Debt-Free Farming...How To Get Started

It's no secret that Rob and I are trusting the Lord for some land to move to and work. Currently, we have so many options available that it's making our heads spin. We're trying to figure out the dance of how to make it all work financially, what our best options are and most importantly, where the Lord wants us. We see Him leading in certain ways with connections we have with friends, doors that have opened, but I think that's our problem now is that there are too many doors opened. We need some to start closing. Please keep us in your prayers that God would be evident in His will.

On the flip side, we have had many, many families that we have been blessed to share our love of agriculture with and some of these families have sparked an interest in wanting to return to the old ways of providing for their family with good, wholesome food versus reliance on government and grocery stores. There have been many before us who have done this very thing and one of them is the Salatin family of Polyface Farm. I'm happy to share this video with you today, as well as some notes I took as I watched the video in its entirety.



Joel's Steps to Debt-Free Farming...Getting Started are:

1. Don't get too far into debt...debt is enslavement. Do things that take time, not money.

2. Use your creativity to shepherd your "little nest egg".

3. Get into touch with your land and know where you want to grow things. Where is your sun and shade lines, frost pockets, water drainage, etc.

4. Start with one thing you like first. Then do enough extra to sell and make money.

5. Get to know your neighbors (a sense of community). Get plugged in to know if there's someone who has machinery you can borrow or who goes into town to sell product that you could bum a ride with,etc.

6. Don't have grand visions upfront. You can blow them quickly.

7. Don't plan too far ahead. This can over-run your natural learning curve which is essential. Take each year at a time.

8. Don't compare country living with the lifestyle your currently accustomed to living with.

9. Don't move from something until you get shoved out of it (home, tool shed, barns, etc.) It's just more money on a project that is a want and not a need.

10. Save money by growing your own food (eat what you grow), make your own fuel, make your farm your entertainment (Salatin's always loved what they did so they didn't need expensive entertainment...their farm was it!), drive inexpensive cars and don't get sucked into buying pricey machinery.

Special Note: Joel Salatin will be dong a workshop at Full Circle Farm here in sunny Florida on April 20 and 21 (Fri. evening and all day Saturday). Contact Dennis and Alicia for details (or you can contact me as I've already been in contact with them...they are such sweet people).

Large Family Logistics Annotations

So, I ordered Large Family Logistics over the summer and had it read in a little over a week. I couldn't put it down. Kim Brenneman is a mother to a large family (9 children, I'm pretty sure) and she wrote this book for her daughters so that someday, they may take her advice, learn from her life as a mother and glean what they can as they too become mothers someday. I love they way Kim shares the ups and downs of being a mother, how she remains Biblically centered, quotes Scripture and how she breaks down the book into several specific chapters on raising a family, keeping a home, homeschooling and basic managing skills. So many girls today are not being taught the simplistics of keeping up a home and running a family. It's sad, really. We're too busy! We're too busy to teach some of the most important things our little girls will need to be truly successful in life. Thanks Kim for writing this and I hope to collect one of these books for each of my own daughters and give it to them as they ready themselves to raise a family, God-willing. *Please note that this book is not for mothers who have 9 or more children. Although I have four, I found this book totally applicable and would find it applicable to any mother no matter how many children you have.

I've written down annotations for the book and this post, I'll share chapters 1-12 (scroll down if you don't want to read the chapter titles). The chapters that are covered in Kim's book are as follows:

Chapter 1 - The Wise Woman

2 - goals

3 - Systems

4 - Self-Discipline

5 - Attitude is Critical

6 - Where Does the Time Go?

7 - The Interrupted Day

8 - The Psalms-Your Spiritual Multi-Vitamin

9 - Give Your Children a Work Ethic

10 - Repeating Yourself?

