to be swinging an ax into wood.  I want to be stretching back in my camping chair, by a fire, under a night sky full of stars.

Instead, snow covers everything.  Although I’m more lucky than my more northern friends, there is still  snow and frozen ground here.  My dad had major back surgery so I’m not even getting out for  my normal ice fishing trips this winter.  I am definitely feeling more down this year.

My seed catalogs have started coming in full force.  I’m already laying out my garden for the spring.  I’ve got at least 6 more weeks before I can work the first peas into the ground.  My first attempt at cold-framing has been successful as there is still spinach growing in it!  The last big storm that blew through here flipped the large, heavy sliding door over though and shattered one of the double panes.  One of my first big jobs with spring will be to pick up the hundreds of shards of glass out of that bed.  sigh…

I’m trying to keep my hands busy so that my brain won’t dwell on the cold,  short days outside.  I’m not sure it’s working.

I’m never going to give up my New England snow for sunny, warm locations but I still can’t wait for spring this year.  Seems like the more I enjoy my garden and working outside, the less I like being stuck inside.

Recently on the Frugal Families Boards we have had some discussion of safety concerns of people not seeking medical advice in the pursuit of frugality. I have not had to face that issue myself as of yet although if anyone understands the weight of medical bills on their shoulders I do. Last year in 2009 my family had 2 major hospitalizations, both of which involved huge prescription bills and months of follow up with specialists. I have had to change an already fairly frugal lifestyle to a much more frugal lifestyle with the exception of “movies”, my one last hold out. To me their is nothing like the movie on the big screen. I will give up eating out! I will give up clothing! I will give up handbags! But don’t take my cable, dvd rentals, or the rare visit to the big screen from me!
So I shared with my fellow frugalites at Frugal Families today that I found some powdered dish detergent in the garage that had solidified to a brick inside the box. Would you throw it out? Did I throw it out…of course NOT! I am a FRUGAL RENEGADE! So I peeled and I peeled the cardboard off around this brick and then I put it in a bowl and chopped it up with a butter knife and then I finally put it in some tupperware so I can use it. It was almost a full box. This took about 10 minutes…would you give 10 minutes to $2.00 worth of powdered dish detergent? Some might say that is my frugal low….but is their a frugal low per say? I think we have to say that their are things that would be considered a frugal low but to me this wasn’t one of them but for some that would be extreme. How do I know this? I know this because every time my husband and I go to drop recyling off people throw away detergent bottles that are still 1/3 of the way full and 2 liter bottles that are not finished so I know people do not always make sure to utilize all of their resources. Recently we found a pizza pan, a measuring cup, and a vase among other things…but that’s another story.

For me, anyway. With 2010, I’ve decided – among other things – to exorcise the spend-demon who seems to have jumped into my body a few months ago. Really, I don’t know exactly when it started, but at some point, I pretty much stopped thinking through purchases before I made them, and just fast-forwarded to “Buy. Buy.” Or “bye-bye, money”. Same thing. (I do have a cool digital SLR camera now, though…)

See, there it is again. Spend-demon just wrote the camera comment.

New year, new me. I love New Years for that reason. Well, for several reasons, but that’s one of them. So I came up with a plan for the money in 2010 – with my husband’s full blessing. I later found out just how full the blessing was. Anyway, what is this grand plan you ask (or don’t ask)? We’re going to try our best to live just on my husband’s take home pay. What we see after taxes in a very high tax state. What we see after maxing out the 401K – and putting additional money in it, because we’re that old. What we see after everything’s taken out. And then we’re going to bank my entire take home pay. And to do this, a hiatus from recreational shopping is a must. Really thinking through the purchases – we have to do that. Especially after the past few months.

Hey, I could use “I’m staying out of stores” to explain my long absence from the shopping blog. Hmmm…

The first challenge to this new, umm, challenge happened a couple of days ago. And I failed the challenge. Or I would have, had it not been for my husband talking me down.

