Fancy That!

I was shocked at the grocery store when my bill was $200 last week!! It was one of those times when I needed everything from detergent and toilet paper to meat and cat food. I have done a few things to tweak the budget, and this time I'm going to tweak it even more. Here's my plan:

1.) Disconnect the home phone line - I checked the caller ID for the month of June and there were only 10 calls received, and 4 were telemarketers.

2.) No more prepackaged foods - examples of this is pudding and fruit cups especially. I plan to buy the biggest can of fruit cocktail I can find and repackage in smaller tupperware for Jared's breakfasts. The large instant pudding box is only $1.29, and I'm going to make the pudding and repackage that also.

3.) No more buying already made pie shells or frozen biscuit/ biscuit tubes or break and bake cookies/ cookie logs. I have recipes for all these, and I can make the cookie dough one day and put it in the fridge myself. I can just do one step of the mixing and then put it in the fridge to be baked another day.

4.) Rebate shopping - Every month stores like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid, the Dollar Store all put out a paper with all the rebates offered for that month. If you watch the Sunday paper, most of the time there are corresponding coupons for these same items also. So if I go to the store and have my coupon, keep my receipt and the upc code off the item, I can mail it in for my rebate at the end of the month. Sometimes, it even works out to where the store is paying ME to take that item home!!! This is very cool!

5.) Menu planning based on the sale circular - I think the best day to shop for meats is Monday. There are left over meats are set to expire on Mondays and are put on sale for quick sale. Bi-Lo.com especially, has the circular on their website if you didn't get it in the mail. Also at Bi-Lo.com you can create your own log in and password tagged to your zip code. Then you shop before you shop; going thru the items on sale for that week and checking the box next to the items on sale you are interested in. At the end, you get a print out of all of that, and it has a bar code for the cashier to scan.

6.) Farmers Market shopping - our local farmers gather every Tues. Thurs. and Sat. at the Agricultural Building near the Cherokee Pharmacy by the big Dr.'s building. It's a wooded area and the cannery is behind it. Here's an example of some of their prices:
Farmer's Mkt
1 qt blackberries $3.00
1 doz ears corn $4.50
4 zucchini $2.00
1 qt pickling cucmbrs $1.50

I drove out to the local peach orchard and found they were

15-17 peaches $8/box
12 lg peaches $9/box

7.) Shop for new car insurance. I feel like there's something better out there.

8.) Plan my errands to cover town all in one day canvasing the streets in a circle; no zig zagging across town back and forth.

9.) Unload the car. If I travel with a full trunk it takes up more gas.

10.) Buy gas on a cool morning. You get more gas and less is evaporated.

11.) Make sure the house is sealed up tightly. New weather stripping on the back door and foam sealant into all electric outlets where air can escape.

12.) Do laundry on one day keeping the dryer hot at all times. If I do laundry a little at a time, it takes more electricity to heat the dryer up over and over. Taking out a warm load and putting in more clothes will keep it going.

13.) Switch to buying rechargeable batteries.

14.) Cut out the coupons from the Sun. paper. If they don't have what I need I can find more coupons by searching on E-bay for groc. coupons. Babycenter.com forum for trading coupons. So if you don't need those diaper coupons someone else may trade you for them. I know this sounds like work, but if I treat it like it's a job where I get the rewards, it all seems worth it. I've walked into the groc. store after my son went to bed, with a pocket full of coupons and handed them to the cashier like ca$h.

15.) Check out Bi-Lo.com for Promotions. This week's meal deal is great. Meal Deal

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Feed a Family of 4 For Less Than $13.35


Get these items FREE:
• FREE (1) Southern Home Premium of Lite Ice Cream, 64 oz. Assorted Varieties
• FREE (1) Totino’s Pizza Rolls Snacks, 15 count Pepperoni or Combo
• FREE (1) Kraft Salad Dressing, 8 0z Assorted Varieties
• FREE (1) Lipton Tea, 1.5 Liter Bottle Assorted Varieties

When You Buy Two:
• 12” DiGiorno Pizzas, 22.9-32 oz Select Varieties

Offer good July 16th- 22nd, 2008 with your BONUSCARD. Limit one (1) Meal Deal per shopping trip. For more great savings, view your Weeky Specials.

