Menopause ~ first tip to deal with hit flashes… naturally!

Today I want to start sharing a series that was done by one of my cousins. She has a lot of great information that I hope will help if you are dealing with menopause. Even if you are not I am sure there will be helpful information. :O) 

Money saving ideas....series

 Today's money saving tip will be a short one because I really don't have a lot of time. Also I have to give my husband the credit for this one as well. So yesterday my husband and I went to HEB to do a bit of shopping. When we got to the sugar, I stopped to look at prices. I picked up a 4 pound bag of the Hill Country brand - because it was cheapest and cheaper than what I had been seeing at other stores. Then my husband looked to the shelve below at the 10 pound bags. He told me he was looking to see if it would be cheaper to buy it in the 10# bag as opposed to the #4 pound bag. I pulled out my phone and pulled up the calculator. It is very easy to figure and compare prices. I took the price of the 10# bag of sugar and divided it by 10 - then I multiplied that number by 4 to see how much a 4# bag would cost if the same price per pound as the 10# bag and sure enough the actual price of the 4# bag was more expensive per pound than the 10# bag. So we bought the 10# bag. I store what we don't use right now half gallon canning jars. So it was no problem to buy the bigger bag. When we got to the foil - the same thing happened and we went with the 200 yard container of there brand foil because it was the better deal. 

Thankfully my husband was able to get some over time for last pay period and also this one. That is one reason why we were able to go with the larger product- that cost more. So it might be more money out front but overall it is saving money. We will not have to buy foil for a super long time. And since HEB does great sales on things from time to time- I am hoping that I can catch a great deal between now and then for more foil. It really helps you save money when you buy things that are on sale. 

Speaking of sales - Albertsons had Speed Stick deodorant on sale for 99 cents. This deal was on their 1.? oz product. So yes it was small but for 99 cents it was a great deal. And it was a limit of 6 and we bought 6. We won't have to buy deodorant for my husband any time soon. It's not the normal brand that he uses but he realized that it was a great deal and was willing to use it for a while. 

So when shopping be sure to divide the price by the number of units - oz, pounds, or what ever it may be. You may be surprised at what it really a good deal and what is not. 

"Necessary Deaths" - Matthew 16:24-25

Money Saving Ideas....series

 So today I want to talk about something I learned recently. It has been obvious to me that God know what was coming. He knew long before my husbands check was cut. And He has been slowly working with me in order to help this transition go smoother. 

Living on a Dime- one of my favorite youtube channels - they have a blog as well- was sharing how many people use way too much laundry detergent and dish washing soap. I have already implemented this new way and it is going well. 

I have always wondered how in the world do the containers of laundry detergent say such high numbers and yet- I knew I wasn't getting near that many loads out of them. Well it is because I have been using - probably double the amount of laundry detergent needed. They have a large cap on the bottles - and it makes it SO tempting to use too much soap. But using too much soap will probably wear out our clothes faster and also fade the fabrics faster as well. 

So what was suggested is using: 

1 Tablespoon for small loads 

2 Tablespoons for large loads 

I took a measuring spoon out to my garage and I measured 2 T. into the lid and I marked the lid with a magic marker. That way when I am pouring my soap I can keep it below that line. I think this will really help stretch out the soap I have for a good long time, which is great news. That will save me money. 

For a dishwasher - I believe that she suggested 1 T. of soap. Again the place you put the soap is about 2 times, maybe even 3 times bigger than needed - encouraging the usage of more soap than needed. 

When doing dishes by hand only about 2 teaspoons is needed - she said she uses an old hand soap dispenser and uses 2-3 squirts. 

I also decided I needed to cut back on the amount of fabric softeners that I use. I use fabric softeners because I hang all my tops on hangers to dry. I do this to help prevent shrinking. 

So there you have it - by using smaller amounts of these products they will last 2-3 times longer than before. I hope that this money saving idea helps you as you try to look after the needs of your family. 

Even though I had no idea that this pay cut was on it's way - God did and He started bringing helpful information into my life. I am so glad He cares so much for us!! 

