March Goals Update

March Goals
1. Put $100 in savings. Not done, unexpected expenses
2. Make $200 payment to Mastercard. Not done, unexpected expenses
3. Finish one unfinished craft project. Nope
4. Look into an inexpensive long weekend away with this kids for this summer. Have ideas, just need to plan the dates.
5. Have a free/inexpensive fun day. Not done - the kids went to a youth retreat instead
6. Set aside $20 for additional Christmas funds. Nope
7. Complete 3 chapters of Revelation Bible study. Partial - into 2nd chapter

Teens and Clothes Budgets

I am very fortunate. Neither of my kids is consumed with clothes like many teens are. DS, bless his heart, will wear whatever is in his closet. His wardrobe consists of jeans and shirts from Salvation Army and off the clearance racks. He hates to go shopping and only recently made his first clothing request: Cargo jeans. He has a few pair already and now that he's growing again and needs longer jeans, he would prefer that I find cargo jeans if I can. DD is a very modest girl. She refuses to wear shorts, refuses to wear V-neck tops and refuses to wear anything without sleeves. Now, I'm definitely not complaining about her choices, but it is very difficult to find items that meet her standards and fits her. At 14, she is a very petite girl and it can be difficult find not only petite clothing but also modest clothing. Anyone with a daughter knows exactly what I mean. Trying to find a pair of slim PLAIN jeans at a decent price is almost impossible, even at Wal-Mart (too many decorations) and you can forget about finding anything at Salvation Army or Goodwill for her. Thank goodness for Meijers and their jeans and the clearance racks elsewhere!



During a recent discussion with DD, I mentioned that in 2008, I had probably spent a total of $225 at the most on her clothing. She thought this was too much until I broke down what I spent, and she said she thought she could get through the year on less. I told her that I had thought that at some point in the next year or two, I would be turning over her clothing budget to her, giving her a set amount at the beginning of the year and then giving her the responsibility to plan ahead and outfit herself. She is pretty much done growing, so many of her clothes will still fit her. In fact, she has some tops that still fit after (gulp!) 4 years! (She likes big shirts and wears them forever.) She was really enthused by the idea and asked if she could start being responsible for her clothing purchases now.



So here's the plan: with my next paycheck, I will start setting aside an amount to give her for clothing. We are going to start with $150 to cover all clothing and shoes. I told her the amount would be a bit bigger next year to cover a winter coat and that I would cover any unexpected required clothing but she would be responsible for everything else. For example, she has been involved in a theater production in the past that has required the students to wear specific items that we did not have in her wardrobe. That sort of thing I would cover, but if she joined a club at school and needed a specific T-shirt or something, she would be responsible for that. If she runs out of her clothing budget before the end of the year and needs something, she will be required to use her allowance to purchase it. Of course, we will set down, write out the guidelines and sign it (this has proved to be invaluable in the past), but she is really excited to do this. I will probably implement this with DS at the beginning of 2010. He is still growing, but at least his shirts/tops should be in good shape through next winter. I'll let you know how things progress!

Dining Out at Home

Like most families, we enjoy dining out once in a while as a treat or just a change from our usual fare at home. Also like most families, we have had to curtail our restaurant trips as we try to cut back on unnecessary expenses. Fortunately, there are several ways to enjoy restaurant meals at home while avoiding the cost of eating out.

1. Buy restaurant brand food products. My son loves Buffalo Wild Wings; unfortunately, my daughter - and my wallet - doesn't! I have taken him several times for a Mom-Son outing and even with just the two of us and water for beverages, the total can approach $20. I've noticed that they sell bottles of their sauce for $4.25. That one bottle will last us several meals, giving us the taste of the restaurant wings at a price that is much easier on my budget. Bob Evans and Frisches' Big Boy are just 2 other establishments that come to mind that also sell their specialty foods and condiments to take home.

2. Look for similar copy-cat recipes for your favorite restaurant dish. A quick Google search for "restaurant copycat recipes" brought up 133,000 sites. Your local library may have copycat books available to check out. And don't forget to check the newspaper. The Columbus Dispatch has a Wednesday food section every week, and one of the features is a reader column where you can write in and request a recipe, and other readers reply. Perhaps it's one you remember from a specific restaurant or just something you have made in the past, but more than likely you will see a response printed in a couple of weeks. Maybe your paper has something similar?

3. Ask the restaurant for the recipe. Some places will do this, some won't. If it is a local establishment, you can try asking the owner or the chef. If it is part of a chain, you can try writing to the corporate office. If this doesn't work and you like to experiment in the kitchen, you can always try to recreate a recipe on your own. Now, I'm no good at this. I can't pick apart dishes and tell you 90% of what is in something unless it is super-basic, but a lot of people can.

