Making The Clothes You Have Into The Clothes You Want

Years ago, when I was first getting into teaching, I bought this lace cardigan to make some of my dresses work appropriate.  Unfortunately, it was the dumbest cardigan ever, in that the button was placed in a totally ridiculous position, & essentially covered up nothing.  It hung in the back of my closet for years & only for me to occasionally pull it out, try it on, &  become disgusted, again, with the ridiculous placement of button, & hideously large, accompanying button hole.

Finally, it occurred to me, that if the button & huge button hole were what bothered me, why not fix the problem?  I sewed the button hole shut, used a seam ripped to rip off the button, & had a somewhat close version of the cardigan I'd always hoped to have.  The neck is still a little odd for my liking, but for now, it's a vast improvement from the random button.  Sometimes, a little creative thinking, & a fresh perspective, is all it takes to make something new again. 

DIY Foaming Body Wash

After pulling out a new bottle of body wash, inspiration hit, & I decided to have a go at making foaming body wash.  Much like foaming hand soap or dish soap, this helps your soap last longer & save some cash. 

Simply take your chosen your body wash & an empty foaming soap bottle, 

Pour between 1/4 and 1/3 full of body wash, fill the remainder with water.
 

Combine, & voila, you have foaming body wash, which works just as well as the regular stuff.  This is quite possibly one of the easiest ways to go green & save some green, I highly recommend it.

Frugal Accomplishments Of The Past Two Weeks

Things have been a little chaotic around here as we've celebrated 3 birthdays, Mother's Day, & are preparing for our upcoming anniversary.  As a result, we've been out of our regular schedule, so this is a list of my frugal accomplishments over the last two weeks. 

Our haul

•  Our major accomplishment was strawberry picking.  We went to a local farm & hand picked 21 lbs.  It was a wonderful time as a family, Harper was very content in her stroller, & Emerson was quite the little picker.  After the work we were able to see the animals on the farm, which the girls just loved.  

• From the strawberries I froze a gallon whole, sliced, packed, & froze 16 cups of strawberries, & made 10 jars of freezer jam. & a lemon scented strawberry mascarpone trifle.  The only down side was my plastic huller broke, so I had to replace it.  Fortunately $1.99 bought a super cute metal huller with a strawberry on the handle. 

• I saved the mushy parts of the strawberries & their collective juices for smoothies

Emerson & JC

• We ate out for  JC's birthday, but ate at lunch time & used coupon, which feed our family of four for $12.

•  I took the girls to library for Toddler Time

• We took the girls to a free carnival thrown by Parents as Teachers, a program in which we participate.

• We ate dinner at church on Wednesday

• I sorted through hand-me-downs for the girls & added the next sizes to their closets.  Each time I do this I am blown away by the generosity of our families, and feel so blessed to be able to pull out clothes to fit our girls needs. 

Little donkey at the farm

• I hung many loads of wash on the line, as well as one load inside 

• I made a batch of laundry soap

• I cleaned out & organized the freezer

• We ate bagels & bread we got for a dollar at the bakery outlet

• I rescued batteries from random items in the house to be reused in a few of the girls' things.

• I made foaming body wash

• I gave our teething Harper girl Tylenol we got as a free sample from the pediatrician

• JC cleaned out our garage & we pulled out stuff for our upcoming garage sale

• I made rags from a holey pair of pants 

• I mended a sweater & reattached the handle of Emerson's favorite purse

• I got a free pair of undies from Victoria Secret for my birthday

• I used a $10 any $10 purchase to get two t-shirts for $4 

• I sent away for some free samples & received some in the mail

• We lost our Roku remote, which was not good, but we found a FREE app, so our phones now double as remotes

•  I walked to church for choir practice instead of driving

• I received my first All You magazine from a subscription I earned with Coke Rewards.  

Hope you all have been well & have been finding ways to help your pocket books & the Earth.  Have a good week!

