Top Ten Posts of 2009

I really enjoy looking back over my posts to see which ones ended up being the top posts. Oftentimes, I am surprised by the results.

Here are the Top Ten Posts for 2009:

1. The Lentil Brown Rice Casserole continues to come in on top. This continues to surprise me. We love this dish, and it continues to be the most frugal dinner dish I've made, not including our free venison.

2. One of my favorite posts, was the first post I did in the Home Management Binder Series.

3. Managing Your Expenses was another post I really enjoyed writing--I could talk finances all day long. :)

4. The hardest post to begin would definitely be this one. The Beginning--which was the beginning of Nicholas' Story.

5. A not so common way of using the bounty of your jalapeno harvest: Jalapeno Jelly

6. This one really shocked me; Menu Plan week of 3/15-3/21 (After looking back, this is when $5 Dinners hosted Menu Plan Monday, and I was #1!)

7. Canning Jalapenos

8. Saving Money On Clothes, where I highlighted some thrift store finds.

9. The second installment of Nicholas's Story.

10. A Whole Wheat Tortilla Tutorial comes in 10th.

Hosting a Frugal Thanksgiving

Big gatherings with lots of food and decorations can easily become a budget disaster. Hosting a frugal Thanksgiving, or Christmas for that matter, isn't impossible. Doing so requires a bit more planning, but the savings in the end will be worth it. One thing to remember in the midst of all the craziness is the purpose behind all the decorating and cooking. While it is nice to have a beautifully decorated home, and a big spread of food, the celebration is more about the company and the celebration than the stuff. Don't make yourself go crazy over planning it all.

For decorations, simplicity is best. Take advantage of as many real things as you can, like acorns {HoosierHomemade has a super cute idea using acorns here), leaves, pumpkins and gourds. We grew a bunch of pumpkins this year, and I've tried to incorporate them in my decorating before turning them into puree. Also, make crafts with the kids and incorporate them into your centerpiece or overall design.

You can see how I've decorated for the fall season in this post.

The food is generally the biggest expense when it comes to a holiday meal gathering, but planning ahead will really pay off.

• If the get-together is fairly big, don't feel bad about asking your guests to bring a side dish or dessert. I'm sure they would be more than happy to help you out.
  
  
• In the weeks leading up, keep your eyes peeled for the loss leader sales. Grocery stores are trying to get you in their door and are going to offer rock bottom prices on certain items. At a grocery store in my tiny area I'm able to get a turkey for .40 cents a pound, 3 pounds of sweet potatoes for $1, and canned veggies for .39 cents (although our preference, as well as the more frugal option, is home canned). That is only one store, which isn't a national chain.
  
  
• Make it from scratch. Instead of buying turkey gravy for your mashed potatoes , use the broth from cooking your turkey and make your own gravy in a snap. Remember those heels of bread you usually toss--turn them into stuffing! Or how about making your own dinner rolls, even if it is a few days in advance, instead of buying the pricey frozen ones? Oh, and definitely skip that canned pumpkin, and make a true pumpkin pie!
  
  
• Try not to go overboard. I know this hard, because I struggle with it myself. However, the more food you have, the bigger expense there is. I know Thanksgiving traditionally is a feast, which is a-okay--but don't go waaaayyy out and break your budget (and lose your sanity) in the process.
  

Be sure to check out Frugal Friday and Thanksgiving on a Budget for more ideas.

Monthly Cash Flow Plans

One of the essential tools to our debt freedom journey has been a Monthly Cash Flow plan. I've touched on it before, but I wanted to throw it out there again. They are so important to your financial success, and I just can't sing their praises enough.

The benefit of a cash flow plan is it assigns a place for your money before you get it. That way, when the money arrives, you already know where it is going. It is all outlined for you.

The purpose of a Cash Flow Plan is to outline every single expense your family incurs monthly. If you have some expenses that are yearly, bi-monthly, or just periodically--you still need to add them in your cash flow plan, but on a monthly level. For example, if you pay your insurance every six months, you need to divide that number by 6 and include it in your monthly cash flow plan.

Once you have figured out all of your expenses, now is the time to look over all of your incoming funds. For most people this will be easy, just figuring out your paycheck. For others, there may be multiple streams of income, or a variable income; which at times can be tricky to figure. Try to get the numbers as close as you possibly can. In the end, it will make things so much easier, and truly be beneficial to your journey. Providing an inaccurate number is setting your budget up to fail. Obviously, that isn't what you were going for. :)

After you have figured out all of your incoming funds and all of your outgoing expenses, now you know how much is left over at the end of the month. If for some reason you have more outgoing expenses than you do incoming funds, take a closer look at your expenses and see where you can trim. You may be surprised at how low you can get your numbers, or even what you can do away with!

In the event you have money left over--don't just leave it there unaccounted for! Give it a place to go or it will disappear before your eyes. Almost literally. If you have debt payments, pay toward your smallest debt, and work your way up, otherwise work on building up a $1000 emergency fund. Already have one? How about trying for 3-6 months worth of living expenses? Or start saving for a vacation?

I recommend making a new cash flow plan every month for the first few months, until you figure it all out. After that, I still recommend you doing one about every other month. Doing so will force you to take a look at your expenses again, and maybe find something that you've overlooked before.

I guarantee once you have your cash flow plan established, and you get the kinks worked out, you will be glad you set it up! Before we set up our cash flow plan we were living off of credit cards (using them weekly for gas and grocery expenses). Since setting up our plan at the end of 2007, we've payed off over $26,000 in debt!! Now that's results!


Other Posts of Interest:

• Home Management Binder: Finances Section
• 2009 Goal Updates
• This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Frugal Friday.

Home Management Binder: Finances Section

Making sure your finances are in order is one of the keys to running your home smoothly. Having said this, I must admit that this section almost didn't make it into my Home Management Binder. Here's why; Initially, I was going to use my binder as a go-to for any and every one that may come into my home in my absence--including babysitters. While we do not use babysitters very often at all (as a matter of fact ONCE in the last 5 years!) we hope to be able to find a trusted sitter so Willie and I can have an occassional date night. I didn't want my financial information to be in the same book as my babysitter information. Know what I mean?


Instead of taking the finance section out, one that we use weekly, for a section that may be used monthly, I decided to take the babysitter section out and put that information elsewhere.

Click HERE to print this cover page.




