tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25128685750522223292024-03-13T05:03:45.427-05:00Homesteading Quest Just a good old country girl striving for a less cluttered, less stressful, more simple style of living. I love my family, our chickens, our garden and spending time outdoors.Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-72497278149150967052023-10-07T16:29:00.002-05:002023-10-10T10:52:01.752-05:00I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40: Part 3<p> Make sure to read <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2023/10/i-was-diagnosed-with-breast-cancer-at.html" target="_blank">Part 1 ( Diagnosis)</a> and <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2023/10/i-was-diagnosed-with-breast-cancer-at_0761538082.html" target="_blank">Part 2 ( surgeries)</a>. </p><p>So here we are, one full year after my diagnosis. This is going to be very raw and vulnerable and honest. If you are going through breast cancer yourself and want me to paint it as daisies and roses, you may not want to read this. </p><p>First of all, my husband was insanely supportive. Just exactly what I needed in this time. I know he prayed for me, and not just for healing, but for whatever I was dealing with emotionally or spiritually. </p><p>I would like to say that I shared every single detail with my church family and that I was there every single service praising the Lord for his blessings. </p><p>I was blessed. </p><p>They caught it early. </p><p>It hadn't spread. </p><p>It wasn't genetic, meaning my two daughters didn't get some breast cancer gene from me. </p><p>I didn't have to do radiation or chemo.</p><p>I truly saw the blessings of the Lord through this situation. </p><p>But also I was in a dark spot mentally. I was sick of getting surgeries, I was sick of going to the doctors. There were times I didn't want to go to church because I didn't want people to ask me how I was. I didn't want people to look at my with pity. I didn't want to sit through worship songs and hymns and cry. My body did not look like it once did. I didn't feel feminine or pretty. Again- just being honest here. </p><p>I did cry most days, especially the first probably 5 months. It wasn't until about February of 2023 that I felt like I could breathe and hold my head above water. </p><p>In fact one of my doctors suggested I try an antidepressant just to get me through the first few months. I took two doses then broke out head to toe (literally) in hives and ended up in the emergency room. So I didn't take that anymore and was hesitant to try any other medications for such. </p><p>I had two songs that I listened to pretty much on repeat most days. </p><p>The first was The Goodness of God by CeCe Winans and the second was Never a Time by The Perry's. </p><p>I did feel the presence of the Lord and his comfort. I felt his guidance and asked for wisdom on many occasions. But, I also worried a lot about the future and what my life might look like. You think a lot of things when you have a cancer diagnosis. I just wanted all the surgeries, doctor appointments, medicines etc. to be over with. I wanted my life to go back to how it was. </p><p>If you are still reading this, bless you. It has been cathartic to write it down. I'm certainly on the other side looking back across what was a hard year. I still have my tissue expanders to deal with, and then my implant surgeries, but the cancer is out - which gives me a reason to sigh with relief. </p><p><br /></p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-25362821147090860792023-10-06T16:18:00.001-05:002023-10-06T16:18:00.155-05:00I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40: Part 2<p> Make sure to read yesterday's post to read about my diagnosis. </p><p>So my husband and I went to the breast surgeon ( maybe she does other kinds of cancer surgeries too?, I'm not sure). </p><p>She also was very kind and encouraging. </p><p>We did a lumpectomy in early October and they removed some lymph nodes as well to make sure the cancer hadn't spread. The good news is that it hadn't. But when the surgeon called back with the pathology a few days later, they hadn't gotten all the cancer. </p><p>I had my second lumpectomy in early November. </p><p>They couldn't get all the cancer that time either. </p><p>So I opted to do a mastectomy on just the right breast. There were some extenuating circumstances that didn't allow me to have them both removed at the same time. Basically a bunch of medical terms and definitions should go here, but they didn't feel comfortable doing them both at the same time. </p><p>I wasn't going lie. I was mad at my breasts and wanted them off. Immediately. </p><p>So I had a right mastectomy on December 15th, 2023. </p><p>That time pathology showed all margins were clear and the cancer was gone!</p><p>I did have some trouble with it healing and retaining fluid. I had to have it drained twice which was not fun.....</p><p>I also couldn't move my right arm much farther than about my nose. So I did 6 weeks of occupational therapy- and my therapist was one of my former students! She was very professional and knowledgeable and helped me regain my range of motion in my right arm/shoulder. </p><p>After that was all healed up I went back to get my left breast removed and to have tissue expanders placed in both breasts. This allows for my breasts to stretch so that I can get implants eventually. That happened on August 28, 2023. </p><p>So I'm kind of in the middle of that right now. Having my breasts heal and my tissue expanders expanding tissue. </p><p>I will go the my plastic surgeon over the next several months to get my tissue expanders expanded and then have my implants put in. </p><p><br /></p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-59965067549716302852023-10-05T16:10:00.001-05:002023-10-05T16:10:00.144-05:00I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40: Part 1<p>Here we are. </p><p>My church family knows this, and of course my family and close friends do as well. But it wasn't something I shared far and wide. I have wanted to share my story. It's not pretty and at times it is pretty painful, I know some of you are walking through this with your own family and friends. Or are going through it yourself. </p><p>This will be a multi-part post. I'll start with the diagnosis. </p><p>I'm a healthy gal. I had three pregnancies and breastfed them all, didn't drink or smoke. Wasn't overweight. There was no family history of breast cancer in my family. Really, no cancer history at all. I made the appointment to have my mammogram just 2 days after I turned 40. I felt strong and healthy and had no clue that I would have cancer. </p><p>I went to the first appointment. Mammogram came back with some dense breast tissue and they really couldn't see everything, so they asked me to come back to get a better one and to get a different type of scan. Did that. </p><p>Got that call that they certainly "saw" something and that I needed to come back for a biopsy. Okay, no worries, this happens sometimes. I went. </p><p>I got the call from the doctor on September 28th, 2022 that my spot was in fact cancer. I remember exactly where I was standing in my bedroom when the call came in. I remember what I was wearing. I remember not being able to talk to the doctor on the phone ( who by the way was very nice) because I was crying so much. So I just squeaked out a "bye" and hung up. I gave myself some time- not a lot, just a few minutes where I could breathe, think and get my thoughts together to call back. I called the doctor back and she was very nice and explanatory. She got me a quick appointment with the breast surgeon in a town about 30 minutes away. </p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-1348970627293711462023-10-04T15:31:00.007-05:002023-10-04T15:33:39.386-05:00Update- It's been over 2 years since I've posted- So many updates<p> Hello everyone, </p><p>I am back! My blog was something that I really found enjoyable to work on for several years and then like we all know- life happened. It has happened to me in the most intense ways :) I will update you all on the main things that have happened to my family over the next few days. But today I will give you a little glimpse. Before I do that though I want to say that the purpose of the site hasn't changed nor has my overall intentions. I want a nice, slow, cozy homestead surrounded by the people that I love. So what's been going on since we last talked? </p><p>1.<b> I graduated</b>. I now have my PhD and am excited and glad that is over with. I defended my dissertation in May of 2020 and officially graduated in August of 2020. </p><p>2. I was <b>diagnosed with breast cancer </b>in September of 2022. It's been a HARD year. I had just turned 40 and got my mammogram as we are supposed to do when we turn 40. No family history. I'll make a whole series of post on that alone, but for now just know to get your mammogram. </p><p>3. <b>We bought a farm!</b> We are still living in our "old" house and probably will keep it as it is on family land and we are close to my parents and my husband's dad. But in May of 2023 we bought a 65 acre farm about two hours away. It has a beautiful home, a barn and two shops. The family before us was homesteading on it and had to move due to health reasons. It is set up for cows, pigs, chickens etc. Again- I'll do a whole other post on that soon as well!</p><p>4. <b>I quit my job!</b> Well, I stopped working full time at the university I was at and now teach as an adjunct for them online. I still adjunct for several schools and do some consulting and freelance work. Financially it's more money and the flexibility is wonderful. My husband works from home as well, and two of our 3 kids do virtual school, to it is such a blessing to be here. </p><p>5. <b>We took a trip to Ireland</b> this summer. This kind of came out of me turning 40 and my kids getting older and my cancer diagnosis. Life is short, memories are what we've got. Don't worry, it was paid for in cash and we had a remarkable time. Here is a sneak peak of our time there. Just beautiful. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PJ93GSQ_5qTbnORrXryOVnGuFs3MJReLluZ7B7-NnMiBaAmxkZGLssQlhTAz8M3mvv_nCEQhtPREyz_MOgeMD3S75o_sBznrQjw-LXjrU89oe-Cv-FPfUWMhihWYNl_xCoRYWiPdtXf5sLVIqaDGcyglMtYdhqJ60Bf8hGwMPeACMJV68LCX2c42d0U/s320/Ireland.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PJ93GSQ_5qTbnORrXryOVnGuFs3MJReLluZ7B7-NnMiBaAmxkZGLssQlhTAz8M3mvv_nCEQhtPREyz_MOgeMD3S75o_sBznrQjw-LXjrU89oe-Cv-FPfUWMhihWYNl_xCoRYWiPdtXf5sLVIqaDGcyglMtYdhqJ60Bf8hGwMPeACMJV68LCX2c42d0U/s1600/Ireland.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>So, that is in a nutshell what has been happening over the past 2-2.5 years. I'm back at my blog and hope to revive it again. Please drop a comment, ask a question or just read through some of my previous posts. I hope I bring content that you appreciate and can encourage you on your own quest- no matter what that is. </p><p><br /></p><p>Rachel<br /></p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-63452452018860565962021-01-04T02:00:00.004-06:002021-01-04T02:00:01.288-06:00January Grocery Challenge update: January 4th<p> Well, we are just 4 days into January but we are doing great with our $60 challenge. You can read about it <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2021/01/january-grocery-challenge-60-or-less.html">here. </a></p><p>The last time I went grocery shopping was December 15th, and I plan on only spending $60 between then and Feb, 1st. So far we haven't spent any, and if that is the case for the rest of the month, that'll be great! I'll take that money and put it towards our next debt. </p><p>Sunday, we had brunch right before church at about 10:45. Right now we are having services from home, as COVID cases have gotten pretty high in our area. But we had pancakes and turkey bacon. I buy the pancake mix in 10-pound bags and we prefer turkey bacon. I grew up on pork bacon, and my husband and I still enjoy it if we have some from a wild boar we may process, or if a farmer friend, gives us some, but we don't typically buy it. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xEBbXqfiFpE/X_ILXGHKRBI/AAAAAAAACA4/9W2VK4imy2k5T0Py6gOrNa6AJzwZeNcIQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="280" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xEBbXqfiFpE/X_ILXGHKRBI/AAAAAAAACA4/9W2VK4imy2k5T0Py6gOrNa6AJzwZeNcIQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$5.98 for 10 lbs from Sam's</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><p>Then for dinner, we had Trader Joe's Orange Chicken, a bag of potstickers and a bag of broccoli. We have Trader Joes about 35 minutes from our house, and normally buy about 5 bags of Orange chicken and potstickers when we go. My family loves it! And it's a very special Chinese dinner for only $10 or so, even adding in the broccoli. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="251" height="226" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jOXfaMMT-uk/X_ILnK-y70I/AAAAAAAACBA/uQuEv73cddYg70CnLeJGavKpsICOxqrmgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6Q8PvyCYU-k/X_ILuF-TlnI/AAAAAAAACBE/viZgIZCGzmIptJcaO-aj9yaEoa3xx-H1gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="204" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6Q8PvyCYU-k/X_ILuF-TlnI/AAAAAAAACBE/viZgIZCGzmIptJcaO-aj9yaEoa3xx-H1gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="163" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We normally have 1-2 servings of this left for a lunch next week. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>For New Year's Eve, I thawed out some frozen strawberries from this past spring and made Strawberry Shortcake. I still had some of those thawed strawberries left which we had for a snack. We still have milk, and probably 4-5 pears, 5 or so oranges, a few apples and a few clementines as far as fresh fruit. We have a ton of frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. As well as applesauce and canned fruit too. </p><p>The kid's started school today and my husband is back to working ( from home). I have a few more weeks until my new semester official starts ( January 20th) but am doing some things around the house, some things for my classes to be ready etc. </p><p>Do you all have a Trader Joe's? Anything there you LOVE?</p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-54717733207326273842021-01-03T12:10:00.001-06:002021-01-03T12:10:04.964-06:00Rebates, settlements and more<p> I recently received a settlement in the mail for $16.15 from Kotex ( Kimberly Clark). I'm not exactly sure what it is for, but with a family that includes myself plus 2 teenaged daughters, I'm sure we have purchased Kotex in the past. We normally use disposables, but we have on occasion purchased Kotex products. </p><p>So I put that money directly into my bank account and set up a debt payment in that amount. I think one way my thinking has shifted in the past. Normally I would think " woo-hoo" and maybe bought a book or something from etsy. But now, that I'm really into paying off debt and my purchases are minimal, that money is going directly to debt. </p><p>My challenge for you this year is to set up a process for what you will do if you get these little bits of money here and there. If you follow Dave Ramsey's plan they are called snowflakes. But the point is, that they can add up over a year. In fact, I added another page in my debt spreadsheet for 2021 Snowflakes. I'll put little bits and pieces of money in that spreadsheet ( including what I did with that money) and keep a tally. Just for fun. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HGoS8XzMwJQ/X_IIbaliPeI/AAAAAAAACAs/ijVnPNlgA8cMpP3xkCou_fmovjTcwgh9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/winter%2Bscene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HGoS8XzMwJQ/X_IIbaliPeI/AAAAAAAACAs/ijVnPNlgA8cMpP3xkCou_fmovjTcwgh9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/winter%2Bscene.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p>What are your plans for your snowflakes this year? Any ideas for more little snowflakes this coming year? <br /></p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-61258496474704408122021-01-01T01:00:00.001-06:002021-01-01T01:00:02.700-06:00January Grocery Challenge: $60 or less<p> The last few years I have been doing a $100 grocery challenge for January. I normally spend $400 for my family of 5 ( ages 15,13,9) and my husband and I. My husband and I both work full time, however due to the pandemic he is working 100% from home, and when I go back to work on January 21, I'll only be working 1 day in the office- the rest online. </p><p>Not only is January going to be a low grocery month, but it's going to be a NO SPEND month in general. I didn't budget any fun money for any of us. ( Normally, we do $50 for my husband, $50 for me and $50 for the family). We are hoping to jumpstart our debt payoff with a bang come this new year. </p><p>How can I keep our groceries so low?</p><p><b>We hunt.</b></p><p>My husband and oldest daughter and son more than me. But our family hunts. We have a freezer full of deer meat and some sausage as well. We have wild boars on the hunting lease we have and that makes some delicious sausage. So we have plenty of ground deer and sausage, as well as a few packages of deer steaks. One of our favorite ( warning, not healthy) meals is <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-frugal-yummy-comfort-food-tator-tot.html">Tator Tot Casserole. </a></p><p><b>We have chickens. </b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HsUcuHc_2jI/V4fZ0TX6q4I/AAAAAAAABrM/7k-gu7nBVJUtfjRtKpArZMTv-OleFoDZwCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/IMG_3916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HsUcuHc_2jI/V4fZ0TX6q4I/AAAAAAAABrM/7k-gu7nBVJUtfjRtKpArZMTv-OleFoDZwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/IMG_3916.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We don't eat them. But we love their eggs. I guess we would eat them if it came down to it, but normally we just use their eggs. So we are getting about 6 eggs per day right now. So will have that this month. <br /><p></p><p><b>I can and freeze. </b></p><p>A lot. I have 6 quarts of homemade veggie soup left, and one quart of that plus a pan of cornbread will be dinner for us. I have plenty of pickles, jams, jelly, relishes and such. I have a few quarts of green beans left from the garden, as well as frozen black-eyed peas and corn and about 5 quarts of frozen pesto. </p><p><b>I can cook from scratch. </b></p><p>I can make bread and soups and all kinds of goodies from scratch. And in November we did a pretty big Sam's trip with flour, sugar, yeast, rice etc. So we will be good for sure. </p><p><br /></p><p>We have quite a few fresh apples and oranges leftover from the holidays, and I have canned pineapple and other fruits. We also have lots of potatoes and sweet potatoes ( from our gardens) and onions and garlic and carrots ( not from our garden) but are fresh. I plan on using the $60 for things for the kids lunches if we need it, and milk. I do have some boxed shelf stable milk, but keep that for a true emergency. If I don't spend all $60 I'll throw it at our debt. </p><p>Are any of you planning on a no spend or low spend January? </p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-14508794149370312542020-12-31T08:18:00.000-06:002020-12-31T08:18:07.447-06:00Some wonderful things happened in 2020<p> Yes, I know for many 2020 did not turn out as you had hoped. I can honestly say there were things about it that did not turn out like I had hoped. Many have lost jobs and lost loved ones. It's been rough. But I would like to challenge you to think back on some things in 2020 that were good, some things that did work out. </p><p><b>1. I became a PhD!