11 - Teaching a New Chore

12 - Rejecting Me-Centeredness, Redeeming Time Alone

13 - Life with Littles

14 - Baby Balance

15 - The Family Dynamic

16 - Your Own Personal Spa

17 - Dress for Success

PART TWO

18 - Your Home Management Book

19 - Laundry Day

20 - Kitchen Day

21 - Office Day

22 - Town Day

23 - Cleanign DAy

24 - Deep Cleaning

25 - Gardening Day

26 - The Lord's Day

27 - Tea Party Day

28 - Morning and Evening Routines

29 - Meal Time Routines

30 - Table Time

31 - 15 Minutes of Phonics

32 - Quiet Time

33 - Read Aloud Time

34 - Afternoon Chore Time

35 - Bathroom Management

36 - Bedroom Management

37 - The Children's Hour

38 - Family Worship

39 - Home Crafts

40 - Homeschooling the Large Family

41 - Health and Wellness

42 - Teh Playroom

43 - Feast Night

44 - Meal Planning

45 - Project Day

46 - Pregnancy and Preparing for Baby

47 - The Buddy System

Appendix A - Coping While Exhausted and Overwhelmed

Appendix B - Moving Beyond Survival Mode

Chapter 1: The Wise Woman
Breaking down the Proverbs 31 woman.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

Chapter 2: Goals
Set clearly defined goals for yourself and your family (with your husband, of coarse).
Some goals may be...learning how better to train your children, growing spiritually in the Word, goals in marriage, exercise, hospitality, etc.
Write them down. Have steps planned out for each goal. Make them monthly, focusing on one per month if you like.

Chapter 3: Systems
Kim shares on how to work through a new method while teaching a new thing:
1. Show them how to do it, demonstrate the protocol.
2. Watch them do it, giving correction.
3. Let them do it unsupervised with you checking later, and give further instruction if needed.
4. Require independent work with occasional checks; if they begin to be sloppy (they are human), then start over.
“Systems don’t work if you don’t work the system.” (Kim’s husband)

Chapter 4: Self-Discipline
“You can have wisdom on how to rightly live and have the most refined set of goals and well-tuned system in the world on how to get there, but if you don’t pursue your goals and implement your plan, your ideas are next to worthless.” Kim

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

Be like Jesus!

Chapter 5: Attitude is Critical
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23
Jeremiah 17:9, Psalm 119:10, Matthew 15:8, Numbers 14:18 (anger), James 1:20 (anger)
Obedience is a CHOICE!
“I once heard a speaker at a mother-daughter retreat tell us mothers to get in line with Jesus and that our daughters would follow our lead. If our children see us being Sunday Christians, then theywon’t take Christianity seriously, and church will just be a Sunday social club.” Kim

Chapter 6: Where Does the Time Go?
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the heaven.”Ecclesiastes 3:1

Kim shares how to break down your day and tips for managing time wisely.

Chapter 7: The Interrupted Day
There will be days when things don’t go as planned. There are interruptions, but you have to make the choice whether to recover and get back in the saddle, or sulk. Attitude is everything!
(Note: I had one of those days yesterday when we had a totally fun-packed day, but we came home and the house was a MESS and I had to get dinner ready and the house cleaned in 1 HOUR. I pulled the troops together, we tidied up the house and I made a quick dinner. We also had enough time to light candles, put on some dinner music and set the table with pretty dishes. Rob never knew our day was so chaotic! I was so close to just having a “pizza night” and cleaning after the kids went to bed, but we pulled it together and we recovered. So happy we did.)

Proverbs 16:1-9…An interrupted day is God’s plan for the life of a mother!!!

Chapter 8: The Psalms – Your Spiritual Multi-Vitamin
Go to sleep with a Psalm. Wake up to a Psalm. Even if you can’t have an in-depth study to start or end the day, at least get some of the Word and some prayer time in.

The “I’m Stresses Psalm”…(131) O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”

Chapter 9: Give Your Children a Work Ethic
“The principal cause of boredom is the hatred of work. People are trained from childhood to hate it. Parents often feel guilty about making children do anything but the merest gestures toward work. Perhaps the children are required to make their beds and, in feeble and half-hearted fashion, tidy up their rooms once a month or so. But take full responsibility to clear the table, load the dishwasher, scrub the pots, wipe the counters? How many have the courage to ask this of a ten-year-old? It would be to omuch to ask of many ten-year-olds because parents have seriously asked nothing of them when they were two or three. Children quickly pick up the parents’ negative attitudes toward work and think of it as something most sedulously to be avoided.” – Elizabeth Elliot

