No Air Conditioner Here Baby

An Air Conditioner is just one of those luxuries that we have always chosen to do without. This surprises many because in the last 20 years it has went from being viewed from the luxury item that is usually is, to a necessity, kind of like Cable TV. Especially escalating to top of the list needs within the last 12 years or so. Yet even though many view them as needed items now, neither truly is, they still are a luxury item.

I agree an air conditioner comes in handy if you have infants or the elderly and live in areas where the heat can get really hot. These two age groups hot temperatures can be life threatening and cause high fevers or heat exhaustion that leads to death.

Going without an air conditioner may indeed be something I regret this year. Since my chemo I seem to only be tolerating 60 to 70 degree temps. Anything below that and I am freezing cold and shivering all day. Anything hotter I am dying, drinking gallons of water and so so so miserable. But I am determined to grit my teeth and bear it, after all they certainly did not have these items in the past.

In the olden days they use to hang cold wet sheets over open windows to  cool off the house while adding moisture. I may even try this for this summer, along with the fans we have, all will be good!

One of the main problems are that we live in a trailer, trailers seem to collect heat like a green house unless shaded by trees really well. Our yard is open with NO trees what so ever. No trees to block the high winds in the winter and no trees to provide us relief from the blazing sun. If this was our property, we would have planted trees to remedy this, but alas it is not, we rent it. So suffer it is.

We did buy a few more screens to get some more of the windows we can open though as broken windows or windows with no screens were another issue of causing more heat in the house. Windows specifically are listed in rental agreement as being our responsibility even if most were in disrepair when we moved in.

To me though no matter what, an Air Conditioner is just not worth first, the expense to purchase one, or two the cost to run one on the electric bill. We just simply choose not to want to spend money in these categories.  Even if you only run the air conditioner on the few days you find unbearable, then to me it was never worth the expense of purchasing the air conditioner in the first place. 

We find plenty other ways to cool down for the summer so to us it is just not a big deal and not even wasting the energy to contemplate this purchase. At least not here in Michigan, I do understand those who live in very hot long hot season states!

I also know this certainly is not something most are willing to go without and for us that is okay because we are not living the others lives, we are living ours and this is what works and the choices we like to make.  That is what is wonderful about life, it is unique to each individual and each family, making conscious choices of where you want to save money in areas that don't mean much to you while being able to spend it in the areas that do mean something to you!

Do you have air conditioning? Do you see it as a luxury or a need? If you do not have air conditioning what are some ways you like to cool off?

 

Unjobbing

Saving $100 a Month by Mowing Ourselves

I am starting to smell a theme this year ha ha, one that states, we will spend money on items that in return will save us money or make us money!

This week it was time to mow the yard, so we purchased a mower, not a fancy riding one or anything like that, but just a decent push mower with a grass catcher on it. The grass catcher makes it so we will not have to rake ( or bring in loose grass all over the house which happens when the person we use to pay, cut it with a riding mower!) and also makes it so it is easy to dump in the garden, in the chicken pen or in the mulch pile.


For the last 2 years we paid someone to do it as it was convenient and well, me and hubby just had too much other things going on for summer to survive on low wages. Yet we struggled to pay him and many times bills would get behind in order to keep our yard mowed. We have about an acre sized yard so it is a tiny yard to mow and even though he charged a very small rate, it would always become a difficult bill to keep up with, without letting others go. ( He charged so little as he is our neighbors son, who are related to our landlord)


So this year we bought our mower for $200 and it will pay for itself by the end of June! I also felt this would be good exercise for me on my road to recovery. Well I did try today and sent me into a 30 minute coughing fit, and for a small square had me drinking a whole gallon of water and taking about 5 breaks! So perhaps I need to still work up to this but I do have hubby, a 15 year old son and a 12 year old daughter who all can mow if I can't.

Oh and I am also very sore now, these muscles of mine really need to get built back up again, it is amazing to me how weak I really have gotten!

On a good note, we are still on our $880 a month budget, easily staying on track and using all extra income streams that come in above that on all our funding envelopes.  As you can see in that budget, there was no room to pay someone $100 a month for mowing! So yeah score for us in not breaking the budget for the convenience of someone else mowing this year!

Is there a way you have come up with recently to save on a monthly basis?

Healthy Master Muffin Mix

3 c. white flour
4 c. whole wheat flour
3 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. ground flax seed
2 c. powdered milk
3 T. double acting baking powder



To Use:

Use 3 cups of master muffin mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil or melted butter
1 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring
1/2 c. Honey or 3/4 c. agave
1 c. berries, nuts, whatever

Bake at 400 degrees in 13 x 9 greased pan for 20 minutes or in greased or lined muffin pan for about 15 minutes.

On Track Baby!

So far our Budget has worked beautifully this month and was a good month as well for extra money!

Hubby has one more paycheck and the month is not over but so far, I spent the $880 of the budget exactly how it is shown, as well as put extra money into  some of the extra envelope funds. It feels so good to  be back on track and in control!

Xtra money has been         $30 on hubby's paycheck
                                        $240  state refund
                                        $210 child support


This has gone into extra propane, holidays ( spent $120 on sons 15th birthday) clothing, extra gas for truck and needs and wants ( we need a push lawn mower really really soon!) Also funded a small emergency fund!


