Where Have I Been? (off topic)

Sorry, I haven't posted in several days, there has been a lot going on in the last week and I want to explain.  For those of you who know me personally, I haven't exactly been myself lately and I am finding out why. My health has been going down hill and everything is a bit out of balance.  These are not mental issues, but physical issues that are going on in my body.

I have struggled with weight my entire adult life.  I yo-yo and each time I come up, I gain more.  In the last 6 months, I have hit an all time high weight and I am not proud of myself for that.  I am, in fact, quite angry that I let myself get this way.  It is time for a real change and this one will be a biggie.  I am going to have weight loss surgery.  There, I said it.  I wasn't going to tell people because I know what a lot of people think about this surgery, but if I don't do it, I am not going to live a full life.  I can't afford another yo up.

Why am I considering this?, you might ask.  I had never considered it before.  Well, I have come to a conclusion that I need this to aid me along my journey, because I am addicted to food.  I eat when I am bored, I eat when I am stressed, mad, sad,...you name it, I eat.  I even eat when I am full.   I don't realize what I am doing when I am doing it, it is like I become a robot.  It is actually quite scary that I have allowed food to become such a priority in my life.

In November, I went to the doctor for some female problems.  I had what is considered a precancerous condition that, by the grace of God, cleared up without treatment, but this doesn't mean that it won't come back unless I make some big changes in my life.

Through all of the blood testing for that, they found that my Triglycerides were dangerously high.  Almost 500.  This was so high that they could not read my Cholesterol levels. They put me on medication and as it came down, they were able to see that my cholesterol levels were high, too.  Now, not only am I high risk for cancer, I am high risk for heart disease which runs in my family. Another issue that has come up is my liver.  Those cholesterol and triglyceride levels are effecting my liver.  I even have marks on my eyelids from the extreme high levels of triglycerides.

This week was the biggie.  I was diagnosed on Friday with type 2 diabetes.  I am now on medicine for that, have to follow a strict diet and have blood sugar all over the place.  Seems, that when your blood sugar is high, it causes you to act strange.  It can make you grouchy, air headed, distant, etc.  I have been all of these over the past few years.

Anyway, back to the weight loss surgery.  My doctor feels that this is the only way to get everything under control for me, because right now, I am out of control.  Lots of prayer has gone into this decision that has already been made.  I am not completely sure which surgery I will be getting.  That will be discussed with the doctor.  I do know that my surgery will not be until at least late June or early July with the later being most likely.  I will also be creating a separate blog about the journey that you are all welcome to follow.  There will be photos and videos along the way to document the process and what I will be going through.  I am hoping this keeps me accountable to follow the instructions that the doctor gives me.

I am ready for this.  I know it is going to be a difficult journey, but it is what I have to do.  While in prayer, the verse that came to me was Mark 9:43 "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out."

Your comments are appreciated, but with this one, I would prefer you keep it positive.  Concern is fine, I  understand.  This is a decision that Nick and I have not taken lightly.  We understand the risks, the possibility of failure, etc.  We are doing this together and I will have great support groups to back both of us up.  The risks of not having this surgery are much worse than the risks of having it.  The doctors say that I will live 10-15 years longer if I have this surgery than if I don't. 

I love you all!

In The Mood for a Shopping Trip?

Sometimes, I just want to go shopping.  I believe this is a girl thing, but you can tell me if I am wrong.  I just love to go and look at all of the new things and buy things that would be nice to have at home.  I may not NEED them, but sometimes it is nice to have things that will make it a little easier at home.  How do I deal with this WANT to shop?

I have found that if I really am in a buying mood or if I actually need something, if I work my way up to the retail stores, I usually don't really need to go there.

Tip 1
If at all possible, go to garage sales.  You may have to go to 10 sales in order to find  what you need or want, but I guarantee that you will not spend as much and you may get out spending $20 versus the $200 you could spend in a retail store.

