September Goals Update

September Goals
1. Pay extra on the Mastercard. done!
2. Deposit into savings. no
3. Set aside $20 for Christmas. no
4. Average 1400 lines a day at work. no
5. Continue Revelation Bible study. in progress
6. Finish 1 unfinished project. no - will do two next month
7. Finish 1 cross-stitch project. done!
8. Go on 1 inexpensive fun day with the kids. done!
9. Learn to download DD's digital camera pictures to the computer! done!

Eh, not as good as I would have liked, but tomorrow starts another month.

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Answered prayer that I'd be able to figure out why the front door wouldn't lock.
2. Rain.
3. Power outtage only lasted 2 hours.

Christmas Countdown - Week 5

So my living room is looking better, my bedroom and the side entrance look good, and I'm starting to think I'm going to need to rotate this Grand Plan from www.organizedchristmas.com throughout the year!

This week the plan focuses on the master bath and linen closet. Neither of which we have. :-) So I'm going to work on the living room built-ins. My home is from the Arts and Crafts era (would love, love, love to restore it to honor that some day), so there are a lot of built-ins in the living room, window seat, cabinets, etc. For some reason I always feel better organizing and purging those areas than I do the stuff that is in the open and you see every day! Go figure. Anyhow, I wish I had a master bath and linen closet, but I don't, so this will work.I'm also pretty well kept up on the holiday prep list. All I want to do is the freezer meal this week. I don't really make all that many holiday goodies and I won't start my gift shopping in earnest until after my Christmas Club account pays out in a few weeks. I do, however, need to make a stop at the Dollar Store and get a few things for Operation Shoebox and Christmas stockings. Do you know how hard it is to find inexpensive things for a teenage boy to put in his stocking? Anyhoo, I've already inventoried the kids' winter clothes, and they are all set with that; and we don't have any toys really to go through. The kids have been pretty good at getting rid of things on their own the past few years without much urging from me, which is really nice to see.

So, that's how the week is shaping up. I really do think I need to rotate this plan through the year. It's only week 5, and it's already making a big difference!

Life Skills

When I was growing up, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. She had pretty much everything done during the day as far as keeping a house and baking and things like that, so that when I got home from school, she was starting dinner or going through the mail, things like that. She did show me briefly how to balance a checkbook when I turned 18, and I did vacuum and dust and do dishes occasionally, but I really don't remember her intentionally teaching me how to cook or clean or anything really involved with taking care of a home and family. Most things I picked up from Home Ec in school or by reading directions. In fact, the one time I took the initiative and tried to do my own laundry, she caught me doing it, promptly told me I was doing it wrong and told me not to do laundry again! I know she was always a bit insecure, and I think she thought if I knew how to do these things, I wouldn't need her. But isn't that the eventual goal of raising kids?

So I've been trying to come up with a list of things I want my kids to know how to do before they graduate high school. I've mentioned before about wanting them to know how to cook at least 2 weeks' worth of meals and teaching them to do laundry and balance a checkbook. They both can do dishes, sweep, vacuum, mop, dust, plant flowers, mow and follow basic recipes and make cookies. I also need to start teaching them car maintenance issues, how to pump gas, check the oil and tire pressure levels, fill the window washer fluid, and I would love to find someone who will teach them - and me! - how to change a tire. I need to start teaching them how to meal plan and more intentionally teach coupons and shopping sales. They are both doing well budgeting their allowance (one of my main goals for using an allowance system), and I need to continue to reinforce that, especially with DS.

I don't think teaching these things will be a problem; I think allowing them to be responsible for them once they have been learned will be the true test. DD already is finding that out with her laundry. She wants to be responsible for it, so I'm letting her do it, and she's finding that by putting it off, she's running out of things to wear, and she only has herself to blame. It's actually rewarding to listen to her because she knows it's something she has asked to do, and she's owning up to it.

Once I get a complete list made, I'll post it and hopefully track our progress. The goal is independent young adults. And a mother who can facilitate that and be glad when it occurs!

Tackle a Pile Tuesday

I'm working on my bedroom this week as part of The Grand Plan for an organized holiday season, so this will fit perfectly. My closet is a disaster. There are piles on every shelf that need to be straightened and purged and organized. I don't think I'll concentrate so much on the clothes themselves (other than purging some summer things I didn't wear) because there is so much else in there! Actually there are 2 closets in my room; one of them has 4 full-length shelves, so I store a lot on them, probably too much. Things I want to keep but never use, things I don't know where else to put, stuff like that. So tonight, after DS's orthodontist appointment, I'm tackling the closet with the shelves. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and today is as good as any.

I like how this is working out. Tackling little bits here and there makes me feel like I'm getting a lot done yet not feeling overwhelmed. The key will be to keep up with this and not let things slide again!

