Cutting Cost

With our current economic state (and I mean our family, but could be said as a country) I find myself, racking my brain, everyday, wondering how I can cut household costs. Being a stay at home mom, I figure my contribution to the family is to save money. With my oldest son having celiac disease, I do have to be somewhat careful as to what I bring into the home. Mind you, we live a extraordinary life style so not every tip will apply to everyone, maybe it won't apply to anyone, but this is what we do. Here are some money saving tips that I will pass on to you:

1. Groceries - I did a year of The Grocery Game...maybe it was 2 years. It saves a lot of money but is a lot of work and a lot of shopping. Living a little farther out of town, I would have to do all my shopping in one trip and running store to store was just too much. Plus, I don't like to shop! Instead, this year, I have moved more towards buying in bulk. That doesn't mean Sam's Club per say. I do buy some items at Sam's. But I also do a lot of shopping at Gordon Food Service. I also try to just buy basic ingredients that can be used many different ways. For instance, if I buy rice, chicken, vegetables. I can turn those three into quite a few combinations. I can stir fry. I can do a casserole. I can do each as a separate side. I could make a soup. I could probably continue. I also like to buy dry beans. They are cheap and just take a little planning to use. I also try to make my own bread. It really isn't hard to do and again, just takes a little planning. We don't buy bottled water and rarely buy pop. I have been getting by on about $400 a month. We are here, eating in the home 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. We also try not to buy too many specialty gluten free products. We do buy a pancake/baking mix and noodles. Those are really the only two items we buy right now. We may have found a new gluten free bread to love, so that might raise so of the numbers. Oh, oh, another great buy...popcorn! Buy it is a large bag in bulk and pop it on the stove, the way we used to! Not only is it cheap, it taste so much better!!!
2. Vehicles-we only have one. Yes, one! My husband's schedule is really flexible right now so it isn't a problem. This cuts down on insurance, gas and needless driving. Unless my husband becomes a workaholic, I don't see any reason we will go back to having more than one again.
3. Clothing- As homeschoolers, we really catch a break here. We don't have back to school shopping. We only buy when it is actually needed. That means, for instance, in the winter, I don't bother buying anything but a pair of snow boots for everyone. No one is running around in shoes so why buy them? We buy pants when they need pants because they have grown out of them, etc.
4. Home heating- while we are home all day, we can't really do the "turn the heat down when we aren't home". So this year we are trying something new. During the day, I keep all the doors to rooms not in use closed. We are trying an Eden Pure heater in the main living area. So during the day I leave the furnace down to 60 degrees and just run the Eden Pure. We produce heat through our bodies, appliances, passive solar (if we are lucky to see the sun), cooking, etc. Then at night we pull the Eden Pure into our family bedroom and only heat that room at night. Again, the thermostat is still set at 60 or less overnight. Then about an hour before we get up, I will turn the thermostat back up to 70 as I can't stand to get out of bed to a cold house. The one down side to this, the toilet seat is really cold in the middle of the night. We also use thermal drapes on our windows. This helps hold the heat in at night. On a sunny day we will open the drapes on the large window in our living room as it is facing south and grab as much heat as we can. Again, we close them when the sun is gone.
5. Phones- we have a house phone. We were using it for faxes. We haven't sent a fax on it in months. We do have it at a bare minimum, only paying for basic service, no caller id, no call waiting. We don't even pay for an long distance. I spoke with someone at the phone company and she was able to put me on a little higher price per minute but there is no monthly fee. We really don't use the long distance, but we still have the option if we need to. BUT, we might be dropping the house phone...not sure yet. Our cell phones are a much bigger expense. Jason still has an old plan that allows for free incoming. I renegotiated a plan with Sprint that for $29.99 I get 200 minutes, free mobile to mobile, free nights and weekends. This allows me to communicate with my husband as much as I need to with no worries. In order to get decent internet access, we pay for a Sprint broadband card, but that is unlimited (not sure if they still offer them that way). There isn't really anyway to cut those down any farther other than to eliminate a cell or the house phone.
6. Television- while I would love to go to just digital local channels, through an antenna, Jason isn't game. His hobby is mixed martial arts (think Ultimate Fighting, aka cage fighting) and he watches a lot of programming on direct tv, so we keep it. He has cut back on the Pay Per Views. With a lot of options on the internet for tv viewing (like your favorite shows), it could be an option to drop it all together.
7. Life insurance- we are still paying our life insurance. Sure, we (the adults) don't have health insurance. But if one of us dies, (maybe from lack of health insurance, just kidding!) the rest of the family won't be destitute. We only carry term life. I have noticed a push from our agent to switch us to whole life...NO WAY!!! But, when times are tight, the life insurance still gets paid. I don't know how I slept at night without it!
8. Taxes- our last main monthly expense is this lovely little tax bill we have with the IRS. Year ago, when we had a decent income, we were left with a good sized tax bill. We have been paying monthly on it ever since. With our decrease in monthly income, that payment became a real burden. And I don't know about you, but I know what happens when you own the IRS money...they take whatever of yours they can find. So it was a simple call and they lowered my payment for the next 6 months. The good news is, by the time that 6 months is over, our bill may have been wiped out by our anticipated large federal refund this coming year. :)

