Hi Friends!

I am taking a few minutes to say 'hi' to all of you loyal followers. LOL, or to the occassional follower.:)

I have been very busy these days. I am still working full-time and it has been quite the challenge these last few months. I know many women work full-time while having a family and are doing just fine. I, on the other hand am not doing so well. It is extremely hard being gone for 8+ hours a day while having seven children at home who need me. I am not sure how long my working will last, only God knows but I will for sure let y'all know what happens.

We are gearing up for spring on our hobby farm. Our hens are definitely ready for spring, they miss being outside. Our dog Honeybelle has a new friend to play with, Savannah. She is our new 8 week old Black Labrador. She is cute and will make a good friend for our Honeybelle. We will be receiving 28 chicks the end of March to add to our 5 hens for eggs. My children are thrilled about it! Having more laying hens will be great because we need a lot of more eggs around here than the 3-4 we are currently getting daily. We are also considering getting a couple of milk goats or a Jersey heifer for milk. Being able to provide as much of our needs from our property is our greatest desire. So, I'll let you know what we decide.

I hope my NSM followers are doing well, and staying financially savvy. We are in the process of paying off some more debt and have built up our food pantry back up to six months. This next month will be quite telling for our future...I pray it will be in a positive way.

Blessings,

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish all my NSM friends a blessed Thanksgiving.

Blessings,

I Got The Job!!!

It is true, I got the job I interviewed for last week...yee haw!!!

I am praising God for this blessing and rejoicing about this opportunity. Now I have three weeks to prepare for my first day of work. There is lots to be done over this time period in preparation of me being gone for more than eight hours a day. Things I should have probably worked on sooner but now I have the swift quick in the butt I needed, plus motivation that I've needed because I am employed!!!

My husband is still on the job hunt. Now he wil have to turn his focus onto jobs that will work with my schedule. It is my job that has excellent health benefits, the best yet since our days in the military where we didn't ever have to make a co-payment for an appointment or pay for a prescription. We are beyond thrilled with the health benefits we will be getting!

Getting this job also means we can stay right where we are and not have to move. Which totally delights our children. God is good, all the time. Things don't always happen in our time, but they do happen. Prayer and a patient heart, are two things that have gotten me through this time in our lives. My relationship with God has grown. We have received many blessings that have helped us out a lot. And having a well stocked pantry has been vital for my family. Foodstamps doesn't give you enough to feed your family but it does help. Having a well stocked pantry helped tremendously so we would have enough for feeding our family. I am grateful to God for placing on my heart the need to build a large pantry. At the time I didn't know why I needed to do this, just that I needed to and am now so glad I listened. It truly made up the difference for our family.

Now I can rejoice in His blessing...

I have a job!!!!

My first interview in over 13yrs.

It has been eight months since my husband was let go from his job and I had my first interview. I've applied for many jobs in our town, even outside of our area and in other states...not a single bite. Until last week. Wow, what a process it is trying to get back into the working community.

One of the best businesses in our town is hiring right now for various positions. I felt at ease with applying for a couple of the positions. Confident I could do each job very well. In times past I was never comfortable with the thought of working at all because I was either pregnant or nursing a baby. And I just wasn't ready. Those days are gone now and we are in a different phase, season of our lives. Which is very bittersweet for me. Yet, I am very much at peace with the possibility of working again. Even a little excited about it!

So, this process was none like I've ever experienced before. After the common submitting of an application and resume which was not the easiest thing to do since I haven't worked in over 13 years was completed, I was called to take a test. I initially didn't think much about it but then quickly remembered I am a horrible test taker! EEK!! After some great encouragement from my husband and my best friends I went with confidence that I would do good. And I did! Much to MY surprise I was called for an interview for this past Monday. So much goes through ones mind for their first interview in all these years.

What do I wear?
Do I need to color my hair because I think I might see some grey?
What kind of questions will I be asked and will I answer them well?

