We just got our first double yolked egg. So, DD4 asks me if chickens can have twins......
Humm, I can't find anything on that one. So, I called the extension office and asked the chicken person. He is now calling Columbia to see if anyone knows. If a egg has 2 yolks it should be able to, but is the egg big enough to hold 2 chicks???
Only DD4 would have come up with the question.

Years ago, I used to teach first aid, CPR and home safety. These tips are still just as sound today as they were 25 years ago.

1. If your car has an alarm, keep your keys beside your bed. If you have an intruder during the night, hit the button. The alarm will scare him off. This can also work if you have a medical emergency. After your alarm goes off for a length of time, you have a pretty good chance of a neighbor either coming over or calling to check on you (or to tell you to turn the thing off!). I tried mine, and I can activate my car from all rooms of the house except those in the basement.

2. Keep your cell phone plugged into the charger at night, beside your bed. If someone cuts your phone line during the night in an attempt to silence an alarm and break in, you can still call 911.

3. Parents/adults should sleep with one of the homes fire extinguishers and a flashlight in their bedroom, located between the bed and the bedroom door. If a fire breaks out at night, you have a way to get out of your room and help your family. Keep your fire extinguishers charged and use the proper type for where they are located.

4. Have working smoke detectors and keep the batteries current. A good rule is to change the batteries when the time changes (twice a year). Most fire departments will help you install them or change the batteries. (You provide the device and the battery). I let them install mine after I bought them as I knew the FD was better trained to know the best locations to place them (and had a better ladder!!). In some towns, they will also provide the smoke alarms for elderly persons, people who are on food stamps or for renters.

5. Every parent should take first aid/cpr. It can also save time to know by name drug allergies that your family may have. Keep a list of your medications in your wallet on a card.

6. Keep the following in your first aid supplies. These are often overlooked and can save a life—aspirin and ipecac syrup. Study their uses and administer them (if the situation calls for it) as someone else calls 911 or AFTER you have called 911. Call for your help first, so they are on their way.

7. Make sure your family knows escape routes for a fire, hiding places for a tornado, and where to meet during a major emergency.

8. When out, don’t let little ones where shirts with their names on it. A stranger can lure the child away more easily by calling them by their name.

9. When in a crowd, moms find it useful to dress the family alike. Ours family still does it—when we go to the amusement park, or the race track, we all wear red t shirts. When mine were real little, I even went as far as to write my cell number on their stomach in ink—just in case they got lost. I learned this tip from a co-worker whose daughter was lost at the zoo. The security officer who found her told her to do that on their next trip.

10. Use common sense. It doesn’t hurt to keep poisons and cleaners up out of reach even if you don’t have little ones in your home. Outlet covers can also be of use to stop curious little fingers AND they can also act as a form of insulation for the outlet as well. Teach little ones how to dial 911. Keep medicines in a safe place (top of the refrigerator is good) and out of the bathroom. The bathroom should NEVER be used to store medications for 2 reasons: first, little ones are in there alone, with the door shut---and two, heat and moisture are bad on medications. Ours are in a Rubbermaid type container in the kitchen on top of the refrigerator where little ones can’t get to it. Irons should never be kept on the ironing board. Even if they are cold, a little one can knock it off and onto their head.

If in doubt as to the safety of your home, get down and crawl! Become the height of a 2 year old and see what you can find to put into your mouth, pull on, tip over, climb on……

As we merged households 18 months ago, we ended up with many duplicate items, and some unneeded ones. This includes a 1970's wood consol TV set, that works, color, cable ready. However, it was made before remote controls caught on, so it has none. We tried to sell it for $5. No interest. We have even tried giving it away--no one wants it. We have put it on Craigslist, offered it to numerous schools and organizations and no one wants it.
What the heck am I to do with it????

Hopefully you or someone you know or love will never be involved in a house fire. I completely lost my home and its contents in 2001. Having lived through the experience, I will admit it was not like I would have imagined it to be.


1. The most important things are the lives of your family members.

2. Keep good records and an inventory of your home at a second location, such as a safety deposit box. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, but a video of your home, both inside and out can be of great value later.

3. Be generous with family photos and baby photos. We lost all of ours. However, since we were so generous with family members, they still had copies. They were more than willing to copy them for us so that we could replace ours.

4. Copy your baby books/ wedding books. Give a copy to Grandma or save on disc in the safety deposit box. It also is a good idea to keep your birth certificates in there as well. If you do genealogy, keep a copy of your research in the box also. I lost thousands of hours of work.

5. Invest in a fireproof safe for your home. We have all learned to use the freezer. I can tell you the freezer will burn. It is the last to burn, but it can and will burn. Mine did. The documents stored in it were ruined. The plastic liner and insulation melted and entombed them.