These are just a few ways to have a restaurant meal at home. How do you do it? For more Frugal Friday ideas, visit Life as Mom (www.lifeasmom.com).

Freezer Meal - Chicken Pot Pie

Today is the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as a Mom (http://www.lifeasmom.com/). (One of these days I need to learn how to do links better!) The topic today is Freezer Recipes. I'm looking forward to checking back there tomorrow to look at everyone's ideas and see what I can adapt to our family.

My kids are home on spring break this week, and for lunch today, DS requested pancakes. These are great to cook up and store in the freezer, so I made a double batch, and he has plenty for breakfast over the coming few weeks.

My favorite freezer meals has to be chicken pot pie. The recipe makes 2 pies, and I love the convenience of not only having something in the freezer for us, but it is also the perfect dish to take to someone who might need a meal. I have done this many times, and it is always a hit with both adults and children. I don't share the recipe often, but here it is:

Chicken Pot Pie

1/2 pkg (8-oz size) dressing mix, divided (chicken flavor or herb)
1/2 c butter, melted, divided
2 cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 soup can milk
3 c diced/shredded cooked chicken
10-oz pkg frozen carrots and peas
2 T chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Pastry for two 2-crust pies

Line 2 pie pans with bottom pastry. Miks together half the dressing mix and half the butter and place in pans. Mix remaining ingredients and add to pans. Place top crusts on pies, crimp edges and add slits to vent. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 1 hour. One pie can be frozen unbaked for use at another time. Very simple and very good!

Contentment in the Home - the Living Room Edition

My house is a Craftsman style bungalow. It has wonderful woodwork and built-in cabinets in the living room, and thankfully it looks like the woodwork in the living room was never painted. The woodwork in the bathroom and kitchen had been painted, though, and while the bathroom woodwork had already been stripped, I had the kitchen done and stained, and it looks so much better. Anyhow, back to the living room. When we moved in, there was paneling on 3 sides and this, um, pink wallpaper on paneling on the wall above the fireplace and around the large picture window. Pink blinds and pink-and-forest green drapes and pink sheers completed the decorating scheme. Yuch. Besides being dark, it was just not decorated in what I would call nice colors. The carpet is a deep teal green, and I do like that, although some day I would like to get rid of the carpet and restore the original hardwood floors. I also have dreams of that awful paneling coming down, but again, that's a project for the future. Maybe by the time the twins graduate? I know, wishful thinking!

So how do I become content with what I have? The first step was pretty easy. We had painted the dining room a light cream color shortly after moving in, and I had that left over. So I removed the pink wallpaper and painted the one wall in the living room the light cream color. That made it so much more bright. I know that painting paneling can be done, but it is a very labor-intensive project. Thankfully the folks who lived here before us had done something to the paneling that was covered with the paper so that I didn't need to do any prep work other than wash it well and make sure it was clean. It took me about 2 hours to do 2 coats of paint, including taping off the the woodwork and cleaning up. I also handmade lined, insulated drapes for the large picture window. That took a while, but I couldn't find insulated draps in the deep purple color I wanted. (I was going for jewel tones.) I also was able to sew up a few pillows for the sofa, and I made matching drapes for the sidelights of the front door. I'm not totally happy with those, but they will do for now. I also used $1 hooks to be able to open the sidelight drapes to let in more light. The windows in the door and over the mantel are bare.

The only things I now struggle with in this room is clutter and keeping it picked up. Why children who used to be so good and picking up their things lose that ability when they become teenagers is beyond me! But I'm continuing to work on that, and it's slowly getting better. Eventually I would also like to get more seating and 2 end tables, but again, that's not an immediate necessity. What we have suits our needs, and I can wait on our wants.

It's not my ideal room, but it's good enough, and as long as I can walk through without stepping on something, I'm content with it.

It Pays to Speak Up

My son suffers from migraine headaches. Bad enough headaches that he is on a daily medication to try to reduce the frequency and intensity of them. When he was first diagnosed back in 2nd grade (6-1/2 years ago), he was put on a generic medication that was very inexpensive. That dose was gradually increased to where he was only having 3-4 headaches every 6 months, and he was at the top of the dosing scale for his age and weight. About 2 years ago, the neurologist started taking him off that medication and put him on another medication (Topamax), hoping that he could take less pills and still have a good benefit. Unfortunately Topamax is not available in a generic form, and it has been getting more expensive, just like everything else. Since then, his headaches have increased in frequency, and subsequently the doctor has increased the dose of Topamax. The kids have insurance through their dad's wife, and it requires me to pay 20% of the shelf price of their medications. This means that I was paying $76 a month this last year for this one medication. With the price of everything else rising, I started giving my son the medication only once a day instead of twice a day. The frequency of headaches went up a little bit, and I was feeling tremendous guilt. It is so hard to face the fact that you can't afford medication your chid needs. Between this one drug for DS and DD's asthma medications, my pharmacy bill was over $125 a month. It felt like I had to choose between his migraines and her ability to breathe.

