Friday Follow-Up

Are you as happy as I am that Friday is here?! I am so happy that this week is over because I have been tempted a few times this week to spend MONEY! I also learned a few things I didn't prepare as well before entering my 'NSM'.

This week I have had sick children to deal with. Moms you all know how that goes when you have a sick, fussy baby and you have to get dinner going, right? Well that was my Monday! Great way to start out a new week...NOT! Add to that a broken ceramic plate to clean-up, care of 2yr old daughter and my emotions were quickly going down hill. Still, I was going to cook dinner. We were not going to order out as we would before. I had my 13yo take out the meat from the freezer I needed in the morning, we were good to go. Or were we?

As I went into the kitchen to begin cooking I learned he had taken the wrong package of meat out! I about fell apart! Not really but I was getting close. Here I've made this thoughtful menu with items from my pantry and I was going to stick to it! I tend to be very inflexible sometimes...I am trying to work on that. As it was 'Mexician Monday' in our house we had to have Mexican food, chicken mole to be exact. I know, there I go being inflexible again, sigh. My son took out boneless porkchops, not boneless chicken. It was an easy mistake, I know that. But it wasn't going to work. So, I quickly tried to find a solution. I had 1 lbs. of ground beef in the fidge. Not enough to make tacos with and I didn't have tortillas for burritos because of my sick baby (I make homemade). My husband called at that moment to find me a bit 'flustered'. Had I asked him to bring home McDonald's he would have. I so wanted to ask him to but I didn't. Instead, I asked him to spend $2.50 to buy tostada shells. With those we could spread refried beans on them and then a little taco meat. The 1 lbs of ground beef would be enough for our family if we could use the beans as a base. He agreed.

Dinner was great but I still spent money. I felt guilty about it all evening long. But really, when you think about it I did good. I didn't buy take-out that would have cost us atleast $25. I really believe satan was on the attack. He knows I fall under 'emotional pressure' and that is what I was in. I say, I succeeded under the attack...for the most part anyway.

Tuesday was much better. My baby was better and happy. The day was looking up... Then I received a call late in the morning that there was a death in the family. We live out of state from our family and there was no way we could attend the funeral. We usually send a card for something like this, but I didn't have a card on hand. Didn't think to have one before beginning our 'NSM'. I have learned that it is good to have various cards on hand for unexpected events. Maybe one of those boxes that have a card in it for every occassion would be good to have. So, we paid $3.50 for a card.

On Wedsneday I had the brown sugar snag. You can read about that below this post. In short, I was out of brown sugar and I learned (from my Sonlight friends) I can make my own brown sugar...awesome! I didn't spend a single dime!

Thursday was very hard. I am now sick. My head feels like it is going to explode from the sinus pressure. We are out of Tylenol and low on vitamin C because I increased the dosage I give to my kids to build up their immune system. With all my preparations I simply didn't think to check my medicine cabinet. I was more worried about food and toilet paper! LOL

Note to self: check to be sure there is a good amount of basic meds in your medicine cabinet.

I think we will be okay, provided no one else gets sick. Later in the day I took a nap with my baby. It was great and I felt better when we got up, two and half hours later! I still didn't have a good amount of energy but I was able to put dinner on the table (at 7pm which is late for us) and I baked 2 loaves of bread. My husband knew how sick I had been and thought for sure I'd be calling for him to pick-up dinner, but I didn't! Yay for me!!!

Well, that sums it up. The weekend is here. $6 was spent because of the unexpected this week but I think I did really great! Any other time I wouldn't have thought twice to spend. I am pleased with the way my mind is now 'thinking twice'. My plan for the weekend is to get my bills in order that will be paid on the 15th. My husband will be home and can help with our kids so I don't have any distractions.

It should be a pleasant weekend and I hope yours is too. Until Monday...

Tip of the week.

Well, we are mid-week here on the NSM. I've gotta ask ya...how's it going?

I had a challenge yesterday. I was getting ready to bake some oatmeal bread and learned I didn't have any brown sugar! What I used as my brown sugar container didn't contain brown sugar. It had whole wheat flour in it and I FORGOT! I wondered if there was something else I could use as a substitute for the brown sugar. I would normally have not thought twice about running to the store to spend $1.50 to buy some brown sugar. Well, that kinda of thinking has got to change! So I asked my friends on the Sonlight forum because I know someone there would know. I was right! I learned that all I needed to do was add molasses to white sugar. I had no idea I could make my own brown sugar! I am a hapy girl...yee haw!!! So here's how you do it...

