Gardening On A Dime - March 31, 2009

Dear Readers,

We had our first real snowstorm this weekend and the kids and Mike had a ton of fun. Mike pulled the kids behind the riding lawn mower on the sled and they just thought that was the greatest! That's the best we can do around here for sledding without any hills!

Our Internet is down because of this weekend's ice storm. We have been told that the company expects it to be back online today. Please forgive any delay in getting back to your inquiries. (The LivingOnADime.com web site is still online, though.)

We are going to send the newsletter once a week for the next 8 weeks as a test. We're testing to see whether most readers seem to prefer having one less message in their Inboxes or whether they prefer twice a week inspiration. ;-) After the trial period, we'll decide whether to keep it once a week or go back to twice.

Also, we had a problem with the "how to fold a fitted sheet" video so we are pushing back the release of the All About Laundry e-book until next week.

Here is what's happening this week:

• Free e-report- How To Cut Your Grocery
  Budget In Half from Hillbilly Housewife - Get it here!
  


• On the Blog:
  
  
  • Free garden seeds giveaway - ends midnight tonight
    
    
  • Mom's take on gardening (Note from Mike: How many words does it take to say "Have somebody else do it?", O Mother in Law of the Black Thumb? ;-)
  
  


• Sale of the Week- Dig Out Of Debt E-books - Half Price! Find it here!
  
  
• In 2 weeks, we'll be having our big half price Dining On A Dime print book sale for Mother's Day! This will be a great opportunity for gifts, so be on the lookout!
  
  

With the snow just melting it seems strange sending a garden article in today's newsletter, but my plants have been up for about 2 weeks so next week is time to start planting. Here are some tips to help you save in the garden.

Have a wonderful week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Gardening On A Dime
by Tawra Kellam

People are often surprised to find out that, even though I'm a cookbook author, I went to school for Horticulture. (I never wanted to be a writer. I wanted to own an herb farm.)

Growing your own plants can not only save you lots of money on your grocery bill, but a nice landscape can improve the value of your home. If you're creative, you can have a great garden with very little cost. Here are some of my favorite tips to get you started:

Tools:

• Watch people who are moving. Ask if they are leaving their lawn equipment and if you can have it or buy it cheap.
  
  
• Use an old mailbox out in the garden to store your clippers, plastic bags and gloves. (This is my most used item in my garden!) It is especially wonderful because the kids and Hubby don't know where my tools are, so I don't have to worry about them borrowing the tools!
  
  
• Use wedding tulle found at fabric stores instead of shade cloth to shade plants from the sun or to keep the birds from eating your fruit. It's much cheaper. Better yet, ask a just married bride if you can have the tulle from her wedding.
  
  

Cheap Plants:

• If you see plants at a store that are in bad shape but not dead, talk to the manager. Ask him if he will give you a "deal" if you take them off his hands. Most of the time they will because the plants look bad and they don't want to mess with them anymore.
  


• Last year I was able to purchase over 50 large 1/2 gallon-gallon sized perennials for $50. (over $600 retail) All but about 5 of them lived and I was able to take those back and get my money back. Most home improvement and discount stores have a guarantee that if your plant dies within one year, you can bring the dead plant and the receipt and they will give you your money back or give you a new plant.
  


• Buy seeds on sale at the end of the season. Put them in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator for better storage. Seeds usually last many years beyond the "past due" date on the packet.
  

---

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Dig Out Of Debt e-Books - Half Price!

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Do you feel like your finances are out of control?

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---

Mulch:

• Ask a tree trimming service to give you their wood chips for mulch if they are in the area. Make sure to ask whether or not they are free as some places charge for them.
  
  
• Some cities also have a free mulch program where the city tree trimmers dump all the wood chips. Call your local County Extension and find out if there is one in your area.
  


• If you just need a few bags of mulch, look for torn open bags at the home improvement store. Our local store has a pile where they dump all the torn open bags of mulch and rocks. They sell the bags for $1 each, saving you up to 75% off! Most just have a few chips missing.
  


• Use shredded paper or newspaper under mulch. This provides a barrier against weeds so you can use fewer wood chips.
  


• Keep a shower curtain or tarp in your car at all times. This way if you find a good deal on mulch or plants you can take advantage of the deal right away without messing up your car.
  

Containers:

• Use deli trays with lids to start seeds. They are mini greenhouses!
  


• Ask the cemetery if you can have the pots they throw away after Memorial Day. (You can dry the almost dead flowers for potpourri.) Look in dumpsters. Many garden centers at the discount stores throw away the dead plants, pots and all.
  


• Use Styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of pots for drainage. You can also use small plastic six inch pots, soda cans or plastic bottles in the bottom of larger pots so you don't have to use so much soil and to make the pots lighter in weight.
  

Misc. tips

• Use milk jugs as drip irrigation. Poke 2 or 3 small holes in the bottom of the jugs and place next to plants. Fill with water and they will slowly water you plants all day.
  


• Use Christmas lights around fences to add sparkle in the middle of summer. Hang them in trees or line paths with them for extra effect.
  


• Use vinegar in a spray bottle to kill weeds. ONLY spray the weed. It will kill any grass or plants you want to keep if you get it on them.
  

For Kids

• Have kids water the plants after they swim in the kiddy pool. Have them take buckets of water from the pool and water the plants when the pool needs to be emptied.
  


• Buy or ask for sandbags after heavy rains. Use the sand for paths or for the kid's sandboxes. (Only use sand from clean floodwater situations.)
  
  
• Save scraps of soap when they get too small to bathe with and put them in an old nylon stocking. Knot and hang the nylon on an outdoor faucet.
  
  

Homemade Tough Hand Cleaner

1/4 Cup grated Fels Naphtha soap ends
2 Tbsp. mason's sand or pumice
1 Cup water

Place soap and water in a saucepan. Place over low heat; stir until soap is melted. After mixture cools, add mason's sand or pumice. Store in a cottage cheese container or margarine tub. To use, dip fingers into soap mixture and lather hands. Rinse well. This works well on greasy tools, also. Be sure to rinse and dry tools thoroughly.

Spicy Fish, Wild Rice and Mushrooms - March 26, 2009

Hi Everyone!

Today at midnight, the Swagbucks offer expires so if you haven't signed up you can still get free points. This is a great way to earn gift cards for places like Amazon. If you haven't already done it, check it out here.

We had a few questions about our new "All About Laundry" e-book. We hope to have it available next week. We cover everything including making homemade soap, how to put up a clothesline, how to hang clothes and even how to iron. (mom's specialty, not mine! :-)

Here are the winners for our basil seed giveaway:

• Shon - sendelback@
  
• Holly - cookiecutter72@
  
• Joni P. - jonipriest@
  
• Karilyn P. gkputt@
  
• Craig -The Dirt Tech- TheSevnthWarrior@
  

If you are one of these winners, please email me with your mailing address and we will pass it on so they can get your seeds out!

