Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishments

The frugal updates for the week are:

*52 Week Savings Plan:  Ok, so I have finally allocated money towards this savings plan for the first two weeks of February.  I set aside $21 for week 5 and $19 for week 6 increasing my previous balance of $10 by $40 for a grand total of $50.00!

*Christmas Jar of Change:  The previous balance in the jar of change was $46.45.  After finding some change in the laundry room and a bit more in my purse I get to add $3.55 to the jar.  This will result in a grand total of $50.00!

(Hey, lookie there, between the two savings plans I have set aside a total of $100 and I am just getting started!)

*Favorite Frugal Accomplishments:

-I had TWO days of NO spending! (Please remember that last week I was thrilled to have just one day of zero spending).

- I have been fighting some icky crud by drinking lots of water, getting plenty of rest and taking some master tonic.  Frugal yet effective ways of eliminating crud.

-I really stuck to the menu plans and they helped me resist spending money on convenience foods.

It is all becoming easier, more natural and my most frugal child, Christian, has recognized my efforts and commended my efforts.  That is a huge accomplishment!

Go Broncos!

Superbowl XLVIII - party on!

GO BRONCOS!!!

Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishments

The frugal updates for the week are:

*52 Week Savings Plan:  Still at $10 until I figure out how much I can contribute from this pay period.

*Christmas Jar of Change: I have discovered another handful of change while cleaning and a bit more when I dumped out my purse for a total of $4.05 to be added to the Christmas Jar of Change.  The previous balance in the jar was $42.40.  With the the new handful tossed in as well the balance is $46.45. Yay!

*Favorite Frugal Accomplishments:

-That Christmas Jar of Change is going to come in handy come Christmas time but it is not the only thing that I am doing to be prepared for the end of the year money crunch.   I am already making Christmas lists so that I can look for bargains and actually make some gifts.  And I have begun making some of those gifts using items that I have on hand.  I would give you a sneak peek but the intended recipients might also get a peek and I just can't let that happen.

-Organization was a very important part of this weeks frugal accomplishments.  Not only did I organize my annual gift giving but I made three weeks worth of menus using primarily what we already had on hand.

-I did do some grocery shopping and got some really great bargains.  I purchased a years worth of pasta at $.49 per pound.  I also got 10 pounds of ground beef for $1.75 per pound and ten pounds of pork loin for $1.79 per pound.  I divided the meat into meal sized portions and popped them into the freezer.

-I scored twenty pounds of potatoes for $.10 per pound and have enjoyed getting creative with the potatoes.  I made some really fantastic potato soup and some super duper fantastic potato rolls.  Please note that I can't bake bread but I DID bake bread - its a huge accomplishment for me.

- I resumed tending to my Swagbucks and have already earned a $5 Amazon gift card.  I intend to pay for some educational resources using what I earn on Swagbucks.

-I had a "spend nothing" day which is really a big deal for me - another huge accomplishment.

-I downloaded a free kindle app for my mac.  It came with three free books and then I purchased another book for a mere $.99.  Bishop has already completed that book and he truly enjoyed it.

-My neighbors had some trees removed and I scored four large logs so that I can make these toadstools.  They have yet to decide what to do with the rest of their logs.  I am hoping that they will let me have it for firewood.

-I found a free Merit Badge University to send Bishop to.  He earned two Boy Scout merit badges at no cost to me.

-My favorite frugality of the week has to do with FREE entertainment.  On Friday evening, my sister, Roxie, and I went to our community theatre for a performance of Music Man Jr. (the Jr. means that the entire cast is eighteen years of age or younger).  We were able to attend this performance for FREE; I had two complimentary tickets because Maceo is performing in the show.
I then saw the show for FREE twice on Saturday.  I ushered two of the shows which allowed me to see the performances after getting everyone seated.
And, as a performer,  Maceo's hours of FREE entertainment have been numerous.  Being a performer is a huge time commitment but requires little financial investment, particularly if you live as close to the theater as we do.  We are only about 3 minutes away!
If you have a community theatre in your area and are interested in this sort of thing you should check it out.  There could be countless hours of free entertainment available to you.

