SAVE MONEY: Food & Cooking

Always eat your leftovers! Don't waste the things you've already made. If you can't bring yourself to eat it one more time, freeze it in single portions to heat up sometime when you don't feel like cooking!

Never let food spoil in the fridge, pantry, or fruit basket- use up the bananas and make banana bread, chop up your tomatoes and make a sauce or paste to use later, cook your meat before it goes bad and freeze it to use later, and make a white sauce with any extra milk you have so that you don't have to pitch it when it goes bad! This is HUGE for me, because when I'm pregnant and tired (read: RIGHT NOW), or if I buy too much at the store one week, and then I don't use it, it goes to waste. Then, I have wasted our money and we essentially have to pay double the next time we buy that item (because we've already bought it once).

Have a planned out menu and make a shopping list according to your plan. That way you don't overbuy when you go to the store.

At the same time, allow yourself the freedom to adjust your week's menu if you get to the store and find a great deal on something on sale that week!

Implement a baked potato or soup night every week! Baked potatoes with all the fixins comes out to be a quite delicious and inexpensive meal. Soup (especially those made from scratch) with crackers or bread on the side is another great idea. Either way, if you do one a week, that will decrease your food bill by quite a bit!

Serve vegetables with your meals. People will eat less of the expensive stuff (meat, cheese, pasta, whatever) if you have a good selection of vegetables as sides.

COOK AT HOME! Invest the money you would spend in one trip to a restaurant in a classic, good quality cook book and commit to trying one new recipe a week. Or look on the internet and get some great ideas for free (even better-- just be sure to write them down!).

Learn to make basic things from scratch. White pasta sauce is so cheap to make from scratch, and you can make it in all varieties! Pancakes that are just as good as the Aunt Jemima mix you buy for nearly $3 a box are easy to make from scratch! The more you learn, the more you can make, and the cheaper you can make it! (If you have no idea how to do any of this, post a comment and I'll be glad to do a separate post about cooking from scratch!)

Learn to make your restaurant favorites at home. That way you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get your favorite things! Take time to learn how to make a good, juicy bacon cheeseburger. Learn to grill a delicious steak. Teach yourself how to make specialty butters to flavor your meat, potatoes, and other foods in gourmet ways!

Just doing these frugal things in the way you EAT will save a lot of money, and it will add up over time!

Ponder This: Campolo on Consumerism

"Consider this," author and speaker Tony Campolo says. "The typical size of an American house has increased 40 percent in the last 25 years. It's not because we're having more children; we're having fewer children! We need bigger and bigger houses simply to hold all the stuff we don't need. What's even worse is that we're renting out space in storage bins because we can't contain all the stuff we have in the huge houses we have at our dispoal. It has become an insane society as far as surplus is concerned."

- - Taken from "Laying it Down: Learning to Live With Less In a Culture of Excess", by Jesse Carey, in the May-June 2007 edition of Relevant Magazine

When Parents Are Poor

I just read one of the best articles I've read in a long time. Here's a snippet:

"One of the consequences of living in a rich culture is that we sometimes get confused about what really matters. ... You can now literally lose custody of your children for being poor, or living the way your grandmother did. ... the longer we pretend we can all live like the people on tv, the longer we pretend our children hear what we say, but don't watch what we do, the worse off we'll be."

Go over and read it; she has great insights. The thrust of the article is that parents who are poor are now thought to be bad parents. It reminds me of when something like this happened to us... not so long ago, in fact.

A couple of months ago, we again started talking about adopting. Looking at our situation, and the need in the world, we felt drawn towards international adoption. So we set up some meetings. At our first meeting, everything was hopping along quite nicely- because of having lived overseas we knew far more about traveling, the situation of orphans in foreign countries, restrictions placed on adoption by the birth country, and all the other things they expect adoptive parents to know nothing about in their introductory meeting. Everything was going well until... Long story short, we got derailed.

