Saving Families Money Since 2007
A reader emailed in a link to these cloth cash envelope patterns. I know there’s no way I could make something like this, but I thought I’d pass it along for those who may be interested in purchasing it (or using it as inspiration to re-create something like it on your own!)
Find more posts on how to set up a cash envelope system here.
Well, I sort of cheated for yesterday’s Freezer Cooking In An Hour session. First off, I baked the chicken during dinner the night before to save me time and then I gave myself two hours to accomplish my list instead of one. But I still got a lot done in a shorter amount of time — and that’s truly the point of why I challenge myself to do Freezer Cooking In An Hour each week.
4:00 — I set the timer, tied on my apron, pulled my hair back and got to work. I put the dough in the bread machine for Failproof Bread Machine French Bread. I started the ground beef, mixed the oats and yogurt for the Oatmeal Raisin muffins and started mixing up the Honey Cornbread recipe.
4:20 — While the ground beef was cooking, I chopped the onion to add to it and then went back to finishing the Honey Cornbread. I assembled the Corn Dog muffins and stuck them in the oven and then started the pasta boiling.
4:45 — In the middle of mixing up the Oatmeal Raisin muffins, I heard the familiar “mo-o-o-o-o-ma” coming from Silas’ room. I got him up and made popcorn for a snack for all the children and then sent them downstairs to play.
5:10 — The pasta was done, so I assembled the Italian Pasta Bakes and then took a break to clean up the kitchen. I really wanted to make the Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and the Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge, but I was running out of time and energy. So I opted to just finish up what I already had started and save those to make later in the week.
5:25 — I pulled the oatmeal muffins out of the oven — yum! — and then started chopping up the chicken while the water was boiling for the stuffing. I couldn’t believe the children were still downstairs playing quietly! It’s a rare occurrence that all three of them play together for longer than 20 minutes without someone getting hurt or a fighting ensuing (we’re working on it, but it seems to be a slow learning process!).
5:35 — The chicken was finally chopped, so I put together the Chicken Stuffing Casseroles together. I then went to pull the French Bread dough out of the bread machine. So much for it being failproof. The dough was really stiff — way too stiff for French Bread. I tried to make it work, but I finally gave up. I think I better find a different French Bread recipe! (Anyone have a more proven failproof recipe to share? Or a suggestion of why mine didn’t turn out?)
5:45 — Finally done!
4 pans of Chicken Stuffing Casserole
12 Corn Dog Muffins (I used my Honey Cornbread Recipe and Beef Hotdogs. These are very yummy — for kids and adults alike!)
I small pan of Honey Cornbread
Looking for a fun and easy sewing project? Try making the Half and Half Girl’s Skirt.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Looking for thrifting tips to help you on your next thrift store shopping trip? This simple advice is great to keep in mind!
{Planning to take your kids? Read this before you go!!}
Guest post by Carrie Hurst at My Favorite Finds
I went to Goodwill for the first time in my life today. Here are a few thrifting tips I learned…
If I buy five pairs of jeans for $3 each without trying them on and go home and find that only two of them fit, I’m out $9. I don’t justify secondhand purchases with “It’s only $3.” By doing so, I waste money and I’m disappointed.
This afternoon, I tried on a pair of COACH canvas slip-on shoes. I loved them! They were only $22, and I wanted them badly.
However, they were a bit too tight in the toes. I ended up not getting them because of this and the high price tag. Even though I loved them, I left them behind because I wasn’t willing to pay for something that I wasn’t 100% convinced about.
If I’m going to buy something secondhand, I want it to be decent quality and have a history of lasting. Today, I got a Land’s End swim top/trunks for my boys, two pairs of Banana Republic shorts for me, a pair of Saucony sneakers, a pair of American Eagle flats, a Baby GAP tank top for my daughter, an Old Navy polo for my boys, a pair of plaid Cherokee shorts for my boys, a Circo swimsuit for my daughter, and a Rare, too dress for my daughter. I got all of this for less than $30!
