Big Transitions

 It has been a while since I felt the need to blog, but I hope that these next series might be of help to others. I also hope that my readers might be able to help me as I navigate new changes in our home. 

So let's get right to it!

The big news!

Life changing news!

My in-laws have moved in. 

They are now living with us in our home.  We have a "wing" that is fully accessible for those who need extra supports.  My mother in law is having some mobility and stability issues and the grab bars in our bathroom, our elevator going from the garage below to the first floor of our home, and the large doors and hallways with chair rails all along the walls in every room are more than helpful to her.  We also have a walk in shower with a large bench seat and grab rails all around.  In their area they have two large rooms, one for their bedroom and the other for their "sitting" room.  In their sitting room they have a small kitchen counter with storage cabinets underneath, a small refrigerator, and a microwave oven.  They have their kitchen table with chairs so they can sit at the table.  They also have a sitting area with chairs and their large screen TV.  This wing has a door that separates them from the rest of the house so they can come and go as they please.  They can also open that door and feel more a part of the household activities.  

The entire moving in process was quite involved.  Prior to their move, we were using those rooms as our bedroom and my craft room.  We had to move our bedroom upstairs to the old master bedroom.  My craft room was packed up and moved into both storage and our upstairs bedroom closet.  Thankfully this upstairs bedroom has two closets.  This was a process because had to get rid of a lot of things, including much of our clothing and other items.  This new bedroom is much smaller than our previous room. We had to downsize and get rid of two large chests of drawers and reduce to only one small closet for the both of us to share.  This was a bit of a struggle. The bigger struggle was the bathroom situation.  Previously we each had our own large bathrooms and shared the large shower room.  Now we have a small half bath that has only a toilet and small sink.  It is so small that only one person can fit in there and all you can do is turn around.  You step in, turn around and step out. There is no storage in there either.  Under the sink I have a little bit of space for a few items, but the plumbing takes up most of the space.  We now share a hall bath with our two young adult daughters.  So far (12 days), it has been okay.  No one has needed to shower at the same time as another.  No one has used all the hot water either.  But I am sure there will come a time....

We also had to make room in our very full basement for my in-law's items that they couldn't part with.  They moved from a three bedroom two bath home where they lived for 14 years.  We were lucky that they have moved a few times over the many years and they have weeded out some items.  However, their house still was full of things they weren't ready to part with.  We welcomed their stuff as we knew it would be very stressful for them to have to get rid of too much all at once.  It was already stressful enough to have to move in with us.  We chose to weed out our things to accommodate theirs.  Much of what we got rid of needed to go anyway.  It just took time and many many loads to Goodwill.  

They have now been here 12 days and I am beginning to see them relax a bit.  We are still finding our way together, but I think we are all settling in to new routines here.  

Over the next several posts I will talk about growing pains, how we decided to have them live with us, and lessons we are learning.  

Let me know:

• are you living in a multi-generational home?
• How did you get to where you are?
• Are you a full-time care-giver? How much support do you provide?
• What lessons have you learned?
• How are your kids handling this?

How did I do?

 Last week I had a big list of things I needed to do.  Let's see how I did!

1.Last week I talked about how I needed to do some major organizing in our basement.  That didn't happen.  👎

2.  I wanted to get more shelving for our basement organization and for our pantry.  I thought about it and the husband and I talked about it while we were at Costco.  We even looked at the shelving, but decided not to get it right now.  👎

3.  I wanted to put the "general store" back together and organize it.  That didn't happen. 👎

4. I needed to stock up on a few things we were getting low on.  I got everything on my list except sugar and flour. 👍👎

5.  I made my bed every single day. 👍

6.  We ate at home each night (which is a big deal for us), because I had menu planned.  One meal we didn't like at all and opted for leftovers instead. 👍

I pretty much failed last week, but I have to say, that was a pretty big list.  However, it got me thinking about what needs to happen and how it needs to happen.  And that is a big start.  

This week the weather looks yucky.  So I am thinking that I will be able to get some of the organizing done in the basement while it is rainy outside. That is the plan.  We will see how much I get done. 👍

Plans for week of 6/12

 We got some news yesterday and we will be having our son and his fiance moving back in with us temporarily while they save for a house and wedding.  Soooo......that means a whole household of stuff will be moving in with them too.  This means I need to get on my basement organization.  I have a lot of things that are just laying around down there that I don't need or want and I just need to get that stuff gone.  I also have a bunch of my daughter's stuff that has been just sitting in piles from when she moved home from college a few months ago.  That needs to get put away finally and organized as she will be moving overseas in a couple months and won't be needing any of that stuff for a while.

We also just was gifted a TON of emergency gear from a "prepper" who prepped for his family of 12 for 3 years.  He is active military but moving and can't take this with him.  So he gifted it to us.  We have 4 to 5 pick up truck loads of stuff that I need to go though and organize as well. 

I am thinking I need more shelving at this point. Shelves on wheels so I can move them around too.  I a thinking 4 will help. I plan to double my pantry storage in the basement, reorganize our "general store" with some smaller totes and organizational boxes. 

This is going to be a big undertaking but I think I can at least start on it this week.  

Also this week I need to stock up on a few items. We are running low on sugar and flour, salt, pepper, and spaghetti sauce.

I will be, as always, making my bed.  I meal prepped and grocery shopped yesterday for this week until Thursday or Friday.  I am hoping we will have enough leftovers to carry over to the next night once or twice too.  

Am I a Prepper?

 Honestly, I don't know.  I don't consider myself a "prepper" in the sense that the media has defined a prepper.  I gather from the media (social media, tv shows, internet, blogs, etc.) that most people describe a prepper to be someone who prepares for invasion of their property and end of the world times.  This is SO NOT why I prep!

I like to be prepared.  We have a well stocked pantry and freezer.  We have emergency supplies for when the lights go out and are out for a while (like days), and we carry emergency kits in our cars.  Am I a prepper? Probably not.  Do we have similar supplies? Yes. Can I feed my family for several months without going to the grocery store? Yes.  Do I think the world is coming to an end? I certainly hope not!

As I have said in past posts, we have "planned emergencies".  These really aren't emergencies but they are times where we rely on our food storage to get us through a lean time in our year.   We also hate to have an appliance break or some household item break and us no be able to replace it.  We keep an emergency fund for those times.  We USE that emergency fund several times a year.  When it gets used, we immediately start saving it again.  I stock up on band-aids, cough and cold meds, and other minor medical needs.  I keep well stocked on toiletries, such as tooth brushes, soaps, shampoos, deodorant, and the like.  

I have long term storage too.  Wheat berries, ground flour, some long term freeze dried foods, dried milk, etc.  When I buy ground flour, sugar or coffee, I buy in bulk 25 to 50 lbs at a time.

So, am I a prepper? I don't think so.  I think I am just "prepared".  I am prepared for weather emergencies.  I am prepared for black out emergencies.  I am prepared for times when we need to rely on our food storage to get us through a tough spell.  

Meal Planning 101

Grilled pork chops are a
quick and easy meal.

Being prepared takes time and the more time you put up front the better the week will be. This means that you have to put in some planning time before the week begins to plan out your week.  Grab your calendar, let's do this!

Looking at my calendar I add anything I don't already have on it.  Then I look over each day and see where I will be and what I will be doing.  This helps with the next step.  I look to see if there are days I am going to be out for dinner or lunch.  Then I look to see if my last appointment buts up to a meal where I won't have time to cook or make it. I don't have a job where I am in an office.  If I did, then lunches would be easy.  When I did have a job in an office, I packed my lunch every day.  I usually packed leftovers from last night's dinner.  I planned dinners where I would have leftovers for my lunches. If I didn't have leftovers then I packed a frozen meal or a sandwich. 

