Homemade Stuff-- Frugal Living

Homemade Stuff

Brown Sugar
1. Measure one cup of granulated sugar and one tablespoon of molasses into a mixing bowl.
2. Stir with a fork until completely mixed. Your brown sugar is now ready for use!

Tips:
1. To make dark brown sugar, increase the molasses to two tablespoons.

Homemade Dryer Sheets
1. Dip several wash clothes in fabric softener.
2. Then, ring them out, and allow them to dry.
3. Toss one in the dryer each time you have a load of laundry to dry.

Tips:
1. You should be able to use each dryer sheet a dozen times or more, before it needs to be dipped and dried again.

Getting Out of Debt

This morning at church, I noticed an announcement in the bulletin. It was a class that is being offered every Sunday night for 13 weeks (basically until the beginning of December) on Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. The class is offered (I think) through videos and a number of workbooks that will help you eventually become debt free and learn the ways of living with "Financial Peace" (hence the title of his classes). I went home and started to research Dave Ramsey and weather or not this class would benefit Whit and me at this time in our life. Well, I should rephrase that-- I KNOW it would benefit us, but are we going to do it? I have been logging our expenses (mostly bills and debt) in the computer and keeping very good track of it since we moved into the house. I'm paying extra on ALL my credit cards and even Whit's student loans and the mortgage. I mean we are paying an extra $200.00 to the principal every month! That's amazing for as little as we make! :)

Anyways, I was searching online about Dave Ramsey to see if there were books I could purchase and/or borrow from the library, but I'm completely overwhelmed. I don't know what to get! "Baby Steps", "Total Money Makeover", "Financial Peace University," the list goes on and on about the number of books he has written on this subject. I can't wrap my mind around all that! I need a "Idiot's Guide to Getting Debt Free". So, I looked up on google Debt Calculators.

The one I found is the best (so far) is What's the Cost. I was able to register on it and make it "remember" my information (no credit card account numbers or anything like that) just simple numbers. The amount I owe, the interest rate, the minimum amount due and then I push the little calculate button and VIOLA! It told me we would be DEBT free in 24 months! (Now, I did NOT include the house mortgage because let's face it, that would another 25 years or so...) I did cheat a little-- on some of our bills, we have it automatically taken out of the bank account and it is more than the min. balance. Instead of putting the min balance owed, I just put the amount that we pay each month. The calculator thinks that's how much we HAVE to pay, but it's how much we want to pay (ie the Yaris, and Nebraska Furniture Mart). I was able to cut and paste the awesome little chart into excel, so I can look at it when I pay bills. The same amount of money we are spending on our bills, just broken up differently to finally pay off the amounts. It's called Snowballing.

Can't wait to see if this actually works! Better yet, I can't wait to see if I actually stick with it!

So, even though I did not READ a book from Dave Ramsey's massive collection of books, I'm going to mark it off my list of 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days. I might even be marking off "paying off credit cards" and "pay of the Yaris" soon too!!

And just as a side note, I think it is really intersting that Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University" costs nearly $200.00... is that saving money?! I can't afford that right now!

Spaetzle, Ham and Mushrooms & Balsamic Chicken Breasts

Tomorrow's dinner plan--

"For a mouth watering casserole, combine cooked Spaetzle with sauteed quartered mushrooms, onions, and diced ham in a baking dish. Top with bread rumbs moisentened in melted butter. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes."

Cleaning out my pantry and found only three things to throw away. Not bad. I have bread crumbs that will officially expire in December 2009, but this recipe calls for bread crumbs. How perfect can that get! I have canned mushrooms, but I think I might stop by the grocery store tomorrow afternoon and pick up some fresh. I know fresh mushrooms taste better than canned.

Whit gave tonight's dinner 4 out of 5 stars... Balsmic chicken with rice and garden fresh green beans. I will update this post with the recipe that I got out of HEALTHY COOKING magazine by Taste of Home. I cooked healthy! :)

balsamic chicken breats
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz. each)
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, pepper and salt. Add chicken, one piece at a time, and shake to coat.
2. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm.
3. In the same pan, cook onion until tender. Add water, stirring to loosen browned bits. Ad the vinegar, thyme and rosemary; cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve with chicken.




My organized pantry:

so far, so good

Well, it's been about a week since I posted about my 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days. Not too bad, I think I crossed off about three things. I think that this week I will try and tackle some more. I really need to reorganize my kitchen and there are about five things on that list assoicated with my kitchen. Under the sink, tubberware cabinet, the red shelf in the dining room, the drawers... I think I might be able to knock that out in one or two afternoons. Then I'm moving on to the closets.

