Spending in Lean, Spending in Plenty

With all the articles in the past couple of years about the economy here in the states, recession, stocks, defaults, mortgage foreclosures, and bankruptcy's I started thinking about several things.  Mainly spending habit's.  This is a touchy subject, the subject of money and finances.  It is deeply personal when you have it, yet can be extremely public when you owe it.  There must be a balance.  When you read about people defaulting on loans, it is completely understandable when they have lost a job or have been effected by any number of tragic and financially devastating situations.  We all feel badly, we lend a hand to our loved ones and neighbors when they are down.  At some point we think to ourselves and should think to ourselves.  If in the case of a devastating situation such as a job loss how would I survive?  In the quest to be more efficient with our time, good Stuarts of the land, and doing the best we can to help our environment that we all share.  What are we doing for our own personal financial protection? Some of us are doing everything we can.  Saving diligently, living below their means, being frugal and putting aside their savings.  Some others are learning to live with less so that they can get away from the demands of a corporate owned lifestyle and have much more time with family.  Each situation is uniquely different for every person.

Think about what your spending looks like in times when you feel you have extra money, and compare it to your habits when you feel "strapped for cash".  Is there a drastic difference?  Could you be saving more for your financial security and a cushion in case of the horrific chance that you no longer have an income coming in to replace your spending?  Do you have debts?  Do you owe for transportation?  If so what would you do if one day your spouse came home from work and there was no more job?  What about yourself if you went to work and circumstances beyond your control forced the office doors to close?  Leaving you with one final check.  Is there enough in savings to pull you or your family through until the next employment opportunity?  How will you pay for food let alone the mortgage, insurance, car loan, credit cards, store cards, etc?  The one check you have coming your way will help but what about after it is gone?  How will you address the late notices from the utility companies and the likes?  Sadly very very sadly this is happening here in the states every day and it is heartbreaking.  Circumstances beyond employees control caused their place of employment to close it's doors and thousands of people are without jobs, homes, cars, and families are trying to just stay together.  If you are someone that is employed and haven't already, I urge you to think about your finances and your financial plan.  I challenge you to think about your spending in a new light.  Look at your last pay stub and really look at that amount.  Now if you are not keeping track of your debts get your bills out and wright them down and really look at your debts.  Seriously think about how far the stub your holding will go if it was to be your last.  A very sobering thought for some.  I realize this can be a very grim topic for many and also know that without a savings plan and a plan in place to pay off your debts that life could quickly go from comfortable to grim as well and I don't want that for anybody!  Take time to set a goal  and stop and smell the roses literally.  Get out of the habit of having to purchase things to make us happy and start looking around at what we have and what we can do with or for others that brings happiness and fulfillment without spending in the times of plenty so you can coast through if you have a time of lean.

Fragrance and Cleaning

I love a clean home.  I enjoy walking in the door to a nice fresh smelling home and it recently got me to thinking about what we use in our homes.  It is very important because what we use to clean we are breathing in, walking on, sitting on, and wear!  I have recently discovered cleaning with peroxide.  I really like it and especially like that it is so much better to use in my home for places like the bathroom than commercial cleaners.  It is nice around the sink area in the kitchen, the refrigerator if you have any spills with meats, eggs, or just general cleaning in there.  I especially like how well it works in the bathroom and I don't feel overpowered by all the chemical additives in those bathroom cleaners for the shower and tub that are supposed to remove soap scum and the likes.  I simply spray on peroxide and use a soapy scrubber and the tub grout is freshened up from the peroxide, germs are gone and tub is clean and I don't feel like I have some respiratory infection pending and all the coughing.

In the laundry area I am trying to transitioning back to using vinegar instead of traditional fabric softener.  I really can not remember why I stopped using vinegar in our laundry other than the fact that my husband really dislikes the smell of vinegar and I believe at the time I was using a downy ball to distribute the vinegar in the wash and it would not release properly causing the laundry to be coated in almost fresh vinegar.  He was not happy about that!

