Frugal Friday: Vacation Edition

Since we are "spring breakin' it," I thought it was only appropriate to have a few frugal vacation tips.

Before you leave, make sure to pack some everyday types of medicine: tylenol, bandaids, neosporin, pepto bismol, immodium, heart burn releiver, sleeping medicine (Advil or Tylenol PM), etc. This will save from going to find a Target or Walmart, and we know you can never just buy ONE thing there, or if you get it at a convience store you will pay 3X as much.

When you get to the hotel, look around up front for pamphlets, many will have coupons for local attractions to save you a little money. Even restaurants will get into this game sometimes. You can also look online by Googling the name of the town you are in plus "discount coupons." Many visitors centers have websites to help tourists save. Entertainment Books can also be a great source for special deals. Coupons help get more people in the doors, which means you save!

Try to find a hotel with a pool for some free fun, as well as a contential breakfast. If you can eat a free breakfast, it will be one less meal out of your budget. Also take advantage of lunch deals, making it your larger meal for the day, so that you can eat a lighter dinner (which translates to cheaper). Use those same online coupon sources to look for 2-for-1 coupons, too.

To learn more ways to save, check out the Frugal Friday gang at Life as Mom.

I'm sure there are a ton more ideas out there. If you have some advice, please share! Every dollar counts when you are 'trippin' on a budget.

Keeping it in the Closet

Anyone with little kids knows that adult height closet rods are not a good thing. And when I say little, I mean a nearly 10 year old girl who looks like she is still in first grade. She is old enough to choose her own clothes and dress herself, but simply can't keep her closet straight because it was just not useful. Luckily, I finally found a solution.

With all of the new custom built-ins that DH is constructing, we have a few free standing shelves that really don't have a home right now. They will eventually make their way to my mom's basement (which is where all family surplus furniture ends up), but I had one that was still sitting in the dining room and, quite frankly, was just in the way. After freaking out one too many times over the mess in the floor of her closet, it finally dawned on me to get her things on her level.

A $29 bookshelf from Target (which earned all that money back over the 7 years we have already owned it) with a couple of holes drilled in each side to hold a stray wooden rod (no idea where it even came from), and voila, an organized closet.

Well, it is never that easy as DH had some struggles getting it into the closet as well as some irritation getting the old shelf out, but less than an hour later it worked perfectly.

It was basically a free closet redo. And you know "whatever's free works best for me!"

Go see what other fine frugalites have come up with. Go on -- scoot over to Life as Mom for Frugal Friday.

Budget Blowers

Thank you to all of those who are stopping by from sweet Meredith's blog!

Grab a glass of tea and stay a while!

When we started this project, the decision was made early on that we would have that one item that we would splurge on. It started out as the sink, then I found the great deal. Next was the dining room set, and then that was settled. Item after item we decided to splurge on has changed time after time.



There are a couple of places you honestly should not scrimp on, but you might find a good deal all the same. First and foremost please, please, please do not use cheap paint. This is not to say that you cannot find incredible deals on good paint, but do not use bargain paint. If you are using Wal-Mart paint, get Kilz. If you are using Home Depot, go with Behr. I prefer Glidden, but Duron, Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore are all excellent choices. First, check the mistint section of the store. Our Glidden dealer sells mistint paint for as little as $4 a gallon. This is an incredible deal, since you are getting $30/gallon paint for basically pennies on the dollar. Also check out the Habitat Restores for paint. Last time I was there, quarts were 25 cents, gallons were $1 and 5 gallon buckets were $5. I got 2 quarts of neutral colors that would basically match everything I have. I had no specific purpose for these, but knew they would come in handy eventually, so they went into my paint stash. Even if you cannot find the color you want, spend $10 more and get good paint. It will go on better, cover better, and the end results will be so much better. There is a reason professionals use good paint. It is definetly one of those areas where you will get your money's worth.



Our big splurge on the current project is going to be reproduction door knobs for our hallway. Since the hallway connects to the dining room and is very visible, it is the perfect touch that will tie in the vintage look we are trying to replicate. We choose to do these because, honestly, we were at the end of the list of things we need to find. We only need four sets, so even though we are not using simple $10 sets, we will not be buying tons of them. I guess this does make it a little easier to stomach paying $40 a set.



The beauty of knowing when and what to choose for budget blowers is a fine line. Some people might rather have gorgeous electrical faceplates for all of their switches/sockets. Since we needed 22 socket covers and 7 switch covers, I honestly could not see paying $5 each for them, when the basic model was only 27 cents each. $145 versus $7.29 was a no-brainer while I was standing in the aisle. I just knew that it was not an area I was particular about. I honestly did not think that the difference was worth the price. However, if it is what "makes the room" in your vision, GO FOR IT! You may not have that many to purchase, which would make it much more economical.



Other than paint, there is no right or wrong item to splurge on. I think every great project needs one splurge, no matter how small. Even if no one else notices it, every time you see that one thing you love, it will make your heart sing. Your home should make your heart sing! So find that one detail, and be your own conductor!

Remodeling on a Budget 101

I have recently found that if you tell the average person that you are gutting your kitchen and completely remodeling it for under $2000, the reaction is a little lackluster. Tell that same person that you not only intend to remodel a kitchen, but also a dining room, hallway that connects to the dining room and a laundry room, and they will think you are nuts! I, my friends, am not nuts. I am frugal.


One of the most expensive parts remodeling the kitchen is new appliances. My appliances are mid-grade and work absolutely fine. I see no need to replace a perfectly good appliance that I bought merely 5 years ago. The only appliance-related expense in my budget will be to repair the broken dishwasher. (If you listen carefully you will hear my girls singing songs of joy over this event, since they have been the resident dishwashers for the last year at my house.) Another huge expense in remodeling is flooring. A couple of years ago we replaced the floors in the laundry room, dining room and kitchen, so that will be another project out of the way. I made a long list of things that were going to be done a couple of weeks ago, and if you would like to see exactly what we are doing, then go here.


