I’ve had several people ask how I’ve been feeling.

Well…. Pretty much like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck! The last two weeks have been pretty rough. We have shipped out over 3,000 books and it was just too much for me. So much so that I think we are going to not have major book sales that often, maybe once or twice a year.

I also think that we are going to put our focus into e-books instead. It’s just too hard on me shipping books like that.

I’ve haven’t been getting much sleep either because the office is in our bedroom. Mike has been working from 8-5 at the TV station and the comes home and helps me put the kids to bed and works from 7-10 or 11 p.m. on Living On A Dime business stuff. So even though I have been feeling “mostly dead” I can’t go to sleep until he gets the stuff done.

It doesn’t help that when I feel this way I don’t care about much so my resistance to not eating sugar isn’t going well. I am trying today to get several things fixed up like brown rice and sweet potatoes so I can at least have some food on hand.

I get so frustrated trying to figure out what to eat that I just don’t eat at all and then I get really sick and will eat something like 2 or 3 cookies. I’m hoping that having stuff fixed ahead of time will help.

I am hoping that after this week, things will calm down.

We did get to do one fun thing this week. Mike called on Tuesday at 5:00 and said the station had extra Jim Brickman tickets if we wanted to go at 7. Augh! I was so dead tired but I do love to see him so we went. It was a great concert and even better when we found out the tickets were $55 each and we got them free! LOL

Well, that’s it for now. Have a good weekend! Tawra

Our family has cut down on Christmas spending in the last few years, but we still have a great time!

This year my sister and I got together to make biscotti and truffles for friends and relatives. Biscotti are hard cookies/bread that are baked twice and traditionally dipped in coffee, but can also be eaten plain or dipped in hot chocolate. The ingredients are basic cookie ingredients. You can get great recipes just by typing “biscotti” and “recipe” into your search engine.

Type “truffles” and “recipe” in to find truffle recipes!

We planned ahead by choosing our recipes and then buying ingredients when they were on sale. Becky was able to get “fancy” chocolate cheaper than plain label by doing this and that made the truffles taste like they came from a specialty store.

We chose a weekend to do all of our baking and candy making, and our daughters helped, too. We had a great time! We created simple cards for each kind of biscotti, with the name of that biscotti, and packaged it in snack-sized zip-lock bags, two pieces to a bag. We included the label for the kind of biscotti in each bag.

We packaged it by putting about 6 snack-sized bags of biscotti, and 3 of truffles, in a green plastic Ziplock brand container, also purchased on sale. We didn’t need to use any wrapping paper or ribbon or bow! We lined the containers with tissue paper first. The finished product looked like it had been professionally done.

We took the packages to our relatives when we visited last week for Thanksgiving. That way we avoided some of the “food” overload of Thanksgiving, and also saved money on postage, as we didn’t have to mail them.

So, we spent less money, spent the weekend together AND made gifts that had a personal touch.

Here is our favorite truffle recipe:
DECADENT TRUFFLES

1, 8 oz. package of cream cheese (frequently on sale this time of year!)
2-3 c. powdered sugar
3 C. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 1/2 t. vanilla

For dipping; cocoa, sprinkles, chopped nuts, sugar, cinnamon, coconut

Beat cream cheese until smooth; beat in sugar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate. Refrigerate until firm enough to scoop out with a spoon and with your hands, roll into balls about 3/4″ to 1″ in diameter.

If desired, then roll in cocoa, sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc.

This recipe makes approx. 60 or more truffles, depending on the size you make them.

ENJOY!

Shelly Burke
www.shellyburke.net

Shelly Burke
Shelmar Publications
“Books to Inform, Inspire, and Encourage”
www.shellyburke.net

I got this from Clean Joke of the Day. I just had to share considering our “white car” situation.
Enjoy! Tawra

*Reasons You Should Buy a New Car*

Reasons You Should Buy a New Car:

- Your passenger seat is on the National Register of Historic Places.

- Instead of an air bag, there is a whoopee cushion taped to your steering wheel.

- You lose the stoplight challenge to a 14 year old on a moped.

- 15 minute Jiffy Lube needs to keep your car for 3 days.

- When you gas up, the attendant asks, “Can I re-duct tape that windshield for you?”

- Thieves repeatedly break in your car just to steal the “Club”.

- While sitting at a stop light, people keep running up to you and asking if anyone was hurt.

I got the washer and dryer on Tuesday. Of course I’m not sure how they work since I haven’t been able to use them!

My 10 year old son is so fascinated with them that he has been doing the laundry ever since! LOL I guess a good way to teach them to do the laundry is to buy a new machine!

So far they seem like they are doing pretty good. The noise is so quite that it’s just WONDERFUL! I have problems with noise as it is, so this just made my day.

It is a tight squeeze in my small utility room but they got in there. We even have a 1/4 inch to close the door if we need to get in there for a tornado. We might have to put Elly and David in the washer and dryer but we will fit. LOL (I’m just kidding, so don’t send me nasty emails!)
In case you are new - our laundry room is abut 6 ft. wide and 10 ft. long and was built with 12 inch concrete walls all the way around. It has a sink, washer and dryer. So there is about 3 feet square of standing room. It’s supposed to be a tornado shelter if we ever need it. Hopefully we won’t have to find out if it works.

So far I love them! Thanks for the recommendations! Tawra

I thought it would be fun for you to post your favorite Christmas ideas.

If you can’t get on the blog then just email them to me and I will post them for you.

So… How are some ways you save for Christmas?

Favorite Recipes?

Craft Ideas?

Traditions?

I can’t wait to read them! Tawra

As you know we moved to the “country”. We are on propane now and this is a new thing for us.