Now, let's talk dinners.  On my calendar where an appointment buts up to dinner time, I try to plan a meal that cooks all day in the crock pot with minimal additional prep.  I plan those first. Next I look at what I have in our freezers or what needs to be eaten soon.  I make sure those items are on the menu somewhere. We are a "meat and potatoes" family so I plan the meat first then add in the sides.  This whole process so far takes me about 5 minutes.  If I know we are tight on money then I make sure I shop my pantry (this is where a well-stocked pantry comes in handy). 

One of our favorite dinners is
crockpot spaghetti sauce. 
See below for the recipe.

Once I have a menu planned.  I start my grocery list. 

Truly it is that easy.  That little bit of time will save you from my life right now.  It is 5:43 and I didn't plan dinner.  I have no meat thawed and have nothing that can be quickly cooked.  We tend to be an "ingredients" house.  We don't do prepared foods because 1. it isn't good for you and 2. it isn't that good. So whatever we eat we have to make, like actually make. Tonight might become "Pizza Friday" and that is okay.  Tomorrow I will meal plan for next week and grocery shop.  

A big part of being prepared is forgiving yourself when you have dropped the ball.  I see my mistakes and I see the results when I don't menu plan. When I fail I forgive myself and jump back on that wagon. So tomorrow I menu plan.

Quick Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or (our favorite) ground Sweet Italian pork sausage

2 16 oz. jars your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Brown the meat in a saute pan. Drain any fat. 

Mix the two jars of spaghetti sauce and the browned meat in a crock pot.  Turn on low and let cook 4 to 6 hours stirring occasionally.  

Serve over pasta noodles with warm, crusty bread and a salad. 

Why put this in a crock pot and cook all day when you can quickly mix, heat and serve immediately?  Because the flavors meld together and take a mediocre jarred spaghetti sauce to the next level.  It tastes homemade and amazing!!  Give it a try!!

Being Prepared Takes Time: Make Your Bed

A beacon of light in the chaos of life. 

 This is a marathon, not a sprint!  It is also a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing. 

And I feel like I am starting all over again.  Because I am starting all over again, I thought I would blog about my journey.

First, let's talk about what it means to be "prepared".  "A Prepared Mom" started as my blog documenting my thoughts on emergency preparedness, mom tips for traveling with kids, quick meals, and such.  As I continued to blog, I felt like I was just reiterating the same topics over and over again, so I stopped blogging because I felt I had nothing additional to offer. 

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about our change in situation and where we are now. I thought I would start this blog again to perhaps help someone else going through this transition too.

So, here we are.  When I first started blogging, I had little kids.  Now my little kids are not so little anymore.  They are all adults.  One no longer lives with us.  One is on her way to grad school overseas, and one is still living with us but living her own life very, very independently.  We are experiencing this in between phase where sometimes we are almost empty-nesters and then other times we are back to a pretty full house.  I never know when people will be home for dinner.  I struggle with others making a mess and not cleaning it up or helping to clean up general family house mess.  So here I am.  Messy house. 2 growing puppies. 2 adult kids who can't seem to clean up after themselves.  A husband who works way too much.  Chaos.

I keep reminding myself that one day I will miss not having the kids around and without this constant craziness.

So today I will make my bed.  Since it is Sunday, I will actually strip my bed and change the sheets too. Why do I choose this one thing?  Some bloggers have chosen the "Fly Lady" method and pick clean your sink.  But I choose Make Your Bed as my one thing that I do every day.  I have a long laundry list of things I want to get done but today, I will make my bed. 

When I was a first year in college my roommate was awesome.  She was patient and so forgiving of my mess, my clutter, and me.  About 2 months into our year, I noticed that every so often she would make my bed.  One day she asked me if I would do her a favor and help her out.  She said that the mess around the room didn't bother her as long as my bed was made.  She said all I had to do was pull up the sheet and comforter and plop my pillow on top.  It didn't even have to be wrinkle free or sheets have hospital corners, just pulled up and pillow on top. I figured I was getting the better end of the deal.  I could not worry about my mess, clothes on the floor, books everywhere, piles on the desk as long as I made my bed.  She encouraged me to do it as soon as I got up. And I did.  For her.

To this day, I make my bed every morning. I have come to love this little thing I do for myself and my husband (though he pulls his side up when he gets out of bed too).  I find that no matter how horrible my day turns out, or how unaccomplished I feel at the end of the day, I can always climb into a bed that was made.  So I DID accomplish something.  Even if it was that one thing.

How does this relate to being prepared?  Moms have 50 thousand things going on and are pulled in 85 different directions all the time.  Moms also are tending to everyone all the time.  Making your bed is one little thing that takes all of about 15 seconds, 30 at the most.  This little thing prepares you mentally for the day.  It allows you to check one box right away.  This check will perpetuate into feeling more productive throughout the day.  But if you weren't all that productive, when you climb into bed you will look at your made bed and know you accomplished at least one thing that day and you will feel better for it. So why not spend the 15 or 30 seconds and straighten up your bed as soon as you get out of it?  Your future self will love you for it.

Stocking Up For Winter

 Like squirrels and nuts, this family stores away food in the fall for the winter.  I am sure I have talked about this before in previous posts but here is the long and short of the why we do this.  My husband and I own a lawn care business.  Well, he does; I just help out when and where I can.  Winter is a down time in the business.  Grass doesn't grow around here in the winter.  However, in the fall, we have two of our most profitable seasons, aeration season and leaf season.  So we are more fluid right now.  Because of this, we like to stock up on provisions for the winter season now. 

I have pretty much just finished stocking up.  I am proud to say I have about a three month supply of most food groups.  I have also added to my  longer term food storage. I also have at least a three month supply of all hygiene products that we use, as well as household cleaning supplies.  I will continue to increase my food storage and other supplies through December.

My logic on this:  Each year we have a "planned emergency".  This is the time from January through March, but really it lasts to the beginning of May. I have always been a "prepper" and it has proved essential to us time and time again!  So when I realized that we were tending to need to use our food storage during our off season, we chose to think about this in our preps. One fall, many years ago, my husband did a big job and handed me a bunch of cash (I think it was like $500) and he said, "Go out and get everything we need for food for the next month and include all the stuff for Thanksgiving."  I spend the next couple days making an enormous list.  I scoured the ads from the local grocery stores and made a plan of attack. That year I was not only able to get enough groceries for that next month and for Thanksgiving, but also was able to put away enough meat for us for another couple weeks too.  From that point on, we made a point to start squirreling away food and supplies in the fall. 

This is what my list structure looks like:

1.  Menu planning:  My first step is to sit down and think of all the meals we love to eat in the winter.  This includes, chili, soups, chicken and potatoes, spaghetti, tacos, pork chops, meatloaf, etc. I stretch this out and create a 25 day meal plan.  Some meals we will eat more than once in that 25 day period. I also figure we will eat out 5 days in the month for dinners and more often for lunches.  I do this meal plan for breakfasts (which often look like "breakfast bars, poptarts, frozen sausage biscuits, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets) and for lunches (which include a lot of planned leftovers, frozen entrees, ramen noodles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). I also make a list of grab and go snacks (microwave popcorn, chex mix, chocolate, peanut butter cracker packs, pretzels, nuts, cheese, etc). For the record, this is super hard for me because we eat pretty healthy and I don't have a lot of processed foods in our house. Stocking up on fresh foods is not in the plan, but I try to switch fresh for frozen.  I also do have three on-the-go teenagers/20-somethings who have classes and jobs still living in the house. {sigh} Meal planning is the hardest part.  My 25 day meal plan is for a month.  If I am wanting a 3 month supply of food then I might add a few more meals and multiply the number of meals by 3.  I will also include any holiday meals or birthday meals that might occur. Oh and think about a few desserts.

2.  Meal breakdown:  My next step is to break down each meal into the ingredients and amounts I need for each meal.   I also include spices and seasonings, too. 

