Immediate ways to save money

1. Reuse the aluminum foil. Wash and dry flat.
2. Save the milk jug for other uses. 
3. Take extra napkins from fast food restaurants to use at home (But not for company. They get the good stuff).
4. Use smaller amounts of paper towels. Try 1 first, then get another.
5. Make your own liquid soap or laundry detergent. Recipe are online or write me for free recipes. 
6. Walk don't drive whenever possible.
7. Free live music is the cheapest way to great entertainment. Check out a local pub for bands and events!
8. Unplug everything. Put it all on power strips and pull one plug for all.
9. Open windows at night, and turn off AC. 
10. Don't keep pets. Use that $$ for vacation or pay off debt.
11. Invite friends over for low budget entertainment. Let them bring their favorites! More to share.
12. Cook in the crock pot. It's a no brainer.
13. If it's yellow (#1) let it mellow, if it's brown(#2) flush it down saving water.
14. Fill your car only when it's near empty to get the full value of your MPG gas consumption.
15. Keep your car clean to use less gas.
16. Camp instead of hotel stays.
17. Don't eat out.
18. Drink water at bars, drink alcohol at home.
19. Don't buy bread. Make bread in a bread machine.
20. Buy in bulk.
21. Decant your bulk dry goods and mark with dates of purchase.
22. Dye your own hair, but pay for hair cuts. You'll look like crap if you cut it yourself.
23. Buy staple clothing. Solid colors bring out your jewelry!  Jeans, button down shirts, blazers, 1 set of pearls, and 1 set of silver or gold jewelry. Classic! Mix n match.
24. Hand wash delicates right after you wear them, and line dry.
25. Line dry most all clothing outside or on hanger in laundry room and hang on racks. Clothes last longer. 
26. Only run the washer when you have a full load.
27. Freeze uneaten food for another meal or make soup from it.
28. Plan your menus and only but the ingredients you need.
29. Try the $6 wine in the liquor store. 
30. Have a side job just in case you loose the main one.
31. Save 10% of your earnings before you pay bills.
32. If you use credit, pay it off in large chunks.
33. Reuse as much as you can before tossing in the trash.
34. Make homemade gifts that are meaningful not just fashionable. 
35. Grow and cut your own flowers.
36. Grow a veggie patch. Try container gardening.
37. Take all metals that you would have thrown out to a recycling center. You may get $$.
38. Paint your own nails.
39. Use baby oil for skin moisture after shower, and makeup removal. Forget expensive creams.
40. Finally!  Visit with family for vacation and get closer to those who are so important to us all. Meaningful relationships are worth so much more than money, or things. If you don't have special people you can visit, volunteer. They'll appreciate you.       (C) suztheadvicelady  Suzanne Richards, 2014 all rights reserved. :)

Self Sufficient

Hello Friends,

I am happy to report my garden is doing well.  I can see changes in the rate of growth. The tomatoes are done, the peppers are there but small, and the sunflowers are almost ready to harvest.  With the cooler weather the plants naturally wain. I have just begun my self sufficient trek so I will allow it all to go for the winter.  Most homesteaders plant a fall and winter garden with row covers and cold frames. I did a cold frame one winter that was mild using old windows from the house. (I love to re purpose things.) However, this year will be different. More thought is going to my my planning, soil, and plants. My research is ongoing so I will take some time and replant next spring.  I freeze most of my foods that I have grown. Its easy for me and I need the freezer full so it runs less thereby saving energy. I have a smaller refrigerator now. Before I had two large refrigerators with freezer attached. Now I'm down to a side by side fridge in the kitchen and full size freezer in the basement. I have a food dehydrator and have used is for tomatoes. They taste like sun-dried tomatoes. I will use it again for beef jerky and dried apples for snacking. Canning is a problem at the moment because my electric stove has a glass cook top and the weight of the canner with all the water will be too much for it to hold. So canning will wait till I have a single burner to rest it on.

