Life Insurance

Mondays I try to talk about money matters or share ideas on saving money and living within your means. Today I want to share a few thoughts on the importance of life insurance.

If you are single you need to think about having enough life insurance to cover the cost of funeral expenses, possible high medical bills if your death is the result of an accident, and any other debts you may have such as student loans, car, or house debt.  You don't want to leave your parents or siblings responsible for these costs.

If you are married, you need to consider all the items above and also consider how much money your spouse and children would need to live on without you there to provide an income for them. In our case, my husband is the only income provider. We carry a lot more insurance on him for that reason. If he were to die, I want enough money to pay off the house and live 5-7 years at least without having to return to work so I can have all my children in school. If I were to die, he would need to have enough money to cover daycare expenses and possibly house cleaning, etc. Some money to replace his income for at least a few months would help him be available to help the kids through the mourning process. These were all things we tried to consider.

We were hit pretty hard with the reality of the need for life insurance with the birth of our last baby. Deliveries had always been the easy part of pregnancy for me. We went to the hospital thinking we were through the worst part and would just have to support a preemie baby in the NICU. Little did we realize that my body would struggle so much with the delivery that my life was seconds from slipping away. I endured some pretty horrific complications and thanks to wonderful doctors and a loving Heavenly Father,my life was spared.

James and I reconsidered the insurance we carried after all this though. You never know when someone will be called home. It can happen in an instant! So many families in Joplin, Missouri are struggling through this reality right now.

Check online to find calculators that can help you identify how much insurance you should carry. Usually term life insurance is the way to go. It is inexpensive and meets most everyone's needs. This is probably something you have considered doing, but may have pushed off. Don't push it off any longer. Begin researching today and set a date for when you will have completed applications and purchased your policy. If you already have a policy, review the amounts and decide if what you have is sufficient.

Motivation From Others

I have been feeling for a while that my best motivation comes from hearing other's stories and experiences. With that thought in mind, I was hoping that all you readers would share some thought or story that might work to motivate us all to keep working on becoming the provident people we hope to be. Maybe you have a personal experience or you have a good friend or family member that has lived through a particular challenge and you could share some insight with us about what was learned. If your story is long enough that you feel it won't fit as a comment, please feel free to send it as an email to me and I can post it as it's own blog page. My email is tamaraprice@lightningcreekpress.com.


Please  post a comment -

Breakfast Sandwiches

My husband leaves early enough for work each morning that he brings breakfast and lunch every day. This is one of his favorite grab and go meals. He even takes them for lunch some days.

Begin with 12-24 English Muffins. (Bagels work great also.) Start frying eggs. I can fit 8 in the bottom of my largest frying pan so I build the sandwiches in sets of 8. While the eggs are frying, cover muffins with slices of cheese.

Add a slice of Canadian Bacon or a precooked sausage pattie. Sometimes we skip this step and just do egg and cheese sandwiches.

Add the fried eggs.

Top with the other side of the muffin. Some English Muffins are more dry than others. If I have a dry batch, I spread one side with a little butter.

Allow sandwiches to cool so they don't steam up the plastic bag. The steam will just create extra ice when they are frozen and you don't want that. Wrap a napkin or piece of paper towel around the sandwiches and then package two to a bag. The paper towel with help absorb the extra moisture when you  thaw the sandwiches in the microwave. This will help keep your sandwiches from getting too soggy. 

My husband tells me his coworkers are jealous whenever he brings these in. I know my nephew who is in high school loves it when his mom stocks the freezer with these as well. Hopefully, you find them a quick and easy cost-cutting meal!

Rotating Water Storage

It is recommended that you rotate your water storage once a year. This is something I wait to do until the kids can be involved. We store the bulk of our water in a 55 gallon blue drum. We also have a larger capacity water heater and a few gallons in gallon juice jugs for when we just need a little water.

After emptying the drum with a syphon hose, we rinse it out with fresh water. To do this we use the hose to fill it up just a bit and add a little bleach. 

At this point, the kids get to roll it around the backyard - their very favorite part of the night! We then empty it out by dumping.

