Dogs are in no way cheap.  There are vet bills to begin with.  You can count yourself lucky if you find a vet who treats you and your pet with care without fleecing you.  You also need to buy treats, toys, kennels, collars, leashes, etc.  All of these can put a big dent in your pocketbook.  However, the biggest money burner we’ve found is the price of pet food.  If you want to find the best food for your pet, sometimes you have to dish out the big bucks.  There are times when you need to research the ingredients added to the food.

With 4 dogs, we were going through a 30 pound bag of dog food every 2 weeks.  There are some brands of dog food that the price wouldn’t hurt so bad, however, we have a dog with a very sensitive stomach.  We have to look closely at the ingredients in the food.  For example, did you know that dogs cannot digest corn?  If you were to go to your local pet store and look at all the ingredients in the majority of the pet foods, you’d find that corn/corn meal is between the first and third item on the list.  That means it has the highest concentration.  There are also many different additives that can cause problems for your pets.

Anyway, the food we were buy cost around $50 for a 30 pound bag.  That put us at spending $100 a month on dog food.  I don’t really mind spending that much on good food for my dogs.  It keeps them healthy and happy.  Recently, however, that $100 started to get harder to find.  We’d try to squeeze it out of somewhere but it was taking a toll on us.  Finally, my husband found a recipe for making your own dog food.  Actually, it’s more like making a regular meal and just feeding it to your dogs.

The recipe calls for ground beef, rice and vegetables.  That’s it.  We started with ground turkey, because it was cheaper, brown rice, peas and carrots.  You brown the meat, boil the rice, and cook the vegetables.  Once that’s done, you mix it all together.  We started feeding the dogs this meal on Monday.  They inhaled the food.  It was gone quickly.  The downside to the way we started it was that we ended up having to make another batch each day.  The recipe was too small.  It really only made 6 cups of food, which lasted us 1 day.  We have 2 small dogs and 2 big dogs.  We feed our dogs twice a day.  The small dogs get 1/2 a cup and the big dogs get 1 cup.  We needed to do something to extend the amount of food prepared.

Tonight, we tried a completely different approach.  My husband bought a 4 lb package of chicken breast yesterday.  We cooked a little over 2 lbs of brown rice and all of the chicken.  We cubed the chicken and mixed it with the rice.  We then quickly mixed in our frozen vegetables and began to package the food for later use.  We were able to get 2 sealed bags with 12 cups of mixture and 1 sealed bag with 6 cups.  That amount will last us 5 days.  Adding up the cost, a month of food will cost $60.  That’s a $40 savings.

You may be wondering why we’re going through all this trouble just for 4 dogs.  That’s easy.  We love our dogs.  They are our furry children.  They lighten up our lives and make us smile when we’re down.  You can’t have a bad day when you look forward to lots of slobbery kisses waiting for you at home.  Our pets love us unconditionally.  We’re just returning the favor.

1.  Make sure that you truly wish to make the change to self-sufficiency.  This isn’t really a change you can do halfway.  You need to set your mind on your goals and then take the steps to achieve them, no matter how hard it may be.

2.  Have a support system.  I’m very lucky in that my husband is all for this change.  He’s my support system when I get frustrated with how slow the change seems to be taking.  I also have my family and friends that I bounce ideas off of and share successes and frustrations with.  You need to find that support system for yourself; whether it’s your friends and family, or an online group set up for other people just like you.

3.  Keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what happens.  The last couple of weeks have been hard for me.  This is my first post since right after the shooting that happened here at Ft. Hood.  What does that have to do with being self-sufficient?  Not much.  It did, however, make me take a few steps backward.  I wanted to spend more time with my husband and less time doing what I was supposed to be doing.  I started to worry about whether everything was okay on post, but I couldn’t make myself go and see.  Finally, a wonderful friend of mine came down to visit another friend and me.  The day she left to go home, I decided to show her around some of post because she hadn’t seen it.  It was the first time in over a week that I’d been there.  I took her from one end of post to the other.  The hardest part for me was when I forced myself to drive past the Readiness Building.  I took the step into regaining control of my fear.  I took that step to becoming self-sufficient once again.