Ghetto Fabulous Flip Flop Fix

Bug's a little particular when it comes to her shoes, so after hearing her whine that her flip flops were indenting her heels, one too many times, I figured some action was necessary. 

I simply hacked off the elasticized portion with scissors.  A two second fix, & now she has two pairs of sandals she'll actually wear. 

She was so thrilled with the results, she insisted I take a picture & then she ran around the shouting, "I love my pwip-pwops!"  Who knew?!

Extend the Life of Your Shower Curtain

I usually buy our shower curtain liners for a dollar, but that doesn't mean I don't want them to last as long as possible.  Once our curtain gets to the point that mildew has taken over, rather than spending ages scrubbing, I simply trim the curtain.

Rather than cut it perfectly, I bunch the curtain, find the stopping point of the mildew, & cut. 

While the curtain is a little jagged it's no worse for wear & this process can be repeated until the curtain is too short to stay in the tub.  Also, if a hole at the top rips, simply use a hole punch to punch another hole.  Using these methods, I only have to replace our liners once a year, saving money & saving trash.

Make It Do: Big Girl Undies In A Pinch

Once Emerson was potty trained, (Hallelujah!), I was shocked by the price of little lady underwear.  Even on clearance, underwear can run $2 or $3 a pair, which, in my opinion, is exploitation for the amount of cotton received.

While putting away laundry, the solution came upon me:  dress bloomers.  These underwear shaped little bloomers, which are designed to cover unsightly diapers are the perfect solution.  They run rather large, so I pulled out the 18 month bloomers & they are the appropriate size for our 3 year old Emerson. 

I just love solving a problem with things we already have!

Trimming the Fat: Reducing our Utilities

In the ever enduring quest to cut back wherever possible, we have recently canceled our basic cable package & replaced it with a HD antenna, a Roku box, & a Netflix subscription.  Which got me to thinking, why was I content to pay $38 a month for internet, when our current carrier had an online promo for $20 a month & a competitor was offering DSL for $14.95?

After procrastination & some serious dread, I finally got the guts up to call & negotiate our high internet bill.  The man I spoke with was so kind & helpful, so when I said we were a one income family & we were willing to switch providers to save money, he went straight to their best offer--$20 a month.  He even offered to lock that promotional price in for a year, which will amount to a  savings of $218 over the next year! (Oh my heart just sings with the savings!)

As much as I absolutely dread making such phone calls, I have found the savings handsome enough to void any feelings of embarrassment.  So there you have it, if you swallow your pride, & ask, the majority of the time you will receive.   Happy negotiating!

When Life Hands You Frozen Tomatoes

So our fridge makes me want to bash my head into a wall.  Try as I might to get the proper temperature settings, we still occasionally wind up with a tomato that gets frozen in the produce bin.  I used the throw them out because they become complete mush once they thaw.  That is until it occurred to me that I could actually USE THEM for something.  Um, Duh.

Now I just wash them, cut out the stem, & place the juicy/mushy tomato in a container.  I then proceed to chop it to bits with kitchen scissors.  (How cute are these Woodpecker scissors?!)

The tomato & juice are then perfect for sauces & soups, & I just keep it in the freezer until it's needed.

If only I had thought of this three years ago when we moved into this house...

10 Things We Don't Buy

I was inspired by MoneySavingMom's list of 7 things she doesn't buy & thought I'd compile my own:

• Paper towels/napkins/plates--We use cloth napkins, rags, & real plates at all times. 

• Electric can opener

• Shampoo/Conditioner/Body Wash--I use our stockpile, send away for samples, buy things when they're free with coupons, & use what we receive as gifts.  I haven't spent money on any of these things in years.

