Seventeen Cups of Onions are now in the Freezer

   I got a late start to the day, but I knew I still had to get my "to do" list done.  On the top of that list was processing most of the Walla Walla Sweet onions that I had grown and getting them cut up and frozen before they went bad.  We do love Walla Walla Sweet onions because they are milder in flavor, and we really enjoy that.

   The best place for me to do this is on the back porch.  Luckily the weather had been unseasonably warm, so I was able to be out there in my capris and a short-sleeved T-shirt.  My plan of "attack" was to have my big crate of onions on one chair where I could easily reach them and the "for the compost bin huge stainless-steel bowl on the chair to the left of me.  I also had another huge stainless-steel bowl on the table to put the diced onions in, a chopping board, knife and my onion cutter.

   The other two things I needed were my computer to watch videos of listen to podcasts to keep me from getting bored and a towel for my nose.  My nose always runs when I am chopping onions!  

   Well, I sliced and diced and ended up filling the stainless-steel bowl on table to the top!  I also cut up some of the sprouting greens.  The cut-up greens were about 1 1/2 cups worth but the onions themselves just astounded me with their amount.

   

    I bagged up the diced onions into 1 cup bags.  All in all, I ended up with 17 cups of diced up onions.  I loaded the smaller 1 cup bags into 2 gallon sized bags and took them out to the upright freezer.  In order to make room for them, I had to take a few things out.  I ended up taking out some chicken pot pie filling and a piecrust.  Those will be made into dinner tonight since I am now beyond sore.

   I am rather proud of myself for finally getting this done.  It has been on my list for 2 weeks now.  I know that those onions are going to come in handy when I need onions in a recipe.  Each cup equals about 1 onion, so that really makes it easy to just grab what I need.  My grandpa would be proud since I am "making hay while the sun still shines".😊

Prices Keep Climbing and More Cost Cutting Needs to Be Done

 

   My husband was listening to the news on the radio the other night and the radio host said that according to the news sources, prices on gas are going to climb at least through Labor Day.  We have noticed a jump in gas prices over the Summer and we are hoping that prices will go down a bit after Labor Day so that our trip to Montana this Fall does not cost so much.  Prices on cheese in this area have jumped a whole $2 per 2 pound brick over what they were earlier this Summer.  My premium for my health insurance jumped yet again, as did our copay for office visits to our doctor (which now cost us $45 instead of $25).  Produce prices are higher in the area than they normally are for this time of year.  Our water, sewer, garbage bill is higher as is our internet and phone bill.  The price for tickets to see a movie jumped up too so even going to a matinee is now something that we really have to think long and hard about.  Sometimes it is cheaper for us to wait for a few months and then we can actually buy the dvd of it (brand new) for cheaper than paying for 2 matinee tickets. Even better is waiting for it to come on Netflix! While looking at the ads for back to school sales and shopping in the stores, I have seen a huge jump in the cost of clothing, especially on underwear and socks which is what Jeff and I were there to purchase while it was on sale.  Our property taxes, which we just got paid off today, went up substantially this year and we are being told they will be going up again next year.  Meanwhile, my husband's income stays the same, as does the small amount I bring in.  Luckily for me, the amount that my health insurance premium went up will be covered by the income that I bring in during the months that I am working, but that leaves no money from that source to put away as planned and leaves us having less money after paying bills in the months that I am not working.  Time to find ways to cut costs yet again.

