GIFT GIVING without the stress of high prices!

There’s always a reason to celebrate or give someone a gift.   It goes hand-in-hand in associating with people.  There are plenty of occasions that “pop” up!!  (Birthdays, weddings, births, Christmas, funerals, baptisms, other holidays, etc.)

An invitation to a party does NOT have to be a reason to go shopping!  I have applied the Boy Scout motto of “BE PREPARED” to gift giving.  I keep a plastic tote, in my garage, for potential gifts. 

My "GIFT bin"...
Notice it is NOT labeled, because I don't want my kids snooping through it!!

When I am out doing my normal shopping, I am always on the lookout for good prices on ANYTHING.  When I find a cute item at a smashing price- that could be used as a potential gift- I buy it and put it in my “gift bin”.  This means when my children come home with another birthday party invitation, I don’t instantly freak out about where the money will come from to purchase their friend a gift!  I pull out the appropriate possibilities and let my child “shop” through my “smashing deals” and pick out a present to give their friend.

Birthdays and Christmas for my family is rather simple and stress free as well.  I actually have 2 “gift bins”.  One bin is for giving gifts to others…the second bin is for gifts for my family.  I shop year round for my children’s birthday and Christmas presents.  I’m always on the lookout for sale or clearance items that could be used for my children.  After a holiday is over is a great time to pick up the next year’s item.  I’ve learned that certain holidays provide certain types of potential presents. 

·         Valentine’s Clearance: girl’s trinkets, girl’s clothes, next year’s class Valentine’s, movie candy, baby clothes, and wedding items (as everything is LOVE themed).

·         Easter Clearance: Girl’s trinkets and clothes

·         Halloween Clearance: Boy’s trinkets and clothes, boy’s baby clothes, and dress ups.

·         Christmas Clearance:  NEXT year’s presents (mainly for the grown-ups), decorations, household type wedding presents (ie. Extension cords), Christmas crafts for the kids to make for grandparents, and wrapping supplies for the entire year.

The month before the family “event”, I open up my “family gift bin” and select what I’d like to give that person.  Usually, I already have purchased what I need at a great price….BUT if I am short what I need to give them; I have a month to find the needed item at a good price.

IF you shop A LOT, you have the potential to find a lot of great deals….BUT that means you have the potential to spend a lot more than you need to!!  My rule of thumb is to ONLY have one bin of each: OTHERS & FAMILY!  When that bin is full, it is time to WAIT to buy more “gifts” until you have given enough away to provide the room to store them.  This way you never have one gift sitting on the bottom of your bin for years without ever finding a recipient for it!!

On a side note: if you are attempting to scale back your gift giving expenses even more.... a thoughtful, well made, handmade item can be much less expensive AND more meaningful to the recipient.  Don’t rule them out!

Happy Stretching Pennies…

Making your own REUSABLE furnace filter!

Changing your air filter to your furnace does not need to cost a lot.  In fact, it couldn’t be simpler.  Consider making “reusable” one!!  It is more eco-friendly, time efficient AND friendly to your budget. 

We learned about this when it was time to replace our furnace filter in our *new* home.  Not one store carried the size we needed!!  (And I thought there were standard sizes!!)  Turns out, you can make your OWN furnace filter out of this blue stuff called "Natural Aire".    

This is sold at hardware store likes Lowe's or Home Depot.  

When I was revisiting Lowe's to write this entry, the cost for a one-time-use furnace filter ranges from $3-$15....if you replace your furnace filter like you are supposed to do, the cost adds up (while your energy bill goes down.)  Why not equal the playing field and only buy the filter ONCE and enjoy the energy savings without having to monthly purchase a new furnace filter!! (Or actually CHANGE it once a month instead of "getting your money's worth out of it".)

The PRICE of one of these blue things at Lowe's....found on the furnace filter isle!

We made 2 out of the material so we could have one “in use” and "to replace the dirty one" as soon as it came out (NO waiting for it to dry).