When I went back to using fabric softener I do remember how soft the towels became again.  I have to admit I missed that the most.  I was thinking about this and wondered if laundry soap worked like window cleaner in this, when you switch from using commercial window cleaner to a vinegar water mix there is wax in the commercial cleaner and you must use soap and water on the window at first and get that wax film off or the windows will be streaky.  Is that the same with commercial laundry soap?  I was using commercial laundry soap and vinegar for my rinse and it wasn't working very well softening my clothes.  Now I am making my own laundry soap and I am wondering if it will work better.  Has anyone else had experience in this matter?  I would like to hear about your laundry observations please.  I am not happy about using store bought fabric softener because I do not want to consume more chemicals than are necessary and being reliant on yet another store bought product. I was delighted when the washer repair man suggested that I mix our softener half and half with water.  It would clog the little softener reservoir drain if I didn't.  That is when I decided to see just how far I could reduce the amount of softener needed in our laundry and make a bottle go further!  I started testing amounts and figured if I could use half and half, why not push it further.  I settled on about a one to three ratio.  The laundry is still soft and smells nice.  I have taken juice bottles and marked a softener fill line on them.  I pour softener to the line, then fill to the top with water and keep one by the washer and the others are stored away until use.  I have decided that I will use what I have remaining and then go back to the vinegar system.  My reservation in all of this is petty but it is Fragrance!  We have been conditioned with commercial cleaners our whole lives that things must smell "clean".  We associate fabric softener smell with clean clothes.  Air fresheners with clean bathrooms. Dish soap even has a smell though I don't think I have ever picked up a dish and smelt it to see if it smells clean.  Fragrance is all around us.  I am conditioned to like my laundry to smell clean or at least have a nice fragrance.  I actually do not care for laundry soap smells so I have been experimenting with adding sweet orange essential oil to my laundry soap that I make at home.  It is pleasant and I like it.  However currently I am still finishing using fabric softener so that smell is getting overpowered by some chemical version of a flower.  I am hoping when I switch to vinegar that the sweet orange smell will remain in the clothing enough to smell nice.

For about seven years now I have been using clove oil for general cleaning.  I use a steam cleaner for my floors, upholstery and in our vehicles.  When I fill the reservoir I use hot water and put several drops of clove oil in the water and small amount of dish soap.  The cloves smell wonderful in our home and leave a very nice fragrance that I now associate with clean.  The furniture smells good and our vehicles smell nice.  Clove oil is a staple oil on my cleaning shelf.  Happy Cleaning!

Transition and Change

As mentioned in my previous post I have been reading and thinking.  Sometimes a dangerous combination!  It has always been bothersome to me to not be able to fully live as I wish.  When I think of  my ideal lifestyle it would be that not to far off of a pioneer woman.  Everything home made, nothing bought from a supermarket.  Everything that you need coming from your own homestead.  Wool for clothing,, cleaned, spun, and woven into whatever needs your family had.  Milk made into cheeses, yogurts, etc.  Meat, grains, the list goes on.  All from my own home.  That is what my mind thinks of when I think of my ideal life.  A true puritan I guess.  In reality that is not possible for our family.  In my reality it is not physically possible.  I rely on a dishwasher due to skin problems on my hands.  Lye soap would play havoc on my skin for sure!  I am not willing to go without my washer for a wash board.  All those chores would be amazingly difficult for one person.  It could be done but would not be without it's challenges.  But the bigger reality is that our society is no longer set up to be conducive to this way of life.  As we have moved away from the family farm and homesteading as a nation in the states we have moved away from bartering for needs, in fact if I am not mistaken it is illegal to barter because there is no taxes collected from bartering to help our government.  I realize the taxes are important but at the same time it is another step removing people from surviving on their land and raising their families with everyone at home.  In my mind we are moving further and further away from any traces of the family farm and that is scary.  Where we live there are ranchers and farmers but those that do not work in an outside job struggle.  Someone in the home usually supplements with an outside income for several reasons.  So while the lifestyle of a homesteader is not physically or financially possible for our family and not even in the equation for us, I do make an effort to provide as much from our home for my family.  No I do not have a field of grain in the back yard for our breads and baking needs.  We found an organic wheat farmer and purchase our wheat berries.  I then grind our wheat and bake.  I do not yet bake for all of our baking needs in our home.  I am striving toward this goal but not as of yet  have reached it.  This brings in the topic of transition.