Have a great rest of the week!!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Today's Tips:

• Start using your kitchen shears. Cut green onions, chives and all kinds of herbs with them. Cut chicken breasts into strips and cut thin cuts of beef into cubes for stew. Next time you cut anything with a knife think, "Can I cut this faster with my shears?" and then try it.
  


• When rinsing dairy products or starches (cheese, eggs, milk, rice, pasta, potatoes) from your dishes, use cold water. Hot water sets them and makes them harder to get off. Hot water is best for greasy items.
  


• Soften leftover custard in the microwave for a few seconds and use between the layers of a cake (like a Boston cream pie) or to frost a cake.
  


• Spice Conversions:
  1 Tbsp. fresh herbs = 1 tsp. dried herbs
  1 small onion = 1 Tbsp. instant minced onion, rehydrated
  1 tsp. dry mustard = 1 Tbsp. prepared mustard (the stuff you squeeze out of the bottle)
  

Today's Menu:

Spicy Fish*
Wild Rice and Mushrooms*
Steamed Snow Peas
Wheat Bread and Butter
Spice and Crumb Banana Bars*

---

Check out Dining On A Dime,
your frugal encyclopedia!

Dining On A Dime includes over 1200 recipes and tips like these to help you keep more of your money.

The recipes are easy to cook and can be made with ingredients you can actually find at your local grocery store! Try Dining on a Dime and start saving today!

Learn More here!

---

Today's Recipes:

*Spicy Fish

2 (6 oz.) fish fillets
1/4 tsp. garlic pwd.
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup salsa
Juice from half a lime

Place fish on greased (or foil lined) baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour on salsa, then top with lime juice. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes until it flakes with a fork.

You could experiment and use lemon pepper, a pat of butter, other fresh herbs or green onions on it, too.

*Wild Rice and Mushrooms

3 Tbsp. margarine or butter
1 (5 oz.) pkg. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
3 cups chicken broth

Saute mushrooms in margarine in a large skillet for 3 minutes. Add rice and cook 10 minutes, stirring. Stir in onions and broth, bring to boil and pour into greased 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Bake 350° for 45-60 minutes until rice is tender.

*Spice and Crumb Banana Bars

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup bananas, ripe, thinly sliced
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 4 ingredients until crumbly and press 1 1/2 cups of it into an ungreased 9x13 pan. Reserve 1/2 cup of crumb mixture for the top. Add the rest of the ingredients to the remaining crumb mixture and beat for 1 minute at medium speed until well blended. Pour over crust and sprinkle with reserve crumbs. Bake 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Cool before cutting.

Ten Garage Sale Shortcuts - March 24, 2009

Good Morning!

Spring is here! We (Mike :-) were able to get the vegetable beds mulched this weekend so now all we need to do is get the plants in the ground in a couple of weeks. I was able to plant some strawberries after going to 4 stores to find some starts! Most of mine from last year died, so I hope we'll do better this year.

Find out how to get your free Basil Seeds when you visit the blog today!

Swagbucks emailed me the other day and offered our readers this sweet deal. After using Swagbucks for several months now I have to say I LOVE it. This is a legitimate way to earn some great gift cards. Check out the extra points deal they sent me to pass on here on the blog.

This week we are releasing our new e-book Common Cents When Your Sick. We receive a lot of questions about our Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and this book answers all of them. It tells our story of dealing with chronic illness for the last 20 years and many of the ways we cope. It's helpful for anyone who's sick, not just people who are chronically ill, so check it out if you need some ideas to make it through sickness. Learn more here.

If you're looking for a recipe for dried Homemade Laundry Soap, you'll find this and more on the blog.

Enjoy the 10 Garage Sale Shortcuts in today's newsletter and I hope you find a bunch of great bargains!!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Ten Garage Sale Shortcuts

1. There are two kinds of garage sales - the ones where people want to make money and the ones where people want to get rid of stuff. The object is to find the ones where people want to get rid of stuff.
   


2. Get a map and newspaper and map out your route. Photocopying a map from a phone book or printing one from the web works great. Using this method, you can easily visit 25 sales an hour. If you're a beginner you might hit neighborhoods you are familiar with first.
   


3. If at all possible, leave the kids at home. If you must take them use a baby backpack or an umbrella stroller to make it easier. Give older children 25 or 50 cents and let them see what good deals they can get. Kids love picking out gifts for grandparents, siblings, parents and other family and bargain hunting helps them learn about money. Bring snacks (animal crackers, cereals, crackers in plastic bag works well) and cold water for everyone and plan ahead for potty breaks. If you have children with you, it's best only to plan on hitting about five sales until you see how they do.
   


4. Wear cool, comfortable clothes. Bring lots of change and one dollar bills. Put your money in your pockets so you don't have to worry about carrying your purse. Also bring a tote bag in which to carry your finds as you walk.
   


5. When you find something you're not sure you want, pick it up and carry it around while you continue looking. Otherwise someone else may take it while you're trying to decide.
   


6. Always ask politely if they will come down on the price. Most of the time they will. Every once in a while some things are so reasonable that I do not feel right asking for less. Finding women's sweater's at $1.00 each isn't bad, but I still ask if they will take 50 or 75 cents. If I find a name brand sweater in perfect shape for 25 cents, I don't ask for less.
   


7. If there is something you really want, but the seller is asking more than you want to pay, offer them a lower price. If they say no, leave your name and number and ask them to consider selling it to you at your price if they still have it at the end of the day.
   


8. Always check items well for hard to see tears, stains, or breakage. Remember it is a garage sale so everything won't be perfect.
   


9. It is best to go early, but don't panic if you can't. Sometimes you get the best buys after lunch when sellers are tired and don't want to have to drag everything back into the house. It's great to go on the last day of a sale because most sellers will almost pay you to take things so they don't have to keep them.
   


10. If you don't have success in one part of town, try somewhere else the next time. Sometimes the best garage sale neighborhoods are the ones you don't expect.
    

Don't be embarrassed about buying at garage sales. Some of the wealthiest women in the world love garage sales - Martha Stewart and Oprah are among them! When you're done, go home, put up your feet and have a nice glass of ice cold lemonade. Grab the phone and call someone who will share the excitement and appreciate your good buys. Garage sales are like old fishing stories. Die-hards always brag about the one that got away!

---

Sale Of The Week
Common Cents When You're Sick e-book
$5.00 this week
(expires March 30th.)

