Consider the Container

Since becoming a student of frugality, I have enjoyed looking at the items I buy in a whole new way. In my spendthrift days, I enjoyed buying storage containers that were dedicated to specific, and therefore limited, uses. And being the type-A personality that I am, my containers HAD TO MATCH!

Let's just say I have gotten (mostly) over that! These days, when I buy something, I pay attention to the container in which it is packaged. In fact, sometimes the container excites me more than the product itself.

I took a picture of some of my favorite re-purposed containers. Left to right:

I love gallon ice-cream buckets. I use them to store lots of things, including candy, borax (not together, hehe), and washing soda. I also use them while cleaning, both for supplies and for soapy water.

A friend game me the sour cream container with elephant garlic she had just planted. What a great, frugal container. Obviously, it is time to re-pot!

I literally giggled with delight when I saw that Wal-mart is packaging their peanuts in plastic canisters instead of the old cardboard kind. They sell those same canisters, sans the label, in the kitchen aisle for about the same price I pay for the peanuts AND the container. I am excited to collect more of these as I buy peanuts in the future. Then I will have a whole set!

Yogurt tubs make great canisters for beans or pasta. They don't hold a lot, but they are an okay size for a household of two.

Rather than buy a new spray bottle for my homemade kitchen cleaner, I waited until I was out of my store-bought cleaner and re-used that bottle. If you do this, make sure you clean the spray bottle thoroughly before adding your own cleaner, and always label the bottle clearly.

My old chicken bullion container now houses my homemade seafood seasoning mix. I might even consider drilling holes in the lid of the next one and using it for a flour shaker.

On the far right of the picture is a take-out container from our local Chinese restaurant. Not only do these make great leftover and lunch "tupperware" (they are even microwavable), but they also make great gift containers at Christmas. Fill with Snack Mix or cookies and top with a bow, and you've got yourself a nicely presented homemade gift.

How do you re-purpose old containers?

101 Things Update

101 Things December progress:

#7 Finish the Old Testament

2 Chronicles finished

#18 Visit my family in Wisconsin

We spent 2 days with my grandparents, including one evening with my aunt and uncle and cousins and a few minutes with my other uncle.

#24 Make my own tree skirt

I decided to remove this one because I found one I liked at an after-Christmas sale.

#29 Find a new folk/bluegrass band I like and buy an album.

I received a Nickel Creek album for Christmas!

#30 Stop drinking diet soda

I haven't been drinking much pop at all lately because I have stopped buying it. Therefore, I have stopped drinking diet soda.

#35 Back up all digital pictures.

I have all pictures backed up on an external hard drive and also on my Picasa account.

#61 Start using cloth napkins.

I have stopped buying paper napkins and am using some soft cloth napkins I collected from my grandmother's condo.

#77 Read 24 new fiction books.

I read Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers. New total 4/24.

Random Post

I have a friend who periodically writes random posts on her blog, and I really enjoy them. Since I never do this, I thought I might try one tonight. I have a lot on my mind...

My house is a mess. We were traveling for most of our Christmas break and got home just in time for me to spend many hours entering grades, go to bed, and get back to school. Our suitcases exploded all over the house, and I am embarrassed to say that I have just sat here and looked at it this week. I just don't have the drive to work every second of every day like I did in college. When I get home, I just want to sit on the couch. I'm not happy with myself :(

I had a popcorn party for my church choir kids this week. I hadn't met with them since our Christmas performance and wanted to reward them for their hard work. As an added bonus, I had several new kids come and join us! Since my core group is only 10-11, having more voices would be great. The question is, will the new kids come consistently?

Rural King is an awesome store. My favorite thing are their ladies' socks. They have every pattern you could imagine and also nice dressy socks for 88 cents this week. I am such a sucker for them and bought several more pair tonight, even though I have a drawer full.

