It Is What It Is: A Struggle

Fair warning: This is probably not the most uplifting post ever written, so if you are in a cheery, holiday mood - save this one for later.

I have to confess that I am struggling a bit right now. Mentally, that is.

I haven't really felt much like posting on this blog because I am not feeling all that positive. I am glad that this is not my typical personality, because it is depressing. And who wants to spread depressing?

But, I can't help it. I have been reading quite a bit lately and while usually that tends to inspire me, right now it seems to be highlighting so much that is going wrong in the world. Crazy terrorists, propaganda and hate taught to young children in Palestine, a crowded world getting more crowded by the day, the related increase in struggles over resources, the damage being caused to our environment by our enormous consumption of the resources; the rate of extinction of plant and animal species has increased 1,000 times more than at any other point in history (other than the biggies, like the dinosaurs biting the dust). Not to mention the economy. The list is so much longer than I can even (or want to) list here.

With each crisis, I think, "Oh my goodness, this is terrible - we must stop it before it leads to disaster." Which is quickly followed by my learning of yet another scary obstacle we face. Over and over until I just feel completely overwhelmed. I admit, I feel like we are a bit doomed.

I look around at people living their everyday lives and most seem to not even notice all these challenges, much less be doing anything to solve them. Life is consumed by trying to figure out what is for dinner, doing laundry, cleaning the house, helping kids with homework, getting work done, helping with ill parents and getting kids to all the places they need to be.

There was a time when I was unaware. And, yes, ignorance is a little blissful I have to say.

As I have become more aware, I have found myself inspired, encouraged and often paralyzed by confusion. Take recycling - first you hear that you should recycle. OK - so, you work through that one, learning what can be recycled, learning to buy what can be recycled, getting into the habit. But it is never enough. Recycling takes energy - even better to not even have to recycle items. With the global recession, demand for recycled goods (and the prices) have significantly decreased - now some of it is just sitting around and sooner, rather than later, we will be out of room to store stuff waiting to be in demand again. Now what should you do? I don't know - I just wanted to eat some yogurt! Why does it have to be so difficult?

The minute I say, "Why does it have to be so difficult?", I have to laugh. Because, really, who lives better than we do here in America? Especially if you are middle class or higher. We have far more than we could ever need. We have roads and parks, vehicles, machines to do just about every job - conveniently located right in our homes. We have food readily accessible - in our houses, at the store or at restaurants, gas stations at every corner, clean water piped into our houses, energy piped into our houses, public schools available for our children.

And yet, somehow, it is all too much. An excess of choices, demands and stuff. We are overweight, over stressed, over tired and over worked. We need to work to have less, do less and find meaning in our daily lives. And we need to help others around the world get more - more clean energy and water and food. And we need to try to preserve the important parts of what we have. There is nothing in stone stating that I am entitled to all I have while some poor person half way around the world has to walk 5 miles to get clean water, live in a 10 x 10 mud hut or watch her child die from disease or malnutrition. That could eventually happen here if we do not work to respectfully and sustainably use our resources and protect our freedom.

And, if life is so good here right now, then we had better figure out a way to live it up and enjoy it - not be all stressed out and running around like crazy people.

Who is we? Well, it has to be you and me, doesn't it? Who else could it be? Some inspired leadership would go a long way right about now, but even with that, individual people need to wake up and see what is going on. All of us just living our daily lives - business as usual - need to become aware of what is going on around us, what track we are speeding down as a country and a planet and the human race. We need the tools and leadership to make huge progress in so many, many essential areas. How can we possibly do all we need to before it is too late?

So, there is my struggle. I am sure that I will eventually work out of my funk. And then I will carry on with the plans I have already made and will set some new plans. It is funny that this is happening to me at the beginning of a new year, but I guess I will just go with it.

I really enjoy having this blog because it is my journal, but I can also share it with people who can identify, learn from or teach me more about what I am working on.

For 2009 I will be focused on making a difference where I can, working hard to further simplify life for myself and my family (enjoying life), and setting ourselves up with security, starting with an emergency fund.

I hope that you will find the upcoming posts useful (and sometimes entertaining).

Here is to 2009 - whatever it may bring.

Storing Stockpiled Foods

This post originally aired on May 14, 2008. This is largely still how my food is stored - although, for winter, I decided to move any boxed goods into the basement to store (less risk of pests getting into the boxes).

When I encourage people to start using coupons and stocking up on foods when they are on sale, they inevitably come back to me and ask, "What do you do with all that food?!"

I go through my cupboards and refrigerator once a week to just straighten things, make sure I know what I have on hand, etc. When I shop, I put all the spare (not being immediately used) goods in the "pantry", an inexpensive shelving unit that we had elsewhere in our garage. My husband painted it black and we have it right by the door that goes into the house. That way, I can easily access items while cooking - I hated having to run into the basement (not convenient when you have a toddler following your every move).

I keep a small stock in the house (cupboards and such) and as I use up items I just restock from my pantry. As I notice myself getting low, I add that item to my LT (long term) list and then I know what items I need to stock up on when a sale comes around again. As I use up pantry items, I have to go through that area and reorganize it, too. My oldest son did that for me this weekend (without being asked - unbelievable!), so it is in good shape.

Frozen items work a similar way, we put our storage items into our chest freezer (located in our basement) and our freezer upstairs contains things I need easy access to - frozen veggies, a spare pizza (for emergency hungry child melt down), the meats I intend to use that week and, of course, our major luxury item, an array of ice cream. If you have never seen a grown man weeping in front of the freezer, then you have not seen my husband after two days without his nightly cereal bowl of ice cream.

I also have a basket on the bottom shelf of the garage pantry where I toss in items that we can donate to a food shelf. Whenever there is a food drive I just load up a bag with those items. Between our Girl Scout troop, the Boy Scouts, school food drives, church food drives and most recently, the Post Office food drive, we have many opportunities to share our excess!

Do It Yourself: Aerobics on the Go

This post originally aired on August 25, 2008.

I perfected this aerobic routine a couple of weeks ago while hauling home this major load of groceries (scroll down to the Cub Foods summary). I have no idea why I am trying to get up at 5 AM to walk each morning - I should just grocery shop every day!

Here is the routine:

Get ready to leave the house.

Crawl on floor looking for missing sandal. Fill dog's water dish with fresh water (because it is 90 degrees with 70% humidity) and put it outside.

Run back in three times. Once for the nukkie, once for the sippy cup and once for diapers (just in case).

Chase down the one year old and the four year old. Wrestle them into their car seats. Tell ten year old to get into the van also.

Drive half way down road and realize you forgot canvas bags. Turn around, go home, run in for bags. Get in car and leave again.

Drive ten year old to best friend's house and drop her off to go to VBS with best friend's family. Try one last time to convince four year old that he would rather be at VBS than the grocery store. Give up and head to grocery store.

Run around parking lot while carrying one year old, binder of coupons, massive purse and holding four year old's hand while in search of coveted rocket ship cart.

Find cart, finally unload one year old, purse and coupons into cart. Fight with cart to get into the building, pullout coupons and stuff them in your pocket, since you don't have anywhere else to put them.

Congratulations - warm up complete. Now onto the workout.

First come the maneuvering moves, which involve steering what is essentially giant toy car AND a large grocery cart all in one around aisles and end caps and old men who appear to be wandering around the grocery store aimlessly (seriously - how can they be there every week wandering about and STILL not know where they are going?!)

Now that you are getting the hang of the maneuvering, add in reaching up high for the last box of the great sale item and crawling onto the bottom shelf for the other last item for sale. Alternate as you go through the store.

Keep your heart rate up by running back to the aisle four aisles away not once, not twice, but three times for items that you managed to get too distracted to pick up the first (and second) time, due to one year old continually tossing his nukkie (in what appears to be a sadistic game) and telling the four year old for the 100th time that he cannot have (insert random item here).