Kim laughs as she has read chores suggested for multiple ages from other sources. She says, “Scraping hog floors didn’t make the list?”  She touches on how farm kids work hard and have a lot of dirty work. Hard physical work builds character. Practicing character traits happens with work and provides opportunities to see the rewards. She also touches on how boys need physical work (chopping firewood, mending fences, pruning trees/bushes, digging holes, etc.), start YOUNG so it’s habit-forming and expected, don’t expect children to do the quality of work that an adult would but to encourage them to do excellent work. Study God’s Word and what it says about work. Set a goal such as going for a treat when the work is done well. Older children will help teach the younger ones attitude, character traits, and the chore. Be sure to teach the older children WELL. Teach children to be helpful when you visit others’ homes or social events. Teach them to ask the host/hostess “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Some verses on work:
Proverbs 6:6
Proverbs 10:26
Proverbs 13:4
Proverbs 14:23
Proverbs 18:9
Proverbs 20:4
Proverbs 20:13
Proverbs 21:17
Proverbs 22:29
Proverbs 24:30-34
Proverbs 26:13-16
Proverbs 27:1
I Corinthians 4:2
Philippians 4:13
Colossians 3:22-23
II Thessalonians 3:10
I Timothy 5:8

Motto: “We work before we play.”

Chapter 10: Repeating Yourself?
We fall into this habit a lot, repeating ourselves louder with each direction when children should obey the first time we ask. We are busy moms and we’re great at multi-tasking, but child discipline isn’t something that can be multi-tasked. We need to stop and focus. We need to train ourselves to hear ourselves. It’s hard, but repeating ourselves is training our children to continue in disobedience.

Train children to respond with “Yes, ma’am” when they’ve heard you give an instruction. That signals to you that they heard you. Make eye contact with them if you have to give the instruction again so that they have clearly heard you.

When men focus their attention in loving or disciplining a child, it is beautiful. We need to take a lesson from the men here!

Role play attentiveness!

Perhaps you are instructing a child and there is bickering going on the next room. Assuming there’s not a major crisis, focus and finish with the first child. Then go to the bickering children and give instruction and discipline there.

If you have a friend whose child-rearing standards are different, and who brings you down, get some space from her. Misery loves company, and you need to choose encouragers to be with, not the miserable. Don’t be the one who drags others down; be an encourager! (Prov. 13:20b) Spend limited time with that person because bad influences will undo your children’s training.

Chapter 11: Teaching a New Chore
“Inspect what you expect”

1. Tell them
2. Show them
3. Do it with them
4. Supervised practice
5. Independent practice

Do not expect a child to do a chore well when you have only done the first two steps with them. It can take a long time to get from Step One to Step Five, depending on the child and the specific chore.

Make it a fun event…the teaching of a new chore. Celebrate with a treat!

You should never treat your children like slaves or your personal minions. The goal is to raise a godly seed.
Don’t complain…Philippians 2:14
Do your work unto the Lord…Colossians 3:23
A cheerful heart is good medicine…Prov. 15:13
Do more than the minimum required…Colossians 1:10

Remember that attitude is everything and little eyes are always watching you and how your attitude is towards work.

Chapter 12: Rejecting Me-Centeredness, Redeeming Time Alone
Motherhood is a life of sacrifice; it is a life poured out for our children. So what are we to do to get some space from it all? When we are honest with ourselves, we know that it is not “Me Time” we need or a “Girl’s Night Out”. Children are not a burden to escape or endure; they are a blessing that drives us to Christ because we are incapable of parenting well without Him. God is who we need. While there are helpful strategies we can employ in order to have a more peaceful day with our children, the number one thing we must do is to deny Self and cling to the cross.

Early morning silence can be a balm to the soul. Sit by the fire with a coffee/tea and Bible in hand. God doesn’t always give us a beautiful start to every day though. If kiddos are up early, read the Bible to them. Deuteronomy 6 (the Sh’ma) is always great for the whole family to appreciate God’s gift of beauty and quiet in the morning.

Naptime is also another good time to have quiet time to yourself to read the Bible, do a quiet craft or take a nap yourself. Keep your focus right by honoring God with your Quiet Time. Yet don’t let Quiet Time itself become an idol.

Evening…your bedside table is a good place to keep those most important things to rejuvenate your life. Your Bible and a prayer journal should always be there awaiting you.

Relationships – Make Jesus your best friend! A stay-at-home mom can easily miss the interaction of friends and it can be a lonely job at times. It can also be the best job in the world.

Friendships – There are good ones and bad ones. The Bible is chocked full of examples.

