Not a New Year Resolution

Recently, I caught a couple episodes of a (TLC?) show called "Extreme Cheapskates." Some of the things they did to save a few bucks was ridiculous to me. For example, I will not go dumpster diving for food (although I have done this for furniture) or pee in a jar to save the cost of flushing the toilet.

But, the show did cause me to think about some things I could change in my household. My motivation, wasn't to necessarily live more "cheaply", but to live more SIMPLY. And that is why this post is called "Not a New Year Resolution." I never keep New Years' resolutions (for any amount of time, anyway), but I can change my lifestyle, one tiny step at a time.

Now, for anyone that really knows me, knows that I never pay full price for anything. In addition, when I find a good deal, I buy more than I need at the moment. I have a closet, lovingly called my "Fall-Out Shelter". In it you will find a stockpile of anything from paper towels to juice to canned goods to cleaning supplies.

So, when I made the decision to live more simply, I looked at my stockpile and decided to make my changes as I ran out of things. Like I said, tiny steps at a time.

I've been making my own laundry detergent for just under a year and have been extremely satisfied with it. I began researching other things like that I can make myself. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many things contain the same ingredients and those ingredients are things you would normally find in your household.

The first thing I ran out of was dishwasher detergent. I was hesitant, because I've seen even good name brand detergent not work so well. I decided that it doesn't hurt to try. I mixed up my recipe of borax, salt and citric acid, with a rinse aid of white vinegar. WOW! It worked just as well, if not better at a fraction of the cost.

You may find the next homemade product a little strange. And I did at first, too. I mean, this product is important to me, it is something that I thought I needed on a daily basis. But, as I was reading all the positive comments, I decided to give it a try. I'm here to annouce that I have not washed my hair with shampoo in over a month. "What?!" you say. "Ewww...." 

I have been using a mixture of baking soda and water to clean my hair, with an apple cider vinegar and water rinse to soften it. I used to have to wash my hair almost every day to keep it from getting oily and limp. Using this method, I have to wash my hair only every three days and I could probably go four if I HAD to. Using the baking soda causes the ph balance in your hair to become stable and because you're not stripping your hair of the oils it needs on a daily basis, it doesn't "think" that it has to create more oils to make up for it.

Sure, it took a couple weeks to get the process right. So far, I've been pleased with the results. In just this month going "poo-free",  I figure I've saved at least $10. Multiply that by months and that's pretty significant.

There are more things I'm looking forward to trying: glass cleaner, disinfecting spray, bathroom cleaner, condiments, etc. I'll be happy to share my successes and failures.

And it's not just the homemade products that will make Simple Living. It's the choices and busy-ness of everyday. I decided to retrain my focus. God has given me the business of my family. I want to be a faithful steward over what He has entrusted me with. I'm determined to set aside those things that distract me from: 1. knowing my God deeper every day and 2. taking excellent care of my family and household. I believe that in retraining my focus, Simple Living will be a natural result.

It's That Time of Year!

As the weather has grown warmer the past few weeks, I've been thinking about my favorite summer pasttime... RUMMAGING. (Since I have become a Dairy State dweller, I have referred to it as rummaging, but have previously referred to yard sale-ng, garage sale-ing, even have gone so far as garbage picking.)

I have started making a list of specific things that I would like to find. So far I have 3 CD wallets (2 for Son and 1 for me... son has music cds and mine cd book is way too big to keep in the car), Son is needing a portable CD player (will buy used if I find a nice one), Son needs a few summer items, and I will start looking for winter items for him as well, including coats, boots and snowpants, and living room furniture.

The following things, I always keep my eye out for:

Home Decor: As I look around my house, there is only one thing on my walls that I have purchased at a store. That item I purchased on clearance at about $2. Even the paint that is on my bathroom walls was purchased at a yard sale for $2.
In the past, I have bought everything I "liked". There is a lot of cute stuff to be had. However, when I get it home, it doesn't have a home. So, my thinking has changed on this. It must be an item that I love and it must come home to a specific spot. I have furnished many of my own rummage sales with items I didn't really need. (Good news is: I usually have gotton what I paid for it back, it just cost me the effort of moving it from one house to another.)

Kitchen Gadgets & Accesories: This is a very inexpensive way to try out kitchen gadgets that you don't know if you will like. Example: Silicone baking pans. A few years ago these were all the rage (well, according to my mom). I picked up a brand new boxed set for $1. It had a square pan, a muffin pan, a round pan and a hot pad (I think). I tried them, discovered  I could never get it clean and promptly put it a "future yard sale" box. I got my buck back and kept the hot pad.

