Frustrated with Netflix Price Increase?

Are you frustrated with Netflix recent price increase? Many are. I've heard the complaints and well, we all get a little miffed when our bill increases but I still believe that Netflix is a good value. Here's why:

• Renting a movie...even the older titles would be at least $1 per movie, multiply that by 30 days in a month and you've already spent $30. If you choose the dvd/streaming combo, you'll pay bout $16 and you can watch more than one per day. This still fits in our $20 per month "entertainment" budget for our family.
• We haven't had cable in a LONG time but the lowest cost cable package I have seen is around $25 per month...not including fees. You can watch all you want but you'll pay extra for movie channels. 
• One of my favorite things about Netflix...NO COMMERCIALS! Oh yeah...this one is great! I can watch what I want without being bombarded by commercials every 5 minutes. This in itself saves me money and not just my spending but my kids won't be seeing all the stuff they don't have and screaming for me to buy it for them.

So...did you get miffed that they changed their pricing? Let me hear it. 

7 Ways to Get more Fruits and Veggies without Breaking the Budget

As we talked about yesterday, on June 2nd the USDA released their new MyPlate guidelines. The new guidelines show a diet filled with more fruits and vegetables with less grains. Have you looked at the price of fresh produce in the grocery stores? Not a pretty site! And many people, including our family, have always viewed the "grains" as fillers....I know rice, pasta and breads are cheap ways to fill up a hungry teenage boy and at that age, they are able to burn all those extra carbohydrates and calories. Of course, it probably sets a bad habit for them to fight in later life?

So....how can we increase the fruits and veggies without breaking the grocery budget? Well, I have some ideas.

1. Many of us use the meat as the "centerpiece" on our plates. We'll throw a big hunk of meat on there and then the rest of the plate was given to fillers and a little veggies. Fruits were usually reserved as dessert or a snack. Change your thinking...if the veggies and fruit take a larger role on our plate, then we'll be spending less money on meat or "proteins" as the MyPlate guideline shows. 
2. Buy fresh produce in season. This is a no-brainer. If the produce is not in season, it is picked early, shipped from long distances and has a higher cost especially as the cost of fuel rises. Learning to buy produce in season for your area may mean that you try new types of produce...that's not a bad thing. Have fun with it.  You might find a new favorite! 
3. Shop at discount stores like Aldi's. The Aldi's store near us gets their produce shipment in on Tuesdays. That means I am there usually on Wednesday buying our produce for the week. The produce varies but I have always found it cheaper. For example, our local Walmart and other grocers charge about $2.88 per head of califlower but at Aldi's, it's $1.49. Bell peppers at other grocers cost about $0.89 each...at Aldi's, I've purchased them in a three pack for $0.99 on sale with a regular price of $1.49. That's quite a savings. Of course, I stock up on them when they are on sale...bring them home and slice or dice them to put in the freezer. 
4. Check the "discounted" bin at your local grocer. If you are uncertain where it's located in your store, ask the produce manager.  Just because it's marked down doesn't mean it's bad...choose the best packages from those available. When you get it home, if you don't plan to use it immediately, chop it up and put it in the freezer.
5. Find your local restaurant supplier. In or near every town there is a company that supplies produce to local restaurants. Find that company...they are usually listed in the phone book but you can also call your favorite restaurant and simply ask where they get their produce. Then contact that company and find out if they offer sales to the public. Many of them do. If you must buy a case of something to get the special pricing...find friends to go in with you to buy a case and then divide it up.
6. Don't forget frozen and/or canned fruits and veggies. Although fresh is best, sometimes we must use alternatives. Frozen foods would be the second best to fresh as it's "flash frozen" and retains a lot of the vitamins and minerals. Canned is also fine, however, with fruits, try to choose those canned in fruit juice or light syrup instead of heavy syrup. 
7. Lastly, it might be in your best interest to have a small garden. If you are new to gardening or it sounds daunting, I recommend the "Square Foot Gardening" method. It's great because it produces a lot of stuff in a small area. It's great for rural areas, city lots and even those who live in apartments or townhouses.

