The End of the Road

Well, it is the beginning of a new year!  Can't believe we actually went a whole year on such a strict buying guide, but we did it. What do we have to show for it you ask?  With the money we did not spend this year we were able to pay off a nearly $10,000 credit card debt.  In fact, the last payment will be made in a few days.  We were also able to pay cash for every thing we did purchase - food, gas, all bills, our summer vacation, etc.  Nothing was put on a credit card so no NEW accumulation of debt was incurred.  Are we going to go out on a shopping spree now?  No way!  Quade did buy a hammock for camping that he has been waiting to purchase this past year. We do need some clothing; however, the goal is to never purchase anything at full retail price ever again!  I am proud of my family, their sacrifices and their willpower.  If I could only harness that willpower to apply to my attempts at losing weight... but I digress.  This year will be focused on living thrifty.  I haven't come up with a title for a new blog yet but when I do I will let you all know.  Thank YOU for following us along on this journey and helping to hold us accountable. You all have been part of our success by making suggestions, giving us ideas and even donating clothing and other things to help get us through this year. We have learned a lot about what we want and what we really need. Happy New Year everyone and God Bless.

Inexpensive Gift Ideas

More stuff for you to try to make yourself! 
1.  One note:  We did buy paintbrushes which do not fit our buying guide but seemed completely necessary for the Rainy Day Box project.  Paper and paint are depletable and we felt like the wooden sticks were an okay thing to purchase, as well. By covering many of the items with coordinating papers, it brings a sense of the items being custom.
1. On the "Nature Boxes" which contain birdseed, pinecones, peanut butter and twine, a shoebox would work just as well as the paper mache boxes we used.  I decorated with paper and paint and bought the peanut butter at Dollar Tree for one dollar.  The bag of birdseed I bought is enough to do six of these nature boxes easily. The pinecones were provided by nature. And I already had the twine on hand.  So this project could be done as cheaply as $4-$5, depending on the price of the birdseed and peanut butter, as well as the supplies you may already have on hand. 
2.  The red bag with the Christmas Tree is a No-Sew felt bag.  I used a hot glue gun to glue the seams together and used some gold twine I had to pull the top together.  This took two pieces of pre-cut felt pieces, no cutting and no sewing.  Can't get any easier than this!  Plus, I already had the supplies.  This is what years of crafting is good for :)
3. Lastly, the pom-poms are a very traditional, easy craft project that allows for some very cute ornaments.  They look especially nice in a decorated shoebox!

Shoeboxes were of major importance this year for the Snack Packs, Rainy Day Boxes and used as gift boxes. Maybe you can try your hand at some of these.  I actually looked up the pom-pom instructions on You Tube.

More Gift Ideas

Promise me you won't tell anyone about these gift ideas!  These will be under the Christmas tree in a couple of weeks but I am letting you in on these in case you need an idea or two.  The Snack Packs are similar to the ones I have posted before.  The fish bowl is one we had in the attic, collecting dust.  My oldest boy loves to collect shells and rocks so I painted on some seashells and coral and now he has a place to keep his collection and be able to enjoy it.  The pictures of the alphabet pages with little items to match is a "matching game."  I got the idea from something I saw at our local library.  So, I made the alphabet cards on the computer and began either searching for items or making items that would coordinate with the pictures.  I am having the alphabet pages laminated and will cut them into individual cards.  I also painted a shoebox and this will be the container that holds the game. Remember, shhhhhh!  And, happy crafting!

What About Santa?

Several folks have asked us about the Santa Factor.  How do we explain to our children that Santa can only bring edibles and depletables this year for Christmas?  First, we have never let Santa bring a lot of anything.  Santa is limited to only one or two things.  Second, we told them that we used the magic Santa number to contact the North Pole and request that Santa and his Elves respect our wishes this year and what we are doing.  Santa became a questionable figure for our oldest boy when he was about 5 and asked why his toys were "made in China" if Santa brought them from the North Pole. The other night, however, our pastor accidentally 'outed' Santa in church.  He didn't mean to and now the topic is really a moot point with our 8-year-old.  Our 3-year-old still believes so there will be presents from Santa - they just have to fit the criteria we have set!  Easy, huh?

