I have been MIA all week....no computer at all until today! I got caught up in a bunch of new things on my days off....very good new things!!!
First the healthy eating part is not new...just a reminder that I HAVE to get on the ball! My skin is breaking out all over again and the kids have various little things. We stopped the eating out and have made a huge effort to keep the junk out of the trailer, but I am guilty of bringing a little in here and there because of my sugar addiction. So I am gearing up for a start date as that seems to work best for me. I won't be telling anyone...not even the kids. They will remain on the Maker's Diet stage 3 where they can have wheat and milk. But for me, I am going to the strictest stage 1 where I will have withdrawal symptoms and whatnot. But there is never a good time to do this so now or never the way I see it!
On top of keeping the healthy eating going, I have decided to get the kids involved in little projects that will hone in on certain skills that will be constructive at some point in their lives. Toys just are not constructive in my mind....good for the imagination mind you, but they truly need something else. So off we went to Walmart and got the girls a big loom set and new yarn. There are 4 looms in different sizes. E had a beginner's one and did very well, making herself an apron with pockets, a bonnet, and a basket. G wanted to try and at age 5 I was not sure how she would do. But lo and behold she is doing exceptional! She is on her 3rd "napkin" - she remebered playing with her cousins in NC last year and thought play napkins would be a good idea for their play food. I am shocked at her creativity! It is so good to see them excited about something that will eventually turn into them making their own clothes and such! There was little for R to choose from, but we have decided to try to enrich his drawing skills. He is very good at drawing and will spend hours doing it. So he got some new supplies for that. Lately we have gotten into a new routine....a good one at that. Some days there are a few disruptions, but for the most part we have been consistent with getting up early, making breakfast, doing school, and then running errands. Play time after lunch, and reading after dinner.
As for the puppy....he is now 5 months old and getting bigger by the day. He was in need of some serious training since getting back from KY. So each day I have taken him out for simple command training. But the one thing I found difficult was taking him for a walk....at 5 months he was starting to walk ME! He is nearing 45 pounds and very strong. Our neighbor recommended the shock collar, but I am against those (except for the electric fences). I did some research and settled on the prong collar....best $10 I ever spent! He is a whole different dog! The first day he was a spaz... he wouldn't pull past what I gave him except the first time, but he was whining and spinning and going ape about it....basically he was ticked off, but we praised him up and down and now he is so easy to walk! For those with a puppy, I would highly recommend the Leerburg website for training DVD's and toys and such. We have learned A LOT from this guy and cannot be happier with the outcomes we are seeing. We got the German Shephard for protection purposes. They are great family dogs and very protective of their whole "pack", not just their alpha. And our puppy is earning high marks with us with his protectiveness towards the kids. Thankfully he is past the biting/nipping stage. Soon we will start having the kids do some simple training with the dog so that he learns to obey commands from all of us.
Just one final note...if you have a dog or puppy, I would highly recommend researching a raw diet. The raw diet is based on what wild dogs eat in nature....they do not get their food from a bag. :) We started our puppy on a raw diet from day one....3 months later his coat looks like silk and feels super soft! His teeth are pearly white and he does not smell, even after getting wet. We truly believe a truly healthy diet makes a stronger, healthier, and even smarter dog. We have weighed the pros and cons and the pros won out BIG time. We feed him all sorts of stuff...this morning was a knuckle bone, 2 chicken drumsticks, and an egg....all raw. He gets things from ground beef and turkey to pork chops and lamb. People have the misconception that it costs too much, but it doesn't have to. I shop for the dog once a week, buying things in bulk and taking it home and re-packaging it in smaller packages. I have so far only spent about $10-15 per week. What I would pay in vet bills and shampoo if I fed him bagged food would be higher in his lifetime.
Anyway, off I go to get ready for work. I love this new schedule!! 3 days on, 4 off every week. It has provided that extra consistency we all needed!!
Buying a car means FRUGAL for us!
We have an almost 7 year old SUV that has more than 165,000 miles on it. It has seen us from one side of the country to the other! We love our truck and it is still going strong! But the increase in gas prices had us wondering and thinking. We need the truck to haul the trailer. No doubt about it. But going to and from work 6 days a week between the both of us plus all the errands was getting expensive! To top it off, hubby's schedule changed from nights to days....actually more like 1 pm - 1 am. That leaves only a few hours each morning for one of us to scurry out and get errands done before the other has to leave for work. This left us flustered and we both ended up getting pizza once a week as we were exhausted by days end on some days.
