Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How to Keep a Good Attitude While Being Debt-Free

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Sometimes being debt-free isn’t much fun.

When I look around at the world driving nice cars and eating at nice places and going on nice vacations I can get discouraged. But then I remind myself that I am choosing this! (And then I also remind myself that 80% of Americans are in credit card debt.)

“I’m choosing this!” is more than just semantics. That little phrase can change your life. Hear me out: If you’re on some kind of diet that doesn’t allow cake, it’s only because they didn’t know about Laura’s cakes. (Like this Low sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake or this Low Sugar Banana Cake.) But let’s pretend you’re not eating cake because a diet book told you not to. So now you’re sad about not eating cake, and you sigh and feel bad for yourself because you really want cake and it’s all somebody else’s fault for deciding that high sugar and processed fats and carbs are unhealthy and you struggle with attitude problems every time you are put in a cake situation.

Let’s not blame the cake.

What if you turned the whole thing around and told yourself, “I’m choosing this!” Nobody is forcing me to give up anything. “I am choosing to make better food choices. Eating healthier options is my choice! I don’t even want all that cake because I know what’s in it, and it’s nothing good!” And then you can use your freshly ground flour to make your own densely nutrient cake and you can choose to have your cake and eat it too.

What if you wanted a new car instead of cake?

Something my husband and I have embraced the last few years of paying off debt is “We’re choosing this!” We are choosing to not spend money so that we can use it for other things. We could choose to not pay our bills, but then the electric company could choose to turn off our lights. If we choose to ignore our mortgage payment, the bank will choose to take our house. See how this works?

There are exceptions to everything.

I do understand there are times when life spirals out of control and things you had carefully planned fall apart. My sister was in a car accident years ago and was left with over $40,000 in uncovered medical bills. Sometimes the job situation doesn’t work out, I get it. But for the vast majority of Americans we have put ourselves in our own financial messes. We made the choice to move out of our tiny apartment to buy a house we really couldn’t afford. And we had such fun in that house! But if you give a man a house he’s going to want a dog to go with it… and a lawn mower and snow shovels and two cars and another phone and the internet and a video streaming plan and a grill and… and… before you know it, the $9/hour secretary job just isn’t enough.

We absolutely love being debt free.

I haven’t always had a great relationship with money. I would get so mad at people who said, “I can’t afford…” and yet they lived a lifestyle that said differently. But then I found myself saying, “I can’t afford…” and I realized it’s all in perspective. We made a combined total of $8000 our first year of marriage. As we worked more and made more we bought more and being debt-free wasn’t as much of a priority because we didn’t even know where the money was going. When I sit down and look closely at the choices we’ve made the past 12 years of marriage I can see huge financial mistakes we made that put us back. With each raise we started living just a little more comfortably. And that’s okay! That was OUR CHOICE. But to then go and say, “Well, I can’t afford…” doesn’t really make sense.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to nail shingles on your own garage.

I’m choosing this.

When I say, “I’m choosing this.” It brings ownership back on my shoulders. Playing the victim isn’t possible with that phrase. I am choosing to save money! I am choosing to pay extra on the mortgage! I’m choosing to do family birthdays differently. I am choosing to live beneath my means because I have something better in mind for later. Here are some choices we’ve made and continue to make because we absolutely love being debt-free: Paying the internet bill instead of keeping chips on hand. Putting gas in the car instead of going out to the movies. Finding extremely loved used vehicles instead of buying new clothes for everyone in the family. Living in a 600 sq foot home until we got a better paying job in another state.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to watch the sunset on a beautiful date on the prairie.

You get to choose!

I am giving you a phrase that has the power to completely change your outlook on life and money whether you are debt-free or not. “I’m choosing this!” You get to choose and you don’t have to be ashamed about it either. I am (97% of the time) not ashamed about the vehicles I drive because we bought them on purpose. We used to buy them on purpose because it was that or nothing. Now we buy used vehicles on purpose because we have really exciting plans for our money.

What are you choosing? Are you pleased with your choices?

My intention is most definitely not to make you feel bad about yourself or your money, but the opposite! If you find yourself feeling sad and thinking, “I can’t afford…” try pepping yourself up with a little “I’m choosing this!” attitude change. It could rock your world. And then go make cake. Because cake is yummy and actually quite affordable.

