Good morning everyone! We're back from our little road trip. Two weeks ago we went down to Florida to see my family, and then down to Barbados for a few days (just Hubs and I) to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. It went so fast! I had a lot of fun. Ever the homebody, though, I was still happy to return. I don't have time to write about the entire trip, but I've put a slideshow below for your viewing pleasure:

Alright, now for frugal accomplishments!

1. Groceries: we spent $77.03 at Kroger, and $90.00 (to the penny!) at Walmart. In total, we spent $167.03 on much-needed groceries, plus a few extras. My monthly budget is $130.00, so I'll only spend $93.00 in March. That's fine by me, as I'd rather spend spring months working in the garden than making a weekly shopping trip.

I spent about an hour sifting through digital and non-digital Kroger coupons. I was going in the store for pork loins ($1.50/lb.) and 80/20 ground beef ($2.00/lb.), so I decided to go "all in" and see what coupon deals I could find. I still can't decide whether the few dollars saved with coupons is worth the time. When all is said and done, was the $16.00 spent on produce (to use my "$4.00 off $20.00 spent in the produce department") a better deal than what I could have gotten at Walmart for $16.00, without all of the time spent couponing? None of the deals were extraordinary, but I was able to get some things for at or below Walmart prices. I think I will always use coupons to some extent, it's just a matter of deciding how far down the rabbit hole I want to go at any given time. 

When we were at the checkout counter, I got a kids' fruit card for our toddler. Kroger has a "free fruit of the month" deal where kids can get one piece of free fruit every month.

Hey everyone! I won't be listing many frugal accomplishments this week because we spent the majority of it in Cancun with my sister. So I thought I'd share a few highlights and pictures.

It was Baby's first plane ride! Well, her first FOUR plane rides, to be exact. We had a short 40-minute ride first, a layover in Chicago, and then another 3.5 hour ride down to Cancun. Baby Girl did great on all of the rides. Of course she had a few minutes of fussiness here and there, but she spend most of the flights sleeping or playing on our laps. I think four months is a great age to travel with a baby. We didn't have to worry about food because she's still nursing, plus she's not old enough to throw a real fit or need toys to be entertained. Plus she's not even mobile, so.... win.

There was good news and bad news in Mexico. The bad news was that it never got hot enough to go swimming. Boo! The good news is that I never took the tags off of Baby Girl's cute little $14.00 swimsuit. So I'm returning it. Our primary souvenir from our Mexico was a nebulizer... which is a long story in itself. But hey, at least it was a practical purchase! I think I'm going to find a Cancun sticker somewhere and put it on the machine. Leaving for Cancun right on the tail of a horrible cold was not ideal. We ended up taking Baby to the doctor (which was only half the cost of a well-baby visit... yay!) and I had a nasty cold sore the whole week with a touch of breathing difficulty. Fun right? 

We intentionally picked a very easy all-inclusive resort vacation this year instead of a backpacking trip or road trip. We had a lot of fun going to the coffee shop for warm beverages, walking along the beach, sitting by the pool eating french fries and watching shows in the evening. My favorite show was a circus show. The Mexican show was also good, but their "American" show had some raunchy parts. It only had one English song! We figured out at the end that it was more of a South/Central "American" show than a North American show.

One of the highlights for me was having two real date nights with my Hubs! My sister came along with us and was able to babysit for a few nights. Hubs made a reservation at the resort's fanciest restaurant, which featured a six-course meal. I tried so many new things! 

In another life, I would've loved to be a chef. At two of the restaurants I got to try things I've only read about in books. Things like poached quail eggs, foie gras, crab croquettes and truffle mayonnaise. I had to explain to Hubs that truffles are a type of mushroom and not chocolate. LOL!

As much as I loved trying new oddities though, I don't think I could live on the stuff. Too many weird flavors! I still love a good hamburger, fries and ice cream for dessert. One thing I found interesting about the "fancy" food was that it included stuff most of us would throw out. For example, some ingredients on the menu were things like purslane (a common weed in our area), huitlacoche (fungus that grows on sweet corn), pumpkin blossoms and pea shoots. As a frugal home cook, it was interesting for me to see these "free" ingredients mixed right in with the expensive ones. One person's trash is another one's treasure.

Another "first" for me was getting a professional manicure. It cost somewhere between $40.00 and $50.00 (price was in pesos), which is why I've never had one done before. I upgraded to gel polish so it would last longer. It's been four days since I had it done, and no chips so far. Gel polish is a bit more expensive (it has to be cured with UV or LED light, not just air-dried), plus there are some health concerns with its frequent and long-term use. However, I haven't painted my fingernails in years because the polish chips when I wash dishes (which is every day). Not only that, but with a baby now I don't have an hour to let multiple coats of polish dry. With an LED lamp, a coat of gel polish will dry in 30 seconds. Right now there's not room in our personal care budget for a $40.00 nail polish setup, but if I save a dollar or two every week there might be room by the end of the year.

While I'm very happy with the polish job, the nail tech didn't do a perfect job with the filing or cuticle clipping. I don't think a nail polish job is worth $40.00 or $50.00, so I probably won't be getting another professional manicure done for a very long time. 

On our last day of vacation, we visited some Mayan ruins at Tulum. While these were nowhere near as old as the ruins we saw in Guatemala (Tikal), they were still pretty cool. Most of us were feeling better by Friday, the weather had finally warmed up and it was a great day.

So that is all I have to share for the week! As always, it's great to be back home and working on projects again. I look forward to giving a good frugal accomplishments report next week.

​-Bethany

​2. Garden: Harvested strawberries, thyme, lettuce and lavender. I am SO excited about my lavender plant finally producing blooms! I started the plant from seed last year, but it was so small that I didn't have much hope for a harvest anytime soon. This year it is full size and producing lots of blooms. I've been harvesting them every few days and drying them to make lavender sachets out of.