As I may have mentioned a time or several, we live in Wisconsin. Where it snows. Lately, it snows an awful lot in winter. A number of years ago, we decided that we were getting kind of old for shoveling, and bought a snowblower. A small snowblower, because we really don’t have a long driveway, or a huge walkway. And it’s held up pretty good. But our old driveway (we had a new one poured last year) really did a number to the paddles on the snowblower. These days, I need to take a shovel and go over and clean up what the snowblower left behind. It’s still a good bit better than not having a snowblower. But some of our neighbors have really nice snowblowers. Big snowblowers. With headlights. (Don’t ask why I’m so obsessed by headlights on snowblowers, because I don’t know – but I am.) We finally got a decent sized snowfall last week (by that I mean more than the 2 inches at a time we were getting.) And of course, I was outside again, shoveling up the bits left behind. When into my brain pops this thought: We need a new snowblower! The following conversation – or something close to it – takes place:

Me: Do you think the hardware stores still have snowblowers?
Husband: Why?
Me: Well, we can get a new one. A big one. With headlights!
Husband: The one we have is perfectly fine. I’ll replace the paddles after snow season is over.
(My comment for clarification: That would be …June. We’ve had snow in May. More than once.)
Me: But it’s…old. And small. We’ll need a bigger one when we move up north.
Husband: Then we’ll buy one up north.
Me: But wouldn’t it be cool to have a BIG snowblower? With headlights!
(There I go again – what IS it with me and headlights?)
Husband: I thought we were going to try and live off only my salary.
Me: But I have money in other accounts in the bank that we can use.
Husband: Sue, you really aren’t grasping the concept of living off MY SALARY ONLY, are you?

And he’s right. He’s SO right. I really do need to work on this. I mean, the living-on-one-income was my idea in the first place.

I’ve always said that I don’t like to shop. I guess it’s time to walk the walk. Oh, yeah, I’ll still be blogging about shopping. Maybe other things, too. But hopefully, I won’t be blogging about buying a honkin’ snowblower (with headlights).

“It’s not having what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got…”

Yep, Cheryl Crow inspires me!

I periodically get down on being frugal.  I want to spend.  I want new.  I want better.  I want.  Period.  I WANT.  I didn’t say NEED.  I said I WANT.  Reality is that I don’t really NEED much if anything.  We are blessed.  A roof over our heads, food on the table, and my hubby in a good job (I don’t want to say secure because nothing seems secure anymore).  We’re healthy and have more than so many.

Yet, there are still times when I want:  an updated kitchen, install hardwood flooring in the bedrooms, aa newer vehicle for my husband.   Then I get a bit down about not having the things I want.  Then I hear Cheryl, “It’s not having what you want.  It’s wanting what you’ve got…”  She  motivates me to get refocused!  It’s like that glass-half-full thing or the glass is half-empty thing.  I can dwell on how we can’t swing all of the things we want right now or focus on enjoying what we DO have right now!

Instead of thinking about what you DON’T have, think about what you DO have. What will make you want what you have more?

Yeah, we want hardwood floors in the bedrooms but in the meantime, I can make the carpeting we have look as good as it can by taking care of it and giving it a good cleaning.  I want to update the kitchen but in the meantime, cleaning up our old cabinets and taking care of our current kitchen is more important.

Sometimes it isn’t about really wanting new but needing change.  “It’s wanting what you’ve got.”  Paint, fabric and my own labor are cheap.  I liked our kitchen a lot more after we put up fresh paint and I made a new curtain for the door.  That simple change made me want my kitchen more.

I’m always amazed how moving things around can make the old seem new again.  A pretty sheet tucked in and around an old couch or chair or a beautiful hand-crocheted afghan casually throw across the cat-shredded arm of an chair can do wonders.  Updating an old couch with fresh new fabric on hand-made pillows draws the eyes away from the stain the kids created when they spilled something.

It is being honest with yourself.  I don’t go looking at homes that are for sale because I know that I’ll see something that will make me not want my own home as much.  We never intended to make this our forever home but it is what it is and we’re blessed to have our home.  There is no sense looking at other houses and thinking on how this house isn’t everything we would like.  Remember, it’s wanting what you have.  There is no sense going out looking at expensive new furniture if you know you can’t swing it right now.  It’s easier to appreciate what you have if you aren’t out looking at everything you can’t have.

So, how can you want what you already have?

I periodically review the goals I have set for our homestead.  I wrote them down in my homesteading journal around January or February of this year.  As I’ve previously stated, I was thrilled to expand our garden and preserve more of our harvest.  My marked maple trees stand ready in our newly fallen 12″ of snow to increase our sap harvest next spring.  I wanted to up the fruit production in our garden, too.  If you go back a few posts, you’ll see pictures of our gorgeous raspberry crop.

Overall, it’s been a positive year and step upward in our goals.  Another goals was to work on creating more of the boys’ Christmas presents.  I was so proud to add knitting to my repertoire of frugal skills this year!  I am an experienced crocheter but crocheting doesn’t create the beautiful socks I desired.  In addition, the ribbing of knitting is better than that of crocheting.  I took out every beginner knitting book that the library had and pulled out my Great Grams knitting needles.  I hoped and prayed that those ‘experienced’ needles would pass on some of my Gram’s knitting talent on to me. 

