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Shared Mar 17, 2011 comment

Today’s Dillon’s Shopping Trip

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We also stopped at Dillon’s and got a few great deals. Since pasta was just $0.39 per box after coupons and sale, we stocked up on enough to last us for the next three or four months (we typically go through an average of 3/4ths of a box of pasta per week). This is a great example of how we practice the Buy Ahead principle.

Dillon’s Shopping Trip

3 cartons of strawberries — marked down to $1.29 each

2 packages of sliced turkey breast — $2.99 each

1 package of sliced cheese — $2.19

Vitaminwater — $0.49

2 Pure Protein bars — $1, used 2 $1/1 coupons = free after coupons

12 packages of Healthy Harvest and Smart Taste pasta — on sale for $0.89 when you bought 10 participating items, used 6 $1/2 coupons = $0.39 per package after coupons

Triscuits — on sale for $1.99 when you bought 10 participating items, used 2 $1/1 coupons = $0.99 per box

Annie’s Mac & Cheese — on sale for $0.49 per box when you bought 10 participating items

My total after coupons was $23.99.

Shared Mar 17, 2011 comment

Today’s health food store shopping trip

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

The girls and I stopped by the health food store after a fun morning out together (while Grandma watched Silas). Here are the deals we found:

2 half-gallons of Horizon Organic Milk — marked down to $0.99 (it expires tomorrow, so I’ll be freezing whatever we don’t use by the morning to use for pancakes and waffles)

1 box of Barbara’s Organic Cereal — marked down to $1.59

2 Mangos — $0.50 each

1 and 1/2 head of cabbage — on sale for $0.17/lb. for St. Patrick’s Day

1 box of Mi-Del Honey Grahams — marked down to $1.59 (We all ended up thinking these were icky so I think I’m going to re-purpose them as a graham cracker crust, unless anyone else has a great suggestion!)

1 tub of Wallaby Organic yogurt — marked down to $1.99

My total was $9.09.

Shared Mar 17, 2011 comment

Letting Go of My Expectations in Order to Find Joy in Saving Money

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Lynette says, “This is my front porch. It’s not likely to be nominated for any trendy or stylish award, but it’s functional and that’s what matters.”

Testimonial by Lynette at Cleverly Simple

“What a difference a year makes”, I thought to myself as I hauled in another load of wood with slippers on my feet and a 19-month-old screaming for breakfast. Living in Virginia Beach twelve months earlier I had visions of our first winter in Central Ohio all snuggled by the fire with a good book and a cup of tea.

The reality of saving money in negative degree weather set in quite quickly as the first load of wood was dropped off onto our cute 1940’s porch. Visions of cute winter accessories were quickly replaced by a woodland piled high and covered in a bright green tarp.

My family had decided late fall that our budget for heating oil was going to be quickly broken as the first oil company bill came in at $600. That lasted us six weeks with the thermostat set at 62 during the day and 55 at night. I was frustrated at the thought of continuing to spend hundreds of dollars and still feel that the house was not a warm place to hang out.

Knowing that the coldest months were ahead, the solution was to spend hours cutting wood from fallen trees at my grandmother’s forest to supplement our heat. We would still need to fill the oil tank, but by using wood as our main source of heat in our living area we would be able to drastically cut our expenses.

I’ve learned so much… one log at a time:

I’ve Found Joy in the Company of Others

As the days turned into months of using wood, I found joy in helping our family save money with each load of wood. I quickly realized that we were not alone. I drove along our curvy small town road and soon took notice of the number of houses with smoke crawling out of their chimneys. They, too, had a woodland on their porch and were providing warmth for their families.

I’ve Learned to Let Go of the Look

I had to let go of the cute accessories we had planned for Christmas in return for green tarp. At least it was a festive color! If letting go of accessories meant saving hundreds of dollars then it had to be okay.

I’ve Realized and Basked in My Blessings

What a blessing to have a husband, brother and father who would spend hours chopping and splitting fallen trees. The cost was free. They were willing to spend their time and resources to help us save money.