~With dairy prices going up, I am going to stock up on cheese when the price is $5.99 or lower for 2 pound blocks and freeze it.  This week one of the grocery stores has it at $5.99 for 2 pounds.  I am going to buy 3 packages of it since my hubby goes through cheese like water.  He likes to have cheese sandwiches or peanut butter sandwiches for his dinner while he is working the overnight shift and takes 2-3 sandwiches per night with him.  Cheese can last a long time in your refrigerator and you can also freeze it.  If I freeze it, I will shred it first.  I know you can buy pre shredded cheese for that price but I don't want to be eating the wood sawdust they put in it to keep the cheese from clumping up.
~I'm going to spend more time looking for sales and combining those sales with coupons if at all possible on things that we need.  When I do find a sale that is at rock bottom price, I will stock up on those items as long as they are non perishable.  I recently did this with 3 packs of Dial Basic bar soap for .79 a package and Secret antiperspirant for $1 each.  I also found the hairspray I like at the Dollar Tree for $1 a bottle so I bought 5 of them since I never know if they will have it or not.  I should not have to buy any more of these products now for months!
~Menu planning has become an even bigger priority trying to use what we have in our pantry and freezer and not let things go to waste.  This will help clear out the freezer for hunting season and I can use more of the grocery budget to stock up on sale prices items and not as much on our immediate needs.
~We are going to have to limit our eating out even more.  This is our guilty pleasure and we do eat out way more often than we should.  I am trying hard to recreate some of our favorite dishes that we enjoy in restaurants here at home now and had already started doing that more this Summer before we were hit in the face with the latest round of price hikes,
~I'm going to try and sell a few more items that we have here at home that we are not using and use that money to finance our trip to Montana.  Our trip is not something we can cancel because we are meeting our son Josh there, who will be home on leave.  We will be staying at my parents' home so there is no cost for lodging.  I do plan on bringing food to make a dinner for the whole family since Jaysn, Rachel and Steven are also coming so that is 5 more adults to feed while we are there.  I'll most likely do some sort of pasta dish since my brother is a vegetarian. I've done this in the past making 2 or 3 different sauces so people can pick what they want to go over the pasta and it was a huge hit.  I can also make the sauces up ahead of time. I'm going to make some blueberry muffins and I have already bought a smaller container of coffee creamer to take with us too.
~Jeff and I have debated about whether to continue with our volunteer work but decided to go ahead and continue to do it.  We still feel strongly about helping others in our community and we also get free groceries ourselves.  This program may not last much longer so we are going to do it for as long as possible.
~I'm going to buckle down and do more on my points programs that involve surveys.  I know they can be a royal pain in the rear to do, but they do pay and every little bit helps.
~I'm planning on putting in a Fall garden.  I need to get out there and get some lettuce and spinach planted.  I am not putting in broccoli because the aphids are horrible right now.
~Our Summer Apple tree is giving us a bunch of apples right now.  I want to make applesauce and freeze it for future meals.
~We will try to hold off as long as we can to use our pellet stove this Fall to heat the house.  The stove will also be given a through cleaning before the heating season starts to make it more efficient.  Luckily we still have some leftover pellets from last heating season to start us off.
~Chris and Josh have their birthday coming up at the end of this month.  Josh will get his gift when he comes home at the end of September since it is breakable and I don't want to ship it through the mail, and I will be giving Chris some money towards a more breathable (and yet provides even better protection) police vest that is not as heavy as the one he is currently wearing. under his uniform each day.
~Jeff already got his big birthday present early so I will just get him something small for him on his actual birthday.
~Since I will start working here again soon, I will try to combine my errands with my work days since I will already be in town.  This should save on gas costs.
~With Fall coming soon, I will once again be making more soups which is also a huge money saver for us.  We usually have some for a few days and I also freeze some for future meals.

   Those are the plans for now and I am sure I will find even more ways to save. :)  Having a positive and can do attitude will help me win this budget battle I'm sure. 

Decisions and Doing the Math

     Have you ever felt like circumstances beyond your control have caused you to look heavenward and reevaluate some things in your life?  Recently I had a nagging feeling that something was coming down the path that would drastically change things for me.  It put me on edge because I had no idea which direction it would come from or what it would be.  I have always had a "sense" of  when good and bad things are about to happen, even when there is no reason to suspect anything.  Well it did, and it shook me to the core and caused me to look deep within myself and have long talks with my husband about what is really important to us both.

