Alternative to Christmas Wrapping Paper

After Christmas morning, my living room is not littered with paper. It's littered with pillowcases and  ribbon.

For years, we've avoided purchasing wrapping paper. Although frugality usually tops my reasons for not buying something, this time it has little to do with it. I simply hate wasting that much paper. It literally turns my stomach to see all the garbage (and yes, even piles of recycling) that line our neighborhood street after Christmas. I hate the thought of discarding something that has seen such minimal use.

So every year we get the pillowcases out of the linen closet and dig through a bag of ribbon I found at a yard sale. If an item shows through the pillowcase, we double up the fabric or box it prior to wrapping. If an item is truly too large for a pillowcase (which rarely happens with a $25 limit per family member), we put it in a box or a large popcorn tin (also saved from previous years). For small gifts I reuse wrapping paper we get from packages outside the family. Or we use the old standby, newspaper comics.

It's just as fun to "open" a pillowcase as it is to open paper. Perhaps more fun. You can't hop around in torn wrapping paper after all the gifts are opened! :)

Grocery Spending Challenge, Week #5

We're done with grocery shopping for the month (I think!), so I can reveal our results...

Total groceries for the month, feeding 4 big people & 2 little people = $240.36
This is without couponing, which I don't generally do. (I've rarely found anything we eat that comes on a coupon!)

My goal was $200/month, so technically we didn't reach our goal. Although we just bought some items that we could have easily put off, so I guess I gave up the spending challenge in favor of getting one errand off my "to do" list. ;)

Costco was the downfall, if you want to call it that. I asked DH to stop on the way home from work to get:

1, 2lb loaf cheddar cheese
raisins
oatmeal
milk
bread

He brought home all of the above, plus:

8 pk ravioli (what's with that??? we never buy ravioli!)
2 more cheeses
1 more box oatmeal

I've got jobs coming up and will be terribly busy for a bit, so I'm glad he went ahead and got extra. So much for the challenge. ;) I can't say that we really did anything different this month than we do normally. This is in the bottom range of what we normally spend/month, which makes sense given all the garden produce. If I'm figuring this right, we're eating really well for about $1.30/person/day. Not bad.

How did other "Spending Challenge" families do? Feel free to comment with a link to your results.

Off to plan next week's menus...

Enjoy the weekend!

Depression Cooking

Clara, a grandmother in her nineties, introduces a whole series of recipes on YouTube on "Great Depression Cooking." Here's "Poorman's Meal." Clara is a hoot. And the "Depression Cooking" info is fabulous. The only hilarious thing is that a lot of what she does looks very, very familiar. LOL. I guess I'm closer to Depression cooking (but not depressing cooking) than I would have thought. :)

Thanks to Owlhaven for alerting me to these fun videos!

Meal Plan - Grocery Spending Challenge Week #4

Hehe. Well, DH went to Costco. So the Grocery Spending Challenge $ spent so far this month just doubled. Total: $180.71

Good news? We have plenty of food around here. Bad news? To make the spending challenge ($200 for the month for us), we have less than $20 to spend in 11 days. The only think that we'll seriously need to replenish is milk. So we'll see... Bottom line? Costco is dangerous! ;)

I modified our menu from last week if you want to check out my note about 7-year-olds and Eggplant Burgers.

Here's the plan for this week:

Today (Saturday)
Breakfast: granola
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Taco Soup

Sunday
Breakfast: at church, bring platter of grapes
Lunch: Eggplant Burgers (Simply in Season, p. 140.)
Dinner: Sunday night usual...popcorn and fruit

Monday
Breakfast: remaining breakfasts will come from this list
Dinner: Zucchini Casserole, tomatoes, grapes

Tuesday
Dinner: LEFTOVERS!

Wednesday
Dinner: taco salad

Thursday
Dinner: Leftovers

Friday
Dinner: Tomato and Basil Pasta & Green Salad with Autumn Fruit (Simply in Season, p. 190.)

Looking a Few Steps Away, First

Owlhaven posted a link to a blog on "The Cost of Convenience." I recommend reading it.