I hopes these ideas have helped. What do you do to keep the costs of fruits and veggies down? Share them with us by leaving a comment.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

5 Reasons I Like the New MyPlate Guidelines

On June 2nd, the USDA announced their new nutritional guidelines replacing the outdated (and I believe, flawed) "food pyramid." Of course, there is already quite a bit of talk about big changes like this and people are chiming in with their opinions. I figured....I feed a large household ranging in ages from older adults (hubby and myself) to our 17 month old baby girl...I should be interested in what they recommend. This is what the new guideline picture looks like.

Pretty huh? Well...in short, I think it's a better plan than the old pyramid and here are the five reasons I like the new MyPlate guidelines:

1. I think it's a more balanced look at what we should be eating. More fruits and veggies than the higher carbohydrates found in the former "grains" section of the old pyramid. 
2. I think the picture itself will help see what our plates should look like. Perhaps that's because I'm a very visual person. :)
3. It's a lot easier to remember! This will help a great deal in not only planning meals but making sure they are portioned correctly. 
4. Fats and sweets are not represented ON the place setting. This automatically tells us that we should not consider them our main sources of food or calories and to use them sparingly. We all know we use those items in our cooking and serving. 
5. Because of the ease of design and use...I think more people will be able to follow it. That's always a good thing. 

Go check it out at MyPlate ...be sure to check all the links for the sections, it's really gone into quite some detail about what should be included in that area. I do know one thing...we'll be switching out some of our old standbys with healthier options like replacing white rice with brown rice. Basically, getting more whole grains in our meals than fillers. 

So...what do you think about the new guidelines? Do you think you can follow them and still keep your grocery budget in check? I'll have more about that tomorrow!

Huggies Little Movers!

Hi Everyone...have you seen the "Huggies Little Movers" video? It's so cute and the kid belongs to a friend of ours. Go watch it!


BLISS TV - Our Busy Lives with Little Movers from Blissful Media Group on Vimeo.

It reminds me of the day we "lost" our little mover! He was hiding...behind the door and on the bookshelf! You can imagine my surprise when we found him clinging 5 foot above the floor. If he'd been wearing red and blue I would have thought he was spider man! LOL! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well....it's been extremely busy around here. Basketball season has started so we have practice twice a week with our homeschool team.

I've also been busy sewing because it's difficult and/or expensive to find maternity clothing my size. First I transformed two pair of jeans into maternity jeans and I hope to have a tutorial coming soon. I've also made 3 tops.

I hope to be making a few Christmas gifts for our boys. We have two sons who just really like StarWars so I want to make them a Jedi robe complete with hood. I'll also be making them some stuff from Indiana Jones since they imagine being him also. I love the imagination of little boys!

That's what's been going on here. Hopefully I'll have some posts about getting ready for the holidays coming soon. I love the holiday time!

Have a great day!
Mavis D.

Thinking Outside the Box

Over the last few months of my coupon adventures, I have accumulated quite a nice little stockpile of items. Some of those items are things I use all the time and some are things I thought I would try….especially since they were very cheap and many times free.

So what do you do with all those things? Well….there is the usual things. Often times I will donate them to needy families or organizations that could use my extra items. Sometimes I am given a tax receipt so I can write those donations off of my taxes….other times I get the good feelings that come from helping others.

Other items, I have learned to use in different ways. For example, did you know that shampoo works great as body wash? It does! It’s basically the same thing so why not try it. I can get shampoo a lot cheaper than body wash.

How about using hair conditioner as shaving cream? Just smooth it on your legs and shave. The feeling it leaves behind is wonderful and luxurious….even nicer than the real shaving cream!

I use dishwashing liquid as laundry soap….just use a couple of tablespoons per load. You can also use the “grease cutting” type on stains. Shampoo also works well to cut greasy stains on clothing.

We use dishwashing liquid in pump bottles for hand soap as well. Just mix 2 or 3 parts water to 1 part soap and shake it up good….the amount of water depends on the consistency you like. You can also put about the same portions in the foaming pumps after you’ve emptied them.