So here is what we figured....all the miles piling on the truck was getting worrisome...it will only last so much longer. By getting an economy car we would use less than 1/2 the gas to get to and from work each week than we did with the truck. Will we end up paying more each month in payments than the savings? I figured it out and yes we end up paying more each month right now. But after the car is paid off and given the price of gas will only go higher, we will more than likely see the car pay for itself in 4 years. That does not include the price of wear and tear and insurance. However the convenience of having a second car will more than likely be worth that extra cost - it will definitely see us spending less in fast food! Yet another savings! Not to mention less stress! I cannot begin to mention how nice this week has been for the both of us, not having to get up at 7am, get the kids ready, and go out the door to get laundry done, shopping done, and any other errands done by 11 am. Fast food was the kids' staple on hubby's days off as he did this often to help me so I was not burdened with all the errands on my 3 days off. Less stress means a lot to both of us! Neither of us are morning people....never have been, never will be. Only one of our 3 children is a morning person. He gets up and is ready to go by 7. But the girls are like us....8-9 am suit them just fine. Typically we are all up by 8:30. Only once did everyone sleep in til 9!
Anyway, the bottom line is what works for one family will not necessarily work for another. Buying a new car worked for us in many many ways. We did not get the bottom of the line little eco box that would crumple into a tin can on the highway if it got brushed by another vehicle. We factored in safety, affordability, and room for the kids in the event the truck ended up in the shop. The car? A Chevy Cruze. 5 star ratings on safety and great options for the money. We could have bought used (the better way to go in most cases) but we have a family member who worked for GM, therefore allowing a discount on a new car. Savings all around.... on the car, and on maintenance.
So I am a happy camper...LOVE the gas savings!!!! Oh my, the needle on the gas gauge barely moves going to work!!! It is awesome! Since our truck is 15-18 miles to the gallon and the car is 35-40, we are seeing HUGE savings. I will do the final math after we have had the car for a month....see what the exact savings really is!
Anyway, we are getting more and more frugal. The land was enough to kick start our minds into thinking what we should and should not be doing. Our next big thing we are praying about is the "home" situation. Our travel trailer gets smaller each day it seems. I could fix the cushions and we can repair all the small stuff, but we cannot make it bigger for growing children. We are truly cramped....no biggee for the summer as the kids play a lot outside, but this next winter may see us either buying a bigger one or trying to build on our land. The thing is building on the land will take some time. So it is definitely a prayer thing! If we buy a bigger RV, we won't be able to move to the land for another year, but we would be significantly more comfortable. But if we stay in the RV we have now, it is another 1.5 years before we would be even considering moving into a house because of finances and time to build....1.5 years of high discomfort. Hmmmm, only the Lord knows what is truly best.
Off I go to clean and play!
So here is what we figured....all the miles piling on the truck was getting worrisome...it will only last so much longer. By getting an economy car we would use less than 1/2 the gas to get to and from work each week than we did with the truck. Will we end up paying more each month in payments than the savings? I figured it out and yes we end up paying more each month right now. But after the car is paid off and given the price of gas will only go higher, we will more than likely see the car pay for itself in 4 years. That does not include the price of wear and tear and insurance. However the convenience of having a second car will more than likely be worth that extra cost - it will definitely see us spending less in fast food! Yet another savings! Not to mention less stress! I cannot begin to mention how nice this week has been for the both of us, not having to get up at 7am, get the kids ready, and go out the door to get laundry done, shopping done, and any other errands done by 11 am. Fast food was the kids' staple on hubby's days off as he did this often to help me so I was not burdened with all the errands on my 3 days off. Less stress means a lot to both of us! Neither of us are morning people....never have been, never will be. Only one of our 3 children is a morning person. He gets up and is ready to go by 7. But the girls are like us....8-9 am suit them just fine. Typically we are all up by 8:30. Only once did everyone sleep in til 9!