If we could sit down for tea, there are a lot of things in the article we could talk about. But the one that I want to mention that stands out to me today is this:

We can really cheat ourselves when we decide saving ourselves five or ten minutes is worth an extra dollar or two- because saving a dollar is actually worth more than spending that dollar. You've already paid the taxes on the dollar you save. A dollar you earn is actually only about 70 cents, given taxes on it. A dollar you save IS a whole dollar.

It's so easy to think a purchase is "just a dollar," until you consider what goes into getting that dollar in the first place.

Like Owlhaven, we've recently been "gifted" with a lot of things that means we don't need to open our wallets: clothes (sometimes borrowed, sometimes in trade to others), DVDs/books on loan from the library, internet lessons, using the homeschool supplies we already have instead of buying new...and, of course, the food:

*gifts of apples, pears, plums, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, corn (from different people, all within the last few weeks)...even a couple containers of extra orange juice last night from a friend.

*the garden, ripe with: squash, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, kale, herbs, grapes

Right now, it's just best to stay far, far away from the store. :) It's tempting to buy convenience,...when convenience is really just a few steps away in the garden. We don't need more new clothes. New books. New toys. New games. We need each other. Also only a few steps away. ;)

Thanks for letting me ramble. Off to pick tomatoes for canning tomorrow... ;)

What Does Working COST?

Only a note... I worked from 6:15am til 4:15pm today (intense presenting work where I was "on" all day) and still have "homework." But wanted to pop in and say this...

Tonight I am exhausted. I am not cooking. So we ordered a pizza. Quite a dent in the $200 budgeted, if I subtract take-out. I rarely work at a paying/outside the home job, but I sure thought about the "cost" of work today.

Today I also listened to a woman grieve over the fact that she is going back to work, leaving her 8.5 month old at home...and that 1/3 of her monthly paycheck will go for daycare.

So how much does working COST you?

Grocery Spending Challenge

Anyone want to join me in Owlhaven's "Grocery Spending Challenge?" She has 10 kids (although I don't know if they're all still eating at home) and plans to budget $300 on groceries for the month of September.

When I was tracking our food budget, we averaged between $250-$385/month, feeding six people. This didn't include the meat we purchase annually (chicken, beef, pork) or eating out.

I'm going to try for $200/month of September, or $50/week for our family. We'll be weaning off the garden this month, but we have a LOT in the freezers/cupboards; hopefully, this will help me to look there first! ;)

Starting next week--with back-to-school--I want to post a weekly menu. Then you can see if I'm honest. :)

Sunflower Seeds + Orbit Gum ?!?!

Sunflower seeds. A healthy snack. Inexpensive. And one that can be purchased in the U.S....unlike many of the other snacks that GG is used to eating. More sunflower seeds have been eaten here in the past month than in the past ten years.

For Christmas, BigSis gave LilDude a couple "BigePaks" of Orbit gum in his stocking. I found the empty containers while cleaning out LilDude's room a few weeks ago and decided they'd make great snack containers. The lid has three openings...the entire top can screw off for larger items, or you can pop off the large round clear plastic top or tiny square opening. Both the "pop tops" are on hinges, essential for easy kid access.

It's great for a lot of snacks, but it's perfect for sunflower seeds. It doesn't spill and it's easy for little hands to get just a few seeds out at a time.

So anyway, next time you end up with an Orbit gum container, think twice before tossing it. Or give it to me. ;) I'll use it!

Bathtub Toy Basket (Homemade!)

My friend, Lisa, is a genius at organization.

I, on the other hand, am pathetic. But good at stealing, coveting, admiring other people's ideas.

When I saw her bathtub toy basket, I had to have one. Our bathtub toys, kept in a mesh bag, usually look like they just slimed up from some bog in the deepest of ancient forests. Seriously gross.

I thought I'd have to hand over a wad and buy one at some fancy organizational store. Imagine my surprise when I found out I had to MAKE MY OWN!

