Frugal Friday Give-A-Way!

Contest is now over. Winner will be picked and announced soon! Stay tuned. And good luck!




Tell me, what is more frugal than something free?!

I'm so happy to announce a very special give-a-way right here on my little blog.

In celebration of my 2 year blogoversary, Revka of RS Designs has very generously offered to give away a $60 credit toward any of her custom websites or blog designs. That means that if your choice is under $60, it's absolutely FREE! Anything over $60 you simply pay the difference.

I first saw Revka's work during a blog carnival. I didn't win the carnival, but decided to contract with her for the blog design you see here. Revka is very professional. She somehow manages to take care of her family and do this incredible work on the side. She is timely, polite and very helpful to those of us that may not be too computer savy.

I've gotten so many compliments on the blog since Revka got ahold of it. And I'm just thrilled that I now get to participate in one of her give-a-ways!

There is even "free for the takin" (as we say in Tennessee) buttons and badges at her site! And look how pretty!






(Ohhh, I'm keeping this one!)

They even have free templates sometimes!

Red Tape:

To enter:

1. Just go to Revka's site and look around, come back here and tell me something you love in the comment section of this post. It's that easy.

and/or

2. Sign up for her newsletter on her website (and let me know in the comment section that you have done so). That way even if you don't win, you'll be kept up on other give-a-ways and discounts. It's a win/win!

and/or

3. Write your own post about this give-a-way and link back here to this post, letting me know in the comments that you've done so.

Do one of these things for one entry. Two for two entries. Or all 3 for 3 entries in this contest! Remember, you have to mention it in the comment of this post for it to "count" toward an entry. How else will I know you've done it?

Contest open to anyone with a blogging platform that allows you to customize your template yourself. Contest runs from blog posting time (ie- now!)on August 15, 2008 thru noon EST August 29, 2008.

Winner will be chosen at random by Saturday August 30 and notified by email (so please be sure to leave a valid email address or blog address that has your email listed). Winner has 3 days to respond to email after which a new winner will be selected.

Good luck to all of you!

For more frugal fun, be sure to check out http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm!

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Green Smoothie, The Cost Breakdown

(Ok, I hadn't intended this to be a Frugal Friday post, but I'm just so excited about the cost savings that I just had to share!)

Every morning I make 2 pitchers of green smoothie. That's a GALLON of the stuff. Each day.

I got the idea from watching the Green Smoothie Girl video, though I don't use her exact recipe. Look her up on YouTube as well! She is amazing and inspirational. And I have bought her basic recipe collection and highly, HIGHLY recommend it. I will probably join have now joined her 12 Step Program as well.

To make my green smoothie, I use:

Baby organic spinach

Collard greens

Flax Oil

Stevia

Carrots

Apple

Banana

Frozen Fruit

Crushed Ice (from my refridgerator)

Water

I do have to go shopping (at Sam's) at least once a week now, which I don't particularly enjoy. But it's really not out of the way for me as my girls have a co-op that is literally a mile or so from the store. If I had to drive farther, I'd have to factor in the cost of gasoline and at this point that would significantly add to the total.

At Sam's I can get:

Baby Organic Spinach, 1 ½ # - 4.78 (makes appr. 4 smoothies)

Collard Greens, 2# - 3.27 (appr. 8 smoothies)

Baby Organic Carrots, 5# - 5.44 (appr. 28 smoothies)

Fuji Apples, 5# - 6.48 (appr. 18 smoothies)

Banana, 3# - 1.32 (appr. 8 smoothies)

Frozen Mixed Berries, 3# - 7.68 (appr. 6 smoothies)
OR
Frozen Mixed Fruit, 6# - 8.56 (appr. 12 smoothies)
OR
Frozen Strawberries, 6# - 8.44 (appr. 12 smoothies)
OR
Frozen Blueberries, 3# - 9.43 (appr. 6 smoothies)

The flax oil I buy is Barleans and it's $29.99 or less (on sale) locally and it lasts about a month.

The Stevia is $8.99 (or less on sale) locally and a box lasts about a month.

Whew!

