Provident Living–September/October - 2014

These two months really got away from me.  It seems I’ve been busier than ever just when I thought life would slow down just a little bit.  Here’s how we finished up summer, started autumn and spent our final two months of paying off debt.  Our goal the whole time was to live within our means without feeling deprived.

We went on our annual apple picking trip to the farm.  We picked 4 oversized bushels of apples at 19.95 per bushel and also bought two boxes of canning tomatoes at the farm as well.  What do we do with so many apples?  We dehydrate apple snacks.  We can apple slices, apple sauce, apple butter, apple juice for baking with pork.  I stuff my fridge with apples as well for lunches and snacks.  Also with fresh apples I make apple pancakes, apple fritters, apple pumpkin muffins, pie and crisp.  And let’s not forget caramel dipped apples with chocolate piping and cinnamon.  The tomatoes were made into jars of quarters and salsa.



There was JUST ONE lonely jar left unfilled this year at the end of my canning sessions.

Our apple picking day was an “event” with a hike, family picnic and homemade doughnuts at a state park.

I made yogurt, bread, pizza, rolls, biscuits.
Some stock up purchases I made were canning lids at buy two get one free.  Green box pasta was .89.  Frozen vegetables were on sale $1 per pound.  Our favorite hot dogs went on sale at .88 per pound which is nearly a $3 per pound savings! 
I got a box of crackers for free using a coupon.  I also got several packages of dental floss for free using coupons. 
My daughter was given a formal gown a couple of years ago and finally wore it to Homecoming this year. 

My husband and I went on a lunch date and spent under $5 on our meal for both of us using several coupons.
Rick did some much needed electrical work himself when some of the old kitchen and basement wiring went out.  He also took care of a plumbing issue that was causing a backup in the laundry and kitchen.
I cut costs on some Halloween crafts by reusing washed out tin cans and cardboard paper towel rolls.  The cute cupcake wrappers used were only .60 per package on clearance and cheesecloth was under $2 per package on clearance as well.

Our dishwasher finally completely died.  So we went back to hand washing our dishes for now.  It is much easier to keep up with now that the kids are older and can wash their own breakfast and lunch dishes.  Each week one of my children is assigned to the task of kitchen cleanup which during the school year means they are in there working with us after dinner.  This has actually been a nice time for me to visit and talk with my child helper one on one.  It makes the work go by faster and lets us have some time for discussion that is a little different than when we are all at the table eating.
We had a “free date” at home with a coupon for a free Redbox movie rental.

We decorated for Halloween and put together costumes with whatever we already had in the house.  We spent nothing on Halloween this year.  The cats inspired some of our costumes and décor.

On the first Sunday in October we had a pre-Thanksgiving feast roasting a turkey we had purchased on sale with a coupon late last year.  This is the cheapest meat per pound we get and it was so good.  I made a pumpkin pie with frozen pumpkin I still had in the freezer from our pumpkins last fall also.  The leftover turkey feast was put into Thanksgiving Pies.  The dark meat was cut into bite sized pieces and made into pot pies.  The bone went into the freezer for turkey broth I will make and use for soup.
Little spooky pumpkins were made into our favorite muffins.

