Frugal Friday: Reducing my water bill

The fight is still on! What fight you may ask? The one between me and my water bill! There is very little wiggle room in my budget and I've only allotted a certain amount for utitilies. Food has gone up so much that I've had to take any extra money and 'beef' up my grocery budget. (pun intended! *Smile)

So, here are the new tasks (and a few old ones already mentioned)  I'm doing each day to cut down our water consumption. I will get my bill in a week or so and I can't wait to see how much it has dropped. Any extra money saved will go into my 'summer water bill fund' since we'll have a lot more watering to do in the yard.

1. I saved the water from washing my floors and poured it into my 'shower buckets'. (I mentioned a few weeks ago that I've been keeping a few small buckets in my tub/shower (and also one in my kitchen). Any extra water I save gets dumped into those buckets and is used for flushing.

2. I've been turning off the water while soaping up in the shower then turn it back on when rinsing.

3. I put two dishpans in my kitchen sink for washing dishes. 1 pan is for washing and the other pan for rinsing. I started using a 3 dishpan to soak the dishes and get off any extra food. All of this water is either used to throw on plants outside or if it's clean enough it goes in the 'shower buckets'.

4. I pre-soak some of my wash loads (turning off the washing machine) so that I don't have to use a longer wash cycle.

5. I have a large 2 quart Pryex measuring cup. I started running cold water into the measuring cup and heating it in the microwave for 3 minutes to wash and rinse my dishes. I also do this in a large coffee cup to wash my face in the mornings and evenings.  Our water heater is in the garage and it takes a LONG time to get to the kitchen sink. By that time it's hot I've wasted a lot of water.

6. There is one other drastic measure you can take but I won't mention it here. Email me if you're interested.

7. Since it's winter we are only watering the lawn and flowers when it's absolutely necessary. Flowers are getting watered LIGHTLY maybe 1-2 times a week and the lawn maybe once a week.

Do you have any other suggestions you'd add to this list?

Other Frugal Friday posts can be found at Life as Mom

Daily Bread

"Give us this day our daily bread." 

Matthew 6:11

God will provide for my needs daily 

so I can bring Him glory 

by not worrying about tomorrow.

How to make the perfect PIE CRUST

I have such warm memories of my childhood holidays and many of them revolve around time spent at my Grandma's farm. My sister and I and our cousins  would romp through the pasture.. down to the back of the berry bushes and look for tadpoles in the small pools of water.

My grandma was a 'down home' cook. She fried her own chicken (which she had raised) and did a lot of canning. But, my favorite memories are her pies. She made every kind of pie you could imagine from mince meat to green tomato along with all the favorites.  I made it my goal, as a young wife, to learn how to make pies just like Grandma. Unfortunately, I never learned  how to make her pie crust before she died.

Years later a young mother brought a homemade pie to a church Pot Blessing and the crust was so good that I asked for the recipe. I've been making it ever since and shared the recipe with many women over the years.

Perfect Pie Crust (Makes 2 full pie crusts)

4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 c. Crisco shortening (don't use generic brands.. it really does make a difference)
1/2 c. water
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.  Add the shortening. Here I am using my Kitchen Aid but you can use any large bowl and a pastry cutter or a large fork to cut in the shortening. When I use my Kitchen Aid I use the whisk until the dough resembles very, very small peas.  But don't whisk it too long or the dough will start clumping together too soon.

  Next, I run 1/2 cup water into a measuring cup, break the egg straight into the cup and add the tablespoon of vinegar. Mix it together and then add to the flour/shortening mixture. I change attachments on my Kitchen Aide at this point and use the mixing paddle to gentle mix it together just until it starts clumping together and clearing away from the side of the bowl.

 

 I wet my rolling board with a wet wash cloth and place two pieces of Seran wrap next to each other so that it will cover a large surface and then I sprinkle a small amount of flour onto the Seran wrap.. not too much...maybe 3 tbsp. or so.. just enough to dust the seran wrap. I take a handful of dough (the dough will make 2 full pies with top and bottom crust) and place it on the seran wrap and then flip it over so that there is a small amount of flour on both sides of the dough. I put one more piece of Seran wrap on top of the dough. So, now you have Seran wrap (2 pieces) underneath the dough and one piece on top. I then use my rolling pin and roll it out thin.

 

Next, I take the top layer of Seran wrap off of the dough and place my right hand

underneath the bottom layers of Seran wrap and lift up the crust so it can be flipped it into the pie pan.