For me, this section wasn't too hard to set up. Since starting Dave Ramsey's plan, we have used a spiral notebook to write down our Monthly Cash Flow Plan, as well as our bi-weekly bill assignments (we're paid bi-weekly, so I break our monthly bills up into 2 assignments). I go into more detail on the Cash Flow Plan and how it works in my Managing Expenses Post.



In addition to having my budget notebook in this section, I've also added a pocket folder so I can add in any paper bills that come in the mail. As soon as they come in, I open them up, discard the envelope it came in, and any other junk they decided to stash in there. In most cases, I will look the bills over to make sure the charges are correct, and keep only the stub. Occassionally I will keep the envelope that they included, other times I will shred it for mulch.


Another very important tool in this section is an empty calendar to record the due dates of your bills. In my case, in my absense, my husband would have no earthly idea when a bill was due. This also helps when I sit down to create our bill assignments. While most of the time if I pay one bill during this 2-week set, it won't be due in the next--sometimes I still have to set the money aside for it during the next 2-week set. I'm sure that is just as clear as mud. :)

Really other than those 3 things, this section contains nothing else. It's short, sweet, and effective!

How do you keep track of your Finances?

*If you have a home management binder or Finance binder/folder, now is your time to share. Please link to your post, and not your homepage, so that it can be easily found. Also, please remember to link back here so your readers can see what others share. If you haven't started your binder yet, now is the time! You can see all my other sections, complete with printables here.


This post is linking to Your Life, Your Blog.

2009 Goal Update: July Edition

It is hard to believe that the last Goal Update I did was the beginning of June--for the month of May. I thought it was going to work out great to have more time between the updates, but it isn't. I've had a hard time staying on track and remembering where I'm at.

June and July were both very busy months for us--July moreso than June. Not only is there the 4th of July (which comes with a big celebration at our church that we help organize) but there is also my birthday, our anniversary and canning season is usually in full force. Add that all in with a dash of VBS, and a few church trips here and there and you've got my month of July. Pure and utter craziness and chaos. And a recipe for a budget disaster. Hmmph.

There..I admitted it. July (as far as our finances go) pretty much stunk.

• Finances: We've gained a bit of headway on our debt, but not as much as I would have liked. My debt ticker shows $12505.40, but that doesn't show our last payments. If my calculations are correct, we should be down to about $11,805-ish. Since I don't know the exact numbers yet, I haven't updated the sidebar or my percentages.
• Gardening: This year the squash bugs and I have gotten to know each other. This isn't a good thing. They annihilated my zucchini (which I dealt with since my DH hates it) but now, they are trying to go after my pie pumpkins! Eekk. So, I threw organic out the window and dusted those things with Sevin until they couldn't see the light of day. I was proud of myself..until I walked out there a few days later and they were still there!! Those things are tough!
  • My food storage (atleast from the garden) is going fairly well. I canned my first batch of diced tomatoes and spaghetti sauce yesterday. You can see a list of all the other things I've canned so far this year here. It is so nice being able to step back and take a look at all my home canned goodies on my pantry shelves. Makes me smile.
  • We're starting to plant the fall garden and looking into our plans for next year's spring garden, what we are adding to the orchard, as well as our herb garden (that will happen next year!).

• Self: I did so good exercising through the month of June and parts of July. I loved The Shred, and I still do, but my routine has gotten all crazy and I've had a hard time regaining control of it again. The first thing that gave: exercising, and I can tell. I'm hoping to get control again now that we are regaining our normalcy.

• Home: We are still trying to figure out whether or not we are doing our major remodel project this year or not. Because of this, all of the painting and inside renovating has been put at a standstill. The suspense is killing me, but I keep reminding myself that it is all in God's timing..not my own.

  • I've become a lot better at embracing (and thoroughly enjoying) my life as a housewife, wife and mother. With that I've gotten better with accomplishing my day to day duties. My home (albeit chaotic) has been peaceful and inviting and close to everything I've wanted and dreamed for it to be.

So how have you been doing on your goals?? Fill me in--it's been awhile!

Finding Freedom Friday: 2009 Goal Update

It's a new month and time to check in and see how we've all be doing on our 2009 goals. I don't know about you, but this has really helped me stay accountable to myself and to everyone else for that matter. Although things aren't going exactly as I had planned, we are still taking steps forward.

Here is how we are doing so far:

• Our federal tax refund came back and we put it to good use! A huge portion of it went to our debt, bringing it down to $13083.17 with a total of $6592.72 paid since January (38% of our goal)! While we should be closer to the 50% mark at this point in the year, I am most definitely not complaining!

• In addition to a lump debt payment, we added a big chunk to savings. We originally wanted a total of $4000 in our savings (Max out of pocket for health, vehicle maintenance, home maintenace, etc.), but we've changed that up a bit. We've decided instead of having our full max out of pocket for health expeses set aside that we would put $500 instead. I know that that is a far cry from the original $1500--but at this point our debt snowball is of decent size that when a medical bill arises we can pay it and we used that extra to get our currrent debt number down. Also, we still have the base emergency fund of $1000. We also had in mind to set aside $1000 for vehicle maintence. My husband recently had to have some work done on his truck as well as a new set of tires. After everything was said and done, there was close to $700! So, our new amount that we are shooting for (as long as no other expenses come up) is $2300. We are 70% there.

• Our garden is in full force. You can see all my garden updates here.

• As of Friday morning I start Jillian's 30 Day Shred. It arrived in the mail today (I got it for free with my swagbucks!) and I'm dying to start it! And I just may be dying when I start it. :)

Everything else is going really well! 2009 has been a really productive, memorable year so far--and I'm anxious to see what the rest of it brings. From here on out, the 2009 Goal Updates are going to start being bi-monthly instead of monthly, hopefully that way I will have more to report.

How are you doing?

Cutting Grocery Costs

This post was originally posted on February 3rd, but it bears repeating as it is my Top Frugal Tip. The number one question I am asked is how I keep my grocery budget as low as I do. Implementing these following 8 tips helped me gain control of my grocery budget, which has given us more money for our debt snowball.

Be sure to check out Works For Me Wednesday: Frugal Tip Edition.

Original post follows:

On the last installment of Finding Freedom, I went over Managing Expenses and different ways that you can cut your costs.

One of the hardest, yet easiest areas, is grocery shopping. I do consider it a negotiable, because although you have to eat, you can almost always cut your spending in the "grocery department" and still not starve!

