Monthly Energy Costs

On my other blog, we had more votes and the majority also voted more in the $80 and up category but here are the results from this blog's poll:

$0-35	0 (0%)
$35-45	0 (0%)
$45-60	0 (0%)
$60-80	1 (33%)
$80 and above	2 (66%)

We have 1400 square foot home and our energy costs are at the most - $60 a month. It used to be higher when we lived in a smaller, 700sq foot, 2 bedroom apartment believe it or not! I have found many things to do to save electricity and also moving into a place that is very well lit, saves on having to use the lights during the day! Here some things that we do to save on energy costs:

• Switch your light bulbs to the new energy saving bulbs. We did this a long time ago and noticed the difference in energy costs!
  
• Don't use lights during the day. We have skylights and they really do light up the house! I have 2 in my kitchen and never have to use the lights during the day (except the stove light). We then have one in our bathroom and once again, we don't have to use the lights in there during the day.
• Hang your clothes to dry. I hang my delicates/dress clothes on my shower rod. You can hang your towels, linens, and other clothes outside to dry if you wish. I do use the dryer for those because our landlord will not allow a clothes line attached to the storage buildings and I haven't bought the free standing one yet.
• Don't run the dishwasher unless its full. I only run my dishwasher 3-4 times a week, sometimes not even that much. I wait until its full before starting a wash most of the time. You can keep one side of the sink half full of hot water and soap to wash dishes throughout the day. I find that it stays warm for several hours if you start it with very hot water. Constantly filling up your sink - washing dishes and then draining it and doing it all over again all day will use more hot water, which will use more energy for your water heater. Also, cold water can wash not too dirty dishes. If you are worried about germs from not using hot scolding water to wash your dishes, then simply add a cap full of Clorox to your dishwater in the sink. Also, run the dishwasher at night when energy is cheaper - same goes for the washer/dryer although I don't practice that I know it would save us even more if I did! ;)
  
• Unplug chargers and electronics when not in use. Even if you are not charging your phone, ipod, etc - the charging unit still draws some sort of energy from the outlet.
• This is for the winter months - we keep our thermostat set at 66. 65 is the optimal sleeping temperature, so keeping it on 66 is what we have found works for us and saves energy than when we used to keep it at 69.
• In the Winter do your baking/oven use in the mornings to warm the house up and then in the Summer do it in the evenings.

That is all I could think of right now, my memory may remind me of more later on and I will add them.

Poll: Monthly Energy Costs?

Please vote in the new poll on my sidebar! How much do you spend a month on electric/gas (Energy) costs? I'm talking about Summer months - that is without the heat on, unless of course you live in a cold climate. Thanks for all that participate!

Poll is now closed.

Coupon Diva

I like how she says coupons are cash. If you are already buying something and have a coupon for it - that coupon really is cash! Also she says, if you don't have time to coupon, you just haven't been broke enough yet lol.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Medical Bills; Debt Update

Since mid-February we have paid over $1,000 on our medical bills and then incurred some new ones from my many doctor visits/hospitalization and still waiting on the full hospital bill, which we will probably owe around $1,800 but we don't have it yet, so it is not included in the amount.

We are down to owing just $2,460! I'm so excited at watching the amount go down over the past year and a half from $40,000. This is the only debt we have and then we will be totally debt free. We had even paid off our car 2 years early and that sure felt good. You can read that post here: http://frugaladdict.blogspot.com/2008/05/chains-fell-off.html

Free 3-part Dave Ramsey Series; Life. Money. Hope.

You can watch for free Dave Ramsey's 3-part Series on Life. Money. Hope; Biblical Advice in Difficult Times:

Week 1 - Basics of Biblical Finance
Week 2 - Breaking the Bondage of Debt
Week 3 - Myth About Money

http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive/watch/life-money-hope


Here are some of my favorite quotes from the series:


"You need to learn to live on LESS then you make" ~ Proverbs 21:20 "There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up."

"Contentment is probably the most powerful financial principle there is"

"You can't believe everything you hear to the extent it doesn't line up with this (the Bible)"

"Let me tell you how you can tell if you can afford it - You have the money to pay for it"

"GOD is your provider.......Debt has been marketed to us so thoroughly, we now think IT is our provider"

"It's a matter of character.......I'm not going to borrow money anymore."

"God has the opportunity to show up"

"Your Father has a plan for you and it's not to serve other masters!"


Disclaimer - I don't agree with Dave's view on Tithing doesn't matter in light of eternity.  Those that love the Lord will do what he says period!  Just wanted to put that disclaimer in.

97% in Grocery Savings!