Ok…here’s the last one and probably the funniest one. I had a stockpile of panty-liners. I had gotten them free so I was thinking of ways to use some of them. Did you know they make great bandages for large wounds? Just use them in place of gauze bandages and use tape to hold in place. They can be trimmed to fit any size you need and that way they won’t look so obvious. There should be a few in every first-aid kit in your home or car!

So, I hope you look at your stockpile in a whole new light and start thinking outside the box as to what uses you may find for the items on hand.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

I'm Baaaccckkkk!

Well, I'm back from the far reaches of the basketball world! We've only got one more thing to do and that's the Basketball Banquet and it's only a couple weeks away! Whoo hoo!

During my "off time" I've been learning more and more and hopefully I'll be able to share those things with you.

One thing I have noticed lately and I really think it's only on some items. Some of the prices are going down. I know the price of milk and bread has gone down quite a bit. Do you know of other items? Kind of funny how they all said it was because of the price of gas going up it takes more money to get it to the stores but fuel prices have been down for awhile and I'm only now seeing some of the other prices go back down.

Unfortunately, I think this is a temporary thing since our dollar is being devalued on what seems like a daily basis. Please are still loosing jobs out there so it's not over folks!

In the coming weeks I want to bring some recipes that are low cost and healthy. Some were actually used during the Great Depression so you might find them helpful to stretch your food dollar.

See you soon!

Mavis D.

I know...

I know....I've left you hanging. Life has gotten busy around here and it doesn't leave much time for my hobby....writing here.

Our boys are in the middle of basketball season so it's keeping us running. We're also getting ready for "Nationals" and our year end banquet.

So...all that to say, please be patient with me. :)

By the way, I hope you all can help me. My family really likes the Kraft Coleslaw dressing but I am trying to find a recipe that comes close to it's flavor. Do you have any good suggestions? Leave a comment and let's see your recipe!

Did I Tell You? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Well...did I? Our oldest son who has been serving in Baghdad, Iraq is coming home!

He should be here in a matter of days and we'll be so happy to have him home and safe.

Please continue to keep these men and women in your prayers. There are still many more over there and even when they do come home they need the prayers to help them adjust back into "normal" life.

To Will...we are proud of you and love you very much!

To everyone else...have a great week!

Mavis D.

Christmas Preparations...Not for the Faint of Heart

The trim is DONE in the living room. It's amazing how "finished" it looks even though it's not painted yet.

Tonight, we'll be repairing a toilet by installing a new wax ring and possibly install the trim in the "main" bathroom.

On another note, how many of you braved the chaos and cold to go shopping on Black Friday? I scanned the ads while the turkey was baking and was not excited about anything. With our economy as it is, I really expected more "fabulous" sales and savings...you know, to get the customers out to stimulate the economy and help their bottom-lines.

Many found something worth going out for but I stayed home and waited until about 10am before I left. I only stopped at two stores...Walmart and Walgreen's to pick up a few things...most were already gone but I did get a few things I wanted to purchase.

I came home, we set up the tree, and decorated a little...we don't usually decorate much, just a tree and the mantel. We definitely don't do a bunch of lights outside but this year I plan to have at least a wreath on the door. I've done bows in the past but I'm thinking I want a wreath instead.

Lastly, I've been working on Christmas gifts. I plan putting together some gift baskets and I really want to think about what would be a good theme for each person. For example, I have one person that is always journaling so I'll probably put together a basket for her that has something to do with writing her "life's story" or other short stories. It's something she enjoyed when she was younger. Don't worry, she's not "online" so she won't be reading this! LOL!

I do have to stay within a budget...like everyone else so I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck and trying to make many things as "homemade" as possible.

Do you have any ideas? What are you doing to keep your Christmas budget from getting out of hand? I'd love to hear more ideas including gift ideas...so leave a comment and tell us how you are filling your Christmas with cheer.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

I didn't Fall off the Earth!

Well...I guess you might think I fell off the earth. Not quite although I think it might be a nice vacation!

It's been an interesting month. I've been working on a few project and trying to get things ready for the holidays. We've also been doing some work on the house.