I love how Kim breaks down relationships/friendships…God first, then husband, then nurturing our children. Don’t let friends take over these relationships. There’s a reason God has set family relationships as priority. If friendships with other mothers are taking over our relationships to our God and immediate family, then we need to prioritize. However, if you’re never leaving home to fellowship with other like-minded ladies as well as older sisters in Christ, then you won’t have a chance to grow such as Titus 2 says. If you find that your friends are not making godly decisions, you may want to rethink that friendship. (Romans 14:19; I Corinthians 14:26)

*I'll be sharing remaining chapter annotations in the future so stay tuned! ;)

Thank you Hannah for this awesome post today. ;)

I love how she reiterated the fact that you don't have to stock up or buy foods with major preservatives to save money. I have to amen this one because recently I tried couponing. Yes, the whole "schpeal" with the 12 folders holding 5-8 Sunday papers worth of coupons. I found it exhausting and non-rewarding. I was spending more on newspapers than I was saving on actual foods/toilitries that our family uses. There were more coupons for Centrum Silver, hair coloring products, denture adhesives, junk food (ahh, the junk food), dog and cat foods and oh, the list goes on.

I save more money when I buy 5 pounds of barley and make soup with leftover vegetables and no meat.

I save more money making my own breads (with no preservatives or high fructose corn syrup).

I save more money making my own soups (but I still buy Amy's Organic soups when I'm lazy...anyone noticed that Target sells them now and for only $2.00 and change?).

I save more money picking our own produce from local farms and drying it out, making pies and muffins from them and freezing them for breakfast shakes.

I save more money by not buying the prepackaged stuff...staying away from the middle aisles of the grocery store are 1/2 the battle here...you know, all the canned stuff, processed stuff, etc.

I save more money by drinking a ton of good, reverse osmosis, filtered water during the day.

I save more money by paying $2.00 for a pack of 150 non-GMO, organic garden seeds and growing it ourselves than paying $2.00 at the grocery/health food stores.

I save more money making homemade laundry detergents, cleaners and hair products (much better for you too! I can pronounce all the ingredients.).

I save more money by educating myself and our children about how to graft plants and collect and dry seeds, using them for the next growing season.

On the "non-food note", shopping at second-hand stores, swapping and trading clothing with our Mom's group/family/friends and buying used are HUGE ways to save as well. My kids love going to Goodwill and picking out clothes. They get a kick out of it. Yes, we'll splurge a few times a year on an outfit or two for special holidays, but it's not an every month thing. I've been known to buy baking tools and other cooking supplies (beaters, measuring cups, silverware, glass plates/bowls, pitchers, pastry cutters, etc.) there as well.

Hannah's blog is a new one I've found myself browsing around. It's always fun finding new ideas, implementing new recipes and learning new, creative ways to do things. She clearly loves the Lord and uses her blog as a ministry as she stays at home with her 6 adorable children. Thanks Hannah for the article and tips!

$ Saving Money $

Ahh, it's that time of year again when taxes are on everyone's mind. I know that each household varies in their take on things. Some owe Uncle Sam $$. Some get back a bit of $$. Some get back a large sum of $$. Whatever your situation, I'm sure money is on your mind now, or will be in the next few months.

Today, I'm here to talk about SAVING MONEY today and what our family does specifically to save what we can, when we can. Ahh...there are times when I think about the good ol' days when the two of us were working full time jobs, we had no children and we could literally write checks for things that weren't necessarily necessities, but more wants and luxury items. I have to say, even though those were fun times and we had physical blessings, I wouldn't consider those times as when we were most blessed. I would consider NOW as the time when we're most blessed. Maybe not in dollar signs, but in the blessings that account for much more than that. Can I get an "amen!" from all the frugal readers out there? ;)

Here is a list of some of the things we try and do (or have done)

as a family to save money. If you are one of those families that does receive money back from the government, be praying about upfront costs that you can put forth to save money in the long run.

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I cut the entire family's hair. A hair kit at the store costs roughly $20.00 which is what maybe one haircut would cost in a salon/barber shop. Yes, I even cut my own hair. There are times when I love a "pick-me-up" and I'll use a coupon for a box of henna hair dye, but there are benefits to curly hair I guess. :) If I mess up, not too many will notice.

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We make our own laundry detergent. Enough said! It costs me maybe $3.00 to make a 64 quart storage bin of it every 6 months or so. Sometimes I even splurge and buy essential oils to give it that extra touch. I've always been a big fan of adding a few drops of tea tree oil to each load though. Especially with wet towels.