​Growing lavender has been one of my homestead dreams for several years now. Even though it takes more time, I've chosen to grow the lavender from seed instead of buying plants. I bought one plant last year for $4.00, and it died over the winter. This year I decided not to buy any plants and just do it the frugal way by starting from seed. Unfortunately my germination and survival rate for seedlings is not awesome, but I did manage to get three baby plants into the garden and only one of them died. If both of the other plants survive, it's an $8.00 value and that was just using the lavender seeds I had from last year.

3. Earned $60.00 picking strawberries for the neighbor lady. I won't lie; getting up at 6:00 or earlier and picking for 3+ hours each morning Monday-Friday wasn't exactly fun. BUT I wanted some experience for my own patch next year, plus I earned enough money to pay for my new strawberry plants.

Another thing I did for my strawberry patch this week was set up a sprinkler system. It cost over $40.00, but I trust it will pay for itself next year by providing an increase in berries.

4. Cooking: Cut up and froze the free onions I was given (see grocery haul). I also made cheese, yogurt and Greek yogurt, and froze some of our surplus eggs. There are several ways you can freeze eggs. I froze my yolks and whites separately, but you can also mix them together and freeze in ice cube containers (1-egg portions).

Some meals we had this week were tacos, salad, baked potatoes, salad, leftovers and more salad. We also went to a contractor's lunch at Menards and ate for free there. They were giving out free T-shirts, so I picked up a large one to re-cut into a fitted T-shirt for myself (Youtube tutorial forthcoming!). Dinners were pretty sketchy this week because we were gone every night to a local church camp meeting/ revival services. Usually when we have somewhere to go at night, Hubs tends to wait until the very last minute to come home from work and ends up skipping dinner. This happens mostly during the "busy season"- thankfully not all year long. Of course it doesn't give much incentive for me to make/eat a real meal. Instead we just had cheese and grapes or whatever grab-and-go food I could come up with.

5. On Saturday we went to one of my favorite places here in MI- Greenfield Village!! Even though it wasn't frugal, I thought I'd share anyway. For those who aren't familiar, the village is a living history museum started by Henry Ford in the 1930's (it's affiliated with the Henry Ford Museum, also in Dearborn). Below are some fuzzy pictures I took with my phone. Too bad the lighting wasn't better in some of them.

​One of the reasons I LOVE Greenfield Village (or history museums in general) is because I can collect new ideas to implement here at home. Even though I appreciate technology and modern advancements, sometimes the old-fashioned way of doing things is more economical, efficient and healthful. A lot of ideas have been lost over years and centuries. My husband took a picture of one of the Firestone Farm wooden gates so we can make a similar closure at home. We have pallet gates, so this particular closure will work well.

​One of my favorite sites at the village is Daggett Farm. It's a home from the 1740s that portrays farm life of that time. Unlike the modern system of purchasing whatever we need and paying for it with a salary, people living in pre-industrial times had to make their own stuff. The Daggett home had a garden in back that not only produced food, but also medicines, plant dyes, and other useful things from plants. Inside, there was a giant spinning wheel with some homespun yarn on display. The Daggetts weren't rich, so they owned a "junk breed" or mixed breed of sheep that would have produced meat and wool. Today we have money to buy whatever animals, medicines and food we want, but back in the day they just made do with what they had. Visiting the farm inspired me to expand my garden and look for more ways to have my little homestead provide value.

Some other sites I really enjoyed visiting were Dr. Howard's office (full of herbal and plant-based medicines!) and the Hermitage slave quarters. One of the slave cabins is just an empty building with a bench in the middle and quotes/photos on the wall, but the other cabin is furnished. Slaves from the second cabin worked within the "task system" which meant that after 8-10 hours of work they could do what they wanted. I really enjoyed seeing examples of baskets, instruments and other handcrafts.

The last of my favorite sites for this visit was the Mattox home. Even though the house itself was built in the 1880s, the interior looks like it would have during the Great Depression. The staff member there described how the Mattox family would have practiced subsistence farming and made as much of their own stuff as possible because money was tight. I thought it was interesting that the family had a vineyard out back and sold wine to make extra money. This was probably extra lucrative during the prohibition years, which overlapped a bit with the Great Depression.

So that was our fun Saturday! Like I said, our visit wasn't particularly frugal. We paid full price for tickets, bought the ride pass, and ate lunch at the historic Eagle Tavern restaurant. And bought TWO frozen custards each! Travel isn't really something we economize on, but tourists on a budget could easily save money by finding cheaper tickets, buying a membership (for large families), forgoing the ride pass and bringing a sack lunch. 

So, that was it for frugal accomplishments. As fun as our week was, I'm looking forward to some more time at home. 


Youtube Videos:
I put up three Youtube videos this week:

 Fresh Lettuce Prep & Storage 
Thursday #2: Chicken Salad Wraps (part of my Weekly Menu playlist) 
Aldi Grocery Haul: $19.94 

How was your week?
-Bethany

Today I'm going to show you how I reupholstered the cushions in our (new-to-us) old RV. The vehicle is 30+ years old and in bad need of a makeover. Most of the cushions were ragged and threadbare, like the one below:

Here are the basic steps I used:

1. Remove the buttons from both sides.

2. Pull the foam out of the "pillowcase".

3. Proceed to take apart the "pillowcase". Be sure to save each piece and any notions. My cushions had two pieces (one carpet and one vinyl) and a zipper. If your cushions are vinyl, be careful not to rip holes in it when using the seam ripper. Also, don't let the zipper pull come off the end of the zipper. It is super hard to get back on!! In order to prevent the zipper pull from coming off, I hand-stitch around the metal part at each end.

4. Lay out your new fabric, and using the old fabric as a pattern, cut new pieces. ​Sometimes it is helpful to use weights to hold the pattern piece down.