We're too poor. Now, the truth is, we live well within our means, even with the three kids we already have. We weren't off-put by the financial requirements of adopting... so that wasn't it. And it's not even that the birth country wouldn't allow us to adopt on our income. No- it's actually the U.S. government that places income restrictions on who can open their home to a child.

See, they don't want to you to adopt a child but then have that child later end up in the welfare system. They just assume that if you don't make a certain amount of money, then your kids will end up on welfare rolls. That if you aren't well-off then you won't be able to live within your means. So, for right now, our hopes to adopt have been delayed and perhaps derailed.

There is some irony in this situation- because of course, they don't limit those who don't make as much money from having their own babies. You just can't bring in a baby from somewhere else. A child that needs a home. An orphan that will likely grow up to be rejected, jobless, and aimless within their own society. But it does lead me to wonder if they can keep you from bringing a child into your home from outside the country if eventually they will keep you from bringing a child into your home from inside your body, all based on your income.

This article, Childhood, Industrialized points out the very reasoning that leads to restrictions such as this one. Whereas it used to be just the children that bought into a gimme culture, and lately it's even been the parents giving in to such notions, now, even our government has bought into it.

Instead of everyone recognizing and agreeing that a child primarily needs love, affection, security, stability, the basic necessities of life, and someone to guide them and believe in them, it is now widely believed that what kids need most is parents (or a parent-- one will do) with a salary that can easily provide Playstation, internet access, a cell phone, disposable everything, and a new car at age 16, with or without the morals and training being in a loving home would give them, and with or without committed parenting.

Show & Tell: More on Frugality

Oodles and Oodles of frugals for youdles... so let's just dig right in:

• MAKE IT YOURSELF. Causabon's Book, pretty much the most intellectual blog I read, has been writing a series of weekly ideas to save money (or maybe save the earth?... can't tell which cause all the ideas so far have done both... hmm... interesting...) Here's an excellent recent post about why you should make your own whatever. Not, "why you should make your own?" "WHATEVER!" (said in a Clueless, circa 1990's voice), but rather, why you should make your own ___(whatever)___.
  

FRUGAL MAKE-IT-YOURSELF IDEAS:

• Grow your own loofah sponge. Really.
• Any of you use baby wipes? Thought so.
• How about homemade lavendar soap balls to make your next bath extra luxurious?
• Cleaning supplies getting too expensive? Here's a LONG list of earth-friendly (and wallet-friendly) cleaning supplies.
• Here are some homemade and very soothing-sounding cough and cold remedies you can make at home.
  

FRUGAL CLOTHES IDEAS:

• Buy plain socks for your daughter and add the trim yourself.
• Sew clothes for your family to save money.
• Make your daughter's dresses long so that she can wear them for years. (Be sure to scroll down for pictures- Janel has an amazing knack for making precious, wearable dresses for little girls that are useful for years.)
  

FRUGAL FOOD IDEAS:

• MAKE A PRICE BOOK. This is a little notebook you carry with you when you go shopping and where you can write down the normal price per ounce, what a good sale price would be, and where you find the best deals on any given item. What an excellent way to save money on everyday groceries, by having a price guide with you to be able to tell when one store charges slightly more than another! Jenn, over @ Frugal Upstate, will tell you how to make your very own price book.
  
• GROW YOUR OWN. Wanna grow your own food and just need ideas and motivation? Well hop on over to Causabon's book and get some ideas for growing your own food.
• HAVE A FRUGAL DINNER TONIGHT. Frugal State Jenn has a great post with a wide variety of ideas for stretching your dinner budget.
  

OTHER FRUGAL THINGS YOU CAN DO:

• GO CHRISTMAS SHOPPING NOW. Save a little money by doing your Christmas shopping in the next few weeks! Check out Sara's post about her frugal Christmas-shopping methods...
• LEARN A NEW CRAFT, MASTER IT, & USE IT TO MAKE MONEY. Here's a site that links to some GREAT craft ideas.
• MAKE SOMETHING AND SELL IT HERE.
• MAKE SIMPLE CHANGES AROUND YOUR HOME. You've heard it before, but here's a great post to give you the nudge you might need to reduce, reuse, recycle.
  