Finally we paid off our second to last credit card with only one left to pay off and one month left before that one reaches a 0 balance.  FINALLY!  It has been a rough final month with lots and lots of things breaking down and 3 children so absolutely in desperate need of new shoes that we HAD to go out and buy some but we are determined to reach our goal of being “debt free” by November. 
As mentioned, we had three children whose feet were exploding out of their shoes for one reason or another and no gently used replacements in the shoe bins we keep in the basement.  We were able to use funds left over from our low utility bill to pay for these.  They became priority A and no longer were considered an “extra”.  The low utility bill was the result of no central air or heat running either month and one final month using our clothesline instead of the dryer.  The weather was very helpful to us.  A fourth pair of shoes needed for church was found in our basement shoe bin.  They were very gently used by one of our older children and fit perfectly.  Church shoes are nice like that.
Paying off our debt and learning to live within our means has been an absolutely amazing journey.  It has required so much discipline that I’m almost afraid to be debt free!  I know that doesn’t make much sense but when I think about adding in some line items to the budget that have been neglected but need to be there, adding in a little breathing room AND starting on our next goal I know we will have to find a new balance and that the next part of our journey will require just as much control.  I guess it’s just a trick to find that new balance.
When I think of how much money we were in debt just 19 months ago and how we had worked out a plan to pay it off in 32 months I am reminded of how much of a miracle it really is to be paying it completely in just 19 months.  There are 7 of us living on one income and a teacher’s salary at that.  Our debt was total to half a year of gross income so the belt tightened and we felt it.  At the beginning of our journey I looked at a plaque multiple times per day that I have hanging in my kitchen.  I made it myself from some scrap wood and painted it with the message of “JOYFULLY… living within our means”.  I looked at that plaque every time I felt like crying or giving up or when I was feeling sorry for myself.  “Joyfully” nearly screamed at me each time I looked at it’s capital letters and it jumped off the message at me.  I realized recently that I hardly even notice it anymore.  I have changed.  I have learned.  I have grown up.  We all have.
So how in the world did we end up owing so much money?  It was a combination of bad luck and bad management.  We don’t live in a big fancy house;  it looks more like a vacation cottage but is smaller than even most of those.  We didn’t take any extravagant vacations.  Most of the trips we’ve ever taken have been to stay with family and involve picnics at the rest stops on the way.  My kids have never had cell phones and we don’t have closets full of shoes and designer clothes.  We even drive practical cars.  Our debt began early with student loans to repay which affected our budget from the start.  We had car loans.  We did not have an emergency fund.  And when we bought a house we did not have enough of a reserve to cover paying to replace a leaky roof, gutters, and pest control which included an invasion of termites attracted to the damp basement and bed bugs brought home from school via a child’s backpack.  The old windows got replaced when the panes started falling out one side of the house at a time but sooner than we were really prepared for.  Those “emergencies” then had a snowball effect on paying for Christmas gifts for our children or even simply keeping them clothed in the proper sizes.  And because there was no budget that we stuck to let alone a 0 based budget, when we felt we “needed” a break like a meal out or a date night at the movies we just did it… to keep our sanity.  There were no real limits and no real goals until we wrote them down. 
How in the world are we paying this off in 19 months?  Hard work!  Extra hours with extra jobs and extra pay, doing without, maintaining discipline to reach goals that we continually meet about to discuss, finding cheaper alternatives and becoming smarter about finances.  One thing we did that helped was we gave ourselves an allowance.  It wasn’t much but it was something.  I could do something or get something that I wanted like a soda at the drive through.  Rick could go out to lunch with the guys at work.  It was there… but it was limited.  We could do things but we had to make choices.  We got smarter about insurance policies.  When we moved a forecasted payoff date we were happy to have a new goal but felt challenged to find ways to pay it off a month earlier by tweaking and making minor changes.  Those “tweaks” added up to paying off debt 13 months earlier and saving thousands.  We couldn’t be happier now that we are in our final month.  More on that note next time.

Provident Living - August - 2014

     August was a fun and busy month and was certainly full of ways to save $$$ and make ends meet without sacrificing fun or generosity.

     First of all, we had some really great news.  A contract amount for my husband was finally agreed upon and includes the first raise we have seen and will FEEL in about a decade!!!  That deserves some exclamation points.  Further, they owed him pack pay from the raise since January when the previous contract ended so it was ALMOST like getting an extra paycheck in the mail!  Almost.  :)  It will feel fantastic to have a little more wiggle room in our budget.

 

VACATION!  We had set aside some vacation time.  We found we HAD to mark it on our calendar because with seven of us there are always people vying for our time.  We needed a break from camp, appointments, work, friends, chores, callings, homework and all the other things pulling at us so we could have a little fun and spend time as just a family so we took a trip.  Most importantly we went to meet our newest niece/cousin in a distant city just as she turned a month old.  We combined that trip with some museums that we got into either free with our local museum membership or at a discount.  We packed in as much hiking and picnicing at free state parks as possible because we enjoy those things.  We stayed in hotels which gave us a free breakfast and where we could cook our own meals because money for food adds a HUGE cost to a trip if you have to eat out all the time.  We were able to keep our budget in check by bringing and making most of our own food.

