Frugal Friday

Can you believe I have posted one of these? I have run out of ideas, so haven't posted a Frugal Friday in many many weeks. This is a simple one, but my friend Megan wanted a copy, so here I am.

Today's Frugal Friday is a gardening tip. We have had a very cold and rainy spring, so the bugs are running rampant. I bought some spray last year and Logan used the entire bottle in one session on our garden(without my knowledge). We had wonderful cabbage, lettuce, peas and broccoli though. The spray was really expensive though and I assumed there had to be a home remedy. So here is one I have tried and it really does work well.

Homemade Insecticidal Soap Spray

1-2 T. liquid Soap

1 qt. water

Combine ingredients and pour into a spray bottle. I used Dr. Bonners Castille Soap in peppermint scent. I found it at Target near the makeup. It is a more natural soap for the environment. Then spray plants at the first sign of infestation. Spray as often as needed.

You can also add 1-2 heads of garlic for deer and rabbit problems. They are suppose to hate the smell of garlic. I have not tried that because we have a dog and deer and rabbits don't dare come in our yard.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Frugal Friday

I am so excited about this Frugal Friday post. I got so lucky on this one I just can't believe it. So a tiny bit of back story, last week I was home alone with the kids (all week) getting ready for my big garage sale that ended up being a bit of a bust. I made $47 for a weeks worth of work. It was cold, rainy, and lame. They only good thing was that I got to spend the day with by good friend Denise.

Anyway, in all the craziness I left my camera sitting on the fender or my horse trailer for 3 days. Yikes! Because it has been raining ALOT and my camera was out in it.

So, since I washed my cell phone and ruined it a year ago, I learned that if you put the electronic device in a bag with an oxygen absorbers until all the moisture evaporates. I left my camera in the bag for a day and half. After that I turned it on and it was FINE! I just wish I had known about this when I washed my phone. Remember this one the next time water gets into somewhere it shouldn't.

Frugal Friday

This weeks Frugal Friday tip is yet another idea on how to make do with what you have on hand. Now I know most of you do not have to make fair decorations, but this is where I got my idea. For the fair we need to have some sort of banner, sign, or decorations to show our farm name. As with everyone money is tight, and expensive decorations just were not an option. Plus, it is so much more fun to create something of your own.

I looked around the house to see what I could repurpose into something cute for our stall decorations. You just never know where your inspiration might come from.

To start off with I had bought an old shutter at a garage sale last summer for $3.00. I originally bought it for my Mom to see of she could create something for her bazaar. I kept forgetting to give it to her and lucky for me I did, because I had it on hand for this project. It was just a 70's brown shutter, nothing special. So I dug around in our collection of leftover paints from our house and found a nice basic cream.

I painted a few coats of paint on it and when it was dried used sandpaper to distress it. I then applied the vinyl my Mom so graciously donated to the project. She's a keeper.

When it was done it needed something more, so I brought our some bandanna curtains that I had made at our other house, but hadn't used since we moved. I bought some teacup hooks and used an old piece of trim and cut it to size for a curtain rod. I then used some old name signs we had used for 4-H a few years ago. I peeled the other names off, painted, and applied the new names. That is the beauty of vinyl. My Mom had also sent up some rainclouds and umbrellas for a little extra kick.

I had hubby rip a board (with his table saw) from our field and painted the legs the same color as the shutter. He then bought some brackets to attach the legs to the shutter. This project cost me a total of $12.00 to make. I was happy with how it turned out on such short notice, plus it is always a bonus to create something yourself. So this weeks lesson is create something out of what you already have to

use it up, wear it out, make it due, or do without!

Frugal Friday

Yeah! I am getting one out on time! Cheer for me! I have been trying to get this post done for two weeks and something always seemed to come up. Well, I finally got it done this week, so here goes.

This weeks post is on making your own purees. Now, I know you are wondering why would I do that? Well, I am not a hug veggie lover, and neither is my family. So a few years ago I heard about a couple of cookbooks that added purees to everyday recipes to get kids to eat their veggies and love it. Turns out that hubby and I loved it too. The cookbooks are
Deceptively Delicious, and The Sneaky Chef. I have both and highly recommend them. So where do you start? Start with various veggies. This time I used butternut squash, acorn squash and sweet potatoes. I have also done carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli.

The veggies I did I baked in the oven on 350 until they were soft. The squashes were done sooner than the sweet potatoes, so I took them out sooner.

