We all love extra money.............

With hundreds of thousands of workers furlough during this Government shutdown, and over a million Veterans and disabled Americans possibly not receiving their monthly check come November 1 the need for cash (or a good deal) is more important than ever.  So what are some ways you can earn money NOW or add extra money overall to your pocket book.

1.)    What do you have to sell? In my house our garage is the big black hole of the house. We have boxes that were put in there when we moved into the house three years ago, and we have steadily added to that. At the beginning of the summer we decided when the weather starts to cool down we would finally get out there and clean out all of the boxes, donate whatever we need to, throw away the trash, etc. With the Government shutdown looming over us we decided to utilize different media outlets to sell whatever we could and donate the rest (or after a few days donate what doesn't sell). 

These few ideas are great to make some money but also great to find an amazing deal on something you need. Winter is coming and you will need warmer coats for you and the kids. Why spend $80 on each coat when you can get it for $15/$20? Expecting a blessing (baby) and need some extra supplies, why not save upwards of 75% off retail. The list goes on and on.

I am on Facebook (take a look at this page’s fan page HERE) and in my local area there are groups designed for buying/selling household items (or really anything). Try a simple search for your area with “virtual yard sale” in the title. I know in my area there are several groups, some designed for baby items, and others designed for “man things” while other groups are just general groups that accept most items. 

Another website I regularly use is Bookoo.com. You can do a search for your zip code to see if there is a group for your area, if not you can create one. This site is very popular near military installations and has been for some time.

I am sure many people have heard about Craigslist.org. If not Craigslist in a website that you can buy and or sell your goods, hire someone to do something for you, offer a service you have to offer. It is a great way to save money or make a few bucks. 

What happens if you don’t have internet access to utilize these websites? No worries call your local newspaper and see how much they would charge for a classified ad. This may not be a great idea if you have an item you are selling for $10, but some of your higher priced goods would fit perfectly in the newspaper.  A free way you can list items for sale is by placing an ad on your local community boards. These can be at school, grocery stores, local gyms, pet stores, etc. 

So far I have sold about 15/20 things that I was just going to donate and have earned roughly $200. What could you do with an extra $200? 

2.)    Opening your own business is a great way to earn some extra income. I am not talking about a store at the mall, but a small home based business.  There are some GREAT options available that pay you to sell their product. Remember Tupperware? The company is still around and doing great. Visit Jenn’s Tupperware page HERE to see the deals she offers. Love doing your nails? Take a look at Jamberry Nail Wraps. This company is new to the direct sales business but already making waves in the fashion industry, making appearances on the runways of Fashion Week, and celebrity Instagram pages. Take a look at the products available and see if it is something you and your friends would like – click HERE. So many other companies like Scentsy, Posh, Miche, and Tastefully Simple. Most have a small start-up cost but you can easily add a few hundred dollars to your bank account at the end of the month with a little work. 

3.)    Do you have old jewelry just sitting in your drawer? Maybe some broken pieces you couldn't bring yourself to throw out or get rid of before? Now there are companies (even home based businesses like in number two) that will buy your gold and give you cash on the spot.  You can host a party and even earn money from your friends selling their gold and earning cash. Just Google what the market rate is for gold the day you decide to sell. This way you know if someone is really giving you a fair price for your gold or taking advantage.

4.)    Become a mystery shopper. I know it sounds crazy but companies will pay you to check up on their employees. You should NOT have to pay a company to become a mystery shopper with them.

5.)    Are you a crafty person or good with tools? You can refinish furniture you find at thrift stores or the free pile and resell these pieces. You can sell your crafts at a local craft fair or online. You can become a handyman for your community, doing odd jobs here and there. 

6.)    Sell CD, DVDs, and books you have laying around the house. There are stores and online companies willing to pay you for these items. 

7.)    “Donate” your plasma. There are centers in most cities and states that will pay you (upwards of $300 a month) to come in and sell your plasma. Plasma donation is as simple as donating your blood, the only difference is a machine spins out the plasma and pumps your blood back into you. 

8.)    Do surveys online test out websites, and get paid to read emails,. Here is a list of different companies that can match you with people hiring for these easy tasks.   Volition.com  usertesting.com  and http://www.surveypolice.com 

9.)    Get a paper route in your community or a job delivering pizza. These jobs pay minimal wages but tips can be very lucrative.