Looks like this budget will be a winner and finally work quite well for our family, it has not been easy coming up with a very low budget and live below our income level, but this one has worked better than any I have ever come up with before. By using extra money to fund all foreseeable items we need or want, for the year, I think it will work quite fabulous.

I funded holidays and clothing because my son had a Birthday this month and now my daughter has her 12th birthday coming up in May so have to get her a couple gifts. Also I promised her a trip to JC Penny's to get a few outfits, that will be funded out of the clothing fund. Normally we get clothes at thrift stores, but for her birthday this is what she wanted. Who could argue with that?

How are you doing for your budget this April?

Chicken Coop and Run: the Beginnings

First off sorry for the shadows, the sun was causing issues and I did not feel like moving the wood and barrel!

We spent $25 or so on a 50 foot roll of 4 foot high chicken wire.

The first photo is of a pile of wood from an extremely large dog house and the blue barrel with a locking lid is the second photo. We got these two items for free off of our local free cycle list!

The dog house we actually had to dismantle to fit into our Bronco Truck, it is about 4 x 4 x 4 1/2 when assembled, the perfect size to reconstruct into a coop for our small flock. We just have to make a few adjustments to make it more chicken friendly like a floor, an attached area of nest boxes we can access from the outside, some ventilation and an access area for cleaning.

The same person gave us the blue barrel.......since it is  a little smaller than I really want and a locking lid, not sure yet how I will use it.........but use it somehow we will.

We also have another dog house to pick up Sunday: we figure even if we can not use the dog houses as is, it gives us some free lumber to use in our chicken coop and pen projects!

I am hoping the $25 that we spent on the chicken wire will be our only expenses in the end from free cycle as well as what we already have on hand.

I will get more photos up as soon as we are into the building phase!

Frugality Can Make Others Very Uncomfortable

Online you tend to build a community of like minds.......people searching out on purpose what you write about because they want ideas, inspiration or find an interest in it. They know they can take ideas they themselves may want to try, and ignore the rest even if an idea intrigues them......they simply know that is just  not for them.

Yet in real life, if you are considered a hard core frugalist........it can really make those you know really uncomfortable. You shock them that you actually make these incomprehensible financial decisions. This could be anywheres from no air conditioning, living in tiny homes, biking 25 miles in a day for edible foraging to no furniture choices.

You have not been to a movie theatre in 9 years? Why on earth not, I am sure you can afford the expense monthly!

It can really make the people you know in real life squirm, and think you have no standard of living or any quality of life.

There are levels of frugality for everyone, my level happens to make many uncomfortable and I am very aware many would never make the choices we do, even if they are in a tight situation.

This is where a thick skin helps, because what matters is that WE ARE COMFORTABLE, not complacent but comfortable and happy with our decisions, yes.

Our priorities are in building quality lasting relationships, laughter, joy, passion, Eco-friendlier, ( always needs improvement there!) generosity towards others  lives. 

Things do not equal status to  us, Our income or line of work does not define us as individuals and fashion simply does not matter in the  least to us. Our standard of living is no different than others.... it simply is just not super sized or inflated and done on small scale. Our quality of life is outstanding and quite incredible.

In real life I do not know 1 person that "gets us and our lifestyle choices" even though my mom comes the closest. My mom is very frugal but over the years I have increased many of our levels of frugality way past even what she would be comfortable with.

Yet I still do not consider myself an extremist in any way or fashion and many times to not give my choices a second thought. They are what they are in the moment of decision and is "normal" for us, second nature without thinking about it.

We splurge, we save, we work towards dreams and goals.......... just like anyone else.

We adapt, always and always come out okay, happy and blessed.

Why does it make others in real life so uncomfortable? I really am not sure........ any insight?
 

Too Graphic For Photos: A Tale of Extreme Violence

Warning: May Not be suitable for Young Audiences..........


Last night as I had troubles  sleeping, a clatter outside caught my attention....I strained my ears listening for the first sounds of chickens in distress. After about  20 minutes of nothing, I started to relax and decided to force myself to sleep. Hubby already sound asleep, snoring loudly next to me. Then about 10 minutes later, the unmistakable sounds of squawking and wing flapping of crazed chickens scared out of their mind echoed through our bedroom.

I leaped out of bed without thinking, running outside in Mid April after it had been snowing half that morning.......no coat, bald head, barefoot, racing across the yard in the pitch dark. I stop, knowing in the pitch dark, in chicken pens still winterized, closed off so you can not see into them as spring just does not want to show it's face, how stupid my rashness is. After all I can not see what predator lies in waiting for me if I come up and surprise it!

Not to mention, since Chemo, I truly am freezing all the time and can not tolerate such cold conditions.......so I race back in the house as Hubby who awoke with the noise, is flying out of bed with the  speed of a gazelle, racing to save our favorite chickens, in a separate pen from the others. Our 2 silkie roosters and araucauna hen. I grab some shoes, my hat and a coat..... wondering where my daughter left the dang flashlight she had just played with 2 nights ago.

Save our chickens...............the only thing on our minds..... you would think raising chickens in a country setting would have us owning some type of weapon to deal with predators...... um nope, guilty as charged!