Giant Ornament

I may have mentioned this from time to time, but I LOVE paper crafts, especially card-making and paper decor.  A friend of mine was making some things at my house yesterday and she came up with a cute paper photo frame.  I took her inspiration and made an ornament instead of a frame.  The idea is essentially the same, except I went ahead and decorated the center instead of leaving it open for a picture.  It is about 8 inches in diameter and consists of some chipboard circles I had on hand, as well as a stamped image of a poinsettia.  With the addition of some Christmas craft paper and a touch of glitter, I have a giant ornament for decorating with or to gift with.  Here's a pic.

Snack Packs

Here are a couple of things we made for two of our young cousins for Christmas.  We did each of them a Snack Pack of their favorite snacks. The containers are decorated shoe boxes.  We also made a Bird Feeding Kit from a paper birdhouse that included peanut butter, pinecones, and birdseed. 

The Finish Line?

Almost December!  Can't believe we only have one month left in this journey.  Of course, it will be the most difficult since it is the biggest shopping time of the year.  Still, I am very proud of my family for holding strong for a year's worth without buying.  We've had a few failures - little things, though, like a pair of sunglasses, some craft paintbrushes for a project, etc.  Overall, though, I can't complain.  We have managed to use the money we would have spent on stuff to apply to a $10,000 debt, which will be paid for in January!!!! We have also been able to pay cash for everything!  No credit card usage whatsoever this year.  I consider that an amazing success for our family.  I can't see us ever going back to thoughtless spending again.  When we shop for clothing it will be on Ebay, thrift stores or bottom dollar price in stores - never paying retail again!  We will also be very cautious in purchasing anything else - Can we find a substitute for free?  Can we make a trade with others?  Can we simply make do with what we have?  These questions will need to be answered before dropping anything in a shopping cart.  I will post pictures soon of some of the handmade Christmas items we've been working on.  Santa's elves have a lot of work to do this year!

Shopping Shock

Wow - had no idea a trip to Hobby Lobby would bring out such a strong desire to Buy! Buy! Buy!  Quade and I both had to restrain ourselves when we passed by adorable ornaments, Christmas decorations, lovely little trinkets we don't need but sure wanted and so many lovely fabrics!  We went in for basic depletable craft supplies like paint, paper and adhesive but sure wanted a great deal more.  We got some terrific ideas while we were in there but I felt like a fish being lured in by a juicy worm on a hook

Christmas Crunch

Can't believe Christmas is almost here already!!! Time flies when your a grown up doesn't it?  Quade and I have to get down to business in order to get Christmas gifts made this year.  We have some ideas up our sleeves and will be diligently working on them over the coming weeks.  I will post some as we get them finished. If you are interested in doing any of these things yourselves this year, here are a few ideas: 
1.  Fleece scarves with a simple blanket stitch on edges - anything can be appliqued on these for style. 
2.  Personalized pillows (also using fleece and using felt for designs to make it easy).
3. Snack Packs - using an interesting container fill with snacks and goodies that anyone would love - if you are handy with paper crafts you can design coordinating paper containers and packaging to hold the snacks.
4.  Hand-crafted cards - these can be done with paper and stamps or made from photos you have taken attached to a plain card base.
5.  Look up the site www.instructables.com for other great ideas, as well.

More ideas will be posted along with the way - these are just a few to get you started!

The Funny Side of Cheap

So a friend was at the house the other day and needed to use the facilities.  She came out of the bathroom and asked who Morgan Keegan was. I looked perplexed and thought for a moment.  Then I remembered that Morgan Keegan was a company that my sister-in-law used to work for.  I explained this to my friend who started laughing.  She saw the name on a shaving bag in our bathroom and thought we were so cheap that we were using someone's tossed-aside but personalized shaving bag!  I had to agree that it would be just like us to do something like that.  Too funny and had to share.

Pics from Fall Party

Just a couple of pictures but you will see the paper candy cups, the banner and the homemade scarecrows!  We had a blast with everyone from our Sunday School class. 

Happy Fall Ya'll

Just love this season - warm colors, snuggly clothes, savory scents - and the decorations!  We are having a Fall Porch Party for our Sunday school class soon and I need to do some decorating.  We won't be buying decorations but we have started making some. I have made a centerpiece with twigs and glittered papered leaves that my oldest boy helped with.  We are planning on making dried apple garlands, as well as paper pumpkin decorations.  The food will be the main attraction of this party and that fits in nicely with what we spend money on.  On one of the decorating websites I was looking at I saw the cutest Pumpkin Bean Bag Toss that is easily made of scrap materials so that may be attempted, too, and will give the kids a game to play.  Quade suggested I make scarecrows out of old clothing and stuff them with hay that we purchase for the chickens. We have a lot of projects but hopefully we can get them done.  We are buying pumpkins, as technically they are edible.  So, when we get it all done I will post some pics.

