Freezing Eggs, Now, to Use in Baking and Cooking, Later

Oops! It looks like I put all my eggs into one basket!

When I find a deal on eggs, I make my best guess as to how many eggs our family can use before they go on sale again. This can be several dozen, as many as 20 dozen or so. I know -- that does sound like a crazy amount of eggs to buy. However, there are two very compelling reasons why buying this many eggs isn't wasteful.

First, did you know that the sell-by date doesn't mean the eggs will suddenly go rancid on that date? In fact, unlike milk, with eggs you have more than just a couple of days past their sell-by date. (Milk is usually is still good for 1 week past the sell-by date.)

Eggs, if stored properly, will be safe to eat several weeks past the sell-by date, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture. (All kinds of helpful egg tips at this site.) Several weeks, not a couple, but several. I take that to mean that a I have 4 to 5 weeks to use those eggs. Evidently, the sell-by date on eggs is more about freshness than safety. Though, it's still a good idea to break eggs one at a time into a small dish before adding to other ingredients.

The second reason stocking up on eggs isn't wasteful is this -- eggs freeze well!

About 1 to 2 weeks past the sell-by date,  I freeze whatever amount of eggs that I am sure we won't use within the next 2 to 3 weeks.

I use frozen eggs in baking, for scrambled eggs, and in entrees like quiches, frittatas, and stratas. 

I discovered freezing eggs many years ago, when I made a bargain-hunting blunder. At the wholesaler, they had 15-dozen cases of eggs on sale for about $4. I jumped on that bargain! My thinking at the time -- even if I had to throw most of them out, I would have still come out ahead.

But we don't need to throw out excess eggs. At that time, my kids were all young and not overly large eaters. I discovered my folly, oh, about 4 dozen eggs into the case. What to do? WHAT TO DO?

That's when I got out my trusty old copy of Joy of Cooking and read up on freezing raw eggs.

Whole eggs and egg yolks need the addition of either sugar or salt to stabilize the texture of the yolk. Egg whites can be frozen, as is, nothing extra added.

If freezing eggs for baking, where a little sweetness is fine, you can use sugar as your stabilizing agent. For most of my cooking, though, I prefer to use salt. I mark my freezer container or bag, indicating whether I've used sugar or salt as the stabilizer for each batch. In my experience, eggs with salt added can be used in most applications.

Joy of Cooking gives instructions for freezing eggs measured by pints, suggesting 2 tablespoons of sugar per pint of beaten eggs or 1 teaspoon of salt per pint of beaten eggs.

Using sugar, the ratio is just over 1/2 teaspoon (rounded 1/2 teaspoon) of granulated sugar for each large egg.

Using salt, the ratio is just under 1/8 teaspoon (scant 1/8 teaspoon) of salt per large egg.

My method for freezing eggs:

• I freeze eggs in 1-egg, 3-egg, 4-egg and 6-egg portions.
• I freeze as individual eggs in muffin tins (then store in ziploc bags), or as multiples of eggs in ziploc bags, or as multiples of eggs in freezer containers.
• I use my blender to beat the 6 eggs at a time, adding just over 1/2 teaspoon salt for the 6 eggs (or 3  1/3 teaspoons of sugar per 6 eggs). 
• I then pour the combined beaten egg and salt/sugar into a freezer container, plastic ziploc bag, or a section of a muffin tin. 
• If freezing eggs as 1-egg portions, I use a muffin tin. Sometimes I line the muffin cups with plastic wrap. Other times I pour the beaten egg directly into the tin.
• A large egg is equal to about 3 tablespoons of beaten egg. When pouring beaten eggs into muffin tins, I measure 3 tablespoons for the first egg, then "eyeball" the remaining amounts for subsequent eggs.
• If freezing in larger amounts, I measure 3 tablespoons per egg. So, a 3-egg portion would be 9 tablespoons or 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon. A 4-egg portion would be 3/4 cup of beaten eggs. And a 6-egg portion would be 18 tablespoons or 1  1/8 cup of beaten eggs

Freezing eggs in a muffin tin

You can line each muffin hole with a small piece of plastic wrap to remove eggs from tin more easily. You can also just pour the beaten egg into bare muffin pans.

• If freezing a dozen eggs in a muffin tin, I place the filled muffin tin in a flat spot in the freezer. Once frozen solid (about 3-4 hours), I set the muffin tin on the counter for about 3-5 minutes. 

• I use a table knife to wedge the egg disks out of each muffin section and place these in ziploc bags to store in the freezer.

• To use, I thaw the number of eggs I need for a recipe in the fridge overnight or, in a pinch, on the counter for about 30 minutes. 
• Use thawed eggs within 2 to 3 days of thawing. So, if you thaw a 6-egg ziploc portion of eggs, you can bake with an amount equal to an egg or two, make scrambled eggs with the amount equal to another egg or two, and maybe throw together a quiche with the remaining eggs over the course of 2 or 3 days. Just remember, 1 large egg is about 3 tablespoons of beaten egg.

FYI on storing fresh eggs

There is a "best" method for storing eggs. According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, store your eggs at about 40 degrees in the carton that they were originally packed. Don't store in the door of the fridge or in a decorative egg holder. Keeping them in the carton provides you with the sell-by date printed on the carton itself. Eggs stored at this temperature will keep for several weeks past the sell-by date.


You'll find this post, and many others like it, just a click away on this page -- a compilation of my recipes, shopping lists, and menu plans that illustrates how I feed my family of 4 adults on $125 to $135 per month.

Do you do this, too?

This is one of those crazy/brilliant things that only frugal people seem to get enjoyment from. Do you cost out your meals?

It's something of a game for me, to price out a family meal. This month, we are attempting to limit our grocery shopping to milk, eggs and canning supplies, and live off of our stores, foraged food and garden produce. So, it's no surprise that most of our meals, this month, rely heavily on fruits and vegetables.

This last Sunday, lunch was just such a meal. We had a vegetable-bean-pasta salad and a large bowl of fresh blackberries, each, with ice water and iced tea to drink.

The salad was composed of lettuce, zucchini, wax beans, herbs, garlic and carrots from the garden, along with bulk purchased black beans, and dollar store macaroni noodles, in a homemade dressing of rosemary-thyme vinegar (made last summer) and olive oil.

The blackberries were picked in the wild that day.

The tea was a gift from a friend.

The only purchased ingredients for lunch were the black beans, macaroni, plain vinegar, olive oil and salt. I estimated, to feed the five of us lunch, my cost was 50 cents max, that's 10 cents per person.

I had put together the salad before we left for church, so it could chill while we were out. And my kids went out blackberry picking (on foot) while I pulled everything together at noon. We could have stopped at Mickey D's and picked up, oh, half a burger from the dollar menu for the same price, to split 5 ways. But I think it's safe to say that what we came up with, was far more satisfying.

Have you costed out a meal lately? And do you get the same entertainment value as I do? The rest of you can stop laughing at my frugal insanity now!

Cutting the natural gas bill: Summertime success!

So, it's been 4 weeks since my husband came home and announced the income reduction. We began shaving expenses immediately. And we have now received the first natural gas bill since those changes.

This bill really only reflects about 2  1/2 weeks of our more fervent efforts of reducing use (out of a 4-week billing cycle), but still the results were impressive.

Adjusting for length of bill cycle, we saved $10 off the gas bill, from the same time period last year!! Last year's bill, for the same month was just over $40. This year's -- $30.79. Woo hoo!

