the end... of part 1

Well today is day 45 of my challenge. I am done the first half of the no-spending challenge and done my first clothing challenge.  For a quick refresher of what these challenges are, see "Am I up to the challenge?"

 

For the most part this has been pretty easy actually. I had only one day where I really longed for a larger wardrobe. I was feeling blah and nothing made me feel "WOW!"... after texting a friend she said "If only we could see ourselves the way God sees us." It made me think about how I still put so much focus on appearance. Sigh.

 

I am glad I kept it at 45 pieces of clothing for 45 days... with our crazy weather I don't know how I could have done 30 pieces of clothing! I have added a few things to my closet in the last 45 days that has made it easier too- I did some dyeing and a bit of sewing and repurposing. It was quite fun actually! I have started looking at things differently- a more economical way maybe? Old sheets can become fabric. An old scarf could be made into a skirt or belt. Three pieces of discarded clothing can become a dress!  

 

BUT that said, I am going to try... I am going to attempt 30 pieces of clothing for 30 days. I am going to go back through my clothing and take out even more... maybe add a few things back in, but the end result will be 30 for 30. That means that by August 15 I will be done this next section of my challenge.

 

On the other side of my challenge was my no-spending for 90 days (until Sept. 1). I would say that I have really grown in this area personally. We have been spending money.... we have done things around the house, like finish our deck and fire pit.

 But I have not bought anything for myself for 45 days. I have not bought my children anything for 45 days. They did get one happy meal. We did pull out some new sticker books and games that I had previously purchased.

 In thing 45 day period, we were given several bags of clothing as hand-me-downs, we set up our trampoline - also a hand-me-down, and we received some other new things from various places without spending a cent. The one thing I almost did buy was a pair of shoes for Levi- I even had some in my hands in the store but decided not to, we would have to find a way to get by. That was Wednesday, and on Friday my mom shows up with 2 pairs of crocs for Levi that she had gotten at a garage sale. She didn't even know I was feeling like he needed them....
I have been missing garage sales. I am also kind of missing the hunt of the deal. But why hunt the deal when you don't need the stuff anyways?

 

I have been looking for ways to be more helpful financially. I have been using coupons more. I have been seeing things we can make at home instead of buying them. This has been fun- making creamer (yummy!), granola bars- thanks Cara!, bagels - thanks Erin!, and yogurt! 
I have been becoming more aware of the fact that none of our money really belongs to me anyways- its all HIS anyways.

my first batch was a bit runny- but the boys loved it anyways

 I have begun the fruit gathering and preserving with strawberries- first at the grocery store, and then this week the boys and I went strawberry picking. It was raining so I have no pictures of them in action- but they were AMAZING... my bigger boys each picked an ice cream pail, and my 2 year old ate and ate and ate!

we picked 6 of these ice cream pails!

I am looking forward to the rest of the fruit season, and though my garden is currently under water, I am excited about what may be. The next 45 days (until Sept 1) are very important in our life... the next 45 days will stock our freezer full of fruit and vegetables, they will tell us what kind of crop and harvest we will have this year, we will enjoy family time in BC together, we will say good bye to friends who are moving, we will celebrate the birthday of a soon to be 6 year old, we will begin gr.1 officially with said 6 year old... 

A few things I am learning...

• sometimes the life you never imagined, is better than you could possibly have imagined.
•  And when you surrender yourself to servanthood the feeling of being sentenced to this life as a mother disappears, replaced by excitement for each step ahead.
•  Oh... and HE provides you what you need for every step of the way.
• If you open your eyes to see, there is beauty everywhere!
•  When you are thankful for even the little things, joy flows- unstoppable
• Nothing is as hard as you think it will be, so just try it- it's ok if you fail

inspiration from homegrownhospitality

from homegrownhospitality

found this on pinterest the other day when I was looking at hospitality stuff... and I fell in love with homegrownhospitality- so many amazing quotes done in this awesome doodle style. Very inspiring. Her blog is pretty cool too!