My question is: How much propane do you use in a season?

When I called the company they said the former family used 1,000 between August and March.

The only thing on propane is our heater and gas fireplace. Does that sound right? 1,000 gallons?

My neighbors (Hi, Tisha) said they used only 200 gallons for the entire season last year and their heater is set on 75.

We have only had ours on for 2 weeks and have gone from 80%-60% already.

Do we have a leak? Does the fireplace pilot light use that much propane?

We do know that the old part of the house only has 4 inches of insulation and so we are going to blow some more in this weekend.

Help! this just doesn’t sound right!

Tawra

Ok, the white car is on it’s way out. We have tried to keep it going as long as possible but it has no heater, no a/c, the seat belt is broken, the door handle fell off, the headliner is held up with push pins, the tires are bald, the alternator is going, the seat is broken down so you almost sit on the floor and about 20 other things are wrong with it. It’s 16 years old, had a good life but it’s time to say good-by.

So we need to start looking for a new vehicle. We would like a small truck that can hold more than 2 people. We would prefer it to hold six but I don’t think you can find a compact truck that can hold that many people.

Any suggestions? Right now we are just trying to decide which model to get, then we will go shopping. We are going to try and spend less than $7,000 if possible. Of course we never buy new so it will used. Do you have a small truck that is not prone to breakdowns?

Thanks! Tawra

When we moved in the oven door would get caught on the counter edge.
It has driven me crazy! Well, the other day the screw fell out of the door and part of the door was falling apart.

I finally decided to fix it myself. Unfortunately I decided to do this 30 minutes before leaving to take the kids the to school.

Well, took out the screw on the other side that matched to see if I could find one the same size. Unfortunately when I did the entire door fall apart. You can’t see it well in the picture but there is a piece of glass in the middle that if I didn’t keep holding up would fall and break.

So…I was in a pickle. Fortunately the kids are old enough to help with this kind of stuff now. So I had BJ hold the pieces while I went in the garage and searched for a screw the right size.

You can see in the picture my ever so mechanically inclined son trying to figure it out too. He always puts his hand on his chin when he’s thinking hard about something. LOL

I did find one, Yeah!! So I got the stove back together and the kids to school and then I came home to try and fix the hitting the counter problem. I tried sanding the counter down and that didn’t work. So then I tried putting a wedge between the stove and cabinet. That didn’t work.

As I was looking I realized that the feet were adjustable so I tried turning the side that was rubbing to raise the stove. I had to use a knife to push it but I got it turned enough so that it doesn’t rub now.

Yeah!! A fixed stove in $30 minutes for $0. It would have cost me at least $75 to call a repair man to look at it.

You can also check out repairclinic.com

Tawraw

Ok, normally I don’t get into this kind of stuff but after all the whining people we’ve had lately with people telling us how they can’t afford Christmas gifts, food or clothes as they are talking on their cell phone at Applebee’s I just couldn’t resist.
Being frugal means using your money wisely and making the most with what you have! In a America that is a lot, even for the poorest of people.
Tawra

The ant and the grasshopper

OLD VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

************************************************************
MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant’s old house, crumbles around him because he doesn’t maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote.

I decided on a new washer and dryer. I am going to buy the Whirlpool Duet and I decided to get the set. Several people really love theirs and it seemed like the best fit. I also would love to have a dryer with an automatic sensor turning it off when it’s done.

It is going to be a tight fit in my small laundry room but I think it will work. I will have to walk in the room first, open the door, unload the clothes and put them in the dryer and then close the washer door before I can get out but I think it will work.

Now, the good part. After I decided which one I wanted I went to Lowe’s. I started there because they will match any price plus give you 10% off if you find a better deal in town.

I went and they were $998 and $898. They had $100 rebate plus free delivery and removal of your old set.

So I started with basically $1700 for the set.

I then called 4 other stores in town, the biggest: Sears, Home Depot, Best Buy and a local appliance shop.

Best Buy had the same deal. So I then decided on an off chance to look online. I found www.pricegrabber.com

I typed in the washer and dryer I wanted and found places online. I made sure that I had the price with the shipping added in since Lowe’s was giving free shipping.

Believe it or not I found a place that had it for $1732 including shipping!!

So, I printed out the info. and took it to Lowe’s. I found the salesman that I used that morning and said “I’m back to get my washer and dryer and I’ve been working hard”. He just laughed.

I then told him that I found a set online for $1732 including shipping and they also gave the $100 rebate. He took a few minutes to ask his supervisor if it was ok and he said yes so we were working on the deal. They had a problem with the computer taking the lower price so they gave me an even lower price of $1709!

So… I got my washer and dryer for $1609!! Almost $90 less for about 1 hour’s worth of work!! (That’s how much Mike makes in a day at the TV station!)

Mike came stopped by on his way home from work to see if we were still there. I told him “I’ve been earning my keep! hehehe” The salesman said “She sure has! She has us pinned on the floor crying “Uncle”. LOL I said “well, I run a frugal living website so I better practice what I preach”.

So, we went home excited about the new washer and dryer. I am going to have them deliver it on Tuesday to give me a few days to try and sell our old set. If I can’t sell it then I will have them haul it off.

But… there’s more…..

Today I woke up and Lowe’s had their sets for 20% off! Ugh!!!!!! That was another $40 off the price that I got!

So… I got in the car and headed over to Lowe’s. Just for asking they gave me a refund for the difference so I got my set for $1565 total!! YES, YES, YES!! Now the total was $135 below the “sale” price at Lowe’s to start. Not bad for about 1 1/2 hours worth of work & about $2 in extra gas money for the refund.

So… on Tuesday I am going wash, wash, wash away!

Tawra