So now, how much does it cost to make each smoothie? (Prices rounded up)

Spinach - 1.20

Collard Greens - .41

Carrots - .19

Apples - .36

Banana - .17

The Frozen Fruit can be as little as .70 or as much as 1.57. With the average being 1.07

The flax oil is appr. .50 and the stevia is appr. .30

So that would make the *average* cost of a full half gallon of green smoothie to be:

$4.20

But remember, I make 2 of these a day. So MY daily cost is $8.40. Or $252.00 a month.

This was very hard on my frugal mind at first. Even though I realize how important nutrition is, the total cost was hard to swallow. But for some reason, we didn't seem to be spending any more money a month. We actually seemed to be SAVING money and I didn't really understand at first. And then I realized a few things.

+ This is a meal (breakfast for me and my daughters, lunch for my husband) for 4 of us daily. This saves at least $6 a day. Or $180 a month

+ After much research, we no longer take a multi vitamin. We just don't feel like it's necessary with all of this great raw nutrition we're getting. So that saves $45.00 a month.

+ Coffee has lost much of it's importance to me. So instead of buying an expensive whole bean, I'm just getting some cheap grocery store coffee and drinking about half of what I was before. This is saving over $30.00 a month.

+ We're buying *MUCH* less meat a month. Much, much less. My husband is a HUGE meat eater and it's amazing how much less he's eating now. We're easily and conservatively eating less than half the meat we did before. This is not a deliberate thing. This is just what's happening. This is EASILY saving us $40 a month.

+ Our sugar cravings are gone. Really pretty much totally gone. So we're not making nearly as many sweets as we were before. Saving probably $15 a month.

So, if the cost a month for the smoothie is:

252.00

Minus the fact that it's a meal replacement brings the total to:

72.00

Minus the multi-vitamins:

27.00

Minus the coffee savings:

+ 3.00

Minus the meat savings:

+ 43.00

Minus the sugar cravings:

+ 58.00

So there you have it. By my making this smoothie, we're actually AHEAD by appr. $58 a month. I am absolutely not exaggerating this. If anything I'm being conservative.

As an example, I will frequently buy very ripe bananas for about .10# and freeze them, reducing the banana cost in the smoothie. Also, our fresh strawberries are coming in and that significantly decreases the cost of the smoothie right now. And the peach trees show great promise this year. Along with our blueberry bushes, grapes, blackberries, and apples for next year. Also carrots and spinach can be grown to further reduce the cost (we're trying carrots this year and I'm hopeful that my husband will put up a cold frame box for spinach this fall).

But having said all of this, I would do it even if it DID cost me an extra $252 a month. Because how do you put a price on health? And maybe more importantly, teaching your children healthy eating habits?

For more frugal inspiration, be sure to visit Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday (Budget Busters)

I know I've not been around much. It's been a whirlwind of a week. Last Friday night we had an overnight GirlScout event at the mall. :) It's a really fun time, but I'm older and staying up all night is harder. And then Wednesday was the girls annual Science Fair. Lots of fun, but LOTS of work to get ready for that. Tonight the girls have another overnight youth function. So it's been get ready for one thing, barely recover, get ready for another thing.

Oh, and we're having out of town company next week for several days. :) Which I love. But it's work. Then an end of the year GirlScout dinner. And then the next week is finals for the girls. And we're planning a summer trip. And I've been working in the garden ever spare second. But I finally got it all in the ground.

Whew!

I'm not specifically listing a frugal tip this week, I'm telling the things that seem to eat up all of my extra money. Or maybe better put, some of the reasons that I'm frugal in other areas. So that I can afford these things.

(I hope this is ok Crystal. If not, feel free to remove. :)

Tisha is the sweet lady who won my blog contest. And she has tagged me to list my five budget busters. So I thought, how fun! This can be part of Frugal Friday as well! (I'm all for multi-tasking you know. ;) Plus, I've got to admit...there are areas that I'm still working to find more frugal ways.

1. Green Smoothies. We can eat very, very cheaply if we eat a lot of processed food. But that is simply not acceptable to me at this point of my life. We have recently starting drinking Green Smoothies. And yes, I had to buy the blender (I tried it in my lovely KitchenAid blender and it started to have that burnt electric smell really quickly.) We've been doing this daily for over 2 weeks now and I *love* it so much. My husband is sleeping better and I've dropped 5lbs! My youngest asks for her smoothie every day (and my picky red head will even sometimes have some). The thing is, the ingredients aren't super cheap either. We are now buying 4.5-6 lbs of raw spinach, 4 lbs of collard greens and a huge bag of baby carrots (the kind you get at Sam's) ever week. But the most expensive part is the fruit. We have some fruit trees that we planted a couple of years ago that will hopefully help with some of that cost. And I think my sweet husband is relenting on a cold frame for some winter produce. This is my long winded way of saying that I'm trying to get the cost down (and have not even been able to really tell the true cost of it yet as it's so new). And I may post on this more as I get it all figured out. :)

2. My daughters activities. Since we homeschool, I feel a certain obligation to allow them too many a few outside activities. And they all seem to cost a bunch. Times two daughters.