Make sure you cut a proper seam allowance if the fabric is folded over on one side like mine was.

5. At this point, you are basically going to put the cushion back together like it was, using your new pattern pieces. This is a little hard to explain because each cushion will probably be different. Mine were a basic square shape, with one vinyl side and a zipper between the vinyl and suede on the long edge.

To put in the zipper, I sewed the vinyl and suede together on the proper side. Then I opened up the seam and sewed the zipper straight down the center of the seam (on the inside, but facing the zipper toward the fabric, not myself). When the zipper was sewed onto the seam, I flipped it over and ripped out that very first seam. This guaranteed that my zipper was sewn in straight.

6. Once the cushion has been reassembled, try to stuff the foam back in. Check for any discrepancies or areas that just don't "look right". Note: until you are 100% satisfied, DON'T trim up any of the seams! You might want to use that extra room.

You can tell that the two edges above are not the same height. This probably happened because my original fabric (pattern) was stretched out on one side. If you are using the old foam (I was), it's okay to leave uneven edges as long as they fit the foam.

In the photo above, there was too much extra fabric in the corner. I took note of this before I made final adjustments to the cushion.

7. Make any needed adjustments, then put the cushion back in and zip it up. I tried not to take the foam in and out to often, or make too many adjustments, because I didn't want to damage the vinyl or the foam, which was being reused.

8. Now it's time to add the buttons! This was my favorite part.

Recover any buttons if neccesary. To recover my buttons, I cut a circle of suede around each button with about 1/2" extra on the sides. Then I used Super 77 3M spray glue to fix the button in the very center of the circle. When the glue had dried, I hand-stitched large stitches around the edge of the circle and then pulled both ends. This is just like gathering fabric. Then I tied off the ends and had a finished, covered button.

So, there are actually several steps to #8. Recovering buttons was the first step. Then you'll want to get your upholstery needles and heavy-duty thread out. 

Above is what the finished cushion looks like without buttons. You can tell that the top fabric is a little loose, and there are holes in the vinyl where the buttons were before. If you have vinyl cushions, use these original holes to avoid making more tears in the vinyl. If you are using non-plastic, brand-new fabric and foam, you can put the new buttons wherever you want. You can tell where the buttons were on used foam, so if you are re-using the foam, it will be best to put the buttons back where they were before.

After my cushions were put back together, I poked the needle through the vinyl side first (using the old hole), and out through the suede side. This was HARD! I had to push really hard to get the needle to go through the suede, and then I had to pull and stretch the suede in order for the needle to wiggle its way through. In the end, I got it to go through.

Now, thread the button and push the needle right back where it came from, being careful to come back through the original vinyl hole (if you are using vinyl).

Pull the thread so the button is tight against the cushion.

Lastly, thread the button on the other side and tie it down tight. If you pull the button(s) together tightly, they will stay without knotting. However, I always like to knot both ends of the thread with the knot being hidden under the button when you are done.

If you want more information on upholstery or attaching buttons, there are plenty of Youtube videos out there which are very helpful. 

The end result of my effort, while not perfect, was very satisfying. Once the cushions are in the RV, all of those imperfect seams and lopsided corners will be hidden, and nobody will know the difference.

As far as frugality is concerned, this project was not free. I bought brand new (albeit couponed!) fabric from Joann's in the color and type that I wanted. The fabric cost about $90.00. We also bought new foam for two of the cushions, at $25.00 per cushion. We felt that those cushions were squashed enough to warrant the new foam, even with that hefty price tag.

Apart from reusing the zippers, vinyl, and foam in two of the cushions, we were able to salvage one of the squashed cushions by cutting it down and using it for reupholstering the RV bed (the bed was 3" foam as opposed to the 5" back seat cushions). That being said, I might still have to buy more fabric to finish the bed. 
In order to frugalize the project even farther, we could have used free fabric to recover the cushions. However, I was being picky about the color and type.

I would not have reused the squashed foam, even to save money. If you are going through all the trouble to reupholster, you might have well have a NICE cushion instead of a nice-looking but nasty, uncomfortable cushion. One way to frugalize the foam would be to find a larger piece for free (you could use any old couch cushion), and cut it down to size.

Total cost for this project is/will be from $140.00-$170.00. That sounds expensive, but it will VASTLY improve the appearance of the interior, and new foam in the seat cushions will make the RV more livable and fun to travel in. It will feel less like 1986 and more like 2017. 

Til next time,
-Bethany

Well, I'm here to announce that there were almost NO frugal accomplishments last week! We hopped on a plane and flew down to the beautiful island of Haiti/Dominican Republic. 

Earlier in the year we planned to go down to the DR in order to see Hubs' sister, who lives there. She works with victims of human trafficking; in particular, girls under 18. It is so sad to hear about things like this. Even though SIL works in the DR, human trafficking is everywhere- probably in your own hometown. Renting Lacy  is a good book that my SIL recommends to anyone who wants to know more about this tragic "industry" that has gained more media attention in recent years.

In addition to seeing my SIL and learning more about the ministry she works for, we also got to meet her fiance, who is a Dominican. While my sister-in-law is white and short with stick-straight hair, her man is black with curly hair, and very, very tall. They are complete opposites, not only in personality but looks as well. He was super nice, and a very good cook. :) We got to be the first  family members to meet him before the wedding this spring. Which makes me feel kind of privileged.

Time To Relax

​We decided to stay in a resort town on the coast. This was not so much a "travel" vacation, but one of relaxation. We picked a few things to do each day- walking on the beach, buying souvenirs, eating out, sleeping, reading on beach, eating out, taking a nap... you get the idea. The sun really zapped our energy, so afternoon naps were a must.

