Meal Planning Can Save You Money

Every week I share our menu with you all and I have expressed how meal planning can save you money. It is true. When you make a menu and follow the menu you can start seeing your savings add up. The most important factor to seeing your savings add up is following your meal plan. I cannot tell you how many times we have gone grocery shopping, had my menus in place, and we end up eating out three times that week. Then wonder what happen to our money. I am not saying you cannot eat out because you can. Just add eating out to your meal plan.

Two Places I Stop By Before I Shop

A week or so ago I wrote about setting my menus up by our pay schedule. Planning menus this way allows me to stay out of the stores, which in turn I spend less money. I have done this method for a couple of weeks and I have seen the pennies starting to pile up. When I menu plan I also look at the store ads to see what sales are going on AND I have two websites that I follow because the ladies are always posting store deals.

"Mom, We Have Nothing To Eat"

Here is a typical scenario in my home:

I go grocery shopping

Come home and put groceries away

Walk out of kitchen

Hubby and kids swarm the kitchen to see what was bought

Next thing I know I am bombarded with “mom can I have this?”

Then within a few days I hear “mom we have nothing to eat.”

I look in the fridge and pantry and see many items to eat except the items are not what the kids want to eat.

In order to fix this end of the world “we do not have anything to eat” problem I will be making some changes. The first change is with me. I need to ensure that I am not saying yes whenever the kids ask for a snack. I do not mean that they cannot have a snack, but like adults, kids eat when they are bored. A good friend of mine has set times for snacks for her four kids. The kids know that it is snack time at 3pm. Do not worry my kids will not go hungry. I will ensure they are always fed. I have also caught myself saying yes when I am in the middle of doing a chore or schoolwork and not even thinking about what exactly they asked for. I then find myself saying “ugh I need to really pay more attention.”

Then there are some items that I buy that the kids will consume in one day if they could. To fix this problem I tell them that they are allowed one a day or one every other day (this is already in place). Finally, I will make a list of snacks that the kids can have daily. This allows the kids to choose what they would like and it brings responsibility. Responsibility by knowing that certain items can only be consumed once a day or every other day so they should choose wisely.

Not only will these changes help keep our food budget on track but it will also teach the blessings how to make things last longer.

I am sure I will still hear this statement but with these changes it may eliminate how often I hear it…..

Finances Goals for 2013

I have come to realize that writing out my goals has helped me see what I need to do to achieve my goals. Hubby and I are on the road to breaking the chains of debt. We have said it year after year what we need to do, but we have never really written them down. This year we have added up our total non-mortgage debt and chose a number that we thought was a reasonable amount to pay off this year. We, of course, are praying that we can exceed our amount and that God will take charge of our finances.

Writing Out a Budget

 The hubby and I have gotten very serious about the chains of debt that are binding us up. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired. So, we have done something about it. We started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University this past Monday. We absolutely love it. We received confirmation, conviction, and ways to dump the debt. I have read Dave's "Total Money Makeover" a couple years prior and knew what we needed to do. It was time to implement it.

Turn Off Your Oven

Being first-time homeowners we are learning new ways to lower are monthly bills such as the electric, water, and all the other lovely monthly bills. We are overall really good about turning off the lights when we leave the room, turning off the water when brushing our teeth, or when washing dishes. BUT I am looking for even more ways to lower our monthly bills.

One thing that I have started doing was shutting off the oven about five minutes before the food item is completely done cooking. This may seem like a little thing, but I guarantee over time it will add up.

Think about it?

When you remove an item from the oven how much longer is the oven hot after you turned it off? That is extra electricity that you are consuming to run the oven . If you cut the time the oven needs to be on by just a few minutes you are not only helping the environment, but you are also saving some money. Who can complain about saving money? Not me!

Are you worried about your food not cooking all the way?

Do not worry. It will be done. You are only turning it off a few minutes before the item is done. Plus, most food continue to cook itself for a couple minutes after you take it out of the oven.

Or you can just not use the oven that often. I try to limit how often we use the oven. I either use the crock-pot or griddle. Keep in mind that it costs more to heat up the oven than it is to use the crock-pot.