Tip 2
Second hand/thrift stores.  Second hand stores can be wonderful.  They will usually be priced a little higher than the garage sales, so my preference is tip 1, but if I can't find what I need, sometimes I can find it at a thrift store.  Chances are, if I am just in the mood to shop, this is as far as it goes and I am out the door a little tired of shopping and have no need to go on, but there are some things you can not get at a garage sale or thrift store.

Tip 3
Dollar stores.  I am not talking about every dollar store, but the stores in which everything costs a dollar.  If you have one in your area, these are wonderful!  I could go to a retail store and spend $50 on what I can get at a dollar store for less than $10 most of the time.

Tip 4
The best tip of all that I can give you is to try and anticipate needs ahead of time.  This can give you the chance to visit more sales and thrift stores.  It eliminates the need for finding an item right away and shop around.  When we wait until the last minute, that leaves us needing to go to those retail shops to get what we really need.  If you must go retail, make sure you check clearance items.  You would be surprised at what you can find!

Share with me your tips on what to do.  I love to read your comments!

Bulk Sharing! A Great Way to Save on Groceries!

Sorry that I missed posting yesterday.  A sick kid and busy day made it all but impossible, but I am back!  Because on my first day of posting, I posted twice, I guess it kind of works out.  If this happens in the future, I will be making up for it with a weekend post.

Well, today I would like to talk about a new way of shopping in bulk.  Many of us do not have the space or our household size is to small to do the bulk buying that we hear of people with larger families doing.  What can we do to take advantage of the savings?

I call this idea, bulk sharing.  The reason for this is that we can buy in bulk, but the sharing comes in when you share the costs and the food/products with other families and split the loot in the end.  This can be tricky because everyone has different tastes, but if you can get 3 or 4 households together, you can surely find items that all or at least more than one will use.  It is probably best if it is different households of the same family or close friends, because it can get a little tricky when dividing it up.  You don't want it to get "catty".

This is how it works.  The families go to a warehouse store together.  There are many out there and the choices vary greatly by region, so I am not going to use specific store names.  Anyway, the families will agree on what they will buy together.  If they all agree on all items, this makes dividing easy.  You just divide the food and the cost equally.  You will have to make sure that you have a meeting place afterward (usually one of the group members' home. This allows for dividing of the merchandise.  Each person can provide his/her containers, storage bags, or whatever they need and everyone goes home happy with more food for less dollar.

Always be sure to comparison shop.  There are times that the bulk item does not save.  Be careful.  If you do your homework and know what you are getting, that could be to your advantage.

Hmmm... I wonder if anyone has thought of doing this with cooking large quantities!?!  That would be a great one to try.  Anyone want to split some meals?

I love to read your comments and ideas!  Thanks for your interest!

Homemade fabric softener

Well, I have talked about the homemade fabric softener in different posts, but finally got to try it and actually use it.  You can find the recipe I based mine on in this blog.  http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/02/homemade-fabric-softener-finally.html

The only thing I did differently is cut the recipe in half.  Below are the ingredients for my half recipe.

3 cups water
1 1/2 cups vinegar
1 cup hair conditioner

The conditioner that I used had a strong cherry scent that I love.  I was nervous that the vinegar would out do the cherry scent, but I was wrong.  The cherry ended up being the dominant scent in the mixture. This is a good thing.  I took some cheap sponges and cut them in half and threw them into the mixture to soak it up.  They sat in there a few days before I was able to  use them.

When it was time to dry a load of laundry, I lightly rung the sponges out and threw them in with the load in the dryer.  It worked!  The clothes were slightly cherry scented and soft with no static.

This was very cheap to make.  You can also water it down and use it as a wrinkle releaser.  The cherry scent wasn't very strong, but the clothes still did smell clean.

Let me know your thoughts on this.  I love it and this is another commercial product that I can make at home and save tons of money.

Homemade Dog food.