:O) 

Divine Plans (and demonic Ones)

Happy Sabbath - May you be blessed! :O) 

Money Saving Ideas....series

Today I wanted to share a bit of a post I shared in 2013 - just a little reminder of things to watch for when trying to save money.   

The following is a list of some things that I have learned over the past year:

#1. The store brand is not always the cheapest option. Case in point:
I have been buying my cats Whiskas cat food- but last week I thought that maybe I could save money by choosing the store brand instead. Boy was I wrong. 6# bag of store brand cat food- $7.22. Same size bag of Whiskas cat food- $6.98. A savings of 24 cents by going with the name brand.

#2. Buying bigger packages are not always the better deal. Sometimes it is a good idea to buy the bigger package because it ends up saving you some money in the long run by spending less per serving - but this is not always true. It is a good idea to have your calculator with you and figure up the price per unit- many times this info is given on the tag for the item on the shelf.

#3 Buying in Bulk is not always the best deal. Some people love to shop at stores like Sam's and Costco but when I have gone - I have many times realized that buying a regular sized item would be a better deal. Or even buying the store brand. Just don't get fooled into believing that your saving money just because you are buying in bulk. A lady I know would buy the bulk sized cans of beans and such for her family of 3. Many times half of that can would be wasted. That is not saving money.

#4. Using coupons is not always the way to get things the cheapest. Ever since I have checked out Aldi's I have been going there once a week, why? Because I save money every time I go. Many times I can get things for a better deal than if I bought a brand named item with a coupon.

And don't forget - most coupons are not free. I really loved to use coupons, especially back with our local Krogers would not only double but triple coupons up to $.39 cents. This would help me get really good deals- sometimes even free items, but they stopped that a couple of years ago.

For me to use coupons now- I would have to pay $3.00 or more for a double back Sunday paper to get double the coupons. Then the extra trip to a store that sells that double pack - more money spent on gas. Some would then say will you can get coupons free on the computer- yes you get them for free- but in order to use them you have to print the coupon, which would mean you would have to have ink for your printer. The ink costs money- and right now we don't have ink in our printer - and haven't for the past month or more because we just don't have the money to spend on ink. So my point - the coupons that save you money- cost you money- make sure that you are saving enough to make it worth using them .

#5. Sometimes it really does save you money to shop around. So what I do now is compare prices at different stores. I learn where the best deals for things are and buy them where I can get them cheapest. It really makes a different.

"No Other Name" - Acts 4

Good Morning and Happy Sabbath! 

Be blessed! :O) 

My Best Deal

So today's best deal -I am using the photos that I screen shot when I looked up the toy I bought. Sorry - just don't have a lot of extra time right now. 

So here is my best deal:

I picked this toy up and thought it was so cute! As I put in up against a few other things I had, it started making noise. I had no idea it would make noise and light up, but it did. 

 And I only paid - either 50 cents or 1 dollar- either price would be a great deal!! 

How Much Does it REALLY Cost to Run an Oven?

A New Series Coming Soon

 I will be starting a new series. This series has come by way of necessity. A very unexpected thing has happened and caused me to stop and reevaluate a few things. I am sharing this journey with you all because I am hoping that by sharing I can help others of you that may be in the same boat as we are. 

On Friday my husband and I figured out that his paychecks will be about $1400. dollars less per month. A new way they are figuring some things. I don't totally understand what it is all about but I do know that it will be $1400 less per month. And that is A LOT of money. 

Every since Friday I have been thinking of things I can do to help save us money. And slowly I am coming up with some great ideas of things that can save. Maybe not in huge ways but a bit here and a bit there and hopefully by these things to save and cutting extra spending- we will be able to continue to keep our bills paid and food on the table. 

I have been so thankful that since 2020- and the toilet paper catastrophe I have realized the importance of keeping at least 1 extra of the things we use and eat. Since 2020 - every now and then it seems like something disappears from the shelves at the grocery store. And you never know when it will be back in stock. So I have done my best to buy an extra of what ever I was buying. And now I am SO thankful I did. You never know when something will happen and you will need to have those extra things. They will help a lot with a smaller pay check. 