I have been enjoying my time here at the house, researching sewing, growing/preserving food and caring for the property. I have a lot to be proud of.  My research in homesteading is paying off by being more prepared to handle whatever the future brings with little waste of money and resources. Getting away from big agriculture, learning the process of raising crops and preserve what I have grown is the best way for me to care for myself and my family.  Its sad to see how animals are treated in food processing plants. and the way vegetables are altered giving us little nutrients for what we consume and the high cost of all of them. I wanted to create a more satisfying way of living and am getting there day by day. So I invest my time and efforts in to being self sufficient. Also, we all are used to a disposable lifestyle, I am too. But for me... I had the desire to learn to use less disposable materials keeping most things in glass containers, using cloth napkins and dish towels instead of paper. I reuse plastic storage bags as many times as I can by washing them out. The exception to this is the bags that held meats. They are tossed after each use.  It's these little things that help the environment and our wallets. It takes some getting used to but is easy once you have the mind set of conservation. We recycle almost all of our plastics, paper and metals. What cannot be picked up by the town will be taken to either the metal recycling plant once a year or repurposed if possible. My good friend Ingrid Justic has helped me see how convenient all these things listed in my blog are to do. It just takes awareness and the willingness to try. She has truly helped me to learn how to go natural with everything. I knew of all this before I met Ingrid, but I never used the knowledge in my everyday living. I thank her here and I will thank her in person the next time I see her.

To continue my path to self sufficiency I will be buying solar panels and learning to use them as soon as finances allow. They are much cheaper now and easier to use than ever before.  I long for a wood stove but fitting it in my house is a problem. Its just too tiny to fit one. The money you save heating with wood is so great your wallet will be closed almost permanently. Wood is hard to cut without a log splitter, but for around $1800 you can get a good gas powered one and split 10 cords over a summer with little effort. Wood is $200 per cord pre-cut, but if you team up with a tree trimming company your can get it for free. Make sure you have a place to cut and store the wood and you are set. Our house is secure for winter heating though. We have saved up and added a large electric hot water heater (Thanks to our good friend Orlando and My husband Tom)  to off set the oil bill which can be upwards of $800 per fill 3-4 times per year. Also on hand is the kerosene heater for power outages, and to supplement heat where ever we need it.  I will never give up my hair dryer or my dishwasher or my washer and dryer for the laundry. So if your are thinking I will live like an Amish person your are completely out of your mind.  However, going "off the grid" never really meant that lifestyle anyway.  Self sufficient means you can live without those things and can care for your self without needing everything prepackaged, and delivered to your door. Breaking free from the high bills of the energy companies, using solar power, keeping more of what you earn, and for the love, the joy and pride of doing it yourself.  That is where its at for most homesteaders.  I am getting there. I enjoy the work.  Do what you can to save the earth for your children.  We all have a responsibility to our future.

Blessing to you all.

Suz

House Proud

Hello Friends,

Happy Autumn!

With fall approaching and children returning to school, it's time to think about a deep cleaning in our homes. I do a deep cleaning in my home twice a year fall and spring. Clean out from underneath beds, dressers, sofa's and large appliances. Start by dusting down furniture with a rag and furniture polish instead of a feather duster.  Take down curtains and dry clean or wash them. Then follow up with vacuuming and washing floors.  I clean in and under everything that I have not touched previously. Hit the refrigerator with a blast of Lysol disinfectant cleaner and ditch the leftover condiments sitting longer than 6 months.  Pay very close attention to all the details. For instance, the kitchen cabinets. You can't see it but it's there, a very slight film of grease that you get from cooking.  Use a mixture of water and ammonia to get the grease off the cabinets, then wipe dry.  Clean inside drawers and cabinets, and add new drawer liners. This can be done once per year if you choose. Wipe down ceiling fans and wash glass globes as well as the blades.  Have carpeted areas steam cleaned by a professional too. It takes away all the allergens that have made home in our rugs. This will also keep our wall to wall carpets looking their best over time. Keeping our homes clean and free of debris is one way we show the love we have for our families and ourselves. Take care of your biggest asset and it will take care of you.

