Words of Wisdom from My Governor

Here are some words of wisdom from my New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on fiscal responsibility. He is a man after my own heart:

Gov. Chris Christie appeared on NJ 101.5 FM this week for his "Ask the Governor" show and left armed with a new viral audio clip.

Gov. Chris Christie

On the call-in show, Penny from Blackwood asked Christie how she, a state worker, was going to pay for the additional costs of her health care plan under the governor's proposal to take more money from state workers' pay for their insurance.

The answer was pure Christie:

"... We can no longer afford to pay 90-plus percent of the cost of your health care. Public workers are getting their health insurance paid for out of your property taxes and state workers are getting their health insurance paid for out of your income taxes. If I'm $67 billion in debt and you don't want me to take any more money out of your paycheck, how am I supposed to pay for it? Am I just supposed to raise taxes? Because if I raise taxes, you're going to pay more taxes. And if your property taxes go up, you're going to pay more taxes. I mean, the money's got to come from somewhere. We can't print it."

Read the whole article here.

Good Stewards Class Notes: Couponing and Frugality

A friend and I spoke at a women's breakfast at my church on good stewardship of our money. While that is a huge topic, we mostly touched on how to save money by staying out of debt and couponing. Couponing is much more than just clipping coupons, it is a state of mind where wait to get what you need until you can get it at a good price. Once I saved over $700 on our family vacation by keeping my eyes opened and making 1 phone call. Below is more of a list of jumping off points, than a how to. It is the resources to get you started. Here is the hand out with a few added links and notes:

First of all, you may want to read this post I wrote comparing frugality with good stewardship. This part can be easily overlooked, but it is very important to have the right perspective.

There is also this post on couponing myths like, "There is nothing I would use coupons for."

Coupon lingo can be confusion to new be couponers, here is a site that translates for you.

Basic Principle

It is very simple, you use a coupon on a product that is already on sale. But you just don't buy one, you buy enough to last you to the next sale, usually about 3 months. See, the old way of couponing was buying a box of zip locks because I ran out. As an after thought I use 1 coupon as well. The new way is waiting until zip locks go on sale, then using the coupons I have to get several boxes. The old way I would get 1 paper, the new way I would get at least 4!

Four papers may sound like a lot, but you must have several to make your effort pay big. You can ask family and friends for their unwanted coupon inserts. If you cannot find any free paper inserts, even if you buy a paper, it would more than pay for itself.  If you are single or are just maintaining a stockpile, you may be able to get by with 2-3 papers.  As you keep reading, it will make more sense.  It also really depends how good the coupons are that week, I do not get 4 every week.  We will talk more about that too.  

Below there are more notes and links about coupon inserts and printable coupons. I also wrote 2 other posts on couponing here and here.

Here is a no coupon way to save money:

Homemade Laundry-detergent

This laundry detergent saves a huge amount of money. We buy its three ingredients for less than five dollars, and the resulting concentrate lasts our large family(the Duggars, not us) 3 months! It's a watery gel that produces low suds inside the washer. The ingredients are usually available in the laundry-products aisle of the supermarket — or order online. (Check recipes on the Internet; there's also a dry version of this laundry soap that's good for top-loading machines.) ~From 19 and Counting (Duggars) TLC on their recipe page. Added some comments myself. I have post here and here about this before. I have tried the dry recipe, it is not as good.

Ingredients:

1 Fels Naptha soap bar, grated
 1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

(All these ingredients can be found in the laundry isle at Shoprite.) 

Equipment: pot, grader, 5 gallon bucket, an old laundry-detergent bottle

Instructions:

1)Grate the soap bar into a small saucepan. Cover soap with hot water. 2)Cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually, until the soap completely dissolves.

3)Put washing soda and borax in a 5-gallon bucket. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir, cover securely, and let set overnight. 
4)The next morning, stir the mixture. Mix equal amounts of soap concentrate and water in a smaller laundry-detergent dispenser or container. Shake before using.

For top-loading machines: Use 1 cup of the soap mixture per load.

For front-loading machines: Use 1/2 cup per load.

Coupon Inserts:

There are a few different publishers of coupons. They are:

Red Plum
Smart Source
P&G Brand Saver (Protector and Gamble products) 
GM Everyday Saver (General Mills)

You will find the title up at the top of the coupon insert. Occasionally, there may be 2 Red Plums and/or 2 Smart SourceS. The date is printed on the spine.

