Tia, a college friend and fellow blogging momma, suggested that I write about yogurt. I thought, "didn't I?". Turns out I did, but it's buried and my method wasn't set yet. So here it is. You can start with fluid milk, but I find I have to scald it, which is a pain, so I use powdered. If you are using fluid milk, you can give it a shot without scalding. Or heat it to 180, cool it to 90, add the starter and proceed to "shake it" below.
-1 quart glass jar with lid, very clean
-1 1/2 c Powdered milk, non-fat, whole, organic- all fine
-2-4 T of Stoneyfield plain yogurt for starter. (6 beneficial bacteria!) I store it flat in a freezer bag and break off chunks for starter. Very scientific.
-Enough filtered water to fill the jar after the other two ingredients go in.
Shake it.
Keep it warm (100-115-ish) for 9-18 hours. I use a soft-sided cooler with a non-auto-shutoff heating pad. It holds 2 qt jars.
Wanna make it Greek-style? It makes great tzatziki!
Strain the whey out until the yogurt gets to your desired thickness. For example, I use a canning jar and replace the disc lid with some open weave cloth and set it at an angle over a drip-catching container. Strain it really long, and it'll be yo-cheese, which is like cream cheese.
My iPod won't let me post photos from my iPod to blogger, so I'll try to add photos when I get my hands on Dr. O's laptop.
Showing posts with label fabfrugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fabfrugal. Show all posts
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Teensy Begrudging BumGenius Review
So I like Fuzzibunz diapers quite a bit. I bought the one BumGenius on a whim and thought it was okay. It would probably be better with Velcro, but I'm not a Velcro diaper fan. Fuzzibunz has snaps and adjustable elastic for a good fit, but the BumGenius has no such adjustability, just hit-or-miss snaps. It's not my favorite diaper.
That said, I bought another one yesterday. Why? Because I was thinking about how huge the pocket is for stuffing, and I thought it might work for bedtime. I put the BG 4.0 snap (Buttercream) that I bought months ago for $11 on M with both inserts and a FB newborn insert, with the snaps on the largest rise. Then I dressed her in a onesie and jammy pants and put her down for 12 hours. She had only minor wicking onto the onesie, but the pants and bed were dry. I'll admit I smelled the diaper and only got the faintest whiff of ammonia, which is important because I gave up nighttime cloth over ammonia issues in the first place. Her skin looked fine. I cancelled the next Subscribe & Save for a huge box of diapers and got another BG 4.0 snap in Zinnia for $17.95 with no shipping charges. I paid $28.95 total for the 2 BGs together thanks to some reward points I had at a cloth diaper store. The box of LUVs that were scheduled to ship would've cost me $27. The new diaper will be here soon, and I'm excited to cut another regular expense, even if we only buy disposables every 3-6 months. Maybe now we'll be done with them for M unless we travel before she potty trains. Nothing will change in the wash routine, which is cheap and occurs every other day regardless of how many diapers I throw in. 2 more nighttime diapers won't make any difference! You got me Cottonbabies. I like your diaper, but don't tell anyone!
Update: the zinnia Bumgenius 4.0 snap arrived and we've used cloth for 3 nights successfully! We have 2 so that we can have enough to wash them every other day and have a fresh one on hand each night. I'm thinking we'll need one more for a rotation for her, but she's also giving potty training another try, so I may not have a full load of diapers every other day until October. Either way, I'm happy to be minimizing our use of disposables!
That said, I bought another one yesterday. Why? Because I was thinking about how huge the pocket is for stuffing, and I thought it might work for bedtime. I put the BG 4.0 snap (Buttercream) that I bought months ago for $11 on M with both inserts and a FB newborn insert, with the snaps on the largest rise. Then I dressed her in a onesie and jammy pants and put her down for 12 hours. She had only minor wicking onto the onesie, but the pants and bed were dry. I'll admit I smelled the diaper and only got the faintest whiff of ammonia, which is important because I gave up nighttime cloth over ammonia issues in the first place. Her skin looked fine. I cancelled the next Subscribe & Save for a huge box of diapers and got another BG 4.0 snap in Zinnia for $17.95 with no shipping charges. I paid $28.95 total for the 2 BGs together thanks to some reward points I had at a cloth diaper store. The box of LUVs that were scheduled to ship would've cost me $27. The new diaper will be here soon, and I'm excited to cut another regular expense, even if we only buy disposables every 3-6 months. Maybe now we'll be done with them for M unless we travel before she potty trains. Nothing will change in the wash routine, which is cheap and occurs every other day regardless of how many diapers I throw in. 2 more nighttime diapers won't make any difference! You got me Cottonbabies. I like your diaper, but don't tell anyone!