Now I must get off of this computer and get my Superbowl party ready to go.
Go Broncos!!!!

Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishments

We ran in to a snafu where our finances are concerned and things will be extremely tight for the next week yet this has only seemed to enflame my enthusiasm for my financial endeavors.

The updates for the week are as follows:

*52 Week Savings Plan:  There is still only $10 in this account as I had paid in advance for the remainder of the month of January.

*Christmas Jar of Change:  As I am cleaning, purging, organizing every nook and cranny of my home I am finding change - a little change here, a little change there, a little change everywhere.  We are a family that values a penny and yet we have managed to lose track of so many.  Albeit a little surprising it does allow me to toss another $2.93 in to the Christmas Jar of Change and when added to the previous balance of $39.47 that makes for a grand total of 42.40.

*Favorite Frugal Accomplishments:

- I bought 54 forever stamps before the rate of postage increases this month.

-I cleaned and inventoried the pantry, fridge, and freezer and am planning all menus around what I already have on hand.  This has already helped me reduce the number of times that I go through the drive thru.  Well, if I am being perfectly honest, the financial snafu had something to do with that as well.  But it is nice to know that beyond a very small amount of essentials I could feed my family complete breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for easily three weeks without going to the grocery store.

- I had some delightful entertainment for FREE.  Maceo was required to perform in a promotional performance of Music Man Jr. at a community event and I, of course, opted to stay and watch the performance.  What I found was that our actors were one in a lineup of numerous performances and I was treated to Irish dancing, Korean music and a really beautiful Korean fan dance.  Apparently this is an annual Martin Luther King Jr. day event and I will write it on the calendar for next year.

- Bishop got invited to a birthday party. There really wasn't any money to go shopping for a gift so we figured out something we could do using only what we had in the house.  The truly frugal gift would have been the lego tank that I have stashed somewhere in this house.  Alas, I could not find it (illustrating the need for me to clean, purge and organize every nook and cranny of my property) so we came up with a less frugal but a truly satisfying gift.  We took some cash out of our entertainment budget envelope, folded it in to a shuriken, attached it to a piece of paper, drew a ninja and called it good.  It was fun and entertaining to create and was well received by the birthday boy.

- I then felt compelled to come up with a birthday gift for my grand-niece using only what was available in the house.  She is having a Willy Wonka themed birthday and I wanted to do something candy related without it actually involving candy (she will surely have plenty of that at her party) so I made her two pretty-cute-if-I-do-say-so-myself perler bead candies.  I attached christmas ornament hooks on them so that she can hang them in her room or on her tree next year and wrapped them candy fashion with things that I had on hand.

-While sorting through my card stash to find my niece a birthday card I also found numerous get well cards that I had forgotten about.  I am needing get well cards for the several family members that have been struggling with pneumonia and now I have them (for FREE!).  So next week I will mail my free get well cards with my lower priced forever stamps and consider that another frugal accomplishment.

- There were also some victories in the kitchen beyond cleaning and inventorying.  I made three loaves of banana bread, have done well using leftovers, and have used powdered milk for all cooking endeavors that required milk.  I then snuck the remaining powdered milk in to the jug of regular milk.  (Shhhh.....the kids don't know, tee hee hee).

- My niece popped in for a little visit and I was able to extend some hospitality by making cookies from the frozen cookie dough that I had stashed in the freezer and I sent her home with a hot chocolate goodie bag that included the peppermint marshmallows that she really loved whenever she came for the hot chocolate bar.

- Although every accomplishment listed above makes me giggle just a little bit my favorite frugal accomplishment would be scoring FREE drawing lessons.  Bishop has been wanting to take drawing lessons with one caveat, that I attend them with him.  Prior to Christmas we took a class for a test drive.  That class was going to cost us $10 an hour per person for a total of $40 each week.  After completing our first class we were relating our experience to a friend (an artist friend who is in school to become an art teacher) and she made an offer we couldn't refuse.  She offered to come to our house one time per week and give us drawing lessons at no charge.  She considers the opportunity to practice teaching her payment.  We bought our supplies for less then $40, didn't have to drive to a lesson, learned things we didn't know and had fun visiting with our friend.