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We use cloth napkins. I know that they're not expensive to buy in the store, maybe $2.00 or something, but that $2.00 can add up in a year's time. I will never go back to using disposable napkins again. Especially with milk spills and young children, there's always a hefty napkin to do the job and I don't have to run to the linen closet for a towel to mop up a spill. HERE is a cute site where she makes her own napkins.

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We don't use a lot of paper towels. I use a ton of kitchen towels and this way, it cuts down great. Paper towels are only for really dirty, germy messes in our house.

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I make our own cleaning supplies. Doesn't fog your brain as you're cleaning. They have a nice scent and I can re-use the bottles again and again.

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We feed our chickens, rabbits and dog people scraps. Nothing goes to waste. The dog will get leftovers that contain oil and or salt only because it's not healthy for our bunnies/chickens. They get the leftover veggie and fruit scraps. Sometimes, if I make a loaf of bread and I know it's going to go bad in the next day or so, they get that too.

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We raise our own chickens for eggs. Our family goes through at least 2 dozen eggs a week! There is an upfront cost to having chickens (building a coop, buying the chicks), but we always used our tax return money for larger upfront cost things that we knew we would save money on later. Plus, our chickens lay up to 1 dozen eggs a day and so what we can't eat, we sell and break even. I was spending $32.00 a month on eggs before our chickens. Now I spend less than that in their grain AND we sell our eggs.

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We bake and cook a lot of things from scratch. I find it so interesting to learn how to make things from scratch versus paying some big wig company for the processed version of it at the grocery store. You can save a ton here even if you're not an avid couponer.

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We're not afraid to shop at 2nd hand stores for things, especially play clothes for the kids. I just got Lincoln a pair of Sketchers sneakers from our favorite 2nd hand store and paid $4.00 for them, practically brand new.

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We homeschool, so although I'm not working as a teacher anymore and getting paid for it, I use my passion and spiritual gift to do it at home and we don't have daycare costs and/or pricey private school costs each month.

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We try to stay away from things that are disposable...diapers, vacuum bags, napkins, tissues (I have some super cute hankies!)...I'm really trying to think here, but truth be told I haven't used disposable things in so long that I can't quite remember what's out there.

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We don't have fancy things on our cell phones...Internet, etc. so our cost is much lower.

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We limit our going out to eat.

- We don't pay for expensive fertilizers for our garden. It's compost and bunny/chicken manure that works best!

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We garden a lot of our veggies in our backyard. 1 pack of 50-100 seeds is around $2.00, the cost of ONE lettuce head.

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We have processed one of our own chickens before and have ordered more spring chicks for this purpose later. A fryer at the grocery store is approximately $7.00-$9.00. The cost of a chick is $2.80. You raise it for 8-12 weeks (yes, you have to factor in a bit of food) and you come in under cost. (Plus, it's just healthier.)

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The Dollar Store is a wonderful thing! Never underestimate what you can find there. :)

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We don't spend oodles of money each year per kid on family photos. We paid good money for our camera and it takes great shots, so we use this instead.

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My husband is an expert on finding great hotel deals if we want to take a family vacation.

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We try to feed our kids healthy, homecooked foods so that we don't have tons of doctor's visits or prescriptions of Amoxacillin. We didn't have to visit the doctor ONCE in 2010! Praise the Lord.

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We don't have a housekeeper! We work together as a family.

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We don't have a lavish St. Augustine lawn that eats up our water bill. We did before we had children and not only was the water bill ridiculous, but we had chinch bugs every spring that killed big patches of it and we had to add so many chemicals. We love using Rye grass in the fall and winter months when most lawns are brown from the cold. The whole bag costs us $15.00 and we just wait for a day or two when it's going to rain to lay it. Wha-la! Instant green grass for 4 months for $15.00. The chickens and rabbits love being in the tractors and feasting off it as well. :)

Okay, so these are just a few things that we love doing to save money. What are some things that you do to help save your family money?

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."
Luke 16:10

Throw Out Those Ziplocks!

I found a neat site today on replacing Ziplock baggies. Check it out HERE. There are some links on how to make your own or some that are already made. I'm going to download some patterns to make my own. Now to tackle the sewing machine. Yikes!! :)

Norah's First Solids/Second-Hand Stores and "Haves/Needs Lists"

Thinkin' about it...