Brown Sugar Substitute
For each 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar called for in a recipe, use 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses plus 1 cup granulated sugar.

To make light brown sugar from dark brown sugar, use 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar.

For dark brown sugar, use 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar plus 1 tablespoon molasses; or 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup molasses.

See ya Friday!

Motivational Monday...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Today is the first day of the week and the first big test for me and anyone else who is trying to do a 'NSM'. I haven't had to leave my home since Dec.30th, which means I've not been tempted by any stores or fastfood joints. My plan when I leave to pick my daughter up from school today is to go straight there and straight back home. Usually I would pick her up and then run into the store. That is not going to happen today.

I have my menu made for the entire month, which you can see one the right of the posts. That menu was created to use only the ingredients I have on hand. I went into my freezer and pantry to take inventory of everything to make meals with. Now, I am still learning myself how to 'not spend' so I anticipate I may need to buy something for our meals, eventually. I really don't think I was able to account for everything but I sure hope I did! If I do have to buy something, I have a money can that we have been throwing our loose change into. It always amazes me how quickly quarters, dimes and nickles can add up. I have about $23.00 in the can right now. I figure if anything comes up, I will use that loose change. Produce is one of those things that just doesn't keep that long. I may eventually buy some later in the month. I am trying to do without which will be hard. I have dehydrated onion that I can cook with and canned fruits for my kids. I think we will be okay.

Every Monday I plan to have a motivational posting. In this post I will also post a couple of our favorite, economical recipes. Just so you know, we love food. Good food. So give these recipes a try...they are all yummy!

Now for the recipes... Everyone I know loves pizza. I know there are some who don't and frankly I can't imagine not liking pizza but to each his own. Up until a month or so ago we always bought our pizza. Not anymore. Making homemade pizza is a lot easier than I thought. I make a double patch of the below pizza dough recipe and one batch of the sauce (stores nicely in the fridge) and it will last us two whole meals of 4 medium pizzas. It is very economical and it tastes GREAT! Enjoy...

Pizza Crust

1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar

Combine the above three ingredients and let stand for 10 min.

Then, stir in
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup EVOO
2.5 cups flour.

Knead well enough to combine and dough is smooth. Over kneading will make the crust more like a cracker. Let rest, rub a bit of EVOO on the ball, place in a bowl and cover for about 15 min. Shape into your desired size or into baking sheet. I leave the crust a bit thick because we like a thicker crust. We double this recipe and get 4 medium sized pizzas. Add your toppings…

Then bake the pizza at 425* for about 20 min.
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Pizza Sauce (Cat Cora/Food Network)

Ingredients
1 (4-ounce) can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves (I use 1 teas. dried)
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves (I use 1 teas. dried)
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I omit this)
1/4 teas of red pepper flakes (this is my addition)
Directions
Mix together the tomato paste, water, and olive oil. Mix well. Add garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, oregano, basil, and rosemary. Mix well and let stand several hours to let flavors blend. No cooking necessary, just spread on dough.
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Have a great Monday! Make a menu for the week and stick to it. Don't eat out for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th time this week. Save that money and put it towards a bill. Just reducing the amount you eat-out each week will help tremendously! Take the first step in becoming debt-free today. I will follow-up on Friday...

You CAN do it!

What is a "No Spend Month"...

After being stressed to the 'max' about our debt for many years, I felt we (my husband, kids and I) had to do something and quick! We are Christians and I was really feeling the Lord was telling me to do something and NOW. Given the state of the economy (all those darn bail-outs) and the job losses many are going through, I was most definitely listening to God. Plus, my husband had gone through 18 months of unemployment 3 years ago. Times were very tough for us. We learned to get by on very little because we had to. Boy did we learn alot...it was actually very good for us because it got us thinking differently. Since then we've come along way. We used to be very bad with money. Still, we can improve more...

Thinking back to that time of my husband's unemployment I began to wonder if we could get by on so little again, but for an entirely different reason. For a good, positive reason...to get out of debt. I hate with my every being having debt. Owing someone. Not owning my home free and clear. It makes me want to scream! It is just that bad. It is total bondage that I am in and my husband feels it too. It is not the same for him as it is for me, though. And that is because I pay the bills. I see each month what we owe, what we've paid and what is left. He has none of those stresses. I am okay with the way we do things. He works 50-60hrs a week managing a store and has plenty of his own work related stresses. So, I take on the debt stress which I am fine with. But, I've had enough of the debt stress! I am ready to elemenate it completely...once and for all!

