I'm Frugal

Free or Cheap Tax Preparation

2011-03-25T20:20:00.001-06:00

Yes, in the midst of tax season while working extremely long hours, I am taking a minute to post some suggestions for frugal tax preparation. I am not offering any sort of tax advice, just letting you know some options that are out there for frugal filing. Perhaps having them all in one place to compare will make it easier for you. I have no affiliation with any of theses services mentioned below, and I do not endorse them, nor have I been compensated for mentioning them.

That said, I work for a CPA and two accountants. Honestly? It may be worth it to you to have your return done by a professional. They will usually back you up and stand behind you in case of an audit, and these professionals typcially understand the tax law extremely well. Tax law is very complicated, but I am not saying don't do your own taxes. Just offering the suggestion that sometimes it is cheaper to go to a local accountant than with one of the major tax preparation services across the country. For example, your accountant may not charge per form or have additional state filing fees like some services do. It's something that you need to ask. You also need to consider that if the fee you paid your accountant to do your taxes saved you more than that in reduced tax owed, then it was well worth the money you paid him/her.

Besides your local accountant, if you are looking for some free or other options or want to prepare your taxes yourself, here's some information that will hopefully be helpful to you.

The IRS offers free tax help. If your adjusted gross income is less than $56,000 you can file for free.

VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program) offers free tax preparation for low to moderate income families. Typically this applies to those individuals or couples who made less than $49,000. You may have to pay a filing fee, but most locations offer free electronic filing. To locate the nearest VITA site, call 1-800-906-9887 or check this partial VITA site list online. (This list does not include every VITA site.) Juts click on your state and see if you can find a location near you.

Military families and personnel can get free tax preparation assistance:

The military also has a strong Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. The Armed Forces Tax Council (AFTC) consists of the tax program coordinators for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The AFTC oversees the operation of the military tax programs worldwide, and serves as the main conduit for outreach by the IRS to military personnel and their families.

Airmen, soldiers, sailors, marines, guardsmen, and their families worldwide receive free tax preparation assistance at offices within their installations. These VITA sites provide free tax advice, tax preparation, and assistance to military members and their families. They are trained and equipped to address military specific tax issues, such as combat zone tax benefits and the effect of the new Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) guidelines.

Most service members file their tax returns electronically at their tax centers and, by selecting direct deposit, receive their refunds in as little as one week. This combined effort ensures that service members receive free tax assistance from well-trained and equipped military tax preparers. (From the IRS website)

Click her for online tax assistance from AARP

"The AARP Tax-Aide Program is a volunteer-run, free tax-preparation and assistance service offered to low- and middle-income taxpayers with special attention to those age 60 and older. Our volunteers are trained and IRS-certified to understand individual federal-tax issues. Our volunteers provide tax assistance as a public service and cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided." (from AARP website)

Ask TaxGuru is a free tax resource that offers free tax tips and has multiple articles to guide you through preparation.

For those of you who are looking for free online software:

Click here for Free Tax Software Reviews on About.com TurboTax free online software. Free federal e-filing. To file your state return, you will pay an additional $27.95 per state return. Personally, I have used TurboTax for several years, though I always bought the actual disk and have never tried the free version.

H&R Block has free online software. Keep in mind that you will still have to pay a state filing fee of about $39 (per state return). Also, I called H&R Block, and they base their in store services on your filing status. They also charge additional fees per form (such as dependents or itemized deductions). If you decide to go with a place like this, ask for hidden fees.

TaxACT Free Tax Preparation is available here. Free federal e-filing. You will pay an additional charge of $14.95 to file your state tax return. If you need to file more than one state return, it would be per return.

eTax.com also has free software. Free federal e-filing. State returns are an additional $29.95 per return and are not e-filed. They must be printed and paper filed, which will slow down any return you might be getting. If you have to pay, that might not be such a bad thing, but you would have to make sure that you postmark your return by April 18th. (Yep, this year you have 3 extra days, thanks to a holiday in Washington, DC that falls on April 15th this year. )

efile.com also has free software. At this site, you can file multiple state returns for a total fee of $19.95 (not per return, total). Free federal e-filing.

FreeTaxUSA offers free software and the state return is an additional charge of $9.95. Free federal e-filing.

EsmartTax.com Free federal filing. State returns are $19.95 per return.

TaxSlayer.com has free federal filing. State returns are $14.90 per return. There is also a free military edition with free state filing included.

Express1040 offers free federal filing with state returns at $12.95 per return.

TaxBrain.com offers Federal 1040EZ for $14.05, with other filing forms starting at $19.95. This site offers free techinical support, as well as free live chat.

CompleteTax offers free basic federal filing with a state filing fee of $34.95 per return.

MyFreeTaxes offers free federal AND state filing. This site is sponsored by Wal-Mart.

My1040EZ offers free federal filing with the state filing fee of $9.95 per return.

Obviously, this list could go on and on, but hopefully there's a few ideas here that will help benefit you. Again, I will put a disclaimer out there that how you choose to file your taxes is your own decision and I am not offering tax advice regarding your personal return.

GOOD LUCK and when you are relaxing and doing something you love on the 18th of April, please think of me as I slave into the night at my office. :)

I Need Suggestions

2011-01-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

All right all you blog stalkers--

I need suggestions. What are you looking for? What brought you to this site -- I mean, you want to save money, yes. But what kinds of posts would benefit you? Which posts have helped you?

I am constantly trying to think of ways to save $$, and I am always interested in ideas that others have to share. If you give me some ideas or areas you'd like suggestions, I am happy to research them and post the results that I find or ideas I can think of. I feel badly that there hasn't been much lately in the way of new posting. I'll try harder. My husband is, once again, unemployed due to lay offs, so I need all the suggestions I can get. Send me your comments or send a private message. We'd love to hear from you!

Donating Plasma

2011-01-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for extra money, you might consider donating your plasma. You'd have to contact your specific local donation center, but many of them pay for plasma donations. The one near me pays $20 for the first visit of the week, and $25 for the second visit of the same week. You have to pass strict screening regulations and it can take a long time, from what I hear. I have not donated plasma (yet) and I am not sure that I have the time right now. However, I have a few friends who do this regularly. It can take up to 2 hours per visit, depending on your size, so you need to consider that.

You're also providing a great gift for those in need of plasma donations, and that's an even better reason to donate. Many people are in great medical need of donated plasma. It's a great thing to do for them.

Frequently Asked Questions about Plasma Donation

Who needs plasma?

Find a BioLife donation center

CSL Donation centers

Donation eligibility requirements (may vary from center to center)

Don't forget these are just a few places you could donate. Try going to a search engine and typing "Donating plasma in ________" and put your city in the blank space. I am sure you'll find out more information about where you need to go.

Crustless Quiche Recipe

2011-01-16T23:10:00.001-07:00

I am posting this recipe because it's fairly cheap, and you can use up leftovers in it as well. Oh...and my kids love it, so I am hoping yours do as well.

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded cheese (optional -- you can omit this and it tastes fine, but it is better with it)
1 tsp. dry onion (soak it in a little water and it will not be crunchy - or use a little fresh onion)
1 (13 oz) can evaporated milk
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
4 eggs
3/4 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Optional mix-ins:
crumbled, cooked bacon
cooked ham
cooked chicken or turkey
chopped pieces of steak
pepperoni
spinach
mushrooms
green peppers
crumbled, cooked sausage
tomatoes
olives
basil
chives
asparagus
other vegetables
whatever else you can think of that you'd add to an omelet, basically

Directions:
Spray a 9" glass pie plate with cooking spray. Beat eggs, milk, and seasonings with a wire whisk or rotary beater until well blended. Add your mix-ins, cheese, and onions and stir well. Place a small glass cup or dish in the center of your pie plate. Pour the egg mixture into the pie plate, around the cup. Microwave on medium power (70%) for 13 minutes. When there's about 3-4 minutes left, pause the microwave and remove the glass dish/cup. Stir the quiche and let it cook the rest of the way. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!

-- NOTE--
I double this recipe to feed my family of 6. It works great. Just use a deeper pie plate, and cook it for about 18-20 minutes, still on 70% power.

Complete meal serving suggestions:
Juice
Fresh fruit or fruit salad
Toast with jam or butter
Fruit smoothies
Sausage links
Salsa

Feel free to leave any suggestions of what else you think sounds good to add. Enjoy!

21 Money Savers

2010-10-27T09:34:00.000-06:00

Check out this article for tips on saving money on food, your mortgage, medical bills, clothing, pet care, and more!

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/financiallyfit/21-money-savers-you-may-be-ignoring-2398956/

Making Meals from Items in Your Fridge

2010-09-28T14:23:00.000-06:00

Easy meals that are made from basic items that most people would have in their homes or by reinventing leftovers. Just get creative and inventive with the items that you have in your refrigerator or pantry.

Creative Uses for Leftovers

2010-09-28T14:13:00.000-06:00

Watch the video for a few simple ways to stretch your leftovers into creative meals the next day.

Free Theatre Tickets

2010-09-20T09:12:00.001-06:00

Reservations go online this weekend. Click on the link, see if you're in one of the qualifiying areas. Symphony, musicals, and live entertainment for FREE.

http://www.freenightoftheater.net/shows/index.cfm

A Few Frugal Websites

2010-09-12T22:14:00.000-06:00

I have been spending time on the couch a lot because of my injured leg, and so what does any girl do when she's laid up like that? Surf the internet, of course! I am going to link to a few sites I found that have some fun ideas for your home, and they are super cheap.

Sassy Style Redesign
This girl is amazing with a can of spray paint. It's fun to see what she can come up with and a lot of her projects only cost a few dollars. I wish there was a "search" box on her blog, but so far, I didn't see one. I didn't see projects by "label", either, but trust me. There's some fun ideas for nearly every room of the home and they are all inexpensive.

Becky Higgins
Again, great with a can of spray paint. Click on the "DIY" label for some great projects for your home. She also has some good organization ideas, and her photos are beautiful.

Somewhat Simple
Instructions and ideas for people who sew.

Tales from Blogaritaville
She posts about Thrifty Thursdays and there looks to be quite a few posts in this category. I haven't spent a ton of time on this site, but it might have some great suggestions for you.

You'll find links to other sites from these, and you could spend hours reading blogs....hmm...not that I have done that......haha.....

I have an excuse, right? I have to rest my leg. Yeah, um, that's it......

What websites do you frequent or particularly like? Where do you go for inspiration and frugal ideas?

Saving Money on Your Showers

2010-08-01T22:32:00.003-06:00

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? (Or in this case, an idea, lol). My shower at home is in need of repair. Right now I don't have the money to fix it, so my other option is taking a bath, as I don't have another shower at home. I'm not a big fan of baths, but I am a fan of cleanliness, lol. It occured to me that I am regularly at the gym and I could shower before I come home, which is something that I have never bothered to do because I didn't like the idea of dragging all my stuff down there. But I got to thinking. Would it be more frugal of me to shower at the gym? Ok, hear me out. This might sound like a weird tip. It's not for everyone, and it won't save significant amounts of money, but every little bit counts, right?

Showering at the gym might sound like an odd suggestion. If you are not already paying a monthly membership, then this might not be a frugal tip that works for you. Through my husband's employer we have access to a discounted rate at a local gym. I recently tried this out. It's really not that bad. The showers at my gym are quite nice. And let's face it. You're not likely to actually take a 10 minute shower at the gym. That just seems like a long shower when you know other people also need the showers, so if it helps you shorten it, that's also good for the environment. :)

How much water per minute do you use in a shower? It really depends on your shower. The National Standard in the United States is 2.5 gallons per minute. Most showers vary from 2-4 gallons per minute (gpm). However, according to this website, if your bathroom was designed before 1992, your shower head likely puts out 5 or 5.5 gallons per minute. Keep in mind that each shower head varies, and you might have a low flow shower head. You could do the math on your own shower if you would like to. For sake of example, we'll go with the 2.5 gallons per minute.

A few tips:

1. Shorten your showers. This will save money and water.

2. Now...you could take a bath instead. Keep in mind that the average bathtub can hold about 80 gallons of water. If you have a larger tub, this number will increase. If this is a solution you choose, then you probably don't want to fill up the tub very far. Half full, the bathtub would still hold 40 gallons, which is equivalent to a 16 minute shower. Showers really are more economical.

3. Install a low-flow shower head that uses fewer gallons per minute.

4. Shower less often. (Whatever that is for you, but still, please be clean and hygenic, lol.)

5. Shower at the gym or YMCA (or wherever you workout).

6. Lower the temperature on your water heater to 120 degrees F (or lower).

Examples:
Let's assume that you take a 10 minute shower. That's 25 gallons per shower (based on the national average of 2.5 gpm, listed above). A 15 minute shower would result in 37.5 gallons per shower. According to this website, the average cost of a 10 minute shower is $2.10 if you have an older shower head. However, if you have a low-flow shower head, the cost is only $0.91 per 10 minute shower.

Let's stick with our example of a 10 minute shower. I figure if I were to shower at the gym 5 days per week, I'd save 125 gallons of water weekly at home. That's 6500 gallons of water yearly. If we stick with the $2.10 per shower math, that would result in a savings of $10.50 per week ($546 per year) . That seems kind of high to me, but I guess it just depends on where you live, what you pay, and your shower head. However, again, if you have a low-flow shower head, then at $0.91 per 10 minute shower, you'd save $4.55 per week by showering at the gym 5 times weekly ($236.60 per year). Another website lists that an average 10 minute shower costs about $1.12. If we go with this number, showering 5x a week at the gym would save you $5.60 per week ($291.20 per year). Is anyone else shocked by these numbers? I'm quite surprised, I must say. Again, I am basing this on information I found on the interent, so if it's wrong, I'm sorry.

I can't say for certain how much you pay per gallon of water for utilities. There's a lot of varying information out there, and each location is likely different. It also depends on how hot you keep your water and how you heat it, with electricity, propane, or natural gas. Also, how efficient is your water heater? It's not something I can say for sure, and I wish I could. I wish I could just say, hey, you'll save "x" amount if you do this, but I can't. However, I did find this cool Water Heating Cost Calculator that might help you. Just get out your bills and plug in the numbers. That might be the easiest way for you to figure it out.

PS..... If it motivates you to get out the door to the gym, you'll be more healthy and fit in the long run and you're getting your money's worth out of your gym membership. Bonus!

(I will try to figure out some great ideas for toting my stuff back and forth easily and I'll post how-to's when I do. If you have suggestions, please send them my way!)

frugality 101

2010-07-19T08:36:00.002-06:00

here at i'm frugal we took a break. obviously. but i'm recommitted to sending out frugal vibes and ideas to fabulous women out there who are also being frugal.

so get excited.

posts coming soon.

Being Frugal: Diapers

2010-04-26T13:02:00.001-06:00

“Having a baby costs so much money!”
How many times have you heard this statement? Some may answer that a newborn baby needs very little aside from loving parents. But some of the simplest necessities cost the most: diapers, clothing, a car seat, and food. Join us over the next few weeks as we share some ideas for saving money on baby basics.

First my diaper story… many of you know that I have twins. Thankfully they are 5 and out of diapers but my two year old is not there yet. For the twins I attempted cloth diapers out of sheer desperation and then I lost my mind (seriously). We weren’t couponing at the time so I did the next best thing always buying house brands. They did great but we spent a ton of money. The cheapest house brand I liked was still around $7.50 a pack and we could go through a pack a day! Currently though my two year old has it great. With coupons and store sales we usually end up with free diapers or at most paying less than $5 per pack for name brand diapers.

1. Choose cloth diapers

It may seem old fashioned or even gross to some, but when you start doing the research you will find that choosing cloth is by far the best way to save on diapering. The average family spends anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 to diaper one child to age three, depending on how good they are at finding the most economical disposable. This price doesn’t include disposable wipes (which are sometimes almost as much as the diapers), a special diaper pail, all those little plastic baggies to minimize smell, etc. Multiply these numbers by three (or more), and we’re talking about nearly $5,000-$10,000!
Families who choose cloth diapers (even the most expensive all-in-ones) rarely spend over $500 on diapers and associated gear. Even when you add in the cost of laundering, the total doesn’t come close to the amount spent on disposables. Don’t forget that quality cloth diapers can last a family through several children. To further reduce start-up costs, you might even consider buying gently used diapers (check Ebay or Craigslist) or making your own if you have the talent. Once you have the diapers, you can save on laundering by letting your diapers line dry, which also helps them to smell fresh and remove stains.
Finally, many choose to cloth diaper because they feel it is a superior product that is more comfortable for their child or because of the environmental impact. Don’t forget, this doesn’t mean that you can’t use disposables for convenience on occasion.
Simple Mom has a comprehensive guide to cloth diapering in her archives.

2. Use Coupons!

If you have done the research and have decided cloth diapering is not for you and your baby, there are still ways to save. There are some amazing deals on disposables at drugstores and grocery stores. Many of grabbed Huggies for $2.99 a pack at Harris Teeter a couple of weeks ago, or Pampers for $3.49 at CVS. Look out for those rock bottom prices and stock up, even before baby is born. Make sure to sign up for newsletters from your favorite (or all) brands as they will often send you coupons through the mail or email.
I will not detail the drugstore systems in this post, but if you are new to Southern Savers, check out our Getting Started Guides.

3. Bulk or House Brand ??

I know several moms who swear by Walmart diapers, and several more who use their membership at a wholesale club (i.e. BJ’s, Sam’s, or Costco) to save on diapers. Still, I know others who use only the top brands because of a bad experience with store brands be it leaks, blowouts, rashes, or just overall quality. Some even go so far as to say that the top brands help to stretch your dollar even more because they don’t fill up as fast as cheaper brands, and therefore you use less diapers overall. In my opinion, it is more advantageous to spend a few minutes clipping coupons and buying Huggies and Pampers at rock bottom prices. Here’s a math breakdown to help you see this better:

Pampers Cruisers Size 3 - 204 ct
Current Sam’s Club Price: $37.98

This equals 6 jumbo size packages.

