My girls are getting to an age where they no longer play with or need a lot of things we used when they were newborns. These things are taking up precious space in our living room and the nursery and are not being used. Swings, Boppys, Bumbos, Play mats, bouncy chairs, our rocker -- all things that take up a substantial amount of space unnecessarily. Enter, Craigslist! I love craigslist. You can get things out the door and recoup some of your cost for them - thus simplifying AND frugal! Put the money you earn in a fund towards new things that you'll need for your kids, monthly bills, or a special event you're saving for.
Today I decided to take two steps - since it takes some time for things to actually sell on craigslist, and not very much effort to list them. So, I also started thinking about and planning ways that I can cut down on our shopping list - which is really at the heart of frugal simple living. I'm utilizing mostly blogs to inspire me - reading up on ways to make meals cheaper and stretch further, what items are best to buy in bulk, and collecting coupons to help keep costs down.
What do you do to get the most out of your budgets?
Day 3 - Success :)
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Frugal in Forty: Day 2 - Cleaning out THEIR closet
One would be under the assumption that the closet and dresser of 9 month old's would be simple and manageable - not in this house! These girls have clothes coming out their ears, in all shapes and sizes. In fact, I'm fairly certain they have more clothes than I do. Granted, there are two of them. Still, I found that a good amount of clothes were out of season or out of size. Just add it to the pile of donation clothes!
Our house isn't excessive, and the nursery is the smaller of the bedrooms, so every inch of space needs to be used wisely and organized. Because there was no "leeway", just having that pile of clothes out of place made everything feel chaotic, but now that things are in order it's much more relaxing.
Do you ever notice you sleep better when your room is clean? Cleanliness and order are peaceful, which is ultimately the goal of this endeavor - peace!
These baby steps are proving to be a wise decision for me. I am not overwhelming myself with an impossible list of things to do in one day, but rather taking effective steps to bring order and peace to our lives. This is not the same effect as I would have by simply cleaning - cleaning would be moving things around, shifting the chaos - this home detoxification is getting things OUT that are serving no purpose but to clutter. This way, at the end of the 40 days, things will not still be there, waiting to be shifted again, but we will be able to maintain the peace and order far more easily.
Here we go...
Half way through...
And sorted! Bags are going elsewhere, huge improvement!
And so - Day two: Success!
Our house isn't excessive, and the nursery is the smaller of the bedrooms, so every inch of space needs to be used wisely and organized. Because there was no "leeway", just having that pile of clothes out of place made everything feel chaotic, but now that things are in order it's much more relaxing.
Do you ever notice you sleep better when your room is clean? Cleanliness and order are peaceful, which is ultimately the goal of this endeavor - peace!
These baby steps are proving to be a wise decision for me. I am not overwhelming myself with an impossible list of things to do in one day, but rather taking effective steps to bring order and peace to our lives. This is not the same effect as I would have by simply cleaning - cleaning would be moving things around, shifting the chaos - this home detoxification is getting things OUT that are serving no purpose but to clutter. This way, at the end of the 40 days, things will not still be there, waiting to be shifted again, but we will be able to maintain the peace and order far more easily.
Here we go...
Half way through...
And sorted! Bags are going elsewhere, huge improvement!
And so - Day two: Success!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Frugal in Forty: Day 1 - Cleaning out my closet
Literally! Tonight I went through my dresser and closet and sorted all the clothes from each other. I removed and set aside all of my winter clothes to be put in a storage bin, and separated a huge pile of clothes to be donated that haven't been worn in months. They are obviously not clothes I value, or else I would have worn them already, and there are people who are in far greater need of them than I. My dresser is nice and empty organized now, and I am enjoying the way things are fitting better.
So day one was a success! One step at a time :)
Suppose a person is good and does what is fair and right ( . . . ) He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none ( . . . ) Whoever does these things is good and will surely live, says the Lord God. - Ezekiel 18:5-9
So day one was a success! One step at a time :)
Suppose a person is good and does what is fair and right ( . . . ) He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none ( . . . ) Whoever does these things is good and will surely live, says the Lord God. - Ezekiel 18:5-9
Moby Wrap
When I brought my sweet littles home from the NICU, all I wanted to do was cuddle them all day, they were so sweet and squishy. And despite my husband assuring me I needn't worry about the housework at that point, I felt the need to begin organizing our life after the chaos that was our life in the NICU -- enter, The Moby. The Moby is what is classified as a stretchy wrap. It's a long piece of stretchy fabric in which you can wrap and carry your baby(ies) hands free. This wrap was my life saver for for the first few months that the girls were home. You can find a myriad of Moby instructional videos on Youtube to help you figure out how to wrap singletons and twins.