What a great week!

Financial Goals and Frugal Accomplishments

I am still excited about the new year and all the possibilities that it seems to possess.  I have been pondering dreams and thinking of goals and adding to my to-do list. 

This year has the potential to be a very busy year with travels and transitions.  Christian will likely be graduating at the end of this year and will need to move on to a graduate program, this will involve a move and, prior to that, possibly even scouting trips.  He has been invited to go on an international relations related trip to China for honor students.  We would like to be able to make this happen.  Maceo and Bishop haven't seen their dad in a year and a half so it seems that a trip to South Korea is in order for the three of us.  It would be ideal if we could spend more time in New Mexico as my grandparents are ailing and I would love to visit my daughter in California.

All of this is very exciting but very daunting as well, as it will be very costly.  So, naturally, my attention turns to financial matters.  It will be necessary for me to take an honest look at my debt and expenditures and update my financial accountability log.  Of course, this has been added to the master to-do list.  I have also added a couple of other finance-related items to the to-do list including:

* doing my own version of the 52 week money challenge which will allow me to save close to $1400 by years end in a relatively painless manner.  This will help defray moving expenses for Christian.

*nspired by Patsy at A Working Pantry I will collect my change throughout the year and devote it to Christmas expenses.  December is typically a costly month for us with Christmas, property taxes due, vehicle registration due, and, hopefully, travel expenses (I really like to get my daughter home for Christmas, it means so much to both of us).  We anticipate that this December will be even more costly with Christian's graduation and pending move.  I must be prepared.

* also, inspired by The Prudent Homemaker, I will attempt to document my weekly frugal accomplishments.  I am hoping that this exercise will impact the way that I view even the smallest of my finance-related decisions.  I hope that it will inspire me to be more steadfast in doing the things that I know make a difference and more creative in finding new ways to make a difference financially.

For the purposes of accountability and inspiration, I am thinking that I will occasionally post an update on these particular items on my to-do list.

Consider this the first bit of documentation towards that end.

*52 Week Savings Plan:  There is presently $10 in that savings account.

*Christmas Jar of Change:  I started with a jar that I had already been dropping some change in to.  Now this jar is specifically for Christmas expenditures and will be added to with deliberate intent.  The jar's starting balance was $28.03.  At the end of last week I cleaned out my purse and found an additional $11.44 worth of change (no wonder my purse felt so heavy).  The current total in the jar is $39.47.  That is a nice start.

*And now for some of my favorite frugal accomplishments from last week:

-I had received a free pocket calendar from a local business while doing Christmas shopping and I have now tucked that calendar in to my purse and am using it to document my daily spending. 

-I returned to utilizing cash for grocery shopping to prevent me from going over my budget.

-I used a 40% off coupon for an educational-related item that was necessary to purchase.

-I utilized a $10 coupon at a local department store to purchase a really nice, warm shirt that was on clearance.  I paid $8.61 out of pocket.  This will be a 2014 Christmas gift for Bishop unless we find that he is in need of it sooner then that.

-I used fuel rewards points when filling up my vehicle.  It was a .30 per gallon savings.

-I bought a bag of lemons for the highly discounted price of .99.  I was originally planning to juice these and freeze the juice for future consumption; however, while dropping some items off at the thrift store, I serendipitously stumbled across a .25 book entitled The Science of a Lemon and the lemons then became the subject of numerous science experiments.  $1.25 makes for a frugal science curriculum.

-Another item on my master to-do list involves going through every nook and cranny of my property in order to purge and organize (I have presently taken two garbage bags and a box of items to the thrift store).  While sorting through items I have unearthed items that I had purchased as gifts and then promptly misplaced or tucked away in a place so hidden and safe that even I couldn't find them.  I have also been able to go "shopping" for gifts amongst the items that I was willing to let go (ie. someone will be getting a really fabulous vintage Christmas decoration as a gift for 2014 Christmas).  It has been really rewarding.