I chose these based on what we needed andwanted, but also based upon brands that I know we’ve liked and felt have held up to wear and tear in the past.
What thrifting tips do you have? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Carrie is a pastor’s wife, and a mom of twin boys and a toddler girl. She loves the Lord, and tries to be an example for Him. Visit her blog, My Favorite Finds.
Read Part 1 if you missed it.
Readers love giveaways. It’s a way to generate buzz for your site, give something back to your readers and get additional traffic by linking up to giveaway link-ups (ours goes up every Monday afternoon).
If you are a new blogger and wondering how on earth you get started hosting giveaways, it’s really very simple. Read my other post for some tips and suggestions for getting started offering giveaways.
If there’s one thing I want to encourage with giveaways, it’s this: don’t overdo and don’t make people jump through a bunch of hoops to enter. Okay, that was two things, but I think they are both vital for giveaway success.
Giveaways are great — in moderation. Unless your blog is primarily a product review blog, any more than 10 to 20% of a ratio of giveaways to regular posts is probably too much. And make it simple for people to enter. I promise your readers will appreciate it.
As a side note: be honest in your reviews if you’re including them with a product. If you didn’t love something, there’s no need to gush up and down about it.
Your readers appreciate honesty and forthrightness. Show pros and cons. But, as I’ve learned the hard way, if you only have critical things to say about a product, it’s probably better to skip the giveaway altogether since most companies aren’t really excited about sponsoring a giveaway where the blogger just posts a very negative review of the product.
A year and a half ago, my husband suggested I set up a Facebook Page. I wasn’t too sure if it was worth it, but I went ahead and did it. I was shocked at how much traffic it generated from the start and how many people signed up as fans!
The beautiful thing about a Facebook Page is that when someone interacts on your page, it shows up on their personal page. Many people have told me they originally found my blog through a friend on Facebook.
In addition, my Facebook Page is one of the highest generators of traffic to my blog each month. Needless to say, I’m listening more carefully when my husband suggests I add something to my blog. 🙂
A successful Facebook Page doesn’t sit dormant. It should be updated at least once a day, preferably a few times per day. Post links to all your blog posts, share posts from the archives and throw in the occasional picture or real-time funny story, quote or question. The more you interact with your fans, the better.
By the way, I recommend posting your links manually on Facebook, instead of using an auto-post set up. Not only does this cause you to see if people are commenting or leaving questions, but this also shows up more readily in people’s feeds (auto-post tends to bury posts so people never see them).
Want to know one way to have people find your blog? Link to their blog!
Most bloggers track their stats and incoming links and will click over to see if someone has linked to them. They might just end up linking back to you if they like what they see.
Now, I’m not advocating a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” sort of mentality here, but I know that some bloggers are so scared they might lose traffic if they link to another blog. I’ve found the exact opposite to be true.
If you find a great blog or blog post that you think your readers would love, share it on your blog or Facebook Page! Don’t keep a good thing to yourself.
I got a little long-winded with these three, so I’ll save the final two ways to build and increase your readership for next week.
Guest post by Danielle
I don’t know about anyone else, but money is so tight right now in our household that putting even $5 or $10 extra per month towards stockpiling clothes isn’t available. But instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we decided to do something really different this summer.
If you “have your ear to the ground” economically, you know that cotton prices are continuing to climb steadily. As we get into fall and winter where clothing requires more material, therefore costing more, it could really be a hard squeeze for some families. We decided to change our perspective and plan accordingly.
I know, it’s crazy, but we’re extremely serious about it for the next three months! My two oldest children, a boy and a girl, have only four outfits each. We have a washer and dryer in our home, so I do one load per day and they have clean clothes every day. My third child, a girl, has more clothing simply because she’s wearing hand-me-downs from her big sister!
We decided not to buy sandals this year because their athletic shoes will fit them through the summer. We aren’t buying swimsuits right now either, because with my husband’s hectic work schedule we can’t even make it to the pool! (We are blessed to have a community pool included as part of living in our townhome complex.)
