$1,000 For Groceries Every Month?!

"Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. ..."   ---  Proverbs 3:13-18

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So while watching a video about inflated prices of food, I scrolled down to the comments. One woman said she and her husband are retired and each month they spend around $980 on groceries(!)

Oh my goodness! I think I got dizzy. Wow.

I told Tom, "Maybe while they both worked, they ate out all the time and never learned to cook from scratch. Perhaps now they're still eating tons of restaurant food or convenience items."

Or maybe they live in New York City or Alaska where grocery prices are nearly double, but even so, that still sounds crazy-high. To me, anyway.

Yes prices are ridiculous now! But as I'm always saying, we are not helpless. Anyone who's determined to make changes, to 'beat the status quo'--can.

We can make our own--

--seasoning mixes

--baking mixes

--convenience foods

--liquid hand soap

--cocoa mix

--laundry detergent

--cooking oil spray

--room refresher spray

--fabric refresher

--spice rubs

--teas from homegrown herbs

--household cleaners

We can --

--use 1/2 (or even 1/3) of a pound of meat, rather than the full pound. Use extra fillers like frozen or fresh vegetables, rice, pasta, bread crumbs, etc.

--grow our own vegetables

--create inflation-proof meals

--dry our own homegrown herbs (and other dry-able foods)

--always have a supply of shelf-stable foods on hand

--avoid buying pre-made convenience foods

--reuse items like glass jars, plastic bags, twist ties, paper bags, cardboard boxes, metal cans, etc.

(All of these ideas, above, can be found by doing searches online.)

Here's a money-saving, grocery-minded post I wrote in 2023. 

Oh, and this year I'm aiming to skip ordering from Aldi at least one week per month. If I do? I'll have saved us $840. (Already since January I've skipped 3 weeks. Having a prepper pantry is a huge help.)

Anyway, may this post encourage you today grocery-wise. Prices may seem out-of-control, but that doesn't mean our spending must be.

Ol' Debra loves saving money on groceries, especially when it frees-up dollars for her to spend in more creative, fun ways like in her story, below.  ツ

Some favorite inflation-proof meals around my house:

chili

stir-fry vegetables and chicken

meat mix, green beans, mashed potato layered casserole

homemade chicken and vegetable soup

crockpot chicken with salsa, sour cream and vegetables

Italian wedding soup

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I still think Julia is the best for low-cost meal recipes. I'm loving her cookbook! The majority of her recipes use the items I always have on hand.

Oh! And See Mindy Mom. Love her ideas, also.

You can do a general search at Youtube for other cheap, under $5 meals. Would take anyone days and days to sort through them all!

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Last week for Valentine's Day, Tom decided to try something new. Nothing. He would do nothing.

Well Honey, that did not work out well for him. Er hem.  ツ

So early next morning I watched Homestead Tessie (as always) and oh wow. With some gift money, she'd purchased an adorable tiny terrarium! 

Now, that's something I'd meant to buy for years actually, to use it, instead, as an indoor cat-proof greenhouse for starting my garden seedlings.

Oh my oh my! Immediately I ordered one similar to Tessie's, though with a wider door since I'd be taking plant pots in and out. Then I strolled downstairs and told Tom I'd ordered a Valentine's Day gift from him to me. Something I'd desired for years. A terrarium.

He actually breathed a sigh of relief, especially when he saw the glad, excited expression upon my face (a far different look than one I'd worn the previous night). heh.

And here it is, probably the best Valentine's Day gift, ever. (Ladies? Sometimes you just have to give a present to yourself. And you may quote me.)

(Oh and years ago, I had a larger terrarium, but gave it away, for I could find no place for it at Hobbit Cottage. The lesson? Release what isn't right in order to create space for receiving what is.)

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

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 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

What Are You Believing For? And What Are You Doing About It?

"I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live..."   --- Ecclesiastes 3:12

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Since early, dark, last December mornings, I've whispered to God, "I believe at least 4 good things will happen today."

Those whispers, that believing, is changing my life.

Oh, when I began doing this (this started as a Joyce Meyer idea), I thought those good things would arrive from friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances. Yet probably just 20 percent (less?) actually do.

The rest of these happy things? They come from 1.) God and 2.) from my own proactivity (which He said I sorely needed).  シ

Proactive: creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened.

Some cheerful things God brought:

Intensely sunny days after dark ones.

Cherry tomatoes from my garden until Nov. 21st (in Buffalo!)

Mornings warm enough to read outside in December and even January.

Times I knew He moved on friends' hearts to contact me.

Joyful times resulting from choosing proactivity instead of procrastination:

For the first time in 12 years, I've raked away the majority of leaves in my garden beds before Springtime(!)

On a dark, winter's day I sorted through my garden seeds, then ordered new ones via Ebay, using my Rakuten refund and spending less than $1 for each seed pack (oh, that February garden dreaming!).

The glass table top I'd ordered for our guestroom arrived.

My new, wanted-for-10-years chandelier arrived--

--and last week I had a deliriously great time filling out Valentines for friends beneath that chandelier and upon the glass table top.

I found some clothes in an under-the-bed bin I'd forgotten about.

I walked down to the Little Free Library and came home with The Illustrated Walden.

I ordered a book for a Youtuber and she emailed me saying she absolutely loves it.

No longer do I wish for a skylight near my desk: I came up with a solution using my sun-like reading lamp. (Plus, the saving of hundreds of dollars is lovely, too.)

(There's a much longer list, but you'd wonder, "Really? Those tiny things made you happy? Heh.)

