Frugal September

So many things have been going on this month.  We finally got our debt below $200,000.  Yes, $200,000 - the several degrees between my husband and myself, and a very small car loan that is almost finished.  This is a great accomplishment!  It makes me even more fired up.  The plan is to pay off that whole amount by July 1, 2021.  We are really working hard to do it!  Making everything from scratch, saying no to most wants, selling things, reducing every expense possible....these are all things that we are doing to pay off debt.

One of the ways that we save money is by doing all personal care ourselves.  This includes haircuts and hair styling for our family.  As you can tell by my profile picture, I am African-American.  As such, my hair requires a bit of a different kind of attention.  This is also true for my daughters.  I already know how to do many things like cornrow, flat twist, two strand twist, etc.  But this month I endeavored to learn a new skill: braid extensions.  This involves adding hair to one's natural hair to not only provide volume and length, but to a break from the stress of daily styling. Braid extensions can cause tension on the hair line, so for me, being able to do it myself allowed me to control the amount of tension and make sure that there was no pulling, which ultimately lead to hair loss, headaches and even sores if not done properly.

I am really proud of the job I did.  This style could have cost as much as $150 at a salon.  I only paid $15 for the hair :)  It took about 4 1/2 hours:

My youngest daughter did not want extensions, so we worked together to find a style that would be appropriate for her fist day of school:

What new skills are you teaching yourself to save money?

10 Minutes

In ten minutes I made a change to an area of my living room that has bothered me for over a year.  It cost $0, just a thought as to how to make the area useful and a bit more beautiful.  Just shopped the house really quickly and went from this sad, neglected space:

To this, with just a bit more life and a bit more umph:

Just a very small change in using a picture that was being stored in our basement, adding a bit of art from my children a small candy dish and some cd's that were laying around.  It just makes the space appear more intentional and that makes a big difference.  And a $0 budget for it makes this frugal mommy smile.  I pray to make many similar changes throughout the house this week as I prepare the house for the new school year.

What small changes can you make in your house today?

Blessings!

Adventures in Dehydrating

My new Excalibur dehydrator is amazing.  I mean, AMAZING!  I just got it two days ago after  literally years of imagining what I could do with one.  I set to work right away. Mango, eggplant, ginger (for ground ginger) peaches, kale....all of these have been experimented with.  Each one has been incredible.  I wanted to have this so that I could really make sure the kids had healthy snacks in their school lunches and so I would not have to spend so much on dried fruits and veggies.  Now that I have a great source for inexpensive fruits and veggies year round (more on that in a separate post), having this dehydrator is going to just add additional cost savings.  I am so excited about it!  I have been sending pics to close friends and family of some of my creations and they are equally amazed. All of it tastes like something from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, and it is not because I am doing anything special (although I did specially season the eggplant - it was SOOO good!) but because what God has created is beautiful and tasty all on its own.

Also, the sun tea that I made a couple of days ago was really good.  I am going  to start doing that more.  There is no bitterness in the tea, just flavor.  It needs no sweetener at all.

I have really been trying to stay productive in the house, but still feels like nothing is getting done.  I have tremendous respect for women that work from home and/or stay at home with children.  It is a lot of work.  For me, trying to get work done AND simultaneous be present for my children's needs are two arduous tasks. But with God, all things are possible and He has extended me a lot of grace.

On the debt payoff front, in less than two weeks our children will be back in school and my husband's teaching job will begin again.  This means we can transfer all of the money that we've stored in savings directly to debt payoff - as soon as he gets his first paycheck.  I think we will actually be able to pay off our (small) vehicle loan next month!  How exciting is that!  When we get back to paying off debt next month, I plan on doing more posts about budgeting and how Dave Ramsey's plan is working for us.

Blessings!
 

A Productive Morning

This morning I got so much stuff done.  I washed and hung a couple of loads of laundry, made steel cut oats for breakfast (my 5 year old carefully cut of strawberries with a butter knife to go on top!), set out a jar of filtered water and tea bags to make sun tea  and prepped watermelon rind for pickling. Other things were done such as cleaning my room, making my bed, washing dishes and getting some other mundane things done. Now I am working and supervising the children.  We have tons more to get done today but I will be following up with the results of my day.  In the meantime, find joy in yours!

HONEST

Okay.  I have to be very honest with myself and anyone who happens upon my blog today.  I am a failure.  I have failed to make goals, much less meet them.  I have failed to use my planner.  I have failed to stick strictly to my budget.  I have been finding every way possible to use up all the food that we have, and then eating it without restraint.  Now the scale shows I need to budget more than just my money.  

Don't get me wrong, we have done a great job of really buying only what we need, managing money well, and saving during the lean summer months when our household income is lower.  However, I have just lost a lot of discipline in a lot of areas of my life.  My last post was about accountability and in that regard I have really failed. 

