Trash To Treasure

I love love love finding good deals.

I shop yard sales, consignment stores, & the Goodwill. I shop regular stores too, but rarely buy something if it isn't on sale.

As I mentioned earlier this month, I have been working on tagging 200 items for an TTB Kidz upcoming consignment sale in Charlotte, NC. I have shopped this sale numerous times in the past, but have never attempted to sell my own items. Turns out, there's a lot of work in getting ready for a sale.

I honestly hadn't planned on shopping the sale this year. Charlotte is over an hour away for me. Taking the clothes down and then picking up whatever is left was already creating 2 trips and more gas than I want to think about.

BUT, as I said, I LOVE sells! I also realized that I no longer had an option to put off buying Logan a big boy bed. *side note {One day as I was getting Logan up from his nap, he started handing me his papi (pacifier), blankets, & every stuffed animal in the crib. I laughed at him, telling him my arms for full so I couldn't get him. I asked him how he was going to get out. He proceeded to push up on the side rail and throw his leg completely over it. Ok, dully noted buddy. Its time for a new bed!}

So, off I took, in my gas guzzling Suburban in search of a bed, a new (to me) car seat because I'm tired of switching it back & forth constantly, and very few clothes.

After bumper to bumper, stop & go traffic, we finally made it to Charlotte. And where did I head first? Yep, straight to the beds. I found a white Graco metal bed with plastic side rails for $25. I personally think that was well worth the trip. (I'll tell you more about that later.)

I also found a Graco car seat for $20. The cheapest one I have previously found was $40, so of course, I bought it! The Abercrombie  hoodie for $3, the $10 Christmas dress valued at over $50, several other pieces were just icing on the cake.

And just what kind of homeschooler would I be if I didn't wander through the book section? When I saw a book that we would need for school this year that has been discontinued, I grabbed it in a heartbeat.

I was almost ready to leave when my eyes spotted The Princess & The Pea. It was an old copy & looked just like the one I had as a child. I smiled as I picked it up. My husband always refers to me as the Princess & the pea because if there is anything in my bed, I can't stand it. I will find even the smallest crumb. So, yes, we now own this copy of this children's classic.

When Your Pest Becomes a Pet

Living on a farm, we have an abundance of animals around here. We have a dog, a couple of pigs, about 12 cows, and around 100 chickens.We have plenty of song birds, crows, doves, bats, and untold amounts of flying critters. We have also been known to spot raccoons, possums, stray cats, groundhogs, and even coyotes wandering around.

Here lately, our abundance of pets has quadrupled. It appears that we are also housing & feeding countless ant colonies & enough flies to make napping a thing of the past!

Are you with me here? Do you find yourself singing "Where Have All The Flies Come From" to the tune of Paula Cole?

Well, if you are anything like me, you are ready to do just about anything short of hanging fly strips from your ceiling & lining the window sills with poison. So let's investigate some frugal, friendlier options to inform our special guests that they are no longer welcome at our homes.

Tried & true

Essential Oils make nice smelling repellents

You get farther with sugar & vinegar

Herbs are useful for more than just cooking

Fly help for the farmer

You already have this on hand

Do you have anything that has been especially helpful in controlling your pests?

The Price for Going Green...

My house is a complete & total disaster zone! Even more so than normal!

We have been focusing ALL of our energy, effort, & expenses into trying to hook up, finish building, & switch over to the water stove that it has consumed our lives. This has been an on going project for a month now...over a month if you include the search for a suitable water stove (free is suitable!)

We finally got the water hooked up towards the end of last week & it is GREAT! All 5 of us can now take baths within an hour & not freeze to death!

Do you have any idea how much money this is going to save since we don't have to use the water heater?
I'm excited!

We are almost done with the building that will keep our little stove safe & dry. A little more electrical wiring, a little more insulation, & a side door should complete it.

Do you have any idea how excited Justin is about having a "pout house"?

So now we are in the process of also rerouting the heating system to blow past a coil (don't ask me, I got confused just listening to it). We started that procedure Tuesday. It was necessary to cut off our "old" heat in order to get the "new" heat started. Downside - Tuesday was beyond FRIGID! We are still trying to convert over.....

Upside - Do you have any idea how much money this is going to save since we don't have to rely on the heat pump? I'm excited!

Next step - we are on the lookout for solar panels...

We May Just Starve

As a mom who has chosen to stay at home in order to teach her children, I try to save as much money as possible. I watch the sales. I clip mounds of coupons. I buy off brand whenever I can. I also plan all of our menus & go grocery shopping once a month.

Well, I was a lot better at this before Logan came along! Since then, I'm just happy if we have something that is half way edible & more than one roll of toilet paper!

So here lately I've really been trying to get back into cheapskate frugal mom mode. I was planning my trip to the grocery store this afternoon. I was finally cutting out the coupons from last week. I made my shopping list. No menus yet, so I was winging it - hopefully next month. I gathered the kids up & headed out the door.

