Monday Message

"Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program. We could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward." (President Spencer W. Kimball)

Truly having storage in your home really helps keep things smooth during rough times. Knowing how to fix things saves so much as well. When you are faced with a repair, a lot of times you can Google it and there is a video on how. We one time fixed our washer by doing that. We did have to buy the part but it would have been very costly to repair as it was very complicated to get to the area but we did it and it is still working great.  

Way before we had kids, we needed to change out an engine. My husband was in the military and they had a building you could work in. They had the tools, the hoist, etc. I took notes on what we took out each step of the way, then we put in the engine following my list from last to first. Amazing as we did it with no internet back then and neither of us knew a thing about fixing cars - no computery gadgets back then either!

We might not be able to do it today with computers in cars but if we have a repair hopefully cutting costs in other areas can help with the cost

So I am saying, see if it is something you can fix before shelling out money for the repair.

I once was visiting my sister. She had a new dishwasher put in but she said she didn't have water pressure. She turned it on and it was way bad. So my husband was thinking and I had just had a women's meeting where they were showing us about fixing facets and sometimes when you have work done debris gets in the line and caught in the little screen on the faucet. I reached over and unscrewed the screen like they showed us and debris came out. I rinsed the screen and put it back while both my sister and my husband stood mouths hanging open. It worked well after that. I was glad I had learned that. It was also before we had computers.

So just keep yourselves learning new skills as you go along.

I would go to Goodwill and drool over this rug loon every time I was there but the price was $350 and I couldn't afford that. I have always wanted to learn to weave rugs. But it wasn't to be so I just visited it and drooled. One day my friend called and said she was at Goodwill. I said oh go drool on my loom for me. She said no, you need to come now, they marked down the price. I said that even at half-price I couldn't get it. She said no, they marked it down again but you have to take it with you. It was sixty or seventy dollars so we got it and brought her home. 

The neighbor was leaving in just half an hour and helped slide it from the truck to the deck - so nice of them! Then, of course, there was no way it was going to fit through the door and there was a storm coming. So, just like the car, I took it apart and moved it inside and reassembled it. Then the storm hit. It would take a year of refurbishing it so it would make rugs again. I had to learn a lot. We did have a computer by then but not a lot was on how to warp it. 

I can tell you one of my memories - my mother-in-law said I will come and help you. So they came down, we fed them, and she said okay and grabbed her hook and went to the back. She got this weird look on her face and said what am I looking at? She had another type of loom, this one has a sectional beam.

This is how it looks now warped up but it wasn't yet warped when she saw it and hadn't seen a sectional beam.

This is the type of loom she was used to seeing. This is the back of my other loom - a jack type loom.

This is the front of this same loom the jack loom and here you can play "Where's Tippy Longstockings" silly kitty :p

This loom was a gift from my sister. I did not yet have it at the time we were warping the rug loom. It was a huge learning curve.

I remember we were going to put together a swingset for our kids. I laid everything out in order and when supper was over, we picked up the instructions to begin. The first line said do not attempt to do this one hour before sunset... yep, it was one hour before sunset...

I guess what I am trying to say is, learn skills that will bless your family. I know you can do it! It might take a while like it took me, but that is okay.

Once you learn something then don't stop there, learn more.

I am constantly learning how to make yarn.

What skill are you working on? Comment below, we would love to hear what you are doing.

My days lately are busy with gardening. Remember to plant something if you can and if you are not in a season of planting, you can work on planning for when gardening season does happen.

I am still working at knitting this scarf. If you zoom in on the stitch marker I made, it is a jar with fireflies in it - tooo cute!

Missy says she is trying to learn to weave in her free time.

Tippy Longstockings says do the best you can and remember to find joy!

Monday Message

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others." (All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet)

Though things are continually getting harder and scary, we need to keep finding joy and calm and never not be our kind selves. The world needs more kindness than ever before.

This has been a hard week. It took two days to get the garden in and do I ever hurt from doing so. I feel it important to say that I HATE gardening grrrr! But I did it, showing we can do hard things!

I hope you are finding time to put some seeds in the ground.

I wish I could like it but I am an inside gal.

This is one thing I do to help offset the higher costs.

I feel we need to hang onto our clothing, one thing to help with that is to repair them...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HOCPtcy85I

https://repairwhatyouwear.com/core-mending-skills/

What is nice now-a-days is visible mending https://blog.patra.com/2023/01/13/mending-darning-clothing/

https://www.tiktok.com/channel/visible-mending?lang=en

I think being able to mend our clothes is a really high on the list of skills to learn.