Christmas Countdown - Week 4

This is going to be a busy week! In following The Grand Plan at www.organizedcrhistmas.com, I'm at week 4, The Master Bedroom. My room tends to be the dumping place for everything, laundry, crafts, outgrown clothes, things I need to get rid of but haven't, etc. So I'm looking forward to concentrating on my bedroom and getting it back into order.

There are also a lot of things to do for holiday prep: Make another freezer meal, start homemade gift-making, prepare and freeze another homemade goodie, start gift shopping, buy 2 more food items you'll need for Christmas meals and wrap what gifts you do buy. They also suggest you inventory your linens and towels to make sure you have enough for any holiday visitors, but that doesn't apply to us; I know we're fine in that category.

If the weather cooperates, I'll be mowing tonight; if not, I'll be starting on cleaning and purging my bedroom. I think I'm hoping it will rain all day!

Frugal Friday - Timers

It's Frugal Friday over at http://www.lifeasmom.com/, and while I haven't been spending a lot of money lately, I also haven't been actively looking for ways to save money either, and I think they both need to go hand-in-hand. But this week I think I've come up with another cost-saving idea. It's been rather cool in the mornings here this week in central Ohio, mid 40s some days, and yesterday my daughter said the magic words.... "Mom, it's too cold. I'm going to have to start using my space heater." Yikes! That little 10-inch cube used more electricity last winter that I ever dreamed. In fact, I've never, ever had an electric bill over $100 until she started using that thing, and I nearly croaked when I opened that bill last February. To backtrack a little, DD is very petite and has a severe case of iron deficiency. (Her ferritin, or iron storage, is "up to" 10, when normal is 20-200 and her doctor wants her at at least 50.) So she gets cold quite easily, and since I keep the house at 65 or cooler at night in the winter, it's downright difficult to get her out of her nice, warm, cozy bed if her room isn't warm.

So to make a long story short, here is my frugal tip: I'm going to buy an appliance timer, one of those that you usually use on lights when you're going on vacation, and use it for her heater. We'll set it to turn on about an hour before she needs to get out of bed, and her room should be warm enough when she wakes up. I'm thinking I should recoup the cost of the timer in lower electric bills in less than a month, which will definitely be nice this heating season!

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Snacks

Edit: I didn't realize the full topic was Better For You Snacks.....consider this a Better for Your Mental Health and Sweet Tooth snack! lol

Today's Category - Snacks! There are so many different ways to go here. Dip for raw veggies? Our favorite herbed oyster crackers? Cheese balls? Nope. I'm going to share a snack that barely lasts long enough to be made here at our house. It's sweet, probably full of calories and fat and definitely not good for you! But, oh, is it good!

Bugle Cones
2 T butter (no substitutes), softened
1-1/3 c. powdered sugar1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. vanilla
2 T sweetened condensed milk
1 - 6 oz pkg Bugles

In a small bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in salt and vanilla. Add sweetened condensed milk. (Mixture will be stiff.) Shape into 1/2-inch balls. Place 1 ball on top of a Bugle. Makes about 2-1/2 dozen.

The recipe also says you can dip it in melted chocolate, if desired, but ours never make it long enough to get to that point! If you're like me and like something sweet with your something salty, this is your snack! Don't forget to stop by http://www.lifeasmom.com/ for more snack ideas!

Grocery/Fast Food Update

I went shopping last night and went over my target budget for groceries. On my main trip, I try to stay at $100 or less, leaving $25 to cover anything that comes up in the 2 weeks before the next paycheck. Weeeell, this time I have $12 to make last until September 30. I think that means I will only be getting milk. (And thank goodness the kids are back in school - we're only going thru 3 gallons of milk a week again instead of the 5 gallons they were up to this summer!) So that will take some meal planning and determination.

But I've done good on the fast food challenge this time around. I passed up the 5-for-$5 Arby's special last night, and we had rotisserie chicken from the deli instead. It was $4.99, but I had a $1 coupon, and it will last us 2+ meals, and I can use the carcass for making broth. I don't know what it is about shopping night, but by the time I get home, even though I have just bought all this food, I have no desire to cook! It's easier just to grab something already ready-to-go.

So, we'll see how the next 2 weeks go. I have my doubts about getting through with only $12 grocery money left, but it's not impossible. I guess this is where the *challenge* part kicks in!

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Car insurnce renewal about $100 cheaper than I was expecting after the accident this spring!
2. DD not feeling well Sunday morning but changing her mind and going to church anyhow and being glad she did.
3. DD having a movie day with her grandpa.
4. An unspoken prayer requested answered for DS.

