Frugal Friday

I decided to move my Thrifty Thursday posts and make them Frugal Fridays instead.  This way I could link up with Rebecca's blog.  Take a moment and go over and visit so you can more frugal tips as well.

Frugalness is basically second nature to me now, as I've been making due on one income for years, and a small one at that.  So I had to really think about what I do to make our dollars stretch.

I've done the following things this week.

$  Made my own salad dressing.  It's quick, easy, has no chemical perservatives and much cheaper.

$ Washed out numerous baggies and freezer bags.

$ Limit the use of the dishwasher for when we have company.  In the long run, it is cheaper to wash the dishes by hand.   When I do use the dishwasher, I open the door and let them air dry instead of running through the dry cycle.

$ Only wash full loads of laundry.

$ Made homemade stromboli.  Again, I know what's in it, it's cheaper and prettier too. :-)

$ I used spices that I had stored in the freezer.  I purchased them in bulk when they were on sale and they have kept fine in the freezer.

$  Stayed home to eat instead of going out and stayed out of stores, even thrift stores. I'm not a shopper so I'm really not tempted too much this way.  My feeling is that if you aren't in the store, you aren't tempted to buy!

$  Made tea totes and mug rugs (they aren't finished in this picture) out of fabric scraps.  It's a great way to use up the scraps.  I'll be putting them in my Etsy shop, as well as some of the craft fairs I go to.  Those I don't sell, make great gifts.

$ Used up all the leftovers instead of tossing them.  I hate wasting food!

$ When using jarred sauces (which I normally don't; I make my own), I always add a bit of hot water, put the lid back on and shake it up so I can get every bit of sauce out of the jar.  I do this with molasses too.

$ I made ziti a few weeks ago and made a larger than normal batch of sauce.  I froze it and reused it for our small group which meets here every other Wednesday.

$ Got the bulk of my groceries at Aldi which is generally the cheapest store around.

$ Purchased meat in bulk packs which was cheaper and came home and separated it into individual packages.

That's about all I can think of this week, mostly because it was one of those weeks when nothing much was going on.   Again, check out Rebecca's blog for more frugal ideas.

Open up the Shades

I'm so thankful for the windows in my sun room.  As this winter seems to go on and on, one thing that does make me happy is that these windows allow the little bit of sun we get to come shining through.  On a sunny day, I often spend some time in there in the path of the sunlight and soak up the rays.  They let the light in  because they are transparent.  They allow light to pass through them. 

What about you?  Are you transparent?   Can people see the LIGHT through you? 

The definition of transparent is..

1.)  having the property of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen.

2.admitting the passage of light through interstices.

3.so sheer as to permit light to pass through; diaphanous.

4.easily seen through, recognized, or detected:

5.easily understood; manifest; obvious.

6.candid; frank; open.

Does this describe you?  Are you letting the light shine through?

Can people see the love of the Lord shining out of you or do they have to look hard into some hidden recess in your heart?  Are you transparent enough that people can see God through you or do you keep Him shut up inside?

I'm afraid that so often that light is hidden because we pull shades down to hide it.  Those shades may be down because we aren't allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and we are still struggling with hidden sins.  Or the shades may be down because we don't want people to see what's in our heart for fear of being hurt.  The shades may be down because we just don't want to open ourselves up to others through selfishness, fear or a false sense of pride. 

Let the light shine through.  Be open so that the Lord can clearly be seen through your life.  Allow them to see how the Lord is working in you and through you.  Be willing to be a bit vulnerable so others can be encouraged when they see God working.

Open up those shades and be transparent!

The God of Possibilities

My sewing machine was humming merrily along yesterday afternoon.  My mind just as rapidly mulled over different thoughts, ideas and possibilities that are looming in the future.  As my thoughts and ideas jumped from one thing to the next, I realized what a wonderful God I serve.

He is a God who delights in achieving the impossible.  He loves taking circumstances that seem overwhelming and daunting and showing us how He works.  He is the God of possibility. 

The God of possibility causes endless winter to become summer in time.

The God of possibility allows the sun to rise and set each day.

The God of possibilties takes a child with multiple disabilites and shapes him into a fine young man who is achieving wonderful things with his life.

The God of possibility took an unhappy girl and is helping turn that frown into a smile.

The God of possibility is taking a boy with severe anxieties and turning him into a young man who is developing confidence and senses God's call on his life.

The God of possibility allows a church of strangers become friends in a relatively short time.

The God of possibility is healing heartache that I never thought would heal.  He is mending the broken pieces of my life.  He is changing me from the inside out.

What a wonderful God we have!  He is the God who takes the impossible and turns it around.  That makes this a Monday with a multitude of possbilities!

This week I'm thankful for blessings #1946-1960.

♥ A full refrigerator.

♥ Getting some sewing accomplished.

♥ A date night with Dan.

♥ A relaxing Saturday.

♥ Competetive board games.

♥ Finding my niche.