Clothes for my family and friends with kids: Husband does construction and comes home covered in whatever "goo" he was working with that day. Often I will find the comfortable "henley type" shirts he likes for a quarter to 50 cents. He can wear them till they're too gross, then turn them into rags and we are not out any money. I find most of our everyday clothes at yard sales. I am not the most graceful person and I like to cook and bake. I am not too sad when my shirts get stained up because I usually pay less than $1 for them. Son grows out of his clothes too fast to justify paying new clothes prices for them. Also, I usually have way better luck at yard sales for his clothes than consignment shops or other stores that buy used clothes to sell. I find their prices are way too much. (I can find brand new stuff on clearance racks at a store for less.)

Educational Toys and Books: Son has enough toys, thanks to birthdays and Christmas and Grandmas' just becauses. I look for educational things he can learn with. We take a lot of road trips. Last year, I found a book reader with 9 books included in perfect shape for $5. That keeps him entertained for a couple hours and was completely worth the $5. I checked out the price of these new. What we got for $5 would have cost at least $50 new.

Paperback Books: I never ever buy new books. I never pay more than a quarter. It's a revolving system. I'll pick up a book for a quarter, read it and put it in my next sale for a quarter. So I read the book for free! (And don't have to worry about getting it back to the library on time.)

Now, where do I get my "rummaging" money? Husband hates to carry change in his pocket, so every night when he comes home, he dumps it in a dish I strategically placed on his dresser. During off season times, all this change goes in Son's bank account. During rummage season, I dig out all the quarters (which surprisingly there are a lot of) and put them in my "yard sale fund" (which is a little coin purse I found at a... you guessed it... rummage sale!) I usually have $10-$15 in my yard sale fund on a weekly basis. When that is gone, I am done and that's that. Occasionally, I will add any singles I have in my wallet to sweeten the pot. If the item I want is more than what I have in my "fund", then it's probably something I should ask Husband about before I buy anyway.

How do I do it? On Wednesday I start looking at the yard sale ads.(My paper posts them online on their website, so I just print those listings to take with me) Most sales are Friday and Saturday. Some, however start as early as Wednesday. I try to go to the first day of the sale, because, of course, that is when the selection is best. I color code the listings of the sales I definately want to check out. Red for Thursday, Yellow for Friday, Blue for Saturday.... I try to number them in the order of their location so I'm not back tracking all over town. A lot of yard sales aren't advertised in the paper, however, I usually stop at those anyway, because, you never know.... :-)

On Thursdays and Fridays ( my favorite days to go) I get myself and Son up early (yes, he loves to go too!), pack some snacks and water, grab my ads, a couple bags or a box and go.
The Word of God says that everything we set out hands to do is blessed. So, I pray and ask God to help me find good deals and to give me wisdom on things to purchase.

Some general tips:
1. Don't be afraid to negotiate. I rarely pay what's on the sticker, especially for larger items. Clothing you can usually find relatively inexpensive. A lot of times if you buy several clothing items, they will make a deal. However, on the other hand, if they won't take what I want to pay, I have been known to put it back on the table and leave. If they want to get rid of it bad enough, they will compromise. Sometimes, they get a little huffy with me but that's okay. I'm not being unreasonable. (Sidebar: My BIGGEST rummage sale pet peeve: "Well, I paid X number of dollars for it new." My response: I don't care. That's your problem you paid too much for it.... it's worth this much to me!.... I don't usually say that out loud, but just calmly put it back on the table and leave...)
2. Make sure it works before you buy it. Ask them to plug it in if it's electronic. Let your kid play with it a few minutes, with supervision, of course.
3. Don't get sucked in to "the deal"! Meaning, don't buy something because it seems like such a good buy if you don't have a specific purpose for it. If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
4. Be aware of neighborhoods. I like to stick to my neighborhood or ones similar to it. They usually have the same expectations of things that I do and the prices are what I want to pay. When I go to sales in "wealthier" areas, the prices tend to be inflated. (See above pet peeve)
5. Save time by going to block or city wide sales. I LOVE THESE. I drag out the wagon or stroller, park the car and walk as much as possible. Sometimes, I will just go to one city wide sale and come home with a trunk load for $10. And it only took a couple hours. If I buy something that I can't carry, they will usually let me leave it there and I can come back with the car later.