3.  List making: I make a master list of all the ingredients from the meal breakdown step. I add all the same items up.  For example, if I am using  a pound of ground beef for each meatloaf I make and I am making it twice in the month then I need 2 lbs.  If I use a pound of ground beef for tacos and a pound for chili, then my total for the month is 4 lbs. Then I further this list to creating lists for each grocery store.  Some stores have specific products my family likes.  I also use the ads from each store, checking for sales.  If there is a sale on a certain product, I will include the sale price next to the item. This will come in handy when shopping.  

4. Checking inventory: Before heading out, I add anything else that we are getting low on.  Think about spices, seasoning packets, flour, sugars, coffees, other drinks.  This is the time when I go through my pantry and clean out expired, unwanted items, dust the shelves.  I pack up the unwanted items and send them on to the food bank. I sort and organize the drawers and cabinets in the bathrooms, and organize the cleaning closet. I add any additional items we are getting low on to the grocery lists.  While doing this, begin an additional list of little chores that need to be done.  These chores could include changing out the batteries in the wall clocks and smoke detectors, replacing burned out lightbulbs, swapping out baking soda boxes in the refrigerators, etc. 

Once the lists are made I head out.  I will shop one store a day. This gives me time to shop and not be in a big rush and come home and put everything away. While I am in a store if I see an item on sale and I have it on another store's list, I will compare the price at the other store with the sale price and then buy the better deal.  I keep all the lists with me so I can mark off any item found at a different store.  Remember when I said to put the sale price next to the item on your list?  This is where it might come in handy.  You can compare the sales. 

Things to remember when stocking up like this:

1. A place for everything.  You need to have a planned place for everything you buy.  I have a separate set of cabinets in my basement for our food storage.  This helps because for us, it is not up in my working pantry.  Out of sight, out of mind. Over the years we have acquired three refrigerator/freezers, one full size stand up refrigerator, one stand up full size freezer, and one chest freezer. We don't use all of them all year long but in this case, these will end up all pretty full.

2. What you bring home, family members will think it is all free rein.  It is best to remind family members that this extra food is not free for the eating.  This is for later.

3. Lots of items can be frozen.  Some items are better fresh.  For example, you can freeze milk but it separates and doesn't always come back together like it was fresh when thawed. However, butter freezes just fine.  In our "planned emergency" time, I still have a small budget for fresh items.  I buy those when needed not during this stocking up time. I focus on the meats, veggies, spices, seasonings, dry goods, bathroom supplies, cleaning supplies. However, if you are stocking up for winter or a time when you know you won't be able to get to the grocery store (like a big snow storm) I would consider adding shelf stable milk or powdered milk (blahhk).  Fresh eggs might be hard but you can include "Egg Beaters" to your freezer. Most cheeses will freeze just fine and so do yogurts.

Why would I want to do this?

Great question.  I do it because I know we have a poor time and I can alleviate some expense now with food storage. If you have a time where you know it will be difficult to get out then this might be a good method.  Perhaps you have a planned surgery coming up. Perhaps you know that each year you get snowed in for a period of time. Maybe you are having a baby.  Or more timely, maybe you may have to quarantine for a few weeks due to the pandemic. These are great reasons to stock up. My sister stocks up each month for the last week of the month when she and her husband are too busy with work and deadlines to shop. All these are "planned emergencies". 

What is different from this type of stocking up and stocking regular emergency food storage? 

Another great question.  For the most part it is not really that different other than the fact that you know you will be using your food storage.  I have our regular food storage and because I know I will be using our storage each winter, I stock extra so at the end of the winter I am not left with nothing in my food storage.  So this is a little extra because I know I am going to be using it. Do I then have double? Not really,  more like 1 1/2 times the normal amount. I continue to grab items when I see them on sale and put them in my food storage, but this is extra.  This also is funded by extra money, not my regular storage budget. 

Can't I just use what I have in food storage for my "planned emergency" without stocking up?

Yes, you can.  But a planned emergency isn't a REAL emergency.  Plus our additional income allows me to beef up our storage during this season.  If you use your emergency food storage during your planned emergency, you will just need to understand that your emergency storage will be depleted by the time you come out of your planned emergency time.  You will have to work to restock it quickly.  With this method, I am "restocking" ahead of time. Because I know it is coming, I can plan. 

What sorts of things do you forget?

I don't know....ha ha ha.... Honestly, Ziploc bags, aluminum foil, trash bags, dishwasher detergent, wine.  It is the little things.   But those little things are sorely missed when gone. 

Winterizing Your Car Emergency Kit

Each year around this time in my area, the leaves begin to change and the weather starts to get cooler.  There is always one evening where I am out and by the time I get home it is dark and quite chilly.  I shiver as I rush to or from my car. This is when I make a mental note to myself that I need to start carrying a sweater or jacket with me if I am going to be out.

Usually the next day I grab my car emergency kit and begin its seasonal overhaul.  In the summer we don't need extra blankets, hand warmers, or hats, gloves and scarves.  In the winter we do.  I also will toss in an extra old jacket or two.

Now that my  kids are older they all have their own vehicles.  I insist that they keep up their own emergency kit (bag) in their cars too. My car now holds less items as I don't usually have the whole family in the car with me. However, when they do go out with me, I insist that they grab a jacket on the way out and if it is really chilly, hat, gloves, and scarf too.

So let's talk about what is in my emergency kit (bag):

First let's talk about the bag or container.  I use an extra large canvas bag that had a zipper on top.  I could fit most all of the items in it and zip it up.  I tossed it in the back of my SUV where we could reach it from the inside of the vehicle.  Some people use a Rubbermaid or plastic tub with a top on it.  The idea is to keep it all contained and in one place. If you drive a sedan you might choose to keep it in your trunk.  That is okay too.

1.  Blankets: small, afghan size, usually fleece or fleece-lined.  I grab older blankets we don't use at home anymore and throw them in. One for each member of the family.  I can't tell you how many times the kids used these blankets while traveling in our car.  I would too.  My husband and I don't always agree on where the heat should be set in the car. 

2.  Extra Warm clothing items: hats, gloves or mittens, scarves, hand warmers, warm socks. A set for each member of the family.

3.  Food/Water: Look for food items like protein or breakfast bars.  You don't want anything that would explode or leak if it freezes. Peanut butter crackers are also a good choice.  Water bottles. No explanation but a caution here.  Place them in a ziploc bag and check them often because they will freeze and thaw throughout the season. 

4. Old Towel (s): with little kids, I always kept an old towel or two in the back of the car.  I never knew when I might have to clean up a mess.  Also, it gave my husband something to lay on if he had to lay on the ground under the car. So I keep an old towel in my emergency bag.

5. Portable Radio: I would choose one that is hand crank over battery operated so you don't have to worry about saving battery power or if the batteries are working.  This radio could keep you informed on weather alerts, news, and entertained while you are waiting on help. This is a new item not in my old posts about car emergency bags. If you are stuck in the car your gas and car battery will eventually run out and this portable radio will serve you well. You will be glad you had it. This should probably be in your regular emergency bag in your car.

Questions you might have:

I already have a car emergency kit.  Why do I need additional food/water and other similar supplies in my winter emergency bag?  You don't.  If it is already in your car then you might just want to refresh what you have.  No one wants to eat stale peanut butter crackers.  

I don't want to keep water sloshing around in my car.  Any other ideas? Sure, when I was working outside the home, I took my lunch each day.  In my lunch box (insulated small cooler), I kept extra water, extra snacks, napkins, plastic utensils, and small packages of condiments (salt, pepper, etc.)  I did not keep water in my car at that point.  When we would go out later in the evenings I would throw a bottle or two of water in our kids diaper/toddler bag.  I had water covered wherever we went, but it was not stored in the car.  I just kept it top of mind. Make your own plan. Make it work for you.  The idea is to be prepared.

