Category Archives: Frugal Living

We’re downsizing. At least we’re hoping to if we can sell our house. But a few weeks ago we decided that instead of just sitting on our thumbs waiting, we could at least begin to downsize in our hearts and in our home, now. We looked around: What can we do without? Is there anything that’s taking mental or physical space that might actually be worth something to someone else?

Jeff took on the books and I took on the bedroom set.

I am so proud of my man.  In his free time (which is…?) he started selling his extra books on Amazon and he’s already made almost $150! He assures me it’s easy, so I handed over a half-dozen cookbooks as well. Why not?

And to my amazement, we were able to sell our bedroom set in no time flat.  It’s so funny how things change. I change. I have adored this bedroom set for the 8 years of our marriage. It’s by far the nicest thing that we own. Beautiful.  But now it feels like a burden. It’s huge, and so nice and perfect that I was always worried that it’d get scratched. So we sold it and made enough to fund a very fun little ministry adventure.  We moved the guest bed into our room, slid in a few hand-me-down end tables and viola, a new eclectic bedroom set. I love it.

Is there anything you don’t need? Anything you can sell? Anything you can give away to a home that might need it more? Just an idea…

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Oh, and Portland-area readers, Thriftway has $.39/lb. oranges on sale this weekend and a 2 lb. block of Tillamook cheese for $3.99.  Those are stock-up prices so check it out!

Happy Friday!
Kari

I sit in front of my excel spreadsheet, moving imaginary money. It’s just numbers, really.  I can take from one little box and put in another.  I’m tired of pinching pennies on groceries, wouldn’t it be easy to just move a little down from that top box?

That giving box.

That box has plenty.

I can just move a  little down from that box. Then I won’t need to say no to myself. I won’t have to wait until the 15th this month to get groceries. I won’t have to get creative. It’s so much easier to go to the store than it is to be creative.

Just move some imaginary money.

Why not?

Here’s the reason why:

Light the Streets from Africa New Life Ministries on Vimeo.

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What you do matters. We won’t take our roasted chicken into eternity, and we won’t get any crowns for eating beans. But we have an opportunity today to offer up our praise and our pennies in a way that changes lives. Most of all ours.

Happy Friday, friends.

By grace, with joy,

Kari

I apologize for the title. Fridays really bring out my alliterative compulsion and sometimes it’s not pretty. For the past 6 weeks we’ve been talking about the Simple Diet, one way to give our diets and budgets the major overhaul they just might need.  By limiting choices, simplifying meals, and examining the myth of convenience food, we’re taking steps toward health, frugality, and simplicity. So far we’ve looked at

• Simple Step 1: Eat oatmeal.
• Simple Step 2: Simplify snacks!
• Simple Step 3: Think whole. (And a guest post)
• Simple Step 4: Simple Lunch.
• Simple Step 5: Make Dinner Happen

After talking about the value of having dinner together as a family, and after receiving much encouragement to make this happen in our family, I am pleased to say that for the last few weeks we have done this every night. Already I am so pleased at how my kids are much more likely to eat what they are served.  And although my picky eater rarely finishes his entire dinner (unless it’s some form of bread), he has learned that he therefore forfeits dessert and bedtime snack and he’s content with this arrangement.  And let me tell you that boy comes to his oatmeal bowl in the morning a little bit ravenous and a lot bit grateful for food!  This morning he ate his big bowl and my bowl–apparently it’s a new diet for me as well…

We looked at 5 recipes last week, and here are 5 more.  These are the five that I usually cook in one day, and then eat some, give some, and freeze some. I can always think of someone in my life who could use a hot meal, so I love cooking a bunch in one day and then having plenty to share. Plus it’s so fun to deliver a hot meal and models sharing for our kids!

Yes, this is a lot of chicken meals, but that’s where we live isn’t it?  Chicken, nine times out of ten, is what’s for dinner.

One Day Cooking: Chicken (Read here about roasting the whole chicken and preparing stock for these recipes) After roasting the chicken and making the stock, put together these yummy recipes. They use much of the same ingredients so it’s actually very simple to make them all on the same day.