</b></p><p>That's right. I graduated. I defended my dissertation in May ( via Zoom) and then actually graduated ( again virtually) in August. I am ALL DONE! My PhD is in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and my dissertation dealt with empathy towards food insecurity. It was an exhausting2 journey, but again, it's over. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m5RfaUvykxQ/X-3daiaYeCI/AAAAAAAACAc/EVCNkxK2powYtaQTRzFYhaTvkgcWIZirgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="206" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m5RfaUvykxQ/X-3daiaYeCI/AAAAAAAACAc/EVCNkxK2powYtaQTRzFYhaTvkgcWIZirgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictures from my Graduation Finally Finish Fish Fry- my family had for me when I graduated. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. I completed a half marathon. </b></p><p>I didn't say I RAN in, but I did complete it. This was in January of 2020 and it was cold and sleeting and a trail run, so lots of hills and valleys and all the things. It was HARD. It was VERY HARD. But once I started I couldn't stop. So I am very happy to say I finished. </p><p><b>3. My oldest daughter ( now 15) started schooling from home. </b></p><p>This was not the typical virtual option that many schools are doing. Our public schools actually have had a "normal" school year where students attend in person. However, we have told our daughter that when she got into 9th grade, if she wanted to do a virtual school or even homeschool we would let her. The school we went with is a public charter school that has been around for over 20 years. It has been WONDERFUL for her. She's quite advanced for her age and she was spending the majority of time in school reading anyway as she got her work done so quickly, so this has worked out so great. She is very independent and can manage herself, she is getting to take some options that our local , small rural school doesn't offer like Marine biology and German! It really has been a great experience for her and we are so glad we finally took the leap of faith. She is like a different child. </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dv631Ea_LxQ/XBbNI_OhgTI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/_f7LpdeDmC4Ly56THWY-TCKlWu4hXQhygCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/DFB2FBCA-14B9-45D8-BE9E-07AA9CECA906.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dv631Ea_LxQ/XBbNI_OhgTI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/_f7LpdeDmC4Ly56THWY-TCKlWu4hXQhygCPcBGAYYCw/s320/DFB2FBCA-14B9-45D8-BE9E-07AA9CECA906.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some lunches packed for my hubby and I while we still worked at an office</td></tr></tbody></table><b>4. We paid of over $38,</b><b>000 of debt</b></p><p>I wrote about there <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2020/12/last-financial-update-of-2020.html" target="_blank">here </a>if you want more information. But we buckled down, stuck to our budget and did a great job paying down our debt. We cut back on even more items ( like we changed to Consumer Cellular, reducing our cell phone bill by $85 a month) , we reduced our car insurance slightly ( $13 per month less) and just stayed away from stores, cooked from home etc. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So while, I know that it was hard. Let's try to find a few good things we can celebrate from this past year. Anything you all had that was worth celebrating?</p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-81207617848291968362020-12-30T10:31:00.003-06:002020-12-30T10:31:38.108-06:00Last Financial Update of 2020<p> You may recall that my husband and I have been trying to get out of debt for some time now. It started with <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> $152,852 in debt in January of 2018 which is when we decided that was enough. You can read about that </span><a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2018/01/this-is-post-i-hate-to-write-how-much.html" style="background-color: white; color: #6699cc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;">here. </a></p><p>We have made some progress and had some downfalls, but we are on the right path. As of today, December 30th, 2020 we are down to (insert drumroll in your head) $85,575. That means that THIS year alone we have paid off ( drumroll again please) $38,269. That's HUGE for us. So how did we do that?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. COVID helped. </b></p><p>Covid forced us to stay at home, and I tried very hard to stay out of stores, my husband and I both started working from home around March ( my husband full time) I went to work 1 day a week most weeks, but the gas we saved from his commute was fantastic. We weren't of course vacationing or taking day trips or traveling for anything really. We stayed. at. home. And I rather enjoyed it. I have a few posts from our "early" social distancing days here on my blog if you want to see what we were up to:</p><p><a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2020/04/social-distancing-day-20.html" target="_blank">Social Distancing Day 20</a></p><p><a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2020/03/social-distancing-day-11.html">Social Distancing Day 11</a></p><p><a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2020/03/covid-19-update-social-distancing-day-10.html">Social Distancing Day 10</a> </p><p>So all of that did help save us money. </p><p><b>2. All EXTRA money went to debt. </b></p><p>We had a few "snowflakes" this year- meaning money we weren't planning on. In the past, we might put half to debt and half towards something else, or half to debt and half into a kid's college fund or something. But this year- it was <b>GAME ON.</b> All extra money went towards our debt. That helped of course with the balance quite a lot. </p><p><b>3. I picked up some extra work. </b></p><p>Not a ton, as I still have a full time job, and a family to take care of, but the opportunity arose for me to teach an online course for a Christian University and I applied for it and started in October. So I only taught one course for them this past year, but it went to our debt, and I'm hoping ( and praying) that I get more courses next semester starting in January. I'll know about mid-January if they are going to need me or not. I also have been working on another project ( editing some test bank questions for a textbook published) which I won't get paid for until February. But again- that helps. My husband used to fix personal computers for people he worked with for some side money, but since he has been at home, he hasn't been able to do that. </p><p>4. <b>We stayed on budget!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p8_Nu3bzY_I/WrO3Oz3csRI/AAAAAAAAByU/7bZcnCnoYhMZu2oks_P9quMV9h9aPHrZwCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/IMG_4485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p8_Nu3bzY_I/WrO3Oz3csRI/AAAAAAAAByU/7bZcnCnoYhMZu2oks_P9quMV9h9aPHrZwCPcBGAYYCw/w320-h240/IMG_4485.JPG" title="Cute picture of our rooster for fun." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute picture of our rooster for fun. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></b></p><p>For most things... Christmas was budgeted with cash we had saved, and we stayed within budget. We stayed on budget with our groceries and our other spending as well pretty much each month. It's amazing what keeping to the budget will do. </p><p>5.<b> I amped up my Swagbucks and Bing rewards</b>. <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/p/point-cash-back-and-reward-sites.html">( read about those here)</a></p><p>I made more concentrated efforts to earn gift cards, which I saved in our Amazon account and used for things like birthday gifts, school supplies, and things we needed for the house ( exciting items like batteries and light bulbs). So that was super helpful in keeping our budget on par. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm excited for this new year and what it holds. We have been blessed beyond measure and are looking forward to 2021. I do want to add ( and please don't think I'm bragging) that throughout this time we have continued tithing 10% and just have prayed for wisdom with our money and have asked the Lord to help us be good stewards. I feel like he has certainly blessed that prayer and our faithfulness to tithing. </p><p><br /></p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-42303247940807055092020-08-30T09:12:00.003-05:002020-08-30T09:12:27.476-05:00Debt Free journey update<p> Hello friends, </p><p>Just to rehash, my family and I started with $152,852 in debt in January of 2018 which is when I decided that was enough. You can read about that <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2018/01/this-is-post-i-hate-to-write-how-much.html">here. </a></p><p>Since then we have paid off a total of $59,810 which brings our new total to </p><p>$93,042!</p><p><img alt="To be debt free would be such a huge relief and weight off my ..." src="https://cdn.quotesgram.com/small/32/68/2005533254-85fec4ffcc0c52bf26a62b3b791a8578.jpg" /></p><p>We are under the $100k mark which is fabulous and I'm hoping to get below $90k before the end of the year. </p><p>We are still only spending $400 per month for a family of 5 which includes all the toiletries, food, personal items etc. That's my husband and I, three kids ( 14,13,8)- and we are good eaters! I have posted many of our recipes on the blog and you can find a list on my <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/p/recipes.html">Recipe page.</a> </p><p>We are very pleased with our progress and wanting to see more progress of course! </p><p>I also have finished my Phd!!!! So will have more time to devote to my blog and I hope to start updating more regularly. I'll post more on that soon as well. </p><p>Please let me know how you are doing. It's been a busy time with the virus and shut downs and my graduation, and several other things but I'm excited to get back to the blogs I follow and updating regularly. </p><p><br /></p>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-73768825905757469212020-04-02T15:37:00.003-05:002020-04-02T15:37:41.390-05:00Social Distancing Day 20We are all still safe and at home. My husband and I are working from home and the kids are doing their school work from home. My son is getting speech therapy via Zoom conferences as well. We allow our older two girls to do zoom with a select few friends so they can still interact with their friends. They are 14 and 12 and don't have their own phones, however we are letting them use ours to do video chats with friends.<br />