I am blessed and eternally grateful that I am able to stay at home and take care of my family.  I feel that along with being home all day I have a responsibility to do more than just make sure that their laundry is fresh and they are fed.  I want to give them the best that I can.  I get caught up in finding the balance when transitioning from purchasing items to making them at home and how far  back I should go in the process when deciding to provide those items myself for my family.  For instance when transitioning from purchasing our baking needs to baking our own breads at home.  One must choose between purchasing flour from the market, or do you take a further step back and purchase wheat berries and grind your own, or do you step back even further and grow your own berries?  There are decisions like this with everything you choose to do and you must find a balance and accept what you cannot do.  I cannot plant enough berries to provide for our needs and still have room for my children to play in our yard and have a garden so I have accepted purchasing our berries.  However, I do not choose to purchase  ground flour for my bread needs so I grind my own.  I have discovered that the more I learn to do for my family the more I struggle with the decision to purchase from outside our home and not make it here.  I find that I start thinking about other items in our home.  For instance, soap.  Right now I purchase hand made soaps, however I have decided as soon as I am able to secure the final soap making ingredients that I will also be making soap for my family.  Even before I have been able to do this I am already thinking to making our shampoo's and have been for some time making our laundry soap.  I find that one area soon spills into other area's of our home and that is where the struggle comes in for me.  The more I do  at home the more I realize other things in our home that I should be transitioning from purchasing to making or finding a new source besides what I have.

It is a transition from one lifestyle to another.  With change also comes opposition.  I find that while I feel positive in knowing that these changes are healthy and positive for my family, it is not the "norm" and going through the local drive through after sports practice creates an inner struggle.  Purchasing a soda from the gas station after filling up seems contradictory to the lifestyle I am striving for.  Yet these are "norms" in our society that I feel is important for my family as well.  I take into account that my daughters may not have the privilege or means to stay at home and care for their family depending on where they choose to live and their spouse's salary.  I also need to take into consideration peer pressure and the delicate issues of "fitting in".  This is important to their mental well being to be accepted.  We live in a farm community so I do not have as many worries as children in the city would have but it is still a consideration I am keen to pay attention to.   They need to relate and "fit in" with other peers.  It has caused a lot of thinking and reflection on my part.  It is a very delicate balance.  Raising children presents a challenge that often I must consider when I am excited about another transition and change in our home.  We appear to be the same as others in our community yet just by staying home I am different.  Taking that a step further by quilting, baking, and cooking I am sometimes very removed from others as this is considered something that our grandmothers were noted for, not women in today's society.  Let alone staying home to take care of your family!  I must say that I have been extremely blessed to have several friends that I have these things in common with and have encouragement and support.  We support each other in our endeavors to take the best care of our family as we can and save money for goals that are important to our family not our society.  It is difficult to live the way that you feel is right and not the way our society and economics in this country demands.  It is a two income world we live in now, and it takes dedication, work, and financial responsibility to live on one income and take care of  our family's.  I want to encourage each and every person that is working so hard to take care of their family.  I know it is difficult, I know how hard it is to not go through the drive through each night for convenience, purchase to keep up with the neighbors, and the work that it takes to make what your family needs so that you know what ingredients are in what your family is eating!  I also know there is a whole lot of mothers that are not able to be at home with their children but work so hard at doing the best they can with their circumstances to take care of their family.  They are doing a wonderful job as well.  As we each make transitions from purchasing to making things at home with pure ingredients and healthy choices I wish you well in the changes going on in your homes.  The harmony and sense of peace is worth the struggles that we encounter and face from our society.  You are not alone there are many many blogs out there that are full of women that are working so hard to provide a loving home nourishing their families to the best of their ability.  Sharing what they know to help others succeed!  Have a beautiful day, keep thinking about those areas that can be transitioned and changed in your home.