6. Install proper safety features in your home. This includes smoke alarms, carbon detectors, fire extinguishers, escape ladders for the second floor.... Make sure things are charged and have good batteries. Make sure your family knows the escape route and where your family meeting place is.

7. Don't assume that since someone has insurance, they don't need help. I found out we still needed help, and we had excellent insurance. As soon as our agent arrived, we were given a check for $500 for things we needed "right now". This included changes of clothing, toiletries, diapers, food... I will tell you, that $500 did not go far. From that point on, we were reimbursed AFTER we had to pay up front. After checking with others fire survivors, the Red Cross, the fire department and other insurance companies, I found that was the norm. In fact, the Red Cross never even showed up. I found out later that in the area I lived in, for the Red Cross to show up, the homeowner has to request it. However, a wonderful couple from our church organized a food and clothing drive for us. This was held 3 days after the fire and was wonderful. We were given gift cards, diapers, food, gas cards, a new cell phone with lots of minutes, pet food, and pet carrier for our cat (who was also homeless now), an inexpensive camera and film to document with.... These items helped to tide us over until we started getting some reimbursement checks from our insurance company.


8. Check with your insurance company to see what type of coverage you have. Do you have enough coverage to cover rising instruction costs? Do you have replacement value or will your insurance only reimburse what you paid for an item when it was originally purchased.

9. Also check your insurance to see if you need to add a "rider" to cover certain items such as art, furs, jewelry, and antique cards. Also, some business items may not be covered--for instance, if you brought home a laptop from work and it were destroyed, your insurance may or may not cover it. If your car is parked in the garage or driveway will it be covered if damaged by the fire department or if the paint is blistered by heat??. Verify that outbuildings are covered. Ours were, but some friends of theirs were not. The fire blistered the paint of their shed and ruined the roof and they had to take care of that out of their own pocket.

10. Check with your local law enforcement agency and request extra police drive bys. We had problems with potential looters trying to take things from our house the first few nights. My father stayed outside the house in the driveway in his car and ran off several.

Glad it is over. Renters decided to move in earlier, so we spent a good part of the week in my old town painting and getting the place ready. We also had the flu going around, so that didn't help any. Then 2 ice storms hit there and slowed things down. To top it off, my best friend, who is more like a sister, has been on a waiting list for a kidney transplant. She got her kidney yesterday. I've not been to see her yet, due to having the bug, but should be able to by tomorrow.
Today I slept till noon. We all did. We were tired.

Thursday we were around someone who was sick (they got the flu on Friday). So Sunday afternoon, we all started dropping like flies. Raw throat, sore back, chest congestion and ear aches. The whole house has it except for DH-who was the only one who got the flu shot (his work requires it due to the nature of his job). I think this fall the rest of us will also get the flu shot.

On the upside, since we are pinned in sick, we have had 2 no spend days this week.

DH has been doing the cooking and is doing a good job of cleaning out the deepfreezes. He found some ribs and BBQ them, and also made some ham and beans.

I have people moving into a rental house March 1, so we went back down to my hometown and worked on it for a few days. Probably on Wednesday I will be making another trip to work on it some more.

I bought a new refrig for it, did some painting and we were going to replace a window, but instead decided to do away with the window completely. I got the area sheetrocked and the first coat of mud on it, and will do some sanding my next trip.

While dealing with the house, we also had family in from out of state, for a funeral on the wifes side. It was nice to visit with them, although our time was limited. I got to see my 2 year old neice, who I will say is the cutest baby around!!!

We got behind on our school work, but today we homeschooled for a good 8 hours. So now we only have 3 hours to make up.

The post office called today, and they had 2 boxes for me. One is the math books I got for D3 off of ebay, and the other was a box of 28 day old chicks. They are in the basement now, under a heat lamp. It is too cold to do their usual set up outside--it got down below 0 last night, and probably will again tonight. As soon as we walked into the post office, we could hear them peeping.

It has been cold and snowing all day. I've got bread in the oven now--it makes it seem warmer and cozier.

My washer leaked again today. It needs to hold it together for 1 more month, then I can get my new one for cash. But, if it leaks on the next load, I will have to get the new one anyway and just put it on the Sears card.

And lastly, my BIG news, our older chickens have FINALLY started laying!!!

Took the girls to their quiz meet this morning. DD4 came in 4th for her age group for last month for individual scores, so she was presented a ribbon for it today before todays quizzing. Don't think she did quite as well today, in one match her buzzer was not working and it took awhile to figure out when she was buzzing in she was not lighting up for the quizmaster. So she messed several she knew.