3. My oldest dog. He's 13. And he has arthritis. So we buy some pretty expensive medication for him. I don't at all resent it. I think it's an obligation. And one that I will gladly cut corners in other areas to make happen. He limps pretty badly when he's off the medication. So it's simply not an option to not buy it.

4. My daughters co-op. Great, great education. But it's not cheap.

5. Gasoline. I drive very little. But good grief! A tank on average lasts me 10 days. But it's costing over $50 to fill up! I remember when we first got the vehicle that I now drive and I could not force $15 in gasoline into it. Which I suppose shows the age of my vehicle. :)

I'd love to see what the rest of you spend your money on. If you decide to do a Budget Buster post, please leave a link here so I can check it out!

For some frugal ideas (and I really feel like I need them more than ever now), be sure to visit Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday Another Banana Tip

We don't really have issues here about wasting food. I like to think it's because my expectations have always been that it's disrespectful to waste, but the truth could just as easily be that we're all good eaters. We like food.

However there are exceptions. Like when the bananas at the market are HUGE and no one wants that much banana in his/her cereal. So we might try to get someone to share. And there were times that if no one would, we'd simply forgo the banana.

Well, no more.


We simply slice off as much of a banana as we'd like to eat. Right through the peel. This is what was left of this particular banana.


After a day or so this is what the end looks like.


To use the rest of the banana, we simply slice a very small sliver off.


And the rest of the banana is as beautiful and fresh tasting as ever!

For more frugal ideas be sure to check out Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday Gardening

Being sick for a few weeks, I feel that I lost much of my garden prep time. When I started feeling more myself, it suddenly dawned on me that it was time to start planting early seeds and I had to hop to it!

This is our first year planting most things from seeds, so I didn't have any of the "equipment" ready to do so.

So I improvised. Using whatever little pot I'd kept from buying small plants in years past. But mine certainly doesn't looks very tidy, and it took a lot of dirt!

I wanted to give some seeds to a needy family that is starting in gardening this year, but they didn't have any little pots and absolutely no money to buy any.

I'd researched many different things that could be used, from egg cartons to toilet paper tubes, and then I found this:

A VIDEO THAT SHOWS YOU HOW TO MAKE SEEDLING CUPS FROM NOTHING BUT SOME NEWSPAPER AND A GLASS!

You end up with these little newspaper cups that are so perfect for your seeds. It was exactly what I was looking for. If it would only work.

Looks simple! So I tried it. And guess what?








It's as simple as it looks!

For more frugal ideas be sure to check out Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday Levels

Very few of us online are forced to the edge of true poverty (I believe this because if you have a computer and online service, you're probably not one of the poorest in our country). For the rest of us who are blessed, we all have to find our comfort "level" with frugality.

I remember reading something from Amy Dacyczyn years ago about the different "levels" of frugality.

Take coffee for example.

You may spend $6 + tip on a "coffee" at Star*bucks. Let's call that the "high level".

The next level down may be a large coffee at drive thru for $2.

Next would be 35¢ for cup of organic, strong brew at home.

The generic at home coffee may cost half of that.

And I've heard of people who use the grounds one day and then the next day add half as much to the pot along with the old grounds to make a fresh pot. Reducing the cost even more.

And tap water (instead of coffee) is practically free.

So what is frugal to one person, may seem an extravagance to another. It all depends on priorities. Mindset.

What may work well for me may not work at all for you. And vice versa.

And I find that comfort for me is not always static.

I've started to think of many different areas of frugality in that manner. Dinner could be a $150 affair. Or a 25¢ box of mac-n-cheese. My priorities at this time dictate that it be a bit more than the boxed mac-n-cheese. But no where *near* the $150 steak dinner at a nice restaurant. And I drink water for at least 90% of my liquid daily, but I'll have my 35¢ cup of coffee each morning, thank you very much. These are where I'm comfortable.

