Works-For-Me-Wednesday - Yard Work

Almost forgot it was Wednesay. Throw a holiday in there and I am lost.


Trimming your hedges, of course you do it yourself. It would not be very frugal to pay someone to do it. But cleaning up all those little twigs is a pain - not only in the butt, the back and fingers. So here is what works for us.
You get an old sheet and wrap it around the bottom of the bush. Laying it on the grass. The purpose is that it will catch most of the clippings and then you dispose of as usual.



This tip is brought to you in Memory of My Dad - it was his tip after all.


You can find more great tips at:
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2007/05/works_for_me_ha.html

How I sell items in my home.

Here is a recent comment in my blog:

Hi Frugal Disney Mom,

I don't know if you caught my recent comment on your blog but was hoping you might do a post on the ways you sell your home stuff (perhaps going into a little more depth). You seem to be very successful with this and I'd love to have some other options other than Ebay (no camera).

Thanks, Broke and Busted :)

Broke and Busted:
Thank you for reading my blog and leaving a comment or 2. Sorry I did not get back to you sooner. So here is what I do to sell our extra stuff.

A little background first. I started this last year and heard of Craigslist.com. So I went and checked it out. I was also on a yahoo list for something else and someone there mentioned the local sales and barter group. So I signed up there also.

First thing I had to do was find stuff in this house. HA! that was not hard. We are people of stuff....lots of stuff...way to much stuff! My son grows like a weed and I had a ton of clothes to get rid of.

Off the top of my head some things I sold:
B's Columbia Winter Coat
Ipod Shuffle - Aldi's had them cheap. I bought 2 and sold 1 making a profit
Sleds
Cookbooks
B's Clothes

This year I have sold:
George Forman Grill - I got a bigger one
Another Ipod shuffle - won that at work
Purses
Shampoos from the closet.
TV - family of 2 does not need 4 Tvs.
Scooter
Pants

Here are my steps:
1. Find my items. I make sure they are clean and useable.

2. Check ebay to see if they are selling for a high price there. If they are then you need to use Ebay. Get more bang for your buck.

3. List your item on craigs. Describe it as best as you can. Follow this link to an ad I have on Craigslist. http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bab/338209896.html (If you are near Milwaukee, WI and in need of a toybox

4. Pick a reasonable price and be willing to go lower if you need to.

5. Then you wait. Sometimes people will email you with an offer. Sometimes I take them if I just want the items out of my house. Sometimes the price is to low and I hold out.

6. Pick your items by season. Right now I have a few things I can't sell - no one wants them. A nice fall coat, toy box, brand new football game. But come fall I am willing to be they go ASAP!

7. I do post pictures with my items. Many people want to see a pictures. One cheaper way I can think of this. Is use regular film if you have a camera or buy a disposable camera. Take pictures of all your items. Then get the filmed developed but just get a CD. At Walgreens (Hi Stan) it would cost you about $5.99 for the camera and $2.99 for the CD. So I would suggest gathering all your items and then photographing them. Some things don't need pictures..but if you feel they do this would be one way.


So someone wants to buy your item:
1. Cash only. I know that should be a given, but people have asked me to take a check.
2. I personally let people come to my house to pick up. I NEVER let them in my house. I meet them at the door with the item. My son who is 6 foot 2 - 220 pounds is always home when I do this.
3. If you don't feel comfortable meeting at your house arrange for another spot.

That is really it. Very easy once you get started.

Check Yahoo for a group.
Sales and Barter is the one I belong to.
Craigslist.com - for some reason I can sell higher price items there better.



Now here is why you check Ebay:
Before I started with the other groups. I did a little Ebay selling but not much. I hate going to the post office so I would be slow at shipping. Not fair to the buyer.

One day I happen to be on the internet looking at Kool-Aid items. An item I had was up for sale. I never used my item and all it did was sit in the cupboard. So I thought well they are getting $40.00 for it. I could use that money now. So I put mine up there. I figured I got it for free and that money would come in handy. It was around Christmas time too. So I put it up with a small starting price. My other internet friends and I watched it. It was at $40.00. I was thrilled. Then it went higher, at one point it was at $60.00. The last day of the auction it was still at $60.00. . My friend and I are IM back and forth. I was happy it would sell for that. She said wait the bidding wars were coming. No I did not think anyone would pay $60.00 yet more. The auction ended at midnight and my final price was $132.00! Now had I not checked Ebay I might have sold it for $10.00.

Win A Doony & Burke Purse

WIN THIS DOONY & BURKE!

No really you can win this purse and a bottle of perfume. Oh a girl could only be so lucky.

All you have to do is head over to Pink and Blues and enter!

http://tinyurl.com/yu5x3r

Good Luck!

More gardening

I went to the garden store yesterday as did the rest of Southeastern Wisconsin. It is the official time to start planting. We had a beautiful day day with a clear blue sky and lots of sun. As I was going through store, I snapped some pictures of different flowers. I also found a new plant and a full grown herb garden.

There are chives, basil, curly parsley and a few other things. Did you guys know they is a mint plant called chocolate mint? It smelled really good but I did not get it. I am hoping to keep this going all winter long.