     Of course, new babies need welcoming and usually that means you want to give a gift to that very new, little arrival.  Over the course of a few weeks I was waiting for some inspiration to hit me in the gift department.  Over and over again I just kept thinking of something that I thought would "grow" with Charlotte.  That is a "Quillow".  My daughter Lindsay is my only child with one that I made for her when she turned five.  She used it as a kindergarten mat for naptime, has slept with it every night since that time for 10 years now and most recently disguised it in her Trek bedding lining her sleeping bag with it so she would still have a pillow.  She loves it... so I set to work on a "Quillow" using my evening hours.      

The "Quillow"
features all scraps from my stash and has bits from my own children's quilties, some fun prints and even scraps from my most recent project... pioneer dresses.  The pink sashing which matches the backing was a large cut that came from a garage sale find years ago now.   

 

 

I was thrilled to find that I'd purchased crib sized batting at some previous point when it went on sale and I had a coupon for it but somehow had never used it.  I'm not sure how that happened but I was happy to find that on my craft supply shelf.  This would have been my only present cost.

 

 

The "Quillow" has fold lines quilted into it and a pocket for feet... until you fold the quilt, and turn it inside the pocket.  Then it looks like a pretty little pillow for your bed or chair. 

 

 

I monogrammed the back embroidering it with Charlotte's initials, her birth year and the maker's initials.  You can't see it well here but it is a pretty dusty rose shade and the embroidery floss matches.

 

All ribboned up and ready for giving.

 

We hope Charlotte will love her "Quillow".

 

I also gave her a sweet little bedtime story and a cozy warm outfit to grow into for the winter.

-Easy to give and for a beautiful, new, sweet baby.

 

This was probably a highlight of our many hikes we took over the week in a state park.  The scenery and view was gorgeous.

 

Our neighbor stopped in to feet our kitties at home while we were out traveling.  To thank her we got her a gift card to a restaurant which was a huge savings to us compared to what we would pay to board our animals.  She said thank you but asked my son to let me know that really she would be happy with just a plate of homemade cookies.  So I sent one of those over to her as well.  And next time I will know.

 

 

We celebrated a birthday.  My youngest wanted to give a gift but had nothing.  I told him we never have "nothing".  So after much thought he excitedly took his little scissors and went out into the yard to clip a bouquet of the flowers that are in season.  These black eyed susans looked very happy and festive to help celebrate a birthday.  And I was glad my little guy discovered something he could give; way to problem solve.

 

 

For the birthday cake I made a frozen pie out of pantry items.  Quite delish!  We also made home made cookie dough ice cream at the birthday boy's request.

 

Those black eyed susans in a blue canning jar make me feel happy.  They livened up our kitchen and they looked so pretty outside on our dinner table when we had company.

 

 

SALAD for weeks- All of this grew in my yard which amazes me because we have such little space and even less sunny space.  Having the ability to eat salad right from the garden came at just the right time when our grocery $ got tight.  You can do big things with small spaces.

 

We also had zucchini and green peppers coming in August.

 

 

Rick and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary!  For the past few years we've decided on a gift together.  This year we found these things the following week after our anniversary when we stopped at a little antique/junk shop on our way home from the temple.  They were having a 50% everything sale and we were able to find the sugar and creamer we were looking for, for very little this way.  They don't exactly match but many things in my kitchen don't.  We are happy with this purchase since we've been opening a barrel every time someone wanted even a teaspoon of sugar.  The creamer is useful for small children independently pouring milk or juice at breakfast and I think it's a cute way to serve maple syrup.

 

 

I continue to hang laundry outside, make my own laundry soap and sink/tub cleaner. 

 

Some of my kids needed new clothes for school... my boys especially.  On our road trip we put certain budgeted items onto a credit card to earn extra points to Old Navy.  Then I bought three gift cards to Old Navy at the grocery store for $5 off each and earned four times fuel points for my next fill-up.  I got exactly what clothing was needed for very little money this way.  We still had to be careful shopping and I went with an item list in hand to be sure we stuck to it.  My youngest daughter got school clothes handed to her from her cousin.  The kids are now outfitted with what I would call "enough".

