Category Archives: Frugal Living

Step 2: Simplify Snacks

It seems that no sooner than the breakfast dishes are done that Dutch is ready for a snack.  And while snacks are notoriously laden with sugar, salt and a high price tag, it is possible to follow The Simple Diet and still allow our kids to snack.  They have little tummies and even after a healthy breakfast they will still benefit from a small nutritious snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Here are Simple Diet Snacks:

• Homemade bread. My kids live on homemade 100% whole wheat bread. It cost pennies to make and is delicious and nutritious. I made 4-5 loaves a week. (recipe here and bread machines here) A $55 bread machine will easily pay for itself in 1-2 months, one month if you are buying lots of Dave’s Killer or some other all-natural breads.  Since I make 5 loaves a week I figure I am saving about $50/month just on bread. We’ll do a separate post on where to buy ingredients, etc.
• Cheese. Not cheese sticks (although those are fine, just more expensive). Tillamook cheddar cheese. When you see it on sale for $3.99/lb. stock up! I probably have 7 blocks in my fridge right now.
• Apples, oranges, bananas. You can get organic apples at Azure Standard for $1/lb. Oranges and bananas don’t need to be organic, and you can always get for under $1/lb. Other fruit is great too, but when budget is the name of the game, these three are tough to beat.
• Peanut Butter. My kids always ask for “peanut butter on spoon.” At first I thought it was a bad habit, but with organic, 100% natural peanut butter (great price at Costco, Trader Joe’s or Fred Meyer), it’s a great way to fill those tummies with protein and healthy fat.  I scoop a big spoonful and let them eat it like a popsicle.
• Carrots. You can always get organic carrots (at Safeway or Fred Meyer) for under $1/lb. if you do the hard work of peeling and chopping.  I keep a large tupperware full of carrots already peeled chopped in little sticks that are perfect for little mouths.  An easy nutritious snack. (It might seem crazy to buy a 15 lb. bag of carrots but it’s easy to use them up if you use half raw and cook half for meals and purees. Plus, if you have a bunch you’re more likely to eat them.)

All these are whole foods. All are under $2/lb. All are great nutritious choices for our kids. And all are Simple. They can all be kept on hand and handed out in 30 seconds. And after only having one choice for breakfast, they’ll think getting FIVE choices for a snack is amazing!

Shopping List:

Apples (organic), oranges, bananas, carrots (organic), cheddar cheese, peanut butter. Bread ingredients (more on that later).

What to avoid: Fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars,  individually wrapped things.

Happy snacking!

This past week I began doing Preschool lessons at home with Dutch….every day. Remember my goal was to do it 2x/week?  That was all I thought I could do. Well, turns out that my friend with whom I’m partnering (doing a little coop with our 3 preschool-aged kids) is doing it every day, so in order for us to stay on track together, I said I’d give it a shot every day.  I was sort of dragging my heels because I didn’t want to over-commit, and I like my freedom, but I said I’d try. Just try.

I love it.

Here’s what I love.  It’s simple and effective. I feel like I’m clueless most of the time with parenting and teaching, but this great curriculum (My Father’s World) outlines each day and gives ideas and optional things to do and just spells it all out for me.  I must say, since I’m entering unknown territory it is very helpful for someone just to tell me what to do. Make it simple. Down the road I’m sure I’ll do more on my own and adjust and have my own ideas, but for now, it sure is nice to just have it all spelled out! I love doing it everyday because the structure helps rather than hinders my day.  And though Dutch resisted at first, I can see the sense of accomplishment he feels when he completes a little lesson.  Win win.

So, I was realizing that for some of us, who are really wanting to start afresh in the area of budgeting and/or healthy eating this new year, we might feel the same way. Sure, some of us just want to save a dollar here and there, but I know that there are some that are really wanting a total revamp in this department. In fact, this series is born out of an email I received recently from someone I love very much.  After some seriously financial trials, she is endeavoring to drop their grocery budget from $800 down to $300 (for a fam of 4)–a worthy goal, and a challenge to be sure! Her question: Where do I start??

