Healthy Cheap Food

Now that summer is upon us and school is out, now is the time to look into several new projects around the house. It’s Do It Yourself Project time and this year we have many to think about.

This week is brainstorming time. My husband and I will compile lists of projects that we can do ourselves around the house. Since we will compile them separately, we will be able to compare them this weekend to see which ones we both think should be a priority and should get done. If it’s a project we both agree on then at least there is no arguing as we do it.

I would really like us to remodel our kitchen and build a backyard deck.

I often wonder where is the best place to live. I am asked that question often, and it’s something I have done a lot of pondering over. It seems like it’s difficult to come to any real idea without looking into some of the studies that others have done.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to find subjective surveys that fits my definition of the best place to live so I have done the next best thing. We are going to relocate and there are several factors that are more important for our family.

1) Low cost of housing

2) Low unemployment rate

3) Low crime rate

4) A growing economy

So far, we have come across some very interesting places. Maybe in a few weeks I can share some of my results.

My husband and I have started a brand new website project. I have alluded to it in past posts, but now we have a new website to join our list of joint projects. First we had home weather stations, but now we have a new one, herbal natural remedies.

It’s going to differ from other sites we have done because this one will have a series of herbal informational pages as its main site and then be supported by the herbal natural remedies blog. This should make it sufficiently popular. I am anxious to see people take advantage of information about herbal remedies that we have collected over the years. It’s going to be great. See you there!

Well, it’s spring time and the spring cleaning is done. It’s amazing how much stuff we have acquired in just the last 6 months that we don’t use anymore. Usually I am inclined to have a spring yard sale when we have this much extra stuff, but our house is not the best place for a yard sale and we may not get enough traffic to make it worthwhile.

That’s why we are thinking about taking our stuff to a swap meet. It’s cheaper than taking out an ad in the newspaper and there is a lot of foot traffic there. That means we can make even more extra money. It looks like we will doing it as a family outing.

This weekend we will be preparing the house for summer. This will be our first summer in the house and while summer aren’t hot around here, it’s still a good idea to keep the house feeling as cool as possible. We are not interested in using air con so this weekend will focus on making the house better handle the warm weather of summer.

We will be putting a ceiling fan in every room this weekend. Ceiling fans are good for moving around the heat. I will also be buying some box fans that are easy to take from place to place should the need for spot cooling around. We will also being doing some repair work to the deck so that we can spend more time outside.

I am anxious for summer to come!

It’s been really nice having our own home now. It’s nice knowing that we will eventually own and that we are building equity right now. That means that we are making money off of our home payments. It’s almost like a savings plan.

A lot of people are interested in how we did and ask us often. First off, we got fixer upper. This meant that we could build sweat equity right from the get-go. Secondly, we shopped around for the best loan at the lowest rate possible so we could save on our payments. All in all, we’ve have a very positive home buying experience.

I just heard that Intel cut the costs on their Quad Core processors. I think it just might be the time to buy a new computer. Our current main computer was bought used and my husband and I have been talking about getting a new one. Now is our chance!

I think we will need just to wait a few weeks for the new prices to filter down unless my husband decides to build our computer this time around. He built us one several years ago and it saved us some good money so maybe he will do it again.

And yes, we will be using Ubuntu Linux on it.

I always tell my kids not to play the basketball near the house. I am always worried about them breaking a window. A window can be very expensive to fix so I make sure they play far out in the yard. When my boys play too close to the house I am always scolding them.

Today, I decided to toss the ball around with the kids. I didn’t play far enough away from the house, so guess what happened? I broke the porch light. Breaking the porch light was bad enough, but then we all had to pile into the car to make an unscheduled trip to pick up a new bulb. Ouch! Maybe I should listen to my own advice to the boys.

Summer is a great time of the year. It’s great for vacations and it’s great for spending quality time with the family. Unfortunately, it’s also a time when bills can soar with everyone at home and the air conditioner working double time. Now is the time to get ready for summer so that you keep your expenses in check.

I really suggest adding a ceiling fan to your living room and each of your bedrooms. They are not expensive, but they can save you a lot of money. One days when it is not as hot, a ceiling can be the only cooling you need. On hot day when your air conditioner is working hard, a ceiling fan can make sure the cool air is well circulated and that means less cooling and more savings.

Hmm, it time for us to buy some ceiling fans. See you at the store!