I’ve Developed More Creativity

We’ve enjoy our fireplace not only for the heat, but for the s’mores we’ve made together. Yum! And yes, I still enjoy an occasional good book and cup of tea by the glow of the fire. For that, I choose to have a grateful and joyous heart to save money with our small woodland porch and its green tarp.

Lynette blogs about money-saving ideas, creative adventures and family recipes at CleverlySimple.com. She lives with her hubby and son in small town Central Ohio.

Shared Mar 17, 2011 comment

Do-It-Yourself: Homemade Face Wash

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 17, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Simple Organized Living shows you how to make your own face wash.

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.

Shared Mar 16, 2011 comment

My Stock-Up Price List

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 16, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’ve received countless requests over the years for me to post my “Price List” (i.e. the price I shoot to pay for all items I purchase). I resisted doing this for a long time because I was afraid that many of you would find it discouraging since prices vary so much by area. However, I finally decided to go ahead and put this list together since many of you promised me it would be helpful.

Please note that the prices listed below are the prices I try not to pay more than. Of course, free or free-plus-overage is always the best thing, but if that’s not possible, than these are the prices I aim to match or beat when purchasing items. Also, note that these prices are normally the prices I shoot to pay by pairing a coupon with a great sale. These are not typically the shelf prices you’ll see here!

We don’t have a CVS or Rite Aid and we only have two grocery store chains in our area, so I’m not able to get some of the deals many of you can get routinely. At the same time, though, we’re blessed to have Walgreens, Walmart, Target, a few Dollar Stores and a health food store in addition to the two grocery store chains.

Toiletries/Personal Care

Bandages — $0.50 per 30-count box or less
Bar Soap — $0.30 per 2-pack or less
Cough Drops — $0.25 per bag or less
Deodorant — $0.50 per regular-sized stick or less
Floss — $0.25 per package or less
Liquid Soap — $0.30 per hand soap pump or less
Lotion — I rarely pay for lotion as I usually get trial-sized bottles for free by signing up for free samples or by using coupons.
Mouthwash — free
Pain Reliever — $1 per bottle or less for name brands
Razors — $1 per package or less
Shampoo/Conditioner — $1 per bottle for name brand, $0.50 per bottle for off brands
Shaving Cream — $0.50 per bottle or less
Sunblock — I’ve never paid anything for sunblock before.
Toothbrushes — $0.20 per toothbrush or less
Toothpaste — free

Baby Items

Baby Food — I don’t buy baby food unless I can get it for free. Otherwise, I make my own or just use a baby food grinder at the table.
Diaper Rash Ointment — free
Diapers — I personally don’t pay for diapers because I used to get them free by working them into my drug store deal scenarios. Now, I get them free by using my accumulated Swagbucks. If you don’t play the drugstore game, $5 per package or less would be a typical stock-up price. Anything less than $0.10 per diaper is usually considered a good deal. Less than $0.08 per diaper is usually a great deal. However, with the insane Amazon diaper deals right now, you can often get diapers for less than $0.04 each shipped to your door!
Wipes — $1 per 64 wipes or less

Refrigerated Items

Butter — $1.69 per pound or less (Whenever I find a great deal on butter, I usually buy a few pounds and freeze them.)
Cheese — $1.69 per 8 oz. or less
Cream Cheese — $0.50 per package or less (Whenever I find a great deal on cream cheese, I buy four to six blocks and freeze them.)
Eggs — I pay $2 per dozen for farm-fresh, free-range eggs. If I were buying non-free-range eggs, I would shoot for $1.29 per dozen or less. (Sometimes Aldi will have them as low as $0.69 per dozen, but I’ve not had great success at freezing eggs, so I don’t buy more than 4-6 weeks’ worth at a time.)
Milk — The cheapest I can usually get rBGH-free milk is $2.50 per gallon. Milk can be frozen, but we’ve found we prefer to only use milk which has been frozen in cooking. If I find organic milk marked down to $1.99 per half-gallon or less, I buy it and freeze it to use in pancakes and waffles.
Sour Cream — $0.99 per 16-oz. carton or less
Yogurt — $0.25 per serving or less