 Try these tips for cleaning other areas in your home:

- Salt and lemon juice gets stuck on stuff off pot bottoms. The acid in the lemon mixed with the salt can give them a new glow. ***Never use this on non-stick pots.

- Use a steam mop to kill germs on hard wood floors. I usually mop my hardwood floors with boiling hot black tea. But in a rush I will go for the steam mop which does the same job with quicker drying time.

- Dont forget closets. Reorganize linen and clothes closets to make every item is easy to find. Then place natural cedar planks in them to keep fabric loving bugs out. In addition to adding cedar planks, I made lavender sachet's and hung them on every third hanger to help keep my closet smelling fresh. Men would prefer tea tree scent or clove over lavender. Clove sachet's can easily be made with whole cloves from the spice rack. *Tip:  I place my top, fitted and one pillow case of sheet set inside one of the matching pillow cases to keep the set together and easy to find in my closet. Each sheet set is then neatly stacked in my closet. :)

- Use a stiff brush to remove dust from lamp shades, and free standing fans. Then place them out on the sun for an hour to kill any dust mites before replacing them on lamps. Same goes for silk flowers.

-  A big must.... vacuum then hang large area rugs outside in the sun for one hour. They will smell better and dust mites are irradiated. Wash smaller area rugs then hang to dry instead of simply shaking the out.   :)  There is nothing better than sunlight and a little time to freshen up items that can't be washed.

Finally, make it a habit to deep clean at least two times per year. Put it on your calendar and stick to it. More frequent deep cleaning is best, but with work and family requiring most of our time twice per year is good enough.  I love doing this in chunks so that it does not so overwhelming. Choose a chunk of time to do a few things and finish them before moving on to the next. You will be happy with the outcome. If you hire a professional to do your cleaning, make certain they use good products and follow your instruction precisely. Cutting corners is not ok. Inspect everything before paying the bill.

One final word before I say goodbye, don't forget the exterior of your home. You can buy siding wash from home improvement stores or hire a professional  to do your windows and siding all at once.

Love and hugs,
Suz

Spending time

Dear Friends,


This past month my sisters were in from out of state. We were gathering to place our mothers remains in her final resting place. We created our own ceremony, ( thanks to my middle sister) hired a singer to sing hymns, bought some flowers, and placed our mother next to her husband in their plot here in NJ. It was an exceptional time. We rarely see each other because of the distance between our homes so this gave us reason to gather. I am pleased that it wasn't an expensive visit either. All in all we spent very little money celebrating birthday's, and celebrating life. What I noticed was that we enjoyed our time together more by cooking together at home, watching movies, playing games and talking. We ate one meal out and bought pizza another day. The rest of the time we went sight seeing, and chatted about old times. The food was spectacular and the time, precious. My sister and her family were able to stay at a family members summer condo, saving them $250 per night at a hotel and from squishing themselves into our tiny home. Her children went sight seeing with my children and really got to spend quality time together. Our eldest sister lives in PA so she was just here for the day, but we will see her at the family reunion. :))

Next we travel to see other family members whom we haven't seen in many years. We are staying at my aunt's house because it's so difficult to get a good hotel room that allows pets. Lucky for us to have generous family members. Everyone is contributing something to this reunion in order to share in the joy of giving and spending time with loved ones. My eldest cousin will pay his guitar along with my husband the bass player, I'm sending bouquets of flowers to decorate the tables with, my eldest sister and other members are bringing food. My other cousin is opening up her home for the reunion to take place at, and my aunt and uncle are providing sleeping quarters for as many people as possible. Together we can make it a great gathering without spending ridiculous amounts of money and still spend all our time together. The money we do spend will be spent with great joy in creating this time together.

All we need is each other. Reach out to family and pose the question "can we visit?" Put differences aside, respect opinions as just that, opinions. Create a good gathering, choose love and maintain closeness with family. Our lives are rich. We already have everything we need, but sometimes we just don't see it.