We started the house in 2003 and we are FINALLY putting up some trim. The living room and hallway look GREAT and they are almost finished! I'm so excited! I also got a great deal on a mantel-shelf and hubby and the boys put that up Saturday. Soon they will be done with the installing the trim and they'll be looking to me to paint it! LOL! I didn't think about it until later but I should have taken a "before" and "after" photo to show you! Oh well...you'll forgive me, right? I hope so.

Another thing I did this past month was present a "Money Saving Tips" night to my fellow homeschool moms. It was great! We played a little game; had some snacks and they tell me that they learned a lot. I hope they did. :) We even made homemade laundry soap although my crockpot (which I used to heat and dissolve the soap) went cold on me so the soap didn't turn out EXACTLY right but it still works.

Now I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I've experimented with a few new recipes and want to share those with you and I'm working on a few more.

Thank you for checking back with me and thanks to all those who subscribe!

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

Preparing for Class

Did I mention that we homeschool? Well...we do. We started homeschooling our oldest around 1994 or so and joined the local homeschool group in 1995.

Funny thing, when we first had children we said..."it doesn't matter if I have to work two jobs but they are going to a Christian school." Well, the school we planned to send them to closed and we were a bit lost at what we would do. Someone, in passing, mentioned homeschooling. What was my reaction? I exclaimed with great passion "That's not LEGAL!" :) Since then I found it was legal and we love it!

So, what does that have to do with "preparing for class?" Well, I have volunteered to teach a class with our local co-op for the fall session. Digital Photography 101!

I love photography and taking tons of pictures...yeah, sometimes they don't turn out as planned but I still love it and I'm going to teach what I've learned. The problem is that as the class gets closer and closer I get more and more nervous. Hey...I'm older than they are and I know more but I still get a little nervous at the thought of teaching "other peoples kids" anything!

Don't worry, I'll get over it and do just fine...I just hate those butterflies. :)

Have a great week!

Mavis D.

Prayer Knitting?

For you knitters out there...have you ever noticed how very relaxing it is? I am sure you have. It is very therapeutic...especially the simple projects that do not require a lot of counting or increasing and decreasing. It is so relaxing that sometimes I will even fall asleep with needles in my hands and I know one thing for sure, it is a lot cheaper than therapy!

I can sit for a few minutes or a few hours and I seem to be nice and calm. When things are a little crazy around the house, which often happens with this many boys, I go and sit for a few minutes and work a few stitches or a couple of rows and before long it seems all is right with the world and we can get back to work on whatever it was we were doing.

I think about lots of different things while knitting, solutions to problems, work out homeschool issues, think and concentrate on things. I am sure we could solve the world's problems if we all just took up knitting!

Another thing I do is pray. While I was knitting the scarves my boys requested, my mind would drift to future scenes of seeing the scarf on them, keeping them warm, even keeping them warm when I am not there to do it...maybe a little hug from mom while they are outside playing. I also found myself praying for them while I was knitting. With each stitch or row, a small utterance of good will, blessings, and thoughts for their protection and success in life went into each scarf.

Have I stumbled onto something? I think I have and it is wonderful! I call it "prayer knitting," so you know what I had to do next. Yep...I had to "Google" it to see what came up.

There are women and probably some men who knit different things all while praying for the future owner. Prayer shawls that will comfort someone during a loss, hats for chemo patients or premature babies, blankets for children who have lost someone close to them...all knitted with prayers and blessings intertwined in each stitch.

I would have never guessed that this new "hobby" would end up bringing spiritual blessings to me but I am glad it has...funny how things work out like that isn't it?

If you knit and would like to find a ministry to work with, check out these sites. There are many patterns available online and with each organization.

Prayer Shawl Ministry - shawls to comfort those who have experienced a loss

Head Huggers - Chemo caps

Head Huggers "No Hair Day" pattern - (I love this one!)

The Preemie Project - booties, bonnets, and blankets for premature babies

Project Linus - Providing security through blankets

Mother Bear Project - Make a bear. Make a difference.

Warm Up America Foundation

Snuggles Project - blankets for animals in shelters

Learning to Knit

Well...it has been a couple of months since I started my journey into the world of knitting. I have made quite a few projects...mostly "small" ones. Here are the two scarves I made for two of my boys that I mentioned here.