Work in some ab crunches by bending over repeatedly to fetch nukkie from the floor, bottom of cart and (if you are good), catching it in mid-air. Stop to open box of YoGos fruit snacks to try to keep kids happy and on board for the whole grocery shopping experience (sorry, Christina, I was desperate - I had already gone through the granola bars I packed and the free cookies the store gives out).

Notice what a great workout you are getting by pushing the ever increasingly heavy cart up and down the aisles. Don't mind the sweat - that is a good sign. Your workout is working.

Continue repeating the workout steps until your cart is completely overflowing (and I do mean completely - with everything precariously perched on the top and just barely being held in by the edge of the cart). Trying to balance things on top of the cart will keep you on your toes as you continue to run through the circuit.

As your fitness level improves, you can work up to 14 boxes of cereal, 8 boxes of facial tissue, 10 cans of spaghetti sauce, 15 bottle of vitamin water, well, you get the idea.

Just when you think that you will die of exhaustion, you will need to dig deep to complete:
The Checkout.

Get into line to checkout. Frantically pile up your goods onto the conveyor belt while children fight with each other in rocket ship cart. Convince four year old to get out for his own safety (that one year old is a Brut!). Work around four year old as he "helps" you unload the groceries. Get all the groceries onto the belt just in time to see that the entire conveyor belt at the end of the checkout is already full of your stuff and the cashier is starting to pile things onto the second side.

Toss your mashed up pile of coupons (from your pocket) to the cashier as you race to the end of the checkout to begin frantically packing your groceries into paper bags, since you (argh!) forgot to bring in your canvas bags. Curse yourself for not being perfect while you work around four year old, who is again "helping" you pack up the groceries by packing the juice on top of the hot dog buns.

Pack each bag and try to neatly place it into the cart (so as to maximize space) while one year old screams in protest at still being strapped into the now torturous rocket ship cart. Work in 60 straight seconds of bending over to pick up nukkie and trying to calm one year old, only to have him repeatedly toss is back on the floor of the cart (he is a personal trainer with no heart, I am telling you!).

Prep for the intense portion of trying to pack up items, get out of the way of the next customers, race up to put your debit card through the reader, apologize to the poor guy behind you in line waiting (somewhat) patiently for the cashier to ring up your ridiculous amount of (mashed up) coupons. Dance in glee when you see that your total has gone from $214 (with sales!) down to $92 (after coupons)!!!

While wiping the sweat from your brow, gingerly balance bags on top of bags in the cart and try to steer the now mammoth load to your car, over pot holes, cracks and such while trying not to run into anyone, knock anything off the cart and keep your four year old on the end of the cart (you cannot see him over the pile of groceries, but you know he is there somewhere).

Put all your weight into stopping the cart (how is that you always seem to park where it is down hill?) at your van. Dig phone out of purse to take photo of your impressive load to put on your blog. (Did I mention I only spent $92?!!)

Put the one year old into yet another restraint (his car seat), give him is nukkie one last time, which he whips into the windshield with impressive force as you turn to load the groceries. Work around four year old as he "helps" to load the bags into the back of the van. Get four year old strapped into van and pull out of the store (after you wrestle the rocket ship cart into a cart corral). Take a deep breath and wonder why exactly you do this.

For an advanced workout, stop and do the same thing (but less of a load) at Aldi on the way home.

Enjoy the rest on the four minute drive home, while one year old continues to scream in protest at being restrained for going on two hours and four year old talks all the way home about what a big help he is. Pull into driveway (try not to hit dog trying to jump on the van), park the van, get the kids out of the van and let them play by the house as you begin to unload groceries.

Run back and forth into the house, answering random questions from four year old and trying to keep an eye on the one year old. Fill up watering can for one year old to play with, get out bubbles and chalk for four year old. Keep doing laps until all 19 bags are in the house. Round up kids, get everyone settled for lunch. Turn on TV to entertain kids during lunch. Race around chopping and prepping items for lunch. Get kids juice, napkins, cut up pickles and cheese.

While kids enjoy the meal, frantically unpack all those groceries (after staging the bags on your table and taking a picture for your blog). Get the pantry items worked into stockpile, pack loads of stuff into refrigerator, cupboards, basement and garage. Find receipt, run up to desk to enter into computer and fill out rebates later.

Take a deep breath as you finish the with the last of the groceries. Realize that break is over, switch laundry, clean up kids and kitchen from lunch, send them off to play in the living room. Welcome home ten year old (who best friend was generous enough to drop off), fix her lunch and chase down one year old to change dirty diaper. Wrestle one year old down for nap, switch laundry and clean up kitchen again. Wonder what that smell is, realize it is you - still sweating like a pig. Shrug it off because you are starving. Make a quick lunch and sit down.

Done! How was that for a workout?

And it only took 3 hours!

Is Stimulating Spending the Answer?

At best, the answer to that question is a maybe.

Americans have spent pretty much every year since World War II ended spending more and more and more. In the past couple of decades, easily attainable credit has entered the mix, and Americans have spent way more than we have made on purchasing goods. Most of it we did not need and as it turns out, a lot of it we did not even want after a while. So we donated it or threw it away or it clutters our houses, our garages, our lives.

Add in sub prime lending and there you go - economic crisis. We appear to have reached Critical Mass on the overspending of America.

So, what does the leadership of America see as the answer? We need to get more people spending!

Wait a minute... Isn't that what got us into this mess? Why will lending more to people solve this problem?

I completely get that we need money moving through the economy (as we know it today) to keep people working and prevent a far worse recession, but enticing us to buy more stuff that we do not need or want is just not a good solution. It really feels to me like just prolonging the inevitable - and won't it just be worse then?

You can give me money, tell me to spend more, tell me it is patriotic and so on, but I am not doing it. Nope. Not. Going. To. Do. It. I am done living with debt hanging over my head and worrying about all that goes with it. And in order to make things right in my life financially, I need to NOT spend as much as possible so I CAN pay down as much as possible. Period - end of story. Sorry about the economy and all - but that is my reality.

If companies do not make it because they are no longer viable - then so be it. I see no reason to bailout these companies - ESPECIALLY since most cannot even tell us where they used our money. Say what?! What the heck took so long getting the bill passed if these sorts of details were not even specifically detailed?! What in the world were our law makers doing up there on the hill?

I understand that it will be painful to build a new, sustainable economy - believe me, I get it. This past year our family had to endure a significant (30%) pay cut in order for my husband to keep his job and I re-entered the work force after 10 years at home. It was a HUGE adjustment for my family and I am still struggling to find peace in the situation. But we are doing it. Because we have to.

I think American now has to find a better way. Reckless spending is not the answer - we can only do it for so long before everything crumbles. It is already starting to crumble. We need to just bite the bullet and go through it now.

I will say that I see one exception - if stimulating the economy with more money really is the only answer, then at least make it worthwhile. Improve our infrastructure, make our buildings more efficient, do some good and reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuels - please. I am willing to pay down my debt a bit slower if I have incentive to do things like add solar panels to my house or make other energy improvements - I think those are great and worth supporting. Let's build up those industries and let the others go if they cannot survive on their own.

You would think I had voted for Obama - I did not, but I do think he has great potential and I am excited about what I have heard about his plan so far. I pray that he truly does have America's best interests at heart and that he can actually succeed at getting our dinosaur of a government to do anything even remotely positive (cynical, I know, but it is how I feel).

Americans were largely against the first bailout. Americans were largely against the automaker bailout. Americans did not even really get a say in the rest of the bailouts.

Government forged ahead anyway, saying, "Silly Americans, we just cannot let these companies fall. You just don't understand - this is necessary." And what happened? Huge bonuses, trips for executives, corporate jets, public hand slaps, and NO accountability to the American taxpayer.

I think Americans have spoken. We have looked at the situation and said (in the words of the wise book, Going on a Bear Hunt) "Can't go under it. Can't go over it. Can't go around it. Have to go through it."

We have our boots on and we are ready to do the dirty job of turning the economy around - by building sustainable, responsible financial policies, products and services. We understand there will be pain. There already was - being in debt is painful. Worrying about meeting your financial obligations is painful. We do not need more of the same. We need a new way.

