Thrifty thursday: Are Warehouse Stores Wearing Out Your Wallet? (guest post)

     Here is another great post from the ladies at Living on a Dime. This post is kinda funny, but also kind of eye-opening. And it pretty well sums up my frustrations with warehouse stores...

Are Warehouse Stores Wearing Out Your Wallet?

Do they save you money or just create more work?
by Jill Cooper
http://www.livingonadime.com/

It's Saturday morning. With grocery list in hand, you drag a very unwilling family out to the car where you proceed to take them on a mega shopping spree at Sam's or Costco.

Marching down each isle you tell your family members "We need 3 cases of corn, 4 cases of green beans and -- Oh! That's a good deal on peanut butter so let's get 3 gallons. Of course Susie, your can get a bag of cookies. They are so cheap! ...and Billy you can have a few bags of your favorite chips! Yum! Oh look -- samples! These taste great. Let's get some! What a great buy on chicken - we need 20..."

At the dog food aisle the excitement mounts as each member of the family grabs a corner of the 50 lb. bag of dog food to stack on top of the basket. (We won't mention you only have 1 toy poodle at home.) After waiting in line and waiting in line and waiting in line you push your agonizingly heavy and overloaded baskets out to the car. Getting everything into the trunk of the car makes putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle seem like a breeze but, finally, home you go.

After you lug everything into the house, it's time to spend the next few hours repackaging things for the freezer. You double wrap your 20 chickens (they could be in that freezer for quite a while) and frantically try to find places for everything else in your cupboards and pantry. By the time you are done, you are so exhausted that you couldn't begin to lift a finger to cook, so you all go out to eat.

A few weeks later you gingerly sniff the gallon of half used peanut butter as you try to decide if that strange taste is because it has gone rancid or simply because you are sick of peanut butter. You threw out that partially used gallon of maple syrup yesterday because it had sugared and was looking really strange. You still have ten of your chickens left but if you bathe them in some spicy sauce you are pretty sure your family won't notice the freezer burned taste. In spite of having to throw out most of the 50 lbs. of dog food (after a growing family of mice had invaded it), you're sure you saved money because "they" said you would.

People constantly ask me, "Can you really save more money at warehouse stores?" I usually answer, "Not any more so than at other stores." I have checked prices at various stores on many different occasions and factoring everything in, I haven't found any exceptional savings at warehouse stores.

 Here are some tips to help you decide if a warehouse store is for you:

1. Do your homework and compare prices. Buying in bulk is not always cheaper. You can really save by checking and comparing prices. I was at Costco one day where there was a display of two Clorox one gallon bottles for $1.98 AFTER rebate. I stood there amazed as people frantically grabbed this "great deal." I knew I could get that same Clorox for $.98 a gallon at my regular discount store and I didn't have to mess with a rebate, pay postage or lug two gallons of Clorox shrink wrapped together to my car.
2. Don't buy impulsively just because it sounds like a good deal. Say you can get 12 bottles of sunscreen for a great price. Think it through before you buy. If your family only uses one bottle of sunscreen a year, that means you will be storing sunscreen for 12 years, not to mention that most of the sunscreen will expire long before then.
3. In most homes, one quarter of the food people buy gets thrown away. If your family of four eats pancakes once a week, that gallon of syrup is going to last you a VERY long time. You might also consider that unless dry goods and freezer items are very carefully stored, they will go bad or get bugs in them. Remember to buy the size that is appropriate for you.
4. You need to be very well organized to buy in bulk. Finding places to store everything and then carefully keeping track of what you have is critical if you want to use it all before it spoils.
5. Most people usually spend more than they originally planned on things they don't need. This never saves money. We taste samples and so often end up buying. If this is you, be careful. Maybe sampling is a bad idea (unless you're making lunch of it)!

If you have ten kids, run a day care or are buying for an organization then you almost have to buy in bulk. If you have a small or average sized family, you will probably save as much shopping for sales at your regular grocery store or discount store. The key is to do the math and evaluate your practical needs. You have to decide for yourself if buying at warehouse stores actually saves you money or just creates more work.

-Jill

For more easy and practical ways to save money and get out of debt, check out Dig out Of Debt and learn more about how to keep more of your money!

 Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Thrifty Thursday: Less is More this Christmas! (Guest Article)

     I thought I'd like to share this post from Living on a Dime. We're about to hit December, so holiday shopping will be full-throttle (for those of us that don't do our shopping throughout the year). So, I figured some of this advice would come in handy. ;-)
     And if you like what you read here, make sure you check out Living on a Dime and maybe sign up for their newsletter for great frugal tips all year long!

Less is More This Christmas!

by Tawra Kellam
http://www.livingonadime.com/

After laying down my last women's magazine telling me how to be less stressed during the holidays, I'm even more confused and stressed then ever. On one page I'm told to take time for myself and indulge in a lovely spa bath. As I turn the page, I'm told to give all my friends and family homemade ornaments. Then there are articles telling me how not to gain weight at Christmas parties. Isn't that like telling a three year old to not get dirty while making mud pies?

To top it all off (and the part I like the best) is after they tell us how to get rid of stress and not gain weight, they give us 10 pages of recipes for Christmas cookies made with real butter and cream that are decorated so elaborately in the pictures that it probably took a trained kitchen staff of 10 a week to make one cookie.

Doesn't anyone live in the real world anymore? If you are like me and can't stand that kind of stress, try some of these Christmas ideas from www.LivingOnADime.com to help you have a relaxed and Merry Christmas.

• Don't over-spend - It may be tempting to fixate yourself on the sparkling look in little Johnny's eye when he sees that $300 play car under the tree. Advertising people are really good at feeding many parents' fantasies of their children thinking that mom and dad are the peaches and cream for shelling out the cash and looking fondly back on the moment for the rest of their lives. In reality, most kids have lost all interest in that particular toy long before the credit cards are paid off.
  When we were growing up, my mom pulled out all of the stops at Christmas to make it as wonderful for us as she possibly could. The funny thing is that now that we are grown, the things we remember the most fondly are Mom's red jello salad (made with red hots - yummy!) and sitting together and reading the Christmas story before opening our presents. I can't remember what presents I received, but I always look back fondly on the Christmas story.
• Do a few things well - Instead of trying to do everything and ending up depressed with how it all turns out, focus your energy on a couple of things that are the most important to you. You may be tempted to extravagantly decorate every room in your house, but if you don't have the time or energy, focus on one room, like a living or family room. If your entire house is beautiful but you have to go see a therapist when it's all over, the romantic mystique will be lost. Trust me, I know about this one from personal experience.
• Limit activities - Think of the holiday season as triage for activities. Don't commit to do too many things. One or two parties during the holiday season will make you get all tingly in that "It's a Wonderful Life" kind of way. One or two parties a week may send you over the edge, especially if you have kids. (Refer to my therapist comments above.) This also applies to all of those appealing looking activities around town like Victorian Christmas events, Christmas celebrations at the zoo or winter carnivals. One or two can be a lot of fun, but too many will ruin the fun.
• Limit cookie baking - Don't try to make 15 different kinds of cookies like Martha. She may look like she is super woman, but did you know she has a lot of people that help her? How much help do you get with your baking? I mean real help, not your five year old who makes everything twice as difficult for you. This is great for grandma, but you have to see your daughter every day and grandma can send her back when the house is sufficiently covered in flour. Again, pick your two or three top favorite cookies to bake and celebrate the fact that you had few enough priorities that you remembered to put the sugar in them.
  Everything doesn't have to be homemade. I know that we advocate making your own stuff, but Marie Callendar's makes some great pies that you can pass off as homemade if you want to soothe your guilty Martha Stewart conscience. In 20 years, your kids will look fondly back on it as the best pie they ever had. But seriously, if you are making things homemade just to save money, remember that some things like candies and pies are often more expensive to make homemade, especially if you cut your finger while slicing the apples. Don't ask me how I know, just trust me on this one.

These aren't the only things you can do to reduce your stress, but if you stick to doing a few things well, you can truly relax and enjoy the season with your family. In the end, they would rather have fond memories of their time with you than memories of how strung out mom was after she burned the cookies.

Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Thrifty Thursday: 11 Tips for Frugal Living (Guest Article)

Some of you know I really like Living on a Dime. If not, they are a great resource for frugal living. And sometimes I get guest articles to post on my blog.
     This is one of those guest posts. You may already do one, do or all of these. You may not care to easy. Not all advice is for everyone. But, take it as you will, here are 11 tips for frugal living.

Article by Tawra Kellam
http://www.livingonadime.com/

Frugal living is all about making the most with what you already have. Here are 11 tips from the e-book Penny Pinching Mama to help you get started:

1. Barter for services when possible. For example, we exchanged lawn mower repair from our neighbor for a table (garage sale find) that he was looking for.
   
2. Learn to fix things for yourself. These days, with the Internet making information so easily available, you can fix most things yourself. We do 95% of the repairs around our house and we aren't that handy. We just keep looking for the information about how to do it and keep working until we get it fixed!
   
3. Stop eating out. I know you hear it all the time but STOP!!! The "average" family spends $300-$500 a month just eating out! Eating out truly is one of the biggest causes of debt! I am always amazed how someone can be "totally broke" and can't pay their bills but are still able to go to the drive-thru of their favorite restaurant.
   
4. Study nutrition information and find out what you need to eat to have a healthy and balanced diet. Then stop eating the junk and eat healthy inexpensive meals at home. We have a lot of menu ideas here at LivingOnADime.com that can help you get started.
   
5. If something breaks and you don't have the money to fix or if you are out of something and you don't have the money to buy more, figure out a way to live without it. If the lawn mower breaks, can you borrow a friend's lawn mower? If your washer breaks, go to the laundromat. If you break your tea kettle, use a saucepan to heat water. In most instances, you can find a way to make do or do without something until you have the cash saved up.
   
6. Do things for free. Go to the library, have a picnic or read a book. Kids are just as happy playing with mom and dad in the backyard as they are going to the zoo. If you can't pay cash for the "fun stuff" you can always have fun at home.
   
7. Buy items used. We buy 90% of the items for ourselves used. Going to yard sales and thrift stores does not take any longer than going to a retail store but you can save 90% off the retail price!
   
8. Just say no...to your kids. Let kids buy their own toys and extras! Our kids pay for all their own soda, candy, treats like nail polish, their own computers and extras. You are not the Bank of Mom so just say no!
   
9. Find a cheaper way to do things. Go to a beauty school to get your hair colored (or don't have your hair colored at all it isn't something you need to survive). Go to a mechanic school to get your car fixed. Hire a kid instead of a lawn service to mow your yard (only if you can't do it yourself for medical reasons. :-) Paint your own house instead of hiring someone, cut the cable and the cell phone (gasp!), and have birthday parties at your house. There is almost always a cheaper way to do things so try to find the cheapest way and save some money!
10. Cut kids' activities. Most kids are in way too many activities and they're often expensive. I know families who pay $175 a month for gymnastics lessons but can't pay the mortgage. There is a problem with this kind of thinking! Kids won't die if you don't give them all the lessons and activities you can't afford.
    
11. Get it for free. When the landscapers were laying sod in our new neighborhood, I asked for the scraps and we were almost able to put in our entire backyard for free. When they were building houses, I asked for the 2x4's that were going into the dumpster and got enough wood for our shed. When they were pouring concrete patios, I asked for the leftover concrete and they just poured our entire cement pad for our shed for free!! If friends have kids older than your kids, ask if you can have their hand me downs when they are done.
    

Get as much as you can for free and you can save thousands of dollars!

      -Tawra

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Thrifty Thursday: Total Money Makeover

This post has been moved. You can now view it HERE.

Festive Friday: Halloween on a Dime

     Are you planning a Halloween party? Well, here is a list of inexpensive and creative ideas from Living on a Dime. Some of these can even be used for Halloween dress-up, like the face paint and fake blood.

     Additional ideas are in the Halloween on a Dime e-book. Hope you get some inspiration from all these ideas and throw a "killer" party!
     And to check out some of their other e-books, you can go here! They also have a new e-book, Homemade Christmas, at an introductory price of 99 cents through Octber 23!

