Weekly Goals Update: Week 18

1.  Disaster Preparedness
Week 18 was food preservation.  I will be the first to admit that I depend way too much on my freezers.  Aside from tomatoes and green beans I generally just pickle vegetables to can.  Most vegetables I preserve by freezing.  It helps with times like now where our income is not as settled.  If we had a long term power outage, I would lose more food than I care to think about. 


This week has a separate preparedness for me though.  Now is the time to buy canning supplies.  Generally if I wait until it is time to start canning, everyone has started canning.  Things like jar flats, lime, and even kosher salt can be in short supply in the stores here.  I have checked my pantry and made a note of what I need to purchase.


2.  Makeover the Garden
I still have one bed to fill with compost, but I ran out of rabbit manure.  I am waiting until later in the week when it is time to clean out the rabbit area again.  In the meantime I have been pulling weeds and keeping an eye on the sprouting seeds.  I hope to get into a routine of weekly garden updates.


3.  Organize Recipes
I seem to be collecting more recipes lately.  I will have plenty to organize once the weather turns hot or this winter when it is too cold to get outside.


4.  Have 13 No Spend Grocery Weeks
I have been teaching weekly at the local technical college.  For now I am stopping into the grocery store to pick up any sale items.  Once this job ends my plan is to grocery shop once every 3-4 weeks.  This time of year I can get away with that since we will soon be eating most of our fresh foods from the garden or a stop at the farmer's market.


5.  Focus on Saving
I am surprised at how easy it has been to stop shopping when I know we need to save money.  We still have some projects to finish so being extra frugal is important right now.  I am looking at the big picture rather than buying something just because.


6.  Have Fun
I finished up my second week of Craftsy Unlimited and really enjoyed all of the different classes.  This week I expect part of my fun will be putting what I learned into practice.  I want to work on some crochet projects and also try out some new baking recipes.