Make Your Shopping Dollar Stretch

This is an article I found about canning!

Make Your Shopping Dollar Stretch

Canning the extra when you find specials helps even out the budget expenditures by taking the sting out of those seasons when food prices skyrocket. It also provides a reliable source of safe food when the power goes out, the freezer is on the blink, or the local supermarket gets destroyed in the area’s worst ever tornado.

For rural families the canning season is in the hottest part of the year when the garden produce is ready. For families who do not grow their own food it can be just about anytime. It is the end of December and I just canned ten pints of Irish Potatoes and eight quarts of carrots. My “Ball Blue Book”, a reliable guide to home canning and freezing of foods, indicates that you can freeze these two products, but I haven’t had much luck with home freezing either one of these two foods. I took advantage of a Christmas gift of produce that would have gone bad before my husband and I could have used it up by canning it. There-in lies an epiphany: You can take advantage of discounted produce anytime of the year and avoid the heat of late August to do your canning.

Here’s how you do it. First purchase a “Ball Blue Book” or some similar canning guide. Do not plan on using unorthodox methods such as canning in the dishwasher, the oven, or the microwave. It doesn’t work and its dangerous, both due to the possibility of exploding jars and due to the probability of inadequate processing times and temperatures leading to food spoilage.

Equipment Needed
1. Canning Jars and Supplies
2. A Pressure Canner
3. The “Blue Book” or a similar canning guide
4. Lids and Rings to fit the jars
5. Timer
6. Jar Lifter

You can find these supplies in late summer or early fall in nearly any large grocery store such as Safeway, Albertsons, Winn Dixie or Wal Mart; but in mid winter you may have a bit more of a search to do to find them. I can always find canning equipment at my local Bi-Mart store.

Thou Shalt Not Covet

This sums up so much! I got this email today from Daily Gems:

“Being provident providers, we must keep that most basic commandment, ‘Thou shalt not covet’ (Exodus 20:17). Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. . . . If our family does not have everything the neighbors have, . . . we go into debt to buy things we can’t afford—and things we do not really need. Whenever we do this, we become poor temporally and spiritually.”

Robert D. Hales, “Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually,” Ensign, May 2009, 8

Do we really need 72 hour kits?

The answer that I will give is YES! The church doesn't really talk a lot about 72 hour kits. They talk a lot about 3 month and 1 year supply of food and water. I think it is important especially if you look back at all the natural disasters we have had in the last few years. I am sure the people in LA that went to the dome for safety would have LOVED to have a 72 hour kit. Or what about the flood victims here in GA that had to flee their home? Again, I think it is important.

Emergency Essentials has several 72 hour kits already made that you can order and they have been running good sales on them. You can also order them from Overstock.com.

If you chose to make your own, like I am doing for my family for Christmas...shhhh, then here is a list of items that should be in them, of course you can adapt them for your family:

trail mix/granola bars
soda crackers
graham crackers
4 sticks of beef jerky
1 pack of gum
12 pieces of hard candy
1 can of tuna
1/2 lb of dried milk
3 hot cocoa packets
2 instant soup packs
mess kit or dinnerware
assorted fruit snacks
assorted MREs
toothbrush/paste
boxed drinks
mosquito repellent
feminine needs
hand sanitizer
mirror
comb/brush
razor
wet wipes
toilet paper
soap
lip balm
prescription meds
aspirin/tylenol
can opener
deodorant
duct tape
pocket knife
compass
radio
flashlight
extra batteries
gloves/hand warmers
paper/pencils
foil
candles/matches
nylon rope 25 foot
sewing kit
pliers
blanket/bedding
deck of cards
whistle
change of clothing
tent (compact)
rain gear/poncho
wire
infant needs
fuel
cash/change
water
preparedness manual
map of local area
copy of important records
inflatable raft (optional)
hammock (optional)
garbage bags

Of course you don't need everything on the list. Each person should have 1 gallon of water. Everything you put in your 72 hour kit should be airtight and individually packaged in original wrappers. This should help keep the bugs out and keep food fresh. You will still have to rotate it.

Ok, I cheated and ordered MREs when they had them on sale last month. I was able to find hand warmers, emergency blankets on sale at Target for $1.00. I am doing the deals at Walgreens to get my toiletry items for free!

If you have any questions, please call me!

Debbie

Budget Tracker

I have been searching for an easy to use budget tracker that I can use and share with each of you. I think I found it. It is a great tool for those of you looking for an easy way to track your spending and work on a budget. Great for the beginner!

The most important thing to have is a budget. You need to know where your money is going. Keeping track of it every month helps you to know where you save/spend your money. Below is a budget that you can easily put in all your financial information, and you can make improvements where you need to!

Yes- there is a category for 3 month Food Supply & Long Term Food Storage! Unless you can afford it, it is not wise to go out and buy your food storage all at once. It is important to build your food storage monthly so you don’t go into any debt acquiring it. You can also see what you are using out of your food storage, and get the items you actually use!

Email me and I will send you the Excel Budget Tracker!

Here are the instructions on how to use it.

1. Download the file and save it as “Monthly Budget Tracker - Master”
2. On the excel sheet, any cell that is shaded does NOT need to be filled it. Just input numbers into the white cells only.
3. Input all the information into the “Projected” cells. Save file.
4. Each month, go into your file and input your actual costs. Each month you need to save a different file under “Budget - (Name of month).
5. Analyze where you are spending your money. Try your best to put as much into savings as possible. Figure out how much you can put into food storage. Realize it is a goal worth putting money into!

Walton Feed Order

We have a chance to add to our food storage by ordering from Walton Feed.

If you have never ordered from them, let me tell you, you can save a lot of money on some things and some things you just need to price compare. Take a look at their website:

You can compare with items from Emergency Essentials and the church cannery. I have posted the links below.

The order will not come in until January or February but you must pay for it when you order it. the deadline is November 15th.

Please let me know if you have any questions about what to order. Also maybe there are people in the ward that are ordering and would like to split items with you.

Everyone tells me the whipped honey is to die for! I did go on the website for the company that makes the honey and the cost for the same amount of honey is about $30 per case more!!

Again, let me know if I can help!