I have read other blogs and they are recommending additional survival equipment. Why aren't you?  This Winter Car Emergency Kit (Bag) that I am talking about is what I switch in and out as the seasons change.  I do have some additional emergency supplies in my car all the time.  I don't want to double up on supplies.  For example, I have flares, a multitool, first aid kit, and other items already in my basic car emergency kit. The items I add are specifically to keep me and my passengers warm while we are waiting for help.

The take away:

A couple years ago my daughter and I were out running errands.  It was super cold outside. While we were out I noticed that I was really low on gas and began heading to the gas station.  Well, we ran out of gas.  I pulled off the road but wasn't able to make it into a parking lot and the gas station wasn't close enough.  I called my husband to come "save" me.  While we waited it was quite chilly in the car.  The wind was blowing pretty hard outside and the car got pretty cold quickly. Luckily, I had our winter coats in the car and my daughter climbed into the back and grabbed our winter emergency bag with the blankets. We bundled up and were warm while we waited.  Luckily we didn't have to wait too long but we were thankful we had those blankets in the car with us.

Your winter kit should have the items that you all need.  Think about what you might need if you ran out of gas or had car trouble and needed to stay with your car and wait an hour or two for help. Think about what you might need if you needed to wait overnight for help.  Think about who might be in the car with you.  These ideas might help you formulate your own kit personalized for you and your family.

Hope these ideas help. Stay safe.

Eating at Home - Meal Kit Delivery

****added note: In the wake of our country currently "social distancing" because of the Coronavirus spread, I am posting this post that I wrote for my other blog (Whitney's Cooking). I thought that it might be helpful for us "Prepared Moms" who might be finding themselves a bit overwhelmed by needing to cook, grocery shop while staying socially distant, and try to keep fresh, wholesome meals on the table during this crisis.****



If you have read some of my other posts you already know by now, we just moved. We moved 4 miles away from our previous house into a wonderful new (to us) home.  More bedrooms, more space, more land!

Because moving is hard and EXPENSIVE we have been eating more at home.

Let me back up a bit.  Over the past several years since the meal kits have come on the market, I have been interested in trying them but every time I go to sign up, my budget minded brain says, "you can make this same meal cheaper than they can deliver the food to you", and I don't bite.

About a month ago, I was sitting in the car waiting for my son to join me for an impromptu lunch.  I had been packing all morning and was looking forward to our lunch together, just me and him.  While waiting, I was scrolling social media on my phone and yet another meal kit delivery program popped up on my feed.  For some reason, I clicked.  And for some reason, it finally clicked in my brain that it was actually more budget-friendly than I thought. Why did my thought process change? I think it had a lot to do with me being tired of eating out all the time.  I was tired of the same end of the day conversation we have. "what's for dinner?", "I don't know what do you want?", "I don't know, what do you want?", "I have chicken.", "I don't want chicken.", "It's late. By the time we fix dinner it will be even later. Let's just go out and eat.", "Kids! Put your shoes on. We are going out to eat!" And we go out.  Not to a fast food restaurant usually but to a sit down restaurant.

So here is my normal weekly money routine for food: (Family of 5, 1 in college and home on weekends, 2 in upper teens - hit or miss if they are home for dinner)

Grocery store: $200 - I end up throwing at least a third of the food away eventually because we don't eat it.
Restaurants: Breakfasts $30 (one to two times a week)
                     Lunches $100 ($25 to 30 each time we go and sometimes that is 4 to 5 times a week)
                     Dinners $350 (3 to 4 times a week and usually $75 to $100 each time)
Total:  $680 a week!!!

We also go out to eat a lot because my kids are sick of what we fix when we are in a hurry.  We have gotten into a rut and have been eating the same things over and over again.

You know (from my past posts) that we have meal planned and that works for a little while but we end up in the same boat over time, fixing the same meals.

So, that day, sitting in the parking lot, all this information running through my head, I clicked the meal kit ad.  Suddenly, it all made sense to me.

This meal kit gives me 3 meals a week for 4 people.  I spend about $75 including the shipping price a week.  I pick the meals which rotates so I can't pick the same ones over and over again week in and week out. This kit is based on whole foods.  If you have mashed potatoes on the menu, you start with whole potatoes then mash them. Nothing is prepackaged.  It is all fresh ingredients. All meals take less than an hour from pulling out the recipe card to putting it on the table.  This includes finding all the ingredients in the box, washing all the veggies, cutting everything up, cooking or baking, and then plating. Best of all I don't get half way through a recipe and realize I don't have an ingredient I need. Even more fun, we all have LOVED every single meal we have cooked!!

So for my budget I went from $680 a week to:

Meal kit program: $75
Grocery store: $150
Restaurants: $150 (fast food lunches are reduced because we usually have left overs, we still eat or take out once or twice a week)
New Total: $375 That is a savings of $305 a week!!!

Wow!!! We use Every Plate right now as our meal kit program.  It has an app that you can use on your phone to choose your meals.  I am not giving you a special link because I don't want you to think I am seeking out affiliate credits.  I am not.  I am just giving you information that I have learned.

Coronavirus - What do I do with my kids?

Many public school systems are closing for a period of time.  In our area, schools have closed for 2 weeks.  At that time they will further assess if they need to continue the closures or reopen.  So what do we do with our kids for THAT LONG???

If you work full time or part time and need child care you may think you are in a real pickle.  Look to your friends and neighbors and your child's school friends to see if any of their parents can help you out while you work.  Some neighborhoods and communities are organizing a list of people who can take in a child or two or ten during this crisis.  Even if your child is old enough to stay home by themselves for short periods of time, you may not want them staying home all day long day in and day out for weeks on end.  Look to friends, neighbors, and community.  I have seen already in my area a volunteer list for those who can help and matching those in need.  Others will be in the same boat as you.  Use social media to tell others what you need.  Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask.  We are all in this together.  We need to come together and help each other out.  If we don't know you need help, we don't know to help you. Ask for help.

If you work from home or are able to stay at home with your kids and still wonder what to do with them, I have a few mom tips for you too!

1.  Alleviate your child's fears.  Many children, my own included, had lots of questions.  I answered their questions as best as I could.  Mine are in their upper teens now so they can understand much more than an 8 year old who was just told that they wouldn't be going to school and wouldn't be seeing their friends and wouldn't be playing sports or going to dance class or even going to church for a while. When answering their questions try to answer the questions they ask.  Some kids just need to know some information.  Others may need to  know more.  They will ask until they are satisfied with the answer. I suggest also that  you don't sugar-coat it.  Tell them the facts.  The facts at this point are that no one really knows a whole lot about this nasty bug.  The kids who they know have gotten it, haven't had much more than cold symptoms, but that kids may give the virus to their parents or grandparents and when the virus is in older people they can get much sicker. So by closing schools, the people at school can clean it really well and you and your friends won't give it to each other who might give it to an older person who might get really sick.  Let them know that they will go back to school when this is all over and that they will see their friends again and that they will be able to play sports or dance again.  But for right now, we are staying home and away from others as much as possible.

2.  Create a schedule.  Some kids will come home with schoolwork to do.  Others may have schoolwork to do online.  Some may not have any schoolwork at all.  But all kids need a schedule.  They need a plan.  YOU need a plan. If you are staying home with them, create a schedule that will include time for schoolwork, meals, chore time, free time, perhaps an organized activity (hiking, biking, board games, etc), and a quiet time(I will get to this in a minute).  Schedules don't need to be by the minute but kids will do better when they know what the plan is.  Plans can change, so be flexible, and schedules can change to better fit your needs.  If you have someone else watching them outside of your home, let your kids know of your plans for them. Help your caregiver to create a list of activities that your kids might enjoy. (see next point)

3.  Activities.  Brainstorm some activities that you think the kids might enjoy. You may even want to get the kids to help you with this list.  Write them down.  Seriously, trust me on this. Write. It. Down. You will need this list to refer to when your kids 3 days into being at home comes to you and says "I'm bored" for the 50 millionth time.  Refer to the list and suggest an activity.  Also have a few "surprise" activities up your sleeve for when they are truly wracking your last nerve and you all need to do something or you will end up killing each other.  These surprise activities might be something your have never done or something that you rarely do. 