OMG, Kelsey got voted off this episode! RRRg! Ok so I get it, she just got out of school and doesn't have enough experience. She's a camera diva! I will miss seeing her. I'm not over it yet.

Lisa has got to get it together. I think she has the brains to pitch an interesting show idea. I'd DVR every episode! Give me all you've got, Lisa. Please!

Aaron, I want to get on the website and download all of his recipes from this Vegas throwdown. The pork chops with the mustard glaze are begging to come to my plate!

Adam's mac and cheese recipe is being printed on laminated index cards for me and Jared. If Paula Deen likes it, woah, it's gotta be mouth watering comfort food! Spin class here I come. Food Network keeps me coming back for more punishment.

Oh yes! My favorite jam is blackberry, and they are back at the farmer's market and produce stands near you!! At least, here in the south they are ripe for the pickin'. Someone else did the pickin' for me and I was so glad to find some for sale at reasonable prices. Most grocery stores are posting $5+/ quart. Wow!

I smiled over and over listening to these little babies seal and pop for hours after pulling them out of the canner. I've learned that my food mill is a glorious purchase from e-bay! I cranked that thing up for a whirl to get the pulp out and separate the seeds into it. Then out the back door they went - into the back woods, I threw the seeds with a prayer. Dear Lord above, could you germinate those little seeds next spring into some blackberry bushes for me? I'll let you know when I see some sprouting in 09.

I really like the sugar free Sure Jell because you really only have to add 1 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit pulp, and that's barely sweet enough. I don't need to be knocked over by a little jam, if you know what I mean. Then it's 15 min. in the canner, and they are singing songs of heaven. Yummy. I gave Sandy a jar of this jam, and Jared saw her putting some on a piece of bread. "I want it," he said. She handed it to him, and he quickly started licking it as fast as he could. I get that all the time. I just put as much bread in the toaster as I can because half of it will be eaten by my little guy as soon as he sees me with it. It's so cute!

Mom, this reminds me of home and being there with you canning. Wish you were here or I was there.

My next jam journey is taking me to the peach orchard. I've got a calling to make peach mango jam. Hmmmmmm. I like the sound of it.
************************************************************************************

I wrote this paragraph while I was at Church on the Beach.


The ocean waves of foam reach deeply into my spiritual feet
gently rinsing away my cares.
Over and Over.
Layer by Layer.
There is no place I need to be. Work is halted. Bills are on hold.
Dishes are done. Laundry mounds are unseen.
The essence of fresh salt water, deep woody sand,
and coconut sunscreen are carried into me with each warm breeze.
I can see myself again and my true heart.
I close my eyes and dream as the heat comforts my soul.
I am renewed.

When Marilyn talked about shedding the layers of our cares during praise and worship on Sunday. I thought more about this.

We are made this way, in layers. It takes time to really get down to the core of the heart when so many things are going on in our lives. To go back to pure beginnings, and to find the beauty that is hidden and yet, still beaming, within each layer.

Have you ever tried to make something - out of nothing?

When I knit a pattern it comes together, row by row. Knit, purl, knit two together, slip, slip, knit, purl, and then. . It’s a dishcloth! With one handy extra button to scrape the mac n cheese off of my toddler’s chair.

In scrapbooking I have learned that the prettiest pages are brought together layer by layer; vellum paper coordinated with colored paper and patterned paper. Pictures on mats; brads, eyelets, and stickers, stamps and embossed ink all finish the page. It takes time to create. It is a work of art.

Musical composers build pieces with Bass, Baritone, Tenor, Alto, and Soprano voice chords, rhythm, and guitar, brass and piano. There are so many things going on dancing together as the music moves in time.

Art is the place where we can feel the pleasure God felt when he created you and me. When He began with beauty; He added layer upon layer, with creativity and depth.

Somehow, Satan too adds to our layers. Adding worry and fear, discord and disharmony. I don’t ever want Satan thinking he can add a stitch or sing a verse in my song. I don’t want him to contribute to any layer of the beauty that God made me to be. So I take time for focus and reflection. I can feel the rhythm of the ocean waves as they take my cares away. While getting a massage the other week, it took time for muscles to let go of the stress in them. Finally. Once again, I am pure. Once again, I am renewed, and I can see the true me.