When I come out, chickens have been set free, scattering in the dark cross country.......who knows where in the zillion acres of farm fields and darkness. A lump lies curled up right outside their pen. I am impressed Hubby got it from the pen to the outside of it and asked him what the heck it was. He informs me he clubbed it once in the head so not to worry, it was dead.......then tells me it is an opossum.

Yeah he is a city boy who knows nothing of nature! I am like DUDE hit him again, he is NOT dead, he is just PLAYING DEAD!

To late, he jumps up and runs next to the other pen.

Then we proceed to throw large rocks, trying to crack his  skull, a horrible situation to be in. Hubby talked of trying to chase him away.......I explained if we did that, he would just keep returning, the sad truth of a food chain in nature at work.

Besides, this pissed off creature who was growling, hissing and not in the mood was not about to leave, he was ready for the fight.

I kept telling hubby to grab the shovel sitting pretty close to us, while by now our daughter had found the flashlight so at least we could see what we were doing. Hubby ignored me, kept debating what to do, fearing this thing would start running at us and biting us.

You see Opossums, naturally play dead, but when they are truly under attack, they can be nasty and oh so incredibly mean and have no problems running up your leg biting the crap out of you.

I was freezing and telling hubby while trying not to hurry him, that I could not handle the cold anymore as an hour or two had passed and the rock throwing was not doing much good other than hurting him slightly. We needed to end this so we could find our chickens and go  to bed!

Our daughter who is 11 and running around the house trying  to find ways to help, fashioned a spear out of an old hollow broom handle and a sharp kitchen knife that when wedged in the handle made for a fine mighty spear.

One problem was the handle was only about 2 1/2 feet long and hubby was not comfortable with such close combat range.. The machete we had under our bed also was made for close combat range and hubby decided was way too dull.

This whole situation was truly sucking as I HATE being cruel to wildlife but at the same time needed to protect our small flock.

Finally we got the possum  to come out enough from his rock pile that ended up being his shelter rather than the hopeful killing of him we intended it to be, grabbed the shovel.

I  remained silent, flashlight on target, while hubby got the courage and confidence to strike.....it took a little bit but in the end the shovel did the trick, breaking it's neck.

30 minutes later, the extremely frightened chickens had been found, rounded up in the dark and placed back into safety.

Growing your own is not always pleasant, it is what is is! One chicken received a small bite but appears to be okay so in the end we saved all 3 so will consider a gruesome but successful night.

I think we will be considering at least a good air gun for future predator issues............

How about you, have you ever had predator issues with your backyard flock?

Sold on Sam's Club: NOT

We went to Sam's Club the other day and while we did find some good buys, I am not sure I am really sold on Sam's club by the time we factor in the $15 in gas for one trip and then the $40 membership fee.

It is certainly set up to entice the shopper to overspend in large quantities in the least amount of time. Many products are overpriced and the sample stations everywhere further encouraging buying when you taste the products. One of these sample stations had hubby putting a barbecue sandwich box into the cart!

Now granted I have never stepped foot in a warehouse store before, so we were very unorganized and not sure what to expect or what to buy. To top this off, it was a regular shopping day we needed as we were out of many things and did not have time to go to 2 stores on that day. We were exhausted due to a week of company with friends, adult daughter, family visits and our grand kids who stayed 4 days. This all contributed to way overspending yet quite the learning experience as well.

In the future I can see buying spices, the large frozen bags of fruit, toilet paper if a good buy and some large cans of certain things, oatmeal and perhaps some grains and pasta but beyond that, nothing really as everything else seemed to be cheaper at the local Walmarts.

I did get what seemed to be good buys on produce until we got them home and actually tasted them. They truly were awful, the oranges were tasteless, the grapes where tasteless AND dry! The plums were tasteless and going bad before they are even ripe.........YUCK, YUCK and YUCK! Never again will I buy fresh produce there! Horrible stuff yet gorgeous in appearance........totally misleading on what you get!

The best buy is truly the spices as our local Walmart sells spices in tiny tiny little things that cost as much as the bulk ones at Sam's club. If we combine this trip with other things we like to visit in that town 25 miles away then the gas won't be as bad either.

My verdict on Sam's Club? NOT IMPRESSED IN THE LEAST

Updated Budget

I am using hubby's really low end for paychecks for this budget as his checks flucuate and updated the budget page as follows.

Hubbys Checks $440 x 2 = $880 plus EBT/Food stamps of $429 = a base of $1309 a month



$475      Rent
$  85      Phone/internet
$ 98      Car Insurance
$ 80      Gas for Auto
$ 49      Electric
$ 50      Propane Heat
$  8       Netflix
$ 10      Xbox Live
$ 25      Savings


$429    EBT/ FOOD


Now this is a basic, bare essentials budget where I have catagorized 26 envelopes for additional income that may come in that we want or need. These funds will be where all extra money is ear marked for.  While I will not list all 26 envelopes and their catagories, they are things like the extra money we need for propane heat or extra gas for the truck for the hospital visits. Home ownership, dining out , clothing, new car fund, car repairs and well you get the idea! All those things this basic budget just does not have any room for.