Um..."Mom, what is this stuff?"

"Me likey!"

"Great stuff Mom!"

The other night, we started Norah on her first solid. She had some rice cereal with mashed up bananas. With Avonlea and Lincoln, I only gave them cereal, but after actually tasting the stuff, I decided to give Norah some flava! I mashed up a piece of banana and threw that in. Although she really hasn't got the hang of it (the swallowing) just yet, she does like it. We give it to her at dinner time each night and we'll work our way up to giving her lunch, then a breakfast to add to the mix.

I was so excited because I went to a local, second-hand baby store today and found a STEAL (a buck and change a piece!) on some Fresh Baby storage containers (with lids) for when I start making baby food. I've never gone the route of freezing it before, but I am this time. I used to use empty yogurt cups with lids, but we splurged for the 'real deal' now. :)

Second-hand Stores

I think I'm addicted to second-hand stores, especially the awesome, clean one in our area. If you haven't searched for a good second-hand store in your area, you should. When you're done using something (baby bathtub, clothing, bottles, etc., etc., etc.), you can take it into the store and they'll give you credit towards your next purchase. Today, I took in my knock-off Mei Tai that I purchased online a few months ago, and they said they'd try to sell it for $19.99 which is more than I originally bought it for. More credit for me! Who-hoo! I bought my babyfood storage containers, some capris for Avonlea, some Cars pjs for Linkster and a baby seat for the bathtub for Norah. (I had some other credit stored up as well.) All for around $25.00 and I didn't pay a penny...store credit.

Haves/Needs List

Now, I do love to get store credit towards items I'll need in the future, BUT when I know of someone in need of something, I try to honor that need. We recently started a "Haves/Needs List" at our local Mom's group and we add and take off items that we have and/or need. We started with a large poster board and laminated it, using Expo markers to write on it. Now, we just e-mail each other, but it's a great way to give away or get free, gently-used items AND connect with other moms. Think about creating one in your Mom's group, or start one on your own!

The Coupon Book

Front cover

Front side pocket holds fliers for that week. I just circle with a Sharpie the things that are a good deal. Target has a great new brand "Up and Up" that has coupons for their products, besides the fact that they're already the cheapest competitor brand! Can't beat that.

On the right is a pencil pouch where I keep the month's receipts. I mark at the top of each receipt how much I've saved through coupons and BOGOs (buy one, get one). So far, for November I've saved $88.34! I keep a pencil, pen, Sharpie, calculator and scissors in the pouch.

Next is where I keep the grocery list. Before I go grocery shopping, I go online to Publix's BOGO website and write down all the buy one, get one deals of things we'd actually use. NEVER buy something you don't normally use just because it's on sale or you have a coupon for it.

Here is where I keep my coupons. I use photo pockets from Office Depot. There are two sizes and I think I have the 5 x 8 size. I can usually see up to 3 coupons in the pocket itself. The pockets come in packs of 10, but since there's 2 per page, I get 20. The packs are around $4.00 per pack of 10. I purchased two packs. I also label the pockets in categories. Mine are as follows:

- diapers

- baby "other"

- pets

- medicines

- baking

- toilitries

- snacks

- frozen foods

- drinks

- sauces/marinades

- canned foods

- paper products

- meats

- seasonings/spices

- dairy

- milk

- cleaning

- cereal/oatmeal

- pasta

- desserts

- miscellaneous

- breads

- laundry

I also have pockets for the following stores: Target, CVS, Sears, Joann/Michaels, Walgreens, health food store, JC Pennys, Chuck E. Cheese, other restaraunts

I first leared about couponing after visiting www.couponmom.com and have a print out of their info. in the binder.

I keep a running list of all of our brands that I frequently visit their websites for coupons as well.

In the back pocket, I keep more fliers and my coupon sorting mat.

I don't know about you, but couponing can be such a blessing when you're trying to cut down on your grocery budget. It's difficult though when you're not organized. This helped me tremendously, so if you're having trouble staying organized in this department, give it a try! Happy couponing!!!!!!!!!