10.) Tutor for money. Parents will pay upward of $25 an hour for you to tutor their child in a subject they need help with. Are you great with number, perfect with spelling and grammar, or love history? This is a great way to add some extra cash to your wallet.

Even though things are tight now with these simple tricks you can easily earn some extra money for your household to ease these frugal times. 

Free to Cheap Summer Activities

School is out and the kids are home.... now what? My kids have been out of school for about 2 weeks now and even though they have yet to drive me crazy I know that is coming. Don't get me wrong I love spending extra time with my kids but I know they are bored and want to go here and there just to fill their day with stuff. But the bank book doesn’t like all the added activities that seem to cost an arm in a leg during the summer. So I am coming up with some free to inexpensive activities we can do that the kids will like and fill our day/weeks with activities.  These are some things I am doing with my kids, so please forgive me if the program or activity isn’t available in your area. If you comment below with where you live I can see if I can find some fun stuff for you to do.

The older monkeys like to read so we go to the Library twice a week. I know it isn’t a big activity but it is fun to get out of the house, plus reading during the week gives the kids an escape from boredom. Our library offers a fun summer reading program, complete with prizes and awards. I remember as a kid our library did this and for so many pages you read you received a Pizza Hut coupon for a personal pan pizza. I know some libraries offer a ready night or story time, this may be a fun alternative if you have little ones who would sit still and enjoy story time.

Home Depot offers a free building workshop for kids (ages 5 to 12 years old). These workshops are held once a month, usually the 1^st Saturday of the month, but I suggest calling your local store to find out the details. This isn’t a summer only thing, so the kids get to enjoy these projects all year-round. I believe Lowe’s offers the same sort of kids building workshop, but maybe twice a month. Home Depot is closer to us though so we haven’t attended a Lowe’s workshop.

During the summer there are free movie nights at the local elementary school. They inflate a large screen and we just sit on a blanket and watch a movie, it is usually a new DVD release movie. You can bring your own picnic or buy concession stand food. Most of the time we bring out own food and buy the kids one fun snack from the concession stand. The money goes back to the school district and you get out of the house for an evening.

Just like the movie at the elementary school the local parks and recreations have free live concerts in the park during the summer.  Again you sit picnic style on the grass or bring your own chairs, bring your own food or buy from vendors. Sometimes the music isn’t great but getting out of the house and meeting your neighbors and letting the kids run around more than makes up for not so great music.

Some museums offer free admissions during the summer months, but you need to check with your individual museum. We are lucky enough to live close to Washington DC where most of the museums are free all year. Plus we can have lunch from a local street vendor for about $15 for the whole family. Another really cool resource for FREE admission to different museums is if you have a Bank of America account or credit card. They have a summer promotion that allows you access to many different museums. Visit http://museums.bankofamerica.com/ for more details. Check with your bank to see if they have a similar promotion.

Our local bowling alley does free bowling – two free games every day for the kids. The catch is you have to rent the shoes (not all places do this though, call to find out). You can go to www.kidsbowlfree.com or https://freebowling.amf.com/ to see what bowling alleys in your area participate.

Several movie theaters offer free movies or super cheap (like $1 to $2) movies during the summer. We go to the Regal Summer Movie Express and see previously released movies for $1. Yes, my kids have seen most of these movies before and we probably own one or two of them on DVD but getting out of the house and having fun is what we are after. We will have a late breakfast before we head to the theater and we will get one large popcorn and one large drink to share. I know it isn’t free, but it sure beats the normal $10 a movie ticket price. I know Regal is nationwide but check with your local movie theater to see if they are doing something like it. I know we have a small no name theater that is doing a program just like this and the tickets are free.

If previously released movies are not your thing check with your local bulk warehouse store (we use Costco) to see if they have movie tickets. I spend $17 on two Regal movie tickets that can be used at any time and normally with no added cost. The only time we have had to pay an extra $3 is if we wanted to see a movie in 3D and we rarely do that. It is nice having these tickets on hand because we don’t have to worry about trying to get to the theater for the matinée showing (less expensive tickets in general). If you wanted to buy a large bulk of these tickets to have on hand you can do that as well. Just go to the Regal website and buy tickets online. You have to buy a minimum of 50 tickets to get the $8.50 cost.