So, how does one do everything on that list with that budget? A lot of shopping, a lot of work, and some good help goes a long way.


1. In with the old! There are some great stores out there, along with online resources, that sell used building materials. My favorite? The Habitat for Humanity Restore, hands down! Although there are several within a two hour radius of my home, the best one by far is located in Nashville on Division Street. In Nashville there are two different stores, one with furniture and decorating items, and the other with building items. Although both offer some great deals, you also have to know what you are looking for, and know the average retail price for those items. Originally I was going to buy a farmhouse sink, and the one that I found that I was going to get was $700. I know that sounds expensive, but it was supposed to be my "one big splurge" for the project (which at the time was running about double my current budget). That was before we went to the Restore. On our first trip there, I found a sink that was almost exactly what I wanted, minus the apron front. I looked at the price tag, $18.75. After taxes I would save nearly $750 to live without an apron front! You better believe I scooped it up (ok, well DH lugged it up front). The same sink that I got for such a great bargain is listed in Home Depot's website for $381.41. So, at the very least I saved $320. Although it is a little dirty and scratched, it cleaned up well. As for the scratches, after six months even a brand new one would look the same.






On another trip to the same Restore (after checking out a couple of others with no luck at all) we bought all enough doors to replace all of the interior doors, exterior doors, and a set of beautiful doors that will become "French doors", all for around $280. The same set of French doors at the local Home Depot was $300. I also found a double paned window to replace the one in the kitchen for a mere $5. Yeah, I love that place! The estimated savings for all that we have purchased there so far is about $700 if you are comparing the sink to the Home Depot one. Since I fully intended on buying the apron front sink, the savings would be much, much more if you consider that.


2. You better shop around! Home Depot and Lowe's both have a price guarantee. If you find the same product somewhere else for cheaper, they will match the price and give you an additional 10% off. This is not generally worth the hassle of running all over town, unless you are buying a huge amount of one item. Well, we were! First we went to Home Depot, where we looked at all the prices of lumber and wrote everything down. After we got all of that info, we went to look at faucets and light fixtures. I simply did not find what I had in mind at Home Depot, so next we went to Lowe's. While I was looking at light fixtures, DH decided to go see what the price of bead board paneling was, since this was going to be the biggest single expense of our entire project. The Home Depot price was $18.97 a sheet, while the Lowe's price was $17.99. That translated to about $2.79 a sheet savings, and multiply that by 30 -- after tax we saved $75, all because DH looked at the price while I was finding light fixtures. He took a photo on his cell phone, we showed them at Home Depot, and voila! Another big cost cutter we found was the "cull cart" at Home Depot. We needed several 2x4s, and DH found ends that had been cut off of 2x8s that were amazing cheap. For $2 we got 13 2x8s, which means 26 2x4s, once DH ripped them on the table saw. Between the cull cart and price matching, we saved nearly $125 total. It really does pay to shop around!


3. Do it yourself -- or have someone you know help you! Custom kitchen cabinets are soooo expensive. Traditionally I could not even get the cabinets for this project on the original $4000 budget, let alone the slashed-in-half version. Fortunately, my wonderful father-in-law is an awesome carpenter. His father built houses literally by hand, no power tools needed. His name is still well known in our area for the quality work that he did the majority of his life. He taught my FIL how to do things right, who in turn taught his son (my DH) the same lessons. My FIL can build anything by simply looking at a photo of the object. He is amazingly talented and I am so grateful to be lucky enough to have such a resource. For my kitchen cabinets, I simply had to purchase the wood and hardware for the project. This one thing has saved me at least $5000. Honestly, it is probably much, much more than that, since he came to my house and took all the measurement, asked me exactly what I wanted in my kitchen, and is doing all of the work out of love. (My budget will not absorb the gift that I will give him for his wonderful generosity.) The only other discount I found in this particular project was the handles for all 7 of the new, deep drawers that will soon find a home in my kitchen. I found drawer pulls at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 and bought them during a 50% off week (these usually rotate every other week), and with 11 total pulls, I saved about $15. Similar pulls at Lowe's or Home Depot were $5 each, so the savings were much greater. (I guess this tip also falls into shopping around.)


4. Beg, borrow or barter. The original budget included the purchase of a new dining table and chairs. I looked and looked, but never really found anything that just sang to me. I wanted something that went well with my style of decorating, but was also sturdy and dependable. I did find a set of chairs at the Nashville Flea Market, but there was only 4 of them and they were $200 each. I might have splurged on them, had there been six of them. The saving point for me was that the day we went to the flea market we drove the car instead of the truck. Silly, I know! Let's just call it divine intervention, because the next day when I was at my mom's house I noticed that she had gotten different dining chairs. The chairs were worn, but had a great shape to them. They were a freebie from a friend of hers, who simply wanted to get rid of them. Stained white pleather covered the parson-type chairs, and she used them because she needed chairs, but did not like them very much. I, on the other hand, instantly fell in love with their shape. I knew that with a little work they could be amazing. Ever see something that you just knew was worth saving? These chairs had the it-factor. I half-jokingly said, "Mom, we need to trade chairs." She loved the idea! The chairs in my dining room were originally a hand-me-down from her. She had bought a new dining set and gave me her old chairs. Although the new table she bought was gorgeous and sturdy, the chairs were not and didn't survive very long.