Along the way, we can make things less painful - make a policy that if you are about to lose your home, then you can pay rent to stay in it for a period of time. Why should the house sit empty while your pay rent somewhere else? At least the house would be cared for - especially if there is some hope that the person could get the house back through some sort of program.

I agree, it is awful for a million hardworking people to lose their jobs if the auto industry fails - so make those folks first in line to take on the infrastructure jobs we are going to be creating. Make the corporations sell their jets, fore go their huge bonuses and sell off assets to fully fund the retirement accounts they promised their retirees. It does not have to be all or nothing - we can do the best we can while still moving forward.

Will our government ever get it?

Simple Peace of Mind (Part 3)

Two weeks ago I decided to start making a plan to work towards a three month emergency fund taking baby steps. In my effort to live simply, I need to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we would be secure for 3 months if one of us lost our job or became seriously ill (or if one of our kids became seriously ill and one of us needed to care for him/her full time).

To recap, the first eight months of the year:

During the first four months of the year, I planned to set aside $1,270. Some of that will be in the form of our food supply and some in winter clothes for next year (bought on sale). Read that post here. To recap:

January - finish off planning for our 3 month supply of food storage household goods (paper products, diapers, toiletries, etc.). Buy clothes for next winter on clearance. Total budget $300.

February - save for 3 months worth of gas costs for the house and car. Total budget, $450.

March - save for 3 months of phone/Internet/cell service. Total budget $520.

April - no cash outlay this month! Just manual labor stocking enough wood to last at least one winter (for heat) and investing in our garden to help produce fruits and veggies we can eat all year long.

During the next four months, I allocate $1,600. Read that post here. To recap:

May - Investing in canning supplies and saving 3 months of electricity bills, total budget $450.

June - Saving for our car insurance deductible and starting to save for life insurance premiums. Total budget $550.

July - Saving the remaining car insurance deductible and another month of life insurance premiums. Total budget $550.

August - Putting aside another month of life insurance premiums, $50. Canning tomatoes and other fresh vegetables from our garden and farmer's market.

(Note: I also talk about how we managed to set aside this money from our budget each month in this second post.)

On to the last four months of the year.

I wanted to keep tying each month's savings to a specific expense we would incur in a three month period, but I came to the conclusion that what we would need to spend would depend on what time of year it is. In the summer, we would need to cover our home owner's insurance, school expenses, and some annual home owner expenses. In the winter, we could be looking at Christmas, the spring would bring 3 of out of 6 birthdays and property taxes. Plus, at any given time we could need a car repair, house repair or some other thing. So, I have decided to just add to the cushion in general. It could be used for things like fresh foods (milk, eggs), kids' lunches, gifts, cheap entertainment, and the Murphy's Law items that seem to pop up when you can least afford them.

September - Life insurance premiums, building emergency cash supplies, $500. We will set aside another $50 for life insurance premiums (we don't want our kids to be without funds if something to happen to both of us). We will also put some cash in various places at home, so that we have cash in the event we need immediate access to it. I should note here that I am setting this 3 month emergency fund aside in case of OUR emergency, not a regional (storm) or nationwide emergency (terrorist attack or something?). But, in the event that something regional or national happens we could have to endure a few days of frozen banking activity. I do not think our money would be gone forever, but if there is a panic run on banks, the government would shut things down for a few days, so it would be good to have cash on hand in that case, too.

October - Life insurance premiums, pet food, more misc. items, $500. This month is likely the month we would be paying for Christmas (in real time, not saving for future years), so over the course of this year I will be aiming to sell items we do not need on ebay, Amazon or by having a garage sale. My goal is to come up with $500 by October that we can use to fund this month's goals, so that we can afford to set aside cash to use to purchase Christmas gifts.

This month we will set aside $50 for life insurance and the remaining $450 would be set aside as general cushion. Having cushion to handle these sorts of expenses could be the difference between making those mortgage and debt payments that we are counting on from the one remaining salary to provide for or struggling because we did not foresee these types of expenses.

November - Life insurance, more cushion, $500. Again with the life insurance and saving for those annual or unexpected expenses.

December - Life insurance, more cushion, $500. Again with the life insurance and saving for those annual or unexpected expenses.


So, there you have it! My careful plan to put aside a $4,870 plus 3 months worth of food and household goods. This should be enough to cover three months worth of expenses beyond our mortgage and debt payments. I also have a plan for debt repayment for the year, and as that decreases, we will reduce that burden in case of an emergency, as well, which would free up funds to cover even more expenses (assuming one of us keeps our job).

I am sure we will face obstacles along the way and I am sure that we will be pleasantly surprised along the way, too. But I really believe that if we set our minds to it, we can make some great progress. My plan is to recap our monthly progress on the last Saturday of each month, so please follow along. If there is interest, I could even start my first linked posts, so let me know if you are interested in that.

Someday I would really love to have a full 12 months of expenses (including the mortgage (or better yet, have the mortgage paid off)), but longing for that level of savings has prevented me from making any progress at all. It is so large, I just didn't know where to begin. By concentrating on these baby steps, we will make more progress than we ever have in our lives and we will remain focused on our goals of living frugally in an effort to provide more security for our family.

If you are so inclined, think about what tiny steps you can take (no matter how small) to help secure your situation, too. You could focus on one week's worth of expenses at a time or whatever you think you can manage. Remember that something is better than nothing and the confidence and pride you will accumulate as you make even the smallest of progress will push you forward to your goal of having some security.

Merry Christmas!

For the first time since I started my blog in May, I am taking a few days off to hang out with my family and rest.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Thank you for taking the time to visit and share with me over the past months.

Here is to a productive and meaningful 2009.

Check back on Saturday for my Simple Peace of Mind (Part 3). If you missed the first two, you can catch up by reading these posts here and here.

Get Organized: Arts and Craft Supplies

This is taken from a post I did earlier this year on organizing our arts and craft supplies. With the holidays upon us, I thought a post on organizing kids' craft supplies just might come in handy...

Buttons, stickers, stencils, paint, paint brushes, glitter, paint rollers, Play-doh and all the accessories, stamp pads, stamps, sand art, coloring books and on and on. Kids' arts and craft items can rapidly take over your table, room and entire house!

I have spent years trying to gain control over these types of items, wanting to have a wide variety, but not wanting it to be out of control.

Here is what finally worked for us.

I purchased this storage cart at Costco for about $30. We call it our Art Cart. One drawer has crayons and coloring pencils, a second has markers, the third has stencils and scissors, the fourth is full of stickers, the fifth and sixth have various crafting supplies - glue, glitter, pipe cleaners, buttons, googlie eyes, you name it! The seventh has those dot painters and some painting supplies, the eighth and ninth drawers contain play-doh tools and the last drawer has stamping supplies the kids can use.

In beauty of the Art Cart is that we can wheel it to the table in the toy room, or the dining room or where ever, and all our supplies are handy. Also wonderful is that I can just pull out the drawer we need, set it on the table or our island and let the kids have at it.

Where ever possible, I have put like items into smaller containers or bags to keep things organized.

In our kitchen, we have part of our lower cupboards on the edge of the kitchen dedicated to the paper, Play-doh, buckets of foam shapes, container of paints, and such. There is a roll out container that stores all of our coloring and activity books, which keeps things organized and gives the kids easy access to their things.

I love to see our supplies used up and when we run low, we just add various supplies to our wish lists for Christmas or birthdays and we are never low on supplies for long!

It really works for us!

Do It Yourself: Dinner in the CrockPot

A few months ago I published this post about using your CrockPot to have dinner at the ready. On the days that I work, I almost always rely on my CrockPot to have a meal ready for me when I get home.

I am out working to put us in a better finanical position; I do not want to waste that income of take out or restaurant dinners. I am not saying that I never have to get something out for dinner, but generally we are able to avoid it by having a meal ready in the CrockPot.

I prefer to get as much done the night before as I can, then put the insert in the refrigerator. The next moring, I finish up what I need to and turn it on before I leave for work.

If you New Year's resolution is to eat more at home, then consider trying some meals in the CrockPot!