Coupon Sorting Mat

I've seen this on another blog (now I can't find it again to give you a link...go figure!) and thought it was a great idea. Right now, I'm on a mission to organize my coupons better. I've used binders before that contain clear business card pages and I've used an accordian pouch as well as a plain, old Ziplock bag. The business card pages are too much work, the accordian pouches can get disorganized fast and you can't see all your coupons quickly. The Ziplock bag, well. Not much to say about that other than it doesn't work well. I think for now, I'll stick with my accordian-style (from the Dollar Store...can't beat that!) coupon pouch. I just need something that has more than 8 dividers. The sorting mat shows you how many I need. If they're too generalized, I forget I have them. Anyhow, anyone got the perfect way to organize coupons, please share. =)

*Still working on my new weekly menu. I'll share when I'm done.

*Thanks for the participation on the baby/child tips as well as your 5 favorite products. For those that haven't posted yet, I can't wait to hear what you have to say!!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent (again)

Homemade laundry detergent is a GREAT way to cut down on your grocery bill. It's safe, works AMAZINGLY well (just as good if not better than leading brands), is CHEAP ($2.00-$3.00 that lasts us 6 months!) and you can add your own scents (lavendar, jasmine, etc.). I know I've posted this once before, but thought I'd post again for those who didn't see it. I just made a HUGE batch not only for our family, but for some free samples for a mom's group I help lead. Come to our next meeting and you'll get some. =) I make mine in a much larger quantity so I don't have to make it as often, but this recipe I got online is for a smaller quantity. I have misplaced my recipe for the big batch, so here's the smaller recipe. Enjoy!

4 cups hot tap water
1 bar of soap
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
(local grocery stores carry Washing Soda and Borax in the detergent aisle...especially Publix)


Step #1: Choose your soap (I used Ivory this time). I use 2 1/2 bars to make a 56 Quart storage bin, but you may not want to do this much.


Step #2: Chop up your soap and put it in the water over medium heat. Some people like to grate it, but this makes more work. Just use a sharp knife. If it's hard soap, let your hubby chop it up.


Step #3: Stir it continually (don't take breaks from stirring or it'll get chunky and won't have a good syrup-like consistency...believe me, I messed up my second batch of this last time by doing this!) until it is completely dissolved.


Step #4: Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, Washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Stir and let is sit overnight.


Step #5: After the mixture has set overnight, fill up an empty detergent container 1/2 way, add water to fill it up the rest of the way and shake well before using.

*Optional* You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons once soap has cooled.

Top Load Washer: Use 5/8 cup per load (180 loads)
Front Load Washer: Use 1/4 cup per load (640 loads)

Let me know if you give this a try. I'd like to know how it turns out!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

We all know that rising gas prices and grocery prices are enough to make any mom frustrated at trying to save money. There are typical things that usually cost more money at the grocery store: trash bags, meat, fish, fresh produce, icecream, bread and laundry detergent. I did a little research and found some homemade laundry detergent recipes, so I decided to try one and see if it worked or not. I bought all the ingredients at Publix (Borax and washing soda are in the laundry detergent aisle and next to each other), but the soap I bought at Target (we were there, so I picked some up, but you could use Dollar Store soap to make it more cost-efficient...soap is soap people, right?). Anyway, I included the recipe and some pictures so you get the general idea. I thought I'd be slick and make a BIG batch to last us awhile, and turns out that I made too much! So, don't double/triple the recipe! I had to use a storage bin to store it all in our garage. Here's the recipe and let me know if any of you try it and like it. I'm interested to see! Oh, by the way, it made our house smell soooooo good, like a house of fabric sheets! :)

1 quart water (boiling)
2 gallons water (room temperature)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

1.) Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.

2.) Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

3.) Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.
4.) Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (will gel).


**You will DEFINATELY save lots of money this way!!!!

Making Babyfood...Yum!

So I decided to try something new yesterday, making homemade babyfood. A good friend of mine (thanks Stef!) gave me this great book called So Easy Babyfood and it's by Joan Ahlers and Cheryl Tallman (see above pic). The book is really easy to read and it's packed with easy recipes on how to cook nutritious babyfood for your baby. When Avonlea was old enough to eat babyfood, I was working and VERY busy. Are you kidding? I didn't think I had time for this stuff, BUT after taking only 30 minutes to make a week's worth of babyfood yestday, I'm sure I could've found the time back then. Anyway, the book has some interesting facts:

1. When you buy processed babyfood, it's "cooked at extremely high temperatures to kill all bacteria so they can be stored in jars at room temperature" Bacteria aren't the only things killed in this process. Vitamins and nutrients are also destroyed".
2. Babyfood can also be up to three years old when you buy it on the grocery store shelf.