We all have to find our "level". And that's one of the reasons that I love the tips that are found each week on Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday Christmas Organization Tip

This time of year I find my "to do" list getting very long. On top of the normal household tasks that are common, I have the added responsibilities of shopping for gifts (and finding the best deals possible of course), wrapping too many gifts, extra cooking and cooking with ingredients that I don't use and stock routinely (which means more grocery shopping, and sometimes at different stores).

The girls have extra activities in which they must be carted back and forth, sometimes bearing gifts or platters of cookies. We have some charity events that are important to us that require both time and resources. The girls have friends that they want to be involved in little gift exchanges. There is usually at least one movie that comes out that we all want to see.

We also have many family traditions that require both time and planning (special ornaments for each girls representing something significant that's happened in the year comes to mind). We make a Christmas picture every year in the same spot of the house and have a little decorative album that contains them all, one right after the other.

And we have extra visits with family and friends (some from out of town) so through all of this, the house has to be kept in a presentable condition. And it's almost a tradition to clean out the computer/play room and get rid of stuff that the girls no longer want/need to make room for some new things. And we have to find a new "home" for those things.

And trust me, this is the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

Whew!

Okay, what does this have to do with frugality and what is my organization tip?

Well, I've posted before about how we keep our lives organized with a Wall Calendar that actually sticks to the side of our refrigerator. Starting in October, we keep 3 months worth there.

But that is for our daily lives and routine outside activities. There is no way I could put all of our Christmas activities and more importantly, all of the things necessary to make these activities go off as planned, on that calendar.

So...this year I've started using Print Free.

I wrote my huge long "to do" list and then I went to Print Free and printed up a December calendar. I "assigned" different tasks to different days.

This way when the girls have cupcakes to take to class on Tuesday the 3rd, I have already shopped for any special ingredients (because it was on the calendar) and baked them the day before. I know ahead of time what all has to be done and it has a day (or a portion of a day) assigned to getting it done.

How does this save money? Because I never have to run to the market at the last minute and pay $12 for dry, stale cupcakes, I can make them myself for MUCH less. I've shopped for the girls co-op teachers WAY ahead of time and have their little gifts sitting in a special spot in the pantry AND have it marked on the calendar when to take them to the teachers. So I never have to run out and throw money around buying last minute, overpriced gifts.

The calendar organization has already been a huge help this year. It's still a lot to do, but it doesn't feel overwhelming. I feel like I'm in control of what needs to be done. And when I'm in control, I don't have to spend as much money.

For more frugal tips, be sure to check out Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday - Yogurt

I read a story a long time ago about a family that wanted to put a house somewhere, but they needed a source of water there. They immediately thought of a well. They went to considerable trouble and expense trying to get a well on their property. And then found out that they couldn't for whatever reason. It simply wasn't possible. They were devastated. And almost didn't build on the property at all. Then someone in the family realized that they didn't NEED a well. They needed water. And with that simple realization, they found an alternate way to get water there (which I don't remember...and I've probably butchered the story anyway, but you get the point)

This post today is specifically about how I make my own homemade, frugal yogurt. But it's generally about something more broad. I found a long time ago that many of the things I buy at the store are things that I can duplicate at home with little to no trouble. And usually for much less cost. It just takes some looking around.

As an example, I can remember a time when I made a special trip to the grocery store to buy a single pack of taco seasoning for dinner that night. I have always had a huge cabinet full of various spices, but never knew that you can throw a few together and make your own taco seasoning for pennies. What a waste!

The thing is, I didn't need a taco pack. I needed a seasoning on the meat that would taste similar to a taco pack.

Simple but profound difference.

So with that said, let's get to the yogurt. A few years back I would have never *thought* of making yogurt. But it's no secret that I like to have things well stocked, but with much variety. And I like paying the least I can pay for the quality I want. Like most of us do!

Homemade yogurt is really simple (even without a yogurt maker- this is actually the first time I'd ever used one!). I start with a quart of store bought, plain, whole fat, yogurt. (I like to get organic when possible, but it's really hard to find here most of the time.) I take out appr. 3 tablespoons and put that into a bowl. The rest I freeze in an old ice cube tray. Whenever I need to make homemade yogurt again, I can pop out 3 of the cubes and have the perfect amount of yogurt "starter".