Oh my, I was so worked up for this interview! I interviewed with two individuals who traded off asking me questions. That was interesting because I wanted to give each person my full attention but couldn't. I had to divide my attention between the two adults. Sort of like I have to do with my seven children, so it wasn't an extremely difficult task to do. Once the interview was over with I had the pleasure of taking a second test! Ugh, not what I was hoping to do. I was in the building for over two hours, which felt much longer than it actually was. I ran a couple of errands afterwards, made dinner and talked to my husband about my interview. Then a hard crash hit me and I had a tension headache so I went to bed early...it had been a very hard day for me apparently. (Giggle...)

Now I wait. I wait and pray that the Lord's will be done. The two postions consist of one full-time and the other part-time. Ideally I would like to work full-time to receive benefits but I will be just as happy to get the part-time job. Either one will be just fine with me.

Wish me luck and pray for me. I will let ya know if I get a job offer!

It's been a year...

It has a been year since I first thought of doing a 'No Spend Month'. Wow, how the time flies. It was that little voice from the Lord that told me to change my spending habits. To build up my stored food pantry because something was on the horizon. My first thought was some natural event was coming that would keep us from being able to go to the grocery store. Maybe a blizzard or an illness in our family. Even scarier, maybe an attack on our country. Well, none of those happened and I am quite thankful. What happened though, has made this past year the most challenging time in my life...my husband became unemployed.

I didn't see the wisdom in preparing for such an event before now. I took for granted his job and paycheck. Yes, I did pay off a good amount of debt in my first month of doing a 'No Spend Month'. I just wish I'd started this sooner. If I would have been more finacially savvy and responsible, we would be in a better situation right now. Now eight months later my husband is still unemployed. We've done our very best to keep our family above water. With the help of some loving friends and family whom we could never had without, we are doing okay.

We have all learned to do without a lot of things. We've learned to cook a lot more economically than we've ever done in times past. We've learned to enjoy our time as a family without cable TV which used occupy a lot of our time. I always tell my kids, 'What doesn't' break us, will make us stronger.' We have not been broken yet. Infact, we are getting stronger!

I can definitely say I look at life differently than I ever have before. That is a good thing. With times being tough for a lot of us I will always plan for the unexpected, no matter what that may be. If you aren't having any financial difficulties you may want to get a head of the game and better your situation now.

Blessings,

Winter preparations for lower heating bills...

We live in what I like to affectionately call 'the frozen tundra'. It can get brutally cold up here in northern Minnesota. Any little space that air can get through into your home will make your home cold and increase your heating bills.

With many of us dealing with under/unemployment we don't have much money to spend on high electric/heating bills. I have enjoyed a low electric bill this summer, it wasn't much more than $100.00 each month...wonderful! That is all over now. We are getting down into the mid 20's for a low and just above freezing for a high. We had to do something about keeping us warm this winter while keeping our expenses down. Here is what we've done so far...

1. We put up Energy Film on our windows that are old and have leaks that allow cold air to come into our home. I found this film in Walmart and have seen a noticeable improvement already!

2. Then my husband bought some expanding foam to help seal up the window frames and door frames. It isn't very expensive so we thought it worth a try in helping to keep our heating bills down.

3. Next we bought a portable heater for our living room, which is our coldest room when we are having cold temps below -15. Our radiant ceiling heater doesn't do a great job and works far to hard to heat that room, which means a high electric bill. So far with this portable heater we have not had to turn on our heat in that room.

4. Warm bedding and pj's for everyone! And that means fleece pj's for everyone because it is warmer than flannel in my opinion. This may be a no brainer for many but I wanted to mention a wonderful find I discovered recently, fleece sheets! Now, we haven't bought these yet. I am hoping to use some anniversary money we got to buy these for my bed and my teenage daughter's bed. I have touched them in the store and they will be a lot warmer than flannel sheets. That means being able to keeping the heat down during the night.

I am sure we will do more than the above, but this is just a start. And with money being limited our preparations are slow going and have to be done very wisely.