Sources:

Philadelphia Inquirer: Best coupons most of the time, has more coupons per Smart Source insert, but no Red Plum. This paper is best bought on Saturday, if you don't have it delivered and costs about $1.75. However, the some Shoprites sell it for $1 (Medford, NJ).

Burlington Country Times: has less coupons per Smart Source insert, but does have a Red Plum. This paper is best bought on Sunday from the Dollar Tree for $1 of course.

All You: A magazine sold only by Wal-mart, full of a lot of coupons. You can get a subscription from Amazon or from their website www.allyou.com Also, you can print coupons from their website.

Individual Coupons Printed from the Internet: Here are some safe sights to print coupons from:

www.coupons.com

www.smartsource.com

www.target.com

www.redplum.com

There are more available, many companies offer coupons (see “Is this printable coupon legitimate?” ). Remember, you can print 2 coupons per computer. So, the more computers you have access to, the more you can print. You will have to download a program, but it is perfectly safe. It just makes sure you cannot print out more than allowed.  

Weekly Preview: Find out what some of the good coupons, how many inserts, what inserts are in the paper, and how many papers to buy of this weekend. She posts it on Saturday.

www.momsneedtoknow.com

To buy weekly inserts:

www.madcoupons.net www.couponsthingsbydede.com

Ebay – search for inserts by date - “coupon inserts 1/9." You can also buy single coupons. I saved $60 once by buying Almond Milk coupons on Ebay. FYI you are paying for the service to cut and ship, not the coupons - that is illegal.  Yes, there is such a thing as coupon fraud, and it is serious.  

Websites:

www.hip2save.com -watch videos on shopping at a specific stores

www.livingrichwithcoupons.com (local shopping deals, and videos on putting together coupon binder)

www.thekrazycouponlady.com (videos, couponing 101, store policies) – authors of Pick Another Check Out Lane Honey

www.totallytarget.com (Great for all your Target deals!)

What can I buy with coupon and for how much?

Free	Cheap
Toothpaste and Toothbrushes Mouthwash Deodorant Saline Solution Over the Counter Drugs Razors Shaving Cream Feminine Hygiene Products Cake Mix, Pancake Mix, Brownies, Cookie Mix Soap and Body Wash Cosmetics Shampoo and Conditioner Pasta and Sauce Cleaning Products and Dish Soap Laundry-detergent Oatmeal Snacks Toilet Paper Paper Towels Cereal Candy and Gum Vitamins	Flour Sugar Seasonings Diapers Paper Towels Toilet Paper Tea and Coffee Laundry-detergent Cereal Cosmetics Diapers and Wipes Canned Foods

Buy Prices:

What are the items you should put in your stockpile? The list is long, but here are some:

Condiments (BBQ Sauce, steak sauce, mustard, ketchup, mayo)

Rice and Pasta

Snacks (crackers, nachos, salsa, popcorn)

Canned Goods (tomatoes, sauce, soups, vegetables)

Cereals

Cleaning Supplies (cleaners, garbage bags, laundry)

Drinks (water, soda, iced tea, coffee, tea, juice)

Dairy (butter, creamers)

Meats and Fish (keep frozen)

Health and Beauty Products (band aids, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, soap, etc.)

Start your stockpile slowly, only looking for those items that are cheap or free. Within 4 weeks of starting your stockpile you can start to see approximately $50 knocked off your grocery bill. Within 8 weeks you can get to as much as $100 or even more off your weekly bill.

You will NEVER pay full price again!

Meats:

• Ground Beef 80-85% Lean $1.69- $1.99/lb
• Boneless Chicken Breasts $ 1.69- $1.99/lb
• Bone in Chicken Breast $ 0.79/lb
• Whole Chickens $ 0.97/lb
• Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks $ 0.79/lb
• Boneless Pork Chops $ 1.49/lb
• Boneless Pork Loin $0.99/lb
• London Broil $ 1.69/lb
• Top Sirloin Steak $ 3.99/lb
• Flank Steak $ 4.99/lb

Also be sure to check at Acme for “Manager Specials” they're will be a white coupon for an even lower price!!