I am excited about becoming more disciplined and deliberate.  I am excited about the financial adventure that I am embarking on.  I am really excited about all the possibilities that this year holds. 

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

I hope that everyone had a blessed holiday season and, for that matter, I really hope that everyone had a blessed 2013.  And now,  welcome to 2014 and all of its beautiful, wonderful possibilities!

This time of transition is a natural time to reflect on what has been and think of what could be.

I started the year by celebrating my youngest son's birthday and learning how to needle felt.

I recognized Christian's birthday even while he was away on a month-long adventure to Korea.  I recognized my sweet girls birthday and enjoyed visiting with her when she came home for a visit and then we made a trek to New Mexico to celebrate my dear grandmother's 90th birthday.  I sent a son to boy scout camp and another one to church camp and to theatre camp.  I helped one son prepare for auditions while another son got his grill on!  We went to the fair and took an invigorating trip to St. Louis.  I celebrated yet another child's birthday and enjoyed a visit from my father.  I took my own adventurous journey to Korea and yet another trip to New Mexico to visit with my ailing 94-year-old grandfather.  I buried five of my lovely ladies.  I got to watch Maceo perform in Little Mermaid Jr. and get cast in Music Man Jr.  And I ended the year by spending precious time with all my children as my dear Keegan was able to make it home for Christmas.  I enjoyed another year of football with my family.  I won our fantasy football regular season (but couldn't win in the post season) and our family pick'ems and my Bengals are going to the NFL playoffs.  I did a 5K, I began to find my voice regarding educational philosophy, and began a series entitled Lifestyle of Learning.  It was an eventful and blessed year, particularly in regards to family.  This would be the first year of many in which I was able to visit with all my grandparents, parents and siblings.

Now, I look forward to what I hope to experience in this new year. 

I don't make resolutions, so to speak.  I make to-do lists.

Thus far my 2014 to-do list looks a little like this:

-Get blog completely updated.

-Print blog in to book form.

-Play my mandolin.

-Carve a spoon.

-Do succession planting.

-Build fencing to protect the ladies.

-Wet felt something.

-Get a freezer.

-Ferment something.

-Make at least 5 homemade gifts.

-Raise a chick.

-Take a trip.

This list will continue to grow and hopefully I will come close to checking everything off.

Over the next month,  I know that the list will expand to include some health and educational goals, home improvement projects and some financial goals. 

And speaking of financial goals, my niece, Sarah, and her husband, Kevin, have set themselves a challenging goal for the month of January.  They are determined to have a spending freeze this month.  I find that to be exciting and inspiring.  If you do as well and find yourself curious about how that is going for them then feel free to check out their blog.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

May you be richly blessed!

Educational Ponderings and the Lightbulb Going On

I believe that I mentioned in a previous post how crazy the summer seemed to be.  We did things that only happen in the summer, such as camps and the fair, yet somehow the summer raced by and didn't feel wholly like summer.  There was no homemade ice cream, no croquet, none of those little things that typically accompany summer.  The summer was so full of the really big summer things that in-between times were spent preparing for the next big thing.  And now Autumn has come and gone and it feels much the same.  Wonderful BIG things have occupied our time - Maceo made troupe and was cast in the Little Mermaid Jr., my father came to visit, I went on a trip to South Korea, and we took a road trip to New Mexico to visit with my 94 year old grandfather.  (I have started blog entries on each of these wonderful events and have hopes to publish them one day...soon).  And once again the little indicators of the season have been pushed to the wayside - no caramel apples and I watched the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown after Halloween.  Although these big things have been wonderful and stimulating in their right it has all left my head spinning.  I have been unable to just sit with an interest and allow myself to explore it in depth and breadth.  I feel as if I have been unable to encourage that with my children as well.  I have felt dry and drained and lacking in my usual enthusiasm for life and learning.  I have felt uninspired and floundering.  I have felt less then productive.