Just try it. :)

Auctions Can Be Frugal

When the hubby and I first got married we use to head to auctions to pick up items that we needed. As newlyweds and lower ranking in the military we did not have a lot of money to spend on furniture. My husband convinced me to go to an auction because I had never been and thought it was a waste of time. I decided to go and was pretty amazed at what you can get for a small price. Now with that said it is important to go with a set amount of cash and do not go over that. You will need to know your budget and what you are willing to spend on each item.

Another important thing is to do your homework. If you are looking to purchase a lawn mower, it is important to know how much the lawn mower is brand-new because if the used mower is $20 less than what it is brand-new, then it would be wise spend the extra $20 for the brand-new lawnmower.  However, if you can get the lawnmower for $20, you just need to change the spark plugs, and no other maintenance is needed, then that is a great deal.

This past summer we went to an auction and found some really nice snow shovels.  The bid ended with $5 for a shovel. We did not want to pay $5 and the auctioneer ended up selling the shovels for $1 each because he wanted them gone. Now that was a steal and we bought two! The shovels are nice and very durable. They held up during our snowstorm we just endured.

Auctions can be frugal as long as you set a budget, do your homework, and use cash only.

Easy Dishwashing and Laundry Soap That Actually Work Great!

Yesterday I shared ten simple and easy ways to become frugal. If you missed that post you can find it here.  In that post I mentioned a good friend of mine sharing a laundry soap and dishwasher soap that she found. I have tried a dishwasher soap a few years ago and did not like it at all. Since then I have not even tried another because I was convinced that I would not find one that did not leave the white film on my dishes. I have tried a liquid laundry soap before and I liked it. The liquid laundry soap saved us a good amount of money considering our laundry soap lasted about eight months. I did like the liquid but I felt it was messy when I had to refill my soap bottle. This time I was more interested in trying the powder. Let me just say I am so thankful that my friend Karyn shared the recipes with me that she found.

The dishwasher soap is extremely easy to make and only takes a few minutes. My friend Karyn told me when you make this, to place the ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and to mash it for a few days. Otherwise the result will be one large rock that will require you to chip it off with a knife. You may still use the dishwashing soap while it is in the bag. I LOVE this recipe!!! The dishes come out so clean and no white film is left. Put it this way, my husband is even amazed at how great the dishes come out. He kept talking about it hours after he pulled a glass out of the dishwasher.  The best part is it makes a large amount and you only need one tablespoon per wash!

The laundry soap is just as easy as the dishwashing soap! My friend Karyn did add some powdered Clorox 2 bleach to her recipe and I added Purex powdered bleach. Karyn also mentioned putting some of the powered mixture with the grated soap into the blender just to get the grated soap a little more finely chopped. DO NOT JUST DO THE GRATED SOAP OTHERWISE IT WILL CLOG YOUR BLENDER! I am so thankful for my wise frugal friends!

All the ingredients can be found in the laundry and dishwashing aisles at the store. I found all my ingredients at Wal-mart. The best part is both recipes call for almost the same items and the batches last so long that you will not run out as often as buying store bought soaps. In the end you will be saving money! Nothing wrong with saving money!

I am very curious to see how long each one of these recipes last. We do not use the dishwasher everyday so I know that this will last for a few months. The laundry soap seems that it will last just as long. I did date my soaps just so I can get an idea of how much each batch will last.

Do you make your own dishwashing or laundry soap? Are you interested in making your own soap?

Summer Reading Program

Now that summer is here many libraries have started their summer reading programs.  The programs are a great way to get children to read during the summer months.  Most libraries may off some type of prize or incentive to get the children to read.  Yesterday the blessings and I went to our local library and signed up for the reading program. I not only signed the blessings up but myself as well. I love our library's reading program. The children's reading program consists of each child completing seven out of 10 activities per week.  Four of those activities have to be reading for 20 minutes.  The other activities are another day of reading, find and check out a fact book, attend a free library program, play a special game at the library, write a poem, and play a word game at home.

Once the children complete the reading log, they are then to take the log to the library to spin a wheel and receive a prize. Oh but wait! A local restaurant has teamed up with the local library to encourage children to read. Once a child completes a book, they are to write down the title of the book. After five books have been read, the child receives a free single scoop of custard. After ten books have been read then the child receives a free kids meal that also includes free ice cream!

The adult reading program consists of reading a total of 250 pages and then turning in your reading log to be entered to win some prizes. Sign me up! I do not know what the prizes are but I love to read and I know I can turn in at least three to four reading logs per month.

