Preparing for Winter

It seems like Todd and I are always planning a couple of seasons in advance.  When we bought our house, we had a couple of trees that were too close to the house.  We had the trees taken down and we have been letting the wood "season" in the quanset-hut at the property we own next door.

Todd gets oak wood from work that comes on a pallet with product that is needed to make what they manufacture.  The oak plans are free for the taking, and we've learned that the oak burns realy hot.  It is a great way to warm up the house quickly and then the wood from our trees keeps the stove nice and warm for hours after the oak has long burned away.

Two weeks ago, Todd started cutting the oak planks to get ready for Winter and stored them all in the Living Room.

On Friday, Todd bought  a new chainsaw to help cut the wood.  We bought one when we bought the house, but it was not powerful enough and quite frankly, a cheap chainsaw.  The one he bought is much higher quality, and according to Todd, it runs like a dream.  It is amazing how easily and quickly a job can get done when you have the proper tools.

We have a bundle of wood in the Living Room waiting for the cool days to come around. Todd is still working on getting the rest of the wood in the hut cut and split to put in our "wood shed" behind the garage.  We can keep warm for an entire Winter on a cord of wood.  We have enough wood to last us several years.
Even though it's alot of work, we like to plan ahead and prepare for the upcoming seasons.

Are you getting ready for Winter yet?  If so, how?

This blog post is linked up with HomeStead Revival's Preparedness Challenge and Barn Hop.

We're Frugal, Not Broke!

Over the past couple of weeks, our families have made comments about being worried about our finances.  I find this kind of odd considering we are in the best financial shape of our lives!

I think that the reason our families may be worried is because we are so incredibly frugal.  OK, lets be honest here, we may appear to be flat out cheap.  However, we have learned that “cheap” is not always the way to go and we are now consciously making financial decisions based on not only price, but quality as well.

For instance, when we bought our home, we needed a chainsaw due to the amount of trees that needed to come down on our property.  Todd bought the cheapest chainsaw that Home Depot had to offer at a little over $200.  It leaked oil the first season of ownership and there was always a problem with it that Todd had to work on.  Todd bought a new chainsaw that is much higher quality, has a warranty and even came with an extra chain and carrying case for only $150 more than the one we bought from Home Depot.  If it lasts any more than 4 years, it will be a purchase well made.

When we bought our home in 2007, we were b-r-o-k-e.  The repairs that Todd did to our house were done as inexpensively as possible, and we are now paying for it because of the amount of projects that will have to be re-done over the next 3-5 years.  Lesson learned.

We buy our clothes from the thrift store.  The main reason is not because we are cheap, it’s because we are both terribly hard on our clothing.  We are both pretty bad about getting stains on our clothes that don’t come out.  If it’s not our own doing with the stains, it is our horrible well water that discolors our clothing.  We don’t see the sense in buying a new t-shirt or sweater for $10+ when it will be turned into rags over the next year or two. We aren’t the type of people who have the same clothes 5+ years down the road.

Our entertainment includes dollar movie theaters, making our own wine, driving around to look at scenery, visiting friends/family and eating out at restaurants that we know we like and are inexpensive.  Our vacations are inexpensive and focus on experiencing the area, not how much we spend along the way. 

It may appear that we are penniless because of the way we choose to spend (or save) money, but we are far from broke.  We are extremely fortunate to be debt free (except our mortgage), have a small emergency fund in the bank to get us through any unexpected expenses, and we plan for everything else beyond that. 

Do you find people tend to think you are broke because of your frugal ways?

This post is linked up with Mama Dani's Flutter by Friday Blog Hop

25 Weeks 'Til Christmas: Week 17 Puppy Chow

This week's 25 Weeks 'Til Christmas gift is something that my mom and I had from an Amish store the weekend before last and we loved it! It was so good, and I cant believe how easy it is to make!  I plan on making a couple of batches the week of Christmas and putting it in Christmas-type bags with a ribbon.



Photo Credit

 Puppy Chow

9 Cups Chex cereal
1/2 Cup peanut butter
1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 Cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
2. Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
3. Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

Every Monday through the week of Christmas will be a new homemade gift idea/project.  Be sure to check them out!  Happy Crafting!

Recipe: Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For my mother's birthday last week, I made her a pineapple upside down cake.  This is a cake that my grandmother always made and is one of my favorites.  When I asked grandma for the recipe, I was surprsiesd at how easy it was to make!

Ingredients:

1 jar of maraschino cherries
Brown sugar
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple (drained)
1 box yellow cake mix (or this recipe from Frugal & Simple)

Directions:

• Preheat oven at 350
• Spray the bottom of a 13 x 9 glass baking dish
• Spread about a cup of brown sugar on the bottom of the baking dish (I wing it - we like brown sugar)
• Scatter the cherries over the brown sugar

• Pour the can of (drained) crushed pineapple over the cherries.  It may look like there is too much juice, but that is what makes the cake so moist!

• Pour the cake mix over the crushed pineapple

• Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 until cooked the whole way through (butter knife or toothpick comes out clean)

• Flip the cake over on a foil-lined cookie sheet

• Enjoy!

Giveaway: Your Choice of 4" x 6" Sign

Sparing Change has almost hit 100 followers since I started the blog April 1st! As a sign of my appreciation, I am going to randomly select (using random.org) one person to receive one of the following 4" x 6" wood signs (of their choice).  This giveaway will run for 1 week (through 08/31/11: 11:59PM EST)

The choices are:

How to Enter:

• You must be a Sparing-Change Follower
• You must leave a comment to this post (1 entry)
• "Like" Sparing-Change on FaceBook (1 entry)
• Tell others on FaceBook about this giveaway (2 entry points)
• Blog about this giveaway and link to Sparing-Change (3 entry points)

Please enter a seperate comment for each entry you make.

Have fun, and good luck!

This blog is linked to Chubby Cheek's Hop Along Friday and HomeMaker By Choice's Blog Hop, Mama Dani's Flutter By Friday and Design It Chic's Blog Hop.

Extremely Large Egg

Several weeks ago, one of the chickens laid a freakishly large egg.  On the scale of eggs, this would be considered an “XXL” in my book!  It is so big, it barely fits into the egg carton!

We have one chicken that is laying smaller eggs, one that is laying medium-sized eggs, and then one that is consistently laying pretty large eggs.  It is fun to go out and collect every day to see what we may have!  I am anxious to see if the XXL egg is a double-yolk or not!  We have had one “twin” in the 100+ eggs we have eaten from our chickens. 

Have you ever had a freakishly large egg from one of your chickens?