Still Picking up the Pennies

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book to facilitate our honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions stated are of those of the Still Picking Up the Pennies family. No financial compensations was received.    Hand Lettered Truth by Debbie Bratton is beautifully illustrated with quotes from the Bible. I used this book to enhance my daily devotional time.  I have enjoyed this book of daily encouragement so much I sent a copy to a family member who is experiencing a difficult time right now. The book is hardcover and is of great quality. One of my most favorite details is a gift-giving page with a space to write the person given to and from, along with the date. #HandLetteredTruth  @ellieclairegifts @handletteredtruth.

I can not believe it is December 2017 already. I think mainly due to the fact that there is no snow on the ground. I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, there is always snow on the ground this time of the year. But to be completely honest I am not complaining. We have a busy, busy week ahead of us, that requires planning. We are once again attempting this frugal thing that we have slacked on big time lately. Most of our Christmas shopping is done, except for a few little things. Sunday night is the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Potluck. We are bringing a huge pot of Penne with venison pasta sauce. Monday needs to be quick. Oldest DS is getting 3 cavities fixed he has a total of five :( DH and oldest DS has pistol shooting practice. I have the Women's Christmas Party at Church which is a potluck, I am bringing banana bread. Boys will be having soup and grilled cheese. Tuesday Oldest DS and DH have shooting practice. Venison burgers, homemade French fries, and a ve...

These weeks are just flying by! I am going to have to do a few holiday posts before long. This week is a wacky week: I work one day, the boys have school two days, Dave has to work 3 days. Then there is Thanksgiving and hunting. So this is the plan, and hopefully I will be able to stick to it. Monday - DH is gone, Boys corndogs, me leftover chili Tuesday - Spaghetti and garlic Texas Toast. Wednesday - Hot Dogs Thursday - Turkey with all the trimmings Friday - Sunday - Turkey sandwiches. For more yummy menus hop over to Orgjunkie.com http://orgjunkie.com/2011/11/menu-plan-monday-nov-2111-thanksgiving-desserts.html Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Today I am alone in the house for the first time since May 28, the last day of school. I feel so refreshed and content. This is how I spent my 5 hours, cooking dinner for my menfolk. First I made crock-pot pizza. It is a fancy version of goulash, with a ton of mozzarella cheese and peperoni. Next is homemade bread and breakfast pie. The breakfast pie is for Sunday morning. DH's cousin is spending the weekend and the man can eat. And most importantly I was able to get in a nap and a new blog post. What a great day.

Today my small bitty community buried an American Hero. He was one of the five killed last week in Afghanistan. There was such support for this young man that gave his life in the line of duty, protecting every American citizen. This week is going to be simple dinner due to a very busy week. Monday - Ceasar salad with pizza. Tuesday - Hot Dogs with side toss salad Wednesday - Steak, baked tater with steamed green beans. Thursday - Not sure yet. Friday - burgers on the grill. Not sure what the weekend holds just yet. for more menus go to orgjunkie.com

Today, I woke up feeling glum and blue and guilty for sleeping in being a slug. I seen my boys and darling husband off to school and work, then went back to bed for 3 hours. Yes, I needed the sleep but do not feel rested, so I am going to change that! Every week day, I am going to get out of bed and stay out of bed at 6am when I get the boys up for school. Clutter in my home is literally choking, so I have been working on clearing it out of the living room first. I will attack each room one by one. I also woke up to the wonderful news that Bin Laden is FINALLY dead. I am so proud of each and every American who wore and wears the military uniform. I am also honored to have served right along side them for eight years. Although, it makes me frightened at what retaliation the Americans overseas will be faced with in the near future. http://youtu.be/Oq0t7ZUwzGA So the plan for this week is very simple, as it is going to be a very busy week. Monday - stuffed turkey breast in the cr...

I feel so refreshed after this weekend/spring vacation, after all I got to spend my time with my three favorite guys, which always does my soul good. We took a night away from the rest of the world on Friday. I booked a room at a local resort - hotel casino about 20 miles from here. We swam and sat in the hot tub for hours. I put $50 in our spring break vacation fund. By Thursday night I had not spend one dollar, and I knew the hotel had a special going on. So for $46.35 we got our room, and each adult got a casino package($5 cash to play the slots, and a free drink coupon). We all enjoyed the pool and hot tub. But as a special bonus - DH and I had a "free little date!" After the littlest was fast asleep, we had Joel practice calling the cell phone from the room, just in-case he needed us. We turned the TV on for him. DH and I went to play our $5 each in the slots and had a drink together. It has been years since we were able to do such a simple thing, but we sure enjoye...

I am very thankful for a lot of things today, one of them is having such a mild day to haul more wood into the house. DH is not feeling well and there is no school today, so that means it is the boys' and my job to haul some wood into the house. It is 37 degrees in the UP today on March 1st, very warm sunny day. We have about 4-6 more weeks at least of cold weather and our wood load was nearly depleted in the house, after spending the afternoon outside in the sunshine with my hard working sons, we will be staying warm for at least that long. I am also thankful that I got in a very tiring work out at the same time. God is good! Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers !

Today the boys and I had a fun frugal Friday, we made flubber (with out Borax). My boys are not in to the mucky muddy things that most boys like, but they did admit to enjoying this flubber making. First is Noah my 8 year old, next is Joel the 11 year old. I thought for sure this activity would not be enjoyed by Joel but he did enjoy it. For dinner we will have homemade pizza and our family night movie, which is Marmaduke. UPDATE on the circulating pump, the repair man was here for nearly two hours, not sure what the bill will be yet. We opted for a new pump and a bit of maintenance work be done. Here is a look at the new, quieter pump. She's sure tiny. One more thing, I am part of the Purex Insider team and I received my first product to try today. I am so excited to try the Purex Complete Crystals Softener. I was sent a sample and a freebie coupon for a full size product. I cant wait to try it, I love fresh smelling laundry. I may be given a few e...