So, I practiced.  And practiced.  And bugged my experienced knitting friend in Texas.  THEN I decided to attempt socks.  My dear friend Debi, in Texas is a sweetheart!  She was so patient with  me, teaching me how to follow a sock pattern from a thousand miles away over the phone!  Thank goodness for unlimited minute phone packages.    In the end, I used some of my beautiful New England wool to make my first pair of socks!  They’re double knitted and will keep my feet nice and warm when I go ice fishing!

With my first pair of socks down in the books, I set my sights on Christmas presents for the fellas.  I ended up knitting 4 hats (3 for the boys and one for my dad) and two more pairs of socks for myself.  My socks are with a much finer sock yarn this time.  I can’t wait ot fid them in my Christmas stocking!  Yeah, I’m silly making my own stocking stuffers but it increases my anticipation of wearing my beautiful self-striped socks.  I’ll have to take pics for you.  I also crocheted two pairs of slippers for two of the boys and knitted a pair of piggy slippers for my middle son who totally has a thing for pigs.

The other thing I wanted to work on was my sewing.  I am a skilled quilter but sewing and following a pattern is a bit different BUT I was once again determined.  I found cute flannel on sale At JoAnn’s and ended up sewing up 3 pairs of flannel pajama bottoms for the boys.  The added benefit to making my own flannel bottoms for them is that I can custom fit the pants of my extra tall, extra scrawny body styles of my fellas.  A HUGE BENEFIT!

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get flannel tops done for my oldest yet.  He’s the only one who wears them.  The other two prefer no tops or just t-shirts.  My oldest jokes that he’s cold-blooded.  BUT I’m not giving up now that I know I can get the bottoms done!  Step by step and before you know it, you’ve done it!

So, this might be my last review of this years homesteading goals before the year ends.  I’m eagerly looking forward to creating new goals for myself and our property in the coming year.  I have to say that writing down my goals in a homesteading journal and having that physical reminder of what I wanted to do has been very helpful and motivating.  It’s been nice sharing it with you, too.

What are your goals for your home in the new year?

I know it’s been a few weeks.  My apologies.  Thanksgiving was a busy time and it was stressful.  My dear friend, Stephanie, in Tennessee was having a hard time.  Her mother-in-law had a series of strokes and she and her husband spent the better part of that Thanksgiving week at the hospital.  It was a very hard week, emotionally and physically as we all prayed, knowing we had to accept God’s will but knowing it wouldn’t be easy.  In the end, Brian’s mom passed away.

I wanted to be there for Brian and Steph and I was able to find an awesome deal on a plane ticket to TN.  If you have some flexibility in your schedule, Travelocity’s Web Fares, can be a source of great deals! Don’t forget to look for coupon codes as well.  I was able to find the deal for Delta through Travelocity but I ended up buying through CheapOAir.com because they had online coupons and their site wasn’t experiencing trouble like Travelocity that day.

So, I flew to TN!  I have never flown alone and I haven’t flown in over 12 years (not since 9/11).  I was excited and stressed all at the same time.  LOL!  But I did it!  Stephanie was waiting there at the airport for me and seeing her smiling face brought on a torrent of joyful tears.  Stephanie and I are always thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring us together.  I was so thankful to have this time with her.

I flew in on Saturday and I got to enjoy lunch at Sonics.  I know that Sonics might be nothing for some of you but we don’t have them here in CT.  I loved watching the girl roller skate out with our order!  I tried my first cherry limeade drink.  Then we got donuts at Richie Kremes.  A small mom and pop place that makes absolutely fantastic, mouthwatering, tender donuts.  Oh man…  yeah, they’re like those Krispy Kremes BUT they made donuts like this before the big franchise came along and we don’t have a Krispy place here anymore either.  Oh and then we celebrated Brians birthday and his dad’s birthday by going to Sticky Fingers!  Yep, they only have those in TN, too.  We tried them out when we visited in April and the boys fell in love with Memphis style ribs.  If I ever move to TN, I’ll gain 15 pounds.  At least.  LOL!

Sunday was wonderful.  Steph and Brian always talk about their church in Clearwater.  My first experience in a Southern Baptist church.   What a joy and blessing to share fellowship with such a wonderful faith community.  Another wonderful blessing in my life.