Laura’s friend Tasha is passionate about encouraging women. She’s a homeschooling mamaX4 who loves to make silly faces in the mirror with her toddler. She and her husband Ben have worked hard to be debt-free (except for their mortgage) and try to choose people over things everytime. She can be found playing on Instagram @hackettacademy and @heavenlyhomemaker and has too many hobbies to name. Most recently she’s been making chocolate cake for breakfast and sending her kids out to pick asparagus for lunch.

 

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Simple Ways To Earn a Little Extra Cash for Christmas (while sitting at your computer)

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Hello, and welcome to a post that might be just about as annoying as your local department store. Summer is barely over and I’m already starting to talk about Christmas. Hey, at least I haven’t put up a tree yet. (Although, that would be an efficient thing to do in October, wouldn’t it?)  kidding

I think we can all agree that Christmas is not really about presents and hooplah. And yet, I would guess that most of us probably do at least a little bit gift giving around the holidays. Here are some simple ways to gain yourself a little extra cash for the upcoming Christmas season. Don’t worry – you don’t have to start singing Jingle Bells yet. Just start planning ahead a little bit now so that Christmas won’t be a financial burden. Christmas should never be a financial burden. Christmas should be a season of joy. Don’t make me get on my soap box.

1. InboxDollars

I’ve mentioned InboxDollars recently in a giveaway they sponsored. You won’t get rich off of InboxDollars (or any of the ideas shared in this post), but you will be able to earn a little extra cash while in the comfort of your pajamas and slippers. (I recommend opening up a separate, free email account to use specifically for InboxDollars – it makes this much easier!)

2. Swagbucks

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned Swagbucks around here, but if you aren’t using Swagbucks to earn extra money from home, you really should be! There are many, many ways to earn Swagbucks, but my favorite is to simply use the Swagbucks search feature. Each time I need to search for something online (which is quite often), I use my Swagbucks search engine. Several times a day, I earn some swagbucks – all for doing something I would have done anyway. Once I’ve accumulated enough, I turn my Swagbucks into Amazon Gift Cards. (There are many other options for ways to redeem your Swagbucks – Amazon cards are just my favorite.)  One year, I saved all my Amazon Cards throughout the year and we had a practically free Christmas. It was awesome!

Plus, when you refer others to Swagbucks, you can earn extra Swagbucks! So, get yourself signed up, then tell your friends about this feature. You’ll both earn! (See, I’m referring you, so that means I’ll earn Swagbucks based off of my referral to you. Thanks!)  :)

I’ve written more about Swagbucks here if you’d like more information.

3. Shop it to Me

This may be one of the simplest ways to earn a little extra cash – although, like Swagbucks, it comes in the way of gift cards instead of actual cash. I like gift cards just fine. Gift cards buy gifts – what more could we ask for? Or, you could give the gift card away as a gift. Perfect!

How this works:  Sign up to receive Shop It To Me newsletters. These newsletters are painless – I receive them twice a week and either look through them if I feel like the deals they share are relevant, or delete them if they’re not.

I used my personal referral link above. For every ten of you who sign up, I receive a $10 gift card of my choice. (Thank you, by the way!)  Once you’ve signed up, you can then refer your friends and family through facebook, email, blog or tweet – and for every ten people you refer, you receive $10 gift cards too! It’s free, it’s easy, there’s no catch, and you can earn gift cards for Starbucks, Whole Foods (my personal fav!), Gap, Macy’s and many others – whichever you choose.

4. Become a Heavenly Homemakers Affiliate

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned this feature we have here at Heavenly Homemakers. Did you know you can earn money by referring sales in our Shop? We offer 33% affiliate earnings on all of our downloadable products – that means that not only can you earn a few dollars when someone you refer purchases our ebooks, you can earn a whoppin’ $14.85 each time someone you refer purchases our Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve curriculum kit! Your earnings can really add up! Read more details here – we’d love to have you on board as an affiliate.

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet – or is it just me?

(Disclosure:  I think it was obvious that many of the links I used in this post are my referral links, but just in case, I thought I’d tell you again. Each of these opportunites are painless and easy and a great way to earn a little extra cash – and sharing them with you will help me earn a little extra cash for Christmas too. Then you can turn around and do the same! But don’t feel obligated to sign up for any of these if you don’t want to. We’ll still be friends either way.) ;)

 

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Big Jar, Tiny Bananas, and the Nine Year Old Who “gets it”

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Okay, everybody…you know I don’t buy stuff. I usually encourage everyone else to stop buying stuff. I recommend that you don’t even look at stuff so that you aren’t tempted to buy it. Buying stuff generally wastes money, needs to be dusted and clutters up a house. Stuff is over-rated.