So now I will have fresh herbs this summer. I so love chives on baked potatoes. I plan making homemade spaghetti sauce with the fresh herbs. Now what more can you ask for.

All my plants are doing well. I needed tomato cages, all the ones I found were way to big. So I bought a cheap garden fence. And broke it down to the way I needed it. So here is my homemade tomato cage. Cost me 83 cents for 3 of them, and I can reuse them year after year.

Here are tomato cages! I already have some flowers on my plants. My pinwheels keep turning, they are red, white and blue. I also have a flag in the bean plant. We got the flags yesterday. In case you have not figured it out I am a very patrotic person.

I have to share with you this picture of a plant I found. I never heard of it and wanted one. So I splurged and got one. Look at the blossom on the plant? What does it look like? Think of a holiday?

I will reveal the plant name in another post.

I have a great tip for What Works for me Wednesday......make sure to come back on Wednesday to read it.

Memorial Day

There are no words to express my gratitude and admiration of all our servicepeople and their families.

Thank you to all our Armed Forces and their families for taking care of America!

1500 Flags fly in Memory of our fallen Heros.

This is one of my favorites. As I was trying so hard to take this picture. The wind just would not blow. Finally I said aloud - Dad do you think you make the flags blow...and just as I said it the breeze came in. This is located at the Field of Honr in Wisconsin Memorial Park. My Dad is buried just to the right of this area as it was not open when they bought their plots many years ago.

How to do Walgreens Monthly Rebate

When you walk in the door by the weekly ads you will see a little booklet. This is the monthly rebate book. It is called the Walgreens EasySaver Catalog.


The first week that the rebate starts you can find all the "free after rebate" items listed on the back page of the weekly ad.

Now I check www.couponmoms.com and all my coupons before I even purchase a "free after rebate" item. Why? Because you can still use manufactuer coupons on those items. Meaning saving more!

Now you want to purchase the "free items" for either personal use or donation if you choose. Most of those items will go on "sale" during the rebate time also. For example in the June book above there are Stayfree Dry Maxi pad free after rebate up to $4.79. They are on sale for $3.99 at my store this week. So I will get back what I paid for them.

You will also find some items that are not free after rebate but will go on "sale" and end up being free.

After you purchase all the items you want out of the book then you send in the rebate. There are some specific steps you MUST follow. Very easy but if a mistake is made you can lose your rebate.

Here is the rebate form (which is found in the middle of the book)

1. First step is going to be go through your book and mark anything you have purchased and will be getting a rebate on. Make sure to read if it says price paid (look at receipt for amount) or a dollar amount. You will also circle on your reciept that rebate and put the number next to it. So I did number #2 in the June book. I put $3.39 on the rebate form and circled the Stayfree and put #2 by it.

2. Fill in your name and address.

3. Time to decide do you want a check back or a giftcard. If you do the giftcard you get a 10% Bonus. This is a great way to start rolling over the giftcard for the next months rebate.

4. Make sure to send in on time. The mailing date is usually 1 week after the rebate ends. You can also check your rebate @ www.walgreens.com

5. Kim at Neatokimmo (link in sidebar) left this comment:

I have a tip to ad! Buy your rebate items separate from all your other items. This might be a no brainer to some but it never occured to me. When they scan receipts into the computers at the rebate center, if it's too long, the bottom will get cut off and the bottom has the date!. You'll then have to refax your rebate to get credit and be delayed for a month more. Thanks Kim!

I hope this helps and please if you have questions ask away.

Save money using Walgreens weekly ad

This is my store! I bet people thought I was insane taking a picture of it.



One of the first things you want to do is get a Walgreens weekly ad. If you do not get one in your Sunday paper you can always go to www.walgreens.com and view the ad from your area. There will be slight difference in the ad depending on where you live. For example this week: wonderbread is on sale in AL for 99 cents a loaf, but here in WI is is on sale 2/$3.00.

Here are the steps I take:

1. Look through the ad and mark anything you are interested in.

2. Go to http://deals.families.com/drug-stores,f459 to see what they are saying are the "hot deals" and look for any printable coupons. A lot of times you can find the new ad a few days before it is actually out.

3. Go to www.couponmom.com she lists all deals and coupons that go with them. She will even tell you what % of a savings it is. She also lists what coupons will be in the Sunday paper. This is usually up by Saturday afternoon.

4. I then match the deals with the coupons both printable and ones I have from the newspaper. Now remember you can use a manufacturer coupon and a walgreens coupon. For example: Dawn Dishsoap was on sale for 2/$1.79 with Walgreens Coupon in ad. So I used the coupon and the .25 coupon I had from the paper. So I used both coupons.

5. Coupons can be used on Clearance Items too. Although they will not give you money back if your coupon brings you to the negative.

6. I then make my list and put all coupons together. Put in an envelope and go get those deals.

7. The bottom of your receipt will tell you how much you saved. I love that feature.

Next post the monthly rebate book

Please let me know if you have any questions.

CVS Deals

Now this time I remembered to take a picture first. They did not have the TP that is on sale. But I did get a rain check for 4 packs. Which do not expire so I plan on getting 2 packs (one rain check) with my $2.00 off coupons (I have 2 of those) and saving the other one for when I find some more great coupons. I am sure we all know this but if something you go to buy is out of stock and on sale....ASK FOR A RAIN CHECK! This way you get the sale price when the product comes in.