The Homemade Furnace Filter Recipe:

1)      Measure the area of your furnace filter space.  Double the dimensions so you can buy enough to make 2.
2)      Purchase  this Blue filter stuff from your local hardware store (such as Lowe’s or Home Depot).  It can be found on the furnace filter isle.
3)      Cut out 2 furnace filters.  You could just take a black sharpie and trace your OLD filter on the blue filter stuff and cut it out.....BUT if you are a perfectionist like me,  It is easiest to make it “square” by using a tool called a "Carpenter's Square" (resembling a “T”) OR using quilting board, squaring device and marker.

This is a carpenter's square

After pondering using quilting supplies, please omit using the rotary cutter as it will ruin your blade.  Use these squaring supplies to DRAW the line and then cut with scissors instead of ruining your rotary blade!

This is our READY made reusable furnace filter!

4)      Insert one filter into your space and store the other one.  (We keep ours on top of the water heater.)

This is our dirty one coming out...

This is the *new* CLEAN one put in...

Our finished product...doesn't look any different, does it?

5)      Change your furnace filter every month for best results.  To change them:  Remove the dirty one and insert the nice clean dry #2.  Bring the dirty one to the bathroom and spray it off with the shower head.  Let it dry and store it until you need to replace it next month! 

Wala!  An EASY reusable furnace filter that costs you little in time and money!

Using 2 forks can make your roast beef go FARTHER than you thought POSSIBLE!

Stretching your roast beef couldn’t be simpler!  Whether you are cooking your roast in a crock pot, oven, pressure cooker, OR getting it straight out of a can this technique goes a long way.

Consider shredding your meat instead of slicing or "cubing" it!! 

Here is an example of a "crazy BUSY day's dinner"-- our burritos one evening: 



I took a 12 oz. can of roast beef (purchased from Costco) to make the meat for Tacos for our family of 5.

This is what 12 oz. looks like IN the can...

This is what 12 oz. looks like OUT of the can...

This is what the meat from the can looks like UP CLOSE...

Start shredding the meat by pulling it apart with 2 forks...

Keep going through all of the chunks & watch the plate fill up with MEAT!!

My 10 year old son enjoyed taking these pictures as I shredded...and then asked if he could have some!!

The END result of SHREDDING all that meat....

Remember this is what looked like
BEFORE it was shredded...

After shredding it, I put into the marinade and I cooked it on the stove top. 

We then enjoyed burritos with shredded meat, beans, and toppings.  (Each of our family prefers different toppings....but olives, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, green peppers are all options.)

It is amazing how far 12 oz. of meat will go. In fact, we had leftovers for someone to have a delicious lunch.  One can of meat for a family of 5 WITH leftovers!  Can't get better than that!  (Had we left the meat as “chunks”, I would have had to open several cans in order for my family to feel like they had had a sufficient amount!!)

Happy Stretching Pennies…

PS.  This technique can be easily used with chicken breasts, pork roasts or turkey breasts as well!

Cheaper and EASY Pancake Mix

I love making pancakes in the morning for breakfast.  We REGULARLY have them....(avoiding the expensive cereal)!!  However, I don’t  like how many things I have to pull out and how many dirty dishes I make-- in order to have them from “scratch”.  It takes too long when mornings are usually rushed during the week.  I used to use the boxed kind from the grocery store for days that I didn’t have a lot of time.

Several years ago, I went on a hunt to find a recipe for a just-add-water “MIX” so I didn’t have to assemble so much.  I figured that the stores SELL mixes…so why couldn’t I MAKE one for a fraction of the cost?

I taped the Dry Mix recipe to the Tupperware, so I would never have to go searching for the recipe when it was time to refill!  (It's all about saving TIME!)