Produce

Bananas — $0.19 to $0.44 per pound (Once a week, a local store has bananas for $0.19 per pound, so if I’m out shopping that day, I’ll price-match at Walmart. Otherwise, I buy them reduced at Dillon’s for $0.39 per pound or $0.44 per pound at Aldi.)
Fruit in Season — $0.99 per pound or less
Grapes — $0.99 per pound or less
Lemons — $0.25 each or less
Salad — I buy organic greens when I can get them for $1.99 per 16-ounce tub or less. Otherwise, I try to get heads of lettuce for $1.59 per head or less. Occasionally, they go on sale for $0.99. I also look for bags of salad greens which have been reduced as this is often a better deal.
Salad Dressing — $0.99 per 16 ounces or less
Strawberries — $1.85 per carton or less
Tomatoes — $0.99 per pound or less
Watermelon — $2.99 per watermelon
Carrots — $0.99 per bag of baby carrots, $0.99 per one-pound bag of whole carrots

Frozen

Frozen Dinners — We basically do not buy these except for the on rare occasions they are free or almost-free.
Frozen Pizza — Again, we have only purchased this a few times when it was free. We much prefer homemade pizza!
Frozen Vegetables — $1 per bag or less
Ice Cream — We usually only buy Breyer’s ice cream — yes, we’re ice cream “snobs” 😉 — and try to get it for less than $3 per tub.

Meat

Beef, Ground — We buy 93% lean beef and I usually try to buy it when it is on sale for $3.69 per pound or less.
Chicken, Boneless Skinless Breast — $5.99 per 3-lb. bag
Chicken, Whole — We don’t buy whole chickens, ever. Yes, I know that breaks one of the major laws of frugality, but none of us like dark meat, so it’s more cost-effective and less wasteful to just buy chicken breasts. 🙂
Roast — $3 per pound or less
Steak — $2 per pound or less

We rarely ever eat pork, so I’m not even sure what a good price on it would be.

Dry/Canned Goods

Bread — $1.49 per loaf or less (for the nicer, higher-quality brands)
Brownie Mix — $0.39 to free
Cake Mix — free
Canned Tuna — You can often get the pouches for almost-free, so that’s usually what I buy when buying tuna.
Cereal — $1 per box or less
Chocolate Chips — $1.69 per package (Aldi regular price) or less.
Cookies — We rarely ever purchase packaged cookies, but I would buy them if they were free.
Crackers — $1 per box or less.
Flour — $0.69 per pound for organic wheat kernels (we grind most of our own flour) or around $0.50 per pound for unbleached flour.
Hamburger/Hot Dog Buns — $1 per package (I get Nature’s Own Hamburger/Hot Dog buns at Dollar Tree for $1 or Rudi’s Organic Buns for $0.99 when they are reduced at the health food store.)
Honey — Aldi has the best price the I’ve found in our area (around $3 for 16 oz. last time I checked) unless you have a Sam’s Club membership or buy from the Bulk Foods Store. I love the raw honey from Tropical Traditions and do splurge on it when I can get it Buy One, Get One Free plus free shipping.
Jelly/Jam — $1 per jar or less.
Ketchup — $0.50 per bottle or less
Mayonnaise — $1 per jar
Mustard — free
Oats — $1.69 per canister (Aldi price) or less
Pasta — $0.50 per box or less
Peanut Butter — $1 per jar or less
Soup, Canned — I pretty much only buy this if I can get it for $0.15 or less per can.
Spaghetti Sauce — $1 per jar or less
Sugar — $1.34 per pound for turbinado (raw sugar). We’ve not purchase white sugar for a long time, but Aldi usually has the cheapest price on it.
Syrup — We make our own or buy organic maple syrup when it’s on a great sale from Amazon.
Tomato Paste — $0.15 or less per can
Tomato Sauce — $0.15 or less per can
Tortillas — $0.99 per package
Vanilla — The best price I’ve found is at Sam’s Club. Last I checked, they sell one pint for $6.88.