I posted a few short video clips, for those of you who are on Instagram. Some of the new experiences I had in the DR: 

1. Packing three adults on a tiny motorcycle. These were called "moto-conchos", and were usually 100-200cc bikes. Oftentimes, depending on the size of the driver, we would have between 450 and 500 pounds of flesh on one of those little bikes. If you think about the fact that our Honda Magna motorcycle is a 750, we should be able to haul fifteen people on it, for the amount of power it has.

2. Eating octopus. I ordered an octopus salad at one of the restaurants. The salad was good. I ate the ends of the octopus tentacles with ease (and they were pretty good). But when I got to the bigger, chewier parts with more suction cups on it, I lost my appetite. The idea of chewing on the suction cups kind of ruined it for me. The taste wasn't all too bad, but the chewy texture (like that of clams) and visual picture I got was enough to make me hand my plate over to Hubs, so he could finish it.

3. SEGWAYS!!!! We went on our very first segway tour. I was a little concerned that only old people would be there, but it turned out to be all couples that were our age. We went through a nature preserve, through a closed-down resort and beautiful beach area, plus we got to see a bunch of exotic farm animals, which was VERY cool. I thought that was the best, after buzzing around on the segways, of course. To anyone who has seen the commercials on TV and wondered what it was like, segways are just as fun as they look. It took a little while to get the hang of using your balance to steer and control speed, but after that it was super, super enjoyable. Only one girl could NOT get the hang of it, so the instructor had to pull her segway behind his, with her screaming at every little bump or turn. It was kind of hilarious.

4. Ziplining. In the middle of the week we decided to do a zipline "adventure" outside of the resort area. The ziplining was kind of fun, but for me the equipment was uncomfortable and I was unsure when/if to brake at the end. Even though the instructors said that the zip lines went as fast as a roller coaster, they felt kind of slow to me. It would be more fun the second time around, I think. My favorite part was seeing the starfruit trees and cacao pods while we waited at each station. It only took 45 minutes or so to complete all of the ziplines, and most of that time was spent walking to each station. I'm not sure if I would do it again for $65.00+ per person. The segway tour was a lot less work, more fun, and lasted longer for the same amount of money. 

3. Dominican salesmen. In Guatemala, where we have been to open-air markets, salesmen will often yell out prices and solicitations. "Good price, good price for you! Five for the bag! Good price!" Sometimes they will even follow you, lowering the price every ten seconds until you are out of earshot.

Dominican salesmen, however, are even more direct. Instead of chasing after you, they step in front of you so you can't get away. "Hello friend, how are you doing. Where are you from. Will you please stop in my store and see what I have? See, I will show you what I have." When you try to step around them or say no, they still persist. "What are you looking for? Come look in my store for just five minutes. Please, stop in my store. I have mamajuana. You want mamajuana*? You want cocao, you want jewelry, you want souvenirs? Okay, okay, you come back later." And after five minutes, you are finally free to continue to wherever it was you wanted to go in the first place.

Some of the encounters we had were so funny that I tried to capture them on video. One night as the sun was setting, we heard someone come up behind us. We kept on walking.

"You looking for souvenirs? Come see my shop. I have everything you want."

"No thanks." Hubs said, still walking.
"Just come back and look for a minute. I have souvenirs, I have hats, coffee, mamajuana. What you want?"
"I want my bed." Hubs said.
"You want chocolate? You want... what?"
"I want my bed." The salesman paused a moment.
"You want bed?? You funny, you funny," he said, and then finally turned around.

You can see in the photo-bombed photo above, the salesman is going after the lady... the husband has already turned around to try and get away.

Another morning we were on our way to the beach. A bunch of Dominicans were sitting outside a barbershop. As we walked by, one of them yelled out, "You need a haircut?" Hubs said no. Without missing a beat, the same guy said, "You need a moto to rent?" We are still laughing about that. Haircuts and motorcycle rental- what a business plan! 

So, another stamp in the passport.

Til next time,
-Bethany

*Mamajuana is not a drug. It is an herbal concoction soaked in honey and rum, perportedly for medicinal use. But no, not a drug... although some of the salesmen tried to sell those, too.

Why Not Just Camp in a Tent?

Tent camping is great if you like pretending you're homeless. Just kidding. Some people really enjoy tent camping, and I think that is a very frugal option, too. I've just had too many cold/rainy tent camping experiences to enjoy that kind of thing. Plus there is not a lot of privacy in a tent. In addition to that, my left leg tends to cramp up on long car drives. This makes travel- something Hubs and I generally enjoy- very uncomfortable for me at times.

We are hoping that the RV will pay off in several ways.

1. It will make long drives (and cold nights!) more comfortable.
2. It will make overnight lodging cheaper and easier.
3. It will make spontaneous trips occur more often.

Boondocking

​This year we have used the RV on three separate occasions. "RV living" is an art that we are learning little by little. Last weekend our new adventure was "boondocking", or parking for free overnight. Generally this means finding a rest area or Walmart parking lot- both of which are pretty common. You can also stay on private property by contacting the owners through various boondocking sites online.

Over the weekend we stayed at two rest areas and two Walmart parking lots. The only problem we had was the bright lights shining in our windows and preventing somebody (it wasn't Hubs) from sleeping. By choosing a secluded spot, parking the RV in the opposite direction of the light and covering one window with a hoodie, we were able to keep it pretty dark.

Both areas had pros and cons. The rest areas were nice because bathrooms were close by. The Walmarts were nice because... well, we could buy whatever we needed. One night it was a dress shirt for Hubs, and the other night it was a pair of boots for myself... because somebody (it wasn't Hubs) left their tennis shoes with the in-laws and didn't want to hike trails in high heels.

Campgrounds are nice, but they often cost between $20.00 and $30.00 per night. By boondocking, we were able to save at least $80.00 on our trip. By not staying at hotels, we were able to save at least $80.00 per night.