Bev's Frugal Tortilla Chip Dip

This isn't anything fancy but tastes so good and is frugal! It is so simple to make and you can double it if you have a larger family. This normally lasts us a week.

• 1 can FF refried beans (or make your own)
• 1/4c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2c salsa

Combine all and heat to melt cheese; stir; serve with tortilla chips.

Kickoff - Super Frugal April Starts!

My husband and I were very excited last night to start this new challenge!   I thought I would give you a glimpse into the first day and what is ahead.  I have not done my grocery shopping yet, that will be next week (maybe a short trip this week as well for milk and veggies).  Since milk has gotten so cheap lately, it is actually CHEAPER to buy milk rather then the powdered milk, so I have been doing that for the past few months.

I haven't completed my full month's meal list, but off the top of my head (and isn't my final list) here is what I will be making this month homemade:

• Bagels
• Bread 
• Pancakes
• Waffles
• Cookies (lots of oatmeal cookies!)
• Pies/cakes/coffee cakes
• Granola bars
• Jello
• Brownies
  
• Hummus (made today - we use it as dip for carrot and celery sticks and my daughter LOVES it!)
• Muffins
• Tortillas
• Dip for Tortilla chips (I will share the recipe in another post)
  

Today I made a huge pot of Bean Chili that lasts us normally 3 days!  We top it with shredded cheddar cheese and I also use FF sour cream in mine.  Then we have baked potatoes with the chili.  It is VERY filling and you can find the recipe we have used for a few years here.  I find that we don't miss the meat.  I also don't use the brand name Rotel in the recipe but rather the generic green chili's and tomatoes.

I buy whole carrots in the bag, which are very cheap, instead of buying baby carrots.  I then wash them, scrub them with my veggie brush and slice them and put them in a container in the fridge.  We use them as snacks, along with celery sticks, and dip them in hummus. 

I buy a lot of frozen produce and you can read how that it is actually healthier sometimes then fresh or canned produce here: http://frugaladdict.blogspot.com/2008/10/frozen-produce.html

Last night, I went ahead and made the dip for tortilla chips, which is one of our snacks.  I will be sharing the recipe for the dip in the next post.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent; Powdered and Liquid

Here is the powdered version of dishwasher detergent:

Equal parts of Borax and Baking soda; Combine; Use 1-2 T per load

I used it for a while but I've never been a big fan of powdered detergent, so I just bought some cheap store-bought liquid dishwasher detergent and have been using that.  Until it dawned on me that I could easily make a paste by adding water to the borax/baking soda powder.  (yes, I know that should be common sense, but it seemed to have escaped me until recently lol). 

So, to get homemade liquid dishwasher detergent, simply add water until you get the consistency you want!  I use 2-3 T of the liquid per load.

Super Frugal April Challenge

My husband and I have been doing some talking and decided to up our "frugalness" a notch this coming month!  I'm calling it the Super Frugal April Challenge.  We have been living off $80 a month in groceries for a long time, some months spending more if we wanted but mostly we have stuck to it.  This month, we want to not only stick to the grocery budget strictly but also we are not going to be going out to eat, getting fast food, stopping for a candy bar or soda and no coffee shops either.  Every single expenditure will be scrutinized and neither of us will spend anything without the other's knowledge and approval that it is necessary.

We shook on it and only if I get very sick or have to go in the hospital again, will we bend the rules.  I believe I will not spend the whole $80 this month because we have so much I can make from scratch in our pantry that I may only need a few dollars for fresh veggies and fruits.

I did promise my daughter a specific toy if she did her chores all March and got a sticker for each day on her chore chart.  So she will get that but that is it and don't feel sorry for her, she doesn't lack in toys!  ; )

Why are we doing this you might say?  Well for starters, it isn't because we "have" to do it.  God has chosen to bless us financially and instead of buying luxury cars and 'living it up', we have chosen to use it wisely and save and make our money grow.  A lot of it has gone to our medical bills, of which is growing with the numerous bills this past month.  We don't want to take years paying off medical bills!  We would rather sacrifice now to rid ourselves of them and get the debt off of us!  Instead of letting these new bills derail our future financial plans, we have decided to do this Super Frugal April Challenge and save as many pennies as we can.

It is quite humorous the comments and emails I have received since coming public with my $80 a month grocery budget.  The criticisms range from "you are not getting all your nutrients" (which is in no way true!  I actually have a year in Nutrition under my belt and I think I know a little bit about how to eat!) to "living on one income doesn't work and if I would get a job, I wouldn't have to eat so frugally", etc.  You get the just!  I laugh because that just isn't the case.  If we wanted to spend $1,000 a month on groceries WE COULD!  We have that much extra but instead, we CHOOSE to save, pay off medical bills and live frugally.