DS recently had a followup appointment with his neurologist, and I had to be honest about what I was doing and why. I was afraid he would think I was a bad mom for not giving the medication like it was prescribed. (I have worked for doctors for over 20 years, and I know what they think of noncompliant patients!) I couldn't have been more surprised at his reaction. He was truly amazed at how much I have been paying for the Topamax, and as he looked through DS's chart, he asked why we took him off the generic in the first place. Why? Because the headaches were getting better and under very good control, and he was trying to wean him off medication. But instead of lessening the medication, we have been increasing another drug, one that hasn't been doing the job for over 2 years. (His frequency was increasing even before I started cutting the dosage.) So he lowered the dosage of the Topamax and put him back on the original generic. Cost for the lower Topamax - $44. Cost of the generic - 44-cents! The doctor told me several times to call if there was a problem or I had questions about the medications between now and his next appointment and not to hesitate to bring up things like this.

Hopefully when we go back in 6 months, the headache frequency will be improved and we can decrease the Topamax even further or perhaps eliminate it altogether. But I never would have known if I hadn't said something.

It pays to speak up and be honest with your physician and medical providers. There are other options for most conditions that are less expensive, and most drug companies have programs to help low income families afford needed medication. Hopefully the change we made the other day will pay off, not only for my finances, but more importantly, for my son's health!

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Making apple tart with DS
2. DD recognizing she needs to go to bed earlier and trying to do so
3. Snowflakes one morning
4. Coupons from Hallmark
5. Work done before kids came home several days
6. Spring bulbs flowering
7. DS's medication change and savings

Teens and Food Budgets

Over the last few years, I have been trying to have causal conversations with my 14-year-old twins on finances. I don't wish for them to know the exact details of our financial situation, but they know the generalities. They know I make enough money to feed and clothe them but not enough to get them each their own cell phone. They know I made enough money to be able to take them to the doctor when they are sick but not enough to go shopping "just because." They know that they have a small college fund but that they will need to supplement that with their own funds and scholarships. DD especially likes these conversations. She is trying to set up a budget with her allowance, and we frequently have discussions on why I can't buy everything I/we want and why saving is a good idea. We've had discussions on why I dislike credit cards but will probably hang onto the two I have after they are paid off. We've had discussions on why I sincerely hope they don't need to take out massive college loans and how to minimize, if not eliminate, the amount they might borrow.

In our most recent conversation, I told DD that while I don't have a budget in writing, I know that the biggest leak of my money goes to food - grocery and fast food. I spend way more than I should for 3 people, and it's a constant struggle to get that under control. It's also one reason why I don't take the twins to the grocery very often. I can easily count on spending an additional $20 or more if one or both of them comes with me. I try to limit their contributions to the cart to 1 item per child. If they pick out something in aisle 2 and find something else in aisle 4, I'll ask which one they want. Where I falter is when they ask for items for packing their lunches for school. I try to make sure I have a baked item (banana bread, muffins, etc.) that is at least somewhat healthy, and before DS had his braces, I could put in carrots and celery, but with braces, he can't have the crunch raw veggies, so it's more of a challenge now.

Anyhow, I told DD that I was tempted to increase their allowance but make them responsible for their snacks and lunches. For example, I might raise their allowance $5 a week. They could either buy the items for their own lunches and pack, take their own drinks or buy milk at 50-cents at school or buy the school lunch (we get reduced) at 40-cents a day. The rest of the money they could use for their after-school snacks and would be kept either in a special cupboard or in their rooms. The only requirement would be that they had to eat. DS is good about skipping meals if he is responsible for making them and then ending up with a migraine.

We may try this for the last quarter of the school year. During spring break this week, I plan to sit down with them, discuss this and then make a written contract with the guidlines for us to sign and post in the kitchen. It's time they start becoming more responsible for handling their money and learning that they can't always get want they WANT; they have to plan for what they NEED first. I'll let you know how it goes!