On the way back, we stopped at Michaels, and DD4 used part of her Christmas gift cards. They have been taking turns shopping there weekly, so they can use the coupon in the paper for 40-50% off on items.

Then we went to Walgreens and picked up the ink cartridge that had to be refilled due to their error (didn't get filled all the way and dried up after 4 pages) so that was free. Then I used some coupons with their sale items. Receipt started out at $25, then I gave her the coupons. That brought it down to $14.48 and I have around $10 of rebates that I will get back off of that. So, for around $4.70 with tax, I got 6 containers of dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel and breakfast bars. I should be set for dish soap for the next 4 months.

I just hope I can use the receipt--its very faint in some spots--bad ink on the register....

Also stopped at the grocery store-didn't need much, going to cook out tomorrow for the game. BUT, shrimp was 3.99 a lb--normally its 7.99, so we got 3 lbs and will have shrimp, salad and baked potato tonight for supper. The guy even through in about 1/4 lb extra shrimp. He remembered us from before- (New Years Eve they were so busy the had stock boys helping in the deli area, and a stock boy threw in a pound of ice with our shrimp and crab and weighed it-including it in the total. So, when we got home, we had a pound less than we paid for). They had already made good on it, but the manager just wanted to keep us happy! And he did, as we keep going back.

Today was a NS day (pretty much-spent 50 cents on a soda, but I found the 50 cents in the parking lot on the way into the building)...OK, it was a break even day-does that count?? That should be about 4 NS days this week, and one day where I only bought fuel.

3 of the items I had listed on freecycle got picked up today. More room in the basement!!! So far, no one wants the free working TV, so if no one wants it for free, I thought maybe I could sell it-so its on Craigslist now for $5. We just want it out.

I lost 2 of the watchers I had on ebay, but I gained one more on another item. Maybe I will get some action over the weekend.

I was supposed to go back to the city today, but didn't. Since we have to go to coop tomorrow, and that is almost halfway there, I decided not to, and we can combine trips tomorrow instead.

It has been cold and snowy today. Burr.

I got some more things listed on ebay. I have several items on there now, and 1 watcher, no bidders. It really seems ebay has slowed down a lot.

I went 2 days ago (DH doesn't know) & filled out applications for just about everything close to us (which means about 6 places). They just are not hiring, a couple that were hiring before are now cutting back . Plus, I can only work PT with the homeschooling, and not at all on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, so that kind of zilches (is that a real word?) things also. I still wish I could find something to do from home, but when you are 8 miles from an itsy town, and 17 from a little town, and 22 from a town with any real size to it, work at home is very limited. Its too far for people to want to drive for childcare or tutoring, and the county zoning & health dept rule out anything involving cooking, baking or food....

I filled up with gas, after my appt at the hospital. That visit should cost me nothing, as our insurance pays 100% for mammograms.

One of the ink cartridges I had refilled at walgreens already quit, so I took it back in. They are going to refill it at no charge. I think I printed 5 pages before it quit.

Tomorrow I will have to go back (22 miles one way) pick up the ink cartridge and get the zipper that I was supposed to get today and forgot.... Also plan to go to the thrift store and see if they have any jeans to fit dd3, as she is in another growing spirt. So, yet tonight I will go thru the coupons and see what I can do at walgreens with them tomorrow.

I did just discover, that in some states, you can now do your walgreens rebates on line. But, my state is not one of them.

Did get some books in the mail today for schooling. Some were free ones, and one I bought on ebay for 99 cents. Some days I think the mail lady must hate us...today would have been one of those days. Normally she brings packages to the door, but today she just stuffed them all in the mailbox. Good thing we have a large box.

Snowed all day today, did get out to take the kids to 4H, but spent no money--straight there and straight back. Tomorrow will be a spend day, but not too much and it is money I will get back. DH got me some mending jobs replacing zippers on coats for a buddy, so when I go to town for a dr appt I will get some new zippers, but I will be getting paid back for that.

I listed several items for free on freecycle today. So far no interest. They are larger items that would probably sell at a garage sale, but are too big to sell or ship thru ebay. Mainly an older working console TV and some furniture. We are just wanting to get it out of the house.

I have 3 autions I just started on ebay. Hopefully they will go. Lately my ebay auctions haven't moved at all. I listed some school uniforms and an ADSL modem, which I had no idea how to price.

Part of my new year res. was to do some decluttering, so thats what I'm trying to do. Wish me luck.

Today is a ns day.
Wasn't going to spend anyway, but now I can't leave because I have the propane man coming to check a possible here one day, gone the next leak. While he is here, he will top off the tank. (They bill us for it at the end of the month).

I also have someone coming later to look at my vehicle for sale.