My total was: 20.04 before coupons and ECB. I paid a total of $1.24 out of pocket. I have a rebate to send in for the mouthwash and toothpaste. Did not earn any new ECB but still have some for my TP which I hope to get by the end of the week or next week when I go.

So I got:

8 pack of bounty Paper towels - This should last me till Dec. at least

2 tubes of Toothpaste. Goes into the stash pile

Maybelline Mascara - I do change once ever 6 months or so

Listerine

All for 1.24!

Rebates will be mailed on Tuesday for:
Advil PM - old sale

Walgreens - Month of May - $5.00 off fan

Listerine/Colgate - $3.00

Walgreens Run

Here is what I got at Walgreens today. Sorry no pictures. I put it all away before I remembered to take a pictures.



2 colgate toothpaste w/ free brushes - had 2 1.00 off coupons
Skintatic 99 cents - 1.00 off coupon - they paid me to buy
edge gel - 99 cents - had 1.00 off coupon - they paid me to buy
Stayfree maxi pads - free after rebate
Wrigley gum B1G1 - 1.99 - had 1.00 off coupon2
playtex tampons - 2/6 - had 2 coupons for 2.50 off - cost me 5 cents a box plus tax (Donation to the Misson)
Bic Solei razor - 5.99 - had 2.00 off coupon and 1.00 off in rebate book
3 cans Hunts Manwich - 10/5.00 had 40 cents off 3
2 cans Mini Ravoli - 10/5.00 had coupon 35 cents off
2 Dawn dishsoap - 2/1.79 - had 25 cents off coupon
Right Guard - 3.99 - had 75 cents off coupon and 1.00 rebate book
Orange Soda - 99 cents
Total before discount and coupons: 49.66
After discount and coupons: 15.48

It is late but the frugal mind was a going

I decided to pick up a few hours at work tonight. So I worked from 4-9 pm. I was in Cosmetics which I hate! It is so boring over there but since it was time to change over the ad tags I had lots to do. Found a Schick Intuition Shaver that was marked with the "WOW $3.00 Sticker" well one of the girls pointed out we were running coupons for $3.00 off. I grabbed one and she grabbed the last two. Sure wish I had seen that earlier, but I do have a nice stockpile of shavers.

Came home did the dishes and cleaned up a bit after the kid, who is sleeping at his best friend's house. Peace and Quiet for mom and no dinner to cook and less electric used. I am telling you my mind is a going. I think part of that is I found out my rent was raised by $20.00 a month starting July 1.

Then I got started on what I will be picking up on Sunday from CVS and of course Walgreens. I have all the coupons in envelopes ( I am loving those free envelopes) and the list made. I have a few rebates to get out next week too. So I will be filling those out and sending them off. Not much from the Walgreens rebate that I will be picking up. Just the free items and donating the ones we do not use. I have some great coupons and will have the list and pictures for you all tomorrow. So I am setting my alarm so I can hit Walgreens before I work. I do expect some things to FLY off our shelves so I want to be there at 9 am (okay so before 9 since I can get in) and then off to CVS before I work at 11. I picked up a few hours tomorrow too.

I also finally sold 5 of my old purses. I will admit the only one I use is my black Coach. I love that purse. Not a frugal buy but I did save for it and got it on sale.

So until I am done with work...everyone have a frugal day. I must go set my alarm so I can get up in time for my shopping spree.

P.S. Dawn soap is on sale and I have a coupon!

Washing Dishes by Hand

Here is my frugal tip for this Friday. When washing dishes by hand measure your dish soap. You need a lot less than you think. I am showing you pictures of the dishes that need to be washed today after dinner. We had take out which in itself is not frugal but well deserved in this case. I did have extra money for it and fed 3 of us (my son, his friend (both teenagers) and myself) and I have leftovers which will feed my son a few times tomorrow and myself (unless my headache is from the Chinese). I do think it is from laughing so hard. My son just had me laughing over and over today.

When I did the dishes I measured 1/8 tsp of Dawn Dish soap. I did not have a lot of dishes to do. When I got to my last dish the soap was just starting to disappear so I used just enough. I usually use 1/2 tsp when I have more dishes.

Start measuring you will be amazed at how much less you need to get those dishes done. You will spend less money on dish soap. I usually pay 85 cents at the most for the small bottle of Dawn. I get it on sale at Walgreens with my discount. Sometimes I can find a coupon for 25 cents off too.

You can find more great tips here:

http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/blog.htm

This years container gardening

This year I scaled back. I only did tomatoes (2 plants), beans (4 plants) and lettuce. I did buy the tomatoe plants but took that out of the grocery money. The beans and lettuce were planted from seed. I have never done lettuce but understand it is a short crop. So depending on when I get the first crop, I am going to plant a second crop in late summer.

The beans are already coming up. And I am looking forward to them. I love green beans. Last year I did a lot more but wanted to conserve money this year.