When I was little I taped all of the Dick Van Dyke episodes off Nick at Nite. Why would a little girl be interested, you ask? Well, my parents watched 1960's reruns all the time, and it just rubbed off on me I guess. Then, being the OCD child I was, I watched each tape, looked up the episode title and other info in a Dick Van Dyke reference book, and listed the episodes on the tape. I got so into it that I even wrote to Dick Van Dyke, and he sent me back an autographed picture "to Amy, God Bless!" (I have wondered since if it was really his secretary who signed it, but I'd like to think he really wrote that message to me). I have been using those old tapes from 1993 to watch "my show" ever since then... Until now! My mom got me the entire series on DVD for Christmas! I almost stopped breathing, I was so excited and surprised! I don't think I'll get rid of the tapes, though. The commercials are awfully fun :)

We got ourselves a practical Christmas present this year: flannel sheets. I always said I would never want flannel sheets because I would get too hot, but I love them. It feels like I'm crawling onto a cloud when I go to bed every night! Since we keep the house at 65 (sometimes 62 at night), I haven't had problems getting too hot.

Well, I will close for now. The dryer repairman is coming tomorrow and I need to clear him a path. *Sigh*

Finding Joy this Christmas

As excited as I am about Christmas, I am apprehensive as well. This will be the first Christmas without my Meme. As a result, we will be doing things differently this year. For instance, instead of Christmas Eve at Meme's house, it will be at my Mom and Dad's home. The last time my mom hosted was the Christmas of my 6th grade year, just after Papa had died in November. My memories of that evening are bittersweet. I remember laughing hysterically while playing a mock game of Family Feud with my cousins, but I also remember the candle burning on the piano in remembrance of our dear grandfather. I remember going up to my room because my stomach hurt so badly from indigestion and, well, grief. I expect Christmas to be bittersweet again in this new season. We will laugh as we play "Dirty Santa" with our $5 gifts. We will savor an assortment of thoughtful stocking gifts. And we will probably cry.

On Christmas morning, we will enjoy the presence of a new family member: Jill's fiance Brian, who already fits in to the family so well. That is definitely a change to look forward to! Christmas Day dinner will be without my aunt and uncle and cousin, who have other plans that evening. Meme's "very special friend," Harold, will be joining us, however, and I am really looking forward to spending time with him. Mom is planning to bake a Christmas ham. We will play our annual Trivial Pursuit game, which will not be nearly as eventful without Meme trying to play for both teams. It will not be the Hardestys vs. the Hartzells, either, as it has always been. But we will find a different way to divide the teams, and it will be okay!

Despite the sadness that I know we will all share this holiday, I am confident that we will all have a wonderful time together. There will be tears, but there will also be lots of laughter and joy. This year my mom will be stepping up to bat as the hostess and matriarch, and the rest of us will step up a generation into our new roles, as well. God is faithful; he will see us through.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.

The other night at Dollar General, I found an ornament that I am 100% positive Meme would have bought for me had she seen it this year. I would put a picture of it on here, but it is already packed away for our departure tomorrow. Tree branches spell out "Joy." Joy is my seldom-used middle name. Since I got married, I legally dropped the Joy to make room for my maiden name. Even so, Meme would often call me "Amy Joy." Sitting on top of the "J" is a beautiful cardinal, Meme's favorite bird (she collected birds and birdhouses). I bought it for myself and will consider it my gift from her this year. I can't help but think that she sent it my way!

Now I will leave the computer, wipe away my tears, and find joy this Christmas, because that's how Meme would have wanted it.

Frugal Comfort Food

Sometimes when I get home, I don't feel like cooking. Correction: that happens more than sometimes. My old standby used to be a soup and sandwich, but that gets old. In the last few months, I have discovered something that is quick to fix and comforting to eat, yet tastes like it comes straight from Cracker Barrel (or close, anyway).

Amy's Hash:

Scrub and slice one medium potato.

Chop 1/4 a small onion.

Fry the onion and the potato in oil or butter.

When potatoes are tender, cut up a slice or two of lunch meat ham and add to skillet.

Brown the entire mixture and remove from skillet.

Top with shredded cheese and chives and cover.