But…

You know I love jars. Jars are beautiful and jars are practical and jars get used at my house constantly. I’ve been given a countless number of canning jars and storage jars. I’ve found wonderful jars for pennies at yard sales. My house and my pantry are full of jars of all sizes.

But I don’t buy stuff, which is why I had such a struggle at the store the other day. I had Elias (9) and Malachi (6) with me at the time. We were in the “canning aisle” looking for some more of those nice plastic lids for my wide mouth jars, which unfortunately, they didn’t have. I was backing out of the aisle when on the top shelf I saw a wonderfully, incredibly cute and fantastically huge jar. It was thick and sturdy and it said “Ball” on it and I fell in love.

But I’m a person who doesn’t buy stuff. 

So I kept backing out  of the aisle, and the boys followed me. And then I felt myself magnetized back into the canning aisle, and before I knew it, instead of going in reverse, I was moving forward. Suddenly, I was holding the jar, examining it closely. The boys were quite bored with the whole situation, until I exclaimed something like, “think of the cookies we could put in this thing!” and then they also liked the jar.

I didn’t really need any more jars, and I don’t buy stuff…so I put the jar back on the shelf (I may have hugged it first), and then I backed out of the aisle and walked away.

We went to the produce section and picked up a few things we needed (and now I’m just rambling) but in the produce section we found these adorable, little bananas. I’d never seen such tiny bananas before and the boys thought they were the coolest bananas ever. They were only 97¢ for the whole bunch, so we decided to grab them for a snack.

Now we were ready to check out, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that jar. In my head, the jar was already in my kitchen, filled with delicious treats for my family…or filled with rice or beans and looking cute on top of my fridge…or filled with a nice batch of Limeade with floating ice cubes and lemon and lime slices…

Somehow, for the third time in fifteen minutes, we ended up back in the canning aisle. (Elias and Malachi are great sports…and are also quite used to having a weird mom.)

I made a decision. I was going to splurge and buy that jar. It was $10.47 for Pete’s Sake, which was an excellent price for such a nice jar. It’s not like I was going to be taking the meat and vegetables out of my children’s mouths so that I could “support my habit”.

I put the beautiful jar into my cart, stepping all over myself as I began to launch into a long, yet eloquent lecture to the boys about how we don’t normally just see something at the store and decide to buy it “just because we like it” or even if we love it, because that’s how money gets thrown away and we really want to be careful with money and not wasteful…

And everything I said was totally sinking into their sponge-like brains, I’m sure.

Then Elias interrupted to say, “But Mom…at least this is something you’re really going to use a lot.”

Maybe he was still thinking about the cookies I was going to put into the jar…but yes, he was right. I’m really going to use this little (big) splurge of a jar. Oh look…I already am.

See, isn’t it beautiful?  (It’s okay with me if you don’t think so. I love my jar.)

(And you can’t have it.)  ;)

If you didn’t already know that I am weird and obsessed about jars, now you know. And now you also know how hard it is for me to spend money on things that aren’t food or socks. Shucks, who am I kidding? 

I have a terrible time making myself buy new socks.

:)

What’s your obsession? Do you love jars? Do you drag your children back to specific aisles at the store so that you can hug things? Do you struggle to spend money on socks?

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How I Store Bulk Food

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

 

I received my Azure Standard food co-op order last week…one of my favorite days of the month! It’s slightly ridiculous how much I get a thrill out of boxes and bags of food. I know not everyone  has the storage space to purchase food in bulk…but this method works very well for me and I am so thankful to have this option.

As I mentioned several months ago in this post about why I buy bulk food, I don’t just buy in bulk to save money. Saving money is a wonderful perk, but I also find that buying in bulk makes cooking so much simpler for me. I don’t have to think so hard or shop so often. I buy large quantities of food items, enough to last much longer than a week. This way, I save on gas, time, energy and brain power.

I am often asked how I store my bulk purchases. Here is a little bit of explanation for what works well for me for bulk food storage:

I could just leave the food right in their bags, but I don’t feel comfortable with that for sevaral reasons. We’ve had trouble with mice in the past. Yowza, there’s not much that makes me more frustrated in the kitchen that seeing that those little rodents have gotten into and pooped in my oats. What a waste! Beyond mice, we find that if we don’t transfer food out of their bags and into something more properly sealed, it is easier for bugs to get in and ruin food.