Here are some crock pot tips. While I am far from an expert, I do use it at least once a week.

1. Crock pots are generally safe to leave on while you are not at home. Just be sure to keep it away from any hand towels or paper towels and make sure the cord is not touching the unit or is not twisted in a way that it would relax and touch the unit while you are gone.

2. If you will be gone all day, cook something like red meat or a whole chicken, so that it will not be overdone with the longer cooking time. Also, cook the dish on low.

3. Be sure to read through the recipe. Sometimes a recipe calls for adding sour cream or someother ingredient near the end of the cooking time. Fine if you will be home, but a bummer if you planned on walking in the door and eating.

4. To have a side dish ready, use a programmable rice cooker or make rice or pasta ahead, store it in the refrigerator and reheat when you arrive home. You could even stir the precooked rice into the slow cooker and it would warm up quickly.

5. A crock pot will not operate correctly if there is not at least 1/2 cup of liquid in it. You can use water or broth, wine, etc. Usually, the meat juices will accumulate to add to the liquid, be sometimes it gets absorbed, so either keep an eye on it or start with 1 cup of liquid to be safe.

6. Pay attention to the crock pot size called for in the recipe. A 3 1/2 qt. crock pot is the standard round size, a 5 qt cooker is the larger, oval size.

7. I prefer crock pots that have the ceramic inserts. I feel that these heat more evenly then the kind with the heating element only in the bottom of the unit. I have never had a problem with things burning in this style of crock pot.

8. The lid and the bowl of the ceramic crock pots are dishwasher safe. The metal base is not. Clean the base with a soapy cloth - do not submerge it.

9. Try not to open the lid often. Crock pots heat slowly and lose a lot of heat quickly, so if you are opening the lid a lot, you may not be cooking at the right temperature and your dish may not be done on time. Crock pots are low maintenance - enjoy it and go do something else!

10. I found this great blog: A Year of Crockpotting, it has some great looking recipes and the author is a lot of fun. I just found it, so I have not made anything yet, but a lot of the recipes look very yummy! You can also find over 1800 recipes here and here.

Giving the Man His Due

Everyone is a critic. Even my husband.

After this post that was actually about whether or not we should take a stay-cation, which prompted this post (from a comment about me having a cleaning lady), my husband was not thrilled.

WHAT could have insulted his sensibility?

A crabby comment left by a reader (thereby insulting his precious wife)? No, he figures I can take care of myself.

The fact that I was so sarcastic about the likelihood of our kids happily pitching in over time to clean the house? Nope, he agrees that is pretty much accurate.

My pointing out that he has, in fact, very rarely cleaned himself? No, not that either. Again, fairly accurate.

Here is the big offense: It was that I insinuated that he thought we should use the money saved by cleaning the house together to go to a monster truck rally. He claims that it makes him look like an idiot. Not that there is anything wrong with a truck rally; he just says he knows better than to use that as a selling point on why we should clean the house ourselves.

Time for a little background: We once took the oldest two (when they were 5 and 3) to a monster truck rally at the Metrodome here in Minneapolis. It was a big hit, especially with the then 5 year old boy.

So, when Steve pitched the idea of "Hey, you guys help clean and we can use this money to do something fun." Chandler (our oldest) said, "Yeah, like the monster truck rally!" He remembered that it was fun and thought that his younger brothers would like it, too.

I am pretty sure that none of you have given much (if any) thought to this piece of my story, but if it makes my husband happy that I cleared the air, I am happy to oblige. (Even though I swear, 9 days out of 10 if I ask him if he read my blog that day, he says no. He probably won't even notice my effort to set the record straight.)

Here is my official correction:

Leaving Excess regrets this post on December 8th, 2008 as it has insulted one party involved. The author acknowledges that her husband did indeed come to her with a (sort of) well thought out plan to recapture some money currently being spent and allocate it to family fun. Which she then turned into a target for her cynical (yet disturbingly realistic) point of view. The author would like to state that the monster truck rally ideas was not her husband's idea. The author regrets that the post left her husband unhappy and would like to acknowledge that he has done such wonderful things as help to deliver a baby in local family's bathroom, run into a burning building to save a family's cat, scoop up our children when they were hurt and made things all better, cry at nearly every funeral he has ever been to (making all other men in the room feel better for crying, too), move the car seat between vehicles a seemingly endless amount and clean up all vomit ever to hit our house (which the author very much hopes he will continue to do as long as necessary).

There. My duty is done, the record has been set straight.

Update: Oh, great. My husband just wandered in, caught the part about crying at funerals and said - "great, now I sound like a wimp." For the record, he is not. He is very, very manly. How is that, dear?

After all the trauma caused by a simple post on whether or not we should take a stay-cation, I now need a real vacation. Alone.

Yeah, right.

Simple Peace of Mind (Part 2)

Last week I decided to start making a plan to work towards a three month emergency fund taking baby steps. In my effort to live simply, I need to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we would be secure for 3 months if one of us lost our job or became seriously ill (or if one of our kids became seriously ill and one of us needed to care for him/her full time).

During the first four months of the year, I planned to set aside $1,270. Some of that will be in the form of winter clothes for next year (bought on sale), read the whole post here. To summarize:

January - finish off planning for our 3 month supply of food storage and household goods (paper products, diapers, toiletries, etc.). Buy clothes for next winter on clearance. Total budget, $300. (Working food storage purchases into our weekly grocery budget and slowly building up).

February - save for 3 months worth of gas costs for the house and car. Total budget, $450.

March - save for 3 months of phone/Internet/cell service. Total budget $520.

April - no cash outlay this month! Just manual labor stocking enough wood to last at least one winter (for heat) and investing in our garden to help produce fruits and veggies we can eat all year long.

On to the next four months' plans (and a note near the end of this post about how I made room in our budget for these extra amounts of cash):

May - Canning supplies and electricity, total $600. This will be the month to invest in canning supplies. Usually when I get rid of something I don't look back, but getting rid of my canning supplies a couple of years ago was very short sighted. I will search for good deals and see what I can come up with. Budget, $150. Our electric bills tend to be all over the place, but in general, we average about $150 for electricity and garbage (we get billed with our electric bill for garbage pick up each quarter). We have a well and septic, so we do not pay for city water and sewer. Electric bill for 3 months, $450.

June - Life and car insurance, $650. Our car insurance is just under $50 a month, we have a $1,000 deductible. Our life insurance is due twice a year. This month we will set aside $500 to cover 1/2 of the deductible of our car insurance and 3 months of car insurance premiums, $150.

July - Finish up with life and car insurance deductible, $550. Saving up the other half of our car insurance deductible and putting aside an extra $50 a month starting now to cover life insurance premiums.

August - We always have a lot of expenses in August with school starting up and some of our annual bills piling up this month, so another (mostly) no cash month to invest in our security. We will put aside the $50 a month for life insurance premiums, but other than that, this month we will focus on canning and freezing our garden harvest and the gifts of plenty at the farmer's market. In particular - tomatoes. We should have already picked our own strawberries and blueberries and frozen those. There will also have been the peas and other cooler weather vegetables.

But, tomatoes are a big one - we go through lots of ketchup, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and canned tomatoes. I am not sure I will be able to put up everything we will need for the coming year, but I hope to can a majority of what we need. My plan is to work these food purchases into our budgeted grocery funds.

********

I know some of you must be reading this and thinking, how on Earth could I possibly set aside an extra $500 or more most months?! I certainly did as I started this little project.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I just did not have a choice. We need to do this for our security. We have decided to take the money that Steve gets each month as reimbursement from the fire department (it is volunteer, but they get "reimbursed" a small amount for each hour worked). Whatever remained (likely $300 or more each month) will be made up by my working a few extra hours each week at my job. I am always more busy than I can handle (at work) and putting in a few hours of work one weeknight would be great for me at work and great for us to fund this project. Not so great for my time at home, but therein lies the sacrifice.

