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Posts from the ‘Money Saving Tips’ Category

May 6

19 Comments

Money Savings Tip – Buy a Boneless Ham and Have the Deli Slice it For You

Buy a Boneless Ham and Have the Deli Slice it For You

Noah left a great tip in the comment section of the What’s on Sale in May post the other day and I wanted to make sure everyone read it because it was such a great tip!

Here is what Noah had to say:

“I just discovered this weekend that if you buy a boneless ham at the grocery store, first take it to the meat department. They will slice/shave it for you {I got mine sliced for free} and you can then use it for lunch meat.  Ham freezes well. We bought a 3.5 pound boneless ham for $3.99 a pound which was a savings of almost $2.00 a pound from the pre-sliced deli meat.”

Have YOU tried this before? I’m going to totally do this the next time I purchase a ham.

Awesome tip Noah. Thanks!

~Mavis

Check out more of our Money Saving Tips to help you save.

May 1

5 Comments

Sale Cycles – What’s on Sale in May?

Sales Cycles what to buy in May

One thing I’ve learned over the past few years as I’ve whittled my family’s grocery budget down from $800 a month {2008} to $100 a month {since 2010} is that there are specific times of year when groceries, household items and other goods go on sale.

Just because a certain fruit or vegetable isn’t in season in your neck of the woods, doesn’t mean grocers are not willing to have it trucked in from somewhere else to offer you a great price.

May brings Cinco de Mayo, the official kick-off for grilling season, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, and most Farmer’s Markets will be up and running.  It is a busy month, with lots of sales.

While you are out this month, look for:

Roasted Chicken Salad with Cranberries{Recipe : Roasted Chicken with Cranberries Salad}

Food

Marinades
Steak Sauces
BBQ Sauce
Condiments
Salad Dressings
Hamburger Buns/Hotdog Buns
All things Mexican food
Pickles
Grilling Meats {ribs, steaks, hamburgers, chicken breasts, etc.}
Chips
Ice Cream
Bottled Water

rhubarb cinnamon jam{Recipe: Rhubarb Cinnamon Jam}

Seasonal Produce

Zucchini
Artichokes
Asparagus
Spring Peas
Broccoli
Lettuce
Cherries
Strawberries
Pineapples
Radishes
Rhubarb
Swiss Chard

Non-Food Items

Paper plates, cups, napkins, tablecloths, etc.
Flowers, Chocolates, Greeting Cards {on clearance after Mother’s Day}
Cinco de Mayo Decorations {on clearance after Cinco de Mayo}
Vacuums
Cookware
Grill Supplies {charcoal, lighter fluid, etc.}

Is there a particular item you always notice for sale in May? Let us know in the comments below and I’ll add it to the list.

Saving money is cool!

~Mavis

Apr 18

8 Comments

DIY Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

 make your own hummingbird nectar
{photo credit}

I am always so happy when I see a hummingbird in my yard.  Do you feel that way?  Like your garden is so hospitable that it attracts the most delicate little birds–like you’ve somehow arrived in the gardening world?  Okay, so maybe it has something to do with providing them with food, but whatever.  You can EASILY and CHEAPLY make your own hummingbird nectar.

You’ll need {brace yourself, this is an extensive list}:

  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 4 Cups Boiling Water
  • A container to store it in the fridge

That it–just mix the sugar to the boiling water, stirring until it dissolves completely.  Then, put it in the fridge to cool.  When you are ready, pour it in the hummingbird feeder as needed.  Easy right?

***Did you know hummingbirds’ heart rates are about 1200 beats per minute?  They typically weigh less than a nickel, and they can’t use their feet to walk or hop–only to scoot sideways if they are perched.  Crazy.

Want to attract more birds to your garden?  Check out my how-to post.

Apr 16

9 Comments

10 Cool Uses for Coffee Filters

10 Cool Uses for Coffee Filters

The HH is the only one who drinks coffee at my house, and since we now have a fancy new coffee maker with a reusable filter, I have left over coffee filters lying around.  I couldn’t stand just letting them go to waste, so I decided to figure out some ways to put those babies to use.

Here’s my top 10 ways to use coffee filters for something other than brewing coffee:

  1. Clean windows/mirrors.  They are lint free and don’t break apart when wet.
  2. Lay a couple on a plate and use them to soak up excess grease when cooking bacon, homemade fries, etc.
  3. Cover plates/bowls with coffee filters when microwaving to prevent splattering.
  4. Use to apply shoe polish.
  5. Prevent soil from sneaking out of the bottom of planting containers.  Place a coffee filter over the holes in the bottoms of your pot, plant as you would regularly.  The plant will still have proper water drainage, but you won’t lose any soil.
  6. Use to protect nice dishes.  Place a coffee filter in between stacked dishes you don’t use very often to protect them from chips, scratches, etc.
  7. Use them to filter used frying oil.  Wait for the oil to cool and pour it through a coffee filter.  You will be able to reuse the oil next time you are frying.  How amazingly frugal is that?
  8. Put some baking soda into a coffee filter and set it in the heel of shoes to get the odor out.  ”Oh, Monkey Boy!  Where are you?!”
  9. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments to protect them during storage.
  10. Use as an alternative to paper bowls for snacks.  They are way cheaper and hold snacks like crackers and popcorn perfecto.