Cleaning Supplies/Paper Products

Aluminum Foil — $0.50 or less for a 20-foot box (Walgreens sells it at this price fairly often).
Dishwasher Detergent — $0.50 or less per box of tabs
Dishwashing Soap — free
Laundry Detergent — $0.99 per 32-load bottle
Toilet Paper — $0.25 per roll or less
Kitchen Trash Bags — $2.98 for 32 bags (Aldi price)
Zipper Bags — $1 per box or less

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Shared Mar 15, 2011 comment

Q&A: How do you budget for online deals?

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 15, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I am trying to go to cash-only and just use the bank account for bills! But how do you budget for online deals? I love the idea of going cash-only, but hate missing out on all the deals! Is there a good way to do this or am I just not going to get the deals now? :(-Holly

Our family uses a “hybrid system” for our expenditures. We use cash envelopes for items we would typically buy locally (you can see a list of all our cash envelope categories here) and then we use debit cards or online bill pay for our utility bills, insurance and other bills which are paid on a monthly basis. This works well for us and, from the experimenting we’ve done, we’ve determined we spend quite a bit less by paying for the bulk of our expenses with cash than if we were swiping our debit cards.

However, the question people often ask is, “If you use cash only for clothing, food and so forth, does this mean you can’t purchase any items from your cash envelope categories online?” Well, actually, no.

We are on a strict written budget and cash envelope system and we only buy things which we have the money allotted ahead of time to pay for. We use gift cards accumulated through Swagbucks to pay for some of our online purchases or we buy online with our debit card and then refund the money from our cash envelope to our bank account.

It might seem like a hassle to refund the money to our bank account, but we’ve found that this actually encourages us to be a lot more thoughtful about purchases. Instead of just jumping on a good deal because we’re afraid it might not be available for long, it forces us to think through whether it’s something which is a good deal for us — meaning it’s something we need or have been planning to purchase, something we can afford in that budget category and something we will use. In many cases, because it is a bit of a hassle, we end up talking ourselves out of the purchase before making it!

If you don’t feel comfortable using a debit card online or don’t want to mess with refunding money from a cash envelope to your bank account, I’d suggest purchasing pre-paid cards from the money in each cash envelope category. Keep these cards in their designated envelopes and only use them for online purchases from that category. This allows you to protect yourself from potential debit card fraud while still sticking with your budget and using money you’ve specifically set aside for that budget category.

Shared Mar 14, 2011 comment

31 Weeks to a Better Grocery Budget Video Series: How to Implement the Buy Ahead Principle

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 14, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Shared Mar 14, 2011 comment

This Week’s Menu

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 14, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Pick-Me-Up Fruit Smoothie (recipe coming Thursday)

Breakfasts:

Pick-Me-Up Fruit Smoothies (recipe coming on Thursday)
Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
Cold Cereal, Juice x 2
Baked Oatmeal, Fruit
Overnight French Toast Casserole, Fruit

Lunches:

Leftovers x 2
Tuna sandwiches, frozen veggies, oranges
Macaroni & Cheese, carrots, apple slices
Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches, fruit
Cheese Quesadillas, frozen veggies, apple slices
Turkey sandwiches, fruit, veggies

Dinners:

Marinated Chicken, Toast, Frozen Veggies, Fruit
Haystacks (build-your-own Mexican dinner), Green Rice Casserole (from the freezer — I promise I’ll share the recipe next week!), Fruit
Steak, Baked Potatoes, Frozen veggies, Toast
Lasagna Casserole, Broccoli, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls
Tilapia, Mashed Potatoes, Frozen Veggies, fruit salad
Dinner at Extended Family’s House
Dinner Out

Extras: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Have you tried any new recipes recently? Share the links in the comments as I’d love to consider adding them to my list of recipes to try!