I would love to hear what you've done for winterizing your home.

Blessings,

Twelve days of doing SwagBucks...

Just thought I would give you a brief update on how I am doing with Swag Bucks. I currently have 11 bucks. Close to one buck a day, but I admit there were some days I didn't visit the swag bucks website. So I think if I did visit at least once a day I should be able to get more swag bucks...at least I think I could.

I am please to see how easy it actually is and the bucks are starting to add up. Not bad for doing very little.

Have a great day!

Have you heard of SWAGBUCKS?

I recently learned of SWAGBUCKS from a friend. I had never heard of it until today. So what is SWAGBUCKS you ask? Well from what I understand it is a site that gives you bucks/points that you can redeem for merchandise or gift cards or many other things. Check the site out, it is really neat. Anytime you use a search engine like Google or ASK.com do it on SWAGBUCKS to earn points...it is that easy. You can also promote it on your blog, like I have done and if your readers go through your widget, you get points if they sign up! You can also earn points by referring people to sign up.

In this time of economic difficulties for many of us, trying something like this is a no brainer for me. If I can earn points while doing what I normally do anyway, then redeem those points for free gift cards for say...Amazon, I am doing it! Lord knows we could put those gift cards to good use with my husband being unemployed. Whether it is $10, $20, or $50...every little bit helps. Doesn't it?

So, I encourage you the check out SWAGBUCKS, you have nothing to lose but much to gain! And if you click on the ad on the right I will get referral points...just sayin' if you decide to register.

Sorry for being MIA.

It has been a difficult few weeks in my home. For one, MY laptop died!!! It was working one minute and the next it was gone. As it was we were down to two computers in the house, mine and my teenage daughter's. Her's was on its last leg and today, her laptop died. I tell ya these things don't last much longer than two years it seems. So sad! Naturally she is feeling lost now that her 'best friend' is gone. And this just one day after we were up and running with a refurbished desktop computer we were blessed with by a family member. Now we are down to one computer, again...sigh.

Adding to the computer crisis, four of my children have been sick for the last 11 days. I suspect it is the 'swine flu', albeit very mild. I don't mind so much if it is the H1N1 flu. I'd rather we all get it now while it is mild because it may mutate to a stronger virus this flu season. I don't plan on any of us getting the vaccine, I don't agree with vaccines, but that is a whole other topic.

I hope to be getting back to blogging soon. Just trying to figure this whole computer situation out. And soon because school starts in September and two of my kids that I homeschool do their math online. It really is an excellent program and one I don't want to discontinue. If you are intersted here is the website... ALEKS math.

Until next time,

Michelle

Bulk Cooking Weekend - Monthly Plan

Today I will be baking 10 dozen muffins (6 dozen apple and 4 dozen blueberry) and 6 dozen biscuits. These are great to bake and freeze because you can pull out 1-2 muffins/biscuits, pop them into the microwave for 20 seconds and they come out hot and fresh. YUM!

You will find all my muffin recipes and biscuit recipe on my cooking blog...Cookin' Cheap.

Tomorrow I will be making triple batches of black bean soup, taco soup, beef stew and chicken noodle (I will not add the noodles until the day we will eat it). I will place the soups/stew in ziploc freezer bags, lay them flat on one another and into the freezer they go!

I will also be preparing 6 pounds of taco meat (half ground beef and half ground turkey) and 10 dozen meatballs.


Have a lovely weekend all!

Adding to this months 'plan'...

I wanted to stop in briefly to add to my 'plan' for July. At the moment my parents are visiting for the week so I won't have the time to blog daily but I did want to add that we are going to be building a small chicken coop. To house about 7-10 chickens. We had built an 8x12 coop to house 27 chicks we had bought. Unfortunately we had to sell them because we didn't know if we would be staying in our home or not. Plus we needed the money. We still don't know, but I have to tell you...we miss those chickens somethin' awful! So, we are going to build a small coop with some left-over scraps of material we had from the last coop. I think my husband will be successful, he is a great coop builder!