So, basically, we are funding this with part-time jobs, although Steve could make more doing some other part-time job, but he is not a firefighter for the money. I am fortunate that I can do my work from home, so no extra commuting fees will be incurred and I can work the extra hours around my schedule.

Even if you are not in the same exact situation, maybe you could take on a part time job to work on earning a few hundred dollars a month extra - or sell some things you don't need on ebay. Add just a little bit into your budget each week, take more than a year to work on this project, focus on a non-cash way to save every other month; in short: do whatever you need to do. Get creative; you will be so glad you did when you really need this emergency fund. And odds are good that at some point in life, you will need it.

CVS Deals and Scenario: The Leaving Excess Way

CVS is offering up a large about of FREE after ECB items this Sunday and Monday (similar to the Black Friday deals a few weeks ago). I cannot drag myself out at midnight, so I am going to just hit my usual CVS store on the way to work and see what is still in stock. What will be, will be.

Here is what I will be buying (assuming it is in stock). There are LOTS of other deals, these are just the deals on things that I can use/donate/stock up on. See all the deals here.

Listerine Antiseptic 16.9 oz:
Buy one at $2.99, get $2.99 ECB (limit 5)

final price: FREE

Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine nail color:

(these are great to add to girl's birthday or Christmas gifts)
Buy one for $5.99, get $5.99 ECBs (limit 2)
final price: FREE

Excederin Extra Strength Express Gels, 20 ct:
Buy one for $3.99, get $3.99 ECB (limit 1)

- send in manufacturer rebate coupon from an insert a while back, good on a full rebate up to $6.99 when postmarked by 12/31/08.
final price: MAKE $3.57 (after paying for the stamp to mail in the rebate)

Halls Naturals:

Buy one for $2.59, get $2.59 ECB (limit 1)

- use $.50/1 manufacturer coupons (from prior week insert, exp. 2/6/09)
final price: MAKE $.50

Benefiber drink mix 16 ct.:
Buy one for $7.29, get $7.29 ECB (limit 1)

- use $2/1 manufacturer coupon (from prior week insert, exp. 12/31/08)
final price: MAKE $2

Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste:
Buy one at $2.99, get $2.00 ECB (limit 2)

- use $1/1 manufacturer coupon (from prior week insert, exp. 12/31/08)
final price: FREE (technically, make $.01)

Hot Wheels cars

(this deal is not free, but it would make good stocking stuffers for my younger boys or a good add-on for a Christmas package)
Buy one at $1.49, get one free. (limit 6)
final price: $.75 each

If I do this all in one transaction (which is my M.O.) - one of each item except 2 of the nail polishes and 3 of the Hot Wheels deals, then it will come to $36.30 (before tax). I will use my $3.50 in coupons and $20.98 in ECB that I currently have, bringing my total to $11.82 (this will go on my CVS gift card that I recently received when I brought in a prescription) and I will get $30.84 back in ECBs. Plus, I will send in for the rebate on the Excederin, from which I will get $3.57 back after paying for a stamp to mail it in.

When you net out the ECBs and rebate, I will make $1.60 after getting everything listed for free. Pretty good deal.

Frugal Fridays/Super Savings Saturday

Welcome to Super Savings Saturday the Leaving Excess Way (and on Fridays).

My philosophy: keep it simple, make it quick and limit the trips necessary. If I am using my time, gas and energy to hunt down every deal, I wind up tired and leaving too much undone at home.

If you have disappointed in my small grocery loads from the past few weeks (as I was allocating our food budget towards a side of beef and deer meat processing), you will be happy today. I needed to load up on just about everything (except cereal - but at $.67 a box, who can resist?)! I have been trying to move away from commercial snack foods, but have not come up with good alternatives and have wound up having not much on hand. I knew I would never make it through Christmas break with all four kids home without some serious snacks and kid-friendly lunches on hand!

CVS:

No CVS this week.

Cub Foods and Aldi: I ended up spending nearly $100 at each store this week. I thought about comparing the amount of goods you get at each for $100, but I stocked up on pork at Cub and did not buy much meat at all at Aldi, so I did not think it would be comparable.



Cub Foods:

I printed off my Grocery Game list and matched up my coupons. Turns out that the ham and pork were good deals this week - I can never tell; for this I rely on my Grocery Game list, because they tend to jack the prices up so high when they do a buy one get one free coupon, that a lot of times you are better off just buying it without a "sale".

Anyhoo... I spend $100.38 on $211.02 worth of groceries. That includes a big spiral ham, two whole mini hams, two half mini hams and two pork loin roasts, not to mention the fresh mozzarella (yum!). Most of that savings ($99.48) was due to coupons, the rest due to sale pricing.

Aldi:

Holy Cow - I spent a TON more than usual at Aldi this week! But, the food storage bug has struck and we are low on stuff, so I am sort of restocking/stocking up on lots of staples and snacks at the moment. For those of you curious about Aldi's prices, I will list out what I purchased.

Saltines, $.89 each
Pepperoni (for making out own pizzas), $2.49
Spaghetti Sauces (making and freezing lasagnas), $.99 each
Coffee Creamer (making hot cocoa mix), $.99
Bagels, $1.39
Vanilla wafers, $1.19 each
Chips, $1.49 each
Pretzels, $1.19 each
Graham crackers, $1.29 each
Dry Milk, $5.99 each
Kiwi, $1.69 for the bag
Chocolate pudding (for cocoa mix), $.39
Ketchup, $1.15 each
Pears, $1.49 per 4 pack
Summer sausage, $2.99
Cheese crackers, $1.29
Pizzas, $.99 each
Apples, $1.99 per bag
Oyster crackers, $.89 each
Cheese slices, $.99 each
Chicken nuggets, $3.99
Cocoa (for baking, making hot cocoa mix, storing) $1.79 each
Chunk cheese, $1.99
Juice pouches, $1.89
Ranch dressing, $1.19
Potatoes, 10 lbs, $2.99

In total, I spent $90.50 for groceries at Aldi this week (now I can no longer tease my husband about blowing my Aldi budget - I usually say, "I have NEVER spent as much at Aldi as when you went with me"; to which he replies, "then I guess I just cannot do the grocery shopping" - uh-huh) for an estimated $220 in groceries.

This week I spent $190.88, but I did get a lot of groceries (well over $400) and I should be set for quite a while. We are well stocked on chicken, ham and some pork. Unfortunately, the venison processing and the cow were more than planned for, so we are moo-ving (ha, ha) some budget items around. That being said, at least we have venison and beef coming in HUGE quantities soon and I am honing in on my food storage in anticipation of January's goal of planning 3 months of meals to have one hand. That is part of my 2009 monthly plan to build up 3 months of emergency funding - read about the first post here, the second installment will be tomorrow!

To learn more about using The Grocery Game, read here.

For more on how to save using coupons, read here.

For information on how to organize your coupons, read here.

Be sure to see other CVS Superstars at The"Cent"sibleSawyer and check out Super Savings Saturday at Money Saving Mom.

You Can Make a Difference (and it doesn't cost a thing)

Nancy at Raging Bear Ranch emailed me to tell me about a cause that she is passionate about, rescuing thoroughbred horses when they are done racing.

Mid America Horse Rescue (MAHR) takes those horses and rehabilitates them and helps them find good homes where they can spend the rest of their happy days. Nancy and her family have a horse from this program named Banks, that is him in the photo above - isn't he beautiful?!

MAHR has a chance to win $10,000, which would go a long way towards the estimated $500 per horse, per month it incurs in costs.

Nancy asked that I help spread the word, by asking you to vote here for MAHR.

I did, and it only took a second. My thought: I cannot take on every great cause out there, but if I take on mine and you take on yours and we share with each other and help each other when we can, we can all make a great difference.

You can vote once a day. Pay attention, you need to click on an animal in the voting section (instead of typing a word) to verify that you are human (or, I suppose, a clever animal).

Nancy has been hanging out with me for a while and clearly she is wonderfully passionate about this cause. Please consider taking some time out of your day to vote to help these beautiful animals.

Thank you!

