No Farm

The dogs have pretty much taken over our lives!  Because of this I've decided to throw the farm idea out the window.  Goats would take for ever to pay off and we don't like goat milk.  Yes, it is fun to dream of being Laura on Little House but I know better than that.  Or should.  Goats kick the milk bucket.  You can't go anywhere because you have to milk twice a day.  I love to travel and am not willing to give that up.  Yes, you can arrange for helpers, but it's not worth it!  I don't need or want bees either.  Sounds charming and sweet, but costs tons and lots of newbies loose their bees every winter.  I can buy a year's supply of honey for a fraction of the cost of getting a hive and for hours and hours less time.  Organic and all that jazz is great, but we will have to settle for sanity and organic produce.  Chickens are fairly low maintenance and high yield, but not this year.  Not until we have plenty of money for a good fence.

The dogs are about to drive us crazy!  Everyday I have to will myself not to take them to the pound.  They are dear, sweet dogs and are improving, but still they have taken a much bigger slice of the pie than I had anticipated.  I just can't do everything only the most important.  People are more important than dogs, so is sanity and peace and quiet!

Slamming into a Speed Bump!

It was no wonder the lady I got hay from was willing to trade her windows getting cleaned for two bales of hay.  Her house was huge with a million windows.  So I just paid her the $24 and brought the hay back to our rabbits.  We started with 7 only 4 are still alive.  We think the buck may have killed them, but who knows.

I had to buy a new battery, shock collars for the dogs, treats for two of the kids' events, and pay for Jessica's driver's ed.  That brings the total spent this month so far to $1000.  Not exactly the $400 I was aiming for.  However, I'm not even close to giving up!  I like a bit of a set back it makes winning all the sweeter!

Fence & Rabbits

We picked up free pallets and large wooden wire spools. The kids have played with them like crazy. They have spent the last several days building ramps, jumps, etc. They roll the spools around, try to stay on to of them, and use their creativity like nuts. We got the pallets for wood projects and a fence for the animals. I had no idea I would be picking up a new jungle gym as well.

We drove to Bountiful to pick up some free rabbits. There always seems to be a bunny or two for free on ksl.com. We were given seven. We are raising them for dog food. We are vegetarian 9 months of the year and only east a bit of meat in the winter. So we won't east much rabbit ourselves, but we do like it on occasion. Especially considering it is almost free. We have been feeding the bunnies branches, pumpkins, evergreens, etc. Next Monday I have arranged to trade window cleaning for 2 balls of hay.

It is so weird to ask people to barter instead of sale. About 50% say yes, but most everybody is excited by the idea. It is lots of fun!

Over a Week Without Spending

We haven't left the house except to take my oldest to school!  No money going out!  We haven't bought anything online either.  We haven't gone this long without spending in a long time.  It feels awesome!!!  Yes, we miss yogurt on our pancakes, a light bulb in the kitchen, and dog food.  But we are saving tons of times and money by not running to Smith's twice a day.  We just pretend we are a day's journey away from the nearest store.  It isn't worth it for a few little things.  We just make do and eat what we have instead of what we want.

Today the goal is to go pick up some free pallets.  Then we will disassemble them and make them into a cute fence for the dogs, goats, and chickens.  We will see!

Bookshelves & Bubbles

We just discovered this amazing section on ksl.com classifieds: free stuff! You have to move fast, but wow! We just picked up a huge solid wood bookshelf for free. I have tons of books that have been waiting in boxes since we moved. Considering we homeschool, this has been inconvenient.  But now we have all the boxes organized and usable.  Marvelous! 

We also made a two year supply of laundry detergent for $4. We have a family of ten and usually spend about $160 a year on laundry detergent.  So I earned $156 in the hour it took me to make it. I am not making as much as a brain surgeon yet, but not bad!

I'm so grateful Heavenly Father has helped me discover ways to meet our family's needs and stay in a tight budget.

Next week we are getting set up to add rabbits to the mix! Cheap, organic dog food and delicious people food too!

A Year of Barter and Budget

For fun, and maybe for fiscal cliff survival, I am trying a grand experiment this year.  My husband, Jaremy, and I have 8 children (ages 1-15).  Just to take care of everybody we are burning through money like Congress.  This has to stop!  We will balance our budget and show the government it can be done.  There are five main missions or goals for this experiment in 2013.

1. Set up a small farm with goats, chickens, rabbits, bees, and dogs.  Each animal needs to have enough food to last it for a year.  Plant an orchard, berrry patch, and vineyard and protect it from the deer. We live on 1/2 an acre fenced only on one side.
2. Store a year supply of food, clothing, fuel, firewood, cleaning supplies, basic toiletries, and bedding.  For a family of ten this is huge!!!
3. Obtain emergency gear: shelter, water, heat, sewer, communication, solar oven, and power.  Plan for different scenarios.
4. Improve the house by adding bookshelves, porch furniture, cabinets, folding table and chairs, laminate flooring in the bedrooms, and tile in the bathroom.
5. Stick to a monthly $400 grocery/dining/household/fuel/farm/clothing/entertainment budget. Considering we were spending over this every week to take care of this family of ten, this will be a challenge!
6. Finally, go on vacation with the entire family!  And disappear on a romantic getaway!  

The goal is to do all this with only $400 a month.  That means we are going to have to barter, make most everything ourselves, and hunker down!  I am so excited!!!!  Wish us luck!!!!