Homemade Halloween Make-up Recipes and Games
by Tawra Kellam

The average American family spends over $100 per year on Halloween goodies. As your kids drag you through aisles full of ghosts and goblins, the scariest thing about Halloween is threatening to leave bite marks in your pocketbook. No wonder so many moms flee screaming from the store... It can be much less expensive and a lot more fun to devise your own chilling creations. Here are a few tips that you can use to stave off the greenback gremlins and exercise your creative muscle. It won't hurt a bit! These and other free frugal tips are available at www.LivingOnADime.com.

Face Paint

1 tsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. cold cream
food coloring

Mix all ingredients together in an old muffin pan and you are ready to paint. This amount makes one color.

Fake Wound

1 Tbsp Vaseline
tissue
cocoa powder
2-3 drops red food coloring

Place Vaseline in a bowl. Add food coloring. Blend with a toothpick. Stir in a pinch of cocoa to make a darker blood color. Separate tissue. Using 1 layer, tear a 2x3 inch piece and place at wound site. Cover with petroleum jelly and mold into the shape of a wound. The center should be lower than the sides. Fill the center with the red petroleum jelly mixture. Sprinkle center with some cocoa. Sprinkle a little around the edges of the wound to make darker.

Fake Blood- Mix 2/3 cup white corn syrup, 1 tsp. red food coloring, 2-3 drops blue food coloring to darken and 1 squirt dish soap (helps blood to run well).

Abrasions -Dab brown, red and black eye shadow on area. Apply blood over area with cotton balls. Use comb to gently scratch area in one direction. Apply cocoa or dirt over wound with cotton balls.

Black Eye - Apply red and blue eye shadow to depressions around eyes.

Bruises - Rub red and blue shadow over bony area to simulate recent bruises. Blue and yellow eye shadow to create older bruises.

Look Old - Cover face with baby powder. Draw dark lines on your skin for wrinkles. Smooth edges to blend. Cover again with baby powder. Add baby powder to your hair to create gray hair.

Deviled Eyeballs - Make deviled eggs. Add a green olive with pimento in the center for an "eyeball".

Radioactive Juice- Mix equal parts Mountain Dew and blue Kool-Aid

Toxic Juice- Add some green food coloring to lemonade for a spooky color!

Brains- Scramble eggs with some green, yellow and blue food coloring

Bloody Eyeballs- Boil cherry tomatoes 30 seconds. Allow to cool; then peel skin.

Goblin Hand- Freeze green Kool-Aid in a rubber or latex glove, float in punch.

Use the tape from old cassettes or black yarn to make spider webs.

Use cotton balls stretched out for small spider webs.

Glass Jack-o-Lantern- Outline a pumpkin face on a spaghetti or pickle jar with black paint. The paint around the outside of it with orange paint. Place a candle inside for a jack-o-lantern.

Halloween Guess It Game

In this game, you challenge the participants to reach into mystery boxes filled with creepy things and try to guess what each item is. The person with the most correct answers wins the game. An example is if you want them to guess "grapes", you might try to confuse them by saying, "I think it's eyeballs..."

Cut a hole in the top of a shoe box or laundry box for each item to be used. Cover the box with black spray paint. Decorate each box with pumpkins or spiders for a more festive flavor. Place the following items inside, one per box. Be sure to place enough of each item so the guests can adequately "feel" the guts.

Eyeballs - grapes or peeled cherry tomatoes

Intestines- Cooked Spaghetti

Skin- oil a piece of plastic bag

Brains- scrambled eggs

Hair- an old clown wig

Bones- thoroughly washed chicken bones placed in some sand

Vomit-chunky salsa

Fingers-hot dogs cut into finger sized pieces

Teeth- corn nuts, pine nuts or popcorn

Have a Pumpkin Hunt

Hide mini pumpkins like you would Easter Eggs. Let the kids find and decorate them. For small children use glue sticks with construction paper cut-outs for decorations.

Edible Slime

Pour lime gelatin into a glass bowl. After it is partially set, add gummy worms. Chill until lightly set. Then serve slopped all over the plate.

Bloody Popcorn- Add red food color to melted butter and pour over popcorn.

Freeze gummy worms in ice cubes and add them to drinks. Cut gummy worms in half if needed.

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Thrifty Thursday: Ways to Cut Your Grocery Budget

This post has been moved. You can now view it HERE.

