Getting Caught Up

This is a tough time of the year to pinch pennies.  There is Spring Break, baseball season has started, the garden is being prepped, and it's time to start working on getting together next years homeschool curriculum.  Yowza!  For everything there is a season.  Perhaps this is the investment season.  The money that we spend now will help us durring the rest of the year.  While these may not be the weeks that our budget shrinks, we have mor opportunities to be smart with our money.  Let's see how I do in the coming months!

Cookware!

Remembering that this week's theme is "when to spend", I decided to talk about my beloved cast-iron skillets and baking stones! These things defy the laws of consumerism. In case you aren't familiar, the law that I am referring to states that once a product is paid for, it will immediately start to decompose thereby convincing you that you must go out and buy another similar product usually of a greater value. Well, I'm sure that it's not written exactly this way, but the idea is the same. That is why my mother's microwave is as old as I am, yet I can't keep one for longer than 5 years. It's that stinking law! And boy does it work!

But my rebellious cookware, oh how I love it! It grows better with age. With each use, the quality of the finish gets better. The food that I cook in it gets better as well. The iron actually leaches into the food, helping to maintain healthy blood iron levels. The skillets are practically indestructible! A friend recently had a kitchen fire. The only salvageable item? The cast iron skillet. It goes on the stove, in the oven, over a camp fire. This thing is the Superman of cookware. Its kryptonite is the microwave. It can do everything else, but no nuking. The stones, on the other hand, can go into the microwave. I have my eye and a little gem that can cook a meatloaf in the microwave in a total of 20 minutes! The stones develop that beautiful smooth surface as well. It’s ugly, but works beautifully! (I know some folks like that, too.) They go into the oven and the microwave, but don’t dare put them on the stove! So together they are like the team of Superman and the Green Lantern. Both are awesome, but with different weaknesses. But between the two of them, the job WILL get done.

Since the consumerism police know that these mighty rebels don’t follow all of the rules, they must make sure that they get as much money as possible on the front side. Cast iron and stoneware are more expensive in the initial investment, but well worth it. Just try to remember every Teflon pan that you’ve thrown away since you got your own kitchen!

Shoes!

This is an area where I have fallen into the trap!  I have 4 boys to outfit in proper foot gear.  And while that doesn't seem like such a difficult task to some, others will remember going through shoes as quickly as underwear!
Generally, we wait for shoes and sandals to get marked down.  End of season clearance is our favorite time of the year!  We would buy a pair, sometimes two, for each of the 5 children.  Even on clearance, this can add up quickly.  We can't just do this twice a year.  They need additional shoes!  The youngest boy, especially, can tear up a pair of shoes so quickly that all of this shoes are "play shoes".  He has no town shoes!  So let's just look at the quick math.  Boy #4 goes through at least 4 pair of sneekers every year, plus a pair for church that we have forbade him from wearing in the yard.  That's 5 pair at roughly $15 per pair.  He goes through $75 worth of shoes each year without being able to pass down any of them.
Then a friend showed me something that has changed the way I look at little boys' feet forever!  Good quality cowboy boots.  By the way, my kids are going through a cowboy phase.  They all want big belt buckles and goats to ride.  These beautiful, sturdy, wonderful, real leather boots cost a shocking $65!  Oh my goodness!  That is just too much to spend on children's shoes.  I don't spend that much on my shoes.  But then, I don't drag my toes across the dirt while swinging from a tree.  I don't wallow on the ground or climb trees.  So I can't really compare what they need to my dainty little ballet flats.  (if you can call a size 10 little)  But when we compare these boots to the $75 alternative, they are quite affordable.  And, hopefully, they will be able to be passed down.  The boys love them.  There are fewer shoes to keep up with.  They are weather proof, and are perfectly suitable for going into the muddy yard or gross chicken yard. 
Yes, I have learned that sometimes we must step back and look at the whole picture.  In being cheep, I was actually spending more money on lesser product.
Liz Price 13% off of a better product!