Note: This will take from morn to night to do from start to finish.  Often I”ll roast the chicken and make stock one day, then make these recipes the next day. It’s a ton of food but it all freezes well and is delicious!)

1. Chicken & Rice Bake: (Yes, we talked about this one last time. I’m including it here because I always make it on the “chicken cooking day”, and it’s so good it’s worth mentioning again. If you haven’t made it yet, do!)

2.Herbed Chicken and Dumplings (Jeff LOVES this.  You can even make a ton of the chicken/veggie broth and then add the dumplings fresh whenever you serve it. Just use shredded chicken and this comes together in a flash.

3. Tarragon Chicken-in-a-pot Pies (With or without tarragon this is delicious. This is also a great way to use that frozen zucchini from last summer!)

4. Chicken Vegetable Soup (I skip the parsnips and turnips. The leeks make this delicious!  Just use shredded chicken and your homemade stock.)

5. Chicken Shepherd’s Pie:

• 1 1/2 lbs potatoes (I use organic red, unpeeled)
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• 3 TB whipping cream (I just use whole milk)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TB butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 lb. chicken shredded (from the whole chicken)
• 2 TB flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen peas (Costco’s organic ones are a great deal)
• Optional: 1 cup frozen shredded zucchini

Boil potatoes, mash with butter, garlic and milk, add 3/4 tsp salt, set aside.

Melt butter in skillet, add onion, then carrots. Cook until tender. Add chicken. Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir until no streaks of flour remain. Add broth and remaining 1/2 tsp salt, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cook until thickened. Stir in peas. (I add zucchini here)

Spoon into pie plate, spoon potatoes on top to form a top crust.  If desires, sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 350 until top is golden.

Enjoy!

On Frugal Fridays Kari has been sharing tips on how to bless our families by saving money and giving more. Today, we are shifting gears a little and focusing on how to bless your family by making money. Now, who doesn’t like the sound of that? 🙂

It seems to me that I often face a dichotomy in life. My education taught me to make money in a career, and yet I choose the life of a stay-at-home mom. Two values are at play: making money, and family. The two seem mutually exclusive.

However, I’ve recently begun to believe that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact, it may be part of my duty as a wife and mother to join with my husband in supporting our family when the need arises, without giving up my other God-given priorities. I find a biblical example of this in Proverbs 31.

I’m not going to turn this into a Bible study, but I do want to point out a few verses that helped me as I wrestled with this subject. I suggest reading the passage in full on your own, since we are only going too look at a few key phrases. In looking at this passage I keep the following questions in mind:

What is my role in our household?
What are my responsibilities as a mother?

The following are words to a king of Israel, spoken to him by his mother. So, we know a woman came up with these characteristics, not a male with an over-eager imagination. 🙂

First, this passage describes an excellent wife. In other translations she is called a “noble woman,” or a “virtuous wife.” She does a lot of things—A LOT. Here are just some of the ways she helps to support her family (keep in mind these were done in ancient Israel).

She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands (v. 13)
She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. (v. 16)
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. (v. 18)
She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. (v. 24)

These, among the ways she provides food and clothing to her whole household make her quite a woman. The passage says she “laughs at the time to come (v. 25).” I assume this is because she is doing everything she can to help her family. Beyond that, she trusts their provision to God.

I’m not here to say moms have to make money. What I’m here to do is talk about how to make money for your family from home if you need to, and if you want to.

I consider the Proverbs 31 woman a Lady of Industry. She is industrious, diligent, and hard working. She evaluates what she has, acquires what she needs, and uses these to turn a profit. Because of this, her family is well fed, well clothed and her husband is respected. I want to be like her!

So, how can you become a Lady of Industry? I’d like to share some tips from my own experience to share simple, affordable and doable ways to use what you have to bless your family financially.