Peace,

Suz

Watts the matter?

Hello All,

I wanted to tell you of my recent discovery regarding outdoor lighting. After Hurricane Sandy here in NJ, we were left without light for about 10 days. As a result I realized how dark the night is. We have a dark road compared to other areas in our county, but this time it was totally dark. No house lights, no street lights, no light pollution from the highway. Total darkness. I had battery operated lights but really wondered what I would do if I intact had run out of batteries and could not get them. Especially since people were buying them up left and right because we had mass power outages.  That experience taught me to think about a lot of things before the next disaster. Food cooking and light.  No I did not buy a generator. Nor did I  stock up on batteries. I had a crank radio that we cranked up to listen to the radio reports about what was going on. Since there was little to no communication available.  Then I realized the radio was also solar powered. ( that radio in a bit)   Remembering those tacky solar power, very dim, lights people place along their exterior path ways made me think about getting some. But what was the cost? After all they are dim and not bright at all. Well a little looking after the power came back on, and I found solar powered lights that were quite bright. 12 Lumens in fact!  Yes LED (Light emitting diode for those who do not know and call them led lights) stick in the ground path way or spot lights. They are completely solar powered and positionable. I bought a few to see how they worked. They stay on almost all night with total brightness after being fully charged.  I have been up early a few times and see that they have gotten dim by around 4 am. All in all they really are nice. 

I am always trying to reduce or eliminate my energy usage because of the cost, so I found new ways of using these lights to benefit me if I need in the future. First things first. I DID NOT place them along my pathway like some kind of landing strip to guide planes to. I am cheap but have some sort of taste, hopefully good.  I placed three in the front yard:

-One was placed by the mail box to light my walk way. Remember it is movable so I aimed it at the steps and the walk way and it looks great.  

-I positioned the second in the garden aimed down the other path to the rear door.  Fantastic!  

-The third light lights up the full front of the house so none will be able to trip and fall going from front to back. 

They look like professional lights on the house (how Jersey) and do a great job at illuminating my walk ways. I loved them so much I bought 4 more to light the back patio.  I also positioned them in the gardens to aim on the walking area and give the whole place a lit, bright, welcoming feel.  

These light do not necessarily have to be stuck in the ground as utilitarian lights like they are intended.  Get creative and you'll find other uses for them.

1. Buy the fancy ones and place 5 or 7 of them in a bucket or planter pot to make a bouquet table light. 

2. Add flowers or a potted plant and you have a lighted party planter to enjoy year round. 

3. Bring them inside to make a funny cute light bouquet in the house when the power goes out or to illuminate a dark stairwell.  

They need sun or daylight to charge fully so remember to bring it back out they next day to recharge. The cost savings will add up.  Last night we were outside and I felt happy with the way the house looked and was proud of my small investment that saves me big.  To check out my savings, I found a website that estimates our cost per kilowatt hour in cents and for NJ it was 15.93 cents per kWh.  Check it out on line at [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Kilowatts-Used-by-Light-Bulbs]  for the amount you will use or just look on the back of a light bulb package. In terms of LED light bulbs, 40 watts is 450 lumens, so buying LED bulbs will take a little education.  I figure I save about $40 per year just leaving off two bulbs one in front and one in back.  Not a lot of money but every little bit ads up and these look so cool.  I am investigating other solar powered things on line an have found so many cool toys. But like anything my frugal sense stops me from buy gadgets I really don't need. What I did buy, the other family members are using and loving. And they are of course EATING THEIR WORDS about how ridiculous I was buying "stupid" stuff.  They can also eat their words in the dark if so needed. lol.  

Love to all.

Suz

for information on where I purchase my items, write to suztheadvicelady@gmail.com :)

The celebration is over. What now?

As Christmas draws to a close, take time to reflect on what we have, what we've done, and who we have been over the past 12 months.  Each year I take a moment after the holiday's and check my behavior and attitude to see what kind of person I am.  Am I the kind of person I would like to be with?  Have I done what I wanted to do this past year?  If not, then set out to doing it in the New Year.