• UNSHAMPOO. (Read about it here.)

With so many links, I can't verify that there's nothing offensive on any of these sites, so please exercise caution when following links off of the direct pages I'm linking to.

Blessings & HAPPY READING!

Do Not Be Anxious, But Do Not Be Idle

In this week's "Ask Anything" Quick Query, Amy described her situation:

"I have recently 'come home" from a full time job, I have a husband and 3 boys... I was under conviction about this for awhile and just took the plunge, with my husbands blessing. ...[We have] alot of [expenses] that would make it seem like I NEED to work to help... So my question is, how far do we go with these verses, Matthew 6:24-34?"

Here's the passage she's talking about:

"Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

I have several thoughts about this, Amy, somewhat in the order of how they appear in the passage. The bolded part is the main thought and then I'll do a little commentary on each point. These thoughts aren't aimed only at you, but at myself, and anyone else who would lean towards worry or anxiety in times of difficulty...

• LOOK AT THE WORLD AROUND YOU- Consider the birds, look at the flowers. God takes care of all things. Rest in Him. He takes care of EVERYTHING (more than even we mommies take care of) and He does it well. LEAN on the everlasting arms; they're strong and they'll take care of you.
  
• LOOK AT YOUR SITUATION OBJECTIVELY- Life is more than food or clothes. And anyway, God's the One Who does it all... do you really think it's your own talent and abilities that have provided for you this far? We think that way sometimes, but it is inaccurate to think that we are the ones earning the salary. GOD is the One Who graciously gives us skills and abilities, gives us favor in the interviews and in our careers, and gives us the jobs we need. Don't trust in you own ability to provide. Oh, and just in case that doesn't convince you, you're not lengthening your life any by worrying, so stop it!
  
• PRIORITIES- First, the Kingdom of God. First, seek righteousness. And notice- it doesn't say, "Then, after you've done those things, you can be anxious about your food, drink, clothing, etc..." No- it says, then all these things will be added to you. So even then, we're not to worry. We're to be about our Father's business. That's where our focus should be.
• TRUST ME, YOU'LL HAVE ENOUGH ON YOUR MIND. "Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble." Kind of a Yoda-like statement, isn't it? I haven't consulted any commentaries about this, but taking it at face value, it seems to be saying, "trust me... you'll have enough on your mind if you JUST focus on today." Don't worry about tomorrow, don't fret about the future... just rest in me TODAY. I took care of you yesterday, and I've taken care of you so far today, haven't I? Trust me enough to not worry about tomorrow.
• DO NOT BE ANXIOUS. Did you notice he repeated this three times? Having listened to enough sermons in my lifetime, I can recall hearing that in Jewish culture, repeating something three times signifies its importance to the speaker. This is the primary thrust of the passage. Do not be anxious. Don't worry, don't stress. Seriously, don't be anxious. Take those worrisome thoughts captive.
  

Now, having examined all of that (I know there's much more to be gleaned from it, but to me, today, those are the main points), there are a few other things that need to be said, in order to put this passage in the context of the whole counsel of the Word of God.

IS IT WRONG TO CONTRIBUTE?
Proverbs 31 shows a woman who does not fear for her family, works hard, trades, works with her hands, contributes to her family, makes things for her home, and laughs (is not anxious) at the future.And there are other verses like these as well... my point is this: no, we're not to worry. But that doesn't mean we have to sit still while we're not worrying.

Is there a skill you have that could contribute to your financial situation? Or a talent or craft ability you have that you could make money using? Could you start a small business from home that would help pay off those extra bills? Or could you begin looking for ways to SAVE money from your normal family expenses and thus, in a way, be earning extra money for your family to pay off debt, etc.?