• Clothes--I made the commitment not to buy any clothes over a year ago & I've been surprised how little I've needed.  (I did buy 2 maternity shirts when I found out I was pregnant, one for $5 at Goodwill & one for $1 at Target on clearance with a coupon).  JC & I often receive clothing as Christmas presents, & JC spends about $15 every 6 months to get his shirts & pants professionally washed & starched.  It's well worth the money as it helps him feel super professional & keeps him from buying new clothes.  I've also quit buying for Emerson & use what we have on hand unless I can find something for $2 or less brand new. 

• A Minivan--Though it was tempting to upgrade when we found out our family was expanding we decided we just really didn't need a minivan/ accompanying loss of savings or car payment/bad gas mileage.  We're sticking with our 1996 Honda Civic & 2008 Ford Fusion, both of which are paid off, & will use a car topper when necessary for long trips. 

• Professional Hair color--The Troyer's go gray early, so I had to start coloring my hair when I turned 24.  I've been using Loreal at home hair color & with coupons & sales I only pay $3/box. 

• Laundry Detergent/Fabric Softener--I make our own, use vinegar, or we go without fabric softener

• Commercial Cleaners--I was able to get some 7th generation for free after coupons & rebate several years ago, but as that is getting used I simply rely on borax, baking soda, vinegar, & salt to get the job done. 

• Bottled Water--We've got a filtration system in our fridge & fill reusable water bottles.

• Candles/Air fresheners--I use a candle warmer to use up scraps of wax or I make our candles.  Instead of air fresheners we use old body splash that has been sitting around for years.  It works just as well & doesn't include any propellants. 

Things We Hardly Spend Any Money On--Many of these things I thought that we didn't spend any money on, but when I REALLY thought about it, I could find occasional exceptions.

• Cloth Diapers & Wipes--Despite using cloth diapers & cloth wipes that majority of the time, we do use disposable diapers for church & at night & use disposable wipes for nasty number 2s.  It's still a huge savings & it definitely saves on our trash output.  

Dryer--I air dry all of our laundry, but if & when JC does laundry, he does use the dryer.  I'd say we're 95% dryer free, which still seems pretty good to me. 

What do you go without?

Price Matching for Produce

I've never price matched at Walmart before, but this past weekend I was too tired to drive across town to Aldi, so I decided to go several blocks & price match Aldi's produce prices at Walmart.   I found it to be an extremely easy process.  I simply went in, grabbed the produce I needed, & had the Aldi sale flier handy for the cashier while checking out. 

I was able to get the pineapples & cantaloupes for $0.99 each, strawberries for $0.99/lb, & grapes for $0.89/lb.  I'm sorry to say I didn't pay much attention to the existing produce prices at Walmart, but I do know the Walmart price for pineapples was $2.25 each, so that alone was a great savings. 

I was told that Walmart cannot price match produce prices if they are priced per tray (Aldi had a 4 count tray of pears for $0.99), they need prices per lb. or individual prices, but other than that, price matching was a piece of cake.  I'm not sure it's something I'll do all that frequently, but for days when I'm just too worn out to drive across town it's a great alternative, especially as I currently like to eat an entire pineapple in one sitting!

Frugal Experiment: Cooking Dried Beans in the Crock Pot

I have long heard that cooking dried beans is more economical than buying canned beans.  Approximately 95% of our meals are vegetarian & we go through a lot of beans in a month, so when I recently found packages of black beans for $0.30/lb I figured it might be a worthwhile experiment. 

Simply sort & wash the beans.  

Find a recipe, pour beans, water, & seasonings in the crock pot.  

Cook overnight or approx 8 hours, drain (if desired), package, & freeze.  Piece of cake!

Here are a few things I learned from my little frugal experiment:

• Do not overlook the importance of sorting & rinsing the beans before you cook them. You won't save any money using dried beans if you need expensive dental work to repair a chipped tooth from an overlooked rock.  Emerson & I sorted our beans while watching a movie, & she thought it was the greatest thing ever.  

• Aside from water to bean measurements, you don't necessarily need a recipe. I decided to double & loosely follow this recipe, but my beans ended up too spicy for E, so I can only use them for chili or other foods that she wouldn't normally eat.  Major bummer.

