Training Minds Ministry will be having a HUGE garage sale on Saturday, May 3. The entire Jeub family is tasked with setting things up and selling a truck load of stuff. All proceeds will go to Training Minds Ministry. Several families have donated some great items that will be sold off throughout the day.

And the Jeub family is making a considerable donation: THE JEUB BUS. Yes, we are hanging up our bus adventures, and we’re donating it to the ministry to sell for a sticker price of $4000. The bus is in solid shape, but our family has not driven it for over a year. We are reverting back to tent camping, and a bus conversion just isn’t in our future plans as a family. However, we LOVE our bus and want to pass it onto another family. The bus will be parked in the lot ready to tour.

Training Minds Ministry is able to provide debate camps for home schoolers from all over the country at a most reasonable rate. In fact, our camps this year are the most inexpensive, particularly with the fundraising efforts of things like this garage sale. Your donations to the sale are tax deductible, too. Hope to see you there on Saturday!

When we spoke in Minnesota, one mom asked how we afford extracurricular activities (the question is at the end of our Cheaper by the Baker’s Dozen CD ROM). We choose one “activity night” for the entire family, most years being AWANA on Wednesday nights. With such a large family, we aren’t able to cart the kids around to individual activities all over town all at different times.

However, when a child shows considerable talent in a particular area, we are drawn to give that child the special attention needed to develop that talent. In fact, we rushed home from Minnesota to get Noah into a special gymnastics program offered by our phy ed teacher (Dave Kemp of PE+). It was a 4-day class of 2 hours each, consisting of students of all talents and years of experience.

Noah has never taken gymnastics, but in these four short days developed a routine that was a head above the rest. He truly has a natural talent. Check out the Google video below. He makes every move look so incredibly natural, and remember, he had only four days of training…

“Train up a child in the way he should go” - Proverbs 22:6a

As Wendy and I prepare for another presentation of “Cheaper by the Baker’s Dozen,” we are tempted to rename the presentation “Hurry Up and Stock Up the Pantry.” News item after news item is validating what we have been saying ever since oil began its rapid increase of prices. Add the minimum wage increase, growing demand in Asia, and government environmental policies for biofuels, you’ve got a recipe for expensive food!

The Wall Street Journal came out with an incredibly persuasive article on stocking up the pantry. Columnist Brett Arends lists the reasons with logical analysis in his article “Load up the pantry“:

• Food is a global economy, so economic food prices in Asia does effect us in America.
• Inflation in 2007: Flour up 13%; dairy up 10%; eggs up 30%; poultry up 5.4%. Compare that to the average money market fund (2.5%).
• Food companies are no longer absorbing costs for raw materials (e.g. wheat has tripled in three years).
• There aren’t “starving children in China” anymore, as a rising middle class is demanding more food (same in India).

Now, I just want to note that I was NOT one of those alarmists freaking out about Y2K. Back then I thought the claims of food shortages and riots were greatly inflated. You remember, computers would all collapse and ships would stop shipping food and chaos would consume. I remember thinking, “If that happens, I’m going hunting,” and I let others stock up on food and candle wax.

Also note, however, that the Y2K fears were not based on economics: they were based on technological opinions that no one fully understood. As I claim in Cheaper by the Baker’s Dozen, “Economics is as sure as gravity.” You can always count on it to work out, for the better or for the worse.

What should you do? Our third Principle of Frugal Living listed in the presentation states, “Frugal living requires creative solutions to economic realities.” Notice we didn’t say “economic problems” or “catastrophes.” There is really no such thing. Economics is amoral and simply a “reality” that we must deal with. The ideas Wendy and I come up with are simply ways we have dealt with the reality for 17 years of our marriage raising 14 kids.

Wendy’s Love in the Kitchen cookbook has a section in it called “Stock your shelves.” No kidding: nearly the exact same title as today’s Wall Street Journal article. She explains how she frugally keeps a tight reign on our family budget and how you can too. It isn’t computer engineering; much of it is simply understanding the family economic unit. Really, the advice she gives is worth much more than the price of the cookbook.

Could you do us a favor? Cut-and-paste the content of this post and send it to your friends. We’re onto something here, and you can help. Spread the word, for I believe our cookbook and CD ROM are rightly timed to serve a growing need out there. Thanks!

Wendy and I were shocked to hear that Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club has put a restriction on the number of bags of rice customers can buy (see “Wal-Mart limits rice purchases“). I used to work for Sam’s Club (many moons ago) and they are very capitalistic in their strategies, so for them to place a restriction on demand is unprecedented.