My family has a large breed German Shepherd puppy.  To give you an idea, he is eight and a half months old and over 90 pounds of big baby dog.  We spend a LOT on dog food.  Today, I have tried making my own dog food and have found it is actually pretty easy.  I found a recipe at http://www.wisebread.com/homemade-dog-food-recipe-and-cost , and as I always do, I tweaked it by using what we had on hand.

Here is my interpretation of their recipe.  I didn't make as much as they did considering this is just a little trial.

2 large chicken breasts
1 large piece of white fish
2 large carrots
1/4 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans
half a sweet potato
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown rice
1 egg
3 egg shells
2 tbsp olive oil (he is a puppy and needs the extra calories.)

I just boiled all of the ingredients together until the veggies were soft and the meat was fully cooked.  When it was done, I lightly blended it to break down the larger pieces.  It has cooled and I put it in his bowl and he gobbled it down.  Success!!!

I am still a little worried that he won't get all of the nutrients he needs with this.  I will be talking to the vet, but until I know for sure, we will continue to give him some of the other dog food.  This will make a great supplement so he doesn't eat so much of the expensive stuff.  Next batch will be the larger batch.

Vacations

Today's tip is on family vacations. There are some little gems that I want to share with you and although the overall price isn't extremely low, you get a lot for your money.

There are some great hotels that have water parks and theme parks that are included in the nightly stay.  Mt. Olympus, for example, in Wisconsin Dells actually has both.  This is where we will be going this year.  It has go-karts, roller coasters, water slides and all kinds of other things that you can do at no additional cost.  We are even allowing the kids to each bring a friend.  It is sure to be a great vacation.  We are paying slightly more to stay there than we would have had to pay for simply just the amusement park and water park admission which saves a lot on the stay!

Another place that has a water park attached is in Burlington Iowa.  We have been there a few times and have a blast.  They have a water park and an arcade along with go-karts, bowling and laser tag.  Of these, there are extra charges for everything but the water park, but for the price, it is a great value.  They do have a great buffet breakfast that is included there, too.  The place is called Fun City.

The idea is to wrap up the fun and the stay into one package.  Yes, you will have to buy additional food, but you can bring some of your own.  You don't have to eat out for every meal.  Just pick up some peanut butter and jelly at the store and eat that for your lunches.

I would love to hear your ideas for awesome family getaways on the cheap!  Comment below with your ideas!

Low Cost, High Quality Shampoo and Conditioner. (And You Don't Have to Make it!)

I am very picky about my shampoo.  I can't usually use the cheap stuff because it dries out my hair or doesn't clean it enough, leaving it looking greasy by the end of the day.  I used to get the expensive shampoo at the drug stores.  In my house, that $8 bottle of shampoo only lasts 2 weeks.  Doesn't seem like a lot to spend, but when trying to cut corners, this is something I have found a great answer to.

I went to Sally's Beauty Supply for the first time about 6 months ago because my daughter wanted to color her hair and I didn't want to pay a professional to do it.  (Another money saving idea if you have a friend you trust!).  They had gallon jugs of professional shampoo and conditioner.  The shampoo was on sale for $2.99 a gallon!!  This is not a typo!  I had to buy it.  Even the original price is only $9.99 and it says that it is concentrated and enough to make 5 gallons!  The conditioner wasn't on sale, but for that price, I couldn't pass it up.  We are just now, 6 months later, needing to buy more.

This shampoo is great!  We all have had very healthy hair since we started using it and I love the smell of the Cherry scented.  I plan on using that to make my fabric softener this week.

Although it says it is concentrated enough to make 5 gallons, I have found that it works better to mix it 50/50, half water and half shampoo or conditioner.  Any more than that and although it does clean your hair, it doesn't lather.  I have some weird issue with that, I know, but I like the lather.  At this concentration, the scent stays with you longer, too.  I mix it and put it into old shampoo/conditioner bottles with pumps, so the family doesn't use too much and we don't lose portions to spills.  

