Re-looking, Re-defining, Re-doing

It's that time of year when we redo our budget, redefine and goals and re-look at how we did last year. I can honestly say we managed to accomplish most everything we sat out to do.

There were 2 major things that we did not get accomplished. One was to finish fencing in the front garden which affects my next move and that's to incorporate more raised vegetable beds. I'm going to need the fence put up and beds fashioned pretty soon so I can start composting to amend the soil. We all know spring will be here sooner than later. The second thing was to redo the chicken pen. I want to get a dozen more layers and I want to sell my surplus. Hopefully, this will offset the cost of keeping the chickens and provide us with healthy eggs once again.

Financially it was a challenging year in general with food and gas purchases topping the list of expenses. Car pooling continues to be very cost effective, so we will continue that into this year. Food, well I am going to try some creative preparation of plan-ahead meals to help with breakfast. Of course left overs will still be a good part of our dinner meals.

I have set our money saving goals extremely high and it is going to be quite challenging to accomplish. However, the goal of building the little house will become a reality and how sweet it will be!

"Birdhouses" Mamsie style

I asked the kids, Kayla and Monty this year to decorate a birdhouse and give it to me for Christmas. I figured out the style of the birdhouses and Monty cut them out of pieces of cedar he had in his stash. Since I had been collecting pieces of this and that with with this project in mind, I pulled out my shoebox of drawer pulls, escutheon plates, pipe clamps, one drain cover and upholstry tacks. They each sorted out what they liked and went to work on thier designs. What resulted is 5 very unique houses which I absolutely love. It was a very nice Christmas for Mams!

A Simple Christmas

This year I returned to my roots and decorated our tree with mostly all handmade ornaments, save for the glitter grapevine wreath balls and poinsetta flowers. Our tree is filled with little ornaments made over the last 33 years. From felt Christmas trees made in 1988 to cross stitch ornaments I made in 1980's when Monty and I first met. There are plastic canvas poinsetta's made by me and the kids in 1996, marshmallow snowmen made in 2006, wreaths made in 1984, small peach baskets in 1986 and lots of others that I never dated. Wish now I had. What is amazing is that I have made an ornament every year except for just a couple. The years I missed, well I just didn't get a creative vibe to make one. But hey, 30 yrs is a long time and with many more to come who knows what I will come up with next!


Merry Christmas and enjoy a memory moment from years past..

Budget, budget, budget

You know the ole saying...everything little bit counts....well it does. I think the biggest reason people fail at saving or budgeting is that they don't get the big picture. You have to think the long haul. Yes, it does take time and sacrifice on your part to break bad money habits.

1st-think of it like this...reducing your cable bill by $30 a month translates into a savings of $360 yrly. You should look at your cell phone and insurance plans as well to find more hidden savings.
2nd-use coupons(and I could do better). You can at the very least save $3-5 wk, which in turn will save you $144-240 yrly.
3rd-buy on sale and stock up. If it something that routinely goes on sale, buy only enough to get to the next one. This allows you to keep your capital in the bank for a rainy day event(like a flat tire, etc). The key is not to overspend on sale items.
4th-use credit cards wisely, again goes without saying. If you have to buy on credit then pay it off in a set amount of months. Make every effort to make those big purchases when your card offers 0% interest for a specific time frame. Then milk it, figure what you have to pay for that period. Set it up in on your bank site to pay monthly and forget it. Done. No shame in using their dime to fund a major purchase..hehe.
5th-make a commitment to not buy any thing other than the bare necessities for 3 months. This is harder than you think. But do it and you will be amazed at what you saved. $$$ ka-ching, ka-ching will add up.
6th-eat leftovers. I now plan meals with the sole intention of having the left overs later in the week. Not only has it simplified cooking but is a major time saver as well. Yeehaw on the time saving bit. Less food waste = less money spent.
7th-nothing new here but if you owe more than one credit card, take the credit industries advice. Attack the balance with the highest annual percentage rate first. When that one is paid off, move onto the debt with the next-highest interest rate. Transfer balances to lower interest card and credit card hop to get the lowest interest.
8th-now that you are working on #7, don't charge them up again. Instead, stay the course.
9th and most important...is to save something every paycheck. Once you have money in savings you can pay for those unexpected expenses that come up. Plus, you have that nice little feeling of having a nest egg.
10th-impulse spending can undo your budget. Unless you have to have it to breathe, leave it on the shelf.
11th-shop used and pay less. If you have access to a Goodwill or the like, pop in and look around. You may luck up and find some things at a very cheap price.
12th and last, less bills to pay = more time. And having more time is always a good thing.