We receive a lot of questions about our Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Common Cents When You're Sick answers many of the common questions we receive about living with chronic illness.

Helpful for anyone who's sick, Common Cents When You're Sick explains how to survive when you don't think you will.

Learn More Here!

---

Additional Hints From a Reader:

I wanted to share with you that it also pays to carry along a box (or boxes) with paper for wrapping if you like to buy glassware or delicate items.

We did estate sale purchasing (and some garage sale shopping) for vintage items for our country store. Taking the time to wrap the delicate items and put them into boxes, well paid for the time (as we quickly learned when some things didn't make it home unbroken!).

By going shopping together one could drive on to the next sale while the other wrapped those special items! It was great team work.

And speaking of children going, our oldest daughter does Ebay selling and all of the 6 children are trained into what to look for for value and they each scout out possibilities in different areas while Mom looks also! The children also take some of their finds and have made very good money selling them on Ebay - sometimes $50-$100 profit!

The grandkids run from 4 to 16. The 4 year old is pretty much an expert into Pooh and Bob the Builder though! If the sale has any of those products he isn't much help with the other items! :-) The family of 8 is able to stay completely wardrobed from garage sales (and a few thrift stores) solely from church clothes to farm clothes!

Thanks for the articles you both write.

--Linda

Apricot Chicken, Lime Asparagus - March 19, 2009

Dear Readers,

Don't forget to check out the Savin' O' The Green sale, where you can get a great package of 17 e-books and e-courses for only $17! That's just $1 each!! You'll also get 6 audio lessons to help you get better organized and save more on your grocery budget! It's only good until Monday, so go get it today!

In today's newsletter, you'll find a delicious menu including Apricot Chicken, Lime Asparagus and No Bake Dessert! Yummy!!

We're constantly adding new tips and recipes to the blog so be sure to check it out!

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Today's Tips:

• Add peanut butter to chocolate sauce and pour over vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
  


• 1 chocolate square = 3-4 Tbsp. cocoa + 1 Tbsp. butter or shortening
  


• When going on an outing, keep your baby's bottle warm by placing it in a wide mouth thermos that has been "warmed" with hot water. Place the lid on it and it will stay perfect until you need it.
  


• Try giving your toddler the tablespoon from your measuring spoons to eat with. It has a short handle and a deep bowl which makes it easier for a young child to eat things like soups or cereal.
  

Today's Menu:

Apricot Chicken*
Rice
Lime Asparagus*
Carrot and celery sticks
No Bake Dessert*

---

Sale Of The Week
Savin' O' The Green!
17 Grocery Savings e-books for $17!
(expires March 23rd.)

Learn to save, stretch and get more for your food dollars!

Living On A Dime has teamed up with Money Saving Mom Crystal Paine to bring you a huge collection of e-books to help you do just that! The best news is that this week only you can get all 17 e-books along with helpful audio lessons for just $17! It's good this week only so go get it now!

---

*Apricot Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. oil, olive or vegetable
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. onion soup mix

Cook chicken in garlic and oil until brown. Place in an 8 inch baking dish. Combine everything else and pour over chicken. Bake uncovered at 375° for 25-30 minutes until juices run clear. Serve over rice.

*Garlic Lime Asparagus

1 tsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium shallot, minced*
1 bunch asparagus spears, trimmed
1/4 lime, squeezed (lemon juice works in a pinch)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, cook garlic and shallot in butter and oil for 1-2 minutes. Stir in asparagus and cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes. When ready to serve, squeeze lime juice on top. Then add salt and pepper.

*Shallots are small brown onions that are about 1-2 inches around. If you don't have one then just use a couple of tablespoons of regular onion.

*No Bake Dessert

This dessert is great, especially in the spring and summer. It is quick and easy and won't heat up the house. It is a rich dessert but I will give you some variations at the end that you can use to modify that. It calls for peanut butter but if you don't like peanut butter, I'll also be giving you several variations that don't include peanut butter.

Crust:

20 Oreo cookies, crushed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine

Mix and press into 9x13 pan. You can use store bought crusts of you prefer.

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 (8 oz.) tub whipped topping

Beat cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on crust. Chill for at least 3 hours. You can freeze, but thaw before serving.

Variations:

• You can add less peanut butter if the flavor is overpowering.
  


• Add chopped peanuts or walnuts.
  


• Drizzle with chocolate ice cream topping.
  


• Leave out the peanut butter altogether and add a couple tablespoons of cocoa. Then serve with fresh fruit like strawberries, raspberries or bananas.
  


• Add chocolate chips along with the peanut butter.
  


• Leave out the peanut butter and just use chocolate chips, sprinkles or crushed candies.
  


• Use a graham cracker crust for a less rich dessert.
  
  

Grocery Savings and Menu Planning - March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

The huge Savin' O' The Green sale started today! We are offering this collection of 17 grocery savings e-books for just $17. That's $1 each!! In addition to the e-books, the Savin' O' The Green includes 6 audio lessons to help you get better organized and save more on your grocery budget! It's only good this week, so if you haven't checked it out yet, pick up this great deal here!

This week on the blog we have several recipes to use up all that cabbage that was on sale this week. We also are offering a Free St. Patrick's Day e-book full of craft ideas here.

Today's newsletter includes an excerpt on menu planning from the Grocery Savings E-course to help give you some ideas on planning menus.

I hope you have a great St. Patrick's Day!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Just the sight of the word "menus" can send some people into a tail spin. I'm not sure why the thought of preparing menus strikes terror in some of our hearts. Maybe, because so many of us struggle trying to figure out what to have for dinner each night, the thought of having to think of seven days worth of meals can really seem daunting.

It doesn't have to be that difficult, though. We have no trouble making lists of what phone calls to make tomorrow, what kids are coming to a child's birthday party or what we're going to buy the next time we go to the hardware store, so just relax and think of a menu as just another list. I will show you a few things in the next few pages that will hopefully make it even easier.

At this point, you should have cleaned out your fridge and had your leftover dinner, so now you have a general idea of what food you have on hand. Now, it is simply a matter of gathering up a few things to get started. You will need the following:

1. Paper or notebook and pencil.
   


2. Favorite cookbook (I hope it's Dining on a Dime :-) )
   


3. Grocery store ads for the week
   


4. Recipe file box and/or all those new recipes you have collected.
   

In this course I am going to concentrate on dinner menus because dinner is usually all that most people can handle at first. Once you get used to preparing dinner menus, you'll want to make breakfast and lunch menus to save even more.

