Urgent Prayer Request

I have a huge issue - I used an ATM machine on Saturday because I needed a little cash. (I only have a little cash.) When the cash and receipts came out, I pulled out quickly because I was in a hurry forgetting my debit card. I just talked to the bank to see if they could get it and the lady informed me that if the card is from another bank - it gets shredded. I really really really need that card to travel back home! Please pray.

Grocery Cart Challenge - Failure

I love Gayle's Grocery Cart Challenge Blog, but I think I belong in the hall of shame. Our budget is exceedingly tight, and has gotten even tighter as I have been trying to save money in order to afford the trip to WV that we are hoping to make in May. It is just no use. She manages to spend only $50 a week, and I can't manage to stay under $100. I checked my pantry first, and then made a list and menu to see how little damage I might do, and hoped to stay under $100.
Applesauce - $1.68
3 pkgs. Jiffy corn muffin mix - $.36 each
Pepper Jack cheese slices - $2.28
1 lb. lean ground beef - $3.54
1 gallon Foremost milk (no antibiotics or hormones) - $5.22
1 pint half & half - $1.32
2 jugs of drinking water - $.68 each
American cheese - $3.68
1 lb. butter - $2.28
10 lb bag sugar - $4.22
rump roast - $10.90
large 36 pkg. of eggs - $4.66
Mustard - $.67
Flour - $2.44
Bananas - 2.51 lbs @ $.64/lb - $1.61
Plums - 1.60 lbs @ $1.50/lb - $2.40
2 tomatoes - $1.46
12 pk. hamburger patties - $6.27
Sliced chicken lunch meat - $2.98
Chicken breasts - $6.97
Sliced ham lunch meat - $3.98
1 pkg. 10 tortillas - $4.22
Grapes - $3.70
Dried red beans - $1.08
Tomato sauce - $.78
2 boxes pop-tarts - $2.92 each
Refried beans - $1.54
Cumin - $1.96
Vanilla yogurt - $1.76
1 can diced tomatoes - $.52
1 can green chiles - $.78
Brown rice - $.98

Suave Shampoo - $1.97
Suave Conditioner $1.97
Glass cleaner - $.97
Trash bags - $2.94
Fine point Sharpie markers - $1.42 (needed for Science projects)
Pencils - $1.50 (on clearance)
Pens - $.92
3 handsoap pumps - $.88 each
Dawn - $2.47 (I don't compromise on this)
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste - $2.88 each
Our one luxury item - 2 liter Pepsi - $1.38

My meals for the week consist of:
Hamburgers and fried potatoes (I already have them)
Salmon patties (I already have the salmon - and I'll use bread crumbs from stale bread)
Minestrone soup
Pot roast and potoatoes
Chicken tortilla bake
Taco ring made with homemade crescent rolls
At least one night of leftovers - or a soup, sandwich, quesadilla, cereal, pancake, whatever night!

I also have to feed five breakfast and lunch to five people. My husband's standby is poptarts for the morning, and other than eggs I didn't get any "breakfast"foods. I do have extra hamburger patties for a lunch one day, and a couple of Ramen noodles and mac & cheese in the pantry for some other lunches. I am also partial to egg salad - which is great on toasted bread. All of the food here will be consumed in a week. My groceries totalled $120.80.
I will likely have to go back to the store mid-week for flour as Kaitlyn accidentally baked my crescent roll dough that was rising with the bread I asked her to put in the oven. (Ugh!) I am also hoping that the 4 rolls of toilet paper that we have in the closet will last the week. Maybe we can just run to the corner store to use their restroom if we run out! I am just going to refuse to go back to the store no matter what. That is another big money drain - you walk into Walmart and magically walk out $20 - 30 lighter.
I really, really want to get it down below $100. I need some suggestions on how to do that. The bottom half of the list is technically "household" items and not grocery and it adds up to about $20 - but I would still like to keep that under the budget.
Meatless meals aren't an option for hubby. He is also a big eater, and I'm not telling a hungry man that he can't eat until he is full. Fresh produce is not optional. I know I could save $2 automatically if I just bought the hormone and antibiotic laden milk, but I just can't. We haven't gotten away from the meat yet, but we're working on that also. So here's what I'm dealing with, and I'm so frustrated because I can't seem to balance healthy and frugal.

If I Should Die Before I Wake

Before you think me melodramatic, let me say that I have been thinking about death.
Not.my.own.
It is for something I am writing.
It made me wonder.....so I thought I would ask you -

If you found out today that you would die for sure in six months, and money were no option, what would be the three most important things for you to do with that time? Where would you go? Who would you see? What places would you visit?

Three things - will you share your thoughts with me for my project??