If you are military don’t forget to flash your military ID to get a discount if offered. Most restaurants, museums, theaters, aquariums and zoos offer discounts. My favorite military discount is offered by the Ripley’s museums.  They offer 75% off for military members – and when they have pretty inexpensive tickets to begin with it is nice. Last summer we went to the Ripley’s aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC and got in for about $3 a person.  So do not be shy when you are out and about and ask about military discounts, you may be surprised to find your favorite place has been offering 10% (or more) off for ages.

Other activities are your local parks and check to see if you have a national park too. Rivers and lakes are super fun. If you happen to have a beach nearby take advantage of it. I could go on and on with free to cheap activities (and it looks like I have already). But it comes down to your local area. Do a simple Google search of “(your city) free summer activities” and see what pops up.

Comic Book Floor - My take on the Brown Paper Bag Floor method

My son’s carpet NEEDED to be changed. The carpet was older than he is and was installed in the house when it was built in 2000. Even though it looked pretty good the carpet smelled, had a filmy feel too it and just was all around gross. We have plans to change all the flooring in the house later this year but his room really needed to be done now due to his allergies and asthma issues.  I just wasn’t sure what we would be doing or if we could do anything other than waiting.  This is when Google came to the rescue, a simple search for “inexpensive floor”,” floors on a budget”, and “DIY flooring” really came into play. Several times I was sent back to the blog by An Oregon Cottage An Oregon Cottage and the blog by Lovely Crafty Home. Lovely Crafty Home Even though I loved the look it just didn’t feel right, I wanted this floor to be awesome, suddenly an idea popped into my head. COMIC BOOKS…… do my son’s floors in comic book pages. But can it be done? All I found was information on brown paper bags; would comic books be the same? I did find a simple blog called Lazy Cozy Lazy Cozy where she did something similar in her bathroom, but with heavy craft paper instead of brown paper.

So I had an idea, sorta-kinda instructions, a room that needed new floors, and a whole week to complete the project. My husband said worse case if it looks horrible we can put down a cheap throw rug and the oldest monkey could wait until the rest of the house has floors installed to get a new one. But we both agreed the carpet had to go.  Plus it would be an awesome surprise for my son.

For anyone who likes the idea of inexpensive floors but not the brown paper bag idea take head of this blog. I will walk you step-by-step of what I did from start to finish (complete with pictures), and I will let you know what I would have done differently. This tutorial is what worked for me in my home. I can’t guarantee it will work for you or turn out the same. You can go to the wood section of your home goods store and get a panel of wood and try it on that, or do like me – just jump right in and pray it worked out.

SUPPLIES I USED (and the cost)

1.)    1 gallon tub of Elmer’s Glue All. I purchased this as the art store with a ½ off coupon. Cost was $9. Best part is I have more than enough to use for the next room.

2.)    Paint Brush – didn’t use anything special, got this at the art store too, $5

3.)    White Craft Paper – Got at the art store for $12.

4.)    Polyurethane – I got this at the Home Depot, but I am sure any home good store carries the same thing, or even a painting store. Make sure you get water based polyurethane and the one that is safe for floors.  This was about $49 for a gallon, don’t go cheap or you will have cheap results.  I ended up needing a second gallon of this, so that was an additional $49. You may or may not need a second can; I suggest using the first gallon and seeing if you like the results first. I could have finished after the first gallon, but I wanted more layers. In hindsight I think it was overkill.

5.)    Comic Books – I could have gotten a great deal if I planned better and purchased in bulk online, but I didn’t. I got 40 comic books at $2 each for a total of $80.

6.)    New floor vent cover thingy. The old one had some rust on it so I opted to replace instead of refinish. $7 at Home Depot.

7.)    Floor Transition – you will need this for a smooth transition between the new floor and your old flooring in the hallway.  $5 

Total Cost of project: $216. The room is approx. 250 square feet so the cost comes out to about $0.86 a square foot.

All of the tutorials talk about how you can do this floor for about $0.50 a sq ft.  I can see that is you stuck with the original Brown Paper Bag flooring. 

PREPERATION

STEP ONE: Clear out the room. I used this time to pack up everything in my son’s room and throw away old pieces of paper, purge his toy box and just do a general clean of everything.  I also cleaned the baseboards with soap and water, something I hadn’t done in a while.