One of my brothers recently forced a goal on me - to run a 5k.  Its a race that I have done several times in the past, with no real problem.  But I have not run in MONTHS and right now it seems way out of reach.  My brother paid for me to run this race with him in less than 5 weeks.  So, right now, this moment I have to make a decision who I will serve.  My clothes are not fitting, my self esteem sucks...I snore sometimes at night, I have indigestion a lot and am bloated.  I know what I have to do, I know what works, but when I want to do right, sin is right there with me, keeping me from living a life that is glorifying to the Lord in many many many respects.  So, here we go, AGAIN, recommitting to a better me, a better approach, more discipline.  I pray that I can find accountability through this blog.

One thing that I am very excited about it my dehydrator!  I ordered one recently and am so excited about everything I can do with it! I envision snacks for the kids, dried herbs, fruit roll ups, beef jerky, etc. etc etc!  And I can also eliminate a lot of processed foods from the childrens' lunches for school :)  Makes me really happy.

I also taught myself how to install braid extensions in my hair.  This is something that I wanted to try for a long time....I understand that knowing this skill is one that saves a lot of money, but can also make a lot of money....I think I did a pretty good job, just need to learn how to seal the ends properly. 

I have also been pickling a few different things, learned how to make my own citrus cleaner and am about to make my own laundry detergent....All of these things are great skills and will save us tons of money.  I pray that I have the wherewithal to document everything here :)  

So, let me try again with goals for the week:

Thank you cards for VBS'

Rearrange and clean shelf in stairwell

Tidy up workout space in basement

Complete office space in breakfast room

Workout four times this week

Okay.  I am going to keep the list short and see how we go from there!  Time to get in order before the back to school rush starts :)

Blogging Accountability

I know.  Its been a while.  I have been plugging along, living life and every now and then I will think to myself that I need to blog.  I still journal, but this seems to use another part of my brain...the part that knows that someone, someday may read this and it may be helpful or hurtful.  Words need to be used a bit more carefully and wisely in this space.  Thoughts need to be processed a bit more thoroughly.

I have been reading a number of very wonderful blogs lately.  The women who write them mostly use their blogs as spaces for accountability.  They list their to-do list for the week and then check in to report on their progress.  I think it is a great idea...one that I am going to try to implement here.  Although I won't feel this obligation to blog daily, there should be a bit more blogging happening as I check in.  Another great feature of many of these blogs is that they list their frugal wins as many of them are getting out of debt or trying to maintain a household on little money while they increase savings, pay down a mortgage and/or give tremendously.  I would love to do that as well.

Before I get to my weekly list, a bit of an update.  Of course it is summer where we live and our income is a bit lower in the summer months.  So, while we are working on our debt snowball, it is on hold until the fall months when the income steadies again.  I do have a good feeling though, that, based on our savings this summer, we may be able to pay off our last car payment in the fall if we don't use our savings!!  This is excellent news and I am so excited!  We have been very mindful about keeping our expenses low and really thinking through every coin we spend.  We've had a few car issues this summer that, because of the time we took to think through, really were not major and cost us little money.  Praise God for His favor!

Okay, so my  list of to -do's for the week (in no particular order):

1.  Dust the stairwell shelf (hasn't been done since we moved in - terrible, I know!)
2. Use magic eraser on the wall near the kitchen trash can
3. Make all meals from scratch
4. One load of laundry a day - washed, hung and put away
5. Empty one box from the basement (trying to minimize clutter)
6. Clean master bathroom
7. Mow grass
8. Use free car wash coupon to wash car
9. Send graduation gift to cousin
10. Read Bible and pray daily
11.  Make a prayer blanket for bridal shower

I am a wife and mother and I will definitely have other responsibilities, but these are the ones that I really need accountability for.  I am also teaching myself to really crochet, so when I have free moments I really need to take time to have that shawl worked on.

Just writing this list is helping me to breathe! I may check in on my progress on Wednesday and Saturday and then post my frugal wins in a Friday or Saturday post as well.  As I get back into the swing of blogging, I will also check in regarding the status of our debt.  But since we are in this summer holding pattern, I will probably wait until Fall to do that.

What are your to-do's for the week?  Let me know so that we can hold each other accountable!

Narrow Way

Today I am listening to a sermon by Paul Washer.  A sermon that he preached in 2002 at a youth conference.  It condemned American Evangelical Christianity.  It is soul-searing.  It is heart-wrenching.  It is eye-opening:

I don't have much to say today.  I am pondering this message and its application to my own life.  I encourage anyone, even if it is only one person who reads this blog, to listen to this message.  Paul Washer is not known for niceties or mincing his words.  This message is powerful and very relevant, even 15 years later. You have to listen to the very end.  Please, think about your salvation, your walk with the Lord and your commitment to denying your flesh and instead holding fast the the Lord's promises, benefits and taking the narrow way to follow the Lord. The way leads to Glory, but is marked with suffering and persecution.  It is not an easy road, but it is worth every step.