Fry two eggs over medium in the same skillet used above.

Place eggs on top of potato mixture.

Slather with ketchup.

Devour.

Yummmmmmmmm!

Besides the taste, another thing this meal has going for it is its versatility. I enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

You know I wouldn't leave you hanging without discussing the cost-effectiveness of my recipe, which happens to be very easy on the wallet. Each ingredients adds up to just a few cents.

I know I should have a picture and a cost breakdown, but I just don't feel like being that detailed at the moment.

How I did in 2010

Now that 2010 is over, I guess it's that time to consider how I did on my 10 goals for 2010 before I set new goals for 2011.

• Drop satellite TV - We did this and have adjusted well. I would say that I am almost completely over my withdrawal. Going from hundreds of channels to about 4 is rather jarring, but it was totally worth it!
• Replace Seth's vehicle - Seth got a 2008 Ford Ranger pickup truck last March and it is totally paid for.
• Pay off 2nd to last student loan - We did this several months ago and are now working on Seth's Sallie Mae loan.
• Organize/clean out the filing cabinet in our home office - Oh my, this still hasn't been done and it is driving me crazy. Whenever I have to find an important document, it takes forever!
• Learn a new craft (like crocheting or knitting) - I have learned how to do some basic crocheting, but I haven't really kept up with it.
• Make my own all-purpose cleaner, scouring powder, and laundry detergent - I have made all of these and use them regularly.
• Drink two quarts of water every day - I have been drinking more water since we stopped buying pop. I don't know if I drink a full 2 quarts, but I do know that I rarely feel parched when I leave school like I used to.
• Begin teaching flute lessons again - I now have 4 students and will have 5 in the new year!
• Get a summer job - I ended up working at Holiday World. I haven't decided about doing that again. It did help with the debt!
• Finish reading the Old Testament - I am almost through 2 Chronicles. Here are the books I still need to read for the first time in their entirety: Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. I definitely slacked on this goal. I must admit that I find the sheer volume of the Old Testament VERY intimidating.

I guess I did at least reasonably well on 8 out of 10 goals, so I will call that a success! How did you do on your goals for 2010?

Christmas Home Tour

Merry Christmas to all of my friends online! Today we are stuck inside due to 1/4 inch of ice coating everything outside. This is our 2nd day off school this week. It feels great to be off now, although I worry that at this rate, we will race through our built-in days too quickly and end up going to school into June. Since my sister is getting married June 4, that is not an option for me.

Below is my frugal wreath. It is frugal because I simply use the same grapevine wreath year-round and change the ribbons and decorations according to the season or holiday.

Here is the fall version of the wreath.

This is my sideboard in the "dining room" section of our great room.

Our pretty table. I just love the cute snowman candle. I think I received it as a gift back in high school and have been careful not to burn it too quickly. Guess I'm doing pretty well on that since I have been out of high school for almost 9 years!

Our little tree. The angel on top was the first tree topper my parents had when they got married, so it is very special to me. Notice the wrapped presents. That usually doesn't happen until school is out, but the snow days have given me time to do Christmas-y things.

Our living room mantle. Hidden in the gold garland are a quintet of electronic brass instruments that play Christmas songs. They light up blue when they play.

Side table in the "parlor" area of the great room.

Door to office.

My new nativity set. I got it at Kohl's for $30 on Black Friday. I love how the figures look more middle-Eastern than most nativity sets I see. Also, I like how they look like they are carved out of wood. Each one has a gold star somewhere on it and most of the characters are holding their hands over their hearts in devotion. The wooden mirror was made by my Papa, and the angel and plaque were my Meme's. I like how Meme's angel is looking over the scene, just as I imagine her watching over us from Heaven.

I decided to hang up the Christmas cards this year in the office so we can see all of them.

Our bedroom mantle.

I tried something Meme used to do...put lights and ornaments in a glass hurricane. I like the effect!

I hope you enjoyed the picture tour of our cozy home. We are so thankful for God's provision in our lives and for his most precious gift, Jesus! Merry Christmas!