So I am in no way saying everyone needs to do this, and please hear my heart: I am not asserting that this is the godly or scriptural or morally superior way to live and eat.  No judging here! If you’re happy with your diet and your budget, awesome. There are more important things to do in the world. But, if you are feeling like you want to make a change and don’t know where to start: Here’s a simple start. My prayer is that as we simplify and exercise prudence in the everyday details of our lives, we will free up more resources and energy to pursue the things of eternal value. The enemy would love to have us so bogged down with budgets and endless couponing and overspending and stress over our health and weight that we are rendered useless for the Kingdom. I am not an expert in any of those areas, but I can offer one thing: A simple diet. I’d like to therefore share a few Simple Steps each week, and I’ve enlisted the help of some of my nutritional gurus, including one registered dietitian whose worked in the field for years. And with that, shall we begin?

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Healthy food is not necessarily that expensive–choice and convenience are. The name of the game is Simplify.  We think that convenience should simplify our lives, but in reality many times our modern day conveniences complicate our lives.

Today’s supermarket is driven by these two things: Choice and Convenience. We tend to believe that having choice and convenience will make us happy. But I suspect that it might be the opposite.  Every notice how you’re perfectly content with what you have until you have the option of something else?

So in the weeks to come we’re going to explore what I’m calling The Simple Diet, showing one way to give your diet/budget a major makeover (without clipping 500 coupons a week!). Now obviously there are a million ways to do this, I am not claiming to be an expert, nor am I saying you need to eat the exact same way that we do, but if you’re just looking for someone to tell you what to do (like I was with preschool curriculum!) and make it simple, then here’s one way. Take it, leave it, change it, tweak it. But guaranteed you will come in under budget!

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Simple Step #1: Eat Oats.

Eat oatmeal for breakfast. It would seem that cold cereal is the most convenient thing in the world. And I’ll tell you, for 30 years I have been a cold cereal fanatic (ok probably not as an infant, but for as long as I can remember). I would eat it for every meal if I could. So the idea to toss my beloved boxes was scary.  But switching to oatmeal is the single easiest way to cut cost and build health. Why?

Oatmeal is cheap. We’re talking WAY cheap.  At Winco it is 45 cents a pound. We buy enough for the whole month and there’s breakfast. Done.  For pennies per serving.

One option simplifies mornings. I understand those with older children maybe can’t get away with this switch. But if you can, awesome.  Every morning Jeff dumps four cups of water in a pot and turns it on. Then he showers, etc. Later he comes down when it’s boiling and dumps in 2 big cups of oatmeal. Put it on low, cover. Leave it. Do whatever.  Then whenever (10 minutes is perfect), turn it off. Ready. Done. Stays warm so even if some people have to leave early and some late it’s always ready.  Jeff and I sprinkle brown sugar on ours, and I put homemade berry applesauce (will include recipe) in the kids’.  I put the four bowls on the table. Done. Older kids could fix their own. Done.  One option.

Oatmeal is simple. I love that it doesn’t even matter if we have fresh milk on hand.  Oatmeal doesn’t go bad. It’s just there, sitting there. I don’t have to clip any coupons. I don’t have to look for deals.  I don’t have to try to get all the different brands and types that different people like. One option, and it requires no fresh ingredients (although you could put milk in yours for extra protein.) SO simple.

Oatmeal is a superfood. Oats are among the top healthiest foods. It’s delicious, nutritious, whole-grain, full of fiber and protein, and somehow it always feels like a treat (because of the sprinkled brown sugar). I blenderize oats and use it instead of white flour in cookies. I mix it in with banana bread and other cakes.  Food in its natural state (rather than Os or flakes or hexagons) is always healthiest.  So old-fashioned oatmeal will always be a fabulous way to start your day.