We use gas for the cook top (but not oven -- it's dual fuel), the furnace and water heater.

Common sense with the cook top

With the cook top, I've been doing all the things commonly suggested -- careful to use just the amount of flame needed, turn the flame off entirely a minute before items are completely cooked and allow to finish cooking in the hot pan/pot, and using lids always.

I been using my microwave oven more. I made a very delicious corn bread in the microwave last night. I had planned on making some corn cakes on the gas griddle, but the microwave was quick and easy, and saved on gas.


Obviously, in summer, we're not using our furnace. We shut it off in early May, and leave it off until October. But we do use natural gas for the water heater.

The water heater

A few months ago, we set the water heater to its lowest safe temperature (where bacteria and other microbes can't become a threat to our health). Oh, I heard a couple of grumbles in the house, about how the water wasn't quite as hot. But I knew I was doing the right thing. And it turns out, this measure was important after all.

One thing I have yet to do, as I just haven't researched it yet, is to drain the water tank, to remove sediment, so the water will heat more efficiently. This has never been done on our 17 year-old water heater. So I think it's in order. Has anyone here done this before? Have any advice?

Going cold-turkey with the wash water

To curtail the use of heated water, we have switched to doing all of our laundry in cold water. Good Housekeeping did a study and found that in many washers, a cold wash gets clothes as clean as hot. They also noted that a cold wash is actually better at getting out mud, grass, egg and mascara stains. I would add that cold water is also better on blood stains. Anyone with young kids, ripping around the playground with constantly-skinned knees, already knows the cold water trick.

My one complaint concerning cold-water washing, is cheap, powdered laundry soap (Dollar Tree Sun brand) doesn't dissolve thoroughly in cold water. This isn't as much a problem with light-colored clothing, or when using the tumble dryer. Light-colored clothing hides any streaks of laundry detergent, and the tumble dry will remove the white residue of detergent from the dark loads.

But I am also now air-drying all our laundry, including darks. I was finding streaks of detergent on some of our clothes. However, I have found a workable solution for my budget.

As the washer fills with water, I heat a half mug of water in the microwave, for about 30 seconds. It doesn't need to be boiling, just hot. Then I stir in the laundry powder, until dissolved. I pour this over the wash load, shut the lid and allow the machine to wash. This seems to do the trick ( I have yet to find any undissolved laundry soap streaks on the darks since), and is minimal work for me.

Shortening the hot showers with a kitchen timer

The shower situation is another area that we've addressed yet again this year. (With teens I think loooong showers are just an on-going situation.) We use a kitchen timer, in the bathroom, for showers. I'm not sure this timer has ever seen a kitchen. We've just had it in the bathroom for as long as I can remember.

Anyways, here are the alloted times we've come up with for teenage girls.

My girls have uber-long hair, and it takes several minutes to wash and condition. When washing their hair, they get 15 minutes from the time they turn the water on, until they *have* to shut the water off. (One of my daughters has agreed to try turning the water off while lathering up her hair. It's working okay for her.) When not washing hair, they get 5 minutes from the time they turn the water on.

For myself, I find I can get in and out of the shower in about 3 minutes, if not washing hair. But I do have to implement one trick to get myself out so quickly. I bribe myself with a treat for getting out so quickly. I either plan a pleasurable outing, like a walk down to the beach, or a treat (preferable a hot one, as that's the main reason I linger in the shower) like a nice cup of tea, or my second cup of coffee, or a cup of cocoa, for when I get out. This seems to motivate me to get in, get it done, and get out.

And we've found Sunday mornings to be the most efficient time for our hot-water use. We are all trying to get ready for church in a hurry. By taking showers one right after the other, the only person who has to wait for the hot water to get down to the bathrooms, is the first person in. The rest of us have the luxury of just turning the shower on, and hopping right in.

Hand-washing in cold water

We've all been training ourselves to use the cold tap when washing hands, rinsing dishes or hand-washing a pot or pan. The tap water temperature is actually fairly comfortable in summer. I'm not sure how well this will go over in winter, when the tap water feels icy. But for now, cold water washing is a help.


With our current situation, it's important for me to celebrate every success we have. Sometimes I feel quite beaten down by this struggle to reduce our expenses, and try and make the ends of our budget meet. It feels like a strap of rubber, around a large object, when pulled very tightly, both ends can meet for a second at most, then it springs back to its original size.

This $10 savings may just be a drop in the bucket, but I have to celebrate it.  I always ask my kids and hubby, "if you saw a $10 bill on the ground, would you just leave it there, or would you pick it up?" The answer is always  a resounding "pick it up!"  I trudge on with the knowledge that every last little bit will help.

So, electricity savings of $35/mo, plus natural gas savings of $10/mo totals a savings of $45/month.

Electricity use update (and just how am I going to spend my savings?)

Since I've been talking about how we're cutting our electricity use, I thought I'd let you know the progress we've been making. It's been one month since we began our new reduced-electric lifestyle. We are billed every other month, so I won't actually receive a statement from the utility provider for another month, but I have been watching the meter, and doing my own calculations.

For the billing cycle, which spanned from May 10 to July 10, we used over 23 KWH of electricity per day. We are now down to about 10 KWH per day, for a savings of about $1.15 each day, or $35.00 a month!

Oh, just what am I gonna do with all my new-found riches?!! Okay, so not a huge sum of money, but $35 we save, is $35 we don't have to earn. As we don't need this savings to live on for another month (our income will be reduced mid-August, and I base each month's budget on the previous month's earnings), I've chosen to invest this savings in something that will save even more in the long run.

I had errands to run yesterday, taking me around town, including Home Depot. I bought 3 LED light bulbs to try out, two 60-watt equivalents, and one 40-watt equivalent. The 60-watt equivalent bulbs use 9.5 and 10.5 watts of electricity each, and the 40-watt equivalent uses 6 watts per hour. I placed these in frequently-used fixtures in the house. So far, the light is quite pleasing.

I chose 3 different bulbs, so that we could compare the quality of light. Two are Cree warm light bulbs, one 60-watt equivalent, and one 40-watt equivalent. The third is a bright white Philips 60-watt equivalent. The Philips bright white is in a covered fixture in a location needing good visibility, but not necessarily good ambient lighting. The two warm light bulbs are for my daughters' shared room. They study in there during the school term, and really require decent lighting. One of my daughters noticed right away that there was a change in lighting, and she voiced her approval immediately.

In my daughters' room alone, we'll save about 14 KWH per month, or $1.25/month, in cost to operate. The LED light seems brighter, and I was able to step down in watt equivalents, from the incandescents we had in there. The bulbs are priced just over $10 each. In electric savings, the bulbs will have paid for themselves in about 1 & 1/2 years, not including the savings over needing to replace incandescent bulbs frequently.

As the months progress, and our savings on electricity continue, I plan on using a portion of the savings on more conservation light bulbs. In winter, our electricity use ticks upwards, mostly due to increased need for lighting. I hope to minimize the effect on our monthly bills.

So, that's where we stand with our electricity reduction plan. Have you tried the LED bulbs in your house? Do you have an opinion on the quality of light or the bulbs themselves? How would you compare the light to that of CFLs?

Microwave scrambled eggs

Using the microwave on HI will cost about 1/8 to 1/4 of a cent to operate for 1 minute. Using my gas cook top will cost about 1 cent for 5 -7 minutes (this includes preheating time for skillet). If I had an electric cook top, it would cost about 1 & 1/2 cents, for 5 -7 minutes of cooking.