STEP TWO:  Pull up the carpet. Did I mention this one my first every DIY project? I had no idea how to pull up carpet or what I was going to find under the carpet and boy was I scared. Just in case you wanted to know how - go to the corner with a pair of pliers and just grab ahold of the carpet and start pulling. The carpet will start popping off the tack nails and a carpet pad will be revealed.  I suggest that you roll the carpet as you pull it up; this makes it easier to dispose of when you are finished. You will need a box cutter or something you can use to cut the carpet at the doorway.

STEP THREE: When the carpet and the padding are removed you will see these strips of wood down the sides of the walls with little nails sticking up. This is how the carpet was being held to your floor. You will also notice staples that held down the carpet pad, you will need to remove those as well. It wasn’t has horrible as I thought it would be, I just used a hammer and screw driver to remove the wood and the staples. You may have a better tool to do this though. I saw whatever works for you feel free to use.

STEP FOUR: Sweep and clean the floor. I used my regular broom and dustpan and then finished with my vacuum cleaner. I have read on some tutorials you could mop the floor up and let dry, but I skipped that step and it was just fine. 

Now you have a nice and clean subfloor that is ready for your new flooring. Remember this is what worked for me and there are a few steps listed below that I wouldn’t do if I did the floor again, but you can see the list of things I would do differently at the end.

FLOORING

STEP ONE: Lay down the white craft paper. Prepare the Elmer’s Glue by mixing approx. 1 cup of glue to 2 cups of water.  This is just what I did and you can have a better mix ratio, just make sure it isn’t too watery.  I brushed the glue on one side of the paper and placed on the floor. After it was down I brushed on the glue mixture over the top. Repeat this step on the whole floor. The comic pages will be going on top of this paper. If you have any vent holes just cut the paper to go around the vent hole.  Let the whole floor dry, takes about 12 to 18 hours.

 

STEP TWO: Take the comic book pages and place on the floor. This step I used double sided tape to hold each page down. I decided to do it this way to save time and I was afraid that the extra glue would just be too much on the comic book pages.

STEP THREE: When all the comic book pages are down you can start using the polyurethane. Just open the can and dump your brush in. I used a roller brush, but I have seen others use a regular paint brush. I did a medium coat of polyurethane on the whole floor; I didn’t want it too thin but didn’t want it to thick either. The polyurethane goes on sort of blue but dries clear; it was super easy to use.  I didn’t sand in between coats like the directions on the can said. Remember when you are laying down the polyurethane to leave a path to the door. I just filled that area in as I was heading to the door.  It takes about 3 to 4 hours for the polyurethane to dry, make sure the previous layer is dried before you brush on the new coat.  I did a total of 7 layers of polyurethane and the floor looks amazing and is super easy to walk on.

 

 

 

 

FINISHED FLOOR

 

WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENT

I would not have put down the white craft paper first. I would have just glued the comic book to the subfloor directly, and maybe just added a second layer of comics if it was needed. There isn’t anything wrong with the white craft paper, it was just an unnecessary step that added time to the project.

I would have been more patient and not used the second can of polyurethane. Yes, it worked out and the floor feels great and smooth but this was an added expense and time that wasn’t needed. I truly feel I would have gotten the same results if I only did 4 coats of polyurethane that the first gallon gave me.

As I mentioned before I should have purchased the comic books in bulk for less than the local store gave them to me for. Don’t get me wrong I still got a great deal, but I know I could have gotten it for less if I was patient.

When the oldest monkey got home from camp he was super happy to see his floor. In all honesty his room is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I can't wait to repeat this process with my daughter's room. I am coming up with all kinds of ideas for her floor, I am thinking pink, purple, and maybe zebra print. One thing I learned from this project is to not be afraid of a DIY project. Just jump right in and have a plan B. Wonder what other typed of projects I can do around the house.

FREE Credit Report and why you should look

Today’s post is very important and one that you really should take interest in and follow. I will be talking about credit reports, what’s on your credit report, and how things could affect you in the long run. I am not one to judge or say I am prefect or that my credit is perfect. I have had issues in the past, ran from creditors, and pretended bills that I couldn’t pay didn’t exist. Of course this wouldn’t be a budget post if I didn’t tell you how to get your credit report for FREE…….

