This year i went for the big one and invited our large extended family to our house for an Easter dinner!....Factor in i have the smallest house of anyone i have met yet!..lolz and one comes out with the realization that 10 pp and a tiny kitchen could make for a very long day. Anyways i started a list of all the essential item to feed these hungry mouths and was wondering who else is having a large group this coming weekend and what you are planning? For us it will be a traditional Turkey, set with all the fixing's *potatoes veggies homemade buns salad and dessert! lots of work but i love it! Anyways Share your Easter menu's you have planned And Happy holiday!

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Hello every one, i know i haven't posted anything in a very long time! I have a another new job, working two now. This summer was not a very good one, (and it followed us) and had alot of financial struggles, and with Christmas so close we looked at the check books and started to panic!..Hubby has been on disability for a few months and that has left our bank accounts with almost no money to pay our basic bills! SO..i trudged off like the good wife i am (lolz) and found more work. We have managed to save over $4000 this year, but it was not easy,each time we had to make a car payment we had to transfer out of our savings to cover it!.. Am i crazy leaving our saving alone or should i be spending them????? bills are late and food is getting scarce..i do not get paid for another 3 wks Help!
 

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A few months ago, I asked my Dh why do we have these? i meant our two CC's he simply looked at me and said i don't know dear , they are in your name and i can't use them?! How fair is this i thought, i have 2 CC's and he has cash!! and every time he buys something for him self i get upset at him and in all reality i have a balance owing on my CC's every month for frivolous purchases i hide from him. I decided this was enough! and made him cut them up right in front of me. Does honesty run deep after 5 yrs of marriage? I'm not sure but i will say this , debt drags families farther apart and yet we hide things from each other each and everyday willingly. I hope to have our balances paid off very soon and get rid of the dishonest heart i have been holding on to. God bless

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here is a recipe i use all the time for my family. The trick is to not over back these cookies they are soft and chewy!.

Preheat oven to 350 F

1 cup white flour

1/8 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 shortening (do not subsitute for butter or margarine)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Sift together flour cocoa powder, soda and salt . Cream shortening and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Add sifted ingredients blend in chocolate chips. Drop form teaspoon onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10 mins (do not over bake) makes 24-48 cookies depending on size.

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We have been hearing a lot lately about having a cushion, an emergency saving's fund. Have you thought about this? supposedly to be safe in ones own home you should ideally have at least 6-8 months of bill money/survival money stocked away. For us this would mean that if we were to do this it would require us to have 9-10k saved for a real emergency, this being medical, job loss ect. this does not mean saving for a vacation (just cause you want one) Hard work! It will take us, mind you no bumps in the road should come along at $500/month for 15 months. It is almost scary! that means no extra's no emergencies. like sick days with no pay . No extravagant presents, and most of all no more CC debt! 

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This morning at breakfast my DH informed me the price of gas was about to rise again. this time for good. And get ready because the price of food would increase as well. I was alarmed but thought ok, this is going to be later not sooner. Yikes we went for groceries today and already everything we boutght last week, has increased in price by at least 5-10%, hardly a staple in the cart, and hardly a meal to make with anything and we spent $95.00 guess starving is the new skinny!. Milk is up from $3.99/litre to $5.69/litre! in one week! meat..yikes i won't even go there! A pinch i would not say a pinch but a sunburn ! Hold on to your checkbooks people this one's gonna hurt like hell!

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I have started making my own homemade bread/buns on a weekly basis now. I am by trade a baker so the skills are natural to me!. It costs so little to store a bag of flour and yeast to provide my family with chemical, preservative, additive free breads. I enjoy the time it takes to make it, love to watch it rise and rise again and the smell in the house can't be found in a store!  HUGS to all

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For a few years my husband has suffered from a torn shoulder ligement, causing partial paralyzes to his left arm. There are times when he can't even pick up a glass of water, toothbrush or drive. Since the waiting list for his surgery to partially repair the tear is so long, we have had to deal with the effects of this damage for many years.

He has made a Doc's appt. and we are in the process of filing for disability (partial) I fear they will cut his job every time he calls in a says he can't come in. Scared to be a wife, not sure how to say when he is hurting, we need his income or we loose everything! If they cut his job we have hardly any income, never mind going anywhere for a trip, just trying to survive! the possibility of selling our 4x4 has run through my mind and becoming a one vehicle family.