While we were at Walmart, I let Makenzie walk through the toys for ideas on what she wants for her birthday. Yeah, well, she wants
e v e r y t h i n g! 

So, on to the grocery department....
HOLY COW - I FORGOT MY COUPONS! GGGRRRRRR! Now, I'm looking at this list & trying to think about what I absolutely have to have in the next few days & what I might have a coupon for at home. And I'm trying to think while Austin & Makenzie are running up & down the aisles, asking for this or that, & begging to go to the bathroom. (What is the excitement of public bathrooms? My kids ALWAYS have to go anytime we go anywhere!) Oh & of course Logan is screaming because he is hungry.

After ending up with a buggy full of stuff that I can't remember if we need or not, I gave up & went to check out.

I'm trying to manage enough sanity for putting all the groceries up on the belt & then the bags in the buggy while telling Makenzie for the 15th time to get out of the floor because she is playing with all of those evil toys that they place in the check out lines just for the sake of driving parents crazy & while asking Austin yet again why he is not helping me & begging Logan to quit crying - when (God Bless her heart) this little elderly lady in line behind me starts cooing at Logan & telling me what beautiful children I have. ..... (WOW that was a long run on sentence) ..... Thank God for grandmother types because Logan immediately stopped crying & started laughing & smiling at this angel in disguise.

We finally make it to the car, only for me to realize that Justin's fire gear is in the back. Now my Suburban has more than adequate trunk space, but that gear bag, a stroller, two lawn chairs, a couple of stadium chairs, Austin's football pads & helmet take up A LOT of room. Where am I going to put all of these groceries?

On my way home I made a promise to myself.......we may very well starve before I take all the kids back grocery shopping again.

Creative Inspirations

Relying on one income is hard for any family. Many families are forced down to one income due to sickness, job loss, death, whatever. This is the lifestyle we have chosen because we feel that God has directed our family on this adventure. Its not easy, but I know that its worth it. We have all had to make sacrifices & changes to the way we live. And we might not see all the rewards for our efforts here in this life, but one day, I hope that God will look at me & say "Well done, my child!".

So.....in an effort to add a little extra income to our family, we have become very crafty lately. I have always enjoyed playing around with things, but I have never had the passion for it like I have now. I am so thankful that God has put this desire in my life.

I hope that you enjoy our creations & will support our little business!

Check out our Blessed Boutique on FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blessed-Boutique/185896581434260

Little Miss Betty Homemaker

You know, we are all creatures of habit & truly a generation of convenience & gratification. What would we do without cell phones, microwaves, credit cards, & drive-thrus? I have always been just as reliant on these as the next person, but recently, I've been wondering...is it all really necessary?  (Just please don't take my laptop, Vin Diesel, or my Twilight movies! LOL)

Our ancestors lived far more simple lives & they survived the times. Justin & I have always commented on how much "easier" it would have been back then. Now don't get me wrong, I know that they had to work HARD, but they were satisfied. Today, no one ever seems to have "enough". They are always working & striving for the next step. What happened to enjoying life where we are? In light of that, it made the wheels start turning...........I don't belong to this world, so why am I trying to compete with it? God wants us to be good stewards of what He has given us.

For a year now, we have been living on 1 income. It hasn't been easy, some bills have been late, we have had to say no to some things we wanted, but we still have our home & no one is going hungry! I have tried to cut back in some areas, but not as much as I needed to. Withing the past few weeks, God has really opened my eyes. Not only do I need to control spending, but I need to be frugal (ie. CHEAP) & I need to be resourceful. So I have been doing lots of homework on this.

• I use coupons & I usually save about $40 everytime I go shopping. I really want this savings to be more, but its a great start!
• I have found numerous websites with wealths of information on them. My favorites right now are:
• http://groceryshrink.com/  tips on how to spend less & save more, recipes for making your own household cleaners - a few I have tried & they actually work
• http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/  more tips on spending & saving, frugal recipes
• I have started TRYING to use a budget & stick to it. I have always hated this because our "budget" on paper is UGLY! Trust me, we are always in the red. Its only by God's grace that we make it from month to month & that is just one reason that I KNOW I'm supposed to be at home.
• I plan a menu for the whole month that way I don't have to keep running to the grocery store (this month has been hard b/c the kids are sick, so I keep forgetting something b/c my mind is preoccupied)

• I have a cash envelope for groceries (see note above - ugh) & gas

This is just the beginning! We are increasing the size of our garden this year & planting several things that we have never tried before (including potatoes - I am so excited).  I usually can & freeze each year, but this year I have a new found desire for Betty Homemaker. Justin hunts so we usually have an abundance of deer meat. We already have cows & pretty soon one of those lucky(?) gals will be in our freezer. We are going to start raising pigs (we've done this before) & Austin wants chickens (I'm not sure about this, but I'm willing to try anything). Now if only I could sew......