   Quality of life is very important to us.  We want to live a life that is personally fulfilling and also enables us to help others.  We want to be healthy.  We do not want to be stressed out emotionally or financially.  Thus running the numbers.

   A couple of weeks ago I spent time putting our budget down on paper and evaluated our income and expenses.  One of the things that kind of shocked me was that it was costing us more money to have me work my part time job than I was actually making.  After taking into account my expenses for working and then coupling that with how much I could save by being home more and doing more cooking from scratch, working my points programs, gardening, and searching out the best deals, we made the decision for me to stay home full time for the rest of this school year and Summer and see how things played out.  

   I will miss the kids I work with as a substitute teacher and I will also miss the staff.  I do love them and this has been a difficult decision to make.  This decision though is a "for now" one.  I am leaving the door open to returning to subbing again next year at this point.  It has taken Jeff and I three weeks of soul searching and weighing out the options to come to the decision that is best for us.  So here's to yet another chapter in our lives.

A Bucket a Day or Setting Daily Goals

   Have you ever noticed how quickly things in your home can get messy or the weeds in your garden can take over?  Left unchecked, it can become overwhelming.  I try to set daily goals for myself as a way to keep up with it all.  As I made my "to do" list for the day, I looked out at my garden where the weeds have had a hay day with all our rain and realized that if I did not get out there and do something, my poor plants would perish under all those weeds.  I set a goal for myself to fill one 5 gallon bucket a day with weeds.  Since I tend to get overwhelmed by huge messes, I thought this would be a way to get things done without being discouraged.  Looking out there now, I can see a huge area that is now weeded and looking good and that motivates me to go out again tomorrow and fill yet another bucket.

    
   One of the things that I love about this time of year is being able to line dry my laundry.  It not only saves money, but the smell of freshly air dried clothing and bedding has to be one of my favorite "perfumes" in the world.  I was so blessed to find a old fashioned laundry line set up in our backyard when we moved here 21 years ago.  Getting my laundry going either the night before or early in the morning allows me to get it all hung out in the morning and have it dry by early afternoon at the latest.

 

 

   Baking was on my daily goals list today.  I had some leftover homemade bread that needed to be made into croutons and some over-ripe bananas that needed to be used up.  Homemade croutons are one of the things that my hubby loves most in life and I try to keep him supplied.  The over-ripe bananas were transformed into 3 delicious loaves of banana bread and while they baked, I threw 4 potatoes in the oven with them.  They will be used to make a baked potato salad later.

 

     While getting out ingredients from the refrigerator for the banana bread, I noticed that we were low on syrup.  Jeff and I like to have pancakes on the weekends so a refill of that was in order.  I got a heavy sugar syrup going and let that simmer while I cleaned the kitchen.  When it had reduced down, I added some Maple flavoring and let it cool before I filled our syrup bottle back up.

 

    I checked my list and saw that I had some green onions to plant.  Did you know you can plant the bottom part of the green onions you buy at the store and they will keep producing more and more onions for you?  I have a pot full of them in the backyard and was running out of space there, so these ended up being planted in the freshly weeded area of the garden.  We go through a lot of green onions here during the warmer months in salads and on pizzas and during the colder months in soups and casseroles.

 

    The last goal I set for myself today was to literally stop and smell the roses. ;)  These roses sit right under my living room window and their perfume is so delicate.  Each year I look forward to their blooming and realize that there is just a short time frame to enjoy them.  I don't want to get so caught up in the busy-ness of life that I miss out on one of life's simple pleasures.   What a nice reward they are after a busy day!

CPAP and Savings

 

   Jeff is finally going in to get fitted for his CPAP machine later today and I could not be happier.  I am really hoping that it helps him to sleep better and that will help him restore his energy level.  This CPAP machine is not cheap by any means and the insurance will not cover it since we have yet to meet Jeff's deductible.  After paying off my medical bills, which were in the thousands (and I still have not reached my deductible yet either), we had to buckle down big time in order to be able to afford the CPAP machine.

