Frugal Tip

Frugal Tip
Tuesday
Tuesday August 31, 2010

Buying homeschool books can be
expensive. It definitly is an investment
into your childrens lives. I have learned
to buy these items on used curriculum sites.
Yahoo has many different types of message
boards you can be part of. There is also ebay
of course and craigs list.
Today I have been going through over 10 years
of education material. I am hoping to make my
load to Kentucky a lot lighter.

Why I homeschool?

Why I homeschool?
Friday August 26, 2010

You wake up one morning and ask
Why do I homeschool? Well, I have
pondered this question many times.

I need to teach my children about Jesus.
Because this is what is important to my
husband and I. We don't care for the things
the world teaches our children.

I love teaching to my children in a family
environment. Where Jesus comes first.
Everyone learns how to live with each other.
It is important to teach children that family
comes first. When my first son was home with
us he was involved in the daily activities. He
helped make dinner and do other activites that
needed to be done. The best part is we did
it together. We learned many things about
each other both good and bad.

My son struggled with ADHD and we
learned how to help him through his diet.
Ritalin was never a consideration.
Through our trials we learned the
way God wanted us to be a family.

Becoming a christian while homeschooling
was how God became the center of our life.

Eggplant

Eggplant
Thursday August 19, 2010

Eggplant got a slow start this year. To be
truthful, it always gets the backseat to
everything else. This year I have 15 plants.
They are all about the size of the eggplant in the
picture.


Below I planted a few late bloomers on the deck.
The deck gets a huge amount of sun. Why not
grow late season plants that still need the heat
to keep them producing. We will see which ones
do better, the ones in the garden or on the deck.

Happy growing!

Barley

Barley
Tuesday August 10, 2010

What can you do with it?
Its very sensible to put it in your diet.
The cost is very small.
I bought barley for 1.79 lb, the
beans were 1.45 lb and the tomatoes
are from my garden.
Especially, when you come into
the kitchen and you want something
to eat. Here's a great cold salad.


Barley and White Bean Salad
with Parsley-Caper Dressing

Barley Salad

1 1/2 cups barley cooked in broth
15 oz of cooked navy beans
chopped parsley or basil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 medium garlic chopped
3 large tomatoes chopped

Cook your barley in chicken
broth for 25 minutes, then
add navy beans, chopped garlic
and onion to pot and let
them warm in the pan. Then,
place in bowl and add your dressing
and toss. Adding your dressing while
the barley and beans are warm is extremly
important. The flavors will soak in much better
when they are warm than cold. Then,
add the rest of the ingredients and chill.


Dressing for salad
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of capers
1 1/4 cups chopped fresh parsley

Recipe taken from
A year in a Vegetarian Kitchen
by Jack Bishop

Planning

Planning
Thursday August 5, 2010

Many, many years ago my husband and
I began thinking how we were going
live a more frugal lifestyle. I began
reading a book called The Tight Wad Gazette.
This is a great book showing how one family
starting saving money for their future home.
This idea to me seemed like a great plan.
Since, my dream was to one day leave NJ.
I must figure out a way to live more frugally
than I was already living. That is when I decided
every dollar counts. That means if I could save
a dollar on one thing whether in groceries. or
some other way. That dollar I saved would go
to pay extra on my mortgage. Month by month
I would track where I was saving. I began
investing a certain amount of time each week
devoted to working on my budget. If you don't
plan for something how will your dreams ever
become reality. The first step was to plan what
I was going to do and how was I going to get there.
Being a stay at home mom, I had the means to plan
for our future. Learning to plan many things in our
lives has helped us make these plans work.


The biggest way I know how to plan for is the food
budget. When you make all your own food you will
begin seeing how the savings will add up. This will
not just happen for you if you don't plan for it.

This will take some time so make sure you set time
aside for meal planning. Meal planning I also feel
helps you understand what you have in your cabinets.
You will know what is in your pantry. This is an area
to stop overspending.

Making clothes I feel is another way in savings. This
has been something I learn to plan into my week.
This works quite well in the winter. This is an
area I struggle with in the summer months.
I have only made a few items this summer for
my daughter. But I am on a role now.

I can start new everyday and strive to
do better. With the Lords help I can do
many things in His strength.