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.

Today's Shopping Trip

Several weeks ago, we traveled to Iowa, & I got some Earth's Best diapers for Harper girl.  Though I love Earth's Best, the diapers just did not agree with her.  Harper's bottom was absolutely covered in blisters & they didn't improve for a week, even after returning to cloth diapers.  It was horrible.  Because the reaction was so severe I called the company, & they were kind enough to send 6 free food product coupons, & 2 $0.55 coupons. 

Today, the girls & I went to Toys R Us to return the second, unopened package of diapers, & to use my coupons to stock up on baby food for our upcoming month of travel.  

Here's my haul:  3 EB organic puffs, 1 box of  EB organic cereal, 2 boxes of EB organic teething biscuits, 6 Earth's Best organic pouches, & 6 Babies R Us baby food pouches, $29.84 full retail. 

After coupons the total was $11.18, but I had the credit from the returned diapers, so I only paid $1.35! Not too shabby! 

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!

Make It Do: Creating a Shaded Child's Wagon

We've been spending a lot of time outdoors, & it has been absolutely wonderful being able to enjoy some sunshine & watch the girls play together.  The only unfortunate thing is our backyard doesn't get much shade, so while I'm hanging laundry & Harper is sitting in our little utility wagon, she's basically roasting in the sun. 

 

Rather than go in search of a more child friendly wagon, I decided to rig up an umbrella on the wagon in a rather ghetto fabulous way.  One rubber band, a large twist tie, & a safety pin later, the umbrella was secure, & the girls had some serious shade in their wagon.

Of course, by the time I got the wagon all arranged, Harper decided she wanted to get out and walk. Oh well, at least it will be ready when the next load needs to be hung! 

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.

This Week's Frugal Accomplishments

I got the idea for this post from The Prudent Homemaker Blog & I think it's just fabulous.  By the way check out her blog & website, they are so inspiring.

I called Amazon customer service after messing up a subscribe & save purchase & ended up getting $2 off & free 2 day shipping.

Harper has a pair of Wee Squeak shoes I bought from Goodwill that are missing a squeaker.  One phone call & the company is sending me multiple squeakers for FREE!

I redeemed my Beech-Nut free product coupons. (More on this later)

I made up two batches of cloth wipes.

When I ran out of pocket diapers & was too sick to do laundry, I used flat-fold diapers & covers instead of disposables. 

After not knowing what to do with some apple butter my gram canned, I found the perfect recipe, & made delicious apple butter muffins with Emerson. 

I cut some of Emerson's old onesies into undershirts & salvaged the tail for rags

I pulled out a pre-made batch of homemade laundry detergent.

We donated extras from our health & beauty stockpile to a local charity.

I cooked from scratch despite our home being plagued with sick little girls & a sick mama.

While the girls were sick I used free samples of Tylenol from the pediatrician & some cough drops I got as a manufacturer sample.

I sent away for a Olay Regenerist eye cream & a Pedialax sample.

I entered in codes at Kellogg's Family Rewards, Swagbucks, My Coke Rewards, & Pamper's Gifts to Grow.

I resisted the extreme temptation of shopping at our local Growing Kids sale.  I've gone to every sale held since I was pregnant with Emerson, but I looked around the house & we've got plenty for the girls, so I'm just going to rely on what we have or get creative to make the things we have work.  I've had to remind myself of this everyday though.  Sometimes it's not so easy to resist the temptation of bargains. 

What did you do to save money this week?

How to Cut Your Food Budget in Half

Innumerable blog posts & books have been written claiming to cut grocery budgets in half, leading to copious redundancies on the subject.  This recent article is by far the best I've seen & is short & sweet.  If you are looking for simple solutions to cut your grocery budget read this Forbes article. 

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!

Make Your Own Foaming Dish Soap

After seeing the exorbitant price of foaming dish soap in the store, I figured I could make the same thing for much cheaper.  I use dish soap samples, which makes the soap completely free, & a few pumps work just as well as a squirt of regular dish soap. Yeah!  Here's how to make it:  

Simply take an empty foaming soap dispenser & your dish soap. (The same method can be used to make hand soap, just replace the dish soap with hand soap.)

Fill 1/4 of the pump with soap & fill the remainder with water.  Gently mix together.

Voila, you have foaming dish soap! Just add a few pumps to a sink of dishes & you're good to go.  Look forward to long lasting bottles of dish soap & fewer trips to the store!

Stock Up Shopping July Edition

I try to spend as little as possible on groceries & I've found the most effective way to do that is to stock up when things are at their rock bottom prices.  This week when I went shopping these were the things I stocked up on:

Walgreens:

• This was a rare trip & against my usual method of spending $1/box of cereal, but JC & Emerson both love "waisin bwan", so I made an exception.  The cereal was on sale for $1.99, I bought 8 boxes, & after a coupon paid $1.87 a box.

Aldi:

• Boca Chick'n Patties were on special for $2.89 (they're usually in the $3-$3.50 range at other places), so I bought 6 boxes.  

• The pretzels were on markdown for $.89 a bag, so I bought 4.  I have been getting pretzels at the Dollar Tree, so saving the trip & paying less was exciting.  

Target: 

• 3 bottles of pure vanilla--marked down from $3.69 to $1.84

• Almond extract--originally $3.69 now $1.84

• Bay Leaves--clearanced from $2.99 to $1.48

• Walnuts--reduced from $7.99 to $3.98 for a pound. 

• And the shoes...well, how could I resist such a cutie pie pair of flats, especially when they were only $4.48, down from $15!

Happy weekend to you!