Random Thoughts: Brrrrrr.... and Magic Little Pills

I have been ill. At first I was kind of ill. Then I was really ill. Then I was ill but ignoring it. Then I was really, really ill. It started the second week of November and was really bad over Thanksgiving weekend. Then we got really busy and I just sort of carried on (you know how it is). Yes, I could have gone in for an antibiotic at the end of November but you hear so much about the over use of antibiotics and how it throws your systems off and so on, so I just was toughing it out. And ignoring the signs. I don't know what I was thinking - there is so much nasty stuff going around right now. Duh.

So, then this past weekend hit. This is the point where my body says, "Oh, really? You think you can ignore this? Nice try." Fever around 102 for five days. I finally drug myself into the doctor only to learn that the infection harboring itself in my body was taxing me so much that my blood pressure was rising. That and the fever are why I was feeling so rotten. Having been sick for over a month, my doctor did not mess around and put me on a serious antibiotic (hmmm, if I had gone earlier, would a lesser version of worked?).

Wouldn't you know? Right about 24 hours after I started taking the antibiotics my fever broke and I started to feel much better. I am slowly improving each day and I am kicking myself for waiting so long because I have not felt that bad any time in recent memory. Magic little pills, that is what they are.

So, I would just like to say "Thank you!!" to the person(s) who discovered or developed (whatever) antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics has been in the news recently, but antibiotics do good and I really appreciated them this week.

In other news...

It is cold over much of the country this week. I uploaded our local forecast, just a small taste of life in MN, for those of you unfamiliar with it. (You would think temps like this would kill that darn infection, but no.)

These are typically January temperatures, which is usually our coldest month of the year. Back in the 1990's, I recall a few years in a row where we did not climb above 20 BELOW zero for at least two weeks in January. When it is that cold, the lows tend to be around 40 below at night. That is when cars basically stop working without being plugged in or sheltered in some way. Or without you getting up at 3 AM and driving them around for a while, so they will still start in the morning. Fun.

The worst part? We cannot even complain, because it is usually even colder for those in the northern part of the state! Even hear of Embarass, MN? It is often the coldest city in the nation, so it tends to get mentioned.

So, will we be even colder in January, since this is only December and we are already THIS cold? Probably...

But, most Minnesotans agree. Once you hit below zero, it is just cold - whether it is 10 below or 20 below. And, if you don't like snow, that is good news because it is too cold to snow when it is much below zero. Crazy - too cold to snow?! Why do we live here, again? Oh, yeah, Jammie Days.

Really, though, you get used to it. By Tuesday I was out grocery shopping (yes, with the fever - WHY can't I just rest?) and it did not seem sooo bad. Just kind of bad.

When the newscasters talk about Friday's high, they will call it "mild".

:>)

I guess it is all relative!

Where ever you are, stay warm!

And for goodness sake, if you are really sick, then go see your doctor!

Words of Wisdom

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."

- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

News Flash: The Grass Is Not Greener on the Other Side

Yep, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it is true. Full-time working mom, work at home mom, work part-time mom, stay at home mom - these are all hard jobs and have both challenges and advantages. I have done each and every one of these arrangements, so I know what I am talking about and I am here to tell you that if you spend your time being resentful that someone may have it easier than you, then you are wasting precious time. Time that any mom cannot afford to waste.

Have you ever had someone say something inappropriate to you and then thought of the perfect response about 2 days later? Argh! I hate that.

I received a comment on my post about whether or not we should go on a stay-cation that really had nothing to do with the actual post, but referred to a comment I made in the post:

It must be tough only working 16 hours a week and still having someone clean! I will never know that luxury! Suck it up!

I responded by detailing all I had done that day alone and assuring this reader that I suck it up plenty, but I could have answered with this one simple sentence.

Actually, I work 100 hours a week; I only get paid for 16 of it.

Often times, when a comment bugs me, I want to just delete it and not deal with it. But the honest truth is that these types of comments point to what our society currently struggles with - and working mom vs. stay at home mom vs. somewhere in between has long been an issue among moms. Who has it harder? Who has it easier? Who is doing the "right" thing and does that make them more righteous?

Here are the answers: No one. No one. It depends and no.

At least, this has been my experience over the years. (Since I have had kids since I was 25, I am going to stick with the Mom scenarios.)

Situation 1: Working full-time (50-70 hours a week) as an Audit Manager for one of the big 4 international CPA firms.

Pro: Professional pay. I enjoyed my job and I was good at it. It gave me satisfaction to be a part of high level meetings and produce audited financial statements for the companies and their shareholders. My whole life (until this point) has centered on getting that "A", or high level mark and this job feeds that desire. Dropping the screaming two year old off at daycare.

Con: Whenever I am at work, I feel like I am leaving something undone at home. Whenever I am home, I feel like I am leaving something undone at work. By the time the kids get picked up from daycare and we get home, it is after 6:00. I don't even remember how on Earth we got dinner on the table. Our then 2 year old watched a video and we put him to bed. And then we worked more. Night after night. I could not take it anymore, so I quit. When I did, the only female partner at the firm told me I should hang in there, wait to earn more and then I could hire a nanny to do all that pesky at-home-mom stuff, like take the kids shopping for school clothes. I realized I wanted to do it myself so I still quit. (Oh, and before I quit, I negotiated a reduced schedule, "only" 40 hours a week and I ended up working my tail off for less money - I had more clients than any other manager in the firm). Dropping the sweet and lovely two year old off at daycare.

Situation 2: Full-time stay at home mom.

Pro: I get to raise my kids how my husband and I want to. I can at least sneak in a nap once in a while when I have small babies and I can see my kids grow and learn and have fun. We can go all sorts of places, be part of groups and they can have quiet down time at home with their own toys. It is very busy, but I do manage to get dinner on the table, keep the house clean (no, no cleaning lady), do our shopping/laundry/errand running so that we can have quality family time when my husband gets home. I can be here to see my kids off to school each day, volunteer in their classes and be here when they get home each day. Spending time with the sweet and lovely two year old.

Con: No kudos. No "A" or high level paycheck. Stress from making do on one income. Pressure from myself to be even better at home - more organized, spend more time with the kids, do it all. Stress from not being able to do what I want to do, even though I am home. I never have time for myself. My husband is gone for work, then gone for a nightly event more than I can count. Kids, chores, 24/7. I feel like I am losing myself. To eat a meal in peace is a distant memory. Spending a long day at home with screaming two year old.

Situation 3: Work at home mom.

Pro: Additional income. A schedule I can (somewhat) control. I am still home with the kids. Kudos for doing a good job. Adult time (on occasion). I am home, so I can put dinner in the oven, switch the laundry, etc.

Con: More pressure. It is not like I had nothing to do before I started working this job. I feel guilty when I set the kids in front of a video, or say "not now". Again with feeling like both things are not getting the full attention they deserve.

Situation 4: Working part-time outside the home.

Pro: Paycheck. I can eat lunch in peace (even if I am working through it). Quiet time in the car until I get to daycare. Feeling like a vital part of something bigger than me. Supporting these great people as they do amazing work. Adult conversation. Kudos. Flexible schedule - I am still home 3 days a week and either my husband or I see the kids off each day. One day a week the two oldest come home alone, but at nearly 11 and 13, they like feeling grown up for an hour a week.

Con: You know it! Feeling pulled in two directions all the time. Checking my email on my days off on my phone - it is hard to get away, but you want to be available if something urgent comes up. By the time we get everyone off to school, one of us is starting the day really late and we feel behind. Making up work at night after the kids go to bed leaves me tired, but I am willing to do it. Feeling guilty when my kids just want to stay home and don't want to go to daycare. Working until the wee hours in the morning to keep up with my workload without adding more daycare days to our schedule.

So, who has it harder? No one.

Who has it easier? No one.

Who is doing the "right" thing? Well, I think that depends on each person and each family. You have to look at the pros and the cons and decide where your personal priorities lie, see what resources you have available to you and then make some compromises. If you think you would be happier in another situation, then do what you need to make that happen.