Here in another month life will slow down a bit, and swimsuits will start going on sale! We’ll buy each child one then, and when they’re clearanced out at the end of the summer, we’ll buy their swimsuits for next year.
So far, because of our strategy to use budgeted “summer clothing” money to purchase clearanced fall and winter clothes for the upcoming season, we’ve been able to purchase from Walmart’s clearance racks:
Grand Total: $12 for $70 worth of clothing!
My goal isn’t to supply my children’s every need with clearanced clothing, because realistically, that just may not be possible. However, I can make a huge dent in our fall and winter clothing budget, and then use that money to start purchasing clearanced spring and summer clothing for next year!
I just want to encourage everyone that even if you only have a few dollars, if you’re creative and willing to sacrifice a little bit right now, it can pay off in big ways just a few months down the road!
Danielle Bradbury lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband, son and two daughters. She and her husband are working hard to rebuild their life after bankruptcy. They are also looking forward to starting homeschool with their son this fall.
Overnight Baked Oats is an amazing make-ahead recipe. It freezes beautifully and is so easy to thaw overnight then bake. My family raved about it!! I almost felt guilty that it was so simple to pull off.
So many of you requested more specific directions on how I froze the Baked Oatmeal recipe that I made for my Freezer-Cooking-In-An-Hour session last week that I figured it might be good to share the adapted recipe. But I wanted to make sure it turned out okay after being frozen, thawed, and then baked.
We tested it this week and, as I suspected, it worked beautifully to freeze.
It was so, so easy to pull out, thaw overnight, and bake. And my husband and kids raved about it all during breakfast. I almost felt guilty that it was so simple to pull off!
Our from-the-freezer baked oatmeal was a hit — and something I’ll include more often in our regular breakfast lineup now that I’ve found a way to make it ahead and freeze it!
Serves 6-8
**Note: see the ingredient variations at the bottom of the post for more ideas to mix up the flavors.
1. In a medium-sized bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and butter together.
2. Mix in baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Stir in milk and oats.
4. Pour mixture into a greased 9″×13″ baking dish OR into individual muffin cups and cover well.
5. Refrigerate overnight OR label and freeze it for later.
TO BAKE:
There are countless ways to mix up the flavor of this basic recipe — or to add a little extra nutrients!
If you are mixing up the oats to eat the next day, simply cover the container (lid, plastic wrap, tin foil, etc.) and refrigerate overnight.
If you want to freeze the unbaked oats for later, tightly seal the container, label it, and put it in the freezer.
You could also store unbaked oats in a zip-top freezer bag to save space!
Delicious! Baked oatmeal is firmer than oats cooked on the stovetop. It will bake up almost like cornbread (you can cut it with a knife and scoop it out).
You can add more liquid after serving if desired. Oatmeal is a “chameleon food” as it takes on whatever flavor you pair it with (see variation ideas above).
Oats are a naturally gluten-free whole grain. They are extremely nutritious, versatile, frugal… and they really fill you up! Oats can help to lower bad cholesterol, lower blood sugar, ease constipation, and promote improved gut health (source).
Homemade oatmeal is more nutritious than store-bought instant oatmeal packets (which are often loaded with extra sugar).
The best option for overnight oats is Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (sometimes called “Traditional” or “Regular”).
Oat Grouts and Steel Cut Oats will take much longer to cook and might not give you the texture you want. Quick Oats, on the other hand, may break down too quickly and become soggy.
Yes, you can easily omit the sugar completely and add a mashed banana or applesauce instead. You could also substitute Stevie or other no-calorie sweetener in place of the sugar.
Make sure to share and save it on your favorite platform below!
Mornings just got so much easier with this FREE list of 50+ Easy & Cheap Breakfast Ideas for Busy Weekday Mornings!
Jenae from I Can Teach My Child shows you how to make edible playdough. This stuff looks fun and addictive! I’m excited to try it with my children!