So, we won't retire early on these savings, but every penny counts.

Plus . . .

• the house will be cooler, 
• the clean-up will be simpler (no skillet to scrub out,  plus, I beat and cook in the same container, and,  when I make these in mugs or custard cups, I beat, cook and eat from the same container), 
• and I'll save time making my breakfast (takes about 1 minute per egg -- which allows me to get on to the pleasure of eating, much faster -- happy tummy!).

You'll need:

a microwaveable container (glass measuring cup, Pyrex custard cup, coffee mug, casserole dish, ramekin)
1 or 2 eggs per person
1 teaspoon butter, 1 tablespoon milk (or water), pinch salt *per* egg
fork
rubber spatula
toppings (shredded cheese, chopped green onion or chives, chopped tomato, salsa, finely chopped green pepper, diced ham, sliced black olives, minced herbs, such as basil, thyme or parsley)


Place the butter into microwaveable container. Melt on HI for 20 seconds (just till melted).

Add milk, or water, and egg. Scramble with a fork, in the container.

Microwave on HI for 20-25 seconds per egg. The egg will be puffy in some places, but still uncooked in others. Stir cooked portions into uncooked, with fork.

Microwave on HI another 25 to 30 seconds, per egg. Top with cheese, if desired. Allow to stand for a minute while you chop your veggies.

Use a rubber spatula to scoop the egg onto plate. Add remaining toppings of your choice and enjoy!

(If you fill the cooking container with water immediately after cooking, the clean up is as easy as a quick wipe out and placing in the dishwasher. Compare that to scrubbing cooked-on eggs out of a skillet.)



These eggs are really so yummy and quick. They can be taken on the go, in a flour tortilla, on an English muffin, or between 2 slices of toast.

Or, for a Sunday brunch treat -- top an English muffin half with a slice of Canadian bacon or ham, the microwaved egg, some cheese sauce (easy to do in the microwave, too) and chopped chives.

I don't drink milk, so I scramble my eggs with water, and they still turn out fluffy and delicious! Everyone has their own favorite toppings for eggs. Mine are chopped green onions and tomatoes.

Do you cook in your microwave very much?

Happy highlights of my week

baking peanut butter cookies, using a cookie stamp in place of a fork to mark the tops

 daisies from The White Garden fill a jar on the kitchen table

checking out the pears on the trees in the front yard -- looks good for this year

making sweet cherry preserves to enjoy on English muffins

how about you? what have been your happy highlights this week?

Turns out you don't even need the sun to make Sun Tea

So it was a cloudy morning yesterday. The sun didn't peek through until after it would have been on the deck (pesky trees, the sun goes behind them around 2 PM).

Anyways, I poured cold tap water into a large tea pot and added 3 small tea bags (well, 2 bags and 1 tea ball).

I left it sitting on the kitchen counter at about 68 degrees F all day. To my surprise, by 3 PM I had tea about the strength of my sun tea. It probably would have become stronger with heat. But this was just fine for me. I let the pot of tea sit on the counter until bedtime, when I put it in the fridge.

This morning, I have cold tea, ready and waiting for me. I can heat a cup in the microwave or drink it over ice. No electricity or sun needed to "brew" a pot of tea.

I never would have thought . . .

Cutting the electricity bill: Part 2 -- appliances big and small

Appliances that are designed to heat or cool matter suck energy like a hungry baby with a bottle. If you go out to your electric meter and watch it spin while appliances are in operation, you can see for yourself how much energy they are using.

Tiny lights and clocks on appliances

After my lighting audit, I toured the house for an appliance audit. I began with small appliances. I noted all appliances that had a light or clock operating, even while the appliance wasn't performing its intended function. Those tiny lights and clocks use electricity. In the kitchen, I found a radio and coffee maker, both with clocks. We already have 3 other clocks in the kitchen. The radio and coffee maker really didn't NEED to be on, all the time. So, I unplugged, but left them sitting on the counter. For use, it's simple to plug them back in.

Making enough coffee for two days at a time

We have a new procedure for making coffee. I plug the maker in, make an extra large pot of coffee, pouring additional water through the grounds at the end. When it's done brewing, I turn off the maker, and unplug. I make enough coffee for two days this way. On day two, we reheat our coffee in the microwave. While day 2's coffee is not a fresh cup, we do appreciate how much quicker it is to microwave a cup, rather than wait for the machine to brew a pot. For the coffee maker, it is plugged in for about 15 minutes, every other day, instead of 24/7.

TVs, DVD players and amplified antennas

In the family room -- we have a TV, VCR/DVD player, and amplified antenna plugged in 24/7. The TV gets turned on every morning by my husband, as he watches the morning news. But the VCR/DVD player is used only once per week, usually on weekends. I chose to leave the TV and antenna plugged in, but unplugged the VCR/DVD, as it had a continuous digital display, and was used infrequently.

In the bedroom -- we have a second TV, VCR and amplified antenna. I keep all 3 unplugged, unless they're in use. They all have lights on them, which disturb my sleep, and are only occasionally turned on.

Chargers with nothing being charged

Chargers for small devices (ipads, phones, laptops, rechargeable razors), left plugged in, also use electricity, even when not charging anything. I now make the rounds of the house, unplugging all chargers during the day, and am encouraging my family members to remember to unplug after charging. The general rule of thumb I am using is, if it has a boxy thing at the plug end, it has to be unplugged between uses. I felt the box on one of the chargers, one day, while nothing was being charged. It was warm to the touch.

Electric garage door opener -- do I need to use it every single time I come and go?

In the garage -- we have an electric garage door opener. When I am out and about a lot during the day, and I return home knowing that I will have to go out again later that same day, I leave the car parked in the driveway, and let myself in with a key, through the kitchen door. This saves operating the electric door opener a couple of extra times during the day. I began doing this on dance days, several months ago, so that my one daughter could practice tap in an empty garage, during the hours that I was coming and going taking my other daughter to/from ballet. After dropping the ballet dancer off at class, I'd come home and park in the driveway between the drop-off and pick-up times. When we had to cut way back on all our bills, I realized that this was saving the use of electricity for the door opener a couple of times per day.

We also have developed the habit of unplugging small appliances, that don't have lights or displays, such as the toaster and mixer, when not in use. Some people say they drain tiny amounts of electricity if left plugged in. I'm not sure about this, but we just unplug them anyway.

While taking care of these small devices helps (every bit counts), it's the large appliances that drain electricity.

Washers and dryers

In the laundry room -- it goes without saying, run the washer when full. Even if you have a water conservation feature for partial loads, the washer uses the same amount of electricity to run a full load as a partial load.  And if the laundry is not terribly dirty, consider a shorter wash cycle. An electric dryer accounts for 5 to 10% of most US household electricity use. The estimates for using an electric dryer are about 30 to 40 cents a load. We wash about 8 loads per week. By hanging all of our wash to dry, I hope to shave $8 to $9 from our monthly electric bill. For the summer, we're using racks on the deck (where it's the hottest and even towels dry in one day). For winter, we'll move the racks inside, but also, we're thinking of adding a clothesline inside the garage. Clotheslines are fairly cheap. I was pricing the mechanical parts at Wal-Mart, and for the line and pulley, we should be able to set up an indoor line for under $10.