You do need to clean the seeds out of the squashes, and poke holes in the sweet potatoes for the air to escape. I place them on parchment paper to save on mess.

Scoop out the flesh from the squash and peel the skin off the sweet potatoes. Put the flesh in a food processor and puree on high until smooth.

Pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Then store them in a freezer Ziploc bag until they are needed.

I put these into everything I can think of where they will be hidden, tacos, spaghetti, soup, casseroles, meatballs, mac and cheese, etc. Click here for one of our favorite puree recipes. I also used this same method to make baby food for Landon when he was little. I was surprised at how long it lasted. I would make purees one day a month and would have plenty for him to eat. It worked great for us and was so much cheaper than buying baby food.

Frugal Friday-late edition

I meant to get this out on Friday, but I was preparing to host Easter at my house and time got away from me. Here is a quick one to hold you over until this Friday. So here it is:

Shave your legs(and various other parts) with conditioner!

Yup, that's it. I tried it and it worked wonders! After I finish off my current (expensive) bottle of shaving cream, conditioner is all I am going to use. Your skin feels so smooth after you are done. I would not buy expensive conditioner. I used Suave and it worked great without breaking the bank. Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Frugal Friday

Because of the virus that is on my computer I can't copy and paste, so I will have to post this without the button. I wanted to share this frugal tip anyway, because I was excited about it.

I have been finding all kinds of homemade recipes for different useful things. I have been very disappointed with all the chemicals and unnecessary ingredients in our food and cleaning products, so I am going to be trying and sharing some of these recipes. I hope you enjoy them.

This weeks recipe is for homemade dishwasher soap. I don't like the strong smell of chemicals in the store bought soap. What is in that stuff? What does it do to our bodies? Can we trust companies and even our government to keep us safe? Why is it so expensive when everyone is on a tight budget right now?

I found this recipe in my current issue of Mary Jane's Magazine and it is made of ingredients I had on hand because I just made up a new batch of laundry soap. So I tried it out and it worked just as well as the store bought brand I buy at the store. So here it is.

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

Equal parts: Borax, Baking soda

(I used 1/2 cup Borax and 1/2 cup Baking Soda.)

Pour into your dishwasher and away you go. You can also use white vinegar in your rinse agent container for sparkle and shine.

Frugal Friday

Today's Frugal Friday is how to make your own peanut butter. I saw this recipe of course on Grocery Cart Challenge. This sounded intriguing because I really can't stand that that the PB had hydrogenated oil. I don't like all the chemicals that are taking the place of natural ingredients in our foods, so if I can make things myself I might as well. So here is the recipe.

Homemade Peanut Butter

You'll need....a food processor

1 1/2 cups unsalted, roasted peanuts

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Honey

Pour all ingredients in food processor and process until creamy.

Gail from the Grocery Cart Challenge says they added 2 tablespoons of local farmers market honey to sweeten it up a bit but if you're already used to the all natural peanut butter it tastes just fine without it.

(This is a pic from the Internet, not a finished product)

Frugal Friday

Sorry this is late, again! Time gets away from me, but I am getting it done before this Friday! Today's post is again on fixing things up, wearing things out, making things do, or doing without.

A few weeks ago when I was at my Mom's her stove went out. So they called a repair shop and found out it was the "computer brain" inside their stove that had gone out. So they ordered the part and waited...

...and waited. For nearly two weeks they waited, while making due with the crockpot, microwave, and electric skillet. No fun for sure. So after waiting they ended up at Home Depot looking for a new stove. Instead of a new stove, they ended up getting the a website to troubleshoot, and order parts for just about any appliance. The address is www.homedepot.com/appliancerepair. They were able to get the part ordered and shipped to their house for less than the appliance store. In fact I don't think the appliance store ever got the part in! So if you are ever in need of appliance repair check out this site. Happy Frugal Friday, I mean Monday!

Frugal Friday

So sorry that I didn't get around to posting last week, again with the slacker mode. I had an idea, then time got away from me and I forgot. Tami so graciously reminded me that I had forgotten, but by that point it was past that comfortable point of lateness and I just bagged it!
So this week I have two things for you. Not huge and mind blowing, but nifty little things I have picked up over the past few weeks.
First thing is doing things for yourself! Repairmen are great, but they usually come with a not so great bill. So we decided to take matters into our own hands around here. Our hot water heater has been on the fritz for the past two years or so. The water will get scalding hot (dangerous, I know) then run out and be cold.