Here is a sample buy price list, make your own according to the things you buy:

Cheese $1 or less for a bag of shredded cheese Ground Beef $1.75/lb Chicken $1.67/lb Milk $2.50/gallon (whole)- I freeze my milk if it's lower than this and I want to really stock up Cleaning Supplies (lysol wipes, bathroom & kitchen cleaners) $.50 or less Toothpaste/brushes FREE Cereal $.75 per box or less

Brownie and Cookie Mixes Less than $.50 or FREE Dish Soap $.25 or FREE Scott TP less then $.25 a roll Kotex Pads FREE Saline Solution FREE Granola Bars $.50 Chinet Paper Plates $.50 Bisquick $.90 or FREE Fruit Snacks $ .50 or less Deodorant FREE Body Wash FREE

Cooking:

Plan your meals, save money. Plan your meals around what you brought cheap or for free, save A LOT OF MONEY!

www.allrecipes.com (ingredient searches)

www.savingdinner.com (season dinner planning, easy, whole foods and healthy)

Monthly Meal Planner

Donations:

Only keep what you can use before it expires or 3 months to a year's worth at most. I might be able to get 20 tubes of free toothpaste, but I cannot possibly use them before they expire. While you are shopping for your household, pick up some items you can get FREE to donate!

Food shelters, missionary housing, charities that work with the needy ( i.e. homeless, women's shelter, aid to single mothers, pregnancy centers etc.) are just a few ideas. Keep your ears open, and you will hear how you can make a big difference just by spending your time. If your neighbor loses their job, you can just go to your stockpile to grab some things to help them. I have asked some people evolved with different ministries in our church, specifically what they need and how many people they plan to reach. This gives me an idea of what to look out for in "free" products, while making sure all my efforts and perfectly good supplies are not wasted.

Links to Helpful Handouts:

• What is a catalina?
• Coupon fraud alert
• Is this printable coupon legitimate?
• Coupon lingo
• Frequently asked couponing questions answered by Living Rich with Coupons
• Ten steps to becoming a crazy coupon lady by the crazy coupon ladies of course
• Coupon Basics for couponing newbies by Hip2Save
• Couponing 101 by Living Rich with Coupons
• Coupon fraud caught on tape

Final word
All this free and cheap items can make a newbie couponer go a little crazy.  Just please be sure not to clear the shelf, other shoppers are buying too.  A practical rule I use is no more than 4 items per store, unless it is a deal where you have to spend a certain about.  For example, buy $10 of Hunts products and get a $5 catalina off your next order).  It doesn't matter if you are going to donate them all.  There are families who seriously depend on these deals to make it, I am speaking of basic needs here, like heat, food and shelter.  If it is the last day of the sale and the store still has tons, then it is FINE to go crazy.  God wants us to be good stewards of our money, no matter what your income!  Other than that, please remember the biblical practice of gleaning in the wheat fields!

Books and Resources

• America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams by Steve and Annette Economides www.americascheapestfamily.com

-Lots of U Tube videos (link from their website)

-Great chapters on budgeting, saving and getting out of debt – very practical and realistic

• The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey www.daveramsy.com/home

-Great debt free living book

• The Duggars: 20 and counting! By Michelle and Jim Duggar www.duggarfamily.com & www.discovery.com/tv/duggars

-Great testimony of debt free living and good money saving tips

-This is where I got my recipe for Homemade Laundry-detergent

• Green This! Volume I: Greening Your Cleaning by Deirdre Imus

-Easy to implement with good information, excluding her conspiracy theories:-)

-She has other volumes available on green living

• Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely www.savingdinner.com

-She has a few other cookbooks as well.

-Weekly dinner menu plans based on season available foods, on a healthy, whole foods diet. She includes side suggestions.

-Simple, cheap and easy dinners that taste good too!
-Her books are great, but I think her eBooks and subscriptions are outrageously priced 

• Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey! By Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler www.thekrazycouponlady.com

-Excellent book on how to coupon, and fun to read!

*Use your local library to read these books for FREE. Even if your library does not have the book, you can ask for it through inter-library loan.

Good Stewards: Stewardship vs Frugality

This Saturday I will be speaking to the women at my church about being good stewards of their money, so I thought a blog post would help me get all my thoughts in order. The subject is quite vast. I am choosing to focus on the stewardship verses frugality, and how to go about that in a practical manner. FYI - when I am speaking of stewardship, it is in the monetary sense.

Good stewardship of our money looks different for different people. Cable TV would be frivolous for us, but not for my sports loving friend. There are seasons when time is short and we need to spend money on time savers or hired help, or risk insanity and poor health. How you spend your time can be as important as how you spend your money. It is important to keep in mind that spending time saving money can be well worth it, as it is adds income, which is untaxed and free to save or spend. It is a way in which a mom can stay at home with her children and still add to the household income. Our motives that steam from our hearts defines our penny pinching ways as either stewardship or frugality.