Anyway, the bottom line is what works for one family will not necessarily work for another. Buying a new car worked for us in many many ways. We did not get the bottom of the line little eco box that would crumple into a tin can on the highway if it got brushed by another vehicle. We factored in safety, affordability, and room for the kids in the event the truck ended up in the shop. The car? A Chevy Cruze. 5 star ratings on safety and great options for the money. We could have bought used (the better way to go in most cases) but we have a family member who worked for GM, therefore allowing a discount on a new car. Savings all around.... on the car, and on maintenance.
So I am a happy camper...LOVE the gas savings!!!! Oh my, the needle on the gas gauge barely moves going to work!!! It is awesome! Since our truck is 15-18 miles to the gallon and the car is 35-40, we are seeing HUGE savings. I will do the final math after we have had the car for a month....see what the exact savings really is!
Anyway, we are getting more and more frugal. The land was enough to kick start our minds into thinking what we should and should not be doing. Our next big thing we are praying about is the "home" situation. Our travel trailer gets smaller each day it seems. I could fix the cushions and we can repair all the small stuff, but we cannot make it bigger for growing children. We are truly cramped....no biggee for the summer as the kids play a lot outside, but this next winter may see us either buying a bigger one or trying to build on our land. The thing is building on the land will take some time. So it is definitely a prayer thing! If we buy a bigger RV, we won't be able to move to the land for another year, but we would be significantly more comfortable. But if we stay in the RV we have now, it is another 1.5 years before we would be even considering moving into a house because of finances and time to build....1.5 years of high discomfort. Hmmmm, only the Lord knows what is truly best.
Off I go to clean and play!
LAND!
This post is more for the family section, but ties in well with living a simpler life....so it goes on the main page. We are currently in KY. It is beautiful our here in the eastern section. VERY green with rolling hills and small mountains. We are staying at a hotel about 45 minutes away from the property we are purchasing. The drive is breathtaking. Most people wave from their vehicles or yards as you pass by. There seems to be a few Amish communities as well nearby as we passed a few of them working on some land next to the road we traveled....as we passed they smiled and waved. Very friendly area indeed! We even came across 2 one lane covered bridges in the area. Very quaint!
The land is amazing! We are planning to buy 35 acres and we walked through only 1/3 of it today (maybe less) as 2/3 or more is forest. We came across turkey prints (the size of hubby's hand), an unknown egg, a turtle, and surprisingly very few bugs! Oh how exciting today was! The land is lush and green and we are so very excited to start planning how we will use it....for animals, growing fruits and veggies and wheat, building a home, and so forth. I only took a few pictures today as it was cloudy....tomorrow we meet with the county for the perk test. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow so I will take many more pictures! But for now, here are a few.....by the way, ANY ideas are welcome on how to utilize the land, especially for growing and animals. We are new at this and plan to really think all this through, so we are reading and learning from others.
The land is amazing! We are planning to buy 35 acres and we walked through only 1/3 of it today (maybe less) as 2/3 or more is forest. We came across turkey prints (the size of hubby's hand), an unknown egg, a turtle, and surprisingly very few bugs! Oh how exciting today was! The land is lush and green and we are so very excited to start planning how we will use it....for animals, growing fruits and veggies and wheat, building a home, and so forth. I only took a few pictures today as it was cloudy....tomorrow we meet with the county for the perk test. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow so I will take many more pictures! But for now, here are a few.....by the way, ANY ideas are welcome on how to utilize the land, especially for growing and animals. We are new at this and plan to really think all this through, so we are reading and learning from others.
The barn
Walking up one side of the property (the orange vests were used for precaution given turkey season just ended and we do not know the neighbors or their hunting habits)
Part of a clearing that borders the property. Might be good for a garden area.
R going to town with the sledgehammer on a broken tree limb.
The back of the property that may be good for goats and a few cows. Easy access to a stream here.
From the top of the hill seen in the last picture. Would be a terrific view for a house, but would have to clear some land as where I am standing to take this picture is right on the edge of the property line.
Another clearing....another area to decide upon. This is where we spotted a turtle.
A small clearing with potential....on our way down to the road.
A pond to be used for the animals....again decisions to be made as this is close to the road and not sure we want the animals there.
Just a vuew looking down towards the road. Some clearing could provide good areas for planting, animals, a house, etc.
Not sure what this belonged to....maybe a snake?
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