Saving on Hobbies

Today is Frugal Friday over at Life as a Mom (http://www.lifeasmom.com/), and I thought I'd write about how to save a little on hobby expenses. I love to cross-stitch and embroider. It is a huge stress reliever for me, and after just a few minutes with needle and thread, I feel much calmer and less stressed out. Unfortunately it can become an expensive hobby. While floss can be found for less than 30-cents a skein on sale at Joann Fabrics and fabric can be as inexpensive as $2 depending on size and type, the last few years I have found myself gravitating towards what is called overdyed threads (threads that are not one solid shade but have variations throughout) and linen. The overdyed threads can run anywhere from $1.95 to $3 a skein, and linen generally is anywhere from $3 for a small piece to $25 and up for larger pieces. Once in a great rare while, these will be on sale as part of a "everying 25% off" sale at a needlework shop, but this does not happen often. So how do I afford supplies? Here are a few ideas:

I haven't done this recently because at the present time, my closest needlework shop is about an hour away, but in the past I have done model stitching for a shop, trading my stitching time for store credit. The owner would give me the pattern and all the supplies, I would stitch the project and then upon its return, the owner would give me store credit. Depending on the size and complexity of the project, I would earn from $10-$30 in credit, and I never accepted any project that I couldn't complete in a month (usually smaller than 8x10 inches). Larger, more time consuming projects would have resulted in even more store credit. I would use the credit mainly to purchase linen for the large (18 x 24-inch) projects that I wanted to do for myself or for the more expensive overdyed threads. When you walk into a quilt shopt or knitting shop, look around at the models hanging up. More than likely, the owner doesn't have time to whip up samples year-round. Ask, and you may find yourself stitching/knitting/sewing for her and earning for your own hobby needs at the same time.

Another idea is to offer finishing services. Framing isn't difficult to learn, and turning needlework into pillows and wallhangings is quite simple. Ask your shop owner if you can post a notice advertising your abilities (be sure to have a few samples available for display or pictures to post), and you might find this opportunity leading to an at-home business that you can run at your leisure. You may also want to approach the owner with a proposition of finishing her samples in return for store credit. It never hurts to ask.

Lastly, keep an eye (and ear!) out for possible part-time work at your favorite shop. Sometimes owners need people who can work just in the evenings or maybe a couple Saturdays a month. Maybe they need someone who can cover staff illness, vacations or sales and inventory times. This would not only bring in a small income and/or possibly employee discounts or store credit, but would allow you to be around other people with similar interests. If your favorite shop has a yearly Super Bowl sale or an after-market sale, ask the owner if she needs extra hands that day. Of course, it will help if you are already a regular customer!

There are ways to indulge in your hobbies frugally. It just takes a little creativity and the ability to speak up and ask.

Contentment in the Home - the Kitchen Edition

I have a small kitchen. A small kitchen in that I have less than 6 linear feet of counterspace. It's a weird L-shape with the stove positioned so that I can't completely open one door of a bottom cabinet because it hits the stove. There is maybe - maybe - 2 feet between the refigerator on one wall and the microwave stand on the other. Thank goodness for the built-in pantry on the wall that is above the basement stairwell, or we would not have bought this house! The house we moved from had a large kitchen with an eat-in dining room. It had a window over the sink and French doors leading to the patio. My current kitchen is literally 1/4 that size, and the only window is generally hidden behind the door leading to the steps that go to the basement and the side door. Quite a difference! It's also one of the main sources of my discontentment with this house. Because I love to bake and cook, I would absolutely love a bigger kitchen, but reality is, that's not likely to happen anytime soon, so I need to find ways to be content with what I have.

We did some improvements a few years after moving in. We had some plaster repair done and a new light fixture put in and a laminate floor. The biggest difference cosmetically happened when I had the woodwork stripped. Being an older house, it has beautiful original woodwork, only in the kitchen, it had been painted. And painted. And painted! It took the fellows 3 days (!) to stripe all the paint off, a job they originally estimated to be done in 1-1/2 days. One night after they left, I took a picture, and you can easily count 8 layers of paint on the door frame. Yuck! Anyhow, after they finished the woodwork, we stained it and polyurethaned it to match the living room and then painted the walls a pale blue color. This lightened the room up considerably from the previous dark green woodwork and green/white checked wallpaper. Having the room decorated the way I wanted it was a big step in being more content with the room.