Shared Mar 14, 2011 comment

Reader Testimonial: Frugality Allowed Us to “Splurge” For Others

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 14, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

An anonymous reader emailed in the following testimonial which I thought many of you would find encouraging:

I was the tight-fisted frugal one when we got married, but my husband was so impressed by my freebie-grabbing, creative penny pinching and compulsive saving that he quickly got on board! Even though we’ve only had one income for our family of seven, and that one income has always come from the notoriously underpaid field of education, we’ve never had any debt except for our mortgage which we vowed to pay off in less than five years (which we did). Our vehicles, home renovations, computers and all other purchases have always been paid for with cash.

A few years ago we heard about an orphanage in Burundi that was in distress. Its 20 young occupants shared two 10 x 10-foot rooms and had no running water or electricity. A piece of property had been located that had roomier buildings, water, power and a little land (i.e. for gardening, or some animals to help feed the orphans). Burundian refugees in America who were supporting the orphanage had no idea how to raise the exorbitant (to them) sum of $15,000 to pay for this in full, as apparently there were no mortgages in this primitive country.

Hearing about it through an emailed prayer request, my husband investigated the need, prayed and fasted, and ended up writing a check for the whole amount of $15,000! He was able to visit the property a year later with our daughter. What a heart-stopping, choked-up moment that was for them!

He took the above picture of the orphans in front of their new home and would have packed one or two of them into his suitcase to live with our family if he’d been allowed to! I love that guy!

My seamstress daughter also designed simple dresses like the one below which her sewing ministry was able to make for the girls:

God’s ways are awesome and we’re so blessed to be a part of His will. My tightness paid off in that we were able to splurge for others far away when it was really needed!

-An anonymous reader

Shared Mar 12, 2011 comment

Super Savings Saturday: The I-Forgot-To-Take-Pictures edition

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 12, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So, um, this was one of those weeks when life just flew by and every day was full of hiccups and interruptions (many of them wonderful, but unexpected nonetheless). And also, truth be told, I just fell off the organization and discipline “bandwagon” this week. For no good reason at all.

I bought eggs from my brother, went to Walgreens, Dillon’s and Aldi one evening and Jesse bought milk today. But, I only managed to snap a picture of my Walgreens trip. With all that took place this week and the disorganization which ensued, I was doing good to make it to the store and get the groceries put away. Taking pictures of the groceries completely slipped my mind until much of them were already eaten.

At any rate, you’ll just have to picture the pineapple, strawberries and other things I bought at Aldi, as well as the cereal and other deals I snagged at Dillon’s. And I promise I’ll try to be more organized (and not running around like a chicken with my head cut off!) next week and actually take pictures of my groceries.

Oh and in the spirit of being completely honest here, I have to tell you that we didn’t do a good job of following our menu plan and Jesse brought home dinner two nights this week, instead of the usual one night that we go out. And remember how I said I was training for a 5K and how I usually get up between 5-6 a.m. or earlier? Well, I didn’t exercise one single time this past week and I got up after 7:30 a.m. almost every single day.

Yes, it was just “one of those weeks”. I stayed up too late, didn’t follow the schedule and just generally seemed to have zero “groove” and discipline.

But now that I’ve confessed all that to you all, I am determined (by the grace of God), to get back on the bandwagon this week. So if any of you see me posting or replying to comments after 9:30 p.m. at night or you stop by my house and I’m in pajamas and it’s noon, you have my full permission to thoroughly reprimand me. Because I need to get out of this funk I got myself into this past week!

And now, I’m off to tackle my laundry pile and messy bedroom because I’ve promised myself I can’t go to bed tonight until the laundry’s done and my bedroom’s clean. 🙂

Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.

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Shared Mar 11, 2011 comment

Do-It-Yourself Experiment #3: Homemade Hamburger Buns

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 11, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Those of you who have been following my blog for the past few months know that I’m challenging myself to do 12 Do-It-Yourself Experiments in 2011. So far, I’ve been loving this!