I called the pharmacy for DD4 prescription. First they didn't want to refill it, because it is now OTC. I had to point out to them the insurance still pays for it due to the volume of it that she has to take daily and the fact it is a life long problem. The tech argued with me about it till I asked to speak to the owner. She had me on hold for about 5 minutes then came back and said they were out, it was just ordered and will be ready for pickup on Monday. She also verified that Yes, the insurance would cover it. $280 a bottle for the generic at 1 bottle a week. We get 5 bottles at a time. But, it all comes down to one $15 copay.

It is cold and snowing out. Hard to believe it is supposed to be in the 50's early next week. I am ready!!

and saran wrap.

Whats that got to do with anything you ask?

I last bought it in 1997 when the Price Chopper near me closed. It was on their last day they were open that I bought all they had. For a nickle each.

Took me 10 years to use it all up, but, hey, how often can you buy Reynolds Foil or saran wrap for a nickel?

I bought a case and a half of each.

That is what I was just told.

3 years ago, I went thru bills and finances with a spendaholic co-worker of mine. She had gotten herself into about $60,000 debt. We stayed up many a night reviewing her receipts, learning how to shop and cook, and going over ways to save money. She thought the terms I set up for her were too hard core, and I was being mean. (I cut up over 40 credit cards and "made" her call and cancel them all)

At the time, she was loosing her home. Her loan was at the local bank so we went in. They reworked (basically a refi) the terms of her loan back to 30 years so she could get a lower payment. We had the payment come directly out of her paycheck (saving $89 late fee each month) and put her house for sale by owner. Her house sold and she rented a $300 a month cheap cheap apartment. She was allowed $50 a pay period for fuel, and $50 a week for food. Her electric & water came autoatically out of her bank, as did all her credit cards. Anything above what she would need went into her 401K or credit union savings. I had her use cash only, and for awhile I had her checkbook, then when I moved I gave it to her mom.

She agreed to it, basically because she was desperate, and her family had all turned her away, as they had been burned by her many times.

Well, today she called and told me she had been laid off. She also told me, all her credit cards & debt have been paid off. She sold her car for what she owed on it, and bought a $3000 car intead and has already made the last payment on it.

She is still in the $300 a month apartment. She has no cable or dish, only a cell phone, no internet..... Only her rent, electric, water and food & fuel. Her auto insurance comes out of her bank account also.

Her 1 and only credit card is paid in full and at her moms house hidden where only her mom can get to it.

She walks to work (and has lost a lot of weight as a result).

She now has a college girl living with her who pays $300 a month rent!! (so she covers all the rent!!).

She paid off all that debt and has her 401K built back up, and around $20,000 in savings.

She had been earning $62,000 a year and had not been able to pay her bills with it, until she took the plunge.

Said she is looking for another good job, but meanwhile can live off her EF for over a year if need be. She did take a job this morning at McDonalds, and that will cover her basic monthly bills till she gets a "real" job again.

She takes a night class at the university, so that will allow her to get a basic medical insurance package for the semester. She is thinking of applying at the college for a job to get 50% off tution and better insurance that has vision and dental also.

She just made my day. She was one of the ones I was worrying about with the layoff. But she turned it around.

Parents really need to teach their children about finances. I knew a 19 year old boy in town and passed away. I assumed it was from an illness as I had not heard anything about an accident. It seems though, that he committed suicide. Why?? Because he lost his job and had $5000 yet to pay on his truck. Now $5000 is nothing compared to a life, but to him that amount was more than he could face. Evidently he didn't think of giving the truck back to the bank or really look at the situation the way most adults were. He had only lost his job a few hours before, so really had not had time to even look for another. But, in his note he said he could not face the debt of the truck.......So young, such a waste.

On another point, I knew that people at my old job were offered a "buy out" last fall to leave their job. The "buy out" amounted to a formula based on their years of service and age. (For me, it would have been $120,000) Several took it. (Had I been there another year this would have been me). Those who didn't were told yesterday that it was their final day. And, they get nothing. Basically they cut the office size down to about 1/2 of what it had been, so they will now be doing double the work they had bee.

Then I also found out that our neighbors have sold their home and are moving to the city. They are having an auction on Sunday. They were nice people, I will miss them. He was retired, and she sold real estate. I know she had been having trouble lately because the market here is DEAD. So, she has decided to retire also. They are moving to be closer to the grandkids.

Today and tomorrow were supposed to be NS days. But, they are calling for more snow, and then it started snowing 4 hours before they said it would. So, the feed I was going to get on Friday or Saturday, I went and got today, just incase we were to get snowed in. So, I guess Thurs and Fri will be my no spend days instead of Wed and Thurs.