::Use What You Have

I started a business sewing boutique clothing and accessories for children because I love to sew and am obsessed with fabric. I suggest finding something you love and developing it into a profitable skill. Some questions to ask yourself are:

What activities do I love?
Do I have a skill that is out of vogue or unusual these days?
Am I ever asked to teach or share my particular talent?

These could be writing, sewing, cooking, cake decorating, painting, other artistic talents such as graphic design, or even public speaking. Think outside the box. In school, I was trained to write and I often take on freelance writing jobs to help support my family. However, the sewing came to me after I was a wife and mother, and I’m still surprised that it makes us money.

::Keep it Simple and Affordable

The key to a profitable business is keeping it simple and within budget. You can only make money if you sell your item or skill for more than it costs you to provide it. If you’re selling a piece of merchandise, this means you need to make it for cheap. If you’re selling your time, you must charge what you’re worth and what time away from your other priorities is worth to you.

Do as our Proverbs 31 woman did: consider your field before you buy it. Can you turn it around for a profit? Use it to grow something that will continue to provide?

Keeping it simple means establishing do-able goals. You don’t have to take the entire hand-made industry by storm the first year. Start with one or two products and go from there. As you learn and increase your profits, you can expand your inventory. Establish goals such as:

How much you want to make the first year
How much time you can invest
How much money you can invest (go minimal!)

::Some Ideas

If you’re at a total loss and can’t think of a single skill you can use to make money, allow me to suggest some ideas. You can also browse Etsy or attend local craft fairs to see what others are doing. Of course, some of the ideas below aren’t sold at craft fairs…

• Make handmade goods, such as clothing, baby items, accessories, holiday items, cards.
• Sell homemade cakes or pies during the holidays
• Sell Pampered Chef, or other products that give you a commission
• Become a freelance writer or graphic designer
• Display and sell your art

For example, one of my friends used to make really neat accordion cards and sold them at the Swap Meet the month before Christmas. She made $500 in one day and used it to buy Christmas presents that year.

::Guidelines

First, make sure your husband is on board with what you aim to do.  More than on board, he should be excited. He should also be made aware of the time you’ll be investing and anything it will require on his part (such as finances, filing taxes, watching the kids, etc).

Don’t over-commit yourself. If you are involved with school, church, or other activities outside the home, take those into account when planning your business venture.

I also suggest giving 10% of your profits to a worthy organization. If you attend a church regularly, you may want to tithe your money to your church. Or, you might consider choosing an organization connected to what you sell or provide. For example, if you sell women’s accessories, you can donate to an organization for battered women. If you decorate cakes, consider giving to an organization that provides food to families in financial difficulty. I give to an organization that helps women and children who have been rescued from sexual trafficking. By giving in this way, I think of them as I sew. “Where your money is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

::Tips

Don’t worry, this post is coming to an end! Before I go, I want to leave you with a few tips.

Finding a marketplace for your goods can seem daunting. To do this you need a little bit of, how should I say it? Gumption. Get-up-and-go. (There are other, less appropriate ways of saying this). 🙂  I highly suggest Etsy as a marketplace for handmade goods. Be sure to read through all the information for sellers before you jump in. Their weekly newsletters are also very helpful.

If you are selling a skill (such as writing or graphic design) it might help to join an online organization for freelancers. The best advice I can give here is to just jump in and go for it. Start with even the smallest job. Everything builds your portfolio.

Stay within the law. If your state requires you to register your business name and apply for a sellers permit, do so. Never neglect to honor God by paying your taxes. Be aware that, depending on your state, taxes may take a large percent of your profits. Plan accordingly.

Keep good financial records. I suggest opening a separate account to use for your business, under your name and your husband’s. Keep the business finances as separate from family finances as possible. Of course, you will want to pay yourself from what you make, but guard against taking money from the family to pay for the business (unless it’s a specific amount you have chosen to invest).

Becoming a Lady of Industry is as simple as being willing to work hard to help your family. From experience I can tell you that my lamp does not go out at night (Prov 31:18) and I sometimes rise while it is yet night (Prov. 31: 15), but it is worth it. I enjoy what I’m doing, reap the benefits of a hobby, and have confidence in helping provide for my family. Heck, it’s fun!