Include a banana and a cup of tea, if you’d like to really have a feast.  Or sprinkle on cinnamon, drizzle some honey, add raisins. I knew someone who used to eat their oatmeal with peanut butter and chocolate chips. Mix in flax-seed, chickpea puree for protein, chia seeds, whatever!  Or, go Simple and eat it plain.  Whatever suits you. But of you really need to hack down your grocery budget this will do it–leave behind the juice, flavored coffee creamer, boxed cereal, etc.

Now, if you feel like eating simply will take all the fun out of eating, yes–there is that consideration. The gist behind a Simple Diet is just eating to live not living to eat.  If your budget and time allows for variation, great. If not, a simple breakfast of oatmeal every morning will fabulously fuel your body for pennies.

Happy breakfasting!

Thanks, Emily for the request on stock how-to and uses.

Making homemade stock seems to be one of the cheapest, easiest ways to get great nutrients into our bodies.  Buying whole chickens is cheap, roasting them is (relatively) easy, and making stock is really easy. Plus, having it on hand can make simple healthy cooking so much more convenient.

You can find great directions and recipes at most any cooking website.  All I do is this:

Chicken:

• Thaw a whole chicken, rinse. Cut slits in skin and stuff chopped garlic underneath. Stuff chicken with onions, fresh rosemary, any other herbs that are handy and sound good. Drizzle olive oil over the whole bird. Roast until done (based on weight of bird: 20 minutes per pound plus 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Use a meat thermometer.) Let rest 10 minutes or so before cutting so juices soak in.
• Be a barbarian and get all the meat off. Dutch loves eating chicken off the bone, so I let him join me and get him little scraps.  It is gross or fun depending upon how you look at it.  Try to tell yourself it’s fun. 🙂
• I shred all the chicken, leave out what we will use in the next few days, and freeze the rest in 1 cup portions in ziplock baggies. This makes it SO easy to add protein to any meal, soup, stirfry, sandwiches, whatever.  I love pre-measuring everything I freeze so it’s easy to add the right amount.

Stock:

• Dump everything–carcass, skin, all the fat and drippings and everything, scrape it all out of the roasting pan into a big pot.  Add roughly chopped vegetables (I use carrots, onion, garlic, but celery is good too).  Cover completely with water.
• Cook on low. When I tried this years ago I think I cooked it too fast and it turned out cloudy and greasy and gross. I guess cooking it slowly draws the nutrients out of the bones.  (Experts out there? Correct me if I’m wrong.)
• Bring to low boil and skim off the “scum” that rises to the top.  You can cook it for 4 hours or 24 hours, however long you want. Cooking it down will obviously make it more concentrated. I usually just roast the chicken first thing in the morning, eat some for lunch, and cook stock all afternoon and have it cooled enough to put in freezer by the time I go to bed.
• After it cooks, just pour it through a colander into another pot or jars or however you’re going to store it. I just freeze it in small portions (about the size of a 14 oz. can) and that way I can just add it to rice, barley, soup, pasta, whatever. Last night for dinner I was in a pinch and just cooked barley in chicken stock (right in the rice-cooker) and served that with Parmesan cheese on top and carrot sticks. Not fancy but at least it was nutritious!

What to do with it?

So, you have all this stock. What to do with it?  Here are some of my favorite ways to use it up. It’ll go fast!

Quick  ideas and simple substitutions:

• My kids love just simple whole-wheat pasta and chopped carrots cooked in chicken stock.  It makes a quick and easy soup, but Dutch just calls it “noodles”.
• Cook your rice or barley in chicken stock instead of water.
• Cook your dried beans in the crockpot in chicken stock instead of water.

Favorite Recipes:

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings (Just use the shredded chicken (from above) and this comes together in a flash.

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!)

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

Winter Lentil Soup (You can tweak this soup to use anything. I don’t usually use tomatoes, and often substitute frozen spinach if I don’t have kale on hand–and who usually has kale on hand? I always add chopped carrots or carrot puree.)

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Do you have any secret ways for making delicious stock, or favorite recipes for using it? Let us know!