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I've planted a row of corn and some lettuces, spinach, radishes, leeks, onions. cabbages and broccoli. A friend brought over some Early Girl tomatoes that were looking pretty rough, but I went ahead and planted them and tried to love them back into existence. We shall see. We still have plenty of food. I'm beginning to have to be a bit more creative with our meals, but we are very blessed and doing fine. What I wouldn't give for some fresh produce though right now!<br />
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We are trying to stay positive for the kids- but with the death and hospitalizations and all, it's scary. We are staying home and hopefully, that will protect us. I know others aren't able to stay home, and my heart goes out to them. But for now, we are just trying to make the best of it.<br />
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How are you all doing amidst the chaos?Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-11561332732455275042020-03-24T20:00:00.002-05:002020-03-24T20:00:31.751-05:00Social Distancing Day 11<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Kids School</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Spring Break for myself as well as the kids. So we are not doing any kind of school work this week.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">My Work</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">It is Spring Break at the university I work at, but I still have stuff to do. We are "online" for the rest of the semester. I worked about 2 hours this morning on different things I needed to do. But work is going well.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">My Husband's Work</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">We are not used to working from home, so we don't have a "set office" or anything like that. So our dining room table is a make shift office. He does stuff with data and spreadsheets and has 2 huge monitors as well as his normal desktop set up. But he is doing good. He's getting into a habit of waking up, taking a shower, then breakfast then starting his day. He gets "off" at 4, so he can log off and hang out with us now, without having any extra commuting time.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Mental Health</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">It's kind of getting rough. We do still see my parents ( who live across the road from us), besides that we are very rural, which is nice, but we haven't seen ANYBODY in 11 days but them. Today we played outside a lot, went fishing at one of our ponds and played some board games. My 12 year old daughter made some chocolate chip cookies which were nice. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Supplies and groceries update</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Still doing good. We haven't ran out of anything recently. The turkey I took out wasn't thawed for today,so I'll cook it tomorrow. We had cheese ravioli with a home made pasta sauce I canned last summer for lunch and tator tot casserole ( with deer meat) for dinner. We have leftovers of both so we'll have some leftovers to eat over the next few days. I think with the turkey tomorrow I'll make green bean bundles and deviled eggs. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">IF I WENT TO THE STORE TODAY I WOULD BUY</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">milk</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">fresh fruit</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">tortillas</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">toilet paper</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">hand sanitizer</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">sandwich bread</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Again, these are all things that if I were not quarantining and they were not out of, I would buy. But we are going to make due.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">What's going on around us? </b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Two deaths at our local hospital today from the virus. Up to about 250 cases in the state. We are just hunkering down. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> How is it looking in your area? What have you been doing to #flattenthecurve?</span>Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-15691517664104616472020-03-23T19:11:00.001-05:002020-03-24T14:12:57.143-05:00COVID 19 Update: Social Distancing Day 10<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
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<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2637144330189285477" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 638px;">
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<b>Kids School</b><br />
Spring Break for myself as well as the kids. So we are not doing any kind of school work this week.<br />
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<b>My Work</b><br />
It is Spring Break at the university I work at, but I still have stuff to do. We are "online" for the rest of the semester. I worked about 3 hours this morning on different things I needed to do. But work is going well.<br />
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<b>My Husband's Work</b><br />
We are not used to working from home, so we don't have a "set office" or anything like that. So our dining room table is a make shift office. He does stuff with data and spreadsheets and has 2 huge monitors as well as his normal desktop set up. But he is doing good. He's getting into a habit of waking up, taking a shower, then breakfast then starting his day. He gets off at 4, so he can log off and hang out with us now, without having any extra commuting time.<br />
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<b>Mental Health</b><br />
It's been rainy, and although it wasn't raining today it was a little cool and wet. But I made sure to get a 45 minute walk in, then played outside with the kids for a while. So we are doing pretty good. We are just now turning the tv on for the day ( 7pm) and my son and husband are watching a show and the girls are watching a show.<br />
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<b>Supplies and groceries update</b><br />
Still doing good. We haven't ran out of anything recently. I took out a turkey from the freezer and my husband cut down a hickory tree a few days ago so we made some chips for the smoker, and plan on smoking a turkey on Wednesday. We still have 10 rolls of toilet paper. We are out of fresh strawberries now, the only fresh fruit we have are grapes and kiwis. We are out of sandwich bread, but I can make bread if we decide it's necessary. I may make some later in the week when I make spaghetti.<br />
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<b>IF I WENT TO THE STORE TODAY I WOULD BUY</b><br />
milk<br />
fresh fruit<br />
tortillas<br />
toilet paper<br />
hand sanitizer<br />
sandwich bread<br />
Again, these are all things that if I were not quarantining and they were not out of, I would buy. But we are going to make due.<br />
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<b>What's going on around us? </b><br />
In our state schools are closed until April 17th ( at least). So far there have been 197 confirmed cases of the virus, zero deaths that they are reporting. Yesterday the number was 169- so it's going up, although slower than I thought. Our church did cancel their traditional services but the doors are open if folks want to come in and worship privately. We haven't done that yet, but may soon. The Economic stimulus bill did not pass, so I assume they will try again tomorrow?<br />
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How is it looking in your area? What have you been doing to #flattenthecurve?</div>
Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-26371443301892854772020-03-23T00:43:00.001-05:002020-03-23T00:43:10.440-05:00COVID- 19 Update Social Distancing Day 9I read somewhere that it is important to take notes on this chapter in our history, as one day we may want to reflect back on it. I'm not doing anything else at the moment so thought this would be a good time to start.<br />
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<b>Kids School</b><br />
My kids were out for one week ( last week) then start their Spring Break for tomorrow. Last week was AMI work- which proved to be challenging for the older two, as we only have three laptops in the house; my work, my husbands' work and then our household one. The girls were wanting to do their AMI at the same time, they both had Zoom meetings with their teachers at the same time ( so I downloaded Zoom to my phone and one kid did their Zoom there) and we've had to upgrade to the next phone package ( because we are all using so much data) as well as internet speed package ( again, because at times there are 5 of us using the internet at home, when most of the time there is no one or just one. But all in all, school was fine. I made a list of books for the kids to read that are a bit more "educational" although any reading is fine by me, and ordered the little guy a curriculum book online, which he just started. His AMI consists of 30 minutes of Mobi Max in reading and 30 minutes of math, so I'm adding some to his, along with reading aloud, and practicing his speech ( from speech therapy, each day.) They are out until April 17th as of right now, so we'll see how that goes. The girls Spring Break trip for youth group was canceled, and Silver Dollar City is closed too ( which was what we were going to do for the last part of Spring Break), so we canceled our cabin.<br />