The red one is for my 6 year old and the gray one is for my 13 year old. They are knitted in a simple garter stitch pattern so it would look the same on both sides. I cast on about 30 stitches and just knit them. We would measure for length when we thought it was long enough.

I know one thing for sure. I am addicted! I snatch time here and there to knit and I usually do not leave home without something...even a simple project. I have found that I can "watch" TV or listen to audio books while knitting...unless it is a patterned project...then I'm too busy counting! It seems to help my concentration and I can actually remember what I have listened to...I wonder how our preacher would like it if I were knitting while listening to his sermon. :)

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

A Challenge?

My friend, Michelle, has challenged me to post more often. She tells me that she checks several times a day to see if anything is new. She has also suggested a few things she would like to see which is very helpful for thinking of topics.

Therefore, my question is...what topics YOU would like to see covered. I have a few on my list that I'm working on but I like to keep that list full....so leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

Cleaning the Castle

Cleaning house has never been a favorite passion of mine. Oh, I come by it honestly, my mom was not a clean freak either but you do have to do it from time to time. If nothing else, you will need to dig yourself out every so often.

I have a friend over at Squidoo that has put together a wonderful page about making house cleaning fun and how to enlist the help of your kiddos. You know, those who usually help make the bulk of the messes!

Check out her page here and be sure to say "Hi" to Susan. She's a former homeschool mom, mother of soldiers and a work-at-home mom/wife.

Have a great day and happy cleaning!

Mavis D.

Why I Shop at Aldi's

I have a few friends that have asked me why I am willing to drive 25+ miles to shop at a certain store called Aldi's. Of course, this amazes me that they have not even tried it! I guess it would really blow their minds to know that I used to drive over 50 miles to shop at an Aldi store before our "local" city earned its place on the map. My mother, sister and myself would all take the truck and make a day of it and we would buy enough canned goods to last our families at least 3 months.

Now you must remember that I do not shop Aldi's exclusively but I do get the bulk of our food there. I also do not shop there once a week. If I happen to be "in town" and I will be close to it then I'll stop there for my fresh produce or a gallon of milk, otherwise, it's usually a once a month shopping trip and I prepare our meals from the pantry.

I have found that shopping at Aldi helps keep my food budget down which is very helpful when feeding a family of six...it used to be seven but one has left home now. When combining my Aldi shopping with cooking from scratch and taking advantage of sales, I have managed to keep our food bill down to $600 per month. For some, this may sound like a lot but most of those have smaller families. In addition, I have checked with the USDA's food plan chart, which says a family our size, should have a budget of $1058 per month on the "low cost plan!" It doesn't describe the "low cost plan" but I'm assuming it allows for a couple of roasts per month and a couple of evenings with lower cost steak choices with the bulk of other meats being chicken, ground beef, fish or pork.

I have compared prices with many different stores and have consistently found Aldi to be cheaper. Their "store brands" compare to those name brand items you are used to buying and many times the same company, on the same lines as the name brand labels, manufactures them. Of course, that is usually the case with most store brands located in all stores. I know this personally, as I worked in a canning company for a short time.

If you would like to compare prices without actually going to the store a homeschool dad was able to get a price list and he scanned it for the rest of the world. These prices were current for April 2008 and may differ a little bit by your location. It's now posted on SlickDeals...open the PDF file from there.

As with all of your shopping, I recommend you read the labels. As you may know, we avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils for health reasons but those things are in all processed foods no matter where you buy them. To read more about why you should avoid them check out "Cooking from Scratch - Healthy Living"

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

Learning to Knit

As many of you know, I have been learning to knit. This is not small undertaking for me. I have tried learning needlecrafts in the past. Like the time I tried to crochet. I was making a "doily" but when I finished it looked more like a bag! Apparently, I have a problem with tension...funny, a mom of 5 sons having a problem with tension? Impossible!

Well, I must report that I am not tied in knots and crying out for help. In fact, I have become quite addicted! This morning I ask hubby to drive to church instead of me driving...it was so I could sit on the passenger side and knit!

I have made two dishcloths, a scarf and I am working on a second scarf. My five year old "Little T" asked me to make him one...how could I say "no?"