Here are just a few things we have done in recent weeks to save up by cutting costs in other areas:

~watching TV shows online that we do not get with our DISH network plan
~doing my points programs like SWAGBUCKS and cashing out for Amazon.com and Walmart gift cards
~using the gift cards gotten above to buy things that we need or want
~using lots of coupons, combined with sales to get the best deal possible
~trying to plan our menus around what we have in the fridge, pantry and freezer
~making cookies from a mix that I got on sale and was able to also use coupons on...cheaper than homemade from scratch in this case

~used coupons from Bath and Body Works to get free products and put those away in my gift closet
~found some great deals at the thrift stores on things that we needed and wanted...many new with tags even
~saved the peels and ends of the carrots that I made for Easter and am giving those to the dog this week as treats...he loves them and they are good for him
~making bread
~stocked up at Costco on things that were the lowest price around and that we needed
~bought the combo dvd/bluray/digital of Frozen and gave the dvd to Bradley and Isaiah for Easter and kept the bluray copy here (Bradley was thrilled!)
~bought some old kids VHS tapes for the grandsons for .50 each that they can watch here also (Elmo, Bob the Builder, Sesame Street, etc.)
~planted the ends of green onions and celery after using the tops and they are growing great and producing more food for us
~getting some rebates on things that we have purchased
~bought a phone card (tracfone) when it was on sale 
~making lots of iced tea concentrate with some of the many varieties on tea I have on hand
~used a gift card to fill my car up with gas
~hung some laundry out on the line
~Jeff is doing more remodeling in our bathroom and has done it at minimal cost (he is almost finished)
~borrowing books and movies from the libray
~limiting our trips into the towns where we shop and trying to combine errands whenever possible
~cut some flowers from our yard to use inside the house

   There are many more things that we are doing but those are all I can think of for the moment. :)

~

Living Well While Our Income Fluctuates

   My husband and I have lived most of our married life with a fluctuating income.  There were many years when we homeschooled our sons that we managed on his income alone.  Now that our children are all grown, I am back working as a substitute teacher which means I have the Summers off and that means no income coming from me for 3-4 months out of the year.  My husband still has a steady income so we are able to manage on that during those months. I had someone ask me recently how we are able to do this so I thought I would just do a post on it.

   First of all, our mortgage payments are very low in comparison to many other people and even lower than rent payment would be.  We bought a home that we could afford on one income and that has allowed us not to lose our home, even during a period of no income when my husband got hurt on the job and had to be home for awhile.  The home we bought has a nice sized yard with fruit trees and we put in a garden.  Every year we try something new or add another plant.  This year we added a blackberry bush and today we found a pear tree on clearance that we will be planting to replace the 2 peach trees we lost.  Right now in the garden we have cherries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries all bearing fruit.  Our Summer apple will give us fruit later in late August.  We grow oregano, mint, thyme, parsley chives and basil to add wonderful flavor to meals.  Lettuce, bok choi, rhubarb, squash, potatoes, peas, cucumbers, beans, eggplant and tomatoes are also growing in the garden.  I like having fresh produce right from the garden to help cut down on the grocery budget.

   I enjoy searching out great deals on things that we need and try to prepare ahead of time.  I have a gift closet that I set aside items that I find all year round that I know someone would enjoy on a special occasion like birthdays, graduations, baby showers, bridal showers, weddings and Christmas. I also stock my pantry and freezer this way, taking advantage of sales combined with coupons and also freezing produce from our garden.  I try not to waste food and during the summer will use the leftover morning coffee to make iced coffee as a afternoon treat.

   The library is one of my favorite resources for free entertainment.  Jeff and I borrow books and dvds from our little library here in town.  Since it is part of the county library system, we can request things online and have access to lots of resources.  We can even do an inter-library loan and get books from outside of our local library system.  Our library also has a free magazine section where you can take home magazines that you want to read and can drop off ones that you have already read so that other people can enjoy them.

