*Gasp!* I Bought Something for Me!

Maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time buying anything even remotely a "want" and not a "need" for myself. There are a couple reasons, I think. First, as a mom, it's hard to get something for me when I have very likely just told a child (or two!) that I won't buy them something. Second, while I'm digging out of debt, I feel guilty spending money that could go towards extra on a credit card. Dave Ramsey and most other financial folks agree that you need a little spending money in your budget to have fun with, but I usually limit that to an iced cap from Tim Horton's or a caramel frappe from McDonald's, and even then I occasionally feel guilt over spending less than $3!

So buying something that wasn't a true "need" was a major deal yesterday. And even though I didn't spend a penny out of my pocket, I still feel kinda guilty! (It's a childhood thing - love my mom, but she was the queen of inflicting guilt.) Anyhoo, I have been saving my Amazon.com gift codes that I have been earning through Swagbucks and MyPoints with the expressed intent of using them for a digital camera. Yes, I'm still in the 20th century with my film camera! I had been hoping for a Canon, which Consumer Reports rated pretty high; however, as my codes have been piling up, I've been getting kind of impatient. After all, a Canon isn't exactly cheap! :-) My daughter has a Kodak, and when I started to read the reviews on Amazon, the Kodak was actually getting better ratings. So I looked at them again yesterday and determined I had more than enough in gift codes to get a 10 Mp Kodak. I still can't quite believe I ordered it, but I did! I even have about $10 left over in codes, which I will continue to accumulate.

Now the next question is, will I save the rest of the codes I earn this year for Christmas shopping on Amazon or get an MP3 player? I don't need anything fancy, and my swagbucks have been adding up quickly the last few months, so maybe I can do both. Tune in later this year to find out! lol

Freezer Cooking for One or Two

I post a lot of my freezer cooking on my Facebook page, and invariably I have people talk to me at church and remark how they could never do freezer cooking. It's usually a single person or an older couple, and many of them remark that they don't cook at all – it's not worth their time to cook for "just me." I understand completely where they are coming from. In my single days, it was so simple to buy a week's worth of frozen meals or just make a small pot of spaghetti or have a bowl of cereal for dinner (but I love to cook, so I ended buying "cooking for one or two" cookbooks at secondhand stores). If I had only realized then that freezer cooking would be just perfect for me….and for them now!

While we are a numerical family of 3, DD is very picky about what she eats, and most nights she has only a portion of whatever meal I fix (ie, sweet potatoes that were fixed as a side dish). So I truly only do freezer cooking for 2 – DS and me. Some recipes we love so much that we look forward to the leftovers (if they last that long! haha). Some recipes we really like, but to make the full "serves 8" recipe would be way too much. This is where freezer cooking comes in. As an example, the last time I had a freezer cooking night, I made lasagna, only instead of making an 8x13 pan, I made 2 loaf pans. Last week I took one from the freezer, partially thawed it and stuck it in the oven. It was the perfect size. DS and I each had generous portions, and there was plenty left over for my lunch for several days. If I had wanted, I could have refroze the baked lasagna in single servings on microwavable plates for my own homemade frozen dinners. I do the same thing with marinades. I make the full 8-serving marinade but divide it into 2-serving portions, usually in quart-size bags, and add 2-serving portions of the meat and freeze. Do this for 3 or 4 recipes, and you already have quite a stash!

Most recipes can be divided and/or be made into multiple different meals. Have a favorite meatloaf? Make mini loaves, make up leftover meatloaf sandwiches for lunch or to freeze, or make your own "TV dinner" – put a slice of meatloaf and a serving of your favorite vegetable on a microwavable plate, wrap with a layer of plastic wrap and then foil, label and freeze. Love chicken? Roast a whole chicken, slice some for dinner that night, make sandwiches, shred some for other recipes, cube some for salads, and make a few frozen dinners. A single person could easily get 8-10 freezer meals from a whole chicken with only an hour's work.

Don't have the energy or physical health to spend a big chuck of time in the kitchen? Spread the cooking out. Roast a chicken Monday and divide up meals on Tuesday. Next week, cook a beef roast on Monday and divide up on Tuesday. Within just a few weeks, you'll have a wide array of homemade meals in your freezer.