Give Me My Money Back

Source

I know that credit cards are supposed to be the frugal girl's arch nemesis, but I have one.  I opened it back when I was in college & trying to build my credit, but after a while I quit using it, & sort of forgot about it. 

Then we applied for our mortgage & had to get it in JC's name because I'm younger & didn't have enough credit history, so I figured I better bust out the ol' plastic again.  I mostly use it when I make online purchases & pay it off monthly. 

That is until we had Harper & my brain cells went out my breast milk & I forgot to make the payment last month.  Bam, a THIRTY THREE dollar late fee.  THIRTY THREE DOLLARS!  Holy crap! Absolutely sick at my stomach I called & plead my case to the company.  Fortunately, the girl I spoke with was super sweet & reversed the late fee instantly.  Piece of cake.

So there you go folks, learn from my mistake, & if you do get a late fee, don't hesitate to call & beg for mercy.  They might just be nice & give you your money back.

DIY Shoe Repair

I am a total shoe girl, so when my favorite pair of sandals started to fall apart I was super disappointed.  I couldn't find a cobbler in town, so when I found an adhesive repair product called Shoe Goo at Target, I figured it was worth a shot

 I simply followed the directions, applied the adhesive, & spread it around with a plastic knife.

I then secured the layers with clothespins.  

After a day, they were as good as new.  The repair was easy, environmentally friendly, & great for my wardrobe.  I'm thrilled to be able to cobble my own shoes!

Freebies In My Mailbox

I love getting the mail every day.  I look forward to it primarily because our mail is frequently peppered with free samples.  I definitely feel conflicted about the amount of waste that smaller sized samples create, but I do try to only order the samples I'll use & recycle all possible materials from the packaging.  I've found that for our budget, samples are a HUGE blessing, as are the coupons that often accompany them.  Here is an example of what we've received in the last week and a half:

Tide Pods
Sample box of Quaker Oat Squares & $1 off coupon (not pictured)
Purex Ultra Pack
Purex Detergent & $0.50 Purex coupon
3 bags of Lipton Tea (Not pictured) & $0.75 off coupon
Marley Organic Coffee
Gevalia Coffee
2 Dr. Weil for Origins Mega-Bright Serum
Garnier Pure Clean Shampoo sample
3 Tampax Tampons & 3 $1 off coupons
1 oz Craisin sample with accompanying coupon for a free bag of Craisins
 And I'm still waiting on my P&G sampler

 If you're interested in learning more about samples, find out my methods for getting free samples here.

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!

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. 

Making The Most Out of Try Me Free Rebates

Right now at Walmart has little peelies on packages of Arm & Hammer Power Pack laundry detergent. The peelie is to the try the product for free after rebate & Walmart has 60 packs, which would essentially be 60 free loads of laundry after rebate.  I've never used the detergent, so I'm not sure how well it works, & I usually make my own, but I figure it's good to have on hand in case I'm to tired to make detergent in the next few months.   

I love sending in for rebates, but there are definitely a few tricks to the trade.  Here's how to maximize your free offer:  

 When it comes to Try Free offers, here are a couple of ways to maximize the offers:

•  Make sure you'll use the free product--In general you will need to mail in the UPC with the rebate, so you will often have to destroy the exterior packaging, which does not make it ideal for charitable donation.  Unless you have someone you know who could benefit from the product, or you'll use it yourself, there is no benefit to buying something you'll never use.

• Don't forget to mail in your rebate--Prepare the rebate the day you purchase the product.  Something like 40% of all rebates are never claimed, so the manufacturer is just hoping you'll forget.  You don't save any money if you forget, so be sure to mail in that rebate!

• Realize that free isn't totally free--You'll still have to provide the stamp & pay the sales tax on the item purchased.  Make sure it's worth it to you to spend $0.44 & tax.  

•  Use salvaged envelopes-- I use envelopes saved from birthday cards or from old teaching newsletters.  As long as there is no writing on the outside, or a label that can be covered up, the envelope is perfect for mailing in rebates. 

• Get the largest available size--Most rebates say they will refund the money up to X amount per X package size.  For instance, the Arm & Hammer rebate says they will refund any 16 count or larger up to $9.99.  The 60 count was the largest size available & $7.97, so it was within the parameters.  

 Happy rebating!

Super Saturday Shopping--Target & JC Penney

We had several days this week where Emerson & I had to be out of the house, so we killed time at Target & JC Penney.  (Forgive the poor picture quality, I had to take the pictures with my ghetto fabulous 4 year old cell phone)

At Target I found some fabulous clearance deals:  

• Biore facewash:  Originally $5.99 on clearance for $4.18-$3 coupon from Biore facebook=$1.18

• 2 Biore astringents w. bonus facewash: Originally $5.99 on clearance for $4.18-$3 coupon from Biore facebook=$1.18 each

• 4 pack of Cascade tablets: $0.97-$0.50 P&G newspaper coupon=$0.47

• 20 pack of Finish tablets: Originally $4.97 on clearance for $2.38- $0.50 manufacturer coupon=$1.88

Grand Total:  $7.31-$5 Target Giftcard from prior purchase=$2.31 OOP after tax

Bug enjoying her free pretzel

Today we made a rare sojourn to the mall to get our Free Auntie Anne's pretzels & get our oil changed & while we were there we stopped by JC Penney's to see if there were any deals to be had.  I have to say the store looked great & I love their new ad campaign, but I for one am sad to see their store coupons vanish & along with their copious clearance racks.

Of the very few items they had on clearance I found this little American Living dress for Emerson.  It was originally $44 (WOW!!!) & I paid $2.

Hope you got some excellent deals this week.  Happy weekend!