Bragging: My Super Successful Week

I need to brag for a minute. Very rarely do I say this (in fact, I'm not sure I've ever actually said it...), but I am proud of myself this week. I got so much accomplished and it feels really good:

My mom and I cleaned the apartment, 

I had a much-needed teeth cleaning at the dentist (I promise I brush and floss!), 

We had our car serviced, washed, and cleaned (tire rotation, oil change, vacuumed, etc.), 

I got a doctor's appointment out of the way, 

I completed our Medicaid application, 

Tenley and I went to our first WIC appointment,
Drove through Nebo Loop and took family pictures,

I wrote an essay for English, 

I went to the temple with Dalin (which made me SO happy!),

& I spent time with my mom, husband, daughter, and brother and sister-in-law! 

I would say it's been a successful week! I'm pretty glad that it's over though...a lot of stressful things (and some fun) all combined into six days. Still, I think next year I will do the same and plan one get-everything-done week. None of it would have been possible without my mom being here though. I'm so grateful she was able to watch Tenley and motivate me to accomplish all that I was able to. I guess she'll just have to do the same next year, too! ;)

Have you ever taken a week and gotten a bunch of stressful things out of the way?
If not, you should try it!

How to Get Rich...

Would you like to know the secret to getting rich? I'll tell you my opinion. I may not be qualified to write this post, as I most certainly am not rich by the world's standard, but I have learned a thing or two about saving money--especially since I've been married. Here are some good tips and changes that are easy to make:

Don't spend more than you earn.
Duh. This seems so obvious, but it is a real challenge for many people who were raised with their parents taking care of everything for them. Keep track of how much you earn and delegate how much of that income will be put toward your basic needs, how much will go into savings, and how much will be left over. This is the most basic budgeting skill and is essential if you truly want to save money. 

Don't go into unnecessary debt. 
Sure school is expensive, but as long as you are saving to pay off school loans, you won't be in debt forever. Make that payment your priority. Save up and pay it off as quick as you can. We are trying to save up to pay Dalin's student loan off by graduation. Fortunately, we have been able to earn scholarships to help us save money. The same advice applies to homes and cars. You may have to settle for less before you can save up for something better. 

Budget. 
If you don't, it's going to be really hard to save money. Limit yourselves to going out once a week. Choose free date alternatives as often as you can. If you are the type who likes to splurge, try this simple solution--don't go out. If you don't want to spend money, don't go to the store. That has helped us save SO much money these last two years. If you love shopping and stopping completely is difficult for you, only carry a tiny bit of cash when you go. Leave your credit or debit cards at home. Pretend you're back in middle school or high school when $20 was all you had. 

Search for deals. 
Paying full price for anything is not very wise. Most things always go on sale at some time or another. Especially with clothing, shoes, and items for the home. If you want to be really thrifty, practice good shopping habits by making lists and searching for coupons or special deals on groceries and home products. Check Groupon and other money-saving sites. You would be surprised at the many ways you can find deals and discounts when you take a few minutes to look. I will admit, I always look for deals when it comes to clothing, but I have not yet gotten into the habit of seeking the best deals while grocery shopping. I attribute this to lack of time, but really it would be worth doing it to save even $15 a grocery trip. Something for me to work on. 

Avoid credit cards. 
I am far from an expert on credit cards, but I do know that everyone mistakenly seems to believe they must have one. Establishing credit is good when the time comes to buy a home or car, but it is not the only way. If you do have a credit card, make monthly payments on time and do not exceed your limit. Dalin and I prefer to use a debit card. We know where the money is coming from (straight from our checking account), and this prevents us from spending an unreasonable amount. Because we are leasing our car, we make monthly payments (ON TIME!) which helps us establish credit. If we need to, we can borrow our parents' credit to get a home when we find ourselves wanting to settle down. The point is, credit cards are okay if you know you can afford to make the payments. 

Save. 
Save, save, save. Put as much money as you can into the bank. Have a stash at home for emergencies. Put money in separate envelopes or jars to go toward specific trips, vacations, or other fun activities. Plan out what you are saving for and a rough estimate of how much you need. I usually find that rounding up when considering how much you think you will need is safer. 

Give. 
I love the quote by Anne Frank: "No one ever became poor by giving [too much]." How true! I also believe that giving to those in need blesses your life and, in turn, you will have more. I would rather be rich in blessings than money any day. 

Pay tithing. 
Heavenly Father gives us everything we have. We are only required to give 10% of it back to him. I would say that's fair. Especially considering the many blessings we receive as reward for our obedience to this simple commandment. It is one of the only commandments we can truly be perfect in.

All of these things combined will help you. Like I said, I am no expert--and I could stand to follow my own advice a little better--but I know that there is nothing better than being self-sufficient and feeling truly free from financial burdens. 

How do you save money? 
What are your best tips that I could use?

Grammy Hill's Strawberry Jam

Who knew that making your own strawberry jam could be so simple? I'm all about homemade. I always use homemade pie crust, despite the extra work because the taste is seriously so much better. I also love learning to become self-sufficient and self-sustaining. There is something so satisfying in knowing how to do something on your own. Now that I know how easy it is to make jam, I will very likely never buy Smucker's again!

Dalin's wonderful Grammy Hill always makes her own jam, and last weekend in Boise she taught my sister-in-law Shaina and I how it's done.

Ingredients:*
3 1/4 cups strawberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 box MCP pectin
1 cup corn syrup
4 1/2 cups sugar

*Note: We used two different recipes--one was found on the box of pectin, the other on the box of MCP pectin. Truthfully, I don't have a preference between the two recipes though the pectin one literally only contained strawberries, sugar, and pectin, so if you don't have corn syrup or lemon juice, that one will work just fine.

Instructions: 
We bought two flats of strawberries. (Basically, that is the equivalent of four large containers--and we didn't even use them all!)

Here is a picture of one flat.

Wash the strawberries with cool water, placing them in a strainer after their top are chopped off. 

Use a chopper preferably to chop the strawberries to the desired consistency. I like my jam to have little strawberry chunks in it so I made sure I did not over blend. 

Picture of box of MCP Pectin. I had no idea what this was until we tried this recipe.

Measure 3 1/4 cup crushed and chopped strawberries into large bowl. Stir in lemon juice. Stir in MCP pectin and let stand for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. After 30 minutes, stir in corn syrup. Gradually add sugar, stirring until blended. Stir for an additional 3+ minutes (after all sugar is added) until the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy.

Have several jars with lids prepared--clean them out with hot water and let dry prior to making jam. Fill containers within half an inch from the top, screw lids on, and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Last step!
Freeze jars for 24 hours, then let thaw one at a time in fridge as needed. Enjoy!

The two jars that are redder than the others are the ones that had thawed in the fridge. The rest are still frozen.

That's it! This particular recipe requires no boiling, though the one with regular pectin does. It is so easy and so useful. With three large containers of strawberries, we made about twenty jars of jam. Shaina took ten and we took ten. Two are now thawed out in our fridge (the rest are sitting in the freezer) and we used some for toast this morning! It tastes AMAZING. Very sweet, but that's how I like my jam. I can't wait to make my own raspberry jam, and I'd even like to try doing a strawberry-rhubarb version.

If you have any questions about this recipe or if you tried it yourself and loved it, let me know by commenting below!