With regards to laundry, moisture tends to be a problem in laundry areas. We don't use electric dehumidifiers, but instead use Damp-Rid type products. Dollar Tree carries them from time to time. When I see them, I buy a few. Each canister lasts about 45 days for me. I use them in the laundry room, bathrooms and one of the bedrooms (where dust mites are a problem for one of us, and dust mites need humidity to thrive). They don't replace exhaust fans in bathrooms, for showering, but they help control the mold, which is a constant problem in well-used bathrooms. And they do eliminate the need for any electric dehumidifiers in our laundry area.

Old fridges

In the garage -- we have a garage fridge. It's the old fridge from the kitchen, and I use it for stockpiling good deals, and overflow cold storage. It really does save us money on our grocery bill. But it is pre-1990. All the information I've read says that pre-1990 fridges are electricity hogs. They can use well over of $100 *extra* in electricity, per year.

Ours is a 1977 model, original to the house. I checked the electric meter while it was running one day, and everything else was off and the meter's dial was spinning at a fair pace.

My plan is to get the garage fridge emptied by the end of this month, and unplug it. We'd like to replace it with a newer model, as I do find the extra storage space to be enormously helpful in keeping our grocery bill so low. But I have until late October to shop around, as that's when I typically begin a large stock-up. By having it unplugged just for those 3 months, I figure I can save about $60 total, for just those months. If we get rid of it altogether, we'll save about $280/year!!!! -- according to this refrigerator calculator. By the way, if I replace our old fridge with a 2002-2008 top freezer, bottom fridge model, It will only cost $53/yr to operate, still a savings over $200 a year. (Update: I got it emptied and unplugged. I can't wait to see how this impacts our electric bill! My happy moment of the day -- I went out to the electric meter and it was stopped, actually stopped. Not a thing was using electricity in that moment.)

From their calculator, it appears that a top freezer/bottom fridge is most efficient, followed by bottom freezer/top fridge, and last side by side. There wasn't info at that site on the popular French door fridges. Can you guess which type I'll be replacing our old fridge with?

A word for those using a garage fridge as a beverage fridge: If your garage fridge is pre-1990s, consider transferring your beverages to the kitchen pantry, and load into the fridge on an as needed basis. The money that you think you're saving by stocking up on beverages at Costco is being sucked away by your energy-hog old fridge. You can always plug it back in if you have a large gathering of friends and family.

Getting efficient with my electric ovens

In the kitchen -- our cooktop is gas, but our ovens are electric. I have a very large oven, as part of a large stove, and a smaller wall oven. The smaller oven preheats in less time than the larger one, so I tend to use it when just baking a couple of small items.

I have found a way to use my ovens more efficiently. Again, this isn't a new idea, you'll find it in just about every homemaker's cookbook, vintage 1950s - 1960s. I bake as much as I can think of at one time, and will still fit in the oven. For example, last week, I baked 3 small loaves of French bread, a covered casserole of rhubarb sauce, a casserole of homemade refried beans, a pan of corn bread and some whole potatoes, all at the same time in one oven. These foods weren't for the same meal, or even the same day. I planned ahead to fit as many things as possible into that oven, all at once. The baked potatoes required more bake time than any other item, so I simply shut off the oven when everything else was done, and left them in while the oven was cooling (about another 40 minutes). The foods that were not for that night's meal were reheated in the microwave, the next day, as needed.

Another day last week, I did all the week's baking. I baked a batch of peanut butter cookies, a loaf of French bread, a batch of hot dog buns, a batch of granola and a large batch of blueberry muffins. I used the smaller oven for this baking, doubling up using both racks, and baking in sequence. Although I couldn't bake it all at one time, I was able to save on the preheating of the oven for several bakings, instead of baking each food on different days. For the remainder of the week, we have not turned the ovens on at all.

Opening the kitchen fridge less during the day

I've also found a few small ways to use less electricity with the kitchen fridge. I plan ahead and thaw frozen foods in the fridge. I take all I need out of the fridge for one cooking session, all at once, and do the same when I return items.

Our filtered water dispenser is inside the fridge (not on the door, as many fridges have). I fill a large pitcher with water and ice in the morning, and leave it on the counter for the day, instead of all of us opening the door over and over to get one glass of water at a time. At the end of the day, leftover water goes into the coffee maker or onto house plants.

Asking myself, "can I cook this in the microwave?"

I am using my microwave to do more of the cooking work than previously. I was air-drying some herbs last week, and they just were not drying out quickly enough. I was going to pop them into the food dehydrator, then remembered my sister in law using her microwave to dry herbs. You lay them on a tea towel or paper towel and zap a bunch in 8 second intervals, until just about dry (not bone dry, or they'll taste scorched). Then transfer to a large plate and allow to air dry for a few hours.

I also made a tasty zucchini Parmesan casserole in the microwave the other night. It was slightly more watery than if oven baked, but the excess veggie juice I poured into a pot of soup that was also being served.

So many foods do well in the microwave. It's especially useful for single servings, like scrambled eggs, a single baked potato, a couple of strips of bacon, or one or two hot dogs. No need to heat an entire skillet, or the oven for just one or two people.

I have a favorite snack in fall, that I do in the microwave. I chop an apple and put in a mug, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and microwave for 1 minute, until the apple is soft. I then crumble 1 graham cracker on top, and it;'s my own apple pie.

While I don't care for most meats cooked in the microwave, I do think ground meat comes out especially well. Microwave meatballs or patties of ground meat to be covered in sauce turn out great. And you've probably already heard that it uses less electricity to microwave a single mug of water for tea or oatmeal than to heat the same amount of water on the stove.

A few microwave recipes: cornbread, brownies, scrambled eggs

Using a toaster oven for small baking needs, instead of the larger wall oven
(see this post) My toaster oven uses a fraction of the electricity of my wall oven. I estimate that I will save between $1 and $2 per month, by this little change. Read the linked post to see the difference in electricity use between toaster ovens and standard wall/range ovens.

Dishwasher efficiency

The dishwasher is another appliance that uses roughly the same amount of electricity to do a full load as a partial load. I say "roughly", as dishwashers with soil sensors may run longer for loads with more food debris in the water. But for the most part, it's more efficient to run a very full load than an almost full load.

Most of us will run out of plates before the dishwasher is completely filled. As I'm thinking what to serve for the upcoming meals, I start to consider which dishes are left. So while breakfast might have been planned for toast, if all the plates are gone, then we'll switch to granola or oatmeal instead. Or if lunch had been planned to have soup, but all the bowls are almost gone, we'll use mugs instead.

And just a note about glassware, you can fit more tall skinny glasses into the racks than you can short fat ones. If I have a choice, I use the tall, skinny glasses.

And finally, I am very creative in how I pack in the dishes. On the bottom rack, there is just enough room, between the 2 main plate strips, for several small bread and butter plates to fit diagonally. And I think everyone already knows this, but using the air dry feature saves electricity, too.

I try to make sure that I'm the one who actually starts the dishwasher, as I tend to get more in than anyone else in the family. About midday, I'll usually do a quick re-stack of the dishwasher, and really fit things in tightly, just so the rest of the family can see for themselves that there is indeed lots more room, and no need to start it up prematurely. (I hang my head in shame -- we used to make fun of my dad for re-stacking the dishwasher after we put our dishes in. He was just being careful with how often it was run. Now I get it, Dad!)

I am hoping that with all these changes concerning how we use our appliances, that we shave at least $20 a month from our regular bill. More would be great. There was a time, when we first moved into this house, that our electric bill was about $25/month. I know that those days are long gone, but maybe I can get our bill to about $50/month, which would beat my target goal of a 20% savings.