Food Savings

During the entire five-day trip, we made two stops at McDonalds (under $8.00 per stop) and the last night we did eat dinner at a Big Boy restaurant in St. Ignace. When we got there, the line was SUPER long! We wondered what in the world was going on, but I really wanted to have the salad bar, so we waited. After a while, we realized that they were having an all-you-can-eat crab buffet that night. The special crab buffet was $19.00 per person and we are not big seafood lovers, so we decided to still just go with the regular buffet.

When we were finally seated, our waitress apologized for the long wait, and also apologized to us that the crab was almost gone. However, the buffet price would go back to normal because there was not a lot left. So we both got the buffet as originally planned. There were actually quite a few crab legs left, so we both got some to try before heading back to the table. I thought they were very good. So, that was kind of cool.

Apart from not eating out for breakfast, lunch and some dinners, we saved a lot of money by not purchasing gas station food. Sometimes one of us (it isn't Hubs) has a "food scarcity" mindset when they are away from home, which makes them want to buy food everywhere they go. Weird, I know. However, with the RV I know that we always have food stocked in case I get hungry. Hubs has also been known to buy gas station food because it's easy, so the RV "food stash" is beneficial for both of us. 

For breakfast, we had fried eggs and/or instant oatmeal. I picked these foods because they are easy to make and don't require refrigeration (eggs are fine un-refrigerated for a few days).

For lunch, dinner, and snacks, we basically just ate junk food- chips, candy, organic cheese crackers, organic oreos, cheese puffs- all things I got at the bent 'n' dent or dollar store. We did buy a pound of cheese curds at one of the gas stations, along with two bananas. We decided not to use the refrigerator for this trip, which meant I didn't bring any meat, dairy, or produce. By the end of our trip, we were both craving "real" food.

I know I could have made some pasta/canned meat meals over the stove, while Hubs was driving. I didn't, though, because the thought of hot liquids and an open flame in that bumpy RV scared me. I am going to do a little more research before our next trip, so we can eat healthier while on the road. I know many people use a pressure cooker for RV meals, which would be a lot safer than cooking in an open pot. 

The Motorhome Makes Planning A Breeze

Neither of us are great travel planners. Having an RV is nice because we don't have to worry about finding lodging. It also helps in the meal planning/shopping department, because I can stock an "RV pantry" (when we are NOT camping) that is all ready to go at a moment's notice. Lastly, I can keep the RV permanently packed with a lot of our camping gear (mosquito spray, matches, flashlight, etc.). This will save time when we do decide to go somewhere.

One thing I would like to do, as mentioned before, is make an RV menu plan (or at least a list of meals) that we can use while on the road. This will save a lot of money and also keep us healthy and functioning at our best.

RVing as Long Term Frugality

If Hubs and I can eat for our normal $2.00-$3.00 per day and park the RV at night for free, all of the travel money can be spent on gas and/or sightseeing. Because the RV gets an impressive 13-14 miles per gallon*, $75.00 will take us anywhere in the state and back. As for sightseeing last week, most of it was done at state parks. There are a LOT of really cool state parks in Michigan! They are all free to visit for anyone who has the  $12.00/yr "passport" sticker on their license plate.

Earlier in the year, we did an overnight getaway. By the time we added up the cost of a decent hotel ($100.00) plus dinner ($40.00) plus gas ($20.00), the trip cost us $80.00 per day. That did not count costs of sightseeing or buying snacks. With the RV, we could have made the same trip for $20.00 per day. Of course the lodging wouldn't be quite as nice (and no cable TV!), but we are talking about saving 75% by using the RV. You could take FOUR motorhome trips for the price of one car & hotel trip.

We are hoping that our little Toyota will allow us (and force us!) to do more traveling and less forking over of cash. We'll see. 

-Bethany

*Note: The only personal vehicle we use for long-distance travel is a large truck. As you can imagine, this burns almost as much fuel as the motorhome. In the past year or so, the truck has been used much more for business purposes, and sometimes it is not available for Hubs and I to use. Because of the gas mileage and business, in the past we have rented cars to take on road trips. Driving the RV instead will cut out this cost entirely.

Last week we had planned a little RV trip up north to see some of the fall colors on Friday and Saturday. 

On Monday, however, we found out that Hubs' grandpa in Wisconsin had died. We decided right away to make it to the funeral, and later Hubs really wanted to be there for the visitation as well. So instead of leaving on Friday as originally planned, we packed up the RV and headed out Wednesday morning.

As it turned out, the funeral timing worked in our favor. Instead of making a puny 2-3 hour trip up north, we decided to leave the funeral and head north, coming back home through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, taking our time and stopping to see some things along the way.

My First Amish Funeral

So, if you are reading this and are not related to me, you have probably never been to an Amish funeral. 

The dynamics between Amish, ex-Amish and "English" people can be a little weird. Every community is probably different, and each family is probably different. Depending on the time and circumstances, one ex-Amish will be welcome to eat a meal with the Amish family, and another won't even be let in the house.

For this funeral, we (the no-longer-Amish family members and their spouses) were allowed to attend the viewing and visitation but had our own separate place to eat and/or sit for the service. For example, instead of going through the buffet line like everyone else, we had our plates brought to us already filled with food. Which was kind of nice, actually.

Visitation

The funeral and visitation were held in a relative's shop. They sectioned a small corner of the shop off with laundry line and bed sheets (fastened by clothes pins) and put the open casket in this area for viewing. So right as we walked in, there was a guest book to the left, and the casket to the right. After a quick look (nobody cried over the casket, as far as I could tell), we walked out of the little room and into the larger shop. Just past the casket, the little room opened up and we started to walk down a long line of family members to our left and right. Hubs shook hands and greeted some of them, so I followed suit. After we made our way through the line, we found a spot to sit on the hard wooden benches several rows back, with other family members. All of the benches were facing toward the front of the shop (where the line of relatives was) but there was really nothing to look at, because the casket was in the little bed sheet room in the corner. So we just sat there and talked quietly among ourselves... for several hours.