Update: the zinnia Bumgenius 4.0 snap arrived and we've used cloth for 3 nights successfully! We have 2 so that we can have enough to wash them every other day and have a fresh one on hand each night. I'm thinking we'll need one more for a rotation for her, but she's also giving potty training another try, so I may not have a full load of diapers every other day until October. Either way, I'm happy to be minimizing our use of disposables!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
O'Elia's ;)
I had been wanting to have our pastor and her husband (also a pastor of another ELCA church) over for dinner, and last night was a good night for it. It was the last day if school, their youngest just graduated, the Easter season is winding down, and we have been here for one year. We visited our church the first week last year and liked it a lot. However, we did want to compare it with other churches before deciding. All summer we wanted to come back and visit Edgwood, and we finally decided it was the church for us. Pastor Beth was very much a deciding factor, and with our one year anniversary this week, we wanted to celebrate with her. We really had a great evening!
I knew that the local Lebanese lunch shop is one of their favorites here, and we miss Elia's so much that I've spent the last year trying to reproduce our favorites from their menu. I've gotten pretty good at it! I'll post the recipes on the sidebar sometime this week. We had tabbouleh, falafel with pita, tapas-style veggies, hummus, shish taouk (skewered chicken), marinated round steak, and tzatziki and toum sauces. Dessert was baklava, and I made everything but the pita. That would've been overboard; even I know that! I forgot to get the spanikopita out of the freezer, and I figured we already had enough food. I love to make all the dishes so that I can mix different flavors into each bite. It's all fresh and pretty darn healthy and definitely delicious! I had used up all the store-bought plain yogurt for breakfast yesterday and thought I'd have to run to the store, but I found a quart of unopened homemade yogurt that was weeks old in the fridge. It was fresh and yummy! I used it in the chicken marinade, tzatziki, and toum. Such a relief when I surprise myself by being extra-prepared!
We don't have any real plans this weekend. We feel like we've been hit by a bus every week, so making plans is not our first thought, I'll admit. We'll keep it mellow and see if we have it in us to do anything special with the kids. The Jedis can't play Wii for an entire 3-day weekend!
EDIT: we're Bethlehem-bound in the morning!
I knew that the local Lebanese lunch shop is one of their favorites here, and we miss Elia's so much that I've spent the last year trying to reproduce our favorites from their menu. I've gotten pretty good at it! I'll post the recipes on the sidebar sometime this week. We had tabbouleh, falafel with pita, tapas-style veggies, hummus, shish taouk (skewered chicken), marinated round steak, and tzatziki and toum sauces. Dessert was baklava, and I made everything but the pita. That would've been overboard; even I know that! I forgot to get the spanikopita out of the freezer, and I figured we already had enough food. I love to make all the dishes so that I can mix different flavors into each bite. It's all fresh and pretty darn healthy and definitely delicious! I had used up all the store-bought plain yogurt for breakfast yesterday and thought I'd have to run to the store, but I found a quart of unopened homemade yogurt that was weeks old in the fridge. It was fresh and yummy! I used it in the chicken marinade, tzatziki, and toum. Such a relief when I surprise myself by being extra-prepared!
We don't have any real plans this weekend. We feel like we've been hit by a bus every week, so making plans is not our first thought, I'll admit. We'll keep it mellow and see if we have it in us to do anything special with the kids. The Jedis can't play Wii for an entire 3-day weekend!
EDIT: we're Bethlehem-bound in the morning!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The rant that I chose not to publish on a coupon site but needed to get out of my system
I really question the value of spending all this time and energy to stock up massively on highly-processed stuff that's barely food, the ingredients of which are often banned in Europe and Canada. I do use some coupons, but there is tremendous cost to families in health care to feed them the stuff people get with these "deals". Diabetes and heart disease are just the most common. Makes more sense to me to plan a good trip or two a week to match up sales and coupons on healthy whole food and to spend time more profitably by cooking real meals from scratch.
Who cares if you get a great deal on harsh chemicals to clean your home if you're making the environment of your home toxic? I don't think the gas money it takes to make all these store trips is worthwhile either. I stayed home with small children while my husband earned his Ph.D.without student loans, and I learned quickly how much of a time suck all this "bargain" shopping is. I chose to play with my babies and cook real meals while they napped, and we saved a lot of money. I'm still home with my 3rd child (and with my soon-to-be 4th) and my mad money saving skills allow us to live quite comfortably now that he's out of school. I think there's a balance, and missing some of these "deals" might be a good thing.