I'm glad to move on from electricity. I feel like I've read so many articles on how to save in this area. I'm needing a change. (And I think my family probably is, too. Imagine if every conversation with me began with, "guess how much it costs to run the XYZ appliance?" Really, I've read up on just about every electrical thing in our house. Everything, really. If I did the math right, it costs 3/4 of a cent to toast a slice of bread in our toaster.) Stay tuned for more on how I am slashing our budget to the bone.

Cutting the electricity bill: Part 1 -- lighting the house

(If you don't already know, our family has been hit with a 30% reduction in income this month. Many of my posts will chronicle our family's attempt to trim costs and grow income.)

Recently, I have made it a habit to check our electricity meter each morning. I am tracking our use on a daily basis. I use this to motivate me to cut back just a bit more each day.

In the last 12 months, we have spent about $950 on electricity for our house. We heat with natural gas, have a gas water heater, no A/C, and no dehumidifiers. The electricity used here is lighting, tools and appliances.

Artificial lighting accounts for as much as 20% of the electricity used in US households. If this percentage is accurate for my own household, then we are spending nearly $200 per year on lighting alone.

So, what can we do? Plenty! If your budget is in a pinch, like mine, there are things you can do today, that cost nothing, to reduce your electric lighting consumption. Some of these things can be permanent solutions, while others may be more temporary. But either way, you will shave that electric bill beginning today.

Keep in mind, some of these reduced-use of electrical lighting ideas are coming from someone with a budget crisis, and targeted towards the financially desperate (like me). You may be thinking, "oh that sounds too weird for my tastes", but someone else may find these helpful or may be already doing these.

The obvious and well-talked about is to replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs, or lower wattage incandescent bulbs. As bulbs burn out, I'll buy even more lower watt CFLs.


How about some ways to save on lighting, that cost nothing, and can be done right now?

Turning off lights when you leave a room is something we have heard since we were children. It's something I work on with myself and my family. But when you just can't get others to turn off the lights, you sometimes need to help them out, by reducing the lighting available in the first place.


I took a light audit in our house. I walked from room to room and asked myself, "how much lighting does this space need for its use?" Some rooms, like the TV/media room, need far less lighting than exists. In some fixtures, I swapped out the higher watt bulbs already in place, for lower watt ones.  Easy to do, I simply stole a lower watt bulb from a room seldom used, and put it in the fixture in the room needing less lighting.


In multiple-bulb fixtures, I simply partially unscrewed one or more of the bulbs, if I felt less lighting would work.

Some rooms where partially unscrewing bulbs is saving in our house:

The light fixture over the kitchen table has 5 bulbs. The first day, I untwisted 2 bulbs. The next day, I did 1 more. Yes, to an outsider it looks like we have a bunch of burned-out bulbs. But when company is expected, I can quickly twist those 3 bulbs, avoiding any unpleasant comments about our lighting.

In the family room, there's a wall-mount fixture that holds 2 bulbs. I partially unscrewed one of the bulbs. These are covered by a shade, so it's not even noticeable that one bulb is not burning. In an upstairs bathroom, we really have overkill in the lighting department. I untwisted a couple of bulbs in there as well. There's a window that receives good light right next to the mirror.

In the garage, there are two ceiling lights. Most of the time, I just need one light. I simply pulled the chain on the other light, so only one will come on when the switch is flipped. (Update: I have since unscrewed the second bulb, as well. When I need garage lighting, I open the back door.)

Selectively reducing light in each room allows me to see if we really need all the lighting that is there, as well as saves us some money in the short term. When dark months of fall and winter return, I can easily increase our lighting, on an as-needed basis.


Another totally free thing one can do, is to choose to use artificial lighting less. The rule I've been following now is, "if there's natural light in the house, leave the artificial lights off". Obviously, I'm not advocating that anyone bump around in darkness. In fact, in our own house, we do have a couple of spaces that don't receive much natural light. And we do use artificial lighting in those areas. But we've found life to be just fine in the most-used rooms, leaving lights off.

I am having to break some of my own habits, as well as the family's. Every time I go into the pantry (which does receive light from the rest of the kitchen work area), I have a habit of turning on the ceiling light, even when I'm just grabbing something right off the shelf in front of me. I am retraining myself to not turn on that light.

For our family, it had become a habit to turn lights on whenever we entered a room. Now, we're giving consideration to whether or not we actually need additional light.

And do you know what we discovered? Sometimes less artificial light is actually preferred. Although we eat dinner fairly late, we now leave the lights off, altogether. It's quite pleasant. The dimmer light seems conducive to lingering conversation. Many evenings, we don't turn on any lights in the house, until we're readying ourselves for bed. Obviously, this will change with the shortening of days. But every penny saved now, can be allocated for electrical use later.

One adjustment I have made with regards to dinner, is to take care of pots/pans/equipment clean-up before we sit down to eat. Now it's just a matter of clearing our dishes to the dishwasher after dinner. And that can be done in the dimmer light of dusk. I can take care of anything left behind in the AM, with my regular morning clean-up.


Again, totally free way to save on lighting -- rearranging our schedule to fit the setting and rising of the sun. If we go to bed before it's totally dark outside, we don't need lights on in the evening. And this is a help for rising early with the sun. We had been in the habit of staying up late and sleeping long past sunrise.

Many late night activities not only require artificial lighting, but also use electricity in themselves, such as watching TV or playing video games. Contrast this to activities shared with family in daylight hours, such as a game of croquet or a walk in the neighborhood. Living by the setting and rising of the sun can save electricity two ways.

Before the advent of electrical lighting, folks lived by the setting and rising of the sun. Our family is finding that a change to this more natural way of living with light, can work well in the modern world, too. As luck would have it, my daughters now have to leave for work before 6 AM. So getting up with the chickens is required of all of us.


Use table and desk lamps instead of ceiling fixtures. If you have table or desk lamps available, choose those over ceiling lights for activities that require artificial lighting. You can typically use 1 bulb in a table or desk lamp, instead of the multiple bulbs in most ceiling light arrangements, and still benefit from the amount of light you need for your task.

There's no need to light the entire room, just for 1 person to read a book. In our house, the family room has 4 can lights (ceiling) all on the same switch. There's also a lamp right next to a chair and sofa. It's more economical to turn on the 1-bulb lamp than the 4-bulb can lights.


These are 4 totally free, electricity-saving ideas that we implemented immediately. All are common-sense things that folks having been doing for decades. I do think that our culture has gotten careless with energy use. We don't see a candle burning down, or the oil in a lamp diminishing, so we don't think about how much energy we are actually using, that is, until we get the bill. Checking my meter daily is a way for me to restore that consumption awareness.

By the way, my goal for the electricity budget is a cut of about 20%. I estimate that we will shave about $2 to $3 per month, off the lighting portion of our electric bill. I'll outline the other ways we are cutting back on electricity use in the next post.

When you REALLY NEED to cut expenses, where do you start?

It doesn't look so bleak!!!

But to answer the question, "where do you start to make cuts"  .  .  .

My thinking -- look everywhere. There are a couple of exceptions, but for the most part, no budget category is sacred.

I have to qualify that statement, there are a couple of categories that I do feel are sacred, for both faith and humanitarian reasons. Our tithing is non-negotiable, in our minds. It's just something we do, right off the top. Giving to charitable causes also remains in our budget. For example, we sponsor a little boy in Columbia. I could never put my happiness ahead of his need. He has so little, compared to us here in such a wealthy country. We also support our local food bank. Again, because some folks have so little, when we have so much. No one in my house is in danger of missing a meal. That can't be said for many households in our area. And taxes. Ya gotta give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Tax evasion, even when you don't agree with what your government does with your taxes, is wrong and unscriptural. But a citizen always has the right to protest with their vote, by writing to their leaders, and by organizing peaceful coalitions for change.

