From My Home to Yours
5/30/25
~ it's the end of the month, were we able to do it? ~
I'll tell you in a bit but first take a look at our elderberry bushes. They completely surround the back side and one end of our chicken coup. They absolutely thrive in this location! Some of these are 10 - 12 feet tall!
They are putting on flowers and the whole scene is just so peaceful and beautiful to behold. God's glorious creation is amazing!
Here are some ways we added to our 'savings' for a purpose goal this week which is to make 2 vehicle payments per month to get the debt retired asap:
Our power bill was a little over $100 less than last months because we were traveling and away from home for 2 weeks. That amount went towards our savings goal ...
and we added the unused amount of our grocery budget to our savings goal as well. Both of these combined are not enough to make that second payment but every amount helps!
What am I going to do with these carrots? My plan is to ferment a couple of jars and turn the rest into carrot sticks using this homemade ranch dressing to dip them in. Fresh from the garden carrots have such an amazing taste!
In the garden, I planted sweet potato slips that we grew ourselves, the rest of the herbs we purchased while traveling as well as some Amish Paste tomato plants. All the garlic is harvested and now curing. I'll start gathering the recipes and methods I'll use to preserve it this week and of course, when it's finished curing, I'll set aside the biggest and best bulbs to replant in the fall. The cycle of saving seeds, bulbs and planting perennials to keep our food chain going is important and we take it as seriously as we do food preservation.
Speaking of the cycle of seed saving ... my pretty flowers came back this year on their own.
Look at the plants on this end of this raised bed! They are zucchini, I only wanted a couple of plants but since the seeds were 7 years old, I planted more thinking that few if any would come up. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they all came up! I'm going to give them a couple more weeks and then thin them out. The lesson here is to make sure you test your old seeds before tossing them, they just might still be viable! (In case you're wondering what's growing in the rest of the raised bed ... it's sweet potato plants!)
I did some more repurposing of clothing; this time a dress I found at a thrift store. You can take a peek at what I did with it over on Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine.
Ladies, the next lesson in our Bible study on Hagar has been posted HERE! I hope you'll pop over and take a look.
And finally, to answer the question we started out with of 'were we able to make that extra vehicle payment' this month and the answer is ... YES! It took some doing and some doing without, but we did it!!! This month was our test run, as we go further into this journey, we will continue to fine tune and come up with more ways to save and make do in order to meet this very big to us financial goal! (Psst! To help encourage us and keep our mind on our goal, I'm working on creating one of those generic 'get out of debt' payoff type sheets where you mark off or color in a circle every time you make a payment. I'm customizing it for this particular debt and will color in two of the circles representing 2 payments as soon as the 'chart' is finished. Yep, it's going to be colorful!!! I will post it in plain sight so that every time we see it, it will remind us to keep on keeping on ... we are really trying!) Do you have any strategies that help you stay focused on your financial goals?
Ladies, the next lesson in our Bible study on Hagar has been posted HERE! I hope you'll pop over and take a look.
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
You might be interested in my other blogs ...
You have done well! It is amazing how fast debt goes down when we prioritize getting it paid off!
ReplyDeleteLana, Thank you, even at this early stage, it's exciting to see the 'snow ball' beginning to gain momentum!
DeleteWell done with making the 2nd payment. My financial strategy is to get my husband onto it. As an ex-accountant he likes keeping financial records!
ReplyDeleteI want to ask if you make elderflower cordial from your trees or do you mainly grow them for the berries? I like making elderflower cordial, but am not at all keen on the taste of elderberries.
Tracy, I do not like the taste of elderberries either! I grow them for the berries and for the elderflower, both of which I use in making herbal remedies. I think I'll try making elderflower cordial ... you've inspired me!
DeleteCongratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteLee Ann, thank you!
DeleteGood work on the savings and inching towards your goal! Now that the school year is over and I have retired (again) I have been focusing on the home. I bought enough strawberries on sale to make 11 small jars of jam. This will be enough for my husband and I and maybe a few to share. I did a thorough cleaning of our laundry room and pantry. I was able to inventory the pantry and now know what I need to buy to fill the holes. I made 3 loaves of sourdough bread which I cut in half and freeze as we cannot eat an entire loaf before it goes bad. This way we pull out a half loaf at a time so as not to waste any. I planted some seeds in the garden. We have had alot of rain here in the mountains. My garden gave me no lettuce this year. We did get a lot of radishes and green onions and spinach. I am looking forward to beans and tomatoes in a few months. thank you for your example and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteMarley, I loved reading your comment. There's a lot of wisdom wrapped up in the things you are doing in your home. I'm trying to get our pantry inventoried and cleaned out too before preserving season sets in in earnest. Thank you for your encouraging words.
DeleteCongratulations!! That is so awesome.
ReplyDeleteWe continue to work hard here trying to make do, do without and make it all last. I went into the discount grocery and picked up produce that had been reduced. This week I dried a bunch of parsley I'd bought. For 75c I ended up with a half cup of dried parsley leaves. I put the stems in the freezer to use to season soups and spaghetti sauces.
Of the 20 odd fig tree starts I had a total of 7 'take'. My son decided to take two instead of the three he'd said he wanted. I have five more. I do not need five fig trees! However, I will pot them up and see how they do. I'm very proud of my one fig on the tree I bought last summer. I appear to have also had luck in rooting rosemary. I don't need more rosemary either, but I know others who want them.
I planted some old green beans since I had them and we were meant to get rain all week, I thought they might appreciate the soaking they'd get. We'll see if they do as well as your zucchini!
Terri, I harvested some parsley this week and have it air drying as I type.
DeleteYou really had success with your fig tree starts; I would keep the 5 just in case some of them don't continue to thrive. It sounds like you have a green thumb with fig trees!
I hope your green beans do well!
That's a great idea to pay two car payments per month to reduce debt. Your elderberry looks beautiful with all of its flowers.
ReplyDeleteHarvest Moon by Hand, thank you for your encouragement, it's not easy, but we are determined!
Delete