In addition…I just feel like buckets and containers are easier to stack and store than bags. I know I’m a nerd…but I LIKE the way food looks when it’s poured into nice jars and jugs. Crumpled up bags don’t look nearly as cute in my pantry.

When my bulk purchases arrive, out come my jars, buckets and containers. I’ve accumulate quite a nice collection through the years, purchased from garage sales, Walmart or the dollar store. You know how I LOVE jars.  And in general, I avoid plastics. However, for dry food that isn’t as likely to absorb chemicals from the plastic, I’m okay with using plastic containers for bulk storage.

I take a few minutes to scoop out the sea salt or sucanat or wheat or oats or whatever dry bulk item I’ve purchased into large storage containers.

From those, I will funnel smaller amounts into smaller jars for simple cooking use. I  keep these smaller jars in the cupboard right above my stove so I can easily grab them while I’m cooking. As they get low, I refill them from their larger storage container.

Once I have everything divided into the appropriate jars and containers (I stare at it in happiness for a while and then) I put them all away in either my storage room, or in my pantry if there is space.

I especially like to keep my nicest jars full of dry bulk items like beans, rice, popcorn and pasta in my pantry door where it looks pretty everytime I open it!

You may also want to read about how I store bulk grain. And, if you’d like to see a more thorough view of my whole kitchen, I invite you to join me on my kitchen tour!

Do you buy in bulk? What have you found that works best for you to store your bulk food?

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If you’re interested in learning more about my favorite health food co-op Azure Standard, join the Azure Standard facebook page!

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The little Green Project 2011

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littlegreenproject

Welcome to The little Green Project 2011! 
Saving Green, Eating More Greens, Earning Extra Green,
Going Green, Your Green Thumb, Crafting Something Green

This year, I decided to share a few of my favorite tips in each of the GREEN categories. I could have come up with something new and green, but I got a little bit lazy busy, so old and green it is. But let’s not call it old and green. That sounds like something that got lost in the back of my fridge. Eh, call it whatever you want. Here’s my little Green Project 2011:

Saving Green

My favorite way to save green is to simply not buy stuff in the first place. There is no need to try to keep up with the Joneses. If you don’t have money, don’t spend it. Even if you do have money, consider carefully if you truly need something before spending the money on it. Like socks. I think it’s okay to spend money on socks…if in fact you need socks. I also think it’s wise to spend money on nutritious food. But stuff? Stuff just gets dusty. Or I step on it in the middle of the night and it hurts. Don’t buy stuff.

Eating More Greens

If you haven’t tried my Strawberry Peach Slushie recipe, you really should. There’s green leafy spinach hidden in there and no one ever knows. These slushies are a great way to eat more greens.

And also, if you’re going to be eating greens in a salad, I strongly encourage you to easily make your own salad dressings! It’s unfortunate that most commercial salad dressings have icky ingredients, turning your fresh green salad into junk food. (Not completely, but you know.)  If I want junk food, I’ll eat a Cheeto. (Not that I ever want junk food.)  (Especially Cheetos.)  (The crunchy kind.)  (Laura, will you stop already and go eat a some lettuce?)

Anyway, here’s where you can find my simple, money saving and healthy salad dressing recipes!

Earning Extra Green

I haven’t talked very much on my blog about earning extra green, although I do have a wonderful guest post: How to Find Legitimate Work From Home Opportunities. Otherwise, I have just two tips to share: 

  1. Look into Heavenly Homemakers Affiliate Program. One of the main reasons we set up an Affiliate Program was to give all of you an opportunity to earn some extra money. We would be so honored and excited if our Affiliate Program could benefit you and your family.
  2. Sign up for Swagbucks. Then tell all your friends about it. It’s free. There’s no catch. It’s just a search engine that earns you FREE gift cards. I love Swagbucks and turn most of my earnings into Amazon gift cards. It helps our family buy books and organic groceries…for free. Swagbucks are a wonderful blessing!

Going Green and Your Green Thumb

I’ll combine these two categories because for me, they go hand in hand (or thumb as the case may be). I’m not a gardening expert, but I have been doing this for a few years and have a few gardening tips to share. Here is a link to all of my gardening and preserving posts. We garden organically and in case you want to see my husband holding a bucket of my kitchen garbage (and you know you do), hop over hear to learn how we compost.