 

(The Seran wrap is still on both sides of this dough in the picture because I'm not baking pies today. I just wanted to show you how easy it is to roll out a pie crust with this method. )

.

Peel off the last pieces of Searn wrap and gently press the dough into the pan. Cut off any excess dough around the edges and flute your edges and your done.

 If you decide to not bake your pie crust right now you can leave all the Seran wrap on when you initially roll out the dough. Fold it in 1/4's and then put the dough into a large gallon freezer bag. You can then either keep it in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it for at least a month. 

I made up quite a few batches of dough,  rolled them out and then froze them for the holidays. It makes the baking process much easier when the dough is already made. 

And there you go!

Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week (Nov. 1)

 Lots of saving going on in my home this week! I've been a busy girl!

1. I was given a couple sacks of green tomatoes so I made green tomato salsa and a Green Tomato Pie. I used Stevia in place of the sugar which turned out pretty good.

Green Tomato Salsa

2. I'm trying new ways  to get our water bill down. I came up with a couple more ideas. I purchased two small buckets from the dollar store and put one in the kitchen and one in the bathtub. I'm saving my kitchen rinse water into a dishpan and once I'm finished washing dishes I pour it into the bucket which then gets poured into the bucket in the shower which then can be used for 'flushing'.  I also put a small, shallow plastic container in the bathroom sink to catch the water when we wash our hands which then goes into the shower bucket. Lastly, we put a bucket under the tub faucet to catch water when we take a shower. I'm amazed at how much water has been just going down the drain.. along with my money. :-)

3. I love aprons and wear them all the time to protect my clothes when I'm working in the kitchen. I think this is a very frugal practice because it keeps my clothes free from stains (which saves stain remover) and also helps my clothes last longer.

4. I made egg drop soup this week which is super easy and super cheap.

5. The window air conditioners have now been covered with plastic on the outside to keep the cold air from coming into the house. This should help on our heating bill this winter. I'm imagining that since the house was built in 1917 it will be quite drafty. :-)

6. I put my shampoo into a pump style hand soap dispenser. I used a fraction of what I normally do and it did the job just fine.

7. I'm saving the remnants from our meat that we normally don't eat such as the skin, grissle and small leftover pieces. I placed these in a bag in the freezer for a recipe I found to make dog food which I will end up canning. I also saved some leftover rice which will also go in the recipe. This is food that I would normally have just thrown away.

8. A neighbor asked if I'd like her pumpkin. I plan to cook it for pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and to eat like squash with our meals. I kept putting off buying a pumpkin until after Halloween hoping the prices would drop.

9. I order some foam inserts for the inside of our air conditioner to help with drafts. I did a search online using (SWAGBUCKS) (which helps me earn money)  to see if there were any discount codes for free shipping,etc. I did find one and didn't have to pay the shipping.

10. I'm still cleaning out old business files. I kept the paper that only had print on one side. I'll use it for my computer. Most of the things I print from my computer are for personal use so it doesn't matter if there is print on one side or not.

What did you do in your home this week to save money? I love to learn from other women. Oh, and hop over to Life as Mom for more Frugal Friday ideas.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.    Matthew 6:33 ESV

Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week! Oct.26

The first half of the week was very productful! I finished the sewing side job for a friend. We will trade my sewing in exchange for a hair cut and a hair weave.  I had some larger chunks of time during the beginning of the week which allowed me to finish a few projects I've listed below.

 Then.. life happened... and I fell down my back stairs which slowed life down to a snails pace due to some swollen toes! Interesting how you can have a long 'to do list' and be cruisin' right along and all of a sudden.... the brakes hit! Even though I wasn't able to stand long on my feet I still was able to work on some research projects (sitting down) to save money.Today I hope to do some de-cluttering of paperwork.



1. I turned off my computer printer. I figured there is no use keeping it on when I'm not using it daily. I also started unplugging my laptop when not in use.

2. I used one of those 'chunks of time' to mend an old quilt that was falling apart. I hope to get a few more years out of it.

3. I stretched my scrambled eggs by adding water.

4. I'm on a mission to reduce my water bill. I had started saving the water that normally would run down the drain while waiting for hot water and put it on my flowers that are in pots outside. The plants are not needing as much water now that winter is here so I decided to try something new. I heated up a cup of water in the microwave and used that to wash my face. It's working great. So, this week I came up with another idea. I decided to run the water slowly while it's heating up to wash my dishes? I normally turn the faucet on full blast. It heats up just as fast when I ran it slow and I wasted less water. I'm still throwing the rinse water on plants outside.