Here are my Top 8 Ways to Cut your Grocery Expenses

• Cash. I've already shouted all through out blog land how much I believe in cash for all grocery shopping endeavors, so I won't get into that too much here. You can check out my story of using cash, here. It will save you tons of money, you will end up with things you actually need, and you will be in control! I beg you to try it if you haven't already. (Those of you that have tried it, please feel free to weigh in in the comment section so everyone knows how it went!)
  
  
• Watch those sales and pair with coupons. It is unbelievable how much money you can save by pairing those 2 together! My rule of thumb as far as my coupons go, is if the item isn't on sale..I will probably not use my coupon, unless I NEED that particular item.
  **If you aren't interested in coupons, just check out the ads and shop the loss leaders. Loss leaders are the items that the grocery stores mark way down to get you into the store to buy other overpriced items.**
  
  
• Meal Planning! Knowing what you are making for dinner and writing down all of the ingredients you need from the store will not only keep you on track at the store, but it will save you unnecessary trips back to the store inevitably ending up with more than you needed, and spending more in the process. Also, avoiding the whole "It's 4pm and I have no idea what is for dinner!" is such a stress reliever. You will end up with more time, less stress, and saving money in the process! Doesn't get any better!
  
  
• Use that list!!! That is why you made it, so stick to it! My only exception to this, is if I know I need orange juice (or another actual needed item) and I forgot to put it on my list. But, I must need it (not want it) and there must be room in my budget. I try not to break budget for things I've forgotten to list, but didn't. I've been known though, to knock something else off so that I can get that one item. It did take some getting used to, but it kind of goes hand in hand with the whole cash concept.
  
  
• Watch the prices. Buying in bigger packages isn't always cheaper, so make sure that you are getting the best deal. I'm that crazy lady standing in the aisle checking out every brand of product and figuring out the best deal. And a "sale" isn't always a sale.
  
  
• Shop multiple stores. This one obviously isn't feasible for everybody, but it is something that you should check into and weigh. I live in a pretty small area, and in order for me to get decent grocery prices I have to drive to the "big town". The "big town" has Super Wal-Mart and Walgreen's on one end, and Aldi's and a small grocery chain on the other. I go to one set, and then go to the other set since is on the way home. Shopping these multiple stores gives me a better idea of prices and in turn, I have a better idea of what a good sale price is. I don't always shop at all of these stores, but I do usually hit 2-3. I can get all my shopping done, with my 3 year old, in no more than 2 hours.
  
  
• Price Book! This is something that I have just started, and I'm sure that I don't do it like everyone else. When I come home, I input all of my grocery prices in Excel. I write the item, the price, and the price per unit. For instance, onions. Say they are $1.29, and I get 6 in the bag. That is .22 cents an onion. (Secret Revealed- This is how I know the cost breakdown of all my meals!) When I buy the item next time, if it is lower I write that in with stars letting me know that is a good deal. When I go to make my list, I write down beside the item how much it costs (based on the price book) and I tally it up at the end. This helps me stay within my budget.
  
  
• And remember, if you can buy it, you can more than likely make it! Making most of what we eat from scratch has really cut our costs. In return I have been able to make my family healthy foods for less than half of what I could buy them for, and I am at peace because I know exactly what is in it and where it has been. No need to worry about some 14 letter ingredient that I have never heard of and cannot pronounce!

I encourage you to try all of these. You do not necessarily have to do them all at once, you can ease in if you desire. But, I do think it is important to do all of them at some point to maximize your savings.

I would love to hear your experiences in cutting grocery costs. Your successes and failures. Hopefully your successes far out weigh the failures! Feel free to chat away in the comment section.

Finding Freedom Friday: 2009 Goal Update

Goodbye April. I think I may miss you, sorta. Not a huge fan of all the rain and all that jazz, but all in all you were pretty good to me.

It's time for another update on my 2009 Goals. Again, if you haven't made goals yet, it's never too late. I encourage you to set a couple for yourself and be sure to come back and share with us. Consistently looking at my list has definitely kept me on track this year, and I'm loving it. Just because I've been staying on track, though, doesn't me that I've been necessarilly succeeding in all areas.

As will everything in this Earthly life, nothing is for certain. I set out with big intentions for 2009, and I hope to make it my best year yet. Frankly, that is all that I can do.

With that being said, I've encountered some bumps in my plan, mostly in terms of my financial goals. I do not like bumps, generally, but I'm taking these bumps as they come. Thank God for that. Goes to show that all the prayers I've put in for help with my patience and my issues with perfectionism and control have not gone unanswered. I must continue to remind myself that although I've set these goals, everything happens in God's time--not my own.

Let's take a look back at April:

• Financially:
  
  
  
  • We were able to pay extra onto our debt this month, which I am ever so grateful for. $250 extra to be exact!! This brings our total debt down to just over $16000, with $3592 being paid this year alone. Wow, oh Wow! This puts us right at 21% of my goal for this year.





• I do not have an exact total for my grocery spending, but I do know that I did not go over my $300 mark. Yippee! I've been buying tons of fresh fruit and veggies and am at the point of making all of our bread products. What a great feeling this is!





• With our busy season approaching, I do feel as if we are being too careless in some areas of our spending, in addition to some unexpected costs that we have encountered with the garden and some outside projects. I hoping that we can gain our control back now, before we are knee deep in busy-ness, because then it will be too hard. If you are in the same boat--be sure to check out the upcoming FFF topics. I can't wait to see what you all have to offer!




• Home/Gardening:




• First and Foremost (since this could knock out a lot of my goals)--Willie and I have some major, major decisions to make in the next few months. When we moved here, I was not the biggest fan of our home. The main reason we bought it was because the 50 acres that it sat on was absolutely beautiful and the house had lots of potential. We knew we would have to build on, and we were okay with that. After starting FPU and reading through The Total Money Makeover, we knew that it was essential for us to get rid of our consumer debt before we went any further with our addition. Knowing this has really helped feed the fire under me to get our debt gone! But.....with the current state of the economy and the interest rates being so low, we would be able to build onto our home (almost doubling it) without increasing our monthly payment. That is huge!! We had originally planned on our payment jumping quite a bit. So, our big issue is do we wait and risk the interest rates jumping back up, or do we go ahead and jump in and get it over with now? I've been praying.....





• The garden is doing amazing! I hope to do an update post later today with all the happenings.





• I have actually stuck to my day to day duties for awhile now. What a relief this has been to actually be on top of things instead of feeling behind and out of whack everyday. Just in time for summer..!!



