Frugal Friday

We like pancakes and waffles with hot syrup at our house. Hungry Jack syrup comes in a rounder, flatter bottle that you can warm each time in the microwave. To save a few dollars, I buy the Hungry Jack only when on sale and I have a coupon. Then, I buy the cheaper store brands to refill it. The bottle lasts through several re-fillings. No one - not even my finicky ones know the difference. Think of other items that this might work for. If you like the packaging of name brands, see if there isn't a way to re-use by refilling with a less expensive replacement.

"I will pray for you." Have you promised to pray and then later realized that you've forgotten? Do you have so many people/situations to pray for that there is no way that you could cover it even if you prayed all day? Do you wish that you had an organized way to pray for your husband and children? My friend helped me to come up with a calendar/schedule to help me to cover all my bases. Here is the blank page that I use which has 5 rows of 7 columns. (I use the horizontal one.) Across the top row, I have different families and causes for each day of the week. For example, on Monday I pray for my church family's needs (fresh in my mind from Sunday.) On Tuesday, I pray for my husband's family. I list every one's names so I remember everyone. On Wednesday, I pray for my family. I have various other people and organizations on Thursday and Friday such as Voice of the Martyrs, Joni and Friends, City Union Mission, Answers in Genesis, and other worthy ministries. I also pray for issues that are important to me such as abortion and the soldiers serving in Iraq and their families. Then, (I got this idea from Stormy Omartian's book), I list specific things to pray for my dear husband every day of the month. I pray for his health, his work, his relationships, etc. Last, but certainly not least, I pray especially for one of my precious children each day. I list some specific things for them as well i.e. relationships with Jesus, parents and siblings, life purpose, future spouse, etc. I keep my prayer calendar in a protective sleeve with a notebook to write down prayer requests that I receive. The system is not perfect, but I find that when I use it, I am blessed to pray for the people dear to me.
For more tips, go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Frugal Friday

Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood just had a baby a couple of weeks ago, but she's still going strong reminding us to live frugally.
My frugal tip this week came to me as I was running out the door to our annual fireworks celebration. One of our traditions is to eat homemade popcorn and red licorice during the display. Very American. I was not prepared when it was time to go. In fact I almost forgot the popcorn. Everyone would have been disappointed. I didn't have any cups or bowls to put the popcorn in. I spied some coffee filters and grabbed those. They worked great and they're much cheaper than plastic or styrofoam.

Happy Independence Day

Here's a question for everyone in blogland. How in the world do you find time to blog? What exactly do you neglect to get it done? I can't seem to squeeze it in.

Anyway, enough complaining from me. Happy Independence Day! Here's a short story to get you in the patriotic mood.