The law states that everyone should have access to their credit report and what is on it. You can go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get your credit report from the three major credit bureaus for FREE once a year. You should also look at your Chex Systems and Telecheck reports. These two places handle all of your banking reports, such as who you have banked with in the past and if you have any accounts that are in negative status, or if you have ever written a bad check, things like that. You can get those reports by going directly to their websites.

Chexsystems is https://www.consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/chexsystems/report/index.htm 

Telechecks is http://www.firstdata.com/telecheck/telecheck-request-file-report.htm

Why does this matter? Well your credit information is attached to your social security number. Your credit report is a good indication if you have been a victim of identity theft. The information shared on your report can keep you from getting a job, credit from a merchant, insurance, or a place to live. Making sure you have a good credit number can save hassle and heartache later on if you need to buy a new car, or a house, or whatever reason you may need a good credit score.

Did you know the collection companies have laws that they are supposed to follow when they report information or when they contact you about a debt? The Fair Debt Collection Protection Act was created to keep collection companies from harassing you or using deceptive means to collect a debt. Sadly many people do not know they have rights and bill collectors know this so they just ignore the law. I suggest becoming familiar with this law and how it can help you if you are dealing with bill collectors.

You are also allowed to have access to your credit report free of charge if you are denied credit or a job because of what is on your report. Below are links to the three bureaus to request those reports.

If you do not like what is on your report or disagree with it, or just want to know more about credit reports and how to build and maintain good credit I suggest an amazing website (also FREE to use) called CreditBoards. You can find the site at http://creditboards.com/forums/

EXPERIAN: http://www.experian.com/credit-advice/topic-get-credit-report.html
EQUIFAX: https://aa.econsumer.equifax.com/aad/landing.ehtml
TRANSUNION: https://disclosure.transunion.com 

Anything you want to see?

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Say What? Mosquitos, Ticks, and other pesky bugs.

My daughter is allergic to mosquitos, or I should say mosquito bites. Is that what they do when they suck your blood? Anywho, if a mosquito “bites” her she swells up and ends up with a nasty rash that won’t go away for days. I am sure you can guess we go to great lengths to keep mosquitos off her and that worked great until last summer. However, last summer she started to have a horrible reaction to store bought mosquito repellent. She ended up with what looked like a chemical burn all over her arms and legs. This happened with several types of repellents, including organic repellents. Let me tell you, organic repellent is expensive; especially when it just sits on the shelf because it doesn’t work.

Last summer my oldest son went to sleep away came with the Cub Scouts. He was super excited and really did have a great time. I went out of my way and probably way overboard to make sure he had everything he needed to be comfortable, including insect repellent. I knew he would come home all dirty and in desperate need of a shower and boy did he ever. But I never imagined he would be covered head to toe in little insect bites, he seriously looked like he had chicken pox. The first few days we just kind of laughed about it, and then we tried to make him more comfortable with oatmeal baths and every type of anti-itch cream available. The poor kid was miserable from all of these bug bites and they just wouldn’t go away. Of course just as they started to heal he would scratch them and they would become open sores and the process started all over again, over and over and over again. Weeks and months went by and we could not get a handle on these bites that were now infected and just horrible. The oldest monkey ended up with a nasty staph infection and was on antibiotics and a steroid. Let’s just say it was stressful for about 5 months. Almost a year later you can see scars on his body because of all these bites. The point of this is commercial insect repellent just does not work, at least not for my little monkeys.

I am from Washington State and I never in a million years had to worry about ticks or Lyme disease or anything like that growing up. I remember the first time my daughter had a tick I freaked out and I wanted to take her to the emergency room so they can remove it. I have heard all of these crazy things about making sure you get the whole tick out, the heads being left in the skin, just crazy things that I didn’t know how to deal with. My husband kind of laughed it off and got the tick out and threw it in the toilet. I never expected that to become an almost nightly routine, or at least a few times a week issue. This girl just attracts ticks to her, no matter what we do or how we try to keep the ticks away and out of our yard.

This summer we are trying something new. We are going back to Mother Nature to keep nasty mosquitos, ticks, and other bugs away from my kids and house. Lavender is a natural repellent, so we are looking at planting some lavender in our yard, especially around the areas the kids play. But the thing we will do right away is make our own bug repellent from essential oils. Some of the oils that help to repel insects are lavender, basil, lemongrass, and citronella essential oils. I am sure there are more but these are the few that I have found in my research and the types that I wouldn’t mind using. Now make sure you use essential oils and not an aromatherapy type oil. Below is the recipe I will be using and then there is another version of the recipe.