Steph and I always joked about how we wished we could have a day to sit all day, drink tea, crochet and knit and watch Stargate (yeah, we’re huge fans).  Well, this was our plan for Monday, except we didn’t know that Stargate was going to be on!  I joked with Steph that the only thing that would absolutely make the day perfect was if Stargate was on and Steph checked and could not believe that it really was on!  So we sat, watched Stargate, drank sweet tea (oh man, they make it SAWEEEEET down there!) and crocheted and knitted the entire day.  We gave thanks to the Lord for blessing us with such a wonderful day together.

I know this doesn’t appear to be all about frugality but in a way it is.  First, we have no debt other than the house which allowed us the flexibility to book a plane ticket.  We have no debt because of our frugal living.   I found a tremendous deal on the ticket using online resources.  I can’t begin to tell you how priceless a day with my dear friend was.  Stephanie and I didn’t spend a penny on our dream day together but it was more valuable than any physical item we could have bought.  With these tough economic times, the same attitude can be brought to the table of many homes.  It’s not about the physical things we have but the time we get to spend together with each other.

Okay, some of these tips can apply to ANY stressful event but I’m going to focus on the upcoming big event in most households this week.

-Mashed potatoes (or other mashed things like sweet potatoes or squash) can be kept warm in a crockpot for several hours!  Make your dish ahead of time, add everything like you normally do and then place it in the crockpot on low or warm setting.  BIG time saver and frees up another burner just before you serve up the meal.

-Set the table(s) the night before if you can.  I won’t be able to set the kitchen table until just before the company arrives as it also serves as a prep area but I can set the dining room table and the other extra table that will be out the night before.  The dishes won’t run away.

-If you have boys like I do and have more than one toilet in the house than do your keep clean of the guest bathroom the night before and ban the boys from it to keep it clean!  Yeah, that’s mom of boy humor but any one of you with boys will know and appreciate this tip!

-Consider purchasing a Nesco roasting oven.  This oven is a God send!!!  I can cook a 20lb turkey in this thing!  It’s like having an extra oven that you can tuck into the bottom of closet any other time.  So many people struggle with having enough oven room because the turkey is in there forever and you can’t bake anything else.  This makes life so much easier and it can really be used year round (hmmm, perhaps that’s another post.  LOL).  Mine is a bit older and honestly, I wish I had the buffet tray that the newer ones have!  Oh the possibilities!

Nesco 4808-2589PR 18-Quart Roaster Oven with Nonstick Cookwell and Buffet Kit

-Don’t try making new things on Thanksgiving day unless you’ve already made them at least once.  Many a Thanksgiving day stresses are over new dishes that a hostess is trying for the first time.  Don’t do this to yourself!  Stick to tried and true and ultimately, less stressful.

-Don’t refuse help!  Oh my gosh, if someone is offering to make something for you, then by all means, let them!  I know, someone may not bake the apple pie just like you but your guests won’t care (unless you were the blue-winner at the county fair ). At the same time, don’t refuse help in the kitchen!  I know, too many cooks in the kitchen can be trouble but so is a host/hostess pulling out his/her hair!

-Along the lines of not refusing help, is knowing what you can prepare ahead of time.  I make all homemade bread and rolls in my home.  My guests have come to expect and love my homemade goodies and I wouldn’t disappoint them BUT I also know that I can prepare the breads the evening prior.  You can also prepare some dishes the evening before BUT not cook them off until Thanksgiving.  Pies can usually be done the night before as well.  Bread stuffing can be made the night before (don’t stuff the turkey until Thanksgiving to prevent too much possible bacterial growth/contamination and if you want to make it easy, put bread stuffing in casserole dish instead), Consider creating menus with a lot of items that can be prepped the night before.  Even if you can’t put something like scalloped potatoes together the night before, you can slice the potatoes and put them in a bowl of water for the night and then pull it all together on Thanksgiving.  Think ahead of what you can dice, slice and chop up the day before.  Every minute counts!

-Write down the menu!  This helps you remember everything AND if you have help in the kitchen, they can look over the list and see what you’re working on and what still needs attention.  Did I mention it helps you remember everything?  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found something in the fridge I forgot to put out.  D’uh  moment!  Writing down the menu also helps you make sure you have everything you need.  Last minute trips to the store on Thanksgiving can get pricey because you often end up at a costly convenience store and they’ll inevitably NOT have what you need, leaving you to scramble for a last minute emergency substitution.  UGH!

-You are not perfect!  You are NOT perfect.  YOU ARE NOT PERFECT!  Do you get the idea?  Don’t panic if you forget something or something isn’t ‘just’ right.  You are not perfect!  If they want perfection than let them ask God to host Thanksgiving next year!  Do you best and it will all be fine.