So obviously, we still have some cutting that could be done. But for now, this is what is comfortable. No one wants a miserable husband so I won't pull the cable. ;)

When I get done using up all the laundry detergent I have stocked up from my grocery game days, I will give making my own a try. :)

Do you have great tips? Leave them in the comment section!

Help Cure Childhood Diabetes

Ten years ago this January 31st, my son, Westin, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. He was two years old and we have zero type 1 diabetes in our families. I remember, after being admitted into the hospital that Monday night, all the doctors and interns coming in to ask us the same questions over and over again. (Eventually, that is what they do in a teaching hospital.) Do you have any family history? Did you see any symptoms? What led up to this? And the part I will always remember, and laugh at, is the statement I heard so many times. "Wow! He is two years old? We never see type 1 in patients so young!" At the time, I didn't know any better. Great, we were "exceptional"! Just what I wanted to hear.

The truth is, type 1 diabetes in the 4 and under is the fastest growing group to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. We weren't alone! I have many friends whose children were diagnosed as infants. In addition, some 90% of all cases have zero family history. In another study I read about in The Autoimmune Epidemic, 1 in 648 children and young adult under the age of 19 have type 1 diabetes.

Autoimmune diseases are on the rise at an amazing rate. One researcher that is really making progress in understanding the autoimmune disease of diabetes is Dr Denise Faustman. Her research may hold a cure for not only type 1 diabetes but also other autoimmune diseases like MS and rheumatoid arthritis. To learn more about her research, check out this new website, Help Cure Childhood Diabetes. It has a great video that explains Dr Faustman's research.

It makes sense, her research. Unfortunately, what is good for the people isn't always good for business. Funding for this kind of research would usually come from pharmaceutical companies. But this potential cure would not be a profit center. Companies, whether pharmaceutical or not, have one duty, to make the largest profit possible. They aren't people with an interest in curing diseases with a method affordable to even third world countries. They are businesses and they have certain obligations to the share holders.

The Help Cure Childhood Diabetes website was built by parents of children with type 1 diabetes. We have a great interest in seeing this disease cured. This website will help get money directly to Dr Faustman's research while cutting out the middle man, aka fundraising non profit organizations. While organizations like the ADA and the JDRF have raised remarkable amounts of money, they have expenses like salaries and advertising budgets. I want to know where my money is going and I want it all (100%) to go to the research for a cure.

Please, take a few moments and watch the video on the site mentioned above. If nothing else, it is quite educational. (Ok, you can see the homeschooler in me looking for any opportunity to learn something new!) If you usually give to charities at the end of the year, please consider this cause. We have to do this in a grass roots effort to see that it gets funded. How else will we know if it will work? Also, speard the word. :)

Nothing is more comforting than...

FOOD IN THE CUPBOARDS!!!! Our family sits in this crummy Michigan economy with a business that is auto related. With the down turn in the auto industry on top of the recession, our business isn't even recognizable from a few years ago. We have spent the year in some what of a sabbatical. Jason has done some work but mainly we have been living off of selling things around the house.