Last night I had the rare pleasure of dinner out with girlfriends.  When the check came for our dinner, it was so funny to see that every single one of us pulled out our cash. In fact, the birthday gift from one girl to another was a posh little cash-holder with dividers for each budget category.  We laughed about how we’ve all embraced the cash system and been so thankful for the results!  It also reminded me that this past week marked one year since we began the CCE challenge (Cash, Coupons, Envelopes).

As you may remember, I began with heels dragging.  The whole system sounded complicated and unrealistic–I could just see myself at Target organizing all my items in different transactions and then sifting through a pile of envelopes to take cash and coupons from the appropriate pot while a line formed behind me of irritable shoppers. I broke out in a sweat just thinking about it.

But of course it hasn’t been like that at all.  After one year I am a believer!  Statistics say that people who use cash spend 12-18% less than those who use credit cards. In fact Money magazine does a great comparison of identical purchases (event tickets, auction items, groceries) and how much more credit-card purchasers spend compared to cash purchasers.  It also revealed the a very large percentage of credit-card holders never even redeem their accrued airline mileage points (which is usually the draw of using plastic).  Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was how much TIME I have saved. I used to spend so much time balancing my checkbook down to the penny and tracking finances online and blah blah blah. It took so much time! I am so amazed at how much time is saved with cash–no checkbook balancing! No scary credit card bills. No sitting starting at your computer until the wee hours of the morning trying to get the numbers to match up.  Even if we hadn’t saved a penny it would be worth it just for the time saved.

So in celebration of this one-year mark, I’d like to share some quick thoughts about these twelve months of trial, error, and lots and lots of saved cash:

• Start with structure, earn freedom.  Learning to use cash and spend wisely is, of course, a skill that we grow in. So at first, set up plenty of structure to set yourself up for success. At first I had very individualized envelopes to keep everything separate and really track where each dollar went.   But as we’ve grown, and interestingly as we’ve begun to spend less and less, I can pretty much keep all my cash in one spot in my wallet and and be flexible. Interestingly, the same amount of cash keeps going further and further. More on that later.
• Never underestimate the power of desire. I believe the bottom line to having a revolution in the area of finances is to allow God to change our desires. At the end of the day, we do what we want. Right? Many of us we will gladly forgo dinner out if it means getting a new pair of fur-lined boots (some of us would forgo food altogether!). Why? Because our desires will always be the greatest motivator. Similarly, we know that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7), that is, God loves a giver who is giving out of a desire to give. They are happy to give.  As we submit our will, our desires, our money and spending habits to God, He will change our hearts.  God can (and has) actually made me want to buy chickens and goats for kids in Asia rather than a new pair of boots (that is a miracle!).  For me, submitting to the cash system was simply an opportunity for God to begin changing my heart and attitude toward His money.  We would be wise to pray, daily, for God to give us His heart and desires toward money and possessions.
• Don’t be afraid of hunger and want. I have been surprised at how often we can make due without something.  Necessity is the mother of invention, right?  You’ll be amazed at all the new dinner concoctions you can come up with when you force yourself to make due.  Last night (as I was headed out to my fancy restaurant), I was faced with needing to provide dinner for my family from: Garbanzo beans, half an onion and carrot puree. Hmm… I found some frozen turkey stock and frozen shredded turkey (from thanksgiving), tossed all this together in a pot, added a pinch of taco seasoning and cilantro and topped it with cheddar cheese. Yum!! It was so delicious that I’m going to make a bigger batch of it tonight for our house guests.  We will survive even if we don’t have something on hand. I even think it’s healthy for our kids to understand, “No you may not have that today because we don’t have any. We’ll have more next week.”  Teaches us a little tiny bit of delayed gratification. The same is true of hunger. I’m not saying starve your kids, but I’m surprised by how often I eat just to eat, instead of because I’m truly hungry.  This goes hand in hand with our over-indulgent society.  Cutting back helps your budget and your behind. 🙂
• Be fun to bless. There are people in my life who are fun to bless.  Meaning, they regularly go without and are just so crazy thankful for everything they have that anything I give them just makes their day. I love those kind of people!  When we choose to go without, just a little bit, we make ourselves people who are fun to bless. Other people will like giving us hand-me-downs, meals, treats, etc. when we are grateful and full of joy.  A few months ago I was so frustrated because I had this stroller/carseat travel system that was in great shape and I wanted to bless someone with it but I couldn’t find a single person who didn’t already have one!  I thought surely there is someone in need around here!  Finally I posted on facebook and found someone and it was SO fun to get to be part of blessing her in that way. When we all go without just a bit, we open our lives to be able to be blessed by others.  Part of living in community is providing for the needs of one another–a beautiful give and take relationship that benefits all and knits our hearts together in Christ.