I invite you to join me in becoming debt-free. We can come together and get out of bondage to our debtors once and for all. The freedom of not owing anyone is yours for the taking. It will not be easy but it will also not be impossible. You can do it! We all can do it! How do I plan to do it, you ask? Let me explain some of my ideas...

To give my month cash flow a boost I pondered getting a job. I figured if I could bring home a couple of hundred dollars a week we could really begin making a dent in paying off our debt. Just 7 little problems hindered that idea...I am the mom of 7 children ages 6mo-15yrs old. I would have to get a babysitter as we have no family near us to help us out. Another problem is, I homeschool 4 of those 7 children. So, I had to come up with another idea to jumpstart our debt reduction because the honest truth is, I don't want to work outside the home. I love being a SAHM and homeschooling my children.

As I would sit and think about this day after day, a thought came to me about our food bill. Being a family of 9 requires alot of food, as you might imagine. Our food bill was roughly $800 a month. That may not sound like much but I haven't included the 'eating out' portion of our food bill. We like to eat out...always have. In any given week we would get McDonald's twice at $25 a pop. My husband and I would go out for lunch on his day off once a week spending another $25. Twice a month on payday we would order Chinese food from a little local joint in town and that cost us $45 each time. If you do the math you'll see that we spend on eating out about $390 a month. That figure would be $100 higher if we went into town for some major shopping, which we would do every other month. As you can see, we were spending alot of money!

Now lets talk about the miscellaneous spending we would do every month. Someone is always needing something in a family of 9. Contact lense solution, socks, toothbrush, etc...you get the picture. That makes us have to be very aware of what we are spending our money on. We think twice if we really 'need' something. In our little town we don't have a large variety of stores to shop in so you'd think we don't spend money on shopping...not true. I am an expert 'online shopper', LOL. Most of my shopping is done online. I live to find 'a great deal'. When I find it, I buy it. I definitely need to develop new habits because that has to stop!

Some other areas where we are cutting back or not spending at all are, haircuts and gas for our cars. My girls all have long hair so I can easily trim their ends. I've been getting better at cutting my little boys' hair. My husband will still need to get his hair cut professionally so we have kept that in the budget. I am so thankful that gas prices have come down so much! It really is quite a blessing (another one of God's provisions) for our commitment of not spending money. With gas prices being $1.69/gal here, down from 3.98 that is a huge savings in and of itself! Fortunately my husband's job is only 8 miles round trip. He usually comes home for lunch but that may be stopping. Driving an extra 8 miles isn't really that much. We really love seeing him in the middle of the day...so we are undecided at this point. I am having a bit of difficult time justifying it when we are working so hard and sacrificing so much to get our debt paid off. I do plan to pray about and then we will come to a decision with the Lord's leading.

Okay, what about food you ask? What are we going to eat if I don't do any grocery shopping? Good question. I have acquired a habit of stocking up on food since we lived in the Panhandle of Florida. It was something we did to prepare for hurricane season. It is really a good habit to have because you just never know when a disaster will hit and you can't buy food. We experienced first hand during Hurricane Katrina how important it was to have food stored. All that to say, I have a well stocked pantry. I estimate I have about 3mos of food stored. My chest freezer is well stocked too! I've made a menu for this month (I'll post it later) using food I have stored. I have a large box of powdered milk for when we run out of our gallon jugs of milk. We will drink water mostly and I will allow my Littles to have apple juice twice a week and we will all have soda/pop on our Friday Pizza/Movie Night...only one 2 liter bottle. Because I haven't bought any food for the month of January I have to ration my stored food. The only way for this to work well is to stick to our menu. I am also keeping a "Closed Kitchen" so my kids don't go and eat up all the food, LOL.

Okay, so there you have it...our 'no spend month' plan. It sure is alot to type out 'No Spend Month' so many times. Let's shorten it to 'NSM' okay? That will make it alot easier for me.

My prayer for this blog is that it will encourage many to use ideas from me or brainstorm on their own to find creative ways to stretch the money you already have so you can pay-off some/all debt.

Lets think out of the box and get out of bondage together and be free!