[Quote] Mostly, they thought differently. Canning, smoking, drying meat and fruits and veggies. Flour was mostly for bread, all these other things like cakes and cookies and doughnuts, were special occassion uses of flour, not a weekly norm. If you only used your flour for making bread it would last much longer, but it wouldn't be as much fun.[/quote]

LuckyRobin pointed out how treats were a bit more of a treat back in the day...I was thinking I call those treats too..but I also call them daily treats! I make muffins nearly every week, usually several different versions, sure we pack up some to take to church, but we also get to try some of every batch...Not to mention making icecream nearly every week.....juice is pretty frequent, though limited and watered down......pop is getting rareer, but I see DH put some in the fridge every day, I certainly hope there will be some left for Friday company.......

Spoiled, we are spoiled....and not just on the whole 'roof over head, 3 squares a day'. We are spoiled in soo much more.

Ours happens to be in a park, so last week and this we loaded up the kids and went together.

I love combining fun and work! I wish more of life was like that.

For me it is between less than a month and two months, that is a lot of flour! and alot more than I used to use, I now bake more, and share more.....

I am looking at the dwindleing supply of flour and remembering filling it up literally 2 weeks ago. This is a bit rediculous, how did pioneers survive? did they get flour in 50 lb sacks? we hear how they did not eat meat like we do, and we know vegetables were hard to come by in the winter, so what were they eating? or maybe I just eat alot..well I do..eat alot that is.

I finally tried to nail down amounts for the peanutbetter concoction.


2, 4, 2, 4

2 heaping tablespoons of spreadable margerine

4 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter

2 heaping tablespoons of coco powder

4 quarter cups of powdered sugar

mix, roll in balls.

I coated the balls with saltine crumbs, but for a sweeter taste use powdered sugar.

I got rave reviews

We planned nothing for today...and while we were at nothing, a trip down the hill to the creek just sounded like nothing really.

Sun screen, bug guard, jeans, and shoes were found....children were psyched, daddy chose to stay with UE (too small still), mommy geared up to go, or rather turned off her computer and escaped before any more work called.

Mud was found, squelched between the toes, splatted back to the ground, and it snuck into nooks and crannies of all. Cool clean water rushed over toes, and stole shoes.

shells were found, oohed over, rocks polished, walnuts cracked, acorns collected, leaves identified...sortof.

Finally we headed back home, hosed of, then hopped in the shower for real soapy cleaning.

Here comes the expensive part, my kids and I ate about double the normal meal! If we had stayed home doing nothing instead of out doing nothing we wouldn't have eaten as much!!!

Oh well, it was a buck well spent (fortunatly I cook cheap)

I opened my dishwasher the otherday to discover everthing was covered in a slippery film, and the bottom of the washer was filled with water. I rinsed what I needed for dinner and planned to redo te rest later.

We hand washed the dinner dishes, a wet but fun family activity, then just as I was about to empty the dishwasher for washing I heard the wooosh/shwoosh of it running. I asked my husband if he fixed it, he said he hadn't touched it, then we looked at JC..she did it, by closing the door fully! Someone had opened the door and stopped it midcycle!

My husband found a great deal on a laptop, so here I am finding all my passwords and settings, and such.

It amazes me how much of life has a password on computers, butmore amazing is how few I remember! Seems silly that so much needs security, that only my computer and theirs know!

Is it really keeping me safe if I have to look up the password? couldn't a would be hacker just have the sites email him/her instead of me?

I have limited space to line dry.. I kept telling myself I should get a retractable line.. I never found one, so I continued to allow myself to use the dryer..since I had no room.

Well lets just look and see why I need a retractable line..

Because I am not allowed a line here in the community, so it has to come down when not in use, to leave the impression I don't use one.

Err, what broke my arms preventing my from taking it down every day????????

So today upon realization that my hands and arms work fine, there is a line strung from the 'swing' to the light. I can take it down when I take the clothes off!

Somedays my stubborn have to have it amazes me! Others my ingenuity for solving problems does, I prefer the latter type of days.