People don't know how to sacrifice for what they want anymore.  We live in a "give me, give me" and "I have to have it NOW" society.  Rather, then take principles from the Word of God of owing no man and putting your money to work for you (making it grow), they squander what they have and pile up massive amounts of debt to fulfill their covetousness.  They live above their means and they grope and complain that they never have anything and how much debt they are in.  These type of people usually don't pay their tithes either or if they do, they do it grudgingly and end up blaming the church for stealing their money and in that they PROVE that they never really gave that money to God in their hearts.  For if they had, they wouldn't complain about it being gone now would they??  I suppose once they get tired of the hamster wheel, they will get off and start to have some real financial progress in their lives. 

All that being said, I take a quote from Dave Ramsey in what we have chosen to do in our lives and that is:

To live like one else, so one day we can live like no one else!

Great Depression Cooking

I saw a few news stories on Clara, a 93 year old woman who lived through the Great Depression. She started sharing with the world on youtube the meals they ate and how they made them during the Depression. She even tells stories of the hardships they went through then in the videos. I watched them all just about and wanted to share with you all in case you hadn't heard about them.

My husband and I are doing something for April and I will be posting about in the next few days. I was glad to have found these recipes just in time as well! I will tell more later, in the meantime, enjoy the videos! She has become pretty popular lately and appeared on CBS, ABC and several news articles.




You can see the rest of the recipes on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking

Liquid Hand Soap Video Tutorial

I did the video for my recipe of homemade liquid hand soap. You can find the recipe and a printable of it also here:
http://frugaladdict.blogspot.com/2008/08/liquid-hand-soap.html

$100 Worth of Groceries for 25 cents!

Now that's some serious savings! ;)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Light at the End of the Tunnel

We did not have insurance in 2007 and I had some serious health issues that came my way and was hospitalized for 2 weeks! The total bill that we owed was $40,000 (not being specific on cents here). It seemed as though a damper had poured over our lives but we knew that God would provide a way for us to pay this debt, as we took full responsibility to pay it ourselves! We were the ones who could have afforded health insurance but chose to not get it because we thought our money would be better saved each month. Well let me tell you - we learned our lesson through the school of hard knocks and we now have health insurance.

So since around the Winter of 2007 up until now we have been paying loads of money monthly towards our medical bills. We have finally moved towards the end are seeing that light at the end of the tunnel!!! We only have roughly $3,300 left to pay!! God has truly provided and we have tried to be faithful stewards and repay this debt we owed to the hospital. There were times I was faced with filling out the forms for financial aid or a handout, but each time God said NO. I realized this was one lesson that we had to learn on our own.

We plan on having it paid it in full hopefully by this Summer! But I'm already rejoicing because what we thought would take YEARS on my husband's income.......has not! You can see the tracker I made below PROVING that all things are possible with God!

Free Sample of Starbuck's Instant Coffee

Click on the link below to sign up for your free sample of Starbuck's new Via Ready Brew instant coffee!

http://www.starbucksstore.com/products/via/freesample.asp

Dairy Prices Going Down

I noticed that last month and this month, that dairy prices have gone way down! For example: Milk was running anywhere from $2.68 to $3.00 at its lowest and now it is just $1.98 a gallon. Then string cheese is running 16.5 cents each or $1.98 for 12. It was 25 cents each and if bought in packs of 12 would run up to $3.00. Not only that but I noticed that block cheese also has gone down to about $2 a pound, since I buy in 2 pound blocks, its only $4.

I'm happy about it and definitely drinking more milk and eating more cheese and find myself putting cheese on a lot of things that I normally didn't!

I suppose you 'could' stock up on milk and freeze it, same with the cheese but I prefer mine fresh. I have froze cheese before (never froze milk yet), but the cheese after thawing was mushy and hard to shred.

What I suggest during this time of low dairy prices is to prepare more meals that use dairy products. Take advantage of the moment before it passes!



**UPDATE - I did a google search about dairy prices going down and sure enough this isn't just limited to my area, its nationwide. Here is a quote about how much the prices have dropped in comparison with recent years:

Milk prices are down more than 50 percent from last summer after hitting all-time highs in 2007 and notching the second highest prices on record in 2008.

You can find the full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29035077/

Free Breakfast at IKEA

This Friday the 13th through Monday the 16th, you can get a free breakfast and coffee at IKEA.  It is only available until 10:30am. 