If you have ever eaten a premade just-add-water mix from the store, you have probably already tried a product you didn’t even know existed: powdered eggs.  I buy them from Honeyville Grain www.honeyvillegrain.com  (I have mentioned them before.)  I love their company for many reasons, but my favorite is a flat shipping rate of $4.49 in the continental US.  Dehydrated eggs are found in these just-add-water mixes of all kinds.  I know it sounds a little weird…but if you start thinking of all the things in the grocery store that contain powdered eggs, you might not find it so “weird”.  This also goes for the other potentially “weird” product: Dehydrated shortening.

What do these "weird" products LOOK like?

Dehydrated EGGS

This is what dehydrated EGGS look like!!

Dehydrated Shortening

This is what Dehydrated Shortening LOOKS like!

Pancake Dry Mix Recipe

This is what the "Pancake Dry Mix" LOOKS like (made with white wheat flour)!

6 C. Flour (I grind white wheat into flour)

9 Tbsp. Dehydrated Shortening

9 Tbsp. Powdered Milk

9 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

6 Tbsp. Dehydrated Whole Egg

2 Tbsp. Baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

Directions: Take out as much "mix" as you would normally make from a box and add water until it is the consistency you desire for fluffy YUMMY pancakes!  (We usually do about 3 cups of mix and 2 cups water.)

Happy Stretching Pennies...AND cheaper...fluffy yummy breakfasts!

Disneyland MEALS on a Budget

My mom had a “crazy” idea 2 months ago and decided that taking her grandchildren to Disneyland was one of those things on her “bucket list” (that she just needed to do before she died…or wanted to do before she was unable to because of declining health).  So….for Thanksgiving this year, we headed to Disneyland!!!

This was our "most" Disneyland type picture....guess I was having more fun "doing" than hiding behind a camera!

This is NOT our typical type of family vacation.  In fact, it was my children’s AND my husband’s 1^st time to Disneyland.  AND....Being a frugal person, I decided to see how cheaply we could do things.

Since our time at Disneyland resembled a family reunion (cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents), I suggested we rent a house verses hotel rooms.  Ultimately: it was cheaper, we felt more like a group- yet maintained our privacy, AND we had access to a full kitchen.  (We LOVED that dishwasher!!)  The house we rented was within walking distance to Disneyland—so we avoided the parking fee—yet we were able to enjoy the benefit of riding the parking lot tram.  Thus, saving a small walking distance AND saving a $15 a day parking fee.

Since meals can be one the bigger costs of a Disneyland vacation, we planned on NOT using any restaurants. 

BREAKFAST

• House Rental:  Each morning for breakfast we woke up to giant muffins from Sam’s, cereal, juice, bagels, and toast.  (We wanted an “eat-and-run” style breakfast so we could pack in as much FUN as possible.)  And since we rented a house, we just rinsed our dished, put them in the dishwasher! 
• Hotel/Motel:  Had we been in a hotel, we would have hopefully had a continental breakfast, but IF not we would have done the same breakfast but the dishes would have been washed in the sink before we left.

LUNCH

After we finished breakfast, each person packed their snacks and prepared a sandwich for the day. 

·         House Rental:  We just pulled things out of the fridge to prepare sandwiches and then put the supplies back in the fridge.

·         Motel/Hotel:  I would just pull supplies out of our cooler, prepare sandwiches on the typically small, round table and put the supplies back in the cooler with ice from the ice machine as our “fridge” away from home.

Transporting SANDWICHES to Disneyland: 

·         House Rental:  We brought lunch meat style sandwiches in an insulated casserole carrying case (got on sale from World Market) with reusable ice containers, straight from the freezer—keeping things nice and cold.  (No one wants to get food poisoning from meat gone bad—especially on a road trip!!)

·         Motel/Hotel:   I would bring my sandwiches in a small cooler with ice from the ice machine at the hotel.  Sandwiches could be stored in Tupperware or Ziploc baggies.  If you put the ice into a gallon Ziploc bag as well,  there is much less chance of soggy sandwich!!