Guest post by MaryEllen at The Deal Scoop
The reader tip last week on stockpiling clothes is something our family has already been using to save an incredible amount of money each year. As I read through the comments on the post, I noticed some readers’ concerns.
There were some readers who don’t think they could find good enough deals at yard sales to make stockpiling clothing worth their while. Some felt that all they can find at yard sales is junk and that they would rather buy clearance items at the stores. Then there were those who admitted that they aren’t organized enough to know what they need and don’t need.
Here are a few tips on how to get the best prices at yard sales and how our family has been able to make stockpiling clothing work for us:
(Or if you live an area with a lot of Friday sales, check on Thursday night. Go whenever is best for the area in which you live.) Most people will list some specific items that they will be selling. Mark the ones that specifically have kids’ clothing listing and skip the rest. In my family’s experience, you will barely have time to make it to just those yard sales, and there is no sense wasting time and gas going to yard sales that don’t have what you’re looking for.
If you need directions to certain places, be sure you have them all printed out the night before so you can go from place to place quickly and use gas efficiently. The more gas you use, the more those yard sale clothes will cost you!
Many people think there is only junk to be found at yard sales, but a lot of times that’s because there are high-quality items to be had for nearly pennies. The first ones at the yard sales find all the best stuff before it’s gone!
This is probably the most crucial part to the whole game of stockpiling clothing, and I’ll be the first to admit that my husband is more skilled at it than I am. Our family’s personal target is $0.25 per clothing item, $1 for a pair of shoes and up to $1 for nice dresses for our daughter. That may seem like quite an ambitious goal, but my husband has proven to me that it is quite doable. Here’s what I’ve learned by watching him:
::If a seller has high quality items and is asking 50 cents each, pick out three things and ask if they will take $1 for all three. Nine times out of ten, they will. Although that is $0.33 per item and not the target $0.25, you can average it out later.
::Ask the seller if they will consider a bag special. If there are a good number of items in which you are interested, ask the seller if they will allow you to fill a shopping bag for a certain price. If they will sell you a bag of clothing for $3 to $5, you should be able to hit your target price. (This is especially true when you’re buying smaller sizes because you can fit more pieces into the bag.)
If they charge $5, you’ll need to fit at least 20 pieces into the bag in order to hit $0.25 an item. (It’s amazing how many pieces will go in when they’re folded neatly!) If they charge $3, you need to fit at least 12 pieces in the bag in order to hit your target.
Then, there are always the sellers who surprise you by saying, “Sure, fill a bag for $1!” It happens, and those are the times that help you bring your average back down to the target price when you’ve paid a little more for something you really like.
::If a seller is asking $1 for a pair of shoes, ask if they’ll take $0.50. The worst they can say is “no”, and if they say “yes”, you’ve just brought your average price per item down. If they’re asking $2, ask if they’ll take $1. Then you can get the shoes at your target price.
Don’t buy something just because it happens to be your target price. If you don’t like it or it’s worn out, skip it. You’ll find something else later.
Remember, by the time your children wear the clothes you find, it may be a couple years down the road. Trendy things go out of style very quickly and you’ll end up not using them and wasting your money.
I don’t think it makes sense to buy another pair of pants, even if they are only $0.25, if our son already has enough pairs in that size. On the other hand, if the end of yard sale season is approaching and we see that he still needs pants for the upcoming winter, we can up our target price for that item. I’d rather pay $0.50 or $0.75 for the pants instead of waiting until we get out the winter clothes only to find out we have to run to Walmart and buy a couple pairs at full price.
Spreadsheet Tip:
Our family uses two spreadsheets, one for boy clothes and one for girl clothes. Each spreadsheet includes every size from birth through several sizes beyond what our children currently wear.
There are categories for every different item, such as play shirts, shorts, dress pants, dress shirts, etc. We also include every size of shoes.