Here are a list of activities to get you started:
board games
card games (teach the kids a new one)
coloring
create a great big card for your next door neighbor just to say hello
Facetime or Skype with a friend, neighbor, or Grandma
watch a movie together
bake cookies, cook a meal together
make slime
read a book together
create a cardboard city (use boxes or other cardstock to create a town with stores, houses, park, school, etc)
play with legos

Surprise Activities:
get in the car and head to the park for a hike or biking
create a scavenger hunt in your back yard for them
rent or Netflix a new movie you all haven't seen yet, make popcorn
get in the car and take a drive.  Just drive. Maybe go through the drive thru and get a snack or milkshake


4.  Have daily quiet time.  You can thank me later.  Everyone needs quiet time.  30 minutes or an hour where you are away from everyone else in the home.  This can be quiet reading time or nap time for littles.  This might just be the one thing that will save your sanity during this crisis.  Insist on it. Don't give in.  Everyone will benefit.  Set the oven timer or the alarm on your phone. 

5.  Turn off the TV.  If you tend to have the news on in the background all day long.  Turn it off.  Kids will see the news stories of the Coronavirus over and over again (because news channels talk about it all day long).  They might become overwhelmed by the news media reporting it over and over again.  Turn off the TV so they aren't bombarded with it. 

6. Get outside.  Stretch your legs.  Just because we are socially limiting right now doesn't mean we have to be inside.  The kids can be out in your backyard playing. You can take walks. You can be outside.  Your degree of limiting is set by you.  If you feel like it is safe to play with neighborhood friends then do so.

We are in unprecedented territory here.  We don't know the extent of this crisis and we don't know the outcome.  It is always good to remember that we are all going through this together.  We are stressed and doing the best we can.  We will have good days and bad days.  This crisis will test us.  Patience and kindness is always appreciated.  Be patient with each other.  Be kind with each other.

Coronavirus 19 - Unprecedented Times - Preparing for Medical Events

**Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert in anything medical. I am NOT an expert in anything, really.  I am a mom.  I am bringing a mom's perspective on how I am interpreting the bombardment of information, opinion, and what I am doing to keep my family as safe as possible in the most responsible way I know.
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We are in the midst of unprecedented times right now.  There is so much fear in our community.  No one knows how this viral pandemic will turn out. Community leaders are making decisions based on CDC recommendations and WHO recommendations.  The most immediate concern is the transmission of this disease in such a rapid manner that it overloads our health care system and harms our most vulnerable population.

On my blog (this blog where you found this article), I try to help others to prepare for emergencies.  I posted another post HERE about my immediate thoughts on Coronavirus and what I did to prepare along with everyone else in my community at the same time.

We didn't see this pandemic coming.  We didn't expect it to be uncontrolled as other viruses, MERS, SARS, Ebola, similar to Coronavirus (COVID-19), had been quickly controlled and we were unaffected.  We expected this virus to be similar to the other viruses.  So now we find ourselves rushing to prepare for something unknown.

What we don't know:

We don't know how this will play out.

We don't know if this virus will infiltrate our bodies or our family.

We don't know how the virus will present itself in our bodies. Will we have mild symptoms? Will we be asymptomatic and not even know we have it? Will we become severely ill?

We don't know how long we will have to remain socially secluded.  Will life go back to normal quickly? Will we all be on "lock down" for a period of time and how long?

We don't know if we will feel comfortable enough to go out to the grocery store when we need more supplies or if people will be able to bring us supplies if we can't go out.  Will deliveries stop? Will Amazon be able to deliver my packages?

What we do know:

We know that the virus is spreading quickly.

We know that it will eventually get into our communities.

We know, sadly, that we will know someone who gets it.

We also know that kids rarely are showing symptoms of this virus.

We also know that most healthy adults are showing minor difficulties getting over this virus.

We know that elderly and those with health conditions will have the most difficulty with this virus.

We know that we all need to help prevent the spread of this disease so that those most susceptible don't get it until a vaccine is made available to them.

We know that this too shall pass and life as we know it will go back to "normal" again.

A good big part of the panic is all the unknowns.  The other part of the panic is that we just don't think about preparing for disasters, medical quarantines, or hard economic times.

My husband and I hopped on the "prepping" bandwagon about 15 years ago.  There wasn't anything in particular that sparked us but we developed a plan and began stockpiling storing extra items that would be helpful in an emergency situation.  However, because we just moved into our new house, we had very little food storage and very little extra items because we used what we had prior to our move so we didn't have to move so so so much stuff. {sigh} Lesson Learned!

How do we prepare?

When preparing for this kind of emergency here are some things to think about while preparing your list of items you should have on hand.

1.  Food/Drinks:

I would think that at least a month's worth of food. 21 days has become a popular  number floating around in other articles for preparing for an event of this magnitude.  This isn't just a 3 day snow storm!  We may need to be quarantined for up to 14 days and if we get sick, we could be home for a month!  When making your list, think about foods that will stay fresh for a month or freeze well.  Also begin to menu plan.  Make a menu for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  Create a 7 or 14 day rotation so you don't get bored.  With a 7 day menu, multiply all the ingredients by 4.  For a 14 day menu, multiply by 2.

Sample menu: 
Day 1:

• Breakfast: Instant Oatmeal w/ dried fruit. Orange Juice/Milk
• Lunch: Sandwich w/Deli Meat, fresh carrot sticks, Ranch dressing 
• Dinner: Grilled Chicken Breast, Broccoli, Rice

Day 2:

• Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Toast
• Lunch: Canned Soup, crackers
• Dinner: Hamburgers, Fries, Fresh or Frozen Veggie

Day 3:

• Breakfast: Frozen breakfast sandwich or make your own.
• Lunch: tuna sandwiches, chips
• Dinner: Spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread.

Keep in mind that fresh items will go bad so use them first.  Back fill fresh items with frozen items.  Frozen vegetables are great for steaming or boiling.  Frozen fruit is a good substitute for fresh fruit.  Dried fruit lasts the longest.  If you get grapes for your menu, think about raisins for the menu later in the month.  

Don't forget to put snack items on the list. 

Luckily with this event, we most likely will have heat, A/C, and electricity.  This will make preparing foods and meals much more easily.

2. Medications/Medical Supplies

Keep the standard over the counter medicines on hand. Advil, Tylenol, cold meds, allergy meds, etc.  Also make sure that your prescription meds are up to date and filled.  Locate a pharmacy where you can access a delivery method if you need to have your meds delivered to you in a quarantine situation.

In addition to medications, you will want to have a good thermometer, cold/warm packs, rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial soaps, and a good first aid kit.  Add any other medical items that you may need.

3.  Cleaning products

Make sure you have enough laundry detergent, your regular cleaning products, a gallon of bleach (always good to have around), a gallon of vinegar (great natural item that kills germs), soaps, paper towels, etc.

4.  Personal Items

These might include feminine care products (I always have at least a couple months' worth), toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and shaving items, shower items, shampoos, conditioners, etc.  

5.  Kids

Make sure that you have activities and school supplies at home for when the kids are home from school.  Outside activities are being cancelled left and right currently and many public schools are closing for extended periods of time.  You will need some activities to keep the kids busy while you are hanging out at home.  Going to friends' houses may not be possible so think of some activities, board games, scavenger hunts in the yard, etc. Keep a couple ideas in your pocket for when the kids are really getting bored and beginning to drive you crazy.  Don't give all your ideas away right away.  You will be glad you held something back!