However, I have found there are just some everyday things that contribute in a major way to my attitude towards the kitchen (and really the house in general). I have found that by keeping the counters clear and cleaned off, the room feels bigger. Same goes for the sink - if I keep the dishes done up and not piled elbow-deep, I feel better and the room looks better. The Flylady (http://www.flylady.com/) recommends a leaving shiny sink every night, and I can attest to the wonderful feeling of waking up the next morning and not having to face a sinkful of dishes! Another spot I have been dealing with is the stove. With counterspace in short supply, it is so easy to dump piles on top of the stove and then move them around when I need to use a burner. The stovetop has also become the spot where recyclables are left to go out to the bin. The way we go through milk (3-4 gallons a week), it's not long before it's so cluttered, you'd never know the burners were under all the clutter! But again, by making a concerted effort to keep the stove clean and cleared off, the room feels much better to me. I'm still working on keeping the microwave and stand (across from the refrigerator and door leading to the basement) cleaned off, (and I may eventually get a smaller stand), but I'll get there.

Keeping the clutter under control and off the counters and stove makes a huge difference in how I feel about this kitchen, and it doesn't cost me a penny. When I can focus on making meals and baked goods for my family and others and not stress out over not having room to work, I am much happier and more willing to use my cooking and baking to serve others. And with a better attitude and less stress, I am able to be more attuned to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and hopefully be more joyful in my obedience to Him!

Dear Daughter's Idea

DD and I were talking this weekend about finances, and I was showing her some of the financial blogs I read on a regular basis. She has this interesting idea that I should write a blog on being the single mom of twin teens! Now, isn't that a novel idea?! haha No, I haven't told either of my kids that I do this. I haven't told them that I'm on Facebook either. Not sure why, just maybe that I need to keep a few things to myself, I suppose. Anyhow, she had a few ideas on articles, so in the next few weeks, I'll try to write more specific to parenting with teens and financial issues, etc. Maybe I'll even let her in on my secret!

Speaking of the twins, yesterday was the day the 8th graders left for their trip to Washington, DC. And I still feel guilty that my kids couldn't go. In fact, I'm sure I feel worse than they do. DD said that most of her classes will be showing movies all week, and while I know it's a hard balance between keeping the kids staying behind occupied and keeping the kids who went from missing too much schoolwork, I must say that I'm not too thrilled that my kids won't be doing anything more substantial at school the next few days. DD wanted to know why the DC trip couldn't be held during spring break, and I think that's a good question. I know some families travel then, but you'd think that would be a more appropriate time for a chunk of kids to be gone. (We do plan on going on our own to DC, probably in 2010, and I'm betting that we will do it for a longer period of time and for less money than the school trip, which was right around $1000 for both kids. We'll just have to see what the economy is like then, but right now, I'm thinking that would be just about our budget for the three of us. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next year.) It also seems to me that the kids that could benefit from a trip like this the most are the ones who are excluded due to the cost. (The school only held one fundraiser for this trip back in late fall last year. If they really wanted to benefit the most kids, fundraisers would have been held from 6th grade on, allowing kids a bit more time and opportunity to raise money.) DD runs with a group of girls who are all very nice, good students, good kids, but they come from low income families. They are the ones who would really benefit from a trip like this, but cost prohibits any of them from going. It just doesn't seem right.

Random Thoughts

I went by Tim Horton's the other day and noticed they have a new sign. Coming Soon: Tim Horton's/Stone Cold Creamery! I'm excited, but this could be bad....very, very bad! haha Time to start clipping those ice cream coupons.

On my last trip to Kroger's, I had a stack of Cottonelle 50-cent coupons and intended to pick up some free toilet paper. In the past, our store carried the 4-pack of Cottonelle for 99-cents. With a 50-coupon doubled, that made it free. I will have to check the store on the other side of town, because my usual one no longer carries the 4-pack. *sigh* Last week I saw the empty spot and thought maybe they just hadn't gotten any in, but now I know the sad, cold truth.... ;-) I will also check Meijer's, Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens. Meijer's will double coupons; the others won't, but it will still be cheap, if not free, if I can find the 4-packs.

I can't remember the last time I found any sort of beef roast under $2 a pound. That makes me sad. It took a while for the grocery price increases to hit our town, but they are definitely here.

On the other hand, it's very nice to be able to put in 11-12 gallons of gas in the van for $20 or less!

Why do I still buy paper towels? Because we have an elderly cat with a delicate stomach. 'Nuf said.

Not too long ago, I ran across an all-purpose recipe for muffins. Just a basic recipe that you could add your own flavors to, like chocolate chips or apples and cinnamon. I thought I had bookmarked it, but of course, now I can't find it. It's a simple thing to get nutrition into muffins and send them to school for lunches, and it's something I can throw in there the night before. Time to dig out the cookbooks again.