 

 

We went on our annual berry picking trip.  We picked two flats of raspberries with a few blackberries thrown in for good measure.  We ate some fresh, I made some raspberry jam and the rest will be combined with my frozen strawberries to round out our annual supply of jam.  I will work on that again once the weather has cooled down.  I used lemon juice and the rinds for the jam.  The rest of the lemon will be used in making household cleaner before finally being deposited in the compost for next year's garden.

 

 

I'm sure there are other things that I did this month.  August marked three months left to pay off all of our debt and while we have been making do with many things I am realizing we will still have to continue to be careful with our money.  We have been very blessed and many times there have been angels at work, I'm sure of it.  But in the past few weeks we seem to have suddenly created a list of needs that will need to be addressed.  A few months ago the bathtub faucet was leaking and by switching the shower handle (not as stripped) with the hot water handle we resolved the issue but it is temporary.  In a matter of weeks we broke three utilitarian ceiling light fixtures, one of which is permanently off until fixed and the other two we screw/unscrew the lightbulb in order to use.  These are in out of the way yet frequently used areas.  Our 18 year old push reel mower has a handle that is breaking off.  My husband duct taped it and then further reinforced it with a bracket he took off of something in the garage and added more duct tape in an effort to get it through the end of this season.  A piece of the exhaust system on our van dropped off in our driveway after spending a few weeks rattling so that will need attention as well.  And we dipped into our emergency fund to pay the deductible for our van's windshield which cracked at a repair site that was several years old.  So we need to get that fund back up to where it should be as well as make a plan to fix a few things.  But we are making it work!  As always, we are gratefully blessed with "enough".

 

 

 

 

 

June/July - 2014

Simple Baby Gift Wrap

July is nearly over and I have been so busy I haven't taken the time to put this together in a couple of months, even though we continue to work on our financial goals.  We have moved our debt free date up two more months to November of THIS YEAR!!!  This is a whole 13 months earlier than we'd first planned out!  And it is only four months away... so close we can taste it now!  And close enough that it's making me think about how to go about a new budget.  I'm a little bit scared!

My husband and I each earned a free book from the library by logging hours (which I hate doing because I just want to read) but I got a book that I'm excited to add to my collection.  We earned free water bottles from the library as well.  My kids did this too and in addition logged their hours with Half Price Books and earned $5 gift cards to their store... for more books of course!

We went to a Red's Game with four free tickets from two kids who got this for having straight A's all year and a code to buy the three extras we needed to go as an entire family at a great discount.  We went for Family Night one week and had so much fun.

Three kids did 10 service hours each to get half of their summer camp fees paid.  They did everything from assisting special needs children at a nearby park each Saturday, sweeping out animal stalls, weeding overgrown vegetable and flower gardens in the heat, babysitting and preparing meals while parents performed church service.  This saved our family $162.50.  My girls raised the other half of their camp fees with a fundraiser... which earned them another $100.00 to pay for camp entirely.

My husband got an unexpected check for "mentoring" his student teacher from this past second semester.

We have eaten many cucumber and lettuce salads from the garden and picked many strawberries in our garden.  We've had cilantro from our garden a few times and zucchini look to be making their way nicely as well as a few tomatoes and peppers, as well.  The cucumber salads taste great with homemade croutons and some homemade Greek dressing.

We picked strawberries at the farm and froze them for making jam and yogurt smoothies.

We grew strawberries at home too and watered them and the rest of our garden with water from the rain barrel.  This variety above is called  a "Tristan".  It is a bush variety and features a red blossom bearing fruit through the entire season.

I made homemade yogurt, bread, rolls, granola and pizza.

My son REALLY wanted to see the LEGO Movie.  We used a code for RedBox and got it for free to watch on our Friday Family Movie night.

I unpacked boxes of hand-me-down clothes for Kaitlyn from my older girls as well as her cousin, Sophie.  Kaitlyn has the BIGGEST wardrobe now!

My older girls went to Goodwill and bought some clothes for just a few dollars.  My oldest also received a few bags of clothes from a Mom cleaning out her older daughter's closet.