Thrifty Thursday: Free "Perfect" Portions

Sit tight while you are redirected to the new home of this post! 

Make it Monday: Cereal Box File Tray

This post has been moved. You can view it HERE.

Thrifty Thursday: Freezer Inventory

This post has been moved. You can now view it HERE.

Make It Monday: Homemade Laundry Detergent

This post has been moved. You can now view it HERE.

Food Waste Friday: Hubby Did it!

     I have no picture to show today. Actually, my husband was throwing away stuff before I even got to it, and I'm not 100% it was all bad. :-( So, I will share to the best of my ability.

     1. Part of a bag of spinach. Hubby threw that out. I got it mainly for salads, but it might have been ok cooked. Hubby said he didn't want to risk it. Ok...So this week when I bought my bag of spinach, I went ahead and put part of it in the freezer.

     2. 3 small apples. These were from the bag of apples that I was the only one in the family working on. Guess they'd been there long enough--hubby tossed those too.

     3. Chocolate candy leftover from a shower. It wasn't great candy--probably why it was still around!

     That's really all I can think of for now. Shocking, I know--but I know that probably wasn't everything. Seemed to me he threw out an awful lot...

Food waste Friday

     Well, there was not a huge variety of food wasted this week, but it doesn't follow that there wasn't much food waste. You can see: 

     1. 2 containers of frost-bitten chili
     2. Some bad grapes (I know they don't look bad in the pic)

     3. Some frost-bitten unbaked rolls that were an experiment a while back 

     4. A bag of apricots.

     The apricots were given to us by a friend with a tree. Why my husband accepted three bags of them, I don't know.But they've been in the fridge a week of two. I finally weeded out the rotting ones. Some are still ok, but we have way too many of them! Hopefully we will find someone to share them with before it is too late!

Not Much Better: Food Waste Friday

     Well, I didn't do a whole lot better this week on not throwing stuff out. Here is what got thrown out this week. 

     1. Part of a salad. I was already working on it a day or 2 past the expiration date. 

     2. Two mushy tomatoes. 

     3. Some frost-bitten split pea soup. 

     4. Some frost-bitten piece of beef. 

     5. part of a loaf of old bread. 

     6. Part of a package sandwich roast beef a few weeks old. 

     7. Most of a smoothie I made. I really couldn't stomach it, so I threw it out. :-/

     That's all I can of for now. It seems like there was something else. I guess I really should try to write them down as I throw them out. Anyway, how are you doing on cutting back your food waste?

    

Walk of Shame: Food Waste Friday

 

     So I've decided to join in on the Frugal Girl's food waste Friday in hopes that public accountability will make me waste less food.It's not like I plan to waste food. But who really does that? Anyone who wants to join is welcome! Please let me know I'm not alone! Even if you don't have a blog, you can join in by leaving a comment. And if you have any suggestions on how to be less wasteful, please share. :-)

     Okay, now for what I've had to throw out this week. Sorry, I don't have any pics. Maybe next week. But hopefully not, because I'm not going to waste anything next week, right?... 

     1. Half a box of Sam's club croissants. I overestimated how many croissants would be required for one tub of chicken salad. Generally, one box of 20 croissants fits one 32 oz tub of chicken salad. I used what I could of the second box until they got stale. 

  2. A pint of cut up strawberries. :-/ All ready to eat and everything. I just didn't get them eaten in time. 

     3. One boneless chicken breast. I usually freeze my chicken breasts in pairs, so if I don't plan ahead for the following day, the second thawed breast goes bad before I get around to using it. One breast usually is enough for me, my husband and my 2 year old. 

     4. A liter pitcher of cold brewed white tea. That made me kind of sad, because that was my free sample from Plum District and I liked it. Guess I'll have to order some now! 
     5. Some leftover chips from Mexican take-out. I must admit this one doesn't bother me as much as the others. Is that bad? We got what we wanted for 2 different meals and didn't really want anymore. 

     6. Three of four onions. I'd bought a 3 lb bag, didn't use them all, and they were sprouting and rotting. This time I only bought one large onion. 
     7. Half a bag of lettuce. No excuse. It was a busy week last week and I didn't get around to making a lot of salads. 
     8. 1/3 of a cucumber. Same as number 7. 
     Well, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I missed something. Hopefully I will do better next week!