The next thing we would need to do is buy some chickens. Not sure how we will get money for that just yet, but I am praying about it.

Enjoy the week and I will post again on Friday (my parents leave that day) about my bulk cooking weekend!!!

July 1st...plan for the month.

It is a new month and I thought I would share my plan (which is still a work in progress) for the month with all of you. I do believe it is helpful to see what others are doing to make ends meet, which can be inspiring. I hope by posting this it will get your creative juices flowing!

1. Make monthly menu

2. Try to save $100.00 worth of food for our emergency preparedness pantry.

3. Plan out my bulk cooking weekend for July 11 & 12.

4. Continue selling items in attempt to get our utility bills current (especially before winter comes again)

5. Figure out how to school our three kids in the fall...borrow/purchase curriculum.

A given...KEEP TRYING TO GET A JOB!


This is just a start. I will add to this as the month goes on.

Blessings,

How are YOU surviving unemployment?

I know many following my blog are dealing with a spouse being unemployed. Which is very hard to do, don't I know it! So, please share with us what you are doing to survive unemployment.

1. How are you paying your bills?

2. How are you dealing with the emotions one feels by being unemployed?

3. If you have children, how much do they know about what is going on?

4. Are you able to preserve your credit or is it in the 'pits'?

5. Have you grown stronger in faith during this trial?


Here are the answers to my own questions...

1. We are paying our bills late each month. I am selling just about anything we don't need. We've had a yard sale and that paid to get our garbage service back. We have some wonderful friends who have blessed us in various ways. There is nothing better than great friends and I feel so fortunate to have 2 GREAT friends. We've received money and gift cards from these friends, with no expectations. It is so humbling because I've always been the giver when we had income. I've always been the one to bless another in need and now I am on the receiving end.

2. It is hard to deal with the emotions of unemployment. We have our days where we are feeling low and hopeless. We have our days when we are feeling full of hope. On the not so good days we do a lot of praying, but we also vent to one another. I think venting can be good to get things off your chest. Just so long as you can come out on the other end feeling relieved. Some can't vent and that is okay. Know your limitations.

3. We have seven children and the four younger ones have no idea what is going on. The three older ones do and we are very open with them about our financial situation. We don't believe in hiding these things from them.

4. Our credit is in the pits. That is just the after effect of a job loss. When I started this blog I was on a strict budget to get our debt paid-off. Not that we had a lot of debt. Just enough that would take us 18months to pay-off. We can't preserve our credit because we don't have enough money coming in. Even with our friends offering financial help, it still isn't enough...but we are grateful for any help that they have given. More than they can ever know.

5. I would say we have definitely grown stronger in our faith. Though it has been rocky at times, we have still grown. The Lord has shown us that our life could be much worse and He has shown us that it is okay to accept help from others. That was a huge step for me to take. We've always worshiped as a family but I think in these last few months our worship time has looked different. We praise the Lord for all things good and bad. I think we sometimes forget to praise Him when things are bad. He knows what is ahead so He could very well be saving us from something much worse. Giving thanks in all situations is what we have been learning.


So friends, share your experience for those who are going through the same thing. Offer words of encouragement and prayers. Lets lift each other up to the Lord...we are stronger in numbers. He hears our prayers. Anything else you'd like to add is welcome, we'd love to hear it.

You are all in my prayers...

Yard Sale!

We are having a yard sale this weekend. I sure don't like all the work in preparing for a yard sale, I must admit. I do however, like making money and decluttering my home, so I do it.

This week we've been busy preparing for our yard sale. I've purged closets and dresser drawers. Gone through my kitchen cabinets and linen closet. We are even hoping to sell some bulky furniture that we don't 'need'.

We made flyers this time and put an advertisement in out little newspaper. The only thing I am concerned about is the timing, as it is Father's Day weekend. Oh well, I am just going to have to trust that the Lord is going to take care of it all.