Now, go and be a Lady of Industry!

(I will be sharing more about this topic in the future at www.cailamade.com.)

“It’s dinner time!”

I wish I could say that I joyfully call out those words every night, to then hear cheerful children scurrying to wash hands and get seated around the table where steaming hot serving dishes are awaiting us.  More often than I’d like to admit this is not the case.  Poor planning, a busy day, daddy working late, trying to fit in a late-afternoon walk or meeting with a friend, all sorts of things keep us from sitting down together to eat a meal.  And, I’ll I admit I’m often very informal about dinner altogether.  We need to grow in this.

Why?  Because every study and statistic on the subjct shows that eating dinner together promotes the health and strength of a family. I just read an article that said families that ate dinner together proved significantly stronger in 1) Communication, 2) School Performance, 3) Adjustment to change, and 4) Nutrition. So we know that dinner isn’t just feeding our bodies, but our hearts and minds and relationships as well.  The bottom line? Dinner matters.  It is the prime opportunity for conversation, teaching manners, talking about the Scriptures, learning about nutrition, teaching respect.

My point? Let’s figure out a way to simplify the process and get dinner on the table. It matters.  And while how we eat (with grateful, thankful hearts kind manners) is more important than what we eat, we do still need to decide what’s on the table and how it’s going to get there. Some of the primary reason moms said dinner did not happen was that they lacked the time and skills.  Well then let’s learn how to do it and learn how to do it quick!

So far we’ve looked at

• Simple Step 1: Eat oatmeal.
• Simple Step 2: Simplify snacks!
• Simple Step 3: Think whole.
• Simple Step 4: Simple Lunch.
• Simple Step 5: Make Dinner Happen.
• 
  

Confession: My plan was to have an entire month-long plan done for ya’ll, with tips on having a Cooking Day, and how to only cook about once a week and freeze ahead, etc.  Well, this is not yet completed and it is time for me to go to bed and my husband is more important than finishing this post. 🙂 So I apologize, but for this week I’m cheating and simple linking to Five of our Favorite Frugal Family Meals.  These five are yummy and very inexpensive and simple to make.  Happy dining, and I promise there will be more to come.  Thanks for grace. 🙂

• Simple Step 1: Eat oatmeal.
• Simple Step 2: Simplify snacks!
• Simple Step 3: Think whole.

Personally I have found that one of the easiest and most effective ways to simplify and stay trim is to make lunch my biggest meal of the day.  Everyone’s different, but I’ve found that if I can feel very full and satisfied mid-day then I have the energy and bright attitude necessary to carry me through the rest of the day. Dinner serves more as a smaller carry-over meal until bedtime, rather than a huge feast at the end of the day. This also prevents me from eating large amounts as an emotional response to a stressful day.  Anybody else been there?  During the middle of the day I’m more likely to eat for fuel. At the end of the day I’m more likely to eat for stress-relief.  I know many people enjoy a big meal late in the day, but for me it just works to eat a big lunch, snack guiltlessly whenever I need, and eat something small or light for dinner.  And you probably all know it’s a great rule of thumb not eat for 3 hours before bed.  Popcorn doesn’t count. 🙂

All that to say that lunch matters!   I love lunch.  It’s a great time to eat a power-packed meal that can carry you through your busy day.  And after having your simple oatmeal and your five simple snacks, we can splurge and have SIX options for lunch! That means every day can be different and you can eat leftovers on Sunday as a Sabbath.  Here are our top six Simple Diet lunch picks.  All are easy, healthy, and can be made ahead and served in just a few minutes.

1. Toasted Cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, fruit. Ok, there are weeks that we eat this almost every day.  And with whole-wheat bread, Tillamook cheese, organic carrots and apple slices–it’s healthy and delicious and easy.