   My husband and I do go out to eat and we do go to see movies in the theater, but we budget for these things.  We will usually hit up a matinee movie and we only do this a few times a year.  When we do eat out, it is usually at lunch.  I have been able to get gift certificates through restaurants.com for pennies on the dollar to help offset the cost of dining out.  Jeff and I also celebrate our birthdays during the Summer and we are sent all kinds of gift certificates for free birthday meals and treats.  Today we used a gift certificate for a free meals at one of our favorite places and even with tip it costs a little over $10.  We enjoy lots of free activities too like going to the river, picnics in the park, local festivals and just spending time with our family.

 



   I think a big part of learning to live with a fluctuating income is to be thankful and content with all that we are blessed with and not living beyond our means.  We are currently paying down credit card debt and should be completely debt free within the next few years.  That will be a huge weight lifted off of us.  Our plan, once we are debt free, is to then live below our means and aggressively save money towards our retirement years.  We will still budget for trips to see family and to finally take a nice vacation for just the 2 of us.  The key word there is BUDGET.  If we don't plan for it, there will not be the money there when we need it. ;) 

 

My Very Long but Frugal Day

My day started out early, like a few minutes after midnight early.  I had just gotten some chicken drumsticks put in the crockpot to cook over night to make food and broth for the dog when I stumbled upon a great deal at Safeway on their Lucerne products.  They would deduct $2 for every $10 you spent on Lucerne products (except for milk). I called to make sure I would not have to split my order into 2 separate transactions in order to take advantage of the deal.  I also had coupons loaded on my Safeway card for .99 Lucerne cream cheese (limit of 4) and had three  $1 off 2lbs of any brand cheese( bricks or shredded) which could make this a fantastic deal since the 2 lb bags and blocks of Lucerne cheese were on sale for $4.99 each.  I headed off to bed after I organized my coupons into the various piles for each store that I was going to shop at.  I looked up at the clock and it was 1 a.m..  At 2 a.m. I was rudely awakened by Sasha dog who needed to go outside since she had eaten some grass and it messed with her system.  Back to bed I went and finally fell asleep again after laying there for what seemed like forever.  5 a.m. on the dot, Molly cat decides that she needs to throw up.  Oh joy...what a lovely sound to wake up to.... :p  After that she would not let me go back to sleep so I just went ahead and got up and got all the fur babies fed and the coffee started.

I deboned the chicken legs that had been cooking all night and separated the meat into 3 bags and put that into the freezer for future meals for the dog and put the chicken broth that was left in the crockpot into a container and stuck that out on the back porch to cool off before I put it in the fridge.  I then got a loaf of bread going in the breadmaker and loaded the dishwasher.  Jeff got home from work and we Skyped with Josh for a bit and then I got myself ready to head out to do the shopping while Jeff went to bed for the day (he works all night). 

I headed out to the stores and did the following deals and even got a wonderful surprise when I ran into Chris at Walgreen's (he tracked me down). :)

Safeway: 3 bags of salad mix, 3 -2 lb  bags of shredded cheese, 4 blocks of cream cheese, 2 6 packs of yogurt, 1 Starbucks Refresher, 2 -2liter bottles of Pepsi Next, 2 jars of grape jelly, 2 bags of pistachios.  Total before savings and coupons: I paid $24.87 out of pocket and saved $45.64 after store savings and coupons...that's a 67% savings!

Walgreens: Charmin Basic and another Starbucks Refresher .  There should also be a ZONE nutritional bar in the picture but I had not eaten breakfast or lunch so I ate it while I was running around to all the other stores.  I paid $2.34 out of pocket and saved $5.78 after sales and coupons.

Winco:  2 large cans of canned pumpkin and a bag of sugar from the bulk section.  No sales and coupons used here.  Paid $4.92 out of pocket.