Kids may have schoolwork to do during this time.  Take it from a homeschooling mom that a schedule will be your friend.  Make a schedule and stick to it.  Get the kids up at a certain time, breakfast, schoolwork, break, lunch, schoolwork or quiet reading time, play time, dinner, evening activity, bath and bed.  Make your schedule work for you. We could be in this mess for a while so plan now and begin a schedule right away.  Make adjustments to your schedule as you need to.  However, I would like to add that I STRONGLY suggest that you schedule some 'apart' time where everyone is in their rooms or apart from each other and quiet.  Some days this might just be your saving grace!

How Can We Help Others?

Some of our neighbors may need help during this time.  How can we help them?

The best way to help others is to check in with your neighbors and friends.  This can be done by phone, visiting while standing well away from each other, Facetime, Skype, etc.  Check in with them and see how they are doing and if they need anything.

Our elderly or immune compromised may become too scared to go out and run errands and may need things.  If you are feeling up to it or can pick up items from the grocery store, Target, Walmart, for them, it can be helpful.

Parents who work full time or part time may need babysitting.  You could offer a couple hours or a couple days of babysitting if your schedule allows.

Some communities are putting together sign up sheets online to gather lists of volunteers for babysitting, respite care (an hour or two) for parents to unwind, snacks and treats (neighbors baking bread or cookies to share with others), meals for elderly and match them to neighbors who need those services.  Think outside the box as we move through this crisis.  

This crisis will bring out the best and worst in everyone.  Through all this we will all find ourselves stressed, tired, and frustrated at times.  Please remember that how we treat others will rub off.  We need to remember that others may be struggling.  Kindness and patience will go a long way even when we have nothing else to give!  Smile and know that we are all in this together.  :)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) What I Am Doing to Prepare

I have to admit....

I got caught with my pants down on this one :(

Here is the messy situation I find myself:

We just moved.  We lived in our previous home for 4 years.  Prior to that we lived somewhere else for a year and a half.  Prior to that we lived in our RV for a bit over a year, and prior to that we lived in our first home for 13 years.

Each of those homes including the RV, I felt prepared.  I felt like we had enough food stored (yes even in the trailer), emergency supplies, and first aid stuff.

Each time we moved including this one, prior to moving we would "eat down" our food storage.  This way I knew it was being rotated, and it forced me to see what was actually rotating and what wasn't so I could be better prepared in our new home.  It was also because moving is expensive.  We would save money by eating our food storage.  That is what it is there for, right? When times are tough.  So by eating down our food storage, we weren't eating out as much, we were saving money by not having to run to the grocery store all the time, we could concentrate on packing, and we wouldn't be moving so much food.

It always sounded like a good plan.  When we would settle in our new home, I would begin building up new, fresh food storage.

But this time......

COVID-19 happened.

And we just moved.  Just two days ago, I got my bed set up in my room and am no longer sleeping on  a mattress.

But now we are in the midst of a pandemic (announced today by World Health Organization).

I spoke with my husband a week ago and he told me not to worry.  Today he told me to worry. I am pretty sure I had a full on panic attack.  My chest felt heavy, I had shortness of breath, and I am pretty sure I my heart skipped several beats.

A week ago I began (like everyone else around here) to search out basics.  Hand Sanitizer, antibacterial soap, and Clorox Wipes.  Not too serious though, but it has been a hard find around my region.  Each store I go into, I look.  The shelves are bare.

I feel so under-prepared for this.  I am too late to prep.

What I do have:

1. toilet paper and paper towels.  I was able to grab a good supply of both prior to knowing that everyone was going to run out and purchase toilet paper.  We were just out and I ran my usual errand to get some.

2.  Advil, vitamins, and prescription meds.  I am all stocked up on these supplies.  Vitamins will be good to begin taking again to get my immune system even better able to handle the virus should I get it.

3.  Some bleach, Clorox Wipes, and a little bit of Hand sanitizer.  We have anti-viral/bacterial wipes  in each of our cars. We can use these to wipe down the steering wheel, door handles, and our hands when we are out in public.

4. N95 face masks.  My husband just placed an order today.  They are on their way.

5.  Some food.  Not complete at all, but we have some breakfasts, some lunches, and some dinners.  We will continue the meal kit deliveries and will continue to use the online ordering and pick up at the store or if the need arises, a delivery service.

And I have a plan:

1. Reduce my social interactions as much as possible in person.  Avoid large gatherings, heavily trafficked public areas, and the likes.  This means that my shopping and prepping will change. I will stay home as much as possible.

2. Shop online as much as I can.  This means placing orders at the grocery store and drive up to pick the order up.  Keep looking for Clorox Wipes and Hand Sanitizer online.

3.  Food delivery services.  Right before we moved I decided to "join" Everyplate and begin getting their meal kits.  We get three dinners a week for 4 people and so far we have loved every single meal.  It is about the same as I would budget for a dinner anyway and it all comes preportioned and the recipes are easy.  I can even tell my teens to start dinner without me and they can follow the directions too.  Why do I include this in my plan? Because since we won't be going out much for a while, these meals will be something a bit different than our "usual".

4.  Cancel Easter dinner at our home.  Every big holiday we host a family dinner and all the in-laws and cousins come to our house.  Not this year.  I don't want others (particularly little kids) coming to our home and potentially exposing us to this virus.  The virus is showing that in little kids they have little to no symptoms at all and most symptoms go unnoticed.  This virus is also showing that older folks have a more severe reaction to it and more severe symptoms.  I can't risk having the little cousins over and potentially exposing my older in-laws who have some severe health issues anyway.

5.  Try to keep a positive outlook on all this "family" time we will be getting.  Colleges and universities are closing down as I type.  We expect my middle child to be told any minute that they will be sent home from college indefinitely.  My oldest will most likely also be told his college will be moving "online" as well.  My youngest is a senior this year and we homeschool anyway.  It is a good thing we got some new family games at Christmas.

Now, in a perfect world I would have had plenty of hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and food storage.  I wouldn't feel so unprepared for this pandemic.


What can you do if you are underprepared like me?

1.  Read as much as you can on the disease. Know the symptoms and the latest information on how it is transmitted.

2.  Wash your hands like crazy!  I told my family tonight that from now on as soon as they enter our home they wash their hands before touching anything.

3.  Clean your car, phone, clothing, and surfaces you touch often.

4.  Stay home.  Use online shopping, don't visit high traffic public areas/places.  Work from home if you can.  If you can't, stay out of others' space.  Don't use the office break room. Eat lunch at your desk alone or in your car if you need a change of scenery.

5.  Stop shaking hands and touching others. Keep a distance.  Wash your hands.

Here is a good article that I found helpful and it calmed me down a bit from the panic attack.

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-ten-reasons-why-you-ought-not-to-panic-132941

I will continue to update as the weeks go by about how we fared through this ordeal.

Prepping for a Hurricane

It is hurricane season again.  Hurricane Dorian is expected to give us quite a beating in Florida.  If you live in Florida you are already preparing for this storm.  If this is your first storm you may have gotten advice from neighbors and "old-timers" about what to do and what not to do.  Everyone likes to tell you their story.  Many will tell you not to worry, nothing will happen.

For one family I know, this will be their first major storm.  They just moved to Florida and they feel they are ready.  They have basic supplies, food, water, batteries.  They have a plan.  They plan to leave town.  They made reservations at three different hotels in three different areas and plan to leave. They made these reservations a week ago when Dorian was just a little storm "not likely to hit mainland".  They were smart.  What they weren't smart about is that they will find themselves stuck in traffic, lots of it, if they wait too much longer.  My suggestion to them is if you are going to leave, leave now before they start evacuation plans.

A couple years ago I heard of incredible traffic jams, people sitting for hours on the highway, going nowhere and running out of gas.  I heard of shelters already full.  If you plan to leave, leave early.

Most Floridians will stay home and shelter in place unless they live in a highly "floodible" area or right on the coast.  What do they need?  How do they prepare?

Remember you need 5 things always.

1. Water
2. Food
3. Shelter
4. Alternative Cooking
5. Alternative Lighting

Check out my other articles on basic supplies.