Next would be learning to sew...

https://spindleandspoonhomestead.com/2024/08/28/how-to-make-a-basic-sewing-kit/

https://spindleandspoonhomestead.com/2025/03/06/my-top-21-sewing-tips-for-beginners/

I am reminded of the orange and sewing kit story...

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2016/07/monday-message_18.html - this sticks in my mind. I feel we should have the basics such as sewing needles and thread and scissors as well as sewing machine needles for your sewing machine. It never hurts being prepared I say! With uncertain times, we find ourselves in, we can't go wrong.

I think learning to sew is a great skill with that skill you can take used clothes and remake them to fit another...

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/04/monday-message_13.html - in this blog I tell about my grandma doing just that.

https://www.youtube.com/@RoseryApparel - this gal does fantastic things with used sheets, making dresses of them after thrifting the sheets. She helps you learn to sew along the way.

We may never have it as hard as my grandma did but "what if" always hangs about doesn't it?

Again, look around at what you have and ask how can I use it, maybe even in a different way. Look outside the box. Working hard is something we can do. 

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

As uncertainty is here for everyone. We all need to look for ways we can manage with what we have. So hang on to things for now... bumpy times ahead.

Use this time to go to yard sales and thrift stores. Trade with friends. School clothes will soon need to be gotten. Then will be Christmas gifting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SniHDzfljs&t=1s - this gal shows how she thrifted outfits for work, very good ideas for you. Check your thrift stores to see if they have bag days.

Keep working on your skills and be kind to others. Be helpful because hard times are here.

Missy says keep moving forward, learn how to make things last.

Tippy Longstockings says keep a prayer in your heart.

Monday Message

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

I think it seems like each day things get worse economy-wise. To offset this as best we can is to be really frugal. That will take research and a bit of sacrifice and a lot of elbow grease.

It is easy to say I am tired and give in to eating out or convenience foods at the store but doing this will really take a bite out of your funds. To combat this is to plan, plan, plan.... When you are planning out your meals, make sure you have easier meals on that list so if unexpected things come up you can use one of those. Also, do double batches at once. Make your casserole two times everything and pop one into the freezer. For a really desperate day, then pull out and make that the meal, kind of like your future self knows you will need a meal instead of bringing you a casserole which she can't - this is a way that works.

Do that with a lot of things you make. Chili is great - actually any soup is great but just double the batch. We make burritos so here is how I do this.

My Burritos

Larger can of refried beans

Can of enchilada sauce

Cooked hamburger

I mix this all together and put into small crockpot.

If you doubled this, use a bigger crockpot then freeze half. It's the same amount of work but now you have a meal in the freezer that you could zap in the microwave in minutes to give you supper.

I keep flour shells and cheese and lettuce on hand.

You don't have to put this in the crockpot. You could just heat this up on the stove. The reason I do it in the crockpot is because I have more energy in the morning then by supper I have to work around fibromyalgia.

I use this as an example.

Also, if I know I want to make pancakes or muffins in the morning, I will mix the dry ingredients in a bowl cover and in the morning add the wet ingredients and make them.

One thing I emphasize is to make your own mixes - this saves a lot of money over their counterparts. 

https://heart-hands-home.blogspot.com/2012/02/all-purpose-quick-mix.html

https://tipnut.com/baking-mixes-seasonings/ - This one gives you how to make cake flour, self-rising flour, how to make your own brown sugar, how to make your own pan release - no more buying canned sprays, and lots more.

https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2018/04/17/dry-brownie-mix-recipe/ - brownie.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/scone-mix-recipe.html - this is my favorite plus she has other mixes in this. I write the recipes right on the jar.

https://thestayathomechef.com/waffle-mix/ just add water and butter.

https://thestayathomechef.com/pancake-mix/ just add water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=96L_ljjz0Ko these are good.

There are no eggs in these so if you have egg allergies these are great. Plus, with the price of eggs so high this is a good thing to have.

https://chickensintheroad.com/classic/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/ - I put this in often.

https://extension.usu.edu/sanpete/files/Soup_or_Sauce_SOS_Mix.pdf - this one as well.

These last two I keep together in a binder so print off and keep handy.

Making your own mixes means most of the work is already done for you so when you are tired or busy you can have it tended faster.

The other two jars are the chicken and beef gravy mixes that I posted a few weeks ago.

I encourage you to find more ways to save and then share with us what you've done in the comments below.