Stewardship and frugality are sometimes the same things and others times not. Frugality becomes bad stewardship when we give cheap gifts people really can't use. Hoarding goods we can't possible use, when someone else really needs them. Donating essentially junk like canned beets or stained clothes. Putting other members of the family under constant scrutiny of money spent. The motive is not to please the Lord, but of self reliance and selflessness.

A good steward lives generously, while using the money in the most efficient way possible in their circumstances. They view everything they have as belonging to God, and their love of God causes their thoughtfulness regarding how they make use of their resources in their charge. They also take time to enjoy life and the blessings God has given them in a balanced manner. A good steward lives their live in such a way as to be financially open to the plans God has for them, whether it be going on the mission field or adopting a child.

Crazy Couponing = Crazy $$ Part II

You will find it helpful to start small. The first step can be really easy. Just start collecting coupons. You do not even have to start cutting them. Ask family and friends who get the paper, if they could give you the coupons they are not going to use. For example, my mom and my sister give me their coupons. Then, as I got more of a handle of it, we subscribed to the weekend paper. If I like the coupons, my husband will run out to buy some extras for me. For example, when the P & G insert comes out, my husband goes up the street and buys 4 papers. I know that sounds like a lot, but believe me, it will more than pay for itself.

Here are some examples of how & how much we saved:

• Just from planning my meals, looking at the circular and bringing my coupon binder to the store I have saved $69.44 in one shopping trip to Shoprite in which I only spent $57.57. This means I purchase $127.03 worth of groceries for $57.57. Another time I saved 47.29 and spent 37.98. Most of my Shoprite trips look like this now. We save more that half our bill. It is my coupons that made the difference. I use my coupons on sale items and save big. It helps to plan you meals around what is on sale.
  
• You can buy cereal for a quarter. Acme has Cheerios on sale for $1.75. You have a coupon for $.75 off one box. Acme doubles coupon under $.99 up to $1.50. Your $.75 coupon becomes a $1.50 coupon. Bingo, cereal for a quarter. Needless to say, we have a quite a stockpile of cereals. If you think that is crazy, buying diapers for $3 will make you hit the roof.
  
• By looking at the blog posts from Krazy Coupon Lady and Living Rich with Coupons, I have been able to get things for free and make money. Like the time I spent $12 at CVS and received $14 in extra care bucks.
  
• Rebates are wonderful. Rite Aid has a very easy rebate program, you can see this month's rebates by looking on-line or picking up a paper copy in the store. By checking my couponing blogs, I stay on top of manufacturer's rebates. The blogs list exactly what you need to buy and where to get the rebate form. One time at Right Aid, I bought $65 worth and was paid $18 to do it.
  
• By combining rebates with coupons, store rewards (like CVS's extra care bucks -basically money to use on your next trip printed at the end of your receipt), and store sales, you can get some good deals. One time I bought 2 Aveeno 8 oz Daily Moisturizing lotions; 1 Aveeno Shampoo and 1 Conditioner for $1.45 plus tax (totaling $2.81). This is how: CVS had a promotion, if you brought $25 worth of select Aveeno products, you would receive $10 in extra care bucks. However the products were also on sale, which meant I actually had to spend $30 to make the $25 because 3 products where just under the $25. On the $30 purchase, I used a $4 extra care bucks, and 4 manufacturer's coupons totaling $ 6. So, out of pocket I spent $21.45, but then I got $10 in extra care bucks. On top of that, Aveeno was running a rebate in which you would receive a $10 rebate for purchasing $25 worth of Aveeno.

Next post I will explain how I made my coupon binder, and what I do with all those coupons. Later I will post on websites and individual stores.

Here is part one if you miss it:
Crazy Couponing = Crazy $$ Part I

Crazy Couponing = Crazy $$ Part I

Cutting coupons seemed silly to me. I would have never thought I would get stuff for free by cutting coupons, and I did not even know I could be PAID to buy things I got for FREE. It is crazy! It is not easy. It is work, but is pays very well and it is fun - or at least it is for crazy type A/homeschooling moms like me. However, I do think just about anyone, of any age and gender, would love couponing.

