Faith Based Friday: GOD Loves You

It’s on buttons, bumber stickers, and billboards. GOD Loves You.
Let’s breakdown the statement.
GOD – HE is the creator. HE gives all we have, and provides us with all that we have. HE is the one, and only true GOD.

GOD LOVES – GOD, the only and only true GOD, loves. Not childish love. GOD loves with a pure, and absolute love. GOD loves despite age, race or gender. GOD loves the rich and the poor.

GOD LOVES YOU – GOD, the only and true GOD, loves you. He loved you before you were ever born. HE loved you in your dirty past. HE loves you right now. GOD loves you.

*Changes*

I started a new job this week.
I will be using most of this week to adjust to my new schedule.
Please forgive the lag in writing for a few days.

Faith Based Friday: Be still

I live next to a small rural highway, but I constantly watch cars buzz up and down the asphalt day after day. We all rush to get things caught up, hurry to get ahead, and race to beat the clock. When, oh when do we just be still?

According to Blue Letter Bible, the phrase “be still” appears 7 times in the Bible. How are we to hear the still small voice of GOD? Be still. Wake early and sit in the dawning of a new day in The LORD. Stay up and and watch GOD unfurl HIS splendor in little stars. Be still, Kneel down and just say as Samuel said, “Speak, for THY servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:10).

Old Mother hubbard: Inventory your Cubboard

In the past, I have haphazardly went to the grocery store with a list of must buys (bread, milk), but didn’t take the time to check my inventory. It took throwing out $15 worth of canned goods recently to wake me up to the value of inventory.

If you work and raise a family, it is difficult to find the time to inventory your stock every week. Taking the time to at least organize your cabinets and check the dates of everything will keep you from making unneeded purchases. Why go out and buy crackers, if you have say 3 partially open boxes in your cabinet? Once organized, it will be easy to swing open the cabinets/pantry and see that no, you do not need to buy mac n’ cheese, but you could use some bullion cubes.

Inventory of your supplies also opens a world of possiblities for making your dollars stretch. If money is low and you only have a few cans of this or that, use online recipe sites (such as allrecipes.com) to find unique ways to use what you have.

Expanding your food repetoir is not the only value of inventoring your cupboard. Such inventory may open your eyes to what foods you can make from scratch cheeper than you can buy the prebought stuff. Who really prefers instant mashed potatos to fresh mashed potatos?

 

Wee Save Wednesday: Soap

It’s the arguement that never seems to be resolved: which saves more money, bar or liquid soap? For me, the answer is liquid.

Using bar soap initially is cheeper. Some stores offer 3 bars for 1 dollar. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time keeping my bar soap from shiveling up, falling apart, or becoming too slimy to do much with. There are some techiniques to prevent this: soap savers, soap trays, and many books how how to make those little mesh bags that hang over the sink. It just doesn’t work out for me. When I buy solid bar soap, I end up tossing a substantial amount of what I bought. With 2 sons and a messy husband, that adds up.

Liquid soap makes more sense for me, money wise. A large 9 oz bottle of soap can be purchased for one dollar at many stores. What most don’t know is that that 9 oz, watered down, becomes 15 or 16 oz worth. Any soap that can be used on hands at the sink can be carried to the tub, which cuts purchases in half. In addition, liquid soap can also be used to wash dishes – just in case you ever run out.  
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FRUGAL FOR LIFE: Shower Curtains and Soap Slivers