So, back to the budget? Where to make cuts?

I prefer to cut across the board, rather than eliminating one category altogether. First of all, I think we free up more money this way. But second, we tend to feel less deprived if all categories remain active, to some extent, rather than an arbitrary decision of say, "vacation is cancelled! Prepare for a life of misery!"

Utilities and services

• Electricity -- my goal is to reduce our electric consumption by 20%. We've already been implementing some changes around here.
• Natural gas (heat and water) -- reduce by 20%
• Water and sewer -- reduce by 5% (we're already fairly conservative with water use, but one can always try harder)
• Garbage/recycling collection -- one of those categories that I'm not sure we could improve on. We pay $13 to put out 1 can a month. The cost to drive/dump this trash to the landfill would cost about the same. As we consume less, however, we may find that we have less to dump at all. So maybe in the long-run that will be a charge we can reduce.     I collect our aluminum cans separately from the rest of the recyclables. I take them to a nearby center for money. I will look into taking our glass recyclables in with our aluminum, to see if they pay for them, as well -- that could gain us a tiny bit of money.
• Internet and phone -- no cable and have no interest in cable. But the internet is great, and we're in luck. My son pays for the internet. It's a bundled plan, both internet and phone. Our part of the bill, the phone, is $30/month. I will scour that bill, though, and check for charges that could be dropped.

Totally necessary, and not terribly flexible, but we will try, as we can, to reduce

• Medical/dental copays -- this will automatically go down when the braces come off my daughters' teeth. $20 every 8 weeks -- gone! We still have a payment for the retainers. But if they take care of them, and don't lose or break one, then the retainer fee will be a one-time thing.   My husband will have good medical coverage at his job, but we still need to find new insurance for my daughters and myself. My husband doesn't want to add us, as his dependents, to his work insurance. Depending on what we find, our copays/co-insurance could go up considerably and we'll need to put aside more for this category.
• Auto/Home insurance, licensing and registrations -- we will delay our daughters taking their learner's permit test for a few more months, until the Christmas holidays, when they would have time to actually practice driving. And we'll delay the actual license until either they can pay for their part in the insurance or we have the resources to pay for it.  We are thinking of selling our second car. Our insurance is up in October and registration in November. We'll time dumping that car, to avoid those fees. And I'll be shopping around for better insurance rates for both auto and home.
• Savings for retirement and future plans (in addition to 401K contributions) -- if we have to we'll cut this back by 25%

Flexible, but necessary

• Groceries -- reduce by $40 per month (this will be tough, but it's just the kind of challenge that I like and that I have almost complete control over as I am the only one who ever grocery shops)
• Non-food household supplies (this includes cleaning supplies, hygiene items, bath tissue, postage and paper supplies, etc) -- not sure we can reduce here much, but after the braces come off my daughters next month, we won't be going through as many toothbrushes. Braces eat up toothbrushes rapidly. And I'll try to become a better shopper for the rest of the items. My goal is to shave about $5/month from this budget.
• Clothing/hair and grooming -- reduce by $10 per month. For the most part, we've maintained a low budget for these areas, but my husband and I have had the occasional professional hair care visit. We'll reduce those to the bare minimum, or if needed, those can become holiday gifts to each other, or from kids to us. My son pays for his own barber visits, and my daughters' long hair is maintained by me. I am in need of really good, supportive and attractive shoes for possible work for myself. I have nothing in my closet that I could be on my feet all day in, and still look nice. Sneakers just wouldn't cut it for most of the jobs I'm considering.
• Home and car repairs -- some repairs just should not be put off or ignored. But I do think we can do much of the stuff we have hired out in the past. My husband rented a chain saw and took out 3 overgrown trees/shrubs back in the spring, for a huge savings over what the tree guy wanted. The improvements we do hire out/save for will likely be things that we consider capital improvements or investments which will pay for themselves (such as a fireplace insert or wood-burning stove for the living room).   One expense we will continue to hire out is pest control. We live in an area littered with carpenter ants. Our house had a problem with them a while back. We go with a minimal treatment program (once a quarter), and feel this is worth the money.   Car repairs we need to continue saving for, as they come up unexpectedly and almost always need attention right away. The budget will remain the same in this category.
• Gas for the cars -- this will automatically go down as I am no longer driving daughters 20 miles to and from school each day, and the once/month orthodontist visits, 20 miles to the north of us, are almost a thing of the past (2 more to go, then just check-ups from time to time). My two daughters now hitch a ride with their father to the bus stop, for work and school. The reduction in this category is planned for $50/month.
• Contributions to daughters' education -- reduce by $1000 per year/girl (they each will contribute additional amounts, now that they both are employed with well-paying first jobs -- $12/hour, that's almost $3/hr over minimum wage here). I'll be updating FAFSA, as well, and hopefully we'll qualify for additional amounts in grants.

Unnecessary and totally flexible, but make life enjoyable

• Gifts -- reduce by 50% (this doesn't mean we won't give gifts. It just means we'll have to be more creative, thoughtful and resourceful.) Already to a good start in this area.
• Eating out, entertainment, excursions -- reduce by 50% (I'm very disappointed in restaurant meals in the budget category. Mostly, it's just filler junk, with little nutritional value, and often makes me sick. But excursions can be a lot of fun and cheap, such as visiting the pumpkin farms, or going to the Bavarian village to the east, or an early morning at the beach.)
• Landscape/Design/Home -- reduce by 20%. I had wanted a new chair for the family room, but I think I will re-upholster one we have instead. I had saved several hundred dollars towards buying a new chair. After the cost of supplies to re-upholster the chair, I could re-allocate that saved money towards something else in the house. And I'll have to discipline myself not to buy any more ornamental plants!
• Savings for vacations -- we have a family vacation planned for the end of summer, beginning of fall. We've been planning this for years, literally. This is a just-before-university-begins family vacation. Some elements are already paid-for and non-refundable/non-transferable. So, do we cut our losses and cancel the trip? Or do we go on the trip anyways, but make it as budget (but fun) as possible? This is a Disney vacation. Everyone knows that those can be spendy. But they don't need to be terribly so. We've decided to go anyways. I've cut that budget by 10%. Not much, but it's something. This vacation, even as a Disney one, has been planned as a budget-version Disneyland trip. The area we'll be able to save the most, over what we had planned, is on meals. We had already planned for cheap accommodations and travel to/from. Vacations are important to us, so even under tight finances, we'll continue to save for time away, just maybe not so much. Even shaving one day off of a trip can mean a huge savings, but we still get a fun time away. And if ever there was ever a time to use rewards points, now is it! Overall savings for vacations category -- reduce by 20%.

As you can see, most categories are more flexible than you'd think. I haven't even really slashed many categories. I'll cut more as we need. Fortunately, we have had a 30-day advance notice of a reduction (at first we thought it was 2 weeks, but later discovered it was 30 days) giving us time to think and prioritize.

These cuts look do-able. And they get us about half-way to making up the income loss. Now to find ways to meet these goals. Can you tell that I'm a goal-setter?

Our situation will require a two-pronged approach, both cuts to spending and increasing income. We're both seeking ways to boost our income. We are looking to find a balance between spending less and earning more. There are times when just earning more comes at the expense of quality family life. Or cutting back to a bare bones budget makes us too miserable. I'll continue to post the ways we implement ways that both cut spending and increase income.