• Personal Goals:




• I have yet to buy a scale, but I know that I've lost weight. Which is huge to me. I'm thinking of cashing in some of my Swagbucks to get Jillian's 30 Day Shred video. I know a handful of people that just rage and rage about it, (A Cowboy's Wife and MommySnacks to name a few) and I'm wanting to amp things up a bit.
  

So, how are you doing on your 2009 Goals? If you haven't made your goals yet--hop in now and let us know what you are striving for.

*Don't forget to check out the rules to linking up, you can find them on this post.

Be sure to check out other goal updates over at Money Saving Mom.

Finding Freedom Friday: 2009 Goal Update

I find goals play an integral part to my success in any aspect of my life, whether it be goals for the day, my goals as a wife/mother, or goals that I set for a year. Taking a look back periodically really keeps me on the right track, and keeps the goals (and where I am at in attaining those goals) fresh in my mind.

If you haven't had a chance to set goals for yourself for 2009, I encourage you to so, now. It isn't too late--I promise! :)

To see the whole list of goals I made for 2009, you can go here.

Here is my update:

• For my spiritual goals:
  • I'm still trying to find the time of day that works for doing my devotional. I would love to get in the groove of doing it first thing in the morning before everyone wakes up, but 5:30 comes really early!



• As far as Relationships go:
  • Thankfully there is Facebook! I've gotten a lot better with communicating with friends back home, and family using it. Although I would like to get better at actually setting aside time to see them, for now I'm okay with Facebook. It's better than before!
  • I am doing tons better in terms of patience, and am praying that it continues to get better.



• Home/Gardening:
  • I'm doing better with getting all my housewifely duties done, but I'm still in search of "my routine". I hope to get this down in the next week or so.



• Monday of this week, I became the proud new owner of fruit trees! Not so funny story, though--we picked out Gala and Jonathon Apples and Keiffer and Bartlett Pears (since you have to have more than one variety to pollinate). The place we went to is close to the city, so just under an hour away. I was showing Kaitlyn the trees, and realized that we ended up with a Golden Delicious Apple instead of a Bartlett Pear! Agh. Now, on the search for a Bartlett Pear! :) While we were there, we also picked up our second blueberry bush.



• Learning about nutrition got kicked up a notch when we learned out DH's cholesterol. I must say, that over the past few weeks, I have learned a lot and have adjusted our diets accordingly. I'm sure that I have much more to learn, and I'm eager to learn it. For now, though, I will focus on getting his numbers where they need to be.



• Personal Goals:
  • I do feel as if I'm getting healthier. I'm on a mad mission to lose weight (which was jump started by DH's results as well as Janet's plan to get fit.)



• Since I have been crazy busy over the last few weeks trying to get the garden ready, I haven't had much time to read books. So, I still have room to improve here.



• Financial Goals:
  • Not so great. Willie isn't getting the hours we were used to. Thankfully he still has a secure job and we are provided for. The only "issue" is our debt has barely budged. But, I'm definitely not complaining. We are blessed far beyond measure, and the Lord continues to provide for us during this time, and I am ever thankful for that.
  
  
  
  • I did go over my grocery budget for March. I spent about $284, so $34 over. I stocked up big time on strawberries, various different flours that I normally wouldn't buy (rye and oat), as well as bought far greater amounts of fresh fruit. I am, however going to increase my grocery budget to $300 for the coming months, because I'm needing to stock up on canning jars, as well as continue to buy great amounts of fresh fruit. Hopefully by July I can bring this number back down.

Now is your time to share.

How are you doing on your 2009 Goals? If you haven't made your goals yet--hop in now and let us know what you are striving for.

This post is linked to Money Saving Mom.

Making Your Own vs. Store Bought

This topic is very near and dear to me for numerous different reasons. It all actually started when I started taking a closer look at our grocery budget and seeing where I could trim. From there I realized that basically everything that I relied on the grocery store for (which was everything), I could make at home. Yes, you can make almost anything at home. That does not necessarily mean that it is economical to do so, but with a little bit of time, research, and maybe some added umph--you can make anything.

This newfound discovery got my wheels really turning. Why was I buying all these things from the store and giving someone that I didn't even know the authority to play in my food, or add whatever they wanted to into my cleaners. Granted, these companies are regulated by the government, but that just wasn't and isn't enough for me. Especially when you take into account how many food recalls we have had and also knowing that certain ingredients have a potential for causing cancer.

I would have to say that yes, making my own has definitely saved us money! For a lot of the recipes that I post and for all of my menu plans, I try to post the cost breakdown so you can see that making food from scratch is easy, frugal and delish. Doing the cost breakdown has really gotten me to see just how much money it has saved us.

Currently the only other thing that I make from scratch, other than food items, is my laundry soap and fabric softener. I cannot even begin to tell you how much this has saved us. There are no additives, and no perfumes in the laundry detergent. The fabric softener, because I use conditioner, does have perfumes and such--but I've been using diluted vinegar with added essential oil with success. This method does not have the perfumes/additives. I do not make any other cleaners right now, because I still have a big stock of the commercial things from couponing. But, isopropyl alcohol and vinegar (not together) should be your best friend.

Of course there are other things, like curtains, clothing, toys, gifts, etc that you can make at home. All of which, in my opinion, fall right along the same lines.

Doing these things has granted me great amounts of freedom. I hardly rely on the grocery store for anything. I have the base ingredients at any given time to make almost anything you can dream up. That in conjunction with couponing, I rarely need anything other than basics, which grants me the freedom and reliance from the grocery store. Not being there so much saves me money on impulse buys, which is helping me find financial freedom. We're all human! :)

And on top of all of that, yes, I can notice a difference in our health. I feel better, and I have slimmed down a bit. Although, I'm on a mad mission to lose more!

Let me add here, that I was never one to be any form of domestic. No way, no how. Didn't want any part of it whatsoever. Money was made to be spent, and the stores were created for you to spend it. Thankfully my views have changed! I still have very little patience and desire fast results. I say all this so that you know that "making your own" isn't always time consuming (which is what I always thought). Sure, the first time you do it, it may take a while, but once you get it down, it will be second nature. Kind of like tying your shoes. When you first learn, it takes about 12 days to tie both shoes. Now, I'll bet that you can tie them in your sleep with your hands tied behind your back.