Containers:

5 pound mayo buckets - Free
Brown Planter - Free

Tomatoe plants - 2.70

Bean seeds - 84 cents

Lettuce seeds - 49 cents

Dirt - 2.00

I did reuse most of the dirt from last year. Now to wait for them to grow.

What a frugal deck looks like!

Before I thought of my laundry experiment today. I did three loads of laundry. In order to stick to my budget of $6.00 a week. I have to hang it all up, yes even the socks. So out come the dryer racks. I put 2 outside and one inside (has the underwear and socks on it). I still have one more in my closet should I need it.

Today we have great laundry weather. Almost to much good weather if that is possible. Sunny and very windy. Warm wind but still wind. I must have went outside 2 or 3 times to pick up the large rack. I would have thought with 3 pairs of my son's jeans it would hold it. I can't even carry a bag of one pair of jeans and shirt around the mall. It is to heavy for me. I tried to anchor the rack with a 10 pound bag of of Kingsford Charcoal. The wind was stronger. Finally I remembered a very useful tool...(thanks Dad) -- Bungee cords. I got one out and anchored the rack to the small picnic table outside. Now I don't have to go out there because my rack keeps blowing over. I also don't have to worry that rack is going to break. I love that rack and the place I bought it from does not sell them anymore. So I really do not want to have to work at finding a new one.

Between the container garden I started and my rack of clothes. I am sure the neighbors love me. But I don't care. If they want to pay $6.00 for washing 3 loads of wash so be it. I would have spent my whole budget and more since I had heavy jeans and sweatshirts in the wash today. The only way you can really see everything is if you walk through the alley.

New experiment - Laundry Soap

I am starting a laundry detergent experiment. I want to see how long a bottle can last with me using 2 TBP of soap per load. Now this might have to be changed if clothes are not coming clean or are extra dirty or if that is to much soap. I will take into account for that. I will be keeping track in the side bar along with final cost. I do about 3 to 5 loads a week. I am not sure how long this will last, depending on how long the bottle lasts.

I know that I do not use the "recommended" amount now but do think I can get by with less that what I am using. I found an old Kool-Aid scoop and marked off the 2 TSP mark for filling up with soap.

I bet the makers of Tide would not like me if they find out how many loads I can get out of this one bottle.

Budgeting and the Single person

When you are single it is so different to budget than if you are married or living with someone. Why? Well we (as I am single too) don't have to consider how to explain that we spent the grocery money on new shoes. Now I have never done that but I know someone who took the money for the gas bill and went to the Casino. So then she was out of money for the gas bill and looking to borrow from others.

So when it is time to budget I have to be 100% responsible to myself. I do have a child but what is he going to say. Sure he would be a tad bit upset if the police show up to evict us out cause I did not pay the rent. (nope never had that happen either). He would be HIGHLY upset if the lights got turned off. (nope never happened). I will admit when I was in college and on welfare we did have the gas turned off for 2 weeks. It was right before financial aid checks came out. You know I was able to hid it from my then 4 year old. I just boiled water for baths and he never knew a thing. We did have an electric stove so it did not effect cooking.

So now that I have to do the budget and stick to it. If I don't then I have to be the one to worry where food, shelter and lights are coming from. Not only for myself but for my child.

My income right now is not large not that it has ever been large. But on 34, 000 we do just fine. The last 2 years of looking for work, working low paying jobs has made it a challenge. I do make sure we have the neccessities, food, shelter, lights and heat (thank goodness not needed now).

So right now the budget looks like this based on a weekly income:

This I keep in my checkbook:
Rent: 143.75
Gas/lights: 25.00
Landline: 12.50
Internet: 2.50
YMCA: 1.25

Envelope system:
Laundry: 6.00 - I have committed to hanging all wash this summer - even socks
Bus: 8.00
Food: 37.50

My personal allowance: 20.00
DS allowance: 10.00

Once that money is gone --we wait.

Total: 266.50 - Now my unemployment check is more than what I am spending. I will be stashing the extra along with my Walgreens checks.

$20.00 Challenge

I already made the $20.00 for the week. It is only Wednesday so I would love if I could make another $20. The sales this week have been slow. I had a few people say they wanted such and such and never show up. I really HATE that. I do plan on for them to come when I am already home. Just so they are not wasting my time.

This week I made $39.00. I sold a cookbook for 29.00 (that I paid 9.99 for a few years ago) and my son's scooter. Two more things that we do not use and our out of my house.

Shopping and Frugality

Saturday I went to CVS I knew they had the Alavert for 6.99 with 3.00 back in ECB. Plus I had a $3.00 off coupon. So out of pocket was 1.38. This is something I will be using almost daily till the first freeze. Which by the way I am in no hurry for at all. Right now I have a small stash of Alavert and Clartain to make allergy season more manageable for me this year.

Yesterday I scanned the CVS add. After all I have $14.00 in ECB to use on one card and $3.00 to use on B's card. I made the list of things to get. I was going to go today and get the things on my list. But wait.....there is NOTHING we needed. The only thing that I could really use was the hair stuff. I have other stuff I can and will use here. Now I am saving those ECB for next week. When there is Scott tissue on sale and with coupons. I will end up paying 25 cents a roll. Now that is something we will NEED and stocking up makes sense. I will also be picking up a pack for my mom.

