Back.....

And how have you been?

I'd love to say I have been busy doing awesome budgeting and saving money, but the truth is that hasn't happened. I got off track with spending the past couple months, so I have found myself having to get back in the saddle and rededicating my efforts to pull us back in line.

So here is what is in the works:

1. This month we will start getting the chicken coop put together so we can get a couple chickens. I am looking forward to having fresh eggs.

2.We are also going to get a garden started this year to help ease the food budget. I think it would be great to be able to provide at least 3/4 of our greens this summer. I will be growing tomatoes again this year for both fresh eating and canning. In addition, I am adding peppers to the list so we can have salsa canned for the winter.

3.Getting a freezer: We have been talking about this for a while. I am trying to decide on the model and size, then we will get one. I think this will help save $ by being able to stock up, resulting in less trips to the store, and less impulse purchases.

4.Learning to bake more types of bread at home. When we were in Iowa, we had fresh boule bread and it was amazing. For the first time, I realized just how good well made bread could be. So I am going to brush off my bread cookbooks and start practicing.

5.Clean my house and focus on getting it assembled into a haven. We have a lot of stuff that can be done around the house, so I am starting to work on those projects. In the past I've had a lot of scattered projects that get half done...This season I am going to take one room and stay with it until it's done. This includes dusting off the sewing machine, pulling out the bins of unused patterns and making stuff for our home such as curtains and pillows. I have some great patterns that would be pretty easy to sew--I just have to sit down and cut the patterns and fabric, then sew them. I will probably start by getting the spare bedroom in shape so I can turn it into a guest bedroom and studio for my creative endeavors.

We are also working on getting better at recycling and composting. I found a great deal on a composting bin at Sam's last month and we have been pretty good about adding kitchen scraps and leaves to the bin. I am seriously considering getting a second bin since we filled up the first bin when we cleaned up under some of the trees last week. I know it will break down quickly, but I would like to have a bin to put the chicken coop cleaning into for use around flowers, which would keep the chicken droppings out of the food crop compost.