2. Peanut butter sandwiches, steamed peas, fruit. Again, easy.  Whole-wheat bread, natural peanut butter, fruit, and a favorite in our house: “Percy peas” (because they are the color of Percy from Thomas the Train). Organic frozen peas are less than $1/lb. for a 5lb. back at Costco.  I steam little bowls of peas and my kids eat them with their fingers.  So easy. So healthy.

3. Whole-wheat pancakes with beets, yams, ricotta, chickpea or carrot puree. This is what we eat every Tuesday after Bible study. My kids love the tradition and we all love the pancakes.  Here’s an easy recipe (This is from the back of the Curious George Makes Pancakes book, so we call them Curious George Pancakes.)  You can mix in pureed beets, carrots or yams for veggies, or ricotta cheese or pureed chickpeas for protein.  So easy. So yummy.  1 1/2 c. milk, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 TB sugar, 2 cups whole-wheat flour–then add puree and any water needed to get the right consistency.  Done. Delish. (Mix it up in a juice pitcher and it makes for easy pouring onto the griddle.)

4. Chicken with green beans and homemade bread. After roasting that whole chicken, save big chunks of shredded chicken in the fridge for an instant meal. My kids LOVE chicken this way. They also love “Percy beans” (you can guess what they are named after)–organic frozen green beans are also less than $1/lb. at Costco.  Saute in olive oil and sprinkle with lemon pepper.  Mmmm!

5. Chicken Noodle soup with homemade bread. Confession: sometimes my chicken noodle soup doesn’t even have chicken in it.  But with delicious chicken broth and plenty of yummy noodles and veggies, it hardly matters.  My favorite soup recipe is here, but any variation is great. Today I made it with barley instead of noodles and onion instead of leeks, and added plenty of carrots and peas.  I added a little white wine too. Yum!

6. Beans and rice with corn. Best basic go-to meal.  Soak beans overnight, any kind (black are our favorite but white, lentil, chickpea, or pinto are all wonderful). Cook in salted water all day in a crockpot, serve with brown rice or barley or quinoa. Mix in organic frozen corn (less than $1/lb. at Costco), and sprinkle with cheddar cheese for a complete meal.  Or dump in a packet of taco seasoning and make it mexi-style. Yum!

Again, I know there are a million healthy meals out there. But if you’re looking for an easy way to revamp your budget, here’s an easy place to start.  And please do not be afraid that your children will suffer because they do not have a dozen choices.  We can become crippled by our preference-driven society.  Chances are that our children will have happy, thankful hearts when they learn to eat what they are served.  (I’m working on this one too!)

Happy lunching!

If you’re just joining us, we’ve been talking the last few weeks about ways to dramatically cut our grocery budget and eat wholesome, healthy food as well.  To review the journey to this place, feel free to read the Food Stamp Challenge, a project seeking to make healthy whole eating affordable for everyone.  The Simple Diet is just an overview for anyone wanting to take the plunge of reducing that food budget, and feed their families with fresh wholesome food (and do so simply!).  So far we’ve covered:

• Simple Step 1: Eat oatmeal.
• Simple Step 2: Simplify snacks!
• Simple Step 3: Think whole. (Guest post)

Today we’ll be finishing our topic on Simple Step 3: Think Whole.

Now most of us are aware that eating “whole foods” is good for us. The store Whole Foods is making a killing selling us healthy foods (and I love it there!). But, if the goal is also to simplify our budgets and free up as many resources as possible for giving and blessing our families and those around us, we have to be wise in what it means to “eat whole”.  Here are 3 easy components of think whole.

1. Whole Grain:

Again, we all know this, right?  But when there are 27 types of bread out there that all say whole grain, and most of them are mostly just white flour with some bran sprinkled in, it can get complicated and time consuming trying to figure it all out. Plus, the real good healthy bread (think Dave’s Killer–yum!)  is soooo expensive.  So, this is the SIMPLE diet, right? Here’s all you have to do:  Buy whole wheat flour. That’s it. That’s all you have to do.

