The start of a more thrifty, frugle, cost efficiant lifestyle...

Well we (well mostly I, lol) are trying to live more cost effective. We have been forced recently in figuring out how to live on less and more within our means. What I discovered in this time was, why is it that the only time we think to live more frugally is when were broke or low on funds? Why not live like that all the time so those moments dont sneak up on us? Hmmm.
Theres many components to this lifestyle and Im just beginning so it will take years to perfect, but I feel really good about this and want very badly to give it my all!
I dont like feeling so vulnerable, its a scary feeling to get too low on money. I know we can be better with money and a lot more self sufficient if we put our minds too it!
I hope to share some ideas ive discovered and am working on.
One major change came recently when I decided to stop buying overly processed convenience foods. Three of our children have diagnosed mental health disorders and a diet free of preservatives, dyes and additives is proven to help them, and I figure its just a much more healthy way to live! Well my original thought was it was going to be so expensive, well I have found I have cut my food bill by 30% right now and continue to work on it! I make almost everything from scratch, at first it was a lot more time consuming but its getting easier everyday! I cook a lot at once and refrigerate extra for another meal.
I keep all reusable containers for leftovers.
The library is a GREAT resource!
I made a triple batch of healthy pancakes and froze the rest in ziplock bags for a quick healthy breakfast, then I reuse the ziplock bags.
I hang up all my laundry after figuring that it cost between 70-90 cents to dry each load of laundry! Times that by 3-4 loads per day and its quite a savings!
Theres many more but its 11pm and I must get every ones stuff ready for a busy monday morning!
Ill be back!

Wow, It has been so long since I've blogged on here! And have things changed since my last post! We have another child for one! Her name is Cathryn and she came August 5th 2010 at 4 weeks old. We are now in the process of adopting her and hopefully it will be done by Christmas. She is so amazing! Shes such a peanut, shes 15 months and only 29 inches tall and 20 lbs. but she doesn't miss a beat! Her brothers and sister love her so much! We named her Cathryn Darlene after my mom. On a much more sad note, my sister in law and great friend Tracy lost her long battle with cancer on Sept. 15th 2011. She was 42 years old! It was so hard for all of us. She has two children, Travis 17 and Tara 15, I see so much of her in them! Thank goodness they live right next door and have a wonderful dad and we will all be together. Caleb is 14 and everything a boy his age should be. Sassy, knows everything, unpredictable, I could go on but I wont! I will say he is still a loving and kind young man when he sets his mind to it! Cody is 10 he will be 11 next month. He is as smart as ever! He has taken up playing the sax and loves it! He went to the Dempsey challenge with Mike and the kids, he met Patrick Dempsey (who he did a report on as a famous Maine person, in 4th grade) and was so excited! Carson is 6 and oh how active he is! He did early K last year so this year he started Kindergarten. He is defiantly struggling with some things, he has fairly classic ADHD symptoms, sitting still, keeping his hands to himself, transitioning ect. We have an exciting appointment coming up with Dr. Iris Silverstien a developmental pediatrician. Our son Connor started seeing her last year and I really love her and her views. Carson is such a genuine boy, so full of life and happy! Connor will be 4 next month, he is just so wonderful. So happy yet hes gaining some independent ideas. He was diagnosed 6 months ago with PDD which is Pervasive Developmental Disorder which is on the Autism spectrum. He is starting to really talk and using 3-5 word sentences which is such a huge improvement for him! He has a great support team, including his Teachers at Crayon Country Developmental pre-school Miss Chris and Miss Terri and his awesome speech therapist Jenn. I am very grateful to them! Carly, oh our Carly! She just turned 3 and the princess of the house! She is such a GIRL! with all the drama that comes with it! She will even tell you shes the princess. She is very smart, she knows how to spell (out loud, not on paper quite yet) her name and most of her siblings names. Shes such a daddy's girl! She keeps us all in line! Baby Cathryn, she is an amazing baby! She is happy and healthy. She didn't have the greatest start in life and we were very worried, but our fear has been resolved! She has met all her milestones and then some! We love her and cant wait till she is a permanent part of our family! It has been a Very busy Fall! I am trying very hard to make things easier! I want to reprogram our family to include less stress and a less hectic lifestyle. A couple of major changes we have made as a family is a healthier living lifestyle! With the 3 boys disabilities we have gone to a more "natural" lifestyle. We have gratefully improved our diets to exclude overly processed food, food dyes, additives, preservatives ect. We have also started seeing a Chiropractor that concentrates on whole body wellness! We are trying to manage Carson's ADHD and SPD (sensory processing disorder) naturally and Caleb's as well. Although Caleb will be much harder because hes much older and has been controlling his Touretts, OCD and Anxiety with meds for years. He has gained a tremendous amount of weight on these meds, to the point where his health is at great risk! So we are working really hard! I have to go to bed sometime tonight, its 4 min. away from being tomorrow! I will soon get into how we are becoming more frugal and aware of money and how we need to make some major changes to our budget, this is a a newer more drastic struggle for us and I'm still a work in progress, but i hope to share with you all the things we are learning to do to eat healthy on a budget, and reduce our debt, with the uppermost desire to one day have a house and another toilet! One toilet to seven people (The baby isn't there yet! lol!) is NOT ENOUGH! Thank you to all who support me and check in on me through this blog. You are my cheering section!