Other things that make life a bit easier.
1. Emergency repair kits. This would include duct tape, sheets of heavy plastic, tarps, extra wood (Plywood, 2x4s, etc for minor repairs and quick fixes)
2. chainsaw - to remove fallen trees, limbs, etc.
3. Ice.  If you can get extra ice or make extra ice now, you will be happy you did.  Fill coolers with ice to keep food cool after you lose power.  As close to the beginning of the storm my husband would go buy 50 lbs of ice and put it in our freezers.  After a few hours with no power he would get the ice and fill coolers with it and we would clean our our fridge.  This ice kept our perishables cool for a few days.  Eventually we would add frozen foods from our freezers too to continue to keep our food cool as we ate through our food.
4. Generator - If you can afford it, buy a generator.  You will be so happy you did.  With this you will need gasoline, so don't forget that.  Running this a couple hours at a time help with the monotony of not having power.
5. Heavy duty trashbags.  You can get these at Lowes or Home Depot.  These help with clean up, trash, etc.
6. Paper plates and bowls, plastic forks, spoons, knives.  Life is so much easier when you don't have to hand wash so many dishes.

We are so spoiled!

Oh my goodness!  We are so spoiled.  When I thought about writing about what happened the last few days, I thought it would be an interesting lesson in why it is important to stock up and save for those "little emergencies".  It was a real life experience and one that we are thankful that we can rely on our resources and our emergency stock. 

When I started this post. I had to think of a title.  And it popped into my head, "We are so spoiled!" And I think it is perfect for this post.  The lesson at the end may not be what you predict.

Here is my story.

It begins last Monday. (It is now Saturday)

Monday morning comes and I am in the office with my husband and he tells me his plans of the week and tells me he is going to pick up a check for half the money for a project that he will be doing over the next two weeks (starting yesterday, going through this coming Tuesday).  It is a BIG check.  He also announces that our landlord has texted him reminding him that we need to leave him a check for our rent for this month.  We don't really have the money, but with this first half of the money for the project we can pay it but then will need to come up with more money to pay for the materials for the job later this week.  We "gamble" and I write the check, hoping that others will pay us and we can cover our expenses for the project.  Fast forward to yesterday, (Friday). No real money has come in all week and we have been living on next to nothing saving for him to pay for the materials for the project. Yesterday was also "pay day" for our workers.  One is my son, who can wait on his money.  Another is a friend of his who won't pick his check up until he works again on Tuesday. But the third is a guy who we need to pay so he won't quit on us.  I go to our PO Box and say a little prayer that there is a nice sized check in there.  Nope, nothing.

I go to our "stash" of cash in the house in hopes that my husband put a bit in there.  Nope.

I look at all our bank accounts and start to add the pennies in each account.  Yes, some have pennies in them.  They aren't going to add up to $50.  This isn't going to cover a $325 paycheck.

I notice that my daughter has $400 in her account.  This is her hard earned money she has saved from working this summer.  I very humbly ask if I can borrow some of it until Dad gets paid for the job he is doing. She gladly says yes. 

Lesson #1: I am humble, so humble, and feel horrible that I have to ask.  She is happy to help.  She is proud that she has the ability to help us short term.  I am so grateful for her.

We cover the paycheck.  I go through the house to see if there is anything we can sell and possibly have a yard sale on Saturday, but I have nothing of real value nor do I have enough to even lure people to our house to even look at our junk.

In the process, I do have a lady who wants to buy a textbook I have had up online for sale for months.  She pays me to ship it to her.  I get $16.50.  It goes straight into our bank account.

While looking in our garage for stuff to sell, I notice (well it is hard not to notice) all the aluminum cans we started collecting months ago to recycle.  They aren't crushed and they are quite numerous.  I announce that we are going to take them to a recycling center and turn them in for cash.  I pile them all in my car and head to the recycling center.  $9.60 later I decide it was not worth it to collect them for so so so long.  However, now I have $26.10.

A few days before, my daughter asked if she could have a few friends over on Saturday night for a spaghetti and gelato party.  They had all gone to Italy together and wanted to get back together and reminisce.  No problem then, but problem now!  I need some food for this party.

All my $26.10 will have to go towards #1. shipping the textbook which will run me about $5. and #2. Groceries for this party.  Take the postage fees out, I am left with $21.10.

I come home yesterday evening and am ready to cook dinner of which no one "wants" what I had planned.  It was STEAK!  But no one wanted it.  They wanted something else.  So I gave them a choice of having a breakfast for dinner night.  I had all the ingredients for that.  But noooooo....

My youngest wanted corndogs and tater tots, which we had. {check}

My husband wants PIZZA! Ugh!  I dig through and find a can of tomato sauce, we have cheese and I have a package mix for pizza dough.  He really wanted me to cave and say we could order pizza but I held my ground and fixed him homemade pizza with salami, ham, and onions on it.  He had the choice to put Italian meatballs on it too but he chose to opt out. {check}

Lesson #2:  We are truly spoiled.  We don't always want what we had planned, but with my food storage (as measly as it is right now), I was able to give my family what they wanted without having to spend any money.

I still have that $21.10 and will use it in a little while to purchase just a few things we need for dinner tonight.  Hamburger meat, tomatoes, spaghetti noodles (I can't believe we are out but we are). We will make homemade garlic bread and my daughter made gelato last night in preparation for tonight's party.  I might even splurge on some antipasta if I have enough money left over.

We will be fine even though we don't have any money for a few days.  We have gas in our car, food at home, and love in our hearts.  The girls who are coming over tonight will never know how little money we have or how little money we spent on their enjoyment.  It doesn't really matter.

Lesson #3:  If your family is "spoiled" like mine, you have to be a bit extra vigilant to make sure you keep stocked up on the things they love.  If you do, then you will never feel like you are poor.

The job will be finished on Tuesday if all goes as planned and we will have lots of money back in our bank account. Some of that money will go into our emergency fund to start building that back up too.

Little Emergencies....

There was a movie back in the late eighties.  I don't remember the name of the movie, but I remember the basic plot.  It was about a young woman who ended up becoming a sharp shooter (assassin) for a bad organization.  She wanted out but couldn't find a way. The plot isn't important here, though.  One line from the movie was "It's the little things.....".  I quote that quite often and today it is appropriate here.

It's the little things....

It is the time that you thought you would have time to make dinner but couldn't because your car broke down, a meeting ran late, or you ended up having to take a child somewhere unplanned.

It is the time you thought all was going as planned and then the lights go out because someone ran into a telephone pole down the street or the wind was blowing too hard and a tree fell down.

It is the time when you were expecting to get paid for a job you did but the money didn't come in as fast as you thought.

It's the little things.

We sometimes get so wrapped up in preparing for big things that we forget about the little things.

It can be easy to think that if you get caught up in a meeting that runs late to just run through the drive thru and grab dinner or order take out and pick it up on the way home, but what if you don't have the money for that?  What if you are tapped out for the month and don't have any extra discretionary money until your next payday?  What do you do then?

It can be easy to think that the electricity will come back on quickly after a power failure. But what if you live a bit further away from town and it takes them a day or so to fix the problem?  It could be an easy fix to stay overnight in a hotel or eat out.  But what if you don't have the money for that?

What if you ..... had a budget where every month you put a little bit aside for these little emergencies?  $20 a month - $50 a month - $10 a month   It doesn't matter how much really but it does help to put this money aside. 

We call this our little emergency fund.  We put a bit of money in it each month and it is amazing to see how many little emergencies we end up having. It seems to us that as soon as we get a couple hundred dollars in there we end up needing it for something. 

In the past we have used it on an emergency trip for a funeral, a hot water heater, a washing machine, and a two day no power situation where we just ate out instead of cooked on our grill. While we hated to have to use the money, we were so glad that we had it to use.