After a few hours, a bearded man came in and started to say something. Of course, the entire funeral/visitation service and most of the conversation was in the Pennsylvania Dutch language, so I couldn't understand it. Hubs did a little bit of translating for me. All of a sudden he stopped and whispered, "Oh.. be prepared to kneel."

No more than 10 seconds later, the guy in charge stopped talking and every single person turned around to kneel. This was not like the Catholic kneeling where they have nice little cushion things for your knees. Quick, I turned around with everybody else and folded my hands over where my backside had just been sitting. The cement floor was cold and hard on my knees. I peeked around me and noticed that some of the folks were hanging over the benches.

The prayer went on.. and on... and on. It reminded me of a cross between Gregorian chants and an auctioneer selling something. Mostly monotone, with a touch of sing-sing-y rhythm. And of course, it was in words I couldn't understand. I got tired of nicely kneeling and leaned forward on the bench. I could see the grains of mud and sand on the boot of the Amish man in front of me. I felt kind of weird to have my head so close to someone else's rear.

After the prayer, the "service" was pretty much done for the night and after some chatting with cousins, Hubs and I left.

The Funeral

The funeral was a little different than the viewing because more ex-Amish family members had come and we had our own little area of segregated seating for the "shunned"/English relatives. I did not see any other English people at the funeral service besides us.

The casket was placed, this time, in the middle of shop, with all benches facing toward it. At least we had something to look at! After the family had been seated, non-relatives started filing in, segregated by age and gender. It was estimated that between 500 and 600 were in attendance, stuffed into the shop.

When the funeral started, promptly at 9:00 am, one of the elders stood up to talk. As always, I couldn't understand 99% of what he said. Hubs was did a little bit of translating, and during the rest of the time I marveled at how many Amish people could fit in the little shop. I watched people go in and out with their children, counted how many people were sleeping (it was actually quite a few) and thought about how strange it was for me to be there. 

And then, a couple hours later, came the prayer. This time, I was ready.

I won't snitch on who took the picture, but let's just say there was more than one phone whipped out at this time*. 

After the prayer, people made their way past the casket. I don't remember which order they went in, but it was still age and gender segregated for non-relative guests. The younger folks walked by the body quickly, but as the line got older, more people slowed down or even paused before returning back to their seats.

Finally, the family members were allowed to view the body one last time. First the more distant relatives walked by, then we walked by, and then the Amish family members (children and grandchildren) were allowed the privilege of going last. The procession and funeral seemed very mechanical to me up until this point, but I was almost relieved to see a few tears shed by the closer family members.

Then the casket was closed and carried out by the pall-bearers. They put it on a special hearse buggy- basically a buggy with an extended back end, like a pickup truck.

My Six Hours of Fame

Before we ever arrived at the funeral, Hubs warned me that we would be stared at. A lot. Every time we drove out or in, it seemed, there was a group of 10 or so Amish boys standing around gaping. When we met with the other non-Amish relatives, we could see some more Amish staring at us from behind a buggy. As we walked through the crowd of people and into the shop, little tykes holding onto mama's hand stared, and their heads turned with us as we walked by. I never felt so much like royalty!! 

As we pulled out of the driveway to leave, a group of boys stood in the yard, watching. I waved, and Hubs rolled down the window. Before he could say anything, one of the older boys called out, "Put the ped-al to the met-al!" in a heavy Dutch accent. 

So we did... as much as possible with a 1986 Toyota motorhome.

Second Leg of the Trip: The Upper Peninsula

After leaving the Amish, we visited one of my friends in Madison, and then headed up to the U.P. The scenery was beautiful! We were able to stop at several tourist-y areas on the way home. Our first stop was Fayette, a ghost town. Originally the town was started by an iron company. 

By the time we got to Fayette, the sun was setting and the visitor's center had closed. However, we were still able to walk around the buildings and peep in some windows. Most of the buildings were not refinished on the inside and probably not even open during regular hours. It was still pretty cool for a short stop, though.

The next day we headed east toward Tequamenan Falls. On the way, we stopped at Kitch-iti-kipi, Michigan's largest freshwater spring. Because the water was so clear, we were able to see all the way to the bottom of the lake while going across on their little viewing barge. It was fun to see the large fish and "boiling" pools of sand at the bottom of the lake. Then we were off again.

Finally, we arrived at the Falls!

This was one of Hubs' "must see" destinations for this trip. While there, we did some hiking and I bought a book at the gift shop (which was 40% off, because it was the end of the season). We also saw an advertisement for a shipwreck museum. We had considered going to the museum before and decided against it, but Hubs didn't realize it was only 20 minutes away from the falls. So we decided to go see that, as well.

The shipwreck museum was nice, but it was $13.00 per person and we have been spoiled by similar museums that were free to walk through. However, it was still a cool little stop.

I thought the old diving gear was the best. It reminded me of my dad's copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that he read to us when we were kids.

On our final day on "vacation", we stopped at Hartwick Pines State Park in the lower peninsula. It is home to a large area of "old growth" pine trees, as well as a logging museum. I really liked this stop, both for the historical and nature aspects of it. Some of the trees were between 300 and 400 years old.

The heart of the forest was beautiful. The lack of underbrush and very tall trees made me feel like I was in Lothlorien (that's from the Lord of the Rings, for those of you who don't know).

After the Pines, we headed home for good. It was a great trip!!

Note: we did do some frugal things on this trip, but I didn't want to clutter up the post with frugal accomplishments. So I will post those on Wednesday, Lord willing... hopefully we won't have to attend another funeral this week!

​-Bethany

*Interesting fact: Amish don't always obey the rules, either. Some of them actually take pretty good Facebook selfies. 