When it started we thought, hey, this house is new, I bet the hot water heater still has a warranty. You know the handy things for faulty products? Well, this warranty required that we remove the damaged thermostat and send it (as our expense) to the manufacturer and then in 5 weeks they will send us a new one! Sounds like a great plan for the middle management, cheapskate accountant who came up with that brilliant plan. While I am at home with no hot water and 3 kids. Yeah, right!

Why doesn't the person who came up with that genius plan come here and heat water all day for me! I bet that warranty would change in a hurry. By the way we have a Bradford White brand of hot water heater, just in case any of you are in the market for a new hot water heater. Run way from this brand for sure! Yes, I am just mean enough to say the name! Bad customer service needs to be called out, there is WAY to much of it in this country!


Sorry, where was I? Oh, yes, doing things yourself. Hubby opened the front panel and unscrewed the two thermostats in about 5 minutes. Then we hauled the kiddos to "town" and went to Home Depot and got two new ones for less that $20.00. Not bad for a home repair. When we were building we never left Home Depot without spending less that $500.00, so this was nice!

Then we drove home and he screwed the new ones in. All done! Worked like a charm and we have wonderful, even temperature water at our fingertips! So, moral of the story is sometimes it just pays to do it yourself!

The second tip, yes this is getting long winded,but well worth it, is called the 10 second rule. No, not food dropping on the floor kind of rule. A rule of purchasing. I attended a penny pinching class at church last week and the one thing that stood out to me was the 10 second rule. This rule is, when you are going to purchase something NOT on your shopping list. Think about it for 10 seconds. Think...do I need this, do I want this, and is it necessary? Simple as that. Because I am very much an impulse shopper I need to master this little money saving tidbit! Try it out and let me know how it works for your budget. Thanks for letting me vent a bit and sticking with me!

Remember...Fugal is the new black! And, Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do without!

Frugal Friday

This weeks Frugal Friday is showcasing my new favorite book The Encyclopedia of Country Living.

I have wanted this book for several years now, but never put up the money to get it. Then last summer on one of my garage sale trips I found this for $1.00. Well worth the wait. I was giddy with happiness! Let me tell you that my hubby and I have been thumbing through this book lately and it is the best book ever. I am pretty sure that at some future date this book is going to save our lives somehow. It is the best reference I have ever seen on doing things yourself.

In this book, Carla Emery, teaches you just about anything you might need when it comes to doing things yourself. Or as she liked to call it, homesteading. Don't think I am going to move to some remote piece of land and start wearing denim jumpers and get a Michelle Dugger haircut, but I think it is fun to learn how do to things myself. In this book you can learn to:

1. How to make a quilt frame

2. How do dip beeswax candles

3. How to plant and harvest oats.

4. How to shred a coconut.

5. How to can pretty much anything.

6.How to dress,cook, and eat pretty much any

sort of wild animal, including beaver tail.

7.How to tan leather.

8. How to start a beehive, including catching your own wild hive of bees.

9. How to catch a goose

10. Everything your need to know about any farm animal. From sexing (telling which is male and female) a chicken to handling a rabbit.

If I ever need to live off the land and change my name to Laura Ingalls, this is the book I want to have with me! Not everything it is is going to be useful to me, but it sure is nice to know that if I need the knowledge, it is here. Go check out this book from your local library and see all the treasures of knowledge it contains. You won't be disappointed.

I also wanted to share a recipe that I found on the Grocery Cart Challenge for making your own baby wipes. I have not made them myself, because a threw out our baby oil a few months ago and need to get some more. I am going to add it to my shopping list and try these babies out.

Homemade Baby Wipes

Take a roll of Bounty Select-a-size (I have only used Bounty so I don't know how generic holds up) and cut it in half. Remove the center cardboard tube. Save the other half for another batch.Mix into a Ziploc or Rubbermaid container:
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons baby wash
2 tablespoons baby oil
1 tablespoon alcohol (optional - but I have always used it)
Place the paper towels in the Ziploc with the solution and start pulling from the center.

I use baby wipes for lots of things. I have found they are the best stain fighters on the planet. You spill something on your shirt and a baby wipe will get it out guaranteed. I also keep these in my car for wiping dirty little hands when we are out and about.

Frugal Friday

OK, with Addison's b-day and some other obligations I have this week, I am short on time for a really great post. So I thought I would share some of the sites I go to, to be inspired to be more frugal.

1. The Simple Dollar-Great financial advice and information. I love Trent's 14 Money Rules.

2.Grocery Cart Challenge. I just can't say enough good things about this site. This woman is amazing! Someday I would like to be this good!