I'm no domestic powerhouse, or professional homemaker, but I strongly encourage you to attempt to make your own "something". If you are already making something, make more "somethings", venture out and see how many things you really can make. It's a great feeling knowing that my family depends on my hands, and not someone elses.

If you have any questions about where to start, how to begin, or anything at all--I'm more than happy to help!

Now is the time for you to share. Please remember to link to your post and not your homepage. And please keep it on topic--I don't like deleting links!

What is your take on Making at Home vs. Store Bought?

1. Changing Reflection

Finding Freedom Friday Topic: Making Own vs. Store Bought

As part of our journey to lead a more frugal and simple life, I have found great pleasure in making many things for my home. This includes curtains, food, cleaners, gifts, and our very own garden..amongst other things.

As part of the Finding Freedom Series, I would love to hear how you have found freedom with making things for your home and family.

• Has it saved you money over the store bought counterparts?

• Why did you choose to make it?

• In what ways has it helped you to find freedom?

• Financially?

• Peace knowing what is in it/Where it came from.

• With time? (Managing better, quality time with family doing projects)

Do you notice any differences in health?

Those are just a few ideas to get your wheels turning, feel free to address whatever you like. Be sure to come back Friday with your post and link up with us!

Also here is what you can expect in the next couple of weeks for Finding Freedom Friday:

• April 3rd: Finding Freedom With Goals: 2009 Goal Update
• April 10th: Finding Freedom With Organization
• April 17th: Finding Freedom With Time Management

I'm open to any and all suggestions that you may have for upcoming Finding Freedom Friday topics. You can leave a comment with your suggestions, or you can drop me an email (phendricks @ centurytel.net).

I'm looking forward to all your responses!

Budgeting: How's it Working?

**I'm working on adding Mr. Linky--he's being tempermental and doesn't want to show up! In the meantime--leave your link in the comments, and I'll add 'em all in when I can fix it!** After much frustration--he popped up!



This week for Finding Freedom Friday we're talking budgets. A very important topic when it comes to wanting to get out of debt. Or get control and maintain control of your finances.


Considering that these blessings are not actually ours in the first place, and knowing that God has just entrusted us with them--we should try to honor Christ in every financial decision we make.

I'm not perfect. I never will be. Actually no one will be. But, we should always do our best!

Anyway, our budget/cash flow plan has saved us an untold amount of money. I really wish that when I first set ours up about 7 years ago that I would have make it do the work, and not me work to keep it. Because of this, it only lasted a few weeks--maybe a month or so. This is definitely key. Don't make your budget unrealistic, or it won't work--so you will give up. It is essential to continually go back and look at your numbers and see if everything is working, especially in the beginning stages of budget living. We've been on ours, strictly, since September 2007. I evaluate it bi-monthly, if not monthly.


February was a month full of disappointments for us financially, and we went askew in a couple of places. I don't think this was at fault to our cash flow plan, rather it was just not thinking things completely through, and our good old friend Murphy. We all know Murphy, right? I don't really care for him much!

This month we are keeping a really tight watch on how much satelitte TV we watch. We have toyed with the idea of cancelling it numerous times, but have just never done it. Even though our bill is only $9.99/mo, we have been known to rent pay per view movies at $5.99 a pop! If we were to get rid of it, we wouldn't be able to do that, and we would then have to rent from the local store (constantly get free rentals, or very cheap) which would take planning ahead. Just dropping our satellite alone, we would save $120/year, but if you add in our movie rentals our total saved a year would probably be closer to $300. Big difference!


Implementing our budget has not only helped our marriage (no unneeded stress over money), but we look at things completely different now. I appreciate our blessings far more than I ever did--because I see where they are going. We think things through (generally) before we do them, and make sure that it is the right decision for us.

You can read more about our journey here.

Rules to Linking Up:

• Link to your post, not your homepage.
• Please be sure to include a link back here so that all your readers can get in on the other tips as well.
• Stay true to the theme of the week so that readers get quality content.
• Tell everyone you know so we can make it a success and can all profit from it.
• Have fun! ;)

Ready to Talk Budgets?!

This week for Finding Freedom Friday we will be going over the oh so dreaded topic of budgets! You knew it was coming, though, right?!

Back in January I challenged you to make a cash flow plan and make it work for you. Part of that is re-evaluating and seeing how it is working and if anything needs to be tweaked. If you haven't yet made your cash flow plan, what are you waiting for?! Now is the time. Get control of 2009. Check out these posts to help you get started (here and here).

For Finding Freedom Friday I would love to hear:

• How have you been doing on your cash flow plan?
• Still keeping your bottom line at zero have you been able to "find" any money?
• Have you been able to cut any categories or shave off in certain areas?
  • Why have you been able to do this?
• Since you have ben on a cash flow plan/budget, have you noticed any positive changes? Negative?
• Do you feel more in control now?
• What are your tips to making a budget and sticking to it?

Come back on Friday with the link to your post and post it with Mr. Linky.

February Goal Check-Up

I'm all about honesty here, and I will let you know that I have been very hesitant at looking back on the month of February. I knew it had to be done, but I knew that it wasn't a very good month--for various different reasons.


January flat out rocked my socks off. I was dumbfounded by all that we were able to accomplish. And, I must say, thankfully we went into February ahead--because we are coming out behind.

My mini-goal for February was to pay atleast $1150 total towards our debt. We came into Febraury about $300 ahead, so we had to pay atleast $850 to keep our momentum. We were only able to pay $650, so we are going into March $200 behind.

But, I have faith that after all the curve balls we were thrown in February, things can only get better. Or atleast we hope.

We definitely could have made better financial decisions, but we didn't. But, having said that, we are ahead in other aspects--so we really can't complain. Honestly, I still think it will all even out, and we will still get to our goal!



Here is our progress:

• Actually set aside me and God time in the morning. Working on it. Some weeks are good, some are not so good.


• Become more knowledgeable with The Word. We have been having atleast one night a week where we sit down as a family and read the Bible and go over verses. So much fun!


• Know Him more. I have really been working on this. I have found myself turning to Him more in my struggles (which the end of February was full of!) and just talking to Him more.


• Wife: Be his help meet. Be more understanding. I think so far so good.


• Mother: Patience! We put Nicholas in OT, and changed around some of his medications. We have seen an amazing amount of improvement in this area. Now that Nicholas is happy and getting along with everyone, the stress (with everyone) seems to be almost gone. That was one of my biggest patience killers--so we are doing very good in this area.