The very next day she asked me if I really wanted to trade, and I confessed that I really did want to. Since DH was off work that day, he took my chairs to her house and picked up the six matching parsons chairs that needed some love. When I got home and started looking at the chairs, I found a plate on the leg of each of them that said "Richland Country Club, Nashville, TN." These chairs were expensive in their day. There is no way that any self-respecting southern country club would have cheap chairs. I carefully took apart the first chair, and realizing that all of the springs were worn out, brought it down to the bare bones. I have gotten two broken down so far, along with sanding them so that they are ready to be painted. A warm, clear day is all I am waiting for. $100 worth of upholstery fabric (bought on sale at Hancock's), a half-sheet of plywood to put on the seats in place of springs, some foam and batting, and a couple of cans of Scotch Guard and I will have new chairs. New custom chairs are outrageous! They would cost at least $400 each for the quality of the chairs and the expensive fabric. Since I intended to spend about $600 on a new table and chairs, we will call it a savings of $500.


There are dozens of other ways I have saved money on this project, many of which will reveal themselves in the upcoming weeks. Please excuse my random posting, but we are simply using all free time available to work on dozens of big and small projects that are in various stages.


Currently working on: Redoing dining chairs, Painting/glazing china cabinet, Painting/Polyurethaning counter tops, Sewing curtains and table runner, Among others......


Stay tuned!

Smart Cookies

So after hearing all of your wonderful ideas on what kinds of cookies to bake, Candi (my bff) and I decided that with four girls in the kitchen with us, ranging in ages from 5-15, the best idea was cookie mix.

Of course, I had a good supply of it in the pantry from earlier sales. So, there will be no "homemade" cookies, but they will all be made with love!

Don't forget that everyone will be joining in on the Monday, Funday fun starting on Monday, January 6th!

Back to Basics

Sometimes I get so busy in life that I simply forget to keep it simple. I get so caught up in the big ways to save money, I forget that the small ones are those that drain you the most.


Yes, it is easy to talk about being frugal, and I am in many senses of the word, but sometimes I overlook the small things that add up to be so very much. Like cooking enough dinner to take some leftovers for lunch. It only takes a little more ingredients, but can save us as much as $60 a week! Yep, DH and I can easily spend that much eating out every day, but hopefully we can completely eliminate this habit.

Soda is another big budget drainer. We are trying to make our own tea at home this week, taking it in recycled Milo's jugs. (Embarrasingly we had more than enough of these for DH and I both to take them to work and still have a couple hanging around the house.) If I figure up the 4 sodas a day (for each of us), that adds up to $8 a day saved, or another $40 this week alone. (Since I have tons of Lipton tea, that was free with coupons of course, and quite a bit of sugar left from a great sale, this is practically free for us.)

So now we are up to $100.

Another one is over-shopping. Although it is a good idea to buy extra while extremely cheap or free (cause you know that's what works best for me!), sometimes I can get overzealous and buy 60 boxes of pop-tarts. After the 5th box, my kiddos are complaining.

For the next few weeks I will be sticking to a menu, eating (almost) completely from home and using up some of our pantry. Hopefully I can get back into the frugal groove that I honestly do appreciate knowing how to do.

Since our economy is in such economically hard times, I am so glad that I do not have to start from scratch learning how to pinch pennies. I just buckle down my belt a little harder, look a little deeper, and do the things I used to do when we were both in college. Nope -- it's not fun, but it sure beats learning for the first time after years of luxurious living.

WFMW: Curtain Call

Sometimes in life we just need something new. New haircut, new shoes, new dishes. We just feel like a change, and anything different is a good option. It never fails, if I take a trip down the kitchen gadget aisle in Target and find a newfangled something-or-another, it instantly makes me want to go straight home and clean my kitchen top to bottom, including inside the refrigerator.

Luckily, though, today it was not me who was hankering for new-ness.It was my daughter, La-La. In all her 14-year-old glory, she decided she needed "something different". YEAH!

Quickly I threw on my frugal-hat and decided to finally do the project that I had been putting off. About a year ago, I bought a shredded duvet cover. It had beautiful fabric, that reminded me of a sari, but several of the seams were ripped open, and it needed quite a bit of repair. I bought it for $1, lugged it home and washed it, which made the seams shred even more. So, disgusted, I put it in my pile of fabric and left it alone.

Fast forward to today. I get home from work, and she had her urge. I finally decided to drag out that sari-inspired duvet. I cut it in half, along with one of the seams. I (by I, I mean La-La) set up the sewing machine, and then I set to mending the seams. Then, I turned it inside-out, and run a seam to enclose it like you would a pillow case. I left about six inches at the bottom to turn it out, then sewed it shut. After I closed it, I then made tabs at the top with some found-around-the-house ribbon, that matched very well. I put screws in the top of the molding and hung the loops of ribbon around the loops. (We did not have curtain rods, her previous curtains were up with thumb tacks -- bad, bad, bad, I know!)

So, for a measley $1, I got two beautiful curtains. The part that thrilled me the most is that she got a "new" look without leaving the house, spending a penny, and it was all done in less than 30 minutes. Works for me!

Run, don't walk, over to Rocks in My Dryer to see what the rest of the gang has to say on Works for Me Wednesday!

Frugal Fridays: Enough Already!

With kids running wildly through my house, I ordered, as if pretending to be a drill seargent, "Go outside and play!" Of course, their unanimous response was, "But there's nothing to do!"

So, I quickly surveyed their options: basketball, sandbox, trampoline, bicycles, baseball, volleyball, horseshoes, kickball, roller skates, skate boards, and on and on and on. Nothing to do??? What???

I then asked my husband, "How much stuff do our kids actually need?" Without skipping a beat, he replied, "As much as we can afford to give them." UGH! This was not his finest frugal moment.

Honestly though, how much is enough? With Playstations, PSPs, Nintendo DS, TVs in every bedroom (complete with DVD players and VCRs), more books than some children's libraries, movies, just about every board game Target sells, art supplies galore and more stuff than I have room to mention on this entire blog, when is enough ENOUGH?

Even though with lists this long and detailed, it gets to seem like bragging -- but it is simply to make a point. How much stuff do kids need to keep entertained? I mean we were happy to have a few cool-whip bowls to fill with mud in our "play house" when I was a kid. A house with no walls, no roof, and only contained by an outline of sticks that we found while picking up the yard. Tables were made from boxes or crates that were cast-offs.