The best part of the summer reading program is how frugal it is to participate. There are no fees to sign up. Kids receive a FREE prize, FREE ice cream, and a FREE kids meal. Adults can win prizes as well. Also, the library offers many educational activities throughout the summer that children and their families can attend. For example, next Tuesday the blessings and I are attending Remnants of the Rainforest. A gentleman will be teaching us about the different animals of the rain forest and the conservation of the rain forest. I am excited about this because we just learned about the Amazon Rainforest a couple of months ago. You know what the best part is? Yep, you guessed it, its FREE!

If you are looking for a frugal activity this summer then I would suggest looking into your summer reading program at your local library. What could it hurt? I mean you get to read free books (as long as you turn in your books on time and avoid late-fees) and possibly free food!

Do you participate in your local library's reading program? If so, what does your library offer for incentives?

Craigslist

The hubby and I were trying to find ways to make extra money for our upcoming move.  We looked around our house and figured out that the best way to make money was to sell some of our items on Craigslist.  We looked at each piece of furniture, clothing, or outdoor equipment and asked if we NEEDED that item.  In one weekend we posted our bedroom suit, our trampoline, my husband's Iphone 4S, and a mismatched bedroom suit that was to big for our bedroom. 

My  husband's Iphone 4S sold within just 18 minutes of posting! We met the buyer at a local store because I am apprehensive about people coming to our home.  However, we needed other buyers to come to our house to pick up the other items. I figured since we were moving it was not a big deal.  So, within 24 hours we had all the items picked up and removed from our home.  After posting everything on Craigslist, within 24 hours we had made close to $1,200.  We were so thankful for the blessing that God had just blessed us with.  Of course we took 10 percent of that money to tithe and sent many praises to Him.

Just this past week my husband posted a washer and dryer that we had and that sold the same day! We use Craigslist as much as we can to earn some income.  The best part is Craigslist saves me money because I am not using gas to run the items to the Goodwill, and it is free to list our items.

Fresh to Frozen

One thing that drives me nuts that my family and I do is waste food.  I cannot stand it! I am just as bad as everyone else in the family and even though it drives me nuts I still do it.  Crazy! I know I am throwing money away so I am better off just throwing real cash in the trash.  Now that we are paying more attention to our finances I am looking at our food and ways not to waste.  I realize that we waste a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables  I have every intention of eating or baking with the items before they go bad, but I never do.  I cannot tell you how many times I would buy a watermelon and never even cut it! I know, CRAZY!! 

Well, today I became smarter and wiser. I looked in our fruit door of our fridge and saw that we had some strawberries that were about to go bad if they were not used soon.  Instead of making the kids eat them today, I decided that I would freeze them.  I have smoothies on the menu for next week and decided to freeze the fresh strawberries to use in the smoothies.  I feel so smart and wise!

To freeze them I washed them, sliced them, and put them in a pan on waxed paper.  This way the strawberries are not one big frozen group.  They will now freeze separately, just in case I only need a few strawberries.  I then placed the pan in the freezer and now I wait.  Once the strawberries our completely frozen I will put them in a container and store them in the freezer.  If I had a freezer bag I would use that because it would save me room, but I do not have bags, so the container will do just fine. 

Ready for the freezer

Fresh to frozen works for about any type of fruit or vegetable.  Really it only takes a few minutes to prepare the item and toss it in the freezer.  So much better than just throwing the item in the trash.  By doing this process I am not wasting our food or the money that I spent on the items. 

Duh Mom

About year ago I would make menu plans, try to cook and bake from scratch as much as possible, and I started to educate myself on the food we were eating.  Lately, not so much.  When the hubby was deployed I turned to convenience foods and hardly made any meals.  Once the hubby returned home I continued to walk down the aisle of frozen food dinners and prepackaged meals. 

I was being lazy. 

Of course our life was turned upside down for awhile and I was trying to finish up my schooling, but I was using that as an excuse.  I finally opened my eyes this past week.  My daughter celebrated her 11th birthday and for her birthday we took her to Anchorage, which is about 7-8 hour trip during the winter.  We had a great time! We call it civilization.  Trust me if you saw the difference between Fairbanks and Anchorage you would understand. 