By the way, we’ve used the Homemade Dishwashing Detergent for a month now and it’s worked really well. There’s just something about scooping out dish detergent that I mixed up myself instead of buying in a package from the store which just gives you a real sense of satisfaction.

And I’m surprising myself at how much I’m liking it. I’m getting ready to do a cost-comparison to see if it’s worth continuing to do. I’m seriously considering it, but I want to break down the price per load versus what I pay for storebought detergent.

This month’s experiment was making Homemade Hamburger Buns. I decided to go with this recipe from Food.com that a reader left as a comment.

It was really simple to do — especially since I used the bread machine to mix up the dough. The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute turbinado for the sugar.

After the dough was finished in the bread machine, it took me a little less than ten minutes to roll these out and cut them into buns. And then I let them rise and I cooked them.

I still need to perfect my hamburger dough-shaping abilities, as these didn’t look like beautiful hamburger buns you’d see at the store. But they were decent and they tasted quite delicious.

The jury’s still out on whether I’ll continue to make these. Since Dollar Tree now often carries Nature’s Own hamburger buns for just $1 per package and I can also sometimes get organic hamburger buns at the health food store reduced to just $1 per package, I’m not completely convinced that this is a money-saving do-it-yourself idea for me — especially when you factor in the costs of heating the oven, running the bread machine and the time involved in making these (at least 15 to 20 minutes from start to finish).

We’ll see. One thing’s for sure: if we ever want to have hamburgers and I don’t have any hamburger buns on hand, I’ve got a back-up plan! 🙂

And in case you missed it, here’s the list of the 12 Do-It-Yourself Projects I Plan to Try in 2011:

January: Make From-Scratch Chai Tea

February: Make Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

March: Make Homemade Hamburger Buns

April: Make Homemade Laundry Soap (I did attempt this one time before, but it was with a pre-made mix someone gave me. So I’m going to try again — this time completely from scratch!)

May: Make Appliqued Flower Tee

June: Make Homemade Hummus

July: Make Freezer Jam

August: Make Homemade Soap

September: Sew a Rag Quilt

October: Make Homemade Apple Butter

November: Make Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

December: Make Homemade Marshmallows

Have you attempted any new do-it-yourself projects recently? I’d love to hear how they went!

Shared Mar 11, 2011 comment

We Paid Cash: A Freezer

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 11, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A testimony from Mary at Junior *gluten-free* Chefs

Every time I went to the store and saw awesome sales on meat or veggies, I wished that I could buy a bunch to freeze, because I knew in the long run it would save us so much money on groceries. But we just never seemed to be able to come up with the $250 to buy a freezer.

Our children have a lot of allergies so there really weren’t many other things I could do to cut back on our food budget. Finally, I decided to start setting aside $4 a week to save for a freezer. I knew it would take a long time but it would be worth it.

After almost a year, I had $180. I felt happy knowing we were getting closer, but thought we were still at least six months away from our goal.

Then recently, there was an “Ask the Readers” question on freezers on MoneySavingMom.com. Someone commented and said Sears was having a 30% off sale.

The freezer I had been wanting was a 6.9 cu. ft. Kenmore, and it was on sale for $174! I did a little dance. Not only was it on a great sale, but since there is a Sears store near me, I could have it shipped there for free.

We picked it up last week and I am so excited! I will now be walking to the local store every morning to check for “price reduced” meat and veggies.

Mary is a mother to three gluten-free, dairy-free, additive-free, refined sugar-free and wholesome-eating kids. They have fun sharing their thoughts about life with allergies on their blog, Junior *gluten-free* Chefs.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

Shared Mar 11, 2011 comment

Reader Testimonial: How I Transitioned from Working Full-Time to Part-Time

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 11, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Here’s an encouraging story that Carolyn emailed in:

My husband, Otis and I greeted our new son, Gabriel, in March 2008, when we were 43 and 41, respectively. I was working full-time in a career that I loved, and was happy and content to continue until retirement.