If you had a bunch of extra coffee filters laying around, what would YOU do with them?

~Mavia

Apr 9

74 Comments

DIY – How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

DIY DIY - How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

Recently, I started making my own laundry soap. How crazy is that? It’s actually super satisfying.  One, a batch lasts forever.  Two, it is ridiculously cost effective.  And three {and probably my favorite reason}, it’s another step towards knowing all of the ingredients I bring into my home and being more self-sufficient with just the basics.

How to make your own laundry detergent

Ingredients 

  • 3 Bars Ivory/Zote/Fels Naptha Soap
  • 1 Box Borax
  • 1 Box Washing Soda {55 oz}
  • 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 Cups Baking Soda {more if you have hard water, less if you don’t}
  • 1 Container Oxy Clean
  • 1-2 Bottles Purex Laundry Crystals or Essential Oil {optional, if you want your laundry to have a pleasant scent}
  • 5 Gallon Bucket {to store the bulk of your detergent}
  • Smaller Container {you can refill detergent from your 5 gallon bucket, but it is way easier to have a smaller container for your daily laundry–the empty Oxy Clean container would work great}

Directions

First, grate the soap.  This is honestly the most tedious part.  I took a chance and used my friends food processor.  It did the job just fine, without doing any damage to the blade, but do it at your own risk.  I sent it through the grater first, then I turned it into a fine powder with the chopping blade.  If you hand grate your soap {let me start by sending my condolences}, make sure to grate it finely enough to make sure it will dissolve and do its job in the water.

Now dump the grated soap into the 5 gallon bucket {you can get these in the bakery department of practically any grocery store for free}.  Add remaining ingredients to the bucket.  If your bucket has a lid that is secure, you can mix it by rolling the bucket around on the floor.  If you don’t feel confident that your bucket lid will hold, you’ll need something to mix your detergent thoroughly.

Once it is mixed, you can fill up your smaller container.  I use 2 tbsp. per load, and I’ve been very happy with the results.  {This recipe is fine for a front-loader or a top-loading washer.}

How about YOU, do you make your own laundry soap?  Does it make you feel like a pilgrim?

~Mavis

Apr 8

8 Comments

Kitchen Tip – How to Get the Most Juice from a Lemon


How to Get the Most Juice from a Lemon

You probably already know how much I love Meyer lemons, but if not, let me be very clear:  I LOVE THEM.  I would bathe in lemon juice if it were socially acceptable and didn’t dry my skin out.  So, whenever I make anything that calls for lemon juice and I have fresh lemons on hand, I microwave my lemons first.

Heating the lemon releases almost twice the juice {you can put it in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds if you prefer that to the microwave}, which means you need less lemons for each recipe.  Less lemons means less money.  {I am really good at math.}

So next time life hands you lemons, heat them, and make even more lemonade.

Wahoooo!

~Mavis

the lemon book

Want to learn more about lemons? Check out The Lemon Book.

Apr 4

7 Comments

10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp

10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp

The Girl is pretty low-maintenance when it comes to homework.  She pretty much takes care of business, which is a good thing, because the other day, I peered over her shoulder at her homework, and was like WHAT?!  Am I getting dumber or is school getting harder?

Now, I know it’s been a long, long time awhile since I was in school, but the stuff she is working on is crazy hard.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’ve never actually used any of that stuff in real life–partly because I wonder if she is going to live a different world than I did, and actually use it, and partly because I started to wonder if maybe I’d let myself go in the old keepin’ it sharp department.

Apparently, brain function starts to decline in the mid-twenties {which means I only have a few years left – ha!}, with the highest impact being on memory.  They say that exercising the melon is a great way to keep your mind active well into old age–a use it or lose it mentality.  So, in the interest of boring all of my grandkids with stories I actually can remember, here are 10 ways to keep your mind sharp and functioning:

