Seasoned Salt

Hello one & all...another one of those simple items you can make yourself for just a fraction of the cost.

Seasoned Salt

8 TBSP salt
2 TBSP pepper
2 TBSP paprika
1/2 TBSP onion powder
1/2 TBSP garlic powder

Mix all ingredients with a whisk. Store in an airtigth container. (Old pickle jars are great for this type of thing!)

Make & Enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Cheep, Cheep, Cheap?

Hello one & all...seems to me that we pay for convenience so often that a lot of the time we don't even realize we are doing it. Take egg coloring, for example. It costs pennies to make your own...and has the added benefit of exposing your child to primary and secondary colors. Super easy, bright colors. Doesn't get any cheaper - perfect!

Egg Color

1 TBSP white vinegar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
20 drops food coloring (we used 16- cuz', yeah, I am that cheap!- and they turned out great!)

Use coffee cups (resist stains better than plastic) and mix them up. Can make cool colors like teal and purple too! The longer you leave the eggs, the darker and richer the colors...

Make and Enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Mini Social Website

Hello one & all...just been to a "new to me" discount website and found a great deal on organic, paraben free bubble bath and sunscreen for the kiddos. My two youngest have super sensitive skin and I find that the organic products do not bother them as much - especially in winter when their skin is already dry! Organics are expensive though and I often have to turn to Ivory soap which seems to be less irritating than a lot of others but still not what we need. Just purchased two bottles of organic, natural bubblebath/body/hairwash from the Mini Social. With code LUCKYKIDS you can get $10 off any order $10 or more in honor of Earth Week.

https://www.theminisocial.com/myaccount.php?invitation=118139

Let me know if you find any great deals! Blessings, Eve

Easy Bake Oven Recipes

Hello one & all...after a wonderful weekend that included celebrating my husband's birthday, we are back to the daily grind. And that includes entertaining our children. This one is by special request...Easy Bake Oven Recipes. (That you can actually afford and that taste somewhat decent!!! Really!)

Brownies (makes one serving)

2 1/2 TBSP sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp chocalate syrup
2 TBSP + 1 tsp flour
1 tsp oil

Stir all together until the batter is smooth and chocolate covered. Pour batter into greased and floured pan. Bake 15 min.

Quick Cake

3 TBSP boxed cake mix (or snitch a bit when you make from scratch!)
1 1/4 TBSP water

Start with 1 T water and add as needed to make a traditional cake batter consistency. Grease and flour pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar
3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup shortening

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir with wire whisk until blended. Cut in shorteneing until resmbles coarse meal. Spoom about 1/3 cup mixture into 11 ziploc bags. Use within 12 weeks.

To use:
1 packet cake mix
4 tsp. water

Grease and flour pan. Easy bake for 12 to 13 minutes.

Make and enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Homemade Bubble Solution

Hello one & all...the wee one wanted to blow bubbles today as it was around 70 degrees in our glass sunroom. (Hip, hip, hooray!) Well, of course, we were out of solution. Found this super easy recipe that does NOT require glycerin. So- super, super inexpensive!

Bubbles

1/4 cup dishwashing detergent
1/2 cup water
1 TBSP sugar

Add detergent to water. Gently add and slowly stir in sugar till dissolved. Make as few suds as possible. ***This solution worked very well. Not sure how it will store but it was a lifesaver today!

Blessings, Eve

Some Ideas

Hello one & all...just a mish-mash of money saving thoughts. (Gonna let you see just how cheap I can REALLY be!!!)

-Save a bag or two from onions...tie them into knots and use them in place of those plastic scrubbies. If it gets nasty on the first use, you won't feel badly throwing it out!
-Soap is soap...I use the little samples of hotel shampoo that everyone wants to give away (cuz' they take them and then don't bother to use them!) in my liquid handsoap dispensers. Watered down body wash also works great and smells just wonderful...
-Bread closers (the plastic, square ones) work great to scrape baked on pans.
-Save bread crusts in a bag in the freezer...when you have enough dip like french toast and serve with pancake syrup.
-Old Pantyhose, cut into strips, work beautifully to tie up vegetable and perennial plants...it will be spring before you know it!
-Save bar soap ends and put in the toe of a lonely knee high stocking. Tie the open end around a faucet handle and you have homemeade soap on a rope!
-Baby shampoo is super cheap at dollar/ discount stores and can be used for adults if you do not use hairspray. Also works great in those handsoap pumps!

