So this weekend we cleaned out the attic. Boy it sucked. We emptied it completely out, threw away a ton of garbage, made a huge pile to donate to the local thrift store, and re-organized the items that were returned to the attic. We did this so that we may blow in additional insulation in our attic. It currently has some insulation but not enough....we had ice on the roof sheathing...not a good sign. It will also help us in the summers. Most homes in our neck of the woods, have metal roofs to help the snow slide but they can sure heat up in the summer. We plan to blow in more insulation before June.
Last weekend we cleaned Terry's shop and the weekend before that we cleaned out the garden shed. Are you seeing a pattern here? Less is more and it is even better to know what you have and where it is kept. A perfect example was brake fluid. Terry replaced the brake booster on the suburban after it burned out going down the Continental Divide this summer on our way to Texas. He needed to replace all the brake fluid and there was no brake fluid here at home or so we thought. When we cleaned out the garden shed seems we actually had three bottles of the stuff....but of course we didn't know it. Knowing what you have will certainly keep you from spending money needlessly.
Made a "Dave Ramsey" account balance sheet of all our debts. Doesn't look great but also not horrible. We plan to be completely out of credit card debt by year end. Certainly reasonable and attainable.
Growing more of our own food will enable us to pay down more on our debts as opposed to having to spend it at the grocery store to feed us. There is a plan and now we just have to stick to it.
This is a pic of our kitchen table. You will notice the basket of napkins. This is another change we made a few months ago. I stopped buying papertowels and napkins. Cloth napkins are so much nicer and are reusable and are free. Just another part of the bigger plan.
Post your ideas in the comment section of the post and share your ideas, working goals, or your thoughts on frugality, saving money, etc. Can't wait to hear from you....don't be holding out on me now!!!!
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4 comments:
Nice site, neighbors! Fun to learn what you are up to over there!
We have also decided to abandon paper towels. We picked up a pack of 12 white washcloths at Target for $3.99 (I think) and now use one daily with 409 and hot water to wipe down the counters and whatever else needs to be cleaned. At the end of the week I wash and bleach the whole lot of them. We still have a few rolls of paper towels stored up, but when they're gone they're gone. I had not thought of the cloth napkins, but I will be on the look out for some good ones now! Another money saving resolution: I found a recipe for laundry detergent that works out to about a penny a load. I was able to find all of the ingredients at Super1 and will be making my first batch in the next few weeks. I'll let you know how it turns out!
I like your farm name. I too can up dry beans-or used to. Guess I should do it again since I am getting overrun with jars of dry beans!
We have been pouring over garden magazines as well, and have decided to buy ONLY non GMO seeds this year. They are a little more costly, but I am planning on saving my own seeds and possibly selling those for next year. I am becomming more and more concerned with our food and what side effects it has on us, our critters and their products (that we use). We are getting our plant starting shelf put together this week, and should be able to get our plants started before long.
Talk about long term goals-we are attempting to buy out my parents-house, farm and equipment-within the next couple years. Because of this we also have REALLY cut back on spending, and are looking for all kinds of ways to pinch our pennies, as well as earning extra cash in these tough times. The Farmer's Market is going to be my good friend this year.
We still buy paper towels and napkins but use them but go through them a lot slower. I use a lot of old towels for messes and cleaning-- rather than paper towels.
We are cooking more from scratch... less canned/boxed items. Eating lots of dry beans, rice and homemade bread.
The grocery store doesn't make much off us. Will make even less after our garden gets going.
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