Saturday Baking

I spent most of Saturday afternoon in the kitchen (in between laundry and catching the Ohio State basketball score!). I baked a chocolate cake, frosted and froze it - the cake was from an Aldi's mix, but the icing was homemade. I cut it into serving pieces before freezing. It's much easier to thaw just 1 piece and be satisfied rather than have the whole cake staring at you! I also made brownies from an Aldi's mix, pumpkin pie with real pumpkin, not canned, and an apple tart. That should last us a few days, anyway. I still have some banana bread frozen, so that will go into lunches along with the brownies. I meant to make some ranch oyster crackers but didn't have the dry ranch mix, so will need to pick that up on my milk run this week. Some days, I feel like I run a bakery, but I know nothing will go to waste, and it's cheaper and relatively more healthy than packaged snacks. Now if I could just figure out how to be more organized so it doesn't take up such a big chunk of time!

Inexpensive Wedding Gift

Next weekend a young couple from our church will be getting married. I don't know them super-well, but well enough to attend the open-church wedding and celebrate the happy occasion. I wanted to get them something, but as they are not close friends, I don't really feel the need to spend a huge amount of money, so this is what I came up with.

They had registered at a local store for cookie sheets. I bought one when it was on sale and picked up a spatula (on sale) that they had also registered for. I bought several dry cookie mix packages and also picked up some nice recipe cards and wrote out a few family favorite cookie recipes. A couple of potholders later, and we have a nice baking gift set for under $20.

I know some etiquette *experts* think that you need to spend $50 or more on a "proper" gift, but back when I got married, I never thought about the money part of it. In fact, about the only gift I can match a name to now is the older lady who gave us a pair of hand-embroidered pillowcases. (And those pillowcases outlasted the marriage!) I'm pretty sure the couple getting married next week will be the same. They seem to have their focus on their marriage and not on the wedding. It's too bad more couples don't do the same!

Contentment in the Home - the Bathroom Edition

When I bought my house, the family who lived here before had it decorated in a country style, lots of knick-knacks, wallpaper borders, that sort of thing. They had updated the kitchen cabinets and the living room carpet looked fairly new. They had also put on an addition with a dining room and master bedroom. It looked like the only room they hadn't done anything at all to was the bath. It had a pastel pink tub and an old, not-well-sealed 5-piece surround. I'm not even sure how to describe the green color on the walls. Lime green maybe? Definitely not a color choice I would make, but it was something I would need to live with for a while. Painting the bathroom would definitely be a quick change, but eventually I would like to take out the drop ceiling, repair the plaster, put in an exhaust fan and then paint. Anyhow, a year or so after we moved in, we were at Meijer's. Before I had just been using the $1 shower curtains that you find at Big Lots or the Dollar Store, but we walked through the bath section at Meijers, and they had a sale. I found a shower curtain that, believe it or not, had the exact shade of green on it along with bright pink, blue, orange and yellow flowers. And it actually looked pretty good! I also picked up two small rugs in the same bright pink. Total cost: $19. At the Dollar Store, I found a soap dispenser, again in the same bright pink color, cost: $1. I went home, changed out the curtain, put down the rugs and filled the soap dispenser, and the change was amazing. The little room actually looked pulled together and coordinated! And with the shower curtain pulled across the tub, you don't see the ugly surround.

Since then, I've had some plumbing issues and needed to replace not only the toilet but also the floor and subflooring due to water damage along with all the plumbing in the house. The plan this summer is to sand the walls where they had to cut to get to the pipes and then patched, and then go ahead and paint. Eventually the ceiling work will wait, and I may even be able to change out the surround sometime in the future. But until then, $20 invested a few years ago and a little patch, sand and paint this summer, and we have a pretty good looking bathroom that I am content with.

Car Insurance Decisions

As I have written before, I recently paid off my van. In the past whenever I have paid off a vehicle, especially one that is more than 7 years old, I have cancelled the collision and comprehension part of the coverage. That is what covers damage to my vehicle in the event I'm at fault in an accident or if there is damage from hail, hitting an animal, something like that. It does not affect my coverage for the other person should I be at fault in an accident or should I be in an accident cause by an uninsured driver. This van is now 9 years old, and frankly, while my rate is low, I was looking forward to a nice big drop in premium. My insurance agent, of course, is trying to convince me to continue the coverage. The premium for 6 months would drop from $203 down to about $120. As I see it, I have three options:

1. Continue the coverage as is with no changes.
2. Continue the coverage as is UNTIL I save and have an emergency fund equal to or greater than the value of the van (which is approximately $2100 right now) plus the current deductible ($500), then cancel the coverage.
3. Cancel the coverage and hope that I continue to be a safe driver.