Just some frugal thoughts! Blessings, Eve

Prescription Drug Discount Card

Hello one & all...just a quick thought today. Became aware of a discount prescription card that is free of charge. Seems that it can be used on a wide variety of drugs and can be used in local pharmacies including Walmart. If you and your family lack prescription drug coverage, check it out... http://www.familywize.org/

Blessings, Eve

Budgeting 101

Hello one & all…have been working on the budget for our household for the New Year. Listed ALL expenses and income. Every time I look at the paper I seem to come up with a new, unavoidable, expense to figure in. Chicken feed, dog food, shavings for the coop…all are necessary and must be budgeted for. School lunches, gas for the vehicles, homeowners insurance…the list goes on and on. Strangely enough, the income column stays the same…hmmm.

First list all fixed expenses. Those are the totals that are non-negotiable; mortgage, electric, insurance, etc. When all of your fixed expenses have been accounted for, subtract that total from your income. This leaves you with your “disposable income.” This total represents all the money that you have available for groceries, gas, habits, and spending sprees. Whatever!

When working your numbers jot down EVERY little thing that you regularly need money for. Stop for coffee every morning at the AMPM? Write it in. Have a newspaper subscription? Write it in. Have habits…i.e.; alcohol and/or smokes? Put it in the budget. Put Christmas in there and be prepared come next December! And be HONEST about your totals.

I work my numbers based on 48 weeks pay. This is easier for me as I simply take the hubby’s pay and multiply by 4 to represent the month’s cash. Those extra 4 weeks pay become savings (if all goes well!), unexpected expenses (our chicken waterer needs replacing this week…$30!!) or for a fun treat (dinner out, a movie, etc.) Any overtime, bonuses or money I earn (egg sales, babysitting, cleaning, EBay sales, etc.) gets treated the same way. We have a running, written list of needed items that get listed by priority. When there is money, we buy. If there is no money, we do not buy. (We do carry a credit card or two for times when spending and money available do not equal out…$800 car repairs for instance.) We try very hard to curb our spending impulses. Are we always on budget? No. But more often than not, we are. If I am going to continue to stay at home, we need to be.

When you first work the numbers, it is a little scary. Told my husband last night that we seem financially fine…as long as we never need new underwear or eat more than one meal a day! But it always works out in the end. Keep crunching. Can you cut your cable or satellite expense? Can you decrease your cell phone expense? Call your carrier and have them review your account. You may be able to use a smaller minutes, less expensive plan. Turn off lights, unplug remote controlled devices when not in use, make coffee at home instead of stopping. It all adds up…or subtracts down!

Have a great day…supposed to be a little warmer today! Blessings, Eve

Milk Jugs

Hello one & all...been completely absorbed in preparing for the upcoming holidays.  Have two parties scheduled for my son...one for cousins and one for 15 1st grade boys.  I know, I know - crazy but I keep doing it year after year anyway! Thought I would talk about something totally off topic of parties and Christmas because my brain needs a break from such things...

Closed our chickens in for the winter, They are toasty warm in their beautiful coop that the hubby built. 10 hens and "Doodle" our quickly maturing, very happy rooster. Needed a bowl for them that we could atttach to the wall and that would survivie the trials of 11 chicken beaks on a daily basis. So, I clipped away a large hole in the front of a gallon milk jug and my hubby attached it to the coop wall with a nail or two.  They love it...perfect height and they cannot kick it around or "soil it" as it is up.  Got me thinking about the many times over the years I have modified a milk jug for this project or that...