I have three kids, and I waste a ton of food in spillage!

milk, juice (thank goodness it is watered down) food on faces, hands, and floors.

I could prolly cut my food bill in half if I could just get the kids to stop spilling!!!!!

That is honestly the question for my website.

Honestly money is nice, but the internet is paid for by my husbands site now, so I don't actually need my own to pay that bill, though I certainly could find a use for it

A bigger payout to me would be helping people learn in life, all of it. To see more people talking about why you need baking soda, or at least how to measure it, and less grabbing cupcakes at the store or baking them after the kid is a sleep (though sometimes it happens to the teachiest of us-besides, sometimes you gotta be kidless...) More people counting while braiding hair, or anyway talking about something, anything but 'hold still I can't see the TV'. Or more people looking things up their kids ask for ('are there tailess rats?)

but then I should at least try to make my hosting/name register back.. and more money would enable me to do more...but

I hate sites loaded with ads.....and I want part of my site to be a math version of Starfall (though I don't know how, os I would rather

starfall did it!) but hmm
maybe if I do ads on the main site, and no ads on the 'mathfall' (not actually planning on that name..but it gets the point across! (just checked it is taken...an ad site..links to other sites) Anyway links on there would be harder for kids new to a mouse to avoid..I like how easy it is for GMC to navigate (and was easy last year when he just started)

maybe I think to much...to big...to fast.

let me count the ways

half the time it skews websites, did it with

justonespin last month, and today it is doing it with groceryguide but if I say anything I guarantee it will be all better by the time anyopne looks at it, so I don't want to waste anyones time, but I can't read when print is squished! which is why I never go to about.com...

that and the stupid firefox wont work for surveys, or many other sites..

so why do I use it? cause it is very good at popup blocking.....I used to get a ton of popups.

I admit it, I am antisocial. I am also blunt, straightforward and lacking in any tact. and tell the truth a loner.

so after two weeks of far too much...people in my day, I am taking the next 4 days off! nothing but my three kids and husband IRL. somehow online I don't mind as much..maybe cause I can rant all I like, no biting of the tounge neccessary ....course I occasionally have to break my own fingers to keep from spewing forth my opinions, but in general I skip it and assume that if anyone doesn't like it they don't have to read it!

Anyway, no people, means little money spent, so it is a good thing in many ways. Groceries need bought as they do each week, but no company, so no extras

neccessitty is the mother of invention, generally it can save money, at the very least it can avoid the horrid words 'I can't'. I hate those words, I have used them, and as a child I abused them, but I currently find 'I can't' to be the dirtiest phrase in the english language. I would rather read a blog full of swear words than one full of 'I can't'.

Today I had a chance to see what I CAN do when things are not right. I promised to make pumpkin bread for a picnic tonight. just as I got started I realized I had no kitchenaid bowl! no problem I have a different bowl, but not going to use the kitchenaid, then I discovered I had not thawed enough butter out, no problem, there was some in the fridge, and I have an electric hand blender. Next I found the whole cloves were mixed with the ground, never do this! so I had to 'sift' my cloves, I don't even sift flour! I am soo lazy.

The of course there is the shortage of milk, and the lack of directions for powdered, I previously used powdered for milk bath, and some recipies that specifically called for it, I still have no idea how to mix it to make milk, no big I guessed.

With an aproximation of pumpkin bread batter prepared all I needed was a pan or two to bake it in, unfortunatly I had only one bread pan..and no time, UE was awake and fussy. so I grabbed a round casseroll dish...I know that is not right, but I did, and It will work..I can take 'pumpkin cake' close enough to the promised bread.

So it is ok, I CAN do all sorts of things, I just chose not to do the dishes while GMC was supposed to be napping......

oh and I can't figure out pictures ofn my website (err I mean I havn't yet figured out.....)

I would have used spray paint. I made a oven/fridge for JC. She has been asking for her own kitchen,a nd I thought I could at least try to expand her options, plus her bucket for 'kitchen tools' was cracked...remind me to skip cheap plastic next time.