Crafting Something Green

Well, of all the green tips I have to share, crafting something green may be where I fall short. I don’t do a lot of crafting at my house, mostly because my boys are a little bit too busy building cities and knocking them over to sit down with glue and glitter. I do have a fun post about how to make Flubber…and since you have to put food coloring in it…use green. There. I came up with a green craft. Hopefully you’ve got something better in mind to share.

SO…what’d you come up with for your little Green Project this year? Tell us about anything green:

  • Saving Green
  • Eating More Greens
  • Earning Extra Green
  • Going Green
  • Your Green Thumb
  • Crafting Something Green

You’re welcome to link up an older post if it fits the above categories. You’re also welcome to link up more than one post. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know of your little Green Project! Then let’s all go visit everyone’s blog and learn more about their little Green Project!

If you’re linking up a post, please copy and paste the following link into your post…

Join us at Heavenly Homemakers for the little Green Project!

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3 Reasons to Kiss the Joneses Goodbye

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This post is written by Craig Ford, writer at Money Help for Christians.

With their 2.7 kids waving to everyone from the front door of their perfectly manicured lawn, we sometimes idealize the Joneses next door.

But if you had a chance to peek into the Jones’s window, you’d find there are unpaid bills in every corner. Sure, they’ve got a lot of stuff, but they just don’t own any of it. There’s the constant pressure to buy the newest and latest products. The Joneses would barely make it if they made $30,000 per year or $130,000. They rush to work. They rush to the mall. And others follow suit.

The Joneses pay the price for it, and we will too – if we try to keep up with them. 

Pressure. Depression. Arguments. Stress. Unrealized expectations. Disappointments.

That’s why our family has kissed the Joneses goodbye. We’re not going to conform to the rampant pressure to earn more and buy more. Instead, I’d suggest that Christians should embrace a simple life where they live on less than they make.

The Benefits of Simple Living and Living Below Your Income

You are not dependent on a larger income.

When making big decisions, my wife and I often remind each other not to allow money to dictate our calling. As an example, we decided to work as missionaries before we knew what missionaries got paid. Yes, there are times when it is necessary to alter a course because of a money concern, but by living simply, money has less influence on our life decisions.

Some people feel ‘stuck’ in high income jobs because they can barely keep up with all the expenses already. The idea of following a calling and doing something that pays less is virtually impossible because they are dependent on that large income to support their lifestyle. As a result, they usually have to do a lot of things they don’t like to do because they can’t risk doing anything that might threaten their income.

Think of the possibilities that would open up if you learned to live off $30,000 – $55,000 per year regardless of your income. That means almost any profession is a possibility because of your lifestyle choice.

As an example, when a wife (or husband) is able to stay home, it is often because the family has learned how to afford living on one income, not by learning how to make more money. Many ministry-related occupations (missionaries, preachers, children’s home supervisors, Christian school teachers) are staffed by people who have embraced some form of simple living.

You have funds available to clean up any past financial mistakes.

None of us has a perfect financial past. However, those mistakes can be undone faster when you simplify your lifestyle.

As the gap between what you earn and what you spend gets wider, you will have more money to decide how it should be spent. The family making $60,000 but living off of $40,000 will get out of debt faster than the family making $60,000 but living off $59,999.

For many people, their fixed expenses chew up every last dollar. Get control of your spending so can have the ability to choose how you spend your money.

You’ll be able to actively serve people by giving to ministries, individuals, and charities.

This is the most exciting benefit.

First of all, it honors God. Secondly, it is an extremely satisfying way to use your resources.

Imagine a life with no debt, adequate savings, a plan for your future, and resources to help others. Wouldn’t life be a little more satisfying if you were spending your time finding the best children’s home to support instead of trying to find the credit card with the best balance transfer interest rate? Wouldn’t you make a greater contribution if you spent your money helping fund short term mission trips instead of paying credit card interest?

Simple living is a much healthier alternative to trying to keep up with the Joneses. Are you ready to pucker up and kiss the Joneses goodbye?

Craig has just finished writing an eBook called Transforming Your Financial Diet:  7 Steps to Simple Living and Generous Giving. The book is only on sale until March 9th.  As a special thank you to Heavenly Homemakers readers you can get 15% off. At checkout enter the coupon code “homemakers”. 

To learn more or get your copy, click here.