My family not supportive at all, thinks just because we own a house we should fix it up, paint, do Reno. I can hardly go three days without worrying about lost of wages. Scared to death! pray for us please

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i scored a coupon recently for a buy on get one free candle form Glade! i was at the checkout and the first candle rang in at a whopping $6.30 the cashier looked at me and said these things are small but man are they expensive! I I looked at her and said $3.40 is not expensive and she then informed me that the candle had not been listed at the price i had told her .She then called a fellow staff member over and did a price check, and because i was right on the $3.40 and the till price was wrong, i scored both of them for FREE!..Check your stores policy for free merchandise if the till price is not what the shelf price is!, could catch you by surprise! Until next time take care!

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In December of 2010, Our family started a savings plan of $500/month we decided on every week for a withdrawal from out main acct to a savings acct we already had. Thinking this would be so easy we set aside this much every month and  now are looking at $1000.00 in out saving, but it hasn't been that easy as i previously thought, out main account has stayed almost empty and our savings have grown, we have had to cut back on purchases like groceries and fun items like movies. ect! But oh the smile on our families face when we hit out targeted goal of $5000! Target date estimated November 2011 keeping my fingers crossed!

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Who is with me on this one. lets try and cut our grocery budget's in half this month and see what we can live on for less!, use up all of the ingredients you in your cupboards and keep the list to a bare minimum . Only restocking the bare necessities  EG: milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, add a comment if you are with me on the adventure, and of course if you have any questions! week one starts Monday!

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this summer i am taking off from work ( i work at a school) and was planning on starting to cut back, save and otherwise prepare for the two months when i will not be getting paid. I have ran the idea by my DH about OAMC and he thought it was a great idea!. i have a garden and planned it very carefully, hoping for a better growing season than last year( all the rain caused rotten potatoes) And need a few ideas and recipes that others have tried for this OAMC. I plan to shop in early June or may, and start filling the freezer, hence cutting out the grocery bill( or most of it) for July and august. I make awesome Lasagna already, killer stew and some very yummy chicken. Love recipes for OAMC and side dishes to. Just bought a used vacuum sealer and plan on utilizing that as well thanks!

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Found this recipe in an old recipe book i had, Strawberries were on sale for $2 a container. it calls for strawberry gelatin, which was .69 cent's 3 cups of sugar and that is it!..all in all it cost me less then $2 per jar for 5 jars of jam!..It hasn't set yet but will let you know and share the recipe if it sets right and it good enough to be shared Hugs to all chrystal

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Recently my husband came up to me and said gee dear, i found all this loose change hiding in the closet in a jar downstairs!..He had taken out the loonies and toonies to go to the store..! So this morning after my coffee i thought, i wonder how much loose change is floating around that i could roll?!Well as it turns out after fives minutes i had rolled $20 in just dimes alone !!! imagine you come home from the store, dump your left over change from a recent purchase in a empty jar and on a weekend morning wake up and realize hey i had $20 i never thought i had! I'm not even close to being done yet i have a full canning jar (large size) full of pennies and another one full of mixed coin just waiting to be added up!..So ladies and gents grab a coffee and your loose change and lets all see what $$ we can roll up toady!, Good luck and have fun!

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For the past two years we have been making 2 separate payments on two separate vehicles, the interest rate for the two came to an alarming 18% !!! Ouch!!!!! so we went to the bank today and toke matter in our own hands and got the two made into one, now the interest rate is sitting at 7% for the two. happy to get that taken care of and now we won't have payments for the next 6 yrs. more like 4! if you are in debt deep with vehicle loans and feel trapped, got talk to you bank and see about a Consolidation loan, you could be on your way to saving big money!! Take care of your money today so it can pamper you tomorrow!

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Hello all, it has been along time since i wrote.!If i haven't already i would like to welcome all my cats babies to the world. 7. one died so we were left with 6. this time around everything is going better. 6 weeks almost! Man how the time has flown by!..Adverturous little kittens with real personalities!.. friendly, sweet and some hiss and upset at human contact! We are planning to keep one of the babies. but have no idea how to part with the other one we have fallen for!..a lady called and wanted to take one from us, maybe letting her pick with give us a decision we can all keep! well until then it it fun to see them all grow!. Got better pricing for the mother cats spaying, the town next to us charges $180 over the $230 our town vet wants! God bless you all!