Go here and scroll down to the bottom:

http://info.ikea-usa.com/seizethedays/

Free Meal at Denny's!

The photo says it all! Tomorrow is the day to go get your free grand slam meal! : ) You can read about it on Denny's website.

Thanks to Linda G for the info!

Tuna Tacos

Serves 9


Ingredients:

• 1T oil
• 3/4c onions
• 3/4c diced tomatoes
• 3/4c tomato sauce
• 1/8t pepper
• 1/8t Tabasco sauce
• 2 cans tuna, drained and flaked (10oz)
  

Other: Tortillas, lettuce, cheddar cheese


Instructions:

Saute onions in oil till tender. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper and Tabasco sauce to the onions and cook on medium for 5 minutes. Then add tuna and cook till warm throughout. I like to mix in 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese at the end and mix till melted.

Spoon mixture onto tortillas and add lettuce and any other toppings of your choice!

The filling is enough for 9 tacos and only 50 calories a serving! Combine that with a whole wheat tortilla and that gives you 180 calories per serving. This recipe is also frugal and will save you money! My daughter doesn't like tortillas, so I put her filling on a slice of wheat bread.

Words of Wisdom

I encourage all to go and hear this call from the Dave Ramsey show:

http://a1611.g.akamai.net/f/1611/23575/9h/dramsey.download.akamai.com/23575/audio/mp3/mydrs_blog/01152009_rich_lady.mp3


Some of my favorite quotes from the call:

"Part of becoming wealthy is having high quality character"

"One definition of maturity is learning to delay pleasure."

"Get out the credit cards and have a plastic surgery party"

Free Bottle of Suave

This is only for today and you have until midnight EST to get yours:

http://www.suave.com/nomics/index.html

Thanks Linda for the tip on the giveaway!

Free Suze Orman 2009 Action Plan Book

Simply click on the link below to download the PDF of Suze Orman's new book for free until January 15th!

http://media.oprah.com/sterm/action_plan_english.pdf

Cheesy Tuna Mac (Frugal and Fast)

We had an extra week in the pay period this month, but I only got enough grocery money for 4 weeks and had to make that feed us for 5 weeks! Today was busy and I needed something to throw together quickly. Milk was gone (except for about an ounce) and I just couldn't seem to find something to make without thawing our food from storage or cooking beans for 3 hours.

Luckily, I had remembered a recipe from a book I got for my birthday yesterday: "The Duggars: 20 and Counting". I quickly searched for it and upon finding it found that I did not have all the ingredients and she called for very large amounts of things (10 boxes of mac/cheese, etc) and I only had 2. So I took ideas from her recipe and without some of the ingredients, made my own version:

• 2 boxes of Mac 'n Cheese (the ones you get for a quarter or sometimes 30 cents each)
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup Smart Balance spread (or whatever you use for 'butter')
• 2 cans of tuna in water; drained
• 2 cups frozen peas; thawed and steamed

Cook the macaroni in 12 cups of hot water; drain. While cooking the macaroni, steam your peas and mix the cheese sauce packets with the evaporated milk. Melt the butter in a saucepan on low, then stir in the milk/cheese mixture till warm throughout, and remove from heat. Pour the cheese sauce over the drained macaroni and then add 2 cans of drained tuna and the peas and mix and enjoy!

It took me about 10 minutes to make this and that is about all the time I had lol. I had run errands and forgot that today's meal was beans and I couldn't be home to watch and cook them for 3 hours. Luckily, I got the idea above and saved dinner!

It was good! I will use in the future for those busy days! Also, the Duggars recipe of course used more quantities and then she added cream of mushroom soup, I'm sure that would taste even better!

Also, the recipe could be made several ways. You could add chicken, beef, etc instead of tuna and then change up the vegetable too! I could really see the recipe tasting good with chicken and broccoli!

Slaves

Proverbs 22:7

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

The word used in the Hebrew for servant, means SLAVE! If you owe someone you are a slave to them. If you have debt.......guess what? You are a slave to the lender. It has become UNCOMMON to be debt-free in today's society. With credit, you can have whatsoever you desire.....instant gratification. Used to.....people would wait and save the money for their desires. Ever read on credit's history? Debt used to be viewed as a SIN and only the foolish borrowed.

My, how the times have changed! Will you succumb to society's ever consuming instant gratification "GOT TO HAVE IT"......mentality? Or will you break free from the chains that make you a slave?

Debt is like a weight around your neck.....chains you carry around. So what if you don't have the latest and greatest gadget or toy or clothes! Being debt free comes with a feeling that no material thing can give that is for sure!! ; )