Who cares if you get a great deal on harsh chemicals to clean your home if you're making the environment of your home toxic? I don't think the gas money it takes to make all these store trips is worthwhile either. I stayed home with small children while my husband earned his Ph.D.without student loans, and I learned quickly how much of a time suck all this "bargain" shopping is. I chose to play with my babies and cook real meals while they napped, and we saved a lot of money. I'm still home with my 3rd child (and with my soon-to-be 4th) and my mad money saving skills allow us to live quite comfortably now that he's out of school. I think there's a balance, and missing some of these "deals" might be a good thing.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sick days and other strange blessings
A-man doesn't really complain about not feeling well, but his tonsils have been a bit sore. He hasn't fevered or had any other symptoms, so I've been sending him to school. The school nurse called yesterday right before the end of the day to tell me he had a sore throat, but she thought he'd be fine to ride the bus home, so I let him finish the day.
This morning was another 2-hour delay, and he said his head and throat hurt. I looked, and his tonsils were bigger than usual, and quite red. I agreed to let him stay home and figured I'd check I-M's throat as well. Also red. Both of them have huge tonsils normally, but they're definitely irritated today, so I decided to keep them both home rather than running out twice to drop them off and pick them up. Worse yet would've been to get a call during M's nap and have to get A-man because of illness and later pick up I-M from the bus stop. A recuperation day at home seems the best course.
They have been playing quietly and are all 3 snuggled up in my bed watching PBS kids. I got out a pack of muffin mix that's been in the cabinet for months, and those'll be done any second. I love a cozy day at home when no one's fighting. Makes being a mom such a blessing! I love being with these guys!
Speaking of blessings, I have a funny sort of perspective on them, which you may have noticed. I feel like we've been playing chicken with our finances this week. Ever had that kind of week/month/life? We operate on the belief that God owns what we have, and when we give it back, He will supply our needs. We are blessed, and we need to share our blessings with others.
We're still working on the practical side of the "right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3). As in, we need to not have second thoughts about giving generously, but we also need to communicate so that the giver (Dr.O') and the primary shopper (Me) can coordinate. I bought items that we needed this month, but maybe didn't NEED. Like lampshades for lamps that we've had for 6 months and a food processor to make good cheap food in.
That said, we had a lot of expenses this month that are hard to budget for. All wiggle room gone! We knew we had some quarterly insurance, and we budgeted for that. After Christmas, we had a gas bill that was outrageous, even though we were gone. It was based on an estimate and not an actual reading, but we didn't know if an actual reading might be even more since we've only lived here 7 months, so we paid it. Then by mid-month we were out of everything, so I did an enormous stock-up using lots of coupons and sales ads. Medical expenses for I-M came after that, leaving us with $20 for this week.
$20.79 for a week, and now it's down to $10.59 until Monday. After college, seminary, grad school, and Ph.D. program poverty, I can totally do this IF we're already stocked. Dr. O' and I thrive on this kind of week! We love the creativity that comes from having no opportunity to spend money and having to trust God to meet our needs. We have 1/2 tank of gas and nowhere to go beyond school most days. We are using our free month of Netflix to full advantage. M's cute cloth diapers are in the washer, and a box of warranty-replacement ones are coming today. Our change jar is now empty and the change used to buy milk, bananas, etc. We have plenty of ingredients to make most of our favorite meals. Our canned and dry goods are plentiful. Our fresh produce is dwindling, but there's still frozen produce, and we haven't wasted a thing! We'll have to buy milk tomorrow, but we're getting to the end, and it's okay!
When we have a week like this, I love the freedom from want. I have what I need, and wanting more doesn't make it happen, so I am more able to focus on the simple pleasures and great blessings I have in my life!
This morning was another 2-hour delay, and he said his head and throat hurt. I looked, and his tonsils were bigger than usual, and quite red. I agreed to let him stay home and figured I'd check I-M's throat as well. Also red. Both of them have huge tonsils normally, but they're definitely irritated today, so I decided to keep them both home rather than running out twice to drop them off and pick them up. Worse yet would've been to get a call during M's nap and have to get A-man because of illness and later pick up I-M from the bus stop. A recuperation day at home seems the best course.
They have been playing quietly and are all 3 snuggled up in my bed watching PBS kids. I got out a pack of muffin mix that's been in the cabinet for months, and those'll be done any second. I love a cozy day at home when no one's fighting. Makes being a mom such a blessing! I love being with these guys!