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<b>My Work</b><br />
I work at a university ( teaching) and we were told to put all of our classes online for the REST of the semester and work from home. We aren't allowed back on campus. One employee ( so far) from my institution has tested positive, although I expect more will soon. So I'm teaching online for the rest of the semester. IF the school opens back up to faculty I would like to go back to work, as I just function better in my office, but we'll see how that goes, how the kids' school goes etc.<br />
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<b>My Husband's Work</b><br />
He was sent home last week and told he would be working remotely for at least 30 days. So he's starting on his second week tomorrow. He doesn't like it. He likes his office and his set up, but is doing what he needs to do. His work is different than mine, as he logs in at a certain time and logs off at a certain time and has stuff to do all day. Mine is more flexible and I can work whenever I get up , start a load of clothes, help the kids, go for a short walk, cook lunch etc. His is much more structured and we don't have a work space set aside, so there are times that 4 of us are at the kitchen table working with another kid in the floor beside us with a book or worksheet. But we are making it. We are both getting paid our normal amounts and are good.<br />
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<b>Mental Health</b><br />
It's only Day 9, but we haven't been to church, haven't been out to eat ( everything is closed anyway) haven't been ANYWHERE for 9 days. It has been raining a lot, so that isn't helping. It's also Spring in the south so tornado season is upon us, with 4 in our state one evening last week, and more bad weather expected tomorrow. So today, we just got outside and drove around. We stopped at a city park in a tiny town ( that NO ONE was at) and had a picnic and let the kids play a bit. We just took our time and drove and listened to the radio and that was nice. We've been trying to take the kids fishing behind the house, we made a bon fire to sit around and we've been visiting my parents almost everyday. They live across the road and they are sheltering in place as well, so we have all been mixing our germs and no one elses' for quite some time. Otherwise I wouldn't be going around them. But we are making in. It's been a struggle, but we are trying hard to think of new ways for the kids to hang out inside when it's raining, when both of us have to work all day.<br />
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<b>Supplies and groceries update</b><br />
Thankfully, I'm a pretty good prepper at hear and had a good supply of food. I went to Sam's 10 days ago before we started our self imposed quarantine and bought about $173 worth of stuff. We are almost out of milk, although my mom said she had some we could have that was frozen. We are down to one loaf of bread, but I can make that. Fresh fruit is going to be hard for us, but I made sure to buy things like applesauce and mandarin orange cups when I went to Sam's, to fill in the gap for things I thought we were low on. We have frozen fruit and still have some grapes, a few apples, kiwis and strawberries that are fresh. We still have plenty of deer meat, and beef my brother in law gave us that he processed, so lots of meat. We did NOT however have much toilet paper. We are down to 10 rolls ( for a family of 5) and since we are all home all day every day are going through it fast. But, we'll figure out something when the time comes. My father in law lives by himself and has just bought some toilet paper before this started and said we could have some if we need to.<br />
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<b>IF I WENT TO THE STORE TODAY I WOULD BUY</b><br />
milk<br />
fresh fruit<br />
tortillas<br />
toilet paper<br />
hand sanitizer<br />
sandwich bread<br />
Again, these are all things that if I were not quarantining and they were not out of, I would buy. But we are going to make due.<br />
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<b>What's going on around us? </b><br />
In our state schools are closed until April 17th ( at least). So far there have been 164 confirmed cases of the virus, zero deaths that they are reporting. Universities have all sent their classes to online for the semester. Eating establishments and bars are only doing curbside pick up and drive through ( and delivery, although no one delivers where we are). Sam's was very very low on EVERYTHING ( no chicken at all in the whole store when I went, along with a ton of other stuff). I haven't been in 10 days but Facebook is reporting similar situations. Kroger pick up, Walmart pick up etc. isn't even booking grocery pickups as they are all full for at least a week ( which I guess is how far the booking goes out). Churches are doing online services ( although ours didn't... although we didn't go). It's a small church, but still... The schools are offering breakfasts and lunches for kids that need it. The bus driver asked us if we needed her to deliver any, but we declined. We are in good shape, and the kids never ate school meals anyways, so I'm not out any extra money since I'm used to packing their meals.<br />
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So that's it. I'd like to do more updates each day as a journal to look back on in a few years, but we'll see. If you've read down this far- bless you. How is it looking in your area? What have you been doing to #flattenthecurve?Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-38130592062478121442020-01-04T04:00:00.000-06:002020-01-02T09:09:48.403-06:00Book Review: White Christmas Pie by Wanda BrunstetterBook Review: White Christmas Pie by Wanda E. Brunstetter<br />
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While I do love reading, I'm not getting to it as often as I like nowadays. I keep saying once I'm finished with my PhD I'll have more time to read. Who knows? But over the holiday break I get a chance to read more often. I just finished White Christmas Pie by Wanda Brunstetter.<br />
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This book was a nice, light read. The main character was Will who was left to be raised by Amish couple when he was 6 by his English father Frank who was looking for a new job, as his job as on the road trucker wouldn't suffice for a young boy that needed to be in school. Fast forward to when Will is 22 and still living with the Amish family and is engaged to an Amish young lady to be married.<br />
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What will happen with Frank reaches out to meet his son? Will will leave the church and return to be an Englisher? What will happen to his fiancee?<br />
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This book was neat because it told the story from the perspective of Will, but also from his biological father Frank. Both, were struggling with some issues and it was interesting to see the perspective from both sides.<br />
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The White Christmas Pie doesn't come into play into later on the story, the last probably 4-5 chapters really, but it tied everything together nicely.<br />
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If you like Amish fiction- this is a good one.<br />
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If you are interested in my other book reviews- you can see them <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews.html">here</a>.Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-59152042254622512232020-01-02T03:30:00.000-06:002020-01-02T03:30:21.189-06:00A note about my freezer and pantry and $100 grocery challengeYesterday I posted a<a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2020/01/january-100-month-for-groceries.html">bout my challenge to spend only $100 in January</a> on groceries for my family of 5. I just wanted to expand on that a bit. I'm hoping to keep my spending down in January to jumpstart our debt payoff for the year, but also to eat up some of what is in my pantry/freezer so I'll know what I'm running low on for this gardening season and to be able to defrost my small chest freezer as it's time!<br />
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1. We live in an area where I have Sam's Club, Kroger and Walmart available. I prefer not to go to Walmart as it is in an area of town further from my home, it's always super crowded and it's kind of shady. I do go to Sam's Club sometimes but do the majority of my weekly shopping at Kroger.<br />
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2. We eat meat, mainly venison (deer meat ) and fish that we catch ourselves. We also occasionally get a wild boar and make sausage from that. I do buy turkey bacon and chicken sometimes, but we don't have any at the moment and I don't see myself buying any during January and my low spend challenge.<br />
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3. We were gifted a turkey at Christmas from a man in our church, and although we typically don't buy a turkey, we may smoke it during January and enjoy turkey this month.<br />