I normally would spend around $40 to $50 this time of year to put flowers on my twin babies grave back in Indiana. They had been cremated, and when my Grandma died shortly after, I put their container in with her. I figured their great grandma could help look after them. However, I decided this year I was going to take that money and do something special with my living daughters instead. So, we will probably do something on Saturday. We will have an all girls day. There is a $2 movie theatre about 35 minutes from here, so maybe we will go there and then eat out. That will be a treat for them as we rarely eat out.

Thus, saving money on medications, Dr visits and not missing work.

We have all heard the basic common sense ways to avoid a cold, "wash your hands", "cover your mouth when you sneeze", and if your mom was like my mom, "don't go outside with wet hair" (although some medical experts argue against that one).

However, there are steps we can take to avoid getting the common cold and flu.

1. Wash your hands. (Mom was right). Wash before you eat, after the restroom, after you enter "hot spots" such as hospitals, daycare centers, doctor offices, pharmacies, using a public phone, public bathroom, touching money, using a grocery cart...I am sure you can think of several more that you come into contact with.

If you can't wash your hands, carry a small bottle of sanitizer with you to rub on your hands.

2. Wipe down common use contact areas such as door knobs, telephone receivers, faucets, shared keyboards, remote controls, steering wheels (if you have a co-driver), mailbox handle.... You don't need to carry around a bucket of bleach water, you can simply use a sanitizing wipe.

3. Get plenty of sleep. Your body requires proper rest for all your systems to operate at their best,

4. Eat well. What you eat is fuel for your body. Failure to eat properly will cause your immune system to suffer, You need a balanced diet including fruits and vegetables, protein (meats), grains... Notice this diet does not include chips, soda, or other junk foods. Feed your body junk food, and it will start to act like junk. Some studies indicate vitament C supplements may also help,

5. Avoid stress when you can. Stress can upset the balance of ones body. This in turn can cause foods to not digest properly and for the sleep cycle to be interupted.

6. Get exercise. I am not talking about the total body makeover. I am talking about walking to the mailbox or around the block. If you are new to exercise, see your physician before starting if it is going to consist of much more than walking.

7. Get plenty of fresh air. Go outside several times a day. Walk on your breaks from work, go out to get the mail or to just stand on the porch for a few minutes several times a day. During the winter if you can not get out, open a window for a few minutes and let the air circulate.

8. Change and clean areas where germs collect.

One of the dirtiest places for germs to collect and breed is in your kitchen (you thought I was going to say bathroom didnt you?). Wash your dishrags and sponges daily. Regular laundry detergent does not kill cold germs. The best way to clean your kitchen sponges is to zap them in the microwave for a minute after laundering. The heat will kill the germs.

Change your toothbrush often, and after using pour a small amount of mouthwash or vinegar over it to kill germs.

Baby toys may need be be wiped down, as well as the teething bar on their crib.

While washing your dishes, add a small amount of bleach or vinegar to the water to disinfect.

Change your furnace filters. Germs like to collect in them also.

Many sources and TV ads tell you to use antibacterial soaps. However, I have heard several studies on TV and radio that are now saying some germs are becoming resistant to such soaps.

9. Avoid your exposure to others when you are sick. Not only for the sake of others, but for yourself. Your immune system is already weak, so you are at an increase to pick up something else.

10. Avoid being around those persons you know are sick if at all possible. If you must be around them, use good handwashing and keep your contact to the bare minimum that you can.

Today is my first NS day this week. Actually the rest of the week probably will be, unless I get gas one day. I know I have to go out later this evening for 4H, but I can't remember how my gas tank is looking on my car....

I did win a book yesterday on ebay. 99 cents and free shipping. It is an American History book. I couldn't pass that one up.

We had company last night, and everyone made their own pizza for supper. I think the company was amazed that we made our own pizza crust. She was also amazed that we used the cheaper speg. sauce instead of pizza sauce on it (it is basically the same thing for less than half the price), and even more amazed that we saved the juice from a fruit salad I made and added it in with the koolaid mix I made for the children, and that we used cloth napkins when it wasn't a holiday. She called me the thrifty little Martha Stewart woman. She normally eats all her meals at bars or fast food, so she got a little eye opener on how the other half lives.

The floor is now dry, however, I still have boxes to finish going thru. I have pulled out the washer and confirmed (yes Dad, I did as you told me to) that the water did not come from any hoses, and that the drain hose is not clogged, nor was the drain in the wall clogged. However, the drain may be clogged inside the washer or one of the hoses may be broken inside the washer. Tomorrow DH and I will move it out to the garage and look under it and see whats going on.

I finally got the wet clothes rung out and dried. What a mess.