Hello everyone! I'm a day late posting this because... we just got back from Honduras! As in, we pulled into our driveway at 1:30 a.m. this morning. Of course, I took the opportunity to sleep in, and the rest of today has consisted of me checking up on my animals, unpacking, and attempting to "catch up" with the weeding in my garden. As anyone who has gardened can testify- you're never really caught up. Especially if you don't have absolutely everything growing in a raised bed (my goal for someday).

Despite being gone for over half the week, I do have a handful of frugal accomplishments to share.

1. Sold 1 dozen eggs.

2. Sold 16 bars of soap to a retail store.

3. Thawed out the goat cream I have slowly been collecting, and made 14.7 ounces of butter. That's almost a pound!

4. Made milkweed capers. This is a new recipe I'm trying out. It is basically milkweed buds in salt and vinegar, refrigerated for a month. We'll see...

5. Made several salads with lettuce from the garden. My major frugal accomplishment this week: learning how to clean and store home grown lettuce. I've always been afraid of eating bugs in homegrown salads, thanks a bad experience when I was younger. And I've never really learned how to use garden lettuce. Last year we only used it for tacos and sandwiches. But thanks to my new processing method, I plan on eating lettuce as much as possible here on out (we have plenty that self-seeded).

New lettuce processing method:
1. Cut lettuce and bring inside.
2. Break off each leaf, checking for large bugs, and put into salad spinner.
3. When spinner is full of lettuce leaves, fill with water and let sit 5-10 minutes.
4. Drain water, then spin the lettuce to get out excess water.
5. Tear wet lettuce into pieces, fill spinner again with water.
6. Drain water and spin the lettuce to be rid of any excess moisture.

Here is how you can store lettuce for up to a week:
1. Lay out a clean dish towel.
2. Pile the lettuce in a row on the towel, as if you were going to make a taco. Leave 2-3" on the edges.
3. Fold edges on top of the lettuce.
4. Roll it up like a taco.
5. Store lettuce roll in a sealed plastic baggie, in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.

This really works! Before we left, I forgot to dump the last of my lettuce roll. When we got back over 5 days later, it was still in the bottom of the fridge. I expected to find limp and slimy lettuce, but there was no slime whatsoever, and it had only lost a little crispness. Victory!

I am going to make washing and storing lettuce part of my weekly meal prep from now on. Hopefully the garden-fresh organically-grown lettuce will help cut our grocery bill and bring new life to my meal plan.

******
Honduras Trip
Early Thursday morning, we, along with some other people from our church, got on a plane bound for Honduras. We landed in Tegucigalpa later that day. The point of our trip was to get to know a ministry there in the city, called the Micah Project. It is a place that gives help and new life to boys who live on the streets.

Street boys commonly come from dysfunctional families, and after taking to the streets are often caught up in the gang/crime/drugs lifestyle. On Friday morning we got to meet some of the boys still on the street. Micah Project has a "street team" whose primary purpose is to build relationships with the boys and eventually offer them hope in Christ and an opportunity for education and a family at their compound (called the "Micah House").

I was a little curious as to how much I would actually be able to help on the building project, but I figured there would be some small stuff I could do. In actuality, I carried some boards, worked on digging a post hole, pounded some nails and helped pick up... probably a grand total of 45 minutes of work on a project that took five hours.

In addition to the seven of us "gringos", there were also a few Micah House staff, the builder and his helper guy, and a LOAD of Micah boys working. Hubs was a great help because he 1) knows Spanish and 2) knows construction, but those of us who knew neither had difficulty finding ways to help. For example, I couldn't understand when one of the boys said, "pass the hammer" or "move that board up a little more". So, along with the other ladies, I mostly took pictures and watched. Kind of a bummer, but with so many able bodies (there were 40-50 people helping on a 16" x 16" house) around, there was no need for me to just slow everyone down.

We arrived home from Bocas Del Toro on Thursday night. We would fly out Saturday morning, so all of Friday was ours to enjoy. We spent the morning tidying things up, and then before lunch we went to the beach for the last time.

During our entire stay at Coronado, we actually spent quite a bit of time at the beach, either swimming, reading, or (for Hubs) sleeping in the beach chair. It was nice to have several hours every day to do nothing but read and watch the ocean. Unlike our $63 beach trip, the resort beach (free to get into with a complimentary 14-day pass) was always pretty and calm. The beach chairs were much nicer and yes- free to sit in. "Our" spot was up by the restaurant under some palm trees, overlooking the ocean. It was so nice! And every once in a while, a lizard would come out from the side.

From the resort to the beach was quite the walk, so we took the shuttle to and from the beach. I enjoyed listening to the beachy music and feeling the warm breeze flow through my hair. 

By the time we got home from the beach five hours later (hey, we wanted to get the most out of it!), it was just in time to see the sun set. The view from our tower was really incredible at any time of day, but especially during sunrises and sunsets.

So there we stood, watching the sunset and drinking the very last pina coladas that we'd get in Panama. But the night wasn't over yet! In order to celebrate our last day, we decided to have dinner at the fancy restaurant down at the resort.

I LOVED eating at the restaurant! Everything was so beautiful and fancy. It reminded me of the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon. The buffet cost $20 per person, but we only went once, and to me it was worth it. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Panama. 

Of course I was sad to be leaving the warm weather and our beautiful condo and yummy food, but we were ready to go home, I think. I was looking forward to planning my garden, and Hubs was looking forward to building sheds again. We enjoyed spending some time with my sister, and it was a nice break from everyday life for us... especially winter everyday life! Just being somewhere hot for some of January was a reward in itself. But we were ready to go home.

I really enjoyed our trip to Panama. I feel like my Spanish got better. I was able to learn about so many new plants and even animals on this trip. I also got to learn a little more about Caribbean history and culture, which was a lot of fun. And of course I got to spend quality time with my favorite man in the whole wide world, doing exciting new things together!