I try to buy it when it is on sale.  It was priced at about $4.50 for the shampoo yesterday, so I got two. I also found out while I was there that you can join their buying club for $5.00 and you get $5.00 off your next purchase and a discount on everything you buy.  Of course, I didn't pass that one up.

Total spending a year on shampoo and conditioner before:  about $420 when you add the tax

Total spending each year if the shampoo and conditioner at Sally's is not on sale: about  $42  HUGE SAVINGS!

Homemade Laundry Detergent.

While going through many other people's posts, I have found a lot of them making their own laundry detergent.  I honestly never though about doing this, but the price of laundry detergent is crazy.  

There are many recipes out there and I used a basic one and adapted it to our hard water needs.  Tip:  If you have hard water and your home made laundry soap is not working, add extra borax.  It will soften the water and your clothes.

I grated my one bar of soap, which wasn't too difficult, and heated it on the stove in a huge canning pot with water.  The amount of water you use depends on your preference.  I used 8 cups to start, but ended up adding more as I went.

When the soap was disolved, I added the borax (1 cup) and washing soda (1 cup).  I then added more water to about half full (which ended up making about two and a half gallons.)  I continued to heat it for about 5 more minutes.  I am not sure why, I guess I felt like it blended it a little better, then I turned the heat off and added some lavender essential oil.  Lastly, I poured it into half gallon containers.

I don't think I put enough of the essential oil in.  It isn't required, but I wanted a scent.  There is a very faint one, which is okay, but next time I will add more.

As I used this to wash my first load of laundry, I wasn't really sure how much to use.  I ended up using about 1/4 cup and it worked well.  Clothes came out clean and, although they didn't smell like lavender to me, they did smell clean.  Coming out of the dryer, they were very soft, but there was a static problem.  I have read that if you add vinegar to your wash, it will take care of this problem, but I really don't want my clothes to smell like a salad.  I think I will experiment on making some fabric softener.  I have seen people do this many ways, but I will come up with something fun.

All in all, the detergent ended up costing me about 70 cents a gallon, so I think I did well!

Thanks for reading.  I would love to hear your comments and suggestions!

Make Your Deodorant at Home!

What?  Yes, you read that right.  I am a person who is prone to stickiness.  There, I said it!  It doesn't matter whether it is summer or winter, if I sweat, it doesn't smell good.  Because of this, I was a bit skeptical about trying this.  I usually use the clinical deodorant and have to rotate brands because my body gets used to them.  Well, that is my unpleasant confession for the day.

When I saw the recipe on making this, again, I was skeptical.  I read all of the comments and there was a lot of success.  What do I have to lose?  I have all of the ingredients already in my home minus the coconut oil that isn't very expensive.  If nothing else, I can let my teenagers use it, right?

Here is the recipe that I found http://www.survivingthestores.com/homemade-coconut-oil-deodorant.html.  I found that a lot of people keep the deodorant in the refrigerator and I don't really like that idea.  I like my deodorant in the bathroom and ready for when I need it.  This is the recipe I used to make my deodorant, and it keeps well without needing to keep it refrigerated.  You can break it down as you like, but I made 4 sticks of deodorant.  I bought the containers at http://www.soapgoods.com which is a great place to buy a lot of supplies cheap.  I could have used old containers, but these are cute and reusable.  I will not need to buy them again.

1/2 cup 92 degree coconut oil (this is a lot more solid and doesn't become liquid until over 92 degrees)
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch.
12 drops lemon oil

Melt the coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove (I used microwave)
Mix baking soda and cornstarch together in a separate container
Mix all ingredients together (including lemon oil)
Pour into deodorant container
Allow to solidify

This is my second day using it, and I don't stink!! In fact, I love the lemon/coconut smell.  It smells very fresh and light.  You can get the 92 degree coconut oil at the site I listed above http://www.soapgoods.com  I bought 1.5 lb for $6.70 and it seems to be enough to make about 5 or 6 more batches of 4 sticks of deodorant.  You can use regular coconut oil, but you will probably need use less of it and keep it in the refrigerator.  I have seen recipes use a little bit of bees wax to harden it, but I will stick to the method I have found, because it works for me.

