You know I'm all about being prepared. Today we're going to talk about water storage. You'll get lots of options and ideas for putting together emergency water storage for your family, including how you can do it virtually for free. But first, why is water so important? Don't we all have it coming out of our faucets? Why store water? Yes, we are blessed to have clean water coming out of the tap 99 percent of the time. BUT in times of natural disaster or a disruption or contamination in ... read more
Real Family Budget Update – August 2020
It's time for a budget update! I pretty much haven't checked in with you all since our budget update a month ago. August was a crazy month getting homeschooling set up for our 4 school-age kids. It seriously consumed all of my time! You seasoned homeschoolers probably have all sorts of secrets that I don't know since I'm new to this. Just as we were getting into a groove, we were accepted into a homeschool charter where we had been on the waitlist for months. A lot of things stay the ... read more
Best Blackberry Syrup Recipe (with canning tutorial)
It's blackberry season where we live, which means free blackberries are available in every direction. The kids had been begging to go berry picking because we have been out of blackberry syrup for too long and we need to restock. Sure we have other kinds of syrup, but nothing compares to homemade blackberry syrup. It's everyone's favorite! Everyone was thrilled that last week's Family Night activity involved picking buckets of blackberries on the side of the road. No one even complained ... read more
Real Family Budget Update – July 2020
It's time for our July 2020 real numbers budget update! Life in July was a little crazy for our family. We went from laying low in quarantine, literally not going anywhere, to having two scheduled surgeries and one emergency room visit in July, along with the associated doctor visits. And even aside from that excitement (most of which hasn't hit the budget yet), July was a fairly expensive month. We spent way more on groceries than we normally do, as we're trying to get our long-term and ... read more
Debt Smash-athon JUNE 2020 Progress Report
I'm not sure how July nearly got away from me before I got June's Debt Smash-athon Update posted! I was so excited to read of your milestones this month. It's a hard financial time for many people, but it's exciting to see you still working toward your goals. Some of you are newly debt free! Big congrats to each of you! My heart goes out to those of you who are going through especially difficult things right now (on top of all things pandemic)! I pray that things will look brighter for ... read more
How to Rotate Your Food Storage (So Nothing Goes to Waste!)
We're back to talking more about food storage! Today we're going to cover how to rotate your food storage. And when it comes to rotating your food storage, you pretty much have two options: to rotate your food storage and to not rotate your food storage (well at least not regularly). Both can work! We'll briefly cover both schools of thought and then I'll tell you what I do and why I do it that way. If you're following along, hopefully you've already taken time to plan out your food ... read more
How to Dehydrate Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Do you have zucchini coming out your ears yet? If you planted summer squash in your garden, chances are good that you have more than you can eat fresh. Zucchini has a reputation for being ridiculously prolific. It's almost magical how quickly they grow. It's definitely the season to break out all of your favorite zucchini recipes and share squash with all of your neighbors. But you don't have to eat it all fresh. If you've run out of ways to use your summer squash fresh and your ... read more
July 2020 Grocery Haul– More Re-stocking Food Storage
Well, June was our biggest, most expensive grocery haul ever. Now July looks like it will be our second most expensive month ever! Our family of 8 usually spends around $500 per month on groceries. Our monthly grocery haul for July that I'm about to show you was over $700! And that's just the beginning of the month haul, not including any little shopping trips throughout the month. Don't worry, this isn't a "new normal." At least I don't think it is. This is just us re-stocking after ... read more
WHERE and HOW to Store Food Storage
In our last food storage post we talked about getting started with a 1-3 month food supply of your meals that your family loves. We talked about why everyone should have food storage and how to start and implement your family's custom food storage plan. Today we're going to go into more detail about WHERE and HOW to store your food. If you're making the effort to get prepared and have food storage for your family, then you're going to want to be sure it's stored properly so your efforts ... read more
Real Family Budget Update – June 2020
It's time for a family budget update (we'll get back to food storage next week)! If you know us, you know that we love to budget! We love budgeting because it allows us to do what we want with our money and helps us reach our financial goals. If you are not a budget lover, you might be confused when you hear me say that our budget "allows us to do what we want with our money," but it's true! When we budget, we decide on our priorities and put our money there! On the flip side, without ... read more
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 62
- Next Page »