Speaking of blessings, I have a funny sort of perspective on them, which you may have noticed. I feel like we've been playing chicken with our finances this week. Ever had that kind of week/month/life? We operate on the belief that God owns what we have, and when we give it back, He will supply our needs. We are blessed, and we need to share our blessings with others.
We're still working on the practical side of the "right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3). As in, we need to not have second thoughts about giving generously, but we also need to communicate so that the giver (Dr.O') and the primary shopper (Me) can coordinate. I bought items that we needed this month, but maybe didn't NEED. Like lampshades for lamps that we've had for 6 months and a food processor to make good cheap food in.
That said, we had a lot of expenses this month that are hard to budget for. All wiggle room gone! We knew we had some quarterly insurance, and we budgeted for that. After Christmas, we had a gas bill that was outrageous, even though we were gone. It was based on an estimate and not an actual reading, but we didn't know if an actual reading might be even more since we've only lived here 7 months, so we paid it. Then by mid-month we were out of everything, so I did an enormous stock-up using lots of coupons and sales ads. Medical expenses for I-M came after that, leaving us with $20 for this week.
$20.79 for a week, and now it's down to $10.59 until Monday. After college, seminary, grad school, and Ph.D. program poverty, I can totally do this IF we're already stocked. Dr. O' and I thrive on this kind of week! We love the creativity that comes from having no opportunity to spend money and having to trust God to meet our needs. We have 1/2 tank of gas and nowhere to go beyond school most days. We are using our free month of Netflix to full advantage. M's cute cloth diapers are in the washer, and a box of warranty-replacement ones are coming today. Our change jar is now empty and the change used to buy milk, bananas, etc. We have plenty of ingredients to make most of our favorite meals. Our canned and dry goods are plentiful. Our fresh produce is dwindling, but there's still frozen produce, and we haven't wasted a thing! We'll have to buy milk tomorrow, but we're getting to the end, and it's okay!
When we have a week like this, I love the freedom from want. I have what I need, and wanting more doesn't make it happen, so I am more able to focus on the simple pleasures and great blessings I have in my life!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Why I love cloth diapering...
I wanted to cloth diaper IM, but someone convinced me it was terrible. When he was 9 months old and experiencing horrible diaper rash (Thanks, Pampers.), I looked into cloth and found the choices too overwhelming and the start-up cost too high. Wish I could do that over! A was born when IM was 18 months, so I had 2 in diapers for 2 years. A went on to wear diapers until his 4th birthday because we were focusing on his behavioral issues rather than potty training. M was born when A was 3 3/4, so I had 2 in diapers again for a while. However, I wanted to try cloth with M to cut down on waste, cost, and likely diapering time.
I bought $350 worth of prefolds and Bummis and Thirsties covers. Functional, cute colors, very affordable. They seemed to be the choice of my more thrifty and pragmatic friends. At 1 year, however, we had constant ammonia issues, M could remove the velcro covers, and the diapers were hard to put on over clothing and still allow freedom of movement.
I spent $300 on some FuzziBunz One-size, which I would have started with if I had it to do all over again. If I had started with those with the boys, we're talking $3000-$4000 that I could've saved!
I've had my bad days with stinky issues with the FuzziBunz, but I LOVE these diapers. They fit babies from 7 to 35 lbs. I love that they snap because I've had problems with velcro wearing out on the earlier covers.
Here's a few common questions and my answers-
-What do you do about poo? I flush it down the toilet, which is technically the only legal way to dispose of human waste. I do occasionally dunk diapers, but I don't have to often since I use a polyester fleece diaper that lets it roll off. First, I remove the microfiber pads that are inside. Sometimes, I use a liner that keeps the poo from getting onto the diaper. That can be flushed as well. They're pretty cheap, but I don't always remember to use them. Rinsed dirty diapers or wet diapers go into a pail in the basement until wash time.
-How do you wash them? I have hard water, so I'm careful of mineral and detergent build-up. I do a cold wash without additives. Then I start a hot wash with 4T of Charlie's Soap. I stop it when the machine is full of hot water and let it soak overnight. Then I resume the cycle in the morning with an extra rinse. After that I run them through the dryer on low or put them on the washer line. I like Rockin' Green Soap, too. This routine has been going great for about 2 months now, and since my M is 21 months, I think the routine is fine through potty training. Actually, both FuzziBunz and Rockin'Green will help customers troubleshoot their washing problems, and I fine-tuned mine with advice from FuzziBunz.