Sometimes like today we need to think...is that good deal really frugal? Not if you have 50 toothbrushes already stored. Personally I keep 4-6 brushes at a time. Between the dentist visit and Walgreens rebate I get those free and don't need a huge stockpile. I will get them if they are free so that I can donate them. There does come a point if frugality is costing you money. If you are buying items that you don't use or end up throwing out because they have gone bad then no it is not being frugal.

In Honor of My Dad

I was watching Extreme Home makeover. Now most of those stories touch my heart but tonight just brought me to a place I have not been for many months. One thing that really hit a cord with me was a young girl talking about how she was bortn with HIV and when she went to church they asked her not to come back. UGH! First off I believe everyone has a right to go to the church of their choosing. I can't imagine being turned away from a church. And to turn away a child is just in my mind WRONG!

I have felt lost and alone. Not understanding my role in life or what God has in store for me. Not that I know what path God has chosen for me. I have been reading so many blogs where people are comfortable with the faith that they have and yearn to live a Christian based life. I want that life. I do believe in God and that he does watch over us and care for us. In honestly I hve been fighting that. I have been mad at God. My biggest reason is that my Dad died. He died before I was ready. not that I think you are ever ready to lose a parent. But I needed my Dad every day. He was my rock. He was the person that I told all my thoughts to, and dreams to. When I was having a bad time, he was the one I cried to. He told me it would be okay.

After my Dad died I learned so many interesting things about him. My Dad was a very frugal man but if you needed something he took care of you. Last year when I was unemployed and could not pay my gas bill. He paid it. No questions asked, no when am I going to see the money. Nothing...just do not go without and not tell me if you need something. If I needed a ride to the store it was my Dad who took me. Did not matter the price of gas, it was you need to get to the store.

I remember being in my early 20's and living at home. My Dad came home one morning and woke me up. He wanted a check for $75.00 to have these men cut down the bushes. First I freaked because 1 I did not have $75.00 and my check would bounce. 2. I came walking into the living room in my P.J. - now Dad could have warned me. So I gave him the check and made a beeline out of there. Here I come to find out whenever my Dad need little things done to the house. He would go to the rescue mission and hire men for the day to do the work. Now most people have predetermined thoughts of people who are homeless and live at the mission. I am sure I did too. Then I realized how close have I come to becoming one of those people? I left my abusive husband with a baby who needed diapers and $3.00 in my wallet. Now had I not been blessed with good friends and family I too could have been homeless. When I lost my job I was lucky to be able to afford my rent for most months. The one month I could not my friend Lisa paid for it. No questions asked. Not everyone is lucky enough to have friends and family like that.

So I have decided after looking up on the website for the rescue mission to see how can I help. This past Christmas I adopted a man and bought him gifts. But I don't want the once a year donation. I wish I had time to volunteer but they need people Mon-Fri and I have to work full time. So I looked at the donation list. I can help there. I am going to start a bag every month and one Saturday I will take them down there. Lucky for me they accept donations on Sat. I will use the things I get free or cheap that we do not need. To help others in need. I guess in some ways it is picking up where my Dad left off.

Cleaning out the basement

I have a small storage space down in the basement of my apartment. Well today I cleaned it out. I threw away a bunch of junk not to mention clothes. I would have donated them but they must have gotten wet and were not good. I do not like to throw out stuff that can be given away for others to use. So lesson learned there. Now I can find what I am looking for and put my finger on the Christmas decorations and the large fan. Which we will not need at the rate we are going here in Wisconsin.

I also found some stuff to sell. So I spent a good part of my morning after cleaning taking pictures and listing the items on Craig's List. I did get a couple of hits on some items. Might even get rid of 2 or 3 tomorrow. Which would be great to get to the $20.00 goal of the week. At this point I am almost starting to wonder if things are not nailed down would I sell them. Actually most of the things are items we have not used in years. I have a beautiful crystal center piece bowl but it is just not me. I have had it sitting in a box for 3 years. I would rather have some cash then to keep it.

I figure by the time I go through the kitchen and both bedrooms I should have this pretty much taken all the clutter out of the house. Which will make it so much better when I get around to moving. One of my new mottos is bring nothing new into the house. We don't need anything.

Although I did go get the Alavert for 6.99 - my 6.00 coupon at CVS and earned $3.00 in ECB but I have been taking allergy meds every day. So I could not pass that one up.

Really was a frugal day - A review

I woke up at 4:30 AM not by choice, some major family crap going on. If you believe in the power of prayer, please pray for my 15 year old son. So I could not sleep.

1. Made coffee using free coffee from stepmom - man I love that woman
2. washed the dishes from the night before - using less soap
3. threw 2 loads in the washer - hung it up to dry - did dry the socks though.
4. took dry clothes off racks and put in rooms
5. kept the heat and lights off - it was in the low 40's when I woke up at 4:30 AM
6. Got the child off to school - turned off his lights GRRRR
7. Opened all blinds - free light
8. vacumed and wiped up bathroom
9. Sold $55.00 worth of stuff we did not use or need
10. when grocery shopping - more on that in a moment
11. Made dinner - homemade pizza - froze one for a later meal
12. Did my dishes so I am more willing to make breakfast
13. Kept lights off until I could no longer see.
14. Worked on cleaning my hallway... that is my nightmare this week

Now on to grocery shopping. I did not go with a budget in mind. But I went with do not buy what we do not NEED. I am happy to say I didn't. I even put back the $3.69 bottle of creamer. I just could not do it.