Homemade Insect Repellent Recipe:
15 to 25 drops of essential oils. I will use Lemongrass, Basil, and Citronella. (to make things simple I will use 10 drops of each)
½ cup of coconut oil.
Slowly melt the coconut oil, you can do this in a microwave, or with the use of a double broiler, or sitting it outside on a hot day. When the coconut oil is melted (and it does not take much) just add the drops of essential oil. Ladle the mixture into a small jar and place in a cool area. This repellent will be more like a balm instead of a liquid.

If you want a liquid repellent add 30 or so drops of an essential oil with ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup of water. Mix together in a spray bottle and there you go – liquid insect repellent.

Cleaning on the cheap

By now you should know I like to save money when and wherever I can. No worries, I will never appear on the TV TLC show “Extreme Cheapskates” because I am still a firm believer in quality over quantity (yes I am using the word quantity to talk about money). Yes, I have gone as far as unplugging appliances and the TV when I go on vacation, but never will I go to the extreme as one guy on the show that pulls the plug on everything every time he leaves the house. Wouldn’t it save him more money to just keep these things unplugged until he needed them? OK, back on topic; I like to save money when I can. I won’t do crazy things to do it, but there are tons of little things you can do around your house to keep it clean and save some money. Best part is that these cleaning hints are all natural and not a chemical base, but they still disinfect.

One of my go-to products for cleaning is vinegar. Not any special type, I just get the huge gallon jug of the white distilled vinegar at the grocery store (about $6). Vinegar will kill all kinds of bacteria, mold, germs, and other icky stuff. This is because vinegar is very acidic and most of these things can’t survive at these PH levels (2.0). My grandmother use to use this stuff to clean her windows and other glass surfaces. I always thought she was crazy until a few years ago when I finally tried it. My windows looked just as clean as they would if I had used the blue glass stuff.

Basic recipe: 50/50 mix of water to vinegar. Just mix the two into a bowl or you can put the mix into a spray bottle. I just mix into a small mixing bowl and dip a rag into the bowl and ring it out. I clean my glass surfaces, and most all surfaces this way and I never have water marks or anything of that sort. However, if you have a marble surface you don’t want to use vinegar because the vinegar could etch the surface. This is my basic recipe that I use for most of my cleaning. I use this solution to fill up my Swiffer wet jet and clean my floors. I use this basic recipe to clean my kitchen aid mixer (the vinegar cleans out the grease from buttercream and other foods that use shortening or butter. However, you don’t have to worry about chemical residue in your baked goods so this is a perfect alternative.

If you don’t like the smell of vinegar that is ok there are ways to make vinegar smell good. Buy a few oranges, peel them (enjoy the fruit but keep the peels). Use a 16oz canning jar stuff the peels from 2 medium or large size oranges inside the jar. Pour vinegar over the peels and tighten the lid onto the jar. Store the vinegar jar for 2 weeks before using. Now you will have citrus vinegar, works with limes, lemons, grapefruit, etc.

You can even make your own laundry soap, and it works great, smells amazing, and it’s cheap. The cost is about $8 for about 550 loads of laundry. Before I go into the recipe I suggest you use utensils for the purpose only and don’t use them for cooking again.

You will need:
1 Bar of soap – I use Dove bar soap.
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of Washing Soda: Arm and Hammer makes this and you can usually find it in the laundry soap area.
You will need a large pot that can hold about 2.5 to 3 gallons of liquid.
You will need cheese grater, or something of the sort.
A funnel isn’t a must but is very helpful.
1 large spoon, I use a plastic one because it is easier to clean off.
Now you will want something to store your soap in. I use 2 milk jugs. You can also buy a 5 gallon bucket at the home store and double this recipe and store it in there.

1.) Grate your bar of soap into your pot. (I had an old food processor that made this so much easier).
2.) Fill one gallon jug and pour water into pot with grated soap. Cook until the grated soap dissolves.
3.) Add the Borax and washing soda.
4.) Bring to a boil. It will coagulate.
5.) Turn off the heat. Add 1 gallon of cold water. Stir well.
6.) Pour 1 gallon of your detergent into each container. A funnel helps tremendously.