A note* Despite the package stating that it can carry up to 35 lbs, it has been found that after 20 - 25 lbs the Moby stops being as supportive. It is also recommended that you do not carry your baby facing forward in the Moby - as it is believed it puts potentially harmful pressure on the baby's hips and is not correctly supportive for hip or spine alignment.
I strongly recommend investing in a Moby wrap. If you cannot afford to purchase one brand new ($40), I recommend checking out thebabywearer.com or the Baby Wearing Swap on Babycenter.com to find a gently loved one, usually for at least half the price! If you do buy a new one, remember that most often you can sell it once you no longer need it on the aforementioned websites as well to recoup some of your cost!
A note* Despite the package stating that it can carry up to 35 lbs, it has been found that after 20 - 25 lbs the Moby stops being as supportive. It is also recommended that you do not carry your baby facing forward in the Moby - as it is believed it puts potentially harmful pressure on the baby's hips and is not correctly supportive for hip or spine alignment.
I strongly recommend investing in a Moby wrap. If you cannot afford to purchase one brand new ($40), I recommend checking out thebabywearer.com or the Baby Wearing Swap on Babycenter.com to find a gently loved one, usually for at least half the price! If you do buy a new one, remember that most often you can sell it once you no longer need it on the aforementioned websites as well to recoup some of your cost!
Frugal in Forty
Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify. - Henry David Thoreau, Transcendentalist author and poet
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak - Hans Hoffman, early 20th century abstract expressionist painter
Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. - Elise Boulding, late 20th century author and sociologist.
For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. - 2 Corinthians 1:12, NKJV
I read an article today about the link found between sodium nitrites and the increased risk of cancers, wherein it declared that nearly all processed foods contained this harmful carcinogenic. Curiously, upon visiting the grocery store shortly thereafter, I took the time to check out the labels on the packages of yet-to-be-sliced sandwich meat at the deli. Surprise, surprise, I found row after row of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrate, and more sodium nitrate. On every. Single. One. And it's not just sandwich meat - you can also find this unnecessary color enhancing additive in hot dogs, frozen meats (mostly red), pepperoni, bacon (thank goodness my store sells natural nitrate/nitrite free bacon!), etc. Basically, if it's processed and/or red meat, you can count on it having this ingredient. *note, this does not include fresh red meat*.
I know there are people reading this who are probably rolling their eyes, I'm pretty sure my husband did a little, because it seems like every other day someone is putting out a new study about something else giving us cancer. People are beginning to wonder how much is real and how much is being used to stir up fear. But processed foods are something we've been warned about time and time again, for more than a handful of reasons. I decided to avoid my deli meat on today's shopping trip, which made me think about things that I can eat that are fresh and wholesome and good for you, which in turn led me to some blogs I read, that specialize in natural living, as resources. Most of them have one thing in common, frugality.
In the past this word was not a used in a positive light, it was usually used to describe people who pinched their pennies, were greedy, selfish, miserly. This is not the way frugality is usually intended today, and it certainly is not the way God wants us to live. The modern concept of frugality, however, I believe to be very God honoring. It's about *simplifying* - everything from our bank accounts to our refrigerator to our souls. It's about de-cluttering our homes and our priorities. It's about reassigning value from the inconsequential to the fundamental.
It is my belief that a frugal lifestyle is the way to holiness and a closer relationship with God. This is something I desire not only for myself but for my household. And we are surely in desperate need of some purging and purification. So, for the next 40 days I will be on a mission to begin a lifestyle of frugality for myself, my family, my home, and my spirituality.
It will be largely "out with the old - in with the new". I will be putting together new shopping lists, figuring out how to make food go further, re-organizing my home, re-budgeting, in short, completely revamping.
Great things are always accomplished over the course of 40 days in the bible, and I know I have a lot of work to do, but I am praying that this will be the start of a new life for us. With Christ, all things are possible.
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak - Hans Hoffman, early 20th century abstract expressionist painter
Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. - Elise Boulding, late 20th century author and sociologist.