And, in each situation, everyone makes a decision on how to allocate her resources. Yes, we hired a cleaning lady - on the flip side, we don't have TIVO, we don't spend money on cigarettes or go out to bars, we almost never go out to eat, we don't jet off to the Carribean every winter, we don't even buy greeting cards - I make those.

And about being righteous? That is only about ego, not anything else. Each of us must make the decisions that we need to given our situation and resources and do our best from there. To compare yourself to anyone else is a waste of time and will only leave you bitter. Plus, you never can fully understand someone else's situation - there are always factors you just cannot see.

If you are struggling with feeling judgemental, I encourage you to read this post here.

If that does not work, try this post.

Not So Much

I love winter.

You might think I am big into winter outdoor activities, but no - I like winter because it is beautiful and quiet and cozy inside.

I love when the thick, wet snowflakes coat each branch of every tree. It is so beautiful. Or shoveling the driveway in the dark, quiet evening - snow drifting down around you. Seeing my kids zip down our back hill and then coming in to warm up, their cheeks are rosy. Love it.

Needless to say, I often feel very alone in my love of winter.

But now that I have Max (our five year old), I have an ally - he is by far the biggest homebody of our four kids - he never wants to go anywhere and his idea of the perfect day is when he can pull off staying in his pajamas for an entire day (and therefore, stay at home). He has dubbed these days a "Jammie Day".

We were expecting our first accumulating snow of the season and I said to Max, "Wouldn't it be great if it just snowed and snowed - so much we could not even open our door and we had to stay inside and play games and make hot cocoa and sit by the fire?!"

Here is his response: "No, Mom. You know what would be great? If I could go outside barefoot and go swimming. I miss summer."

Alone. So totally alone.

Blog Award

Lemonade blog award, compliments of Janet - read her blogs Money Jar Savings and Life In Focus - holy cow - TWO blogs!

I just had a post about being tagged and awarded, read it here.

See all of my favorite blogs (at this moment in time) on my blog roll down the right side of my blog.

Lately, I am focused on food storage:

Food Storage Made Easy

Everyday Food Storage

Safely Gathered In

You cannot beat Money Saving Mom for her dedication to keeping things frugal and simple.

I am enjoying Michelle's more focused posts on how to live within your means at Mom is Broke. Something I think we all will have to face in 2009 - might as well make it your idea rather than have it forced upon you!

I love following Heather's progress on Simple - Green - Frugal. She does such a great job but is never makes you feel inadequate just where you are.

Christina at Northern Cheapskate has well researched posts on finance, debt reduction and living a frugal lifestyle. She does a great job of tying her topics into what is currently going on in our world and economy.

Jenny and Emily are cousins who strike me as the type that it would be so fun to go out for cocktails with - they are funny and real and just gave me $100 Burlington Coat Factory gift card that I can spend to make someone else's Christmas more merry and bright - LOVE that! They have some awesome giveaways these days - be sure to check them out at Mommin' It Up!

Jeana has wonderful, thoughtful and often funny posts at Days to Come. She never posts just to post - so, I look forward to each thoughtful entry.

I have also been enjoying Trixie's posts at Farm Home Life - she has a wonderful perspective and it sort of makes me wish we lived on a farm just down from hers...

So, that is what has been on my reading list lately - take care!

My Christmas Present to Myself

I enjoy singing and have always told my husband that I would love to be in the church choir, if only we could spare the time for rehearsals.

This year, our pastor suggested joining the choir for the Christmas season. I thought it would be a great way to be able to participate without committing long term. My husband encouraged me by reminding me of the date to start rehearsals and making sure I did not back out.

The first rehearsal was a bit nerve wracking. I am an OK singer and I have not been in a choir since 8th grade. These folks are serious - I was a bit out of my element and definitely outside my comfort zone. But, as our voices came together and sounded so great, I was loving it.

Today will be my second Sunday singing at mass in the choir and it is so fun!

A happy bonus is that I have some peaceful time that is not rushed before and in between the masses, since my husband has the kids during those times. Plus, the rehearsal time (well, except the first rehearsal, when my 12 year old called to ask, "Mom, where ARE you?").

I really don't see how I can make a permanent commitment to the choir at this point in our lives, but I am loving the present I gave myself this season - singing beautiful Christmas music with our talented choir. I am so thrilled to be tagging along for these few weeks.

What have you done to step outside of your comfort zone lately? Maybe that is a gift you should give yourself... Just a thought.

Simple Peace of Mind (Part 1)

As I was thinking about what I might post today for Living Simply Saturdays at Keeper of the Home, my thoughts kept wandering back to an issue that has been on my mind.

Our emergency fund. Or rather, our lack thereof. We do keep a small-ish cushion in our checking account that is designed for things like the car breaking down or a mistake on the paycheck that we had to weather recently, but it would be gobbled up in short order if some type of longer emergency ensued, like a serious illness or job loss.

Of course, I know that everyone should have 3-6 months of expenses tucked away for emergencies. I am sure we have all heard that plenty of times. Because I am a CPA, people often assume that I would have such a fund in place. So, this is just between you and me, but we do not. It is terrifying, but with me giving up over 1/2 of our income all those years ago, we have been just struggling to survive while I have been home with the kids. Every time we seem to get ahead, something drags us back down or some expense comes out of no where. You could look at it as we had good fortune when we needed it (to cover the expense), but it still leaves us at square one at the end of the day.

I also know that many people trust in the Lord to provide. I agree to an extent, but since I have been sent the message save 3-6 months of your expenses, I fear that the Lord will say, "You were an idiot - I told you what to do!"

OK, so back to the problem at hand. No significant emergency fund.

I have decided to conquer this problem with my new-found best strategy: taking baby steps. So far I have worked on eliminating a lot of expenses. I have also managed to stock pile an impressive amount of food without increasing our budget, by matching coupons with sales and frequenting Aldi. That, to me, is like money in the bank. Knowing I can feed the family is very comforting. I have noticed some gaps, but I am off to a good start.

In an effort to work on saving an emergency fund, I have laid out baby steps to take over the next 12 months. Since we are still hard working to pay off debt, so I cannot allocate a ton of money to this fund, but I can make small, attainable goals each month and that will be better than nothing. I have faith that it will add up before I know it. It seems that when we put a number on our goal, we find a way to achieve it (THAT is how God provides at times, too).

As I approached my plan, I thought backward. What if my husband lost his job today? What would we HAVE to pay, and what could wait? We would need food. We would need gas and electricity. We would need either the phone or a cell phone - the rest could go. It is unlikely that we both would lose our jobs at the same time (yes, so day I would like to be prepared for even that, but I am trying to approach it reasonably for now, since I am limited on my funding), and either of our salaries would cover our mortage and our debt payments. The kids would begin to need basic clothing to an extent, and we would need to be able to pay for medical visits, and ideally we would be able to afford Cobra payments (which extend your insurance up to 18 months after you leave your job, you just have to pay 100% of the premiums each month).

I figured I would start with the smaller number, and aim for the 3 month figures, less our mortage and debt payments, as I just discussed. Since the new year is approaching, I will start in January.

I intend to post summary of my goals, 4 months at a time, each of the remaining three Saturdays in December as part of the Living Simply series. I feel that is fitting as I will feel more secure and at ease with this emergency plan in place. It is hard to live a simple life when you fear that your sense of security is false. I will post about each month as I finish it, so at the end of January, I will highlight what I have accomplished toward January's goal, etc.

Obviously, all of these areas are areas that we could potentially cut back on more (rather than saving for the expense). I am trying to provide a comfortable cushion, then when an emergency strikes, we would look at cutting back as much as possible to make our savings go further. This is just a starting point.

Some months we will have larger expenses in our regular budget, so I will plan a few times a year that I can do things that cost little or nothing, but will still go a long way to making us more secure.

January - We will be remodeling our laundry room in January, so this is a month with limited funds. Planning for a 3 month supply of food and clothing for next winter, $300.

