Photography

We are blessed to have an awesome photographer in our family, my Dad. He captures the greatest photos and really enjoys it.

So we save money by not having to pay a photographer and we save on decorating. I am always on the look out for clearance or garage sale frames. Then I find some of my favorite photos and decorate with them. Here are a few pictures of how we use them in our home.

This post is linked to Life As Mom.

No Spend November: Do I Use Coupons?

This was one of the questions I received when sharing my budget:

Do you use a lot of coupons?

No, I do not use coupons.

I used to, a lot! I was a quantity NOT quality type of girl.

Since being diagnosed with PCOS and reading a lot about proper nutrition and learning that our body needs specific nourishment, I have turned the other way. I am now a quality not quantity type of girl.

With eating whole foods, I have found that I really need to buy and make much less. Whole foods just seem to fill my family's tummies.

Also, a lot of my food comes from local sources (I am a HUGE proponent of giving my money to local sources than to Walmart). Our vegetables and fruit comes from our garden, the family farm, or farmer's markets. Almost all over things except for occasional meat, milk (which soon will be coming from a farm), and cheese is bought at the Local Whole Foods Store. All our home care products with the exclusion of toilet paper are bought through Shaklee.

But when I do need to buy some things from the grocery, I find when I use coupons or look for sales, I buy more than I really needed and thus did not end up saving any money. Therefore, using coupons just isn't for me.

However, I do know lots of people who love their coupons, so I clip out the coupons and hand them off.

I feel like a lone duck on a pond when it comes to whole foods around these parts.

"Did someone say whole foods as in a little fat too?!? No WAY!"

UGH! I get so frustrated!

This post is also linked to Frugal Fridays at Life As Mom.

No Spend November: A Couple Yummy Recipes

Here is one of my husband's favorite breakfast dishes, actually I'm pretty sure he'd eat it anytime. :)

Egg Burrito Casserole

1 lb. turkey sausage
2 c. hashbrown potatoes
8 eggs
3/4 c. sour cream
1 c. cream of chicken soup
8 whole wheat tortillas
1 c. cheese

Mix sour cream and cream of chicken soup in bowl.

Spread one half of mixture on the bottom of 9x13 pan.

Prepare turkey sausage and cook potatoes thoroughly.


Scramble eggs until stiff. Add sausage and potatoes to eggs. Stir.
Put egg mixture in tortillas and wrap. Spread remaining sour cream mixture on the top of rolled burritos.
Cover with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.


Simple Apples
Peel, core, and cut 7 medium to large apples. Add 1/2 c. of butter, 2 tbsp. of rapadura, and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Bring to a boil and then simmer until desired consistency.

How about y'all do you have any yummy, simple and frugal recipes?

No Spend Novermber: Eating at Home

So can anyone tell me the point of spending all that hard earned money on groceries if you're not going to use them? Do YOU know where your kitchen is?

I remember when my husband and I first got married (and I am still guilty of this), I spent all this money on groceries and had the best of intentions but I NEVER used the groceries.

Reading Mary Hunt's book Live Your Life for Half the Price: Without Sacrificing the Life You Love , was a great resource that challenged me to actually use my kitchen and not just intend on using it.

I am not an incredible cook, but if you give me a recipe, I can pretty much follow it. At our home, I do not make big and extravagent meals. They are healthy, hearty and simple.

I don't want to waste a bunch of time making a big meal and only my husband eats it. With having small children (who are not picky eaters), I am just not at a place in life where I have the time or the patience to try and get them to eat dishes that are fancy. I hope that one day, I will get the chance.

I use the crockpot a lot! I love getting up in the morning when my energy is higher and getting dinner out of the way. It also gives us flexibility in when we eat.

Eating at home not only saves money, but many, many of my favorite memories are made around the table.

When we go out to eat, the boys are ususally loud and I feel like the whole time I am embarassed or frustrated. There is just something about being at home to eat that keeps my kids more calm and me at ease.

So today, I challenge you to try to find Mary Hunt's book at the library, find your kitchen and make some simple dishes for meals.

Later this week, I will be sharing some of my hard-earned, simple, yummy recipes.

(For today, I am not even going to get on my soap-box about how much more healthy eating at home is for you and your family. We will leave that lecture for another day! :) )

Here are a few pictures of my kids eating. There are a lot of Lincoln because he is only happy when he's eating, therfore I take lots of pictures when he's eating! :)

No Spend November: Days 2 and 3

Day 2- November 2, 2009

I did not spend anything. We were at home all day. However, I was very close to buying some of Laura's e-books, but I didn't. That is the first thing I am going to buy when we have money!