What is important to me is giving of myself time and money wise.  Being available personally to my family and friends and taking care of my clients as best I can.  This year I have accomplished most of what I wanted in my life. (With my work not so much)  However, in my time this year I have been able to use all of my powers of love and devotion to heal and be healed.  Not healing like Jesus for those of you who are "Christians" but heal like emotional, mental, loving healing.  To further that I wish to volunteer my free time to help a bigger cause.  I am working on that now.  We will see how it turns out.

What kind of person are you?  Answer that for yourself to see who you really are.  Do you like who you really are?  Change is possible.

Sincerely,
Liking who I really am,
Suz


Suzanne Paquette, Life Coach, Reiki Master

Worry

I worry about may things. My future and my children mostly. I try to stop worrying but it often creeps back in to my thinking. When I stop the thoughts, I start new one's so my mind won't wander. Like I think about my cute dog or starting a project. If I am at work, I work harder and focus more I my client. This drowns out my worry. It's really a fear you know, worry. You fear the worst of a situation. Or the things that are unknown. But where does it get you? Nowhere better than where you are right now. Yet we still do it. I know my worrying over my kids will never help them do better in life, but I feel compelled to think about it over and over sometimes. Many times I trick my mind by thinking the problem is resolved and that we are living the best life possible. That works very well for quite some time. I think from the end of the situation back. Act as if it were resolved or never happened. Take for instance my daughters grades in High School. I worry that she won't do well. So I think about her graduating at the top of her class and being very successful right now. It feels good and I stop the worrying. I think if I contemplate the good thoughts, I will create the good. I know when I have contemplated the bad thought, they happened. It was almost freaky.

Today I am worried for my Son. He has a driving violation that we have to go to court for and I fear he will have points on his license and have to pay big bucks to the insurance company. Money we do not have. I believe he is a good driver and we come out of this a winner. So I guess I will only think of that, winning. But the worries still creep in every now and then.

Bless this day
Suzanne

I have what I need for today

I read an article on cnn.com about Toyota's Just in Time approach to car building. This was then compared to life by Martha Beck a writer for Oprah.com. She made references to food, shopping, money, and so on. I realize that while I am not where I expect myself to be, I am exactly where I need to be right now. I have all I need today. I am just where I should be to carry out my intentions. I want to be an available Mom to my children and I am, but I often complain of not having enough work. Yet if I did work more I would be here less for them. I do not necessarily need to work more, for I have enough money to get by, I just think I should work more to earn more to have more. Why? There is a time and place for everything and this is not the time to be worrying about my status in life. More its a time to be raising my family to value the important things. Things like being together, helping each other, and talking about life. This takes time. You have to be there when they are there to have it happen.

I have exactly what I need.

Sunshine

Today is a good day so far. I am happy and feeling free to enjoy life. I have decided to paint today. Sprucing up my home makes me happy. I like the feeling of freshening up when spring comes. I renew and the Earth renews this time of year. My garden will change too. I have some plans for new flowers and more herbs for medicine.

I miss my Daughter and my Son. When I divorced their Father I thought they would be with me more. But I set it up as shared custody so they would have the best of both parents. We live in the same town to make it easy on my kids. Its been hard for me since they have grown up to not have their company at home here. My Son is the oldest and is off with his friends having fun and my Daughter is still a young teen and she is wanting the same rights as her older brother. So I have my hands full to say the least. I hope we will be close as the years roll by. I love family in my life and in my house. I want to cook large dinners and eat and drink while chatting about life and things. Unfortunately I never got the big family and closeness I wanted. However, I do have great love from the small family I seldom see. Maybe that's better over all. Sometimes family members get in their own way. I suppose I would be complaining about not having any privacy if I had them here all the time.

I feel happy for what I have. I don't want to think about what I don't have. I am grateful for my health, and my life. I hope to make it richer in every way.