The Art of Homemaking: 25 Things I Do to Save Money

About 8 years ago, Justin was laid off of work. We had a mortgage, tuition, a baby, and I wasn't working. For 3 years we were underemployed. Justin's paycheck covered the mortgage, car payment, and insurance; savings covered everything else we needed to live: food, utilities, clothes, etc. In April 2012 Justin graduated with his master's degree, began working as an engineer and we finally had room to breath again.

2017 we are still in the same house but have 3 more kids. Our financial situation has changed dramatically from 2009. We buckled down our spending during those lean years and we have ramped up our saving in the last two. By saving and not spending, we now put away nearly equal the amount of our mortgage each month. Our main goals are big house (me) and retiring (Justin) so save save save is our song right now.

Here are some things I do to save money to help us reach our goals sooner. Nothing earth shattering here and mostly common sense. All of these things combined make a big difference.

1. We refinanced to a 15-year mortgage. Our payment is higher but we pay less interest which means we will net more equity when we sell which will translate to a lower payment on our next house.
2. We own used cars and paid cash (11 and 17 years old)
3. Our cell phones are 5 years old and our computers were bought used.
4. We don't own smartphones thus no data plans.
5. We have the most basic cable plan (like 10 channels).
6. I plan our meals a week at a time based on what I have on hand then buy what's on sale and make my shopping list accordingly. I make big meals for Justin to eat the leftovers for lunch.
7. I go to the store as few times a month as possible. I keep running shopping lists for Macey's, Walmart, and Costco. If I run out something, I still try to wait at least a couple more days or a week before I go. Fewer shopping trips means I spend less overall on those "oh yeah, I need that" items.
8. We make pancakes, cookies, rolls, waffles, and lots of other things by scratch. I don't buy a lot of cookies, chips, or other snack foods. I rarely buy juice and soda, and never buy meals from the freezer section.
9. We eat a ton of eggs--like 3 dozen a week. I boil 12-17 eggs at a time for lunches and snacks.
10. I keep a list of price per unit of our frequently purchased items and compare and update the list often. Sometimes Costco is cheaper for cereal, sometimes a sale at Macey's beats it.
11. We don't go out to eat very often--usually one meal per month with the kids, one dinner out just the two of us. We order waters all around unless it's your birthday or our anniversary.
12. We try to eat at places where we have coupons that come in the mail or birthday clubs.
13. Half of our kids' wardrobes come from garage sales and the other half comes from clearance sales.
14. We love garage sales. You can find anything and everything for pennies on the dollar. Saturday mornings all summer long.
15. Erica and James wear Sarah and Henry's hand-me-downs. I've got totes and diaper boxes carefully labeled with sizes so every season I grab the next box for Erica and James. (Erica gets a new Easter dress, Christmas pjs and maybe a couple of new shirts each season if Sarah's clothes didn't survive Sarah.)
16. I sew, repair and alter clothes. I've got a beloved pair of jeans that I've patched the patches on. I've made skirts for Sarah out of my old sweaters, made aprons out of garage sale fabric. If a dress on sale is too big for Sarah, no problem, I just take it in.
17. I make my own laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, and floor cleaner. You can clean anything with a combination of vinegar, Borax, washing soda, kosher salt, and Dawn.
18. We get all our entertainment from the library. I don't buy books unless for gifts and we go to a movie only once a year, especially now that the dollar theater by us closed. We don't own video games.
19. I don't buy a lot of stuff. This can be the biggest money saver. I think long and hard about everything I buy. Stuff means I have to get after someone to clean it up or dust it or repair it or keep track of it or find a place for it. Who needs stuff? I love throwing things away but it's better to not spend money on it in the first place.
20. I have a few wish-lists on Amazon where I put ideas for Christmas and birthday gifts. It evolves based on price and what I think my kids and their cousins and friends will appreciate and get the most use out of. Cuts down on impulse gift shopping.
21. I cut everyone else's hair and get my own done only a few times a year. During those lean years, I colored my hair myself and got it cut only twice a year.
22. I don't redecorate very much or very often. I just barely replaced a 15-year-old lamp because the switch broke. It was a big deal for me. My kids' rooms aren't coordinated and cutely decorated (because kids don't care).
23. Parks and the mountains are our go-to destinations. Going to the zoo, bowling, and a baseball game once a year is a big deal.
24. I take my kids pictures instead of paying for school pictures.
25. I don't buy wrapping paper for birthday gifts. I reuse and reuse giftbags and wrap things in paper bags from the grocery store. The kids love to draw on the brown paper for each other.
25. Justin does all the maintenance on our cars and we fix everything we possibly can ourselves. Youtube can teach you how to fix anything. I fixed our dishwasher and refrigerator.

But most importantly, we do it together. Justin and I sit down and make a budget at the beginning of every month and give every dollar a purpose. And then we sit down again mid-month to talk about how things are going (Did the car repair cost more than we were expecting? Diapers were less than I thought, we can move the extra to that., etc) I look at it every week or so to see where I'm at. (I think Justin looks at it even more often than that.) We are both very aware of where our money is going at all times. It's just too big of a burden to put on one person. I could probably write an entire post about how we manage our money.