Christmas Countdown - Week 3

Boy, this week will be an easy one! The Grand Plan at www.organizedchristmas.com is concentrating on the entry/foyer....and we don't have one! When you walk in my front door, you are in the living room, probably blocking someone's view of the TV. :-) What I will probably do, is straighten up the side entrance. When you come in the side door, you either go straight down into the basement or turn and go up a few steps to the kitchen. I haven't washed down those walls in a while, and the landing could use a good sweeping. The paint has also chipped off the door, and that could use a touch-up, too.

As far as holiday prep, we are to again make another freezer meal. The plan also suggests making a batch of holiday goodies that can be frozen. It also suggests starting to purchase any canned items you need for your menu, just one or two ingredients, but buying 2 of each, putting one aside to donate in any holiday food drives that are happening in your community. Also on the shopping list, all supplies needed for homemade gifts along with film and/or batteries for your camera, perhaps an extra memory card, things like that. Personally, I need to get film, but that will be all. I have a cookie dough starter that can be made ahead of time, so I will do that rather than make the cookies themselves. The taller the kids get, the harder it is to hide these things in the freezer! No more far-corner-of-the-back-shelf hiding spots! haha

So that's it for this week. Looks fairly simple and quick to accomplish.

Self Challenge Update

A while back, I challenged myself to limit our fast food intake to basically twice per pay period. I have failed and failed miserably. I honestly don't remember what happened that first pay period of the challenge, but this current pay period, I think we hit fast food 4 times? Plus ordered pizza. Plus hit the local 3-day festival and ate down there. I haven't had any desire to cook, and if it weren't for the kids, I'd have been happy having a bowl of cereal every night for dinner! This needs to change obviously. I have my meal list but haven't been using it, and I know DS is tired of asking what's for dinner, only to hear "I have no clue." It's not fair to the kids and it's self-destructive, not only in terms of nutrition and health but also to stewardship with finances and food. So, *sigh*, I'll try again. This weekend I'll inventory the freezer and pantry, and I'll start making a concerted effort to get meat out of the freezer the night before to thaw. I'm also going to start back with freezer cooking again in some form, partly for the holidays when my brother is here, but also for times like this, when I don't want to cook but have kids counting on me.

Give a Boy a Cookbook....

...and you will be cooking for weeks! haha Of my 2 kids, DS is actually the one who likes food the most. Not just eating it (although he's pretty good at that!) but picking out recipes, watching Top Chef and Ace of Cakes and things like that. He's even started asking for that we try a new food item with each large shopping excursion (this time, starfruit). Unfortunately all he likes to bake right now are cookies; he much prefers going through my cookbooks and picking out things for ME to make. Well, at 14, it's time he starts to learn how to make more than cookies and fried eggs. :-)

A while back we bought a fundraiser cookbook that benefitted a Mennonite school at DS's request. He has gone through it and checked off some recipes he'd like to try. So one of my goals this month is to start having him help me with dinner preparation. Most of the recipes in this cookbook are basic foods, nothing too wild and crazy, and they should be fairly successful on the first try - grilled chicken, baked country chicken, oven-barbecued pork chops, glazed sausage bits, fluffy omelets, things like that. In fact, we may start with the pork chops this week.

My ultimate goal is to have both kids have a least 2 weeks' worth of dinners that they can prepare by high school graduation, if not sooner (not counting fried eggs, spaghetti and mac and cheese!), and I've been casually looking for a journal-type book for each twin to start as their own recipe books of family favorites. I still need to get DS involved in meal planning and grocery shopping, but that will come. For now, cooking - and cleanup! - will be the first step.

Mother's Day 2010

I'm the sort of person who likes to plan for things ahead....waaaaay ahead! So last spring when setting up my table for our church's Mother's Day banquet and I heard about the probable theme for the next banquet, I started that night to think about the possibilities. Then a couple Sundays ago, I spoke to the woman in charge of the banquet and she said she was pretty sure she was going to go with a talent type theme, where she would ask some women to decorate a table according to their talent - baking, scrapbooking, sewing, gardening, knitting, etc. - and that yes, she would give us plenty of notice to do up napkin rings, favors for each place setting and a centerpiece to be raffled off. That got my mind spinning. What could I do? I'm really into embroidery right now more so than cross stitch, yet I also like doing the quick felt projects, like penny rugs, etc. I looked through my ideas file this past weekend and have some thoughts jelling in my mind.

Option 1 - cross stitch/embroidery. Option 2 - cookies. Actually option 2 is easy enough that if the lady in charge needs a second table, I could do that with very little monetary or time outlay. It's option 1 that will take some preparation. With option 1, I think I have my favor and napkin rings figured out; I just need to decide on a raffle item to stitch. Sounds like a good excuse to spend some time going through my stash this week!