Meanwhile, I have posted a want for another washer on freecycle. I will even take a nonelectric wringer. I just want something to get me through for the time being till next month when I get a new one. Then I can free cycle one I may get free in the meantime. I checked into renting one--HA HA HA. $125. But, by Feb 15 I should have enough in my washer fund to get a front loading one. I loved the one I had before, I wish now it had made the move with me. Not sure yet if I will get the same or a different one.

So, I guess later this week I will make a trip to the laundrymat and wash. I'm too cheap to dry them there, will probably bring them all home to dry. Now I need back some of those quarters I took to the bank last week!

Spent around $50 at the grocery store and none of it was for me. Got a couple things that the food pantry is low on, and the rest was for the church youth group. (25 kids). It was our turn for snacks, but we won't have to do it again for about 3 months. I was going to get fruit, but grapes were 5.99 a lb, apples were $7 a bag. Forget that. So, I got pizza rolls that were on sale, soda that was on sale, koolaid mix, chips and dip. I made sure all I got could go back into the freezer at church or refrig if they don't eat it all tonight-but 25 kids, I am sure they will. I love feeding them during the summer--I just take in a watermelon and some cantelopes. They love that.

What a mess. Don't know, when we get it done it may be enough to turn into the insurance.

The washer had been acting up and not wanting to drain. Then it started working again so I did several loads of laundry. Evidently they all drained into the basement. All over boxes of stuff I had not unpacked from the move yet. I know several boxes of books were ruined, an antique table of mine got it pretty bad and other boxes as well. 2 weeks ago water came down on my computer downstairs.

Needless to say, that washer has washed its last. DH is on nights, so it may be a week before I can get a new one.

We still have not pulled out the washer to see what happened. The hoses are all still intact, so the trouble is somewhere inside the washer. But, its at least 12 years old, so time for a new one.

I guess I should have kept my washer. It was a front loading big one. But, at the time we thought it was too heavy to move. Oh well.

I applied for a job online. My mother in law used to do it. Its for a company that does the store demo's. I had started the app. process a year ago and never finished it because no stores around me were listed. Now, I see where some of our local stores are using the company to do demos, so I finished the process. It is one of those deals where you check the webpage and sign yourself up if you see any in your area. Promo's are 5 hours, and they pay $85. If there is any leftover product, you get to keep it. And, if you use your own crockpot and table they pay you more.

is to be organized from the beginning.

This is a new year, so start off your 2008 taxes now. Here is a very simple, very cheap way. I will take you through it step by step.

You will need the following:

One large 3 ring binder
25 or more plastic page protector sheets

Put the page protector sheets in the binder, with the opening on the top. (so you don't use items).

Label the spine of your book 2008 taxes.

Label your page protector sheets. You can use magic marker, masking tape or type and tape it on. Label your sheets according to your particular tax needs. To give you an example, here are a few of my pages:

Medical visit receipts
RX receipts
Vision/Hearing/Dental receipts
Interest earned statements
Rental expenses
Rental income
IRA
401K
auto sale taxes
personal prop taxes
real estate taxes
W2
educational & training expenses & milage
donations
interest paid
health insurance and union dues paid
uniforms
farm expenses
receipts for home improvements re: energy
sales of stocks and bonds

If in doubt-put in a misc page also for receipts you may question.


When you get your 2007 taxes finished, put a copy of them in this book also, for next year. You can put them in the pockets on the cover, or use a hole puncher. You will need them for ref for 2008 taxes.

Now the most important thing, is to actually put your receipts in the book as the year progresses. I had been doing this in the file cabinet in files and envelopes, and it was sometimes "out of site, out of mind". Then I would file a months worth at once.. Now, this book sits in the office on the bookshelf. I see it daily as I am in the office.

At the end of 2008, add up your receipts in each pocket and put your total in that pocket.

When you are ready to get your taxes done, simply take the entire book to the tax preparer. You will be all organized. If the tax person has any questions, you have it right there.

Actually, I also owe two more payments of $37 as well. Today was signup day for this semester of homeschool coop. You pay it over three installments. This covers each girls classes (we meet every Friday) and a yearbook for each. This also covers all their class supplies as well. Classes we are taking this semester include band, a sewing class-how to make new clothes out of old ripped up jeans (rather frugal I thought), earth science, scrapbooking, baton, gymnastics, watercolors, painting, PE, ballroom dancing, and a science lab. One of the girls wanted to take cake decorating as well but the class enrollment for it was already full.

I was pleased to see that they are offering a JR version of Dave Ramseys class for those students 12 and over. Last semester they offered a class in the workings of banking and stocks and bonds. I heard several parents say their kids had to explain it to them. As part of that class, the kids picked stocks and had to follow them to see the ups and downs. Some made money and some lost money.