I have been really stressed out lately by the money issues. I can handle not making much money, but when I can't see the next time it is going to come in, I get un-nerved. So, after a big deposit from ebay, I went grocery shopping today. Mind you, I didn't get anything special, but we have the staples. I dropped a whopping $270 on bulk items from Sam's Club and Gordon Food Service. I know that I can make that last many weeks. That feels very good and will let me relax for a few weeks at least.

Jason found a cheap shop space in Mattawan and we are giving it another go. This time it will be more like a place to work than a full fledge business. He spent the summer working out of our garage but it wasn't very practical. We will be leaving this residence in March, so it was going to have to come at some point. If this doesn't work, we are going to be moving into our motor home. So, you would think that moving into the motor home means failure...but it doesn't. I kind of want to move into the motor home. It sounds so liberating. BUT, it would be much easier to have a successful enough business to where we could just travel more and always have a home base.

So, just in case, we are selling as much of our "stuff" as possible that we don't really need or want. Either way, it will be a lighter load when we move. Part of me just wishes I could sell it all, but that isn't feasible. I have a lot of family antiques that I just can't see parting with. But a lot of the other "stuff", it can go!

Where do I like to sell stuff? Craigslist! Ebay works for those specialty items that need a wider audience. It is just that they take such a large chunk of change. Craigslist is where the easy sales are really at. Like tonight, I sold Westin's old twin bedroom set. I listed it Sunday night and later that evening I got my first call. Craigslist is popular enough that there is plenty of traffic for some items to sell fast. Does everything sell that fast? NO! But it is free to list and it is fairly easy to relist it every month. (The listings last for 30 days unless you delete it-which I highly recommend when an item sells.)

In anticipation for the possibility of living in the 1984 motorhome that we picked up last month, I have started making some changes with the interior. When it is done, I will have to post pictures. First, the carpet is coming out. It was in good shape but it doesn't seem practical to keep clean. We ripped it out this weekend. Of course, when I say "we" I mean "Jason" ;) We will lay some laminate flooring in it's place.

I also have plans for some paint, new curtains, some extra storage, etc. The interior has great cabinets and a lot of brown. I plan to just throw in some ice blue or baby blue accents and it will modern it a bit. Kind of fun to have a "home" project...just happens to be a motor home project :)

Putting myself out there

Today I took a huge step! I started a profile on "my diet" on facebook and I posted my stats to my facebook profile! Crazy? Maybe! Here is my figuring...I had to be held accountable. This was the best way to do it. Do I wish I could have not included my exact weight and only just the weight loss pounds, sure! But that wasn't an option and this is the best way to be honest with myself, being honest with everyone. So we will see what comes of it. I sure hope I only receive support and not snickers.

Things that make me cry

Today I got a message on Facebook from an old friend. We really haven't spoke in years, only because we just don't cross paths. But with Facebook being so popular, it is easy to cross cyber paths, which really makes happy. So I wanted to share her message. She will remain anonymous as I didn't tell her I was going to blog about her message.

Hi Michelle,

I just wanted you to know something...I read your messages that you post everyday about the daily struggles you have with Westin's health. I don't usually comment on them, but I read them ALL. For what it's worth, I just really wanted to tell you how amazing I think you are! You are a daily inspiration to me as a mother and a woman! I feel very thankful and lucky to have a healthy child, I won't even pretend to know what you go through. I just think that Westin couldn't have been more lucky than to have you for a mother. You are a warrior for your children and an inspiration to a newer mother like me! ...

Sorry for the randomness of this note, but I just had to let you know!

This made me cry. I wish I could send this to every mom I know. (That is why I am posting it here) As a mom, we don't get much credit, at least not so directly. I post my daily struggles with homeschooling, parenting, marriage, and especially diabetes and other random health issues, on facebook in hopes of educating those that don't choose to ignore my status updates. (I am sure there are some out there that just wish I would shut up already!) It is working. People are paying attention. I hope that will mean that one less child will die from a delayed diagnosis. I hope this means that a teacher in a school will show more compassion to the struggles of the student with diabetes. I hope that it will mean that my son's future employer (ok, I really hope that he follows in our footsteps and creates his own income) will see that he is perfectly capable of performing the desired tasks but will also allow for him to take care of his health. I hope it educates a police officer about diabetes so that he can help a struggling driver rather than assume he is drunk and disorderly. I think you can see where I am going with this.