Next I heat 4 cups of whole milk (this I *can* find organic) on the stove top. Using a candy thermometer, I heat to 180 degrees.

Once it reaches 180F, I pull it off the heat and allow it to cool to 115F. Here I was testing the new spoon thermometer that I got with the frugal yogurt maker and it worked perfectly!

When it reaches 115F, I skim off the top layer of "skin" that is on the milk and discard it. Then I take about half a cup of the milk and stir it into the 3 tablespoons of store bought yogurt (which is your "starter") to temper it.

Then this starter mixture goes back in the pot and is mixed well.

This I pour into the glasses that came with the yogurt maker.*
I incubate for 8 to 10 hours.

And this is what I end up with! (Which is to be refrigerated right away, of course.)
*As I mentioned earlier, this is the first time I'd ever used a yogurt maker. I made it many, many times before I found this yogurt maker at a terrific price. The goal is to simply keep the freshly mixed yogurt a pretty constant temperature of around 110-115F for several hours.

There are many different ways to do this, but the way that was the easiest to me was with a cooler and a heating pad. I put the heating pad on low** in the bottom of the cooler and laid a towel on top if it. Then I set the yogurt on top of the towel (I used a quart mason jar, with lid) and kinda wrapped the towel around the yogurt. The top of the cooler was then closed AND LEFT CLOSED for at least 5-6 hours. Sometimes it would take just 5 hours and sometimes up to 8 or 9. I would check by tilting the jar and once "soft set" it's done and I refrigerated right away.

**(Heating pad temperatures may vary. When I changed heating pads I had a batch of yogurt that took a long time to set up. I learned with any changes to always check the temperature of the cooler/heating pad "incubator" with a candy thermometer by laying it on the towel for several minutes and adjusting the heating pad to get the temperature at a pretty stable 115F)

***As an aside, I've read that you can make yogurt from any kind of milk (even reconstituted powdered), though I've never tried it.

A quart of organic yogurt here can run as much as $4 or more. One quart will make ten or more quarts of homemade yogurt. So at most I use 40¢ worth of organic yogurt as "starter". I can get a quart of organic milk for $1.50. Adding 10¢ for electricity, I can make my own whole fat, organic yogurt for half the price I can buy it at the store. Plus, I can have it without going to the store. Which is another huge bonus for me.

I am posting this for my own information, not as any how-to guide. Though I have made it for months now, I am no expert. There are many, many places on the web that you can find information on making yogurt at home. I suggest that you check out them out before trying to make yogurt on your own.

I got my recipe here.

For more frugal inspiration, be sure to check out Frugal Friday hosted by Biblical Womanhood.

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Frugal Friday - Patience

Several days ago some blog friends and I were discussing homemade yogurt. I've made my own yogurt for a year or so and my plan is to do a FF post on it next week with recipe and pictures of how I do it (everyone seems to do it a bit differently).

When I first heard about yogurt making, I immediately thought to go out and buy a yogurt maker. I mean, how on earth else can you make homemade yogurt? But even on eBay the cost was much more than I wanted to pay. So I put it in a search on eBay and I waited. While I was waiting I found a recipe (that I tweaked like I tend to do with everything I've ever made-I can't leave well enough alone) that said I could use a cooler with something in it to keep it warm. Hot jugs of water. A heating pad. Or that it's even possible to incubate it in a thermos!

So I found a way to make it without the costly machine. But I kept my search up on eBay, hoping I could find one at a reasonable price.

It had been almost a year and the costs, if anything, seemed to be going up on eBay. I pretty much resigned myself to making it with a cooler, but *never stopped looking* for the yogurt maker.

(You know where this is going, don't you?! :D)

So Tuesday my youngest and I passed a huge thrift store that we'd not been inside for quite some time. We had 30 minutes to kill so decided to go inside.

I'd felt convicted for a few weeks about a member of my family that needed help in the form of clothing they could wear to church. I found two articles of clothing (as a set) and the price tag said $1.48. I could NOT believe it. The other clothing around it was much higher. I could see no reason why these pieces would be so cheap. But that's what the tag said.

So I grabbed it up, feeling terribly blessed. My daughter wanted to look at the toy section, so we walked to the back of the store. I'd never even been back there before.

