Defered Rewards

Lately, we've been pinching pennies until they scream. No one is feeling particularly deprived, its just that our actions have been very deliberate towards our goal of keeping costs as low as possible.

Yesterday, in addition to all the clean up, we headed over to our CSA to pick more strawberries. We spent about an hour filling our containers and then another hour hulling them in preparation for freezing. Every container I put in the freezer is another bag of frozen, organic strawberries I won't be tempted to buy this winter.

As my daughter and I lugged the container gardens closer to the car for today's trip I questioned the sanity of the container experiment. But every zucchini that comes off that plant is one I don't have to shell out money for. If the canteloupes keep growing that will be an impressive savings too. I have to remind myself of the ultimate goal of the container gardens, finding out what is viable in the shadier, cooler mountain climate. I"m experimenting now in the hopes of having much success later. When we retire and are on a much lower income, I will be grateful for the work I'm doing now.

I did a very perfunctory weeding in the home garden, I'm hoping to put down a layer of mulch next week. (For a multitude of reasons, I'll be heading back home for three days next week.) I think everything that is going to sprout will have done so by then. Considering how ancient the seeds were, I'm really pleased with the outcome so far. Does my husband need the extra task of tending the garden while we're gone? Probably not, he's already planning to paint and conquer a bunch of other tasks, but he's always willing to pitch in. Thanks to his help, we'll be pumpkin picking in our own backyard this year.

I've begun cutting down wood pallets for the winter. The gentleman who installed our stove gave pallet burning his blessing. They burn quickly but they can help you stretch your split wood usage. I'll be happy I did this come November but right now I'm mostly itchy from the sawdust sticking to me.

My daughter helped me sort through the boys' clothes. We pulled out the nice looking short sleeve shirts to save for the upcoming school year. No sense in letting them wear the nice ones over the summer. Who wants to hear me ranting about staining a nice shirt with watermelon juice? It makes so much more sense to do it this way. This will make life so much simpler come September. (Yuck, I don't even want to think about it yet!)

Defered rewards are a big part of frugality. You really need to be able to look down the road so you can keep sight of where today's tasks are leading you. Hopefully each thing you do is moving you closer to your goals.