-What about night time?
I have to confess that cloth just DOESN'T work for us at night. M is a heavy wetter and pees through 3 heavy microfiber cloths. Maybe a FLIP diaper would work, maybe hemp, but I'm not interested in buying more. So we use disposables at night because we worry about ammonia and leaks.
-What about wipes?
Baby washcloths stored dry in a wipes container work great for us. I keep all the diaper stuff in the bathroom, which I think will help with potty training: this is where we deal with potty things. If I need wipes, I grab one, wet it, use it, and put it in the pail with the diaper when I'm done. No sorting out piles of things to wash and things to toss that way. I do like California Baby's spray to spritz on during a change, but I make sure to wipe well so that the oils don't get on the diaper.
I can't say that this is what everyone should do or that doing it my way would work for everyone, but it works great for us! I love seeing M's little cloth-covered bum and hate the sight/smell of disposables. If nothing else, I'm preventing a lot of landfill waste and using biodegradable detergent on all our laundry, so it has to be a point for the green side.
Most of the research that suggests that cloth is equal to disposables or is worse than disposables in terms of cost or environmental impact is funded by disposable diaper companies. Typically such research assumes that cloth diapering parents use a diaper service, which involves delivery pollution, harsh chemicals, and high energy costs. Not me, I do it all at home for the cost of a load of laundry. 'Scuse me, gotta start the wash!
I bought $350 worth of prefolds and Bummis and Thirsties covers. Functional, cute colors, very affordable. They seemed to be the choice of my more thrifty and pragmatic friends. At 1 year, however, we had constant ammonia issues, M could remove the velcro covers, and the diapers were hard to put on over clothing and still allow freedom of movement.
I spent $300 on some FuzziBunz One-size, which I would have started with if I had it to do all over again. If I had started with those with the boys, we're talking $3000-$4000 that I could've saved!
I've had my bad days with stinky issues with the FuzziBunz, but I LOVE these diapers. They fit babies from 7 to 35 lbs. I love that they snap because I've had problems with velcro wearing out on the earlier covers.
Here's a few common questions and my answers-
-What do you do about poo? I flush it down the toilet, which is technically the only legal way to dispose of human waste. I do occasionally dunk diapers, but I don't have to often since I use a polyester fleece diaper that lets it roll off. First, I remove the microfiber pads that are inside. Sometimes, I use a liner that keeps the poo from getting onto the diaper. That can be flushed as well. They're pretty cheap, but I don't always remember to use them. Rinsed dirty diapers or wet diapers go into a pail in the basement until wash time.
-How do you wash them? I have hard water, so I'm careful of mineral and detergent build-up. I do a cold wash without additives. Then I start a hot wash with 4T of Charlie's Soap. I stop it when the machine is full of hot water and let it soak overnight. Then I resume the cycle in the morning with an extra rinse. After that I run them through the dryer on low or put them on the washer line. I like Rockin' Green Soap, too. This routine has been going great for about 2 months now, and since my M is 21 months, I think the routine is fine through potty training. Actually, both FuzziBunz and Rockin'Green will help customers troubleshoot their washing problems, and I fine-tuned mine with advice from FuzziBunz.
-What about night time?
I have to confess that cloth just DOESN'T work for us at night. M is a heavy wetter and pees through 3 heavy microfiber cloths. Maybe a FLIP diaper would work, maybe hemp, but I'm not interested in buying more. So we use disposables at night because we worry about ammonia and leaks.
-What about wipes?
Baby washcloths stored dry in a wipes container work great for us. I keep all the diaper stuff in the bathroom, which I think will help with potty training: this is where we deal with potty things. If I need wipes, I grab one, wet it, use it, and put it in the pail with the diaper when I'm done. No sorting out piles of things to wash and things to toss that way. I do like California Baby's spray to spritz on during a change, but I make sure to wipe well so that the oils don't get on the diaper.
I can't say that this is what everyone should do or that doing it my way would work for everyone, but it works great for us! I love seeing M's little cloth-covered bum and hate the sight/smell of disposables. If nothing else, I'm preventing a lot of landfill waste and using biodegradable detergent on all our laundry, so it has to be a point for the green side.
Most of the research that suggests that cloth is equal to disposables or is worse than disposables in terms of cost or environmental impact is funded by disposable diaper companies. Typically such research assumes that cloth diapering parents use a diaper service, which involves delivery pollution, harsh chemicals, and high energy costs. Not me, I do it all at home for the cost of a load of laundry. 'Scuse me, gotta start the wash!
Hooray, God provides!