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I was here today reading about all of the things everyone is doing to save a penny or two, and it got me thinking about Christmas! Every year the family exchanges gifts to the nieces and nephews and picks one name from the hat and buys a $50 gift for that person. Also every year the kids get together and chip in on a gift for my DH parents, but they never expect that we will refuse to pay for part of that gift. In 2006 i was greeted to a very alarming phone call about the gift for the In-laws. PlEASE pay $98.00 for your portion for this gift!.. I was appalled! i never spend that kind of money on any one! so the very next year i set out ON a frugal Adventure, how to make it better!!!

I started to make homemade soaps, and candles and even salt water taffy, i created a homemade gift basket for less than $25 with baking and treats tucked inside. This year i have decided to try my hand at making Ribbon wreaths for the mothers, have bought all the materials for two and it is around $25.00 each wreath plus my time and effort

Still need to get an idea for the Fathers and have no idea where to start!..a suggestion for this would be great!

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Very recently our cat had her second litter of kittens, the first litter never had a chance to live, as the mother cat got an infection while pregnant and birthed them while sick! we tried to keep her inside, but as all well and good ideas go, that fell through!, and now are faced with 6 little meowing babies at our mercy!..I was told by several people that if a Queen has more than 5 kittens i should be supplementing the 6th one with artificial milk..can any one tell me if this is true? They all seem to be doing well  so far, and it gives me no cause to worry!..thanks so much

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I love my DH alot.but i gotta tell you all something..NEVER LET YOUR HUSBANDS GO GROCERY SHOPPING WITHOUT A LIST! He means well and it was a great refeif to see him go..BUT when he got home, i was at first excited to see how little he spent and how many bags there were..UNTIL....i relized he never got any meat at all.!!!.oh no i told him..what will we eat for the next week??? he looked at me like i had two heads! and replied don't we have some in the frezzer? One chicken we all know does not feed a family of 3 for a week..so regardless of his best intentions..there i was over spending on the grocery budget of $85.00/wk to get the essential meat my DH thought we had so much of! i've learned a hard lesson..Lists are so vital!

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Bless my dear parents. For christmas they bought hubby and I a pot rack to help with our tight space issue in our kitchen. they came today to put it up and already I notice a big change in the way our kitchen looks. Have a tight space???? i do recomened one of these. You can get them in an oval shape to attach to the wall or one to hang from the ceiling!( as we have). i love space saving ideas!

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we have recently got a kitten from the animal shelter in our town. When we got the kitten we never asked many questions about her, we were told although that she had been checked recently by a vet and had her first shots!. Now that we have her we are not sure how come there is lack of firm bowel movements. I have consulted the vet with no luck. He was not concerned she was sick enough to be seen. I went to our Home hardware store and the girl there asked me if her tummy was swollen, and it being as it was she told me that the dihereah was more than likely caused by worms! imagine that!!! We bought up a de-worming pills treatment(4.99) and am hoping we can save our poor putty-cat form a cruel vet bill!(ranging from$ 80-$180) LOL anyways was wondering if a cat could be healthy after a treatment? have to wait i guess. She was happy to have a feast of wet food for the pill to activate, so i hope the worms don't have feast as well! Good luck little kitty, and please pray for her to be normal, as it can not be very pleasent to move homes and be sick all the while!

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As we approach our moving day. This monday June 15 the list of things we need to do gets consideribly longer! Hubby is the worst packer, but the best cleaner! so i would rather he do the laundry and clean up after me than help me pack! (he put shoes in a bad with glass vases , the vases were unwrapped and the shoes were all my high heels!) But i manage. I have started a corner for gargage sale item's that i will be having at a later date...the stuff is piling up fast! We have many a person to help move but it will still be a long day! We get the keys on Monday and i plan to move all the boxes through out the week to minamize the work load come the weekend. My dear mother is painting my daughters room this week as a moving in present for her! (bless her heart),and i plan to plant some veggies in the garden while i suppervise! LOL. anyways just thought i would let you in on the progress, have to go pack up the unessential kitchen items now...before hubby does Prayers To all!  

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I have ordered my hampers for next summer already and wonder if any one orders from them as well. If you are stumped they were formerley called Chrisco Hampers and have only recently changed their name. I love the conveience and it saves our family money when it comes in, i used to spend $100 on groceries every week and since i have gotten these hampers i save at least $40 each week. My Meat hampers comes in on June 9th and i can hardly wait. Summer is here and there's nothing like a frezzer full of great meat o keep you grillin'! Check out the site www.santaschoice.ca and start your excitement today!