I made four complete Pioneer costumes for my two daughters to wear to Trek.  While these were not necessarily "cheap" to make they did cost less than half of what I would have paid to purchase them ready made, the girls got the opportunity to learn about making clothes and sewing and Kaitlyn will also be able to wear the outfits when she attends trek in 8 years.  Store coupons helped me to keep the cost down even further.  Buttons for the project either came out of Grandma's button box, were purchased with a coupon for 50% off or were purchased on clearance for .50 a button card.  Some of the fabrics were on clearance at half off and Muslin was purchased at $1 per yard.  Lindsay used this sewing project as one of her value projects for Y.W.

And speaking of sewing, Kaitlyn has been sewing at my side and made matching hair barrettes for herself and her best friend as well as her friend's little sister when they moved back to our area after 3 years.  Then she made herself a new scripture bag the next week and is now finally working on a gift for her newest baby cousin... a little girl named Charlotte.  All materials for these projects were found in my supplies, some fabrics having been given to me and others left over from other projects.

I fixed my youngest daughter's baby doll stroller.  The seat needed just a few stitches again to keep it attached to the stroller and I was sorry it had taken my so long to get to it because it was such a quick fix.  Now she is happy to have this back for her dolly again.

I continue to make laundry detergent as it costs me about 2 cents per load and I have continued to use vinegar as a rinse agent.  My clothes line is still in constant use six days a week for drying.  Even on days it is expected to storm it is often due to afternoon heating so mornings still usually allow for plenty of drying time.  Humidity doesn't seem to matter as long as it's hot.

Vinegar has also continued to be my primary ingredient for cleaning floors, bathroom and kitchen.  Baking soda has been used in homemade cleansers as well.

I used a 25% off coupon code and free shipping to purchase my 5 year old his first backpack and lunch box for school, which is just 5 weeks away now.  He is very excited to join the ranks of school children and feels grown up sporting his new purchase.  The other kids are all using their back packs and lunch bags from last year or the year before.  I expect this back pack to last quite a while.

We got the chance to take Kaitlyn out for parent-child time and she got a free pizza for having good grades and behavior in school.  The kids also got to go to a local restaurant for free cheese coneys from the summer reading program.

Rick and I are spending every Tuesday night this summer coordinating Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University.  We were saying in May that we'd like to go over all that stuff from our class again and about a week after saying that we were asked to provide this service.  This class did so much for us personally that if we can help someone else it will be worth it.  As for reviewing?  Wish granted... no excuses.

Some of our purchases have included .90 items of fruit juice, pasta, chicken patties, sausages, etc.  I also traded my 1 lb. spinach purchase for leaf lettuce at .88 per pound which saves dollars.  Our garden is helping us stretch out our milk money as well and provided all our fresh produce for last week.  Home canned fruit helped round out diets as well when milk money was gone.

We used passes for parks, museums and the zoo and brought picnic lunches for free days of family fun.

Our main computer went dead back in April.  There was nothing!  It was absolutely and completely nothing there but a blank screen and an error code.  My husband finally had enough time to deal with that catastrophe since we couldn't get to any of our files obviously... including pictures any longer!  He bought a new hard drive and restoring disks and spent many hours and phone calls and got the thing up and working once again for around $90.  We didn't loose our information and pictures and we didn't have to buy a new computer for all that lovely homework that my kids have on it during the school year.

My neighbor had her fourth baby and so I brought her family dinner and small gift for the baby.  I had a cute board book set aside that I'd ended up with two of.  I was fresh out of cute wrapping paper however and the gift wasn't that big.  Pictured at the top, I decided to use a simple brown bag as packaging stamped with blue footprints.  I had some baby footprint ribbon in my stash which I wrapped around the package once and then tied the package once more in rafia.  After making a tag with the baby's name on it I attached it with a cute layered sticker of a boy with his dog.  I think it turned out as a nice substitute to traditional wrapping paper.

As for the meal, I made Chicken Cheddar Chowder, homemade dinner rolls, a cucumber salad with fresh garden cucumbers and homemade Greek dressing drizzled over it, chocolate zucchini bread with garden zucchini and three layered raspberry jello.  The family was surprised and grateful to have a meal to save for tomorrow; the husband's first day back at work.  I like being able to give in seemingly small ways.  I think everyone has some way to contribute and give.  Making a meal here and there is a way I can help and give to others.  Giving is usually a lot of fun.