Here are her instructions:

You go to a dollar store and choose a basket (with a lip.) Then buy 2, heavy duty, suction cups. Take a medium sized nail and a hammer and punch a half-dozen or so holes in the bottom of the basket. (It's best to do this when you get home -- they frown upon it at the $Store ;-) Also, this could be an opportunity for a husband to break out a power drill!) Use your common sense for the location of the holes after first trying the basket out on the tub wall.

She advised I buy the suction cups at a hardware store. So I went on a major shopping spree and spent $2.18...$1 for the basket and $0.59/each for suction cups.

My only problem? Getting it to stick. Apparently, her brand new tub accepts suction cups better than my grimy, slime-covered 35+ year old tub. I had to scrub off 35 years of soap scum before mine would stick.

Celery--Off the Shopping List!

You may recall that celery comes in at a repulsive #4 on the "Dirty Dozen" list. We tried to grow some last year, both in a raised garden bed and in a pot on the back porch. The plants grew very slowly, resulting in lots of leaves and little stems. But they were hardy and survived til the coldest winter months. I cut them off, chopped, and froze the leafy/spindly stem collection. It was a great addition to winter soups and casseroles. I would have planted it again just for that, simply because I like the celery flavor but really don't care that much about large chunks in foods.

But imagine my surprise when, this spring, they came roaring to life, now with big stems. Apparently, celery is a perennial that does much better on year two. It's been fairly cool and very wet this spring, yet the celery is raring to go. You can see it here, behind the parsley (which also is doing much better in it's second year, btw.)

I'd love to fill an entire garden bed with perennial vegetables. It's so much fun to see edible stuff come to life in the spring. Anyone know of other vegetables that do this? Someday I'll plant asparagus, but I'm not quite ready for the prep work yet.

I can finally strike celery from the shopping list! ;)

The mint is going gangbusters in a pot on our back porch as well. Isn't spring amazing??

Swiss Chard YUM!

I don't think I'd ever tasted Swiss chard til a year or so ago when I tried it in a new recipe and failed. I am so, so glad that we tried it again...in a NEW, FAVORITE RECIPE!

Last year I planted a bunch of new stuff "to try." Some didn't come up. Others didn't come up at the time but came up this spring when I wasn't paying much attention. The Swiss chard was so beautiful I almost hesitated to eat it. But I've been wanting to try more recipes from Simply in Season, so I looked up Swiss chard in the index and settled on "Chard Cheese Bake." It was scrumptious! 'LilDude had three or four helpings. Big ones. I lost count at some point. We also had locally grown asparagus and a rhubarb/blueberry crumble made from our new rhubarb and blueberries from the freezer. I'm thrilled that it's finally SPRING! ;)

Have you ever washed anything so gorgeous???


And the final product:


Chard Cheese Bake
from Simply in Season

1 lb Swiss chard or spinach (chopped)
Cook and thoroughly drain. (In the front of the book it has cooking tips for each vegetable. I cut the stems into chunks and then rolled the leaves together and cut the roll crosswise in each direction. I boiled the stem chunks for 8 minutes, adding the leaves for the last 3 minutes of cooking time. They were perfect.)

4 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk (I used rice milk)
1 c. cheese (I used cheddar)
1 c. cubed bread (I used gf rice bread & thought it particularly good in this)
1/2 c. green onions, sliced (I used 2 T. that I'd frozen)
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

Combine all ingredients and pour into greased 2-qt dish. Cover and bake in preheated 375 oven for 25-30 minutes, until set. (It took mine at least 40 minutes.)

Budget Gratitude

Now that I've whined about the budget, it's time for some gratitude...

I have many, many money-related things to be grateful for, but I must mention one in particular that I've thought about many times over the past couple months.

Over a year ago, when a little child's face called to me from a photolisting, I wasn't thinking about money. But here's the cool thing...

Even while I wasn't contemplating money, God was preparing a path for us. In this past year, I have been presented with more job offers than any time since I left my full-time job. In this economy, that's a miracle. How ironic is it that a curriculum adoption year and our child's adoption would intersect at just the right moment?

The jobs fit into my life as a full-time SAHM with a house full of kids. I've had parents close by to back me up with childcare. I've had a husband/kids with willing hearts to take on a little extra work.