Ways I Try to Save Electricity

This post has been moved. You can now view it HERE.

Valentine's Day on a Dime (free ebook)

     Here is an article on inexpensive Valentines Day ideas from Living on a Dime. To go along with this, they are currently offering their Valentine's Day on a Dime e-book for free. I'm not sure how long it will be free, so be sure to download your copy ASAP. There are some really great ideas in there, as well as in their other books. 

Valentine's Day On A Dime
by Tawra Kellam
http://www.livingonadime.com/

Using a little imagination, you can make your Valentine's day a little more fun and a lot less expensive. If you want to add a little personalized romance or if you don't have the time or money to buy all the pre-made things in the store, here are some ideas to help you make the day special.

For The Kids:

• My mom always made a great but inexpensive Valentine's Day treat for us. She would take construction paper and cut a big heart out of it. (About 8x10 inches). She would staple the edges together and write our names and an I love you on the outside. Then she would fill the heart with candy, purchased on clearance after Christmas. It was very inexpensive but we loved it!
  
• Have a Valentine's Day treasure hunt. Leave little notes around with the last one leading back to the kitchen table with a heart full of candy.
  
• Leave sticks of red gum in their Valentine's Day cards.
  

For The Lunches

• Make heart shaped Valentine's cookies. Cut the kids (or hubby's) sandwiches with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Add a few Valentine's chocolates and put a note in red with a big heart on their napkin.
  
• Serve anything red for the day. Serve red Jello, red pudding, red apples, toast with strawberry jelly, tomato soup, red applesauce, red Kool-aid, strawberry milk, or red frosted cookies. Use powered food coloring from the cake store to get the deepest shade of red. Serving all red things at a meal will really have wow factor even if it is something as inexpensive as red jello and tomato soup.
  
• Make red heart shaped cupcakes. Make cupcakes as usual but place a marble down the side of the muffin tin between the muffin tin and each cupcake cup. This will make heart shaped cupcakes.
  
• Make hearts out of chocolate chips in each of your pancakes.
  

Things To Do With Or For Your Honey

• Mail your pre-addressed and stamped Valentines to Loveland, Colorado and they will postmark them and mail them for you. Send them to: Postmaster, Valentine Re-mailing, 446 E. 29th St., Loveland, CO 80538
  
• Make a treasure hunt for your spouse. Start by mailing or e-mailing him the first clue. Then leave clues all over the house, yard, car or his office telling him where to find the next clue. End the hunt by making a picnic in the back yard or going to a park for a picnic. Use your imagination and have fun. The simple things are the ones people remember.
  
• Go to a bookstore together and enjoy the silence and browse. Get a cup of coffee and make a date of it.
  
• Celebrate Valentine's Day AFTER Valentine's day. Everything is half off.
  
• Mail a love letter to your hubby's work.
  
• Send your spouse a sexy email message.
  
• Leave "Why I love you" message all over the house. Buy a package of the cheap Valentines. Leave a message on each one and hide them all over the house for your honey. They will get to enjoy the gift for months!
  
• Use lipstick to make hearts and love notes on the rear view mirror, car windows, bathroom mirror or windows of the house. Leave a kiss on his napkin for lunch or dinner.
  
• Make a bunch of hearts out of construction paper. Put a love note on each one. Paste them all over the front door or car before your hubby or kids come home from work.
  
• If you don't have money to go out, have a picnic on the floor. Use some candles and lay a soft blanket on the floor. Put on some soft music and have a romantic Valentine's dinner on the floor. Use some white Christmas lights for additional romantic lighting!
  

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt, by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com

My New Year's Resolutions

     Well, it's the beginning of the new year and it's that time when everyone starts to feel guilty about what they didn't accomplish the previous year and we all resolve to do a little better this coming year. I am no different and I have plenty I would like to accomplish in 2012. Wow, is it really 2012? 

     Now, I don't consider myself a complete failure in accomplishing some of the things I wanted to do in 2011. And I don't think many of us are complete failures, even if we don't necessarily accomplish everything we hoped to at the beginning of last year. But if we hadn't made any of those "resolutions" in the first place, how much less would we have accomplished? 