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Remember a while back i said we were saving to buy a house and we were getting very close well ...WE BOUGHT A HOUSE !!!. It is small but very cozy, has 4 bedrooms and alot of love!  

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How many of you are making your own foods at home? We started with our Laundry soap, gather that is not a food, but it started a trend in our home. I have now sucessfully, made my own bread, granola bars from stratch, cookies once a week and Tried but failed with the homemade maple syrup(that is one thing i will buy). So share your stories of the impossible, the things you never thought you would have made, but tried and liked! thanks and god bless! 

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Does anyone make their own bread anymore? I'm talking really make it? No bread machine bread, just real old fashoined Bread you knead by hand? i have and have been reaping the rewards ever since! nothing beats the taste or smell of real old-fashoined bread from stratch! I do use my stand mixer to mix the ingredients, and nead it, but i have to let it rise, punch it down, and let it rise in the pans before i bake it. We are trying so hard to save money...WE JUST BOUGHT HUBBY A NEW CAR! (USED)YESTURDAY! SO WE HAVE EVEN MORE DEBT AND ARE ALSO SAVING TO GET A HOUSE! Any recipes would be great, or secrets on your sucess and we can share and learn to enjoy the old ways again!

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Managing the family is always tough at the best of times. But what do you do when your children are against you instead of with you? It seems to me that Fathers have taken on a more tougher role rearing their children these days, as apposed to my own father. But what happens when he is unavailable, working ect. Lead to distraction, i have never been good at following the rules i make, so there for i am found many a nights yelling instead of talking, WHY you ask? To many times i have broken the rules for convenice and  continue to pay the price. But not today, whining was her way and i held my ground.! Growing stronger inside and learning as a parent to to cope on my own. I acomplished what i set forth and feel better for being the stronger of the two evils! Praise god for another happy Day!

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yikes this hurts. Got the smyptoms about 6 days ago but thought nothing of it, my period was way late so i thought i was preggo. Turns out i'm not, but had seen a Doc yesturday and he said it was a virus and gave me Tylenol 3's and they are not helping. So i  went to see another doc today and after he did a feeling of my stomach (ouch)  and a urine test he found the blessed infection, so i'm on the mend now, with a note to stay home from work! (but they pay me) So please pray for a speedy recovery!

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HOW MANY OF YOU ARE DIE HARD CHRISTIANS, IN AND OUT OF THE HOME? WAS IT SOMETHING YOU STARTED WHEN YOU GOT MARRIED OR WAS IT SOMETHING YOU WHERE RAISED ON? I AM A STRONG CHRISTIAN WOMEN, BUT MY HUSBAND IS NOT. I FIND IT HARD TO LIVE A "REAL" LIFESTYLE WHEN HE IS NOT COMITTED.. CAN YOU OFFER ADVICE? MY DAUGTHER IS ON TRACK WITH ME, PUTTING OTHERS BEFORE HERSELF ECT..

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I FOUND A RECIPE FOR THIS BUT IT TASTE'S TERRIBLE! ANYONE HAVE ANY NEW RECIPES.. WANT TO STAY WITH THE HOMEMADE STUFF, CAUSE I'VE STARTED MY FRUGAL CHALLENGE FOR THE YEAR $80 A WEEK FOR GROCERIES..ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED

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Did spring cleaning today..Have been buying lots of discount clothing lately, and thought i would go through my closet and drawers to see what was old that i did not want anymore! Made soup today, from chickens i cut up from the hutterites (beautiful birds) so it is a frugal day for me, hope all has (had) a great weekend!

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I'm planning something real nice for hubby, always a dinner and time together, but this year i was thinking maybe a nice drive in the country..no kids... then maybe a movie and popcorn, something low cost, Anyone have any other frugal Idea's? if so let me know!

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When i think about our trip down this road it scares the pants off me! We have had many set backs, vehicle repairs illnesses..ect! and our house savings account dwindled with each financial overload! So on my journey to make it happen i have made a new years resolution to cut up all but one credit card and leave the house-saving account alone, minus adding money to it!. So i will post more and keep you up dated! To date $1249.00 Needed for downpayment $5000.00 so far yet so close!

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