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4. I can and freeze a lot from our garden during the year. I have a pantry full of pickles, <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-make-hot-pepper-relish.html">relish</a>, jelly etc. It's hard to make a meal though with pickles and <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2015/04/canning-season-begins-my-first-batch-of.html">jam/jelly</a> even though they are nice. I can other items as well like pasta sauce, green beans, soup etc. but am running low of most of those. I'm sure I'll use those items up during the month.<br />
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5. We have blackberry and blueberry bushes and along with eating them fresh last spring/summer and canning some, I have quite a few berries frozen. I'll use that for just eating plain, muffins, smoothies popsicles etc.<br />
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6. We have chickens so will have a supply of fresh eggs all month.<br />
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Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-69894265433702045112020-01-01T15:27:00.001-06:002020-01-01T16:34:22.652-06:00January- $100 a month for Groceries Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
January Challenge: $100 this month for groceries!</div>
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Week 1</div>
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We are a family of 5, kids are 14,12 and 8 and both my husband and I work full time. We are trying to <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2019/12/end-of-year-update-finances-debt-family.html">pay down our debt</a>, live intentionally and keep some kind of order in our chaos. This month my challenge to myself is to spend $100 or less or groceries. I normally spend $400 a month on groceries. So this month I will be trying to eat out of our freezer and pantries and keep purchases to a minimum. </div>
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The first trip of the year was to Kroger and ended up costing <b>$23.07. </b></div>
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A few other things about our family- we don't have food allergies- so no restrictions there and no special diets. I'm a Registered Dietitian so we try to eat healthy, but I'm not on any restrictive sort of diet. My kids take their lunches to school each day, as do my husband and I. I cook 99% of the meals, and we are committed to not eat out in January.<br />
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So here's what I got:<br />
-6 <b>cucumbers</b> ( in the produce bin for 99 cents) Will cut up to snack on, put in the kids lunches etc. Couldn't pass up such a great deal.<br />
- Huge bag of <b>sugar snap peas </b>on sale for $3.99 from $7.99. Again, to snack on, kids lunches and I might stir fry them with the peppers and ingredients I have at home<br />
- 3 lbs of <b>apples</b> for $2.99<br />
- 2 <b>bell peppers</b> @ 89 cents each<br />
- 1 gallon of <b>milk</b> for the kids because they love milk<br />
- bunch of <b>bananas</b><br />
- 2 containers of <b>turkey</b> for the kids lunches. One of my children can't have peanut butter and jelly at their school because another child has allergies, so I send turkey with him. The other kids get pb&js<br />
- loaf of <b>bread</b><br />
<b>- </b>package of <b>sliced cheese</b> for sandwiches and crackers and cheese<br />
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<b>Total of $23.07 for week 1</b><br />
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I know I can make bread for cheaper. And I do sometimes. But I bought this loaf for .89 cents and feel that the saving of time is worth the 50 or so cents I save versus making it. To all you that make your own bread all the time- kudos- you are my hero.<br />
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So that's where we are. My kids and I are off work/school until January the 6th, so I'll cook and prep a lot of meals and snacks in the next few days.Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-26797667312440428392019-12-31T07:33:00.002-06:002019-12-31T12:32:50.801-06:00End of the year update: Finances, debt, family and more<img height="180" src="https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Iwi-GeTkt-L38LEaYyNU1wHaEK&pid=Api&P=0&w=300&h=300" width="320" /><br />
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Happy New Year's Eve!<br />
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I did want to just give an update on a few things going on in our life, and I would love to start updating the site more often. I've tried to clean up the site a bit ( I removed the AdSense for one thing, as I didn't understand how it worked and it looked to clutter up the blog). So as we approach the new year I wanted to share a few updates:<br />
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<b> Finances:</b><br />
One of the things I've been open about here is our debt. Which is ridiculous. The last time I posted about it was in October of 2018 which you can read about <a href="http://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2018/10/october-financial-update-lets-talk.html">here. </a> At that time our non mortgage debt was $144,798. Since then we have paid off $20,484. Bringing our debt down to $124,213. I'm glad that number is going down, however, it needs to go down further. I'm still being frugal, I'm sticking with our budget, but it just seems with 3 growing kids, a home to maintain and my tuition ( more on that in a minute) we did not have a ton extra to save. So for this next year, my goal is to get that number under $100k. So walk with me as we get that number lower!<br />
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<b> Family: </b><br />
We are doing so well. My kids are now 14, 12 and 8 and man are they amazing kiddos. They are doing great in school, and the older two are active in our church youth group, while the little guy is still in the Children's group at church. The 14 year old and 8 year old are taking piano lessons this coming year, the 14 year old has been taking lessons for a while but January will be the first month for the 8 year old. The 12 year old is doing great in her sewing classes- they aren't monthly lessons, but she does take a class here and there when there is one that tickles her fancy. Last night she hemmed a pair of jeans for my uncle and he gave her $3. So she's pretty excited about that.<br />
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<b> Animals:</b><br />
We still have a ton of chickens ( not a ton, but maybe 25?) I haven't counted in a while. The chickens are really my 14 year old's thing and she knows their names, keeps tabs on them etc. We are getting some beautiful eggs each day and we enjoy fresh eggs. We still have 3 goats but are out of the rabbit business.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqSx7xEfZBg/TbwDHO_jI8I/AAAAAAAAAEY/jjjUFf-9tlw2WXawP92cxePKuN8UVgmbwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/blog%2Bpics%2B003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqSx7xEfZBg/TbwDHO_jI8I/AAAAAAAAAEY/jjjUFf-9tlw2WXawP92cxePKuN8UVgmbwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/blog%2Bpics%2B003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throwback of my daughter when she was little, but she has always adored her chickens. </td></tr>
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<b> My school: </b><br />
Thankfully, I am about to finish my PhD. I am on the dissertation phase and have collected my pilot data and am about to go into full scale data collection. I hope to be finished by the end of the Spring Semester. I may have to extend my graduation into the summer, but bottom line is that I only have about 3 more hours of tuition to pay, and most of that is paid for with a scholarship. I've tried really hard to get scholarships throughout this process, and anything I've owed, we've cashed flowed. We vowed for no new debt for my PhD- which we stuck to. So after my next tuition bill we will be finished paying for that and that money can be put somewhere else. I've also had to travel pretty often to the university, which was costly for plane tickets, hotels etc. So after one more trip ( to defend my dissertation) that expense will be finished as well!<br />
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I am starting a Pantry Challenge tomorrow, with my grocery budget being only $100 for the month of January ( and I haven't bought groceries in almost a week already) so that will help clean my freezer out and plan for what food(s) we need to plant and put up this gardening season. Read more about that in the coming days.<br />
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How has your year been? I'm excited to get back to visit with you guys!Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-65340112383368191782019-12-17T15:51:00.001-06:002019-12-17T15:51:31.517-06:00Simple Decorating for the Holidays with Dollar Tree<div class="col-1-1 pad-none clearfix" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2e3833; display: inline-block; float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; padding: 0px !important; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; width: 692px;">
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You all know that I love me some <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/4/%3Ca%20href=%22https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=845001&u=258747&m=64888&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EDollar%20Tree%3C/a%3E">Dollar Tree</a>. I'm excited that they have some great blog posts out for their affiliates to use! Please remember: This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.</div>
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<a class="clearfix" href="https://blog.dollartree.com/elegant-diy-wreath-using-3d-wreath-forms/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6ec155; display: inline-block; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;" title="Elegant DIY Wreath Using 3D Wreath Forms">Elegant DIY Wreath Using 3D Wreath Forms</a></h1>