So this year I have decided enough is enough! They have so much already that we simply do not need to add huge amounts to their overflowing amounts of stuff. We have agreed to pare down Christmas this year to 7 gifts each (including clothes) and one birthday gift each. Although it is still more than some receive, this is an area which I have never really practiced frugality. Christmas is that time of year when I usually go all out. So ENOUGH ALREADY!

Does your family still do the holidays with a bang, or do you keep things to a minimum? Do you over indulge your children or keep things simple? How did you decide enough is enough?

For more Frugal Fridays insights, scoot on over to Biblical Womanhood and see what Crystal and the rest of the gang has to say.

What ARE We Saving For?

As a true frugalite, I am constantly trying to figure out how to save on every aspect in life. Using coupons, second hand clothes, used furniture, the list goes on and on. Even though we are not below the poverty line, we are not in the upper class. We are the typical American family, making right at the average for the middle class. I know that we are blessed to be so fortunate, especially in our chosen careers, not jobs that we have drag ourselves out of bed to go to.

So, you might ask, "What are you saving for?" These days it seems like I have to work to save everywhere else, since gas is almost $3.50 a gallon! But before gas, milk and eggs were at record prices, I started cutting my frugal eye-teeth on simple things that just saved us a little here and a little there. Those little bits added up to enough that I could begin giving my children luxuries in life that were educational and entertaining -- trips to museums, school trips across country, and a better life in general.

But, amongst this frugal journey, we have been able to do things -- paying cash -- that most people take out loans for: home renovations, buy cars, purchase big ticket items. The beauty in this, of course, is that we not only save the finance charges, you can always get a better deal by paying cash rather than credit.

I am so thankful that I learned to be frugal when we were broke and I had to be cheap. I am blessed in the fact that God has always found a way to provide for us, even when we felt like we could not provide for ourselves. I am also proud of my family, who never complains, even though we don't have to be quite so frugal, but we choose to be. Since we have all learned to be frugal and stuck with it, what used to be a "tight time" doesn't really affect us.

So, in the long run, I guess we constantly strive to save, so that our rainy days are very far between. Don't get me wrong, we still have an occasional rainy day -- but at least now we have umbrellas.

Fun with Leftovers

No -- not those kind of leftovers! I mean the stuff leftover from the newspaper once you get the good stuff out (the coupons, of course!) Sure, you can stick it in the recycle bin and be done with it, or you can get creative. So here is some of the things we do with our Sunday paper minus the coupons:

Use the funny papers as gift wrapping. This is especially good for birthday presents. I never seem to run out of them, so I can wrap as many as I need -- essentially for free since I counteract the cost of the paper with the savings from the coupons.

Make something with paper mache. You could create a pinata for a birthday (goes with the funny paper wrapping!) or create an entire solar system. The cheapest way I know is to water down white glue, with a ratio of about 4 parts water to 1 part glue, and run strips of paper through the glue mix, then lay them onto a balloon. It will take a lot of layers, so be patient. It will also take a long time to dry. If you are planning on making a pinata, be sure and incorporate some sort of hanging device.

Clean windows. Seriously, cleaning glass with newspaper is a great way to get a streak-free, lint-free finish. Your hands might end up black from the print, but your mirrors will be beautiful!

There are a million things you could do with newspaper, and these just scratch the surface. No matter how you use it, recycling in any capacity is better than all that paper going to a landfill.

CVS Steals & Deals

Have I ever told ya'll that I love me some CVS? Well I do! I especially love my wonderfully friendly cashiers. I love the fact that they rush me towards the clearance deals, and my wonderful manager will even help me out if I buy all of something she is trying to get rid of, she will mark it down as low as she can. See why I love me some CVS?

Tonight -- I got a wonderful boost to my Christmas Clearance Challenge. I haven't been in there in a few days, and the cashier is glad to see me, then tells me to look in a certain spot. They apparently did not know that they were supposed to mark down the toys with the rest of the Christmas stuff. By the time they realized it yesterday, it was already down to 90% off. And they had TONS of stuff left, because it was not clearly marked that it was on clearance. She told me what was marked down, and then I went to town.

I got:
3 Remote Control Cars (with batteries!)
5 Barbie dolls (yep -- the real deal)
1 Pony Playset (think My Little Pony, only actually prettier)
5 buckets of sidewalk chalk (small but perfect for Easter baskets)
1 Elmo housekeeping playset
1 Mortal Kombat plug 'n play game
1 Hot Wheels Set
(oh...and 2 candy bars -- I had to have them to get my total right)
For......are you ready........ 25 cents!!!!
I used a $10 ECB (that I had built up in previous orders, starting from nothing)
I saved over $100. This was my best Christmas Clearance trip yet. Now almost all my toys are complete.

Next on my agenda? Old Navy for 75% off savings -- hoodies are only like $3, which will make great gifts for my kiddos next year. (Just look for ones without the year on them and you will be fine.)

Are you finding some good deals? Share! Maybe we can follow in your footsteps.

Frugal Fridays -- Inaugural Edition

With all the lovely thrift & discount stores around me, it is really easy to find lots of good stuff. It is extremely too easy to bombard your cabinets with too much. Many of my favorite blogs are chattering about how to store things, how to keep from buying things and how to keep it all in check. I quickly realized that I have a couple of rules that tend to keep me out of trouble.

First, only buy what you love. Truly LOVE. This alone eliminates a lot of clutter from my home. If I have things I need, but do not truly love, I find that if I ask for items to replace them as gifts (yes, I make a wishlist for DH at several stores), then I can survive with fewer of these items. Instead of having 30 mismatched plastic cups, I realized that I can handle having only 12 glasses. So for Christmas, I received a set of 12 "pub style" glasses that replaced those with. This works in two ways. 1) I have less. 2) I have only things I love, so I don't feel like I need more.