Ok back to the point.

The hubby and I decided that we were going to Anchorage and going to enjoy ourselves, which we did.  We did eat out quite a bit, and that is where it dawned on me.  "I feel disgusting!!"  We ate out about two to three times a day and some all of those choices were not healthy.  I knew if I felt disgusting from all the junk that my kids were probably feeling the same way.  Now that I think about it, my son mentioned a couple of times that his tummy was hurting. 

Well, duh mom!

We arrived home on Wednesday from Anchorage and yesterday I made my shopping list.  Also, I sat down with the blessings and we all made a menu plan together.  We then went out to the commissary and picked up our items from our grocery list.  I had a budget of $150.  Today I spent $107.99!  When I was being lazy I would spend anywhere from $200 to $225 (for my family, that is a large amount to spend on groceries).  The best part was that I was able to add in some organic items because they were at a discounted price. I had one of those "duh" moments.  I mean I use to shop like this all the time, and I was more conscious of the food we were eating. So why did I wait so long to get back into it?

 
That is easy; I was lazy.   

For more Frugal Friday posts jump on over to Life As Mom.

Yummy Smoothies

 

My daughter and son love smoothies!

Of course anyone can run to the coffee shops or some fast-food restaurants and spend a couple dollars for smoothies. I, on the other hand, do not spend the money on these type of smoothies.  Mine are done frugally.

Some may think that making smoothies at home can be somewhat difficult, but I am here to tell you, they are far from difficult. 

All I use is fruit, some milk, and a blender.  That is it!

When I grocery shop I either buy frozen fruit or fresh produce.  Depending on the seasons here in Alaska it is usually cheaper to buy the fruit frozen.  However, if I come across some bananas on clearance or any other fruit I will come home, cut the fruit into pieces, and then freeze them in the freezer. 

When it is time to make a smoothie, I take the fruit out of the freezer, pour some into the blender, and add milk.  I do not measure anything.  If you want a more thicker smoothie do not add as much milk, if you want a more thinner smoothie add more milk.  There are times where I may add some sugar for sweetness.  Because the fruit is already frozen there is no need for ice cubes. 

Add it all to the blender, and within minutes you have a wonderful, frugal-style, smoothie.
 
For more Frugal Friday tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Sharing Meals

Before the hubby deployed you could usually find me in the kitchen, cooking dinner or breakfast.  I loved making meals for my family and sitting down together to enjoy the blessing that God had placed in front of us.  However, that all changed when the hubby deployed.

I rarely made dinners and do I admit this? Yes, I will admit it, we turned to convenience foods.  There I said it.  At first I felt very guilty about it, but then I started realizing, why am I going to make meals that will never get ate?  I did make some meals, and we did eat the leftovers, or should I say tried.  No matter what we never ate ALL the leftovers so food was going to waste. 

Then it dawned on me.....

Why not invite my neighbor, "J," and her children over for dinner? 

So I did.

The entire meal was consumed and there were no leftovers.  "J" enjoyed this idea that two days later she made a meal and my children and I went over to her house.  So, "J" and I decided that each of us would make one meal a week and we would eat together.  Not only did this save us from wasting food but it allowed us to fellowship.  There were other times where some food was leftover, so we would divide it among us, and would have another meal for the next day.

One other thing that "J" and I started, was alternating buying pizza.  This can be expensive but there is a local pizza company that you can order a large pizza for $9.99! Every other Friday I would spend $19.98 for two large pizzas, and it was enough to feed the six of us and have a few slices left. 

Now that the hubby has returned, we will continue our pizza endeavor because the kids really look forward to pizza night.  Along with pizza night we are still continuing to share meals and create memories.

This post is linked with Frugal Friday by Life As Mom.

Look At What I Got

I planned on using my Amazon gift cards that I earned through Swagbucks for my daughter's birthday present.  However, I was going to be charged $78 for shipping and decided not to purchase the gift through Amazon.  So I had a decision to make; what was I going to use my gift cards on?    

While looking through the Black Friday Ads, I came across Sam's Club.  Sam's had a wireless printer for $95.78 and I have been wanting a wireless printer for a long time.  I just could not convince myself to purchase a new printer when we had one that worked, which we paid $10 for at a yard sale four years ago. 

