Live Debt Free

Pay off debt. Save. Give. Live your mission.

Bone-in Chicken – DFA Tip of the Week – 1/19/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…boneless skinless chicken breasts.

I’m not sure when they started to get popular, but I think we’ll all agree that boneless skinless chicken breast have taken over the chicken breast market & are most likely here to stay!

Thinking back as a child, I don’t remember my parents cooking with them.  Instead they bought breast on the bone.  I don’t know if this was because they were budget conscious or because that was the only way chicken was sold back then…at any rate…growing up we always ate chicken on the bone.  I tried to look up “the history of boneless skinless chicken breast” on Google but found nothing.  If you want to look it up, good luck…the search results are filled with recipes, but no history.  Not even Wikipedia had any information on the history of the boneless skinless chicken breast.

**I’ll give someone a free blog ad on Debt Free Adventure for the entire month if they can give us a decent history of this modern convenience food.**

Now on to the Tip of the Week for January 19th, 2009:

Don’t buy both boneless skinless chicken breast and canned or boxed chicken broth from the grocery store!  Save around 75% of the money these would cost and cook healthier in the process.  Simply buy chicken breast on the bone, then boil it in water with a few of your favorite spices to make your own chicken broth!

I did so today and make a big pot of chicken stew.  Instead of spending $10 – $15 on the BSCB & store bought stock I did the following:

  • Boiled the breasts on the bone, sit aside to let them cool
  • pull the meat of the bone
  • chop veggies, saute veggies
  • add everything back into my homemade chicken broth & Voila…soup on the cheap!

Not only was this meal made a lot cheaper than normal, it was also more delicious! The homemade broth was EXCELLENT!

If you use this tip, let us know about it by leaving a comment…

DebtFreeAdventure::Category List

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I’d like to take this time to address and expound upon my newly formed category list for this website.

The categories I chose for DebtFreeAdventure are based upon the principles used in the book “Your Money Counts – The biblical guide to earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, and getting out of debt.” by Howard Dayton.

This website is in no way infringing upon the copyright of the book mentioned, instead it is a journal of one man’s chronicles to become debt free using the principles from said book.

Here is the category list I will be using along my description of each:

  • Bible – Biblical references regarding the handling of finances, Jesus Christ, or salvation.
  • Budget – Information on budgeting and how it is a must regarding your finances.
  • Children – Training children to understand that all things are from God, that money is only being entrusted to us by Him temporarily, and that we needs be faithful stewards of that money.
  • Counsel – Any form of outside help we can get to aid us in the proper handling of our finances.
  • Debt – How to get out of it as quickly and as biblically as possible.
  • Giving – All things are from God and we cannot properly manage money unless we are giving according to His Word.
  • Honesty – “Ill gotten gain shall not prosper!”
  • Investing – The proper saving and investing of our money according to God’s Word.
  • Spending – How to spend our money wisely.
  • Work – Work hard, as unto the Lord.

Let it be noted that my wife & I do not currently have any children, but of course we need to prepare ourselves to properly train our future children in the way of finances according to God’s Word.

I do not forsee any categories being added or taken away from this list, however I will do as the Lord leads me in this endeavor.  My prayer for this website is that the Lord will lead me in my efforts, will work through me to help my family and my readers, and will bless my efforts abundantly; for without his blessing all is vain.

Are You Paying Yourself?

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When it comes to saving money lately, my personal strategy leaves little to be desired.  Over the past few years I have failed to save ANY money.  On the contrary, I have actually been slowly slipping into renewed credit card debt.  Sure, I may not have as much credit card debt as a lot of people, or even as much as the average person; but to me, any credit card debt is too much.

Well I’m fed up.  I’m done paying credit card companies interest money while not paying myself anything.  What am I going to do about it?  Starting immediately, I’m going to have my employer direct deposit $100 into my savings account every month.  Sounds simple right?  Well…it is simple, and I’m a little upset at myself for not doing it sooner.  However, I refuse to dwell on the fact that I haven’t done it in the past and am excited about doing it from here on out.

I’m actually starting a new blog to this end as well.  I will not reveal what exactly it is yet because I’m not completely finished setting it up, but I am very excited about it and will announce it to you all soon.

Maybe it’s time for you to start paying yourself too?