Another thing is to have a theme or scheme. All of my dishes are either pink, black or plain white. The most of them are plain white, so that I can set the table for any theme with only plain white dishes. Your food pops off the plate better. You don't have to worry that white will not go with any sort of theme meal you might plan.

I highlight these things with pink & black, because you can add in black for a high-style look, or pink for a pretty look, or a combination of the 3 for a retro style.

Here is why I do it that way. If I had 6 different styles of dishes, I would need 6 times the amount to store them. Not only that, I would have to expend my money 6 different times. Uh…no thanks.

How do you keep down the kitchen clutter? For more frugal ideas, scoot on over to see Crystal for Frugal Friday.

Home again......

Well, I went to work today, truly I did. And then storms came. So now I sit at home, sharing my day with my lovely daughters. Although I have projects at work that I need to be doing, at the same time I am glad I got the blessing of spending time with the chickadees.

First we will have some lunch, then clean a little, maybe play a board game or two, and then prepare dinner -- including desert -- for DH when he gets home.

Our dinner menu:

Meatloaf

Mashed Potatoes

English Peas

Gravy

Cheddar Biscuits

Coconut Fluff Pie for desert

Ok, so you wanna know how to make my "cheat pie"?

Coconut Fluff Pie

1 cup cold milk

1 box instant coconut pudding

1 tub cool whip

1 graham cracker crust (premade or do it yourself)

Mix the milk and pudding together, then fold in the coolwhip. Put it in the pie shell. DONE! I fix it before I do anything else, pop it in the fridge and then it is all ready to when we we are. Ohhh sooo good! You can use fat free cool whip and sugar free pudding with skim milk for a pie that is every bit as delicious, with only a fraction of the calories (and you can't even tell it's diet!)

Since I am being careful with the food budget, I'm gonna breakdown the cost of the pie

Milk (I use evaporated I got for free with coupons) = $0

Cool Whip (on clearance for .50) = .50

Pudding (free with coupons) = $0

Pie crust (made with free cookies) = $0

Pie total = .50 -- and worth every single penny!

Smashing Substitute!

Sometimes the beauty of my home takes a back seat to frugality. Case in point is the fact that nearly a year ago, we upgraded our bed from a full size to a king size. Ohh, let me tell ya, memory foam ROCKS! OK, so in the last, oh 11 or so months, DH and I have used two different blankets, because we did not have a king size, and I kept waiting to find a good deal.


So, after a year of half hearted attempts, we were Christmas shopping in Target and found the most beautiful comforter. We both fell in love with it, since it was in my aqua blue/chocolate brown scheme and not too girly. But, we decided that it could wait until the beginning of the year, because $172.99 was just too far a reach with all the holiday hullabaloo. We truly intended on purchasing it though, because we both liked it so much.

Then......my frugal fairy was with me yesterday! While I was out cruising the clearance sales, I found this beautiful quilt. It was originally $99.99, marked down to $59.99, and had a 50% off lowest price sticker on it. So I got this for $29.99 -- Saving myself almost $150 (once you count the extra tax I would have paid on the higher one.) The colors are the same, but the pattern different, yet still very pretty, and again, not too girly.

OH! And, while I was there, I got all of the wrapping paper, a 2-pack in the perfect colors to match my living room, for .75 a pack, so less than .38 a roll. Not too bad of a deal, considering that I paid .66 a roll for it this year. I bought 6 packs (12 rolls) so one less thing I have to buy.


Other good deals I found included 75% off on toys at Target (I have a good jump on next year's presents already), and some cute summer clothes for me at Kohls (where I spent $14 and saved nearly $150 off "retail" prices). Bring on warm weather, cause I got the cutest pair of pink and black flip flops that I have EVER seen!


I just love a good bargain, can't ya tell? What good finds did you find on the After Christmas Clearance Sales?

Q&A Time!

Thanks for all of your questions from yesterday! Let's see if I can help you out a little.

Momala said...
Have you always shopped this way, or did it take you some time to develop your frugal shopping habits? The reason I'm asking is because I am working towards reducing our grocery spending atleast 30% in the next 4-5 months. Right now I am spending about $140 - $150 a week and I'd like to reduce it to around $100. We are a family of 6. I am already getting many things free at CVS, but I know I could do better.

I have used coupons on and off for about 10 years. I have always been a cheapskate when it comes to disposable items, and used generics for a long time. I got back into the coupon habit the last time about a year ago. This is the heaviest I have used them. I learn things really quickly -- I guess mainly because I have a BS in history, so I study things in a very detailed manner. I googled "coupon tips" to find a few websites and learned as much as I could. www.hotcouponworld.com is a great one. You can browse as long as you would like, wherever you would like without becoming a member. The best part is -- you can do it for free! I do not advocate The Grocery Game because you have to pay for the service, and I am just way too cheap to pay for it, lol.
I did not start out spending as little as I do. You really have to stockpile so that you are only getting items when they are free, which is called the "cherry-picking phase". Once you are in that phase, you are ONLY getting items when they are at the price you want to pay (which is free for me!) A large percentage of what I pay any given month is in taxes. Where I live you have to pay taxes on the BEFORE coupon price. I would venture that about 65% of what I pay is only tax. Stockpiling is the key to getting your budget lower. When you buy items that you use on a regular basis when they are dirt cheap/free, then you will not have to buy them the next month/week. Just stock up on sale and save the difference.
We also pretty much only eat what is on sale. It is a rare occassion that we eat something that isn't. So make your menus according to sales flyers. Look for the loss leaders, match up coupons to them and in no time you will see big savings!