Anyway, always at least 4 good things happen every. single. day. Seriously! I count them. Sometimes type them into a draft folder. I remember one Saturday when I counted 12 happy things--oh my!

Yet what most clearly shines from this lesson since December? Believing and proactivity go oh so well together. Their combination is like a recipe for miracles. An invitation. A guarantee.

How will our day feel? It's pretty much up to us.

Two important-to-me things not mentioned, above? Feeding the outdoor birds and switching-on my hearts and cross lights in the dining room window. For whatever reasons, yeah, they make me happy and too, I choose to believe they encourage my neighbors, as well.

"Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."   --- John 16:24

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Valentine's Day! A day for expressing friendship. That's what it's become for me. 

... a special thank-you to all my friends on this Valentine's Day!

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You know how sometimes a movie will stay with you for a couple days? That's how Touchback affected me. Couldn't shake it, didn't want to. Only a tiny bit of language, otherwise highly recommended.

It's Ok To Feel Good.

And here's a fitting thing for Valentine's Day--

It's a brooch I made probably 25 years ago. Used to wear it around and I'd get compliments. So easy! Just hot-glued buttons and costume jewelry to a wooden heart, then hot-glued a large safety pin to the back.

Remember! With Jesus you are stronger than you think.

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

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 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

What Is Alive For You?

"... I came that they may have Life and have it abundantly... Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits"   --- John 10:10, Psalm 103:2

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Guess who sat outside yesterday in 42 (F.) sunny degrees while clearing her tiniest flower beds? And who even relaxed on the porch on a 30 degree morning in 4 layers of tops because the sun poured down upon her (and she's a tad impatient for Spring)?

In February! In Buffalo!

Oh, and for the record, consistently each winter (for warmth) I wear a t-shirt and 2 thin long-sleeved tops, lest I feel like and resemble him:

How wonderful to discover what works for you, right?

Anyway, in the over 1000 books I've purchased in my lifetime, this one rests in the Top Five Most Inspiring Category:

Shockingly, I'd not reread this book in probably 4 years.

And you know? I'd wandered a tad from her 'Farmgirl is a condition of the heart' mantra. Though okay, these past crazy-since-2020 years found me still doing the cooking, cleaning, gardening, imagining, fixing, etc., yet not always with a joyful, I-can-do-this farmgirl spirit.

No, too often this nearly 65 year old lady leaned toward a 'I've paid my dues and deserve a rest in my autumn years' mantra, instead.

And there is that! It's a thing. Often necessary. I get that.

Yet I also get that balance is a thing and checking-out too early from certain tasks (and attitudes) can lead to boredom and twiddling one's thumbs.

Oh, how balance can keep us going! Healthy. Active. Happy.

I'm loving this return to MaryJane's playful-but-hard(and smart)-working world. I even ordered 3 of her 2023 magazines and am catching up on what I missed.

So what does this post have to do with any of my readers? This--

Is a helpful something from your past calling to you? 

Something you've forgotten or assumed dead, but in reality, is very much still alive?

Daily habits of excellence?

Lessons or strength in-progress, but unrealized and left back there?

Usually 'leave the past behind' is the right advice. Yes. Even the Bible says so.

But sometimes? We leave a thing too early, unformed, unfinished, before it became a connected, important part of who we were created to be.

Those are the things which Grace will help us rescue before they fade away into clouds of forgetfulness which cause the Future Us to journey-on with a limp without them.

" ... That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."   --- 2 Timothy 3:17

Something else from our past that may need tending to? An apology God wishes us to make, one we've put off for ages, or a releasing of offenses when others wronged us.

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MaryJane's Ideabook can be found here and here. Tons of inspiration for crafting, gardening, cooking, farming, celebrating, etc. and what I love best are MaryJane's stories from her earlier life. 

Back issues of MaryJane's Farm Magazines can be found here and at Amazon, too.

I also enjoy Mary Jane's Outpost book about all things one can do in the great outdoors. Such gorgeous photography and ideas!

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Oh the winter coziness!

Love what she did to her kitchen, especially the way she didn't let the whole project paralyze her with perfection-minded nonsense.

I found this woman and her tiny house so interesting. I could've listened to her all day.

Remember when I shared the video with the Alaskan town where everyone lived in one building? Here's a different video with even more information about the town and its people.

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Books I finished reading in January--

Intra Muros by Rebecca Ruter Springer

A Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn

Pax Vobiscum by Henry Drummond

A Book to Kill For by Harper Lin

Gabriella by Nancy Hartwell

The Dragon's Secret by August Huiell Seaman

Shoestring Theater by Nancy Hartwell

The Crimson Patch by August Huiell Seaman

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Notes:

We may set a warm record tie for this February day today--hooray! We're due for 46 degrees, but I'm believing for the 48 we need for a tie.  ツ

My new chandelier? Wow. I leave it on constantly when I'm up here in my office/guest room (feels like such an extravagance to do so!) because it makes my heart so happy.

I need light! Tom, though, is one of those guys who'd leave the curtains constantly closed if he could. I tease him about being the epitome of what God meant when He said, "Men love darkness rather than light."  heh.  ツ

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We need each other.

The friends.

The writers.

The encouragers.

The truth tellers.

The teachers.

The family.

The dreamers.

The doers.

The storytellers.

The passionate lovers of God.

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Are we daily living in the overflow?

These days may we stay focused on the good things of God rather than the evil of darkness. May we remember God has an answer for everything we question.

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

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 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15