Fear has a way of making us tiptoe when we know we should be leaping.  I’ve learned over the years that fear is nothing to be ashamed of.  Each and every one of us has something that we fear, even if we don’t admit it.  What we need to remember is not to let our fears stop us from accomplishing our goals.  Try your hardest to conquer your fear, but if that doesn’t work then look for the best and shortest path around it.

4.  My last, and most important, tip is to always remember who you are.  There are times during a lifestyle change when a person can forget themselves.  I can use the old cliché of a person who suddenly finds him/herself extremely rich.  He/She promptly forsakes all his/her friends for the “rich life.” Only to find his/her life turn into an empty shell filled with things and superficial friends.  This person lost the most important thing
he/she had, him/herself.  You cannot forget your core values.  There are little things that make you who you are.  For example, I am creative and my husband is mechanical.  If I tried to stop doing all things creative, I would turn into a very dull person.  As for my husband, he’d have nothing to do at all.  These things are at the very core of our beings.  We can try to ignore them, but there is no way you can do that forever.

If you can combine all of these, you can succeed where I have been lagging.  I still long for the convenience of pre-prepared products.  I wish for the money to hire a maid to clean my house.  I also wish that utility bills didn’t cost so much.  Unfortunately, for two of those I’m out of luck.  As for the prepared products, I’ve learned that often times things taste much better when they are homemade.  It’s just a pain in the rear to make it.  As my sister sometimes tells me, I need to suck it up and go ahead and do it.  Gotta love big sisters!

My husband and I live in the Killeen/Fort Hood area.  That’s right.  We live in the area of the tragedy that happened on November 5th.  My husband works on post, so therefore was on lockdown for 5 hours.  I knew nothing about what was going on until close to 2, when my husband sent me a text message telling me that he was okay and that there was a shooting on post.  I instantly tried to contact him, but couldn’t get through.  Cell phone communication became very unstable during the lockdown period.  At the time, I was grocery shopping.  Every cell in my body was telling me to stop what I was doing and go home.  As an Army wife, you learn to ignore those feelings and go on with life.  You know that you can’t break down.  Other people need you to be strong.

I finished my shopping and made it out to my car before the first phone call.  My sister called to make sure everything was okay.  I relayed what I knew, which was minimal.  My mother-in-law had left a message on the house phone.  My first priority was to call Aaron and make sure he was okay.  He told me that everything was fine.  He was on lockdown and was safe.  I suggested that he call his Mom to let her know he was okay.

I then began to systematically let people know that we were okay.  I began with my Mom and Dad, who told me that they learned about it from my Grandma.  I then called my Grandma.  I followed that up with a call to my in-laws.  I posted status messages on facebook so that my friends knew that I was okay.  I called my 2 brothers and my uncle.

During this time, I left the TV on so that I had an idea what was going on.  Around 7:30, Aaron called to let me know that he was able to come home.  I could begin to breath easy again.  He arrived at the house around 8:45.  I was glad to have him home.  I could finally allow myself to relax.

However, my job as an Army wife isn’t finished.  My husband suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, aka PTSD.  He showed signs of it when he came back from Iraq in February of 2006, but he didn’t really accept it.  Hyper-vigilance led way to anxiety, which led to depression.  I’ve stood by him, being his support and his guide at many times.  Finally, when it all got to hard to handle on his own he asked the Army for help.  The got him on the right track with therapy and medication.  Since then, he has been much happier and less stressed.

This tragedy has caused and will cause many people with PTSD to have problems that correlate with their disorder.  My husband’s anxiety has gone through the roof, for example.  As always, I will stand by his side to guide him through this storm, as many other Army wives will do.

There are some things you can be self-sufficient with but overcoming a trauma like war is something that shouldn’t be one of them.  Look to someone you trust to guide you to where you need to be.

The community of Killeen/Fort Hood will come out of this stronger than ever.  We are an Armed Forces community.  Brought together by pride for our country and a need to serve to protect!  Pray for those Fallen and those Injured.  For them I say:  Ai-ee-yah! and Hooah!