There are a lot of blogs devoted to being frugal. I think those would be a good place to start. Here are a couple of my favorites: Frugal Upstate and Frugal Homemaker Plus. Look for ways to cut costs from what you're already doing. The Ladies Against Feminism website has a whole section devoted to "How to Get Back Home". I know you're already home, but you could spend a few minutes reading through those articles to get additional ideas for ways to make staying home more financially-friendly for you.

YOU WILL FACE OPPOSITION
Finally, too, you need to realize that there will always be opposition to staying at home, from our enemy, the devil (who likes frazzled and guilt-ridden moms and latchkey children), as well as from the world at large who will not understand this kind of decision. "Your kids will be fine", they'll say. "Put your skills and talents to better use", they'll say. But the God who called you will use your skills and your talents in the place that He called you, make no mistake. Just seek first His Kingdom. Seek His righteousness first.

And let me encourage you, Amy: staying at home will always mean there is something else you could be doing.... something else that would drain your time but probably leave you feeling very fulfilled- whether that is a ministry, a job, or blogging. (Threw that last one in, just so you know I'm not just talking to you- I'm talking to me, too!!!) But once we become moms, we have been "hired" for an exceedingly important job- by God Himself. Being at home will mean big returns in their lives and yours.

* * * * *

The overall point of that Matthew passage is this: Don't be anxious. But- I see no reason to take Matthew 6 to mean that we aren't to ever do anything to help our situation. 1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12 says:

..."aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one."

So, while we aren't to be anxious, we're also not to be idle. First, if we're called to be stay-at-home wives or moms, then we need to be workers at home, but if we can do that well AND earn a little extra income (for example, through selling dresses or hairbows or having a resume service, or whatever), then I believe it is acceptable and even honorable to do so. If there's something you can do to contribute to your family's financial situation while still operating under the conviction God put on your heart (to stay at home), then do it!

ANYONE ELSE HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS?

Show & Tell: Simplicity & Frugality in Various Forms

I've got some really interesting reads for you on the topics of being frugal and simplifying your life... please choose several- you'll be so glad you did!

• First up... did you ever read the Berenstein Bears book when Brother and Sister have the "Gimmes"? Well, Sara got the Gimmes when she went to the mall, and then rattled off this excellent post about "Wanting" and how we as Christians can keep from getting sucked into this stuff-saturated culture.
  

• Here's a challenge to begin being more conciencious about turning things off in your home when you're not using them (Let me give 'kudos' to my Dad who was great about this when I was growing up!).

• This is an interesting website, called "The Miniature Earth", where they have taken the whole earth and shrunk it to just having 100 people on it, but with the same proportions as are in the real world. 13 are Africans, 33 are Christian, etc... it's very interesting, and has some eye-popping figures about poverty, illiteracy, and the staggering needs around the world. Seeing it in terms of percentages instead of millions of people makes such a difference. Go ahead- CLICK HERE to watch the Miniature-Earth video (just click on the word "English" and it will start right up).

• Challies Dot Com essentially asks this question: Is frugality always best for us as Christians? You may be surprised at his answer.

• Finally, Sara (who continues to challenge me, the more I sift through her archives) is such an example of how much money can be saved (not to mention having less waste products) by switching from paper to cloth... you don't have to do it all, but I think her wide variety of options may challenge you to find new ways of doing things around your home too.
  

Blessings to you & as always, HAPPY READING!

Thoughts On... Bono & James 2

Over the last 2 weeks, I've been reading Bono's interviews with one of his writer friends, called "Bono On Bono". Bono, for those of you who may not know, is the frontman & singer for the band U2, with the passion of an Irishman, the riveting and awe-inspiring voice of an opera singer, a heart for the poor that could rival most Christians, and contradictions throughout his life that he doesn't usually attempt to reconcile. U2 is my husband's favorite band, and certainly in my top 5. In his own words, this book gives us insight into his life, band, children, marriage, and most pertinent to me at present: his faith.