I've been told be many locals that everyone loves yard sales here, so I am hopeful. Plus, I have a great friend who works at a local bank who has been spreading the word too.

Wish us luck on our yard sale tomorrow!

Have a lovely weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there...

Attitude ~

The definition of 'attitude' in the dictionary reads...

noun
1. manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, esp. of the mind: a negative attitude; group attitudes.
2. position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc.: a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude.

As a Christian our attitudes show others a lot about our faith, how well we deal with a difficult situation, and if we are trusting in God. Trusting in God is a very difficult thing when times are tough...and boy do I know it! Still, His word says...

Psalm 112:6-8 (New International Version)

6 Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.

7 He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

Pretty powerful words, yes?

~ Example ~

Today, I had an inquiry on some books I am selling. I was thrilled to get that email today. After corresponding back with the buyer, she decided to not buy the books. Usually I would be crushed by this...I needed that money to pay a bill! But I said, no I am not going to let this bring me down. This has to be satan taking my focus off the Lord and I can't receive His blessings if I am not focused on Him. I rebuked satan that second and praised the Lord for the buyer who inquired. I was feeling very good and full of hope to see how the Lord was going to provide for our needs.

Then an hour later I received another email from a potential buyer for the same books and a few more. This buyer did buy the books and her purchase was more than the first buyer! Not only did the Lord cover what the first buyer was going to spend, but He gave us more! Wow...I was/am so thrilled!! Praise the Lord!!!

I wanted to blog about attitudes today because this is an area which I believe is a great struggle for many of us, Christian or non-Christian alike. As a Christian we are to be His light and shine in honor of His glory. We are to be a witness to others who see us having a difficult time. Showing them how we are trusting in the Lord may be what brings them to know Christ, by showing them how wonderful it is to know Him, love Him, and trust in Him.

It isn't only about how our attitudes are when we ourselves are going through a difficult time, but how we counsel others who are going through difficult times. Having a good attitude in dealing with those people is equally important if not more important. We don't want to plant seeds of doubt when one is struggling because you cannot know what they have heard from the Lord. Do you know if they've been praying in earnest to the Lord for His guidance? Do you know if they have heard from the Lord? Has the Lord closed or opened doors for them? Wisdom would say that the best thing you should do for a person who you believe to be making the wrong decision is to pray for them. Fervently pray for your brother/sister in Christ. Because seeds of doubt are not of the Lord, but if someone is trusting you and coming to you for Godly counsel, then it would be prudent for you to be very careful in dealing with this person. Giving Godly counsel is quite serious and you don't want to mislead that person or misdirect that person from following God's will/word. So pray for them, fervently pray for them.

Remember, your attitude while giving that Godly counsel will speak volumes in how you feel and where your faith lies. Attitude is such a powerful emotion. It can either lift you up or tear you down. Having an attitude that will honor the Lord is what we should strive for and in accomplishing that, we must pray to Him and keep our focus on Him, He who loves us, is ever so faithful and trusting.

In His palm,

I am praying for all of you who are unemployed.

I didn't think my husband would be unemployed when I began my first 'No Spend Month'. My initial reason for doing it was to become debt-free. To take advantage of his income to pay off as much debt as we could. It was a great idea!

Being unemployed is difficult, for anyone. Having children makes it even more difficult in my opinion. I could totally go through this a lot easier if I didn't have children. It is so hard to look at them and know they understand what is going on. Not being able to fill a 'need' of theirs is heartbreaking for me.

Eventually you come to a point where you just know all the plate spinning you've been doing cannot be done anymore and those plates are going to fly into the air, hit the ground and break into a million little pieces. What do you do when you know the inevitable is going to happen?

I am cutting out as many expenses as possible. I am continuing to sell as much homeschooling curriculum I can, we have fliers posted around town to sell our chickens and I am selling some household items we don't need.