I don't have a "set in stone" plan where my menus are concerned. I don't say, "On Monday we will have chicken and Tuesday roast." I simply keep a list of 7 menus, half of which are for easy meals and half for more complex meals. That way, if I know tomorrow is going to be one of those "on the go days", I pick from the easy meal list and save my more complicated one for tomorrow.

---

Sale Of The Week
Savin' O' The Green!
17 Grocery Savings e-books for $17!
(expires March 23rd.)

Learn to save, stretch and get more for your food dollars!

Living On A Dime has teamed up with Money Saving Mom Crystal Paine to bring you a huge collection of e-books to help you do just that! The best news is that this week only you can get all 17 e-books along with helpful audio lessons for just $17! It's good this week only so go get it now!

---

Keep in mind that menu planning is a waste of time if you don't actually use them. Sometimes we love doing things like making out menus or lists of any kind. Then we don't feel so guilty as we sit waiting for our fast food to arrive. We ease our consciences by telling ourselves that we really did try to fix a meal by making out some menus, but they never seemed to work for me.

Of course they aren't going to work for you just laying there, written on that piece of paper. You have to actually use them! You are the one that has to do the work, not the menus. Menus are just a plan to make the work easier. Without the work, the plan is useless.

If the dish calls for a recipe, you may want to write down where that recipe is found (cookbook, recipe file, magazine etc.) next to it.

As time goes by, you can add pages to your notebook for things like beverages, holiday favorites or whatever you like. This is why I recommend using a loose-leaf notebook. Then you can add, take away or move the pages around. You will keep your menus in this same notebook. (We will get to them in a minute.)

If it is easier for you the first week, don't worry about finding sales or making a week of menus. Instead, just pick one thing from either the main dish or the meat list each day and then add one thing from each of the other lists you have made. You don't even have to cook what you pick. Just practice putting things together each day and making the menu.

Then, the next week, start planning your real menus. One way to make things easier is to plan only one week of menus at a time. It is less time consuming and makes it easier to adapt to those good deals you may find or the unexpected amount of leftovers you may need to use.

Now let's get started. In this next section, you will see that it is a little extra work at first, but once you've laid out the basic menus, it gets much easier.

In your notebook, write seven menus for one week. Then next week you will add another seven, another on week three and a last set on week four.

At the end of that time you will have 28 menus of your family's favorite dishes to choose from, so for future meal planning you won't have to do much in the way of making menus. You can choose one from your list of 28. Considering that most families eat the same ten meals over and over, this is quite a variety.

From that point on, if chicken is on sale, you can quickly choose one of your chicken menus and use it. Sometimes with mine I would adjust them a little. For example, let's say chicken and apples are on sale. My original menu called for chicken and a fruit salad, so I just adjusted it a little and instead made chicken and fried apples.

Once you have your 28 menus done, you don't have to start from scratch each time, since you'll re-use the same menus. You can also add more menus or items to your list as you think of new ones.

Today's newsletter is an excerpt from the Grocery Shopping On A Budget e-course. For more information like this, check out the "Saving O' The Green" sale which includes this e-course and the "Supermarket Savings 101" e-course from Crystal Paine, a total of 17 e-books and 6 audio downloads. Learn more here.

St Patrick's Menu and Recipes - March 12, 2009

Hello everyone!

I hope you're having a great day! In today's newsletter, we share a delicious St. Patrick's Day Menu!

Don't forget this week's Sale Of the Week, the Winning the Credit Card Game e-book for only $5. This e-book gives step by step details explaining how we accelerated our debt payoff and how you can pay off your debt faster, too. Learn more here.

Congratulations to Debra P. and MH, winners of this week's blog giveaway! We hope you enjoy the "The Duggars: 20 and counting" books!

Next week we will be having our huge Savin' O' The Green e-book sale. This is going to be a great set of e-books about saving on your grocery budget so you won't want to miss out!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Today's Tips:

• For a different taste for homemade croutons, try using Cajun seasoning instead of the usual Italian seasoning.
  


• Add a half a cup of sour cream to your banana pudding (the large box) after it has been mixed for a different twist.
  


• When you need to make a graham cracker crust, crush enough crumbs to fill a large container or coffee can. The next time you make a crust, you can just scoop out the amount you need.
  


• When cooking cabbage, add a couple of lids of vinegar to the water to help it retain its color.
  

Today's Menu:

Irish Corned Beef Brisket and Cabbage*
Irish Soda Bread*
Blarney Stone Cookies*

---

Sale Of The Week
Winning The Credit Card Game
$5.00 this week!
(expires March 16th.)

Are you struggling with credit card debt? We got out of debt by being smarter with our credit cards.

• Learn to reduce interest rates
  


• Transfer balances to lower rate cards
  


• Get it paid off!
  

Learn More here!

---

Today's Recipes:

*Irish Corned Beef Brisket and Cabbage

1 (3 lb.) corned beef brisket, plus seasoning packet
1 lg. onion, peeled
10 small (red) potatoes
15 baby carrots
1 head of cabbage, cored and cut into wedges
Salt and pepper to taste

Place brisket, seasoning packet and onion in a large Dutch oven or pot. Cover with water 6 inches above meat. Bring to boil and boil for 30 minutes. Reduce to medium low or gentle boil. Cover and cook for 3 1/2 hours.

Remove onions, cut into wedges and put back in the pot. Add carrots, cabbage and then potatoes. Cover and cook 30 more minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove veggies, but keep the meat in the juices until ready to slice so it won't dry out.

Side Sauce

Mix the night or day before and then serve on the side with your corned beef.

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. horseradish
1/2-1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Corned Beed Tips:

• Cut across the grain for more tender slices.
  


• Save juices and reduce. Dice leftover corned beef and make corned beef soup with leftovers.
  

*Irish Soda Bread

This is great served with Irish stew. Eat leftover soda bread toasted or use for French toast.

1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 cups raisins
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds, optional*
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350° (175° C). Mix first seven ingredients. In a second bowl mix eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Add liquid ingredients to dry, adding enough until flour is moistened. Knead 10-12 strokes. The dough will be very sticky. Place in a 9 inch cake pan. Cut a 4" X in the top. Brush top with milk. Bake for 65-75 minutes.

*Caraway seeds make it more authentic, but if you don't like them or don't have them, you can leave them out. You could also use 1 cup of raisins and one cup dried cranberries.

*Blarney Stone Cookies

Add a couple of drops of green food coloring to the dough of your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Sprinkle with green sugar* or frost with green frosting.

*Make green sugar by placing sugar in a container with a couple of drops of green food coloring and shake.

Preparing For Financial Emergencies - March 10, 2009

Hi, Readers!

I hope you are enjoying Spring as much as we are around here! It's hard to resist the urge to get some seeds put in the ground!