Our coop has over 300 kids in it, pre K through 12th grade. Frugality is a strong theme there. We even have a free swap and shop where people can bring clothes, shoes, books, toys for someone else and take what they need instead. You see a lot of creative ideas used by the teachers in their lesson plans and crafts and experiments.

I also like the fact they teach a lot of "survival skills" classes, such as sewing, cooking, money management, powderpuff mechanics-common sense classes. One of the public districts near here has dropped their band, choir and home-ec classes in an effort to conserve funding. Yet they still have their sports teams!! I think that is sad.

and I have to get out in it later. I have to take the girls to get registered for this semester of homeschool coop.

DH and I have been discussing the fact we are always broke, even though he makes a very good income and we are very frugal.


So, today I tweeked his paycheck. Seems he has been having more go to his 401K than he is bringing home. I am not sure how that happened, unless it got upped for one of those checks where nothing comes out but taxes and was never lowered back. Anyway, it will take 2 weeks (2 pay periods, gets paid weekly) to take effect. So, that will free up about $300 more a week. Then, I realized he had a 401K loan that will be paid off in 4 checks, freeing up another $100 a week. Then in 4 months his car will be paid off, freeing up another $400 a month.

Anyway, he paycheck is automatically deposited and many of the bills are automatically paid. So, we never really handle "real" money. If we had, we would have noticed it sooner. He double checks his paycheck stubs, but only looks at the pay part--he has not been looking at the actual deductions to see what goes to checking, savings and 401k. So, a lesson was learned by both of us.

In about 4 months then, his check will be double what it is right now, and we can then probably increase the 401K up some more.

Meanwhile, I am getting a bike off of freecycle (I posted the need, and low and behold the person who replied was a friend of mine!). I have posted several things to offer but no takers yet--probably due to the weather.

Last night I finally got a set of bookshelves put up and loaded. My dad bought them at a library sale for around a dollar. They are heavy duty metal--the kind that hold books on both sides. That enabled me to get several more boxes unpacked.

The best ways to save on your grocery bill

These are all ideas that my family has put into use. I feed our family (5 people full time, 7 people during holidays and school breaks) for $250 or less a month. Usually it is less, and some months it is even below $200. Yet, we eat well.

1. Garden & preserve your food—For our family, this is one of the biggest savers on our grocery bill. If you have never had a garden before, I would recommend you start small. Even those of you who have no yard can still have a window box garden or container garden. Herbs grow very well in containers inside year around. Tomatoes grow well in containers outside, as do strawberries. Some communities offer community gardens. In a community garden, you pay $25 to rent a space for the summer. You grow your own produce. Most have water on site and you have free access to it. Some will even plow and disc it for you at the beginning of the season. If you don’t know how to can foods, remember a large majority of foods that you grow can be frozen. Many foods such as beans can be dried. Drying takes no special equipment-I’ve dried foods before using a clean window screen and the sunshine, or you can use your oven (no heat required other than your oven light). If you do garden, save your compostable kitchen materials and dryer lint to add to a compost pile. It will be a savings you will see next year in your garden.
2. Buy meat in the bulk ¼ or ½ to a who beef or hog at a time Often all you need to do is ask around to find someone to split a cow or hog with you. Generally, the more meat you buy, the cheaper it is per pound. This does require a freezer, but many butcher shops and even some farmers will rent freezer space. Often you will see farmers selling meat in the paper. Even if you don’t want a whole, call him anyway. If he has 2 people who want a half, he will deal with you.
3. Hunt You can hunt anything!! Deer, berries, nuts, mushrooms, fish, rabbit…. Just make sure you have permission from landowners and any necessary permits or tags. Also, make sure you are really picking what you think you are picking (esp. mushrooms or berries-don’t pick a poisonous look alike.)
4. Coupon and bulk shop at stores such as Aldi or farmer markets. Only use coupons on items that it will really save you money on. Don’t buy brand X just because you have a coupon for it, even if brand A is still cheaper. Take advantage of double coupon days if your store offers them. Also, remember places such as Walgreen’s have some food items on their shelves and will let you use a manufacturers coupon along with their store coupon. This sometimes will enable the smart shopper to get items for FREE.

Buy produce while in season (if you are not growing your own). If possible buy it in bulk for further savings and can or freeze for future use. I have bought apples and green beans by the bushel to can and freeze.