Pampers jumbo packs a few weeks ago at CVS after coupons and ECB were $3.49 each
Buy 6 = $20.94
For the same amount of diapers you save $17 to buy them in smaller sized packages with coupons for each package.
Again, just my opinion, but I think that buying house brand or wholesale is best saved for those times when your stash runs low, or you’re out of town, and you just have to buy diapers now! Especially since one must include the cost of a wholesale membership in the cost of wholesale diapers. However, there is one bulk source that could be useful - diapers.com. They are constantly running deals for free shipping, offering $10 off for new customers, giving special codes, and offering rewards. Plus you can mail them coupons and they will apply them to your account!!

4. Take advantage of reward systems

You aren’t going to save enough to pay for your child’s first semester of college, but every little bit counts right? You can earn anything from gift cards (some for more diapers), toys, baby gear, or photo albums. You can find codes on manufacturer’s products, but there are also general codes to be found on the internet (here or right here on Southern Savers).
Check out Pampers’s Gifts to Grow program and Huggies Enjoy the Ride program.

5. Ask for them!

Crazy thing - people love to buy stuff for a new baby! If you are expecting your first baby, don’t forget to include diapers (all sizes) and gift cards on your registry. When a relative or friend calls and asks “Do you need anything? We’d love to come visit!” Say, “Sure! You can stop by and bring us a pack of diapers.” If you are a veteran momma who already has all the gear and clothing, ask your friends and family to throw you a diaper shower instead. Also babies grow fast, leaving their mommas with a surplus of diapers that are too small or cloth diapers that are no longer being used. If you have a friend (or two or three) with older children, ask her to save you her extras or gently used cloth diapers. Even your church nursery might have unused diapers lying around. One of the many joys of motherhood is the community that comes with it, so don’t be afraid to lean on your fellow frugal mommas.
Resource to check out:
Baby Cheapskate provides an extensive list of diaper reviews. If you are going with a store brand at least see how they compare.

reposted. original post found here.

Reusable Shopping Bags

2010-03-09T10:16:00.002-07:00

Some retailers are starting to provide a monetary incentive to get you to bring your own reusable shopping bags. This is a great way to save the environment and keep all those plastic bags out of the landfill. Other retailers, however, are actually charging for plastic or paper bag use.

Some states are also considering legislation to ban the use of plastic bags. San Jose, California has banned the use of both paper and plastic in grocery stores. Citizens of Washington, DC now face a charge of 5 cents per plastic bag, and Ireland imposed a bag tax and now charges 15 cents per bag, providing an incentive for customers to bring their own resuable bags with them. This trend of charging for plastic bags seems to be popping up in countries and cities all over the world, including Hong Kong, and Toronto, and other stores in other parts of Canada. Click here to see what other governments around the world are doing to combat the problem of plastic shopping bags in their landfills.

Bags typically cost about 99 cents - $1.50 each, and are available at many retailers, particularly grocery stores. In searching the web, here's a few articles I found regarding SOME stores that offer a discount on your purchase price. This is likely only case in locations where retailers do not charge for the use of plastic. The discount will be taken off of your total and be reflected on your receipt. Occasionally you might have to remind them. If you don't know if a store has an incentive program, just ask! I've asked several times, and the typical response is 5 cents per bag.

For example:

Albertson's grocery store offers 5 cents per bag.

Smith's/Kroeger offers 5 cents per bag. (Some locations) It used to offer 10 cents, but some locations have done away with the program completely.

Macey's grocery store (Utah only) offers 5 cents per bag.

Target offers 5 cents per bag

Ralph's offers 5 cents per bag

CVS has a different program. You must join their ExtraCare rewards program and purchase one of their 99 cent bags. They will give you a Green Bag Tag card that you hook to the bag. Each time you use the bag, they will scan the card. After 4 purchase, you will receive a $1 Extra Buck coupon which is good towards your next purchase.

Click here for an article about what other stores are doing. Also, if you know of other stores that offer incentives, be sure to comment so that we can all benefit by knowing!

Making Your Own Reusable Grocery Sacks

If you'd like to make your own reusable shopping bag, here's a few links to some free patterns that are available on the web. Use old bed sheets or tablecloths, or pick up fabric from a thrift store to reduce the cost of making your own sacks.

Wallet-Sized Fold-up Reusable Shopping Bag (pictured above)

Lunchbox Inspiration 2: Fabric Grocery Sacks

Morsbag Free Downloadable Pattern. There's also an animation of how to construct the bag.

Pie and Coffee: How to Make a Canvas Bag Canvas is stronger than cotton fabric, but this blog also shows how they used oil-based ink to print a custom design on the canvas.

All-Free Crafts: How to Sew a Fabric Shopping Bag

Curved Bag within a Bag This site shows how to make a bag that closes up within it self into a tiny cozy. This might be great for always having at least one bag in your purse or car, for those quick trips to the store. The bag itself doesn't look very big.

Sew a Durable, Reusable Grocery Bag (from About.com)

Tutorial- How to Sew a Reversible Grocery Sack in Under an Hour

If You Don't Sew or Prefer Knitting or Crochet:

Reduction Tote Bag (crochet)

Large Market Bag Crocheted from Plastic Bags

Felted French Market Bag (Knit)

Personalizing a Bag that You Purchased at the Store:

For those of you who don't sew or want to just personalize a pre-made bag

Personalizing with Iron-on Photo Transfer Paper

Sack Lunch Ideas in a Printable Document

2010-03-04T09:53:00.003-07:00

Thanks to my bff, google.com, I think I have figured out how to upload a document to blogger and you can print it from your computer. Yay! Click here for the uploaded document for the sack lunch ideas from this post. It seemed like an easier format. And, once again, thanks to my awesome friend Jen for creating this document and sharing it with me. Love her.

If it works, comment and let me know! Yay for google. I knew she wouldn't let me down. :)

Free Photobook

2010-03-04T06:29:00.002-07:00

My friend, Erika, posted this on her site Celebrating Today.

Get a free 8.5x11 Hardcover Photo Book (up to $39.99 value) with 20 pages from Picaboo using the code AFFLGB if you are a brand new customer. You do need to pay $8.99 shipping. I've never used Picaboo so I am not sure how user friendly the site is, but $8.99 is a good deal. This offer expires on March 31, 2010.

Mending Holes in Blue Jeans

2010-03-02T16:00:00.005-07:00

When you find that perfect pair that fits just right, don't you wear them until they are threadbare & have a hole or two? I have been thinking that I should try patching a few pairs of my favorite jeans, but I don't personally like the iron-on patch look for adults (or older teens). It's ok for little girls, since there are some really fun decorative patches that can be added to the denim.

However, I found this awesome tutorial on patching holes in denim jeans. Ragged, holey jeans are sold in high-end department stores, so here's a great way to duplicate the look for next to nothing and repair your favorite jeans in the process. Abercrombie & Fitch sells "destroyed" jeans for $90-100 a pair. Here's an example from their website. These shorts retail for $50 a pair.

Abercrombie & Fitch Destroyed Denim Shorts

Why not make your own knock-off from the pair you love so much you just don't want to give them up? If the legs are beyond repair, you can may your own version of "destroyed" shorts, and save yourself $50 in the process. You're also helping to save the environment and learning/practicing a great skill at the same time.

So, I decided to head to my machine and see if it really was as easy as Suzannah makes it look in her tutorial. It was! Here we go.

To patch your jeans, you will need:

1. A sewing machine

2. A pair of jeans with a hole torn in them, or just starting to wear thin in a few places.

3. Thread.

I used a blue that was close to the color of my denim, but a neutral tan for the bobbin. When the bobbin ran out, I replaced it with the same blue. Either way, you can't tell. If you want the patched holes to show more, and have more of the "destroyed" look, you'll probably want to use white thread. You could purchase some denim-colored thread if you want it to match exactly. I just used what I had.

4. A piece of soft iron-on interfacing or a scrap piece of denim.

You can cut your denim scrap from another pair of jeans that is too small or beyond repair. You could also use an iron-on denim patch, but it won't be as soft, so you probably want to use the interfacing or soft denim if you are patching the crotch area.

Directions for mending blue jeans:

Cut a piece of soft interfacing that is slightly larger than the hole in your jeans. Iron it on to the inside of the jeans. Head to your sewing machine and on the outside of the jeans, start stitching back and forth -- like a zillion times. You can use a tight zig-zag stitch or you can use a straight stitch. Both worked. I kept my hand on the backstitch knob and just went back and forth over and over until the hole was filled in. That's it! It honestly took less than 10 minutes to repair one hole.

For more detailed instructions, click on the Essential Blue Jean Mending Method from Adventures in Dressmaking.

Example #1- Holes by back two pockets of my son's shorts:

Before

Ironed-on piece of soft interfacing on the inside of the jeans.

Another view of the ironed-on interfacing

After: Outside of the back of the shorts after they have been repaired (blue bobbin thread)

Another view of the back

Example #2: Hole next to the bottom pocket

Before: Small hole starting next to the pocket

The inside of the pocket showing the taupe bobbin thread and the interfacing

After: the outside of the pocket (with blue thread & taupe bobbin thread)

It was really easy to patch these jeans! Her tutorial will show you some other examples of ones that she has repaired. The hardest part was when the hole overlapped with a belt loop or pocket corner, since the fabric was much more bulky. Go slowly when you hit sections like this. I broke two needles because I was a speed demon. What can I say?

Seriously, this is an easy project, and I believe that a beginner sewer could do it. You can't really mess it up too much, and even if you do, they were jeans with a hole in them that you were going to throw out. So, now I am off to scavenge through my drawers for more beloved jeans that need a bit of tender loving care. Happy sewing!

Watching Free TV and Movies Online

2010-02-25T10:42:00.004-07:00

Disclaimer: Imfrugal.blogspot.com is not being compensated for any endorsement listed below and is not affiliated with any of the following mentioned companies or websites.

Why do this? Because it will save you a lot of money. (I can't know exactly what you pay, so you do have to do a bit of homework). Here's an exercise for you:

DO THIS FIRST:

Take the total amount you spend monthly for cable or satellite TV and multiply it by 12 to get what you pay annually for television.
Make sure to include the monthly price of each DVR you are renting from the cable or satellite company. DishNetwork is $6 per month and DirectTV is $7 per month per DVR. If you have this from your cable company, include that, too.
Make sure to include the regular price if you are looking at an "introductory offer." For example, DishNetwork offers an introductory rate of $19.99 for the first 12 months, with free installation if you have a 24 month contract. So, after the first 12 months, the rate goes up to $34.99 a month plus $6 per DVR. DirectTV has an introductory offer of $29.99, but that goes up to $58.99 after the first 12 months. Cable companies do the same thing, so make sure you are thinking of what it will cost you in 2011, 2012, etc.

Now that you have your annual total,... breathe. lol My annual total for just televsion (not internet) through the cable company was $852. That doesn't include my TiVo subscription for $120, for an annual total of $972. GASP!

A while ago, Lori posted this great idea for watching TV online with an Xbox 360. Here's a few more ways to watch TV online. If you use a search engine, you'll find that there are a lot of different websites for watching TV online. I looked at several of them, but I have tried to list the ones that didn't have scantily clad women in advertisements on the sidebar. If that doesn't bother you, then you can search for different websites, but I have kids in my house, and that is something that choose to not invite (if I can help it). Now, I can't promise that these websites I list won't end up using the similar advertising, but at the time I posted this, they were "clean."

Alternatives to Cable and Satellite:

Watch TV on Your Computer via High Speed Internet:

If you have high-speed internet, you can watch most cable/satellite channels online for free. Check out these websites:

www.hulu.com Most of you are probably pretty familiar with hulu. It's a great way to watch TV and get caught up on past episodes for free.

www.spreety.com So far, this one looks to be my favorite.At first glance, it looks to have a lot more titles than Hulu does. Basically Spreety has done the work for you and the format is very user friendly. You just type in the name of your show and it will link you to wherever that show can be watched on the web. You don't actually watch the shows on Spreety. For example, if you want to watch Dora the Explorer, it will take you right to the video for Dora on Nick Jr. Simple!

www.fancast.com

www.casttv.com

www.freetvonline.com

Also, remember that you can watch TV online at the websites for most channels, such as abc.com, nbc.com, fox.com, history.com, cbs.com, usa.com, cartoonnetwork.com, etc. Just type in the name of the channel. Can't find your show? Type in "____ free episodes online" at google and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

If you decide to only watch TV online, your savings will be significant. You can simply cut your money spent for the television portion of your budget entirely. For my example of what I pay of cable, this would net a savings of $972 annually. Sweet!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Antenna & Converter Box:

Purchase an antenna and converter box (if you need one) & run some coax cable. If you have a newer TV, you may not need a converter box. Going with this method will cost about $100-200 for 2010, and nothing annually after that. It would be cheaper if you don't need a $50 converter box. You can still watch TV online, but you could watch your local channels on your television.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Antenna & Netflix:

The cheapest Netflix package is $4.99 a month. This allows you to have one DVD at a time, but does not allow for instant streaming. So, while you can't watch Netflix instantly, you could watch TV instantly over your computer using the websites listed above and still have regular TV through your antenna (& converter box if you need one). Keep in mind that you can rent DVDs from Netflix that are whole seasons of television shows such as Lost, 24, The Office, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Antenna, unlimited Netflix & a Netflix-Ready Device:

For $8.99/month you can get one DVD at a time from Netflix and you can have unlimited instant streaming to your computer or a Netflix-ready device. (There are other Netflix packages to choose from that allow more DVDs at one time). I believe all of these devices require a high speed internet connection. Some TV shows are not available for instant streaming over Netflix, but you could get the season on DVD or you could watch those epsiodes online using one of the websites listed above.

Netflix ready devices include:

Xbox 360 - ($199 MRSP) You must also have a high speed internet connection and a subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold (about $39.99 a month).
PlayStation3 (PS3)- You need a PS3, an unlimited Netflix plan and a Netflix PS3 disc, which you get for FREE from Netflix. Retails for about $299.
Wii (this should be available via Netflix sometime in Spring 2010). You don't need anything else besides your Wii and a free instant streaming disc from Netflix to make this application work.
Roku Digital Video Player ($79 MSRP)
Insignia Connected Blu-Ray Players ($179 MSRP), LG Network Blu-Ray Players ($299 MSRP), Samsung Network Blu-Ray players ($299 MSRP) and Sony Network Blu-Ray players ($249 MRSP).
LG HDTVs with Netcast Broadband, Sony Bravia LCD HDTVs featuring Bravia Internet Video, and VIZIO XVT Series HDTVs with VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA).
TiVo HD DVR - you also need to pay an annual subscription fee which is about $120 a year. There's a video on how this works if you click the link and scroll down a bit.
LG Network Blu-Ray Home Theater Systems & Samsung Network Blu-Ray Home Theater Systems.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

An alternative to Netflix is the Playstation Network.

Playstation Network

You need to have a PS3 for this. Through the Playstation Netowrk TV and Movie Downloads, you rent or purchase TV and movies through your PS3. So, you need to keep in mind that you still have to pay for the shows you watch. If you rent the video or movie, you have a limited time to watch it, and then it removes itself from your PS3 system memory.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So, do a bit of homework, add up your totals and see how much you can save. My husband was very resistant to the idea of changing from cable TV until I created a spreadsheet to show all the different options and how much each method would cost/save. At first he was in denial about how much we actually spent for cable TV, lol. But once he saw cold, hard numbers, it was hard to not give it some serious consideration. He was resistant to giving up Dora the Explorer for our daughter, but I convinced him that I can purchase some Dora DVDs for a lot cheaper than we spend paying for cable. :)

If you know of other great sites for watching TV online or you have other methods for saving $$ on television, please comment and let us know. I'd also love to know how much you saved if you cut your cable/satellite. Here's to being frugal!

Using Up Stale Cake or Cookies for a Crumb Crust

2010-02-21T00:02:00.002-07:00

After my husband's birthday, we were left with about 5 pieces of stale cake. The tops were dried out, but the main cake portion was still moist. I decided to scrape off the top part of the cake and the icing and I crumbled the remaining stale cake into a baking dish.

Note: I made this whole recipe up as I went along, so feel free to do the same and change whatever you want to suit your own personal tastes. Use any pie filling that appeals to you. Also, stale cookies would definitely work for this instead of cake if that's what you have.

Don't forget that after you create your stale cake or stale cookie crumbs, you can put them into an airtight container or Ziploc bag and freeze them to use on another day.

Because the pieces were still moist, I put the dish in the oven and baked it until the pieces were pretty dried out. In this case, if your cake was more dried out to start with, you could skip this step. When the cake was more on the crispy side, I took it out of the oven and dumped the pieces into my food processor. Then I turned it on and crushed them into fine crumbs.

If you don't have a food processor, you could put the pieces into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin or kitchen mallet.

This is what it looked like after I was done with the food processor:

It looked a lot like crushed Oreos or chocolate cookies. The crumbs were dry and tiny. Then I mixed the crumbs with a bit of melted butter (or margarine would work too), and created a chocolate crumb crust, which I pressed into the bottom of the dish. I guess I could have just smashed the cake from the very beginning. That would be another option, but your crust would have a different texture. It's up to you.

I used my electric mixer to beat one (8 oz) package of cream cheese and 1 tsp of vanilla until smooth and creamy. Then I folded in one container of whipped topping. I think I did add a dash of milk to make it more smooth, but I don't know how much it was. I eye-balled it. ;)

I then smoothed my new creation into my dish and drizzled it with a tiny bit of melted caramel ice cream topping, because that's what I had. This is optional and you could use any flavor you like. I chilled my creation in the refrigerator and voila! A yummy no-bake cheesecake for about $1.50 - 2.00.

Here's a picture of the side of the dish so you can see the crust. It actually was really, really tasty, and nobody in my family knew that I had used up stale cake for the crust. It was really easy and cheap and didn't take much time at all. My family ate the entire thing. I will definitely do it again.

Disposable Snow Pants

2010-02-20T11:20:00.001-07:00

Need a solution for some quick, inexpensive snow pants for your kids?

(Keep in mind this idea is disposable; it's not a permanent solution).