We were even more surprised because of how apparently prophetic the news was! In our presentation last Friday at the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators conference in Duluth we specifically said that we bought 100 pounds of rice from Sam’s Club. “And you should too,” Wendy said. It was when we were explaining the spike in food prices worldwide. (You can order the CD ROM here.)

Wendy and I are giving the same “Cheaper by the Baker’s Dozen” presentation tomorrow in Colorado Springs. It is supposed to be an encouragement to home schoolers to keep on home schooling. We believe that no matter how bad the economy gets, God will still provide to keep families doing what God is calling them to do. That’s the purpose of our frugal resources like our CD ROM and Wendy’s cookbook.

It has been one year since we released Love in the House: Filling Your Home With the Greatest Commandment. We have gotten a ton of feedback from readers all over the world. We pulled the testimonies together in one long post. If you’ve read the book yourself, please take a moment to post your thoughts. If you haven’t read it, please order it today!

- Jessica F. (Minnesota)

- W. Cukierski (New York)

It was standing-room only when approximately 500 moms and dads gathered in a ballroom in Duluth, Minnesota to hear Wendy and I debut our “Cheaper by the Baker’s Dozen” presentation. The principles of frugal living left many taking diligent notes. The presentation went great! We met many folks who have bought our book and many who we have emailed with over the years. Several old friends from high school and college came up to chat at our booth.

We have one more day of the MACHE conference. We may sell out of Wendy’s cookbook today (we have less than 100 left). We figured over 90% of those who thumbed through it at our table bought it. This is not your ordinary cookbook! Some comments:

• The recipes have ingredients that I actually use!
• The opening chapters are encouraging to me!
• I’m told how to save money when I shop/prepare for the meals!
• These are actually the recipes that the Jeubs eat!
• These recipes aren’t just for big families, they will fit my family too!

We’ll be shipping the piling orders off on Tuesday, so get your order in here. Remember, it comes with a free presentation of “Cheaper by the Dozen” ($12.95 value), but only while supplies last.

We’ll be leaving early, early, early on Tuesday morning to head off to Minnesota. We’re bringing only 10 kids along. Cynthia and Lydia qualified to the NCFCA Regional Tournament in Seattle and will be heading out there to compete in speech and debate. We’re very proud of the both of them; they have put in a ton of hard work. As for the rest of us, we’re going to Minnesota so that Wendy and I can speak at the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators. Whew! What a busy time!

Tomorrow (Monday), Lydia and I will be coming into the office to send out the stacked up orders of our newest products. We are so incredibly excited at the quality of these new resources for families. If you haven’t already ordered these, get your order in by noon tomorrow and we’ll make sure they get out the door before we leave. Here’s a rundown of the products:

• Love in the Kitchen – Wendy’s long-awaited cookbook…it is awesome!
• Love in the House Study Guide — A great accompaniment to our book!
• Cheaper by the Dozen – Presentation CD ROM giving strategies to frugal living…it CAN be done!
• Arrows in His Hand — Now in its second printing, this children’s book is perfect for families
• Jeub’s Guide to Speech & Debate — A great resource for homeschoolers…here for 1/2 off!

We hope these resources will bless your family abundantly! Though we will be on the road for the next week, email us with any questions concerning these products. Please pray for for us: safe travels and mountain-top experiences in the Midwest!

Wendy is working late nights at the office (which is usually my job) putting the finishing touches on her first cookbook, Love in the Kitchen. I was making final edits to it last night and wanted to post the introduction on our blog. First, here’s a synopsis…

One of Wendy’s most popular questions is what she cooks for a family of 16. While most people are terrified at the thought of what the Jeub Family Kitchen looks like, it really isn’t all that bad. In fact, Wendy is loved by her family and friends for making some of the best food imaginable. The children and I love her cooking! What is most intriguing about her cookbook is this: Wendy shows how to make feeding many mouths incredibly affordable. Despite the downturn in the economy, her grocery bill still is between $500 and $700 per month!

Interested? The cookbook will be fresh off the Monument Publishing presses on Monday April 14 and you can order your copy in our new Resource Center. From now through Mother’s Day, we’re throwing in a second cookbook for HALF OFF! Now you can buy one for mom and grandma. Click here for information. Click through the following link for the Introduction… Read the rest of this entry »