• Daughter. I know that I should probably leave this on here because as with all relationships it is something that will always need to be worked on. However, I am pretty confident in saying that I have let go of all of my hard feelings and I have moved on. Our relationship is awesome--and just like any mother/daughter relationship should be. Thank you, God!


• Sister & Friend: I live away from all of my family and most of my friends. I really need to communicate with all of them better. End of story. I'm still terrible! Sorry, guys.


• A total of $4000 (including EF) in savings for: Health expenses, and vehicle/home maintence. I talked about this a little bit here, but I'm going to throw it here as well since it is still our goal for 2009. Just hopefully one that gets crossed off soon! I have yet to do our taxes, and we are hoping to use those to finish this up. So, no crossing off, yet.


• Bump up our contribution to our Christmas Club account. This was completed in January.


• Pay $17500 towards debt. 11% completed. We should be closer to 17%, but I think we will make it up.


• Finish painting the interior rooms. Almost done with the living room/hallway. Only 3 rooms to go after that.


• Update flooring in the Living Room. Hopefully this spring.


• Make it a haven. In progress.


• Fall in love with my home! In progress.


• Be more efficent in my housework and day to day duties. I am getting better-just not ready to check off quite yet. We will see how March goes.


• Finish my Home Guide, Budget, Gardening/Food Storage Notebooks I am done with my Budget notebook, for now. And the Gardening one is in the process.


• We plan to do organic (atleast try to) and switch to all heirloom seeds. All our seeds are heirloom, except maybe 5 plants.


• Build Greenhouse/Permanent Garden Beds.The greenhouse was accomplished at the beginning of February, and we are currently working on the Permanent beds.


• Plant beginning stages of our orchard. Not quite. We bought a blueberry bush, does that count? :)


• Grow our own herbs. I bought them--now let's see if they grow!


• Preserve all our own veggies, fruit. Not quite time, yet.


• I want to get my 3 months of food storage up. Haven't even begun. :(


• Continue to make from scratch and the switch to whole grains. I would love to expiriment with grinding grains, but I don't know that I am that ambitious quite yet. We are eating more whole grains than ever. I actually bought a grinder/wheat berries--but the grinder broke!! So, back to square one.


• Cook more healthy, more nutritious meals. Learn more about nutrition/vitamins. I am cooking fairly healthy meals, and our store bought snacks are almost completely cut out. I still have a long way to go to learn about nutrition, though.


• Have the children assist more in the kitchen and garden. Yes! We are going great here--and it feels so good. They are an active part in our garden, and they are so excited. They help a little in the kitchen, but I really need to kick it up a notch still yet.


• I would love to be more self-reliant. Entrust God to bless us with our harvests. We are well on our way, here.


• Let go of my perfectionism. This gets in the way a lot. More than I care to admit. I am getting better--but I can still improve.


• Become healthy. Uh--I'm still avoiding the doctor. It terrifies me.


• Lose weight. For real! I'm thinking that once the above is taken care of, that this one will be easier. I have lost a little bit of weight--but not enough.


• Read More books that I am interested in. I am in the process of one right now--and it feels great to be reading a "Mommy book" instea of Dr. Suess.

How was February for you? How are you doing on the goals you set for 2009?

Finding Freedom Friday

When we first started our journey, we were spending an outlandish amount of money on groceries a month. Literally, the size of a house payment.

I'm a analyzer, but somehow never analyzed my grocery budget like I was getting ready to. Amazingly enough, I realized that $650/month for 5 people was way too much. We can easily, and comfortably get by on less than half that.

And, we do not even notice a difference.

If anything else, we have much more than before. And, if I don't have it, I'll almost guarantee you that I can whip it up. Mine will taste better, too.

I really feel that the grocery part of your budget is the easiest place for you to make adjustments. You have full control here, it's just a matter of how far you are willing to step in. I do recommend, though, that you go slowly or you might begin to feel overwhelmed and want to give up. If you take things slowly, it is more of a transition, instead of jump.

Here are some of the posts that I have done previously about cutting your grocery spending:

Top 8 Tips to Cutting Grocery Costs
Heirloom Seeds
Importance Of Menu Planning
Loads of Veggies
Couponing Tips
Walgreens 101

I want to know how you have cut back on your grocery budget. Share your tips and tricks!

And....one lucky person who links up (before 12am Saturday) will win this:

One pair of women's garden gloves as well as a carrot seeds, Roma tomato seeds, and burpless cucumber seeds. Maybe this will give you the incentive to get started on your very own garden! The winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on Mr. Linky.

I really don't want to delete anyone's link, so please follow the Rules to Linking up:

• Link to your post, not your homepage.
• Please be sure to include a link back here so that all your readers can get in on the other tips as well.
• Stay true to the theme of the week so that readers get quality content.
• Tell everyone you know so we can make it a success and can all profit from it.
• Have fun! ;)

Grocery Shopping Trip

I've been rather absent from the grocery shopping world for a few weeks. We experienced a sleet/snow/ice storm a few weeks ago, that was the worst one to grace our area in quite sometime. It took quite awhile for everything to melt away, but even then we didn't return to school. Our high school apparently sustained some damage, so we had to wait until they could repair it before we went back. We were out a total of 8 days!!



I would have went grocery shopping by the start of the second week, but my driveway was horrendous, and my oldest cannot handle all the "extras" in the grocery store. I was just not up for the fight.



By the time I made this trip, I hadn't been in about 3 weeks! Thankfully I had a pretty good stockpile going on, and I still have a lot of meat, rice and veggies left. This trip had to replace some of the regulars as well as some kitchen staples. We made a quick trip to town to get one gallon of milk, so I'm going to add that in at the bottom in the final total.



ALDI:

(2) Dozen Eggs $2.78
Bag Apples .99
Quick Oats $1.79
Macaroni $1.69
(2) Cream Cheese $1.98
Shredded Cheddar $2.99
Velveeta Type Cheese $3.79
(2) Butter Quarters $3.98
Fruit Popsicles $1.99
Coffee $4.99
Creamer $1.95
American Cheese $1.99
Raisins $1.65
(2) Canned Mushrooms .98
Vegetable Oil $2.29
(4) Frozen OJ $5
Parmesan Cheese $2.39
Pepper $1.19
(2) Milk $4.98

TOTAL: $51.45

WalMart

Powdered Mil $14.28
Pull ups $10.24
TP $1.24
Dry Pinto beans .94
Dry Black Eyed Peas $1.26
WW Flour $2.86
Vital Wheat Gluten $1.84 (never tried this)
Oregano $2.58
5# Ham $6.98
Oscar Meyer Bacon $3

TOTAL: $47.44

I have temporarily misplaced my Walgreen's receipt. I didn't get anything all too impressive. I got 2 of the FAR items, some Sierra Mist, and a couple random deals. I didn't use any coupons this time *gasp*...so my total was around $27.

