Frugal Friday

It's June and I've been done with school for about a week. Nolan graduated from Lancaster Catholic and the Lancaster Career and Technology Center. The parties are over. I deep cleaned the kitchen floor. The new school I'm starting (more on this later) is set up and the paperwork sent to the state.  What does all this mean? I'm a little bored. So yesterday it occurred to me that I used to love to blog. I think one of the reasons I stopped blogging was that I no longer had the time to do it. Well, this new found boredom has given me time to blog again!  So I went back to my blog and found this post that never got posted. I think it's a good one so I'm sharing it with you today. It is over a year old but still relevant. Enjoy this one and look for more this summer.

We're still eating the sauce we made from these tomatoes.

Here it is (from 2015. And, no, it's not Friday. Please don't expect me to post a Frugal Friday post each week this summer. This was the 2015 me, not the new and improved 2016 me who knows better.):

This is the first in what I hope will be a weekly Friday posting. Hope being the operative word here.

I've been contemplating voluntary poverty for the last few weeks. I'm not going to get into that topic right now because it would require more time than I want to give to my computer at the moment. We all know that there are people who live in terrible poverty all over the world, including the town you live in. 

I'm prone to a guilty conscience and so I have to be careful about my motives. I don't want to do something because it seems romantic at the time but is unsustainable.

What I have felt convicted about for a long time is to live more simply. To honor the beauty of the natural world that has been entrusted to us by our creator. What does this mean exactly?

Well, first off: waste not.

I guess that is my basic definition of frugality. So on this and (I hope) subsequent Fridays I'll post something about being frugal. We all know that when one can make a posting alliterative it has universal appeal. Right???

So, my first Frugal Friday post topic is PATIENCE. "Patience,"you may ask? What does that have to do with being frugal and eliminating waste?

1. Impulse buying. It is so easy, isn't it? Let me give you a current example. Yesterday a friend recommended the book 7:An experimental mutiny against excess. I was cleaning out my closet and lamenting the number of skirts in there that almost never get worn. My gut instinct after looking at the book was, "Hey, this is right up my alley. I'll buy it right now. I'm just one click away on Amazon!" Fortunately, the angel sitting on my other shoulder reminded me that purchasing a book immediately because I REALLY wanted to read it was just as bad as those 13 skirts sitting in my closet. Worse, actually, because I still had the option of NOT buying it. So, my friend offered to loan me the book when she was finished with it and my dilemma was over. I'll still get to read the book and glean the knowledge written inside while saving some cash and possibly having a moment to chat with a friend during the exchange. 

2. Savings. I think we all know the cost of buying on credit or buying more than we have income to sustain. Just take a look at the housing crisis in America. How many people were approved for loans that they could not sustain. My parents taught us that if you want something, save for it first. Chances are you may not even want the item you were saving for once you have the money in hand. Being patient about fixing up the house, upgrading the computer, or even that new pair of shoes pays off in the end.

3. Eat real food and cook it yourself. Yup. Cooking takes time. Cooking real food takes extra time. It takes patience to learn to make something from scratch, to use the oven instead of the microwave. No, dinner isn't usually ready in 10 minutes or less. To be honest, the cost of real food isn't always less than processed. Unless you look at the big picture. Most commercially available foods are subsidized by the government along the path from giant farm to your table. Where do the subsidy monies come from? Yup, taxpayer pocketbooks. How about your health? What is the cost in medicine, doctor visits and hospital stays that are directly linked to the poor quality of food that we eat? High. The cost isn't just in money but in time and quality of life. 

4. You. We are all human. We all have our faults. We all need to strive to improve our lives in some way. Be patient with yourself. Nothing changes overnight except the date on the calendar. Every experience in your life is forming you and often those around you. Waste not. Examen yourself but be patient with yourself. If you find you have blessings then give thanks! If you find you have faults, make a plan. If you have faulted your husband, your children, your friend, your coworker: ask forgiveness. Take the time to improve yourself. Give thanks for the many blessings you have in your life and find one area that you can improve upon. Continue practicing patience with it all.

I'm sure there are more areas where patience and frugality meet. If you've got an idea, comment or facebook or post! Send me your links. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Time and What To Do With It

Above you can see Chloe's favorite method of rehydration: drinking from a flower vase. I suppose she likes flavored water or something. We get no end of satisfaction out of her antics and super cuteness so I thought I'd share the photo with you. Just because.

Now back to my regularly scheduled programing. I have been thinking lately about time management. I don't especially like calling it time management because that makes it sound too formal and dull. Really I've been thinking about the time we are all given. Each of us has 24 hours every day. Nothing is going to change that. At different times in my life those 24 hours have been too long and at other times, too short. 

I'm in the '24 hours is too short' phase right now. 

Many of us are. I realize there are tons of blog posts and ezine and magazine articles about how to manage one's time so why bother writing about it? Well, I write not so much for anyone who may be reading but for myself. I'm always happy to hear that my musings are helpful or entertaining to others but the reality is that I blog to keep a little journal of my thoughts and actions. So today I want to do a little soul searching about my time and what to do with it. Bear with me.

We often quote the Bible, "To everything there is a season." I think it is so often quoted because it is true. The problem is that we forget the notion in our thirst to do everything. In some ways this age of technology is to blame. In an instant we see what everyone else is doing and we want to do the same. We forget that our lives are all different (thankfully) and that we each have different needs, skills, opportunities and commitments. 

For instance, I think it would be great fun to be an all-dressed-up-in-historical-time- period-garb-tour guide at one of our many local historical sites. I had to realize, however, that this is not the time for me to take on such a volunteer opportunity. I have too many commitments to my family and my job. I can see a time in perhaps 5 more years where this would be doable. 

I also have learned over time that I have a different threshold for busy-ness than many other people. I do not thrive being on overdrive. I thrive on slow and steady. I really am mostly an introvert and although I get energy from being out and about, I need time at home in the quiet. So I am learning to say no, even to good opportunities. I have to be picky about my service to others, to the activities my family attends and even to my job options. I feel fortunate that my whole family is wired somewhat similarly. We do not do well if we are over-involved. 

So I've been taking a look at what I have time for right now. I know that my time to be busy with my boys is fleeting. They are both in high school and both working. Neither drives. So we ferry them to activities and work. We help with marching band and the plays and musicals, we drive to youth group and host Homecoming dinners. Sometimes we do these things by foregoing something that one of us would like to do. We know the time is short and there will be time for ourselves in the near future. 

So what about me? I'm making decisions about my time. I love my job and am thankful to have it. I am also incredibly thankful to be starting a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program at St. Mary's. Both of these things take up quite a bit of my time and energy. So I am focusing on these things. Of course the house and garden need attention as well. Meals need planned and cooked, weeds need pulled, the garden needs put to bed for the winter, the bathroom needs cleaned. It is important to me to keep these things in order, so I vow to spend more time on them.

What I have also decided is that there are things that I enjoy but I am happy to put on the back burner for the time being. Sewing is one of them. Sewing used to fill a great deal of my time. To do it well, it really does take time. Of course I continue to sew for the plays and musicals Nolan is in but other than that I have decided to put the sewing aside for right now. I'm also saying 'no' to most other activities that come along that interrupt the flow of our family life. Saying 'no' doesn't come easy to me. I'm really a 'yes' girl. Shhh....don't tell too many people. 

So today, a day off from work and school for us all, I am off to cut my men's hair, clean up the house, work on my classroom and get outside in my garden. I hope you have a peaceful day yourself.