3.Money Saving Mom-This gal was the one that got me started on the Pantry challenge, which I need to post about too. That will come next week. She has really great information and I love what she learned from the Pantry Challenge.
4.The Prudent Homemaker. So this woman is just absolutely amazing. I have not idea how she does it. I guess I am more of a shopper than I thought, because she makes me look like a high roller at Vegas.
5.Together We Save-If you want a coupon for just about anything, this is the site to head too. I have no idea where she gets all her info, but it is great.
I hope you take a few minutes and check out these great sites. They also have lots of links on them for even more frugal sites. Good luck!

Frugal Friday

I have been stumped as to what to do this week for Frugal Friday. I have some ideas, but it requires me doing a project that I am not ready to do yet. So, I have been thinking about being frugal with time. Time you may be wondering, what's with time? But being frugal with time can make your life more peaceful and whole.

I have been feeling frustrated and taken over by obligations and menial things in my life that do nothing to enhance it. I feel very spacey and unorganized. I can't remember things I said that I would do. Several people have called me this week and asked if I had done the things they asked, and I hadn't, and even worse I didn't remember saying I would! That is bad!

So I have decided for the next month I am going to be better with my time. Less time surfing the net and waisting time. I am going to only be on the Internet 1 hour a day. Spend more time doing things with my kids. Have regular date night/time with my hubby. Be careful what I say yes to and do a good job with the things I do say yes too. I also plan to take time for myself to exercise, meditate, take baths, and just relax.

I hope you will take a look at your schedule and find a few things to cut in order to be more frugal with you time and take care of yourself. We as mother's deserve it!

Frugal Friday

So this month I have been in a funk. I don't feel like blogging, organizing, or generally working hard at much of anything. I am sure you have noticed that I have been spotty at best on the blogging thing, but no need to worry I go through this every January. The only thing I want to do is watch movies, read books, and generally lay around and be lazy. After talking to my mom, instead of fighting it, I am embracing it and enjoying some down time.

So here goes this weeks Frugal Friday post. I don't want to get out of the habit of everything, so here goes. I was over at Gales blog Grocery Cart Challenge and saw her latest post on saving money vs. convenience. This is post is about packaged lettuce

and baby carrots.
Go take a look at what she has to say on this. I am taking this challenge and be better about taking the 5 minutes and chopping my own veggies. I hope to save money doing it. Hopefully this should help in my...

Which is going very well by the way. I will be doing a post on that at the end of the month. Hopefully I will have gotten past my funk!

Frugal Friday

So this weeks Frugal Friday post is dedicated to my Hubby who was a model for the old saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

He bought a tube of Aim toothpaste a while back for $1.00. He said it was gross, but plowed on anyway, determined to use it up instead of throwing it out. He squeezed every last bit out of that darn tube! Way to go honey! You are the frugal master!

So here is YOUR challenge for the week. Use something up, and I mean really get some use out of it. It could be the last of your deodorant, dish soap, mousse, whatever you choose. Then tell me your "Use it up" story. Either leave me a comment or email me. I want to hear how you use things up around your house!

Frugal Friday

This weeks Frugal Friday comes from the Emergency Preparedness group that I am involved with from church. Several ladies come to my house each month and we discuss and learn different disaster/emergency preparedness ideas. We end up having so much fun and it is really a girls night out. We giggle, laugh, eat and learn from one another. It is the most fun I have had in a long time. There are such wonderful diversified women in this group. They teach me so much about life.
Each person takes a turn hosting, and that means providing the information on the chosen topic and some sort of treat. We try to make it something from our food storage. This month was my turn and I made homemade Wheat Bread with Lemon Butter and jams from my food storage. It was delicious and fun! I was pretty sure some of the women were going to faint when they tried the lemon butter. It really was a funny sight to see.

So this month we learned how to can butter. Yes, I typed "canned butter"! It is possible and we did it! It is a great way to have butter on your shelf on not in the fridge or freezer when the power goes out! So this is how you do it!

Canned Butter

(This recipe comes from endtimesreport.com)

1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.
2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.
3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.
4. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.
5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.
6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.
7. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time. We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years.] Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

This is dear sweet June taking her turn stirring the butter. Don't let her Grandmotherly appearance fool you, she is as funny and nutty as the rest of us. She is one of the wise teachers of our group. She has wonderful knowledge that she is more than willing to share. I just love her!