I am leaning toward option #2. Should I be in an accident that is my fault and the damage is more than the value of the vehicle, the insurance company will total it anyhow and only pay up to that dollar amount. Should something terrible happen and the van is no longer driveable, that $2600 would be a decent down payment on a replacement vehicle. I am still rebuilding the emergency fund from the repairs I had done last month, so I don't think I would be able to increase it by $2600 this year. Next year the van will be 10 years old, and I will be starting a replacement fund anyhow.

Is there something I haven't thought of? I have shopped around for insurance in the last 6-8 months, and no one comes close to my current premium (I have been with this company for about 8 years and so am getting a good longevity discount along with several others.) I do intend to drive this vehicle for at least 3-4 more years, unless it decides to retire itself before then. Oh decisions, decisions..... ;-)

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Waking up to chirping birds
2. Warm temperatures and going out without a coat
3. The way our church supports each other as a true family, not just a cliche
4. Class party and having fun with friends
5. Good conversations with DD
6. The first thunderstorm of the season
7. High school open house and talking with the principal about the new Accel program

Locks of Love

Locks of Love (http://www.locksoflove.org/) is an organization that uses real hair to create wigs for children who have lost their hair due to illness and/or disease. I first donated about 13 inches 5 years ago and made my second donation of 10 inches on Saturday. You could say my hair grows fast. :-) Actually, I've just been lazy and cheap (not frugal, but cheap!) and not had my hair trimmed but maybe 2-3 times a year for the past few years. I've been planning to get a trim each month for the past 4 months but just haven't had the time and the money at the same time! This morning when I woke up and looked in the mirror, it was obvious, today was the day for a cut. Many salons will give you a free cut when you donate your hair, and that was my experience both times. My first donation, I went to First Choice, and today I went to Fantastic Sams. The stylist there was wonderful. I have very, very thick, curly hair, and not many stylists know how to cut it properly, but she sure did. She even thinned it out, which was wonderful! It has been 10+ years before I've had a stylist agree to thin it. Anyhow, it was nice to give the hair to an organization that will be able to put it to good use instead of just throwing it away. My only regret is that they couldn't use some of the hair left over when the stylist put in the layers - it would have made several nice hair pieces for boys!

If you have long hair (10+ inches to be cut off) and are looking for a change in hair style, please consider donating it to Locks of Love. It's a simple way to help others and doesn't cost a penny.

Save More Money How?

I have a confession to make. I'm getting tired and a little frustrated reading articles on frugality. Not the blogs I read every day, but articles in the newspaper and in magazines. I think if I read one more article on how to save $500 a year by giving up Starbucks, I will scream. Seriously!

I'm not going to save more money by giving up my daily $4 latte because I've never had a daily $4 latte! I'm not going to save more money by shopping at Marshalls instead of a department store because I'm already shopping at Salvation Army, Goodwill and the clearance racks at Wal-Mart. I'm not going to save money by growing a garden because my yard never gets more than 3 hours of sun in any one spot, and vegetables and herbs need generally 6-7 hours of full sun. I'm not going to save more money by turning down my thermostat while I'm at work during the day because I work at home, never turn it above 69 degrees and set it at 62 at night. And I'm not going to save more money by starting to clip coupons and switch from brand name items to generics, because I've been doing that for over 20 years!

What I want to read are articles on how to reduce costs associated with my life, a work-at-home, have-always-been-frugal-because-I-had-to-be, single mother of twin teenagers. Tell me alternative ways to get inexpensive clothing for a very petite, modest, 14-year-old girl. She likes plain jeans in a slender size, plain zip-up hoodies and sensible short-sleeved tops (no ruffles, no stupid sayings, no sparkles). Do you know how hard it is to buy plain, simple clothes for a 14-year-old? Harder than you think. Tell me how to find inexpensive veterinary care for 3 cats, one elderly and one with a rare skin condition that will eventually lead to other, more costly afflictions. Tell me how to find my son's prescription medication for his migraines for less than $75 a month. These are some of the things I want to know.

I realize that a lot of people are only just now starting to look for ways to cut their expenses, and that these news articles are directed to them. And thank goodness for bloggers who share and write about various ways to be frugal beyond the basics. But it would be nice to see something new in the mainstream media, something those of us who are experienced in frugal living haven't really thought of before, ideas that will make a difference for those of us with a low income who have implemented the obvious long ago. Okay, enough of my rant....We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. ;-)

Contentment at Home

At the beginning of each year, our Sunday School class spends 1 or 2 weeks going over prayer concerns for the coming year. Each person fills out a paper with prayer requests for themselves and family members, and our teacher prays over each person, culminating with the #1 prayer request for that person. This year my #1 request was to have joyful and willing obedience and submission to the Holy Spirit, the key being joyful and willing. Sometimes I'm obedient, but I'm not very willing or joyful about it! In thinking about this recently, I wondered exactly how I could do this. What attitudes do I need to change? One answer that was given to me was, become more content in what I have and where I am at in my life so that I can focus more on what the Holy Spirit wants and not what I want. So I thought over the next few weeks I'd share a few ways in which I'm trying to do that, particularly in my home. Most of these examples will be frugal, of course, where applicable.

