My October To Do's

 October To Do List
For How Low Can You Go Frugal Challenge on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/howlowcanyougofrugalchallenge/

1.) Go No Poo ( shampoo)
2.) Give up T.P. for washable cloth  ( only me and only pee)
3.) Winterize Home
4.) Make Granola Cereal
5.) Make Hot Chocolate Mix
6.) Make Sugarless Strawberry Jam
7.) Menu Plan
8.) Have 4 Family Financial Meetings
9.) Make Crockpot Yogurt
10.) Make Mayonnaise
11.) Make Almond Butter
12.) Make Toaster Pastries
13.) Make Quick Breads (banana and pumpkin)
14.) Make Ketchup
15.) Make Laundry Soap
16.) Earn an extra $100
17.) Winterize Garden Beds
18.) De-clutter and De-own all items in house that are not necessary
19.) Catch our bills up
20.) Get propane delivery
21.) Plan Halloween Fun Night
22.) Plan Thanksgiving Meal
23.) Work on Homemade Christmas Items
24.) Purchase 1 to 3 Christmas Presents
25.) Spend $250 on Food for the Month and Use the other $250 for prepper food storage

And there you have it, sounds like I am pretty gun ho about getting back in the saddle from the looks of this list but I know I can do it! One of my major goals for October is my heading towards the minimalist lifestyle, to get my belongings to fit into a duffle bag............ not something I expect my family to follow me on but for me, that is MY goal!

While I am usually frugal by nature, I always see room for growth and developing new skills in order to improve these skills. There seems to be layers of comfort, and each time you get to a level you become comfortable with, it can be a fun time to try to stretch those comfort levels!

Contrary to what many believe, we are quite comfortable in daily life, we lack for nothing, our needs are met and the things we value most are always in the forefront. Since material items, wages, income and things do not define our status in society for us, we follow our drum of values, which for us are connected meaningful relationships, celebrating the abundance of the earth on a daily basis, the miracle of life, and following joy.

So coming back into the scene and brushing myself off after being knocked down this year, I am back stretching those very levels of comfort in order to reduce costs, yet again as much as I possibly can.

If you like don't forget to join us on Facebook at our How Low Can You Go Frugal Challenge Group!

Hoping This House is Still for Sale in 2 months!

 

 

I have been looking pretty hard just to see things that are available when I came across this little beauty!  While this is nowhere near as large as the house I posted about the other day it is way more to our style and liking!

 

The yard is not all that big but well, you can't have everything at least it is pretty and a wooded setting, kind of hidden away on the very edge of a decent sized town.

 

Me and hubby fell in love with this place and it was listed in Novemeber so I am really hoping it is still there in 2 months at tax refund time.

 

I am not sharing the link because I do not want someone to snatch it up because you wanna know the price?

 

 

$4,900

 

Yup that is correct!

 

It is 1300 sq feet and the fireplace in it will help big time for heating it!

 

Now, just to keep everyone away from it for 2 months!........

 

Even if it needs some work ( from looks of photos, it certainly does) it would be worth it if the structure is sound!

 

What do you think, could you see my family in a place like this? :)

No Fridge Update

Well for November we went 12 whole days without the refrigerator and for the most part did not miss it although we did use a cooler ( free ice from hubby's work) for milk and plain yogurt. Eventually I would like to get rid of the cooler as well but not sure if this would work in my family as they do not like almond milk that I could make as needed.

At the end of 12 days however, I did plug it back in, for a couple reasons, one of which I already had wondered about starting it in November.  For one I needed the freezer portion because to be honest I DID NOT want to wait the day before Thanksgiving to get my Turkey while I could get it NOW on sale.

I did miss being able to buy meats on sale to put in the freezer.

The other reason was I had gotten a surprise phone call from our Landlord asking me if we liked Venison. He plans on shooting one for us during this season so I wanted the freezer on knowing I could get venison any day during hunting season but not knowing if or when.

Looking at it from a mathematical stand point, do we want to save $8 off our electric bill or save $40 or more on meat?

The obvious won out.

Knowing December will bring another holiday meal I do not think we will be trying this experiment again until January although I do not know, my family really likes their refrigeration and I really like the freezer portion of stocking up on meats.

Yes I could totally rearrange and change the way we eat, but to me old habits die hard and I do not at this moment WANT to change eating Turkey for Thanksgiving, I LOVE turkey as does the rest of the family!

Yet it was interesting to do the 12 days and I applaud the others that have given it up, I am not really sure that this family wants to give it up as a permanent fixture.

Maybe cheap homemade vegetable oil burning tin can lamps in lieu of electric lights is more up our alley?

But then again I have not given up completly on this project and as I said, perhaps in January we will try again...........

For now I am drooling over the Turkey in my freezer and the possbile venison that will be joining it soon..........

A Minimalist Funny for Your Thursday Laughter Fix!

Minimizing Your Belongings

Andrew Hyde has been getting quite a bit of coverage as he downsized his belongings to simply15 items that all fit into a back pack. This allows him to freely travel and on an extreme level, live a life of simplicity.

This really got me and hubby thinking, if we downsized to simply 15 items a piece, being 30 items between the 2 of us, what would it be? This is a great exercise to really think about what items in your home may be useful. While our lists turned out to be quite different from Andrew Hyde as he is more Urban and we are more wilderness and naturalist types it was a fun exercise.

Here is what we came up with.

My List

1. Tooth brush
2. Flint and Steel
3. Fishing line and hooks (counted as 1 item)
4. Pocket Knife
5. Compass
6. Hiking Boots
7. T-Shirt
8. T-Shirt
9. Jeans
10. Jeans
11. Jacket
12. Gloves
13. Cast Iron Skillet
14. Sleeping Bag
15. Cloth Femine Pads ( if I have not gone through Menopause yet)

Hubby's List

1. Hatchet
2. Tooth Brush
3. Nylon Rope
4. Hiking Boots
5. Jeans
6. Jeans
7. T-Shirt
8. T-Shirt
9. Jacket
10. Gloves
11. First Aid Kit
12. Pick Axe
13. Sleeping Bag
14. Canteen
15. Canteen ( 1 for each of us)

What about you, what 15 items would you have if that is all you could have? We did not include socks and undwear in this list however would have them! We also did not include the Backpacks it fits into as an item.