-chicken feeder (or other small animal!)
-pony/hairband/brush holder for the bathroom.  Left the handle intact and cut the top off.  Cut to fit in our cabinet.
-drawer organizers...cut to the right height and use to seperate socks/panties/tights...cover rough edges with duct tape if using for "snaggable" items.
-toss game for balls or beanbags...cut to make a scoop with handle still attached. My kids love when I make up a set of these. 
-scoops for dogfood/ birdseed/rocksalt/etc... leave handle intact.
-canning funnel.  Cut and use the spout area for "funnely" tasks. Used these for years till I found a "real" one for a quarter at a swap meet. Aslo fun for the bathtub!
-I have cut small sections for twirly windsocks, robot parts, and reinforcement for various craft projects.

Any other ideas? Please leave a comment and share! Blessings, Eve

Reuse 'em

Hello one & all...as I keep tightening the proverbial belt, I look for every possible way to pinch a penny.  It's almost a rush, really, to find a new way to save some of my husband's hard earned money.  My thoughts always turn to new ways to use things or to items that I can REUSE in a new way.  I am a big fan of anything that can be used time and time again. 

We do not purchase paper products in this house with the exception of toilet tissue and limited Kleenex.  (I, personally,  used cloth wipes for #1 for a time and gave it up simply because I did not have a good (company acceptable) way to store them until washtime...I'm working on that one...) The littlest one and I use handkerchiefs. (I am the nose blower for both so I am assured proper hygiene.) Given that we are the two home all day , most days, we are the one's that can have the most impact on the cost of paper.  We use cloth napkins and microfiber cloths for spills and cleaning. I have even given up my kitchen sponge...read an article on the amount of bacteria these things can harbour...Yuck! I now use a dishcloth with "scrubbies" on one side.  Works great and I do not have to replace it when it gets stinky or my husband uses it to wipe the floor where the dog lays...

We cloth diaper (on and, occassionally, off) and use cloth wipes.  I, every now and again, get the notion that the ease of disposables outweighs the small additional effort with cloth and declare that I am done.  The store receipt taunts me and I am back to cloth.  They are healthier for baby, better for the environment and, best of all, I am not throwing a quarter in the trash with every diaper change.  Same for wipes...at a penny or two a piece, they really add up over a week or a month.  There are great tutorials online for how to cloth diaper or even make your own diapers that have the ease of a disposable.  I have been making my toddlers diapers from nearly the beginning and have even managed to make a small, sporadic, income making and selling custom "disposable like" dipes. 

On to a touchy one...feminine hygiene.  I have been using cloth pads and pantyliners for about 2 years now.  Most people "ewwww" at the idea but, really, what's the big deal.  You would wash a bloody washcloth used to clean a wound or, in my son's case, a shirt from a busted lip...(It was a bad case of candy hysteria between two male cousins...it is healing nicely!)  You wash your underwear...these are normal, everyday germies.   Nothing special here...it's all in the mind of the thinker.  Hillbilly Housewife (one of my favorite recipe and tip sites) shares her pattern for homemade sanitary napkins.  I have modified my pattern to make it a bit longer and not quite as wide.  Use old flannel shirts noone uses and you are saving thousands (Yep, figure it out...thousands of dollars over a female lifetime.) Plus, there is one additional benefit...I would much rather "snuggle up" to a warm flannel shirt than a crinkly paper towel.  Enough said...http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/sanitarypads.htm

Lunch containers for the kiddos instead of plastic ziplocs.  Thermos' instead of water bottles. Large bags of snacks instead of individual portion sized bags.  (You can easily portion these yourself.) Reusable coffee filter (another new one for our house!) Using pickle jars , and the like, to store small quanitities of kitchen staples...I keep my salt in an old spaghetti sauce jar. 

Look around and you will be surprised at the ways that you will find to help the environment and your pocket book...just some frugal thoughts.  Blessings, Eve

Three Meals a Day...

Hello one & all...despite the fact that Christmas is fast approaching and we have 3 kids birthdays in the 3 weeks surrounding Christmas, my family expects to be fed. Forget late spring being the starving time...around here the time is now. I wanted to share some simple, proven money savers that may just leave enough in your wallet to purchase that $119.00 Lego set for your son for the big day...well, maybe the $29.97 set...