5.  I'm a member of a local Yahoo group called Freecyle. These groups are all over the world. It's a group where you can post items you want to give away and you can also post items you need. I've been blessed by many wonderful items off this list over the past few years. This week I picked up a nearly new plastic outdoor chair and 2 boxes of free food.

6. I started popping popcorn on  the stove instead of buying microwave popcorn. I've been hearing horrible things about the oil in the microwave bags so this will be a cheaper alternative and also a healthier one.

7. I called my gas and electric company to find out how to use their website more efficiently. It's really a wonderful tool to track where my money is going. I also asked the lady if there were any programs that would help reduce my bill. I found out that I can get a reduction on my bill because I use a life saving device called a CPAP machine. Our electric company also offers a discount to low income people of about 20%. 

8. I started a Price Book last week. This week, while I was recuperating, I went through this months grocery receipts and wrote down the date, item, price and store it was purchased in a small notebook with dividers. Prices continue to rise so quickly that I often have a difficult time remembering what I last paid for items I don't buy regularly.

9.  You may scratch your head when I list the next thing I did this week to save money. I Iistened to a teaching CD. Not on just any topic but on contentment. One of the many points made was that if we don't learn to be content with what we have today or where we are today (or our life ) then we will never be happy or content when we finally get 'it' (fill in whatever you think you need to make you happy). The scripture text was Phil. 4:10-13. The apostle Paul LEARNED contentment ...whether in jail.. in shipwrecks...in affliction... he learned to be content whether he had much or little.  Listening to this CD and reminding myself what God's Word says was one of the best things I did this week in regards to how I view money.

What did you do to save money this week? I love to learn from other women!

Frugal Friday: How I Saved Money this Week

It's been a full week of many extra duties that have squeezed out the attempt to try new frugal ideas. One of those extra duties is a sewing job. I'm hoping that some day I can work exclusively from home again like I have for most of my years as a homemaker.

So, my Frugal Friday list is less full this week. I'm still doing the 'main things' that help me save money:

• Hanging my clothes on the line to dry.
• Only washing clothes when I have a full load.
• Keeping the lights off as much as possible during the day.
• Washing and drying dishes by hand. 
• Using up left overs to stretch my food budget. 
• Saving as much water in the house as possible to throw on the plants in the yard.
• Composting any leftovers.  

These are a few new things I did to save money this week:

1. I have a 'mending' drawer which was very full so I spent an afternoon mending pants and shirts that otherwise would have been given to Salvation Army. This will also save money in the future by extending my wardrobe. I also have some socks with holes that I plan on mending soon.
2.  I wrote in previous posts how I would save the water that runs from the faucet in the mornings while I'm waiting for the hot water. I would throw the cold water (that normally went down the drain) on plants outside. This week I heated a cup of water in the microwave and used the warm water to clean my face instead of letting the water run. I normally run a 1/2 bucket of cold water before the hot comes so I saved quite a bit of water doing this.  I'm still saving the 'extra' water in the kitchen though when waiting for hot water to wash my dishes. 
3. I kept my grocery receipts from this past month so that I could keep track of what I was/had spent. 
4. I started a Price Book. It's not finished but it's started. :-)
5. I made up a monthly menu and a grocery list from that menu. I was just making 2 week menus but seem to run short on vegetables by the end of the month. I'm hoping that better planning will eliminate that problem. 
6. I made a new stain remover which I will share on a later post if it works. The last two I made are working but I need something a little stronger for those determined stains. 

So.. that's it for this week. What did you do to save money this week? 

Big houses, careers and possessions

Is that how we envisage our lives as disciples of Jesus? As medical missionaries bringing with us the only possible cure to a disease that afflicts and will eventually kill everyone on the planet?

For what is a missionary? Someone who is ‘sent’ to a particular place with a view to bringing the gospel there. There is always a huge commitment involved—not just in training and preparation, but in getting to know the culture, spending time there, building relationships, being involved in the community, having people into your home, and then using every opportunity, formal or informal, planned or spontaneous, alone or in partnership with others, to share the gospel of forgiveness in Christ.

It’s long-term, it’s intentional, it’s an all-of-life activity, and it is costly. When you’re a missionary, you don’t have time or resources to plough into big houses and careers and possessions. You’re on a mission after all, and every dollar you get is given to you to support you in this mission.

  by Tony Payne (What is the mission of the Christian)