For this week's Sale Of the Week, we're offering our Winning the Credit Card Game e-book for only $5. This e-book gives step by step details explaining how we accelerated our debt payoff and how you can pay off your debt faster, too. Using this method, we saved $180,000 in interest we would have paid had we not eliminated the debt. Learn more here.

Our current blog giveaway is for a free copy of the book, "The Duggars: 20 and counting". The publisher was gracious enough to offer us 2 copies to give away. You will definitely want to win this one!! I absolutely LOVED the book! It just goes to prove that even in "hard times" you can have success with your money, even with a large family! This is one of the better books on frugal living that I've read.

Next week we will be having our huge Savin' O' The Green e-book sale. This is going to be a great set of e-books about saving on your grocery budget so you won't want to miss out!

I hope you find today's article on preparing for financial hard times useful.

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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How to Prepare For Financial Emergencies

The best way to survive unemployment or any financial challenge is to be prepared ahead of time. Many of us prepare for all kinds of emergencies -- keeping an emergency supply of food, first aid kits and other emergency supplies. Here in Kansas, we keep one room prepared where we can go in case a tornado hits. But few of us prepare for something that is almost guaranteed to hit every one of us at some time-- unemployment.

I hope that today's ideas will inspire you to prepare for a financial emergency that is sure to happen at some point in your life in the same way you prepare for other emergencies.

As hard as it was at the time, I can honestly say that I'm glad I had the various experiences that I had with unemployment. I really wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't. At the time, you wonder why God is allowing these things to happen in your life and think it is so unfair but, years later, you find out many of these things taught you something that really helped you in the long run.

If my husband hadn't been laid off the first time, we wouldn't had started a business he loved. That business enabled him to be at home with the kids and me. I restarted that same business years later, which helped me save my home and helped us avoid living out on the streets. In fact, this web site wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for the job losses I experienced in my life and the things I learned from them.

The best way to rid yourself of fear and panic is to be prepared for a situation. I love the story of Joseph in the Bible (Gen. 41) where God told Joseph that there was a famine coming. What did Joseph do? Well, he didn't pay any attention to the news of the day, nor did he worry about what others were saying. He also didn't just sit there knowing that tough times were coming and say, "Que Sera Sera, what will be, will be".

He started preparing-- preparing in a big way. Maybe we don't have grain elevators to fill like he did (Well, on second thought lots of people in Kansas do :) ), but we can take practical steps now to prepare in case a "famine" should come in our lives.

I am so tired of listening to people moaning and groaning about what is going to happen to the world financially. Stop complaining about it! Take the time and energy you are wasting pointing out how awful things are and do something constructive about it in your life.

---

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---

Here are a few things you can do to insulate yourself against potential financial emergencies:

• Get rid of credit card debt. I know I sound like a broken record, but credit card debt is something that can make or break you when money is tight. Once we had a gas card and furniture card, both of which were maxed out for a total of $500. The thing that hurt us the most when we had a job layoff was that credit card debt. We could have paid most of our bills with a part time job, but each month we had to make that credit card payment. It almost broke us-- and our debt was nothing compared to some others.
  
  Don't take this lightly. You can lose everything just because of that debt. I don't care what you need to do. Get serious and aggressive about paying if off. Visit our web site and refer to our books where we give you thousands of ideas about how to do it.
  


• It may seem impossible but stop buying on credit now. Lots and lots of people don't buy on credit and do just fine. You can too. If you don't have cash to pay for something, live without it until you can save enough for it. We can live without most things that we think we can't live without. My daughter and I have each gone through a winter without a refrigerator until we had the money to buy one. It was a pain keeping the frozen stuff in the cold garage, but we survived.
  


• Pay off your mortgage. If you are barely making your house payment, you may have to consider buying a less expensive house in order to accomplish that goal. The thing that saved me more than once was never buying a house I couldn't reasonably afford. Also, except for a couple of years after losing a lot of money on one house sale, I have had my house paid off since I was in my middle 30's. You can usually make enough money for minimal food and utilities in tough times, but it is the house payment that can make or break you. Pay it off and you won't have to worry about that anymore.
  
  During the depression, the people who survived the best were the ones who had their homes paid for and had no debt.
  


• Save. It's a toss up when it comes to deciding whether to save first and then pay your mortgage or visa versa. For me, having my mortgage paid lifted more of a burden from me. Additionally, the interest I made on my savings was so much less than the interest I paid on my mortgage that I was better off getting rid of my house payment.
  
  Different people feel differently about their situations so do what is most comfortable for you. The most ideal thing, of course, is to pay your house off and have a small nest egg.
  
  Don't panic when you hear the word "savings". It is so easy to think "there is no way I can save" but even if you save only $5 a week, that is something. Most people waste significantly more than that each day. I found out that having even an extra $25 helped because it could buy an awful lot of bread and bologna to feed us.
  


• Stop worrying about things like college funds until you can get your finances under control. Those are nice to have but they aren't as big a necessity as most people think, especially when you're trying not to lose your home. If your child wants to go to college, he can go to a community college, get a scholarship or even work to pay his own way (What a concept).
  


• Learn useful skills. Learn how to do basic sewing, home repair, car repair, cooking and yard work. Learn to grow a garden. You may not have a need to do these things now, but someday you could find yourself thinking "I wish I knew how to ____, because it would save me so much money." Teach your children life skills as well.
  


• This last suggestion may seem a little odd but install a wood burning stove in your home if you don't have one. For those of you in colder climates, this can save significant money on your heating bill.
  
  When we were in our toughest times, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had a wood burning stove to heat my home (or at least part of my home). The heating bill would have eaten me alive, but I could always find free wood. Even when I had to have the heater on to keep the pipes from freezing, I could keep it low enough to save me huge amounts of money.
  

There are so many things in our lives that we have no control over. Life happens, but there are some things we can prepare for and unemployment is one of them.

Get serious with your money and stop being foolish with it. God didn't give us prosperity solely to satisfy our "wants". It is important to use it wisely, to provide for your needs in good times and bad. Use the money you have to build a strong foundation for you family so, when the storms come, your family will be safe and can ride it out better.

Don't be selfish, spending too much of your money on things that give you instant gratifications and pleasure for the moment. Yes, you do enjoy that big screen TV, that golf game or those expensive shoes and purses, but what will you feel like further down the road when you have lost your job and have no clue on how you are going to save your home or feed your kids?

People who aren't prepared react very badly to losing their jobs. They play the blame game. It's the fault of the boss, the company, the government, the bank or these hard economic times. We play the blame game when we are caught doing something foolish or wrong. You may say, "but I did nothing wrong by losing my job." No but did you do something foolish by failing to prepare in case you did lose it?

