A Handful of Money Saving Tips.

Sometimes we simply spend money that we don’t need to spend.

I do it and I know others do it too. When we have the “extra” money

we tend to be blinded by the convenience of buying new and we miss

the saving opportunities that are nearly always there.

Whether things are tight or not I get a thrill from saving my family

money. I have a few ideas for you today that can help stretch the budget

and get your creative juices going.

 

First up:  “Old Fashioned Mending”

 

My son has grown tall but still stays slim. So, this spring I started to

go though his clothing to see what I had and to make preparations 

for his summer wardrobe. I found several pairs of pants that had

worn knees and frayed hems. I decided to crop and hem them into

new shorts for the summer.

 

This can be done in a matter of 30minutes to an hour and for each pair

of converted pants to shorts, I saved my family anywhere from 5 –10

dollars! This is a total savings of $20-$40 for 4 pairs of shorts!

 

Second on the list: Iron-on $avings!

 

Never underestimate the power of a strategically placed iron-on

embellishment. Iron-ons come in every shape and size. They are

fast and require no sewing. They can dress-up an inexpensive, and

otherwise drab item and make it something fabulous! They can also

be used to hide a multitude of problems that would cause one to

throw an otherwise good garment away. I have two perfect examples

for you today.

 

I found this plain blue cotton-t on clearance for next to nothing. My

son was shopping the iron-on isle with me and found a race car patch

that he simply went crazy for!

 

I could have stopped with just the race car but I had some letters left

from another project so I decided to embellish this sleep-shirt with a

very “punny-saying”.

 

 

 

 

Total cost for a new custom sleep shirt: $5.00 (about a 50% savings)

 

 

My 3 almost 4 year old is very loving  but he is equally rambunctious!

I was doing laundry this winter when he ran full speed around the

corner and rammed into me as I was pouring bleach in the wash.

Needless to say, once you see the next pic, his favorite winter

hoody was ruined…or so I thought….

 

Iron on a soccer ball patch and…. you have

a $aved Fave!

 

 

Cost of new Hoody $10 – $12 vs. cost of iron on patch: $2.50!

 

 

Thirdly: “$craps of $avings!”

 

If you are a sewer at all, more than likely you have scraps of

fabric from other projects piled in a closet or stacked in a box.

Aiden needed new jammies desperately. Between myself and my

mother-in-law we found an old pajama pattern and three flannel

scraps of material that we were able to turn into three fabulous

pairs of pajama pants!

 

 

Three pair of pajama pants. Total Cost: $3.00 (for elastic) A total

savings of about $15.00 or more!

 

When sewing from scraps remember a few things:

1) Look through all your material to see what you have.

2) Ask your fellow sewers/crafters what they have as well.

(we sewers are always happy to use up our scraps)

3) Don’t disregard old patterns. Some things really never change.

Boys pajama bottoms are exactly the same as they were 30 years

ago. Don’t let the dated image on the pattern envelope discourage you.

Look through your stash or ask around before buying a pattern.

 

 

Pillows!

There is a running joke in my family about always “buying plenty”

and if you have too much “you can always make a pillow with the extra.”

This philosophy has resulted in a LOT of extra. So, before buying new fabric

for pillows look through your scraps first or in this case your wardrobe!

 

I had a new, awesome, white sweater until I spilled hot cocoa down the front

of it. I tried everything to get rid of the stain to no avail and the stain was

in such a place that I could not craftily place embellishments to hide it and

still look cute so…. I made my sister a sweater pillow for her house warming.

To embellish the pillow I made three different flowers with one from the

sleeve. The other two I took strips of the sweater, ran a running or

gathering stitch along one side and an decorative stich along the other

with contrasting thread. I used scraps of matching bias tape to make leaves

and before I knew it, I had a lovely decorative pillow gift for only $3.50! (for the stuffing)

 

 

 

These are just a few tips and ideas on ways I have recently saved money

for my family. If you stop and take a minute before throwing out the old or

running to buy new, often times you can find ways to reuse, repurpose and renew

items you already have and make them into things you really want to keep.

 

How do you save money for your family? Write to me, I would really love to know!

Pin It

Refried Beans

STOP BUYING CANNED REFRIED BEANS

Okay I will tone it down a bit, but seriously,

Hear me out… I have a list of reasons why… 

 

1. It is WAY cheaper to buy dried beans in bulk.

What not swayed by money? okay…

2. You can control the fat, salt and the preservatives

Not swayed by health? okay…

3.Refried Beans are ridiculously easy to make at home!