I have many more money saving tips for cleaning but this is more than enough for now. Let me know what you think of these suggestions and if any of them work for you.

3 for 1 deal – AMAZING

Ok so you may think I went on a shopping spree but I didn’t. I managed to make 3 different meals out of 1.  You may be asking how in the heck did I manage that, and how can you do that. Well I will tell you what I did and how it worked for my family. Remember we are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids (3 kids if you count littlest monkey - but he isn't eating solids just yet).

Wednesday night I took one of the whole chickens I got from Costco out of the freezer and stuck it in the fridge to defrost. On Thursday morning I washed it off (I have a habit for washing all of my meat before I use it), buttered and seasoned it up and stuck it in the crock pot with about 1 cup of water.  We served this with rice and green beans and it was a BIG hit with my kids and my husband. After we had our fill I saw I had a good amount of chicken left and a whole carcass that I could do something with.

Well I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the drippings from the crock pot – make chicken broth to freeze for later use.  I make a lot of things that require chicken broth. Why not have my own to use, and the best part is I know what is in it because I put it there.

Friday afternoon I took that drippings out of the fridge, added some water and boiled for about an hour. After this I decided I should just make chicken noodle soup instead of pure chicken broth. That would be a good dinner during the summer months and I wouldn’t even have to turn the stove on. So I pulled out all of the chicken and the carcass (that still had plenty of chicken attached to the bones) and plopped it into the boiling broth mixture. I also added another 6 cups of water and let it boil for another hour.  I then strained the meat and broth mixture – putting the broth into a huge bowl and the chicken/bones into a strainer. I picked out the bones and dumped the chicken back into broth and put it back into the pan where I let it heat once again. I cut up my veggies and put those (along with healthy wheat noodles) into the broth and let it cook for another 30 minutes.  I served with homemade bread (thanks to my new bread machine) and we had our second meal from the 1 whole chicken.

How you must be wondering how I got a 3^rd meal from this one meal. Well I have a HUGE pot leftover of all chicken noodle soup. I can’t can the noodle soup because of the noodles, they would just suck up all the broth and I would have canned noodles and chicken but no soup. I am letting the soup cool down some and then I will put them into loaf pans to place in the freezer to freeze. Once they are frozen I will take them out of the loaf pans and place into freezer bags and put back into the freezer for use another time.

I could have taken the chicken soup mixture and canned it before I placed the noodles into the mixture but I am still new to the whole canning thing and I wasn’t confident enough in my canning skills to can this item. You have to be very careful when canning soups (and other things) because if you don’t do it correctly you can risk your life or the lives of those who eat your preserved food. Botulism is a very dangerous bacterium that is completely invisible and odorless so you wouldn’t know if it was in your food because you didn’t can it properly. So till I know more about my pressure canner I will stick with the freezing for later use.

So that is how I got 3 full meals from one $5.00 whole chicken. Let’s take into consideration the rice and green beans I served the first meal with, and the homemade bread I made with the second meal (and the veggies in the soup) the total cost came to about $15 – or $5 per meal (or $1.25 a person).  Honestly I think I can get a 4^th meal out of the soup because there is so much left over. If I can get a 4^th meal out of it that will take the cost down to $3.75 a meal or $0.93 a person. WOW, WHAT A DEAL. =)

Below you will find the recipes to the above meals.  This is how I cook my food and you can easily substitute one seasoning for another or add a little more or less. Do what works with for your family. This is just a general guide on how I do things.

CROCK POT CHICKEN

1 whole fryer chicken

Butter (about 3 tablespoons)

Seasons you like (I use salt and pepper, Johnny’s seasoning salt, and Mrs. Dash Chicken seasoning)

1 cup of water

Rinse off chicken and coat with butter and place seasoning over butter. Dump 1 cup of water into the crock pot and place the whole chicken over it. Replace the lid and turn the crock pot onto low. Let cook for 8 to 10 hours.  Save the drippings from the crock pot for the chicken noodle soup.