When it came time to go back to work after a 10-week maternity leave, my heart ached with regret and I felt the nudging from God that I needed to be home full-time with Gabriel. I blamed it on hormones and thought, “I am a professional and will be able to deal with leaving my baby at a sitters. I can’t quit my job, I love it!”

The first few weeks were hard, and to my surprise the following months did not get any easier. I began praying fervently for answers, and for the grieving to stop every time I left him to go to work.

In March 2009, when Gabriel was a year old, I knew the Lord was leading me to quit my current job and work part-time. But, before anything else, we had to pay off a couple of loans in order to pay our household bills each month with Otis’ salary.

I had already started using coupons, and regularly read MoneySavingMom.com, plus we have utilized a budget for years. It was time to shave it down, and strictly follow it.

We sat down, made a plan of action to pay off a vehicle and home equity loan, as these were our only loans other than our mortgage. We figured up what we thought I would make part-time and used that for our household expenses, then we applied the rest of my full-time salary to the two bills which totaled $12,000.

In November 2009, we were on track with our payments, but again, God was telling me to set a date to leave my job. After much praying, March 31, 2010 was decided upon.

In early February 2010, both loans were paid off, so I began applying for part-time jobs. By the middle of February nothing was happening, and I was beginning to panic. I finally realized I needed to give it to the Lord because He was the One telling me to take this leap, and by the end of February a part-time job came open (100 hours a month)! It offered health insurance benefits, and mostly night shifts (so my husband could be home with Gabe).

I applied, interviewed, and was hired before my March 31, 2010 deadline. God had provided the job He wanted me to have with reduced hours, nightly shifts, and gave me a paycheck along with health insurance. Boy, He blessed us! God is so wonderful and mighty! Plus, more time with my child is more valuable than any material thing I could ever want want to buy.

Carolyn and Otis have been married for 11 years (this week) and live on 18 acres in Western Kentucky. Carolyn has Weston (20), Otis has James (24) and together they have Gabriel (2 1/2). Otis is a Deputy Sheriff, and since April 1, 2010, Carolyn has worked part-time for the Administrative Office of the Courts as a Pretrial Officer.

Do you have a story to share about your financial journey which would encourage other readers and give them hope? Email it to me and I’ll consider posting it.

Shared Mar 11, 2011 comment

Living a Zero Waste Life

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 11, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A reader sent me a link to the Zero Waste Home blog yesterday. I was inspired! Here’s a video which Yahoo! did on this family that shares how they are seeking to live a Zero Waste Life:

Now, most of us probably won’t ever achieve zero waste in our homes. However, I’m motivated to think of small steps I can take to reuse, reduce and recycle.

They have a list of tips here which you’ll find interesting.

What simple ways are you seeking to reduce waste in your home? I’d love to hear!

Shared Mar 10, 2011 comment

Lazy Lasagna Casserole

Published: by Crystal Paine on March 10, 2011 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

This Easy Lasagna Casserole has been a staple recipe in our house for as long as I can remember. It is SO versatile and you can just throw in whatever you have on hand. It ALWAYS turns out yummy! (Psst! You might also love these Easy Individual Mini Lasagnas — perfect for on-the-go meals, busy schedules, single people, or hungry teens!)

We love lasagna… but I rarely buy lasagna noodles because there aren’t as many sales or coupons available for lasagna noodles as there are for spiral and rotini noodles.

So, a number of years ago, I re-did our regular lasagna recipe substituting spiral/rotini noodles for lasagna noodles and dubbed it “Lasagna Casserole”. It has since become a staple recipe at our home and it’s one of the first things I consider making when I find marked-down cottage cheese!

Why We Love This Lasagna Casserole Recipe

Not only is this casserole so delicious, but it’s also very frugal (and easy) to make.

Back when we were first married, we just left the meat out of this recipe, since it wasn’t in our budget. We like it better with meat these days, but it’s still hearty as a meatless casserole.

