Weekly Check-in #21

This week held so much for us! DH (Darling Husband) was off work, but he was busy with his side hustle, so it was almost like he wasn't here. 

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Five months in, and I am still blogging. That's a decent accomplishment these days. 

Keep the food budget to $400 per month.

I haven't reached this goal yet. I think I may make $500, but this month has had a few extra things, like a birthday with a special cake to make and 3 gallons of strawberries. Special items increase the budget. I do think some helpful things are: buy staples and stock up when you can, eat rotating meals, plan ahead a LOT, don't purchase specialty items (unless on sale!), and grow what you can/eat seasonally. I don't think there's anything revolutionary in that advice. 

I will say I think making things that you might ordinarily buy saves money. I have run out of baking mix and can't find the cheap version at Aldi. It can be made, and I have flour on hand. The hardest part is storing it. I have (somewhere) a metal bowl with a lid. I will also be making strawberry syrup, strawberry soup (strawberries with sugar), and strawberry lemonade concentrate.

Start a garden.

Now I have to tend this one. It's in the maintenance phase. I got more tomato plants, since some of the first ones didn't make it. 

The spigot got fixed! It was more than I hoped to spend, but it's done.

Pay more attention to my health.

Since coming off my medication, I have a lot more energy, which means I am much more active. Being active decreases my weight (in theory - not so much in practice), and also lowers my blood pressure.  

Read 50 new books this year.

I have been really busy with the house, so reading time has been pushed back a bit. I picked up another book though, and it's not quite what I expected but I think it's better. 

How to Use a Planner Without Wasting Time, Mystie Winckler 

Poor Richard, James Daugherty

The Empowered Wife, Laura Doyle

Fortress of the Lost Amulet, Michael Webb

Different, Sally Clarkson

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

The Convivial Homeschool, Mystie Winckler

The Out-of-Sync Child, Carol Stock Kranowitz

How to Manage Your Home without Losing Your Mind, Dana K. White

The Nemechek Protocol, Patrick Nemechek 

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood, Danny Trejo

The Magnolia Table, Joanna Gaines

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith

Legend of the Golden City, Michael Webb

I pulled another book from my list, in a category I haven't started yet. Now that the birthday party is over, my routine can get back to normal.

Declutter our home and make it hospitable.

There was SO much progress made this week. While cleaning the dining room, I found another box for the kitchen. I also found painting supplies! I borrowed a roller frame from a friend (the one thing that was missing), and now I can paint the front bathroom. I have also decided to paint the kitchen. It's a yellow with red trim, and the kids call it a "hot dog" kitchen. Not my thing, but I have enough white paint from the ceilings that I can do the bathroom and the kitchen. I also found the EXACT color I wanted for the bathroom, and I think there will be enough. 

I found I need to mulch again. Fortunately, that's a $0 project, as I have some bags leftover from when we did them the first time. All I need to do is load the wheelbarrow and distribute it.

There is a place where I want to make a path with tiles or stone. It has been worn over time, and gets muddy when it rains. I would really like to use some pea gravel and stone tiles, if I can find them free or cheap. It's not a huge area, and it can wait until the right time. The driveway also needs to be fixed. It's gravel, and there are some holes that have developed. I think most of that will be a shovel and tamper to pack it down.  

While it feels very frustrating most days to have so much stuff to go through, one of the beautiful blessings of that is finding things that are really useful to you. What we can't use, we pass on, especially when we have duplicates. 

Complete 12 craft projects in progress.

My Saoirse is still in progress. I work on it at night, and still hope to have it done soon. I need to iron some material and make curtains for the pantry/laundry room. I hope to get through several things this fall, after I make my craft space.   

It's been a good week, although I don't know that I made a lot of progress on any particular goal. Sometimes the small steps make the biggest impact though, and it's more about being consistent than giant leaps. God is using these goals to teach me consistency. What are you learning?

Weekly check in #20

This week was a week. We did a lot of stuff, and I have been working on the house for my youngest's birthday. 

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This one is a definite yes. It may not be quite as often as I would like, but it's there.

Keep the food budget to $400 per month.

I haven't reached this goal yet. 

June is coming next week, and I have yet another plan. I am going to be EXTREMELY busy and I need SUPER simple things for dinner. I am going to do a weekly rotation and see what that gets me. I have about 4 meals planned already and I need 3 more for the week. 

Start a garden.

Done! I was later than I wanted to be, but it got tilled by a sweet friend and I planted a few things. I was even able to find tomato plants for FREE! 