What I am not going to do in this post is tell you how to coupon because people have already done a better job of that. For starters, you can go to Krazy Coupon Lady website and click on and read beginners. Personally, I just read the whole article and gradually started couponing, but you could do it in 10 days. Then, I would suggest you read their book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler, the women behind the website. It is a laugh out laugh way to learn couponing. It is written to our generation, by 2 moms like us. This book was very helpful to me.

Another big help is finding other crazy couponers like yourself. It helps to have someone more experienced than you to ask questions or get tips from. It was through friends that I first learned about couponing, and I have learn a lot from them. However, if you do not know any other crazy couponing people, I think you will find the book mention above as more than acquit to equip you to coupon, and the rest you will learn on your own.

Living Rich with Coupons website is another place you can learn about couponing. She has a whole section for beginners. Later, I will do another post listing all the couponing websites, as well as all about my coupon binder, an essential accessory.

Tomorrow I will post about an easy way to start, as well as some facts and figures of how couponing has saved us a lot of money. Seeing what an average person can do, helps me see how it will fit into my own reality. It was my friends' stories of couponing that caught my ear and made me set aside time to figure it out. It is worth your time. It is money you can add to your income, and it is ALL tax free!

I.O.U.S.A Movie Review

My husband and I enjoyed this movie about the national debt. It made him feel angry and bummed, but it makes me excited to make change - the political kind. America can turn things around, but we have to stop our bad habits, work hard, sacrifice and change.

Start with our own households first. Buy less, save more. Spend LESS than you make. Cash and carry. Owe as little as possible. If you have to take a loan for a house, pay more than required even if it is just a few bucks more. Help those in greater need than yourself.

Then get active in the community to change the country. One of the easiest ways to do this is simple to vote for those candidates that will be fiscally responsible stewards. The other is just to talk about the issue with others - word of mouth. America loves watch the TV, recommend the movie. The movie website has information on how to be active, such as sending a letter to your congressman, which they make very easy to do. Also, there is the Peter G. Peterson Foundation that is mentioned in the documentary, this website would be able to provide you with more up to date information, additional ways to get involved and the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter. Then there is the Tea Party Movement or here.

We first watched some of the movie on-line through Netflix, but if your computer is painfully slow as ours, just get it from your local library.

Good Stewardship: books and resources

Books and Resources

• America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams by Steve and Annette Economides http://www.americascheapestfamily.com/

Lots of U Tube videos (link to videos from their website)

Great chapters on budgeting, saving and getting out of debt – Very practical and realistic

Borrow it from the Burlington County Library for FREE

• The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

Great debt free living book

Borrow it from the Burlington County Library for FREE

• The Duggars: 20 and counting! By Michelle and Jim Duggar

www.duggarfamily.com and http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/duggars/

Great testimony of debt free living and good money saving tips

If you lose your recipe for homemade laundry soap, you can find it at their website under recipes!

• Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning by Deirdre Imus

  Easy to implement with good information, excluding her conspiracy theories :-)

1^st volume in a series

There are a few Christian “green” books too, just haven't read them yet.

Borrow it from the Burlington County Library for FREE

• Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely

www.savingdinner.com - She has a few other cookbooks as well

Weekly dinner menu plans based on seasons on a healthy, whole food diet

Simple and easy dinners that taste good and are cheap

It even includes easy sides suggestions.

• Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler

  www.thekrazycouponlady.com

  Excellent book on how to do couponing, and fun to read

Debt

Piggybacking on Catherine's debt free post, I wanted to share our story in the adventures of debt free living. Today, after all, marks an important milestone - we paid off my husband's student loan.

About a year and a half ago, we decided to switch to a debt free lifestyle by using a few simple methods:

• Only use cash to buy items. If we do not have the money, we do not buy it. (see Saturday Night Live Clip below) Even when our refrigerator broke, we did not buy one until we had the cash. That meant living out of a dorm size refrigerator for over a month until God provided us with an old one from a friend. Not that we ever spent big money on luxuries like a big screen TV, but we probably would have thought in the past that we HAD to have a refrigerator right away, and put the purchase on a credit card.
  
• A budget on a weekly basis
• Pay off our smallest loan 1st, than use the budgeted amount from the smallest loan to pay toward our next smallest loan, and on it goes until our mortgage, God willing, is paid off. This system is nicknamed the debt snowball. Let me give our example, our loan with the smallest pay off amount was our car loan. Once the car was paid off we had an extra $250 to pay on top of our budgeted amount for my husband's student loan for a total of $550. Now our we have $800 towards our next loan, our credit card.
  