I ran across this article titled "Cheap and Easy Disposable Snow Pants" on Meckmom.com and I thought I would pass it on. Certainly, you would want to invest in real snow pants if you live in a climate where it snows regularly, like I do. Meckmom used this method for traveling and intended for it to be completely disposable because she didn't pack snow pants on her trip.

She wrapped her kids legs with Glad Press n' Seal, and it worked! Obviously, these aren't going to provide the warmth and padding of regular snow pants, but they would keep your kids dry.

Some of you live in a climate where snow pants are just not needed, but you do occasionally get a snow storm and excited kids who want to play in it. This solution just might work for you.

Trades = The New Payment System

2010-02-19T14:33:00.001-07:00

Remember in the olden days when you paid with potatoes? Or your specific services? Well, those times can come again! Hear me out....

In the last 4 months I've "gotten" the following things for free trading for my talents, skills, or time:

-haircut
-babysitting
-lawn service
-food
-clothes sewn (i can't sew)
-furniture
-toys

Now, it may seem rudimentary. But, think about it... there MUST be a talent you possess or service you can offer that would be beneficial. Currently, I am enrolled in an online course which requires me to study at least 15 hours a week. That doesn't sound like much, but throw in being a stay-at-home Mom with kids who don't nap and I'm hard pressed to find 3 hours a day to do it. I try to do it at night, but I'm generally so tired that the material doesn't stick. So, I've traded my services of providing piano lessons in exchange for babysitting time once a week - rather than making money I'm making time. (ha, I guess it's an example of my neighbor saving money then....).

Another example: my friends had a bunch of furniture they were getting rid of. We needed furniture but didn't have any money to pay them. So we came to an agreement of babysitting and other needs to "pay" for them.

Other talents or services that could be beneficial:

-sewing
-crafting
-any sort of musical lesson
-wood shopping
-cooking
-babysitting
-tutoring

Might be an "out there" idea, but definitely a creative way to save some dough!

Financial Happiness

2010-02-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

My husband and I have always struggled with sticking to our budget. We aren't the crazy overboarders who don't budget, but it seems like more often than not by the end of the month we're $40 over here, $5 over there.... and over the course of a year an extra $50-$100 off your monthly budget really adds up! We've tried SO MANY different ways to try and make sure we stick to our budget. Some of the ways have been:

-texting each other every single time we spend money. then inputting it that evening into a spreadsheet.
-saving our receipts and handing them in at the end of the week
-only using a credit card so we can see exactly what/where we've spend our money and pay it off at the end of the month

all of these were good ideas but they each had their own pros and cons that we fell victim too. Now that we're in grad school and on an even tighter budget, the A-game has been upped a little. our goal for 2010 was to find ways to cut our budget (more posts will come later about cost-cutting ideas) AND to stay within our realistic budget and possibly even save money while in grad school. Outlandish idea? I think not.

We started using a program called Mint.com. You may have seen if you put together your taxes through Turbo Tax. It's an excellent program that takes every single financial account you have an merges it into one financial game plan. This includes:

-life insurance
-mutual funds
-stock funds
-credit cards
-loans (auto, equity, school)
-checking/savings
-CD's

you can also personalize it by adding your cars value, the cash you have elsewhere, anything that would help them see your "bottom line." It's very easy to use, secure and the best part? it's FREE.

Why use this program? Well, see, you can set up your monthly goals. Say, for example, your goal is to only spend $100 a month on entertainment/dining. You can go into your "goal section" and set that as your limit. You can also set an "alert" email any time your goal is being inched towards. So, say you went on a date and spent $75 between dinner and a movie.

The next day, or even that night, when your transaction is posted it will be directly imported to Mint (without you having to do anything) and you will get an email stating "be aware you have almost hit your goal of $100 for entertainment expenses..." now, you know.. it's February 15th... which means you have $25 for the rest of the month. It may seem rudimentary, but it is helpful. Imagine you're grocery shopping and you aren't sure how much you have left. You can look it up on your phone and see "oh I only have $80 left for the month." How handy is that?

It's good to know the whole picture. Keeps you more honest in your budgeting.

The best feature, aside from the email alerts, for me.. is the fact that it breaks down your spending habits and shows you trends... and THEN it gives you advice on how you can save money based on your trends. Awesome. Awesome.

Now, if you are like me, my main financial institution is a local credit union. Unfortunately, they aren't linked into Mint.com yet (most major banks, and major credit unions are, however). Luckily, my credit union has a similar program. So I import the information from my credit union by hand to Mint.com. It's perfect.

Here is a sample list of institutions that are supported by Mint:

Advanta Bank Corp
Community Bank Delavan
FNB of Georgia
FOP Credit Union
Home State Bank
K-State FCU (Federal Credit Union)
MassMutual FCU (Federal Credit Union)
Premier Bank (FL)
Private Bank (St. Louis)
Public Savings Bank
Rappahannock National Bank
Signal Financial FCU (Federal Credit Union)
Sun FCU (Federal Credit Union)
Terasen Gas (CA FTD Test Dest)
The People''s Buidling Loan and Savings Company
TrustBank
Valero FCU (Federal Credit Union)
Western Springs National Bank and Trust

If your financial institution is not listed you can request it on Mint.com or go to your providers website many of them have their own program (in Utah: Mountain West Credit Union, Alliance Credit Union, and Zions Bank all have their own, for example).

So, to wrap this LONG post up. If you have a hard time sticking to your budget, or if budgeting has always seemed overwhelming, or you've just never really taken the time to sit down and work through all your accounts to find your bottom line... MINT.COM is totally worth trying. It's FREE, it'll take you less than 30 minutes to set everything up,and it might save some serious bucks in the long run. What do you have to lose?

*Imfrugal.blogspot.com is not affiliated with or paid for an endorsement of mint.com.

It is a personal review intended as advice and not solicitation*

How To...Do Something Yourself

2010-02-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Because you are reading this website, I assume you are trying to be frugal and careful with your money. You are probably also familiar with the old addage from the Great Depression:

Use it up,
Wear it Out,
Make it Do or
Do Without.

Fortunately we live in a time when you can figure out how to do this, and most of you probably do. However, sometimes we think if we don't have a basic skill (such as plumbing, sewing), then we need to hire someone or just replace the item.

However, you can save a lot of money if you are willing to try to figure it out. During the Great Depression, people often traded skills with each other, or simply couldn't repair things if they didn't know how. Lucky for us, we live in the internet age where if you don't know how to do something, there's probably a website where someone will show you how. Don't forget to try searching it on http://www.youtube.com/. There is a video for pretty much everything you can think of. So, if you don't know how to do something, such as sew on a button, darn a sock, make your own lip balm, change the oil in your car, start there and see if you can figure it out for yourself before you toss the item, buy a new one, or pay someone to repair it for you.

A few ideas for things you could do yourself. I also included some other topics in a few videos down below.
Repair a toilet
Make a quilt
How to sew a cloth grocery bag
Repair a refrigerator
Repair a remote control car
How to make baby food
Insulate your home
Make a rag rug
Sewing Lessons for Beginners
Repair a washing machine
Computer repair
How to patch a hole in dress pants
How to repair a bicycle tire

How to Sew Your Own Cloth Diapers

How to Sew on a Button

How to Darn a Sock

How to Change Your Own Oil at Home

How to Repair a Leaky Faucet

Homemade Cleaner Recipes

How to Patch a Hole in Drywall

How to Fix Chainsaw and Weedeater Pullstarters

Do It Yourself Repair for Torn or Cut Leather

How to Change a Car Tire

Obviously, the list could go on and on. These are just some ideas. You are paying for internet access (most likely.) Use it. Make it work for you and save some money on something that you maybe would have paid for otherwise. Teach yourself something new. If you come across a great how-to video or website, post the link in the comments so that everyone can benefit. So....your challenge is to see if you can stretch your budget by learning to do something you haven't tried before. If it works for you, post a comment on what you did and how much it saved your family.

Your grandparents would be so proud. :)

How to Make Your Own Iron-on Patches Using Wonder Under

2010-02-04T14:54:00.001-07:00

Here's a pair of pants that belong to my daughter. These heart patches were on the pants when they were purchased from the store. However, the other leg was plain and this is what the knee looks like:

You can make your own iron-on patches using any fabric you like. You need to puchase "Pellon" or "Wonder Under" (or other brand) that is a paper-backed adhesive. You can follow the instructions on the Wonder Under. Basically, you put your fabric on the rough side of the Wonder Under. The wrong side of the fabric should face the rough side of the Wonder Under. Iron it with a dry iron for about 60 seconds.

Then you turn it over to the paper-backed side and draw your desired shape (in my case, a heart). Cut out the heart and then remove the paper backing from the fabric.

Turn the fabric over and place it wrong-side down on the right side of your project (the outside of my jeans, in my case). Cover it with a damp pressing cloth (or a thin piece of muslin, napkin, etc.) Press with a dry iron for 10 to 15 seconds. Allow to cool for one minute.

This is what it looked like after I ironed it on. Because the other hearts had a blanket stitch around the edge, I added that to the edge of my heart so that it would match.

I did mess up though, in one spot, so ignore that, and we can still be friends. :)

You're done! Total cost? For me, it was free because I already had the items I needed, but you could easily do this for under a dollar and still have stuff left over for another project. The Wonder Under is fairly inexpensive and is sold by the yard. I did buy a piece of it in the remnant section at Walmart. The remnant measures 45" x 8" and cost me a whopping 25 cents. That's enough to make a lot of patches! Then you just need some scraps of fabric to create your design. Look in the remnant section for those, or you could even use pieces from another clothing item that has holes in it. A patterned fabric would look very cute in circles, hearts, flowers, etc. You can layer your patches using the Wonder Under for the different pieces.

Use your imagination, get creative, and stretch your clothing budget by repairing your kids' clothes. It's really easy and doesn't take more than 10 minutes of your time.

If you want to add blanket stitching, then you need some embroidery floss and an embroidery needle. Here's a great tutorial on how to blanket-stitch. I just should have looked at it before I messed up that one part. It really isn't noticeable on the finished garment, but in a close-up picture, it is. Sorry!!

Iron-on Patches: Tutorial for Turning Boys Pants into Girls Pants

2010-02-04T14:32:00.001-07:00

This was a large tear in the knee of a pair of size 6 boys jeans. Other than that, they are in excellent condition. They no longer fit my son, so I decided to adapt them for my daughter.

Because the hole was large, I decided to patch it from the inside as well as the outside.

(You wouldn't normally need to patch the inside of the leg, but this was a large hole.)

This is an iron-on patch that I bought at Wal-mart. It came in a package of 2 for around $1 or so. This is the shiny or "adhesive" side. (I had already cut a piece from it for a different project, so sorry about that).

I cut a piece that was slightly larger than the hole in the jeans and then ironed it to the inside of the leg. Just press with your iron for about 30 to 60 seconds on a wool setting with a dry heat. Then allow it to cool for 1 minute.

(Finished iron on patch on inside).

I was able to find some iron-on patches at my local fabric store. They were $3.99 a package and had been marked down to 25 cents each. YES! There were 3 patches in the package.

The large pink one was the right size to cover up the hole in the knee. Again, just press with a dry, hot iron for 30 to 60 seconds. Then wait 1 minute for the patch to cool before you move the garment.

The other 2 patches I just added for design. It is very easy to find girls' pants that have rhinestones or patches decorating one or both legs, so I tried to duplicate that same sort of idea by using the other two patches, so it wouldn't be quite so obvious that I had patched the knee.

Voila! One happy 5 year old with her new "decorations" on her pants. :) Her 8 year old sister was so jealous that she started desperately trying to find pants with a hole in them so she could have "decorated" pants, too. lol

Summary: One pair of pants fixed. One happy kid. Price: 25 cents and about 10 minutes.

(Ok....maybe 50 cents if you count the blue iron-on patch for the inside of the leg-- but even then, I only used a small piece of it and have some leftover......)

Recipe for Scalloped Potatoes

2010-02-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Recipe for Scalloped Potatoes
3 to 4 cups peeled, thinly sliced raw potatoes
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups hot milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 1.5 quart baking dish arrange potatoes and onions in two layers. Sprinkle each layer with salt and dot with small bits of butter. Pour milk over all. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

This recipe comes from page 167 of Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls (published sometime before 1957).

Recipe for Spanish Rice

2010-02-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from page 151 of Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls (published sometime before 1957).

You can use this as a way to spice up leftover rice, or you can cook rice in order to make this recipe.

Recipe for Spanish Rice
3 cups cooked rice (about 1.5 cups uncooked)
4 slices crisp cooked bacon, cut up or crumbled
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 cups canned tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup grated cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Fry bacon in a frying pan and then cut into small pieces. Place cooked bacon in 1.5 quart baking dish and toss it around to grease the dish.

In frying pan, add onion and green pepper to bacon. Cook until onion is yellow. Add 3 cups cooked rice, 2 cups canned tomatoes, and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Turn into baking dish. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Bake 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Recipe for Homemade Biscuits

2010-02-04T13:23:00.005-07:00

This recipe comes from page 170 of this cookbook by Betty Crocker. It was given to my 5 year old daughter for her birthday. I don't know the year the cookbook was published because that page is missing, but there is "Xmas 1957-58" written on the inside cover. Pretty sure it's out of print. But it's a great old cookbook, because it has recipes from before people used mixes all the time! In fact, it even has a few places where it will suggest that you could buy the new mix put out by Betty Crocker. For example:

WHIZ BISCUITS: "Quick as a wink. Just make Biscuits as directed on the Bisquick package. Even quicker. They come in a can, Bisquick and Puffin, and you keep them in the refrigerator, all ready to bake."

Hee hee! Don't you think that's funny? (Ok, maybe I'm weird).

Here's the recipe. These biscuts are SO easy and they are really good. My 5 year old calls them "her" biscuits and she loves to make them. She can do almost everything by herself.

DROP BISCUITS RECIPE:

STEP 1: Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease baking sheet lightly. Mix in a bowl:

2 cups sifted white flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp. salt
(Note: This can all be done by hand, but I use my KitchenAid mixer).

STEP 2: With a pastry blender cut in until fine: 1/3 cup soft shortening
(I like to use butter flavor, but I am sure regular flavor would work well, too. And again, I do this all in my KitchenAid mixer & use the dough hook).

STEP 3: With fork stir in 3/4 cup milk
(Or just mix it in with your mixer).

Drop biscuit-sized pieces of dough onto baking sheet. Push the dough off the fork with a rubber scraper.
(I like to use my cookie scoop. It makes all the biscuits fairly uniform in size.)

Leave 2-inch space between biscuits so they can brown and will be separate. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until brown. Serve piping hot. Makes 12 to 20 biscuits.

Yummy! And cheaper than buying refrigerated biscuit dough.

Casserole Tips

2010-01-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

If you have questions about making your own casserole recipes, Betty Crocker has some good advice to follow.

Click here for Casserole Q&A. This will answer questions about greasing the dish, baking covered or uncovered, casserole dish sizes and freezing certain casseroles.

And click here for tips on freezing casseroles for later.

How to Make Your Own Casserole Recipes

2010-01-25T12:42:00.005-07:00

I was talking with my mother-in-law last night. She is the queen of re-inventing things in her kitchen so that nothing goes to waste. I am often amazed at her skills, and her daughters learned to cook this way as well (unfortunately for me, her son did not.... lol) She mentioned that she used to have a paper that listed the basic ingredients you would use in any casserole, and she would just go down the list and pick an item from each column and make up her own recipes. She would then look at her leftovers and figure out a casserole that she could invent from what she had. Making a casserole is a great way to use up leftovers.

Keep in mind that you should probaby stick with a "theme" or "ethnicity" in preparing these foods. For example, try to use components to make an Italian or Mexican or Chinese food based casserole. Don't combine things that wouldn't normally sound good together just because they are listed.

So, here we go.

The Basics of a Casserole:
(using leftover ingredients is a great way to stretch your budget)

1. Meat or protein. (Of course, if you are vegetarian, omit the meat). Ideas?
Cooked ground beef
Shredded beef or chunks of beef
Roast Beef
Raw chicken breasts, tenders or chunks
Cooked shredded or chunk chicken
Cooked shredded, ground or chunks of turkey
Canned tuna fish
Canned turkey or chicken
Shrimp
Crab meat
Chopped ham chunks
Cooked, crumbled sausage
Cooked, crumbled bacon
Boneless pork loin, cubed
Any leftover meat
Hard-boiled or scrambled eggs
Canned beans, such as black, pinto, kidney, etc. (Usually you would also add the liquid)
Canned salmon

2. Sauce or Binder: You need something to "bind" your casserole and hold it all together. Some ingredients need to be mixed with a bit of cornstarch or flour if they are not very thick. Use your imagination!

Canned condensed soup, such as cream of chicken, celery, mushroom, onion, asparagus etc. (usually 1 can works)

Homemade white sauce
Alfredo sauce
Tomato sauce
Tomato juice
Canned tomatoes (use two 14.5 oz cans for a 9x13" casserole)
Barbecue sauce
Sweet and sour sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Sour cream (or mix 1/2 cup sour cream with your canned soup or other sauce choices)
Raw eggs, lightly beaten
Raw eggs mixed with ricotta cheese or sour cream
Spaghetti sauce
Milk
Evaporated milk
Cream cheese (works well mixed with a bit of onion & milk if too thick)
Gravy
Jam, jelly, marmalade or preserves
Broth (beef, chicken, turkey, vegetable, etc)
Dijon style mustard
Honey
Salad dressing (such as Ranch, Italian Dressing, Russian, etc.)
Pineapple juice
Enchilada sauce
Salsa or Picante sauce
Mayonnaise
Plain yogurt
Cottage cheese
Ricotta cheese

3. Vegetables/Fruit:
Canned vegetables (usually one or two 14.5 oz cans for a 9x13 pan)
Frozen vegetables (usually 1 small package is enough -- about 2 cups)
Fresh or leftover vegetables (about 1-2 cups, depending on how much you have of your other ingredients)

A Few Ideas:
Peas
Asaparagus
Corn
Spinach
Green Beans
Celery
Carrots
Mixed vegetables
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Pineapple chunks or slices
Zuchinni
Use your imagination here

4. Starch: (you don't have to use this one, but it's nice if you can)
Pasta shells
Elbow macaroni, other pasta
Egg noodles
Uncooked rice
Mashed potatoes
Tater tots
Bread slices
Refrigerator biscuits/canned biscuits
Homemade biscuit dough
Refrigerator crescent rolls
Tortillas (can be torn into pieces or used to make enchiladas, etc)

5. Extra Ingredients or Flavorings
Mushrooms
Olives
1/4 cup chopped onion
Dried onion (I usually use about 2 TB dry and I put it in a bit of water to soften, then drain the water before using it.

