This Week's Menu (January 6-12)

Dinners:
Monday: Hamburger Patties, Mashed Cauliflower, Cabbage w/rice and gravy
Tuesday: Spaghetti*, Salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cheese), Homemade Bread
Wednesday: Beefy Vegetable Soup and cornbread
Thursday: Broccoli Beef, cauliflower "rice"
Friday: Spiced Turkey Loin w/crockpot applesauce, sweet potatoes, green beans
Saturday: Sloppy Joes, Cole Slaw and Homemade Fries
Sunday: Sandwiches, popcorn and fruit

Lunch:
Monday: Tuna Salad w/cucumber and apple slices
Tuesday: Protein Shake made w/unsweetened almond milk (Amarissa: Jelly Sandwich and fruit)
Wednesday: Simple Salad w/ chicken
Thursday: Protein Shake w/ unsweetened almond milk (Amarissa: left over soup and grilled cheese)
Friday: Left over Broccoli Beef
Saturday: Brunch: Grits, Low Carb Breakfast Casserole, sliced fruit
Sunday: Crockpot Chili and grilled cheese

*I make gluten free bread in the bread machine for our kiddos that are gluten sensitive.
Since I am very low carb at this time I serve spaghetti sauce over baked zucchini and squash halves for myself. It is yummy and filling.

Day 5

Not alot to report...4 of our kiddos started back to school today, they enjoyed having time with their friends. Amarissa had her first full day of homeschooling, it was nice to be back in teacher mode. No money was spent, I did take the girls to Wendy's for a jr. Frosty w/coupon books I had purchased back in October. They enjoyed  the special treat.

4th Day of the Buy Nothing Challenge

There is a wonderful air of peace and excitement that has settled over our home. We have started cutting away from our society's message that you have to live in debt and it feels great. This morning my sweet hubby Donald got up and made a wonderful homemade breakfast that included muffins, oatmeal and sausage links complete with sweet tea. Later on today my parents, sister and our 2 nieces and nephew are coming over for a game night and dinner. My mother blessed me by cooking our dinner and is bringing it over. Our families have all been wonderful getting on board with our new frugal lifestyle which makes this even easier on us and has given us much more time bonding as an extended family.

We had a great evening of games and good food. Mama made ham, black eyed peas, rice and cabbage. Tina made apple cobbler and I made raisin oatmeal bread. We played UNO Attack (our family's new obsession) this evening.

Earlier today I had to make a run to get food to make it to payday. I bought Strawberry Jam (High fructose corn syrup free), a pack of garlic bologna (ewe but our kids love it) and 8 eggs, the total was $3.03, then I went by the bread store and bought Sara Lee Honey Wheat bread for $.50 a loaf because they were closing early today and were trying to move product. I stocked up with 7 loaves for $3.54. Not too shabby, $6.57 for a week's worth of lunches and toast. I'll serve with popcorn and fruit for a well rounded meal, from the pantry.

Life is in the small things.

The thought occurred to me this morning while getting ready for church that a lot of readers might be asking themselves “Why are you being so transparent with your finances and your decision to live frugally?”  The more important question to me is why not? We are living during a time where many Americans are jobless, homeless and hopeless, yet our media is pushing their wares more than ever. I sat amazed this year amid the luxury car commercials and jewelry commercials portraying gifts that cost thousands as normal. Do these things show love and appreciation more than a thought out, lovingly chosen homemade gift or inexpensive gift? The answer is no, if anything it shows less thought. Who wouldn’t love waking up Christmas morning to a luxury car in their driveway or a diamond necklace? It is however, a rare treasure to open a gift that took time and energy from the giver to create. Or to find a gift that was chosen months before from a passing comment from the receiver. I want to bring hope to those that are struggling and show others that we don’t have to go in deep debt to be happy.

The gift that inspired this article and brought the tears was a packet of Crystal Lite Lemonade given to me by my husband, why you may ask. Because since losing weight I have craved lemonade like crazy and rarely go without it, but found myself out the week of Christmas and without the funds to buy it. My husband as a very loving and thoughtful gesture bought me this small gift. It showed me that he pays attention to me and that he cares about something so small. Where are the commercials showing these types of moments? Perhaps it would bring hope to those with low funds to show that you can bless someone you love without going into debt and spending a small fortune. That there is joy found in the little things, more often than in what we think are the big things. So I challenge you this year to listen to your loved ones, pay attention to their needs and bless their socks off with something small.

3rd Day of Buy Nothing

Happy New Year to all of you. Today we are spending the first day of 2012 at Church with our Church Family. So this is an easy day of buying nothing. Breakfast was jelly toast and milk for the kiddos and hubby and I am enjoying a vanilla protein shake made with unsweetened almond milk.  We have planned pizza for dinner today (10.00 from the local grocery store). So all in all not a bad day.

Ringing in the New Year on A New Budget

So this is our 2nd day of 31 Days of Buying Nothing. We are headed to my Sister In-Laws home for dinner (pizza) and fireworks this evening. I was stressing last night because we have committed to buying nothing but necessities and I love to wow at dinner parties and spoil others with my food, how was I going to pull this off and not feel like a slacker? So after racking my brain and cabinets I decided to make 2 big batches of homemade breadsticks with marinara dipping sauce and garlic butter sauce. Who doesn't love homemade bread and breadsticks are the perfect companion for pizza. My SIL was thrilled and my husband is just over the moon, he is a bread a-holic in the worse way. Thank the Lord for flour, yeast and water and we only had to spend $1.26 on crushed tomatoes for the marinara sauce.

31 Days of Nothing Challenge

These last few days I have been addicted to frugal homemaking blogs. These last few months have been hard on our budget and we are reaping the harvest from that this month. With 2.37 in our bank account since the 23rd we have had to be creative, and felt led to trust the Lord for His provision. So we took extra video games and accessories to our local Game Stop and sold them (after all they were just collecting dust). That got us through last week, now we did have 2 weeks worth of groceries in the house which is BIG blessing. We were excited to see what God was going to do for the remaining 2 weeks. Then hubby's work blessed us with a 10.00 walmart card which we are using today for dish detergent, butter and crushed tomatoes. And we will save the remainder of the gift card.  So anyway while I was scouring these blogs I came across Learning the Frugal Life's 31 Days of Nothing Challenge and hubby and I decided to go for it. It will allow us to give our budget at least 31 days to rest and heal, but hopefully this will become a way of life for us. So will you take the 31 Day of Nothing Challenge with us? You essentially set aside 31 days and commit to buying nothing but necessities and of course pay your monthly bills and mortgage. I am excited to see how much we will have left over after our 31 days.