Me & the Family

Me & the Family

Sunday, January 15, 2012

One Penny. Two Pennies...





Penny saved is a penny earned.


I realize that what I have been writing about recently has been pretty heavy.  What I have been experiencing has been pretty heavy, and therefore I need to express that.  We express things in hope that others will validate an experience or make us feel a little less "crazy."


I figured I would offer something a little lighter.
A something a little more ME.
Not necessarily my spiritual walk.


Well, I guess you could say a little bit has.  I will just tell you this...several months ago my husband came to me and said, "Honey, I don't want you to think I'm crazy but I feel like God told me to put away food.  I don't know why, but I think we should."  At that, knowing that my husband has NEVER said any such thing, but knowing that we both have been praying, reading our bibles more and more - I trusted his statement.


I began to track what we consume as a family on a weekly basis.  Money has been tight for several years since I resigned from work so it was just a matter of really getting the details down on paper.


How much toilet paper do we use a week?
How much milk?
What are the basic meals we eat every week?


As a family of 5 with two dogs (one is 60lb) and three teenagers we consume a LOT.  I need to update the photos of my family - now two of them are taller than me and my son is really shooting up now.  Food consumption is at an all time high in this house.  We cannot buy snacks because: 


#1 they don't fill the kids up 
and.... 
#2 they cost an arm and a leg.






I got my spreadsheet out, calculated the ingredients necessary, (minus milk, eggs, butter and cheese) for 9 meals.  We are blessed to have a neighbor who hunts and with that we have a freezer full of venison.  Our meals are as follows:


Spaghetti
Rice Mix Dinner (Jumbalaya or Arroz Con Pollo)
Chili w/ Meat and White Beans
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
Beans & Rice w/ Spam
Mac-N-Cheese w/ Meat or Tuna
Tacos w/ Meat & Tomatoes
Chicken Curry w/ Chickpeas
Meat & Potatoes w/ Green Beans


I gathered all the ingredients for 12 meals EACH, plus things like flour, sugar, evaporated milk, powdered milk, oatmeal, cereal, pie fillings, etc.  I also purchased toilet paper, shampoos, and other toiletries to have us covered for 3 months.  That's a lot of work on a tight budget.  My Christmas money from my parents finished off the task.  I figure food is money well invested these days.  






As with all things, God has a plan.  My husband had to resign from his position last week.  The company is doing immoral and unethical things and although they were willing to double his salary to look the other way - he knows that he has to answer to God.  We have now initiated our 3 month meal plan - ALL SYSTEMS GO.


I know the Lord will provide my husband with a job.  He was looking for one long before his resignation - and he received a promising phone call the DAY he resigned from a company that "found him."  Either way, I know we can make it for 3 months and any money that we earn from now until that day can be focused on the bills and not on food.


Pretty cool.


From this experience I will always have at least 3 months worth of food available.  It saves the guesswork PLUS I make sure I buy when the deals are AMAZING.  It cuts the grocery bill in 1/2 because I'm not buying out of NEED but rather out of cost and usage.  


I have also recently started making my own homemade LAUNDRY DETERGENT.  Right there I saved us about $100 a year and the detergent came out GREAT!  I will definitely continue with this cost saving and great product.  Other things I have done is making my own chili & taco mixes.  Whenever I get a tip to make something at home I will try it and see how it works.  


PINTEREST has helped me with this small addiction!  :)






The garden is growing, plus I'm getting ready to replant.  I am planting lots of lettuce.  This summer, since it's so hot here in Florida I'm keeping my focus on peppers.  I will pickle many of them, dehydrate and make soup mixes out of the rest.  My herbs are always growing and being used fresh and dehydrated.  I am learning how to buy vegetables at their cheapest so that I can take those and can/dehydrate them as well.  I purchased potatoes and made my own dried potatoes for homemade potatoes-au gratin.  I'm super excited about things like that - without all the added chemicals from a box, but not all the hard labor at 6pm when everyone is STARRRRRVING.


I know that the whole WORLD is feeling the financial crunches.  How are you and your family changing your ways to save money?????



3 comments:

Jean said...

We are pinching pennies too. Having the venison (in our case, elk) on hand helps so much. We made a lot of financial cuts last year, but none, so far, in 2012.
It's a pleasure to meet you, and to read your writing.

Plain Jane said...

I've never tried elk. Is it similar to venison? In taste? I just started eating venison about 6 months ago as our neighbor hunts. :)

Darlene ~Bloggity Blogger~ said...

WOW! I am impressed. I thought I was the most thrifty person in the world. I think you have me beat. I am so curious about the homemade laundry detergent. I'm going to google it. Also, I have a food dehydrator, but never thought about dehydrating potatoes. What a great idea! I'm in Florida too. I planted a few tomato plants and some pepper plants, but started them too late. I am just now getting cherry tomatos and nothing on the larger tomato plants. Grrr... But, I'm starting my new plants very soon so that I can put them out as soon as danger of frost is over.

God bless your neighbor for sharing since meat is such a large part of the grocery budget.

Great blog!