     So, instead of making "new years resolutions" something to laugh at, because we just know we won't keep them, make your goals a little more specific and set reasonable expectations for yourself. If you set the bar too high right away, chances are you will quickly become frustrated at your lack of success and give up altogether. And that seems to be where many "New Year's resolutions" end up around the month of February. 

     So, start small an specific. And don't hate yourself and give up if you don't completely achieve it--just pick yourself back up and try again. Instead of saying "I'm gonna lose 100 lbs this year" start at--"I'm going to try to lose a pound a week." At the end of January, reevaluate if necessary. Instead of saying "I'm not going to eat out at all this year" start out by trying to eat out half as often each week. You will quickly find out whether such things are realistic expectations.

     All that said, here are a few I would like to accomplish this year. 

     1. Meal plan more. This helps with both eating out too often and going over the grocery budget. See my previous post on this. 

     2. Pay off two debts. Even paying minimums, I know at least one will get paid off. With a little effort, I think we can manage two. 

     3. Try making homemade laundry detergent. I hear great things about the stuff, not the least of which is it saves lots of money and gets clothes just as clean! I may have to wait till I have a couple of empty detergent bottles, though. Just letting you know up front!

     4. Use less cleaning products. I read somewhere that baking soda and distilled vinegar are the only cleaners you really need. Hopefully I will get around to trying that out this month! 

     5. Exercise at least an hour a day, starting in April. I say April because that will be about when my 6 week post-partum period will end. I'm sure I will try to do it in more moderate amounts until then. 

     These are just a few things I can think of that I would like to try. But remember, set your goals moderately and keep in mind what you can realistically accomplish. Once you reach those goals, set another one just a little higher, then you'll be on your way to where you want to be.

Homemade for the Holidays e-book Sale

     Well, our snow has been gradually melting the last day or two, so now we're at the drippy, browning stage where you just see patches of snow on the grass here and there. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. We've been informed by friends from here we shouldn't expect to see such a nice snow around here again this winter. And being in west Texas, the odds of having the temperature cold enough and enough moisture in the air are not too great, I must admit. 

     I got up this morning not feeling too wonderful and my general mood was not improved by going to the doctor ad being reminded that I need to take the 3 hour glucose test tomorrow. Yuck! I have not been told yet that I have gestational diabetes, but today I've been eating like I have. I had carrot sticks with ranch and deviled eggs for lunch. My appetite has just not been to great since leaving the doctor. Otherwise everything with baby seems to be fine. 

     This week (until next Tuesday, the 13th) Living on a Dime is having a special on their Homemade for the Holidays e-book collection. For just $10, this set includes 3 e-books. Christmas on a Dime has ideas for spending less on gifts and decorations and some Christmas recipes. Country Christmas Recipes and Gifts Cookbook has recipes for edible homemade gifts. Traditional Holiday Meals And Menus includes recipes and menus for traditional holiday meals. 

     In addition to the 3 e-books, the Homemade for Holidays set includes the following bonus downloads: Christmas Card Planner, Christmas Meal Planner, Christmas Cookie/Candy Planner, Christmas Wish List, Christmas Gift Planner and Gift Ideas. All-in-all, a pretty good deal! Remember, this sale only goes on through December 13th, then the price will go back up. 

    

One Step at a Time

     Hello everyone. I'm not getting around to blogging in the mornings because I've been trying to not turn my computer on before lunch, or just before if I need it to make a recipe for lunch. I sometimes find that once I turn my computer on, I tend to spend too much time on it. I won't say exactly how much, but let's just leave it at too much. :-) So, by not turning the computer on until after lunch, I feel like I can get a little more done in the mornings. I do feel like I've been slightly more productive.

     In my last post I talked about becoming more organized, specifically in regards to meal planning and grocery shopping. Well, it's just one aspect of my overall effort to become more productive in general. The last couple days I've really been trying to plan meals at home and clean up afterward. 

     So last night, after I made dinner (chicken fried rice), I was boiling potatoes for the potato salad to have with lunch today, and my husband was like "What are you doing? We just ate." So I told him what I what I was doing and he said "Wow, what's going on?" So I told him I was trying to make more of an effort to plan meals. 

