Whew! The temps are climbing around here. Up past 50 degrees on many days 🙂 I think spring has finally hit my neck of the woods. It’s fantastic… except for the high fire danger from our lack of snow and extremely dry terra.

We just returned from a nearly 400-mile (one-way) road trip into the heart of Alaska to visit family. I adore this drive so much. We pass by the tallest mountain in North America. Admittedly I look with envy at the few quaint cabins and lodges that dot the landscape as we climb across the range. Alas, with our current plan of throwing everything at our remaining debt, that cabin will have to wait.

I can, however, make the drive with the whole family and enjoy the beautiful views… for a whole lot less money.

Welcome to money Monday, where I share my highs and lows from a week of money management. Join in and share your successes and struggles from the week. I love hearing from you!

 

Wise Money Management

This week I saved money by making homemade sour cream… of sorts.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m a big fan of weighing time vs cost when it comes to making grocery items from scratch. Home-ground sausages? No. Sprouts? You bet. Hand-rolled tortillas? Nope – been there, done that, not worth the cost for us. Cultured yogurt created on my own countertop? Big fan.

Some things are just worth doing on your own. For each family, these items will differ.

I’ve written before how much I love our super-duper-easy homemade yogurt. Sometimes I take it a step further and put the yogurt in a strainer where it becomes “yogurt cheese” with a similar taste and texture to sour cream.

What an awesome way to get a powerful punch of probiotics!

Here’s the yogurt strainer that I use. It works well for draining homemade ricotta too.

 

Mismanagement. Ouch!

Now that we’re committed to paying off our debt, and our hearts have jumped entirely into the game, I find that we’re not making a bundle of bad money decisions each week.

That’s awesome.

In looking to fill this blank white space under money “mismanagement”, I find myself contemplating purchases that we’ve made that are becoming more obsolete as we work to simplify. From the umpteen bags of donations and trash that we hauled out of the house this winter to the shelves of random stuff filling the garage, I’m realizing just how much materialism has affected our lives.

I don’t like this feeling.

I also understand that hindsight is always impeccable and that those things filled a desire at that time. I’m not bashing myself (or you) over the head here, just wistfully wishing that I had committed to eschewing this cultural norm from the get-go.

With all that said, expect some rearview-looking from this spot in the future.

Looking back, so that I can more effectively look forward.

 Onward and upward!

 

How did you manage money wisely this week?

 

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