We are going to have one of my baby showers at my house at the end of September so I'm doing some "fall cleaning". I need to desperatly and I better start now! I usually start something but never finish. Now that I get to cross it off on my online list, I feel more motivated to finish. I think I can do it. And who knows? I might have to change a few things on my list. Like the buy a new car thing and start a handbell choir at church-- I don't even belong to a church! So how I can start one in two years?! Yea, that's not possible.

101 Things in 1001 Days

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days
Start Date: August 2, 2009
End Date: April 29, 2012

House:
1. Organize the master room closet
2. Organize the baby’s closet
3. Move stuff back into the basement
4. Install doors and trim in basement
5. Organize the Tubberware cabinet
6. Buy new pots and pans (Paula Dean)
7. Wallpaper master bathroom
8. Paint hallway bathroom and hang up mural
9. Keep the kitchen clean
10. Replace all burnt out light bulbs
11. Organize under the sink in the master bathroom
12. Clean out refrigerator once a month
13. Clean out the pantry
14. Donate old coats/jackets to Project Warmth
15. Organize drawers in kitchen
16. Re-organize red shelf in dining room
17. Clean out storage under stairs
18. Reorganize seasonal decorations
19. Get new tires (Elantra)
20. Keep car clean for at least a month (clean it first!)
21. Plant trees

Hobbies:
22. Finish wedding scrapbook
23. Make homemade birthday cards
24. Scrapbook for the baby at least 2-4 pages per month
25. Sew (by myself) baby’s 1st Halloween costume
26. Finish Whit’s stocking
27. Decorate the fireplace mantel
28. Make homemade Christmas gifts
29. Learn to pickle cucumbers
30. Learn to sew a zipper
31. Take a photography class
32. Take a cake decorating class
33. Start and finish baby’s Christmas stocking

Personal Enrichment:
34. Get a new hairstyle
35. Start photography 365
36. Keep a blog
37. Use the library more
38. Send birthday cards to every family member
39. Start/continue to use reusable shopping bags every time
40. Send Christmas treats to families
41. Make a compost pile
42. Make a rain barrel
43. Join a church
44. Frame Whit and Tenessa’s baby pictures and hang them in the hallway
45. Start Master’s Degree
46. Take Level II Orff Training
47. Read Chronicals of Narina

Entertainment:
48. Attend a local festival
49. Go to a pumpkin patch
50. Organize a Progressive Dinner
51. Have a fondue party
52. Go to a wine tasting party
53. Go to a dinner theater
54. Go on a picnic
55. Take a nature walk with Whit and baby

Baby:
56. Join a “story time” with baby
57. Buy an Air Purifier
58. Make baby food and freeze
59. Cloth diaper at least part time
60. Teach baby sign language
61. Read the Bradley Book
62. Give birth naturally (sort of!)

Music:
63. Learn to play a difficult piece on the piano
64. Practice piano at least once a week
65. Keep better records for piano lessons
66. Start hand bells/chimes at school
67. Log all piano books and put them in order
68. Paint piano drawers

Wellness:
69. Don’t go out to eat for a week
70. Don’t go out to eat for two weeks
71. Don’t go out to eat for a month
72. Drink only one soda a week for at least a month
73. Walk at least three times per week
74. Lose 25 pounds
75. Take trips to the park weekly (when baby is born and weather is nice)
76. Use up all shower gels and lotions before buying new
77. Participate in a Benefits walk

Cooking/Baking:
78. Make a dinner plan for the month
79. Bake a pie from scratch
80. Decorate baby’s 1st Birthday cake
81. Cook less from a box or frozen bag
82. Bake a cake from scratch
83. Use the cookbooks more
84. Use the vegetables from the garden to cook

Financial:
85. Pay off at least three credit cards
86. Pay off at least half of student loan (as of September 2009)
87. Keep a log of gas spending for four months
88. Get all bills automatically taken from bank
89. Start using coupons
90. Sell books on Amazon.com
91. Read Dave Ramsey’s book/information
92. Make a savings plan and stick to it
93. Borrow items from friends and family instead of insisting on buying new
94. Buy a camera
95. Pay off the Yaris
96. Have a yard sale
97. Start an IRA or CD type of savings

Travel:
98. Plan a summer vacation
99. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast
100. Go camping with baby
101. Use the cabin at the lake five times