Saturday, June 22, 2013

How I saved money this week (June 22, 2013)

Life was very full this week. I'm thankful for health and strength to put in a full day's work. I remember a few months ago when my knee joint was swollen and I could barely walk. I did a lot of sitting. I'm grateful that I can now take care of my home again. There are different seasons in our life.  A time to work and a time to rest. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

This week I've been working diligently to put up the produce that we are harvesting. My freezer is full so I need to continue pressure canning whatever produce I can. This will help with the limited storage space I have available.



Here are a few things I did to save money in my home this week:

1. I washed my car at home using 2 buckets of water. One bucket with soapy water (car wash liquid purchased several years ago from Walmart. It lasts forever.) and one bucket with warm rinse water. I didn't think it was possible to only use 2 small buckets to wash an entire vehicle .. but it is.

2. I made a batch of homemade dog food and froze it in small containers.

3.  I made 2 batches of homemade spicy tomato sauce and pressure canned 8 pint jars. I also pressure canned my first batch of green beans. I bought a Romano green bean seed and we love it. It's wider than most and has a buttery flavor.

4. I was blessed with free plant stakes, a medium sized flag pole for the garden and a stepping stone from Freecycle.

5. I purchased birthday cards from the dollar store instead of a drug store. They were very nice.

6.  I bought a belt from the thrift store instead of a department store.

7. We're eating the vegetables in season from our yard. I'm buying very few veggies at the grocery store. An occasional avocado or romaine lettuce head but nearly every dinner meal has a salad or multiple vegetables from our yard. I just heard you can put kale in a smoothie so that will be my next attempt. Hubby says 'no thanks'. :-)

8.  Seeds (broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, pumpkin) have been planted for our fall garden. I was also given some sweet potato seedlings from my daughter in love.

9.  I made another batch of The Duggar's homemade liquid laundry detergent.

10. I'm researching how to harvest stevia and make it into a liquid sweetener. Currently, I am paying nearly $15 for a small bottle. I'm hoping to make my own someday.

There was more but those are the highlights.

What are you doing in your home this week? There is no small task when it's done with love for God.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

A Productive Home

 I've been thinking about a book I read years ago called, When Father's Ruled. It was an interesting study of how the Reformation affected the family and how the home was thought of as a place of productivity.  I liked that thought!

 Most of the productivity in our generation seems to be outside the walls of the family home. It's not a sin... mind you! I don't really know of a direct command forbidding it one way or another... just that all we do should be done for the glory of God.  But, I do find it interesting to look back and see how different the home was viewed in previous generations.


Zucchini

Why make the home a place of productivity in this generation when we don't have to? I like to think of it as a trade off.  I can pay someone to produce items for me or I can cut out the middle man. If I do the work myself it saves money. Saving money benefits our home in several ways.

- It stretches our income.
- The extra income can go into savings for unexpected future expenses. A savings can help avoid expensive payments because we have cash on hand.
- The extra income can be used to help others.

Herb Garden
For instance, my tomato plants are producing right now.  I have enough to make 2 batch of homemade spicy tomato sauce. I already have my jars from previous years. I've been picking up a few boxes of canning lids each payday. I have fresh basil and parsley. I've been harvesting onions and a neighbor blessed us with garlic. I have everything I need to make the sauce from my home except 2 cans of tomato paste which I picked up this afternoon. I use a lot of sauce in soups and stews in the winter. Producing my own tomato sauce and canned tomatoes will cost less than purchasing them from the store which will give me extra money to use in other areas.

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23 ESV

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.  Proverbs 13:11 ESV


How about you? I'd love to hear what you are producing in your home.