Innocent Observer said...
I keep hearing about people getting things for free at pharmacies. Please enlighten me as to how this works!
Thank you!
Kerry

You get things free by using customer rewards programs. At CVS it is called Extra Care Bucks or ECBs for short. They spend like money at CVS. The wonderful part is that at CVS if something is "free after ECBs" you can use a coupon on that item to "make money".
Say Crest toothpaste is $2.99 and free after ECB this week. You have a BOGOF coupon and a .75/1 coupon. Use the .75/1 on the one you buy to get the other one free. Then use the bogo coupon. You will have spent $2.24, receive $5.98 back in ECB and have 2 tubes of toothpaste! BINGO -- a freebie!
Walgreens has a program called Register Rewards or RR for short. These are a little different -- if you buy $x amount of a certain product, you will get $x back. Example: Say you buy $15 in Dove product and you will get $5 back. Dove shampoo is on sale 2/$6. You have BOGO and $1.50/1. You would have to buy 5 to get the limit, but 6 is actually the better deal. You buy 6 bottles, use 3 $1.50/1 and 3 BOGO, spend $4.50 OOP (out of pocket) and get a $5 RR back. See -- more free stuff!
Another way is a BOGOF deal with a BOGOF coupon. Example: Kashi cereal is BOGOF and you have a BOGO coupon (or a Free Coupon). Use them with the deal, and you will get both boxes for free!
Yet, one more way to get into the mix is to look at coupon value versus price. If toothpaste is on sale for $1 and you have a $1/1 coupon -- you have free toothpaste!
There are a mutlitude of ways, but this is a way to get you started. If you need more help, I will be right here!

Anonymous said...
I have to ask here you acquire coupons, if it's mainly from newspapers how many do you buy/people save for you?
Lela

I buy on average 5-10 newspapers a week. I get one other copy from the lady I work with. If a coupon is REALLY hot, I will use a clipping service online, usually www.thecouponclippers.com. I tend to get one on Sunday, then the rest on Monday at Kroger for $1 (they sell the Sunday paper all week at a special rate).
Occassionally I will print one off the internet, but it is kinda rare for me to do that. I have also signed up with www.kashi.com , www.vocalpoint.com , and other places that will send me coupons for free products to try out on a regular basis.

Tessa said...
My question is about how you sell your extras. Who do you sell to and where do you sell?? :)

Wellllll.....one day I was at a friends house, and I had just made a GREAT score on TONS of free Olay Ribbons bodywash at Kroger. I wanted to give her one. So we went out to my trunk and her neighbor walked over. He asked "Are you selling that stuff?" I said, "Sure, I will sell you a bottle" then I did the math quickly in my head to see what I had paid and how much I could sell it for a make just a tiny bit of profit. I sold him $3.50 (walmart price) body wash for $1.50 a bottle. So he said "I will take all you have." Ummm....ok! So off just the body wash alone, it paid for my entire trip to Kroger! Then he asked "Do you have anything else to sell?" I replied I had tons at home, so I went back the next day. All the neighbors came out that time, and they referred me to friends and so on.
I also do yard sales. My DH works in a building that has a huge parking lot, and the owner loves it when people have yard sales there because it brings business into the store. So now during the warm months I have one about every 4 weeks, I have tons of regular customers that come every single time. I take out a block ad in the local newspaper -- same ad everytime, just different dates. I saw other people on Hot Coupon World doing it so I thought I would give it a try. My only cost is about $10 for the ad, and that's it. I do pretty well in my location, because right next door is a Dollar General (they don't mind -- they shop with me, too!)
Now, I just keep a good supply in my trunk, people know what I do and I can make an extra $10-$50 on any given day, just by being prepared and having the "store" already set up in my trunk.

Hope this helps all of you some. I will be glad to answer any more questions!

My Shopping Strategy

I have said it before and I will say it again -- I shop weird.

I only buy produce about once a month, in one trip where rarely any coupons are used. I am trying to incorporate more organics, and so I am taking a trip to a whole foods store today to see what they might have.

I also basically shop once a month for meats. There is a local chain that does 5 packs for $20 -- which can or cannot be a deal, depending on what you get. Included in that deal is a 8 lb. bag of popcorn chicken, so I typically do 5 of those about twice a year, that makes it about .50/lb. I have figured out how to use these in a bunch of different ways, so that we are not tired of them. Instead when we are on the last bag my girls all remind me, so that we will not run out. I find the best deal possible on ground beef, and usually buy marked down packs. If I am lucky enough to hit the mother lode and score several packs, I buy all I can find -- sometimes as low as .79/lb. I buy chicken quarters when I can find them around .50/lb and pick them off . Occasionally if there is a great deal somewhere, we will buy prepackages Salisbury steaks or something similar. I also like to keep frozen pizzas for the nights when we are just too tired to cook. Once in a great while I will find roasts or stew meat on markdown, so into my freezer they go too, for another night. I also tend to look at the rotisserie chicken, because I have found them to be cheaper than fresh chickens if they are really close to their time being up. You just have to watch every possible outlet, and never completely rule out any option.

As for everything else that comes out of our budget -- snacks, canned foods, oh-so-yummy processed foods, milk, cheese, bread, all paper products, health/beauty aids, OTC medicine -- I always say "whatever's free is best for me!" I am not brand loyal at all. I buy whatever is cheapest. You may have to join a coupon site to learn to trade, but there are coupons out there for almost anything you could ever need from the grocery store. There are coupons for free milk when you buy cereal, and you can use coupons to get the cereal to get the free milk. There are coupons out there for free bread when you buy lunch meat. I buy marked down lunch meat with coupons and get the bread for free.

Oddly enough, the bulk of what I buy never even makes it into the house. I did my figures the other night and I have sold WAY more than I have inside my house. To date -- since April -- I have sold over 500 bottles of Dawn dish liquid. Most of them were free to me, and cheaper through me than they were at Walmart. I am the same way with Venus razors, shampoo, and even some food items. I buy them cheap and resell them to help my customers save money, but I make some, too. I always make more in a month than I spend, usually double what I spend, depending on the month.