Makes 2 (9-inch) loaves

5 cups                                          all-purpose flour, divided
2 cups                                          whole wheat flour
1 cup                                             rolled oats
2 (1/4 ounce) packages        active dry yeast
2 ¼ tsp.                                      salt
2 cups + 2 tbsp.                      water, divided
½ cup                                         butter
¼ cup                                         honey
1                                                    large egg, lightly beaten
1                                                   egg white
Butter (optional)

• In a large bowl, combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, yeast, and salt.
• In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups water, butter, and honey; heat over medium heat to 120° to 130°.
• Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add water mixture.  Add egg, beating at low speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.  Beat in enough remaining all-purpose flour to make a soft dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, turn out dough.  Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover, and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
• Punch dough down, and divide in half.  Shape dough into 2 (9-inch) loaves.  Place loaves into 2 lightly greased (9×5-inch) loaf pans.  Cover, and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• In a small bowl, whist together egg white and remaining 2 tablespoons water.  Lightly brush loaves with egg white mixture.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool in pans for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans, and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing.  Serve with butter, if desired.

Do you get impatient with baking?  Here’s a suggestion when it comes to making bread.  Before you start mixing the ingredients, preheat the oven to 200°.  Once preheated, turn it down to warm and leave it there.  Once you’ve finished kneading the bread and are ready to let it rise, place the bread in an oven-safe bowl and cover it with a damp, firesafe dishtowel.  Turn the oven off, and place your dishtowel covered bread in the middle of the warm oven.  Set a timer for 30 minutes.  Check the dough to see if it’s doubled in size.  If not, let it sit in the warm oven for another 15 minutes.

After you take the dough out of the warm oven, make sure to close the door.  You want to keep the warmth in there for as long as possible.  I found that it is often hard to create a nice loaf out of the dough on your own.  Here’s what I do.  Split the dough in half.  Take the first half and place it in a lightly greased loaf pan, pressing down.  Try to get it as close to the edges as possible.  Then, flip the dough over and repeat with the other side.  This creates a better loaf and more even baking.  Repeat with the second half of the dough.

Once you’ve got the dough in the loaf pans, cover them with the damp dishtowel and return them to the oven.  Remember, the oven is warm, but turned OFF.  Set the timer for 30 minutes.  Once the timer has gone off, take the pans out of the oven.  Keep them covered.  Preheat the oven as directed.  Check the dough to see if it has doubled.  If so, proceed with baking.  If not, allow for another 15 to 20 minutes of rising time.

P.S.  My sister and sister-in-laws are not allowed to copy any of these down until after Christmas!!!

For my first recipe, I am going to give you an original.  It’s my own recipe for Mac & Cheese.  This Mac & Cheese is AWESOME, and holds up well when reheated.

3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese/shredded (purchased as block)

1/2 cup sharp provolone cheese/shredded (purchased as block)

1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese/shredded (purchased as block)

4 slices Gouda cheese broken into pieces

4 slices American cheese broken into pieces

1 cup + 1/2 cup milk separated

5 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

Minced onions

Sea Salt

Italian Seasoning

Seasoned Salt

Macaroni

I boil my Macaroni for 10 minutes.

You turn the stove to medium (5), and melt the butter.  Once melted, add flour until it turns pasty or lumpy.  Add 1 cup milk.  Whisk until milk/butter mixture slowly boils.  Once boiling, add cheese mixture.  Mix cheeses until melted.  Add extra 1/2 cup of milk.  Mix until cheese mixture is creamy.  Add Sea Salt, Italian Seasoning, Minced Onions, and Seasoned Salt to taste. (I used about 4 shakes of each).

Pour on top of macaroni and mix.  Eat and enjoy!

When it comes to the stove, I’m a bit limited.  I can boil water, brown ground beef, and heat up sauces.  I’ve slowly gotten better at cooking bacon.  Now, if you ask me to bake something I can whip it right up.  I am a baking Queen in my house.  I truly love to bake.  The smells that fill the air when you bake are just mouthwatering.  However, I can’t always lean on my baking and microwave skills.  I must learn to embrace my inner cook, and so must you.