Not swayed by ease of work? Fine then do it for this reason:

4. The taste is supremely better than any brand in a can. 

Allow me to prove my point: 

 

First and foremost, regardless of the quality/brand of beans you must

sift through them. Pull out any beans that are extra dirty, or moldy looking.

Keep an eye out for small pebbles and other debris. Yep that is a corn

kernel in picture number two… I have no explanation… all I can say is, this is a

crucial step. Now, rinse with fresh water several times over.

 

Dried beans more than double in size and soak up a ton of water.

I fill my crock with 1/3 dried beans and the rest of the way with

water.  This will result in a full crock pot of beans .

Place the crock pot on high and let beans cook until tender.

Tip1: keep an eye on your beans and do not allow them to run low on water.

Also note: the older your beans are the longer they will take to

cook and the more water you will go through.

Tip2: do not add salt to your water, this causes more of the skins to peal,

which stick in your teeth later… eeew!

You will know when your beans are done, when you smash a single bean

and they smash with little resistance, the consistency is smooth

and there is no graininess to it’s texture.

It does take several hours for your beans to cook up. The time

varies depending on the age of your beans, your crockpot, and

how large the batch is that you are cooking.

Tip 3: if you plan on serving your beans the day of cooking be sure to start them

in the morning.

Tip 4: I strongly dislike the smell of beans as they cook. If you place a glass of vinegar

out on the counter near your beans it reduces the smell. (I do not know why this

works but it really does. … I know … Weird!)

My beans are cooked … NOW WHAT?

This is my favorite part, as I have developed a very easy and very

healthy way of mashing my beans with no added oil

and very little effort…… It’s quick,

it’s effortless it’s…..

….the MIXER method!

 That’s right I put my slightly cooled beans directly from the

crock pot to the mixer and tah-dah! Perfectly smashed beans!

At this point they are ready to store or re-heat in a skillet to eat.

If you are eating them right away, now is the time to season with salt.

 If they seem too thick or on the dry side simply add a little water

to them. If they are a little runny, allow them to cook longer

uncovered and the extra water will evaporate.

Tip 5: you do NOT have to “fry” your beans. Simply heat them up and

season with salt to your liking. No oil/lard needed. Which is way healthier!

If you are freezing some or all the beans, you can place them in your

favorite freezer-ware  or…

Tip 6: place your freshly mashed beans in freezer bags. Freezing the

beans in this flat way speeds up the thawing process.

Or,

  If you are like me and do not always remember to pull stuff from the freezer

before work, I simply slice the bag open and pop my “bean brick” in a skillet add

a little sprinkle of water and this flat package thaws and cooks up in no time!

(Keeping the convenience of the dreaded “canned beans.”)

 

So have I pled my case well?

Let me add just a couple more facts.

Myth: I have to soak my beans overnight before cooking.

Your beans will cook just fine without this old school step. I have not

tasted or noted ANY benefit to soaking.  

Myth: I have to add lard to the beans as they cook to make them soft.

This is a traditional way to make beans, and it does help make them

soft faster. However, your beans will be just as soft without the lard

with a little more time on the fire. Also, your heart and family will thank you later

for not adding this heart disease causing agent.  

Myth: I have to fry them with oil when I mash my beans.

You can still call them refried beans without actually frying them.

It is simply an unnecessary, unhealthy step. 

Myth: I need to add a lot of salt to make them taste good.

As I have stated in several of my posts, the way I keep the

salt content down in my cooking is by allowing the diner to

“salt to taste” which generally results in less salt in-take.

 

Try making your own tortillas to go with your beans by reading this!

 

Linked up with: Lil’Luna,

 

Pin It

A Day of Cooking, several weeks of meals.

 

I have been cooking like crazy!

This is what I have been up too.

My biggest problem when trying to cook at home

as opposed to eating out is trying to remember to take

meat out of the freezer, or even deciding what I

want to take out of the freezer! So when my

mother in law told be about cooking ahead and freezing

the pre-cooked meat, I couldn’t wait to try it.

I started with hamburger and I was so excited that

I not only found it on sale but I grabbed a managers

special and got my meat for .99 per lb. WOW!

(One draw back though it was only 80% lean and I nearly

always buy 90% for health. But right now w/my husband

in school and me still looking for employment,

I dare not pass it up.)

*In a skillet scramble your hamburger and add your basic

seasonings that lends itself to any hamburger recipe.