I decided to look on Amazon for this same printer to see what the price was.  I was shocked to see this printer cost 10 CENTS more and it qualified for FREE shipping! So for 10 cents more I could purchase this printer and not have to pay anything out of my pocket.  I made my purchase on Thanksgiving evening and I received my printer on Tuesday evening; less than a week!

I have not been able to set it up yet and it is actually still in the box but I am hoping to get it up and running today or tomorrow.  Yes, I earned this printer through using Swagbucks.  Have you signed up today?

For more Frugal Friday jump on over to Life As Mom.

Borrowing Can Help Cut Costs

Next month the hubby and I have a military formal ball to attend.  I do not mind attending these functions but I do try to avoid going as much as possible due to the cost.  At first, I had set in my mind that I was not going, until my dear friend Brandi convinced me otherwise.  The price to attend these functions can become pricey especially if you go all out such as nails, hair, tanning, dress, shoes, accessories, and tickets.  I decided that I was not going to go all out.  I was going to challenge myself.  I wanted to try and do it all for free except for the tickets (no way around that). 

I am happy to say that I was able to complete this challenge.  A friend of mine called and said she had a dress for me.  After trying it on, it was a little big BUT I have another friend who has offered to make alterations to the dress.  That same friend will be doing my hair, make-up and allowing me to borrow shoes. The total cost of this function is $88 (tickets) and a night of babysitting.  My friend who is allowing me to alter the dress said I did not need to pay her but just watch her daughter for a night so her and her hubby could have date night. SOLD!

I am so blessed to have friends step up and help me with this wonderful event that the hubby and I will treasure.  

For more Frugal Friday tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Frugal Halloween Costumes

I meant to post this on Friday but with everything that went on emotionally I was not able to...so I am posting now. 

When it comes to Halloween my children do dress up and go out for candy.  I do not like to pay the prices that many stores are charging these days.  So, this year I wanted to try and find the most frugal way to dress the kids up this year.  Here are some of the ideas I have come up with:

*Borrow costumes from friends
*Use past costumes
*Make your own by sewing (I have a friend who made all three of her children's costumes this year)
*Look for items around your house that you could use

Here are some costumes that I can use with just items in my home:

*soccer player
*baker
*baseball player
*teacher
*rock star
*basketball player
*GPS system (my DD wants to do this one)
*dice
*football player
*ballet dancer
*a television

Here is a costume that my friend "A" made for her daughter one year.  It is a sandwich with a pickle hat! So creative!

For more frugal tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Reusing Books as Gifts

Photo credit

My daughter is an avid reader and just recently read 30 books in 30 days!  Kaitlyn has always been a reader and when it came time for us to PCS (move) from Maryland to Alaska I knew she would want books to read along the way.  During yard sale season I was able to purchase around 50 books at very cheap prices (yes she read about 30 on the trip and the rest within the month of being in Alaska).  My daughter is like me when it comes to reading; we read the book once and then the book is never opened again.  As I look at her pile of books I wonder should I sell them, or donate them.  Then I came to this conclusion, re-gift them!  There are many books that look brand new that I can go through the piles of books and decide on keeping it for gifts or donate.   

Books are always a great gift to give and because of the large volume of books we have I can save money on a gift or two!

For more Frugal Friday tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Not Eating Out

After spending two weeks in a hotel and eating out two to three times a day, when we arrived home from the lower 48 the last thing I wanted to do was see the inside of another restaurant.  The morning after we arrived home I went to the Commissary and spent about $300 to restock up our food supply, and our stockpile.  I have been making all of our meals and oh how I have missed that.

We have been home for two weeks now and I have seen a little bit of a savings in our checking account. Not eating out has really helped us save some money.  The hubby and I have been doing a plan of not buying anything unless it is a necessity and so far we like it.  Of course, this week we have totally blown that plan but will be back on for next week; I will explain more next week.

For more Frugal Friday tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Military Deal on Airlines

I have learned something new from the airlines when the family and I went on emergency leave.  We were told that if you are military and are on orders (including being on leave) you are allowed three FREE checked bags weighing up to 70 pounds.  This only applies to the Servicemember; so the nice lady at the check in table told us to put all three of bags under my hubby's name.  Overall, we saved $125 from this discount.

**We were told that this is for all airlines but I would recommend checking with your airline prior to flying.**