  1. Learn something new.  Try to learn something–anything new each day.  It’s never too late to take up the piano or learn Spanish.  Even trying to cook a new dish helps improve brain function.
  2. Get chatty.  Having friends and family that you socialize with regularly improves over all language skills and memory.
  3. Add Sage to your diet.  Apparently Sage is associated with memory–so sprinkle it liberally on your taters and I am sure you’ll be thinking more clearly in no time.
  4. Meditate.  Apparently scientists have studied the effects of mediation on the brain and found that people who sat quietly for 40 minutes a day had a denser cerebral cortex.  {Maybe that’s why I love gardening so much, it’s my meditation?}
  5. Vary your routine.  Go the opposite way through the grocery store {I tried this one, it is actually trickier than you’d think}.  It causes your brain to process familiar information in a new way.
  6. Play games.  I’m not talking just crossword puzzles here–all games that require strategy or spatial orientation keep the mind sharp.
  7. Unplug the phone.  A study commissioned by Hewlett Packard found that the constant interruptions of phone calls, texts and emails can drop your IQ by 10 points.  {Yikes, that’s a hit I can’t afford, I better cancel my plan altogether.}
  8. Eat healthy, whole foods.  Studies have found that people who eat plenty of vegetables and fish have better overall brain function.
  9. Exercise.  Enough said.
  10. Drink more tea.  {yes, please!}  Peppermint, lemon, green and black teas have all been shown to improve concentration and prevent memory loss.

How about you, what do you do to make sure you stay sharp as you age?

~Mavis

Apr 3

10 Comments

10 Cool Uses for WD-40

10-cool-uses-for-wd-40

I think a can of WD-40 is sitting on every garage workbench I’ve ever been in.  In fact, WD-40′s website claims there are over 2000 uses for the stuff.  Huh, who knew?

Here’s 10 uncommon uses for WD-40 you might want to try:

  1. Use it to clean scuff marks, nail polish, paint and mascara off of tile floors.  Works great for grout lines too.
  2. Spray a generous layer on the top of bird feeders to keep squirrels off.  Supposedly, they slip right off.  {Is is wrong that I am looking forward to testing this one?}
  3. Unstick gum from hair {and some carpets–though, check an inconspicuous area first}.
  4. Separate glassware that is stuck.  Ever stack your glasses, only to find them stuck?  Spray a little WD-40 around them and they should slip apart.
  5. Keep bugs at bay.  Spray WD-40 on window sills, etc. to keep spiders and other bugs out.  {Spray on cockroaches directly to kill them, if you live in an area where cockroaches are a problem.}
  6. Lube garden tools and shovels.  This is particularly effective if you have a lot of clay in your soil–makes it much easier to work the soil.
  7. Clean rust off of garden tools.
  8. Remove rubber cement from just about any surface {Any teachers out there?  Have you ever tried this one?}
  9. Remove stickers from just about anything.
  10. Remove crayon from walls and wallpaper.

What do YOU use WD-40 for?

~Mavis

Apr 1

3 Comments

Sale Cycles – What’s on Sale in April?

Sale cycles

One thing I’ve learned over the past few years as I’ve whittled my family’s grocery budget down from $800 a month {2008} to $100 a month {since 2010} is that there are specific times of year when groceries, household items and other goods go on sale.

Just because a certain fruit or vegetable isn’t in season in your neck of the woods, doesn’t mean grocers are not willing to have it trucked in from somewhere else {like citrus for example} to offer you a great price.

April brings Easter {usually}, as well as Earth Day, Tax Day Specials, and the beginning of the gardening frenzy.  So while you are out this month, keep your eyes open for sales on the following:

fresh eggs

Food

Candy {Easter clearance}
Eggs {For coloring Easter eggs}
Butter {Holiday baking}
Coconut
Horseradish
Ham {Make split pea soup with the leftovers}
Cheese
Dinner Rolls
Organic/Natural foods {in celebration of Earth Day}

fresh produce

Seasonal Produce

Asparagus
Artichokes
Avocado
Beans
Beets
Broccoli
Cabbage
Chinese Cabbage
Radishes
Lettuce
Kale
Mangoes
Sweet Oranges
Papayas
Pineapples
Chili Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Rhubarb
Shallots
Spinach
Turnips

lawn mower

Non Food Items

Computers
Digital Cameras
Lawn Mowers {Hello spring!}
Reusable Bags
Energy efficient bulbs {Earth Day}
Travel Deals {Spring break}

Is there a particular item you always notice for sale in April? Let us know in the comments below and I’ll add it to the list.

Saving money is cool!

~Mavis

Mar 29

4 Comments

Easy Kitchen Tip – Restoring Frozen Breads Freshness

Easy Kitchen Tip Restoring Frozen Breads Freshness

Do you freeze your bread?  Whenever I am in the area, I always stop at the Oroweat Outlet and stock up on any good deals.  The only thing is that sometimes freezing the bread, even when I’ve wrapped it well, dries it out a bit.

I was telling Girly Girl about this and she offered this little trick:  take the bread out of the plastic, wrap it in a damp tea towel and store it in the fridge overnight.  When you’re ready to use it, remove it from the fridge, take off the tea towel, wrap it in foil and warm it in the oven at 200 degrees for 5-10 minutes.  Supposedly, it is good as new!

Have you ever tried this? Do you have another tip?

~Mavis

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