Breakfast: Serve oatmeal instead of cold cereal a couple of days each week. We use old fashioned oats because my kids like it to have a little texture. Those tiny packets are oh, so expensive, have no whole grains and are loaded with sugar. Old fashioned oats (or quick oats even) cost pennies and really only take 5 minutes. We mix it up by making different varieties. When heating the water to a boil add raisins, frozen berries, apple chunks, canned peaches, or canned fruit cocktail. After cooking top with choices of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, chopped nuts...we've even stirred peanut butter & jelly into plain oatmeal. Yum!

When making pancakes, make double. Microwave for 20-30 seconds and you've got breakfast.

Put the dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another in the fridge for easy morning muffins. Combine, plop in the pan and fresh, warm muffins are baking themselves while everyone scrambles to get ready for work and school.

Lunch: Around here lunch is anything leftover, home canned soup or a sandwich.

Dinner: Sometimes I over plan for dinner. I come up with this beautiful menu and 1/2 of it ends up in the fridge because I make too much. I am learning to simplify meals a bit. If I make a casserole and it has veggies in it - it is a complete meal. (I have a tendency to make another veg and some corn muffins.) The kids are just as happy with a single bowl...they just want to get fed and move on. You can always add bread and butter or a salad for the grown-ups if anyone feels deprived.

Soup is filling and inexpensive...especially if it is made with bits of leftover meats and veggies. A bouillon cube, a leftover piece of chicken, a 1/2 chopped onion and a handful of frozen veggies does a chicken vegetable soup make. Add crackers and a glass of milk for the kids and you're done.

Well, my toddler actually fell asleep at nap time today so I think that I am gonna go and do something that I haven't gotten to do in a very long time. I am going to fold a load of whites without any one "helping me!" Hey, it's the little things that get you through the day...Blessings, Eve

Spend Money to Save Money

Hello one & all...spent the day at the zoo yesterday with my three children. We dressed for the chill and took a steaming hot (yes, steaming hot...my burnt tongue does not lie...gotta love those steel Thermos brand containers!) and enjoyed the afternoon. There is a certain feel to the zoo in the colder weather. The animals are far more active. We watched Rhinos play fighting for a good, long while and were able to see the arctic wolves in their white winter coats. A wonderful trip...so much so that I sprang the extra money for a season pass. New members get such a great rate that it is hard to say no...by the time we paid for entrance yesterday I paid only $34.50 extra out of pocket. This membership allows for "reciprocal visits" with other zoos and aquariums that are part of the group. I can visit the Buffalo Zoo and the Niagara Falls aquarium for free. We try to hit each of these at least once each year and usually visit the Seneca Zoo a couple of times. Now that the littlest one is turning two I am sure that, with a season pass, there will be a few Mommy & me trips in there as well. Money very well spent...a day trip that all of my kids enjoy. Those are harder to come by these days with a toddler and a Tween in the lot...

My husband purchased a lifetime hunting licence for the same reason. Was a tough swallow to cough up such a huge chunk of cash but , in the end, so very worth it. Same goes for budgeting car insurance, trash pick-up, taxes and homeowners insurance. Paying in a lump sum ALWAYS is the less expensive option. They tack on a payment "processing fee" and before you know it you are paying an extra $36 or so for your car insurance...Yikes! Try to put a little aside each week in your savings account...we aim for $40 to cover insurance and such...work out your expenses versus income and see how much you can squeak out of there for savings deposit. Just some things to think about...Blessings, Eve