I have noted that when I begin to feel this way I begin to see my children through the same lens.  I see them as less then enthused, inspired and productive.  It is really my problem not theirs.

But, as is often the case, what is my problem can become their problem as I try, due to my discomfort, to seize control or, due to apathy, withdraw.
Case in point,  while I was in Korea Bishop spent a great deal of time with other homeschooling families.  One family took him to a history group that they attend, really just two families going through The Story of the World together.  Upon my return he asked to join this group.  We did.  Each week we address a couple of chapters of the book - we do the narration, map work and do a related activity.  Once I was familiar with the format I kicked in to high gear - I read the book in its entirety, outlined it and then organized a slew of related activities, I pinned a plethora of ideas on pinterest, scoured the house for all related resources and then scoured the library.  Some of these things have been useful and some have been enjoyed but I could tell that much of it was really of limited interest to Bishop.  I found the process of researching and collecting ideas to be stimulating and rewarding and, I must admit, that I had visions of Bishop producing all sorts of stunning works of art and elaborate projects that would illustrate all that he has "learned."  But all my enthusiastic and well-intentioned planning and intervention did nothing.   It seems as though I had lost faith in the process or, at minimum, I had become impatient with the process.  I had to step back, take a deep breath, and remind myself what it is that I believe.
In retrospect, I hijacked Bishop's experience.
I didn't even bother to ask him what he hoped to get out of the experience.  In hindsight, I believe that he wanted to participate in this group for social reasons not because he had an overwhelming desire to delve deeply into the wonders of ancient Egypt; although it has served as a decent review of ancient history.
I have continued to ponder this particular experience and my knee-jerk response to control their "learning" when I feel at all uncomfortable and, prompted in part by this post, have taken my thoughts on education a bit deeper.
In this blog post Lori Pickert says:
Nothing kills a child's natural love of learning like someone who stands at the ready to use educational alchemy to turn their interest into a chore.  You aren't mapping their path so you can be prepared around the corner with a coloring sheet, a workbook, and a "fun activity".  You aren't going to reach out and take it out of their hands and put it into a manila folder.  If you are going to take over and route the rest of their journey, don't bother to let them break the first part of the trail.  They won't fall for that trick again; next time they'll just refuse to go anywhere until you tell them where to walk.
Why do we map the path?  So we can be a worthy companion, a meaningful collaborator.  So that we can add to their experience, not change it, not take it away, and not turn it into something else.  So we can contribute.
You see, in my anxiety I stepped in and took control.  Bishop showed an interest in something and I jumped in with "educational alchemy" telling myself the whole time how much fun Bishop was going to have learning all the things that I had determined he should be getting out of this history group.  And I witnessed him pull back, unable to muster any enthusiasm for the subject matter at all, just biding his time until he was free to just hang out with the other kids.  I have now pulled back, only setting up small provocations related to ancient civilizations within our home and he seems more engaged in his work in this group.  I had to step back, relinquish control and allow him ownership of this experience.
In another entry of her blog, which I highly recommend perusing, Lori Pickert says:
If your goal is to have your child experience the entire arc of learning, from initial interest to knowing enough to teach someone else, they need adequate time to explore outward from that beginning point.
As you build a strong, trusted learning relationship with your child, they need to know that you will support them and get them whatever they need but you won't take over.  They will remain in control.
Anything that you do for them takes away their opportunity to do it for themselves - including having ideas and making connections.  Of course you are going to make those connections quickly; of course you are going to have wonderful ideas!  Save them, and later, if they never come up in any other way, you can introduce them.  But give your child the chance to make their way there on their own - possibly much more slowly, or via a circuitous path.  Slow learning.
Your goal here is for your child to work independently and have their own ideas.  Of course, you could plan a fun unit study, but that's not what we're doing.  We're planning along, not planning ahead.  We're seeing what form our child's work takes over an extended period of time, allowing it to take its own shape without imposing our preconceived ideas.
Wow!
This line of thinking...it was like a lightbulb going on!