So there you have it. There are definitely more creative and extreme penny-pinching people out there but this works for us now in our lives. There are things we pay good money for like sheets, cookware, and winter coats. Those things matter to us and we scrimp in other places to make up for it. It's all about priorities and planning.

Di Gets Existential and Sarah Gets Up-side-down

I have three thoughts reflecting on my life right now. I get a little existential and wordy so if you're here for the pictures, scroll down.

1. Every day is similar to the next except for that one thing that happens each day that you cannot possibly foresee. (Example: Running Erica's laundry through the washer again because I found a turd in the bottom of the washer as I was putting them into the dryer. There's just no way you can wake up and put that on your to-do list.)

2. I have no deadlines, no semester breaks, no finals, no promotions, no pay periods, no exams. No clear beginnings nor ends. Is my future this road with no landmarks, no mile markers? The world pays little mind to what I accomplish and when. There's no one handing out 1,000th load of laundry stickers or "Your Child Made it to School On Time All Year" certificates. Not that I want the world's accolades, but it's just weird that I am just running my own show here. What am I working towards? What does today, full of wiping off counters, sweeping up crumbs, braiding hair, buying 6 gallons of milk, possibly mean? That brings me to number 3.

3. I've suddenly realized I've done everything I wanted to do and pretty much when I wanted to do it. College? Check. Married? Check. Have cute kids? Check, check, check and check. Own a home? Check. By the grace and mercy of God and with some careful planning and hard work, my life is exactly the way I want it--in the big ways, I mean. That's huge. If God never answers any more of my prayers or if no other good thing comes along, I should still be content. Should. And yet those check marks make me feel unsettled and directionless (see number 2). Now what? I didn't plan beyond this!

I am probably just trying to get my bearings handling 4 kids. Speaking of my kids.....

Erica's hair is crazy most of the time because she doesn't leave it done and because it's so uneven. The top is growing in much slower than the back. I've trimmed it a few times since she was 6 months or so to give the top and sides a chance to catch up. Sunday I decided it was time to trim it up again. Here's the before.

She was really excited to use the cape just like Dad. Do your kids like to drink out of squirt bottles?

And here's the best shot of after. Nothing too dramatic since she'll throw a fit if it's too short to put into two little Anna braids. It looks thicker but it's still crazy because she's crazy.

I bought this dustpan several months ago while pregnant because I hated stooping down to use my old dustpan. It came with a small broom that the kids love to use. They're not great at sweeping but I'm not going to tell them that.

I'm trying really hard to get a good picture of James smiling but it's not going so well. He's still cute though.

He loves to munch on those fingers.

This is Henry in that shirt at 5 months.

Oh brothers.

Surprise! We got more snow! Is there anything more perfect for a 5-year-old boy to do than pushing a big snowball in the backyard?

8-year-old girls and grown men like it too.

Nearly-3-year-old girls like to make snowballs and ask to have her gloves put back on 27 times.

All done with the snow deer. Or antler man?

Here's how the snowman looked after a sunny day.

Trying again for James's smile. No such luck. He is laughing though.

And then....not so much.

Sarah's been trying her hand (head?) at head stands. She's getting pretty good.

So that's that. January is almost over and it goes by faster if you don't hate it. February is looking good. Justin's parents move back to Mapleton, Erica turns 3, I Sarah gets to make a Valentine box for her class party, football ends, and maybe Justin and I will go on a date for the first time since October.

The inner workings of my middle children

Since we are now half way done with the school year, I thought I'd share some of Henry's writings.

Here's one from Henry's "Jax" phase.

"I Love my baby. Do you know why? I love him because I just do."

This one is from a story they read in class.

"I love when the bears were grabbing nuts."

This is a pretty accurate depiction of what our house looks like. And of course the little guy is the baby and the one with orange hair is Henry.

Check out the stream on this one.

"I love my baby boy. Once my baby peed."

"My baby is super cute. This is my car."

"School is my favorite. School is my favorite thing."

"I like my truck. My truck has turbo."

The first week of January we got slammed with snow.

When your kids can make vertical snow angels, you know you've got a lot.

We ran out of places to put it and I got nervous letting Henry play in it by himself. I felt like I needed to implement the buddy system so he wouldn't get lost or stuck.

It has mostly melted and now the inversion has settled in. I've decided to not hate January like I usually do. At least not this year. It is what it is.

This girl. The other night she asked Justin, "Are you thinking I'm so cute?" Here she is making a hideout by draping the curtains over the couch.

She's a pretty easy-going kid but she can get so obnoxious. Like last night at dinner, she would not sit down and eat. She wanted to stand on her chair and aim finger guns at Henry saying "Double shoot!" over and over again.

She's not ladylike nor is she a tomboy. She is wildly inappropriate with her potty humor (thanks to big brother). She thinks the words to the primary song are "I don't want to be a missionary now." The closest description I can come up with is the class clown though at this point she's just the family clown.