I wasn’t taught how to cook.  I was taught how to bake, though.  Baking was a big thing in my family.  I think I first learned to bake brownies.  But anyway, my first attempt into the cooking world I attempted to make hamburgers for my sister and I.  Now, these were just the preformed patties you take out and cook.  Well, I didn’t exactly know what I was doing.  I turned the burner on pretty high, waited for it to heat up, and then put the burgers on.  I waited for one side to get done, flipped them over and waited for the other side.  I didn’t really pay attention to the fact that it seemed to be scorching a bit, or that it was smoking a bit as well.  I took them off when I thought they were done.  My sister and I put our burgers on bread, loaded them with ketchup, and took a bite.  They were still raw inside.  My sister started laughing.  I have not made burgers since.

I told you that story because sometimes you can try something and have a bad experience and not want to attempt it again.  That was me.  I really didn’t want to try to cook anything again, especially if it had anything to do with meat.  I was afraid that I would mess up again.  Well, I was right but it doesn’t bother me anymore.  I have learned to embrace my inner cook.  I constantly stand myself up and say “I am afraid of failing.”  If you are like me, I want you to stand up and say out loud what is keeping you from cooking.  Let it go.  Once you do, you can join me in the joys of exploration.

I recently discovered something.  Cooking is fun!  Oh, and that I might have passed chemistry with more than a D if they had used cooking or baking instead of chemicals…LOL.  The other day I decided to make my own Macaroni & Cheese, and OOOOOH did I make it.  I didn’t want just a plain Mac & Cheese.  I wanted something that would stand out.  So, I decided to blend some cheeses.  It ended up being a 5 cheese blend with some spices in it.  It was delicious.  The best thing about it though, is that it even held up on the 2nd day!!!  How many Mac & Cheese’s can do that?!  If I had not decided to become self-sufficient and let go of my fear of the stove and failing at cooking, I never would have felt so proud when something I made came out so delicious!  Now if only I could convince my husband I’m okay to cook with hot oil.

So, here’s what I say.  Embrace your inner cook and have fun in the kitchen.  Perhaps you may even get to play a mad scientist.  Some things may not turn out the way you expect, but they can always turn out better!

Yup, it’s the Holiday season.  Commercials telling you that you REALLY need certain products overrun the television.  Your mailbox is bombarded by colorful advertisements promoting sale prices.

As an adult, I often miss the times when I was a kid and felt that giving handmade items was acceptable.  Well, for the last few Christmas seasons, I have given handmade gifts to my family.  It helps that I have a talent that I can use to my advantage.  Even if you feel that you’re not creative, you can give great gifts to your family and friends that will save you money and enrich your life.

This year, I’ve decided to give my siblings (I have 2 brothers and 1 sister, all married) each a copy of 12 of my favorite recipes.  I want to share what I’ve found to be great tasting.  I’m also going to give them what’s called a “Meal in a Jar.”  Basically, you have a meal made of dry ingredients and place them in a jar.  All that will need to be done is for the person who receives the jar to follow the recipe and add the wet ingredients.

There are also other things you can do for gifts as well.  I have given handmade jewelry as presents and stained glass pieces.  I’ve also done scrapbook pages as gifts.

My suggestion to you is to find something that you can do;  whether it’s making a box of baked goods, meal in a jar, handmade jewelry, scrapbook pages, or anything else you can think of.  In the end, a gift from you is appreciated no matter what it turns out to be!

There are many benefits to having an herb garden.  The more prominent one being that you can use fresh herbs in your daily cooking.  If you’ve never cooked with fresh herbs, I highly suggest you purchase some at your local grocer and try it out.  You will be amazed by the intense flavor difference between fresh and bottled herbs.  There’s also a great feeling when get to eat a wonderful meal made with herbs that you nurtured to life.