Freezer cooking can be adapted to nearly anyone's situation. It's all about finding what works best for you to save you time and money without sacrificing quality.

Changing Tastes

I've noticed over the past 6 months or so, that my preferences in blog-reading has changed. When I first started reading various blogs, it was all money-related, get out of debt, save money, change how you shop. I still read a few of those (MoneySavingMom, Mommy Snacks), but I've stopped reading a lot of them. There are only so many posts to read regarding cutting out lattes and shopping around for lower insurance rates. :-) I now find myself drawn to cooking and homemaking sites (Once a Month Mom, $5 Dinners, Life As Mom) and a couple general "my life" blogs (Scribbit, The Finer Things in Life).

Why have my tastes changed? I'm not sure. I still need to save money and spend wisely (or not at all). I don't have young kids, like many of these blog writers do. I'm kind of a hybrid stay-at-home mom, in that I work a full-time job in my dining room and don't homeschool. And sometimes, these blogs spark a bit of guilt. I mean, I enjoy reading all these sites, but oh how I wish something similar had existed back when my children were young! So many times I wish I could go back and have a "do-over" but life doesn't work like that. Perhaps sometime I'll find a similar site dealing with parenting teens. (I'll probably find something about the time my kids go off to college! haha)

I wonder what I'll be reading this time next year. Tune in then to find out! :-)

What to do, What to do.... :-)

The kids are leaving in a little while to go on retreat for the weekend with their youth group. It has been since last June when they went to camp that I have had more than 3-4 hours to myself (not including school days when I'm working). So what to do???? haha I really want to go to Columbus, but my bank account is discouraging that. I could go to the local home and garden show, but that would just make me want to get moving on some house repairs/upgrades that, again, my bank account would discourage this year. (Next year will be a different story!) So, I think, after I finish work, that I will get the house cleaned up, living room picked up and swept, dishes done and a quick bite to eat. It always makes me feel better to have the house cleaned up when the kids are gone. Tomorrow morning, I'll catch up on email and listen to a sermon online from when we were gone a few weeks ago. The rest of the weekend will be devoted to stitching. I've got just a few weeks left to finish my auction piece for the Mother-Daughter banquet, and this will be the perfect time to make some progress. Not exactly the most exciting weekend, but I will definitely enjoy it!

Decluttering

There are a lot of decluttering posts going on out there in the blogging world, MoneySavingMom and Life as Mom, among others, are both sponsoring month-long decluttering campaigns. Amy from Amy's Finer Things is going a step further and pledging to get rid of 720 items from her home this year, an average of 2 things out the door every day. I've been in the decluttering mood this year also. I always get this way around the New Year, but it usually only lasts a few weeks. Not this year. I've gone through nearly all the drawers cupboards and storage areas in the house, and the kids have even gotten in the spirit. Between us, we've taken 3 large trash bags and 2 grocery bags to Goodwill so far, and I have 2 more bags in my room, waiting to go. All that is left to purge is the basement. I'm waiting for it to warm up a tad down there before I tackle that area, but every time I go down those steps, it's just begging me to get started on it, so I won't be putting it off much longer.

Why Goodwill? I find holding a garage sale to be a pain. Perhaps if I had someone else to go in on it with me, it wouldn't be so bad. The first sale we had here went great. I made over $200, and it was well worth it. The second (and last) sale we had, I actually lost money after paying for the newspaper ad. I hate keeping things around, piling them up until the sale, too. I'd much rather bag them and get them out of here. And Goodwill is a good cause. I feel I get much more in return by donating our things than by selling them.

The decluttering will continue. I haven't kept track of the exact number of things that have gone out the door, and I don't think I'll match Amy's goal of 720 items that find a new home, but I'll be happy whatever our total.

Goals Update

1. Establish emergency fund and not be below 50% of the goal amount by December 31, 2010 (barring an emergency at the end of the year).
Fully funded 2/5/2010
2. Pay off Mastercard.
3. Start and maintain a price book.
Started 1/17/2010.
4. Finish 2 large unfinished projects.
5. Finish 2 small unfinished projects.
New showerhead installed 2/9/2010
6. Complete 2 cross-stitch projects.
7. Establish an exercise routine.
8. Purchase either a refrigerator or hot water tank with cash.