God provided for a need before we even knew there was one.

That's cool.

January 2009 Food Budget

Finishing up our January budget. Here's January food...

Groceries (just food):

$251
(Eaters: 2 adults, 3 children--14, 12, 6)

add $43/month for meat (we buy chicken/beef once a year, so adding a monthly amount)

Total for January food at home: $294

Eating out total, January: $53


We also just made a final payment on half a pig. "Happy Pig." (Not sure how happy he is now, in the freezer.) I'm not sure how to include that in our monthly budget as I'm quite sure it's going to last us more than a year. Perhaps even two? We paid $411.25 for 104 lbs of meat: hamhock, hams, sausage, bacon, etc... This week I cooked a 1 lb package of sausage and used it in about 4 dishes--two of scrambled eggs and 2 of spaghetti sauce. Maybe I should just raise our "meat allotment" for the month by an additional $20? That would bring our monthly total to $314. As a side note, this sausage is heavenly! I don't know if I'll buy farm pork in bulk again (due to the expense) but we sure are enjoying it.

As a postnote, can I just say that this is a conundrum for me? I want to buy local. I want to buy from the farmer. I want to buy meat that I know has been raised in "happy" conditions. But...at least in this instance...it's expensive. I know it doesn't always have to be expensive. But this, to me, is.

It was good for me to hear about the reality of the farming year. We anticipated paying $3.60/lb for pork. We ended up paying $4/lb. Why? Transportation and feed costs. The farmer told me directly. I like that. Don't like paying more. But like being able to talk to the farmer.

Budget Frustrations!

I am frustrated. With my budget.

I have been working more than ever before. (Hence the lack of posts.) We are still living frugally. Cooking at home. Not buying extras. But our budget does not reflect my extra work hours.

WHY???

Dumb stuff...

Like the doctor procedure that we checked out ahead of time (to see if insurance covered it), only to have a loophole leave us with a $500 bill. We have appealed, to no avail.

An unexpected and fairly significant car repair bill.

Semi-annual expenses due...music lessons, insurance, doggie flea meds, dental bills...

Final bill for "happy pork" that we put a down payment on about 4 months ago.

I find it very frustrating to be working more hours than ever before, only to find that our savings hasn't significantly increased.

Anyway, if you're feeling the same way, I feel your pain! I find myself constantly wondering how people with less incomes are making it these days.

Junk Food is Expensive!

Like you didn't know!

Just calculated our food budget for December. Ouch. We buy "special" junk to eat during Christmas/New Years. You know...goodies, sparkling cider, chips, dips, meat/cheese/crackers. All the stuff that tastes good but is horrible horribly expensive for you.

Anyway, the budget wasn't so hot...

Groceries (just food...including JUNK that we normally don't buy):

$385
(this also included food for a couple Xmas parties, but let's face it...it was our taste buds walking down the supermarket aisles!!!)

add $43/month (we buy chicken/beef once a year, so adding a monthly amount)

Total for December food at home: $428

(this is in stark comparison's to November's budget of $295)

Eating out total, December: $41

At least we did better in the eating out department. With all the junk at home, we didn't need to go out and find more! ;)

Taco Soup

Taco soup is a staple at our house. I have made it so often, I no longer follow a recipe. (That's BIG for me!) But for the benefit of taco soup "newbies" :), I'll post a recipe, followed by some of the modifications I've made over the years...

This is the kind of inexpensive, nutritious "fast food" we like!


Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef
chopped onions (amount to taste)
1/2 c. taco sauce or 1 pkg taco seasoning or 2-3 t. chili powder (to taste)
2 (16 oz) cans kidney beans (I drain)
2 (16 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
1 can corn, undrained
1-2 cans creamed corn

Brown beef and onions. Add seasoning of choice. Add beans, tomatoes and sauce, corn. Mix well. Bring to boil, then simmer, covered, 15 minutes.

Optional toppings: grated cheese, tortilla chips (broken from bottom of bag is great for this!), sour cream

Notes: Before I started gardening, this took a lot of canned goods. (I always knew when Taco Soup was on the menu by the number of cans in the dishwasher after dinner.) Now, I use a lot of garden goodies...