1. Mountain Dew - hey I needed it after being up at 4:30 AM
2. 3 cans of juice
3. 3 lb box of brats. -- I will grill these with me eating 1 and my son getting 2 should get 2 or 3 meals out of those
4. syrup - he has been begging for pancakes
5. 1 1/2 dozen eggs
6. 2 boxes corn bread mix - for dressing tomorrow
7. 2 cans of pizza sauce - 4 meals right there
8. Chirizo - now I will get 3 meals out of this at least - already bagged seperate
9. Pizza sausage - 2 meals
10. Chocolate milk - a treat it was on sale
11. bread
12. 5 pound bag of poataoes
13. bacon - which I took some out of the package for the weekend -froze the rest

Now total was 33.10 - Not to bad. I can get plenty of meals out of that. Note I did not buy much meat nor did I buy fruits or veggies (minus potatoes) we have lots of frozen veggies and canned fruit still. I do not plan on going back to the store till next week Friday. I am really monitoring our portion sizes with meat. We do not need all that meat and this will help not only the waste line but also the budget.

Next week I will be doing a menu planning day.

Frugal Friday Tip

Tonight I made pizza for dinner. When it is close within 10 min. of being done. I shut off the oven. Saves money and the remaining finishes the food. Same with my other appliances such as the crockpot, toaster oven (that I do the last 5 min. since it cools down fast). Anything to save a few dollars on the gas bill.

Time on my hands today....blog changes

I had some time on my hands today. So I decided to change up my blog. To me it looks brighter and easier to read. It has a Spring look to it. If you have a chance please let me know what you think.

$20.00 CHALLENGE

I started reading this at Frugal Mummy (see sidebar for link) and thought what a great idea. So I thought I would see what can I do this week. Last week I did $23.00. Now this week I finally hit my $20.00 by selling some things in the house. I sold the extra crockpot which I never used. And if I needed one .... well my mom has one she never uses. I also sold a small SD media card. I have a 1GB in my camera and have no need for the other one.

I personally don't do Ebay. I don't like waiting for someone to pay me and I don't like mailing things. I am just lazy. So instead I use the local sales n barter for my city and craig's list. I have had good luck with both of them.

Works for me Wednesday!

How to clean your BBQ rack fast and no mess.

1. Take a garbage bag

2. pour 1/2 cup to 1 cup of Annomina

3. let sit for a few hours

4. Rinse well

Now you are ready to cook and all the grimy gross grease mess is Gone!

Please do this outside and away from children and pets. DO NOT EVER mix bleach and Annomina. The fumes are TOXIC.

Spanish Rice

I made this for dinner tonight. Not only was it easy...it tasted great. Next time I would cut in half since it made so much. If I had to take something to a pot luck. This would be it.

I made this in my toaster oven.

I love how you can see the steam coming off the dish in my photo.

You can get the recipe at:

http://www.recipezaar.com/22218

Feebies and other frugal ideas.

Free envelopes! This is what I was given today. After each major card holiday (Mother's Day) the lady at Walgreens who does our cards. Saves them for me. I just happen to be there when she was bagging them up today. I love these envelopes since I have not boughten any in a year. There are so many uses for them. Some things I use them for our sending my rent check, grocery list (coupons go right inside) same for my CVS extra bucks. Lists and anything I need scrap paper for. I get all sizes and colors.

Then there is my freebie bowl. I put this in the front of my stockpile so I start grabbing out of there before using full size products. I tend to get the samples and then not use them. Keeping the bowl in the front has helped. Also when someone comes over and needs something - which usually means my mom. I offer them the sample or a full size product. Depends on what they are looking for and who they are. Sorry to say there have been some people who always want to shop in my stockpile. Now when I get laundry samples...depending on what they are I add them right to the current bottle I am using.

Yummy food - cooking outside and saving

I took out 5 pounds of hamburger the other day. So now it was time to use it up. I made burgers on the grill, a meatloaf in my toaster oven (so not to heat up the house) and taco meat. After I had a burger and they cooled. I got out the food saver and made up two packs of grilled burgers. How great will it be to have burgers off the grill when I don't want to cook. Just add bun and potato salad. I then let the meatloaf cool overnight in the fridge. This morning I sliced it up and have 3 packs of that for later on. I did have a slice for breakfast. Tonight we can have tacos. I am trying to make sure when we have leftovers or I do extra cooking to get the stuff in the food saver and put up so we do not waste food. Since it is going to be cooler later this week. I have a whole turkey that will go in my roaster. Think I am going to make some cornbread dressing and greens to go with that. Then I will free up some "tv" dinners for meals later on.

This saved money in a few ways:
Use the grill - already have a stash of charcoal and lighter fluid
Use the toaster oven - instead of the gas stove (did not heat up house)
I have 5 meals in the freezer (did not waste any meat)

One day when it is way to hot to cook anywhere - I will food made and will not go out to eat.