Water chesnuts (1 can)
1/4 cup chopped celery
Onion soup mix (1 package)
Green onions
Taco seasoning (1 package)
Spaghetti sauce seasoning (1 package)
Minced garlic cloves
Chopped green chilies
Chopped bell peppers
Gravy mix (1 package)
Lime juice (1-2 tsp)
Parsley
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Salt or powder
Worchestershire sauce
Dry mustard
Salad dressing packets (dry)
Soy sauce
Dry soup mix packets (such as garlic mushroom or beefy onion)

6. Toppings (optional, but a nice touch)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (any variety)
1/2-1 cup cracker crumbs. Nice if mixed with a bit of melted butter.
Bread crumbs
Stuffing
Crushed potato chips
Crushed corn flakes
Crushed Rice Krispies
Corn chips
French-fried onions
Toasted slivered onions
Croutons
Sesame seeds
Poppy seeds
Chow mein noodles
Cashews

7. DIRECTIONS:
Most casseroles are combined all together & then have the topping added or layered, such as meat, veggies and extra ingredient, sauce, starch, topping. If you started with raw meat, you will need to cook the casserole longer. A typical 9x13" pan would bake for about 45 -75 min at about 350 or 375 degrees F if using raw meat. Use a meat thermometer to make sure your food is properly cookied.

If you have all precooked ingredients and meat, then you don't need to cook it as long. Usually about 30-45 min for a casserole, since it just needs to be heated until it looks bubbly or the topping is golden brown or cheese is nicely melted. I usually wait to add the cheese until the last 5 minutes, but sometimes I don't and they still turn out ok.

I am sure there are more ideas out there that we can add. If you think of something not listed, please add it in the comments. If you make something that turns out great, share the recipe with us! I will try to post some casserole recipes soon.

Cutting Radiator Heating Costs

2010-01-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

This idea (in italics) comes from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyzyn.

"Here's an energy-conservation idea for those with accordion-style radiators. Put a foil-faced insulation board between radiators and outside walls, with the foil side facing in toward the room. This reflects heat into the room that would otherwise radiate through the walls....Because the expense is minimal and the installation is not permanent, this is one of the rare energy-saving ideas that is useful to renters." (pages 414-415)

Foil insulation comes in various forms, such as rolls for attics, crawl spaces, etc, which may work for this purpose if you can't find a board. You could adhere a piece from the roll to a thin piece of wood or the wall behind the radiator. Or you could use a staple tab roll that is simply installed using a staple gun and scissors. There is also a type that has hook-and-loop (velcro) type fasteners that is used for shutters, but I think it could be used for this purpose as well. The shuttercover type is about $50, but covers 16 sq feet, so it might be able to be used in other places if you have leftover pieces, such as behind headboards, couches, or curtains on exterior walls where it will not be seen. There is also a type for insulating exposed duct work. These are just a few ideas to consider. Any additional insulation is generally beneficial.

Free Online Calorie Counter & Burn Meter

2009-12-30T23:45:00.004-07:00

New Year's Resolutions often include weight loss or fitness. These programs can often be very expensive. An older lady in my neighborhood has lost quite a bit of weight and she recommended this website to me. It offers a free online calorie counting service, but there is also a lot more to it. I have never done Weight Watchers (or other diet programs) before, but I did have a friend tell me that strict calorie counting is part of most plans.

I like this website because you can do it however you want and it is up to you how strict you want to be. In addition to caloric intake, it also tracks your burn for the day. You can look at it and quickly see if you need to limit your calorie intake or simply increase your burn. You can also tell it that you want "weight maintenance" or that your goal is "weight gain." Then it will make some caloric intake recommendations for you. But you can also type in what activities you participated in for the day and it will tell you how many calories you burned. These activities range from running, swimming, moving furniture and vigorous cleaning to lighter activities such as hairstyling, folding laundry, reading and even sleeping, if you want to get that specific.

NOTE: For those of you used to a metric system, you can enter your items in grams, pints, etc. instead of cups, tablespoons, etc. There is also a unit converter.

You can tag the items that you do on a regular basis. For example, if you eat a certain oatmeal every day for breakfast, you just tag it and then you don't have to enter the info every time.

Another thing I like is that it has a large database of nutritional information that is quite specific. There are over 107,000 foods. (And if that's not enough for you, you can also create custom food information if you can't find what you need.) For example, you can type "Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza", and the nutrional choices will come up for various pizza sizes and crust choices, etc. Then you can simply adjust how much you consumed and add it to your food log. The woman who recommended it to me said that she keeps the calorie counter open on her computer all the time, and then she just forces herself to be brutally honest about what she is eating.

You can take a quiz about your diet profile; you can read articles about various topics; you can join forums and keep a journal if you want to. You can track your weight and it will give you graph telling you if you are on target for your goal. It will give you a graph of your nutrition that shows what percent of your food was fat, carbohydrates, sodium, etc. You will receive a letter grade for your nutrition and most foods have a letter grade next to them. For example, a Pizza Hut medium-sized Pepperoni Lover's pizza gets a D+ on the nutrition scale. Hmm... perhaps not the best choice for dinner, eh?

You can even track stuff on your phone. Let's say you are sitting in a restaurant and you want to get some nutritional info. You can. You can text them and they will send it back to you, or if you have a web-enabled phone, you can access it that way. They also have recipes you can try. There's even a recipe anaylzer. You enter your recipe and the number of servings and it will provide you with some nutritional information.

Anyway, just passing on a free tool that you may want to try if weight/fitness are part of your goals for the new year. Certainly there are many, many calculators out there, and this is only one of them. I have liked it so far, and I hope to stick with it. For me, it has been more about realizing the nutrition of certain foods that I have never thought much about before. Then when I am faced with those foods, I can decide if it is really worth it to eat it. If I want to, then I do. And I alter what I am eating for the rest of the day, or I increase my burn to make up for it. I guess it's simply creating an awareness for me. It's helping me make healthier choices. It's helping me realize that I need to get my body moving more. I guess it's something about seeing what you ate and did that day facing you in black and white (and of course, color graphics! lol) It's kind of a wake up call.

Click here for a great article about making New Year's Resolutions stick.

Good luck with your goals for the new year!! If you want to share what your goals are, comment below. (They can be anything-- not just fitness/dieting). Please include the tools or methods you plan to use to achieve them if you can, and if possible, how you are doing it frugally. We can all benefit that way. I always love hearing how others are saving money. Thanks!

Shopping AFTER Holidays, A Few Tips & Stocking Stuffers for Next Year

2009-12-26T09:05:00.002-07:00

We all know that after a holiday you can really save by purchasing things that have been marked down significantly. The sales will usually last one week after a holiday. Typically you will see this pattern for sales:

Days 1, 2 and 3 after the holiday:   Items marked at 50% off their original prices

Days 4, 5 and 6 after the holiday:   Items marked at 75% off their original prices

Days 7 & 8 after the holiday:          Items marked at 90% off their original prices

After that, the merchandise is pretty much gone, or the retailers will even dispose of it so that they can clear their shelves for the next coming holiday. (Anyone notice that Valentine's decor was already out in JoAnn Fabrics BEFORE Christmas!? I was shocked!)   This is a great way to get holiday decor for the next year and just put it away with your items, but you can also save on other things, like gifts.  One year I went to Wal-mart and stocked up on the bath stuff that had been marked down 90% off. I had teacher gifts and gifts for my friends all year 'round. I even used one for a graduation present for my niece. If you want to do this, look carefully through the selection, because many of them do not have Christmas logos on them, though some do.

Another tip: I have started paying attention when people are opening gifts. For example, when my husband opened a tool, my brother mentioned, "Oh, nice!! I need one of those." I have a little notebook and I write that stuff down in it. It gives me ideas for their birthdays or the following Christmas. And sometimes I can even find them at the after-holiday sales and I can save a lot of money, so I can get an item I might not normally be able to afford. Note that if you choose this method, the recipient can't return the gift, so be careful to whom you give these types of things. If it is someone who would try to return it, then remember the idea, but don't purchase it this far in advance!

And if you live alone or are one of those people who has to fill your own stocking......well, here's a tip. Buy some things now, after Christmas while they are marked down, and wrap them up. Put them in a box or bin and mark it "My Stocking" or "My Presents" and store them with your Christmas decorations as you put them away this year. Next year when you get out your items, resist the temptation to open the gifts. You will NOT remember what they are. (Well, if you do, wow! What a memory!) On Christmas morning, you will have gifts to open and will be pleasantly surprised and you will receive things that you actually wanted because you bought them!

If you can combine some of your items with coupons, you can really save big! Good luck and happy shopping!!

Santa Sacks- No Sew Option

2009-12-22T10:20:00.008-07:00

If you want to make the Santa Sacks, but you don't sew, here's a couple of different options.

Step 1:

Purchase pillowcases. You can get them at a thrift store, grab old ones from your linen closet, buy them at the store, whatever works for you. I would recommend using a darker colored pillowcase if that is an option for you, simply because the gifts may show through a white or light-colored fabric.

Step 2:

Purchase some cute fabric ribbon (again, not wired). There are some fabulous patterned Christmas ribbons available. You could also cut a strip of fabric and pink the edges (like explained in the Santa Sack Instructions post). I would recommend about a 2"-3" wide ribbon for a nice big bow, but it's up to you. You will want it at least 45" long. Use it to tie your bags closed. Voila! You're done!

If you can, I would recommend at least stitching the ribbon to the back of the bag like shown in the Santa Sack Instructions, but you don't have to do that step. It just keeps the ribbon from getting lost.

Step 3 -Optional Way to Decorate Your Bags:

If you purchased plain pillowcases and you think they are too "boring", then you can get some cute Christmas fabric that has reindeer or Santa or wreaths or whatever on it. You won't need very much fabric at all. Also purchase some "Wonder Under" at the fabric store. You won't need very much. Follow the instructions on the Wonder Under.

Basically, it works like this: First, you will use your iron to adhere one side of the Wonder Under to the wrong side of the fabric. Then you cut out the shape that you want from the front of the fabric, such as the reindeer or the Santa that is printed on the fabric. Then, place the cut out fabric wrong side down onto the right side of the Santa Sack that you have. Place a damp cloth over both pieces and using a dry iron, press for 15 seconds. Ta da!! You now have a cute embellishment on your Santa Sack. That's it. That's all there is to it.

You could even cut out the letters of your child's name in a fun Christmas fabric and then iron them onto the sack. They could be as small or as large as you want. :)

Note: If you want these to last forever, and you DO sew (even a tiny bit), you may want to run a tight zig-zag or a satin-stitch around the edge of each iron-on piece. It will just make them last longer, as after a while the edges will begin to separate from the bag.

I don't have a "Christmas themed" picture to demonstrate this, but I do have one with butterflies (sorry! lol). My daughter broke her arm 2 weeks ago, and we used this technique to make her sling a lot more fun. The butterflies are simply cut from a fun patterned material and all I did was iron them in place. The hearts were simply cut from a plain material using the same idea. Hopefully you can get the general idea of how this works, if you've never used Wonder Under before.

I will try to patch some pants using this method and show you how it works, but right now, I have to get some Christmas things done! Happy Holidays everyone!

Santa Sack Instructions

2009-12-22T09:59:00.003-07:00

Here's the basic instructions for the Santa Sacks. Yes, this is definitely a beginner's sewing project. If you can use an iron and sew in a straight line, you can do this. Sorry that I didn't make one of these specifically for the tutorial and so I don't have photos of every step. Hopefully it will make sense. If not, then be sure to comment and I will try to clear up any confusion. I will also post a "no-sew" option for these sacks separately.

Step 1 - Select Your Fabric:

Select your fabric. This may be the hardest part. :) There are so many fun patterns to choose from. If you find a piece that you love but there isn't very much of it, you can use it for the trim at the top, so go ahead and buy it.

Step 2 - Determine Size of Your Bag:

Measure your fabric. Most fabric (in the United States) comes in 44"-45" widths. We will just fold that width in half, so the bag will end up being about 21" wide when sewn. You want to determine the length of your bag. Most of mine vary from about 30" long to 36", but it really doesn't matter, as long as it is a rectangle shape and the length is longer than your width of 21" (when sewn).

For the purpose of this tutorial & simplicity in reading, I will use the dimentions of a 32" length & a piece of 44" wide fabric.

Step 3 - Cut:

After you have determined your length, cut your fabric so that you now have a piece of fabric that measures 44" x 32".

Step 4 - Adding a Different Fabric Trim Along the Top of the Bag: (optional)

If you want to add a different trim along the top of the bag, then cut a strip that is 16" wide x 44" wide (the width of the fabric. These two photos (below) show that the top strip is a different pattern than the rest of the bag. With right sides together, line up the raw edge (of the 44" width) and stitch a 1/2" seam to sew the two pieces together. Press the strip away from the bag, pressing the seam towards the body of the bag. If you have a serger, you get to skip this step (and I will be envious.)

Optional: If you want to, you can reinforce the seams by stitching again either over the first stitching or a 1/4" from the first stitching.

Step 5 - Sewing the Main Body of the Bag:

With right sides together, fold the fabric in half & line up the raw edges so that you now have a piece of fabric that is 22" x 32". (Be sure to match the seams at the edge of the top lining if you added that step). Pin one short edge and the long raw edge together. Start at the corner of the folded edge and sew along the short end and then the long side, leaving the top edge open. You should now have the basic shape of a pillowcase. Press.

Step 6 - Stitching the Top of the Bag:

Press the top edge of the bag under 1/4" inch. Fold the top edge under (wrong sides together) about 7-8" and press.

If you added the optional contrasting trim at the top (step 4), then fold the trim so that it just slightly overlaps the raw edge of the seam. If this part seems a bit confusing, go look at the top inside portion of one of your pillowcases. You will see how the top 8" or so is lined towards the inside with the raw edge neatly turned under.

Press the folded piece down, and pin so that the raw edge is covered (if you did that step) or simply pin it 7-8" from the top. Topstitch 1/4" from edge. Turn the bag right-side out. You should now have a pillowcase. You're almost done!

Step 7 - Adding the Tie Closure- Several Options:

There's a couple of options here.

Option 1) You can purchase fabric ribbon and just tie the bag closed. Make sure you don't buy "wired" ribbon. I didn't want my ties to get lost, so I stitched them to the back of the bag in an "x" pattern. Hopefully you can see that in my photo. If you do this, find the middle of your ribbon and the middle of the back of your bag and stitch just a small x to keep the ribbon from getting lost. This is optional though. You could just tie the bags shut with ribbon and call it good.

Option 2) Ribbon can get costly, so I cut strips of leftover fabric in a contrasting material that were 4" x 44". Then with right sides together, I folded the strip in half lengthwise and used a 1/4" seam to sew one short end and the long side together. Then I turned the strip right-side out. Then I pressed the strip and folded the raw edge to the inside and top stitched all the way around the strip. Then I found the middle of the strip and stitched it in the "x" to the middle of the outside of the back of the bag.

(Note: if you don't have a sewing tool to turn strips right-side out easily, this may not be the best option for you. It's a pain in the neck if you don't have the tool.)

Option 3) If you don't have the turning tool and you don't want to invest in ribbon, you could cut a 3-4" wide strip of fabric and then use pinking shears along the edges so that it wouldn't fray. Or you could even just stitch 1/4" from the sides and if it frays, it would just fray slightly, which may be a look that you prefer. Then you could still stitch it to the bag in the "x" pattern so that it stays with the bag.

That's it! You're all finished. These bags can be made in any dimensions you'd like. Hopefully they will relieve some stress for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve!!

Santa Sacks - Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap

2009-12-21T08:50:00.010-07:00

I was growing up, Santa Claus did not wrap the gifts he left. They were laid out on the couch in a pile for each child. Gifts from family members were wrapped, but gifts from Santa were not. We simply went into the living room and we were faced with everything all at once, which means my mom & dad didn't necessarily get to see our reactions to our gifts, because all the kids got to see their things all at once. I have always liked wrapped gifts from Santa, simply because it seems to make Christmas morning last a bit longer, but the mess and expense add up, and poor Santa and his elves certainly spend a great deal of time wrapping those gifts!! And sometimes, Santa realizes he forgot to wrap a certain gift. This way he can quickly toss it into the sack along with more than one other gift, if necessary.

So, last year I decided to purchase several yards of fabric for each person in my family and make "Santa Sacks." The idea behind the Santa Sacks is that Santa Claus is a very busy man, and this way he doesn't have to take the time to wrap our gifts. We are helping him to save the environment, and also save him some time. Each person in my family has a specific pattern/material for their bags. For example, my daughter has a green bag with reindeer on it, and my son has candy canes on his bags. That way we didn't have to put tags on them, though you could embroider names onto the sack. We set the bags out on the couch on Christmas Eve and then Santa can just slip our gifts into the sack during the night. My kids had fun setting out their sacks and putting a note with it so Santa would know which sack belonged to whom.

Now, toys in boxes are easier to wrap, no question. But another neat thing we discovered about the Santa Sacks is that Santa's gifts can come completely assembled, with all the packing removed. You know, the boxes that dolls or toys come in, and they have all the little twist ties and tape and as a parent you spend a lot of time just trying to get the toys removed from the box? This way you can relax because Santa's elves have removed the packing. Since the items just get tossed into the sack, the shape of the gift doesn't matter. And then, mom and dad can sit on the couch, sip hot cocoa, and enjoy watching their kids play with their presents, rather than spending time trying to wrestle the Polly Pockets and Star Wars Action Figures from their boxes.