Without extra money? Well then there would not be any wiggle room and this would be it, but there is always extra money that filters through the cracks!  This also is  one of the reasons I set the budget at hubbys very low end of his paychecks, this will allow for extra money from almost every paycheck as they are typically higher than the budgeted amount!


For now the Food stamps are also remaining in place and kind of waiting to  see what my results are in a couple of weeks. I am in the midst of planning however on ways to raise 80% or more of our own food supply and not only get back off of the food stamps but from supermarket dependancy altogether!

What percentage of  food are you able to raise do you think?

Sinful Spending Spree

Well what can I say?

With my mind racing in many ways of everything I need to do and everything I want to do combined with some extra money from tax refunds, I joined the rest of consumers and am certainly guilty of spending! No excuses, it is what is is.

This is a downfall with windfalls of money when you live on such a small income. When money becomes available, you tend to want to purchase things, you have put off forever and a day!

So yeah, yesterday was fun, fun, fun but stressful on how much was spent at the same time! I have no excuse, it just happened and apparently I had no will power to stop it.

It started off by taking kids out to breakfast- we have NEVER taken kids out to breakfast.

Then we took them as a surprise to see CROODS at the movie theatre for discounted tickets and concession price day.. ummmm my 11 year old daughter has only been to a theatre twice, I myself have not been in 9 years.

Those two were not so bad, a morning of fun for around $55 dollars.

Then we went to the farm supply store---------baby chicks, bunnies-----oh how it puts you in the mood to spend! No we did not buy anything live. Instead we bought a 4 foot high, 50 feet roll of chicken wire for our upcoming chicken pen and coop project. We also bought a bag of Diatomaceous Earth for chickens, and well then we bought an incubator with turning trays. This was a bit pricey but on sale.

The incubator is a 3 win for us though- homeschooling projects, hatching batches of chicks to sell AND hatching batches of chickens for butcher.

THEN we went to WALMART and bought a Norton Virus for our computers- I did really need this.

BUT THEN - my daughter reminded us I promised to buy points for XBOX Live so we bought that. Then looking for clothes poles that they do not carry we saw expandable screens so we bought 4 of those. This is due to many windows not having screens and every year we buy something to help cut down on how HOT it gets in here without an air conditioner or shade. The first year we had one fan, last year we had 3 fans, this year the screens to open more windows!

Well it did NOT stop there- I have waited years to replace my love for bird watching but my yard has no where to hang ANY THING so we bought a pole to fit 3 bird feeders on. Then had to buy the 3 feeders and then some bird seed too! This is for my lifting my spirit to  kick cancers ASS project! Oh is that an excuse? ...............................no not really LOL.

I also got a Canning Kettle, replace my long lost waffle maker and got a Food Processor!

So leaving Walmart they gave us a coupon to be able to shop at SAMS CLUB without having to pay the membership fee. This is good until the END of April. Our Food stamps will be replenished in 2 days. Hubby was like we can not go to SAMS club until we get a freezer!

Well my initial desire was to get a used freezer off of Craigslist, buy hubby had a valid argument so we dropped off everything including kids...........

And went to Sears and got a 5.1 cubic foot freezer! It is not really large, it is a fairly small one and we debated on a larger one, but in the past, we never could fill a larger one and my youngest only has 5 years before 18. Once the kids all leave home, it is perfect size anyways not too mention I do live in a small trailer! Combined with the freezer on the fridge , should offer plenty of new food storage option.

This week we will also be purchasing a food dehydrator and clothespole too!

Now as I mentioned, this is not out of our monthly budget or income at all but still it made out for a VERY EXPENSIVE DAY..........but I must admitt, was VERY FUN!

Do you tend to get the SPRING SPENDTHRIFT SPENDING BUG?

Granola #1

5 cups old fashioned oats ( not the quick kind)
1 c. dried milk
1/2 c. ground flax seed
1 T. cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped pecans ( or any nuts you like)

3/4 c. Agave , Honey or Maple Syrup
1. T. Molasses
1/3 c. olive oil

Raisins added AFTER Baking .


Mix all the dry ingredients together.  In a saucepan on medium high heat, and stirring frequently, heat the Sweetener you are using with the olive oil until nice and thin, and mixed together well.  Spread the dry ingredients into a large rectangular pan and then add the heated sweeteners to it. Mix very well until the oats are coated nicely.

Bake between 225 and 250 degrees for an hour stirring well after 30 minutes. Turn oven off and leave granola in oven.....stirring well again after 30 minutes. Take out and add raisins or dried cranberries to it and store in air tight container.


NOTE: We used Agave and this did not make it quite sweet enough as a granola cereal for our liking so when serving as a cereal a teaspoon of honey remedied this just fine. Also is great for serving on something already sweet like vanilla ice cream or fruit yogurt or even smoothies.

Weekly Menu for 3/30 - April 6th

This menu is based off of the last week before a typical grocery shopping day prior to the 5th of the month. It was made from what we already have on hand at end of month.