Just when things are going blissfully well, then IT always seems to happen. We had just purchased a decent car for a good price. Decided to pay off the last bit of credit card debt we have $2300 from our tax refund. Then IT happened. I came home to this thing....... in the basement making a horrific sound, it truly sounded like it was going to blow up. I panicked, dh was not home and unreachable, I did leave a message at work. I had my oldest son bringing things out to the car just in-case we did have to leave. I grabbed our box of important papers, keys to cars, what else!? A day worth of clothes for each of us, school bags, winter jackets. THEN DH called and told me that it would not blow up {WHEW!} but a water tank may flood the basement and blast hot, HOT water every where, also to put out the fire in the wood stove. Did that. Then I had to get the kids out of here, the noise was so loud and scary. We put the indoor pets in the detached garage and went for ride. When we came back,...

God Gave Us So Much is a wonderful book. As I read it with my two young sons, so many of their own questions where answered. This is a collection of three different stories: God Gave Us the World, God Gave Us Love, and God Gave Us Heaven. My favorite character is Little Cub, she asks questions that a lot of children would ask. The grown ups in her life do a great job us answering and explaining things on a child's level. I know I will read this book over and over to my two boys. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

The New Year is coming and is so full of promises of every thing starting over, like a clean slate. I am going to be brainstorming about how I want to save/make money in the new year, as that is going to be my main financial role again. DH is back to work and I will be laid off after the first full week of January. While there are tons of blogs that combine sales with coupons, or deal links, I will be taking advantage of those, of course. But my main goal with this blog in the next year is going to be about me keeping track of MY savings and money making, in so I hope to inspire others (and myself) to start or maintain a frugal lifestyle.

Please remember service members away from their families today, when your making the list of things you are thankful for.

I cannot believe that is has been two weeks since I have written. Today I am joining Laura from Heavenly Homemakers for Gratituesday. I have spent most of the day putsing round the house. I enjoyed my DH's company before he had to go to work, he made me an excellent omelet. Then he went to work, I made fresh bread and cookies. It was just in the nick of time that I finished the cookies that the bus pulled up and dropped off my two boys. I got to spend snack time talking about their days, then help with homework. So what I am trying to say that I am very thankful for my sweet men that I get to share the life with. I would not trade any of them for anything.

Gratituesday Today I am grateful for my Gram, today is her 79th birthday and she is in pretty good health and strong. Also, I think I have mastered bread making. Today I made 4 yummy loafs of onion, garlic bread. As you can tell from the photo, only 3 loaves remain. For more Gratituesday posts pop over to Heavenly Homemakers to visit Laura's site.

DH was hired a few weeks ago, as a part time custodain at the school district he graduated from. With a possibility of going to full time if he got his CDL to be a bus driver. So he did, he just got official word that he got the full time position last night In all honesty taking this job is both good and bad news. Good it is a job! Bad is that he losing another $250 a month from unemployment, but the benefits are good, I am told. So we will have health coverage, but need to cut the budget yet again.

Laura over at heavenlyhomemakers hosts Gratituesday so I thought I would join in this Tuesday. I am very happy today because my DH has a new full time job! After 18 months of unemployment this is very exciting news for us. He is now employed with the school district he graduated from. He is a custodian/bus driver. Way to go David, we are very proud of you, honey!

It is about 9pm here and I am just out of the shower and ready for bed. Today was my first day of being the baker for 55 students and teachers at work. I am working (for now at least) Monday-Friday 7:30am-1pm. I am the baker, today I made onion-dill dinner rolls, peanut butter-butterscotch cookies and zucchini bread. I helped with lunch cooking serving and clean up. And I am completely beat! The boys entered 4 of the chickens in the county fair and all of them won 1st place, the boys were so proud. Busy fun, crazy weekend.I am very happy to report beside the crazy admission fee, we spent NO money. We did make sure we got every cent worth also, enjoyed the horse riding, dog show, music, exhibits, mud bog, and my families favorite the demolition derby. Every day we went, I made sure the cooler was full of cold refillable water bottles, sandwiches and fruit. My youngst with his prise winning chickens. My oldest with his chicken,also award winning.

I am in my own little funk. I am having doubts about this entire medical transcription thing, I am doing. All these long ass terms are kicking my butt. and seems like I never have time to study. I am 42% done with the courses and my average is 92%. Job-wise I love my new job, I like working in the kitchen and the gals I work with and it will be nearly full time from mid aug-nov, so I will love that. DH is talking about going to truck driving school, which is NOT ideal but we are getting to the point where things really, REALLY HAVE to change. A new class starts up every 4 weeks so he is thinking of going in mid Sept-mid Oct. The boys are back in school, I will be working a lot and not needing day care. While we are not late on any bills, things are slipping, only one 1/2 way decent vehicle, everything needing to be replaced or fixed around the house. So that is that! Sorry to rant. I am really trying to put on my big girl panties and deal with it. We have a safe, (pretty) secure home, ...

I had never seen this before, it made me weep. I am proud to be American, and also proud to have served my country for 8 years. Happy Memorial Day. Be sure to remember all those who gave their lives for your freedoms.