I made 3 large sacks for each person in my family (various sizes). You can make them any size you'd like. Just do some math considering how much fabric you purchase. I added a strip of fabric in a contrasting pattern (leftover from another family member's sack material) as a tie closure for the sacks. I lined the top portion only of the sack. You could line the entire bag, but that does get more expensive. It's not really necessary, though. Since they're only used once a year and they're not carrying anything, the sacks are just not going to get that much use that they will wear out. I just lined the top about 8 inches or so, and then sewed the tie closure just below the lined portion on the back of the sack (so the tie wouldn't get lost). Then when the sack is tied shut, the top portion that sticks out is still cute and you don't see the seam.

They are sewn in a basic pillowcase pattern, very simply and they turned out really fun. I was a bit hesitant last year that my idea would go down in flames, but the mess it eliminated on Christmas morning was very worth it! I was also hestitant that my kids could untie the sacks and sneak a peek in the night, but I decided that their choices have consequences, and if they want to ruin the surprise, that's their choice. (And besides, it's no different than a gift in a paper gift bag with tissue paper. They can easily peek into those, too.)

You might try purchasing your fabric at an after Christmas sale when you can get 75% off or even better, or use a coupon to cut down the cost. Just consider the quality of the fabric so your bags will last year after year. A quilter's cotton will be a better quailty than some other choices, though it is a bit more expensive initially (but not too much).

According to Gift Bags Gone Green, wrapping paper and other paper gift wrap adds up to more than $5 billion dollars annually. This is one way you can cut down on your own personal carbon footprint. Just think, not wrapping gifts from Santa ever again times the number of people in your family, year after year? That will definitely reduce the amount your family spends on wrapping. The initial cost will pay for itself very quickly, likely within a few years, depending on how much your family typically spends on paper gift wrap and how much you spend on your fabric and thread to make the sacks.

If anyone is interested, I am willing to create a tutorial on how I did this. Let me know if you'd like to see one in an upcoming post.

Download Free Christmas/Holiday MP3s

2009-12-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Every day throughout December, Amazon.com is unveiling a new holiday song that you can download for free from their website. Each song is available for a limited time.

If you click on the song, you can preview a sample of it to see if you'd like it. But, hey, they're free, so even if you decide you don't like it, you can just delete it from your computer later. So, get yourself some fun new music, and start wrapping! Happy holidays!

Neighbor Christmas Gifts

2009-11-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

Each year we give our neighbors something little for Christmas. Sometimes it's just a plate of goodies, but other years we've gotten more creative. These ideas are relatively inexpensive and can also be used for co-workers. My husband did the wrapping paper and the extension cords at work and they were very well received. After all, they don't add to the waistline, and there tends to be plenty of food that will do that each holiday season.

1. Gift idea: A roll of Christmas wrapping paper and a roll of Scotch tape. (The tape is optional. You could just give the wrapping paper.) Shop for good sales. We actually bought ours at an after Christmas sale and then stored the paper until the following year. Here is the poem that goes with this gift:

Since November you’ve been shopping
Barely sleeping, hardly stopping.
Now it’s late – you’re in a scrape.
Out of paper, out of tape.
Hope this wrap helps save the day!
Have a happy holiday!

2. A hot baggie (or 2): See HERE for how to make one. We gave one red hot baggie and one blue one, but you can adjust the poem however you'd like. If you don't want to do 2 hot baggies, then just omit the part about the blue sack (the 3rd stanza). The poem I wrote for this gift went with these went like this:

‘Tis the season of hustle and bustle
Which gives a good reason to ease a sore muscle.
The miracle contents of this red sack
Will please and soothe your aching back.

Just heat by microwave three minutes on high
Then for one hour kiss sore muscles good-bye!
Or take it along when you go see the lights
To keep out the chill of Jack Frost’s cold bite.

Store the blue sack in your freezer where it’s out of your way
And when your head is throbbing at the end of the day
You’ll be amazed at how it can relieve your stress
When you have a splitting headache and just aren’t your best.

Your family is great and we want to express
How much we appreciate your love and kindness.
We treasure your friendship at this Christmastime
And send warmest of wishes to your house from mine!

3. An extension cord. Let's face it. Everyone can use an extra extension cord, especially at Christmas. We shopped for a good sale and even found some for 2 for a $1 once. I also found the large orange exterior kind (that are normally about $5 each) on some rebates and I was able to get them for free, so shop around. Here's the saying that I put with this idea:

Here's an "extension" of holiday cheer.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year!

4. Click here for 103 Gift Ideas that are creative and inexpensive.

5. Homemade holiday breads. Click here for some great recipes. I have made the Candy Cane Bread before and it was really yummy. My neighbors liked having hot sweet bread dropped off at their door. Not a lot of people go to that much trouble anymore, and this is certainly a very inexpensive way to give something.

*
Ok, well, that's all I can think of at the moment. I may remember other things sometime when I am not so tired. If you have more ideas, please comment. We'd love to hear from you. Merry Christmas!!

Free Exercise Workouts and Nutrition & More

2009-11-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to get fit but can't afford the gym, (or maybe your lifestyle is such that you can), you might want to check out http://www.sparkpeople.com/. It's a totally free website that demonstrates fitness exercises (both printable and video), gives nutritional information from dieticians, and includes an exercise tracking system and a calorie counter.

Again, it's completely free. Check it out and find some new information that can help you on your way to a healthier body -- because a fit, healthy body not only makes you feel great and relieve stress, it also can help keep your medical costs down --and that's being frugal! :)

I'm Dreaming of a Tight Christmas

2009-11-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt of ideas taken from the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn, pages 493-496.

If you give in to the pressure to buy expensive gifts despite your wishes, understand why you are doing this; and why you lack the courage to say =no. You may believe people perceive inexpensive gifts as signs that you are "poor," "cheap", and/or "thoughtless." Self-esteem becomes entangled with gift giving.

In addressing the perception of being "poor," consider that inexpensive gifts are often a sign of different values and priorities. You can afford the expensive gifts, but you prefer to spend your money on things that have a higher priority for you. Or you prefer to work fewer hours so that you can have more quality time with your family.

If you fear people will think you are "cheap" or "thoughtless", ask yourself if you would be happy with the quality of the gift you are giving. If you buy yourself expensive goods from Bloomingdale's, people will justifiably feel that it's inconsistent for you to buy them bargains from the dollar store. In contrast, if you always seek out bargains for yourself, others will be far more likely to accept them as presents from you.

Having a clear vision of your financial goals and making sure that frugal gifts are consistent with your whole lifestyle provide the self-esteem that's essential in dealing with those who make expensive demands of you.

Once we gain the confidence to say no, we further desire that our coworkers, friends, and family will accept, and perhaps even adopt, frugal gift giving themselves. There are two ways I know of to achieve this:

THE UP-FRONT PLAN
Talk about it.

Your first inclination may be to hold the discussion on Christmas Day, since everyone is in one place, but that isn't the best time. People could easily interpret what you say as a rejection of what they just gave you. Bring it up at a graduation party, a summer reunion, or some gathering that's at least a couple of months before Christmas.

You may be surprised to find how receptive other people are to the idea. Many people feel that Christmas is too commercialized, but they believe other people like it that way.

If you all agree that gift-giving has gotten out of hand, the next step is to decide on an alternative.

Many of these may sound familiar to you, but you can use this list as a tool to guide the discussion.

1. For acquaintances and friends who have become distant geographically, you might simply decide to exchange cards rather than gifts.

2. Draw names within families or between extended families, rather than buying for and receiving from everyone. (NOTE -- this is not in her book ---: you may wish to agree on a $$ limit in advance so that those who have less to spend don't feel badly when someone else can afford to spend more. For example, in my husband's family we rotate names of his siblings and there is a $30 spending limit for the entire family.)

3. Shift to "household" gifts, rather than gifts to everyone in a household.

4. Try alternative gifts. Make a rule that only food can be exchanged. Suggest more swapping of services such as baby-sitting. Money that would be spent on a gift could be used to take a family trip or donated to charity.

(Again a note from me -- not in the book: One year I "gave" my brother a certificate for a year's worth of mending. His wife does not sew. She was thrilled. He bought several pairs of dress pants and I shortened them for him as his length is 29" and it is difficult for him to find pants that are 29's not, 30's. Another "service" I gift I do is taking my parents a "casserole" 2x a month for a year. My mother is quite ill and it helps my dad a lot to know that dinner will be there for him to just stick in the oven. It also helps me spread out the cost of my gift over time. I have been known to arrange/compose music for people or record my piano playing onto a CD. My parents were thrilled, and the cost to me was almost nothing. :)

So use your imagination and think about what talents you have that you could give as a gift.)

5. Set a spending limit, say $5, and then challenge yourselves to see how wonderful and creative you can be within that price range.

THE COVERT PLAN
If it's too late to discuss the problem with your family this year, or if you are sure the discussion would be fruitless, try showing them.

Although extravagance has seldom been a problem in my family, if it were, I would regard frugal gift giving as my mission to show others how much more fun inexpensive gifts can be....

...If you chose the covert plan, consider these points:

1. To successfully convert people, your gift must be excellent. Gifts that are inappropriate or poorly made will fail. Frugal gift giving usually requires more time and/or thought. Let your desire to prove your point drive your efforts. If those on your gift list think inexpensive equals inferior, make and extra effort to "bowl them over" with your cleverness.

2. Start slowly. In some families, where extravagant, commercial holidays are deeply entrenched, change can require several years....Each tiny success will slowly erode their prejudice.

3. Provide information. Although it's generally considered tacky to divulge the cost of a gift, it's essential if you want to educate the receiver. I always tell my children how much I paid and how much the equivalent would have cost. If my friend thinks my homemade fits is store bought, I "accidentally" let it out of the bag that I made it....I might also add share how easy the gift was to make, how much the materials cost, and offer a set of instructions. (Note -- me again-- Personally, I wouldn't take this approach, but to each their own. You have to carefully consider the recipient and how they will receive such information. )

4. Be confident. Never apologize for the "humbleness" of your gift. Don't even let the thought enter your mind. If you think giving your children gifts from yard sales is a sign that you are "poor", they will pick up on your feeling and believe the gift is inferior. This is also true when giving to adults. The way you feel about the gift will, to some degree, be reflected by the recipient.

In attempting either the upfront plan or the covert plan, it helps to explain why you want to save money. If you choose the upfront plan, this reason should be a part of your discussion. If you choose the covert plan, frequently mention your financial goals to those around you. If you let everyone know you are saving for a down payment on a house, what reasonable person could fault you?

But if others still see your frugal gift giving as "poor," "cheap", and/or "thoughtless," use....

THE BUZZ-OFF PLAN

It's unreasonable for others to expect you to spend in accordance with their values.

And it isn't written anywhere that the cost of your gift has to match the cost of theirs. In some cases, both parties can be comfortable with the "inequity".

But even if you do encounter hostility, consider this to be their problem, not yours. If everyone had the courage to ask for a change, Christmas could be transformed from a marketing opportunity into the holiday it was meant to be.

Me again: That's the end of that passage from the book. I will keep thinking of some frugal gifts I have given or seen others give, and I will try to post them very soon. If you have some suggestions, please comment! We can all benefit from new ideas. Thanks!

Things to Make: Free PDF Patterns

2009-11-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

I found a website that has a lot of free patterns for burb cloths, doll clothing, hot pads, a chef's hat, crochet, window coverings, pillows, lacing cards, purses, applique, hats, scarves, etc. Lots of things to choose from, that could be made as gifts for Christmas.

The website is http://www.youcanmakethis.com/. Click HERE for the link for the free pdf patterns. Looks like some fun ideas!

The Napkin Skirt Tutorial

2009-11-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

Years ago I was given 4 Christmas napkins (probably for my wedding?? Who knows). But four? Really? That's not really enough for entertaining, and I have 6 people in my own family, so they have sat in a drawer for 13+ years (yes, I know, many of you would tell me I should have gotten rid of them a long time ago. I'm working on it!! LOL) But what do you do with only 4 napkins? And the pattern is such that I would have to have a very plain tablecloth, so they just sat there.

Enter the napkin skirt. Stay with me here. I know that sounds a bit bizarre. I didn't have a pattern; I just kind of made this up as I went along, so if you have a better way, please let me know!

Because I like a bit longer skirts on little girls,I used two napkins to make mine for my 2 year old, but you could use one napkin and cut it in half if you'd like a knee-length version. My napkins are a bit thicker than regular napkins, but you can judge for yourself the quality of the material you have.

Measure your napkins. Mine were 17" x 18". If necessary, trim them so they are perfectly even on the edges. (Mine were not). Also, measure your little girl. You want to know her waist measurement (my daughter is 2 years old and her waist is 19" if that helps), her waist to knee measurement so you can know how long to make your skirt (she was 11"), and her waist to ankle measurement if you want something longer (again, my 2 year old was 22").

If you don't want to add the ruffle, then you can save one of the hemmed edges of the napkins for your skirt hem. Just be sure you don't cut it off. Pin right-sides together and sew the two side seams.

I used 5/8" seams because those are standard in garments while sewing, but you can adjust as necessary if you'd like. If you have a serger, that would certainly be easier (and I am jealous!)

Press the seams open (unless you have a serger). Press a casing along the top edge of the skirt. Press the edge under 1/4" and then again 1 1/4" (this is what I used because I used 1" elastic. If you use 3/4" elastic, you can adjust your casing.) You could also create button holes and simply stitch the casing in place, then use a drawstring instead of an elastic. That would also be very cute, but since my skirt is for a potty-training 2 year old, I wanted something that was easy for her to do by herself.

Pin the casing in place. Mark with 2 pins where you plan to start and stop. You need to leave an opening to thread the elastic through.

Stitch casing in place, making sure to backstitch at each end and leave an opening.

For the ruffle, I used 1/4" yard of red polka dot fabric. This was just something I had lying around in my scraps. It measured 9 1/2" x 44", but one edge was jagged, so I squared that up and then cut the ruffle into 2 strips measuring 4.5" x 44" each. If you need more detailed instructions on adding a ruffle, click here.

Pin right sides together at the short end and stitch a 5/8" seam.

Press the seam open. Fold the bottom edge of the ruffle under 1/4" and press and then under 1/4" and press again. Pin in place and hem the bottom edge of the ruffle. It will be much easier to do at this step than after it is gathered and attached to the skirt.

Loosen the top tension & use a very long stitch length on your sewing machine and sew two rows of stitches. Sew one row 5/8" from the raw edge and one row 1/4" from that row of stitching (closer to the raw edge). Do NOT backstitch at the beginning of the row. Grasp the bobbin thread and pull gently to slowly gather the ruffle. Be careful so you don't break the thread. Adjust the gathers to fit the bottom of the skirt and pin into place (right-sides together).

Readjust the stitch length and tension to normal stitching. Stitch the raw edges of the skirt and ruffle together using a 5/8" seam. This will hide the gathered stitches.

Remove the pins and press the ruffle.

Thread the elastic through the casing. It is a good idea to measure it on your little girl before you sew the ends, but if not, you can always still adjust it before you stitch the opening closed. Once you are happy with the fit of the elastic, stitch the casing opening closed and you're done!

This napkin skirt is ankle length on my 2 year old, mid-calf on my 5 year old, and knee length on my 8 year old. Funny, they are all trying to get it to be "theirs." I do have 2 more napkins, but I wish I'd had 6 total, because then they would have all had matching skirts. If you wanted to make a longer skirt for an older girl, you could simply add more ruffles to the bottom or adjust the width of the ruffle by cutting a wider strip of fabric so you achieve your desired length.
Why is this frugal? Because for me this project's total cost was: $0.00. Yup. Seriously. I had everything in my house. It's all about recycling & repurposing what you already have. Look around and see what you have. Maybe you have a tablecloth with a tear in it. Even if you had to purchase the napkins and elastic and ruffle fabric, you'd still be under $5.00, especially if you shopped clearance sales or thrift stores. I also made a very cute one from some fat quarters (a quilting term for those of you who may not know), but I don't have any elastic right now. I will post some pictures of that one as soon as I get it done. Sorry about that.
If you decide to make this skirt, email us a photo of it. We'd love to hear from you. Happy sewing!

Reusable Snack Bags

2009-10-27T09:30:00.001-06:00

Clearly I have a theme here in my posts today....haha. Here's a tutorial for an easy reusable snack bag you can place in those lunch sacks. If it gets dirty, just toss it in the laundry for easy cleaning. You can use up fabric scraps or old shirts with a hole in the sleeve to make this project nearly free.

Reusable "Brown Paper" Lunch Sack

2009-10-27T09:12:00.001-06:00

The Pretty Penny includes a tutorial for how to make a resuable lunch sack so you don't have to keep purchasing brown paper bags.

You certainly could embroider it in any design you like, including perhaps your child's name or simply leave it plain. I think you could also line your favorite fun fabric with the canvas, or add some embellishments to the oustide of your canvas using fabric paint or applique techinques. You could also recycle some old Levi's to make a denim sack and trim them with some scraps of flannel. Maybe even add a pocket with a velcro closure to the front so you can add a few quarters for a snack from the vending machine if you want. Let your imagination run wild!

Obviously, the neat thing about this project is that you can design it to be whatever size you would like & decorate it to suit your personal taste. You can use a brown paper sack as your template and take it apart to use it as a pattern, or you could make a tote that was larger if you wish. Happy sewing!

Reusable Sandwich Baggies

2009-10-27T09:00:00.003-06:00

I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with something to post, since it's been a while since I got creative and thrifty. My husband was out of work most of this year, but since he got a job in August, I've been a little more lax. Unfortunately, he is facing unemployment again in January, so I do have to start thinking of even more ways to cut my budget.

I ran acros this idea on the internet. It is a way to sew a resuable plastic sandwich baggie. Click here for the tutorial. When selecting your velcro for this project, chose the "sew-on" variety, not the sticky-back. When you use sticky-back and try to sew through it, the needle on your sewing machine will get all gunked up with sticky adhesive.