Take advantage of stores such as ALDI for items. Currently a dozen eggs at Aldi is 75 cents cheaper than at the grocery store. Aldi does carry some name brands, but most is generic. However, they do not take coupons or checks, and you sack your own groceries, so take sacks (or a laundry basket) to take your groceries home in. (You will also need to take a quarter to rent your cart, but you get your quarter back when you return your cart.) Don’t grocery shop when you are hungry, and eliminate junk foods such as sodas, chips, candy…
5. Don’t lump non grocery/kitchen items fall into your grocery/kitchen budget You don’t eat cleaning supplies, diapers, laundry soap, or pet food, so don’t include them in your grocery budget. Make a separate category for these items. This will also help you see where you may be able to cut back in your budget.
6. Don’t waste food. If you cook it, eat it. Leftovers are great for lunches for work or school lunches. If you haven’t eaten it after a couple days, move it to the freezer. If you don’t eat leftovers, then start cutting your recipes in half.
7. Don’t shy away from cheaper foods such as rice, beans, and potatoes. Aim to serve at least 4 times a week or more.
8. Get a couple of hens. This may not be for everyone, but with the price of eggs lately, it has saved our family a bundle to have our own eggs. If you live in the country, you can have a set up as simple as a fenced in area with a doghouse for the hens to use. Ours were in such a set up for a year before I got an actual chicken coup for them.
9. Check out places for free food such as freecycle.org and craigslist. I have gotten free watermelon and pumpkins from farmers posting excess produce. I also got a case off free Campbell’s soup from a woman who didn’t like it after she bought it. As long as the food looks clean or is still sealed and in date, it should be fine.

buying a book for homeschooling. I don't feel bad about it at all because I looked at it at the teacher supply store where it was priced $19. And this one is brand new. Its a history book, with a timeline of American History in it as well as all of Americans great event, inventions and speeches in it.

We ended up with over 6 inches of snow. In some places it has drifted a couple feet deep.

I got my W2 statement in the mail today from one school district, (where I did the aftercare program) but not from the one I subbed at. DH has not gotten his yet either.

DH spent most of the day with a tractor mechanic. We thought we had an $800 part go out. Turns out it was that part, but not the entire part--just a $9 relay switch inside it. Still had to pay the labor to the mechanic, but we got off with a $159 bill instead of more as we thought.

We also lowered the bill by splitting the visit fee with some other farmers. We all scheduled the mechanic the same day, so he split up the visit and milage fee between us all. (living where we do, milage kills you as most deisel tractor mechanics are in KC)

So, I guess I need to go out and get a few stock up items. Which seems silly, when we have plenty of food, but I need to get items that are fireplace/grill friendly should the electric go out again.

Right now it is raining. The temp is to drop and then around 4 snow is to start. If it is just snow, we are ok, but it is the rain that concerns me. This is how the last "big one" in December started. The rain took down a large number of power lines.

I have everything on chargers now, cell phones, lanterns, weather radio, and the tractors and bobcat are plugged in. Before, we had to use one to dig our way out with, and of course we will have to feed hay. If we get them all plugged and well charged, hopefully one will start!

Will need to get milk, small packages of ground beef (easy to do chili, shephards pie..over the fire or in the cast iron), potatoes, buns, bread, and probably a few cans of soup. Probably won't hurt to get a little more lamp oil also.

Also, I need to start laundry. Last time we would of run out of some clothes if the laundry had not been caught up, which means several loads back to back, so I will have to use the dryer.

The kids had a 4H meeting tonight for their horse project. I took all my coupons from the Sunday paper and managed to get them all cut out, plus I also educated a mom on how to use them with the Walgreen ad and Dollar General ad to get free shampoo, toothpaste and such. I think she was going to go home and dig her coupons out of the trash!! I haven't got very far, but so far it looks like I will get some free ajax and purex. We don't like ajax, so I will take it into church for the kitchen there.

I did't get my change rolled either, so that is now on tomorrows list.

I did put off going to the store. DH thought we were getting low on food (HA HA), but I came up with stuff for stirfry for supper. I also found some sausage in the freezer, so tomorrow I think we will have sausage and bisquits and gravy for either lunch or supper. I also found another small package of beef in the back of one of the refrigerator freezers, so I think I will mix that with some ground venison and make a meatloaf for Thursday.
I also found a chicken (behind some veggies on the veggie shelf) so I put it back on the poultry shelf where it belongs. We just finished off some homemade chicken and noodle soup, so it will be about a week before I do chicken again. We also have a ton of okra to eat from the garden as well. Its already breaded and frozen.

Next month we plan to butcher, so I am trying to empty out the freezers as much as possible before hand. It will make room for the new meat and will less in them I can take a more accurate inventory of what we have left.

Only money spent today was to buy a gallon of milk, and to top off my fuel tank in the car. During the winter I like to keep it full for 2 reasons: 1, it gives me extra weight in my little car should I get stuck, and 2, will keep me running longer -with the heater on-should I get stuck.

DD1 was fairly frugal. She found a website where she could rent textbooks, so she did that this term. They arrived in the mail today. Much cheaper than buying them.