I'm not saying any of this to judge or condemn anyone. You know your own circumstances. I'm just telling you this to try and open your eyes to the importance of being prepared, and not just because of what is going on now. Unexpected things happen all the time, but the more prepared we are, the better equipped we are to handle any financial challenge that presents itself.

Bread Baking Basics - March 5, 2009

Hello everyone!

Today's newsletter focuses on bread baking including lots of useful homemade bread tips and some great easy and tasty recipes.

Don't forget this week's Sale of the Week-- Dig out of Debt and/or Penny Pinchin' Mama print books for half price! If you need a little "on the go" inspiration to help you re-think your spending habits along with lots of useful tips, these print books can help. They also make great gifts! Learn more about them here.

Congratulations to Kat, the winner of the free Penny Pinchin' Mama book giveaway! Be sure to check the blog each week for the latest giveaway!

Have a great weekend!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Bread Baking Basics

We get so many questions about how to make homemade bread, so I thought I would try to answer just a few of them today. Don't let all this information make it seem too involved and scare you away from making bread. Once you get used to it, it really isn't a whole lot harder than baking a cake. Just read the information and then follow the recipe step by step.

I once read a book by an older woman on how to bake a pie. She said bake one everyday for 2 weeks and at the end of that time you will know how to bake a pie. That rule applies for many things, including bread baking. Things may seem a little awkward or difficult at first, but after you have made it 14 times you will have learned what not to do and will get comfortable with it. There really was a lot of wisdom in what that older woman said.

We didn't put my favorite recipe for homemade bread in Dining on a Dime because it isn't quite as frugal as others, but I thought some of you might like it now. Also, I will give you my grandmother-in-law's very frugal recipe.

Before I share the recipe, here are some useful tips on baking bread:

• Unless the recipe states otherwise in the recipe, heat about 1/4-1/2 cup of the water to 120-130° or until it is hot when you put your finger in it. It can't be too hot or too cold. This is one of the most important parts of making the bread. With practice and time, you will start being able to tell when you have the correct temperature.
  
  When the water is hot enough, add part of the sugar (about 2 Tbsp.) to the water and then the yeast. You add sugar because yeast feeds on sugar. This process is called proofing. The yeast should start foaming, which tells you it's good and also that you haven't gotten the water too hot. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead for one reason or another so you need to get some new yeast or try it again with a different water temperature.
  
  It is also good to do this because proofing the yeast gives the bread a better start. So you don't get confused, there are some recipes where you add the yeast with the flour and other ingredients and can't proof. That's OK because those recipes make up for it by calling for you to mix the ingredients with a mixer.
  


• When you can, add a 1/2-1 cup of mashed potatoes to your bread recipe or, in place of regular water, use water you have used to cook your potatoes. Yeast loves potatoes and the more it eats, the bigger it grows, making the bread lighter and fluffier.
  


• Never add salt with your yeast and water because the salt will kill it.
  


• Have all ingredients at room temperature. Don't forget to take the eggs out and let them warm up.
  


• If the recipe says to add enough flour to make a stiff dough, just add the flour until it is slightly sticky, taking that last 1/2 cup or so of flour and putting it on your kneading surface. Then knead the last of the flour into the bread. If you get to much flour in the recipe, it makes the bread tough. Beginners sometimes put in all the flour that the recipe calls for and then add more flour on the board to knead, it causing the dough to get too stiff.
  


• You can't knead bread too much. Knead until it is very smooth and elastic, usually about 10-15 minutes. I know that is a long time. That is why I don't make bread as often since I have had CFS. I made my best bread on the days my husband would come into the kitchen, spy my dough and start pounding on it. He had more strength than I and always did a better job of kneading.
  


• I always roll my dough into a 14x9 rectangle then roll it jelly roll style and put it in the pan. This helps to get rid of any large air bubbles you might have in the dough that can leave large pockets and holes in your bread.
  


• I have tried many methods to raise bread, from putting it in a covered bowl on the stove to putting it in the car on a warm day. What I found works best for me is to heat my oven on the lowest temperature while I am mixing my dough. After about 5 minutes of heating, I turn the oven off, turn my oven light on and place the dough in my oven (not covering). It works great every time. The heat from the light seems to give it the right amount of warmth.
  
  I also do this when I put the bread in the pans to rise. I place the dough in the oven to rise using the method I described above (reheating the oven and turning it off). Then, when it is almost double in size, I leave it where it is and turn the oven on to the temperature that the bread is supposed to bake and bake it.
  


• Most recipes say to let bread double in size and, to see if it is ready, press your finger into it. If the dent stays, it is ready. After you have made several loaves, you can pretty much tell when it is ready. When I use the method for raising dough I describe above, I skip this test because my bread finishes rising the last little bit while the oven is preheating.
  


• Most bread doughs can be frozen. Mix and knead. Shape into loaves, mini loaves or rolls, not letting it rise. Wrap very well and freeze. When you want to use it, thaw and let it rise. It will keep in the freezer about 4 weeks, but after that the yeast starts going bad.
  


• When you freeze or in store home baked breads, be sure to wrap them well. Bread can lose its moisture. If you don't think you will use it quickly, freeze part of the already baked bread, because it can dry out and get moldy faster than store bought bread. This is the reason our great-grandmothers came up with recipes like bread pudding and French toast.
  


• If your bread isn't quite done but is getting too brown, you can tent with foil. To test whether or not it is done, thump it with your fingers and it should sound hollow.
  

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• What do you do when your Wal-Mart list is bigger than your wallet?
  


• Are you overwhelmed with debt and don't know what to do?
  


• Do you need to think differently about your money?
  

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---

Today's Recipes:

Here's my favorite bread recipe. It is a cinnamon bread but when I want to make regular bread, I just make it into loaves without spreading the cinnamon and sugar on it. This makes 2 loaves of bread.

Jill's Favorite (Cinnamon) Bread

6 1/2 - 7 cups unsifted flour
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 pkg. yeast
1 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup margarine
3 eggs (room temp.)

Filling:

Margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix 2 cups flour with sugar, salt and yeast. Put the milk, water and margarine in a large mixing cup and heat in the microwave to 120° or until it feels really hot when you put your finger in it. (The margarine doesn't need to be melted.) Gradually add to the dry ingredients. Add the eggs and 1/2 cup more of flour. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. Turn on to a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (or you can knead it in the bowl). Place in a greased bowl (It sounds strange, but I use bacon grease), turning to grease the top. Put in warm place (like I mentioned above) and let rise until double; about 35 minutes.