Transporting SNACKS to Disneyland:  Each person in our group was responsible for filling a small Tupperware of their favorite sacks.  Then each person was responsible for carrying their OWN snacks in their own fanny packs—including my 4 year old!!  (It didn’t feel so heavy to him, because he was transported to rides via stroller…but the fanny pack was still attached to HIS body!)  Everyone liked the convenience of having their snacks within arm’s reach at ALL times, even when we split up to ride different rides for a short time.

DINNER

Since Disneyland is the most “packed” in the afternoon, we liked heading back to our rental for an early dinner before our children got cranky.  (We ate about 4:30-5p.m.)   Before leaving for Disneyland, I had prepared some homemade soups (link to my EASY soup recipes) and froze them. 

I chose several flavors of soups from my freezer to bring with us!  Dinner in a snap!!

We brought the frozen soups from home with us—along with some rolls from the Wonder Thrift Store that we bought right before leaving home.  (link to HOW I buy good bread for less).  In the morning, I removed one of the flavors of soup, defrosted it a bit in the microwave—enough that the contents would slip out- and dumped it into the crock pot we brought from home. 

I turned it on “low” and headed out for our FUN day at Disneyland.  When we returned to our rental home after walking around the park ALL day long, and had a meal waiting for us.  I didn’t have to find the energy to cook, our diet didn’t change, and I didn’t hear my children “whine” about when dinner would be ready.  

·         Rental House:   Again, when we were done eating we had the glorious luxury of rinsing our dishes off, putting them in the dishwasher and we were READY for some more fun at Disneyland.

·         Hotel/Motel:  Using a crock pot at a motel/hotel is just as easy.  Just bring your crock pot from home (or pick one up at a thrift store) and plug it in next to the sink area!!  It works like a charm and we’ve never had any complaints!

Easier MEAL, but a little more expensive:  Open a can of stew, canned chili, canned baked beans, or other prepared food (at your local freezer OR Costco) to heat all day long, (while you are away having fun), in the crock pot.

STORING YOUR FOOD AT DISNEYLAND

Our 1^st day, we rented a locker as a big group.  You have unlimited access to that locker ALL day long.  It was electronic—so our whole group could get in & out of it regardless of our being together or not.  It was a nice way to store everyone’s lunches (ice packs included)…though the locker filled up with everyone’s jackets as they day went on.  However our 2^nd day at Disneyland, our group headed out at different times.  We ended up keeping our insulted casserole carrying case filled with our sandwiches in the bottom of our stroller and it worked out just as smoothly for lunch without the locker.

DRINKS

We brought ONE water bottle per person and labeled them with a sharpie.  During the day, we drank water (refilling them as necessary)—but at lunch time everyone wanted juice.  We didn’t want to purchase anything, nor did we want to bring additional things creating a lot of bulk to keep track of.  Sooooo....

I had previously bought “single serving” ON-THE-GO flavor packets at the dollar store. 

We enjoyed lemonade, cool raspberry, and Hawaiian Punch.

ENTERTAINMENT (shopping)

There are SO many stores inside Disneyland just waiting to empty your pockets.  My children really wanted little plastic guns that resembled a pirate gun until they heard the price: $8.49 for a SMALL one!  They dropped their pleadings when they heard the price.  They didn’t want to spend their hard earned money on that!  But their urge to “buy” was not satisfied until the penny arcade.   If going shopping is just “calling your children’s name”… Promise them you will take them to the Penny arcade on Main Street, where they can watch old time movies for a penny.   (It was next to the candy factory).  Just dropping that coin into the machine and pressing their faces into the view finder helped to alleviate that urge to just buy “something”.

Our total spent:

• Restaurants: $0
• Snacks: $0
• Entertainment/Shopping: $0.06
• Food: Nothing more than if I had been a home anyway....everything came out of my fridge, freezer or pantry!!