Mostly I am praying. I am praying for a job for my husband. A job for me. I pray in the morning, while nursing our baby, in the shower, and as I lay my head down to go to sleep. Praying is something I do all day long. Even with all that praying I have my days where I feel like nothing is going to change anytime soon. That our situation will continue to get worse. I've had pity parties too...sorry to not have invited you.

Then a day arrives where the Lord shows us that He is still here with us. He recently directed us to a movie, Facing the Giants. If you haven't seen it, go to your library and see if they have it. It is a fantastic movie about faith. Really, really wonderful. I highly recommend it. And that is all I am going to say about that, so I don't ruin it for you. Just make sure to have your Kleenex box handy!!

I know times are tough for many of us. I know so many who are unemployed, struggling as we are. I want you to know I am praying for you. I know the Lord has a wonderful plan for your life, your family. Trust in Him.

Your fellow unemployed friend,

Sorry about the confusion.

If you happened to read my post yesterday you will see that it is no longer here. For those who don't know what I am talking about, I had blogged a new post yesterday to update you, my NSM friends but I've removed it. It is for a personal reason and because I apparently can't be that transparent here. Not that I don't want to be, but because of a few who follow this blog.

I know, that should not matter, but it does.

I am going to think and pray about this situation. Prayerfully, I will be back here blogging again...

Thank you all for following this blog...

PS ~ read the Bible verse that God showed us today on the right side of this page. I feel deeply that I should share it with all of you.

Economical meals...

Even though we are on a limited budget we are still able to eat well. Cooking from scratch is very economical and also healthy. I bake homemade biscuits, pizza and bread for my family at a fraction of the cost of buying in the store. You can find my recipes at my cooking blog Cookin' Cheap.

There you will find many economical recipes to try. One thing to remember, it so much cheaper and healthier to have basic ingredients on hand than prepackaged, processed foods.

The snow has melted and we've been busy!

First let me say, I've not forgot about this blog or my 'NSM' enthusiasts! I just need to get back into the groove of blogging regularly. It is quite an adjustment having my husband home full-time. I am getting there so stick with me, please.

Lots of work going on at our place. First off, we've had plumbing issues for a couple of months. Before my husband lost his job we had gotten a quote from a plumber for $1200...yikes! There is no way we would pay that much if my husband could do the job himself. He did a little reading about fixing the problem and what do you know, he fixed it for $100. What a huge savings! He is an awesome 'Mr.Fix It'! Now we are free of plumbing issues...yay!

We live on 2.5 acres and will be getting 25 chicks the end of the month. We are so excited! Again in keeping expenses down we bought the chicks for their egg laying. Being a family of 9, we eat a lot of eggs! My 'Mr Fix It' is building our chicken coop for our ladies. We estimate the savings for the coop to be about $500-700.

To add to the eggs our hens will give us we are putting in a large garden. I cannot get over the price of fruits and veggies in the grocery store these days. Seriously, $5.95 for a 10 pound bag of potatoes...no thank you! We are just plain tired of the high cost of produce and are going to plant our own. We are excited about being able to walk out to our garden and pick fresh produce for our dinner. What a great, rewarding feeling it will be.

It is amazing how much you can save by doing things yourself. The plumbing issues were at first a bit intimidating for my husband but he took it slowly and did a great job....just make sure to research! Same thing with the coop. Having a garden no matter how big or small will save you money. It should be something you seriously consider doing.

We are just saving money where ever we can right now...how about you?

No Debt Paid Off in March...

As March comes to an end I leave it with a heavy heart. I also look ahead to the coming months with hope. Despite my original plans in getting debt free, sometimes uncontrollable situations occur...like your spouse losing their job. Which makes your plans impossible to achieve. I do have faith in God and I know His plans are much better than mine and more than likely better for us.

On the bright side, each month that passes we will get closer to my husbands car getting paid off...all on its own. It will just take patients on our part. We can certainly be patient and it will feel so GOOD when that last payment is made. I will be rejoicing from the roof tops!!!

Good bye March...hello April!!!