Topic of the Week - When to Spend

I've been thinking a lot this past week about when it is smarter to spend a little extra to get quality.  When we buy 5 of the cheeper items, because they keep breaking, in the amout of time that a more expensive item would have lasted, then we have not saved any money.  We've actually spent more and been more frustrated.  This week I will be exploring a few of the different ways that we can save by spending.

Frugal Fun Friday - Interactive Computer Learning

Sea World is offering a wonderful promotion.  The children under 10 receive a free ticket to the park when they stay at certain hotels in the area.  Since most of our expense would be children's tickets, this is a fantastic deal for us!  But that is not the topic of today's frugal fun.  It was getting ready for the trip that was so enjoyable!  We started doing a little research this morning on a trip that we will be taking shortly.

The Sea World site is so much fun! There is a link that took us to the learning section of the site. We were able to hear all sorts of animal sounds. This is when the fun started. We looked at the picture and guessed what sort of sound we believed the animal to make. Trust me, little boys can come up with some really interesting sounds! As we listened to the calls, the boys acted out the animals’ actions. I got to see gorillas swinging their arms, panthers snarling and scratching, chimps swinging, as well as penguins waddling.

When I had all of the animal sounds that I could stand, we ventured over to the FUN ZONE. Over here were coloring pages, jigsaw puzzles, and interactive puzzles.

There are plenty of opportunities for us to learn more about the habitats and continents that are the homes to these beautiful animals, but they don’t seem to mind learning while they are playing. I’m rather certain that this site will be up for most of the day!

What's for Supper Wednesday - The Double Play

The Double Play 

I have learned the most effective, fantastic, fruitful method for buying a cart load of necessities for practically nothing, which is right in my budget! It is a two part process in which both parts must be followed. Otherwise, the results may be less than desirable. Have I peeked your attention yet? Fantastic!

Part one is this. Pray. No really, you must pray with a heart full of faith that the Lord will provide for you and your family. In return, promise to give Him all of the glory! There really is only so much that I can do. I need Him to carry me the rest of the way.

Part two involves shopping. There is a section in most grocery stores where the products that are about to expire, or that have been discontinued, are drastically reduced in price. In my favorite store, these treasure chests of shelves are just behind the cash registers. There are also markdowns in the refrigerated and butcher’s sections.

I quietly say a prayer as we walk into the grocery store, asking God to show me what it is that my family needs. Wants would be nice, but needs would be better. I scan through the produce section finding organic lettuce for less than a dollar and 5 beautiful orange bell peppers for the price of just one. We have had a shortage of fresh veggies since it is the middle of winter, so these specials were just that: special. We round up toward the meat cases where I find a whole chicken for just 56 cents per pound! Wow, that is way below my $2 per pound max. Then we head over to the dairy section. Each time we cart past it, my boys ask when they will ever get to have yummy yogurt again. Well, boys, today is that day! There were 2 tubs of vanilla yogurt marked down to just 50 cents each! I quietly thanked Him for this wonderful gift. Perhaps I should have shouted, “Praise God!”, but worry about scaring the dairy man. We found pints of milk for just 25 cents. The oldest boy got to use his new math skills to tell me how much it would be for 1 gallon of the discounted milk. After a little figuring, he informed me that it was just $2 per gallon. He approved of this discount after seeing that a gallon was marked $3.75!
This was all before we had even reached the dry goods section. I wound up filling my cart with groceries that we did in fact need for $35.

I share all of this, not to brag on myself and my shopping abilities. I share so that you can see that when we depend on His understanding instead of our own, then we will be able to see how he can bend the universe in order to take care of his sheep!