Be sure to visit Money Help for Christians where Craig promotes a frugal, simple, debt-free, and generous lifestyle so Christians can faithfully maximize their resources by putting them at the disposal of God’s Kingdom.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

3 Effective Strategies to Help You Pay Off Credit Card Debt

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This post is written by Craig Ford, writer at Money Help for Christians.

The average American family has too much credit card debt. According to results posted by Visual Economics, the average American family makes $43,000 per year and owes $2,200 in credit card debt. Since not everyone even has credit card debt, that means those who do typically have debts in excess of a couple thousand dollars.

If you are currently working on getting out of credit card debt, here are three effective strategies to consider. 

#1. Pay Off Highest Interest Debts First

This is the oldest approach to debt repayment. It is, in fact, the approach that makes the most mathematical sense. Simply make a list of all your debts, and then start to pay off the debts that cost you the most (determined by interest rates).

Thus, you would pay off the 17% Capital One card before the 15% American Express card. Last of all, you’d pay off the 10% credit union card.

In the long run, this method saves you the most money, and theoretically, helps you get out of debt the fastest. But life and debt repayment are about a lot more than money. However, when you look closely at credit card consolidation and balance transfers, you realize that math is not the heart of the debt issue. 

#2. The Debt Snowball

If you’ve heard of the debt snowball, it is likely because Dave Ramsey promotes the debt snowball.

With the debt snowball, you list your debt by amount owing instead of by interest rates.

Imagine you owed $9,000 on a Capital One card, $5,000 on an American Express account, and $2,000 on a card from your credit union.

In this case, you would pay off your cards in the following order – credit union, American Express, and Capital One. You would continue to make minimum payments on all the other debts until you pay off one debt. You would then shift your focus to the next debt. 

One of the biggest advantages to the debt snowball is that it provides the quickest emotional pay off. Instead of waiting until you pay off $9,000 in debt (as you would with the highest interest), you get to do the happy dance after paying off the $2,000 credit union bill. That emotional energy will fuel your continued fight out of debt.

If you are interested in the debt snowball, you might check out this free debt snowball spreadsheet.

#3. Emotional Debts are the First to Go

The fact is sometimes we make poor choices. Choices that haunt us. Let’s say you once helped buy a $1,000 stereo for an old boyfriend. That relationship never worked out, but you still have that $1,000 credit card debt. Imagine how good it would feel to finally pay off that debt and move on. 

This debt repayment strategy encourages you to list your debt in order of how passionate you are to pay them off. Perhaps one credit card company has been especially rude in their interactions. Put them first, and get them out of your life. 

Again, this is a strategy that relies on emotions more than math.

Which is the best strategy?

The answer completely depends on your temperament. 

I, for example, could effectively use #1 and #3 in conjunction. The reason? I hate paying interest to banks so the debt with the highest interest rate would also be the one with the most emotional pay off attached to it. 

Yet, there is no denying that many, many people are following the debt snowball with amazing results. Either way, if you have credit card debt, be sure you have a game plan or steps to get out of debt and work aggressively towards whatever strategy you adopt.

What strategy do you use / do you recommend to help people get out of debt?

 Be sure to visit Money Help for Christians where Craig promotes a frugal, simple, debt-free, and generous lifestyle so Christians can faithfully maximize their resources by putting them at the disposal of God’s Kingdom.

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Homemade Tater Tots

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If all of the recipes in the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge turn out to be this easy…I’ll whip through the list in no time. (But don’t get your hopes up.)

My first idea for and attempt at making Homemade Tater Tots turned out great. Then I tried them a second time…just to be sure. Even better. All six of us were so excited! These look like a tater tot, feel like a tater tot and well (if I do say so myself) taste better than a tater tot (funny thing about fresh potatoes and healthy oil).

My idea was to try the homemade hashbrown trick. Remember, I bake the potato, let it cool, shred it, then cook up the shredded potatoes into hashbrowns. SUCH a fabulous and easy way to make nice hashbrowns. And now…Tater Tots!!!!!!

Here’s how I did it…

Homemade Tater TotsYum

3-4 medium russett potatoes
Oil of choice (I used the very healthy and delicious Palm Shortening. I’d also recommend Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil because it’s flavorless yet healthy for frying.)  (You can read my research based opinions on healthy frying here.)
Sea Salt

First, scrub and bake your potatoes. Allow the potatoes to cool. Peel the potatoes (and save the skins to make Potato Skins as described in Katie’s Healthy Snacks to Go ebook!).