You may want to read through the comments below the original post. There are lots of people who have suggestions or feedback on what they did when they made their own sandwich bags. You might find the solution that is just right for you. Several of them suggest using oil cloth if you have an aversion to using plastic lined fabric on your food. Sewing templates are also provided on their site, but I have also included it here: templates link.
A bonus of this project is when you unwrap your sandwich, you have a clean placemat for your food while eating. That's always nice!

Welcome Mat Services

2009-10-07T06:47:00.000-06:00

Hey all

I found a great website that provides coupons and FREE admission to many attractions near your home. My landlord gave me a few vouchers last month, I went to their website and ordered a packet. It arrived yesterday. Well, actually, TWO packets arrived. One was filled with local restaurant gift cards ($10-$20 off, 20%, etc) and one was filled with free admission tickets to museums, the zoo, and discounted admission elsewhere. Even if you've lived in your area for awhile it's worth filling out and seeing if they'll send it your way. It doesn't cost you anything but your information!

Welcome Mat Services

Enjoy!

(Because I my landlord gave me one and I ordered one we have TWO free tickets to the Art Museum. We're using our gc we got from restaurants.com and our date on Friday is looking like it's going to cost us about $10. Sweet eh?)

Restaurant.com Follow Up

2009-10-04T18:00:00.000-06:00

Van and I used our first gift certificate on Friday. Some things to be aware of.

1) Check the fine print. Some restaurants will require you to spend a certain amount in order to USE your gift certificate. The steakhouse we went to required us to order $35 worth of food in order to use our $25 gc. That was fine. We calculated it and kept the order straight to $35 so our dinner was $10 plus tip. $10 is MUCH cheaper than it would have cost us! (I guess $12, technically, if you're counting what we paid for the gc)

2) Gratuity. Some restaurants will charge you a "service charge" on your coupon. THIS is gratuity. We got our bill and it was $7 more than we planned (so $17, not $10) Van looked at it and there was a service charge. When we asked the server she hemmed and hawwed and finally said that yes, that was gratutity. More than 20%! We didn't pay any more on our "tip" line and left as is.

Other than those two things you should be good to go. We're really excited to try out different restaurants in Atlanta. Let me know how your experience goes with your coupons!

Restaurant.com

2009-09-30T09:13:00.000-06:00

Right now, if you type in the code CHEF you get your order 80% off.

Ordinarily you pay $10 for a $25 gift card.

With this promo you can get 5 $25 gift cards for that same $10.

One guy in our neighborhood laid down $30 .... $375 worth of gift cards.

Great for presents, cheap dates, etc!

*It expires tonight at midnight 9-30-2009*

Free Online Budget Planner

2009-08-30T16:52:00.000-06:00

Zion's Bank offers a free online service where you can track your budget for a specific project, for your monthly expenses, for an upcoming event, or for holiday gifts and budgeting. You do not have to be a member of Zion's Bank to participate (I am not a member). You only have to create an account using your email address as a username and set up a password.

You can track your monthly expenses, such as your mortgage, utilities, grocery, etc in the Monthly Planner. The Event Planner is set up as a wedding (sample) and the Project Planner is set up with a sample as a home remodel, but you can customize it to be whatever you want the project/event to be.

I used the Gift Planner last year to keep track of my Christmas purchases. I liked it because my kids can read now (and also read cursive, lol) so I can't hide my lists from them like I used to! Also, because it has a password, I can hide what I have purchased from my husband so he also gets surprised on Christmas day. I also liked it because it tallies up the total you have spent in a spreadsheet and you can easily see how much money you have spent so far, which can be eye-opening! You can also access it from your Blackberry or from your work computer, and not be stuck without your list when you have a minute to run out shopping. You could certainly create your own spreadsheet (if you are someone who simply has a love for those.... ahem, Lori.......) but this is already done for you, and it works well.

Just passing it along as we all start thinking about the upcoming holiday season. The website is http://www.zionsbankezbudget.com/.

Fun Lunches

2009-08-28T11:09:00.000-06:00

http://www.funkylunch.com/gallery.htm

Sack Lunch Ideas

2009-08-26T23:20:00.001-06:00

My kids are very excited about packing their lunches from home this year, for some reason. They have always enjoyed school lunch in the past, but each year is different, I suppose. I have been researching some ideas, and I am posting them below. Thanks to my super organized and thrifty friend, Jen, for some great ideas, too! I hope they will help you out.

An edit to this post: I think I have figured out how to upload a Word document to blogger and you can print it from your computer instead of having to scroll through all the suggestions below. Hope it works. Click to view document for sack lunch ideas. If it works, comment and let me know! Thanks!

As for packing lunch for an adult, consider if there is access to a microwave. If not, purchase a good quality thermos food jar that can keep foods hot or cold. You might also want one for beverage. They come in kids' varieties (smaller and cuter) and adult & teen varieties. They even have some for babies. I personally really like the thermos brand. I have been extremely impressed with them. I got mine at Target. They also have them at Walmart, Amazon.com, and Shopko, etc. so look around. Initially, the cost of investing in these seems very expensive (that's because it is!). When you purchase a nice quality lunch sack, a beverage thermos and a food jar, it can be over $30-35. But the thermos, insulated bag and food jar I bought for my son when he was in Kindergarten are all still in great condition and he is now in 5th grade, so I figure it was a good investment. They have been extremely durable (and no, I am not getting paid for anything I am suggesting!!) You might also look into thrift shops for used thermoses if you can find them. (And my kids have been lectured on how much they cost and that they'd better keep track of their stuff!! lol)

NOTE: if you "preheat" the food jar by filling it with hot water for about 5 minutes before you fill it with food, it will stay hotter longer. You also want to use plastic silverware so you don't scratch the protective surface on the food jar.

The lunch sacks I bought for my kids have a small zippered pouch on the outside, where I have stashed a small Ziploc back filled with quarters. They can use this to purchase a milk box at school if they want to. Our school charges $0.25 for milk.

I also purchased some small plastic containers to put the food in. Wal-mart has some sandwich containers that are easy for little hands to open. I think they were about $1 a piece, and then you don't have to keep purchasing Ziploc bags. If you really want to be frugal, you can use cloth napkins, too. Also, pick up a small ice pack at Wal-mart or Target for around $1 and you can keep a sandwich or yogurt nice and cold until lunch time.

Food ideas:Bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter. If your child only will eat 1/2 a bagel, then cover the topping with a piece of plastic wrap.

Sandwiches (cold cuts or PB&J, tuna fish, chicken salad, egg salad, etc.)

Crackers and cheese

Crackers with peanut butter between them (cracker sandwiches)

Spaghettios, ravioli, spaghetti, soups, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, baked potato

Hard-boiled eggs

Meatballs

Tuna salad with crackers

Burrito roll ups

Any kind of leftovers

Muffins

Chips and salsa

Pita pockets or tortillas (rolled up "wrap" style) or English muffins used for sandwiches to provide variety

Chili (you can add chips like Tostitos scoops, Fritos, etc.)

Homemade lunchables (i.e, pepperoni & cheese & crackers; cut up bologna w/cheese & crackers, etc.) Look at the Lunchables varieties to spark your brain for some ideas.

Cold pizza (if your family member likes that.)

Cold cereal (send the milk in the thermos and pack the dry cereal in the food jar)

Side Dishes:Applesauce

Yogurt

Pudding

Jell-o

Canned or fresh fruit (grapes, peaches, Mandarin oranges, apples, bananas, nectarines, kiwi, oranges, plums, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, strawberries, raspberries, etc.)

Veggies and dip (carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, cherry or grape tomatoes, etc.)

Popcorn

Crackers

Chips

Cheese sticks (make your own by cutting up a block-- it's far cheaper)

Granola bars (you can make your own. There are lots of recipes out there.)

Cookie

Dried fruit (Craisins, raisins, blueberries, apricots, banana chips, apples, pineapple, prunes, etc.)

Fruit salad ("frog-eyed" salad or ancini de pepe, Waldorf salad, etc.)

Trail Mix

Beef Jerky

Nuts (if they are allowed at your school. Check because some kids have allergies)

Cottage cheese

Pretzels

Beverage ideas:
Freeze juice boxes and allow them to thaw until lunch time

Juice, milk, water or Kool-aid (sometimes) will stay cold in a thermos

Occasionally you can offer them strawberry or chocolate milk, (or even an instant breakfast shake for an adult).

Buy milk at school

Hot chocolate

Also, check out Kraftfoods.com for some great ideas and recipes for kids' lunches and budget adult lunches. Enjoy!!

I'm Back

2009-08-26T08:33:00.000-06:00

There was quite a break! The cross country move killed my "frugal-ness" as I saw money flying out of our account at rapid speeds. But I'm back and I'm here ready to be frugal. Three topics I am going to explore the next week and hopefully report on:

-budget friendly daily packed lunches for my husband and daughter
-budget friendly date ideas
-"allowance" program for my 6 year old sans money

If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear. If not, I'll be back soon with my findings!

Great Website

2009-08-03T15:13:00.000-06:00

I came across this website yesterday in the Sunday paper....http://blog.superhealthykids.com/. I've been checking it out today, and I am super happy with the meal ideas bar on the side. I'm always looking for new things to cook for dinner that are healthy and inexpensive. She has a lot of great recipes. Check it out. We're having black bean burgers tonight and lentil sloppy joes next week.

Kellogg's Cereal Rebate

2009-07-26T18:51:00.001-06:00

Get a $10 rebate check when you buy 10 Kellogg's or Keebler products. Go here for a printable rebate form: www.fuelforschool.com. Click on the 'Fuel For School' icon on the right-hand side.

What Makes YOU Frugal?

2009-06-26T22:24:00.000-06:00

Hey all you blog stalkers out there,

I promise I am trying to think of some more great frugal ideas. I have been busy lately and my mind is not thinking too creatively right now. So.....I ask for your comments. Leave an idea for us of what it is that YOU do to be frugal. We'd love to hear from you.

Website Deals

2009-06-12T21:25:00.000-06:00

I'm reposting this. All credit goes to Holly from SunnysideUpsideDown and her original post. Thanks Holly for all the leg work!

Since we are on a tight budget here in Chi Town I have been scouring the internet on ways to save money and find deals. I have found a couple things that are worth sharing.

Free Jewelry: This site gives jewelry away for FREE! The catch? You must pay for shipping, which is $6.99 and you can't combine purchases. BUT it is sterling silver and gemstones. My mom has ordered some from the site and says the jewelry is beautiful. They only offer four pieces at a time and they change every few minutes, so if you see something snag it quick!

Want free haircuts? I don't even remember where I got this tip, but I just scored an appointment for a free haircut so I thought I'd pass it on. On craigslist there is a section called 'Services' and sub-category for 'Beauty'. If you check it OFTEN new and upcoming stylists will post ads for free haircuts, facials, etc. They need to build up their portfolios and so they offer free services. You have to act quick, hence the checking OFTEN. I have responded to several and finally scored the free one just yesterday. I have my appointment on Monday so I'll let you know how it goes.

Shopping High for great deals and freebies. She posts freebies, and items that are on super great deals. Most are online, but occasionally it is coupons for a free item that you have to take to the store. I have scored free antibacterial stuff at Bath & Body Works and free frozen lemonaid at Corner Bakery just to name a couple.

Fantabulously Fruga l is similiar to Shopping High. They post coupons and freebies and such, but it seems that the majority of her posts are geared to when retailers are having great online and in-store sales.

Betty Crocker - You can print coupons right from their website and the best part is that you select the coupons you want and only print them and not a bunch that you won't use.

Pillsbury - Same as Betty Crocker. The coupons on this site change about once a week (I think) so keep an eye on them.

Diamond Shark - This site has one deal every day. It is always jewelry, it might be a watch, a pair of earrings, a ring...but it is ALWAYS a steal. Name brands are a regular occurance and the shipping is always free.

So there are a few. I am also looking to increase my shopping saavy...any of you out there have some tips to share?

Free Arby's Sandwich!

2009-06-10T16:51:00.001-06:00

Sorry it's so late in the day, but today at Arby's you get a free turkey club sandwich with the purchase of a drink. If you're up to dealing with the crowds, it's worth a free sandwich!

Free Bowling at Fat Cats - Utah only

2009-06-05T21:10:00.001-06:00

My friend called me today and said that Fat Cats Bowling offers free bowling over the Summer to kids ages 5-15. The kids get 2 free games per day on M-F from 9AM-5PM and up to 5 kids per family.

You do have to pay for the shoe rental (not included) and the adults have to pay to play. But, you can sign up for a "Family Pass" that is $29.95 and then up to 4 adults (parents, grandparents, babysitters or whoever) can bowl on the family pass, also getting 2 free games per day.

This is a limited time offer. You need to go to Fat Cats (click link or go to www.fatcatsfun.com) and then click the "Kids Bowl Free" icon in the upper right hand corner. Then you can register your kids online and they will email you your "Kids Bowl Free" pass within 24 hours.

So...technically if you do the math (and it is not likely you would go this often, but humor me)....then it would be $2.72 a week (11 weeks) for 4 adults to bowl. Remembering that you have to pay for the shoe rental, so it's not quite that cheap, but really, you are getting 2 games per adult, so it comes out to be 34 cents a game per adult (and that is if you only go ONCE a week). Not too shabby!!

Note-- as for the 11 weeks-- thatis just a guess on my part. I do not know officially when the summer bowling program ends. That's just when school starts again for my kids.

Cheap summer fun!! Can't beat that!

Yard Sale Question

2009-05-17T17:12:00.000-06:00

Have any of you ever had a yard sale? We're thinking of hold one to sell our furniture and household items preparatory to moving cross country. What are reasonable prices to expect people to pay for items like books, childrens clothing, womens/mens clothing & shoes, furniture, and toys. Is it worth it? What have your experiences been? Any sage advice?

Just like I-Hop

2009-05-13T21:42:00.001-06:00

Do you love eating out at I-Hop (or a similar pancake house) and eating their delicious pancakes? Me too. Unfortunately, it's not in my family's budget to do something like that very often. I mean, maybe once a year we have done that. It's just not something we can afford to do -we rarely eat out AT ALL, let alone for pancakes on a Saturday morning with the kids. But I ran across a pancake recipe a couple years ago that is awesome and the pancakes turn out fluffy and perfect, very similar to those of a restaurant. (I honestly would give credit to where I found the recipe if I could remember, but I can't. So please forgive me for that one.)

I will say that once we discovered this recipe, we no longer have the desire to "eat out" for pancakes. They are really yummy and so much cheaper than taking the whole family out to eat! We have added chocolate chips to them on occasion, and that is really good too. I am sure you all can come up with many delicious variations! If you do, please share them with us.

Buttermilk Pancakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour onto the griddle to form pancakes. Flip pancakes when edges appear top harden. Cook pancakes on the other side until just slightly golden. Makes about 6-8 medium sized pancakes.

Buttermilk Waffles:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoong baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine ingredients and mix well. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray and cook until lightly golden brown. (Now that I type this, I don't know why the eggs are separated. Hmmm....can you tell my husband always makes these? lol. I will ask him in the morning and come back and fix this part).

Slash Cell Phone Bills

2009-05-13T21:14:00.000-06:00

For those who know me know I'm just slightly addicted to my Blackberry... and addicted might be a tad too loose of a term. Pretty sure I keep better tabs on my phone than my children sometimes. Well, we've been looking for ways to cut costs as we move our life into the living-on-student-loans-and-loving-it-mode. One "extra" we pay for is the data plan on my BB. Which means I get IM, Facebook, Internet, etc all from the nifty little thing in my hand. However, it costs me an extra $20 a month which equals an extra $240 a year. Blast. What's a girl to do?

Well, get excited. For those of you who get the shakes just thinking of going without the data plan on your phone.... there is a new wonderful program called OPERA MINI that you can download (while you still have your data plan). It somehow grabs low running network and allows you to continue to use BB messenger, all the other IM plans (yahoo, msn, aol, etc), facebook, and certain news webpages. Yes friends. That means you can have those plans WITHOUT paying for the data plan (or being charged for RIM access). Plus, it forces you to be a leeeetle less connected to the internet.

Wanna take it a step further? Get all your friends who usually text you to download it and then you can all talk on the IM's on your phones. You'll still be "texting" but won't be paying per text nor having to pay the extra $15 a month for the unlimited text. Potentially, if I was able to cut out my unlimited text and data plan, I would be saving myself $35 a month = $420 a YEAR!

I downloaded it tonight and am calling to cancel my data plan tomorrow. I'll let you know how it all goes.

**update** apparently I'm not super duper tech savvy. This plan will only work if your phone already has a Wifi chip. Most "smart phones" released in the last two years do, but of course mine doesn't. geeeeeez. good thing I'm getting a new phone next month eh? yay for a contract expiration!!***

Stretching Cold Cereal

2009-05-13T08:53:00.000-06:00

I know that cold cereal is not a very frugal way to eat breakfast. However, I have a 10-year-old die hard cold cereal fan in my house, a kid who likes the expensive kinds! And personally? I like cold cereal too. I had to come up with a solution to stretch the cold cereal a little, and hopefully make it more filling and nutritious in the process.

Obviously, shop the sales AND use as many coupons as you can. You might be able to find the boxes for a $1 or less if you do this. You have to be on top of your game and a careful shopper, who might have to make trips to more than one store, or special trips to certain stores, just to hit the sales. But it can be really worth it. If you want more grocery tips, specific to your state (U.S. only), visit Pinching Your Pennies for some great money saving tips.

The other method I came up with was to buy the cereal in the bags, the "Malt-o-Meal" brand, where you are not paying for the packaging. You can get 32 oz for $4.99 (reg price) in the Malt-o-Meal (cheerios) or you can get about 12 oz for about $2.50 (on sale). So, it is much more cost effective to purchase the bagged cereals.

I took it one step further and mixed the sugary cereal that my son loves with the Cheerios. I bought a container and fill it up with cereal mix when needed. My kids haven't complained one bit. I am slowly planning to increase the Cheerios to sugar cereal ratio, gradually, so that they doesn't notice that they are eating more Cheerios than sugar. Yes, I am a bit devious that way. :)

For our readers: What methods do you use to save money on cereal and/or what recipes can you share that you use for inexpensive breakfast foods? Thanks! Hope to hear from you!