I plan to finish planning the 3 month food/household (paper goods, toiletries, diapers) supply. There are two great sites on how to set up food storage, which is basically what having a 3 month food supply on hand is about. I am a good part of the way there, but I need to actually figure out which recipes I could make (including breakfast, lunches and snacks) and make sure I actually do have enough of all the ingredients to make it 3 months. From there, I can add purchases by using a smaller amount of my weekly grocery budget to stock up on items I need, focusing on items that are on sale.

This site has a great excel spreadsheet you can use to plan your meals and storage needs, and this one has a lot of useful tips as well. During this month, I will also go through our toiletries and figure out what we really need for 3 months, make a list and work on getting what we still need (thank you, CVS!!) or what we have excess of, so I can donate more and make room for what we really need. Total cash needed for this: $0 - I will work it into our weekly grocery budget over this year (and by preserving items from our garden).

In January, I will also hit the stores to scoop up the best deals on clothes for the next winter for my kids. #4 already has clothes coming from #3, plus his birthday is in winter, so I will not buy much for him, $25. #3 has clothes from #1, but some are dated a bit. I will see what he needs and budget about $75 for him. He also has a birthday at the beginning of winter and his winter coat and boots from this year will fit next year. #2 is our only girl, so she usually needs a bit more (not many hand me downs). I will budget $150 for basic pants and shirts for her, she has a winter coat and snow pants, and has ugly (but functional) boots waiting for her from #1. If I find cute boots for a steal, I will get them, but they are not high on my list. #1 is quite opinionated about what he wears, so I will play it safe on only get the best deals on basic t-shirts and sweatshirts, a budget of about $50. Total clothing budget for the month for four kids' winter clothes, $300.

February - Saving for three months of gas for our car and house $450. I usually go through a tank of gas every 10 days. At the current gas prices, over 12 weeks, that would cost me about $252. I rounded it up to $300, in case I drove a bit more (if I went to work more, in the scenario of Steve losing his job) or in case gas prices rose again (not unlikely). Saving for three months of basic gas service for our house, $150. This is the basic gas we use for the dryer, stove and water heater; this does not include the gas expense to heat the house using our furnace. In April, we will work towards stocking and storing wood that we could use to heat the house in an emergency, which would allow us to avoid using gas to heat the house during winter.

One item to note - Steve's truck is owned and paid for by the company he works for. We don't insure it, put gas in it or pay for repairs. If he lost his job, we would be down to one vehicle. It would be tough, but if I did not need to drop the kids at daycare, I could take the bus. Steve could get up, drive me early to the park/ride lot (while our 12/almost 13 year old is home in case the kids get up) and then pick me up at the end of the day. Setting aside money for a second vehicle is on my list, but since I could come up with a temp. solution, I am putting it off for now.

March - Saving for three months of phone/Internet service/cell service, $520. This is more of a grey area, since I get reimbursed by my company for my cell phone and my Internet service at home. If I lost my job, we could cut back somewhat on our services and if Steve lost his job, these would still be paid for by my company. However, if I lost my job, I would still want phone service and Internet (we have basic cable and cable Internet service, total monthly bill for all three services $93). I have an iPhone, which I would probably terminate service on. I am in a contract for 2 years, so I am not sure how that works, but I am guessing they have some sort of hardship clause. We also have two other phones that we use as needed with the kids. We would cancel texting features and move down to just those two phones. Total for 3 months service, $240 on the high end and this counts on us being able to get out of our contract on the iPhone. There may be more wiggle room here, but let's just call it cushion for now.

April - A month off from setting aside actual cash savings (3 of the 6 of us have birthdays this month) - instead, we will focus on getting wood to head with and growing a garden to each from. Total budget, $0. This month, we will invest our time. Steve will go to our farmer friend's house and haul home wood (free if we haul it and cut it ourselves), wood and more wood that we will split (using a borrowed wood splitter) and stack to dry. Our goal is to get at least one winter's worth of wood stored. The kids and I will work on turning over the soil in the garden and planting the cool weather crops in the garden.

This is the month that I will clear out our root cellar and prepare it to store the season's potatoes, pumpkins, apples, onions, garlic and more that we can enjoy all winter long. I also hope to add canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, fruits, jams, frozen vegetables, herbs, pesto and frozen, canned and dried fruits, and herbs to our storage. Having this type of storage will help move us from our 3 month food supply to more like a 6 (or even 12!) month supply, plus add in lots of healthy fruits and veggies.

Tune in next Saturday for the next four months - May, June, July and August - including at least one month where we will again invest in securing our future without spending any money out of pocket! I will also address how I found ways to put aside this money each month.

CVS Scenario: The Leaving Excess Way

CVS the Leaving Excess way - one simple transaction. The key to making it one transaction is to only buy what you really need and will use - not just getting whatever is free and letting it clutter up your house and your life. Not to mention the clutter of multiple trips and/or transactions on your mind, time and energy.

There are a couple of deals this week, but nothing to convince me to stop in (I
will happily take a week off!), but rumor has it that there is another big CVS
sale on December 21-22 (Sunday and Monday), similar to the Thanksgiving sale,
check out the details here. Thanks to Frugal Dr. Mom for the tip!

If you need your weekly CVS trip, check out the links below.

For other CVS Scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom and The"Cent"sible Sawyer! There are some free after ECB items, so check out these other blogs if you are interested in those!

Frugal Friday (Super Savings Saturday in disguise)

Welcome to Super Savings Saturday the Leaving Excess Way! (I need to post on Friday to make room for Simply Living Saturdays on Saturday)

My philosophy: keep it simple, make it quick and limit the trips necessary. If I am using my time, gas and energy to hunt down every deal, I wind up tired and leaving too much undone at home.

This week I went CVS and Cub. We are preparing to buy our semi-annual side of beef, so we are spending only a small amount each week in order to leave most of the food/household goods budget this month to pay for the beef.

CVS:

I went in to do my usual one transaction, and a price change (one of the bags of Kisses rang up as $1 instead of $2) threw a loop into my plans and I ended up needing to do a second transaction.

All told, I was able to get:
- one 24.7 facial scrub (donated to women's shelter)
- licorice (part of a movie, popcorn, candy gift we are giving)
- life savers (mints)
- Altoids (mints - filler; on clearance for $.50)
- 3 bags of Kisses (treats around the house, additions to our homemade cookie gift boxes)
- 2 bags of Hershey's Bliss (same as Kisses)
- 16 individual Santas/holiday treats (stocking stuffers, treats)
- a toothbrush
- 3 jumbo packages of Huggies diapers

$94.75 worth of products for just $.26 out of pocket. I paid with $43.22 ECBs (from the big Thanksgiving sale) and received $15 ECBs back, leaving me with $20.98 to use next week.

Bonus: I had a prescription to fill anyway, so I also did that and received a $25 give card thanks to a catalina that printed out during one of my CVS trips recently!

Cub Foods:

It was a crazy week, so I printed off my Grocery Game list and narrowed it down to the best deals. I bought $57.63 worth of food and goods (grapes, tissues, cornstarch, 3 - 20 lb bags of softener salt, lunch meat (1.5 lbs), frozen veggies, milk, eggs, crackers and frosting) and I paid just $14.13.

I saved $17.96 by using coupons, $5.54 due to items being on sale and $20 by using a rebate VISA card from AT&T for a great deal on an ear piece for my phone. Without the VISA card, savings was 41%, by using the card, I saved 75%!! Yay!

I point that out, because a lot of times when people get a gift card or rebate, they want to blow it on something fun. I understand the temptation, but if you use it for what you were already going to purchase instead, it can do your budget well! Do it over and over, and it cand do your budget GREAT.

Aldi:

Because eggs and milk were on sale for the same price as Aldi's prices, I was able to keep it to just one store this week. I will go next week to pick up some cheese slices, bagels, apples and more eggs.

Total spending for household goods and groceries was $14.39; for total savings of $137.99 or 91%!

To learn more about using The Grocery Game, read here.

For more on how to save using coupons, read here.

For information on how to organize your coupons, read here.

Be sure to see other CVS Superstars at The"Cent"sibleSawyer and check out Super Savings Saturday at Money Saving Mom.