I did try the "cheating" way as some of my friends call it. I bought a loom kit and tried that when I just could not get the hang of hand knitting. Now, I have done both and really enjoy the hand knitting much better. The loom knitting seems to roll up a lot more than the hand knitting

Here are two dishcloths I have made. The one on the right is the hand knit one (blue) and the other is the loom knit dishcloth (multicolored). I did make a mistake in my first one but I "fixed" it and it will serve its purpose after all. However, do you see how the loom knit one rolls at the top of the picture...I do not like that so I have all but stored the looms and bought more needles!


I have found knitting to be very relaxing and I've even loosened up my tension.

I am a visual learner so I need to SEE something before I can do it. I was able to find some great videos online that were very helpful to me and you'll find them here. I hope they are as helpful to you as they were to me.

Have a great knitting day!

Mavis D.

When the Lights Go Out!

Today we spent over half the day without power. You never really think about the electric unless it's not working properly or it's time to pay the bill. Although we are trying to conserve energy we saw today how dependent are on it, a dependency that was a little on the scary side!

Without electricity, I am unable to cook meals, wash clothes, make phone calls, and a whole list of other things including blogging and checking my email. Last night when the power was off for a short time, we were unable to see except by candle or flashlight that and we only had a little wind up radio that my hubby bought for emergencies. It worked ok but we sure were tired of winding it up! LOL!

It makes me wonder just how prepared for emergencies our family really is and gives me ideas for some things we need to add to our household to prepare. Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes and many times, we never know how long they will last. When the power goes out you never know how long it will last!

I can get by without checking my email and if I really need to do that, I can always take the laptop to the local truck-stop where they have free wireless but what about eating? We've become quite accustomed to eating every day but what happens if I can't cook? Oh, we have a camping stove and we could set that up so we do have something but it is not an ideal situation and it probably is not would considered safe inside the house.

Anyway, after our little emergency, I've made a list of things around our home that we want to change or add to make life easier during those emergencies. I hope the list helps you as much as I know it will help our family.

1. Alternate ways of cooking: camping stove, barbeque grill, sterno cans, etc.

2. Emergency lighting: lamps with battery backups, emergency lighting, solar powered/battery backup lighting.

3. Communications: battery powered radio with rechargeable batteries; batteries stay in charger until needed.

4. Alternate heat source: Fireplace, vent-less gas stove,

5. Canned foods that do not require cooking. On this note, one last thing I want to change...we have a very large freezer where we keep frozen foods and meats. I could not imagine trying to deal with all of that thawing at one time. I am rethinking the whole idea of keeping that much meat and other foods frozen. I have decided to start canning a good portion of our meats and things. This will have a two-fold benefit. First, thee meat is canned and cannot spoil if the electricity goes out. Second, the children could make any type of meal they wanted by simply opening a jar. They would not need to cook any meat and I would not worry if they burned themselves trying to drain grease off or anything like that. I have a friend who does this and her children have been able to cook meals by themselves at very young ages.

Are there things you can think of that might help prepare for emergencies? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

Going "Girly"

Ok...it's weird...maybe it's my age or maybe it is because I've lived for 20 years as the only female in our home but some strange things are taking place around here. You have noticed the blog. Flowers? Who would have thought it? I love those little Gerber Daisies...they are so cute!

I have always been a "tomboy" so girly things were just a little foreign to me but lately I have started changing things to look more feminine and I'm not sure where that change has come from.

Some of the changes...besides the flowers on the blog...are that I have started wearing a lot pinker, lacier stuff and I am learning to knit. I am learning many things I always considered girl stuff.

Still, I haven't given up all of my tom boyish ways. I like playing in the dirt but we call it gardening now and I have to watch my speed when driving....I like to race but I think that comes from my mom so I don't know if it's a guy thing or not! I still hate to wear dresses and I am most comfortable in my jeans and t-shirts. I do not wear make-up and I think anything more than brushing my hair is a nuisance. Maybe I am not changing as many things as I think I am. Hhhmm Well...maybe there is hope for me yet!

Have a great day!

Mavis D.