The easiest way to be sure you consume whole grains is to only buy whole grains. 🙂 Simple, right? I buy only two flour items: whole wheat flour and whole wheat pasta.  Yes, as always, if you have the freedom in your time and budget, have a blast with buying rye flour and spelt flour and a fun variety of pancake mixes and so on and so forth. I could go hog wild at Bob’s Red Mill. But for Simple Diet?  Two items. Whole wheat flour and whole wheat pasta. From these two items you can make pancakes, bread, crepes, spaghetti, mac ‘n cheese, tortillas, waffles…anything you want.  Two items.  At Winco whole wheat flour is $.39/lb. and many shapes of whole wheat pastas are around $.90/lb.  So. Cheap.  And yes, I simply substitute whole wheat flour for any recipe that calls for white flour.

*That oatmeal is another great source of whole grains.  Other delicious, easy, and inexpensive whole grains to keep in stock are brown rice, barley, wild rice and quinoa.  Wild rice and quinoa are more expensive, but great as a special treat.  Brown rice and barley are way cheap at Winco (less than $.50/lb.) and are wonderfully healthy staples. To really keep cost down just stick to whole wheat flour, whole wheat pasta, oats, brown rice and barley. You can make everything you need out of these. (Refer back to bread recipe, bread machine link, and the best bread machine cookbook.)

2. Whole Animal

Beef:: Now I must confess we’re not big meat eaters. You won’t find us buying a whole cow, or even half a cow (but that’s the way to do it if you are a meat-fan!). I buy small amounts of ground beef when it’s on sale (organic, grass-fed), and we don’t eat steak.  No doubt about it–meat is expensive.  So we do what millions of others have done for hundreds of years before us–stretch it. Make it last.  I use very small amounts in recipes, instead adding more veggies and grains.

Fish:: We love fish. We eat a lot of salmon and yes, it’s expensive, but it can be stretched!  As I shared here: Buy the fish fresh and whole, and ask the fish lady (is there a name for people who cut fish?) to fillet it for you and give you the spine and scraps and head (wrapped up, don’t worry you don’t have to stick it in your purse).  Then you can cut the filleted fish into 2-3 oz. servings at home, and freeze individually.  It’s actually very inexpensive like that (about $1/serving).  And having it pre-frozen in servings is great for our portion control.  Then you can dump all the scraps, spine and head into a pot and make fish stock. It’s delicious and wonderful for making seafood chowder (which is a great way to stretch that salmon).

Chicken:: Of course this is where we all live, right?  We eat chicken more than anything else.  Again–the Simple and frugal and healthy way is to buy the whole chicken.  Although I bought whole organic chickens for a while, I’ve recently been buying Draper Valley chickens which are local and raised naturally.  Thriftway runs sales occasionally for $.79/lb. That’s a great deal. Buy as many as they let you (they usually limit that price) and stick them in the freezer. We’ve already talked about chicken stock, so you’re an old hat at that by now.

We don’t buy pork or shellfish or any other kind of meat. Again, if you have the freedom in the budget, great.  But for simplicity sake you can certainly get buy with just these three meat items–and use the whole thing.

3. Whole Dairy:

I know less about this area, simply because we aren’t milk drinkers.  Many people swear by raw milk, but we simply don’t consume enough to make it worth our time and money. So I simply buy small amounts of organic whole milk when it’s on sale, Tillamook cheese when it’s under $4 for a 2lb. block, and organic eggs sporadically.  We buy real butter when on sale for under $2/lb.  Heather talked about this in her article last week.

In summary, a Simple Diet grocery list, for all these items would simply be:

Whole wheat flour, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, barley, oats.  Grass-fed beef, some salmon, a whole chicken.  Whole milk, some cheese, eggs, and real butter.

There’s the grocery list!  Add fruits and veggies (and peanut butter!) and that’s really enough to live on. Simple.

Next we’ll look specifically at Simple Lunch. Happy whole eating!

Eat the foods that people (who didn’t get sick) ate for thousands of years.

Eat the foods that people (who didn’t get sick)  ate for thousands of years.