Walmart:  2 large family sized bottles of Suave hair conditioner, 1 Best Life butter spray (going to try this on pop corn), 1 Secret deodorant, 1 cat food, 2 Reach dental flosses, 4 Butterfinger candy bars, and 1 container of strawberries. Paid $6.70 out of pocket after price matching and coupons.  Coupon savings alone $6.08

Rite Aid:  They were clearancing out all their Easter candy at 75% off so I scored 5 of these for .74 each for a total of $3.92!  That is a savings of $11.25!!!

Dollar Tree:  3 boxes of Peanut Butter cookies and 4 packages of 30 count foam plates (will use these for Josh and Jessica's reception BBQ).  The cookies were only .25 each!  Paid $5.04 out of pocket.

I came home to smell something "funky" and found that one of the cats had hacked up a hairball (and guess what I stepped on first thing...yuck!) and Sasha dog had gotten into the big cat food bucket and eaten her fill and was now "off gassing".  How my hubby slept through all of that I will never know.

I got busy getting the refrigerator cleaned out, put the groceries away and then started a load of laundry and loaded the dishwasher (yes again) and got that running.  Now I am relaxing for a bit, returning emails and going to head to bed early.  Since the dog got into the cat food (and it does not agree with her system at all, thus me cooking chicken and rice for her), I have a feeling I will be up multiple times tonight and I have to teach music all day tomorrow.  I need all the sleep I can get to be ready for those wonderful kiddos! :)

Busy at Home

Yesterday Jeff and I were busy visiting with our grandson in the morning and then running errands after that.  When we finally got home, my hubby had to get some much needed sleep before heading to work at night.  I wanted him to sleep well, so I tried to be as quiet as possible and did not get anything done around the house.

Today was my "catch up" day.  Hubby is sleeping soundly since he was exhausted from work last night.  If you have been reading my blog or know me well, you know that we are trying to become debt free and are making some huge sacrifices to do so.  Therefore, we are doing everything we can to save money so we can pay off the debt quickly.  Here is just a glimpse of  my "frugal doings" today to help accomplish our goal and to make our lives more pleasant and even healthier in the process. ;)
~used up 2 over ripe bananas to make 2 small loaves of banana bread
~making a loaf of sourdough bread
~cooked up 2 bundles of asparagus in the oven with a bit of olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
~cooked up a large pot of half brown and half white rice (we use this in our homemade dog food for our old dog who has some major digestive issues)
~did 2 loads of laundry using free laundry detergent samples
~ordered one of the supplements we need for our dog through amazon.com using $20 in free credit I got via Swagbucks
~got in on a free Target Beauty Bag giveaway via facebook
~hard boiled 1 dozen eggs (eggs are a great buy right now with Easter coming up) for hubby to take to work with him to snack on
~working on some surveys that pay me in points that I can cash in for gift cards
~making a menu based on what we have on hand and/or have an abundance of that needs to be used up first
~SKYPE with my kids in Germany for about an hour
~ordered 25 free photo prints from Walgreens (a today only deal)
~watching some videos online and reading books from the library on some gardening methods that I have not tried before that are supposed to increase the yield of your crops
~printing off some high value coupons that combined with sales will bring down the cost of the HBA and grocery items that we need and use
 

I know that alone none of this seems like it will save much money but it all adds up.  I figure that these "little things" add up to a savings of at least $100 when you figure in the cost a phone call to Germany would be along with everything else.  This would be a day's earnings for me before taxes and everything else was taken out. I am thankful that I am able to do these things to make life much nicer for my family and that my hubby is able to do other things like remodeling our home and building furniture for us along with home and basic car repairs.  He and I make a great team!

The Importance of a Good Support Network

This morning I was pondering how blessed my family is to have such a great support network of friends and family.  I know that the "experts" stress that this is so important in times of crisis, but I also find it important in the every day life also.  Let's face it, we all feel better knowing that there are people out there that love us and are willing to help us when needed and that we also can do the same for them.