And speaking of giving, we gave an elderly person who is taking our Financial Peace class a printer for her computer.  It is brand new, never out of the box and has sat on our shelf for four years.  When we bought our computer it came with a "free" printer... it was more expensive to get the computer without the printer but we really liked the printer/scanner we already had.  So we cleaned off a space on the shelf in our basement and surprised this person by giving her the printer she was wishing for.  This person is living solely on Social Security and buying a printer is simply not in the budget.  Again, giving in a small way that we can give, was fun.

Peach Season... 3 baskets, about 25 lbs each, gave us fresh peaches to eat now and 23 1/2 quart jars for winter.

In preparation for back to school clothing, which my nearly 12 year old son will certainly need as he barely skated by last winter finishing in high waters I purchased three gift cards totaling $75 to Old Navy spending just $55 on them.  Purchasing these gift cards gave us quadruple fuel points and gave us rewards on our Old Navy card as well.  As we are nearly debt free, our Old Navy card is the one card we continue to use every so often for some purchases in order to get rewards that boost our nearly non-existent clothing budget.  We of course plan the expense in our 0-based budget and pay it off immediately.  It works with discipline.

My sister had her baby at the end of June as I mentioned.  In preparing for a trip to meet her in August I have made her a baby gift entirely from what I had on hand.  My teenagers LOVE it and I hope it will be something useful to Charlotte that will grow along with her through many years to come.  But pics of that will come next month after the gift is given.

Provident Living-May 2014

This months money savers included:
Free movie rental of “The Book Thief” from Red Box made a great date night at home. 
My husband and I enjoyed a buy one get one free burrito from Chipotle for teacher appreciation day on a date out.
I spread compost made last year in three of my garden areas.
Dinner was served… in my husband’s classroom.  I saved time and money by not going home between dismissal time and my daughter’s call time for her Orchestra concert and bringing dinner and games for everyone instead.  We saved on gas $ this way, as well.
We paid off another credit card!  And better yet we moved our debt free date up another month.  It feels like getting the monkey off our back paying this debt off.  It is unbelievable to me that we are able to pay this much money off within 19 months of finishing our Financial Peace University course while raising 5 children on a single teacher’s salary.  Up until we took that class we were on an upward trajectory with debt and if we weren’t to add any more to it,  it would be 20 years to a pay off date.  This has been an intensely positive experience.  It’s been tough and even, at times, intense but extremely positive overall.
We were able to go to the Scholastic Book Sale with a teacher’s discount and buy some books for birthdays on incredible discount staying within our budget.
I harvested cilantro from my garden already and made pasta sauce with it for dinner one night. 
The whole garden is planted!  There are spearmint leaves, blackberries, sweet peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers and cilantro.  I am trying to utilize any space I can outdoors for a garden and sunny spots seem a little hard to come by for vegetables.  As I was cleaning out the garden during the first two weeks of the month I took the opportunity to move some things around a little.  I hope the mint will do better split with some in a new location.  I thinned many of my perennials and replanted some to grow in new areas of the yard.  I also received a spring flowering bush to plant as a gift which is very pretty.
My rain barrel provided all the water needed for gardening this month.
Peonies were cut and brought in for a table centerpiece. 
I avoided turning on the air conditioning all month.
The clothesline was used for most of our laundry.  This saves our family approximately $40 per month and I am outdoors keeping an eye on the kids enjoying the sunshine while hanging the laundry.
I made several dinners utilizing beans or ham bits that I had in the freezer.
Hot dogs and cream cheese were some of my bargain purchases of the month and I stocked up.
Dental floss was free with a coupon for $1 off that I used.
Finally, I made dinner baskets for three teachers as an end of school year gift.  I included a nice note and a peony in each basket along with the mixes for Italian Salad dressing, Spaghetti sauce and Brownie mix.  I included the cans of tomato products and the pasta needed as well as the instructions.  I also made a mini loaf of white bread for each basket and included a jar of preserves.  I am running low on everything at the moment so one teacher got red raspberry/lemon jam, another received caramel apple butter and the last got a jar of strawberry lemon marmalade.  The reports I got from three children is that none of the teachers could believe it was all for them and I did receive a very kind thank you note from one teacher the very next day.