This man, described as a "Bible-reading band man" will disarm you with his humility regarding past sins washed in God's grace & nailed to the cross, amaze you with his attractive yet spot-on presentation of the gospel, and leave you feeling that he is, indeed, a Brother. A man with a religious blend of influences as a child, a waywardness about his adult life, and yet, a consistent return to faith. A celebrity with a rare awareness of and ability to quote Scripture, and with a rare ability to bring together political sides, and to pair seeming enemies in both people and ideas to advance his vision. An activist who dines with Popes, Presidents, and AIDS victims. A performer who has a belly dancer onstage and a wife of 25 years and 4 children at home.

While reading his interviews, I have also been trying to read through the book of James once a day. One passage has stuck out to me as a poignant description of his faith and life and as a challenge to the living out of my own faith... and I hope yours:

"Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone... you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all--it is dead and useless. Now some may argue, 'some people have faith; others have good deeds.' I say, 'I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds.' " -James 2:14-18

While they discuss much more beyond faith, Bono's faith is prevalent and interwoven throughout the book. If you have even the slightest interest in this man, have enjoyed their songs, or just want to be challenged in what "faith in action" looks like, get the book.

Quick Query #1: Luxury Staff Person

I've been thinking that we need to have a weekly (or every-so-often... let's not make it TOO structured) hypothetical question time. (I do this with my husband all the time, pose hypothetical questions to see what he'll say and get to know him better.) But in these questions, I want to hear from you, in order to know YOU better. Today's question:


If you could have one of the following luxury staff persons in your home FOR FREE, which one would you pick & why?

1) A masseuse (any kind you want, any time you want)
2) A stylist (hair, makeup, outfit)
3) A chef/dietician (able to cook whatever you want, including cooking for special diets, to help you lose weight, whatever)
4) A housekeeper (cleaning, tidying, home organization)
5) A nanny (this could be part-time or full-time, to help you every day or on certain days, etc.)
6) A personal trainer (to help you lose weight, tone, exercise properly)
7) A driver/chauffer (to drive kids to certain things so you can have some personal time, or whatever-- this person will attend to all your driving needs)
8) A personal secretary (to help keep up with paperwork for a home business, to help arrange your schedule/life)
9) An on-call interior decorator (to help with shopping, re-arranging, decorating... the works)

Please limit yourself to only one! :) Leave a comment telling your choice & why you chose what you did. To kick it off, I'll start...

Two Tempting Traps

Yesterday we took a trip up into the mountains and on the way down, we stopped at a stand and bought some wild mountain honey (like the Steve Miller song) and before I bought the honey, the vendor allowed me to taste the honey I was buying. What a delicious thing honey is! Soon, I will make some biscuits and we will all indulge in sopping up plenty of honey with those biscuits.

Today, I came across Psalm 19:10 that says that the word of the LORD is "more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings from the honeycomb." And that got me to thinking: as women, those are our two biggest temptations, aren't they? Money and Honey.

We, many of us, struggle with our weight, feeling not as thin as "whoever", wishing we could lose this babyweight sooner, wishing we could eat all we wanted. We may indulge in too much dessert, and enjoy it but are soon scolding ourselves for that choice. Some women fall into eating disorders. Other women may not technically have an eating disorder, but make the control of food and the size of their dress an idol in their lives.

We, many of us, struggle with money issues, feeling bad for not having a house as nice as "whoever", wishing we could afford nicer clothes, a better couch, the trendy new car. We may indulge in too much shopping, and enjoy it but are soon feeling guilty for that choice. Some women fall into extreme debt to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. Other women may not find themselves in debt, but are legalistic about not overdoing it in their homes, and find themselves judging other women who feel freedom (as did the Prov. 31 woman) to find and select fine fabrics for the home or for clothes.

Honey and Money. We, most of us, may not have the lust issue that guys have to deal with, but it seems we have our hands and mouths full with these two issues.

So how can we deal with it?