So I challenge you to start a "little emergency" fund.  We keep ours in cash so we don't have to rely on getting it out of the bank.  It never gets over a couple hundred dollars but that is okay.  Little emergencies aren't usually that expensive.

Influenza - A Possible Remedy

It is flu season again.  It happens every year. 

Have you ever had the flu?  I have.  I got it several years ago.  I am pretty sure I caught it while we were in Disney World.  On the drive home I started to get a funny cough.  As the day wore on it got worse.  The next day I woke up with a fever, chills, body aches and persistent cough.  It was 2009 and it was the Swine (H1N1) Flu.  It was also Christmas Eve.  I took a ton of over the counter meds and struggled through Christmas and then spent the next week doing nothing but watching tv and recovering from this awful mess.

Yes, I had gotten the flu shot.  We get it every year.  That year the Swine flu wasn't in the flu shot.

This year (2018) the experts say the flu shot is only about 30% effective.  This year's flu is particularly awful.  They say it is the worst flu season since 2009.  This particular strand is rough on kids who haven't built up an immunity to any flu strains and those with compromised immune systems. 

Influenza is a virus.  It doesn't respond at all to antibiotics, as those only kill bacteria.  It has to run its course and your body has to fight it off.  However, there are some things you can do to help your body out.
1. fluids
2. rest
3. fever reducer (Tylenol, Advil, etc)
4. and this:

I have heard that taking these two items will help to reduce your symptoms and boost your immune system to fight the virus.  I have heard it shortens the time you have the flu by up to 50%.

I don't have the flu and hope I don't get it this year, but I will be stocking this in our medicine cabinet.

Our "Poor" times

Years ago, when I was a school teacher I would get paid monthly.  I adjusted my budgets and spending habits to reflect the one time a month I would get paid.  I paid all my bills as soon as I got my check, went grocery shopping, and bought other necessaries (and sometimes a new shirt or skirt) and then the rest was saved for gas and food later in the month.  In December we would get paid on the last working day of the month which was the last day of school before Christmas.  I would splurge a bit on Christmas gifts, a big Christmas dinner, and some other extras for the holiday.  The next pay day was a LONG time away - not till the end of January.  January was a "poor" month for us.

Fast forward to now. 

January is still a "poor" month for us.  I no longer teach but our business is slow this time of year.  Very slow!

We know it is a "poor" time for us and we prepare.  It would be easy to say that we have a savings account for this and we put a little money in each month to offset our lack of income but that would be too easy.  With three teenagers it is hard for us to save right now.  They always "need" something and we have never been the type to be able to save very well.  So we prepare in other ways.

Over the fall we stock up on food and other necessities.  We stock our fridge and freezer full of food and I mean FULL.  We stock the pantry.  We stock up on toilet paper and paper towels (two pretty expensive items comparatively).  I stock up on  bathroom necessities: toothpaste, shampoo, soaps, etc.  We also give the kids and us a new toothbrush, new soaps, shampoos, lotions, chapstick, razors, etc for Christmas too.  This way in January we are using our "new" stuff and feeling pampered in our "poor" time.

Prepping isn't always for end of the world times.  It can be for your "poor" times.  I spend a bit extra when we have it and fill our pantry and freezers.  When I find a great sale (like the one I found not long ago at a hair cut place that was going out of business - they were selling everything "buy one get three free". I spent $100 and got a TON of shampoos and conditioners, and other hair products.  Retail on these was over $400!) I stock up.

The house we live in now isn't very conducive to food storage.  We don't have a pantry per say. It is a broom closet and extremely tiny.  But I like to have at least a month's worth of food here.  In our old house I was proud to boast I had 3 months supply of food, sometimes more!

Knowing we have "poor" times of the year.  We prepare so we don't have to worry about running to the grocery store.  For us it is the cheapest way to "save" money is to use our food storage during our poor times.  When we run low on food that is when the panic sets in.  I don't like that panic.  As long as we are eating like we normally do here at home then we don't feel as poor as we are. 

Think about your "poor" times and what you might be able to do to alleviate it.  Have a great day.

Where have I been???

Where have I been, you ask?  Well, I will tell you!

I have been right here.  My husband lovingly convinced me to buy an embroidery machine the end of October and it arrived mid November.  Since then I have been embroidering away.  One of the main reasons for purchasing a several thousand dollar embroidery machine was that we would start a "little" business with it.  I immediately began making and selling embroidered towels.  I sell them on etsy.com and in a local storefront. For a start up business we have been busy.

Here are a few of our towels:

You can purchase them here: www.etsy.com/shop/wcsears

You can like my facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/byathreadembroidery/

Prayer Shawls - a Free Crochet Pattern

And now for something completely different!!  :)

Did you know that I love to create?  I crochet, knit, quilt, sew, scrapbook, and cross stitch.  I love to make things with my hands.  It is relaxing, satisfying, and helps me relieve stress.


I enjoy making prayers shawls.  I give them away always.  If I have a friend struggling with illness, grieving, or just needs some comfort I tend to lean towards making them a prayer shawl.  I also make them for others who I don't know.  While, creating them I pray over the stitches, think about their needs, pray for comfort, strength and healing.  The shawls that I don't give to a loved one or friend I donate to my church for their healing ministry. (No we don't "heal" people, but help and comfort them while healing.) 


I have another blog where I share patterns and such from time to time.  Here is the link to the prayer shawl pattern I created.

https://whitneyshandwork.blogspot.com/2015/03/jacobs-ladder-prayer-shawl-free-pattern.html

Enjoy!

Holiday Shopping Safety

Recently I have heard of several new schemes that not so nice people are using to get women away from their car or to stop their car so the not so nice people can do bad things to them.

With only 9 weeks left before Christmas and the sun setting earlier and earlier, us women will find ourselves shopping and in parking lots in the dark.  Now is the time to prepare ourselves.  Personally, I hate shopping at night.  I particularly don't enjoy driving at night anymore.  I try to avoid being out after dark particularly alone anymore.  However, with the sun setting around 6 now and by Christmas, just before 5, I will find myself alone, in the dark, in a parking lot.

So, here is what I have heard before and this is what I will be telling my teenage girls.

Recent stories have told of bad people (sometimes bad women, not just men) will leave something on your windshield, like a shirt or a piece of paper.  You don't see it until you are in your car and getting ready to pull out of the parking space.  You stop, open your door, get out to take the item off your windshield and they grab you.

Sometimes you go to your car and a van with dark or even no windows is parked right next to your car.  You go to get in your car and they open the door and grab you.

Sometimes they will throw raw eggs at your windshield and then wait for you to stop to wash it off or get the egg off in some way.  Using your windshield wipers don't work as it only smears it and makes it worse.  Water mixed with raw egg will make it cloudy.

Your best protection is awareness.

1.  look around you, not at your phone, keep aware of your surroundings and others around you.

2.  keep your keys in your hand.

3.  keep your whistle on your keychain and don't be afraid to use it.

4.  if the hair on the back of your neck stands up, listen to it and go back in the store, ask the store manager to walk you out to your car.

5.  don't ever stop your car to take something off your car.  drive to a well lit place with lots of people like a gas station.

6.  if you have to stop, lock your doors, use your horn, call 911 for assistance.

7.  if you have a key fob on your keychain for your car, keep your finger on the panic button,  or the lock/unlock button, or whichever button will make your car look like it is acting funny so others will start to pay attention to it..

8.  if you can, don't go out alone.

9.  if you find someone grabbing you, scream, make a commotion, try to scratch them and poke their eyes, knee them in the groin.

10.  if you are alone, don't be helpful.  Don't help someone who asks for help in a parking lot.  If they need help, don't get close to them.  Go back in the store to ask for help.

Again, your best defense is awareness.  Be aware of your surroundings.  Park in a well lit area, as close as you can to the store.

Hope these little tips are helpful.

Visit me on Facebook.  Search "A Prepared Mom".  That's me!  :)  I post other things there.