Remember, soon in my neck of the woods it will be time to plant the garden. I encourage you to plant something, even if it's one tomato in a pot.  

I have cleared off the garden in preparation to plant which is weeks away at the time I'm writing this.

Remember, haunt thrift stores for dehydrators, canners pressure, canners, jars, vacuum sealer items that will help you to put up food.

Missy says keep your eyes open for the sales, this too will help with being frugal.

Tippy Longstockings says keep on your toes looking for ways to be more frugal.

Monday Message

"Today, I emphasize a most basic principle: home production and storage. Have you ever paused to realize what would happen to your community or nation if transportation were paralyzed or if we had a war or depression? How would you and your neighbors obtain food? How long would the corner grocery store—or supermarket—sustain the needs of the community?" (President Ezra Taft Benson)

The tariffs are about to be felt by all about the time you read this, since I am two weeks ago at the time of this writing.

They say the shelves will start to empty and prices will go up. I have already seen people who need to replace a furnace - it will be three thousand more than usual. I imagine it will be like when Covid hit when there was runs on items.

We need to keep our cool. Don't panic. Remember your skills.

I can't imagine this will last too long... this was not what we brought on but we will have to deal with it nevertheless. 

Remember, the frugal things we have been talking about and now we will keep working on the frugal things and implementing what we have learned.

https://zenhabits.net/the-cheapskate-guide-50-tips-for-frugal-living/ - this has a list. I want everyone to think ahead. Do thrift stores and yard sales. They are saying this could affect school clothes and supplies so try to get used school clothes ahead because if this goes on everyone will try to get clothing then so it might be a good idea to have some ahead. Same with some school supplies. I will add be keeping your eye out for items that could make good gifts for Christmas in case this does not get resolved in time.  You might already do these things, if not, you might find you like doing these things.  

The hard times are now for sure.

I am most concerned at how high our meds will get since they were already high with this president taking off the caps the last president put on. This could be really hard for us. But we have to push on.

Stick seeds in the ground or a pot if you can.

My tip is to always think in "ahead mode" meaning, think of what is ahead of you - kids, back to school, what will be needed for the holidays - do you have time to make items, that sort of thing.

At the same time, keep looking for a dehydrator or canning equipment and a vacuum sealer, etc. at your yard sales and thrift stores.

Mine are all used and have done well for me. They are out there.

Plus, first look used before trying to pay new. With higher prices, can you do without? That could be an option as well.

It might backfire on all of them if we find out we don't want or need bric-a-brac items... you never know.

But we need to keep positive and find joy. Don't let the hard times get to you stress - it's going to be there but try not to let it take over.

Try not to let anything go to waste. Time to do that zero waste thing for sure!

https://www.pinterest.com/zerowastedoc/zero-waste-kitchen/ - here are some ideas.

Tippy Longstockings says this is going to be the time you ask yourself really hard - do I have to have this now? Can I wait? Is there something else I can do or make or come up with from what I have?

Missy says now is not the time to lay down on the job. We need to do the best we can. Some trips to the store will now cost you way more, so stop and try not to do it unless you absolutely have to.  

It is time to bake that bread!

This is our favorite bread recipes if you don't have a bread machine, it is okay. Use the same ingredients and mix by hand. It turns out the same, just don't add more flour. If you don't have bread flour, it is okay. I don't have it, I use vital wheat gluten (one tsp per every cup flour equals one cup of bread flour).  This way I can use the all-purpose flour which is what I store for everything.

https://culturedtable.com/homemade-noodles-recipe/https://www.pinterest.com/zerowastedoc/zero-waste-kitchen/ - making your own is so much better in flavor.

When we first moved here, we did not have a stove. I did have a waffle iron and I made French toast in the waffle iron one day. It was a huge hit, the kids called it eggy waffle. We love it to this day! So you may find that the things you do and make during this hard time turn out to be family favorites.

Curl up with a church type cookbook...

And find some favorite from-scratch recipes. There are peoples' favorite recipes in these books so you have a great shot at finding great things.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2017/05/monday-message_8.html - in this post, you will find a favorite recipe I found for rhubarb cake - everyone wants it at this house!

So I guess you can whack your head against the wall and let this hard time grab you or perhaps look at it as a challenge and you will win.

https://remake.world/stories/style/how-to-mend-your-clothes-during-quarantine-5-easy-stitch-fixes/

Missy says wisely that she knows you can do these things, we are all in this together!

Tippy Longstockings says get a kick on and learn those skills, perhaps start with learning to mend first then bread making or both at the same time, always be learning!