Provident Living Quotes

². Provident living is ... an “orderly approach to using the resources, gifts, and talents the Lord shares with us”³ and “joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies.”  

This definition found on the internet is embodied in the following quotes. Provident living is a way of life that prepares us to be better stewards with what the Lord has blessed us and to be able to help others.  I like to refer to these quotes when considering my expenditures and use of time.

The history of the world is the record of man in quest of his daily bread and butter. ~Hendrik Van Loon

We eat what we can and what we can't, we can.  ~Susan Branches' grandma

In hard times, if you can't eat it don't buy it!  ~ Ruth Pingree Smith

Be possessed of good judgement...the faculty of placing everything in its proper place...discernment, reason, moderation, consistency, wisdom. ~Katie C. Jensen

Success, happiness, and even salvation may be a simple matter of being prepared and in the right place at the right time.  ~Emily H. Bennett

If we want to be used for the benefit of mankind--helping the Lord with his mission--we must ourselves be in a position to be used by him.  ~Elaine Cannon

We have to learn to make our heaven before we can live in it. ~Paula Wescott

To acquire is not enough.  One must also know how to conserve and skillfully manage if all is to go well. ~Cecelia Ludwig

"Food prices are rising faster than your interest rate in your savings account, so you can make more money on (storing) your food than (putting) money ... in your savings account."  ~Chrystal Geddard, Every Day Food Storage (see also Load Up the Pantry)

President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the April 1938 general conference, said...:  "Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you." ...let us buy a home that we can afford and thus ease the payments which will constantly hang over our heads without mercy or respite for as long as 30 years.  Ensign 11/98

Church leader, Marion G. Romney, has emphasized "to care for people on any other basis is to do them more harm than good.  The purpose of Church welfare is not to relieve a Church member from taking care of himself."  (Welfare Services Meeting, October 5, 1974.)  I accept the principles of the welfare program.  I endorse them.  In too many places, in too many ways, we're getting away from them.  The principle of self-reliance is fundamental to the happy life.  ~(lost the notation)

Because of the probability that some may join the Church for the material security they think they will find here, missionaries are counseled not to emphasize the Church welfare program in their proselyting.  I met an investigator once in New Hampshire who was joining the Church for just that reason.  He told me how impressed he was with the welfare program and how  much he wanted that security.  I told him, "Yes, by all  means, if you know about the welfare program, join the Church for that reason.  We need all of the help we can get, and you shall be called upon continually to contribute to the welfare of others."  His enthusiasm for baptism faded immediately.  ~Boyd K. Packer, Ensign 4/75

Even though this was going to be a big problem, I still felt good about acting on my determination to store wheat, honey, powdered milk, and salt.  Rotation is a problem in food storage, but with these four items there is less worry.  Wheat, honey and salt will last indefinitely.  Powdered milk is rotated easily...Our family will store other things, such as fruit, potatoes, peanut butter, and shortening, for a more palatable and interesting diet.  ~Bernice Ketner

There are two kinds of people on earth today,

Just two kinds of people, no more, I say...

...the two kinds of people on earth I  mean

Are the people who lift and the people who lean.  

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

15 Photo Preservation Tips

Here are 15 tips every scrapper should know:

1. A shoe box is safer than many photo albums.
2. Albums that are not acid free, cause yellowing and crumbling. 
3. The safest albums will say acid free or archivally safe, and are more expensive.
4. Bindings on albums should allow pages to lie flat, to keep photos from bending or cracking.
5. Start with most recent photographs and keep them up to date.  Then take older photos and sort them by decades, then approximate years. 
6. Make one "family album" and one for each child.
7. Document your photos with names, dates, events, feelings, humorous captions, appropriate quotes and family stories.
8. Trim pictures that include too much sky or background, a thumb or camera strap.  Use phot trimmers or templates to trim photos into shapes--a heart, circle or oval for example.
9. Do not cut Polaroid prints!!!
10. Be selective--mount only well-focused, varied shots.
11. Include special mementos with your photos:  lock of hair, post cards.
12. Take at least one roll of black and white film per year--they outlast color prints (or black and white digital prints). 
13. Store albums in an upright position, and at temperatures you could tolerate.
14. Either photo copy newspaper articles on acid-free paper or deacidify by spraying them with a product called Wei T'o (at craft stores).
15. Keep negatives in acid-free office envelopes (office supply stores), and label with the approximate months and years, and make a note about the pictures, such as Grandpa's birthday.

Powdered Milk-You Don't Have To Drink It To Use It!

The milk I keep in food storage is noninstant powdered milk.  This is different from instant in taste, how it dissolves, and its shelf life.  Global Post explains well the difference between the two in Differences Between Instant and Noninstant Dry Milk.  

As with all food storage, powdered milk should be rotated.  This can be done by combining half a gallon of mixed powdered milk with a half a gallon of whole milk.  Reconstituted powdered milk should be thoroughly chilled overnight before drinking.

Foods made with powdered milk will have fewer calories and less cholesterol than those made from whole milk.  Adding additional milk to the recipe will enhance the nutritive value of the recipe.  In any recipe calling for milk, simply add water for the milk called for in the recipe.  Recipes call for many types of milk.  The following recipes can be made from powdered milk (such as the type from a dry-pack cannery).  This is also a great way to rotate food storage powdered milk.

• Whole milk:  1 cup water, 1/3 cup powdered milk.
• Whipped evaporated milk:  Makes 3 cups.  1 cup evaporated milk, 2 tablespoons lemon juice.  Thoroughly chill evaporated milk.  Add lemon juice and whip until stiff.  Sweeten and flavor as desired.
• Evaporated milk:  1 cup water, 2/3 cup powdered milk.
• Buttermilk or sour milk:  1 cup water, 1/3 cup powdered milk, 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice.
• Sweetened condensed milk:  Makes about 14 ounces.  3/4 cup non-instant (1-1/3 instant) dry milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup hot tap water.  Place hot water in blender.  With blender going, add sugar and dry milk, blend until smooth.

From The Idea Door, How To Use Powdered Milk Without Having To Drink It!, by Janice Luncford

Family Reunion Calendars

My grandma (right) looked forward to family reunions every summer.

Family Reunion Calendars make great mementos and can help you learn more about your family.  To make a calendar, collect 12 good recipes from extended family with the following information:  
Where did it come from?
How old is it?
Is it a tradition?  

Each month cook the recipe of the month.  Make extras as gifts!  Take pictures of your family with the completed recipe.  


I found this idea when our family visted The Alabama Department of Archives and History right next to the Alabama State Capitol.  If you ever visit Montgomery, AL this is one of my favorite haunts to visit--especially if you love state history and family history.  

http://www.archives.state.al.us/ tells you all about the Alabama Dept. of Archives and History.