Punch down and divide into 2 halves. Roll into a 14x9 rectangle. If you are making regular bread then, beginning at the 9 inch end, roll as you would a jelly roll, gently making it into a loaf. Divide and place in 2 greased 9x5 bread pans. Let rise again for about 35 minutes until double. Bake for 45-50 minutes. To see if it's done, thump with your fingers. If it sounds hollow, it is done.

For Cinnamon Bread:

After you have rolled the dough out, spread it with a thick layer of margarine. Then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and roll as above. Be sure to tuck the ends under so the goodies won't ooze out.

Grandma Suhler's White Bread

This is a great frugal recipe or one to use when you are short on ingredients because it doesn't call for things like milk or eggs.

This recipe was written the way we did it years ago, with just the ingredients and minimal instructions, so I hope you can figure it out OK. As you will see this, recipe breaks most of the rules I explained above, but her bread was always great.

You might also notice she did most of her kneading and working the bread in her bowl instead of dirtying a counter. One of our readers mentioned doing the same thing on the blog a few days ago.

1 pkg. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. shortening or margarine
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water, very warm
Flour (about 6-7 cups)

Shift flour into the above mixture, stirring until it is too thick to stir. Then work with hands, adding flour as needed until it becomes a very stiff dough and won't stick to your hands. Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat top and set in a warm, draft free place about 1 1/2 hours. (This is why I like my oven method for rising.)

Punch down and let rise 1/2 hour more. Make into loaves or rolls. Makes 2 loaves. Bake at 325° for 1 hour for loaves and 35 minutes for rolls. (I found 375° for 25 minutes also works for the rolls.)

Last Note:

You don't always have to use as much yeast as the recipe calls for. For example, my original bread recipe called for 2 packages of yeast and it made 2 loaves. I have used just one package for years and it works fine. Grandma's original recipe was doubled and made 4 loaves but still only used 1 package of yeast.

If a recipe calls for 2 packages of yeast and it makes 2 loaves of regular bread, you can usually just use 1 package to save a little. If you plan on making bread on a regular basis, you might want to buy yeast in bulk or in the jars because it is much less expensive.

Surviving Unemployment - March 3, 2009

Good morning!

In today's newsletter, mom writes about what to do if you are suddenly unemployed and next week she will tell what to do to prepare yourself just in case you find yourself unemployed. All the things she talks about are exactly what we did to make it through many layoffs and sudden income losses.

This week's Sale of the Week is for 50% off of the Dig out of Debt and/or Penny Pinchin' Mama print books. We are planning on letting these two books go out of print and offering them as e-books only, so if you want a print copy, get it while we still have some in stock! Find it on our ordering page here.

This week's giveaway on the blog is a free copy of the Penny Pinchin Mama print book, so head over there for a chance to win! As always, if you buy the book and then win, we will give you a refund if you don't want two copies.

Next week, we'll be offering our Winning the Credit Card Game" e-book for only $5. We'll also be having a big "Dining On A Dime" print book sale in April for Mother's Day, so if you need a copy or if you need gifts, be watching for it!

Baby K and I are doing ok. I'm pretty much on the couch from here on out. Doing minimal things like making dinner is just too much, so I'm doing as little as possible. The good news is that all this couch time gives me plenty of time get several e-books finished, so we will hopefully have some new ones coming for you soon.

Our biggest "baby" problem right now is figuring out a boys name. We're just not finding one that seems "right". We are a little concerned at this point that he will be called "Baby K" when he's 18. I just looked through 10,000 boy names and didn't find one. Maybe we need to have a baby naming contest in the next few weeks. :-)

In case your wondering how much it costs to get ready for baby, find out on the blog how we started over with this one for less than $100!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Surviving Unemployment:
What do I do now?

I will be presenting this story in two parts. As usual, I was too long winded and we have to split it up. ;-) This week we will cover what to do when you are unemployed and next week, we'll share practical tips to prepare yourself in case you are ever out of work.

It is difficult and frightening to be without a job. I know. I have been there and done that a few times. So have my son and my son in law. We aren't strangers to unemployment. I don't want to bore those of you who know my past history already, but since we often get accused by some of our readers of failing to understand what they are going through, I thought I would give you a little of my background first.

My husband and I had only been married a few years when he was laid off for the first time. He went to work on Monday morning and came home a couple hours later with his things, but with no severance pay. We had already spent every penny of his previous paycheck two days earlier and had nothing in a savings or checking account. We had nothing. We had no credit cards to use and nothing but a little cash in our pockets.

Talk about scary. These days, most people have some sort of credit card to use or at least the possibility of going to a food bank or social service organization. We had none of those. For 4 months, we lived on the $40 a week that my husband made teaching piano.

Guess what? We lived through it.

A few years later my husband left my kids and me. We had the house, but it was mortgaged to the hilt with tons of debt. I had no job, hadn't worked for 12 years and had no marketable skills. I didn't have a husband's paycheck to fall back on. I had no family members, church or friends to ask for help. We were only just making ends meet when he left, so I still didn't have any credit cards, a checking account or savings.

We didn't really even have many garage sales or thrift stores to go to. They weren't the "in" thing in those days and very few people had them.

On top of that, I received a foreclosure notice from the bank saying that we had two weeks before they would take our house. That's when things got really interesting. I had no government bail-out offers and wouldn't have even thought about asking anyone else to pay my bills and debts.

I had to hold on to my house. My house payment was so low that, if they took my house, rent for a studio apartment would have been more expensive than my house payment. In other words, if I lost the house, my kids and I wouldn't even be able to afford to live in a studio apartment.

But once again I survived.

At this point, I thought I had been through the worst of it, but I was wrong. A few years later, I became sick and could no longer work and I still had 2 kids at home. Do you know what it feels like to be so sick you can't even feed yourself when you have no spouse, family or friends to help and are laying there desperately wondering how are you going to take care of your kids?

Oddly enough, in one way, it was the easiest time I had had to go through. Why? Because, by that point, even though I didn't have an income, I had my finances under control enough that, even though it wasn't fun, I was able to cope without fear. I had been there more than once before and each time I went through it I learned how to deal with it better.

I don't say all of this to feel sorry for myself, but to assure you that I do know what it feels like. In some of your cases, your situation isn't nearly as bad as what I went through but, even so, I know it can be scary, uncertain and discouraging. The good news is that it isn't the end of the world and it is fixable. Let me give you a few ideas that will hopefully make things easier for you.

---

Sale Of The Week
Penny Pinchin' Mama and/or Dig Out of Debt - 50% Off!
(expires March 9th.)

• What do you do when your Wal-Mart list is bigger than your wallet?
  


• Are you overwhelmed with debt and don't know what to do?
  


• Do you need to think differently about your Money?
  