Other Tips I would share:

• Use those FastPasses to your advantage.  Whenever you have the chance to get one....do it!  Work the other rides around the FastPasses!
• Go back to your rooms or house during the middle of the day when the park is at its fullest for a rest, swim, or a snack!
• Get FastPasses to Star Tours early...in fact get one 1st...and then ride while you wait for the fastpass to become good.  There are 54 short interactive movie clips....you could never see them all in one day!
• A small vile of bubbles from the dollar store is a wonderful tool when waiting in line.
• Bring a sharpie....its not just for those water bottles.  You can write your cell phone number on your children's arms!
• A highlighter---highlight either the bathrooms...or all the rides that are a "must" for your children on the map you get when you enter the park!
• For MORE ideas and advice than you can imagine...but an amazing resource, check out "The Unoffical Guide to Disneyland" from your local library!

Happy Stretching Pennies...

A Programable Thermostat: the convenience of warm WITHOUT the sacrifice!

A programmable thermostat is a fabulous investment!  A basic one costs about $30, but you can easily save that in one season!

No one likes to wake up to a cold house OR come home to a cold house.  A programmable thermostat allows you to have the temperature set lower while you are away OR under your covers (nice a cozy)!  You can easily program it to warm up the house 30 minutes before your alarm goes off in the morning OR before you return home from work.  This way you maximize your comfort, are doing a great simple thing to save money --ALL while being environmentally friendly!

When we had little babies in the house, I didn’t set the temperatures as low because they would unravel themselves from their blankets and I worried about them getting cold.  (I didn’t want to put a huge comforter in their crib that could smother them either.)  HOWEVER, now that my children are not babies anymore, we have invested in some really warm comforters from IKEA.  Because they are so PLUSH and WARM (rated 4-5), our “program” is set to decrease to 60˚F at 11p.m.  Please remember the program doesn’t function on an instant drop (like opening the refrigerator) …it just means the furnace doesn’t kick on again until it reaches that temperature.  SOOOO…it takes a while for it to get there.  The thermostat’s program kicks back up to warmer temperatures 20 minutes before my husband’s alarm clock goes off, (which is 45 minutes before our children get up.)  In all honesty—NOT ONE PERSON in our house has noticed the change.  The house is warm when all of us hop into bed, and warm when we all get up in the morning.  Stretching pennies couldn’t be easier!!  Convenience of warm WITHOUT the sacrifice!

Since I am a stay-at-home mother, we generally only have the daytime temperatures set lower when we are on vacation OR are going to be away for the day.  If your schedule has you away from your home  during the day, consider programming your thermostat to lower temperatures during your absence.  The only thing you will notice is more money in your pockets!! 

NOTE:  Even if you are a stay-at-home mom OR work from home…. IF you have a schedule that has you being gone on certain days or at regular times, make sure you program that in.  Every person can benefit from this trick!

Happy Stretching Pennies….

Splurging the frugal way...

Everyone has their “favorite stores”…the places they go regularly (or wish they could go to regularly) to shop or eat.   It’s smart to look for coupons for these places.   My “preferred stores” are: Office Depot, Charley’s, Kiddie Kandids, Dairy Queen, JoAnn’s, Pier 1, Michael’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Papa Murphy’s, El Pollo Loco, Mom’s & Pop’s, etc . 

I do NOT go to these places all the time.  I am NOT a shopper by nature, nor do I go out to eat often…  BUT when I do, I like to have a coupon on hand for my favorite places so that I don’t have to spend as much.  It makes me feel just a little better about my splurge.

Each person’s “system” for keeping track of these “preferred place” coupons may be different, but mine is coupon board- (NOT used for coupons for the grocery store…JUST my “preferred stores”).   It is a frame with the matte and glass removed.  My husband cut some sheet metal down to the right size and I inserted it inside and it has been the perfect attractive way to store them!  Just a few strong magnets from JoAnn’s (at 40% off), with a few embellishments from some pictures, glue and clear glass stones and it is great attractive way to display pictures of my family while storing coupons for future FUN things. 

(Ok. Some of the magnets have picture embellishments. Some are just magnets that I haven’t gotten around to making yet.)

Just remember that

just because you have the coupon

does NOT mean you have to use it…

that would defeat your FRUGAL lifestyle!

Happy Stretching Pennies…