I do shop weird though. I have bought 20 jars of pasta sauce and limped along with .33 cent regular price pasta until I found it free, then I stocked up to the hilt on it. I have bought 200 cans of veggies in a week, but then I will not have to buy them again for a year (these were exclusively for my own family). I take a nod from stockbrokers -- buy low! I can see a deal and know without even a second thought as to whether or not it really is a good deal. You have to be careful though.

My best friend is just as much of a coupon enthusiast as I am. We shop together, coupon together, and we live very similar lives. However, a few weeks ago she asked me if .99 was a good price for a small jar of brand name jelly. I pointed out to her than you can buy a jar 3X the size at Save-A-Lot for the same price. "DUH" was her response. Sometimes you get that hot little coupon in your hand and you realize that you cannot always get the best deal by using it. An even cheaper option (what I do) is make it yourself. With a .99 can of frozen concentrate, water, sugar and some pectin, you can make about 6 jars for the price of 2 at Save-A-Lot. You just have to be very conscious of every little cent you spend.

Yes, there are times I have bought something special that I could have gotten cheaper another way. I only use kosher salt, not because of my religion, but because I like the tatse 100 times better than the 3/$1 cheap stuff in the round box. I give about $1.50 for it on sale, and it lasts a long time, tastes much better, takes less to flavor foods, so I buy that. I also purchase olive oil, which I almost never find a good deal with coupons. I buy big cans of it, making it a lot cheaper per ounce than the small bottles. Sure, corn oil is much cheaper, but then again the flavor and health values of olive oil is much better than any other oil. I keep a bottle that I get free here or there, but our cholesterol levels thank us greatly.

There is no hard and fast way to shopping how I do. It just takes work. If I took you shopping, you might say that you would never eat so many processed foods. If I get instant potatoes for free, but I have to pay for fresh ones, I will take instant, TYVM.

My only true rule of thumb is that there are things I always get for free before tax: shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toiletpaper, paper towels, kleenex, cosmetics, OTC medicines, cleaning products, laundry soap, snack foods, razors, shaving gel, etc. My list is too long to put into this blog, but I know what is always free, and so I buy up big and stick it in my stockpile.

There is no real way to answer each and every dilemma without some questions, so let's hear them! I will try my hardest to answer each and every question you have, or give advice if you need better insight as to how to save you money like I do. If you need to know something, ask away! I will be glad to help you learn to save!

Darling Delia*s Knockoff

I have a teenage daughter who LOVES Delia*s clothes. However they are a little pricey for me....well more like "are you kidding me??!!??" The dear child has found a coat that she simply loves

Last week I posted about my good finds at Goodwill, and while looking at the new calendar for December I spotted an even better deal -- 10 items of a certain tag for $5. Yeah, it was risky, but I found 10 items (by the skin of my teeth), and among those I found this coat...


Although it is not a perfect match, when you add tax and shipping it would be about $90 and this one was fifty cents. I could literally buy 180 coats at that rate!


And, by the way, she LOVES this one just as much!

Pick Your Chicken

Earlier this week I gave you my crazy pickin chicken method. Here are some of the ways I use this chicken:

Chicken Pot Pie
Handful of chicken (as big or small as you want)
1 can cream of whatever soup
1 can mixed veggies (or frozen peas and carrots are good, too)
dough (canned biscuits - canned cresent rolls - homemade biscuits - frozen biscuits, whatever)
Warm up can of soup, add 1/4 cup water to get it moving, add in frozen chicken and veggies. once warm, put into a casserole dish (I use a round one). Put dough on top and bake in 350 degree oven until done.
I love, love, love this, because it is a one dish meal. Great for cool nights! I would guess that this is less than $2 a meal, depending on how much chicken you use. If you use cream of chicken soup, you get a little more chicken flavor.

Chicken-Chili Casserole
Handful of pickin chicken
2 cups rice, cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
can of whole kernel corn
2 Tbs. chili powder
(you can add black olives, too)
Mix together soup, chicken, rice, corn, (black olives) and chili powder. Put in casserole dish, cook at 350 degrees for 30 mins. Remove and scatter cheese on top. Put back into oven until cheese is melted.
**for another variation, take chili powder, corn and black olives out and replace with mixed veggies or peas and carrots -- add a handful of bread crumbs with cheese. This makes it more like a chicken pot pie casserole -- very good!

Chicken Fried Rice
2 cups already cooked and cooled rice
Olive Oil
Soy Sauce
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (frozen is best)
1 handful of chicken
1 small onion chopped
2 eggs - mixed with 1 Tbs. water
Cook eggs in a thin sheet, it may take more than one batch. Chop them into ribbons and set aside. Put a good, heavy drizzle of olive oil in a pan, and let it get hot (over medium high heat). This will go quick, so do not try it if you are wrangling kids, dogs, frisky hubbies or what have you. Put in the onion cook for a couple of minutes, then the peas and carrots, then the chicken. Cook it all for a few minutes until hot. Add in the eggs, and rice, stir well. Add in soy sauce, it will take quite a bit, maybe up to 1/3 of a cup at the beginning, just do it to your taste.
**This may not be the cheapest recipe, but it is just as good and cheaper than take out for sure!

Buffalo Chicken wraps
Tortillas
Chicken
Hot Sauce
Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing
Add 1 tbs water to a non stick skillet. Add in 2 cups chicken, cook until soft and almost all of the water is cooked off. Add in hot sauce, it will make a thick sauce on the meat, it will take about 1/4 cup. Warm your tortillas. Put a drizzle of dressing (as much or little as you want) down the middle. Put your chicken in and roll up. These are a wonderful quick dinner!

