Frugal Friday: A Heart of Generosity

"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you."

- Mother Teresa.

 

Dan and I have been blessed throughout the years by the generosity of others. Their unselfishness has helped us through difficult times and because they were willing to bless us, we, in turn, were able to do the same.

One of the lessons my mother taught me from a young age was to help others out, even if you were struggling yourself. She was a single mother, bringing up three children, and often barely had enough money to make ends meet. And yet, she would always tithe before she paid any other bill. She always the first one to volunteer to help. She always went above and beyond in her giving to others.

I'm thankful I learned that lesson because the flip side of generosity is stinginess. I have known many people who were stingy with their money, their possessions and their time. In their own financial struggles, they were quick to cling tightly to what they had. And I'm not sure God blesses that attitude. We need to be wise with our money, but at the same time, generous.

So as I write another Frugal Friday post, I want to make sure that I communicate that being frugal is not being stingy. Stinginess is clinging so tightly to your possessions that there is no ability to open your hand to God's blessings.

I find that when I have a heart of generosity, my days are indeed joyful and blessed. I think the Lord created us to have this characteristic that He has: generosity. Let's work on being a people that gives and does so with a generous heart.

"Lose yourself in generous service and every day can be a most unusual day, a triumphant day, an abundantly rewarding day!"

- William Arthur Ward.

Some ways I've worked on saving the past couple of weeks has been mostly in the kitchen. I find planning ahead and putting some meals in the freezer helps for those nights when I don't feel like making a whole meal. It prevents me from ordering take-out.

I made puff pastry for an event we were having and froze half of it. I also froze the filling for chicken pie. The other night I pulled both out of the freezer and made a quick and delicious dinner. I put the filling in a 9x13 casserole dish, rolled out the puff pastry and laid it on top and baked the whole thing. Dan and Nathan loved it and there were absolutely no leftovers!

Last year, I canned some brandied pears. One of the things I sell at the upcoming farmer's markets is jams and jellies but when the market starts things are out of season still. So I pulled the pears off the shelf and turned them into brandied pear jam. Yum! Rather than buy the fruit now when it's out of season and expensive, preserving it in the summer and then using it later in the year is a great way to save some money.

I find keeping a well-stocked pantry helps when I want to pull together a quick meal. This pasta dish has bacon, onion, garlic, broccoli, tomatoes and mushrooms. It's versatile and I can use whatever I have in my fridge. 

I like to try new recipes and find that I can make almost anything. This was a recipe for Shakshuka which is a North African tomato and vegetable dish with eggs in it (the eggs weren't done yet here). Dan and I loved it; Nathan not so much! :-)

I've also been purchasing more things in bulk since the prices of items are going up. I have an Amish dry goods store I go to for flour and will buy a 25-50 lb. bag of that. I want to get some of those large 5 gallon plastic buckets to store it in.

Anyway, those are just a few of the ways I've saved the past couple of weeks. I do need to step up my game though. The costs are going up and impulse shopping can be a downfall so I'm working on that.

How are you tightening your belt in these hard economic times?