Close to Home

I have been idle at posting.  That does not make for an exciting or interesting blog to read.  For that I apologize.  This is a time however where I deem it fairly important to immerse myself in all things home.  I have been quite busy as we continue to finish up work and chores around our home before winter sets in.  It may be the beginnings of fall now but from experience as soon as you count on more warm days to finish up tasks it turns wet and snowy when you least expect it.

Today was a wonderful day to rest and relax.  It has been raining off and on for several days and I captured the brief sunshine as the storm moved away.  I thought the silver leaf looked so beautiful against the passing storm.

Despite the seemingly constant storms I was able to repaint our front door.  It was white previously and I thought it showed a bit too much dirt and grime despite the constant washing.  It is now after four coats a beautiful deep maroon.  I like it very much.  I have also been working on painting a bookshelf in our hallway in preparation for the completion of the drywall mudding my husband is working on.  As soon as this is finished I will be painting the walls and ceiling and installing the trim in the hallway.  It will officially be the first and only room that is 100% completed in our  house.  So goes life when you are remodeling a home!  This is our second house we have remodeled in depth and is guaranteed to be our last!  We are both weary and exhausted.  Don't be mislead, we have been working on this house for the past five years.  So it hasn't been constant.  We are doing work with cash as we go.  In my opinion it is the only way to do it.  Taking out loans to improve on your home unless it is an emergency situation where your family's health is in jeopardy, puts you that much further from true home ownership.  So like the saying goes... slow and steady wins the race.  However there is certainly no race going on in this house as the slow and steady has passed the five year mark.  I have learned patience!  A virtue I needed more of.

I have been reading and reflecting on our lifestyle at home, and the trends and movements of others in the states and reflecting on how this effects our home directly and our society.  A lot of thinking and observations.  I will be posting soon on my thoughts and reflections.  I was encouraged to read a posting along the same lines in thought on a blog I follow.  I was comforted to know I was not the only one concerned.  Enjoy a beautiful day with friends and family!  The weekend is almost here.

Spaghetti Casserole

We have been very busy around our home.  I have taken our home clean up outdoors.  We have spent many days mowing, weeding, and tidying up our home outside and I must say it is finally getting back into shape!  I like my home and yard to be very tidy. I feel at ease when I return home to a pleasant yard and enter a nice tidy home.  It makes me instantly feel calm and at peace.

There are still many projects around our home that need completed but I have at long last came to the realization that home projects like housework are never completely finished.  There will always be things that need cared for or upkeep around your home.  I used to think that we worked really hard and got everything finished we would be able to rest and relax.  I was frustrated for years because just as we finished one task another took it's place,  I finally figured out that it's better to work toward completing a project.  The satisfaction is much better and the frustration does not mount.  It is a given that as soon as you fix and repair one item another will need your attention.  That is the nature of life.  Just as laundry never completely goes away!

I would like to share a recipe with you I created for leftover spaghetti. Yes, even spaghetti is absolutely delicious a second night.   I call it spaghetti casserole.  It is very simple and we all enjoy it very much!

Grease a large casserole pan with whatever lard you use for baking.  The spaghetti has a tendency to stick if you don't do this.

The spaghetti I have in the bowl I cut into small pieces about 2-3 inches long.  I layer this into the pan first, then the sauce, then another layer of spaghetti noodles.  Much the same way you would make a lasagna.  I usually sprinkle finely minced garlic between the layers and a dash of oregano and ground rosemary as well.   If you do not have enough leftover sauce you can add to it to make enough for the casserole.

After alternating between the spaghetti noodles and sauce I top with a generous amount of cheese whatever I have on hand and sprinkle with chopped black olives.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25min. or until the cheese is melted.  I serve this with any garlic bread that I have on hand from our spaghetti meal.  It is really good and different enough from spaghetti that you do not feel like you are having it two nights in a row.  Enjoy!