So, to encourage you. Part of being a help-meet to your husband is being wise with your money. Spend as little as you need to for the things your family needs. My husband is proud of my shopping "habits". You don't have to have brand new things to have nice things. It takes a little extra effort, but make the process fun and you will have fun and make your husband proud and look good too!

Today's Deals

My husband does not mind when I go shopping. In fact, he's very proud of my shopping habit!

This is why:

$33.81 worth of drugstore merchandise (that we actually use, by the way) for $14.33. That is nearly a 58% savings.

What did I buy?

Two boxes of Fruit Loops. On sale for $1.99 each. (regular price $3.99) Then, I had a Manufacturer's Coupon for $1 off 2. So, the cereal was $1.49 per box.

3 bags Halls Cough Drops. Regularly $2.59 each. There was a store coupon that made them $1.29 each. Savings of $3.63.

2 40 ct boxes OB Tampons. Regular price $7.99 each. There was a store coupon that made them $3.99. I had two manufacturer coupons for them a couple weeks ago which I used then because they were going to expire. (Coupons for this item are not offered very often, so I wanted to use them when I had them) So, needless to say, I was disappointed when I saw this sale. But, when I went to get them off the shelf there was a manufacturer coupon for $1 on one box. (Believe me, I dug through all of them to see if there were any more!) Total savings on this item: $9.00.

In addition, I visited a newly opened store in my neighborhood. In their sales ad, they offered $3 off a purchase of $10 or more at this new store.

And as a bonus treat, there was a store coupon for Hershey's candy bars for $.49 each. Limit 6. I bought 6. Some will be put in the freezer for S'more's in the summer. Some will go in the fridge...... I was about to say for when the chocolate attack comes, but husband came home and that's the end of that...

The moral of the story. Buy your products on a sales basis, rather than on a needs basis. Based on today's shopping trip, a person would pay more than twice as much than they need to for products that don't go bad, don't expire, and will be used eventually.

I continue to encourage you to watch your sales ads and clip coupons. By stacking coupons on top of sales and in-store coupons, you can save a good amount of money from your grocery bill.

The June Cleaver Conundrum

Have you ever had one of those days where you were SO busy, but nothing ever gets done?

Sometimes I have entire weeks like that. I think it is impossible to have a clean house with an energetic three year old boy following you around undoing what you have just done.

There was the day recently where I spent the morning dusting and sweeping and mopping and vacuuming every room in the house. Then we decided to make a Valentine's Day card for Daddy. With glitter. And not the glue kind. Lesson learned. I'm still finding glitter flakes in corners and under furniture.

Secretly, I dream of living in my Grandmothers' generation, of being a June Cleaver. She had an emaculate house, clean, respectful children, an honorable husband, looked amazing everyday and put a big spread on the dinner table every night. She didn't have the media distractions we have today. But then I realized she is a fictional character. Then, there is the modern day, Martha Stewart. Seemingly perfect in every way, save telling the truth. Even though she is a real person, she is an anomoly and a little surreal. (Nobody does what she does.)

So, who ought we model ourselves after?

Even when we go to the bible and look at what God says a woman should be, it feels quite daunting.

The Proverbs 31 Woman (Read your bible, this is my own paraphrase):

She cares for her husband so that he trusts her.
She finds her own materials.
She is a food gatherer.
She gets up early and cooks the food for her family and her servants.
She buys property and grows food on it.
She is strong.
She helps the poor and needy.
She makes warm clothes for her husband and children.
She makes elegant clothes for herself.
She makes clothes to sell.
She is honorable and full of wisdom and kindness.
She manages her household.
She is not easily distracted.
Her children obey her.
Her husband praises her.

What can we learn from looking at these three women?

1. Nobody is perfect. Except for the Proverbs 31 Woman, but I've heard preachers say that this woman never existed, but is only an example for us.
2. All three women have help. Hired or otherwise.
3. There are always messes to clean up.
4.There is always something that needs doing.
5. We, as women, are the managers of our OWN households.

So, the question is, who ought we model ourselves after?

My answer:  Nobody.

We can look to the Proverbs 31 Woman as an example. But God has made each and every one of us different. There is not one perfect mold. Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. I can shop thriftily and creatively, saving money for our household, but I've recently discovered I couldn't sew even a book cover for my son to save my life (well, at least without a lot more practice.)

Our homes are not meant to be emaculate, but lived in comfortably. Our dinners will sometimes not turn out just right. Our husbands may come home to find us in sweats covered in glitter and baby drool. Our kids will sometimes have dirty faces and hands. In public even.