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December 15, 2019 | <a alt="View all posts in DIY & Crafts" href="https://blog.dollartree.com/category/diy-crafts/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6ec155; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.8em; margin: -10px 0px 10px; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">DIY & Crafts</a> | Written by <a href="https://blog.dollartree.com/author/the-dollarista/" rel="author" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6ec155; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.8em; margin: -10px 0px 10px; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;" title="Posts by The Dollarista">The Dollarista</a></div>
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<a href="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/main-692x362-17.jpg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6ec155; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><img alt="Elegant 3D Wreath" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14403" height="362" sizes="(max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px" src="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/main-692x362-17.jpg" srcset="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/main-692x362-17.jpg 692w, https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/main-692x362-17-300x157.jpg 300w" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 20px 20px 0px; max-width: 100%; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: bottom;" width="692" /></a>Looking to add some extra pop and pizzazz to your holiday décor? Well then, you’re in luck because I am here to show you how! I was in my local <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/4/%3Ca%20href=%22https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=845001&u=258747&m=64888&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EDollar%20Tree%3C/a%3E">Dollar Tree</a> the other day and came across these awesome 3D wreath forms and decided to buy a few to hang across my dining room table. I wanted a more natural and elegant look, so I wrapped green garland and fairy lights around them and then stuck LED candles in the center of them. They looked GORGEOUS hanging above my dining room table and really set the mood for the holidays!</div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Stock Up on These Supplies:</span></h3>
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<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">3D Wreath Forms</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Hot Glue Sticks</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Hot Glue Gun (Not Sold at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/4/%3Ca%20href=%22https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=845001&u=258747&m=64888&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EDollar%20Tree%3C/a%3E">Dollar Tree</a>)</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Green Garland (One for each wreath you plan on making – the 10” wreaths will leave you a little extra garland afterwards)</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Fairy Lights or String Lights</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Floral Wire</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Twine or Fishing Line</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Hot Glue Gun (Not Sold at Dollar Tree)</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">LED Candles</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Optional: Flowers, Ornaments, etc.</li>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Follow Along Step-by-Step:</span></h3>
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<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Assemble the 3D wreath forms as instructed with the included metal braces. I reinforced mine with hot glue at both of the points to make it extra sturdy.</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Using your hot glue gun, adhere the garland to the wreath form’s wires by running a bead of glue on each wire and pressing the garland to the wire. It is best to do this a few inches at a time, and be careful, the glue will be hot.</li>
<li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 5px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">If you’d like, you can decorate with fairy lights and LED candles (pictured) or get creative with ornaments, flowers, and more! Run twine through the top and hang it from the ceiling to make it float.<a href="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_2.jpg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6ec155; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><img alt="Elegant 3D Wreath" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14401" height="362" sizes="(max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px" src="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_2.jpg" srcset="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_2.jpg 692w, https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_2-300x157.jpg 300w" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 20px 20px 0px; max-width: 100%; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: bottom;" width="692" /></a><a href="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_1.jpg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6ec155; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><img alt="Elegant 3D Wreath" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14400" height="362" sizes="(max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px" src="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_1.jpg" srcset="https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_1.jpg 692w, https://blog.dollartree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/extra_1-300x157.jpg 300w" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 20px 20px 0px; max-width: 100%; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: bottom;" width="692" /></a></li>
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Looking for more ways to spruce up your holiday décor? Check out these <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/4/%3Ca%20href=%22https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=845001&u=258747&m=64888&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EDollar%20Tree%3C/a%3E"><span style="color: #6ec155;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box;">simple ways to decorate for the holidays</span></span>!</a></div>
Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-43471540001572150712019-02-25T12:26:00.001-06:002019-02-25T12:26:07.397-06:00New Wife and being broke- memories of younger years and Pepperidge Farm CakeIf you read this title I know you are thinking.... WHAT? I'll explain.<br />
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My son stayed the night with my parents Saturday night and apparently my mom went to the grocery store and brought home a cake for him that was on sale. He wanted to bring it home to share with us as well. Super sweet kid.<br />
<img src="https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Nrl6LQPWigUvLQdCQjZdVgHaHa&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300" /><br />
But what it did was bring back memories. My husband and I got married when I was 21 and he was 23. He was just getting out of college, I was still in college and waiting tables. We were broke. He had an entry level job but we just didn't make much then. I remember it was his birthday and I wanted to so something special for him. I had been saving change in a Mason jar and went to our Kroger and cashed it in using that coin machine. I got about $15 out of it. I bought two pieces of meat, two fat baked potatoes and salad fixings. Then for dessert I splurged on a Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Fudge cake- just like the one my son brought home this weekend.<br />
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I remember my husband being thrilled with his steak dinner all those years ago. It's been a beautiful journey and even though we literally were "living on love" back then, I wouldn't change it. Good times and we learned to rely on each other and lots of prayer.<br />
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<br />Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-49710809116399535892019-01-21T17:00:00.002-06:002019-01-28T09:15:40.542-06:00Word of the Year: Abundance<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Abundance</span></em></h2>
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Abundance. That is my word this year! Every year I try to pick out a word that I'm really going to focus on. You can read about a few previous years and my "word" <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2016/12/word-of-year-2017-is-coming.html">here.</a> </div>
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This year I really want to focus on the abundance I have in my life. </div>
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The abundance of family and friends and love. </div>
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The abundance of the community and love I get from my church family. </div>
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The abundance of life and light that my children bring. </div>
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And also I'm going to focus on the abundance of material items as well.</div>
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I've been really trying to instill in my kids that we have SO much.</div>
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We have an abundance of food, of clothing, of space in our home. </div>