So all in all, I’m so thankful that we took the plunge.  If you feel afraid or are dragging your heels, as I was, I promise you will not regret it.  For more information or to find a Financial Peace class near you, you can visit http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/.  I pray you are richly blessed in 2011 with a desire to use your resources to enjoy life, bless others, and further God’s Kingdom.  Make every cent count!

I am, by  nature, a rule-follower, and I like clear-directives and black and white answers.  Please leave out the gray, thank you very much. Just tell me what I need to do.

Of course our Heavenly Father, the Almighty Creator God of the Scriptures, continually reminds us that it is not about rules but relationship.  So just when I think I have a nice clear-cut rule to live by, He loves to frustrate it all to pieces and remind me to live by relationship.

Of course there are clear-cut principles in Scripture, but Christianity is not primarily about principles but rather, a Person. So while the Person of Christ will obviously never contradict what He has supernaturally revealed in His Word, there may be ways that we can follow Scripture’s broad mandates and yet miss the essence of Christianity–relationship.

So apply all this to giving.  Specifically, apply all this to our Adventure in Giving.  We’ve been at it for 2 months now (giving 41% and living on a very, very tiny–did I mention tiny?–amount of money, by US standards), and of course there have been many amazing blessings.  But in classic God-fashion, He used the blessings not just to show us that He is the Provider, but also to teach me a little bit about giving … and receiving.

Lesson From a Cell Phone

Jeff’s old phone was awful. It would just randomly turn off all the time, and since we have no land-line and that’s the phone he uses for work, it was especially tricky.  But he wasn’t up for an upgrade and seeing that we’d given all our money away :), there was no new phone on the horizon.  Well the funniest thing happened one morning: I slept through alarm (which has never happened in the entire year of prayer meetings), and so I was late for my 6am Morning Prayer meeting and then couldn’t even leave the house to meet up with the ladies because I couldn’t get a hold of Jeff (because he was at Starbucks studying and his phone had gone and turned off).  So, long story, because of some crazy circumstances, the ladies in my prayer meeting (who knew I was trying to track down Jeff) ran into him at Starbucks where they had to meet since they couldn’t get into the church building (since I had the keys).  So they just happened to run into him, which reminded him of my meeting, which made him look down at his phone, which made him express out loud how frustrating it was that his phone always turned off.  Well of course they overheard this and next thing you know they start praying that Jeff can get a new phone. 🙂 (Gotta love prayer-warriors!)  Well that weekend wouldn’t you know it, but $300 cash was tucked under our doormat along with a note about places to buy high-quality smart-phones.  Ha!

But this is going somewhere…  Jeff ended up contacting a friend of his who works at Verizon and we ended up being able to work some deal where Jeff did get an upgrade, so he had a choice.  For just under the amount they gave us he could get brand new Droid (top of the line phone) and we could both get ear-pieces so that we can drive and talk (I didn’t have one and his didn’t work).  OR, of course he could get a much cheaper phone and we could not get ear-pieces.  But then we’d have a bunch of money leftover.

A choice. If you know me you are smiling because you know that my logic would always be–buy the cheaper phone, go without the ear-pieces, give the rest of the money away. Why should we have a super nice phone when some people have no food?!