Vacation Frugalness

2009-05-10T07:43:00.000-06:00

Granted... the most frugal way was to buy our own breakfast and eat IN the hotel room...but I wasn't that organized. So instead I took our starving children to the hotel buffet. My husband was still sleeping and after paying an undisclosed amount of money for me and my 6 year old to eat I refused to pay any more money for my husband and baby to eat. So what did I do? I asked the waiter for a take-out box. I then took the take-out box and filled it up with a nice sized breakfast for my hubby and some sides for the babe. So *technically* I only paid for 2 breakfasts instead of 4! I threw food in and ran... kinda felt like that family on Lampoons Vegas Vacation at the buffet. hahaha.

But it got me thinking.... what would be some other ways to save for restaurant meals? My sister-in-law told me that she signs up for the email alerts from local and chain restaurants. Just this week Mimi's Cafe had a promotion for up to $10 off of breakfast. She signed up a different email account for all her family members...for for the family of 4 they only paid the tax of $6 because they each had a $10 off coupon with their name on it. Now THAT is the kind of deal I'm talking about.

Any other ideas or suggestions you all have? (btw, Happy Mothers Day everyone!)

Cooking Tips for Potatoes and Rice

2009-05-05T08:44:00.000-06:00

Here's a tip for cooking mashed potatoes and rice that is energy efficient and it saves a lot of time. I got this idea from the cookbook "Dinner Is Ready" by Deanna Buxton, pages 65-66.

Mashed Potatoes:

Bring a pot of cubed potatoes to a full boil, then turn off the heat. Leave the pan on the burner and cover with a tight-fitting lid. The potatoes will be ready to mash in about three hours.

Rice:

Measure rice and water into a pan. Bring to a full boil. Turn off the heat and leave the pan on the burner. Cover pan with a tight-fitting lid. The rice will be fluffy and perfect in approximately three hours.

And guess what? It really works! I have tried it for both rice and potatoes. They turn out great every time. It's not a super frugal tip, but this shortcut will save you time, and save you a little energy on your stove because it doesn't have to be on so long. And, you don't have to be home while the potatoes and rice are cooking. You can leave and when you come home, it will be ready to eat.

"Debt-Proof Living": Book Recommendation

2009-05-03T16:31:00.000-06:00

I am recommending a book about money management. No -- I am not getting paid or anything for mentioning this book. (And no, you can't click on it and really "look inside" -- that's just from the picture from Amazon.com. You could if you go to that website). I have not completed reading the book, so I am perhaps a little hesitant to rave about it, but I have read the first 5 chapters and so far, I am hooked. This book was recommended to me by a very smart friend who manages her money very well, so I decided to give it a try. It is called "Debt-Proof Living" by Mary Hunt. I got it at http://www.amazon.com/ for $11.55 and if you spend $25 then it qualifies for free Super Saver Shipping. This same friend also told me that all of Mary Hunt's books are good, so if you are trying to get free shipping, maybe you want to research some of her other books.

Of course, the truly frugal thing to do would be to borrow the book from the library or a friend......see? I still need help working on this frugal business. :)

I don't have a lot of debt (though I have had it in the past). At first I thought that maybe this book was more about getting out of credit card debt, but it is much, much more. It is about teaching you how to live frugally and to manage your money so that you can live on 80% of your income. One of the things I like most about it is that it is written in language that the average Joe can understand, whereas a lot of money management books are not as simply written.

Here is an excerpt from the book (from pages 60-61):

"Debt-proof living depends more on your spending habits than the size
of your paycheck......The more you practice restraint in your spending, the
easier it will become because, simply put, you're going to get better at
it.......

"Reducing your living expenses so they fit within 80 percent of your
income requires scrutinizing every expense and then finding the best way to
reduce it. By reducing everything a little bit, you may be able to avoid
eliminating any spending categories. This is going to require creativity
and discipline. And your reward for your willingness to endure temporary
sacrifice will be a light at the end of your tunnel, and I promise it's not a
train.

"I don't know what frugality means to you. The word has taken a
good bit of heat in the past few years as a buzzword for some economic
extremists. As a result, many people have come to view frugality with
disdain, assuming it demands a lifestyle based on dumpster diving and recycling
dryer lint. Believe me. That's not it. To me frugality means doing
whatever it takes to keep your living expenses within 80 percent of your net
income.

"Frugality is not about stuffing everyone into the same mold so we all
spend the same amount of money on things like food or housing. Frugality
is about personal restraint, discipline, finding the best value, and not being
wasteful. It's about making choices and understanding that if you say yes
to one thing you may need to say no to something else. And that is okay
because finally you are going to be managing your money in a way that will bring
you tremendous personal satisfaction.

"Because I live frugally doesn't mean I don't spend money. It
means I spend money thoughtfully and with a sense of discipline and
purpose. As my life is blessed and my income increases, 80 percent of my
net income increases as well. It's a beautiful thing."

If you decide to read this book (or if you have read it and already have an opinion), please share it with us. So far, I am really enjoying this book and I hope it will help get my family on a path toward financial security, like it did for my friend. Isn't that what we are all hoping for?

Milk, Bowling & Weekly Question

2009-05-03T07:44:00.000-06:00

Hey All. Sorry I've been MIA, we've been knee deep in preparing for our big move to the South. I have a feeling I'm going to be coming up with a LOT more frugal ideas now that I know what our Grad School budget is. Oye. Here's two ideas for this week:

-Re-using milk. It may sound gross but it'll save you on average 2-5 cups of milk a week, depending on how much you drink milk. I've found my kids don't always drink their entire cup of milk nor finish the milk in their bowl. What I've started doing is creating two "leftover cups" in the fridge. One that holds the milk they didn't finish drinking, one holds the milk from the cereal. Usually I can't get my husband or kids (or even myself...) to actually drink the milk but I've been able to re-use the milk when feeding my kids cereal, making oatmeal, even baking. It may sound gross but as long as your child/husband is healthy re-using it should be just fine and dandy! If you're really worried then use it to make oatmeal and boil the milk before hand, making sure the germs are out. It's been great for us, I've extended our gallon of milk at least a half a week longer. May not be much but over the extensino of a year it adds up to at least 3 gallons of milk saved!

-Kids Bowl Free! This program hasn't hit Utah yet, but it's alive and well in most other states.

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

They send you a weekly coupon that is good for children under the age of 15 to bowl free every day from May 1-August 31. I haven't yet signed up so I'm not sure what the fee is for parents, but if you're looking for a free activity for your children it's a great option!!!

Weekly Question:

We're moving cross country here in a month. We're trying to figure out how to cut costs with driving over 2,000 miles. One idea I've proposed is to determine our path based on where friends/family live so we can stay for free with them. My husband thinks that's a little too moochy-moochy. Thoughts? Would you be offended if someone called you and asked if they could crash on your couch for a night while they are driving? What other ideas do you fabulous people have for cutting moving costs?

Diaper Trick for a Super Leaky Kid

2009-04-15T10:03:00.000-06:00

My daughter is 2. She is the only child I have had that leaks throught her diaper every. single. night. Not kidding. It does not matter what kind of diapers I use-- Huggies, Pampers, Luvs, generic...(ok-- some generics are especially bad) but even the best of the brand-names can not contain this child! Every morning I was faced with a wet smelly kid and needing to wash all her bedding, pajamas, and her favorite blanket. That's the main problem. Listening to her cry for 2 hours while her "blankie" gets washed.

Desperate for a solution, I wracked my brain thinking of what else I could do. Enter cloth diapers. -- don't give up yet......KEEP READING--- I bought a pack of cloth diapers from Wal-mart, 12 in the pack for $11.99. Not too bad. Then I bought diaper pins (4 in the pack for $1-2) and plastic pants (6 in the pack for about $5, I think). I did NOT want to wash out stinky, poopy diapers. That just is not something I can deal with at this point in my life, so I got creative. I put a regular Huggies diaper on her and then I pin the cloth diaper OVER the top of the disposable diaper. Put on the plastic pants and pj's and put her to bed. Every. single. morning she has a wet cloth diaper, but it does a good job of absorbing the "excess" that leaked out the regular diaper, and the rest of her bedding, blankets, and PJ's are dry. It has turned out to be cheaper to wash one cloth diaper each day with my regular laundry than to do an extra load every day to wash all her bedding. Total cost was under $20 and I know I have saved that in laundry detergent, water, running my dryer/washer, the wear & tear on my items, and simply my sanity!!

I realize not everyone has this problem. And BLESS YOU if you don't. But for those of us who do, here's a possible solution. If you have other ideas for a kid like this, please pass them on. Potty training will be facing me soon, and I don't know what I am going to do then!!

Diapers and Generic Items in General

2009-04-15T09:52:00.000-06:00

A website I really like is Meckmom.com. Her post yesterday is about generic brand diapers, and there are a lot of comments below the post about generic items in general and how they compare to their brand-name competitors. Just thought I would pass it on to those of you who may be interested in checking out her blog. She has a lot of great ideas for families and organization as well.

I have personally found that generic medicines are almost always a good buy. I prefer to buy most medicines at Costco because the price is so much cheaper per ounce/pill, etc. I have tried the generic brand diapers from Smith's (Kroger) and they were terrible! Very thin, very cheap and they leaked like crazy. I, however, liked the generics from Macey's (Associated Foods in Utah). They are called "Cozy Care" and the diapers are just fine. (I will share a diaper trick I use for my super leaky girl in a separate post).

So.. if you are interested, check out MeckMom. And please, if you want to post what generics YOU use and how they stack up (or DON'T stack up), post them here for us to see. Thanks for sharing!

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Waffles

2009-04-13T21:11:00.000-06:00

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspons baking powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 and 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
Directions:
Mix the first 8 ingredients
Preheat a waffle iron. Spray it with cooking spray.
Fill a medium size ladle with batter and pour it onto the waffle iron.
Cook
Serve with maple syrup and/or fresh berries

I made these Saturday for dinner and they were a hit all around. There were leftovers, so I stuck them in a ziplock bag in the fridge. Max, my little boy, loves them warmed up with a little Reddi-Whip on top. The slight peanut butter taste is so good. It's a great way to use the whole wheat in your food storage!

Homemade Syrup

2009-04-11T21:20:00.001-06:00

I made this today. SOOO....easy. So "healthy" :-). Pretty good.

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp. maple flavoring (I used almond because that is what I had. It was really good)

Whisk together in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is melted. (Make sure not to walk away while the burner is on high. It will boil over a bit if you do this. Burning sugar isn't the best smell...oops!)

This makes enough to fill a 24 oz syrup bottle. I figure that it costs about half as much as regular store-bought syrup. Make sure to store it in the fridge.

Bike Facelift

2009-04-06T20:46:00.000-06:00

I admit, I stole this idea from my brother-in-law...,..... a man who is, I might add, the LAST person I would think of as "frugal." Several years ago, my daughter inherited a bicycle from his children. It is a girl's bike, but he had 2 girls in a row, then a boy, and he didn't want to shell out the money for a boy's bike. So my brother-in-law spray painted the pink bike a more "boyish" dark green. Well, my daughter has loved this dark green bike, but often wished it were pink. So my husband bought a can of spray paint, and returned it to its "girly" glory. He taped some plastic bags around the handles & chains to keep the paint out of them. Our daughter... well she thought she'd died and gone to heaven, now that she has a pink bike! Woot. Just an idea you might want to try. Get as creative as you want and use your imagination (or your child's!)

Sorry, I don't have a picture of the finished product, but I will try to get one tomorrow. Not bad to get a brand-new looking bike for the price of one can of spray paint, eh?

Diapers

2009-04-01T15:48:00.000-06:00

I have tried discount diapers in the past, but they haven't worked for us. Recently, I purchased a box of Target-brand diapers. We have been using them on our little boy for about two weeks, and I really am satisfied with the results. At 15 cents a diaper for size 4, I think I'll stick with this brand for now!

Are We No Longer Frugal???

2009-03-27T18:20:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone! It' s been 15 days since our last post. Have we officially run out of ideas? I certainly hope not! I am making a commitment to this blog. Every week I will try something new and blog about it. I'm also going to start throwing out frugal questions to see if I can generate some ideas.

Question: I am NOT crafty. I try, but it takes me a long time. What are some crafty-illiterate-friendly ideas of homemade games to make? We recently moved in with my in-laws for a temporary period of time. They have NO kid games and ours are all packed. I don't want to go and shell out $20 for Candyland or another uber fun kid game. Thoughts? Any website ideas? Other fabulous FREE game ideas for 6 year olds?

Restaurant.com Deal

2009-03-13T16:54:00.000-06:00

My friend, Ashlie, let me know about this:

"I spent $1.80 for $30 worth of local restaurant gift certificates. The ones I just got include Braza Grill, CJ's and Santa Monica Pizza. Yum.

Restaurant.com is selling their already discounted restaurant gift certificates for 80% off! You can get a $25 gift certificate to various restaurants for $2! I got $10 gift certificates for 60 cents each. The code for the 80% off sale is MENU.

Just watch out, though, because they come with special conditions. For instance, most of them have minimum you have to spend (typically $20 for a $10 gift certificate), some are lunch only, and so on..."

March Food Co-Op Reminder

2009-03-11T07:33:00.000-06:00

For those interested in Utah, Food Co-op orders need to be recieved by Friday March 13th. You can mail them, call or fax your order in. The menu looks great this month!!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Baby Food

2009-03-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Last night I was shopping at Walmart and was surprised to see the Gerber stage 2 baby food (the two packs) on sale for .84 a piece. In case any of you are buying baby food for whatever reason, this is a great deal. They used to be 1.14 for awhile and then they dropped the price down to 1.00 a few weeks ago. But the .84 is a good deal.

Free DVD's and activity book.

2009-03-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you that are of the LDS faith or would like to learn more about the LDS Faith follow this link to order

Hinckley 2 DVD Family Fun Gift Pack, which includes Journey to the Promised Land animated DVD, The Trek West docudrama DVD, the 48-page FHE idea and activity book, and 8 Animated Book of Mormon character magnets. Shipping and Handling is now free!

Black Beans and Rice

2009-02-26T16:25:00.001-07:00

We love black beans and rice! We eat something with black beans at least once a week. This Fall I bought several cans of beans from the dry-pack cannery. I make a huge pot full of beans about once a month and then freeze it 4 cup servings. That's enough to make a few dinners with leftovers for my husband and I. Here are a few of our favorite recipes:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/black-beans-rice-10000001031604/index.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/lactose/li_chicken_beans.html

Enjoy!

Frugal Funk

2009-02-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking of fabulous frugal ideas... which require me to spend money to try... hmmmm seems counterproductive no? So my latest frugal movement? Do. Nothing. It's not that much fun, but heck it saves us money.

In the meantime, I do have a question for ya'll. I realize that getting a sitter who you actually have to pay is not the most frugal idea, nonetheless, what's YOUR going rate for babysitters? When we had one child we paid $3 an hour. Now that we have 2 we pay $3-$4 (for example: they watch our children for 4 hours... 4x3 = 12, we usually bump it up to $15 which makes it a little more than $3.50 an hour for 2) What are your going prices? How many kids do you have? Am I over paying? Underpaying?

One idea for a sitting swap that was suggested (I have yet to implement it, but I LOVE the idea) is gathering about 4 couples and their children and spreading the love over a month. You watch ALL the children (yes, all 3 other couples children and your own) once a month. They also watch all the children once a month free of charge. So, for one night a month your life is insane, crazy, child-filled and your house gets ripped apart. But the trade off? THREE date nights with your husband or a girls night out for FREE. Good idea, eh? It would definitely be something you'd need to be 100% committed to, especially the Friday or Saturday night you say you'll watch the children. But SO WORTH not having to pay a sitter.

Hair Flowers for Little Girls

2009-02-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

I love flowers in the hair of little girls. And I have 3 little girls. I have seen similar flowers in the stores or craft boutiques and the prices that range from $3-8 a piece, which I can't afford or justify. So I figured it out on my own. I am also telling you this now because Spring is coming (at least I hope so!! lol) and pink is a color that you cannot find in the Fall. So, you may want to purchase some fun colors and make some hair accessories for Easter or a birthday or baby shower.

You will need:

artificial flowers from the craft store

A needle

A thimble (this is optional, but it does help!)

quilting thread (regular thread is ok, but breaks easily)

barrettes

ribbon

small beads (I got a package of 250 for $2.49)

Hot glue gun

Pull the flower off the stem and take it apart. Between the layers of the flowers there is usually a plastic piece that helps separate the layers. Take those out and throw them away and put the flower back together. (this plastic center gets thrown way)

Thread your needle, and sew a bead in the center of the flower, just like you would sew on a button. Don't skimp here. If the bead comes off, it will be a choking hazard, so really use good thread and sew it on extra tight.

Cover a barrette with a short piece of ribbon. If you can find the "alligator" clips, I think those would be better, but I couldn't find them anywhere. You can even recycle old clips you don't use and cover them.

You have to cover it in ribbon so that the hot glue will have a place to stick. Then hot glue the barrette to the back of the flower. Viola! You are done.

You can also make headbands with ribbon or stretch lace and then clip different flowers to the headband. Since a bunch of flowers will come with more than you need, you can use the leftovers for gifts or split the cost with some friends and share the flowers. It is fun to have matching flowers (2 pair) for pony tails.

Singing Time Deal

2009-02-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Erin's friend Mel sent this to me:

It's Signing Time With Alex And Leah

via Baubles & Bits on 2/17/09

We love the Signing Time movies around here. They are awesome! My kids are learning lots of signs. The only downside to them has been the price. They are expensive, usually $20+ each dvd. Right now Best Buy has some sets from season two for $14.99 each! We ordered both and 1-3 is backordered but received the other set and we LOVE it! It came with 4 DVDS and also a CD of music! We can't wait for the other set to get here. These sets would normally be $60-$75! I would grab them while you can. You won't be disappointed!