I brown the beef with onion, adding chopped green peppers and diced jalapenos from the freezer. I generally use chili powder as the seasoning (least expensive) or homemade Mexican seasoning. I throw in a full quart of canned tomatoes, a pint of homemade tomato sauce and a couple cups of frozen corn. The only canned good I use is the kidney beans. When I'm truly ambitious (not often), I buy kidney beans in bulk, cook them, and freeze. They are significantly cheaper than canned beans.

Raised Winter Beds

A couple of weeks ago, we enjoyed a salad, harvested from our raised beds. (Including a last tomato that was wrapped in newspaper, green, earlier this fall.)



And then it started SNOWING. I went out and harvested anything of any size (mustard, lettuce, spinach, kale), figuring that it would all freeze, turning into a slimy mess. Here's some mustard, peeking out from under the snow, along with a shot of the raised bed, with window cover.



Now that the 14+ inches of snow have melted, I was able to peek into the beds today. Imagine my surprise to discover that it's all survived...including the mustard that was NOT under glass. It's not growing fast, but it survived temperatures into the teens. Makes me hopeful that we'll be able to eat more greens soon!

Living Free of Clutter

I just read a thought-provoking article, "Enough is Enough," that talks about how frugality "doesn't mean cutting back or using only lower-cost ingredients. It means the wise use of resources and avoiding excesses." It goes on to talk about how letting go of clutter (of all kinds) opens "space in our lives for something new to happen." In the spirit of welcoming in the New Year, it's a great read.

Christmas Present Less is More

Yesterday I experienced momentary panic. 'LilDude, like most young kids, woke me first thing in the morning wanting to open presents. As you might recall, last year we started a new tradition of exchanging names with a $20 spending limit per person. Everyone from the grandparents down to the youngest ('LilDude) only receive $20 worth of gifts for Christmas. That's it. So, like many parents, I started out Christmas with worry... Will this be enough to make my child happy? Will he like his gifts? Will his Christmas be memorable?

We ate breakfast and waited for the rest of the extended family to arrive. As soon as everyone gathered, 'LilDude began. BigSis drew his name and did an amazing job. She filled a giant stocking with all kinds of goodies. Individually wrapped (!!!!) lollypops and packages of gum. She'd creatively "recycled" some items that her secret dorm sister had given her this fall: bubbles, bouncy ball kit. She'd passed on her quarter collection book that 'LilDude has been aching to have. And she'd made a couple of very careful purchases: a Lego kit and a dinosaur drawing set. Everything was individually wrapped, which made for a lot of unwrapping fun. Even then, it took 'LilDude less than 5 minutes to unwrap his presents. Then he had a fabulous time watching everyone else open their gifts; he was VERY excited to watch "his person," Anakin, open his gift. But the emphasis wasn't on kids. Nobody was given more importance than anyone else, present-wise. Everyone enjoyed watching the others open. When it was over, 'LilDude put his Lego set together and has played with it and his dinosaur drawing kit ever since.

When he was done unwrapping, I could see the relief on his face. Calm, happy satisfaction. It was ENOUGH. He didn't need dozens of presents. Expensive presents. More presents than anyone else. He was happy with a little. A little went a very, very long way.

During the day, the emphasis was on family...playing games, eating, walking and playing in the snow. The day was all about people rather than being all about stuff. Thinking of the baby in the manger, that seems appropriate.

At bedtime when I asked 'LilDude if he'd had a good day, he nodded an emphatic yes. "I loved my presents," was one comment. Less was definitely more.

I'll try to remember not to worry next year. ;)

November Food Budget

Finally finished adding in all the receipts from November! Here's our food spending totals:

Groceries (just food):

$252

add $43/month (we buy chicken/beef once a year, so adding a monthly amount)

Total for November food at home: $295 for a family of five (basically 4 adults, 1 child)

Eating out total, November: $51

Keeping track of our expenditures has made some difference in how much we eat out. A couple of times, we decided not to bother, based solely on how it would affect "the numbers." ;)