For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. - 2 Corinthians 1:12, NKJV
I read an article today about the link found between sodium nitrites and the increased risk of cancers, wherein it declared that nearly all processed foods contained this harmful carcinogenic. Curiously, upon visiting the grocery store shortly thereafter, I took the time to check out the labels on the packages of yet-to-be-sliced sandwich meat at the deli. Surprise, surprise, I found row after row of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrate, and more sodium nitrate. On every. Single. One. And it's not just sandwich meat - you can also find this unnecessary color enhancing additive in hot dogs, frozen meats (mostly red), pepperoni, bacon (thank goodness my store sells natural nitrate/nitrite free bacon!), etc. Basically, if it's processed and/or red meat, you can count on it having this ingredient. *note, this does not include fresh red meat*.
I know there are people reading this who are probably rolling their eyes, I'm pretty sure my husband did a little, because it seems like every other day someone is putting out a new study about something else giving us cancer. People are beginning to wonder how much is real and how much is being used to stir up fear. But processed foods are something we've been warned about time and time again, for more than a handful of reasons. I decided to avoid my deli meat on today's shopping trip, which made me think about things that I can eat that are fresh and wholesome and good for you, which in turn led me to some blogs I read, that specialize in natural living, as resources. Most of them have one thing in common, frugality.
In the past this word was not a used in a positive light, it was usually used to describe people who pinched their pennies, were greedy, selfish, miserly. This is not the way frugality is usually intended today, and it certainly is not the way God wants us to live. The modern concept of frugality, however, I believe to be very God honoring. It's about *simplifying* - everything from our bank accounts to our refrigerator to our souls. It's about de-cluttering our homes and our priorities. It's about reassigning value from the inconsequential to the fundamental.
It is my belief that a frugal lifestyle is the way to holiness and a closer relationship with God. This is something I desire not only for myself but for my household. And we are surely in desperate need of some purging and purification. So, for the next 40 days I will be on a mission to begin a lifestyle of frugality for myself, my family, my home, and my spirituality.
It will be largely "out with the old - in with the new". I will be putting together new shopping lists, figuring out how to make food go further, re-organizing my home, re-budgeting, in short, completely revamping.
Great things are always accomplished over the course of 40 days in the bible, and I know I have a lot of work to do, but I am praying that this will be the start of a new life for us. With Christ, all things are possible.
Monday, May 30, 2011
When 'our best' is not enough.
We are all familiar with the phrase "Your best is enough", but this afternoon I am sitting here completely convinced that it is not. Our best is always totally and completely inadequate. Our best falls pathetically short. No, our best is not enough. When I hear that phrase it conveys an image to me, an image of giving or doing until we feel we've run out of room, shrugging and saying "well I gave it my best". I know how I sound, I know what some of you are thinking, but hear me out. We need to be striving for God's best, not our own, and I believe in order to accomplish that it means to never stop. Even when it hurts, when it's scary, when it's uncomfortable, when it's unfamiliar, we should never stop.
Do you give until it hurts? I don't. God does not provide us with nearly overflowing resources so that we might hoard them to ourselves in an attempt to make our lives as comfortable as possible. He gives to us so that we have *more* to give.
Right now I am following a group of bloggers who are currently on a missions trip to the Philippines through Compassion International. I'm reading these words on my two year old laptop (that I complain about being out of date), in my air conditioned house (that I complain about being too small) from my overstuffed sofa. And I am thinking to myself "what am I doing?".
We don't currently sponsor any charity of any kind. Because if we did that we wouldn't be able to pay our cable bill, or go out to eat, or buy new housewares. And it suddenly feels like such a terribly pathetic excuse. I have a lot to pray about and evaluate in my life, because I am now convinced that God did not bless me with the resources I have in order to cushion my life. This is not what life is about. If you feel like challenging yourself, I encourage you to follow these bloggers this week on their trip, and ask God to open your hearts to their messages, and pray for them while they're on their journey.
Chatting at the sky
Simple Mom
Inspired to Action
Keeper of the Home
Passionate Homemaking
Do you give until it hurts? I don't. God does not provide us with nearly overflowing resources so that we might hoard them to ourselves in an attempt to make our lives as comfortable as possible. He gives to us so that we have *more* to give.
Right now I am following a group of bloggers who are currently on a missions trip to the Philippines through Compassion International. I'm reading these words on my two year old laptop (that I complain about being out of date), in my air conditioned house (that I complain about being too small) from my overstuffed sofa. And I am thinking to myself "what am I doing?".