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We really need to be aware and be thankful of that abundance. </div>
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Do you all have a word for 2019? </div>
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What is your word for 2019? If you wrote a blog post about it, feel free to comment with it below. </div>
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Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-25606467272054405962019-01-19T12:49:00.001-06:002019-01-19T12:49:53.142-06:00A frugal- yummy comfort food- Tator Tot CasseroleIn my quest for frugality and still eating good tasting food We have turned towards casserole quite a bit lately. It's a nice dinner and I normally serve it with a green salad and a veggie. My youngest son doesn't care for the casserole, but he will eat the salad and vegetable. We normally have enough for 1-2 servings for leftovers as well. My husband says a nice hot sauce makes it just right:)<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ih5IVZURHH8/XENxQiILJoI/AAAAAAAAB4s/2rOI8Wz-qO8O8vp61BjEl2djhVX3_mdGQCLcBGAs/s1600/tater%2Btot%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ih5IVZURHH8/XENxQiILJoI/AAAAAAAAB4s/2rOI8Wz-qO8O8vp61BjEl2djhVX3_mdGQCLcBGAs/s320/tater%2Btot%2B.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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For this recipe you'll need:<br />
1 pound ground beef ( or deer or sausage)<br />
1 12 oz can evaporate milk<br />
1 bag of tater tots<br />
1 can cream of mushroom soup<br />
1 can cream of chicken soup<br />
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Brown the meat and drain. Put in the bottom of a casserole dish.<br />
Layer the tater tots on top of the meat.<br />
Mix the milk and two cans of milk together in a bowl and whisk together. Pour mixture over the top of the tater tots.<br />
Cook for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.<br />
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What are some of your frugal, easy dinner ideas?Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-32956318491166311592018-12-16T16:15:00.001-06:002018-12-16T16:15:24.626-06:00Frugal Lunches for the week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I'm off work for the holidays but my husband will be going to work this week. One thing that I've been doing for a while now is making sure we have our lunches ready to go for the week before we go to bed on Sunday nights. It's one thing to say " we'll take leftovers" or " I'll come up with something in the morning". But what happens is that did not always happen and we ended up purchasing a lunch here and there and blowing our budget. </div>
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This nice little meal consists of a bean and cheese burrito, chicken flavored rice and pickled jalepenos that I put up this past summer. The entire lunch costs less than $1.50 TOTAL. I also had enough left over for about 2 servings of rice that I can eat for lunch sometime this week or we can use it for leftovers or in a soup or something for dinner and 4 bean burritos that I wrapped in foil and put in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner down the road. </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dv631Ea_LxQ/XBbNI_OhgTI/AAAAAAAAB4U/LBp85HMRdFo2XcVThs_NVYVOIknVJosUQCLcBGAs/s1600/DFB2FBCA-14B9-45D8-BE9E-07AA9CECA906.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dv631Ea_LxQ/XBbNI_OhgTI/AAAAAAAAB4U/LBp85HMRdFo2XcVThs_NVYVOIknVJosUQCLcBGAs/s320/DFB2FBCA-14B9-45D8-BE9E-07AA9CECA906.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here we go- five, frugal- yummy lunches that will ensure that my husband has a good lunch and we don't spend money on food we weren't planning to!</div>
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What are your go to lunch preps? </div>
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Happy Homesteading guys!</div>
<br />Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-38379724765805362282018-10-25T11:12:00.001-05:002018-10-25T11:12:43.206-05:00Earning Amazon Gift Cards for Christmas ( or whatever else you would like)My husband and I have three kids and of course Christmas comes round once a year. So this year I tried to earn a few gift cards here and there through a few sites to save some money for the holidays. The great thing about Amazon is that they have toys of course, but also pantry supplies and I've purchased things like coffee and toilet paper from there before. The main site I use is<br />
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<a href="http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/rachellynn99" target="_blank">Swagbucks</a><br />
<a href="http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/rachellynn99" target="_blank"><img src="http://app3-cdn2.sbx-cdn.com/content/pages/promote-and-earn/images/be-my-swagbucks-referral.png" /></a><br />
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The main ways I earn are from the daily poll ( 1 point) and then the searches. You get random amounts for searching through their search engine. They have games and such called Swago ( like Bingo) they do sometimes and if I have time then I'll do that- but it adds up nicely. You can cash out with as little as 300 points which is $3. Besides Amazon they have a ton of other options, and I cashed out $25 to Target around back to school for school supplies.<br />
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The next site I use a lot is Bing<br />
www.bing.com<br />
I'm pretty sure I don't get referral bonus points for when my friends sign up- but it's a super easy site so I wanted to share with you all anyways. You can earn up to 150 points a day searching and they have some bonus opportunities for earning through daily polls etc. It's super easy and I cash out 1-2 times a month for a $5 Amazon code.<br />
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The next site I use is <a href="https://ibotta.com/r/gngxsa" target="_blank">Ibotta</a><br />
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When you sign up I get a $5 bonus and you get $10! You need $20 to cash out and you get paid for items you purchase at the grocery store ( or other stores) and then you scan the receipt with your phone. They have some offers that are called " any brand" so you may get 25 cents for a loaf of bread- it doesn't matter what brand. A while back they had a great deal on a particular breakfast sandwich my husband likes at Sams. They were on sale for $9.98 ( from $12.98) then for each box you got $5 from<a href="https://ibotta.com/r/gngxsa" target="_blank"> ibotta</a>! It doesn't take long to rack up that way.<br />
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I hope some of these sites help you. There are several more I use but these are the easiest and faster I've found to earn money.<br />
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Please note there may be affiliate links in my post. Thanks!<br />
<br />Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2512868575052222329.post-58348237907869373952018-10-25T10:38:00.002-05:002018-10-25T10:38:55.945-05:00October Financial update- lets talk numbers<br />
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It's been a while since I've posted about our debt free journey. You can read about the mountains of debt we have <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2018/01/this-is-post-i-hate-to-write-how-much.html" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="https://homesteadingquest.blogspot.com/2018/02/january-update-what-we-did-and-didnt-do.html" target="_blank">here. </a><br />
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So you may recall that at the beginning of this year we started really trying to get out of debt and pay off our debt aggressively. I'm not exactly sure what happened with that. The first few months went well! Like really well. But then around April we started to slip. I say we, but really it's mostly me, which is another hard pill to swallow. My husband has a debit card, but really only uses it for gas. He does not spend money for anything for himself really. It's mainly going over on our grocery budget, going out to eat, fun stuff like movies for the kids, clothes that we probably don't have to have etc. So we started to kind of started a slow decline of not paying as much as I had hoped on our debt. So the good news- NO NEW DEBT.<br />
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That's a start right?<br />
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So actually from January 1st until today we have paid off $6,580 which brings our non mortgage debt to $144798.<br />
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While my husband has been " on board" with debt payoff I think he kind of just left it to me and did whatever. I pay the bills, I pay for groceries, I pay for the kids stuff etc. So he just kind of didn't know. But we had a long talk and I told him that I really needed more support in this. I needed him to be a cheerleader and be much more present in our budget, our finances etc. He is more than willing- I think I've just never really expressed to him my desire for his help.<br />
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So that's where we are. We haven't gone up, but not as much progress as we have hoped.<br />
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I really want all of debt paid off by the time I turn 40. I turned 36 last month, so we have about 47 months to work with. Sigh.<br />
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How are you all doing on your financial goals? Are you saving for a rainy day? Trying to pay off debt? Have a saving goal for a vacation a car? I would love to hear how it's going for you all!<br />
<br />Rachel Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02349620560633134247noreply@blogger.com0