The Closet is finished

I can't believe what a mess that closet was. Oh yes I can. So I have now gotten it organized. I have so much room to build up that pile again. Now I sold some stuff -- we had way to much shampoo and conditioner. I even had brands in there I can't use that I got free. I also made my mom her mother's day care package which she just loved. It included: Laundry soap, toliet paper, 2 bottles of shampoo, body wash, dish soap, bar soap, lotion.

What did I find in there:

1 bag of good batteries
Paper plates/spoons

2 boxes of kleenx

Conditioner

Dental Floss

Old answering machine

Old home interior items

I threw out a bunch of stuff and box some up for freecylce and some to sell.

I now have plenty of room for more food stockpiling. The top shelf is all kitchen, bathroom and school supplies. If my son does not go back to a traditional school I will be donating at least 1/2 of those supplies.

I am set for a while on a lot of items laundry soap, razors, conditioner, cleaning supplies. I need to start a stock pile of deorderant and food items.

The bottom shelf holds my GF grill, rotisseree and board games. I do plan on giving some of those away but need to talk to my son first.

Selling the extra stuff - That is this weeks goal

This week I plan on selling some stuff through Craigs List and the local Sales and Barter. So far I have up the extra crock pot that never gets used, a older TV, a Coach purse (it is an older style) an ipod shuffle. I don't use Ebay since I hate waiting for money and I hate shipping. Usually I do pretty good with those sits. Last week I sold my extra foreman grill and some of my stockpile. Made $23.00. This week if all goes well I could end up with $125.00.

I want to move to another place next year. So I need to get rid of all my extra stuff now. I don't want to keep moving it and I hate when my closets are jammed packed. If it sits in a closet and I don't use it what is the point of having it.

Job hunting is also on my schedule. I need to get back to work and need to start looking now. I don't want to settle for the first job that comes along. I did that last time and it was a nightmare. So I won't be doing that again.

I am also hoping that within the month I should be seeing some type of Child Support. All that money will be saved and used for my son for clothes. Believe me it won't be much and I will still have to add to it but it will be nice to have something coming in. Since "deadbeat" is so not reliable.

My Kitchen - Frugality

Are you wondering what my kitchen has to do with anything. Well I was talking to a neighbor and we got on the subject of grocery bills. We have very small kitchens and not a lot of counter space. I asked if she had a crockpot or used a Nesco. She said no she wants them but has no room for them. I was telling her how to make it work.

My stove is small but it will fit in a roasting pan for a turkey but nothing else. So I have a nesco that I got for Christmas. I would make the Turkey in the Nesco Roaster. Placing it on the blue TV table as not to take up counter space. Normally the table is put up but since I just finished using it I put it in the picture. I also put my crockpot on it.

I also have a toaster oven and a rotisseree in my kitchen. The toaster oven in on the counter and I have a wooden cutting board that I pull out if I need space for a moment. I am going to be moving the rotisseree from on top of the microwave. My counter space is filled with my dish rack on on one side and partially filled with the toaster oven. Yet I still have no issues cooking real food in our kitchen. I try very hard not to buy process convience foods. They are way to costly and with a little planning I can make my kitchen work. So even small spaces can be frugal.

I keep my charcoal in the kitchen during grilling months. I store any extra downstairs. I use to leave it in the back hall but my neighbors like to help themselves to my items.

Some of my major appliances are"
Steamer/rice cooker (never made rice in it)

Microwave

Toaster Oven

Rotisseree

Foreman Grill

Crock pot

Nesco Roaster

Dehydrator

All that in the tiny kitchen. I just keep those things in other places (closets) till I need them.

Saturday is STAMP OUT HUNGER DAY

Don't forget the post office will be collecting food for the local food pantries. They provided bags in your mail earlier this week but you can use any bag. Don't forget to include a HBA item. Even though they are collecting food. A bottle of Shampoo, bar of soap will also be appreciated. Baby foods and formula are needed too.

I have my bag packed ready to put out on Sat. I included a bottle of shampoo and put some baggies made of Mickey Mouse soap and shampoo I got from vacation. Imagine a happy child getting to wash their hands with a Bar of Mickey soap. The big kid here loves it.

Back to Sell items in the house

As I am working on the house I am in the mist of selling any unwanted items. I sold my George Foreman grill today. It was in great shape and I sold it for 15.00. Since I have a bigger one there was no need for us to have. I also have a big surplus of shampoo, conditioner and other stuff that I am selling. Two people do not need 20 bottles of shampoo. Since I get them all cheap or free time to sell some of them.

I have been reading how people collect this stuff all year and then sell it at a rummage. Right now I am using the online Sales & Barter site. I will see how that goes. As having a rummage is a lot of work and my son is leaving in 5 weeks for the summer.

Tomorrow is the big neighborhood sale. So I will be out looking around. I am going out of town Sat. hoping we don't leave to early and I can check out a few more. I am still on the look out for that clay pot cooker.

