Design

Well .. the new year is starting off good.  The family seems to be on board to purchasing groceries in bulk.  We are slowly switching from a monthly supply of goods in the pantry .. and adding six months of supply.  This means .. and here is where the adapting comes in .. that I don't have to take any grief if we are out of a particular item.  Say mayo .. or .. bread .. or a hundred other things they complain about if we are out of.  I have been making mayo (for example) for the past six months.  If we are out .. it's because I may have just one farm fresh egg left in the fridge for an emergency .. so make your sandwich with mustard and get over it (LOL).  Too much 'want' .. instead of basic need .. this is 'a-changin' ...  hallelujah!  We are saving up for a flour mill.  I hope to have enough money by the time we have used up our current supply of flour.  And .. my friend, Maria .. at Shallow Thoughts From Iowa .. buys her coffee...

Yesterday was budget day a The Mangy Moose Lodge.  I have been working with a household budget for the past eight months; it's getting easier.  Allocating our spending categories at the beginning of the month ..  makes for good spending habits.  Its' easier to say "NO" to impulse buys.  Christmas shopping is easier with cash set aside in an envelope.  When the $ is gone .. no more shopping :).  Our youngest daughter is just starting out in life .. albeit .. still at home .. but learning good foundations that will carry her through life.  Being able to live on a fixed income AND budget will be vital for her future success.  Today I helped her type up an easy to read budget form that she can print out each month and fill in with pencil.  Learning to live within your means at an early age is a very good thing.  Our economy and government could use a good dose of living within a budget .. my wouldn't that be a saving grace! Speaking of ...

Big gains.  It's hard to remember shopping with store coupons for ready made food products.  Our food bill was about double what it is now.  The change to eating whole foods started off slowly and has snowballed.  A little step here and there has added up to a total makeover with more changes to follow .  Having a set amount of cash to shop with each month, slowly stocking up on single item pantry/freezer goods (flour, eggs, veggies, meat .. etc) .. makes for quick meal preparation and planning.  Purchasing went from several times a week to once or twice a month.  Honestly .. yesterday was big shopping day for the month of November.  Our budget is $400 cash (family of four); this does not include much meat as that is separately budgeted and purchased from a local ranch each summer and kept in a chest freezer.  Having a well stocked pantry, I came home with only four bags of grocery staples.  Milk, cheese, spices, potatoes, ...

Nearing the end of gardening season. Storing (drying) food for winter's use. ... is slowly taking place in the western world.  Perhaps from shoddy goods, a desire for better health, knowledge of big ag's poisonous onslaught, enlightenment of how our food is produced, a desire for REAL FOOD, these and many more reasons (economic) people are sharpening their gardening 'tools' and rethinking how to live a better life.  A life apart from the entanglement of BIG BOX companies that produce FAKE FOOD.  Food that robs the very life from a person's health at the cost of the all mighty buck.  Well .. the buck stops here with my family.  We need to educate and nurture our loved ones back into the 'fold' with good food .. not just served up at the table on a Sunday afternoon .. but how to make better choices when eating and living each day .. even in this fast paced, out of control work system many of us are in.  Standing together, we CAN knit our families a better fu...

C an you believe April has come and gone.  So much education in regards to sound economics has taken place this month at The Thrifty Garden/Home.  I have already figured out the household budget for May and have committed it to a spreadsheet.  Having such  .. an on target .. to the penny success with the April budget, I'm going to change grocery shopping gears to be even more thought out.  I can not lower the $ amount of $350 for the month ... but I have made plans to shop only once for May.  This will take a considerable will power on the entire family's part.  Since we got our paycheck a day early and I had the budget done ... I took the opportunity to do the actual shopping yesterday when I had no kids to watch. The pantry shelves, refrigerator .. and freezers are stocked.  I have taken a Sharpie marker and written on many of the items, that have to be rationed (when they can get used) and stored the excess in my basement's storage room (out of...

Yes, $350 +$20 from fire fighter son has been a tight squeeze for food funds.  We have four days to go until PAYDAY ...  You can bet I already have my shopping list ready and waiting!  Hubby was looking for   crackers today ... sorry ... you have to WAIT until shopping day (I haven't bought crackers for months because most are filled with JUNK).  I offered him some carrot sticks and a chunk of cheese ... saying dinner is in 45 minutes ;)  (He survived)  Our freezer food is being used up ... and fast.  If my planning is good, we have just enough frozen berries, freezer jam, and hopefully beef to last until summer when I restock for the year.  Tonight I made venison meatloaf (no one asked about the 'mystery' meat), steamed carrots, and potato salad.  The ten pounds of organic carrots earlier this month was a good buy.  They come in handy for snacks ... and as a side dish. The hardest part of making all of our food is not running ou...

T his week I entered our budget on my computer program's spreadsheet ( Microsoft Works Monthly Home Budget ) .  This has proven a much better option to pen and paper as I can do a little fudging with the numbers much easier than erasing and correcting the paper version.  Also, at the beginning of the month I can enter a minimum (fixed) salary amount ... and in the next column enter the actual salary after payday.  This is very helpful for people that have fluctuation in their monthly pay.  I set the budget on the minimum fixed amount so I know the least amount of money to budget.  It's a blessing when I can go back later and enter the actual salary and fatten up some of the categories if we get more income. We're in the final stretch of April.  I have exactly $50 grocery money to last to the end of the month.  I think this is doable!  This means our family of four (often 5 & 6 from son and grandson) survived on $370 worth of whole food grocer...

Yahoo news has an article today featuring author Jeff Yeager.  He has written a book titled, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Roadmap to True Riches.  He says, "We shouldn't be asking ourselves "How can we afford it?" We should instead be asking, "Do we really need it?"  Here is the article in full for your Saturday read.  Mr. MacFrugal and I have been sticking with Dave Ramsey's program , The Total Money Makeover, paying off debt at the speed of a gazelle!  Once you get on board with the debt elimination process, it becomes somewhat of a game trying to be frugal.  You know, living off beans and rice, rationing, doing without, etc.   Today my daughter Ann asked if we had any organic sugar for her morning coffee ... I said all I have is plain old brown sugar sweetie ... it's out of the budget this month .  Do you really need sugar in your coffee ... try it with or without the brown stuff .  She's catching on and becoming a convert to all thin...

being so frugal was catching on.  Nearly 800,000 people cut their cable subscriptions in the U.S. for various reasons including:  Trash coming  out of Hollywood, price, advertisements, more reading time, renting or downloading Netflix movies (a favorite in our home) ... While not an overwhelming number of cable subscribers ... it is a trend and will only increase.  How about you ... are you still tethered to your TV connection? Read more here

... aka meet your neighbor at the back fence to swap goods:)  This was a common practice in days of yore.  Imagine being a new settler and having very few provisions ... or a young couple starting off ... You have some seeds or plant starts or too much sourdough starter.  Your nearest neighbor has too many onions to plant or too much lye soap, etc.  Our pioneer great grandparents would have surely traded or sold goods to their neighbors.  Most people had a very limited income.  Health insurance was unheard of.  The area's doctor made frequent house calls and often took eggs in exchange for his medical expertise.  School teachers were paid a small stipend and took up room and board with a student's family.  And to think ... big government was not around to intervene and dole out social services.  People relied on one another ... their families ... neighbors ... friends ... churches ... guilds ... to help meet needs.  In light of the ...