So, remember little savings add up to big savings. Everytime you save something, transfer the differece to your savings. Your financial health will improve as well as your well being.

Crafting away

You'll find me this time of year thinking about my Christmas craft projects and how I can dream up new uses for the "leftovers" from other craft projects. So, this year is no different from others as I gaze into my craft cabinet to see what can be reused, used up and recrafted. The main thing this year I want to do is use up ribbon that I seem to have collected over the years. Ribbon from pretty packages, ribbon left on mostly spent rolls, etc. I have to admit I like pretty ribbon! So far I have managed to use up most of the short pieces left on rolls. I gave some away that I never plan to use and I plan to use any new ribbon I buy this season up on current projects. I won't be packing any away in storage bins this year.

I'm going to do the same with my craft paper. Figuring new ways to use it up...again, although I don't scrapbook, I find I am sucker for cool and pretty paper! I have to say there are plenty of projects to use it on and I'm trying my best to come up with new ideas..or freshen up old ones...lol. From here on out though, I plan to buy only what I need for current projects. Again, reducing down is the name of the game!

So cheers to all, the Christmas music is on and I'm gettin all crafty this morning!

Being Thankful

Nice weather, casseroles lined up on the bar and pumpkin pie in the oven. Won't be long now until it's time to eat our Thanksgiving fare. A little strange this year with only the 3 of us here to celebrate. La won't be here until Christmas and Aaron just left on Tuesday to house sit for the weekend in Asheville.

Yes, strange not to have the lively conversation that ensues when everyone is in the same place at the same time. Strange not having a house full of kids in pj's lounging on the couch, watching tv, laughing and asking how soon will dinner be ready.

Yes, strange, different and a bit weird.

There's a lot to be thankful for today..I have job, house, loving family and much more....


.....and I don't know about the rest of you all, but I am starving! Bring on the turkey and the fixins!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Fast approaching Fall

If you haven't given it any thought...perhaps you should. The first day of fall is right around the corner. As a matter of fact, how does Septempber 23rd grab you?

Here's a little tidbit, courtesy of the Farmer's Almanac. The Autumnal Equinox:

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night." The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the hours of day and night are equal as the Sun crosses the celestial equator. From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop and the days start to get shorter.


We've been readying the raised beds for fall planting. Surprisingly we have lots of peppers still growing and the red rockets are well.....hot!!! As in take your breath away and like hotter than jalapenos. We also have a few potato plants growing and a cantaloupe vine that is blooming(probably will not have time to set fruit).

My fall garden plans are :

1) To plant some lettuce, mesculen and garlic this afternoon.

2) We'll plan on picking up a few broccoli and collards plants later this week and hopefully get them in the ground by next weekend.

The weather has been on the cool side this weekend and the birds have been very active at the feeders. Lots of singing and chirping. Makes me think of ole Bob Ross...how he used to say "happy little trees" but in this case I would have to say..."happy little birds" .

And oh, when Hurricane Irene blew by us, she managed to knock a bunch of green pecans off the neighbors pecan tree. I picked them up for days and put them on the porch to dry in an attempt to save them. Unfortunately green pecans don't ever split their outer husks. Instead their husks dry out hard as rocks, making them impossible to crack open. But today while gazing up into the pecan tree I was amazed to see quite a few pecans left on the overhanging branches into our yard. Seems maybe we may get a few after all....yeah!