• If you do find a great deal on dried beans, STOCK UP!  I only bought two 1 lb packages of beans because I hadn't tried cooking with dried beans before.  I am now chock full of cheap bean regret.  Chock full.

• Unless you find a fabulous deal on dried beans, this might not be the most economical choice for you.  The Simple Dollar does an in depth cost analysis of dried vs. canned beans, but from my experience,  unless I find a fabulous deal, I cannot buy dried beans cheaper than I can canned.  

I'm definitely pleased I tried cooking with dried beans, & hope to again in the near future...as long as I can get a good price.  

Bakery Outlet: Frugal Treasure or Rip Off?

Today, after reading & reading about the wonders of bakery outlets, Emerson & I finally ventured to our local Hostess Bakery Outlet.  I admit, I went in with extremely high hopes of dirt cheap baked goods, cereal, & more. Unfortunately, I didn't find the cheap confections I had assumed I would. 

Here's what I did find:

• A very clean little shop--The store was set up nicely, with cute, tiny carts, & very pristine, orderly shelves.  

• A rather limited selection--There really weren't all that many options & I only found a few loaves of whole wheat bread.

• Prices weren't what I would consider outlet--In general, all of the bakery prices seemed just as high as regular retail.  With the exception of packages of a dozen whole wheat hamburger buns (meant for restaurants), everything was higher than Aldi's prices.  For instance, plain bagels at Aldi are $1.49.  The outlet had plain bagels for $1.79.  

Our local Dollar Tree doesn't have a set day in which they get their baked goods, which makes getting consistent deals difficult, but I think for now I'll stick to trying to get our whole wheat bread for a dollar & supplement with baked goods from Aldi.  

It was worth a shot...

A Guide to Eating Cheap

I just love Gail Vaz-Oxlaide.  She's a sort of Canadian Suze Orman, without all of the catch phrases.   She's got a show on CNBC called Til' Debt Do Us Part & I would say it's my favorite show, but much to my dismay, we don't get CNBC anymore so I cannot watch.

Because I'm a little Gail Vaz-Oxlade deprived these days,  I was thrilled to see this article on her blog about ways to eat cheap.  It's succinct & filled with brilliant ideas.  While some of the Canadian prices don't match prices in the U.S., the principles are universal.  If you're looking for ways to lower your grocery bill, definitely check it out. 

Freezer Cooking: Breakfast Burritos

I'm currently trying to stock our freezer with meals for when Little Baby arrives & I have no time to do anything besides nurse our newborn & take care of our toddler.  In anticipation of that blessed event, I made some breakfast burritos that are a variation on the Simple Dollar's recipe. 

 

I scrambled a dozen eggs & thawed & cooked 2 bags of pre-chopped onions & peppers. While the peppers were cooking, I also drained & rinsed a can of black beans. 

**Side note, if you are using frozen peppers & onions & have a lot of excess moisture, don't throw it away!  Drain it off & add it to your homemade stock.  It's super yummy & free!  

Assemble burrito:  eggs, cheese, a spoonful of beans, some peppers & onions, & some salsa if desired.  (I found the salsa made the tortillas a little on the soggy side, but maybe that's just me?)

Wrap burritos in saran wrap or foil, bag, label & freeze.  To thaw, unwrap, microwave for a minute or two, and voila, you have breakfast!

I was able to make these rather cheaply, so here's my cost breakdown using Aldi ingredients, unless specified:

12 eggs--99 cents on sale @ Walgreens
12 tortillas--99 cents
1 can of beans--55 cents
1 cup of cheese-- 44 cents
Salsa--Free (Thanks Gram for sharing your canning!)
Peppers & Onions--46 cents (approx)

Total:  $3.43 or  $0.29 each

Nothing like a healthy breakfast you can eat with one hand while nursing a baby!