So todays tip is simply - stock up when you can. Especially when things are on sale - that is the best time to buy a few extra things.

Be sure and make sure that you are getting a good deal. I see people at the Dollar Tree - with baskets full and they think they are getting such a good deal. Yes - there are some good deals there - but there are also a lot of things you can get cheaper at Walmart or Aldi's. So know you prices so you just get the things that are a good deal at the Dollar Tree. 

I do hope you all are doing well. I hope that you are finding ways to save money and seeing difference. With the prices of so many things going up it has been a real challenge for many people. So be watching out for my Money Saving Series. I will do my best to keep up with them. 

Hints and Tips for Freezing

Yay! I am getting enough produce from my garden for there to be a need for me to freeze some of it! That is a true blessing, indeed!! 

I am so thankful that I asked google how to freeze yellow squash! In years past I have cut my squash much smaller and of course after 3 minutes of blanching I already had kind of mushy squash- and that was not good. So when I cut the slices 1/2 inches thick this time, I am much happier with the results. 

I decided to free portions the size of a small tupperware that's a bowl. Which is perfect size of what I need when I make squash casserole!! So I did 4 batches back to back. 

And this was the results - 4 bags of squash for the freezer!! Yay! 

On the same day - I picked my beets and decided to process my beets to see what I could get done. 

Blanching beets takes much longer time. It is recommended to cook much longer than 3 minutes- but you cook them whole and at the end you can just twist around and get skins off and then slice or cube - what ever you decide to do. During this sessions I was able to get 5 good portion sizes done. And I have 2 gallon sized bags of more beets that I will need to process to free- probably 3/4 of them. And 1/4 I will roast. 
I sliced the first batch. I am thinking about cubing the next batches I do so that I can pull them out of freezer and roast them. I think it will be awesome to have choices of what I want to do with my beets. 

By the way I have never had this big of a harvest of beets before! I tried something new. Someone on a garden group I am a member of on Facebook said that they start their beets inside and then transfer. So this is what I did. About 10 days or so after I started my seeds - I set outside and transplanted a whole lot of little beet plants. But the rewards were SO worth it. I have tried to grow from seeds before and I just was not successful. I may someday try to grow from seed being sowed in the garden bed before - but for now I plan on doing this method.

And before I leave you - I wanted to share this important information. This is a great Tupperware bowl I found at a thrift store and only paid a few dollars for- I wish I had the time to go look it up. 

Anyway so I fill this bowl up in my sink with about half water and then add a lot of ice to it. 

What I have found is that when you blanch things in order to free them - once the time is up you pull the stuff out of boiling water with a large slotted spoon and put them directly into ice water. And it seems to work great to leave them there a few minutes to get cooled off. Then with the same slotted spool - pull the produce out of the ice water and place on a cookie sheet with a towel to absorb the moisture. After a bit it is time to bag up your produce and label. It is pretty simple and doing it in batches instead of trying to do a whole lot at one time is much easier and works better. 

I hope this has been helpful to you all. 

Oh by the way - you can also free store bought great deals. This time of year we get pretty good deals on corn on the cob- so we buy what we can and then we freeze the rest for a later time. Its great to have fresh corn on the cob in the freezer! 

 

"From Grateful to Good"

May you all be blessed in a special way today! And may you see the hand of God at work in your lives. :O) 

My Best Deal

Last Tuesday I was able to check out my favorite, local thrift store. And I hit the jackpot!! 

I LOVE Tupperware! 

When I say Tupperware - I mean actual Tupperware products. 
Many people refer to any plastic storage things as tupperware - and that is just wrong - in my opinion. 

Tupperware is a clearly a step (or more) above plastic storage options. 

Anyway as I was looking at the stuff outside of the thrift store - I found 4 about brand new Tupperware plates!! I was so excited!!  

 The colors in this photo are slightly off - the orange and green for sure are more to a true green and orange color. 

Them being about brand new condition was great but the best part is that I only had to pay $1.00 each!! 

What a deal!!!