Along with cooking, herbs can be used many other items for someone becoming self-sufficient.  For example:  lavender, rosemary, sage, and nettles can be combined with castile soap and 2000mg MSM to create a homemade shampoo.  This homemade shampoo will do wonders for your hair and save on the cost of buying manufactured shampoo.

The herbs from your herb garden can also be used for medicinal purposes.  However, I highly suggest you discuss things with your primary care physician before starting any herbal regimen.  Herbal salves and balms can be made.  These salves and balms have many different uses.  They range anywhere from helping you sleep to balms that can help with athlete’s foot.

If you are interested in learning the many different ways having an herb garden can enhance your ability to be self-sufficient, I encourage you to go to google an just type in different herb ideas.  Try herb medicine, herb recipes, even herb home.  All of these searches will give you many different ideas on how to enhance your life and perhaps your wallet.

Today’s post is about how to make your plumbing more self-sufficient.  There are many different things that you can do to achieve this goal.  One of the first things I suggest doing is decide if you want to forswear all things modern.  By this, I mean getting rid of electricity and automatic indoor plumbing.  For me, that answer is a resounding, NO!  However, there are people out there who wouldn’t think twice about giving those up in order to free themselves of debt and free of pesky bills.

We have become a pampered society.  Go ahead, try to deny it.  Can’t do it, can ya?  We have lights at the flip of a switch, hot water at the turn of a knob, and heat at the push of a button.  That’s for those who have one of a thermostat with buttons.  If you don’t, then it’s the slide of a lever.  Let us explore the many ways we can either supplement our bills, or completely eliminate them all together.

I love having hot water whenever I need it.  You can turn the knob with the red H on it, and magically out pours water.  Well, after a minute or two.  Here’s a question though, how much do you really need that constant flow of hot water?  If you were to look at it from a practical point of view, I bet you’d find that you use more cold water than hot on a daily basis.  In fact, we waste water on a daily basis.  Each time we flush the toilet, we waste between 5 and 7 gallons of water.  There are also those of us, and I include myself in this one, that leave the water on when we wash/rinse the dishes or brush our teeth.  There are ways to combat the excess use of water within your household.

If you are going for an off-the-grid approach, meaning no modern plumbing, you can follow these steps:

1. Dig a well on your property.
2. Have a holding tank available.
3. You will need something to help you pull the water from the well to the house.  This can be achieved many different ways: a solar pump, a windmill, a hand or foot pump is good for wells 20ft down.
4. You can install compost toilets.
5. You can also install your own pipes and have pressurized pump which can flush a toilet.

If you wish to stay on-the-grid and minimize your water bill, here are my suggestions:

1. Take shorter showers.  A shower uses 2 gallons per minute.
2. Fill the sink while washing dishes.  Use this to wash all dishes.  This will produce what is called “greywater.”  Use your greywater for your garden.
3. Turn the water off when you’re brushing your teeth.
4. Consider washing your clothes by hand once in a while.  Unless you have an Energy Star washer, you are most likely using around 40-45 gallons per load.  Washing Machines with Energy Star still use between 18-25 gallons.  If you don’t want to wash your clothes by hand, make sure that when you wash them to wash a full load.  That way you ensure that you get your money’s worth.
5. Check the label on your toilet.  Models from 1992 and before could be using 3.5 gallons or more per flush.  If don’t see a WaterSense label, try to replace your toilet ASAP.  These WS toilets are high-efficiency, and use less than 1.3 gallons per flush.
6. Install an energy-efficient water heater, and make sure that you properly insulate it.
7. Consider having your water pipes replaced with insulated pipes if they aren’t already.  Insulated hot water pipes will enable you to lower the core temperature of the water heater, as well as make it quicker for the hot water to reach you once you turn it on.  When it comes to cold water pipes, having them insulated will insure that there’s no condensation or “sweat” in heating areas, and that they don’t freeze in unheated areas.
8. Make sure to check for leaks.  Leaky faucets and toilets can really do damage to your water bill!!!

The price of water seems to be increasing over time.  I think it’s high time that the consumers, that’s us, start doing something about it.  We need to start taking care of ourselves.  By making these few changes, we can make a dent in our water bills.  This will enable us to further pay off our debts and lead us to our goal of total and blissful self-sufficiency!

