Thrifty Tip Tuesday!

Well, it's Tuesday once again. My, how they creep up on me! I am honestly having a hard time deciding what to blog about each Tuesday, because there are so many things I have learned over the years. Picking one thing each week is hard stuff! But today, I have been pondering over an idea that a dear friend of mine whispered in my ear on Sunday in church. I just want to preface today's tip with some thoughts. The lesson in the childrens' ministry at our church last Sunday included the woman who poured a costly vial of perfume over Jesus' head to demonstrate her implicit love and worship of Him as more valuable than anything else. So here I am telling everyone how to save money and be wise with the resources God gives us, and BANG!!! Jesus condones the spending of what would be the equivalent of over $20,000 in today's society just to pour something out!!! The idea seems preposterous, but it simply demonstrates that we should place Jesus as the most valuable thing in our lives. He should be the most important thing to us in this life. So what does that have to do with Thrifty Tip Tuesday? The point is, that with all our efforts to save money and be wise, we should also be generous with others. Does that mean we should buy our friends expensive perfume? Probably not. But the connection here is that if we are careful with our resources and spend less on ourselves, we will have more available resources to be generous with others. So this should be at the heart of our motives to save money. As simple as it sounds, we sometimes lose sight of the reasons why we do things, and I honestly was so thankful that my friend mentioned this to me, because it spoke to my own heart. I have always been careful with my money out of necessity. The things I do to save money aren't merely for recreation...they have been absolutely necessary in the keeping of our budget. The money to do things other ways simply wasn't there. Period. But when the purse strings are loosened a bit, shouldn't we all still maintain these standards of being wise? If our income increases, should we then abandon all the lessons we have learned and spend foolishly? So I pray that we would all continue to be mindful of the ability to be generous with others as a result of wise living in this area.

OK....with all that said, today's Thrifty Tip Tuesday is.........

Make your own homemade bread and rolls.

Do I buy packaged bread?....of course I do. But for the most part, I make my own dinner rolls, pizza dough, loaves of French bread, cinnamon rolls, etc. The big tip here is that the cost of a bread machine will yield hundreds of dollars of savings over the course of your life! I bought my bread machine when we were first married for about a hundred bucks, and the thing is suprisingly still kicking, after almost 14 years! I can't tell you how much healthier homemade rolls and breads are, how easy they are to make using just a few ingredients on hand, and how ridiculously cheap they are to make. Some of my family's favorites are homemade crescent rolls (so good you will give up Pillsbury for good, and all the chemicals they contain), cinnamon rolls (so good you will give up Pillsbury for good, and all the chemicals they contain), potato rolls (nope, won't say it again), French bread, and homemade wheat bread that contains about 5 ingredients. Nothing artificial there. My kids absolutely love homemade breads, and I feel good about feeding them good stuff. Have you read the super long label of ingredients on grocery store bread or rolls lately? Ewwwww!!!!!! Trader Joe's is the only place that carries healthy bread. But that can be expensive! Although they do carry a whole wheat bread called Harvest Whole Wheat that is very inexpensive.

Now while I do believe that this bread addiction has caused many unwanted pounds to appear on my body, I do believe the benefits outweigh the negatives! So my point is, a bread machine is a worthwhile investment. It may seem expensive, but I can't tell you how many times I have used the thing, and how much money I have saved. It probably costs me 75 cents to make a batch of crescent rolls. Compare that to the over $2 price tag at the market. These savings will add up quick and before you know it, you will have paid for that bread machine many time over. And if you want to save even more money, bag on the bread machine and make breads by hand. For minimal effort, you will be enjoying yummy breads in the days to come. Another TT (thrifty tip): Buy your yeast in bulk at Sam's or Costco. It is ridiculously cheap, and even if some of it goes bad before you use it, you still will have saved tons of money versus the grocery store price. I have many recipes, too many to post, so if you know me, just ask and I will furnish recipes upon request! Now, go make some homemade bread and delight your family today!