Chop the peeled and cooled potatoes and throw them in a food processor to shred finely. I’d recommend using the “pulse” setting if you have one. You don’t want your potatoes to turn to mush. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t. 

If you don’t have a food processor, you can always shred the potatoes
with a cheese grater…it’ll just take a bit longer.
And be careful to keep  your fingers away from the grater.
You don’t want fingers in your tater tots. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.

Next, heat some oil in a skillet (medium heat). You  just need enough oil to barely cover the bottom of the skillet. You don’t want greasy tots. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.

Use a small cookie scoop and pack in the shredded potatoes to make a nice firm ball. (If you don’t really pack it in, the potatoes will just fall apart when you place the ball in the skillet.)  Gently set the ball into the skillet. Allow it to cook thoroughly on one side before carefully turning it over. Press the ball down slightly when you turn it. Each side takes about 3-4 minutes to cook.

Remove tater tots once they look nice and crispy and golden brown. You don’t want blackened tater tots. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t. Sprinkle with desired amount of sea salt.

You should eat these right away because you don’t want cold tater tots. Well, (say it with me now) maybe you do, but I don’t.

If you can possibly keep your family out of them…we discovered that these freeze and reheat very well!! We used our toaster oven to reheat some leftover tater tots a day or two after I initially made them, just to test and see if these can be made ahead of time and YAY…it can be done!!

Just for fun, you may also want to check out the Homemade Tater Tot recipe at Finding Joy in my Kitchen. She came up with a different way of making tater tots that looks pretty tasty!

Overall, I’d say making Homemade Tater Tots is easy. Is it as easy as opening up a package and throwing the contents onto a cookie sheet? No. But it sure doesn’t take a lot of effort overall. And then, if you make several batches and freeze some…you’ve got easy, healthy tater tots ready to reheat for a quick side dish or snack!!

Okay…one recipe down…fourteen to go. Unless you count all the other ideas you challenged me with.

Now, go bake some potatoes so you can hurry up and make some tots. You don’t want to miss out on the delicious taste of fresh, Homemade Tater Tots.

Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.

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Do You NEED to Cut the Grocery Budget?

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lettuce

Thank you all for adding suggestions and sharing your various circumstances in my last Real Food Grocery Budget post, Very Limited Income for Real Food Purchases. I think it’s great that we’re all helping each other think of new ideas for saving money on good food.

What I’d like to address now is that while I think it’s great to learn ways to cut down on food costs when you’re going through tough financial situations, I also feel like it is very important to make sure our families are getting the nutrition they need. Again, we are investing in our bodies when we spend money to eat whole, real food. Some foods we can cut back on, but there are some things we really, really need to be eating so that we can stay healthy.

That’s why I had such a hard time sharing what I’d cut back on or cut out of our diets. I have a hard time recommending that many people NEED to cut down their grocery budget. If you’re spending money on processed foods or splurging all the time on specialty items and buying food that isn’t in season or buying stuff to eat that will simply fill a hole but not offer any nourishment…then we need to talk about ways for you to cut your grocery budget.

But if you have $X amount in your grocery budget and you’re carefully spending that amount on real, whole foods that are nourishing your family…I think you should keep doing what you’re doing. Sure, let’s keep trying to find fair prices and good deals and shop wisely so as to be good stewards of what God has given us to take care of our families. But if you have the money for plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables or any of the high quality healthy foods you feel convicted about eating…buy them for your family. Don’t cut out necessary nutrition just so that you can say that you’ve lowered your grocery bill.

In addition – and I’m guessing that I probably don’t really need to be saying this to any of you but I’m going to say it anyway – before you talk about needing to cut your Real Foods Grocery Budget, please make sure you’ve cut every other un-necessary item out of your budget first. My family has always done without cable TV and expensive cell phone plans and frequent eating out and going to movies and expensive clothing and all kinds of other things I can’t think of because we don’t spend money (or rarely spend money) on them so I probably don’t know what I’m missing.  I’m NOT saying that you shouldn’t ever have or do these things. If you have cable TV, I’m fine with that and will probably even enjoy watching the Food Network with you when I come for a visit. I’m just saying that you really shouldn’t complain about not being able to “afford” real, whole food…and then turn around and fill your grocery cart with frozen pizza, soda, twinkies and chips, 24 new pairs of high heeled shoes and a big screen TV for your bathroom. Kapeesh?