Day 3- November 3, 2009

-Impromptu play date at BK (ugh!) $9.57
- Kroger (milk, cheese, frozen pizza) $10.99

So I'm not doing too bad, but my impromptu spending is quickly leaving. Oh well! I'm spending great time with friends!

No Spend November: A Trip to the Whole Foods Store

So, today I am going to be taking you through all the steps of a Whole Foods Store trip.

I regret to inform you that I forgot my camera when we went to the store, but hopefully, you will get the idea of what it's like to go.

I only go the the store once a month. It is a good distance away and I am trying to get out of the habit of going to the store every week.

This past week when I went, I stocked up on three months worth of supplies. With it being a trip to take, I decided with the weather predictions, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I also got a lot of Christmas baking decorations and convenience foods. Therefore the first part of the list is going to be normal items and the second will be not necessary.

I keep a detailed inventory and grocery price list. I try not to buy excess that I won't use. Therefore, if it seems like I really didn't get that much, it's because I already had some at home.

So here are the items I got from last week's trip:

2- .50 lb. whole wheat elbow macaroni -- $2.45/lb. = $2.45

1- 1.79 lb. white cornmeal -- $.98/lb. = $1.75

4 - dozen free range eggs-- $2.09/dozen = $8.36

1- 2 lb. roll of Real Butter -- $6.53/2 lb. = $6.53

1- .45 lb. no msg. beef base-- $7.35/lb. = $3.31

1-.53 lb. no msg. chicken base-- $4.45/lb. = $2.36

1- .67 lb. wheat gluten-- $3.18/lb. =$2.13

1-.26 lb sliced almonds-- $4.15/lb. =$1.08

2- 5 lb. rapadura-- $1.10/lb. =$11.00

2- 1.39 lb. egg noodles-- $1.90/lb. =$5.02

1-1.61 lb. raw wheat germ--$1.29/lb. =$2.08

1-1.16 lb. cocoa powder-- $3.22/lb. =$3.74

1-5 lb. whole wheat pie/pastry flour--$.48/lb. =$2.40

2-5 lb. whole wheat flour--$.56/lb. =$5.60

1-5 lb. sucanat--$1.13/lb. =$5.65

1-1.55 lb. chocolate chips--$3.02/lb. =$4.68

1-1.63 lb. whole grain yellow cornmeal--$.59/lb. =$.96

1-.79 lb. whole wheat spirals--$2.54/lb. =$2.01

1-2.21 lb. lentils--$1.68/lb. =$3.71

2-1 lb. Ohio organic raw honey--$4.65/lb. =$9.30

1-.09 lb. oregano--$10.90/lb. =$.98

1-.26 lb. minced onion--$8.18/lb. =$2.13

2-.50 lb. almond butter--$5.95/lb. =$5.95

1-1.97 lb. yellow cornmeal--$.56/lb. =$1.10

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$94.28

Fun/Convenience Foods

1-1.98 lb. ladyfinger popcorn--$1.59/lb. =$3.15

1-16 oz. butter topping =$3.71

1-.83 lb. mint cappacino--$3.18/lb. =$2.64

1-2.93 baking chocolate--$2.98/lb. =$8.73

2-1.78 baking wh. chocolate--$3.27/lb. =$11.64

1-1.41 lb. blueberry muffin mix--$1.87/lb. =$2.64

1-1.32 lb. spelt pancake mix--$2.99/lb. =$3.95

1-.58 lb. creamy, no msg. broccoli soup mix--$5.48/lb. =$3.18

1-.44 lb. chow mein noodles-- $2.44/lb. =$1.07

1-.23 lb. gingerbread mix--$6.28/lb. =$1.44

1- gingerbread house kit =$6.22

1-.28 lb. red decorating sugar--$2.99/lb. =$.84

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$49.21

All the loot I came home with....

I put all the items in the grocery book, find a jar, and fill it.



I label each of the jars with tape on the bottom.


Lincoln playing with the decorating sugar. He was just too cute!

We took a break for lunch. You can see all the "loot" in the back round.


I have a chest that I put all the excess that does not fit in jars.

All my staples in their jars on the shelf.


It usually takes a whole day to finish all this and get the mess picked up. That is another reason that I only go once a month. It is a lot of work.

How about you do you go to the store once a month, multiple times, weekly?

No Spend November: My Grocery Budget

Today I am unveiling my beloved grocery budget. Now I have to admit that I am not the best at sticking to my grocery budget. That is the purpose of No Spend November. To be completely honest with you, our grocery budget is never a big amount of money. I take my family's nutrition needs seriously and I do not think it is a part of the budget that should get the ax, but I am able to feed us healthy food for a small amount of money.