Finally, we refill it using the hose. Because we are connected to city water at our house, it is not necessary to add any bleach. (I usually put in a couple of teaspoons just for good measure.) My kids filled it only partly before we moved it to the garage and stretched the hose to finish the process. The drum is too heavy to move once it is full! Now we are good to go for another year.

Using Powdered Milk

Powdered milk is probably the easiest "food storage" item to begin incorporating into your daily routine since we are all so used to using milk on a regular basis. Some people have an aversion to drinking powdered milk because it tastes different than what they are used to. It always takes some time to adjust to a new flavor. I'm sure we would adjust quickly if it was truly all we had.

For now, our family drinks regular milk and I do all my baking and yogurt making with powdered milk to rotate it and also to stretch out my trips to the store for more milk. I save money per gallon by using the powdered milk and I also save money by not going to the store as often and grabbing those impulse buys. Research suggests that you can easily spend an extra $20 every time you go to the store.

I bake with non-instant powdered milk that I purchase from the LDS cannery. To mix one quart, combine 4 cups warm tap water with 3/4 cup milk powder in the blender. (I actually only add 3 cups of water to start with and add my final cup of water after mixing. If I use 4 cups from the beginning, my blender always overflows and I have a mess.)

If you won't be needing your blender for a while, you can just transfer it to the fridge to chill and then use in any recipe calling for milk. Usually, I allow the milk to sit just a few minutes for the foam to separate on the top. If I pour slowly, the milk will come out of the blender and the foam will stay in. I can then measure the warm milk into the recipe I am making right away and store any remaining milk in the fridge for later use.

By storing pre-mixed milk in the fridge, it is very easy to just grab it when you need a little for Macaroni and Cheese or Hamburger Helper even. Commit to yourself that you are going to change your habit and start using some of that milk you have been storing forever. (It stores for 20+ years.) If you don't have any powdered milk, pick some up soon. It is like having your own cow without any of the smells, mess, or 4 a.m. milkings!

Ready.gov - a great resource!

Church leaders are not the only ones that have been encouraging us to prepare our families for possible disasters. Many government officials have seen the destruction firsthand that occurs when disaster strikes. There is a wonderful website that takes you through the steps of creating a family emergency plan and building an emergency or 72-hour kit. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.ready.gov/

If you think you have a plan already and a 72-hour kit completed, you should still take a little time to review this website to double check and make sure you have considered all that is recommended.

Coleslaw Mix

Not all of your 3 month supply needs to be dehydrated, frozen, or canned. Cabbage stores for quite a while in the fridge. It is also inexpensive per pound and provides the opportunity to serve something fresh for dinner that is full of vitamins and other nutrients. You can add chopped cabbage to stews or many Asian dishes. It is also delicious in coleslaw or other cabbage salads.

Sometimes the outer leaves of the cabbage begin to spoil when storing it in the fridge for a couple of months. Just peel those leaves off and use the the remaining head. I've never actually timed how many weeks my cabbages have stayed good in the fridge, but they always last longer then I think they should. Carrots also stay good for many weeks.

A food processor makes it quick and easy to chop cabbage. Use the slicing blade for best results. Shred a few carrots into the mix to add some color.

Here is one of our favorite salads. I always substitute regular onion for the green onions and I even use dehydrated onion if I need to. It is always good. I served this at a church luncheon for over 80 senior sisters and everyone loved it! I got many requests for the recipe. You can shred and chop everything a day or two ahead. Add the nuts and Ramen noodles just before serving and then toss with the dressing.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

1 package Ramen noodles, crushed 1 ½ cups cashew pieces, almonds, or                             sunflower seeds 5 ½ - 6 cups shredded cabbage 1 carrot, shredded 3-4 green onions, chopped Cooked, shredded chicken (optional)

Dressing: 1/4 cup white sugar 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 tablespoon soy sauce Ramen noodle seasoning packet

DIRECTIONS:

	In a 350 degree oven, toast the crushed noodles and nuts until golden brown. When I use sunflower seeds, I only toast the crushed noodles since the seeds are toasted already.
	In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots and green onions.   Add toasted ramen noodles and nuts just before serving.
	To prepare the dressing, whisk together the sugar, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and ramen packet. Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving. Canned chicken works great in this salad.