Living on a Shoestring Budget

Thanks to the sisters who came tonight. It was neat to have each of you there. Thanks too for sharing your insights.

For those who couldn't make it, some really helpful thoughts were shared on following the Lord's guidance in finances/debt elimination (Elisa); prioritizing, budgeting and sticking to it, saving for the things we want (Sara J); being good stewards and spending less by scaling back our "stuff", using beans/creole cooking (Amanda C); "Less is More" - understanding possible reasons why we hoard "stuff", using tools (like color typing) to help us be more selective, learning how to do things ourselves (pet grooming, reupholstering, etc) (Amanda H); suggestions for financing higher education (Sarah E), etc. Here are some ideas for many aspects of financial management. Scan through and find those that you need.

Here are some do-it yourself recipes for cleaners, baby wipes, yogurt, etc.

Bounteous Backyards - Using Your Yard to Feed Your Family

An almost forgotten means of economic self-reliance is the home production of food. We are too accustomed to going to stores and purchasing what we need. By producing some of our food we reduce, to a great extent, the impact of inflation on our money. More importantly, we learn how to produce our own food and involve all family members in a beneficial project.

President Ezra Taft Benson – Prophet (& former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture)

Most of the information we covered can be found at http://foodbytheyard.blogspot.com/ .

"Love Dare" to Enrich Marital Satisfaction

K-LOVE is doing a 40 day "Love Dare" to end on Valentine's Day.  The "dare" was constructed around the Fireproof (have you seen the movie?)  model developed by a Baptist ministry in Georgia and is designed to help couples strengthen their marriage.  (Isn't it great that we have allies in the fight for the family?)

 

Ben (PhD, Marriage and Family Therapy) thinks it's great so I thought I'd pass it along.  Here's the disclaimer though: we haven't seen the whole challenge, so (as with anything else) please measure the challenges and content against your best judgement and the voice of the Spirit. 

 

The daily dare can be found at:  http://www.klove.com/blog/ .  The text supporting the "dare" can be really helpful and motivating.  You'll want to check it ASAP so you can do all of the challenges if you're interested.

Parenting, Marriage, and $.... Oh my!

The school district is sponsoring a wonderful parenting course (free).  Unfortunately, I think the night conflicts with the stake's parenting class, but it only goes for six weeks at a time and is definitely worth attending. This course is specifically for parents of children seven years old and younger.  You can attend as couples or individually.  This session starts Thursday.  Even if you can't attend this time around, you might want to call and see if you can register for the next session.  If you do sign up for the next session and you know another couple who are attending this session, you might want to propose a childcare swap to save money on childcare.

 

The High School has a course for parents with older children.  It's Tuesdays and I don't know anything about it besides what I've included below. 

 

The third listing is for our Extension office's marriage course.  It is free and includes dinner and childcare!  I don't have first hand knowledge of the class, but anything that gets you a free date for seven weeks is great in my book!

 

Extension also starts a money control/stretching class ("Refresh") tomorrow. 

 

You can find a class on almost anything through community education.  Let me know if you learn something that you would like to share! 

 

Call me for location/time/phone # details if you don't receive them in an email soon.

 

 

LOVE AND LOGIC

free 6 week course

 

Sponsored by --- Co School District Early Childhood Special Education

Taught by ------- - ECSE Psychologist & Behavior Specialist

 

Thursdays nights Jan 7 - Feb 11, 6-:30 pm

 

Early Childhood Special Education 

____________________________________________________

Parenting

Tuesdays at 6:30pm until May 25

 

in the Small Lecture Hall at High

 ____________________________________________________

 

Marriage Course

offered by --- Extension

Seven week course covers many topics to help create stronger relationships.

Dinner and childcare provided free!  Held Monday nights at 7 pm.  

Must reserve spot.

____________________________________________________

 

Refresh

offered by --- Extension

Refresh your skills for:

Money Control & Stretching Tips

Healthy Lifestyle

No cost.  Food provided.

Wednesdays, March 3rd - 24th; 5:30 pm

 

 

 

August Sisters' Night

Sister's Night: Mothering

Thanks to the sisters who came to Sister's Night this week. I hope that each of you went home with something helpful.

Here is the presentation that I put together. The first section provides various resources that could be of help to sisters. The second section provides some ideas for applying "Love & Logic" principles to mothering (great for spouse and leadership relationships as well). You will want to view it as large as possible and pause on each slide while you read it.

Chris and Melissa shared some wonderful insights for different mothering situations.

• Chris (eight children) has found that withholding an emotional response and allowing consequences to teach children has allowed her to teach her children responsibility without loosing her temper. She ponders and prays about each child (especially when seeking to decide what approach will work best with them as individuals - "each child has a different button"). Her children know that she and her husband are very consistent, so this saves a lot of the struggle - they just know what is expected of them and what they can expect if they don't keep their part of their privileges. Teaching is very important to Chris, so she sets aside time for each of the children to work on a lesson that is appropriate for their age/skill level (e.g. daily reading lessons for younger children; weekly music lesson with older children). In addition to family scripture study, each family member has personal scripture study time. She does this with the young children individually. The older children do theirs independently. Because Chris runs a business, she is able to include her children in this and other activities to help develop their work skills. Communication is very important in their home. They find that texting helps to keep up with the older children. Chris takes advantage of errands to talk with her children individually &/or in pairs - taking one or two of them on each outing.
• Melissa shared about her time mothering alone when her husband had an extended deployment. She said that learning to accept help was paramount. Her sweet neighbors mowed her lawn weekly, and her sister watched the children so that she could get away to the gym (taking care of herself and having "mommy time" was crucial). She also made sure to get an outing weekly, and her children had regular bedtimes. Keeping a notebook of cute things that each child did during the day helped her keep Landon informed and was a powerful reminder of how wonderful her children are (helpful when things got a bit difficult doing everything alone). Melissa shared her touching experience with welcoming an older child into their family - how they were spiritually prepared for that and things have gone since. Melissa shared her joy that people notice that she and Landon "still like each other." We asked her to share a bit on nurturing the spouse relationship since that is often tricky to do while raising children. She and Landon make sure to have a weekly date and an annual getaway (she suggested trading childcare with other couples to make both possible). They also have one show they watch together and they like to work out together (and often make it a competition).