The reason I am able to do just that is because I am extremely blessed! First, my family has a farm in which we are given a plot of land to grow whatever we might need. I spend my summer putting up food. That is pretty much the ONLY thing I do during the summer. I enjoy it, I love it, and by the end of the summer, I hate it. BUT nothing can take the place of enjoying your own good in the winter and not having to go anywhere to get it.

Second, with that family farm comes beef and venison. That is a huge chunk of change that we save. Now that does not always last us all year. With the great meat that we get (no hormones, etc.), I am not fanatical about getting natural meats when we run out. We do NOT eat that much when we run out of home grown.

Third, we eat a lot of vegetarian meals. When we eat meat, it is not the center of the meal. We have plenty of other items. I do not eat pork.

Another item that costs a lot is cheese. I am not yet making my own cheese but I am heading in that direction. I buy cheese blocks when they are on sale and freeze them. That saves a lot of money. I also buy my cheese at Aldi from time to time.

We drink NO soda and very limited juice. The juice we drink is made from concentrate or from home.

Also, I own a Shaklee business, therefore all of our personal and cleaning products are from there. I make enough money that those products are paid for by the business.

Here we go into my grocery budget: It is $150 normally.

Here is the breakdown and this is for a family of four (daddy, mommy, dylan (4 yo but eats a ton) and a 18 mo (that eats more than mama)). I also entertain a lot. I cook for a small group every week and take foods to carry-ins and family events (so it is no small task!):

$25 for Milk (we go through about four gallons of milk a week
$115 for whole food store products (that includes all my spices, sugars, flours, pastas (more on that tomorrow)).
$30 for meats
$30 for all cheese, sour cream, yogurts, etc.
$10 for household items such as TP
-------------------
$150

We eat very little processed foods. Sometimes though, I just have to grab a bag of Tyson natural chicken nuggets and maybe a frozen pizza, but that's about it. Therefore, most things are made from scratch. It is a lot of work but I am blessed to be learning.

How about you? How is your grocery budget broke down? Do you have a grocery budget? Please if you ever have any questions about budgeting or cooking please ask. I love to help people!

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Please read here for the first day of No Spend November!

Day 1 of No Spend November

Welcome to the first day of No Spend November! Today is the first day of watching our spending. If you want to join in the fun, just comment and I will figure out how to do the linky thingy.

First, many people are asking, "How are you doing No Spend November when Christmas is next month?" Well the answer is that we are doing a homemade Christmas. A lot of our family has been laid off and there is just not a lot of money. Therefore we are taking this year to teach our boys about the true meaning of Christmas. This is going to be really hard for me. November is one my favorite spending months. Black Friday is one of my favorite shopping days of the years. It's going to be a struggle for me.

Here are my rules. You can make up your own guidelines, if you choose to take part. I am not here to dictate how you are led to take part. The main reason for this is to cut out all the little things that we tend to spend money on and stick to budget. I know for us, we are poor by all the McDonald's sweet teas that are only a $1...

So, I will have:
$115 for groceries
$25 for gasoline
$50 for impromptu expenses (example below)
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Today we spent $28.14 going out to eat.

This is how we consider eating out an expense that we can incur this month:

Sometimes we walk into church and we see friends we haven't gotten together with in a while. We get to talking and see that they (as well as I) just need a time of fellowship together. Andy and I pray and if we feel led. We first ask ourselves what we had planned for dinner after church and how our home looks. Today we were having tacos that were leftover and our house was a disaster. We then pray for God to direct us to go out to eat or if we should just do it another time. Today was one of those times that I felt God telling me that money was not important compared to that friend who I felt needed my attention. Therefore, the $28.14 came out of the impromptu expenses.

I really having a controlling, anal personality. It was really hard for me to come up with this category, but I really try to be available to the Lord's prompting when it comes to my money, plans and goals.

Another thing that I am going to be doing with this No Spend November is answering any questions you might have. Therefore, if you have any questions, please email me or comment and every Saturday, I am going to sit down and answer them.

Please, please tell your friends to come and visit during this months adventure (and comment. I will need support!). I would love it if you blogged about it or anything else you might see fit. I would really like all the accountability I can get!

Lastly, I know that a lot of you only get online to check your posts once a day, I am prepared to do No Spend November (which will be at least two posts a day) along with all of the other blog carnivals I take part in. I will try to tie them together so there are less posts, but there will be quite a few posts coming from One Blessed Mama of Boys. I hope that that is okay with you!

Thank you so much for taking this journey with me and I'm glad you're here!