Thinkin' It Through

Hello one & all...did the awful task of grocery shopping yesterday. Planned my menu (Yes, you do have to plan your menu!!!!) and off I went with toddler and mother in tow. Two stores...Aldi's and Tops. I plotted, I planned, I made a list...still came home with upwards to $65 worth of groceries. Now, granted, I did plan for 8 meals instead of the usual 6 (There is always a leftover or fried rice/ stir fry night to use up leftover meat and such) and I did pick up a few things for Halloween. But still...$65???? My freezer's are stocked full of veggies, berries, homemade broths, soups, cooked beans, bread, ground beef, whole chickens and a few packs of venison that I need to use up from last years big hunts. (10 weeks to be exact...bow hunting has been added to the "bill" this year...) The canning shelves are full to bursting with jams, soups, relishes, peaches, pickled peppers, and more. The chickens provide eggs. What could I have possibly needed that cost $65???
Then I began to think about the meals that I had planned. We all get bored eating the same old same old. So we try to mix it up. These changes are not only tasty but good for our bodies too as we need a vast array of nutrients that we are not going to get if we repeatedly eat the same foods. The culprits on my grocery list were: Chili and bologna sandwiches. (Breakdown: 1# burger $2.00, (didn't want to use my Black Angus for chili!) jarred spaghetti sauce $1.00, canned beans $1.20, (didn't have dried prepped and frozen) and chili seasoning mix. $0.33 (never bought this before and it was wonderful...well worth the moola), bologna $2.50, soft rye bread $2.00 plus garnishes. $9.50!!!!!! for Chili and sandwich...Pork and Sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and corn. (Pork Roast $6.65, sauerkraut $1.00, potatoes $1.70. $8.45!!!)

Of course, it;s fine to have a "nice" meal every now and then, I just planned them all for one week! Live and learn...included a new frugal recipe for you...a wonderful macaroni and cheese recipe that the whole family will love. Don't let the onion put you off...even the most finicky of my nieces enjoy this recipe.

Macaroni and Cheese
1 1/2 cups dry, small macaroni
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 cups milk
8 oz Velveeta (or cheese of choice..a blend of mozzarella and cheddar works well)

Cook macaroni to directions; drain and set aside. Cook onions in butter, with salt and pepper, over medium heat till tender. Stir in the flour, stirring constantly until smooth. add milk and stir continuously; when boiling, cook over low heat, still stirring for one minute. Remove from heat and stir till cheese is melted. Toss with pasta ans pour into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Cook in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 or so minutes or till slightly browned. ***I top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese prior to baking. A double batch in a 9x13 pan feeds my clan with some leftover.

Make and enjoy! Blessings, Eve

A Few Tiny Tips

Hello one & all...just a few quick thoughts this morning...my MIL called me with this idea earlier in the week. If you have an excess of cherry tomatoes (now that the kids are sick of them!) and need a use for them beyond the salads- throw them in the blender or food processor and turn them into sauce. The skins are so tender that they just disappear. She has had great success with this and even preserved some. (Cannot remember if she froze or canned the extras...both would work.)
Tip #2- If you have a picky-pants that won't eat their crust (Yup, I've got one!) cut it off BEFORE you give them the sandwich. Freeze the crusts in a Ziploc or container that you keep in the freezer for that purpose. When you have enough o make it worth your while, turn them into french toast. We call them peanut butter dippers and the same kid who won't touch them on his PB&J begs for me to make them for breakfast! Eatin' 'em as we speak!!!
It's the little things that add up to big savings...rinse your Ziplocs. Not the one's from raw meat but the rest can be used at least a few times each. Better yet, use containers for snacks and sandwiches. They sell vitamin waters at my daughters school for $1 in the vending machine...they can barely keep them in stock...YIKES! We went to Wallyworld and bought dye-free vitamin drink sticks in grape and kiwi-watermelon. She takes a drink stick every day and her straw thermos full of water...15 cents. 85 cents per day savings times 20 days per month...that's $17 per month...I can think of a lot of things to spend $17 on. And they ain't water...Blessings, Eve

Chili (?) Sauce...

Hello one & all...finished up the chili sauce. (I keep telling myself that it's chili sauce...) In all honesty it is a tangy, salty meat sauce. It will work on a burger, mixed with mayo, perhaps and I see it marinating more than a few chickens! Not what I envisioned, but edible.

Spent the last few minutes covering my daughter's math book. They required covers in a certain color and provided construction paper for those without the fancy store bought covers. Thing looked like it would wear though in the first month. Enter the momma who thinks that she can craft anything from flannel!!! Not bad, really. Pale green with panda bears...perfect for an 11 year old girl and it will last the whole year. PLUS it's washable!!! Crafted it just like a brown paper bag one except where the tape would go I put a very narrow seam. If you attempt this, take note that the fabric will stretch out a bit as you create the seam. So go super tight on the setup and it should fit perfectly after completed. Here's to the super power of old receiving blankets and flannel fabric in general! Blessings, Eve