At the very end of the isle, there was this really dirty box sitting on a shelf with some really dirty looking contraption inside. I just happened to take a hard look at it. Imagine my delight when I saw that it was a yogurt maker!

I should have made a picture of it before I cleaned it up because IT WAS BAD. But I glanced at the price tag and this is what I saw:



Was that $19.85? Surely it wasn't $1.98? I didn't know. But I snatched it up and thought I would ask up front.

When our turn came at the register, I asked the woman if the clothing was really $1.48 and the yogurt maker was really $1.98? She immediately said, "Oh no...(and my heart sank a little ... until she continued), it's 10% off day. So the clothing is $1.33 and the yogurt maker is $1.78."

Amazing.

Now let me just say that this machine looked pretty gross. There was something (maybe a dead *really* old bug?) squished into one of the glasses and it had years of some type of greasy dust on it. But with a little elbow grease applied, this is what it ended up looking like:



It even came with the manual and the original receipt (from a store that has LONG since gone from here). Look at the date on the receipt!



In the bottom of this dusty box was the spoon with the thermometer (totally intact) that came with the machine originally. (I know this because I could see pieces of it on the dirty box.)



And the spoon has a little slot to tell you at what temperature to add the starter!



Now in all fairness, I've not made yogurt in it yet. I just got it cleaned up yesterday. But of course, I did plug it in to see that it heats up. And I'll picture document how my first yogurt making goes in it this week.

But really the point of this is not the yogurt maker. Or the clothing. Or even the fact that God provides for us even when we don't ask things of Him. Or that we should follow our convictions and the blessings that come our way when we do. This post could be about any one of these topics...but today, it's about frugality and patience.

If you'll just step back and wait for something that you want, many times you'll find it for a very reasonable price. How easy it would have been so long ago to just grab a yogurt maker off the shelf. I would have felt justified because I was doing something good for my family and saving money in the long run.

But instead I found a loophole to making the yogurt and was rewarded for my patience.

For many more Frugal Friday ideas, be sure to visit Crystal's Blog!

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Food Saver - Take Two

A reader asked a great question about the food saver in the previous post. She said that she had one but they didn't use it much because if the food contains liquids, they get sucked out of the bag and the bag won't seal properly.

BTDT.

The solution is very simple, but it's a little more "work".

All that you do is freeze the food *before* you vacuum seal it.

And example, I make my own yogurt from store bought plain full fat yogurt quarts. But it only take a few tablespoons to make a whole quart of homemade yogurt, so to keep it from going bad, I freeze it in an ice cube tray. When it's frozen, I pop them out and then I can vacuum seal them, 3 to a pack. Which is exactly what I need to make the homemade yogurt.

For things like stews, chili, etc, just pre-freeze in some type of container that releases food easily. Silicone baking dishes come to mind. Or even an old butter container or a plastic bag. Once it's frozen, THEN you can pop it out of the first container and vacuum seal it.

Same with things like cookie dough. Just freeze it in the shape you want it on a cookie tray. Then vacuum seal it!

I hope this is helpful!

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Frugal Friday - Food Saver

I know that there are many areas that can save us money on our frugal journey. But I keep coming back time and again to the grocery budget. It really does seem that this is one of the big areas that we can spend a lot...or save a lot

Something that I broke down and bought myself a few years ago was a food sealer. You know, the kind that sucks the air out of the special made bags so that we can keep our food fresher longer?

This is some zucchini that I have shredded and sealed. It was extra garden produce that I needed to do something with or let it go to waste. I also have squash from my Great Uncle's garden that would have went to waste but is going to make a lovely squash casserole for Thanksgiving at their house in just a few weeks (!!).

I never have to worry when I find a too good to pass up deal on produce (or most fruit) if we'll be able to eat it quickly. I almost never have to pass on garden excesses from generous friends and relatives. I can just vacuum seal it!

But the biggest saver, bar none, is that this product allows me to really stock up on meat when we find it at a great price. It also saves trips to the store, because I can keep my freezer as well stocked as my pantry without worrying that something is going to come out freezer burned. And I almost never pay full price for the meat we like to eat.

If you think how often meat is discounted $2 or more a lb. then you'll see how soon this could pay for itself.