Excess in Excess

I can't believe it is already the middle of September!  I want to talk about EXCESS.  Excess is anything more than what you really need.  Most of us have it.  In looking at the things I use every day I began to evaluate how much excess I now have nine months into our little no-buying experiment. My piles are dwindling.  If you are curious about how much excess you have answer the following questions.
1.  How many containers of lipstick/eyeshadow do you have?
2.  How many bottles of perfume do you have?
3.  Do you have a blender, a juicer, a food processor and a food chopper?
4.  How many cans of furniture polish/cleaners do you have on hand?
5.  Articles of clothing - Do you have more than 3 white shirts/blouses?  More than 6-8 handbags/purses?  More than 20 pair of shoes (any kind)?  What about belts?  And don't get me started on jewelry.

My point is - do you really need all that extra stuff?  Is it just taking up space until you finally realize it's still in the closet or under the cupboard?  And do those extra things that you probably never use or wear ever enter your mind when you are out shopping for more?  We have all bought stuff we don't need and don't use and don't wear - but we don't have to keep doing it.  Couldn't you think of a better use of your money and your space?  Food for thought - eat it up or spit it out.

The Birthday Boys

Both of our boys have birthdays within 8 days of each other.  We usually celebrate them on the same day.  This year of course we have to be creative.  I have included pics of some of the things we made this year.  For both boys we made duct tape swords.  They both got plastic jar banks - three each;  giving, savings and spending.  Caleb received some homemade edible play dough and Kelby received a paper bag scrapbook that I made for him.  They both also got McDonald's gift cards (the edible gift) - these were put into a creative box that I made from scrapbook paper.  Of course the grandparents gave them gifts and they both got money, which they were allowed to purchase some things they wanted with. They seemed to love their birthday and had no complaints whatsoever about their gifts, for which I am very grateful.  Can't wait til Christmas - I think I better start planning now.  Making almost all the gifts required quite a bit more time than running to the store to pick something up. 

What a Deal

I mentioned in a much earlier post that we wanted to cancel our Dish Satellite to save money.  Then I found out we were still under contract and couldn't cancel it. Recently, however, the contract was up so we planned on making a big change.  We signed up for Netflix at $8.99 a month, which we LOVE.  We do get shows streaming through our Wii system.  Although they may not be this season's latest programs, there are still so many shows and movies to choose from that it is worth the bargain price all the way!  Well, I called Dish to cancel and they tried offering me other deals, especially after I told them what we were switching to and how that price couldn't be beat.  They then made me a deal I couldn't refuse and now we are getting a handful of stations, including local news and a few popular cable programs, and we are keeping Netflix.  We were spending around $40 a month plus paying for Redbox rentals from time to time. Our expenditure for this form of entertainment has now been cut in half.  If we decide we no longer want to continue with Dish, though, we can still cancel it.  The main reason I have for even wanting to keep Dish (which I think is a good company) is for the local channels when there is bad weather. Otherwise, I can live without paying for regular television.  Unfortunately, where we live does not allow us to get any digital programming, even with a digital television and the converter box.  The offer by Dish was a really good one and it tells me that Dish is trying to keep its customers, which I appreciate. 

Tithing

By now you all know that we don't buy things that are not edible or depletable.  But a word needs to be shared about tithing and offerings at church.  When we fell under conviction to tithe 10% of our gross income it was many years ago. We believe we have been blessed because of it. No matter our choice to live by this "shopping thin" method, we will not quit giving to our church, either by tithing or by offerings - something given above and beyond the tithe.  Initially, I wondered how we would be able to purchase things needed for the church without breaking our rules, but then the words "our rules" hit my like a brick.  This method of not spending is something we came up with - The Lord still expects us to fulfill any calling He puts on us and so the decision was easy. 

I encourage you to consider tithing if you are not already. If the Spirit is nudging you in this direction, allow yourself the opportunity to be blessed by giving.  One can always give their time and talents, but we must also give of that which the Lord has provided in the way of an income and provision.

