Memorial Day Craft

Memorial Day is almost here! I know, it feels like just yesterday it was winter... wait, it was just yesterday!

No matter, the gateway to summer is just around the corner. Last year on Memorial Day weekend we got a fairly big snowstorm. It hit the day after we put out the patio furniture, dropping several inches of snow on green leaves, flowery bushes, and some of the plants in my garden.


I learned my lesson, at least where the plants are concerned, and I am waiting until after Memorial Day before planting my garden this year. Well, except for the lettuce and peas, which I planted last week, but they should be ok.


I like to decorate my house with seasonal or holiday decorations so last year I put together this easy-to-make wreath to hang on my front door. It was super simple and fast, and no matter how uncrafty you might think you are you can make this too.

You'll need a grapevine wreath—which you can find at Walmart—along with some scraps of blue, white, and red fabric, and some sparkly star foam stickers. I tied the three strips of fabric into bows, stacking them on top of each other, and placed the stickers over the rest of it.

It was a really simple decoration, and I like it enough that I can keep it up all summer because it works for Memorial Day, Flag Day and Fourth of July.

Keep pinchin' :-)

The Never Ending Winter

One thing that can break your budget fast is a never ending winter. If you live in a part of the country that requires you to heat your home to keep it from sub-zero temperatures for a few months of the year, this year may have you scrambling.

The month of month of March had record temperatures, and unfortunately for us it wasn't on the high side. With most of the month reaching well below 0 during the night, our heating budget, like most, has taken a substantial hit. I've talked to family and friends who heat their homes primarily with wood who have said that they've used 3 or 4 more cords of wood this winter compared to their average, and we still have about two feet of snow outside!

Unless you were actually planning to heat your home until July, it's not really much of an option—even though our local TV news station took our "Penny Pinching Rap" a bit too literally and told the community that we don't heat our home at all! (But that's a whole other story.)

Alas, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and deal with it. I can either sit around and feel sorry for my budget, being bitter and whining about the fact that I'm still getting HUGE bills from the oil company, or I can choose to follow my own advice from the Trusting Him Without Borders post I wrote last week:

I will call upon Your Name

Keep my eyes above the waves

My soul will rest in Your embrace

I am Yours and You are mine

—Hillsong United

There are always going to be things that come up, that you either didn't expect or didn't budget for, but that doesn't mean you should throw in the towel. Even though it might not work out perfectly each month, persevere, because you know in the long run you will reap the rewards!

Keep pinchin' :-)

Being Content When Life Isn't As Easy As I Want It To Be

If you remember our crazy lawnmower story from last week, it's easy to see how sometimes God decides to make things a little bit easier for people. Dani and I had spent a lot of time in prayer over our lawnmower situation, and God answered in a big, big way. Today, instead of pushing around an ancient little mower, we are blessed to have a brand new riding mower that was given to us by a very generous anonymous donor.

It's winter now, and for some reason God has decided not to miraculously bless us with a snowblower in the same way—imagine that. As any hardened New Englander will tell you, a snowblower is needed almost as much as a lawnmower up in these here northern parts, but God hasn't answered. It's not like we're expecting another giant yard appliance to simply fall into our laps, but to be offered a good deal on one would be nice, or maybe an affordable plow for the lawnmower. Something. Anything but shoveling it all by hand.

Alas, nothing. Nadda. God hasn't seen fit to answer us in that department.

It occurred to me on my way to work yesterday that whenever I pray for God to bless us with a snowblower, what I'm really asking Him is, "God, please make my life easier." That's what we usually pray isn't it? I mean, really, deep down, it's what we're asking—God, help me earn more money; provide me with a better car; give me a good night's sleep tonight.

Don't get me wrong, these are all good prayers—God wants us to verbalize our every need to Him, and He delights in fulfilling those needs—but I think sometimes we need to take a step back and accept the fact that maybe making our lives easier isn't always God's main objective. Maybe, for now, He wants me out there toiling in the snow by hand. Maybe it's His way of keeping me fit. Maybe He just wants me outside away from the computer, the TV, the phone, and all the other distractions of every day life. Maybe it's His way of spending some time with me.

And I've squandered it all away because I've been too busy moaning over the lack of ease in my life.

I think I'm going to be shoveling snow differently now. I think if that's what God wants me to do then there must be a good reason for it. We'll get a snowblower someday, I'm sure, but for now God wants me out in the snow with a shovel in my hand. I'll try to just trust His judgement and not complain so much... well, I'll probably still complain. A little. But not as much.

Keep pinchin' :-)

A Cheap Way to Move Snow

It's time to shovel snow again! (And that exclamation mark is not intended to convey enthusiasm.)

Shoveling our driveway is one of the ways that Dani and I have decided to save money. Sure we could hire a plow truck like the majority of other people on our street, but with the rising cost of fuel plow trucks are expensive to hire. Other means of moving snow are pricey too—the last John Deere snowblower attachment I looked at was almost a thousand dollars. So, no thank you. I'll stick to the push shovel. Besides, it's a good workout!

To some people this sounds ridiculous. They can't imagine shoveling for an hour and a half just to clear the driveway. But just because we've decided that moving snow by hand is an acceptable sacrifice to make on our journey to debt-free living, doesn't mean it's right for you. Everyone has to find those things that work for them. The important thing is that they find them.

Some of the other choices we've made, include:

• Instead of buying firewood that's already been cut and split, we bought what's called "log length" wood. We had to chainsaw it all up and split it ourselves, but the price for a cord of log-length is about half of what it costs for a cord of pre-cut.


• We've eliminated restaurants from our budget completely. This is a big sacrifice for me because I love eating out, but, A) we're saving about $500 a year, B) eating out isn't all that healthy anyway, and C) it's not forever. (Thank God!)


• We unplug electronics if we're not using them because TVs, DVD players, stereo systems, computers, and other electronics draw a lot of power even if they're off. Believe it or not we have noticed a difference in the electric bill.


• We pretty much live in just the downstairs of our house. The upstairs is all closed off for the winter with the upstairs thermostat turned down to about 55.

Some of the things we do are minor annoyances that just take some getting used to—it took a month for me to start remembering to shut off the power strip to the TV whenever I was done watching a movie, but now I do without even thinking about it. Other things take some serious dedication—you think I want to be outside shoveling snow first thing in the morning?!

These are some of the things that work for us. I'd be curious to hear what works for you. You might have some great ideas!

Now, you'll have to excuse me, last time I looked it was snowing outside.

Keep pinchin' :-)