If you try this recipe or a variation of it, please let me know.  It only took about 5 minutes to make and 2 hours to harden completely!  I want to hear what you have to say about it.

Today's money saving idea...DUCT TAPE?

For some reason, we always seem to have an abundance of duct tape around except when we need it.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I think it could be that my teenage daughter steals it to make wallets, purses, jewelry, Halloween costumes (yes, she actually made an entire Halloween costume out of just duct tape.

Well, we had a leak under the sink, and I really would like to wait until we have more than one thing to fix before we call the plumber in and I need to do dishes today. We found the leak two days ago in the kitchen sink, so yesterday when I was at the Dollar Tree, I picked up a cheap roll of duct tape, besides, what do I have to lose?  It only cost $1.00. I was a little leery about whether this cheaper brand of duct tape would work, but I tried it anyway.

I went 2 inches above and began taping the pipe all the way to 2 inches below the leak.  I taped over it several times to make sure the edges of the tape had no wrinkles for water to come through on the ends or over the leak.  My first test...it worked.

I began loading the dishwasher and dumped a pan of water down the sink...DARN IT!  It didn't work! What now?  I needed dishes done, and I couldn't even do them by hand with this sink like this.  What now??

Well where I put the tape, there were clamps that were over the hose, so I decided to take all of the duct tape off and see what the problem actually was.  It took a while to get all of the duct tape off.  I had put several layers, but when I finally got the clamps off, I found that one had gone right through the rubber connector of the hose. This is what happens when someone (the person who installed the dishwasher a month and a half ago) tries to tighten them too much. Without the clamps, I decided to try putting the duct tape right over the rubber connector.  I covered the whole thing with duct tape being careful not to leave any gaps.

I put the clamps back on over the duct tape and found there was just a very small leak through the duct tape.  I taped over that and PRESTO!  It worked, or so I thought.

Well, there still is a little drip, but I can handle a little drip until I can get a plumber in to fix it.  I put a pan down there and that does the trick for now.  Maybe if I had used better duct tape it would have worked completely, but as for now, I am happy with the temporary results for today.

Why am I waiting to call a plumber?  Because I am going to first try and find the piece at the hardware store to fix it myself...that will be a later blog.

Couponing Doesn't Have To Take a Lot of Time.

Well, today was a little busy, so I haven't had a lot of time to try a money saving idea today, but I want to share something that I have been working on over the last few days.  Many people hear of couponing and they think of the crazy people on the show.  I am not sure about copyrights, so I will not say the name of the show I am referring to.  I am sure most of you know what I am talking about.

Anyway, I have found a couple of websites I would like to share with you.  The first is couponmom.com and the second is thecrazycouponlady.com.  What do these sites do?  They pair up coupons with store sales and tell you how you can get your best deals on items you may need at the store.  They do all of the work for you, so you don't have to do it yourself.

I went out Sunday evening and Monday to get some of the "FREE" items myself and did very well.  I did have to spend money on these items initially, but I received coupons to be used like cash on anything I would like on my next trips to the store.  I can handle that.  It all works out in the end.  The drug stores are best for these deals, but don't rule out the others.  I plan on using my reward coupons to purchase next week's "FREE" deals.  This will make them truly free!  In the end, I purchased over $180 in different items including vitamins, cough drops, and personal items and have that amount to spend next week.  I did have to go to several stores, but I live in an area with lots of them very close together, so.  Some of the items are not things my family will use, so these items will be going to local charities.

