Worth Sharing This Week: October 26 - November 1

Thefrugalgirl had an interesting article this past week in which she asked the question: Would you rather be good at saving or good at earning a lot of money?   I know what my answer would be and wasn't surprised to find she had a similar opinion.  Her reasoning was: If you are good at saving, then even a little can become enough.

Now John is always saying to me, "You can't earn $100 and spend $101..." and he's soooo right.  This year we've experienced a season where we've consistently spent a little more than he's earned most pay periods.  This was true mostly because I insisted upon continuing to put money into savings despite having a higher pay out each payday.  My reasoning was that once money goes into savings I am so loathe to spend it for any purpose except why it was set aside that I knew it was truly SAVED.  



I have since had to change my thinking as I realized that we've had less income as well.  Obviously if we have a higher outgo and a lower salary, too then something else must be trimmed.  And since outgo couldn't be trimmed further, savings had to be it.  However, had I not been well trained at savings, we'd have spent a LOT more than he's earned and we'd not held steady  on those occasions when he brought home a little more.  

So yes, for my part, I'd rather be skilled in saving and generating savings.


I find some of the quotes on Frugal Measures very motivational.  The quote Becky shared this week made me chuckle on two counts.  "Many more could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economical life if they had a year's supply of food...and were debt free.  Today we find that many follow this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year's supply of debt and are food free." ~President Thomas S. Monson

First, I chuckled because I am so grateful for our pantry which has seen us through two tough years and supplied another household or two at times.  Yes, I do spend grocery money but have lowered my grocery budget  steadily over the last two years and we still have a good supply of food on hand.  

I recently watched an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel in which Midge and family left a restaurant before their meal was served and once home, scrounged for food.  Walnuts in shell, questionable containers from the fridge, a box of stale cookies were what they pulled out...I find myself completely baffled by this, I confess it and yet, I know there are many who do eschew having any sort of food storage.  Admittedly they lived in New York City and Rose, Midge's mother, had lived in Paris.  I should imagine that shopping daily was her habit.  However, one does not shop daily when one lives in the country!

Second, I chuckled because  I have reassured John  several times over the past two weeks about our future financial lives and always ended with the words, "and at least we are debt free!"


In every home of mine, you may be sure you'd find at least one floral picture upon the walls.  I just love flowers and since I don't grow many of my own, and can't always manage fresh cut flowers in my home, I hang florals on the walls...

                                                      by Henri Fantin-Latour (1889)

I found this picture on Jenny's blog.  Isn't that picture of Hollyhocks just lovely?  I confess I thought it was a photo but I soon realized it's a painting.  Henri Fantin-Latour, the artist, was born in Grenoble, France, and  was a contemporary of Impressionist artists Whistler and Manet.  It was Whistler who introduced his works for sale in England and Fantin-Latour's art sold so well that his work was virtually unknown in his native France.  He also did some portraiture work and developed lithographs based on works by classical composers.  But his best known work was his very realistic floral compositions such as the one above.

It was apparently an artsy sort of week...On another blog I found this image:

                                                    Autumn by Edward Atkinson, Hornel

Hornel was a Scottish painter, known for landscapes, florals and portraits, often with children.  His work is absolutely beautiful and so lovely in it's tapestry-like colors.

I confess to wondering if the children in the above picture are  the least bit damp lying there...It appears to be right level with the water doesn't it?  I imagine the ground there as being rather marshy.  But aside from that bit of motherly wondering, the foreground of leaves is so lovely that I can just imagine a really beautiful carpet that looks much the same, can't you?  And isn't there something just intrinsically dreamy about the whole thing?

Incidentally you should really check out other works by Hornel.  Summer Idyll is very nearly the same scene in summertime...Just lovely!


From Susan Branch's blog  a bit of good advice to slow down and appreciate the season:  "Our world sometimes feels upside down, we can feel overwhelmed by daily happenings.   Making ends meet, meeting the needs of our beloveds, drains energy, there's no rest for the wearied or worried!  Dreaming of a better tomorrow?  Let the things you value in life shine through, family, friends, the little things that make life sweet.  Do stop and smell the flowers, run and catch a leaf in mid air.  Watch an old movie with your petty pet.  You'll feel better fast, I promise."