♥ Laughter.

♥ Seeing results at the gym.

♥ A full night of sleep.

♥ Sweet worship.

♥ Accountants we trust.

♥ Hearing from Stephen every day even though he's far away.

♥ Hot, running water.

♥ Technology.

and finally...

♥ Possibilities.

February in Review

March is here!  Even though the weather has not changed and snow is still flying, I always am excited at the beginning of the month because Spring is right around the corner.  The end of winter is in sight! 

It's also time to revisit my 2014 goals and see how I'm doing.  Am I on track?  Do I need to make changes?  I'm liking coming back and rechecking each month so I can make sure I actually accomplish what I set out to do in 2014.  I'm updating in blue.


2014 Goals

Spiritual 
►  Skip one meal a week to fast and pray.
►  Have consistent quiet times each week.

I am having consistent quiet times with the Lord.  I love getting up when the house is peaceful and still to spend time in prayer and Bible study.  I still haven't done any fasting so I need to consider doing a modified fast because of blood sugar issues.

Marriage Relationship
► Encourage my husband through my words and supporting him in ministry
► Have a date night twice per month 

The date "day/night" hasn't really happened this month (I think once).  That is mostly because Dan is tutoring right now and the time that was convenient for us to go is now when he is tutoring.  Still working on the first one.  There are days when I'm great at it and other days when I should stay in bed with a muzzle clamped over my mouth.  :-(

Health & Nutrition
I think I want to worry less about losing weight, though I need to do that, and more about changing some bad habits.

► Some form of exercise at least 5 days per week and at least 30 minutes each time
► Get outside in the fresh air at least 20 minutes each day instead of staying cooped up in the house
► Cut back on fatty foods & sweets
► At least 3 meatless meals per week.
► One salad per day  

I definitely need work in the eating department.  If there are sweets in the house I have a hard time saying, "No."  However, I've been doing great with exercising.  I've been going to the gym with Dan and enjoy my time there.  Unless you count walking to the car and back into the house, then the getting outdoors thing hasn't happened.  Mostly because it constantly looks like the photo at the top! lol  Meatless meals and salads are okay.

Financial 
► Set aside $100 from each paycheck in a separate "emergency fund" account.
► Save $100 each paycheck in general savings.
► Curtail going out to eat or ordering out to twice a month.  We wasted so much money this past year because I was feeling lazy and didn't want to cook or didn't plan ahead when I had an event going on.  I always feel sick inside when I think of how that money could have been better used.
► Work on building up craft & book business 

Because we are helping Stephen out with his room and board, the laying aside money from each paycheck isn't happening right now.  Though, now that I think of it, I do believe that we are putting abit aside this paycheck.  We did great in February on not going out to eat.  The things that add up very quickly are the little snack stops here and there.  $3 here and $5 there add up very fast! 

Household Organization
► Come up with household organization journal
► Deliberate cooking lessons with Emily  
► Garden put in this spring.  There are two large garden beds all set to go here and after no garden last year, I'm looking forward to it!

If you call one day of doing a cooking lesson with Emily, success then yes, I did it!  lol  But other than that, I need to work on this section of my goals.

Ministry
► Pray and figure out what the Lord wants me to do and then be ruthless about not adding to that.  This is a huge mistake I made in our last church.  I took on more and more and all that did was make me feel overwhelmed and burned out and never allowed others to be able to use their gifts.
► Send out cards of encouragement on a regular basis.
► Invite a family over for dinner at least two times per month. 

We had people over 4 times this past month, have a small group that meets here every other Wednesday with a meal, plus hosted an open house of 30 so I'm doing good with that.  The cards didn't happen, other than thank you cards. 

I'm still working on the first point.  I haven't taken on any more since I last updated but I'm still trying to figure out what my role and niche is here.  It's such a different church and much more structured so it's not as easy as saying, "Let's do this." and then I do it.  Don't get me wrong, that is a very good thing!  It actually makes me slow down long enough to think, "Is God really calling me to do this or am I just doing busy work."

Personal
►  Spend time doing the things I love and am gifted in - crafting, photography, creating, writing.  I struggle so much of the time with a weird sense of guilt assuming responsibilities that aren't mine to assume.  What happens is I run around feeling a bit joyless because I'm not working where I'm gifted.
► Work on living in the moment with my family, and not always stuck behind a computer screen.  In other words, when they are home - engage!  Spend my computer time for the times they aren't around or are busy.
► Work on the next book.  It's in the process. :-) 

This month, I truly have not done much creating of anything.  No crafting, sewing or photography.  It's hard to feel creative when all I see is a wall of white and not sun.  I've been doing some writing but not as much as I could.  I'm hoping this month I'll find my inspiration again. 

I have to conciously work on living in the moment.  One thing that has helped is my computer is crashing and facebook hardly works at all on it!  That certainly seemed to take up a lot of my time even though it was a moment here or there.  I've been posting less and been much less distracted and love it!

