President J. Reuben Clark (Church News, 1953) –
“When we really get into hard times, where food is scarce or there is none at all, and so with clothing and shelter, money may be no good for there may be nothing to buy, and you cannot eat money, you cannot get enough of it together to burn to keep warm, and you cannot wear it. You can’t eat money, but you can eat your three-month supply of food – IF YOU HAVE IT AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT."
We have no idea what lays in our path on life’s journey... Loss of job? Health incident? Life altering things happen all the time. We must do our best to be prepared.
I can tell you the first time we were laid off we had no idea the company was struggling. We had just sold our house here in Iowa (our home is Iowa but this happened out east where we had only lived six months).
My first reaction was shock mixed with lots of crying. We had some storage. I had an order waiting to go in but I cancelled it before it went out to conserve our money. This was our personal crisis. We started an architectural and design business at the time we were first to be laid off as last hired. Of course, we thought it was the worst thing ever. It was a blessing, you see, as we were able to get a small business started (just enough barely). But little by little everyone got laid off, so being first was a help though it did not feel like it. Having storage got us through.
It does take hard times to prove us. So when I talk about storage or put content on this blog, it is with much experience over my lifetime. If you haven’t had hard times that compel you to get started on storage then lean on me, trust me when I tell you this is important.
Having the skills that benefit your family is the ultimate goal because everyone has hard times.
Chili mac hamburger helper
In a pint jar put…
1 c. macaroni dry
1 tsp chili powder
¾ tbsp. dried onion
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp sugar
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 can water
Brown one lb hamburger and drain, add all above ingredients cook till thickened.
One pot spaghetti hamburger helper
In a pint jar put…
Use half the spaghetti of 8 oz pkg break them in thirds put in jar dry noodles
1 tbsp dry onion
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp chili powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 cans water
Brown one lb hamburger and drain and add the ingredients above cook till thickened.
Living on your income as it is today, what if your company had to cut your income in half? Could you live on it? Do you have credit card bills? Do you eat out every time you feel you are tired or had a bad day or when you are sad or happy? Do you go to the store for entertainment? Do you shop to your last dollar not thinking ahead? Do you feel you deserve just shopping or getting what you feel you deserve? Are you shopping for therapy?
These are things to think about…
I think all too often we get the thought, "food storage is dry beans and rice and powdered milk." And people tell me they won’t do that well. Yes, these are great items for storage but if you don’t like these then don’t store them. Store what you eat. If you don’t like using dry beans, did you know you can can them for having them ready to use? Yes, you can, but if you don’t like that option buy canned beans. Do all three then you are covered on all fronts. Powdered milk makes great hot cocoa mix and is great in cooking.
I look at storage as a large pantry that you rotate. You have heard people tell you they have had to live off their storage for a year, you have even heard me say it. Think what you have in storage and ponder from time to time, if you had to live totally on your storage what would you wish you had gotten? Would it be more of your family’s favorites? Would you wish you would have learned how to make them from scratch??
I still try new recipes. Just lately I came across that you can make pancake mix. That you just add water and is made with all things you have on hand. I shared the site to that a few posts back. Yes, I could not believe it, they are good. So I now have that mix made and in a jar. I have a friend who is allergic to eggs, this is perfect as there are no eggs in it, also doesn't have shortening either. So you can be on the look out too for new recipes that work with your storage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-zT__oZLvY - this is the link to save you time looking, instant pancake mix.
https://providentliving.lds.org/living-providently-during-the-holidays?lang=eng - a good thing to read to help us.
http://www.simplyprepared.com/provident_living_and_the_relief_society.htm - great info
http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2014/12/monday-message_15.html this was our blog post in 2014, it is worth going thru it again.
I have been thinking of frugal things I have done. I needed to replace my blender one year and saw one at goodwill for seven dollars. It looked to be used just once as it had some purple juice drops on it. I bought it, took it home and cleaned away the juice drops. It cleaned up great. It was an osterizer.
A year later, again at goodwill, I found an unopened box which was an attachment to go on the same brand blender. It was five dollars. The attachment was a food processor. You take off the blender jar and set this in its place. It was brand new. So both pieces did not cost what a new blender costs, let alone a food processor. I have often thought of how much buying used has helped us live on our budget.
Buying used is a huge part of being frugal. It helps stretch the dollar. But living frugally has blessed our lives tremendously over the years. My bread pans came from yard sales. Most were ten cents a piece. I don’t have to tell you how much they are new. So do more thrifting less buying new.
Enjoy your family over the holidays.
Keep working at building storage and skills.
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