Free Internet & Phone

2009-02-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

My friend Erin let me in on this little secret. If you make less than $26,000 a year and it's available in your area you can get free internet, phone, and cell phone service...

check it out.

Safelink Internet

Diet Dr. Pepper

2009-02-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

If you go here http://www.freedietdrpepper.com/, you can get a coupon for a FREE 2 liter. I just got my coupon in the mail today! Why not, it's free?!

Oats

2009-02-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

I asked for food storage for my birthday and my rockin' sister in law got me raw Oats. Yay. Except I have no clue what to do. She bought them during the Macey's sale so they are in the 42qt size tubs. She bought me a 45lb bucket and mentioned that she was going to be canning hers in the #10 cans in March, I could do the same.

What would you do? I don't even know how often I'll be using them? Should I put them in a big bucket? Keep them in their cardboard tubs? Can them? What recipes do you have that I could make the Oats useful? I'm suuuure there are a lot more ideas than just oatmeal cookies and oats for breakfast. Thoughts?

Ziploc Zip'n Steam

2009-02-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

I will warn you right now: This is not the most frugal tip you've ever heard. But, sometimes our families need a meal in a hurry and we didn't plan ahead. Some days are very busy and in our culture people tend to stop at the drive-thru or order a pizza because we don't have time to make anything.

Enter: Zip'n Steam Bags from Ziploc. These bags are available in the grocery store on the same aisle as the rest of the ziploc products and plastic wrap, etc. You can place frozen food in them and have it ready to eat, moist and delicious, in less time that it would take you to stop at the drive-thru -- no kidding.

This package contains 7 large bags. I believe they were about $1.79 (I'm not positive) and there was a peelie coupon stuck to the package to save $0.55 per package. I have seen coupons for them in the inserts as well. The bags come in a medium size (10 bags per package) or a large size (7 bags per package).

Last night I made a frozen pizza for me & my kids. I knew my husband was getting tired of stuff like that, so I pulled out some frozen salmon fillets and put them in the bag. In 6 minutes they went from frozen solid to completely steamed, delicious and flaky. Yes-- flaky. Mine were preseasoned, but you can add whatever spices you would like to the items you are cooking.

These bags could also work for someone who has different diet requirements than the others in the family. My husband doesn't always want to eat a greasy pizza. He was thrilled that he got something healthy instead.

The bag tells you how long to cook things, from meats to veggies and you can season them how ever you would like. You don't need to add any water. Here they are frozen:

And here is the finished product. My husband made fun of me for not removing the skin before I took the photo, so sorry about that. Hopefully you can still see that the fish was perfectly cooked and very flaky. I have cooked vegetables in them also and it works really well. I have even washed and reused the bag once when it was used for vegetables. I am sure the package doesn't recommend that, but it still worked ok.

Just passing on an idea for a quick meal that might help you save on your budget on those really busy evenings when life is crazy!

Towels, Papertowels, and Washcloths

2009-02-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine has always done this in her house. I was skeptical of it actually saving me money until I tried it. She only uses papertowels to clean the mirrors in her home. Every thing else in her house is cleaned with rags, old washcloths, cut up old towels, etc. She claimed she could go almost a year using ONE big set of papertowels from Costco. hmmmm. I on average purchase about 4-5 sets of papertowels from Costco in 12 months.

So about 4 months ago I started doing that. You know what? I still haven't even gone through half the package of paper towels and things look just as clean. It takes a little bit more effort to wash your rags on regular basis, but it has saved me quite a bit of pass through costs.

Take your old towels that have been bleached stained, are too old, have holes in them... whatever their dystfunction and cut them into small squares. Rags can be used a VERY long time and survive MANY MANY washes. You can even use old t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc as rags.

Try it and let me know what you think!

2009-02-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

hi all! i'm a friend of lori's and a first time poster here. i've been loving all your great tips! here is my inaugural tip: i often buy cheaper (and thus tougher, less tasty) chicken and beef and then use it in slow cooker recipes. the slow cooking makes even the toughest meat tender and tasty. there are oodles of slow cooker bookazines out there but one of my faves is: Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Slow Cooker. bonus: there are like 20 recipes in there under 10 bucks! here's one to try on a cold winter night:

Cheeseburger Soup
Total cost: 9.62
Prep 25 minutes
Cook 5 to 51/2 hours on high, 10 to 11 hours on low

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups coarsely chopped russet potatoes (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup sliced carrot
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 serrano chile pepper, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 14 oz. cans beef broth
1 10.75 oz. can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Brown ground beef with onion and garlic. Drain fat.
2. Combine beef mixture and all ingedients but shredded cheddar in 4 to 5 quart slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 11 hours or on high for 5 to 5 1/2 hours.
4. Top each serving with a little shredded cheddar.

happy saving!

Another Website

2009-02-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

I really should add these to the sidebar. hmmm.

My e-friend Tanya sent me this, check it out!

I honestly don't know if this only applies to Utah County, because I really wouldn't expect grocery ads to differ *that* much. But, here's a website that I was just directed to and am still trying to figure out but seems reeeally useful!

http://savvyshopperdeals.com/

Tyson Chicken and Milk

2009-02-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Smiths is having a sale on whole Tyson chicken for .59 cents a pound. That comes to just around 3 bucks for a 5 lb chicken. I like to buy several and stick them in the freezer. Sometimes I cook two at a time and use the meat off one for sandwiches, soups, or pastas. They are SO easy to bake: Rinse and remove neck/gizzards, stick in a roasting pan w/rack, and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for another 1 1/2 hrs. (until the temp. reaches 180 degrees). Add a little bbq sauce, a baked potato, some veggies, and that's dinner!

Smiths is also having a sale on Mt. Dairy milk....3 for $5.

Free Custom Workouts

2009-02-04T13:22:00.001-07:00

Looking for a way to add variety to your workout? KSL's Studio 5 Health and Fitness Expert Melanie Douglass has created a pdf file that you can download for FREE. She has a wide variety of exercises, complete with descriptions and photographs, and you can mix and match the different exercises to build a custom workout.

If you want to watch Melanie Douglass on Studio 5, click here. I'm sure we can all use ideas to add variety to our daily workout, and free is our favorite price!!

Check out Oprah Tomorrow (February 3rd)

2009-02-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Oprah will be featuring a section on how to cut your grocery bill in half. If you're home might as well tune it! Ready, set, watch Oprah!

Thanks to one of our readers, The Fords, we all now know!

FREE CHICKEN

2009-02-01T22:27:00.001-07:00

I got this email from Sharlynn....

A couple months ago I bought the 40 lb box of boneless chicken breasts from Maceys for $47. I've re-packaged it all into 1 lb or 3 lb. freezer bags, that have been stored in our deep-freeze. Anyway, I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE, because it's not that great (pretty tough meat), and I'm wanting to switch to organic meat (we're thinking of getting our own chickens--really!). I asked about donating it, but they won't take it, since it's been re-packaged. If anyone wants any, please just come and get it. NO CHARGE! Like I said, it's not that great of quality, but it's free, so what do you have to lose? Email me if you want some (there's about 32 lbs left). joshandsharlynn@hotmail.com

Food Co-Op Basics.

2009-01-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

In each state you have farmers or at least farm dealers. The basic idea of the Food Co-op is buying the food directly from the farmers instead of through the grocery store. You get quality food for a little bit over cost. The more co-op participants there are the cheaper the prices get. You don't get to pick what is in the harvest that month, but you know there will be varities of meat, fruit, vegetables, and grains. They change every month depending on which crop is doing well.

Step One: Go to this website if you live in Utah: Utah Food Co-Op. If you live out of state find your food co-op here at The Food Co-Op Directory. You can peruse and learn more about the food co-op.

Step Two: If you're interested click here to figure out how to order. There are many pick up sites. In Utah there are at least 30, you should be able to find one near you. Make sure to write on your order form which pick up site you're ordering to. You can call in your order or print and mail in your order. They will send you a follow-up email when they have recieved your order. Your card or check will be processed at that point (to pay the farmers)

Step Three: Make sure you show up to get your order. If you don't pick up your food they don't get it to you, they donate it to local shelters. The pick up sights have specific times for pick up.

Step Four: Bring a laundry basket, box, huge canvas bag or another big holder to carry all your food. They don't bag them for you, you need provide a way to bring your food home. At the pick up center they will have a reciept of your order and will double check on exiting that you aren't taking more food than you paid for.

Step Five: The food co-op asks you to donate 2-4 hours of community service a month in order to participate in the co-op. This can be church volunteer hours, other community organizations, or actual volunteering time with the food co-op (bagging rice, counting vegetables, processing orders, etc)

Step Six: Grab the food co-op newspaper when you pick up your food. It will have the next months order form and some pertinent information.

Step Seven: Enjoy your food! Nummy! Tell everyone you know about the food co-op! The more people that are invovled the cheaper the food!!

Did that answer your question Ashlie?

Great Website

2009-01-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

This blogsite has tons of free give-aways. I just ordered 6 free, personalized Valentine's cards. Scroll down for that offer. It really works.

http://hail2thesnowqueen.blogspot.com/

January Food Co-op

2009-01-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

I paid $49 for the following:

1lb. Top Sirloin Fajita Strips
2 lb. Package of Chicken Drumsticks
2 lb. Sirloin Pork Roast
1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
2 lb. Rice
2 loaf Artisan Wheat Bread
11 Fuji Apples
11 Pears
10 Oranges
2 Romain Lettuce
7 Red Bell Peppers
10 Tomatoes
4 Avocados
1 Head of Cauliflower
2 l2lb. Bag of Carrots
34 oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil

That's it!! $49!!! Buying the same amount from the grocery store would equal and possibly surpass $80. Do it!! Do the food co-op for February. The deadline for your order is Feburary 6th. This month:

The Standard Share ($35-$46 retail) $23

2 lb Chicken Breast 1 lb Pork Spare Ribs

1 lb Beef Stew Meat 1 lb Lean Ground Beef (85/15)

Fresh Fruits (3 varieties)

Fresh Vegetables (5 varieties)

Artisan Wheat Bread

16 oz Rice

Half Share ($21-$27 retail) $14

2 lb Chicken Breast 1 lb Beef Stew Meat

Fresh Fruits (3 varieties)

Fresh Vegetable (4 varieities)

Artisan Wheat Bread

16 oz Rice

Harvest Share ($21-$26 Retail) $14

Fresh Fruits (3 varieties) Fresh Vegetables (6 varieties)

Artisan Wheat Bread 16 oz Rice

There are some add-ons you can also buy. Last month I ordered a Standard Share and a Harvest Share. They were selling Extra Virgin Olive Oil for $7 so I bought that too!! It's worth doing the food co-op. They have them in every state (I listed a directory on the side) also, if you're in graduate school or on government assistance for any reason they said they take food stamps as payment. Totallly worth it! I wasn't able to pick up my food because I was at an adoption class, Amanda did it for me. I'm hoping she'll do her inaugural post and explain how the food co-op pick up works.

YAY for groceries that will last me three weeks!!!

Diapers

2009-01-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

QUESTION.....
Have any of you ever tried the Costco/Kirkland brand of diapers? If so, what is your opinion of them?
We just got over trying LUVS brand and they were awful. Max's diapers were always leaking, and he was going through a few outfits a day as a result. We switched back to Huggies. I'd like to try the Kirkland brand, but I don't want to buy a huge box if they don't work.

Don't Throw Away Today's Junk Mail!

2009-01-21T14:27:00.001-07:00

I realize this post is only good for those of us that live in Utah... however...

There is a huge cereal sale at Macey's this week. Boxes from $1.50-$2.00... but... you need the in-ad coupon, so don't throw it away!! Plus, the eggs Natalie talked about a few posts ago are still on sale this week at Macey's for $14.

Albertsons has a huge "buy one get one free" section this week in the ads, also. Check it out. :)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2009-01-21T12:44:00.001-07:00

I have often seen recipes online for homemade laundry detergent and wondered if they would actually work. I decided to give it a try. Most of the recipes I have seen are for liquid detergent, and you have to keep it in a very large bucket and stir it before each use. I didn't want to bother with all that hassle, and I don't have space in my laundry room for a huge bucket of liquid. However, I recently ran across a recipe for a powdered detergent, which I will show here.

I have used it (6 loads), and it works really quite well. To test it out, I did a load of laundry, planning to check every item before I put them into the dryer. I even left a big chocolate smear on my daughter's favorite blanket and didn't pre-treat it with anything. It came out perfectly clean! It smells good when you take it out of the washer, but after it has been through the dryer, there is not a perfumed smell to the clothing. I figured, give it a try. If it doesn't work, then (as long as you check your items before they go in the dryer), you can always re-wash them with store-bought detergent.

The entire process took very little time. I would say it took about 20 minutes, and that was partly because I was unsure how much bar soap I needed for 2 cups, so I had to keep chopping and measuring, and partly because I couldn't find a lid for my container! It would be even more time efficient if you doubled the amounts and made more, therefore only making the mess once, but I wanted to make a small amount to see if I actually liked it before I made a huge quantity.

THE MATH:I did the math on it and here's how it breaks down. I know that some people count their "time" as a factor, but I think you can only count your time if you could have actually been making money at the time you made it, meaning that if you have a job during the day, I don't think you can count your time as $15 per hour if you are home from work. Does that make sense? So I didn't account for any time involved.

The borax was $3.69 for 9.5 cups, which comes out to $1.17 for 3 cups needed. The washing soda was $3.19 for 55 oz, which comes out to 94 cents for the 2 cups needed. The baking soda was 79 cents for a 1 lb box, and you need 2 cups, so that is 79 cents. The Fels-Naptha soap cost me $1.09 per bar, and I used 1 bar plus about 1/3-1/2 of another bar. So it came out to about $1.64 for the soap. The total cost then, was $4.54 for the ingredients used, and it made enough soap for 72 loads of laundry, using 1/8 cup each time. That comes out to $0.06 cents per load. Now, I paid full price for the ingredients I bought, so if you could find the borax and washing soda on sale, you could get the price per load to be even cheaper.

Compare to (prices at amazon.com):

Powdered Tide at 26.85 for 120 load box = $0.22 cents per load

Powdered All at $6.91 (40 load box) = $0.17 cents per load

Powdered Gain at $14.62 (80 load box) = $0.18 cents per load

INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

Here's what you will need:

3 cups of Borax

2 cups of Washing Soda

2 cups of Baking Soda

2 cups of grated Fels-Naptha soap (or other laundry soap). You need about 1 1/2 bars.

A grater (or better yet, a food processor with a grater attachment)

If you are unfamiliar with Fels-Naptha soap, it is the brownish bar that your grandmother or mother used to use to remove stains. You can find it in some grocery stores on the laundry aisle. Just look up high, out of the way. You can also purchase it at Amazon.com. Here is what it looks like:

Unwrap the bar of soap and cut it into pieces that will fit into your food processor. (Or grate it by hand if you don't have one).

Grate it using the grater attachment. It only takes a few seconds to be completely grated. It will look like pieces of plastic cheese. (sorry for the shadow of my thumb in the picture). I then dumped out the grated soap and removed my grater attachment, replacing it with my regular chopping blade. Then I let the chopping blade run for about 1-2 minutes, until the grated soap was turned into tiny little pellets. You don't have to do this, I just thought it might help the soap to dissolve faster.

From there, measure the soap and combine it with 3 cups borax, 2 cups washing soda, and 2 cups baking soda.

Stir well to combine and pour into a container with a tight fitting lid. I used an empty #10 can with a plastic lid. Clean up was easy. I put everything in the dishwasher and cleaned it really well. After all, it's just soap!

To use, measure 1/8 cup of detergent and add to water in your washer like regular detergent. (Note: for high-efficiency washers, you should probably cut this amount way down. I don't have a he washer, and they do have different detergent requirements.) I measured 1/8 cup (which is about 2 tablespoons) and then drew a with a permanent marker to mark the "fill" line. I didn't believe it was enough. It was hard to not add more detergent because it looked like so little compared to the store brands. But it actually worked great! And by using less chemicals, you are helping to protect the environment!! (Of course, that's why we're all pinching pennies, right?? LOL)

Fun Website

2009-01-20T17:31:00.001-07:00

Check it out: http://www.skiptomylou.org/
She has a lot of inexpensive and cute crafts. You can make a lot of them with your kids. She even has printables that are fun to print and create.

Powdered Eggs on Sale!!

2009-01-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

I know you might not be too excited about a sale on powdered eggs. Sometimes, though, we end up running to the store just for milk and eggs, and then we blow our budgets on other stuff while we are there. And...this is an awesome price. I first tried these powdered eggs out last August. They work really well. You just add 1 TB of dried egg powder to your recipe and then add 2 TB of liquid (water, milk, just increase whatever the recipe calls for). That's it. Great for cookies, breads, etc. I will say that my cupcakes didn't quite fluff up like they do if I use regular eggs, but they were fine and it saves you a trip to the grocery store to just get eggs!

I went to Macey's grocery store last night (Associated Foods here in Utah) and they had the Morning Moo Dried Whole Eggs for $14.59. That is $9.80 off the regular price of $24.39! The package says that it contains 226 tablespoons, and one TB = 1 egg, so that comes out to $0.06 per egg, or 77 cents per dozen. When you figure that regular eggs are around $1.25 or so per dozen, that's a savings of 48 cents, or almost 39 percent savings. The sale runs through Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

If nothing else, you could split a container with a friend and try them out. It would only cost you about $7.50 each that way, and you could see if you would like them. That's how I first tried them out, and they have been very handy to have in my pantry!

Old Navy Sale

2009-01-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Old Navy just started their 50% off clearance sale. Today I bought Max's winter clothes for next year. Sound ridiculous?! Not if you can buy a pair of cords for $1.50, a long-sleeved t-shirt for $2, or a coat for $6.50. I can usually buy all of his clothes for the next season for under $40. They also have great deals on everything. In the men's clothes they have slacks for $6.50 and sweaters and dress shirts for $3.50.
Here is a link to print out a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more: http://southwest.com/landing/old_navy_coupon.pdf

*The sale prices don't ring up until you are being checked out. Some items may ring up as 75% off the clearance price.