But you know what? The dear people who gave us that money gave it to us for a phone. I know that they love Jeff dearly and want him to have the very best resources for ministry so that he can talk, text, send emails, get connected easily, and get calls done while driving.   I happen to know that they know that technology is his love-language :).  Bottom line? They wanted to bless him.  To give the money away to something else was not an option. In fact, I think it would have been wrong.

Or, more accurately, it wouldn’t be appropriate stewardship.  Right? Stewarding means that you use and invest the money that is entrusted to you according to the desires/values/wishes of the owner.  If this generous person gave us money for a phone and I went and gave it all away to someone else instead, that’s not stewarding the money according to the wishes of the giver.  It’s not just a wad of cash. There’s a relationship behind those 15 twenty-dollar bills and there’s a desire to bless.  We honor the giver by simply receiving the gift with joy and thanksgiving.

I’m sure you see the application. All of our money is God’s, that one thing is clear.  If anything I can say that that has been the lesson that is hammered home this past fall as we studied James and our Mission: Hope series.  I’ve handed over our money, our house, everything.  And while I DO think that 9 times out of 10 we keep way too much for ourselves and give way too little to the real needs of others, Jeff and I sense that perhaps the story of the $300 was a little illustration for us.   The appropriate use of that money was to use it to acquire what the giver intended, and then also to use whatever was left over in order to further God’s kingdom in other ways.  An inappropriate use of that money would be to buy less than what the giver intended and then give away the rest.  Again, in either scenario all of the money is used for Kingdom purposes, right? So then what does it matter?  It matters because there is a relationship, and because the giver, in this case, wanted to provide a specific blessing for us and for our ministry. To disregard their wish would be wrong. (unless of course it was foolish or sinful, of course–which it was not)

So all that to say that I will not lie, the past 2 months have carried a lot of stress as I’ve tried to live on a ridiculously small amount of money.  Yes, it has been a growing and learning experience, as I feel like we’ve tasted perhaps a teeny tiny bit of what it’s like to live in a situation where you don’t have the freedom to go to the store and buy milk when you want to.  We’ve eaten a lot of bread and rice :),but I know that that is still ABUNDANCE compared with how most of the world lives.  So, in that way it’s been a great experiment.  But we both sense that perhaps the Giver intended for us to use a tiny bit more of that money that He gave us.  To refuse to receive it is not appropriate stewardship. Bottom line? We’ve decided to cut back on our giving a tiny bit.

Now I’m not talking about giving up on giving!!  The difference we’re “taking back” is only 3.8%, which drops us down to giving about 37% instead of 41%.  You know what the real difference is?  I think I pridefully liked the idea of giving such a large percentage. How gross is that?  Ick.  Isn’t pride sickening?  So I think God wanted to both cut me some slack in the budget department and cut me down a  notch in the pride department. 🙂  I’m thankful for both.

But here’s the cool thing, while I’ll admit I felt deflated at first by realizing we “couldn’t do it” (as if it were some personal challenge or something, again all based on pride, yuck), the awesome part is that we’ve gotten so accustomed to living on little, that now to have that extra 3.8% I feel like we’re rich!!  I even bought sparkling cider to have on Christmas! I’m so excited to fill my car up with gas and know that I’m not taking away my children’s grocery money! 🙂  So, all in all, there is much to be thankful for.

And, we still get to continue partnering with some awesome ministries, sponsoring some beautiful children, and supporting our wonderful home church.  It’s a win win.  And for now we still live in our home (no bites yet).  That too is an open hand. If God says stay we stay. If He says go we go.  I do wish it would sell because I’d love to free up all those resources for other things, but I’m thankful for the reminder that it’s all about a relationship with our Heavenly Father who is the most gracious Giver the world has ever known.

So I pray this Christmas you give–and receive–with joy, grace, and overwhelming gratitude as you revel in your relationship with our Beautiful Savior.  He is so good.