Another little tip that I found while looking around Ebay, you can buy the Sunday coupons for a very low price online!  Not only do you get all of the coupons that came in Sunday's paper, many times, they are clipped for you!  You can also choose the ones you would like and purchase several of something you will use.  Make sure you check for expiration dates, though.  Some come a little too quickly to allow time for you to use them after you receive them.  I carefully checked the coupons I ordered and had some come in the mail today.  The cost is very close to or less than what you would pay for the paper to be delivered, and you get to choose the coupons you will use.

Save on Popcorn!

Ok, so I tried something else today and wanted to share with everyone.  I got the idea from one of the many blogs I have been reading lately on saving money.  Our family goes through a lot of microwave popcorn and the cost is pretty high considering what you get.  I also don't like the imitation butter flavor that you get and the crazy amount of salt.

Well, here is what I did..

Took half a cup of old fashioned popcorn kernels and poured it into a paper lunch bag.  That's it, nothing else goes in.  I folded the bag over a couple of times and placed it upright (opening at the top) into the microwave for just over two and a half minutes.  I stopped it as soon as the popping slowed down and there it was...beautiful, mouth watering popcorn.  I poured a little real butter and sprinkled some salt.  It tasted just like the popcorn we made before the invention of microwave popcorn and it was all natural.  Jes liked it too!  I encourage you to try because it is really yummy! 

Intro

To begin with, I wanted to tell you a little about myself and why I am doing this blog. First, my husband and I would like to take on a challenge to pay off our house in a much shorter time frame than the 30 years we signed to just last month. We also have another mortgage for a house that we are currently renting out and although we are getting rent payments that more than pay for the property, our debt amount is quite high and we would like to do something about this.

As we have looked at our monthly spending, we have found that food has made up a huge percentage of our spending in the form of groceries and going out to eat with the latter being the biggest culprit. Those little drive through stops can really add up, not to mention the date night twice a month eating out. Don't get me wrong, we do need date night a minimum of every other week, but when we can easily drop well over $60 on a meal, most would agree is a little excessive.

There are some other areas we are finding that we can cut our spending and I plan on sharing those here with you. My goal is to share daily during the week. (probably no Saturdays or Sundays). I don't want to share just the ideas, though. I want to share my experience. This will keep me accountable to try and actually DO something each day to save money.

So here is today's money saving activity...

We are usually in a hurry in the mornings much like other people these days. We don't always have time to cook a meal for breakfast and I have found myself going through drive through for breakfast a lot more than I should. I know, I could eat cereal or something like that, but sometimes I just need protein. Not only because I crave it, but I tend to have a blood sugar drop around 10AM if I don't have protein in my breakfast.

Well, today I made a large batch of easy breakfast burritos. I would have liked to add a few more ingredients, but I have some picky eaters in my house and I am trying to please everyone.

I started out with a whole 18 count egg carton of eggs and scrambled them up with a little milk. (You will find that I rarely measure anything) I would say 1/4 cup or so. I added them to a lightly buttered non stick pan along with about a TBSP of onion soup mix (easier to hide than onions and peppers, but not quite as good...) Added some soy churrizo sausage (1/3 the package), salt and pepper and cooked them until done. I then wrapped them up with some cheese in tortillas. I individually wrapped them in paper towels and then placed them, two each, in sandwich sized freezer bags and labeled them with the date, what they were and the main ingredients.

This ended up making 17 burritos that I threw in the freezer for a quick meal on the way to church/school/work for my family.

My cost of making these 17 burritos???

Eggs - Roughly $2.00

Churrizo - about $2.00 (because we didn't use the whole package)

Cheese (I used half slices of american cheese) - less than $1

All other ingredients, I had in my pantry

Total cost - about $5

Cost per burrito - less than 30 cents.....

Wow, when you think of the amount you spend going through drive through, the savings is huge! Especially when you add the drinks and the hash browns (which I don't need, I can drink water at home and skip the hash browns)

Hmmm...I am starting to think that this venture may not only save money, but help me loose a little weight...we will see.