Saturday March 30

Breakfast- Hot cereal with hot chocolate

Lunch- Ham Sandwiches with fruit

Dinner- Frozen Pizza

Snack- Root Beer Floats

Sunday March 31

Breakfast- Hot Cereal or Left Over Biscuits with Orange Juice

Lunch- Blueberry Muffins

Dinner- Hot Chicken and Gravy Sandwiches (from left over chicken and dumplings) Jello with fruit in it, Sweet potato's, Mashed Potato's and Broccoli

Snack- Root beer floats

Monday April 1

Breakfast- Homemade Granola Cereal

Lunch- P & B Sandwiches with fruit cups

Dinner- Slow Cooker Chili  with corn bread

Snack- Kiwi fruit

Tuesday April 2

Breakfast- Hot Cereal

Lunch- Blueberry muffins

Dinner- Ham lunch meat, potato salad, mashed potato's(for those who don't like potato salad) spring mix veggies, homemade bread

Snack- pumpkin spiced chickpeas

Wednesday April 3

Breakfast- Smoothies with Granola

Lunch- Sweet Potato Quick Bread

Dinner- Homemade Burritos

Snack- Fruit

Thursday April 4

Breakfast- Granola Cereal

Lunch- P & B on toast w/ Apple Sauce

Dinner- Salmon  Loaf, Acorn Squash, Corn, Green Veggies, Biscuits

Snack- pumpkin spiced chickpeas

Friday April 5th

Breakfast- Hot Cereal with Orange Juice

Lunch- Soup and Crackers

Dinner- Whole Wheat Waffles with Strawberries

Snack- Apple sauce with granola

Saturday April 6th

Breakfast- Left over waffles

Lunch- Tuna

Dinner- 3 bean salad, corn bread, rice, veggies and pumpkin pies

Snack- fruit

 

My Weekend To Do List

Nothing exciting but to get me back on track and in a more productive mode, here is my weekend to do list I came up with!

1.) Take Bath ( done) yeah I have to write it down or other things will take up that space!

2.) Run a few errands with kids done

3.) Budget (working on)

4.) Clean Bathroom done

5.) Clean Master Bedroom

6.) Let chickens out to free range done

7.) Go for Walk done)

8.) Take food inventory cupboards, fridge, freezer done

9.) Garden Plan and go through seeds working on

10.) Review and Set Yearly Goals

11.) Clean out and organize Kitchen Cupboards

12.) Write out Aprils Action List

13.) Mop Kitchen floor

14.) Get plastic off chicken pens and windows of house

15.) Check what materials we have to make a new chicken pen, see what we may need to get as well.

16.) Make Granola

17.) Make a few master mixes to build up pantry

18.) Create Menu to last to April 5th done

19.) Laundry done

Anything on your list this weekend?

Take a Breath, Take a Step, Even a Small Step Towards Achievement

I can not believe it is already the end of March, time just seems to get so away from me now a days!

Feeling better and more like myself, my brain is flying so much faster than my body is willing to follow just yet. Really it is spiraling out of control as I look around and let my more functioning brain, tally all the chaos and destruction that has been happening to the crumbling finances and household. It is just taking it all in, taking notes, and screaming OMG where do I start? LOL.

Not only has everything fallen by the  wayside and piled up, been totally neglected, and untouched leaving a huge list of catch up. But now it is also officially Spring which naturally adds many new projects to a household. It is a tad overwhelming I must admit.

But I have 2 days left in March so I think I will use those 2 days to to come up with Aprils Action Plan. I will also be going over the pages here that were started prior to me getting too sick to do anything. Things have changed since then, some have been dramatic changes so these pages need to be reviewed, re-newed, tweaked and updated. Some items I know I would not be willing to do at this time, or just circumstances have changed.  Finances has not been dealt with in months really so this definitely needs to get back into place to.

The only way to climb a mountain is one step it at a time and take baby steps. I know my body will not go as fast as my brain right now, it just is not alert as my brain to date LOL. But I do know if I at least organize things on paper, and update our goals and organized lists of action steps, we will get there no matter how small of baby steps we take to get there.

As long as those baby steps walk towards goals and achievements, it will mean progress, and progress means success.

It will all work out the way it is suppose to, it always does and it is good to be feeling good and doing something again!

I Look forward to sharing through April with everyone, from menu planning, to budgets, to sustainability, to maybe even new baby chicks and all the projects and forward direction we begin to take again!

Have a wonderful and amazing weekend y'all!

Getting Back on Track.......Sorta

With each treatment, I seem to be feeling more and more like my old self, which believe me is a good thing! I find my mental clarity returning, and my frugal mentality with it which is a comforting thought.

While we are still spending more in certain categories, such as gas for the trips back and forth to the hospital or certain meals like frozen lasagnas, we have curtailed more of the un-necessary spending areas which is a good feeling. I am back to being able to cook simple easy dinners with the exception of about 2 or 3 days out of 2 week periods. These are the days I have the prepared meals for such as the frozen lasagnas, or something so easy a monkey could fix. I am not yet up to getting back to making a whole lot from scratch such as tortilla shells, but being able to cook again is certainly helping. I will also be using this time  while I am feeling better, to build upon my families cooking and money management skills.

I am using March to Rejuvenate my batteries and getting back on track, while increasing my families financial know how and literacy. I do not plan on taking over the full reins again, because as it stands now, I know if I fall, the whole family falls. Something I have always known but could not get them on board with learning......... until now.

