HOUSEHOLD BINDER

    It has always been my dream to have the June Cleaver kind of house. Where everything is perfectly clean, organized and running so smoothly.  Well reality comes running in, often in the form of children or animals in my case.  I tend to get UN-organized really quickly. I often have several projects going on at one time and am forever multitasking.  With having two special needs children, a Husband, dogs, cats and extended family it often falls to me to make it all work. Which I gladly take on this responsibility as it is my job as “Mom, Wife, Owner etc” to make sure my family is happy-mostly, healthy and functioning -reasonably well.

    I have searched online for various resources to help me find what exactly I need to go into this binder.  Well I keep taking bits and pieces from every place that I visit. Each person’s binder really needs to be a personal thing. No two families are alike which makes for very different needs.  I am currently working on what sections I feel we need to have easy access too.
   
    I have created a section for each family member. In the section is any medications that they are on first and foremost. Along with any pertinent  medical information, with Doctors names, numbers etc. Then a section on the dogs and cats with their shot records, medical information and veterinarian information.

    We are also on a mission to seriously become debt free-or as close to it as possible while raising our credit scores to be able to afford a place with more land in the future.  To accomplish that I have created a very strict spending plan and budget.  There is a whole section on that in the binder. That way I can open it up and see for the whole month, who is paid what, and what we are spending.  I have also gotten a small notepad that I carry with me with that weeks spending plan on it so I can see if I have the extra money to buy something when I come across a great deal. 

    Now I have also made a section for: Gardening, Shopping, Pantry Staples.  This is very much a work in progress that I am very sure will change constantly as our needs change.

A Garden Update

Ok here we are in the Middle of August and I thought that I really should give you  an update on how my garden was working this year.  In case this is your first time reading about my garden you should know that this year I tried three major changes. I created raised beds out of several different materials, I also started to use the Square Foot Gardening Method, I have also started all my plants from seeds that I purchased from Baker Creek Seed Company.  All my plants are Heirloom plants that I have not used on pesticides on.

Well I have to say that overall I am very impressed with the garden this year.  I do see that I am going to have to do re arranging and re organizing of my garden.  I think part of the problem is that I didn’t accurately think about the space that  some of my tomatoes and squash were going to need when I planned this out paper.

I love these “Amish Paste” tomatoes that I am growing. They are huge, strong, large producing plants.  But I failed to think about the fact that I needed to trellis them.  I kept thinking ok I need to stake them but it never seemed to happen.  So now I have tons of green tomatoes ripening on my counter since there was no way for them to ripen on the vines when the foliage is that thick. 

Also I planted Spaghetti Squash for the first time this year and  boy did I forget that it is a massive vine plant.  Well lets just say that I have runners EVERYWHERE.

So I have already planned-at least for the first draft-the new beds for next year. I have added several and re-arranged the placement of many of the plants for two reasons. One it is a very good idea to practice crop rotation and two I found out some of the plants really need more room-see paragraph above.

I have also put more planning into what plants I can plant in early spring into the beds that will be done prior to needing that bed again for warm weather crops, that will also offer me the ability to re-seed for a fall garden. 

This is where a Gardening Journal really comes in handy. You can have a central location for all the information on your plants, beds etc.  I am adding this a section to my household binder that I am creating to help keep my household running smoothly.

How Far Can Your Dollar Stretch?

Although I am not crazy about the reasons that I am currently a Stay at Home Full Time Mom-out of work due to an injury, preparing for surgery, I do love the fact that I get to spend time in my kitchen.  I love to cook. I love to teach others how to cook.

If I could do that for a full time job I would be the happiest girl on the face of this planet.  But since that isn’t a reasonable job for me right at this moment…perhaps in the future. I am enjoying spending time in the kitchen and teaching my daughter how to cook.

In hard economic times like we have been facing for the last couple of years families are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table.  Frugal living has gone and taken a brand new meaning in this day in and age. People are needing to stretch every dollar farther than ever before. 

I have decided to help people with this new series: How Far Can Your Dollar Stretch?

In this series there will be a variety of different topics from Meals to Saving money in little ways that can really add up all over your home. Being frugal means different things to different people, it doesn’t mean that you have to give things up necessarily, it means by making good choices on a variety of different things you can have the money to spend on the things you want.  By making things at home for your family it could save you extra money that could either be put to use paying a bill or allowing you to buy some special ingredients to help spice a meal up for a special occasion.

I have to admit that I hate to spend any more money than absolutely necessary on anything.  So I do try to shop around and find the best deal but I also don’t want to spend all my time doing it. I do use the knowledge of other bloggers, especially that ones that specialize in coupon matchups and sales.   I honestly don’t have time to do a lot of the matchups as there is always some work of some kind to be done here either with kid or animals, gardens etc..

