The January issue of Molly’s Money-Saving Digest is out, and I’ve been asked to review it! Actually, it gets even better. I get to tell you about the Digest every single month this year and I also get to tell you about the other 2010 Econobuster publications.
This is Molly’s second year, and she’s cheerfully continuing to help moms manage their homes while saving money. Molly has a blog, Econobusters, and sends out a free newsletter each week (you can sign up at the blog), but her Digests are special, in-depth discussions of a wide range of topics, complete with many internet links.
In this issue, well-known Mrs. Martha Greene of Marmee Dear teaches pie making in great detail with tips, pictures, and recipes. Crusts. Toppings. Fillings. They’re all covered. Our family is gluten-free, so we won’t be using any of the crusts, but there’s a neat trick for thickening fruit pies that we will try. There’s also a scrumptious-sounding, sugar-laden German chocolate pie that we might try for some very, very special occasion. (Yum!)
There are also a few forms to print out: a January calendar, some bill and budget pages, a to-do page including space for a Bible memory verse (great idea!!), and a clothing inventory list. Now, it is good to be organized, but I have absolutely no aspirations to ever inventorying our clothing…and I’d probably lose the lists if I did. For some families, however, this might be just the thing.
What I do want to get involved in, however, is making Bible prints and pictures for our home. We have some cute frames, and I’d like to use them for this. There are also instructions for using photos and mod podge to make Bible art for your walls. We have mod podge, bought long ago in a crazy wanna-be-crafty mood, but I’ve never known how to use it. The detailed instructions and pictures will help.
The Digest also features a weekly menu complete with recipes and a shopping list. If you are a cook-from-scratch, healthy-eating, seasonal-produce-only expert, this section might be a bit disappointing but you’d still be able to use quite a few of the recipes. For many people, however, having some pre-planned meals could be a great help.
‘Kid’s Corner’ includes instructions for a unique paper-mache piggy bank as well as information on how to open a checking account, complete with a chequebook ledger and sample cheques to print as examples. Next month’s lesson will include balancing a chequebook.
‘Something Old, Something New’ is about ideas for storing and displaying photos and jewellery. Cute, but not my style.
And then we hit the biggie, ‘Evalutate, Prioritize, and Organize,’ which is this month’s feature. This is really good. I, for one, am always in need of inspiration to streamline my homemaking and my life, and this section of the Digest provides an upbeat, do-able overview of how to deal with our time, money, and ‘stuff.’
Finally, one of the Molly contributors (because, no, cheerful dimpled Molly is not one person, but a group of talented ladies) tells an inspiring story of thriving through serious budget cuts, and how the Lord taught her to trust in Him.
‘From My Mailbox’ includes tips from readers, and ‘In Closing’ is based on an old essay, ‘How to Make a Home Happy.’ The first lesson is “to be content with simple and common things.” That is what Molly’s Digest teaches me: joy in the simple, everyday tasks of home making, and well as tips for doing them more effectively.
You can download the January issue of Molly’s Money-Saving Digest here for $4.95 US. There’s also an organizational bundle you can buy for $9.95 US, which includes both the January Digest and Molly Gets Organized, an ebook containing all the organization articles of Molly’s 2009 Digests.
Disclosure Policy: I received the January issue of Molly’s Money-Saving Digest for free so that I could review it. Note that I do not make any money if you buy an Econobuster product. I considered becoming an affiliate, but I decided not to get my reviewing mixed up with money-making. This way it’s much easier for me to remain objective, and I’ll concentrate on money-saving instead, using Molly’s tips.
For more frugal tips see Tightwad Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday..
I used to get her ezines, but unsubscribed from them when I started working. I needed to cut down on some of the mailing lists to which I was subscribed. I may have to resubscribe so that I can have access to some of this stuff. One thing I want to do with dd is have her work on making a homekeeping journal, filling it w/lots of pages of things to keep a home running smoothly. Dd is quite the list maker, so this type of activity will be a good one for her, plus she can use it for her 4-H activities.
I like the idea of having my daughters go through these materials. Thank you for sharing that great idea.
Annie Kate
Glad you reviewed this. I've been wanting to know more about what is in the digest.
Thanks for your visit. I, too, love the quotation 'trusting an unknown future to a known God.' I find it fantastically reassuring. I think it originally came from Corrie Ten Boom, but it is years since I first came across it and am no longer sure.
God bless you!
Sarah