I just keep repeating, "we can do this! We CAN do this!"

Celebrating life's sorrows and life's joys

After I got over my initial shock and anger over our income cut, I did something that may not sound like someone who's just been dealt a financial blow. You may envision us sitting around in the dark, eating a small bowl of gruel, with faces stained with tears and sadness. The actuality is, we sat around with cake and my finest tea, in the beautiful sunshine on the deck.

You see, in my mind, there is always so much to celebrate. We are all healthy. We are here together as a family. We have many joyous occasions to look forward to. And we're living in one of the riches times in history of the world, and in one of the wealthiest countries, to boot.

Sure, there's a lot of work ahead of us. But there can be many possible up sides to this. This could mean more family time. This could be that push that I need to get me to find a career path for myself, now that my children are grown. This could help us streamline our goals and ideas of what brings us happiness. This could give us contrast, that always seems to be lacking when living in abundance. When you have more than you need, how do you find appreciation for what you have? We see this in spoiled, rich kids (and their parents) -- that more is never enough.

Many of life's joys cost nothing. Think about all the things that bring you joy. Now, narrow this list down to just joys that are free. Did you find your list to be long? I did. If you wish to comment, tell me about your list, and I'll lift my cup of tea to toast your joys.

Today's sorrow may be tomorrow's memories of the good ol' days. And we realize that. So, we celebrate with cake, good tea and a family gathered together, making plans for our future.


You may be wondering -- I do keep a cake or two in the freezer. When we are needing a bit of cake, I slice off a few pieces, still frozen and thaw on plates. Yes, I am that crazy old lady with half a cake in her freezer, at all times.

Being prepared

That's a boy scout motto, isn't it? Always be prepared.

In 2008, right as the stock market was beginning it's decline and banks seemed to be going under on a regular basis, we were in the middle of having some major work done on our kitchen. We had saved for this work for many years. That savings, although earmarked for the kitchen remodel, was our cushion against any unforeseen circumstances. I always felt we were financially safe. Our mortgage was about to be paid off that year as well. We were secure.

Then it hit me. We were spending that savings on the kitchen work. Our safety net was slipping through our hands. We still had investments. But with the downturn in the markets at that time, selling stocks would not be a good move. That was when the thought occurred to us to build some new savings cushions, 2 in fact. One for medical emergencies. And the other for any other emergency that could come up (like the engine in the car just drops out the bottom, or some other such financial surprise). The medical emergency fund amount was based on how much our out-of-pocket for 1 year could possibly amount to, with our then current insurance. Having spent just 1 day in the ER a few years before, I knew how quickly medical expenses could add up. So the medical emergency fund was the priority. I reworked our budget to allow for hefty contributions to that budget item.

The other fund has grown more slowly. I add a little bit every month, even if it's just a couple of dollars. Over the years, that has grown to over $1000. All of that money is still there, untouched. Even now, with our current financial changes, I don't feel it's time to use that money. I feel there could be even greater challenges, as a possibility.

Several months ago, call it intuition or God's guidance, I felt compelled to cut our spending further, and bank more of my husbands income. So, basically for this year, we have been living on a good deal less than our income. As I draw up each month's budget, I simply don't allocate all of the income from the previous month's paychecks. I carry forward some of this income, in a "Surplus" category. While the total right now is not huge, it is something. We have surplussed about $3500 since the first of the year, Some of this is due to extra hours my husband was able to pick up, and the rest just living below our means.

I guess you could say that I'm a compulsive saver. I have always saved a little bit, no matter how small my income was. Some folks like to live right up to the edge. They are comfortable spending every last penny they earn. Other folks like to live well beyond the edge. They are actually comfortable accruing debt month after month. (You can tell by my use of words that this baffles me.) And then there are those of us who feel most comfortable when they are accruing a surplus month after month. I fall into the latter category. It's my comfort zone.

When some people see a surplus, they immediately think "whoopee! Here comes that dream vacation, new car, sailboat, etc." I know that for our family, we are better off just being prepared for the unforeseen.

I suspect that I am a more extreme saver than my husband. Although, at this point, I think he can see the benefits to my compulsive saving nature. In the next several months, we'll still try to maintain that surplus, as long as possible. We'll be growing our income and cutting our expenses, and likely dip into the surplus in the tighter months, so that we can stay on track for retirement and our kids' university expenses. Simply put, our bigger goals outweigh fleeting pleasures.

Life is keeping me incredibly busy!!

Hi all!
Life has taken a turn that is keeping me incredibly busy, too busy to get online to write to you.

First off, it's summer, which means harvest and preservation of all that grows here. I'm working my frugal behind off taking care of it all.

And second, my husband's work situation suddenly changed, and we're facing a 30% drop in income.

I've been reworking budgets, brainstorming ways to conserve further, and looking into how to grow our income.

I have slashed our budgets across the board, including dropping back to a one-car family, reducing the grocery budget to well below $200/month, heating the house less, leaving lights turned off unless it is truly dark inside, and we're even considering selling our home and downsizing to a much smaller (and cheaper to maintain) home.

One of the helpful things I am doing is keeping a log of ways that I save money, on a daily basis, and how much each activity saves. For instance, I started Christmas and fall birthday shopping the other day, shopping a clearance sale at Lands' End. I bought 3 gifts for my son (2 for his birthday and 1 for Christmas), which had been on my list for him anyways, and saved about $40 over what I would have been willing to pay, had I waited until the fall to shop. (There's a big difference in "what I'd be willing to pay" and what the store claims is a savings, for my purposes. I only calculate savings on a what-I-am-willing-to-pay basis.) That shopping took me 2 hours online, for a wage of $20/hour. I am also shopping for winter jackets for my two daughters, for their Christmas gifts this coming year. Shopping in the off-season will save me a substantial amount on gift-giving, which will be a great help, as I cut the gift-giving budget in half for this next year.

I also hung a load of wash to dry in the sun, for a savings of 50 cents. I spent about 20 minutes hanging and checking the drying, for a wage of about $1.50/hour.

I refurbed a pair of very worn shoes the other day. I was hoping to replace these shoes this summer, but a refurb job using only what I had here at home, may prolong their life by a year or two. In case you're wondering, I painted a pair of faux suede sandals, with acrylic paint. The faux suede had worn off in patches, leaving a mottled finish everywhere.

Time will tell if my efforts were fruitful, if the painted finish looks good after wearing a few times. If not, my cost was nothing but time. And anyways, they couldn't possibly look worse than they did before. If I delayed the purchase of a new pair of shoes by 2 years, I estimate my savings to be about $5 or so (for those two years of extra wear). I spent about 1 hour in total on the painting of the shoes, for a wage of $5/hour.

I trimmed my hair the other day, instead of going to a cheap haircut place. I extended the life of my haircut by another 6 weeks by trimming it myself. I look for the super cheap coupons of about $8 or $9 for a cut, no style.  One will usually surface in mid to late August (for the back to school crowds). I spent about 1 hour on the trim, saving about $10 after coupon and tip, for a wage of $10/hour.

By logging all this info, I can easily see which activities will save us the most money for the effort. However, the high hourly wage activities are not available every day.

So, we need to grow our income. I have been putting together my resume, and am looking for employment. Unfortunately, having been out of the main workforce for the last 26 years impairs my hire-ability for many positions.

I have also been researching taking in a boarder, to boost our income. Technically, paid lodgers go against the ordinances for our neighborhood. As do home day cares.