The best part about this easy recipe is that I never make this recipe exactly the same. It really depends on what I have on hand — so feel free to mix up the ingredients based on what you have in your freezer or pantry, or even what’s on sale at your grocery stores.

Lasagna Casserole Ingredients

1 pound ground beef or sausage (optional)
1 onion chopped (optional)
8 oz. uncooked noodles (we like spiral or rotini noodles best)
12 oz. spaghetti sauce
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
2-3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (we prefer cottage cheese and it’s typically much cheaper — especially if you can find it marked down!)
1/2 teaspoon parsley (chopped fresh or dried)
salt/pepper

Lazy Lasagna Substitutions and Additions

I seriously just use whatever pasta, cheese, tomatoes, and pasta sauce I have gotten recently with coupons and sales, so it always turns out a little bit differently. But it’s always good! Here are some suggestions for variations:

If you’re on a tight budget, simply omit the meat, or substitute cooked lentils or sauteed mushrooms.
You can use whatever noodles you have on hand.
Feel free to use more sauce if that’s your preference — even using extra sauce in place of the tomatoes.
Sneak some extra steamed and chopped veggies into the pasta sauce for extra nutrition.
You can also mix up the cheese, trying new varieties or mixing a few types. Sometimes I love to add parmesan to this recipe. Other times, we’ve even used cheddar! It might sound weird, but it gives it a bit of a different flair than traditional lasagna — and we think it’s yummy that way, too. {You may or may not agree. We can have weird and quirky tastes sometimes!}

How to make Lasagna Casserole

1. Brown ground beef and onion until cooked.

2. While the meat is cooking, boil the noodles according to the package directions.

3. Mix spaghetti sauce with diced tomatoes and browned ground beef.

4. Set 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese aside to sprinkle on the top.

5. Combine the rest of the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, and salt and pepper.

6. In a 7″ x 11″ pan, layer a third of the meat sauce, then the noodles, then the cheese mixture.

7. Repeat two more times.

8. Sprinkle with cheese.

9. Bake at 350º for 30 to 45 minutes (until bubbly).

10. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

How to serve this Lazy Lasagna Recipe

This casserole tastes great with a simple side salad, fruit, and garlic toast. It also pairs well with most vegetables and any type of bread/rolls you have in the house.

How to store Easy Lasagna Casserole

Let the casserole come to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate any leftovers.

You can also put single-servings into smaller storage containers and freeze for easy lunches.

Lazy Lasagna FAQs

Do you cover lazy lasagna when baking?

You can cover it with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes if the cheese is getting too brown.

Why does my lasagna go sloppy?

You might have too much sauce, or it might just need to sit for a bit after baking. Try tenting your pan with foil and letting the casserole sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes after it’s done baking.

Recipe

Lazy Lasagna Casserole

Author Crystal Paine

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Resting 10

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef or ground sausage
1 onion diced
8 oz pasta uncooked
12 oz pasta sauce 1/2 a jar
15 oz diced tomatoes
3 cups mozerella cheese
2 eggs
2 cups cottage cheese
½ tsp parsley
salt and pepper

Instructions

Brown ground beef and onion until cooked through. Drain.
While the meat is cooking, boil the noodles according to the package directions.
Mix spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes with browned ground beef.
Set 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese aside to sprinkle on the top.
Combine the rest of the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, and salt and pepper.
In a 7" x 11" pan, layer a third of the meat sauce, then the noodles, then the cheese mixture.
Repeat the layers two more times.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
Bake at 350º for 30 to 45 minutes (until bubbly).
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

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Why We Love This Lasagna Casserole Recipe

Lasagna Casserole Ingredients

Lazy Lasagna Substitutions and Additions

How to make Lasagna Casserole

How to serve this Lazy Lasagna Recipe

How to store Easy Lasagna Casserole

Lazy Lasagna FAQs

Lazy Lasagna Casserole

Ingredients 1x2x3x

Instructions

Nutrition

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