There are all kinds of different food sealers from pretty cheap to crazy expensive. I can't find the one that I bought anymore, but it was a little over $100 at the time. And then of course, you have to factor in the cost of the bags, which are much more reasonable when bought in bulk (like at Sam's). I'll also reuse the bags that are used to store vegetables or fruit after a good washing. (The meat bags could probably be washed well and reused, but I've never done that.)

So if people are asking you what you'd like for Christmas this year, this is a gift that could help you save money all year long.

For more frugal ideas, be sure to visit Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday - Cloth v Paper

Today's tip is not earth shattering, but it does go to show how even little things can add up over time.

A couple of years ago I'd heard, yet again, about using cloth in the kitchen and doing away with paper towels. I happened to be at S*am's a day or so later and saw their pack of shop towels. I picked up 2 packs of 20 or so. When I got home I realized that they were big. So I cut all of them (except 5 or so) into fourths. This gave me a ton of towels. And we use them for everything. Every time we'd think to grab a paper towel, we grab one of these now. I keep a small stack (20ish) on my microwave. The rest are on a pantry shelf.



I keep a little basket right behind the trash can to throw these wipes and any other kitchen towel into.



They get washed with the regular towels so they create almost no extra laundry at all.

We still use paper towels for some things. An example is that we have an older dog and he gets sick sometimes. I'm not yet at the point of using kitchen towels for that. But now a roll of paper towels will last as much as 2 weeks. Where as before, we'd easily use a roll in a day or two.

Even figuring conservatively, with paper towels at .50 a roll and "only" using 10 less rolls a month, that's a savings of $100 over 2 years ($120. - the $20 investment in the towels.)

And they're still going strong.

For more Frugal Friday tips, be sure to check out Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday - Battery Edition

Have you ever bought a gift for someone that required batteries? And the packs of batteries at the checkout was almost as much as the gift?

There is a better way! I frequently find batteries on sale at C*VS or other places for great prices. Sometimes even free!





And when I get them I have the perfect place to store them.



I actually have two of these. This one is sitting on top of the other one. You can also hang them on a wall. I rotate them as we use the batteries so that the first ones bought get used first. The little black plastic square at the top actually lifts up and it has a battery indicator inside. Meaning before I substitute the batteries in something that I'm not sure has low batteries, I can stick the battery there and check.

A green light will indicate that the battery is OK. A yellow, that it's almost gone. And a red tells me that the battery is no longer good. (I was going to do pictures of this, but blogger is acting all wonky with my pictures today?)

It's also easy to check which batteries are running low with nothing more than a glance. We keep this in the Pantry.

For more frugal tips, be sure to check out Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday

Okay this is a quick tip that may not work for everyone, but it has saved me money and aggravation. And I know it's early, but it's timely for this tip

Christmas Tip #1

The girls get absolutely nothing extra between Oct. 1 and Christmas Day. They also have to have all Christmas requests in on Oct. 1.

This is good for many reasons. Not the least of which is the wow factor that Christmas has when you haven't gotten so much as a new pencil at the office supply store or new shoe laces. But it also saves money! They don't even bother watching those last minute Christmas commercials for the latest gadgets because they know that it will be next year before they can ask for it. They put a lot of thought into what they put on their Christmas list, because it's so early in the year and they're not bombarded with the advertisements. And I don't have to run out on Dec. 18th to try to find the latest gadget.

I start reminding them in early Sept. about the list and we usually talk about it every couple of days so they can really think on what they'd like to have.

For more frugal ideas be sure to visit Crystal's Blog!

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Frugal Friday Food

There are many areas that I can tweak in our budget, but I think for us food is probably the easiest. I've talked about my Pantry in previous posts, and about how easy it is to save a lot of money if you have the space to store the food. And better still if you can view the foods easily.

One thing that we do to help with the food bill is that we rarely waste any food. Organization and menu planning really helps with this one.

So we had a lot of zucchini a couple of weeks ago. We'd eaten it several night and shared it with people and we still had this left.



So I brought out the food processor and ended up with quite a lot of shredded zucchini.



Which I vacuum sealed in 2 cup portions. It will go in the freezer.



This food will be much more appreciated this winter when used to make bread or added to quiche or casseroles than it would be if serve it too often right now.

But of course I couldn't resist making some bread.




And it was appreciated plenty. :)

For many more frugal ideas be sure to check out Crystal's Blog!

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