Tuesday Tips - Healthy Compromise

One of the traps that we can fall into is buying garbage food. What I mean by that is food that is full of garbage, tastes really good, but does more harm to our bodies than good. But what’s the alternative? Healthy food is expensive! Then I have the issue of preference. My family doesn’t particularly care for stone ground wheat biscuits. They have more refined tastes. You know, refined flour, refined sugar…. Despite these little conflicts, we have reached a compromise, at least in our breakfast cereals. We have a couple of plastic tea pitchers ( Here in the deep south all pitchers are tea pitchers.) that we use to hold our mixed cereal. Here is my latest example. On my last trip to the grocery store clearance section, I found a couple of boxes of cereal that had been crushed on the corner of the box. The bag was still in tact. The quality had not been compromised. They were marked down to about 79 cents per box. Yes, I picked up both of them! They were apple cinnamon flavored O’s. These mix perfectly with the healthier Cheerios that I had in my pantry. Now in my case, I was at the right place at the right time. A friend gave me 3 boxes of Cheerios because she needed the box tops off of them. She couldn’t eat that much cereal before it went bad. But that’s just a side point.
The real point is this. The children get a cereal that is somewhat sweet and tastes good. It is also full of whole grains and is lower in sugar than the alternative. This mixture is also frugal because we were able to cut the expensive healthy cereal with a less expensive one.

Another mixture that we really enjoy is corn flakes, bran flakes, and Honey Bunches of Oats. That over-sweetened cereal is toned down by the bland corn and bran flakes that no one with any taste at all would eat by themselves. But together…..YUM!

Liz Price - Apple Cinnamon Cheerios $.40 per pitcher

Back to School - Switched on Schoolhouse

Good grief!  I have just been running to catch up to myself the past few days!  Since today is Monday/homeschool day, I'll give you just a short entry, since this entry was really just to appologize for running late.
Alpha Omega puts out a curriculum for use on the PC.  It is all on disc, so it can be reused as many times as you need.  If you have a big family like me, reusing schoolbooks is a major plus.  The fact that the program grades the students' work is just a really awesome bonus!  It is called SOS, Switched On Schoolhouse.  Each subject for each grade runs around $75.  Split that up between 5 children, and you've only spent $15 on each child.   If you order your programs in the month of April, a discount of 20% is applied.  Now if you are REALLY lucky, you can find these disks on ebay.  There tend to be more in the month of April.  I have gotten disks as low as $5!  Yes, that's $1 per child.  Every once in a while I even impress myself.

Disclosure

This is the commercial segment of the program where I let you know in what ways you can help pad my envelope system!  I have put an Amazon box at the bottom of the right margin with a search box in it.  If while using this box you choose to buy something from Amazon, they will compensate me for refering you.  I'm not asking you to go out and spend just to help me.  I am simply letting you know that if you choose to use Amazon to order something, please consider using this feature. 
I believe in honesty, so there you go.  No tricks, just treats!

Basic Thriftiness part 2 or Set Aside Your Pride

Set Aside Your Pride

My husband and I reminisce about the days when he only wore Levi’s jeans and I had a medicine chest full of Clinique lipsticks. There was a time when name brand was the only option. My, how times have changed. We were made to believe that we were paying for quality that was well worth the added expense. While this may have been true, we were also paying for status. Sometimes we just need to set aside our pride and try the generic. I’ve since traded in my $12 mascara for $4 Cover Girl that I like even better. He has gladly switched his denim of choice to Wrangler for about a third of the price of the name brand.

Foods can be the same way. I do not believe that there is much difference between brands of basics like flour, sugar, salt, beans, and rice. Saying that, I must admit that we don’t care much for the cheapest brand of coffee not canned peas. But it has nothing to do with the label on the can!

Living within our means is one of the more valuable skills that we can learn. If we have a Belk budget, then it can be reflected in what others see. If we have a Wal-Mart budget, then that also can be reflected. Unfortunately most of us would not admit to being on such a budget, let alone show it in our appearances. Hmmm, isn’t that being a little phony? We certainly wouldn’t want our friends and family to intentionally deceive us, therefore we should not seek out to deceive them. That golden rule is something else, isn’t it.

I feel that it is more valuable to be true to my situation than to blow my budget trying to impress or convince others that we have money that we do not. Just to illustrate that I value honesty over pride, I will divulge that we are a family of 7 living off of $1300 a month. This is the season that the Lord has us in right now. It is by His choice.

So go ahead, try the generic. It might just surprise you!