Over the years, our family has built a wonderful network of friends in addition to our family that share their time, talents, love and resources with one another.  In Hawaii, we would call this group a "hui".  Many of these people have become "hanai" (adopted by love) "ohana" (family) to us.  Not only does this help emotionally but it also helps financially.  With the economy being what it is and with so many of our "hui" trying to get out of debt, starting new families, reaching retirement years with little income and some also facing job losses or cuts in pay, it is important that we all stick together and help each other out.


Some of the ways we have done this over the years (and continue to) is by sharing our talents.  My husband used to be a carpenter and although he is no longer in that profession, he has the skills needed to be able to do home repair, remodeling, roofing, etc..  He can also build furniture.  He has been able to help friends fix their roofs, replace windows, add a new bedroom within an existing home, build furniture lifts to make getting in and out of chairs easier for people that need that help, patch drywall, build stairs, etc.  He also did extensive remodeling in our home.  My talents run along the line of saving money by couponing, being able to budget well, making the most of what you have, cooking from scratch, tutoring children and hooking people up with resources that they may need.  I'm also really good at seeking out great deals at thrift stores and yard sales so friends will give me a list of what they need and I regularly find it for them for pennies on the dollar.  We have friends (some of them have passed away now) who are/were master gardeners.  They taught us how to prune trees, the secrets of a good garden and shared their knowledge, plants and produce with us.  We now regularly share the produce from our garden with our "hui" and they share theirs (if they have a garden) with us also.  It's a win/win for everyone.  We have done other things like apple cider pressing where everyone contributes apples and container and we work the day away to press cider for all the families.  We also pass down clothing that our children have outgrown and also share tools with each other.  We help at the weddings of each of our children and grandchildren.  We help one another with appliance and computer repair.  We watch each others children, homes and pets when needed.  If we have an item we are not using, we see if someone else needs it in our "hui" before donating it to a thrift store or selling it at our yard sale (we also do some of those together).  Our group is also there to pray for one another and support each other through the daily things of life. :)


Honestly, I feel so blessed to have this wonderful group of talented and loving people in my life.  Together, we have all been able to help each other not only save money and time, but the support and friendships mean the world to me.  I know that I have learned so much from these amazing people and my life is all the more "richer" for it.

It All Adds Up!

  Please let me introduce you to Preston. :)  Preston was given to me by sweet sister-in-law Gayle for Christmas years ago.  I have a thing for pigs! ;)  Preston is about the size of a pot bellied pig (which is the pet that I begged my husband for years to get me but alas our town codes do not allow hoofed animals in the town limits. If we lived one more block up above us I would have one.)!  My niece and other children have tried to ride Preston in the past because he is just the right size for them to sit on when they are young!  Preston also has a secret...he loves to eat change!

   Preston is a piggy bank!  Whenever we have spare change or find spare change, Preston gets fed. ;)  About twice a year, Preston gets really heavy with all that change and we have to shake the change out of him.  Our kids used to say he was pooping money. ;)  Shaking Preston is a Herculean task that involves a big towel to catch all the change on and great upper body and arm strength.  Preston is rather large, round and heavy even without change in him.  He is after all a ceramic pig.  It can be rather awkward to do and you definitely feel like you have gotten a work out by the time you are done.  My wonderful hubby decided to take that task on and got to work.  He shook and shook Preston and started sorting out the change...he then rolled all the change and came out with $26.50 (and as you can see by the picture mid counting, there were lots of pennies).  I am always amazed at how much change we have managed to accumulate in Preston over the course of time.  There have been many times in the past when we have "shook the pig" in order to get enough money out of there to pay for one thing or another.  I think it would be safe to say that over the years Preston has held about $500 or more worth of change all together.  Small change really does add up to big dollars!