Torture or a Godly Shove

Travis called me this morning. "I have bad news" he says. In my wisdom, I know that nothing following this line can be good - however, there are varying degrees of bad. In the past he has said this cause he got a ticket, or needs to buy new tires, or the price of gas went up. Today, the bad news was at the highest degree of bad.
He. got. laid. off.
I didn't see this coming - and that made the bad news even worse.
Our financial situation is already suffocating, having depleted what we had saved as he has made less than what was anticipated when we moved.
But, God is indeed in control.
Travis is the kind of guy that likes his comfort zone, more than most. He hates change. He has a long list of things he doesn't want to do. He has been talking for a couple of months now about going back into welding, but Mr. Comfort Zone often needs a huge shove to go from point A to point B.
I am trying to look at this situation as a godly shove.
In fact it can be a blessing in disguise. I have questioned the Lord before during times of unemployment and what on earth He was doing - when I had been so faithfully praying that He would give Travis a better job - and clearly heard His voice speak into my spirit "how did you expect Me to give him another job when he still had one?"
So I'm holding onto that.
And I'm thankful for the lessons my kids have learned during this time. When a lot of kids would be wheezing and whining about how this might effect their Christmas - my amazing kids were wrapping their arms around us, praying with us, and encouraging their parents. Kullen did wonder how we're going to eat which I think is quite practical. Suddenly an AK47 Airsoft Gun that was at the top of his list is not a major priority. Good kids. Lots of blessings. I'm counting them instead of the digits in my bank balance today.

$96.72 for What???

I was telling my husband earlier today how much groceries cost. Actually I was telling him how the prices have soared in the last year or so. It is crazy. I am spending close to $150-200 a week depending on what we eat. This particular week, I thought I'd save us some money and empty out the pantry - using up all the canned goods, etc. that we have in there and finding recipes to utilize these ingredients. The picture to the right shows what I bought. If you'll notice - I did not buy any meats except lunch meat. I buy organic milk and some name brand items, but for the most part, I buy store brands. I also bought some Tootsie Pops to have on Friday to and from the concert for a treat (instead of stopping at convenience stores for junk!) and some card stock that is actually for co-op tomorrow. The total came to $96.72. I almost fainted.
Here is a list of what I bought:
2 - 1/2 gal. organic milk $3.68 each -Clorox bleach $1.88/gal - men's deodorant $2.07 - women's deodorant $2.74 (explain to me why mine is higher than hubby's???) - Toothpaste $3.47 -gallon sized freezer storage bags $1.12 - Card stock $3.88 - Apple Jacks $2.74 (a treat) - 1 pint sour cream $1.34 - 1 can navy beans $.64 (these were advertised on the shelf for 50 cents - so I was overcharged) - Saltines - $.87 - Coffee $4.96 - Butter $2.28 - 2 pkgs lunch meat $2.98 each - Tootsie pops $4.88 - Wisk $9.48 (have to buy HE detergent for the front loading washer that is supposed to be saving me money in electricity) - Downy $4.97 - Macaroni noodles $.50 - Chicken broth $1.00 - 1 can diced tomatoes $.54 - 1 pkg pop tarts $2.42 - Lipton tea bags $2.12 - Flour $1.58 - 2 pkgs oysters at $1.17 - Pepper jack cheese $2.12 - Shampoo and conditioner (good stuff - we have bad hair) $5.84 ea - Roma tomatoes - $.56 - Grapes $2.57

These things without what is already in my pantry would NOT feed us for the week - these are just the odds and ends.
Oh and on a bit of a homeschooler rant - while we were at Wally World - there was a local elementary school class there on a "field trip"!!!! Do NOT get me started here - but why on earth do elementary school students in rural America need to go on a field trip to Walmart?? Most of them practically live there. Their families spend their whole paychecks there. It defines their culture. They are all wearing the same clothes because everybody shops at Walmart. And they were not being instructed in any way whatsoever, they were descending on the store like a plague of grasshoppers, running everywhere, knocking over merchandise and blocking aisles. Oh brother.

More than Money

I had a nice, long, overdue conversation with my friend Carol today. I miss her so much. She has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders in life. Today I was feeling a little discouraged that finances are so tight right now. It is frustrating when we have to wait on little things like the purchase of a pair of shoes because of all the things I am juggling. Carol pointed out all the things in our lives that are so much more valuable than money - the relationships my children have with one another and me, the opportunities they have been given, the love that they have. It is so good to have a friend like that when you are missing the forest for the trees. True friends are priceless, and life is way more than money.

Tightening the Belt

There are two ways that the title of this post applies to my life right now. The first and never-ending thing is that I have GOT to do something about my weight. I can't even stand to look at myself. There are various avenues of attack - all of which I have tried before and failed. The crux of the issue is that it is a spiritual problem - and yet I struggle with praying and drawing closer to God with the manipulative goal of losing weight. I know that others do not feel this way - but for me - this is how it feels. I wish I could get my head on straight about it - because it is what continues to pave the road of failure.