I've been a bit low this holiday season. It's hard for me to not be able to focus entirely on Advent, but it's for legitimate reasons. My husband had a miscommunication with his employer resulting in our not getting reimbursed $500 he paid for a conference put on by his publisher. This $500 was the bulk of our Christmas fund. We also have important birthdays and travel that will cost money. It's just discouraging. However, we have a gift for the boys that we know they will love and that we can add to later. (Shh! It's a Wii that we're getting second-hand from my brother). My 1000-cookie-bacchanal won't be that expensive, and it provides a source of gifts for friends and family. Any money that we get from our parents for Christmas will pay for us to get home (maybe that's why they give us cash! ;).
I get upset from time to time when I think about this lack of funds, but I have to realize that we put out $800 for this conference over 3 months. After grad school poverty, I marvel that we paid all our bills and still managed to sock away enough to pay for Dr. O' to go to Atlanta.
I took IM today to JCPenney's because we had a 20% off coupon from a church friend. The coats were at least 50% off to begin with, and we got to use the coupon, so I bought him larger snowpants and some nice Thinsulate gloves. The original price for all was $135, and I got all for $45 with tax. Thankfully, his boots still fit, at least until they go on clearance in a month or two! The best part of today was some one-on-one time with the son who is growing up so fast. He turns 7 in 2 weeks! We had a late lunch at Panera and did some quick grocery shopping. What a huge blessing to get affordable and durable outerwear and get some time with my not-so-little guy!
When I get a little annoyed, thinking thatmy kids deserve I deserve to see a HUGE pile of presents under my tree, thinking that our present unwrapping should take even a scant hour, I remember that I've been given far more than I could ever hope to be worthy of. I want my kids to be so immersed in Advent joy that the Christmas Day materialism becomes part of Christmas but not the sum total of Christmas.
I thought about getting a credit card to make it through Christmas, but I'm not going to. I just can't put my faith in a piece of plastic with the expectation that "it'll all work out". If it'll work out when I pay off the debt, why not trust that things will work out now? God provides. Not all at once or always in the ways I think He should, but He has blessed us abundantly. Philippians 4:19
UPDATE: As usual, everything has worked out fine. We have been abundantly blessed with new clothes and new shoes and thoughtful gifts of all kinds by our family. We have had enough money to be able to travel to Indiana and Pennsylvania. My brother charged us $25 for the Wii, which came with 2 games and 4 controllers. We bought the Jedis a Star Wars LEGO game for the Wii and a table and chair set for M. Dr. O' got a great deal on an iPod dock for me, and I've been enjoying it throughout the Christmas season. Dr. O' bought all of his own gifts at his conference in Atlanta, where he can find the best deals on books each year. We have what we need, and then some! Thank you, Lord!
I get upset from time to time when I think about this lack of funds, but I have to realize that we put out $800 for this conference over 3 months. After grad school poverty, I marvel that we paid all our bills and still managed to sock away enough to pay for Dr. O' to go to Atlanta.
I took IM today to JCPenney's because we had a 20% off coupon from a church friend. The coats were at least 50% off to begin with, and we got to use the coupon, so I bought him larger snowpants and some nice Thinsulate gloves. The original price for all was $135, and I got all for $45 with tax. Thankfully, his boots still fit, at least until they go on clearance in a month or two! The best part of today was some one-on-one time with the son who is growing up so fast. He turns 7 in 2 weeks! We had a late lunch at Panera and did some quick grocery shopping. What a huge blessing to get affordable and durable outerwear and get some time with my not-so-little guy!
When I get a little annoyed, thinking that
I thought about getting a credit card to make it through Christmas, but I'm not going to. I just can't put my faith in a piece of plastic with the expectation that "it'll all work out". If it'll work out when I pay off the debt, why not trust that things will work out now? God provides. Not all at once or always in the ways I think He should, but He has blessed us abundantly. Philippians 4:19
UPDATE: As usual, everything has worked out fine. We have been abundantly blessed with new clothes and new shoes and thoughtful gifts of all kinds by our family. We have had enough money to be able to travel to Indiana and Pennsylvania. My brother charged us $25 for the Wii, which came with 2 games and 4 controllers. We bought the Jedis a Star Wars LEGO game for the Wii and a table and chair set for M. Dr. O' got a great deal on an iPod dock for me, and I've been enjoying it throughout the Christmas season. Dr. O' bought all of his own gifts at his conference in Atlanta, where he can find the best deals on books each year. We have what we need, and then some! Thank you, Lord!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)