God's Provision

I was having a conversation with my neighbor the other day on the topic of how my husband and I make ends meet. As I started telling her some of the things we do, God reminded me of the many times He has provided for us. What a blessing to be able to share that with her.

Just today a lady was asking how we were going to prepare for the upcoming grocery price increases. The news is out and people are starting to worry.

My first thought in how to answer her question was a step by step, detailed list of how we do things now, and how we plan to prepare. Again, as I started answering, that still small voice reminded me that we needed to trust in Him first. The scriptures that keep coming to my mind are:

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 “And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"

I am a list person. I think that I have our whole lives planned out on paper. It is a security blanket of sorts for me. God has been reminding me, that although all my lists and plans are good, that His provision is what will really see us through.

Just as I was able to give a testimony to my neighbor of the faithfulness of God, I will be able to continue to share with others in the upcoming times ahead on how God has taken care of us time and time again.

I know that in the last two years I have been home full-time, I have seen that to be true over and over. Whether it be from Scott getting extra work, people bringing over clothes, or God teaching me how to be frugal. We have always had enough. It is only by the grace of God that I can say we are better off financially now, than when I worked.

So, while we plan and while we learn to be better stewards of the money God had entrusted to us, let us not forget of God's provision. He cares enough for us that He will take care of us no matter what comes our way.

Graphics courtesy of All Posters

Our $75 menu this week...for my family of 8

Here we go again. I thought I would post another menu plan since it is so near and dear to my heart. If you're interested, I just wrote part 3 of my series on how I feed my family of 8 for $300 a month. The last topic just happens to be on menu planning. Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast:
Monday: Waffles and fruit

Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal

Wednesday: Pancakes and fruit

Thursday: Muffins and Sausage

Friday: French Toast

Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat

Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:
Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked

Tuesday: Ham, mac & cheese, and a veggie

Wednesday: Soup and crackers or 1/2 sandwich--->soup is usually leftover from night before

Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit

Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers

Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:
Monday: Carrots and ranch dressing
Tuesday: Fruit
Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey
Thursday: Celery and peanut butter or ranch dressing
Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese, which the kids call "mini pizzas", or peanut butter and honey

Dinner:
Monday:
Meat Lasagna
Green beans

Pumpkin rolls

Tuesday:
Baked Tilapia

Sauteed Squash

Hearty Herb Bread

Wednesday:
Spaghetti

Homemade Garlic Bread

Thursday:
Italian Sausage and peppers over penne

Salad

Peas

Friday:
Homemde BBQ Chicken pizza

Cheese Bread

Saturday:
Chicken Tetrazinni

Corn

Garlic Bread

Sunday:
Ribs

Mashed potatoes

Green beans

For more great menu ideas, check out Menu Planning Monday hosted by Organizing Junkie!

How I feed my family of 8 on $300 a month - Part 3

If you missed part 1 of the series you can read it here, and you can read part 2 here.

Now that everyone has sat down and set up a budget, it's time to make a menu. I will say this one more time. Cut back on the amount you are spending each month a bit at a time. In fact, practice doing a few weeks of menu planning first before cutting back on the amount of money you spend. This will allow for a learning curve. Most of us get so excited in the beginning and try to do too much. This leads to disappointment and failure. Once you learn how to do this you will be able to save your family lots of money.

So, what's the big deal about menu planning anyway? Well, menu planning saves you time and money! I am a busy woman, so I am always looking for a way to make my life easier and more efficient. Also, saving time and money are two of my favorite things.

When your plan your menu in advance there is no more standing in front of the refrigerator in a panic wondering what to cook for dinner at 5:00 in the afternoon. Only to realize that once you've decided on something, that you're out of a key ingredient, so now you have make a mad dash to the store. While you're there you see those cookies that look really good, and a nice cold coke sounds great. Before you know it, you've spent an extra $10.00.

Or you might be like me when when this happened. You know how it goes, you call your sweetie on the phone and say, "Hey honey, can you stop at so-and-so and pick up dinner?" Here at our house a run to McDonald's will cost us over $35.00. A typical dinner that I make at home will cost about a tenth of that. Like I said, planning your menu can save both time and money.

This is how menu planning goes at my house. First thing I will do is ask my husband if there is anything that he is hungry for that he wants me to cook. There is nothing worse than sitting down and planning everything out, only to have to have to change something because my husband really wanted to BBQ on Saturday when I had chicken tetrazinni planned instead.

So, after talking to him I will grab one of my older girls a few days before shopping day. We will go through and do a quick inventory of what's in the pantry. I don't know how many times I have bought something thinking I was low, only to get home and find out that I had way too many already. Or even worse, I would assume that I had enough only to find that I had to make that last minute mad dash to the store. So, now we do an inventory. If you really like to be extra organized, you can find master grocery lists online and print them out. They usually have a column for what you have on hand and a column for what you need.

To make things simple, you need to know what some of your favorite meals are. You can alternate those every week, every other week, or even monthly. For example, we usually will have a taco and burrito night one Wednesday and the next Wednesday we will have spaghetti and garlic bread. We also do pizza night on Friday nights at least every other week. The key is to simplify. Most families know what they like, and will tolerate some variety, but as a general rule like to stick to what they know. I am one who likes to try new things, so at least once a month I will try a new recipe. I have found some winners and some losers.

After I know what I have, my daughter and I sit down and write out our dinner menu. My weekly breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack menu stay the same for at least a month, sometimes longer. I make a dinner menu for 2 weeks at a time. To start off with though, I would only do one week at a time. This includes the main dish and any sides and desserts. Here at my house we like to include lots of different fresh breads. They are inexpensive, I make them with whole grains, and they fill us up!

Once we are satisfied with how our menu looks, which usually only takes about 30 minutes, we start on the shopping list. Knowing what I already have on hand makes it easy for me to write out what I need. I then write out everything I need to make all my meals and snacks. Like i've said before, when I shop, I only carry cash and stick strictly to my list. I know I only have $150 on me and I need to buy everything with that money to feed my family for two weeks.

Try planning a menu for a week and then shopping according to that menu. In the beginning it may be a little difficult. It is well worth the effort put into it, in the end. Once you get the hang of it though, it really makes things so much easier.


Next week: Shopping the weekly sales and further planning your menu from that!