     If we already have the meal planned, and especially if we already have the components of the meal ready to go, we will be less likely to "just go out." So far it's been working, but it's only been a couple days, so perhaps it's too soon to speak. My husband seemed enthusiastic about it and says he is proud of me and I'm doing good. Anyway, it's just one step at a time. 

 KayKay Jiggin' It Up

     Yesterday I had to get up first thing in the morning to take my glucose test, since I'm at 25 weeks. I couldn't have anything but water after midnight the night before and then I had to drink what was like a flat orange soda. Which on an empty stomach isn't great. Then I had to sit in the waiting room for an hour and then get blood drawn. 
     The worst part was I had to drive myself since the baby had a cold, was still sleeping and didn't need to go out in the cold air. But she did seem to feel better yesterday afternoon. Check out this video I took with my webcam yesterday.

     I just thought this was so funny. Here she is jiggin' it up to her alphabet toy's music option. She finally noticed herself on the webcam and got sidetracked as you can see toward the end. But I thought it was too cute!

Cleaning for the Holidays

     Hi all. Just wanted to share this article from the ladies at Living on a Dime and to go along with all these great tips, they are also offering their very useful Keepin it Clean e-book series at half off through Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 only! Make sure you take advantage of this great offer!
      Keepin it Clean covers laundry, cleaning products, organization and, most of all, saving money! Check out this, and other money-saving e-books through the links on right of my page. And enjoy this article on cleaning for the holidays.

Holiday Cleaning - Preparing Now For The Holidays
by Jill Cooper
http://www.livingonadime.com/

Halloween is over, which means it is now officially time to kick it into gear to get ready for the holidays and to get your house ready for company. It really helps to get your house in order now because if unexpected company comes you won't get caught off guard. Then you can concentrate on baking, finding gifts and organizing activities without having to worry about deep cleaning your house again until after the New Year.

Hopefully by now you have been inspired to start getting things done a little at a time so this won't be too big of a job. Here are a few things to work on:

• Get your closets in order. Put summer clothes away and take winter clothes out, tossing as you go.
• Don't forget your linen closets. Get your guest towels, sheets and extra blankets aired out and put the linens in a handy spot so they are easy to grab when you need them.
• If you have a guest room, get it cleaned and prepare everything for your first guests.
• Get your holiday linens prepared. Wash them if necessary and make sure they're ready to go.
• Hopefully you have cleaned your pantry. Now you need to make sure it is stocked with everything you need for your holiday recipes, for some quick and easy to fix snacks and dinners for unexpected company or food to take to social events.
• Make sure your fridge and freezer are in order. The refrigerator and freezer are going to work overtime for you over the next couple of months so make sure they're cleaned, organized and prepared.
• I don't worry about cleaning my oven at this time. I use it so much for baking that it's silly for me to clean it right before having a baking fest. I usually wait and give it a good cleaning after the holidays. If it's really bad or you have company coming and it looks awful you may want to go ahead and clean it anyway.
• This week and next week is the time to do any deep cleaning that you don't want to have to mess with again until after the holidays-- things like washing your windows, deep cleaning rugs and carpets and dusting mirrors, picture frames, lampshades or ceiling fans.

If you have been keeping up with your cleaning you may not have to do any of these. Basically just clean your house enough for company. Then you'll know it's done and you will be prepared for the unexpected.

Part of the stress that comes at the holidays is the result of not being prepared, especially for the unexpected things that always seem to come up. Think of it like being prepared for a disaster. If I have a wood burning stove, firewood, lots of candles, blankets and food prepared, I am not too stressed if we lose power from an ice storm. If I wasn't at all prepared, I would be in a total panic if an ice storm hit.

If you are prepared, you have something you can whip up for company in just a few minutes or if the kids need treats for school, you have dough frozen and ready to be baked in the freezer. I'm not saying that I have everything prepared like Martha Stewart but I do try to have everything together enough so that I'm reasonably prepared for the unexpected. My idea of the perfect woman is a cross between Martha Stewart and Erma Bombeck! Some days I am more one than the other and on other days I totally miss the mark, but that's okay, because I tried. :-)

      -Jill

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!