Saving Pennies Adds Up

Former General Relief Society President Barbara B. Smith stated:

Life is made up of small daily acts. Savings in food budgets come by pennies, not only by dollars. Clothing budgets are cut by mending—stitch by stitch, seam by seam. Houses are kept in good repair nail by nail. Provident homes come …by steady, small steps.

Pay Off Your Mortgage

In the book, Standing for Something, pg. 87 President Hinckley shared the following example:

One man told me about a mortgage on his home that was drawing four percent interest. Financial consultants told him it was foolish to pay off that mortgage when it carried so low a rate of interest. But the first opportunity he had to acquire some means, he and his wife determined they would pay off the mortgage. He has been free of debt since that day- which I believe has contributed, over time, to his subsequent financial comfort and, more importantly, to a a sense of great personal freedom and peace of mind.

Refurbished Canner

Our stake canner is being refurbished so now is a great time to organize a trip to the Bishop's Storehouse with your ward. The canner should be ready to go in August! Plan your trip and bring home your food items, oxygen packets and cans with lids. Then you'll be ready to go with a canner that is operating just like new!

To watch a video to learn how to correctly and easily use our canner click here. Scroll down on the page to the video screen and click on the arrow.

Did you know that you can reuse the cans? Yes! Once you have opened them and removed the product just clean them and run them through the cutting portion of our canner. This removes the old used rim and creates a new one. Now you are ready to fill up the can and seal it again!

LDS Radio

Many years ago there was a church radio station you could listen to if you purchased a special radio. I have fond memories of my mom listening to various conference talks, beautiful music, etc. as she worked in the kitchen. Now everyone can listen to the church's official radio station. Just click here.
Then click on the yellow box in the right hand corner that says, "listen now".

Milk for the cupboard

Sister Penny Brown from Midland 2nd Ward found milk in a box in the baking isle at HEB near the canned milk. I don't have the exact product name- sorry. She said that she couldn't tell any difference from fresh milk when conducting her own mini taste test. Her family said they could detect a slight difference but they liked it far better than powdered milk!

Sister Brown mentioned that it only has a shelf life of about six months. So, you'd have to be dilligent about rotating this. Because of the short shelf life I wouldn't store it instead of powdered milk but it might be nice to have it as an extra in your three month food supply.

Penny said, "[This milk] would really be perfect for cooking if not for drinking. Requires no refrigeration until opened; but does have to be refrigerated after opening. It comes in whole milk and 2%."

Thanks for sharing Penny!

Frugal Blogs

Here is a link to a site called Frugal Dad. He links to his 50 favorite frugal blogs. These are blogs that encourage living within in a budget, being happy with what you have and stretching a dollar.

I don't have time to read everything there is out there about living frugally. So, if you come across something objectionable or contrary to gospel teachings please let me know! But from the sites I have visited there is a huge community of people that have realized the wonderful peace and joy that comes from well managed finances. The ideas and positive experiences that these people share are motivating!

Inspirational Talk

The May 2009 Conference issue has so many talks that can be applied to provident living. One of my favorites is from Elder Hales. It is entitled "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually".

Wow, so much good stuff. He stated:

All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others.

Then he teaches us how to follow this counsel. I hope you'll be inspired by his timely counsel. I was :o)

Discount at Honeyville Grain

I received an email from Honeyville Grain with the following information:

10% OFF YOUR ENTIRE ORDER* from Thursday, June 4, 2009 thru Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 6:00PM PST. Simply enter the coupon code PREPARE09 during checkout. Act now! Take a look at the WHAT'S NEW category for all of the great new items that we're rolling out including Freeze Dried Blackberries, Hard Red and White Wheat in the can, and our new line of Puddings.

Shipping is only $4.99 no matter how much you order.

How to make a portable toilet

I found a new website that mentions several, not-often-thought-of items that we need in order to be prepared in an emergency.

I decided to share the link because they mention several items that would be good to have on hand and a variety of places to shop for them. The link is to We Shall not Fear

And yes, they have everything from water purifiers to information on how to make a portable toilet.