What's for Dinner Wednesday - Angel Food Ministries

I have found a way for people with tight budgets to get higher quality food, and for those with more expensive tastes to get an awesome deal! I can get steak at hamburger prices. How do I do it? Angel Food Ministries puts together an assortment of foods that should feed a family of 4 for a week. They offer a different menu every month for only $30. 
Now, I have a different way of looking at things, as you may have noticed. I also tend to be a tad skeptical when it comes to claiming to get a good deal. Every month I go through the menu with “Liz Prices” in my head. I compare what I would pay, not what retail is. For instance, I don’t spend more than $2 per pound on meat, nor on fresh fruits and veggies. I understand that steaks are $5 a pound. That’s why I don’t buy them! If the total is the same or less than what I would pay, we get it. It may not save me any money, but it affords me some variety as well as quality in our meals. Here is how I would score this box:


Here is the March Menu.

($4)  2 lbs. Chopped Beef Steaks with Dijon Mustard (4 x 8 oz.)
($2)  1 lb. Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast Filet Mignon (4 X 4 oz.)
($2)  1 lb. Boneless Center Cut Pork Chops (4 x 4 oz.)
($3)  2 lb. Macaroni & Beef Dinner Entrée
($4)  2.5 lb. IQF Split Chicken Breasts
($2)  1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
($1)  1 12" Supreme Pizza
($1)  1 lb. Frozen Peas & Carrots
($1)  1 lb. Frozen Whole Kernel Corn
($2)  2 lb. Fresh Apples
($2)  2 lb. Heat and Serve Broccoli & Cheese Soup
($3)  24 oz. Natural Cut French Fries
($1)  6.5 oz. Stroganoff Skillet Meal
($1)  1 lb. Rice
($1)   Dozen Eggs
($1)   Dessert
This gives me a Liz Price of $30
I would love to see what a great deal the folks with more expensive taste would get, but I'll be honest, I don't have a clue as to how much these items retail!  I'll leave that research to you.  If you'd like to read more about this ministry go to http://www.angelfoodministries.com/ Deadline to order with cash or check is March 17th to order online at http://www.questcommunitychurch.org/ deadline is 18th. Distribution date will be March 27th at 830 at Quest!
One last thing, this is not a hand out or restiricted to low income families.  This is available to anyone from the homeless up to tycoons.  No discrimination here!
Liz Price = Quality!
Please let me know what sort of savings you get from this box.  I would love to know!

Back to School Monday - World Maths Day and Dr. Seuss's Birthday

Tuesday, March 2nd is the birthday of almost everyone’s favorite children’s author, Dr. Seuss! This is just the excuse I need to blow off a little steam. This time of the year is really tough on both teachers and students. (We’d much rather be outside than looking at the same old books.) A day filled with nonsense and silliness, as well as books and worksheets is the perfect compromise to keep us a happy homeschooling family.

• http://www.outer-limit.net/coloring/grinchpages.shtml Outer-Limit.net has 17 free printable Grinch coloring pages.
• http://www.lucylearns.com/ has over 20 free printable Dr. Seuss coloring pages and activities. Print and color the Cat in the Hat, two sneetches, over ten Grinch coloring pages, the Lorax, a truffula tree and Sam-I-Am offering his ubiquitous Green Eggs and Ham.
• Cat in the Hat Tic-Tac-Toe game. Color, cut and paste game board and cat in the hat game piece. Laminate all pieces or print on card stock for a reusable Dr. Seuss game.  http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/pdf/threecats.pdf
• Seussentenial (http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/participation1.html) from the Seussville website has free printable activities.

We will be having green eggs and ham for breakfast as I read my favorite book, Green Eggs & Ham, which was read to us every other night before bed.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas is probably the only book that my mother, my children, and I can all recite. And who didn’t learn to read using The Cat in the Hat? It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that I could read Fox in Socks without stumbling over the words. I am quite excited to be sharing some of my favorite stories with my children. Besides, it means that I get to relive that part of my childhood with them. Happy reading!
 
Today is World Maths Day. I’m not sure that it’s a recognized holiday. But when encouraging our kids to practice their math skills, I’ll take any sort of holiday they want to throw my way! www.worldmathsday.com allows children all over the world to practice their math facts in exchange for points. If the student scores enough points, his name, school, and country are listed on the home page to show the world that he is a genuine math nerd! In my home, this title is worn with pride. I, myself, am a self professed math nerd.