Again, reviewing each month really is helping me to see what I need to work on and where I'm doing well.  I'm determined to have a great month and hopefully, March will go out like a lamb!  :-)

Crafty Things

I'm sorry to say that my crafting has fallen by the wayside lately.  I just have been so totally uninspired!  I do find that sales tend to get me moving so obviously, you know how that's going.  :-)

I did pull out the scrapbooking supplies this week and made some cards. 

I'm hoping that with the coming of Spring, I'll get more motivated.  I do have a ladies retreat coming at the beginning of April and will have some things there.  A local store will be carrying my books and crafts and that opens in May.  I also am signing up to do a weekly farmer's market here with my craft items and books.

So I'm going to have to get a fire going under my rear very soon! :-)  I have been working on a new devotional book and it's in the editing process right now.  I hope to release that soon.

Have you been working on any crafty things lately?

Thrifty Thursday: Frugal Entertaining

I love to entertain and have company.  Nothing brings me greater joy than having a houseful of people and enjoying blessing friends with my cooking.  However, it can be costly if you aren't careful.  My biggest problem in entertaining is not to go overboard in my desire to offer enough food, as well as a variety.

However, you can entertain and still stay within a budget.  

On Saturday we had an open house here for our new church family and ended up with about 30 people.  However, because money is tight, I couldn't afford to spend a fortune.  So the first thing I did was to take stock of what I already had in the house and created a menu around those items.  I knew I was still going to have to purchase items, but I managed to stay under $50 which I thought was pretty good given the amount of people here.


Since it was an open house and people were coming and going throughout the afternoon and evening, I kept it to finger foods.  I also used little glass, dessert plates I had rather than paper to keep the costs down and garbage out of the landfills.  I just washed a few here or there when there was a lull.

Here was the menu:

5 different kinds of cookies - sugar, black and white checkerboards, chocolate chip, oatmeal, and lemon tea tots
Lemon bars
Cheese and crackers
Veggie platter with spinach dip or onion dip
Cream cheese and a choice of three kinds of jelly (hot pepper relish, jalapeno, or strawberry) on wheat crackers
Hummus with homemade pita bread wedges
Bruschetta with capers and black olives and homemade French baguette slices
Coffee
Punch made with sparkling cranberry and cranberry juice (I sliced an orange and added frozen cranberries to pretty it up)
Lemonade


One way I kept the cost down is to make everything from scratch.  So the cookies, breads, hummus, bruschetta and dips were all made ahead of time.  The jams were from this past summer.  The lemonade was made from real lemon juice and not a mix.



A couple of people brought a dish too so it made things stretch even further.  



Anyone who knows me, know I love to decorate the table for special occasions.  Again, I love to do this without spending a fortune.  I decorated the table with items I had on hand, and paper punched hearts.  My one splurge was $8 worth of roses.  I love fresh flowers and rarely buy them but they were on sale so I snatched them up.

I ended up with a lot of food leftover because I made too much, as usual.  To be honest, I'd rather have too much than not enough.  I took a platter of cheese and crackers, as well as leftover lemon bars to church the next day.  We still are munching on cookies and leftover dips.

So you can entertain, be generous and still be frugal as long as you plan ahead and are willing to save some money by making many of the items yourself.  I'm linking up with Rebecca's Blog today.  She is always inspirational in sharing ways to save money!

Wednesday Words of Encouragement

I Kings 19:1-9 (NIV) ~

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 

He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank.

Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Elijah had just seen the Lord perform a stunning miracle and defeat the prophets of Baal.  He should have been celebrating this victory.  But the moment he hears of Jezebel's threat, he hightails it for the wilderness, sits down under a bush and prays that God would allow him to die.

It is so easy for us to look at Elijah with scorn and think, "What is wrong with this guy?"  But as I read this passage this morning another thing jumped out at me.  God has compassion on him.  He cares for his physical needs.  He knows that Elijah is reacting this way because he is exhausted and hungry.

This is encouraging to me as a follower of Christ because I am extremely hard on myself at times.  I get so upset when I know that I've seen God's hand on my life in so many ways and yet, at times, I still react like Elijah when faced with a new trial.

But the Lord is merciful.  He knows we are weak and frail.  He is compassionate.  And so often he meets our physical needs so that our spirits will also be refreshed.  That is encouraging to me.  God created us body and spirit and he knows us intimately. 

God sent an angel to provide Elijah with food so he would have strength to continue his journey.  He gave him exactly what he needed to encourage him.  He provided sustenance so that Elijah could keep moving forward.  And the Lord does the same for us. 

When you are weak and the most vulnerable, He always provides what you need to keep you moving forward.  He gives you the encouragement that is necessary for you to put one foot in front of the other.  More importantly, He has compassion and mercy on you when you falter.  He doesn't rain down condemnation.  He provides the gentle nudging you need to keep going.

What a wonderful God we serve!