Inventive Gifting

Can't believe it's been a month since I last posted - been a busy summer!  We did take a short vacation to Holiday World in Indiana - We didn't purchase a single souvenir to bring back and the kids never asked for anything, either!  And wow, what a deal that place is - very family friendly, with free drinks and sunscreen.  Loved it. 

So we got a birthday invitation last week for a one-year birthday party for a little boy.  Now, a first birthday is a special birthday.  We needed to have a gift for this little fella, so what were we gonna do?  A friend told me that he liked Puffs (a toddler's snack).  That got me thinking - how about a snack pack?  Fill up a container with little snacks that a growing guy might like.  I have included a pic so you can see what I came up with.  I had the goodies but no container to put them in, so I had to get real creative real quick.  I looked around my house and saw a pair of cut-off shorts that belonged to my oldest boy - he hated them so never wore them.  I did a quick stitch to the bottom with hemp and had an instant "SnackPack".  The pockets served to hold two yogurt drinks and the rest of it held the other little snacks.  I made a decorative box to put some of the banana cookies in and a card to match.  I tied two more strings of hemp through the belt loops for handles.  The whole family seemed to like it, and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Shame, Shame, Shame

My husband came in with a couple of bags of groceries the other day - everything in the bags was on our list of allowable items.  However, there was something in his smile that said he was up to no good.  Of course, I needed only look directly North of that grin to see the object of his sheepishness - sunglasses!  He bought himself a very cheap pair of sunglasses!  But I didn't care if they were $1.  The point was that they are not an allowable item.  He, of course, was very aware I would react with disdain and began offering an 'explanation' for his indiscretion.  He claimed his eyes were going to be damaged if he didn't have them and pulled a little guilt trip on me. So, he has a pair of sunglasses.  Honestly, I am thrilled that we have stuck with this as closely as we have for 7 months - it has really been eye opening - I think there may be a pun in there somewhere.

Where is the Money Going?

We have established that we are saving approximately $250 to $300 a month using our no-shopping method.  So, do we have a pile of cash somewhere because of this?  In a word - NO.  Prior to our beginning this method, we had  put our student loans in 'forbearance'.  This is the action of putting repayment of the student loan on hold, while still making the interest payment on the loan.  Now that we have extra money from not shopping for a bunch of stuff, we are able to make the payment on the loan again. In addition to this, we have been able to continue making extra payments on our Visa credit card - a major blessing. So, we won't have a big pile of cash at the end of the year, as we initially thought we would.  But we began to see the wisdom in having debt wiped away, and we will have some major debts paid down and/or completely gone by the end of the year.  The Visa alone is major.  If we simply made the minimum payment on it, we would be paying on it for the next 20 years - that's not an exaggeration - it is a fact. Yet, it will be a distant memory by December 31 of this year and we can't wait to celebrate that one!  It is important to note that we canceled this credit card so we CANNOT use it for any reason.  That was a difficult decision for us, because we have always used our credit card as a safety net in the event something 'happened' or an emergency came up.  We found, though, it was just too easy to use it for other things - stuff we wanted when we wanted it.  And it got us up to $10,000 in credit card debt!  It's funny, because before we started this no-shopping method, I would have been ashamed to admit that.  I was hiding it, from everyone and myself - not wanting to admit it even existed, but it was a deep wound on our finances, insidious and dangerous, and if allowed to continue it would have poisoned our financial security.  There is a certain freedom in being able to say it out loud and know there is a plan in place to heal the wound.  We pray we are making the right decisions for our children, because that is the number one reason for doing any of this. I often fear that next year will bring some incredibly bad economic woes to our nation and our people.  I pray I am wrong, but it's not looking good.  I am a woman of faith and I pray we all weather the storm, and it will take faith to do it, but I do think the storm will come. We are to be good stewards of what we have been blessed with. We can't live willy nilly, tossing money around like it's confetti, so we must do what we should to prepare for what may be a difficult future.

Cheap Shoes!

Our oldest boy, Kelby, is pretty hard on his shoes.  He had a pair of flip flops - they broke.  We had to buy a pair ($2) because he was absolutely down to one pair of tennis shoes and they are for wearing to church.  The 'new' pair broke while we were in Wal-Mart yesterday.  Luckily, he had some of his own money that he earned for doing chores and he bought himself another pair. We are big believers in earning one's keep.  Yes, they are our children and we are responsible for their welfare, but that doesn't mean they can't make a contribution.  At Kelby's age, he is also expected to tithe a portion of any money he earns and save a portion of any money he earns.