Thanks to all who attended and shared pieces of your heart. I hope this information is helpful to those who were not able to attend as well. Mothering is tricky. We're all faced with different challenges, but we have a great resource in each other. As sisters, I hope that we won't hesitate to seek ideas and encouragement from one another, and that we will continue to support each other in our best efforts to nurture the unique children we have each been blessed with.

Notes from "Tightening Budgets and Cutting Food Costs"

Thanks to all of you who attended playgroup and/or our first Sisters' Night Out Activity!

Here's a brief synopsis of the SNO -

It was helpful to compare processes and approaches to cost cutting. Our speaker LeAnna (sorry, I don't use last names online ; ) gave some helpful information about cost cutting and shared the process she's evolved to reduce her monthly food/food storage/household expenses for four people to $250-300 per month.

As we moved to discussion, it was obvious that no single approach will suit every family. It was interesting to compare notes and swap ideas.

Some tips about one "couponing" website (even if you are not interested in shopping with coupons, pay attention to the parts in red - they could still help you save money):

• Grocery Smarts posts the weekly store ads in an abbreviated (list) form. The site tells what's on sale, how those prices rate (compared to the bottom price that an item typically drops to once or twice a year), and if there are coupons that can further reduce the cost (that's where the real savings come in).
• Full-sized file boxes are helpful for couponing. Have one hanging folder for each ad company (e.g. Red Plum, Smart Source, etc). When you get your Sunday paper (some people get one paper subscription per family member so they can get multiple items), take the ad packet out, write the date on top, and stick it in the appropriate file folder. Keep these for about five months, and within that time most of the coupon items will come on sale in at least one store. I once used this method to get jars of baby food for $0.50 - the only time it was cheaper to buy it than make it. ; )
• Grocery Smarts allows you to make a list of the ad items you want. You can customize your own list by using the "start," "shrink," and "print" buttons at the top of the store ad list page.
• Wal-Mart will ad match. Previously, they accepted a Grocery Smarts list printout as proof of price. Now, most checkers will ask to see the store's ad, so have the ads with you as backup.

Other tips:

• Retailmenot.com has promotional codes for different websites. Before you buy something online (e.g. photobooks, blinds, toys, baby gear, etc), put the store's URL into the search field and see if there's a code that can save you more.
• Envelopes labeled with each aspect of your budget could save you money. When pay day comes, get cash for everything you'll be paying out of pocket and put the amount you've budgeted for each category into the appropriate envelope. This method will ensure you don't overdo any one aspect of your budget. At the end of the month, put left over money straight into savings! Just be careful - this could be problematic with loss or theft. For a sturdier method that won't loose your change, use tape to reinforce the edges of some snack sized baggies. Poke holes in the bags and fix them together with a book ring. Then you don't have to take all of the baggies with you to the store.
• Wholesale produce is the way to go if you have access to it and people to split the cost with. One sister shared about living in Manhattan with a family of five. She and a friend with six children went to the wholesale produce market in the Bronx to purchase their produce in bulk. They spent far less and had lots more to share. Anyone know a wholesaler? ; )
• Meat can be pricey, but less so if you buy the cow direct from the owner. One sister calculated their beef at $1.99 per pound (for all cuts) - that's a sweet price for steaks! (Obviously this works best if you have a deep freeze.)
• The Cannery usually has the best price on oats and such. You can just go in and buy items in bulk. If you've never been there, ask someone for more information on how it works.
• Blue Chip Group Inc. is a food storage company that can save a lot of money for large groups of people wanting to buy their food storage in bulk (the prices through this method are much lower than when you buy through a store).

That's enough for now - sorry if I forgot your tip! Leave a comment if you have more ideas to contribute!

Last but not least, the cost saving refreshments!: Stay tuned for Elisa's amazing bread recipe and see below for my granola bar recipe - I save money by making snack foods myself, but then my family eats more so it's a trade off ; ).

"Sooper Dooper Ooper Shmooper" Granola Bars

5 cups oats (can be purchased in bulk from the Cannery)
2 cups crisped rice cereal
3 cups puffed rice cereal (found in Wal-Mart grocery isle to the left of the Malt-O-Meal bags on top shelf)
7 ounces shredded coconut
2 sandwich bags of crushed pretzels
1 1/2 cups raisins

1 1/3 cups water
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey

1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla

1. Spray cookie sheet (or 2 depending on desired thickness) with cooking spray.
2. Combine first group ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine second group ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Heat until just boiling, remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients until smooth.
4. Pour over cereal mixture. Mix well.
5. Press into pan(s) and lightly salt (if desired).
6. Bake at 350 for 20 min.
7. Cut, cool, and serve.