1. Ask God for balance in these areas. That you would be grateful to God for "every good thing given and every perfect gift", but would not indulge in these areas. That He would give you freedom in these 2 areas and the freedom to offer grace to other women in them as well. Not judge those who have many things and not judge those who have little. Not judge those who can't seem to lose weight and not judge those who never seem to gain an ounce.

2. Talk about these things and ask a friend to hold you accountable. As women, we often shun this option- it requires vulnerability and can sometimes open up a relationship to becoming a place of gossip instead of grace. But nevertheless, despite the possible deficiencies of this option, there are far to many "one anothers" in the Bible for us to keep to ourselves. We need other women. And we need them in these areas. Every weight loss program will inevitably tell you the importance of accountability: having to face up to what you've eaten and how much you weigh is a strong reason that compells many women to stay on track when they'd rather indulge. This same principle will apply in the financial arena as well. Have a close friend agree to ask you the hard questions: How much are you eating? Are you snacking too much throughout the day? How much are you spending? Are you indulging? Or are you being judgmental of others who are exercising freedom in this area?

3. Be aware of your inmost thoughts and take them captive in obedience to Christ. Recognize when you feel jealousy over the decor of a friend's home rising up within you. Make it a priority to stop right then and think of 3 things you are grateful for about your home! Recognize when you are berating yourself over your weight and think of what you can do today to make healthier choices. Recognize when you are comparing yourself to another person in either of these areas--finances or eating/weight-- and remind yourself that just as God is gracious to us, we should be gracious to others. Psalm 103:10 says that the LORD does not punish us or "deal with us as we deserve." We must be gracious in our thoughts toward ourselves and toward others.

Finally, and most importantly:
4. Cultivate a passion for God's word. Ask Him to develop within you a greater love for the Word of God than you have for material things or for food. Spend time with Him, diving deep into the Word. Instead of making some huge commitment, planning to go from start to finish, Genesis to Revelation, just start today. Sit down with a cup of coffee, a glass of water, or simply a nicely sharpened pencil, ask for insight into the Word, and GO for it! Read- start in the Epistles, or in Proverbs, or read your favorite story and ask God to open your eyes to a new fresh word- a Rema word (that's the Greek for it)- that's meant especially for you. It doesn't necessarily have to be 5 chapters. But it could be. Just read and let Him speak into you. Fresh words, faithful words, promises, life-changing words, convicting words, encouraging words. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Spend time in the Living Words of God.

May He deliver you and me from the things that would bind us and keep us from Him.

Frugal Food for Thought

OK, so it took moving overseas for me to figure it out... but it's really not that difficult to make basic things from scratch. Basic things don't require obscure ingredients (if I can find them in the middlanowhere in Central Asia, then you can find them at your handy-dandy Albertson's, WalMart, or whatever) and it really doesn't take that much more time than the from-the-box way. But it sure does taste better! Well, almost all the time. My tortillas today came out about average. But average is good for the first time! Recently, I've made cornbread from scratch quite a lot, and it's delicious! We eat ours with milk, straight out of the oven. Sound gross to you? Never tried it? Well, get thee to an oven, bake some up, and try a bowl with milk (almost cover the cornbread in milk). You'll be amazed!

Since we've been here in China, I've made pancakes and syrup from scratch, and the pancakes (following the Better Homes & Gardens recipe) taste as good or better than Aunt Jemima's boxed mix. The syrup is tasty too! Pasta sauces aren't tough at all... I've been astounded by how easy it is to cook from scratch! And it's SO much less expensive than packaged food.

A couple of days ago, I made cheesecake from scratch. Wow. Since we can't buy graham crackers here, I had to substitute Oreos for the crust, which really was no sacrifice at all! :) It was delicious, and can only get better from here since this was my first crack at it! So, if you're looking to save a bit of dough, you can make a bit of dough and make your own tortillas, cornbread, cakes, sauces, WHATEVER. Let my trials and errors and successes be an inspiration to you. It's a great way to be frugal, learn some skills of old, and gain some self-confidence in the process. Plus you get a tasty treat as a reward for your efforts! Enjoy!