This is what the butter looks like just as it starts to boil. It is not a hard rolling boil at all.

After all the heating, cooling and shaking this is what the final product looks like! It was simple and fun. It was a lot of fun doing it with friends and good food. What a night!

Frugal Friday

For this weeks Frugal Friday, (Yes, I know it is very late, but I have been a busy bee this week, wrapping up the holiday season, hanging with the fam, getting my house put back together, laundry, feeding farm animals, you know, the usual) I wanted to start the year off with a bang. My Mom sent me a link to Sandra at Stone Creek Market, who has a great blog and uses the same phrase that I love "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". There I discovered that she is participating in the January-Eat from your Pantry Challenge sponsored by Money Saving Mom's and Life as a Mom.

Here's what you do.

1. Take stock of what you have on hand and make meals with what you have.

2. Limit the number of times you go to the grocery store for the month of January

3. Make up your menu's from what you have on hand.

4. Set a budget for the month of January for grocery shopping.

5. Use the money saved for something special, such as an emergency cash fund, donate to a charity, or save up for something special.

My Family Pantry Goals for January:

1. Take an inventory of what food is in the pantry and freezer.

2. Design a month long menu plan to utilize the food items in my supply.

3. Bake and cook using the items in the freezer and pantry.

4. Visit a grocery store four times or less during the month. Purchase only fresh milk, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables as needed or any necessities.

5. Set a dollar amount limited to $50 per grocery trip...use cash so not tempted to overspend. (This does not include pet food, diapers, clothing, household items, etc.)

6. Utilize more whole foods in my baking and cooking.

7. Use the money saved to build up an emergency fund.

If you would like to join head over to Money Saving Mom's to link up with other Mom's participating in this challenge. I will be posting recipes, menu's and how I am doing on the budget and in the challenge. Let me know if you do it and how it goes for you.

Frugal Friday #8

So with Christmas just around the corner I know everyone is in need of a quick last minute gift idea. You know the ones you don't plan on, or a party comes up, or you just plain forgot!

This is a quick and easy idea, and you may have most if not all the ingredients already in your house. I had everything but the chocolate chips, so it was easy for me. I mentioned in a previous Frugal Friday post the idea of mixes in a jar. They are simple, cute and kind of fun to make. The one I chose is called Cowboy Cookies. My mother-in-law gave me one a month ago and it was such a fun treat. The cookies were good and super easy. So I went to Recipezaar (love this site) and found the complete recipe.

I also have several great little books by Goose Berry Patch on the same subject. They have great ideas from quick breads and cookies to soups. They also give you tags and recipe cards. Well worth the investment.

This is what you need:

1 wide mouth quart Jar

1 wide mouth jar lid and ring

Funnel

Tamper or spoon

Recipe with ingredients (click on Recipezaar for complete recipe)

Material

Follow the measurements and tamp everything down tightly. Cut a large circle of your favorite material (mine is from old valences that I had) and place it over the jar lid and screw down the ring over the material.

Create a cute little instruction tag ( I made mine using my PC Crafter account) and tie it to the jar with some ribbon or raffia.

Tada! You have a great simple and cute gift. I made up several at once to have on hand, and I am so glad I did. I have already had a few things pop up so these little things will be very handy!
Hope this frugal little idea helps you out this Christmas season! Remember to relax and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas!

Frugal Friday #7

This week I wanted to pass on an easy and inexpensive gift to give. Nothing is better than homemade anything! Who doesn't like getting something homemade that you KNOW is going to taste scrumpitous! I found this yummy little recipe on Mennonite Girls Can Cook, and it like everything on their site it is wonderful!

Old Fashioned Chocolate Molasses Cookies
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. molasses
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. plus 2 T. cocoa powder
3 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Cream Shortening and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Add molasses. Sift flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda together. Add to wet mixture, alternating with the milk. Roll cookies into balls and place on a parchement lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. When cool frost with your favorite frosting recipe.The only change I made was putting a green mint flavored frosting and sprinkles on mine. The chocolate and mint go great together and we had a hard time staying out of them.

Don't they look tempting?

My kids love to cook and bake with me. They especially love to frost cookies and add sprinkles! Here is Logan showing off his frosting skills.

Addison can't wait to have a little taste! They are great cookie bakers!

These would be great to give in a cute jar, cellophane or and adorable cookie tin. I know you can get really cute containers at any Dollar store. I give things like this out to kids teachers, friends, neighbors, or anyone I may have overlooked on my list.

Merry Christmas!