*******
Note To Travelers:

There were a few things we learned when vacationing in Panama that I'd like to share, for those who might be considering Panama as a travel destination. Below are four points to remember, as well as a saying I made up about the country shortly before we left. Hubs keeps asking me to repeat it, so some of what I experienced in Panama must be true. It goes like this: 

"Everything costs twice as much, takes twice as long, and only half of it works like it's supposed to."

1. High prices. I felt like many things were a little (or a lot) more expensive in Panama than in the States.

2. Waiting. We did a TON of waiting in line. In the US, you go to McDonalds and expect to get your food in a minute or two. In Panama City we waited for 30 minutes to get an order at McDonalds. It was the same way at the bus station, grocery store and everywhere we went. Wait, wait, wait!!! And on the way home we'd get stuck in traffic, and have to wait some more.

3. Transportation. We also learned that you should either 1) get room and board next to attractions/grocery stores/etc., or 2) rent a car. Using public transportation did work okay for us, but it was slow and a lot of the smaller buses didn't even have a set schedule. Our resort was several miles from town and required $5-$7 worth of taxi rides just to get some groceries. Also note that, especially in Panama City, trips should be planned to miss heavy traffic... otherwise you might miss the place being open!

4. Keep luxury and backpacking separate. For long vacations (2 weeks +) it makes more sense to stay somewhere where hostels cost $12 per night, like they did in Guatemala. It would have been better for us to do our "resort-ing" for only 5-7 days in Panama at a luxurious all-inclusive resort, and then do our backpacking in another place with a lower cost of living. We will keep this in mind as we plan future trips.

Til next time,
-Bethany

One of the things I love most about travelling is the opportunity to see how other people live everyday life. What they eat, wear, drive, or do for fun. Having grown up on a dairy farm, I really love seeing different breeds of cattle, methods of gardening or other agricultural pursuits. It was a lot of fun for me to compare Panama with the two other countries I’ve visited; Guatemala and Barbados. I felt like Panama was kind of a cross between the two. Panamanians look and speak Spanish like Guatemalans, but the foods they eat and crops they grow are a lot like those I saw in Barbados, an island on the Caribbean. 

Apart from a few dairy breeds, most of the cows we saw in Panama were Brahmans. Brahmans were first bred in the States during the early 1900's, a cross between four types of Zebu cattle from India. They are extremely heat resistant, insect resistant due to their thick skin, and can live longer than other cows, some still having calves at 15 years and older. Brahmans are used mainly for meat production (and bull fighting in certain parts of the Middle East). I had to laugh when I pointed out a truck load of these cows to my sister. She was half asleep because her flight had come in around 11 pm, but sat straight up when she saw the cows. "Brahmans! Oh my gosh, I've never seen Brahmans before! Wow, that's sooooo cool..." she said as we passed the truck, turning around in her seat to see the cows as long as possible. I looked over at Hubs as if to say, See? I'm not the only one who thinks cows are cool! 

We did not see a whole lot of agricultural crops while we were in Panama, but on our way to Santa Catalina (for SCUBA diving) we drove through some more rural areas. A lot of the land was pasture, presumably for cows, but we also saw some farmers baling hay in small square bales, and fields of one of their major crops: sugar cane!

Author Tony Waters writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace." We saw quite a few of these little huts on the way to and from Santa Catalina.

Another interesting tidbit of agriculture here is the presence of "living fences". That is, where tree cuttings are placed in the ground, grow, and become permanent fence posts. My plant book devotes an entire chapter to these living fences, and it's something I'd like to try sometime on our own property.

While much of US agriculture is focused on new, shiny, bigger and better, we did not see much nice farm equipment while we were in Panama. We saw more old, run down equipment driving through the countryside.

Something to Bring Home
One of the reasons I enjoy seeing and learning about subsistence farming in particular is because it's something I can do here at home.  The idea of subsistence farming is outdated here in the United States, but I think it can still work on a small scale. No, I don't think you can make EVERYTHING yourself. But you can make a lot of things yourself if you have some free time to do so. Certainly stay-at-home wives and moms can do a little subsistence farming, and I know single guys who enjoy hunting and gardening in their spare time. 

In developing countries it is easier to see how class distinction, economics and capitalism work together to create what we have in the US: a bunch of consumer debt. I realize that civilization brings a lot of good- better medicine and surgical treatment, for example. And I really like capitalism because it provides OPPORTUNITY for people. But for some people groups, the draw to consumerism is more powerful than the opportunity that capitalism provides.

What Happened to Subsistence Farmers in the US?
Last January we drove through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. Alongside the road we saw the Mountain Farm Museum and decided to stop and look around. The museum and farm told the story of how the mountain people (subsistence farmers) produced all of their own food, clothing, shelter and entertainment. Then it told how the area became a National Park* and "civilized" people started to come through and basically gawk at the mountain people. Of course these tourists wanted to buy trinkets and souvenirs, so the mountain people started making money selling handcrafts and trinkets to the tourists.

Of course, the cultural influence went both ways. The mountain peoples were introduced to the finery of modern society and got the itch to have fancy new clothes and other things. Unfortunately handcraft sales were not enough to support the mountain people's wants, so they had to take jobs in other areas. Because they had jobs, they couldn't be subsistence farmers and thus, the mountain people were "forced" into poverty.

All of this is kind of ironic, considering the fact that now it is cool to be a "homesteader" and grow all of your own food. I told Hubs, "It's too bad the mountain people didn't just keep wearing their homespun clothes AND selling crafts." They could have made some real money! And perhaps avoided poverty. 

Bethany, the Subsistence Farmer
I'm so thankful and excited that I got to see a peek of how farming is done in Panama. I look forward this Spring to improving my own little "subsistence farm" (in a middle-class American way, of course!).

Til next time,
-Bethany

*I think this is why tourists started coming through, but my memory is a bit foggy on what I read at the museum. I could be wrong.