I didn't think it would work, because our outside spigot isn't working correctly. I have someone coming Wednesday to look at it, and at least tell me what's wrong with it.

I also propagated basil that needs to be planted in a container. The rosemary hasn't done anything yet, but I am still hopeful. The few stems I put in water are still green, but no roots yet.

Pay more attention to my health.

I have been drinking more water and I have some wonderful benefits from it. I have been able to stop my blood pressure medicine and things are going well. I am continuing to monitor it, so I know if I need it again. 

I have been taking time for some things that I enjoy. I start my mornings with a candle, a cup of coffee, and a song. It's quiet, but I just sing. I have been remembering old hymns that I love, and just singing. 

Read 50 new books this year.

I finished more books, bringing my total to 14.  Here's the list so far:

How to Use a Planner Without Wasting Time, Mystie Winckler 

Poor Richard, James Daugherty

The Empowered Wife, Laura Doyle

Fortress of the Lost Amulet, Michael Webb

Different, Sally Clarkson

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

The Convivial Homeschool, Mystie Winckler

The Out-of-Sync Child, Carol Stock Kranowitz

How to Manage Your Home without Losing Your Mind, Dana K. White

The Nemechek Protocol, Patrick Nemechek 

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood, Danny Trejo

The Magnolia Table, Joanna Gaines

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith

Legend of the Golden City, Michael Webb

I am trying to stick to my list, but I also have holes to fill. This week I have another book or two, hopefully that I can get through, but it's a busy week.

Declutter our home and make it hospitable.

I tackled the dining room the past couple of weeks. I moved a bunch of stuff, and tidied it up. It's so much better now, even though I'm not finished. 

A part of the home is the yard. Curb appeal makes a difference. Our yard is a bit underwhelming at the moment because we need some basic yardwork done. It's nothing major, just some leaves blown and some sticks and limbs cleaned up from some storms we haven't gotten around to yet. The grass needed cutting as well, and there's a man who used to come around during the summer and I would occasionally pay him to cut it. I got him to come this week, but we had a minor problem. 

His mower caught on fire. We doused it but it's gone. More sweet friends are coming to blow leaves tomorrow and help with clean up. I am so thankful God has put lovely friends in our lives that can lend us a helping hand. 

Complete 12 craft projects in progress.

I am still knitting away on my Saoirse (the green sweater). It wasn't an "in progress" craft, but last week the girls and I tie dyed shirts with friends.  

It was a fun time and we got new shirts!

It's been an eventful two weeks and this week should be busy, even if it's not with goals. Not every week is focused on reaching out goals, but keeping them in our line of sight helps us attain them. How are your yearly goals coming?

New cleaning tools

I really want to be able to clean my house well. Don't get me wrong - I am not a major cleaner. I just like to be able to clean it. It makes a big difference. So I have tried to be consistent with decluttering, following Dana White's method. Since I am merging 4 households, it's slow going. 

One issue I had was mopping. I always hated mopping as a youngster, because you had to move the world in order to do it "right". Same with vacuuming. First, I have given myself permission to just do the middles. I give you permission too. Deep clean and scrub after moving everything works if you have the time, but who has time weekly for that? 

All that I have is a broom and dust pan, a stick vacuum, and a steam mop because we only have hardwood floors. It was hard to go directly from vacuuming to steam mopping, with nothing in between, until now. I have seen FaceBook reels with a new mop, the O'Cedar EasyWring mop and bucket. I watched several of these, and read reviews. I had a few things to return to Walmart, so I decided to try the mop. 

I have to say, it really does live up to the hype. It's a new favorite tool. I mopped the kitchen (one of the grimiest floors in any home) and I was able to scrub it and not wait long for it to dry. I even cleaned it out and wiped down the front of my oven, dishwasher, and cabinets. I was pleased with the results. There are many more floors to do, but one done. For this week.

Another secret I found for cleaning - cheap cleaning supplies. Our local dollar store has really good cleaners. They work, they smell good, and are only $1.25.

My last favorite cleaning tool: Scrub Daddy. Have you seen it? It's basically just a plastic scrubber that will become moldable in warm water. 

https://images.app.goo.gl/RBLTBraxidjjHk679

Seriously, I was a little doubtful of this one too. But I have cleaned dishes and other gross things, and I am impressed. 

I don't usually follow hype about much, but these live up to the claims. For now. Time will tell, but they are making my cleaning easier.