Layaway is becoming more popular once more.  I personally have no problems with layaway at all...It's preferable to a big credit card bill and immediate outlay of money.   Gracious my children would have missed Christmas hadn't it been for Walmart and Kmart layaways!   I stumbled upon this guide to stores with layaway.   I was interested to note that  TJMaxx and Marshall's have layway in some stores.  Happily the TJMaxx nearest my home is one of those that do and I shall certainly be looking at that store in the future with a more open mind.  How often have I passed up some lovely item that would make a wonderful birthday gift or even a piece of furniture that was just what I wanted but couldn't afford just then only to find it gone when I returned?  Yes, I do like layaway!

It's a very simple recipe I share with you this week.  Now that the local grocery is under new management I'll run in there more often to purchase certain cuts of meat like cubed steak and some roasts, which are often better priced there than in Aldi.  However, John asked for cubed steak not too long ago and I bought it at Aldi.

Now you all know I like Aldi wonderfully well, but the cubed steak has been a small disappointment in that it can be grizzly at times or chewy at others.   I have had a sore mouth (jaw out of alignment and teeth grinding) and was reluctant to eat a chewy bit of meat.   I recalled a recipe I'd seen on Pinterest for Cubed Steak cooked in the crockpot.  I decided to try that and I'm pleased as can be with the results!

Easy Crockpot Cubed Steak:  I'm not going to write this out in recipe form, because it is genuinely so easy to make.  It takes pantry staples and that's it.   I put one package of cubed steaks in the crockpot, then sliced over it 1/2 of a large onion.  Then I poured over the top of that 1 package of onion soup mix, added in a half teaspoon of minced garlic and about 1 cup of water.  I cooked this on HIGH for about 5 hours.  I removed the meat and most of the onions, poured the broth into a small saucepan and thickened it with cornstarch.   This was absolutely delicious with mashed potatoes.

John said he'd like to have it again, and that's a recommendation if you needed one, lol.

 I was looking for photos of three of the youngest grands dressed in their costumes and stumbled upon this photo of the same mustard shirt I'd shared yesterday with a heavy challis shawl that I hadn't featured.  This one piece gives me a possible 2 more pairings (with blue jeans or olive drab pants) to add to my pretend 'capsule' wardrobe.  I've paired it with a heavy turquoise necklace bought at a thrift shop or might also use the purple bead necklace bought from a clearance display a couple of years ago.  I've had to the shawl forever, well over six years I think.

                         Katie's little princess here.  Her daddy does her hair every morning.

Josh has a Flash Gordon obsession going on at present...And Isaac is all about being a Do Rawr.  You can see Bess' baby bump is well developed.


This week's movie recommendation: "The Water Diviner".  No nudity, no horrible language, no grizzly scenes.    Stick with it through the rather disjointed beginning.  It's well worth seeing.


Wise economy: a rather good lot of sales at Publix of buy one get one free items.  I stocked up on cold remedies and pineapple juice;  a pricey chicken pot pie that worked out to just  over $1 each for  nice meaty pot pies (sold in 4 packs) that  I'll share  with Katie further down the road and have some for easy meals for myself; cat food; Hershey's chocolate syrup for about the same price it would cost me to make it myself; and decaf coffee.   All food items are good pantry/freezer staples.  I also bought discounted Halloween candy, ghost shaped marshmallows (which melt same as traditional shaped and are set aside for Thanksgiving Sweet Potato casserole).   I won't be buying groceries this coming pay period and so I went ahead and purchased apples, bananas, and lettuce.  We have plenty of everything else on hand.

Don't forget that this weekend we 'Fall Back' with time, if you live in one of those states that participates.  We do.  John will be returning to work on Sunday and I told him my consolation is that at least we get that 'extra' hour of sleep.

Have a lovely weekend!