This is the third weekend that we've planned an outside work weekend, and it is again raining. We are hosting a family campout (reunion of sorts) next weekend and there are a dozen or so projects we want to get done, but alas it is raining on us again! Sigh... but as a farmer and a gardener, we are both very happy for what this rain will bring :)

Also, the homemade creamer is amazing!!! I used vanilla the first time, and even had others drink it, and they agreed it is yummy! I found some hazelnut extract (artifical) and am excited to make some hazelnut creamer once I run out of the vanilla stuff!!!

This weekend I am attempting to make home made yogurt in my crock pot. WHAT!?! you may be thinking, but so far its been super easy. I have put 2 L of homo milk in my crock pot for 2.5 hours on low. Then unplug and leave for 3 more hours, with lid on. Then mix in 1/2 C regular plain yogurt- some suggest adding honey and vanilla at this point too. Wrap entire crock pot in towels and leave overnight (some people suggest putting the entire thing in your oven overnight). Then in the morning you should have yogurt! We will see. Other sites I looked at before I stepped into this venture were www.passionatehomemaking.com , and www.nourishingdays.com.

feels good to stretch my dollars

I think this is flowing out of my challenge... but I have become more and more concious of how I am spending my money. As a stay at home mom, I love to do what ever I can to make things easier around here- in a way to feel like I am helping provide for the family. I have always bought second hand or on sales, and last year I got into canning and freezing produce and fruit. This is very fullfilling to me. The other night I lay in bed, unable to sleep, with excitement over the coming season of bounty.

the garden is coming...

 Garden bounty, fruit in the stores, fruit from BC, fruit from u-picks and fruit from people who have excess. I seriously was unable to sleep over this!


I admit I have been pretty proud of some of my house wife accomplishments as of late. This is not usual for me, so it is an accomplishment. I made homemade bagels the other day and they were amazing! Yum. I have been making some yummy breads too.

 I have been capitalizing on the 50% off fruit at Superstore- you know, that whole rack of one day old fruit. I have been very pick at what I'm buying and for the most part I've been very happy! The other day I grabbed 2 packages of strawberries, cost me $2.50 in total, and I was able to make 3 jars of strawberry jam with it. There were maybe 3 strawberries I wasn't able to use. The next day I got 2 of those blueberry packages. I washed them then lay them out on a cookie sheet and picked out any that were bad. There was maybe a small handful of unusable berries. I put them in the freezer like that and the next day I vaccuum sealed them (you could use ziploc baggies) into 6 different 2 cup packages that we will use in the winter for on our poridge or cereal. All those blueberries cost me $6.

Then today was another strawberry score.

All of these strawberries, as well as the bunch in the picture above were $2.

I spent $2 and got enough strawberries to freeze 4 pkgs worth and make some stewed fruit with the excess.

beginnings of stewed fruit

Stewed fruit in our home is strawberries, apples and rhubarb boiled together with some water and sugar until runny. This is also very good served on poridge, ice cream, cereal. For me these are triumphs, ways I feel like I am helping our family.

This may sound crazy to some of you but I made my own taco seasonings and spaghetti sauce seasoning mixes. I used only spices and ingredients I already have in my house, mixed them all up, and now they are ready to use. I always have cases of tomato sauce in the house, and so why not use them with the spice mix instead of buying spaghetti sauce?


I also made my own coffee creamer today. I thought I would give it a try anyways- just mixed a can of sweetened condensed milk (on sale for $2.50) with 1.5 C of milk and some vanilla. I haven't tried it in coffee yet, but from a spoon it is pretty amazing! I can't wait till 6 am tomorrow to have my first cup. So a 1 L jar of coffee creamer cost me about $3.25 to make, as opposed to the almost $5 that I spend at the store for my favorite.

 I also used coupons and saved 10% on my groceries today- which really was only $11 but every bit helps, right.

I don't mean to say that this is the way everyone should live, but it is a fun experiment for me right now. I am learning new things and using what I have more wisely.