I do believe it will take a combination of all three of these areas (changing the budgets, conserving more, and increasing our income), to keep us progressing towards our future goals for retirement.

So, that's where I have been these past 10 days. Life has been keeping me incredibly busy. (And you thought I was off on some beach reading a fun novel!! LOL! Couldn't be further!)

I hope your life has been much more relaxing than mine. If not, and you find yourself as busy as I am these days, know that you are in good company! Have a great weekend, and I'll try to keep you posted on the various ways I find to cut our spending and increase our income. This is the value of blogging -- sharing information can be mutually beneficial for all of us.

This week . . .

It's been another busy week around the homestead.

My husband repaired one of the deck chairs, and now I'm putting primer on it. I'll put a couple of coats of white paint on it over the weekend. Previously, these chairs and matching bench were painted in an oil-based paint. If you are going to use a water-based paint over an oil-based one, you need to give the previous finish a good sanding. I failed to sand the other white chair and bench thoroughly enough last summer, and now have some areas of peeling. I'll need to sand down those spots and repaint. Lesson learned.

I filled a large garden pot for the entry patio, with some summer annuals, clearance perennials and a beautiful fountain grass, all in autumn tones. Yep! I'm thinking autumn already. I have this pesky problem of thinking ahead to the next season constantly. My pot will be beautifully rich in color when the leaves on the birch overhead turn golden.

I've started more basil, cilantro, dill and beets in the garden, to extend the harvest of those four. My garden is doing splendidly, for the most part. The plants are loving this heat. I have about 5 tiny pumpkins, so far, and about a dozen small tomatoes, with the promise of many more. My chard and kale are huge! And lettuce continues to provide us with daily salads.

You already know that I brandied some cherries earlier this week. I've also been dehydrating cherries to use this winter in baked goods and granola. I buy about 2 pounds of dried cherries during winter and spring. Drying some now will save me the expense of buying dried cherries at a premium, later. And today, I am hoping to make some cherry jam. This has been on my must-try list for several years -- think Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves. Yum, I can practically taste it already!

My sourdough starter has been very active this month. I ran out of yeast for homemade bread, so I fired up the starter. I've been using it for the family's bread and pizza crusts. My series of posts from last summer, on making sourdough starter has gotten some interest in the last week. Just an FYI, for anyone curious about making their own sourdough starter, summer is the best time of year to get one started. Most house temps are ideal for getting the activity going.

My daughters made a batch of graham crackers one day. This is a summer ritual for them. A couple of times per summer, they make homemade graham crackers, following the recipe I tore off the side of the brown sugar box, 23 years ago, or so.

But bigger news about my girls -- my two daughters got jobs!! Yay! Really, it's been a lot of hard work applying, interviews, making the rounds of all the places where they've dropped resumes, and finally, almost a month into summer, they've landed jobs on campus at their university. This is their first real paid employment. They'll be able to earn enough this summer to help with tuition costs next year, and have pocket money throughout the school year. We celebrated with a trip to the fabric/craft store and lunch out. My favorite lunch place is a nice little Greek restaurant.

With the warmer temps, my capris that I made from old jeans last summer, have been a wardrobe staple. I am happy to say that I look much more pulled together in summer than I ever do in winter, for casual-around-the-house-wear.

Summer allergies have been terrible here this year. I spent the better part of one day this week giving the bedrooms a thorough dusting, vacuuming and cleaning. I pulled furniture out from the walls, so I could dust/vacuum behind. I tore beds apart, vacuuming under, washing everything but the pillows. (The pillows I ran through the dryer on HIGH for 25 minutes, to kill off dust mites.) I vacuumed mattresses. It was a major undertaking, but in the end, I think it paid off. I actually had a decent night's sleep for the first time in weeks, due to not sneezing and wheezing all night long. I find that if I keep the house immaculately free of dust-mites during peak hay fever season, I fare much, much better.

And in the not-at-all-interesting department, I spent yesterday afternoon getting all caught up on budgeting, bill-paying, account reconciling and correspondence. When I finished, I made myself a great cup of decaf, to reward myself for sticking to it all for several hours.

So, my week has been filled with busy days. With my daughters now off to work each day, I am hoping to tackle a couple of projects in the next two weeks.

And how has your week been?

Preserving summer's bounty: 2 recipes for brandied cherries -- 1 sweet and 1 spicy

The winter table can look quite bleak when sticking to a small grocery budget. By preserving some of the abundance of summer, in vinegars, preserves, pickles and sauces, I have interesting ingredients to add to the menus, during those lean months of December, January, February and March. 

I also enjoy being prepared for last-minute gift-giving (hostess gifts, thank you gifts, birthdays between friends and just-because gifts). These last minute gifts just take a quick decant into a lovely bottle or jar, a ribbon bow and a pretty little handmade label.

This week, our cherry trees are ripening. In addition to simply plucking them from the branches and popping into my mouth, I like to save just a hint of summer's grand flavor.

Brandied cherries can be as simple as sweet cherries infused with a brandied sugar syrup, or for a boost in flavor, add some whole spices to your solution. We have two cherry trees in our yard, one with sweet red cherries, and the other with purple Bing-style cherries. I like to make the sweet solution for the purple cherries, and the spiced solution for the sweet reds.

For basic sweet brandied cherries:

Simple Brandied Cherries

2 lbs sweet cherries
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/3 cup brandy
3 to 4 pint-sized jars

Sterilize jars (about 3 to 4 pints, one of which will be for leftover syrup).

Pit cherries. (I use a pitter, but every few cherries, the pit is stubborn and I have to push it out with a small straw or coffee stir stick.)

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Add pitted cherries and simmer 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in brandy. With a slotted spoon, scoop cherries into sterile jars. Add brandy syrup to cover. Pour remaining brandy syrup in a separate jar, to use on ice cream, crepes, cake, or in trifle.

Refrigerate for a month before using. Will keep in the fridge for a year.


For a heavier brandied cherry, with a spicy note, these Spiced Bandied Cherries make a nice gift, or a holiday table addition.

Spiced Brandied Cherries

1  1/2 to 1  3/4 lbs sweet cherries
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
small pinch (about 8 seeds) of cardamom seeds
1 cup brandy
1 quart jar with lid

Sterilize jar.

Pit cherries, set aside.

In a medium saucepan bring sugar, water, lemon juice and spices to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add brandy and cherries. Toss cherries well in syrup.

Spoon cherries and spices into jar, covering cherries completely with spiced brandy syrup. If I am short of syrup, I mix up equal parts of brandy and water by the tablespoon, to top the cherries (or I just eat several cherries right then and there).

Cap the jar, and give it a gentle shake. For the first month, every few days, the jar needs turning, to insure all of the cherries are infused with the brandy solution. Store in the refrigerator for 6 weeks before consuming.

If gifting these, after the "ripening" process, I decant into pretty little 1/2-pint or 1-pint jars. I add 1 fresh cinnamon stick to each jar, more for looks than flavor. And I make sure to include "keep refrigerated" on my label, along with suggestions for use.

Spiced Brandied Cherries are delicious spooned over vanilla ice cream, plain cake squares (vanilla or chocolate), in triffle, dipped in chocolate, or simply in a dish on the dessert buffet during the holidays. My personal favorite is chocolate-covered cherries. I drain the cherries well, then dip in melted dark chocolate.


Either of these recipes can also be processed in a hot water bath, for 10 minutes, if you wish to store them in a cupboard or pantry.