Looking at the new pages I have put up here, I am excited about being able to start working towards them although I will review them again prior to starting. I see that some of the things I have listed on those pages will no longer apply as certain items will be needed to be replaced with a more convenient method easier on my health, at least for this year!

It feels good to be getting on track again, and writing again although I still am not writing as often. The important thing is I am feeling better and being able to WANT to get up and be doing things again!

Thank you everyone for being so patient with my lack of posting while my health took priority! But baby I am back and feeling pretty good right now so as long as I am feeling good, I plan to write and get back on track!

 

March Books: What I am Reading

These are  the books I had ordered for March as I wanted  some new reading material and to get back in the mindset of the frugal lifestyle.

The Complete Tightwad Gazette I have  owned before, and have read through several times so this was just replacing my old one. A wonderful book I have used over the years as my frugal bible chocked full of ideas from readers and the author on finding uses and ways to cut back on almost anything!

I am extremely DELIGHTED with the Homemade Pantry, Make a Mix and Quick Fix Healthy Mix books!

Want to make your own  peanut butter cups, marshmallows, fig bars or Twinkies?  How about cheese crackers, wheat crackers or graham crackers? Maybe you would like to make your own Hummus, Mayonnaise, or dressings? How about toaster pastries? 

Then the Homemade Pantry 101 Foods you can stop buying and start making,   is the book for you!

Make a Mix has over 300 recipes and gives you master mixes followed by a variety of recipes you can use the master mixes in. The master mixes can be stored in Mason Jars which can be used to help store up a pantry, or decorated with pretty cloth on top as gifts.  For me I plan on adding a label saying what needs to be added to the mix when cooking to make easy meals my family can make on days I am not up to cooking!

Quick Fix Health Mix is also bent towards stocking a pantry and can be stored in Mason Jars or other containers if you like. This offers 225 healthy and affordable mix recipes to stock your Kitchen Pantry.

The Americas Cheapest Family-  The Gets you Right on the Money one to be honest I could have done without, no new information in it that I already did not know. Would be a nice gift to someone starting out and just does not have a basic grasp of finances and spending and how to  budget it all.

However I was surprised that the Cut your Grocery Bill in half did offer a few things that would organize a few things in a much more efficient manner so was well worth  my time to read through.

Here's to March getting back on track!

What are you reading right now? What are your favorite books on finances or frugality?
 

Got Our Washer and Dryer!

While I was not up to going to shop for our washer and dryer at our local Sears, this task fell on hubby. He actually did really good and did not let the sales people talk him into the more fancy expensive models that they were pushing hard on him.  He took into consideration our family size and what all we have to wash in a week and got a mid priced ranged basic washer and dryer with a 3 year warranty.

It took a week to deliver them and poor hubby worried the whole week if I would like them or not and I was just like " Dude I will love them, they are better than the nothing we have now. They are better than hauling clothes to the Laundry Matt when I am not up to it and they are better than letting dirty clothes pile up! So yeah, no matter what you got, I will love them!"

Wednesday they delivered them and yeah, they are lovely, they have come a long ways in washer and dryers! They are quiet, digitally censored and the lid on the washer locks when the washer starts up. For now this is a convenience that will make a world of difference in our lives and the kids will be learning how to do their own laundry as well.

The end result was $1400 which included the 3 year warranty and while not perhaps a frugal purchase, one we saw as well worth it in the end. Not something I would have considered a few years ago, but when health starts to flounder, a good choice to opt for the easier way of doing things.The best part is on my good days, I can do laundry and on my not so good days, it will now be easy for someone else in the household to still get it done.

Happy Happy Dance!

Flyaway Frugality

If I am to be honest, these last 2 months have been anything but frugal, it seems costs have gone up in every catagory, which I suppose is to be somewhat expected when a serious illness strikes. Especially when the illness falls on the frugal financial manager of the household, the foundation crumbles when only one does the finances and the cooking.

Hubby now does the food shopping, although I am trying to get him to take an initiative and not just get what I ask him too but to get the types of foods him and the kids can make. It does not work me telling him what to get based on my cooking skills when I am not cooking! It is a huge adjustment that we are working on. If he gets what I ask him to but he does not have the cooking skill, then he just sits around saying tell me what to make and how to make it I will do it. The problem there is many times I am too exhausted to guide him through that type of process. My response will usually be, I have no idea what is in the cupboards, you will have to look.......well then the conversation ends there and creates a huge dinner time problem.

At the same time, he does need to get what I ask him to which is usually a variety of different foods and small snacks that I need around to be able to eat something. With my taste buds and sense of smells changing every few days it seems, I never know what I will be able to eat or what will make me ill just thinking of it. This certainly has increased our food bill altogether!

Gas for the vehicle has tripled almost with all the trips to hospitals and extra trips for needed things that I just can't keep on top of because I am not walking around checking what we need. Since hubby does not do this either it creates a lot of unneccessary trips for things we have been running out of.

I am freezing all the time as I lose more weight so I keep the temp in the house higher than I always have as well.

