Canning

This year was my first year of canning.  I have wanted to learn for so long, but thought it was too hard to even start.  Sometimes, when I look at directions or something I back down or talk myself out of it due to the difficulty level.  Last year was my reckoning and I decided to face my challenge.  After all, a person can’t run all of the time.  Especially after they have bought all of the equipment and their husband reminds them of all of the unfinished projects when he stumbles on the untouched items.

So, once I started the canning process I was knee deep into it and petrified it would not turn out.  I was relying on a blog that I follow to be able to finish because directions are on the blog. So here I have the blog up on the screen, everything boiling, and kids are napping.  I was on track for succes.  It was going pretty well, until half way through I realized that I had forgotten to put in the lemon juice.  I was canning tomato juice for chili mix later in the year. 

I called my mother-in-law who informed me this was a key ingredient, but not to worry, just take off the lids, add it, and re-start the sealing process.  A little discouraging, but I did it. My Canning was complete, I did hear the jars seal like I was told they would, so now it is time to test out my first run.

Now, my goal is for the month of January is to use everything that I canned and saved over the summer in my stockpile to accommodate most of our grocery needs.  We will need milk and other items, but I want to take 2 months out of the year where we spend 1/2 of our allotted amount for groceries.  The savings is going into our “pay off our home early fund”.

Currently, we spend close to $140.00 per month on groceries for a family of five.  I will go into how I plan meals in another post, but I was fortunate enough to have been raised by grandparents who lived through the depression and taught me extreme frugality in many areas.

For the month of January to offset the costs of gas since it is cold here, and I will post my gas bill here after we pay it, the idea is to spend $70.00 for the month in groceries.  Check back next week to see how this goes.

How do you save money in the winter?  Let me know below.