Every time we come home from yard sales we immediately wash everything and add it to the spreadsheet. The next time we find something at our target price we can check to see if we already have enough of that item in that particular size. We keep a copy of our spreadsheets on the computer, and carry a printed copy with us to the yard sales.
It’s no fun to know you have clothes available when your child has a growth spurt, but you can’t find them anywhere! I like to keep everything in airtight tubs that are labeled by size and gender. I haven’t figured out a better way to do shoes, so everything just gets thrown into either a “boy’s shoes bin” or a “girl’s shoes bin”.
When one of our kids outgrows their shoes, I just look on the spreadsheet to make sure we have the next size for them. Then I can rummage through the bin to get their next size shoe. I love being able to make a trip to the attic when our kids have a growth spurt instead of making an emergency trip to the store!
We Save Over $140 Per Year By Stockpiling Clothing and Shopping at Yard Sales
If you’re still not convinced that stockpiling clothing from yard sales would be worth it to you, here are a couple rough figures of how much money we save this way. Let’s say my little girl needs a minimum of five tops, five bottoms, three Sunday dresses and three pairs of shoes for each season. If we buy the five tops and five bottoms at $0.25, the three Sunday dresses for $1 each, and the three pairs of shoes for $1 each, we end up spending $8.50 for an entire season’s worth of clothing.
If we found some really great sales at Target or Walmart and bought the same amount of clothing for $5 a piece, we would spend $80. So we save at very minimum $71.50 per season, or $143 a year per child.
The more children you have, the more your savings will multiply. Plus, though I have nothing against clothes from Target or Walmart, our children are wearing Children’s Place, OshKosh, Gymboree, and Carter’s clothing instead. Many times the clothes and shoes we find are brand-new with the tags still on.
I do understand that this method of saving on children’s clothing is not going to work for 100% of you due to lack of storage space or because you may live in a rural area with very few yard sales. However, I do hope that those of you who have the means to do so will give some of these tips a try. You may be surprised at how well you can do!
MaryEllen Bream is a stay-at-home mom who is always looking for more ways to stretch her family’s budget. When she’s not playing with her kids or shopping yard sales for their clothes, she can be found sharing deals and money-saving tips on her blog.
Amish Baked Oatmeal for breakfast
After a number of busy weeks, we’re actually staying home a lot this week and have very few things on the calendar. I’m looking forward to getting to spend some extra time in the kitchen trying out some new recipes. Here’s our plan for the week:
Breakfasts
Amish Baked Oatmeal, bananas
French Toast Casserole (from the freezer), fruit
Cinnamon/Sugar Toasted Bagels, Pick-Me-Up Smoothies
Oatmeal Raisin Muffins, Scrambled Eggs, Berries
Cinnamon Roll Biscuits (using Homemade Baking Mix), fruit
Cereal
Whole Wheat Waffles (using Homemade Baking Mix), fruitLunches
Beef hot dogs, stuffed eggs, watermelon, corn
McDonald’s
PB&J, carrot sticks, strawberries
Beans & Rice with cheese, mixed vegetables, strawberries
Veggie omelet, fruit
LeftoversSnacks
Watermelon Frosties
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Fruit/VeggiesDinners
Breakfast Burritos, fruit salad
Meatballs, steamed veggies, wild rice, fruit salad
Southwest Rollups, steamed veggies, fruit salad
Italian Pasta Bake, Bread Machine French Bread, green beans, watermelon
Steak on the grill, steamed veggies, Bread Machine French Bread
Asian Barbecue Chicken, rice, steamed veggies, fruit salad
Homemade Pizza, fruit, Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter FudgeFreezer-Cooking-In-An-Hour Plan (I’ll share pictures/details on how this goes on Thursday!)
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Corn Dog Muffins
What’s on your menu this week? Feel free to leave a link to your plan in the comments!
Have an old filing cabinet collecting dust in your garage or basement? Design Sponge shows you how to turn it into a Filing Cabinet Planter.
(If you want more detailed instructions on how to do this, I found some here.)