So, what do I say about that? Do the best you can with what you've got. For everything else, let it go or ask for help. Read God's word and do it. His grace is sufficient for you. His mercies are new every day. He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Coupon "Clipping"

There are many different places to find coupons. These are my favorites:

1. The Sunday Paper. The first thing I do when I get the paper is fish out the coupon flyers and sales ads for the grocery stores in my area... and the funnies... but that is another story. =) I also look through other inserts like Parade, every once in a while I'll find a good coupon in them.

2. The Internet. Coupons.com is my favorite, but there are other sites out there, as well. Some people buy and trade coupons. I've never gotton into that, but I've heard of some ladies having success with that. In some cases, it is illegal. Depends on how deep you want to get into couponing.

3. Store Ads and Websites. My local grocery stores offer their ads online. You may be able to print their store coupons and they also have manufacturer coupons available there.

4. Magazines. I get really cheap or free subscriptions to magazines like Woman's Day and Better Homes and Gardens, etc. There are usually a couple of usable coupons in there. Another great magazine for coupons is All You, which is available at Walmart.

5. Product Websites. If something is on sale and I don't have a coupon in my file, I can sometimes find one on the product's website.

6. Facebook. I have had success with becoming fans of certain products and they will give Facebook fans special discounts or even free items. In the past month, I've gotton free pizza, eggs, milk, oreos, hot sauce, and jeans.

7. In-Store Dispensers. I take one or two (or three...) even if I don't buy it that shopping trip. I will wait until the item is on sale and then get the item for that much cheaper.

I consider couponing a game for me. I challenge myself to save more and more everytime I grocery shop. So, I'm always on the lookout for coupons (and other ways to save). I find them in strange places. Recently, I ordered Avon from their website and received a cereal coupon in my package!!! If you want them, they will come to you! :-)
Have fun and be creative. Ask God to help you. He said that everything we put our hand to do will be blessed. He also gave us the power to get wealth. I get wealth for my family by saving money.

Prepare to Save Money

Here are some things to do to get ready to be a "super couponer".

1. Find a place in your home for stockpiling. I call it my "fall-out shelter". I took an entryway closet and added shelves. In my previous house, there was a root cellar in the basement that I used to keep extra pantry items. You can take any part of the house and add shelves or a portable closet for storage. It's best to be a cool area and dry. If the area is away from the kitchen, my suggestion is to keep an inventory in your kitchen so you are not making unnecessary trips to see if you have something.

2. Subscribe to your local Sunday paper. In it, you will find your local store's sales ads and manufacturer coupons. (I'll talk about these things later.)

3. Obtain a coupon organizer. Mine is a sturdy plastic expanding file, apporiximately 6" x 4". Coupon organizers marketed as "coupon organizers" are typically not large enough for me. I found mine in the office supply department. It holds lots of coupons and still fits in my purse. Some people tell you to not clip the coupon until you are ready to use it, but it is not practical for me to lug around a 3 ring binder everywhere I go. Mark the dividers with categories that make sense to you. These are mine: Breads, Meats, Breakfast, Diapers/Wipes, Fruit/Veggies, Juice/Dairy, Medicine, Pasta/Rice, Soup, Toiletries, and Misc. (I need to tweak it a little.... I have no need to buy diapers anymore. Yay!) Like I said, these make sense to me. Someone else may go in my organizer and get lost. Some things don't necessarily belong in any of these categories, so I stick them in a place that may only make sense to me. Also, large categories such as toiletries are cumbersome, so I paper clip like items together, ie: hair products, deoderant, etc.

4. Talk to your husband (if you are married) and tell him what you are doing. Some folks, especially men, cannot understand the need to buy six boxes of spaghetti at a time. Explain to him that the things you are stocking up on will not go bad by the time you get around to using them. Show him receipts or sales ads as examples on the amount of money you could save by buying things on sale and with a coupon. If he still doesn't agree, then quit reading. But, continue to watch out for those sales and just buy the amount that you need. If he does agree, sharpen your pencil, and get ready to make a list! (Who knew a person could get so excited about making a list...)

Introduction

So, here I am. A decade late, but nonetheless...

I am nobody special to the world, but I am somebody special to a few. I know a little about a lot of things, but not a lot of any one thing. I believe every day is an adventure and look for the little things to be grateful for.

I am Wife.

I am Mama.

I am Daughter.

I am Sister.

I am Aunt.

I am Friend.

I am Child of the Most High God.