I'm trying but it's also a huge learning curve. I've lived 41 1/2 years without ever giving this ANY thought at all. I figured that the money would always be there. But as the late Dr .Barbra Wilson DDS told me "It doesn't matter how much you make your expences will always out weigh your income by 20%." lol. I hope that isn't always true and I'm working hard to make that the opposite..probably by only 20% as well.
So far this year I've made my own laundry soap, which I love! 5 gallons for $1.00. Which should last us about 1 year. I found this recipe on-line.
I've bought only the necessary cloths for myself (a white blouse and a black skirt for funreals).
I'm trying to make alot more food from scratch to feed my family.
I've seriously considered selling my vehicle so we would be a one veichle family, although that thought is still in the works.
I've decided that my hobby club will be cancelled as of this spring at the end of my commitment.
My husband and I went out for dinner lastnight and we used a two for one coupon.
I stock up on bread when I find it for a dollar and then I realized that the dollar store has it at that price all of the time. duh. See? I'm learning.
I carry a calculator with me EVERY where!
This summer I'm putting up a cloths line to save on Hydro and clothing costs.
I re-dye faded blue jeans, sweat shirts and dress pants and so we can get more wear out them. Especially my husbands'. Dye is alot less expensive than new jeans.
These are some of the things I've done so far and I have alot more ideas for this summer. Stay tuned my friends, we'll learn together.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
It's a New Year.
I know it's a bit late to be saying it's a "new" year but that just shows you how crazy things have been here. My Mimi (french slang for the greatest Grandmother of all) passed away January 4th.
She was 91 1/2 years old, she still lived on her own in her own house that she had lived in for 69 years.
She had a home care worker only three days a week, the rest of the time she took care of herself and her home alone.
She was widowed in 1955 and never re-married. She never even dated anyone else, she still loved my Pepe.
She raised three very young children alone on a pension income.
She was EXTREMELY independant and strong despite her 5 foot frame and weight of 90 lbs.
She was a child of the depression and therefore a master saver/recycler.
She was a very proud, classy, yet humble, and faithful woman.
Irene Dupuis was truely amazing.
I want to be just like her for the rest of my days.
Ironicly, I found myself thinking about money alot at the end of 2010. More specificly the lack thereof and how to save it.
Save?? Maybe even more specificly "How not to give it away." Because that's exactly what we do, we give our money away. We give it away so much that we don't even think about it. Truely, think about it. How much does it cost you every day to just live? Do you know? To the penny, how much does it cost you just to exist every day? Not just housing but eating? Bathing? To get to work and home? To clothe yourself? To have lighting and heating? To have entertainment? To communicate? Do you know what you "need" vs what you "want"?
I'm getting very picky about where my money goes.
Let me back up a bit. Last year my daughter was diagoned with a peanut allergy. I had to start reading EVERY label of EVERY food product that we bought. But what I soon discovered is that a food company can change their ingretients at any time without notice according to whatever is cheepest or whatever they can use as a filler for their product. This caused me huge anxiety for the health of my daughter. I cannot trust CORPORATIONS to feed us. I had little choice other than to start making alot of our food from scratch, which turned out to be GREAT! Our food cost went down and so did my weight.
From that I started question where all of our money was going. Who do I want to give our hard earned money too? Which companies and was it worth it for a bit of convience? Sometimes yes, sometimes, alot of times, NO. Is a bag of cookies really worth $2.47? Or is it worth the effort and cost of ingredients for me to make it myself? Due to my daughters allergy, it is VERY worth the effort and I, and only "I", controll the ingredients and therfore the costs too. Did you know that one cup of flour costs 22 cents? I'll bet you my Mimi knew that.
So back to my question, do you know Where your money is going? Do you know how much it costs you to live just one day? It really is your choice.
She was 91 1/2 years old, she still lived on her own in her own house that she had lived in for 69 years.
She had a home care worker only three days a week, the rest of the time she took care of herself and her home alone.
She was widowed in 1955 and never re-married. She never even dated anyone else, she still loved my Pepe.
She raised three very young children alone on a pension income.
She was EXTREMELY independant and strong despite her 5 foot frame and weight of 90 lbs.
She was a child of the depression and therefore a master saver/recycler.
She was a very proud, classy, yet humble, and faithful woman.
Irene Dupuis was truely amazing.
I want to be just like her for the rest of my days.
Ironicly, I found myself thinking about money alot at the end of 2010. More specificly the lack thereof and how to save it.
Save?? Maybe even more specificly "How not to give it away." Because that's exactly what we do, we give our money away. We give it away so much that we don't even think about it. Truely, think about it. How much does it cost you every day to just live? Do you know? To the penny, how much does it cost you just to exist every day? Not just housing but eating? Bathing? To get to work and home? To clothe yourself? To have lighting and heating? To have entertainment? To communicate? Do you know what you "need" vs what you "want"?
I'm getting very picky about where my money goes.
Let me back up a bit. Last year my daughter was diagoned with a peanut allergy. I had to start reading EVERY label of EVERY food product that we bought. But what I soon discovered is that a food company can change their ingretients at any time without notice according to whatever is cheepest or whatever they can use as a filler for their product. This caused me huge anxiety for the health of my daughter. I cannot trust CORPORATIONS to feed us. I had little choice other than to start making alot of our food from scratch, which turned out to be GREAT! Our food cost went down and so did my weight.
From that I started question where all of our money was going. Who do I want to give our hard earned money too? Which companies and was it worth it for a bit of convience? Sometimes yes, sometimes, alot of times, NO. Is a bag of cookies really worth $2.47? Or is it worth the effort and cost of ingredients for me to make it myself? Due to my daughters allergy, it is VERY worth the effort and I, and only "I", controll the ingredients and therfore the costs too. Did you know that one cup of flour costs 22 cents? I'll bet you my Mimi knew that.
So back to my question, do you know Where your money is going? Do you know how much it costs you to live just one day? It really is your choice.
Monday, October 11, 2010
i'm so new at this...
As you know... I'm so new to this. blogging, not life. So please excuse my new-ness and therfore my faux pas; there will be many no doubt. It's Thanksgiving today where I am and for supper we had pizza and Doritos. For that I am thankful. I don't love turkey. My sister-in-law made a great tasting bird yesterday which probably says alot about my cooking abilities.
How is your life?? Mine is so busy it's flying by like a little town outside of my window on a speeding train. You too? And I only have one child! I am truely amazed at other women who have two, three or even more. How do you do that? I work full time. My house is a mess. Our incomes are average. Our debt is average. I think we're a normal family but other people just look like they are doing it all so much better and with less stress. Am I missing something? Please don't get me wrong. I'm not venting, I'm just really confused. Where am I and how do I get there?
How is your life?? Mine is so busy it's flying by like a little town outside of my window on a speeding train. You too? And I only have one child! I am truely amazed at other women who have two, three or even more. How do you do that? I work full time. My house is a mess. Our incomes are average. Our debt is average. I think we're a normal family but other people just look like they are doing it all so much better and with less stress. Am I missing something? Please don't get me wrong. I'm not venting, I'm just really confused. Where am I and how do I get there?
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