Super Saturday Shopping--Scratch & Dent Shopping + Couponing at Walmart

We definitely didn't do our usual grocery shopping this weekend.  This morning JC went to Walmart armed with coupons.  We got a coupon for a free gallon of milk with the purchase of 3 breakfast items, so he bought a gallon of milk, 2 Athenos yogurts (splurge), & a dozen Great Day eggs.  His subtotal was $7.51, but after the coupon for the free milk, & a dollar off coupon for the eggs from a few weeks back, we only paid $3.64 after tax.  Good shopping, Husband!

After that we headed to a neighboring town to shop at their scratch & dent grocery store.  For those of you who have never had the pleasure, a scratch & dent grocery store purchases odd lots of items, boxed goods that have been accidentally cut by store clerks, or boxes that have been smashed, & resells them very cheaply.

Our store doesn't have any fresh items, so we couldn't do all of our grocery shopping there, but it's a great way to stock up & refill pantry items.  It's also an easy way to get name brand products inexpensively & without the effort of couponing.
 

Here's the cost breakdown: 

4 boxes of Zatarains Jambalaya --4 @ $0.60
2 boxes of Life cereal--2 @ $1
1 box of Blueberry Morning cereal--1 @ $1
1 box of Honey Nut Cheerios--1 @ $1
12 Luna bars--12 @ $0.25
2 Wishbone Italian dressings--2 @ $1
2 Wishbone Balsamic vinaigrette--2 @ $0.80
2 bags of Indiana Popcorn--2 @ $1
Valentine's Candy Hearts--$0.50
Dole Apple Bites--12 @ $1
Chocolate cookies--2 @ $0.50
Whole Wheat Linguine--$0.80
Tortilla Chips--4 @ $0.50

Grand total for groceries after tax--$32.08.

I'm particularly excited about the Dole bites (E loves these & they're healthy) & the Luna bars, which will be helpful to have when Little Baby is first born. I'm not entirely sure how much these groceries would normally be if we paid retail, but I would assume they would be somewhere between $60-$80, so we definitely got some deals.

If you do try scratch & dent shopping here are a few hints:  Be sure to look for expiration dates as some of the items are past date.  Also, if you find an amazing deal on something buy it immediately.  Last time we went they had bags of dried black beans for $0.30 & I only bought 2 bags.  Major mistake on my part.  

Hope you found good deals too.  Happy weekend!

Wait, Wait, Don't Trash Me

One of the biggest things I've learned from frugal living is that I need to be creative & look at the possibilities of absolutely everything we have & try to maximize its use.  Here are a few "creative" ways to get the max out of things before they go to the trash.

Save cereal crumbs for yogurt--I save the tail end, yucky in milk cereal, for yummy crunch in yogurt.  Bug & I both love it & it's certainly cheaper than buying/making granola for that purpose.

I've also heard of people saving the lining from their cereal to use in lieu of waxed paper.  If you use waxed paper, let me know what you think of this frugal method. 

Hold on to your butter wrappers--Once you finish a stick of butter hang on to the wrapper until you need to grease a baking dish.  Simply rub the wrapper on the dish & you're good to go.

Freeze & reuse shredded cheese bags--Save these in the freezer & reuse them as wrappers for chunk cheese.  I only reuse these once, but it still saves needing to use a ziploc.

Reuse bread & tortilla bags--Rather than throw these out, save them for wrapping up pizza, double bagging things for the freezer, etc. 

Hold on to those bags--We bring our own bags to the grocery store, so we frequently run low on bags for small trash cans.  Last time in Texas I hit up my gram for some of her bags & she gave me the bag that held their toilet paper, which I thought was brilliant.  We don't go through tp super often, but this method can be applied to any number of exterior product bags. 

While I can't avoid creating waste entirely, it makes me feel better to delay or re-purpose things on their way to the bin.  Any of you lovelies have any other ideas?