So, after reading these facts, I decided to give homemade babyfood a try. I bought some of the fruits and veggies the book suggested (it goes by age and tells you what is age appropriate to try from months 6-12), took them home and followed the steps in the book. Some of the fruits and vegetables I bought were:
bananas, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, a few different varieties of squash, zucchini, apples, pears, asparagus, black beans, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, corn, green beans, peas and mango.

Here are the steps:

Step 1.) buy an assortment of foods

Step 2.) peel and cut up the foods (I tried apples and pears first)

Step 3.) Steam the foods. You need a strainer that will fit over a boiling pot of water (or a steamer basket, whatever that is. I couldn't find one) and the pot needs to be covered with a lid.

Step 4.) Mash the foods to a babyfood-type texture.

Step 5.) Store the babyfood in icecube trays in your freezer and label with the food and date you made it on. (Foods are good in the freezer up to 2 months.) When you need a meal for your baby, pop it out of the icecube tray (you may need to set the bottom in hot water to defrost a bit), defrost in your microwave and serve. Yummy!

The book also suggests steaming the babyfood in the microwave. It does save time and effort. I chose to try the steaming method this time, but I might try the microwave method next time.

I guess you can even try meats and harder veggies by using a food processor. Ours doesn't work so I can't say that I've tried any of those recipes yet.

Even if your baby is older than 12 months, you could still use this idea to steam fruits and veggies so they're suitable for a toddler to eat (chunky, but steamed so it's not hard to swallow).

The book suggests that "parents who use processed babyfood spend an average of $300.00 or more on babyfood during their infant's first year of life." By making homemade babyfood, the cost goes down to an average of $55.00. (Do take into consideration that there are a few things to buy...food processor, steamer basket, ice cube trays or storage containers for the freezer... they can add up as well so don't forget to add that total to what you don't already have).

This is not to say that Lincoln will never have processed babyfood, but it is fun to make the "real stuff" and there's definately a sense of pride when feeding it to him. If I might add, he LOVES the homemade babyfood so much more than the processed. He kicks, smiles and can't get enough of it. I usually never see that responce with the other food. It's really funny to watch. =)

If anyone else tries this, let me know how it came out! I'd love to share recipes.

Savings, Savings, Savings...

I just thought I'd share a little secret with all my fellow grocery-shopping moms out there . There's a website called Couponmom.com and it has really changed the way I buy groceries these days. There are so many ways to clip coupons and save. Check it out when you have some time. The past few days I have found time to: create a coupon book (found plastic business card sheets at Office Depot and a binder to keep them in...complete with tabs to label), made a list of all the more expensive items we buy from the grocery store, called those companies requesting coupons (they all are sending me oodles of coupons...it's hard to find organic coupons!), called local grocery stores (we're Publix fans) to see what their coupon policies are (many differ even if they are the same company...i.e. one Publix might have a different policy than another), and clipped coupons from the Sunday paper and from Couponmom.com. I have two small children under 2 so I know the rest of you HAVE to have some time to check this out and try it. I'm going to go grocery shopping this weekend with my new strategies and helpful hints from this website and I'll post what I saved afterwards. We shall see if it works!

Just a helpful hint, when you're calling local supermarkets ask the 5 following questions:

1. Do you accept competitor's coupons (Albertson's, Sweetbay, Winn Dixie)?
2. Do you double/tripe coupon value?
3. Do you take expired coupons?
4. Do you combine store coupons with competitors' coupons?
5. Do you match advertised sales prices of other local grocery stores?

**You've hit the jackpot if numbers 1 and 2 apply, but so far the Publix that I use will comply with numbers 1 and 4. It's hard to find stores that will comply with number 4 and I've never heard of any complying with number 2 or 5 so let me know if you find one!

Happy Shopping All!

Rob Rocks!!

I am so proud of my husband. He's been working on constructing (from scratch) a playground/fort for the kids for the past few weeks and he's finally finished! At first, I was skeptical thinking "how are you going to do this?", but he's proven me wrong. He simply went to Home Depot, bought the materials and built the most amazing playground. Way to go Rob!!!