I stopped by the bread store on my way home and got 3 loaves of Sara Lee Honey Wheat for $1/loaf and 3 Sara Lee Bagels for .60 cents each. Total Spent $4.99



FINAL TOTAL: $130.88, plus random milk purchase of $3.50=$134.38

Hmm...a little over my $125/2 week goal. I debated on getting the powdered milk since it was a big chunk of money, but I've noticed how handy it is to keep around, so I got it anyway. It is definitely a good food storage item. Also, since I just got all my goods, and my grocery budget gets replenished again this Friday, and I'm slated to go shopping again Monday, I think I'm good. This trip contained all of my ingredients for this weeks menu, as well as next, so I won't have to pick those up. I'm actually secretly hoping that I can get away with $100 for my next trip, we'll just have to see how that goes.



To see how others did on their grocery shopping, visit Grocery Cart Challenge.

Grocery Shopping: Weeks 1/18-1/31

I got too busy to post this last week, and this week I've been all in a frenzy because of our ice storm. While it is remarkably beautiful, it is terrifying! We're prepared if we are to lose power, but still. Ya know?

Anyway, I actually did my grocery shopping last week. Here is how it went:

This is Aldi and WalMart together. I found green peppers and onions super cheap at Aldi, so I got a bunch.

Aldi:

(2) bags onions $1.18

Corn Chips .99

5# potatoes $1.19

Mega Pizza Rolls $2.49

(2) Apples $5.78

(2) Cream Cheese $1.98

(4) Diced Tomatoes $1.96

(4) Cream of Celery/Mushroom $1.96

Creamer $1.95

(8) Green Peppers $1.78

Shredded Cheddar $2.99

(2) Chocolate Chips $2.98

Vanilla $1.99

(2) Mustard $1.38

Spaghetti Sauce .97

Margarine $1.89

Seasoned Salt $1.46

(2) Mixed Vegetables $1.10

Pepperoni $1.99

3# Smoked Sausage $3.99

(2) Dozen Eggs $2.78

Velveeta like cheese $3.79

(2) Sauerkraut $1.10

(2) 5# Flour $2.90

(4) Gallon Milk $11.56

4# Sugar $1.65

Pancake Mix $1.49

TOTAL: $71.53

Walmart

Frozen Cut Okra $2.28

Carmel Chocolate Cups $2

10 # Hamburger $13.00 (SCORE!)

TOTAL: $18.10

Walgreen's

(2) Bags of Cheese

(2) Doritos

1 Gatorade

(4) 12 pks Pepsi

Bean Dip

TOTAL: $22.81 received $5 RR. This was supposed to be a $10 RR. I never did get back to town to straighten it out. Hmph.

BREAD STORE

(3) loaves Sara Lee Honey Wheat Bread $3

Sara Lee Bagels $1

Sara Lee Wheat Hamburger Buns .67

TOTAL: I've lost the receipt but I know it was right around $5

GRAND TOTAL: $117.44!

This brings my January total to $248.52. $1.48 UNDER budget!!!!!! I still have a $5 RR, and I get $15 worth of coupons for my Walgreen's purchase.

This makes me happy, not only to come in under budget, but to know that I was still able to stock up on meat, and some veggies! This will make next week a little easier as well.

To see how others have done with their grocery shopping, go on over to Grocery Cart Challenge.

Finding Freedom: Managing Your Expenses

After seeing all your your expenses and beginning the early stages of your budget, now is the time to decide what is your goal? I write my goal at the end of every cash flow plan, so I know where I am going.

Here is the list of categories to my original Cash Flow Plan. Since making my first one, I have eliminated some categories, because we just don't need them anymore. The asterick stands for the non-negotioable items. There is nothing that you can do to change these, generally. My only suggestion is to pay minimum payments on these, do not pay any extra (for now). That extra can go towards your snowball.

1. Medical/Health

• Doctor Bills. Any current bills that are due. *
• Office Visits. I set this amount bi-weekly when I pay my bills.*
• Medicines. Any that we fill on a monthly basis.*

2. Personal

• School Meals. Breakfast(if needed, Lunch, Snack Milk)
• Any organization fees such as Unions or Clubs.*
• Blow.
• Hair Cuts.
• Clothing.
• Entertainment.

3. Charitable Gifts. Even when paying down your debt, it is still a good idea to give. Our money is actaully His money, He has just entrusted us with it.

4. Savings.

• Emergency Fund. I believe that it is essential that you have atleast $1000 in the bank before paying any extra on your bills. This is a Dave Ramsey "rule" and it has saved us more times than I care to count. Things are going to happen, no matter what you do. You might as well have a small cushion to absorb these things so you don't blow your budget, and end up frustrated. However, it is just that, an emergency fund. Not a "I need a new toy fund." So, try to put some money aside into a seperate account for your emergency fund before paying rolling your snowball. Then, if you need to use it, put it back into your cash flow plan to repay.
• Christmas Club. This has been such a lifesaver for us. As I have mentioned before we put a small amount per paycheck (automatically drafted) into a Christmas Club account. We set aside enough for Christmas gifts, as well as our real estate/personal property taxes and my husband's annual trip since they all fall at the end of the year. This way we aren't trying to scrounge money together when it comes up. Also, we get interest, so it is free money!

5. Housing.

• Mortgage payment(s)/Rent *
• Home/Renters Insurance. *

6. Transportation.

• Vehicle Payment (s). *
• Vehicle Insurance. *
• Gas.

7. Utilities.

• Electric. *
• Cell Phones/Landline.
• Cable/Satellite.

8. Food.

• Groceries.
• Eating Out.

9. Debts.

• Credit Card(s). *
• Personal Loans. *
• Student Loans. *

Total up all of the categories. Next to each item I write the amount, and at the bottom of each category I total it all up and circle that amount. Then I go back and add up all the circled amounts, and write that at the bottom. Next to the final tally, I write my income. If your income is less than your outgoing go back and shave some off of the negotaibles. If your income is more than your outgoing, jump up and dance! Then, add a number 10 to your list.