My point ultimately is that we all need to be as careful as possible with how we spend our money…but I think that spending money on good, whole food for our families is wise and even necessary. It’s an investment in our health for today and for years down the road. Good food costs money…but I think we need to caution ourselves against feeling like, “ugh, healthy food is SOOOOO expensive.” Is it…really? I don’t look at it that way anymore. I look at healthy food as…healthy. And the price that comes with it?

Well…I’d rather not pay the price of eating cheap, empty food. To me…that is what is costly.
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Off and on all week I’ve said that I would share about some creative ways our family saves, earns and comes up with great sources for food. I’ve sprinkled some of that information throughout these posts, but really and truly I have a whole post devoted to sharing ways to stretch and grow your grocery budget. Other topics keep popping up this week as I’ve written this series, but I promise (probably, mostly for sure, I think) that I’ll post tomorrow about stretching the budget. And sometime soon…I’ll even post about stretching a chicken.
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What are your thoughts about the “cost” of nutrition-void food?

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Very Limited Income for Real Food Purchases

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farmers_market

Apparently I have declared it to be Real Food Budget Week here at Heavenly Homemakers. There’s just a lot to say about real food and money…so I just keep going with this subject. :) If you missed the other posts, be sure to read Our Real Food Grocery Budget 2011 and No Grocery Budget Comparing Allowed.

Several have asked me to offer suggestions for how to eat a Real Foods diet while cutting back on the budget because of a super low income. This is a hard question for me to answer because I feel that it is very important to invest money in good food. Very important.  If you recall, I used to be a Coupon Queen and spend only about $100/month on groceries back when we had only two kids. I’ve come a  long way since then, learning about real food and health. I now understand that food is NUTRITION for our bodies…and we need to be careful and intentional about what we feed our families. It costs money to eat well, there’s no way around it…more money than it costs to feed our families food that contains little or no nutrition. 

At one point during our family’s Healthy Eating Journey, we were making less than $29,000/year (with no benefits) for our family of six. We were still able to eat a healthy diet, because we made it a priority and because we were creative and because God is good and provides…all the time.

For some of you, $29,000 sounds like peanuts…for others,$29,000 sounds like a fortune. If you’re barely making ends meet, what are you to do?

The question has been presented to me from a reader with a very low income and a family of five:  How would you eat a whole foods diet on only $50/week?    What would you cut out? What would you keep?

First let me say that whole foods or not…it would be very hard to feed five people with $50/week and I would encourage you to find a way to supplement that budget if at all possible. In my next food budget post (because this truly is turning into a little series!), I’ll talk about food budget creativity and share how I was able to help supplement our family’s grocery budget when we needed to spend more on groceries but didn’t have the cash flow!

For now I will address, as best as I can, what I would do if I was only able spend $50/week on groceries….

Food I’d Keep:

  • Eggs – free range if possible
  • Raw Milk – though we’d likely cut back to 1- 2 gallons a week
  • Butter
  • Fresh fruits and vegetables – in season and rationed – and I’d look high and low for free sources and I’d garden like crazy
  • Venison – hunters often love to hunt but don’t always like the meat
  • Beans – I’d likely get much more creative with my bean recipes!
  • Rice
  • Potatoes
  • Wheat to grind and make my own flour

Food I’d Cut Way Back On:

  • Meat – which is tough because we LOVE meat and feel like getting good protein is very important! I’d likely focus more on buying chicken than beef, because I can stretch a chicken to last six meals if need be. Or I’d skip the ground beef and buy soup bones and oxtail so I could make rich beef broth and stews.
  • Cheese – this would have to be a special treat

Food I’d Cut Out Altogether:

  • Sweets – these would be VERY limited – birthdays and Christmas only maybe?
  • Purchased snack food – I hardly buy these anyway, but occasionally I splurge on a bag of chips or a box of Cliff Bars for a trip. 
  • Juice – again, I rarely buy juice anyway, but if I only had $50/week to spend on groceries, this would never make the list.

I know I’m not doing a great job of making these lists and there are a lot of holes. What about oil? Spices? All kinds of other things I’m leaving out? 

In my next post, I’ll address some creative ways we save, earn and come up with great sources for food. In the meantime, help me round out these lists!! What would you keep, cut back on and cut out altogether if you had about $10/person/week to spend on groceries?

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