Penny Pinchin' Mama and Dig Out of Debt can help you! These print books are 50% off this week only! They're convenient to read on the go or to give as gifts.
Learn more here!

---

You just lost your job. Now what?

• The most important thing is not to panic. I am not very good at dealing with medical emergencies. When I see my child with a crushed finger, I tend to go to pieces. My husband who had been a nurse told me not to panic unless they stop breathing.
  
  That rule applies in any situation. You may have lost your job, but it isn't as if one of your children has stopped breathing. Put it in perspective. It is not fun. It's a pain, but it isn't a life or death situation, even though it feels like it.
  
  Panic is the ultimate form of fear and it will paralyze you. When you are paralyzed physically, what happens? Nothing-- you can't move. The same thing happens when you panic. You become emotionally paralyzed. That is not the emotional place you want to be when you need to be up and out looking for a job.
  
  When you are physically paralyzed you will try and do everything to overcome it. You need to do the same thing when you are emotionally paralyzed. Don't let your emotions like discouragement, frustration, anger, and of course fear overrun and rule you. You will experience these emotions, but they don't need to control you and your actions.
  
  This is not the time to waste your energy on negative emotions. In the same way that you use work and activity to exercise your physical muscles, you need to actively work with your emotions to get them under control. Think with your head. Ask yourself, "What are the real facts?" Get away from the TV, your computer or the phone and get moving.
  
  If you can't look for a job at this moment for whatever reason, then at least do something constructive. Get those home repairs done (the ones you can do without spending money), spring clean the house, have a garage sale, help a friend or family member with something or volunteer.
  


• Stop your spending immediately. Cut back on everything but the bare essentials. No one needs new clothes right now unless you have a child who has outgrown his only pair of shoes or something like that. If you have to replace things like this, buy the least expensive you can find. Now is not the time to be full of pride. Hit garage sales and thrift stores to save.
  
  You must be ruthless when it comes to halting the spending in a time like this. No more spending for hobbies, sports activities, junk food or entertainment until the situation is resolved. Don't go to the malls, Wal-Mart or anywhere else where you will be tempted to spend money. Only go shopping when it is necessary. When you get gas, pay for it and leave. Don't go near the pop machines. Go as little as possible to any places that you normally spend money.
  
  Take little things into account. Don't buy that newspaper. If you need it to look for work, borrow one or read it at the library. Cut out the expense of taking your child to every birthday party and instead, let them only go to 1 or 2 of their best friends' parties. Cancel cell phones, cable, and all extras. (Yes, these are extras.)
  
  Remember this is just for a season until you start working again. It won't kill you to give up a lot for a while.
  
  I don't have room in this article to go into details on all the ways to cut back on spending, but you can learn more about this on our web site, blog or in my book Penny Pinchin' Mama, where I cover thousands of ways on how to survive with no money.
  


• Stop using your credit cards. If you use them, you can get into a royal mess that will continue even after you have a job. If you don't have money to pay your house payment and bills, what makes you think you will have money to pay a credit card bill? If you think you can put things like creditors off by doing this, think again. Procrastination is never the answer.
  
  If you do use a credit card under these circumstances, it is like robbing a bank. You are taking money from a bank that you can't pay back. That is wrong.
  


• Put pen to paper, be honest and figure out exactly where you stand financially.
  


• As I said earlier be active. Don't sit at home each day on the phone or computer bemoaning your situation and whining all day to friends and family about your poor lot in life. It is not attractive for anyone to do this, especially a man.
  
  Hit the pavement every day for several hours trying to find a job. Politely and not with pity let everyone, including strangers, know you are looking for a job. I know that sounds strange, but once I was at a fabric shop with a woman was looking in the same area I was for something to clean her iron. She asked me if I knew what she should use. I told her and explained that I took in ironing for a living. She was so excited and started bringing me her ironing, which I did for years. I have had this type of thing happen often. You just never know.
  


• Get your resume in order and out there.
  


• Think "out of the box". Don't just look for the same kind of job you have always had. Check all areas, even things you don't think you are qualified for. Don't assume anything like, "I can't do that job because I don't have a degree in it."
  
  My son loves computers and is a genius with them, but he doesn't have a degree in that area. Recently, his company had an opening in the computer department. He stepped out of the box and asked them to consider him. He had never asked before because of his lack of a degree.
  
  It turns out that they want him, even without a degree, and it is a manager's job on top of that-- even better than he dreamed.
  


• This may be a time for drastic measures but don't let that frighten you. If your unemployment lasts too long, you may have to move to a less expensive house, sell your car or even move out of state to a place where it is less expensive to live and there are more jobs.
  
  I know that sounds like too much, but lots of people have done it and survived. My family is all in Colorado. I would love to live there, but I can't afford to, so here I am in Kansas. Many areas of our country were settled by very brave men and women who had no money or jobs and headed across the country in covered wagons to move some place they could afford. Often, they left their families who they might not ever see again. You're not the first one (and you won't be the last) to lose a job.
  


• Make money where you can while you are looking for a job. Take a part time job at McDonald's in the evening so you will have days open to look for other jobs. Mow lawns, bag groceries at a grocery store, do handy man work, take in ironing or do something else to bring in some money. Don't be too proud and think that any job is beneath you.
  


• Go to temporary services or employment agencies. They often have temporary jobs that can lead to permanent ones. Don't go to employment agencies who ask you to pay them. It is not wise to spend money that you don't have, especially when so many agencies don't charge the applicant.
  


• Do employment research on the Internet. You may need to get rid of your home Internet to save, but you can use the Internet for free at the library. Job Service offices (where people go for unemployment) usually let you use the Internet for free to look for jobs, too. Where there is a will there is a way.
  


• Don't listen to the media or follow any news. It will only depress you. The media is making things out to be worse than they are. Well over 93% of the people in the US still have jobs. I have lived long enough now to know that people lose jobs all the time. In my life, I have seen economic conditions that were better than today, but I have also seen them far worse. Things aren't that bad. We aren't in a depression. During the depression the unemployment rate was 25%. Sorry, but we have a way to go yet before we can say we're in a depression.
  


• Don't forget to laugh. Focus on what you do have, not what you don't have. Don't let this be a time that you lose your integrity. A person's true character comes out during hard times. It isn't so important what happens to you, but how you react when it does.
  
  Spouses, you need to support each other at this time. It isn't time to be playing the blame game. You are a team. Work together, not against each other.
  


• Lastly, don't look at this as the worse thing that has ever happened to you. It might be the best thing. You might find a better job than your last job. Maybe you'll find a whole new career. With my husband and I, it forced us to start our own business, something we would have never done if he hadn't gotten laid off.