I like her; don't get me wrong. She's my buddy and keeps me laughing and wondering "where did she come from?" ("From heaven," she'll say. Or "from my nest" or "I just want you to give me a Starburst")


Yesterday Sarah made Jello jigglers to try out her new cookie cutters she got for Christmas.

Henry thought they were amazing. I did not try them so I can't comment.




****No Treats 2017 Update****

We're on day 17! The first week I found myself eating more crackers and bread for the lack of sugar. Heading into the third week, I feel like I have some sugar detox momentum going and have noticed that the less sugar I eat, the less I crave it (who knew?). If I eat jam and bread (which isn't on the no list), I'm just going to want jam and bread (or Oreos or ice cream) later. But if I don't, I won't so let's just save myself the exercise in self-control. I look forward to eating my favorite desserts again and have a mental bucket list of things I want to make when this is over but as far as intense daily cravings, not so much. Ya'll have no idea how much sugar I ate in December. I was afraid of what coming off of that would be like.

I am 100% at my exercise goal of 30 min for 5 days a week but I'm slacking on my water goal. Who knew drinking would be the hardest part?  I'm down 5 lbs but my jeans don't feel any looser so I wonder where the weight is coming from. I've started looking at fruit as my treats and saving an orange or popcorn for after the kids go to bed. We've eaten a lot of popcorn.

Other observations:
-I haven't been faced with any real temptations, like a delicious spread of desserts at a church activity or something.
-Vegetables taste better. I ate an entire sauteed zucchini.
- Oreos crumbled in a bowl with milk on top does not cereal make.
- My kids are eating healthier too. If I ain't eating it, I'm not buying it or making it either so sorry kids.

James at 2 Months

James is 2 months old today! I always thought 2 months was the peak of fussiness for my babies. And if this is true for James, I'm getting off pretty easy. He doesn't really get fussy, just restless and hungry. He just wants to eat for more than an hour before he goes to sleep. It's my Netflix time with Justin so for now it's fine but I'd like for him to go down before 10. And it's really annoying if he wakes up 15 minutes later and just wants to eat some more. But still, compared with my other babies' of hours of crankiness, he's pretty easy.

At his check-up he weighed 10 lbs 15 oz and 23 inches long. He wants to keep his title of biggest of my babies.

He smiled for the first time on Christmas Eve and I had to really coax it out of him. Now I can get him to smile at me if I talk to him. He likes to hear how much he's growing. He started to coo last week and it's my favorite. He looks like he's trying to say so many words but just a little coo comes out. And I swear he laughed! It was adorable. Just like to kiss him and snuggle him close.

He is a great eater and pretty good sleeper. Some days he takes a nap for like 3 hours and other days he won't sleep longer than 40 minutes at a stretch. He stays awake for only 90 minutes before he starts dozing again. He usually goes down for the night around 10 and wakes up once during the night between 3-5 am to eat then is good until 7-9 in the morning. We are not on any sort of schedule with him other than the newborn cycle of sleep/eat/sit in seat and look around until he needs mom/held by mom/sleep.

He loves to be talked to. That's pretty much his likes. He dislikes having clothing removed over his head, getting wet, or waiting even a millisecond to eat. He doesn't have stranger danger yet but I'm sure it will come. His eyes are blue, his eyelashes are dark so I think his hair will stay dark too. He is working on getting his fist to his mouth.

I should have taken his picture before the doctor because he is still cranky from his shots---not that I blame him.

Happy New Year!

Saturday was Justin's birthday. We celebrated by smoking a brisket and playing games with his family.

James met his Papa Corey for the first time.

And got reacquianted with Nana Nadine.

Justin got a speaker from his parents and Ticket to Ride from his brothers. He also got some pants that he ordered, some socks that he ordered and some treats from Costco that he picked out.

Corey and Nadine also gave us a comforter, pillows and a water jug. It was the year of cylinder presents.

Sunday, New Years Day, was James's blessing.

This is our first picture of all 6 of us. Check out Erica.

And this is her face after I bribed her with candy. She'll do anything for a chocolate covered almond.

We did his blessing at home with parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

Here's James's 4-generation picture on Justin's mom's side.

And 4-generations on his dad's.

And my kids wrestling with Nate.

This is Sarah and Grandma Henny.

And the Dye clan.

I've talked some of my siblings and Justin into a 2017 health challenge. From New Year's to Easter we are going no treats. No cookies, no cake, no candy, no sugary drinks, no doughnuts, no pie, nothing sugary for 112 days. I'm on day 3 and so far, so good. I haven't had strong cravings yet, just mostly reaching for stuff out of habit before I remember. We've still got some residual Christmas treats around the house (I put my homemade caramel in the freezer) but once my kids finish that off, that should decrease the temptations around here. I'm exercising 5 days a week for 30 min each day and added a goal of tripling my current water intake. I may periodically post about how I'm doing and the results I'm seeing. Blogging about it will help keep me motivated.