I cried tears of gratitude for the very nice words. But I also cried tears of sadness, for the life that my son knows. He was diagnoses at 2 years old. He doesn't know life without diabetes. He doesn't know what it is like to just be care-free.

So thank you to the writer of this very thoughtful note. I REALLY appreciated it. It was the mother's day card I always hoped to get one day from my son when he is a parent and realizes all I have done for him. Thank you.

It's been a LONG time...oops!

I was reminded on facebook that I have a blog...oops! I think I kind of mini blog on facebook and forget about this one.

So we are finally feeling some heat here in Michigan. The first time since probably June. Mind you, today is great but I think it will get hotter this week. I could be wrong...it happens ;) I got in the pool today and gave it a little TLC in anticipation. We just have a little pool, about 30" deep, 10' round. It is the smallest they make with a pump. With a 3 year old, it is perfect. He is confident in it. It is easy to maintain. I can still float in my floaty and get my vitamin D. All is well.

So with summer usually comes with our best chance of making money for the year. I can say that it might be the case this year but only because the rest of the year has sucked too. So it isn't worth mentioning. We are here. We are fed. We are clothed. We might be becoming a bit delusional though. We actually considered trading our only vehicle for a big motor home that was in rough shape. Thank goodness we regained our bearings.

Yesterday we started back to dabbling in a little school work. Today we did nothing...great start! One thing I forgot about when I decided to start back yesterday is that we have a nephew in town for a while and he tends to be at our house...not too conducive to school. Ah, I am easy going so we will just delay. It was a nice thought though.

Speaking of homeschool, we have our theme for the year. We do good with a yearly theme. Last year we were doing ancient history. Not my cup of tea but we were trying to follow The Well Trained Mind. This year we are going back on our own, kind of. I love The Well Trained Mind, but I have to grab on to whatever Westin is interested if I have any chance of him really participating. So this year will be the second world war! I am kind of excited. Something I can actually get interested in. So I think my only real purchase will be our next level of Math U See. I will probably find some fun workbook for Wieland at Sam's and call it good. He turns 4 this month so I guess we will see if he has much interest yet. I really want to let him lead me. Very unconventional for most, I know. I am an unconventional girl.

I should probably elaborate on my laid back style. I always secretly wanted to be an unschooler. I just never thought Westin showed enough interest in anything. So I have kind of come up to meet him. He will be mildly structure. Close enough. I was recently searching for this great website I read a few years ago and I want to share it here, so I always know where to find it. This website changed my life. I never looked at homeschooling the same again!

I will try not to wait so long to post again.

Ning for Dummies by Manny Hernandez, a review by a current user and group owner

Recently I was privilege to receive a copy of Ning for Dummies to preview and review on my blog. I joined my first Ning group a few years ago. The group was Tudiabetes.com and it was created by Manny Hernandez, the author of Ning for Dummies. He had an amazing fire and was very successful in growing his Ning group to what is now 9,000 members! Manny has always been very helpful in answering questions I have had for other support groups I am involved with, later leading to the creation of my own Ning group. It was Manny himself that made Ning so appealing to me. He has always been so generous with his knowledge so I was obviously excited to see him author this book.

Ning provides users to create their own social networks like facebook and myspace. It is a great place to form a support group.


As a current user and Ning group owner, I immediately skipped right to page 209, Promoting Your Network, as that is where we (the other creators of http://www.homeschoolkalamazoo.ning.com/) are at in our Ning journey. Our small homeschool group as hit some lulls in the membership department. Even as an experienced Ning user and group creator I was able to pick up some great tips. Manny provides great ideas for customizing your group to fit your needs and great management tools. I think he has covered all the basis. Ning for Dummies makes a great book for those looking to start an online group and can even be useful for those who have already created a group.