10. Snowball. This is my favorite part!!! Your income and your outgo should be the exact same number, every month. Do not let any money be unassigned, you are setting yourself up for failure. The only way of knowing exactly where your money is going, is by you telling it where to go. So do it! :) If you end up eliminating a debt or a bill, that goes here.

Shaving the negotiable spending:

• School Meals. This area always fluctuates for us. If I know we are tight, I make sure that the kids eat breakfast before they leave. Also, it changes if one of the kids decides to pack a lunch.
• Blow: Every budget needs this category. It is absolutely essential. Even if you can only allote $5, do it! If you do not have an allowance to spend how you please, you are setting your budget up for failure. My husband and I each get our own set of "blow", because we have different wants. We've pooled it together to eat out before, though! Hey, we really wanted to eat out and the Dining category was empty! This is also a must for cash!
• Haircuts. If there are boys in the house, I view it as negotioable. I know some will disgaree. My thinking though, is if you really need to pinch, you could always cut a boys hair at home.
• Clothing. You never know when you or your children will need new clothes, so it is always a good idea to set some money aside to avoid a budget buster. It is negotiable, because it can be done away with. We currently do not have any going into this category, because I just bought new clothes for the kids. I will start it back up when summer hits, so I will have it set aside for new school clothes.
• Gas. For some families this is negotiable. Track how much you are driving and using in gas, and see if there is any way possible that you can cut it down. Could you go grocery shopping once a week instead of going multiple times?
• Cable/Satellite: I know that there will be people that diagree with me here, but it really is. I'm not saying to cut it out completely, or to cut off all of your favorite channells, but I rate this pretty high on the "getting cut" list. We cut our satellite down to the bare minimum pack that they offer and we removed the locals because it was $5 extra a month. We can get those babies for free! I highly suggest atleast thinking about going lower in this area, but you really should talk this over with your spouse(if you have one) so that there is an understanding. If nothing else, you can always lower it and see how you like it, if it isn't working, bump it back up. But, you should atleast consider it for a bit to get your snowball going.
• Cell Phone and Landline: Do you really need it? How much do you really use it? Enough to justify your bill? What about prepaid, would that work for your cell phone needs? I personally wouldn't drop my landline all together, but some may. If you've thought of dropping it, maybe now is the time so you can get your snowball rolling. Also, look over your bill with a fine tooth comb. Do you have a bundle pack? Sometimes these are not cheaper. Also, what about added calling features? Would you be willing to drop Caller ID, Call Waiting, VoiceMail? (Most cell phone plans already include these, so it may not make a difference there) My suggestion is to call your phone company and talk out your options. Get prices for everything and weigh it yourself. Do not just take their word for it, they are there to sell you. Period.
• Entertainment/Dining out: Maybe instead of going out for a movie, rent one in instead. Eat a nice dinner at home instead of eating out. Play games at home. If this is an area that you are wanting to cut back in, I would start by looking at exactly what are you spending money on in this area. If you eat out more than once a week, cut it down to just once. Even cutting out a little bit a week, will make a big difference in your main totals. Definitely make this a cash category. I say this so that you know for sure where it is going. It is so hard to track this category if you use debit/checks.
• Groceries: This is a much more complex topic than the others, and honestly deserves it's own post. But for now, my one strong point here is CASH!! We cut our budget (before coupons) by $200 month, just by using cash and having a list. Sticking to the list and tracking what you put in your cart in conjuntion with cash will save you a ton. When I first started cash, I had to keep my debit card and checks outside or at home. Knowing that I had a back up plan got me everytime. Not only does it hurt to hand that money over, but you do not want to go over with your cash (uh, embarassment!!) so you will pay close attention to what you are doing. Even if you are a skeptic, atleast try it once for me, okay? :)

We make a new Cash Flow plan every month to couple of months. I do this in my budget notebook so that I can go back and see where we have been. This also comes in handy for unpredictable incomes, because you can average the last couple of months of income using your cash flow plan. It will take some practice to get your numbers where they work for you, but once you do, it will be so easy.

I know that was a lot to take in! Your Cash Flow plan is one of your best tools in eliminating your debt, and acheiving your financial goals. I like having the constant reminder of what I'm doing so that I don't lose track and fall off course.

Over the weekend, I encourage you to make your Cash Flow Plan, making sure that the bottom line is ZERO. Take a look at your non-negotiables. Is there anyway that you can cut them? Be creative, and see how low you an make those numbers so that you can grow your snowball.

Come back Monday and let us all know how you did. We are all in this together! :)

P.S. If you have a question or need any help, feel free to shoot me an email!

Lesson Learned

Since we have started this gazelle intense mission of paying off our debt, all of our extra money that isn't already allocated, is thrown at our debt. It has been so nice to watch our numbers go down month by month.

We knew sometime around the summer that we needed to buy a new stove, so I slowly began saving money back for this hefty purchase. The stove I needed was almost $1000. My meager $60/month was taking forever.

Then came the demise of Mrs. Range. We continued to save up, and make due with my oven that wouldn't close.

Aggravating, yes. Impossible, no.

The crazy number plugging side of my brain was working in overtime trying to figure out just how long it was going to take me to save up for this $1000 stove. I kept trying to rationalize and justify ways that I could just take our snowball and buy my stove instead. (**By the way, if you ever find yourself having to justify or rationalize anything, that is when you know that that particular decision is not right. Look the other way and move on. You should never have to justify a decision.**) Afterall it was a necessity. We had to eat. And we needed this fancy $1000 double oven, right?

Wrong.

This past weekend Mrs. Range decided that she wasn't going to close at all. Unfortuntely an oven that is wide open tends to be a burn hazard, and it doesn't cook near as well. We needed to do something quick. A $1000 stove was just no longer an option. Period.

We turned to the idea of used. Thankfully we came across one on Craigslist for $50!! We picked it up, and it is perfect. Definitely not the $1000 double oven that I had in mind, but the oven door closes and it has 4 working burners. Who knew that my $50 stove works just as well as the $1000 would have? Hmm.

We were able to use the money we had set back to pay for our new to us stove, and use the remainder to throw at our debt.

Definitely better than throwing $1000 at a new stove. Atleast on this budget. I still hope and dream that one day that double oven will be sitting in my kitchen cooking me up some food.

Until then, Craigslist definitely works for me!