Since my first chemo last week, I am feeling quite a bit better however so I am hoping to take this week to develop a plan of getting back on track and crash course teaching hubby! LOL

This is one reason I have tried for years to get him involved with the finances , in a married household this really should be a 2 person endeavor. With only one in charge of it, when they fall ill, the whole household can crumble and it can have some serious consequences. Unfortuantly it was never something hubby wanted a part of as he liked me taking all that stress off of him. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, he is a wonderful man and has been such a huge help in many ways lately.

I never would have made it through the last 2 months without him, but from a financial perspective I have always known it is best when both spouses are involved because how hard a family can fall if it only falls on 1.

So I suppose my goal is for the rest of this month is to create a plan and have the goal for March of hubby and both kids learning and taking an active role in the finances and developing their cooking skills while learning the art of frugality!

As a whole, this simply is just a huge adjustment period for us, one I have full confidence that we will get worked out and back on track with frugal goals!

 

Why Our Tax Refund is So Large

Many people hear how large our refund is and assume we pay too much in taxes throughout the year. This is not the case however as we actually claim exempt from taxes in order to get the most use out of a minimum wage paycheck as we can.

Now this does not mean we do not pay taxes, it is just we do not pay federal but we do pay state and social security taxes.

The working poor has the bonus of being able to claim earned income credit if you have any qualifying children under the age of 18. We happen to have 2 qualifying children and this is where most of our refund comes from. It is a government stipend basically to help boost your income, without this we would only be looking at around $1700 rather than the $6900 we will be getting back this year.

Now what the working poor does with this refund varies and I have seen first hand where some use it up all at once on a fairly lavish vacation. Others use  it  to  catch up bills they have fallen behind on or replace broken items from months behind on their mortgage or replace cars that have broken beyond repairs.

Yet another place many typical families spend it on are spending sprees for luxury items. Perhaps this explains the large flat screen TVs, video game systems, entertainment centers, air conditioners and others that seems to be a pet peeve on many threads and comments related to the poor. I have seen on many blogs and boards about those in poverty where the commenter's talk in  disgust what they have seen in the households of the poor. If these items that people complain about the poor having was  not gifted to them ( in many cases nice items were indeed gifted or had before financial hardships struck) then perhaps a large refund was used to purchase these luxuries.

For many it  is like winning a mini lotto, a windfall that goes as quickly as it came without too much thought put into it. Or in the case  of playing catch up is what keeps the house out of foreclosure.

It is quite easy to spend a windfall when one is used to struggling all year and in many cases money certainly is being managed poorly to begin with.

The smart ones think it out very carefully and use this for what it is intended for, to improve your quality of life. This may mean using it towards projects that will lead to a more self reliant lifestyle, making necessary household repairs to live in a comfortable, safe, healthy environment. Some may use it for home business ventures that  will lift them up and out of the working poor status. Get a stock pile of food going, put gardens in.

Some may even divide it up into 12 months of monthly income to boost their income for the whole year to relieve some of their struggling for the whole year rather than a month or two.

At any rate, the government can do things to help boost the refund of the working poor, unfortuantly they can not force folks to be smart with it and many will use it quite foolishly sad to say. I suppose this may be true with any income bracket that is getting any refund at all.

For us? We are thinking it through quite carefully and will make careful decions on where our money can go that will actually help us out this year!

Happy Tax season ya'all!



 

Taxes Done!

I managed to slowly plug away and get taxes done over the weekend and while I am happy they are done, it is a hard decision on what to do with our refund this year.  Usually we have a good idea on what it needs to go to but this year there are several things riding on it that we are toying with the ideas but not yet really sure where to place it. One thing for sure, is this is not the year I will get my dream of breaking it up into 12 months to help boost our monthly income.


We will be getting back $6,900 this year and the one thing for sure that is on the list is a washer and dryer.  Where health is concerned, washing by hand or the Laundry Matt is just not practical right now so this is where convenience wins out over practicality. It will also help in the area where the kids will able to do their own laundry, where it will not fall on me or hubby.

Of course I would like to buy a house and could do so as I have found several in small towns near here between the $5,000 and $10,000 range again, not sure this would be the best at this time.

With everything going on, it would be wise to make my end of life arrangements and pay for them so hubby does not have to worry about this if my outcome does not end well. Nothing fancy of course, but should be looked into. Although if it was up to me, we have a perfectly good burning barrel in our back yard!  However I am not sure if I want to do this yet because it seems final and that I am accepting this outcome which I am not!

One of the big decisions would be to think seriously about trading in our gas guzzling bronco that gets 12 miles to the gallon for a more gas friendly vehicle that will be able to get us back and forth for all the hospital visits 30 miles away that will be coming up. With the trade in of the bronco and the cash from the refund, this would be quite doable.

Of course as a splurge, a kindle fire is on the table for thought, after all I can not do with being bored if I do end up with over night stays at a hospital. Boredom is a sure fire recipe for utter and complete insanity for me! 

Of course there is also always holding onto the money so that we can plan several fun weekend things such as camping, museums, indoor water parks and what have you in order to build a lot of good memories in between the bad ones for this year.

Before all this came up it would have been a house, hands down, no questions but of course since my diagnosis, that all has changed. I am sure what ever we end up deciding will be the right decision for us to do!

Oh and I WILL be getting some new PJ bottoms that are not falling off of me to compensate for the weight I have been losing! Can't go anywhere with my Pj's around my ankles!