Extreme couponing isn’t for me. I don’t know of any local stores that would allow me to make those kinds of purchases with that amount of coupons.  But the idea behind it or getting items for little or no money does appeal to me. So I have decided to try and  only do 1 or 2 items that I can really add to my stockpile. Like a week or 2 ago our local store had Ragu Spaghetti  Sauce on sale for 3 for $5 which equals out to $1.66 each, I had obtained approximately 30 coupons for 50 cents off 1, which our store doubled so it was $1 off each jar, making them 66 cents each. Ragu is the one spaghetti sauce brand that we are loyal to so when a sale like that comes up I work really hard to get as many as I could.  So I spent $19.80 for 30 jars of sauce which will last us most of the winter, normally that would have cost me about $60. So I saved $40 dollars that was able to go towards something else.

There are lots of ways to obtain coupons but please take a moment and think about if you are paying for coupons, that the amount you spend doesn’t cost more than the amount those coupons are going to save you. 

 

Can a Garden really save you money?

Can a garden really save you money? The answer is YES. Especially if you start your plants from seeds. I buy my seeds-Heirloom Veggies at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I love quality of the seeds and how well they grow.

Photo Credit 

Lets just take a minute and consider the costs involved. For this example we are going to use Broccoli. For my package of Broccoli seeds it cost me $2.25 for 300 seeds. That is less than a penny a seed, if every seed grew into a plant that is a savings of anywhere from $1.99 to $3.00 per plant depending on where you would normally purchase your plant.

Photo Credit

If I bought a pound of Broccoli on sale of course I am still looking at $0.99 a pound. Every seed that grows into a plant has the potential to produce at least a pound of Broccoli heads. So you have a plant that cost you less than a penny, that would produce you at least a pound of Broccoli.

Even when you figure into the cost that you will need soil, perhaps a container if you don't already have some. It still works out that starting your plants from seed to be much cheaper.

Photo Credit

You can get soil as cheap as $1 when it is on sale or even at the local dollar store.  You containers can be anything that will hold some dirt.  You can use traditional seed cell starter kits, egg cartons, or plastic bins. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to containers. I have used cell starter kits, plastic cups, bins, egg cartons, you could even use the shell of an egg that you cracked. Again you are limited only by your imagination.

Back to School already?

Can you believe it? Summer is almost half over.  My kids start school on August 28th this year.  We have debated back and forth about home schooling them or placing them into the public school system for the town we live in.  Well for now they are going to the public school but a post on that one later.

This year I have 2 kids in the school and I am trying to figure out how to plan our Back to School adventure.   Of course I really have no idea of what school supplies they will specifically need but I have a general idea.

So I have started to compile a generic basket of school supplies by utilizing the sales around me.  I really hate to pay more than $1 for most school supplies.  I could just shop at the local dollar store but I think that I can do better for some things if I shop around.

Here is my generic list:

Loose leaf paper
Pens
Pencils
Crayons
Glue sticks
Colored pencils
1 subject notebooks
Ruler
3 hole punch
Erasers
Binders
Folders
Zippered pencil case


I know for my daughter I will need to purchase a Zippered Trapper keeper to help her stay organized.  Of course both of the children will also need backpacks. 

Well I happened to be at the local Wal-Mart and found that they had begun their Back to School Sales.   I was able to purchase  almost everything on this list for under a dollar.  The notebooks were only 17 cents each and I got about 20. Yes they  are also going to be used within my home and for that price I couldn’t beat it.  The Loose leaf paper was only 50 cents for a packet of 250 sheets.  That is .002 cents a sheet, a good deal in my book.  Most items were 50 cents or less.  I still need a couple of things that I know I can get at the dollar store like the 3 hole punch and a zippered pencil case. Binders I am still looking for a good deal on.

At this point I have spent $20 on all of these school supplies and I have budgeted $50 for school supplies not including backpacks.  I am planning on stocking up on some extras of these things too so that once the middle of the school year comes about and suddenly you hear “ Mom I need….” I won’t be forced to pay full price. :)

Making my Blog work for me

My blog has been a great place for me to share life on the Homestead as it has happened. I hope to have inspired my readers to try new things and to continue to think outside the box.  Our Homestead has begun with little baby steps and it continues to grow everyday.  Whether adding chickens or just expanding our garden, it has been a journey that we continue to live everyday.

In a very unstable world you never know what is going to happen. Whether it is losing a job, becoming injured or just needing to be home with the children our daily lives constantly change. So has this blog continued to change.

I have lots of plans and ideas that I want to keep sharing with you. Some are Homestead related, some just Family and others Frugal or Financial ideas to help each other in this crazy ride of life. Some contain ideas to make money from home either using your computer or not.

We have been doing a lot of cleaning out around here. If something is in a box and I haven't looked for it, most likely we really don't need it. Just this past weekend we took 3 boxes and 2 contractor bags full of stuff to our local thrift store.  These items are still in good shape that I hope will help out other families either through direct purchase or the money raised by the thrift store will help our local community action group.

Life is about Paying it forward.