Secondly, I am making some changes to tighten my belt in the area of grocery expenses. (I know this will thrill Leslie to no end!) I continually go to the grocery store and overspend what I have budgeted. Part of the reason is the consistently rising food prices. One way I am attempting to tackle this is to go to the store without my debit card, and only take the amount of cash that I intend to spend. This doesn't allow for me to make concessions, or impulse buy. I am also going to attempt to use less meat in our meals. This is always difficult for my husband - who is a total carnivore, but it is one way to stretch things out so that we can get the most for our money. It is so hard to eat healthy and plenty of fresh food - and so much easier to buy cheap processed, junk food that passes as meals but leaves us malnourished. I am determined to find ways to stretch our money to feed our family without compromising on a healthy diet.

How are you tightening your belt?

Frugal Friend

I made a friend on Homeschoolblogger about a year and a half ago. We keep up with each other's blogs, have had occasion to chat on instant messenger (I was in Texas for the first time since we decided to move - and she has no idea how much that chat did to keep my spirits up!), and have emailed each other on and off. Mostly on. She is a really neat lady. Although we both blog other places now, we have maintained our bloggy-friendship - and I treasure her - Leslie a/k/a Boltbabe (this name has something to do with being a hockey FANATIC!). She has several blogs - and I have each of them on my Google Reader so I can stay updated when she posts something. Today she had two great posts about frugality - the first one was Frugal Check Point where wrote about keeping a price book. I have heard of a price book before - but could never figure out exactly how to get one started. Later she posted more specifics of said "price book" here. I learned a lot - so if you are interested in making sure more of your money stays in your pocket, I would highly recommend being a regular at her homesteady-frugal living-simplicity blog, or you might want to check out her more eclectic blog. Either way you're sure to learn a bunch! Tell her jewlsntexas sent ya!

T13 Edition #4 - Thirteen Things I Would Do With a Million Dollars

This T13 list is actually inspired by the movie The Ultimate Gift. My kids and I saw it yesterday. I didn’t know it was put out by “Fox Faith”. It was a great feel good, family kind of movie.

13 Things I Would Do With a Million Dollars

1. Send a large check to some of my favorite missions organizations, including personally to any missionaries that I know.

2. Release my husband from the 9-5 daily grind, to free up his creative energies to do things he’s always wanted but never had the time or resources to do.

3. Plan a family mission trip to an impoverished country.

4. Pay for my mother-in-law and both of her sisters to have their homes and property maintained, or help them in any way needed.

5. Get my hair done by a hairdresser with ears. (Refer to previous post!)

6. Set up savings accounts for my children to use for college, a down-payment for their first house, have full body tattoos, or whatever they would choose to do with it that would make them happiest.

7. Buy an RV and make it homey to use on semi-annual visits to see friends in WV, and family in NC.

8. Take a cross-country trip with my family to see places like Yellowstone, Laura Ingalls Wilder exhibits in several locations, the Grand Canyon, DEFINITELY the Badlands, the Rocky Mountains, etc. including every beach, mountain range, plain and forest.

9. Go to Walt Disney World in Florida.

10. Use it lavishly for random acts of kindness.

11. Enroll in Bible college and immerse myself fully in word study, theology, etc.

12. Build a library in Baborigame, Mexico and stock it with good books written in Spanish.

13. Move my house to a more secluded piece of land, and buy our whole family 4-wheelers.

The truth of the matter is, regardless of how hard I stretched my brain to think, none of the things I could do with a million dollars would really make the world a better place. I would not be a better wife or mother, a more loving friend, a more faithful follower of Christ. I could not buy my dad a new back, or heal my mom's mind and heart. I know I wouldn't be any happier.
In the end, the only thing that truly touches the world in an attempt to make it a better place is an abandoned giving of self. The message I got from the movie, one I’ve always known, is that the best things in life aren’t things, and that what you gain when you give of yourself is far more valuable than what you can obtain with money.
It was fun to think about anyway!

Liquid Gold

I think this was supposed to be funny - but with gas rising as much as 53 cents a gallon yesterday in our area - you do start to wonder what you might have to give up in order to put fuel in your vehicle. I mean looking over a budget, you may start to think things like "Gas.... Food.....Gas.....Food - which one should we get this week?" I expect soon we will see men in business suits standing on the street corner with the little computer generated signs saying, "Will Work For Gas". My friends and I, living in a rural area miles from town have taken to making as many trips as we can together and taking turns driving. It's not funny anymore - how high will these gas prices rise??!?