- Pray for DAILY bread. (Matthew 6:11)
- Seek FIRST His kingdom and He will take care of the food and clothing. (Matthew 6:33)
- Don't worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34)
- Be content with food and clothing. (1 Timothy 6:8)
You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 ESV
~ And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deut. 8:3 ESV
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Here are a few things I did this week along with my typical frugal day routine:
1. I cut all of the curly parsley and plan on drying it. I also have 'hot and spicy oregano' and a flat leaf parsley that need to be harvested. I'll hang them in the garage and allow them to dry and then grind them. I've really enjoyed using fresh herbs this summer!
2. It's important to take care of what I own for several reasons. First and foremost, because God has blessed me with these gifts and I want to be a good steward. And secondly, because it will help my budget to not replace these items. So, this week I started preparing for winter. I pulled the patio table under the porch awning so it's out of the weather. I stored the table umbrella in the garage as soon as the winds came up so it wouldn't tip over my table and break it. I pulled in the patio chairs to the garage and covered the outdoor bench with plastic and took down the outdoor blinds. They are safely tucked away until next spring. I will get one more year's use out of all of them.
3. I checked my soap and it's nice and firm. YAY!!! I took the soap out of the molds and put them in a cardboard box to continue drying. They will be ready for gifts before Christmas. It's so fun to learn a new skill! Being a homemaker never gets boring!
4. I made a Christmas list. I found myself getting anxious trying to juggle all the thoughts about what to make and buy. It really helped to relieve some of the anxiety. I used 40% off coupons this week to purchase a few gifts and started sewing on another one. I'm also crocheting in the evenings.
5. I still have 5 spaghetti squash left from my garden. My sister told me she found a recipe for spaghetti squash patties. I tried my own version and liked them. I just added an egg, garlic powder and salt and pepper. They would be really good with Parmesan cheese if you can eat dairy. Sauteed in a little butter until brown on both sides.
6. I'm out of homemade laundry soap so I made another batch. I've been making my own laundry detergent for around 8 years. I use the Dugger's recipe because it makes 10 gallons. I also tried a new recipe this month to use with my whites only since they need a pick me up. I can't remember where I found it.
Put these ingredients in a one gallon jug. Pour 4 cups boiling
water into the jug. Swirl until ingredients are dissolved in the liquid.
Let liquid cool. Then fill almost to the top with cold water. The
bubbles will overflow out of the bottle.
7. I also ran out of stain remover so I made a new batch.
8. Things I saved this week to reuse:
10. I've been wanting to wash one of my blankets and throw rugs before winter but dreaded spending the quarters at the laundromat. I have a sink in my garage so I filled it with warm water and laundry soap and soaked my quilt. Swished. Rinsed. Swished. Rinsed and then hung it on the clothesline. It worked great. It reminded me of when we were first married nearly 30 years ago and I washed clothes in our bathtub. :-) I used my carpet cleaner on the throw rugs.
Thanks so much for all your great tips last week. I'm still researching a lot of your ideas.
What did YOU do to save money this week in your home? And my favorite question is this... do you have a scripture that encourages you concerning your finances?
Blessings,
Georgene
- Envelopes that came with bills that I pay online (used to store vegetable seeds)
- Heirloom seeds from peppers, cantaloupe, okra, tomato, eggplant, honeydew
- Strings from tea (tie up plants in garden)
- Newspaper saved from a friend. (I lay it down in my veggie garden with straw on the top to discourage weeds).
- Toilet paper cardboard (compost)
- Egg cartons, cardboard (compost)
- Washed Seran wrap and baggies to reuse (no meat or dairy)
- Mayo jar to pour grease into instead of it going down my pipes.
- Grocery sacks. (garbage cans)
- Vegetable and fruit trimmings (compost)
10. I've been wanting to wash one of my blankets and throw rugs before winter but dreaded spending the quarters at the laundromat. I have a sink in my garage so I filled it with warm water and laundry soap and soaked my quilt. Swished. Rinsed. Swished. Rinsed and then hung it on the clothesline. It worked great. It reminded me of when we were first married nearly 30 years ago and I washed clothes in our bathtub. :-) I used my carpet cleaner on the throw rugs.
Thanks so much for all your great tips last week. I'm still researching a lot of your ideas.
What did YOU do to save money this week in your home? And my favorite question is this... do you have a scripture that encourages you concerning your finances?
Blessings,
Georgene