Use It Up: Homemade Vegetable Stock

Recently I was reading online about people making vegetable stock from their veggie scraps & I figured I'd try it.  I kept an old cottage cheese container in our freezer & any time I peeled a carrot, chopped up some celery, or onion I simply put the scraps in the container.  It took about .2 seconds for it to be full.  I also collected fresh veggie scraps for stock as well, which made for two crock pots of stock. 

I simply threw my veg in the crock pot, filled it with enough water to cover all of my vegetables, & seasoned with my favorite spices.  I used 2 bay leaves, black pepper, red pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, & onion powder.  (I actually used some onion powder that globbed into large balls due to lovely Arkansas humidity & I would have normally thrown out.  Yay!) 

I set my crock pot on low & allowed the stock to simmer for approximately 4 hours or until the vegetables became somewhat translucent.  Then I simply strained the stock.  And by simply I mean spilt scalding liquid all over our kitchen, down our cabinets, & on my feet while saying some not child friendly words.  Whoopsie.  Allow yours to cool first, won't you?

After years of buying vegetable stock, I am so happy to essentially be turning my trash into treasure.  This stock is a delicious, nutritious,  money saver & I now have two large containers of stock in our freezer.  If only I had tried doing this sooner!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm at the tail end of a marathon two day freezer cooking session, in the hopes of filling our freezer with treats before Little Baby arrives.  These muffins are a variation of MoneySavingMom's recipe, but I made them a little more healthful, used sweet potato puree instead of pumpkin, & cooked a double batch. They're delicious, freeze well, & are something that is great any time of the day. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 16 oz pureed pumpkin (sweet potato)
• 3/4 cups oil
• 3/4 cups of applesauce (sweet potato or banana can also be used)
• 2 cups  whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 tablespoon of flax meal
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon clove
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 package chocolate chips (add a tiny bit of flour to the chips so they don't sink to the bottom)

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, and oil until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 375 degrees.
Makes 24-30 muffins.

Enjoy!


**I lowered the temp to 375 because my first batch came out too dark.  It could be my oven, but if your oven runs hot keep it at 375 rather than the 400 degrees in MSM's recipe.

Monthly Breakdown: Grocery Shopping on $150 a Month

My New Year's resolutions were to utilize menu planning each month & to use $150 cash for grocery shopping.  As the month is coming to a close I'm happy to report that I met one of those goals quite easy, unfortunately it was the menu planning, not the $150 grocery goal. 

After my initial shopping trip & mid-month perishable replenishment, I had $11 left.  Unfortunately I made a HUGE couponing mistake at Target & ended up stocking up on Plum Organic purees for a not so great price.  Not only did I miscalculate the amount the store coupon would take off, but I also miscalculated the manufacturer's coupon & over spent by $21.12.  Sad, sad, sad. 

To make matters worse, JC stopped by the store to get milk this week & came home with another $20 of stuff.  Ugh, husband.  Good thing he's so dang sweet & helpful.  THEN, today we spent $9 stocking up on Biore products because I had coupons that were expiring. 

That brings our grand total to approx $200 instead of $150.  On the upside I was able to stock up on extremely cheap Biore, Kashi, gingerbread cookie mix, el pato, grapefruit juice, & carrots.  I'm hoping that our overspending this month will balance itself in February.  Despite our overspending, we still ate at home more & spent less than usual.  How did you do on your financial goals this month? 

5 Reasons One Parent Should Stay Home

theguiltyparent.com

 

 

When I became pregnant I read about calculating the true value of my second income.  After we took out the cost of  into daycare, using disposable diapers, purchasing baby food &other contingencies we figured that, best case scenario, I would make around $3,000 a year.  To us, it just wasn't worth the money & sacrificed time with Little Emerson for me to have that second income.

While I'm certainly not saying that staying at home is the right choice for everyone, this article certainly sheds light on the decision making process of one parent staying home.  If you're trying to make that decision, this is definitely worth a read.  (Thanks Julie!)