Raise your hand if you have a substantial amount of debt.  Now, lower your hand if you know your credit score.  Lower your hand if you know how much you owe and to whom.  Lower your hand if you know the exact day each bill is due and the minimum payment.  Lower your hand if you balance your checkbook on a regular basis.  Lower your hand if you have money in your savings account, raise it if you do not.  For those of you with your hands down, congratulations, you’re well on your way to financial stability.  For everyone else, welcome to the step:  acceptance.

I have been at that step for a while now.  I know that I am in debt.  I realize that I need to make changes in my life, but I have been unwilling to try.  Making a change that involves money is often very hard.  You have to cut back on all the things you are accustomed to having.  I currently do not have cable TV.  At first, I thought that I would have a hard time adapting.  I mean, I love me some TV.  As time went by, though, I found myself not missing the shows that were on the cable channels.  We can watch our weekly broadcast channels, and that’s the important part.  I actually do not miss cable TV.  I also did NOT want to know the total amount of debt we were in.  I could sign in to my part of the bank account and only see a portion, and that was enough for me.  However, that left an extreme amount of stress on my husband.  He always felt obligated to pay all the bills and make sure we had enough money in the bank.  This causes a struggle, with money and as a couple.  That’s when I decided to step in and start doing my share.  We needed to become self-sufficient with our money.  We need to be in control.  Here’s how we plan to do it.

First off, you definitely need to know how much debt you have.  It’s going to be hard to swallow, but you need to know.  Break that total debt up into what you owe and to whom.  This will make it easier to see the number going down.

Secondly, you need to know the exact dates and minimum payments for each and every bill that you receive.  This will make it easier to design a pay cycle around when you get paid.  You will be able to make sure that payments get made on time, and that there is enough money in the bank to make them.

Now, with the advent of the online bank account, many people don’t balance a checkbook.  I happen to be one of those.  Instead, I check the balance of my account on a daily.  I will then know what the balance is and whether or not I have money at my disposal.  However, I will also need to pay close attention to what bills have yet to come out of the account.

In order to do all of these things, I suggest you set up an Excel or Word document on your computer.  Create a grid and put in your bills, description of the debt, total amount, minimum payment, and due dates.  Now you can see it written down.  Transfer the due dates to a calendar on your computer, include the dates that you get paid.  You should now be able to see a cycle forming.  Here’s where the tricky part comes along.  You need to look at how much you get paid and what you owe between a certain amount of time.  Can you afford to pay a little here and a little there?  Move the bills around, if you can, so that you are maximizing the payoff.  Use your money wisely.  Make sure each bill gets paid each month.  And if you have a little extra, try to pay a little more towards another bill.

The lonely little savings account, it misses you.  I know it misses us.  It seems like we put money in and it ends up getting taken right back out.  Of course, it doesn’t help that our savings and checking accounts are linked.  Here’s my suggestion.  Have a separate savings account that isn’t linked to anything.  Each paycheck, take $25 and put it in that account and FORGET ABOUT IT.  It will no longer exist.  Imagine…after 1 year of squirreling away $25 twice a month, you’d have $600 plus interest.  That’s $600 you didn’t have before.  But don’t stop at 1 year, continue the cycle.  The goal is to have enough money in that account that you can live off of it for a few months if you lose your job.  You can do more than $25 if you’d like, that was just my ballpark figure.  My point is just to get you to start saving.

Oh, and keep track of your credit score.  That’s one important number.  It will help you out if you ever want to buy a car, house, etc.  Getting a credit report done will also tell you if someone has been messing with your credit without your knowledge.  You know the annoying commercials on TV, but they have a point.  Go to FreeCreditReport.com.  Try it out.  You may not like the number, but that’s what this blog is all about.

All in all, we need to take our lives back from money grubbing creditors.  They’re fleecing us by increasing our APR.  I say it’s time to fleece them.  Pay off your credit cards and cut them up.  Lets start living without credit cards as much as we can.  Let’s bring down debt together…and raise ourselves up!