Chicken Taco Soup
1 good handful of chicken
1 can whole kernel corn - drained
1 small can sliced black olives - drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 can rotel or tomatoes
1 chicken bouillion cube (I use the ones in the spanish foods aisle)
1 pack taco seasoning
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips
In your soup pot, sautee the onions until done. Add in 2 cups water and dissolve bouillion cube. Add in chiken, corn, olives, rotel and taco seasoning. Bring to a slow boil for about 10 minutes until all the flavors have combined. Ladle into dishes, garnish with cheese, sour cream and chips.

Chicken and noodles
1 cup chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 bag egg noodles
Cook egg noodles. While they are cooking, warm up the can of soup with 1/2 cup of water and add in chicken, cook until all is hot. Use it for the sauce on the hot noodles. You could add in frozen peas and carrots into the sauce for more of a one pot meal.

However you use the chicken, just remember, it is already thoroughly cooked, so you are basically reheating it. These are just a few of my recipes. Maybe I will get some more posted at some point. Enjoy!

My pantry

With all of the sites available on how to coupon -- there is not much need for me to explain how to do it all. However, I can tell you the things that I often buy and keep an eye out for. I will tell you that I shop wierd. I might buy 40 jars of pasta sauce today and then not buy pasta for 3 months. However, I have enough pasta left from last time I bought it that I have enough to get by on.
These are the things that I rarely find free, so I buy them at Save A Lot or Aldi:
Cream of whatever soups
canned mushrooms (often on sale at Walgreens for .39 though)
Canned Veggies - almost all kinds
Saltines

I look for sales on these items:
Milk
Eggs
Cheese

I go to the day-old bread store for these items:
Garlic bread
hamburger/hotdog buns
hoagie rolls
sandwich bread (if it is on sale for .25 a loaf)
**I will buy 3 months worth at a time and keep it in the freezer

For meats:
Sandwich meats are bought with coupons
Hotdogs, breakfast sausage are bought with coupons (mostly free)
Bacon -- I buy a 10 lb. box for $14.90 and break it down into bags for the freezer -- cheapest way I know and it lasts for months
Chicken -- other than whole chicken, the only way I buy chicken is leg quarters in 10 lb bags. (see below for "pickin chicken" method)
Shrimp -- I only buy when frozen bags are bogof
Turkey is only bought during the holidays -- with the great sales
Ham is just like turkey

Pickin Chicken
Buy the 10 lb. bag of chicken (usually on sale for .49/lb.)
Put in a stock pot and cook until done.
Pull out of the stock and let them cool
Put the broth (once cooled) into a clean gallon milk jug -- use it for up to a week!
Pick off the skin (discard or I feed it to my dogs -- they LOVE it), pick all the meat off the bones and lay it on a sheet pan. Slide it into the freezer, occassionally stirring it so it does not freeze into one big sheet. Once frozen, put into zip bags and use to add to soups and casseroles!

I will try and get up some of my pickin chicken recipes soon!

Cheap Shot?

By now, we have all heard of the Economides. They are "America's Cheapest Family", dubbed so by ABC. They are widely known for living debt-free on about $35,000 a year, with a family of seven. Now, do I seriously believe that they are America's Cheapest Family? Uhhh, NO.
They spend $350 a month on groceries. Ok, I have one less person in my family, and I spend $400. However, with that $400, I buy everything we need for eating, paper products and health and beauty aids, PLUS I buy enough to resell at yardsales and make nearly $1000 a month. If I pulled out what I resell, I spend about half of what they do (or less).
My family lives on well less than what they do. Which garners some interesting responses from friends, family and people in general, that I quit a "good job" so that we could live on less money. I quit that job to spend more time with my family, since I have learned that having more does not make you happier.
I do get a little irritated when I am out shopping, use a coupon, and someone almost always brings up this family -- "Do you know about them?" "Have you seen how they do things?" "Do you think they really do that good?" Yes, I have read about them. Yes, I am well versed in how they do things. Yeah, they might do okay, but I feel like I do a better job of shopping.
I don't agree with ABC. Do I think we are America's Cheapest Family? Ummm, NO. I know women who spend half of what I do with twice as many kids. I know there are people out there who do more with less. I know that this family is just in the spotlight due to good marketing of their book. I also know that not everyone can shop like I do. I know that not everyone can do things the way I do them, which is why I do not tout myself as an example.
I know our flaws. We eat out too much. We sometimes waste things. We are not perfect. No one is. No matter how frugal you intend to be, there is always room for improvement. I don't know if I could teach this family anything, however I know there are families out there who could.
There are frugal arguments for almost every aspect of a budget. Newer, priceier car, versus older, cheaper car. Better, longer lasting furniture, versus hand me down or cheaper furniture. No one answer is right for every family. Doing what is best for you and yours is the best choice in the end.
Yes, I can tell you we scout out cheap, cheap cars, which cost very little to repair (my DH is an auto tech), and pay cash for them. However, your family may not have a cheap mechanic, so a better car may be better for you in the long run.
I can say, with great certainty, that learning new skills helps us to be more frugal. If we want to do something, we learn how to do all the labor that we can, so that the end result is cheaper. We do 99% of all our home improvements with only the cost of materials. Your family might not be so handy. However, my husband is not a doctor, so we have to go to the professionals for things like that. You just have to figure out where you can cut back.
The Economides seem to dish out tons of common sense advice. People all over the country pay for common sense, though. Just like a previous blog on Martha, Dave and the Fly Lady, the Economides just fall into this category. I think what bugs me the most about them is that they soak up the moniker that ABC has bestowed upon them. They have to know there are people all over the country living just as well on much less. If they don't, then they seriously need to make friends with grandparents all over this country who survived the depression. An income of $35,000 is average in this country, but many families live on much less. No matter whether or not they truly believe it for themselves is beyond me.
I know that we are cheaper, but we are still not the cheapest. I would love to meet the family that actually is "America's Cheapest Family". I might learn a thing or two myself.