Tackle a Pile Tuesday

Since I'm concentrating on my living room this week, there has been a pile that I have been avoiding for a long time. My home has built-ins in the living room, and in one of those cabinets, I keep my greeting cards, envelopes, stamps, etc. There a little cubbies in the cabinet to help keep things nice and neat, and it works for the most part. It's not in terrible disarray, but it does need to be cleaned out and reorganized. For example, for some reason, I have collected a huge amount of greeting card envelopes....without any accompanying cards! Do I need 100 greeting card envelopes? Probably not! So I'm going to tackle that cabinet today. No one else will see it, but I sure will feel better once it's done.

Christmas Countdown - Week 2

It's week 2, Question Week, of the Grand Plan over at http://organizedchristmas.com/holiday-grand-plan/question-week. Last week we concentrated on the porch and making lists of all sorts for the holidays. We have our meals planned for Thanksgiving and when my brother will be here over Christmas, and, much to the twins' delight, we have a handful of new cookie recipes to test in anticipation of our annual Christmas cookie exchange with one of my friends. I also know that I don't have to buy any Christmas napkins, cards or wrapping paper this year (or next, or the next, or the next!). DS cleaned off the front porch, scrubbing it and getting the Christmas tree stand and unused pots down into the basement, so that all looks good.

This week brings several different activities. For holiday prep, the Grand Plan instructs us to start stocking up on baking staples and to make one freezer meal to have on hand in December. We are also to start gathering gift ideas. None of these will be hard, since I keep a gift idea list going year 'round and always keep my pantry stocked with baking staples. I will probably wait to stock up on flour and sugar for a while anyway for 2 reasons: 1., they will go on sale in a few months, and 2., I don't want to open a brand new package of flour only to find mealy bugs. If you want to stock up now, freeze your flour to take care of that problem. Unfortunately I don't have room in my freezer right now, but again, baking supplies will be on sale in November, and that will be a better time for me to make my purchases.

As for questions, there is a list of questions to ask yourself and your family to determine what you really want your holidays to look like. Do you want to focus on your family, or is this a time of year that you reach out and open your home to others often? What traditions do you want to continue? Are there traditions that are coming to an end, or are there others you would like to start? How can you focus more on Christ this year and less on the commercialized version of Christmas? By asking and answering these questions now, you can filter all the rest of your activities and decisions through these answers in the months to come.

Cleaning-wise, we get to deep clean the living room. Oh joy! haha Don't just run the sweeper and give the woodwork a quick dusting. This is the time to move furniture, vacuum under the cushions of the couch, organize any closets or built-ins, schedule your chimney cleaning, clean picture frames.... you know, all that cleaning that we put off "until next month" until it becomes next year and even longer. If you're feeling adventurous, you could even wipe down the walls!

There are other things listed to do this week, but I'm pretty much on top of those things, too. All I really need to do is deep clean and call for carpet cleaning. The kids are out of school today and Friday, and DD really likes to help with this type of cleaning (as long as it isn't in her room!), so it should be doable. Although I'm kinda afraid to see what's under those cushions...... ;-)

Recycling CFL Bulbs

We are starting to use CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs more in our home. Actually the energy savings is secondary to me; I like the fact that I don't have to drag out the 6-foot ladder every few months to change the bulbs in the kitchen ceiling fixture much more! But when CFL bulbs burn out, because of the mercury in them, you can't just toss them in the trash. So what to do? Home Depot will take them for free! While most places charge a fee (negating some of your electric bill savings), Home Depot does not. We don't have a Home Depot in our town, so I just hold onto the burned-out bulbs and take them the next time we'll be near one. You can also check with your town to see if they will take them at the annual hazardous waste collection.

Interested in more Frugal Friday posts? Check out www.lifeasmom.com!

August Goals Update

1. Extra payment to Mastercard. Done!
2. Deposit into savings. Done!
3. Extra $20 set aside for Christmas fund. Done!
4. Weight loss (2-3 pounds). Snicker, snort, uh, no
5. Continue Revelations Bible study. In progress
6. Read Book of Proverbs. In progress
7. Finish one uncompleted project. Finished kitchen curtains!

These were my August goals. It's progress. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Baby steps.... :-)

September Goals

1. Pay extra on the Mastercard.
2. Deposit into savings.
3. Set aside $20 for Christmas.
4. Average 1400 lines a day at work.
5. Continue Revelation Bible study.
6. Finish 1 unfinished project.
7. Finish 1 cross-stitch project.
8. Go on 1 inexpensive fun day with the kids.
9. Learn to download DD's digital camera pictures to the computer!

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Kids adjusting well to high school, the routines and the early morning wake-up.
2. DD fulfilling her youth camp pledge to read the New Testament before the start of school.
3. A dear friend coming down for the afternoon and working in the yard with me.
4. Fun at a firepit with good friends.
5. DD cleaning the living room.
6. An enjoyable baking day with DD.
7. The neighbor corralling his dog while I was mowing.
8. Cool temperatures!
9. Enough work.