Mine is Garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and a little

beef bouillon powder for flavor.Now let the meat cool slightly. 

 

*heart health tip: if you wait to add salt to when you

serve food you tend to add less and it is more gratifying.

Salt also tends to make your hamburger shrink.

 

Then I placed the cooked meat in meal-sized proportions

in these ultra cool Ziploc Freezer Vacuum bags! 

(BTWI am not getting paid to say this.. I wish,

but I am not.Just thought it was a cool item

to share, and many people do not know about them.)

You can find them next to all the other freezer bags

they come in both gallon and quart size. The first

time you purchase them you have to get the box

with the pump included,but it is cleanable

and reusable.

Once you seal your food you use the

hand pump to suck the air out of the bag.

This is what prevents freezer-burn!

My son LOVES this tool and it made a great fun

and productive mommy/me project!

   While my hamburger was cooking, I mixed up mini-meat-loafs

to freeze ahead as well.

(Of which I will have a separate post about.)

Once my hamburger was put away and cleaned up.

I started on my chicken. It too was on sale so

I made a day of it!

You really follow the same basic steps except omit the

beef bouillon.

 

I was hesitant about freezing my meals

this way at first; thinking it may be dry or taste like

leftovers but to my surprise this is not the case!

To re-heat: simply place meat in small skillet

or sauce pan with about 1-2 tbs.water and heat to

desired temperature! Add other spices or ingredients

to customize the meal.

I use the hamburger for meals such as spaghetti,

sloppy joes, tacos, burritos, SOS, biscuits and gravy,

stroganoff, taco salad, nachos,casseroles ect.

For the chicken I use it on top of salads, make tacos,

alfredo,soups,chicken salad, and casseroles!

In one evening I was able to complete dinner for

the night and save about 30min. prep time for

13 additional meals! Which saved me

6 and 1/2 future hours of cooking! Fwweeew!

 

* additional tips: *

When grilling chicken throw on a few more breasts,

cube them and place in freezer bags for a quick 

“grilled chicken salad”for later! 

When making cookie dough, double the recipe,roll extra

dough, place on cookie sheets and freeze for a couple of hours.

Once frozen,pop them off and place in freezer bags for baking later!

 

Linked up at:

 

Pin It

Waffles made easy

Happy National Waffle Day!

Who knew?

I am a long time lover of the canyon like nooks and crannies

of this great and traditional breakfast treat but I had no idea

it had it’s own holiday! YEA! What an awesome excuse to have

my favorite!

Okay, so… I have had our waffle iron for longer than I can

remember and sadly is has been a neglected appliance!

Now, I have a couple of slightly embarrassing secrets to admit.…

First, I have been prone to buying premade/toaster ready waffles.

Yep, there, it’s out there, I said it, I am ashamed, but I said it.

I won’t be telling you exactly how many boxes a week I

would buy, but it is staggering when I think about

the amount of money I threw away…. for wafer-thin

less than tasty store bought waffles.

But Folks I am here to change my ways!

Well, some of my ways! My second secret is when I do

make them at home, I use Krusteaz pancake/waffle mix.

I know, I know! There are tons of great recipes out there

but honestly… I like the –eaz of Krusteaz, of dumping

unmeasured amounts of mix with an eyeballed amount of water

to create perfect pancakes and waffles EVERY time!

(Just so you know I am not getting anything from Krusteaz

for this post I just happen to be a fan!)

This picture tells no lies! It speaks for itself: Perfection!

Not only are waffles wonderful to eat and easy to make

they freeze quite well and take no extra effort to do so.

(I say this as I hang my head in shame thinking of all

the times I put boxes upon boxes of waffles in my cart.)

See, when I do make the “extra effort” to make pancakes

or waffles I make enough for an army and then forget

to invite them, so I can stock my freezer!

 

My waffle maker makes 4 giant waffles at a time and they

stack neatly in gallon sized freezer bags. I placed a sheet

of wax paper in between each layer to keep them from

sticking!

Since these waffles are more dense and bigger

than the store-bought counterparts, you can eat one for

every two or three of the boxed variety.  This

is a FAR cheaper option especially since the boxed

versions have recently went up in cost by 25-50%!

Dress them up,

celebrate them however you choose!

Have them for breakfast, brunch, linner or dinner,

but make them at home and freeze them for

later! Your family will love you, your budget will

be greater!

 

Happy Waffle Day!

 

Linked up at: Women who do it all  *Tip Junkie  penny pinching

Pin It