Anyway my motehr suggested I take the avon box she had just handded me, I thought a bout it, and hit upon an idea of covering it with contct paper to remove the words. After spending 30 minutes doing so, I realized that cardboard is not 'non pourus' so it doesn't hold the contact that well....oops.

chalk that one up to experience.

So why am I listing these anyway? aside from the personal satisfaction of finding 100 simple daily ways to save, I know the more I read tips the more I use them..I first heard some of these in childhood, then I read many of them on

savingadvice.com and now I am putting them in one more place, the more you seee ways to save the more you think you can do one or more of them, and the more we do to save, the less we need debt, or occassionally the more we can help others.

link to first 20

link to 21-30

link to 31-50

Course today I am starting off on the wrong foot with my totally unpolitically correct idea...

51. don't send your kids to school, not only will you save on school supplies, you will save on future therapy/education bills, take em to the library, talk to them, invite people over who use 'big words' and who know more than you on something..anything.
52.Learn to learn with them, and save on your own con ed classes.
53. eat halthier, save on future medical bills, start small, add a fruit or vegetable a day, work your way up to 5.
54. turn off the tv, save on electricity and on future medical/therapy/education bills (not saying all tv is bad, just most of it)
55. practice the word 'no' no you can't have that, no you can't go there, no I wont buy that. save millions of future therapy, and current impulse buys.
56. learn to 'window shop' teach your kids, stores are for seeing not buying!
57. borrow it! whatever it is, borrow first from a friend, before you buy, unless you would truly be a nuscance with borrowing you can prolly do without.
58. cultivate at least one skill ou can trade for the borrowing.
59. make what you have what you need..want a climbing vine? cultivate some weeds, find the root of a vine (make sure it isn't poison ivy first!) transplant it (wait for late fall early spring.,..I think)
60. take share and store digital pictures, not old fashioned ones...
61. accept others 'handmedowns' even if you don't need em, take em. use what you can, pass along the rest.
62. wash laundry when you have a full load
63. wash dishes when you have a full load
64. declutter, less stuff means less stress, which is better for the health.
65. store cookies in plastic not ziplocks..a ziplock wears out faster than plastic.....and I don't wash baggies!

Ok so I actually am branching out to the whole week here...but still rather easy to do stuff. (and all things I do/did this week)

link to first 20

link to 21-30

31. Rent movies from library
32. invite friends for free enterainment..play poker (or whatever)
33. learn to window shop
34.. pack and eat lunch out at the mall..do not buy their food/drinks (or at least not much)
35. check the beer isle for 'wine tags' refunds on meat..often with no beer purchase neccessary
36. make 'jigglers' from knox and juice, healthier too.
37. turn water off while brushing teeth/scrubbiong hands/face
38. learn to trim hair (practice on em young so they can't complain..much
39. do not get kids used to treats everytime you go out.
40. cultivate the joy of sitting and pretending in a store 'ride' no quarter required.
41. make what you need from what you have, like a pillow from an old sheet, or a fitted feet toddler bed top sheet (cut top of fitted sheet, resew hem..will be a bit short..but so is your kid1)
42. grab a free 'ad paper' for catching paint drips..get the newspaper paper for paper mache (no you don't have to buy your local paper)
43. cover sleepingbag/sleeping pad with sheet for company, wash sheet with normal load, not the heavy pad.
44. don't wear makeup..if God wanted your eyelids blue he would've mad em that way! (special occassions are different)
45. speaking of dressing up, aim for rewearable, dark tennis shoes for kids to most church events, dark half dress shoes that work for running and dresses for girls.
46. use a 10lb sugar bag for evening garbage.
47. compost to cut down garbage
48. feed animals table scraps to cut down on buying food for them
49. let em hunt to cut down more..doesn't work well on large dogs...but great for cats..keeps the field mouse/possum population down.
50. recycle stuff..before you put it in the bin, see if you can use it.