Today a little background: I was divorced in 2001, when the twins were 6 years old. I have full custody; their dad did not want any part of custody and now generally sees them voluntarily once a year even though he lives in the same town. The decision to divorce was made the first weekend of June, and it was obvious that neither of us would be able to afford to keep the home we shared out in the country. It was my goal to get into a home here in town in enough time that the kids would be settled before school started in August. At this time I was only working part-time, 20 hours a week, so financing would be an issue as would the area of town that I could afford. Thankfully God had things already worked out. We looked at several houses before finding one that was priced exactly in my range, and after short negotiations, the home was mine. We were able to move in 3 weeks before school started, and the school was just a block away. We were 5 minutes from my mother and less than 10 minutes from the kids' paternal grandfather and from our church. The house did not need major repairs, although over the years I added glass block basement windows for safety issues and central air conditioning.

I know without a doubt that God put us here, knowing we would need to be close to my mother with her health issues, that we would have safe and affordable housing and that the kids would have a good school experience in their elementary years. He allowed me to be able to pick up full-time hours at my job the day before we moved here so that I could afford the home, utilities, etc., and still work at home to be with my children. I also know that we are still here for reasons only God knows. I deeply desire to be back in the country, but He has not yet opened that door, and I need to be content here, knowing that His plans for me may be that I live here the rest of my life. But as long as I concentrate on what I want (being back in the country), I will have a harder time joyfully and willingly obeying the Holy Spirit, so I need to change my thinking. Much of this change will come through prayer, but there are also a few things I've done and will do in the future at little cost that will help me be more content and will help to eliminate distractions so that my focus will be on Him. Next Thursday I'll share how I changed the look of our bathroom for $20, making it much more pleasing to look at!

Downside to a Stockpile

We live in a small, older home. That means small closets and storage space. So since starting the Drugstore Game, I've had to make efficient use of the cabinets in our bathroom and become more selective in which deals I take advantage. We've also seem to have run into a streak of minor plumbing issues. First there was the sewer backup and toilet plug on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day respectively. Then this past week, the sink in the kitchen backed up. I've never used a plunger on a sink, but thankfully it worked with the first plunge. Nothing was ruined but a few dishes had to be re-washed. No big deal.

Then last Wednesday night, my daughter came into my room uttering the words that I definitely did not want to hear at 10:30 pm during the Top Chef finale -- Mom, the bottom of the bathroom vanity is all wet. Oh crud.....By the time I got there, she had most of the items out and was starting to wipe up the water. (As she's doing this, she tells me that she had noticed things were wet for a day or two, but didn't know where the water was coming from. Gee, thanks, dear, for letting me know sooner!) After she had all the items out and the floor dry, I put another towel under the pipes and turned on the water. No leak. Then I turned off the water, and up ran water out of where the J pipe was supposed to be connected to the pipe coming down from the sink. I say *supposed* because somehow it had become un-attached. I simply shoved the J pipe back up, and that solved the problem. I double checked by trying to pull it off, and while I could pull it apart, it took a very hard pull to do so. (Note to self - check pipe every few weeks!)

Now for the damage report. Unfortunately under the sink is where I keep our supply of feminine products...very absorbent feminine products! We ended up losing several full boxes of things and had to empty out a few other boxes but were able to salvage some plastic-wrapped items. Then last weekend, I was able to shop at home, going through my stockpile of plastic containers in the basement, and reorganized both the vanity and the built-in wall cabinet, storing paper items safely away in containers we already have. Hopefully we won't have an under-the-counter leak again, but if we do, our stockpile should be safely protected.

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Free Columbus newspaper one morning
2. DD keeping up with her chores
3. Work load increasing
4. Simple solutions to several recent plumbing problems
5. Kind words from people exactly when they were needed
6. Learning a beautiful new worship song at small group this week
7. Receiving a refund check that I wasn't expecting
8. Receiving my first MySurvey check

March Goals

1. Put $100 in savings.
2. Make $200 payment to Mastercard.
3. Finish one unfinished craft project.
4. Look into an inexpensive long weekend away with this kids for this summer.
5. Have a free/inexpensive fun day.
6. Set aside $20 for additional Christmas funds.
7. Complete 3 chapters of Revelation Bible study.