We don't currently sponsor any charity of any kind. Because if we did that we wouldn't be able to pay our cable bill, or go out to eat, or buy new housewares. And it suddenly feels like such a terribly pathetic excuse. I have a lot to pray about and evaluate in my life, because I am now convinced that God did not bless me with the resources I have in order to cushion my life. This is not what life is about. If you feel like challenging yourself, I encourage you to follow these bloggers this week on their trip, and ask God to open your hearts to their messages, and pray for them while they're on their journey.
Chatting at the sky
Simple Mom
Inspired to Action
Keeper of the Home
Passionate Homemaking
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A battle of faith
Oh, Lord, rescue me, I beseech you
Encamp your angles round about me and deliver me from our enemy
Harken unto me, Abba, hear my cry
I need you to be my rock and my foundation, let me hold fast to you
My soul cries out for you, for You are my Savior
Though the war spins round about me, I desperately seek to fix my gaze upon you
When the fight engulfs me from my right and my left, from below me and behind
I lift my hands up to you from the mountain and I wait for your deliverance
In the storms, you are my shelter, in the wasteland you are my well
In the black of night you are the my eternal light
When my strength has failed, I will rest in the Everlasting Arms
Yahweh, I call out to you, save me from my despair
You are my God, your grace is sufficient, your love is perfect
Blessed be your name forever and ever
Selah.
When we are attacked, we are rarely attacked on only one front.
Because one front can usually be easily defended, can't it?
No, it is much more advantageous for the Devil to attack us from multiple strategic angles.
Fear of death, lack of self esteem, doubt, marital insecurity, illness, a childs illness, financial strain.
He hopes that by breaking the ice on all angles, that we will fall through, that we will give into the seemingly hopeless chill that engulfs us.
These moments happen to everyone, they are not unique to any one person - what sets us apart is how we react to these situations. Some people will look to themselves, some people will look to their friends, some to alcohol, some to drugs. I am choosing to look to my Lord with the strength that I can. I am not strong, I am not perfect, but I am putting my effort into my Father and Savior. But I do not believe this journey is one that I can walk alone. I need your help. I need your prayers, I need you to lift me up.
In Exodus 17 Moses prays to the Lord for victory in a battle that Israel was fighting. When he kept his arms raised, Israel won, when he let them fall, they lost ground. When his arms became too heavy for him to hold up on his own, Aaron and Hur came along side and held them up for him - and because of this, they won the battle.
Right now, I need you to hold up my hands. I am tired, I am afraid, I am physically run down. Will you help me win this battle?
Encamp your angles round about me and deliver me from our enemy
Harken unto me, Abba, hear my cry
I need you to be my rock and my foundation, let me hold fast to you
My soul cries out for you, for You are my Savior
Though the war spins round about me, I desperately seek to fix my gaze upon you
When the fight engulfs me from my right and my left, from below me and behind
I lift my hands up to you from the mountain and I wait for your deliverance
In the storms, you are my shelter, in the wasteland you are my well
In the black of night you are the my eternal light
When my strength has failed, I will rest in the Everlasting Arms
Yahweh, I call out to you, save me from my despair
You are my God, your grace is sufficient, your love is perfect
Blessed be your name forever and ever
Selah.
When we are attacked, we are rarely attacked on only one front.
Because one front can usually be easily defended, can't it?
No, it is much more advantageous for the Devil to attack us from multiple strategic angles.
Fear of death, lack of self esteem, doubt, marital insecurity, illness, a childs illness, financial strain.
He hopes that by breaking the ice on all angles, that we will fall through, that we will give into the seemingly hopeless chill that engulfs us.
These moments happen to everyone, they are not unique to any one person - what sets us apart is how we react to these situations. Some people will look to themselves, some people will look to their friends, some to alcohol, some to drugs. I am choosing to look to my Lord with the strength that I can. I am not strong, I am not perfect, but I am putting my effort into my Father and Savior. But I do not believe this journey is one that I can walk alone. I need your help. I need your prayers, I need you to lift me up.
In Exodus 17 Moses prays to the Lord for victory in a battle that Israel was fighting. When he kept his arms raised, Israel won, when he let them fall, they lost ground. When his arms became too heavy for him to hold up on his own, Aaron and Hur came along side and held them up for him - and because of this, they won the battle.
Right now, I need you to hold up my hands. I am tired, I am afraid, I am physically run down. Will you help me win this battle?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)