• The first thing we did though was put $1,000 in the savings for emergencies. We tend to have expensive ones here - hence the credit card debt. When an emergency arose, such as dental work, medical expenses or car repair, we had in the past no choice but to use the credit card.
• Getting additional income through hard work. Another reason for the debt was the year that my husband loss his overtime, which we counted on. If you have a chronic illness, you can easily spend a few hundred dollars on medical expenses in one month even with good health insurance. There is no way to stay out of debt other than to bring in additional income. We had already cut everything back possible. I got a part time job for a while, and my husband received his overtime back. This money helps us cover our unexpected expenses and pay down our loans faster.

By paying off our loans, we will have less overhead expenses and more money. After our credit card is paid off, we will save for a large emergency fund, a large purchase fund, and home repairs fund. We hope to buy our next car with CASH. Then it is on to our mortgage.

These two books were extremely helpful, and I highly recommend you get them from your local library (COST $0):

America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money by Steve Economides and Annette Economides - Yes that really is their last name. Great book. They are a homeschool family with five kids who lives debt free on a modest income by being smart, thrifty and hard working.

The Total Money Makeover by David Ramsey

The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America's Largest Families--How they Do It by Jim Bod and Michelle Duggar - Thrifty ideas, as well as their story how they live debt free with 19 kids.

Here is a very funny clip that makes a lot of sense:
Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford from Saturday Night Live (saw this one on I.O.U. U.S.A a DVD on America's national debt problem, which is also very good)

There is a lot more I could say about how paying off debt is liberating, how you are more available to God, or how living simpler is so much better. But, I will save that for another time.

The picture above was found on Flickr with the title "Get in Debt, Get Fat and Die at Walmart no less."

Debt Free

Dear Friends,

Hello! This is Catherine posting. :) Recently, my husband Matt's heart has been stirred to pay off all our debt (with the only exception of our mortgage). We're very close to reaching that goal... a little left on a car payment and a little left on a college loan. The closer we get to paying these off, the more freeing it feels.

But there will always be more purchases, right? How long can we sustain being out of debt before the next thing comes along? We're at a crucial point where we need to make a decision... are we going to commit to managing our finances in a way that leaves us debt free?

With the impending arrival of Baby #3, we have some new purchases on the horizon. Namely, we have to take the plunge and buy a minivan. Our first clue that we will soon outgrow our current vehicle was when we tried to put a third carseat in there. We couldn't close the doors! :) We have a practical need and an important decision to make. Will we take on more car payments or will we search for a used van that we can afford without financing it?

Last night, Matt expressed that he would really like to do that latter. That means going without the latest bells and whistles and perhaps having to wait patiently until the right van comes along.

I haven't done a lot of reading up on living debt free, but as I've thought about it a little, I came up with the following list of benefits:

- It will allow us to wait patiently for God's provision.
- We will be more prayerful about the dollars we spend.
- When God provides, the thanks will go to Him. (James 1:17)
- It will be so freeing! Debt is always burdensome whether you owe the bank, parents, or friends.
- It will allow us to give more generously and radically.
- It kills covetousness and wanting things that are beyond our means. If we can't afford it, we can't have it.
- Our focus will be placed on kingdom building and things eternal. How much better will it be to store up treasures in heaven? (Matthew 6:19-20)

Matt sent me this John Piper video over email last week and it really made us think about our long term financial goals. What do we want to treasure?



If you live debt free, what advantages/disadvantages have you experienced from living this way?

---------------------------------
Image credit: Alan Cleaver

Laundry Soap Update

My last batch lasted me 3 and half months and I have a top loader washing machine, which requires twice as much as a front loader. We do about 12 loads a week at least (3 of those are clothe diapers).

It is green (environmental) and saves you lots of money!

If you have not tried making your own laundry soap, here is the recipe I use from the Duggars':

Ingredients:

1 Fels Naptha soap bar, grated
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

Instructions:

Grate the soap bar into a small saucepan. Cover with hot water*. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually, until the soap completely dissolves.

Put washing soda and borax in a 5-gallon bucket. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir, cover securely, and let set overnight. The next morning, stir the mixture. Mix equal amounts of soap concentrate and water in a smaller laundry-detergent dispenser or container. Shake before using.

For top-loading machines: Use 1 cup of the soap mixture per load.

For front-loading machines: Use 1/2 cup per load.

Here is my original post:

Homemade Laundry Soap

*On their family website they say 4 cups.