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Leftover chicken from the crock pot chicken

Whole chicken carcass (bones)

3 cups cut celery

3 cups cut carrots

4 sliced potatoes (peeled)

1 onion

Salt and Pepper and other seasonings you like

About 16 cups water

Take the drippings you saved from the crock pot chicken from the fridge and skim the top layer of fat from the drippings. Pour the drippings into a large pot (I used a 10qt pot) and about 16 cups of water into the pan and let boil for about an hour. Take the chicken and carcass from the fridge and put it into the boiling water. You can use this time to cut your veggies (or do as I do and pre-cut them and place them into the freezer for later use). Lower the heat to medium and after another hour you will want to strain the broth and chicken mixture so you can pick out all of the bones. Once you pulled all the bones out of the mixture combine the chicken and the broth back into your pot with your veggies. Then season the soup to taste with whatever seasonings you like (I used Johnny’s and Salt and Pepper). After about 30 minutes (still on a medium/low heat so not to boil over)you want to add your noodles (we used rotini wheat noodles) and let the mixture simmer/boil for about another 30 minutes. Once the noodles are soft your soup is ready to eat.

Let the soup cool and place into loaf pans (large muffin tins work too) and place the pan into the freezer – make sure the pan is level. Once the soup is frozen remove from the pan and place into freezer bags (I use the vacuum-seal bags by Ziplock.  When you are ready to use take the frozen items out of the freezer and you can defrost during the day or you can place the frozen mixture into a pot and let it defrost while you heat on low.

I hope you enjoy today's blog. If you have any questions just post a comment and I will get back to you.

Step in the right direction =)

On Sunday Hubby and I went grocery shopping and let me tell you we did great. We went to Costco and purchased bulk meats, I am sure it will feed the family for a few months. If you shop at Costco (Sam's Club, BJ's or any warehouse type place) you will know the deals are good but you sure don't want to freeze 12 pork chops or 6 pounds of ground hamburger all together (unless you are feeding a family of 10). So what can I do to make things easier for me later - split it up and freeze it in individual bags. My two freezer bags of choice are the Vacuum-Seal Bags by Ziplock and the Seal-a-Meal vacuum system. I am also a fan of Tupperware Vent n' Serve for my leftover.

After sorting out all of the meats into more reasonable family sizes I put them in my chest freezer (if possible you really should look into getting one).  However, I left out a few pounds of hamburger to cook up and season before freezing. Once you cook and season your meat to your liking make sure you drain the meat and let it cool down, then you want to place it into your freezer container and freeze for later use. This will save you time when you want to have a good home cooked meal but you are short on time. This is a good option for Taco nights, just cook the hamburger up with taco seasoning and freeze. Just put the container in the fridge to defrost the morning (or night before) you want Tacos, heat it up before dinner and you have a yummy taco dinner in 1/2 the time.  Below you will find a recipe for an easy meal that is a favorite in my house.

2lbs season ground beef
1 10 oz can of cream of mushroom soup
1 1/4 cup of milk
3 cups of dry rice

You should have already precooked your hamburger so defrost it the morning you use it and warm up in a skillet with the mushroom soup and milk. If you don't want a thick mixture add a little more cream of mushroom and milk.

Cook your 3 cups of rice according to the directions on the package.

Serve the meat and mushroom mixture over the cooked rice. This feeds my family of 4 and like I said it is a favorite in our house.

On our same shopping trip to Costco we purchased some onions and other veggies that we use all of the time. We cut up a few onions and sealed them in a freezer bag and placed in the freezer. This way when I need onions all I have to do it pull them out of the freezer and add to my dish.

I know it doesn't sound like much of a start but hey a city girl has to start somewhere.

New Frugal Mom - this will be fun.

Our family has gone through so many (amazing) changes in the 3 years. We have moved from Washington State to Virginia, Derick and I got married, and the biggest change of all (as if a cross country move wasn't big enough) Derick is no longer in the Army, and we had a baby 5 months ago. With all of these new changes in our life why not make a few more - healthy, simple, frugal living.

I am learning to can some of our food. I am going to start freezing meals ahead of time, and this spring I am going to start a garden. Who would have though I would ever start a garden. I guess the biggest question is will it actually grow and will I get anything from it? I do not have the best green thumb, I am more skilled at killing all things plant related. 

I am starting this blog for everyone who is just like me and would like to learn how to can, freeze, garden, or get a good laugh at a city girl trying to live simple and frugal. =)  So stay tunes, check back in, and enjoy learning how to live frugal through my mistakes (and I am sure there will be plenty of them). I also love to cook yummy meals for my family, so I will try and have recipes that work for our family, but do not break the bank to make.