Walgreens Run

Today I got some coupons in the mail from Vocalpoint. There were 11 coupons for the Kellogg water. 1 was for a free water. The rest were for 1.00 off 1 bottle or a 6 pack. Walgreens is running a "sale" B1 get 1 50% 0ff. Each Water is 1.99 so I used all my coupons. My son wanted the cereal which was on sale for 1.99 and then the wipes were on sale for 1.99 with a 1.50 rebate.

So I went and got:
1 box of cereal - $1.69
1 thing of wipes - $1.69
11 waters - $18.61

Total was $1.51 after my coupons and discount. but it gets better -- there is a $1.50 rebate on the wipes...so I paid 1 CENT for all of that. If I get the gift card then I make 9 cents on the deal.

The waters are going in my rummage at 75 cents each.

Time to clean out the freezer

I am not allowing myself to buy anything that needs to be frozen. I am going to empty the deep freezer and clean it out. Then I will again start to fill it. We need to seriously eat the food we have. Now is a perfect time for that. I figure I can get all off the stuff out of here in the next five weeks before my son leaves for the summer. I will be only buying fresh fruits and veggies and anything on the side we may need. But if it goes in the freezer then I do not need to buy it. I have already decided that while he is gone Iwill be using up all the can goods etc. I should be able to spend $40 for food a month for me alone. That is going to be a huge savings the 8 weeks he is gone. I will miss him but it will give me a chance to really get some things cleaned out around here. And who knows I may also lose a few more pounds in the making.

Another CVS shopping trip.

Here is my trip:Diet coke: 77 cents -- scanned my card and got 2.00 ECB for the heck of it. $4 off $20 and buy 1 get 1 cards up to 1.99

Now here is what I got:
2 mother's day cards - used coupons I got mentioned above.
3 Aussie Products - coupn for 2.00 off
1 Herbal Essence product - coupon for 1.00 oof
3 tooth paste - one was an ECB and 2 were B1G1 also had 1.75 in coupons
1 Clariol Hair color - coupon for 2.00 off
1 Bic Soleil shaver - coupon for 2.00 off I think
4 things of Cover Girl makeup - had a coupon for 2.50 off 2 then 1.00 off 1 and buy 3 get 1 free
4 jars of peanuts. - no coupon but came out to 49 cents a jar.

Total: $71.09Total AFTER coupon and ECB used : $23.33

Got back in ECB:
$5.00 Cover Girl
$5.00 Aussie
$1.00 toothpaste
$8.00 for the peanuts

So total out of pocket: $4.33

I decided for my mom on Mother's Day I am going to make her a care package. Money is tight for her so I thought I will give her stuff that she would have to buy and this way she won't have to buy any of it for awhile. So some of what you see is going in her gift.

Here is my scary clutter mess

This is my clutter pantry/closet. Now mind you I had taken some stuff out and thought of my peep Frugal Homemaker. And wanted to share. Heck if she is brave enough then so am I. I was in there the other day looking for dish soap and could not find it. Ha found 3 bottles. My laundry soap stash is now at 11 bottles. That should last awhile. Needless to say I figure it is time to get a hold of this mess. I should not have to buy any shampoo etc for awhile. Not to mention my over the counter stash. So in a few days I will have a new picture of the beautiful cleaned out pantry. This closet is huge. Very deep and very long. It was one of the things I loved when I moved in. First thing I thought of was a place to stash my buying in bulk.

I am ready --- Stocked up big time

Now I don't think I will need to buy any of this stuff for a long time. I checked the expiration dates and most is good till late 2009. This was all free stuff. Most of the stuff is doubled or tripled. I know I have more too. Crazy isn't it. But hey if it is free then it is all for me.

I personally LOVE my crocs. I bought a pair last year before I started working at Walgreens. My biggest reason for buying them was for comfort. I heard a lot of great things about them. Since I knew I had back issues. I needed something to be comfortable on my feet for standing during long shifts. I actually wore out my first pair.

These are the newest ones. A bit more girlish...but hey nothing wrong with that. If you go to www.couponcabin.com there is a link to Dick's Sporting Goods that will get you 15% off crocs and if you use Google check out another 10.00 off. So I got another pair for 15.94 about 1/2 of the orginial cost. Free shipping too! WOO HOO!

Normally I don't post about buying more about saving. But these shoes are worth every dime. And it saved me from doctor visits and meds or missing work. If you are into crocs then check the site.

Frugal Shopping

One thing I did a lot of last year and for some reason fell off the wagon. I would go to the local meat market and get the monthly deal for 20.07. I am going to start doing that again since it really was a good deal for us and the meats were really good. I went on the website to see what was offered for May. So this is what I am going to go and pick up either today or tomorrow.

2 lb Godfather Pork Roast
2 pcs Chicken Cordon Bleu
1 lb Ground Chuck
1 Whole or Cut-up Chicken
3 pcs Homemade Bratwurst
2 Chicken Patties (pre-cooked)


For instanse the Cordon Bleu is huge. DS and I can share one. So I get 2 meals out of that alone. I always get a whole chicken since it seems to go further.

Tomorrow I heard of a huge rummage on the other side of town. So I am thinking of heading out and checking out what they have. Now won't that be great if I find one of those clay cookers. I would love to find one. So I can try the great recipe that Frugal Homemaker shared with her readers.