A Little of This and a Little of That. . . .

I follow a lot of different groups on Facebook and on pinterest.  My reasoning behind who and why I follow certain groups is to learn and better myself.   I have learned scads of interesting things through both sites.  I follow herbal garden pages, financial pages, recipe and craft pages.  On one of my financial pages someone asked what you did to pamper yourself on a budget.  I was amazed that these ladies are paying $20- $80 for a manicure and possibly a pedicure on a routine basis.  I shared what I do to pamper myself,  I have a detox bath with my herbs and some Epsom salt.  I do not do nails I enjoy playing in the dirt too much to pay that kind of money for nails.  Now this particular site is about paying off debt and gaining financial peace yes, it is a Dave Ramsey site.  You know how I feel about Dave, I really like him a lot.  The hubbs and I are proudly debt free except our house, that is why I still follow these sites.  There is always something you can learn.  I was telling the hubbs about this particular post and he laughed and said you know, you are a girly girl and you don't get your nails done.  He asked why I don't get them done?  I said, I play in the dirt too much and I am in the sink washing dishes and cooking.  I grew up going to the barn everyday working around the barn and riding horses and would have been a waste of good money.  I have to laugh that my husband thinks I am a girly  girl.  He has never referred to me as that before.  I am not sure where that came from but, I guess I am a girly girl, I do like girly things like jewelry and handbags.  Just the other night I took a very relaxing bath with green tea and mountain mint with Epsom salt.  We have a great Jacuzzi tub in our bathroom and it is perfect for the detox bath.  I also like using Epsom salt with Lavender, Rosemary, and Eucalyptus essential oils.  These make for a wonderful relaxing tub.  I am not sure if these baths really do detox or anything else but I sure do feel relaxed after them and that is all that matters to me. I guess my baths that I like make me a girly girl too. I am afraid the girly girl comment may come back to bite my sweet hubby.
One of my herb pages I follow has inspired me to try my hand at making my own essential oils.  I have an abundance of fresh oregano and I think that is the one I am going to try first.  According to one article I read oregano is a very powerful antiviral, anti-fungal, and antibacterial now my oregano is not medical grade of course but it might help keep some bugs away.  I put some of oregano in the dehydrator yesterday and it should be ready some time today.  My hubby has suggested I give my dried oregano to friends and family as gifts and I may just do that, we have so much and if I keep cutting it, it will keep growing.  We transplanted some to my new herb bed too, working in the dirt really is therapeutic.  We are still talking about my cutting bed for fresh cut flowers. 
I found a recipe for basil pesto yesterday and I cannot wait to try this one out.  I will share it with you if it turns out well.  My basil is not quite ready for cutting yet so it may be a little bit before I can try it.  Stay tuned for more herb stuff and the Boy will be coming home from college in a few weeks too.

Save Money with Homemade. . .

Remember how I told you I read everything, from newsletters to magazines, novels, text books (depending on the time of year), anything dealing with finance, and how to articles.  You know how much I love Dave Ramsey, well he recommends certain books and one that he had suggested was "The Complete Tightwad Gazette," by Amy Dacyczyn A.K.A the Frugal Zealot.  I have had this one for several years and I decided I would read it again.   I always thought I was a tightwad but she makes me look like a spend thrift.  Keep in mind the first copyright of this book was 1992 and I am not sure if it is still being published.  I found my copy at our used bookstore. If you have not been to a used bookstore I highly recommend it.  I have tried to get my sister to open her own used bookstore for many years.  I know everyone thinks print is a dead technology but some of us still like the feel of a "real" book in their hands.  Our used bookstore has such a great variety, they even have text books for those trying to save on school costs.
Mrs. Dacyczyn takes tightwaddery to a whole new level, like I said she makes me look like a little leaguer.   She does have really good tips on how to save money cooking from scratch.   I am going to share a couple recipes that she had in her book for some seasonings and one for soft pretzel dough.
Soft  pretzel dough
1 pkg yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
4 cups flour
1 egg beaten

Combine yeast, water, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.  Stir in flour knead on table until dough is smooth.  Shape into pretzel use water to stick it together, place on cookie sheet and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with salt.  You could sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if you are wanting something sweet.
Bake 15 minutes at 425

Here are some seasoning mixes:
Seasoned Salt
5 tbsp salt
3 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
mix all together and store in an air tight container, glass preferably.

Taco Seasoning
6 tbsp chili powder
4 1/2 tsp cumin
5 tsp paprika
3 tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
mix together and store in air tight container.  This is stronger than store bought so add a little then taste and add more if needed.

Until we eat again. . .

Saving Every Week. . .

I have talked many times about the envelope system and saving money that way for different things.  The two big things I save for with my envelopes are vacation and Christmas.  I put a certain dollar amount each pay period into my envelopes for vacation and Christmas/Birthdays.  This is an amount that I budget for each month and it has no effect on my bill paying at all.  We never even know that it is there so there is no tempt to spend that money on something else.   Saving is like anything else, it must become a habit if you are going to be good at it and we want to be good at it.  
I saw on Facebook that someone has already posted that there are only 48 weeks till Christmas 2015.  Yikes!! Are you serious, someone is really already in that countdown?  If you start saving now, $20 a week by Christmas you would have $960 cash.  Wouldn't it be great to have that kind of money to help pay for Christmas?  I know, I love being able to pay cash for gifts.  I use my Christmas money for birthdays too.
Let us think about vacations.  The first time we paid cash for our vacation I was so excited, I could not believe I had actually done it.  Not only had we paid for our room but we paid for our meals and for a few other activities while we were at the beach.  It was great knowing that we would not be paying for the beach fun for the next several months on a credit card.  The other thing that is also important to remember is that every time you use your credit card you are opening yourself up for theft.  I must veer off course here for a moment.  While participating in the Dave Ramsey class one of the couples mentioned how their credit card number was stolen while they were on vacation at Myrtle Beach.  They said they had traced it back to a restaurant  in Myrtle Beach.  Luckily the gentleman was a police officer and had some contacts in Myrtle Beach, they helped him track down the crook.  They traced it back to their waiter at this one restaurant and when they found him he had a note pad with several credit card numbers in it that he had planned to use.  He had used their card to buy new tires for his car.  This is why I always say cash is better especially when you are on vacation.  We use only cash for restaurants, it keeps our eating out under control.    Now, back to saving for vacation, we have roughly 23 weeks till vacation time starts.  If you save $40 a week for 23 weeks you have $920 to put toward your vacation.  Depending on how you vacation, that may not cover everything but it will sure put a dent in it.   What if you start funding your vacation envelope as soon as you get back from vacation?  You would then have roughly 52 weeks to save for the next vacation.  Let's do some math, $40 times 52 weeks is $2080 toward your next vacation.   Seems pretty simple, right?
How are you going to pay for Christmas and vacation this year?  I am still funding our envelopes, and have I said lately how much I love the envelope system.  You do not have to have a fancy envelope to start saving, I grabbed some plain white envelopes to get started.  Here's to vacation not following you home and not paying for Christmas for months afterward.   Good Luck!!