Free To Give Updates: A few months later...

Well, it has been awhile since I ended the series on being Free to Give featuring lots of fun and money saving ideas from Alysia. All this money saving was not to pad our bank accounts...but to be freed up to GIVE more...it has been exciting!

I wanted to give some updates on everything and add some new ways we have found to free up money to give more...

Updates:

*We still are munching away on popcorn, fruit, and granola as our snacks. It has saved us a fortune in boxed snacks and we have even explored new popcorn flavors too! Our staples in the pantry are salt and olive oil (my favorite!), white cheddar (girls favorite!), and ranch (Jay's favorite!). We get these sprinkle favorites at a farmer's market  from an Amish brand I can't remember right now. They are super yummy!

*Speaking of the homemade granola recipe Alysia shared, we make a batch twice a month and eat it all the time! We don't purchase cereals anymore (which saved us about $12 each month!!!)...we just use that yummy homemade granola with milk and bananas sliced on top of it. Here are other ideas for that granola we love:

*sprinkle on yogurt for a snack
*slice apples and cover them in peanut butter...then roll in granola. OH BOY it is GOOD and super healthy!
*slice bananas length-wise and cover with peanut butter and spinkle the top with granola and raisins.
*grab a bag and munch on it!!

The popcorn, granola, and fruit make up 95% of our snacks. We don't buy chips anymore either since we just grab a handful of popcorn with a sandwich.

*Rice and beans - We still eat it at least once a week! My kids beg for it and LOVE it. Our favorite by far has been the black beans, rice, tomatoes, avocados, and plain yogurt I shared a while ago. It lasts forever and is SO cheap to make! WE LOVE IT!

*Laundry detergent - LOVE IT! I still have TONS left and it has worked like a charm on everything I have washed. And since it softens the water, I have never needed any more fabric softener. Still love this detergent...and still use it every single day!

*Cleaners - I still use all of them...except the dishwasher detergent recipe. It wasn't getting my dishes clean enough and I was having to re-run the loads and that's not saving me any money or time. So, other than the dishwasher detergent recipe...I still use all the cleaner recipes that I wrote about from Alysia. That has saved me a bundle!

*I am still not using any more paper plates, plastic cups, etc. I hardly ever have to go down that aisle anymore since I reuse my zip top bags, etc. It's been great!

Since we have stopped buying cereals, chips, snacks, etc. and pre-packaged items (mostly) our last grocery bill was $35. Seriously. I bought ground beef, ORGANIC milk, eggs, OJ, yogurt, apple juice, lots of fruit (strawberries, grapes, bananas, apples), etc. I couldn't believe it! Now, the week before I think it was around $50. But...it's not more than that!

You won't even imagine how much less your grocery bill will be if you you stop buying packaged foods and simply buy ingredients. They go so much further! I am NOT a great cook...seriously. I don't love cooking. But, I have found that there are a few recipes, that only take a little while maybe twice a month to cook, that will help rid your budget of paying for packaging. It's better for you too!

New Way to Save:

OK, we bit the bullet and got rid of cable! I know...many of you have lived for years without it while many may be thinking we have lost our minds (if we ever had them to begin with!). We began to look at the shows we REALLY wanted to watch and looked to see if we could find them anywhere else for FREE.

My kids really only watched PBS. They have some really cool shows they love to watch like Fetch, the Electric Company (new jazzed up version for big kids), etc. We found that all the shows they love to watch are found for FREE on the PBS Kids website (full versions and clips). So...the kids were taken care of!

I only watched one show that I really cared about seeing...and Jay only had one or two he cared about. So, we were paying almost $60 for THREE shows???? Um...I think not! So, we decided to just do it and see what happened.

And guess what? No one cared. Like, AT ALL. No one has even noticed! Seriously, I couldn't believe it! We don't even get the basic channels...nothing...snow on the screen...nada. No one cared one bit.

We still have our TV (a really big screen one Jay's parents dontated to us) and we rent movies from the library. We have one of those duel VHS and DVD machines and so we have watched lots of old VHS goodies like the King and I, Sound of Music, Parent Trap, etc.

That was the largest single way we have saved to give. Some of my friends have suggested some free websites to watch tv shows on and I have only done that once to watch one episode. But, they are out there...just be careful...there are NO safeguards on those sites so to me they are kind of pandora's box. I don't suggest them, but I know many people use them and have no trouble.

So, that is the update! We are still reviewing everything and seeking other fun and exciting way to save in order to give. And realize, that during all this, our God supplies not only our needs but our wants as well. Truthfully, He has worked in ways that have not only allowed us to save and give more...but we haven't even really felt many of these. He has changed our hearts so that we don't even notice the changes most of the time. We have increased our giving, our saving, and we have been on vacations, planning others, bought school supplies, clothes, shoes, are taking classes at Timothy again this year, and having a BALL!

Many times we think that God wants us to be miserable...and until we are...we aren't really serving Him. What kind of Father is that? One we have made up. He is a loving Father! All GOOD AND PERFECT GIFTS come down from Him! We have EVERY SINGLE blessing in Christ Jesus! He has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness!

These are just a few scriptures! He loves us and we can't imagine all the blessings physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially that He gives us. But, many times we have our eyes set on a worldly prize. A worldly standard. A worldly blessing. A worldly inheritance. But, when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, we see clearly!!!

He has brought us on this journey...and changed us! We might have less, but we truly don't even think so. The math and budget tells us that we don't have much to spare...but when we look around at our lives and see how RICH we have been blessed...we serioulsy know we have BUNDLES MORE to share! When we see prayers answered, patience growing, and love abundant...we aren't missing a THING!!!!

Don't you just love Jesus?

Me too:-)