Any grand plans with your refund this year?

Address for Those Requesting it

I have received an overwhelming request of an address for those wishing to send care packages, letters, cards and other things.

While I feel a little awkward in accepting such loving support and generosity, I graciously appreciate and accept all those who are doing so. My husband encouraged me to post an address for those who may want it due to the volume of requests for it. It seems a little easier than trying to answer each email individual.

So for those who would like our address it is:


Wayne and Carrie Hetu
3429 W. Tyler Rd
Alma,MI 48801

I thank everyone that has been so kind to our family at this time but get ready for me to be back on track and healthy in no time! :) LOL I think it is a good goal to work towards!

ps. This is posted at both the blogs so those who do not follow both can have it. You all have been so wonderful and lift my spirits everyday!

Blessings From Readers

I have truly been overwhelmed by the love and support I have been getting online from readers, it really has been a blessing this month.

I am so grateful for the generosity of a reader that has mailed us the check to cover our propane heat with so much we are dealing with now, she felt we should not have to worry about heat too. It was a huge surprise and a weight lifted off our shoulders, especially since the weather has turned cold again. I can not tell her in words how grateful I am for her act of kindness in our moment of need right now.

Yesterday we received the worst case scenario on my health after my lab work for pre-op was done and I went right to the emergency room. Pretty grim news but I am not giving up and will fight to be in the 1% to survive. At this point I am not expected to survive even a year and was given the option of chemo or hospice. I will post the details over at my whole-istic living blog as soon as I am up to it.


Other readers have been emailing me and sending wonderful positive thoughts our way or leaving loving supporting comments. E-cards have been coming in and just wonderful, wonderful thoughts and I can feel the love and support surrounding us. I feel bad I do not always respond back but seriously I am just not up to it most days now and even trying to post anything at all has become difficult at best.

But I do read everything and am very grateful for such loving and kind readers, ones that I feel I have become friends with as well as the newer ones I do not know. It means the world to us and is so appreciated in every way.

I love you all and appreciate all your positive thoughts, prayers and kindness you are bestowing upon our family.

 

Heat Assistance Denied

Looks like heat assistance is being denied due to what is owed on the account is more than what it would require for a fill up. So I need to come up with at least $270 and re-apply again.At this time our propane sits at 20 or 19% not sure, will have to check later today.

Doing the paperwork is always fun and takes me about 3 hours on the computer which with my health issues right now sitting that long at a computer is ROUGH! LOL.

We still have not received our W-2 either but everyone is saying how delayed refunds are being this year with all the new stuff going on with them. So we are prepared for our refund to be slow in coming.

On a good note, the weather has warmed up from the zero temps and today is the the 40's, not a big break but a small one anyways! The warmer temps are to last a few days before going back to the 20's so it should at least help for those few days!

So like always, we seem to be cutting it close but trust it will work itself out and that we will have the tank filled soon.

But for TODAY we have heat, and are warm with a beautiful winter storm leaving a beautiful blanket of snow to wake up to this morning. From snow to 40 degrees..........not too shabby!

Today we celebrate and are grateful for the heat we have. No worries for tomorrow for tomorrow has not come yet..........

Heat = Stress

January always brings levels of stress when it comes to heating in a winter climate, the tank is low, frigid weather has arrived, and one wonders how to pull $650 out of their butt to get another delivery. Even on a budget plan, one can easily fall behind in the payments. Your eye nervously watches the gauge on the tank, almost daily keeping fingers crossed that it has not moved much.

Right now personally we are looking at 28 percent in our tank, hubby's hours have dwindled again leaving us $130 short on paychecks. The weather turned bitterly cold last night coming in with winds in surplus of 50 miles an hour. Tomorrow and Tuesday are to be even colder, around 2 degrees without wind chill.  Being in a trailer, these temps are even worse and it seems in right through the walls and floors with not much in the way of insulation. The thermostat is set to 65 for the day and 60 at night, although I may turn it down to 55 tonight just to help pace how fast we use up the propane.

Somehow we always manage and I always tell myself not to put too much stress on it, but that always seems easier said than done. When the gauge hits 30% I always stress about the propane and how we will figure out a way to get it filled. Food seems so much easier to worry about and easier to come up with and manage what you have then heat. Without heat, who wants to face 0 or below temps with only an electric oven as a heat source?

This time around I actually filled out paperwork for the State of Emergency help with  heat, not sure if we will qualify or not but I figured it would not hurt to try. With my health issues right now, I have surrendered to trying to get all the help we can with the future outlook of perhaps me being able to get healthy enough to work again. So if we need help right now to do that, so be it.

Hubby also just told me his W-2 will be mailed out in just 3 days, so that is hopeful to that I may get that and be able to get taxes done and our refund back before the propane runs out completely if I can not get help through the State of Emergency. But in the end, I trust that it will all work out the way it is meant to.  Stressing over heat come January is not new to me, it is a stress I usually have all year round as it is the most expensive expense we have below rent.

So in the meantime, conserve, conserve and supplement with the oven to ensure it last long enough for the next fill up! I really wish we had a wood burner!

How about you, do you stress over heating or do you stress more over another expense?